COLUMN: Looking for peace in all this millennial madness

From Stiona Listokin's, "Think Different," Fall '99 From Stiona Listokin's, "Think Different," Fall '99The future is very exciting. Certainly there is a natural tendency to look to both the future and the past as we face the end of the century, while the present tends to be forgotten. Personally, I am not worried about the past -- we have so many means of preserving our history that I don't feel the need to officially memorialize it. In our rush to commemorate the has-beens and the will-bes, I would like instead to hold on to the present a little while longer. Maybe senior year is finally freaking me out a bit. Maybe millennium madness is making me miss events actually occurring now. Either way, I do not think I am alone in my wish to slow the strange blend of nostalgia and anticipation. There are those of us that believe that the past has been out there for longer than the final month of the 20th century. And we are getting whiplash from the lightning-speed changes that accompany the advent of the 21st. We are easily recognized. We are the ones digging deep in our pockets looking for some pay-phone change. We still use Week-at-a-Glance organizers to remember what our schedule is next week. And we are following this week's college basketball rather than watching that Duke-Kentucky game yet again on Classic Sports Network. It is fairly simple to join our ranks. Take a road trip to California. Priceline may offer the best airline rates, but nothing can replace 40 West when it comes to seeing our country. Use a car without a CD player -- the drive is long and you could use that tape rewind button to pass the time. Unsubscribe to Instant Messenger. Make a reality check buddy list and stay in touch by calling your friends on the phone. Believe it or not, there was a time when your conversations were spoken, not typed. You used to give your attention to just one person at a time, and were assured of holding theirs. Snuggle up next Saturday morning with a good book. Buy that book in an actual store using the archaic payment method of cash. Make sure that "The Century" appears nowhere in the title. It is not easy to stay on top of the present. Very cool people are getting into the spirit of the future and the past. More and more of my friends are joining companies that "create Internet solutions for business-to-business companies in a dynamic environment." Everyday, I lose another friend to Cellular One's 500-minute plan, and the sickly green glow of the dreaded PalmPilot is reflecting off otherwise normal and healthy people's pallor. And the Michael Jordan vs. Babe Ruth debate is an inevitable dinner topic. But right now I am really enjoying the here-and-now, and so I will persevere. Because while you might be able to upload the morning newspaper onto your super pocket organizer, you cannot download that black smudge that appears on your index finger after flipping through the Sunday Times. And deciding what the best song of the century hardly excuses the crap on the radio today. The least you can do is shut off your cellular's cutesy ringer and think twice before throwing another '80s party.