Cloggie In Training’s 101

An attempt at completing 101 tasks in 1001 days.

Completed Task: 59. Take More Pictures.

This task became much easier when in September I bought my first DSLR camera, a Sony Alpha 300.  This combined with the decision to take some photography classes through www.betterphoto.com meant that I was having to go and take photos to fulfil assignments (not that I really needed the push).

So far I have had a blast and am really utilising my flickr account.  I have also created a site at www.heather-tucker.com to display my favourite photos.  I have also joined a local photography club.

I hope that in 2009, I am able to take a few more classes and keep up the improvements on all that I am learning.

December 6, 2008 Posted by cloggieintraining | Completed Tasks | , , , , , , , , , | No Comments Yet

Completed Task: 44. Add and Update All My Books in LibraryThing

One of the websites that I got from that original 101 list that I stumbled upon was LibraryThing.  Of all the websites I found, I think this may be my favourite.  Ages ago I used to keep all of the books I owned, even to the point where I was keeping books because I was trying to get all from a certain author even though I knew I would never read the book again.  Somewhere down the line I realised that this was very silly, to me at least, as I had all these books I would never read again and therefore less space to bring in all those wonderful books that are published each and every day.

I know this is a big bone of contention for some people, with many people wanting a record of all the books they have read.  So this is where LibraryThing is a great invention.  On one site you are able to catalogue all of your books and write reviews, rate them, get suggestions from other readers or even join groups.  Membership is free for up to 200 books and then is only $25 for life-time membership allowing you to input as many books as you would like.

I am now a life-time member and have pretty much all of the books I own on there, including loads that I have now read and given away, allowing me to keep track of all the books that pass through my life – it’s just a shame that I didn’t know about it sooner!

Also a quick word on giving away books…I don’t ever throw my books into the rubbish and I am a bit adverse to give them to charity shops as I have heard that if they don’t sell them or run out of space they dump them in the bin.  If you are like me or have decided you want to turn over a new leaf and not keep as many books then can I recommend the following for you, there are many more similar sites available as well – just do a google search.

Ways to Get Rid of Books Without Throwing Them Away

  1. Try the local library – they will almost always accept donations and if they don’t need your book they will sell it for a small price to the community.
  2. BookCrossing- release those books into society and track them online to see where they end up.
  3. Try local sites such as Craigslist, Ebay, Amazon or Expatica (for you Expats)
  4. Bookhopper – Let those books just hop away.  Don’t see your country on the list?  Be a leader and set it up!
  5. Book Swapping Sites – There are loads of these, different for each area – just search!

March 9, 2008 Posted by cloggieintraining | Completed Tasks | , , , | No Comments Yet