Photo Friday - A Time for Reflection

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This is where I live and how we celebrate the welcoming in of the New Year. The scenes are taken on Pacific Avenue considered the heart of town for many generations.

The college students, street musicians and strangely dressed people are a common sight in this popular area known as Downtown Santa Cruz. Actually, it looks a lot like this to me on any given day except not quite so many. The only thing missing from this video are the homeless, often seen quietly sitting in a doorway on a sleeping bag and maybe a dog, with a sign propped in front. "Please Help". It is against the law for homeless to approach anyone and verbally ask for help. It's called panhandling. So that is why the signs are used.

Wandering up and down the middle of the street with large groups of people dancing only occur at important events like Halloween and New Years. The streets are cordoned of to prevent traffic and people can enjoy the atmosphere. These events are heavily policed, not to put a damper on the big party, but to help make it a reasonably enjoyable time for everyone. Anyone not behaving respectably, carrying alcoholic beverages on their person or is obviously intoxicated are asked to leave, or arrested.

The most emotional part of any public gathering, whether it is to demonstrate a protest, celebrate an election, hold a vigil for someone, or in this case, welcome in the New Year, we meet at the heart and soul of the town, our most precious, Clock Tower.

You may ask, "Why a clock tower?" What's so important about that? It doesn't even look like a unique piece of architecture or work of art."

I cannot pass by the clock tower any time, day or night, without at least glancing at it. Inevitably a sad swallow comes to my throat and unavoidably teary eyes. I'm sure this is not only my reaction. Anyone who has lived in Santa Cruz a long time surely has the same. Newcomers catch it like a virus. They cannot know the story without it opening their heart. Strangers may be in the crowds, but how can they be surrounded with such charged energy of emotion without feeling the specialness of the place?

The clock tower has been of historical significance since Santa Cruz existed, having first been erected about 1860. It has a checkered history of it's own. But, suffice it to say that the townspeople have cherished it enough to save it many times over the century and a half it has been in existence.

It's not just the history that creates the nostalgia and empathy of the people. It is something the clock did on October 17, 1989. It stopped running, its hands stuck at 5:04 p.m. Some say that with the automatic workings of the clock, that should not have happened. Some say the clock could not help but to stop to mark the occasion.

There was a massive earthquake that day, the epicenter just a couple miles away. Most people outside the area remember the news programs showing views of San Francisco and Oakland. There was no way for news people to take videos here, as all the main roads were damaged and closed. There was no way in and no way out.

Downtown Santa Cruz, the street where the revelers are shown in this video, was covered with debris from the buildings razed by the earthquake.

What the clock tower represents is tragedy overcome by humanity. It represents loss, and recovery. It signifies an act of God, traumatic destruction, and intensely driven human cooperation in rebuilding that which was destroyed.

The clock tower is a beloved symbol. It represents our phoenix raised from the dead, our precious downtown resurrected. It is a sign of our joyous and grateful continuation. That's a good reason to gather there at midnight to celebrate. Don't you think?

I hope you will enjoy watching the video until after the countdown. If so, you will be rewarded with a very good view of the people dancing in the streets including the very happy, naked woman.

Take a good look because that's me!

(only kidding!)

Happy New Year!
 

May your blessings be many and your troubles, few.

The War on Cold

The cold war had begun. But the children didn't know what that meant, not really.

They thought the snow was part of it, the ice, the leggings, boots, mittens, mufflers and coats. All were needed to fight the cold war.

On New Years eve they were sent to bed early, too young to stay up that late, unheard of. Their parents the lucky ones, to sing farewell to the old year. They would be having fun, a party with drinks.

Was it the hangovers that started this tradition? Give the parents a break, the children out of the way? Or was it a vestige of the past carried forward with that feeling of nagging necessity that New Years was to be brought in by the little ones.

Elsa's mother wrapped her up, gave her the noisemakers from halloween, clackers and whistles, pot lids from the cupboard, put them all in a sack.

"This is what you do," she said. "to welcome in the New Year, to get rid of all the bad things from last year. Make as much noise as you can. Make a parade. Get some other kids. March up and down the sidewalks, but only up to the corner and back. Then, afterwards we can have cocoa to drink."

Elsa thought perhaps this is part of the cold war, to make it go away.

She felt warm inside as she went to Bobby's house. His mother understood. Elsa and Bobby clanged on the pot lids, heartily yelling, "Happy New Year!" in their little child voices as they marched up the sidewalk to Janet's house.

The parents knew. This is the way it is done. And it will help the headaches from celebrating the night before, time to make the bleary eyed peep out the window go away. A quiet house, the children playing outside. That's what they did when they were little.

More children joined them, "Happy New Year! Happy New Year!" marching up the street all the way to Frankie's house. His mother wouldn't let him come outside.

That was when the children turned around, heading back to their warm houses, their mothers and cocoa. That was when snow crept into the top of Elsa's boots and melted into her socks. Her breath crystalized into her muffler making her nose red.

The sky turned grey. The trees crackled.

Good bye, Tommy.

Happy New Year, Janet and Mary.

See you tomorrow, Dickie. Are you going to have Cocoa, too?

The snow began to fall. Elsa clanged the pot lids together one more time.

She didn't yell anymore. She had done her part to fight the cold war.

Elsa thought of hot cocoa and smiled.

Please respect my copyrighted story and contact me if you wish to use any part of it.
Thank you,
Elizabeth Munroz

(total word count for today: 808)

How many words written?

2.644 words today

Dishwasher VS. Hand Wash

I think that the average dishwasher uses too much water and electrical energy. Until everyone has an energy saving dishwasher I'm putting my own energy into washing by hand. But, some say dishwashers sterilize dishes better than hand washing. The reality is that I don't have a dishwasher, so I must add here that I have not been very conscientious about thinking green until recently. One thing I do that sterilizes my dishes just fine... I use vinegar added to water to rinse my dishes.

I probably don't have enough information to determine if hand washing is entirely better than and electric dishwasher. But, in my present circumstances I want to work with what I've got.

I once contacted the author of a website promoting ecologically sound methods of living. I asked about this dish washing issue and his response was pretty judgmental and severe, in my opinion. He was totally against dishwashers, and didn't have much regard for the so called natural product I use to wash with. His comments also included the admonition that I wasn't doing any good if I didn't have pipes going outside into a container so that I could use the grey water for the garden. And, I must do this and that. Yada, yada, yada. It was very discouraging. I began to feel like a planet Earth leech! I didn't bother to write back and tell him I don't water my garden as I have mostly native plants and adaptables growing. I also don't have a traditional lawn with grass that needs weed and feed and mowing.

It's too bad that someone with a wealth of knowledge on the subject thinks only one way. Surely, it would be nice if we could all make a cleaner footprint. But, it is not realistic to think everyone can do it at once. Some must come to it one step at a time. Like me.

Since, I am not always well, I have a supply of paper plates and plastic cutlery. I have become much more judicious in using them. I keep wondering how much it harms the environment, but who to ask? How to determine one factor against another? One paper plate, one plastic fork vs, one regular plate and fork being washed with hot water and rinsed.

Of course, it would take a mathematician to weigh the odds of how many tree resources would be used up against the water, the filtering of it by a water utility company, the heating of the water, the disposal of the water, the filtering in a public waste water utility, the spoilage of water source such a plant would empty into. Since the paper can be recycled if it is clean, or it can return to the soil more naturally (I think) perhaps the paper plate is the better option.

On the other hand, the plastic is probably not a very good option. If recycled it has a saving grace, I suppose. I simply don't have enough information to go on with this. I understand there are paper forks and knifes, but haven't found them. I'd feel better about using them than the plastic.

So, I try to do without dishes and cutlery as much as possible, eating food that is carried in my hand, an apple instead of applesauce, for example. But, then I am faced with another dilemma. What if my food has just enough moistness that it needs to be held by a paper napkin. If I use cloth, then I will need to wash it at some point. What is the cost benefit ratio of washing cloth napkins vs paper napkins. In the long run do the paper napkins waste more ecologically than the cloth napkins?

Cat Vs. Foot... No Winner!

I just downloaded a couple hundred pictures from my camera. Most are now deleted, but there are several shots which go in succession, and this the one I chose to post to LOL cats.... You know, those "I can has cheezburger" cats. There must be a million of them floating around in cyberspace.

Though, I've created a few before, this is the one that finally made me laugh, even before I thought to caption it.

It's my kitty, Spyder, whose spontaneous reaction is priceless!

I hope you get a kick out of it, share it with your friends and help to vote it into popularity. Click on the picture to do so.


moar funny pictures

Aging Holiday

Another Christmas letter from my parents from before they died:

December 11, 2004
Dear Ones, All,

With the wonderful thanksgiving holiday behind us and the recent giving of thanks, we have been aware about how grateful we are that the Lord has seen fit to keep us together all these years, and to bring us to this new place we now reside. We have moved twice in the last year and finally settled in at our New Address, which is nearby to one of our granddaughters. We are fortunate that some of our great grandchildren and great-great grandchildren also live nearby.

Due to a “no pets” policy, our two Abyssinian cats have moved up north to live with our eldest daughter. We miss our furry family members, but they have taken up writing to us regularly to keep us informed. We enjoy their stories, and antics. What talented felines!

It certainly has been a year of changes and challenges as well as Blessings. Between moves this year, the youngest member of the family arrived, a boy, Alexander, born to our great grandson, Justin. Our grandson, Xavier, got married to Trisha and we celebrated 67 years of marriage. Due to continued changes in our health, our most recent move is to a full care facility, which we are still trying to get used to, has turned out to be a blessing in that we have very loving care.

Moving brought up all the memories of our past connections with family and friends as we came across letters and cards that we have saved over the years. We truly enjoy going over those old memories, and often think of all who have touched our lives. Let's not lose contact, and make new memories in sharing our lives by letter or phone call.

We hope and pray, as winter begins to welcome the Christmas season, that all is well with you and yours. We hope to hear from you soon.

God Bless You,      
 
Jim and Gennie

Christmas Past

I've come to the obvious conclusion that I am not in the Christmas spirit. I have a list of reasons why, which I will not bother to go into here. I decided the best thing to do, would be to find something in my own life that will trigger a spark. And I've found it. Both my parents have left this world but they have also left a wonderful legacy for all my family. Counting my parents, that is 5 generations, 32 living descendants, and many step grandchildren, great grandchildren and great-great grandchildren whom my parents loved).

To gain some perspective and change my "Bah, Humbug" attitude, I went through my files and found a letter, one of those annual letters that everyone sends in their Christmas cards, that was written by my parents in 2001.

December 10, 2001

Dear Ones All,

Warmest greetings and, good wishes to you and yours. Memories of holidays past are being woven into new gladness of the season today. We may not be able to communicate with you every day because of the distance that separates us, or maybe just the everyday busy-ness of life gets in the way. But, this makes no difference. Our thoughts and wishes are with you just the same. We are thinking of you today and want you to know that we think of you often and wish we could communicate more regularly.

This has been a year of many blessings. Jim has spent the year recuperating from his hip replacement surgery. He manages to be active and gets about well with the use of a cane. Our kids chipped in to buy an "Amigo Scooter" which Jim uses to ride over to local stores for running errands. Jim has been participating in a musical performance group called the Rhythm Review Band. Jim also sings in a choral group, which performs mostly for disabled or senior groups including our own apartment complex monthly meeting.

We were blessed with a new baby Great-granddaughter in April. She is Varsha's baby, and grandchild to our daughter, Suzan. Our son, David was out to visit us from New York, with his wife, Sharon, during September and stayed at our son, Roger’s house. Elizabeth, whose health is doing well, came down from Santa Cruz to visit at the same time. It was a blessing to have all our kids together with us, especially since the occurrences of 9/11 happened during the visit. They were quite a comfort to us and it was good to know our kids were all safe and well.

In August, we moved to a smaller apt in the same Senior complex building where we were last year, a mile from our son, Roger's home. We are still getting organized, settled in, and adjusted with our more cozy surroundings. Gen and our daughter, Suzan, went shopping and found good furnishings to make our new home more comfortable. Gennie has been healing from her stroke last fall. She has faced many challenges focusing on her recovery, improving her well-being, and working with trying to become more physically active. We have had various household helpers throughout the year to assist in Gennie's home care. Presently our step-grand daughter, Angela  is staying with us. As befits her name, she truly is an angel in disguise, and we consider ourselves blessed to have her with us. Due to the condition of Gennie's health, she prefers to spend her afternoons at home enjoying her quiet. It is still difficult for Gennie to get around due to the lost of her sight and ability to walk well, and it can sometimes be lonesome for her. So, please give her a call, (xxx)-xxx-xxxx or send a letter or card letting us know how you are as often as you can. Angela or Jim can read them to Gennie. It would be so nice to hear from you.


Our Christmas wishes for you:
(written by our daughter, Elizabeth)

May every good and perfect gift be yours this Christmas.

May your holidays be bright with surprise and delight.

May there be a perfect blending of all the good things this time of year brings.

May the wonderful blessings and warmth of the Christmas season fill your life and home with bliss.

May you experience bright and beautiful moments to remember with special gladness.

May your heart be filled with love and hope throughout the coming New Year.

May god's gift of love, the glory of Christ's birth, be your most treasured gift.

Peace be with you today, tomorrow and always.

God Bless You,
                                                                                       Jim and Gennie Deane

And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
Phillians 4:7

HAVE A HOLLY DOLLY CHRISTMAS!!!

Have you ever wanted a doll for Christmas? 
A boy doll? A girl doll? A grown up doll? 
Doesn't matter?


How bad did you want it? Not at all? A little? A lot? 
What would you have done to have that doll? 
Be a good little girl? or Boy? 

What if you weren't entirely a good girl or boy? 
Would you still get the doll?


Alma - Teaser from Rodrigo Blaas on Vimeo.

Heh! Heh! Heh!

End of Racism and Women's Self Esteem

On Oprah today, she had guests Jay Z and Barbra Streisand.

It's interesting to me, how Jay z is an incredibly popular performer at 39 years old and quite the millionaire. We've come a long way in our culture. At my age, I remember Barbra Streisand as being the rising star and becoming the millionaire.

It's not like I haven't been exposed to rap. My son, in the 80's listened to it. Let me see now if I remember... M. C. Hammer something. Yes, I liked the beat and message.

Oprah and Jay Z discussed how rap seems to have done a great deal to help end racism. Not that it has ended, in my opinion, but we are on the way. I hope.

I recall when Rock n Roll came out, there were problems with some of the parents of my friends refusing to let their kids listen to it because of "where it came from". They meant that it derived from African-American culture. Back in those days the respectful word was "colored". I always thought of my crayola crayons at the time. Being from the city of Niagara Falls, I was raised, taught in school that not only there was no more slavery, but that there was no more racism. I was brought up by what was at the time, liberal parents, who had friends from the other side of town, but we never visited each other. I didn't think anything about it until seventh grade when Margaret, the only black girl in my class, invited everyone to her birthday party. I guess her family were hoping there wasn't any racism, too. I was the only white girl who showed up at the party. My parents were both at work and Mom, knowing I had a friend's party to attend, called a taxi to take me there. It never even occurred to me to mention Margaret's color. When the taxi driver and I arrived, he wouldn't let me out of the car because of the people who were standing on the porch to greet me. The owner of the taxi company knew my parents and told him to let me out. That was my first introduction to racism.

We've come a long way, but not far enough.

I liked seeing Jay Z's office, which he called his inner sanctum. Funny, that he said he never lets anyone in there, but here were the Oprah show cameras, and all of America, looking around his office. I reall liked what he said about inspiration and it makes me want to adopt similar. He has surrounded himself with art photos of people who inspire him. People who have succeeded in life, many of whom I admire tremendously.

I think I may have some others on my wall. Some famous authors, maybe. Some famous women, who can remind me a woman can do anything she wants. Eleanor Roosevelt, Mother Theresa, Queen Latifa, Hilary Clinton, Indira Ghandi, Whoopie Goldberg are a few who inspire me, and Oprah, too.

It was so much fun watching Jay Z teach Oprah how to Rap.

One thing Oprah and Barbra Striesand talked about was being able to accept the praise, adoration, popularity. Barbra said she couldn't accept it at first, until she was able to accept herself. I don't know how that is done. I think I have accepted myself all these years, but I have a hard time accepting compliments from people. Even just acknowledgements of something I have completed on behalf of others. In therapy session recently my counselor said how young I looked for my age. (Now, doesn't everyone say that to older women?) It's not that I do not believe the sincerity of my counselor. It's that I find it hard to accept that they don't know the real me. They don't know all my faults. It doesn't matter if it is about my appearance or if it is something I have accomplished. Maybe I'm a bit of a perfectionist, like Barbra Streisand. To me, I don't look good enough. I don't feel I'm put together like others, or take care of myself, or care about my outer appearance, because I don't. I don't wear make up, don't get my hair done. I even cut my own. Do nothing to make myself look better. Just too much trouble for me. It's the same when helping other people. I don't feel like I do enough. I help cancer patients. Just because I do it, to me, is not enough. I fall beneath my goals of helping. So, when something thanks me, or praises me for what I've done. Again, I'm sure that is the honest feeling of others and I don't dismiss their praise which I think is like calling someone a liar. I do thank people for their kind words. And it is a kindness to me. But, I have a hard time giving myself credit. I've never been one to take a bow. (I used to perform.) It all seems normal, or less than normal. I really must work on this, I suppose.

Well, I've gotten off the subject of Barbra Streisand and Oprah. Haven't I?

Barbra performed, and her voice sounded just as beautiful as ever. She was promoting her new album, "Love is the Answer". I went to Amazon to take a look. It has two discs. As with many Amazon music choices, I could listen to some excerpts. Yes, her voice is still fantastic. Wish I had some money to buy it. Even downloading the MP3 version is more than I can afford.

I noticed when I Googled "Barbra Streisand"  +"Love is the Answer" the first choice that came up was several of her songs that you can listen to for free on LaLa.com, so if you're like me and working with a shortage of cash, you can still enjoy.

Most Awesome AVATAR!!!

After a nice meal at Subway, we went to the theater and watched AVATAR, a most outstanding movie! This picture doesn't do it justice. Increase it a hundred times in your mind to get the idea.

I recall when Star Wars came out, there was no doubt in my mind that it would become a big phenomena. Well, here we are again! Avatar will supersede Star Wars considerably. George Lucas is going to need to run very fast to catch up.

All you investors out there, find out who James Cameron is, what he did and how to invest in his future projects. This one is best movie by far! If I were younger I would be traveling whereever this guy is and offering my services for a job. I had made up my mind as a child I would grow up and go to work for Walt Disney and never did. So hears your chance. boys and girls. for an exciting career you would never want to give up. Damn, can't wait for the sequel. Can they use fat old broads in their movies? I think I will go back to see this for the next ten weeks so I can get all the dialog and sequences straight in my mind.


According to Wikipedia:

Avatar had been in development since 1994 by Cameron, who wrote a 114-page scriptment for the film.^[7] Filming was supposed to take place after the completion of Titanic, and the film would have been released in 1999, but according to Cameron, "technology needed to catch up" with his vision of the film.^[8][9] In early 2006, Cameron developed the script, the language, and the culture of Pandora.^[10] He has stated that if Avatar is successful, two sequels to the film are planned.^[11]

Also from Wikipedia, this describes exactly how I feel about this film:


Film critic Roger Ebert called the film "extraordinary" and gave it four stars out of four.^[108] "Watching Avatar, I felt sort of the same as when I saw Star Wars in 1977. That was another movie I walked into with uncertain expectations," he said. "Avatar is not simply a sensational entertainment, although it is that. It's a technical breakthrough."^[108]



WARNING! With large crowds seated hip to hip, elbow to elbow, be prepared for some discomfort. If the weather has been as cold as where I'm from dressing with sweaters and heavy coats may seem appropriate. No way. The amount of people crammed into the theatre with their winter clothing on will soon heat the room beyond summer temperatures. Oxygen will be low and you will struggle to catch a breeze. I actually fainted as we were leaving.

Other than that, Enjoy the film

Insomnia Cure

Last night I waited too long to take Melatonin. Tonight I took it a half hour ago. If this doesn’t work, then tomorrow I will take it earlier.

See more progress on: I want to get some control over my insomnia

Developing My Daily Writing Habit

I realized today that among the daily messages and postings I send out into cyberspace is the mirror of my life, and the extended stories that go with them. I realized this is not procrastinating from writing, but honing it. In fact, part of my daily writing practice. In order for me to move forward from this spot, I’ve decided to copy paste excerpts of my daily “mundane” writing, and use them for ignition to light my writer’s fire. Instead of letting it fly off to cyberspace, I’ve kept parts of them to work on and enhance. Already have two stories brewing because of two messages.

See more progress on: I want to write daily and give myself credit for doing so

A Writer's Secrets to Writing

A friend asked me what my secret was to daily writing. How I found the time to participate in the National Novel Writing Month.

My greatest secret to writing is that I live alone. I don't have the daily responsibilities and distractions that others may have. My significant other lives 50 miles over a small mountain range. My son lives a 2-3 hour drive, depending on weather and traffic over that same mountain. He lives in San Francisco. Both of them work about 12 hours a day. My daughter and all the descendants live in Lost Angeles region. My other family members live half way across the country, as distant in miles as we are in knowing each other. Long story there. I have little social life to speak of unless you count the internet, facebook and my favorite forums. I no longer know any of my childhood and school friends. Nearly all my high school sweethearts died in Viet Nam. I'm not kidding. My girlfriends from high school changed their names to marry. I've changed mine. Haven't found but a few on Classmates dot com. But we've grown so far apart, reconnecting have not been successful. I have few connections friends from my adulthood. Never living in any one place for more than a few years, my life has always been in upheaval. Peer groups have melted away. A rolling stone gathers no moss, is me. A rolling stone leaves all the other stones behind, wonders where they are, and why they aren't at the destination with her. Well, not anymore. I've finally figured that one out. Watching a small landslide demonstrates that rolling stones roll in different directions seldom settling together at one location

I have more doctors, clinics and hospitals listed in my address book and cellphone contacts, than I do friends. That says a lot. Last year, I finally joined the local Senior Center and began participating in a crochet/knitting group. I'm the youngest. I'm their "kid". But, it is nice to have human contact in the flesh who are not in the medical field. Well, who are not presently working in the medical field. Since the senior group meets at the local hospital, about half are retired nurses. Like me, I guess they can't stay away from the place. Go figure! Must be my karma!

I don't feel sorry for myself that things have turned out this way. After all, I made choices that brought me here. And, yes, life has given me some circumstances (challenges? opportunities?) I would not have chosen for myself.

Life unfolds like a garden. You plant what you want, you arrange things as you will, and weeds will still grow into your plans anyway. Then, it is up to the gardener/author to make new choices separate from the plans. Does one allow the weeds to take over? keep the garden sterile yet pretty? or allow for symbiosis?

Me? I'm one who grabs the dead flower heads and tosses the seeds willy nilly. (Not talking about the metaphorical garden anymore.) If they come up next year, fine. They give the weeds some competition, in my opinion, and keep me off my knees. Thank Heavens!

Living where I do, with summer water shortages, I try not to have unrealistic expectations putting plants in the soil that can't handle drought. Living coastal, they must also be able to thrive on a lot of night moisture from fog, which would mold plants not acclimated to the region. I barely garden anymore. It all seems to take care of itself, though my fussier neighbors might not agree. My baby pine trees, from the after Christmas sale of a few years ago, are now nearly as tall as the house. My mini Myer lemon tree is abundant. Oh, how I love lemon in my tea! And it is giving one of the pine trees some challenge for space. I do get out there occasionally, and trim some branches so they don't get too well acquainted.

Now that I've re-read what I've written, I realize my non-metaphorically gardening comments about myself, are metaphorical... for the way I write.

Throw the seeds.
Don't pamper the flowers.
Let the weeds and the seeds co-mingle.
Trim only slightly.
Don't water too much except by mist.
Let things happen naturally.

Yup... that's my writing style. It will be my downfall. I've got no left brain!
I wonder where it went? Oh, there it is... right over there.

As for writing daily... I do write daily. Just not an ordered garden, which should be my goal. You know what I mean? If I am actually going to create characters and orchestrate them into a story, then it's time for me to focus on that one thing... New Year's resolution, I say!

Photo Friday - Preparing for Christmas / or Seasonal celebrations.

The Christmas tree is up and decorated. 
Everything is in it's place. Everything is ready and waiting. 
We are now guarding the stocking for when Santa gets here.
He can fill it  up with catnip toys, jingle balls, tuna fish treats, and perhaps a mousie or two. 
What do you think?

Just a few more days left. No hurry, Santa. I will still be right here when you arrive!

 

Read for Free. What a Concept!!!

This is so awesome, I can't let it get away without telling everyone. If you like to read, and who doesn't? This is for you.

A friend of mine is a published Science Fiction writer. He's a philospher-physicist, too. Plus, He just published String Theory for Dummies.  Andrew Zimmerman-Jones is a multi-talented author. I'm so glad to know him.Today he sent me a link to a site that is giving away a sample reader for free. No, there are no strings attached. (no pun intended)

I already downloaded my copy and I'm happy as a pig loose in the corn field. Last night while thinking of my New Year's resolutions, one that offered itself to me was, Don't buy any more books until you finish the wall of them you already have! And here is the Universe, so to speak, telling me I'm right.

I don't have to pay money to read, I can read for free. What a gift! Eh?

In case you are curious who the authors may be, take a look at this:

• Laurell K. Hamilton — Divine Misdemeanors
• Seth Godin — Tribes and Linchpin
• Joseph Finder — Vanished
• Cory Doctorow — Makers
• Chris Brogan & Julien Smith — Trust Agents
• Robert J. Sawyer — Wake
• Mitch Joel – Six Pixels of Separation
• Cherie Priest — Boneshaker
• Tara Hunt — The Whuffie Factor
• Scott Sigler — The Rookie
• Seth Harwood — Jack Wakes Up
• J.C. Hutchins — 7th Son: Descent

Without any further to do, I quote from the site that Andrew sent me:

From high adventure to savvy business advice, youll find something special for the special someones on your holiday list — including you. You’re also welcome to share this free sampler with friends and family. Click here to download the In The Nick of Time! holiday sampler — and have the happiest of holidays!"

Now for the picture of the day... the happy pig running loose in the cornfield? She got away.

The boys are now out there searching for her.

They don't know she is back in her crib reading some really good stuff she just downloaded off the internet.

Hope those boys find the link, too!