Surprise!

Dictionary.com defines surprise like this:

–verb (used with object)
1. to strike or occur to with a sudden feeling of wonder or astonishment, as through unexpectedness: Her beauty surprised me.
2. to come upon or discover suddenly and unexpectedly: We surprised the children raiding the cookie jar.
3. to make an unexpected assault on (an unprepared army, fort, person, etc.).
4. to elicit or bring out suddenly and without warning: to surprise the facts from the witness.
5. to lead or bring unawares, as into doing something not intended: to surprise a witness into telling the truth.

–noun
6. an act or instance of surprising or being surprised.
7. something that surprises someone; a completely unexpected occurrence, appearance, or statement: His announcement was a surprise to all.
8. an assault, as on an army or a fort, made without warning.
9. a coming upon unexpectedly; detecting in the act; taking unawares.

Life is full of surprises. Some are good; some are bad. I've had my share of the bad ones over the past year. More than my share actually, so I was overdue for some of the good ones.

And I got a really good one this past Monday. #2 son has been visiting me and the day after Christmas we were supposed to go visit his older brother who is married and has a four year old. Now, I love my sons and my DIL, but you must understand that after raising two boys, I derive great joy from buying girly stuff. So while I enjoyed the white Christmas we had, I was very disappointed our trip to see the grandbaby was delayed a day.

But we needed to stay safe and the roads were quite treacherous. On Monday, though, things were fine and we travelled without incident. I pulled out my gifts and distributed them to both boys and to my daughter in law, and they were excited by what they received. Then the granddaughter opened hers and oh my gosh, it was just a giggle-fest as she unwrapped rhinestone necklaces, a new outfit with sparkles on the top, a child-sized pink travel neck pillow with a cat head on one side and a cat tail on the other, a personalized Princess Tea Party CD and a big story book. Her stocking had lip gloss, nail polish and a little bit of candy. Her great-gran sent her a tiny tea set in a wee wicker basket. Of course she had to try everything on, wear some lip gloss and have a tea party while she listened to her CD.

Then I was given a box wrapped in red and white paper. "This is from all of us," my daughter in law said. I tore off the wrapping and found a sturdy cardboard box with these words on the outside:

AMAZON KINDLE

Color me stunned. Speechless. Almost in tears. Of all the presents in all my years, this ranks among the very best because I know it was a stretch for my kids to buy it. And you will have to pry it from my cold, dead fingers to get it away from me.

But now I have to figure it out. I spent yesterday morning trying to just get it registered with Amazon and in the process I messed up my network. At that point I was completely frustrated and had to just set the Kindle aside until my stress levels dropped. Eventually I figured out that certain letters in my network password were capitalized. Duh.

So now it's registered, I've downloaded a free book from Amazon for practice and set up a Romance collection to categorize the download. I'm still a looooooooong way from conquering the Kindle, but doing so will keep me out of trouble. ;-)

So... who else has a Kindle? And what tips and tricks can you offer me? Where can you buy books for the Kindle besides Amazon? And what about covers? I want to get one but there are so many choices.

The best tip today will win a paperback book from my stash. Kinda funny, huh? A paperback in exchange for an e-book tip? Surprise!

Free Book Friday - Surprise Edition

I, by nature, am a suspicious sort. I don't like surprises at all. I'd really rather know what's going on. Part of the reason is because I lack the proper responses to most things. Catch me off guard and who knows how I'll react. If I know I'm going to have a surprise party, I can practice my surprised face and be gracious about it. Yes, I really do have to think about these things. Being in my head is a strange and alien place to most of you. You should've seen me at my high school graduation party. All the attention on me, opening presents. Trying to gauge what the appropriate response is to getting money, versus jewelry, etc. If I'm not careful, the people will think I don't like the gift, which is usually far from the truth, I just don't instinctively know how to express it. I'm sure its second nature to some people. I've got to work at it, but I'm better now. But I still like to be prepared.

(For the record, if DB ever thought he'd do some big public proposal type thing I didn't know about, I doubt it would be one of those Hallmark moments. I'd probably just stare blankly at him until he nudged me, then I'd start to cry hysterically and run into the bathroom. That would be for a 'yes,' by the way.)

Point being, that even though I don't like them happening to me, I really like planning surprises for others.

So here we go... It's Free Book Friday, but I'm not going to tell you what you're going to win. It's going to be a complete surprise. I'm not going to tell you how many books or what kind or by whom. Just know they'll be fabulous, no matter what.

To enter, comment today with the phrase "I love surprises!" but then tell me how you really feel about them. Are you like me or do you get joy or thrills from the uncertainty of it?

Another little engine that could

Last April I blogged about not judging a book by its cover and the Susan Boyle phenomenon. Susan didn't win Britain's Got Talent, much to my surprise, and then she had a bit of bad publicity from run-ins with the media. I'm sorry, but you can't take a shy woman from a small village, splash her across television in front of millions of people and not have her experience a bit of panic and pique with the paparazzi.

American Idol started last week and on Tuesday night, at the Atlanta, Georgia auditions, audiences were given a treat during the very last try-out. AI has an age limit of 28, so I was surprised when a gentleman who was quite obviously much older than that came in to audition. He introduced himself as General Larry Platt and after a little fumbling he began to sing his original composition, Pants on the Ground.

Simon and Randy displayed their usual sarcasm. Kara smiled politely at first, then clapped and giggled. Guest judge Mary J. Blige dissolved in laughter. The General kept his cool. Then Simon uttered the famous words, "I have a horrible feeling that song could be a hit."

In case you didn't catch it on television, here it is.



In true AI fashion, there's a story behind the story, and it appeared the next day in USA Today.

General Larry Platt: A closer look

We all got a good chuckle Wednesday out of General Larry Platt and his Pants on the Ground song. Entertaining as he was, I couldn't help but wonder why the American Idol producers saved the last spot of the show for a 62-year-old guy with a funny song.

Now I think I know.

Take a look at the photograph on the home page of the Civil Rights Veterans Movement website. See the young man on the left, looking directly into the camera? That's Larry Platt, age 16.

"We had come by bus in 1963 to a church in Savannah, Georgia to plan a march to desegregate the city," Platt writes. "Reverend Hosea Williams and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. were our leaders. That particular planned march was canceled and we were singing to raise our spirits before returning home."

Platt worked with the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference in Georgia, organizing sit-ins in the South.

He was beaten during the Bloody Sunday march from Selma, Ala., to Montgomery.

He got his nickname, "General," from the Rev. Hosea Williams because of his heroic efforts on behalf of the civil-rights movement.

The Georgia General Assembly proclaimed Sept. 4, 2001, Larry Platt Day in Atlanta, because of "his great energy and commitment to equality and the protection of the innocent and for his outstanding service to the Atlanta community and the citizens of Georgia."

He remains a community activist in the Atlanta area and recently has become known for publicly protesting foreclosures.

If anybody in that Atlanta crowd deserved his 15 minutes of fame on national television, it was Larry Platt.

When he tells you to get your pants off the ground, you'd best listen.

True to Simon's word, Pants on the Ground has become an internet sensation, and last Saturday night I saw a young man who deserved a good dose of the General's advice. I didn't dare tell him, but on my way to the car I was hummin' the song.

It's still too early in the season to have much of an idea about who'll make it and who won't, but so far we've seen a few really good singers. And I'm looking forward to seeing new judge Ellen Degeneres once we get to Hollywood week.

Are you an American Idol fan? Whose your favorite winner to date? Or non-winner for that matter since quite a few of those have gone on to land recording contracts.