My little bunny has developed a disturbing fascination with my husband's bathroom. Until I took it away from him, he was perfectly content to sit on the bathroom floor and demolish the bathmat. Now he's determined that the plunger is a kick ass toy. Where have I gone so terribly wrong?
(This is the week of drive-by postings... Nothing interesting is going on in my life right now.)
It's time for our annual trek to South Carolina to pick up fireworks for my dad's July 4th spectacular.
Anyone care to join us? We're thinking the first weekend in June.
Since I've taken to watching "Dancing With the Stars", I'm now up to see "Boston Legal"... What a great show. I wish I'd been watching it all along. James Spader is hilarious.
Woo hoo! Mr. took me out tonight to get a new networking card for my computer, since the D-Link and the Linksys couldn't play nice. And we decided while we were there, we'd take a look at the digital cameras. And since we're going on vacation and everything, and my digital camera is "so old, honey," Mr. did the gentlemanly thing and bought his wife a new camera. I'm going to keep the old Olympus--we've been through some good times, me and that camera, which came into my life in 2001. In fact, I'm working on publishing my very first book of photography with pictures from the old Olympus. (Details to follow when I've proofread the first copy)
But today we traded her in for a Panasonic. We've gone from 3.2 megapixels to 7.2 megapixels. We have image stabilization. We have EASY MENUS! And the camera's not the size of my video camera--it's slim and sweet. And virtually idiot proof. When I go between modes, there is a display on screen that tells me what mode I'm in. Which totally kicks tail. I might actually use some of the different modes for a change.
So, I'll be trying to find some photo worthy stuff to practice on before our big trip out west. I am definitely excited to see what it can do. Look out, you might find yourself captured on it soon!
Last night, Christopher Buckley, most well known for writing Thank You For Smoking, did a book signing at Politics and Prose book store. My mom, Judy, and I had seen him at the National Book Festival last fall, and he did a hilarious talk about naming your book, and how editors don't like your book's name and don't mind telling you, but who would have told Adolf Hitler that his book title sucked? It was a riot.
So when I saw he was coming to P&P, I told Judy, and she immediately decided we had to go, and I decided the General was going with us. I knew he'd enjoy it, as it was sure to be funny.
We arrived quite early, but soon they were setting up the seats. And immediately, this little old lady plucks two folding chairs from the chairs that had already been set up and plunks them smack dab front and center at the front of the podium. The P&P guy tells her she can't do that, but if she'll wait, they'll be set up shortly and she'll get a good seat. So she waits. They start setting up the seats in the front of the podium, and she puts her bags on one and tries to sit. Again the guy comes over and tells her she can't sit down yet.
"Oh? But I want to get a good seat. Every year I get a bad seat."
"Ma'am, I promise you, if you just wait patiently, but you're really in the way."
"I am?"
So the P&P guy concedes that she can leave her things on the chairs she wants if she moves. So she stakes out 2 seats.
Then she tries to sit down again, and the guy comes back. "Ma'am there are only six of you here at the moment, I assure you, you will have the pick of seats. But, please. you've got to get out of the way."
Finally they finish setting up and he tells her she can sit. The other 4 or 5 of us let her pick her seat, and then Judy, Michael, and I get front row, center. The lady's little old husband totters up and says, "I don't want to sit in the front row. Move back one." So they move to the row behind us. Then she starts complaining that the people in front of her are too tall. So they move behind me, Michael, and Judy. But it turns out we're too tall. So finally they move to the front row on the side, which seems acceptable to both of them.
The talk and signing were still an hour away. But we were cracking up. I wish I had captured that on tape.
Eventually the thing gets underway, and Christopher Buckley was great. I captured it on video and I'll upload it to YouTube soon and post it here. So funny. His new book sounds great. After the Q&A (which my sister actually got up the guts to finally participate in! Go Judy!), it was book signing time. And we were told to fold up our chairs, put them in a stack and get on line to have our books signed. Doesn't that little old lady decide she's "above the law" and slide smack dab in front of the first person on line!? Very bad book signing etiquette, I must say!
Judy went up and she and Buckley bonded over Salve Regina University/Portsmouth Abbey and then the General and I went and he complimented me on the pins on my jacket and he and the General got gabbing about working for the federal government (it had come out during the speech that the General was a fed). We were up there for probably about 3 minutes, which is pretty good, since lately the authors have signed the books and sent us on our way. We were able to get all our books personalized and have a nice chat.
So I'm officially a big fan, only though I've only read one of his books, Little Green Men, which I highly recommend (and which, in my opinion, blew Thank You For Smoking out of the water). I've got 3 of them to read now, and I'm looking forward to all of them. Plus, I'll definitely be stealing Judy's books as well! :-)
I went to see the cherry blossoms on Sunday. They were in full bloom and beautiful. I hope I never get tired of seeing them, as long as I live here.
For March, I took it a bit easier than February and read only a total of 10 books instead of 12. One thing that I had not really expected as a result of this push to read 100 is that I might not enjoy the books as much as I would if I were just reading just to read. About mid-month I became concerned that I was not going to hit 25 books by the end of the month and really started steaming through the books I was involved in (as usual about 4 at any given time). It left me with some discontentment about the quality of reading, particularly as when I was going at a more leisurely pace, I was enjoying some really great books. Still, I got through 10 at any rate, and am on track for where I think I should be (25 books every three months), so at least my goal is in sight.
So, what did I read? (WARNING WARNING WARNING: The below reviews contain SPOILERS. Paritcularly for Baggage and The Namesake.)
1, 2, and 3. The Long Winter, Little Town on the Prairie, and Farmer Boy by Laura Ingalls Wilder. Ok, now granted these are "children's books" in the sense that they're written for young readers, but the shortest one of them was over 300 pages long. The books have been so much fun to read, and so interesting. I have enjoyed visiting Wikipedia to see pictures of the Ingalls family and I must say, I have a renewed respect for the pioneering type. I've enjoyed a lot of pioneering women type books (IE 1000 White Women) but these make it easier to understand for little pea brains like me what exactly went into the mechanics of living life on the prairie with no "modern conveniences". In The Long Winter, the Ingalls family is forced to move into the town near their claim during a winter that is brutal. There are nonstop blizzards every three or four days from October till April, and the family runs out of firewood and coal to heat their little storefront. They sleep every night huddled together under quilts and spend their days grinding their remaining wheat into flour with the help of a coffee mill, while huddled around the kitchen stove to keep warm. Pa and Laura run back and forth to the stables through a tunnel they've made in the snow to grab straw, which they twist into "kindling" that they try to burn. Unbelievably, their straits are that dire. Finally Almonzo Wilder and Cap Garland take a dangerous 12 mile trek to a claim outside of town where they hear the farmer is hoaring a supply of grain to plant in the springtime. They talk him into giving it up and save the townspeople from starvation. In Farmer Boy, we follow Almonzo as he grows up on a farm in Malone, NY (my father is taking me to visit the farm this summer as a little historical field trip). Almonzo and his siblings have a very different life as farmers than Laura and her family trying to eek out an existence on the plains. I enjoyed it not only because I grew up in that area, but also because in discussing it with my dad, he said that the book reminded him of himself and his siblings as they were growing up. That put a nice human face on it. As for Little Town on the Prairie, it is the story of the year following The Long Winter, as the Ingalls family sends daughter Mary off to the Iowa College for the Blind and Laura prepares to become a schoolteacher and is beginning to be wooed by Almonzo. Nellie Oleson rears her ugly head as well. I find great amusement in Laura's precociousness and it's sad that she's growing up and starting to have to act like a lady. I picked up a cheap copy of the full color collector's edition of this particular book, and the drawings of Pa Ingalls look almost dead on what Charles Ingalls looked like in real life--two eyes and a whole lotta beard. Great stuff. So as I move along, I'll probably pick up the remaining couple of books I've yet to read and enjoy them. I have enjoyed reading these books right before bed, as they put me in a nice place before going to sleep. Fewer nightmares, definitely.
4. The Magic of Ordinary Days by Ann Howard Creel. This book follows the story of young Livvy Dunne, who at 24 has been written off as a spinster while her two younger and prettier sisters marry military officers during WWII. When it is discoverd that Livvy has been, well, knocked up by a military officer who left to join the war, a family friend who is a minister arranges a marriage to a far off farmer, away from her family and friends, and far away from her dreams of pursuing a career in archeology. Lonely and not connecting with her new husband, she befriends two young Japanese-American girls who work on the farm as part of their jobs in the nearby internment camp. The girls involve Livvy in a scheme that could land her in a heap of trouble, and Livvy must come to terms with her life as it is and make peace with it. I loved this book. It was a real page turner. The basic criticism of the book is that the plot is improbable in terms of what Livvy and the Japanese girls do, and that it wraps up rather neatly and quickly at the end, both of which are true. But for me, that didn't detract one minute from the book. I enjoyed the story of a woman who takes on her circumstances by doing what is dictated by those around her, and how she must either run from those decisions screaming or make peace with how she finds her life. I felt a definite kinship and sympathy towards Livvy and truly enjoyed reading about her life and life during the time period. The writing was also quite fluid and easy to read.
5. The Dive from Clausen's Pier by Ann Packer. Carrie Bell feels the pull of a new life awaiting her outside her Wisconsin hometown. Her relationship with her fiance Mike is boring her, and she wants to see the world and learn who she is. She goes out with Mike on Memorial Day, and he dives headfirst into a shallow lake and is immediately paralyzed. Can Carrie stay? No. But with pressure from all sides, her mother, Mike's parents, their friends in Madison, Carrie feels terrible about deciding to leave and not return home. Still, she moves to NYC with an old acquaitance from high school with whom she strikes up a new relationship and while there, she meets Kilroy, a man from whom she cannot turn away. But unexpectedly, despite her happiness in NY and a new career looming, she finds herself being pulled back to Madison. The book leaves you in genuine suspense as to whether Carrie will abandon Mike for a new life or will she turn her back on her own needs and settle down to do the "right thing". And who is it the "right thing" for?
This was one of those books that I looked at and thought, "I really should read that" and didn't read it because I thought that way. I hate books that I should read. I hate the pressure of the world's expectations weighing on me as I read a book that it seems everyone else in the world likes. Now, in general, there's a reason why everyone tends to like those books, and it's that they're genuinely good books. This book was no exception. And usually I have a HUGE quibble with people who write about NYC. (see below) But even in this book, the usual pretentiousness of a writer writing about NY disappeared into one great story. I couldn't put the book down. It was great. I was genuinely conflicted as to what Carrie should do. And I was pleased, overall, with the way it came out in the end. I wish I could write as well.
6. Final Analysis: The Untold Story of the Susan Polk Murder Case by Catherine Crier. This was Michael's and my book choice of the month. The story of Susan Polk, whose husband Felix was founded stabbed to death in their California home, centers around the couple's relationship, their family life, Felix's murder, and Susan's conviction for said murder. Susan and Felix met when Susan was a teenager and underwent psychiatric care with Felix, who was 20+ years her senior. Apparently during their therapy sessions, Felix would put Susan under hypnosis and sexually assault her. Somehow, she wound up marrying him, bearing 3 sons, and then, continuing to struggle with her mental health issues, went off the deep end and murdered him after years of alleged emotional and physical abuse. She decides to represent herself at trial and is convicted. (There is little doubt in my mind based on this book that she would have been cleared by reason of insanity had that been her defense and she would have allowed a competent lawyer to represent her)
This book stretched on for miles, included a lot of useless facts (ie what Susan wore to court every day, how she styled her hair, etc). Towards the end, Michael and I just wanted to be done with it and skipped over a chapter or two to reach the end. And I don't think we missed a damned thing. Awful. Singularly awful. Although it was entertaining to read, "Susan stabbed her husband in the chest and abdomen" out loud. hehe Catherine Crier, host of a show on CourTV, needs to take a few true crime writing lessons from John Grisham or someone. We just finally gave up. "Uncle!"
7. Baggage by Emily Barr. Lina Pritchett's life is centered around hiding her new pregnancy from her husband's family until they are ready to tell, her son Red, and her mother-in-law Margot, as well as her career as a teacher in a tiny town on the Australian Outback. One of her former students has run off with her best friend's husband, the big scandal in town. At a wedding for the two, Lina is started to run into Sophie, a backpacker from England who is sure she knows Lina as her old pal Daisy from ballet school back in Devon. Ten years earlier, Daisy was accused of a terrible crime and committed suicide in the midst of the ensuing media melee. Or did she?
This was a really great women's suspense type of book. Written in such a way that you know that Lina is Daisy and that she was not entirely guilty (one of those shades of gray type of deals), the suspense centers around her getting caught, and what will happen to the life she's so carefully protected for the last ten years. Can a person be rehabilitated, and is forgiveness possible? I loved that it wasn't grisly, that it was very human, and exposed the frailties we're all vulnerable to as thoughtless careless youths (granted, we aren't all mildly responsible for poisoning four of our best friends). How Daisy deals with being discovered and how it affects the people around her makes for compelling reading.
8. The Motorboat Boys on the Saint Lawrence by Louis Arundel. We have a great little used bookstore in Fredericksburg and in the basement they have shelves of classic children's series. Apparently Motorboat Boys is one of those series that was big back in the early part of the 20th century, and I had to pick this one up, as it takes place on the St. Lawrence River in the Thousand Islands, where I used to often visit growing up when my dad worked customs on the Canadian Border.
Motorboat Boys was written around 1912, and centers around 6 friends (Buster, Jimmy, Jack, Josh, George, and Herb) who all like to travel on 3 little motorboats through the great waterways of the USA. Travel is certainly a loose term in this case, as their travels on the St. Lawrence seems to center on them anchoring off a small island in the 1000 Islands and sitting there for a week. Eventually they get some strange looks from a couple of passing boats, and discover they've hit upon an island used for smuggling. This happens approximately 7/8 of the way through the book--the first 200 pages have to do with Buster being fat and all his friends calling him Fatty. Seriously, poor little Buster takes it on the chin.
Ultimately a rather tedious little tome to get through, the most excitement being when the boys hook some big fish. Even the boys admit in the book that their trip has been rather dull and they decide to continue motoring into the Great Lakes to head home. It was an entertaining read in the sense of the language that has changed so much in 100 years. It was a cute book and nice to have on the shelf as a curiosity, but I'm not inclined to run out and buy the series.
9. The Lost Boy by Dave Pelzer. The beauty of swapping books on line is that I don't have to pay for books I've been interested in reading but not interested enough in to go purchase or get from the library. This was one of those books. I read A Child Called It ages ago, which details the horrifying abuse Dave Pelzer suffered at the hands of his mother. The Lost Boy is the follow up to that book, in which Dave details his struggles to find a home in the foster care system. Dave's first taste of freedom from fear, hunger, cold, and hurt send him on a headlong path to crazy-little-boy-dom as he just goes off the wall for a while. He switches families a good amount, as he gets into serious trouble while trying to learn how to behave in a world he doesn't understand. Eventually he finds a place where the people understand him and are willing to work with him to help him become a healthy and productive teenager.
I have thought often of becoming a foster parent, although I know it's a difficult journey to follow, and reading this makes me question my own patience even more. It's sad to know there are children out there like Dave was, who need a good home and a place to feel safe as their own families either cannot or will not care from them appropriately. I am currently an on-line mentor to two such youth and it's nice to know that I am doing my part to try and give them a little guidance. (If you think you'd like to become an online "vMentor" to a youth aging out of foster care, please visit www.orphan.org and click on vMentor today.) I enjoyed reading The Lost Boy and learning what it took for Dave and his family to get his act together and help him clean up after years of unbelievable abuse.
10. The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri. This is this month's book club selection, so again I can't say too much about it (we're meeting on Monday) other than I HATE THE WAY PEOPLE WRITE ABOUT NEW YORK CITY. Not everyone in New York is wealthy or artsy or bohemian. There are plenty of average, every day people just living in the city, working, taking care of families, going to school, and/or getting it done. Why do 99% of the books about NY have some crazy songstress who works as a waitress when not launching her own fashion line with her own signature hair color? Or an uptight stockbroker who goes to the Hamptons on weekends to unwind with his mistress while his wife and three children are at home in Manhattan on their 54th floor penthouse?
Ok, Ok, I'm calming down, neither of those people show up in The Namesake, but they very well could have. And it really pisses me off.
It also really pissed me off that a) Gogol spent his young life running away from marrying a fellow Bengali, then finds one he actually loves, marries her and then it's like a flip is switched the minute the honeymoon ends and they hate each other and get divorced; and b) that he is called "conflicted" when all he's trying to do is figure out who he is when out from under the shadow of his domineering parents. Oh, and there was nothing particularly comic about it, despite what the back cover might have you believe.
Still, I thought it was a great book, and I truly enjoyed it. I never would have read it on my own, as I'm also fussy about "ethnic" books for some strange reason, even though I loved, loved, loved the Kite Runner. I just tend to read white bread America books more than any others. Maybe I need to start broadening my horizons.
So that's it for this month. I would have had one more, except that I forgot to bring home the book I was reading last weekend and it's been on my desk at work all week. I was almost done with it too. I had every intention of returning to the office and picking it up, but sadly the car troubles and a few super needy clients had me running this week. So I will review Blue Water by A. Manette Ansay next month. My "to read" shelf is growing in leaps and bounds thanks to the swapping sites, and so I'm busy, busy, busy and have plenty to read for the next few months. This month should be interesting, as I have a full week lost at our statewide meeting, and then of course our trip to Las Vegas (I've been informed only tourists call it Vegas, so I'm trying to call it Las Vegas so I sound like a local), so I may not get much done in April. We'll have to see!!
To Recap:
The Great: The Dive from Clausen's Pier, Baggage, The Magic of Ordinary Days
The Good: All 3 Little House books, the Lost Boy, The Namesake
The OK: Motorboat Boys
The Awful: Final Analysis
Totals:
March: 10 books, 3196 pages
Year To Date: 28 books, 8609 pages
What is it about women and motor vehicles that leads men to automatically assume we're a bunch of unknowledgeable idiots? (Of course, my enlightened male readers excepted!)
Wednesday morning, I got in my state car to head up the happy highway to work. I started smelling something funny, and approximately .1 miles down the road, smoke started pouring out the vents. No dummy I, I turned that rig around and headed back to the VDOT lot where I park her. Because I am now cell phone-less, I had to go back home and call the state's vehicle management center.
The conversation went roughly as follows:
Me: Yes, I'm an employee for the Dep't for the Blind and just got out of my state car. There is smoke pouring through the vents.
VMCC Guy: What do you mean?
Me: There's smoke coming in through the vents.
Guy: Did you turn the heat on?
Me: The a/c was on, yes.
Guy: Well, can you drive it to the garage?
Me: I'm not driving it anywhere.
Guy: Well, I can't just authorize a tow for any reason.
Me: This isn't just any reason. THERE IS SMOKE POURING THROUGH THE VENTS OF THE CAR.
Guy: Can you put your driver on the phone? I know you ladies from the department have drivers.
(This really got my dander up)
Me: Listen here, I am fully sighted. I am the sole driver of the car. I saw smoke coming through the vents, and I parked the car and I am calling you. Someone better pick that car up and repair it, because I am not driving it any further. I wouldn't drive it if it were my car, and I'm sure as hell not driving it since it's your car.
(Silence)
Guy: Can you turn the car on and turn the heat off and tell me what happens?
Me: I'm not at the car at this point, I'm at home. I don't have a cell phone. [Doesn't that just freakin' figure?!]
Guy: Well if I'm going to send a tow truck over there, you're going to have to go drop off your key anyway. Go over there and then call me back.
Me: Fine.
I go over to VDOT, and do as he says, and the smoke is gone, but a strange smell of burning or melting plastic or something is now coming into the car. I check all my stuff to make sure nothing is touching the vents or nothing could be melting and find nothing.
So I go into the VDOT facility where I park it, which I should have done in the first place, and ask to use the phone. Where I get guy #2.
Guy: Well, all this sounds rather vague. I'm not sure I can authorize a tow. Can you be more specific about what the problem is?
Me: There was smoke pouring through the vents. It was gray and smoky. There is now a smell of burning or melting plastic. I am not driving the car to a garage. I am not turning the car on again.
Guy: Where did you say you were?
Me: Falmouth VDOT.
Guy: That's S-A-L-M-Y-T-H??
Me: F-A-L-M-O-U-T-H.
Guy: S-A-L-M-O-U...
Me: F! As in Frank. F!
Guy: Oh, F.
(You can say that again)
Guy: Can you hold while I try to get Tony at the garage?
Me: Sure. (What the hell? I know Tony--he'll tell me it's gonna be a while)
Guy: Ok, I'm back.
(Congratulations)
Guy: Ok, Tony says he can't get there for a couple of hours.
Me: Fine. I'll leave the key.
Guy: He says you won't have your car for at least 3 days. (said in the tone of "I'm going to take your favorite toy away since you can't play nice.")
Me: Fine by me. I'm not driving it while it's smoking.
Guy: Ok (as in "Fine, if that's the way you want to be, lady.")
Me: Bye.
Now, all things considered, I held my temper pretty well. But come on, please, who in their right minds is going to drive a smoking vehicle to a garage? Jeez, I particularly don't like those kind of macho men who think I have no brain just because I don't happen to have a Y chromosome.
You ever have one of those times where you feel like you've participated in something sentimental and it just feels so stinkin' good you want to dissolve into a little pile of happiness slush? Yeah, it's one of those days.
I've been active on YouTube for a while--probably a year. When I say "active" I mean that I've been watching videos. I've posted about 10 videos, which are probably LAME to anyone but the people surrounding me on a daily basis. And even to them, probably pretty lame.
So anyway, this past weekend I got a PM from a guy named Curt that he was seeking people to collaborate on a video for a guy whose videos we all enjoy. And he asked me to participate. I couldn't very well say no! So I sent in a little clip and Wednesday the collaborative video was released, followed by a response video on Thursday and a response to the response today.
I've got a case of the warm fuzzies all over the place. Everyone's laughing, crying, if we were altogether in person, we'd all just go ahead, break out the ice cream and play Truth or Dare.
It's a rare thing to happen on line. I don't know if it's on account of it being on video or what, but it's about the nicest thing I can remember participating in with a bunch of strangers since I don't know when...
This meme discusses the highs and lows of popular culture. Fill it out with your opinions and send it on to 3 friends.
Three Movies Everyone Loved and You Hated:
1. Star Wars Episode Three: The Phantom Menace. Grown men cried when ole Anakin turned into Darth Vader. People were cheering, it was pandemonium in the theater. I slept through it. I thought it was AWFUL. Hours of torture.
2. Titanic. Yes, I know, the ultimate chick flick AND Celine Dion. After about 90 minutes, I was like "Go ahead and sink already."
3. Spiderman. I figured, Tobey Maguire... I liked the old Batman movies (Michael Keaton, not Adam West, although the Adam West one was hilarious) and Superman. So I thought I'd love it. Plus my dad and sister and Joe all loved it. Snore. The sad thing? I went to #2 to make Joe happy and snored through that one as well. Ugh.
Three Movies that Lived Up to the Hype
1. Little Miss Sunshine. Still one of my all time favorites. I loved the story, the acting, it had some dark humor which I always enjoy, just a great movie. Too bad it didn't win the Oscar.
2. Shrek 2. I thought the first Shrek was pretty good, but the second one was amazing. I absolutely loved it. It was the first movie I watched on the new plasma TV.
3. Wedding Crashers. I laughed till I cried, and I was convinced I would hate it. Enough said.
Three Books You Hated that Everyone Else Loved:
1. The Life of Pi by Yann Martel. Oh. My. God. I hated it from start to page 40-something when I finally gave up. Zzzzzzzzzzz. I hated the poor little goat being eaten by the tiger. I hated the writing. I hated the story. Even the overall story did not appeal to me. However, it was this book that made me vow I would read whatever came up in book club, whether I thought I'd like it or not. And this year, I've kept that vow.
2. Wicked by Gregory McGuire. Ok, in all fairness, I forced myself to read all the way through to the end. I was convinced that if I just went far enough, I would come to a place where it would all make sense and I would say, "Oh my gosh, this was fantastic!" Um, no. Definitely not. Boring. But finishable boring.
3. Blessings by Anna Quindlen. When it was written, Anna Quindlen's name and face were everywhere, and at the time I was heavily into listening to Imus on my way to and from work in Boston. He interviewed her and the book sounded great and was almost immediately turned into a Hallmark Hall of Fame movie, and I thought, well, this must be the greatest book ever. I finally got my hands on a copy with Paperback Swap, and read it in a day or two. It wasn't awful but it just wasn't amazing. Mediocre, didn't live up to the hype. A huge disappointment in my reading year.
Three Books that Lived Up to the Hype:
1. The Memory Keeper's Daughter by Kim Edwards. Oh my gosh did I love this book! It was easily the best book I read last year and probably one of the best I've ever read--it's firmly on my favorite books ever list. I first heard about it on the Diane Rehm show and understand it did quite poorly in hardcover, but once it went into paperback, the book clubs started snapping it up and sales went crazy. With good reason. It was fantastic.
2. Freakonomics by Steven D. Leavitt. This book made a splash by suggesting that a drop in the crime rate was directly attributable to Roe v. Wade. Michael and I read the book and just loved it. In addition to the crime/abortion correlation, it talked about how real estate agents operate like the KKK, how much sumo wrestlers and public educators have in common, and how rich people decide the in vogue baby names of a generation. It was fascinating.
3. March by Geraldine Brooks. This won the Pulitzer last year and was all the rage. I usually hate books that are about classic characters from long ago, and I was sure I would hate this. I definitely had my quibbles with it, but overall, it was a great book and taught me not to be so prejudicial towards something without all the facts (ie don't judge a book by its cover).
Three TV Shows You Hated that Everyone Else Loved:
1. Survivor. I must admit that I watched 3 whole seasons of it: Survivor Australia and Survivor All Stars and the one where the fireman won. But it's been on for what? 10 seasons? And every last one has been the same. Sure, they mix up men vs. women, asian vs. hispanic, or some such, but at the end of the day, it's all blah. The "challenges" aren't particularly exciting, it's basically a bunch of pretentious idiots, losing weight, strolling around naked, and stabbing each other in the back for 30 days. It was new and innovative at the time, but really, who cares any more? (Plenty of people, just not me!)
2. The Office (USA). Everyone goes bananas for the US version of the Office. I watched it a couple of times and HATED it... Dumb, dumb, dumb, dumb, dumb, dumb, dumb. Not funny. Ugh.
3. The Family Guy. Joe and Judy go bananas for this and every time I'm at their house, it's on. And I try, really I do, but it's just the stupidest show I've seen in a long time. They're literally doubled over. I read a book. I don't know why, it just really bores the snot out of me!
Three TV Shows that Lived Up to the Hype:
1. Arrested Development. While it was on, I kept hearing about it, and even managed to stumble onto it on TV once or twice, but never actually knew when it was on or anything. The critics were going bananas for it, but I never watched it. I think Fox was too busy promoting its other stuff. Anyway, then it was cancelled and then Judy said she had seen it with Joe when she visited him in Buffalo and loved it. Finally last year, with nothing to do for 3 months, I got seasons one and two on Netflix. Awesome. Definitely way too smart for network television. But an incredible show and I am now the proud owner of all 3 seasons on DVD.
2. Lost. I was extremely resistant to watching Lost. I'm not sure why, I guess I just thought it sounded kind of dopey--a plane crash on an abandoned island, who really gives a crap? I do. Again, three months to do nothing, I capitulated to Joe's demand to watch season 1, which I did, and then picked up on season 2 while it was on the air. This season, season 3, has been incredible. If you want to buy me something nice, buy me seasons one and two on DVD :-) I don't have them yet!
3. The Office (UK). I had seen ads for this on BBCA at my dad's house, but never really thought it'd could be entertaining. Boy was I wrong! What an awesome show. Funny, clever, not one week character in the entire thing. The episode where they have the guy in for team building or whatever it was is an absolute classic.
So that's it! I'm tagging everyone on my "friends and seagulls" list. You better do it, I'll be monitoring all your blogs :-)
Alrighty, Lauren tagged me, so I've got to participate. And it's a song meme to boot, so in case there were any doubts, this will put the final nails in the coffin of my tragic uncoolness. All I listen to musicwise now is my iPod, and all the songs listed are on my "My All Time Favorites" play list. Which is basically the sole reason my iPod exists at this point. ;-) The songs I'm listing are the songs I always play at least twice lately while hot rodding around.
The guidelines are: List seven songs you are into right now. No matter what they are. They must be songs you are currently enjoying. Then tag seven other people to see what they’re listening to.
1. Sound of Your Voice by Barenaked Ladies. I love BNL anyway, and heard this song the first time I saw them in concert, which was in November. The lyrics are sad, but the music is upbeat, and I love to really belt it out in the car. It makes me happy.
2. Runaway by the Corrs. I had this song in my head all during National Novel Writing Month and it's become a true favorite. I can't get enough.
3. Accidentally in Love by Counting Crows. One of my favorite happy songs, whenever it comes on my iPod in the car, I play it over and over and over again. Never fails to leave a smile on my face.
4. When You're Next to Me by Mitch and Mickey (aka Eugene Levy and Catherine O'Hara). My favorite song off the Mighty Wind soundtrack, if this song had been around when we got married, it would have been on our wedding favor CD. My husband and I both love it and sing it in the car whenever it comes on. I have happy memories of seeing the movie, happy memories of the song, and love that Michael sings it with me.
5. The Least You Can Do by Phil Collins. This song says it all about every crappy ass relationship I ever put myself through, with friends as well as amours. There are a couple of people I think of in particular when I hear this song, and I love to sing it loud and proud.
6. Bittersweet Symphony by the Verve. I really got into this song after hearing it on Judy's iPod a year or so ago, and last summer it was the only song for me after Tim died. Kind of a personal anthem, if you will, I love that it is angry and sad at the same time and seems to sum up life so beautifully.
7. Oh Lately It's So Quiet by OK Go. When I first got OK Go's "Oh No" album, it was a bit beyond what I ordinarily listen to, and then suddenly this soothing little melody pops on and I felt relaxed. It was my favorite song they performed when I went to see them last November, everyone's cell phones swaying back and forth in the dark, it was quite something to see. The song is kind of haunting and sweet. Great music.
Well, maybe I'm not such a musical loser. Who knows.
Ok, now I have to tag 7 people. Who to tag... who to tag...
I shall tag Miss Music herself, Annette at Meanderings and Musings, my sister Judy over at MySpace, Melissa who's started blogging again and is a fellow iPod user, Nicole who just started a blog and I'm sure needs material (hehe), Lara who hasn't blogged since JANUARY, Gaina at MySpace who I will have to email and tell her she's up, and last but not least Nancy with whom I'm going away this weekend.
(I would have picked you, Lesley, but didn't want to muddy the waters of your amazing book blog! :-D)
Well, Michael and I have been debating the merits of tours, shows, and casinos while we've been planning our trip, and yesterday we purchased the last little piece of it. Once I pay off Michael's credit card bill in April, which was how we paid for our hotel and airfare only, the entire trip will be paid for, apart from whatever we spend while we are there.
Every other day we'll go on a tour and on the other days, we'll enjoy all Las Vegas has to offer. We have three shows booked. So it's going to be amazing. Type A personality that I am, I have a full itinerary typed out, complete with our "to do" list for such things as picking up show tickets and we have to call the tour company with our room number once we arrive. My itinerary even has foot notes. Yeah, I'm nuts. But I love me for it.
So, here's the basic rundown...
Saturday is the Barry Manilow concert. Sunday we'll tour the Hoover Dam and see the Celine Dion concert. Monday will be Penn and Teller. And Tuesday we're taking an 11 mile cruise of the Colorado River and then a Hummer tour of the desert. I do feel sort of ecologically irresponsible for the Hummer tour, but it was either that or return to the Hoover Dam--those were our 2 Colorado River cruising options. The tour of the Grand Canyon we wanted to take was booked. :-(
So we'll be busy, busy, busy, and I'm sure when we get home, we'll be ready to collapse, but I'm as excited as I can be! I've also secured an official copy of our marriage certificate so we can renew our vows while we're there :-) hehehe Only 4 weeks and 2 days to go!!!!
...good bye!
Tonight I had the extreme pleasure of saying "Hasta La Vista, Baby" to Cingular Wireless, the world's worst cell phone provider.
I have had problems with Cingular almost from the start. When I first got Cingular, two and a half years ago, I was living in Centreville. Almost from the start, there were problems. I would drive down Interstate 66, and as soon as I hit the Fair Lakes shopping center, the line would go dead. Whenever I drove certain portions of I95, the phone would go dead. The phone would go dead in major portions of Prince William County, Washington DC, Fairfax County, and surrounding counties. I live in the national capitol region. What's wrong with this picture?!
Calls to Cingular were rewarded with, "We don't show any outages in your area."
Then I made the discovery that they were charging me to call and check my voice mail. Um, I don't think so. So I put a recording on my voice mail that stated, "Don't leave me a message, I am not checking my cell phone voice mail any more."
I've heard from countless friends and acquaintances in the DC area that they've hated every moment of their Cingular service. And apparently Cingular has the lowest service rating in Washington DC.
Anyway, our contract finally expired in October, but due to the fact that Judy needed the cell phone for work, I didn't shut it off. When finally she left those cheap ass bastards, the time came when I could call Cingular and tell them to kiss off.
Still, I felt bad about it. Not for me, since I never use my stupid cell phone. But for my sister, who had it practically glued into her ear. We're talking the need for surgical removal was imminent.
So I called to cancel, and I was told we were "due for an upgrade" which would help us, since our old phones were no longer really compatible with the service or something that they had upgraded to. We'd have 30 days to try out the new phones, they'd reimburse us $200 for the overages my sister had managed to accumulate, and we could still cancel if we wanted to.
Ok, fine and dandy. So I decided to a) see if I even needed a cell phone; and b) test out the phone to see if it would work everywhere.
Well b) never happened. In the entire past 25 days we've had the phone, I made exactly 2 phone calls. For the past 3 weeks, the phone has sat with its dead battery in my car. The ONLY time I even charged it was tonight, when I plugged it into the wall, called Cingular, and told them to cancel my account.
The woman on the other end told me that I could go back to the "month-to-month" plan (instead of a new 2 year contract the new phones--which you will recall I was DUE according to the first woman I spoke to weeks ago--required). All I would have to do would be to return the equipment and go back to using the old phones.
"The old phones didn't work. That's why you sent me new phones."
"Well, that's the only way we can get you back on the month-to-month plan."
"Why would I go back on a plan where the phones don't work?"
*cue those chirping crickets*
"Um, ok, then, go ahead and turn them off."
As soon as I hung up with her, I put both phones and their chargers in the box, sealed it, and Michael and I drove to the Fredericksburg post office, used the 24 hour automated postage center, and mailed those babies off. And you know what? I'm not exactly going to miss that bill coming in the mail. I can think of many things to do with an extra $80 per month.
So, Judy, I am truly sorry, I know how much you loved having the phones. But for me? I won't miss a single ringtone, crappy game, or one pixel of that lousy wallpaper.
Ok, I'm not even certain this is worth my while to post this on this blog, but what the heck.
Last night, for the first time ever, I tuned in to "Dancing with the Stars." I got caught up in the whole watching Heather Mills thing, and decided to tune in and see what happened. Which was pretty much nothing where she was concerned, other than the fact that she sat all by herself looking either miserable or snotty (I couldn't tell which) for the first 3/4 of the show. They must have noticed, because eventually they did have her get up and she made a crazy face at the camera.
I used to watch American Idol, well, ok, I watched for one whole season. I'm still convinced the thing is rigged and this year, when they have those poor kids competing against a professional singer that the judges can't fall over themselves enough to compliment, well, it just doesn't do it for me.
So I tuned in to see what was going to happen on "Dancing".
I have to say, I really enjoyed the show. John Ratzenberger was just as adorable as can be. The people you expected to be pretty good were, and the people you didn't were better than expected. I'm really looking forward to seeing what happens, as they started with a bang--the kind of dancing I could only imagine being good at. So I don't even care if Heather Mills plants her face on the dance floor. I'm just looking forward to watching and enjoying some great dance.
Today was the ANSWER Coalition's March on the Pentagon. Judy and I debated long and hard about attending it, but ultimately we decided to check it out. We both wanted to see Cindy Sheehan, and I have become a button-whore and wanted to get some more.
We got out to the Metro, and since I had decided to bring my sign from the January march, we stuck out a bit. When we hit the platform, a young guy yelled, "Hey! Are you guys going to the rally?" so we went over and introduced ourselves.
Our first anarchist. This guy was serious. I don't know about his friends, but he was preaching to us the whole time about the evils of litter laws, and then suggested that we should invade the Capitol building while the cops had their attention diverted elsewhere.
When the ride was over and we got above ground, we kind of ditched those guys. As I said to my sister, if I'm going to get busted I want it to be on my own accord, not guilt by association. We made our way to the protest site and started picking up all kinds of stuff. It was a free-for-all. We got tons of stickers, buttons, pamphlets, I think Judy may have signed up to become a Socialist at some point, and we were invited to march under a JAMOP flag.
Eventually, we made our way to the staging area, where they were leading chants against the counter demonstration across the street and various speakers made speeches. Cindy Sheehan arrived, which was thrilling, since I just adore her. At one point, she was close enough, I could reach out and touch her.
Eventually, they kicked off the march, and after another 20 minutes of standing around because there were SO MANY people that they couldn't get us moving (which was a good thing), we started on our way. We marched past the counter protestors, but I really couldn't bring myself to get into it with them, since most of them are veterans themselves, and I didn't feel good about shouting or making noise or saying anything disparaging. So I walked along the street and the bridge, raising my fingers in the traditional peace sign, and by the time we were off the bridge, the counter protest had petered out and we were on our own until we hit the Pentagon.
The walk was quite nice, although it was FREEZING COLD outside, and by the time we hit the Pentagon, there were protestors everywhere. Some went up to the soundstage that had been set up in the parking lot. Some were up on an overpass, waving to passing cars. Some congregated on the hills and lawns. And some, like us, turned around and headed back for the Metro. Unfortunately, Judy had to work, so we had to get back.
She just called a few minutes ago to say that she had run into our anarchist friends on her way home from work and one of them had gotten arrested and one of them had been in a scuffle with some of the counter protestors. They were looking forward to an April event, but I think it could be when I'm in Las Vegas, so I'll probably miss that one.
It was a great day and I felt like I was doing something important out there. The crowd was a bit younger than the January march, and we met a lot of nice people in the crowds around us. I have a whole roll of "Impeach Bush" stickers if anyone wants one :-) I'll post pictures as soon as Judy sends them to me. I didn't shoot video this time, I was too freakin' cold.
I'm all for people being able to do what they want in their own homes, but, frankly, I'm just totally grossed out.
I'm the type of person for whom showering is a chore. I get in the shower, I do what I have to do, and I get out. I don't take long, supposedly "luxurious", showers, because to me that's a waste of time. Five minutes tops.
Well, this week my clients have been stymying my system!
Care to take a guess why? There's one thing, and one thing only that can make me shower more than once per day, makes me wash my clothes the minute I get home, and totally grosses me out.
Smoking.
Yes, I am an anti-smoking Nazi. I don't tell people not to smoke, but if I'm in someone's home and they ask if I mind if they light up, I don't lie. "HELL YES I MIND!" Only a bit nicer.
And I've had 3 clients this week, all new, who have either been smokers or who live with smokers.
My state car smells like a freakin' chimney. Last night we had to do the wash and today, I just got home, and I'm going to have to wash these clothes (which were just washed yesterday) and hop into the shower again. Which ticks me off since I showered less than 9 hours ago.
But I can't stand the smell of my own self. Then I'll have to Febreze my car, the state car, and the office chair I'm currently sitting in.
And the sad thing is, these guys are all long term clients, so I'm just going to go through this week after week till I can close them. That really sucks.
Every few months I get an idea in my head that I need to change something physically to make myself feel better. I have been in a bitter stand-off with my hair for approximately 5 years now, due to several factors, and the whole diet and exercise thing is a real on-again, off-again love affair. But the other day, I looked in a mirror and tried to smile at myself and my mission was clear...
My latest attempt at self-improvement involves Crest White Strips. Or rather, the Walmart equivalent, since those little Crest puppies are PRICEY! I bought a 28 day program, and for the last 5 nights have been torturing myself with these things.
Now, I have no idea whose mouth these things are designed for. The strips are pretty large and the top strip has an extra "front teeth" added length which make me look like TomTom the Rabbit's long lost cousin Sue. The bottom strip slides all over the place--it's way too big and I can't figure out if the curved part goes up or down. When it's up, it doesn't cover my teeth, when it's down, it wiggles all over my mouth and cuts into the inside of my cheek.
I also purchased whitening toothpaste and ACT Restore mouthwash. The feds have only just waved their magic wands and granted us dental insurance after a two year hiatus, so we'll be making appointments soon. And I've been flossing twice daily.
I wish I could say this will last. But tonight, I was getting ready for bed when I spied the box of strips on the vanity and thought, "Oh shoot, I haven't whitened." So now I'm up for an extra half hour while I wait for my teeth to become as pearly white as Walmart can make them.
The taste is GROSS, and I'm supposed to avoid contact with skin and clothing. I just know this stuff can't be good for you, so I hope it improves my smile to some degree. It darned well better. All I hear is Didi Conn repeating, "Sandy, Sandy, beauty is pain!" in my head. Amen to that.
...has gone to her new home.
She has a great new place and I'm happy for her... The last of the oops bunnies has left the building.
Hard to believe, but there it is.
So long, little Suisse. Bring your new family joy.
It's the world's worst kept secret that traffic in Washington DC SUCKS.
And it's also well established that I HATE, HATE, HATE driving around here.
So why on earth did I tell my husband that I'd take him to a conference in Fairfax for two days towards the end of the work week? The only reason I can think of is: love.
So, Michael had a 2 day conference in Fairfax over near Fair Lakes. Due to our mahvelous transit system, there is absolutely no way for him to get over there independently.
So, Thursday, 6:50am, we get in the car and head to Fair Lakes, planning to get there at 8:30.
Um, yeah. Right. We got there at 9:00am. Every single major road we could have taken was clogged by accidents. The traffic then shifted onto secondary roads which...you guessed it...began to experience accidents.
No problem, I thought, I can just go ahead and take the tertiary roads I know from work.
Guess what? Yup, accidents.
See, we had gotten about .000003 microns of snow Wednesday night, and everyone took this as their cue to drive 3MPH and crash into things.
So, we finally get up there, I get him registered, and head out to see a little ole lady who was recently referred to me.
I go to see her, and guess what? She kicked me out of her house!!! She had completely changed her mind about having service, and didn't bother to tell me before I drove all the way out to her house to see her.
Ok, I thought, well surely I can catch up with my sister and take her to lunch between my appointments. So I drive out to Judy's place, only to discover, she's not home. I sit there for an hour waiting and checking my work email and finally she arrives back (from paying her rent, I really couldn't squabble), and we decide to hit McDonald's because I'm in a rush.
We drive to Van Dorn Street, and guess what? A street crew has half the street blocked off and we can't get through! It took us 20 minutes to 1 mile. At this point, I was ready to scream.
So we get our food, I drop Judy off and head to Woodbridge. Afterwards, I go back to Fairfax and pick up Mike.
Guess what? We get stuck in ANOTHER traffic jam. Forty five minutes later, we arrive back at Judy's, where we've decided to spend the night.
Friday morning we leave early and head back to Fair Lakes and only got stuck a little bit. I do my teachin' thing and then pick up Michael and we decided to have dinner before we head back after listening to a traffic report.
After dinner, we put on WTOP and we listened for 4 successive traffic reports. Virginia was not mentioned once. Not even one time. And it's Friday evening... I got a bit of a report on I-95 from Washington Post radio, and we decide to head west and then south. Occasionally we flick on WTOP and in a solid hour, during which we may have missed ONE traffic report, we hear nothing of Virginia. And you guessed it, we were stuck in traffic for the better part of 2 hours.
To make things better, on Saturday, we have to go back to Northern Virginia to get our taxes done. When we first moved here, we met this absolute sweetheart of a gal named Cindy and it turns out she was doing taxes for H&R Block. We decided to let her do our taxes that year, and every year since, and she's been a godsend. So it's worth the drive, really, but already we'd been in NoVa 2 days, that made it three.
Then yesterday, our tickets for the Capitol Steps were valid--we had tickets to see them on 1/21 for Michael's birthday, but that was one of the great snowstorms, so it was cancelled and postponed till yesterday. We pick up Joe and Judy again, drive up to Fairfax for dinner and the show (which was absolutely HYSTERICAL by the way, you must see it!), and then it's time to head back to their house and then back to our house. We pull up to Judy's front circle, and I said, "If I have the energy, I'm just going to come back tonight because I don't want to deal with the traffic tomorrow" (because I have to be in Fairfax every Monday for work). And then, I had to swallow a big ole lump in my throat. The thought of making ANOTHER 120 mile round trip became too much. I wanted to shrivel up and die. My rear was being rooted to the seat of that car, my back molded to its curves.
Joe decides to boogie inside, so Judy, the General, and I start debating what's going to happen, and finally Judy says, "I'll ride back with you and drive you back up here." Ok, that sounded decent enough. But what really put the spring in my step was when she said, "Forget it, I'll just take the General home, pack an overnight bag for you, and I'll be back in a couple of hours."
Someimes, my sister really is an angel.
So today, I got up and drove to Fairfax. I waited till 9am, thinking rush hour on the Beltway would be over. How wrong I was. It still took me 45 minutes to go roughly 15 miles. And tonight I meandered back to the 'burg in about 90 minutes.
Thankfully, tomorrow I'm in the rural counties in the state car. I honestly don't know if I could take a whole lot more.
I hate driving, and I really hate it right now.
I've just finished reading two books--one I got on Paperback Swap, the other I picked up at Riverby Books. Both were well used and a bit more worn than I care for my books to be, but for some reason, that didn't bother me one bit.
Both books had spines that had been cracked, and their covers were bent a bit at the corners, soft and flexible from previous use. The pages were well worn and a few had been bent over to mark a previous reader's place. I dodged the bullet where stains and cigarette smoke were concerned.
When I read, I never fully open my paperbacks. I want the spines looking as pristine as they day I bought them. I can't claim the same where my covers are concerned--I'm not always the most careful book layer-downer, and there have been times in the past when I've fallen asleep with a good book and awoken to find the cover bent under a stray arm or my husband's foot, the cover turned back sadly, wondering what it did to deserve such treatment.
Until recently, I haven't really bought or gotten used books, preferring firsthand copies. And some of the books I've gotten have been in first rate condition, clearly read by readers like me, who believe in preserving the integrity of the construction of books.
And I don't know if it's that I enjoyed the stories these two little abused volumes told so much that their own history appealed to me, or if maybe I'm just mellowing. But they look just as good to me on my shelf as all those books I've taken the trouble to keep new.
(And while you're at it, do yourself a favor and go read The Dive From Clausen's Pier and The Magic of Ordinary Days.)
I'm in the midst of the great Blog clean up. I had way too many categories listed and I've cleaned them up a great deal. It will make things slightly harder to find, but I think in the end it looks neater and I'm happier. Nothing like a little OCD in the morning.
Yup, that's me!
Oh, my talented family!!!!
My sister just had a piece published on DC Guide and my cousin is apparently a songstress.
Check out Judy's piece at:
http://www.dcguide.com/articles/attractions/the-treasures-of-american-history.html
Not only did she write it, but she also took the pictures!
Check out my cousin Jill's vocals at:
http://www.myspace.com/scrubsmusiconline
I gather she did the background vocals for some friends of hers. Play the song "Love Song in D" to hear her.
How did I get mixed in with such talented people?
February was a most fruitful month for my reading goal of 100 for 2007. Although the shortest month, I kicked it into high gear and read a book every 2 days with a few days off here and there, for a total of 12 books this month.
I have been considerably aided on my quest by PaperbackSwap--whenever I hear of a book that sounds pretty good, I order it on there when I have the credits and it comes and I'm ready to go. Additionally I took a little field trip to Riverby Books--the used bookstore here in town--and came away with several books. All in all, my "to be read" shelf is full with 20 books and I won't be bored for a while (plus I have 4 books on order from PBS).
Without further ado, the books I've read and what I've thought of them...
1. March by Geraldine Brooks. Again, this is a book club book, so I'm not going to say too, too much before our meeting on Monday. Suffice it to say that Geraldine is fast rising on my favorite authors list. When you finish her books, you really feel like you've accomplished something. Now, fortunately, there were only 2 or 3 words I didn't know in this book, and in typical grown up fashion, I did just skip them, I must confess.
March is the story of the father from the Little Women story, the tale of his early life before meeting Marmee and his entry into the Civil War. Towards the end of the book, the perspective switches over to Marmee's point of view as Mister lies unconscious in a hospital in Washington DC (I'm sorry, I truly don't know if Papa March has a first name or even if Brooks invented one for him).
Brooks has a true gift for painting pictures with her words and you could nearly smell the decay and disease in the hospitals, you could see the plantations and slave masters, you could feel the heat and the fear. I did take slight umbrage with one particular part, that being that Papa March takes up with a slave woman. I've never read Little Women, although I have seen the Katharine Hepburn movie several times, and in it and according to the letters March pens to his family in this book, his family is his top priority and they have little doubt of his love for them. Yes, I know, we're all human, but still, that seemed out of character to me... Here's a man so enamored of his wife and children that he carries locks of their hair with him wherever he goes, but when he comes upon a former slave whom he got into trouble, he can scarcely keep away from her... Something doesn't really jive for me with that picture.
Overall, an amazing book. Definitely recommended!
2 and 3. On the Banks of Plum Creek and By the Shores of Silver Lake. My Little House on the Prairie reading is moving along nicely. By the end of March I hope to have finished all 6 books. The first follows the Ingalls family as they move to Plum Creek to establish a wheat farm. Unfortunately for them, just as the wheat pops up and starts to look like they'll be rolling in money by the harvest, a plague of locusts swoops down and eats and destroys everything in its path. Despite the family's best efforts, the crop is destroyed and the Ingalls family has no way to pay their bills. Pa sets off to work in the east, leaving the women to fend for themselves, but when he returns, he's made enough money to keep them in their home.
Flash forward a couple of years, and you abruptly begin the next book. I can't really argue with the classics, but... Suddenly it is two years later, Mary is blind, and baby Carrie has a baby sister named Grace. The wheat crops have failed miserably, despite their best efforts, and then salvation arrives in the form of Laura's Aunt Docia, who arrives to offer Pa a job out west, working near where the new railroads are being built. Despite Ma's reservations, Pa immediately accepts the job and sells his farm to his neighbors. He uses the money to pay off their debts, and then heads west with Docia, sending for the girls later. They arrive and watch the great railroads arrive and the homesteaders come through in the winter, and Pa takes advantage and claims a homestead for his family as well. I must confess, Silver Lake has thus far been my least favorite book. Due to Mary's blindness, it spends a lot of time in description, as Pa tells Laura she must see with her words for Mary. At times, even Mary says she doesn't care to hear about everything Laura has seen, and I agree! The subject matter itself has been interesting enough, but I just didn't love it.
Still, I'm getting a real charge out of reading the Little House books, and if anyone hasn't, I'd recommend them!
4. The Mulberry Tree by Jude Devereaux. Ok, ok, granted, I've read this before. There are two books in my collection that I read occasionally when I need a light read and something kind of fun, and this is one of them. It is the story of Lillian Manville, the wife of billionaire James Manville, who is killed when his plane crashes in the middle of the night. He dies, leaving Lillian a decrepit old farm house and a mysterious note that reads, "Find out what happened." Lillian undergoes plastic surgery and moves to the farm in rural Virginia, trying to reassemble her life, which has been lived in the lap of luxury for 12 years. Now on her own, she relies on the strapping Matthew Longacre, her new boarder, and some friends to help her rebuild her life, discover the truth of what happened to her husband, and prevent her deceased husband's half-brother and half-sister from destroying the Manville empire with their narcissistic greediness.
I love this book. It is, in places, so beyond belief as to be grossly entertaining, and at the same time there are parts of it that I can't get enough of. Matthew Longacre is the leading man I love to hate--at one point he tells Lillian (who is newly-named Bailey James) that the pressure is off for them to be anything more than friends, and not two pages later, he kisses her in front of his whole entire family! Plus he agrees to rent one room from her and winds up taking over her whole entire house, and he is basically reverting back to his high school years while living at home licking his wounds from his failed marriage.
The half-brother and sister are so evil, and the people who rally around Lillian/Bailey are so overwhelmingly selfless and wealthy themselves, you really have to read this book with an eye to entertainment versus believability. James Manville makes Bill Gates look like a pauper. Seriously.
A fun, quick read, as close to a romance novel as I'll ever truly get and still enjoy it.
5. Murder in Foggy Bottom by Margaret Truman. Now, unless I'm mistaken, my parents went through a phase where they read many Margaret Truman books. So when I saw this one on the discount rack at B&N, I decided to take a crack at it, and thought Michael would enjoy it. Being set in DC and a mystery, it was sure to be his cup of tea.
The story begins with the murder of a Canadian diplomat in a park in Foggy Bottom, DC. Within 48 hours, three planes are shot out of the sky, and a whole pile of proverbial poo hits the fan. The story leaps from DC to the Pacific Northwest to Moscow, deals with a religious cult, environmental fanatics, terrorists, and everything in between. Throw in a couple of love stories and a vindictive ex-husband, and you've got Murder in Foggy Bottom
This book really lost me. I was not into it at all. Michael loved it. To me, it was just so, so scattered and way too all over the place. That's more or less all I have to say about it. I don't recommend it, but I'm sure Michael would!
6. Plum Lovin' by Janet Evanovich. What can I say? I love Janet Evanovich, I love the Stephanie Plum series. It is the sole series of books that every single time I read them, they cause me to laugh out loud. Every one of them has been clever and well written and absolutely hilarious.
This is a "between the numbers" book, meaning she just wrote a small Plum book to keep us entertained after releasing #13 recently. In it, Stephanie agrees to help out a match maker with her most difficult clients, one of whom is her sister Valerie's fiance, who faints at the idea of getting married.
Very short book, not overly taxing, but a whole lot of fun!!! If you love Plum, you'll enjoy this.
7. Round Robin by Jennifer Chiaverini. The second of the Elm Creek Quilt novels, the first of which I read last month. In this book, the Elm Creek Quilters have set up a camp in Sylvia Compson's estate, in which different quilters come to stay and learn quilting or work on quilting projects while learning new techniques. All of the Elm Creek Quilters work on their personal lives during this book. For instance, Sarah is shocked when her mother enrolls in the camp and decides to stay for several months and try to mend fences with her daughter, who wants nothing to do with it. Diane copes with the joys of being a mom to two radically different teenage sons, while Bonnie discovers her husband is having an affair with a woman on the internet. Judy receives a letter in the mail from her half-sister, her father's daughter (her father is a Vietnam veteran, her mother a Vietnamese woman, you do the math), while Sylvia is revisited by a blast from her past.
I enjoyed this book a whole lot better than the first one although it was still a bit saccharine. In this book, the women face real problems and go about rectifying them. I still cannot stand Sarah, I think she's the least sympathetic character in the books, and sadly is one of the main characters. In a funny bit of life imitating art, there was a scene in which Sarah's mother suggests that Sarah cut the carrots she's working on differently so that they won't roll around the counter. Just before reading it, Judy was making me some chicken noodle soup and zinging carrots all over the kitchen. I recommended she cut them differently. That kind of tickled my fancy.
So all in all, a good quick read, not one of my favorites for this month, but definitely a good one. Somewhere in the middle.
8. Housekeeping by Marilynne Robinson. A winner of the Pen Hemingway Award, Housekeeping is the story of Ruthie and Lillian, two girls left orphaned when their mother drives herself off a cliff and into a river. They move in with their grandmother, who promptly dies and leaves the girls to the care of their two aunts, who are so anxious and nervous that they call upon the girls' mother's sister. Sylvie comes into town and immediately the girls lives are transformed. Not necessarily for the better. Eventually Lillian leaves and goes to live with a teacher and Ruthie becomes a younger picture of her eccentric aunt.
Housekeeping is one of the two best books I read this month. It was written like poetry, and the pages seemed to flow into one another like the river that plays so prominent a role in the entire book. Lillian and Ruthie's lives are disrupted by the deaths of the women close to them, and turned on their heads by this strange woman who has strange ideas about everything. For instance, when the town suffers through a flood, rather than go to a shelter or escape the waters rapidly rising through their home, Sylvie simply moves the girls to the second floor of the home and they live there until the floodwaters subside. Sylvie then begins to collect tin cans, and doesn't seem to mind that the girls are skipping school on a daily basis, even when the sheriff arrives. Eventually, Sylvie decides to leave town, and Ruth goes with her, leaving her sister, about whom she writes my favorite line in reading, "Having a sister is like a warm window in the dark."
I absolutely loved this book, go read it. Now.
9. The Art of Mending by Elizabeth Berg. This is my other favorite book of the month. I was feeling kind of pokey mid-month and didn't really feel like reading when this book popped into my mail box.
This is the second book by Berg that I've read after hearing her on the Diane Rehm show, and I absolutely love her. In Talk Before Sleep, which I read a couple of years ago, Berg explores female friendship in the face of terminal illness, a book that had me sobbing for a good hour.
In The Art of Mending, Laura Bartone is heading to her annual family reunion and looking forward to the fair and a fun and relaxed time with her children, parents, siblings, and husband. Upon her arrival, however, her black sheep sister Caroline makes some shocking allegations about their mother, and Laura must figure out how to deal with and come to terms with her sister's allegations. The matter is further complicated by a death in the family.
Berg is an amazing writer. She keeps you interested and entertained just long enough without dragging the stories out. One thing she did here that I found interesting was that she only told Caroline's stories about her mother's abuse in fits and starts, so until you read the entire book, you were never sure what the whole story truly was.
I could relate to Laura's reaction as the "big sister" to her younger sister's allegations, and when the truth of the matter emerges, to Laura's way of dealing with everything. Unlike Housekeeping, which I savored over the course of a week, I read this in one night. Couldn't put it down, and it jumpstarted my reading for the rest of the month.
Highly recommended!
10. Blessings by Anna Quindlen. I have wanted to read Blessings since it was first published some years ago and I heard an interview Anna Quindlen gave on Imus. The book was turned into a made for tv movie (I think it was a Hallmark Hall of Famer) and got rave reviews. I finally remembered to put it on my wish list and got it from PBS a week ago.
Blessings is the story of a wayward man who finds a home at Blessings estate after leaving prison. He is hired by Lydia Blessings, an elderly widow, to care for her family's home. One morning he wakes up to go about his duties and finds a box on the garage steps, and in the box is a newborn baby.
Skip attempts to conceal baby Faith from Lydia for some time, but eventually she does find out and helps Skip to keep the baby for her own reasons.
To be honest, I had built this book up so high in my head that it couldn't help but fall flat of my expectations. I liked it okay, but I didn't LOVE it. And I really, really, really wanted to love it. The story covers only the first four months of baby Faith's life, and I think I was expecting more of an epic story, that Faith would grow up and what would happen when she found out she had been abandoned, etc. None of this comes to pass.
The book was fine, but just nothing to scream about. Judging by user reviews on Amazon.com, I am in the minority on this one. But I've already re-listed it to send it back out. Not worth keeping on my shelves. I'm glad I read it and got it out of my system, but nothing I would return to again!
11. Double Shot by Diane Mott Davidson. I am a big fan of the Goldy Bear catering mysteries, although I must confess it's been a while since I've read one, and she's published two books since I last read her work! In this offering, Goldy is the prime suspect in the murder of her ex-husband, the Jerk, and I for one was cheering, as I was a bit tired of the Jerk showing up in every single book and being such a pain in the rear end.
I thoroughly enjoyed Double Shot, although there was a LOT of death in it, including the death of the town's gossip columnist, which I think could be a huge loss to the series. Of course, Goldy and Marla are up to their usual hijinx, and Marla is more and more a source of information, so perhaps she will become the new town gossip...
This was not my favorite book in the series, which remains reserved for Dying for Chocolate, with great literary character General Bo Farquhar. Still, it was a good read, and definitely a great addition to the Goldy Bear series. Goldy's son is becoming more human in his teenage years and it was nice to see Julian back a bit. The recipes look great, although I haven't yet tried them! I'm definitely going to make the almond cookies. Certainly worth the read if you're a fan of the series, if not, start with the aforementioned Chocolate.
12. Rotten Rejections, edited by Andre Bernard. With the spectacular crash and burn of chapter 1 of my novel in the recent contest in which I entered it (I think I ended up with a less than 5 star rating), when I saw this book in Riverby's, I had to pick it up. It is a compendium of all the rejection letters publishers wish they had never written. It made me feel quite good about my own tentative forays into the world of publishing, as I learned through the book that many authors have self published to begin with and moved on to bigger and better things once their book has been read. More and more I'm sure that's what I'll have to do, although I will submit it to a few places that are accepting books right now, just to see. Among the authors whose letters are listed are E.L. Doctorow, Charles Dickens, William Faulkner, Ernest Hemingway, and Rudyard Kipling.
My personal favorite was a rejection George Orwell received for Animal Farm, which stated: What was needed was not more communism, but more public-spirited pigs.
It was a really fun and quick little read and I agree with the reviewer who wrote, "the perfect book for any writer, amateur or professional."
So, a great month over all... To break it to down:
Great Books:
March, Housekeeping, The Art of Mending, and Rotten Rejections
Good Books:
On the Banks of Plum Creek, The Mulberry Tree, Plum Loving, Round Robin, Double Shot
OK Books:
Blessings, By the Shores of Silver Lake
Stinkers:
Murder at Foggy Bottom
Totals for the year:
February: 12 books
2007 Total: 18 books
February # of pages: 3461
Total # of pages: 5413
Upcoming reads...
Well, as I said, my TBR shelf is quite full. I'm looking forward most especially to Unless by Carol Shields, The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri (book club selection of the month), The Magic of Ordinary Days by Ann Howard Creel, and Florence of Arabia by Christopher Buckley.
A lot of reading, but it'll be fun! (I'm giving my brain 2/28 to recharge)
On my quest to get some free/cheap books for my 100 Books for 2007 goal, after hearing about PaperbackSwap, I signed up for it, and then Lesley told me about BookMooch.com so I've signed up for that one as well. It's been a couple of weeks since I've used both sites, and I'm here with my pros and cons of each one!
I signed up for and listed 15 books with each site. This gave me 3 credits on PaperbackSwap and 2.7 credits on BookMooch.com
Ok, so here's the deal. I like certain aspects of each site better than the other. If they could combine their two ideas into one site, it would kick tail.
Credits
On Paperback Swap, you get your initial 3 credits for posting 9 books. You can post 100 more books and get no more credits for posting books. I find that disappointing. I've now posted 30+ books on PaperbackSwap and have zero credits, since I've requested several books. The only way I've found to add credits to my account so I can get more books, apart from swapping books (I'll get to that), is to purchase quick credits for $2.75 a piece. Now, that's not bad for a book, it's a heck of a lot cheaper than $12 for a paperback or $24+ for a hardcover. But still, I'm contributing a pile of books to your site, and by rights, I should have at least 9 credits for all those books, and instead have zero.
BookMooch is the same. You get your initial credits, and then that's it, until your books are requested. However, what's slightly different about BookMooch (and slightly better) is that if you contribute to the site in some way (leaving feedback, for example), then you get 1/10th of a credit. For instance, I received a book in the mail a couple of days ago, and just logged on to say how I felt about the transaction, and they awarded me 1/10 of a point for the effort. The downside is that I don't really see what I can get for 7/10 of a point I have at the moment.
Still, on this one, I give the slight edge to BookMooch.
Ease of Use
Both sites have their ups and downs.
For my money, BM is a little bit clunkier. You have to log on in one of those pop up windows each time you go to the site after shutting your browser, while PBS remembers you.
The colors are nicer on the BM site, and I like their 3 book logo better than the 3 recycling arrows of PBS. BM's navigation menu is in tabs across the top, while PBS's are larger and along the left hand side of the site. Neither one is difficult to read, but PBS's are ever so slightly easier.
I'm giving this one to PBS, but only by a hair.
Searching for Books
The minute you open the PBS site, you can do a search from the homepage. With BM, you have to log in and then click on "Browse" and then you can search. However, with BM, once you're logged in, your information is immediately displayed on the main page (# of credits, # of swaps, etc.). On PBS, you have to click on "Name's Account" before you can see your credit and swapping information.
Where their search pages are concerned, the BM site is a bit more spartan. When logging on to search for books, you can search the site, search Amazon.com or search a particular member's book shelf. Those are all the options listed.
When clicking on the search page for PBS, you can search by title, author, or ISBN, click a new tab and search by member, or browse genres (they also have subcategories), click by letter to search by title or author (if you're too lazy to type it in), or you can see the most recently posted and popular books. If you do a search and the book you want is not listed in the system, you can do a search of "unposted books" and add the book to your wish list.
Now, I've done a basic search on the book The Ha Ha by Dave King, which is a book I'm dying to get my hands on. When I search "The Ha Ha", it is the first book that comes up on the PBS site. When I search for it on BM, it does not come up at all. So I also search Dave King. Dave King doesn't show up on BM. However, at the bottom of the BM search results page, I can "search unavailable books" and when I do so, Dave King's The Ha Ha comes up as the first book. (In the interest of full disclosure, I must say, I did find the book on BM a couple of days ago and ordered it.)
So on this one, I must say, PBS wins for being more intuitive and less work.
Swapping
Each site makes it fairly easy to swap. Obviously, since this is the whole point of the site, but once you've navigated the search and found your book, all you do is click on "Order this book" or "Mooch this Book" and you move on to the next step.
PBS puts "Order this book" in a great big button right on top of the book description, while BM's button is smaller and off to one side.
Now, as the sender primarily, since I haven't built up a lot of credits right now, I'm going to tell you that I *heart* PBS's mailing system. Once you get an email that a book on your shelf has been requested, it gives you a two step process. Number one, print out a wrapper. The wrapper is pre-addressed and the postage pre-measured for you. You print it out on standard computer paper, tape the paper around your book, add stamps and shove it in the mail. When done, you confirm that it has been mailed. When received, the person requesting it goes on and clicks a button that says the book has arrived, and you get your credit. You get email reminders every step of the way.
BM's is more "labor intensive"... Wrappers are not included, so you have to wrap the book and address it yourself. Once you've mailed the book, it's on you to go back on the site, find the 'confirm mailing' button, and say it's been mailed.
I've only just mailed my first book for that site, so I'm not sure what will happen once the book is received. We'll have to see.
One thing about BM is that once you agree to mail the book, you get your credit. So really, there's no impetus on the mailer to mail the book... you have your credit, so why bother. On the other hand, with PBS, if you request a book, not only is the credit removed from your account, but it is not given to the mailer until you confirm that the book has arrived. That way, everyone is responsible.
Additionally, BM doesn't make you guarantee that the condition of your book is any good. Consequently, the first book I received from BM was stained with coffee. All the books I've received from PBS have been in excellent condition. You must confirm before listing that your book is in good shape with no visible damage and the covers are in tact when you list with PBS. That is not the case with BM, and I'm sad to say that the book bears this out.
So again, on this one, PBS gets it right.
Listing Books
Both sites make it easy to list your books. Simply flip your book over, type the ISBN number into the box, and the book pops up. Confirm it's the book you have and it's listed!
One downside of PBS is that if you have multiple copies of the same book, you cannot list it twice. You must wait until your first copy is requested and mailed, and then re-list the second copy. This is not the case for BM. If you have multiple copies, list them all!
Additionally, if you don't confirm that you have mailed a book, and the book request expires, you must re-list the book, ask the person who requested it to please re-request it, and then confirm the sending. This happened to me, and fortunately the requester was gracious about it. I had put the book in the mail, just hadn't clicked the button to confirm it had been sent. (This refers to PBS--BM doesn't seem to have a timetable for confirming that you've mailed a book...)
For that reason, I give the edge to BM in this category.
ETC.
BOTH
Both sites offer users the chance to create buddy/friend lists of other users. Since two girls in my book club use PBS, they are both listed on my friend's list.
BOOKMOOCH
BM offers the chance to donate your points/credits to charity or to a friend.
PAPERBACK SWAP
PBS has a "fun and games" section where you can play 20 questions surrounding books.
PBS also offers a kiosk where you can purchase PBS items, including points, mugs, mousepads, hats, shirts, pencils, etc.
PBS also offers the "box of books" program. You sign up and agree to swap entire boxes of books with a fellow member. The downside (if there is one) is that you do have to take those to the post office and mail them media mail, rather than just slapping some stamps on the box and sending them.
PBS is much more of a community site. There are discussion forums and there's a chat room, whereas BM is more of a list 'em, mail 'em business type of site. PBS even has a writer's forum where you can submit your writing and have other writers critique what you've done.
Advantage: PBS--it's more fun.
Summary
Both sites have definite advantages and disadvantages. I'm more in love with PBS. There's more to do, they seem to have a broader inventory, and it's easier for me to use on most accounts.
In a perfect world, if I were combining the two sites, here's what I'd take from both of them...
1. Get more credits for participating in the site.
2. All the community benefits
3. The charity donation option
4. The decorations of BM with the ease of use of PBS
5. The ease of listing, and the ability to list multiple copies
6. Mailing wrappers available for printing
7. Responsibility on both the sender and the receiver
Overall, the advantage goes to PBS, but I will keep my books listed in both places, so that I can hopefully get rid of the 35+ books I want out of my house. Thanks to Lesley and Maritza for recommending both.
...the road to finding bunny homes has been long and arduous. Today, Rocky's journey came to an end, as I dropped her off at Riverbend High School, where she will become one of 6 or 7 bunnies (including a GORGEOUS velvety brown bunny and a GORGEOUS velveteen rabbit) who resides in the small animal classroom for the FFA club. There they learn about caring for small animals and enjoy socializing the bunnies, chinchillas, turtles, parrots, and a lizard named Frank.
I thoroughly enjoyed the tour of the classroom--it was immaculately clean, did not smell at all, and all the animals looked happy and healthy. No dissections or vivisections, just 150 kids who adore small animals and learn about them in school. The woman who runs the program was a doll, as was her 5 year old son, who took an instant affinity to Rocky.
Rocky was a bit nervous and peed all over me as my reward for finding her so great a place to live, so I just cried the whole way home to make up for it. TomTom and Suisse aren't entirely sure what to think now that their room has one fewer bunny, but they'll adjust. Michelle (Mrs. FFA) has assured me that they may be able to help find a home for Suisse after we ensure she is not pregnant... (GOD FORBID)
It was a lot harder to give up Rocky than anticipated, but I know she's in amazing hands and I know she'll enjoy her life as an FFA bun. She was one special little sweetheart, and deserves every bit of happiness she'll enjoy there.
