Wednesday, March 07, 2007

Missing: One brain

I have been preoccupied with a number of things lately:


  1. My back

  2. My airhead teenage son

  3. Preparing my annual taxes

  4. Arguing with my degrading Windows XP machine

  5. My insterest in an artistic outlet

  6. Getting back into the school groove

  7. My contiuing 'Battle of the Bulge'



So, in order of priority, we've already discussed the status of my ever-present back situation. Second, the joys of parenting a teenager are innumerable. (grin) Third, we love our tax code:

Let me go officially on record as being in support of a flat rate tax system


As far as school goes, I just registered for my next class, which starts the first week in April. It'll be all online. However, I have no illusions that it'll be an easy class. There will be a lot of reading, and a great deal of analytical writing. Next Wednesday, I have to go take a placement test to finish my application to my degree program. Oh, joy!

As for my Windows XP system: The writing is on the wall. Whether it is two weeks, two months, or six months from now, there is new hardware in my future. I think I want a laptop. I was SERIOUSLY considering a MacIntosh system. Unfortunately, some of my favoriate applications don't run on Mac. The good news is that a Windows laptop will cost me half what a comparable Mac laptop would cost.

On to the 'Artistic Outlet'... I've grown interested in Artist's Journals and collage. I signed up for a workshop at a local craft store. The session focuses on a childhood photo within the context of an Artist's Journal. I think it will be a good introduction to the form. My primary interest is in doing something creative when words are not enough. Plus, I have always been a pretty visual person. Several years of scrapbooking should serve me well in this medium.

As to 'The Battle of the Bulge', I have put on about five pounds in the last month, mostly through overly self-indulgent eating. Isn't the first step to recovery recognizing the problem?

I won't even get into the issues surrounding parenting a teenager. I would need much more energy and Zen-like calmness to even begin to do it justine.

2 comments:

Unknown said...

Several of the folks I work with are huge fans of parallels for the Mac (http://www.parallels.com/en/products/workstation/mac/). Of course, we bought them MacBooks with 2GB of RAM... not cheap but it seems to be the best of both worlds; especially if you an an XP license.
-David

Kitten Herder said...

I did consider that option. Unfortunately, I do not own a full copy of XP that can transfered to another system. Therefore I'd have to shell out another $260 for Parallels and XP. Plus, at my office, we've discovered that some Windows programs don't run correctly under that environment. I don't think I'm ready for that situation (plunking down more than twice the bucks, to not have my favorite programs run).

Hopefully, Apple will improve the environment or the one software vendor that I'm totally addicted to will come out with a pure Mac version of their software.