I did it again, I fell into the Up and Vanished Podcast vacuum. I thought I had fixed the need to solve Tara Grinstead’s disappearance. I assumed that I was a rational, normal person that would take the show for what it was and then let it go. Nope. My resolve lasted exactly one week.

Why do we get so obsessed with things not directly connected to ourselves? What is it about TV shows or Podcasts that keep us in their clutches? It’s like something from Fahrenheit 451.

Social media is a seductress, all it has to do is flash a little somethin’-somethin’ at us and we’re ready to give ourselves over to some alternate reality. Am I’m wrong?

Since when does taking a vacation and binge watching Game of Thrones equate to being the same thing? How often do we get a self-esteem boost or a self-esteem plunge according to how many likes we get on Facebook? Why don’t people recognize facial cues or understand sarcasm anymore? Why is there such a thing as Fake News? Was Ray Bradbury right?

Yesterday, my husband had to pry my phone out of my hands to get me to stop looking at shoes. Shoes! I was furious at him for it, too. And his defense for doing it was…

“Honey, we have to get to Parent Teacher’s Conference before all the teachers go home.” He was right.

I used to joke that the only difference between porn and Pinterest is the kind of rack displayed; one rack is associated with shoes and how to build your own, the other isn’t. Before, when I made that joke, I thought I was better than everybody else, and now here I am, sucked into the deranged void of the binary number system.

I could ask for help. I could say, hey, if you see me zipping past you online, stop and say hello. But I know better, I won’t notice you. I’ll be too busy looking at my phone, lusting after shoes and that gorgeous rack they’re displayed on.