You would never know this from my house because everything is sterile clean and in its place, and when I dress and fix my hair (what remains of it), every hair is in place and my clothes, etc. are matchy-matchy. So you see I am a complex creature, a human oxymoron, a paradox if you will.

And although I am trying to be a technology literate person, I prefer a microwave with two buttons, a camera that just takes pictures without all that extra stuff, a simple television remote with volume and channel controls and nothing more, and the list goes on. But, life is not that simple anymore, so I am trying to keep up with the modern, fast-changing world. After all, if there was no change, there would be no butterflies or frogs. I read that somewhere recently, but I added the frog part because it is the same concept.

This also brings me to explain how I write, which is not linear. You wouldn’t expect that, now would you? When I start a book, I know how I want it to start and how it will end, but the plot may get altered and revised from the original plan I envisioned. This may occur because some character or some place just didn’t work well together. Chapters may get moved around—several times. Sub-plots are developed as I go. That’s what makes it fun, fluid and fictitious. And all mine!

Although I make myself do a great many “technological things,” because in today’s world you almost have to, it just doesn’t come natural or easy to me. I mean, email, web sites, online banking, social networking are all fun and exciting, but sometimes I think how much less complicated life was without quite so much technology, etc.

Part of my problem is I am about the most “global” person you will ever know. But, I am organized because with my schedule I have to be, and in the last year or so I have even begun “To Do Lists,” but that goes against all that I really am. Actually, I’m not sure anymore who I am because I don’t fit into any one personality category. Because of the jobs I have held and the responsibilities I have shouldered, I have always been structured in my work.

But put me in the yard behind a lawnmower and my true self comes out. See, I don’t mow in rows; I mow here and then there. I start cleaning one flower bed and then stop and move to another. Now, I will finish the first the same day, but just not right then. When I am cleaning house, I move from task to task in no particular order, and when I read a magazine, I might start at the back.

All of this drives my close friends crazy and my agent totally out of her mind. She is a technological whiz, but she covers up most of her frustration with me although I know she screams when she gets off the phone from me. Come to think of it, most of my friends have major analytical personalities. I had never thought about that much before. How did that happen? Maybe I’m a “wannabe” non-random person. Nah!!

The second problem I have…Now where was I???(To be continued)

Internet Dependent

My Internet service was down for two and a half days, and I was a miserable wreck. How crazy is that? But I couldn’t help it. I hate being so dependent on a system that is out of my control and at the same time demands my upmost attention. But I am. There were plenty of other things I could do, and I did, but it was just knowing that I couldn’t “get on” that drove me “batty.”

Although I have a Blackberry and could receive and send emails, it just wasn’t the same. For one thing, it takes me forever to type on my phone. The combination of itsy, bitsy, tiny numbers and having to use the “alt” key and so forth adds to my already high level of frustration. What starts out as “Just got your message,” often ends up as “;ust /+( Y)-r mE44*ge,” which then takes me an inordinate amount of time to fix! And since I don’t have a dictionary here, and I am entirely at the mercy of Google, I can’t spell anything much more complicated than my name if I want to write off line.

Who would have thought a person, who growing up had a party line telephone, no television until she was two years old, and thought the eight track player was about the coolest thing ever invented, would ever slump to Internet dependence? I confess. And worse than that, I am not even close to being computer savvy so by the time I realized that it wasn’t me or my computer that was the problem, I had screwed up every setting, which I often do. One thing for certain, no one will ever call me a computer nerd.

The good news is I did get a Kindle for Christmas, and it’s working—just what I need, more technology!!