On connecting and disconnecting

A few weeks ago, I was meeting a friend for happy hour in one of the more popular restaurants in Pike Place Market. As I waited for my friend and our table, I pulled out my iPhone — just to check email. Then to check Facebook. Then to play a couple rounds of Words with Friends. Then to text my husband.

What I realized later, as I chatted with my friend, a poet, about writing and publishing and technology, was how much I'd missed out on by having my nose buried in my phone. I'd barely...