touching too much
There is a major problem on the horizon. I think America is on the verge of a touch epidemic/all-out-meltdown. I'm not sure if anyone else has the "touch, touch, touch... feel" Kleenex commercial burned in their mind like I do. I am attracted to the ad when I pretend that it's a PSA for folks dealing with ritual OCD behaviors, which is not a stretch of the imagination, and would actually be really awesome. But realizing over and over again that it's not I am repeatedly repelled by the sound of it, as if cycling through some very sterile and neurotic Ground Hog Day.
Look all around and you really can't escape the fingertip revolution. Facial tissue is a mere fraction of what's afoot. Of course I'm not talking about tenderness or physical expressions of love or desire; that would be weird. Where the action is, the cool, glassy canvas of technology awaits. Everything works better, looks better, is better there. And gosh darn it if I'm not trotting gleefully right along in being mesmerized, even if it makes me feel wrong, even if it's an expensive place to be.
But you know what, is Kleenex onto something? Are they the new AT&T ("reach out and touch someone")? Is their advertising campaign a thinly veiled message urging us to just slow down and FEEL (especially their tissue)? Has Sergeant IPod and its minions somehow fractured human interaction? I never knew blowing my nose could be so New Age, and so liberating. Deliberate or not, reading between the lines might not be a bad idea. Translate however you wish. And for God sake if I could perhaps not hear the word "touch" for a day that may be enough to make it all better, and this whole touchy feely vs touchy steely debate will be moot.
Image Credit [ Franz66 Flickr ]
FEEL THE MUSIC:
Hall & Oates [ Out of Touch ]
Samantha Fox [ Touch Me ]
Kanye West [ Touch the Sky ]
Genesis [ Invisible Touch ]
Diana Ross [ Touch Me in the Morning ]
Ladytron [ Destroy Everything You Touch ]
Look all around and you really can't escape the fingertip revolution. Facial tissue is a mere fraction of what's afoot. Of course I'm not talking about tenderness or physical expressions of love or desire; that would be weird. Where the action is, the cool, glassy canvas of technology awaits. Everything works better, looks better, is better there. And gosh darn it if I'm not trotting gleefully right along in being mesmerized, even if it makes me feel wrong, even if it's an expensive place to be.
But you know what, is Kleenex onto something? Are they the new AT&T ("reach out and touch someone")? Is their advertising campaign a thinly veiled message urging us to just slow down and FEEL (especially their tissue)? Has Sergeant IPod and its minions somehow fractured human interaction? I never knew blowing my nose could be so New Age, and so liberating. Deliberate or not, reading between the lines might not be a bad idea. Translate however you wish. And for God sake if I could perhaps not hear the word "touch" for a day that may be enough to make it all better, and this whole touchy feely vs touchy steely debate will be moot.
Image Credit [ Franz66 Flickr ]
FEEL THE MUSIC:
Hall & Oates [ Out of Touch ]
Samantha Fox [ Touch Me ]
Kanye West [ Touch the Sky ]
Genesis [ Invisible Touch ]
Diana Ross [ Touch Me in the Morning ]
Ladytron [ Destroy Everything You Touch ]
