My unplugging project showed up in the New York Times this morning, quite to my surprise: I Need a Virtual Break. No, Really.
THIS movement to unplug appears to be gaining traction everywhere, from the blogosphere, where wired types like Ariel Meadow Stallings (http://electrolicious.com/unplugged) brag about turning off the screen one day a week (and how many books they’ve read so far this year), to the corporate world.
For the record, I believe the journalist is referring to some other “wired type” with the book reading thing. I could never brag about how many books I’ve read this year, since the number is about, oh, two — the most recent being a vampire novel written for 13 year old girls.
…But speaking of books, cross your fingers that this makes things easier for my literary agent, who’s been shopping around my book pitch for 52 Nights Unplugged: A Digital Junkie’s Rehab.
Anyway, I love the closing paragraph of the article:
Once I moved beyond the fear of being unavailable and what it might cost me, I experienced what, if I wasn’t such a skeptic, I would call a lightness of being. I felt connected to myself rather than my computer. I had time to think, and distance from normal demands. I got to stop.
Read the whole thing: I Need a Virtual Break. No, Really.
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- Tags: 52-nights-unplugged, Book, nytimes, unplug
18 Responses to “52 Nights Unplugged in the NYTimes”
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Hey there. I'm Ariel Meadow Stallings, a native Seattleite who's written my way up and down the Left Coast. Electrolicious is where I post daily randomata, but I also write for a living. My first book, Offbeat Bride, was published last year.
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Hel
March 1st, 2008 at 5:24 pm
My husband and I recently decided to give unplugging a go, although it was only half successful. We were up late the night before and my husband had had a long, tiring day and result was that he fell asleep shortly after coming home and didn’t wake up until after 10 that night! Oh well, at least we were unplugged lol
What I wanted to mention though was that your unplugged night idea has spread to Australia (where we live) in a tiny way. My husband mentioned it to friends at work and one them tried it and enjoyed himself so much he’s started to do it more often! It’s strange what a relief it is to give yourself permission to turn off the computers & tv for a night.
Abigail
March 1st, 2008 at 5:25 pm
Shocking that NYT let Bittman get away with sweeping your blog into that sloppy generalization. My experiences with the Times have involved tedious follow-up calls from fact-checkers going over every detail. A fact-checker only had to go to your blog to see you are not bragging about how many books you have read. But hey! They spelled your name right, and the timing with your current proposal is perfect. Good luck!
Ellen
March 1st, 2008 at 6:16 pm
Today Show, NYT… them’s big publicity! Congrads! Go, 52NU!
jennifer
March 1st, 2008 at 8:10 pm
Congrats Ariel! I think the book sounds like a seller.
Sarah
March 1st, 2008 at 9:55 pm
heheh, was it so much fun to see your name in the NYT? you’re tooooo cool
…did you read a Stephanie Meyer book?
Ariel
March 1st, 2008 at 10:46 pm
Sarah: it was a completely surprise, but obviously very exciting. That said, I’ve actively mulled over whether it’s better, as a writer, to be mentioned in the NYTimes, or to be published by the NYTimes. I’m still not sure.
And yep: I read Twilight.
I love that it’s about Forks & La Push, where I spent summers camping as a kid!
Kiala
March 2nd, 2008 at 9:58 am
I think anytime you can use the words “I am” and “the NY Times” in the same sentence and not from inside a jail cell, you’ve won.
You’ve won a whole box of internets.
Big Frank Dickinson
March 3rd, 2008 at 8:40 am
You just might be on the crest of a whole new wave: a new age - maybe something like Pluggged Off.
Big Frank
Liz
March 3rd, 2008 at 11:18 am
Yea! Fingers crossed on the proposal. Sounds great.
Susannah
March 3rd, 2008 at 4:28 pm
Unplugged night is seeming a lot like when Hank is away for an overnight with the cousins…At first I am confused, “what I am I going to do, what I am worth if I am not fielding constant demands from my boy?” Then as the evening moves on I remember that I can do other things like have a conversation with my spouse without interruption.
Jill
March 3rd, 2008 at 9:51 pm
The Unplugged story at NYT is now on their “Top 10 Most Emailed Stories” list for today–check for paparazzi tomorrow when you leave the house.
Can’t help but picture a bunch of over-plugged folks sending the link to each other. (and actually, make sure to demand big bucks for e-book rights on the new proposal.)
Franco
March 4th, 2008 at 1:53 am
Just to let you know: you appeared today (03/04/08) on the homepage of one of the biggest Italian newspapers:
http://www.repubblica.it/
And this is the direct link to the article (how good is your Italian?
http://www.repubblica.it/2008/.....denza.html
I didn’t know about 52NU but I completely agree with you… this is what I wrote a short time ago:
Internet addiction
I believe that an always-on Internet connection is a bad thing. It has the effect of an addiction:
1) you compulsively check for emails and news
2) when a connection is not available, you feel naked
3) the usage patterns of the connection influence your behaviour even not in front of a computer: you are not able to focus on a subject for more than 1 minute, maybe less. This is the pattern when you browse web pages, jumping from blogs to pictures to news. And you take it home with you, when you stop reading a recipe on a book if it requires more than 1 minute.
I’ve never been like this: I used to be able to read a book on complex analysis for two hours, with pen and paper, without breaks.
So the decision is: I will only enable internet connection for a short amount of time, maybe 10 minutes every 2 hours. As I’m fundamentally a geek (even if I live is a sort of denial state and I keep proclaiming I’m not), here is a way to disable internet connection on a mac:
1) create a new network location (System preferences -> Network -> Location -> new location). Call it as you like, e.g., “alldown” (notice: you should have at least another properly configured location).
2) Disable all the interfaces in this alldown location (e.g., show Built-in Ethernet, then under TCP/IP -> Configure IPv4 -> off, and so on for airport etc). Save and apply
3) The magic word: scselect. This is a command line tool to select between locations. Create a couple of scripts with “/usr/sbin/scselect alldown” and “/usr/sbin/scselect yourconfig” to disable/enable. Place the scripts in /etc/crontab and run them when you want.
That’s it, enjoy your freedom from addictions.
francie
March 4th, 2008 at 7:06 am
it is too bad they made you sound a little holier-than-thou. hehe BUT at the same time, once it get people to your blog and the 52 nights site, they can tell that you’re not really like that and that’s not what the site’s about, so it’s a good thing ultimately.
Ariel
March 4th, 2008 at 10:24 am
Francie, although the bragging about book reading wasn’t accurate, I think the “holier-than-thou” representation is completely fair. My writing has been called “elitist and esoteric” since 8th Grade (damn you, Mrs. Maranoni), and at this point I’ve come to accept the fact that my words can come off as pedantic and snooty sometimes.
mssmith
March 4th, 2008 at 5:14 pm
congrats on the mention! this article is slightly ironic since the mark bittman cooking-scallops-clip plays constantly on nyt tv on jet blue. so if anyone on those flights would like to tune out, they better depress the dim button for some period of time to escape it!
McGil
March 5th, 2008 at 4:39 pm
The Minimalist … well done !
Have you read Switched Off by Eric Brende ?
http://www.amazon.com/Better-O.....060570040/
SolShine7
March 11th, 2008 at 10:02 am
Cool.
Galen
March 17th, 2008 at 5:46 am
Ariel,
I just moved to France and am living in a tiny apartment with no internet…since its temporary, I’m not paying to install. So I have internet access at work, and that’s it. I hadn’t checked into Ariel-world in a long time, but I can offer independent data to support your reading observation–I think I’ve read twenty books in 30 days with no tv, no internet, and no radio after 6 pm during the week and all weekend.