I
am shutting an old blog from 2007 down and I am reposting some of what
was there. I hope you find my old ramblings across the interwebs
amusing, or anoying, which ever you choose. Good luck.
Hello,
the blog you are about to read is true, well, not really. I am going
to fill all of you in on what's going on in my life, my virtual life
that is, after all, isn't that what you are here for?
First,
I think I will tell you a little bit about myself. OK, now that we got
that out of the way, now we can move on to the important stuff, the
stuff.
For
those of you who haven't heard of it yet there is the best website for
getting books, there it is, the real reason for this blog, books. It is
bookshare.org and I have only recently joined. I am also a volunteer. If you are a fan of books or reading this is a great place to go.
If you would like to talk with the members, volunteers or friends of bookshare, there is a chat room that
you can go to and ask all the questions you want and get answers and
find out all the details you could possibly want to know. They are the
most friendly and helpful group you could find and the best part is that
they are friends and friends are just as good as family.
If you go, let me know and I will be happy to meet you there. Just post to TheBookManOfTheUniverse@GMail.com
and let me know when you will be there and I will pop in and be glad to
chat and don't forget to stay tuned for further postings and updates.
There is a Christian Fiction Book Club that meets once a month, check it out, the founder and leader is Monica Willyard and she is a fantastic moderator. If you would like to review past meetings, here are some links for you.
December 7 2007, Crime and Clutter Cyndy Slzmann
November 16 2007, Crime and Clutter by Cyndy Salzmann
November 2 2007, The Last Jihad by Joel C. Rosenberg
October 19 2007, At the Back of the North Wind by George MacDonald
September 21 2007, The Justice by Angela Elwell Hunt
The date links go to the mp3 file, the book titles go to the main book page at bookshare.org and the author names go to the main author page at bookshare.org.Happy Holidays Everyone,I was talking with some friends recently about an idea that I had for this blog. I was looking for a way to show my support for bookshare.org and
at the same time give people who like books and reading a chance to
share there favorite books and authors. I also wanted to take advantage
of the holiday season. Here is what I posted to the bookshare discussion list.
I
am looking for some help from all of you. The reason we are all here is
books and so what I would like to know is, what are your favorite
Christmas stories? You see, what I am doing is writing a blog,
and I am doing a post called "The Twelve Stories Before Christmas."
What I am looking for is twelve books, one for each day leading up to
Christmas Eve. I would like to hear from all of you about which books at bookshare are
your favorite Christmas stories. I don't know about you but I am
looking forward to seeing whose favorite books get selected for the list
of stories. I am looking forward to hearing from you and I will keep
you all up to date about the blog
and the Christmas stories list. Leave a comment with your favorite
Christmas books and authors. Thanks for all of your help and support. books and authors.
As you know I have been selecting books that have been suggested by you, well here is what you have recommended for this list.
Oh,
by the way, there is another book for those of you who would like to
read a non-fiction book that will give you a whole new perspective on
the whole Christmas thing. "The Physics of Christmas: From the Aerodynamics of Reindeer to the Thermodynamics of Turkey" by Roger Highfield, This is a good read for every one else too. This book and all the other books on the list are on bookshare and some of them are open to the public.
Here is the list of "The Twelve Stories Before Christmas."
Skipping Christmas by John Grisham
The Christmas Books (Everyman Dickens by Everyman's Library) by Charles Dickens, Sally Ledger (editor)
Louisa May Alcott's Christmas Treasury: The Complete Christmas Collection by Louisa May Alcott, Stephen W Hines (Editor)
The Best Christmas Pageant Ever by Barbara Robinson
Miracle on 34th Street by Valentine Davies
Angels In The Snow by Melody Carlson
The Gift of the Magi and Other Stories by O. Henry
The Birds' Christmas Carol by Kate Douglas Wiggin
The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus and A Kidnapped Santa Claus by L. Frank Baum
Christmas in Noisy Village by Astrid Lindgren, Ilon Wikland
Yes, Virginia by Peg Sutherland
Gideon's Gift: A Novel by Karen KingsburyWell, here it is, the second day of what we call "CSUN" and I haven't said a single word about it.
I'll
start by saying that, CSUN is a very short name for a very extensive
convention. Every year, California State University at Northridge
Center on Disabilities Conference holds it's International Conference on
Technology and Persons with Disabilities. This year is shaping up to
be one of the best.
The conference is being held at the Los Angeles Airport Marriott and the Renaissance Montura Hotel Los Angeles
This
year, Jim Fruchterman has been asked to convene the conference. The
members and volunteers of bookshare.org have been very excited about
that. Jim Fruchterman, is one of the leading innovators
in the field of assistive technology and will prove to be one of the
highlights for many of those attend the conference.
My purpose
here is to learn about what the vendors, presenters and attendees are
looking for in technology and what they hope to find at the conference.
Also to collect information on what the trends that are moving the
disabled community into social media and networking. I'm sure I will
find quite a lot of valuable material. I will be putting all of this
into podcasts and blogs.
On Thursday the exhibit halls will be
open to the public. This is where I will spend most of my time. I will
be talking to everyone about their experience and what they are hoping
to take home with them.
That will be it for now, it's kind of short but the fact is, I don't have a lot of interviews done yet.
I thought I would attempt to write a blog post about what the heck I am trying to do here, feedback is not required.
This is called, “The Book Man of the Universe”
simply because... well, It is what came into my head at the moment I
was working out the idea for a blog and list posts for the “Bookshare.org Volunteer Discussion List” and the “Bookshare Discussion List,” both at “http://www.freelists.org/.” Now, I am sticking with it because I actually like the thought of being known as “The Book Man.” However, I am also known by the screen name of “IgetU2C.”
For those of you who would like to know that that is all about, it's
simple, “I Get You To See.” There is no purpose for this, it, just, is!
My original idea for this blog was to promote www.bookshare.org,
but now I am changing ever so slightly, well, that's a major
understatement, I am changing directions massively, besides, I don't
think that there is any reason why a person can't change their mind.
The new direction is to promote myself, and the ideas that I am working
on as well as promoting the ideas of others, just in case you didn't
notice that, I am an ideas man, I am more inclined to follow through
with an idea if I am a part of a successful team then I am by myself. I
am also going to promote people and their businesses, products and
services, web pages, blogs and podcasts. I might complain once in
awhile, but if I do, you can yell back at me, that will help to keep me
from griping. I hope to be entertaining as well, funny, ironic,
satiric, and critical are also possible. Who knows what will come into
my head and who knows what will come out of my mouth or fingers, you'll
have to bookmark this blog to see.
Question: What would you like to see in a blog? Answer: (post a
comment here). I'd like to hear from you. Tell me if I am bad, good or
otherwise. I don't know about you but I am always looking for ways to
improve my skill set and refine my talents.
I'd like to thank Monica Willyard
for being pushy, she is a positive pusher, moving people in the right
direction is a talent that few people have these days. I would also
like to thank the “Grammar Girl”, Mignon Fogarty. She is the bloggers best friend.
A Final Note.
I am giving you a link to my business website “Collins International,” you can log in as a “guest.” You can also follow me at twitter and keep up with my wanderings through my days and you can see what my friends are up to as well. Here's how you find me: www.twitter.com/IGetU2C.
Oh, by the way, look at my “favorites” to see what is interesting to
me and you should look at who I am following, these folks are an
excellent source for improving your web presents and promoting your
business and your products and services. Check out what www.twitter.com/plumlipstick
is doing, she is an excellent writer and you can find her blogs and
other stuff there as well. I will post links every so often to her
scribblings here on my disjointed blog too.
Thanks for listening!
A
group of us were talking awhile back about the tradition of having our
friends and favorite teachers write in and autograph our high school
yearbooks. We talked about all sorts of aspects of it but when it came
to one subject, everyone was somewhat stumped. A question was asked,
“why is it that grammar, spelling and punctuation go out the window when
writing in yearbooks?” Is it a type of rebellion against the system,
is the the real person finally coming through, or is it the fact the
after twelve years of going to school we really haven't learned very
much?
Interesting
question, I wonder why this has not been addressed by the educational
institutions. Maybe a requirement to graduate should be that we have
our yearbooks graded, that is, those who write in them. I wander if
this was ever brought up in congress, they talk about other silly
things, why not this one. Maybe a UN resolution should be to raise the
quality of yearbook autographs and other salutations, greetings and yes,
even epitaphs, all of these show up in yearbooks at one time or
another. Perhaps the environmentalists could actually do something
useful like start an international campaign to beautify our annuals by
teaching students poetry that actually makes sense. The Children's
Television Workshop could create an animated series about creative ways
to say “lets keep in touch.” How about the “Grammar Girl" doing a
podcast about this fascinating subject.
I
think this concern needs some serious and considerable thought. We
need to sit down with our children and teach them the joy of creative
yearbook signing. Why hasn't someone written a number one best seller
entitled “Yearbook Signing for Dummies” or “Ten Ways to Improve Your
Yearbook Autograph” or even “The top 100 Yearbook Salutations and Why
They Stand the Test of Time: Examples on creating your own memorable
yearbook greetings.”
The
Disney company should do a “Wonderful World of Disney” special about a
couple of kids who stood up and refused to write a misspelled, bad
grammar and punctuation comment in anyones yearbook and how they were
persecuted for it. After all, it's sort of like discrimination against
good English, isn't it.
Alright,
alright, I know, I know, enough you say, but is it really, get out your
annuals and read through them and see just how good your friends were
at telling you “stay in touch.” Be critical, after all, your good at
it. Send them a message at www.classmates.com
and tell them how they really were, let them now that creative is not a
synonym corny. Please tell me your thoughts on this, I want to know if
you have any ideas on how to deal with this extremely overlooked issue.
So,
here it is, the long awaited blog post that I have been promising for
weeks now, only, it's not what you were expecting. What I have done...
OK, that's not where you start. Starting at the beginning is where one
starts.
A number of months ago I started a twitter account, yes, that's what I said, twitter. It's micro-blogging, you can find out all you want about that at the twitter home page. About a month ago I found ChaCha, and yes, you read that one correct also, ChaCha, they are a lot like “Ask Jeeves” used to be, you can find out all about them at their home page too.
If your not doing micro-blogging at twitter yet, you need to get started right away. This is my twitter name, IgetU2C, you can see what I am doing and then, once you get started, you can follow me, I will follow you back, of course.
These are the questions that I asked ChaCha
during the month of April. I did not do ANY editing on the questions
or answers so you will see stuff that makes no sense. So, here we go,
off to see what ChaCha said to my questions.
ChaCha How can I get more people to follow me on twitter? 09:03 PM April 05, 2008
ChaCha One
way is to connect your blog feed to Twitter and posting events and
breaking news.Have a great day ! For more information about your answer
visit: http://chacha.com/u/5iromwao 09:08 PM April 05, 2008
ChaCha Where should I look for a windows compatible program similar to "Norton Disk Editor for DOS?" 09:26 PM April 05, 2008
ChaCha Check
out Laplink Software. Their Pro software is comparable to Norton Desk
Editor. Good luck! Thanks for using ChaCha! For more information about
your answer visit: http://chacha.com/u/hvp3m5vj 09:28 PM April 05, 2008
ChaCha When was coffee discovered and who discovered it? 11:43 PM April 05, 2008
ChaCha The
Arabs were the first, not only to cultivate coffee but also to begin
its trade, before the fifteenth century. Thanks! For more information
about your answer visit: http://chacha.com/u/5lb2edjm 11:45 PM April 05, 2008
ChaCha Where can a find a older version of Skype that will work on my old windows 98SE computer? 11:57 AM April 07, 2008
ChaCha I'm
helping a disabled man find government surplus food in his
neighborhood, how do I find where it is distributed? 03:32 PM April 09,
2008
ChaCha Contact
the Foodbank of Southern California 1444 San Francisco Avenue, Long
Beach, California 90813. Phone: (562) 435-3577 For more information
about your answer visit: http://chacha.com/u/0n6bzjsa 03:43 PM April 09, 2008
ChaCha Where might I find some "totally free" "public domain" movies to "download" in "MPG" format? 11:51 AM April 12, 2008
ChaCha Free
public domain movies can be downloaded from sites on the Internet
including liketelevision.com and publicdomaintorrents.com For more
information about your answer visit: http://chacha.com/u/u82g3a93 11:56 AM April 12, 2008
ChaCha Do you know if there is such a thing as a totally free computer and if so, where might I get one from? 12:34 PM April 15, 2008
ChaCha I'm
blind, I'm looking for a program or plug-in/add-on/extension that will
read selected tweets by a synthesized voice. 05:13 PM April 16, 2008
ChaCha Read
It Aloud! from Moderntools.com lets you select text, press a hotkey,
and hear the text spoken to you. Have a nice day! For more information
about your answer visit: http://chacha.com/u/5cbqo5ms 05:17 PM April 16, 2008
ChaCha I
am looking for a place to get programs and games for my HumanWare
BrailleNote mPower, do you know of one? 11:09 PM April 17, 2008
ChaCha There are hundreds of compatible interactive fiction games available for download on the Internet. Go to www.humanware.com For more information about your answer visit: http://chacha.com/u/guo2p0a... are hundreds of compatible interactive 11:14 PM April 17, 2008
ChaCha I am looking for audio files of all of Ronald Ragen's speeches, do you know where I can find them? 12:43 AM April 18, 2008
ChaCha What's twice the half of two and a half? 01:48 PM April 19, 2008
ChaCha How does one become one of the public tweets that is sent out by @ChaCha? 02:09 PM April 19, 2008
ChaCha Just
go to our website and check it out. There's lots of info that tells you
how to get started in the Become a Guide section. For more information
about your answer visit: http://chacha.com/u/lzt73gk... go to our website and check it out. Ther 02:12 PM April 19, 2008
ChaCha Who is the most followed person on twitter? 10:29 PM April 20, 2008
ChaCha Who is the person that follows the most people on twitter? 10:30 PM April 20, 2008
ChaCha Where is the best place to get free braille books for adults? 11:35 PM April 20, 2008
ChaCha I have a rhyme that comes in a riddle, what's round on the ends and high in the middle? 08:14 PM April 21, 2008
ChaCha I
am looking for a book titled, "A Vow Broken, A God of Hope" by, Greta
Vince in an accessible format, do you know of any? 06:02 PM April 26,
2008
ChaCha Why does it seem that none of you ChaCha answer folks have twitter accounts and yet you all send tweets? 06:45 PM April 27, 2008
ChaCha Who
has time to have a twitter account, when we are so busy sending
tweets!! Thanks for trying ChaCha, can we answer a question? For more
information about your answer visit: http://chacha.com/u/o2wau08... has time to have a twitter account, when 06:46 PM April 27, 2008
ChaCha What are the exact amounts and ingredient's in the original Coca Cola? 06:53 PM April 27, 2008
ChaCha Who really is buried in Grants tomb? 07:00 PM April 27, 2008
ChaCha No
one's underground there, but our eighteenth president and his wife are,
however, entombed there. The tomb is in a park. For more information
about your answer visit: http://chacha.com/u/ac2kt1whNo one's underground there, but our eighteent 07:03 PM April 27, 2008
Who's On First
(Sketch by Bud Abbot and Lou Costello)
LOU: I love baseball. When we get to St. Louis, will you tell
me the guys' name on the team so when I go to see them in
that St. Louis ball park I'll be able to know those
fellows?
BUD: All right. but you know, strange as it may seems, they
give ball players nowadays very peculiar names, nick names,
like "Dizzy Dean." Now on the St. Louis team we have Who's
on first, What's on second, I Don't Know is on third --
LOU: That's what I want to find out. I want you to tell me the
names of the fellows on the St. Louis team.
BUD: I'm telling you. Who's on first, What's on second, I Don't
Know is on third --
LOU: You know the fellows' names?
BUD: Yes.
LOU: Well, then who's playin' first.
BUD: Yes
LOU: I mean the fellow's name on first base.
BUD: Who.
LOU: The fellow playin' first base for St. Louis.
BUD: Who.
LOU: The guy on first base.
BUD: Who is on first.
LOU: Well, what are you askin' me for?
BUD: I'm not asking you -- I'm telling you. WHO IS ON FIRST.
LOU: I'm asking you -- who's on first?
BUD: That's the man's name!
LOU: That's who's name?
BUD: Yes.
LOU: Well, go ahead and tell me.
BUD: Who.
LOU: The guy on first.
BUD: Who.
LOU: The first baseman.
BUD: Who is on first.
LOU: Have you got a first baseman on first?
BUD: Certainly.
LOU: Then who's playing first?
BUD: Absolutely.
LOU: (pause) When you pay off the first baseman every month, who
gets the money?
BUD: Every dollar of it. And why not, the man's entitled to it.
LOU: Who is?
BUD: Yes.
LOU: So who gets it?
BUD: Why shouldn't he? Sometimes his wife comes down and
collects it.
LOU: Who's wife?
BUD: Yes. After all the man earns it.
LOU: Who does?
BUD: Absolutely.
LOU: Well all I'm trying to find out is what's the guys name on
first base.
BUD: Oh, no, no, What is on second base.
LOU: I'm not asking you who's on second.
BUD: Who's on first.
LOU: That's what I'm trying to find out.
BUD: Well, don't change the players around.
LOU: I'm not changing nobody.
BUD: Now, take it easy.
LOU: What's the guy's name on first base?
BUD: What's the guy's name on second base.
LOU: I'm not askin' ya who's on second.
BUD: Who's on first.
LOU: I don't know.
BUD: He's on third. We're not talking about him.
LOU: How could I get on third base?
BUD: You mentioned his name.
LOU: If I mentioned the third baseman's name, who did I say is
playing third?
BUD: No, Who's playing first.
LOU: Stay offa first, will ya?
BUD: Well what do you want me to do?
LOU: Now what's the guy's name on first base?
BUD: What's on second.
LOU: I'm not asking ya who's on second.
BUD: Who's on first.
LOU: I don't know.
BUD: He's on third.
LOU: There I go back on third again.
BUD: Well, I can't change their names.
LOU: Say, will you please stay on third base.
BUD: Please. Now what is it you want to know.
LOU: What is the fellow's name on third base.
BUD: What is the fellow's name on second base.
LOU: I'm not askin' ya who's on second.
BUD: Who's on first.
LOU: I don't know.
BUD: THIRD BASE!
LOU: You got an outfield?
BUD: Oh, sure.
LOU: St. Louis has got a good outfield?
BUD: Oh, absolutely.
LOU: The left fielder's name?
BUD: Why.
LOU: I don't know, I just thought I'd ask.
BUD: Well, I just thought I'd tell you.
LOU: Them tell me who's playing left field.
BUD: Who's playing first.
LOU: Stay out of the infield!
BUD: Don't Don't mention any names out here.
LOU: I want to know what's the fellow's name on left field?
BUD: What is on second.
LOU: I'm not askin' ya who's on second.
BUD: Who is on first.
LOU: I don't know.
BUD & LOU: (together and calmly) Third base.
LOU: And the left fielder's name?
BUD: Why.
LOU: Because.
BUD: Oh he's Center Field.
LOU: (whimpers) Center field.
BUD: Yes.
LOU: Wait a minute. You got a pitcher on this team.
BUD: Wouldn't this be a fine team without a pitcher.
LOU: I don't know. Tell me the pitcher's name.
BUD: Tomorrow.
LOU: You don't want to tell me today?
BUD: I'm tell you, man.
LOU: Then go ahead.
BUD: Tomorrow.
LOU: What time?
BUD: What time what?
LOU: What time tomorrow are you gonna tell me who's pitching?
BUD: Now listen, Who is not pitching. Who is on --
LOU: I'LL BREAK YOU ARM IF YOU SAY "WHO'S ON FIRST!"
BUD: Then why come up here and ask?
LOU: I want to know what's the pitcher's name.
BUD: What's on second.
LOU: I don't know.
BUD & LOU: (VERY QUICKLY) THIRD BASE!!
LOU: You gotta Catcher?
BUD: Yes.
LOU: The Catcher's name?
BUD: Today.
LOU: Today. And Tomorrow's pitching.
BUD: Now you've got it.
LOU: That's all. St. Louis hat a couple of days on their team.
BUD: Well I can't help that.
LOU: You know I'm a good catcher too.
BUD: I know that.
LOU: I would like to play for the St. Louis team.
BUD: Well I might arrange that.
LOU: I would like to catch. Now I'm being a good Catcher,
tomorrow's pitching on the team, and I'm catching.
BUD: Yes.
LOU: Tomorrow throws the ball and the guy up bunts the ball.
BUD: Yes.
LOU: Now when he bunts the ball -- me being a good catcher -- I
want to throw the guy out a first base, so I pick up the
ball and throw it to who?
BUD: Now that's the first thing you've said right.
LOU: I DON'T EVEN KNOW WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT!!!!!
BUD: Well, that's all you have to do.
LOU: is to throw it to first base.
BUD: Yes.
LOU: Now who's got it?
BUD: Naturally.
LOU: Who has it?
BUD: Naturally.
LOU: Naturally.
BUD: Naturally.
LOU: O.K.
BUD: Now you've got it.
LOU: I pick up the ball and I throw it to Naturally.
BUD: No you don't you throw the ball to first base.
LOU: Then who gets it?
BUD: Naturally.
LOU: O.K.
BUD: All right.
LOU: I throw the ball to Naturally.
BUD: You don't you throw it to2Gto.
LOU: Naturally.
BUD: Well, naturally. Say it that way.
LOU: That's what i said.
BUD: You did not.
LOU: I said I'd throw the ball to Naturally.
BUD: You don't. You throw it to Who.
LOU: Naturally.
BUD: Yes.
LOU: So I throw the ball to first base and Naturally gets it.
BUD: No. You throw the ball to first base--
LOU: Then who gets it?
BUD: Naturally.
LOU: That's what I'm saying.
BUD: You're not saying that.
LOU: I throw the ball to Naturally.
BUD: You throw it to Who!
LOU: Naturally.
BUD: Naturally. Well say it that way.
LOU: THAT'S WHAT I'M SAYING!
BUD: Now don't get excited.
LOU: Whose gettin excited!! I throw the ball to first base--
BUD: Then Who gets it.
LOU: (annoyed) HE BETTER GET IT!
BUD: That's it. All right now Take it easy.
LOU: Hrmmph.
BUD: Hrmmph.
LOU: Now I throw the ball to first base, whoever it is grabs
the ball, so the guy runs to second.
BUD: Uh-huh.
LOU: Who picks up the ball and throws it to what. What throws
it to I don't know. I don't know throws it back to
tomorrow -- a triple play.
BUD: Yeah. It could be.
LOU: Another guy gets up and it's a long fly ball to center.
Why? I don't know, he's on third, and I don't give a darn.
BUD: What did you say.
LOU: I said "I don't give a darn."
BUD: Oh, that's our shortstop!
LOU: ABBOTT!