Computer frustration? How about a 'Godsend'?

Mary Ann Losiewcz writes: "You asked for a computer topic.

"Ok, well, I'm certainly not an expert on software by any stretch of the imagination, but I will say that I keep trying. I took up a hobby not that long ago. I attempt to write music. I can't say how good I am at it. That is in the ear of the listener.

"But I can tell you that I did get a program to help me put my ideas onto paper. Having the instrument and a voice isn't as good as having the actual sheet music for you. The program I have is a midi program. It allows me to use the keyboard and write out the notes. The funny thing for me is that while I can play the instruments, the reading (and writing) of the music escapes me. So this program for me is a God-send. I don't have to be able to read it to write it now. And it gets better with time.

"Last year, I wrote a Christmas song. Any of you that went to St. Timothy and Mark for Christmas heard it. Ask my brother about it. And the children's choir did it at my parish. This year, I'm attempting to do harmonies for it so that the full choir I belong to can do it, as well. We could do it in the simple form I've started it in, but the harmonies will make it all that much better. And the program helps me write it.

"It's a long slow process for me too, because I'm still learning the program, but the learning is part of the fun of doing something I want to do. Thank you for letting me share this with you. Mary Ann"

And thanks for sharing it, Mary Ann. I asked, I believe a month or so after beginning this Jonal nearly two years ago, if there was such a program, thinking it would be a "natural"...finally I have an answer (realizing that it may have not existed then, or that no one reading may have encountered it). Like you, and I expect most people, I find it takes a long time to learn what a software application is capable of. Most of them are much more powerful than novices need, but like you we all aspire to move beyond the novice level before the software becomes obsolete. The best programs are so designed that the novices can do the basics from the get-go, but add to the basics as their sophistication increases.

Do you have a computer problem or solution to share? Let's keep this topic going at least through this week.

—Webmaster Jon Kennedy

10 Universal Laws of Golf (first of two)

1: Your best round of golf will be followed almost immediately by your worst round ever. 2: Brand new golf balls are water-magnetic. 3: Golf balls never bounce off trees, back into play. 4: Every par-three hole in the world has a secret desire to humiliate golfers. 5: Topping a three-iron is the most painful torture known to man.

Thought for today

It's better to lose your pride to the one you love, than to lose the one you love because of pride. We spend too much time looking for the right person to love or finding fault with those we already love, when instead we should be perfecting the love we give.

—Sent by Mike Harrison

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