Search This Blog

Sunday, March 25, 2007

Today's Photo of the Day


Our little "Fly girls"

Did you hear that crash?

No, it wasn't the stock market. It was my computer. Crash.

The past few days without a computer made me realize the extent of my addiction to technology.

Growing up in the 1970s, we had television, our tape recorders, turn tables, our eight-track players and transitor radios. An antenna was perched on the rooftop of our house and periodically our father would have to climb a ladder and adjust it so we would get the perfect picture. We were styling.

We didn't even have a dishwasher in our house growing up -- with so many children, my parents knew they didn't need one. We were the dishwashers.

Now, I feel tinges of withdrawal if I inadvertently leave my cell phone at home when I leave the house. Two days without checking email?! Banish the thought. My PDA, my digital recorder, my digital camera -- all in my purse daily. They're with me, whereever I go.

Cable's not even hi-tech enough for us now. We have digital satellite, attached to at least three televisions in the house. We can rewind regular television, record it, watch it later, order a movie all with the click of our remotes.

We shop online. We connect with our friends and the world. We're technology addicts. We carry our laptops and open them up and work at restaurants and coffee shops. Who needs candles as ambience any more? We have the glow of our computer monitors.

We're addicted, and maybe we've lost a bit our own creativity and imagination in the process of depending on technology.

My son and his wife were recently dreading a cross-country trip with their 3 and 4 year olds. The portable digital television and dvd player they can strap to the back seat was not working. I suggested coloring books, crayons and puzzles. I also mentioned the "good old days" when our parents expected the passing scenery to be more than enough entertainment for us in the back seat of the car.

I also remember eating lunch, away from work and not having my boss or my clients call me three or four times while I'm eating. We're addicts.

I'm going to try to change a bit. No more cell phone on at lunch time. At least one day a week without checking email -- really. I'll let you know how it goes.

Monday, March 05, 2007

Unintended hiatus

It's been a whole month + since my last post. A rarity for even me. I've missed you all, and didn't realize how much until I ventured online and started reading some of my favorite blogs (see links.)

Strange, that I should miss people that I really don't know. Some, of course, are friends. Others, are newly acquired friends -- having met them at the Blogger Round Up in the fall. And, still others, I wouldn't know if I walked by on the street. Still, I missed you all.

The OKC Gridiron Show went off beautifully. I've been exhausted for the past week, trying to catch up on all the rest we missed.

Now, it's 25 days until the NAHJ Conference that I'm in the midst of helping plan. So, my time is still limited.

But, I'm back. I'll post. There's so much to post about these days, I hardly know where to start.

But for now. Hello, again.