Sunday, June 1, 2008

Help! I hate my keyboard, plus welcome to Bookballoon

First, I am still battling the keyboard wars. I tend to mangle my keyboards because I type so hard and fast, the letters wear out within a month. I've tried press on letters (they wore out), a keyboard condom (ghastly and it somehow trapped dirt inside the plastic shield, which made it doubly disgusting) and I have worked my way through two Logitechs. One was insane and somehow screwed up things in my computer. The second Logitech, with programmable keys, just for fun would put plus and minus signs in the middle of the copy. I now (you would think I would learn, but I haven't) have a logitech wave. Love the design--ergonomic, comfortable, nice key feel, but the space bar is so LOUD it makes me crazy. So does anyone know a good, quiet, ergonomic-but-not-split-keyboard keyboard that I can fall in love with enough to want to marry it?

Next, I want to tell every one about BookBalloon, a new online community, “where readers and writers discuss books and the arts.” The heart of the site is the discussion forum. And the heart of the forum is the reading club, which tackles a different book, new or classic, each month, selected by the members. June’s book is American Woman by Susan Choi; July’s will be The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri; and August’s will be Virginia Woolf’s To the Lighthouse.
Other discussion threads focus on specific genres, publishing news, and literary events. Aside from books there are discussions of movies, music, current events, and more.

The forum also offers several threads on craft and publishing specifically aimed at writers.
BookBalloon also features special events, such as Q&As with special guests. June’s guest will be Logan Ward, author of See You in a Hundred Years: Four Seasons in Forgotten America. Ward will be visiting and chatting with members beginning June 24th.

Friendly and free. Go check it out. And if anyone knows how to quiet a noisy space bar or has suggestions for a great keyboard that isn't the price of a small country, please let me know!

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