Daily Thoughts 11/25/2010 (Get Glue, Writing Tools, Thanksgiving)

Lithograph, Home To Thanksgiving, published by Currier and Ives., 1867


Daily Thoughts 11/25/2010


Happy Thanksgiving, hope all is well with you.  I am home today which feels very well.  Anyways, today is a day to relax.


I read some more of Writing Tools.  I spent some time going through the New York Post  crossing out words that ended with ing in them.  It was a writing exercise.  There were not a lot of them. The Post, despite its tabloid reputation, has very tight writing with very few errors in structure or grammar.  I may think there may be errors of opinion, but there are few technical errors.

I also registered with Wikipedia as a user.  I am not sure why, but there is a BookCalendar account on both Wikimedia and Wikipedia.  I have never attempted to provide any input into their database, but I have used them quite often.

In addition, I now have an account on Get Glue http://getglue.com/BookCalendar%20

Happy Thanksgiving, Good Morning, Grateful

John Bunyan the author of The Pilgrim's Progress

Happy Thanksgiving, Good Morning

I drove to my relatives early in the day to celebrate thanksgiving. We had the traditional turkey, stuffing, corn, sweet potato pie, gravy, and yams. It was a nice afternoon meal. We also watched Kung Fu Panda which was a fun little Dreamworks animation film. We brought my niece a couple of toys, a doll, and a little musical hammer toy. It was a very nice afternoon.

We left early, about four o'clock and by five it was pitch black on the New York freeways. It was also packed on the freeways. I guess a lot of people wanted to do their holiday a bit early.

Although, I finished Ten Roads to Riches yesterday night, I am going to wait until tomorrow to write about it. It feels like something better done on a non-holiday.

Grateful.

This is a day to be grateful for what we have. There are many reasons for giving thanks.

I give thanks for having enough food on the table.

I am grateful for having a roof over my head.

I am grateful for having a profession where I can help people every single day.

I am grateful for being able to live in a place where I can express my views freely.

I am grateful to live in a country where I can believe as I see fit.

I am grateful to live in a country where hatred and oppression are not the government norm.

I am grateful every time I get up in the morning and go to sleep at night.

I am grateful that I can pursue my own happiness.

I am grateful that I have a degree of liberty.

Not everyone has these things. Take a moment and wish these things for all people. Be grateful for what you have. Again, happy thanksgiving.

Gratitude

Gratitude comes when

You least expect in heart felt moments

Often from total strangers

Turkey Day and Some Thoughts.

Harry S. Truman Receiving A Turkey


Happy Thanksgiving (Turkey Day),



Anyways, all the shops and libraries are closed and its a time to be with family and relax a bit. I decided to put down the Alton Gift by Marion Zimmer Bradley and Deborah J. Ross, a new darkover novel. It just didn't capture the way Marion Zimmer Bradley wrote her earlier Darkover novels. Marion Zimmer Bradley passed away in 1999.



I usually put down a book within the first two chapters of reading it. This is normal practice. In bookselling, people claim that if the reader finishes the first chapter they are very likely to buy the book. This is why you see cafes in Barnes and Noble and other bookstores. It really increases the chance that a reader will buy the book. The only real reason not to have a cafe in a bookstore is if the store holds rare or valuable books, like signed editions, and old manuscripts. Still food is a problem, so limiting food to just the cafe area is very important. When I worked at Brooklyn Public Library, they installed a cafe for the library users for the same reason.



I am really enjoying the Bone Hunters by Steven Erikson. Kharsa Orlong the giant Teblor warrior is turning out to be one of my fantasy characters. I also like that he makes monsters into characters in his books, they aren't just cardboard cutouts, they have opinions and actions. There are two spirits, Telorast and Curdle who are quite interesting in the story so far. The writing may be a bit dark for some people and a bit complicated, but it combines intrigue with plenty of action. I am currently at page 82 in the story. It is 799 pages including a glossary. The story is complex enought that there are threee pages of maps in the front of the book, as well as three pages listing the different characters in the story.

Today is a day for relaxation. Tomorrow, I will do the busman's holiday thing again. I will probably visit a bookstore and make a comment or two on the experience. Tomorrow is the busiest shopping day of they year in the United States.

So far Eschalon Book 1 the computer game has been very enjoygable as well. The graphics are very well done.

Happy T Day~!

My bro is down from Oregon and my other bro will be at my moms. Not sure about my cracked out sister, but I hope she is well and yes, I will at least call and wish her a Happy Thanksgiving. I get to see my babies tomorrow (Raymond and Lakota, nephew and niece) so I'm excited about that. I beat people down tonight to get a copy of CARS so we can watch it together, hey, ya do wacha gotta! ;-) hope everyone has a great Holiday however you spend it. Eat lots, we have a good excuse to stuff ourselves for the next few weeks. ;-) peace
p.s. and because it's a Holiday...you KNOW who you get today. :-)
Happy Thanksgiving Joseph Sayers!

Some BW pics for ya...

...been awhile since I posted any. Have a great Thanksgiving Week! ;-) peace