Computer BANISHMENT...

Yep, I've had to resort to drastic measures here...

Computers are so doggone ADDICTIVE. After you've e-mailed everyone who's taken the time to write to you, well, that's only the beginning. You have a blog to keep up, after all...and to make it visually interesting, first you go to Google and find an image which parallels the subject you're blogging about. Then you download the image to your blogsite, and then you begin typing like a madman. But I don't stop there...after editing, editing, editing, then posting my post, off I go, into the search engines...perhaps I'll research a singer or a musical group, which is endlessly absorbing. Or perhaps I'll spend hours on YouTube, watching not only videos of groups I never got to see when I was a kid, but oftentimes I'll go waay back into the past and watch torch singers and jazzmen do their thing. I love going online...there's so much STUFF to flood my mind with in cyberspace!

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But lately, the amount of time I've spent online is getting more and more irritating. I've been on the computer as much as 7 or 8 hours (HOURS!) over the course of the evening. In the meantime, I have records that don't get listened to, guitars that sit in the corner that don't get played, TV shows that need to be watched, and most of all, a BRAIN that never seems to function on anything but 'Tilt', especially when I'm on computer and trying to do several other things at the same time. I'm drawn to the computer, but sometimes I hate myself for the amount of time I've spent online, and I've had that feeling more and more lately. But, I have taken ACTION...and it's something that needed to be done...

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My laptop computer now sits in my KITCHEN. It's a nice way to start the day; a cuppa coffee, a bowl of bran flakes, and the computer. So I'll be online for a couple of hours, and then I've actually got several hours of daylight left, in which I can Go Out And Actually DO THINGS. And, the main reason I've got daylight left, is that I am not online until 2am (or later) anymore. In the evening, I may be online again for an hour or two; never past 9pm. I'm getting to bed and waking up earlier, which I've needed to do. More time for visits to the record store, or to the ocean beaches. I'm not kidding when I say that over the last half-year, the computer has controlled ME, and that's not good.

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Since banishing my computer to the kitchen, and trying to control how late I'm on the damn thing, I've actually found "quiet" returning to my evening hours. The hustle and bustle of society is enough to take without me subjecting myself to it online as well. I've posted a number of entries on this subject lately, about how much I've been blogging and how much I've been doing for my Yahoo group (miss_lee_morse), in addition to everything else. I've been online so much lately that I feel like someone, somewhere should be paying ME. Bill Gates, are you out there reading this? I'm using your Windows program, after all. Wanna put me on the payroll? My HP laptop actually has wear marks on the chassis. The 'left-click' button on mytouch-pad mouse is worn though the metallic paint, down to the white plastic underneath. My letter "N" is starting to wear off...and I just checked, and "E" and "R" are showing dubious signs of key wear as well.

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I think life is about "balance". And mine has been all out of whack lately. I don't want to spend any more evenings, checking e-mail repeatedly, in addition to visiting other interactive blogsites I visit over and over again. I figure, if I can blog every couple of nights, spend time on my Yahoo group page maybe once or twice a week, and just try to take back control of my of my life, that'll be a step in the right direction. So my poor little laptop sits out here in the kitchen, in banishment and exile as I try to discipline myself a little bit. If I take it into the TV room, it's too much of a temptation for me. Am I computer-addicted? Sounds like it to me. I've been going online since 1999 and you think I'd have some control over this. Well, I'm trying. How did we ever LIVE without computers? I guess I'm trying to remember. Well, I've got to go now. The phonograph is calling me. There's music that needs to be listened to...

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There! I got done with this blogpost at 7:01pm. I'll check my e-mail once more (!!!) (old habits die hard), and then I'm outta here. If you have any feedback on this subject, I'd sure appreciate hearing from ya...