A Virgin, I am

Yup, I'm a blogger virgin. I'm all of 42 years old and a blog newbie. Took me all of two hours this morning figuring out how to configure my own blog. And as evidenced by my initial blank post, I am still getting my feet wet.

I'm not exactly new to the wired world. Far from it, in fact. I was one of the first in my country to get hold of a Mac. A Macintosh Plus, it was called back in 1989. That was soon followed by an SE, a Macintosh II and an Apple Laser Writer! And soon we set up what must have been the first Mac-based desktop publishing outfit, complete with a Linotype film printer.

It was fun back then: the pioneer years when we shrugged off the sneers and wicked smiles of our competitors who were avid users and proud advocates of DOS-based "layout" programs. It was so long ago I don't even remember what programs they were harping about.

What were they called? "Ventura Publisher", was it? This was way before Mr. Gates realized the Apple threat and came up with his own wysiwyg OS.

That was decades ago. I was in the forefront of the Mac Movement.

But soon thereafter, I just as quickly got left behind.

I designed and conducted an extensive training program for artists in the advertising agency I worked in. The goal was simple: to convert the agency's pool of mainly UST and UP Fine Arts alumni into technology savvy digital artists.

And I succeeded! Many of these artists are now creative directors in top agencies all over the world! Some in fact, are agency heads. A few others have crafted successful careers in allied fields like production, media and marketing. And a good friend actually works for Apple itself! And all of them continue to use technology as an integral part of their creativity.

And that's one reason I got left behind. (Or so I justify to myself). I was enamored with the technology itself. It was the end all and be all as far as I was concerned. But technology is not and end in itself. It is merely a tool. An important one, I grant. But just a tool nonetheless. It takes God-given talent and artistry to be able to hone this tool. It's not about theories, it's about putting it into practice. And alas, an artist I am not.

I am a teacher. And proud of it too. And so like most teachers who get "left behind" while their students go on to make their mark in the world, I remain where I was more than 20 years ago.

But I'm proud of all my students. And although I got "left behind" --- I still insist on using Pagemaker, for pete's sake, I relish the fact that hey, I think I played a little part in their success.

So to all you successful and rich former trainees of mine ... balato naman diyan!