Technology Scream

March weaving by Bhakti Ziek

(whole image at top, details at bottom)

On this dreary wet frustrating day, I will start with an image of my finished weaving. I don't have a title yet, which is unusual for me since the weaving usually "tells" me its name while I am making it. For now, it is March weaving. My reading of A Path with Heart tells me that many people, when mediating, notice their mind stories are often self-aggrandizement's--and that certainly applies to me--not when I am meditating, since that is rare, but when I am weaving. I think this weaving is a very good beginning for a body of work, but perhaps it is not quite the shining, magnificent, awesome work that I saw as I was making it. Sometimes when I finish a work I have to put it away for a month or so before I can see it for what it is, rather than my expectations and judgements. This one is on my wall right now, which is a tribute to my early acceptance of it. It needs to be mounted and finished, but I have months to procrastinate on that.

So I have been fussing about the learning curve of new technology--in my case, a new scanner and a new digital camera. The camera is already not working--and the really frustrating aspect is that I purchased it from a vendor online, through Amazon, and, unbeknown to me on ordering, it came from Hong Kong. I have nothing against Hong Kong, but the warranty for the camera is not valid here in the USA--and I just feel like screaming. I am not a big consumer, so the idea of exchanges and exchanges that mean shipping overseas, is really frustrating me and ruining my day. Those of you who do shop online and through Amazon know that it also means email correspondence, no easy recourse to a living human being, and probably weeks until this gets resolved.

On Sunday I went to Montpelier to see Don't Know, We'll See: The Work of Karen Karnes by Lucy Massie Phenix, which was shown through the Green Mountain Film Festival. Both Karen and Lucy were there, which was very nice, and the movie was quite inspiring. At one point Karnes' studio (and house?) burnt and the film shows her the very next day going through hot smoldering destruction, pulling out a pot or two (the last kiln load of work survived). I could not believe that she was so cheerful--not a moment of self-pity. She says she is lucky because it was only things that were lost, it could have been much worse. So I am going to tell myself the same thing about today--it's only a tool/toy and even if the situation doesn't resolve itself to my satisfaction (and it probably will), it's only a thing.

Maybe you noticed that I have added a link on the right side of this blog where you can sign up for email notification that I have posted a new page. A friend asked me to do this, so I looked it up online (so technology does have some good to it today) and added it to my blog. This might mean that some of you who click often looking won't have to do that, and my numbers on the click counter won't grow so fast, but I am sure it will be more convenient for you, if you want that type of notification.