My kid is graduating

My kid is graduating

I’ve always said that my Significant Other and I have done our part for the species, because our (now adult) kid is a much better person than either one of us. ;)’

We’re heading off to New Orleans for my kid’s college graduation. We’re going to be there for about a week…in addition to the graduation, there are other events. One of them (proud parent puffs on fingernails, shines them on shirt) is the Phi Beta Kappa ceremony.

Graduating from Tulane (which some people call the Harvard of the South…although other colleges claim that too) with a 3.97 is a great achievement. Some of you may know that this is despite having had to take a medical leave at one point. Oh, in case you are wondering? Linguistics…and French. It was amusing for me when my kid was home on a break and we watched telenovelas in Spanish, I was hearing German YouTube from my kid’s laptop, and we saw movies in Turkish. 🙂

Okay, I don’t usually tell you this much about my family, but I’m just bursting with pride right now. 🙂

Why does this matter to you?

Being on the road for a week creates a different dynamic for me with this blog. We don’t take a laptop any more. I can write short things on my Fire, but I don’t really feel comfortable writing a thousand word piece that way.

That means I’ve been writing ahead (I’m actually writing this on Monday). That’s hard. I tend to fill up the unscheduled times in my life, so that I end up working near capacity. I think that’s true for a lot of people. To double the amount of time I spend on the blog (so I can write ahead) requires cutting back on other things some.

I suppose it might be healthier to allow some “empty” time ordinarily, but it just doesn’t seem to work that way. I recently said to somebody that I should make a t-shirt that says, “Stop…and don’t smell anything.” 🙂 That’s the real mindfulness challenge, I think. Needless to say, I’d find that difficult. I did do the shirt, though:

Stop and don’t smell anything shirt

and a mug

Stop and don’t smell anything mug

Writing ahead may be an advantage for you as a reader..I may have time to do a lengthier or more thoughtful piece, for example, by writing it catch as catch can over a few weeks, rather than all at once on one day.

There are three minor negatives that I can see for you:

1. I may not be able to cover a major story as quickly and completely as usual. Let’s say that Amazon releases a few new tablets while I’m at the graduation ceremony…that might be tough to research properly in the first hour. 🙂 On the other hand, I do work full time as it is, and still manage to get to things in a timely fashion

2. I may not be as responsive to comments, although I’ll get to them eventually

3. I won’t have my older Kindles with me to do research…I’m only bringing my Kindle Fire

By the way, my Significant Other laughs at the idea that I won’t be spending just as much time. 🙂 I do expect I’ll jump into the Business Center from time to time, and properly, our kid will probably spend more time with friends than with us. This isn’t a family vacation, like when we went to Boston in March. That means we may have more down time in the hotel. Our kid’s coming back with us  for a month or so before moving to Boston, so we will help with packing and such, but still…

By the way, potential burglars…this doesn’t mean our house is empty when we are gone. 🙂

In case you don’t feel like you are getting enough ILMK, I have scheduled

The Collected I Love My Kindle Blog Volume 1

to be free today. 🙂

What am I taking on my Kindle?

Newsstand:

Okay, I admit it: I am taking two paper magazines with me for takeoff and landing. The FAA is looking at that rule, but for now, I don’t want to take the chance. I have recently, though, switched one subscription to digital, so I’m making progress. 🙂 I have some magazines downloaded, including National Geographic and the Smithsonian. It’s worth noting that I also have a subscription from Zinio I expect to read.

Books:

I have more books on my Kindle right now than I usually do. I’ll probably have about twenty, rather than ten or so. That’s just back-up…I shouldn’t need that many (my record is only three and a half novels in a day), but I do like to bounce around.

Music:

I’m not adding any music to my Fire, but I do have some on there. That’s not a big deal to me. Old Time Radio? Yes, I’ll bring some of those.

Video:

Partially to test it for you readers, I have rented a movie…

Battle Royale

It’s a 2000 Japanese movie (based on a 1999) novel about a group of teenagers forced to fight each other to the death on TV. I do want to see how much it is like The Hunger Games, or perhaps I should say, how much The Hunger Games is like it. I’ve blithely said that you could watch a downloaded, rented movie on your Kindle Fire on an airplane without the internet, but I haven’t actually tested it. For one thing, I think $3.99 to rent a movie seems like a lot…there are so many free movies, and buying them doesn’t seem that much more expensive. I do go back and rewatch movies, and $3.99 to rent for 48 hours versus $14.99 to own it (so others on my account in the future can watch it as well) doesn’t seem like a huge bargain.

When I rented it, I got this:

“Reminder

This movie is not included with your Amazon Prime membership. You will be charged for this transaction if you continue.”

A banner appeared: “Your 48 hour rental is available until June 11 @ 5:52 AM”.

Those were both nice reminders. I’ll need to download the movie before we head to the airport, and then I’ll have 48 hours to watch it.

Docs:

I do have my travel information on there, but thanks to the latest update, i password protect it. That makes me more comfortable if my Kindle Fire is lost or stolen (knock virtual wood), and I have had that happen once already. There are some pictures and such on there.

Apps:

I’m likely to play Dabble. 🙂

Web:

If the flight has GoGo in-flight internet, I plan to try it out…maybe on the way back, since I want to try watching Battle Royale without it on the way out.

Well, enjoy the week! You’ll get at least a post from me every day, and I’m likely to sneak in a few others. 😉

Signed — a Proud Parent

This post by Bufo Calvin originally appeared in the I Love My Kindle blog.