As we officially abandon the larger world of wind, rain, sun, and sand for the 2D flicker of the high speed realm, how will we represent gravity? Has this intrinsic force, which once governed our actions across tarmacs and savannahs alike, been outsourced? The virtual realm has representations of everything else: sex, money, shopping, and according to Facebook, a whole slew of cheaply animated farm animals, whose lives generate more postings than most flesh and blood members. So what, in this IP address governed world, stands in for gravity?

After a recent stint where I could neither stand nor sit without experiencing the kind of lumbar pain that throbs like a Velvet Underground bass line, I decided to visit a disarmingly enthusiastic chiropractor (“Hi there! Why dontcha lie down on the table!”).

Much like the bell curve, there is a drinking curve, divided into six stages: teetotalers, social drinkers, business owners, people who drink too much, writers, and finally, alcoholics. Although most people will spend their life hovering somewhere between being a social drinker and someone who drinks too much, a few rare individuals go all the way, and end up abstaining completely, or lying motionless on a slab.

I was first exposed to the Glass House in a lecture hall in 2001. A few weeks earlier, the twin towers had collapsed, and along with it, the old frontier sense of impermeability. A black and white slide of the Glass House clicked into view, and I felt an overpowering sense of relief, as if everything we had collectively lost was somehow preserved by that structure: the gracefulness of transparency.

There’s nothing more ridiculous—and deadly serious—than television. Like a drunk uncle who has for years been taunted, mocked, despised, and yet never fully expunged from the larger family of entertainment, television keeps hanging in there, trying to produce something of value. On occasion it does. The recent rumpus over the hosting of the Tonight Show is an excellent illustration of one generation refusing to hand over the reins to the next generation.