Computers vs. Phones

So I am one of those people who loves tiny, sustainable living. I'm as low maintenance as a person can get, without forsaking certain needs. This can open a discussion about which needs are most important to hang onto when shifting into a lifestyle of having less.

For instance, For the past two weeks I was without my laptop computer. Though I have a smartphone, and one would think I'd be able to keep up with everything I normally do, I just didn't.

There are a few reasons for this.
1. All my photos and references are on my computer, and I still haven't synched my phone up to it. I didn't want to write blog posts or emails without being able to include everything.

2. Things tend to load a lot slower on my phone. I'm impatient, and only use my phone to look things up in desperate cases, and nothing really seemed desperate enough to merit me keeping up with it.

3. I'll be honest, I hate reading off of the damned tiny screen. (I will be doing many posts in the future about my immense love for books, and how it proposes a problem for a tiny house enthusiast. Especially when my perfect book storage scenario is equivalent to the scene in Disney's Beauty and the Beast when he gives her his ginormous library as a present. With ladders. So many books, that ladders are necessary... sigh...) So switching even to a Kindle or Nook is out of the question.

4. Many times, the mobile version of sites I usually frequent are still buggy. The Tumblr app won't even work on my phone. And I just don't have the energy to try out Pinterest, especially when it is a site geared towards visual stimulus. Instagram takes forever, and I refuse to get into Vine, because I already get annoyed when gifs on Tumblr slow everything down.

5. The biggest problem about not having my computer is that the cell signal and internet in my house is awful. To explain how inconvenient it is, I will include an aptly drawn diagram below. I also often travel to places that don't have internet, and when they do, everyone within a mile radius is busy illegally downloading every season of Mash or the Simpsons, or whatever. Which again, makes it very slow to load anything. At least when I have my computer, I can write everything out, gather all of my other media to be emailed or blogged, and even if the internet speed is slow, it is already saved on my computer.

My cell service is confined to my driveway, and my across-the-street neighbor's yard.

In the last few weeks my phone has lost vendor applications, blog posts, and email drafts as if it was its job. Even though there are ways to counteract all these gripes, I find that I just don't care enough about using my tiny phone as a computer to make the effort. I have a good friend who hasn't owned a computer since she got her iphone, and is completely happy with it. But personally, I'd rather just wait for my laptop to be returned.

So what do you think? I'd love to have a discussion on people's thoughts about comfort levels of different media tools, like tablets, smartphones, and computers.

While you think about that, I'll be in my neighbor's yard, saving this blog post as a draft 4 times.

My Tinyhouse Wanderlust.

My Tiny House obsession started a few years ago while I was reading a book about monsters in the bathtub. I got to a chapter on werewolves, and the book showed that they lived in gypsy wagons (which I promptly found out are called Vardos).  They were full of human clothes, and all the provisions to make a life on the run from angry townspeople as comfortable as possible.  It was one of those moments, where something clicked deep down, and afterwards I knew what kind of lifestyle and dwelling I was destined for.

Not that I am constantly on the run from angry townspeople, but I am definitely the type of person that becomes uneasy if I am in the same place for over a month and a half. There are a few ways I've dealt with this: holding jobs with a 2+ hour commute, freelancing all over the east coast, making excuses to travel for work.

Let me back up. I'm a painter/wearable artist/ fashion designer, and my first professional work out of college was in a costume studio, working on films, fashion shows, ballets, window displays, etc. And the big projects would often last around a month and a half to two months, and then we'd move on to a completely different project. The act of switching gears every couple months never left me.

It is said that people who have ever worked in film and theater are nomads, and though my professional path might not always be in that arena, I am constantly in the process of exploring my identity as an artist and a wanderer.

I'm starting this blog to appease my obsession with tiny houses, and to explore aspects of a traveling lifestyle. I find that many tiny house websites focus purely on tiny houses, and the challenges/benefits of living small, but the nomadic lifestyle struggles are only touched on briefly. I feel that in this age where the home office can fit in one's pocket, there will be a greater community of those who are less stressed on the move than at rest.

And luckily I have the Blogger App on my phone. So I can share my discoveries with you no matter where I am.