Kindle vs. Books: Which side are you on?

So, I've been asked to comment on this article by Sara Barbour. It is basically an op ed on why the author prefers books over electronic/digital representations of books. If you are unfamiliar with the Kindle, watch the video review below and prepare to become uncomfortably familiar with it:

In her article, Barbour admits that she avoids the Kindle because she is afraid that she would be tempted (to use it and, possibly, replace her collection of books). She prefers books because of intangible things, such as sentimental value and "the experience of reading." So where do I stand?

PAX 2009 Schedule

Whoo, such a lazy bum am I. First I failed that maintaining my exercise regiment and then I slack off this blog for two weeks.

For good reason, however. I'm busy preparing for my trip and there is a lot of work to do to cover my arse during that one week.

If you want to find me during PAX, here's a rough schedule of where I'll be during the event.

Friday
10-11 Omegathon 1
12-1 HAWP
1-2 Breaking into the Game Industry the Educated Way
2:30-3 Star Trek Online Demo
3-3:30 Scribblenauts Demo
4-4:30 Rockband Beatles Demo
7-10 Hudson PAX Party @ Tap House

Saturday
10-10:30 Big Fish Games: Faunasphere Demo
11-12 Muramasa and Nostalgia Demo
12-1 Lord of the Rings, D&D Demo
2:30-3:30 Omegathon 3
4-5 Nexon Demo (Combat Arms, Dungeon Fighter Online, Dragon Nest)

Sunday
10-11 Omegathon 5
12-1 Hudson games demos
2-2:30 Hello Kitty Online Demo
5-6 Omegathon Finals

Like last year, I'm attending every Omegathon I can in hope of being an Omeganaut next year :p I've cut back on the number of panels I'm attending this year as I haven't really enjoyed them as much as I thought I would in previous years. Instead, I'll be spending more time doing media demos, walking the exhibition hall, and playing table top games.

Professional Writing

It's been pretty busy here on the home front. As you can see, my casual writing (aka the blog) is usually the first victim cast aside when crunch time settles in.

This weekend was my girlfriend's birthday and every day was spent with a different group of friends/family. It was tonnes of fun, but I had an Escapist article that was due on Monday. Luckily, I already had all my notes written out and organized, which was more than half the battle. I managed to squeak by this time. For the next article I'm writing for the big online magazine, which is due in two weeks, I'll be jumping on it early so that I don't have to worry anymore.

So that was my weekend. Last week was E3 and I was assigned to summarize the event. I didn't get sent over to it (maybe next year?) but there was still plenty to do. I had a queue of about 60 articles that I referenced for my own articles. The research for this alone took several hours and it was difficult to write and then edit down the word count to an acceptable level.

Freelancing is fun, I complain a lot but I love it more than anything. If possible, I would like to be able to just sit at home and write for various publications. Perhaps, if I could find time, I would finish my novel ideas and then become a professional writer for real. As it stands however, I'm wiped out after every deadline. I won't say outright that it is affecting my enthusiasm for video games and writing, but it is hard to do these things for personal enjoyment when you have a stack of related work that needs to be done.

I have my digital audio recorder and the personal blog file is flashing a 3, which means there are 3 blog ideas in there that I haven't written out yet. I met my deadline for Kidzworld pretty early this week so maybe I'll be able to tackle that and do some future posts. Early completion ftw!