By Lyn Burnstine of The Lynamber Times
I know that the internet is an enchantress, a siren, a sorceress, a Circe, a Lorelei–calling us into her grasp. For years, I resisted the pleas of my children and friends: “No, no! I don’t want to sit in the corner of my room with my eyes glued to a little screen,” said I, who barely looks at TV, and who treasures the sound of friends’ voices on the phone.
I have a large library of reference books in my areas of interest – folk music, writing, photography and natural history. I like to feel the heft of a book in my hands and love nothing more than searching in them for answers.
Finally, I gave in when a volunteer job dictated the need and oh, how frustrating it was at first! Mind you, I was already nearing my seventies and had only dealt with word processing. My children and kind friends helped me to iron out the kinks, encouraged me to be fearless and adventurous and many gifted me with updated pieces of equipment.
There are many times still when I want to chuck the whole mess out the window – probably most ten-year-olds could handle a computer better than I can even now.
But I now know and appreciate the joy of taking a photo and having it in the mailbox of my dear friend in California within minutes; of having any information in the world at my fingertips; of being in touch instantly with my children, grandchildren and friends who are scattered all over the country; and of knowing they are in touch with each other.
The internet has opened up an amazing new world of accessibility to me. It has added a wealth of riches I didn’t even know I needed – or wanted.
Am I addicted? You bet! I have a website, a blog and a page on Facebook! I proudly embedded the photos in my second published memoir myself and have become quite expert, if I do say so myself, at manipulating and managing my digital photos by computer.
A young friend wrote, by email of course, “WOW! Lyn, are you BLOGGING? So cool. You are absolutely the most hip platinum lady in all of the western world!”
I have since taken to signing my emails to my three kids, “Platinum techno-mom.”
Gotta’ go now and see who’s in my mailbox.
_________________________________________
"Blogs are little First Amendment machines."
- Jay Rosen About Ronni Bennett
© 2009 Ronni Bennett
April 23, 2009
USA: What I Really Know About the Internet
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PORTLAND, Maine / TIME GOES BY / The Elder Storytelling Place / April 23, 2009
By Lyn Burnstine of The Lynamber Times
I know that the internet is an enchantress, a siren, a sorceress, a Circe, a Lorelei–calling us into her grasp. For years, I resisted the pleas of my children and friends: “No, no! I don’t want to sit in the corner of my room with my eyes glued to a little screen,” said I, who barely looks at TV, and who treasures the sound of friends’ voices on the phone.
I have a large library of reference books in my areas of interest – folk music, writing, photography and natural history. I like to feel the heft of a book in my hands and love nothing more than searching in them for answers.
Finally, I gave in when a volunteer job dictated the need and oh, how frustrating it was at first! Mind you, I was already nearing my seventies and had only dealt with word processing. My children and kind friends helped me to iron out the kinks, encouraged me to be fearless and adventurous and many gifted me with updated pieces of equipment.
There are many times still when I want to chuck the whole mess out the window – probably most ten-year-olds could handle a computer better than I can even now.
But I now know and appreciate the joy of taking a photo and having it in the mailbox of my dear friend in California within minutes; of having any information in the world at my fingertips; of being in touch instantly with my children, grandchildren and friends who are scattered all over the country; and of knowing they are in touch with each other.
The internet has opened up an amazing new world of accessibility to me. It has added a wealth of riches I didn’t even know I needed – or wanted.
Am I addicted? You bet! I have a website, a blog and a page on Facebook! I proudly embedded the photos in my second published memoir myself and have become quite expert, if I do say so myself, at manipulating and managing my digital photos by computer.
A young friend wrote, by email of course, “WOW! Lyn, are you BLOGGING? So cool. You are absolutely the most hip platinum lady in all of the western world!”
I have since taken to signing my emails to my three kids, “Platinum techno-mom.”
Gotta’ go now and see who’s in my mailbox.
_________________________________________
"Blogs are little First Amendment machines."
- Jay Rosen About Ronni Bennett
© 2009 Ronni Bennett
By Lyn Burnstine of The Lynamber Times
I know that the internet is an enchantress, a siren, a sorceress, a Circe, a Lorelei–calling us into her grasp. For years, I resisted the pleas of my children and friends: “No, no! I don’t want to sit in the corner of my room with my eyes glued to a little screen,” said I, who barely looks at TV, and who treasures the sound of friends’ voices on the phone.
I have a large library of reference books in my areas of interest – folk music, writing, photography and natural history. I like to feel the heft of a book in my hands and love nothing more than searching in them for answers.
Finally, I gave in when a volunteer job dictated the need and oh, how frustrating it was at first! Mind you, I was already nearing my seventies and had only dealt with word processing. My children and kind friends helped me to iron out the kinks, encouraged me to be fearless and adventurous and many gifted me with updated pieces of equipment.
There are many times still when I want to chuck the whole mess out the window – probably most ten-year-olds could handle a computer better than I can even now.
But I now know and appreciate the joy of taking a photo and having it in the mailbox of my dear friend in California within minutes; of having any information in the world at my fingertips; of being in touch instantly with my children, grandchildren and friends who are scattered all over the country; and of knowing they are in touch with each other.
The internet has opened up an amazing new world of accessibility to me. It has added a wealth of riches I didn’t even know I needed – or wanted.
Am I addicted? You bet! I have a website, a blog and a page on Facebook! I proudly embedded the photos in my second published memoir myself and have become quite expert, if I do say so myself, at manipulating and managing my digital photos by computer.
A young friend wrote, by email of course, “WOW! Lyn, are you BLOGGING? So cool. You are absolutely the most hip platinum lady in all of the western world!”
I have since taken to signing my emails to my three kids, “Platinum techno-mom.”
Gotta’ go now and see who’s in my mailbox.
_________________________________________
"Blogs are little First Amendment machines."
- Jay Rosen About Ronni Bennett
© 2009 Ronni Bennett
