The humble almanac

In class today we discussed Neil Rhodes' article "Articulate Networks: The Self, The Book and the World."  I thought this was one of the more interesting articles we've discussed for sure, because it enlightened me about the origins of the Internet.  Human beings seem to have always needed some foundation or home-base for information; not necessarily a user/instructional manual for human beings...but kind of.

I'm not all crazy in love with the internet like other people seem to be, but I think what the class discussion of this article made me realize was that I enjoy it more than I wanted to admit. In fact, I suppose I sort of took for granted what the internet does for me.  It comforts me!? 

I'm someone who enjoys the idea of all people sharing things in common; it's why I enjoy visiting larger cities, national holidays and observing historical landmarks--these are the tangible items on this planet that, at the risk of sounding cheesy, unite us.  I enjoy that.  I take comfort in knowing that while we are all very different, we all have those basic, human, tradition...things that we share, or at least that we all know about.  There are several people who I share absolutely no common interests with, but we all recognize the Lincoln Memorial.  I like that.

This sentimentality I feel for my fellow man is actually the reason I enjoy following celebrity and being up-to-date with pop culture.   I find these outlets to be the more light-hearted side of human society, and that comforts me to know that not everything is doom and gloom; that is sometimes the feeling I get around my more intellectual pals in academia, and those more 'well-read' folks who pride themselves on their love for art and interesting artsy things.

My love for art, literature, science, music, theater, cinema and history runs much deeper than I let on--but I don't pride myself on my interests, and I never really understood people who do.  Your interest is not an accomplishment on your behalf, it's just one of your characteristics--so when I encounter educated people criticizing other people who enjoy watching reality television and other things like it, I get really frustrated.  You are not wrong for what you are interested in, nor are you right for what you are interested in.  You are who you are.  You are human.

It's these types of scuffles that bring me back to things like "the humble almanac," as Rhodes discussed.  It's a book of all things human, where one can observe how a human society functions as a whole, rather than through the perspective of race, social class, politics, and more specifically, education and interest.  And while each of these facets of humanity are broken up and featured in the almanac, the book contains a glimpse at all of them--so that when you carry one around, you are carrying a little bit of everyone around. 

With that said, the internet has brought a whole new meaning to the concept of uniting humanity.  Now, we have the ability to encounter nearly everything human--not just American, but human.  Now, we can see that while we are here in America dealing with ignorantly arrogant intellectuals vs. willfully ignorant simpletons, issues in other countries across the globe are much more urgent.

The internet enables us to see human beings all over the globe, and how we all have things in common all over this planet.  And that is humbling.

Behind the times

I’ve always been scatterbrained, forgetful, and chronically late.  I mean, chronically late.  I don’t get it either.
At its worst, being late has cost me several things—including a job.

So, here as I have returned to college having held a job with my first degree and all, you’d think I would have outgrown it.  In fact, one thing I had engrained in my head prior to re-entering school was how excited I was to show my old professors the new Lucy: a professional, sophisticated, PUNCTUAL young woman with tons of potential.

Instead, it was only a matter of weeks before the disheveled, unkempt, scatterbrained, tardy Lucy returned to the classroom.  In jammies.

I don’t understand it?  I suppose it isn’t worth too much for me to analyze why, but just to recognize that yes, this is a bigger part of me than I had originally thought, and in order to outgrow it and be that sophisticated, professional young woman I had pictured myself being, I need to really, really, really get a grip on this situation.