Erin Writes

Originally published at erin-go-blog!. You can comment here or there.

When Rand and I first moved in, I was very excited about this little patch of garden area on our patio. I was going to grow herbs! And maybe some flowers! I decided to let it go the first year, because with the wedding and everything, I didn’t expect to have time to get it going.

So last year, I went and got some gardening supplies, and made an attempt to dig in. I failed. I found the dirt hard, filled with rocks and roots, and basically impossible for me to deal with.

And then this happened:

The condo association had this new fencing put in, and in the process, they left my little “garden” (which was empty, but not in horrible condition) in a mess that was going to make it even more difficult for me to deal with.

But instead of calling anyone to complain, I just left it like that.

Now, if you’ve ever been a part of a condo/homeowners association, you’ll know that they like things a certain way. Passive-aggressive memos started to appear in the newsletter about keeping your garden area maintained, or else pay to have it removed and have grass planted in its place.

Well, anyway…I called my parents, who are slightly more green-thumby than I am, and we arranged for a weekend for them to come and visit and participate in a festival of gardening! That happened this past weekend, and this is the result:

We planted a collection of herbs (parsley, sage, rosemary, thyme, basil, lavender, and cilantro, which I added later), some flowers, and a lilac bush.

I also bought this hanging basket:

We also bought a cover for our grill, so we could leave it out and actually, y’know, use it.

So yay for productive weekends, awesome parents, and really cool aunts who buy herbs for us.

Originally published at erin-go-blog!. You can comment here or there.

In the grand scheme of things, 2010 probably wasn’t all that eventful for me. I read 50 books. I started teaching AP Literature. I did a bunch of normal stuff.

But if I have to pick one thing that was kind of a Big Deal for me, it’s this:

I sang. With Rand. On a stage. In front of people.

Yeah, I was in a musical when I was 12…and I did Greek Sing in college, but I was just a voice in a chorus. This was different…and if you had asked me a couple of years ago if I would ever do this, the answer would have been a resounding “no.”

Originally published at erin-go-blog!. You can comment here or there.

Every once in a while, I realize it’s been like two weeks since I posted anything, and decide to info-dump a bunch of random stuff. This is one of those times.

Stuff about Books:

I’ve actually gotten a lot of fluffy, just because I want to, reading done in the past couple of weeks, and it’s been very enjoyable. You can find me on Goodreads (feel free to friend me, but if I’m unlikely to recognize your name, just drop me a line or two telling me who you are!)

If you’re my facebook friend (and if you aren’t, why not?), you’ve already seen my plug for PaperBack Swap…but for those of you who haven’t, here’s where you can find me. I’ve found PaperBack Swap an incredibly useful source for trading used books. I have a bunch of books posted right now, and I’d love to find them homes!

Stuff about TV

Rand and I just finished watching the entire run of Sports Night on dvd (again), and I’m reminded of how ridiculous it was that it got canceled after two seasons. Sigh.

I’m trying desperately to catch up on episodes of So You Think You Can Dance, which I got behind on when we went on vacation. Since writing that sentence, I am caught up UP TO this week, which means I have not watched the performance or results shows that aired this week.

We just got the first disc of Castle in the mail from Netflix, so that’s on our to-watch list. Finally.

I swear that when I started this post, I had more than two categories of things to write about…but *whoosh* whatever it was is gone now. I guess I’ll post again later if I remember!

Originally published at erin-go-blog!. You can comment here or there.

I tried multiple posts of varying lengths, and I got the same result every time.

Originally published at erin-go-blog!. You can comment here or there.

Something that made you smile today

• Some of my favorite students winning awards at our underclassmen awards ceremony this morning.
• A colleague telling me how happy she is that I was hired.
• My wonderful, sweet, amazing husband telling me how happy he is to be with me.

A 10+ year old picture

Me and Jen with country singer Collin Raye at a concert in Myrtle Beach. I’m having trouble remembering what year this was, but the last time we went to Myrtle Beach was 2000, and I don’t think this was that year.

But here’s another one for good measure:

Me and Lisa, Alpha Delta Pi Spring Party, 1994 (I think).

What’s that? You want to see a pic of me in high school?

That’s me going to the prom in 1990. (Yes, I cropped ex bf out of the photo…)

Originally published at erin-go-blog!. You can comment here or there.

Recent picture of yourself

Well, this is the most recent picture of myself I can find that I’m willing to post:

(taken by Jen, on her phone)

Originally published at erin-go-blog!. You can comment here or there.

Favorite Movie

My standard answer to this question is these three movies:

Read the rest of this entry »

Originally published at erin-go-blog!. You can comment here or there.

I’m not going to start by blogging about my lack of blogging, because hello…boring.

I logged in and I noticed that I had several beginnings of posts saved as drafts that I will probably never finish and post, because I no longer care. That happens more and more lately…

I just uploaded a few photos to flickr–things that were on my phone. I still have some stuff on my camera that I will get around to uploading soon. (I love sending photos from my phone–it’s so easy!) Among those photos is one of my little red Chevy Prizm, which I recently said goodbye to. I’d been driving it for nearly ten years, which is about as long as I’ve lived in WNY. That probably needs its own post one of these days…anyway, we bought a Honda Insight, and the Civic is now my driving-to-work car.

I am liking my phone quite a bit, but am finding myself tempted with the idea of an iPod touch so I can have access to apps not available for Droid. It occurs to me that I have never bought a new iPod–I’m on my second hand-me-down from Rand–so it wouldn’t be totally insane.

I’m finding that I’m not reading as much as I would like, and my to-read pile grows by the day. I’m going to have to start making a dent in that. Here’s my current to-read shelf at goodreads, which I’m certain is not complete…not all of those books are in my possession, and I know there are books in my possession that are not on the list.

The last non-school book I finished was my friend Seanan’s book A Local Habitation, which I owe her a review of. I am a BAD FRIEND. (I liked it, by the way. Maybe not as much as Rosemary and Rue, but there was plenty to like. I promise to write a proper review in the next week!!!)

And finally, today was the last day of school before SPRING BREAK, BABY. I am not going anywhere fun/interesting, but I will be enjoying my week off. Whoo!

Originally published at erin-go-blog!. You can comment here or there.

As a part of our wedding gift, my good friend Jam gave Rand and me a gift certificate for Kiva. So what’s Kiva? Here’s some info from their about page:

Kiva’s mission is to connect people, through lending, for the sake of alleviating poverty.

Kiva empowers individuals to lend to an entrepreneur across the globe. By combining microfinance with the internet, Kiva is creating a global community of people connected through lending.

The initial gift allowed us to make two loans: over time, those loans have been (mostly) paid back. Today, I went to Kiva and used a portion of our balance to make a new loan and give a small donation to Kiva to cover operating costs.

I think Kiva is a really cool organization, and I encourage you to check them out!

Originally published at erin-go-blog!. You can comment here or there.

I have to admit, I feel sort of guilty about loving my Kindle after Amazonfail part deux, but I do love it so. I see a lot of hate directed toward the e-book reader out there on the internet…and while it’s not my goal to change anyone’s mind, I thought I’d write about a few of the reasons why I like mine.

1. Instant gratification

Last week, I decided that I wanted to read the Newbery-winning When You Reach Me. I mean, I knew I wanted to read it, but I decided that I wanted to read it right now. I went to Amazon, downloaded the free sample, and was happily reading away within minutes. When I got to the end of the sample, I clicked on “buy,” and had the whole novel at my fingertips.

2. Portability

I love being able to carry around a whole library of books anywhere I want. Now, I don’t carry my Kindle with me *everywhere*, but I always take it with me when I have an appointment, or when I’m traveling. (Any reader knows the dilemma of choosing which books to bring with you on vacation, or even on a weekend away. Now I can bring as many books as I want!)

3. Buying more books, taking up less space

I am an English teacher married to a librarian. Needless to say, we have a lot of books. I don’t even have room for all of my books…I have books in boxes. I have books in my classroom. I have stacks of books in random corners all over the house. And Rand? Has more books than I do. With our Kindles, we can continue buying new books that we don’t have to find shelf (or floor) space for. (Please note…this has not stopped either of us from buying books in their regular  form.)

4. Electronic Paper Technology

I know lots of people read e-books on their iPhones and other portable devices. I know (also) that lots of people are excited about the iPad and its e-book reader. What I love about the Kindle that those devices don’t offer is the way it mimics actual paper. (Yes, other e-readers have this technology, but I don’t own those. If I did, I’d be writing about them…) There’s no backlighting–some people have complained about this, but backlighting is what makes looking at a computer screen for extended periods hard on your eyes.

5. The sample option

I mentioned this above, but I love being able to sample a book before deciding if I want to buy it. It’s the electronic equivalent of browsing in a bookstore (something I also enjoy doing). It’s also a good way for me to keep track of things I might want to read.

Now, is the Kindle perfect? Of course not. One thing, for example, that I hope Amazon offers in the future is the ability to share books within a household. Rand and I both have Kindles, but we have no way of sharing reading material. So if Rand buys a book for his Kindle and he thinks I might enjoy it, the only way for him to share it with me is to give me HIS Kindle. Or for me to buy another copy of the book–something we would never have to do with an ink-and-paper book. (a quick google search lets me know that there are ways of sharing, but they’re not *good* ways.)

And then, of course, there’s the DRM problem (which is sort of the same issue as above). I occasionally think I should be more upset about it, but I haven’t been able to get worked up over it.

Anyway, that’s what I like about my Kindle. Now that the iPad is out there, do you think the Kindle is a dead technology? Will people still want a dedicated e-book reader when there is a device out there that can do a bunch of other things as well? Will the latest Amazon debacle over pricing of e-books drive potential customers away? (I have no idea…that’s why I’m asking you!)