Too lazy for words...

[Amazing Ourselves to Death] is one of the best books that I had read in the last couple of years. The book description from Amazon did a pretty good job introducing it:

"Originally published in 1985, Neil Postman’s groundbreaking polemic about the corrosive effects of television on our politics and public discourse has been hailed as a twenty-first-century book published in the twentieth century. Now, with television joined by more sophisticated electronic media—from the Internet to cell phones to DVDs—it has taken on even greater significance. Amusing Ourselves to Death is a prophetic look at what happens when politics, journalism, education, and even religion become subject to the demands of  entertainment. It is also a blueprint for regaining controlof our media, so that they can serve our highest goals."

One impressive quote that I remembered from the book goes like this, "We became sillier by minute when we were watching television." Reading and writing, the kind that require thinking, is work, and sometimes hard work; while watching TV or movie, surfing the internet, twittering or facebooking, on the other hand, it's mostly entertainment.

I don't watch TV and am quite selective in movies. I don't get on my facebook often, with my activities generally limited to browsing and liking other's status or pictures. But still, I find myself becoming lazier and lazier when I spend more time on the internet. It's so much easier to post pictures hoping "One picture is worth a thousand words" than to actually reflect on your life. I recently discovered Pinterest and love it. It seems such a good tool for collecting and organizing useful information and resources because it's so visual, well, it's all visual. It's no wonder that it's gaining popularity so rapidly. However, like the internet, it could so easily become a black hole, sucking in precious time and in the mean time likely making one lazier and dumber. How many hours that I had spend, oh, wasted on Pinterest, forums, Facebook, and Yahoo groups?

Anyway, I intended to simply post a few pictures on this post and felt somehow obliged to justify the reason of my laziness. Maybe because this is a blog not a facebook page?

Red Admiral butterfly "captured" by Daniel in our neighborhood park. 

In the same Small Park

Daniel took this photo. 

Daniel is helping James with his piano practice. James started in September.