stradling the line

I started this blog in September, which was about two months ago. I posted once and became so stressed out and consumed with my paying day job that I completely forgot about this medium of expression until last weekend. Now my head is above water. I have been revived. I can breathe again. Time for a renewal.

That I am expressing myself in this medium is both ironic and cliche. This is cliche. How many blogs on subjects from A to Z are already out there? Too many from both professional and amateur writers. Who doesn't have their own blog by now? I love grumbling about how western culture is overwhelmed by information overload from mass media. Now I'm contributing to it! How rude of me to invite family and friends to read yet more in their already overstimulating environments. If someone invited me to read their new blog - honestly, I'd say, "sure, of course I'll read it" just to be polite and then delete the link from my email. Now I'm like yet another minnow trying to express myself in a huge school of fish.

And yet, this is ME starting this! This is ironic. I fear technology the way some people fear germs. This fear, I believe, contributes to my lack of understanding of this resource. Fear coupled with not understanding multiplied by lack of initiative equals stagnant water.

At 30-something, I straddle the line between amazement and contempt. I fully support that which is intended to make life easier and more efficient but I also remember functioning quite well BEFORE the internet took over our lives. It's like my generation listening to grandparents tell stories about life before cars and indoor plumbing. The possibilities in constantly emerging technological resources is overwhelming. The latest cell phones on the market are small and light weight enough to lose constantly and can do everything but make your morning coffee. I acquired my first cell phone about four years ago. It took me almost a year to completely understand all 300 functions and features, including text messaging. In that amount of time it reached the status of a vinyl record. I'm still only using my phone to make and receive calls. Anyone between the ages of 10 and 33 would shake their head if they read the name plastered on the front that says Cingular. Time to upgrade?

I've seen 13-year-olds texting as fast as it takes to dial a phone number while plugged into their ipods and simultanously playing a video game. I've seen a mother my age disciplining her teenager by taking away her ipod and cell phone. I fondly remember the days of yesteryear when being punished meant I was not permitted to use the family land line. By the way, should teenagers be permitted to have their own cell phones? I could go on and on about how I think technology is affecting the way teenagers learn to relate to the world and other adults around them, but that's a topic for another post. (God help me, I sound like a grandmother from the 1960's disgruntled about the evils of rock and roll, electric guitars and Elvis!)

Even when someone graciously takes the time to explain a particular function of a computer or software program and I write down the step by step flow chart process, I will somehow still screw something up. Like posting this blog. That's okay. I'm learning.