Burning a CD with instructions from England

December the first was the postmark deadline for the Fayetteville Museum juried art show. It's a big regional show with an excellent reputation, a quality juror, a fine setting, and was definitely an event I wanted to which I wanted to submit slides. However, this year, only CDs with jpegs were being accepted.

Increasingly, juried shows are moving into the digital age. I can't blame them. It's easier, cheaper, and the wave of the future. I now know just enough to understand the terms regarding pixel quality and quantity. I have the digital images. I just never learned to burn a CD. I've always had Steve do this for me. In fact, I have steadfastly refused to learn. Like cooking, I figured that I would never have to do this if I never learned how! (Okay, I can cook but I've been campaigning for years against the fact!)

Alex thought he could do it. Until Steve bought a DVD burner and installed other software for burning DVDs as well as CDs, Alex could have done it after school. With the new system, he couldn't. I couldn't. It was approaching 4:30 and I still had nothing on the disc. All the paperwork was filled out: SASE, entry fee, application form, resume, and the FedEx Saver mailing label. Alex and Erica had to go to the bank before 5:00 PM. With apologies, they left. I was alone with the computer, near tears, and finally had a CD that seemed to be done until I put it back into the computer. I got a message saying I had files WAITING TO BE BURNED. I could open them; but were they really on the disc or just in the computer needing one more operation to get them onto the disc? In desparation, I called Mathias.

Mathias said he was at work. "Work?", I said. "Yes, Mom, I'm in the theater. It's Nutcracker, you know!" I asked where Steve was. He was back in Mathias' flat cooking lamb for their dinner. (We've been eating boxed pizza and salad-in-a-bag.)

"You're not on stage, are you?"

"No, Mom, I don't take my cell phone on stage. What's the matter?" (Smart boy!)

So, I told him about my dilemna. Between acts, Mathias instructed me as to how to burn a CD. Mathias, of course, didn't even know that Steve purchased a new DVD burner that supposibly burns CDs in a quicker, better manner. He knew how to use the D drive (whatever that is). In order to check the CD, Mathias suggested I use Alex's laptop.

The only time I've ever used this laptop (or any laptop) was in Varna. How on earth was a CD going to get checked on a laptop? Mathias had to explain that there is a little button on the side that opens a place for CDs. I had no idea.

After three international calls, I had a CD burned, checked, and ready to go to FedEx. Alex and Erica returned in time to drive the envelop to Kinko's where FedEx was just about to leave. Alex managed to flag down the drive and hand him the package. After all this, I'll likely get rejected but at least I tried.

I am truly pathetic alone! Obviously, I need my entire family in order to exist! (I submitted my altered book American Dream and one from the African series, Dreams of Africa. I've been rejected this year from the international fiber biennial in Pittsburgh, (They took 6% of the entries); the Smithsonian Craft annual craft show, (They took 8% of the applicants); and the show at Woman Made Gallery in Chicago (no idea the odds). There's been other rejects this year too, but I'm not going to try to remember them! At least I'm still trying.