The Burrow

What would you say to a woman who made the same mistake not once, not twice, but three times? I love Nikon lenses.  I splurged on an SLR film camera when the kids were young, and the quality and clarity of my photographs improved immeasurably.  Though never a threat to Diane Arbus or Ansel Adams, I was good enough to amuse myself.  Little Cuter put that camera to good use in high school creating such masterpieces as this, which I titled Portrait of the Mother, Brooding I remember the day, the light, the request to look sad and the pride I felt.  My little girl was orchestrating the afternoon.... and she wanted me to be a part of it.  The Nikon was a third partner in that quarter's coursework.  The cemetery at the Presidio, the wildflowers on the open space across the street from Our Big House.... we took that camera and captured the moments. Truly captured them, denizens.  I am right there right now, though my body is typing to you,...

Computer problems put me in a place unlike any other. I whine. I can't concentrate on anything else. The angst permeates every piece of every day. I'm not exaggerating. The Cuters know to steer clear, but that only makes it worse. I ought to be the grown-up. I ought to be able to fix it. It's not my fault that this new Dell won't recognize my Nikon or my Ipod or my GPS. How could it possibly be my fault? The machine was delivered. I unpacked it. I plugged in the cables and connectors correctly. It turned on (which was somewhat of a miracle since the unit it was replacing never did turn on -- even after I spent 2 hours dissassembling the green boards in the back of it with the tech guy urging me on from somewhere in southern Asia). I uploaded the necessary software - the newest iterations, which came directly from the products' websites. When the first USB port didn't work, I tried another. And another. I plugged the keyboard into the offending por...