Sunday, January 07, 2007

The Sunday Smorgasbord

1. Bloglines is the way to go! Thanks to all who recommended it. I had to set it up again since it had been so long since I went there, they had forgotten me. It took 2-3 hours to get everyone in (would have been shorter if I had remembered my sub with bloglines button....lol), but now I am with the program and it is SA-WEET! (An addition: I forgot to say that I have 115 feeds in Bloglines, and that doesn't cover all of the blogs I read. Apparently some of them don't allow RSS feeds). Now you know why it took me sooooooo long to read everything!

2. You've heard me rant about magazines before. I used to subscribe to about 15 of them, and I seldom had time or interest in reading more than the captions on the photos. All that has changed. I let all my subscriptions expire, and spent several magazine-free months going through withdrawal. (How could I ever get through the week without looking at the photos in the latest Veranda or Traditional Home?) Know what? I discovered that I can do without them easily, and if I get a hankering, I can either go to the library and look at their copies - or browse a bookstore's magazine racks.

Then I received an offer to convert airline miles to free magazine subscriptions. That sounded like a fair exchange to me, even if the list of available magazines was not completely to my liking. So I filled in the little boxes, mailed off the requests and soon began receiving Smithsonian, Gourmet, and Atlantic Monthly. I thought (rather vacuously) they'd look good on the coffee table, even if I never read anything in them. But guess what? I love Smithsonian and I've discovered that Atlantic Monthly, far from being too intellectual (as I had thought), is chock full of interesting articles. I place it in the bathroom and read snippets all during the day as the opportunity arises. I was surprised to discover that I had read the whole magazine, cover to cover. That has probably never happened before, except when I was a teenager reading Seventeen.

For instance, in the September 2006 issue, I read all about global warming, the inequality of salaries, Rudy Giulani's hope to be president, the foibles of Homeland Security, past-presidential doodles, Wikipedia: it's beginnings and future, and the burgeoning billionaire service industry, which is a revelation to me and most interesting. As someone once said, "The rich: they are not like you and me" (or something like that). It seems that once you are filthy rich, you need people to take care of all your acquisitions; homes, autos, antiques, jewelry, stocks/bonds/accounts, etc., as never before. So you hire someone (Super-Jeeves, they call him) who has been specially trained to be at your beck and call, and always do it with the utmost grace, gentility and subservience. And you pay them through the nose. I'm in the wrong business, maybe. But then, I have never been good at brown-nosing or gentility, or subserviance either, for that matter.

Gourmet magazine is probably a waste of time for me, but I do pass it on to a friend who is aspiring to be an even better gourmet cook. I read and drool over the recipes, but that is about as far as it gets. So far, I have not been moved to make anything from the magazine. Maybe I can get her to cook something for me...LOL...as payment. Say, that's the ticket!

3. I learned something yesterday: don't go to the county dump on Saturday unless you want to idle in a long line. Having cleaned out the garage and a storage closet, I had a great load of cardboard boxes and their plastic and styrofoam inserts to get rid of. I packed it all in the van and drove to the dump, which is only about 5 miles from my home (at least until 2008, when they say it will be filled).

Rounding the corner into the street approaching the dump, I was instantly sorry I had made the trip, as I saw a long line of cars waiting their turns at the recycle bins. I veered into the right lane so I could drop off the boxes first; they go to another section. When I got out of the car, I was met by a man who asked me "Do you know where the boxes go, young lady?" I said "Yes, they go into that contraption, there", pointing to a large metal bin which collapses the boxes and mashes them into a much smaller pile of cardboard. He smiled as though he was pleased at my reply and hauled the boxes away for me. I got back in the car and drove away, thinking to myself that once men start calling you "Young Lady" you must be looking very old! Perhaps my decision to let my hair grow out to it's natural color was premature?

21 comments:

srp said...

Hi Judy,
Your story about the dump sounds like my dad. He cut a bunch of limbs off the fig tree and was going to put a big string of rope around them and call the pick up service. Then he found out from them that the limbs had to be four feet long or less and no more than four feet high so he was going to go out and recut them down to size. Friday morning he heard a truck motor out there and when we went out, they were gone. The limb pickup comes on Friday and they must have taken them. He worried about it... I said, "Don't look a gift horse in the mouth."

I'd say I'm here from Michele but just came on my own... got skipped there again but saw you had a new post. I'm off to church in a few minutes.

craziequeen said...

'Young Lady' - there are so many ways to upset a female in those two words - age discrimination, sex discrimination, assumptions.....just that little phrase is a minefield!

Me, I don't worry about that stuff.

If the man is older than me and calls me young lady, I am touched. If the man is younger than me I am ridiculously complimented!!

Isn't life strange and wonderful?

cq
Here from Michele

and there's a new post at the Palace....!

Pat said...

Thanks for the e-mail Judy. I'd love to be super efficient but it doesn't come naturally! I believe it was F Scott Fitzgerald who said that about the rich - about his friends the Kellys?

Carolyn said...

I used to get Smithsonian but didn't renew since I knew I'd be moving. I'm a Better H&G & Country Living subscriber- oh, and Wine mags. The marketers have found my new addy now, so the offers for others are starting to come in. And the catalogs-- I'm already drowning in catalogs ;D

Anonymous said...

I am one of those Type A's that insist if I pay for a magazine I must look at it all from cover to cover before I discard it. I also drool over the recipes and only try them around the holiays. Since my next 'permanent' move is coming in a few years I am slowly dropping subscriptions as well.

Anonymous said...

I can so relate to the magazines. This past year I let Vanity Fair and Oprah magazine run out. Too many seemed to be piling up. So much to read...and so little time.
Visiting here from Michele's......

Anonymous said...

I enjoyed your blog so I blog rolled you thanks for the comments and I posted that picture with out the rain ;)

Here sort of via Michele ;)

Anonymous said...

I am here via Michele's blog again ;)

I checked that might blog had a feed after your addition ;)

Anonymous said...

Congratulations on your renewed Bloglines! Wow, and I thought I had a lot to read with my... 25 blogs in my feeds... ;)

I am sure that letting your natural color grow back actually makes you look younger. That's usually what happens.

Karen said...

Hi Judy! I haven't been visiting in ages! Hope all is well. I love the random list - very fun. I've actually NEVER read Smithsonian!

Happy New Year!

OldLady Of The Hills said...

Very interestimg post Judy! But can you explain what the purpose of Bloglines is??? Why would someone want to be a part of it? I'd really like to know but can't find out! So...if it is the way to go...where is it taking you?
Sounds like you made some great choices in mahazines...I haven't seen Atlantic Monthly in years and years....it sounds like it is still an excellent magazine! I kind of stopped quite a magazines a few years back when I realized I wasn't reading them and that they were piling up...and like with Vanity Fair, too many AD's...Hard to read when a magazine is so chock full of Ad's...!

poopie said...

Well, young lady! Glad you got all that cleaning out done.

Anonymous said...

Always a challenge to avoid the recycling lines after Christmas!

I shall also check out Bloglines again. Like you, I have used it in the past, but it kind of fell into dis-use with me.

Here today via Michele!

rashbre

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the b-day wishes!

One of my biggest eye opening experiences was visiting the dump in Houston. What are we creating w/ our consumerist lifestyles? The amount of tonnage of tax-write off donations (goodwill, salvation army, etc) being shipped overseas has skyrocketed in the last 12 years.

N.Carolina is a beautiful state, btw. Two of my children went to college there.

Raggedy said...

I don't even know what Blogliness is??? I feel fortunate just to have figured out how to put things in html on my sidebar. I don't even know how to do the blogroll thing. I know I am pathetic.
I used to read magazines but quit those years ago. The only time I read them is when I pick one up at the Doctor Office while I am waiting, waiting, waiting. My last appointment they were two hours behind and when I finally got in I was there five minutes with the Doctor and he got called to ER..lol
The magazines I do like are all available online so I just read them there when I need a fix.
My Dad gets all the ones you mentioned but he is over 3,000 miles away so I can't swipe them anymore...
Well, young lady, I am glad you know where the cardboard goes..teehee
Have a wonderful day!
*^_^
(=':'=) hugs
(")_ (")Š from
the Cool Raggedy one

Pat said...

Judy it's the bad penny via Michelle. I'm off to bed now. Night night!

Anonymous said...

I gave magazine subcriptions for a few gifts this year. The gift that keeps on giving all year long -indeed!

Karen Townsend said...

I get some magazines, but not as many as I used to. I found they weren't getting read. I did enjoy Smithsonian when I subscribed to it, though. I gave my MIL 2 subscriptions this year for part of her Christmas present from us.

Anonymous said...

1. I started on Bloglines... but it just doesn't seem that "personal."

2. I subscribe to Saveur... The recipes are rather exotic for home cooking, but the travelogues are awesome.

3. I never go ANYWHERE when it's crowded. I had to go to the supermarket today. I seethed.

Nice to see you again, young lady.
p

here via Michele today.

brendalove@gmail.com said...

Where in the world will Raleigh have a new dump site?

Anonymous said...

We've been getting "The Week" lately, which we've been reading cover to cover and enjoying. I know what you mean about getting tons of magazines and not reading them, and then finding a few that you actually like so much you make time to read.