Category Archives: Books

New Year’s Resolutions

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I’m not much on New Year’s resolutions, mostly because I’m still working on mine from 1979. You know the one: eat right, exercise, get in shape. I figure I shouldn’t make any new ones until I finish that one.

Somehow last year I slipped up and made a new resolution anyway: No new hobbies. Flip side: Spend more time on already-in-progress hobbies.

My first watercolor painting: sunflowers in a terra cotta vase

My first watercolor

That lasted until February. That’s when I received an email from a friend inviting me to a watercolor class her sister was going to teach. She attached a photo of the sunflower, guaranteed the students would walk out with a finished product and then wrote “No drawing required.”

I threw my New Year’s resolution out the window and signed up. That’s six framed watercolor paintings ago and we have two classes already scheduled for this year. That’s 2011 new hobby #1.

A butterfly decorated with Zentangles

A Zentangle Butterfly

In April, the Austin Fiber Artists were displaying some of their art at the Wesley Gallery in Dripping Springs, Texas and I had a piece in the show. So did Diane Barney, who is a Zentangle artist (one of her many talents). Zentangles are created with a pen or a permanent marker and a piece of paper or fabric. Really? I stopped at an office supply store on the way home. New hobby #2.
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At least I waited until December for new hobby #3, drawing. As it is wont to do, Amazon.com recommended a book to me, based on all my art book purchases. (They love that I have new hobbies.) The book is You Can Draw in 30 Days: The Fun, Easy Way to Learn to Draw in One Month or Less by Mark Kistler.

an art lesson in drawing spheres

Lesson 3: Spheres. I call it a pet rock colony.

That book practically leapt into my online shopping cart. I used a mechanical pencil and eraser that I already owned and off I went. (I love my eraser.) I’m trying to figure out how to bring up the subject of my being a newbie at drawing and getting someone to ask me, “When did you learn to draw?” I will respond: “December.”

As I don’t like to make new resolutions until I finish an old one, I used last year’s resolution for this New Year’s as well: no new hobbies. Today is Jan 7th and I already received two books from Amazon.com for my new 2012 hobby: knots. Photos to follow later, should I learn how to tie any knots.

These resolutions sure take a long time.

A Downloadable Generation

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I’m starting to catch up with one part of the new generation’s technology: ebooks. I have read 5 now. The amazing part is I learned how to check out a library ebook. Now that opens up a lot of possibilities.

Or so I thought. The Austin Public Library does have lots of ebooks, which they call “downloadables.” I read recently how many ebooks they had available to download, but now I can’t find that number on their web site.

It seemed like a large number until I started looking for books on my to-read list. After an hour or so, I found one: Priceless: How I Went Undercover to Rescue the World’s Stolen Treasures by Robert K. Wittman. I managed to check it out and read it on my Kindle reader. (There was a scandal on the PBS series The Antiques Roadshow? I never knew.)

You can check in ebooks before their due date. Even if you’re late, there is no late fee because you’re not really late. The download expires at the end of the lending period, which is only 14 days, by the way, instead of 21 days for a hardcopy book.

I wanted to check out another ebook. After an hour or so, I hadn’t found any other books on my to-read list, so I decided to take a chance on a book and author I hadn’t heard of. That effort still took another half hour, but I managed to pick one: The Informationist A Vanessa Michael Munroe Novel by Taylor Stevens.

I read it, I liked it, I want another library ebook.

But I’ve already cross-referenced my wish list with their downloadable list. I’ve already sifted through the lists and lists of ebooks, using the “only show available copies” option. I either have to expand my wish list or take even more chances on books and authors I’ve never heard of.

It’s getting to where it takes me almost as long to check out an ebook as to read it.