So, I sit here on a Sunday morning.
We have had a rainy weekend. Ok, we seem to have only had rain as of late. Frank went to Austin for an appointment, and I was home alone with our four-legged kids. DaisyBelle handled the single parent with ease. She has experience knowing Frank will be back and confident of my ability to continue to feed her on a regular schedule, meet her scheduled walks, and wait patiently for his return. Lucky was fine also but a little less accepting, I must say. During the day, she didn't see me as an adequate replacement for Frank for the scheduled cuddles in the morning. They have a schedule, and I was not allowed to fit into hers. My role in her life was the same, but at night she found the back of my leg at sleeping time. Actually, she and DaisyBelle decided that the bed size and extra space were not significant, as they teamed up to confine me to one spot on our bed between them, and all was well.
That said, it was raining. I might have mentioned that already. So, all the excitement of Longview was
not for me.
I proceeded on Friday to watch way too many episodes of The Nanny on TV. I forgot how good they were, and the humor balanced well family and adult content. They got through a number of issues, relationship challenges, and the occasional Jewish joke without a horrible laugh track or any technology as part of the scenes. Not one laptop, cell phone, smartphone, or Fitbit watch, and I remember that I was working for the Internet Division at IBM at the time, so it was during the Internet early years.
Then as evening found me, I sunk into movies. You see, as much as I lean toward new movies or at least old movies I have not seen, I also tend to reach back to watch again movies that bring me comfort or curiosity. We have a smart tv, and it suggested that I watch Four Weddings and a Funeral on Youtube with ads. It turned out, compared to Hulu that we pay for, the ads were very short and other than interrupting at odd times, the ads didn't bother me much.
If you have not seen
Four Weddings and Funeral, I won't spoil much to tell you that this is a movie where a group of friends goes through Four Weddings and a Funeral. It starred Hugh Grant and Andie MacDowell and came out in 1994. What draws me to it is the humor, but also there is very little mention of their work, and there is no technology in their lives. I dare say there was not even a cell phone or a computer sitting on a desk in the number of homes and events. Guess what? It is enjoyable, funny, and a bit suspenseful, and their lives, even if a bit odd, didn’t seem less exciting than our busy technology-filled days of today.
My next movie was August: Osage County which came out in 2013. You know you are getting older
when you think to yourself, this is a recent movie, yet it is already eight years old. First of all, it may be the best ensemble movie I have seen in the last decade. There have been a number of them out lately that have left us wondering what happened. We like all of the cast, b. but it seemed like the film’s creators focused on that and not the less important aspects of a film such as a script, characters, and likability. In this movie, there is not a bad performance in the movie, and I remember seeing it the first time and recognizing how genuinely great Julia Roberts is in the movie. She more than holds her own with the likes of Meryl Streep. She holds your attention and draws you into her character, and she amazed me as much or more Friday night. It was as good as it was the first few times I watched it and was a bit notable in dealing with aging parents. It also had another characteristic cause of the time it is staged. There was no technology. No computers, don't remember a cell phone, and the entertainment in the home was a TV and a record player.
The final movie,
Notting Hill, combined my weekend love affair with Julia Roberts and Hugh Grant. Aside from Julia Roberts playing the sweet and beautiful global movie star and wondering how close this is to her own character. I enjoyed the movie. At the center of the movie is Hugh Grant, the proprietor of a travel book store. Not a book store, mind you, of varying topics, but one focused on travel alone. And yes, you guessed it, no technology. There is not even a PC at the book store counting money or a web browser tracking the press for Julia Roberts’s character in the film. Even in London and their notorious press, you are to believe her character could just walk around London. In today's world, the cameras and necessary selfies would make her presence known in minutes.
We spend more time on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram watching what others say and sharing our most recent cute cat and dog photos. We chat, Zoom, and track each other’s lives instead of doing what we did 30 years ago. We would get out of the house, read a book, plant some seeds in the garden, or admit we are bored and try to find other forms of entertainment.
I say this as one who has been most grateful for social media during the pandemic. There is no doubt that technology had helped get the vaccines developed and tested quickly. It has also helped us keep track of each other and our families over the crazy year. But, I wonder if we should use this time coming out of the pandemic to reduce our time on Social Media and technology and change our habits and not have it be the center of our lives and how we communicate with one another. Let’s get out for walks, play tennis or golf and get out of the house without the urge to share each step with one another.
This is an idea, and aside from the occasional cute Lucky and DaisyBelle pictures. I wonder if I can take my own advice.
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