there is too much input. there is so much information coming from every corner of the world and these here magical internets. beautiful things, but overwhelming. some days i think about going completely analog. disconnect. i know it wont last long, but i want to try disconnected weekends or hours. my phone is always on, always checking my email, always responding to texts. and tumblr. i believe that tumblr induces my anxiety and worsens my attention span. it encourages the illusion that everything in the world, at some determined point, can be reduced to knowable, possessable objects of knowledge. or maybe this is just my problem. i am an archiver, collector, aspiring historian, etc. but sometimes i can't get a grip of all that there is to know and understand. i do not expect to have mastery of every war, political leader, artistic movement, or emily dickinson poem...but i'd like to feel afloat. these magical internets have opened up great opportunity as far as information access. but i am curious: what happens when we grow more concerned about collecting souvenirs and bits if inofrmation rather than understanding the depth of what we discover? i want to discover and savor. seems like a lot of discovery happens, but there is very little time to process.

i want to slow down. breathe. focus on one task. no more multi-tasking. single tasks. read one book at a time. invest a hour and carefully responding to one email.

i do take the time to take self portraits. gives me a chance to slow down a bit.

(13) 365/2010: 'say something that resuscitates/ us, behind the masks...'

title from yusef komunyakaa's poem 'safe subject' from his 'neon vernacular' collection.

what happens when i lose focus during meetings (i doodle & color):