It’s been over two months since I posted here. A lot can happen in two months.
In two months, you can find yourself living in a completely different part of the city, in a rambling old house from the 1920s, devoid of husband or dogs or cat. In two months, you can ultimately find happiness and some measure of comfort in something incredibly painful. In two months, you can turn a hobby in to a more-than-full-time job and find yourself resenting what you used to love. In two months, you can reinvent yourself.
Over the past two months, I’ve been heavily active on Twitter. Who hasn’t…? But I’ve found myself increasingly disillusioned not only with the ephemeral nature of Twitter — the fleeting attention spans, the condensed and often thoughtless coughing up of little blood spatters of information or thoughts or ideas — but with the inelegance of Twitter itself. Twitter is a spasm, a knee jerk, a poorly played game of Telephone.
That’s not to say it’s all terrible. Twitter can be useful. And entertaining. And engaging (perhaps too much at times). But I don’t like what it’s done to me or the people around me. We’ve found ourselves endlessly checking our Twitter apps on our iPhones at dinner, ignoring conversations with others to scroll through the timeline, thinking of TwitPic’ing something the instant we see it or instantly relaying inane, overheard discussions as OH’s. There is no time to process — only to Tweet. We’ve found ourselves alternately obsessed with ourselves and with people we don’t even know, ignoring our real lives in the process. There is no time to live — only to navelgaze.
I’m guilty of all of this. And I don’t want to be that person anymore. Of course, I can’t get off of Twitter entirely. It’s a large part of my job to be plugged into Twitter at all times as the @HoustonPress. But I’m more or less abandoning @she_eats for now. It’s become too much to keep up with and the intensely private person that I am (truly, although no one really seems to believe this) is exhausted and frightened by people thinking they know me just because they follow me on Twitter. We are more than our Twitter profiles, people.
So for those reasons and many others, it’s back to blogging for me. Equally narcissistic? Perhaps. But that’s not why I got into this game in the first place. I love it here — the words flowing from my fingers to the keys to the peaceful white void of the screen with no 140 character limits or constant need to entertain or be entertained. I feel comfortable here. There is more even footing here. There is more space to explain, to engage, to be useful — all the things that I initially thought Twitter would be better for — but with far more thought and effort put into it.
So with that… I’m off Twitter. And back here (and always at the Press, of course). Hope to see you around…
she eats. 
Congrats. I don’t blame you for taking a break. We need to hang out again soon. Take care of yourself.
Awesome.
I’ll miss your quirky/spunky tweets. Hope the next two months prove nothing but positive, positive, POSITIVE! – @Married2Food
lovely post K. i totally get you. twitter is so instantaneous. i’m finding that i’ve stopped planning ahead for social functions and i call my friends last minute. i’m also finding that i’ve neglected my friends who don’t follow me on twitter and i expect them to know what’s going on with me even if i haven’t seen them in awhile. i also relish the time i spend with non-twitterers and i’ve learned to keep my iphone on the table or better yet in my purse. i applaud you for recognizing how mini-blogging has consumed your life and for doing something about it. good luck and seriously, let’s get together soon and not tweet together.
Not that I’m nearly as famous as you, but yeah, I’ve been having all the same negative Twitter thoughts only very recently and went through that exact same thought process Saturday night after I got home from excessive bar tweeting. I wonder if there’s some bigger backlash underway?
Moderation in all things, as they say. And if you can’t be moderate, walking away may be the next best thing.
Good luck, K.
Stephen–
A bigger backlash underway? Interesting question. I’ve been wondering the same thing lately, especially in light of the same conversation coming up over and over and over with different people.
I feel like a lot of people, myself included, want to resimplify their lives. We all have so much going on all the time anyway, why clutter it up with unnecessary noise and stress and technology that’s intended to make our lives easier but only ends up making us crazy?
Not advocating an Amish lifestyle…but perhaps a neo-Luddite one. 😉
Life, as always, ends up being about the balance and finding the sweet spot is just trial and error and banging your head against the wall until you realize that hurts. Anything that helps you find perspective is good.
People say weird stuff on blogs too, so try not to let other people’s issues eat at you in this format either (it’s a she_eats pun!).
dewberry or @princesslatte
(among other handles, because i have a multiple personality disorder on the intertoobz.)
Agree with you totally, and its why I refuse to get a Crackberry or a newer cellphone. When I have time to sit, relax, and be on my laptop, then I have time to tweet, check FB, etc. If not, then it can wait.
I eat good food to enjoy it, not to take pictures and quantify it the moment I eat it – I, instead, like movies I see or albums I listen to, need time to digest everything and think about what it all meant, what stood out, what seemed just a tweak off, and what didn’t work.
Well, that, and I refuse to believe that anyone TRULY cares what I think (in a broad sense) – yes, I can influence my friends and twitter followers, but that influence is very limited, and I know that…
Anyways, I am happy for you that you’re doing this, regardless of what you discover at the end of the next 2 months…
Good luck. @joeficarra
I love this entry. Quite the eventful 2 month period, eh? Crazy. Thanks for sharing the great words – I’m looking forward to more [here]. ::hugs:: 🙂
Dwight–
I agree completely. Sometimes you have to go cold turkey for a bit in order to do something in moderation, though. Or at least I do… 🙂
Good for you- and Best wishes! I believe what you say is true, too many people are consumed by this and can’t go through dinner without checking what is going on. Life is precious and beautiful and should be lived. I have few followers mostly friends and I protect my tweets as well. my 2months has dragged out over a year and twitter has been a good place to vent or laugh in tough times- but when I come home I want to be here with all that I love. I will miss your tweets- you make me laugh and that is a rare gift.
Your blog still tweets your entries. 😉
Thank GOD you’re back – I miss my Katie!!!
I totally get it. One of the big reasons why I don’t get tweets sent to my phone or have an app of twitter on my phone. When I’m out and away from a computer and being social, I want to be social.
I agree with many of the comments. Balance, use, etc. It’s a tool, use it to suit you. It has different uses for different people. I notice when I have time with Doug I’m hardly on twitter at all. Wonder why… 😉
I’ll be happy to have your blogs again, your writing is a talent too constricted on twitter.
Classy exit. No rapping on YouTube:)
I completely respect your decision, and I wish you all the best in the re-simplification of your life.
I have been frustrated recently when I’ve gone out to eat with individuals only to have them spend half their time on their phones reading twitter (or even tweeting to each other). What happened to conversation?
I look forward to reading your blog posts!
-Ayn
Welcome back my sweet niece! Turn the page and continue your book of life. We love you so much!
I understand this completely, maybe a little too well I fear. When I recently found myself homesick, then realized it wasn’t for a place but was instead for the me I was when living there, I too decided to take a break from all the tweeting for a bit, but apparently didn’t take enough of one.
We have an amazing group of people via this silly little medium, and I hate feeling like without it I might lose track of them altogether.
YEA!!!!! I have SO BADLY missed your blogging!!!! And twitter was annoying! I’m now really glad I never took it up!!
Hooray for lovely people taking back their lovely lives from something that felt un-real!
It happens in so many ways (drinking, smoking, pot, sex, chocolate) and it takes courage to say, “No, thank you. I like me just the way I am and I’m going to practice that for a while.” There is something very special about you Katherine. 🙂
I totally get it- I’ve been guilty of spending way too much time on the old iPhone myself, and it’s impossible to get caught up, but then there’s the feeling that you’ve ‘missed’ something. And I’ll get miffed if I ask a question and don’t get an answer, which isn’t fair to anyone.
You’re one of my favorite people to read on Twitter, and I’ll miss you. Hope your break is helpful for you. I look forward to reading your blog again. Might even try a bit of a break myself…
Also, for what it’s worth, I no longer picture you popping a strawberry in your mouth whenever you say something sarcastic. You do, however, still attack a lot of chicken. 🙂
I don’t know you (or even pretend to know you because I follow you on Twitter) but I will miss your food tweets. I will follow your @HoustonPress handle and hope they continue.
Thank you for saying what you did. I was beginning to wonder when someone would say “it” and do it as eloquently as you have. Congrats and I applaud your decision. Keep on rolling with making your own decisions! Because there really isn’t any other way to do it.
Oh and yeah, quality food reviews are now fully expected. So get posting!
You know, having a boyfriend that isn’t into the tech scene and isn’t into much more than Facebook has helped me scale back on my Twitter caloric intake. Short of procuring one of those, doing things that require me to be off the grid (like, adventure racing, for example) have really worked in allowing me to take my life back from this cybervat known as real-time digital vomit. There’s nothing like the recognition of the fact that your life is no longer your own, and nothing is sacred anymore. I am hurling all my support your way for a successful re-wrangling of your online – and, more importantly, offline – presences.
If it makes you feel any better, I was obsessively checking your blog for something new! Welcome back!
Great post. Welcome back! I missed you!
Congrats! Kyrie O’Connor at the Chron linked here.
Totally respect your decision. Just want you to know that your tweets do/did often brighten my day. Also, I got one heck of a boyfriend out of your random Twitter dinner in March. So some good can come of this zany 140 character mess.
I pretty much agree with everyone. respect, word, good for you and so on.
I did spot you last weekend at 600sqmi and I was like, “Should I go say hi? I’m a creep.. she probably gets harassed all the time!” Phew, dodged that one. 🙂 i kid.
Glad to see you’re updating the blog again. Enjoy it.
Glad you’re ‘writing’ again…LOVE YER STYLE LADY…always classy.
xxx
j
Next thing you know, you’ll tell us you turned off your computer and started reading newspapers–the paper and ink kind.
glad to have you back! Your musings make me smile real big
Been there. I found myself so unhappy on Twitter that I walked away for a little while. It wasn’t very long but when I came back I had a clearer vision of what I needed Twitter to be for me and it has shaped how I use it. That has been over a year ago and although I still get grumbling from people sometimes I don’t regret it for an instant.
Although I do think being a teacher and not sitting at the computer all day has helped to regulate it. Best wishes on your goal to regain a balanced life. I’m on a similar journey to regain my reading habit!
Good for you, Twitter is a sorry wasteland. As for the other stuff, keep putting one foot in front of the other. Good luck.
It is so nice to have you back, where you belong! I’ve missed you.
Interesting. I have an antiFB friend, she’s against the impersonality of it all, the need to let others know how well you’re doing what you do. I can’t imagine her EVER twit’n. I have been contemplating the option as of late, but can’t get the buy-in.
I’m not sure my life is interesting enough to update others that often. And if I didn’t, then I’d be a slactter. What if I’m not clever enough? Just the thought of it all seems like a lot of unnecessary pressure and stress.
However, what irks me the most about the concept is how disconnected we’ve become due to so much connectivity. There’s nothing more upsetting to me than to have a table filled with friends constantly updating reality funny comments to the cyberworld.
oh well, good for you!
Hi Katherine 😀
As you seem to be very active on Twitter, is your break over? Would love to hang out or meet for dinner now that I can drink alcohol again.
Happy Holidays!
Forgive the typo in the spelling of your name…. a not e! You must get that all the time.