I’d really like to be one of those people with organized thoughts. You know, the ones who get an idea and start a project, and then see it through to the end? I get so very distracted by all the shiny things. It’s one reason I don’t go to the circus. I’ll be looking at the trapeze guy and then hear the crowd go crazy for the clowns, so I look over there and miss the cool part of the thing I was trying to see in the first place. Sometimes I wish I could hook my DVR up to real life and play stuff back that I missed.

The Internet doesn’t help a bit in my quest for focus. It even got worse when some fool invented the tabbed browser. Now I’m able to have dozens of Web pages open at a time. You can’t just open email anymore and be satisfied. You come across a link in a message and you’ve got to open it in a new tab because you aren’t finished reading all the other email yet. I’ve got to know what the current online sale is for Target or Radio Shack, so I click. Then I come back and send a message to my husband saying we need to buy a something-or-other so we can fill-in-the-blank.

Just about every time I sit at the computer, I’ve got around 15 Web pages open. It starts with Gmail, then of course MySaline.com, so I can make the updates and see what’s on people’s minds today. I’m building on Arkansite.com too now, so I gotta open that one and get busy. I also regularly refer to BentonCourier.com, Google Reader, Google Docs, maybe a city website or two, sometimes the county site, somebody else’s blog, a photo storage site, and who knows what else.

Compiling the distraction, I often open a different browser so I can log on with a different account on the same Web site. Then I need to check Facebook and Twitter. Are you a member on these sites? They’re really useful for keeping up with people you know, finding people you used to know, and networking with people you never knew. It will also send you down a gob of new tangents. When I’m not sitting in front of the computer, I’ve got a cell phone that gets me lost in space plenty of times as well.

When I’m writing a column, I am guaranteed an interruption about once every two sentences. I might have to check on a fact or remember someone’s name, and of course, I can’t sit for longer than about three minutes without checking on my Internet Empire. And then there is hunger, the bathroom, my son’s band practicing in the garage, the phone ringing, and just plain daydreaming.

Okay, finally this: I was trying to decide between topics for my column this week and got sidetracked (there’s the phone) several times before typing a single letter. There are a couple of things that I would have liked to tell about this week, but they are a little deeper than a week’s preparation may allow.

One subject I’m pursuing is the old wooden house on Highway 5 North, just east of Longhills. I found out that it was built in the 1830s and that there are a couple of residents still in the area who can give me a good account of the history and show me records.

Another thing I have been thinking about is the art community in Saline County. Is there one? I know there are a couple of galleries and an art store in Benton, and there’s a nice lady who works at the library who gives watercolor lessons monthly. There’s also an art guild locally. What else? Are you an artist? Do you art? I really can’t help myself but to be creative at something. It’s not always a masterpiece, but it’s always quieter than scream therapy.


This column by Shelli Russell published in the Benton Courier on May 3, 2009.
See more of Shelli's columns here.