And then I think about the public profiles that I have no qualms about leaving behind, and the aspects of my digital persona that would never change—the bits of data on my various profiles that my spirit would approve, long after I am gone.
Author Archives: Cheri Lucas Rowlands
Istanbul Through an iPhone Lens
I’ve been in Istanbul for a week and have mainly used my new iPhone to take photographs. I was a (mostly disgruntled) BlackBerry user for three years until I got an iPhone over the holidays, so I’m very late to the iPhone party. And very new to Instagram, too. So, I decided to test out my iPhone camera and fiddle with filters (noted in parentheses).
Post-It Inspiration: Compiled Bits on Writing and Memoir
But the strange comfort a Post-it brings: it’s nice to come upon a note I’ve written for myself that I knew I would need again. As if I continue to evolve as a writer, yet face the same challenges over and over.
On the Rave Underground and Pre-Digital Discovery
A boundaryless world where I participated and created, lost in moments mostly undocumented.
Notes on Alternate Timelines and the Stories That Facebook Doesn’t Share
But I’m not interested here in distinguishing what was what in my own timeline. Instead, I’m fascinated by how Facebook Timeline encourages us to map it out for all to see: A visualization of the haphazardness of the cosmos. A digital record of life choices we’ve made.
On Eternal Sunshine, Erasing Memories, and Facebook Timeline
But my curation of my own history—the deleting of previous status updates, the “featuring” of particular posts—is strange. More so than before, I am able to highlight what is important in my life—or what I want others to view as important—and fill in missing details from today to when I was born.
On Facebook Status Updates (And What I Could Have Said)
How would my Facebook updates read if I licked off the sugar coating?
Where Neon Signs Go to Die: The Neon Boneyard in Las Vegas
The simplest description of the Neon Boneyard? It’s where Sin City’s signs go to die.
Notes and Numbers from My Moleskine: Egypt, Details, and Sensory Overload
Because all at once? It’s a sensory overload. But, honestly, I don’t think Egypt is a place where all pieces fit perfectly.
Roots vs. Wanderlust: On Home, Accumulation & What’s Missing
It’s quite confusing, all of this.
How seeing the accumulation of my things in a space that I own is both exciting and suffocating. How roots and wanderlust continue to battle. How I am eager for “home” to be something concrete, but know that no place I inhabit will feel like home until I have the one thing that’s missing.