Random Ramblings

What does the picture above have to do with this post? Nothing,I just like it :)

I really enjoyed Monday's blog hop and want to thank Alex J. Cavanaugh, again, for hosting. It was a great time and I was reminded of a lot of movies that I hadn't thought of for a long time.

You guys had some great top ten lists, for sure.

I'd also like to thank all of you who stopped by and commented. I apologize if I didn't get back to everyone and, if I didn't make it to your list, please don't be offended...I gave it the old college try (because I went to an old college).

Anyway, not much going on today and I'll probably keep things brief after Monday's festivities so here goes...

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I mentioned on Friday about Google Reader going the way of the dodo on July 1st and that I was looking into some alternatives. I checked a few out and a couple of them looked decent, but had a limit on how many blogs you could follow...which wouldn't work for me. Another wanted you to pay and the other wasn't taking any new accounts.

So, I decided to give one of the best of the free readers (in my opinion) a shot.

I've been using Feedly for about four or five days and have had pretty good results. It's pretty user friendly and imports all your subscriptions with just a few clicks. After some finagling, I managed to get it looking like the Google Reader template (if that's what you're going for), but you could also configure it a few other ways, too.

 If you're a Chrome user, it also has a little, handy dandy, extension for your convenience.

Now, I'm not married to this reader (my wife wouldn't like that) so if you know of something that works better and is free, please let me know!

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In other "news", I saw this on Google Plus (see, you should be using it!) and thought it was pretty cool. It also ties in with Monday's blog hop as a lot of people had Star Wars (or sequels) in their top ten.

The cast of the Star Wars films, spanning the six episodes. I don't think I've seen the kid who played young Annakin since he did the film.

Small gripe here, besides them including Jar Jar ahem, but I think Lucas should be sitting on the other side by Fischer, Ford, and Hamill. I mean, that's where it all started so it only makes sense.

Right?

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On Friday's I've been trying to do a post for The Healthy Writer's Club, which I think is a fantastic idea and want to stay on board with. Last Friday, though, I purposely excluded doing an entry because I hadn't really done anything of note and didn't want to post excuses as to why I hadn't done anything of note.

This Friday, though, I'll have something pretty cool to talk about relating to THWC so tune in then for the skinny....figuratively speaking, of course :)

Got Green Blogfest 2.0 / Google Reader Woes

Mark (O') Koopmans is hosting this colorful, little, bloghop to help celebrate that moss hued holiday...St. Patrick's Day. I believe there's still time to sign up if you want to join in on the festivities and you can find all the particulars HERE

Basically, the idea is to share our thoughts on how we get our 'Irish' on in 333 words or less.

Yes...333 words....though, I'm sure if you go over Mark won't show up at your house and hit you over the head with a shillelagh.....or will he?  >.>

Anyway, since I'm not Irish and really have no experiences of that sort to relate, I'll drop some trivia on you...

• The man who was to become St. Patrick was kidnapped, at the age of sixteen, by Irish raiders and brought to Ireland to serve as a slave. He was told by God, in a dream, to flee to the coast where he found a ship that took him back to Britain.
• According to legend, St. Patrick drove all the snakes from Ireland and to the sea. It's generally agreed upon, though, that its' a metaphor for his good works. Snakes being the common symbol for paganism (and not found in Ireland), it represents St. Patrick driving paganism from the country.
• While it's generally believed that the shamrock was what St. Patrick used to explain the Holy Trinity, others believe that the three pronged leaf was worn as a symbol of the cross.
• The Druids believed that four leafed clovers aided in spotting witches and demons, hence they were 'good luck charms'. 
• Usually the clover leaf is only split into three parts, but some botanists believe that if a young clover leaf is damaged or exposed to certain chemicals, it takes on a fourth segment and becomes a 'four leafed clover'.
• It's said that snakes avoid shamrocks and that the plant is also a remedy for snake and scorpion bites.
• Some say that for good luck you should kiss the Blarney Stone, which is set into one of the walls of Blarney Castle. Legend has it that a witch cast a spell on the stone to reward the king for saving her from drowning. The spell gave the king the ability to speak 'persuasively eloquent' after kissing the stone.
• Legend has it that if you catch a leprechaun, you can make him tell you where his gold is hidden IF you don't look away from him. If you do...and they'll always try to trick you into doing so...he'll disappear, taking his gold with him.

I'll leave you with this Irish blessing:

May you live as long as you want

And never want as long as you live.

So, how about you? Any plans for St. Patrick's Day?

A big 'thank you' to Mark Koopmans for hosting this hop and I'm glad I had a chance to participate in it this go 'round.

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You've probably already heard that on July 1st, Google Reader will be no more.

Google is citing that declining usage as well as their need to focus on other products as the reasoning behind this.

While you can download your Reader data via Google Takeout during the three month 'sunset period' they're giving us, you'll still have to find an alternative.

While the site Lifehacker had some alternatives, I'm still not sure which might be the best route to go.

Needless to say, I don't think the blogging community is going to be too happy with this turn of events.

Any ideas on what might be a viable alternative?

Have a great Friday and an even better weekend!