Oh Internet! You just keep doing you. Thoughts on #unplug

Let me go on the record as saying that I'm as about as old school as you can get and still be even mildly NOT 78 years old. I have Facebook. I have a blog. I even have my own [never updated] web site. But I don't tweet, skype, tumblr or any of that crap. I probably should if I want to get my business off the ground, but I'm kind of lazy and it seems like figuring out what the hell the hashtag is for would take up more time than I'm willing to give it.

Besides, I'm pretty sure the lifespan of anything on the internet is about 35 seconds. So I'm holding out for the day that Twitter becomes Myspace.

But then again, the Internet is hopelessly self-absorbed and Twitter hit the nail on the head by pandering to that element.

Dammit. I guess I'll have to figure out Twitter. But not before I get fully vested in the newest Internet meme: #unplug.

Let me throw an addendum to my previous on-the-record by saying that I REALLY love the concept of this. In case you're not familiar with the how to, here's the premise:

1) Realize that you're hopelessly addicted to anything Internet-related and powerless to your addiction.
2) Seek to make amends to anyone you've wronged.

Oh... wait. That's AA. Moving on...

The premise behind unplugged actually IS acknowledging how hopelessly plugged in we are and how we've kind of lost touch with reality. For instance, every night, The Fiancee™ and I sit on the back porch having a chat and a smoke theoretically catching up about the day and figuring out what the game plan for the night is. But if you were to look through the sliding glass door, you'd see both of us more engaged with our devices than each other. Neither of us are big Internet addicts, but the Internet has kind of stripped us of our ability to have a meaningful dialogue. Or even an unmeaningful dialogue.

It's made it impossible to have an uncomfortable silence.

That's not right, y'all. Not right at all.

So  point of unplugging is to pick a time frame (a day, week, month, etc), pick a day to begin it, let all your peeps know you're going off line and then DO IT. Only use your phone for calls and texts. Leave the TV off and your laptops unplugged. Go out and explore a city.

Talk to real live people... in person <---that's the part that terrifies me the most. I live in Florida; people are scary here.

Afterward you can plug back in, but maybe not so much this time. Or maybe you can plug all the way back in, but schedule unplugged moments. Or maybe you'll become a hermit and never plug back in again... until the History Channel shows up with a camera crew to film you for an episode of Mountain Men.

I'm totally down for this because, for real, I'm not that plugged in ANYWAY... and maybe unplugging will help me get over my agoraphobia (I'm pretty sure the only way I'm getting over that is by moving out of this shit hole of a state).

But the irony... the supremely delicious irony of #unplug is that it's an INTERNET MEME. Unplugging has a damn hashtag and people have been tweeting about it. I'm blogging about it. It's a Google+ discussion (or whatever they call it on Google+ I can't figure Google+ out). I expect it'll be showing up in my Facebook feed any day now.

Oh, sweet precious Internet. Never change.

Well now I've gone and done it...

I went and let facebook people know I have an Etsy shop. I, like, invited people to come check it out.

What in the Hades is the matter with me?! Seriously!

But what's done is done and, theoretically, can't be undone. So, help me quit my day job! Go check out the facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/Samandsadydesigns. Tell your friends. Tell your co-workers. This is a mission, y'all. I like wandering around my house in my jammies too much to want to have to put on the corporate uniform anymore.

After you're done spreading the word for me, go to the Etsy shop http://www.etsy.com/shop/SamandSady and buy some stuff. With a little bit of luck, I'll have some new product up there (I just got back from New Orleans with fresh photos, so more art is necessary. For my soul, that is).

Being productive is difficult when the TV is on all the time. Just sayin'

So... as part of our New Year plan, The Boyfriend™ and I decided that The Trolls needed more structure by way of a weekly chore list. A chore list can seem rather daunting to even the most clean-freakish of a child, when there's a pile of stuff getting in the way of the thing you need to clean.

Did I mention that The Boyfriend™ and I are packrats? He won't admit it, but he is.

So, part two of our grand plan involved busting butt this weekend and completely organizing the house from top to bottom -- putting away Christmas stuff, putting the baskets and basket and baskets of laundry away (doing some laundry) and other general organization. Especially in our bedroom, which is just a godawful mess. No, seriously. It's bad in there. I think I picked up this trait from The Nancarita, who uses her bedroom as a catchall for the stuff she doesn't want in the rest of her house.

As you can see, I'm not making it very far in the whole cleaning endeavor. Part of it is because I'm wicked tired and just want to be in bed, but the bulk of it is because I'm constantly being distracted by one of the four million TVs that are constantly on in the house.

Before The Trolls and I moved in with The Boyfriend™ we didn't have cable. I liked it that way. TV time was limited to one DVD (usually of the educational variety), which was usually on in the background, because we'd seen it so many times that we didn't want to watch it. Once we moved in with The Boyfriend™, we had cable again and, despite my best efforts NOT to, have become hugely addicted to it. The Boyfriend™ is still worse about it, though. Turns it on first thing in the morning, as soon as he wakes up, and it doesn't go off until I turn it off after he's fallen asleep.

TV kills motivation. It kills intention. It kills thought and imagination. It kills attention. TV, in my opinion, is directly responsible for the demise of civilization. Some of the greatest innovations happened pre-TV... and we were certainly healthier before TV was part of our daily lives.

I'm starting an initiative here, at home, and I hope you'll join me -- less TV and more reality. I'm going to have to be subtle about it, because kicking an addiction is hard work, but it'll be worth it