phones let that sink in can be left_at_home rfid_not_so_much There is going around a canned_response that "they're_already_tracking_you" so as to rebuttal anyone who is mark_of_the_beast_hesitant 201217 ... in a silent way the day people start leaving their phones at home, i'll grow a third eye and gain the gift of spontaneous flight. i walk in the park every other day. almost every person i see has their face glued to their phone. half the people walking their dogs are really walking their phones. some of the dogs look back at their humans while they're frozen in place, texting some other automaton, and they seem to want to say, "why the fuck did you bring me here? do you even know i exist?" parents ignore their children because whatever bullshit they're looking at on their phone is more important to them than the location and welfare of their child. all of these people wear the same zombified facial expression. there's no laughter, no anger, no feeling of any kind inspired by their ceaseless texting or internet surfing or whatever it is they're doing. even some of the dedicated walkers pay no mind to the park or the people around them. they'll walk right into you if you don't get out of their way. the only thing they see is their phone. some sit in the parking lot and text from the comfort of their cars, when they could have stayed home and saved the gas money. i've seen groups of seven or eight people standing huddled together, every one of them completely absorbed in their phones, no one saying a word. they might as well not even be there. for all i know they're texting one another instead of having an actual conversation with spoken words, because they aren't capable of communicating in any either way. in a way i guess it's heartwarming to see so many people who feel it's important to get their phones some fresh air. 201218 ... unhinged i did an online writers meditation retreat last week and turned my phone off during the sessions. it was amazing how much easier it was to write, how much it flowed rather than sputtered out. it was amazing how addicted i realized my attention had become to what my father has always called his electronic leash. my current photo obsession of all the wild mushrooms popping in my hood over the past couple months makes leaving the phone at home when i go on walks a nonstarter. but i am going to start turning my phone off more often when trying to paint and write 201218 what's it to you? who go blather from