I Scream I Phone

It's been almost two months since I bought an iPhone and the nightmares have finally subsided. I still have these very mild not quite panic attacks based on the overwhelming sensation that everyone is, not so much watching me, but can see me.

• I woke up one morning terrified after a dream I had that my iPhone had, without my knowledge, taken photographs of me getting out of the shower and posted them on Instagram*.

• A week in, I was walking around Walmart and leaving myself voice memos because my hands were too full to leave myself notes. The memos were on the subject of face-saving in collectivist cultures, China specifically. Five minutes later, "CommiManifesto" was following me on twitter.

On top of that, a smart phone is basically a bad manners catalyst.

Two weeks in, I told my friend, Frashley**, that it was hard for me to be so connected all day... that I found it invasive. She said, "You know, you don't have to check (insert social networking sight) until you get home."

Really, Frashley? Having an iPhone is like being four years old and having a cookie placed in front of you! The men tell you that if you wait, you can have TWO cookies (Yes, I stole this metaphor from The Stanford Marshmallow Experiment). But the cookie is sooooo warm.

Have you jumped on the smartphone wagon? How has it changed your life for the better or worse?

* An iPhone application
** Not her real name