Good book titles...

Well, I only have one that I just saw at the Cumberland County Library:
- I'm on Facebook. Now what?
Perhaps I should read it!?

Destroyer angel, an Anna Pigeon novel (book), by Nevada Barr. The usual elements of an Anna Pigeon novel are here...the great outdoors, the nightime adventures, the threats. I must say that this one was rather more scary than most, quite the page turner. Essentially, it is a battle between four women and the four men who abduct them, as they journey through a forest. Anna is the "wild card". There is a great deal of physical discomfort and damage and general unpleasantness. Let's just say it is quite a "revenge fantasy." One of the women is handicapped and two of the women are teenage girls.

Things that annoy me:
- the sound and the look of people chewing gum
- traffic
- change

I was unnecessarily rude to the woman who answered the phone when I called to complain about my paper not coming this morning. They are trying to have "better" customer service, but it riles me up when I have to answer so many questions each time that I call. I really PREFER to just leave a message. Especially when I have to call one or more times each week. I hate the message that "representatives are assisting other customers". I just don't like the big conglomerate feel of that.

A lot of things on my mind

Trying to THINK while listening to Moves like Jagger on Youtube. Couldn't get a CD to play on this computer so I switched to Youtube just to see if it was the sound? (It isn't) I LOVE Youtube, except for the fact that you can't find any Prince old music videos on it. Wonder if I still have that VHS tape from the early days of MTV when it was all videos all day. I know I had him singing Little red Corvette.

Started the day with Yoga, trying to forget that I didn't get up early enough to shovel the snow or feed the birds. The snow wasn't very deep and the birds will just have to wait until tomorrow. Also had a one-hour massage. Living the life of Riley. Commented on Facebook and now my email is filled with junk mail about all the people who commented after me. Sigh....I really don't get (or like) Facebook. Anyway, Yoga was great except that she made us do the Cobra THREE times. I don't like the Cobra...I only like the Sphinx. But she switched it up today with a few surprises and the music was on "shuffle" which created some more interest. We did the 4th chakra which is about the heart. Good timing with Valentine's day. Forgot the great quote we repeated 6 times....but we created a lotus flower with our hands and this chakra focusses on compassion and self-love, two things I really need more of.

Was supposed to go out to a Downton Abbey viewing party last night but it started snowing. So we all stayed home and watched it and had a conference call afterwards to discuss it.

Other people's typing

Time for the headphones? A guy across from me at the Bridgeton Public Library is doing that attack typing thing....LOUD and FAST. Now he is CURSING at the computer.

The other day I was surrounded by people "doing" Facebook. In a way I feel superior in that I have BETTER things to do, but perhaps they have superior skills with relationships and technology than I have. The one woman types fast for HOURS. What can she possibly be doing?

Finished a book on the Nook and wanted to borrow one off of Overdrive. Frustrated in that attempt as Wi-fi is BROKEN at Bridgeton Public Library AND the Cumberland County Library. Anyway, I enjoyed the book I just finished called The grave gourmet by Alexander Campion. I think I chose this "Free Friday" book from Barnes and Noble because it was about Paris and food and detecting. It was a good romp with a female detective trying to figure out who killed a guy and left him to be discovered in a fine restaurant in Paris. Her husband is a food critic. It was full of unfamiliar words and familiar words used in strange ways. The good thing about the Nook is that you can look up words as you go along, but since some of them were of French origin, they weren't in the dictionary. So, I am still looking them up. The question is, what do I do with them after I look them up? Save them in a document with the name of the book or the name of the TV show? (I have started writing down vocabulary words from Downton Abbey, too)

Missing my playlist

Only have 29 songs saved on YouTube.  Missing my 127 songs that I can no longer access on Playlist.com.  Changes, changes....guess you can't ask for too much when stuff is FREE.  I'm too frugal to get itunes.  Had to put on the headphones to block out sound of woman typing VERY FAST.  I looked over to see what school work or other important thing she was accomplishing and it  is FACEBOOK.  What the hell can she be SAYING?!?!?  I am doing useful things such as updating my medications list so I can present it when I go to the doctor on Thursday. 

Doing unnecessary shopping errands today.  Like SPENDING money to SAVE money.  I know it doesn't make any sense, but at least I am trying to get stuff I NEED and stuff that is on SALE.

Did accomplish my daily exercise goal at least....got through aqua aerobics just as it started to rain.  Then stopped by a farmer's market and had my first PEACH.  YUM!  Stopped in to the South Vineland post office and found a wonderful variety of stamps and a man who didn't seem to mind showing them to me.  I had almost given up on brick and mortar post offices to shop for stamps.

The best things

A picture of the Ocean City beach from Google images

1. A shower and a shampoo after a dip in the ocean and a walk on the beach in Ocean city
2. NPR - being retired I get to listen to a lot more of it
3. YouTube - At least it works now that Playlist.com doesn't - I just listen, don't really need to WATCH
4. A nice air conditioned public library computer lab with generous time allowances (Ocean City Public Library)
5. I put up a picture on Facebook and got messages from some friends.  One phone call and two beach house invitations!  I guess Facebook is good for something.

I put a picture on Blogger.  I should give credit where I stole it from.  It is a cropped version of "Turtle play" by Hopper Hippee-art.  I found it on art.com.  I identify with the turtle as an animal.  I feel that I am somewhat SLOW.  But I like the idea of turtles at play.  I am trying to become more playful.  Someone today made a sea turtle in the sand.  They made a sculpture of a turtle and covered the shell with SHELLS.  Then they made the words Sea turtle out of broken twigs.  Should have had my camera.

Tomorrow going on an excursion.  Somewhat against my better judgement as I am driving into and out of New York City on a holiday (July 4th).  Trying to seize the day.  I don't get invitations that often.  I prefer the path of least resistance, which is to stay home.

Not really feeling like a "happy baby"

That's a yoga pose.  I am feeling more like a cranky adult.  Trying to forget my woes by using the computer, listening to my playlist and eating chocolate hershey kisses at the Cumberland County Library.  I thought scary Mondays were just for working people, but here is what has gone wrong so far:
- stopped in to Little Mama's cafe - they no longer have real cream, just powdered creamer.  Then I bought a chocolate covered graham cracker but there was too much candy and it was too sweet
- went to city hall to get a T-shirt left over from the walk on Saturday, but the mayor's secretary knew nothing about it
- visited the tax office as my name was in the paper for the tax sale.  I got so highly agitated and ungracefully paid the water and sewer bill including fees even though it was NOT MY FAULT.  They had changed my address in the system and the bill got sent to the owner of the house next door and then returned to them.
I am feeling wronged and not very forgiving.  May have to write a letter of outrage.
- then to yoga class.  She did a number of moves of which I am not fond....too many downward facing dogs, the plank (which seems suspiciously like pushups which I do not do), squats (another thing I CAN'T do).

Remembering a gorgeous hotel I happened to stumble across in Paris.  It took up almost an entire block and around the corner again.  It is called the Plaza Atheneum on Rue Montaigne.



Went on Facebook, although I really feel it is a pretty big waste of time.  Tried to send an encouraging poster to a friend.  Advice that it is hard for ME to follow, not sure why I think it might cheer HER up.

In a windowless room at the beach

My plan for the day was to lie on the beach and then take a walk.  Also spend a few hours in the computer lab at the Ocean City library. And maybe visit a friend in an aging place.   Well, the beach was wild and windy.  I should have been happy as it was beautiful and I was allowed to access it and there was NO ONE THERE!  But I was freezing as I swore never to wear a coat any more a few weeks ago.  I will have to find somewhere inland to get my walk in.

So I came over to the library.  I love this library.  You sit in the computer lab with comfortable chairs and very few people.  They are all well behaved.  Only problem is, there is not enough room for all of my STUFF.  But, hopefully, they still allow you THREE hours on the computer if no one is waiting.  Now, that is more like it! I am always struggling to get all my computer chores done.  It is a never-ending battle.

Actually, this is an "excursion" day.  I need to plan one a week.  Haven't even been able to get THAT in as every day seems to have an event.  Sometimes only one event, but an event nonetheless.  But now I am thinking that I need to schedule TWO excursion days....one for the beach and one for all the other places I would like to go.  Why not?  I AM retired, after all!  I could visit oh-so-many beach towns and get back to my idea of exploring every exit of the Garden State Parkway.  And suddenly, miraculously, my Sprint navigator started working again!  I do have some slight fear that the saleslady at the Sprint store might have signed me up by pushing a button that I never push.  She was trying to show me how to load a picture onto Facebook from the phone.  That, BTW, was NOT successful.  Only a small portion of the picture appeared on Facebook.  It looked good, but was incomplete.  Back to the drawing board on that one.

Mahogany, Marquise and Makiah

This goes against my blog policy of never NAMING NAMES.  But I found this piece of paper that I wrote on while I was working and I didn't know where to file it and I couldn't bear to throw it out.  So I am writing it down here so I CAN throw it out.  I just love these creative names that a library patron named her children, especially Mahogany.

Measures of popularity - Everything is measured now in number of friends on Facebook and number of Twitter followers.  You can't argue with the hard cold facts!  These poor late night hosts have to compare their numbers of Twitter followers to see who comes out at the top of the pack.  I guess my only measure of popularity is whether anyone comments on my blog, so please do.  I don't even know how to ASK for "followers".  And I cannot understand why anyone would want to be friends with someone on Facebook that they don't even know!?  I guess I don't get it.

Where does the time go?  I have spent two hours just organizing my computer and dealing with my email!  Went to get my new glasses and they were closed for lunch.  (There oughta be a law...why can't they take staggered lunches like we do (did) at the library)?  So I had to come in to Larry's II to use the computer.  Practically every table was taken up by some card playing group so I couldn't sit where I usually do.  It is ALMOST perfect here except there is no PLUG.  Sigh.  I wish I was in Portland (Oregon) in some cool cafe.

This is the nail polish I got today.  I'm such a GIRL.  I really enjoy my Vietnamese nail technician and trying to explain the names of the O.P.I. polishes to her.  Usually they are PUNS which are hard to explain to someone whose language is not English.  This is Charged Up Cherry.

I prefer to labor in obscurity

I guess Facebook is where it's at...and it is fun in it's own way.  Kind of interesting to find out what all my old boyfriends are doing.  But I prefer blogs.  You get MORE info from fewer people and I'm kind of scared to say anything on Facebook  And I don't really WANT my old boyfriends to know what I am doing or NOT doing nor do I want them to know what I look like.  Where in the world will my remarks be going?  At least now I know when I write my thoughts down in "my blog that no one reads".  I didn't check that out as a blog name, but I DID check out quite a few names and they were all taken, including ALL THE GOOD NAMES WERE ALREADY TAKEN.  I did decide to investigate Twitter yesterday, but when it came time to choose a name, I got stymied.  To listen to the news, you would think that everybody in the world EXCEPT for me is tweeting.  But, really, do I know ANYONE who tweets?  Don't think so.

Sick of hearing about:
- Twitter
- Immigration
- Celebrities and their bad dress choices
- Marriage (especially GAY marriage)

It is almost a full time job listening to my music.  Playlist.com has a lot of problems.  Some days it does not save, some days it gets jammed up, sometimes the songs change and sometimes the links go bad. So then I move over to YouTube.  But YouTube has problems, too.  Now I am back to playlist because the Beyonce videos to two songs were stupid.  I like some gansta' rap songs and when I have to watch the videos, I realize how distasteful they really are!  I don't really want to watch Rihanna in black leather and chains.

Friends

Gee, somebody wants to be my friend on Facebook.  That makes me feel good, even though I rarely look at Facebook.  I should be into it, as I specialize in superficial relationships.  But whenever I look at it, news streams by about people who are totally marginal in my life.  I did get contacted by an old college friend.  I do love when that happens.  Then I ran into an old high school friend at yoga.  Now we are getting really far afield.  I didn't even recognize her.

Finished an audiobook of Here lies the librarian, by Richard Peck, read by Lara Everly.  I had trouble paying attention to it at first, but then I got into it.  It starts out with a tornado, making me think that maybe I had gotten the discs messed up.  But no, it was disc number one.  Of course, I picked it up at the Vineland Public Library (AUD CD YA FIC Peck Richard) because I love anything to do with libraries or librarians.  Actually, the librarian referred to is already dead and buried at the beginning of this book, but there is a continuing library theme.  Pewee is a tomboy and Jake is her brother.  They seem to be orphans and run an auto mechanic business.  Some lovely young ladies tour through town to look at the tornado damage and they become acquainted.  The young women are students of library science.  They end up getting hired to reopen the town library (from which Peewee has been banned for life at the age of 10 for bad language).  There is also an automobile race, a wicked family of rival auto mechanics and a possibly budding romance between one or more of the girls and Peewee's brother. This all takes place in Indiana in the early years of the 1900's.  It is a delightful listen.

Taxes, taxes, taxes...I really should get help with my taxes but am reluctant.  Should I get someone I KNOW or someone I DON'T know?  Life gets more complicated every year and especially last year simce I retired in the middle of the year.  And it is already almost MARCH.  Yikes.  I am about to panic.  I dutifully try and read the booklets cover to cover and it is very time consuming.  The federal booklet isn't even available yet!  I know once I do it online, I will never get a booklet again.  Thus, my stubborn desire to continue doing it by hand.

Shoes or groceries?

I have some personal spending rules in order to be able to afford retirement.  I try to curtail my daily spending in a certain way.  So each day I have to decide, "Shoes or groceries today?"  I am desperately in need of some Easy spirit shoes of a certain kind.  I used to have four colors of this shoe.  Now I only have blue.  The black ones were accidentally left in a motel in Berkely, CA, the white ones are too awful to wear and the tan ones just came unglued so are also due for the trash.  I thought of going down to the outlets in AC tomorrow, but just found out that all of the "brick and mortar" stores in my area have closed.  Guess I will have to go online and try to find a deal.  I am too afraid to buy stuff online with which I am not familiar because I am not very good with the mailing back part of the equation.

Too much drama, not enough time - article about why some people are leaving Facebook.  So, I am feeling better about the fact that I cannot really get into it.  I do have the time ( not the skills) , but I don't like a lot of drama. 

Another lazy day - I seem to be sleeping later and later.  This is the problem with retirementl  If you can do NOTHING, you might do nothing.  (Not that there is anything wrong with that)

Another abandoned blog?

Losing interest in this blog.  First, all the interesting things that happened to me seem to be quite long ago.  Then, my life with stuff is falling behind, not progressing ahead.  So, I am having a mid-life crisis, as it were.

Just read an article about how Facebook is a stressful environment for some and envy causes some people to not want to be on there a lot.  Seems like there are PLENTY of people who want to put their whole lives out there, though.  Other people's vacation photos can cause the most unpleasant thoughts about your own life.  People who just lurk are, apprarently, the most disatisfied of all.

Went to an interesting program last night about Microsoft Access.  I have always been a bit intimidated by this database creator  and felt totally comfortable stopping with Excel.  But this teacher actually made it interesting and made me want to create a database or be more interested in the topic in general.  Can't attend part two tonight, but maybe someday.  I just happened to be at the Cumberland County Library when it started and thought it might do me some good to stretch my brain muscles, so I went in.  Maybe I will take all of the classes.  I feel that my computer knowledge is not advancing, either, in retirement.  No annoying patrons to force me to learn new things.

Guilty pleasures

Some of my "guilty pleasures" ( I know it is a cliche)...Walmart, Eminem, L'il Wayne.  Forced to go to Walmart to save money on drugs.  Even though I am "anti-Walmart:, sometimes I look around when I am there.  Did find some things I really needed today for a really good price.  They do have some good ideas.  I like the way the bathrooms are right near the front door and that they are well maintained.  In fact, if Walmart had a drive-through it would be just about perfect!

Note to self - things to look up - duties of the footman, Google play, Google phone (?), dates of the upcoming Downton Abbey episodes....

Just took a look at Facebook.  Couldn't even figure out how to logout of it.  Perhaps there is some happy medium between this blog which no one reads and Facebook, which is filled with messages from people I don't really care about.  There are some nice photographs on there, though.  I would like to copy them for my desktop.  Right now I have a photo of Matthew and Lady Mary on there. 

"What kind of a Democrat are YOU!?" yelled my friend when she heard that I didn't watch the convention last night. I know I should change my TV watching policy which is, if I'm home and it is on, I will watch it (for five minutes). I know everyone else in the world is DVRing it, but....

One good thing about Facebook: you can see which of your ex-coworkers and ex-boyfriends are Republicans. How COULD they!

School bus nightmare today. It took me twice as long as normal to get around. One bus sat there so long delivering the school children that I turned off my car. Then I backed up and turned around to go another way. Then I ran into a car blocking the road who had tried a similar maneuver but had a fender-bender with another car. So I turned around AGAIN. I swear that bus was holding up traffic for at least 15 minutes.
I was driving along a street which was recently cited as the most poverty-stricken street in New Jersey. The kids were pretty solidly Mexican with a few African-Americans thrown in for good measure. How things change. I tried to just feel good about the fact that they were all getting a fresh start and making progress with their free education.

Strange but true: the song Strange fruit was written by a white Jewish guy from the Bronx.

Addictions:
- one cup (no more) of coffee each day
- one bottle of Diet Coke (no more, but definitely no less)

I have to get the bottle so I can get the code for mycokerewards.com. I have gotten a couple of magazine subscriptions through that. I asked someone downtown if she stocked Diet Coke and she responded, "No, we do not stock ANY of that imperial rat juice". That would be Coke OR Pepsi.