I was in Marblehead, Massachusetts over the weekend, visiting my family, and Saturday night that big storm hit. On Sunday, the day we were supposed to return, my sister and brother-in-law and I were trying to see what the weather was like in western Massachusetts and Connecticut. It was hard to get a good idea of what the roads were like, so on a whim, I “tweeted” the following on Twitter:
Can anybody tell me what the roads are like in northwestern CT? Must drive home from MA today.
And, very shortly, I received a response to my tweet, which said:
@annleary Roads are fine…and your driveway has been plowed.
And this is why I love living in a small town in the era of the global village. I don’t know who the person is who posted that tweet but it was clear that they had either driven past, or up and down my driveway (there was hockey at our house this weekend – why D was not in Massachusetts).
I’ve been thinking a lot about the internet after reading the Dan Chaon book. About how we leave these virtual fingerprints all over the web, and if somebody were to investigate us via our web searches and email correspondences, they might come away with a very skewed perspective of who we really are. Or maybe it would be a clearer picture. It’s all our inner world, the stuff of our thoughts and yearnings and our curious leanings that we leave here, and really that stuff used to be concealed within our psyches, and only shared when we chose to share it with others. Now a person with a search warrant can delve into the darkest recesses of our virtual souls and it would be so easy to mistake a curious interest for a perverted desire. It’s all so easily misconstrued, in the same way that a comment on a blog can be misinterpreted as snarky because you can’t see the person’s smile. Or an email can come across as sarcastic, when the sender is actually being sincere. I shudder to think what a person would presume about me if they were to track all the places I post, tweet, lurk, buy, view, etc.
Okay, I really have to stop thinking about that.
Well, it was a lovely weekend. Marblehead is beautiful in the snow. My mother and her husband Steve live next to Black Joe’s Pond and there were pickup hockey games that we could watch from their living room. By the time I sent my nephew Tommy our to take some photos, the big guys had gone and the ankle biters had taken over. They start them young in New England:
Photo by Tom Seminara
Photo by Tom Seminara
On our way home we saw that there was a particularly high tide and the waves were lashing the shores of Lynn, Lynn, the city of sin.
It’s just an old rhyme. Lynn is lovely. Really.
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Jennifer, thanks so much for laughing. I still laugh myself whenever I think of it (which isn’t often obviously, but Ann’s post on being misconstrued on the internet reminded me).
I should of put up a little ;}, or :] emoticon with the joke in the chat room, but somehow I don’t think it would have saved me.
Here is an article from the 2005 NYTimes Labor Day Sunday Edition (time flies!) that features me and Jamie Nudie, and was prompted by our book. I was so proud that I got Nudie’s (my idol) photo on the home page on the NYTimes over twenty years after he had passed!
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/04/automobiles/04AUTO.html?scp=1&sq=nudie%20cohn&st=cse
Jody, my husband was born and raised in Swampscott. He left in 1980 when he went to do his residency at UNC. Ann, do you know where the saying about Lynn came from? Asked the hubby, but he didn’t know. He said he has heard that saying forever, but didn’t know where it came from or why it was said about Lynn.
Ann – believe it or not, I used to live in Swampscott!!!! I remember driving through Lynn on my way into the city … when the Red Tide hit, it was not pleasant! Anyway – those fingerprints give me pause as I continue with my blog – but I’m willing to risk whatever it is that we put out there – because w/o this internet there are countless connections that would never be realized. Little miracles everywhere we look…
Congratulations, btw, on your daughter’s acceptance – it was REALLY hard not to spill those beans!
Caitlin, how cool that you remember Mark! If you are interested, just type his name into the search bar and you will see all of his crazy goings-on.
Mary Lynn, forgive me if you’ve already told us, but what have you written? I want to read it.
I see your point about Google, but I honestly don’t see how they could profit from most of my searches, unless they are in the business of blackmail.
Nope, sorry Tracy, I get to be last this time. And Ann, is it alright if I say how much I actually don’t care what kind of cyper-print I leave? I am not a well known person, and I don’t have a famous husband, but I do have a husband (and son) in law enforcement, so maybe I should care a little. But I really don’t.
Glad you made it home safely, and how nice of Dave to give you the update you needed.
Did I miss something? Is the new Leary puppy officially “Holly” now? So appropriate.
Mary Lynn, I laughed out loud at that dead cat joke. You’re not the only one.
Ann, talking about how emails and comments can be misconstrued — it is so true — and it reminds me of the time years and years ago, that I got kicked out of a chat room. The chat started somewhere and then drifted into people talking about their deceased animals. Okay, I’m as much of an animal lover as the next, but I couldn’t resist the urge to write — “You can’t swing a dead cat without hitting a dead cat in here.” I thought it was funny, apparently I was the only one.
I just Googled myself, and found a copy of my book (out of print), signed (not remainder marked), for $75! Wow . . . there is a bit of “ego surfing”, my signature is actually worth money! Too bad I won’t see a penny of that — but I do remember some of the fun and free wine I had at my book signings. Google, by the way, does keep track of everything you Google, and your “online life” is very telling, and lucrative, as Google’s “AI” Artificial Intelligence keeps tally on your every search, and uses that information to enrich its capabilities to keep a stranglehold on internet ad revenues. Yes, Big Brother is here, and I don’t want to get too deep into an analysis of the Evil of Google here, but you have to consider that technology is a “live by the sword, die by the sword” sort of deal. Right now I seem to be dying by the sword . . . you have to remember (as I have become so painfully aware) that something of value is something worth stealing, and Google is robbing us blind. It may seem like a harmless free search engine . . . but it is watching your every move, it is keeping track, and it is constantly looking for ways to profit.
Hi Ann- I used to work for Far Meadow Farm in Morris and i did some work with your horse Marc…Was wondering how he is doing? I think about him all the time he is such a character!! Love your writing btw. Hope all is well!
Caitlin
Cath, I never got the twitter – bird connection, so I guess I’m the last person on earth. But then I don’t pay attention to twitter.
lololol Dave. Welcome to the blog mystery tweeter. That’s too funny. It was very sweet of you.
Girls, we caught another man! Shh now, don’t scare him away!
Hi Dave, thanks again for the useful tweet!
Linda, Holly is great, tree is up. WIll post photos tomorrow.
The tweet was from me. I live in Woodbury, but just happened to have driven by that morning, so I thought I’d be helpful. Not to worry.
If I knew there was a hockey game going on, I would have stopped by…even though I can hardly skate and suck at hockey. It would have been akin to a performance by a rodeo clown (complete with bull).
Love the blog! Keep ‘em coming.
Take care.
Oh wait, Cori’s husband is real? I thought she was making all that up, as he sounds too good to be true
Catherine, thanks for the info on sending donations to Charlotte. So glad Lady was adopted.
Cori, we need to figure out how to clone your husband. He sounds like a great guy?
Linda S.
Aislinn, me too (re: Lady).
So, am I the last person on the planet to connect Twitter with “A little bird told me?” I was watching TV last night and someone said the phrase “a little bird told me” and I thought, that’s funny, doesn’t Twitter have a little bluebird mascot or something. Then came the big DUH. I’m soooooo slow sometimes.
Catherine, Thanks for the info on Charlotte. I’m glad to hear that Lady found a home!
Just a bit of info for the dog lovers…
I contacted Charlotte about accepting donations and currently she is in the process of becoming a non-profit. She suggested donating to Buster Beagle until she is set up as a non-profit. From her e-mail: Buster Beagle, 20 Flirtation Ave, New Preston CT 06777. Each pound dog rescued is $50.00 w/ a state certificate for spay/neuter. ANY monies will go directly to the pound fee or the vetting.
AND…she found a home for Lady (the third picture down on “Doggy Blog.”)
I hope I didn’t give the impression that the tweet worried me. On the contrary, I thought it very nice and helpful.
Hey Ann ~ Saw Meg at the gym the other day. Glad you came for a visit
I was curled up on my comfy sofa, wrapped in a blanket with all the Christmas lights lit, watching the flurries swirl by out on the Neck and watching movie after movie (soooo lazy) while my husband washed and folded laundry, ventured out in the storm to shop for the ingredients for Beouf Borginon (sp?) so he could make it for dinner, which he did right after he got the idea after watching the first of six movies that were watched yesterday; Julie and Julia. Then he did the shoveling as I was rounding out the movie marathon with Australia.
Black Joe’s wasn’t caked with snow? I’m glad everyone got some ice time. Hope you had a nice visit. Tom has a great future as a photographer!
Merry Christmas to you all! With love from Marblehead
Ann:
Neat that somebody tweet-ed back at you with good information… just a wonderful thing..
And yes, we leave a footprint on the web.. so be it. If anyone chooses to disentangle my ethos in that method, oh well, it is on them!.
Glad you made it back. I was looking for those cameras that the transportation people have on highways, and you can bring them to your computer (or cell) and see what is happening!! but had to leave for an appointment. In California we have Caltrans! and it is neat to watch what is going on in Los Angeles… and stuff. OR I think so.
Great photos of Marblehead – especially the Landing – in the snow. It’s such a lovely little town. glad you had a nice time with your family and made it back to CT. Looks like all you East coasters are going to have a white Christmas!
Interesting and valid comments about how we “expose” ourselves via the Internet. It is a bit scary.
How is Miss Holly doing? And the other girls? Would love another picture or two.
How is Charlotte and the rest of the puppies? have they found homes?
Is the Christmas tree up and decorated?
Is it annoying that I ask a lot of questions? Be honest, I can take it.
Linda S.
Glad you are home safe, and I bet that tweet was from a neighbor or one of the hockey guys, not to worry.
Why do I have a knack for commenting on a post only to have you post a new a new entry a short time later???? Late to the game as usual.
I find the ‘tweet in the dark’ hilarious but a little creepy. Not that the roads were fine, but that your driveway was plowed. lololol They should have identified themselves to eliminate the creep factor.
You are so right about our identities being all over the internet. I haven’t done it in a long time, but I think it’s called ego surfing, where you google your name and see what comes up. For me it’s tough because there’s a famous British woman sailing champion, but once I get past her, I found postings I had made on message forums years before.
Speaking of tracking what you buy, I bought the Miley Cyress book on Amazon for a friend for her daughter because she couldn’t find it anywhere locally, and I get free 2 day shipping. I am mortified that that book now shows up on my purchase history! It’s there forever. How embarrassing. lolol
What beautiful photos of Marblehead. I would love to have seen the squirts playing hockey.
I can’t believe tweeters can’t be identified. I never knew that. Regarding our fingerprints, I remember commenting on an article about the movie “Slumdog Millionaire” in the UK’s Guardian newspaper. A few days later, one of my colleagues said “Aislinn, I agree!” I do think twice about what I post online now.
“delve into the darkest recesses of our virtual souls and it would be so easy to mistake a curious interest for a perverted desire”
YES!
Exactly what I tell my mom when she catches me watching porn.
It’s my curious interest, mom. Not the other thing.
Hey Everyone
The book “on the nightstand”, creeped me out also. It’s true if anyone looked back on my posts on the social web….
Interesting observation about the fingerprints we leave all over the web. There are things out there that even I’ve forgotten about, I’m sure, and I’m all over the place these days. Between Twitter, LiveJournal, Facebook, and a couple of blogs, much of my life is on display. I wonder how clear a picture people who don’t know me in the flesh get from all of that.