I Dreamed a Dream

As most of the world has seen by now, Susan Boyle walked on stage at Britain's Got Talent and proceeded to shatter an entertainment stereotype. Maybe our culture has finally (and rightly) grown tired of plastic, perfect entertainers parading on our screens. She truly opened the collective mind, allowing everyone who watched her to throw out their expectations of what a singer should look like. She is more beautiful than one hundred of the current pool of entertainers. What a gift she has!

I wish someone had warned me how moved I would be to witness the performance of this unassuming, humble soul. For the last several days I've been seeing links about her and avoiding them. I don't believe in cruelly poking fun at someone for their efforts simply because they look different from others. But because I was bored and had to watch something, I clicked on one of the YouTube links, fearing another William Hung performance. Initially, I felt sorry for this woman who was obviously being laughed at in such a public way. However, my pity soon turned to awe as she opened her mouth and let go that first note. When the crowd rose to their feet in applause and I saw the looks on the judges' faces, I became filled with emotion.

Look her up and be inspired. (I would include a video here, but embedding has been disabled on YouTube.) The lyrics to the song make this even more profound.

I Dreamed a Dream from Les Miserables

I dreamed a dream in time gone by
When hope was high
And life worth living
I dreamed that love would never die
I dreamed that God would be forgiving

Then I was young and unafraid
And dreams were made and used and wasted
There was no ransom to be paid
No song unsung, no wine untasted

But the tigers come at night
With their voices soft as thunder
As they tear your hope apart
And they turn your dream to shame

He slept a summer by my side
He filled my days with endless wonder
He took my childhood in his stride
But he was gone when autumn came

And still I dream he'll come to me
That we will live the years together
But there are dreams that cannot be
And there are storms we cannot weather

I had a dream my life would be
So different from this hell I'm living
So different now from what it seemed
Now life has killed the dream I dreamed

My Head is Spinning

Help! I've fallen on Gadget Avenue and I can't get up!

A persistent, nagging headache has been with me for well over a week. My blood pressure monitor is giving normal readouts, so the only thing I can attribute it to is T.O. (Technology Overload).

I come home from work and can't concentrate on my favorite TV show because I'm thinking of all the amazing things I'm going to do on the new iMac, or all the great shots I'm going to get with my new Prime lens, or the walk I need to go on so that I can use the new Shuffle (which after one week, I still have not even used), or obsessively checking my email on the Touch. I'm like a kid that got way too many toys for Christmas. If I start throwing tantrums or acting like a brat, just slap me.

Facebook, Twitter, and all the blogs I read add to the chaos. My brain hurts. Really. Not only is my addiction causing brain pain, I now have the attention span of a gnat. If an article or blog post is too long, I will skim until I find at least one interesting word or sentence, and if I don't find it quickly: buh-bye!

Sudden realization: my life is becoming defined by a series of clicks. No wonder dog clicker training is so effective. Yes, I am simple like the dog. And that's okay.

I've never had an addictive personality. I used to smoke like a train, but quit pretty easily. If I see something starting to overtake my life, I am fairly adept at stopping it - from toxic relationships to cigarettes. I'll end whatever it is without any qualms. This love of photography and computers, though, has me a little concerned.

Gadget Overload

Yes, I finally did it. I caved and purchased the 24" iMac yesterday -- all because we were a little early in meeting my daughter and her friend for dinner.

Since we had about 30 minutes to kill, I asked Double D to stop at Best Buy so that I could purchase a pair of Skullcandy headphones for my new Shuffle. Like a magnet I flew straight over to the computer section first just to drool over the Macs.

Mind you, I had only planned on drooling, not forking over moulah.

Best Buy's marketing strategy of putting the prices in black on a bright yellow field worked. When I saw $1499 for the 24" with 4GB memory and 640GB hard drive, I went "Whoa!" I thought I remembered seeing it a few months before for $1799. I called my daughter immediately and said I might be late for dinner because I had just been drawn into the iMac vortex. She, being the ever diligent daughter, looked up the price on Apple's web site, and sure enough, the price was $1499 there also. Jay got on the phone and said it was a really good price and he also thought it had been more expensive a few months prior. My mind became trapped in buy mode and I was powerless to stop it. Double D looked at my pleading eyes and said to go for it. I figured 'ya know, I don't have a car note anymore, so why shouldn't I'?

I titled this post "Gadget Overload" because in the same week I ordered a 50 mm Prime lens for Mabel and the day after that, I purchased the iPod Shuffle for when I take my walks. The week prior, I purchased the iPod Touch. I have never made so many gadget-y purchases in such a short period of time. I'm hoping nothing new comes out to tempt me.

Jay and Autumn came over today to help me get my new baby all set up. Jay was absolutely wonderful, patient, and full of information to help me navigate this thing. Thank you!!!!!!!

Oh, I never did get the Skullcandy headphones. I think that can wait.

iTouch, iLove

Is it normal to be infatuated with an electronic gadget? To love it so much that you want to marry it?

Purchased just last Friday, a gush of love quickly developed as I stroked the face of the Touch, taking me completely by surprise. It reminded me of the early stages in a relationship. I don't want to go anywhere without it, and I think about it night and day. I need to touch it all the time. I wake up excited because I get to be with it. What beautiful music will you tickle my ears with, and what amazing videos will you play to dazzle my eyes? This thing gives, gives, gives, and I just take, take, take -- without any of the guilt.

My friend, Mickey, has the iPhone, and has always spoken very highly of it. Both of my bosses have an iPhone. I didn't really understand the draw until now. I concede: You are all right, and if I wasn't under contract with Verizon, I would buy the iPhone in a heartbeat. My patience will have to be tested a little longer. Until then, the iTouch is a more than adequate substitute. I'm pretty sure it does everything the iPhone does except make phone calls.

Did y'all know this thing plays music? I jest. Playing music is just one thing among many that the iTouch does and does well. It can act as a PDA which speaks sweet nothings to the anal organizer living inside me. I can download music and games directly to the unit, then later when I sync it to iTunes, it will download my purchases automatically. It has wifi, a Sarari web browser, clock, calendar, notepad, and calculator. The home page has shortcuts for Youtube, iTunes, Google Maps, Music, Videos, Photos, and Stocks. I try to stay away from the Stocks shortcut because it's always red and angry looking, but I digress...

There are over 1000 games -- many of them free. I've downloaded seven free different apps so far. The race car game was frustrating because I kept slamming into concrete walls. Besides, the dogs were a little frightened as I sat on the edge of the couch making circles in the air and shouting. I'm sure a more experienced gamer would have no trouble. Flixster is a cool app that plays movie clips, and will look up theaters near your current location. I can send and receive email. I can check Facebook and Twitter.

I could go on and on, but I'm missing my gadget with all this babbling, so I will go reunite with my new love and check in another time.

The Times They Are a Changin'

Below is a conversation I had with my mom yesterday. She's so cute with her cajun accent and sing-song voice:

Mama: Why was my newspaper so thin today? There was hardly anything to it.

Me: I'm afraid you're hanging onto a dinosaur. People are getting their news from the internet now. Don't be surprised if your paper bites the dust soon.

Mama: Well, how am I going to know who died? I read the obituaries every day.

Me: It may be time for us to revisit the idea of getting you a computer. The news is much more timely on the internet, anyway. By the time they print the paper and get it to your door, it's out of date.

Mama: I wouldn't even know how to work the computer anymore.

Me: Oh, yes you would. You'd do fine.

Mama: Well, we'll see. I really just want to know who died.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Speaking of internet news, I feel as though I am overloaded with it most days, so maybe it would be a bad idea to introduce this 24/7 access to my mother. She already watches too much Fox News. It's not as easy as you might think to break an addiction to the news - at least for me. Once my blood pressure starts to go up, that's my cue that I need to step away. That's why I love Neatorama. When I become over saturated, I go to their site and find beautiful gems like this:

Poor cat. While not exactly possessing standard beauty, it still is very interesting!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Found this youtube on Neatorama as well: Everything is Amazing Yet Nobody is Happy

The comedian, Louis CK, basically pokes fun at what a spoiled society we are. It was funny, but it also served to put things into perspective for me. We seriously need to stop and appreciate all the amazing technological advances we take for granted. It reminds me of times past when I would complain to my boss about the computer and he would say, "Well, we can always go back to the typewriter and triplicate forms." This would always make me appreciate my malfunctioning computer.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

My daughter wrote a wonderful post to specifically highlight the things during the week that brought her joy. This is a noble idea from a truly perfect daughter! I think I may have to copy her idea at some point. I just need to turn off Rush and O'Reilly first.