Last week I had a rough time, owing to somebody else’s personal business that I won’t go into here. Suffice to say it was the sort of thing that made me want to cocoon in a big way – I wanted to unplug the phone, shut off the email, and just get away for a bit.
And I realized, I can do exactly that.
I had a miniature 12-year-Dewar’s left over from a Christmas present a couple years ago from my surrogate big sister. I have a Sodastream machine capable of creating my own fizzy water 24 ounces at a time. I have a nice rugged polycarbonate double-old-fashioned rocks glass, and I have a fridge that makes ice. I don’t know what inspired me to pull it all together, but I had a fleeting memory of the McTeggarts, who would occasionally play a song they introduced as “a favorite of all the boys in the back, so we’ll play this one for them,” and play the old Kingston Trio tune “Scotch and Soda.”
And I sat on the couch, sipped my drink, watched some of the backed-up episodes on the DVR, and just breathed deeply. And it was phenomenal.
A while back, another blogger of my acquaintance embarked on a program by which she would do one night a week unplugged. The more I think about this, the more I’m inclined to try it myself. I have a couple of thoughts on how it would work for me, though, because my problem is that I will invariably hitting refresh on Twitter, on Facebook, on my RSS reader, lather rinse repeat. And I don’t need to just keep running laps around the same four apps on the iPhone or laptop.
So, my thoughts on how this would go:
* No laptop. Or desktop, for that matter.
* No iPhone. I could pull out the backup phone solely as a lifeline for planning or in case the wife needed to reach me if I’m out, but I’m not really accepting incoming calls. (Let’s face it, anyone who knows me knows the best move is to text me anyway.)
* No iPad – I don’t even own this one – but I’m wondering whether to caveat that for use of the Kindle app (or even an actual Kindle) for reasons below.
* No TV, at least not as a crutch for background noise. If I’m going to watch something I should bloody well watch it.
So what do I hope to accomplish by this?
* More reading. As it is, the magazines, and there aren’t many, tend to pile up for a while. I want to avoid that – actual words on a printed page will force me to perhaps slow down, skim less, actually try for some comprehension. Books as well – I’m currently re-reading some stuff, but I may want to branch out and read new material soon, and for that I want to allow an electronic loophole as Kindle-based reading is both cheaper and easier to transport.
* Movies. The wife and I do not see movies. This is a problem. I have lost count of all the things we need to see and haven’t – we still haven’t seen Up, for crying out loud, never mind Toy Story 3 or the new Harry Potter or Red or Date Night or Scott Pilgrim vs the World or any number of things. We’re working on an upgraded internet connection, we’re probably going to have AppleTV to go with the DirecTV box, there’s Netflix, we’ll have any number of ways to get movie content in front of us – there’s no excuse at this point.
* Going out and about. Picking Wednesday means that I start the evening in Menlo Park, which will make it easy to hop on Caltrain to visit people who live further up the Peninsula – or to go all the way into the city if need be. It also puts Iberia back on the grid, which can get expensive but has leather chairs with an actual wood-burning fireplace and sangria that’s less sangria and more Gibraltar Island Iced Tea. Or the British Bankers Club, which can douche up from time to time but also has perhaps the finest cocktail menu in 650. Or perhaps south, all the way to San Jose and Singlebarrel or Trials or O’Flaherty’s – or even just to the Cuban place on Cal Ave which is halfway home anyway.
* Exercise. STOP LAUGHING IT IS NOT A JOKE.
Basically, I’m just hoping to get off the Internet treadmill for one night a week and see if it helps ratchet my brain down a little. And hell, if I’m going to drink like an old man, I may as well try to live like one…
I think this would be good for both of us to do. Although, I thought the other incentive for ML was to actually interact with people more, which is why she banned the phone. I like the idea of trying to interact with other people in person, too, but I also think that with some of my friends, even just chatting on the phone would be an acceptable option since I don’t really do that anymore anyway. But even better is to see them in person.
Since I generally babysit on Wednesday nights, that doesn’t do so well for my night, but that makes it a great night for you. Heh. =)
The babysitting angle occurred to me about 10 minutes after posting. I figure Mondays and Fridays are probably not the best, but with classes on Thursday nights that feels a little like cheating since almost two hours are booked anyway. Tuesday…well, Tuesdays are an SEC conference schedule night, so I don’t want to collide with basketball. Unless I’m up at Pete’s on the regular…hm…this could get expensive…