December 31, 2006

Happy 2007!

May this year be full of blessings and joy and good health for all of you!!!

My Music Man and I got home from a rousing party up the street….we were the third of three couples at a small get-together within a mile of our house…on our block, even, and we ended the night with Dom Perignon and lots of ’80s music (Adam Ant, Naked Eye, AC/DC). Our kids thought we were nuts.

Anyway. I digress.

We got home and I said, “Music Man! You have to draw a winner for my big Immortalize Your Friend in a Book Contest!”

And he said, “Okay!”

So I tell him to pick the number (I have all of the entries numbered because they came in on email entries) and he picks #34.

And the WINNERS OF MY IMMORTALIZE YOUR FRIEND IN A BOOK CONTEST ARE (drum roll provided by none other than Music Man himself):

Stephanie Feagan, as nominated by Anne Mallory!
(so both are winners!)

Congratulations!!! I’ll be in touch with you ASAP!

And in the meantime, Happy New Year!

December 31, 2006

Enter my Immortalize Your Friend in a Book contest, and you could be!

Contest ends December 31, 2006.
That’s tonight!

December 30, 2006

In Michigan, we’re known for automobiles, the Great Lakes, fudge, Motown, cherries…and Bob Seger.

Bob’s a born and bred Michigander, and a few weeks ago, he came out of retirement to do a tour to promote his first new album in, sheesh, at least a decade.

Now I’m not necessarily one for 60-year old rockers doing reunion/coming out of retirement tours, but…this is Bob Seger.

I’ve seen him in concert four times and tonight will be my fifth–and they were the best shows ever. It’s good, old-fashioned rock-n-roll. Not heavy metal. Not ’80s pop (which, don’t get me wrong–you know I love it). Nothing with even a hint of rap in it. Just rock-n-roll.

Now, for my Music Man, it will be his first Seger concert.

Which is why I told him he had to take me. You just can’t be a native Michigander who loves music who hasn’t seen our rock and roller. I told him that’s all I wanted for Christmas, and he came through (though we had to pay through the nose for the tickets, ’cause the five shows have been sold out for weeks).

It was, of course, Risky Business that propelled Seger to the mainstream. He was already playing to crowds of 76,000 people in Michigan in 1976–years before Cruise danced by in his tighty-whiteys.

And it was thanks to Bruce Springsteen that Bob Seger (hmmm…interesting that they both have the same initials, huh?) got this chance. The film-makers of Risky Business wanted a Bruce song, but he wasn’t willing or able to release anything for the movie, so they took Seger’s “Old Time Rock-n-Roll” for that famous scene.

And the rest is history.

So…I’m going to see a 61-year-old rocker try to bring down the house in his last Detroit concert tonight. I have no doubt he’ll do it–the reviews have been great. He does a lot of his old songs–mostly old stuff.

Tunes like “Night Moves,” “Still the Same,” “Turn the Page,” “Main Street,” “We’ve Got Tonight,” “Sunspot Baby,” “Rock-n-Roll Never Forgets,” and others.

What aging rocker/band would you pay too much money to see?

What’s your favorite Seger song?

December 29, 2006

As I mentioned earlier this week, I’ve moved from the dark side (my Dell was dark gray) and have seen the light and bought an iMac. It’s very pretty and sleek and white and quiet.

Love the quiet.

I’m learning my way through its intuitive system and really haven’t had any problems in a major way….but I do have some questions for those Mac users who happen by this blog (some of whom encouraged my conversion!).

First…what’s up with the END key? I lived by that key in my PC. I use (used?) it constantly, mainly because I am always editing while I’m writing, so I use the arrow keys to go up or down a line or two, and then hit END to go to the end of the row, instead of stopping to pick up the mouse.

Well…it doesn’t work for me on my Mac except when I’m in Word. Which isn’t helping. ‘Cause I need it in all my applications. So, is there something, some setting, that I’m missing?

I need my END key!!!

Okay. Deep breath.

Second thing: keyboard issues. My Mac came with a lovely, business-like sounding white keyboard (non-ergonomic) with a really short cord.

My desk is set up such that I have a higher level for my monitor, then a regular desk-level surface for other stuff (ie, clutter), and then a pull-out drawer for my keyboard. Unfortunately, the keyboard cord isn’t long enough to let me use the pull-out drawer unless I put the monitor/Mac on my regular desk-level. So what’s the point of that?

Now I’m using the regular desk level to hold my keyboard, which, by the way, isn’t the ergonomic one I’m used to, so that’s another issue.

Therefore, I may have to use one of my PC ergonomic keyboards (preferably my wireless one, but I don’t think it will work with my Mac). And that ugly Microsoft/Dell gray will really clash with my sleek white Mac, which really won’t do at all.

Help!

And…hmm…oh, yeah. The control key.

I tend to use my keyboard and keystrokes more than my mouse, so getting used to those keys and the difference in the functions has been probably the hardest thing. However, I finally remembered what my friend Noah had told me about the control key on the Mac: It’s not the one one that says “Control.”

Gotcha.

We PC people are used to that CTRL key being the god of our keyboard, and it’s in the same place on both a Mac and Microsoft keyboard…however, the Control key on the Mac doesn’t do the same thing the CTRL key does on a PC. Therein lies the confusion.

But now that I’ve figured that out, I’m a lot happier.

And did I mention I love the way my keyboard sounds when I use it? So industrious, like I’m actually accomplishing something.

Anyway, I’d love some suggestions and feedback on my conversion issues. They’re not that bad–after all, I’ve been using a PC for more than twenty years, and never a Mac–but that END key thing is really getting to me.

If someone can solve that problem for me, I think there’s probably a free book in there for that person.

(Oh, and P.S.: As I’m writing this blog entry, I keep typing “Max” instead of “Mac.” Wonder why that is.)

December 28, 2006

Liz!

Email me (author at colleengleason dot com) to claim your autographed copy of Surviving Demon Island!

Congratulations and thanks to everyone who entered!