By MacNessa, on August 28th, 2010
So I have been on a reading BINGE lately.
I cannot get enough!
The culprit?
That awesome little free app from Amazon called Kindle for Mac. You can pick up a copy for Mac, PC, iPhone, Blackberry etc right on the Amazon home page.
Or of course you could simply buy aKindle , which is what I’m saving for right now.
In the interim, I’m buying Kindle books and reading them using the free app I mentioned before “Kindle for Mac”. I have read 5 books in the last two weeks.
I used to read like this when I was in primary school, and used to devour those English Boarding School stories (half-term, horseback riding as a legitimate school subject, midnight feasts and the odd mystery), and these past two weeks it’s been a real struggle to work since I am tempted to keep flicking back to Kindle to read. Yet another reason why I should get the Kindle device, because then I would go and sit down somewhere more comfortable than at my desk and read, instead of being the poster child (adult) for adult onset ADD and trying to do a gerzillion things at once, and accomplishing nothing.
So… where was I? Oh yes, the Kindle for Mac.
So buying Kindle books is cheaper (for the most part) than buying the hard/softcover ones, and I have to admit, the fact that you can click click and it’s delivered within seconds? Major instant gratification buzz.
I bought Dan Brown‘s “The Lost Symbol and oh my heck, that was 10 000 words eaten in with my eyeballs in under 72 hours.
 Right now I’m absolutely glued to Eat. Pray. Love. by Elizabeth Gilbert, and yes it completely sounds like a book that I wouldn’t dream of going near in the bookstore, but a friend of mine said that it changed her life, and I trusted her judgment enough to ‘just 1 click buy’ it through my Kindle for Mac app, and I am SO glad that I did!
The author writes with a sense of humor that I’m completely familiar with, and while, she could be forgiven for sounding a little self absorbed, it helps to remember that she doesn’t have kiddo’s sitting at home waiting for her, while she’s off being hedonistic in her search for inner meaning, and has just escaped a clearly hideous marriage, and subsequent messy love affair (oh to have *her* troubles for 5 minutes).
I can completely relate to some of her troubles, though not all, in her quest for meaning, and I appreciate her similarities in thoughts on divinity to my own, so while this book may not suit all, I can say that she is absolutely respectful of all divinity, and even if you’re the most devout, christian, muslim, hindu, shinto, buddhist, if you’re a women who’s ever wondered where her life is going, then you will get something great out of this book.
Yes this is the very same book that they’ve just made a movie about starting Julia Roberts.
Isn’t that awesome? I’d love to have Julia Roberts want to star in a movie based on a book I just wrote. Heck I’d love a book deal that enabled me to travel around the world at someone elses’ expense, as long as I could take my two little blessings with me, and naturally my husband as well. Mine, I’d like to keep of course, unlike our protagonist who tried in vain to get rid of hers in the beginning – who knew men could be so childish eh?
Anyhoo, feel free to click the image, and pick up your copy courtesy of my Amazon store page.
By MacNessa, on August 20th, 2010
What do you utilize as a door chime?
Do you go with the standard ‘ding-dong’?
Or do you prefer a hokey little tune? I’ve always thought that a door chime is another great way that we can sound our individuality to the world at large.
I imagine for example that Bill Gates might have a large Chinese gong at his front gate, just because he can. Or that Donald Trump has a ‘ka-ching ka-ching’ sound when you press the buzzer to one of his amazing properties.
What would be the best expression of yourself – if you were able to pick any kind of door chime at all?
I suppose for myself it would be the Superman theme song. Just because it has that great introduction, and really builds to a crescendo. How would you feel stepping over the threshold of my house if that was my door chime?
In for a fun time?
You betcha!
By MacNessa, on August 18th, 2010
The temperature outside must have just dropped a good 5 degrees in a couple of seconds.
Right now, I’m chatting on IM with a friend further south in my town, and she’s said it’s just started raining, which in all likelihood means that we will have rain soon too.
With the lack of proper insulation found in many houses in South Africa (things like piped radiators, and double glazing are unheard of here), we tend to resort to other methods of keeping ourselves warm in winter.
There’s the obvious “heater” solution. Electric blankets, or heated mattress pads and the like. Extra blankets. Even jetmaster fireplaces can be utilized to keep heating costs down. We also have heated wall panels, that make a very real difference to a room, and keep our children’s rooms at just the right temperature for the night time.
Since many of these solutions require electricity, sometimes the more obvious hat, gloves and coat can be utilized indoors. Silly though it may seem to sit at a computer with fingerless gloves on, it all saves money in the long run.
How do you stay warm in the Winter?
By MacNessa, on August 18th, 2010
I love Christmas. I mean, who doesn’t?
It doesn’t matter what your religion, and I for one am not religious at all – and am far more likely to celebrate the Winter Solstice and the birth of a new season, with decorating a tree, rather than a tradition that was simply pasted over the top to satisfy the new religion that emerged way back then.
Not that I’m knocking it.
Each to his own you know?
There is so much to like about that time of year, the only thing is, I live in the Southern Hemisphere, which means, for those of you who have forgotten your grade 4 geography/climatology lessons that taught you that the seasons are reversed on the bottom half of the planet.
Which means that Christmas time, is HOT.
We swim, barbeque and retreat indoors for air-conditioning.
While I have many, pleasant childhood memories associated with the types of Christmases I have always celebrated, many would find my Christmas memories odd!
Watermelon? Totally Christmassy for me.
Ditto, Apricots, Plums and other fruits.
But it doesn’t stop me from dreaming about white Christmases, eggnog, and christmas yard decorations, and snow.
By MacNessa, on August 13th, 2010
When it comes to MP3 players, it seems as thought the choice is even less of a no-brainer than the choice for phones – in which there is a huge debate amongst consumers between Blackberry and iPhone.
 If you consider that there really are no MP3 players to rival the iPod range from Apple, then of course the problem comes in, in choosing just which iPod to get?
If you’re an iPhone user, then getting the iPod touch seems a silly idea, unless perhaps you choose to use the iPod touch as a ‘home’ ipod that the whole family can use, or that the kids can each use to play their various array of apps.
In fact suddenly the idea of having one iPod Touch per child suddenly seems like a fabulous idea, unless, as a parent you don’t mind surrendering your phone to the toddler who will no doubt figure out more of it’s intricacies within seconds than you could within years, or at least until the next model is released!
If you’re still undecided, and because of price constraints have decided against the iPod touch, then reading some ipod reviews is a good way of learning about the intricacies of each different model, through testimonials of customers who have already got the model in question.
One important thing to note, about the iPod Nano, is that it now shoots video. That is *always* plus. These days everyone is an on the spot journalist/blogger/twitterer and being able to shoot video on the fly is a feature that should not be discounted in a hurry…
I wonder when the new iPod Touch will be released? I’m sure they’ll want to keep up with their new iPhone 4′s sleek new aluminum look.
By MacNessa, on August 10th, 2010
It’s my eldest sons birthday next week, and oh boy would I *love* to get him an awesome wooden swing set like this one I just discovered online.
Did you know that installing things like wooden swing sets and sandpits etc can dramatically increase the likelihood of selling your home to interested buyers? It . . . → Read More: Wooden Swing Sets for Kids
By MacNessa, on August 6th, 2010
It’s no lie that the recession has folks looking for ways to save every penny that they can.
In all honesty, it shouldn’t have taken something as devastating as the stock market crash, and the recession to suddenly refocus everyone’s attention on saving, and budgeting.
Did you know that there are simple steps that . . . → Read More: It’s All About Saving Here and There
By MacNessa, on July 25th, 2010
With the advent of the laptop, it seems as though many folks have embraced the trend of laptop bags rather than the traditional briefcase.
With the huge selection of laptop cases out there, one is really spoiled for choice anyway. But are these modern choices, necessarily correct for all professionals? A messenger style . . . → Read More: Cute Briefcases vs Power Briefcases
By MacNessa, on July 20th, 2010
I’ve been looking for an offline blog editor for awhile now. So I was excited to try out this app that I saw featured on Mac App Storm.
I write for four blogs, and the constant ‘log in – log out’ was wearing a little thin. Particularly when I want to get out four . . . → Read More: I Created This Post using MarsEdit
By MacNessa, on July 12th, 2010
 Uncapped internet is not a real reality in South Africa.
Not even with the new so called uncapped internet offerings from the likes of Mweb, Afrihost, Axxess etc are things truly uncapped, since they begin to throttle line speeds at around 60gigs.
So many people are on internet packages which have a cap. The . . . → Read More: Useful Bandwidth Monitor
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