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My Dad:
"Phil, what's your daughter doing these days?" It's a question I get frequently from friends and aquaintances. I tell them Ann went back to school in the city, which if you live anywhere in New York State, usually means only one place...New York City. "What's she doing," is the usual next question. This is where is gets interesting. I tell them she's an artist and doing computer animation. Usually the faces go blank. I know what they're thinking. It's what I thought when I asked my darling Annie what she was going to study at school. "Animation like in Mickey Mouse," I asked. "No Dad" she replied sadly to my simplistic misunderstanding of her undertaking. "Dad, what I'm doing is like what you saw in Jurasic Park!" "Oh," I responded, still not knowing what was fully entailed. That was until she asked me to assist with the purchase of a new computer for processing her work. "Darling, send me the specs for the computer," I said. When 8 pages jumped out of the printer, I knew I was in trouble. Not only did I not understand the specifications, I could tell this was going to be an expensive proposition! My brother, a former IBM employee, confirmed my fears. "your daughter has very expensive tastes." "The box she needs is so powerful it will run a small business," he added. So now when I am asked what she does, I often mention it involves using a computer powerful enough to run a small business. Seeing the blank expressions change into approving head motions of the technologically clueless has been compensation enough!
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My Mom:
Ann has concepts and ideas that she is able to translate and transmit to a receiver. She does this by showcasing these ideas in a digital or video media. How she does this I'm not sure. She manipulates hardware and software until these concepts or ideas, like rabbits leaping out of top hats, make me "ooh" and "aah" and wonder how she did that!
How I imagine Ann fills her time:
listening
learning
seeking
searching
working
talking
exchanging
engaging
sharing
wondering
laughing
loving
enjoying
traveling
walking
running
photographing
phoning
videotaping
rushing
digitizing
looking
studying
reading
worrying
munching
smiling
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My Brother:
I imagine she is spending her time in a fashion similar to how I spend my time, in front of the computer. I know she is constantly doing work for school, all in front of the computer. After school, she I imagine she has her daily non-computer time while commuting back to home. Once at home, I imagine couch time is spent next to her sweetie, Joel, most likely under a blanket. Somewhere between school and sleep, I imagine some time is spent at the home computer, doing school work, or browsing the internet. Throughout the week, an evening or two is probably spent doing something "fun" (but still slightly eductional) like going out for drinks while discussing contemporary video art.
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