I once bought a book download….but I only got through a few pages of it. I didn’t like having it on a screen. I couldn’t feel the paper. I didn’t get a chance to break the spine. It didn’t have that “book” smell. I couldn’t fold down the corners….flip back and forth easily….or highlight and underline.

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As much as much my job requires a tremendous amount of technology and social media…..I feel like I’m starting to regress. For example…I’ve been keeping my eye out for a rotary wall phone with a super long cord….one that will wrap around the kitchen island as I’m making dinner….one I can wrap myself up in. Napoleon Dynamite had one….so I need one.

Me: Hey, at least I’d be able to find the phone for once.
Mr. LBB: We have three wireless phones….how do you manage to lose all of them?

You know why I lose all of them? Because they aren’t attached to the wall. And do you know why they aren’t attached to the wall?  Because life keeps speeding up….every day…..faster and faster so if it was attached to the wall I wouldn’t be able to keep up, right?

As much as I love innovation…..sometimes I wish we didn’t have so much innovation. I wish we didn’t have cordless phones, Ziploc bags and Netflix. I wish we didn’t have 400 kinds of cereal to choose from. I wish there weren’t so many crappy toys from China. I wish video games had never progressed past Pong.

….and sometimes I wish we didn’t have smartphones or iPads or tablets……

I look at all the stuff we buy and own and wonder if any of it will be handed down to another generation…..will any of it be around in 100 years.  Probably not.

I do try and make a conscious effort not to be too dependent on technology……

I still use my paper calendar. I still keep all my addresses and contacts in a paper notebook.

I still write a lot…yes actually write…..with a pen and paper.

I stock up on classic games like Life and Monopoly (and not the crazy themed versions).

I take Boo into antique shops whenever we get the chance….I show her those vintage hand mixers, record players and 8 track tapes.  Even a VHS tape is an enigma to her.  I imagine the future sometimes like the movie Book of Eli and I think how prepared Boo will be with all the old contraptions she’d stumble across. (Don’t worry I haven’t made her start memorizing the Good Book yet).

And then I think about the fact that she’s never heard a busy signal or the ring of a rotary phone or a film projector or a typewriter.

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Except now she DOES know the sound of a typewriter.  Our friend Bonnie gave us this one when Mr. LBB mentioned I was on a search:

Boo: This is the best invention since the computer.

Heck yeah….no swiping needed to activate.  And you get to choose from a variety of ONE font.
But this one still has to plug in….so I’m on the hunt for an older one.

Okay so it’s going to take a little practice as she learns to type……I showed Boo the ropes by making a quick little list.  I realized I am WAY too dependent on spell check.

On my wish list….a pretty red typewriter like this one: [Read more…]