Voyagers, Voyeurs, Vicariously...Now we're getting somewhere...by going nowhere...surfing!

Off Road: Fresh off the road (see June 18th and make your way back here), it's already obvious to all of us that, while we have been on an 'adventure' not of our making the past year, we have not actually been voyaging very far from home as a group. Now opportunities once again are starting to beckon us beyond the thresholds and porticos of our respective abodes, I thought I would touch on the strong trend over the past few decades of how we all have been traveling more, 'internally', with all the comforts of...

Home - 'Armourus' to CERFing: While the ability, tendency, and opportunity for people to get their kicks or "...taking pleasure in observing something private, sordid, or scandalous..." (the 'G' version of voyeurism in case the underage crowd finds their way here) has been around for 'e-ons' and the more internalized, socially acceptable version, "...experienced in the imagination through the feelings or actions of others..." (definition of vicarious), has been around since hieroglyphs were found, which provoked our collective and individual imaginations, these and other 'indirect' ways to experience reality while not traveling from home, have increased exponentially since the World Wide Web made an enormous amount of information available, and the Internet connected us. Jean Armour Polly, a librarian, had more than a little to do with this, as she was one of the first U.S. librarians to offer access to the public, transforming the public library into one of the first Internet cafes way before Starbucks utilized the format, which concurrently transformed the role of the librarian, adding the dimensions of "digital educator" and "Internet advocate" as part of the job description (here's another one grads!). She was also one of the first to introduce 'safe' Internet usage, including for teens and kids, earning her in part the moniker "Net-Mom". Oh yeh, she was also credited as being one of the first to coin the term "Surfing the Internet" (1992). I say one of the first because shortly before, apparently unbeknownst to Polly (who was early in her surfing journey, just starting to make her way around apparently), CERFnet, one of the first ISP's started publishing a comic book in 1991, "The Adventures of Captain Internet and CERF Boy", featuring Captain Internet and her (a prescient nod to Jean?) sidekick. Spoiler alert (also on the rise with Internet) -- I just 'rad' the first installment, Number 1, October 1991 - "The Lan that Time Forgot" - check it out! The point to all of this is that, way before we were coerced to quarantine the past year or so, millions of us were self selecting to live indirectly through surfing and related actions in our own homes, within the most limited of spaces, as the ability of microchips have also allowed more computing power, apps, software to be contained in smaller hardware. One voyeuristic example that I can recall readily is when I was interviewing a man who had experienced some trouble (wasting time, eventual conflict with his spouse) with viewing 'unhealthy' videos, I asked him, "why do you think there is such a rise in such problems these days?" to which he quickly responded, "Oh, that's easy -- Broadband...once you discover what's out there with just a click of the mouse..." So true on so many fronts, healthy as well as not so...Another peculiar trend, phenomena, is the inverse between the rise of the 'super highway' of information and  the decrease in people pursuing an keeping their drivers licenses, especially among the under 20 crowd...among other reasons offered in interviews, in addition to other transportation options/apps (e.g., "Uber"), is "why leave home when I can see friends all over the world via Facetime?" Others are simply too preoccupied with playing games Online, ordering stuff on Amazon, surfing...

Cruising and the return of the Ancient Mariner, disembarking: Voyaging and living vicariously, if not voyeuristically (versus realistically), once again preceded us as co-conspirators by some centuries. Apropos to this topic as well as our real life, real time experiences is "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner", the longest major poem by the English poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge, written in 1797-98 and first published in 1798 (according to my CERFer buddy "Wiki") -- recounts the experiences of a sailor who has returned from a long voyage (relatable!)...the mariner stops a man on his way to a wedding ceremony (ceremony interruptus, relatable!), and begins to narrate a long story of experiences at sea...The wedding guest's reactions range from a vicarious curiosity ("bemusement"), to fear, to impatience (such as those who are waiting for us while we are otherwise preoccupied on the net, relatable!). After finally finishing the story the mariner leaves and the wedding guest returns home" ...a sadder and wiser man...

Questions of the moment, embarking, all en'compassing': Where are you/we on this continuum of experience; how have your plans been interrupted by our recent detour; and how will you embark, unplug, and continue your voyage uninterrupted? After all, it's mostly up to us....

"Surf's Up" (2007, 6.7/10 IMDb)😎!