On taking an Internet break

It's interesting to go from being online all day, every work day to five straight days without. I have a computer at home and tell myself that I tend to stay off of it for more than a few minutes at a time because A) I'm on it all day at work and B) I can't see the TV from the computer chair but the real truth is C) my cat gives me hell every time I turn it on. Seriously, Bo. Who's got the opposable thumbs?

Opposable thumbs does not = in charge

Anyway, five days without having to fill time surfing. Because when I'm not busy at work, that's basically what I'm doing all day. Oh, the places you'll go when you are trying to kill time on the Internet.

But where did I go when I wasn't? Yahoo was deliberate logging on; I preferred keeping people up-to-date on the medical doings via email instead of having the same conversation twenty times. In the five minutes at a time I ventured onto the web (no, I don't know why I capitalize "Internet" and not "web") I checked for new emails and got caught up on the interesting threads on the bulletin board where I chat with my long-term web-buds.

I tended not to read LJ because I want to give posts more time than I had, but boy did I miss it! I've gotten hooked on 's world, Shayara and missed her twice weekly reminders to check for new context. I'm crazy for 's incense stories set in Kherishdar. And while I have friends who've established presences in two or three different places on the 'Net, some of you I only interact with here and I missed you!

I have to confess I did go to VH-1's site because I can't get there from here; because I love Rich, who writes for their blog; and because I had to watch a dozen or so clips of unseen material to get in the mood for the Rock of Love reunion (judge me all you want).

And I kept up with the AL East standings because despite all rhyme and reason, the Orioles are still ahead of the Yankees.

Things I didn't miss, or seek out in those few minutes online: Gawker, though damn if I don't have a tab open there now. The two or three personal blogs I read that are mostly about fashion or name-dropping or being seen. I like to splurge on high-end things every once in a while (well, they're high-end in terms of what I can afford) and I admire people who are consciously turned out but have no delusions of ever caring about it enough to be one of them.

In short, anything having to do with celebrities (except Bret), people who want to be celebrities (except Heather), or people who care about people who want to be celebrities (except Rich) was off my radar. I looked at my bookmarks today and could easily delete three quarters of them.

But I'm sure I'd only build them back up again in the four months between me and my next planned five-day break.