Debbie Talley
Among Friends 

As much as I love dabbling in page layout, I have to say that I’ve met my match when it comes to Web design.

Time flies as soon as I open Adobe PhotoShop or InDesign. And I can update certain Internet pages, provided the content is purely text and formatting. But throw a button or image at me and I’m lost. And forget about the whole dropdown menu stuff.

Apparently creativity, for me, doesn’t apply to the Internet. And it frustrates me to no end.

I SO want to understand how to update an Internet site but I think my DNA is damaged. Or maybe I never had this skill, this “talent,” in my genes to begin with.

What’s sad is that, until recently, I never really had ventured into the world of Web development, maintenance or creation. I’ve always admired fabulous Web design. And the people who pull it off, well, they’re akin to Albert Einstein or super duper bodybuilders in my book. I was content to keep my distance and watch the creative geniuses from afar. That is, until my job dropped the challenge right in my lap.

Sure, I’ve learned about writing for the Web and, like I said, I have experience and knowledge on page layout. But the layout courses I took apply to the printed page. Today, layout and design applies to the digital world as well.

I could probably tell you what’s good and what’s not but knowing how to make the changes escapes me. It’s like knowing how to write with pen and paper but not knowing how to create a printed document with a computer.

I once heard that carpal tunnel syndrome is the result of our wrists not being able to evolve quickly enough to accommodate the new ways we use them. Our wrists are not accustomed to the pressure and repetitive motion that “keyboarding” requires. I don’t know about that; I remember having a handful of IBM Selectrics in typing class while the remaining typewriters were manual. Plus, we didn’t type all day. We took shorthand, too. Ah, shorthand, an art in itself … but I digress.

My point is that maybe my technical abilities are just too far removed. This may be a generational hurdle that feels too high to jump. I’ll have to train like an Olympic athlete to catch up.

Is it possible? Like I said, until recently, I didn’t know how big my knowledge gap had become until I had to update an Intranet site. I spent hours trying to figure it out.

Having never been a ballerina, you wouldn’t jump off the couch and expect to pirouette your way onstage. You have to learn the basics, stretch those muscles and re-teach your body and mind to do what feels unnatural.

But the result, if you try hard enough, can be a beautiful thing.

Debbie Talley, a Randolph Ro-Hawk, UTSA and Baylor alum, can be reached at: This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it