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February 16th, 2000
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Catch Your Breath
It seems a study at Stanford has learned that people who spend more than five hours on line every week spend less time with friends. Gosh. They also said they spend less time watching television. Probably the reason it made television news tonight in the first place. Less time on the tube. Television people seem to obsess over this. Less time spent in that desperate sinkhole where your last and only recourse before you hit the bottle is to watch something vaguely demeaning and depressing sandwiched in between the advertisements for dot coms, automobiles and brokerage accounts. And then hit the bottle. Do I spend more than five hours a week on the Internet? More than five hours a day? Do I? Me?
Actually, as I read this thing, I'm wondering where's the story? National Public Television did an interview with the author of the study. The national news programs gave it one or two minutes. What are they saying, really? If you're spending time on the Internet, you're not doing something else. You are probably not watching television, although you may, as I usually do, have it on in the background so you can listen. You may or may not be on the phone. You may or may not be in bed humping the lady next door. You are most probably not yodeling in the shower, although you may be yodeling at your monitor. These things do seem true. So why am I suddenly sitting here feeling stupid?
Why?
Let's not start.
Walked in to work today, the first time in some time. All this rain. New resolution, though: No matter what the chance of rain later in the day when I return, if it's not raining right there as I'm standing in the doorway checking the cloud cover, if it looks like I have a chance to get to the office before it starts, I walk. There's a cab stand at the hotel across the street from the office and if it's raining when I return, I take a cab. Mile and a half. Big deal. Why has this not been my plan from the first? I need to get one of those cross walk signs and put it up outside my front door so I can get an immediate answer to my primary question: "Walk". "Don't Walk." The excitement here in Oakland is almost debilitating. I'll stop for a moment to allow you to catch your breath.
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Notice the depth of field on a photograph like this where the lens is wide open. The hands close of the face, yet out of focus. The background a blur. I'm not quite certain I nailed the focus on the eyes, but what the hell. I'm lucky I can still tell.
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