WiFi clog.blog

Today as a treat I went to Barnes and Noble and used the 15% off coupon they sent me in the mail.  I grabbed an audio book and an armful of Charlaine Harris's Aurora Teagarten books to read on our vacation.  I was having a good day.

I went to the in-house Starbucks for lunch.  I ordered my lunch, and turned around to find a table.  The tables were all filled with people and laptops using the WiFi.  Some had even stacked their books on the adjoining tables so they were holding down two tables!  ARRRGGGHHH!  Here I am with lunch coming and nowhere to eat it - except at the counter in the sunshine.  I guess I should be grateful that sunshine and laptops don't get along.

Having WiFi at a coffee house is a great thing.  I do like the idea.  However, does one cup of coffee entitle you to a seat for a morning or an afternoon?  Time to do your homework with a friend or crash out some work in a friendly environment?  Are you entitled to hog the space?

I asked that, but I really don't care about the answer.  All I wanted was a nice place to eat my $8.50 lunch.  I felt entitled to a comfortable table and they were all taken.  I wish they would expand these coffee houses now to make room for the environment they created.  I wish everyone could have a seat there.

Marilynne

What gives you pleasure?

Now and again I like to reflect on the things that give me pleasure.

1. The first thing that comes to mind (not in order of importance) are my bunny pictures. Here they're sitting on top of my sketch/watercolor book. The book sits on a desk where I keep my watercolor stuff out. I love it all, the bunnies, the sketchbook, painting in watercolors.

2. I love my laptop. It's just exactly what I want. It was a Christmas gift and I got to choose exactly what I wanted. Although . . . the other day I saw a netbook and it was soooo cute I almost bought it on that basis.

3. Bookstores, big and small. I just feel at home surrounded by books. (I am surrounded by books at home too.) There usually is a book near my hand, some times many more books than I need by my hand. (There's also a book or two on my laptop.)

4. Flowers. The first holiday after I was told I had diabetes was Easter. I wondered how one celebrates Easter without the candy and other sweet stuff. The answer was flowers. I always have a big bouquet of flowers during Easter season. They don't work as well on Thanksgiving and Christmas, but I've learned. I decorate my tree with candy canes as usual. I used to let the kids give them to the friends from the tree. The big difference now is that I pack the candy canes away with the Christmas decorations each year. (They're real, but no one's going to eat them.)

5. Pets. I was always a cat person until I became allergic to them. Then, pet less, I decided to try a dog. Our Norwegian Elkhounds have turned out to be splendid pets. They're also not interested in chasing cats, though you can't convince the cats of it. The live bunnies now, they must think the dog is just a giant bunny.

6. Little things. If you look around the house, you'll see collections of little things, some so tiny you can hardly see what it is.

7. A day spent just bumping around, unfolding minute by minute. It's my good fortune that my husband also likes to do that, but lots of the time I just do it myself. There's a freedom about being on the road.

8. Friends who are low maintenance. I like friends who are my friends whether I saw them last week or not.

9. Blogging. I love blogging. I am so happy that my daughter got me started and there are sufficient places that I can blog to my heart's content.

10. Children. I love watch them, to talk to them, to see them discovering things. I have, however, lost my ability to be around them for hours. That doesn't mean I don't like them, but I think they draw my energy and I draw what should be their tiredness.

What are your favorite things? I'd love to hear about it.

Marilynne

I came to receive a book in an unusual fashion this Fall. I was at the La Jolla Writer's Conference for a weekend on Mission Bay Park in San Diego. In the closing hour of the conference I wandered into the book store to see if I'd missed anything. I had.

There on the table was "The Knock At The Door" by Margaret Ajemian Ahnert. I'd never heard of her, but looking at the back, I saw she was describing her mother's ordeal as a young girl during the Armenian genocide in Turkey. I asked if I could buy it, but the book store directed me to someone else standing in the room.

When I asked if I could buy it, the man said "No, but I'll give it to you." I was puzzled, but soon found out he was the publisher and he gave me the book. After mumbling my thanks, I left.

He gave me a signed copy. The publisher is Beaufort Books of New York. The book was copyrighted in 2007.

The author goes between present day as she talks to her mother about this ordeal, and the fictionalized account of what happened. She calls it fiction because her mother was in her 90s at the time. Much of what her mother said could not be verified, but Margaret said, "She told me the same stories again and again and the details never varied."

So, this is a very personal account, often pleasing as she tells of being an Armenian child growing up in Turkey. But the mother tells us, "I had so many mothers. Has any other child had so many mothers?"

This is a story of horror told through the eyes of a child. Through it all she survived. It's a story of strength and survival.

I recommend it.

Marilynne

"The Knock at the Door" by Margaret Ajemian Ahnert, Beaufort Books, New York, 2007.

A new blog for a new day

Well, today's a new day and here's a new blog to write in. I've just been reading that today's young people don't like to read. I'd say that's wrong, they just don't read the sort of things I did when I was young. I think they read a lot, just not what young people read even 10 years ago. Do you agree?

So, I'm a writer. How do I adapt to the new day in writing? Let me ask - have you ever read a text novel on your phone? I can't imagine it. It started in Japan where they can get many novels as text messages on their phones. Now it's gradually coming here. I'd love to read one. Have you?

I still love books. I can't imagine curling up in bed with my cell phone to read. (I can imagine curling up in bed to talk to a friend.)

One thing I love about books is that it I can feel like I'm the person in the book and have a thousand adventures without leaving home. I have books stacked on my bookcases that I've already read. I can pick one up and be transported once more into that book world.

Sure, you can do that with movies, DVDs, and other videos, but it's not quite the same. When I read a book, then watch the movie made from that book, I find I know a lot more about what's going on. I enjoy seeing the movies made from them, but they lack the depth of a book.

It's time for me to go. Have a good day. Pick up a book and try it out.

Mystery Writer Lady