I have a Kindle.  I’m rather fond of my Kindle.  But if I can’t get the book I want to read for my Kindle, I’m not above buying those things made from tree mulch.  At Barnes & Noble or Borders or the local independent bookstore.  Or even the newly-renovated public library up the street!  I go to Amazon for convenience.  If they take away my convenient, it’s their loss when I jump in my car and visit their competitors.

Also?  Why I’m not getting an iPad:

Love,
Mom

I am grateful for a lot of things, but mostly I’m grateful for the people in my life.  I’m grateful for my family and friends, co-workers and chorus-mates, my mail carrier and the UPS guy, the guys who take away the garbage and recycling, the cashier at the grocery store who is always cheerful and smiling, the salesman at the phone store who kept us all entertained while we waited in line forever.

I’m not always a “people person,” but I do appreciate all of you even when I want to hide in my room as far away from you as I can get.

Sometimes when I’ve driving around, I see color combinations that make me want to stop the car and pull out my paints right then and there.  This compulsion is especially strong when I see that orange-pink-purple combination in the sky.  This usually occurs in evening rush hour, and is why I don’t carry painting supplies in my car.  Can you imagine the conversation I could have with the police while trying to explain why I’m blocking traffic?

…because that would just be too normal and expected, right?

So today I’m going to say thank you.  To all who have served in the military, and especially all those who are currently serving… thanks.  What you do isn’t easy, and I appreciate your ability to do a job that a lot of us flat-out couldn’t handle (myself included).

Now be safe, ok?

Keanu Reeves can be (nearly) forgiven for a wooden performance because he’s playing an alien.  Jennifer Connelly and Kathy Bates both do good jobs with their characters, and John Cleese is always delightful… even though he only has a bit part.

The thought that stayed with me was this: what is it about Humans that we need to destroy whatever we don’t understand?  If that’s the way we’re wired — as opposed to being a mode of behavior that’s learned — we’re probably not going to need an alien invasion to get rid of us.  We’ll manage just fine by ourselves.

Fortunately, I’m of the belief that we can learn to get along.  It would be swell if more people believed that, too.

It makes me wonder about the relationship between Lasik surgery and living in a funeral home.

OMG!! The 100+ year old Victorian I live in used to be a funeral home! Maybe this spam email is a message from the Mothership that I ought to be seriously considering Lasik surgery!

On a serious note, have any of you had Lasik surgery? If so, would you recommend for or against it?

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]]> http://blahblah.aerten.com/2008/06/its-easier-to-be-an-asshole-to-words-than-to-people/feed/ 0 http://blahblah.aerten.com/2008/06/an-open-letter-to-auto-makers/ http://blahblah.aerten.com/2008/06/an-open-letter-to-auto-makers/#comments Thu, 12 Jun 2008 09:30:03 +0000 Kelly http://blahblah.aerten.com/?p=51 Dear Automobile Manufacturers, Both Foreign and Domestic:

I note from watching your many television commercials that some of you are quite concerned with ensuring the passengers of your vehicles ride in the total silence of space. You are to be commended. I have a suggestion for you, however.

In addition to ensuring that passengers are wrapped in a muffled cocoon, perhaps you would be so kind as to design your cars so that the stereo systems of said cars can only be heard from inside that lovely bubble of silence. I’m sure that the young men driving past my house at 2:00am would revel in the ability to blow their eardrums out of their heads, while I would praise your names to all and sundry if said young men would not wake me from a sound sleep with the noise they fondly call music.

I will be watching with great anticipation for the television commercials announcing this new feature in your automobiles.

Sincerely,

Someone Who Freaks Out Badly When Rap Music Is Played at 150 Decibels at 2:00am Outside the Bedroom Window

Are they kidding?

Do you people remember the 1968 Democratic National Convention?  It was in Chicago.  There were riots.

Hello, Denver?  I love ya, and I miss ya… and you might want to ask these nice activist people to re-think their plan.

In 1968, I was a kid.  At the time of the Democratic National Convention, the whole family was on vacation driving around the country in our 1965 Chevy Bel Aire station wagon.  (It was white.  Gosh, the things one can remember.)  We watched the brouhaha on television from our motel room.  I think we might have been in Wyoming at the time.  It seems awfully scary watching it on tv.

I’m just saying it might be a good idea not to have history repeat itself.  And I’m kind of hoping I just made that all about about the activists.