Sometimes Life Just Needs a Little Plaid

I've been staring at the ads for the new line of Kindles and admiring the pretty. The truth is that having convinced myself to make the leap and spend the cash, I now can't imagine life without my handy eReader extraordinaire. But as I was talking it up with a friend (and yes, convincing them it's worth the price) he made me laugh because I *still* don't use my Kindle as Amazon intended. Is it just me?

( How about you? )

*image courtesy of Catie Rhodes @ the Wana Flikr Commons

Not as many as you might have thought. At least not according to this wonderfully informative blog post by author Jody Hedlund, detailing how Facebook uses a calculation called "EdgeRank" to determine which of our Personal account and Page posts show up on our friends' news feeds.

Here's the kicker - you can PAY to promote the post and have it appear on more feeds.

Are you surprised?

At least I finally have an explaination on why some friends' posts don't show up on my feed, but are visible if I actively search out their account. Silly me, here I just assumed I had missed their post in the never-ending flow of info.

Really, check it out. Jody has written a great post, and has including several links for those who would like to learn more.

...all day long you'll have good luck. How many of us remember this old rhyme? It was a constant when I was growing up. Found money of any demonination was always considered a good thing.

Do you pick up pennies still today? I ask this because I was chatting with a friend and she complained about the pennies she received after buying a soda at a gas station, and told me how she just threw them in the trash as she left the store.

What?

To make sure I heard her correctly, I made her repeat herself. I mean, she didn't even throw the pennies on the ground where people like me might pick them up. She threw them straight into the trash.

Really?

I've heard rumblings of the get rid of the penny groups who all complain that the penny is outdated and a hassle to deal with, and I'm always surprised. Do people truly not like pennies or find pennies a burden? Really? Who has time to worry about these things?

Maybe this is a generational thing? Am I truly getting that old? I mean, I understand that there are entire groups of the population that don't use cash, period. I get that. But throwing your pennies in the trash with disgust?

I can remember learning to count and using pennies as my base. 5 pennies equaled a nickel, 10 pennies equaled a dime, 25 pennies equaled a quarter, 100 pennies equaled a dollar. The power of addition came to life in front of me. How cool was that?

Flush with that knowledge every time I spotted a lone penny in the dirt I picked it up, took it home, and carefully added it to the other pennies in my coin jar. Five of them became six, which became ten, which became twenty-five, which became... you get the idea.

The power of the penny still held me in its thrall when I was older, living on my own, and needed to count my pennies (no pun intended) to make my monthly rent. If I was short for a month, well, I would empty my coin jar and carefully roll my pennies up. Still not enough to cover rent? I would haul a couple of bags of books to the used book store and sell them off. Don't worry, I'd buy them back in better times. If I still hadn't met my number, I would go pick up cans alongside the road and take them to the Golden Goat. (Pre-recycling/can deposits this was a dumpter-type device that crushed cans and spit out cash by weight). Sometimes it was only a few pennies, but when you are .03 cents short on your monthly rent, those 3 pennies become very important.

Luckily, my finances now offer me a little more breathing room. But my love of the penny is still evidenced by each and every dulled bit of copper I pick up, dust off, and put in my pocket.

I didn't attempt to argue with my friend, there's no point. But after we spoke I gathered up my coin jar and headed off to the bank where I turned my latest collection of found pennies into five, twenty-dollar bills and took the family out to dinner.

The only real effort expended? Reaching down and picking the pennies up, one by one.

Somedays a brain is a funny thing in the way it leaps and jumps about from topic to topic, and the places those leaps and jumps take us. Need convincing? ( Read On )

I'm still laughing over here - Clare comes up with the best titles for my ramblings. Time for you to ramble over to my blog post in honor of her January Birthday month. Meanwhile I'll pour another cup of coffee with cream - shaken, not stirred.

Hmmm, rather lacked in the translation. Ah well, *pokes* go read and then comment to let me know who is your favorite Bond villain.

Are you a list person? I am. Not only do voluminous lists give me a practical use for all that stationery I can't resist (*T-shirt wearing member of office supply lovers anonymous*), but it lulls me into mistakenly thinking I have things under control.

( Lists made so far today in between everything else: )

and the lists go on.

As promised, today is my day during the Fang-tastic Books Michigan Author Celebration. I'm touching briefly on things that are "Purely Michigan", (for those in the know - the state's new advertising slogan) and offering a giveway. Come say Hi, I'd love to see you.

Happy Wednesday World! How’s the middle of the week treating us all? I’m taking a break from this blog’s usual business to share my adventures in the Straits of Mackinac this past Saturday. Be sure to click on all the links for a more fun, interactive reading experience. If you’re a fan of my short, Bridge of Dreams you know I have a great fondness for the Straits area, the Mackinac Bridge and, of course, Michigan Pasties.

That’s where this post truly began. With our stomachs. I hate to say it, but nothing compares to a Northern Michigan Pastie. I know the bakery down the street tries – really, really, hard – but they just don’t succeed. Finally, at the request of the household I’ve stopped buying inferior product in hopes they’ll improve. So Saturday we woke up and decided it was time to make a pastie run. No biggie. It’s only a three-hour drive, one way. It had been a few years since our last trip and stay on the island proper, and with the fall fishing season approaching if I wanted to go then go we must.

( Time for some Michigan Travelogue )

Check out this line up of iPad competitors set to appear soon:

Just what I need, more to think about, LOL.

Periodically I've commented across the web that I'm interested in people's view on their various models of eReaders. Never prone to hasty decisions my dithering has been going on for a year or more despite the absolute raves eReader fans have given the devices.

The big stopper? It always come back to the inner voice which loudly states 'well, if you're going to spend the money then just get a laptop with all its multiple uses'. For those curious as to just why I've yet to even take the laptop plunge, ponder the first paragraph above and in addtion, realize I have two, amazingly aged, but completely functioning desktops at home (one strictly for wordprocessing) which I guiltily feel is already an example of over-consumption and excessive excess (really, don't get me started, LOL).

Slowly meandering my way to a final decision, a new soldier enters the battle. Yes, the iPad. Well, hell. You can imagine my dilemma and then my delight when I came across this video comparison between the iPad and eReaders at Digital Trends.

Helpful. But now I can't help but be interested to see the HP volley in return to the iPad. You know it's coming.