The 19th thing

Whew. Only 4 more things to go (and one of 'em is Youtube!)

So today I looked at the list of winners and chose a few. Okay, the first couple of them I just didn't "get", but that should be no surprise to anyone. Then I came across Biblio.com and finally found something I could use.

It's a search engine/etailer that finds used, rare, and OOP books, which is something I really like.

I'm not sure what sets it apart from Alibris or ABE Books, but if it won a Web 2.0 award, it must be good, right?

Okay, here's a hint:

Back alley abortion.

HERMIONE DIES!!!!!!

For some reason, Alibris sent my copy of the new Harry Potter book early and I read it last night.
Yep, Hermione's worm food, but I'm not going to tell you how she dies because it's pretty cool and I don't want to spoil the surprise.

Allow me to introduce...

Basho.

Basho is the Japanese word for "competition" but it turns out there was a poet named Basho as well.

Say the name slowly, three times: Basho. Basho. Basho. Kinda grows on you, doesn't it?

I acquired Basho in February. I was flying to Hawaii for vacation (brag brag) and read through the Skymall catalog the airline provides. When I saw Basho's picture, my first thought was "Why don't I already own that?" I promised myself that if I had any money left over when I got home I would buy a Basho.

And so I did. He sits by my front door, standing guard over my condo. So far, no ninja attacks.

Poor Basho was also at the center of a controversy. Shortly after I put him out one of my neighbors asked me to remove him. "We don't have that kind of thing here" she said. I said that I do and I like him so he's staying. A few days later she asked me again to remove Basho as he was "ugly". I replied that if he offends one, one is cordially invited to avert one's eyes. This went on for a bit, neither of us willing to back down. I should explain that I love my neighbor, so everything was said quite nicely.

A week or so later, said neighbor returned asking me once more to remove Basho. Again, I said no. Neighbor said a petition was going around the building asking for Basho's removal and that the petition would be sent to The Board. I said fine, everyone's entitled to an opinion, that's why they make chocolate and vanilla, etc., etc.

This was in March. After hearing the story, Keith bought a teeny-tiny little leprechaun hat and put it on Basho.

Well. People were stopping me all over the place to tell me how funny it was.

At that point we decided that Basho should be accessorized for each holiday and so far he has had bunny ears, a hardhat (lots of construction going on in the building), a sombrero (for Benito Juarez's birthday), a Mother's Day bonnet, Keith's father's cowboy hat and heaven only knows whatall else--I forget a lot of stuff.

Haven't heard a word about the petition since.

Interestingly, the people who seem to like him most are the guys who come to the building to do construction and repairs. Who knew?

Hey, Ellen! I finally found something useful!

Youall can probably tell that I've not been very impressed with any of the "things" we've covered so far. That changed this afternoon.
I tried that Zoho word processor and finally--finally--found something worthwhile.
It has a number of good things going for it, not the least of which is that it's free (yay!) If you're familiar with MS Word, this'll be a snap to use. In fact, once my version of Office becomes obsolete I won't have to replace it, as Zoho seems to do everything I need.
Which is to say, not a lot. I never use any of the really exotic features of Word; for me it's basically a fancy typewriter. I'm sure Zoho lacks some of Word's features but since I probably wouldn't use 'em anyway, it doesn't matter to me.
Yep, Zoho is definitely a keeper.
Really, someone should create a blog about it...

Egregious Taste

Okay, it's bad enough that people are becoming more rude by the day (not to mention just plain icky; on my way to the 7-11 today I walked by a young couple. The girl was popping a zit on her boyfriend's chin. On the street, forcryingoutloud.) I can remember back to the days when you actually made pleasant small talk with cashiers, salespeople, etc. Now it's every man for himself and could you keep that cash register down, it's interfering with my BlueTooth.
Now it seems that good taste has taken yet another nosedive. You know, every time I think that the collective American Taste can't get any worse, it manages to find another toilet down which to flush itself (and notice the elegant construction.)
Little girls dressed like hookers. Bratz dolls. Vacuum cleaner cozies that look like floppy-eared rabbits in aprons. Capri pants. Reality TV. It just goes on and on.
The inspiration for today's rant is a little something called "Angels with Attitude." Please look at the picture because you wouldn't believe me if I just told you. (And if you do believe me and/or think they're cute, please do me a favor and beat your head against a wall until you fall over dead. Much obliged.)

Maryland Sandbox!

Went there. Followed instructions. Tried to add my blog.

"Error on page"

Oh, well. The title's there even if it isn't a link, which at least shows I tried.

Gosh, I just love Library 2.0!