First World Problems

This joke started on family vacation. My brother-in-law said it after someone exclaimed, “Those lounge chairs at the sand pool hurt my back!” Later I threw a tantrum for us spending more time at the pool than the beach.

Sounds like a first world problem to me.

I love that line. It puts things in perspective.

We moved last week, to a renovated Cape Cod north of downtown Atlanta. We love the house and the location. It’s a sleepy street where you hear no traffic and crickets are the soundtrack in the evenings. My friends saved me and helped load the moving truck and later unload. We’re grateful to have people who are willing to carry heavy things up hills in the August heat for us. All this moving, into a house we love, has created a mass of difficulty: unpacking, finding a new home for our things, changing our address on all of our investments, insurance, bills, magazines, and charities.

Last night I had to fix the sprinkler system, adjust the flood lights, and put our address on the mailbox. Earlier in the day I had to meet the cable guy at the house to hook up the wireless internet and TV. Also, my clothes are half upstairs in a dresser and half downstairs in a closet. Our kitchen gets a little hot when we cook, and the bedrooms aren’t as cool as the rest of the house. And to all of this minor difficulty, which is probably for our good, I hear a resounding, “Sounds like a first world problem to me.”

Moving and Stress

Our little bungalow in Atlanta is under contract, and we have a slightly larger Cape Cod under contract ten minutes further north. This is all thrilling and grand for our family, but it’s also tolling. It’s like eating an ice cream cone in Atlanta heat–you’re enjoying it but a little frantic the entire time. Last week a friend told me the three most stressful things that can occur in your life are: 1) Death of a family member, 2) Divorce, and 3) Selling and Buying a House. Thanks for the encouragement.

So…I’m breaking from blogging for a few weeks as my mind and stress-capacity are overwhelmed.

See you in a few.

Movie Review: Junebug

David Zahl and I team up to review the quirky movie, Junebug. Jump to Mockingbird for the review.

A Conversation on Technology (Part 2)

(A few more thoughts from The New Yorker’s recent article, The Visionary)

As for blogging, texting, and tweeting, Jaron Lanier says:

“If you listen first, and write later, then whatever you write will have had time to filter through your brain, and you’ll be in what you say. This is what makes you exist. If you are only a reflector of information, are you really there?”

As for the appeal of depersonalizing human interaction:

“Part of what Lanier finds most regrettable about Facebook–the way it mediates social contact–is precisely what makes it so appealing to most people.”

We use technology this way all the time. We want to limit the demand that real relationships make on us, so we email or text rather than call. We use technology as a buffer from anything that makes us uncomfortable, yet that which makes us uncomfortable usually helps us become more than the self-centered people we tend to be.

(Yes, I realize the irony of this form of communication to you. I’ll text you later about when I can Facebook you and then maybe we can schedule a phone call.)