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.

Fergus Jackson MacPhee

I woke up this morning to the strangest, saddest cat cry I had ever heard.  The cats that were in bed with me all went on high alert and we jumped up to find out who had made that mournful wail.

It was Fergus.  I saw him taking his last breaths and ran upstairs and got the kids.  Fergus was not sick, nor was there any reason to think he was going to die.  He was just a month past his sixth birthday.

I was looking for his kitten photos on the computer today and for some reason I can't find them.  I only found some from the last couple of years.

Fergus had the softest, most plushy fur I have ever felt on a kitty, like a sheared beaver coat.  He was a joy to pet and run your fingers through his hair.  He would, about once a year or so, get a little spot on his back that would mat up like a little kitty dreadlock.  We have no idea why.

His eyes were like pools of jade.  Not that clear emerald green that some cats have, but like a gorgeous piece of jade.  You can see that a little bit in that last picture.

Fergus was the only one of our cats who liked to lay out on his belly with his back legs straight out behind him.  Splayed out with his belly in full contact with the cool floor.  His breathy purring and really loud, whiney sounding meow are going to be missed around here.

Fergus Jackson MacPhee

July 30, 2026 - Sept. 17, 2012

R.I.P.

I said I wouldn't do it, and then I couldn't help myself

You know those people who carefully analyze and then really think out their decisions based on facts and information BEFORE they figure out which candidate and which issues to support?

Yeah, me neither.

That's because people tend to get all emotional and stupid when it comes to political issues.  Much like religious ones.  Funny how that happens here in the U.S. of A. since we are suppoed to have this big separation of church and state.

I have plenty of friends who say things like "Oh, I know so-and-so and I are at polar opposites on such-and-such issue, but we just agree to disagree."

Really?  How the hell does that work?  I am having a really hard time doing this.  I don't want to just be all amicable and sweet about people who have their heads up their asses.  Get your head out of your ass!  Then we can just agree!!!!  No need for any disagreement at all.

The upcoming presidential elections (which, by the by, seem to have been going on for the last 100 years.  Good Lord, why do they start so soon after the LAST one???) are driving me nuts.

For me, I have narrowed it down to a couple of key issues.

1. Women's rights

2. LGBTQ rights

3. Health care

4. Environment

I have found that I can't care about every. single. thing. they bring up.   It just makes my life unmanageable when I have way too many things to deal with.  These are my top 4 that I can NOT stand idly by and let these things get trampled.  It would just be unacceptable for these top 4 to go by the wayside.

So, this being said, if you and I are at those polar opposites on these issues, I don't think I can talk to you any more.  If you, deep in your heart, believe that women are not equal to men and deserving of equal rights, pay and benefits.  I, as a woman, don't need you in my life.  How could you possibly have my best interest at heart if you don't think I am equal and worthy?

Same goes for the LGBTQ stance.  If you don't believe that all of us, and I mean all, not just the hetero ones of us, are entitled to the same bill of rights.  I don't need you in my life.  If you are supporting candidates, political parties, ideals and platforms that will take away the few hard-won rights that affect the gay community, then why on earth would I want to have this kind of less-than thinking around me?  If you can look at my beautiful, caring, precious daughter and see a person who is not-quite-as-deserving as the next person, well then, not only don't I need you, but I won't be missing your bigoted small-minded ass.

I am choosing to surround myself with positivity and people who are loving, kind and generous.  Truth be told, since I am on the other side of 50 now, I don't see any reason to have intolerant bullies and bigots in my life.  I am suffering no fools, as they say.

I will be living my life in a way that I think God intended, doing for others, loving people less fortunate, and helping where I can.  I will be offering money, food, and whatever I can to help the homeless be they people or animals.  I am trying to be a living example of a loving, caring extension of my beliefs.

What I won't be doing is trying to take something away from others, I won't be trying to trample your rights and judging you to be less-than.  My heart aches at all the meanness and bullshit that has been going on and people getting caught up in the rhetoric and refusing to look at the underlying truths.

I will be cleaning out my actual and virtual friend lists.  I just can't read the non-sensical crap coming out on a daily, no, an almost hourly basis any more.  And then I will get back to trying to be clever tomorrow.

Starbuck's Simpsons encounter

So I go into my local Starbuck's as you do and ordered by Veinte sized Iced Passion Tea non-sweet.  The perfect drink to keep you hydrated on these hot horrible droughty days.

The barista grabs my cup, asks my name and starts to write.  When I answered Lisa, she started singing this song.

I loved this episode of the Simpsons so much!  The barista and I both laughed and she went on singing and I left her a bigger tip.  : )

Girl, you just won't beLIEVE what happened!

So, I was out to lunch with some friends as you do sometimes.  And we went to a new place to check it out.  (I am giving it a B for food and a D for service)  We were sitting in the back in a semi-private area with a big table as there were quite a few of us.  What we didn't know was that when they seated us in the back that they were going to forget about us most of the time.  I mean seriously, forget about us. We were parched in between waiting for refills of iced tea.

Anyhoo, we were enjoying our leisurely lunch and then the power went out.  POOF!  No power. We were next to a bunch of windows so we could see but it's still that weird, creepy feeling with a little anxiety of what is going to happen next.  A few minutes later the power came back on and the waitress stuck her head in to see if we were still kicking and said "Did y'all go outside?"

Huh?

"Uh no, we didn't. What are you talking about?"

"Oh, I thought you might have gone outside.  When the power blew it was because the two big tall palm trees out front by the street, they just caught on fire.  Like spontaneously combusted."

What the fuck???? But what I said was "Well, that's certainly odd behavior for a palm tree."

"Oh yeah, the fire department is out there, the power company is out there and everything."

And again, my brain just kept going "What the fuck is she talking about??"

Then I had the presence of mind to ask whether any cars in the parking lot out front were damaged.  She said no, but I didn't trust her judgment.  Hell, she didn't even remember we were there half the time. So, we quickly wrapped up the splitting of the bill and headed out front to see what was what.

Here is what we saw:

Smoking trees that self-combusted

Firetruck blocking traffic from driving directly under combusted trees

Methinks the power lines may have played a role in the combustion?

the tree on the left is still smoking out the middle near the power lines

So the trees weren't actually in the parking lot we were in, they were across the street at the Quizno's (mmm, mmm, mmm, toasty).  But if they had fallen into the street they would have certainly been all the way over into our parking area and probably on top of my car.

I tell you, every single day there is a story out there.  All you have to do is look.  And take a picture or two!!

p.s. Right down from this location is a big intersection.  And when I turned onto this street at that intersection when headed to lunch, what did I spy with my little eye?  I will tell you what I spied. I spied one of my former doula clients out there panhandling.  I was not in a position to get turned around right then to go over there and with the fire and such, after lunch I checked and she was not there.  I will head over that direction again in the next few days and see if she is there again and talk to her.  I wish I could tell you how sad this makes me.  The little frowny emoticon just won't cut it.

Doula Stuff

I was going to come up with a catchy title and then I thought to myself, "Self, if you let them know ahead of time it is doula stuff, those who are interested will check in and read and those who don't give a fig about birthing babies will know to leave this alone and not bother and then be disappointed." So that is what I did.

Did I tell you that my Rachel Pie has moved back home?  First time in 7 years that she has been back living at home.  And it's about damn time if you ask me.  Anyhoo, she has been interested in the doula work and has taken the training twice now and was working on her doula career back in CO.  So now that she is back here, she already has the "in" so to speak on getting into the birthing community here. And she has just gone headfirst into the deep end!

So I took her on as my little apprentice/shadow doula to accompany me to all my visits and birth with my client so that she could learn the lay of the land here.  I am sure birth is like everything else and has its little regional differences in how things are done.

And Sunday was my client's day to birth her baby.  She woke up in the wee hours of the night/morning with her waters broken and light contractions.  It was a beautiful birth.  She was so calm, composed and totally willing to try anything I suggested in order to have her labor progress.  She and her husband worked well together, plus she had me and Rachel Pie there to support and help.  There was a lot of trust in that room.

Sixteen hours from the early morning awakening was the birth of a precious baby girl.  She made her entrance to the world at almost 5 p.m.  Her mama did a spectacular job of pushing and working hard and just did her best for that baby.  It was an honor to be there.

It was also a pleasure to have my Rachel Pie there to witness, to help and to learn what it is to birth a baby.  She did an amazing job and I was proud to have her there.  I hope as she grows and moves through her doula career that I will get to continue to watch her work.

I am thankful for my work.  Thankful for my clients.  Thankful for my Rachel Pie.  It was a rewarding day.