“It” Came True

Well, it didn’t take long for me to succumb to the siren song of the new versions of iLife ’09 and iWork ’09. I first opened Pages, the document component of iWork, and watched the new features video. My socks were knocked right off! Intuitive and clever, it lets you go from idea to deluxe finished document - including newsletters - in the blink of an eye. It sent me back about 23 years to my first “contemporary” computer. I was about to let it all flow out into a post when I got this vague feeling I had gone down the same road before.

I had.

On Monday, July 23, 2007 I posted the following piece:

Extra! Extra!

It took quite a long time, but here I am. Back in the late 1980s I had just gotten my first “modern” computer. By modern I mean it was an MS-DOS based Personal Computer (PC) - a significant upgrade from the Commodore where one had to type in exhausting strings of code in order to get a “Pong”-like game to run on it. (Heavens to Murgatroyd! How old am I???) Anyhoo, the new PC felt very slick and powerful. I found the possibilities dazzling and the realities frustrating. In some ways, it was little more than a dedicated word processor, which had it all over electric typewriters, but only hinted at what might be possible down the road.

Well, I wanted “it” now. I wasn’t completely sure what “it” was. I felt as if I were looking at a wheel before there was a barrow or a cart or a carriage or a car to go with it. But I craved something creative, something exciting with words and images. Printshop was wicked cool at the time, now of course stunningly primitive. Then I stumbled across a software program for creating newsletters. It was words and graphics combined. That was “it”! Mind you, I didn’t have a group to send a newsletter to. I didn’t belong to a club or a PTA or even a company that needed or wanted some sort of internal missive. I didn’t care. I bought it. I tried it. Really I did. If you are a regular reader you are probably beginning to get an inkling of how this turned out. Well, you’re right. The program was very complicated, very limited and narrowly designed to publish, well, a newsletter. Which was exactly what the box said it would do, but I was dreaming bigger dreams. I was looking at the first wheel and already feeling the wind in my face, my hair streaming out behind me, as I was driving a Porsche.

Those dreams didn’t come to fruition until about nine months two and a quarter years ago when I discovered blogging. My words, my pictures and I didn’t have to belong to a club or have a mailing list. I just had to do it. Create something of my own, push a few buttons and Ta Da! - Pink Granite.

Aaaah... I love the feeling of the wind in my face! ;o)


I still feel the same way. The only difference is that now I have a deeper appreciation of how vital the readers of this particular “newsletter” are. Without you, this would be a long, lonely monologue. Thank you for the ongoing conversation. Thank you for your kindness and support, wit and wisdom and your friendship!