the monitor sits solidly in front of me, thin blue and grey bars across the top, another grey bar across the bottom. a field of perfect whiteness fills the expanse in between, marred only by lines of black courier text which grow across the page in rapid spurts between long pauses. the electron gun hidden in its fortification a foot or more behind the glass fires in rapid sweeps across the phosphor surface of my display saturating every square micrometer 70 times each second. there is nothing warm or comforting about the cold white light that is the only source of light in this dark room.

as i type, i am transformed. my mind becomes more alert, more introspective. i am energized. the joy or sorrow which i feel travels through my fingertips and is transformed, magically into the text i see on the screen.

every day, millions of authors, students, developers, marketing professionals, moms, worker bees, etc., sit down in front of similar blank screens and open up outlook, word, wordperfect (does anybody use this any more?), pegasus, text-editors, blogger, and other programs and they transform this souless expanse into a collection of ordered, contrasting pixels of light with meaning. they then present this series of bits to other people, by firing off the email, posting to a website, or printing and distributing the message. through this simple miracle: people sow fear, anger, love, joy, mirth, confusion; jobs are sought out, granted, or denied; relationships are created or destroyed; souls are bared; lies are spread; and lives are transformed.

where there once was a blank screen, there is now a piece of myself. with mixed joy and trepidation, i am ready to send my little child out into the world. i hope that my creation, my labor of love will be well received::