Friday, July 18, 2014

Easy Transition - although I am still a Digital Immigrant!

A few weeks ago I got a new smart phone (Samsung Galaxy S5).  I was amazed that the transition from my old smart phone to this one was so painless.

A little over 2 years ago I went from my old flip phone to an earlier model smart phone (Samsung Infuse).  That transition was so difficult.  I talk quite a bit about being a digital immigrant.  Usually new technology for me is difficult to learn.  When I bought my first smart phone I had help figuring it out from one of my students and my son (who had the same phone).  In fact the reason I bought that particular phone is that my son had the same model so I could call him and ask for help if I got stuck. He would patiently walk me through how do certain functions or how to set up apps.  As time went on I got more skilled at that phone and did not need to call him for help.

So when I was due for an upgrade I debated on getting a new phone.  As I was thinking about it my husband said he wanted the Otterbox case from my old phone and my son wanted my old phone.  It was like they were fighting over the carcass before I had ever made a decision.

I wanted to stay with Samsung (sorry iPhone people) and started researching what was best.  The Galaxy S5 had great reviews and was on special when I was ready to upgrade.  This transition was so seamless.  The nice person at the store transferred all my contacts and other saved data.  He gave me a short lesson the the new enhancements to the phone and then he sent me on my way.

At first I was a little unsure but soon I was adding apps and activating functions on the phone.  I love the voice search (OK Google!).  It tells me the weather, where I am and how the traffic will be on my commute home from work.  I take photos, post to social media,  answer email and sync my calendar from work.  It even counts my steps every day (as long as I have it on me).  I feel positively confident that I can handle just about anything.

I also connected my phone to Sync in my car (it's amazing to me that Microsoft Sync has the same voice as Apple's Siri).  Now I travel down the highway chatting away with no phone to my ear.

I'm not sure if I would qualify as a digital native but my digital immigrant status may have been upgraded to a digital permanent resident!  On second thought, Nah!  I still haven't figured out Twitter even though I have an account (when do you hashtag?) and I have never tried Instagram.  So I will stay in Digital Immigrant territory for now. 

Thursday, July 3, 2014

How do you create?

A few years ago I happened to see an interview with Barry Manilow.  He was talking about his creative process and his hit song "Copacabana"  He said that usually his lyricists will write the words for the song and then send them to him, and he then writes the music.  When he received the words to Copacabana he said the music came almost immediately.  It took him about 15 minutes to write the music to the lyrics. 

In another example of the creative process Steve Martin and Edie Brickell talk about writing "Sarah Jane and the Iron Mountain Baby" (available on their Love Has Come to You album).  Edie Brickell said that for their collaboration Steve Martin writes the banjo parts first and then sends the files to her. She had wanted to write a train song and one track he wrote lent itself to that desire.  She did some research on trains and came upon the story of the Iron Mountain train and the baby that was tossed from the train to the ground below.  The baby was rescued by a Civil War veteran who was looking for wood for his barn.  That man's wife was named Sarah Jane (which coincidentally rhymes with train).  It was a story and music match that was perfect. 

In talking to author friends they often mention that they are asked how they start a book.  Do they start with the characters or the story?  It seems most are evenly split. Some authors say the characters are formed in their imaginations and then the story writes itself around them.  Others say the story starts first and then they find the characters as they are developing the story. 

So how do you create something?  Is it music first, then words or the other way around.  Does the character get your attention first or is it the story.  Do you see the finished product in your head or do you see the parts first (such as yarn for knitting or fabric for quilting) and then build from there.  I guess there is no wrong or right way to create.  The important thing is that it is done, it works for the creator and it gets completed and shared with others.