"We're all imperfect creatures leading imperfect lives in an imperfect world, and all we can do is the best we can." Bernie Rhodenbarr from burglars can't be choosers.
This is the 2nd burglar book i've read this month. The first through the kindle. I wanted to read this using the kindle but it's $7.99. Honestly, if it was 5 bucks i'd have ordered it. Plus it's an e-book. I'm only getting rights to read it on my device so long as i have a reading device. The used book cost $2.40 or thereabouts and i thought it was cheating to buy the kindle version for that much. Besides the library has it so i borrowed it from the library instead. Was too lazy to read it but sunday night i sorta started and couldn't put it down, read some stuff last night after i got back from philly but i was too tired and only covered a little and this evening i finished it up.
Now i can go on to read the other buglar book i bought after burglar on the prowl. i think it's the 3rd in the series. It reminds me of back at RPS when i used to read like crazy.
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
Thursday, October 14, 2010
VR
Based on the last study for the beast, it's obvious that VR requires as much study time, if not more, as the rest of the other subjects. My new plan involves following Chaney's,then doing virtuoso and then passages. So far, i'm doing fine with my kindle. Subscribed to atlantic and boston globe. i think i'm going to go through a good amount of these kindle subscriptions.
I also just came across a website today which has reading exercises and answers to help with comprehension. My goal right now is not speed but rather comprehension. I'll use Chaney's VM passages for speed. I'm refering to the passages at the end of the book.
We'll see how it pans out.
I also just came across a website today which has reading exercises and answers to help with comprehension. My goal right now is not speed but rather comprehension. I'll use Chaney's VM passages for speed. I'm refering to the passages at the end of the book.
We'll see how it pans out.
Roommates
So i had a new roommate move in. OCD clean freak?! Anyway, this roommate has rearranged my living room which i didn't mind, the dining room closet, which i didn't mind. This sunday, I saw him cleaning his room and bathroom. None of my business, i thought to myself. I went out with friends, got home close to 9 and he was telling me he's rearranged stuff. First of all, i hate being called out of my room for information i don't care about and secondly, i was too tired to absorb whatever he was saying. Monday, i get home and find he really has moved stuff in my kitchen. That's crossing a line right there. I'm sure he was trying to be helpful but some of the stuff are what's his name stuff i need to throw away and i dont' want them getting mixed up with my stuff. I mean, he should've thought how far is too far. My bags were thrown away. Last time i had bags and receipts in my ziplock drawer, he moved them. So i decided to start storing them in the drawer my first roommate used and he threw them away again.
What's worse is that i can't find the spatula that came with my rice cooker. i used it friday night, washed it and it sat in the dishdrainer. i didn't bother to move it cuz i'd tons of stuff sitting there. The dishdrainer was emptied on sunday by my roommate and i can't find the spatula. The whole 'where's my spatula' thought is something i find very unsettling. I tried to look in the trash but it smelled so bad with the fruit and whatever else was in there and i couldn't locate it. But i did take it out of the container and look though the plastic. Bottom line, i would be very pissed if i can't find that spatula.
I'm also sick of roommates. I know i've a problem with people rearranging stuff of mine, i don't mind general stuff in common areas but there's a fine line somewhere and i feel it when it's crossed. I can't wait to move out of here and God-willing get my own place. Right now, i'm upset at just the thought that that spatula might be missing. God i hope it's not.
What's worse is that i can't find the spatula that came with my rice cooker. i used it friday night, washed it and it sat in the dishdrainer. i didn't bother to move it cuz i'd tons of stuff sitting there. The dishdrainer was emptied on sunday by my roommate and i can't find the spatula. The whole 'where's my spatula' thought is something i find very unsettling. I tried to look in the trash but it smelled so bad with the fruit and whatever else was in there and i couldn't locate it. But i did take it out of the container and look though the plastic. Bottom line, i would be very pissed if i can't find that spatula.
I'm also sick of roommates. I know i've a problem with people rearranging stuff of mine, i don't mind general stuff in common areas but there's a fine line somewhere and i feel it when it's crossed. I can't wait to move out of here and God-willing get my own place. Right now, i'm upset at just the thought that that spatula might be missing. God i hope it's not.
Sunday, October 10, 2010
The Kindle
Well, earlier this year i wanted the $259 kindle. It was just too expensive for me to buy. I know they'd been about 300 bucks earlier when they first came around. I actually wanted it for my birthday and then amazon brought out the latest generation with a lower price - $139. I knew i had to get one. I pre-ordered after going back and forth trying to decided between the kindle and the nook. I cancelled my pre-order after i hearing from the grapevine that amazon will likely drop the prices around Christmas. I thought why not wait. Well, I need to read. Part of what killed me during the summer was that i was too lazy to read. I borrowed books from the library and i barely read them. I figured the kindle might help me read more.
Guess what? it did. I got it last week, and thought what more to kindle my love for reading than burglar novel by Lawrence block. I believe the last book i read completely back in kansas was a Block novel about Bernie and i loved it back then. The library only had 2 of his burglar books so it ended there. I purchased "The burlgar on the prowl" and finished yesterday. Now i can't put my kindle down. I own the barron's hardcopy book but studying word listse from it has been a pain. So i ordered the kindle version last night and i've read the analogy section twice and completed 2 of the tests. I actually like reading on the the kindle better.
Even if amazon isn't making profit on the kindle, they'll surely make profit on book sales. I mean the probability that i'll order a block novel from amazon is zero because the library has them. But with the kindle, i've purchased 2 so far. Kinda suckx a little knowing that amazon sells the used copy for $2.39 and ships free with prime, too. I had the used ones in my cart but i love being able to look up a work immediately while reading instead of looking it up in a hard copy dictionary. I've learned soo many words just by reading. In fact the same applies to studying with the barron ebook. You can move your cursor to a word to look it up. Normally when i read the hardcopy book, i don't stop to look up words in the answer stem i don't know because it's tedious flipping back and forth through the dictionary. Plus the dictionary that came with my kindle is more comprehensive than the pocketsized one i own and offers things like "the right word" concerning words of the same semantic.
The kindle has 2 dictionaries by the way. I've purchased free books but i plan on buying the non-free ones as well. I know most of the books i wouldn't purchase, like Steig Larson or the doctor nover, knife music, i believe is the title. But i've seen them on the kindle store front, and for knife music, i read something by the author from the kindle daily and it made me wanna order the book right away.
I just wish the books were a little cheaper. i mean Blocks first Bernie novel is 8bucks. The book was written in the 70's. Why can't it be $5. I know i'll be ordering them in packs instead of buying them one at a time. Besides, i plan on reading the rest hardcopy. Buying a kindle book gives you the right to own read the book on your device. it's not like you own it like a hardcopy where you can sell it used.
i got a free biology textbook via kindle and i loved how it felt real, easy to navigate through the chapters, diagrams were just like the books. Great i thought. But considering publishers are selling e-books for about the same price as paperbacks or even more in some cases, i'm definately not going to dish out $150 for a bio textbook or o-chem textbook. Normally, i keep my textbooks clean and sell them either at profit or break even. Rarely do i sell at a small loss. I refused to buy the ichapters book for the bio II textbook because at $25 less than the physical copy, i considered it a waste of money, besides you couldn't sell it and only had access for a year.
If i'm a taking a litterature class or philosophy class where i can get kindle books cheap on amazon, i'll definately buy it but for a science major, i don't see the benefit.
I could go on and on and i know this post is somewhat desultory but i love my kindle, i'm glad i chose it because the $10 difference between this and the nook wasn't a big deal but i'll have to pay 6% on the price of the nook, 6% on books i buy and amazon has cheaper book prices than barnes and noble. Heck, barnes and noble has my philly address so they'll prolly be charging 8% tax instead of 6%. Plus i earn rewards on amazon. i heard the kindle was faster with page turns and to me, it's very fast, almost evanescent. i mean the old page vanishes and new one reappears in milliseconds. I'll end it here
Guess what? it did. I got it last week, and thought what more to kindle my love for reading than burglar novel by Lawrence block. I believe the last book i read completely back in kansas was a Block novel about Bernie and i loved it back then. The library only had 2 of his burglar books so it ended there. I purchased "The burlgar on the prowl" and finished yesterday. Now i can't put my kindle down. I own the barron's hardcopy book but studying word listse from it has been a pain. So i ordered the kindle version last night and i've read the analogy section twice and completed 2 of the tests. I actually like reading on the the kindle better.
Even if amazon isn't making profit on the kindle, they'll surely make profit on book sales. I mean the probability that i'll order a block novel from amazon is zero because the library has them. But with the kindle, i've purchased 2 so far. Kinda suckx a little knowing that amazon sells the used copy for $2.39 and ships free with prime, too. I had the used ones in my cart but i love being able to look up a work immediately while reading instead of looking it up in a hard copy dictionary. I've learned soo many words just by reading. In fact the same applies to studying with the barron ebook. You can move your cursor to a word to look it up. Normally when i read the hardcopy book, i don't stop to look up words in the answer stem i don't know because it's tedious flipping back and forth through the dictionary. Plus the dictionary that came with my kindle is more comprehensive than the pocketsized one i own and offers things like "the right word" concerning words of the same semantic.
The kindle has 2 dictionaries by the way. I've purchased free books but i plan on buying the non-free ones as well. I know most of the books i wouldn't purchase, like Steig Larson or the doctor nover, knife music, i believe is the title. But i've seen them on the kindle store front, and for knife music, i read something by the author from the kindle daily and it made me wanna order the book right away.
I just wish the books were a little cheaper. i mean Blocks first Bernie novel is 8bucks. The book was written in the 70's. Why can't it be $5. I know i'll be ordering them in packs instead of buying them one at a time. Besides, i plan on reading the rest hardcopy. Buying a kindle book gives you the right to own read the book on your device. it's not like you own it like a hardcopy where you can sell it used.
i got a free biology textbook via kindle and i loved how it felt real, easy to navigate through the chapters, diagrams were just like the books. Great i thought. But considering publishers are selling e-books for about the same price as paperbacks or even more in some cases, i'm definately not going to dish out $150 for a bio textbook or o-chem textbook. Normally, i keep my textbooks clean and sell them either at profit or break even. Rarely do i sell at a small loss. I refused to buy the ichapters book for the bio II textbook because at $25 less than the physical copy, i considered it a waste of money, besides you couldn't sell it and only had access for a year.
If i'm a taking a litterature class or philosophy class where i can get kindle books cheap on amazon, i'll definately buy it but for a science major, i don't see the benefit.
I could go on and on and i know this post is somewhat desultory but i love my kindle, i'm glad i chose it because the $10 difference between this and the nook wasn't a big deal but i'll have to pay 6% on the price of the nook, 6% on books i buy and amazon has cheaper book prices than barnes and noble. Heck, barnes and noble has my philly address so they'll prolly be charging 8% tax instead of 6%. Plus i earn rewards on amazon. i heard the kindle was faster with page turns and to me, it's very fast, almost evanescent. i mean the old page vanishes and new one reappears in milliseconds. I'll end it here
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