Shit so small it's Irrelevant

[Zorral]

Partner woke me with the sound of Michelle Obama on Jimmy Kimmell, with people laughing and applauding, and the two of them zipping and sizzling quips and repostes.  The point was she's on a book tour, but this was fun. fast and furious. And hilarious. In other words, this is two pros at work!

The other thing is, Mrs. Obama is so quick, so funny, so down-to-earth, so smart, with such moves -- and so gorgeous, you know Barack said to himself immediately on meeting her, "I'm in love!"

 

[Buckwheat]

This is the irrelevant thread, so let me just offer a shameless advert for the game we run down in Forum Games. We are decorating a tree and came up to here: https://i.imgur.com/VMSmesF.jpg. The thing is, it is just Pebble, RB, and myself, and I really want more people to join, so come click here and join us! Everybody is welcome.  

[Sw33t Summ3r Ch1ld]

I am at the close of my deliberation: I want to stick to using my laptop. Since my smartphone is not what I want to spend my time on, I feel like I am dropping off the end of the world since I will be less in-tune with the current things of the day, naming the Apple shit. I am just becoming who I want to be and I think I have resoluteness on my side. Hopefully I can get this started. I am a 30 y.o. woman and I am going to be abandoning all that my generation do. Will I have the drive to be more myself in other areas than this? We will come to see. I wonder what about me has to be sooooo weird.....

[Zorral]

‘Luddite’ Teens Don’t Want Your Likes
When the only thing better than a flip phone is no phone at all.

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/12/15/style/teens-social-media.html

Quote

 

On a brisk recent Sunday, a band of teenagers met on the steps of Central Library on Grand Army Plaza in Brooklyn to start the weekly meeting of the Luddite Club, a high school group that promotes a lifestyle of self-liberation from social media and technology. As the dozen teens headed into Prospect Park, they hid away their iPhones — or, in the case of the most devout members, their flip phones, which some had decorated with stickers and nail polish.

They marched up a hill toward their usual spot, a dirt mound located far from the park’s crowds. Among them was Odille Zexter-Kaiser, a senior at Edward R. Murrow High School in Midwood, who trudged through leaves in Doc Martens and mismatched wool socks.

“It’s a little frowned on if someone doesn’t show up,” Odille said. “We’re here every Sunday, rain or shine, even snow. We don’t keep in touch with each other, so you have to show up.”

After the club members gathered logs to form a circle, they sat and withdrew into a bubble of serenity.

Some drew in sketchbooks. Others painted with a watercolor kit. One of them closed their eyes to listen to the wind. Many read intently — the books in their satchels included Dostoevsky’s “Crime and Punishment,” Art Spiegelman’s “Maus II” and “The Consolation of Philosophy” by Boethius. The club members cite libertine writers like Hunter S. Thompson and Jack Kerouac as heroes, and they have a fondness for works condemning technology, like “Player Piano” by Kurt Vonnegut. Arthur, the bespectacled PBS aardvark, is their mascot.

“Lots of us have read this book called ‘Into the Wild,’” said Lola Shub, a senior at Essex Street Academy, referring to Jon Krakauer’s 1996 nonfiction book about the nomad Chris McCandless, who died while trying to live off the land in the Alaskan wilderness. “We’ve all got this theory that we’re not just meant to be confined to buildings and work. And that guy was experiencing life. Real life. Social media and phones are not real life.”

“When I got my flip phone, things instantly changed,” Lola continued. “I started using my brain. It made me observe myself as a person. I’ve been trying to write a book, too. It’s like 12 pages now.”  ....

 

It's a long(er) read.

[polishgenius]

I'll read the whole thing later but anyone citing Chris McCandless as an inspiration has my instant scepticism.

 

'its a little frowned upon if you don't show up' is also a bit unsettling.

[Sw33t Summ3r Ch1ld]

My Mom said I should not work for three more years. I am to continue living off my parents or get an little apartment. I guess I have to be grateful. I don't know what I should do with my time. So lucky. I guess this gives me time to start looking after myself and focus on things like losing weight. Many people wouldn't do it, but I seriously want to make it in this world. I'm so lucky because my Mom gives me things all the time and we have lunch at restaurants together all the time.

[Zorral]

5 hours ago, polishgenius said:

citing Chris McCandless as an inspiration has my instant scepticism.

I think they are very young, which they are.  They also cite Jack Kerouac, which w/o doubt the girls, when they get a little older, are going to look back upon, and go, "What was I thinking??????" as have many a woman of the generations ahead of them!  In the meantime, kids -- and they are like freshman and so on h.s. students -- thinking for themselves, and trying to find like-minded among themselves in environments where the popular kids have a generally low opinion of them, that isn't about taking drugs and so on -- I'm not going to rain on their parade.  The world will crash on them soon enough.  In the meantime, they have been reading books, looking and listening, and studying, so, you know, cool! 

[DMC]

3 hours ago, Zorral said:

In the meantime, they have been reading books, looking and listening, and studying, so, you know, cool!

Certainly.  From the sounds of it, they eschew social media, use their phones sparingly, and like to hang out outside.  By that definition I'm a luddite too, and I really don't think I am.  Then again, I suppose for their generation it's pretty close.

[Zorral]

Well, I'm impressed they know the word 'luddite', know its history and related issues at their age.  I sure as hell didn't know any of this when I was their age!  So color me impressed. Particularly as I spend much of a couple days a week with hordes of YAs who are much much much older -- even people no longer YAs -- who don't know anything about anything at all, yet expect to get doctorates.

 

[DireWolfSpirit]

On 12/14/2022 at 11:16 PM, Machiavellian Spy said:

I am at the close of my deliberation: I want to stick to using my laptop. Since my smartphone is not what I want to spend my time on, I feel like I am dropping off the end of the world since I will be less in-tune with the current things of the day, naming the Apple shit. I am just becoming who I want to be and I think I have resoluteness on my side. Hopefully I can get this started. I am a 30 y.o. woman and I am going to be abandoning all that my generation do. Will I have the drive to be more myself in other areas than this? We will come to see. I wonder what about me has to be sooooo weird.....

I untethered about 10 yrs ago. The job I had started had strict security where no phones, cameras were allowed. With that, I just began leaving the phone at home and discovering how little i needed to have it right at hand every instance.

Its very liberating, at this point I'll never go back to having to be chained to it.

[dog-days]

I completely approve of giving up tech and smart phone dependency. In another news, great things to give up include work Christmas parties, alcohol and hangovers.

Note to self: if giving up tech to make more room for real stuff that matters, said real stuff should be more about books, crafts and cultural engagement and not olde worlde fermented grain. Oh god my head. 

[Sw33t Summ3r Ch1ld]

@DireWolfSpirit Good for you, way to go! I should do what you are doing.

@dog-days The dependency - I see it the way you see it, I look at others using their cell phone for it all and wonder why.

[LongRider]

I bought a pair of wireless headphones to play on my laptop and figured out how to play them on the Bluetooth, an app I didn't realize was there and never used at all before.  Not being a techie and didn't even drop an F-bomb was surprised how easy it was.  For reasons of my own I may or may not connect to my phone.  

[RhaenysBee]

Sometimes mid-meal, I will have this flash in my brain that the food I’m eating is somehow going to kill me. Maybe it wasn’t cooked through or maybe it was left out too long for bacteria to grow or maybe my fridge isn’t cold enough to keep bacteria away from it or maybe it became radioactive when I microwaved it for 4 minutes to destroy the imaginary bacteria. And then I stop eating it. And then I’m like, well I already ate half of it so if it kills me it’s already done and I do finish it anyway. And then I’m fine.  Anybody ever do this too? 

I truly don’t get it because my mum and grandma left stuff out for half days to cool, thawed shit overnight at room temp and shoved the open bowl into the refrigerator and everybody was always fine. I compulsively overcook, wastefully throw away stuff I leave out for longer than max 2 hours or thaw too long and keep food in sealable containers, so I truly have no reason to be this paranoid about food safety. 

in my defense, there are dozens of articles published every day informing me about how the cookware/dishwasher/cooking method/storage/food production method/etc makes my meal lethal one way or the other

[JGP]

 

They let me sleep in, and when I finally woke and saw the time I got peeshed and started scrambling. Aaaaaaaand... I totally forgot my kids are off for Christmas break already. 

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

Lol, I almost just threw away a check for $16,000 I wasn't expecting. Always check the envelope twice...

[Luzifer's right hand]

10 hours ago, Tywin et al. said:

Lol, I almost just threw away a check for $16,000 I wasn't expecting. Always check the envelope twice...

That is so American.

[BigFatCoward]

Who gets money by cheque in 2022, what a weird thing to happen. 

[Spockydog]

1 hour ago, BigFatCoward said:

Who gets money by cheque in 2022, what a weird thing to happen. 

My mum gives all her children cheques for birthdays and Christmas.

 

 

[Spockydog]

4 hours ago, Luzifer's right hand said:

That is so American.

What is? The humble-bragging? The "LOL. I'm so rich I nearly threw 16k in the bin?"