How Do I Love The Internet? Let Me Count the Ways…

I first heard of the Internet in 1995 while living in New Orleans. I was in Saturn Bar, my Lower Ninth Ward neighborhood bar, sipping on a Dixie beer as this guy tried to explain what it was and how it worked. “The ‘Internet,’ huh? Lots of information at your fingertips?” I listened politely but inside I was thinking “Snooze-o-rama. Sounds like a big waste of time.”

When I moved to Portland, Oregon at the end of August 2005, a full 10 years later, the Internet had, to put it mildly, taken over the world. However, my initial impression of it had been partially correct: the Internet is indeed a gloriously easy way to waste time. How did I ever make it through a full workday at one of the boring office jobs I had held over the years without the Internet? I shuddered to think of it.

But the Internet was also a tool I couldn’t live without. Hurricane Katrina was raging in New Orleans when I arrived in Portland. I went online daily to get the latest updates on the disaster and watched in horror as the city I loved was destroyed.

I also used the Internet to jump start my new life. Apartment? Quickly found on Craiglist. Job? Eventually found on Craigslist. Directions around my new hood? Google Maps. Social life? Some assistance provided by MySpace. Tips on a burrito that didn’t suck? Citysearch. Last minute ride to that show I wanted so badly to see? Craigslist again.

I’d spent my 20s roaming around the country (Albany, Buffalo, New Orleans, Minneapolis, San Francisco) doing mostly temp jobs, trying to figure out what I wanted to be when I grew up. I loved the thrill, then, of moving to a new city, gathering the local newspapers, and piecing together the necessities of life.

But I was the ripe old age of 36 when I arrived in Portland. I was ready for some assistance. And the Internet provided—and continues to provide—just that. I found my dog on the Internet (more on him later). I found a new and far better job on the Internet, working at findingDulcinea.com, writing and editing Web guides for the Internet. I even found my boyfriend (now fiance) on the Internet.

Last night, The Fiance and I were watching All the President's Men (you know, the movie version of the Woodward and Bernstein super duo who uncovered Watergate). One scene showed Woodward (Robert Redford) surrounded by walls of phone books, flipping through each one, trying to locate a suspect. A collective “ugh” settled over the couch as we contemplated the drudgery of such a task. Snooze-o-rama.

Then The Fiance and I said, almost in unison, “Ah, the Internet!”

We love you, Internet! We love you for almost as many reasons as there are Google search results. Ok, perhaps our love isn't that cheap and indiscriminate. Just know that we love you. A lot.