Internet-addict?

Yesterday was "Shutdown Day" where I attempted to give up my computer for one whole day. 24 hours without the internet, without itunes, without my movies, tv shows, facebook and msn. What follows is a journal I kept throughout the day.

11:08 am (2 hours in and feeling positive)

I figured that I should keep a list of things I find difficult to do without my computer and also keep track of what I do instead of sitting at my desk all day talking to my roommate over msn.

1. I can't write said lists. I usually type on my laptop. It took me a good five minutes to locate any paper bigger than a post-it and two tries before I found a pen that worked. Also, I forgot how much my hand cramps up when I cursive write for anything longer than a grocery list.

2. Checking the weather and temperature outside. Usually it shows up in my task bar. I had to look it up on channel 30. Luckily the local forecast was playing.

3. Listening to music. I sometimes do listen to the radio on my laptop instead of itunes but I had to hook up my stereo to play the radio this morning.

1:03 pm (4 hours in and going slightly crazy)

So far today I have been very productive and done the following: read my book; changed my linens; been to the gym; reorganized the kitchen with kathryn; had lunch (salad); vacuumed; and been to the bank.

I tried to call Kathleen to chat (I've done everything distracting I could think of and I'm quickly getting bored.) There was no answer. I really wanted to watch some episodes of The Office but I need my computer for that!

I'm not sure if I'm going to make it all day. I found myself sitting in front of my laptop a few minutes ago...

2:55 pm (feeling a nicotine-like crave to go online.)

Kathryn (my roommate) just came in to tell me she had tagged photos of me on facebook. She is determined to make me cave.

I just finished reading a whole book, "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime." I'm going to the mall for a while to get me out of the house again.

My hand is cramping up again.

8:30 pm (doing much better, thinking I might actually make it.)

Since I last wrote I have been to the mall with Ali and Jennie, went dress shopping and then went costume shopping for the party tonight. I came home at 4 and very nearly cracked. Like really. I think the only thing that kept me going was the shame and surprise I couldn't do a measly day without my laptop.

Now I'm eating sushi and painting my nails black. I'm going as Kurt Cobain to this 90's party tonight. The party should get me through to midnight computer-free.


11:06 am Sunday morning (triumphant!)

I did it! I went a full 24 hours without turning my computer on! Hurrah! I had no idea it was going to be so hard. Today I plan to stay in bed and watch my backlog of Lost and Grey's Anatomy episodes to celebrate.

David Suzuki, move on over.

I've figured out how to save the planet. Exciting I know. Well not the whole planet right away but this is definitely a strategy to get us part of the way there. And it doesn't involve spending more money or cutting back on your garbage. If anything it's free and it encourages garbabge.

Remember in the nineties when animal right's activists would protest and throw red paint on people wearing fur coats? Clearly this was a very successful strategy. Who wears fur coats nowadays other than my grandmother? So all we need to do is to figure out a way to properly shame polluters and we've got ourselves a clean planet.

So the question arises, which polluters should we work on shaming first? I was pondering this while driving down Quinpool this afternoon. I noticed that I was behind a Toyota hybrid, the first I've actually seen on the roads. While I was admiring the eco-friendly car in front of me this giant SUV drove past us with a very posh young woman in the front seat. I thought to myself, that's ridiculous anyone my age should be ashamed of driving that gas-guzzler. And that is when genius struck.

So here is the plan. We gather all our garbage, slop water and general grossness. Free materials. We wait secretly on street corners and when an SUV pulls up at a red light we attack. Smelly garbage water smacks the window. Rotten egg shells get stuck on windshield wipers. If we want to risk it, we could add black paint to represent the oil they are stripping from the earth.

And that is how we save the planet.

Shut Down Day March 24th

This Saturday there is going to be a global experiment to see how many people can survive without turning on their personal computers for one day. To learn more check it out at www.shutdownday.org or watch the following video to learn about alternate uses for laptops. My personal favourite is the curling.