Dear Commons Community,

In a piece for Slate, James Sturm, cartoonist and director of the Center for Cartoon Studies, describes what it is like not being connected to the Internet. He is in the middle of a self-imposed four month hiatus from email, social networking, looking at the Mets boxscore, paying his bills online, etc. He originally thought it would drive him crazy but it hasn’t. Now he has to wait for the morning paper, write and mail letters, or take a trip to the library. He does admit that his wife has picked up some of the slack and now pays their bills online and reads and/or responds to the email that their children’s school sends them.

Here is a sample of his comments.

“I am reading more [books] since I’ve gone offline”

“I don’t constantly feel humiliated by my inability to refrain from compulsively checking my e-mail”

“I have been experiencing more and more moments of synchronicity—coincidental events that seem to be meaningfully related”

The full Slate article complete with a bevy of cartoon images is available at: http://www.slate.com/id/2249562/entry/2255493/

Tony