Brick and Mortar Life

On this blog, I never really have the urge to break the fourth wall and go meta, but today I feel compelled to share with you some of the material conditions of blogging over the Thanksgiving holiday. We are still up in the mountains of Western North Carolina at my mom and dad’s house. We’ve got a big crowd, and some more friends just arrived this afternoon. What are the requirements for calling a place “off the grid”? ‘Cause the house doesn’t have TV or internet access. The tubes don’t reach up here, apparently. I love that about this place, usually. It’s far from rustic—it’s very comfortable, but it requires us to unplug.

But NaBloPoMo and unplugged don’t really mix. So I’ve been taking daily trips down into town to find some free wifi. The public library has it, and so does Arby’s. Small town. Every day, there are several people who want to accompany me on this outing, usually with laptops in hand. It feels like the 21st century version of going into town for provisions, like coffee, nails, and lard. Only instead of every six months, we have to go every day. It’s fun, actually, and the only real event in otherwise unstructured time.

On Thanksgiving night, I went down the mountain with my mom and sister, only to find Arby’s closed, duh. They didn’t turn off their wifi, though, so I opened up my computer right there in the car. Then my battery died, so I sat on the sidewalk and plugged my computer into their outdoor outlet, thus leeching both wifi AND electricity. Amy said I looked like a hobo—a very well equipped hobo. With beautiful shiny hair. Or she didn’t say that part.

The only problem with the Arby’s blogging situation is that to pay for my table, I buy a jamocha milkshake while I’m here, and then I drink it. So this blog is making me fat. But I am loving it. I am loving the blog, the Arby’s, the hobo scene, the NaBloPoMo thing, and you, my dear Readers. The whole caboodle.

And I say again: have a great weekend!