I found it ironic that the first thing I thought to do after making my internal pledge to back away from the computer, was to go on the computer and write about it. And then post it here, on my blog. Hmmm. Like a trained monkey. Or a computer junkie. 

 Like most of us these days, I spend an inordinate amount of time sitting in front of my high tech hearth. Basking in the glow of my desktop photo of the week… getting in touch with the outside world through stories on igoogle, updates on facebook and emails from daughters of displaced shahs and sheiks. 

 But that’s not all that eats up my time until I’ve surfed through dinner and past daylight and have to sign off, power down and get some sleep so I can pop out of bed before daybreak and start up all over again. 

 Turns out just about everything in my life these days is linked, or should I say wired, to the computer and its many capabilities. Beyond email, which I’ve used quite effectively to stay in some sort of touch with those who are just outside my daily circle, I have actually managed to incorporate the computer into every aspect of every one of my jobs plus a couple of hobbies as well. 

 I’m up before the sun and off to the Mighty WALK 97.5, where I co-host a morning radio show. My alarm goes off, and before I even pour my first eye-opening cup of coffee, I shuffle to my computer and fire it up. Then I get the coffee, get on line, check my personal email and what’s going on in the world so I know what we’ll be talking about today. That’s just round one. Once I get to the station, I log on to that computer, read and respond to my station email and spend the next four hours researching for the Showbiz Buzz (our morning entertainment report) and any other item of interest that we can share. Nine a.m., I sign off, shut down and move on.

 I am one of three partners who have built Gotta Go Cruises, a travel agency that specializes and excels in cruise vacations. How do we book those cruises?? On the internet. How do we stay updated on the industry? Through the internet. And how do we alert our clients to special pricing, events and promotions?? You’re catching on. 

 At the end of the day at Gotta Go, I head home where the dogs are waiting… but so is a slew of potential voiceover jobs that I am compelled to check on. There are two websites that provide work, almost always proceeded by an audition. So first I check what auditions are open, then I record (onto the computer), then I email the auditions in and you’d think then I would just sign off and walk the dogs. But no, that’s not usually the case. 

 If I can resist the temptation to check my email again (either personal or for Gotta Go) and can back away from doing any prep work for the next day’s broadcast, I can still bask in the cool glow of the monitor with my camera. It’s digital, don’t you know, which means after I take the pictures, I move on to download them into the computer. I have software which gives me great editing options, so if it’s not perfect coming out of the camera, it’ll be perfect by the time I hit save. Then I can post it on www.Flickr.com or create a slide show at www.Slide.com, which I can then post on facebook (or www.GottaGoCruises.com, if it’s from a cruise or a ship tour) or maybe I’ll just use it on my voiceover website or email it along with a quick note…

And there’s always writing for writing’s sake. Starting on stories, essays on observations of life, or just making notes for a book that I may or may not ever really get around to writing. Partly because I don’t want to commit to spending countless hours on the computer. Which is also mighty ironic. You see? And, as I said at the start, as all this occurred to me the other night, my first thought was ‘I have to write about this’…. And put it on my blog. And now, before I go to AllRecipes.com to find a great cookie recipe, or amazon.com to buy…well, just to buy anything, I’m going to sign off and… uh… go watch TV. It’s like slow withdrawal. I’ll still be staring at a screen, but at least I’ll be resting my hands.