Life as it is happening--now

What did we do before GPS, cellphones, laptops and PCs, and of course the Global Internet. Now, although we are safe at work, or supposed to be working, or on our coffee break, or even standing and ordering coffee and food at Dunkin', or getting a Value Meal at McDonald's, we get instantaneous news on our Blackberry or Iphone about citizens getting shot at in Iran. Now, this very moment, helicopters are trailing citizens and the military is cracking down and threatening to fire on their own people. Right now, while you bite into that donut and take a sip of your iced coffee. You can read about it as it happens, just as you read the sports pages of the Boston Globe online. But those pages tell you what happened yesterday. You can be a witness to what's happening right there in Iran. You can zoom in and see it for yourself, or you can flip over to the Wimbledon tennis match, or the Dow Jones industrial average if you get bored. You can witness history being made, if you want to. Now that you are aware of the battle in Iran, you can google other websites to learn about the fraudulent election that sparked the unrest, or you can switch over to a video game, or close the window and work on your spreadsheet or your resume. The choice is yours.

Restart, June 12, 2009 --The End of Rabbit Ears

What better way to begin again, then with the end of an ear(a). It almost made me shed tears if you waxed nostalgic as I did for the golden age of the 50s and 60s T.V. Back in those predigital days, you had to play with the rabbit ears to get them right if they got knocked over, or nudged while you chased your brother or sister around the house. Then you would have to move them back and forth on top of the T.V., or turn the dial up or down, or spread them open or closed to get the clearest picture while you watched Bonanza with your family in the evening. Imagine those days of yore when you actually sat around the kitchen table and had dinner together. Then the family enmasse went into the living room, settled in their favorite chairs or places on the couch and went on an adventure with the Cartwrights- Ben, Adam, Hoss, and Little Joe, while Hop Sing waved good-bye from the Ponderosa's door. Ah, those were the days. And now they're gone. Gone. Everyone is officially launched into the Digital Age. What about those people that didn't come kicking and screaming into this virtual New World? They watched blank screens the rest of the day, and wondered if their world was coming to an end. It was and it did.