Surf's Down

I remember life before the internet. 

I remember it more clearly now because I've been "unplugged" at home for the last week, due to an unfortunate series of events around the departure of my flatmate.  His absence is welcome.  My internet's, not so much.

Aside from the obvious inconvenience of having to seek out libraries and campus computers just to conduct email business, or actually (God forbid!) open a cookbook to find a recipe, I suppose the biggest impact of an internet-free household is the shifting of my daily habits.  ITunes on shuffle instead of BBC radio streams in the morning.  Pre-recorded television episodes instead of web surfing in the evening.  The other night I actually opened a book to entertain myself.  Wonders never cease.

But there are annoyances like having to use paper maps and guidebooks to plan journeys, and then having no idea about weekend tube closures because I can't read my TFL update.  Or not being able to call a friend because the number only exists somewhere in the recesses of a message inbox.  Or missing out on posts about class assignments.  This is not amusing.

I'm reminded of my first call in rural Ohio, when the advent of internet access became my lifeline to the outside world.  ICQ chats kept me connected to my sister, X-files message boards made me some new friends, and an extended Enneagram surfing frenzy mystified my mind for about a week.  Without those connections and distractions, I may very well have gone crazy.  The girl who defiantly proclaimed she would never get an email account was now officially hooked. 

It makes me marvel at how I survived two years in Asia as a 22-year-old away from everything familiar, with no Skype calls or Facebook updates or photo sharing.  My only connection with the U.S. was premium rate phone calls and...wait for it...letter writing.

I don't have any desire to return to those pre-wired days.  No sentimental attachment to volumes of outdated printed encyclopedias or rushing home to check the tape on the answer machine. When I go home tonight with a new splitter cable and router box, I'll reconnect myself and never look back. 

But somewhere deep down inside lurks a girl who managed to live the first 29 years of her life unplugged.  She somehow kept informed, mobile, entertained, and connected, with no internet assistance whatsoever.  And I'm fortunate that in weeks like this one, that girl is creative enough to amuse herself, and still resourceful enough to read a street map.

---
cyber girl, unplugged
between her Mac and cookbook:
equal affection