Friday, September 26, 2008

Freebie Friday

When you need your eyes and hands for something other than a good book, there's the audio route. I prefer MP3s for their versatility. You can burn them on CDs and play them in most modern CD or DVD players, upload them to an iPod or stream them to a networked media device. And if that isn't your cup of tea, you can always burn them back into Audio CD format.

I'm cheap. If someone offers a good free product, it draws more attention than a paid one. Below are some free audio book resources online. All legal. All public domain.

The Human-Read audio books at Project Gutenberg contains a series of LibriVox recordings. What sets LibriVox apart is it's community oriented style. People record themselves reading a chapter of a book then submit it. Though most books appear to be read by the same person, there are times that different chapters are read by different people throughout the experience.

I try to avoid the automated text to speech processes. The old ones were horrific and sounded more like a 1980's TI-99. The newer ones sound like they recorded a person speaking a few hundred words then vicariously cut and pasted the audio. Although an improvement, it lacks the tonal inflection and emotion that makes story listening a pleasurable experience.

Of course, the best way to get enjoyable audio from a good book is to have a loved one read it. I read to my children almost every night and even record a few books for times when I'm away on business. Reading becomes interactive as the children start asking questions and adding their own commentary. It gives me insight to their likes and dislikes and provides the benefit of reminiscing over childrens' books that have been long forgotten from my own youth.

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Monday, September 22, 2008

I'm feeling [insert adjective]

As autumn begins its merry dance and trees across the still green lawn shake gold hues into their leaf tips, the wind changes shape. The sky changes its face. The rift between the livelihood of summer and the dead of winter reveals itself as an inevitable change and plasters in colorful cracking coats, exciting thoughts and refreshing the imagination.

I noticed that when people ask me how I'm doing, if I state a mere "I'm feeling O.K." then the day feels dull and feelings of inability shoot through my core. But when I reply "I'm doing Fantastic!", "I'm feeling Great!" something changes. And like the autumn blaze in the season before us a feeling of capability and creativity begin its constructive work.

Last week my wife and I had a discussion about change. About changes that lie before us and the changes we've been through. About the habits of millionaires and the activities of people who lead happy lives. Through that conversation two immediate changes came up.

1. Drop the TV.
A good amount of what we watch is educational, but still entertaining. Shows like Good Eats and Mythbusters are peppered with documentaries on health, finances and history. There's still some mindless entertainment, though. Last night I took some down-time watching a couple of three-stooges episodes. And though I only watch 10 hours of non-scheduled programs a week, opposed to the national average of 19 hours, that's still 10 hours that could be pared down to 2 (for Family Movie Night).

2. Spend that extra time reading.
My personal take on reading has been to find something that excites the imagination. But reading books to hone and create skills, to challenge and build faith and to encourage thought and creativity need to be more prevalent. The idea is that if I can inspire my desires into action then I'd be more successful in life. For example, I could be a better photographer, a better Dad, a better Husband, a better thinker, a more creative programmer, and overall enjoy life more with a change in attitude and thought that comes through reading and applying.

So those are my two major lifestyle changes that have come up recently. I hate it when people say "you can't teach an old dog new tricks" or "you're too old to change". Bah! That negative attitude didn't bring them any success. Statements like that are insulting. They're saying "you're incapable, unintelligent, too complacent, unmotivated, uncreative..." At the heart of the matter is a lack of faith in God. The Bible is loaded with examples of men, young and old alike, changing. Anything I create I can change. Similarly, anything God creates He can change.

So what am I feeling? I'm feeling change!

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