A Little Knowledge is a Dangerous Thing

Ruby Throated Hummingbird

Image: Wikipedia

Yes,  I know I shouldn't fool around with things about which I know only a little bit and not near enough to do what I need to do. However, I recently completely ignored that understanding of myself and jumped feet first into a technological problem I should have left alone.

My cell phone had been "acting up," as I mentioned in my last post.  I occurred to me to access the phone's online user guide and find out how to fix the problem.  I read through pages of (mostly) non-understandable language until I found the section which referred to the problem I was having, and proceeded to follow the slightly-fuzzy directions for correcting the same.

I clicked here and there; deleted this and that, presuming that I was making progress.  I made progress, all right.  I progressed myself into a completely non-working phone with which I could do nada, zilch, bumpkis -- a piece of junk fit only for the trash-bin.

I took said junk to the dealer from which it came. "Uh, Lady. What in the world did you do to it?" 

After a prolonged visit, I came away with a new phone, which is working beautifully, thank you, and which has many more "bells and whistles" than my old one.  Thanks to Christmas gift cards from generous relatives, I didn't even have to shell out any of my hard-earned Social Security income.

I've made myself a promise that if this one should go wonky on me,  I won't try to fix it, but head straight to the dealer for, I would hope, a more educated approach to problem solving.

OTHER STUFF

One
I've read four books this past week, all actual hold-in-your- hands, turn-the-pages books.  The first one, a referral from Arkansas Patti at her The New Sixty blog, was The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared by Jonas Jonasson, a Swedish author.   The title is a mouthful, but the story is absolutely delightful, and highly recommended!  Thank you, Patti! 

Due to budgetary constraints, I'm really tight-fisted -- about almost everything, including e-books for my Kindle. Although Jonasson's book was available in the Kindle edition, it came at a price, so I requested the paperback edition from my library. After a wait of a couple of weeks --the book seems to be very popular at present -- it arrived and was picked up. It took me several days to read it. I didn't rush; I savored it.
  
On April 4, while I was at the library to return it,  I browsed the Mystery section (my favorite) and selected an armful of books -- four "cozy" mysteries and one not quite so cozy, and have read three of them. 

Why the reading binge?  I'm sorry to say it's my one of my favorite avoidance tactics.  I need to be working on my taxes!

I did make myself pull together some of the more detailed information I need for my tax filing; I'm not completely ignoring the task, just dragging my feet.

Two 
What has the image of a hummingbird to do with this post, you ask?  Gardening Daughter called me last evening to report that hummingbirds are at her feeders. Too soon!  Too soon!  It's not even warm, yet!


Tomorrow is also a day.

Books - 2

Photo taken in the Esther D. Nixon Library - Mystery Section

In an earlier post, I wrote about unearthing an old pocket calendar/journal in which I had noted the books I read in 1999.  It was fun to look at my notes and to try to remember not only something about the story line, but why I chose to read some of them.

Many of the hundreds of books I read during the slightly over three year period of August, 1996 to October, 1999, were brought to my attention through a volunteer job I had with AOL.  I was one of many 'hosts' for a book-readers' chat room named Bookaccino.   I usually hosted the chat room two or three evenings a week, for two hours per shift.  Although it was sometimes work, it was interesting and a great lot of fun, and I had the opportunity to meet, if only online, not only readers of all genres but, frequently, well-known authors, as well.  Hosting the chat room was an unusual experience that broadened my reading interests, and one I will not soon forget. 

I  resigned from my hosting duties within a few weeks after I developed a passionate interest in rubber stamping.  When I left Bookaccino, I also left my long-established habit of reading several books a week.  I found that it's impossible to hold a book when you've got your hands full of papers and stamps.  I suppose I could have turned to audio-books, but listening to someone else read is a slow and discomforting process for me since I can read faster than any one can speak, at least intelligibly,

From my calendar/journal: Books I read in February, 1999.

Mortal Fear - Greg Iles
The Body in the Belfry - Katherine Hall Page
Medusa's Child - John J. Nance
The Body in the Bouillon - Katherine Hall Page
Rites of War -  Cyn Mobley
Too Many Cooks Spoil the Broth - Tamar Myers
Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Crime - Tamar Myers

It seems to have been a month for 'cozy' mysteries, as over half of the books listed fall into that category.  It must have been a cold February, just like this month.

Right now, my plan is to create one post each month (for the remainder of this year) in which I list the books I read for the corresponding month in 1999.  Forewarned is forearmed!

Tomorrow is also a day.

Books, Books, Books

This shelf of reference books is located within an arm's reach behind me as I sit at my computer desk.  I, being of a curious and inquiring mind, have turned to them many, many times.  Some, like the tattered dictionary and Roget's Thesaurus are well worn, others not so much.

Lest you think, by looking at the book titles, that I'm overly interested in "English Literature," let me haste to tell you that my day-to-day reading is eclectic, to say the least.  I have become enthralled by a highly suspenseful thriller, intrigued by a well-crafted mystery, amused by an English 'cozy', and have spent hours reading non-fiction (usually scientific) books, works of a religious nature, or other more serious tomes.  While I readily admit to being a murder mystery fan, I soon learned that there are books in that genre that I do not care to read.  Many an otherwise potentially interesting and well-written story has been ruined (in my opinion) by gratuitous violence, unnecessarily coarse language or entirely too descriptive sexual activity.  If I encounter any of the above "ruiners," that's the page on which I stop reading, and the book goes back from whence it came. These days,that would be the library.

I have no idea how much money I have spent on books in my life time.  More than enough, I'm sure, had I diverted the same amount to a savings account, to keep me in much more comfortable circumstances than I currently enjoy.

When I moved to my present (small) home, I placed thousands of boxed books in a rented storage facility, where they sat for several years. Many were sold (for a pittance) at our church's annual rummage sales, and I donated well over 1,000 to the local Friends of the Library.  My personal collection has been pared down to a few choice 'keepers,' probably fewer than 100.

In a long-ago post, I admitted to being a pack rat.  I keep all sorts of things, most of which are non-essential but which I cannot bring myself to throw out.  While rummaging in my favorite rat's nest, looking for something else, I ran across a combined monthly calendar/address book from 1999.  I re-discovered that, in the notes section for every month, I had recorded the books I read and, like a school teacher, gave them a grade. The grades are only a reflection of my personal enjoyment of the book, not intended to indicate in any way the skill of the author -- I am not a literary critic.  So, I won't share my "grades" but I will share with you what I read in January, 1999.

The Great Deliverance - Elizabeth George

Pandora's Clock - John J. Nance

The Last Family - John Ramsey Miller

Rose Cottage - Mary Stewart

The Last Day - Glenn Kleier

The Cold Heart of Capricorn - Martha C. Lawrence

The Gourmet Detective - Peter King

Spiced to Death - Peter King (I must have liked his first one)

The Ming and I - Tamar Meyers

Bad Medicine - Aimee Thurlo

Bonjour Miss Seeton - Hamilton Crane

Snow in August - Pete Hamill

January, 1999, was filled, for the most part, with literary fluff.  But I least I was reading.  In January, 2011, I have completed not one single book.  Shame on me!

KINDLE -  I wrote here that my sister had gifted me with a Wi-Fi Kindle.  Not having a wireless setup in my home, I needed to exchange it for the 3G model, which I did today. The new one is due to arrive on January 19.  Amazon was so nice about the exchange that I gave them a bit more business by purchasing a lighted book cover for it.  I've already been perusing the list of FREE books available for the Kindle.  With limited discretionary funds, I don't think I want to pay for a book that I can obtain from my library.  But --- we'll see! 

Tomorrow is also a day. 

Caught in the Web of Words - Part One - Post 33

I can't remember a time when I could not read. Neither do I remember being taught to read; one day I just could, and did, and have continued to do so, for about 70 years. The first book that I truly remember was one used in the kindergarten class I attended in El Paso, TX, in 1939. Bi-lingual education in the USA is nothing new, folks. My kindergarten primer was in Spanish and was titled Juan y Maria en Casa.

Our family moved to Las Vegas, NM, where I completed the first grade. Shortly thereafter, during the early summer of 1942, we moved to the much larger town of Albuquerque so that my mother could seek employment, my 55 year old father having been conscripted by the U.S. Army to be an instructor of automotive mechanics almost immediately after Dec. 7, 1941. That's another story for another time.

By the summer before I turned 9, I was spending my school vacation time in the Albuquerque Public Library. Albuquerque was still a relatively small town at the time, and it was quite safe for me to walk alone for the some 8 or so blocks from where we lived. I would stay at the library for as long as it took me to select as many books as I could carry (6 -10) from the children's section (and they weren't "picture-books," either); then I'd lug them back home and read. And read, and read, and read. My two younger sisters and my brother were being cared for by a housekeeper/baby-sitter, and I'm sure she was most happy to not have me under her feet as well.

In a day, two at the most, I'd be finished with those books and back to the library I'd go for another load. Before we moved (1944) to a new home about five miles from the library, I think I had read every book (of any interest to me whatsoever) in the children's section. The librarian also allowed me to browse in some carefully selected sections outside the children's area, and helped me select books that were not 'too adult' for me.

After we moved, I didn't have easy access to the library so I read my mother's books. I remember that she was quite flustered when she found me reading A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, by Betty Smith -- promiscuity, several stillborn babies, and like ilk; Mama did not think I needed to read about that when I was 10 years old. However, I don't think she took it away from me. Truthfully, I don't remember much about it. It must not have warped my psyche too badly.


My father had a very large number of books, which were stored in boxes in our garage since there was not sufficient bookshelf space in our new home for them. Most were theological tomes from his days at Seminary and books of a religious nature he acquired while he was an active church pastor. I think I must have attempted to read some of them (readers must have books), but they were not the sort of thing that would hold a young girl's attention for very long, I'm sure. However, he did have some books of poetry (notably The Song of Hiawatha by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow), some Shakespeare plays, and a few other non-theological books that I did read.

At that age, however, I was more interested in Carolyn Keene's 'Nancy Drew' books, and novels such as Lew Wallace's Ben Hur, Lloyd C. Douglas' The Robe, Dr. Hudson's Secret Journal, and The Magnificent Obsession. NOTE TO MY READERS: If all you know about The Magnificent Obsession is the 1954 film staring Rock Hudson, do yourself a big favor: Read the book! And Dr. Hudson's Secret Journal, which is directly related to The Magnificent Obsession. They're a pair.
To be continued. Part Two: in which we move from Albuquerque to a small Arkansas town, population 400 (if you count the cows), and my literary and vocabulary education continues.

PLEASE NOTE: The spider web photo is not mine. I got it from a Wikipedia article on Spider Webs. The photographer is Michael Hartl, and the photo is in the public domain. For a more close-to-home, and beautiful, photo of a spider web, check out Dot's blog, Strolling through Georgia (and sometimes Alabama), here.