New Tricks

Today my fourteen year old sister in law took fifteen minutes to teach me about the same amount of knowledge surrounding computers, as it had previously taken me my twenty seven years on earth to acquire.

Needless to say I was humbled. Not to say I don't have a working knowledge of computers, I can use them to the extent which I have always required. Which is pretty much using them to write and format my work as an aspiring writer. Though if I were to be honest, this is a recent addition to my literary arsenal and I still have piles of notepads and pens concealed about my person as testament to my fondness for the classics. So, naturally, I thought the use of technology in such a way to spread my work around the globe made me a technological genius, on a par with one of the new gods from Neil Gaiman's American Gods. In the wake of the day's events and with the added benefit hindsight I can say that maybe I displayed a spot of hubris. I now feel as though I was a sabre tooth tiger skin clad Neanderthal, blissfully bashing away at my computer and iPad (other tablets are available) with my wooden club. Fifteen minutes with my little sister in law and I have become a graceful keyboard extraordinaire, deftly slapping at the keys with experienced fingers. Though you only have to look at the rudimentary template that adorns my blog to see that previous sentence is an overstatement.

This situation came about because of blogging. I have previously forayed into this exciting and exotic Internet domain and have a previous blog with Wordpress (feel free to google my name and Wordpress and peruse the musings you find) but I found its functionally limited. If I were to add veracity to my words here, I used to find blogging pointless and limited. I failed to see it's point, it was a distraction from 'real' writing, the long slog at the computer creating worlds and stories. Though an epiphany involving my 25 day old son and his vomit led me to see that, like many fantastic things, it doesn't have to have a point. It can be whatever you want it to be, a pointless ramble like this, a review of a book, film or comic I enjoy, a cross examination of things that confuse me (Taylor Swift, what is the point of her? What's her problem?). I can even use it to showcase short stories, poetry or novel excerpts. The world has become my hard shelled sea creature.I will verbally take you to one side here, just for a moment, and tell you about my recent introduction to fatherhood. My son, is just amazing. Everything I see him my heart swells with such immense pride and love that I feel I'm using up the worlds supply and there will be none left for anyone else. When I see him and his mother, my partner, together well I'm surprised that I don't become a blubbering mess. I never thought I could love two people as truly as I do. Expect a tale or two on fatherhood and parenting in the future.

Back to the story at hand though. As mentioned previously I had issues with Wordpress functionality, so I mentioned this to my sister in law who looked at me with such disdain I felt I had been cremated. She is one of the youthful Internet generation, whereas I can remember the time of the vhs, the lack mobile phones, the lack of interest and then the dreaded dial up Internet, these things are but ancient history to her. So it felt almost natural to seek her advice on what platforms were out there, and she directed me here. Not that this was a simple task for her as with every detail I was required to enter meant a salvo of questions for her, this isn't a reflection of blogger itself, but of my own I.T incompetence at this point. I now see that blogger is easy to pick up and use immediately, but offers much more scope for in depth modification, so really it's as complicated as you make it. So after ten minutes or so I had a fully operational, though simple, blog. There is nothing wrong with simple, unless you're Oscar Wilde "any man who would call a spade a spade should be compelled to use one, for it is all he is fit for". Well I agree with Oscar to a certain degree and I too have a penchant for the grandiloquent, there is something mysteriously elegant about simplicity. So my simple blog has begun, though with scope for improvements and Internet saturation through google plus, but I have a platform for my voice that's easy enough for a computerised cave man to use. So the aims of this blog are similar to the aims of my old one, no matter what I'm writing about, I want to entertain, to take people to places in their imagination by sharing mine. To inform, to vent (seriously, Taylor Swift?) and to share opinions. So that's what I will endeavour to do, no matter how inane my thoughts may seem.
So here's to Daisy, who proved that while you still can't teach an old dog new tricks, you can teach a moderately computer literate cave man a thing or two about blogging. Follow her at daisies2001.blogspot.co.uk when you get the chance.
Much love.