Wednesday, October 10, 2007

Oh, all you Generation X'ers and whatever my generation is, oh how needy we are! As I said in my last post, the power socket in my computer is broken, which means I can't use my computer...and how terrible it is to be without a computer!

When I was 19 I went backpacking America, specifically outwest in the national parks. I brought my cellphone, but provided I was in the parks for most of the time, I didn't really have any service. Of course I didn't bring my computer with me, either. For two months I had no internet, no games, no email, nothing! Two entire months I was absorbed in nothing but finding my way to the backcountry, and absorbing all that was around me in nature. For two months I had no real communication-- and I didn't miss it one bit! This is a true story: At the end of the two months I found myself in Bozeman, Montana, which is probably the most beautiful town in the world. Tucked away in the true "middle of nowhere," it was a town obviously filled with real personality and emotion. I was in the habit of going to town libraries if I had a long wait for my Greyhound bus to take me to the next destination, so I trekked out to a surprisingly large, but hidden library. I walked in and noticed that they had about a dozen computers. I figured it'd be nice to see what a computer felt like, especially for a person so obsessed with them. I sat down, beginning already to feel rushed by the strict 30 minute time limit, and promptly found myself in alien territory. Looking at a computer monitor is truly the strangest thing. What is this graphical representation of the real world, pictures on a glowing sheet of glass, a keyboard magically connected by a single wire; it truly felt like I hadn't touched a computer for twenty years. Honestly, it was easier to drive a car after two months than to use a keyboard. Honestly!

But, now I'm in a different situation, or so I like to think. I am 7,000 miles away from my family and friends, I am looking for jobs which is impossible without a computer, using email to contact employers and do searches of all nature: a computer is indispensible! Despite this challenge, I'm staying positive. There's no need to worry, even if my resume is now lost! Even if I can't update my blog, the only way people can really keep up with me! Even if my computer is my only way to charge my iPod! Even if the only place in Israel that supposedly MAY be able to fix my computer is impossible to get in touch with! What a silly generation I come from, and I recognize that I myself am silly for taking all this so seriously. But really, I challenge everyone that reads this, everyone that is 18-25, to disconnect their computer for a month, do not touch a computer if you can, at least for purposes of entertainment. That means no Facebook or Myspace, no Google or Wikipedia, no YouTube or Limewire or bittorent! Now do I seem so silly? I bet only a handful of us could really take that challenge well, and I know that unless I'm backpacking, even I cannot do it: am I not paying for internet at a cafe right now?

Anyway, I'm babbling. I'll write again when I can. I got an apartment, which I can move into on the 21st of the month. Nice.

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