internet addiction

I took a little break from the internet this weekend - sunday and monday that is. It's a real addiction you know, npr even said so. Also, Elder Bednar talked about it in a CES fireside last March and when a general authority and npr agree, it's a special kind of confirmation. So, I was listening to the radio in the kitchen yesterday when I heard a story about internet addiction and how there is now an internet addiction rehab center in the US. It's at the summer home of a massage therapist and there is 1 patient (I'm pretty sure that's not the right term but the correct word alludes me at the moment). He is a college student who flunked out of school because he couldn't stop playing Worlds of Warcraft and now his parents are paying for him to feed chickens with a massage therapist and take interviews.

I'm no gamer but I can definitely spend hour upon hour online and not even know where the time went. So I felt pretty good about myself when I heard this story because I was going internet free and baking bread. You heard it, baking - whole-grain no less.

Motivated by boredom, frustration at the lack of good bread and a new book, I decided to make my own. I bought this book from a local bookstore that is a step by step guide to making whole-grain breads. The author is a total hippy and I love her for it.

My ideal bread would be whole-grain, baked locally and taste good (light but chewy and a little nutty) - it's surprisingly hard to find. My first attempt was a little disappointing. After hours and hours of kneading and coddling and watching and rounding and waiting and shaping and baking, my loaf came out kinda flat. It tastes alright but it is far from light and airy loaf that I was aspiring to.  But I won't give up, the bread bible says that it is really hard to get whole-grain breads to come out light and fluffy but it is possible.

It was a pretty feel good Labor Day. Supported a local business, acquired a new and healthy hobby, fought off a dangerous addiction, and I'm a step closer to really good bread.