New Dog. Old Tricks.

This past week, I got a wonderful new gadget for my Mac. It's a Wacom Bamboo tablet, and I think it will have many applications for my rug hooking design, once I get better at it. Like everything else, it takes a lot of patience to get used to, but it reminded me of a couple of things.

First of all, everyone needs patience when learning a new skill. I think we get to a certain age and don't even go there anymore - we stop challenging ourselves to learn new things, or we stumble along with what we already know rather than trying something else.

This little gadget will eventually help with pattern design in my rug hooking. Because you can draw with it, and because it saves what you create in a jpeg format, it's already computer ready to can be sized up or down for whatever purpose you require. No scanning your sketch. No math required to figure out the scale to a pattern size. It should make all of this easier and everything is ready to go on your website, blog, email or whatever. (It won't replace the sketch book or doodle part of creativity, but it will make doing things with the final product much easier.) I did do a first little doodle to see how it worked and saved a very scary sketch to my computer. I was going to share, but decided I need a bit more practice first, so bear with me.

The other benefit of spending the morning learning about this new gadget is this is that I once again pondered the marvel of computers, the Internet, and all the things we can do (like this blog) that we were unable to do not so long ago - or at least not on such a scale.  It really does boggle the mind. And where will it go next?

I firmly believe that the brain is the biggest and best computer ever built - and here's a video you should watch to prove it.  I watched this last week and couldn't believe it!!!!

http://video.stumbleupon.com/#p=0k4lsi1dql

But, there are a few things that I wish we could do with the brain, like we can with a computer.

Can you imagine if we could upload a bunch of memories we don't need all the time and put them in storage for later use. Then we could re-visit all the vivid detail, not just the snippets that appear from time to time - those little socks in the grade 2 choir with the flowers on them, for instance. (As I sorted through 20 years of paid bills and papers from the house last nite, I had many tidbits of memories that flooded in. )

Then there are some software applications that would be great! My husband is such a worrier, I'd love to be able to install some Norton Anti-Worry software to help him sort through them. It could have a sorting program to put worries that he can't do anything about in a different folder than the small worries he can make "actionable".  Although I am not a chronic worrier like he is, I'd love to be able to load Anti-Worry lite, just for this move so that I could sleep at night without the never-ending lists. (such a dreamer, huh?)

The new tablet for my computer has taught me something else. That even in a time when I am feeling completely overwhelmed, my brain still welcomes something new and fresh to keep it stimulated. That's why there is a whole part of the brain that stays sane while the rest is crumbling. And that's the part that lets us create wonderful things like our hooked pieces (my SMILE challenge is done) and copy for websites, etc.

The new dog, old tricks adage is one that I don't adhere to. I am a firm believer that only when you stop learning the new tricks do you become an "old do". So I will plug little new tricks into my brain, no matter how croweded it gets.