Dear Mr. President and dubiously efficient Congress/Senate:

Don't you think 1 TRILLION dollars might be a good time to stop the spending spree?!

Regards,
a citizen who spends less than she makes (what a concept)

The end of books?

A few months ago, M, her husband and I were discussing the future of the book. M's husband, being quite involved with the graphic design world, has a slightly bleak idea of the future of print books. He has already seen the decline of cd cases due to dowloadable music; people just aren't buying as many cds as they used to. He seemed to think that books are going to head in the same direction.

By the end of our conversation, my doomsday nature envisioned the end of all printed books. I could see my future children walking into my personal library and being amazed to see so many real books on the shelves "grandma, what are these?" Kind of how we might feel when someone has hundreds of vinyl records. I swore to myself that I would never be a traitor to books, I would never own a Kindle or any other wretched print-book-killing-device!

But then some time passed...and I listened to other friends discuss the merits/demerits of the Kindle...and amazon had that rotten Kindle advertisement on their main page for so long...and I finally got around to actually reading about it...and I've been converted! I desperately want one! Let me show you why:

• It holds over 1500 books and gives you free book samples- you can download a chapter of a book and read it to decide if you actual want it.
• Books are so cheap! Most are less than $10.
• It has wireless built into it so you can download books anytime, anywhere, even if there isn't a wireless network in the area.
  
• It can read to you.
• You can adjust the size of the text and the shade of the screen. And there's no glare on the screen if you read outside.
  
• Wireless access to wikipedia (T-rav was really happy about that one).
• There's a search feature where you can type in a word or phrase and it will search through all of your books until it finds a match.
  
• This is what finally convinced me that I want one: it has a built in New Oxford American Dictionary! If you don't know what a word is, you simply move the cursor over the word and voila- you get a definition.
  

Aside from all of these wonderful features, the a Kindle is also very small. And lightweight. Which I would really benefit from when traveling (did I mention that I intended to bring about 8 books with me to Memphis, but had to remove them because their total weight was about 20 pounds). The only downside to a Kindle is that they're kind of expensive- $299 (yes, that is a reduction from the $369 or so that they were a few weeks ago). But the benefits are so many!

And let me also mention that if I were lucky enough to own a Kindle, it would not mean that I would stop buying or reading print books. I would just add a Kindle to my library.

What do you think? Would you buy a kindle? Do you think it will be The End of the printed book?

vices

Sometimes I find myself doing things that I know are rotten, things that I hate about myself. And yet I do them anyway. I know that once I say/do whatever it is, I'll instantly feel like a brute. Yet regardless of the consequences, I often find myself spewing forth things that I don't really want to be saying.

For example, at some point in high school I decided that to be cool, I had to despise everything and everyone around me. My friends were the one exception. But I kind of became a hater. I was always negative and critical. I would find myself saying things I didn't really mean just to be critical. And then one day, my dear friend Jay, after listening to me spout off for a while, turned and said "You know, being negative doesn't make you cool. It's actually really annoying. You should stop." I was so shocked that I don't think I even had time to be offended. No one had ever said anything like that to me (well, I'm sure my parents did, but none of my peers had) and I knew she was right- it was totally and completely irritating.

Since then I've tried to be less negative and critical. I think I've done well with the negative part of things...and not so well with the criticizing. My excuse: I think it's in my blood to be critical. No really, it's imbedded in my genes. We Hills have a need to be critical (not just you Faut, it's the whole fam). But that's not really a legitimate reason. I think deep down (ok, maybe not so deep) I kind of like criticizing. It kind of makes me feel good. For a little while, at least. Oh, I always feel bad later, but by then (I hope) people have forgotten what I've said about such and such a celebrity or political idea or popular book.

I think everyone has their own "pet" vices, things they know they should stop doing, maybe even things they want to stop doing, but for whatever reason, they don't or can't. I suppose this is one of mine. My other favorite sin I find less offensive than this, but that's a story for another day. What's yours?

A misplaced Yankee

I've always been quite proud of the fact that I'm from New York (state, not city!). Overly proud, perhaps. But although I may be partial to life in the east, I feel like I've either traveled to or lived in enough places to make me fairly well rounded. This is, however, my very first time spending more than 1 week at a time in The South. Sure, I've been to Florida and driven through Georgia, South Carolina, and Virginia, and even spent several weeks of my life at the beach in North Carolina. But there's just something different about living in the "dirty south." And Memphis, Tennessee is definitely a prime example of dirty south.

For example, I've never seen so much road kill. And it's interesting road kill. Like armadillos and 'possums (pictures of these are soon to come! I'm sure you can't wait). I've seen more than 1 person throw used bottles out of their car windows onto the street. And then there are the McDonald's bags resting on the curbs. Pardon me for being rude, but I've never seen so many fat people in one place in my life. And not just round people, we're talking very, very large people (Mississippi was just named the fattest state in the nation for the 3rd year in a row). And to no one's surprise, they're often hanging around Popeye's Chicken. That's another thing- I didn't realize that southern people really do eat so much fried chicken. You can smell it everywhere. I don't think I've ever seen so many people who smoke. And New York is no stranger to cigarettes. And the people aren't afraid to light up and blow smoke right in your face.

Now this sounds like I hate the south and the people in it. Quite to the contrary- I'm really enjoying living in a new and completely different part of the country, even if I do sometimes feel like I'm in a foreign land. Or at least very obviously a Yankee, because here people still refer to northerners as Yanks. But I love listening to the charming southern drawl (which definitely deserves its own post). They have the tastiest smoked/barbecued meats. The women wear hats! We have a spunky 78 year old woman in our ward who wore a flaming blue hat to church last week. When I complimented it, she gave me tips on how to choose and wear a hat myself. The countryside here is beautiful and there are fantastic thunderstorms. Sometimes the power even goes out. And most importantly, the people are friendly and polite.

So as long as we don't get robbed while driving through the ghetto or get lung cancer from the secondhand smoke, I'm sure life in the south will be lovely.

Happy Independence Day

Want to win a free cookbook? And it's not just any cookbook. It's The Essential Baker, my current favorite dessert cookbook (wedding treats from my sister's reception, peanut butter chocolate chunk cookies, macaroons, shortbread, and other delectables. And they're not hard. I promise). Go here to find out how! Spread the word!

A Feis!

Last Friday was my Irish dance competition (called a feis). I wasn't going to blog about it here because I already called my family and told them all about it, posted about it on T-rav's family's blog, and commented about it on facebook. But my sister has demanded pictures, and so although they are few and of ill quality (phin had to sneak them since filming and fotography is strictly forbidden), I will acquiesce to her request.

Here we are waiting in line on "stage" in a row. I danced in 6 dances: 3 solo dances and 2 figure (or group) dances, but I danced one of the figure dances twice (we needed an extra person). My hair is exceptionally curly because Irish dancers traditionally either wear a super curly wig or put their hair in ringlets. You will notice, however, that some of the adults don't bother to conform to this tradition.

Two people danced at a time in front of 1 judge. When the two dancers on stage reached the last step of their dance, the assistant (the girl leaning forward with her hands clasped together) would send the next two dancers to prep and then start the second the first two finished. Does that make senese?


In the end, my shin splints and pulled ligament in my ankle were rewarded with 2 first places (1 medal and 1 trohpy), 1 second place, and 1 third place. Hurrah!

free time, anyone?

Before I start this post, I want to make it very clear that I am not yet bored. I'm simply anticipating the inevitable. And frantically trying to stave it off as long as possible.

What do you do when you've suddenly been thrust into a situation where you have absolutely no responsibilities? No job, no homework, no calling to fulfill, no kids to take care of, nothing at all. And how long can you go before you start feeling crazy? I know it sounds delightful to have that kind of time on your hands, but I'm not sure it really is so fabulous. It gives me too much time to think...and stew...and wonder...and become anxious about things I shouldn't worry about...

I'm in Memphis now. And I've been here for 2.5 days. And I'm starting to wonder how on earth I'm going to occupy myself for the next 2 months. Bear in mind that I currently have neither a car (hopefully that will soon change) nor a lot of money to spend doing touristy things. Occasionally one of our friends here who does have a car will want to go out and about (they've already hit most of the free days at the local museums), but I can't always rely on her to take me places. Our apartment complex does have a pool and a workout room, both of which I plan to take full advantage, but that leaves me with a good 12 hours of my day open and available. I can read (books and the internet), cook (though I have to plan everything ahead of time since I can't get to the grocery store), blog (but what do I blog about when all I do is stay in my apartment complex), sleep, sit around...

Any suggestions?

Death to Delta!

I think this should be the media's new motto for Delta. Or maybe something like Delta Sucks. Down with Delta! How about Delta: Armpit of Airlines or Delta: Bane of Airbuses!

Things always seem to go wrong when you fly with Delta. Either you're delayed or your luggage gets lost or your flight is overbooked (not that I entirely mind that...I haven't paid for a flight in 9 months of travel around the country because of all the vouchers I've gotten for volunteering to take a later flight). And they make you pay for your luggage. And if your luggage happens to be overweight, you might as well prepare to throw out your belongings; at $90 (yes, NINETY) per overweight bag, it hardly seems worth it for a few bottles of lotions or clothing items.

And that doesn't even get us started on the Delta employees. If you have a question or a problem with your Delta flight, good luck. You're most likely never going to find someone who actually can or will assist. If you need a new flight, you're on your own. If you have a question, beware of the look of death you will receive from the Delta personnel at the desk. Contrary to appearances and job title, they are not there to help you. They're there to be grumpy and irritated.

Try flying Jetblue. Or Southwest. Or even United. Just do yourself a favor and avoid Delta like the plague.

Do you have the heart of a revolutionary?

This is something I think about a lot. Like around July 4th. Or when my employers make a new rule that I don't like. Or when I see a group of people protesting something (preferably something worthwhile). Or when I think about Cuba or China or IRAN. Especially Iran. Especially now with the re-"election" of Ahmadinejad and all the accompanying protests from the minority groups. Because who really believes that Ahmadinejad won the election fair and square? I kind of doubt it.

But it makes me wonder what I would do if I were an Iranian living in Iran and angry with the election. Would I be one of the movers and shakers who formed the protests, or, in a more extreme circumstance, a revolution? Would I be too afraid to start the movement on my own, but readily join as soon as I saw others involved? Would I agree with the revolutionaries, but not actively participate? Or would I sit back and keep my mouth shut?

Perhaps I'm just being a romantic, but I think that I'm somewhere between the first and second group- if I had enough friends to get fired up with me (M, for example), I'd probably be among the first. Otherwise I think I'd be more likely to join a revolution, but not start it.

Do you have the heart of a revolutionary?

And just in case your mind is racing with excited thoughts of Che Guevara racing through your heads, he is most definitely not my idea of the ideal revolutionary. So if you're a lover of Che, I would not call you a revolutionary. I would call you something else. Something else I won't be putting up on my blog.