Fonts and spacing and justification, oh my!

I did think about the hyphenation, justification and spacing...  Is it true that what is entered into a reader is only a text file, without all the spacing and visual cues that are included in the book versions?

"In fact, [Matthew] Carter doesn't own an iPad, Kindle, or other reading device, as he is waiting for them to mature. (He does own an iPhone.) He frets that, as things stand, reading devices and programs homogenize all the tangible aspects of a book, like size or shape, as well as font. They are also poor at hyphenation and justification: breaking words at lexically appropriate locations, and varying the spacing between letters and between words. This may sound recondite but it is a visual imprint of principles established over the entire written history of a language. 'Maybe people who grow up reading online, where every book is identical, don't know what they're missing.' "


--From an Economist profile of legendary type designer Matthew Carter, headlined: "The most-read man in the world."

Christmas Food Court Flash Mob, Hallelujah Chorus - Must See!

I found this on a blog I read called The Amazing Trips. Apparently she was surprised that she broke into tears, but I'm not surprised I did! This music just feeds my soul. Whenever we go to Christmas Eve mass and they play this, well, I cry, I sniffle, my heart warms...

Take a 4minute 57second break and watch this video. I have to admit, if this took place in my mall and I was there, I'd be up there singing with the singers!!!

A 4th Diagnosis...

So far they've suggested gout or pseudo-gout, but both of those ideas were tossed when my bloodwork came back okay.

Perhaps arthritis?  Take some anti-inflammatories as needed.

Then it was cellulits.  Take three weeks of bactrim and enjoy the antibiotics...  Don't forget the acidophilus...

Then it was off to the orthopedist on the Friday after Thanksgiving.  He came in and I liked him immediately.  We talked.  He took a full history, checked out my x-rays (no bone spurs or physical reason for the elbow...)  He diagnosed my elbow as bursitis within 2 minutes.

I mentioned my hips to him and he asked me to take my shoes off and stand in front of him.  He took a knuckle on his left hand and poked at my hip, and I almost went down to my knees!  Apparently I have bursitis in my hips, too!  (Hey, if you're going to do something, you might a well do it 100%)

He drained my elbow (no infection remains) and said it needed to be splinted.  He told me to go to the casting room with Rhonda.  I made a bad joke about not auditioning for anything (no one laughed).  We went there and I got a cast.  My first cast ever.  I used to think I wanted one, for the sympathy vote, but now that I do, I'm wide enough on my own.  I do NOT need a cast to make me wider still - I keep banging into people, brushing up against door jambs....

The cast is removable but the doctor said to keep it on 24/7 except for washing.  So I look forward to the 20 minutes a day I spend in the shower...  more than just 'cause I like feeling squeaky clean... 

He gave me a prescription for 2 weeks of PT - he requested they develop an at-home exercise program for me and said that after I'm confident that I know the routine, I don't have to go to therapy anymore.  I have to go just long enough to learn the program...

So between the yoga twice a week, and an exercise program at least 3 days a week - YUK.

Also, fell asleep during yoga class today - out cold!  SO asleep that I woke myself up snoring and shouted, "WHAT?"  Then it turns out that I was talking in my sleep!  OMG!  It was a late night last night - got home from work at almost midnight from sales conference and sales conference dinner...

And here's some cool news.  Just booked our trip to Cabo San Lucas for a family wedding.  Here's a link to the very expensive hotel we're staying at:  Las Ventanas.  Take a look and eat your heart out be thankful YOU'RE not shelling out that money!  Just kidding - we're going to a destination wedding for our nephew (on J's side) - can't wait!

Please send some prayers to Arizona.  My sister's dog is sick, seriously ill, and in the puppy ER.  She means the world to P and we want our Kazia happy and healthy and home as soon as possible!!!

Books vs. Food? Hmmm...

"I think books are like people, in the sense that they'll turn up in your life when you most need them. After my father died, the book that sort of saved my life was Gabriel García Márquez's novel One Hundred Years of Solitude. Because of that experience, I firmly believe there are books whose greatness actually enables you to live, to do something. And sometimes, human beings need story and narrative more than they need nourishment and food."


--Actress Emma Thompson on choosing seven "books that made a difference" for O magazine.

I agree.  I collect quotes.  And I have not collected more quotes from a single source than from Richard Bach in all his fiction and Dan Fogelberg in all his lyrics.  And the "right" quote seems destined to show up in front of me just when I need it - when I had to say goodbye to my best friend after college, we sent Bach quotes back and forth to each other for years.  [Along with several from the Dune trilogy, too!)  There were quotes and lyrics that helped me when my father died.  A song by Dan Fogelberg was our wedding song, despite the fact Jack had never heard of it before!  The words were just so appropriate.

It's nice to hear that books, and reading, mean as much to others as they do to me.

Happy Thanksgiving, a day or two in advance, to all my friends and family who read this blog, as well as to alll my e-friends who stop by to catch up once in a while!  I hope you have a wonderful holiday (if you celebrate it)!!  (And if you don't, have a great Thursday!!!)

Mom left today...

I know she wants to spend time with P and I know P wants her to visit, but I really, truly hate it when she goes.  J felt so bad for me, I was crying after she left, he felt so bad he took me out to dinner.

I also cleaned the kitchen, sorted through weeks of junk mail (it all piles up in a basket until we have a chance to go through it - well, everything that doesn't get tossed immediately), changed the sheets on our bed, cleaned the bathroom, started straightening up the computer room (newly painted - photo to come when all's put away), and tomorrow I'll pack for my business trip.  Then I'll clean our room, and straighten and dust the living room.  I'll ask J to work on the dining room while I'm away - a lot in there that needs straightening is paperwork for school so he reallly has to do it.

Picked out a color for the hallway - Behr's Cottage White.  We have it at the lake and it's a bright sort of creamy color that will lighten up our staircase.  I might even put the same color in the dining room - still deciding.  That's a tough room 'cause of the stained glass window.  It's primarily yellow and green, with some blue and purple in the design, but it casts a distinctly yellow tint to the neutral walls now.  If I choose an actual color, it might look AWFUL in the afternoon sunlight.  I'll try to remember to post a photo of that window, too...

Gotta run - it's Harry Potter Weekend on ABC Family...

Thankful Thursdays #3 (on Saturday)

Yes, I realize it's Saturday.  And I realize that I haven't managed to post "Thankful Thursdays" on an actual Thursday, or at least I don't think I have...  I'm too busy and too far behind to go back and check...

But here is this week's Thank You:

I'm thankful that for the most part, I'm in good health, even if I did spend three hours in the emergency room last night.  It wasn't anything serious, I don't have any debillitating disease or illness, I'm not sporting any scars or lesions that might scare young children...  I just have a swollen elbow that won't go away.  I'm thankful that it's one more thing I have in common with my Daddy - he had bursitis in his shoulder.  I apparently have it in my elbow.  Considering the number of other reasons I could have these symptoms - yup, darned lucky I'm as healthy as I am...

I'm thankful for my husband.  Yes, a repeat thanks, and that's probably cheating, but he sat with me in the ER for three hours with nary a complaint and he only almost fell asleep once in the examining room when they left us sitting there for an hour.  He jumped right on the silly bandwagon with me and took photos of me in the hospital bed, laughing and pointing to my bum elbow, so we could send them to my sisters, my sister-in-law and my friend.  Then he counted down the seconds to the return phone calls!  And we bet on how long exactly we'd be sitting there before they actually came in to examine me.  And he won, but literally 2 seconds after he won, they knocked on the door and came in - the look on his face was priceless!  We went a bit hysterical and had to calm down for the ER doctor.  The ER doctor who was a female Dougie Howser...  I wouldn't even like to guess how young she was...

I'm thankful, too, for my friend G.  She's got a lot on her plate right now, with her mom sick in the hospital, suffering from a chronic heart condition that puts a lot of strain on G and her hubby.  But she was still worried enough to call me the minute she saw my hospital photo and find out what was wrong and if I needed anything...  We've been friends for just a few years now, but I know we'll be friends forever.

3 Hours in the ER that I'll Never Get Back...

We went to Atlantic City on Wednesday, for a credit union seminar.  We had the usual fun, I lost the usual funds, and then won them back, thank goodness!   We ate at Morton's Steak House on Thursday evening, and I had a delicious dinner. 

I had noticed that my elbow was a bit puffy, similar to when I had the cellulitis attack a couple of weeks ago.  So on Friday, after we got home, and after we picked up Neen's car from KD's shop, I decided I had to go to either the Immedicenter or to the emergency room.  I really didn't want to go to the ER - really?  for a swollen elbow?  But the Immedicenter guy had warned me two weeks ago that if the infection didn't respond to the antibiotics within 48 hours, I should go to the ER for an IV-antibiotic.  I only had to worry about a systemic infection, nothing too serious...

So after consulting with hubby and mom, off we went to the hospital. 

Three hours.  Three hours I'll never get back.  Three hours we spent laughing and goofing around while we waited for a doctor to come in.  Three hours where we sent a photo of me in the hospital bed to my sisters and to my sister-in-law, and to our friend G who was still in AC.  I just LOVE having a camera in my cell phone!!!  That was rather entertaining, counting down the minutes to the return phone calls and the panicked queries.  In the photo I was lying in the hospital bed, laughing, and pointing to my elbow in one of them. 

The upshot?  A FIFTH diagnosis:  bursitis, with cellulitis thrown in for good measure 'cause I just can't have a simple ailment...  Apparently from sitting at my desk for hours at a time, I have caused my bursa to become inflamed.  That doesn't necessarily mean it will get infected all the time - I was just lucky this time around!  Since I took my last antibiotic THAT VERY MORNING, the ER doctor thought it might be a good idea to give me 7 more days of Bactrim, to be on the safe side.  So I'm back on the antibiotics, and for sh-ts and giggles, she wrapped my arm in an Ace Bandage and asked if I wanted a sling!  [An aside:  FINALLY, Ace Bandages with Velcro on the ends - no more metal clips!!!]  I have a sling at home so I turned that down (why pay for a second one?!) but you can bet I'll milk this at work if I can, for as long as I can!

I tried this:  Since I can't sit with my elbow on the desk without hurting myself or having chronic bursitis, I should quit my job and live off my husband.  To his credit, he just shrugged.  But dang, I can't do that!  I need what little money I make...  Ah, well, perhaps a health-related early retirement is closer to reality...

Anyhow, we're at the lake and I have to catch up on some blog reading - I haven't checked my favorites since Tuesday!  I'm just a little behind...

Back soon...

Spuds is My New Hero

You know, I found Carrying a Cat by the Tail... on another one that I read regularly, Because I Said So.

If you have kids, read today's entry by Spuds - it's awesome!
http://blirred-reality.blogspot.com/2010/10/universal-truths.html

Here's the part I read that really struck a chord with me (Spuds, if you're reading this, you are a wonderful father!!!):

"In my mind there are very few promises I can make to my children, but they are the most important promises. I promise I will love them, no matter what. I promise them that I will always be available for them when they are troubled or in need of support. I promise them that I will protect them, to the point of losing my own life if needed. I promise them that if they are lost, I will not rest until they are found. And, I promise my kids that I will support them in any road they choose to travel."

Now THAT, my friends, is a parent!!!

And the rest of the post, although a bit lengthy, is well-worth reading.  He talks about being there for all six of his kids (and he's a single dad who has custody of them all!) and how he does it, without promising what he can't, or might not be able to, deliver.  When you think about it, one of the soapboxes I seem to get up on pretty often is The Entitlement Soapbox.  I can rant and rave with the best of them that we are not entitled to everything or anything, but that we have the opportunity to earn anything and everything.  Spuds makes a great point that it might not be such a great idea to promise trivialities to your kids, when the real world might make it impossible for you to deliver, but keeping a BIG promise, like his quoted above, well, that's the basis for raising your children well.

Okay, done preaching...  I was just seriously touched by his post today and felt like sharing...

Thankful Thursdays #3

Yes, I forgot about #2.  Get over it.  I've had a busy week, and while I didn't forget to thank God I was still kicking, I DID forget to post here last week...  ah, well, I'll beef this week's post up a bit...

I'm thankful for:

My health.  I've been suffering from pretty bad pain in my hips (and complaining about it here, so I think you're all pretty aware of it!), so bad that I up and went to an accupuncturist; I was willing to try (almost) anything.  I wasn't sure his needles were working, although there seemed to be some mild relief, or at least, a lessening of the severity of the pain.  Not only was he working directly on my hips, but he was working on my pain management centers, too.  During one of our meetings, he recommended that I take two capsules of turmeric daily; he said that he's been taking them for 15 years and even at his age (55/60-ish), he's joint-pain-free 90% of the time.  I bought the capsules at his office and promptly forgot about them.  Until I got an email from our friend A a month later, who raved about how she read about the turmeric on my blog, tried it, and is pain free!  I don't think I finished reading her email before I was running upstairs to take one!  It's been a few weeks, and all of a sudden I realized my arthritic fingers were really not hurting anymore, AND I walked up 4 flights of stairs the other day and my hips didn't hurt until the 4th flight!  AND when I get up from my chair, it's not taking me 10 or 20 feet to walk without stiffness and pain.  And let's just refer back a couple of blog posts to my elbow issues:  I am grateful for my health.  And I thank God every day for those aches and pains 'cause they mean I'm alive, BUT fewer of them might be nice...

My friends:  I have so many wonderful friends and even if they don't read this blog, they deserve a great big shout-out and a HUGE thank you!  C, S, M, L, K, P, C, T, C, P, J, J, A, and tons more that I should mention:  Thank you for being my friend.  Thank you for being a part of my life.  Thank you for loving me, tolerating me, building me up, and helping me when I need it.  I love you, each and every one of you.

My books:  Regardless of format, hardcover, trade paper, board or e-book, I thank you for the worlds you've opened up to me, for the words I've learned, the characters I've met, the places I've visited in your pages.  Thank you for entertaining me, educating me, keeping me occupied, never boring me...  (okay, except for that one textbook...)  Thank you for being a constant in my life, for bringing me comfort and easing my loneliness, for making me giddy with joy, and sad to the depths of my soul.  Thanks, too, to the authors of all those books, old and new, quality and not-so-good - you have all had an effect on me and I thank you for that.  Thanks for all the quotes I found hidden in your paragraphs.  Thanks for the recipes, the secrets, the instructions, the photographs and illustrations...  I love my books!

Print Books Still BMOC

See, I could still go to school and not have a headache for four years...

All kidding aside, I can actually see where certain e-books would be VERY useful in a college setting, although this article seems a bit slanted the other way, and even though I am semi-anti/semi-pro e-books, I guess you can spin numbers any way you want to put a certain slant on the data!

I still found the article interesting...

Print Books Still BMOC

Tamara Lowe at Christ Fellowship

This is an awesome couple of minutes. Listen to the end!

Today is my Blogoversary!!

I started blogging in 2006!!!  4 years of my life, committed to words and pictures and to cyberspace!!!
Glad you're along for the ride!!!

True Stories

Hello, if you're visiting from Shimelle's True Stories class!  And hello, even if you're not!!!

Today we started a new class, and I can't wait!!!  We're going to write.  Write about us, about our lives, our stories, what we want to put down to pen and paper, for future generations or for just us!  I've already dived into the Forums - LOVE those message boards!

I've been so busy lately that my blog has primarily been some quotes about books vs. e-books (if you scanned any of them you'll know I'm a die-hard book person!); I've been cutting and pasting some quotes that I've run across in my daily RSS feeds that strike a chord in the debate, just so my blog doesn't sit here, unloved, unused,... 

Perhaps with all the writing I'll be doing for Shimelle's class I'll get back into blogging...  I don't know that I'll transfer all my notes to the blog, but some of the stories will most likely make it here!

Here's a bit of an update...  I went home sick from work on Friday, chills, fever, and a wicked sinus headache.  So bad, in fact, that I didn't go out to a local bar to meet some girls from my high school class!  I know I disappointed them by not coming, but I swear, ladies, I'll be there next time!!!  I dosed myself up with some Advil Cold & Sinus, and went to sleep.  I woke up on Saturday with a left elbow the size of a plum!!!

You might remember, you 2 or 3 regular readers, you! that last year my doctor thought I might be suffering from gout, or pseudo gout.  After some blood work, it turned out that, no, I was not an older alcoholic man sitting in front of a fire with gout in my foot and a cane!  (That vision of a person with gout comes straight out of my Harlequin Historical Romance reading years!)  My blood work was normal; they thought perhaps it was just a flare up of arthritis or bursitis or some other -itis...

Well, I work up this past Saturday, as I mentioned, with an elbow that was the size of a plum, bright red, and HOT, HOT, HOT to the touch!  And my arm hurt so much I couldn't straighen it out.  So on Sunday I went to the Immedicenter and the small, young doctor told me that I had (drumroll, please!) cellulitis.  (Yes, another -itis!)

From Wikipedia: 
"Cellulitis is caused by a type of bacteria entering the skin, usually by way of a cut, abrasion, or break in the skin. This break does not need to be visible. Group A Streptococcus and Staphylococcus are the most common of these bacteria, which are part of the normal flora of the skin but cause no actual infection while on the skin's outer surface.

"Predisposing conditions for cellulitis include insect bites, blistering, animal bite, tattoos, pruritic (itchy) skin rash, recent surgery, athlete's foot, dry skin, eczema, injecting drugs (especially subcutaneous or intramuscular injection or where an attempted IV injection "misses" or blows the vein), pregnancy, diabetes and obesity, which can affect circulation, as well as burns and boils, though there is debate as to whether minor foot lesions contribute. Spider bites are also known to cause cellulitis."

The doctor told me right up front, before even examining me, that it was cellulitis.  I had all the classic symptoms:  inflammation, redness, and heat at the site.  He did examine me to make sure that I didn't have a spider bite or something, but no, just my usual dry cracked elbows!  Apparently it doesn't have to be an open cut to allow the bacteria in under your skin.  Lucky me!

He gave me a prescription for Bactrim and said if I don't see an improvement in 48 hours, I should take myself to the Emergency Room.  I did a literal double take!  For what?  Apparently there's a risk of a systemic infection if we can't nip it in the proverbial bud within 48 hours.  Thankfully I already have some relief after an injection yesterday of rocephin, an injection in my gluteus maximus, might I add!  I picked up my prescription and started my antibiotic this morning.  I'm also taking some Advil to help with the inflammation and the pain...  Ahhh, sweet relief!!!  Although I still can't lean on my left elbow and if I bump it, oh, do I see stars!!!

Anyway, I need to rush off and get back to work...  More blogging to come!!!

Piles of books... Wouldn't trade 'em for the world!

"I am holding books in my hands, in my lap, all day long--joyful things to behold, to hold onto--hefty and crisp. Even the uncorrected galleys have weight--the smell of paper and words.... One day I look at the pile and imagine they are all electronic books. Electronic books are eligible; it's possible I could be reading on a Kindle or a Nook or the poetically named Sony PRS-700. All this reading could be on a gray screen; I could be clicking buttons instead of turning pages. In the bookless future a few of these books predict, there would be no boxes, no piles....


"I would, of course, have gone mad, thrown the little plastic thing out the window long ago. The real glory of all these books is simply that they exist. They will endure in the world as solid things. I love the piles--the teetering, heavy, uneven piles, the cumbersome crowding of books thick and thin. These are piles of piled-up things, sculptured objects taking up room. No gray screen can honor the way font shape and space are designed to convey thought. Books inhabit the world in a way not unlike the way you and I do."

--Sallie Tisdale in her Oregonian article, "Duty as a judge for the National Book Awards requires a bit of juggling."

Better Late Than Never...

Just wanted to make mention of the rescue of those 33 Chilean miners who were trapped in a mine for 69 days.

What a pleasure it was to watch a 24-hour news show that was positive and had a happy ending.  I teared up every time a miner was reunited with his wife, mom, son, mistress...  Even if that caused some stress and strain between family members, he was rescued, people!  It was a happy day in the Chilean neighborhood!!!

I think the news media should remember that all news isn't bad news.  Perhaps we all need a few more happy endings to watch on television, rather than all the blood and gore and murders and rapes and thefts and lies...

Thankful Thursdays #1

I missed last week's but have decided that I can, indeed, find things to be grateful for and I should, indeed, post them here for all to see.  (All 20+ of you who read this blog, that is!)

This is the brainchild of Elle's Studio and can I start by being grateful for their idea?!?  Take a visit over there to see what their readers are grateful for, but if you only have a minute or two, well...

I'm grateful for:

My family - Without them I wouldn't know what love is.  Unconditional love.  Love that is unswerving, unending, and unforgettable.  I wouldn't have the two best sisters in the world, the best mom on the face of the earth, and the best dad in the universe, in heaven and on earth.
 
My husband - Even when he drives me nuts and makes me wish I had a mojito in hand, I wouldn't trade him for any other man.  He is a devoted husband, a phenomenal father, an awesome teacher, a wonderful son-in-law, a great brother/brother-in-law/uncle, and thanks to him, my family expanded to include the most incredible set of in-laws anyone could ever have.

My faith - I'm grateful for my God and to my God.  Without Him I would have nothing.  With His grace I am able to be strong when I need to be, and weak when I need to be.  I know that He is there for me and for mine, and I know when it feels as if I can't handle another thing, I can because He is there for me, and with me.

More next Thursday...

A pro for e-books, instead of a con... Happy, P? (LOL!)

Quotation of the Day


Alice Through the iPad Screen

"Parents, I don’t have an answer to the worry that kids might prefer to watch a screen instead of reading. But kids who would have never read Alice as a traditional book might pick it up on the iPad instead of staring at Grand Theft Auto."

--Chris Stevens, creator of Alice for iPad, in an interview with Fast Company.

Angie's Having a Baby!

There's this girl, her name is Angie.  And she's married to a great husband and she has an awesome stepson.  Like me, she always wanted her own baby, too, and they tried.  After a while Angie wrote this tremendous post about how they decided, as a family, to adopt.  And lo and behold, God was listening and they are getting a baby girl this month!

She has tons'o'friends but one of her best, Wendy S., is throwing her a blog baby shower today!  Wendy suggested we post something on our blogs as a little gift to Angie and link to the ***linky party on the Ella blog!  So here you go...

Angie, Wendy suggested if we had any baby advice we might want to post it for you, so here goes, straight from my mom:

     When you're single, you have no one to answer to but yourself.  (God goes without saying in this little speech!)
     When you meet The One and you get married, all of a sudden you should put your marriage first, your husband second, and yourself, well, get used to third place!
     When you decide you want children and you have them, you should be prepared to put your children first, your family second, your marriage third, your husband fourth, and you?  Okay, fifth place is looking okay...

Of course this advice needs to be taken as it is intended:  as a reminder that once you have children, it's no longer all about "me."  While there IS an "I" in family, you'll notice that it's WAAAYYY toward the end of the word!!!  Of course the basic idea is that now there's this baby who relies on you for everything, and you had better be prepared to give everything you have to that baby.  And how lucky are you, Angie and Travis and Jeremy, that this beautiful new baby girl is joining your family today!  Enjoy her and enjoy your new family!!! 

We are sending lots of cyber-love your way, and prayers and congratulations!!!

The other side of the coin...

I've gotten some flack for showing only one side of the print vs. e-book scenario here on my own personal blog, so here you go, a completely neutral article that in fact supports both print and e-books, AND emphasizes the fact that it's not format but content that you're paying for, regardless of format!

http://www.usatoday.com/news/opinion/forum/2010-10-06-column06_ST_N.htm

(But I'm still a print girl and always will be!)

Immigration and Illegal Aliens

I wouldn't be here today, or for any of these past almost 50 years if my mom hadn't come to the US from Poland, by way of Siberia, Kenya, the UK..., met my dad, gotten married and had me.  The thing is, she came here, applied for citizenship and is right proud of being an American!  I'm an American, too, a 1/2-Polish one, one of Polish descent, and proud of that, too.

But anytime I try to put words to feelings, I get all caught up in defending my opinion and guess what!  I don't have to do that here! 

This is my blog and I'm going to refer you all on over to Miss Hope's blog if you're at all interested in how I feel about these controversial issues.  Even within my family illegal immigration and illegal aliens can cause a loud and angry discussion. I'm not posting this here because I want any responses and I certainly don't want anyone of my few readers taking issue with Miss Hope. I'm just linking you on over to Miss Hope at Hope on the Edge so you can see what I would have written if I had any brain cells left over to help me put words together...  Please respect her blog and her opinions as much as I do.

I've closed comments on this post because, quite frankly, this is MY opinion and I'm not interested in debating it.  So come on back tomorrow when we'll be open for comments and discussing such cutting edge topics as the fall clothes I bought a couple of weeks ago, the beautiful christening I attended yesterday, and the new kitchen my sister is getting!!!

Thanks, Miss Hope!!!