E. A. Blair: June 2008 Archives
I don't know about the rest of you but at times I definitely feel like a slave to the Internet. Though 'slave' may be a poor choice of word considering I am a willing participant in the relationship. Addicted may be a better description for it. I am addicted to the Internet. Though after a small bit of research I've come across some info explaining that the idea of Internet addiction was initially created as a hoax. And come to think of it, I'm not sure I would even classify my relationship with the Internet as an addiction. Simply because when I ever go on vacation, it is a welcome respite from all things WWW related. I relish that time, as a chance to break away from the stranglehold of email, news, sports, memes, blogs, social networking, videos etc. I don't think a true addict would relish time away from said obsession.
Recently, as in yesterday, kottke linked to a story about a man who started his own personal challenge to widdle his possessions down until he had only 100 things remaining. The premise immediately intrigued me. As any regular reader knows, I struggle with the consumption obsessed nature of our country. Individuals such as the No Impact Man are very inspirational. But as much as I try to live with some of those 'minimalist' goals in my own life I feel most of the time I am really no different then most everyone else and the thought of actually only possessing 100 things seems exceedingly far fetched. We all have 'stuff' and as much as we would like to not be so cluttered at home, some of it, while seldom used, holds certain sentimental value. Else, why would we possess it? But is clutter, also known in some cases as sentimental 'stuff' really so bad?
On the lighter side of things, two sports related topics have piqued my interest recently. The first is the recent retirement of Detroit Red Wings goalie Dominik Hasek, one of the best goalies of all time. But it's not his retirement per say that grabbed my attention. It was a quote in an ESPN.com article reporting on his retirement before it actually happened. Unfortunately, or perhaps rather coincidentally, they updated the article after his press conference and the quote has been removed but the gist of it is as follows.
Our NHL insider who broke the news to us of Hasek's retirement spoke only on the condition of anonymity because he felt that Hasek has earned the respect of being able to announce his own retirement.
Last night Barack Obama clinched the Democratic Presidential Nomination. In doing so he became the first Nominee from either major party who does not fit into the white male demographic. This is, to be sure, one of the most historic events in this nation's history. So why does it feel like it isn't that big of a deal?
