Writing Tools

I grew up in a between time.  We had computers in high school.  I even took a programming class as a senior for an elective.  There were computer labs at my college, Metropolitan State College of Denver.  One of my English classes the first year met regularly in one of the computer labs and required that our work be done on the computer and the saved files be shared with the instructor.  I remember having some type of issue with one of my assignments and being too embarrassed to ask for help.  Most of my college papers were still done on a typewriter.

I didn't become fully computer literate until 1999 when I went to work for a Dentist that used a program specifically designed for Dentists which hosted all patient files, the appointment book, and the accounts receivable.  He also used Quickbooks.  I also was introduced to the Internet at this time through my job.  I had just started really quilting at this point and quickly learned the ins and outs of using the 'Net to make online fabric purchases, make connections via the World Wide Quilting site, and join quilting groups at Yahoo Groups for swaps and fellowship.

I would find it hard to function without a computer today.  I love email.  I love to blog.  I love that I'm not restricted to shopping at my local quilt stores.  I appreciate that I can get an instant answer for just about anything.  The world is really wide open.  (I'm fully aware of all the negatives that come with all of this, too.)

I'm not totally with the program.  I don't have a laptop, IPad, or Smart Phone.  I'm not totally plugged in as one would say.  I would love to have a device that would allow me to be plugged in more than I am even if it's just across the room working on my laptop in the comfort of sitting on the couch instead of a hard chair in front of the computer desk.  I vow that after this tortuous year of being responsible and paying off my bills that I will be able to get a laptop, at least.

I think of myself as handicapped technologically speaking.  I do let it intefer with not working on things.  I could easily write a story down with pen and paper.  I could easily doodle out a quilt design.  I don't have to use the computer or EQ to get it done.

I surrendered the T.V. to M last night after watching Top Chef All-Stars.  He channel surfed to a movie I'd seen a million times before and I knew he'd be snoring in minutes so I went to bed.  I read a bit more of G is for Gumshoe and then I got inspired.  Would you believe that I have no paper in my house?  I ended up using a discarded foundation pattern to start writing a story down.  The words flowed from my brain and, yes, using a pencil I wrote them all down.  I didn't get fussy about arranging them perfectly.  I only erased a couple of times.  I've got arrows everywhere with sidenotes and added sentences.  I'll flush it all out later.  I couldn't write by hand fast enough was the only thing.  I wanted to keep going, but I got tired after awhile.  I worked myself to a good stopping point satisfied with the story, but more by the fact that I'd actually worked on something!

I've created a Page on this blog in my header.  It's called A Real Quilting U.F.O. for now.  I'm going to put my story there and hopefully keep adding to it until its conclusion.