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when was the last time you read an article online? now when was the last time you read a FULL article online, without skimming?

reading this post should take you about 3 minutes. if you read this entire post you will have spent approx as much time reading as most people read in an entire day. that is, if you consider reading to be moving your eyes over every word on the screen, absorbing their meaning, finishing the post, and considering the entire piece as a complete thought.

i, it seems, have become most people.

a couple days ago, i posted an article about storytelling and the elections. about the storybook narratives constructed for obama and mccain, and the role of story in politics and our decision making. i found a link to the article on a newsfeed.  the title line sounded interesting, i clicked on it, read the first few paragraphs in full, then skimmed the rest of the piece for theme. the content seemed relevant to what we do here at underground, seemed like something that visitors to our site would find interesting, and so, i posted (see post below).

yesterday, it was brought to my attention that this post was not all-together, shall we say, undergroundish. the author was, shall we say, not a believer. and i felt, shall we say, stupid.

no big deal. this happens all the time. (misposting, buddy. not me feeling stupid.)

but i was shocked that it happened to me.

i shouldn’t be.

Read the rest of this entry »

This, from Robert Sibley in Friday’s Ottawa Citizen. In case you missed it.

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Robert Sibley
The Ottawa Citizen
Friday, July 04, 2008

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History records that there is nothing so powerful as a fantasy whose time has come.

– Historian Tony Judt, Reappraisals

Today, on their nation’s 232nd birthday, Americans are an anxious lot. Their economy wobbles. Russia and China challenge their superpower status. Distant wars tax the nation’s treasure and citizens’ patriotism. Thus, thoughtful Americans will mark Independence Day asking serious questions about their country’s future.

Perhaps, though, if there is one question that encapsulates all others, it is this: What is the American “story” for the foreseeable future? Read the rest of this entry »

Along with many other couples, my girlfriend and I will be marrying at the end of June. We’ve been entrenched in the whirlwind of wedding planning. We’re looking at bridal magazines I thought I’d never read, making a registry, buying rings, etc. It’s been an exciting journey and poignant because we finally have the legal right to enter into this world of wedding planning madness.

Like many of California’s newest unions, our marriage will be viewed with mixed feelings. While we are used to and expect the religious right and conservatives to have a particular point of view about our pending nuptials, our wedding planning has revealed surprising, subtle discrimination from people who would consider themselves open-minded and supportive of gay marriage. Read the rest of this entry »