electronic books

Does anyone else think reading eBooks is quite ridiculous?

I thought of this while reading comments a while back about Borders' recent downfall here in Australia.  The company is currently under voluntary administration, not making many people happy.  And I wondered if the sale of electronic books was a contributing factor.

(Another big contributing factor would be the accessibility of ordering books online at a cheaper cost - something which I have no problem with whatsoever.  Borders are a rip off, anyway.)

Back to the idea of electronic books ...

I am simply not a fan.  I love holding books, having them in my hands.  I love the smell of new textbooks, the feel of old books, and having a colourful collection on my shelf.

I am not a fan of reading the scriptures on an iPhone, either.  I much prefer holding the scriptures, seeing what I have written in the margins, being able to cross reference and colour code.

Isn't technology, while trying to make a buck, making more things impersonal?

and THAT is why I have taken the pledge ... the pledge to read the printed word ... 





see?

you'll see the link on my blog.  pledge yourself.

[discovered thanks to Ami-Lee and her new blog, dedicated to reading]

Roseanna

Roseanna

This was a great and easy read for me, probably because when I read this book I had just finished reading The Book Thief, which was rather drawn out and descriptive.

The writing was compact, with no room to skim read, and the story was constantly moving along.

The story is about .. wait for it .. a girl named Roseanna, who is introduced to us as a dead girl.  A naked dead girl.  It seems no one knew who she was, no one recognised her at all, and she had no clothes, belongings, nothing to identify her.

Martin Beck is the detective of the story, who is not happy leaving the crime unsolved.  And so, over much time and old-style sleuthing, we are taken along on the trail of finding out who Rosanna was, and how she became to be dead in Sweden.

I found it really interesting to read a crime story set in the seventies.  The methods of investigation and reporting are so different to what we are exposed to today, and it was quite fascinating to read a detective story in the time of no technology.  No internet or email; no extensive electronic databases or systems; only slow correspondence with overseas police departments, old photographs on projectors, and slow but calculated police work.  I felt as though it was a good representation of how crime was solved pre-technology, a rare insight.

The authors Maj Sjowall and Per Wahloo, both Swedish and Marxist, were big in their day, greatly influencing much of contemporary crime writing and police novels.

This book is number one in a series of ten, all featuring Martin Beck and his colleagues.  I have now read ..

    The Man Who Went Up in Smoke            The Man on the Balcony

Currently reading .. The Laughing Policeman

a truth.

happy

happy three-month anniversary, bearded man.

love you mucho.

bearded matthew

[photo from here]

This is for my husband, who is bearding up.

I gave him one rule: there must be more hair on the top of his head than on the bottom of his head.

Obviously, I am the clever girl he is behind. Just thought I'd point that out.

a friend of mine

a friend of mine just called me. her phone call was out of the blue, and it has made me very happy.

it is a shame how we can get so caught up in life. i am a newly-wed, so i have excuses, and i moved interstate, so i'm far far away. but now and then, we should contact the ones we love. the ones who made us better people.

this friend of mine is my second-closest friend, behind my dear husband. she has put up me for years and years, and knows me very well. i miss our times together, the times when we were single and had the super power to survive many late nights in a row, and not appear to age. [gosh, are those days gone.]

this friend of mine is a dear. she somehow understands me better than i do myself. she is very frank and honest, quite thoughtful and nice, and really fun to be with. i miss her company.

this friend of mine is very talented. she lives and breathes by creating beauty. i have watched her draw and paint for many years. her abilities are astounding. she sells her art here.

eleanor, gee i think you're swell.

and you really do me well.

you're my pride and joy, etc.

yup. true story.

the influence of income

I came across this quote the other night.

At first glance, I thought it was rubbish. But after re-reading it a few times, I came to appreciate what was being said. And I now think it has some value, or at least some truth relevant today.

"Income is more powerful than any ideology or religion in shaping lives. No God has commanded worshippers to their pious duties more forcefully than income as it subtly directs the fabric of our lives."

[Gregory Clark, "A Farewell to Alms: A Brief Economic History of the World"]

The ability to earn a living is a great thing, enabling us to be independent and self sufficient. But it is sad to think that income may be more powerful than gospel principles in shaping our lives. Where we live, how much time we spend with family or friends, etc are usually results of our decisions regarding our work and income.

I spend a lot of my time in the office, and that time will only increase over the years I am sure.
I just listened to various panel discussions yesterday for International Womens Day at work, spoken by women lawyers and partners at the firm I work for.
It was inspiring and encouraging to hear just how far women's rights have come over the past century, yet sad to hear that these women expected much more equality in the home by .. being able to work long hours .. travel with work if they wished .. leaving their husbands to pick up the slack in the home.

I am all for breaking glass ceilings and marching up the professional ladder, if that is what you want, and trying to have both parents working and developing in their respective professions, but to sacrifice home and family time for income and career, when it is not necessary?

Is that not too much sacrifice? What is really shaping our lives?

Perhaps the line between having priorities out of whack and having a healthy balance in life is a thin one.
That quote sure did get me thinking ..

going a little mad

Sometimes I turn the television on, only to see the last little bit of a favourite movie, which makes me really sad. I missed a good one! How could I have not turned the tv on sooner?

And then sometimes, like last night, I see that something I get all excited about is on later that night, and I plan to watch it. And then forget all about it, until it's well past viewing time. Grr!! How could I have forgotten about it?

And then sometimes, like right now, I go onto the television network's website to see if they will replay that movie, or have it online to watch, and then I see other movies I've recently missed out on. Oh, why does this happen to me?!!

Having said that ... one  of the following usually applies:

     a. I have seen the movie many times before that I could
        play it in my head.

     b. I own the thing on dvd.

     c. Both a and b
         ... this may or may not be the applicable option every time.

So, yes. I get a little mad at myself for several minutes because I missed a classic (like Pride and Prejudice - how do I still get excited to see it on television, when i own the thing?!?) even though I've both watched and owned it.

Does this happen to you? Or am I mentally unstable ... [don't be rude, now, and answer that. unless you want to say something to the contrary. please. self esteem me up.]

um .. any one know which Miss Marple episode was on last night?

a thought for your weekend

In the end, the number of prayers we say may contribute to our happiness, but the number of prayers we anwer may be of even greater importance.


Dieter F. Uchtdorf, "Happines, Your Heritage", Ensign, Nov. 2008, 117-20