I am
repurposing the Christmas card messages I've written since 2001. From old
Christmas cards to new blog posts. One a day. Merry Christmas.
Once
again I’m having a year of doing some new things.
New experience #1: We organized a party of six
for a fantastic Alaskan cruise. More important, on the ship our 4-person
trivia team won almost every game (~2 per day). Examples:
a. What do you do
when you nictate?
b. What element is alphabetically the last in the table of contents?
(answers are at the bottom of this card)
New
experience #2: I wrote a blog. I just checked, and I
had only nine posts (so far) for 2010, but they are high-quality. Next year, I will post more often. Just like I will
play piano more often and keep up with
New Yorker issues. I keep a
little list of potential blog topics, but when I return to it I often have no
idea what an item means. Like this one jotted down a few months ago: “Tired,
Achy, Cranky? You may just need a glass of water.” I think it was a headline for a
magazine article. What was it about? What did I want to write about? I may write about it yet.
New
experience #3: I took a watercolor class. And I would like to point out that
this is not something I have taken up in retirement, as, obviously, I am not
retired. I go to class on Tuesday evenings, and I’m having a ball. I painted the
cover of this card, We have a great teacher (12 in the class—a mix of advanced students and 4
of us newbies). I’m going to register for the next series of classes, too
(starts in Feb.).
New
experience #4: I'm switching to Mac. I know, I know. To all of you (formerly “us”)
PC loyalists it seems like a betrayal, a defection, even perfidy. Why, why,
would I switch? A big part of the reason is recently having had my third new motherboard installed on my PC. Count
’em: total of four motherboards, counting the one it came with. Another part of the reason is needing to have periodic “TeamViewer”
sessions with Damen, on the other side of the world (yes, he’s in Australia
now) to resolve my new list of Windows problems. But the real clincher was when
Reya bought a new Mac this year and I was sympathizing with her about the
drudgery, extensive time, and possible horrors involved in switching from one
computer to another. She said, “Oh, no. I just pushed one button and it said it
was taking care of everything.”
My new Mac
experience hasn’t actually happened yet. But as soon as we get this damn, er, I
mean this loving holiday greeting out in the mail, I’m heading for the Apple
Store.
My love to
each of you.
a.
Blink
b. Zirconium
