The power of a word

From time to time, I will put my writer's hat on, climb up on my soap box, and lecture someone on the power of words. I wax poetic on how important it is to use the proper word or words, to convey the meaning you intend; to paint the proper picture in the reader's mind. I'm sure I come off sometimes as a pretentious bore, especially to those people that really don't care how they get their point across, as long as the intended recipient gets the main idea.

Piers Anthony is one of my favorite authors; He has a way of using words that practically sing to you. They splash paint on the canvas, but he ultimately leaves it up to the reader to make his own interpretation of the resulting abstract images. He is a master of the craft, and I can only hope that someday I will possess a portion of the talent that he possesses.

Recently, I was shown the power of a simple word. As I have pondered it, its power has grown, and caused me to shift my thinking in profound ways.

As many close to me know, I have had a very rough time for the past month or two. My mother passed away a week before Christmas; she died while I was holding her hand. I have had some tough relationship issues recently as well. I don't know what fate has in store for me, and it has been very difficult for me to accept.

It is easy to fall apart, to feel sorry for myself, and blame the Powers That Be for putting me through the ringer. I have often spouted such profound statements as "relationships suck," with the intent of garnering sympathy from those who wish to empathize and tell me just how right I am.

Someone close to me has also gone through some difficult times. She said something to me that has since caused me to reexamine my own point of view, and it has shaken me a bit.

She said "relationships can suck."

Of course, when she first said it, I completely agreed. Yep, that's what I always say: relationships suck. Then I did a mental double-take. That is so NOT what she said. She said they CAN suck.

Have you ever played Boggle? I have been searching the Boggle dice of my life for some sort of purpose, some meaning, some great 8-letter word that will blow everyone's mind. That simple statement upended the dice, and gave me a completely new playing grid. I'm seeing all sorts of potential, and it has energized me in a way that nothing else has.

Everybody dies. I can't wallow in self-pity forever, pining over the lost opportunities with my father. He is gone, and I am not to blame for the chasm that separated us when he was alive. I cannot go back and fix the problems he and I had. It's time to move forward.

I cannot bring back my Mom. She asked me to let her go, to be at peace with her decision to not suffer any more pain. How can I mourn her passing, when she herself believed that she was moving on to something better, and would not have to suffer any more. It's time to celebrate her life, and her legacy. It's time to move forward.

Sometimes, someone comes along in your life, and they have a tremendous impact. I am lucky to have had someone enter my life who really seems to "get" me in ways nobody ever has. She has helped me get through some very rough times, and for that I am eternally grateful.

What a word, "can!" It takes the finality out of any phrase; relationships can suck, but they don't always. It gives us hope; the 49ers can do well next year (ok, I know, a big stretch there). It certainly has made me think, and I realize, I CAN turn my life around. I can take care of my finances, and turn over a new leaf. I can let go and let destiny take its course.

Life can suck sometimes, but it doesn't have to.

My new iPhone

Yes, I bought an iPhone. 3 reasons:

1. I wanted one. For a year now...
2. My other cell phone was on the fritz. I swear, I didn't sabotage it!
3. My royalty check came in, and it was almost the exact amount of the phone + tax.

I love the iPhone. I want to marry the iPhone. I carry it with me everywhere -- okay, I know it's a phone, and I should carry it with me anyway, but I would even it wasn't a phone.

That said, there are a lot of things that need improvement. It doesn't mean I don't love her, but she could use a tune-up. Here's my laundry list so far (I'll update it from time to time):

Messaging

MMS doesn't exist yet. Every other phone out there worth it's salt has it. I also love the SMS "conversation" view. But it doesn't allow me to save the conversation. Right now, it's all or nothing (clear conversation deletes it all).

Calendar

Pretty good application. Just needs to sync to more than outlook.

Photos

Why is there no Cover Flow capability? It's already built in to the phone for iPod. I'd like to thumb through my photos the same way -- at least my albums, anyway. And where's the clown fish photo? I know I can find it and upload it to my phone, but come on!

Camera

Not so sure about video. We only have so much space. But shouldn't be a difficult option to add. But currently, there are no options. None. Would like to see:

• ZOOM. Come on, pinching the screen should be able to zoom in and out. I couldn't believe that didn't work.


• There isn't a physical button on the iphone to snap the picture. It's awkward hitting the screen, and more often than not, I hit it too early. Too late to fix that now, I guess.

YouTube

Liking it for the most part... doesn't seem to be as many available as through the true online YouTube site. It's missing Cover Flow. Yan never have too much of that... And don't force me to flip my phone to the side. allow me to rotate to any angle like with photos.

Stocks

Not sure... I don't use this app much.

Maps

What can I say? Google rocks.

Weather

I can't change the order of the weather widgets. Why not? I should be able to do this, and choose which one is the default. And clicking on a day should give me more information about the weather prediction. I realize the Y! link does this, but it should be native in the app, not launch the browser.

Clock

When I have it docked, I'd like to be able to see a full-screen app that shows me the time, date, weather, etc. When clicking on a World clock, it should zoom in to full screen mode, with the above information for that area. Why can I see only 4 alarms on the screen at a time? Why do I have to scroll if I have more than 4 alarms? Squeeze them together when I add more. And give me the option to have the timer repeat. Would be awesome for poker tournaments...

Calculator

Where to begin? It is not NEARLY complex enough. You can enter only 9 digits in the display, INCLUDING DECIMAL PLACES! That's unacceptable. It's missing scientific functions. There are NONE. Not even fractions! And there are some errors when doing calculations. I won't go into them -- but they need to be fixed.

Notes

It was a good idea, but is it worthy of a whole app space on the main page? Notes should be linked to other apps (calendar entries, photos, contacts, etc.) I should also be able to record audio notes. If only the iPhone had a microphone... oh, wait, it does. Why wasn't memo recording added???

Settings

Not a lot to complain about here... seems to work ok...

Phone

Seems to work well... my issues are with the phone itself, not the service of AT&T.

Email

There is no way to create folders. Why do I have the option to move an email to another folder when there isn't another folder (besides sent and trash) to put it in? Why are my SENT emails showing up in my INBOX on the iPhone? This needs to be fixed asap.

Browser

There is no "history" -- have to go back one page at a time. Would like it if you would hold the back button and bring up a history of pages to go back to. There is no way to save attachments from emails. Should at least be able to save a photo to use as wallpaper or contact image.

iPod

Rocks. 'nuf said.

Main menu

Calendar shows current day (but not month/year). Allow me the option to show the day and year. The weather shows 73 degrees... why not the current temp for my default weather location? The clock shows 10:15... why not the current time for my time zone?

All apps

These apps were all installed on the iPhone, yet they don't talk to each other too well. When creating a calendar entry, I want to be able to link that entry to a note, or a contact so when the alarm goes off in my calendar to "call Mom" I can simply click a button to instantly call her.

Missing apps (my opinion only, others may differ)

• Memo recorder


• MMS


• Video camera (not convinced, but many have asked for it)


• Book reader


• Chat


• Disk mode

Like I said, I love the iPhone. If these things all get fixed (and most of them can be with a software update), I will probably go into sugar shock.

I have been taking pictures with my phone, and sending some of those photos to my iPhone picture blog. Check it out.

If you see anything I'm missing, or want to tell me how you feel about the list or your iPhone, please let me know.