Tag Archive: Reading


Support Your Local Library

Filed under: Technology — 2 Comments
January 15, 2012

Two things I love about reading. One is library books. I love them because they are free, so if you get a book that is a total waste of paper, at least you didn’t waste any money. I’ve been fortunate in that every place I have lived there has been a library accessible to me. Even in Buffalo although I abused the privilege and kept the book for a year, and when they sent me the overdue book letter with notice of a fine that was more then the book was worth, I just dropped it in the book return. I can probably never get a library card in Buffalo again. In the Hudson Valley, not only was I within driving distance of 4 libraries. I could request a book from any library in the Hudson Valley Library system.

The other thing I love is my e-reader. It is so convenient to have all my books in one little device I can carry about with me. So imagine my joy when I discovered you could borrow e-books from the NYPL. Yes I was jumping up and down, well I would have been if I had wanted to actually get off my couch. Which I don’t have to do now to get my books from the library.

There is one little problem. The last time I borrowed a book for my e-reader, the quality was not good and I could barely read it. However, Kindle books are available and I have a Kindle app on my iPhone. I went in on NYPL mobile site and requested the book. Not downloadable through their mobile site. I had to go online with my computer and download the book. I wasn’t sure how this would work, but when I clicked to download the book I was redirected to Amazon and the book was sent to my phone. I would be able to read it the next time I synced my Kindle app. Except it didn’t. I synced and no book. However, when I went to Amazon on my phone, the book was available for download in my ‘digital purchases’, so I was able to get it on my phone and read it.

Also, with the Amazon cloud reader I am able to read Kindle books on my computer. How cool is that? I know, I don’t really like reading books on my computer, but the print is so big and at this stage of my life, the bigger print the better.

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Already missed

Filed under: Miscellanea
January 11, 2012

This morning I woke up late. It is my Wednesday off and I was looking out the window wondering if I should get up or not, thinking about what I had planned for the day, when it hit me. I didn’t blog yesterday. So here it is January and I have already missed a day.

Yesterday I got an e-mail that a book I requested from the library was in. I didn’t even remember that I had requested it. So I picked it up and when I got home I read it. That is what I was doing instead of blogging. I have discovered that while reading may give you great ideas and inspire one to write, it is impossible, for me at least, to do both at the same time. So last night I read and didn’t blog.

Today I have sort of made up for it. Not just in writing this blog post, but I wrote three (3) reviews on my other blog. I am kind of proud of myself for buckling down and doing them before I finish another book. Now I just have to decide, what book should I read next?

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Make a top ten list of things to do this summer

Filed under: Family N Friends, Health, Manhattan, Miscellanea, Sports, Weather
June 2, 2011

Topic #144:

Make a top ten list of things to do this summer. And if you are somewhere in the world where the seasons are different, make a top ten list of things you want to do next season.

1. Go to all the Saturday Yankee Games.
2. Go see the Staten Island Yankees play at Dutchess Stadium.
3. Start looking at apartments in Manhattan.
4. Read more books.
5. Get my Beth Israel hospital bill settled.
6. Get my insurance claim with EVIL Asurion settled.
7. Lose 5 pounds.
8. Exercise more
9. Go swimming.
10. Post everyday.

I noticed that this is not a ‘things you want to get done’ or goals, just things to do this summer. More on the line of summer activities. At least that is how I took it.

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Happiness and joy

Filed under: Emotions, Family N Friends, Technology
March 12, 2011

“The boy is overcome with happiness and joy. He has his iPad2. He says it is all my fault so he keeps hugging me.”

Those were his exact words. Happiness and joy. His face has been a grin all day. All my fault. I told him, I just loaned you the money. “No,” he says. “You insisted we had to go to the Verizon store before we went to Connecticut.” That’s where the iPad2 was. Probably the only store in the Hudson Valley to have some. Now they have none. The boy has his, Gwen has his old one, and I have the satisfaction of knowing that for today, I have filled his life with happiness and joy.

Now that I have done that, I am unsure what I should be doing the rest of the day. I think I will relax with a book.

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Tired

Filed under: Health, Technology
February 10, 2011

That is the only reason I have for not posting. Not writer’s block, I have all these great ideas. Then I look at my computer, and just don’t have the energy to get it out and turn it on. Yesterday I was home and got an e-mail from the library that my book was in, so I went to the gym, then I went to the library to get the book. I took my computer thinking that would be the perfect opportunity, but the wifi wasn’t working. By the time I packed it up and got home, it was time to get Em.

So tonight, as I was playing with my iPod, I got the idea to write about my favorite apps. Since Verizon now has the iPhone, I will probably be getting one in December. Here are two of my favorite apps.

Groupon (free)
Groupons are coupons you buy online, then print out and take to the company that issued it to redeem it. They are for restaurants, spas, museums, classes, bike riding in Central Park and so on. K and I use them all the time when we go to Manhattan.

This app signs into your Groupon account so you can see what you have, you can sort them by ones close to you or in order of expiration date. You can use the app to redeem the Groupon if you don’t want to print it out. You can also buy the current deal through the app.

Starbucks Card Mobile (free but you need to have a Starbucks card)
This has got to be the coolest app ever. I absolutely love it. If you have a Starbucks card, first you need to register it online. Then you get this app, add your card to it and then you can pay at Starbucks with your iPod or iPhone. After you pay, the app updates and give you your new balance. This is my app, yes I have $80 on my Starbucks card. Don’t judge me, yes I’m addicted. It’s a gold card and everytime I get 15 stars I get a coupon for a free drink. I have received a lot of coupons.

I would say these are my favorites, but I have to also mention I have game apps besides Words with Friends, I have Angry Birds, JewelMagic, Spider Solitaire and Word Warp. I also have the following apps iBooks, Kindle, Kobo.books and Nook for reading e-books. I have apps for Weightwatchers and Chase bank, my iPod keeps me pretty much connected with the world and makes my life easier.

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>Minor setback

Filed under: Miscellanea
January 20, 2011

>Tuesday I kind of got derailed with my blogging, I took stuff to work to take back to the store, then there was a thing that happened at work, so I ended up at the emergency room and didn’t get home until 2 a.m. My phone battery and my iPod Touch batter both died, I was so bored just sitting there.

Wednesday I just slept in and then kind of did nothing. I started downloading apps for my iPod touch and now I can read Kindle and Nook books. Both free apps. I started cleaning up my Sony Reader library and was quite surprised to see it was almost midnight. GULP. Well, I must go now. Tomorrow I will try to catch up.

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>Falling behind

Filed under: Uncategorized
January 10, 2011

>Yes, I am somewhat of a pessimist so I was wondering how long it would take for me to fall behind in my writing and here it is the 10th of January and I only have 8 posts for the year. I need to do better. I think part of the problem is I start thinking about all I have to do, I have to write in this blog, I have to write a review of ‘The Flight of the Sorceress’, I have to write a review of ‘Woo Lae Oak’. When I start thinking of all those things, I get a headache and have to go lie down. Excuse me for a moment.

Saturday Gwen and I went to see Yogi Bear. I didn’t really want to, but I promised her I would. It was entertaining. My mindset was that it wasn’t going to be a great movie. So I wasn’t expecting more then it was. Gwen actually helped me with that, she asked me, “Is this like Looney Tunes? A movie that’s just funny, no real plot?” And when I said yes she nodded her head, “That’s o.k., I like Looney Tunes.” I do too, except I don’t have to pay for Looney Tunes!

Sunday I went to the city to meet Em. I had made an appointment at Halo, the salt air place.

Halo Air Salt Rooms
An Alternative Treatment for Respiratory and Skin Discomforts.

There is more information on their website, click on the name Halo and you will go there. It’s a safe link, I put it there myself. I always check links before I publish my posts.

Then we went to the Korean Restaurant, Woo Lae Oak, which I had a coupon for. Very good, but very expensive. I haven’t written my review yet, it will be up hopefully within the week. Then we came home. I went to the store and Em mopped the floor which meant I had to take my boots off when I came inside and then I forgot them so this morning I had to run upstairs to leave. I still made the train but forgot my food, so I was in a pretty bad way today. Back to last night.

Fred was downloading Beatles songs. He wanted to get the whole box set, but can’t afford it right now. So he was downloading the songs, then playing them and dancing to them. In all it made for a fun end to a day that started out pretty crappy.

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>Visiting the Library

Filed under: Uncategorized
January 7, 2011

>Someone recommended this book to me. I am not recommending this book, I have not read it yet. This is the summary of the book.

Room: A Novel by Emma Donoghue
To five-year-old Jack Room is the entire world. It is where he was born and grew up; it’s where he lives with his Ma as they learn and read and eat and sleep and play. At night his Ma shuts him safely in the wardrobe where he is meant to be asleep when Old Nick visits. Room is home to Jack but to Ma it is the prison where Old Nick has held her captive for seven years. Through determination ingenuity and fierce motherly love Ma has created a life for Jack. But she knows it’s not enough…not for her or for him. She devises a bold escape plan one that relies on her young son’s bravery and a lot of luck. What she does not realize is just how unprepared she is for the plan to actually work. Told entirely in the language of the energetic pragmatic five-year-old Jack ROOM is a celebration of resilience and the limitless bond between parent and child a brilliantly executed novel about what it means to journey from one world to another.

I have read another book by Emma Donoghue called Slammerkin.

There were some other books I wanted to read so I went online and requested them from the library. I got e-mails about the other books but not this one so I checked on it. Apparently, I was not the only one that got a recommendation about this book. There were something like 76 requests, but only 34 books. I got the bright idea that maybe the NYPL (New York Public Library) would have it. So I went online there and put in a request, there were 93 requests but more books. So I requested it. I was told I couldn’t put a hold on the book, there was ‘something wrong’ with my card. My card expired on 1/1/2011 and I had to renew it in person at the library. Oh crap. Now when was I going to be able to do that?

As it turned out, Wednesday morning my alarm didn’t go off. Stitch told me he wasn’t sure if this was the Wednesday I worked or was off so he didn’t wake me. I got ready and he took me to the train station, but I told my boss I would be in at noon and used the extra time to go to the library. After I renewed my card, I went on the computer and put a hold on the book. I stopped to chat with two very nice ladies that work/volunteer at the library and told them what I had done. One of them said, “You know they’ll both come in at the same time.” Then there was a flash and they started to look around, “Someone is using a flash.” Flash photography is not permitted in the library. So I asked them if they want me to go hit the person with my cane. To which one replied, “YES! VERY HARD!” Nice to know I’m not the only mean old lady.

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>I totally hate it

Filed under: Uncategorized
August 27, 2009

>When I have been thinking about a post all day, then I get here and its gone. The only thing I can think of is my new camera and the pictures of my new earrings, but there was more, I just know it.

I am finally caught up on all my review books. I think I am taking a break from them and reading my true crime and challenge books. For details, you can check out my book blog here.

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>Frank McCourt Dies

Filed under: Uncategorized
July 20, 2009

>Very sad news. Frank McCourt, author of the memoirs Angela’s Ashes, ‘Tis and Teacher Man, died yesterday at 78 in New York City. He had suffered from metastatic melanoma, according to the New York Times, which has a long obituary and a remembrance called “A Storyteller Even as a Teacher.”

We remember him fondly for his comments at the publication party for Teacher Man, when, with his usual deadpan delivery, he lamented that the fame and fortune that came with Angela’s Ashes hadn’t come earlier in his life, but then said that had this occurred, he would have died long earlier “from drink and fornication.”

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