(If you want to hear Lori read the story click)here

 

Back in 1979 there were no detours between the keys I typed on the typewriter and what showed up on the paper. Punch a k, get a k. If I wanted it to go away I had to either go fetch a new sheet and slide it between the rollers or rummage through a few dried up White Out bottles to find one that still worked, and obliterate the mistake.

 

Things are different now. Entire paragraphs multiply multiply multiply, slant or disappear in a microsecond, or                              reformat

 

without my consent. I still struggle to learn about HTML, and codes that transform the color, font or size of my text. I have made mistakes that resulted in stories on the cusp of perfection evaporating into the atmosphere. Maybe the letters show up as dryer lint, or crumbs under the couch cushions. My son says that they go into The Cloud, meaning another dimension above my pay scale.

 

Sometimes I cannot get the bre aks in a paragraph to obey me, even if I yell, or

 

to line up evenly. The computer is no doubt following irrevocable rules deeply imbedded into its software, or hardware, or whatever it has instead of a brain. But I am not savvy about the magic commands and cannot thrash it into compliance even if I hold it over boiling water and say MWAAAAAHAHAHA. 

 

Sometimes people behave one way when you are dating, and after you promise the forever thing they slide. What You Saw is Not Necessarily What You Got. I know I am a tad less attentive than I was pre engagement when I would leap to grab the ringing phone out of its cradle for the slim chance of hearing John's voice. Now that I have caller ID, I know it is John but my response is less animated.