Love Stories

We keep interacting with each other, connecting—The elements and I. As I drove down the open road, lined with colorful, rustic homes, plentiful with trees and flowers, I felt that same goose bump feeling I felt the other day. I could feel the sun on my bare arm hanging out the window, while I handled the steering wheel with my right. I could feel the little hairs on my arms, not quite at a goose bump, but right before, a tingling sensation, as the sun warmed me.

I was on my way to the library to check out a few books. I arrived a few moments before they opened and noticed a book sale was going on. I usually get excited when I see library book sales, but not this time. I walked in to a crowd of people swarming, with their bags in hand, stuffing books inside, filling to the brim for only $5. I quickly peeked and saw familiar titles, but after unloading lots of books of my own these past, months, weeks—I am trying to utilize the library and my Kindle more, rather than going hog wild whenever I see cheap books. I know now that if I do that, they will only collect dust and I’m tired of collecting dust. I love library books anyway and I especially enjoy a trip to the independent bookstore or perusing the back issues of Bookmarks magazine from the library. The current issue is usually checked out.

I miss the way the old temporary library was set up while they were building the new one. It seemed that there was a more personal touch. I miss the books that they would pull out and display. It seemed that someone put great care into selecting those books, books they felt worthy of someone bumping into and reading. I found a few books that were just right for me that way.

One book I did find in the “New” section of the library last week was Love in Mid Air by Kim Wright. Another debut novel. I was intrigued with how the story would unfold. It’s about a married woman who is on a flight back home and she meets a married man on this flight. She wasn’t supposed to be in the seat next to him, and he wasn’t even supposed to be on this flight. Neither of them is exactly happy with their marriage. You can imagine what could happen, what does happen. I appreciated the insights the author brought to the story about marriage and friendship. She adds fine details that made it feel real. But some of those details, I can see not settling well with some readers. I didn’t mind. I gobbled the novel up and finished it quick—I was so curious about whether she could save her marriage and how. I don’t usually read these types of books, but the suspense of it and the reality of it was enough. What I mean by I don’t usually read these types of books is that I usually shy away from ‘love stories,’ but perhaps it’s because I feel in a more open and balanced place that I am able to dive in; perhaps because I have opened my heart and jumped long and wide into this great chasm—this great ocean of mystery and feeling and...

A Few Books ~ Appreciation

Appreciation [n3] recognition of worth

admiration, aesthetic sense, affection, appraisal, assessment, attraction, awareness, cognizance, commendation, comprehension, enjoyment, esteem, estimation, grasp, high regard, knowledge, liking, love, perception, realization, recognition, regard, relish, respect, responsiveness, sensibility, sensitiveness, sensitivity, sympathy, understanding, valuation; SEE CONCEPTS 15, 409 (From Roget’s 21^st Century Thesaurus pg. 37).

**

I came across The Blind Contessa’s New Machine by Carey Wallace. Being a visual person, of course, the book’s cover first drew me to its pages on the Barnes & Noble bookshelf, and the title was intriguing. I purchased the book back in January, but have been pecking away slowly. Soon, I will be done. It’s a book that can be read in one sitting, but I’ve carried it out, with other books in between. I am pleasantly surprised at how much I am enjoying this story by this new author, this book said to be her debut novel. Wallace writes in a way that moves the story along making the images and setting come alive. Could it be that she was channeling the loss of sight of her protagonist to such a degree that it allowed her to blow life into this story as she has done and making me care about the characters? This has been a satisfying experience of the imagination, written beautifully and with care.

Next, I’ve finally experienced my fist John Grisham novel: The Summons. Even though there were many reviewers that did not enjoy this book, nor did they think it was his best, it suited me just fine. I appreciate how Grisham tells a well organized story in a straightforward way. There was enough suspense and curiosity to keep me going and it was easy to keep on going and finish quite fast. A good first experience with reading Grisham.

And last, a book that I learned about from “The Booklover’s Calendar” is The Man who Made Lists: Love, Death, Madness and the Creation of ‘Roget’s Thesaurus’ by Joshua Kendall. I was surprised that this book hooked me. Later, I looked on Amazon to see how others reacted to this book and most had negative things to say about the writing style and the content—two aspects that I actually enjoyed. At times, the narrative of Roget’s life becomes much, but I was still was absorbed until the last page.

Most fascinating for me is that in order to deal with the tragedies in Roget’s life, at a young age he turned to making lists and this would continue until his death. I think the reason I connected with the book early on was feeling a sort-of kinship with how we deal with difficult life experiences early on and how they have the potential for transformation. The potential is always there, I suppose. It is just a matter of actually moving along in some way, whether big or small.

Reading this book gave me a greater appreciation for Peter Mark Roget and his journey, leading him to the Thesaurus that we have all come to know—and not the first—this comprehensive ordering of his world that now rests on many of our bookshelves and computers, to thumb through for that perfect word—for that perfect, ordered, word— toward self-expression.

Nothing in Particular

4-7-11

4+7=11

4+7+11=22

Today is addition day, and I feel like I’m having a dejavu. Did I write about addition day on 4-6-10? I have a hunch I did, but I’m not going to look.

I hear people closing their car doors, getting ready for their days—cars passing—the sound travels up through the open window, conjuring images of the sea: A deep resonance gushes through a padded tube of silver and white glitter, folding and unfolding. 

Busy season is upon the office again—tax season. It’s different this year for many reasons. It’s busy, but not as much as last year; or rather, it’s a different kind of busy and I’m in a different place, literally and figuratively. Although I like the mad rush sometimes, I will be glad when April 18 arrives. We will be able to let out a sigh of relief and take our usual reprieve the day after when the office closes.

Yesterday when I walked to the post office, I felt peace at the sight of the plum trees raining white blossoms, and of the breeze helping the yellow butterfly along. It was a treat to see that butterfly, since I had posted something about a butterfly that morning. It brought a smile to my face. I felt goose bumps down my arms and the sweet smell of Spring greeting my nose, and then the black bird streaked through the sky, right through the raining petals from the swaying tree.

Morning Cup of Frenzy with a Hint of Calm

Morning time is a frenzy today. I am obsessed right now with continuing to unpack the books that I kept, the journals that still need sorting through. I get caught up, distracted—the progress becomes slow. I do this before work, rushing, knowing that I wanted to go in early, but that I won’t be an early bird today. As I peak in folders of old writing, as usual, familiar themes. It’s mind boggling to see—yes, I’m still working on that or thinking about that: Different time, different place—same soul evolving.

One written scribble spoke to me today. Imagine—your own words speaking to you. I’m sure it happens all the time. I enjoy when it does happen, when I can catch the scribbles and say, yes, that’s how I feel today—or thanks for reminding me. It’s just ramblings, but here they are from April 13, 2004.

**

Learning is magical, yet it can seem frightening.
It keeps you alive.

There is so much to learn about.

By learning about different subjects, times, and people that have helped shape the world we live in, it allows us to reflect upon who we are and how we fit into the puzzle of life.

Who are you? Why are you here? How do you work?

**

Learn through smell, touch, sight, sound.

Many possibilities in which to enter the mystery of the world.

**

Beautiful butterfly, why are you so beautiful, so delicate, so mysterious?
Science explains your wonderful metamorphic process.
The poets express the wonder that you evoke in their souls.
History traces your origins.
Symbologists are intrigued with what you represent: Transformation, fragility, beauty.

**

Learning is wondrous, transports me to other worlds.

**

Side note: I suppose we can keep rambling, ramble on and on until we get all the rambles out of our system. Even though, it may seem that this or that has already been expressed, keep expressing. I guess that's my little bit of encouragement to myself--to allow myself permission to express what has already been expressed, both by myself or others.

~Happy learning and exploring!

Kindled ~ Reflections

So far I am enjoying my Kindle. I'm trying to think about what a morning is like with it. In the beginning I was worried about whether I should power off completely or just put it to sleep. Little silly things. I decided after reading up about it that putting it to sleep is a little bit better than just completely powering it off, but that powering it off at least weekly is good for Kindle.

At first I thought I would use Kindle a lot to read the newspaper. Then I realized that it was hard to keep up, just like with the regular paper. I didn't want to spend too much money on new Kindle books, so I tried to find some freebies, and that was exciting. It's always nice to be able to get something for free.

What took me so long?

Not exactly sure what took me so long. I had a deep resistance to buying the Kindle. I think I was afraid that I would ignore my books but that's not the case. I tried to think of excuses to not buy the Kindle, even when I looked at the store model at Target, I tried to convince myself: “Oh, the screen is not really that great to look at, and look the screen is ghostly and the words don’t even look real.” But really in Target those florescent lights make anything difficult to see. At the same time that I was taken aback at the whiteness of the page, I was also in awe—to look at this page that looks so much like a page—this e-ink technology was something special. Of all the e-readers that I’d heard about, by far, the ease on the eyes of the Kindle, and that I love Amazon so much sealed it for me.

Kindle is yet another book on my shelves, a book within books, neatly stored. Here I sit with Kindle, and I still have a few books checked out from the library and I continue to check them out and read them alongside Kindle.

Highlights

Some of the highlights for me are of being able to sample books before you buy them. A big bonus for me is that little did I know that I would start using my Kindle as a sort of CD player. I had previously downloaded audio books from the audible site which is also part of Amazon, and I haven't actually listened to them much because I don't own an MP3 player and I don't have a portable CD player, nor one in my car. Now with Kindle I can easily download or transfer my audios to the Kindle. I’ve been listening to an audio book on my morning drive to work on Kindle. It’s a short drive, yet I manage to chip away at the audio, whereas before it just sat there on the computer or a CD, untouched. The speakers aren't that loud so it's difficult to hear with the noise of the car and the traffic outside, so I tried it with my headphones and now it works much better.

I've always enjoyed reading out loud and being read to. And a book that has come up again is called Sophie's World by Jostein Gaarder. I own the book and it sits on my shelves. I came across this book many years ago at a bookstore in Berkeley and the idea of it grabbed me right away. I began reading it, and I loved the story and how the author weaved a philosophy course into a story that could easily be read by adults and young adults alike. This is one of the books that I have revisited in audio. The narrator brings it alive in such a way that I wasn't able to get when I read it myself; even though I enjoyed it when I read it, now it’s so much more. There are certain books that I would not choose to listen to in audio, certain books where I choose to be the voice of the book, even if inside of my own head. But with this book there is something about it that beckons to be read aloud, and it could be because to some degree it follows the way a conversation would have gone if you are sitting down with Socrates. So that has been a real treat. It's amazing how much you can read, even in those little moments when you're sitting at the stop light.

Here is the audible.com website if you’d like to have a listen to the sample of this book.

http://www.audible.com/pd/ref=sr_1_1?asin=B002V5A2WS&qid=1301589428&sr=1-1

One new item that I learned about through a blog called, “A Kindle World Blog” that I subscribe to via the Kindle is an application for the Kindle called Notepad by 7 Dragons. It’s a somewhat raw App. that allows you to tap down notes through your Kindle pad. Many people have Smart phones and other gadgets, but I do not, so it’s an attractive feature for me—to take my Kindle one step further. I can then hook Kindle up to my computer and transfer the note to computer, edit and voila!

http://www.amazon.com/Notepad/dp/B004LSLN0I

The other cool thing about the Kindle is that you can actually e-mail documents or pictures to your Kindle e-mail address and then it arrives on your Kindle, so the you can read it on your Kindle. It does cost a small fee which I learned by surprise, but I didn't go crazy so it wasn't a big deal. And you cannot e-mail from your Kindle so you can only e-mail documents to it.

I like that there is a web browser in the experimental section. It's not perfect, but it’s nice to know it’s there. It works well if you need to look something up, and of course it functions better if there are not a lot of images on the page.

I have not transferred any MP3 music to the Kindle because I don't usually like to listen to music while reading, but that is also a nice feature.

Text to speech is a great option when publishers enable this feature. It would be great if in future generations of the Kindle they were able to improve upon the voice and not make it sound so electronic.

All in all Kindle works well for the ways that I read which is to dip in and out of books. On the other hand, I become stuck because there is such a variety to choose from that I've downloaded that it's almost hard to really keep up. I'm glad that I bought a Kindle and as I said, and as I'm sure most people feel, Kindle does seem to act more as a supplement, not a replacement, to regular books and reading.

Happy Reading!

Little Drops of Writing

I am trying to get my writing out, even if in little drops. I have written snippets in my little notebook. I’ve noticed that the last two times were in the doctor’s office, a time and space where there is quiet, and rather than flip through a magazine, I unzip my pouch, pull out pen and notebook and just go—write and write what will come out. I wrote a few snippets that I had intended to post because it’s nice to share and it’s nice to have a place where I can find things more easily than on my computer in the many folders and many documents that become muddy and forgotten. Just yesterday, I reread a small free write that came to me. It felt like it was only months ago that I wrote it and intended to post it. Had it been that long? It was dated 2009.

This morning, I sit here. I began by looking through the writing prompts on my new Kindle—another topic I’d like to write about: My reaction to being Kindled. I sit here typing to Bossa-Nova playing in the background. It is my morning groove into each day, my cup of coffee close at hand.

The writing prompt book didn’t help this morning. I flipped through the e-pages and decided to set it aside and write, tap out whatever thoughts came to my mind. I knew that the music was calling me, coaxing me to do what I haven’t done consistently in so long, to get those words out, to keep sharpening the edge. I have still been true to my passion for writing and reflecting, but it has mostly stayed in the notebook in my head; now I must start clearing those crevices and revisit some of the thoughts in the notebooks that I kept. There are still many more to toss out—that will be for another day.

Happy day and Happy writing.

A Tiny Musing & A Little Light

It feels like it’s been so long since I’ve written any words on the page. Today, I’m running late for work, but I want to post an image that brings me calm and lights me up inside and maybe will offer a little light to those out there who happen upon it.

Plan. Don’t “they” often say to have a plan? Yes, plans are good, but sometimes, one doesn’t know until the very moment. There is no plan for sudden death; there is no plan for natural disaster. Sure, there may be certain things we can do that will help, but all we have is that point in time when it occurs and then, the plan is tossed aside because it becomes irrelevant and plans don’t always cover the detours that life takes.

From my little spot over here, I send out white light and positive vibrations to the world.

I took these photos at the California Academy of Sciences. I have always been fascinated with Jellyfish and I could watch the fish swim all day.