PC to Mac

I'm writing this from my new laptop, a teeny tiny little thing known as the MacBook Air. I am excited about it, but also a bit intimidated. I'm not a computer person. I know more than my mother, perhaps, but less than your average American 3-year-old. I use the computer for email, I use it to read NPR articles, I use it to search out auditions. I use it to write, to keep my resume updated, to store my music and my photos. I use it as a DVD player and a CD player. And that's about it. For the things I do, I know my way around a computer.

At least, I did. And then I got a Mac.

Understand, I am excited about all the fun little toys on my teeny weeny MacBook Air. Things like GarageBand and iMovie and Photo Booth. And I'm told that Macs are very user friendly. But I must say, in the 3 days that I've had this thing out of the box, I've barely looked at it. When I have, I have found myself getting frustrated and discouraged. It's like learning a new language! There are so many things one can do on this 2 pound, 1/2-inch-thick piece of super-strength aluminum. But it took me minutes just to figure out how to click on something. Sigh. I feel like my grandparents, who, when we bought them a new VCR and told them they could watch tapes on it, broke the thing by shoving in cassette tapes and not understanding why they wouldn't play. I've watched numerous tutorials, trying to learn how to use 1 or 2 or 3 or even 4 fingers on the touchpad to do a variety of magical maneuvers, or how to record my voice and then lay down fun little drum tracks on top of it. But with all the tutorials, I feel like I've only grown stupider. Or more stupid. Crap, I don't even know how to speak proper English anymore.

Regardless of my frustrations, I am determined to fall in love with my new laptop. And I think I will. It's so darned cute! And it's far more powerful than all of Alex's computers put together!! (Maybe not, he has A LOT of computers, but this teeny bit of technology is certainly way cooler than his ancient 2010 desktop.) It's kind of similar to the Sexy Beast Camaro: when I first saw the Beast pull into our garage, I found it ridiculous. When I first sat in the driver's seat, I found it intimidating. But once I had him on the street, I never wanted to stop driving. I've talked to lots of Mac users, and every one has said that Macs are the way to go. I've made the first step this morning, by choosing to use my Mac over my Gateway laptop to write this post. The Gateway is sitting right next to the Mac, and the two are like apples and watermelons: I can fit 4 of these Macs into my Gateway laptop case. I do love my Gateway, with her shiny candy-apple red skin and 17-inch screen (I use it for all of my DVD viewing). And she won't be far away, just making the move to Alex's travel case (the man is attempting to be as mobile as possible during the non-football-season months), so I can always visit. But I am going to attempt to make the switch, completely, from PC to Mac.

Any advice is welcome!