I purchased a Sony PRS-500 Portable Reader System a week ago, simply because I thought I could use it to replace some of the many books that are cluttering up my living space. I’m on a minimalist kick, so the slim and sexy Sony appealed to my sense of aesthetics, let alone to my idea of consolidation. The fact that most of the books I own haven’t been created as digital files didn’t occur to me. I just had to have the last Sony eBook Reader that was for sale at my local bookstore.
When I went to snag the code for the reader at Amazon, I was surprised to see all the negative feedback for this tool. After I read some of the reviews, however, I realized that some people just don’t realize the significance of this reader. This is not a backlit mini-version of a handheld computer. This reader is just like a book. You need a book light to read it in a dark bedroom. Plus, every button has significance, and the books available to read aren’t just those that are on the best-sellers list (although I’ll admit that one of the first books I downloaded was Stephen King’s new novel, Duma Key).
I have enjoyed my eBook reader tremendously so far, and I’m not even close to understanding what all I can accomplish with this tool. I do know that I’m much happier with the look and feel of this Sony reader than I would be with the Amazon Kindle. The more I look at the Kindle, the more cumbersome it seems. But, don’t put it past me to purchase the second version of the Kindle…I’m going to be patient for that one.
Posted by Linda at 9:35 PM PST
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I picked up this book about Decorating Junk Market Style just before the holidays. While I thought it was a ‘cute’ book at the time, I’m convinced that these two “hockey mom” authors are on steroids - the things that they create from junk are absolutely amazing! I wouldn’t want to try to make some of them, as I know I would lose a body part to a saw or I would manage to drill a new body cavity. I’m not that graceful in the “shop” department.
But, I’m keeping this book close at hand, as the next time I visit a junk yard or a second-hand store. I’ll have some ideas for those chairs (that can be made into a bench), those mailboxes (which can be made into a shoe rack), or that monster truck hubcap (that can be used as a headboard - seriously). This is major recycling, folks!
The book is fun to read and it’s laid out nicely with great photos. The authors include instructions for each project, and they also include “Junking Tips.” For instance, they suggest starting without outdoor vendors first when shopping at a flea market. The “fine antiques” are usually inside, where weather isn’t a factor. Outside is where you find the real “junk,” and the boxes under the tables can hold treasures. Sometimes the seller will give you a better deal on the entire box if you ask.
Oh, I can’t wait for summer…I can hear the junk calling. However, if I find an African fertility goddess in one of those boxes, I’ll probably leave that item behind with the seller. Carpets, however, are another matter.
Posted by Linda at 8:00 AM PST
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I’m one of those folks who can easily spend four hours in a tub reading, sleeping, and grooming. Fortunately, I found an apartment with a “garden tub” that’s deep and that keeps water hot for hours. But, at heart, I’m a clawfoot tub gal. My grandmother had a clawfoot bathtub and I never forgave her when she “modernized” the bathroom and sent that tub to the salvage yard. After all, I could have converted that tub into a sofa like the one seen above.
I’d be in seventh heaven with two tubs. In fact, I might never leave home.
Via: Inhabitat
Posted by Linda at 8:00 AM PST
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The air quality indoors is worse than outdoors. Plastic used for our daily furniture production emits pollutants (benzene, formaldehyde, and trichloroethylene) whose levels are maximal during warm and humid periods.
Bel-Air is a mini mobile greenhouse that continuously inhales the space-polluted air that goes through tree natural filters: the plant leaves, its roots, and a humid bath before rejecting it purified. This patented principal has two advantages: Bel-Air is to the American and Asiatic common filters working appliances what Dyson is to regular vacuum cleaners. Here, the noxious particles are captured, and transformed inside the system. No more filters to change then, and no more clogs.
As for the aesthetic, Bel-Air breaks up the codes. The plant is unbolted from its ornamental statue and becomes a true object of service. As a vegetal brain enclosed in an aluminum and Pyrex cranial box, Bel-Air is the new cutting-edge of new objects/guardian angels that will soon protect us (from ourselves).
Innovating form A to Z, “Bel-Air” can here and now be purchased as a prototype. The goal is to invite the buyers to become voluntary guinea pigs of the current test protocols in order to study and report to the conception team its behavior and condition of use. Accordingly, “Bel-Air” will improve at the maximum its performances before an effective production during 2009.
Read on, mon cher! »
Posted by Linda at 1:54 AM PST
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