The Cosmopolitan Blog

So my european experience continues… on the tube… aaaah, the british tube!  Actually, i’ll be honest, it took me a while to remember, it wasn’t called the subway like in NYC, it wasn’t called the metro like in Montreal, or the T like in boston. it’s the underground, or the tube in good ol’ England.

I remember hating it when i was growing up here. I remember thinking the stations were dirty & old looking, the trains were run down, and i just remember wishing that something, anything! would change or get updated.

I got to montreal & thought, waow, now this is nice. Read the rest of this entry »

I’m starting to draw a mighty big list of cons, when it comes to technology. Surprising, considering it’s the field i work in… or not… i hear those who work in chocolate factories never want to eat another piece of chocolate ever again, so….

For something that’s supposed to make us more productive, have u ever counted how much time you spend fiddling with, fine-tuning that technology for it to ACTUALLY do what you want it to do? Settings new systems up, figuring out how to make them better, fixing something that doesn’t work, installing product updates, rebooting, watching progress bars… UGH. I’d love someone to actually study this and tell us if we’re actually more productive or if we’re just more… well… busy…

We complain that the computer is making jobs obsolete, but what about all those jobs created to make sure that technology actually works?

Today, as i continue my european experiment, i realize one thing… technology takes your attention away from life. When you’re watching tv, it’s time you’re NOT spending outside taking a walk, when you’re surfing the Read the rest of this entry »

So here I am. England. London. I grew up here. And i’m back, staying at my mom’s, taking care of her as she recovers from a knee operation. Translation: i have NOTHING to do for a week. And i’m not a tourist here. And i don’t particularly love this city (long story)… so what does one do? Return to my blog, for 1. But i had an idea for an experiment, you know me, ever the sociologist.

Let us compare european and north american cultures for a week. I grew up in the former and couldn’t deal with the laissez-faire attitude, I longed for the hyper-productive, go-go-go attitude of the latter, so i moved there. A decade later, and i look back at the other side of the pond and wonder if these europeans hadn’t actually figured something out. 5 weeks vacation is the norm. Good food. Historical patrimony and traditions. Sidewalk cafés…. hmm….

So this is my goal this week. Compare. Not to draw conclusions, after all, seeing the sizable population living in each, i’m thinking there’s no clear winner or looser. But to understand. Stay tuned…