Android Baby

One of the surprises of this past Christmas was my father's gift to me of a new Android smartphone. I had thought about taking the plunge and finally getting some kind of device like that, but hadn't settled on it (I'm always way behind any electronic trends). I was really excited when I opened it.

It took me a week to finally set up the account and get in working. The first use I got out of it was to use the clock to count down the new year with the homeless people at Occupy Boulder.

For a couple days after that, I was sure it was all a horrible mistake. It seemed like it was "too much connectivity" and had the possibility of driving me insane (literally). Fortunately I think I'm learning to mitigate the downsides and have learned some fun upsides of having this kind of device.

I really like being able to call up Youtube videos and watch them, or listen to the music on them. I've been using the Youtube app to explore  a New Year's resolution to finally educate myself about classical music, starting with Mozart. I spent a couple days listening/watching various versions of Exsultate, Jubilate, which Wikipedia tells me is Mozart's earliest works that is still performed in concert on a regular basis. I watched at least ten different versions by ten different sopranos.

This was particularly fun when I was down in Westminster visiting my nieces. I showed them some of the videos and they watched various versions with me, huddling right next to me as we watched on the tiny little screen. It's the kind of the memory that I hope they keep in their minds in the years ahead, partly because it is so "of the times" of the year 2012. Someday they talk about doing such things, and it will seem wonderfully quaint.

Later on that evening, Sarah came into the guest room and decided she wanted to play a version of "house" with me. She had brought her baby doll into the room in her toy stroller. She left the baby with me and told me to change its diaper if it needed that.

"Just throw the diaper away into the trash, and then pick it up and use the same one," she told me. Then she took the stroller and left the room to go off to "King Soopers" to go grocery shopping.

When she was out of the room, I dutifully changed the diaper just as she instructed, throwing it away and then picking it up out of the trash again to use the same one---just so I could tell her truthfully that I had done it.

Then I decided to have a little fun of my own. I used my Android phone to search Youtube for a "baby crying." I found a video and confirmed it was what I wanted. Just before she came back into the room, I pressed "play" on the video on the phone and then slipped it into the crib behind the doll's head.

My little stunt was a big hit. Children always appreciate it when you make a sincere effort to participate in their games, but this was extra special. It made me feel like I wasn't so behind the times after all. Old dogs can learn new tricks.