Amazon has an upgrade service that allows customers to get, immediately and indefinitely, a digital version of selected books that they buy through Amazon (not outside vendors). I got Crucial Conversations that way. I was hoping to get Stephen King's on writing that way but it's not available yet.
Here's a feedback form I filled out on Amazon:
I'm looking to submit feedback regarding Amazon Online Reader but I can't find the appropriate location or method for doing so. Please helps. I really like this feature and have loved using it for the one online book I've found to purchased with that upgrade feature. I'm a person with a painful disability and I find reading books more and more difficult. A lot of my books, especially for school -- I'm a senior at UCLA-- get converted into digital format to be used in Kurzweil a software program that offers their digital pre-programed services to those who need assistance reading; it reads for them. That software program is sort of like what your online service allows me but your service lacks a computer-generated reader who dictates to me. I haven't figure out if your service is compatible with their service yet but I'm interested to find out. I'd also like to recommend that Stephen King's on writing be rendered into your online format too. I would love to have a digital copy of that book, as of now I just bought the soft-cover version of it on amazon and I had bought the audio version from audibles.com previously.
Sunday, January 27, 2008
Ideal Reader
I recently listened to Stephen King's on writing in audio book form, read by Mr. King himself. I have to admit that I've never really sat down and read any of his books. In all honesty, I'm not much of a reader and as you can see from this blog, I'm not much of a writer either. Regarding the latter, of which, I tend to have delusional high hopes of amateurish grandeurs. And, according to "Stephie" (This is he refers to himself in the book form,) says that fatal fault sheds light on the pending BIG earthquake that imminently threatens my nonexistent writing career. Another vital piece of advice that he gives (which is less like advice and more like the impartment of important insight from an Idol to the lay) stresses the value of an Ideal Reader (IR). My IR for this particle blog tends to be the man who happened to have woke me up sometime earlier than the hour of this post. Ladies and gentle, Yes none other than yours truly: Mr. He Whom Is Him or Him Who He HWH (this word choice is more grammatically correct than it appears in previous postings).He happen to be one of the only persons who knows I keep this blog and knows my true identity is not Ms. Jones. I'll write more later about the concept of IR and this identity and review On Writing in depth (click On Writing to view amazon's booklisting and info page). Now, I would like for the effects of his last communication to wear off and for the effects of my medication to wear in. Good night HWH, thanks for inspiring me to write.
Sunday, January 20, 2008
The Importance of Crucial Conversations
I'm running into the same problem as most bloggers. I find it difficult to post daily. I put other things first and completely ignore my journaling. However, now it's an assignment so I really need to be doing it daily.
I have a lot going on in my life right now. Who doesn't? Right? Let's see if I can address some of these things here.
The most recent book I've read for pleasure was Crucial Conversations.
I was at Carmax Friday to pickup my car from the mechanics. There are several minor things they said they would work on as part of my purchase agreement. Well, they had my car all last week while they were waiting for parts. They gave me a "loaner" car to drive in the meantime. It was very uncomfortable.
When I got there they told me, that the parts had just come in and they would like to keep my car to work on it. They don't work weekends so, they'd basically just work on it for a few hours on friday and then wait until Monday to resume (yes, they are open on Dr. MLK Jr. Day). I told him I wanted my car back for the weekend and they could start working on it Monday. He agreed.
While I was at CarMax, there was a stray kitten who had run into the service area. They said it's mother had died and that they were going to call animal control because no one was going to be there over the weekend. I decided to take the kitten w/ me.
I got it professionally washed and her fingers clipped. I brought her home and everyone fell in love w/ her, except that cat (Matisse) that already lived here. He hissed at her. So, I was told by the owners to keep her in my room. They gave me a litter box, food, and water.
The next day, after we went to the farmer's market, the kitten and the cat got to check each other out first hand. Matisse was very calm and didn't hiss at all. The kitten on the other hand, hissed, growled and terrorized him.
I had a screenwriting group meeting to attend off of Mulholland, and I was told to let the kitten roam the house. We I got back, she was in my roommates room getting feisty with a stuffed animal. I was told by my roommate that the family had named the kitten while I was gone. I was hurt and felt left out.
This morning, the discussion of the kitten came up. I let the family know that I was still considering whether I wanted to adopt the kitten myself or let them adopt it. That's when they told me they named the kitten. I let them know I wasn't sure and that I wanted to think about it more. Having a kitten is a lot of responsibility. The two owners of the house left for Costco.
When they came back, the door to my room and the door in the hall leading to my were both open. I went to close the door immediately but it was too late, the cat had escaped. I was searching the living room for her when the daughter of the family noticed the kitten under the couch. The front door was wide open because they were still bringing in stuff from Costco and then it happened.
I felt insulted by a comment "Someone needs to get their shit together" and the whole thing just blew up. I've been hiding out in my room ever since trying to figure out how to correct this situation.
I recently purchased Crucial Conversations from Amazon and upgraded my purchase to receive an extra electronic-online version instantly (and indefinitely) I starting reading through it for suggestions on how to handle this Crucial Conversations better than I already had. It's tough. I sent an email to the family letting them know I wanted to talk and work things out. We'll see how it's received. Hopefully when can come to a mutually respectful decision and the kitty gets a good home.
I have a lot going on in my life right now. Who doesn't? Right? Let's see if I can address some of these things here.
The most recent book I've read for pleasure was Crucial Conversations.
I was at Carmax Friday to pickup my car from the mechanics. There are several minor things they said they would work on as part of my purchase agreement. Well, they had my car all last week while they were waiting for parts. They gave me a "loaner" car to drive in the meantime. It was very uncomfortable.
When I got there they told me, that the parts had just come in and they would like to keep my car to work on it. They don't work weekends so, they'd basically just work on it for a few hours on friday and then wait until Monday to resume (yes, they are open on Dr. MLK Jr. Day). I told him I wanted my car back for the weekend and they could start working on it Monday. He agreed.
While I was at CarMax, there was a stray kitten who had run into the service area. They said it's mother had died and that they were going to call animal control because no one was going to be there over the weekend. I decided to take the kitten w/ me.
I got it professionally washed and her fingers clipped. I brought her home and everyone fell in love w/ her, except that cat (Matisse) that already lived here. He hissed at her. So, I was told by the owners to keep her in my room. They gave me a litter box, food, and water.
The next day, after we went to the farmer's market, the kitten and the cat got to check each other out first hand. Matisse was very calm and didn't hiss at all. The kitten on the other hand, hissed, growled and terrorized him.
I had a screenwriting group meeting to attend off of Mulholland, and I was told to let the kitten roam the house. We I got back, she was in my roommates room getting feisty with a stuffed animal. I was told by my roommate that the family had named the kitten while I was gone. I was hurt and felt left out.
This morning, the discussion of the kitten came up. I let the family know that I was still considering whether I wanted to adopt the kitten myself or let them adopt it. That's when they told me they named the kitten. I let them know I wasn't sure and that I wanted to think about it more. Having a kitten is a lot of responsibility. The two owners of the house left for Costco.
When they came back, the door to my room and the door in the hall leading to my were both open. I went to close the door immediately but it was too late, the cat had escaped. I was searching the living room for her when the daughter of the family noticed the kitten under the couch. The front door was wide open because they were still bringing in stuff from Costco and then it happened.
I felt insulted by a comment "Someone needs to get their shit together" and the whole thing just blew up. I've been hiding out in my room ever since trying to figure out how to correct this situation.
I recently purchased Crucial Conversations from Amazon and upgraded my purchase to receive an extra electronic-online version instantly (and indefinitely) I starting reading through it for suggestions on how to handle this Crucial Conversations better than I already had. It's tough. I sent an email to the family letting them know I wanted to talk and work things out. We'll see how it's received. Hopefully when can come to a mutually respectful decision and the kitty gets a good home.
Sunday, January 13, 2008
Where did the weekend go? Random Riffs
I'm feeling the Sunday Night dread of having spent a beautiful weekend trying to check things off of my to-do/due list and ended up putting more thing on the list then checking them off the list.
I have to bring my new (to me) car back to CarMax (the dealer) to get several things worked on. I have to be near LAX at 9am tomorrow morning. They plan to keep my car for several days. Ugh. I love my new car, it's a Mitsubishi Eclipse Spider and as happy as I am to receive a "loaner" car from the dealer, I really just don't want to part w/ my vehicle. But the work is being done for free as part of my purchase agreement.
I also have to interview a classmate of mine for the Interviewing class. She's an editor on the school paper and I've spent a good portion of today reading her articles but I feel like I need more time for my research. She is also going to interview me and I'm a bit nervous about that too.
253, a hyperlink text, was the other (Remix Culture) assignment that took up a lot of my weekend. And I realized life is like a hyperlink text. We're constantly faced w/ various options of things we can do. For example, this weekend I choose the read 253, instead of enjoying the beautiful weather. Which hopefully works in my favor in tomorrow's discussion. I spent hours reading through various passengers' text and I dont think I read a majority of the stuff that is available on that site.
I basically procrastinated on a lot of other very important academic things this weekend. The only writing related stuff I did was read "Lars & The Real Girl" for my advanced screenwriting class.
The other distraction I had was eBrad, who I met through eHarmony. I met him for the first time Friday. He seems cool enough. We'll see how it goes though. He asked me to kiss him after just meeting him shortly before and w/ no kino or very little comfort building. I asked him if he deserved a kiss. Come on fellas, work for it a little, please.
I also spent a great deal of time discussing Presidential candidates and taking these online surveys regarding the candidates that match my values most. Check them out:
This survey covers 11 Presidential-platform issues.
And
This Survey covers 25 Presidential-platform issues.
Both said Kucinich was the candidate that most represented my values...interesting.
More about this fascinating stuff later. I'm tired.
I didn't blog yesterday so, I'll have to make up for it and make an extra post tomorrow.
I have to bring my new (to me) car back to CarMax (the dealer) to get several things worked on. I have to be near LAX at 9am tomorrow morning. They plan to keep my car for several days. Ugh. I love my new car, it's a Mitsubishi Eclipse Spider and as happy as I am to receive a "loaner" car from the dealer, I really just don't want to part w/ my vehicle. But the work is being done for free as part of my purchase agreement.
I also have to interview a classmate of mine for the Interviewing class. She's an editor on the school paper and I've spent a good portion of today reading her articles but I feel like I need more time for my research. She is also going to interview me and I'm a bit nervous about that too.
253, a hyperlink text, was the other (Remix Culture) assignment that took up a lot of my weekend. And I realized life is like a hyperlink text. We're constantly faced w/ various options of things we can do. For example, this weekend I choose the read 253, instead of enjoying the beautiful weather. Which hopefully works in my favor in tomorrow's discussion. I spent hours reading through various passengers' text and I dont think I read a majority of the stuff that is available on that site.
I basically procrastinated on a lot of other very important academic things this weekend. The only writing related stuff I did was read "Lars & The Real Girl" for my advanced screenwriting class.
The other distraction I had was eBrad, who I met through eHarmony. I met him for the first time Friday. He seems cool enough. We'll see how it goes though. He asked me to kiss him after just meeting him shortly before and w/ no kino or very little comfort building. I asked him if he deserved a kiss. Come on fellas, work for it a little, please.
I also spent a great deal of time discussing Presidential candidates and taking these online surveys regarding the candidates that match my values most. Check them out:
This survey covers 11 Presidential-platform issues.
And
This Survey covers 25 Presidential-platform issues.
Both said Kucinich was the candidate that most represented my values...interesting.
More about this fascinating stuff later. I'm tired.
I didn't blog yesterday so, I'll have to make up for it and make an extra post tomorrow.
Friday, January 11, 2008
Academic: The Art of the Interview & Remix Culture
It's a new year and I just finished my first week of the new quarter. So far, I love my classes: Advanced screenwriting (which is a year-long class), Interdisciplinary approaches to literature (Remix Culture), and Life Skills (The Art of the Interview).
The Remix culture class seems fun. The focus on mediums such as the book or new media hyperlink books. First day of class the professor played samples of Tupac and Moby to emphasis the DJ as a remix artist. We had to bring in objects that we considered remixed art. I brought a copy of a movie poster I made for my screenplay w/ stolen images from multiples sources and a copy of "The Game".
The interview class seems cool too because we get to interview someone that does something we admire or want to do ourselves after we graduate. And we may get our interviews w/ Harlen Ellison printed in autograph magazine. Yet the first assignment is to interview a classmate and also make a 500-word description of my face.
I also have to keep a daily journal so I'm going to try to post to my blog daily. Some post may remains as drafts for a while but I'll still find time to type each day. I have plenty to write about, I just need the time and patience to write it.
The Remix culture class seems fun. The focus on mediums such as the book or new media hyperlink books. First day of class the professor played samples of Tupac and Moby to emphasis the DJ as a remix artist. We had to bring in objects that we considered remixed art. I brought a copy of a movie poster I made for my screenplay w/ stolen images from multiples sources and a copy of "The Game".
The interview class seems cool too because we get to interview someone that does something we admire or want to do ourselves after we graduate. And we may get our interviews w/ Harlen Ellison printed in autograph magazine. Yet the first assignment is to interview a classmate and also make a 500-word description of my face.
I also have to keep a daily journal so I'm going to try to post to my blog daily. Some post may remains as drafts for a while but I'll still find time to type each day. I have plenty to write about, I just need the time and patience to write it.
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