Random thoughts

I have had so many different things swirling in my head that I thought I would get some of them down in black and white.  Here goes!

1. My son has a lovely girlfriend who has 2 little boys, so they are like my almost-grandchildren. I went and picked up the 5 year old and spent the weekend with him. He had finished kindergarten on Friday and had his very first graduation.  We played Legos, colored, drew pictures, read books, swam, counted fireflies, and made homemade ice cream. 

It was a pretty perfect weekend, actually.

2. This whole debate in social media about the child who climbed into a gorilla enclosure at the Cincinnati Zoo and the gorilla was shot and killed is horrific.  Everyone is vilifying the mother of the child.  From the accounts I have read BOTH parents were there, why are we blaming just one?  I don't like the blaming and judging that goes on from women on other women and their parenting.  We are all guilty of it.  My first thought was  "why did the mom allow her child out of her sight?"  I took a step back and can see all sorts of judgment and blaming in my own mind.  It's a fucking tragedy with enough responsibility to be spread around.  Let's hope all the parents who know of this will now educate their children on how to act appropriately in a zoo setting, and that the zoo officials will find more ways to keep the animals safe from this happening again.

3. While thinking about this zoo/gorilla/parenting debacle I have been going over and over in my mind how would I have acted.  What would I have done differently so that my kids would not end up in that life threatening situation?  I don't know.  I do know that I was really strict and clear about what behaviors were appropriate in public venues.  I see friends and family who parent differently than I do/did and I try not to compare.  But we all want to justify and validate our own decisions so some comparisons are going to happen.  My hard and fast rule with little ones was always if I am not touching you or holding your hand we have to be able to see each other's faces.  If you can't see my face you are too far away.  I think for me this came from living in a city on the border where we were told on the news damn near weekly about children being abducted from under your nose and taken across the border before you could blink.  So a fair amount of paranoia and fear were at play here.  I hope like hell that my kids don't feel scarred and smothered by this.  They haven't ever said so and they are both pretty great and well-adjusted adult people now.  That's the thing with parenting, you really just have to go with your gut and good intentions and hope that the love and care come through.

4. Are any of you watching Outlander on Starz?  Season 2 has been confusing me mightily so I have started reading the books.  I am now on book 2 which seems to be different than the show.  Jamie is fantastic, both in the books and the show.  Why Claire would think twice about that dry, boring Frank especially knowing his psychopath great grand relative Black Jack is beyond me.  But Claire does bug, irk and annoy me.

5. And while on the Scotland topic I am doing more and more research on Ancestry.com. And Scotland and Ireland are both difficult countries to do deep research on.  I need to get more details on names, locations and dates so that I can plan a trip to see what all I can find. I am more than a little afraid that I will get to Scotland or Ireland and never want to return. It does call to me.

6. After getting my DNA done on Ancestry I came up with a vision of a tattoo I would love to get.  I keep picturing it in my head of what the components are and how to do it.  Then I get on Pinterest and what do I find?  A whole bunch of people have come up with similar visions!  WTH???  I was so thoughtful on what I imagined as a very original idea.  Good Lord. Now I am unsure about it.  I don't want it to be what everyone else has since I may be chicken and it could very well be my one and only tattoo.

7. It's been a month since my good and dear friend Jon died.  It seems like yesterday.  The pain and grief are still so very fresh and my feelings so raw.  I need to find a positive way to honor him and deal with my sadness.  Any ideas?

That's it for now.  This is my closing thought.

Reading

I just finished a fantastic book.  And since I am always on the lookout for new reading material I thought I might share with you in case you are doing the same.

This is the 3rd of her memoir books.  And let me just say that if I had Mary Karr's gift of stringing words one after the other and creating the most amazing mental pictures I would die happy.  So many times I read a book/article/poem/whatever and nothing, no emotional response.  But Mary Karr's work?  Well, that is something else entirely.

Here is what the cover of her first book looks like:

The one in the middle between these two chronologically is called "Cherry".  Also amazing.

There are very few writers who by their very words can reach in and touch your heart.  There are even fewer who grab your heart and twist it into pieces and rearrange it in a way you never knew was possible.  Mary Karr is one.  Salman Rushdie and Margaret Atwood also do this for me.

If you are not familiar with these books, take my recommendation and give Liar's Club a try and work your way through to Lit.  Then come back and thank me.  I sincerely hope you enjoy her books.

Recycling, Downsizing and Letting go

Remember the other day when I showed you the KonMari book?

I am trying to implement this in my life.  If you know me in real life you may be picking your teeth up and putting them back in your mouth.  I KNOW!!!  I am a packrat.  I love stuff.  I have accumulated loads of stuff.  I have collections of stuff.  Let's face it, I am on my way to being a hoarder.

So I am trying my best to embrace the more minimalist side of myself.  The part of me that sees all the stuff as things that weigh me down, that keep me from being the best I can because I am too busy dusting, arranging and finding homes for all my important stuff.  It is hard to completely change your mindset, especially when you spent years of your life accumulating.  I did recognize years ago that I had a lot of things and made a hard and fast rule that any time I saw something I wanted I had to stop and think of a similar object in my house that I was willing to let go of, be it sweaters or shoes or whatever.  Note:  this rule has never applied to books.  Books are sacred and as such, limitless in the number you can own.

I let things go all the time.  And yet, the clutter persists.  So I am reading and re-reading the KonMari book up there and falling more in love with the idea of having fewer beloved items that now have air around them, that aren't crammed into a large collection so that this item of beauty can shine all on its own.

And you know what is really strange?  Along with minimizing my stuff I am also changing my style of furnishings and things that I want to inhabit my space.  I have always been in the Bohemian camp with loads of competing patterns, fabrics, textures, over-stuffed big comfy furniture and the like.  Nowadays, my taste is running more towards mid-century modern, Danish 1960s looking things and craftsman/arts & crafts.  Where the hell did THIS come from??

I have very slowly over the last 15 years come around to the Small House Movement way of thinking.  I love the idea of making great use of the space you have and not building, heating, cooling and walking through long hallways of unusable space.

That's me right now; recycling things that need to go to someone else, downsizing the amount of treasures I want to keep and letting go of all the things that no longer serve me and no longer spark joy in my life.

Holler at me if you need something, I just might have a collection of said item that I would love to gift you.

Update on the new eyeglasses and a few other things

Did you look at the pretty frames I posted the other day?  Well, I got in to see my eye doctor and the new and improved lenses will be ready to go soon.  However, one of the new frames did not work for me.  Yes, it is sad to say that the Frida Kahlo frames will not be mine.  They did NOT look good on me.  My daughter is coming to visit and I will offer them to her if she wants them and if they look good on her face.  If not?  Well, I will either offer them up to someone else or ask the seller if I can return them.  They are lovely and need to be worn.

Other random thoughts running through my head:

1. When you have little kids and you can't go to the bathroom by yourself, they eventually outgrow that nonsense and give you some space.  When you have cats?  Not so much.  This morning I had 2 in there with me and one at the door.  They are like little 2 year olds with OCD.

2. I am still sick.  I believe I am on the mend, but I am still sick.  And every time I go to a doctor they all ask "Are you depressed?"  Well, let me think.  I have been sick since April 1 and before that I had sciatica and couldn't walk and before that was the frozen shoulder.  What do you think?

3. I know summer is the worst time to try and watch anything on t.v. because it's usually a wasteland of crap and reruns.  In case you haven't seen any of these great summer shows, here are a few I highly recommend:  The Jim Gaffigan Show.  It's on Nickelodeon or TVLand.  Also the FX channel has 2 great new shows, Sex and Drugs and Rock and Roll starring Denis Leary and John Corbett, and also one called Married.  These are outstanding t.v. Look for them.  The upcoming fall season is going to include The Bastard Executioner whick I am really looking forward to and what appears to be the final season of The League.

4. I am still doing the mostly all meat-free, dairy-free and gluten-free.  I say mostly because I have eaten a bit of meat here and there.  Maybe once a week.  But no dairy and almost no gluten.  I went to an Indian restaurant and of course I had a small naan and one of the golub jammun for dessert.  The naan was totally worth it and the golub jammun was not.  It was not as good as I am used to and was a total waste of calories and gluten.  So far, I am still with the sinus congestion and still coughing.  I have lost 1 pants size so there's that!

5. I am almost completely off the caffeine, too.  I dropped my black teas months ago and drink a cup of green tea in the morning and then switch to red tea (rooibos) and herbal teas after that.  AND NO SUGAR!!!

6. I have been starting the Kon-Mari method of tidying up and decluttering my life.  I love her philosophy.  Here's the book in case you haven't seen it yet.

And that picture is almost life-size.  The book is tiny.  Everything in your life, your house, etc. should spark joy and bring happiness and be useful.  If not, thank it, and release it.

Have a great long Labor Day weekend!

Updates

Just last week I was ranting about not loving the endings to books, and I forgot one of the ones I had just read.  "Gone Girl" was recommended by so many different people, I can't even tell you!!

And it was good.  It was very cleverly written and drew you in to the story.  I kept thinking the whole time I was reading it how much I really didn't like any of the characters.  So I was not near as invested in the outcome of this book as I could have been.  If any of the characters had been like-able, that is.

But the ending?  Holy Cow!  I did not see that coming.  I was confused by it for a while.  Then?  I decided it was probably the way idiots like these would behave.

Remember a few months back I posted a list of recommended books?  I have been working my way through that list (which is where I got "Gone Girl", by the by) and one of the books recommended was fabulous, outstanding and sensational!!!

This book was so darn good I just wanted to start it over again, right then and there. *****, that's a 5-star rating, is what that is.

So when I was at Half-Price Books I picked up another book by Christopher Moore.

Loved it!!!  I finished it last night as it was a quick read.  So clever and completely out there.

And you know what?  He knows how to finish a book.  I mean really finish so that it feels like a full-course meal from soup to nuts.  Not just soup.

I was thinking about how I as a reader need to feel really engaged not just with the book but at times with the author as well.  Sometimes that feeling of simpatico, of being kindred spirits just comes through and you have a real connection.  And I wondered if authors are also trying to make that connection with their stories or if they are writing for themselves and we as readers can go along for the ride or not and we are really superfluous.  How important is the audience for the writer?  If no one was going to read them ever, would books be written anyway?

Is the writing of a book a "need" within the writer whether or not there would be readers?

Interesting questions to ponder.

Switching gears:

Did y'all see DWTS All Stars?  Holy Moly!  There was some fabulous dancing going on for Day 1 of competition!

All except for poor Pamela Anderson and little Bristol Palin.  That was sad.  The judges were so harsh with Pamela, too.  I felt really bad for her.  Poor thing was trying so hard not to cry on camera.

It's gonna be hard to pick a front runner this season with this line-up.  They are all so good.

Switching gears again:

It has been so strange around here without our little Fergus Jackson MacPhee.  He is greatly missed.  His brother Angus is having some issues, as is Lester Buster.  Lester and Fergus were snuggle buddies and Lester is having a hard time finding a comfortable spot without Fergus.  It's sad.

And no, I do not want any more pets.

Mostly.

Am I getting crankier?

When something happens once you tend to think of it as an anomoly.  When it happens again, it's just a coincidence.  But when it happens for the fourth or fifth time, IN A ROW!  you tend to realize (unless you are dumb as a stump) that it might just be YOU.

Here's my predicament:

Lately, every single book I read, well, I end up hating the ending.  Hate. the. ending.  All summer long this has happened.

I think that trashy ass 50 shades book jinxed me.  And everything I have read since I just have not been happy with the endings.

I decided to read the Game of Thrones series since I have been watching the HBO series.  I love watching that and wanted to see how they align with the books.  The books are long and in parts, quite tedious.  Think Harry Potter long and James Michener tedious and you will have an idea of what I mean.  I enjoyed them.  And I was just going to read the first two because that's all the seasons they have shown on HBO and I didn't want to get ahead and then be all "yeah, yeah, I know what's coming next" when it next airs.  But I didn't do that.  I kept reading.  Let me just interject here that each of the first two books have been pretty well represented entirely in each of the first two seasons.  So I expect to see book 3 in season 3 whenever that comes around again.

Anyhoo, since I am now over 50 and my memory has gone to shit, I figured I would go ahead and read book 3 and maybe I would still be surprised by things in season 3.  But book 3 was so exciting that I went ahead and read book 4.

Now, at the end of book 4 there is a little afterward from the author talking about how he was wrapping up the series and it was just too much for one book, so look for book 5 to complete the series since he couldn't fit all these millions of characters in one book, etc, etc.

So, then I couldn't stand it and I got book 5.  Supposedly, the very end of the whole series.  And let me say here, Thank God I got these on my Kindle!  I picked them up and looked at them at B&N one day, and if you called them HUGE!  you wouldn't be wrong.  These books are each so big they could be referred to as tomes.  I could not imagine lugging these dictionary sized books around with me.

Book 5 is going to wrap up all the mysteries for me!  It will answer all my questions!  I will get to find out what happens to each and every one of the characters I have invested so much time into!  (yes, I know that ended that sentence in a preposition. Sue me.)

Didn't happen.

Nope.

Not even a little bit.

Well, except for the ones that were out right killed and then you knew you had been really screwed. That's how I feel when I am given a character that is beloved and I am all wrapped up in their story and BAM!  out of the clear blue he/she gets whacked.  Seriously?  We spent 5 giant books worth of words describing this character's feelings, how he/she grew up, matured and was looking forward to the next part of his/her life and there you are.  I never saw that one coming.  I didn't even think "well played, I was certainly surprised by that one!"  Nope.  It was more like "well, out of the top 10 characters in this series of books with casts of thousands, half of the top 10 just were discarded with no other news of their future, demise, or whatever and the other 5?  Dead?"

Not loving the wrap-up here, Mr. George R. R. Martin.

I also recently re-read The Thorn Birds for a book club.  Didn't really love the ending there, either.

Then I read The Patron Saint of Liars, which was a recent recommendation.  This was a great book right up to the ending.  Meh.  Didn't love the ending.

I just googled the book and it came up as a made-for-tv movie from 1998.  Good Lord, how old is this book?

Last night I finished a book that my daughter, the fabulous Rachel Pie, had been wanting me to read.  She kept recommending it and one day, about six months ago, we were at Half Price Books and she saw a copy and got me my very own so that I would be sure to read it.  It kept getting put to the bottom of the pile so that I could read crap like the 50 shades of craptastic crap and then be disappointed.  So I pulled it from the bottom of the pile o'books on my night stand and read it.

The Hummingbird's Daughter by Luis Urrea.  The main character is a great-aunt of the author and he spent 20 years of his life researching and writing this book.  I loved the book.  And yet, I wanted more out of the ending.  Was she happy?  Did she marry?  Did she have children?  Did her father live?  Where did she live?  What happened to all the other people in this book?  What happened to the ranch?

I don't want to think I am being unreasonable as a reader.  But why bring in all these details and then drop them?

The only book I have read in the last six months that I thought the ending was perfect was Lamb by Christopher Moore.  Fabulous book.  I picked up another of his on my last trip to Half Price Books.  I will let you know what I think of it. And whether the ending disappointed or not.

Sunday Night Chit Chat

Okay, my blog friend Sluggy says we who want to play along on the Sunday Night Chit Chat should go here and follow directions.

Here's my answers!

Reading... "Lamb" by Christopher Moore.  This was recommended by a friend recently. I have just started and can NOT put it down!!!  I have never laughed so loud when reading in bed.  You will just adore this book.

Watching... AMC is running the whole previous 4 seasons of Breaking Bad late at night leading up to the Season 5 which starts on July 15.  I have been recording them and watching them and oh boy, it is even better watching a bunch back-to-back.  Season 5 is supposed to be the big finale so you want to be up on your stuff because this will be it.

Listening to...  I have the radio on tuned to an 1970s rock station and they are playing Van Halen "Dance the night away", and just segued in to some AC/DC "Dirty Deeds".

Cooking/Baking... nothing today.  But I just got a new recipe on Pinterest for Okra, Grilled Corn and Goat Cheese Fritters.  I will be going to get those ingredients for this week!  Yum.

Happy you accomplished... Holy Moly!  I finished a quilt I was making for my son that had been in the 70-80% done category for about 2 years. Then I got down an afghan I was 90% done with and finished it.  Right now I am working on a cross stitch project I have wanted to start for YEARS!  It feels really good to clear out some old projects.

Looking forward to next week... It is Mr. Big Ed's birthday on Wednesday, so that should be fun.

Thankful for today... got up early and have been accomplishing things.

*bonus question*

What is the WORST movie you've ever seen & couldn't be paid to watch again?  Hmmm, worst movie ever?  Let me think.  There are so many to choose from.  Right off the top of my head I am gonna have to go with a horrible piece of crap that my kids love and just think is *hilarious*.  The horrific "Freddy Got Fingered" with that moron Tom Green.  Have you seen this?  If not, be thankful.  It is so bad.  There are no redeeming qualities, not the filming, the writing, the acting, nothing.  It is pure crap.


Anyone want to play?  Either post your response in the comments or come comment with a link back to your own page.


Have a great Sunday night!

I'm back and flitting from topic to topic. Do try to keep up!

Hey, it has been a while.  I was on a pretty impromptu roadtrip with my sister so that was fun.  We sang along with Adele and the Backstreet Boys, because that is how we roll.  Ha!

So, today is 100 years since the Titanic sank and in honor of that the History Channel is showing a fabulous memorial tonight with lots of never before seen due to new technology just now finding it kind of stuff.  For those of us that are obsessed with Titanic and all the horrific sadness, this is a goldmine.  Be sure to set your dvr or tivo to record this bit of history.

Also, in t.v. update news!  Are y'all watching anything right now?  Let me tell you what all is on my dvr.

The Borgias - Showtime channel, fabulous series about the infamous family that ran the Vatican and Rome.  And you have to know anytime you can have Jeremy Irons playing someone evil it is gonna be good.

The Big C - Also on Showtime.  I think this is the 3rd season of this wonderful, thoughtful series starring Laura Linney and Oliver Platt.

Nurse Jackie - Showtime, yet again.  Showtime has some great series.  If you don't get this channel, why the hell not?

Game of Thrones - HBO - o.m.g.!!!  Watch it.

Eastbound and Down - HBO, Kenny Powers with a mullet!

Top Shot - History Channel, Colby Donaldson, cool guns, nice looking men, really cool blowing up of stuff, and Colby Donaldson, enough said.

Modern Family - ABC, Best. Flipping. Show. Ever.

Survivor - CBS.  What is more fun than watching idiots trust the wrong people and disaster ensues?

Amazing Race - CBS.  See above comment about Survivor.

Real Time with Bill Maher - HBO, I can not go more than a week without seeing his New Rules at the end of the show.  Awesome.

Jeopardy! - CBS.  Love Jeopardy!  and I also love yelling "Can it, Trebek!  or Suck it, Trebek! or It's HUN-DRED you morons, NOT HUNNERD!"  They may be able to pass the Jeopardy online quiz but they still can't pronounce hundred.  Idiots.

I can't think of what else my dvr records for me.  Sparky also has his shows recording, like Aqua Teen Hungerforce, Family Guy, Metalocolypse.  When they are on we don't miss It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia and The League.  Those are both on FX.

Oh!  Also we watch (although this will be the final season coming up) Breaking Bad on AMC.

Quick!  Changing subjects.

Someone, I don't know who, recommended the Fifty Shades of Grey trilogy to me.  Whoever it was, obviously doesn't know me.  I barely made it through book one.

It is such trite crap I could NOT believe it got greenlighted, or green lit or was given the thumbs up. Holy Moly, is it bad!

Please don't be taken in by the hype or the fact that book one has already been optioned for a movie. I can not even imagine how they will make this be not a boring, repetitive piece of porno trash.

There are not enough descriptive words to tell you how much I hated all the characters.  The female lead was so fucking annoying and stupid I couldn't even believe it.  The male lead?  Warped, controlling, and so strange it defied all logic that she would be soooo attracted to him that all her common sense would go right out the window.

What I'm saying is unless you are looking for s&m bondage porn laced with the worst and most repetitive dialogue, you don't want to bother with this piece of crap.

Did you try the brown rice crusted quiche recipe yet?  Please do.  I am sure you will like it.

What else has been going on around here that I wanted to talk about?

Oh!  I know what I have been trying to remember to tell you about!

Have you seen this ad?

I was watching this and thought to myself, "Self, if they took a whole shirt and made a dickie out of the top part, this is what is left over."

IT'S A DICKIE FOR YOUR ASS!

Where do they come up with this stuff?  And why, oh why, are we gullible enough to buy it?

Trendy Top, indeed.

Have a great day and I will be here to discuss some more ancestry.com findings in the next few days!

Book Review

I am reviewing a book I only started last night!!!


I am barely into this and am imagining the possiblilities for my own self.

Believe it or don't, this book has it's own trailer on youtube.  Am I the last person on earth to know that this happens?

Now that you have watched it and have an inkling of what this book is about, let me move on with my own thoughts about what I am reading.

Jen Hatmaker makes the choice to do this project and document what she finds in order to remove clutter from her mind and her life in order to make room for God and his message.  I think this is awesome. She is on the path to discovering that things, possessions, filling your life and your mind with all this crap only slows you down and impedes you finding your purpose.  Finding why you were born.  You and your own set of talents and gifts were born to do something, to be the best you there is.  To possibly teach or be a lesson for someone else.

But living our lives the way we do with so much STUFF doesn't help us achieve our purpose.  All it does is cloud things over and distract us.

I love how she lays out how each month will work and has her group of women she calls her Council to help her find what the boundaries of each should be.  They also hold her accountable and go on the journey with her each in their own way.

I love how she allows herself the freedom to complain and bend the rules or break them when necessary. And then spend some time reflecting over each decision and find the lesson.

The first month is food.  She did not force her kids to do the first couple of months but then the rest were all done as a whole family.  For the food she worked out a nutritious gang of 7 foods and stuck to it and tried to find recipes to incorporate as many as possible.  The only seasonings, condiments allowed were salt and pepper.  And so Jen opted to make those 7 foods as healthy as possible and bought local, organic and high quality foods.  Her findings over this month were really inspiring.

The second month was clothes.  Holy moly!  I am sure a lot of people are like me and have a huge closet full of things and yet only wear a tiny fraction of what is there.  Jen went through all the closets in her home and guesstimated the amount of items and multiplied that by $20 for each and got a staggering figure of how much money is just hanging there in the closet, unloved, and unneeded.  That's a sobering idea, isn't it?

And let me tell you, I have waaaaay more hanging in my closet than she did!

Right now I am most of the way through her Month 3 of no media, meaning no t.v., no facebook, no texting, no Wii, no screentime except for work and school.  So the family are forced to deal with each other face to face.  They go find things to do, like bike riding, playing ball outside, really good intereactions with each other rather than mindlessly staring at a screen.

I am wondering as I think about the first 3 chapters how this is going to manifest itself in my life.  Am I willing to be this drastic in any area of my life, much less 7 different ones?

I don't know.  I will continue mulling it over and let you know as things unfold.

I'm Lisa Pie and I don't approve of all of these messages

You know that I live in the great state of Texas, right?  And you must know that our state foisted that sorry ass Shrub on you as president, and for that I am very sorry.  I didn't live here at the time, and never once did I vote for him.

And now?  Holy shitballs!  This maroon of a governor we have is running around making the Shrub look like the smart one.  Is there no one around him who can keep him at home with his mouth shut?

Look at his latest bullshit move:

Now watch some anti-Perry, anti-Christian rebuttal to this:

And last, but certainly not least, here is a message to Rick "the hair-do" Perry from Jesus:

Rick Perry is a wiener.  He has a terrible record on women's and children's issues.  If you want an in-depth look at what he has done in his political career here in Texas, go to Amazon and buy "Adios MoFo".

I heard the NPR interview with one of the authors and it seems that the publisher threw lots of money their way to write this book when Perry started showing interest in running.  Then when he started slipping in the polls, they backed off, so it is only available as an e-book.

A year or so ago at a press conference, a particular reporter just kept pushing at Perry to answer some questions about what he has done to the schools and teachers in our fine state and he kept trying to duck them and not give a straight forward answer.  At the end of it, when he thought his mic was off, he looked right at the reporter and said "Adios MoFo".

Nice, right?

So, that's where the book title came from.  Give it a read and encourage anyone you know who might actually vote for this twit in a hair-do to also read it.

News for the week

News flash #1: It's Halloween!  Yay!!  We get to see all the little neighbor kidlets running around in costume.  We always sit out front with our giant tub o'candy and make them walk the steps up to our front door to get said candy.  I know, it seems mean to make little kids go the extra mile but hey, it's either them or us.  And they are young and floating on a sugar high.  We are old and need our strength.

News flash #2:  Wednesday we have tickets to go see David Sedaris!  Yay again!!  But even more yay!!! I just adore him and I am thrilled to get to see him live.

News flash #3:  If seeing David Sedaris isn't enough goodness and excitement, guess who else I get to see next Monday?

Here's a hint:  it's another author.

Here's another hint:  he's world famous and fabulous.

One more hint:  he has written one of the Top Five Books Ever Written.

Ok, last hint:  He is the only author out there with a fatwa issued against him by the Ayatollah of Iran.

Yes, indeedy, I will be in the presence of Salman Rushdie one week from today.

In honor of that I am now re-reading The Satanic Verses.  This book is just so damn amazing I find it hard to believe it was created by a mere human being.  Mr. Rushdie must be on a whole 'nother level of creativity and genius than the humble plane I live on.

It's really easy to be humble when you are going to be face to face with both these creative, clever geniuses.

News flash #4:  Sparky has auditioned for and gotten a role in a new play, kind of a one-act show, at his school.  Yay for Sparky!!!  Which means in addition to all the school work, work study work, other work, meetings,  etc. he gets to add daily rehearsals to his way too busy schedule.  He's young.  He can do this.  It's only for 6 - 8 more weeks till the semester ends.

News flash #5:  My sister and her very best life-long friend and the friend's sisters and nieces are all going to do the Susan G. Komen 3-day walk, sleep in pink tents, and raise money event this coming week in Dallas.  She and the very best friend have been working all year long to build up and be ready for walking 20 something miles each day.  They have been so dedicated to this.  I am really proud of what they have done.  The actual walk will just be icing on the cake.

News flash #6:  Today is laundry day.  Today is take down the noisy, crappy, old, metal mini-blinds in the bedroom that Angus MacPhee rattles and I hate with a white hot passion.  Today is wash those windows behind the blinds and then hang the new and lovely and even better . . . quiet shades.  Hurray for quiet shades and clean windows!

News flash #7:  The planning for the Thanksgiving feast has begun!  We are making lists of the contents of both freezers and going to plan the next month's menus around those items to get rid of them and make room for the turkey.  Turkey dinner, it's a beautiful thing.

Reading material

It has been a while since I have mentioned what all I have been reading.  I used to be clever and post photos of the books stacked up on my night stand.  And then I would show you a pic of each book front.

But now?

I have a Kindle!!!  Which is awesome in most regards, but in the show-off-your-book-fronts category, it is a loser.

So let me tell you all about what I have been reading and you can just imagine the fronts of the books.

First off, I just finished reading about the Michael Vick dogs.  I thought it would be a heart-warming story of triumph over sadism, adversity, slavery, etc.  But then it opened with a chapter from one of the dogs' point of view and a glimpse into the underbelly of the dog fighting world and the cruel way they train these poor animals and how they kill them.  This chapter I had to read in very small doses.

The book outlined how the law enforcement team came to be there in the first place and how meticulous they were in everything they did to make sure everyone involved was brought to justice.  Then it finally got down to the heart of the story which was what happened to each of the 51 dogs rescued and where they are now.  This was why I wanted to read this book.

You know back in the day, the dog breeds now commonly known as "pit bulls" were family dogs, they were the dog you wanted your kids to have.  They were known as nannies.  These dogs would do absolutely anything for their humans.  Even things against their nature.  Like stay loyal to the death for assholes who think forcing other creatures to fight for their entertainment is a good thing.

Back to the book and off my soapbox, this was a good book.  I liked how different chapters were told from all different points of view; i.e. the dogs, the rescuers, the cops, the lawyers, etc.  It really gave you a wide range of perspectives.  Two thumbs up for this one.

I also read the Squirrel meets Chipmunk, the newest David Sedaris.  And I have to say "well, this book was certainly different."  Don't get me wrong, it was good.  It was completely different from all his other stuff, so it was unexpected.  It was creative and different.

Before that I read Freedom, the latest Oprah book club selection.  After slogging my way through it, I still have no idea why she was so fired up about this thing.  Meh. It didn't do a damn thing for me.

And speaking of books that I just can't find any passion for?  What is up with the Girl with the tattoo books?  I have tried and tried to get through the little free chapters that Amazon lets you try for free, but nope, nothing.

I also finished up Shanghai Girls which was recommended highly by my mother.  Fair.  not great, not terrible, just fair.

So, hit me with some suggestions of great books.  They don't need to be new, just new to me.  My mind thirsts for fabulous turns of phrase and sometimes the brand new wells are dry.

Short but Sweet. or maybe not.

Ok, the last thing I posted was about the start up of the new summer of Big Brother.  I didn't expect to post about BB so soon, but the most hilarious thing was said on the first episode that I had to rush back here and share it with any of you that may have missed it.

Here's the set up:  All the houseguests were divided up into red and yellow teams with one person left to be the mascot.  That poor schmuck got to put on the hot dog suit from last year.  (This should have been a real clue to them that red and yellow were probably ketchup and mustard)  They go outside and the backyard is set up for a big challenge and made to look like a giant hibachi with giant wieners dangling over it on a pulley of some kind.  They were at one end of the hibachi and had to jump on the to dangling wiener and hang on while they were wheeled across to the other side.  The team with the fastest time of getting all their members to the other side were the winners and the very last person on the winning team is the new HOH.

Oh, and as they were hangin on the wieners for dear life they were being squirted with ketchup and mustard.  This made each trip across progressively difficult as the giant wiener gets more and more slippery.  Everyone with me so far?

So of course, they are cutting in with the diary room descriptions of this from each houseguest's perspective and they were hilarious!  But the best one was this:

The extremely dumb bleached-blonde girl named Britney who kept sliding off the wiener and having to go back and start again said "I lost my dignity on a slippery wiener".

Now how are they going to top THAT?  The season just started and how can they go up from that?  Or how can they go anywhere BUT up from that!!  I laughed so hard I had to go back and rewind and watch it again and again.  This is what unscriped reality t.v. is all about!  The dumb shit that comes out of the people's mouths.

And . . . . The end of the World Cup.  Next stop, Brazil in 2014.  Woo Hoo!!  No more vuvuzelas for four years!  Yea!!!

One more thing about the World Cup; even though none of my teams made it I was so happy to see Uruguay's Diego Forlan got the Golden Ball for being the top player of the whole World Cup. And to do it without even being in the winning team is testament to his talent.

Enjoy a little more Diego, won't you?

Those of you who weren't World Cup fans before might want to consider watching a few matches, don't you think?

I have been doing a lot of reading.  And I think it is thanks to my Kindle.  I have been breezing through books like a tornado!  A fast-reading tornado.  I have read Breakfast with Buddha (pretend that is underlined) for the book club at Bye Bye Pie.  If you don't read June over at Bye Bye Pie every day you just don't know what you are missing!  All the fun is over at June's house.

I also read the new Anthony Bourdain book, a couple of David Sedaris' books, and now I am reading (but not on the Kindle, real life books!  with pages to turn!) a couple of books by Sherman Alexie that my daughter the lovely and precious Rachel Pie gave me for Christmas.

So, what are you watching this summer?  What are you reading this summer?  What's going on in your neck of the woods?  Any fun trips planned?  Share with the rest of the class, won't you?

Nightstand Reading Redux

Yes, this is the book I am FINALLY reading!  I finished the Oscar Hijuelos book a couple days ago and picked up this tome and am now 10 Chapters in.  I have since peeled off those tacky Goodwill stickers so that the cover is all clean and pristine, by the by.

And this may be the last big book I read before my Kindle comes in!  Oh Happy Day!  I did receive a notice that my Kindle has been shipped.  I don't know from where it has been shipped.  Does anyone know where Amazon actually is?  Are there many locations around the country from which they ship?

I have been perusing the Amazon site to check out all the Kindle book selections to see which ones I want first.  Any suggestions?

I did it!!

Yes indeedy!  After more than 2 years of planning and researching, I did it.  I ordered the Kindle DX with AMEX reward points.  It did take me more than 2 years of swiping that AMEX card for gas, for groceries, or whatever to have enough points accumulated to get the Kindle for free!!!

Due to arrive in 14 days or less.  Last fall I started wavering about this wondering whether or not I would prefer to have an iPad.  And the iPad is awesome for music, movies, surfing, all sorts of things, but as an e-reader it is not making the cut as I read in Consumer Reports

So since I have wanted a Kindle for more than 2 years, and since I was able to obtain one for free, I bit the bullet so to speak and spend the points!  Woot!!

Reports to follow as soon as it shows up.  Snoopy Happy Dancin' going on here!!

Current Reading Material

Here are some books that are on my night stand.

I stacked them up for the picture and the one I am currently reading is in the middle!  So I will start out telling you about the one on top.

This is the second book by Jeannette Walls.  Her first was her memoir called "Glass Castles".  This one she is calling a true-life novel.  It is the story of her grandmother's life, but she couldn't verify some of the details and she ended up filling in the gaps, as it were, so it is a "novel".  What a fascinating life she led!  Really interesting.  It's a page-turner, that's for sure.

How nice.  I left the El Cheapo sticker over the author's name.  Oscar Hijuelos is so talented.  He is famous for his Mambo Kings book you may have already read.  As you might guess, this book is set in Cuba.  You might also be able to tell from the hairstyles on the cover that it is set mostly in the 1920's and 30's.  So far it is a really good read.  I reserve the right to revise my ratings till I see what kind of ending we get!

This one that is at the bottom of the stack, was similarly at the bottom of the stack the last time I showed you my nightstand book stacks.  This is because it is 625 pages.  I need to clear my calendar to get into a book this big and really give myself some time to absorb it.  I may have mentioned that this author, Margaret George, wrote "The Memoirs of Cleopatra" that I read about 10 or 12 years ago.  Now that book was so amazing!  So when I saw this one on the shelf at Goodwill (as you might notice from the sticker) I snatched it up.  And on the back cover of this one it notes that she also did similar books on Henry VIII and Mary, Queen of Scots.  I guarantee I will be haunting Goodwill to see if either or both of these show up.  

There is something really compelling about these historical novels.  Years of research go into them to get all the details accurate, but the author has the freedom to inject their own character into that setting.  A really good example of this is "Texas Women" by Janice Woods Windle.  She wrote about the women in her family during the time of the Texas Independence and of course she filled in with some family stories that can not be verified, but most surely could have happened!

Your turn.  What are you reading?  Or planning to read and can recommend?

Books, t.v., and other entertainment

Since I have been negligent about posting all week, here is a lovely jumble of all things I was thinking about.  It's a rather ADD-hummingbird flitting from one thing to another sort of post, but hell, if I can live with these thoughts, you can surely read them!

Books - I read "Committed" by Elizabeth Gilbert of "Eat, Pray, Love" fame.  This is sort of a follow-up to that one in that she weaves in her story with her lovely Brazilian man and how they make the decision to get married.  But it is really a history of differences in marriage throughout the world and time.  For example, did you know that the first wedding to have the big white poofy meringue of a dress was Queen Victoria's?  Before that everyone wore their nicest Sunday-go-to-meetin' clothes and who would have ever thought of spending $20,000 on a dress you wear once?  No one, that's who!

It's an interesting read, but not the page-turner that "Eat, Pray, Love" was.

Then I read an Anita Shreve (The Pilot's Wife, The Weight of Water)  book I found at Goodwill called "A Wedding in December".  I think that's right, but I might be off on the title a bit.  Guess what?  It's about a wedding that takes place in December!!  Chapter 1 introduces one character, Chapter 2 is about another person, Chapter 3 yet another, until we finally get them all together under one roof for the wedding.  Sadly,  I didn't much love any of these people.  Yes, characters should be "real" as in flawed like the rest of us, but surely they shouldn't ALL have to be boring and total twits?  The best part of this book was a book within the book.  One of the characters has this idea of a book and a central character and starts writing it and it's like we are reading over her shoulder as she does this.  This part was the most interesting and engrossing of the whole book.  The rest, meh.  Not so much.

T.V. Updates - Oh Lawzy, lawzy, it has been forever since I did one of these!  Someone please post something about the shows that I miss in this.  Thanks in advance.

A/R - This season has 2 teams that appear to be competing to see who has the lowest combined i.q. points.  Yes, Jeff and Jordan of BB fame are STILL in it!  Hanging in by the skin of their overly-white teeth, but still in it.  And the dumb Caite and her wiener boyfriend are also still in.  Who would have ever believed this?  I was soooooo  happy to have that married couple leave this past week (I can't even remember their names, that's how boring they were) because if I had to hear ONE MORE TIME about how he was so wonderful and if only his knee didn't hurt he would be kicking some serious ass I was going to scream!!!

But the front-runner team in my opinion is those hilarious OK cowboys!  I just adore those flippin' cowboys!  Bungee-jumping with his hat on and he never lost it.  Priceless!

Survivor - WTF?????  The stupid Heroes team voted out FDNY Tom and kept Lame James with his bum knee?  James either has a torn meniscus or ACL by the look of things which means he can't do shit. For that stupid vote right there, the Heroes team deserve to lose.  Dumb Asses.

Meanwhile over at the Villains camp, who isn't in love with Boston Rob?  I always liked him because he is too darn funny, but being married and expecting a baby seems to agree with him and he is playing really well.  And what is funnier than thinking about Coach Dipshit and Jerri as a couple?  Ha!  But if these idiots don't get it together and vote out Evil Russell I don't know what I am going to do!

Modern Family - are you watching this break-out new show on abc?  It is so perfectly done.  I just love it!

Grey's Anatomy/Private Practice - I am booooorrrrreeeddd with both of these.  Not loving either of them.

Tool Academy - What a hoot!  Biggest bunch of tool-y tools yet.  Where do they get these lo-los?

Desperate Housewives - The only reason I watch this show anymore is for more Gabby/Carlos stories. The rest of these people aren't any fun.  Okay, Lee & Bob are fun, but they don't have any story lines!

Lost - Final season and they could be tying up some loose ends.  They could be starting to make some sense!  But no.  That is NOT what's happening.  More confusing than ever.  Oh, and instead of wrapping things up what do they do?  They bring in even MORE new people!  AAaaaarrrgghh!

New Seasons About To Start Up:

Breaking Bad
Glee
United States of Tara

That's all I have for now!

Here's What's on My Nightstand

I was asked recently for some book/author recommendations.  Yes, I read.  I read a lot!  One of my all-time favorite things is to hang out at the library and imagine all the possibilities of what I could read.

I am a cheap date.  Set me up in the library or a good used book store and it's an evening to remember!

So, here is what is on my nightstand.  Truthfully, this is the FRONT stack.  There is also a BACK stack that is right behind this stack, but one stack at a time, people.  One stack at a time.  : )

First up, the one I am currently reading.  I am about 1/3 of the way through this and you want to talk about a page-turner!  Well, this book is definitely that. "The Castle in the Forest" by Norman Mailer.  Don't you love one of those historical novels that leaves you wondering how much is truth and fact and how much is Sr. Mailer's imaginings?  I do.  And as soon as I finish this book I will research all I can and see if I can separate fact from fiction in my head.  The fantastical elements of this book remind me a bit of The Satanic Verses, which is one of my Top 10 Books.

Sitting underneath "The Castle in the Forest" is a piece of crap called "Dear John".  This horrible travesty of writing was put out by Nicholas "Let's pump out some more tear-jerking swill and see who wants to make it into a movie" Sparks.  I don't know why I own this book.  I was possessed by something evil when I was walking the aisles at Target and my hand reached out and put it into my cart, shopping cart, buggy or whatever you want to call that trolly that we shop with.  DO NOT waste your time on this book.  I would go so far as to say DO NOT waste your time going to see the flipping movie either.  Crap, crap, and more crap.  Nicholas Sparks, you owe me my money back and I would appreciate a few hours of my life back as well.

Next is "Committed" the follow-up to "Eat Pray Love" by Elizabeth Gilbert.  I soooooo loved "Eat Pray Love"!  That book spoke to so many people.  So I have high hopes for this one.  I will let you know as soon as I read it.  Don't you hope it's good?  And that she is not a one-hit-wonder?  Me too!

And the last one in this stack is "La Isla bajo El Mar" by Isabel Allende.  If you know anything about me, you should know that I have read Every.  Single.   Book.  by Ms. Allende.  I adore her!  When we lived in South America I started reading her in Spanish since that's the language she writes in.  And I tell you, what a way to increase my vocabulary and learn at the same time I was being not just entertained, but thrilled!  I also OWN  Every. Single. Book. she has written!  She did a wonderful set of 3 (so far) for kids that are just beyond the Harry Potter stage in addition to all her other books.  She wrote the saddest book I have ever read "Paula" about when her daughter was deathly ill.  If you haven't read any Isabel Allende, you must start.  And you must start with House of the Spirits.   It is a masterpiece.

You know how people always ask if you could have any 5 people over for dinner, living or dead, who would you choose?  Well, Isabel Allende would make my list.  That is how much I am in love with her and all her talented writing.

Any recommendations?

What I am reading

Here is the cover of the book I am reading right now.
I have read several of Salman Rushdie's books and I still
think that Satanic Verses is one of the best books ever written. This one is shaping up nicely to be a real classic as well.

The other books on my nightstand waiting to be read are The Son of a Witch and A Lion Among Men the 2nd and 3rd sequels to Wicked. I left the Wicked series to read the other book he did about Cinderella and the Stepsisters. I love the background he gives us about the locale, the history of the people, etc.

Oh, and I wanted to say that when I was looking online for a picture of the book cover, it seems that the British version was released with a completely different cover. I wonder why that is?

I just didn't want you thinking all I do is watch trashy reality t.v. shows! I do read. I read a lot actually. Do any of you have any suggestions of things to put on my reading list? Do any of you want any suggestions from me for your lists? Let me hear from you!

And happy reading to all!