Day 272 of 365
I did it to myself
I should know better by now when it's a good time to introduce new technology into my life.
Now is not the time!
On day 272 I decided to use my first digital pen and tablet combo.
Here's the exciting part. I have always wanted to take my photographs and try to create more than the eye can see. Being an artist is what makes me happy but I've never tried digital art.
This 365 day experience is teaching me so much about intuition and in order to create opportunities to escape my comfort zone I have ignored my intuition quite a few times this year.
On day 8, I made cheesecake. I don't like cheesecake which is why I had never made it before. I spent about $10 on ingredients, had the experience and moved on. It didn't change my desire for cheesecake.
On day 11. I attended the light festival. In my head this was a great date night with a beautiful display of flickering lanterns in the sky. We sat for hours. It was beautiful. It generated a massive pile of exhausted lanterns. We stumbled over them on the way back to the car. They fly less than 100 meters. It's a horrible mess and a waste to the environment. I do regret the aftermath of day 11.
I really could go on for a few more but that's not the point. What I'm saying is that as I've grown into my womanhood I have also been aware of what I don't and won't allow on my life path.
I shouldn't have used technology like this. I just don't have the patience.
I started the installation of the hardware at 7:30 am. It is 9:20 as I begin writing my blog post and I have not processed a single photo yet. I'm a MAC user and my computer does not come with a CD-rom. I attempt a software download but the website source comes up as non-trusted and I'm not opening the door to some hacker in Russia.
I stop the download and set up my external cd drive and put in the software disk. Here's where this gets even funnier. The disk is dated 2014 and requires an update before I can open the driver files.
I've stopped for coffee.
I had two cups.
Back at the computer it requires a reboot which it would have been nice to know while I was drinking those cups of coffee.
It's 8:15 and I haven't even connected the tablet yet.
It feels like the old PC days when adding a driver for a piece of hardware cleared all of my loved-ones from the house. I may or may not get a tiny bit hostile when drivers and hardware are involved. Apple could solve this problem with a touch screen Macbook. My cats are hiding under the living room table.
At 8:25 I take a photo of the touch tablet making contact with the USB port of my Macbook.
It should have been magic but... High Sierra.
More updating and a solid confirmation that the App store is a magical place made for preventing tech frustrations! I love you Apple and I'm so glad you're here.
Reboot.
More coffee which should be gin or vodka at this point.
Bathroom break.
It's 8:45 and I have moved from my living room floor to my dining room table because there is so much packaging, cd's, portable devices and paperwork that my lap couldn't handle all of it.
In order to get the free software that comes with this device I have to register the product. Yep, you guessed it... more coffee. This little gem has a registration key and a SBD key. Neither of them are easy to locate or log in with. I had to google the SBD which is the Software Bundle Download code. It is a ridiculous combination of numbers, letters, dashes and spaces I thought I was getting into Russian counter intelligence because the number is actually hidden on the inside flap of the box. Why don't they just put it on the CD rom envelope like they did in the 90's?
WTF!
It's just the Corel website. I made it in and the software is downloading. It actually installed without a hitch.
It's 9:15.
Corel's software requires an authorization code. Oh yes you guessed it.
My hands are shaking because I never drink this much coffee.
I log in to the account that I just created to install the tablet and in a quiet little corner of my virtual library there is another magical product key. This sucker is just as ridiculous as the others and now I feel like Lara Croft and I'm about to raid a tomb of art treasures when all I really want to do is make a pencil sketch.
It's 9:20. I'm exhausted.
I stop to write this blog.
I can't believe I was ever tech savvy but I will not be defeated.
Wait
For
IT!
It's 11:11 and I admit defeat. I thought it might be a software problem but I think it is actually a tablet problem. I have set up and reset this sucker a half dozen times using multiple software programs. I can get it to do really fat lines but when I attempt my own art it looks like a primary school project gone wrong.
SO VERY WRONG.
Instincts are telling me that this is a device fail because when I stop using the pen and draw with my mouse it works. So why do I need the pen or the touch tablet?
Bottom line, crap is crap and I spent most of my morning determining that this is not going to make my 365 days any better or the rest of my days to be honest. This is a "follow my instincts" moment and I'm letting the tablet and touch pen win.
As I type this final line I will admit that I asked my tech savvy offspring to check my work (so humbling) and he gave it the middle finger too!
Day 272 penned out to be a disaster.
Love & Light
