Dora's Corner: Just Writing to Vent and to Update!

 Well, I have been AWOL for a while in regards to posting anything (mainly what I lovingly refer to as my "poli"-toons) on this blog.  Actual writing has not eluded me for what may seem obvious to most; not been lazy or lackadaisical...in lieu of writing I opted for cartoons.  These days when most are using smart phones, the cloud and social sites to connect, you have to get their attention right away because let's face it, folks, attention spans are in decline and diminutive in  comparison to life before the e-highway and e-gadgets as we now know it.  Maybe we are a lot dumber because we seldom do our own research...we are so quick to pull out the gadgetry and find quick answers.  Then instead of learning what we pulled up via Google, Yahoo, Cha-Cha, or (mon Dieu) Wikipedia, we copy and paste (the good ole C&P) or just quickly recite a couple of lines; never having learned what was pulled up.  That is dumb because we prevent ourselves from actual learning. 

ANYWAY...

That is reason enough for me to give up editorials and such for a nice, clean cartoon or caricature.  I must admit it takes longer to draw than to write but sometimes I get too wordy and go off on a tangent and failed to get to the key point of my post(s)...like now.  LOL as one would write in those awful social sites that seem to enrapture our thoughts and time too much and too often; not many are free of the addiction that these social sites seem to entice us all with and before we know it we are spending valuable time trying to be cool and trendy via a status update or tweet or whatever.

OOOPS - another tangent - my bad!

The reason for this post was to explain or get off my chest why I have been neglecting posting on this blog and my other personal ones...simple: a new computer - a desktop (H/P All-In-One) for us this time instead of the laptops which Sara and I had grown accustomed to for years.  This DT is loaded with many options, features and is impressively streamlined to the nines.  The OS is powered by Windows 8, has the latest, greatest amount of RAM with AMD/Radeon processor; duel core (a mouthful, isn't it?).  The programs are awesome when one starts getting familiar with them, but at the start it is all intimidating.  The Cloud, Skydrive, new versions of Corel Office and Windows Office is good but so high tech; too much to learn at once...the options are varied and IMO too many, but like Mama used to say: 'better to have too much than not enough'!  

Okay, okay...so now to get to the core (pardon my pun) of my recent problem...

The 'painter' program I once used when we (Sara and I) had Vista is absent from this DT so I either need to buy it or try it for free on a trial basis which I have yet to do.  Why?  Most users of the current version via Windows 8 do not like it at all and it seems it comes with glitches.  So for now I perhaps need to fully teach myself the Corel Paint-shop XP9.  The few times I have fooled with it in mere acquaintance, it has done nothing more than just piss me off.  Apologies, folks, for the expletive but it is just how the rotten program makes me feel and for now I truly despise it.  If there was one piece of advice I could offer up to MS is bring back the 'painter' program that you used to provide with earlier versions of Windows!  Until then I am going "cro-magnon" and drawing the old-fashioned way (pen and paper).  I have several cartoons just waiting to be uploaded but I have to wait to scan them since I cannot lug this DT into our office where the printer/scanner is located.  This DT, by-the-way, is a 23" so moving it is so NOT optional.  Our laptops are both currently eligible for disability...really, they are; both stuck in some kind of electronic purgatory from which I cannot save them.  I have tried all I know, but they remain in the electronic "black hole".  I hope we can get them fixed esp the one I was using to draw my e-opus(es) with because I am tiring of trying to get e-savvy with a simple paint issue getting in my way.  Plus, I miss posting the drawings because my writing gets away from me.  Proof: this post which I intended to be quick and to the point just became almost an op-ed page.  LOL!