What I Did Over My Internet Vacation

My brief respite from teh interweb, and all that came with it.

Sometimes I forget how pathetically attached I am to the internet. News, entertainment, and about 80% of my communication occurs there. Without the internet, it feels like I’m missing a limb, or one of my senses. Sure, there are public places to access the internet, and through my Netvibes page, I’m able to access pretty much everything I deem necessary, but it just isn’t the same as being constantly connected. For the majority of August, I was offline, aside from the occasional visit to a hotspot to download my podcasts and send off a few emails. I found myself with an unbearable amount of free time, and not much to do with it.

I decided, since I am attending school again, that I should get in a lot of reading. I knew I wouldn’t have the time or the stomach to read anything casually with four huge textbooks of mandatory material nagging each day. So I figured I probably fit in a few books over the month leading up to school. I managed to read a Chicken Soup for the… book, the latest in the Prey series, Empire by Orson Scott Card, and then the thing that normally happens when I read an OSC book occurred: I needed more Orson Scott Card books. Nevermind that his books already occupy a little more than half of my current book collection, I needed more.

Luckily, there was one series of his that I still had not read: The Tales of Alvin Maker. I was turned off to the series at first because I enjoyed his sci-fi work more than has straight fantasy books, as well as a subconscious distaste for the American Frontier, something I figure was devised back in my younger years by terrible teachers making it seem boring and Oregon Trail making it seem like it was all snake bites and fording rivers. Turns out Alvin Maker is great (so far). I am on book three and enjoying it muchly, and I fear that I will get nowhere in the third book as classes take over much of my time. I hate not finishing a series, especially falling off the horse in the middle of an entry. So I plan to fight it, and hopefully finish the six-book series over the next week or two.

Another thing I did in my free time was diddle with Photoshop, a favorite pastime of mine. Dro had been kind enough to supply me with some unlabeled cat pictures for Caturday. I figured with the weeks gone, I should have a few new originals to post, so I am doing so below. I also had fun taking screencaps of the few movies and shows I had on my harddrive and turn them into humorous post headers like Dwight or lovely Natalie above.

Another device at my disposal was my SNES emulator and 400 games (which I all legally own, of course). I wasted time playing the terrible Chester Cheetah games, the awesome Cool Spot, and played Super Metroid until that one part that I get stuck in every time and only made it past twice before. I hate that fucking part.

Luckily, August also had some of the most beautiful weather Duluth, Minnesota has to offer. I went on some walks, enjoyed the sun, and thought about how I’d have time to do things like this once I had the internet again. My problem seems to be that I hate everything, except for the few things I do enjoy that I go overboard on. I need to find a way to balance out my life more, so I am able to be constantly connected to the world through the interwebs, but also able to stop and smell the roses without feeling the need to rush back to my cave. Maybe I just need a Blackberry or something? Or would that make things worse? Suggestions are welcome. Also, Foul Play should return this week; apparently Paleghost wasn’t man enough to go it alone. At least SOMETHING was affected by my absence. Aside from Dro, who likely cried all month. Below are some pictures that you will (hopefully) enjoy.