ATOM blogging bloglines feed readers feeds: RSS technology
by Blabby
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Bloglines, et. al.
I’ve just made my life easier. I’ve created a Bloglines account, and added all the blogs I’m interested in to my blogroll. From one spot, I can scroll through the latest headlines of all the posts on all my favorite sites. I’m sure many of you are way ahead of me with this technology, but I’m still learning, you know. Anyway, I recommend it. You don’t have to install any kind of reader or anything.
Happy Reading
Book #7.1
I’m sorry to say that I only made it to page 17 of this book. Normally, I’m a big fan of the craft-related women’s friendship books. I loved Jennifer Chiaverini’s quilting books. However, the main character in this book is dealing with the death of her five-year old daughter. I tried to get past this, and go on reading, but I couldn’t. My son is just 15-months old. I can’t imagine a world without him, and I’m not ready to read about other parent’s loss - fictional or real.
Sorry, it looked like a good one.
P.S., I haven’t given any of the story away. This fact is evident in the first few pages. If you read it, I’d love to know your thoughts!
Book #7
UPDATE: Read the comment! The author, Ms. Kathleen O’Brien herself, made a comment on my blog! Woo hoo! I’m so cool! Thanks, Kathleen :)
Book three in the Four Seasons in Firefly Glen, The Redemption of Matthew Quinn, is another goody from Kathleen O’Brien. Some of my favorite Glenners made appearances (namely, Suzie Strickland and Mike Frome), and I loved the heroine, Natalie.
I know there are those of you who automatically discount books published by Harlequin, but its your loss. Some of them are real gems - great stories that make you laugh out loud, care about the characters, and feel a little better throughout your day.
So if you’ve never read a Harlequin, start with Kathleen O’Brien’s Firefly Glen series - it won’t disappoint. I’m off to read the fourth book in the series.
Book #6
I just finished Plum Lovin’ by Janet Evanovich - a between the numbers Stephanie Plum book. I love all the Stephanie Plum books, and this one didn’t disappoint, except that it was remarkably short. I think it took about three hours total to read. But still, funny and ridiculous like all of Stephanie and Lula’s capers.
One thing I thought was funny (not ha ha) is that this is the first novel in the series (that I noticed) where Janet attributed an actual weight to Lula, the heroine’s hefty former-prostitute sidekick who dresses primarily in spandex. She put her at 180, 5’5″. Well, I’m 180, 5’2″. Lula’s weight isn’t so funny to me anymore.
Aw, yes it is. Its funny because of what she wears and what she eats and what she does. Perhaps I should revisit the shiny spandex look and see if it makes me a comedic genius.
That’s a plan doomed to failure. Read these books - they’re hilarious.
Stranger Than Fiction, better than most
I just watched Stranger Than Fiction and loved every bit of it. Then I went online and was surprised and saddened to see how many people disliked it. Perhaps these people are what I call “Bush Supporters” - as in, the other half of my country that I can’t seem to relate to.
I thought it was beautifully written, I thought it was beautifully acted, I just thought it was beautiful. Will Farrell seems to be limitless, as does Maggy Gyllenhaal. I loved Emma Thompson’s craziness, I loved Queen Latifah’s serenity. I loved Dustin Hoffman’s acceptance and assistance of Harold’s predicament.
Seriously, what’s wrong with people? This is a movie for everyone. Get out of your shell of a life. Find something to make you happy. I’m inspired.
The secret to fitness…
…must be proper motivation. I’ll be the first to admit it - I’m no runner. I’m hardly a jogger. I’m best categorized as a waddler. That’s right, it’s a sort of sad version of March of the Penguin (minus the belly slides, if I’m lucky) every day on the treadmill. But today, I ran 1.5 miles! That’s right - I ran 1.5 miles because I changed the music in my iPod.
So here’s the secret to my success - CADENCES! I don’t know if it’s just bringing back happy memories of my time on Active Duty (wait, I don’t remember happy times…), but there is nothing more motivating to me than someone yelling, “C-130 Rolling Down the Strip…” and hearing a bunch of tired voices repeating. I can run to Georgia just like that. (That’s also a cadence. That was just a joke. I really can’t run to Georgia.)
So my new iPod mix is this:
- Dance Dance by Fall Out Boy
- Candy Man by Christina Aguilera
- Run to Cadence with the Army Rangers (about 40 minutes of different cadences)
- Dear Mr. President by Pink with the Indigo Girls
- The Wood Song by the Indigo Girls
It worked perfectly. The first two songs got me warmed up walking, then I put the treadmill at 5.3 and jogged to cadences for 25 minutes. Then I did situps and pushups to my girls Pink, Emily and Amy sticking it to George in the best way. That last song, The Wood Song, is just my all-time favorite Indigo Girls song, perfect for stretching, and it always makes me happy.
Now if you do that math, 1.5 miles in 25 minutes is pretty terrible. But jogging for 25 minutes straight? Without walking? Without quitting? I smell accomplishment, and it smells great!
Last week, I bought a $50 iTunes gift card at COSTCO for $44.90 - excellent deal. I highly recommend it if you purchase a lot of music. That’s five free songs!
My eCommerce teacher…
…has started a new blog and is encouraging the class’ participation. I feel like we’re taking a field trip! What a good idea - to get us off the discussion board (although, really, it’s kind of the same thing) and out into the world wide web :) Anyway, I’ve added the link to my blogroll, it’s called eComNext. If you’re looking to start an eCommerce site, it may prove to be a good resource.
Also - I’ve changed my song spot from the much loved Be Good Tanyas to Gregory Douglass - give him a listen, he’s awesome.
Book MEME
I don’t know what a MEME is, but I like this list, so I want to participate…I’m going to skip the italicizing bit - I’d like to make my way through the whole list.
Instrutions:
Look at the list of books below.
*Bold the ones you’ve read
*Italicize the ones you want to read
*Leave the ones that you aren’t interested in alone.
If you are reading this, tag you’re it!
1.The Da Vinci Code (Dan Brown)
2.Pride and Prejudice (Jane Austen)
3.To Kill A Mockingbird (Harper Lee)
4. Gone With The Wind (Margaret Mitchell)
5. The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King (Tolkien)
6. The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring (Tolkien)
7. The Lord of the Rings: Two Towers (Tolkien)
8. Anne of Green Gables (L.M. Montgomery)
9. Outlander (Diana Gabaldon)
10.A Fine Balance (Rohinton Mistry)
11.Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Rowling)
12.Angels and Demons (Dan Brown)
13.Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Rowling)
14. A Prayer for Owen Meany (John Irving)
15. Memoirs of a Geisha (Arthur Golden)
16.Harry Potter and the Sorcerers’s Stone (Rowling)
17. Fall on Your Knees(Ann-Marie MacDonald)
18. The Stand (Stephen King)
19. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban(Rowling)
20. Jane Eyre (Charlotte Bronte)
21. The Hobbit (Tolkien)
22. The Catcher in the Rye (J.D. Salinger)
23. Little Women (Louisa May Alcott)
24. The Lovely Bones (Alice Sebold)
25. Life of Pi (Yann Martel)
26. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (Douglas Adams)
27. Wuthering Heights (Emily Bronte)
28. The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe (C. S. Lewis)
29. East of Eden (John Steinbeck)
30. Tuesdays with Morrie(Mitch Albom)
31. Dune (Frank Herbert)
32. The Notebook (Nicholas Sparks)
33. Atlas Shrugged (Ayn Rand)
34. 1984 (Orwell)
35. The Mists of Avalon (Marion Zimmer Bradley)
36. The Pillars of the Earth (Ken Follett) *My favorite book in the world - the only book I’ve read twice!*
37. The Power of One (Bryce Courtenay)
38. I Know This Much is True(Wally Lamb)
39. The Red Tent (Anita Diamant)
40. The Alchemist (Paulo Coelho)
41. The Clan of the Cave Bear (Jean M. Auel)
42. The Kite Runner (Khaled Hosseini)
43. Confessions of a Shopaholic (Sophie Kinsella)
44. The Five People You Meet In Heaven (Mitch Albom)
45. Bible (parts only)
46. Anna Karenina (Tolstoy)
47. The Count of Monte Cristo (Alexandre Dumas)
48. Angela’s Ashes (Frank McCourt)
49. The Grapes of Wrath (John Steinbeck)
50. She’s Come Undone (Wally Lamb)
51. The Poisonwood Bible (Barbara Kingsolver)
52. A Tale of Two Cities (Dickens)
53. Ender’s Game (Orson Scott Card)
54.Great Expectations (Dickens)
55. The Great Gatsby (Fitzgerald)
56. The Stone Angel (Margaret Laurence)
57. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (Rowling)
58. The Thorn Birds (Colleen McCullough)
59. The Handmaid’s Tale (Margaret Atwood)
60. The Time Traveller’s Wife (Audrew Niffenegger)
61. Crime and Punishment (Fyodor Dostoyevsky)
62. The Fountainhead (Ayn Rand)
63. War and Peace (Tolsoy)
64. Interview With The Vampire (Anne Rice)
65. Fifth Business (Robertson Davis)
66. One Hundred Years Of Solitude (Gabriel Garcia Marquez)
67. The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants (Ann Brashares)
68. Catch-22 (Joseph Heller)
69. Les Miserables (Hugo)
70. The Little Prince (Antoine de Saint-Exupery)
71. Bridget Jones’ Diary (Fielding)
72. Love in the Time of Cholera (Marquez)
73. Shogun (James Clavell)
74. The English Patient (Michael Ondaatje)
75. The Secret Garden (Frances Hodgson Burnett)
76. The Summer Tree (Guy Gavriel Kay)
77. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (Betty Smith)
78. The World According To Garp (John Irving)
79. The Diviners (Margaret Laurence)
80.Charlotte’s Web (E.B. White)
81. Not Wanted On The Voyage (Timothy Findley)
82. Of Mice And Men (Steinbeck)
83. Rebecca (Daphne DuMaurier)
84. Wizard’s First Rule (Terry Goodkind)
85. Emma (Jane Austen)
86. Watership Down(Richard Adams)
87. Brave New World (Aldous Huxley)
88. The Stone Diaries (Carol Shields)
89. Blindness (Jose Saramago)
90. Kane and Abel (Jeffrey Archer)
91. In The Skin Of A Lion (Ondaatje)
92. Lord of the Flies (Golding)
93. The Good Earth(Pearl S. Buck)
94. The Secret Life of Bees (Sue Monk Kidd)
95. The Bourne Identity (Robert Ludlum)
96. The Outsiders
97. White Oleander (Janet Fitch)
98. A Woman of Substance (Barbara Taylor Bradford)
99. The Celestine Prophecy (James Redfield)
100.Ulysses (James Joyce)
Book #5
Well, I’ve finally finished The Masque of the Black Tulip. Let me preface this review with some info. I listened to the first book in this series on audiobook. It was excellent - probably because the reader had an English accent, and it may have been abridged. That said, I did not enjoy this book nearly as much. I found myself skipping entire pages of internal dialog, and found the ending VERY unsatisfying.
Nonetheless, I’ve requested the third book in the series, something about an emerald, from the library. I’m really hoping for a conclusion to a few of the story lines started in the second book. It took me over a week to wade through the 400+ pages of the Black Tulip. If the next one moves as slowly, I will not finish it.
Caveat to readers: If you enjoy historical romance, you may love this book. I only kind of like historical fiction, I like these books more for the spy story lines. This book was heavy on the victorian detail, light on the espionage.
Uncategorized: eMillionaire life mompreneur small business
by Blabby
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breakthroughs
Well, I’m feeling pretty smart these days. I’ve gotten Apache and PHP loaded on my computer, and I’ve started developing my first site using Dreamweaver 8. That program is amazing. I know there are die-hard hand-coders out there, but not me. I’m all for using Dreamweaver to do the heavy lifting.
Also, my super smart friend Spankratz shared the secret of viewing other peoples’ style sheets. It’s so simple, I feel like an idiot for not figuring it out, but now that I can see what they’ve done, I’m learning so much more about the capabilities of CSS. Very exciting stuff.
Here’s the latest to do list regarding my online business:
- Get a PO Box
- Apply for State and City licenses, run my newspaper ad, and then apply for Fed. EIN.
- Keep working on site #1, create landing pages for sites #2 and#3
I’m going to stop there so I don’t get overwhelmed. That’s a lot of work.
School-wise, I’m a little sad that I’m even taking these classes. The good news is that I’m halfway done - 8 weeks to go. The bad news is that I have two midterms due this week, two major projects, the standard pile of homework and reading and five more discussion board entries to write. I wouldn’t mind any of this if it didn’t keep me from working on the things I want to do, like develop my sites.
The worst part is that I took these classes essentially for personal enjoyment/enrichment. They’re neither enjoyable or enriching at this point.
I walked two miles today, uphill. I read Body & Soul magazine while I walked. It was very peaceful. But that magazine is so lame. It’s so full of new-agey crap, that I can hardly find the good info in it. I didn’t renew my subscription, and they sent me a letter that said, “So, we see you’re no longer interested in health.” Ridiculous. There is maybe one good article that actually improves my life in each issue.
So, Martha, I’m still a big fan, but I don’t like that magazine or your other new one, Blueprint. I’ll stick with Everyday Food.
