The Journey

"She often thought of herself as the eternal student, posing as teacher." –Gail Godwin, The Odd Woman

Many people don’t know -- or can’t guess – one important thing about me. My age. Many think, “oh, she’s 40ish. Forty-something. She looks kind of youngish, so I can’t really tell.” Much as I wish, I cannot pass for thirtysomething anymore, especially with an 18-year-old daughter. I know I still look youngish. I know that sometimes I still believe I’m a fraud trying to pass for a “grown up.” Inside, I don’t feel my age. But the truth is I’m 50. Half a century. Jumping into the final frontier. But, within that frontier, like the Star Trek allusion infers, lies a technological future. In order to understand that future and navigate it well, it would be helpful for me to understand my technological past and how my technological literacy developed from the later 20th century to the early 21st century. Yes, mine is a story that will span almost equal chunks of two centuries. Thus the confession. You must understand the generation from whence I came in order to better understand my journey