December 02, 2003
5 years oldby Halcyon
Today (Dec 2) is the 5th birthday of cockybastard.com
A week later prehensile.com turns 6.
I can barely remember life before “@”. It’s hard to imagine not having a digital place to share.
I wonder where I would be without the net?
Sure, I’d be lost without mapquest.
I’d never make it to a movie on time.
And I’d have to read the newspaper to know what’s going on.
But I mean, deeper than that.
Who would I be?
I’ve heard of painters saying that they were married to their art…and that any woman in their life was a mistress.
I think I have a similar relationship with the net. When I say the net, I mean the amorphous input/output flow between online friends and strangers.
While I am immensely grateful for this 21st century existence, I wonder
about some of the consequences.
What important people in my life have I made to feel like a mistress?
I wonder if I would be a better partner in relationships if the net wasn’t there to tempt me.
And I’m not talking about being tempted by the AMPLE porn available online.
I mean the comfort it gives me. The ear and shoulder it provides.
Every girlfriend I’ve had (since falling into the digital world 6 years ago) has had an issue with my blurred boundaries of real life and digital life.
Is my inability to have a successful exclusive relationship tied to this input/output world view?
Despite my flamboyant photo shoots, I have devolved into a quasi-robotic USB compatible input/output device that shuns human contact.
Well, maybe not entirely robotic. But I am in front of a monitor way to much.
And sometimes that bums me out.
But sometimes it all seems beautiful.
Sometimes it feels like the world is becoming one big room.
And we’re starting to get over the awkwardness. We’re starting to make digital eye contact with all the “strangers.”
And the idea of a “foreigner” is meaning less and less.
We are forming communities based on ideas, not geography.
And some days, these digital communities blow my mind.
Even when I am all alone sitting in front of my glowing screen.
Yesterday while sitting at my desk in San Diego, I asked a question on my weblog about a neighborhood I’ve never been to in New York City. Within hours, half a dozen friends I’ve never met showered me with helpful advice.
Sometimes the global neighborhood feels so natural I almost forget to marvel at it.
Whether these are the first words of mine you’ve read…or if you’ve been subjected to my ramblings and webcams for years…Thank you.
Thank you from the core of my being. Thank you for helping me become who I am. Thank you for letting me break things along the way. Thank you for understanding that I’m not there yet.
And thank you for dropping by this little birthday party.
Before you continue on your digital path today, take a moment to think warm thoughts about all the other friends in the digital neighborhood.
And remember the mistresses, too.
by Halcyon at December 2, 2003 08:04 AM
I haven't even been around a month, so i maybe don't count. I have to share anyway, because I'm that kind of person. ;)
anyway, some people see the internet as a crutch. I've noticed that when things start to go very well (not just well, i mean _close to perfect_) the internet stops meaning so much to them... but when things get bad again, they come right back and hide themselves in it.
Then there are other people who can actually coexist in both worlds. I have some really terrific friends that are close to me, but some equally as important people who I've never met face to face before, some who i've never talked to on the phone. They are people who I'd hope to have at my wedding, graduation, birthday party, etc.
There is a lot of information on the net, and that's useful.. you can create all sorts of neat things in photoshop, but you can go to a library or a crafts store and do similar things. It's the people that really make the difference, to me. It's the ability to say something and have it resonate. Being able to create something, anything, and have people from all over be able to see it. You no longer have to be famous to have something important to say.
Some people, particularly the first group, can view this life as an optional one. To me, if someone were to ask me to give this up, it'd be like asking me to stop reading or stop liking the color red. It doesn't feel like a mistress, more like a part of my life that anyone who plans to come into needs to accept. :)
From what I know of you so far, your presence has probably been important to a lot of people that you may have never met had you not made your little niche on teh w3b.
(please forgive my mini-book, being conscise is hit or miss for me!)
i've been procrastinating around here for six years now? six?!
dammit, i gotta get back to work.
I sometimes wonder what my life would be like without the Internet... generally I try to remember what, exactly, I did with my free time before the Internet (I think my friend and I decided that we read more).
Aside from the daily conveniences (Mapquest, Citysearch, etc.) -- my social life these days is inextricably tied to the Internet. Ther's my online friends, obviously, but also the many friends who I've made through Internet personals, etc. (three of my closest friends are products of Internet dating -- SparkMatch, Nerve.com, and Friendster)... In someways, my digital body has become equally as important to me as my physical body.
I met my husband through the internet and now we have the most beautiful daughter because of that meeting.
Is the internet the best/worst thing out there? No.
But it sure made my life better in the long run.
Maybe I would still be married and have a child but... It wouldn't be to the man that I was convinced from the very first time we met, was the "one" and it wouldn't be the daughter that I have now so I am voting a big YEAH for the internet and all that it has to offer.
My first experiences with the "web" were long distance phone calls via AOL and local BBS's back in like 93... 10 years later.. I too couldn't imagine my life without the web... I mean, if it wasn't for the web, I wouldn't have been able to make so many new friends, get re-connected with old friends... and learn as much as I have... plus, without the web, I wouldn't have been able to meet you.. and that my friend is a scary thought.. so I say "YAY WEB!".
*have a wonderful week* and happy birthday to CB and PT. :)
A star was born.
Happy Birthday!
Happy Birthday and thanks for being here. Yep, it's true for me too. This screen is in front of my face far more often than I would like sometimes, but the world does seem like it is becoming one big room and it is beautiful. And your part in it is a marvel. I really enjoy reading along.
You were a lot cooler and inspirational 5 years ago when I started reading your stuff. I rarely come by anymore, and now it's almost only b/c of Kaya and Dlove.
Go whine through comments and post about it later.
sparkmatch has been dead for years what are you talking about?
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