Recently, I made a short mention of a book by Eva Ibbotson — The Star of Kazan. This story is set in Vienna. According to a description of the book, it is set at the end of the 18th century. However, while reading the book, I got the impression that …
Jake and Kitty are excited … We just finished listening to a book I borrowed from the Public Library’s online digital library. They enjoyed the book so much …
to read the rest — click here.
It’s The Tattooed Potato And Other Clues …
To find out more, please click here …
From Powell’s Books. Turns out I did not need to wait …
To see the rest of this post about this marvelous book, click here …
Well, ain’t that a (*^*(*%(* pain!
I wanted to “paste” some text here but WordPress apparently does not allow that option at all.
You will have noticed that my most recent posts here have been VERY short with a “click here” for the rest of the post. Well, WordPress used to be a good blogging platform but no longer “works” for me. I am migrating the blog to Blogger / Blogspot but since I have a couple followers here, I was at least starting the post here and finishing it over at Blogger …
I might still follow that procedure for a time, but …
A new post was fully written at Blogger and I was trying to post the beginning here, using the “copy, paste” method but WordPress won’t let me paste anything here.
So … re-bookmark me at susereads.blogspot.com
[Well, I did find out that using the Cmd-V allows me to paste, but that pasting html just prints that code instead of “doing” it … ARGH! So, I will do what I can to make the opening of the blog post here, with the link to the finish at Blogger … I think you will like the book I am highlighting there — it is incredibly fun, no matter what your age.]
one of our kitties
I don’t know what sent me down this path to create this reading list. I know that I wanted to watch an old movie but the DVD did not work …
For the rest of this post, go here.
I was planning to post a clever book review but … I’ve listened to so many books since I last posted to the blog, that I thought I would just like to share some titles … So, click here to read the rest of the post …
no pelicans but …
Suzanne, over at Write by the Sea, Live by the Sea, posted a writing prompt concerning Brown Pelicans and asked for responses. Mine, I figure, was a bit too long for the Comments Box and decided to share it here:
When my husband and I were on our honeymoon in the Vero Beach area, we went up to Wabaso to the Disney timeshare to have a look. While we were meeting with one of the staff, I noticed the shadow of three pelicans, flying in perfect formation, going past in perfect timing as well — every 16 minutes they flew by.
I made a joke and asked it they were real or Disney Animatronics. They went south to north only and were so perfectly regular in their timing, they just didn’t seem real. The gal who worked there was shocked. “What pelicans?”
She had NO IDEA that these birds flew by at all. “No idea at all?” I wondered and was shocked.
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Back in 2005, when we were house hunting, I drove around and looked at places from the outside to see whether it would be worth rustling up our RE Agent and my husband to go have a closer look at properties. I found lots of places I liked from the outside, but hubby had some reason to not bother going back.
One was a building currently being used as a house but had been a hotel and still had its license. It has 2 1/2 acres, so hubby could have had his garden(s). It has a summer kitchen, so I could have preserved the produce from his vegetable garden.
And it was across the street from the town park overlooking the Mississippi with the trains running in between.
He said it was too far to commute and that was the end of that dream location.
My favorite part — a very well kept secret. PELICANS! White pelicans migrate through the area and come to rest in the area for a short time every year. There is not one single mention of them on the Department of Natural Resources website, the River Road website or the town website as being in the area at all. I can understand — the town has a population barely over 100 and other than that park there is no real parking in the area. No one wants a huge influx of gawkers. (Except the town has an annual arts fair and I cannot imagine where people park for that!)
We went looking for the pelicans on Sunday, sure that we were getting close to the time when they would be continuing their journey away from the Mississippi into the West toward their nesting and summer stomping grounds. We found noisy gulls (mostly laughing gulls and terns) but no pelicans. Still too much ice on the River for them. Once we found someone who knew anything and was willing to admit it, we were told that most of the ice needs to be gone before they show up — another two to three weeks, probably …
I plan to go back in two weeks …
Or PLANNED on it …
But the forecast for the next week to ten days is for a nasty four letter word beginning with “S” …
BAH!
EESH!
No sooner had I hit the “publish” button for the post on “Smart Animals” than I began to think of other books I could have, maybe should have, included in the list. So, this afternoon, I sat down and went through a list of books that I have access to and pulled out titles of books to share with you … Far too many for one more post. It will probably be several posts.
Let’s start with two series of books:
Redwall series by Brian JacquesThere are more than 20 books in this series featuring the animals of Redwall Abbey. In the first book, Redwall, Cluny the Scourge, a rat, and his horde show up, determined to capture the abbey for themselves. One mouse from the abbey decides to go in search of the sword of Martin the Warrior. He encounters sparrows, cats, and an owl, among other animals in his quest.
So far, I’ve listened to five of the books of the series. The audio versions are a Full Cast production so that each character definitely has a distinctive voice. I’ve enjoyed each book. Redwall and Martin The Warrior are among my favorites, so far. :-)
There is a pile of cd cases next to my desk, though — I ordered as many of the books of the series as I could find through the local public library consortium’s online catalog (how’s that for a mouthful and a tongue twister?) … and they all showed up at once; lots of listening to get through in a few short weeks. But I expect lots of good listens!
Author, Brian Jacques, was interviewed by John Scieszka as part of the Thalia Kids’ Book Club series. It is not an exceptional interview – Jacques laughs way too much. But he does tell about growing up in Liverpool during WWII. He told things about that time I did not know — like, I knew London had been bombed but didn’t know the Germans had also bombed other port cities. He uses terms most kids won’t understand, and maybe many parents — and maybe this will encourage them to learn about life at that time and in Great Britain. You can get a copy of the interview at Audible.com.
Mistmantle series by M.I. McAllisterAh, I must admit, I haven’t listened to any of these books yet. I did listen to the sample at Audible and decided to add Urchin of the Riding Stars to my library. Then I visited the library online catalog to look for the rest of the series in audio. There are two more in my wish list for the next time I make a book request from the consortium inter-library loan system. Urchin is a squirrel who fell out of a tree as a baby and has grown up near the castle. These are his adventures. Based on the sample, I expect to enjoy these books as much as the Redwall books.
Reviewers at Amazon say they feel this series is superior to the Redwall series. For more info about the author, check out wikipedia.
Humphrey stories by Betty BirneyHumphrey is a classroom hamster. He gets to go home with various students from the class on weekends. He has lots of adventures and helps a lot of people, including the school janitor. He tells the stories, too. Delightful tales.
So far, I’ve listened to The World According to Humphrey and Friendship According to Humphrey. There are six more books in the series.
This is a series of picture books about Walter … um … Walter the Farting Dog, by William Kotzwinkle, Glenn Murray, Elizabeth Gundy, to be exact. He isn’t so smart as stinky. But he always seems to save the day. Of the three books of the five (or six depending on the list you use) of the Walter books I’ve encountered, my favorite is Walter the Farting Dog Goes on a Cruise. His adventures are sure to make children giggle and parents smile (if ruefully — why is it that such stinky subjects can be so fun(ny)?).
For more information on the books in this series, check here, and for info on William Kotzwinkle, check here.
There are LOTS and lots of great books featuring animals. I will, however, wait a little before I spring another list of them on you.
In the meantime, Have Great Reads!
I read a blog post today about how animals might be smarter than we think.
Read these two posts from Suzanne about her doggie woes, then come back for my thoughts about the intelligence of animals …
–> Is My Writing Career Going to the Dogs?
I left a long comment at the “dog house” post, and copy most of it here:
“Well, I’ve decided that animals are a lot smarter than humans give them credit for.
“Lately, I’ve been really ‘irked’ by writers who put animals into their stories and then make a comment ‘it’s as if they might understand what I say.’ It’s not ‘as if’ — they do! It’s just a matter of how willing they are to let us know they understand. Most, I think, prefer to let us think they are dumb and stupid, so that we don’t make too many demands on them. But … they understand.
“We also had a cat who watched TV. 101 Dalmatians was one of her favorite movies — she would carefully watch the parts that involved animals and often wandered off when it was basically just humans on the screen, then come back just in time to watch the animals again. One day I put in the tape of the original Disney cartoon version. I was sure she would ignore it. Well, I was wrong! She did the same exact thing with that movie — watched the animals intently and ignored the human interactions.
“One day, as I was leaving the house, a hummingbird buzzed up trying to get to the feeder close by. When I moved, it began to fly off. I called after it, “I just wanted to take your picture.” It came back, hovered as they do and after I had taken about half a dozen shots flew away to wait for me to get out of the way so it could get to the feeder.
“And last, one day a couple of Septembers ago, I was driving down the road, heading to the grocery store. I saw a cat huddled on a bank along the side of the road. I was just about a mile from home. I did a u-turn, then another and pulled up beside the cat. I put down the passenger side window and told her, ‘I know it is getting cold out at night and the coyotes are often in that field above you and that is a badger hole above your head. We live down the road about a mile. My husband just put up a shed and left an opening so cats can get in there to be out of the cold. Be very careful when you cross the road, but you are quite welcome to stay there if you want.’ I put up the window and drove away.
“She didn’t show up and I was sort of relieved. Then one morning, I pulled into the driveway and there were four kittens playing in front of that shed. A little bit later, as I sat watching the kittens, I finally saw the cat I had talked to.
“She stayed about 3 weeks, until she was sure her kittens were welcome to stay with us and she left. Haven’t seen her since. She was a gorgeous Himalayan and her kittens were the cat equivalent of mutts.
“They are still with us …”
Now, to be honest, I can’t think of titles of the books where I got irked at the writer for having a character say “It’s like they understand what I say.” However, I do remember some books about intelligent animals that I think you might enjoy.
First, I must start with Koko from The Cat Who series of books by Lilian Jackson Braun.
The series features James Qwilleran, a newspaperman. He gains a cat, Koko, in the first book of the series, The Cat Who Could Read Backward, that helps him solve a murder. Yum-yum joins them in the second book of the series, The Cat Who Ate Danish Modern.
There are 29 books in the series. The first three came out between 1966 and 1968; new books began appearing in the series in 1986. To be honest, when I began reading the series in the mid-1990’s, I believed that a committee of people were writing under Braun’s name. Books contradict one another and seem unaware of events from books earlier in the series, especially the original three.
I’m still not sure whether they are all written by Braun. However, I enjoy them.
I also have to admit that I was among those who wrote comments about the 29th book of the series, The Cat Who Had 60 Whiskers, claiming that Qwilleran’s action were not true to his character. Then I went back to the beginning of the series to try to finally read all of the books, and in order. And, now I must admit, Qwill’s behavior in this book fits his original personality quite well.
For a list of all of the books in the series, and for information about Ms. Braun, check out http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lilian_Jackson_Braun
The later books in the series are set in Pick Ax, a place that is “400 miles from everywhere.” I thought I had found a possible location for Pick Ax on Google Earth, near Houghton, MI in the Yooper, but wikipedia suggests that it is Bad Ax, MI.
Another Cat Who StoryAh, this is a fun and wonderful children’s story.
The Cat Who Wanted to Go Home, by Jill Tomlinson, tells the story of a little French cat who falls asleep in the basket of a hot air balloon and finds herself in England. Susie wants to go home! And she has a few adventures along the way.
Amazon has this version of the book. However, I suggest an audio version from Audible.com. Susie meows French words and unless a parent wants to attempt that when reading the story to their child(ren), a good audio version is a better option and is very inexpensive too. :-)
Audible actually has two versions of the book, read by different readers and published by different companies. The one I got and listen to from time to time when looking for a short “pick-me-up” that makes me smile, is the one read by Maureen Lipman.
I did listen to the sample provided at Audible for the other version, read by Sophie Aldred. There are wave sound effects and music that, to me, detract from the story. AND the text is different from the version I’ve listened to. This version matches the book available at Amazon, though.
But, I prefer the Maureen Lipman audiobook. (And it is less expensive by a whole 50 cents — LOL!)
Sneaky Pie Brown — Co-AuthorSneaky Pie Brown supposedly helps her person, Rita Mae Brown, write the Mrs. Murphy Mystery series. I don’t know, though. Seems to me, if Sneaky Pie was really helping, Mrs. Murphy would have featured a bit more in the one book in this series that I listened to: Wish You Were Here.
It was a good book, but I was disappointed, initially, because the description of the story seemed to indicate that the cat and her friend (a dog!) were “one step ahead” of their human, Mary Minor “Harry” Haristeen, the town post mistress who has a bad habit of reading the back of postcards before she puts them in their correct boxes.
There are 20 books in this series. Ms. Brown has written many other books. A listing can be found at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rita_Mae_Brown.
Yep, I love children’s books. :-)
Here are four I’ve enjoyed:
Whittington, by Alan Armstrong, is one of my favorites. It is the story of two children, their grandfather who has a “farm” of acquired animals, and a tom cat that wanders in and asks to be allowed to stay. He has a ragged ear from fighting and an engaging story of the history of his name. He tells a tale about Dick Whittington, a historical London mayor, and his adventures.
Check out wikipedia and not much is really known about the real Dick Whittington. This is a tale with a twist — how a cat made his fortune. :-)
Hobart, by Anita T. Briggs, is about a litter of piglets. Hobart wants to dance! He and his littermates perfect their performances and show off to the farmer. Wonderful results.
Now for the series of books about The Bed and Biscuit, by Joan Carris.
Starting with Welcome to the Bed and Biscuit, we meet Grampa Bender who runs an animal boardinghouse with the help of Ernest the pig, Gabby the mynah bird and Milly the cat. He comes home one day with a mysterious bundle and these three loyal friends begin to worry.
In Wild Times at the Bed and Biscuit, the three friends are trying to train Sir Walter, a Scottish Terrier puppy who has joined them, while dealing with some interesting boarders, including a cranky muskrat, at the animal boardinghouse run by Grampa Bender.
And, I just found out that there is a new book in the series, Magic at the Bed and Biscuit. Apparently, an ornery chicken, Malicia, is now staying at the animal boardinghouse. The four friends are having a hard time dealing with this newcomer! This book is on my “read soon” list, for sure. :-)
Tell me —
1) Are animals smarter than humans say they are? (I’ve got more stories I could tell about that — mostly ones my husband has told me …)
2) Have you read any good books that feature some intelligent animals?
Have Great Reads!
[Once again I am forced to say that WordPress is funky and adding extra lines between paragraphs in ways that I can’t seem to control! ARGH! Sorry about that … and on my screen, when I preview the final post, there is a combination of fonts on screen. One font shows here in the “write the post” box and another usually shows up on the final post page, but today, both fonts are taking turns showing up on the post page. **shrugs shoulders and plans to go off to blogger to begin working on setting up the blog there instead of here …**]
Can I come in and listen to a book with you?
I read two posts about two books of history for children.
The first, by Suzanne Lieurance, is a review of Nancy Sanders’ book Frederick Douglass – His Life and Times with 21 Activities. The second, a review of The Golden Pathway by Donna McDine, is written by Carol Fraser Hagen. Check out their reviews (I haven’t had an opportunity to read either book yet.)
When I was a kid in school, history was the most boring and awful subject. It was even worse than word problems in math class. **shudder**
Now, though, as an adult, I am discovering the world of history is fascinating. Probably because the books for the reading public do more than cover an event in one paragraph, but go into lots of interesting and fascinating details. And it turns out that most of the text in those school textbooks is a perpetuation of historical myth. The truth is far more fascinating.
So, it was with a bit of reluctance that I listened to a book I had borrowed from the public library’s OverDrive Media digital library. When I downloaded the kids’ book, I did not realize it was going to be an educational book in disguise. Since I had downloaded four short kids books that day, I saved this one for last. I’m glad I did eventually listen to it. I may even try to add a copy of it to my personal library so I can listen to it again whenever I want to.
What educational novel might actually get so high praise from me? The Mostly True Adventures of Homer P. Figg by Rodman Philbrick gets this praise. I must admit that I was not ready to give the book quite so high praise at first. Only after telling my husband about the book did I realize how good it is.
The book is about a boy whose older brother is illegally sold to the Union Army by their mean and drunkard uncle during the American Civil War. Homer runs away and embarks on a journey to find and rescue his brother. The journey takes him, ultimately, to the battlefield at Gettysburg, meeting some real historical figures along the way. The description of this scene, the Gettysburg battlefield, I felt was too vivid for the intended young audience (ages 9 and up). My husband’s response, though, was “GOOD!” Yep. He’s right. And so, I give the book a firm and sure 2 Thumbs Up.
So, I told you I had downloaded other kids books that day. Might as well tell you about them, too. :-)
Where the Mountain Meets the Moon, by Grace Lin, started out a little slowly but got more and more interesting as the book progressed. It was a thoroughly enjoyable book about a little girl living in a depressed and gray village where her parents labor long hours in the rice paddy. She heads out to find the Man In The Moon and this is the story of her journey.
The Death-Defying Pepper Roux,by Geraldine McCaughrean, tells the story of a boy who is supposed to die on his thirteenth birthday, but he runs away to avoid this destiny. He has many adventures that are totally unbelievable — but that is sort of what makes the book so fun to read. The level of hyperbole is great but not campy. The story end is even better.
13 Gifts, by Wendy Mass, is part of a series of books, I think. What makes them a series is the location, and characters who populate the location. This book, though, focuses on a new girl to the town and a journey of self-discovery that she takes. She has been a loner for so long that when she arrives at her aunt’s home for the summer, she is not prepared to meet and make friends with a group of other kids in town.
There is a hole in the backyard at her aunt’s house. They are planning to have an in-ground pool installed but have not decided what shape the pool should be. My favorite part of the book was her relationship with one particular boy in town who is preparing for his bar mitzvah and practices in that hole.
Which brings me to Holes, by Louis Sachar. I haven’t seen the movie and couldn’t bring myself to listen to the book during the week I had it. I’ve downloaded it before and didn’t listen to it then, either. I’m not even sure why not. I’ve been told numerous times that the movie was good and even that the book is good, but …
Anyhow, children’s books are fun to read or listen to. History can be lots of fun too.
Have Great Reads!
I do not visit Facebook very often anymore.
For a long time, I visited Facebook about once a month or less. Then I got into the habit of keeping up with it every day. Then I went back to ignoring it as much as possible. I find it is a time vampire.
However, a couple days ago, I decided to see what was going on there.
Someone whom I “friended” likes to repost pictures from those she follows. And one of her reposts was a poster/photo of Romans 12:2 — Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind …
As I grew up in a small independent Baptist church in southern New Jersey, our youth group decided this verse meant to avoid peer pressure and fads and to concentrate instead on things we learned at church. I remember, vaguely, the Living Bible using terms like “don’t be squeezed into the world’s mold” — or that is how we interpreted it at the time.
Sort of ironic, none of us really faced much peer pressure since none of us were part of any “in” crowd. We also knew there wasn’t much chance of ever being part of one of those groups, so there was no reason to give in to peer pressure just to fit in; we knew we wouldn’t fit in no matter what we did. Nor was the issue of fads really an issue for us, since none of us could afford to keep up with the latest fad. We were learning thrift and make-do attitudes in our homes out of necessity not out of any sense of rightness, righteousness or any other morality-based reasoning.
However, since then, the church (as a whole, not any particular local congregation) has decided that peer pressure can be a good thing. If the “right” people exert this pressure, the end result can only be a glorious, right and proper thing. And of course, the only “right” people are those who are as right as you can get.
Hmmmmmm …
Giving in to peer pressure, whether to do something right or something wrong, is never a good thing.
Why?
To do so it to ignore the second part of the verse. “Renewing of your mind.” We had decided that meant thinking about Godly and churchy things. Thinking? Really?
My husband constantly runs into people who do not think. They admit it. They repeat what their pastor told them, do not double check the scripture passage and do not consider what they have been told nor what they believe. They accept it as truth with no questions asked because no thought occurs.
When talking to His disciples about the coming anti-christs, Jesus told them “Do not be deceived.” And many will take that literally to mean to not be deceived about anyone claiming to be Christ.
But what about those who claim to speak in His name and for Him, to be passing on wisdom and understanding of His will?
We are told of the Bereans, “these were better than they, for daily they searched the scriptures to see if what we told them was true.”
And even more important is to understand what it means when the story of Jesus’ life as a child finds Him not among the people heading back home after a visit to Jerusalem, but in the Temple ‘discussing’ the Scriptures with the priests. Discussing usually involves thought and deep thinking about the meaning of the subject. And, no, thought about scripture is not the purview of just the scholars, pastors and priests, and deities. It is the right and duty of all who want to live by those scriptures.
How true to scripture is the rhetoric of the Right? How true to the will and desire of God is the platform of the Conservative movement?
Among other things, Ayn Rand was extremely selfish and anti-Christian. Her selfish attitude grew out of events of her childhood as a child and from growing up Jewish in pre- and post-Revolution Russia and, from a psychological point-of-view, an almost understandable result of those events. [For more about her life and philosophy check out Ayn Rand and the World She Made by Anne C. Heller] However, she took her selfishness to such an extreme that when her publisher allotted paper equally to all books and authors they published, she demanded they give her more paper than the others because she was more important than the rest.
Selfishness and the idea that God deals only with the powerful is not Biblical. These are not godly ideals.
What is the gospel that the Great Commission refers to?
Can Man bring righteousness to another person by bringing him Law to follow?
(You can probably guess my answer to that question, can’t you? I will answer it here very soon …)
[The image used in thos post comes from 
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Vampyr_ill_artlibre_jnl.png]
{Please note — extra space between paragraphs is a problem with wordpress and is not my fault … thus one day I will be migrating this blog to Blogger but I need to get it set up first …}
Ever since the extreme right-wing conservatives (politically and religiously) in the USA decided to demonize — thanks, only in part, to Ann Coulter’s book Demonic — those anywhere left of their position on any and all issues affecting life in this country, I have been (mentally) threatening to start a blog called “Welcome to the Land of Cain.” I even went so far as to find an online name generator (sorry, I forget which one I used, but there are a number of them to choose from if you google it) — to find a list of possible names for my “author” of the blog.
While looking for other information on my computer, which I did not find yet, I came across that list of names that the generator spit out for me. I have now narrowed the list from over 100 names to just 10 to choose from.
I need help, though. I’m not sure which to use. AND I hope to find out if any of these are actual names in another language, so that I do not inadvertently choose a name that is “real.”
Here they are — let me know, in the comments, which you like and if you know if any of these names are real or not. THANKS in advance :-)
[The source for the image in this post is http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Andras(demon).jpg
I’m not sure if I need to include the copyright information or if that stuff refers to adding an image to the wiki commons … so I put it here if you want to click on it and findout a little more about the image …]
I won’t write much today because there is so much junk on my desk — even filling up the space in front of the keyboard — that it is hard to type. **sigh** Anyhow, my husband introduced me to a website that I would like to share with you.
http://naturesoundsfor.me/Calm_Thunder_Storm
You can adjust the sounds (there is a drop down menu of a variety of choices), the balance between right and left speakers (using the sliders) and adjust volume (using the up and down slider). And there is an option for making the chosen sound continuous or periodic/episodic. It is really cool. You can save your sounds if you want. I hope you enjoy this site. :-)
What happens if I push that button in the middle? I just want to help you ...
Carbon Paper
Occasionally I actually see carbon paper these days. If I happen to buy a cashier’s check or money order at the bank (when I don’t want a personal check languishing on someone’s desk for days or weeks …), there is a piece of carbon paper between the part I mail out and the part I keep as a record. Otherwise, carbon paper is a thing of the past — the long ago past, it seems.
I’m not sure when I last saw a package of carbon paper for sale in the office section of the “five and dime” type department store. Oh, back in the 1980s I discovered “carbon sets” — thin “second sheets” with an attached thin piece of carbon designed for people who had lots of copies to keep and did not want bulky regular typing paper filling up their file cabinets. These were not available in the regular stores but in the office supply or stationers stores.
Regular carbon paper? Even though people still used typewriters in the mid-1990s, enough people had migrated to using personal home computers, connected to 9-pin or 24-pin dot matrix printers, or even daisy wheel printers, that it was very difficult to find carbon paper in the store.
My earliest memory of carbon paper is from my childhood when I was about 4 or 5. One of my dad’s cousins delivered our bottles of gas for the stove and he wrote up the receipt in a small pad. There was a small sheet of carbon paper that he used to make a copy for himself. He reused the sheet until it no longer made legible copies, then he would crumple it up to throw away.
I offered to take it to throw away — though in truth, I wanted that thing to play with, experiment with, to see how it worked. He refused to give it to me because, he said, it would make my hands all dirty. He was probably right and I would have probably also messed up quite a few other things with that carbon paper. It was not good quality, I guess, and the black came off it all over everything and anything it touched.
I bring up carbon paper because for two reasons:
1) Back just before Christmas, I listened to When Elves Attack by Tim Dorsey. When I had another credit to use at Audible.com, I went back and got the first book in the series, Florida Roadkill. According to Dorsey’s website, the books in this series are meant to be read in the order they have been published. When Elves Attack was the newest book at the time, but it sounded “interesting” and became my introduction to the series. The books in the series do not follow a chronological order. At the website, there is a chart of the books in chronological order, but as I said, they are meant to be read in the order they have been published.
It’s hard to describe the series, having only encountered 2 books of the 15. It is the story of Serge A. Storms, a serial killer who loves Florida, its history, flora, fauna, and locales. It is not a series to just blithely recommend without knowing the mental state of the reader — the books could become instruction manuals instead of entertainment in the wrong hands.
Back to the fact the books are not in chronological order. Turns out that When Elves Attack happened before Florida Roadkill. However, Florida Roadkill is definitely “time” placed with accuracy — at the finish of the 1987 World Series. Remember, When Elves Attack occurs before that, but … Serge uses FACEBOOK to track down some friends in this novel.
2) A friend and I are working on a novelization based on some events from the early 1990s. Personally, I am more comfortable writing about the early 1990s as a setting, but for some reason we decided to update it a bit more. Say, around 2004. Now, I am wondering how careful I need to be about the technology we use. Netbooks were not around until 2007. But what about the various kinds of smart phones and when did we stop using the term “cell phone”?
The question for today, then, is “Is attention to detail on technology important?”
In a sci-fi book or something where the technology used is integral to the story, maybe. In a regular novel — maybe referring to IMing, emailing, calling a friend on the mobile/cell phone, taking a photo with the cell phone, or using a Blackberry — it isn’t so important whether it is “accurate” to its time?
When did the average middle-aged person stop saying they were afraid to even push the button to turn on a computer because they were afraid they would touch the wrong thing and blow up the system? When did the average senior citizen become almost as tech savvy as their 12 year old grandsons? Does it matter when writing a novel?
What do you think?
C is for Cute Cat
C is for …
Cod
–> Cod by Mark Kurlansky, is an interesting look at a world I’ve taken for granted. Along with Salt, Kurlansky introduces history, facts, and recipes on topics that, at first glance, don’t seem to warrant an entire book. Kurlansky makes both topics so fascinating and interesting, you won’t want the book to end.
I listened to both books. Scott Brick reads Salt. Scott is one of my favorite readers and he can make even a phonebook sound like an interesting read. Richard M. Davidson reads Cod and brings the subject to life.
Confessions
–> Confessions of an Economic Hitman by John Perkins. I admit, you will probably hate this book along with its sequel, The Secret History of the American Empire. The writing is not that good. And you may not even like what Perkins has to say. However, the information in these two books is a behind-the-scenes look at wheeling and dealing around the world. The information contained in the books is important enough to find a way to get through them to the end.
My solution? Audiobooks. I would never have read these books. I prefer audiobooks most of the time, anyhow. In this case, the audiobook was the only way I would get through these two books. I shouldn’t really say “I’m glad” I got through them, because the info in them shouldn’t make anyone happy … but I am glad I finished these two books.
When you have gotten through these two books, please come back and tell me your ideas about the SAMA project …
Curtain
–> Curtain by Agatha Christie was a total surprise. It is the last Hercule Poirot novel. DO NOT read it until you have read the entire Poirot canon first, though. As Christie mysteries go, I think this is the best (though not my favorite). When you read it, you’ll figure out why it isn’t my favorite but it is on my “You’ve just got to read this book” list that I give out to friends (whether they really want my reading suggestions or not).
Chase
–> Hmmm … I have a couple other ideas on my list, but I don’t want to overload you here. So for a change of pace, away from books to a website I think you may find interesting: http://blog.chasejarvis.com/live/
While here at the “live” section of his site, check out the current webcast in the box at the top of the page. Most recent webcast (as of 4/10/12) is with Adrian Grenier (I’ll be going back to watch the episode as soon as I get this posted). Recent episodes include an interview with a band called The Lumineers (the webcast will soon be available in the Recent Episodes portion of the page and well worth checking back to catch when it is made available) and a must-see episode for all web bloggers with Guy Kawasaki (available in the Previous Episodes section of the page).
While you are at the site, check out Chase’s photography and then “wander” the rest of the site.
** So, when faced with something you’d rather not deal with, do you find another way to approach it, or do you drop it and go find something else to do? **
Squawk!
B is for …
Beware!
Out with my camera, thinking about barns, I stopped and took care of my errand.
While I really didn’t want to … I ended up pulling up to the menu board and mumbly speaker at one of the fast food joints. The food they sell — for a really good description of it, read all about Sable in Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett.
Anyhow, I figured I would be out for a while and while the “food” wouldn’t be the best, it would at least fill me up until dinner time. I forgot there were two other options for fast food in the area. Those two places, though, are not on the main road and I easily forget about them. **sigh**
Looking over the menu board I realized something — it actually cost more to purchase the combo meal deal than to order each item individually! So I ordered them individually but the cashier changed my order to the combo. I paid then asked to talk to the manager and explained the problem. She did not look happy.
Was she upset because I had asked for a refund of the difference? Or because I had figured out the scam?
My grandfather used to have a “joke” — that he has seen a sign in a butcher shop window — “Hamburger, 25 cents a pound. 3 pounds for a dollar.”
Hmmmm …
Do you find that “out of sight” really is “out of mind” and miss the alternatives available?
B is for …
Barn …
It was a gorgeous day. Bright sun. Warm even.
Had an errand to run. Grabbed keys, purse and camera.
Thinking while driving. “What can I write about today for the letter B?” Then, in front of me was a barn …
They are everywhere out here where I live. I love them. Maybe not the farm perfume emanating from a few of them, but …
Barns come in many forms around here. I don’t mean architectural styles but how they are valued. Many are used. Many are not. And among those that are not being used, many are allowed to fall into complete ruin. I imagine some of the owners just staring at their barn, willing it to crumble to dust soon enough for it to come off this year’s property tax bill. Others, though not too many around here have done this but I’ve seen articles and TV shows about it — sell the barn to contractors who will dismantle the barn to rebuild it somewhere else. Usually, that rebuilt barn is converted to a home. Or the barn is dismantled and the old hardwood is used as lumber to build a new structure. Around here, as dairy farmers find they put in a lot of work for little reward, they sell off the herd and let the barn go.
There was a time, when I looked at watercolor paintings of Nature reclaiming what man as used — old cars rusting away among lots of grasses and wild flowers, or tumbling down barns — as beautiful works of art. And they may still be beautiful works of art, but now those images depress me.
I want to figure out a way to evaluate a nation’s economy based on its Barns instead of on “new housing starts” and other new construction. The ability to feed your people and more than adequately reward those who take on that job — that should be an indication of the overall health of a nation — economically and socially.
There I go again, living in Hope and Wishes instead of Reality … **sigh**
For more information about old barns, I want to suggest a book — but it is in the back seat of the car hubby used to go to work today. I believe it is called An Age of Barns by Eric Sloane. It is full of his paintings and drawings of barns and some interesting history and facts about barns.
— Well, my barn photos did not turn out as well as I had hoped. My camera needs to be replaced — it has metering and focusing “issues” — but I can’t find one I like enough to spend money on … in the meantime, I hope you enjoy these few views:
**sigh** I did something wrong and lost the post from the main blog page but found a draft of it … **phew** So, here it is, again, I hope.
So, do you think Barns could somehow become a symbol of a nation and people’s economic and societal health and vitality?
So, where IS the green grass?
I is for …
Into …
One day back in March, I opened the door and out went one of the cats into the outdoors.
She thought it was such a sunny gorgeous day that she would find a warm day and lots of yummy green grass. She found a sunny, cold day and lots of still brown, crunchy grass left over from last year. She did “the cow thing” anyhow and munched happily on the crunchy stuff — only after she had stalked off far enough away so I could not easily grab her to return her to the dark, grassless house.
How often do I let “looks” deceive me? And having been deceived, grump instead of getting on with getting into my day?
Do you let unmet expectations derail you? If so, join the club! If not, do you have any hints for the rest of us on how to cope better with the discord between what we hope to find and reality?
WAH!
Um ... is there a problem here?
I am soooooo far behind in this Blogging challenge …
I can either try to catch up
or
Just pick up with today’s letter and then fill in the blank spots as I go
or
I can whine …
I think I’ll whine just a little
because you may have some ideas to help here …
:-)
I have a large stack of books next to my desk
that need to go back to the library soon
so part of me wants to be listening to them or reading them
instead of doing the writing I need to do …
I was so gung ho and ready to go —
even had a list of possible topics for each letter of the alphabet
so that I had “no excuse”
and then
I ran into what I consider an insurmountable wall.
Well, insurmountable it probably hyperbole. Certainly, it is.
I’m just using it as an excuse to procrastinate, to avoid …
But, it is sort of important to me.
Maybe not to most everyone else.
I like to read a serif font. I don’t like to read sans serif fonts — fonts like Ariel and others that don’t have the little “tails” … For easy reading I like to see a Bookface Serif font like Times New Roman or Georgia or Bookman …
So, when I started up this new blog through WordPress, I picked one that had serif fonts. Or I thought it had serif fonts. The box I type the post in uses a serif font. The title of the blog is in serif font.
The posted post is in sans serif. I did not know this would happen until I hit “post” …
Now, I have other WordPress blogs and those posts come out with a serif font and … I was able to customize it with my own banner and do a few other things. I started one of those blogs just a couple of months ago and could customize its theme.
But now, I have to pay a fee to be able to even change the font of the blog post.
RIP OFF!
So, here I am, straining my eyes, while even wearing a pair of cheater glasses to magnify things, to read a font that is sans serif and even at its largest default size is too small for easy reading. And I got totally depressed immediately and …
Wanted to go give up immediately.
So, I went over to Blogger and started a new blog there.
Yet, it is the WordPress address associated with the A-to-Z Blogging Challenge Blog Hop.
So, here is where I hope you can help:
I have a couple of options:
1) I want to include photos in most of my posts. These need to find a home on the web or be direct uploaded. Having a bit of a problem finding the “right” home for them right now while in the middle of trying to get a post put together.
So, for that most recent blog I had started, the actual “post” is a pdf file I store over at BOX … and I post a short intro to it at the blog itself. The pdf file then includes the photos or artwork plus is formatted for easy reading.
Would you be interested in something like that? If I start the post here with a “more …” that links to the download at BOX?
2) I start the post here and the “more …” takes you to Blogger for the entire post but perhaps missing the photos I really want to be able to include? (at least until I find my photo solution)
THANK YOU for your input :-)
I hope you are enjoying this blog hop. I sure am enjoying wandering around from blog to blog and seeing all the intelligent and clever people and what they have to share with the rest of us.
—
I’m back to add this (I’m actually of visiting other blogs right now but sent this “postcard” back here because you might enjoy this laugh too …) Wanted to leave a comment there but couldn’t figure out how to … so here it is: “This is the funniest blog I’ve read so far. Thanks for the laugh. Just remember you need to know your Pardon Me from your Excuse Me to survive in this land of crunchy snails.” So hop on over and visit Muppets for Justice.
I’ve visited soooo many wonderful blogs on this Hop, that I am tempted to not try to catch up but just share a dozen or so each day that I visit … but that wouldn’t be fair, would it … but I might, from time to time, drop in a recommendation to visit one that made me smile or laugh or that teaches me something new and different. Muppets for Justice’s post for G was so tongue-in-cheek and funny, I thought I really had to share it with you all …
Who Needs Donuts?
Suse Reads 
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