AN UNAPOLAGETIC ABSENCE ENDING;

OR
HERE'S TO FACTORY LIVING
My new London address is 330 Clarence St. Once upon a time, the building was a shoe factory. The cobbling machines, blue collar workers, and steam whistles (i like to think of there being whistles at one time) are gone. The workers are probably sweating it out these days somewhere deep within the smelly fortress that is the Labatt's brewery, the building has been gutted and gussied up. Even the poor old freight elevator has been faux-wood-pannelled. But the windows are still tall, the ceilings get to stretch more than those in your average living space, and some of the duct work remains exposed. I think that my favourite feature is the dark, slightly wider than what I grew up with, easy to clean, and nice to walk on, hardwood flooring.

I got the keys to this first apartment of mine after spending two nights sleeping on Hasdeep (et al.)'s couch, and two months in Algonquin contending with premonitions of various degrees of homelessness. Luckily, I won't be needing to hoard any cardboard boxes (to call home) this term.

The state of technological gadgetry at my place is positively sparse. It's pretty much limited to my laptop, a printer, and a radio. I have proclaimed my apartment a t.v. free zone, and am only at the beginning of what I hope will be a long running, far reaching personal promotion of public radio. But I am having a little trouble deciding what to do about the Internet at home.

Should I bring the web to my breakfast table? or should I continue using campus and public library computers for Internet access? It's no longer a matter of financial (dis)ability since my father has agreed to pay the bill for a 15 dollar/month dial-up plan. Will I use it excessively? To the point where I'm just floating around on some mindless system of links and idle quandries? If I do get hooked up, which I probably will, sooner rather than later, I'll have to set limits for myself. Maybe being back to dial-up will help me keep a focus. Broadband can be very distracting; and you certainly don't need it in order to view acedemic papers, type out email, or use IM apps. So maybe. Probably. I'll be online at home again soon. But using it like long distance phone calls - with focus and ending the session with a sense of accomplishment.