Beaming and Binging

For those of you who are part-taking in the "ten year-zero-views" project, I hope you are enjoying the opportunity to read posts that have few if any views. I know I've enjoying flashing back. I've embraced this project and am updating all sorts of things, most of which I'm not re-posting. I can't leave the less-than-fabulous posts out there for anyone to see.  

I've noticed a few things about the decade-old posts: 

(1) Many are super-dated; in fact, it is almost mind-boggling how much things have changed in such a short time. To my 20 year old nieces, ten years is an eternity. To me, it seems like yesterday...only yesterday is a whole lot different than today. Who knew?
(2) Many blog posts don't stand alone--they don't make full sense without reading previous blogs. That's good and bad. I'd prefer they stand alone--like a good trypic in art, the three paintings work as a whole yet can still stand on their own. So, as I re-work them, I am designing to be stand-alone. This effort won't solve world hunger or win a Pulitzer but it will make me feel better about my electronically-shared efforts.
(3) The older posts tend to be shorter in length and more frequent in post, as I used to write much, much more frequently. I think it's a sign of good mental health that I'm writing less.  
(4) Poop stands the test of time. Lots of poop posts. For this, I am proud. In fact, all of the bodily function posts seem relevant. (Well, define relevant.)

Let's see how long it takes for this post to become dated and irrelevant....
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Between Netflix and YouTube, one can lose days of life without realizing it. A blessing and a curse, this approach to media has left me blurry-eyed and a pound heavier. (Hey, one has to keep up her sugar level while working to stay focused. Snacking is a must.) This week, I managed to binge watch Season One of "Game of Thrones" (gave me nightmares--ugh--don't know if I can watch any more of that show), Season 8 of "Doctor Who" and Seasons 1, 2 and 6 of "Glee." I still had time to go to work and eat but other than that, I did little else. I don't know what inspired this ridiculous way of being but I was moved to not move.

I became one with the couch and stared at the tablet, laptop and/or TV with abandon. 

This binge-watching way of life has become very popular. I often hear co-workers or friends talk about their netflixing over the weekend. I thought taking cell phone photos of everything (instead of staying in there here and now) was bad enough; we've digressed to sitting on the couch for 12 hours at a time instead of walking anywhere besides to the bathroom or mail box. 

The wife does not understand or embrace binge-watching. She suggests I must not have anything else to do. Oh, I do. I have things to do. Such things just have to wait.

Perhaps, from a psychological standpoint, I should contemplate what I am avoiding. But, I really don't think I'm avoiding much of anything. I had an entire Saturday to my schedule and I chose to spend it eating chocolate and watching a mind-numbing amount of electronic visual arts. (Art being a relative term.) I am fortunate to have much less work to do on the weekends--my job doesn't require all the after hours work it once used to require. On the other hand, the wife is ALWAYS working. She doesn't have time or interest in staring at a screen for hours at a time. (Those who think being a professor is a cake walk are wong. Shame on you. The lady is always doing work. Right now she's reading all sorts of dribble about peers up for tenure. I'm exhausted just thinking about her schedule.)

Thankfully, I am now over-saturated and ready to return to the land of the living. I've had suggestions of other series to watch but I can't do it right now. It will have to wait until I build my stamina.

As for cell phone cameras....when I go places, I've noticed that everyone is taking photos instead of staying in the here and now. That's why I've been trying to not take photos--instead, I've been actually LOOKING at things, living things, enjoying things. My biggest effort in the past month was at the Madonna concert. Every where I looked, cell phones were in the air, pointed toward the stage. I would say at least 75% of those in attendance spent their time watching the concert via their cell phone screens. I took a few photos at the beginning and then put my phone away.

I allowed myself to be immersed in the happening.  If I can do this, anyone can do this. Trust me. I love my phone. I love having instant access to just about anything or anyone. But, living is beyond my phone. Life is out there, not in there.

This phone-beyond-a-phone thing is a permeating phenomenon. The texting-internet-camera phone thing has led to a whole new culture, a new way of being. I see this every day at work when new employees come to training. When I take a photo for the employee badge, I am corrected and told to take the photo from a bit higher perspective--meaning like how one takes a selfie. "It makes you look so much better," they tell me.

So, I take non-selfie selfies. 

The photos don't look any better to me but they look a billion percent better to the employee, so I go with it. If they don't like the photo I take, I give them an option of taking a selfie and texting it to me.

We have some pretty entertaining employee badges right now.

Soon, no one will talk or even look up. If I were a chiropractor, I'd be licking my chops. They have to be seeing a profound increase in neck injuries, as everyone is always bent over looking at their phone screens.

Don't get me wrong--I just spent a week holding or staring at an electronic device every waking moment when not at work. These comments are not a judgement on anyone.

It is an observation of the world going round and round.

Sometimes, I think about how we are bombarded....zapped....flooded with beams and signals and frequencies and electronic waves.  Every single moment of our lives, we are awash in particles of this and that. I wonder what we would think if we could actually see these things? Would we be terrified, mystified or awe-inspired?

Sometimes, I think my clients with mental illness are onto something. They talk about things being beamed from space into their apartments or into their very beings.... who am I to say they are wrong? It's actually rather true. When they talk about the beams coming from the satellite to their electric sockets or TV or radio, they are actually correct....maybe they can see what we cannot.

Perhaps we should applaud them rather than medicate them. Instead of asking what antipsychotic shoud be prescribed, we should be asking, "What on Earth is all this "stuff" doing to our very beings?"

Counting the niece living with us, we have two routers, at least three computers in use (sometimes, I have my work computer at home and the wife has a work computer, too--so, that's opportunity for five computers at one time), four cell phones, three tablets, and god knows how many iPods. We hook things up via blue tooth and routers. We text, we call, we email, we post.

That's a lot of zapping and beaming. 

I'm glad clients can't come to my house. They'd scare the shit out of me with all the things they'd describe and see.

All this thinking has inspired me to step away from the electronics and actually go outside for a few minutes. Today, I am going to post this blog, turn off (and put away) my computer, stay away from my tablet, turn off my cell phone and not turn on the TV until football comes on.....

That's in 2 hours, 15 minutes. I know I can go that long without any electronics in my life. I may shake and groan a little bit, but I can make it.


My electronics have become unmanagable. But, they will be the powerless ones, not me.

After all, I'm turning off their power. I have the power for them to be powerless. The beams and signals will still be there will be a bit less zapping directly into my being for a few minutes.

Perhaps I can binge read books this week instead of binge-watching anything. As long as it's a real book, not an electric copy, it's all good.

Beam me down, Scotty. You can beam me up later.