In early January, I received an email from Dalton Conley announcing that he would be at a Barnes & Noble in Greenwich Village reading from his latest book “Elsewhere, USA.” I have known Dalton for thirty years. He was twelve years old when his father and I became friends while working together. In 2002, I got to know Dalton even better when he asked me to design a website for him that organized the books and papers he had authored. It was then that I read his memoir “Honkey.” Dalton was beginning his professorship in the sociology department at New York University. Currently he is the acting dean.
As an artist, books about zeitgeist like Christopher Lasch’s “The Culture of Narcissism” and David Brooks’ “Bobos in Paridise” have always inspired me. I don’t know if Dalton’s book will meet that standard but listening to him talk provoked me beyond my expectations. I went to his reading out of curiosity and support but given how much my work and thoughts this past year have been about computers, the internet, websites and blogs, I was fascinated to hear Dalton, the sociologist, address these issues from a historical and cultural perspective.
I started this post last week and saved it as a draft. So many things to consider. So little time. But today “Elsewhere, USA” was reviewed in the New York Times Book Review and it got my juices flowing again. I have decided to take this post out of draft and just add and update it as my thoughts (and Dalton’s book tour) develop. And then there’s the fact that though I bought the book, I have not yet read it . First I must finish my tutorial on WordPress Custom Text Fields. But I do want to see what the reviews say. I know Dalton was not pleased the Janet Maslin’s review in the New York Times on the week of the book’s publication.
NOTES:
“Hello, my name is Ken and I am a computer addict.”
In late December, I wrote this to my friend and client Margaret. She understands all too well. Christmas was just days away and I had not done any of the shopping, wrapping or card making I have always done in years past. I would not be distracted. Code is poetry. To me code was crack. If I woke up at 4 AM, I would take my laptop to the living room couch and scroll through my emails and research software tutorials. I spent more time with Chris Coyier of CSS-Tricks and his screencasts than with anyone but my wife. She would disagree. Finding Delicious.com was like “a score.” I left the house only two or three times a week to get groceries. I did not have a cell phone because I could always be reached at home. (After switching to Vonage in early January, I did got to Best Buy and get a pre-paid. What if the internet goes down?”) I write this past tense, not because I am recovering, but only for the benifit of this blog, that was before I realized I lived in “Elsewhere, USA.”
(Note to self: ask Dalton what other titles were considered for his book.”
Facebook: I joined Facebook in 2006 out of curiosity and to see how it could be used for my clients. In my FaceBook Status for January 13th, I wrote: “wondering if Belinda will be at Dalton Conley’s 7:30 PM reading at Barnes & Nobel- 6th Ave & 8th St.” Facebook works very well for me because many of my friends and collegues at Time Magazine are “friends” as well as the many artists and illustrators I met while working there. This is my virtual social network and I enjoy being able to stay connected. And this is exactly what Dalton was talking about. How my/our sense of community is changing. I used Belinda’s name because I knew everyone from Time would know I was refering to Belinda Luscombe, Time editor, but also Dalton’s friend and neighbor. She is also spouse to Jeremy Edmiston, the architect who hired me to do his System Architects website. I did not see either of them at Dalton’s reading though Belinda and I exchanged some Facebook Wall comments later.
I have alsways liked the term Netizen, which I associate with WIRED magazine but was coined by Michael Hauben and Ronda Hauben in 1995: Netizens: On the History and Impact of Usenet and the Internet
The Web 2.0 Economy: The way I shop, work, get my information is all centered on the computer. It is a new culture and I am fascinated because it is more democratic than the corporate capitalistic model we have lived with in the past. To my way of thinking, the web was developed by academics, that is to say, idealists. It was developed to share information not generate profit. Coming from The Sixties, I think of Stewart Brand and The Whole Earth Catalog were models. I think of AOL as the failed attempt of corporate America to control and monetize the internet. The large telecom corporations are succeeding with their control of cellphone access demanding multi-year subscription plans.
012509- I guess I was so caught up in the present that I had not stepped back to see how this affected family and interpersonal relationships.
ADDENDA: Another book making the rounds now is Snark by David Denby. Denby defines snark as “the knowing nasty tone, the cheap shot.” He writes that this staple of high school life is “spreading like pinkeye. In a media society, snark is an easy way of seeming smart.” How does this relate to “Elsewhere, USA” you ask? Well, I think many of the reviews are snarky. Much of the blogosphere is snarky. Dalton doesn’t address this. I mention it because I think it is applies to the Elsewhere culture. Snarkiness comes out of Pop culture and I think Dalton may have written a book that appeals more to the popular culture than the academic.