Better Mornings, Courtesy of the Keurig

I am not a morning person. At all. I'm a night owl and I've always preferred to stay up late than wake up early.

And since I haven't had a set schedule in quite a while, my dislike for mornings is stronger than ever and I'm out of practice when it comes to getting up to an alarm. (Even during grad school, my classes were at night so I was always up late and sleeping in.) But I do try and force myself to get up to an alarm and not stay up 'til all hours of the night.

Thanks to Santa, getting up in the A.M. has gotten a little easier since Christmas. I found an awesome Keurig coffee maker under the tree for me. With the Keurig, I can make one perfectly-brewed cup of coffee at a time. I will admit that I've never been great at making coffee so it's nice not to worry about measuring out the coffee grounds each morning and then wondering how my coffee would taste. It's also less wasteful since it only makes one cup at a time; I'm not brewing half-a-pot of coffee and then dumping most of it out after only drinking one cup. There's a great selection of flavored coffee K-Cups, too.

All right, now I'm starting to sound like a commercial when I really just wanted to salute my Keurig for making my mornings easier. And I guess I should salute "Santa" for giving it to me, too. Thanks Mom & Dad!

The Good in Social Networking

I've always had reservations about social networking sites and the spread of social media. While I use Facebook, Twitter and I blog (obviously) and I enjoy them most of the time, I think many people use these sites for the wrong reason or they go overboard. I'm not interested in all the mundane details of people's lives and I think folks over-share to the point that there isn't a real sense of privacy anymore.

But this past week has shown the tremendous power of social networking and how much good can come out of it. The devastating earthquake in Haiti has captured the world's attention. Word spread quickly about how bad the quake hit and the state of chaos in the country. Donations have poured in from around the world and the drive for donations has been so successful because of the use of social networking, media and technology.

With various charities setting up a direct text-to-donate system (including the American Red Cross), donating was easier than it's ever been. I think this system was a great idea and something we'll definitely see in the future, but the initiatives were really successful because of people spreading the word about them through Twitter and Facebook. The texting donation drive was publicized on TV, radio, etc., but the information was (and still is) all over social networking sites. Various reports put the total money raised at $10 million; pretty amazing when you think a lot of it has been done in $5 and $10 increments.

In the past year, we have seen the power of social networking in spreading information and news (like the Iran election riots), and we can now see what an effective fundraiser these sites can be. It's heartening to see Facebook used to raise money for disaster aid instead of updating users on what one just had for lunch.

Photo from Google Images

The Future of Books?

Last week, we brought something new with us on our trip to San Fran: an Amazon Kindle digital reader. Rick bought the 6" version of the Kindle-- it's smaller than a hardcover book and about as thick as a pencil.

I couldn't believe just how small it was when I first held it. Its size certainly makes it convenient to travel with; and even though it's tiny, it can hold up to 1,500 books. Another great thing about the Kindle is that the majority of e-books only cost $9.99-- even new books and bestsellers. Magazines and newspapers are even cheaper and they all download onto the device in about one minute.

The Kindle's screen is also impressive. The screen display uses patented "e-ink" that is supposed to mimic the appearance of a book page. The screen is not lit up or bright, so the reader doesn't feel like he or she is reading on a large iPod or BlackBerry. I had initially thought that the Kindle would have more of a computer screen look, which was not appealing to me, so I was pleasantly surprised that it had a very book-like display screen.

Even with all the great features of the Kindle, I really hope that e-readers never replace good, old-fashioned paper-paged books. There's something about holding a book, feeling its weight and turning the pages that make reading an experience. Call me a nerd, but I also like the smell of books and the feel of its pages.

I understand that the world of publishing to paper is costly, endangered and outdated, but just because the technology to solely publish digitally is available, doesn't mean traditional printing should be abolished. Digital publishing will most likely make the written word more available to the masses--something I heartily support--but I believe everyone should at least have the chance to physically hold and read a book.

I may be old-fashioned, but there is something about printed books that e-readers will never be able to capture.