Thank you!
Your support is sustaining the future of local news in our communities.

Confessions of a Non-Adopter

It drives me crazy when people immediately embrace the shiny new object, the latest trend. Worse, I rejoice when it crashes and burns. The failure of something like Google Glass, a solution in search of a problem, makes my day. I thought I had a “winner” in Bitcoin but its recent comeback has put a damper on my victory celebration. Admittedly, schadenfreude is a character flaw. In my case, probably a defense mechanism to ward off those who insist that I’ll be left behind if I don’t get on board immediately. Still, nothing to be proud of.

My impulse to push back is not entirely irrational. Betamax, New Coke, MySpace, the Segway, Theranos, even the electric knife: did they ever have a chance? As a society, we are programmed to immediately accept the new and vastly underestimate how long it will take to become the norm.

The hoopla surrounding autonomous driving has vanished in a wave of bankruptcies amid the recognition that many issues must be resolved before driverless transportation is widely accepted. Recently, this rush to acceptance has resulted in a major pullback by the auto industry regarding their commitment to EVs. The New York Times reports that $3 billion in venture capital money has been lost in pursuit of a meatless food supply and proponents see no timeline when it could be feasible at any reasonable scale. CBD is mired in regulatory hell, misinformation and significant skepticism about why it needs to be added to foods, dietary supplements and other consumer products in the first place. Although most are loath to admit it, fear of missing out plays a role. Usually it is cloaked in a virtuous wrapper like climate change; as if we are going to drive or eat our way out of global disaster.

Lest you think that I just sit back and gloat “I told you so” (well, sometimes), being an analog person in a digital world has its challenges. Labeled a reactionary or other unprintable names is the price that must be paid by the non-adopter. Having a landline, reading a physical newspaper. Ridicule comes with the territory. Choking guffaws always follow when I admit that I pay my bills by check. And these are my friends!

But I take comfort in knowing that there is always something new that the masses are promoting as a panacea that I should non-adopt. Mold in HVAC mini splits is just starting to gain traction and I anticipate a rash of Ozempic lawsuits in the not too distant future.

Hope springs eternal.

M.A. Duca is a resident of Twin Lakes, narrowly focused on everyday life.

M.a. Duca
The views expressed here are not necessarily those of The Lakeville Journal and The Journal does not support or oppose candidates for public office.

Latest News

A life reshaped by clay in “Matin”

A life reshaped by clay in “Matin”

Left to right: Hannah Wheeler, Matin Malikzada and Yonah Sadeh.

D.H. Callahan

On Monday, Oct. 26, a group of students, teachers and local residents gathered at the Hotchkiss School in Lakeville for a screening of the new short documentary “Matin.” The film tells the story of Matin Malikzada, a seventh-generation Afghani potter making a new life in New Milford, Connecticut. The film was made by local filmmaker Yonah Sadeh, creator of the Video Wall at the David M. Hunt Library, and Berkshires-based potter Hannah Wheeler, who were both present for the screening, along with Malikzada himself.

As a member of the seventh generation of his family to master the art of pottery, Malikzada had done things the way his family had for over a century. Istalif, the village where his family has lived for generations, was known throughout Afghanistan for its pottery, with wares sent across the country for use as everyday cups, bowls, plates and other vessels. The pottery-making families of Istalif gathered clay from the same mountain, about 30 to 45 minutes away by donkey. Every July, they would head north toward the Uzbekistan border to gather ishkar, a plant they processed by hand to make their signature glazes.

Keep ReadingShow less
film

Meg Sher finds her calling among the stacks

Meg Sher finds her calling among the stacks

Meg Sher, executive director of the David M. Hunt Library in Falls Village.

L. Tomaino

When Meg Sher came to Falls Village in 2006 from Old Lyme, Connecticut, where she grew up, she never imagined she’d someday be the executive director of the David M. Hunt Library.

Although, in hindsight, perhaps it makes sense.

Keep ReadingShow less
our community

Crescendo’s 23rd season speaks to the heart and mind

Crescendo’s 23rd season speaks to the heart and mind

Christine Gevert, founding artistic director of Crescendo, conducts the audience at a performance.

Steve Potter

For Christine Gevert, founding artistic director of Crescendo, music from centuries past is anything but a relic. It is a living, breathing art form, full of drama, emotional complexity and, occasionally, surprises. As the regional choral and period-instrument ensemble launches its 23rd season, Gevert is once again bringing forgotten masterpieces into the present.

“Early Music has been my lifelong passion and the focus of my specialization in Europe and South America,” Gevert said. “Bringing this repertoire to our audiences in a nuanced way that does justice to its incredible depth, intensity, and beauty is deeply important to me.”

Keep ReadingShow less
concerts
google preferred source

Want more of our stories on Google? Click here to make us a Preferred Source.

Close Encounters with Music celebrates 35 years of musical discovery

Close Encounters with Music celebrates 35 years of musical discovery

Close Encounters with Music’s 35th season opens with “Saluting the Clarinet” featuring clarinetist Alexander Fiterstein.

Provided

For 35 years, cellist Yehuda Hanani has been inviting audiences to experience classical music in unexpected ways. As founder and artistic director of Close Encounters with Music, Hanani has built a concert series that goes beyond the music itself, exploring connections to literature, history, politics and the human experience.

This year, Close Encounters celebrates its 35th season with “Celebration & Discovery,” a seven-concert series that opens Sunday, Nov. 1, at the Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center in Great Barrington.

Keep ReadingShow less
concerts

Shinbone Alley brings spooky songs to Spencertown

Shinbone Alley brings spooky songs to Spencertown

Seeing isn’t always believing. Sometimes it’s the lack of a defined picture that can be the most compelling. And when Alex Harvey of Shinbone Alley sings his supernaturally charged sea shanties and street ballads, the unseen will be downright scary. On Oct. 30, the historically inclined storyteller and performer will create a spooky evening of forbidden tales and yarns through a carefully chosen series of songs at Spencertown Academy of Arts.

The repertoire for the performance is a bit fraught. Over the years, Shinbone Alley has explored the world of folklore through music. Though the group usually features two musicians, Harvey, a multi-instrumentalist and singer, will be performing solo. That is, of course, unless you include the spirits.

Keep ReadingShow less
concerts

Malian blues and Moroccan Gnawa meet in Sheffield

Malian blues and Moroccan Gnawa meet in Sheffield
Vieux Farka Touré
Proivded

Desert winds rarely blow into the Berkshires, but on Nov. 5, they will carry the Malian blues and Moroccan Gnawa music to Race Brook Lodge.

That evening, Malian guitarist Vieux Farka Touré, often called “the Hendrix of the Sahara,” and Moroccan musician Samir LanGus will play at the lodge’s Event Barn in Sheffield, Massachusetts, at a benefit for the foundation Touré directs.

Keep ReadingShow less
concerts
google preferred source

Want more of our stories on Google? Click here to make us a Preferred Source.