Have Tweet Will Twitter (Patagonia, AZ)

These are my favorite Twittering buddies. Which ones?  ...all the ones with feathers, of course!

Have you heard the latest tweet?

The 50 Megaton Tweet by R. C. Wade

This is a quick read of 68 pages.  The author mixes documentary facts on the fast-growing social media with a "what if" scenario that causes a devastating chain reaction.  This isn't one of my usual reads.  I like reading books that takes me away from daily problems, but this book is worth reading.  I think anyone that spends a lot of time using the social media should read this book.  I have learned a lot about the impact social media has had on our daily lives.

What if a tweet and a video were sent out showing our President had been shot with no confirmation from anyone in the White House?  What if another senator tweets that the President has been shot and another tweet spreads there is a government conspiracy?  We know from the past that leaked information can spread like wildfire, but how would we react if we received this news?  

What follows in this story is a chain reaction from news media to government to Joe Public to the World.  It is an interesting and scary concept.  I would like to think that we the public would not react in such a devastating way without getting confirmation from either the news media or our government despite our feelings of distrust for both.

I actually found the age of instant information and social media history more interesting than the story.  Such as the impact it has on today's TV news media and how our government uses it.  Anyone can become famous with a cell phone  and internet access by being Joe-on-the-spot reporter.  As we are finding out - absolutely nothing is safe from the public. Social Media's impact on our society has truly taken over the way we share and process news.  One thing that is prominent in this book is our lack of responsibility for not double-checking the facts before forwarding, retweeting, or re-posting online information.

Two more notes:  This book is written by an independent writer which means he published this book on his own (no publisher) through  Kindle and it is the only version available for now.  If you are interested in reading his book, you should be able to download the Kindle version to your computer or cell phone by installing Amazon's free app Cloud.
Also, checking information is easy with snopes.com - excellent source for rumors and facts.

More Tweeters!

Here are some new photos of my feathered friends.  Mr. Cardinal has been hanging around quite a bit this winter.   He seems to enjoy the free meals that Dan provides for all the birds.

Northern Cardinal

Doesn't this guy look like a black Cardinal?  I cannot pronounce his real name so that is his nickname: Black Cardinal.  His chirp is quite distinct.  It sounds like a short dog whistle.  I keep expecting to hear his whistle and "here boy!".  I saw this guy a couple of times last year, but never got a good picture.  This year, the Phainopepla has been sighted quite a few times around the Center and on the trails.  Gotcha!!

Phainopepla

The Preserve is starting to get busy with Birders and birds.  We have one unusual sighting of a Rusty Blackbird...sorry, no photo.  It has brought out quite a few Birders looking for that one bird to check off their life list.  I was sort of hoping we would not go through this again...oh well.

Eastern Bluebird

We have one more week here and we are off to Benson, AZ for a month.  I'm ready for a break and a change of scenery!

On The Cutting Board

I finished all the faces and now I have started appliqueing the Cuddly Critters quilt top.  Here's the Dog!  He came out better than I had hoped.  

One more paw and then on to the next face.....  Happy Quilting!

Not So Wordless Wednesday (Patagonia, AZ)

Surprise!  I'm actually going to do a Wordless Wednesday....Enjoy!

Northern Cardinal

Red-tailed Hawks

Yellow-rumped Warbler

Squirrel!

Happy Trails!

Not so Wordless Wednesday (Patagonia, AZ)

Our last day of the year 2012 was a little more eventful than we had planned on having for this day...

Snow day on Dec 31, 2012

We woke on the morning of New Year's Eve to a dusting of snow on the ground, no power, and a very cold motorhome.

I tried to ignore our youngest cat, Hitch while he sat on my ribs.  I was curled up on my side trying to stay warm, head buried beneath the covers.  Every time I so much as twitched, he would make a loud Mrrrr sounds and dig his tiny paws in deeper as if to say, "I know you are awake.  Get up and feed me."

can you see the reflections of the trees

For a 9 lb cat, he certainly can feel like a 20 pounder when he wants his food.  I finally pushed the covers down wondering why Hitch felt a need to have food before the sun was up.

 He greeted me with a loud Mrrrreow! and I swear with an elfish grin.  "Ha! I knew you were awake!" and head-bopped my chin. 

Okay, I'm up!  Got the propane furnace going and cats fed...

Even Mr. Cardinal looks cold.

 Then I realized there was snow on the ground!  All right!  Snow!

sparkles

Dan and I did our morning chores in a hurry, grabbed our cameras and were off on a walk before breakfast.

enchanting

I guess our last day of the year had to end with a bang.  I'm happy to report our power was back on by the time we got back from our walk and our well-fed cats were sleeping.......hmmm, maybe I should have joined them.

Our first day of the New Year was uneventful with no cats begging me to get up at o'dark hundred!  Good-bye 2012!.......Hello 2013!

Too Short, but very Sweet

Well, our visit is over.  A little too short, but it was wonderful.  Just like this blog is going to be today.

Kristy and Dick are on their way back home.  I enjoyed talking quilts and catching up on all our families' latest activities.  Kristy brought photos of her latest quilt projects.  Just beautiful!  I love her black & white with red quilt.   Of course, I had to pull out a few of my project.  I should have planned ahead and got a few out of our storage area.  Oh well....next time.

We took a walk around the Preserve.  It was pretty quiet with a few birds here and there, but the day was perfect for a walk.  We did see the Belted Kingfisher who made a lot of noise before zipping down the creek.  On the next day, Kristy walked with Dan while I was working and Dick checked emails (got to stay connected, you know!).  Anyway, they had more luck during their walk.  They saw a coyote and the Javalina.  I wish I could have gone with them, but I was very busy at the Center with visitors.

Here's some nature photos:

On the Cutting Board

I started working on another Cupid mug rug.  Once I finish the two Cupids and one Rabbit mug rugs, I will start on the Uncle Sam mug rugs.  

Of course, I can't stay focused on one project for very long so I traced a new snowman pattern onto some muslin.  I searched through my stash of threads for brighter colors to use this time.  Aren't they adorable?!

Happy Quilting and Safe Travels to Dick and Kristy!