Bravo! I just read an article in The Atlantic about how Facebook may be making us lonely. So, of course I posted it on Facebook. :-)

I have a lot of these same kinds of thoughts.

Jeanette: If I was more motivated, maybe, just maybe, I could have put together an essay on some of the personal effects of these technologies. It's easier to slack off and do it this way because I'm feeling a bit burnt out from it all. I've been reading a lot of that stuff too.

Maybe I'll have to go to FB and read the article. Oh, I better Google 'The Atlantic', it's less distracting. ;-)

I like this, Scarlett. I am curious about many things, including what to do when not on something electronic! I think I'll go now and find a book, enjoy the feel of it in my hands and breathe it in. (Right after I update my FB status!)

Cyborgs finishing interior thought and plopping it into the pool of cyberspace...oh why not? I mean what's living if it ain't ironic? Maybe it's all just a part of the cosmic joke... we just have to keep our heads down and look for the punch line. In the meantime enjoy listening to those kids playing outside and take time to smile.

I would like to accompany your ironic
Here on my front porch with a gin and tonic
Lovers kissing in the park across the street
I can tell it's serious, I can tell it's sweet

...and now you know about it too...

salud, S. Sumac!

Love this! I have never had a FB account. I refrain from all the social media sites. I am a fan of OS for the great writing and different takes and perspectives. As to the rest, I feel it takes away from intimacy.
r./

Catch 22: I like your diddy. It must be warm where you are if you're out on the porch watching lovers with a gin and tonic. Sounds quite iconic. It's a little chilly here, we're inside with red wine and doin' fine.

jmac: It's a cosmic joke all right. Are your legs numb yet? Then you haven't been at the computer long enough. Smiling? I'm grinning like the Joker over here. :)

mypsyche: And such is the world we live in. Have a nice Saturday night, drema.

Ah the irony indeed... but nice thoughts

Well I'm sure it wasn't every interior though there Scarlett. Just a few metas. I guess I'm being left behind by technology. I've never twittered and check in to FB only about once a month. But I've been at social functions where someone will announce what's trending. Oh.

excellent, miss scarlett, and in verse too. all irony aside, we just need to commune (-icate?) with others, singly, groupily, with looks and words and music. as the french say, la plus ca change ...

I love how you wrote this....

I find a big dose of irony to the whole electronic media idea Scarrlett.
It keeps is connected yet I sit here alone listening to the wind blow rustling palm tree fronds and unseen insects singsong.

I spend little time on Facebook most days anymore. I do find excellent links to news sources there.

I don't know any answers here.
Sure seems weird tho' sometimes to think about...

OMG, I had the perfect bowel movement this morning!!!!! tweet tweet tweet tweet...

I love this, your thoughts and how you have expressed them here is simply divine. Beautiful Scarlett.

I am still trying to understand trending. We need a return of the phone booth.

I guess I could print this then Xerox copies for my friends. Hand it to them.

onislandtime: I appreciate your sentiment and comment. There's good and bad in and it's about finding balance I guess. Enjoy your non-engagement ... it is as rare as good penmanship. :-)

tr ig: Isn't it ironic, don'tcha think? Hope asia and yourself are having a good Saturday night. Maybe we should start a hashtag, ha ha.

Abra: Yes, you're right. Not every thought -- Thank God! Maybe by not participating in it, you're way ahead. So when they announce what's trending, do you get all twittery? ; ;

femme aka candace: Hey, there you are. You've been missed. Yes, we should all commune (i-cate?) in whatever way possible and when it is opportune. Sometimes even in the flesh. Wait, ... that didn't sound right. Ah, you know what I mean. :)

"is there a spot in the circus for
the unrecorded glance between the lovers
the wrinkles at the corner of the eyes
the laugh lines that a sorrow will never erase
the kind words overheard instead of the insult
the random act kindness
not spoken of
or tweeted"

Enjoyed this. Especially the above.

Well, we got away from the electronic toys at home...went to the Indian casino and played the penny slots...ooops. I'm so bad that I keep trying to "like" the comments at OS.

You take us to the deeply personal, than place where many are not comfortable with -- even with themselves. But you have a keen perspective of what is there for us to deal with, take it or leave it. I like your writing, it's compelling ... the light is there for further thought, feeling. Good to know that other people are in a like place.
Thanks for sharing. Appreciate this.

Sometimes I wish I were a turtle so I could pull my head back into my shell and stay there for as long as I wanted. Sometimes remembering the way things used to be and trying to get used to the way they are now is just too much. And makes me very tired.

Yes face to face rules and you too today.
.........(¯`v´¯) (¯`v´¯)
☼•*¨`*•.¸.(ˆ◡ˆ).¸.•*
............... *•.¸.•* ♥⋆★•❥ Thanx & Smiles (ツ) & ♥ L☼√Ξ ☼ ♥
⋆───★•❥ ☼ .¸¸.•*`*•.♥ (ˆ◡ˆ) ♥⋯ ❤ ⋯ ★(ˆ◡ˆ) ♥⋯ ❤ ⋯ ★

I never trended and I hate that term.. Hey Rocker Girl, we just have to ignore those that are not sensitive enough to feel the world without
"trend"

You are not alone.

Well said. ... And yet, here we are.

well said! hear hear!

I enjoyed this piece very much and agree with you a million percent. I love this public space to share my thoughts and creations, but the smaller this world gets, the greater the temptation to fill in every last available space with ourselves. I don't know if it's good or bad. I think it's a symptom of our times, to define ourselves or be lost.

I wish we heard children playing outside in spring. We don't hear that as much anymore. Today, it's all about playdates. Responsible yes. But sad, nevertheless.

Thank you. Wonderful post.

A famous Canadian, marshall mcluhan, said
“We shape our tools and thereafter our tools shape us.”
This was back in the day “when a computer auto completing your thoughts
was some kind of cyborg in a sci-fi movie “.
Now we are living the science fiction movie, and starring in it, in a bravura performance as both human AND cyborg. Oscarworthy.

Why did we decide to become part machine?
Classic human motivation:” every interior thought
needs to be shared with the whole world to be validated …”
For how else can we maintain the ego-illusion that we are the center of the universe?
It is an amazing reversion to childish narcissism.
We grow younger , everyday, and not in a good way…
Every slice of life must be “bolstered,
bloated and bragged about “…

We are back on the playground, bragging.

The computer has made for us an Eternal Recess!
The weather is so beautiful, 90 degrees in April, we might as well have the lesson outside, Teacher. We shall retreat to the basement if a twister comes our way, of course. The computer will tell us when we are in danger.

McLuhan:

“Man becomes, as it were, the sex organs of the machine world,
as the bee of the plant world,
enabling it to fecundate and to evolve ever new forms.

The machine world reciprocates man's love
by expediting his wishes and desires, namely, in providing him with wealth.”


What in the world is that old man alsoknown talking about?
Xerox?
Isn't that a new anti-depressant that causes heart disease and incontinence in 2.8 percent of users?

This is so beautiful, Scarlett...and as grif - said, those words especially.

I have no idea what you're talking about. I dwell happily in the past with my Commodore 64 and dial-up BBS.

Oh, well, what was it Robbie Robertson said? "Just take what you need and leave the rest...."

But...but....then I wouldn't "know" you! I really do get it - I spent five weeks in Central America this winter and didn't bring a cell phone but did bring my laptop. In a way, I regret that decision (although I needed it to work) because I never truly disconnected. And internet cafes, so passe here, are ubiquitous there. Next time, total immersion. nice to see you today!

I love the irony and the thoughts.

I haven't heard a child playing outside in a while. Well, not without their IPhone anyway!

I still don't get Twitter. It seems so chopped up and disconnected. And everybody has hash tags now - WTF?

Loved this and the image. The internet could be used for exposing evils and getting justice when justice is denied behind closed doors, but it's rarely used for much more than nonsense. TMZ ect are the top sites and it's all such a waste of human potential, on most days.
Terrific post. I enjoyed the Jetsons but it's now too prescient for my tastes.

is there a spot in the circus for
the unrecorded glance between the lovers
the wrinkles at the corner of the eyes
the laugh lines that a sorrow will never erase
the kind words overheard instead of the insult
the random act kindness
not spoken of
or tweeted


if the writer is good enough, maybe??!
i dunno.

This is fantastic. I call it the "Look at me! Look at me!" trend. Hopefully we'll evolve past it.

In the meantime, I'm so glad my teenager thinks FB is lame. -R-

I have been fortunate to know from the very beginning that Facebook was not a place for me, that cyberspace was to be visited occasionally and as necessary. If I could work without it, this laptop would be gone. Does knowledge of and ability to comment on a trend enrich my life as much as a spring afternoon spent beneath a pink dogwood? These are the hours I will never ever get back. Turning the computer off now, and heading for the door...

The computer was doing that? Here I thought it was the ghost of James Joyce. Great post (and comment thread).

Oh my, while I was sleeping this little 5 minute Saturday Night Diddy got quite a bit of attention. It's still here. I thought it would disappear into night. Where to start?

"The breakdown of human performance under heavy information loads may be related to psychopathology in ways we have not yet begun to explore. Yet even without understanding its potential impact, we are accelerating the generalized rate of change in society. We are forcing people to adapt to a new life pace, to confront novel situations and master them in ever shorter intervals."- Alvin Toffler
(written way back when)

An old article in the Wall Street Journal: "at executive seminars run by the Harvard Medical School psychiatrist, technology-induced exhaustion is now the most popular session. 'People won't admit to being overwhelmed ...'

LL: Thanks, You.

Mission: Love your Anonymity. :-)

Chicken Maan: Glad your digestive tract is in order. Ewww.

asia: Why, I could use a little divine intervention over here. ;0

Miguela: Yes, a return of the phone booth. I'm all for it. Those nice quiet kind you see in old buildings but set all over the place.

alsoknownas: Mechanical Reproduction & Xerox machines ... and we thought they were something, didn't we?!

grif: How nice of you to drop by. Glad you liked that part.

zuma: Ha, funny they haven't put a rating system over there at FB. It's probably coming.

inthisdeep calm: What a lovely comment. Much appreciated too.

Margaret: I know, I know. Sorry to exhaust you further. Let's sleep and wake up when the next big thing hits ... and makes all this look like small potatoes. Wait, I think I see the monolith outside my window now!

Algis: Your rocks with faces, yes, those are from another information age. One that remains despite all the changes.

Rita: Yes, like you, I have ignored those that are not sensitive enough to feel the world without trend. There's folks out there trending some important stuff ... in between the mindless myriad. Rock on. (insert emoticon, ha.)

Foolish Monkey: Our neighbours are a young family. They have two kids. They play on their trampoline out back and the squeal and sounds drift in the window. When they first moved in, I was wait ... what's that? OMG, the rare sound of children playing!

scupper: If you're (t)here too, I'm in good company.

Deborah Wilson: Yes, here we are across the universe.

Prof. Emmerling: You get extra Brownie points for quoting a Canadian visionary. Yes, the computer is an extension of our CNS (central nervous system). The end of our fingertips on the keyboard sending ourselves out in cyberspace. Who'da thunk it?

Something tells me years ago you may have read Walter Benjamin's ''A Work Of Art In The Age Of Mechanical Reproduction.'' At the time of reading, it seemed so enlightened. Now ... it's so ... 1936.

Yes Bo, "Just take what you need and leave the rest...." wise words. Didn't Robertson and Helm have a grand clash over who wrote what? Another irony, I suppose.

clayball: thank you.

aim: Yes, here we are. Seems to some this came off as a complaint when really it's the dilemma I was trying to illustrate. I never know how things are taken. Darn internet f**cks with the tone of everything. Loved to hear about your trip. I need to check in w/ you. Welcome back, sister!

jlsathre: thank you.

ccdarling: Thanks for coming by. Maybe I shouldn't say this but geez, I remember when hash had a whole different meaning and it wasn't last night's leftovers heating up in the frying pan ...

scanner: True dat. See the comment I left for Foolish Monkey. These kids are too young for an iPhone yet, but they'll surely have one by the time they are 10, if not sooner.

Joyce is right indeed.
He said,
“Art is the human disposition of sensible or intelligible matter for an aesthetic end.
 Notebook entry,



these days, what is aesthetic & what aint?
we gotta rely on gals like u.
to tell us.

the unrecorded glance between the lovers
the wrinkles at the corner of the eyes...


if only we had cameras in our damn brains.
wait 50 yrs.

Scarlett, Yes, I am so interested in what is "not" trendy. Thank you for this post. I am more interested in everyday, common man/woman heroes rather than the bloated Angelina Jolies and George Clooney putting themselves in the public eye at every opportunity to show what great humanitarians they are. Funny, neither of them seem interested in helping children in our own country who are homeless and hungry, only those overseas. Guess our children aren't "sexy" enough. Rated.

What experience and history teach is this — that nations and governments have never learned anything from history, or acted upon any lessons they might have drawn from it.
Introduction, as translated by H. B. Nisbet (1975)

sorry..demons in the computer shortened my message.

here it was..


Whoops missed this. See , if I had not been cyberlinked I would have not responded thusly:

“ the computer is an extension of our CNS (central nervous system). “
The central nervous system is a fine damn thing, but…it interacts with “reality”, the stuff outside.
If there was no “outside” there would be no “inside”.
Philosophers have squabbled mightily re. this. Kant wins, hands down.
Although..hegel came along on the heels of kant and hogged the thought of the world for nearly a century…now..no one remembers him….
The end of our fingertips on the keyboard sending ourselves out in cyberspace. Who'da thunk it?

Gonna whore hegel here..

“Not curiosity, not vanity, not the consideration of expediency, not duty and conscientiousness, but an unquenchable, unhappy thirst that brooks no compromise leads us to truth.
 Hegel's "Stammbuch" (Album)



The force of mind is only as great as its expression; its depth only as deep as its power to expand and lose itself.



And more and more, like a damn gold mine of mind.


Some say George h. was stuck on some perfect finished plan..
Ay..

“What experience and history teach is this — that nations and governments have never learned anything from history, or acted upon any lessons they might have drawn from it.
 Introduction the philosophy of history.

Wonderful. So touching.

I love all that is not trendy
I hope Not Trendy never becomes the NEW Trendy
I love this wonderful poem
and JME's great post on yours
rated with love

A world immersed in cyberthought: gone deep into darkness, imploding yet expansive as distant, forgotten light.

Quite some tambourine I'm hearing here, Scarlett.

The last two lines summed up what I was thinking. Great critique on the Social Media phenomena. Btw, don't go on Instagram.

Nicely put. I guess I’m with the “take what you need” camp.

Ha. It's true....it irritates me sometimes the very private things people will blog or tweet........and yet here I am --blogging!

[r] tight right write! libby

fernsy: Looks like you got caught in between the comment threads of earlier. Hey, I loved the Jetson's too. Let 's beat the traffic together in one of those personal flying devices, K?

Amy: You have a teenager that's not into Facebook? I didn't know that was possible in the North America. Good for you both. And nice to meet you.

green heron: Enjoy your spring under the dogwoods and check in every now and then. And someone said to me -- if not for this cyber world, we'd never have met. Blessings and curses, huh. Engagement in social media is now expected marketing and logged hours in many
lines of work. The line is blurred between public and private. Even though OS is a social networking site, it seems a little oasis ...

Erica: Welcome to the un'trending' for at least a little while. I like your comment.

Thanks, Mary. Have you run into any young couples recently. ;)

Rom Poet: Someone once said poets are the anti-celebrity. I liked the notion that the un-trendy is the new trendy. Thanks for swinging by.

JP: In the jingle jangle morning, they'll come followin' you.

Trudge: Haven't they merged with FB? I'm staying away for now but will have to eventually explore Instagram. I have to know this stuff, but really it all (FB, blog, LinkedIn, Twitter, 4Foursquare, etc, etc.) could take up 24/7. And I feel were not supposed to question it ... thanks for coming by.

Various: I'll take it a step farther with you, and "take the very best", and leave the rest ...

caroline: Yes, the conundrum we find ourselves in. I guess it's a question of separating the wheat from the chaff. Now that's an old saying!

libby: tight, write left too. ;)

A brilliant observation. beautifully written. Rated.

micalpeace: hey, glad you came along for all that's un trending. nice to feel your presence here cool peace hippy mike

What's a tweet?

I appreciate your sense of irony, too, by the way.

Having my doubts about OS lately.

How beautifully ... you capture this ... all ... of this ...

The things I miss because I rarely get on OS over the weekends. Many important events of life do not trend. Maybe things that are so widespread cannot trend to new heights. Or maybe we simply have to accept that a parent's love of his/her child is no match to a Kardashian's latest date on the town.

"Is anyone out there interested in what’s not trending?

that the universe will still spin without
the Twitterverse
that face-to-face
is better than Facebook..."

^ echoed some of my thoughts there.