News Feeds

I think it's great to keep up with the times: the New York Times, the L.A. Times and maybe even the London Times. But you know what? I still don't have time to read these feeds.

rss feeds but who's hungry?

Sorry about that title but it's late and I'm just trying to get this done. I did set up a bunch, a gaggle, a whole herd of rss feeds to my bloglines account because that was the assignment. And guess what? I haven't checked them - not even once. I simply don't have time.

But I'm starting my own website and I have asked my web developer to include rss feeds from my site. Folks will be able to get the feed from the entire site and also from various genres or age groups from within the site.

So, I see the value of it all. And once my site is up and running, maybe I, too, will have a chance to read some rss feeds.

Lifelong learning

As I raised my two children now ages 24 and 29, my husband and I always told them, try new things or TNT. Now that they are grown up we see them practicing the TNT method of living on a regular basis. It is very satisfying. They are truly life long learners and I believe in it myself as well.

As an Army wife, you find yourself constantly on the move and constantly re-inventing yourself and having to learn new roadways, new teachers, new coaches, new procedures for just about everything. It's very challenging and demanding but it keeps your mind sharp and it keeps you open to new things.

Lifelong learners all.

You Tube Meets The Howard County Library

Just went and visited You Tube land. I really like the Community section. I think it's a great tool for people to connect to information when they have the time and when they're thinking about specific issues.

As for the library, well I think You Tube is a natural for us. We could have our author interviews published on You Tube and we could have librarians doing book recommendations on You Tube. How great to be able to bring your librarian into your home through You Tube just before heading out to the library. You could write down some titles that sound good and then head over with a goal instead of just floundering in the bookstacks. I talk to plenty of parents who are overwhelmed by the number of books on the children's shelves. So much is new and they haven't read them and don't really know what's there. Sort of a mining for treasure among the books sort of experience. When the children are young, the whole run in and grab a book before the child escapes experience is stressful. Picture books are spine out. Who knows what lies inside those covers?

So, I say, let's get in the game and start putting our expertise out there for our patrons to tap into. You Tube meets the Howard County Library.

As for the two videos I chose to post, well, how fun to be able to listen to one of my favorite songs and watch one of my favorite artists perform it??? And how delightful to be able to watch and hear one of our best children's authors talk about saving our natural heritage for our children. Such excellence at the push of a button.

If you're going to glue yourself to this machine, it's nice to stumble on some worthwhile sites.

T.A.Barron: Let's make the world wonderful for children

What a Difference A Day Makes- Jamie Cullum

Technorati- where the minds of those under 30 go to be lost

All right my little party animals. I was fair. I looked at Technorati. I looked at the most popular blogs and I looked at Boing Boing. What can I say?

The day I was looking at Technorati I had the sorry misfortune of reading of the demise of some one who had been spending time having surgery to try to look like some other person. Okey-dokey. They were having breast implants and hair issues or something. They were going to be pandrogynous. Uh huh. They had even chosen a name to share I gather.

There was another article about the Bible being translated into some bizarre language which I think had something to do with LOL. Yeah, I do know that means laugh out loud.

I took a look at the world's most popular blogs according to Technorati. Now, the first ten all had the word gadget in them.

Look folks, there is a group of people who wants to spend time reading about these meaningless, worthless undertakings. Hey, I used to read Harlequin romances when I had babies and I wanted to escape. To each his own. (I always preferred the historical Harlequins myself.)

But let's not kid ourselves. If you are spending so much time online that you find this entertaining then I will put a question to you: What are you escaping from? You might want to take the following quiz:

1. I have had a meaningful conversation with a family member
a. Today b. This week c. This month d. Last Month e. Last Year f. Never

2. I have done something to help someone else
a. Today b. This week c. This month d. Last month e. Last Year f. Never

3. I did something to save the environment
a. Today b. This week c. This month d. Last month e. Last Year f. Never

4. I cared about the feelings of someone else
a. Today b. This week c. This month d. Last month e. Last Year f. Never

5. I did something to put a smile on someone else's sad face
a. Today b. This week c. This month d. Last month e. Last Year f. Never

It's a short quiz. If you answered never more than once, you need to get a grip on yourself and start living in the real world. Connect with someone else in a good way. Get out there and do something to make everything around you a bit better. It really is up to you.

The gadgets will come and go. None of them will show up for your funeral.