Monday, December 8, 2014

In real time

Because this blog has some, er, autobiographical elements, people I know sometimes find out something notable going on in my life via a blog post. But there often are so many delaying factors to their attaining that information and to their bringing it up to me that, when they do bring it up to me, it often feels curiously like they are discussing a past version of my self. It's a little like having a very old friend, who was perhaps closer to you when you were very young, who says things like "Remember how you used to catch lizards all the time? Do you still do that?"

"No, that sort of faded out when I turned eight."

"Well you don't have to be all sarcastic about it!"

"I wasn't being sarcastic. Hey, wait, come back." But maybe I don't say "Come back." with very much vigor.

And why, you wonder, am I so sensitive about a childhood catching lizards?

I'm not!

Acquaintances, co-workers, friends might come up to me and say "I can't believe you're going to Walt Disney World!" And because I am very caught up on my blog at that point, and have written great sheafs of blog posts all lined up to drop each morning for weeks to come, and because those people maybe only occasionally get caught up on my blog and so are reading through a bunch of old posts, their information is incredibly dated. So I find myself saying things like "Well, yes, I went to Disney World, but it was just over a year ago now."


Did I sound sarcastic there to you?

But the curious thing about my catastrophic back injury of the past two weeks (I am tentatively doing much better thank you) is that every last shred of my being prepared or ahead of time on my blog is gone. Right now there is nothing between me and you. What you read here now is entirely contemporaneous. This is not ideal to me. I like to fuss over and digest everything I write. I prefer my blog to be a kind of thoughtful recent history. It is difficult to have every word I write instantly appear.

Nevertheless there is some small advantage and pleasure to the absolute simultaneity of my writing this exactly in the time it appears before your eyes.

Like what? You ask.

Well, look over to the left. Do you see that?

Normally I'd have to describe that to you! 



