Or at least pause. A year, or two would do the trick. Music, sports, books, television, movies, and list goes on...the podcasts, blogs (yes, the irony dawns on me too), message boards, YouTube clips, Twitter feeds, Facebook statuses, video games, TV shows, webcomics, news updates: it's all getting to be too much. I only have so much time, and I don't know how my friends follow so many things and still manage to live outside of their computer, for a few hours at least. But dear humorous and handsome writer, you say, you cannot possibly follow everything. You couldn't even do that before the Internet. True, I certainly cannot keep up with it all, and I'm okay with that. It's a little difficult because I want to know all I can. I eat knowledge up like a quesadilla. It can be a curse, like the quesadilla can also be in your stomach a few hours later, but I've come to grips that I won't ever be an expert in everything. Well, you reply, the solution is to figure out what you're interested in and stick with those things. You should be able to keep up with the subjects you like, right?
Wrong. I can't even do that. You know why? I'm a generalist, and there's no place in this modern world for us. I wouldn't consider myself an expert in anything, but I know a little about a lot, and am at least a little interested in a plethora of subjects. I've already referenced my appetite for learning, which compounds the problem. You may look at me, if you got the chance anyway, and think that I like these bands, and watch these TV shows/movies, and read these blogs (Because who reads paper books anymore? Oh...you do? Sorry.), and you might be right, but that's not all I like. I don't like getting pigeonholed into a category for anything. I don't think anyone does, but my real point is that because I like a variety of things, that makes it near impossible to keep up with all of them. There's only so much time, and if I sit in front of my computer all my life, am I really living? I submit not.