mermaidcamp

mermaidcamp

Keeping current in wellness, in and out of the water

You can scroll the shelf using ← and → keys

Kindle and I

January 27, 2014 — 3 Comments

APE Cover

APE Cover

In November I decided to go big and stay home with Amazon Prime. To make the most of the services one needs to own a Kindle for the lending library. I purchased the Kindle Fire and later the paperwhite. The Fire has an audio component with good sound. I enjoy the readers much more than I thought I might and new reasons are added all the time. Today as gift from Guy Kawasaki I received a free copy of APE, Author Publisher, Entrepreneur in my Kindle.  Since the book was a gracious gift I added narration for an extra $1.99. I have not tried it yet, but it now gives me the option of reading or listening to the book.  Since the paperwhite has no audio I will obviously use the Fire which so far I have used for cookbooks, instructional books, and poetry.  This is such a cool transformer feature.  I have always enjoyed audio books and frequently bought them after reading some book I liked.  Now they are combined for one low price if you decide at the outset to purchase it.  It bookmarks your place audio or reading. This is an upgrade.  I am excited to try it.

The paperwhite reading experience is easy on the eye and fits perfectly into the hand.  When I read A Religion of One’s Own on it recently I particularly enjoyed the vocabulary feature.  When you touch a word you access a dictionary and the word is automatically added to your Kindle’s vocabulary builder list.  The word remains on the list until you remove it manually.  This feature thrills me because I am a word and language lover, but not always a stop and get the dictionary person.  Reading should expand the vocabulary and glossing over meanings that are vague can lead to misunderstanding the author.  I thought maybe I had been silly in buying the Fire model, but now am pleased I have one that can use the added narration feature.  I love both of my Kindles and the fun eternal lending library which is included in Amazon Prime membership. I still love all the paper and print books in my home, but I see myself carrying all my books on Kindle as I buy them in the future. The advantages of Kindle ownership are numerous:

  • Tiny, light, and holds a charge for a long time
  • Books, audio, and magazines are published in the format
  • Font size and lighting are adjustable
  • More and more books are available on Kindle all the time
  • Amazon gives super customer service and the free lending library

If you don’t have Amazon Prime you can do a free trial for a month, but to take full advantage of all it offers you need to own a Kindle.  I am extremely pleased with my decision to join and to buy my Kindles.  Now I am going to enjoy reading/listening to my new book to learn how to publish a book on Amazon.  It is all very fitting.

Rock, Paper, Paperwhite

December 11, 2013 — 1 Comment

I am a recovering reading addict. I will probably be an over-reader for the rest of my days, so the question is where why and how to read. I received my Kindle Paperwhite yesterday and am very pleased with it.  It has a very adjustable screen that allows you to fine tune the font and the backlight to suit all situations.  It is light and I find it is much easier to hold than an iPad, where my first Kindle books resided.  There has been much thought and design work put into this creation.  It is for reading, without distraction.  It is a noticeable upgrade from paper.

People used to hold newspapers up to read, and some still do.  This is a kind of space divider that lets others know (or think) that we are busy reading, learning and becoming more informed.  I used to read the Wall Street Journal almost every day with the small print and big ads.  If you hold that paper up to read at the Starbucks you are making a statement about your interests.  I used to read Architectural Digest and Yoga Journal all the time.  I still have  subscription to The Week  magazine which I am much more likely to read in the digital version, while the paper one sits around unopened.  I just cleared out years of them from my magazine rack, most with almost no pages read.  I bought a 5 year subscription, and I do love the reporting/curation because it features articles from journalists around the world rather than an American only perspective. While Newsweek is returning to print for subscribers only, my involvement with paper publications is dwindling. If I have a burning news question I ask twitter what is happening. My conversion to digital makes my life easier and better because:

  • The Paperwhite and it’s cover fit nicely into my purse
  • The entire Amazon Prime lending library is available to me on it
  • The advanced comfort and ease of the adjustable settings is stellar
  • I can store books in it for reading with no Wi-Fi
  • I have nothing to return to the library or eliminate if I don’t like the book
  • The screen stays on for recipe use, which is a problem with iPad
  • It has a super long better life so I can read for days without recharging

In the kitchen or on the go, the Paperwhite is the tiny portable but unlimited library I always wanted.  I am sure I will return some day to the Pima County Library, but for now I am perfectly happy to have my library in the cloud.

Ending the Book Diet

November 13, 2013 — 3 Comments

Bar Book

Bar Book

bar food

bar food

bar

bar

festive friend

festive friend

I have restricted my reading of books for the last year to three, Sacred Contracts by Carolyn Myss, How to Think Like Leonardo DaVinci by Michael Gelb, and Impact Equation by Chris Brogan and Julien Smith.  This experiment was proposed by Brother Brogan about the time that he published Impact Equation.  I went for the idea because I have always read voraciously but applied the information with much less vigor.  I also have enrolled in a course to study the Sacred Contracts material which I find fascinating and endlessly useful.  I read constantly this year, and did not really read the three books much at all after the first three or four months.  By then all the other participants including Brother Brogan had all quit the program.  I stuck it out because it served me.  I found out there is such a thing as reading too many books. There is more to life than reading.

I have put more practical application and reflection into what I have read this year.  I do not hurry or skip through anything that I read now, which is new. I have been a speed reader for 40 years, having studied at the public library where I went for lessons by Dick Cavett on video.  Life is change.  If I have spent all this untold time reading it seems I should be able to write.  I should also be able to read contemplatively, a skill I have yet to acquire.  As I allow myself to buy and read books once more I have a new perspective.  I have discovered the U of A Poetry Center and my ancestor poet in it.  I have been to a few poetry readings during this diet, which I liken to being driven by a chauffeur.  The experience of a poetry reading includes everything about the ambiance and company.  I plan to return to the Poetry Center for both the readings and to read in that amazing ambiance.  I also plan to write poetry as a meditative practice.  Most of all I plan to be strategic and particular about all my reading from now on.  I think if there is a librarian at the pearly gates we will be asked to do book reports to show comprehension, not prove that we have been on a life long book binge.

Rather than yo-yo dieting, allowing myself to totally pig out at the library right out of the gate, I have purchased three practical and useful books beyond the poetry books I will read will super mindfulness.  My recent purchase, The American Bar by Charles Shumann, is a huge hit, although I have not finished reading it.  It was center stage last night when I created a signature cocktail for one of my guests.  Now that I have a fresh start I do not plan to read every book in the library before I mix my first cocktail.  Reading how-to books without doing any of the things about which one reads is probably pointless.  I think the remedy was well timed and perfect for me.  My name is Pamela Morse and I am a book-a holic.  As a recovering reading addict I will allow myself to go to libraries, but no used book stores for now.  I need to know that I can stay in control.  So far, so good.

The Three Book Diet

September 13, 2013 — 7 Comments

library girl

library girl

I went along with a fad diet started by one of my social media teachers, Chris Brogan. Last November he proposed that  limiting the number of books one read would change the way one learns and absorbs the art and information in the books.  As a proud and profuse library addict I looked at my own reading habits and wondered if I might benefit from reading less and studying more.  The Three Book Diet commenced with a bang and ended with a whimper very shortly after it was begun.  I, however, had chosen three very deep books that deserve a lifetime of reflection and contemplation, as well as physical homework, so I stayed in.

The Sacred Contracts book is the text used in an on line course I have enrolled in to do deeper study in archetypal psychiatry.  I have an extensive and comprehensive set of video lectures and appropriate homework assignments in the course.  The student is required to look very deeply into the past and identify archetypal patterns and write about them in detail.  The self analysis is heavy, and the written work required to make progress is lengthy and serious.  I have started the work, but see that it could require a lifetime.

The Leonardo book has been on my shelf for years, as has the workbook with active homework assignments to help the reader become more like Leo.  It ranks as one of my favorites, so I knew I could stay busy in these books easily for a year without scratching the surface.  I was right about that; 10 months into this diet and I do not seem to be the least bit more brilliant or innovative.  It is for the same reason it always is….because I do not do my homework to rebel.  At least the Sacred Contract study has taught me that this rebel is a teacher and my teacher is a rebel, so maybe I will soon break out of my will to avoid my own assigned homework.  That would be such a fabulous breakthrough!!

Impact Equation is a great book that I read once and looked at a couple of times during the diet.  Chris is the new kind of guru.  Perhaps I think this because he is my guru of social media and disruptive positive change.  I subscribe to his newsletter and correspond with him all the time, so his voice and his attitude are very well known to me.  I am actually happy he gave up the diet; I told him he was too young for it.  Now he has launched a new magazine/biz school, Owner, which is very exciting, so obviously this was not his year to diet.  I have learned from Sacred Contracts that Chris is my teacher and visionary.  He doesn’t need a contract with me, but I am signed up to learn and emulate.  It will end when I have done my homework.  This brings me to the brilliance of the diet for me.  I needed to blog and develop my own skills, but while consuming hundreds of books a year I had no time dedicated to my own writing.  Now I have a small but growing group of Gentle Readers that I love very much.  I would never have found them, or my discipline to write, had I not gone on the book diet.

When I break the fast I will decide what is prudent. I have a pile of books I bought and had signed by my favorite author of all time, Thomas Moore.  I have preordered his new book, which will be released into my Kindle in January.  I will read A Religion of One’s Own with great gusto.  Chris Brogan is my guru of worldly wisdom, but Thomas Moore is my idol.  He is teaching the world to be monastic….in a good way…in a meditative way….in a kind way. Contemplative reading is one way to meditate.  The book diet has taught me the great value of learning more by consuming less. I may go on a One Book Diet next year..it could be fabulous.