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| Name: Ryan Roe Email: prawnrr-rmv@this.com-yahoo.com Position: Movie / Television / Comic Book / Trivia Geek View Ryan's Personal Profile |
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| Here's the the conclusion to the journal begun here and continued here. Saturday I don’t have to go to work until the afternoon. A great opportunity for reading and writing, right? But I spend several bushels (and a few pecks) of time playing Super Mario Sunshine. And while I’m happy to find the first Yoshi egg, I realize that playing for that long is as big a time-waster as aimless web-surfing would have been. My problem with procrastinating has never been about specific distractions. It’s about time management. I could get rid of my computer, my GameCube, and my TV, and I’d just end up wasting time anyway, playing with my old Transformers or reading every Calvin and Hobbes collection in chronological order. If I’m not willing to commit to being productive, I’ll always find some new distraction. That’s a valuable lesson, isn’t it? Now hold on a minute, I’m going to play Minesweeper for three hours. Sunday I’m scheduled to go to work in the afternoon again. Despite the fact that I never get online, it still feels like the time to put my nametag on and leave the house comes too soon. Jim Croce was right, man… There never seems to be enough time to do the things you want to do once you find them. (However, I’m not quite convinced that Leroy Brown is the baddest man in the whole damn town.) I do manage to start and finish Batman: The Long Halloween, a 370-page comic book collection which was a birthday present from Erin. So that’s something. Monday I’m off work today, which means that if I wanted to I could do nothing but sit in front of the computer. But I don’t. It is starting to get to me now. I’m missing any exciting new posts on the Tough Pigs message board, and there’ll be a zillion of them to catch up on when I return. And isn’t Monday when Strong Bad answers a new e-mail on HomestarRunner.com? What did we do before there was a world wide web? If I want to know what new comics are coming out this week, I can’t check Diamond Distributors’ website. If I want to know what movies are playing in Austin, I can’t use Fandango. How did anyone ever accomplish anything or get any information in the days before “http” became helpful to the populace, before the @ sign went from obscure to omnipresent? I guess I'm really lucky to be living in the age of information. I think I appreciate that more now. Say, if they can make a nicotine patch, why not an internet patch? Preferably with a good spam filter. I’d hate to get spam under my skin. 2:00 PM or so I do sit at the computer for a while, but it’s to write what you’re reading now, and to compose a letter to the president of the Fox network asking her not to cancel Arrested Development. I think it’s time well spent. Tuesday It’s the last day. Once the clock hits 12:01 AM tonight, I’m free to surf. You might expect that I’d be like the Hamburglar jonesing for a Big Mac, but I’m really not. I don’t even say “Robble robble” once the whole day. I had considered sitting at the computer and watching the clock so I could connect at the very second the week ended, but that doesn’t happen. 11:59 PM finds me playing Mario Party 6 with Jason and Erin and not even thinking about getting online. And it’s the same two minutes later when it becomes Wednesday. When our game is over I do sign on, but only to check my e-mail. I predict that I’ll have 13 new messages, and it turns out to be 15, almost all of which are actually intended for me specifically. While I’m at it I check Muujware, a wonderful website indeed, for new news and comments. If anyone could tell me what Matt and others said about me while I was gone, I’d appreciate the info. So, that’s the end of the Week Without an Internet. It wasn’t that terrible, really. There were things I missed, but as it turns out, there are lots of other things to do. If I can teach myself to balance productive things with time-eating things, I’ll be golden. I do feel like from now on I can sign on less frequently and be okay with it… Of course, I also feel like celery sticks would be a healthier snack than Little Debbie Swiss cake rolls, and how often do I make the right choice on that one? In conclusion, I’d just like to remind everyone that the world loves wannabes. So hey, hey, do that brand new thing. Comments on this post are closed. |
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| Yeah, I remember what life was like before the internet. I published MuppetZine in the early 90's, which was basically like a website, except it was much slower and much more expensive. My friends would tell me about new Muppet stuff they'd seen, but instead of posting it on the forum, they'd write me a letter. I'd get the letter, type up a blurb for my news page, wait until I'd finished all the writing and layout, and take it to the printer. Once I got the zines back, it would take me two days to address all the envelopes and mail them out. The whole process could take three months, from getting the information to telling other people about it. These days, I could get that information out in three minutes, and then go on to fnd some other useless way to pass the time. When I die, I'll have wasted my life so much more efficiently than any generation before me. |
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| In regards to Arrested Development, things don't look very good. I mean, the show jumped the shark last weekend. That is, Henry Winkler jumped the shark. And I sure could go for some Burger King. |
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