{RECEN T HIS TOR Y }
So Rob’s interest in philosophy
wasn’t surprising, but I hadn’t known exactly how much he read about it until I’d happened to borrow his computer one evening. Therein was the quintes- sential archaeological artifact of the 21st century: Rob’s Internet search history. A 2009 survey said Americans spend
an average of 13 free hours each week on the Internet. In our house, during lazy weeks at least, we can probably hit that. Ostensibly, it’s research for work: I frequently write about Internet culture, analyzing sites designed to do nothing but waste time. But the Web is like an infi nite trail of bread crumbs, meaning that what begins as work can dissolve into me reading about Ukrainian se- rial killers or the history of the Postal Service, pursuing my own bizarre lines of interest against the private glow of my laptop. Web surfi ng isn’t really a team activ-
ity. With the exception of occasionally forwarded links, I saw our search histo- ries the way I saw my yoga class or Rob’s guitar — independent hobbies rather than couple activities. There have been occasions when we’ve lost hours in si- lent side-by-side clicking, interrupted only with, “Babe, can you pass the pow- er cord?” (No, we don’t have kids.) But maybe Internet surfi ng really
could be a couple activity? Maybe if I spent a week dedicating myself to the Internet as Rob saw it, I would have some sort of marital revelation, the way those women do who force their hus- bands to go to rustic couples retreats or engage in partnered scrapbooking. This experiment would be like that, but I would never have to get off the couch. “Show me what you look at,” I said to
my husband. Take me to your reader.
D
ay 1: I want to gouge my eyes out. Rob went to a big state school with strong sports teams,
which he ardently follows. When I asked for a list of Web sites that he visited regularly, college sports blogs were, not surprisingly, at the top. This concerned me. That cliche movie scene
22 THE WASHINGTON POST MAGAZINE | JUNE 13, 2010
Monica Hesse chats about Web culture Wednesdays at
washingtonpost.com/discussions. “What do you think about Izzo
suspending Chris Allen just days before the Big
Ten tournament?” I write peppily. “Whoa!”
Not surprisingly, my husband sees through
my transparent bonding
attempt. Kind
of surprisingly, it tickles him nonetheless.
where the guy tries to explain the rules of football to the girl by moving condi- ments around the table at the diner? We have tried that. I ate the running back. After several days of slogging
through posts such as “Recruiting Anal- ysis 2002 to Present,” my feelings have not changed. Down the line, I envision engag-
ing Rob in impassioned debates over Some Important Thing in Sports. For now, the best I can manage is a solitary e-mail on Day 3: “What do you think about Izzo suspending Chris Allen just days before the Big Ten tournament?” I write peppily. “Whoa!” Not surprisingly, my husband sees
through my transparent bonding at- tempt. Kind of surprisingly, it tickles him
nonetheless. So it could be nice to enhance our
shared cultural reference points beyond our sentimental passion for triumphant underdog stories and our mutual obses- sion with Jack’s Salsa at Harris Teeter. More daunting than the sports blogs,
though, are the Poindexter-y links lit- tered throughout Rob’s computer — the Harvard lecture series, the economics blogs — which I start visiting on Day 3 or 4. Some of them, such as discussions on changing poverty guidelines, make sense: Rob works for an agency dedi- cated to fi ghting poverty. Others are so dense that I spend 10 minutes unravel- ing one post only to wonder why I both- ered. How much does a body really need to know about “Asymmetry, Refl exivity and Sovereign Default?” I ask: “Why do you read this?” won-
dering if it’s penance for some sort of childhood wrong, like wedgie-ing the entire math club. Rob says: “I don’t think that’s a very
good question.” I say: “But this is supposed to be the
part of the article where we have mean- ingful conversations.” Rob says: “Can anyone fully explain
why they’re interested in anything? I can’t. You read recipes online, but you don’t cook.” (Note: Rob would also like me to point out that to truly get something out
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