Might As Well Face It I’m Addicted to Blogs

There, now you have an ear worm too!

Over the last few weeks, just when I thought that I was finally getting around to reading the end of the Internet, I started reading blogs, lots of blogs.  I’ve had one or two saved over the years that I follow pretty religiously, but this recent craze of mine is, well, blog-a-lishous!  I’ve found stuff that interests me, stuff that doesn’t, people who are living out their dreams, and those who are having a tough time with life.  I’ve learned new ideas, new techniques, and new trends.

The best thing I have found from reading blog after blog after blog is inspiration.  It’s funny that in this world full of billions of people that you can find something to read, by a real person, about something that you are interested in all the while gaining a new and different type of perspective other than the same old boring one you’ve been dragging around for years.

What’s that definition of insanity; doing the same thing over and over again, but expecting different results?  Is that totally true?  For the most part, yes it is, but in the world of blogging there can be 50 (or even 5000) of the same type of blog, but each one will have a different outcome or result.  Why is that?  I believe that it’s one trait that we are all born with, but some people never realize it while others take it and amazing things happen.  It’s called creativity.  I’m sure there’s some study out there about creativity and the traits that one has to hold to gain maximum potential.  I mean, there really is only one Sistine Chapel, right?

I really want to work on my creative traits that I know are lurking just below the surface.  I want to be able to push back from my desk and look at my blog and see something that probably a gaggle of other people have out there, but is uniquely mine and it stands out for me.  I want to be proud of what has grown out of a whim and hopefully into something great, something that I can cultivate like a garden and watch thrive and grow. 

I want the finished product to be kind of like a piece of sea glass.  You throw broken bottle pieces into the sea, and on a beach somewhere thousands and thousands of miles away the most beautiful piece of tumbled glass that is as unique as I am is found by another creative soul who will use that piece of glass for inspiration.

Bookworm

I’ve had my nose in a book as long as I can remember.  I love to read, and find the pastime very relaxing and rewarding.  I can travel to places that I’ve always dreamed up or I can peek through the window of how other people live.  I can lose myself for hours in books and forget about my own problems and worries.  It’s the perfect escape.

Now, don’t read anything more into this though.  I pretty much read trash.  Not bodice ripper trash, though those are fun, but generally I read things where I don’t have to think much and can get lost in a story.  I have tried to read the classics, but I just can’t get into them like I do murder mysteries, chick lit, true crime, romance, and the plethora of genres out there.

I have a Kindle.  I have never been one to jump into the hype of the latest and greatest gadget.  I mean, the only cell phone I have is a cheap flip phone provided by my company.  I think I’ve sent one text message in my life, and while I am contemplating succumbing to an Android in the near future, I’m pretty technologically dumb.  I knew about the Kindle when they first came out a few years ago, but last summer when Amazon announced that the third generation Kindle was coming out, I knew this was something I just had to have.  I did my research, I waited for it to be released and to see if there were horrible stories about it, and I saved all my Discover points to get this wonderful creation (on the cheap, of course). 

The day I bought Vinny reading changed for me.  I am started to get older, and I’ve always had bad eyesight (thanks Mom AND Dad).  The E-Ink was actually gentler on my eyes than a paperback or a library book, even large print editions.  I found that I was reading more and I was reading faster.  I loved the fact that I could “carry” a ton of books with me in my purse.  I loved that I could order a book and its right there on the device within seconds.  I loved my Kindle from the very start, and I still do!

When I was off work for my ankle surgery, the only thing I found that I was able to concentrate fully on was reading.  I didn’t keep an exact count, but I believe I read close to 20 books that month.  I could only sleep for one or two hours at a time, and it was really boring in the middle of the night with no one to talk to.  My Kindle had so many options available for me, and I was able to escape and read for a few hours until I was able to sleep again.

I have joined a few sites and have read a few blogs, and I have found that there are a lot of people who read much of the same things that I do.  Often this is how I find my next book to read.  I am going to try really hard to start reviewing some of the books that I read here on this blog.  I think it will be a good exercise for myself to be true to the author of the book and to myself if I really liked it or if I did not like it so much.  On the books that I do review, I will also post those reviews on the book sites that I belong to; Goodreads, Amazon, and Lendle.  I will be open and honest, and I will not write any spoilers into my reviews.

Let's try this, shall we?

Cabin Fever

Today was the first day, almost 3 weeks into this journey, that I have felt really confined.  I am tired, I am cranky, and I am on the verge of a pity party.  I know that I can contribute a lot of it to not sleeping well.  I'm uncomfortable and in discomfort that borderlines on pain.  Finding comfortable position while wearing this pink monstrosity is a joke.  There isn't one.  
Then you add that there isn't much a girl in my position can do since walking is out of the question for at least 3 more weeks.  I've been reading, watching some Netflix, reading, and that's really about it.  I go from the bed to the couch and back.  I can't sit outside because, well, it's summertime in Florida and who knew fiberglass was such a conductor of heat.
I did order a Xerosox this evening.  It's a latex "sock" of sorts that has an airtight seal that will enable me to get into the pool.  I think being able to enjoy the sport of lying on a raft for a few hours a day will cheer me up some.  At least the Vitamin D will do some good.  I'll do a full review and link once I get the product and try it out.
I am heading back to work a week from today, and that will help my disposition a lot as well.  It will be nice to get out of the house.  It's going to be a pain in the rear hobbling around, but I have a couple of really awesome co-workers who have agreed to be my personal servants as long as I need them to.
As I've mentioned before, I've been through the ankle surgeries before, but I don't recall feeling this way.  This time it seems different and harder.  I can't put my finger on exactly what it is.  


This too shall pass.  I will give myself one day of a pity part and move on!

Boob Tube

Today marks the 8th day that I have been living without any type of cable or satellite television.  I don't even have one of those little converter boxes to get the local channels. 

Zip, Zero, Zilch

This decision has been a long time coming.  For what was paid out monthly to the "Company-That-Must-Not-Be-Named" I could afford to take one additional vacation each year.  There were only a small number of channels that were watched on a somewhat regular basis, and there were many evenings that the box wasn't even turned on. 

So the decision was made to quit it, and the promise was made to give it a go for a minimum of 6 months.  Which is really good for my willpower, because that will be right about the time football season starts back up, and I can say that I gave it good try.

What does one do when there is nothing to surf through on a Tuesday night?  Tons of stuff!  Work on my blog, train the terrier, play Scrabble or Boggle, read, study for the class I am taking, work on that quilt I owe my mother, learn to knit, or catch up on what's new on the inter webs. 

Have I missed it?  For the most part no, I do not.  I have a good subscription to Netflix and an instant queue that might be completed by the time the next milestone birthday rolls around, and I have a Kindle with more books on it than I can possibly read this year.  I think I miss television the most in the morning.  I'd watch the local news until it looped and loved to hear Mike and Mike bicker like two old women. 

The investment will probably be made into the little converter box - we do live in a prime area for hurricanes and it will be nice to see those bad boys working their way over - just in case.

It's only been a week, but I feel lighter and freer and more in tune with the things that are more important.