Me, As Seen By My Mac

Me, As Seen By My Mac
Originally uploaded by Tokyorosa

The New 'Puter has a built in camera and yesterday, as I was going through the whole online registration rigmarole, it tried to take my picture. No, that isn't the picture it tried to take; I declined its original offer. That is a picture I took later, when I found this cool (and, let's face it, probably very useless) little application called Photo Booth. I took this little paparazzi-style shot (with my glasses atop my head to keep from smearing the lenses), briefly toyed with--and then abandoned--the idea of taking a photo a day of myself. (I mean, how many photos do I need of myself sitting blank-eyed, bland-faced, at the computer?)

I was a little wary of the computer at first (What if I drop it? Is this nothing more than an expensive internet browsing toy?), but after it was so easy to tap into Dave's files and fill up my little iTunes coffers wirelessly, I became a convert. A few hours and 1,200 songs later, I am a believer. I'm even willing to forgive the random picture taking.

There are a couple of things I don't like (besides the random picture taking). One is that, if the room's ambient light levels change, the computer screen automatically dims. I don't know why that annoys me, but it does. The other thing I don't like is that the computer didn't come with any kind of writing program. I was a bit used to Apple Works, the Apple version of Microsoft Word. Now, I have to find my Microsoft Office disks--dammit--and install those. The only problem (besides my having lost them) is that they're not the new versions of the applications, so that peeves me, too. But I admit that I am easily peeved. The benefits definitely outweigh the detriments when it comes to the new computer.

In Other News

I heard from my buddy Shoko, a woman I met in Tokyo who has since moved to Seattle, started studying psychology, and moved in with her new boyfriend! Talk about change, huh? Shoko used to work for an international jewelry company and she was studying English at The Kaisha (though she actually spoke better English than did some of the people who were teaching English there). Because Shoko hadn't gone to college (she had to get a job right out of high school to help support her family), she couldn't move up in the Japanese branch of the company. (Her American coworker was appalled by that kind of thinking and tried everything to help her get a promotion, but it was useless. In Japan, if you couldn't or didn't go to college, you're pretty much relegated to a lower position regardless of your knowledge and skill level.)

After I left Japan, Shoko came to visit me, and we did a little buddy roadtrip of the southwest, visiting national parks and pueblos and trying out new things. We even went horseback riding. After that, she returned to Japan, quit her job, and made plans to come to school in the U.S.

Talk about adventure. I hope she gets her degree and a permanent visa--or maybe she'll get married and stay here. There are so many opportunities for her here in the U.S. that she didn't have in Japan. Even just the chance to go to college is a huge step in the right direction for her.

Gambatte, Shoko-chan!