Confessions of a Blogging Addict

A recent article in the BBC news reporteded that Chinese scientists found significant brain changes in Internet addicts. They posed a series of questions to the subjects to determine if they were Internet addicts. And those who qualified as addicts, had their brains studied. The brain changes were similar to those found in other addicts (drug, alcohol, gambling etc.) The emotional side of the brain gets addicted to the (emotional) hits one gets on the net--brain stimulus.

I answered yes to many of the questions--Do I find myself online longer than I intended? Si senor. Have I tried unsuccessfully to limit my time online? Si, si senorita.

I confess that I feel the need to write online a lot. I love to express myself through other mediums and media. I think that is natural for me because I have the brain of artist--always have. So, is my strong desire to write online an addiction or the work of an artist needing to express herself?

I also confess to loving the Internet. It has opened up the word to me, a world I had no access to as a teenager. The ability to have all my questions answered instantly at my finger tips is wonderful. Oh, how I would have loved my digital encyclopedia as a teen. And the ability to express oneself instantly through multi hyper textual media is a dream for an artistic brain!

Some appreciate my art, of course others are critical--such is artistic expression. That's how it goes. I take hits in many ways. People tell me what they don't like about my blog all of the time. Also, my posts attract perverts on occasion and I have to reexamine my posts and delete stuff that I had no idea would attract perverts. People complain about my posts and ask Facebook to delete the odd one.

But what my blog does for me is give me a tablet to practice my writing daily. What could be better for an author? It also provides a chronicle of my family life. I am a recorder. Throughout history, written recordings of human society are what we study and learn from. Without a path of bread crumbs to follow back through history, how can one piece together the mysteries of human life on earth?

Now, having ranted a little about my blogging addiction, I will update my readers on some tidbits about my life:

Enjoyed a lunch downtown today with my friend Zoe :)

I am also enjoying a Latin dance class I am a student of on Tuesday evenings. My teacher is very thorough and a stickler on perfect form. I need this, as a Zumba instructor my technique is always exaggerated to emphasize the moves for my students. My teacher, Rob, brings me back to precise form--keeping my movements tighter and smaller.

My darling daughters keep me busy always. My little Pippi is keeping herself super busy with a new imaginary friend. Her last friend was another mom named Cindy. Her new friend is a little girl named Christie. Christie and Pip play the maze board game Labyrinth for hours together. If I hear her say something when I'm in the kitchen and I'll ask, "What was that Pip?"
      She'll say, "That was Christie Mom. Don't worry, if you hear a girl's voice that sounds like me, it's just Christie my best friend. She sounds a lot like me."
 I was resting in bed with a movie last night (more about this later) and I asked Peter to tuck Pippi into bed for the night. He returned to the bedroom after a few minutes. I asked, "Is Pippi all ready in bed?"
     "No," he said, "she's in the middle of a game of Labyrinth with Christie. I'm giving her ten minutes to finish the game."
Tonight at supper, we all accidentally sat on Christie as she seemed to move around the table unnoticed.
I adore my darling Pippi. She's a creative marvel! Mist and Tabs are both happy, busy gals too. Tabs busy planning her Birthday party with friends next weekend and Mist is going skiing again tomorrow night with a friend and getting ready for Ballet tonight.

I am loving my dog boys. Pablo and Fernando are the best friends a girl could ever ask for. Fernando has changed from a crazy beast, always getting into mischief, into a relaxed happy big bro. And Pablo is my cuddle boy still. Dogs are the best company. I'm super social by nature. So I cannot understand how anyone could live alone. If I were alone without other humans, I would always have my pets. Sitting beside them on the sofa, I always feel filled with love.

About my night off... January is a crazy month for me. The physical and mental demands on me as a Zumba teacher are high. I teach 5x a day sometimes, 4x other times and 3x on other days. Between that time I must try to do almost nothing to recoup for the next day of teaching and dancing. The physical demands show up by the fifth hour--my legs hurt a little and sometimes I have blisters. But it is hardest on my mind. I get exhausted being 'on' as a teacher. For five hours I am not only dancing and remembering 15 different songs and their steps, I am smiling and directing, and in the case of the children's classes, doing behavioural control. If the kids start to get aggressive with each other, I use a line inspired from lyrics by The Killers, "We've got soul but we're not soldiers. We are dancers. " I have to appear super pumped, happy and naturally lead the group in some hoots and hollers at opportune times.

So, hence, I have Spoil Queen MJ days. These are days when I try to do as little as possible exercise and work that would stress me. It is a day of nurturing all of me so I can cope with the crazy demands of my five class days. And in the evenings I treat myself to a foreign movie in bed with a Dairy Queen Blizzard in my hands. Last night the movie was Danish, Heaven. An unbelievably good movie which I highly recommend. The Blizzard was Peanut Butter Cup--also good :)

Blogging Addict signing off for now--until the next time my fingers are drawn to this keyboard.
I have to attend to a wee call out for "toilet paper" from down the hall :)