Learning

February 9th, 2018

I have been trying to get the hang of writing on a tablet. Up until quite recently, I had never used one. I never had the need to use one. However, seeing as I will be going across the country soon, and I have no idea of when I will return, I am learning to use the tablet. I have no choice.

I embrace new technology with great reluctance. Stefan finds my attitude to be hilarious. He roundly mocks my ignorance of the latest electronic means of communication. Actually, I am also ignorant about many older types of tech. It’s not that I can’t learn to use these tools; it’s more that I don’t really care. I have never taken a selfie. I only text when I need to do so.  I loathe Facebook. I just don’t understand the fascination with the magic screens.

That’s not entirely true. I am writing this blog on a computer, so I guess that I am grudgingly a member of the 21st Century. I’ve finally accepted that this is what I have to do in order to communicate in a certain population. There is no getting around it.

On Monday I am getting on a train and going to Seattle. God willing, I will arrive there on the morning of Ash Wednesday. On Friday, I need to be in Blaine, WA, to participate in the “Longest Walk 5.3”. You can look up their website if you want. The chairperson for the nearly endless walk (Blaine to Washington DC) is Bobby Wallace, and he has his heart set on me being his media guy. Wow. I’m not sure what he is thinking here. Either he has great (and unfounded) faith in my ability to communicate in writing, or he’s desperate. I can write. I know that. However, I’ve never had much interest in disseminating my work. Bobby want me to reach out to the world about this walk, and I’m not sure how to do that. He’s dragging me out of my comfort zone, and I find it it oddly amusing.

I have no worries that I will have a shortage of material for my writing. I expect that I will meet a wide variety of interesting people, and I expect that at least some of them will be thrilled to tell me their stories. I am looking forward to that. The truth is that I have met very few boring people in my life. Even those who seem to live a mundane existence still have some strange tales to tell. The problem is that usually nobody listens to them.

I am going into this enterprise with few expectations. I would have to actually know something to have expectations, and I don’t know much about this whole affair. Right now, there are lots of question marks. Somehow, that’s okay.

As Hunter S. Thompson said, “Pay the money. Take the ride.”