Life Without Internet And The Lessons Learned
So I was switching Internet Service Providers early last week and ended up having to go without Internet access altogether from Sunday through Wednedsay, something I haven't done since, I don't know, maybe when I was 15 and grounded from signing onto bulletin board systems? Remember them?Anyway, I think the universe was trying to teach me a lesson or two. So here they are.
For those four days, I only had Internet access four to six hours a day available to me at my webmaster's place. During that small time frame, I had to get done all of my web updates and anything else that needed handling on the Internet. You'd never believe how much I got done in such a short period of time! By not allowing myself to cruise the web for gossip, not allowing myself to get caught in a YouTube cycle, not allowing myself to randomly click from one thing to the next, I got done more in a day than I do in a week! So...
LESSON #1: I NEED TO LIMIT MY AMOUNT OF TIME ON THE INTERNET!
This was also particularly helpful because while some of you may have been following the scandal of my public fued with D&R last week on all of the gossip sites and blogs, I didn't have time to! At first, it killed me not being able to read up on everything everyone was saying about it, but then I remembered what my long-time reader Martin always says: "Just as it's none of your business what's going on in someone else's head, it's none of your business what anyone thinks of you!"
LESSON #2: IT'S NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS WHAT ANYONE THINKS OF YOU!
Also, not being able to get on the Internet until I was at my webmasters in the afternoon meant I had to fill my morning with the things my morning should be filled with: Meditating, yoga, running errands, going to the gym, etc. I find that if I open my laptop first thing in the morning with my tea, I never get up from it for the rest of the day. I need to get done everything else that needs to be done in the day before I decide to sit down to read hundreds of emails and dozens of web sites. There is ALWAYS something more to be done on the computer in my life, so once I sit down, it's hard to walk away.
LESSON #3: I NEED TO GET DONE EVERYTHING BEFORE SITTING DOWN AT THE COMPUTER!
In addition, this also helps a great deal in starting my day on a more happy note.
Think about. I wake up, I walk Sadie, I grab my tea, I'm all groggy before the caffeine hits, I sit down and the first thing that hits me are all those emails and you can bet your ass that a few of them are complaints and less than complimentary or kind in tone. And that sets my tone for the whole day: Something's not gotten done, there is no way I can get done everything that needs to get done by the end of the day and someone's inevitably not happy with me about something. Lovely! Yeah, no more of that. Let's start the day with the errands and the gym and all that instead I think. This is why people have offices, I now understand.
So, when I got my Internet back up and running I kept to this routine for the rest of the week and I've got to tell you, it's like I'm a whole new person. I've never smiled more in a day!
On Friday night, I had a special event at MJ's Bar, just promoting our Thursday night show, Porn Star Alley. The owners of MJ's want me to do a one-off Friday night thing now and then just to let their patrons know on the busiest happy hour of the week that there's something really cool going on there every Thursday. I had with me the help of Lex Sabre, Blake Riley, Dominik Rider, Johnny Hurston and Nick Piston -- all of who I am now totally in debt to for just lending their support as friends. Very cool of them all to do that. But it was definitely fun, too! We had cocktails and got a good buzz on before I headed over to The Other Side to see new Friday night pianist Greg Gilena.
It's a new format there for the next month while James Lent is out of town so I'll be singing there on different evenings and with different pianists. (See the schedule in the events section or on MySpace calendar to keep up!) My friend Peter is hosting and singing the majority of the night with a couple of guest singers doing an entire five or six song set! My guest set night will be on Friday, May 30th for anyone who wants to come.
On Saturday, I hung out with Andy Kirra all day. We hung at The Grove, saw Prince Caspian and then headed back to his house and chilled there with his kick ass roommate Michelle who I adore. Andy is usually my "drinking buddy." We like to get totally shit faced together, but neither of us had a drop and I think it's shockingly the most fun we've had together! He has really become one of my best friends and I'm so grateful to have him in my life.
I was at The Grove on Sunday too, but this time with Chi Chi LaRue, who is becoming a much closer friend these days and I'm grateful for that as well. We went shopping at Nordstroms where the entire makeup and perfume section recognized her (out of drag!) and swarmed in en mass. It was utterly surreal and I didn't expect it. We had lunch at The Cheesecake Factory and it was a real "getting to know you" session, but I felt like I just talked about myself the entire time. Surprise, surprise, right? Oh well, we had fun and a lot of laughs.
LESSON #4: MAKING TIME FOR YOUR FRIENDS AND APPRECIATING THEM IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN ANYTHING I WILL EVER DO AT A COMPUTER.
Came home and worked on the site all day Sunday up until seeing the two-hour Desperate Housewives season finale. Holy hell, what's all that about?! Five years later??? Is that really where the new season will pick up? If so, that's either going to become one of the most groundbreaking moves a television show has ever made -- or it's going to flop miserably. I have faith in them though. It's one of the only shows I watch on television.
I'm not a big TV person. I'm a big movie person. The only current shows I watch are Desperate Housewives, Samantha Who?, My Life on the D-List and Inside the Actor's Studio. I watch a lot of television on DVD though: The Mary Tyler Moore Show, The West Wing, Absolutely Fabulous, Arrested Development and Alfred Hitchcock Presents are, in my opinion, the best TV shows ever made. I can watch them over and over.
Gearing up for Chicago now, the big Grabby Awards weekend. I'll be there from Thursday through Sunday. I'm rooming with Jet Set Men exclusive, Aaron James and I have a feeling we're going to be trouble together for the weekend! You can read up on the weekend's festivities as they happen on the "News Desk" blog at: jasoncurious.com/desk.
posted by Jason Sechrest at 2:04 AM
5 Comments:
*Quite honest it pretty much depends on WHY are you using the internet.
It pretty much sounds like I'm giving myself excuses but mine's simply I need to be up-to-date with various information. When I was in town and New York in November last November, I felt I'm like a Flintstones for 2 weeks because I was totally out of touch the world. I have to wait for using internet and my time is being cut short. (But not this time)
*Quite amusing to picture all the cosmetic sales people recognize ChiChi. It reminded me a sales person at the cosmetic department thought I look like 30.
*Trouble? Scandal, I'd say *wink
oh you actually do take notice of soe of the things I tell you :) lool
hugs
Martin
Jason this post hit me between the eyes! I am printing this out! I do seriously need to cut back and yes I have been thru this(spending life online) before, IM's and yes BBS in the late to early 90's!
Okay what BBS were you on at 15?
Mine were all techie boards then!
Time management is the key and staying away You Tube!
Surely You Tube is the "Spawn of Satan!"
I think there is a real neat clip from that movie on .....
Nevermind!!!!
OMG you and Aaron James are roomies!
Trouble oh dear your gonna hopelessly corrupt that boy!
He is so in need of your expert guidance and "mentoring"
;)
Just tell AJ to Breathe and come up for air!
;-P
Nice blog about limiting your time on the internet.
GOOD ADVICE, taken! Jeff
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