#i'd really like to find some good audiobooks about communism

[solarishashernoseinabook]

Solaris reads Murder as a Second Language, by Joan Hess (2013)

So yeah, this was the book I made the poll about. As this is a murder mystery I'm liveblogging, it's very likely I'll spoil the killer for you. Block the tag "solaris reads murder as a second language" if you don't want spoilers.

Murder as a Second Language is the 19th book in the Claire Malloy Mysteries and the first book by Joan Hess I've read. Last year I listened to about 30 minutes of the audiobook before DNF'ing it because of how trashy the first couple chapters were. Well, now I'm back, and we're going to see how bad the rest of it is.

MAASL picks up shortly after our main character Claire, long-time local business owner, has married Deputy Chief Peter Rosen, and just before she packs her daughter Caron off to college. To get into the college she wants, Caron has to spend the summer doing volunteer work, and Claire - now faced with the possibility of spare time - decides to volunteer as well. When a murder happens in town, Claire and Peter team up to solve the case.

Well, let's see what I've gotten myself into...

[Transcript: "Inez found thsi really cool place where we can volunteer to teach English as a second language to foreigners. It's like four hours a week, and we arrange our own schedules. I figure that if we're there from eleven to noon, we'll have plenty of time to go to the lake and the mall." /end]

Just setting up some background here. Caron has picked fairly easy volunteer work that gives her plenty of time to still enjoy summer, and only really has to devote 40 odd hours to it. As far as last-minute requirements to get into college go, Caron has it pretty damn easy.

Or maybe not. See, she has to attend a training session and...

[Transcript: "Yeah," Caron muttered. "The training session was interminable. The teacher basically read aloud from the manual while we followed along, like we were illiterate. We broke for pizza and then listened to her drone on for another four hours. After that, the executive director, some pompous guy named Gregory Whistler, came in and thanked us for volunteering. I was so thrilled that I almost woke up."

"Then it got worse," Inez said. "The program director, who's Japanese and looks like she's a teenager, told us that because of the shortage of volunteers in the summer we would each get four students - and meet with them twice a week for an hour."

"For a total of Eight Hours." Caron's sigh evolved into an agonized moan. "We have to call them and find a time that's mutually convenient. It could be six in the morning or four in the afternoon. We may never make it to the lake." /end]

How heartbreaking! Caron, on the cusp of adulthood, faces a fraction of the responsibilities she will face in a year when she goes off to college! Her life is truly difficult (sarcasm)

[Transcript: "And I," Caron said, rolling her eyes, "have to tutor an old lady from Poland, a Chinese man, an Iranian woman, and a woman from Russia. How am I supposed to call them on the phone? They don't speak English. Like I speak Polish, Chinese, Russian, and whatever they speak in Iran. This is a nightmare, and I think we ought to just quit now. I say we set up a lemonade stand and donate the proceeds to some charity." /end]

And it gets worse (heavy sarcasm)! Did you know that people who need to learn English as a second language don't speak English perfectly? Caron is right to throw away the chance to go to a good college over this (heavy sarcasm)

Anyway, all is saved, because Claire promises to volunteer as well and take some of their students off their hands so Caron doesn't give up and go to the local community college instead. Personally I'd say a good parent would make their child take responsibility for themselves, but what do I know. This post is getting long, so check the reblogs for how well that works out for everyone

[commander-gloryforge]

okay bit of a ramble incoming but. me and writing, we havent had the best relationship lately, mostly because ive been dealing with imposter syndrome a lot, and writer spaces dont seem to be as welcome as they used to be to me. but for the past months ive been trying to get into a more healthy mindset about writing. its just difficult because many of the author communities im apart of dont seem to agree with said mindset.

so. heres a thing that happened. theres this book series, a ya romantasy, that kind of went viral on booktube/booktok for being mostly shitty. i've watched a couple of reviews of it, most of them negative, can generally agree with most criticisms of the book, and it is, in my mind, ticked off as a "bad book". dont be like that author, dont do what she does, dont write like this, everyone will hate your book.

me and my father were sitting in the garden, next to eachother, me writing and him listening to an audiobook. he tells me about how good it is and how much he likes it. theres dragons, its so cool, its such an interesting world, he's at book two now and cant wait for the third one to be released. to my surprise, its the exact book that booktubers everywhere talk shit about. now ive seen people on the internet that liked the book, but theyre just some guys on the web and i dont know them and their opinion doesnt mean much. but my dad? i know him. i know his tastes. and he likes it.

and i think that made me realise something. i still dont like that book, but someone, a person whose taste and opinions i (usually) value, does. he doesnt care about the plot holes that others see, he doesnt know about the discourse surrounding certain tropes, he likes it because its fantasy, and theres dragons, and theres magic, the fact that theres a disabled protagonist is cool to him, and THERES DRAGONS! and so many other people also like it. for whatever reason.

its a "bad book", apparently, thats what most people call it, but to some its a good book. and if someone just constantly keeps finding issues with a book, then it wasnt for them in the first place wasnt it? critiques and negative reviews and rants are still valid and, i'd say, needed. but in the end, they dont matter much. the book isnt offensive or "problematic" or anything but it really is just kinda bad and people still like it and it really is fine.

my writing is gonna be bad to someone. my writing style is convoluted and kind of silly and just. bad. okay. and there are people that still like it. that doesnt mean i dont want to improve and get better as a writer, i do. for the people that like my stuff, for myself, i will get better, but like. its fine. im fine. someone will like what i write. there will be bad parts of my writing that some people will hate, and some will ignore, and thats the fact for every book and every kind of art.

ill be fine. ill just keep writing and things will be fine.

[salvadorbonaparte]

2023 in Books

I didn't have a lot of time/energy for leisure reading but here are the books I finished this year

The First Man in Rome - Colleen McCullough - I listened to the audiobook because it was narrated by David Ogden Stiers but the book is really good and now I kinda want to read the whole series (but unfortunately the others aren't narrated by him)

Minificciones - Erica Engeler (eds.) - A collection of very short stories from Latin America which I read in an attempt to get back into reading and improve my Spanish, some of the stories were really good and I'd love to read more Latin American lit next year

Dead Collections - Isaac Fellman - A book that sounds like a fake book someone would make up on tumblr but it's real and I loved it, I bought it in Gay's The Word in London, it's about a trans Jewish vampire archivist who falls in love with the widow of a television writer/producer and they figure out they were in the same fan community in the 90s and vampirism is treated as a chronic illness

Abaddon's Gate - James S.A. Corey - I am still making my way through the Expanse series one audiobook at a time and I liked this one but I kinda miss some of the characters from the second book

11/22/63 - Stephen King - I really loved this one, I listened to the audiobook because it was narrated by David Nathan, I already find the whole JFK assassination thing interesting so this was great because it's part sci-fi and part historical novel but it's also silly in a very Stephen King way (crossover with It, you can only time travel through a diner in Maine), the time travel rules were cool, the ending was silly but I'm used to that from him and it actually worked for me, I kept repeating phrases from the book for days after reading it and binge watched the series too

Poems on the Underground - Benson et al. (eds.) - Found a used copy in a charity shop and you know I love poetry and the London Underground

If I Understood You, Would I have This Look On My Face - Alan Alda - The third Alan Alda book I read, honestly he makes me believe improv theatre can save the world, would recommend this to anyone who wants to be a better communicator

Gideon the Ninth - Tamsyn Muir - Very different from what I expected but I liked it and will read the other ones too

Nutcracker and Mouse King - E.T.A Hoffman - the audiobook was free and I enjoy the ballet based on it so why not, right

[neothesatisfactory]

About myself

and this blog

or something idfk

I guess it's about time I make a pinned post about myself, my preferences, this blog, tags i use, what to expect from me, and more, but I don't even know what all to include so this will likely be revised many many times. So please, bear with me.

Display your age if you want, I'm not entitled to that info. I will simply block if I find out you're underage. Nothing personal, sorry :/

While I'd love to make my blog a safe place for minors on this site, since I personally know what it's like to be a minor who has nowhere to go IRL or online, and that's a really shitty situation to be stuck in. Unfortunately though, I simply don't have the energy or working memory functionality to create an alt blog specifically for nsfw posts and actually use it, so, please see above.

Info about myself, my DNI policy, and tags I use below the break:

Myself:

I use she/her pronouns

I go by the alias Neo

I am queer friendly! I am always doing what I can to learn about the various problems faced by various peoples within our community so I can better understand, help, and provide acceptance and comfort for everyone!

I try to keep an open mind. So long as myself (and when applicable, individuals or communities I affiliate with) are treated respectfully, I will do my best to listen to and understand someone else's perspective on a given topic.

I love helping people any way I can to the best of my ability within my boundaries. Recently this has mostly been in the form of long heartfelt discussion with validation, affirmation, and when needed or requested: advice; but I've also recently been told by some that my instrumental and singing abilities really helped them. (Catharsis through music I think?)

Some of my Interests include but definitely are not limited to: Photography, music production, archeology, anthropology, vehicles of all kinds, aeronautical engineering, 3d modeling, and chemistry.

I have a complicated relationship with my own voice. I am both very proud of it and feel a tinge of guilt when complimented on it.

I'm gonna flex a bit about my voice anyway: The most common compliment I get is on my voice, which I am very proud of as I had to train it to sound this way. – Many people, friends, acquaintances, and complete strangers have told me things such as: "Your voice is so soothing", "Your voice is perfect", "You have a very relaxing voice", "You sound like a voice actor for a milf in an anime" (one of the most unique ones), "you sound like a voice actor"/"you should be a voice actor", "can/will you read me bedtime stories?"/"I want you to read me a bedtime story"/"you seem like you're really good at reading bedtime stories"/etc., "Your voice is really hot", and "you should be an audiobook narrator". (I promise I'm not full of myself T^T, these are genuinely things people have said to me over the past couple years).

I am in fact working towards getting into voice acting, audiobook narration, and music production. Currently I am trying to save up for a new sound setup, but car issues suck and are expensive :(

My favourite pick-up line is: *while playing the piano, after the receiver of the line comments on my piano playing* "Look, I've been playing the piano for over a decade. One tends to get pretty good at fingering in that time~" sometimes with something like "and if you play your cards right, it won't just be the keys I finger tonight" added onto the end.

My DNI policy:

I don't believe in DNI's, I will simply block who I please as I please

Important tags I use:

For brevity, the word "posts" will refer to posts, reblogs, and replies.

#neo.master – Master post/Master list – Used on posts containing important information or directories on something. Used for personal reference, you can ignore this one.

#neo.txt – For self-written text posts – Used on posts that have text written by myself. This is used when I myself am speaking.

#neo.png – Contains oc images – Used on posts containing a picture that was taken/created by myself or by a friend of mine, with their permission.

#neo.mp4 – Contains oc video – Used on posts containing a video that was taken/created by myself or by a friend of mine, with their permission.

#neo.irl – "Neo (dot) in real life" – Used in conjunction with +neo.png and/or +neo.webm when the image or video was taken IRL.

#neo.ivr – "Neo (dot) in virtual reality" – Used in conjunction with +neo.png and/or +neo.webm when the picture or video was taken virtually. (E g. a screenshot/screenrecording of a game/application, or photo/video taken with an in-game/in-application virtual camera.)

#neo.slf – Contains a selfie – Used in conjunction with any or multiple of the above four tags, and on any post that contains an image or video in which myself (if IRL) or my avatar (if IVR) is present.

#neo.poll – Contains an oc poll – Used on posts containing a tumblr poll created by me.

#hornyposting, #hornypost, #horny, #nsfw, #nsft – These are all used on posts containing nsfw or otherwise horny content, and are used largely interchangeably. I'm trying to use them more often for your blacklisting convenience :)

Multiple of these will likely be used on the same posts when applicable.

(Note: Currently, some of these tags aren't actually used on any of my posts yet. This list is a reminder/framework for when I do make a particular post, as well as a list of tags I actually use)

[gamebird]

About a month ago, I read 'Rich Dad, Poor Dad' based on a recommendation from a friend. It had some good points and bad ones.

Good points:

It is super important for me to have discussions with my kids about how to handle money, what their options are with the money I've given them, and what that means for standard of living, activities, etc.

It is very important in people's lives to have someone advising them about money, instead of just leaving them to fend for themselves and figure it out on their own.

If you already have money (like tens or hundreds of thousands of unencumbered cash), then there are a lot of relatively low risk, low labor means to put that money to work for you and generate income. It's a lot less tedious than, say, working for a living. But you have to have the money FIRST.

The various principles laid out in the book caused me to move my money around. Now instead of retiring in 4 years and leaving nothing to my kids in inheritance unless I died early, because I'd need everything to fund my retirement, I'm going to retire end of next year and leave millions, assuming I live that long. And if I don't, then there will still be a nest egg. Same standard of living for me either way.

Bad points:

Gotdamn does this guy undersell how hard it is to get your hands on enough money to start with to do this. It takes generations and he doesn't acknowledge that.

He also undersells the value and rarity of someone giving you good advice at every turn, feeding you opportunities, and picking you up when you fall ... and never victimizing or abusing you in the process.

He makes almost no mention of the severe adversities many people find in their lives, like chronic health problems, useless or abusive partners, addiction, expensive hobbies, terrible families, bad luck, accidents, legal problems, and the like. Some of these you have a little control over; a lot of them you don't; and even with barely controllable things like partners and family you don't know its bad until its already bad and its not exactly too late at that point, but it really sucks.

So anyway, I tried to get my kids to listen to the audiobook. No dice. I found it on YouTube for free. No doing. I bought the guy's Cashflow board game. Huzzah! They played it a couple times. This let us talk about things. (I mean, I'd already tried talking to them, but trying to discuss the relative merits of savings account vs t-bills vs etfs was not making much progress.)

We talked about:

What's a mortgage and why can't I just be homeless and not pay that

Why are my expenses so high

Why are children expensive

Why do I have to pay for a loan (I was surprised and shocked they only barely understood interest rates. My inability to communicate effectively about investments made sense now. I have failed as a parent. But I'm trying to fix it.) also: why is a credit score important

What the fuck why does this boat cost so damn much?!? (the boat is the most expensive piece of shit doodad you can get saddled with in the game; I talked to them about the dangers of expensive hobbies)

OH MY FUCKING GOD I ONLY MISSED ONE PAYCHECK AND I AM RUINED (because ... yeah. that's real)

What does 'yield' mean

What's a trading range

And a bunch of other things. I also talked to them about the things the game does not include, those things I mentioned earlier like accidents, addictions, lawsuits, and health problems, or the same happening to anyone you financially support or feel beholden to, like a partner or child or possibly parent. I talked to them about the mentality of 'my savings always gets wasted on emergencies so why bother having any', which is valid and real, as well as a rational reaction to a maddingly irrational situation.

An interesting thing about the game - there's no rule for or against giving money to each other. And it makes a huge difference in propelling someone from the rat race stage of the game where you're working for a living and into the cashflow part of the game where your money is working for you instead. In the two games we played, I ended up ahead early each time (half of this I credit to good decisions while my kids were making dumb ones, even after I told them they were dumb choices; half was probably luck). But each time once I had my position secured, I started giving wads of cash to them and it was remarkable how much that improved their situation.

Kind of like real life.

I also read Bullshit Jobs a couple weeks ago and it ends with a lovely piece about the social value of universal basic income. Which, yeah. We need to do that.

[matrixrry]

List five things that make you happy, then put this in the inbox of the last ten people who reblogged something from you, get to know your mutuals and your followers!

Daisy your list was so lovely I got overwhelmed 😶‍🌫️ but I finally have time to give this some thought (definitely not time I'm meant to spend working) so here goes:

1. Chill evenings at home doing crafts and watching old TV with my partner and our cat (and sometimes other friends too). After a long time feeling artless, I've finally found some crafts that I enjoy, even that I might say I'm good at! I hold the calm work of creating in community very dear.

2. Walks. I don't have time for walks as often as I'd like these days, but I absolutely love wandering off with no destination in mind, turning down back wynds and meandering along little paths, listening to an audiobook or talking with a friend. Genuinely not to be all Thoreau about it (I hate that essay) but walking makes me feel more in touch with place, with self, with sky.

3. The Try Guys. It's like I've imprinted on them as my chosen comfort noises. Their content makes me happy all the time, but I find it especially valuable when I'm stressed or unsettled and need to focus on something completely separate from my life.

4. Gigs by musicians I really love. Live music I don't already know can be fun, and definitely a good way to get excited about new-to-me artists! But the feeling I get when I know every song and get to scream and jump and cry is unbeatable.

5. Bookstores. Possibly because I've just come out of one. I love discovering new books, noticing books I've read, finding books I've edited, considering how books have been chosen for display, observing trends in book covers ... everything other than the business and self-help sections.

[not-rude-ginger]

Hi @not-rude-ginger 👋🏻 So, I wanna to ask some questions from the “love themed asked bait”! I reblogged this in my blog so if you wanna check it out, you may! So, would you please answer:

2. do you believe in soulmates?

3. do you believe in love at first sight?

6. what does true love mean to you in four words?

7. what are a few important qualities in a partner?

13. carefully planned date night or spontaneous?

15. do you like romcoms? what's your fave?

16. besides a heart — what symbolizes love to you?

19. how important is falling in love?

20. are you a hopeless romantic?

Thank you so much!! ❤️❤️

Interesting questions!

2. I don't think I do - at least not the idea that there's just one person out there, nor do I think that they are automatic -- I've seen a quote from The Good Place that I really like;

“If soulmates do exist, they’re not found. They’re made.”

I like it because it means you get to choose your soulmates and you can choose to have as many as you like.

3. I find it interesting as a story trope, but I think IRL I'd find it deeply unnerving.

6. Kindness, Consideration, Support, Passion

7. Independence while giving and receiving support, ability to communicate even when it sucks, having their own interests and passions to give them their own time but also talk about with, and being thoughtful.

13. Planned to allow for mental and physical prep (gotta save some spoons for it) but doesn't have to go exactly to plan during.

15. I'm realising I do like some romcoms but most have been fic based because they are character driven and the relationship is particular to the characters. Fave atm is Red, White and Royal Blue - the audiobook had me lol-ing while taking long walks during COVID.

16. I'm not sure - would probably depend on circumstances. Most likely an item I associate with a person, specific to them and me.

19. I've never experienced it, but I think it would freak me out - I'd rather build something deliberately.

20. Possibly. Just on my own terms.

[jaylovesmusic]

Interview with PEANUTGALLERY NETWORK founder, Anacron.

Anacron is an award-winning and published recording artist, Senior level certified Experiential Educator, and 2018-appointed United States Cultural Ambassador from Los Angeles, California. His group, The PEANUTGALLERY NETWORK(stylised as PNTGLLRYNTWRK) is a collective of creatives from around the world. Created in 1993, it started as a project between friends has grown in size with over 80 collaborators and affiliates from around the world.

"How did you fall in love with music?"

"I don't remember exactly when, honestly. Although my parents are scholars and intellectuals, they kept a very musical household in the sense that there was ALWAYS music playing, and they encouraged and supported musical talent in me and my siblings. I began playing instruments at an extremely young age, and I remember that I loved music even before then, so... "*shrug*

"Who are your biggest inspirations?"

"In general - My immediate family, my GALLERY family, my experiences, and society. In music - Roy Ayers, Serge Gainsbourg, Miles Davis. In hip hop - Kurupt, Aceyalone, The Nonce, Battlecat, DJ Quik, The Neptunes."

"Who are your dream collaborations?"

"Alex Isley, Mocky, De La Soul, Quin, Phoenix, Troyman, Clairo, Galimatias, Jay Electronica,  and anyone from the PNTGLLRYNTWRK."

"What made you decide to start the PNG?"

"It wasn't some grand plan of any kind at the beginning, and definitely was not started with any intention for becoming the massive collective it is today. At my high school, we had a community of underground hip hop heads, and there was a constant flux of crews and groups forming, all among the same 15 people or so. I was already in a couple of dance crews, a few graffiti sets, and one of L.A.'s most notoriously known street gangs (whew). As I started getting more seriously into hip hop, I wanted to be part of a rap duo, so I came up with a name and linked with this kid Giovanni. He was good, but wasn't really very serious about rhyming, so my homie and fellow cipher monster Aumnikrises took his place and we became the first official inception of Peanut Gallery."

"How easy was it getting people on board?"

"It didn't take any effort at all, because the gallery has always been about real connections. Even though I'd formed Peanut Gallery as a duo with Aumnikrises, it gradually turned into a crew situation as a bunch of the other hip hop heads who were also good friends organically became a part of the family. It wasn't rushed, desperate, or even intentional - it was a very gradual progression. A handful of my closest friends - Murs, Himself, DJ Jedi, Beyond Bionik, and others, got down with it. From there, it expanded naturally outside of school and across Los Angeles, welcoming and embracing friends of friends who shared the same vision for hip hop specifically, but arts and expression as a whole.

Once I began touring in the mid 90's, both around the country and overseas, it was a wrap. The crew continued to grow in the same organic way, built more on relationships and connections than some money-motivated business venture. By the time we started calling it Peanut Gallery Network, there were already two base chapters in L.A. and Chi-Town, and members in several countries outside the U.S. Today, the squad continues to grow in the same fashion - organically, via relationships. PG always has been, and always will be, a group of cool-ass, down to earth people who do awesome things."

"How much disruption did the pandemic bring to the PNG?"

"Man, the pandemic brought the family together. As people grow, they grow apart. You get old, you get responsibilities, and you get so busy that it's tough to keep up with the folks you used to hang with every week. This is a fact of life. The pandemic put this crushing halt to everything that was devastating to a lot of people's livelihood, routine, and income; simultaneously, it freed people to connect, create, and grow in ways they normally wouldn't have been able to. The Gallery family took advantage of that moment, and really came together to produce some amazing work. Dana Anderson's remix audiobook, Mike Wird's EP package, ElephantBird's album, The Lvxes EP package, Hawt Coco's upcoming record, and SassyAn's upcoming dual EP are incredible projects that could not have happened without the dedication, effort, collaboration, and willingness of the family."

"How do you stay full of ideas for future content?"

"Ha! I have more ideas than I have time. Always making sure that I'm open to inspiration and receptive to opportunity is how I continue to generate ideas, but also get them DONE."

"What is useful pieces of advice for creatives?"

"Find the right balance of "yes" and "no." I feel like my generation of creators said YES to everything, and ended up getting screwed by the industry because of it. I feel like the newer generation says NO to everything, and are screwing themselves because of it.

Recognizing value and looking ahead instead of at what's right in front of you is crucial for artists, and finding an intentional balance helps you to see that lots of small steps often carry you further than a few huge leaps.

Additionally, while many creators are intent on turning their art into a business, I'd encourage them to let their art be art and create a business that supports it.

Finally, don't ever forget the people who supported and loved what you did when you started, because no one else will ever devote the same level of attention, risk, or effort in lifting you up."

"Something that you would consider as a guilty pleasure."

"Guilty pleasure" feels oxymoronic to me. I don't feel guilty about anything that gives me pleasure, that'd ruin the enjoyment of the experience.

"And finally, Any parting words."

"Naaaaah hahaha."

PS: Would like to take this moment to thank Anacron for taking the time out to have this interview. You can find all of his music and more info through this link: https://g.co/kgs/3gu3xB. You can check out the PEANUTGALLERY NETWORK at their website: http://gallery.pntg.net/. (Image credit: Anacron's Instagram account."

[thinkaboutrunning]

Things I can't run without

I know, running is supposed to be the most basic of all exercises, except maybe walking. We should be able to run without any additional gear, even without special clothing. And if we must do it that way, we certainly can. But, it's so much more fun and so much more pleasant when we arm ourselves with available gadgets and gizmos. I've tried many and kept only a few I can't run without, sort of. From run trackers to podcast players, here's what I use.

I started "au naturel" wearing my ancient sports shorts from high school (I was lucky they made them so stretchy that I could fit in) and sneakers I bought for walking. They were comfortable and felt great. Sneakers were already moulded by my feet. Those were simple, chafing and blister-free runs.

The more serious I became about it, though, the more I started reading online and offline about things advertised as "essential" to improve my running. To tell the truth, I was mostly interested in finding a way to measure the distance I ran. Those were the days just before GPS became omnipresent. Sometimes I drove the route I was going to run to measure the distance on the car's odometer; on one occasion I even talked a friend into following me in a car. He avoids me ever since.

I turned to the internet, bought a Nike+ pedometer, put it on my shoes and paired it with my iPod. It was inaccurate, for sure — for example a marathon I ran with it was measured as a 45 kms run, full 3 kms longer than actual distance — but it was ingenious when it comes to motivation and goal-setting. Now I could set the weekly, monthly and other goals in distance and time. And, it had a feature I miss ever since - a "Power Song". I could pre-program my own pick-me-up tune and then play it whenever I want or need it during the run by pressing and holding iPod's menu button.

If you promise not to laugh at my taste in music, I'll tell you the song that carried me through the heavy-legged final stages of quite a few marathons and half-marathons; it was Christina Aguilera's "Candyman". Other than catchy melody and cheerful vibe, it also had the perfect beat-per-minute rhythm to which I could match my stride and get some badly needed speed. When I evolved to more sophisticated distance trackers, I lost that Power Song feature and miss it ever since!

I already outed myself as the non-purist runner. (The purists being runners who don't listen to anything other than the sounds of their surroundings and their own breathing.) Yes, I run with headphones, and am not apologizing for it. Nowadays, my phone is my tracking device and a few "essential" apps keep track of my runs and make them more enjoyable. Before I bare my running soul and sole in front of you, I want you to know that I'm kind of an old geek. I like to experiment and try new things all the time, sometimes to my own detriment. One can't know if something's really good until he tries it, right? So, here are my running essentials.

A GPS-capable smartphone is a must. I have an old-ish iPhone 8 which still tracks my distance quite well.

Comfortable headphones. My ears are large — I know, I'm not proud of them and didn't ask for them, but there they are. Most of the earbuds and other fancy small earphones won't stay in my ears. They wiggle and slide out after a few running steps. So, I'm looking for headphones that hook in place in some way. Trust me, running with an earbud that needs to be tucked back in every few steps can ruin your mood run! The current ones I have is the simplest of simple sets of Panasonic wired sport headphones with plastic hook over the ear. What I look for in headphones? I want them light, with some sort of hooking solution either over ears or around the head. Waterproof, or at least water-resistant is preferable. Because, no amount of sweat or rain can stop us, right? Bluetooth wireless are great, but tend to be heavier due to the battery they need to function, which makes them fall outta my ears easier. Also, some bluetooth headphones have connection problems, even though my phone is in my waist-belt less than a meter down from my ears. Further, I prefer earphones which sit outside my ear canal, thus allowing me to hear the sound of my surroundings. It's always useful to hear the car approaching. I know it spoils the sound quality, but ask yourself do you really need a studio-quality sound while running on the road?

I've seen people running with fancy over-the-ear noise-cancelling headphones — I'd love me a pair of those for when I'm on an airplane, but there are two problems I have with them in running situation: they tend to be hot and make me sweat even more; they make me unaware of the traffic and things approaching me outside my field of vision.

My favourite run-tracking app is iSmoothrun. It has more data of my run than I really need, but hey — better too much than not enough, right? It tracks the mileage on my shoes, too. It has easily programmable intervals with great audio feedback. And it syncs with many running community and tracking sites, from Strava to RunKeeper and many in between.

Running community site I use is RunKeeper. It's neither better nor worse than the others. I have used it since 2010, all my running data since then is there and even though I tried Strava and many others, I haven't found a compelling reason to switch, yet. RunKeeper is owned by ASICS, which sort of guarantees they'll be around for a while. But really, it's the matter of preference. I can only suggest that, when you find the site that works for you, stick with it and keep all your data in one place.

One more essential app or site is a weather app. I'm currently running in Europe and use two weather mobile websites which, between them, give me the most accurate hourly forecast: Yahoo weather and Norwegian YR. In North America I trusted The Weather Network the most. Whichever app you choose, I suggest check if it offers the wind speed data per hour. Also "feels like" feature for temperature, whether it's the humidex factor (humidity index) or windchill (in the winter) is very helpful when you need to decide what to wear for the run. All the sites I mentioned above have it.

When it comes to on-run entertainment, there is your music app, whether it's the streaming one (Apple Music, Spotify) or just music playing one. I can't help you much with it, as I'm using Apple Music because it's pre-installed and all my music is there.

Then, there's a podcasts app. Podcasts are radio on demand on any topic you can think of and many you never thought of. They are great way to break the monotony of a long run. My "weapon" of choice is Overcast.

Finally, for the book-loving runners among us, there's an audiobooks app of your choice. On Apple's platforms Apple Books app (former iBooks) doubles as an e-book reader and an audiobook player. Personally, I'm a big reader, but find the audiobooks not affordable, especially at my reading pace of 3-5 books a month. I tried Audible too, it gives one book a month within the subscription, the rest costs extra. Too much for my pocket!

Then I found the solution! There's an iOS app (I'm certain there's something similar for Android too) called Epub Reader. It not only lets me read ebooks, but it also reads it to me. There is selections of voices to choose from and some of them sound almost human. When a book is so good I can't put it down for a run, I listen to it in the same app, while running. My version of the app takes only epub formatted ebooks, but there are plenty free online book conversion sites to help if your book is in a different format. You can try ToEpub, or just search for "free epub converter online".

There you go — these are the gizmos that made my runs enjoyable for years. What are yours? Also, if you have any question, just ask!