LeanneBennett.com

I've written before about my iPhone and my iPad and how much I love both. I know some people will think that makes me a geek, but to me it's about how much both things give me. Not just for themselves, but for the part they play, not only in my entertainment but also in making my life better overall.

One way in which they do both is with the book reading apps iBooks and Kindle. Of course they allow me to read, which is the point, but they also give me a nudge on increasing my vocabulary.

I don't know about you, but I could easily count (actually on zero hands!) the number of times I've stopped reading a paperback book to pick up a dictionary. Now this hasn't been all bad because I've become quite good at figuring out the meanings of words from context. However there are definitely times I can't pick up the meaning by just reading the word in a sentence.

Both iBooks and Kindle have a built-in dictionary that makes it so easy to look up words (just by touching the word on the page) without even losing my place. So why wouldn't I?! I now find myself looking up many words (sometimes just to see if I'm right!) all the time. Plus, in addition to the definitions of words, I can easily get the pronunciation as well, which I clearly can't pick up from context. And when iBooks/Kindle don't know the word, they give me the option to search Google or Wikipedia for the term instead.

I also love the PDF function in iBooks. When I get a PDF document in email, or if I save one from the Internet, I have the option to open it in iBooks. Not only does this let me view my PDFs on the go, it saves a copy to my personal iBooks Library so I always have it with me. I've used this for everything from a manual for my printer to my daughter's school lunch menu. It's really handy!

Years ago, I was such a die-hard paperback fan and a staunch believer that an e-reader would never be something I'd want (much less come to love) that I now hardly recognise myself in this area. It's easy to talk about the feel of paper and the sound a book makes, but my reality is that everything I gain -- total mobility, a complete library that I can go back and read again whenever I want, ease of purchasing books, a record of all the books I've purchased, a place to store and access all of my PDFs -- so far outweighs any touch or sound I might have once been excited about.

I know there are people who will always want paper, and I'm fine with that. But I think there are also a great number of people who want paper now but, like the me of years ago, just haven't yet tried an e-reader. They’re definitely not going to bring about world peace or solve the economic crisis, but IBooks/Kindle have made reading an easy joy for me.  Maybe, if you haven't yet tried it, they could do so, for you too.

My husband and I have always been fans of the television show Friends. We have been fans ever since Friends first existed. When we were just friends ourselves it was a talking point. Then when we became a couple, we watched it religiously together, kept videos of the show and watched episodes again many times over.

And then we indoctrinated our children. J Our children have seen many, many episodes, and Friends remains a show that we can all watch together at any time. It’s funny to hear an 11 year-old, or even a 6 year-old, say, with complete earnestness, “I’ve never seen this one!”

We still discuss it, we can quote lines to each other and we identify entire scenes from a single quoted line.

We watched the complete series from the beginning to the very end. We often discussed both the good things and the absurdities that happened in the show. (All of these beautiful people had trouble getting a relationship??) And we’ve enjoyed watching all the episodes again on various channels.

To this very day, Friends remains a show that almost anyone in my family will watch at almost any time.

To be honest, we are TV and movie people. We have a lot of favourites and know a lot of quotes from a lot of different shows and films.

But Friends will always be special to us. It was a special show, with a unique group of people, and writing like we’d never seen before at that point in our lives. And even 18 years since it all began, it’s still funny and can make us laugh, even when we know all the jokes ahead of time.

No other show has had such longevitity with us or with our children. Sponge Bob may come and go. Lost has definitely gone. (And I still miss it!) But Friends, I feel, will always be with us.

One song I really love is Paramore's I Caught Myself. I realise I'm way too old to like this music, but I honestly don't care. For me, it's the song, really regardless of performer. If the song touches me, I like it, and I'm sticking with that.

One poignant line from the song that really hits me is "I don't know what I want." How often I've felt this way! Even when I've been in situations that some other people might envy, I have found myself thinking, "This isn't what I want."

But then, the inevitable question, "What do I want?"

When I graduated from University, we were given one free visit to the Career Counseling Service on campus. When I met with the Counselor, she told me that in previous years they had told graduating classes that they'd change companies at lease 10 times in their working lifetime. For my graduating class, she said, they were telling graduates that we were likely to change careers 10 times in our working lifetime.

For me this has pretty much held true.  Since holding my first 'real' job, I've been:

A preschool worker
An insurance broker's secretary
An insurance claims processor
A secretary/interpreter (for a deaf boss)
A secretary/tour guide/interpreter at a University
An information specialist at an information clearinghouse
A software trainer
An IT Teacher
A Network Manager
A 3rd Line Server Technician

But I actually studied and planned to be a Psychologist.

And now I'd like to be a writer. 

Good thing I'm a born 'Jack of all Trades'. (I'd like to believe I don't fit the 'Master of None' that usually follows, and honestly I think I've done a good job at all the things I've been.)

So the Counselor was right, and I may not be done yet.

Well, I guess if Grandma Moses can start a painting career in her 70's, I certainly won't let (my much lower) age stop me from doing what I want to do! :-)

Now I just need to be sure what that is. And I'm pretty clear I do know. (At least for now. ;-) )

"Words come easy when they're true."

Those are the words to the song Shame, sung by Robbie Williams and Gary Barlow.

And such ridiculous words they are. I've hated that line ever since I first heard it.

The reality is that many times speaking the truth is the exact opposite - it's so very hard, not easy. When we've done something wrong, or need to talk to someone else that has, or when there's a problem we don't really want to see or discuss, words are anything but easy.

Just ask Richard Nixon, or Bill Clinton, or hey, even Pinocchio.

The truths we don't want to speak (but often feel we have to) are called hard truths. And the clue is in the name.

I suspect Messrs Williams and Barlow know this as well, which could help explain why it took them 15 years to be able to sing those (silly) words together in the same room.

Hard truths are difficult, but sometimes they must be said.

It's not catchy, and I suspect it won't sell me hundreds of thousands albums. But it is absolutely the truth.

It's been a hard day for me, and I needed a little cheering up.  This link did the trick -- especially Stephanie Wright's sledding/sledging guinea pig. :-)

Enjoy:

BBC Snow Pictures

So...I've been writing. Not just here, but other things.

I've been very careful with my dream, but I feel ready to share it. I'd love to be a writer. To have a book published. To do that job every day. That sounds just about perfect.

And I have some great ideas. At least I think they're great. So, for a while now, I've been jotting down my ideas whenever I have them. And now and then, I'd sit and write for a time.

But I have a fairly large family -- a husband and three children. I have a full-time job. I commute about 2 - 2 1/2 hours a day. And my husband and I (and the children at various times) do things together: we have television series we follow, we love comedy, we watch a lot of movies, we go out to dinner now and then, we do things on the weekend. Plus I read, like A LOT. So spare time is not exactly overflowing.

However, the time has come to stop dithering. It's time to actually do something.

Writers write.

So I've been writing here, on my blog, everyday unless there's a big reason not to (Yesterday was a big emotional upset, but we'll gloss over that for now.). And I've also been writing regularly on another project.

I've committed to doing this. I've also committed to working on and completing a single project. (which has been one of my issues -- too many ideas, and too little completion!)

So, I'm sharing with you that I'm working daily on my current project. My time is precious and limited, so it's not as much as I'd like to be doing, but it's consistent. And eventually, I will have completed a book.

Now how good that book turns out to be, we'll have to see.

But I WILL FINISH.

I am determined.

And now you know.

I have almost no voice.

You don't realise how important a voice is until you don't really have one.

I had some surgery a few months back that affected my throat, and my voice has never been the same. As my voice is now rough and very quiet, I struggle to be heard some days. And it's hard.

Today was a bad voice day. It happens. I managed to do what I had to do at work, but I've had to repeat myself many times today, both in person and on the phone. And then in person again when I got home, because I'm harder to hear sometimes after a long day at work.

And well-meaning people often ask me if I have a cold and tell me I sound 'terrible'.  I understand their concern and their kindness, but it's hard sometimes to be told just how badly you sound.

I don't know if my voice will ever completely come back. (Some days are pretty good, and others are quite bad, so it's hard to know.) And the doctors I've seen about it aren't sure either -- they're doing tests to see if they can help, but we're at the beginning of that process. I'm coping, and most days I'm okay with it, but sometimes...

It's really hard when you can't be heard. 

So this is my 'voice'. And on my blog people can 'hear' what I have to say. Even if it's only a few people, writing here gives me a way to say very clearly whatever I want or need to say.

So, to anyone reading this, thanks for 'listening'. :-)

I recently bought cosmetics on eBay. I really should have thought this through a lot more.

One item I received, but it's not what it says it should be.  It's a cream, and it doesn't smell the same or feel the same as the cream I purchased from the manufacturer previously. And, of course, the seller vehmently denies it is a fake, even though I'd had confirmation that it isn't real from a genuine representative of the company. So now I'm having to pursue a claim, deal with an angry and snippy seller and wait for 10 days before I can pursue it any further with eBay.

The second item I purchased just simply never arrived. I wrote to the seller -- no response. So I raised a case with eBay, and the seller refunded in about 10 minutes.  This one makes me think they never sent it and just hoped I wouldn't notice or wouldn't pursue it if I did. Sheesh.

So, two purchases and two complaints to eBay.

So I've learned my lesson about buying cosmetics on eBay. It may save a few pounds, but my time is worth more than that, and avoiding the aggravation I've received is worth a lot more.

Lesson for today (for me at least) -- buy cosmetics from the genuine retailer. At least then I'll know that I'm getting the real thing and if there's a problem, they'll make it right. 

As it happened my daughter and I went to visit the ladies' room, as often happens for us in restaurants for some reason. On our way downstairs, we passed several other diners, one of whom was indulging in penne with a plain tomato sauce.

Now this was no child, but a woman of nearing grandmother age, so I was quite surprised. She was out in a restaurant having plain pasta that she could make in 10 minutes or less any day of the week at home.

I'm sure Prezzo makes lovely tomato sauce, but I'm flabbergasted by people who order this sort of thing. I understand wanting food you're comfortable with, but there is such a thing as too much 'comfort' in my book.

If I'm going to a restaurant the last thing I would do is order something I could make (especially from a jar) in a few minutes myself at home. To me, restaurants are the very place to be daring and try new things. I may not always like everything I order, but the enjoyment of having something special and different is worth the risk.

So those of you who stay in your comfort zone with boring old same-y dishes in restaurants, give it a go! Live a little! Try something new! This is your chance to have a little adventure, and your very own chef to deliver it.

Well, he's/she's cooking for everyone, but that special meal is just for you!

Be brave, enjoy the ride (even if you don't always enjoy the food) and find something new and inspiring. The adventure is just waiting at a restaurant near you. :-)