Gone High-Tech

***As of February 1, our entire press list has been computerized, and all of our media advisories and press releases with accompanying photos are now sent electronically. (Upon request, we occasionally send media kits by priority mail). In a moment of nostalgia, I recalled my first job at the American University Theatre, when sending out a press release involved typing on a form which then ran through a mimeograph machine (with its medicinal ink smell). Then, the folding, the envelope stuffing, addressing, stamping, and sorting by zipcode...everything had to be banded in batches and taken to a special post office. Now, it's type, proof, point, click, send. Wow !

***A few years ago, I discontinued cable, because I wasn't watching enough TV for the price I was paying, or I was watching too much TV for the price it was costing me in terms of wasted time. A dish doesn't work well in my neighborhood, so I restrict my TV viewing to rabbit ears atop the set. If there's something important on cable, I record it at my dad's house.

So, in preparation for America's switch from analog to digital, I picked up a converter box. I was surprised to find some of the additional channels available, particularly on PBS. I've really enjoyed the Create network on PBS--food, cooking, wine, and travel shows 24/07.

***The office fax is now officially "inactive", going the way of the rotary phone, the VHS player, and the tape deck. We seldom send nor receive faxes anymore. In the heyday of faxes here (during the Butch years), friends and colleagues would send faxes to keep Butch jumping up on the fax machine. But, since Butch moved on to that communications center in the sky and we've moved on to PDFs, that dedicated phone line will get scratched from the budget. I plan to keep the fax here, just in case someone needs to communicate "the old-fashioned way".