Ruth: Well, so I got my friend Michael to take some photos of me with my new camera — with my usual stipulation/threat that it had to be flattering. (Who cares if it looks like me? It just has to look good.)
Following his very patient instructions, I actually managed to connect the right cords and upload several photos (a minor miracle). I was basking in a rosy sense of my own competence when the program asked whether I’d like to crop the photo. Why sure! I thought. After all, I was already on a roll.
So I indicated yes, and the program cut out a tiny square of my face — eyes, nose, half my mouth. That was it. I couldn’t change it, get back the full face. Just a square about as big as a thumbnail. I hate technology. It always defeats me, one way or another.
In the meantime, though, I managed to stumble through an interview on KUT (since somebody else was in charge of the technology): http://kut.org/items/show/10619. The accompanying photo, I should add, is 100 years old and hardly looks like me.
The interview was to promote a script I wrote for the radio show 11 Central Ave, which can be linked to here: http://cdn.libsyn.com/susan/11CApgm59.mp2.mp3
Happy weekend. I’m not learning anything high-tech or new for the next several hours. I’m also thinking, what the hell. Maybe, at my age, face-shrinking isn’t a half-bad idea.
(Copyright 2007 by Ruth Pennebaker)
