I mentioned yesterday that I was going to leap – into committing to writing for this and other sites even if I didn’t yet have a reliable computer or quiet space to write - and let the net appear.

Well, as the title implies, I have half my net. I am typing on my new laptop that I was just able to get last night. It’s primarily for (and due to) classes, but it will certainly come in handy elsewhere. I’m fairly sure i got a good deal, the best for the money I was willing to spend and it’s got Windows 7, so I am happy. Now I just have to re-learn to type without Blackberry’s little helpful shortcuts. I keep clicking the space key twice and expecting that not only will a full stop be applied to the previous sentence but that my next letter will be automatically capitalized, and other stuff. Oh, well… a little backspacing never hurt anyone. A full-sized laptop can seem HUGE, though, to someone who has gotten used to an itty bitty screen.

What i am still lacking is the quiet place to write – but I where there is a will and all that. And there needs to be a will if I want to write anything besides general blather, such as this. And since generally blathering is not my goal, though it’s fun sometimes, I need to make this work somehow.

I tried to write about Miep Gies this morning. She passed away yesterday at the age of 100. My piece, should I get it written, is not actually about her so much as about her spirit, her actions and that same gene (for action, even if the face of personal danger) that dwells in untold numbers of people. I first heard Miep’s name and story from an elderly Muslim man who was, in a way, wondering where all those untold numbers of people were – when New Orleans (and surrounding areas) was being left to drown after Katrina.

So, if I want to write as I wish to about heroes, about the people who are today working to do things to make this world a better place, I’d better get out my needle and thread and make the other half of the net myself.

(photo at the top is from Anoop Negi’s photostream – lovely stuff)