Tomorrow, I am going downtown for jury duty. To keep me amused in the waiting room, I’ll have with me my iPod Touch, my laptop, and a hard cover book. Ha ha!!! No one ever accused me of traveling light!
For those interested in what I’m reading and listening to at the moment, here’s the list.
1) On the iPod, I have the Audible audio version of “Bonfire of the Vanities” by Tom Wolfe (narrated by Joe Barrett.) Barrett’s voices make it seem like a multi-voice performance . It’s great –- I am loving it!
2) Also on the iPod, in my Kindle app, I have about 100 pages left of Traitor’s Wife by Susan Higginbotham. I’ve always been a a fan of historical fiction, and this well-crafted story of King Edward II’s fall from grace is no exception.
3) In an uncharacteristic move, I will also be carrying a hard-back book with me. My friend Howard Friedman sent me a pre-release copy of his new book “The Longevity Project.” If I don’t post a review soon, I’m afraid he’ll disown me as a friend! In the book, Friedman and his partner Leslie Martin share results from an eight-decade study of who lives longest and why. I only wish I could share this book with my Mom, who was always fascinated by the topics of wellness and longevity. (And had a tendency to lie about her age!) Unfortunately, at her stage of Alzheimer’s, reading or even talking about a book, is beyond her.
While you are on jury duty – hopefully with a wireless connection – go to Google Books and check out the entire Life magazine collections. You can see every page – all ads and editorials plus of course the photos and articles. The writing is incredible – so much more descriptive than our current magazine writing. The issues are almost identical – problems with the Mideast, gas prices, war, political corruption – but it is so interesting to read about all that history. The ads are fabulous – women in their gowns cooking – HA. Every other ad is either a cigarette or whiskey ad . Whatever you do – don’t visit Life magazine unless you have hours!!!! Trying to figure out how to use in my technology curriculum at my elementary school – don’t think the kids are as fascinated by this as I am… I’m going to try.
One of your dedicated readers – Brooke
Hi Brooke! I brought my own wireless, and just fired up the laptop in the Jurors’ Reading Room. I’ve got a work table and a power plug. Life is good, ha ha! Thanks for the tip on the Life magazine collection at Google Books. I have frequently stumbled upon great, quirky stuff over at Google Books. The thought of Google search including not only the Internet but ALL published material is one of those REALLY BIG ideas that simply boggles my mind.