I just finished reading the paper (yes, the paper paper, as opposed to the online paper), and in it was an article talking about how many people these days don’t check their voicemail, because of all the alternatives they have – text messaging, e-mail, Twitter, etc. One guy even said that it was too much trouble for him to check his voicemail, because doing so took 7-10 steps versus 1-3 steps for e-mail. Now, I realize that I am way in the minority, but you don’t have time? Um, what exactly are you doing that pushing a button 7 times is keeping you from some super-critical task? Are you working on a super-top-secret plan to save the Antarctic ice shelf from crashing into the ocean, or advising Obama on his foreign policy initiatives, or what? I don’t get it, but that’s OK, I’m not sure I want to get it.

While I will accept the fact that all the people who spend all their time on their cell phone, talking/texting/e-mailing are probably all talking to each other, I can’t help but wonder what the heck they are talking about? I write this not because I think it’s amazing that people are so consumed by communication, but because those who seem so consumed by communication are way too often the last people I’d want to talk to!

I guess this struck a nerve with me because in the last several weeks I have received invitations from a surprisingly large number of my friends to be their “buddy” or whatever on whatever social-networking site they are involved in. Before I go on I want to say that some of my friends are readers of my blog, so before you think I am talking about you specifically please be aware that I am talking about society in general and that any resemblance to real persons, people or places, fictional or otherwise, is purely coincidental and not intended to be personally directed, defamatory or insulting in any way. Whew!

Of course, of all the invitations I’ve received, none of my friends are using the same social-networking service, so in order for me to participate, I would have to join them all. As interested as I am in what all my current friends are doing, and while I’m sure it would be interesting to find out what some of my old high school friends and college buddies are up to, and as much as I know that a lot of these sites are good for networking that could lead to a new job and all that, it just doesn’t seem to be a prudent use of my time and would just introduce a whole lot of distractions that I’d just as soon do without. The irony is that several of the invitations came from people that already have way too many distractions, and the last thing they need is some new thing to worry about keeping track of and never being able to keep up with. That’s why I stopped watching TV several years ago, and if my cable stopped working it might take me weeks to realize it. Sorry, but it’s just not for me. I won’t say never, but not today.

What does all this have to do with photography you ask? Well, it doesn’t, except that over the last several weeks I’ve been prioritizing the things I need to do to make myself useful around the house since I am no longer earning a paycheck. Between looking for work, trying to use the time to catch up on developing my photography business, getting some overdue projects done around the house and doing all the things that are really important, I’ve decided that more communication is the last thing I need. I close e-mail during the day to minimize distractions, I have a To-Do list that I have been working diligently on, and I’ve made some impressive progress over the last several weeks to the point that I feel really good about the direction things are going. I’m really excited about some of the things I’ve done – such as doing my first copyright registration last week – and I’ll try to write about them in greater detail over the next several weeks. I’ve even taken some pictures!

Somehow I think it’s OK that long-lost classmates stay that way. There might be a reason for that! And my current friends – sorry, but you’ll just have to settle for seeing and talking to me face-to-face or at meetings. I hope that’s OK.