Sleepless in Connecticut
There are three computers in my house. One in my office, one in the family room which the kids tend to use, and one in our bedroom.
I am not a fan of computers in the bedroom, but when my assistant is here, she is in the office and the easiest place for me to be is the bedroom. It’s quiet, I can get stuff done, and no-one disturbs me.
In the new house we will have one office to house all the work stuff, and my assistant, and I will have a pantry/office. I know it sounds odd, (what the hell is a pantry/office anyway?) but I see it as a second, smaller kitchen, a place to arrange the flowers I cut from the garden, a workroom, a chair pulled up to one of the counters to serve as a desk. It will be off the kitchen, connected to the heart of the home, but a room that is truly my own.
Until that time, the only place for my computer is the bedroom, and the very fact of having a computer in the bedroom bothers me. I don’t even like the television in the bedroom. I have always seen my bedroom as a haven - the quiet, peaceful place I can relax in at the end of the day, but it’s hard to relax with all that technology around (Everywhere I look these days there appears to be a mobile device of some sort, charging).
And I’ve developed a worrying habit now that it’s there. Waking up in the night, I have to just quickly check and see if there are any can’t-miss-emails, and before I know it I’m popping onto Perez to see if there’s any can’t-miss-gossip, and then two hours have passed and I’m wide awake. Disaster.
Last night I vowed to go Cold Turkey. I had a gorgeous evening, lying in bed fully immersed in American Wife, not even missing the computer for a second.
By the way, I am loving this book, cannot recommend it highly enough, and despite being fiction, it gives the most extraordinary account of a fictitious first lady’s life, based, not too loosely, on Laura Bush. It is so credible it is hard not to picture Mrs Bush on every page.
Digressing ever so slightly, I once sat opposite Laura Bush at a dinner. I’ve never worked so hard in my life. Getting conversation out of her was like squeezing blood from a stone, but mostly I felt bad for her. She seemed to me to be a woman who doesn’t enjoy her position in the public eye, is not comfortable making small talk, would much rather be living a quiet, private life.
So, American Wife by Curtis Sittenfeld, and I, in bed, relaxing. At 2.30am I woke up. I won’t do it, I told myself. I hadn’t even brought the computer upstairs, had left it downstairs after I got back from the library, and I tried not to think about the computer, even as it called me ever so softly. At 3.32am I gave up, creeping downstairs to get the computer. Disaster.
I went back to sleep at 5, only to be woken up by the smalls at 6.15.
I am thinking more and more about our increasing dependence on computers, about how isolated we are becoming as a result, and let me tell you, a writer’s life is isolated enough.
I used to write all my books from home, and used to think an average working day was around eight hours.
Until I started going to the library, which, at that time, didn’t have wifi. It turned out that an average working day, minus all the time spent doing ‘research’ on the internet (largely consisting of net-a-porter), was in fact only around three hours. Bit of a difference, no?
My life is happier and more productive when I am not disappearing to mess around on the Internet. It is happier and more productive when I am engaged in that life: cooking, gardening, being with my family and friends, and no email is so important, no gossip so vital that I should be putting the computer before sleep.
On that note, I’m off to take a nap.
September 10th, 2008 at 9:51 am
Right! My MacBook calls my name too in the middle of the night sometimes.
So instead I´m off to the kitchen to make cinnamon buns, ages since I´ve made them. Will try to stay away from the computer today. Maybe just some shopping at Zappos…
September 10th, 2008 at 10:07 am
Jane you do not have to worry about being isolated, from what I can tell with your blogs you lead a very fulfilling life surrounded by friends and family.. you have a lot of friends and you mingle and are a very social person… I think you are doing just fine and should not worry so much… I wish i had half your friend and social life being stuck here in the country…. not much call for it…. your nearer the city and are quite famous so people are drawn to you… you are not a hermit or about to become one
I too slept badly last night here in Connecticut due to my girlfriend who i had gone to see the movie Sex and the city with ( if I remember right your not a fan?? i could be wrong) anyhow she loved it and i told her I had all the seasons on DVD so she asked if we could start making tuesday night a girls night to watch SATC from series one to the end…. so thats what we did… though I had 2 rum and cokes and i don’t drink caffeine after 4pm and tada!!!!! wide awake all night!
oh well a great night was had…. now off to a business lunch…
have a great nap night night!
September 10th, 2008 at 10:33 am
I do the waking in the night to check e-mail too. Tell myself it is because friends are then writing me messages from UK etc (yeah right). And even Perez is usually quiet during the night. I am far worse when hubby is out of town and I take the laptop to bed….
Did you read Curtis Sittenfeld’s Prep? Also very good.
September 10th, 2008 at 11:19 am
I see that somebody is worse than me lol I’m completely addicted to the Internet. Waking up in the middle of the night to check my e-mails is something I’ll never do. But, one of my habit, is to turn the computer on every morning, and just like you check my e-mails and gossip websites (two of my favourites: justjared.com, and x17online.com). The truth is, I shouldn’t do this. Because I only have 45 minutes to eat breakfast, take a shower, get myself ready before heading for school. And EVERY morning I’m late because of my “addiction” to celebrities.
BTW, did you see the VMA’s??? Britney was absolutely stunning :d The girl walked off with three awards! Isn’t this something?!
I’m off to continue my homework. See… your website is also a drug :p
September 10th, 2008 at 11:22 am
Hi Jane,
I enjoyed reading your take on “American Wife” by Curtis Sittenfeld. Do you have any other book recommendations for us?
September 10th, 2008 at 7:12 pm
Jane, my office is right off my kitchen too. It’s the next best thing to having a computer hooked up to an IV when I’m on a writing spree. It’s also good for keeping an ear on the kids. I love that your office will be full of flowers. I designed mine around my dream desk.
Have you ever met a novelist who didn’t suffer from insomnia? It must be a symptom of an over-active imagination. The draw of blogging is it talks back.
I just picked up American Wife on your recommendation. It seems the right book with the election coming. The only problem was I had to pass 3 magazines with Palin grinning on the cover to reach the register. If only she were a fictional character….
As for keywords (below), I just got “horse sperm” leading to my blog, honestly!
September 10th, 2008 at 9:49 pm
Horse sperm? Okay. You beat me. (now that’s funny…)
September 10th, 2008 at 9:59 pm
When asked the question “Can you live without your computer?” I am always the first to admit that I cannot!!!!
Live without a phone??? Sure!!! No car?? No problem!!! No computer??? I’d rather be dead!
September 10th, 2008 at 10:47 pm
Jane, I totally, totally relate. I’ve recently decided that I have become addicted to the internet. I can remember when the internet was just starting to get big, reading stories about people being on for hours, neglecting their homes, their children, their lives, etc. Pathetic, I thought. What sane person could honestly be so ridiculous?!
Fast forward a few years and I have found that I had become that person. I’d say I’ll just check a few sites, be on no more than 10-15 minutes. Two, three hours later, I would still be on. I can honestly say I didn’t neglect my children too badly (mostly just lost sleep!).
The past two weeks, I have been weaning myself. I’ve deleted most of my bookmarks, wiped google from my memory (at least I’m trying) and only check a few sites a day (Perez is a fave of mine too, lol).
I have become addicted to reading your blog, which I just recently discovered. I must say I love it and totally relate. I won’t be deleting your bookmark, lol.
Love your books too.
Now, I must, must, must get off! lol.