I am living proof of evolution.  On the outside I look like a Homo sapiens (human being), but ask me a computer or new media question and I expose my Jurassic identity.  Photos on the internet: Nada. On-line games: Nada.  You Tube: Never been there.  Shortcut keys: Huh? Right click: I forgot it existed. Twitter: I can spell it.

I’m proof that, no matter what some school districts in the U.S. say, evolution does occur.  After both my computers crashed this summer, I knew the moment had come.  I had no staff or IT to fix my problems or remind me how to do basic tasks.  My sons were grown and had moved away.  It was time.  The prehistoric fish began to sprout legs.

In three months I have (this is embarrassing):

• Learned to set margins, font size, page orientation and other stuff in Word 2010;
• Learned to paste items from one program to another, and from the internet;
• Learned some of the hidden wonders of right clicking and drop down menus;
• Learned shortcut keys for copy, paste and delete, and that they’re universal;
• Learned to paste photos into Word files;
• Copied URLs into my blog post;
• Set up Linked-in, Facebook, and PayPal accounts;
• Bought a domain name;
• Started a blog;
• Begun learning Windows 7, Word 2010, and Word Press

As someone who used computers every day for decades, I evidently covered my illiteracy fairly well.  I used them only for basic utilitarian purposes.  My family is stunned to realize how little I knew.  Now they know why I asked for their help so often!

Each week I look in the mirror that is my computer screen and see evolution occurring before my eyes.  Sometimes I even touch the screen and say, “Wow, look what I did!”  My family says, “I’m proud of you, are you proud of yourself?”  I answer “YES, I AM!” (We used to ask that of our children when they were young and accomplished something new.  Now it’s a family tradition.)

This fish named Barbara can breathe air now, but is still confined to the water. I can’t make my camera speak to my updated computer.  I rarely size pictures properly for my blog.  I want to learn how to make my blog more engaging, link readers to sites of interest, create a home page, flesh out my networking sites and connect them to my blog. I don’t even know how much I don’t know and what I could do if I learned it.   If I learn to walk in less time than those ancient fish did, I’ll be alright.  Maybe I’ll even fly. 

Evolution:  Watch out, it could happen to you.