iMagine life without iLove ... and iMusic
Monday, December 28, 2009 at 04:44PM 
My office reconfigured.How many times have I said that historically I'm the next-to-last woman in the world to acquire, utilize, and fully appreciate new technology?
I don't know. Let's just go with a bunch.
Make that a whole bunch.
For example, we didn't own a microwave oven until ... I think it was 1992, but I'm not sure. At any rate, it didn't take me long to fully appreciate that particular bit of business.
Got my third and latest one last Saturday, as a matter of fact, because ours blew up that morning.
Relax! No leftovers were harmed in the incident.
Another thing I've oft been heard to remark is that my wonderful children have taught me far more than I have taught them.
For example, TG and I frequently call on the kids (the younger two are even better than the older two) to help with a computer application, or with the installation and operation of peripherals such as scanners, printers, and the occasional strobe light.
(Not only do they know considerably more than we do about these things, but their eyesight is better.)
"Mom, you've got to hear this."
On Christmas Day I learned that TG and the kids had been conspiring for weeks to buy me a new computer. An iMac.
(Sweet machine. Makes my seven-year-old slow-boat-to-nowhere Dell look like the long lost relative of a desktop PC so extinct, geriatric dinosaurs would laugh it to scorn.)
To say I was overcome when I saw the gift is the understatement of the last twelve months.
It was a moment.
But as much as I will cherish the memory of my family's faces when they saw my face when I saw my new iMac on Christmas, I will remember the night before.
On Christmas Eve we were all snug and warm at home together, eating delicious food and telling jokes and laughing and kidding one another, and marveling at the great colorful mound of gifts beneath our twinkling tree.
As usual, throughout the evening each of the kids was fiddling with one electronic gizmo or other.
If it's not an iPod it's an iTouch. If neither of those, it's a webcam or a GPS device or a fancy laptop or a tricked-out cell phone.
(The only one of the abovementioned items that I personally own is an ordinary cell phone. Forget texting; I don't even like to talk on the thing.)
Okay, okay ... I have a Nikon Coolpix L20 digital camera, also courtesy of my children.
But I digress.
On Christmas Eve, daughter Audrey approached me, proffering a set of iPod earbuds. "Mom, you've got to hear this," she told me, and hooked me up, telling me to close my eyes.
This is the song she played for me: Luciano Pavarotti and Mirella Freni singing the aria O Soave Fanciulla from Puccini's La Boheme.
If you listen, please listen to the very end. You won't be sorry.
Breathtaking.
Of all the things I am grateful for when it comes to my children, I am so glad they have both the desire and the capacity to experience and appreciate beauty, and culture, and near-perfect music, and new technology.
Oh ... and my cooking.
Thanks, kids ... iLove you all.
And not only for the iMac.
Reader Comments (12)
What a wonderful gift! It will get a lot of use, I know.
PS - remember the Shakespearean insult mug? We got one for Bob's sister and gave it to her last week. She loved it!
Mari, I do remember the mug and use my own frequently! It does make a great present and a hilarious conversation piece. I hope Bob's sister enjoys her mug for many years to come!
You are one BLESSED woman! Happy New Year!
I'm so glad you ilike and ilove your iMac. I'm on my way tomorrow with the inew iMac with no icracks in it. I was so glad to see that you were so surprised and pleased with it.
Yeah, La Boheme...my favorite opera. Well, the only opera I know much about really. BUT if Katie Couric ever asks me in an interview some day.."What is your favorite opera?" I can say "La Boheme" (and I'll say it with the right accent and everything.)
@ Cheryl ... I am indeed! Happy New Year to you too!
@ Audrey ... yeah girl. Get here quick and easy on the goods. And don't forget about the Phantom of the Opera! You know a lot about him.
Jenny,
How excellent is ithat? I use a Mac at work and a PC at home. Of the two, the Mac is a much better machine. But from what you've told me in the past, you'll be jumping from a Model "T", to a Rolls Royce. Congrats!!!
Sad to say, opera has never appealed to me but I can appreciate the beauty of it and be glad that you (and others) enjoy it.
You must have a great family. They truly love you (not just because of the Mac) and it's reciprocated in full, which is obvious.
Have an awesome New iYear.
@TT ... so you're versed in iComputing? Figures! My very first computer was an Apple ... loooong time ago. I'm thrilled to be working on an Apple machine again, only much more better! I promise I'll use it to write something that will make my family (and you) proud of me!
The new office setup looks great. I am SLOWLY learning a little about it since I'm helping my parents with their new Mac-Mini, but I'm pretty sure (even if you feel like a novice) you know INFINITELY more about Macs than I do! I feel like an infant learning to walk every time I use one...
Unnerstand about technology...my microwave is circa 1989. My stereo components are circa 1988. My TV is a 19" Panasonic circa 1984. Laugh or not, they work. As for my music, I use a Sony Walkman at the gym. It uses an ancient technology called cassettes; they're smaller than an 8 trac. I can get 85 minutes of music out of a 90 minute tape. Folks look at me funny at the gym, but since I'm older than the technology I use, eh...
Still no cell phone, inedible blackberry or iphone. Just now got a digital camera. As for my computer, I labor along on a 5 year old Dell.
I am a technosaurus ;-)
@ Kev ... In no way can we attach "infinitely" to any knowledge I might have of Macs! I have a long way to go, but it certainly will be fun getting there. That's REALLY neat that you bought your folks a mini-Mac. I know they'll get so much enjoyment from it. Happy New Year, my friend!
@ SF ... Technosaurus ... bwaaaaaaaaaaahahaha I wish I'd thought of that! Adorable! And from the stuff you describe, you have totally earned the moniker. Can't believe your TV is over 25 years old! What did you do when everybody had to switch over to digital?
I remember 8-track tapes ... they were so huge, if your sled was in the shop you could use one to get to the bottom of a snowy hill. What a blast from the past!
I have been behind the tech times for a while now, and really not feeling like I was missing much. Like your kids, mine are always fiddling with a gadget. Add husband to the fiddling pack. And now you can add me! One of my kids gave me an iPhone and now iLove it! Thank goodness for our children or who knows where we'd be!
What a wonderful Christmas!
@ Keli ... ahhh ... a fellow neophyte forayer into the world of uber-technology! Love it! Enjoy your new iPhone!