My mom is an articulate, educated 77-year-old. She was a dynamic, progressive, and popular high school English teacher. She was often in hot water with her administration when she taught such novels as 1984, Animal Farm, Brave New World, Native Son, and Black Like Me. She's a born-again Christian...in a great way. She's never pushed her religious beliefs on others and is an incredibly loving and accepting person. Here's the e-mail I wrote to her this evening. My intent wasn't so much to explain these concepts but to see if the language we use today makes sense to older Americans.

Mom's very connected to the world through her computer. As with most digital immigrants, she struggles with the technology but manages to get by enough to keep in touch with family and scads of friends from as far back as her HS years. She's an avid web browser and keeps me abreast of the latest urban legends. ("Is this true Jim?" We really need some one-on-one computer lessons. She was excited to learn how to close a window on AOL.)