Blogocentric Formulations (Book)

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I am SoCalScribe. This is my InkSpot.

Blogocentric Formulations

Logocentric (adj). Regarding words and language as a fundamental expression of an external reality (especially applied as a negative term to traditional Western thought by postmodernist critics).

Sometimes I just write whatever I feel like. Other times I respond to prompts, many taken from the following places:

"JAFBG"

Thanks for stopping by!

Show Recent Comments

10 Most Recent Blog Comments:

Jeff

about 5 hours ago
In response to "Writing Retreat"

Jayne

- You and I can enjoy the cozy cottage on the lake environment while those who prefer to camp can sleep on the ground in a tent and use a bathroom they have to dig themselves. LOL

Ren~Busy as Usual

a day ago
In response to "Free Speech, Gettin' Raptured, & People Worth Suffering For"

Well said on all points. The world is a different place than it was 50 years ago and not bad, some good. But lately? Scary.

Witchy Woman

a day ago
In response to "Free Speech, Gettin' Raptured, & People Worth Suffering For"

I agree that they'll go for Fallon and Myers next. The mud slinging has gone unchecked since Clinton was in office and has escalated to the point that situations are becoming dangerous for anyone not agreeing with cheeto.

1 Like

Seffi

a day ago
In response to "Free Speech, Gettin' Raptured, & People Worth Suffering For"

"Second Amendment's guaranteed right to bear arms is not the same thing as guaranteed right to assemble an unchecked, unaccountable armory that would make a Navy SEAL envious." That made me laugh. And I agree. Though I am an outsider, looking at the US like a fishbowl - everything looks slightly distorted and confusing, but is also vaguely familiar.

Charity Marie - <3

a day ago
In response to "Free Speech, Gettin' Raptured, & People Worth Suffering For"

What an interesting trifecta. The one that resonated with me most was the last one so it's the one I'm going to respond to because it's directly relevant to my life, especially right now. You could say I'm "sacrificing" for my relationship. If you know the history, it started as a FWB (friends with benefits) and a hard-boundary of nothing serious. But I'm relationship-oriented. I don't do anything shallowly - I'm just not wired that way. I like commitment - there's something about it that resonates in my nervous system and my bones. Out of 8 billion people, it's that person who says, "I see you. I value you above all others - now or future". It's experiencing life at a deeper level than you can with just friends. It's BATTLING through life together.

For the last year, the FWB relationship has worked because I was working on myself and dating casually, just living life. Eventually I reached a point of just wanting more in my life. Wanting a life partner. So I explored that with him to which he basically said he wanted to stay single forever. Okay, understood. You are another emotionally unavailable man. Noted. Moving on - no harm, no foul. I transitioned it to "friends without benefits" to open up room in my life for a life partner. My idea was to use a matchmaking service - because maybe someone could discern through the bullshit better than I could when they see it every day. Hoping someone would have a more attuned radar to pre-screen out garbage better than apps.

Except, when I mentioned it to him he kind of froze and said, "But what about me?" Then it all changed. We've been carefully, like two battle-scarred generals, navigating it ever since. Successfully I might add despite a misunderstanding that could have derailed the whole thing but actually made us stronger. He told me he'd known for a while that if he were in a better place in life, I would be someone he would want more with. Which floored me because I never even allowed my mind to go there. I labeled him very concretely as "boy toy" and "no feelings" except friendship. That's exactly where it stayed because I can compartmentalize like that unlike other people. I'm an INTJ - half computer, half human. LOL Which brings me to the sacrifice part: we've chosen to wait. Because he's living with a roommate and has a one year lease he doesn't want to break (unless he has to because of the roommate). He's trying to financially get on his feet as well as do some healing of his own.

I get it - there's work to do. I'm further along in my self-growth than he is but was just laid off two months ago so now I'm starting over in a rebuilding phase. So I'm simply waiting for him to catch up and for my own life to restabilize as someone self-employed. The sacrifice is waiting from now until up to one year for his lease to end before we can be together the way we really want. That's when the REAL relationship work begins.

We're doing some of it now - communicating, navigating it all, getting together regularly. It's almost like a long distance relationship because he lives/works 40 minutes away. So when you talk about sacrifice - that hit me pretty hard. But also reassured me because I've never been someone who shied away. I have grit and resilience. It's other people matching me that's been the problem. But finally, I found someone who is and does. So your post gave me hope and reassurance I'm right where I'm supposed to be. Thank you!

Annette

Sep 20, 2025 at 12:12am
In response to "Watch List - August 2025"

Jayne

and Jeff

Include me please.

Jeff

Sep 20, 2025 at 12:02am
In response to "Watch List - August 2025"

Jayne

- Any time you want to arrange a Zoom viewing party, I'm in!

Jayne

Sep 19, 2025 at 9:03pm
In response to "Watch List - August 2025"

I've had K-Pop on my list for a while. Nobody wants to watch it with me lol

1 Like

Jayne

Sep 15, 2025 at 8:57pm
In response to "Writing Retreat"

This sounds lovely.

I'm always one to ask, by cabin (or camp), do you mean shack in the woods or cottage on the lake? I am too old for the former lol

1 Like

S 🤦

Sep 15, 2025 at 1:24am
In response to "Writing Retreat"

Here's my last one:
"20240405 Writing Retreat"

1 Like

June 21, 2011 at 7:14pm

#726766

Kindle (Again) or Nook?

I'm hopeless when it comes to technology. I just can't help myself; I have to explore every option and revisit each choice a hundred times before I actually decide to buy something, even if it's relatively inexpensive. Since I gave our shared Kindle to my wife, I've decided that I'm going to buy myself an e-reader as well, so we can each enjoy the glory that is having a library of books on a device the size of a paperback.

Originally, we settled on the Kindle because I just plain didn't like the feel of the Nook. The Nook felt a little big and clunky compared to the Kindle, and so we went with the Kindle, which has been a great experience. I love our Kindle.

But... Barnes & Noble just released their Nook Simple Touch, which looks amazing. It's like a Kindle without the keyboard, and the form factor is very similar to that of a Kindle now; they figured out a way to get rid of the bulk.

So now I'm back at square one and trying to decide what to purchase. I've pretty much narrowed it down to the following list of selling points for each device:

KINDLE

Compatible with all the e-books I've already purchased. I have an Amazon account, and my wife and I would even be able to swap books between our Kindles.

Wonderful cover with a built-in light. The cover my wife bought is sturdy leather, and has a light built in that is powered by the Kindle battery and extends to perfectly cover the entire screen, then pushes back into the hardcover itself and completely disappears when not in use. The Nook, as far as I can tell, requires an external light to be attached to any of its covers.

Kindle is cheaper. $25 cheaper, but still. I'm looking at the Kindle With Special Offers, which is the one that had advertisements as screensavers (but no ads during the actual reading). I also have an Amazon gift card, which technically makes it $75 cheaper than the Nook.

Audiobooks & Text to Speech. The Kindle allows you to plug in headphones and either download audiobooks to listen, or have the Kindle actually read the text of enabled books to you. The Nook is only for reading.

NOOK

Better selection of books. I'm not quite sure either one is lacking in content for me to read, but the Kindle store has 950,000 books, and the Nook store has 2 million. While both stores can be described as having "plenty" of selection, still... 2 million > 950,000.

Cleaner, more modern look. I've always wondered why the Kindle has a keyboard when it's used so infrequently. The Nook Simple Touch has a definite visual appeal. And it's got a touch screen. Everything's touch screen these days, because they're convenient and they look nice.

Custom screensavers. With a Kindle, your screensaver choices are pre-selected from a very limited supply (on the standard Kindle), or advertisements (on the Special Offers Kindle). With the Nook, you can upload your own screensavers.

Refresh rate. The "black flash" that happens on the Kindle screen with every page only happens once every six pages with the Nook. It's never been a huge bother to me on the Kindle, but still, the Nook has the edge on the refresh rate.

The Nook has several different text styles you can choose from. While the Kindle has one more font size option than the Kindle, the Nook also offers four more font styles than the Kindle, allowing for greater customization.

I know a lot of these are rather aesthetic debate points; but the honest truth is that they're both excellent e-readers. When it comes to actually reading something, by all accounts, the experience is much the same. So the real question is... which bells and whistles do I want?

Comment • View 4 comments

June 14, 2011 at 9:38pm

#726235

Harry Potter Update

So I actually dove in and decided to read Harry Potter. I've been listening to them on audio during the commute and - scarcely two weeks later - I'm already on the third book. I know they get what seems like exponentially longer after this one, but I'm still surprised at how fast I'm blazing through the series. And it actually isn't all that bad.

There are some things that I think aren't all that great. The structuring is a little predictable and whatnot, but all in all they're actually a lot of fun. J.K. Rowling's got a great imagination; you have to give her that. I don't think they're any marvels of children's literature in terms of sophistication... but they're a darn entertaining read. And - thematically and technically - they're leaps and bounds above the Twilight series which, IMO after reading three of them, is somewhere between utter drivel and juvenile whining.

What I can appreciate most about the Harry Potter books is the scope of the work, and its accessibility. Rowling has created an entire fantasy world that's interesting and engaging and fun. I've read plenty of fantasy over the years, and I've noticed that a lot of times, the authors can get carried away in their worlds... too far, so that the story becomes secondary to the setting. Note: if you have footnotes in your own story to explain concepts, it's too technical. I'm talking to you Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman!

But where was I? Broad scope and accessible. Right.

I love the idea of creating a world of your own. Characters and settings and scenarios that no one else has ever invented. These books almost make me want to run back to my Dungeons & Dragons books and start world-building a campaign again.

Sorry, should have prefaced that last paragraph with *NERD ALERT*

Anyway, I think the Harry Potter books (granted, I'm only just under halfway through the series) are pretty darn enjoyable. I'm looking forward to finishing the series and then watching the movies to see what they're like now that I know what Muggles and horcruxes and Quidditch are.

Comment • View 6 comments

June 8, 2011 at 3:21pm

#725818

Kindle Sale

Oh, Kindle... why do you taunt me so? You know I really shouldn't be buying any more books - what with all the ones I have still to read on my bookshelves. And yet you email me and flaunt your summer sale in my face, offering up rich literary treasures for $2.99, $1.99, and even $0.99. How you like to toy with my emotions! I can't resist taking the tiniest little peek at your 600+ sale offerings and - before I know it - my virtual shopping cart is full to the brim with discounted ebooks.

I just spent $20 in about five minutes. Of course, I also got 9 books for that $20, which I suppose isn't such a bad deal. Too bad they don't have audiobooks on sale...

Comment • View 6 comments