Aamas 2004 blog

Archive for August, 2010

I was once a reader. Somehow, life, kids, reality TV and a 40+ hour career got in the way. During one of the rare moments I was able to escape without kids or a to-do list in tow, I ended up at a hair salon. As the stylist and I chatted away about, nothing really, I found myself wishing I had a book on hand. After all, it’s a pre-iphone, yet still socially acceptable way to ignore people.

Moments later, a woman walked in with this book in her hands. The cover caught my eye and I made a mental note to “Amazon” it when I got home-and that I did.

It sat on my table for weeks. You know, that whole “life” thing got in the way again. One evening, with the kids hogging the TV and my spouse hogging the computer, I picked up the book…and didnt put it down.

I fell in love. In love with the characters, the story, the animals, the era, the research, the photos, the tone, the depth and the emotion this book evoked. But best of all…I fell in love with reading again.

During the occasions I was forced to put the book down, I found my mind was still filled with the story, characters and the world of a circus. Not many books have that ability, to remain in your thoughts even when the pages are no where near you.

Life has been good to me, but at times can be stressful and overwhelming. In the same way that a trip to the circus would be a welcomed escape to the world of any child, this book provided me with my own special vacation.

If only for a day…

A day at The Benzini Brothers Most Spectacular Show on Earth.
A Life Worth Living

Where has this baby been all my life??? After exhaustive research I decided to get this unit to help with my triathlon training. What a difference! No more guessing how many miles I’ve done or being tied down to roads with mile markers. See your fitness improve with the heart rate monitor. Download it all to your computer and everything is graphed out for you (works almost flawlessly – at the beginning I sometimes would have to re-download from the unit, no biggie, takes seconds, but recently that’s no longer an issue – fixed itself!). No guessing, and A LOT less work. You can concentrate on the workout and let the computer track the rest. The feature set is amazing – this little puppy will do practically everything you could want! Because this is “older tech” (this unit’s been out a few years), don’t let it fool you – it’s amazingly useful and will save you hundreds over newer units. The only difference is satellite acquisition may take 2 mins rather than 30 secs – big deal! Also, the unit might seem large, but it is lighter than the diver’s watch I wear daily – I hardly know its there! It works, very well, plain and simple. And in a piece of training equipment what more could you want? I’m so glad I jumped on this incredible bargain before they are gone and I suggest you do the same. Definitely go for it, you won’t regret it!
Can t Fall In

Maybe this story has simply become dated over the years because it didn’t have the impact on me that I expected. This certainly isn’t on the level of Huck Finn, To Kill A Mockingbird, Life of Pi, nor even The Tale Of Depereaux, but it is different than anything else I’ve read. Perhaps the appeal of this book is that it’s written from the perspective of a teenager, in stylized teenaged writing, about teenaged issues. This could be one of those books that appeals more to a specific audience of those going through puberty than it does to the general reader. Still, Holden Caulfield seems like more of a whiner than a cynical adolescent to me.

Reading this book is like being stuck in an elevator with a sixteen year old boy for the duration. It might make for a good psychological study of that particular insanity that teenagers go through as their brains develop in the presence of an overdose of hormones, but as a story it lacks a plot. This is about a kid wandering aimlessly through his life, such as it is, both literally and existentially. It could theoretically give aid and comfort to those teens in a similar situation, but I can’t imagine it helping me much when I was that age. The main character is supposed to be a young radical, smoking and drinking despite being underage, but it all seems much too tame in these modern times.

I suppose that the moral of the story is supposed to be that everyone undergoes these psychotic teenage episodes, even the preppies. However, this point is made in a monotonous, rather repetitious and boring manner as our young angster wanders about NYC looking to rutt, having just been kicked out of yet another fancy boarding school. If the rich kids have these same problems then maybe we should all stop feeling sorry for ourselves and think about poor Richard Cory. It’s all just a little too ham-handed for me and it really bothers those kids who really were cool and all to have to listen to those who just think they are. Sometim
Printed Scrapbook Album Evening

All specs are met, all data was offloaded without error, specifically video of my newborn daughter was successfully captured and copied to my computer. Good job Transcend.
Mixer Blender One Liter

I use Microsoft Office at work and at home, it makes writing letters and spreadsheets so easy. I recommend this product to everyone!
Le Salon Oval Slicker

I love this scale! It’s stylish, easy to set up, simple to use, and gives fast, accurate, and consistent results. The backlit, large number display is really nice, too. Worth every single cent. I’ve read great things about their customer service, too, so I bought with confidence.
220 Volt NOT USA

I don’t care what anyone says, the Wii is fabulous. This one was bought for my 75 year old mother. The whole extended family, from 2 year olds to 80 year olds enjoy playing Wii games. None of us are true gamers and I think many of the elitist reviews are some sort of video game snobbery. Pretty much everyone, but the 2 year old, is able to instantly play and enjoy all the Wii games. The fitness benefits are also tremendous. There are so many games available that give you a work out while you are having fun. I recommend the Wii to everyone. It is well worth the money.
The 5 Stage Pulito

Received the cables on time as promised. Works just as well as the more expensive cables, however, I only use them to play my DVD Movies since I only have Dish Network without HD. But the DVD movies are Awesome. Much more brillent color, sharper picture and super surround sound. You don’t need to use any RCA jacks, just the HDMI Cable does it all. Simple clear package keeps the price down and the connection ends are well protected with cap protectors. Glad I bought them and THANKS AGAIN Amazon……
La Fayette Christopher Columbus

I am glad that I purchased my Kindle. There is one thing I wish I would have done, and that is wait for the newer Kindle. It has more to offer for the same price.
CaseCrown Hard Case Mobile

Reading books is something I have always loved doing since my childhood days (which I vaguely remember as I age…) and working in the IT industry for a modest 10 years I have always attempted to solve this conundrum but could never beat a good book. The Kindle solves this quite simply. The greatest hurdle with reading books is the screen you do this on. This is simply the device you need for reading ebooks bar none. Initially it felt slightly clumsy and not the most attractive of devices but seems to have an alluring feeling for an old book reader such as myself. I keep it by my bedside constantly and find the minor additions of looking up words, social posting & text to voice do work surprising well without the device being overflowed with options you just don’t need. Purchasing books is simple and also converting technical documents I regularly email to the device. The only slight downside is the library of books and some old favourites not being available which I am sure will increase over time.

It’s not as cheap as a book but if you do read books fast and often and enjoy the odd newspaper or magazine its something to go for and you soon notice a saving.
Jesse James American Outlaw