Are We Having Fun Yet???

I really really tried to have fun last week, but what ended up happening was that I learned to do some stuff. This is not a bad thing. Frustrating. Like the fact that this is the second time I've written this entry, because I was ready to post it, and in the spirit of discovery, instead of figuring out how to color in the title, I learned how to lose the whole entry. Actually, I don't know how I did it, so it could happen again.


It takes a bit of nerve to hit some of these buttons. I'm learning. I remember the first, very first, time I used the internet. It was at my library on Long Island, and I approached the keyboard with a lot of hesitation. And especially the "Enter" key. I vaguely remember being afraid I would get in trouble if I did something wrong. Not with the librarians, but with the computer.


Of course, there is also the fear that you'll break it. Which, even though "they" say, oh no don't worry you can't break it, YOU CAN. Although I think you need more knowledge than I have to break the thing. Just pounding on keys like toddlers or chimps won't do it.

Well, let me get back to "Fun Week". After spending many hours, on and off, all week, and consulting with two experts -- my 16-year-old son and my branch manager -- I figured out how to move a photo from an email to a file. Then I learned how to crop and change pixels. AND THEN I learned that I still couldn't Simpsonize the darned thing. AND THEN I learned that the reason it wouldn't work was because the photo was too small. And when I did it with the right size photo, it really wasn't that hard. So, that was worth it, wasn't it?

Which I think is the thing about learning this whole new medium. It's like a foreign language; it's not hard in and of itself; after all, little kids speak other languages all the time. What it needs is time. Lots and lots of time.

The nice thing about this Techtrekking, for all the kvetching I do, is that it is making me spend time I would never have found to spend to learn to do things I want to learn to do. I know if I spend lots more time on it I can get to the fun part, and now I have a choice.

And, by the way, I ended up finding that lost entry. I knew if I just hung around long enough it would turn up.