Kindle Games on Sale

In case you didn't know, beside reading material, there are games to play on the Kindle when we want a break from reading including a variety of Sudoku games and New York Times crossword puzzles plus free games like Blackjack, Every Word, Mine Sweeper, Shuffled Row, and Video Poker. Occasionally, some of the games go on sale which is, of course, the best time to get them. At this time, several games are available until March 27 for only US$0.99. Unfortunately, some are not available to residents outside the U.S.

So far, the games I enjoy most are:

Maze A Thon (regular price $0.99)

Slingo (regular price $3.99) and

Solitaire (regular price $3.99).

This week, I picked up:

Chess (regular price $2.99)

Hangman 4 Kids (regular price $1.99)

Mahjong Solitaire (regular price $3.99)

Scrabble (regular price $4.99) and

Texas Hold'em (regular price $3.99)

saving nearly $13 off the regular prices. Score!

Score your own by checking out your favorite games or find new ones you might enjoy while the sale lasts.

Retail Therapy

I feel like a kid in a candy store, grabbing handfuls of whatever I want.

Since I received my Kindle a month ago, I've shopped until I dropped looking mostly for free ebook versions of the classics I've wanted to read as well as those I want to reread discovering in the process that "The Three Musketeers" by Alexandre Dumas is the first book of a trilogy and that the old Errol Flynn swash-buckling movies, "Captain Blood" and "The Sea Hawk," were made from books by Rafael Sabatini who had other international best-sellers.

I've been reading what I've been downloading, too. "My Man Jeeves" by P.G. Wodehouse, "The Scarlet Letter" by Nathaniel Hawthorne, and "The Red Badge of Courage" by Stephen Crane are a few of the 17 books I've read so far of the nearly 260 ebooks I've acquired.

Yup, two hundred sixty. It's "nearly" since one is the Kindle User's Guide.

Under typical retail therapy, at an average of $5 each if I was lucky, 260 books would cost me half a fortune ($1300) and fill several bookcases.

Practicing the ebook version of retail therapy, I spent $32.74 for six books: one Bible, two novels, four references; and was surprised that the 260 ebooks left 2.7 GB free out of the 3 GB available on my Kindle.

What else can I say?

<Happy dance!>

Lesson 7

Hallelujah!

I finally made it past Lesson 7 which has eight measures of the "Ode to Joy," the theme of Beethoven's Symphony No. 9, that was hanging me up.

Indeed, playing it on the tin whistle is soooo much easier than on a recorder!

Now, I'm on Lesson 10, the last lesson of the book that came with my recorder, having skipped Lesson 8 because I have no idea how the songs are supposed to sound, and am looking forward to my next tutorial that I'm expecting to be delivered tomorrow.

Using a tutorial with a CD is important for me since I don't read music well enough to play by the timing indicated on the sheet music. I play along with the song running through my head, and if I don't know a song, I can't play it.

For Lesson 7, because there's more music running through my mind than there are notes on the page, I searched this afternoon and found the rest of the sheet music. By the looks of it, I'm not intimidated although I still have to learn how to play it. That's okay for now because while I can play the eight measures smoothly, I'm still learning since I'm not yet able to keep up with the music in my mind. I'm sure I'll get better with practice and when I can do it all, I'll be able to play along with my CD of Symphony No. 9.

Just imagine - me, playing Beethoven on my tin whistle backed by the Chamber Orchestra of Europe conducted by Nikolaus Harnoncourt!

Whoo-hoo!

Score! (Meg)

I decided to learn how to play a tin whistle as being more practical than learning to play an ocarina because I can change to different whistles, if I want, without having to learn new fingerings.

Selecting the Clarke Sweetone because it sounds close to the Clarke Original tin whistle, which breathy sound I like, but is reputed to be easier to play with a comfortable plastic mouthpiece designed by Michael Copeland instead of the metal mouthpiece with wooden block on the Original, I then modified my choice to the lower-priced Meg, also by Clarke, because of a review that included an mp3 comparison between the Sweetone and the Meg that's supposed to sound nearly like the Sweetone except I couldn't tell any difference.

I looked at a few websites to check the range of prices.

Calling a couple of music stores in my local area, thinking to get my whistle right away plus save on shipping, I found one store with the Clarke Original in D for over $15 more than the highest-priced Sweetone and another that had the Clarke Original in the key of C for a similar price. Neither have the Sweetone and only one store would be able to order it - for more than the lowest price online including shipping. Neither have the Meg nor would be able to order it.

That's definitely not cost-effective for me, a rank beginner who doesn't yet know how far she'll go with this endeavor.

Considering that some websites sell the Meg for the same price as the Sweetone (talk about profit margin!), and finding prices too good not to share at The Whistle Shop, I had some Megs sent to a musical friend with children in another town. Thom Larson's excellent service is so fast with Priority Mail (2-3 days) that is also the least expensive method to ship, that they've already received their Megs and started playing.

I received mine as well and started playing by using the book that came with my recorder. Fingerings for the beginning notes (B A G F# E D) on the whistle are the same as for my recorder and a fingering chart with a song sheet was included, so I'll be occupied for a while learning the fingerings for the notes that are different on the whistle. One thing for certain is that a whistle sounds a WHOLE lot better than a recorder. Let's see if I can finally get past Lesson 7!

You'll have noticed by now that I haven't quoted exact prices and if you've read my other "Score!" posts, you know this is where I normally state the price of the item I scored. However, because my above-mentioned friend is a faithful reader of my blog, I'm not doing it this time because that would be like leaving a price tag on a gift.

So, sorry to inconvenience you, but you'll have to look it up yourself, if you really want to know the price. Besides, if you intend to buy a tin whistle, or anything else for that matter, you should check out websites yourself to comparison shop with the stores in your town to see if you can come up with something better.

More importantly, your satisfaction with any whistle you may choose will depend a lot on whether or not you like how it sounds which is entirely subjective.

In conclusion, I'll merely state that I'm extremely pleased with my find and shout...

SCORE!

The Downside of Learning to Play a Musical Instrument

Ever since I was a child, I've wanted to learn how to play a musical instrument. Back then, it was the organ. My parents enrolled me in a package of ten piano group lessons that I complained about because I was too young to appreciate having to wait around for 40 minutes of the hour-long lessons while the two other students received their 20 minutes apiece.

(Not that I'd appreciate waiting around for 40 minutes now, either.)

It was too boring for words and the little electric piano the teacher had us using sounded terrible. There was absolutely no joy in the experience that I had eagerly anticipated and my parents never tried it again.

In my teens, I got myself an acoustic guitar, some instructional material, and tried to teach myself to play. I thought I was doing fairly well and enjoyed the sounds I was making but quit because I didn't know it was normal for fingers to hurt like crazy until calluses built up on tender skin.

I'll spare you other painful details with more instruments in the intervening years because those two examples should suffice for you to get the big picture.

During my road trip in 2007, I bought an instructional book by David Harp that came with a CD and harmonica from the REI store near San Diego. It was different because it didn't have songs like other music books but taught riffs for blues and rock songs. They were very easy to learn and I was imitating a train with whistle the first night. Maybe it wasn't music in the sense of playing a melody, but it sounded good to me and, most of all, it was fun!

Until I misplaced the book and CD.

Last year, I bought a book and recorder from the Wal-Mart children's toy section for about US$10. Being adult about it, I refrained from buying one of the translucent bright red or blue or purple recorders and settled on a solid, sedate, ivory; not that I wasn't tempted to get one that was more colorful.

Several times last month, I watched "Australia" on HBO thinking more and more, "I can do that" whenever the boy played "Over The Rainbow" on his harmonica. So, I got my harmonica and copied the tabs for the song off the Internet.

Except the song doesn't sound right.

Getting another copy that doesn't sound right either, but in different places, I spent over three and a half hours one Thursday night with them and my harmonica making a third set of tabs that sound right to me.

My lips still hurt on Saturday.

This time, I know not to give up entirely as I did with the guitar, but what do I do in the meantime? I still want to make music and even my sporadic, paltry attempts are deeply satisfying.

Another thought that crossed my mind was, "What if I get another episode of Bell's Palsy?" although I've been at least 95% free of it since Christmas. With a minor sense of not being 100% okay, I decided that I need something else that's travel-sized to alternate with the harmonica. That way, should I lose control of one side of my mouth again, I could stick the mouthpiece into the other side and still be able to play.

I went back to the recorder and played through the lessons to see why I quit. Ah, yes, I remember. Lesson 7 introduces a note that requires me to uncover the thumb hole. That was the show-stopper.

You see, my thumb has a mind of its own.

When I tell it to cover the hole, by golly it's going to keep that hole covered no matter what. As a result, when I tell it to uncover the hole, it yields only with intense reluctance after much earnest protesting. When I tell it to cover the hole again, it yells at me to make up my [blinking] mind. There's no point to switching hands because both thumbs are in cahoots.

I hate being chewed out by my own body.

After a week of fighting over that single note, I'm thinking there's got to be something better for me.

My remaining options appear to be an ocarina or a tin whistle, also called a penny whistle although many are no longer made of tin and none cost only a penny anymore.

The ocarina is an old South American wind instrument that was made popular by Giuseppe Donati, an Italian brickmaker circa 1850. Issued to soldiers during World War I and II, ocarinas are having a revival because of "The Legend of Zelda" game series by Nintendo. Ocarinas are available in different styles, materials, colors, and prices starting at US$5 with the number of holes ranging from four to twelve.

The ocarinas with four finger holes that don't have thumb holes sound like they'd be the best for me. Those that have six or more holes may instigate more arguments with my thumbs.

Researching tin whistles is encouraging because they are reputed to be the easiest instrument to learn, don't have thumb holes (Hallelujah!), sound better than recorders, and are available in a wide range of prices. Since even professional musicians use whistles that cost US$25 or less, there's no snob appeal in having an expensive whistle. The thing that matters is whether or not you enjoy the way your whistle sounds.

The sole negative is that since the increased popularity of Celtic music that started back in the 1970s and because the majority of Celtic music is in the key of D, it's hard to find instructional material in the key of C even when it isn't Celtic music.

The good part about the soprano or high D whistles that beginners typically use is that they're easier to play than those in the key of C because they require less air. Because the holes are closer together, it's less of a stretch which may be a determining factor for the small hands of children.

Another good thing is that tin whistles all use the same fingering to produce the notes. Once learned, what one has to do to play in a different key is merely get a whistle in that key and get used to the whistle's different length and spacing of the holes which isn't that easy when it's something like a low D.

Learning on a whistle in a key other than D results in the student not sounding right only when playing along with an instructional CD or with other people unless they're also using instruments in the same or a complementary key.

Hannah Kate Kinnersley wrote in her Wall Street Journal article, "Music Lessons: Learning To Play The Tin Whistle," that learning to play a musical instrument is good for children because "Studies say that children who play an instrument score higher on math tests and show improved concentration. Adults who play score better in memory tests."

The advantages of getting an inexpensive, travel-sized, musical instrument is that you'll have something to entertain yourself and others during overly long waits, car and bus rides, hiking rest stops, or evenings by the camp fire; you'll be able to cheer and comfort yourself when you're lonely, and it won't cost much to replace if lost.

In addition to these advantages, it's ideal for your preparedness Grab & Go bag because it doesn't require batteries.

Even if you don't count relaxation or the sense of accomplishment that comes from making your own music, it's all upside. There is no downside to learning how to play a musical instrument.

All you have to do is select an appropriate instrument and find the method of learning that works best for you.

Too Good Not to Share #2

Here are links to more things I've enjoyed on the World Wide Web.

The BBC Wildlife Magazine and London's Natural History Museum own the Veolia Environment Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition:

The winning photographs for 2009.

Caution! This may make you die from laughing:

Cat Betrayed Girlfriend.

You don't need blue skies to make good pictures:

Fifty Beautiful Photographs of a Cloudy Day.

Nice, strange, beautiful, fun, bizarre:

Oddee.com is a blog on the oddities of this world.

Do you think you've got a hard life? You can't make this stuff up (although a few do sound like it):

FML.com - Your everyday life stories.

Finally, some beautiful music (I love the rain drops and thunder sound effects they make.):

Perpetuum Jazzile performs Toto's "Africa".

Fashion?!

Yesterday, a friend and I attended a light luncheon and fashion show put on by a local business women's club in the cafeteria of a local hospital. The clothing was provided by Dillard's, modeled by members of the club and their daughters as well as the club's scholarship recipients. The $25 tickets were a gift to my friend from her employer.

Since I've eaten there before, I was confident that the food would be good and the setting pleasant. Sure enough, the round tables with white tablecloths customarily used for banquets awaited us loaded with plates of salad, dessert, and sparkling goblets of iced tea and water at each place.

As expected, the food was delicious, so much better than I've had at other cafeterias, good enough for a decent restaurant. Two grilled steak strips topped the bed of freshly crisp rabbit food punctuated by rather large soft croutons with a bread stick along side. The dessert was a layered, flaky cream pastry topped by strawberries.

The accompanist was a man I had met in a local music store who had left a long time ago. The last I heard, he was the music minister for a local church. David joked with us as we were deciding where to sit saying that we'd have to pay him $2 for the privilege of sitting at the table closest to him.

The fashion show opened with a mother-daughter pair of unmatched black and white coats. The busy print on the mother's coat was large enough to tell it was houndstooth and small enough to be an instant headache. The black and white houndstooth on the girl's coat was larger and a relief to see but still too small to look good.

With that start, I was not eager to see the rest of the show.

As it turned out, the fashion show was a mixed bag leading me to hope that whoever put the show together isn't making fashion her career.

Some of the outfits were fine but the descriptions inappropriate. For example, a lovely pine green dress was described as emerald. Another dress, totally unsuitable for the office, modeled with stiletto-heeled, thigh-high leather boots was described as an outfit for the professional.

I leaned to my friend, "Professional what?"

What got to me were the separates that came across as totally uncoordinated and downright ugly. For example, while gray is a neutral, supposedly going with anything, gray slacks that were definitely cool in color temperature were topped with a print blouse and short jacket in light olive green, soft gold, rust, and other colors on the warm side of the color wheel resulting in the model looking like she was chopped in half at the waist. All I could think was, "Ugh." Why weren't warm neutrals such as khaki, tan, or brown used for the pants instead? Best, in my opinion, would have been pants in a darker olive.

Pleasantly surprising were the shoes that ranged from fun black and white lace-up tennies to slip-ons to boots to platforms with those really high "hooker" heels you just know that no woman will be able to stand or walk in comfortably for very long.

Between the categories of casual, business, party, and evening wear were dance performances by a group of teen girls. Seeing movements that were rather listless and sloppy except for their high kicks, I told myself not to be hard on their performance since they were only teens. Then, I remembered that high school cheerleaders look alive and put snap into their routines. Why can't these girls? Of course, they can. It must be their choreographer or whoever was coaching their practices who let them look like slouches.

The best part was the door prizes. I almost always pray to win something I can use and when I heard, "Now, we have a $50 gift certificate to [a local flower shop]..."

I thought, "No, Lord. I don't want that."

The name was pulled and the announcer finished, "...goes to Gail Rhea."

Puzzled, I accepted it with thanks and pondered how I might use it before its expiration date as the rest of the door prizes were awarded.

Near the end, the lady seated next to my other side won a small green cutting board and paring knife set by Pampered Chef that I instantly coveted. As we stood to leave, I ventured to ask, "By any chance, would you be willing to exchange door prizes with me? That shade of green is my cousin's wife's favorite color and I'd love to be able to give it to her."

I know that my gift certificate was worth much more than her prize, but it isn't always about monetary value, is it?

The real question is whether the set will make it into my cousin's Christmas box or if I'll end up keeping it for myself.

It's the perfect size for traveling.

First Kite Day of 2009

Wednesday afternoon was the first time I was able to go kite-flying since the chill of last fall through the thunderstorms of nearly the last three weeks.

With the ground still muddy in spots, I carefully picked my way through the park to select where to place my stakes after launching each kite. I usually like to fly two or three kites at a time, anchoring them with light tent stakes, because they look so much better when flown in small groups, keeping each other company.

The first and third kites are favorite deltas of mine, Flip Flops #33195 and Warm Checkerboard #33123, both by Premier. They were doing well, so I launched my Parafoil 5 Rainbow Tecmo, Premier item #12035, between them for variety. The color-blocked tube tail proved to be too heavy for the existing wind, so I exchanged it after a while for the streamers that came with the kite.

There's something about kites. At the same time, they are both calming and uplifting, their bright colors cheering the soul while the fresh air and sunshine clear away the stresses of modern life.

The parafoil rode low above the horizon as sleds and parafoils usually do, and was easy to watch while the deltas surfed the vagaries of the wind. At times, they soared directly overhead and I felt like I was bending over backwards to view them from under the brim of my hat. When I was too lazy to check overhead, I searched for their shadows flitting along the grass.

After a while, I brought down the parafoil by walking it down with my hand on the line to lower the kite. Replacing it with a ladybug kite I bought last week at Walmart, I launched the ladybug only to have it crash almost immediately.

Bother!

Launching it again, I kept a suspicious eye on it until it got up to altitude having never flown that type of kite before and having had trouble with a previous kite by that company. The ladybug is a 25" wide modified diamond kite in that the top is a diamond while the lower section is rounded like the shape of a ladybug.

In addition to a center spine with cross spars to be inserted by the customer like a standard diamond kite, the top edges of the LadyBug also have fiberglass rods sewn in. The tail consists of a 3/8" wide length of nylon with nine small ladybugs stitched on at intervals.

After the relaunch, it flew nicely for a while, the loose legs wiggling realistically as if the ladybug was crawling across the sky. Oddly enough, this kite was flying west, directly into the descending sun while my other kites were flying toward the north. While I pondered why this might be, considering the wind was from the southeast, the ladybug headed downward as though it was going to do a gentle loop then accelerated to... CRASH!

Hmm.

Relaunching it made me review how other kites behaved. My deltas, diamonds, birds, and butterflies, usually make loops or simply drift downwards like sleds and parafoils when the wind goes away. I have a seagull kite, Go Fly A Kite item #15200, that consists mostly of outstretched wings that settles to the ground when the wind dies and has been known to relaunch itself when the wind picks up again, if I'm patient and leave it alone.

This ladybug?

There it goes again. CRASH! Now, I'm annoyed. How does X Kites test their kites, anyway? The other kite I had problems with was their SpinBox Spectrum, #82402, that I returned to the store I bought it from when I was in California. I tried that one out at Tecolate Shores in San Diego, and while it looked great while flying and drew compliments, it wasn't long before the fins came off of the cross spars which then popped out of the clips causing the section to collapse and the entire kite to drop out of the sky.

I relaunched the LadyBug, recalling that I haven't had problems with the delta or CloudBuster diamond kites made by X Kites that I own. Maybe it's only their kites with unique construction that have problems. Since too much wind causes kites to spin while too little wind causes kites to drift down tail first, maybe there's something about the wind conditions that this kite, rated for 5-18 MPH/8-29 KPH wind speeds, doesn't like.

I recalled the afternoon in 2007 when I was flying two kites at Mission Bay, San Diego. A family of three arrived and tried to launch a fairy princess kite unsuccessfully many times with frequent looks at mine flying successfully. The father got bored and wandered off to check the water.

Moved with pity, I went over and asked if I might help. The mother agreed, saying they bought the kite from Target, manufacturer unknown, for their daughter's eighth birthday and it was the first time they were trying to fly it.

Well, I tried and had the same crashing results. Turning it over, I found that there was a huge, heavy, sprocket in the center of the fairy's chest that I was sure was the reason the kite wouldn't fly.

Pulling down one of my butterfly kites that was made by New Tech, because the shape was similar to the fairy princess, I showed it to the mother, pointing out the differences in construction between it and their fairy, that there was no good reason for the heavy sprocket, and recommending that they return their daughter's birthday kite and go to a kite store to buy another that was sure to fly in the lighter wind conditions that prevail during the San Diego summers.

CRASH! The LadyBug, X Kites item #80472, came down again, breaking my reverie. No wonder people get discouraged about flying kites; some are really persnickety about the wind conditions in which they fly. The worst part was that I had also purchased the TurTle kite for a relative of mine, X Kites item #80476. Since it's the same as the LadyBug except for being a green turtle instead of a red ladybug, I have no reason to expect it to fly any better and plan to return it rather than subject the intended recipient to its crashing in variable conditions.

I launched a cellular kite, the eo6 Fire by Prism, in the place of the LadyBug and watched it soar, tumble, and dart up again while my deltas continued to dance until it was time for me to leave. Except for the experience with the LadyBug, it was a wonderful few hours spent flying kites on a beautiful spring afternoon.

Highly recommended.

Flat Stanley Project

I've been busy with personal projects, one of which was responding to the request for help with her Flat Stanley Project from a daughter of my friend, Roxie. The stated purpose for the students of Kathryn's class was for them to learn how to write friendly letters by asking the recipient to take Flat Stanley on an adventure. The result is that family and friends help teach the children by returning a letter and photos of Flat Stanley enjoying his adventure with them that are then shared with other students by reading the letters and posting them and the photos on a bulletin board.

Excited about the fun I could have playing with the paper doll and what knowledge I might convey to the youngsters, I settled on the concept of geographic antipodes inspired by an HBO documentary about the making of "The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency," a show set in Botswana that reminded me that Botswana is the antipode for the Big Island in Hawai`i.

If you are a resident of the U.S., do you remember thinking or hearing someone else say that if you dig a hole straight through the center of the earth, you'd come out in China? Well, it isn't possible because vast majority of places in the U.S. have antipodes in an ocean.

The following are exceptions:

1. A place in northern Alaska has an antipode in Antarctica.

2. A place near the border of Montana and Saskatchewan in Canada has an antipode on Kerguelen Island in the south Indian Ocean.

3. The eastern part of Colorado is antipodal with St. Paul Island and Amsterdam Island, also in the south Indian Ocean.

4. The Big Island in Hawai`i and the Okavango Delta in Botswana.

The highlight of Flat Stanley's visit was when it snowed overnight. We rushed out the next morning to play in the snow before it melted and Stanley made a snow angel.

After mailing the letter that was hand-printed with Noodler's Baystate Blue fountain pen ink on Crane's stationery, I realized that the paper itself was educational and sent another letter:

"Dear Kathryn,

Since I already mailed Flat Stanley back to you yesterday morning, this is a second letter to share with your classmates. Flat Stanley watched me write my first letter, but I didn't remember to tell him the following information that's neat for everyone to know about paper and U.S. paper money in particular.

For hundreds of years, cotton was used to make paper. In the late 1860s, wood pulp from trees began to be used and, today, over 95% of paper is made from wood pulp.

The lowest grades of paper are used for paper such as newsprint. Better grades of paper use a combination of wood pulp and plant fibers. The best grades of paper use only plant fibers such as cotton and linen.

Fine writing paper is watermarked by the company that makes the paper. You can see a watermark by holding the paper up to the light. This paper has 'CRANE & CO.' with '100% cotton' underneath. Do you see it? Lesser grade paper will have a smaller percentage such as '25% cotton' in the watermark while the majority of paper won't have any watermark at all because it's made of wood pulp only.

Where my stationery is 100% cotton, U.S. paper money is 75% cotton and 25% linen. That's why it doesn't come apart when it's accidentally washed like other paper that's made from wood pulp. Crane & Co. has been making the paper used by the U.S. Treasury Department for our paper currency since 1879.

I hope you and your classmates enjoy knowing this because you'll be using paper in one form or another for the rest of your lives."

Please feel free to visit my website for more information about paper for social correspondence and for links to other manufacturers of fine writing paper.

BaliYo

If you've seen the movie, "Face/Off," starring John Travolta, Nicolas Cage, and Joan Allen, you might remember the scene in which John Travolta's character hands Jamie a balisong, commonly known as a butterfly knife, to use to defend herself against a groping date who doesn't respect her "no." Opening or closing a knife like that requires skill obtained through practice, typically accompanied by accidental cuts, and would draw unwelcome attention from the police in areas where this type of knife is illegal.

Enter the BaliYo, a pen made in the U.S.A. that's designed to be flipped around like a balisong without our getting cut or arrested. Ordered Monday after 5 P.M. from the
manufacturer's website, my green and blue BaliYo arrived yesterday morning by standard shipping - what great order fulfillment!

When closed as for writing, the pen is 4-1/8" long x 3/16" high x 1-3/16" wide at the widest point. At the place recommended to hold for writing, it's 3/4" wide. The rings embedded for weight are 3/8" high. Fully extended, the BaliYo is 7-3/4" long.

Even though the barrel is long enough and round on the outside, the refill isn't the standard SPR series Fisher Space pen refill. This short refill is the much narrower Fisher Pressurized Universal SU series available only in fine black, blue, and red ink that needs to be snapped off at the 2-5/8" mark to fit into the matching green colored cover designed to make the round peg of the refill fit into the square hole inside the barrel. The Schmidt Mini refills (#628 for Fine, #635 for Medium) also fit.

Holding the pen as instructed on the website's FAQs isn't the most comfortable position for writing for me. I like it better when the pad of my index fingertip is on the hole of one leg with the other leg flipped open and laying across the back of my fingers or hand depending on how it's rotated. Since the leg is a featherweight, it doesn't bother me to have it positioned that way.

The clips are rather stiff and seem sturdy enough. They may be snapped out of their grooves should they prove to be uncomfortable while holding the pen for writing or performing tricks.

The pen writes well. I can't tell any difference between it and another Fisher Space fine refill except it has blue ink while my other pen with an SPR series refill has black. What I appreciate so much about the Fisher Space pen refills is that they write when other ballpoint pens don't: upside-down, on paper that isn't pen-friendly, in the cold, etc. I like them so much that I've used them almost exclusively for my ballpoint pens since 1994.

As a toy, the BaliYo is great, although one leg is currently a tad stiffer than the other to flip open. I haven't decided, yet, whether to leave it as is or try to lubricate it to loosen it up.

The pen and instructional DVD came packaged on a blister card that has a warning on the back that it's not for children under 5 years of age. The DVD has six tricks shown in slower motion so you may follow along and learn, which then accelerate to realistic speed. I'm glad that the BaliYo used in the DVD is the red, white, and blue model because it's easier to tell the legs apart while in motion.

I've already mastered the basic skill of flip-rotate-and-grab to open it. I'm glad that I have it to practice the flashy balisong moves because had I been using a real butterfly knife, having felt the barrel of the pen on my fingers as it closed, I know I would have been cut for sure.

All in all, I'm glad I bought it and am looking forward to wasting many hours playing with it.

For Geocachers - My Car is a Travel Bug

A few days ago, I got and activated a static-cling Travel Bug window sticker for my car.

For those who don't know what I'm talking about, geocaching is a great reason to get off the computer and go have fun outside. It's treasure hunting for individuals and families alike. It's for everybody with skill levels ranging from the wheel-chair bound to athletic hikers. Typically, you need a computer to get the coordinates from whichever website(s) you choose to patronize and a GPS receiver to guide you to the spot unless you know how to map coordinates the old-fashioned way. For most caches, the rule is that if you take something, you need to leave something of equal or greater value so there's something for the next treasure hunter to find. Many urban caches are too small to hold much more than paper and a pencil for you to log that you found the cache so you may not require additional supplies or equipment, but those who venture away from urban settings are advised to take the Ten Essential Systems, including a compass and map, like any other hiker should.

Travel Bugs are a little different from the usual treasure because the geocacher doesn't keep them, but moves them from one cache to another to fulfill the goal set by the owner. However, a vehicle Travel Bug doesn't require you to buy a GPSr or know how to map coordinates because it doesn't wait for someone to pick it up from a cache and move it to another. It is already out and about waiting for someone to only catch sight of it. If you spot a vehicle with a Travel Bug sticker, all you have to do is write down the tracking number that's under the bug symbol, go to www.geocaching.com/track, enter the tracking number in the box provided and click "Track" so you're taken to the proper page, click "Found this item?" and log in to record your discovery.

For further information, please feel free to check out Getting Started, Resources, the Travel Bugs pages on the Trackable Items link, and other pages at www.geocaching.com.

Playing With Water

I might be getting older.

Several months ago, I had the hankering to buy a few children's watercoloring books to revisit my childhood. Back then, I was never able to color inside the lines and painting was about the same but more enjoyable. I enjoyed swishing the brush around in a glass of water and swirling it in the pan of paint. That was the main activity. I don't recall how my pictures turned out or if any were ever completed. None of them ever made it to the front of the refrigerator.

In my second childhood, I'm learning that paper wrinkles up from too much water and that the depth of color varies by how it's applied as well as how much is on the brush. During a visit to Hobby Lobby to buy a dip pen to try with a new fountain pen ink I have, I saw that artist's supplies were on sale 25-50% off. Thinking that this is an activity I might continue, I bought a couple of instruction books, a set of watercolor paints in tubes, a small palette that folds in half and latches closed, a watercolor pencil kit with instructions for beginners, and a set of brushes.

Most of my time since has been spent reading the books and painting a couple of pictures from the children's books using a couple of techniques I learned from the instructional books. I don't expect to become a great artist, but hopefully, I'll be able to put a motif on my pearl white Crane's stationery to personalize it such as a small sailboat or a tornado or a cactus. Dabbing color in the impressionist style would serve nicely, I think, as a cactus flower. Anyway, it's a goal.

The truth of the matter is that I like to play with water.