Original art: virginia kraljevic on etsy

As I am of a certain age, I have seen some changes in technology over my years. I mostly try to take it in stride, but actually I find it astonishing.

I first learned how to use a desktop computer at work in the early 1980s.

Photo: sussexmike

Except it wasn’t actually a desktop; it was a Compaq portable computer, the size of my sewing machine, and it weighed 34 pounds. I could cover the screen with my hand. But so progressive! So exciting!

When we bought our own computer in the later ’80s, it looked something like this:

Photo: Ruj Kumar on Pinterest

In those days I would stick my head into our basement where my grad-student husband was working at his desk and find him bathed in an eerie green glow. Graphics? Of course it had graphics! Like this!

Photo: eetimes

Fast forward more than a decade. I clearly recall when my hubby and I walked into Best Buy and saw — for the first time — high-def, animated graphics on a regular home computer. We stopped like country bumpkins in front of those screens and stared. We were astonished.

Photo: Disney Screencaps

I’ve been reflecting on technology recently because of a particular need to Keep Up. Five years ago I started this blog in response to requests to put photos of my blankets online. WordPress provided a great platform so I figured out the basics and let it go at that. But then! my WordPress theme, Chaotic Soul, was retired. Do you recall when my blog looked like this?

But I didn’t like trying to read the old white-on-black anyway so I chose a new theme, Motif, and then had some catch-up to do. (WordPress has added many new features since I began blogging but I’ve been bad about keeping up with them.) With help from Wiley’s “Dummies” imprints, I learned some code, asked for help from the incredible WordPress volunteers, and did a tiny bit of my own web design. (Okay, I may be leaving out a few frustrated hours of struggling to conceptualize what I even needed to ask the volunteers!)

Honestly, I can hardly believe how amazing the internet is, and computing, and code, and the blogging world, and electronics…it’s mostly beyond me. But I am so grateful to be living now and taking part in all of this. How about you?

Please come back next week to see “Keeping up appearances, Part 2,” in which I give you a little tour around my blog!