Tuesday, June 15, 2010

Journal Topics: Details

Journal Topic: Describe what is going on around you in detail.

I am currently sitting on the floor, my laptop on the coffee table, facing the television.  Buffy the Vampire Slayer is playing on DVD, the episode where she finds out she is the reason that Angel went bad.  It's a pretty classic example of a guy turning evil as soon as you sleep with him.  Not that I've ever had that experience, but I've heard lots of women talk about it.  I can see through a window to my left that a storm is brewing outside.  The clouds are dark and swirling, and every few minutes a rumble of thunder overpowers the sound on the TV.  The trees sway in the breeze, sometimes gently and sometimes violently.  On my right side, also on the floor, a dog named Kaylee chews on a plastic bone.  The sounds are harsh and she looks a little vicious when she attacks the bone, but when I put my hand on her head she looks up at me with sweet, calm, gentle eyes.  Sometimes she places the bone on my leg so that I will hold it for her while she chews on the other side.

My phone sits on the coffee table, beside the computer mouse, just within reach.  Every few minutes, it chimes the tone that means an email has arrived.  This makes me think of how connected everyone is these days and whether or not that's a good thing.  I remember when people couldn't reach me unless I was at home, near the phone.  While this constant accessibility is a good thing in many ways (I can be reached by any prospective employers who may want to offer me a job at any time, day or night, no matter where I may be) sometimes I think it's a bad thing.  If we can't ever be unaccessible, there is no way to have a moment to ourselves.  If anyone can always reach us, it's hard to have any privacy.  Sometimes I turn off my phone just to achieve that sense of aloneness, that much-needed privacy.  But not until after 5 on weekdays, because I really need that call from a prospective employer!

If it were sunny out, I would have a very different story to tell for this journal entry.  I've been dying to get out to the pool and get some sun.  Perhaps later in the week...