Every once in a while it suddenly hits me that I have too many computers in my life. This week has been one of those moments. So to speak. My über fast Dell desktop at work is my newest darling, but it's a bit heavy to lug into meetings and on a plane. I had no choice. I had to renege on our delicately haggled agreement and swipe back the Toshiba laptop I'd handed down to my husband. In exchange I set him up on The Big Monster, the custom-built PC I got last fall when I was still doing freelance work and that practically blows back your hair when you push the "on" button.

I've been working long hours lately on some cool projects at the university. I thought only freelancers worked such ungodly hours. Not! Turns out I hadn't taken into account the universal appeal of turning little digital squiggles into virtual realms of color, shape and context. I'd also forgotten about Remote Desktop.