WE'RE ON YOUTUBE

     Thanks to Maureen Carroll of Anamcara Press several of us are on a YouTube celebration of Poetry Month. Oh, drat, I forgot to copy the YouTube link. I'll have to retrace and get it.

    I read one, no, actually two of my Friendship Fountain poems, one of which was published in the Summer 2023-24 issue of The Write Bridge, with the theme of Solitude and Solidarity.

    Why did I write a poem about a Friendship Fountain?

    Here it is: The Message

A gesture.

A message.

A fountain.

Dancing waters

blessing the air

with moisture.

Sun-worshipping sunflowers,

stalks of golden wheat,

flying birds atop the waters.

A gift from us

to the freedom-seeking

people of Ukraine.

A gesture, a message

the whole world

will understand.

CUSTOMIZED KEYBOARD

    I have to wonder -- Why are not keyboards color customized?

    Recently, I took matters in my own hands.

    In word-processing programs the user should regularly press the 's' key to 'save' the work. Failure to do so can result the loss of previously keyboarded material. Some people's sense of touch is so highly developed they can perform many activities even if blindfolded. I am not one of them. I need the sense of touch amplified by sight.

    A tiny square of red tape placed on the 's' key has helped immensely. In fact, it was so helpful I added a piece of orange tape on the question mark and a piece of green tape on the apostrophe / quote marks.

    I see a whole new business growing out of this concept: LET US CUSTOMIZE YOUR KEYBOARD FOR YOU.

MAKING US DUMBER

     I do agree: computers are making us dumber.

    Today's mail brought a bill from a communication provider. Two pages. On the upper part of the first page there is a line that reads This month's charges are $10.00 more.

    Down toward the bottom of the page there is another line which reads This month's charges are the same as last month's.

    Soooooo, which is it?

    I made a copy and mailed to the Customer Relations department. I predict I will eventually get a letter explaining how correct they are and how dumb I am for not being able to understand, intuitively.