Friday, April 11, 2008

This Week Has Been So 1996...

It's now been over a week since I could sit at my desk and work at the computer. My time online has, as I predicted, been limited to a few moments at school (including this evening's special trip), and it's really made me realize how much I depend on the computer to do almost everything in terms of personal and business communication. I wouldn't call it an addiction, but there have been some "withdrawals" nonetheless.

The biggest thing has been the fact that, when I finally get home after a long teaching day (which still averages out to 12 hours or so), I find that I'm just simply boooooorrrred. I've been on the Internet since January of 1997 (which, I realize, would still make me a "n00b" in some circles), and I had to think back to that time to figure out what my fun-but-occasionally-time-wasting pastime was in those days. I'm pretty sure it was TV then, and it's certainly TV now (having fallen asleep in front of same for three of the past four nights). I realize that I could be practicing or writing--and that time will come--but for a particularly grueling stretch of time here (my last true "day off" was Thursday of spring break), it's nice to have something a bit less involved to do when I get home. The Internet fulfills that role nicely, and I've really missed it.

It's also become the major mode of personal communication for me. There are more than a few relationships that have virtually been sustained by talking on AIM, and I miss that as well; it's been pretty isolated around here. I've actually picked up the phone a few times to talk to people (which must be somewhat of a shock to those who know me well), but that only allows for one conversation at a time, and I've become a multitasking kind of guy.

Anyway, I'm still here, and the computer's still there (in the shop); hopefully, I'll have an update on its progress before long.

(I feel) Lucky (to have heard the song about) seven: I've been a big fan of They Might Be Giants for years, having seen them live on many occasions. Last night, I fell asleep on the couch while watching Leno, and I woke up to the very end of Conan, where TMBG was performing. They've been into making kids' records lately, and the song they performed was "Seven," from a new CD called Here Come the 123's. The cool part? It was basically a vocal by John Linnell (the one without glasses), backed by light bass and drums and a horn section of two bari saxes and a bass sax! Very cool; very amusing. I've played a bass sax with a professional wind symphony before; I wonder what it would pay to tour on that instrument with TMBG...

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