ahream

Well, that’s it. We caved like the soggy house of cards we are. My husband and I, after holding out for as long as we possibly could, now have a cell phone. Sort of. It’s one of those pay-as-you-go things. Neither of us being emotionally prepared for a real grown-up version with a contract and a plan and some strange concept called “roaming.”

(As far as I knew, buffalos were the only things that roamed, but it appears my phone can now get cabin fever.)

This is probably how people felt when the electric wires started going up. Turned them on, saw that they worked, then immediately turned them off again. We have prided ourselves for so long on being above the constant buzz of pointless, personal and, above all, loud chatter that has made every public place sound like a honey bee hive in stereo. We were smug. We were superior. We were not plugged into the Borg.

Rebels. Renegades. Mountain men amongst the urban masses.

Now we stare at this new contraption with no small amount of distrust and fear. I’m not going to lie to you. I have a little bit of an urge to drown it. That’s weird, I know.

Alas, through a series of events largely out of our control, we found that for some period of time in the near future, we were really, really, really going to need the phone. We started out borrowing friends’ for short periods of time, but seriously, how annoying is that? So here we are. Plus one cell phone and minus one pair of perfectly good scissors.

(Snapped the handles clean off trying to open the damn blister pack. We can have a rant about that some other time, except to say it’s a goddamn $20 phone not plutonium. Maybe the plastic wrapping doesn’t need to be a full 3/4 of an inch thick.)

Now if only we can figure out how to use it...

Today: cell phone. Tomorrow: Indoor plumbing. It’s a new frontier.

ahream Dispatches from the City of Angels I'm a mystery writer living in and writing about Los Angeles. You can catch my short story, "Running Venice," in the new anthology LAndmarked for Murder. Look for it in bookstores and on Amazon.com now. In the meantime, feel free to poke around. Over at my website you can find even more blog entries than I could fit here, as well as a few other ramblings. Enjoy and come back often.
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Previous Entry :: Next Entry Read/Post Comments (1) Most Recent Twitters: A 3-foot long alligator was found walking down the middle of the street in Venice Beach this morning. I love L.A. In case you were wondering, it is very difficult to get a hummingbird out of your house. They are irrational and prone to hysterics. L.A. Finds: The Nickel Diner on Main between 5th and 6th is a made-to-look-old, throwback of a place that melds into the old downtown and is, at the same time, part of the renaissance. They serve their burgers medium, their soda in bottles and offer all they can to locals in need. Flickr Updates: The second Thursday of every month is the Downtown Art Walk. The galleries stay open late, the restaurants are packed, bands perform on the streets. God, I love L.A. What I'm Reading: Attack of the Unsinkable Rubber Ducks by Christopher Brookmyre What I Talk About When I Talk About Running by Haruki Murakami Want E-Mail Updates? Click here, type your e-mail address into the first field (for public entries) and receive an e-mail note each time a new blog post goes up. (Photo updates, Twitters and "L.A. Finds" features not included. Those you have to swing by and check yourself.) Absolutely, positively no spam. Promise. Other author blogs: Sue Ann Jaffarian Eric Stone Christa Faust Lipstick Chronicles		2007-03-01 12:08 PM Drown your cell phone Well, that’s it. We caved like the soggy house of cards we are. My husband and I, after holding out for as long as we possibly could, now have a cell phone. Sort of. It’s one of those pay-as-you-go things. Neither of us being emotionally prepared for a real grown-up version with a contract and a plan and some strange concept called “roaming.” (As far as I knew, buffalos were the only things that roamed, but it appears my phone can now get cabin fever.) This is probably how people felt when the electric wires started going up. Turned them on, saw that they worked, then immediately turned them off again. We have prided ourselves for so long on being above the constant buzz of pointless, personal and, above all, loud chatter that has made every public place sound like a honey bee hive in stereo. We were smug. We were superior. We were not plugged into the Borg. Rebels. Renegades. Mountain men amongst the urban masses. Now we stare at this new contraption with no small amount of distrust and fear. I’m not going to lie to you. I have a little bit of an urge to drown it. That’s weird, I know. Alas, through a series of events largely out of our control, we found that for some period of time in the near future, we were really, really, really going to need the phone. We started out borrowing friends’ for short periods of time, but seriously, how annoying is that? So here we are. Plus one cell phone and minus one pair of perfectly good scissors. (Snapped the handles clean off trying to open the damn blister pack. We can have a rant about that some other time, except to say it’s a goddamn $20 phone not plutonium. Maybe the plastic wrapping doesn’t need to be a full 3/4 of an inch thick.) Now if only we can figure out how to use it... Today: cell phone. Tomorrow: Indoor plumbing. It’s a new frontier. Read/Post Comments (1) Previous Entry :: Next Entry Back to Top