Here I lie on the sofa, engaged in one of the of guiltier Internet pleasures for hopeless nerds: phone blogging.
My head on one throw pillow, my feet on another, I lie here tapping away with my right thumb while petting the cat with my left hand as he lies on the rug below, purring away like a small, warm, happy engine. He too is pro-phone-blogging.
It’s wonderfully relaxing, almost the opposite of some things that should, by rights, be similar: that is, social media posting.
Sure, I know, blogging is technically social media. There are the occasional comments and likes, which are appreciated, and I’ve even taken to using my Reader to peruse and appreciate other blogs.
But for me, blogging is meditative and creative. It helps me think through issues. It is something to do in the evenings instead of channel surfing or doom scrolling. It’s like taking my brain for a walk.
Blogging via a phone app (in my case, WordPress) takes the pressure off. It’s a much different setup than the standing desk I use for work all day.
The irony is that I’ve never cared for texting given my large hands and wide, knuckly fingers. I’m a reasonably good touch typist on a keyboard but a pathetically poor smartphone plunker.
Yet, my crappy thumb-typing is an advantage when it comes to phone blogging. It requires a plodding, leisurely pace that complements my slowed brain after a full day’s work.
It’s true that I still don’t do most graphics this way (though I’m working on it using the Canva app). I tend to use a laptop for final touches, but the lion’s share of writing is done like this.
So, even as the more technically ambitious ride off into the metaverse, outfitted like virtual knights in their latest VR gear, ready for new quests, I literally poke along. A virtual donkey, happily behind the times, nosing along the winding, reticular paths of my own idle thoughts.
So, that’s how I do it, Renard, in answer to your query on the topic. It’s not fancy and no doubt looks to my wife like sheer, irredeemable sloth.
But, the dinner dishes done, to me it’s a nice hour or so off the beaten paths of the increasingly frantic, irate and irrational Internet. This is the back way, the scenic route, the road less traveled. It is the Tao of the Slow Stroll, and I can recommend it.
All images from Stable Diffusion