I have in fact decided to take a short (and specific) internet break!

as Jake says: “the internet is a toxic environment that convinces people their opinions matter.”

I have gotten mad to shaking (an extreme rarity for me) over some internet content in the past few weeks, and I would like this to cease.  as step one, I’m going somewhat offline and diving into my own creativity and enjoyment of my free time (i.e. video games with the man).  I’m aware I can’t slip away completely, especially with a day job like this (for NOW???!!!?!), but I’m going to do my best to find alternatives to staring at stupidity all day.

what I will do:

1. Check my Tumblr email folder, in case anyone messages me. A few people can only get in touch with me here so I’m willing to answer important ones. (Otherwise, if you need alternative contact, let me know!)
2. Use Tumblr to post stories or other creative material.  As a feedback forum, it’s pretty great, and I don’t see any reason to lose that. Oh, and the rest of my 30×30 challenge.
3. Turn on Facebook notifications on my phone so I can avoid opening the tab for reasons other than #2 (gotta aggregate my own content, doncha know).
4. View links to content that people send me directly.  I don’t have any desire to stop learning or being entertained!  Just in stumbling across incidental content that infuriates me.
5. Revert to sites like StumbleUpon, the Kindle Cloud Reader, and Wikipedia for those times when I just need a fix of screen time.

what I won’t do:

1. Use my dashboard on Tumblr or go searching for content.  (Exception being posts for my panda blog. There’s really nothing maddening in the panda tag.)
2. Open Tumblr (and Facebook) the usual 10-30 times per day, especially in the evenings when I should be present at home.
3. Spend any time whatsoever engaging in internet discussion or debate, beyond my characteristic snarky one-liners on droll statuses.  And if that gets me into trouble, that too shall be passed over.
4. Use Pinterest to replace my internet habit.  It’s equally useless to me unless I’m using it to store links, which is what I intended it for in the first place.

what I will do instead:

1. Create a Bored Jar for my projects.
2. Work on my projects (outlining, writing, layouts, covers, research, etc).
3. Spend time with the man.
4. Beat some video games.
5. Finish The Sopranos.
6. Cook.
7. Organize.
8. Craft.

I’ll probably pop back in after a week or so to see if I’m ready to come back. until then, toodle-doo, love you darlings, I’ll be around.