life without my laptop (i am so lame)

i apologize for my absence in the blogosphere. the reason is that my laptop conveniently decided to break right when i moved into my apartment at union square. my new one is coming in the mail soon, but until then i won't be 'connected' so much to the 'rest of the world'.

living a few days without a laptop made me realize how 'alone' and 'isolated' i am from the 'world'. access to the internet is the ability to maintain contact with 'friends' via facebook or aim or e-mail. but to stay connected is to isolate yourself in front of a computer. when did 'socializing' lose the actual human aspect of socializing? who am i talking to when i type in my blag, who do i intend to read these words?

studies have shown that the majority of a message is conveyed not by its content but by tone and body language. but 'talking' over the internet is just text, pure content. we have replaced the ability to inject personality and character with an array of emoticons and abbreviations, lol. adding a :) or a jk in a line will lighten the tone or suggest sarcasm, for instance. but then again, thats just the purpose of the internet: to transfer information, to foster communication, to stay connected. and we can all stay connected if we can compromise our desire for human contact. though the internet is useful for these purposes, days and nights and days and nights of aim use will degenerate common traits necessary for good social situations, such as hygiene and looking pretty in general.

but i must stay connected, a slave to my laptop. some of those 'friends' you can only stay in touch with facebook. sometimes there may not be enough time to set aside for a conversation over the phone or on aim. sometimes there is nothing as simple and casual as a message on the wall. sometimes only a short, concise facebook message will suffice--no need to go through the greetings commonly found in phone or aim conversations. facebook has really revolutionized networking and the idea of 'being connected'. some people can't go a day without checking the newsfeed or looking through a friend's recently posted pictures.

for the first few days, i experienced facebook (or maybe just laptop/internet/talking to friends) withdrawal. i was getting used to talking in person, getting used to taking showers and maintaining good hygiene, getting used to changing clothes daily. or maybe i was just adjusting to life sans the internet.

work awaits me.

-andy