E.T. text home.

I want to know how, and when exactly, we decided it was okay -in the middle of a conversation- to pick up a tiny little square electronic device and turn our attention to it. Be it a razor, a blackberry, an i-whatever... I just can't stand how perfectly rude and perfectly acceptable it's become to momentarily disengage from human interaction just in case the message in one's hand is more interesting. Because even if it pales in comparison to a person's present moment, he or she undoubtedly still diverts focus just long enough to check what's going on elsewhere.

Now, I really don't mind mobile phones when used for their intended purpose. It's the texting that really... saddens me. Sure, a text is a super handy way to say "meet me at 6," versus going through the whole how-are-you routine when that's the main purpose of meeting at 6. But then I meet you at 6, and as I tell you how I am, you half-heartedly listen while typing to god-knows-who about god-knows-what on your itty bitty keyboard. The irony is that if you were with god-knows-who, I'd probably know more about what was going on in your life, because you'd be ignoring god-knows-who as you texted me.

I'm not saying it's wrong, I'm not shaming the cell-savvy, and I'm not even saying I don't do it, too. But I will testify that I'm someone who dissects human behavior. I try not to judge it, and when I do pass judgement, it's only after I've attempted to assess that which I judge from every angle. More commonly, I observe, I consider, I observe some more, and then marvel. Even the most atrociously boring person is fascinating to me if I'm given the opportunity to observe from a short distance. (Just don't make me talk to them.)

I'm a little off-course: the story of my life. But I think what I'm aiming for is that my as-of-late observations on human interaction are so depressing. I really am pretty shy when it comes down to it, so figuratively hiding behind a phone does indeed sound... comforting. But then, not so comforting is the thought that I -that WE- are creatures of habit, and we like our comforts. We're not going to come out of hiding; we'll only burrow deeper into ourselves and our need to look occupied.

I started out pissed at the way technology has spiraled our face-to-face social skills into the sewer. But really, I'm just frightened of the world my daughter is going to grow up in. I'm weirded out by the teenagers I saw out to breakfast; 4 out of 5 phones going at all times. All I can picture is WALL-E.

I could vent for a good while longer, but I can only take so much computer.

(P.S. Don't laugh, but the whole reason I went on this rant is because I just ordered a new phone.)

Rain

The best thing about a rainy night is that no one bothers to go out in it. While I have to psych myself up for the wet ground's tendency to latch on and creep up my pant legs, or for the smell of damp dog fur that will undoubtedly follow me back inside... I honestly love the privacy of a walk in the rain after dark. It's relaxing, and kinda romantic to be alone under an umbrella without a visible horizon to separate the pavement from the sky.

But I do agree with the Carpenters: Rainy days and Mondays always get me down. Okay, not always, but today at least. It was one of those days I would have liked to have had a remote with 3 buttons on it. Rewind, Skip, and Delete. Would've pushed 'em all day long. The rain was almost ridiculously cliche, and I listened to Radiohead on repeat in honor of the circumstances.
As my friend Coyote once said -as we slogged through our tenth straight day of rain hiking through the Tennessee woods- sometimes you just have to "embrace the suck."

Tonight, I embraced it as best I could. Hopefully, it worked.