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.