How does pop culture signify a "trend"? At what point does someone stand up and say I spy a cultural shift? And some people listen? Furthermore, how and when does it become mainstream? We've seen fanny packs leave our lives decades ago only to make their unfortunate reappearance again. Normcore is a thing. Like, an actual thing. Sci-fi and fantasy novels used to be for nerds, and now nerds are having a moment. Silicon Valley is the new Wall St. Ask a millenial, you're lame if you go into finance after college. Every cool kid wants to work in tech (and yes there is dubious amounts of cocaine, women, and money there as well). When and how does the paradigm switch? Is your latest gadget no longer cool when grandma gets one? Hell if I know. I'm old and could give no fucks about fashion.

What I can comment on is that maybe, just maybe, it's happening now. A trend is emerging. An important one and it just got a new poster child. Enter the not ironically normcore, Patton Oswalt. He decided to take a break from being connected this summer. June 1st - September 2nd to be exact.

Patton wrote about his tech-free experience in Time's Opinion column after his sabbatical was complete. The result? A retrospective on young vs. old, the use of the word ennui which will become a part of our daily vocabulary here, admission of feeling better, and the kicker...a trend prediction.

Here’s a thought—what if the next fashionable rebellion, from whatever generation rears its head after the millennials, is to become “unlinked.” Only reachable face-to-face. Hmm.

We hear you loud and clear Patton. We salute you, your willingness to try unplugging, and share. We only hope that you, with your legions of fans and larger than most's megaphone, continue to tell your story. If not for us, do it for the state of humanity. Before we all get sucked into a Matrix we can't get out of. Artificial Intelligence is here....and we most certainly will not need more robots.

PS- Patton, we loved you at the Webby's. No irony. You were great.

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