One thing I repeatedly find myself bumping up against, that insists on being a problem, is that, when it comes to technology, I know a little about a whole lot of things, but I don't know enough about any of those things to really consider myself fluent.
Computers? I love 'em! I use 'em all the time! But, once you start stripping away the layers, eventually it will be revealed just how many applications I know very little about. I've tinkered with PhotoShop, for example, but it's just so big and scary that I usually go scampering back to MS Paint, which is just pathetic.
Or, take the Windows operating system. I know how to work my way around Windows fairly well, but the underlying secret about Windows is that it's basically really pretty window dressing for DOS. DOS is the skeleton upon which the Windows muscle and skin alight. However, call up a DOS prompt screen, and I may as well smash my keyboard with a sledgehammer, since the results would almost certainly be better.
I used to know my way really well around the Macintosh operating system, since my first actual desk computer was a Macintosh Performa 405. That machine got me through most of my college years, but by the end of its tenure, its 256 MB of hard drive space just wasn't cutting it. So, right about the time I should have been learning about all things Mac OS, I jumped ship to a Windows-based PC, because I simply HAD TO PLAY Command and Conquer: Red Alert.
I was briefly very interested in how computer networking worked, but after learning how to string five computers together for a weekend of playing Delta Force with some friends, I generally just kind of let that knowledge drain from my brain.
So it is, today, I find myself hampered when people ask me to fix their little technology problems. There's a chance I MIGHT be able to help, but it's most likely I'll have to get really lucky.
The concept of something as deliciously awesome as Canned Unicorn Meat.
Or the fact they're getting sued.
Sitting with my boy on the couch each morning, shortly after 7 a.m., feeding him a bottle of formula and watching television together is, for now, the purest little joy of my existence. I write this now so I remember it when he's become a nasty little asshole in his teenage years.
CNN.com has a special section dedicated to "Gay in America."
My father-in-law is gay and, having built up my own extensive list of anecdotes over the years, I have to say the whole gay lifestyle isn't as glamorous and witty as "Will and Grace" and "Queer Eye" would seem to suggest.
