Woolly Mutts

A new year, a new toy. My Kindle review

Hello again!  Welcome to a new year, a new decade, a new face on Woolly Mutts.  It was way overdue and is a bit of a work in progress, but a good place to start, none the less.  I avoid resolutions in general.  I can find other ways to disappoint myself, but I do intend to become more faithful to this blog.  Wenders, a long time friend and blog reader (as well as writer) asked me for a review of my new Kindle and now is as good a time as any.  You might want to get comfy and grab a beverage, cause there is much to say about Kindle, both positive and negative.

Before I get into specifics, let me remind that I am, at heart, a book girl.  There is nothing I don't love about a book.  The smell, the weight of it in my hands, the adventure that book and I take together.  I worked in a library for nearly 10 years and never, ever met a book I didn't like.  Love, even.  However, I am also a lover of the gadget.  It it has a power source and buttons I am probably interested.  Kindle is the meeting of both worlds.

And there he/she is.  Apparently, many Kindle owners choose to give it a name.  Not sure about that, yet.  You can see it has the screen, a full keyboard, page turn buttons, menu, home, and a teeny, tiny joy stick thingy.  (I am so technical.) 

 

To give you some idea of the size, here it is a top of an average sized hard cover book.  It is small and very light.

 

I was lucky enough to get a case for mine (thanks Sonya!), so here it is, in the case, same book.

A quick overview; Kindle holds up to 1500 books, uploads them in less than a minute (my experience has been more like 20 seconds) from the Amazon store, either from your computer or straight from the Kindle itself.  It also will display newspapers, magazines, text files, and blogs for your reading pleasure.

The good:

*Small and light with a non glare screen.  The display looks almost exactly like a page in a book.

*It keeps your place without even asking it to, and does so for every document that you are reading. If, like me, you read while having a meal, there is no struggling to keep it open or need to prop up to get the right view.

*You can highlight, annotate, clip sections for later use.  The little controller moves a cursor any where on the page.  Place it in front of any word and the definition of that word appears (like magic) at the bottom of the page.  Fabulous!

*When it goes to sleep a new picture appears on the screen.  Some times it's the picture of an author, or a field of butterflies, or a tree of birds.  I get a kick out of seeing what picture will appear next. 

*As earlier reported, books appear in the Kindle less than a minute after you request them.  Amazon also offers LOTS of free books in lots of genres AND (this is so cool) you can order the first chapter of any book for free so you can sample the book before you buy. There a number of places that offer free books for the Kindle and I have heard, though not experienced yet, that some libraries have a Kindle download program.  (LOVE libraries!)

*Newspapers from 15 countries can be delivered daily to your Kindle.  You also get a free 14 day trial of each newspaper before you commit.  I am currently enjoying a trial of The Independent, a UK newspaper.  There are also magazines and blogs.  There is a cost for all, including blogs.  I haven't experimented too much with the built in browser, but have read that it supports Google Reader, so you could read your blogs using the Kindle.

*Lovely long battery life.  I just plugged it in today and I've been reading it, on and off, since the 27th.  I've read one complete book and almost half of another along with daily newspaper reading.

*PDF files.  Oh knitters, this one is tres cool.  When you register your Kindle you get an exclusive email address where you are able to email documents and images.  A large number of my knitting patterns are in PDF form so I can email them to the Kindle to have available instead of the paper copy.  I adore this feature.  Same is true for Word docs. 

*You can search any publication using word or phrase. Great tool if you're studying a particular subject.

*Text size is customizable and it has the ability to size up to extremely large print.  You can also change how many words appear on a line and the screen rotation.

*It will read to you and it's a pretty good voice.  I was expecting the sort of computer voice that isn't appealing to listen to, but you can choose a male or female voice and the rate that it speaks.  If you're engrossed in a story and have to leave for work, you can just have it read as you drive and then pick up reading again where the voice leaves off.  Fantastic feature!

The not so good:

*No color.  I understand the necessity of black and white, but I am hoping that someday they will be able to over come this hurdle and offer a color version. 

*The screen can not be brightened.  The screen is calibrated to be seen at any angle and in most lights with no glare, but it still feels a bit dim to me.  Having said that, after I begin reading I hardly notice it and I can and have read in sunlight or with a lamp and had no trouble.

*You can't format a pdf file.  Having the knitting patterns in the Kindle is fantastic, but it would be even more so if I could make the text larger.  Again, color would be better in this instance as well.

*You are only viewing one page at a time so you must hit the "turn page" button more often than you would turn a page.  This sort of annoyed me at first, but after using it for awhile I don't notice it as much.

*It's not a book.  Some times it just has to be a book.

Overall, taking the good and the not so much into consideration, I adore my Kindle.  LOVE it.  5 stars, two thumbs up, standing ovation. This dedicated book lover is just crazy about her Kindle!

If you are a Kindle owner and have tips or comments to share, please do so!!!

Ten years. A decade of rightness.

Today marks ten years of being married to my dream man.  Ten years of the contented blending of two lives into one unit.  In all honesty, I wasn't sure it could be what it is today.  I wasn't sure I had the skills to be the other half of a complete whole.  It's good to be surprised sometimes.

If someone where to ask me what makes the kind of happiness I need, I would have to say that it is all about the little things.  There have certainly been grand and glorious events in the past ten years, but it the small, sweet things that are the glue. For example:

*We still hold hands, even if it is just from the car to the grocery store and he squeezes my hand a bit before we let go. 

*He never, ever gives me a card for any occasion without writing something beautiful inside.  Always something from his heart and always exactly perfect. 

*If he gets up in the morning before I do he carefully slips out of bed and then arranges the covers up against my back, just the way I like it.

*He tries really hard not to snore. :-)

*We always say "I love you" before ending a phone conversation, going to sleep at night, or leaving for work or errands.

*He thinks I'm beautiful.  I think he is perfect.

*He always, always, always makes me feel welcome and safe.  I never enter his presence wondering what I will find.  Even if he is frustrated by work or life in general, to me he is always the same open, loving person.  Now that I think of it, that isn't a little thing.  That is HUGE.

After ten years I love him more than the day we married and it is an evolving, generous love.  Laying in bed last night we talked about how it feels like we have known each other forever and that knowing is deep and honest.  There are no material gifts on this planet that could ever be as precious to me as my life with my Amazing Husband.

Serendipity

During our quick trip through the Stitches market several weeks ago I made a local discovery: Carol Sunday. Seeing that she was located in Roscoe, I stopped in, said hello, and instantly fell in love with her pattern for holly mittens.

(I have borrowed these images from Carol's website and please go there and view all of her beautiful designs.)

Having a name like Holly makes one pay attention to holly items, and perhaps also makes one VERY picky about said holly items.  These mittens are just divine and presented themselves at exactly the perfect time since I am just about ready to jump into the wonderful world of color work.

So, back to our story, I purchase the kit for the mittens and she tells me that, regrettably, she does not have the kits for my chosen colorway, but can send them to me.  I reply that I would be pleased to drive up and pick it up when ready to save her the shipping fees.  We agree that she will phone me when it is ready.  Last week the kit was ready, driving directions were given, and on Friday morning I headed the short distance north to pick up my kit.

Carol and her husband Robert live down an idyllic, tree lined road in a 160 year old stone house that I fell in love with the minute I saw it.  As soon as I pulled in the driveway and had a chance to take in the wonderfulness that is the Sunday home I wanted to wrap my arms around it and give it a hug.  For me, who is admittedly quirky, it was perfection. 

Carol was kind and welcoming and allowed me into her studio (again with the perfection) where I picked up my kit.  She was even kind enough to give me a tour of the inside of her home.  After this lovely meeting I bid her farewell, went back to my car and discovered...

.....that my keys and cellphone were locked inside.  Grrrr.  I hate when I'm stupid.  Luckily Amazing Husband was working from home and Carol kindly allowed me to use her phone to call for my rescue.  While I waited Carol offered me tea, but I was feeling terrible taking up more of her day since she was preparing for a show that she was leaving for in a couple of hours (if I could get my stupid, locked car out of her way), so I asked if I might walk around her property.  "As you wish" was her reply, which made me adore her even more. 

The next 20 or so minutes were so beautifully spent that I almost believe that powers beyond me were at work to make them happen.  I walked up and down the dirt road as leaves fell around me.  I saw geese fly overhead, absorbed the cool breeze, and made the acquaintance of several of the resident kitties.  Carol came back outside and we visited a few more minutes before AH arrived to unlock my car and send me on my way.

I do believe that occasionally, if we are lucky and open to the possibility, serendipity happens and we make discoveries that feed the soul.  I do hope you'll visit  Carol's website and see her beautiful designs and fiber.  She is a talented artist and a genuinely nice person.  I'll keep you posted on how the mittens turn out.  I also purchased a kit to make the Sunday Scarf which makes very creative use of short rows.  Carol also has a designer page on Ravelry.

The Amaryllis that refused to die. (And I gave it my best effort.)

Behold the hearty Amaryllis, purchased in November at Target for glorious holiday season blooming.  Except it would not bloom....or die.  We purchased another one for my mother and it did exactly as advertised, though we did take in to account that my mother kept her apartment at a temperature somewhere between a hot house and a sauna.  Our amaryllis came up out of its loam, looked all green and lovely and then that was it.  All kinds of green and no glorious red.  Amazing Husband put it in a sunny window, lay a heating pad beneath (which the cats thought was solely for their benefit) and checked on it frequently.  All winter and spring it kept up the green, continued to refuse to die, and still did not give us the blooms.  Summer came and AH decided to put it outside with the rest of the outdoor plants, in partial sun on the deck.  Yesterday we awoke to the above picture.  Two big, glorious blooms.  A little lower on the plant than we were accustomed to, but no one here is complaining.  We are going to have to do some research as to what we do with it now, since it seems determined to be a regular part of our plantage.  Guess it just goes to show that you should never give up on anything.

 

Sweet Pea sweater is completed and blocking.  I am a new, HUGE fan of the mattress stitch for seaming.  The seams on this thing are perfection.  I am not, however, thrilled with the way the collar lays, which is why I decided to block it.  For one thing I twisted one of the garter stitches right at the front collar edge, so it's right out there in front really easy to see (for me).  I'm going to wait until it dries and then maybe knit another collar.  Or not.  I'm also not happy with the way the whole collar lays around the neck, but it does look exactly like the one in the picture so I'm probably just being picky.  I'll keep you posted.  Now on to the hat! 

Frank has a new haircut.

 

 

 

 

Frank, a.k.a Mr. Frankinsence and Purr, is such a nut.  Most of the time he a big old grouch and really wants nothing whatsoever to do with any of us, except Miss Magnolia who he has a bit of an off-and-on again relationship with.  They are off right now because Frank has his new summer do and Miss Magnolia, being a bit of a flake, does not recognize the new and improved Frank.  This being the case he must lower himself to receive affection from the humans.  Not to worry, he'll get back into Miss Magnolia's good graces any day now.  Until then he is always on my computer desk soaking in the heat from the Ot lamp that hangs there.  He paces the desk and insists that I stop all work and pay attention only to him.  As I type this he is hanging over the keyboard like a vulture.  In a week he won't remember my name, much less stalk me for attention.  I rather like his new do.  His little fuzzy paws and cute little rolls of kitty flesh.  Himmies, while very lovely cats, need constant grooming and occasionally professional hair help to keep them matt free and healthy, and to keep the rolling balls of cat hair to a minimum.

I admit to enjoying these few days of Frank's attention, but dude, I need to get some work done!

An exciting opportunity.

A week or so before mother passed I was talking with my friend Nancy (knitting oracle and fellow crusader for world peace) about finding something to do with my spare time.  At the time of the conversation I was thinking more in terms of when mother got settled in St. Anne, but life has it's own ideas and as things turned out I'll have even more time than previously thought and the need for something to get myself out of the house has shifted as well.  In the 7 stages of grief I've got a parking place with my name on it squarely in front of number 4: depression.  I'm not freaking out here, I know it's normal and I'll come out the other side just fine, but I also know that I need to seek the healing or I'll easily become a recluse in this comfy, safe house.  A place to volunteer would fill the bill.  Nancy suggested we might volunteer together and what about Just Goods.  Well, what about Just Goods?

Just Goods is a fair trade store here in Rockford located on 7th Street.  It's in a neighborhood that is going through some changes for the better with great old architecture and a mixture of residents.  The store was established and is currently under the umbrella of the Rockford Urban Ministries and is staffed by volunteers.  It's very similar to Ten Thousand Villages, and in fact gets a lot of it's stock from them. The store also has a community room that is used for meetings, concerts, etc. At first Nancy felt that it was too soon after my loss to make any big decisions, but in the end made us an appointment for an interview Wednesday afternoon. 

At this point, in order for you to better understand my reaction, I must make it clear that I have always been the square peg in a sea of round holes.  We are the crazy hippie couple in our neighborhood (minus the pot smoking and general poor hygiene) with the labyrinth mowed into the field and the veggie garden.  I would LOVE to be able to put solar panels on the roof, dig our own well and live as much off the grid as is possible.  I try to shop locally, in as many privately owned (not big box) stores as possible, and in general try to live as simply and kindly as possible.  This might not seem all that odd to you, but I live in the conservative Midwest and trust me, the general sentiment toward tolerance and peace is not shared by the masses here.  SO.........

.......I fell in love at Just Goods.  These are my people.  They sponsor pray-for-peace meetings every Wednesday evening.  They have A FREAKING WIND TURBINE ON THE ROOF.  A wind turbine, for heavens sake.  Be still my heart.  During our meeting with Dori she went over some of the needs the shop has for volunteers and it was all I could do not to wrap my arms around her knees and beg her to let me do EVERYTHING.  In the end I managed to keep some perspective and Nancy and I will be helping out in the shop every Tuesday from 10-2.  They are closed Mondays so Tuesday is a busy day for them in general, but they also get new shipments on Tuesdays (oh, oh, oh,....pick me to help, pick me....).  I am also attending a meeting on Monday morning with their computer guy to see if there is a  way I can help out on the techno end of things.  This.is.awesome!

Ok, I know this isn't the answer to all life's woes, but I do think it could be a really good thing for me and perhaps I'll pull out of depression's parking lot a little sooner than if I sat here and surfed QVC (oh, QVC, you evil thing, you) all day.  Right?  Heck, yeah! 

Update on yesterdays post: Samten is doing much better.  He's still shaking his head a little, but overall there is BIG improvement.  I contacted the owner of our favorite little pet supply store in Madison (Nutzy Mutz and Crazy Catz) and she has an all natural flea and tick product that I'll be going up to get some time next week.  Live and learn.

New celebrity crush.

Pepe the King Prawn.  Maybe it's the debonair attitude or the renegade hair, but I am digging me some Pepe.  On the Muppet Holiday Special on TV the other night he had the cutest little knitted hat.  It was blue with ear flaps and braided tails.  Tried to find a picture, but no luck.  Here is a link to his appearance on Bonnie Hunt.  Be sure to watch the whole thing.  You have to love a guy who appreciates a woman's eyes. :-)

Twitter it is.

Ok, Twitter wins.  Come find me!  Woollymutts

You've registered to vote, right?

I realize that it might be a little late for this video to do much good here on this blog.  Most states have either closed voter registration or will do so today.  Even if you've already registered, been a voter for years, it's worth a watch.

The thing that excites me about this video is well known actors are using their voices to make a difference in a positive way.  We're watching this because they have something important to say that can and will reach the masses and motivate.  As part of a community that often gets it's notoriety from DUI arrests or lack of under garments it's good to see well known actors as role models for civic responsibility.(Warning - there is some language in this video....just so you know.)

You know you have to vote, right?

A nice pair of fangs.

Ever since Gary Oldman leaned over Winnoa Ryder and whispered, "I have crossed oceans of time to find you" I've been hooked on vampires.  I don't generally give much thought as to whether they might be real or not, although in general I think a good myth has some tiny grain of truth in it, I just enjoy a good vampire story.  You may recall that AH and I made our way quickly through the Twilight books and as good a read as they were, my latest vampire find, the Sookie Stackhouse series, is better and appeals to a more mature age group. We aren't in Kansas any more.  We are in Louisiana.

Sookie is a telepathic waitress in a good ol bar in northern Louisiana who has a bunch of interesting and talented friends.  I'm beginning the third book in the series (I think there are eight) and I haven't lost interest yet.

But wait....it gets better....HBO has developed a television series based on the Sookie books, TrueBlood.  Apparently I am not the only person that digs a good vampire story cause this show, just two episodes into it's first season, has caught fire.  There are countless websites and message boards out there, some of them a little teeny bit wierd.  Just saying. 

That little blond in the pic is Sookie (actress Anna Pacquin) and her vampire boyfriend Bill (Steven Moyer).  So far, the tv show is pretty true to the books.  They are moving the plot some and throwing characters in and out, but I'm pleased with how loyal they are being.  The characters themselves are diverse and interesting, but the location, for me, a Yankee with no southern experience, is fascinating.  The little phrases they use that are unfamiliar to me, the low hanging trees and sultry nights all add to the allure. 

It's good stuff if you like this sort of thing and I do.