Okay Body, you win this time, but not for long. I shouldn't have been so flippant about that last cold, huh? You were just lying dormant, waiting to come back stronger than before. I thought you liked yoga, though...and taiko, and that Wii dance game, and going out, and staying up late with friends--and doing at least one of those things every night of this month (minus that one night I went to bed at 9). Well, I thoroughly enjoyed them, anyway. You better be ready for hip hop on Monday! And starting to teach kids taiko on Saturday. I always get myself into these situations where I try to do too many things at once, but it's hard to slow down because there are so many things that I want to do. I've been like this since I can remember, but I have tried so many different things this way. I have down time, too. Yoga in itself is practically down time--I mean, we take naps at the end! Plus, I started reading a book and I have two more in line after this one. I even watch The Daily Show and/or Colbert Report a few times a week. I get it, though, more rest. Hey, at least I'm sleeping in on weekends, as long as I don't have to go to taiko. Next month looks slower, anyway.
I can't decide if I'm going to lay low on Friday or go to "The Giver" at Wash U. I've been talking about rereading the book for years, and I would probably get more out of it now than I did in 6th grade. I used to relate to the character to some degree, and I would imagine that I still do. I used to carry the weight of the world on my shoulders more than I do now, though. We'll see how I feel on Friday. It's the only day I don't have something going on until next Friday.
(By the way, I was hoping Sarah Palin would go away by now. Why does anyone still care what she thinks? I mean, people shouldn't blame her for the crazy guy in Arizona, but she shouldn't act like her message has ever been about peace, either.)
It looks like I'm going to be writing more for our newsletter at work, as is everyone, and I have no shortage of ideas. We're supposed to write about things in the industry, especially digital. I almost have so many ideas that it's hard to get started, really. I think my personal interest and research in sociology and anthropology gives a unique perspective to the social media and technological landscape, but it's such a broad topic and there are so many nuances. I see plenty of advantages and disadvantages, but how do I sum that up in a 400 word blog post? Maybe I'll have to sum it up in several posts. This has caught my interest most recently:
I'm not sure I agree with everything there. Are we "increasing our humanness and our ability to connect to each other?" We are increasing our ability to connect, yes, but on what level? We produce so many snippets of information and sound bites, if you will, that I think we are actually losing parts of our humanness in the process. I can read a sentence that tells me what you're thinking or doing at that moment and we can interact via short comments and the click of a button, but that doesn't necessarily mean we know each other in a meaningful way. After too many of those disjointed relations, we may forget to see the whole person or bother to reach beyond all the noise. Forget a possible downturn in self reflection and patience for the moment, I'm concerned that all of this "connection" will make us think we're content with superficial relationships between our "second selves." How much of this virtual connection is only masquerading as human? Hmm, I don't think work would like me to write about that. I'll have to find a different angle.
We've only been coming up with blog post content ideas at work for a few weeks, but I've noticed that now that my coworkers give me a chance to speak, they seem pleasantly surprised at my suggestions. It's like they thought that since I didn't try to dominate the discussion (as some do), I must not have anything to say--when in fact, my ideas tend to be more thorough and deeper than what comes off the top of other peoples' heads. I think all of us that work there are smart people and we're actually carving that as our niche, but some people wear it on their sleeves and I just don't. Surprises keep things more interesting, anyway.
2 comments:
You MUST reread The Giver. It's an entirely different experience.
I agree about losing human-ness. Really, it's the same as a pen-pal vz. a real friend. And you can even compare it a little to online dating. How similar is the real person to the digital one? And one forgets what it's like being with another flesh-and-blood person. The interaction part is very different.
Therefore, by all means - borrow a cyborg. Just don't forget to emerge in your own being, as soon as it is rested and healthy. :P
Post a Comment