But the internet is also a Great Distraction when the day is bad and the brain is in turmoil.
You can pick a topic like Jim Jones or the theory of relativity and just lose yourself in link after link after link. Here's the three stories that most distracted me today:
* Kony 2012 - My dad mentioned it a couple times, but I didn't read a thing on it til today. It's a movement to encourage the US govt to stay in Uganda, to help their government catch the leader of the Lords Resistance Army--famous for using child soldiers. There are so many things wrong with this bunch, I won't enumerate them here--Uganda's PM has criticized them, as has former child soldier Ishmael Beah. If you haven't read the criticisms you could start here or here.
* Trayvon Martin - The young man who went to the corner store for Skittles and iced tea, and was shot to death by an overzealous-and-stupid-and-armed?!! neighborhood watch guy. And the decision by Florida's police to accept the killer's word that it was in self-defense even though there's massive evidence to the contrary. They barely even investigated. Outrageous.
* Ashley Treatments - Choosing to medically stop the growth of a child who is severely brain damaged (Eg. six month old mind that will never progress). The idea is that once such a child gets to adult size, they usually have to be institutionalized because they're too big (and dangerous) to care for at home. By keeping the person at a child's size, they can remain with their parents.
So that occupied my brain. Does anyone else do this? Spend hours obsessing over random topics or news items?
8 comments:
I'm so glad that I can post on your site, London. For some reason wordpress is not allowing me to post on about five of my favorite Betty sites. Dang. What's up with that?
Anyway, I love how you write these posts. Like how your brain works, and you always give me food for thought. : )
Robena, I was furious because WordPress (where I once registered for a blog, but which I have neither timne nor energy at this point) recognized my address and would no longer let me comment w/o logging in. Which is a PAIN when I move from computer to computer. Don't know what the idjits are doing there, but it cheesed me off royally.
WordPress, are you listening????
Anyway....London, Internet is also my "distraction of choice:"...! (smile)
It is really easy to get caught up in going from one spot to the next and suddenly hours have flown by.
= )
Oh yes I do this. I can even go one step further - I find something in a book I don't know. Go to internet to find out more. That leads me to something entirely different which then leads me to something else. Suddenly it's four in the morning and I'm finally sleepy.
@Robena A lot of people are having that problem, I think. I was okay once I hit the small Wordpress symbol next to the comments field and logged into my Wordpress account. Meh! Anyway thanks for the compliment. :-)
@German CB - I only have a Wordpress account for the purpose of commenting on Wordpress blogs! It's fool.
@Judie - I always said the internet is the worst for time wasting because it's open ended! On and on it gooooes...
@JJJ - I'm waiting for the day when we can look up more on a topic, right in the text of the book. Click on "roses" and a Wikipedia window pops up! With the ipad it's close but... not there yet.
But ... we're writers, all research is of value ... am I rite? !!!
This is blogger so it's ok to use without the crazy wp login. I have so many different Internet identities that it's difficult for me to comment anywhere. But lurk or read or follow links - I'm in!
Widdershins is right about the writers, everything is research or fodder for the brain.
@widder - You're back! Yeah... it's a good excuse for internet doodling.
@Magic - It can get to be onerous alright. That's why I allow anon posts and took off the captcha code... anything to make it easier!
Post a Comment