And the year was 1993...

If I wanted to call a friend, I picked up the phone. If I needed the definition of a word, I looked in the dictionary. One with actual pages made out of wood pulp. If I wanted to kill some time, I turned on the radio. Maybe I even read a book. Ah, life without the Internet.

I attempted to re-create life without the Internet (LWOTI) for ten days, starting on July 4th. It was an experiment born from a sense that I spend way too much time in front of the screen. As a writer, there is very little I can do for work that doesn't involve a keyboard and monitor (interviewing and prep work are the exception). Add business emails, personal emails and my latest time-suck, Facebook, and, well, quite frankly, I would hate to actually add up the time.

So what is life like without the Internet for a week and a half? Not as scary as you might think.

I should start by saying that I chose a timeframe that included a national holiday and a week-long vacation away from home. Surely there would be less business email over the holiday weekend, and people wouldn't expect me to reply to emails over vacation. And that was one thing I quickly realized...the stress of email pile-ups is compounded by your perception of how quickly you think you should be responding. When you let go of that -- for a day, or a weekend, or a vacation -- you allow yourself to focus on other things rather than the paralyzing guilt of the emails you should be typing.

While I was away from my own computer, I knew that my husband would bring his laptop on vacation and that our rental house had free wireless Internet. The temptation would be there, so I swore it off. When I logged off late on Thursday evening (July 3rd) I headed to bed. As soon as I settled under the covers one thought screamed through my mind: "I didn't send the attachment on my email to Noah's music teacher! I must log on tomorrow to make sure I did!" But you'll go back on your promise, a little voice said. So I went with reasoning that I had probably sent it, but if I hadn't the earth wouldn't shatter to pieces.

It was extremely easy to stay away from the computer for a couple of days, but as the week went on, I had minor slip-ups. Not that I touched a computer...oh no, I had someone do my dirty work for me. My husband logged on every day, so I would casually ask, addressing no one in particular, "I wonder what time the Chatham Jam and Jelly Shop opens?" Minutes later, Bob replied, "10 to 5, Monday through Saturday." This sort of thing happened a few times. "What does it really mean to be an amphibian?" "What do people become lactose-intolerant?" Or when we returned home "Where is the closest REI?" I lived with none of the guilt over email but reaped the benefits of instant information. You might ask why I wouldn't just look it up myself. It was more than just my "challenge." I knew that five minutes of info-searching would lead to a half-hour of email, perhaps a blog post and definitely some online window-shopping.

I made it until Sunday night (the 13th) when I decided to check email for the sake of not having an overload on a weekday. The business account wasn't too bad, just 44 emails. But my Yahoo account was loaded with 90 emails, most of very little substance. Online coupons/sales events, hoaxes, forwards, and the like crammed my inbox. It reminded me of the heap of mail we pick up at the end of vacation. It's a foot high, but only a tiny portion is relevant stuff. You might read it all if you picked up the mail on a daily basis, but looking at the humongous stack you realize you just have to jettison most of it without a second glance. Perhaps that's the solution for email. Check it less frequently and dump the junk immediately.

Was there any benefit to LWOTI? Well, I read two books while on vacation and I woke up each day without the crushing feeling of THE INBOX. I went to yoga a week before vacation. The instructor came over to me several times during class, each time pushing my shoulders "down my back, away from my ears." I went this past Saturday (LWOTI Day 9) and not once did she move my shoulders. But this is a pretty long blog...I think I feel them inching again.

Web site, website or web site? The jury is out...

At some point in my professional life, I found the entry for 'Web site' in The Associated Press Stylebook. Two words, with the W in caps to denote it as short form for World Wide Web. I stopped writing the term 'website' and substituted 'Web site,' so as not to draw a visit from the Style police. (They're already on me for the red and white gingham pants I once owned.)

I was comfortable with that, as I smuggly edited away 'website' and 'web site' over the last few years. But times they are a-changin'.

I began noticing 'website' in The Boston Globe. At first I dismissed it as an error. But the second time, it made me bristle. Obviously it was supposed to be there. I rushed to my latest copy of the AP Stylebook and found 'Web site' right where I had left it. To be sure, I checked Merriam Webster's online dictionary and found 'Web site' there also.

But still, I cannot stop 'website' from creeping up in my morning paper.

From what I can tell, 'Web site' is still the preferred form for many media outlets and dictionaries, but the general sense is that we will move towards 'website.' I found a blog about 'Web site' v. 'website' by Bill Walsh, copy editor for The Washington Post. His blog is called "The Slot," but oddly has nothing to do with casinos. Check it out: http://www.theslot.com/email.html

If the appearance of 'website' keeps freaking me out, maybe I'll join millions of other Americans in canceling my newspaper subscription.

A Drawer Full of Journals

And this is why I have never kept a successful journal. Having been more than two weeks since my last post, I actually forgot my blog password. Which I guess would make me more of a candidate for a paper journal, but my point is that I fall off the journal wagon very easily. Two busy workweeks and I'm lying on the side of the road while the blog wagon scurries ahead. So today is a blog of guilt.

I went to Nashville last week...spent some time on the beautiful Belmont University campus. I didn't get to see much of the actual city, but the whole area, including Belmont, is all about music. It reminded me of the book "Eat, Love, Pray" which my book group recently read. She talks about how every city (or location, I suppose) has a word, and if you don't live that word, you will never fit in. She and a friend came up with this while in Rome, and apparently, Rome's word is 'sex.' That's odd because when I was there, I would have sworn its word was 'church,' but that's another blog entirely. Anyway, if Nashville has a word, it is definitely 'music.' I heard a relatively new group in concert, and while I wouldn't call myself a country or bluegrass fan, somehow it worked for me. They're the SteelDrivers. I'm having trouble with the Web site: http://www.steeldrivers.net/, but they're on iTunes and they're going to be on the Conan O'Brien show in mid-July. "Drinking Dark Whiskey" and "East Kentucky Home" are my front-runner songs right now.

Raisins and Other Things My Client's Dog Shouldn't Eat

Don't you just hate it when you almost kill other people's pets? There I was, munching on an oatmeal raisin cookie at my client/friend's house, when Ben, her black standard poodle, came nuzzling up to me. It was clear that Ben has a sweet tooth. He persisted, so I broke off a small piece and dropped it to the floor. I was bound to accidentally drop some anyway. Rule #1, it's always good to ask first. (The owner, not the dog.) Lynette (Ben's owner) looked alarmed -- "Did you give him a raisin?" Me -- "No." Then, re-thinking the cookie -- "Um, maybe?" "Dogs can't have raisins!" she said. Uh-oh. The upshot is that Ben is either clever or he detests raisins because he ate the cookie and left the offending raisin. But that led us to discuss whether raisin toxicity is an urban legend or truly a danger to dogs.

And that's why I love the Internet. Here's a great site:
http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm?cls=2&cat=1661&articleid=1030

It has 28 different foods that dogs shouldn't eat, many of which your own dog has probably eaten. They range from the obvious -- alcoholic beverages which may cause "intoxication, coma and death" to the exotic -- persimmon seeds which may cause "bowel obstruction." Sure enough, grapes and raisins are listed, but the dog has to ingest more than an ounce per 2.2 pounds of body weight to do any damage. Some of the better no-no's include:

• Cat food (you know the cat made the copywriter list this)
• Large amounts of liver (does anyone want to eat that???)
• Moldy or spoiled food or garbage (you know the raccoons made the copywriter list that)
• String (why this is listed under food is beyond me but I suspect the cat again)

And that leads me to Rule #2. Before you get a pet, check this list for your favorite foods. Because if you like to smoke tobacco while munching on yeast dough, you may want to re-think the decision to get a Lab.

Blah Blah Blog

As I enter the world of blogging from a first-hand perspective, I am finding the first post to be daunting. Shouldn't the inaugural words for a blog be something significant, something substantial? Or should I just comment on the chicken and couscous I'm eating for lunch? Maybe I shouldn't even be posting before I've created my "profile." Who knows? I guess there are few rules in blog-land which is what makes it so popular.

Admittedly, I'm still on the fence about blogging. As a professional writer I feel that I should write more. I have no problem writing fast and furiously when I'm on a project, but I have little motivation to write in a journal. I have stopped and started so many journals I've lost count. But I always feel like I should write more often on things not related to work. I'm not sure why -- after all, should surgeons perform at-home procedures? Do circus clowns need to drive undersized vehicles to and from work? Something about being a writer brings on a pressure to always write. And to always write well. But blogs. Well, blogs are a whole different kind of animal. They're fun, they're casual. No big deal. Heck, I don't even have to write anything... I can just put in a link to my favorite YouTube video. Maybe this won't be so bad after all.

But why start a blog now? Well, maybe work will slow down in the summer, and I always find writing to be like exercise. If you get a good dose each day, it's a lot easier to keep going.