In the summer of 2016, I was suffering from what I sensed was a
condition so prevalent it seemed redundant to give it a name, but
because I need to write about it now, I'll simply say this: I was
having trouble paying attention. I picked up books and in a matter of
minutes -- even seconds -- put them down. I opened the document that
contained the draft of a major project I was supposed to be working
on, tinkered with a few sentences, and minimized the window. I stared
into space. I visited Twitter and Facebook and Flipboard and Deadspin
and the
New York Times and Pitchfork and CNN and my local
paper's website, scrolling frantically wherever I landed. After all,
it had been 15 minutes since I'd visited the Internet, which was
pumping out new and dreadful headlines as fast as I could read them,
and it was very possible that I might've missed something.