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When I first started online I was told of the dangers of posting your real name. If I was ever brave enough to sign up for anything, which wasn’t often, I would use the screen name RyKarAly. It was my three kids first few letters of their names. Everyone that read it thought I was a guy or I was a huge fan of Star Trek.

For many years I never told anyone what my real name was. When someone warns me, I listen and I wasn’t going to take any chances. There were internet tuffies that would do me some serious damage if I leaked my real name.
The mysteries of what would happen if I slipped up were the things that would give you nightmares.

Thinking back to the first few years of trying to figure out the internet it reminds me of how far I have come.
It was 1995 when I bought my first computer, a Packard Bell. That computer had ONE use and ONE use only…it could make greeting cards.
For 2 years it sat there, hooked up to the internet and I had NO idea how to use it. My husband at the time, would log onto the internet and look up all kinds of things.
I would ask him simple questions.
“What is that sound? That cat in the blender sound?”
“That’s the computer connecting to the internet.”
“Huh?”
“It’s the phone lines, the computer goes through the phone lines and connects to the internet…blah blah blah.”
“Is that why the phone is always busy? Hey…what program is that?”
“It’s not a program, it’s Yahoo.”
“Where is that disk?”
“It’s not a disk, Kristine…it’s the internet.”
“What does it make?”
“Nothing, it’s just information.”
“That’s dumb.Does it have book titles in there?”
“Yes…what do you want to know?”
“I need to know what the first book Jude Deveraux ever wrote is.”

Yes, my first ‘real’ online experience started with wanting to know about romance writers.

It still took me another year before I could do more than check my email, which I had NONE because no one I knew had a computer.

Then I found chat rooms. AOL chat rooms. Maui Friends chat room. I soon had friends in Maui that thought I was funny and would greet me when I entered the room.
I would never leave this place, this was going to be my online home forever!
Hours were spent checking in to see what everyone was doing. I thought the fact that people could send pictures to each other was amazing, but there was really no way, EVER that I would be able to do it. I went to the store and made copys of pictures and sent them via snail mail to Hawaii to my friends.

Moronic would be a way to describe the look on my face when I opened my email and saw my picture staring back at me.
BLACK MAGIC! THOSE MAUI PEOPLE WERE USING BLACK MAGIC! They had taken the picture I had sent them through the mail and put it in the computer!

“DANNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN!” I was half horrified that this had happened. This might mean that internet tuffies would soon be showing up at my house to kill me and everyone I knew.
He came in and saw me sitting there with my mouth dropped open and pointing at my tiny computer screen with my picture on it.
“What? Kristine? What’s the matter?”
“LOOK! How did they do that?”
“Probably used a scanner.”

We went out and bought one that day. I scanned every single picture in the house. This was my new toy. I could now make greeting cards WITH pictures.
I started taking more ‘film’ pictures. Rushing to the store to develop them. Then coming home and scanning them. My life now had purpose.

“We should buy you a digital camera.” He suggested and then explained to me how digital worked and I laughed at in his face and continued to scan.

SEVERAL years later, we got a digital camera and by then I knew my way around the internet like a pro. I was the queen of WYSIWYG web design on Geocities.

A few years later I did something crazy and bought my own domain. This was before I knew about ‘blogging’. I had already started reading ‘blogs’, but I didn’t know that is what they were called…I thought they were web pages. I tried to make mine look like the ones I liked, but it was nearly impossible because these people were creative and knew things about colors that matched.
I did my best and had that domain for 2 years before I realized it was time to stop pretending I could make anything worth looking at.

Then 4 years ago, I started writing again. This time it wasn’t at the computer. It was in my garage with a pack of Marlboro and bad attitude. Poetry. I wrote some good stuff because I was in that place where the creativity is just exploding from my pen. It was time to put this is in the computer because I had tripped over a can that was full of cigarette butts and Pepsi and almost ruined a journal.

A friend saw me designing something on the computer and he asked what I was doing.

“Just putting some of my writings into web page form.”
“What’s your writing about?”
“Just a bunch of Random and Odd stuff.”

This last month I have started a few new things.

I bought randomandodd.com for $1.99 and after buying it…I realize I have no damn clue what do to next. I don’t know how to get any kind of blogging program up there or how to redirect anything or even how to set up the stupid email accounts.
I’m just as clueless as I was when I first started.

I’m also trying to find a template for Von Krankipantzen because…it’s time…it’s time for that woman who is “WHOA so strong” to have something more than the green template that blogger offers. If you’re a real designer, and want to lift the spirits of someone who battles something that no one should ever have to battle, please email me so I can give you the information. I want her to have the PERFECT template and if you read her you will understand why.

I love “Bloggers Spotlight” and I want to do more with it because I think everyone deserves comments and to be made feel special. I am just trying to find the time to do that in the middle of everything else.

Remember when I said I wanted to write about something, but I didn’t know how? My aunt is in the hospital with full liver failure and I can’t even say her name without wanting to cry, so I am dealing with that too.

My friend, ‘Cita is losing her father to cancer. My other friend is going through stuff that frustrates me and makes me want to get into a bar fight.

FOUR dentist appointments for four different kids….THIS WEEK.

Did I mention I was getting married in 5 months?

I’m stressed out. Do you notice my hair has started falling out again?

This week, Kami is taking over SPF. She will do a GREAT job. Be nice to the substitute and don’t play any mean tricks on her.
(and if you do, please take pictures so I can see!)

I know this was a long rambling post, but take your time working your way through it because it’s going to be here for a few days until I get my ducks all in a row.

TTFN.