I am a techie.  iPods, cameras, personal computing options, the wonders and potential of social media and web-based anything truly excite me.  Just thinking about the possibilities sets my heart a flutter the same as any love affair.  Reading Mashable’s Blog and CNet are better for me than any romance novel.  I have an admiration, adoration and respect for technology and what it has brought to our lives. I can sit in my living room with a laptop, take a class or teach a class, talk to my friends in Europe, ask a question (or ask for help) and watch the answers start pouring in from all over the world, start a revolution and download a song all at the same time, at any hour of the day.

There are so many things I love about technology.  Creativity and imagination, innovation, functionality, broadening the range of people I can touch (in some manner or another), and its 24 hour a day, unending availability are just a few.  But the more I think about technology the more I realize that while I love it, at the same time, it drives me just as crazy as a roller-coaster romance.  The things that thrill me, draw me in and keep me hanging on are the same things that drive me to distraction. 

I am a “creative” by nature, a learning professional by calling.  Creativity is my native language.  Music, art, writing, creative ideas and new ways of doing things motivate me and inspire me.  I love helping people learn not only in a classroom but in the broadest classroom of all – life.  I can think of no better time when IMAGINEERING has been at its greatest.  There are no limits, no boundaries.  Whatever we can dream up, we can make happen, and it seems easier and easier every day.  Daily I find some new way for me to share information, creatively and effectively.  There is SO much information right at my fingertips, in seconds!!!  Each day I read my favorite technology news feeds I am pumped and inspired.  And it seems that technology has inspired many of us.  Daily there are new sites and tools with even better ways to communicate and create.

I have so much trouble deciding.  Apple or Windows?  Web or Software?  iPhone or Blackberry?  They are in constant competition for my time, attention, affection and loyalty.  With each passing second functionality improves and they woo me with a new feature or an amazing interface.  Just when I think it can’t get any better, it seems they create something special just for me.  And they listen.  On more than one occasion, I have posted a random Twitter,  Uttr, Posterous microblog post or Facebook status, asking a question about a tool or some functionality with which I’m working. And on more than one occasion I have been happily surprised by the developer or upstart owner contacting me directly to chat about my issue and immediately, I am given one on one attention, and an audience with developers who want to talk with real users.  I’m lovingly and attentively guided through my maze of functionality issues.  Or, immediately some programming changes are made on their end, and they contact me again to tell me so.  Either way, I feel valued and heard (not to mention I’m able to effectively and efficiently get a task done).  How can I not fall in love with that?

I’m loving the roller coaster.  The minute I fall in love with some new tool or product, along comes something else to turn my head.  Some new innovator and creative has come into my life with something new I can use that is relevant and meaningful for me, and I jump feet first, exploring all of the nuances, bells and whistles.  I get to know it and quickly find out what I love about it and what I have to just live with as part of who my new technology love is.  I’m committed – or am I?  Already I’m thinking “Did I commit and get into a relationship with _____ too soon”?  Actually, I’m not committed at all.  I have just have decided that monogamy in technology is not for me.  I flit between programs, sites and platforms, using whatever best suits me or my needs at the time.

And we all seem to be getting along just fine…and the love affair continues.