I was right in the middle of writing a post last night, when our cable modem went out. It’s been doing it a lot lately, and it’s always frustrating–suddenly, no Internet, no access to the outside world, no blogs, no yarn sites with tempting things to buy. Frustrating and all-too-frequent.

And yet, really, a year or so ago, I only rarely read blogs. Two years ago, I was still using dial-up. Ten years ago, all Internet access was the expensive, minute-by-minute kind which put a serious crimp on how much time you could spend browsing the ‘Net. Fifteen years ago, I had a “laptop” computer that was my college graduation gift and weighed about the same as a pile of bricks. It had a monochrome, LCD screen, too, which was impossible for anything other than word processing . . . (I think my dislike for computer games with any more action than your average game of solitaire dates back to trying to use that screen.) Twenty years ago, we had one computer in the house–the one I got from Drew when I started my Freshman year. It was part of their Computer Initiative, a program of the very first liberal arts college in the country to give a computer to every single incoming student (The Epson QX-16, the second one, was the one I got. For that matter, Drew’s was also the first voicemail system I ever experienced, and my first taste of the Internet–anyone else remember Bitnet? I’d talk to students all over the world, and I think I was one of the few who wasn’t studying computer sciences). It didn’t even have a hard-drive, for goodness’ sake, you had to boot it up each time off of floppy disks. Before that the only computer I had had any access to at all was the mainframe at Dad’s office, which I was able to use once a year to type up my English papers.

If you keep going back, my father worked in the programming department of one of the very first banks to use computerized accounting, the Howard Savings, back, just at the cusp of computers entering the business world, in the 1950-60s. He’ll tell stories about the total amount of RAM stored in huge rooms filled with machines–miniscule amounts. (I’d tell you the amount, but my brain tends to shut off when I start hearing techno-babble . . . I can tell you though that my current laptop is, er, substantially stronger.) About computers that had just switched from vacuum tubes to transistors. How ladies walking past the room at quitting time would kill the machines from the static of their skirts. How trucks driving down Raymond Boulevard would cause the computers to crash by vibrating the vacuum tubes.

Now, Juno wrote a nice little paean to the space program the other day, and how we forget how impressive it is–because it IS amazing, being able to leave our planet. And there are so many things we can do, that we have now, without thinking, that just weren’t around when I was a child in the 1970s. Answering machines. Calculators. Personal computers. The internet. VCRs. Fax machines (remember when they were the cat’s pajamas in terms of “high-tech?”). Overnight delivery services. Cell phones. Satellite communication. Cable television. It puts being able to play solitaire on your computer in a whole new light! And the space program? It’s about more than just drinking Tang. People in the 60s got that–it was a marvel, a miracle–now it’s humdrum, yeah, yeah . . . and it should never be that. Never! I blame all the special effects in movies, myself, for making the incredible look ordinary. If it weren’t for Star Wars making it look so simple . . . (grin)

With all the terrible things going on in the world (you don’t need a list, you know the things I mean–terrorism, war, famine, pollution, global warming), sometimes you just have to stop and look at the things on the plus side of the ledger. I’m not saying that technology is all wonderful–convenient, yes, but not without its downside. I don’t need to tell you knitters and spinners that, either. You folks understand that there is value in the simpler things in life, or you wouldn’t be spending your time figuring out how to spin your own yarn, or making baby gifts by hand instead of just buying something at Baby Gap. But at the same time, this community of knit-bloggers–which I love being a part of–couldn’t exist without 21st-century technology. I love the irony of sitting behind my spinning wheel, connecting with the past, and then then turning around and connecting with all of you. Modern technology has opened so many doors that would otherwise have been closed–if I’d even known about them at all.

I know some people–the modern Luddites–fret that the modern world doesn’t leave room for people to connect to each other any more. We’re all too isolated in our air-conditioned houses, driving our private vehicles, sitting in front of glowing screens (whether television or computer) . . . and yet, I feel I’ve made more friends in the last year than I have in the last fifteen put together. That IS a modern miracle, and one which I am grateful for, and so I wanted to take a moment to point out some of the things that we take for granted. Sure, there’s nothing quite like getting together in person with family and friends, sharing good food and good times, all of that.

Most of us are fortunate enough to live in a place–wherever in this world it may be–where food is plentiful at the grocery store, we have shoes on our feet, decent healthcare–and if the world is all too literally blowing up around us, at least the world that has created suicide-bombers and terrorists willing to fly planes into skyscrapers, has also created this online community of caring and giving people. I can’t count the number of blogs I’ve read in just the last six months that are raising money for charity, or knitting for charity, or knitting for online friends in need. The Fiber Random Acts of Kindness group, which exists solely to spread a little comfort through the world. Stephanie’s Knitters Without Borders group, which as raised a whopping $78,747 for Doctors Without Borders–just since last year’s Christmas tsunami. And I can’t remember how much Wendy raised last year for Heifer International

Talk about modern miracles.

And, you want another one? My Union Square Market Pullover is finally starting to behave itself.

Finally–as we’re all driving around, dealing with other drivers’ stupidity and road rage and traffic jams and all that (this assuming you don’t regularly use mass transit), I read this interesting article, about how singing while driving can keep you more alert and more even-tempered, and therefore safer while you drive. Isn’t it nice to know that I’ve been doing something so smart all these years? I always sing in the car.

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