Richardderus thread 13 for 2012

My 2012 NEW books ticker:




Previous reviews:

Book 1...thread two.
Books 2 & 3...thread three.
Book 4...thread four.
Books 5 & 6...thread five.
Books 7-10...thread six.
Books 11-24...thread seven.
Books 25-31...thread eight.
Books 32-34...thread nine.
Books 35 & 36...thread ten.
Books 37-42...thread 11.
Books 43-53...thread 12.

My 2012 ORPHANED books ticker:




Books are reviewed in post:

54. The Sisters Brothers...#154.

55. The Uninvited Guests...#240,

Pearl Ruled. Once Upon a River...#245.

Pearl Ruled: Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter...#251.

Be still my heart! I'm first after "space reserved"! And Gene Wilder. Not a thing to say, however.

Am I interrupting your "space reserved" cascade? I see you're moving into new digs....

will we be having some art? please, pretty please. I do love your "findings".

OK, I'll move along so you can decorate the joint.

*smooch*

...and, i'm hoping that you get your Health Care/Disability situation....figured out

so you can actually "man the barricades"....

***smooch***

Hi y'all!

For Karen44, a piece by my favorite unfamous surrealist artist living in Austin, Jay Long, entitled "Shadow Box: Quoi?":

Very nice! And don't we all feel just like that, some days?

Signing in RD for the latest grumpy but always entertaining installment.

thanks for Covehithe. i'm gobsmacked. found some great shots of Covehithe and esp. St. Andrew's church on flicker. and Rowan Gorilla I somewhere on the web. how dumb was that to haul the silly thing across the Atlantic to the North Sea in winter.

i confess i don't understand my affection for the, uh, 'petrospectral presences.'

*Waves* Hello Richard!

I like the art in post 8. Sorry. ;)

Congrats on Lucky 13! Only you could make this number a success. As you know I'm a huge GN fan, but like anything, I could never do a steady diet of them. The ideal tweener books.
Speaking of GNs, your picture in #8 reminds me of Shaun Tan's stunning artwork.

>9 maggie1944: I know *I* do!

>10 PaulCranswick: Hi Paul!

>11 mirrordrum: I know, Ellie, isn't it a trippy little story? And as for silliness, when in pursuit of profit...well...

>12 Ape: I'm glad you liked it, Stephen, so do I.

>13 msf59: Well then, Shaun Tan for the win!

LISTEN!!

going back to Stephen's msg in your old non-shiny thread -- the book we were reading felt more like a comic, and in the wake of your comments I'm wondering how much the inclusion of color and very very busy graphic design affected my physical reaction to it and the real physical difficulty I had reading and absorbing it. I may try to read it later, when I'm not juggling stuff. I might also take it up to Toronto for my brother, who isn't a big reader -- I got all those genes in the family. He might take to graphic novels? My 8 year old nephew would...

Lovely new thread, and love all the graphics!

Hi RD, cant possibly (read that as wont, definitely) go back and red all your last thread, will start afresh on this one- convenient for me I know.

Unfortunately I dont get many of your funny pictures this time as am not in the know with regards to US politics really. Cant be following all that all the time, as they say: spare me the labour, just give me the baby.

>16 Chatterbox: Suz, I think the physiological demands of decoding small, busy, brightly colored art are too heavy for me, so I only read the few words of text. Makes the whole exercise pointless. I suspect you and I are in the same boat.

>17 ronincats: Thanks, Roni! Happy to see you here!

>18 LovingLit: Believe me, I understand. As to US politics, just remember this simple rule: Left is right, Right is wrong. Conservatism is always, uniformly, without exception, wrong and bad and evil.

My educational duties being done, I bid all a good night.

>19 richardderus: Aaaaaah! Now I get it, thanks! :)
ps did you miss me?

>20 LovingLit: ...I'm sorry...and you are...?

xoxo

Hi Richard.

>21 richardderus:
*actually*
*laughing*
*out*
*loud*

>22 EBT1002: Hi Ellen!

>23 LovingLit: Heh.

Hi Richard!

16: Suz your comments were echoed by many at the Book Circle last night (and a lot of people stopped away).

I would argue that Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons in creating Watchmen were aiming at a book that could be read on several levels - that the casual "comic book" reader could read it and enjoy it and the serious "re-reader" could re-read it and always find something new - a newspaper headline, a poster on the back wall , the shape of the figures of Rorshach's mask - to enlighten and/or amuse.

Don't want to thread-jack - I will post a review of the Graphic Novel in my own thread.

Good morning to you! I see that you have formed a deep relationship with Gene...?

All good stuff on this thread! Good morning, RD and hope you're having a happy day.

Ditto message 28!

>25 katelisim: Hiya Katie! Love the Wilder JPEG.

>26 magicians_nephew: Y'know, Jim, I must admit I find the concept of thread-jacking weird. This isn't some sacred space dedicated to The Cult of Moi. Your comments are about something of interest to me, a book; you're making points that I don't agree with, which means I'm learning something; how is this jacking?

I figure if people want to come here, I want them to be here, and to feel free to talk about what interests them at that moment. (Except cats.) (Even Jesus and Dickens.) (Just NOT CATS.) Who are these po-faced puritans who think anything not "on-topic" is thread-jacking? Do I know any of them? Cause Satan only knows I pay zip attention to "on-topic"ness.

I've been wondering this for a while.

>27 mckait: Hello schmoopie. He's just so...sooo...dreeeaaamy....

>28 karenmarie: Hi Horrible! How's The Swerve comin' along?

>29 Whisper1: LINDA!! *smoochiesmoochsmooch* So glad to see you!

How about tea? Can we talk about tea?

Can't wait for the Dickens discussions to start.

Meow.

Oops ---- leaving now!

*zooms outdoor before rd can swat her*

Oh, and: I agree about the thread-jacking question. As long as we're respectful, why not engage in deep discussions on one another's threads? When I can spare the time, it's one of my favorite facets of life on LT.

>31 jnwelch: *wince* Oh damn. Well, I said it. Yes, even *shudder* tea *retch*

>32 EBT1002:, 33 Cats. It hadda be cats. (said in best Indiana Jones voice)

I really and truly don't know, Ellen. I just can't for the life of me wrap my noggin around the idea of making people talk about any one thing. I think there are places where that's appropriate, but here?!

Hi Richard - interesting thread as usual.

Just letting you know I'm still lurking:)

Me, too, lurking about

Delaying going upstairs to my little office where I have some "business" related tasks To Do!

Pouring down rain outside. Even had to turn on some heat in my house. Maybe I'll take a nap.

>35 calm: How do, calm! Glad to see your cloaking device has an off switch.

>36 maggie1944: Howdy, Karen44! heat, huh? We're in a sticky-icky phase today. Blech.

>34 richardderus: LOL

Loving the thought of Indiana Jones terrified in a pit of cats.

>38 mckait: *I* thought my Indiana Jones imitation was *good* hmf

>39 jnwelch: A pit full of cats = terror for me. I'd never breathe again.

*waving*
Happy new thread and happy Wednesday, Richard

>41 Deern: Hi Nathalie! Thanks. *smooch*

i'm reluctant to drop in as i have something unmentionable on my lap around which i'm trying, with some difficulty, to type.

just wanted to say 'hey.' i miss Gene and Madeline. here's to 'em.



sticky here too. i could really use some iced, uh, er, ice. with mint.

add-a-smooch

Good day to you RD

Ah yes, minty fresh ice! So...refreshing.

The hairbrush is, well, it's just the last perfect touch.

whoops! erase-a-pic. where'd it go?

I don't know! But if one right-clicks and chooses "open file in another tab," it still shows the image from Young Frankenstein.

That's weird. Where did it go?

Hi RD- "Even Jesus and Dickens". That should be your Thread Heading! You always put a smile on my face, sir. Hope you had a great day.

43/47: Yep, same for me, the image is fine... You might have a teeny tiny little coding blip or something.

>48 msf59: Oh HELL no! And give people ideas?! Are you *mad*?!

>49 Ape: Well, unfortunately I can't fix it since I didn't post it. I did see it earlier, though. ?

LOL!

nice Mark....lol

34, 39> LOL!!

Richard, you know that telling us not to talk about cats is like that saying "don't think of an elephant." Impossible, given the fiercely independent (dare I say oppositional?) nature of most reader/thinkers.....

I'm getting ready to duck out of work on time (which means early for me!) so I can spend my evening with Fieldwork. Just thought I would say something about books.

*emerging again*
Need to comment, so this new thread will show up on "Your (meaning "My") Posts"

*demerging again. thinking of elephants...

This isn't some sacred space dedicated to The Cult of Moi.

Wait, what? It isn't? Then why am I here?

*wanders off to find someplace else to idolize Richard*

This isn't the cult of moi meeting place? Can I have some kool-aid anyway?

>55 EBT1002: ELEPHANTS! ELEPHANTS! AND OKAPIS!

Did that distract you from...them?

>57 MerryMary: Hi ML! *smooch*

>58 tloeffler:, 59 Wait! I didn't say you *couldn't* just that it's not ALL you can do!

Cookies and kool-aid...c'mon...and yum yum yummy ice cream....

Good morning, RD! Didn't get any more of The Swerve read yesterday - surprise lunch out, daughter home in the evening. Perhaps tonight, as daughter works and husband will be snoring. Don't want to push through when I can't really focus on it.....

Hope you're having a good day.

And I adore all the quotes you've inserted into this thread. Just sayin'.

*smooches* from Horrible

>61 karenmarie: *smooch* for dear Horrible

This disheartens me. The truly ungood book Swamplandia! has outsold the truly good book The Swerve by more than 60%, and the gap rises after the Pulitzer kerfuffle.

NPR's list of summer goodies!

I myownself cannot **wait** for The Impeachment of Abraham Lincoln. I will steal the goddam thing if I have to, and every person I know has already been told (and if they weren't before they are now!) that I want this book for my birthday (September 14, if y'all want to mark your calendars) and if I get more than one, I'll roll naked in the pile of them because I*CAN'T*WAIT* for this book! It is an idea I had years ago, though a different take on it, and dismissed because I didn't want to research the Civil War to the depth I felt I'd have to.

oooh! That Lincoln book looks yummy!!!

Couple of years ago there was a book and movie where
George Armstrong Custer was court-martialed for losing his command at the Little Big Horn.

And a few years before that I was asked to speak on a panel discussion held in Atlanta on the topic "Abraham Lincoln - War Criminal".

So this one sounds right up my alley

>64 mckait:, 65 Oh my heck, yes!!

Don't post cats, don't think about elephants, don't post cats, don't think about elephants, don't post cats, don't think about elephants, this is too much pressure, AHHHHHHHH!



PS: Picture can be removed, if necessary... Please don't hurt me!

LOL

You've been bad. Go to my room.

Okay, but I'm taking kittyphant with me.

kittyphant. wonderful.

naughty naughty!

Love the kittyphant!

Kittyphant LOL

Somebody should shoot that cat's human.

Delurking to say hi Richard.

Watching National Geog Bee.....feeling stupid.....no time for 46 post.....kiss kiss...

Just speaking up to let you know I am here! Apropos of the book summaries on my thread, whatever or whoever is responsible for my being here gave me a brain, and I think I therefore have a responsibility to use it! Alan Watts was an amazing person who certainly used his to the utmost, questioning everything as he felt his responsibility to do so.

Hi Bonnie Tina and Roni!

Icky digestive issues because of gout meds. Tomorrow!

>66 richardderus: the just-released budget here has revealed that children who have after school jobs will be taxed now. Way to go- let the rich remain rich and tax the kids.

The kids will obviously have to get part-time jobs as hedge fund managers to take advantage of the tax treatment of carried interest... *eyes roll*

>78 LovingLit:, 79 WHEN WILL PEOPLE WAKE UP?!?

Did I read that Warren Buffet said he could not understand why people were not more upset over the increasing inequities? Why do people just continue to plod along, assuming they are miserable because they are miserable people? 'Tis a puzzlement!

Ooh, discussing Dickens now, are we?

If memory serves me, I had to start paying income tax at 16 (by law) for my summer and after school in the winter jobs--this was back in the 60s in Canada. Mind you, most kids are so far below the poverty level with their earnings, that we would actually get an income tax return! This was a godsend between the end of the school year at uni and the start of summer earnings--kept more than a few of us from starvation. I don't know of any jobs which put kids' incomes up into the taxable income bracket here. Maybe if you were one of those child wonder entrepreneur types?

82> Indeed we are discussing Dickens!
83> Yep, that's my memory, too. They took out taxes and I got a return at the end of the year. I suppose one could argue that it would have made more sense for me to just keep the money and put it in a savings account (I think they even provided interest of more than 0.1% in those days!), rather than the government keeping it and earning interest.

Good morning, all.

Unable to brain, I has the dumb.

*slap slap*
Here's a strong coffee and a spiced pumpkin pecan ice cream to get you going.
That better RD?
(((hugs)))

ooooooooo ice cream

bleh still feel like hell

Sorry :( hope it passes soon :(

Ditto - holiday weekend. Hope your feel like hell improves, RD.

Richard, I'm having one of "those days" too! Damn. Can not get in gear. Sitting, sleeping, sitting, watching Court TV... can you imagine? holy moley! I do try a little reading... it might help.

ROFL at #68.

go to my room. I love it. *wipes away tears*

#83/84: this is for the paper run kids who are around 12-14 yrs old. They can no longer claim back the tax that automatically gets docked from their wages, averages at about 250NZD per year per child that the govt gets to keep. Very nasty move that just shows the kids that govt doesn't care about them especially as they are also making unattractive changes in the education sector as well. The PM is John Key though he goes by the name of 'Donkey' in a lot of households now.

*waves hello* to Richard. I'm making leek and potato soup for lunch, probably not suited to your hotter climes, but will go down a treat here.

Aw shucks, sweetie....sorry you're feeling bad


glitter-graphics.com

feel better soon....hoping

>92 avatiakh: though he goes by the name of 'Donkey' in a lot of households now
lol
So its not just my household then!? And here I was thinking I made that up....

Sorry you are feeling so lousy. Here is something to cheer you up.

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/art/blog/2012/05/friday-on-the-newshour-stephen-gree...

A very nice article on Stephen Greenblatt and The Swerve!

>88 mckait: I am NOT passing soon!!! That's just MEAN!! Oh wait...oh.

Never mind.

>89 jnwelch: Unless someone cures gout, not happenin' but thanks for the thought.

>90 maggie1944: I can't watch TV. It makes me miserable. So much baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaad stuff on it!

>91 tloeffler: I've used that forever, so I'm glad it's new to somebody who can appreciate it!

>92 avatiakh:, 94 Boooooo to Donkey!!! How bloody greedy and just flat *wrong* that is.

>93 jdthloue: Thank you, angel flower. xo

>95 ronincats: Ooooh! That was so cool! I loved watching him read the excerpt from The Swerve! Thank you much, Roni. xoxo

>92 avatiakh:: that does seem awfully mean-spirited and cheap in the extreme. I hope you guys can fight it. I like donkeys. Don't think I'd like your P.M. Ours is just a plain old ass as well.

Richard, I can't believe there isn't a cure for gout. It just doesn't seem reasonable. So sorry you're fighting the wars these days.

I have no idea what's going on here....

>98 tiffin: Until two years ago, it had been 40+ years since a new drug was researched and marketed. It's not a disease too many people care about. An offhand ""oh, I guess you shouldn't eat meat or drink wine" is about what most people think of. And that's wrong. Far far far worse for gout sufferers is whole grain.

"But...but...that's HEALTHY!" squeak the ignorant. Not for me, not for anyone who has gout, it's not.

It's tedious, educating people who are sure they already know something, and yet don't.

>99 mckait: Go with it, dear.

Funny how no one I talk to feels more secure.

Just waving hi and only had 102 posts to read to do it! Really sorry you're in hell with the gout.

Hi Teach!

Thanks. I'm not leaping about madly, warbling joyous hymns. It's all about coping.

Enjoy your winter, he said through enviously gritted teeth.

It doesn't look like the web is much help educating people about gout diets - they all say the same things about red meat and wine, for instance. Haven't they caught up with the latest info?

It's often so, I'm afraid, with many illnesses whose characteristics become better known over time. Must be frustrating.

Enjoy your winter, he said through enviously gritted teeth.

I find my teeth doing the same.. wah!

>104 ffortsa: It's unsurprising that resources on the web haven't kept up, to me at least, becaue rheumatology is a favorite blame-the-victim specialty. The specialists don't do that, at least not anymore, but the public at large Knows and so the impetus to study up is left to professionals.

And it so happens I'm a professional patient!

>105 mckait: No doubt! Poor lamb. *there there, pat pat*

I wrote and posted a review of a book I absolutely loved, Desolation Road. It's about the human colonization of Mars. But no one gets a freebie because s/he "doesn't like SF" because this book is *OUT*STAND*ING*LY* well-written. And I should know. Check my thread...post #236.

I just read a good one too :)

Richard, my experience, too. The "oh-so-kind" and "I bet if you tried" crowd were the bane of my existence when I first was diagnosed with Rheumatoid Arthritis. It is an auto-immune disease and yet people still thought it would be helpful to tell me to lose weight and I would not have so much pain. Ha! The pain was in my shoulders and wrists - not weight bearing joints, so much! Silly people.

And truth be told I am just barely a little bit plump. No doctor has ever even once mentioned to me the need for me to lose weight.

Ok, enough complaining. I saw the Rheumatologist and the nodules are still appearing on my lungs but she thinks I can probably drop the prednisone and pick up the RA drug, one at a time, in about a month. Pshaw! I really hate the predinisone, but it does cut the pain rather significantly, so I'll grit my teeth and pick up a good book!

Hope your pain has been less today and that your reading is wonderful!

Hugs and Kisses from one who has been absent for far too long. : )

But why did your review duplicate on the work page?

Nonetheless, Desolation Road goes on the wishlist.

>107 mckait: I saw! I went and thumbs-upped it.

>108 maggie1944: OH! The Body Nazis are INFURIATING!!! "Lose weight and everything wrong will suddenly be Right!"

EEEEEEEUUUUUUUUU

Weight loss make my level of severe tophaceous gout *worse*, as my very irritated primary care physician admitted in 2007. My uric acid levels were *higher* when I was thinner. He spent months trying to explain it away. In the end, he couldn't, and it PISSED HIM OFF.

Needless to say, this made my day.

>109 Berly: ..."Berly"...hmmm...the name rings a faint bell, but...hmmm...can't place....

>110 ronincats: I went and looked at the work page and it's not duplicated to me. I dunno!

Hi RD, just hooning past and proudly announcing my all-caught-uped-ness

Well, if you can't dredge up any recollection of me at all, I might as well stay away! And I take back my hugs and kisses. (If you could see me I am pouting with my arms crossed.) Course, maybe it is just senility setting in and I shouldn't give you such a hard time...They say memory is the first thing to go. : P

>112 LovingLit: A prideful achievement indeed! I've never managed it. Color me impressed.

>113 Berly: ..what? What was that? Speak up, little girl, don't parents teach children not to mumble anymore! Lucifer? Lucifer, where are you dear, we're late for the theater!

Morning RD- I loved your review of Desolation Road. You gotta Thumb! Funny, I read very little true Sci-Fi and no, my "booger holder" is not skyward, I just don't for some reason.
Hope you are feeling better today. Stay cool! It's gonna be freakin' HOT here.

Hallo RD! Good morning. It's going to be hot here in central NC too - mid-80s with humidity. Much time in the house.

I've finished The Swerve and may actually write a review - definitely worth reading.

Hugs and smooches from your own Horrible

>115 msf59: Well, time to break the streak, Mark, and read Desolation Road. Too good to miss. Thanks for the thumb!

>116 karenmarie: OOO goody good good! Can't wait! xo

I Pearl Ruled a book that lots of folks around here loved, but I LOATHED: Black Swan Green. The review's in my thread...post #243.

Sorry to hear that about Black Swan Green. I was looking forward to that one too! Mitchell is a hellava writer, IMHO.
Desolation Road is smack on the List!

"Hope you enjoyed the theatre, you rat," she sarcastically mumbled.

Hi Richard, stopping by for a visit to catch up. Sorry to learn about your health ailment but other than that it would appear things are otherwise normal here. :-P

> 69 - Kittyphant. Love it!

Now off to see if I can track down some spiced pumpkin pecan ice cream..... sounds Yum!

>120 lkernagh: ...see if I can track down some spiced pumpkin pecan ice cream...
My thoughts exactly, that stuff sounds supreme.

LIKE

>118 msf59: You stick to Desolation Road, Mark, and give Le Mitchell wide berth, and your grandchildren will not come out with paisley skin and giant warts on their *ahem*s. Keep reading Mitchell and, well, I did what I could.

>119 Berly: ...WHAAAT?! Dratted little minx! Get off my lawn, kid!

>120 lkernagh: Hi Lori! Glad to see you!

Spiced pumpkin pecan's home.

>121 LovingLit: Megan, it is the best ice cream maker in the world. Bar none!

>123 mckait: Me too! *smooch*

Gotta love Dorothy Parker (I still like the too-oft quoted line about martinis...).
And, sci-fi reader though I am not, I'm putting Desolation Road on hold at the library. Why not?
Happy Monday, Richard. I hope you're feeling better.

So... are you better?

>125 EBT1002: Oh goody! I hope Desolation Road is a good read for you, Ellen.

>126 mckait: No. Quite a lot of stuff hurts, which is only to be expected after a party.

so.. do we get to hear about your party?

After this upcoming nap, how 'bout.

>124 richardderus: Great big thumbs up here on the ice cream. Definitely the best ever! You know, I've lived in Texas almost 40 years - not 2 hours from the Creamery - and never made it there until this spring. Enjoyed the tour, but enjoyed the ice cream shoppe at the end more!

Sorry for the gouty problems. Hubby suffers, so I can sympathize some. He finds that a cup of black cherry juice every day helps avoid flare ups - but it sounds like his is a much milder form. Here's hoping you get to feeling better soon.

>122 richardderus: Another LIKE for the Dorothy Parker.

I ordered Desolation Road, and I'm really enjoying the Jo Walton. As I mentioned, they didn't have the Waltons you liked, but this new one, the award-winner, is quite good so far.

>130 dulcibelle: I went to the creamery only once, and it was a really interesting experience. I'm glad to see you visit here!

>131 jnwelch: Yeah, that's an old favorite, and when I found the JPEG, I knew I had to have it.

Walton is a very pleasant writer to read, she's yet to let me down.

Still worn down and achy from too much done yesterday. I made butterscotch cake with cream cheese icing, and coleslaw; hardly taxing...and yet, that coupled with sitting around for six hours making conversation caused me to feel so much aching that it made me want to weep. I've been recumbent ever since, basically.

*smoochies* rdear. I'm baaaccckkkkkk. And thanks to you attempting to freak me out about rabies, I've just googled the symptoms .. just in case.

>133 cameling: Hi there, world traveler! Ummm...did they mention that excessive use of Google is one of the symptoms?

Give Harry the Bat a pat on his leathery wings from me!

Hallo, Sweetie!! i finally broke down and turned on the AC...

All this Ice Cream talk has got me thinking about ice Cream Makers......since I live a ways out of town, getting ice cream home, from the store, is often a touch-and-go enterprise....and, while i love Ice Cream Soup, it's a big NADA in the grocery bag

So...any one have an idea/preference for Ice Cream makers???

oh, The Portable Dorothy Parker is right up there, next to the Bible, on my shelf!!!

Gout Schmout
((((RD))))

Have you considered becoming bionic? This could help.

Monday afternoon smooches, dear one! Hope you're recovering from your cake and coleslaw making. Much less 6 hours of conversation. Ugh! I think I'm just too anti-social for that much conversation with any group of people I can think of.

Horrible

I am thus armed with information and therefore on the watch for any non-key lime pie induced drooling and hallucinations, rdear.

>135 jdthloue: This one. My neighbor has it and it makes the most perfect homemade-texture ice cream I've had from a machine. He got it from Amazon for $50.

>136 LovingLit: I ponder it daily, Megan.

>137 karenmarie: *smooch* for my dear Horrible!

>138 cameling: Someday, dear Caro, I shall make you my special home-made key lime custard ice cream. If you survive Harry.

>139 richardderus: That one is on my Ammy Wishlist! Thank you, sweetie! I do like Cuisinart products (though i don't have a Food Processor, per se...i love my Immersion Blender).

;-}

>140 jdthloue: Oh good! Follow their recipe-book recipe for vanilla ice cream slavishly the first time. After you know what the benchmark is, you can start to play.

>141 richardderus: First, I have to buy the damned thing! LOL!!

;-)

*lurking on by*

All this talk of ice cream.....

*wanders off into the kitchen, up to No Good*

>142 jdthloue: So Friday, then?

>143 maggie1944: Hi Karen44! I'm lurking down to the kitchen to get the last slice of butterscotch cake, myownself.

Hey lots of smoochies going on over here. Oh, what the hell, I'll throw a couple in! Oh boy, you need a shave!

One of our party guests yesterday exclaimed, "You look like Walt Whitman!" to me. I was so flattered!

(it wasn't me what did it, though I admit there is a passing resemblance. I attribute it to the beard...)

No, it was Andrea's husband...so sweet.

I fluffed the beard for hours before y'all came, and he was the only one who said something nice! *sniff*

"Circle of Shadows" starts well...touchstones don't know it yet, for some asinine reason.

*smooch*

xo

*smooch* Thanks for the drive-by!

just whizzing through ....

Party?
My invite must have got lost in the post....

Luckily my whole life is one gigantic all day all night party extravaganza. Up at 11pm partying with Wilbur who thought he had wee'd the bed (was just his water bottle), up at 3am partying with Lenny who thought smiling and clapping hands was appropriate for that time of day....the fun never stops here!

Even so, I think Id like to try your party next time :)

>151 tututhefirst: Hi! *throws kiss after speeding Tina*

>152 LovingLit: Party for Memorial Day, not arranged by me, needless to say, as it's hot and bleccch and all I want to do is sit in front of a cranked air conditioner. I did like the potato salad.

Review: 54 of seventy-five

Title: THE SISTERS BROTHERS

Author: PATRICK DE WITT

Rating: 3* of five

The Book Report: Achilles and Patroclus in the Old West. Brothers whose adult lives are spent murdering in the service of a venal master, the Commodore, without question or conscience. Eli Sisters, in this story, awakes to conscience, and as is inevitably the case, disaster, ruination, and tragedy ensue.

My Review: Pleasant way to wile away the hours. Some anachronisms niggled at me. I thought the storytelling voice was charming.

That's it, really. Nothing world-shaking. A very nicely made novel about people I'd cross the street to avoid in real life. If television is too unspeakably grim and Nabokov is too much work, this'll pass the time.

Richard, I do hope you're feeling better. Your review of The Sisters Brothers made me chuckle. I agree that the storytelling voice was charming.
Butterscotch cake with cream cheese frosting sounds downright delicious.

Brief de-lurk to whinge. My Jersey is too HOT! How's yours? X

>155 EBT1002: A good deal better, thanks, Ellen. I spent yesterday in bed, so the healing magic of sleep could transact its wonders.

That cake is so delicious it's hard to describe. At least it is for me, who dislikes chocolate. SOME PEOPLE weren't crazy about it, though.

>156 BekkaJo: 33C today. *retch* I am not leaving my air-conditioned bedroom except to walk the dog. I can't eat when it's this hot.

yep.. the cake does sound good. Toss some ice cream on it.. Dinner!

#157 I'll trade you - it's not that hot here, but the window has broken in our bedroom - it's in the loft space. I am dying at night. Yuk yuk yuk. Hopefully just found someone to fix it - gonna cost a fortune but it's that or I'm going to have to start sleeping in the bathroom. Or on the beach...

Hope the temp drops soon for you! X

Who on earth was rude about the cake?? I liked, even though I don't have that much of a sweet tooth (well, except for crepes and cinnamon buns...) But it was very very rich...

>158 mckait: World's easiest cake, too. It's very dense and puddingy, because it's got two boxes of pudding in it...cook the pudding, with an added stick of butter, then after it cools, beat the pudding with three eggs until smooth, add the lot by folding into yellow cake mix, bake about 5min longer than the cake mix box says. (Since I couldn't lift the pan out of the oven this time, I sent others to do the job, and it was just a weeeee trifle underbaked.) Make cream cheese icing the *right* way, splash it on the cake, and eat until you can't.

I adore it.

>159 BekkaJo: Oh my dear my dear! I am so so sorry!! That is unfun to the fiftieth power. *there there, pat pat*

>160 Chatterbox: O.o

mmm hmmm

One teensy little bitty piecelet, consumed with grimaces and winces and the occasional back-of-the-hand-to-forehead. Small whimpering sounds of distaste. *sigh* And I slaved away, making everything from scratch, even scotching the butters myself!

:_{

Oops...gave that game away above...drat!

:-P~~~

No, I overheard a comment from anothe dark-haired smoker source about the cake. Really it only rankled because she said to my face that it was delicious. Why lie? Why not just say thank you and pass on?

WANTWANTWANT

WANTWANTWANT

161: That sounds delicious! Wish I weren't so incompetent in the kitchen. :(

The book hamster wheel is awesome. I figure I'm going to walk into people when reading in public anyway, so rolling over them is definitely an improvement.

I know! I think it's the coolest thing ever!

I got my ILL of Green Darkness by all-time reigning champ snoozer biddy Anya Seton today. I remember this sucker from the 70s as a wrist sprainin' kitten-squisher of a book.

Agent 6 is bigger! This thing's petite compared to today's mammotho tomes!

Hi RD- I'm glad you enjoyed The Sisters Brothers. I loved it. I really liked Eli's voice and the author has a sharp wit too!

You cannot mention butterscotch cake with cream cheese frosting without sharing the recipe with those who weren't at the party, Richard! *grumble...ssshushing sulky tummy*

>168 cameling: "World's easiest cake, too. It's very dense and puddingy, because it's got two boxes of pudding in it...cook the pudding, with an added stick of butter, then after it cools, beat the pudding with three eggs until smooth, add the lot by folding into yellow cake mix, bake about 5min longer than the cake mix box says. (Since I couldn't lift the pan out of the oven this time, I sent others to do the job, and it was just a weeeee trifle underbaked.) Make cream cheese icing the *right* way, splash it on the cake, and eat until you can't."

Ta da!

>163 richardderus: ROFLMAO X 5

>170 mckait: I know! I'd sure give it a whirl.

I went off on another site. A conservative troll was stirring up stuff. I wrote this.

"NOTHING will soothe me enough not to hate and scream about the hijacking of my beautiful, wonderful, amazing country, built on a dream of respect and equality of treatment for all, built with blood and sweat and death from people who could barely read and write AT BEST, but who believed in a vision never before seen and only sporadically spotted this century: Fairness. Social and economic justice. Sincere and abiding respect for the right of each to disagree with all WITHOUT FEAR OF OFFICIAL REPRISAL.

Who hijacked that vision, this amazing, beautiful dream?

Moneymen. Must make their money safe. THEIR money, not the money earned by the sweating laborers whose efforts create the goods and provide the services that generate the profits that enable their worthless sons to go to college instead of Afghanistan, their worthless daughters to have comings-out and weddings that would, in a rational society, cause rebellions against their useless extravagance.

Every compromise, every time the President stakes a position that *should* belong to a moderate Republican, is a victory for the hijackers. Every word of caution, every single utterance that isn't a shout, a scream, a challenge flung in the leathery old faces of the horrid, vile, evil men and women who control 90% of the money in the country, is a waste of breath and another step closer to making permanent the horrors of fascism that send down deeper and deeper roots in Murrikin society.

The world my grandchildren will live in isn't one I wish to see. Which means, the christian gawd being the evilhearted bitch she is, that I'll live to 141.

Conservatism is morally, politically, societally WRONG and should be resisted at every turn. And I do only what one old man can: Holler at the assholes to get off my lawn."

On a lighter note:

ahahahaha

Yes, and Yes! Right on both notes! Precisely.

163> LOL! I'm in!

Oh dear Me oh my.. Have to delurk to mark a spot as I am over 175 behind.. I guess that is what I get for a camping weekend with guests at my home and very little online time.. Sigh.. Sending Hugs and Smooches your way RD.. Hoping your holiday weekend was great.

>171 richardderus:: I'm not "murrican" but as a close and frequently very worried neighbour, well said, sir.

Rdear... where are you ?

>173 mckait:-175 I know!

>176 MonicaLynn: Hi Monica! Well, here you are, so all is well.

>177 tiffin: Thank you, Tui. Sometimes I feel as if I'm shouting down a well....

>178 mckait: I've been asleep, mostly...so weary from the party on Sunday, still, plus the seven days of company. I do not know what I'd do if I had to live with someone 7 days a week. I know that a lot of it is the toll pain takes on me, demands a lot of my resources to cope with basics like walking, eating, etc. Thank goodness it's not an every-day thing for me!

#172 - flying spiders - gads. The mind boggles.

#179 The hardest part of getting married 21 years ago was giving up so much of my alone time. It about drove me crazy. I get some alone time now, but not nearly as much as I want.

Hallo RD and hope your day is going well.

Greetings fellow Swervist! I'm well enough. Not complaining too loudly. Mostly because it's 20min awake, 20min asleep!

I'm glad you're well enough today, RD. Although the 20/20 sounds less than optimum.

Following up on Karen's thought, the hardest part of getting married 28 (almost 29) years ago was trying to figure out how I'd keep Walklover from offing me from sheer annoyance. Still hanging in there.

A good reminder.

>182 jnwelch: I will only bet, Joe. That's a long life together!

>183 richardderus: Nice. I couldn't agree more.

183> Thank you for that, Richard. :-)

>170 mckait: I concur

You are coming up with some excellent funnies lately RD! Loving them.

>185 kidzdoc:-187 I'm glad the stuff I'm putting up is having the desired effect of making y'all smile!

Butterscotch cake with cream cheese icing. An 4.7-rated ice cream maker that doesn't require massive amounts of crushed ice and rock salt. And an earlier friend's suggestion of gin & lemonade. If I wasn't out of money till payday Friday, I'd be at the store right now buying it all. With the week I've had, and what I expect to come, I'd eat/drink it all tonight too.

*smooch* in passing.

Flying spiders would indeed be hellish. I find the jumping ones to be creepy enough already...

>189 tloeffler: Shall I mail you the butterscotch cake, loveycuddles?

>190 Ape: The mind boggles, the spirit quails.

Oh do make it rd.. TLo deserves it, and she would share :)

>192 mckait: mmmmm I dunno....the icing in the mail...? Naaah.

*evil Muttley laugh*

I hadn't thought of Muttley in years. I loved Muttley!

I do too!

Somehow my daughter persuaded me to make cakes for her jubilee party at nursery tomorrow. The kids aren't required to bring anything - she just thought it was a good idea.

I am in for an evening of icing. Ah well - there're worse things :)

Just say they aren't fairy cakes...please...please....

Petit fours and cupcakes. So.. kinda...sorry...

Did royal icing rather than butter if that helps.

And wait a moment - what's wrong with fairy cakes?

Anything Paul McCartney sings about is A okay with me .

>198 BekkaJo: Fairy cakes are ew. Girlie wirly foodsy-wooooo. Like angel food "cake" or battenbergs. *shudder*

>199 mckait: Interesting...I sense a diet book in the making....

#200 But battenberg is awesome - I adore marzipan. Nom nom nom...

Marzipan: The definitive girlie comestible. *gag*

I've written another fill-in review for old book circle books, this time the 5-star beauty BkC15) Nights at the Circus, in my thread...post #259.

I dare not buy another book... not for a while.. wonder if I can find it at a local library?
( rofl )

I share your amused response to *your* liberry having it.

197> Just say they aren't fairy cakes...please...please.... LOL!!!

Hi Rd- Thanks for the Mr. Crabby Pants List! Just put a well-needed smile on my mug after a long sodden day. How are you doing with those 48 liberry books?

Forty-six left...the Mitchell and the deWitt have gone back, and no new ones have come in.

just wandering through.

#202 Well last time I checked I was a girlie so I'll just sit here adn eat battenberg and cupcakes :) Nom nom nom.

And a BIG glass of wine - awful stressful week. Thanks any gods you may believe in for four day weekends. Woot!

>209 mckait: Hail, Wanderer!

>210 BekkaJo: Yes, but being a girl, Mum, doesn't mean being GIRLIE necessarily. You just munch away on that *wince* battenberg. I'll eat my Murrikin cookies.

200:

Angel food cake with chocolate glaze frosting was my b-day cake until I went away to college.

Does the gentleman call me a girlie man?

And I hate marzipan, so do I have to give up my girlie status?

>212 magicians_nephew: Girlie man. *shudder* Angel food "cake" AND chocolate? I would have to lie down upon being served such, in order to regain my composure.

>213 tiffin: *buzz* Hello, Girl Certification Bureau? Yes hello, I'm calling for the Enforcement Division...I'll hold...hello, is that Enforcement? Yes hello, thank you you sound *adorable* today too, I need to report ungirlish behaviour...yes, behaviour with a "U" good ears dear, the alleged perpetratrix is Canadian...yes, I'll hold...oh and sweetie? that shade of nail paint just *couldn't* be more scrumptious!...oh hello back! yes, I need to report a Canadian citizeness for a girlishness breach...disliking marzipan...I KNOW! I WAS SHOCKED!...her name? it's....

mmmmmmmm I love Angel food cake!

and... LOL > 215

Oh my goodness. I scared poor Miss Cleo with my burst of laughter on that one. Really. That's about the funnies thing I've ever seen. Must steal and carry it with me everywhere.

And yes, please to the butterscotch cake. Maybe if you put the icing in a separate tin, and I could frost it when it comes....

You're going to make me drive back up there, aren't you? Dang!

Richard, I seem to recall that you're a Mets fan. Did you see the game tonight? The first no-hitter in Mets history! Wow!

>216 mckait: Yuck. You want my piece?

>217 tloeffler: Yes. Yes, I am. I will make gooey butter cake AND butterscotch cake.

>218 tymfos: It was GORGEOUS!!!!!!!!!!

Homemade angel food cake with fresh strawberries and real whipped cream is not a bad thing at all. Packaged or storebought angel food cake is yuck.

Yes! 1000% agreement with karenmarie!

>214 richardderus: I love this riff on the Girl Certification Bureau, Richard! I never knew there was such a thing. Do they have one for clueless guys?

Big guffaw about behaviour with a 'u' and the GCB. You are SUCH a silly pea, Ricardo! In the best possible way, of course. I think I automatically got decertified when I entered cronedom.

good morning rdear !

>220 karenmarie:, 221 People MAKE that, that spoodge?! DELIBERATELY?!

*shudder*

>222 jnwelch: Man Central. And an ancillary bureau, the Reichsfuhrer Politburo Republican Bund.

>223 tiffin: Cronedom is no bar to one's retention of girlieness. Pity you never knew Mama. She was a girliecrone. "Daaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhliiiin? I cain't reach the {gigantic} tureen, Ah'm too little."

I haz no girliness.. ....or, very little anyway

#219 : And where or where is my invite to this gooey buttercake and butterscotch cake party? Hmph!

Congratulations to Johan Santana! It's a shame that Tom Terrific wasn't the first Met to throw a no-hitter, though.

oh well...i'll take my good news where i find it with my boys the mets.

I've been told that I never went to girl school. I'd probably flunk.

226- ha! you girlie girl you.

227- i'll send pictures of tlo and me scarfing the goodies down. *evil muttley laugh*

>215 richardderus:, yep, the simplest of jokes are the most hilarious.

Was about to chime in and say how un-girly I am myself, then realised Im wearing both a skirt today, and mascara, so I cant really claim that (even if it is leftover mascara from last night;))

hmm... I don't own anything skirty.. unless nightgowns and robes count?
I wear mascara about once a year......

I do have pink bedsheets that are my favorite....
and the sheers under my dark red bedroom curtains have flowers.
Hmmm I do like nice undies under my jeans and flannel shirts :)

Well "girliecrone" made me snorfle! I think I'm just a plain garden variety crone. I'm too independent for girlie and would feel like a circus clown in ruffles.

>230 ffortsa: Dunno...you're such a girl about some things...

>232 LovingLit: Last night's mascara? Uhhhmmm, we have a different word than "girle" for THOSE women.

>233 mckait: And you scream the house down when stink bugs get caught in your hair.

Like the one that's there now.

>234 tiffin: I had to wear a light blue tux with a ruffled shirt in 1975. I too felt like a circus clown.

....

Oh! Another stink bug in your hair! Oh dear.

(Our cocktail guest brought me her last Vicodin so I am feelin' no pain.)

Tomorrow's another day. I can wait...

>235 richardderus: chuckle.....Im not that kind of girl....Im barely a mascara wearing girl either, it makes my eyes cry. I think Im allergic. But every so often, like when Im going to see Ian McKellan on stage, I think....why not?

Review: 55 of seventy-five

Title: THE UNINVITED GUESTS

Author: SADIE JONES

Rating: 3* of five

The Book Report: Emerald Torrington turns twenty today. Her shabby-genteel mama Charlotte, bratty brother Clovis, and afterthought baby sister Smudge, née Imogen, are celebrating with a dinner party, to include Emerald's old friend Insignificance, née Patience, and her brother Ernest; and a last-minute addition, rich local businessman John Buchanan. Charlotte is hoping John will marry Emerald, who Does Not Fancy him and wastes no time letting him know this; he responds by laughing at her arrogance (go John!), yet he still gives her a beautiful cameo as a birthday gift, and still feels...well.

The the Railway wishes upon the family an entire carriage-load of strangers due to an accident which occurred on the branch line. Florence, the housekeeper tasked with keeping house and making a party with one maid who's time is in demand as a hairdresser-cum-lady's-maid for all the abovestairs women, fetches them tea and then the whole household, and invited guests, forget about them.

Except Charlie. Charlie, from First Class unlike the ragtag and bobtail who arrived before him, moves right on in to the birthday party, with surprising...shocking, in fact...results.

Some guests are more uninvited than others. Poor Emerald...such a decent sort trapped in that last moment of adolescent intolerability and intolerance. Well...not any more.

My Review: Three stars? Does that seem a bit mingy? It isn't. I'll tell you why.

What begins as a species of Edwardian-style Heyeresque silliness turns into The Turn of the Screw, and for no really good reason. It's nicely written, being a Sadie Jones novel, and it's plotted with some care, but the mash-up takes a lot of suspension of disbelief and it's not asked of one until too late in the game. I don't think of myself as an inattentive or oblivious reader. No adequate set-up was done for the surprise twist, and so instead of feeling excited and pleased, I felt slightly seasick at the sudden change of direction as the boat, previously making for a harbor I could see miles away, goes across the waves' direction towards a more distant island.

Surprise me, yes; do a hard one-eighty, and you risk making me feel duped instead of pleasantly surprised. And that is where The Uninvited Guests left me. Looking for clues as to why I ended up in Calais when my ticket says Southampton.

thumb

I wanna know what happened to Charlie

Thanks for the thumb! As to Charlie...nothing good.

oh dear.

Charlie is such a cheerful name....

It's always seemed sinister to me. Dunno why.

Pearl Ruled: ONCE UPON A RIVER by BONNIE JO CAMPBELL (p82)

Oh heavy, heavy sigh. I cannot make myself read more of this beautifully crafted book. Campbell's trademark gorgeous sentences are not enough to propel me any further into the life of sixteen-year-old Margo Crane. I don't want to read about Margo's consensual sexual adventures with an adult man.

I just don't.

But let me tell you what's right with this book: The writing. Oh. Oh. Campbell is describing a harsh and unjust world in words that make me vibrate like a tuning fork that's just found its note. Campbell's descriptions of Michigan make me ache to see it for myself. Her deft, cruel characterizations are inarguably fine...nice, in the original sense of the word...I don't want to use the word "precise" because that conjures the spectre of Henry James, and that scares people off, but precise they are.

I hate like poison that the beauty of the book, its lovely wideness and its supremely inviting lushness, are closed to me by my own shuddering disgust for teenaged girls and heterosexual congress. But that, I fear, is where I am and what I feel.

DO NOT TAKE THIS AS A WARN-OFF!! I recommend to the straight people who like gorgeous writing and coming-of-age stories that this book rise to the top of the pile immediately! If it's your first try at a Bonnie Jo Campbell book, so much the better, and so much the more exciting for you. She is a talent to be savored and supported with book purchases.

Sounds OK to me, and my library has it on order, so.....wait for it I will. Thanks RD :)

>244 richardderus: Maybe because of Manson? That's the first Charlie I think of....

>246 LovingLit: I truly hope you will, and that you'll give it the luuuurve I couldn't.

>247 tloeffler: ICK! Yeah, I don't think of Manson first, but I just don't like the name.

Charlie---- I think of Charlie from Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory

How can you not like Charlie? he got the golden ticket ;)

now Chester, that's a sinister name for me!

smooch!

Pearl Ruled: CROOKED LETTER, CROOKED LETTER by TOM FRANKLIN (p96)

Rating: one grudging star of five

Tedious sentences telling a tired old story in an unfresh way.

Carolyn twisted his head harder, and Larry pushed at her arm but she had his hair and he told himself not to cry. Then she slammed his head down, hard, onto his desk. Everybody laughed so she did it again.

He stole a sideways look and saw her face. He'd never been that angry. He didn't think he had the ability to summon such anger, or the right. With her other hand Carolyn grabbed his arm and twisted it so he fell out of his desk, The Shining landing beside him on the floor.

This fight is important. I could not possibly, even upon making an effort, be less interested; also, the stupid and incredible (in the original sense) stuff about the kid thinking those thoughts while a girl is beating his head against the desk just finished off my willingness to go any further into the story I already didn't like.

Plus I do not ever wish to read the word "nigger" again. I was raised by a mama who smacked me when I said it as a four-year-old. "Daddy says it!" I protested. "If you can't learn to be better than your daddy, you won't be much in this life."

Maybe I'm not much in this life. But I don't use that word or its horrible ilk. And I don't hang with people who do, even in books.

Didn't this one win an award somewhere?

It did...a Gold Dagger from the CWA. I could not tell you why.

So it could commit seppuku?

LOL.

Harry Truman was quite a man, wasn't he!

Latest chapter summary up on my thread, R Dear.

>254 tiffin: And should.

>255 ronincats: He was!

I read the summary; I so wish Julian had lived.

You were so fast! I was here on your thread and you were already over there. Yes, it would be an interesting thought experiment--if Julian had lived and had a well-established reign, what might be different today? Especially, what might have happened to Christianity?

Thumb for your review of The Uninvited Guests, which I will still give a try.
I don't think I need to read Once Upon a River, but do you have another by her that you'd recommend instead?
I read Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter all the way through but your comments are spot on.

#251 You must have had serious issues with Huckleberry Finn in that case?

Love the Truman quote RD - did he go to the same school as you did?

Love the Harry Truman quote, too..

Book awards as a barometer of books make me itch.
I have no patience with them. As far as I am concerned, they are
nice for the author, but have nothing to do with a reader.

I am very glad that I decided against Crooked Letter when it came out!

xo

>257 ronincats: What might have indeed....

>258 EBT1002: I liked Campbell's story collection American Salvage quite a lot, Ellen. Bleak, but beautiful, like Knockemstiff.

>259 PiyushC: I make a distinction between someone in 1880 saying it and someone in 1980 saying it, but it still clanks like a dropped skillet when I see it.

>260 PaulCranswick: If I hadn't met all my grandparents, I'd say he was my ancestor!

>261 mckait: Prizes. Too big a topic for me this morning.

Even-handed and excellent review of The Uninvited Guests, Richard. Thumb from me. I'll mull the Bonnie Jo Campbell. Good to hear a contrarian view on Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter.

Passing through hope your weekend was wonderful :)

Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around. -Leo Buscaglia, author (1924-1998)

265: Couldn't agree more. I think people forget that just because the action itself requires so little effort, it doesn't lessen the profound (if not subtly profound) impact on a person's day/week/month.

i thought it was worth posting because all i want to do is kill people randomly and painfully because the gout got worse again.

I don't suppose a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring would do any good, would it? I might be socially inept but odds are I should be capable of at least 1 or 2 things on that list.

RD- Are you considering killing people again? You must be hurting. It's good to hear you liked Once Upon a River. It's been getting a mixed response. Like you, I loved American Salvage. Loves me some, Hillbilly Noir!

*EVERYBODY TOUCH APE!!!!!*

Sorry to hear you are hurting!! Please don't kill anyone though, maybe just read a good murder mystery?

I think it's Richard we need to touch!!

>267 richardderus: I hope the FBI aren't reading that....if they are, then that plumbing van out the front of your place isn't really a plumbing van. Maybe take them out a cuppa, they have been there for ages.

Sorry to hear of the source of your rage, I hope it has passed now (the rage and the height of pain)

*off to touch Ape*

from Eolas na Glachaich:
"Your pain and sickness
Be in the earth's depths,
Be upon the grey stones,
For they are enduring."

I like the idea of shoving your gout deep into the earth and into the stones. I wish it really were possible.

Sorry to hear you are in pain Richard. Hope you find relief soon.

....... not sure why we are being asked to touch Stephen (Ape).... is this some new age therapy thing? Just askin'.

Get better soon.

Can't sleep. Came over to catch up. Loved your thread as per usual. Sorry about the goutiness. Big smooches!

272: Agreed!

Good morning, everyone. Here's a gentle, virtual, group hug for all who crave to be touched. I am pretty sure I'm "touched" and I think it is a great way to be!

*very gentle snuggles*

Good morning campers! I'm sure we're all waiting with bated breath for the report: Much lower pain load today, thanks to a triple dose of colchicine. It whacks down the gout flares, but it also does dirt to my digestion, so I save the big doses for big problems. I couldn't turn the car left without sobbing, so I decided that constituted a big problem.

Overnight, the damn stuff worked its magic and wrought its evils. So my elbow and shoulder no longer feel like they're on fire, but I won't be eating anything. Damned condition.

In other grumblings, the mooings and carryings-on about Divergent convinced me to ask the liberry for it. Perhaps I was inattentive. Perhaps the reviewers were simply in cahoots to trap me. NO ONE MENTIONED THE DAMNED THING IS A YA NOVEL.

The characters are SIXTEEN.

UUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU
GGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG
HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

Back it goes, unread forever, not to sully my ambit with its ghastly Clearasil miasma, no way no how not a DAMN chance sooner I would die thank you please than read any smallest part of it, including the flap copy.

Best wishes from the man-witch, RD. Hope this is a good day for you pain-wise after a lousy one yesterday.

Yes, Divergent is a YA novel. Written by cats, and based on a Charles Dickens novel. You're probably wise to take a pass.

even if I told you there isn't much teenage angst and doesn't really read like a YA?

eta I just noticed Joe's post Yes, Divergent is a YA novel. Written by cats, and based on a Charles Dickens novel. You're probably wise to take a pass.
thanks for making me laugh and spit my tea all over my laptop! ;)

Why would you deprive yourself of a good read, because of a label that someone else slapped in it?

There are famous classic novels with teenaged main characters
Catcher in the Rye for instance :)

I don't want to read about teenagers. I've already read Catcher in the Rye, thanks, and I'm done with the little pishers.

I don't know, every time I read YA I find they offer a whole lot more depth than the drivel found in my library's adult paperback/genre fiction section. I can understand avoiding 'coming of age' stories but YA is a hell of a lot more insightful than ANY adult genre fiction, and the authors' heads aren't as inflated as adult 'literature' writers.

Two words: Teen agers. *shudder* Angst r not me.

Ah, well, you know you're own tastes better than I do.

I loathe the age group myself, though I find that the behave more obnoxiously when written into adult books than they do in books labeled as 'young adult.' Shrug. I don't read a whole lot of YA myself, but I keep meaning to...y'know, it being the golden age of YA and all that. ;)

Let's just hope, then, that there are no teenagers in the latest Louise Penney novel, an ARC of which I cajoled out of the folks at the Macmillan booth on your behalf... (But having done the heavy lifting, I get to read it first, natch...)

squeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee
squeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee
squeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee
squeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

wow.. it's your lucky week!

Neato! I still haven't read those...I'm just afraid I won't appreciate them like everyone else, considering my opinions of the mystery genre... =/

Ohhh jealous to the max!! I hope you love the new Louse Penny book. You are lucky to have such good friends in high places ;)

Good morning RD, glad (?!@?) to hear that one ill has been substituted for a less painful but as irritating one...
Teenagers freak me out, but I dont mind reading about them.

Good to hear its a pain free morning ....... eating can be overrated - just make sure you enjoy what you have when you do eat !

and today? how are you ?

~meh~

Book is in the mail....

Glad you were able to get some relief from pain, but sorry to hear about the fasting today.

Whee!

If you haven't looked at today's Google doodle, it's a doozy! Cute, funny, and nostalgic for those of us over 45.