Getting all tech-savvy with my prayer life - the Divine Office app :0

Happy Election Day everyone! I'm reporting in quickly, as I still have stuff on my to-do list and I want to leave a hair early to go vote. Mike and I are total Election Day nerds and have a full evening planned of walking to our polling place to vote, cooking a special meal, and procuring an autumn-inspired growler of ale with which to watch the returns later.

#fun!

But I wanted to mention something that became quite a little obsession of mine over the weekend - the Divine Office app. Let's discuss, yes?

I've only had a smartphone since May, so this whole newfangled world of apps is fairly new to me. I am aware that even using the word "newfangled" makes me sound ancient, so let's just press on, shall we? ;-) I own the 4 volume set of the Liturgy of the Hours. I have used them in the past, and I adore them. Plus - beautiful, leather bound books. This in and of itself is a huge plus for me. I'm a librarian, I love books.

I spent quite a bit of time reading up on how to *use* the print volumes and became decently proficient at ribbon placement and flipping. This could be a new Olympic sport for Catholic librarians, I'm thinking. It is not easy, I tell you. There are Propers here, and Psalters there. Feast days everywhere. :0 It takes a definite commitment to sort it all out. There were seasons in my life in which I was very good about toting the appropriate volume along with me and then praying Morning and Evening Prayer. But most of the time...they sit on my bookshelf and look lovely.

Every once in a while, Lent or Advent will roll around, and I'll make a resolution to pray with them for the entirety of the season, and usually the wheels come off of that plan long before my goal. There was one Advent, when Henry was a baby, that I stayed on course not only throughout Advent, but Christmas season as well, and it was spectacular. But I've never been able to keep at it for the long term.

Well. Then I acquired aforementioned smartphone and learned all about the beauty of apps. It was *months* before I realized that there were APPS for Facebook and Twitter and doesn't that make things so much easier?!?!

Yes, I know. *delicately clears throat while adjusting bun* Then I found all sorts of fun apps for things that I use all the time (Amazon, Etsy) and my universe was happily expanded. I downloaded the free Laudate app and the Pope app and figured I was good to go.

I kept hearing about the awesomeness of the Divine Office app, but I never really pursued it much after finding out that it was $14.99. Not that $15 is breaking the bank for me, but that's a lot for an app, right?

Well, it is, but WOW. I finally bit the bullet over the weekend when I was in my happy All Souls Day cloud and downloaded it from the Google Play store. No more flipping - each day is all set to go for you, saint feast days and any other solemnity goodness included. You open it up, and bam! There is your day, with the entries at your fingertips to click on, for:

• Entry about the day generally
• Invitatory
• Office of Readings
• Morning Prayer
• Midmorning Prayer
• Midday Prayer
• Midafternoon Prayer
• Evening Prayer
• Night Prayer

And the best part is yet to come, wait.for.it... There is the text there, yes, but for each there is an *audio file*. It is a thing of beauty! Click on it, and you feel like you're in a monastery praying along with your community.  LOVE.

They have about a week ready to go in advance, so you could always download the files if you're going to be traveling and prefer to save your data. I really, really love it, it was worth every penny. I've been using it daily, fitting in whatever offices I can, and it's been a joy. With Advent coming up, I feel like it's the perfect time to try and use it for a full liturgical season again. Here's hoping. :)

Of course, it is also available for iOS, and I hear that version has this precious little spinning globe, noting with points of light where others are praying using the app. I WANT. That isn't a part of the Android version just yet. :0

Does anyone else pray using the Divine Office app? Chime in!

Tech Thursday question: Family tablet?

In a bit of an interesting trend, I appear to be coming up with technology questions on Thursdays. I was looking for a topic for today's post on which I could be brief, since it is a bit of a busy day. I'm on a search committee, and we had a meeting this morning at 8:30 (thank God there was coffee). Not that 8:30 is all that early, it's just that I had to be on campus, stuff dropped off in my office, and then journeyed to the other side of the academic spine and ready to talk to other human beings by 8:30. I had to get up a bit earlier and leave right after Mike dropped Henry at school in order to make this happen, so my routine is all off. And you know how I am about my routine.

:0

Anyway, as I was contemplating what to write (came up with the 54 day rosary novena, which I will incorporate into tomorrow's 7 Quick Takes post, so look for it there :)) I journeyed over to Amazon to check on a book order I had placed for Anne that is due to arrive later today. And what do I see? Amazon has new Kindles out today, one of which is a Fire Tablet for a mere $99. 

 My interest was immediately piqued, because tablets have been on my mind. We need a new family tablet, and so Christmas gift ideas have been floating around in my brain. We really just need something that Mike can use for web browsing (he doesn't have a Smartphone, and isn't interested in one just yet), Henry can use for games, and I can use for video chatting. I can also use my phone for that, but a bigger screen that you can affix to a spot via a stand up case would be very useful depending upon the circumstance. This new and very inexpensive Fire tablet actually has a front and rear facing camera. Intriguing. However, I haven't heard fantastic things from other Fire owners on their impressions of older versions of this product.

I am also considering an iPad Mini:

They can be had on Amazon for around $250, and I've heard nothing but good things about the quality of the product. This would have a bigger screen and a nicer camera. It is certainly more expensive, though. Since I have zero experience with either of these items, your input would be greatly appreciated. :)

I have a Kindle e-reader which I absolutely adore, but that is a completely different product from the tablet line. I also note that all Kindle e-readers are now moving to a touch screen. I would love one of those, but I can't justify it just yet when my older Kindle still works like a champ, and I use it *daily*.

Ok, so, have at it! I would appreciate everyone's input on this one. :)

A tech question (unusual, coming from me): Is the iPod dying off?

Happy Wednesday everyone! I often do book reviews or talk about Catholic products/themes on Wednesdays, but this week I didn't have any of those things ready to go. Instead, I've been thinking about the Apple event yesterday, and how this all affects me in my quiet Catholic librarian sphere. I certainly use a lot of technology, especially at work, but I'm not what I could call a "tech person," really. I'm often way behind the current trends with regards to my personal electronic devices, although I usually come around. :) I'm just very selective about what I buy, wanting to be sure that I'll use and enjoy it.

Besides a laptop that I acquired when I started law school, my very first electronic device was the original iPod Shuffle. The one that looked like a pack of gum. :0 To this day, an iPod (I now own a 7th generation iPod Nano) is the only Apple device that I own. But I was hooked immediately on the convenience and versatility of an MP3 player. I'm from the mix tape generation, so you see what we're working with here. ;-) I got started on iTunes, and the rest of my music and podcast life is history. I'll come back to this in a second.

Besides my iPod Nano, we have a family Nook tablet (which I hate, but that I acquired used and very cheaply) that introduced me to the beauty of quick access to information. Not having to wait to boot up the desktop to post something to Twitter, or look up the title of something? Brilliant! I also have a Kindle e-Reader, which I absolutely love and adore. I was resistant to getting a smartphone for a LONG TIME, but life with a Qwerty keypad gets old quickly in our text message centered world. And text messages are just so imperative for us telephone-conversation-hating introverts, are they not? :0 I also wanted to change providers, because I was paying far too much simply for a call plan that I barely used and 500 monthly text messages. I moved over to Republic Wireless, and bought a Moto G smartphone.

Well. I love it. :0 I mean...I can't even imagine the way I used to live without this thing. I didn't consciously choose an Android device over an iPhone, but this was one of only two phones available if you wanted to go with Republic, so that's what I did. And it was the right decision, I'm saving a ton of money and I love the phone, so it's a win/win. But there are certainly disadvantages to not having an iPhone in our now Apple-centered world of small electronic devices.

And this is where we circle back to my beloved iPod. I'm a dancer, I have a lot of music. And I need to be able to play it easily at various venues for performances, which have so far all been iPod docks. I also download a lot of podcasts. I ADORE Catholic podcasts, I subscribe to eight of them, plus five secular ones. I listen to them everyday while in the car or otherwise have some down time by myself. And so my iPod gets a lot of use.

But it seems to me that Apple is being very quiet about iPods lately, no? The iPod lineup hasn't gotten an update since 2012, and I read that the iPod Classic has flat out been discontinued. The iPod Touch, Nano and Shuffle technically are still available, but their demise is being predicted by many (according to the Google search I did on this very topic :)). A lot of people aren't investing in a separate MP3 player anymore when they can use their phone or tablet to store and listen to their music.

For me, this is problematic, mostly because I don't have an iPhone. My music is all in iTunes, and I don't know how to get that onto my very non-Apple phone. Plus, it seems to be that this would take up a lot of space, and I don't have the capability to play it in my car or for dance events (that I know of). With regard to my car, we're talkin' serious old school here, people. I have a 2000 Honda Civic. This thing doesn't even have an auxiliary input. :0 I use an *fm transmitter* with an adapter since my Nano has the new lightning connection.  Hey, the car still runs like a top, I'm not ready to get rid of my baby yet. :)

Sooooooo...I still love my iPod. It's nearly 2 years old and is starting to misbehave occasionally, so I was thinking of replacing it. But with what? I could get another Nano. But should I? Is this going to be usurped by some as-yet-unknown new device? Or am I going to have to figure out a solution for my phone?

All thoughts are very welcome in the comments. :) And if you haven't read the comments from yesterday's post about getting more involved in our home parishes, please do! Some excellent fodder in there to think about.

*photo credit: https://www.flickr.com/photos/devos/74096598