feadog, talking edna dolls, and a reading survey

Yay, one of the Feadog whistles I bought on eBay arrived yesterday! I was so excited when it arrived that I ripped the package open right in the lobby of our building and started playing The Swallow Tail, to the amusement of our security guard and another tenant. LOVE the tone, very round and pure. Thanks so much for the recommendation, Ju!

I recently discovered this page for learning tunes. A kind fiddler named Jim recently launched this resource to help in the tune-learning process, including a slow as well as fast recording of each tune. So far the only tune I recognize is Sligo Maid; I notice he plays a slightly different version than the one I learned. I'm trying to play along with his version, figure I might as well get used to variations.

And AUGH! Marty Fabish has pointed out that there is a TALKING EDNA DOLL available on Amazon.com. Description from the manufacturer: "Thinkway introduces real Voice Recognition with the talking Edna doll. She recognizes over 50 unique words and phrases and has multiple responses to each. Ages 4 and up. Includes 2 AAA batteries for "Try Me" demonstration only." Holy toledo, I am *SO* tempted. But do I really NEED a Talking Edna Doll? I could spend my money and time on much more useful things. Like books. Or Feadog penny whistles. Or electroshock therapy.

But dear lord, it's a TALKING EDNA DOLL! (Debbie pauses to slap herself a few times, take a deep breath, and continue with this Blathering in a feeble attempt to retain a shred of what remains of her battered dignity...)

Speaking of books, I'm quite enjoying The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde. Love the author's witty and unique way with words ("He laughed like a drain..."). I'm also reading a novel for younger readers called Cart and Cwidder by Diana Wynne Jones.

A SURVEY: When do you do most of your pleasure reading? I used to do it right before going to bed, but I find that these days I tend to fall asleep within a few minutes of getting into bed. So now I have to purposely schedule reading time when I'm actually fully conscious, earlier in the evening. Don't watch much regular tv these days, but I do get in more reading time. I figure it's a worthy trade-off.

Found the following item during my recent Massive Office Purge, something I used in my first fulltime office job. Karma points to the first person who knows what it was used for. Karma points also to the person who comes up with the most creative answer. :-)




Any guesses?

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