On the Road Again

The newest computer can merely compound, at speed, the oldest problem in the relations between human beings, and in the end the communicator will be confronted with the old problem, of what to say and how to say it.

Edward R. Murrow

If it keeps up, man will atrophy all his limbs but the push-button finger

Frank Lloyd Wright

Well, this is a new one. I’ve blogged from some of the most remote parts of the globe. Places where humanity’s hold on technology is tenuous at best. Mongolia comes to mind. The Zagros desert. The far reaches of Siberia. Places where one is so grateful that internet access even exists that the relative speed of said connections is immaterial. Places that one imagines to be barely inhabited, much less connected. Places so remote that the very fact of man's presence is a testament to the perseverance and tenacity of the species.

Wait.

Where does this remind me of? Somewhere important, I’m sure.

I’m sure it will come to me.

But I digress. Today’s blog comes to you not from the far reaches of the earth, but verily, from the skies above it. Yes. I’m blogging from Alaska Airlines Flight 2 from Seattle to Washington, DC.

Well, that’s exceptional, though I realize that it won’t be exceptional for very long. It’s just that for most of the jet-set business class, the coast-to-coast flight was the last refuge from the perpetually flooding inbox; the last peaceful bastion of unreachability; the final excuse to be offline for once.

Yes, good readers, the air commute used to be time to catch up on the little things—the important things—that we just don’t have time for anymore.

Like, say, Season 6 of Lost.

Now I realize that as I write this on my 2.2 pound netbook; uploading photos from my new 18 megapixel camera, that I am treading on dangerous ground. But I also suspect that soon, anyone will have the technology to accomplish what I’ve been doing from anywhere in the world with the imminent release of the new iPhone 9, with worldwide, satellite-driven 8GS and 450 terrapixels of 3-D holographic video capture.

So, while I’m bound to what will undoubtedly become tomorrow’s stone knives and bearskins, I’d best get this finished.

You’re wondering about my itinerary. Promise not to sigh dramatically when you see that Iran (or North Korea, or Gaza, or the Disputed Tribal Regions for that matter) isn’t on it. It’s sweet of you to worry, but you may be missing the point. Look, my 79 year-old mother doesn’t worry. Neither should you. Here it is:

June 19—Tacoma, WA, USA
June 25—Washington DC, USA
July 1—Oslo, Norway
July 3—Riga, Latvia
July 7—Bucharest (etc.), Romania
July 24—Lisbon, Portugal
July 31—Vancouver, BC, Canada

Did you sigh with relief? Click immediately on the archives. Go back to June 3, 2007 and re-read the entire blog before proceeding.

So I’ll be abroad for the month of July, and back in Sitka sometime in early August.

That’s it!!

Sitka!

I knew that seemed familiar.