January 25, 7:00 am Musings
With my first cuppa in hand, this is a good time to reflect for a few moments about priorities.
The top ongoing item is Model Trains. I am in the midst of adding ballast to my mainline track. This is the first real effort at adding scenery to my table-top layout. I now have the general process under control but am noticing that I need to be careful about the ballast interfering with some of the switches. The first time I added the ballast on a switch it continued to work fine, but I am now noticing problems with some of the other switches. This may take some time to resolve.
In addition to the ballasting, I am now thinking seriously about adding a simple backdrop behind the outer mainline track. I have a sheet of masonite in the garage that could be cut into two 24" strips, each 8' long. Then I could glue sheets of Instant Horizons scenes onto this and lean the result against the wall.
There are also the viaduct kits to continue assembling. But first the ballasting.
Literature is number two on my list at the moment. I am presently enjoying Stephenson's "REAMDE" novel about computer gaming and hacking and its relationship to the "real" world. I also have two Rumi books that are beside me, but which are not receiving the attention they deserve. And then there is Shakespeare, and Garber's book on Literature.
January 22, 6:00 am Musings
I am reading the next chapter from Marjorie Garber's "The Use and Abuse of Literature" which is titled, "The Pleasures of the Canon" and came across a sentence that began "Slate used the same phrase ...". Who, or what, is Slate? The context suggests that it is likely a scholarly magazine or web site. In a moment I will google it and see what happens. But first, a comment on what is in my mind at the moment - Walrus. Here are the linkages: Slate - literary magazine - Walrus. I noticed the latter magazine on a news stand while I was buying some cough syrup a couple of days ago (yes, I am still fighting a dry cough). I had a subscription to this a few years ago but let it lapse due to "no time". However the magazine impressed me as a superb example of literary journalism. For Christmas I received an annual publication put out by The Economist, which I am enjoying. I really should renew my subscription to the Walrus, and now to google both Slate and Walrus and see what the screen displays.
And the answer is ... http://www.slate.com/ Online magazine of news, politics, and culture. Combines humor and insight in thoughtful analyses of current events and political news.
I did like the headline for the fourth item this morning - Romney Newtered.
Now for Walrus ... http://www.walrusmagazine.com/ The Walrus is a general interest magazine about Canada and its place in the world, published by the registered non-profit charitable Walrus Foundation.
While web surfing from the Walrus I came across a magazine totally devoted to the iPhone (+ iPad & iPod). Who knew?
And now I have found a web site (and an app) that provides digital versions of popular magazines - zinio
I am a little surprised that the price for the digital magazines is so high. It seems to be similar to the hard-copy price. I am also a little confused. For The Walrus, I have a web site that gives me a fair amount of information (free), but which also gives me a link where I can get the magazine for $2.49/issue. This would seem to be for a digital version that is viewable on a computer. Then, using zinio, I can get 10 issues for $29.99. This latter would be for the iPad version. Or I can purchase the current issue for $6.99 (iPad again). The latter is what I can view for free on the Web.
My mind continues to whirl as I enter 2012 (or more properly 2010!).
Now I am thinking about firsts - first Slate site, first magazine site. What else is out there?
I could spend the entire day doing this. Not a good idea.
Now for two thank - yous for a pair of earlier firsts. One is to Allan down under who first introduced me to the Web. The second is to Rob (also from down under - this time in Canberra) who first alerted me to Wikipedia.
And this all began because of one word, Slate.
January 15, 5:25 am Musings
Early morning is a good time for musing.
The weather forecast suggests the next week will primarily be handled indoors. It is also a good excuse to build a real fire in the fireplace. The bean soup will be welcome as well.
Literature and Model Trains are now at the top of my list of priorities.
Literature: First, to select my next novel. I am fortunate to have a number of unread novels in the house. At the same time I must not let my reading of Rumi slip (as it is at the moment).
Model Trains: This will be a good time to focus on assembling the viaduct for my layout.
One of the weaknesses with this new web site is the lack of a summary page of some kind for the activities. Another weakness is the lack of an index page for the activities. Neither is a problem as one begins the year, but will become more noticeable as the number of entries increases.
January 13, 10:10 am Musings
Another good morning. The sun is shining and the wind hasn't started up, yet.
I now have my iPad2 and iPhone addresses up to date. The automatic synching is a joy, now that I have it working, and understand why this is not connected to my laptop.
All of my databases have been converted to Bento 4 on my laptop and are synched to Bento on my iPad2.
Between the databases, this website, and my contacts files, I have been spending most of my time on technology activities. I still have a couple of questions about my iPhone and my Garmin Montana 600 unit, but they are not a high priority at the moment. I would like to reduce the time on Technology and begin focusing on everything else. Literature and Model Trains need attention.
January 8, 9:00 am Musings
It has been a relaxing beginning to the day.
Almost as soon as I began reading "The Big Red Book", my mind wandered to considering little things that needed to be done.
- Bring address book up to date (I am continually wishing I had a phone number or address that is not on my iPhone, iPad or laptop)
- Send the URL for this website to my friends
- Develop a habit of carrying my little notebook with me at all times (so I can jot a point down before I forget it)
- Develop a habit of carring a camera with me when I leave the house (often I see something that would make a good picture)
- Check the regulations for using my iPhone & iPad outside of the country
- Phone Calgary re. adding a new map to my GPS unit
- Add business & professional names and addresses to address book
- Read manuals for iPad
- Contact camera shop re. foot of my monopod
January 7, 8:40 am Musings
One of the advantages of this morning activity is that it forces me to think a bit about what is on my agenda for the day. Looking at the pop-up menu for Activities, I see that there are 5 items listed: Cooking, Geocaching, Literature, Technology, and Trains. There are a few others that have yet to make an appearance: Birding, Photography, Mathematics, Science. I should also add Musings and Life.
Now to review each of these.
Cooking: added when I try a new recipe, or when the meal is special.
Geocaching: not too active at the moment as there are few nearby caches. Winter weather is also a deterrent.
Literature: I have 4 books open. One is Guy Vanderhaeghe's western novel, "A Good Man". Then I have 2 books of Rumi's poetry that I try to spend some time with. Plus the “Bhagavad-gita”, which is on my iPad2.
Technology: This has been a major time consumer during the last week. The emphasis has been on familiarizing myself with the Sandvox web-authoring software. Next will be to learn to use Bento 4 - a database program that will replace Filemaker Pro for keeping track of birds, books, and model trains. This may also integrate with iPhoto but I will wait a bit before trying that.
Trains: I still have lots of work to do assembling a viaduct structure for the layout. I want to blend this with time spent actually running trains according to a timetable. On the near horizon is learning to use software to program the mobile decoders (a.k.a. locomotives) so I can control them (speed, lights, sound).
Birding: We are making a presentation at the beginning of February on birding in Panama. Last year I began submitting reports to iBird and should make this a priority for 2012. This is another activity that blends reading and outdoor application. I love it. But I need to do more reading - both on identification as well as on bird behavior. I have created a database for keeping track of what I see that works quite well.
Photography: I still need to spend time with my camera and manual and learn more about how to use the sophistication of the device to take photos under different conditions. I am primarily interested in composition and scenery, plus photos of birds. This latter requires a good telephoto lens. The one I have ( a Canon EF 70-300mm) is quite good but I am exploring the merits of adding a teleconverter that will double the focal length to 600mm but will lose the auto-focus capability.
Mathematics: Symmetry remains my primary interest but I am having difficulty finding the time for this. Other activities have a higher priority.
Science: Microbiology has recently captured my interest. This is like mathematics - intrinsically interesting.
Mathematics and Science are hobbies that is intrinsically interesting, but birding, photography and technology are more applied, and in that sense, useful. Model Trains and Geocaching are great fun.
Now for a couple of priorities.
- Technology: learn to create reports using Bento 4. Particularly the birding reports I could make with Filemaker Pro.
- Model Trains: build viaduct.
- Literature: continue progress on all 4 books.