Diary of an artist writer online

Once upon a time , well four years ago, you just wrote a blog and posted it. No more.

Today you have got to make it interactive ( I am struggling with that) multi-media rich ( photos, videos,) and of course it must have links to social networking sites.

All this is a sign of the way the digital world is changing the way we communicate with each other.

We live in exciting times….check out my online blog at:

http://annshaw.blogspot.com/2010/11/my-garden-in-w…

I need to upgrade my computer ( Macbook or Imac? can’t decide) so I visit theApple store in Glasgow .

The place is heaving with young people , along with a sprinkling of oldies likemyself.

I need sharp elbows to get to the machines. But a lifetime in newspaper journalism has equipped me with that and I am soon lost in the latest Apple dream machines.

Buoyed up with this vision of our digital world I stroll along to visit an exhibition which had good reviews.

But the gallery is empty despite it being a very busy Friday in the city . Not a good sign. I soon realise why.

After the moving images and inter-activity of the Apple store the work hanging on the walls looks, not to mince words, dead.

I am overcome with a tremendous sense of deja-vu.

The paintings just hangs there. They tell me nothing about the world I live in. In fact they could have been done 20, 50 or even 100 years ago.

It’s said the average time spent in an exhibition is 45 minutes. I am in and out in less than ten.

Stunned I decide to visit my favourite bookshop, only to find it has been replaced by a mobile phone shop.

Welcome to the 21st century and the turbulent age we live in.

PS. Still undecided…do I need a laptop when I’ve got an ipad? but that’s another story.