Category: social media fast

31 Day Social Media Fast: Day 7

Don’t hate me because I like snow. More on the way tomorrow.

In which I skip out on Instagram and Facebook for the month of March but still allow myself the internet.

I wake up after a dread-filled sleep to a sunny cold morning and hurry off to a meeting regarding the City Ranch grant. It’s at a wonderful little diner of a restaurant, the kind where the waitress tells everyone when to move their cars because of street sweeping and calls all of the patrons, “Hon” unironically.

I have eggs and home fries because this isn’t the place for gluten-free toast, but the coffee is pretty damn good and the conversation is even better.

Mr. Dahn and I hug when we part, our first hug, and he feels like a friend. That makes me feel warm.

I go home and floss my teeth, brush, and use plaque-reducing mouthwash. I have an appointment at the periodontist, and when I get there I [unknowingly] sit right across from a mucous-filled old lady who coughs with her mouth open and blows her nose into the same tissue for the next 45 minutes. It is utterly horrific.

I sit there for an hour and am about to lose my shit when I get called back and everything is worth it because my new favorite periodontist tells me that there is really nothing wrong with my teeth so he will leave my mouth alone but recommends a bite guard for my raging bruxism. I think I love him.

Side note: I wrote the above-linked article for bruxism, and all the other articles on that website. It is a miracle my teeth survived that year and a half.

It’s one week until my birthday, one week into the social media fast. I have had a few moments where I considered checking back in to The Facebook, but I have not done so. They passed, and I felt better for staying off.

Like someone on a juice fast, I feel lighter. I missed the connection of some of my social media interactions, and I am sad that very, very few people read this blog (thanks, friends who do), but for the most part this has been refreshing and clarifying.

I recommend it.

In late-breaking, entirely unrelated news, I am so proud and pleased to be a Marylander today after the House of Delegates passed an assisted suicide bill, making it legal for terminally ill people to end their lives in the state of Maryland. Hopefully the Senate will follow suit, and Governor Hogan will sign the bill.

31 Day Social Media Fast: Day 5

In which I skip out on Instagram and Facebook for the month of March but still allow myself the internet.

Good morning. Indeed.

Yeah, I made gluten-free Pop-tarts today.

Two fillings – blackberry and chocolate – largely due to poor filling planning and my belief that they probably wouldn’t work so why bother making/procuring something special. #ohmeoflittlefaith

I used this recipe for gluten-free Pop-tarts, only with my gluten-free flour blend, and I frosted both flavors with a simple icing made with milk, powdered sugar, and vanilla bean paste. I also made them 3″ x 4″, because who eats a Pop-tart that is 2″ wide? #noone

I won’t say they were perfect, but they were pretty freaking delicious. Next time I will maybe chill the dough, but it’s not strictly necessary.

I missed Pop-tarts.

31 Day Social Media Fast: Day 3

In which I skip out on Instagram and Facebook for the month of March but still allow myself the internet.

Just one hour in: onion, garlic, tomatoes, S&P. Sunday gravy.

Day 3: I need to test out a few recipes for a painting retreat I am cooking for in June, and a chilly day when more snow is in the forecast is as good a day as any.

Today is Sunday gravy with vegetarian meatballs (quinoa and cauliflower).

First I make Mark Bittman’s quick and easy waffles (literally the best ever, only I use my gluten-free flour blend and don’t warm up the waffle iron until the batter is mixed. This gives the batter some time to consider its thoughts and results in light, crispy waffles. Today I also used plain kefir and heavy cream, plus a little extra milk. The recipe is super forgiving. Give it a try) and eat the first two off the iron with Archer Farms maple syrup.

Pro tip: Khristian’s uncle Joe worked in the maple syrup industry in Vermont for his whole life and told us that Target’s maple syrup is the highest quality out there. This is NOT a sponsored post. I don’t do those. Just a PSA for the three people who routinely read this blog.

While I am cooking the remaining waffles, I chop onion and garlic and sweat those in olive oil before adding six cans of diced tomatoes. This will cook until it’s ready. Meatballs were made a month ago and have been frozen. When it’s time, they will finish cooking in the gravy, and I will serve them over penne, because that’s what Khristian prefers, and he’s my guinea pig today.

The house is warm and delicious-smelling, and my mind feels uncluttered by electronic noise. Again, I feel like this might be the honeymoon period, but I feel lighter. If this continues, I may make it permanent.

As ever, comment below if you want to talk. And thanks for following along. <3

31 Day Social Media Fast: Day 2

In which I skip out on Instagram and Facebook for the month of March but still allow myself the internet.

Dy 2: Woke up at 4 a.m. to the intermittent chirp of a smoke detector about to shit the bed.

I am sensing a trend in this early rising. Goes hand in hand with the early eating from Day 1. Which was not necessarily bad, except I got really hungry around nine and ate a hunk of cheese and a gluten-free ciabatta. I could have eaten several ciabatta but did not because #restraint.

I have a hard time going back to sleep, even with earplugs in, a pillow over my head, and two doors between me and the noise (in The Child’s room, BTW, and she doesn’t stir at all).

I am sure as this month wears on I will alternate between longing for social media and realizing I am well shut of it, but when I wake up for good this morning, in the rainy quiet, with the cat purring on my chest and me reading out loud to him the first essay from The Book of Delights instead of automatically checking Instagram, I don’t feel the lack.

I get to yoga earlier than usual. Class is lovely, as it always is when my beautiful students show up to share their practices with me.

Later in the day I listen to other people’s children play their cello pieces, a surprisingly lovely thing, marred only by an old woman hacking and crinkling a water bottle in the quietest parts. Khristian’s daughter plays well, as do many of the others. A young man plays “Smells Like Teen Spirit” with the instructor, and it’s challenging to not sing along.

This post should feature a video of that performance, but none of my technology cooperates.

At intermission, everyone pulls their phones out. Except me. I feel mildly superior, and then remember I have 29 days left, and I have absent-mindedly chosen to keep this running commentary in the present tense – a major pet peeve of mine – and am chastened somewhat.

Two days down.

As ever, comment below if you want to make your presence known. And thanks for joining in. <3