Although I have a website, a LinkedIn page, a Facebook personal page, a Facebook biz page, a Twitter account and a blog, I am still somewhat of a closet Luddite when it comes to certain technology. One night in 2011 was a good example of how it catches up with me. I had been enjoying a sensual dream about my mother’s baked stuffed artichokes, soft hearts oozing with Pastene’s olive oil and generous chunks of garlic. I woke suddenly to the sound of my dog barking. Boop! That sound—kind of like an electronic sound, maybe. I raised my head up immediately and sniffed the air, while the dog continued to bark. Boop! Yes, it was a faint electronic sound occurring at a regular interval. Smoke alarm wearing out its battery? Better check. I got up and started my patrol of our one-floor ranch. Jean came out of her nightly coma to mumble, “Let the dog out—it must be the bear in the back yard again,” and then went back to sleep. Boop! It became a game of hot/cold. As I … [Read more...]
We Are All Techno-Dependents on this Bus
Here's a little reminiscence I wrote in the aftermath of the Halloween snowstorm three years ago--about technology and what it does to us as humans. November 2, 2011. Finally the storm was over, and the lights came on in some Easthampton businesses. I was sitting in Shelburne Falls Coffee with a large hazelnut, savoring the ecstasy of my first hot drink in days and the soothing sound of voices murmuring and orders being placed, as other locals slowly found their way to electricity heaven. The other sound I slowly became aware of was the soft, ambient tapping of computer keys. Everywhere around me, people were engrossed in catching up on their email, reading their Facebook pages and working on their first assignments of the day, their Everything Bagels with Cream Cheese slowly languishing untouched beside them. The whispered conversation between an older couple and the young folks sitting at the table next to them was not, “What a horrible experience we just went through with that … [Read more...]