Posted by Bartholomew (63.214.72.156) on November 26, 2002 at 21:42:31:
In Reply to: I've never understood... posted by Ryan (65.141.165.206) on November 26, 2002 at 18:26:52:
> why so many people feel the need to advertise their lives to the entire world.
Here's a guy on a bench. He's waiting for something. He has a page from a newspaper--he borrowed it from his neighbor. Important world news! The guy feels substantial! Useful work, he feels! The neighbor leaves and takes the page with her.
The guy on the bench is uncomfortable. He fidgets. He picks up a travel brochure to a place he doesn't want to go to and reads it uneasily. In another world, he plays tictactoe against himself. Why doesn't he just sit?
He gotta do something, dummy. And it bugs him on an instinctive level that there's nothing solid to do. This guy is Emily. But Emily's online and the easiest thing to fidget with is fingers on a keyboard. Fidget that way = talk about people. Anything but focus on the present--that's uncomfortable. Reach out to other people, other places. Doesn't quite help all the way, but better than total uneasiness. Emily's been pushed out of herself by her uneasiness. So has the guy. Get it?
1 more thing: No, now the guy's got a very solid life, the approval of his friends, success. On the bench he's not uncomfortable. He's relaxed and just sits and thinks about his life. It easy to do that. Thinking like that doesn't give him any pangs. No reason to fidget. Emily doesn't need to run out of her head for comfort; she can be centered in herself and be unconcerned with the boards.
HA hahahahah!
No, the guy can't have a solid life or he wouldn't fidget. Same with Emily. That's jus about the whole picture, buddy. Get it?
In a word, and as I've sed be4 GRRRICCckckcK. The center is no good, the edges fly away from it.
SAY THIS IS A BAD SHADE OF GREEN AND IT LOOKS EVEN WORSE WITH THE STANDARD BLUH GRAY WINDOWS COLOR THEME.