relax

oh man, it's nice to lay on my bed right now, propped up by my perfectly puffed up pillows. with my laptop set up on my lap, i'll surf surf surf the web, reading my favorite pubs, my blogs, my website subscriptions in my paw printed pjs and... veg.

it's strange that this is now my regular way of relaxing and vegging: information surfing. it's nice being connected to the world wide web, right? with just one meaningless search, you can spend hours devouring information. maybe i'll start off reading up on the latest news on my homepage, then drift off into reviewing the latest trailers on rotten tomatoes. wait, who was that one actress? search imdb for some deets, then read the superficial for some celebrity laughs. i'll go through the list of other blogs i'm following on my google reader. i may also reference wikipedia to look up so-and-so's complete works while i wait for my hulu or netflix queue to upload. i'll, of course, be checking my email simultaneously, too, only to be linked to another url sent to me by a friend who is both gchating and AIMing me about an art gallery opening the next day. how do i get there? i look up google-maps. then.... this goes on for a few hours. yup, you get the drift. this is my mind at rest, a busy feeding session.

and so i have the occasional desperate yearning for solitude or for specific activities like playing my piano, guitar, drawing or running.

lately, hiking has been good for me. this one mountain i've been hiking the past few weeks kicks my ass every time and though i'm forced to exert myself physically, my mind is... at ease. i'll grunt and complain all the way up to the top, too, with my sleeves rolled up and sweat dripping off my nose. i will be the one marked with the beautiful armpit, neck and back sweat stain on the trail. it's basically gross. but it's perfect and simple.... quiet. a break from all this information.

illustraton: kate miller.