Mar 18

finished reading: Say Yes to Grace: The Facebook Page Reflections

Say Yes to Grace: The Facebook Page ReflectionsI read Say Yes to Grace: The Facebook Page Reflections by Kirk Byron Jones, published in 2012.

The book is a collection of reflections that Dr. Jones compiled from a faithful life, as well as sharing with fans, family and friends on Facebook.

The reflections are categorized into seven categories including God, Grace, Growth, Inspiration, Relationships, Peace, and Affirmations.

They’re useful when you want to focus on a particular area.

The reflections serve to teach us, to guide us in our lives. For me, they are reminders of the lessons we learn about God and walking in faith. Dr. Jones offers biblical references for the insights he shares. They are a joyful inspiration/motivation to live a positive faithful life.

It is encouragement for living a fuller life. The imagery he uses is as uplifting as the content.

Let yourself fell heard, held, and healed by God.  Angels get a kick of splashing God’s love all over us.

His consoling message is rich and and enriching. He reminds us to take solace in God’s loving and giving presence in all situations. God’s grace is what sustains us.

No matter how deep the hurt, God’s love is Deeper.    God is loving you from the inside out and from the outside in, all the time.

This book is the perfect follow up to the book , Say Yes to Grace: How to Burn Bright Without Burning Out. Where that book is the meat of how living in grace enriches our lives, this book, The Facebook Page Reflections is a collection of key points for living a fuller life in God’s continuous grace.

If you’re into reading self books, this is a really powerful book. The encouraging, empowering, reinforcing message is yours for the taking. It’s a feel good book for the person seeking to live a full life in God’s love. I remind myself that I am loved by God, this book helps me to keep that truth in the forefront of my life.

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Posted in books i read

Feb 29

finished reading: spock’s world by diane duane

Spocks World by Diane Duane I read Spock’s World, published in 1988, by Diane Duane. It was a very slow, meandering book. Sometimes slow is good. The Vulcan chapters wended through the history of Spock’s World, providing a rich evolution of Vulcan. I read on Wikipedia that there are contradictions with subsequent Star Trek story lines. That notwithstanding, the story stands strong as entertaining food for thought.

The Vulcan history was interesting because it showed how they evolved naturally from beings before they had language. Their barbarism and continued relationship with their creator is something that kept my attention. They didn’t all have the ability but they didn’t shun or deny others who did.

Their natural inclination toward genetic manipulation, and their brutality were intriguing. I was especially intrigued by the explanation of how Vulcan’s deal with their emotions. Mastering them is much more plausible to me than erasing them. That was a total win for me.

The way the explanation was woven into the relationship of Sarak and Amanda was nicely done. I don’t remember ever hearing much about the relationship of the parents of Spock. It was important to add in this story of Spock’s world. So, I’m really glad she didn’t leave this out. The whole Vulcan history and the relationship led to the creation of Spock quite nicely and that’s important for me.

You see, Spock is my favorite character. I got the book because I wanted to read a Star Trek book from the original series (OS), that maybe had Spock in a prominent role. It did alright. McCoy was the key sleuth. And it ended with Kirk alone in the closing scene. Never minding that, it was all about Spock’s world and it was entertaining.

Now, to continue my search for good SF, I’ll be searching the web for suggestions for new Star Trek OS novels. If anyone has book ideas or where to look for titles, drop me a message.

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Posted in books i read

Feb 27

10 reasons my nook color makes me happy

I never thought I’d make up my mind about what e-reader I wanted. I had readers on my phone and decided I liked the idea of carrying around an assortment of books on one device.

why i’m pleased

It’s easy to learn and use. There are a few things I read up on in the convenient manuals that came preloaded. The few things I asked about were explained quickly and easily by the more-than-capable sales people who helped me.

I like the fact that I can upload my files that I want to have handy for work or whatever; upload music; change the background, from their preloaded images or my own I upload.

justification

As with any purchase like this, I have to justify the investment to myself. So here are 5 reasons it’s okay that I bought this “toy”

  1. Besides the fact that I wanted it, I have many useful applications for it
  2. It has useful work type potential
  3. It’s been three years since I indulged my inner geek, (replacing my laptop notwithstanding – that was a real necessity)
  4. I was behind in my reading and this offered a way to increase my reading time
  5. It was a bit of a me first buy, but it’s been years, did I mention that?

good use immediately

I had to do some things to ensure the investment is a good one. Following are 5 things I’ve toward realizing the potential of my investment

  1. bought books for learning some work applications, bookkeeping and Quicken
  2. uploaded a huge PDF packet that I need for work which I had been carrying around in my backpack up to that point
  3. managed to read the 1st Leonid McGill book finally so I could read the second one which I bought so Walter Mosley could sign it for me at his book-signing
  4. read The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo before it left the theater, before I went to see it, (sometimes I just have to do that)
  5. searched for and found new authors and books that are free

bonus: +2 not-necessarily-good things

  1. it’s much easier to read in the wee hours of the morning when I can’t sleep, since there’s no need to turn on lights
  2. it gave me a reason to buy some simple new purses to fit my NOOK in

It’s been a pleasure to have my NOOK Color since December. I don’t remember why I hesitated. I still love going to the bookstore. I’m not less inclined to buy a book if it’s not in electronic version. It may have been the initial investment. But that passed away quickly. It’s all flowers and sunshine around the purchase and uses at this point. Only thing I look at now is that it’s $30 cheaper than when I bought it. And even that doesn’t hurt, since technologically speaking, it’s the natural order of things.

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Posted in 10 Things...

Dec 30

don’t overlook your selling points

WiFi is All Around UsI was in a random restaurant and asked about WiFi. Server said they had it but she thought I’d need a password—which she didn’t have. Standing in line, I turned on my NOOK and connected. It didn’t occur to me to not try after she told me about the password. That is rarely necessary in a public place.

bridging the technology divide

After I downloaded what I wanted, got my food and sat down with my mom, I went back to the counter. I told her I got on, didn’t need a password. She said, “Really?” I said, “Yeah, unless it’s not your signal I’m using,” and watched her expression briefly as she tried to parse the exchange, before I returned to my seat.

what perplexed me

It wasn’t that she didn’t know. The problem I have is that she is a young person who had no clear knowledge of what her place of employment offered the customers. Soon as I walked in and saw the coffee shop tables in one area, I had an idea. And that’s why I asked.

My next contemplations were about finding a way to insure that employees knew what they had to offer clients. What they could take advantage of at their places of employment. These little things are selling points — no small matter in the business world. If it were my business, I would want my people to know about my free WiFi, just like they know the drinks and how to prepare the food and run the cash register.

it’s just good business

It’s not the first time I’ve encountered such apathy from this restaurant, different location albeit. I hope it’s not an anomaly of the chain, only a small few locations. In business you never want to overlook the easy selling points. If I invest in anything for my customers, I want workers to know about it when someone asks about it.

Don’t you want to maximize the benefit from your offerings to your clients? Would you put up signs? Or, just make sure that your first line employees had accurate, detailed answers for the easy questions?

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Posted in technology

Dec 29

writing it out of my system

You ever have times when you’re really hot to write something? You run to the page and write feverishly til you covered every thought that brought you to the page and a few that arrived after you got going. All this only to find that the passion has dissipated.

second guessing and affirming my ideas

You may not know what I’m talking about, but it happens to me from time to time. It’s not about journaling. It’s about the impact of the words I’ve written. I start wondering, Will anyone be interested? Be able to relate? Will anyone care or be entertained?

I remind myself that there may be someone, some one person who would really like to know what my take is. Someone who will greatly benefit from putting up my ideas alongside his. And on some really good days, he or she may tell me how I was wrong or right about something.

just do it

Ultimately, I have to just do it if I ever want to click the PUBLISH button. So, I suck it up and revise and edit my writing. When I’m satisfied I’ve presented my ideas as fully as I want to, I just let it go. It’s been a while since I clicked the PUBLISH button here. And, I have all these snippets of ideas running around in my head. So the time has come for me to trust that I am talking to somebody out there when I say and show, JUST DO IT.

Letting my ideas flow is the whole reason behind keeping a journal, paper or electronic. Blogging is the perfect place to write just in case someone wants or needs to hear what I have to say. In sharing here, and on my other sites, I invite you to share your thoughts. Write to me and tell me what’s your take.

why do it? 5 reasons

  1. It’s good to get things off my chest as writing can be a great contemplative release
  2. It might help someone if I offer a perspective they’d not considered
  3. It might make me a new friend bonding over common ground or beneficial disagreement
  4. It might make me a new enemy – not a great thing just good to know
  5. It’s important to click that PUBLISH button when I have a chance

I’m curious! Do you doubt your ideas? How do you get passed the voice that tells you maybe you shouldn’t do a thing? What’s your incentive for pressing on?

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Posted in Journal

Dec 28

extra is not always a bonus

In my AA (Administrative Assistant) job, I have to keep the books. We use QuickBooks to record financial business. At home, I use Quicken.

learning new software

I am working on learning the ins and outs of Quicken, (my graduation from spreadsheets), and now I have to work on learning QuickBooks too. At work they’re planning a training session for us to learn more about QuickBooks. At home, I’m on my own, which is fine.

Usually I click around to learn new software, it’s part of the fun for me. But, I’m in a bit of a hurry now. I need the key information, not extra stuff right now.

I bought 2 books for bookkeeping and Quicken. In reviewing the Quicken book, I found I’m going to have to sift through a lot of ‘related’ material. There’s a lot of aside information that is too far afield to be called theory. Along with getting what I need, a manual for the application, this book seems to try to incorporate bookkeeping and accounting training. And, it is infused throughout the book. So, I expect big fun trying to get around/through all that.

writing the book review

Once I’ve read through enough, (I just got the Quicken book today), I’ll make my determination on whether or not I’ll recommend the book. I was actually surprised by how much extra stuff was in the book. What I was looking for was a dedicated software book. Interestingly this book is the closest I’ve come and it doesn’t cover my particular version of the software.

Once I’m done scanning/using the book, I may write a detailed review of what I got out of the book. I see that I’ll have to sift through the distracting stuff. But it looks like the book will show me some things I haven’t figured out yet. It may turn out that the book is perfect the way it is…I’ll let you know.

Are you learning anything new? Do you take a class or buy a book first thing? Or is structured learning your last resort?

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Posted in Journal

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