One of my least favorite in vogue expressions is "living off the grid." However, it seems pretty relevant in today's day and age. In my life, at least, it conjures up appealing thoughts of not being a slave to technology and no longer addicted to the bits and bytes of the 21st century.
Before randomness I used to take a week every few months and evade it all. No television, no movies, no video games, no computer. Just a lot of reading, a lot of thinking, a lot of friends and a lot of nature. I used to call it my Amish Week and allowed myself but one bit of modern technology, music.
After taking a silly quiz yesterday in Time Out (reproduced with no permission whatsoever in the extended entry) I decided that it's time to take the practice up again. I can't do a week anymore, though. Being out of contact for an extended time like that isn't really feasible. So I'm going to take a day a week and see how it goes. I'll rotate the day and will start with this Monday. It will, obviously, only apply to non-working hours. It may extend to no workday e-mailing, IM'ing or blogging other than for work-related items. Haven't decided on that yet.
Click below to take the quiz that started me thinking. I scored 39, way too high. What's your score? If you score 36 or over I think you should be joining me...
What's Your Overloaded Quotient? from Time Out New York April 8-15, 2004.
Give yourself four points for every (a), three points for every (b), two for every (c) and one for every (d).
How obsessed are you with your cell phone?
(a) I have unlimited minutes and 30 ring tones. I spit in the face of harmful radiation.
(b) Rarely do I leave home without it, but it's off while I'm on vacation.
(c) I still call it "my car phone."
(d) I don't have one -- isn't an answering machine enough?
In recent years, how have you met the majority of your romantic interests?
(a) In an exclusive chatroom full of cyberdenizens exactly like me.
(b) Through a major online personals service.
(c) The traditional way: in a bar full of shouting idiots.
(d) Everything was arranged by the village elders.
What is your portable music setup?
(a) Fully outfitted MP3 player with 80 playlists and peer avoidance technolgy.
(b) Dropped the dough on an iPod, but I'm still figuring out how to program it.
(c) Still carting around an old-timey CD player.
(d) I can whistle a pretty mean "Kumbaya."
What gets delivered to your postal address?
(a) A universe of magazines, a galaxy of Netflix selections, a solar system of crap I bought on eBay.
(b) Just enough publications to make me feel guilty for reading only half of them.
(c) Not much besides the Times. I like the way they surround a story.
(d) Hallmark cards from Mother.
Do you use a PDA?
(a) The question is: does it use me?
(b) Yes, but what a ball and chain (er, stylus and display).
(c) Absolutely not. Death to status symbols.
(d) I keep my displays of affection private, thank you.
Have you indulged in the Friendster phenomenon?
(a) Of course - did you know I'm linked to Vladimir Putin?
(b) A bit, but it's mostly a borderline perverted-voyeurism thing.
(c) As if my offline friends aren't weird enough...
(d) Never heard of it -- the 7,000 magazine articles about it passed me by.
What's the last time you put pen to paper and wrote a letter the old-fashioned way?
(a) Paper?
(b) Years. Although I think I have some $0.29 stamp somewhere.
(c) Within the last few months -- the personal touch still has its place in our impersonal society.
(d) Last week -- didn't you get my illegible, scathing letter to the editor?
How do you record your favorite TV programs?
(a) God bless TiVo for keeping me up to date with Mama's Family reruns.
(b) I dibble in the fancy technology, but only for Sopranos-caliber fare.
(c) The VCR gets the job done.
(d) My Betamax is in the shop.
Do you text message?
(a) R U K Din? 4 sure. OK. ]:-)
(b) I want to -- it's reason No. 12 that I need a cell phone upgrade.
(c) No, I find yet another form of communication superfluous.
(d) Does Morse code count as "text?"
What do you consider multitasking?
(a) Reading Wired while IM-ing my cousin while downloading The Grey Album while romancing my sweetheart while going through a bout of existential dread.
(b) Being somewhat productive (paying bills, raising my children) while watching TV.
(c) Getting away with personal business while on the company clock.
(d) Chewing gum while not spontaneously combusting.
How do you preserve those treasured moments in your life?
(a) I use my camera phone. It lets me sneak peeks at people's ATM codes.
(b) A digital contraption, although those Fotomat huts were cool, weren't they?
(c) There's nothing like an old-fashioned camera to cherish those moments of accidently exposing the film.
(d) Maybe some of us aren't going to take a picture, because we don't want it to last longer.