WEEK 1 - Getting Started

"Dear Diary, uh, I mean, dear blog"...

I have been compelled to create a blog for a college writing course. "Blogging" is something I never would have done on my own but I'm trying to approach this assignment with an open mind. I experienced a small amount of confusion when creating this thing 'cause I'm a bit beyond being a "twenty-something." I equate those who are under the age of 25 with having a little extra special something in their DNA that allows them to effortlessly blog, MySpace, text message, chat, google, download/upload, sync, podcast, Ipod, MP3, Blackberry, blueberry, strawberry - oh, my God, I still remember my family owning a rotary telephone! Things have changed. When I was growing up, about the most "technology" one could ever hope for was to have your own telephone line in your room! Now, kids zoom around on their Razor scooters while they talk to Chad or Brittany on their Razor phone about what TV show their mom Tivo'd last night and they know what LOL and BTW means in a text message. When I was finishing my Bachelor's degree, I had to call my mom on a pay phone to ask her to return the 8-track tape that I'd borrowed from the library the week before! I worked for a video store that sold Pioneer LaserDiscs (anyone remember those 12 inch shiny, silver beauties?) Still, my family only owned a beta cam video cassette recorder. What I did have going for me, however, was access to WordStar because my dad owned his own consulting business. WordStar! Wow!! (If you don't know what it is, you can look it up on Wikipedia). If you took WordStar and added an Atari 2600, you were the envy of everyone on your block!

Today, technology fascinates, irritates, annoys, enables and entertains me. It also costs a lot of money. Today's households have the previously unheard of expenses of cable or satellite television, a DSL connection, a satellite radio subscription, cellular telephone charges, etc. Sometimes I wonder why I don't give up some of these things to save money but honestly, I don't know how I could. I'm hooked.