I am in love. I’m in love with the Kindle Fire I received from my parents for my birthday. Earlier this fall, I came up with the crazy idea that I’d love a Kindle Fire for my birthday. The idea seemed crazy at first because I received a Nook Color last year. The thing is that I love my Nook so much I wanted to compare the Kindle Fire, discuss various features, and share everything with all of you. So, here it goes:
So why do I love my Kindle Fire so much?
The experience of setting up the Kindle Fire blew me away. All of a sudden I had access to my Amazon.com MP3 collection, which I’d largely forgotten, right on my Kindle Fire. Free apps such as Kindle Buffet have already helped me create huge library of great books to discover, largely for free. I also discovered a great, free YouTube video downloader. All of that is just the beginning.
I have to admit, I haven’t exactly been fair to my Nook Color. I’m going to have to spend some time exploring some of its capabilities. Over the last year I largely used it as an e-reader and to play a few games (Words with Friends, etc.). I’ll do a direct comparison of both devices soon. I will say this though: It is hard to compete with Amazon’s selection and service. I’ve been nothing but happy so far.
Ok. For some reason “Sweet Child O’ Mine” has been in my head lately. It would actually make a perfect theme song for this blog. Of course, as soon as I start stalking YouTube to listen in and maybe even find the original music video, so many other great Guns ‘N’ Roses songs came up. “November Rain” and “Welcome to the Jungle” in particular, both of which will always remind me some of the best times in college.
For some reason I’ve felt compelled to put up a few songs that would’ve made great class songs for my high school class of 1999. Writing about D. brought these to mind. Who knew that 13 years would seem like eternity? It seems as though absolutely everything has changed, and not for the better.
I won’t be around until this evening. I’m hoping to then finally get caught up on the April 2012 A to Z Blogging Challenge. The posts centered around the Beatles themselves, along with those who were closest to them, are the most difficult to write and put together. There is just so much to say.
I ended up getting sucked into watching the Wingspan documentary on YouTube last night, all 1 hour, 45 minutes of it. I left with a much greater appreciation of what Paul and Linda McCartney did with Wings, and I was already a fan. More on that later. Happy Sunday everyone. I’ll leave you with one of the most beautiful voices ever in pop music.
Readers may have noticed that I haven’t added much “new” material lately, unless they’ve looked closely. Lately I’ve been working very hard on the “pages” portion of the blog. I’m still working on getting it exactly how I want it. There are so many great topics, etc. coming up very shortly. Stay tuned!
I will shortly get back to our regularly scheduled programs. Promise. On a side note, I’ve really enjoyed reblogging as of late. I’m not going to share anything and everything, but what I do share caught my attention one way or another. Thus far I’ve enjoyed meeting other bloggers via reblogging. There are so many wonderful blogs out there! Enjoy.
In case you missed it, below are some of the new pages I created.
No new content. I just finally took the time to thoroughly work out the bugs in the HTML. If you haven’t taken the time to read this conversation, please do. The entire experience expanded my ideas as to what a blog can be.
Yes, I did it. I created a fan page for the Detroit Tigers. If you want to follow the Tigers this season, look no further. I embedded their complete schedule, included several links to lots of great information pertaining to roster, stats, etc., as well as added links to a few posts in which I discuss the Tigers. I also embedded a few of my favorite Tigers-related YouTube videos. It is going to be one heck of a season. Opening Day can’t get here quick enough.
I decided that I needed to pay homage to my alma mater. I included some priceless videos. It is also inspiring some additional pages coming very soon. I loved college and always will. Seriously.
I spent quite a bit of time on this one. I came across some wonderful politically inspired quotes, many from our Founding Fathers. I may add more as time goes on.
I decided to create this page due to the sheer number of pages I created. It is easier to understand what I’m doing when looking at the entire thing in this format. Please take a look. It will certainly be a work in progress.
It all began this morning while making my usual Facebook rounds. I saw that a friend of my brother posted a YouTube video featuring a vintage travelogue of Michigan from the 1940s. I just had to share it. Michigan is home and has been for all branches of my family going back generations now. As much as it kills me to admit this, I am a Michigander to the core. I’ve lived in Michigan most of my life thus far, I graduated from Michigan State University, and the Great Lakes are in my blood. I even grudgingly admit that I have a Michigan, not Canadian or Minnesotan, accent. Yes my fellow Michiganders there is such a thing.
Once there was a time in my life when I desperately wanted to leave it all behind. Just like so many other people in my family, I wanted to live in Texas. My family’s off-again, on-again love affair with Texas is a separate issue that could easily fill another post. Oddly enough, it extends to both sides of my family. Why do I bring this up? I bring it up because it was through my experiences in Texas, and those of a cousin, that I realized Michiganders are unique.
Let me explain. I have an older cousin who lived in Texas herself for a year or two. I followed suit after graduating from college. I then noticed something when I came home. She and I had our own accents. It didn’t last long as we reverted back to our Michigan accents, but for a while, if one carefully listened to how we spoke, it became easy to identify the Texas influence in our speech. I loved it. We had our own version of Spanglish. Texigan?
The entire experience, which I may have mostly imagined, made me think long and hard about the impact of place on culture. It then occurred to me that, if it were geographically possible, the place that I’d feel most comfortable would be with one foot in Michigan and the other in Texas. Here’s the problem. I love Michigan. My entire family is here, I can’t imagine not living near so much fresh water, and the change of seasons is great, even when someone decides to cancel winter.
Where do I even begin with Texas? I love the independent spirit of Texas, and unfortunately, I find it seriously lacking in most Michiganders, much of my family excluded. There is a reason why Texans are fixin’ to do just about anything. Michiganders, not so much. Texans know how to recognize people with big hats and no cattle. Michigan would be so much better off if we could develop that sixth-sense!
Unfortunately I am much more politically aligned with Texans than I am with Michiganders. I despise most unions, I can’t stand political apathy, and I am all for limited government that recognizes the rights of the individual. I’ve watched my entire life as Michigan hedged all of her bets on a dying auto industry. Instead of trying to build new industry here, we shipped our best and brightest off to Texas, Arizona, and California. Especially Texas.
Texas continues to reinvent itself and roll with the punches, exactly what Michigan needed to do and needs to do now. Texans had the foresight to embrace technology in all forms instead of relying solely on oil and ranching. I think of Michigan and see nothing but lost opportunity. It deeply saddens me. I truly love Michigan and care about the state. I just hope the recent signs of life here are the start of something wonderful. Michigan does have a history of reinventing herself too; it is just that the entire process is hindered by misguided politicians and union influence. Maybe almost losing it all will finally wake up those eternally skeptical Michiganders.
Below are a few videos of interest:
The video above is the video I came across this morning that inspired this post. The video below is an inspiring version of “Michigan My Michigan” that honors those Michigan soldiers that fought for the union. I’m proud to say that I have a great-great grandfather who was among them.
Below is an attempt to explain the Michigan accent. It freaks me out because my recorded voice sounds so similar to hers. If you ever wondered what I sound like, this video will give you a pretty good idea.
Ramblings of a Misguided Blonde 