My Cup Runneth Over

And by cup I mean book shelves.  I have too many books.  There, I said it.  Cook books, history books, fiction books ... books.  The next step in my never ending battle against clutter may be donating a number of these dead trees with words on them to Good Will or a library.  I would assume, someone would want to read the Harry Potter series.  Although, by now you would think everyone would have read it. 

Over Christmas, my girlfriend got a Kindle.  She wasn't sure if she would like reading a book without real pages.  She felt that it may eliminate the satisfaction she received in flipping the pages and seeing her progress as she read.  Turns out, she loves virtual pages and the ability to always read a book one handed while sitting in bed - irrespective of its size, as the Kindle always weighs the same.

I could get a new book shelf for more books, but I have nowhere to put it.  It would likely involve me throwing away other furniture to try and squeeze it in, which just seems like a little much.  However, I could get a Kindle and store an unlimited number of books on it that would always be available to me on my virtual book shelf at amazon, and that's kind of how I view the Kindle.  Sure, it seems expensive but really not much more expensive than a good bookshelf and I totally have room for a virtual one.  Plus, when you add in the money you save for either not having to keep books in a storage unit and not having to pay for someone to move them ... ever, it becomes more cost effective.

Crap, when did I become a shill for Amazon?  I am still refusing to get one, however, until I have actually read all the books that I own which I still have yet to read.  Given my insane work hours and utter lack of free time, I figure I will not actually purchase one for two to three years and by then, ebook readers will likely have come a long way.  Until then, I am not allowed to buy any new books (you know, other than  the book  I bought for $5 last week with formerly unpublished Mark Twain pieces or travel books when we decide to go on our next trip).  Yeah, this plan is foolproof.

Are You Looking at Me?

It's freaking cold.  I don't know if any of you have noticed but here in Florida, it's in the 50s.  Freezing for those of you unfamiliar with the southern temperature scales.  I had to actually wear shoes yesterday.  I think hypothermia is going to claim me.  As I type this, my entire life is flashing before my eyes.

The guy you see above is the monkey I have in my closet.  He scares the crap out of me.  Alright, that's not really true.  He's one of the cool little guys I saw at the zoo when I went there a couple of weeks ago.  I know there's no snow and it looks very green and some of you may be thinking, that doesn't look very cold to me.  I guess you would be right, it is green and as I look out the window, I see the palm trees gently rocking in the breeze but it's a frigid breeze I tell you.

So, I have a new thing.  I am going to try and update this blog once per week.  I am not sure if it will work but I think I can do it.  It has been difficult to find the time to do all of the things I like and want to do.  Even as I sit here doing this, I know there are at least four other things that I should be doing.  But if I don't update my blog that little guy is going to leap out of my closet and attack me.