Too much too late?

I recently came across an astounding factoid, courtesy of Google CEO Eric Schmidt: "There was 5 exabytes of information created between the dawn of civilization through 2003, but that much information is now created every 2 days, and the pace is increasing...." (Schmidt goes on to hint that Google will work with the government to make sure we're all kept track of through increased surveillance.) I've been feeling a part of this global information overload for years now, but immediately upon hearing this information, I asked myself, what am I doing? Writing, blogging, making videos, reading, watching videos, talking.... The amount of stuff out there is overwhelming and I am actively contributing to the whelming by making that statement. Ayyyeeee! Too much.

But then again, I'm aware of this paradox and still acting in it. Playing a part because I must. A character that fulfills a need. Motivation is the need to create.

I was in Maine when I read the above article. A couple days later while packing up, with the late-morning sun searing through the windows, I'm assailed by flashbacks to Austin. The early days, listening to a Big Boys cassette while walking the motor-dominated South Lamar Boulevard, on a pilgrimage to Half Price Books, in the beating sun. Waking up on Saturdays, having just moved, with a world in front of me, and only simple choices to make. Do I go to Goodwill for small appliances or do I go to a Chinese buffet to satiate myself for the whole day? Days when Phil and Laura would come over for music, talk, rolling dice, and maybe water balloons. There was a feeling of community and a good deal of exploration during those days, when, for instance, Phil might leave his place for a walk and show up on my doorstep with a six-pack, at 11 in the morning. Chase the Cheerios. We walk on together, in deeper exploration.

Then, months later, coming back home from two shifts at the white collar factory, with almost no rest in between, my first exposure to late-afternoon autumn sun in weeks. I had to push on, hit two Oktoberfests, by myself, before being joined by the others. Still later, taking the bus to the University Co-op, reading Vaneigem, drinking coffee, and still time for breakfast at Einstein Bagels. Before I'm off to sell Longhorn sink strainers and dartboards....

What's the point of all this? What's the point in me remembering these times in written form? Simple: a certain orientation of the sun makes me happy by triggering distinct memories associated with other solar orientations. If I took it a step further, I would say that I want to channel these memories in the creation of new solar-charged moments in the present. But having typed that sentence, I think I've already taken it too far in written form. The Google CEO says we create an excessively huge amount of information every day. And here I've added just a little bit more.