ARRIVAL OF THE MACBOOK!

So this post has been a long time coming, but you can imagine how busy I’ve been with a new computer! After deciding exactly what I wanted (15” MacBook Pro with a 7200rpm drive and antiglare screen), the front office helped me place the order. About a week later – which seemed like an eternity even after waiting 9 months – it arrived! Although I don’t have any children, I equated the feeling to waiting for the birth of a child. Except in this case, I had no idea when the “child” would be “born.” When it finally came, I was so excited!

I set to work pretty much immediately on getting the computer up and running. I named it Helen (she is, after all, the founder of the company).

When it asked me for a picture, just for fun, I stuck my head in the photo. The computer wouldn’t exist if it weren’t for my bald head!

Speaking of my bald head, I’ve started to grow my hair out. I still have a mohawk, but now I’m letting the sides grow:

I’ve actually cut the mohawk twice since I started to grow it in April. This morning I discovered that the front was now too long to spike straight up. It just kept falling over! So I decided to just let it do what it wanted:

Oh yeah, and by the way, instead of getting Logic, I decided to get an iPad. Did I forget to mention that?

In case you’re wondering what picture is on the screen, that’s actually my hair. I was using the Photo Booth app and showing it to students when I discovered this “light tunnel” feature. Students have been loving the iPad! Their reactions to even just seeing themselves on the camera have been so fun. When we ordered the computer, it came with a $100 gift card for apps. The first one I bought was GarageBand for the iPad!

It has already worked miracles on the day to day here at A.R.T. Center. The Smart Guitar feature is particularly exciting for students. I had one student who was agitated one day. As soon as I put the iPad in front of him, he began strumming the “guitar” and calmed down almost immediately! So far I’ve used the computer in one of my Music Therapy classes to record sounds for a story that the students have been collaborating on writing. The story is illustrated musically, so we’ve been recording the sounds. I also had one student cut the unnecessary parts out, and label the remaining sound clip by typing. She was so excited to share with everyone that she used the computer!

I’m looking forward to creating classes next semester that are based around recording and creative use of this new technology, and making it as accessible to our students as possible. Stay tuned for more stories!