Books, Reptiles, and Canines...Oh my!

Grendel is home from the hospital!

2007-06-27T18:12:00.000-04:00

Poor baby, broke her tail on Sunday night. (No one but Grendel knows how it happened.) Her tail, from the break down, could not be saved and it had to be amputated. Grendel used to be about 5 feet long and now she is just 3 feet long! Good news is she is going to be just fine! Grendel has eaten some broccoli, (thanks, Alice!) and is resting comfortably. I was afraid her balance and climbing ability would be wacky, but she does not seem to be having any problems navigating her branches. Thanks to Winter Park Veterinary Hospital for everything! The entire staff is great. Grendel wants to thank Dr. Hess and Judy for taking such great care of her.

Update...

2007-06-26T09:59:00.000-04:00

It did work, it did! I have an audiobook in Mediaplayer just waiting to be put on my shiny new MP3 player. Hooray, hooray, we have success!!

Still catching up...

2007-06-22T15:31:00.000-04:00

Here we are at Week 10--and I am still needing to post from Week 8. I really can not believe 3 weeks have gone by since we posted our photos on Flickr. My co-workers and I posted some photos of our area that were taken during recent construction. I took a lot of photos during this time but we posted the ones we liked best. My thoughts in general about Flickr: great application--but not really my cup of tea. (Earl Grey is my cup of tea!) I have recently discovered Picasa2, which is part of the Google suite of products. (Somehow I got it on my personal computer and I am not really sure how.) Turns out that the program that came with my camera is a piece of junk (promptly removed it from my machine). Picasa2 is compatible with my camera and is now the only program I use. Picasa has a web album feature, which I figured out how to use just a couple of weeks ago. I like that feature because it gives me more CONTROL over what I post and (more importantly) who can look at it. Besides, since it is part of Google I still only have to remember one password!

Moving on...Week 9 was a lot of fun. It is interesting to read about Creative Commons, DRM, etc. and I enjoyed that information.

I still use and purchase hard copy discs. (I have never downloaded music from any service!) I admit it is a pain to A) have a bunch of discs and cases cluttering up my space and B) have to then put the music from the disc into the computer-being sure to use the correct program that is compatible with my MP3 player. Unfortunately, the program that came with my MP3 player is a piece of junk (why does this keep happening to me??) and does not allow me to import music directly in that program. So, I have to use Media Player or iTunes, then import the music into the MP3 player's program. (Yes, I am kicking myself for not just buying an iPod in the first place!) Anyway, I do like having the artwork that comes with buying an actual disc. In addition, opening the plastic wrapping and sticky seal gives me a great sense of accomplishment! Archaic, I know!

Metallica or Napster? Well, duh! :)

Liveplasma is one of the coolest things I have ever seen and I will definately use it frequently. It reminds me of Fiction Connection--which I also love. Hooray for visual learners!

I also like the widgits! As you can see I customized a countdown widget. This was way easier than I thought it would be and only took about 2 minutes!

So, here I am finally at Week 10. I am, as I write this, downloading an audio book to the PC. So far, I think it is not working so well. My media player shut off and has been "thinking" for way too long. So, I am not sure what is happening. I will get it to work eventually! I have downloaded books before, but not gotten to actually listen to them (has to do with the junky MP3 player I have.) I hope to use the MP3 player from this class to listen to audio books exclusively. I check out Playaways sometimes (and love them for all that they are) but I need more title variety (and to not have to go to a Playaway branch). I like to listen to books while I walk my dogs. Entertaining as the dogs are, they are still no match for a good book. Besides, the better the book the longer the walk, which is good for all of us!

As I bring this to a close my audiobook is still not working--I am not even sure where on the PC the file is.

Thanks for reading!

Catching up...

2007-06-05T15:33:00.000-04:00

The Library apps are very cool and (I am sure) a lot of fun. I could spend hours cruising around in those sites...ah, but that is time that could be spent reading another book! Talk about a Catch 22. I do get a big kick out of the UnSuggester on Library Thing. I had seen it for the first time several months ago and I enjoyed playing around with it again for this lesson. I especially enjoy unsuggesting the Harry Potter books.
http://www.librarything.com/unsuggester

I looked all over for a reptile or lizard networking site like Dogster and Catster...but to no avial. Maybe I am not doing it right! Or maybe reptile owners are not inclined to participate in such an activity. (Or maybe the reptiles admantly refuse to cooperate!) I did find tons of reptile friendly sites, but they were mostly how to feeding and care, etc. I found a newletter site done by and for desert dwelling humans. I did not include the link, cause it is not actually a web 2.0 app--but it amused me so much, I had to mention it!

Lizard Haiku

2007-05-22T07:47:00.000-04:00

Here you go DeeryLou...a Haiku, just for you.

My Haiku is about my morning adventure, just after I arrived at work.

Lizard by my desk

Run free you little lizard

I take you outside.

Lucas? Jack? Charlie?

2007-05-15T07:54:00.000-04:00

Nope, not a Lost reference...But I do have to comment about the fabulous industry that is Publishing. Three amazing authors released titles this week. While the decision of which one to read first was difficult, (my reading order will be Jack, Lucas, Charlie) it is nice to know that I won't have to look too hard to find my next read. Sometimes it's tough to finish a good book because you don't want it to end. Having some more favorites lined up and ready makes it easier to end even the best book.

The--in my humble opinion--great authors who released titles this week are:

Lee Child Bad Luck and Trouble (Jack Reacher)http://iii.ocls.info/record=b1644642
John Sandford Invisible Prey (Lucas Davenport)http://iii.ocls.info/record=b1644668
John Connolly The Unquiet (Charlie "Bird" Parker)http://iii.ocls.info/record=b1644654

As for the Learn 2.0 lesson--I was not surprised to see OCLS on YouTube or MySpace however, I was surprised at how much the search query returned. I did not know OCLS had so many videos on YouTube! I had never searched for anything on MySpace before, so that was a learning experience!

That's all for now...

Lesson 2

2007-04-05T15:14:00.000-04:00

Hi There.

So, as you can see my first post is actually my second post. I had some confusion issues. (I wonder why that keeps happening to me?) This, my second post, is actually my first. Get it?

I am finding this experience of blogging to be exciting, fun, and scary all at the same time. The fact that ANYONE could be reading this is VERY SCARY. There are some scary people out there. (Thanks to the media for continually reminding us...) The good news is that I think I know how to be smart and not get caught unaware. It was hard to come up with a catchy (does this thing have spell check???) title, URL, etc. I was trying to keep it anonymous--but at the same time make it interesting. (If its not interesting I won't even want to read or post to my own blog! Ha!) I absolutely feel like I am traveling in uncharted waters...I think it is going to take some time for me to adjust and get used to the blogging lifestyle!

My Blog name contains the three primary interests in my life right now. Books, I just can't get enough of. I am usually reading at least 2 at any one time--and most weeks finish 5 novels or so. What can I say? I am a book nerd and proud of it. I have been avidly reading (and pretty much at that same pace) for as long as I can remember. As a kid, I used to go to the library once a week and check out 6 chapter books, read them, return them the next week and start the cycle all over again! As for the reptiles and canines...I only have one reptile in my life right now--Grendel. (But I dig all kinds of reptiles!) She is an adult female green iguana. She is a fantastic, wonderful monster and I love her very much. Soon, (i.e. when I learn how) I will post a picture of her. She is amazing and beautiful! I also have two wonderful canines. Missy is a Rhodesian Ridgeback/Lab mix and Toby is a Weimeraner/Greyhound/Great Dane Mix. (The two of them combined is about 140 pounds of dog!) They are both wonderful companions (my best friends, really) and they keep me very busy (and sane!). If we are not going for a long walk, then I am probably cleaning some surface in the house that they have dirtied! My secondary interests mainly include music and DVDs (TV and movie). My music tastes are extensive and varied (My philosophy is I will listen to anything once...) I also enjoy a wide variety of movies (anything but horror, really). I am a "Lost" fanatic and also love most every series HBO has ever made!

Testing 123

2007-04-03T10:41:00.000-04:00

Learn 2.0 is FUN!

Did Grokker’s grouping of search results help you? Yes. I searched for something that I knew would bring up a lot of results so that I would be able to benefit from the "sorting" of information. I really liked the groupings of information, it really helped to narrow down and only look at relevant information. It was also interesting to see how Groker categorized the information!

What sites did you select for your RSS reader? I think I went a little crazy and ended up with 18 new subscriptions! There are just so many interesting topics to choose from! I subscribed to Orange Slices from OCLS.

What is your learning style preference? Is Learn 2.0 working with or against your learning preference? Primarily, I am a visual learner. I also learn well with hands on activities. So, as a result, Learn 2.0 is right up my alley!!