Who Killed the Conversation?

For a while I have been thinking about doing this and after reading an article online about it the other day, I am going to follow through. . .

Since I've had a cell phone, i've had text messaging, just like everyone else in this world. I've soon realized that conversations via text messages are probably one of the most ridiculous things in the world.

Let me be a little bit more specific about this pandemic. Text messages are specifically useful for instances where the phone call would last under 10 seconds, usually involving telling someone you're at their place, you will meet them somewhere at a specific time, sending them an outlandish picture and/or quote, etc. . .

The problem is not with those messages, but lies when you start having "deep" or "meaningful" conversations over text messages with people who are "close" to you. Or also, people you have just met. Once you start having these conversations I feel like you lose the intimacy and connection that come from what the 20th Century calls a "Face to Face" conversation where you sit down with each other, and talk. Or you call them, if for some reason you cannot talk to them face to face, and have the conversation that is intended to be had.

Not to mention the interpersonal skills that you lose by using text messaging. I swear that I see people walking around messaging people more than they speak to other human beings. Also, what about peoples writing skills? Soon words start missing letters and have numbers added 2 them. I'd love to see some papers wrote by people who are fluent in the "IM" language. Check out this short snippet.

Now, I know that this blog may be hypocritical for the sheer fact that I have had these conversations before via text message and sent tens of thousands of texts per month on a pretty regular basis. . . This is the reason for this blog, today this ends for me. Text messages will be only used for the ease of communication (i.e. can't call due to loud noise, in class, conversation would be shorter to just send a message) or to kill boredom (this excludes any "deep" conversations). Who knows what this will lead to, we will find out. . . 

Here are a few picture diagrams to help you visualize what these are like, in case you may have never experienced some of these. . .

A text message conversation. . .

A telephone conversation. . .

A face to face conversation. . .

Social Ranting Blog: I'm Last.

The other night as Cory & I were driving to the STL Bike Co-Op we had a discussion about how we do not really blog much anymore. Cory always had a mock diary blog and I usually stuck to blogging about my trips. Since I am not traveling at the moment thanks to a thing called "School," I figured I will start doing thoughts on conversations that I have with people, or as I would like to call it, a little social ranting blog.

A few days ago I had a talk with someone about how much time that they spend doing things for other people, school, music ensembles, etc. They said they wished they had enough time to just go out and do something that would be relaxing to them. . .

This is something I realized this summer, it is necessary to do relaxing things when you need them, or even if you don't. Making time to relax, enjoy yourself, and do something you love to do is a pretty key component in de-stressing my day. When touring this summer I would, usually after dinner, go somewhere alone and write about my day and reflect. That was de-stressing. 

Now that I'm back at school I usually accomplish this through biking. Every day I roll out on my bike, sometimes with no destination in mind, out to push and enjoy myself. Zoning out and wandering through the country side is one of the most relaxing things to me. No one is trying to push opinions on me, no one trying to get me to go do something with/for them, just me doing my thing.

It blows my mind more people don't do this for themselves? Even if you do have to study all night or have engagements all day, you can always find time (even 15-20 minutes) to do something that is YOUR relaxation time, stress & worry free.

Try it.

Got the touring itch

Lately I have been pretty antsy to get on the bike, load up everything I need, and take off again. . . Due to school that will definitely not happen anytime soon. I have 3-4 trips in the making right now, they are as follows:

Late December - Bike from Owensville, MO to Higginsville, MO (2 days)
Mid-January - Drive to Florida, Tour, Drive back (7 days)
May 16 - (Potentially) Bike from STL to San Fransico (6 Weeks)
After that - Trek to Re-Energize 2010? To DC

It's not like I do not ride enough at the moment, I just dislike riding back to the same place I started everyday. . .

My touring bike will be needing some upgrades before it is even rideable again. A new rear wheel after that blow out incident on the C&O Canal Trail in August. One new set of panniers. My rear Cannondale panniers from the 90's held up but my newer, although cheaper, set started ripping at the seams... They will have to be replaced. The tires should have another 1,500 miles on them... & now that I have a GPS for my Road Bike, I will be able to use that on tour!

Here are a few pictures from when The Trek was crossing the Appalachian Mountains: