Wow, I have not posted in a while. My time has been taken up with book-selling. This is something I began in 2002 with my private collection, basically to support my own buying.
Recently I have been acquiring boxes of books from friends so my sales increased. In late November a dear friend who is an author/speaker moved from the community. He blessed me with many boxes of basically new books which he had been given while on speaking tours or by various publishers
My sales skyrocketed with this acquisition. I began listing on Amazon in January (my other venue is half.com) and started to learn about book-selling as a part-time income producer.
This involves “scouting” for books at yard sales, consignment shops and thrift stores. I have been acquiring 30 – 40 titles on a Saturday and selling as many during the week.
Hopefully, I will get back to bloging soon.
Sunday
On not posting
Tuesday
Tales From a Mis-Spent Youth
Today I leaned that it was Zappa tribute day.
Frank Vincent Zappa (December 21, 1940 РDecember 4, 1993 was an American composer, musician, and film director. In a career spanning more than 30 years, Zappa established himself as a prolific and highly distinctive composer, electric guitar player and band leader. He worked in almost every musical genre and wrote music for rock bands, jazz ensembles, synthesizers and symphony orchestra, as well as Musique concr̬te works constructed from pre-recorded, synthesized or sampled sources. In addition to his music recordings, he created feature-length and short films, music videos, and album covers.
Although he only occasionally achieved major commercial success, he maintained a highly productive career that encompassed composing, recording, touring, producing and merchandising his own and others' music. Zappa self-produced almost every one of the more than sixty albums he released with the Mothers of Invention or as a solo artist. He received multiple Grammy nominations and won for Best Rock Instrumental Performance in 1988 for the album Jazz from Hell
Politically, Zappa was a self-proclaimed "practical conservative", an avowed supporter of capitalism and independent business. He was also a strident critic of mainstream education and organized religion Zappa was a forthright and passionate advocate for freedom of speech and the abolition of censorship, and his work embodied his skeptical view of established political processes and structures. Although many assumed that he, like many musicians, used drugs, Zappa strongly opposed recreational drug use.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_zappa
And here is his classic “Don’t Eat the Yellow Snow” complete with a clever animation.
Thursday
Today is my birthday. I am officially 54 years old.
Lord, let this feast of my birth be a reminder to me of all the gifts and blessings I have received from You this day and all the days of my life. On this my day of birth, I thank you for my life and all of my blessings and ask for another year filled with Your presence in my life that I may continue to grow in your love and grace.
Some thoughts:
Age is a high price to pay for maturity.
- Tom Stoppard
Growing old is like being increasingly penalized
for a crime you have not committed.
- Anthony Powell
The man who views the world at fifty the same as he did at twenty has wasted thirty years of his life.
- Muhammad Ali
With mirth and laughter let old wrinkles come.
William Shakespeare
There are three hundred and sixty-four days when you might get un-birthday presents ... and only one for birthday presents, you know.
~Lewis Carroll
The best birthdays of all are those that haven't arrived yet.
~Robert Orben
No wise man ever wished to be younger.
~Jonathan Swift
Old age has always been 15 years older than I am.
Age doesn't matter, unless your cheese, wine, or something left in Tupperware at the back of the fridge
And in closing:
"So you see, old age is really not so bad. May you come to know the condition! "
-- Cicero
Tuesday
Wednesday
Talk Like a Pirate
News you can use: today is International Talk Like a Pirate Day. According to the Daily Telegraph, you must:
Growl - and scowl often. Pirates don't use a cultured, elegant, smooth vocalization - they mutter and growl.
Gesture with your hands frequently. Don't forget that pirates do most of their talking on the deck of a ship - out on the ocean, where wind, waves, and bird calls make it tough to hear. Gesturing often gives you a sense of "being there."
Run words together. Saying, "The boys and I were out for a lovely day on the water today" sounds like something you'd overhear at a yacht club. Instead, try, "Me'n'these here scurvy scallywags drug our sorry keesters out t'th'ship'n'had us a grand great adventuaaarrr! We almost had t'keelhaul Mad Connie f'r gettin inter th' grog behind our backs!" Note that you should always endeavour to call the addressee by some insulting name, usually involving an animal. "Yer a scurvy bilge rat, ya pompous gasbag" or "Here's yer dinner, ya mangy cockroach."
Monday
Happy Birthday
Today is my ½ birthday day. I waited for the cards and surprise party but none came.
SIGNS THAT I AM GETTING OLDER:
- I am proud of my lawn mower.
- I burn the midnight oil until 9:00 P.M.
- I can't remember the last time I laid on the floor to watch television.
- I confuse having a clear conscience with having a bad memory.
- I feel like the morning after when I haven't been anywhere the night before.
Wednesday
Enough is enuf.
Simplified Spelling Society: "Let's get phonetic"
By Paul MajendieTue Apr 17, 10:19 AM ET
The Simplified Spelling Society (SSS) is celebrating its 99th birthday by launching a new campaign to make it easier to read and write English.
It may be the world's most universal language but linguistic experts say it has failed to adapt for the last 500 years and now half the globe's English speakers have difficulty spelling.
With texts and e-mails revolutionising the way we communicate, SSS secretary John Gledhill says the time is ripe for phonetic reform and spelling simplification.
"Texts cut away the complications and take away the stigma of not being able to use an obsolete spelling," Gledhill told Reuters in an interview.
The SSS message is simple: "You can change the spelling without spoiling the language. People are scared of change and don't realise it is normal in language."
European children learn to read and write far quicker than the British, he said. Italians take just two years while the British can struggle for up to 12 years.
He said 40 million American adults are functionally illiterate -- for everyday purposes, they are not able to read and write.
Gledhill, who has a PhD in the history of Dutch consonantal spelling from 1100-1970, said the Netherlands updated spelling to keep pace with pronunciation.
"English is about the only language, apart from French, on the world stage that hasn't updated its spelling for 500 years. That is why it is in rather a mess," he said.
PHONETICS KEY
Gledhill sees phonetics as the key to improving literacy and spelling.
He complained that almost 4,000 English spellings make no sense. If head, said and friend were simplified down to 'hed' and 'sed' and 'frend' then kids would learn quicker.
But teachers begged to differ.
"Language has to be fit for purpose. The discipline of spelling is important. Children should learn to judge when formal and informal language is required," said John Dunford of the Association of School and College Leaders.
"Text message spelling may be appropriate for text messages. It certainly isn't appropriate for filling out an application form. Children should learn how to punctuate and spell properly."
The Simplified Spelling Society boasted 35,000 members in its 20th Century heyday. U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt was one of its most prominent supporters.
In Britain, where illiteracy is estimated to cost the economy 10 billion pounds a year, parliamentarians sought to tackle the problem by legislation. But enthusiasm waned.
"We are not sure why there was such a huge interest after the First World War. Maybe people thought it was a brand new world after the war to end all wars," Gledhill said.
Membership worldwide has now shrunk to 500 for the London-based society but Gledhill insists change is more urgent than ever.
"Spanish is easier to read and write and could challenge the dominance of English. The English language itself is in very good health. We just want it to be written down in a way that is readable and writeable."
Friday
Happy New Year
The Thai New Year Songkran is celebrated every year on April 13 - 15. It is also celebrated in Laos, Cambodia, Myanmar, and by ethnic Dai in Yunnan, China. Sri Lanka also celebrates a similar festival called Sinhalese and Tamil New Year on the same dates.
An interresting celebration of Songkran is the throwing of water. People roam the streets with bowls of water, water guns or even a garden hose, and drench each other.
This festival emphasizes returning home to visit parents, paying respect to them, and usually bringing them a small gift. People also visit and pay respect to their older neighbors. For these reasons Songkran days are also considered the family days or the elderly days.
Now That's a Traffic Jam!
Traffic jam: Xiamen, south China
“If they'd lower the taxes and get rid of the smog and clean up the traffic mess, I really believe I'd settle here until the next earthquake”
Groucho Marx
Monday
A Healthy Bonus
Police in Illinois are looking for a trailer loaded with $50,000 worth of broccoli in a crackdown on black-market fresh produce (not really). The cops received the report of stolen goods and suspect that the thief was only after the trailer. Tons of refrigerated broccoli was just a healthy bonus ...
