How many of my fellow writers out there are only able to blog when they're at the computer or have someone that can write something down for them so they can put it in their blog later? If you can identify with this, then I strongly encourage you to keep reading all the way to the bottom of this blog entry, wherever that may be, because I have something that I think you're going to be just as excited about as I was, and I want to share with you! A couple of months back, I found something very similar to what I'm about to show you, but I knew that there had to be something better out there and it sort of became my personal mission to find that something better, and at this particular moment I'm positive that I have. So, if any of you have, or are planning to get what I'm about to show you, please do feel free to write me and let me know what you think of it, and all of your comments will be taken into consideration before I buy it for myself.
For any of you who read my essay Freedom in private thoughts, you know how much my words mean to me, and how much I enjoy being able to express them in a private way which doesn't always work with programs like Dragon NaturallySpeaking. When I wrote that essay, it was in reference to a switch adapted tape recorder that I had found on a web site called enabling devices, which is a company that designs adapted products for people with disabilities, more specifically children. When I first came across this switch adapted tape recorder, I was incredibly excited because it meant that I was going to be able to put my thoughts down somewhere that wasn't the computer which would allow me to be able to keep everyone and their brother from hearing what I was thinking if I didn't want them to. However, there were still some drawbacks with this. First, I wouldn't be able to independently flip the tape when it ran out of recording time on one side. Second, although the tape recorder could run off batteries, and that was a good thing, it wasn't able to run off rechargeable batteries, which meant that once the D batteries went dead, I would have to send somebody to the store to get more, and where exactly is the independence and freedom in that?
So for the longest time, I just put the idea of freedom in private thoughts on the back burner. By no means did I give it up entirely, but I knew that there had to be something better out there, and until I found it, I wasn't going to settle for anything less! Then a couple of days ago I was surfing the Internet looking for something else, and I found exactly what I was looking for: the tape recorder of the 21st century! As you can see by the picture below, all of the function buttons are clearly within my reach, and they're no smaller than the buttons on my Kindle so I should have no difficulty reaching them at all giving me the freedom to be with my private thoughts that I was so desperately looking for!
Not only that, but being that it is a digital voice recorder, I will have the freedom to almost completely independently delete or save the files. 
It plugs into your computer via a USB port and the USB port is what allows you to transfer files to a folder on your computer, or delete them. The USB port is also how it charges, so by the time you're done transferring or deleting files, it's possible that you could have almost a completely full charge again! Besides all the technical aspects that follow in the next couple sentences, here's another thing that I found interesting: it's no bigger than the size of a credit card in real life! 
It has approximately a 4 1/2 hour battery life before it needs to be charged again, and approximately 66.3 hours of recording/playback time before you need to store the files elsewhere or delete them to make room. The 2 GB is currently out of stock but the way it looks they will be getting more in in the first part of November, but I'm not sure that I'll be able to wait that long! I've waited so long for something like this that I'm almost tingling with excitement!
I'll write more about it as soon as I have one, and have had some time to play with it. All I can say for right now is that I know it's going to be a lot more than geeky fun!