So Many New Gadgets Out There

Being from the "Baby Boomer" era, electronics seem quite difficult for me.  It really takes dedication to persevere.

For Christmas, the gift I gave myself was a new Kindle Fire HDX.  Every day when I get home, I try to tackle a new thing.  It is funny too, because every day, something new is added, not by me, but by a plan of action that was probably built into the design of the Kindle.

The other day I came across the "live" person that could assist me feature.  That was fun.  Up to that point, I kept calling Amazon in the middle of the night.

I started out getting slot machine games.  Then I progressed to Mah Jong games.  After a couple of weeks with that, I moved on to loading music onto my Kindle.  Although it was difficult and I had to get help more than once, actually the hardest part was trying to remember the names of the songs that I wanted to add.  Did you know that one of the first things to go for seniors is the short term memory? Funny how we can remember things from 50 years ago, but we can't remember what happened 10 minutes ago.

Every morning on my way to work, I'm singing along with the tunes from my favorite "oldies" radio station, KJUL 104.7.  Finding the songs in the Amazon store was easy.  It's remembering what I wanted to remember that was hard.  I would make a mental note about the song title and 5 minutes later the thought is gone.  It is impossible to write the name of a song down as I'm tooling down the freeway at 65 miles per hour, not to mention the police traps all along this freeway.  This morning I counted 6 policemen in both motor cycles and squad cars, that had pulled people over for speeding.  Some even pull 2 cars at once.  Anyway getting off topic here.....another senior dementia moment! (Hee Hee).

Getting back to my new Kindle....I've loaded 68 songs on it so far.  It is fun singing along to songs like.....Tan Shoes and Pink Shoelaces by Dodie Stevens or Top of the World by the Carpenters, along with songs by artists ranging from Patsy Cline, Johnny Mathis, Elvis, Josh Groban, Barbra Streisand, Michael Jackson, Brenda Lee, Frank Sinatra, Skeeter Davis, Dionne Warwick.....Peter, Paul and Mary just to name a few.  Every day the list gets longer. 

Then I got an audible book.  Imagine having Colin Firth's sexy English accented voice reading me a bedtime story called:   The End of the Affair.  He was the "hottie" from Bridget Jones' Diary.

Can you tell I'm having fun with this?

Here are some sample music faves....Enjoy ok?



 



It was such a shock to hear that after all these years The Captain and Tennille are getting a divorce.

 

 

Just a few of my favs.....hope you enjoyed them!

 

 

Oh....BTW, some of the music that is now loaded on my Kindle even have lyrics!!!   I feel like I'm in my own private Karaoke room.  Feel sorry for my neighbors having to listen to me sing at the top of my lungs though!

 

 

Video downloads from YouTube include:

Minnie Riperton singing Lovin' You (1975)

Bobbie Gentry  singing Ode to Billie Joe (1967)

Captain and Tennille singing The Way I Want to Touch You (1972)

From the Cast of  the Motion Picture Rent - Seasons of Love (2005)

 





My Dance Card is Filling Up Again

What is great about living in Las Vegas is that whenever friends from Hawaii come to town, they always look me up so that we can reconnect.

The fun will start this week.  Super Bowl weekend is when the high rollers come to town.  We have a mini reunion in between games.  Not being a gambler, I look forward to meeting up with friends and going to a very nice restaurant to catch up with each other about our lives.  This week, I've already been warned that someone that I haven't seen in about 20 years is coming to town and I need to be "ready."

When the Super Bowl crowd goes back to Hawaii, the "cousins" will be in town again so here we go with doing funky things.  We've already talked on the phone and jotted down all the times and whereabouts and we will meet up the very next week after my Super Bowl buddies go back home.  With the cousins, we're maybe planning to go to a stage performance.  Haven't figured which one yet.

The week after the cousins go back to Hawaii, it's then my world travelling Reiki friend who will be in town and I am looking at fun on a totally different level.  It's about connecting with people on a different plain.  The intuitive level is a lot of fun.  To connect with strangers who don't seem like strangers.  Most times it is not about getting their name and contact numbers.  We can have a very deep understanding and feel love at that level and not have to know their vitals.  Wow....I'm always amazed how the "genie" inside me can sense the nature of people that I meet at these soirees.  It's like exorcising/exercising that part of the brain and it feels so great!

Nurturing the soul and connecting with others on an intuitive level energizes you for quite a while.  It's like being put back on track after a train wreck caused by everyday life. everyday thinking and everyday worrying. 

Following that, the following week we will have a meeting with writers in Las Vegas.  This meeting is to brainstorm on a collaborative effort to publish a book.  I am really excited about this.  It is my goal to get my writing published.  It is scary and exciting at the same time.

How great is that!!! 

It certainly is great to be ALIVE! 

Oh Happy Day

Korean Dramas

Watching Korean dramas, a few "aha" conclusions came to life.

The first "aha" conclusion:  Korean mother-in-laws are really scary.  I can personally attest to this fact.....may she rest in peace.  Somehow it is quite assuring to come to the realization that it was part of the culture that sons were kings and daughters were the consolation prize.  The lowest was the daughter-in-law, on the scale of importance.  Now I can truly say that it wasn't me, but rather the culture that shaped my ex-mother-in-law. God bless her!

The next "aha" conclusion is that Korean jewelry is really wonderful.  The gaudier the better.  Many was a time that I said to my own mother...."oh mom....are you really going to wear that?"  Now I am at the age when I find it fun to wear funky jewelry.  The jewelry in Korean dramas are really awesome.  It makes me wish that I had the talent to create such fun pieces.  However, I found a store that had something close to it, so for Christmas I sent my daughter and granddaughter some fun pieces.  Check out the headbands and jewelry.  While the model is gorgeous....focus on the headbands and the necklace and bracelet.

 



 

 

 

 

 

Needless to say.....it was fun to shop for these things and what is even better is to see my granddaughter trying them out.  Such a "girly girl princess!"

 

 

Korean fashion is also wonderful. 

 

 

 

 

The above picture came from the movie Jang Ok Jung, Live in Love.  This movie showed some really great traditional fashions.,

 

 

Then there are the food movies.....Kimchi Family showcased many different kinds of Kimchi

 

 

 

 

while Feast of the Gods focused on many different kinds of foods prepared according to Korean tradition...

 

 

 



 

 

What a cultural (my culture) learning experience I am having. My grandmother must be smiling down on me right now, because I remember her playing the Janggu (Korean drum) and singing the Korean folk song Arirang.  She sang what I consider to be the north and south versions and loved to dance as well.

 

 



 

 



 

 

 

The second version called Jindo Arirang is my favorite, while the first version above is the well known classic.  My grandmother sang both versions.

 

Hope you enjoyed the experience.