As I rapidly approach 40 I feel that I have embraced the technological boom of the past 20 years with enthusiasm and awe. I was thrilled to go from a bulky Walkman to a slim i pod. I used computer programs at work that were maddeningly temperamental in my twenties.. Remember AS400? One wrong keystroke and I was kicked out of the program I needed.I used to write up reports on carbon paper and have inky fingertips at the end of the day.
Lately I am feeling a pull of nostalgia for the way life was before. Slower and more tangible.
I adore the feel of a new hardcover book..The texture of the binder..the smell of the paper. The small and satisfying sound of a crackle as I turn each page. There are sensory sensations that a kindle would never I give to me. My books upon my shelf are like past loves.. they all mean something to me, taught me, humbled me. Grabbing my tattered copy of The Shining I remember how I was ten years old and was reading it on the sly whenever my Dad would lay it down somewhere.
That book scared the shit out of me. I remember my visceral reaction at one chapter where I flung the book away from me. Of course two seconds later I was scrambling to retrieve it and find out why all work and no play made Jack a dull boy.
My favorite iphone application is called Ambiance.. It has recordings of outdoor sounds that I love to listen to when I sleep. My favorite ones are of the ocean and of rain in a forest. Of course whats missing is one of the most wonderful parts of these sound experiences. The smell of the rain and the ocean are the most heady scents in the world to me. I am slowly being lulled into this flat screen life.
I won't go gentle into that matrix night! For every part of the day you experience via electronic miracle there should be a down and dirty immersion in the real world. I will build my own fires and play my vinyl records..I occasionally write a real letter seal it with wax..just because.
We are supposed to get papercuts..its part of the joie de vivre!
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