While spending a few months breathing the fresh air and studiously neglecting my online world, I discovered that I felt much better in general.

This bears emphatic declaration: The online world is not in any way a proper substitute for the Real World.

There is enormous appeal to online community and the relationships we develop in our chosen communities. While I would not advocate complete abandonment of blogs and online news sources, there is good reason to recommend taking a hiatus from it for a period of time.

Humans are social animals, used to living in communities with lots of face to face communication. Historically, until rather recently, most of your human interaction would be with people you knew (and who knew you) all your life, from birth to death.

Although teh internets provide an excellent way of exchanging information and networking, it remains an alienating medium at base. It lacks smells, body language, vocal inflection and intonation, etc. Emoticons, lol, (smile) and *hugs* are poor stand-ins for a much richer communication vocabulary available in meatspace.

So, go take a walk. Strike up a conversation with a total stranger and see where it goes. Don't go online for a week or two. Attend a physical protest or rally instead of signing an online petition.

As the saying goes, stop and smell the roses.

Labels: alienation, real world, vacation

While other things have been occupying my time for several months, I still plan to post here more. Really.

1. "Mama's Boy" by Suzi Quatro
2. "Can You Understand" by Renaissance
3. "Two Soldiers" by David Byrne
4. "Baby You're Not Going to Make a Fool Out of Me" by Lightning Hopkins
5. "Silent Telephone" by the 101'ers
6. "Lipstick Vogue by Elvis Costello & the Attractions
7. "Girls Don't Like It" by the Undertones
8. "White Rabbit" by Jefferson Airplane
9. "The Freeze" by Albert Collins and His Rhythm Rockers
10. "We All Sung Together" by Grin

Bonus track: "Funny in My Mind (I Believe I'm Fixin' to Die)" by Robert Plant

Because of recent events, I'd just like to post a link to the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network (RAINN) and their number: 1-800-656-HOPE.

I'm not going into the details at the moment but suffice to say that I have personal reasons for wanting to make this resource better known.

Labels: abuse, rape, resources

As usual I'm cynical about the USA political scene, particularly at the Presidential race level. Without wanting to malign the candidates, I think the distance between people's perceptions of them and their actual positions is a chasm.

Politics is as much about advertising as it is about accomplishments, skills, and character. It's a race to see which candidate appeals to the largest numbers of people. Once elected, they don't have to do anything they promised or what constituents ask them to do. This is called representative democracy and the reality of the vicious political circus of election shows it is not democratic at all.

When Mr. Bush or Cheney says it doesn't matter what people want them to do, they're going to do what they want, they have a point. Once elected, they don't have to follow the "will of the people." That's the beauty of representative democracy: They are only accountable to their oath of office and even that can often be violated without serious problems or repercussions. Again, witness Bush and Cheney.

So don't hold your breath for big change with Obama. Hope instead for fewer violations of the public trust. Then your expectations may be met.

Labels: democracy, loathing, politics, Prez race 2008