Sarah's Site

We’ve got some time to kill here. Neither of us are working, so we’re both trying to stay busy and stay away from daytime television. Well at least one of us is. The other one (I’m not naming names) is watching a show about the 100 hottest celebrity hookups at nine in the morning.

I shouldn’t give her such a hard time. She’s putting in some long hours at the computer obsessively constructing her website. Sarah’s pretty handy with that stuff. She’s building her new site because the old one was about travel. Now that we’re home, she needs a new focus.

But she’s very extremely particular about design, and I’m not sure it’s very healthy. She’s endlessly changing fonts, moving text a fraction of a millimeter, and then moving it back again. The other night, she stayed up very late futzing around, and in the morning, asked my opinion.

“Okay, it’s just a first try, but tell me what you think.”

It looked exactly the same.

“I think it looks great honey.”

“Do you? Cause see, I made the white over here stand out a little more. I think it makes it look cleaner.”

“Yea, that looks good.”

I have no idea what she’s talking about.

“See cause now, all these links redirect to a sub-host. Cause before, people were going there and it was just talking them to the main site. But now, the links will redirect them to the original server… and this.. well.... blah, blah, blah. Am I boring you?

“No. I’m listening,” I say looking deep into my cereal bowl.

Blogs, websites, new internet fads. They’re important to her. I think she’s really happy to finally have the internet whenever she wants it. It’s been a long ten months away from her internet culture.

Me? I seem to have lost interest in all that stuff. I think it happened somewhere in Laos. Maybe I still have a “traveling around the world” mindset, but I just can’t get excited about all these new internet fads. What’s weird is I feel like I should apologize for it. Like maybe I’m crazy for not seeing the awesome potential of social networking. What’s happening to me? I’m 30 and I’m an old man. Maybe I should just go back to Laos.

-Brendan

Comments

I think a trip around the world like that has the power to change anyone. Maybe it didn't effect Sarah at all (or maybe just in ways that can't be seen), but it seems like you got some deeper meaning from it and now the unimportance of things like social networking and mindless top 100 lists is apparent to you. If anything, I would be grateful for that.

i wouldn't worry too much about the latest and greatest. stick with pondering the trends - all the new fads will make sense, and likely be appropriately forgotten in the long run (twitter anyone?)

Aww Brendan, I want more content for you. :(

-John-

I'm pretty much like Sarah.

I can't watch those "E" things anymore. 100 hottest this or that. Maybe the Celeb breakdown shows, but those are starting to get depressing.

I'm finding that endless episodes of cops is more entertaining.

Will you guys be linking those of us that only know you through here?
I dont know anything about you except this blog and Id like to continue to read and follow your story.
Thanks...

I think it has a clean and is not hard to see look. I mean its not highly contrasting. Even add banners blend in well.

worrrrrrrrrrd

You can find pretty much all my little projects at sarahlane.com. Brendan's travel blog is here: sarahlane.typepad.com/brendantravel

Ahh, therein lies the rub my friend, you have grown up. You are now ready for the best part of your life, the mature part. Relax it happens to everyone.

THANK YOU ... will be reading..

Back to Laos! Beer's on me. Going back home is so much harder than leaving. But hang in there. Things will get back to normal. Happened to me a couple years when I got back to San Jose after living in France for nearly a year. Everything and everyone was so weird and foreign for a few months. Then things got better. Then I moved abroad again. I'll never learn...