Yea, e-books AGAIN!!!

From Shelf Awareness, Friday, October 28, 2011 - Volume 2, Issue 1592


Used Bookseller 'Not Afraid of E-Books'


"My customers still have all sorts of reasons for purchasing printed books. The collector of modern first editions; the new mother passing her childhood favorites down to the next generation; the reader of forgotten and esoteric texts unavailable digitally--all are seeking out an experience greater than the words on the page. The e-book can't replicate that experience, and it doesn't have to.
"E-books are fantastic at keeping us reading; traditional books are great at reminding us why we started in the first place. We're fortunate to live in a world where we don’t have to decide on one or the other."

--Michael Popek in his Wall Street Journal piece headlined "I'm a Used Bookseller, and I'm Not Afraid of E-Books." Popek is the author of Forgotten Bookmarks and a bookseller at his family's used bookstore in Oneonta, N.Y.


You all know how I feel about books vs. e-books.  This perhaps is the most even-handed clip I've ever posted on the topic...  And believe it or not, this TOTALLY is my opinion!

I CHOOSE print over e-books, but I would never tell YOU to make the same decision. 

That's probably what annoys me about other people who have such strong opinions - they try to force me to feel the same way or they tell me I'm wrong. 

But e-books, in my personal opinion, are just like politics:  I'm NOT wrong, I just don't agree with YOU!

Just like I will never tell you not to be a Democrat or a Liberal or not to be Green, I don't expect you to tell me e-books are the bomb and I'm wrong to be against them. 

Signed,

Proud Republican print book supporter!!!

Couple married 72 years dies holding hands

Some people might think I was crazy for posting a link to this story, but this is love, in my book...

Couple married 72 years dies holding hands

What a beautiful story! I LOVE that they were buried together.

A Blog Post - YAY!

So I know I haven't been blogging all that regularly lately and as a voracious blog READER, I know how that sucks.  Although I ALSO know you're not all sitting at the edge of your seats waiting for pearls of wisdom to fall from my lips on a regular basis; you probably didn't even miss me!

There's another blogger I read who's been a bit incommunicado recently, and she's decided to blog every day of October, using a list of blog subjects she got from someone else.  I've been keeping track of her subject and figure I'll use them to spark a little somethin' somethin' when the muse is on vacation...  AND I thought I'd start today...

I'm not posting in the same order as she did, and I'm not even going to IMPLY that I'll post every day for a month; I know me better than that!  But at least when I have a few minutes, I'll have a list of stuff to write about.  We already know my life is not really all that blogworthy...  LOL...

My List of Short Term Goals for This Month (and yes, I'm aware that the month is more than half over!!!

1.  Start Christmas shopping
2.  Start planning a redesign of our lake house bedroom
     a.  Decide on a face for the fireplace
     b.  Shop for a new mattress (the old will go into the spare room Murphy Bed)
     c.  Clean out dressers and nightstands
     d.  Bring standing lamp up to lake house will be done this weekend!
     e.  Reorganize walk-in closet
     f.  Donate and/or discard old clothes
     g.  Start shopping for nightstand lamps
     h.  Decide on photos, wall art
3.  Start planning a redesign of my lake house scrapping room/spare room
     a.  Purge, donate, discard
     b.  Adhere poster on posterboard and hang on wall
     c.  Clean out the closet
     d.  Winter jackets go downstairs to cedar closet will be done this weekend
     e.  Clean desk will be done this weekend!
     f.  Start shopping for folding table for sitting room so we can scrap up there
4.  Organizing and reorganizing my kitchen
     a.  Clean out cabinets
     b.  Clean out refrigerator
     c.  Discard old condiments, canned goods
     d.  Get rid of tools, mugs, anything we don't use or have too many of
5.  Take my sister and mother out for my sister's birthday
6.  Scrapping Day 10/15/11 done!
7.  Finish swapping out spring/summer clothes for fall/winter clothes 1/2 done!
8.  Change bedsheets to fall/winter flannels done!

Think I'm too ambitious?!?!?

R.I.P. Dan Wheldon

So sad.

33-years old and gone.

It was a horrific accident - 15 cars crashed and burned 13 laps into the race.  Dan Wheldon was air-lifted to a nearby hospital where he died of "unsurvivable injuries." 

We watched the accident on the news after it happened.  The phrase is "like a train wreck..."  Watching it on the news, it was so horrible that it brought us to tears, but you couldn't look away.  After they announced his death, the MCs said they'd play the crash footage one more time, but out of respect wouldn't play it again.

The 19 drivers whose cars were not damaged did a 5-lap tribute around the track, in honor of Dan.  His car number, 77, posted at #1 for the remainder of the afternoon.  For the first time since 1999, they said, they were cancelling the remainder of the race.

33.  M's age this year.  So sad.  What a waste.  I'm so sad for his family.

Have been incommunicado...

... and not for any good reason...

Work's been busy, or I've been busy working...

Here are some photos from recent weeks...

Last Sunday we took a motorcycle ride down to New Hope, PA, with T (one of our 2 best men), and D and D (J's two partner teachers at work).  Here's a photo of J with one of the Ds...

Here's a photo of the main drag in New Hope.  We got down there, ate breakfast outside, walked around town for a little while, then left for home up the Delaware River, on the PA side.  It's so scenic; the road is right along the river for most of the ride.  There are so many beautiful riverside homes there, and you could see how many of them were flooded this past summer when we had rain and hurricane issues.  There are, sadly, LOTS of those beautiful homes for sale.

Took this "self-portrait" in the motorcycle mirror on Saturday afternoon, before we left to go home.  We were meeting our riders at the Tick Tock Sunday  morning and going home Saturday night meant we could go to church and get a good night's sleep before being out all day Sunday...

She loves to read.  She must have gotten that from her Cioci!  She gets the book and says, "Book, Unca Da!"  And wrapped as he is around her finger, just like that, our departure is delayed until she gets bored!  And her mommy is trying to teach her to say Cioci (that's aunt, in Polish).  For now, I'm "Kiki!!!"  And I can live with that until we get to Cioci!

The beginning of the school year means shopping for new sneakers.  No, we don't start in August, BEFORE the school year.  We have to wait until we realize we NEED them, rather than WANT them, and that's when we start school and last year's pairs just don't cut it anymore...

I spent yesterday scrapping with my friend E.  After December, when I finally get a smart phone of some kind, I'll be posting/updating in real time, not a day or two later, when I finally have some wifi at home...  I'm already looking forward to posting photos in real time, posting on FB when things are happening, or at least when I think to post them, rather than hours later when I'm home and trying to watch my sitcoms, read my books, eat my dinner, talk to my husband, clean my house, and get ready for bed...

Will try to update more regularly...

Rest in Peace, Steve Jobs

Yesterday, Steve Jobs died.  Now I've never been particularly iObsessed, I'm more a PC girl than a MAC girl, simply due to proximity.  I admit that once I played on a MAC Pro in Best Buy (or some model of MAC), ooohh, could I see why people go the MAC route!!

And I'll also admit that my "Congratulations, you're turning 50" gift to myself was an iTouch last December, and I like it!

But this man has touched everyone's life in some way or another.  If you're an iFan, there you go.  But even if you're not, you probably have an iPod or ten, or an iPhone v. something-or-another...  At the very least you've heard of apps.

I saw on Twitter last night that Albert Brooks said Jobs was "our Edison."  You know what?  I don't think he's far off the mark.

Saw this on Molly Irwin's blog - and I decided I wanted it in MY archives, too...


“When I was 17, I read a quote that went something like: 'If you live each day as if it was your last, someday you’ll most certainly be right.' It made an impression on me, and since then, for the past 33 years, I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: 'If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?' And whenever the answer has been 'No' for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something.


Remembering that I’ll be dead soon is the most important tool I’ve ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything — all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure — these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.”

- Steve Jobs

It's been a while...

I have no idea what's been going on, what's been happening to me, to us, that has kept me away from this blog.  I feel as though I've been sucked into this huge black hole, where time is not, and where I just can't have enough hours in the day to do all I want to do...  Enough sobbing, I'm sure you all know what I mean...

So what's been going on, you ask?  (Despite my opening sentence, I'll try to remember...)

Let's see...

I.ORDERED.A.KINDLE.FIRE.  That's the most exciting thing that's happened in the past couple of weeks.  Originally I was going to wait a bit before I mentioned it to J (he's not the techy one in the family and doesn't understand why I need one when I have a phone, a laptop, a desktop and an iTouch).  And to be honest, now that I reread that, I really don't "need" one...  I want one!  Heck, it's only $199.  My iTouch was more!!!  So I'm waiting with baited breath for November 15th...  If you don't know what the Fire is, here's a link:  http://www.amazon.com/Kindle-Color-Multi-touch-Display-Wi-Fi/dp/B0051VVOB2/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1317511225&sr=8-5  But I told him the other day about the new tablet and he asked if I wanted one, so I told him I ordered it already... 

I thought my allergies were bothering me.  I started with a wheezing chest cough and no other symptoms.  Gradually, over a week, I added runny eyes, a congested head and ears, and a runny nose.  (Attractive, no?!?)  So, being the genius I am, I deduced that it's really a cold, not an allergy.  And that wheezing cough?  A couple of years ago I had a really bad winter cold, and ever since, I've had a lingering wheeze in my chest.  When I lay on my back, I cough, in a wheezy way...  And now, it's getting aggravated by this cold...  I'm not too happy about this.

FYI, I LOVE House Hunters on HGTV.  (Just thought I'd share!)

J is in the basement, building a new floor for the laundry area.  We got a new washer and dryer a few years ago and the washing is walking all over the floor!  We never had that problem with our old machines.  Today, when he moved the washing machine and pulled up the old floor, it became (naturally!) a much bigger job than he anticipated.  While he likes doing work like this, he likes to plan for it, and he really didn't know there was so much damage underneath.  He thought he could just tighten the existing floor, but it got to bad over the years that it needs to be entirely replaced.  So, he's replacing it...

Went to the gym this morning. I did 35 minutes on the treadmill, using the pre-programmed weight loss plan.  It's an hour long program and boy, did it kick my butt!  I'm not much for hills, but this plan included an incline that went as high as 6.5; not all that much, I suppose, if you're fit, but to me?  It may as well be Mt. Everest!  Then I moved to the bike, and I did 4 miles on the bike, again using the weight loss program.  That's not half as bad.  And then I started some weight training.  I did a couple of sets on the chest press and a couple of sets on the butterfly machine.

I did a 1/2 hour with a trainer the other day.  I must say, the program is fine, but she didn't impress me at all.  I signed up on a Friday night and they said she'd contact me within 48 hours to set up an appointment.  Well, Tuesdsay night, when I went to the gym, I asked and they said they would text her and that if she didn't contact me within 24 hours, to call her and they gave me her telephone number.  She didn't, so I called.  She had an excuse for not calling me, my file wasn't in her binder.  Okay, she's a trainer, not a psychic, so we just made an appointment for 2 weeks later on a night that worked for us both.

I got there early to do some time on the treadmill; she suggest 7 minutes.  Not 5.  Not 10. 7.  Okay, moving on...  I did about 15 minutes on the treadmill then went over to the counter to ask if she was there yet.  Yes, she's waiting for her appointment.  That's me, so they flagged her over.  She was there, but she started whining about not having paperwork for me, where is it, without paperwork how's she going to get paid... 

Hey, I have MY receipt to show I paid; you can use that!  Oh.  So rather resentfully, I felt, we started my session.  She was better while she was actually working with me, but I really don't like her very much.  We finished my session, then she started on the paperwork again...  I just left, thanking her for the session.  The girls behind the counter told her they'd take care of it, that she has nothing to worry about, that she'll get paid...

Today I asked them and they took care of it.  It was misfiled in the other trainer's binder and he inadvertently flagged me as done, so they just switched his person to my trainer and they both got paid...  Ah, the joys of robbing Peter to pay Paul...  If it works...

Boy I miss the days before HIPPA and privacy laws and all that nonsense...  Today I was on the phone with Optimum for 10 or 15 minutes and after all the account numbers and passwords, they had to talk to J because he's the account holder.  His name is on the account.  Yea, go ahead and ask him about the password for wi-fi, or about the user ID for the account...  I dare ya!

Back in the day I used to set up PSE&G and phone accounts for my friend Dave all the time.  I'd just say I was Mrs. DW and we were moving and could we switch accounts from address #1 to address #2 and could you come set up cable on Thursday because one of us could be there that day and yes, I'd like to keep the same phone number when we move next week...  And Dave would just move into his new apartment, and everything would be set up for him...

Well, I'm going to take a break now and heat up some leftovers - J said he needed another 15 minutes or so and I guess it's been about that long...  He made a delicious sauce the other day, with fresh tomatoes and fresh eggplant, and all the herbs, all from our garden.  We've got tons of peppers, a few more eggplants to go, and our crops will all be gone...  We had such great veggies all summer long, save so much money on fresh vegetables... Winter is going to be tough!

More later...