Wednesday, June 2, 2010

Random Musings of a Lame-o Luddite

I am feeling scattered. I keep thinking I'll write a coherent post, but a couple of times lately I haven't even been able to successfully put my user name and password in to access my blog. Seriously. I keep screwing up.

I have so many passwords for so many things, all with slight variations, that I'm feeling overwhelmed and irritated by the whole concept. 2 work emails, 3 work programs with passwords, blog, blog email, personal email, craigslist, PTA, Lands End, and numerous on-line shopping sites.

I'll say "numerous" rather than "countless" because by golly they CAN be counted, I just don't care to. Have I told you how much I hate it when people say "countless" when it is not true? "We took COUNTLESS trips to Disney when I was a kid." Really? Well, maybe your Dad was Mr. Drummond or something (RIP Gary C.), but if you grew up in my house you would have been able to count how many times. Geez.

Yes, I'm irritable.

Tom and I tried to register for YouTube so we'd have more parental control of content, especially comments. It kept saying we already had an account associated with our email. By the time I'd tried the 10th configuration of my name, my emails, and other info, I couldn't even remember who I was anymore. We gave up. Sheesh. Now the kids are going to be able to read Nas-ty comments about that Justin Bieber guy because their mom can't figure out how to turn them off.

When my friend Kate emailed today to ask if I was excited about attending this huge blogging conference, BlogHer, in NYC in August, I was feeling more frustrated and intimidated than anything else. One of the registration emails (yes I needed a password to register) said to make sure to bring all the right power cords for your "many" electronic devices.

Eeek.

I'll pretty much have myself, my camera (good news on that front!*) and a cell phone. I'm afraid I'll be so out of the loop with all the texting and twittering and goodness knows what else going on that I won't know how to hook up with anyone. And by "hook up," I mean connect, not what we meant in college circa 1990, which had a lot of latitude in meaning anyway, at least on my campus. Seriously, if you are going to BlogHer, I am not looking for more than friendship-- promise!

But really, what are my blogging friends going to do? CALL ME? I don't even know if that's "done" anymore. And my phone has been stuck on silent for a few weeks, so I'll probably miss out even if I'm deemed worthy of a call. Maybe silent mode isn't the end of the world at BlogHer, but it did kind of suck a few weeks ago when my kids were at school with projectile diarrhea and I didn't hear about it in time to be of any help.

And to make matters worse, I pulled out my phone at a game the other day and my friend Amy said, "Oh my gosh! My MOM has that same phone." She seemed pretty amused so I said, trying to be funny, "How old is she, like EIGHTY?" "No, Eighty-Eight." Sheesh. Turns out she finds the phone helpful in her ASSISTED LIVING HOME because it's so basic.

At BlogHer, I pretty much pictured myself going to a few key-note addresses, tuning out all the techie and advertising info, meeting blogging friends in real life, and eating a lot. Maybe even reading a book. But now I'm guessing that's not how things go down with it being a BLOGGING convention and all.

Speaking of books, I bought the book "The Thirteenth Tale" at the thrift shop and started reading it last night. By page three it was seeming mighty familiar. Yep. I've read it before, and I don't mean back in 10th grade, more like last year. I'm not sure which is worse, that I couldn't remember having read it, or once I realized it, not really minding reading it twice because I don't remember what happened anyway.

So, I know I had too much iced tea today, and perhaps (cough cough) I'm rambling, so I'll just take my ranting, un-cool-phone-using, lame-o self off your hands now and say see you in a few!



An Inch of Gray News of Note:
The curse of the point and shoot camera has lifted. I went to Jake's baseball game last night and cockily threw the camera in my bag. I know, I know; this was a risky decision. Well, let me just say that a certain kid hit an awesome double that brought in 3 runs, effectively sealing a victory for his team. It was a glorious moment. I didn't actually take any pictures; I'm not that crazy.

There are just 4 days left on our second Well Raising Project! The website is all askew with weird fonts today, not sure why, but if you are considering making a donation to help us meet our goal, please check it out.

17 comments:

vawriter said...

So you're going to the Blogher conference? First time? Are you looking for an agent?

I laughed so hard at your phone description! My BFF is visiting from VA and she does not own a computer, not does she intend to...ever. I have corrupted her to the extent that tomorrow we go to Best Buy and purchase a GPS like mine, which she really needed Tuesday, when she drove here for the first time. She spent hours simultaneously driving and peering through a magnifier at a AAA TripTyk. And getting lost, of course. I switched on my GPS today and in about 90 seconds, she was converted from Ludd-ism. Methinks the trip home will be much more pleasant.

Gretchen said...

hee hee. My phone, all it does is make & take calls. It doesn't text or do internet or take pictures. It just does what a PHONE is supposed to do. I know, I"m so old-fashioned like that.

And, good luck at BlogHer. That's all I'm sayin. I think BlogHer is pretty intense. Not to scare you or anything, I'm sure there's strength in numbers and Kate will hook you up.

All I'm sayin is, beware of women on a mission for swag. They get a glazed look in their eyes and start stampeding like a herd of gazelle.

Kate Coveny Hood said...

Anna! I didn't mean to stress you out. And for the record - I'm very lame with Twitter. I think I tweet like once a month and I rarely have an actual exchange with anyone. As for texting...I think I've initiated ONE ever. I get them from my husband and best friend - but that's it.

Now follow my advice and put yourself on the waiting lists for those parties now. If so - it will open up. If you wait until the last minute, then I'm not sure. Either way - we'll have a great time. It's NYC for goodness sake. I can think of a million things I'd love to do while I'm there but won't have time.

I think there will be a lot of people there twittering on their phones - but I also think there will be a lot of people who just like to write and aren't so into the technology side. Don't worry - we'll have a great time!

Ali said...

You sound like me... after my accident I couldn't remember any passwords or pin numbers - my son had to reset ALL of them!!! I still can barely remember it all!

I tweet from my phone - and love it. @aliholden if we don't already follow each other 8)

Maybe you need more sleep my dear friend!!

L said...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luddite

Yes, I did have to google that. So, you may not have a decent cell phone, but you do have an excellent vocabulary. Miss you!

Nichole@40daysof said...

I finally had to start a little booklet with passwords. I know it's totally against all good security advice, but I couldn't take it anymore! I'll be very interested to hear about your experience at BlogHer.
I always read such wildly different accounts of these blogging conferences. The high school atmosphere that I've heard described scares the crap out of me. Then again, some people have a great time and have no complaints.

TwoWishes Tara said...

Password advice that changed my life -- come up with some standard combination of letters and numbers, then add a different tag for every website. For example, mine is 3 numbers, 4 letters, and then the first 3 letters of the website name. That way each one is different -- if anyone ever gets your password, they won't have ALL your passwords -- but they're still standardized and easy to remember. Of course, actually changing all your OLD passwords is a whole different issue! That's where it fell apart for me.

I have tickets for BlogHer but think I may bail because baby care and my chronic illness make it too stressful. If I do go, it's good to know you and Kate will be around. Have a great time!

Anonymous said...

You are funny. When is BlogHer this year?

jbhat

Diane at Perfectly Imperfect Life said...

Would it make you feel any better to know that when you mentioned The Thirteenth Tale, I had a little niggling memory that perhaps I had read it to. I couldn't, for the life of me, remember though.

I had to go to Amazon and look it up to remember it and, yes, I had read it.

So, maybe that one's not you...

I can't find my blog said...

I was the one at BlogHer last year with a dino-phone. No worries, it will be fine. (I did however upgrade this year to an android and love it.)

And? I want to meet you this year at BlogHer! Yay!

lindsey said...

Oh, I know exactly what you mean! I suffer from information overload all the time — what password goes with what account? And if you dare to make your passwords all the same, someone you know (you know, that person that is oh so tech savvy) will protest and insist that you're leaving yourself wide open to hackers. Oh my. It really does mess with a gals concentration though, doesn't it?

I'm a new reader and am really enjoying having your blog in my Google Reader! :)

Shana said...

I could not be more jealous of your trip to Blogher. But you should consider a web-enabled phone so you can BLOG ABOUT the experience while you're there! Or twitter it! Because how else am I going to enjoy it vicariously through you?

Our Porch in Hillsborough said...

I can relate to your phone - I recently started a new work project and at the kickoff meeting I was the only one (of 10) without an iPhone or iPad connected to my laptop - during breaks everyone was doing cool thing on their phones, but I kept mine in my purse so no one would see it! Love your comments at Blogher, too.

Heidi said...

This post made me laugh! Not at you, but with you.

Have fun at blogher. I would only go to stalk the bloggers I like and completely tune out ALL the ways I can connect to millions of people to make my blogging fortune. Puh-leeze. I know - I'm a little cynical when it comes to these 'events'. But I would really love to see the people I read, you know? I think that would be fun. Oh, and I'm so jealous that you and Kate Hood will get to hang out!

K A B L O O E Y said...

I not only have had that same experience with countless books (sorry, had to do it) but I have a small stack of the ones I bought twice. Soetimes I realize right away, sometimes I get a deja vu feeling about halfway through. Then again, I read A LOT and have a terrible memory. I'll also be at BlogHer. I'll be the one playing quordy on my iphone and not talking to anyone.

Julia said...

Anna....the good news for you is that my mind works just like yours does (password dementia) but you were able to get it all into words. On your blog. Without the use of a IPhone. I think that means you are going to be just fine.

Go to Blogher and roll your eyes at anyone who asks you where your cords are. Like cords were so yesterday.

Momastery said...

the idea of Blogher scares me to death. i can't believe how brave you are.

i loved the part about the "Countless" annoyance. i feel the same way about how people misuse "literally."

"it was so hot I was LITERALLY melting to the floor like a ice cream cone."

well.