It’s not easy being green

No, this is not an homage to Jim Henson’s famous muppet, although little Kermie was my favorite.

I don’t recall how it happened, but my wife got on Al Gore’s email list, and we’ve had the pleasure of some one-way correspondence ever since. I’m sure we didn’t do anything special to get on the list. The only qualification was probably an address… and we’ve got that covered in spades. But the one-way nature of our exchanges ends today friends. Today I sent a reply.

You see, I am a flawed man. I come before you all today… addicted to ebooks. My Palm is my constant companion, my library in a pocket. Everything from reference materials, to policy documents from work, to favorite fiction, to multiple translations of the Bible (which don’t get nearly as much use as I envisioned they would)… it all travels with me, and is available at a moment’s notice. Have you any idea how handy it is to have the books you’re reading with you ALL the time? Quite simply… it’s damn near nirvana.

Of course, if you’re not a big reader… this is completely lost on you.

Anyway, back to Al. This morning I got his email reminding me that his book was released today. Right away I went to my two favorite ebook retailers (eReader and Fictionwise). Herein lies the problem with the electronic book format… not all publishers/authors have embraced the idea. In fact, some of them are down right hostile. (I think the main concern revolves around copy protection – doesn’t it always?) You guessed it. Al’s new book isn’t available as an ebook.

So I sent a message to Al to let him know about my concerns. He’s a tech savvy guy, right? He’s got a seat on the board at Apple, he saw some of the advantages of the internet before most of our leaders did, and duh… no resources used/wasted printing a physical book… I figure the ebook thing is a no brainer.

Alas, I suspect he doesn’t read all of his own mail. And yet I had to try. Sitting at home hooked up to the chemo drip gives one lots of time to compose harassing emails.

Maybe if I’m going to go to the trouble of harassing someone, I ought to pick a public figure I don’t admire first?

Maybe I shouldn’t do any typing at all on chemo and Compazine.

Here’s something I didn’t know: Compazine used to be used as an anti-psychotic. On the Wikipedia they say it’s 10-20 times more potent than Thorazine.

I can tell you from personal experience… that’s pretty awesome (albeit pretty damn tiring). It’s also a big reason why I’m sitting around goofing on the internet (half awake) rather than logging into the office to do work (I know too well how much trouble I could stir up there).

Buenas noches, luna.