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May 9, 2012

Post Digital Detox

So, I'm back.

To begin with a confession: I wasn't entirely screen free last week, but used the laptop mostly for reading Email and responding to just the time sensitive ones. We don't have TV in the house, so that part was easy.

I intended to check out Volvo's reputation for having car interiors that are chemically clean - but I couldn't find the local Volvo dealer! I didn't want to google it, being screen-free and all, and it was mysteriously lacking a listing in the yellow pages.

I did a lot of gardening, talking with my friends, hanging out with my children, reading even more books than usual. CelloDad was having one gruelling week at work, but we did manage to go out for lunch finally, on Friday, just the two of us. I went for a talk on middle-eastern art at the museum. I played pool with a friend, practicing for the day that we can graduate to snooker. I even - ack - went to the mall, looking to replace our pasta bowls which are starting to chip.

My ViolaPlayer was screen-free (excepting homework assignments) for the weekdays, and cool new artwork started to emerge from the study - but come the weekend the lure of the internet proved too great.

However, to my intense pride - and utter amazement - CelloDad has declared he would like a screen-free day every weekend from now. Wow. That would be fantastic: I rather enjoyed our family game of badminton doubles, wouldn't mind doing that every weekend. Just for that I would count this screen-free week a success.

But the most exciting thing that happened last week was my first cello lesson.

CelloPlayer (whose cello I am playing for now) is quietly laughing at my ineffectual plucking - if I'm very lucky I get to hold the bow this week - and I've already been admonished to wash my hands before touching the cello. I suppose it's only fair, since it's not really my cello. And I suppose it's good for you to watch your mom struggling with a new thing.

All I can say is, It's Hard. My fingertips hurt. My thumb hurts (either I have to develop the muscles in my left hand, or I'm holding the neck wrong). Playing the electric bass, with its frets, was much easier.

But I'm stoked. I'm already eyeing the back of our VW Golf, to see how one might fit two cellos in that car, plus the viola, and still carry all four of us.

2 comments:

  1. Wow ... what a lovely week you had! And Cello lessons ... awesome! We try to be screen free or at least mostly screen free once a week. It's great & if we didn't have to work (our business is online based), we'd have more screen free days. It's nice to remember what we did before laptops. :-)

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    Replies
    1. Screens are just built into our lives now. I agree with you, it's great to be free of them for at least a day a week, I'm really looking forward to that.

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