Saturday, February 11, 2012

Weekly Wrap: Gerard Butler, Unsubscribr, Naked Men, and Feral Cows

So, it is time for a weekly wrap of the precious and witty stylings of this bog.  Included are some updates and/or reflections.

We'll start with Gerald Butler because, if traffic is any indication, you've come to see what I've written about him.  If you are a techie person or a teacher, scroll down a bit to the information about Unsubscribr, Build Chatter, and Pinterest. I will leave the naked men and feral cows to the very end :-)

I am a little blown away by how many people wrote to me about Gerard Butler.  Most people were very kind (seeing as I was little snarky about fan clubs), pointing me to this movie or that interview.  These ladies know their Gerry!

Someone emailed me to tell me I had fallen prey to something called "The Butler Legacy." This is, evidently, something that happens to smart women that adore Gerry for his spirit and brain and not his looks.

Well, I am not sure that I can lay claim to the BL, but I do want to say that, while he is handsome, smart, and funny, he isn't the only actor I enjoy.  I am absolutely in love with the work of Brendan O'Carroll,  Sean Connery, Kenneth Branagh, Emma Thompson, Kate Winslet, Gary Sinise, Helen Hunt, and Tom Hanks.  I enjoy all of their work for different reasons.  I've not written blog posts about them because I didn't have a blog at the time I discovered them (although I will probably write a post about the amazing work Gary Sinise does with veterans).

Only one person emailed me in anger.  Truly, I meant no disrespect toward people in fan clubs (truly).  It isn't my thing, but I don't think less of you if it is your thing.  Yes, it seems odd to devote so much energy to an actor when there are people out there that deserve our undivided devotion because they are trying to change the world by working with the poor and discarded (the work of Vickie and Thom Hicks, for example).  Yes, it seems a little OCD to focus on every word and movement of any man or woman.  But, everyone has a hobby, and mine aren't any better or worse. If adoring Gerry is your thing, havatit.

It can't be easy to be that cute.  I would never trade places with Gerry for anything (well, except that I would have so much fun trying to save the world with his bank account; imagine all the poor children that we could get vaccinated?  Imagine the rice we could buy? Imagine the schools we could build???).

It would be fun to be his official biographer, too, because you could hang out with him, he would tell great stories and make you laugh, but then he would go away to be with his famous friends.  It would be the best job in the world.  I am certain he has people for that; it appears that he has people for everything.  I wonder if he feels all alone despite the crowd.  There is such freedom in not being famous, wealthy, or good looking.

I did find out, though, that the name of the book he spoke about on the Stern show is called Resurrection by Neville Goddard.  I ordered a copy from Amazon this morning.  It would be fun to talk to anyone about it if you have read it.  I just received the book about Jnana Yoga that I spoke about earlier this week.  I am excited to hit the hot tub to start reading.

TECHIE PEOPLE AND TEACHERS START HERE

Many, many thanks to the people at Unsubscribr for sending me an invite to their full version.  I really love love love love this tool.  I was a member of way too many mailing lists, and they were just pulling me down because I couldn't get to student or parent emails or to any of the BRG fan club (ha).  My digital life has become so much more manageable because of Unsubscribr.  If you have not clicked on their link, you ought to hang your head in shame.

Kudos go out to the folks over at Build Chatter. John has been very kind, and has been working with me to get the app to work.  It isn't working yet, but I was impressed by his responsiveness.  With any new start up app, we can expect some challenges as people with varying abilities begin to use it.  I see much potential in the app, and hope to use it to create literature quizzes for my students.  I will wait and see how it goes with them, and will keep all y'all posted.

Finally, I got my invite from Pinterest.  Again, I am not sure why everyone's panties are in a twist over this site.  It is pretty, for sure, but it is like going to a conference where there are only poster sessions.  I like posters and all, but, bah, after you have seen one too many, it is time to hit the pool!  I will see if it gets any more dazzling before I make a final assessment of it.

NAKED MEN AND FERAL COWS

There is actually a book about the naked men of India.  Sadhus: India's Mystic Holy Men describes how these men detach from all earthly necessities.  Now, I am a spiritual woman, but I am attached to being clothed.  Anyway, I ordered the book and we'll see what they have to say about it :-)

I did not know that there are, in fact, hoards of feral cows living all over the planet.  PBS has a great little ditty about the problem in India.  If you have some time, check it out.

THAT'S A WRAP

That is this week's wrap.  I must return to helping my son donate unused toys to the local shelter.  He and I have a date to watch 300 after dinner (but only if I hand pop some popcorn, AND make butter, AND make stove top hot chocolate, AND read to him from his Star Wars Dictionary...sheesh...Gerry Butler just made my workload worse, hahaha).  Once we get through all that, I will THEN have time to get into the hot tub with my stack of books.

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2 comments:

  1. I love that you are a new fan of Gerard Butler and chose to write about it because it is how I found your blog (by recommendation from another friend who has a blog) and I love what you write and can't wait to see more!

    I have read Resurrection (I am one of those Scorpios who love to delve into the mysteries of life and the unseen). It's been a while since I read it, but just last week I loaded my Amazon cart with 3 more Neville books (and here we are talking about him - weird!). I have not hit check out yet though because I have this problem with buying too many books before I've finished reading what is on my shelf already! I should re-read Resurrection perhaps. You've inspired me to do so. Then we can chat about it if we're so inspired.

    Sorry you got a finger shaken at you about the fan club thing. I came close to that response once when I said a little something along the same lines. I learned you must tread lightly around GB fans. I don't belong to any of the big sites (except there's a small group of ladies I like to chat with, but it's on a much smaller and intimate scale than the bigger sites). I cringe at papp photos and feel the same about celebrity status as you. And we're both turning 40 in October... I wonder if our astrological charts are similar? LOL

    Congrats on the Pinterest invite. Please update once you've snooped around. I'm curious to see if it's yet another way for "the ghosts in the internet" to find out what you like and what you're up to so they can cater the junk and ads out there to suit your personal tastes. I'm skeptical but still intrigued.

    Have a great night! 300 is awesome and Gamer's pretty good too for the most part. :)

    Jenny

    (tried to post as my live journal user - http://jennyjee.livejournal.com - but it wouldn't verify me; weird... thanks for allowing 'anonymous' now so I could comment.)

    ps: you're gorgeous - stop believing you're not.

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  2. I am also a Scorpion :-) Our charts are, indeed, aligned!

    I will be happy to chat about Resurrection. There are about 4 books surrounding the hot tub: I just finished Confessions: An Innocent Life in Communist China by Kang Zengghou. I am almost all the way through Ideas that Changed the World by DK Publishing, and I am half way through Reinventing the Body, and Resurrecting the Soul by Dr. Deepak Chopra. And, today, I have added a book a Jnana Yoga.

    The beauty of teaching English is that everyone expects you to have a huge library :-)

    Thanks for the post, and now I am headed over to your Journal to check it out :-)

    ReplyDelete

Thanks for your comment! I will check it out, and if you are not a spammer, I will post your comment!