Christmas Tree Cake

How Can it Be a Christmas Tree and a Cake?

I remember when I was in junior high, watching TV with my grandmother.   A commercial came on for RCA televisions.  We had an MGA set.  My grandmother was perplexed.  She asked me why RCA could advertise on our MGA television.  I tried to explain, but she didn't get it.  She was confused about the mechanics of the TV world.  She understood what the TV was, but not its relationship to its own content.  She realized that the television content was created somewhere else, but, somehow, she believed the television was more than just a receiver that transforms a signal, it was a special box with its own powers and its own agenda.  Curious. 

I don't think I am as unhip as my grandma was in the 70's.  I understand how to use most electronic devices.  I also know how they work.  I know how the content arrives.  However, I don't always understand its value.  I am not ready to herald the importance of hand-held devices.  I still want to live in a world of human contact.  It is ironic that I blog this, but it is true.  When people go out in public places and stare at their smart phones, I am as perplexed as my grandmother was.   I'm pretty sure I am not the naive party in this discussion though.  The phone, the internet, Google, Youtube are not magic.  There is no app to make your life whole.  There is no online game that will make you a better person.  The virtual you is not you.

I'm not suggesting anyone go cold turkey.  Obviously not, I'm on my computer right now.  But I firmly believe that you should never let an electronic device be something you can't live without.  Or something that makes demands upon you.  What are your priorities?  Photos aside, will you remember texting on your smartphone twenty years from now?  Could anything be more vapid?  More pedestrian?  The world burns brighter than a liquid crystal display.  It even burns brighter than a plasma screen.  And, yes, it tastes better than plastic.