free Mark Twain audio book download
Kathryn, from The Harper Studio (the publishers of the new Mark Twain book I mentioned yesterday), left me a comment:
The New Yorker is offering the new Mark Twain book in audio book format, as read by John Lithgow, completely for free!
Download it here:
http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/books/2009/04/mark-twain-out-loud.html
whenever i am about to publish a book
I learned only recently that previously unpublished works from Mark Twain are, in fact, being published, and this has, quite frankly, made my day.
And then, to see an excerpt from one of these stories come to life (in this case through the pen of Flash Rosenberg and the voice of John Lithgow), well, that's just icing on the cake.
(If you can't see the above video, click on the link Who is Mark Twain?)
Mark Twain passed away on April 21, 1910 and the book is being released today.
taking advantage of what we have
Nate and I went to Moraine Hills State Park on Saturday for a morning of outdoor exploration.
Every visit to the state park makes me want to go back for more. We are rather lucky in McHenry County to have a rather large number of conservation areas and three state parks. These are areas we need to take advantage of more often.
On Saturday, Nate ran ahead to the end of a wooden walkway (one that extends over the bog/wetlands area at Moraine Hills) and sat down. When I caught up with him a small snake was wiggling by and into the grass below. We also saw a Great Blue Heron take flight from its nest on the edge of the waterway. (Actually, I missed the take-off because I was busy shooting a macro photo of what looks like part of a jawbone from a critter.)
I discovered today, on the website FreeSound.org, user Tom Haigh (aka audible-edge) made a recent (March 14th) recording of the ambient sounds of Moraine Hills.
http://www.freesound.org/samplesViewSingle.php?id=69252
I think it captures the park quite well.
Eggs and stained fingers and peanut-free chocolate
Yesterday we went to an aunt and uncles' for Easter (my mom's side of the family). They were very accommodating to us re: Nate's peanut allergy and treats. They organized an easter egg hunt out in the back yard and only put in hard candies and gummy candies.
And Nate, in typical exuberant form, abandoned his basket about 10 seconds into the hunt when he realized there was a big swing set in the corner. He proceeded to run and swing and climb and tell us he could see easter eggs hiding in the trees (there were none there but he was very convincing in his insistence).
It was great.
Also, it is worth repeating what 
helloheather wrote on Friday.
Tonight's Good Friday service was a presentation of readings and choral songs. We brought Nathan into church with us, thinking that we'd keep him there as long as he wasn't disturbing anyone.
Well, the music held his attention for the whole service! Rob and I have both noticed that he really tunes in to new music. He likes to listen, and asks what the different instruments are, or who is singing.
Tonight, as we were walking out in solemn silence, Nathan whispered, "It was a good sing."
(http://helloheather.livejournal.com/628167.html)
I love that boy.
13 Wolf and Ritz stores closing in IL
I missed this recent announcement, but Wolf/Ritz announced which 300 of their stores they're going to close.
http://lnk.nu/businesswire.com/udl/
13 in Illinois are going away, though it's odd as the one next to where I were I work is not mentioned and has been closed for a couple of weeks.
Link to the PDF from businesswire.com is here.
I'm glad to see that the one in Crystal Lake, where we have all of our prints done, is not on the list. They have a knowledgeable staff and have always been accommodating. It would be a shame to lose them.
possible brilliant sunsets
Over on http://spaceweather.com/ there is a notification that, thanks to the eruptions of Mt. Redoubt in Alaska, the Great Lakes region may be in for interesting sunsets.
It's under "SULFUR DIOXIDE LOOP" which mainly details a ring of SO2 currently approach the west coast but does mention the band approaching the Great Lakes region.
You can see an animation of the event here.
