New Bio-Optic Device!

Introducing a new Bio-Optic Organized Knowledge device, trade named:
"BOOK".

BOOK is a revolutionary breakthrough in technology: no wires, no
electric circuits, no batteries, nothing to be connected or switched
on. It's so easy to use, even a child can operate it.

Compact and portable, it can be used anywhere -- even sitting in an
armchair by the fire -- yet it is powerful enough to hold as much
information as a CD-ROM disc. Here's how it works:

BOOK is constructed of sequentially numbered sheets of paper
(recyclable), each capable of holding thousands of bits of information.
The pages are locked together with a custom-fit device called a binder,
which keeps the sheets in their correct sequence.

Opaque Paper Technology (OPT) allows manufacturers to use both sides of
the sheet, doubling the information density and cutting costs. Experts
are divided on the prospects for further increases in information
density; for now, BOOKs with more information simply use more pages.

Each sheet is scanned optically, registering information directly into
your brain. A flick of the finger takes you to the next sheet. BOOK may
be taken up at any time and used merely by opening it.

Unlike other display devices, BOOK never crashes or requires rebooting,
and it can even be dropped on the floor or stepped on without damage.
However, it can become unusable if immersed in water for a significant
period of time. The "browse" feature allows you to move instantly to any
sheet and move forward or backward as you wish. Many come with an
"index" feature, which pinpoints the exact location of selected
information for instant retrieval.

An optional "BOOKmark" accessory allows you to open BOOK to the exact
place you left it in a previous session -- even if the BOOK has been
closed. BOOKmarks fit universal design standards; thus, a single
BOOKmark can be used in BOOKs by various manufacturers. Conversely,
numerous BOOK markers can be used in a single BOOK if the user wants to
store numerous views at once. The number is limited only by the number
of pages in the BOOK.

You can also make personal notes next to BOOK text entries with an
optional programming tool, the Portable Erasable Nib Cryptic
Intercommunication Language Stylus (PENCILS).

Portable, durable, and affordable, BOOK is being hailed as a precursor
of a new entertainment wave. Also, BOOK's appeal seems so certain that
thousands of content creators have committed to the platform and
investors are reportedly flocking. Look for a flood of new titles soon.

Now Playing: Ceili Rain's CD "No You - No Me". Listen to sound clips at Ceili Rain

I love to read!!

My screen name once-upon-a-time was "LifeIsAPolka", taken from the Ceili Rain song "Life Is a Polka" from their Erasers on Pencils CD. This is the second time I've changed BookCrossing screen names, as (1) the old one (Tatterdemalion) simply wasn't representative of me any more, and (2) people had a hard time remembering how to spell and pronounce "tatterdemalion" (a synonym for "ragamuffin").

"Life is a polka" is my current life motto, and I will expound a bit on this now. :) It means that the gift of life is a precious gift to be ENJOYED and CELEBRATED and that I want to participate in life fully - with zest - with gusto - and with joy, and that involves taking risks. It's my heart's desire to bring joy and encouragement to others. So, I dance a happy polka dance all across the Internet. Hopefully, others will join in the celebration and we'll each spread a prodigious amount of joy around this weary old world. :)

There will be joy in Heaven. As C.S. Lewis wrote: "Joy is the serious business of Heaven." I say, let's start practicing joy HERE and NOW!

If you'd like a good, refreshing, and invigorating dose of joy, Heavenly partyness, and non-smarmy encouragement, please do yourself a favor and treat yourself to a visit to Ceili Rain. I can't begin to say enough good things about Bob Halligan, Jr. (leader of Ceili Rain, lead singer, bodacious songcrafter, irrepressible, exuberant, compassionate, wonderful driving force behind Ceili Rain). Come on! Check out the website!

An appropriate and encouraging quotation for all raggedy, tattered types who feel beaten down by life and suffering:

"Servants! Farmhands! Peasants! Poor! Come and learn who you are in the eyes of God. You poor of Jesus Christ, you afflicted, unfortunate suffering, infirm, diseased: all you who are burdened with misery, listen to me! You are the children of God, brothers and sisters of Jesus Christ, co-heirs of His eternal kingdom, His cherished inheritance. Lift up your minds: you are the children of God. Look through the tatters that cover you. There is an immortal soul within you made to the image of God, a soul redeemed at the price of the very blood of Jesus, more precious in the eyes of God than all the riches and all the kingdoms of this earth. Know your dignity -- you even share the Divine Nature -- Children of God, Children of the Most High!"
~ St. Eugene de Mazenod (1782-1861)





My Main Blog (at Xanga), Including Reviews of Books I'm Reading

Encouraging Quotations from the Saints

I Am The Recipe Bandit!!

Mr. McFierceson's (my cat) Blog - Tres droll >^..^<

Miss Maggie's (my little baby doll cat) Blog. She has a lot to say... sometimes! =^..^=

Be It Ever So Humble

Life Is A Polka's Blog Spot (Lots of original photos posted here!)

Life Is A Polka's Webshots Community Page (should you want to download full size images of my photography)

Status symbols on my shelf:
(Be sure to check who has set the status. I may not be the last journaler on a book.)

TBR - means I haven't read the book yet. As I am a slow reader due to illness, it takes me awhile to read. Please don't ask for a TBR as I won't be able to guarantee when I will read it or what my plans for it will be when I do. Although I will sometimes have a note about what I do intend to do with it.

AVL - I don't have many of these as I prefer to wild release books or choose where I will trade them. I really can't afford to mail a lot of books right now. If, by chance, I have AVL marked, feel free to ask for it.

PC - A book that I plan to keep in my permanent collection. I sometimes loan these out to close friends and will keep track of where the book is through journal entries.

RES - These are books that I will be releasing or trading at a future date. The method with which I will free these books is up to me. I often have a specific release in mind. I often have my plans for the books in the journal entries.

TRAV - Books that are no longer in my possession, but have not been journaled yet. Since I don't make release notes on controlled releases, this is how I mark those books. The book's destination will be noted in the journal.

About Me
I am an avid reader of Classic fiction by such authors as Charles Dickens, Jane Austen, and Charlotte Bronte. I also enjoy children's literature a great deal and believe that I am greatly blessed for having waited until reaching my 30's to have read a number of children's lit books for the first time (rather than reading them at what my teachers, bless their hearts, had deemed the appropriate time.) Always the late bloomer! Maybe one of these days I will actually read Tolstoy's War and Peace for sheer enjoyment instead of as a college requirement! (Why can't War and Peace be as enjoyable as his short stories? Sigh).

One of my favorite authors is George MacDonald, who was a contemporary of Charles Dickens. He was a prolific Scottish, Christian author whom many of my email friends would appreciate as a "ragamuffin" or a "tatterdemalion" (read, he wrote about God's GRACE!). Many of his novels and fairy tales are available online as free e-texts (scroll down the page to see titles of his fiction works). You won't regret checking him out! Perhaps reading an e-text or two will hook you enough to buy the books in hard copy!

I do not pretend to have a giant intellect :) but I do like to read G.K. Chesterton and C.S. Lewis in small portions when my concentration level is equal to it. This New Year of 2005 finds me resolving to read and to enjoy some of Chesterton's fiction works, the first of which I aspire to read is Manalive. Unfortunately, my local library doesn't have much of his works (prose or fiction) except some of The Father Brown Mysteries, which I do enjoy. The majority of G.K. Chesterton's works are available gratis at G.K. Chesterton's Works on the Web.

I read everything from A.A. Milne's Winnie the Pooh, to Bert Ghezzi's Mystics and Miracles, with many things in between. I love reading Roman Catholic theology, so long as it is written in plain English and not in theo-babble! Last year I tried to read more biographies and autobiographies of canonized saints (again, the operative word here is "incrementally", as I have an illness which makes it extremely difficult to concentrate and retain things I've read in my memory). When "extra" ill with ME/CFIDS and fibromyalgia, I read a good deal of "fluff". This past year has found me reading a number of Lilian Jackson Braun's The Cat Who... mysteries, which I enjoy greatly. I am trying some new mystery authors later this spring.

Music is a great passion of mine, and I enjoy many genres of it, having in the past couple of years (finally!) acquired a taste for Celtic music (but not the New Agey type stuff - to each his own :)) and Jazz. My primary genre of choice is Christian rock and folk music (the honest, gritty kind - NOT the sugar sweet icky fake junk! Oh, man, I really get into Phil Keaggy when he's rocking!). My secondary genre of choice is Classical music, especially chamber music and the Baroque Era. This past winter, I discovered that I really like music from the Renaissance Era. My third genre of choice is what - perish the thought - I must be an old fuddy-duddy! - the music stores call "Easy Listening": I enjoy Perry Como, Dean Martin, Judy Garland, Frank Sinatra, Liza Minnelli, Keely Smith, and Louis Prima (well, Louis was more Jazz...) Add to this that I am developing more and more and MORE of a love for Big Band music, especially the Glenn Miller Band with Tex Beneke on vocals. This year I would like to try some Tommy Dorsey Orchestra with Frank Sinatra on vocals. In the past number of months, I have been listening to a lot of U2, having an almost obsessive desire to listen to All That You Can't Leave Behind over and over again.

The life, music, words, and ministry of Rich Mullins have had an exceptionally profound impact on me. Rich went Home to be with the Lord on September 19, 1997.

My favorite Christian artist now is Bob Halligan, Jr. and his band Ceili Rain. They are pure heavenly partyness!

When my illness permits me to do more than just sleep, I love to knit, crochet, email, surf the web, practice photography, cook, flower garden (I would hope to add VEGETABLE gardening to my skills in this next year, if I could but persuade myself to start small), and in general, I try to be a cricket on the hearth among my family and friends as was Beth in Louisa May Alcott's Little Women. Right now, I am not feeling like much of a cricket on the hearth, except for at home, where I am trying to cheer my dad's life since his mother/my grandmother died right before Christmas 2004.

My two cats are a source of great joy (and many challenges to my patience and sanity - LOL! :)) and they help me endure with great humor and happiness the down times of having CFIDS (chronic fatigue immune dysfunction syndrome).

I am looking forward to spending more time BookCrossing in the coming months and years, and I hope that God will be able to somehow use me to bless just the right people with just the right books at just the right time in 2005 and the years to come. Would that there was such a thing as CDCrossing, too!

Always remember to forget
The things that made you sad.
But never forget to remember
The things that made you glad.

Always remember to forget
The friends that proved untrue.
But never forget to remember
Those that have stuck by you.

Always remember to forget
The troubles that passed away.
But never forget to remember
The blessings that come each day.

(Irish Blessing)

God's Richest Blessings be heaped upon you in lavish abundance! May Abba God smile upon you this day and for all of eternity.

~LifeIsAPolka

Prayer for John Paul II's Intercession
Published by Rome Diocese

O Blessed Trinity, We thank you for having graced the Church with Pope John Paul II and for allowing the tenderness of your Fatherly care, the glory of the cross of Christ, and the splendor of the Holy Spirit, to shine through him.

Trusting fully in Your infinite mercy and in the maternal intercession of Mary, he has given us a living image of Jesus the Good Shepherd, and has shown us that holiness is the necessary measure of ordinary Christian life and is the way of achieving eternal communion with you.

Grant us, by his intercession, and according to Your will, the graces we implore, hoping that he will soon be numbered among your saints. Amen.

"Give yourself fully to God. He will use you to accomplish great things on the condition that you believe much more in His love than in your own weakness." ~Blessed Teresa of Calcutta

Edit: It's been three years since I've updated my BC profile. Perhaps it could be one of my New Year's resolutions to do so once again at the onset of 2009. Peace of Christ to you!