Back in Washington, I've switched from reading the NYT on my iPad to reading it on paper. It feels like a huge improvement. It isn't that the iPad didn't give me all the information I wanted – at any time. It's just that when I have the actual paper in my hands, I find myself reading more – and more closely. I have a sense of accomplishment as I toss each ransacked section onto the floor next to my blogging chair. The photographs pop. The placement of the stories visually adds a layer of editorial spin that informs me about where the paper is coming from. I didn't quite expect this. I liked my iPad mornings with coffee and gluten-free cookies. But suddenly, a newspaper is fresh.
While I'm at it, I might as well confess I have installed Freedom for Mac, a program that throws you off the Internet altogether at a certain time and bars you from looking at it for a few hours. You can easily get around it – by restarting your computer – but the small, added impediment has helped me avoid the total immersion of my life in virtual communication. To be free for a few hours. To regain the time to read … a book (on an iPad)! Oh joy. In fact, I'm increasingly dividing my day between classic Internet use (where work is constantly tempting me to post something or cite something) and iPad reading, where I am reading … purely to inform myself.
This job, long-distance, sometimes feels like an experiment. How much time can someone be virtual while remaining human? I'm adapting. I'm learning. And I'm pulling back a little – for my own physical and mental health.
The Dish 