What ever happened to David's blog?

We were talking about blogs at work the other day, and one of my coworkers commented, "You have a blog, don't you, David?"

I had to say I did, although I hadn't updated it in ages. And I really didn't have a good reason why I haven't.

It's not as though I've stopped observing life in the four months since I last wrote here. It's not as though my life's so busy I truly haven't had time. To be honest, it's mostly that I've gotten lazy about it.

But a couple of columns I was able to write for work this week reminded me that I do like to write. I do like to express myself. I do like to share my thoughts on the world.

So I'll try to reinvigorate this blog. Here's the real fun part for me... I don't think I'm going to tell anyone I'm doing it. So if you stumble back here again, please drop me a note to say hello and let me know I'm rebuilding this thing from scratch.

The biggest change in my life has obviously been the wedding. All went off without a major hitch. In hindsight, I'm glad everything was done the way it was done. Also in hindsight, I wish we'd gone to Vegas and done it cheaply. But that's my nature, to be cheap.

Overall, though, I am happy. And that's something I haven't been able to say for most of the years of my adult life.

Time to stand up to technology taking over your life

From the Nov. 26, 2006, editions of The Lima News
The frustrated voice on the message said it all.

"I don’t know why you even bother having a cell phone if you’re not going to answer it," an old friend said.

Something about his tone made me wonder if I was mastering technology or if technology was mastering me. Perhaps it truly was my duty to flip the little black phone open every time it rumbled in my pocket.

It reminded me of a nasty e-mail from another friend. I’d gone a day or two too long before answering an e-mail, so I received a reminder about the joys of the Internet.

"E-mail is an instant form of communication," she wrote. "That means you can actually answer it as soon as you receive it."

Technology is a wonderful thing, but sometimes it’s wonderfully complicating to your life. Everything becomes so instantaneous, you miss out on the most important human decisions: the decision to deal with it later.

Every day, we divide our worlds into three categories. There are things you have to do now. There are the things you have to do later. Then there are the things you may never do (including those wedding thank you’s I’m negligently late on completing).

Technology seems to prioritize everything for us.

I don’t want to come off as a technophobe. I had an e-mail address about four years before they started becoming popular. I used to surf the Internet when it was all words and no pictures. I had my first computer when I was 8.

The more I learn about technology, though, the more I vow not to let it control my life.

I remember when our family got its first answering machine. It was such a wonderful innovation, a remarkable machine answering the phone when we couldn’t. It meant we didn’t have to camp out by the telephone all the time. It meant we’d know who wanted to be in touch with us.

Then came the cell phone, which I tried to resist as long as I could. I finally joined the mobile phone generation in 2002, long after most of my friends and family converted. It was incredible, the ability to talk to anyone, anywhere.

Somewhere along the way, though, people’s attitudes changed. We’ve changed from just wanting people to know we wish to speak with them to expecting them to be available whenever we punch their digits into the keypad.

About a year ago, a co-worker wrote a paper about the downfalls of constant communication. He interviewed me for the project, since at the time I worked from home, using cell phones, e-mails and the Internet to stay in touch with the Lima office.

His questions reminded me of the biggest difference between my life and that of my father. Whenever Dad returned home from a long day at the factory, Mom asked, "How was work?"

His answer was always the same: "Over."

It’s not so easy to say that anymore. Perhaps three times a week the antiquated Alltel phone I carry in my right pocket begins ringing as we put the little one to bed. It’s someone at the office, asking a simple enough question that requires minimal thought to answer (which is fortunate, as I have minimal thought to spare).

Technology keeps us connected constantly. Sometimes that’s a good thing, such as the daily noontime conversation with my wife, reminding me why I fight through my workday struggles. Sometimes it’s a bad thing, such as that work call interrupting a comfortable night on the couch.

I’ll respond to that e-mail from my friend. I’ll call back that other buddy. They’ll happen on my schedule, though, when I decide it’s the right time to do it. You can rest assured I’ll understand if they don’t get back to me right away.

Meaning of Turkey Day lost in the holiday rush

From the Nov. 22, 2006, editions of The Lima News

The cornucopia seems rather hard to find this year.

It’s been easy to find Christmas trees, singing Santas and bows on gifts for the past month, as people warm up for the so-called "most wonderful time of the year." But the horn of plenty, that iconic horn-shaped basket filled with festive fruits associated with Thanksgiving, is nowhere to be found.

Most people know Thursday is Thanksgiving. The true meaning behind the holiday, however, seems forgotten. It’s become a day of gluttony, as we gather with family to plan our black Friday plans, not express our thanks for what we have.

Thanksgiving is perhaps the first American holiday, as the pilgrims gathered to celebrate the harvest on Dec. 4, 1619, in the Virginia Colony. They gathered with the natives there, who helped them survive the season with their knowledge of the earth.

Perhaps it says something about our nation when we largely ignore the real purpose of one of the most American of holidays. People want to race past Thanksgiving and right into the Christmas season. They’re more interested in the thanks-for-the-gift of the 25th of December than the thanks-for-everything of the fourth Thursday in November.

That’s the problem with living in one of the most prosperous nations on earth. That’s the ordeal with living in one of the most prosperous nations in the history of civilization. We’re seldom happy with what we have. We’re happier to think about what more we could have.

Perhaps it depends on the type of year someone’s had, but there seems to be a lot to be thankful for this year.

I know I’m thankful. In the past year, I’ve seen my share of good fortune.

My family now includes a wife and a daughter, both blessings I didn’t have last November.

I have a lovely home, complete with a roof over our heads and a silly knickknack with our surname next to the front door.

My industry, journalism, is heading into a strange, new world as we adapt to the Internet and what it can do to present the news.

I enjoy a rewarding job, full of challenges, successes and failures each day as we attempt to present a fair, unbiased account of our world.

I still have my hair, even if it’s turning gray on the sides a little earlier than I’d planned.

Things are going well. Even the parts of my life that seem unfulfilled still seem better than the alternative, an untimely early death.

Thanksgiving is the time to remember these things. It’s a pit stop between the insanity of taking a child trick-or-treating at the end of October and watching that child tear into gifts at the end of December.

It’s a pleasant enough idea to deserve its own holiday. It’s certainly important enough to spend five minutes to ponder what in your life deserves thanks to the deity of your choice.

Thursday is a fine opportunity to step back from the rat race of life and count your blessings. There’s a good chance you’ll find your cornucopia’s much fuller than you thought.