Tuesday, December 19, 2006

One Giant Leap for Lenkind!

Truth to tell, I’m a bit of a Technophobe. Look up Luddite in the dictionary and you’re likely to find a picture of the back of my head. If I’d been born ten years earlier, my VCR (already in and of itself pretty much obsolete) would still be blinking 12:00. I don’t own an iPod, a Blackberry, a Blueberry or a Boysenberry, though I will admit to being totally at the mercy of a Tungsten III Palm Pilot (model discontinued, of course) that my wife gave me for Christmas a few years ago. For the most part, technology and I just don’t mix very well. I can almost never figure out intuitively how to get the most benefit from any electronic gadget I’m handed, and by the second page of any manual I attempt to read, I’m firmly convinced I’m reading Sanscrit. Not a combination devoutly to be wished. That I’m able to use my computer at all is a miracle in and of itself, and therein lies a tale.

Many years ago, I sold my first script for an animated series, an episode of the original Transformers show called “Webworld.” The day the check came in, my friends Marv Wolfman, Diane Duane, and Bob Greenberger said to me, “Oh, good. You’re got extra money. You’re going to buy a computer.” I started to protest, but they added, “No, no, that wasn’t a suggestion. That was a statement of fact.” And they proceeded to drag me, almost literally kicking and screaming, to the computer store downstairs from the DC Comics offices. “Can I help you?” asked a smiling salesperson, as we entered. “Yes,” said my three friends as one, pushing me forward, “He wants to buy a computer.” I stood there, flatfooted. “And what sort of computer are you looking for?” asked the clerk. “You know the phrase ‘user-friendly?’” I stammered. “Of course,” replied the clerk. “Well,” I finished, “I’m looking for one that’s idiot-friendly.” The salesman beamed. “Oh, you want a MacIntosh.” He was, of course, absolutely right. And thus was I thrust headlong into the latter half of the 20th Century.

Now here we are, just past the threshold of the 21st Century, and everyone is blogging. When I first heard the word, I assumed it was something one did after a night of particularly heavy drinking. I’ve since been informed I was wrong. It now appears blogging has replaced letter writing and the telephone as the principle means of communication in this fast-paced world, and who am I to disagree?

So here I am, once again bringing up the rear, the last lonely straggler to take that E-ticket ride into the future. Still, with your kind permission, I’ll be popping up on this page as often as I can to regale you with my latest adventures (and believe me, I do still have my fair share) or maybe just to tell you about the latest movie I’ve seen or the newest book I’ve read or even just to say hi. I’m not sure I can make it every day but I promise I’ll be here as often as circumstances permit.

Here’s hoping you’ll join me.

16 comments:

Photo Lawyer said...

Oh, this is the button to push for comments! Great first post, Len. Sounds just like you.

Foxessa said...

Hi, Len.

Am particularly looking forward to your movie commentary.

Love, C.

OneL said...

Manuals are not written in Sanskrit, they are written a far more difficult language, Tech. The problem is that the writers of manuals think that either (1) everyone speaks Tech or (2) they are speaking English. Thus the disconnect.

For the past 15 years, my job was to translate information between the three languages I speak: English, Legal and Tech. When I started my last job seven years ago, I told my boss that once enough people learned Tech I would be out of a job. He said "in that case, you're going to be here for a long time."

Eliot

Elayne said...

You're doing fine. Blogging is no different from writing, at which you're an expert. It's just using certain tools to do it, and on Blogger most of those tools are user-friendly and don't really require any maintenance. And at the few times when they do, there are plenty of people around to help on the tool end of things (like me, I've been doing this for 4+ years so feel free to kvetch to me if you require any assistance)...

Jim McClain said...

This automatically went to the top of my favorites list, Len. Welcome to the blog world!

TomStewart said...

Hey Len!

Welcome to the internets!

Tom "The Comics Savant" Stewart.

Cory!! said...

Len,

As someone who grew up on your comics, and loved your posts on GEnie before it went away, I've missed your writing. Nice to have you back!

Mike Everleth said...

Yay, Len! I will be visiting often. Comics guys on the web: You gotta love 'em. Isabella, Grant, Evanier, Greenberger, Gerber -- and now Wein. Great!

P.S. Just type. Blogger will do the rest for you.

Dwight Williams said...

Welcome to the party! Hoping you'll stay a good long while!

Mark W. Hale said...

"Webworld"?

Does that mean you wrote the bit with the insane three-headed alien protesting that he had no head? That's one of my favorite moments from a series I loved as a kid.

Welcome to bloggin!

Avi Green said...

Wow, welcome to the blogosphere, Len!

Unknown said...

Welcome to the Internets, Len. It was great meeting you and Marv in Kansas City back in 2005. Hope you will make the trip again some day.
-Joe

filkertom said...

Fantastic. Welcome to the blogosphere, sir. You're one of my all-time favorite comics writers, and I'm looking forward to this.

Diane said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Diane said...

Hey, you! BIG HUG! Welcome to the blogosphere!

Come on over and visit:

Out of Ambit

Maybe we can find some more bleeding-edge technology to cut you on. :)

M. Mitchell Marmel said...

Remember, blogs are like strings: Sooner or later, every yo-yo has to have one. (grin)

Welcome to the modern-type Information Age! :)