Thanks to my friend J., I'm actually learning a few skills I didn't have before. I've drifted between several blog sites, picking up some html as necessary here and there. However, I've never known how to do more than the really easy stuff, like changing my theme to a predetermined one I found off the internet, posting in the Rich Text Editor, etc. But it's time I got a little more computer savvy, so J. helpfully gave me webspace and taught me how to install a WordPress blog from scratch, as well as a wiki. I'm not sure what I'll use the wiki for, yet, but I'll think of something!

It's a tiny step, but it feels really huge to me, to be shown the site code, to be told what some of it means and how to play with it. I spent a couple of frustrating hours playing with the colors and fonts on this WP theme stylesheet, trying to identify on my own which piece of code will effect which change. I'm not good at it, and my first impulse when I'm not good at something is to put off doing it... and I did not want to post before I had my page looking at least decent. At this point, it's time to get to blogging here as well, style bedamned.

I realized that I have a strange mix of technofear and technojoy (hat tip to Eddie Izzard). My parents are very suspicious about anything to do with computers, and they never encouraged me to interact much with them. When I got to high school, I made friends with a bunch of geeky boys who were really into computers, and who knew a lot more than me about them because they had had encouragement and access to the tech and a small geekish community to nurture them. I was way behind them on knowing stuff, and they prided themselves on understanding the technology, and so they ended up doing things for me and being somewhat patronising (unintentionally, but still). So I learned to just cultivate friendships with geeky people so they can do my tech stuff and fixing of my computer and things *for* me. I internalized this idea that I Am Bad At Technology, which isn't necessarily true. And these are skills I want and need to know to become a good librarian, yannow? Useful professionally AND personally.

So, this year I am resolved to take opportunities to become tech-knowledgeable. I'm done with letting the fact that I don't know something keep me from learning it. Concretely, this means starting with learning to install and use a wiki and wordpress, and learning more html with the goal of giving up the Rich Text Editor. Also, learning how to record and edit podcasts, and learning how to vid (probably going to have to start in imovie even though I covet Final Cut). Thanks to J. for handholding me through my first wiki editing experience (which ended with, "oh wait, there's an 'edit' tab on the frontpage... *facepalm*). She is patient and enthusiastic and has been the only person to ever convince me that really, yes, I can actually learn these things. For real. That means a lot to me already.