technology

Birthday

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Yesterday when I would have normally been posting something for this space, I was bringing back McDonald’s breakfast for my son on his birthday. He turned 19 yesterday, and it hadn’t occurred to me until this very moment that this is his last teenage year. He is my big baby, which sounds derogatory but isn’t meant to be. He was my first baby, and will always be my baby, but now he is 19. Wow. When did that happen?

My husband and I woke him from a deep sleep to ask if he wanted something special for breakfast. He did. So out I went and back I came. We brought him his mocha coffee and breakfast in bed. When he swung his legs over the side of his bed, my husband asked where he was going, and he declared, “the living room,” which coincidentally was exactly where I was going to eat my breakfast.

Will wonders never cease?

So we ate breakfast together in a comfortable silence, the TV remaining off, the quiet punctuated by the occasional beep of his cell phone which also doubles as his fire department beeper. He has it set up with some kind of app to get the fire calls on his phone.

We spoke a little bit about his upcoming job interview.

Eventually, breakfast was over, and he left.

Surprisingly, he returned, papers and pen in hand, leaning on a cereal box, asking me questions about his last ten years of residences for the background check.

He did his paperwork, and checked out his phone, and I checked my Kindle, looking up every now and again.

It was a nice way to spend his birthday morning.

Happy Birthday.

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Fandom and Smart Tech

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In Vintage Supernatural, I mentioned how for me, and many others who are fans or in fandom, have a broader relationship with the source material. In other words, when the television show ends for the week, it doesn’t always end for the viewer.

In the case of Supernatural, I am often also on Tumblr, reading the liveblogging and commentary from two of my friends there. It gives the feel of a viewing party, hearing (or reading) others’ exclamations of surprise, their mocking of something unbelievable. They/we applaud the writer, and gush, and we have other fans to gush with. Since I’m the only one in my family who watches Supernatural, this gives me a less solitary experience, and makes it more enjoyable to me.

When I watch The Walking Dead, I watch with my family, so we have that camaraderie and interaction throughout and after the show. I also go online and either read, write or enjoy the new gifsets that seemingly appear as if by magic minutes after the scenes air.

In Vintage Supernatural, I talked about googling the Lizzie Borden House, and discovering its existence.

A similar thing happened in last week’s Doctor Who episode, The Zygon Inversion, they mentioned a town where the action was taking place: Truth of Consequences, New Mexico. It was named after the game show according to Clara, the Doctor’s Companion.

I snorted. Can’t be true. I paused a mere second before googling it, and guess what? It’s real. It exists. Truth or Consequences, New Mexico. I learned something new.

I’ve found that I’ve been searching for terms and actors’ names and previous works while watching the show in real time. I don’t have to sit and wonder who is that guy fore the entirety of the hour. I wait for the commercial, pull out my Kindle, and hit the Google page. I avoid spoilers, but I get my curiosity satisfied without distracting me from the current show.

We simultaneously complain and applaud new technology, but using smart tech for series watching can really enhance the experience and introduce another level of fandom interaction that you haven’t realized you were missing.

I love it!

It’s the best of both worlds.

For anyone else who’s interested in getting another perspective of their favorite show, here are a few of my resources:

Google
Wikipedia
imdb (Internet Movie Database)
Tumblr (search for your television show)

You can also go to the website and specific page for the series you are interested in.

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Recs – Kindle Fire

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When I like something everyone knows about it because I gush. I’m a gusher. My black boots from Payless? No less than three posts about them since the fall. Supernatural? Need I say more?

Most regular readers know how much I love my Kindle. I received my Kindle Fire for Mother’s Day in 2012. From the moment I pushed the power button I loved it. I talk about it all the time. My only complaint about that first generation Fire was no memory card slot and no exterior volume control. In reality no biggie. I used this Fire religiously on a multi-daily basis from that first day through the end of 2014. Two and a half years of positive bliss.

During Amazon’s Christmas sale, we decided to get my daughter one of the new ones. The HD-6 was less than a hundred dollars and the rest were also very good deals. I advanced myself a small portion of our tax refund and upgraded mine. (My first generation still works fine, and I’m prepping it for my husband’s use.)

The new one (an HD-7) was a little more than $100 but I opted for greater memory (still no external memory card slot), 16GB. The new one does have exterior volume controls, and a sleep mode if you buy the compatible case.

I use my Fire for everything; literally everything:

Photos
Checkbook and Expense tracking
Paying my mortgage
Calendar
Traveling – between lists and planning and maps, it’s indispensable
Facebook and Tumblr, Pinterest and Twitter
Email – ALL of my accounts
Music
Netflix
Mass Readings and/or Devotionals
WordPress writing and posting
First drafts and other short writing (for this Mother’s Day, I’m planning on getting the keyboard to make this even more accessible for my writing)
And of course, reading. I moved my subscription to The Writer to my Kindle, the only magazine subscription I get and I download my library e-books on here too!

In fact, I’m writing this on my Fire in my car right before my therapy appointment!