Dreamer, acrylic on canvas, 24" x 48" private collection, Albuquerque
I must have exceeded my allowable technology celebration quotient (TCQ). Just as I was getting used to this dazzling new i-Mac with the 27-inch screen, the gallery i-Mac (with only 17 inches) began wearing its heart on its sleeve. Jealousy no doubt. Bennie called to tell me an odd arrangement of bars had begun stalking the cursor and icons. Turns out our video card is on its death bed and heroic efforts to revive would not be cost-effective. SO now we're making final arrangements--in lieu of flowers please send flash drives-- and shopping for another computer.
There's more. I went for coffee and came back to find my itty bitty i-Book, my oh-so-lovable hand-me-down from Flannery, was making asthmatic wheezing sounds, the cool-down fan whirring frantically. Turning it on its belly, popping out the battery and re-inserting it, calmed it temporarily--a kind of reverse shock treatment. The operative word in the last sentence is temporarily. The teeny-tiny laptop has now gone beyond the veil and reincarnated as a Dell. Shudder.
There's more. I went for coffee and came back to find my itty bitty i-Book, my oh-so-lovable hand-me-down from Flannery, was making asthmatic wheezing sounds, the cool-down fan whirring frantically. Turning it on its belly, popping out the battery and re-inserting it, calmed it temporarily--a kind of reverse shock treatment. The operative word in the last sentence is temporarily. The teeny-tiny laptop has now gone beyond the veil and reincarnated as a Dell. Shudder.
There's nothing like a technological setback, the frenzied backing-up of data, the ensuing selection of new software--decisions, decisions--to sap my urge to create. Or breathe.
Good news is: Despite downtown Santa Fe being its typically wintertime lackluster self, I have sold a couple of paintings--"Dreamer," pictured above, and this one, which you've seen...
A Good Omen, 24" x 36"
private collection, Arlington, Virginia
private collection, Arlington, Virginia
Here's hoping that's a good omen. Couldn't we all use one of those?
65 comments:
I could use a sale or two of my pate de verre.
We just bought a new IMac last week with the 21.5" screen. Oh the joys of trying to transfer beloved applications. My Photoshop Elements is stubbornly refusing to transfer, keeps giving me sorry excuses even when I try to install it from the disc. Looks like I'm going to have to purchase it again.
Glad to see that you are back. I am very flattered by your comments regarding your visit to my Journal. I have an iMac but not a gigantic screen like yours...I'm jealous. Hope things settle down for you.
Nice painting? Did you get some snow?
san--so sorry for the techno trouble--you will love all your new toys once you have them up and running--here's hoping for any early spring! best c-
You know, when Mac and I renewed our vows, he didn't even notice the part where he promised to love, honor and repair my computer at no charge...funny how that works! Hope all your computer worries are soon over!!!
xo
Sandi
Ellen, we've had some troubles with the transfers too. This file or that gets lost. We put two versions of Office on this i-Mac. And believe it or not, the older one works better. The spell-check doesn't work on the newer one. Go figure.
Wishing you that longed for sale or two or three or four...
Lori, the gigantic screen is wonderful. It makes updating a website so much easier because you can have multiple images, a template, and a web page, all open side by side. So easy to visualize everything without switching back and forth.
C.M., we purported have another snowstorm on its way tonight. Yes, let's think early spring, early spring, early spring, early...
The nerve of that Mac, Sandi. Maybe you need to update his software. Or not.
So sorry about the laptop.
Love the pictures.
Nuts in May
Thanks for the laptop condolences, Maggie, and your kind words about the paintings.
Why is it electrical stuff all goes wrong at once???? :(
Love the paintings m'dear. x
Indigo Incarnates
I was pretty unimpressed with my prior Dell. It had a crummy Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 500 (which has an internal clock speed of 100MHz and only four data pipelines). I ended up replacing it with a Toshiba that has an ATI Radeon 3200 HD (450 MHz internal clock speed, 40 data pipelines). What a difference it makes!
I have the laptop rigged up for dual-display. So, between the built-in 13" screen and the 21" external monitor, I have 34" of screen! Whooo-hoo!
Thank you, Akelamalu!
Funny. Just this morning I was thinking about how electrical breakdowns come in threes. Next thing I knew my husband was tinkering with the rinse aid dispenser on the dishwasher, looking grim and determined.
I'm all for good omens and art sales....congratulations! Beautiful!
About computer problems...I'm on shaky ground myself... my techno mojo is lackluster and mildly threatening. Hope all is well again with you and your electronics!
Indi, I was just kidding about the Dell. I remember all too well your Dell tribulations. Although I've had my share of Mac miseries, I believe I can't get Apple from under my skin. It does provide a rosy glow, although it's actually just the glow of frustration.
Mary Ann, you WOULD be one for good omens and art sales. A kindred spirit in that. And in the mildly threatening techno mojo department.
Laptop Relaps..No fun...
I do like the paintings.
All will be good.
Katelen
Words over at my place left me hopeful that the Puxhatawney Blogger was out looking around over here.
Love the green in the center of "Dreamer." Blue to the left looks like a blue adobe structure; several of the "bundles" look like smudge sticks. Blue on the far right looks like a portal to the rest of the worlds - or else, the return door to the Puxhatawney Blogger's lair.
Interesting paler palette and background for "A Good Omen." Though the image does not hold up on fuller look, my first slanted glance saw a hand of cards suspended in mid-air. Good cards, no doubt.
Viking funeral for the deceasing hardware? Catapult a la the insulting fortressed Frenchman in Monty Python and the Holy Grail?
Peace to you, amiga.
You sound like you need it.
I hate it when you get 'the blue screen of death'. It's happened to me but I'm thankful that I have techie on board!
Hey San, this is great news about the recent sales...many an artist would hope for one of those these days (including yours truly).
Oh, how I understand these technology woes. When technology functions well, there is nothing like it...but when it doesn't life can become sheer hell! Sometimes I wonder why I do this to myself (the technology thingy), then I remind myself I wouldn't have all of these incredible friends if I didn't...that thought completely erases any doubts!
Thanks San! I hope it all gets sorted quickly!
Sad about the computers. Note to self: BACK STUFF UP. I really like both of those pieces - such vibrancy. You know how to pick them!
Ah but Macs are so worth it.
Beautiful paintings. Your colours are always so wonderful.
Yikes! I am feeling for you, my friend! My work computer has been giving me the "blank stare" lately and usually when I am right in the middle of an import report. I had Gary help me back up all my files this weekend. I have put in a request to the "powers that be" for a different computer but who knows how long that will take with all the buget cuts. Anyway, I am sending you positive E-energy for your tech woes!
Jo
San, I'm sorry you've been dealing with technology meltdown. It sucks the breath right out of your functioning and the money out of your wallet. The good thing is that you'll probably upgrade whether you repair or replace and that will see you along nicely for another bit of time. Please sneak in a budget line specifically for tech gear. We're fast reaching the point where it not only invades our lives and movies but will probably invade your dreams sometime soon if not already.
Had a great birthday, Girlfriend! I'll try to write about it soon as I decide how to not be too mushy.
Hugs!
Lee
Good omens are positively (get it?) my favorites. Love the paintings! Wishing you happy weather and creativity to match!
Ah, Technology Hospice...usually a brief stay. Sadly. I am glad you sold some of your excellent work.
This is why you should never, and I repeat, never name your computers. It makes it so much easier to part with them when they go to that great binary farm in the sky.
Congrats on the sales. That's great news.
Oh San, I feel your pain. Everything electrical in my house and car has mutinied on me this week - the very week hubby is away, of course. Hope your new arrivals soon settle down, and that you can find their senile predecessors a back room to graze in.
I'm not surprised you sold Dreamer, it's a bute! Congratulations on both of them, I am sure Good Omen is aptly named.
P.S. How did the transferring of folders and stuff go - I'm thinking of making the change next time.
ugh, the agony of dying computers...at least for me, they've become the keeper of all of a many things, and if you will the family personal assistant. It hurts to watch them die, and as you said retrieve all things vital before the final blue screen takes all memory of things away.
I hope you're new assistant is as good as or better then it's predecessor.
And congratulations on your art work finding new homes!
Crikey, I'd be panicking! I'm so not technical, when anything goes wrong with anything that is, I turn to chocolate.
CJ xx
I so hope I get to Santa Fe soon to see your gallery. My son's roommate in college is from Santa Fe. He gets there all the time. Me? A drive through twice. Maybe next year.
p.s. I am so a Mac person also.
Congrats on the sales... two beautiful paintings... At least that should help pay for the new computers. It really is awful when they crash or die. I still haven't really dealt with reinstalling all that needs to be installed from my crash a few weeks back. I keep thinking about it but somehow it feels like too much effort.
I hope your I-Book got to reincarnate as something other than a Dell. Poor thing. If it served you well, shouldn't it reincarnate to a higher form of being.
It's ood how it's all happening at once, though. Maybe you have some Angels hanging out with you. They can (I'm told) mess with electronics. I know when I used to have reiki gatherings that would sometimes happen. And the up side of new computers is that they are cool and run fast and have all sorts of new bells and whistles that your old one didn't have... and now I'll stop rambling and go back into my cave.
ToonMan is loving his 27 inch iMac .. I was going to flatten his older 20 inch iMac and use it but during the migration of info from my WorkBookPro to the 20 inch iMac it died ... dropped dead.. refused to restart .. sniffle .. and of course the extended warranty was over .. RIP iMac ...
Go get another iMac .. ASAP
Yes indeed computers can zap energy. Wishing you a fantastic time with your new computer. I don't think I could ever go back to PC though.
Your art is fantastic! The top one really calls to me. Congratulations on your sales!
Katelen: All will be good. All will be good. All will be good. Something to remind myself.
Paschal, you always observe my paintings so closely. Hand of cards works for me. Door to my groundhog lair works too. Puxhatawney does have to clear out the bad vibes once in a while and the sage comes in handy.
As much as I love your Viking burial proposal, most likely what will happen is that the Permanent Collection of the Merideth Mac Museum will swell by 2.
Aims, the gallery i-Mac is still hanging in there. The arrangement of bars continues to stalk the cursor and the icon. The laptop, however, is toast.
Kim, I remind myself the same thing. If it weren't for blogging, I wouldn't know you. And I haven't figured out a way to blog without a computer. My telepathy skills just aren't that sharp.
Mary Ellen, thank you! And as to the BACK UP reminder, I don't do it nearly often enough. So glad we had a warning on one of these machines and I'd already transferred the laptop data to my NEW i-Mac. Close one though.
Hilary, thank you. I'm with you on the Mac worthiness quotient.
Jo, I am feeling the positive E-energy and I'm grooving on it.
:D
Lee, I had forgotten that February is your birthday month. Totally distracted by the technology meltdown.
HAPPY BELATED BIRTHDAY. I cannot wait to read the juicy details.
HUG.
Fe, you don't know how much I appreciate the well wishing. I positively do.
Sandy, yes, the laptop never made it to hospice. Depressing.
Jeff, you're so right--naming computers creates far too strong a bond. Even so, I feel the laptop smiling down on us.
Yes, Shrinky, as I mentioned to Paschal already, the Merideth Mac Museum Permanent Collection will now swell by 2.
How awful that your electrical things are creating havoc--they seem to be in cahoots, no?
Dave, I'm pleased that you like Dreamer. Thank you!
How did the files transfer go? Everything went beautifully except that my more recent version of Word has lost the spell-checking function. That's because I didn't have a disc. I transferred with a flash drive. Now I've lined up a still newer version of Word. That's what daughters are for. :D
On my brand new iMac there's an app called Time Machine that helps you back up everything with an external hard drive.
JS, you are so right--they ARE our personal assistants and we become attached to them. Letting go is sad.
On a brighter note, though, I appreciate your hearty congratulations. Thank you for your abundant support.
Crystal, I'm all too familiar with the chocolate solution.
xo
Midlife Macperson/Jobhunter, I hope you make it to Santa Fe soon. It's a beautiful place.
I love the Raven Ramblings, and I adore this angel slant. Tell me more. Please. In email, when you have time.
And now I regret even joking about that fine little laptop reincarnating as a lowly Dell. Of course she's evolved higher.
Daryl, we were looking at a Macbook Pro this morning. SO tempting.
It always happens after the warranty or the extended warranty. A law of nature.
Tammie, I don't believe would never go to PC either. When I work on one of those, it just feels so unwieldy and counterintuitive.
So glad that Dreamer calls to you.
Hmmmm. I suppose someone needs to develop a funeral liturgy for putting to rest our technological pets. (I wish I could afford to have the sound on my computer fixed).
Oooo yeah good omens. I sor a clowd shaypet like a Bear the uther day, an I think that portends good things. Jhee jhee!!!!
Wy ar Imacs better than Pcs?
I hav never seen wy.
How ar they better?
(An ar they mor Bear frendly?)
:@}
Hey stranger ~ I have some time to visit my blogging friends so decided to stop in for a spell. Love both of these paintings and their titles. I am not even going to discuss computer issues since I will jinx myself plus it makes my blood pressure rise. Glad I was able to sit here for a spell - now onwards and upwards to visit others in the blogosphere. Take care.
Computers - a blessing and a curse...
Congratulations on your sales! That's a cheery occurrence during these wintry days.
Lucky people to have your colorful labors of love on their walls.
Oh San, don't you hate that.
You know funny thing is that technology gave us so much, yet took some time from us too - all this data backing up, burning, maintaining, lol.
Hope all is well otherwise, have a nice weekend my friend. Missed you.
Anna :)
oh we could all use a good omen for happy dreams!
sorry about the computer woes and congrats on the painting sales.
i do love the colors you use.
I suppose someone needs to develop a funeral liturgy for putting to rest our technological pets.
Work From Home
San, I love both of these paintings, they are stunning with those shapes in jewel-like colors. Ugh, I'm sorry about your computers messing up, all this new technology can sure be a headache sometimes.
http://jingleyanqiu.wordpress.com/2010/04/19/your-comments-touch-my-heart-award/
awards for you,
Happy Monday!
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