Small Things

I like the taste of a sandwich with just turkey, lettuce, tomato, maybe some cheese and olives, and a little salt and pepper. Even without the cheese and olives, the fresh flavors of the turkey lettuce and tomato, tho delicate, are quite satisfying. Do we really need, mayo, mustard, Italian dressing, roasted red pepper pesto? OK, I admit, that last one sounds good - but my point is why do we seem to always need more?

When I open the hood of my car these days, I am lost. All the wires and computer chips - what does it all mean. I can't just spend a Saturday morning up to my elbows in my car any more. I have to take it to the dealer, or a Jiffy-lube or Valvoline place. But which place is best and for what type of service.

And isn't my high definition TV experience awesome enough - do I really need to go 3-D HD now? I was happy in the 80's watching TV on a 26 inch color screen - color being the important factor back then, the size of the screen maybe varied between 19 inches and 27 inches. Still much easier than deciding between 22 inches and 65 inches much less figuring out how many Hertz (60Hz, 120Hz, 240Hz) and p's (1080 or 720) you want and in what combination - and now there is something other than a 'p' you can get - I forget what it is.

Sure, some changes are good - watching movies on reel to reel at home is a pain - video cassettes and audio cassettes for that mater were liberating. Then Cd's eliminated the cassette tape and then digital music (iTunes) eliminated to CD - but now it seems much less liberating. People are being prosecuted for copying songs - something we all did on our cassette tapes in a huge way in the 70's and 80's. I guess it just takes much less time to 'dub' songs now than back then.

But it's all so much more complicated now.

Facebook/MySpace/Twitter, iPods/iPads; Cell phones - no, make that Smart Phones, XBox/PlayStation; 3d-HD1080p240Hz TV's; TV, phone and internet packages by cable companies or on fiber optic networks; cars that park themselves or warn you when you are drifting lanes or hit the brakes when the car in front of you stops unexpectedly (available only to the rich); crossovers, hybrids; blu-ray, blue tooth; Greek Olive Hummus with pine nuts, and yes, roasted red pepper pesto all make life so excitingly insane.

So forgive me if I just stick to my simple turkey sandwich, listen to my music on radio, watch TV on basic cable (antennas were never any fun), reading books and magazines and enjoy the fresh air of an autumn day with as few other distractions as possible.