Loose Leaf Notes

Ed Wilhelm: I moved to Floyd County in 1985 and immediately got involved in the production of the “Museletter,” a locally published forum that includes event listings, poetry, columns, and more. Back then it was called The ERC Newsletter and was, as it remains to this day, supported mostly by Floyd’s “alter-natives.” It was Ed, who I thought was a bit of a computer nerd but was actually just ahead of his time, and his wife Linda who put the newsletter together every month. Ed was the first person who coaxed me to sit down in front of a computer for the first time. It was a scary sight. EEK…I would jump up on the chair, as though I had seen a mouse, every time I lost a page, or got to a new one without knowing how it had happened. I acted like a high- strung, wimpy, school girl handling a live rodent when I inevitably lost control of the computer mouse and was not able to align its movement with what was happening on the screen. Ed, who was not daunted, provided my first introduction into the world of virtual desktops, folders, and files. Much of what he attempted to teach me then made more sense later.

Will Bason: Another one of those early “computer types,” as well as a fellow Floyd folk poet, who from day one tried to convince me of the benefits of a computer and how one would make my life as a budding writer easier. Will was persistent even though I repeatedly brushed him off. I bet he’s somewhere, maybe reading this, trying not to say, “I told you so.” Or maybe he’s saying, “You’ve come a long way, baby?”

Anonymous: One of my siblings, who blogs under a pseudonym and also suffers with dyslexia/dyscalculia, was several years ahead of me in getting online. When he/she insisted I would “love” the computer if I just gave it a chance, all I could think of was when my friend Ise announced to me shamelessly in 1988 that she “loved” her Mac. I looked at her like she was an alien and vowed never to utter such a thing myself. The above sibling has often been there to point me in a new/right direction.

And most lately, Fred First: Fred, a photo-journalist, radio essayist, and member of my writing workshop, has a premier blog featuring his above mentioned varied talents. Visiting him this past couple of years at his Fragments from Floyd site, has shown me how blogging is a good place to develop and share ideas, how it helps to keep those writing skills oiled and ready to go, and how it can generally broaden a writer’s opportunities and exposure. As I posted in a comment to him recently about blogs…”It’s a writer’s reality show…more current than a web page…more versatile than a business card.”

And Nelson: You know who you are.

I will not go so far as to say that I love the computer, but I’m sure on the darn thing a lot. I don’t love it like I love my cup of tea in the morning, but it is edging up to number 4 in my morning ritual routines… not to mention the afternoon, evening, and night.

See you online. P.S. I’m meeting with another fellow Floyd blogger, Doug Thompson, today so that he can show me some more of the blog ropes. Doug has more blogs (and photos of the moon) than I can count on both my hands. Consider him added to this list.