Welcome to the Future

Today I installed and configured a new software application called “Dragon Dictate” to help me work hands-free.  This post is my first attempt at using it, and I think I'm going to like being able to write while drinking my coffee and holding the mug with both hands. Not that I'm holding a coffee mug right now as it's after 10:00 in the evening, but it's the thought that counts. Ahhhh, no more hunting and pecking at the keyboard, all I have to do is think it, say it and, voilà! (Wow Dragon Dictate even put in the accent correctly!) If I can't get the book done by May 1st with all this technology at my fingertips, I'm completely hopeless.

I've never dictated to anyone before, so it's very odd to have to say the words for punctuation. But this program seems to be remarkably accurate at processing what I'm saying and turning it into words, sentences, and paragraphs. One thing I don't have to worry about anymore is spell check! I don't even need to say a sentence smoothly and elegantly. It can come out jerky and hesitant, and, by the time it's translated into text, it flows beautifully. Of course without looking at the words as I type them--and being limited by the speed at which I type--I have a feeling it will be much easier to come across as a blithering idiot when my posts can come out of my mouth and onto the paper without being checked by my fingers. Clearly I will still need to review what I've written and edit it for clarity and meaning. (I wonder if I can get it to attach photos for me without having to use my hands?)

Tomorrow is the last day the studio is open in 2011. If I weren't rushing so much to get ready for Christmas, I would think it a good time to do a Year in Review. However, I still have look worse to decant and process… Oh dear, not “look worse” but “liqueurs”. And there is a big project on the loom, another on the knitting needles, and yet a third textile project on the classroom table in the studio. All are Christmas presents, and none will be ready for Christmas Day. Good thing my family knows me! (Jessie said “wow” as she watched me finish up this post verbally.)


Next week, Dragon Dictate firmly mastered, the book begins in earnest.