Richardderus fourth thread

This is for Caro, a black-and-white winterscape of Central Park's Gapstow Bridge, which was built in this form in 1896. It's a gorgeous thing, and approaching it is almost magical...through the trees, on a dirt path, and suddenly *poof* there's a child's vision of the bridge a troll would love to live under. In the snow, well...!

The photo is sourced from Andrew Prokos, a local photographer. His site is http://www.andrewprokos.com/ and it's worth a browse!



Here's a second winter image of Gapstow Bridge by photogrpaher James Maher, another local. No such thing as too many pics of Central Park! And I hope THIS image shows up for everyone.

THIS thread is for NEW books read, those published from 2009 to the present.




The Books off the Shelf thread for 2011 is up, though sort of nekkid. My goal there is now 30 books from my shelves read and donated, shared, or generally gotten out of the house.




Review #1: ...thread 3

This thread is for any book I review that was published in 2008 or before, whether I own the book or not, and for whatever reason isn't a book I will get off the shelves.




Books reviewed in post:

2. Turkish Gambit...#197.

And a big, heartfelt welcome to my clean new thread! Suse, Bonnie, Karen, from last thread...thanks for the well-wishes. I think I'm going to live. I sound like Darth Vader making an obscene phone call, I breathe so heavily, and my voice sounds like Jackie Kennedy with a *serious* chest cold it's so breathy, but 12 cups of coffee a day keep me from death's door, and my bubbe's recipe for chicken soup keeps me fattening up (actually, I've lost 19lb), but I think it's just possible that I'll pull through.

Auntie's having a *great* day, lucid, in a good mood, and hungry! She tells me, between hacking coughs, that she doesn't feel sick at all. Uh-huh. Just lie there, sweetie. A plumbing inspector's coming today, so is the visiting nurse (but not the mean nun, TG), and then I collapse.

I love that bridge.

Drat! The bridge is x'd out on my computer :(

No picture for me, either.

Richard, I'm so glad you're feeling a bit better. I've been following your progress on your old and bloated thread. I didn't want to add to the problem of possibly blowing up the LT website so I kept my get well thoughts strictly in the extrasensory realm.

Btw, I think I would "blow up" if I drank 12 cups of coffee in a day!

>4 laytonwoman3rd: Oh yeah, me too! It's like I said...magical!

>5 Carmenere: Boo! Hiss! Follow the link to his page, then, and look up "Gapstow Bridge"...that's how I found it. Disclaimer: Lynda is herewith warned that the site causes browse fever. Enter at own risk.

>6 Donna828: Y'know, Donna, when I'm feeling this horrible, it just means I feel functional when I've got that much coffee on board.

no pic on the thread either -- this is the problem I've had posting pictures on the thread...

ETA: Glad that things are slowly getting back to "normal"...

Aha! I went for a browse around and came back to find the picture had appeared - I rather liked "The Opera Watchers"...

#3 "I sound like Darth Vader making an obscene phone call" - now there's an image... I love having a croaky voice - hours of fun with interesting noises ;o)

Hope you're feeling better?

>8 Chatterbox: Now that's so odd...some of us can see the pic, some can't. I wonder why that is? I'll see if I can't find another pic of the bridge to post alongside the one I chose.

>9 flissp: After 12 cups of hot coffee, I feel barely able to sit up and type at the same time. Because I've been using TDM's netbook, I've been able to type lying in bed. Now I'm even at the kitchen table, sitting in a grown-up chair, and my head's not hitting the keyboard from exhausted misery! PROGRESS!

Ooooooh -- pretty... Much prettier to look at that weather than to be outside in it right now, however. I'm ready for a week of spring, then I will feel prepared to dive back into winter once more. But I can't blame pneumonia. Just the blahs.

Beautiful picture, Richard!

I agree Chatterbox.

I wasn't able to see the first picture of the Gapstow Bridge so I did the search on the site and I have to say it is beautiful. I love both of them.

I can see the lovely illustration. Is it a browser problem? I'm using Firefox.

I'm very glad to hear that Auntie is having a good day, and I hope you're able to get plenty of rest this afternoon. Enjoy your nun-break, and continue to heal!

Smooches.

Just to clarify---I couldn't see the original photo either; (Note I said I loved the "bridge", not the "photo".) I clicked on the link and visited the site, where I recognized the bridge. As for the second picture, that is beyond stunning.

>11 Chatterbox: Don't you think? Central Park is such a treasure. I love wandering around in it at all seasons because there's always something new to see.

>12 alcottacre: Hi Stasia! I'm glad you like it. Some winterscapes can be a little depressing, but I love Central Park at all seasons.

>13 crazy4reading: Ms. 4! Here you are. I expect to review something today...keep an eye peeled.

>14 London_StJ: Thanks, Crypto! Nurse due in about an hour, so I should be able to lie down in two hours, and do I ever want to.

>15 laytonwoman3rd: Linda3rd, ohhh...but you *can* see the second one, I gather, so that's good. Do you use Internet Explorer?

I love the photo...and noticed that I had just spent a few minutes this morning trying to capture the fog in trees across the street from my house. I'll need to look at them and see if I feel like putting one in my thread. I love foggy mornings.

Is there still a second photo to see? I see Gapstow Bridge but nothing else. It is truly a beautiful image.

Love the picture! Hooray for the progression to the grown-up chair!

Ahh, now that I've seen both pictures I am astonished that such a place of serenity exists in one of the worlds most hectic cities.
Is this were Suzanne donned her ice skates or is there an actual rink in the park?

There is an actual ice rink -- the Wollman arena. It's in the SE corner of the park, close to the Plaza and Pierre hotels.

#17 I do not...I am a fox, uh, I mean, I use Firefox.

Take your time on the review. I am using IE at work. I will have to see if I can see the pictures when I am at home on my computer.

I can see the first picture of Gapstow Bridge but nothing else. It is beautiful!

>18 maggie1944: Karen44, there are two photos of the bridge, both B&W winter scenes, and both *gorgeous*! The links to both photographers' websites are in the message. Try them both out, such glories the camera giveth...and I concur about foggy mornings! It was the one and only thing I miss about living in San Francisco.

>19 pokarekareana: Good, and thank you! *smooch*

>20 Carmenere: I know! It's a miracle! And without Frederick Law Olmstead, the whole spectacular deal would not be here. I think future generations will revere him as "St. Fred".

>21 Chatterbox: *still sniggering about Suz's fall*

>22 laytonwoman3rd: Oh...well...hmmm...maybe your system doesn't have enough DRAM to be able to process both of the images.

>23 crazy4reading: K

>24 ronincats: The first, but not the second. Huh! This is most puzzling.

Hi Richard! I do take a bit "of a fence" to being thought mean... afterall, I only somewhat forcefully prodded you to go to doc, get meds and get better. I never said a word about your "bloated thread" (love that description, Donna). I didn't even mention how much I giggled about your nun's comment on a mother's stamina - vs - yours. No sireee... never said a word!

Anyway - I think there is some correlation between a day on antibiotics and starting to feel better. Rest will definitely help... promise you will snatch what you can. Now, you can have a little sympathy... poor, poor Richard :(

Now - I just HAVE to tell you! (Hope you are still reading this...)
I'm reading Cloud Atlas with Mark's GR. A little behind the curve at the moment, but I'm finishng up the second section called "Letters from Zedelghem". I swear to the goddess! This section reads just like an edited Richard piece! I am so distracted thinking you must have written it... it's quite good! Did you? Well, did you at least read it?

Strange but really good book... I have faith it will start to make sense somewhere down the road. :)

>27 -Cee-: So you want me to revoke your Scary Mean Ladies' League presidency? Hmmm...have to think on that.... ;-P

You did indeed supply the impetus to get to the doc-in-a-box. I hope one day soon I will no longer beg a merciless God for the kindness of death, but so far it's touch-and-go.

I wishlisted CLoud Atlas on PBS, but unsurprisingly I haven't been notified it's available. After the current round of mailings get received, I should have 18 books coming to me, one of which (I hope!) will be that one.

I gather, from others' responses, that expecting it to make sense might be a bit much. I think it's one of those books that one simply rides along with, not asking for or getting a lot of traditional narrative drive.

*Laughs at the phrase "Darth Vadar making an obscene phone call"*

I'm totally going to steal that, next time I catch a cold and sound like that. It will make being sick bearable just to be able to use that expression...

Glad you're getting a tiny bit better, Richard!

>28 richardderus: No, no, RD. I still need to be in the Scary Mean Lady League - President? only if I have to!

I do hope you get Cloud Atlas from PBS - whatever that is. But if perchance you don't get it, I'd be happy to send you my copy. You may need to remind me - don't be bashful. Dementia is setting in early - I swear it's contagious!

#25 But I couldn't see the first image even before the second one was there. (NO, I'm not letting these people change the subject.)

#10 Woo for caffeine! Woo for grown-up chairs!

...and oooooooh, I like the 2nd photo of the bridge even better - I love the reflection of the tower blocks in the water...

#28 Re your description of Cloud Atlas, yep, I think that pretty much sums it up, although I do seem to remember thinking that in the end, everything came together. In fact, reading Black Swan Green (which I prefer) brought it together further as (as he always does), a couple of the minor characters reappeared for you to find out more about. It's a good book, but, some of the POVs are better than others.

Got you starred, Richard, and I'm glad you made a new thread. The last one was getting a bit tough for me to load.

Wow -- those photos are stunning! Thank you for sharing them with us. I hope you are feeling better, Richard.

And now I can see them both. This is getting a bit spooooky.

I can only see one... I agree, a bit eerie!

>29 BookAngel_a: I live to enrich the language, dear Angela.

>30 -Cee-: PBS = PaperBackSwap.com...I've got a boatload of books sent out to members awaiting confirmation of delivery; when the member confirms they've gotten my shipment, I get a free book of my choice from the list on the site. I'm expecting two from other members right now.

>31 laytonwoman3rd:, 35, 36 More often than not it is because your system is low on dynamic random access memory that you can't see a graphic. That amount of DRAM changes over time. One minute it's capacity-taxed, a few minutes later it's not. Just the way the ghost in the machine works.

>32 flissp: I didn't know that Cloud Atlas was part of an ongoing universe! SHould I read Black Swan Green first to get the full effect, Fliss?

>33 Ape: I can only imagine! Since your load-speed is roughly equivalent to the speed at which monks could illuminate Bibles, just that painting alone would take resources you couldn't spare!

>34 AMQS: Hi Anne! I'm still breathing. It's hurting like mad, but I'm still doing it.

Hehehe -- I have 22 PBS credits unused, and another book request came in today, meaning I will soon have 23. (I also have a BIG stack of still-unrequested books sitting in my office, which is v. annoying.)

#38 Is not really Richard - the books I've read by him (four of the five) have all been quite different and can be read independently, but he does like to link them in tiny ways.

It's usually through bit part characters - I didn't spot anything in Jacob de Zoet, but it had been several years since I read anything by him when I got to it. I've a feeling that one of the minor characters from one particular section of Cloud Atlas may crop up, but I'm going to have to re-read it.

I wouldn't worry about it, but, if anything, I would read them in publication order, so nope, I think you should follow Cloud Atlas up with Black Swan Green rather than the other way round. ...and yes, you should read Black Swan Green even if you don't like Cloud Atlas!

Okay, I went to both of the websites, and it is the SECOND picture I can see, not the first. Just to correct my statement above.

Do you have enough humidity in your apartment, Richard? Put a teapot or pan on the stove to boil. Hope you feel better SOON.

I can see the second, with the buildings reflected in the water, but not the first. I think Central Park is a small miracle, given the way New York burgeoned and every available bit of land was built on. To have such a place in the middle of one of THE cities of the world...well, treasure it, Amurcans (and I know you do).

I guess I can see only the second picture but GAH, it's so beautiful. Off to explore the website.

Look at that, thread nr 4 already for the noble sir Richard:) Love the picture!!

Glad that you are still breathing..
keep up the good work :)

Want some coffee?

just that painting alone would take resources you couldn't spare!

It did take a lot, but well worth every resource spent. :)

Love the picture. Glad you went to see the doctor. Now take your medicine and get better 8o).

>39 Chatterbox: Twenty-two! I aspire to these heights. I suspect a lot of mine will go unused for quite some time. They seem to get listings for books I don't care about quite a lot of the time.

>40 flissp: Chokey-dokey, Fliss, I'll take it as it comes...pub order. Tnx

>41 ronincats: I have a humidifier in my bedroom, Roni, because the house has an oilburner and radiators. The saving grace is, we live on a sandbar! But with lung hurts, extra humidity seems to help a lot.

>42 tiffin: Hey there Tui! I certainly treasure the Park...one of my Texas friends is coming to visit this May, bringing his mom's ashes. She never saw Central Park, always wanted to, and he's going to scatter some of same in several places around the Park. I think it's sweet, so I misdirect attention from the kinda icky part about having a dead lady spread around....

>43 brenzi: I bet you enjoyed it, too, right Bonnie?

>44 Apolline: Bente! How lovely to see you here! Glad you're still enjoying the art show.

>45 mckait: I keep flagging the Grim Reaper down, but the $((*%^&(^*! keeps waving and passing by....

>46 Ape: :-)

>47 cindysprocket: Get better? *grunt* If I have to. *smooch*

Well, I've request three PBS books in the last few days - The Winter Queen, a mystery/suspense novel by Olen Steinhauer that I had had on my wish list for a while, and The Delicate Storm by Giles Blunt, second in the series that I've just started and is shaping up to be EXCELLENT.

stunning picture - wow!!!

I have signed up for a photography course - starts in a fortnight :)

Have gone off browsing on the link - one learns from the masters!!

I sure agree this is a good Troll bridge :)

I realized this morning when I woke that it isn't friday. That was not good news. you are sounding better.. and that is good.

#49: try to pop in from time to time, but I'm lurking more often than I acknowledge my presence ;)

How ya feeling, Richard? I would not wish pneumonia on my worst enemy. I had it several years ago and thought I was going to die! So, stupid me, since I was not contagious I dragged myself into work everyday, except one. For what I ask you? Where's loyalty get you? I digress, anyway, I have never been the same since. Now I have asthma and copd both attributed to the pneumonia. So take care, those lungs are precious.

#53 Same thing happened to me today, Kath. In my case, it's caused by having worked on Monday, which I don't usually do. What a difference a day makes, eh?

Mornin' Richard! I certainly hope you're feeling at least a little bit better today.
Lovely picture, whichever one I'm seeing...

Good morning, all...auntie had another no-sleep night, so I did too. Got maybe 4 hours of the 20 I need. Feel like nothing will ever make me well again, which is the curse of pneumonia. The dog and I braved the 20-degree big chill, she happily and I with no pleasure at all.

The housecall doc *should* come today. I **cannot** wait.

More coffee needed, so off I chug to heat it up.

Hope you feel better soon!

Good morning, to you, too. I am sending my best strong good health vibes your way...but it may take a day or so to get there all the way from the left coast to you...meanwhile, keep drinking those hot liquids and rest, whenever you can.

Beautiful photo and hope you feel better soon.

Enjoy your coffee!

*waves*! Caught up on your thread- hopefully you are feeling better soon!

After a stressful mini-battle with the ambulance driver, auntie is off to the ER, thence to be admitted, for her breathing troubles. Why the ambulance driver feels I should go over the whole course of her treatment with him, I do not know. Nor do I want to know, I just want him to take her, with all her records, to the blessed ER. Which task being accomplished, I am now going to collapse into a little heap and sleep for hours and hours uninterrupted. AKA bliss!!

*ssshhhh* Richard is sleeping. *shuts door carefully*

Oh, that's good.

*softly spoken* sleep well and get well soon *walks out quietly*

Breathing trouble is serious - I'm glad she's being looked after closely (not that you don't look after her very well). Rest. heal, and take care of yourself.

I can't tell you what a pleasure it is to read your thread and them flip back to the top and see that beautiful picture. It is stunning. Tiptoes quietly away ...

Glad auntie is being cared for so you can both get well.

I hope your auntie is OK and you manage to get a good night's sleep!

The idiots in the ER are trying to send her home. They say she does not need to be hospitalized for a "minor illness."

The Divine Miss and I are apoplectic. Much shouting into telephones. No testing has been done to determine the source of the fluid in her lungs. The idiot ER doc says, unless we want to put a *chest tube* into her, he will discharge her. I informed him there would be no one with authority to open doors to strangers at her one and only residence, and I would call the COPS if he so much as thought about sending her back here without a signed order from her health care proxy (TDM) or a judge.

That shut him up, but I have little confidence much will change tomorrow, so I am not answering phones or doors until I hear from TDM.

Oh good gravy! An elderly woman with both pneumonia and dementia and that is 'minor illness?!' I guess when the ER doc sees a corpse he will remark that it is 'a little stiff.'

(((Richard))) I hope reason prevails at the hospital and Auntie gets the care she needs.

Did the house doctor send for the ambulance ? If he did shouldn't he have a say so about keeping your Aunt in the hospital ? Hope things go better for you and her.

Richard

I can relate to hospitals and treatment of the elderly. Like you and Claudia, I pitches a fit when my grandmother, who had kidney cancer and was in great pain, was going to be released from the ER at 3:00 a.m.

What's with these people anyway.

So sorry you are not getting sleep. Please rest when you can. I worry!

I'm so sorry to hear about all your troubles. I hope everyone's health magically takes a turn for the better in the very near future.

I love the Gapstow Bridge, Richard. Thank you for the beautiful picture (I can only see the second) - it is stunning.

I hope the morning finds you rested and feeling better and that better minds and hearts prevail and they keep auntie hospitalized until she is more stable.

Just stopping by to say hi! *waves*

I understand intellectually where this twit is coming from -- limited resources, blah blah blah. It seems as if the care of our elderly and chronically ill fellow citizens is something that people are just expected to figure out for themselves, with minimal support. (reflected in Evil Nun's comments about mothers doing it every day...) What kind of world do we live in where there is the expectation that elderly people should just quietly take themselves off to the sidelines and not bother us any more?? Or where, if they don't want to admit themselves to a "facility", they should be prepare to be marginalized? Or where their carers can't count on decent backup in times of crisis?? *sputtering in indignation*

Hugs to you & C.

This is unbelievable! I hope they will keep her for some more days, but reading the comments here the chances are not too good, are they?

That's something I miss about Germany. My grandmother was always immediately sent to hospital in similar cases and kept there as long as was required. And never would anybody be released in the middle of the night! (Did they need her bed that urgently?) I hope I'll never get seriously ill while living in Italy though. I heard terrible stories.

I hope you'll be able to get some rest today.

I'm so glad you guys are there to be her advocates! So sorry she needs that and so sorry you're having to do all this when you're ill yourself. :(

>73 alcottacre: Stasia, apparently the ER operates in some medical Wonserland where "fluid in the lungs" does not equal pneumonia in a person without congestive heart failure (auntie's heart is completely sound, their tests confirmed) and "bronchitis" does not equal infection. I professed my surprise, and was told in so many words to "get off the INternet, only one of us {was} a doctor." People skills, D minus.

>74 Eat_Read_Knit: Thanks Caty!

>75 cindysprocket: Hi Cindy...I don't know if the house-call doc has spoken to the ER yet or not, and I haven't heard from anyone, so perhaps she has raised some Cain and things have changed but I don't know yet. The Divine Miss is on it.

>76 Whisper1: That makes me want to unswallow, Linda. OutRAGEous.

>77 _Zoe_: Well, Zoe, troubles they are but whenever I start turning them over like a kid does his marbles, I remind myself that death is not imminent and anger only helps when it's focused on a solution. TY for stopping in!

>78 Copperskye: Hey Joanne! So glad you like the picture!

Richard, I'm keeping this one: "anger only helps when it's focused on a solution". Good one.

I hope you, yourself, are feeling somewhat better and that you continue to be able to rest, and take care of yourself. And certainly hope that the doctors, and hospital, and whoever can gets a clue and take sufficient care of Auntie. As you know, being an Auntie myself....I am holding this lady in my heart and hope the best for her.

I'm late getting to your thread, Richard, but in my defence, I was fighting a numb butt on a long plane ride. And what a lovely surprise awaited me ... I logged into LT, found your new thread (I'm taking bets that you'll go through 60 threads before the year is up) and whoooheeeee.. my b/w photos! I love them, love them, love them! Thank you for putting them up.

In catching up on the posts in your thread (as much effort as running a mile!), I think Auntie is really lucky to have you and TDM as advocates. The healthcare services here for the elderly have, in my short experience, is frustrating for those with advocates and I think frightening for those without.

>79 bohemiangirl35: Oh no! Where have I put your thread?! I haven't seen it in over a *week*! *gulp* Thread visits are clearly in order today.

>80 Chatterbox: Dear Suz! I appreciate your indignation, and believe it's well founded. Think about all those folks who're relying on another elderly person, or strangers who're kind (Linda's story about the older lady she helped give me shivers), or no one at all, for help navigating the last years of life. Chilling. Who'll do this for us? My daughter might, one never knows I suppose, for me...but many of my nearest and dearest are childless and it's a genuine worry about their futures. Some societal changes need to happen, and soon, if end-of-life non-catastrophic care is to be anything other than it was like in the old joke about the British judge sentencing the 80-year-old to 20 years: "But m'lud, I'm eighty! I can't live twenty more years!" he hollered. "Do your best," replied chilly m'lud from his august heights.

>81 Deern: How do, Nathalie...The Divine Miss's sister has lived in Rome for forever and tells us how hugely superior Italy's system is to the American one. That's my perspective on the matter, so to think that it would be *inferior* to neighbor states makes me even madder!

>82 suslyn: Hey Suse! She is one lucky old auntie, all right, since we're both stubborn and well-informed and smart. *smooch* for visiting!

>84 maggie1944: Hi Karen44! Your nieces and nephews are mindful of your care, I hope, and will stay that way, I pray.

>85 cameling: Hi Caro! Glad you saw your treats! And that dose of winter must feel awfully good about now *grin*. Walk a lot today. TY for your kind thoughts and words.

**I**, if I may be so bold as to announce, am feeling quite a lot better today. I think the large amount of sleep (over six hours!) I got yesterday did me a power of good. Most of it was in front of the TV watching stuff about archaeology and anthropology on PBS, so somehow I got the impression that Michael Wood was designing carbon nanotubes while David Pogue went to Ireland and did some LIDAR on the Hill of Tara and discovered it was Shangri-La, and they all smelled like warm dog-feet.

Don't hold me to that.

love that picture, love central park, love nyc (I haven't been in too long. sad face.)

Must update my thread this weekend, but here's a preview: Read The Hunger Games. You're welcome.

So come visit. Faithful native guide available.

Ignoring recommendation. No new books desired.

(I'm such a liar.)

I often think that we childless people are going to be awfully lucky to have advocates for us later in life. Most of the people I know are childless, mostly by choice, but I am reminded of the fact each time I see my own mother and realize how much of her situation was steered and protected by her children.

We will need to get closer to each other as we age, forming our own family, to care for and protect each other.

Were you around for the Tome Home discussion, Judy? That was a fun thread, and I still talk about it to my (childless) venture capitalist bud.

No, I don't think I was. A retirement village for book people? A giant cooperative library?

Retirement complex for old readers. The idea was to turn an old building into an assisted living facility, surrounded by independent living quarters, based on the idea that all the residents would rather *die* than play tennis, canasta, golf, etc when they could be reading. The halls would have bookshelves of donated books for others to take. There'd be a real liberry, and frequent chauffeured trips to the fleshpots of NYC's bookstores without the hassle of having to lug the books bought by one's self through the city; community center programs would feature author talks, signings, book club meetings; laundry would be done by others (that's my pet need, and no one can talk me out of it!); the basement would house a DocuTech to print out on-demand books; good Internet connection, wi-fi, etc etc etc.

I'm drooling.

Richard, LOVE that picture. Feel Better fast. I am pumping coffee in my study and getting ready to battle yet another snowstorm here in Boston. Then, since I have the day off, on to the Challenge!

Where can I sign up for that? I'm only middle-old, but I'd go there now!

I am dreading the day when reading becomes difficult - printing too small, books too heavy to hold... I used to buy books for my grandmother for her birthdays and Christmas and last year she asked me to stop it, because she can't read them anymore. Sad for both of us.
I hope the ebook revolution will enable me to remain a reader as long as I can see, but I know I'd miss real books.

I need to sign up for that retirement complex for old readers too. And then we can all be advocates for one another as well. I'm pretty much resigned to the fact that I will have to advocate for myself in my old age ... if I'm able to, that is. Otherwise ... I hope someone comes along and helpfully smothers me with a lavender scented pillow.

What a great idea! Sign me up. Oh, will I have room for all my books?

*Hops up and down* Am I old enough to qualify for the book village? Please please please please please! :(

>95 Travis1259:, 98 Hi David! No, no books allowed that you don't buy from the Tome Home. *grin*

>96 Deern: I suspect, Nathalie, that a lot of us feel the way you do (and, it would seem, Stephen the embryo-of-a-lad does)...now? Why not now? And the current trend in end-of-life care is towards aging in place, as it's called, so midlifers moving in and getting old there is desirable.

So sad about your grandmother, but oh dear oh dear what if it happens to us all? is the question the Tome Home answers. SOMEone will be there to help!

>97 cameling: *busily hunts around for pillows can stuff with lavender*

>99 Ape: No.

I started a thread about this some time ago. Perhaps it needs reviving!

Then can I get hired at the book village at least? *pouts*

>101 Ape: Oh, sure! All those lonely single women always want...company...from a well-read Gentleman Caller.

I really hope I can find my way to a retirement community like the one where my grandfather-in-law lives; they offer several levels of care from independent cottages to high-care apartments. It's always seemed lovely, and wonderfully independent.

And if the community doesn't have a good library I'll fight for one. ;)

#101 I'm sure you can do Richard's laundry...

102: Of course! That's all I'm good for to you people! *runs away crying*

104: That works. And I'll just seak in and sleep in the library at night. Deal! :)

#88 *snort!* - glad you're feeling better for the sleep anyway!

#94 Don't forget the associated buildings in various other cities worldwide - members would be able to stay in affiliates when travelling... ...and you've forgotten the serious kitchen. With gourmet chef. ;o)

101 > of course. Someone has to change Richard's diaper.

deern, msg 96, books are very hard for me to hold with the arthritis in my hands, and the developing cataracts do make the small print very hard to read so ..... I bought a Kindle! and it is light enough to hold, and the print can be made quite big so that my tired old eyes can easily read it. Maybe that would work for your grandmother. Or a Nook, because it comes with the capacity to hold magazines and show them in color, too.

Richard, so sorry for the short hijack of your thread and the "commercials".

By the time someone needs to have the *job* of changing my diaper, I hope to be dead. Stony-cold, haddock-y dead.

Auntie is in the hospital, where they are treating her *not at all*. No antibiotics. No tests to determine *if* there is an infection. No blessed thing at all, and the doc from her geriatrician's practice told The Divine Miss, "well, you know, this happens to older people, she should be at home because there's nothing really to do here."

What *I* hear in that is, "what can you expect, she's 92, just let nature take its course."

Then there are the many people in years-long comas whose lives are unnaturally extended just in case they wake up...vanishingly small numbers do...and the resources expended on them in respiratory therapy are mind-boggling. Here's a living, still functioning, person, but old; she needs very, very moderate help to get as much better as she can ever get; she's in otherwise excellent health; and it's too damned much trouble to do more than the absolute minimum?

I smell a profit motive, as in, auntie's not making them one. Douchebags.

Fortunately, TDM is now in full piss-n-vinegar mode, and demanding that they test the "moderate pleural effusion" for signs of infection, and, if absent those signs, that they drain the fluid and ascertain that her lungs are *not refilling* before she is discharged.

Karen44, the best and most persuasive argument for NooKindlEreaders is the one you've just stated.

It is the granny-dumping. During the holidays, summer vacations etc. terrible caregivers take their elderly relatives to the ER and try to get them admitted. Awful and certainly not what you are doing, but it makes the medical folks suspicious of caregiver's motives AND you got a jerk of a doc who treated you and Auntie with less respect than you deserve. Good for TDM for being such a great advocate.

Nonetheless, I believe that the healthcare cost debate will never amount to much until we look at the resources consumed by elderly end of life care in acute settings such as ICU and ventilators for 90 year olds as happened to my partner's father. For more than 2 weeks over the Christmas holidays (a few years ago) she and her siblings couldn't get a doctor to give a true prognosis. I finally suggested they ask a nurse, "If this was your dad..."

Same with extreme interventions for prostate cancer in 65 year olds etc etc.

Hard conversations to have given that I'm nervous about posting it on here where we are generally gentle to one another lest someone think I'm advocating Death Panels.

I'm not sure what you mean by "extreme interventions", but 65 is pretty young to be thrown into the "end of life" basket. I know several 65 year old men who have been treated and pronounced free of prostate cancer, and are now going on with their healthy productive lives. That's not at all the same as "end of life care in acute settings such as ICU".

yeesh! so much happening here..pretend I am sayin all the right things... my hands are full :P hard to type :)

Most prostate cancers are very slow-growing, so compromising a man's quality of life for something that is unlikely to kill or even inconvenience him for - say - 25 years may not be a good choice. For the aggressive version, well, of course you should treat.

The critical economic problem with end of life care is that some doctors and some famillies insist on 'doing everything they can' even when it will not extend life and may seriously destroy quality of life. Medication is one thing - ventilators and other serious interventions and weeks in ICU are another.

I speak as one who was profoundly grateful my father died at home, without further intervention, at his own wish, and as one who is watching her mother die from the neck up a little more each month, determined that her end will come with as little discomfort as possible. We've treated infections quite aggressively so far, but we also have a DNR on file. This is what she always said she wanted, and we will not allow any extraordinary measures - ventilators, feeding tubes, etc. - be taken. Thank goodness my sibs and I are in complete agreement on this.

I don't want ventilators, etc. unless I have a chance of recovering. If I'm terminally ill, if I'm 96 years old, just make me comfortable. But it sounds as if the hospital wants to renege on even that basic criteria with Auntie. If so, that's reprehensible.

I can understand a doctor who is trying to say, look, these opportunistic illnesses are going to happen and there isn't much we can do about the reason they will crop up. I can't understand him not trying to ensure she is as stable and comfortable as possible before she is sent home. That's like begging for a malpractice suit.

I certainly agree re: extraordinary measures. But for pity's sake, the woman has FLUID IN HER LUNGS and quite possibly a bacterial infection, neither of which is *necessarily* life threatening. Test the fluid in the lungs...no infection, okay, then there is a lot less to worry about, but drain the damn lung!

Which is exactly what's happening as we speak. A pulmonologist was called in (guess who insisted that happen?) and he said, "piece o' cake, take a half hour to drain one lung, then we test the fluid, that's maybe two days, and meantime we give her oxygen and see if her lungs stay clear or get full again and reassess."

PRECISELY WHAT I SAID TO DO.

None of this is extraordinary, resource-hogging, or even complicated. It's exactly and precisely what they'd do if The Divine Miss or I showed up with the same symptoms. It's the fact that she's 92.

No matter. The upshot is, she's getting the treatment that makes sense.

Call me cynical (or insurance savvy)... but I'm wondering if Medicare does not cover Auntie's hosp expenses for this diagnosis/required treatment - and the hospital does not want/will not accept a charity case.?? :P

ETA: Halleluja! Just saw your note above! Good work!

Phew! I'm glad it's worked out in the end.

I definitely agree about not wanting ventilators, feeding tubes, etc. My grandmother was fortunate to pass away a few years ago in her own home, at 91 years of age, with one of her daughters present. The only problem was that the doctor with the DNR was unable to be reached immediately, and there was no copy of the DNR at the apartment, meaning that my aunt had to sit awkwardly at the table with two police officers for about half an hour, with her dead mother lying in the next room, while they tried to determine whether she was at fault for not calling the paramedics immediately. She had a good laugh about it after the fact.

Best wishes to you and Auntie. Kudos to you and to TDM for advocating. Auntie is lucky to have you.

I once got in a heated argument with the folks at my Mom's nursing home when I was told she was being administered cholesterol medication. She was 94 years old and in the last throes of Alzheimer's disease. Whyyyyyy???? waste resources on cholesterol medication? Made absolutely no sense to me.

Hooray re Auntie finally getting properly looked at. Good grief! As my 91 year old mother always says, getting old isn't for sissies.

I love the picture Richard... makes me miss NY even more

Glad you are feeling better and that Auntie is getting the care you wanted from the beginning :)

Oh, man, all I can do tonight is to send my very best wishes to your entire household. Please all of you - take care of yourselves and feel better as soon as you see the light at the end of the tunnel.

Glad Auntie's getting her lungs drained at last. How fortunate she is that she has you and the fiery TDM as her advocates, insisting on her getting the right care, regardless of her age. Someone should remind some of the doctors that they did take the Hippo oath.

(((Auntie))) and (((Richard)))

>>111 laytonwoman3rd:. Many times radical prostatectomies or very expensive radiosurgeries are performed on men w/ prostate cancer when a more measured wait and watch approach would better serve the quality of life as ffortsa stated. This is because prostate cancer is typically quite slow to progress and most men who have it would ultimately die of something else even if it remains untreated. If while monitoring there is rapid progression, of course, treatment is warranted. I'm not sure that doctors make all of these things clear to men before undertaking treatment that changes their lives for the worse.

Again, I am in no way stating people shouldn't be made comfortable or that auntie shouldn't get treated. Just that this is a conversation we need to have.

Hugs to Richard, TDM and Auntie herself.

Richard, you and Claudia are shining examples of a family who loves and wants what is best for an elderly member.

I worry about the fact that so many elderly do not have advocates. Many people who are Auntie's age don't question the medical establishment and believe the old adage that Doctor knows best.

I'm glad that Auntie is finally getting the care she needs and deserves while at the hospital. I'm sorry for all this stress in your life.

I'm glad you are feeling better. I hope you can continue recovering in the next few days.

Glad Auntie is finally getting the treatment she needs, and glad that TDM finally managed to get a doctor with sense on the case.

Glad you're on the mend, too.

Just moseying around the threads to see what is going on in the neighborhood ...

Moi aussi...

have a good day! :)

Ah, such a difficult subject being discussed here. I too feel empathy for our aged citizens who have no advocate to demand simple medical care for a treatable condition. My children have promised to "put us in a good home" when the time comes. Actually, we'll probably take care of that ourselves and hope they come to see us. ;-)

Bottom line: I'm glad you got some much-needed rest, Richard, and am grateful that Auntie is finally getting some treatment. Best of luck to all of you.

Donna.. I would much rather be dead then lonely. i am completely serious.. missing my kids is badnow. no home for me..

*yawn*stretch*

Muuuch milder. Slept over nine hours! The dog and I woke up at our usual 7a and, to my surprise, she streched and curled back into her doggie donut up against my belly and went back to sleep! Of course, it was 12 degrees out there, so that was *my* vote, but she loves snow and cold. We finally went outside about 9:45a! It's now a balmy 18F. Where's my Speedo?

>116 -Cee-:-130 Claudzilla, Zoe, Berly-boo, Bonnie, Tui, Kara, Karen44, Caro, Tamara, Nancy, Linda, Caty, Kath, someone I don't recognize, and Donna: *smooch* to each and *hugs* all round for being such sweet friends as to come and let me know y'all're happy for me! The attention is very gratefully received. I am so happy to feel I can come here, vent my irritations and crotchets with important subjects in my little life, and y'all come and let me know I'm not alone. It's a very lovely gift to give. Thank you each.

Nancy...please don't worry about having your words misinterpreted! I do NOT see the conversation you're working on as a veiled reference to auntie, or eldercare in general, but a side conversation about an equally important health-care issue: Fully informing patients of options, risks, and strategies. I have a very, very slow-growing prostate cancer. No point in doing heroics, it's just pluggin' along doin' its thing, which so far interferes with mine not at all. I ignore it. I was encouraged to have wild, radical things done by my fearful ex...until he found out that those "solutions" meant The End of our mutual sex life. Suddenly it sounded a LOT less appealing to him, which tickled my vanity no end.

I am a big fan of *appropriate* actions in all areas of life. Actions in proportion to their stimuli. Going off in a wild, crazy direction is the antithesis of common sense, with which I am glad to say I am well endowed.

Don't you just love Common Sense. One of the best gifts my upbringing bestowed. So glad you are feeling better.

Oh, my dearRichard, how horrid things have been for you!

We went through some of this with my parents--one of my father's last rational remarks was, "If you people would just let me alone, I could get the hell out of here!", which he did shortly thereafter, peacefully, in his sleep. Mother broke her hip; they did surgery, although she was 89 and had NO possible interest in rehab and in fact could barely walk before the fall; she died a week later. These struggles are sooo difficult. Now I'm contemplating what would be best for hubby in all sorts of different eventualities. It's hateful, hard, and so terribly sad.

I'm in for the Tome Home. Let's get that up and running as soon as we can.

I'm glad you're feeling better; it's wonderful to see your humor and wit back on track. Please try to take care of yourself in the midst of all this. You're important to many people, more than you could imagine.

A quick hello from me, being in the middle of serious job-related problems. Glad you feeling better Richard and kisses to Auntie from me.

Lo, I am fortunate enough to never have had to deal with the things you are going through now, my friend, so I'm finding myself at a loss for words. I am happy to hear you are feeling at least a little better though, Richard, and getting some sleep as well.

And hurray for dogs that choose to sleep in. The unfortunate part of being an early-bird is being barked at for a walk in the cold at 5am.

Of course there is no reason for me to go out there with her living out in the woods as I do, but she insists anyway. -.-

Wasn't I at a loss for words at the start of this post? Hmmmm... *throws hands up in surrender at Richard's social skills*

Just a quick stop in to say that I'm glad things seem to be getting better for everyone in the Richardderus Chalet!

*drive by wave & hug*

glad things are looking rosier! wonderful how sleep can do that...

>133 maggie1944: A gift indeed, Karen44.

>134 Matke: Oh now, Gail, really! Let's not get too het up over my little problems. Thank GOODNESS auntie's getting better. I am very, very happy that I'm getting better. But really, while I am very grateful for the sympathy, I can't claim to be anything other than very, very fortunate in almost all areas of my life, and very fortunate in the rest. No one is dying, starving, cold, or unloved around here...what else really counts as a problem? *smooch* for the lovely, caring message!

>135 trandism: Hi Nick! Glad to see you here, BOOOO HISSSS on the job issues. Hope that will all get sorted soon.

>136 Ape: Stephen, how nice for you to offer kind thoughts! You're a goodfella indeed. Going out with the dog is fun, that's why you like doing it...though tonight's 12F temps had Stella running for the door, her paws to unfreeze.

>137 scaifea: Thanks, Amber!

>138 Chatterbox: Oh yes, Suz, sleep sweeeet sleeeep such a delicious thing sleeeeep...I shall get MORE tonight!!! *bliss*

It sounds like life is looking up, Richard. I hope it continues. I like your attitude. It makes all the difference. :)

Waves, Good evening ! Seems your new monitor is getting a nice workout. lol

It's amazing how life always looks and feels brighter after a good night's sleep, isn't it?
Wishing you many many more of those...

>141 Copperskye: Hi Joanne! I'm glad to see you here, and I appreciate the compliment.

>142 cindysprocket: Indeed, Miss Cindy, indeed.

>143 BookAngel_a: Thank you very much, Angela...from your mouth to gods' ears.

popping in to see how you're doing this weekend with the freezing cold. Btw, do you put little booties on Mz Stella so her paws aren't so cold when she has to go outside?

Hi Caro! No, booties on Stella would last less than the time it would take to measure her ripping them to shreds. She's not a clothes horse, despite The Divine MIss's many efforts to make her one.

I watched part of a very mean-spirited show called "An Idiot Abroad" tonight. Ricky Gervais, creator of "The Office", made a show sending a guy around the world to make fun of other cultures by "not understanding" them. I don't know if the set up, that this is a real person acting the way he always does, is for real or not; but the results were distasteful and unpleasant. Like "The Office".

Then I found "Naked Lunch" on one of my movie channels, and re-watched Peter Weller mumbling and moaning his way through a truly weird adaptation of William S. Burroughs's weird book. Bizarre.

My dog won't wear booties either. Or hats. Or a coat. Only a collar, of which she is very proud.

I loved your description of your dog all curled up in a doggie donut.
--BJ

Dogs are funny ( and possessive) about their collars.. at least all of mine have been. This reminds me.. I need to change up Dunkers collar to his Life is Good
one..

I feel sure Stella would consider herself nekkid without her collar. She uses it to communicate...its jingles come in "attention NOW" (loud sustained clanging of tags and rattling), "I want to go too/out" (jaunty jingles of tags), "Are you awake, dear?" (double shake performed close to my ear while I'm snoring), etc etc etc. All can be modified by the application/withholding of cold nose, gentle tooth-marking, or varying degrees of tongue action, from sweet little kissie-licks to full-bore ear-cleaning slurps.

Good morning...ah, it is still morning where you live, right? Your description of collar as communication device is very lively, so I am assuming you are feeling close to "alive and well" again.

This morning Ms Greta Garbo (my youngest Min. Schnauzer) used scratching at the portable heater in the bathroom, with its resulting "bang" as the heater returns to the floor, to wake me up. Clearly, the two schnauzers had an emergency need to get outdoors, at 3:45 am yet, as there were little presents all over the floor which Master Nicky (the elder) had left. Glad to get up for a few minutes to assist them in opening the door...

sigh

I guess those new treats I bought yesterday have an unintended consequence.

On balance, it is a constant adventure taking care of elderly dogs.

Since I have been unable to check in for the past couple of days, I am just going to try and catch up from this point forward. I hope you are feeling better, RD.

((Hugs)) and xx smooches xx

You are a wonderful man.

Hallo RD - There were too many posts to catch up on, so I do hope things are going okay with you.

Just checking in too, by the way - we're in a hotel in Boone, NC. Daughter is staying with friends in Banner Elk so he can work with her on her senior project - learning to develop black and white pictures - so we've been tootling around Boone, Blowing Rock and Banner Elk since Friday night. We did see The King's Speech - excellent movie with Colin Firth - and I've been reading like crazy.

Well, we're off to kill about 3 hours until we can go get the kidlet. I'm not even sure we'll leave right away then - they were still developing prints and still had some poster work to finish. We'll be lucky if we get home by 7 tonight...

Oh, I'm so glad that you are getting some rest yourself, that dear Stella has been intuitive to your needs, and that auntie is on the mend! I hope the up-trend continues as we work our way into another week. Big smooches, sir.

>150 maggie1944: Actually, that last sentence could end after "elderly" and be complete and accurate.

>151 alcottacre: Hi Stasia! I am feeling a great deal better, after many hours of sleep. xoxo

>152 nancyewhite: Why, thank you, Nancy, such a lovely thing to say! I appreciate it. Might one inquire as to exactly what it was that elicited this tribute, that one might schedule doing it again in the near future?

>153 karenmarie: How do, Horrible! I *love* that area of Western North Carolina. A former partner and I had a nice lot on Blue Ridge Lake (just over the border in GA) for retirement purposes. Sadly, sold now, but what the heck. It's still a favorite vacation stop.

>154 London_StJ: It is SO COLD OUTSIDE that I don't even want to poke the tip of my nose out the door. Six degrees Fahrenheit. That, my dears, is urpsome. Poor TDM has to ride a train in this! I have to take her to the station in about 45 min. I'm not even looking forward to *that*! *smooch*

Just came in with my dog. Pretty frosty here in Boston. Hope you continue to fell better.

Hello, David, welcome...I think I'm just about thawed enough to type.

C-O-L-D!

*drive by smooches*

Just stopping by for an update on how you're feeling - glad to read that you're getting better!

Cold here too this morning, negative something or other in the -teens. Ick.

-26 here this morning Richard. Glad you are feeling better.

My little brother long-boarded the 1.5 miles to my house to arrive by 7:15 this morning. It was about 12 degrees, and he was a popsicle when he walked in the door!

>158 curlysue: *return smooches*

>159 scaifea:, 160 UGH!!! BLECH!!! Temps that begin with minus signs horrify me as much as one that have three digits. There oughta be a law.

>161 London_StJ: He's a loon. That's just flat cuckoo, to be outside unprotected in that kind of cold! You should spank him.

I'm into my December ER book, The View from Lazy Point, and I can't yet decide if I want to slap the snot out of this man for purpling up the prose or bless him for making metaphorically real the immense cost that our human life inevitably demands of other life-forms. Resolution should be forthcoming by midway through the book, I hope, though so far it's just a pendulum swing.

Good morning, Sweet Cheeks. Glad to see you are feeling chipper again. Amazing what a bit of sleep will do, and what the lack of it will do as well.

Oh, so true, so true. Hey Gail, I just finished a book that I don't know that I will review, though I did not dislike it; but it made me think of you: Open House by Elizabeth Berg. It's about the struggle one woman has to build a life for herself after the one she thought she'd live and die in blows up in her face. I liked the book, I liked the writing, but I can't think of anything to say other than "uh-huh." Many, many reviews already, so why bother?

Still, if you haven't read it and would like to, send me a PM and I'll mail it to you. I think it might appeal, since it's got such a direct and involving narrative voice.

*drive by wave*

Yoo-hoo, Miss Bekka! Glad to see you!

Well it took the better part of the day to catch up on your thread. Glad to hear you are feeling better. I hope Auntie is improving. Enjoy the rest of the day.

Monica

>167 crazy4reading: Hiya, Monica! Thanks for coming by...I know it's a major time commitment to keep up with a thrillion threads.

Auntie...well, while she's comfortable, her lung filled back up with fluid, so it's being drained again, and we're reassessing what could be causing it since there doesn't appear to be a bacterial cause. Time will tell, of course.

Glad to hear that Auntie is comfortable, at least. I hope you can find some answers.

How are you feeling?

How do, Anne! I'm feeling well, esp. compared to the last week. The dog and I just came in from the 17F cold for her walk, which she wanted to make a very long one (ha!); I couldn't help noting that, had I had to go out in that cold last week, I'd've longed for death from the chest-ache.

I've mailed out sixteen books via PaperBackSwap to date; requested three; and one finally arrived today! The Turkish Gambit by Boris Akunin; I actually requested the first book, The Winter Queen, before this one, but this is the first arrival. *gruntled sigh*

hi Richard dear
sorry coming late to your thread, having health issues myself, very tired and hospital visits ahead...
But I am glad Auntie is taken care of and you had a nice walk with Stella :-)

>171 FAMeulstee: Whoa there, little hoss! What health issues are we talking about, who is going to the hospital, and how soon will it all be over?

*light bulb*

I haven't seen your thread in a month of Sundays, I now realize. Gotta go search it up.

ye gods/

>173 mckait: That was cryptic to the point of being sibylline. Care to elaborate?

> 172: I am glad for the light bulb ;-)
But in short:
Have been tired for a long time, finally went to doctor, who found thyroid problem. Taking pills for that now.
Because of thyroid problem, possible heart problem, have to see cardiologist next week and internist the week after that. And I don't like/hate doctors and hospitals. Luckely have a week without both now *sigh*

Richard

So glad you are feeling better!

175-Ugh... I have hypothyroid myself. It took forever to figure out what was wrong and then three years for them to adjust the levels properly. It causes so many issues. I had the lack of energy thing. I slept constantly. I gained 60 pounds. I was super depressed. It caused a lot of other problems too. I feel so much better now that is all worked out. It seemed like I went to the Dr. at least once a month for those three years. Hope you get it all worked out soon.

> 175 Ah, I've been among the thyroid-supported for about 40 years now. From time to time I've had to change either dosage or medication, but the basic problem is pretty well-understood. Hope your treatment helps and stabilizes quickly. In the grand scheme of things, once diagnosed and appropriately medicated, life returns to normal pretty fast.

I am *so* grateful to know it's a manageable illness, and while heart issues are nothing to sneeze at, the echocardiogram will give you a course to follow.

Auntie's also a thyroid supported person. It's made all the difference in the world to her.

And now...a little bookish discussion...I got too itchy to wait to read Turkish Gambit until the other person sends the first book in the series. I am so glad I didn't wait! I'm ~100pp in, and this is just about the best thing I've read in EONS. And there are eleven more already!! *happy dance* Thanks to Tad for this one, and a big *nyah* to all you wicked series pushers (you know who you are) for not getting there first...HA!

>176 Whisper1: Thanks, Linda! I'm human again. *smooch*

#175 ~ Sorry to hear about your thyroid problems. I too have been on thyroid medication for at least 10 years now (could be more but not sure) I still sometimes feel tired but my doctor is one that I feel listens to what I say and works with me when I tell him how I feel. I hope everything works out okay when you go to see the cardiologist next week.

Oh Hi Richard!!

Cheers Monica!

Hopefully warmer weather should be on its way. It was 30 here today.

no.. but having thoughts about grape kool aid

ok, now thinking about oatmeal with cinnamon

Hi, Richard! I am glad that you are feeling better and that auntie is finally be treated. I hope they figure out the cause of her problem soon and can get her all better so she can come home. It was FREEZING here the past few days but warming up today and the rest of the week. Hope it is doing the same in NYC.

Hi RD!
Crazy January, huh?

Kath - throw some nuts on that oatmeal w/cinn!

Glad to hear you are on the upswing, Ricardo. Sorry to hear that Auntie isn't right as rain yet. I must check that series out if you are whooping and crowing about it. We've moved out of the -28C stuff to a balmy -10C. I hear it's snowing down there again * peeking over the 49th parallel*.

Good morning, all! Snowing, though not with any real conviction. It's also a positively balmy 34F already, on its way to 38F!!! *fans self* Tropical.

>184 mckait:, 185 You have odd menu combinations, love.

>186 bookaholicgirl: Thanks! See above for weather...no auntie-changes yet, but thanks for the good wishes.

>187 -Cee-: Claudzilla!

>188 tiffin: Hi Tui...nothing dramatic weather-wise.

Erast Fandorin kept me awake and turning pages until 4a! If the PBSwappers don't mail the gol-durned volumes 1 & 3 soon I shall implode from sheer painful withdrawal! A quick check of the site shows that v3, Murder on the Leviathan, has had its mailing wrapper printed...it's the latest book I've requested, and v1, The Winter Queen, was the *very first* book I requested! The sluggish PBSwapper agreed to ship it, but it's never gone farther!! *grrr*

Morning, RD. Sorry to hear you are having problems with the PBSwappper. I hope they get their act together soon!

((Hugs)) and xx smooches xx

I've requested The Winter Queen from PBS as well - no mailing yet. Boo. Especially as I've finished that leviathon, Shantaram. Guess I'll have to reread the Faulkner.

mmmmmmmm cinnamon!

PBSwapper mailed it today, TG, and all's well.

Auntie probably comes home tomorrow, providing her lung doesn't keep draining. Sigh. It was nice while it lasted.

pat ~ pat ~ there ~ there ~

Hi Richard - good to hear that you are feeling better. Petermc recommended the Akunin books and I've read the first two. They're lots of fun.

Turkish Gambit is now on the 2011 tbr list.

I'm glad you had a tad of a rest before Auntie arrives home tomorrow, still, you were so ill that it truly must feel like you need more time to recoup.

Anxiously awaiting your review of Turkish Gambit

Hugs

Review: 2 of seventy-five

Title: TURKISH GAMBIT

Author: BORIS AKUNIN

Rating: 4.1* of five

The Book Report: Erast Petrovich Fandorin, titular counsellor of the Tsar's Special Branch (secret police, ugh), finds himself in the thick of the Russo-Turkish War of 1877-1878. In a manner very like that of a skinny, stammering love-child of James Bond and Nero Wolfe, Fandorin arranges things so that the party responsible for the sudden and inglorious halt of victorious Russian armies to Constantinople, long the most urgent desire of Imperial Russian froeign policy, comes inevitably to light. His newly minted assistant, the silly and delightfully idealistic Varvara Andreevna Suvorova, takes the center stage for much of this wild, careening caper; a good choice for misdirecting attention, that, and yet the author *scrupulously* plays fair and puts all the clues before the reader...yet Varya's goosey honkings about irrelevancies and her young woman of middling class and wealth scruples, presented with great and genuine affection by the author, do screen the actual malefactor's malefactions quite neatly. One scene, a sword-fight, is particularly nicely handled; Varya's emotions of fear, disgust, and slightly tickled vanity (it's over her honor the parties fight) are so believable that it's hard to imagine the author hasn't had the same thing happen to him. (I doubt much that it has, though.) Quite a wonderful piece of writing (and translation), and not the only one.

My Review: All hail TadAD! His praise tipped the scales for me, causing me to get these books. I don't regret this, though I am sorry that I waited so long. Still, that means I've got a lot of time before I run out of them! There are over ten in the series so far.

Very high-quality escapism, written and translated very ably, and presented in a point-of-view that's different enough to make the well-worn genre of lone wolf solves problems for Big Government, and then runs away from the limelight, feel fresh and new. Recommended to all who have a yen for solving puzzles...I didn't figure this one out until halfway through!

Tad is responsible for a tremendous tilt at the top of the towering TBR stack. (I accept responsible for the alliteration, however)

My copy of the first book in this series will soon be en route via PBS!!

but -- the "skinny, stammering love-child of James Bond and Nero Wolfe"?? Do you know something about the laws of science, specifically reproductive biology, that I don't??

Why, yes. I do. *smug smile*

;-P

Sounds interesting rdear.. glad I am on a ban!
I do allow myself my vine selections.. and last time got the one I mentioned
to you. I hope t start it today.

Hmmm... I can even look for that one now that I have an e-reader. I'm going to have to re-think my whole approach to TBR. Haven't bothered accumulating titles as there was no way to read them!

re: collars and signals. One of my cats has sniffed my eyelids to make sure I'm asleep! If I don't move he'll leave me alone. He's also the one who pokes me in the arm when I'm at my desk and he wants something. pretty funny guy.

My Mother's Cat used to look at her eyelids and if she had some eye movement, the cat would very very gently put her paw on the eye. Generally that would work to get my mother up and get the cat food in front of that cat. Nice way to wake up in the morning, eh?

My mom's dog (part corgi) has a really, really wet nose. And if he wants you to wake up, he will put his nose on your nose until you get disgusted and wake up to play with him.

Ah a review. Nice review not sure if it is my cup of tea. Well I am heading home from work soon. We actually got some snow here, more then they expected. So I am going to go home and curl up on one of my chairs to read my book and probably have my one cat join me.

I have to say I have never had any of my cats do that to me. I have one that just likes to claw at my hair when I am asleep. She is trying to make herself comfortable.

My daughter's dog has been known to try and chew my books because she wants all the attention. She also loves to lick your face when you are asleep and are sweating.

Sorry for the highjacking just wanted to share. Happy Reading all!!

In one house we lived in there was a rafter over the bed and the cat of that era, Guelph, would get up on that rafter and then WHHHHUUUUUMMMMMPPPPPP jump down on us. He would run off with his tail shivering in delight. When we had a puppy the same cat, in order to protect the little one, once leapt out of a tree and attacked a huge mastiff-type dog who had jumped into our yard. He screamed as he jumped and I swear puffed his fur and made himself, for an instant, the size of a small panther and the mastiff jumped back out!

And I've put Turkish Gambit into the wishlist. It really looks like fun.

>200 mckait: OOO cool!

>201 suslyn: Hi Suse! Glad to see you. A cat licking your eyelids is testing for death, dearest; should you choose not to respond to a second probe, the aforementioned felid will commence eating your face. They can't help it; it's hard-wired into them, just like evil is.

>202 maggie1944: See comment above, Karen44; sounds sinister....

>203 norabelle414: Nora! How nice to see you! Based on your liberry here, I'd say the Fandorin books aren't a good fit for you...they lack an emotional resonance that it looks to me like you look for in your reading. But they are a boatload of fun!

>205 sibylline: Guelph? Was the puppy's name "Ghibelline"? ;-P

Oh such wonderful cat stories. I get woken up to such sad sad mewling outside my bedroom door from the littlest furry one, who can't seem to make it past 6:30 without me. I am then followed around the house until I take my shower, where she dutifully tries to "talk me out" of getting wet by wrapping her front paws around my ankle when I try to get in.

They are strangely protective in their own ways.

>207 jasmyn9: Merely defending their back-up food larder, Mother 9.

Ha ha -- we had a small church organ in our LR back then in our 'anything goes' decor days and it was made in Guelph Ontario and the afore-mentioned cat would crawl into it when he was a leetle kitteh.

should you choose not to respond to a second probe, the aforementioned felid will commence eating your face

I wish I could remember where I saw a link to how to tell if your cat is plotting to kill you the other day.

It wasn't here, was it? *Sigh* Probably. Either I read far too many blogs and message boards to keep them all organised in my head, or my memory is disappearing prematurely. Or both.

>209 sibylline: I like your story better than mine.

>210 Eat_Read_Knit: No, Caty, I don't post inflammatory rhetoric re: cat lovin' here. I avoid bringing the subject up at all, though when others do it's open season.

*wonders who else she knows online who is Not A Cat Person*

open season

*has mental picture of Elmer Fudd hunting Sylvester*

I had to go out in this slushy grossness to be sure I had some specific suplies for auntie's arrival home tomorrow. U...G...H it is reVOLting out there!!!

The osteoarthritis component of my woes is still caterwauling resentfully, causing me to hobble in an awkward, never-completed courtly bow to no one except maybe the dog, hang on to large objects to be sure I don't pitch face-first into the carpet, and generally make unseemly noises resembling those expected to emanate from the seventh circle of hell.

I am, in short, uncomfortable, and no new books arrived today, so I am also disgruntled.

Ugh, no new books, and ugh, pain-and-hobbling. Hope you feel better soon.

Going back to the prostate cancer thing of about 200 posts and several days ago - my grandfather is 89 and was diagnosed with prostate cancer nineteen years ago. He only needed treatment for the first time eighteen months ago. Not all cancers require us to FREAK OUT OMGZ.

Auntie is sended home tomorrow? A miracle happend?

((((big hug))))
hope you feel better soon!

Morgan pulls up my eyelids to see if I am there...when she wants me up...Rosie jumps up and down on me :)

Ouch, Richard. Sorry to hear you are so uncomfortable. :(

Hi Richard, I read Tad's review of Turkish Gambit and I thought, "Oh that does sound good, but no, I will show restraint; no more books for the teetering tower, it's just getting to be ridiculous, just ridiculous." And then you come along, frothing over this selfsame volume and I find myself, somehow, unbelievably, adding it to the tower, which is now leaning precariously, dangerously over. Gah! Help!

BTW thumb on the review.

Trying to look on the bright side here: you have book circle tomorrow. I'm sure Stella was thrilled at being bowed to. More new books may well arrive tomorrow. Hmm, okay, doesn't offset pain & suffering...

Going to curl up with my portable heating devices, aka cats. They are helping me cut down on my use of the space heaters... :-)

Hi RD,
Wish you could feel 21 again! Heck! Wish we all could...
Rest when you can.

>218 brenzi: Publishers must LOVE LTers! We keep selling each other on tons and tons of books - whether we need them or not! Seems we should get a special discount or something... maybe a free book shelf???

;-)

It's not the most ordinary kind of a night. The dog, fairly impeturbable under most circumstances, *freaked out* when the snowy sleety uccchness I tried to take her out into turned what, to her mind, was dangerous and freaky...HUGE bolt of lightning caused her to flinch, then **KABOOM** the deafening thunderclap caused her to turn tail and rush upstairs to bed!

I have to admit it was weird timing! And it was extremely impressive. So now I have a scared dog hiding in the covers, and I have to go and watch the TV show I'm gettin' paid to watch. See y'all later!

nighty night!

Mwaa! (That's a goodnight kiss.)

Stay indoors and be warm, Richard.... my idiot husband is driving down to NY in this blizzard.. can you believe it?! He was supposed to have gone down yesterday before the storm, but he ended up not leaving until this evening ... and he has a flight out of JFK (if it's not cancelled) at 7am to Singapore.

i have to weigh in on a comment you made back in #146 about Ricky Gervais. I think he took his inspiration from the movie 'Borat', another insensitive and IMO highly offensive and unfunny movie. I watched Ricky host the Golden Globe awards and I thought he was obnoxious and rude. I don't understand why they would have invited him back to host this when he was rubbish last year ..although he wasn't quite as offensive last year as he was this year.

I enjoy the Akunin books too, Richard.

((Hugs)) and xx smooches xx for today

Book group day.. ? Have fun, but do be careful .. remember, you are a creaky old thing now..

Mornin' Richard!
Just passing through...

Hi Richard!
Good luck getting your old stubborn joints back in gear for Auntie's homecoming. Hope all goes well. :)

>214 pokarekareana: Hi Poke! How are you? I feel much more chipper today, so along with auntie delivery, books might come too.

Prostate cancer is, once they identify what kind it is, one of the easiest to manage. For mine, nothing unless some specific things happen. The doctor, a tactless young man, told me I'd most likely die before it became a problem. I laughed at him, explaining that I expect to live to be 100; he commented that it was statistically unlikely, and besides that I was way too fat to aspire so high! Silly pisher.

>215 FAMeulstee: No, no miracles, just tenacious relatives demanding answers not probably and perhaps, Anita. No infection = no problem caring for her here.

>216 mckait:, 222 Hello sweetiedaaahhhling!

>217 Ape: Yeah, uncomfortable sums it up. This morning isn't significantly better, must say.

>218 brenzi: Thanks for the thumb, Bonnie, and you are welcome all over the place for bringing Erast and his richly drawn world to your TBR.

On my way to the cardiologist for a post surgery check up, then heading to the office. Hopefully life will be back to "normal" today.

I'm swinging by quickly to say I hope Auntie's transition and yours is a good one as she returns home.

>219 Chatterbox: I don't think I'm coming to book circle, blast it! I am in too much nasty pain. Plus the eleven inches of snow in the driveway, on the road, etc etc, just militates against my wanting to poke my nose out the door too far.

>220 -Cee-: Honestly, Claudzilla, feeling the 21-year-olds that seem to find me irresistable keeps me happily youthful and quite well stocked in the ego-boost department. Nothing makes an old man feel younger than a pretty young thing smiling enticingly and flirting with him. Lucky me, it happens to me a lot.

>223 Berly: *smooch* A good-morning kiss from the snowbound east!

>224 cameling: GOOD GOD IN HEAVEN!! Is the hubster completely inSANE?!?! Of course, he's safely on the plane now, but that is just LUNATIC to drive in a heavy snowfall! We got 11in here. That can not have been fun to drive through, the nutjob.

Oh, "Borat". And "Bruno", where Sasha Baron Cohen did his magic on gay men. I didn't like Don Rickles when I was a kid, to my parents' pleasure. They asked me why, and my response was, "Being mean isn't funny." The last time I ever saw them agree was when they told me I was right and they were happy I thought so.

>225 alcottacre: Are you reading along in the series, Stasia? Where are you, if so?

And I'm delighted to see you here! You're so standoffish these days, skipping LOOONG periods of time without so much as a regal wave en passant to us mere peasants over here.

*rushes off to find Stasia's seventieth thread so she can't yell at him*

>226 mckait: See comment above...no circle for me!

>227 scaifea: Hi Amber! *enthusiastic wave*

>228 -Cee-: I've got a guy shoveling the drive and the walkway, and my aide's coming here about three to help her make the transition. As much as I can be, I'm ready.

>230 Whisper1: Good morning, Linda! Have a relaxing, positive visit to the cardiologist!

Richard!!!! Nonetheless, when I looked out the window and saw the snow, I was wondering... Still, you could taxi to the train station, and after that, it's only a block and a half of the "outdoors" to get there...??

>233 Chatterbox: It's just the creaking and groaning to the station, through the various levels of stations after that, and then the trip home in the coldcoldcold night...with a hand already swollen and knees purple from swelling...nuh-uh.

Must chat today...been too long!

xo

oh honey -- so sorry

Maybe you could call in, like a conference call? After all, it's Faulkner!

eta: of course, I'm so sorry you're in pain. It's awful when our bodies attack us, isn't it?

>235 suslyn: Thanks, Suse! *smooch*

>236 ffortsa: We tried that after I moved to Texas, Judy...it was a huge flop. Truthfully, I'd prefer it if we moved the date, but I don't think that's on offer. I **really** wanted to be there to talk about this book!

Sorry to hear about the pain. :(

Hoping Auntie's return goes smoothly and you have some books to make you feel a little more gruntled today.

I'm also not a fan of Ricky Gervais or Sasha Baron Cohen. I will sit stony-faced through TV/film trailers and think, 'what precisely am I meant to find amusing here?'

>238 Eat_Read_Knit: Me too, Caty..."Why are y'all laughing?" is my refrain when watching the US or the UK editions of "The Office", which I loathe.

Just chiming in on the "mean is not funny" bandwagon. It's right up there with those incredibly mindless, cruel, and disgusting practical jokes. Never, ever could see the point of them.

Now a little interpersonal repartee between equals; that's fun.

Like that TV series "Punk'd"! I almost heave every time I run across it. Horrible, horrifying. Or that antique show with Allan Funt...what was it called? Even Mama thought that one was funny, but I couldn't bear to watch it.

Candid Camera. Why do people find others' discomfiture/embarassment humorous? No empathy? No brain? both?

That Ashton Kucher (or whatever his name is) makes me want to unswallow, as well. Immediate channel flip.

Have you seen that British series, "Doc Martin?" The premise is a Harley Street type surgeon develops an uncontrollable aversion to blood and takes up a rural practice in, maybe Cornwall; someplace on the British coast. Hilariously funny.

I do get "Doc Martin" and find it a balm to heal my irritable soul syndrome!

Ugh, "Candid Camera" that was it. While excaliming irritably, perchance have you noticed that "America's 'Funniest' Videos" features mostly men getting their testicles smashed and women being terrorized? Why is this amusing? I guess I'm just a curmudgeon first class with a sour grapes cluster.

Faulkner! Bleh... no sense all that travelly suffering for one of his crazy books!
*ducks below a barrage of flaming arrows from Faulkner fans*

Which crazy book are you reading? ;-)

OH! And I HATE AFV....:P not funny!

>245 -Cee-: So true.

>244 -Cee-: As I Lay Dying...next to Light in August, my very favorite Faulkner. *SO* bummed I'm going to miss the conversation.

I shall Loftily Ignore your silly, unfounded prejudices against my Uncle Bill.

Well, Claudia, your excellent judgement re: AFV absolves you from not liking Faulkner. I love his work, but I'm a bit odd.

Sometimes it seems as though American Pop Culture is devolving into one very long and singularly unfunny locker room joke.

Harrupmh. Rant done now.

ooooo... I did love As I Lay Dying ! Funny, horrible, pathetic... incredible! LOL
Light in August is the only other one I can tolerate... not so very bad.

But WHAT makes "Uncle Bill" so very great ? I just don't get it yet!

There are all sorts of ideas about greatness. Mine, for writers, starts with: Did you bring something new to the table? Probably not, in almost every case.

Did you do something new with the existing materials? Yes, Unc did that. His stream of consciousness refinements were *extraordinarily* finely crafted and deployed with care and sensitivity to *enhance* the experience of reading a particular story.

Did your craftsmanship sit on a solid base? Yes, his certainly did...he could write wonderful stuff without resorting to pyrotechnics.

And lastly, did your achievement inspire other writers to greater efforts in the same direction you took? I think even the most ardent anti-Faulknerian will concede that his writing echoes in Southern Gothic writers' efforts even today.

Applying the same test, Hemingway is a Great Writer. He is, in fact, a Great Writer. But I ***DESPISE*** his clotted, simpering, pseudo-straightforward maunderings. I feel about him the way Truman Capote felt about him: "That's not writing, it's typing."

Yeesh, I don't allow any LT so I can get some stuff done and there are 40 posts here..... anyhow, feel better, and I rilly liked yr last post. Hemingway is maddening. Some of the minimalists of the 70's were also maddening. Not Carver though, he was something else.

I haven't read Hemingway for a long time, but I recall liking him very much. Especially the Nick Adams stories.

As for Carver, there's a sort of scandal going on now, as it seems his editor, back when writers actually worked with editors, cut out half his words and made his work into the minimalism we all cherish, and then, since he got so famous for it, he was sort of stuck with it, or thought he was.

Richard, we can talk about As I Lay Dying some other time, I guess. I'd love to hear what you would have said tonight.

There's a whole forum for Faulkner discussions, you know. At least it was originally for Faulkner discussions, and then had a name-change-operation and is now known as Le Salon du Southern Gothique (uGH) to be more inclusive. I know Richard's dropped in there... I'd love to see it revived.

>249 richardderus: RD, hmmm... and
>252 laytonwoman3rd: Linda, hmmm...

Maybe I just need to be educated. But I strongly object to WF's stream of conscious writing (I can do that!) and the horrific lack of punctuation! (you know me, I like !!!!!! and need help breaking up the craziness).
I really had scads of trouble with The Sound and The Fury. :PPPP

Claudia, by no means all of Faulkner's stuff is stream of consciousness. And The Sound and the Fury is difficult---it needs to be read and re-read. I have iterated and re-iterated, all over this site, my objection to people being encouraged to start with an author's considered "masterpiece". It puts so many people off, who might otherwise come to love the man as I do. HE didn't start there...why should his readers? I hope you'll give him another chance one day.

So, should I read his books in the order they were published (written)?
Or do you rec any particular order?
I really have NO desire to EVER re-read The Sound and The Fury. :(

All of these posts..and i'm so late!!

{{{{{{{{warm hug}}}}}}}}}

If i forget to take my Anti-Inflammatory...my back reminds me...

Good(er) luck with Auntie

can't say no more

;-/

#255 The only novels that have a logical order to them are the Snopes trilogy (The Hamlet, The Town and The Mansion); they need to be read in that order. The rest of them can be read pretty much at random, depending on your purpose. If you're looking for a "way in", then I'd suggest starting with The Hamlet, or Intruder in the Dust, or The Unvanquished; these are the "simplest" in style and story. Keep in mind that he is a master of dark humor---I think sometimes people fail to see that in his work because they simply haven't been clued in to expect it.

I actually liked his dark humor - which is why I liked As I Lay Dying so much.
OK then, I'll give the Snopes Trilogy a shot sometime soon. Best to start at the beginning.

Thanks, Linda!
and
Thanks for the use of your thread, RD! I know you approve - for Uncle Bill's sake! :)

ETA: Reserved Snopes from my library - that'll make me read it!

I heartily approve of the conversation. I add my rec. for Sartoris, a neglected gem among the Faulkneriad.

Auntie's home, looking good! I'm feeling very happy about her smiling clearness of eye.

Hello Padre, just popping in to wish you well on another cold day. :-*

#259 Yes, Richard, Sartoris is another fine tale. I'm ambivalent about that one, though, because there are two versions (the original as published, Sartoris, and the posthumous Flags in the Dust, supposedly more in line with Faulkner's intentions), and I haven't formed my own opinion as to which of them is "better" or, to be more Faulknerian, "truer". It's a project on my bucket list, to read and assess the two back-to-back.

>260 London_StJ: Howdy, Crypto!

>261 laytonwoman3rd: I favor the as-published for a variety of reasons. Interested to hear what you conclude, Linda3rd.

So glad to hear your aunt's home safe and sound and feeling better!

>263 mamzel: Thanks, mamzel!

I've started the fifth thread now.