It is probably a good thing that I am using the blog to keep track of progress around Missed Skeet Farm. The web site this is posted on gives you your viewership statistics. Two things become clear in a hurry:
1) Only people in the US are reading the blog
2) Both now live in Alaska
If I am going to go viral, I will have to do something to create more interest. I can't understand why a blog about exciting things like piping the well into barn has not caught on. I suppose literacy is starting to be a problem. Reading is just changing from english with its nuanced discriptions that created a range of images in your brain to abbreviations. A humorous event could be described as funny, hilarious or amusing in english. In today's written communiques LOL replaces all these. Since typing is done with both thumbs practicallity limits these missives and abbreviations are now used to give rough approximations of the writers intent. Near 'nuff is near 'nuff I suppose.
I imagine saturation is another problem. The text messages come fast and furious all day and a reply is good ettiquette. Thumbs move in a blur at the dinner table and behind the wheel as harried recipients struggle to keep up. Talking to someone under 40 is punctuated with these episodes. Well,WTF.
Today is Alex's birthday so we are going out to dinner with he and Jess. Kris made him personalized pretzels yesterday while I was gone to town. I knew she was going to make pretzels and when I came back I saw a pretzel peeking out from under the wax paper. I decided to try her handy work and grabbed the X before I knew about the pretzel name and just that quick, the X had lost a leg. Kris stopped talking long enough to grab the pretzel and put it back under the wax paper, gave me the "you touch these again and your dead meat" look and went back to her conversation. Communications with her is really abbreviated. We communicate with looks alot. I used my "what I didn't know" look to which she shot back her "the tonnage of what you don' t know is mind boggling" look.
We have a webcam and perhaps looks will soon replace or suppliment text messages. Kris could ring me and I would answer, look into the phone and raise one eyebrow. She could look back raise both eyebrows and roll her eyes in exasperation. Oh, I would nod perceptably at the camera, hang up and turn the truck around and go back and get the gas can I forgot to put in the truck. Love the future.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Hilarious. And for the record even keeping up with the times and texting I still have not taken to abbreviations and acronyms. Even if there were a text dictionary and I mean book, not online source, I think they leave room for interpretation. For quite a while I had no idea that LOL had anything to do with laughing. I would prefer the very clear, less room for interpretation and eyecontaxt required eye roll style communication to the vast amount of texting done amount of texting done in our relationship world these days. The lack of tone or body language I think leads to frequent miscommunication. Regardless we will look forward to both the sound of you and Kristin's laughter and I'm sure a few eyerolls just for us and the vast amount of things we don't know. We will be grateful to the technology of skype for allowing us to have a "old fashioned" chat even with the vast distance between Maine and Alaska. Baylor will be so excited he still talks about Papa Bart and of course your tractor and horses get mentioned quite often in the same context, well played on the grandparent front Keep the viral updates coming.
ReplyDeleteHaha... maybe you should try twitter, Dad. It's all the rage.
ReplyDeleteI commented from my phone and clearly did not edit well. Not sure how to fix it now. Oh well. Ben was trying to make a comment and does read your blog but does not have a blogger account yet. Ill see if we can get him officially following too.
ReplyDeleteHey, Bart! I found your blog through Christy. I can't wait to keep up with your winter doings. :)
ReplyDelete~Marleina