Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Random Thoughts

The San Francisco 49'ers lost a heart-breaker Sunday night.  Big Cuter can now attend his conference (in Paris... poor baby) without feeling that he's leaving his team in the lurch.  Personally, I am reveling in the success of a quarterback who actually graduated from college (a semester early) with Deans' List grades.  Smart rules!
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The Fox Theatre was going to be the venue for Sunday's movies-in-the-afternoon-with-the-girls because I thought that the original 3:10 to Yuma was on the schedule. Turns out that Russel Crowe was going to be on the big screen, not Glenn Ford and Van Heflin. I was looking forward to seeing an old movie in an old theatre and sharing the joy with Elizibeth, my favorite teenager. Instead, we shifted our sights to the local mall and Marky Mark. Am I the only one who remembers the hoopla over his underwear ad in Times Square?
http://markyadvertising.tripod.com/
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I am now the proud possessor of a Kindle Fire.  Big Cuter taught me how to turn it on.  He did the registration.  Yesterday, I spent the better part of an hour trying to figure out how to download a library book.  I started out with a specific title in mind but after a while I was willing to take anything that was more interesting than a tool manual.  I don't have a touch screen phone or other portable device, and maybe that was part of my problem.  I couldn't find the internet and once I did find it I couldn't type in the search box and then the links wouldn't open and when I began entertaining fantasies of throwing the thing across the room I went to the bookshelf, took down Three Theban Plays, and immersed myself in the ancients. 

I may make an offering to the Oracle at Delphi before I begin to tackle it again.
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The finches have begun their migration back in our direction.  I am no longer fretting that I never got to removing the berry pods from the crepe myrtle outside my window.  There's a frenzy of finches gobbling sustenance and swaying on the thin branches of my un-pruned plant which they see as their own private delicatessen.
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photo: Congresswoman. Giffords' Office
Gabby Giffords held the rest of that Congress on Your Corner this morning. You remember, the one that was interrupted by bullets on January 8, 2011?

She was frail and tentative as she walked into the conference room in her soon-to-be-shuttered brand new office, but her smile lit the room as she was introduced to those of us who were standing in line that morning a year ago. 

What a loss. What a waste.  She is better than I had hoped and no where near ready to return to Congress.  Accepting her change of status with grace cannot have been easy. 

I shook hands with a real hero this morning, denizens. 

9 comments:

  1. I will love Gabby for the rest of my life for her courage and strength, both before and after Jan. 8th, 2011.

    I heard you on NPR as I pulled into my garage yesterday afternoon. I've gotten used to you turning up for a chat while I cook supper or do my ab exercises on the floor in front of the TV at night. For all that I wish you freedom from the press to just be your own sweet self without having to give statements, I must say I'll miss these media visits.

    Here's your chuckle for the day. I just finished reading Sweatpants at my friend Lin's "Absence of Alternatives" blog and toggled over to the Burrow to be struck by that image of Marky Mark. Strange juju!

    I got a Kindle Fire, too, and I'm in love. I do find, though, that the age-related dryness of the pads of my fingertips makes for some fumbling outcomes on that little touchscreen.

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  2. Oh Nance and AB, I have a first generation Kindle. I actually don't use it much anymore since I have an iPad. If you have any questions, don't hesitate to let me know.

    Do you both know about Project Gutenberg? If not, here's a link: http://www.gutenberg.org/ Lots of free eBooks.

    There's also a program called Calibre. http://calibre-ebook.com/ It helps you convert your eBooks to other formats and keeps track of them. I use it for all of my eBooks. I try to buy all my books in eBook format now. That's how I purchased Roxanna's book and read it on my iPad in two days. One thing I like about having a tablet is I can read with the lights off in bed. And I can enlarge the type or zoom in on pictures. Oh, you can also loan books out via the Kindle Lending Library. Way cool! :)

    On meeting Gabby yesterday, you both looked beautiful and I found it so touching you both holding hands.

    Have a great day.


    Megan xxx

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  3. Gabby will return to Congress one day, Suzi. Keep the faith and keep the button :-)

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  4. Funny, I was watching the (remake of) The Italian Job over the weekend, and thinking about how far Marky Mark has come from all that Times-Square-billboard kerfuffle. More of that strange juju. (I should be more surprised by it than I am, though.)

    Brilliant, your getting an e-book reader! I'm on my second Kindle now. (The first one has been bestowed upon The Missus, at her request, but is still linked to my Amazon account so we can now SHARE books easily.) The only thing that annoys me about it is all the blooming books I can't get on it. (Well, that, and sometimes the prices.) Plus, I've been using the "mail your Kindle a document" feature to enable me to read my book just like it's already a REAL book. We do love our little illusions (and the ease with which technology lets us nurture them).

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  5. I thought of you as I heard and watched Gabby on the news, even looked for you in the background. As your healing continues, I sent you all good thoughts.

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  6. AB and anyone else who may be interested... I just found this by complete accident in an advertisement on Facebook. It's for free books for the Kindle. If you don't have a Kindle, you can use the software I posted above to convert any eBook into the format you may need for your reader. This site also has a young edition for children's books. Enjoy! http://www.pixelofink.com

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  7. We considered a person when i noticed as well as viewed Gabby about the information, actually appeared for you personally within the history. Because your own recovery proceeds, We delivered a person just about all great ideas.

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