KINDLE

I know just about everyone reading this is a "reader" or you would not have picked blogging as a pastime. Books, magazines,search engines, and blogs are wonderful fun, escapes and research tools. I love my books and use them for vicarious adventure, learning, therapy and for clearing the mind right before bedtime. Reading is a tool we are all exposed to if we have ever been to school. Some of us never forget our first love.

My dearest memories of my Mother are when my brother Jim and I would be spanky clean from baths, warm in our Dr. Dentons (jammies with the feet in them) and plopped in bed, one on each side of her as she read wonderful stories to us. Gulliver's Travels, Robin Hood, Grimm's Fairy Tales (yikes), Black Beauty (sob), and the countless other books for children.


Her voice took us on journeys that TV today can't touch. We had to use our imaginations to envision the pictures the words painted. Reading is interactive where TV only requires that your eyes are open and you ears tuned. The mind is free to doze off.

One of my greatest joys as a youngster was the discovery of the Book Mobile. Wow what a wonderful invention. A mobile library bringing books almost to your house. Am not sure if they still operate today but they should. When you see the success of Harry Potter and the Twilight series, you can see that even today, kids are hungry to read.

Don't want you to get the impression that reading was all I did. I was a very active child and loved the outdoors with a passion. Horseback riding, swimming, team sports, and biking were constant but there were quiet times when the weather was bad that my books let me stay active in a relaxed manner. I have always needed time to myself and books provided that. If you want to see "Happy" cranky, take all her books away.

Since I can't afford to buy the number of books I read (sorry Mr. or Mrs. Author trying to make a living) I am a bit of a library hound and yard sale book hunter. Recently I got a call from my sister saying a surprise package was coming and to be on the look out for it. She has sent me Dolphin or Marlin gear in the past that she stumbles across at yard sales, so I was totally expecting something on that order.

When I opened the package and saw a hot off the presses Kindle, I was floored, speechless and thrilled. I had always secretly wanted one but could not justify paying the price. Retirement really makes you sharpen the line between "want" and "need."

I thanked my sister within an inch of her life making sure the Kindle was my gift " forever." I would no longer accept even a piece of gum from her as a gift. She just covered me for LIFE. One more time, thank you Jan for totally spoiling me.

If you are unfamiliar with Kindle, let me fill you in. Kindle is an electronic reader. It is thin, lightweight and slightly smaller than a regular book and weighs about as much as a paperback.



Picture of Kindle on top of a regular book

You can download books into your Kindle (it will hold up to 1500 books at one time) and the average books takes from 25 seconds to one minute to load. Anywhere you have a good cell signal, you can have a book dropped into this small miracle.

The prices of the e-books are much cheaper than book store prices. A new best seller is $9.99 (why don't they just say $10.00). Many books are much less. A few authors do not authorize Kindle versions but so far I have not been denied a choice. Some authors will just delay the electronic reader access by a month or so to give the eager the chance to buy the hard copies.

Very soon, all ready in some areas, you will be able to check out library books with your Kindle for the price of a membership and from the comfort of your home. The books that can be downloaded to your reader won't be yours to keep and will disappear from your reader in the usual 3 weeks. This I can't wait for.




The screen is just like looking at a page in a book. There is no glowing screen to contend with so you do need a light source. However, you can read it in bright sunlight easily. The size of the type is adjustable for those of us with weakening eyesight.




There are no download fees so what ever the price is, that is all you pay. I find it easier to read in bed now. I was always fighting with a hard cover book in bed and could never get really comfortable. You can one hand Kindle and with a caress of your thumb, turn the page. When you shut it off, it marks you place for the next time.

Now one thing I was unaware of was the large number of free books that are available. Many of the completely free books are classics (I do enjoy classics so that is a bonus) but sometimes well known current authors will offer one of their older books briefly for free on Kindle to entice readers to try their other books. The hunt is fun.

There was a time I would have argued that I liked the heft and feel of a hardcover book. Once you have held a Kindle, that argument fizzles. Also, I do not miss the coffee stains and chocolate thumb prints often found in library or used books. Why do people think they can read and eat at the same time? That rarely works out.

Now I agree there is nothing cooler looking than shelves lined with books. That view seems to impart pleasure, comfort, warmth, safety and just a bit of class. However when you down size your life, space for books is at a premium. And no, you can't get your Kindle signed by the author. I imagine if you showed up at a book signing with one, you would receive cold stares from the author and the purists.

For older persons who can't get out easily, it is a boon. You can select your books from your easy chair and there is nothing to dust. Yes they are initially expensive. But Christmas is coming and if you don't have a rich child, perhaps the family can get together and pitch in on the purchase. Then shopping for your presents in the future will be a breeze. All they have to do is buy you gift cards to purchase new books.

I know it sounds like I work for Kindle but I am just a fan. Of course if Kindle wants to send me some book credits, that is OK :)) Sony makes a fine e-reader and the Nook that Barnes and Nobel has is new to the market. I can only speak for the Kindle.



Let it rain
Let it snow
Patti's Kindle
Is good to go



Would love to hear your views on electronic readers.

MY NAME IS HAPPY

That is my new name and I love it. It is not often after living with a name for 70 years that you take kindly to someone wanting to steam roll over your name to rechristen you. When someone suddenly changes your name to something of "their choosing" implies that your name is not good enough and that they have a better one. That can be a tad insulting. That is unless the person is 28 months old and precious.


My niece Keri made a DVD for me of the many videos she had taken of her two children, Kaleigh and Courtney Rose whom you met here. The DVD was hours long and I watched it ignoring the need for a bathroom break. I was glued to the screen. However, I do not know yet how to select a clip from such a large DVD and post it. Will work on that. Thus you are spared the actual home movies but not the description.

Now my sister and my niece have sent me hundreds of pictures over the years but still shots do not tell the whole story. One dimensional, photos do not allow the personality to come through. I am very sad that I haven't been to Florida to see these babies and plan to change that very soon. The DVD was the very next best thing. I do have the best niece in the world to take the time and effort to put all this together for me. She really made my day, week, year.

During one segment, Keri is asking Kaleigh to say "Hi to Aunt Patti." Kaleigh looks right into the camera and says, " Hi Happy" which is her version of Patti. Everyone jumped on it and it is now my name. Gotta love it. I may have to change my blog name to Arkansas Happy. Nice ring to it.

Kaleigh is a marvelous big sister to the new baby Courtney Rose that you all met earlier. She is so gentle and loving to her baby sister.





Still my favorite picture of the two.


Right now Courtney Rose doesn't get much video space as her talents so far are eating, sleeping, burping, messing up a diaper and crying. Hang in there Courtney Rose, as soon as your head quits needing support, you too will make the movies.

Kaleigh is very smart as well as adorable. One of her favorite things besides watching football is reading. She is shown in the video studiously staring at her book as she sits in her tiny chair. Not like most kids her age who tear pages out just to hear the ripping sound, she carefully turns the pages slowly, studying each one. She informed her Mom that she can't do what her mother wanted right then with a "No,I'm reading." She is a born reader. Another one for our side.

As for football, she prefers it to cartoons. Pretty sure her Grandpa Tom, whom she adores, had a lot to do with that. She all ready knows and mimics the officials signals for "off sides", "first down" and "face mask." She loves her Dolphins and instantly spots their gear when shopping. Really have to admire her choice of men in tight pants. I'm a huge Dolphin fan also---- football RULES.

The other night when I was thanking Keri for the DVD, she put Kaleigh on the phone. Now as most of you know, a phone conversation with a 2 year old can be strenuous at best. However, she started on a monologue that I could not understand but resembled an animated reciting of the Begats from the Bible.



Word after word tumbled freely from her, the meanings known only to her. I was choking with suppressed laughter and I could hear Mom and Grandma in the background doing the same. The quite long recitation eventually ended with a "Bye Happy." The tears of laughter just became tears. Aww.

So I guess Happy it is. When I think that her version of my name could just as easily have been Crappy, Sappy, Yappy or Flappy, I am thrilled. Thanks Keri so much for putting together the videos into a DVD for me. You're the best and thanks Kaleigh for my new name. I love you.

THE ADVENTURES OF PATTI AND JOYCE

When my friend from Florida was here recently we really had a good time. Have to admit that we probably ate more calories than we burned off unless laughing burns calories. For a couple of gals in our seventies, we do enjoy a giggle.

Joyce loves to shop the quaint stores in a nearby town and I don't tire of them either. Last time she was here we got those mood rings and had a ton of fun for $2.00. This time she wanted to get some presents for the two girls who were taking care of her animals.

I previously found some Magnet Stones in one of the stores which look for all the world like polished stones but are actual ferrite. She had picked up some of the stones last time and wanted more this time.

These are fairly strong, black shiny magnets and I use them to secure pictures and notes on my refrigerator but they are also fun to play with. I have yet to have company that didn't buy a bunch of them for their uniqueness. They would make great worry beads if I ever decide to take up worrying. Joyce got those for the two girls and a walking stick for her new walking buddy.

Since shopping works up an appetite, we went to lunch at a place that I hadn't tried yet. It was Cody's, which is in the town of Fifty Six. Not a very imaginative name for a town but I am not putting you on.

There we both stepped out of our comfort zone. Have any of you had fried green beans? I had never had them but now they are on my "last meal list." They are lightly battered and the beans are tender crisp. I know frying takes away from the health factor of green beans my gosh they were good.

Later we had dinner at a little place I had been wanting to try in a neighboring town. It is a tiny place on a hill across the highway from the only other store in a very small town not too far from here. In case you have not been to Arkansas, it is crawling with tiny towns with populations in the low hundreds.

It was called a Dairy Bar and I totally expected a local version of a Dairy Queen but it had been highly recommended. I wondered how such a place could survive in the middle of nowhere but surprisingly, the place was packed. They served everything from 16 oz steaks and prime rib to taco salad. Service was painfully slow but we later decided that slow must equate to good for the food was excellent. I had expected OK, excellent was a pleasant surprise.

The last night we went into town to listen to the musicians who come to town each weekend to play in the town park. It is free entertainment and one of my favorite things to do with house guests. We stopped at an ice cream parlor for dessert and that is when the fun began.

The parlor was also packed and we took a table in the corner. Two guys from Louisiana took the table nearest us and pretty soon one of them, a really cute codger with a nice stashe ( mustache), started talking to us. This guy was hilarious--- what a sense of humor. He forced me sharpening my own wit to enable trading banter with him.

Because Joyce was partially hidden behind his buddy, he directed his conversation to me. Now Joyce is a fairly recent widow and was content to observe as did cute-codgers buddy who seemed nice if quiet.

After a while of good natured joking between codger and I. Joyce got a big smile and leaned over to whisper, "Patti, that guy is hitting on you."

I was kind of thinking the same thing but it has been a while since I have been flirted with so it took her noticing also to make me recognize what was going on. I'll be darned. How cool was that?

It brought home a saying of mine that I tell all my older lady friends. "No matter how old you are, there is someone out there older who will think you are hot."

Fellows, I have a proposition for you as long as your wives agree. Feel free to harmlessly flirt with some nice little old lady every now and then. Let loose that twinkle in your eye. It won't go anywhere but you will make someone's day. You really do have the power.

Ladies, let it happen. It is really fun and will put a spring in you step and briefly. you may even totally forget your arthritis. Have fun. I know Joyce and I did.