I believe I have always had mild ADD. I've called it "absent mindedness" up to now. But it's time to face facts. The constant bombardment of information these days has worsened my distractedness to the point that I can barely focus when put in front of a computer.
What starts out as a quick search to find out more about “jarlsberg cheese” leads me down the path to “olives” then to “tapas” then on to “packing a picnic lunch” then to “good walking trails in Michigan” then to Coldwater Creek to see if they have anything good on sale (50% off…. I’m going to save so much money) then to my bank account to make sure my check was deposited….. it’s endless. I find myself forgetting what my original google intentions were.
Cryptic notes are scattered around my desk at work and home. Tiny scraps of paper in my purse with barely legible scribbles about something on a podcast. These notes are meant to remind me about books to evaluate, recipes to look up, topics of interest to researched. (OK research is a little bit of an overstatement).
Ever hear of the site howstuffworks.com? Awesome (high pitched, sing-songy trill ---- annoying isn’t it?) They have information on EVERYTHING….. seriously. I discovered it because I am addicted to several of their podcasts. “Stuff You Missed in History Class” “The Coolest Stuff on Earth” “Stuff Mom Never Told You” and my all time favorite “Stuff You Should Know”. (Love you Josh & Chuck)
These podcasts are responsible for at least one note per day on stuff to look up. How stuff works has more podcasts I’m itching to dig into but I don’t think I can cram anymore information into my head. Gee, I wonder how the popularity of podcasting is changing over time. Is it threatening radio? How do free podcasts make money? What’s the ratio of podcasts that charge money? The questions are endless…..
Photographer Credit: Shawn Lea from Jackson, MS, US
Oh I can SO relate. I love, love, LOVE research and discovering new things - useless facts, random animal stats, how things work (yep, love that magazine and website). One of my monthly indulgences is picking up the overpriced-but-so-worth-it BBC Discovery, MentalFloss, and How Things Work magazines. Don't even get me started about web hopping. Pretty sure that's why my WIP is still "IP". Happy hopping.
ReplyDeleteI call it Trivial Pursuit.
ReplyDeleteYep. About the only cure I've found is just NOT doing it. And that's not even a cure. More like terrible training exercise.
ReplyDeleteLOL@Mom. Sadly, I suck at TP.
ReplyDeletei always seem to think i'll be able to remember what it is i want to look up, then i find myself in front of the computer, visiting the same sites i always do, and after an hour realize i never looked up what i meant to in the first place.
ReplyDeletei'm gonna take your post-it suggestion (btw - i can't ever hear the word post-it without thinking of romy and michelle).
like the new look of the blog!
Love the new "skin" on the blog.
ReplyDeleteADD? Sounds more to me like signs of a very active and intelligent mind!
Exactly!..I started out looking up 'Lava Lamp',and ended up discovering a shorter route to India.
ReplyDeleteI love that stuff..
Here, let me save you some time on one thing....come and visit me. Coldwater Creek has its origins right here in little Sandpoint...we have a warehouse and a beautiful store...and a Starbucks and a really great Mexican place that serves the best burritos. When I order one I roll my r's. I find myself looking up people....like nurses and hospitals that I worked with and for and then there are the new CPAP machines that Steve might like better than the space mask he has now. I also like to make up meanings for the word verifications but if i type mine here it changes....bratilik....a measurement for a naughty kid.
ReplyDeleteI'm gonna have to check out that howstuffworks.com...sounds intriguing! :)
ReplyDeleteOh, and I think I have internet ADD, too. :)
Some of my hops today included "Roswell" (tv show), Elijah Wood, Gogol Bordello (a member is dating Elijah) and Chernobyl. Gogol Bordello, which is fronted by a Ukrainian, reminded me that I had talked about Chernobyl with Liz yesterday, and I wanted to refresh my memory...and on it goes. Right now I'm curious about MI5 - no telling where that will lead.
ReplyDeleteDawn - I love Discovery magazine. I didn't know How Stuff Works publishes a magazine... great. One more thing to add to my reading pile.
ReplyDeleteMom - It does help prep for a good game.
Booda - No way I could stop surfing. I think I'd go crazy. Makes me wonder how I used to sit and watch TV for any length of time.
mi- I haven't seen Romy and Michelle. I'll have to Netflix it.
Foxy - Oh it's active alright.
Sling - You've left me no choice but to now look up both lava lamps and trade routes to India. As if I didn't have enough to look up already.
Rosemary - As if meeting you wouldn't be draw enough to head to Idaho, now you add my favorite store and my favorite cuisine.... mmmmm burritos.....
MHP - I think there is a correlation between being a blogger and having internet ADD.
Bad Alice - It is endless. My husband thinks bookmarking everything will help but that just leads to pages and pages of "faovrites".
Its all knowledge. No doubt you have enough stored in your noggin that you can deal with a bit of trivia.....I think we are all a bit like this - but those of us from the baby boomers years at least remember it wasn't always like this - thats what worries us.
ReplyDelete