Yesterday was pretty much awash for me … after spending most of the day working, David and I went out for a late lunch/early dinner with plans to catch a matinee movie before settling in for the night. For some strange reason, I got really ill at dinner and decided to cancel plans to see a movie. I laid down to rest at around 6PM and ended up sleeping until 12:30AM! So yeah … my night was shot. Unfortch, when I woke up I couldn’t go back to sleep so I decided to do some reading on my fave new toy of the moment my Kindle 2:

As you may recall, David and I picked up a pair of Snuggie blankets at Bed, Bath and Beyond a few weeks ago (Snuggies, I might add, that got a lot of use when we were in Connecticut this past weekend) and packed with the blankets were a pair of reading lights … which came in handy last night. While David slept, I was able to read my Kindle and not disturb him. I managed to finish off my back issues of The New Yorker and begin reading a new book called Some Girls Bite by author Chole Neill. I was sent an advance copy of Neill’s book a few weeks ago but haven’t had the chance to read it … the book has since been released and, happily, I found it available in Kindle format so … voila! I downloaded the book from my bed on my Kindle and got thru the first few chapters. Some Girls Bite is the first book in a new vampire series and I am really impressed with it thus far. The writing is superb, much more impressive that that of the Twilight Saga books. I like that the protagonist is a strong female character rather than a weak one. But … yeah … that was my night.

Tonight, David and I will be making our way to the Staples Center to FINALLY see Britney Spears in concert. We have VIP tickets so we have to get to the venue early for the pre-show backstage tour … I plan on Twittering thruout the night and will take about a million photos, I’m sure. I’m glad I got the sickness out of the way yesterday so that I can enjoy tonight’s concert pain free. Are any of y’all gonna be in the hiz tonight? Hopefully I’ll see you there.

Welp, I made it all the away across the country yesterday so that I could be here in Connecticut for the Hauslaib family Passover Seder dinner. My flight was pretty uneventful … but I did get to catch up on some reading that’s been piling up in the past few weeks. I finally got around to reading the amazing little 1935 travel book Letters from Iceland written by poets WH Auden and Louis MacNeice:

The book has long been out of print and I was unable to get a copy of it before David’s and my first trip to Iceland last September. When the book finally did arrive, I planned to read it on our flight over to Iceland in December but … well, that trip kinda didn’t happen so back on the shelf the book went. Reading it now, altho set in an Iceland of the past, makes me want to go back in the worst way. I just love it there. I found my copy of Letters from Iceland from the amazing site Alibris.com which offers out of print books at very reasonable prices (tho, a quick search now shows that the book goes for $80+ but I managed to get it for about $15 last Fall).

I also read in full the Stephen King novella/short story UR which was written and is available exclusively for the Amazon Kindle electronic book:

I really do not want to spoil the story for any of you interested in reading it — trust me, it’s best if you read it cold. But I will reveal that the Kindle features prominently in the story (a pink Kindle, to be exact) and is absolutely a must read for any King fan. You got a Kindle? You gotta read this story.

Other than that, tho, the trip was pretty standard … I had a short layover in Philly and was very excited to see that they have a Chick-Fil-A inside the airport there … unfortch for me, tho, the damn place was closed :( I almost cried, y’all. But I cheered up considerably when David picked me up at the airport. Seder is in a few hours so … let the Passoverness commence!!

So yesterday I took the plunge and invested in the Kindle e-book reader from Amazon.com. As y’all might’ve inferred, I’ve been in a real book reading mood lately but I’ve been having difficulty lugging around all the tomes I’m trying to get thru on my various travels. Pink reader Karen suggested that I try out the new Kindle from Amazon as a way to carry many books with me in one, lightweight device. I’ve been skeptical about e-book readers in general but there is great functionality with the Kindle that appealed to me. First, it has expandable storage capacity, thousands of books can be purchased directly from Amazon.com AND they are wirelessly delivered to the Kindle immediately after purchase. You can even buy books from the device itself, away from your computer. Here is what the device looks like:

Now, before some folks start to complain that this is an advertisement for this device, let me assure you that it is not. I shelled out the $300+ for the device and only mention it because I’m interested to hear from other folks who may have experience with the Kindle. I was very happy to learn that most Neil Gaiman books are available for the Kindle as well as many other of my fave authors (Cormac McCarthy, David Sedaris). I’ve had the last two Stephen King books (Lisey’s Story and Duma Key) sitting on my shelf for months because they are both so thick and heavy … I bought Kindle versions and now have them on my device ready for reading. I’m not sure if the reading experience will be improved by this new toy but I am happy that I can now carry so many books with me so easily. I also subscribed to The New York Times newspaper. I HATE reading newspapers because of the newsprint they leave on my fingers … that problem doesn’t exist in Kindle form. So yeah … if any of y’all have any good or bad things to share about this thing, please let me know. I’m still figuring everything out yet. Oh and to be clear, I am not giving up traditional books … I love them too much. I just hope that this little device will help me read more books when I’m away from home (and I am away from home … a lot).

Last night, Mike and I went out for a fun catching-up dinner at Outback so that I could finally get my Aussie Chayze Froys fix. We had a great time. Tonight, I think I’m meeting up with Josh to see a movie … but I deffo plan to be back home to watch the Project Runway Season 5 pre-Finale ep ;)