The Daily Prompt asks if I agree with Edna Ferber’s statement, “Perhaps too much of everything is as bad as too little”. Yes, of course I agree. This is a no-brainer for me. I constantly have the feeling of being overwhelmed by the “too much-ness” of today’s culture. Celebrities and their Twitters (which I do not read but can’t help but be aware of when I tread through all that fake news on my computer screen before reaching the safe – relatively – harbor of my e-mail) are a sign to me of too much social media gone awry. All the talk about food, food, food makes me feel fat – but I confess I watch food shows in summer when TV offerings are slim-pickings. Everywhere on the Internet ads appear to sell me something. It is impossible to Google solutions for my computer when it is doing poorly without being taken in by a helpful crook. The other day I felt lucky to get out of that loop with only a $29.99 fixer’s fee. I intend to get better at recognizing scams. At least the other day I exploded at a phone caller telling me my computer was not working. I told the person (I feel sorry for people who earn their living this way) that my computer works just fine. Furthermore I did not believe he was who he said he was. I did not want to go into this with him. And I was going to hang up. It was awesome to bang down the receiver and pat myself on the back.
Paradoxically , I also experience the folly of acting on my less-is-more philosophy. When I moved long distance to my new home, I carefully packed the bare necessities, partly to save money on the moving truck (actually two smallish pods), and partly because I was tired of “things and stuff”. Unpacking my boxes was exhausting and left me wanting a glass of wine at the end of the day. I had packed a bottle of wine – obviously a bare necessity – and a beer opener, but no corkscrew. I hurried over to the hardware store just as they were locking the door for the day. I told them my story and convinced them to let me in so I could open my wine. In the two years I’ve lived here I have steadily replaced things I hadn’t considered necessities – additional plates and glasses for company, pots and pans left behind because I planned to give up cooking for myself, as well as for company (which I expected little of), and new recipes when I knew I had to repay the kind invitations of people I’m meeting in my apartment, as well as family. I still haven’t invited company but I plan to. I have drawn the line at family. I cooked a meal for my son and his family to celebrate his fiftieth birthday. I spent most of their visit in the kitchen laboring over fixing one of my new recipes which left little time for playing a card game they wanted to play. My son said next time let’s order pizza and spend more time together playing cards.
On second thought, maybe Edna Ferber and I should meet somewhere in the middle.