Behold the Power of iPod
My kids will tell you I am the LEAST technologically astute person they know. My oldest daughter programs my cellphone, downloads programs for me on my computer, sets up shortcuts on my computer . . . all of it. My LITTLEST daughter sets up my screensaver. I just--and I mean in the last six months--learned to do that on my own. Go ahead. Laugh. I can get into Blogger. I can use WORD. That about sums it up for me.
For Christmas, I got an altar for my Buddhas (will try to snap a picture and post here). And my kids got me some cute items--candles and scented things. But I also got an iPod and a docking station. And not a little iPod. The one with the TV screeen to watch videos. Well, my brain has been on overload ever since.
In the vastness of music, which I adore with a passion, the ability to download any song that inspires me . . . amazing. I sit and wonder how long it will take me to get to my limit--I think at least 1,000 songs. I can EASILY do that (or so I think). Then I can go and purchase television shows, like Discovery Atlas. How cool is that? And I wonder . . . how did I do without this iPod thing for so long?
But of course this involved actually learning how to work the thing. And since my daughter was feeling benevolent since she got everything on her Christmas list, she patiently sat with me until I sort of got it.
So now . . . what's on my iPod right now? General Public's "Save It for Later."
AND . . . to bring it back round to writing. With all this talk of left brains and right brains . . . I am sure if you write there are people who think that is an amazing skill because they "can't." They say their minds don't work that way, they dreaded writing papers in college, etc. But the flip side is also true. There are some things that my brain--so overdeveloped in the arts--just HURTS to learn. Technology is one. I learn by DOING, so I have to be shown a couple of times and then I can do it. I also have no sense of direction. Zip. I can get lost going to the supermarket that is a mere four miles from my home. In NYC I do OK, but send me to D.C. or someplace not laid out exactly on a grid and I am hopeless.
So how about you? Are your left brain and right in balance? Or is there something that seems to be missing in order that your writing brain could develop more fully?
Peace,
E
P.S. On my iPod now? Billie Holiday's version of "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes."
For Christmas, I got an altar for my Buddhas (will try to snap a picture and post here). And my kids got me some cute items--candles and scented things. But I also got an iPod and a docking station. And not a little iPod. The one with the TV screeen to watch videos. Well, my brain has been on overload ever since.
In the vastness of music, which I adore with a passion, the ability to download any song that inspires me . . . amazing. I sit and wonder how long it will take me to get to my limit--I think at least 1,000 songs. I can EASILY do that (or so I think). Then I can go and purchase television shows, like Discovery Atlas. How cool is that? And I wonder . . . how did I do without this iPod thing for so long?
But of course this involved actually learning how to work the thing. And since my daughter was feeling benevolent since she got everything on her Christmas list, she patiently sat with me until I sort of got it.
So now . . . what's on my iPod right now? General Public's "Save It for Later."
AND . . . to bring it back round to writing. With all this talk of left brains and right brains . . . I am sure if you write there are people who think that is an amazing skill because they "can't." They say their minds don't work that way, they dreaded writing papers in college, etc. But the flip side is also true. There are some things that my brain--so overdeveloped in the arts--just HURTS to learn. Technology is one. I learn by DOING, so I have to be shown a couple of times and then I can do it. I also have no sense of direction. Zip. I can get lost going to the supermarket that is a mere four miles from my home. In NYC I do OK, but send me to D.C. or someplace not laid out exactly on a grid and I am hopeless.
So how about you? Are your left brain and right in balance? Or is there something that seems to be missing in order that your writing brain could develop more fully?
Peace,
E
P.S. On my iPod now? Billie Holiday's version of "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes."
posted by Erica Orloff at 7:18 AM
8 Comments:
Billie Holliday is awesome! I wonder if she could have imagined that everything she ever recorded could someday be fitted onto something the size of a credit card? And how far will it go? Will teletransportation and time travel eventually be possible? Just think of where we might be technologically 100 years from now. It's hard to imagine. I guess the science fiction writers are the experts at that.
I'm pretty techno-challenged too, Erica. A lot of it is just taking the time to learn it, and I always seem to be busy with something else. Good thing we have our kids around to show us things. :)
Jude:
That's part of it--the time factor. I can decipher the manuals pretty well but finding a quiet couple of hours to do it--not happening. And I really learn better by hearing and doing things than reading. Like knitting. My dear friend Kathy showed me how to knit--but I had to DO it for a while before I got the hang of it--and I still sometimes forget something.
E
Hmmm ... my left and right brain are in pretty good balance, I guess. My problem is forgetfulness. I have to keep a character sheet--just names--to refer to, so that I remember who's named what.
And trying to keep all the arcs in my head so they're paced correctly? Man! Why can't my memory be better???
I learn by doing as well. Watching a demo is a tad helpful, but listening to strickly audio is useless for me. Can't get it, period.
My sister the programmer and my nephew the teenager are my computer-type gurus and tend to walk me through non-software related issues.
My right/left brain are fairly balanced.
I'm trying out a story structure software that so far is helping me keep up with plot, subplot, and character arcs, but finding the time to learn the software adequately--boy, is that a challenge.
spy:
I find my characters are so intrinsic to me I don't forget much--and I don't forget plot. BUT, I do forget things like eye color, so I have also taken to writing some stuff down.
E
kathy:
I feel very "scared" of trying a program like that. I am so . . . I can't quite explain it . . . but almost rebellious about being boxed in to even an OUTLINE, that I don't know if I could use a program like that. I am intrigued--but I don't think I would respond to it.
E
I learn by doing too (and I'm a righty) but I love techy stuff! Making graphics and putting together websites is fun for me. So it's techy but creative. My crit partner knits, my other one paints, one was an interior design major and the other one also does lots of stuff with graphics and desktop publishing.
amie:
I knit poorly. I would like, however, to work in a visual medium. My dream is to make a documentary film one of these days in my free time.
:-)
E
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