Joe's Book Cafe 6

Chihuly glass sculptures in outdoor garden in Seattle (one we hope to visit in April)



Chihuly at the deYoung, San Francisco



Chihuly at not sure where



Chihuly at Chicago's Garfield Park Conservatory

Here he is:



Welcome back to the cafe!

Favorite Books in 2012:

Cannery Row by John Steinbeck
Unbroken by Lauren Hillenbrand
Ex Libris by Anne Fadiman
The Siege by Helen Dunmore
Behind the Beautiful Forevers by Katherine Boo
Running the Rift by Naomi Benaron
Wild: From Lost to Found by Cheryl Strayed
The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller
In A Sun-burned Country by Bill Bryson
Turkana Boy by Jean-Francois Beauchemin and Jessica Moore
Shadow Divers by Ron Kurson
Travels with Charley by John Steinbeck
The Garden of Evening Mists by Tan Twan Eng
The Western Lit Survival Kit by Sandra Newman
Pyongyang by Guy Delisle
The Yellow Birds by Kevin Powers
Team of Rivals by Doris Kearns Goodwin

My fave 2012 young adult books were:

The Fault in Our Stars by John Green
Wonder by R. J. Palacio
Bitterblue by Kristin Cashore
Insurgent by Veronica Roth
So B. It by Sarah Weeks
The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky

Favorite Nonfiction from the Last 10 Years

1. Mountains Beyond Mountains by Tracy Kidder
2. War by Sebastian Junger
3. The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson
4. Behind the Beautiful Forevers by Katherine Boo
5. The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind by William Kamkwamba
6. The Mold in Dr. Florey's Coat by Eric Lax
7. Mayflower by Nathaniel Philbrick
8. Unbroken by Lauren Hillenbrand
9. The Judgement of Paris by Ross King
10. Lost in Shangri-La by Mitchell Zuckoff

Runners-up: The Swerve and Will in the World by Stephen Greenblatt, Michaelangelo and the Pope's Ceiling by Ross King, Strength in What Remains by Tracy Kidder, The Lost Painting by Jonathan Harr.

Favorite Fiction from the Last 10 Years

1. Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami
2. 1Q84 by Haruki Murakami
3. The Cellist of Sarajevo by Steven Galloway
4. Major Pettigrew's Last Stand by Helen Simonson
5. Matterhorn by Karl Marlantes
6. No Country for Old Men by Cormac McCarthy
7. The Road by Cormac McCarthy
8. Remarkable Creatures by Tracy Chevalier
9. Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress by Dai Sijie
10. Old Filth by Jane Gardam

Runners-up: The Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes, Garden Spells by Sarah Addison Allen, The Blind Contessa's New Machine by Carey Wallace, After the Quake by Haruki Murakami, The Kite Runner and Life of Pi.

January 2013 Books

1. Gone Tomorrow by Lee Child
2. The Book of Five Rings by Miyamoto Musashi
3. Anomaly by Skip Brittenham
4. The Books of Magic by Neil Gaiman
5. Robopocalypse by Daniel H. Wilson
6. Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
7. The Nao of Brown by Glyn Dillon
8. Low Town by Daniel Polansky
9. Bend Not Break by Ping Fu
10. Conspiracy in Death by J.D. Robb

February 2013 Books

11. A Memory of Light by Robert Jordan/Brandon Sanderson
12. The Miniature Wife and Other Stories by Manuel Gonzales
13. All Roads Lead to Austen by Amy Smith
14. Volt: Stories by Alan Heathcock
15. Scarlet by Marissa Meyer
16. Tell the Wolves I'm Home by Carol Rifka Brunt
17. Notorious Nineteen by Janet Evanovich
18. Tiny Beautiful Things by Cheryl Strayed
19. Howl A Graphic Novel by Allen Ginsberg and Eric Drooker
20 Loyalty in Death by J.D. Robb
21. Jerusalem Chronicles from the Holy City by Guy Delisle
22. Show Red for Danger by Richard and Frances Lockridge
23. Emma by Jane Austen and Nancy Butler
24. Rebel Heart by Moira Young

March 2013

1. Yoga for People Who Can't Be Bothered to Do It by Geoff Dyer
2. Witness in Death by J.D. Robb
3. Are You There God, It's Me Mary: The Shangri-Las and the Punk Rock Love Song by Tracy Landecker

I love Chihuly

One of my favorite books, ever: Chihuly's Pendletons and their influence on his work

Hope to see you in April!

Nice new thread :) Hi Joe!!

Never heard of Chihuly before, but I love the colours and shapes of his sculptures!

I've not read a single one of your 2013 reads so far; the closest I got was hearing some of Strayed's book about her long distance trek (I forget the name) on the radio last month as the book of the week - I'd not heard of her before that, and then I immediately started seeing her name on the threads here.

Hi Joe, beautiful glass pictures!

Lovely new thread here, Joe - the thread toppers are GORGEOUS! I still have to catch up with the last cafe, but I am reserving my spot here anyway!

I recognize Chihuly because I saw an exhibit of his in Florida back in the 80s. Just one more day in my 30 Days under 2500 calories. Not that I'm going on a huge splurge. I've lost 18 pounds! Don't want all that work to go to "waist." Ha! So, rustle me up some baked ziti, mozzarella sticks and brownies with nuts, please? The only temptation I can succumb to is virtual!

Innovative and interesting are the glass sculptures Joe as always is your thread.
Not in the least caught up mate but wanted to get to your new thread early and lay down my tropical marker.

>3 maggie1944: Me, too, Karen! That looks like quite a book. I'd never heard of it, or of his interest in Native American blankets. Thanks!

Yes, we're going to figure out our late April/early May schedule and let you and Ellen know.

>4 mckait: Hi, Kath! Thanks! It's hard to capture in photos the feeling of his sculptures in person. I hope these come close.

>5 gennyt: Thanks, Genny! Good, I'm glad that's your reaction to the photos. His sculptures are something special to experience.

Strayed's Wild is well worth the read if you get a chance. I've noticed it's been on the NYTimes bestseller list forever now, so it's got lasting power. She's got a very strong writing voice.

>6 wilkiec: Thanks, Diana! He's a treat. Can't wait to see his museum and garden in Seattle!

I was not familiar with Chihuly either...what glorious work he does! After doing a little research I realize I have seen some of his work at the Corning Museum of Glass. I just didn't register the name. (But what if there's hail storm in Seattle?)

Hello Joe, congrats to another thread with such inspiring opening pics. Aside from the brilliant food servings here, our other senses and mind are spoiled as well.

I very much enjoyed your review of Howl and I think I definitely have to get that one as well.

I also liked your review of Howl. I attended a publication workshop in Seattle a few years ago and that is the first time I saw Chihuly glass.

It is incredible beatiful...and incredibly expensive.

I love your opening photos. Here is a bright, sunny lollipop for you.

Happy Day to you Joe!

>7 Crazymamie: Ha! Thanks, Mamie! We've always got a spot for you here, that's for sure. Glad you like the threadtoppers! Take a look at Tiny Beautiful Things in particular when you catch up on the last thread; I suspect you'd like that one a lot.

>8 Morphidae: Way to go, Morphy! 18 pounds is so great, and I know you lost a lot before that. Virtual eating is just right for these situations, seems to me. Here you go:



>9 PaulCranswick: There's our guy! Thanks, Paul. Your tropical marker is appreciated, and we'll keep that comfortable seat ready for you. Thanks for taking time to stop by; I know that thread of yours is ever-busy.

Love the pictures of the Chihuly glass, Joe, and the picture of Chihuly himself. When we were in Phoenix recently we went to the Desert Botanical Gardens. They had a Chihuly exhibit in 2009 and still have some "Desert Wildflower Towers" that they're trying to raise money to keep.

>11 laytonwoman3rd: Isn't it great, Linda? Good point about the hail storm. Don't know what the thinking or protection is on that score. The weather in Seattle is more moderate than in a lot of places. In Chicago the Chihuly show was mainly under glass at the conservatory, but there were some outside sculptures that they probably could have moved in threatening weather.

BTW, I just started one of the Lockridge mysteries, Show Red for Danger, with Merton Heimrich and Susan Faye, and I'm enjoying it very much so far. Thanks for getting me started!

>12 drachenbraut23: Ah, thanks, Roberta! Good to hear the Howl review tickled your fancy. Enjoy!

It's fun to see what these artists come up with, isn't it? We try to be omni-sensory here at the cafe. :-)

>13 Whisper1: Ha! Thanks, Linda! I'm glad you liked the Howl review, too. It's quite a poem, and quite a book.

Chihuly glass is beautiful, isn't it? Yeah, I can't imagine trying to buy any. It must be incredibly expensive. Thank goodness for all the public displays of his work.

A bright, sunny lollipop is a pleasure to get on any day, but is particularly welcome on a Monday. Thanks! Hope you have a great week!

>15 phebj: Glad you like those Chihuly glass pics, Pat, and the one of him. I'll bet that was some exhibit in Phoenix. Great environment for his work. Those Desert Wildflower Towers are beautiful. I hope they're able to keep them.

Morning Joe- Congrats on the refreshing new thread! I like the Chihuly art pieces. I have never heard of this before. See, what you learn on LT? It's just not books, beer and food and DA and knitting and...you get the idea.
I started the Marquez. Not far in but I really like it. Lovely writing.

>18 msf59: Hiya, Mark. Thanks! Yes, LT is a great place to learn all sorts of stuff, isn't it? The U.S. and global reach always amazes me, but we even learn a lot from each other in the Chicago area, don't we? I'm glad you like the Chihulys. Wish we'd known each other back when they had the Garfield Park Conservatory exhibit. It was a beaut. We took the kids and they loved it.

Day off, yes? (Finally!) Glad you're liking the Marquez. Lovely writing indeed. I had forgotten Mystery March, but I'm reading one Linda (laytonwoman3rd) recommended, by new authors to me, Richard and Frances Lockridge. Good so far.

Regarding hail and Chihuly glass. We very seldom have hail, and when we do it tends to be a little flurry of a few minutes, and the hail is about the size of 1/2 of a frozen pea. I also think his outside installations are made of pieces that are hardy. No fool, he.

His collection of Native American blankets is quite extensive and is said to have inspired his early work. After he had an accident (car, I think) and lost the use of one of his eyes, he assembled a work shop of folks. It is those workshop works which we see these days, I believe.

I'd love to find a biography of him. I think he has led an interesting life.

There's a lovely Chihuly hanging in Storer Hall (the music building) at Kenyon College - I walked under it every week on my way to symphony rehearsal:

GORGEOUS sculptures!

Yes, I thought after posting that maybe Seattle just doesn't have hail...I have such a Northeastern Pennsylvania weather outlook that outdoor art installations always strike me as a little foolhardy, unless they're made of granite!

And, upon further research, I find those remarkable flowers on the ceiling in the Bellagio in Las Vegas are his too. I may have my own photo of those somewhere. Well, I'm not going to forget his name now, that's for certain.

Joe- Yep, we may be nerd & geeks but at least we are knowledgeable nerds & geeks! So will April 6th work for you guys? If so, I think we will set it up and go for it. I sent Linda & Laura a message too!

>20 maggie1944: Makes sense, Karen, on the sculptures in Seattle. He does seem interesting. I hadn't remembered what the accident was, but I saw a PBS special on him and his workshop, and I think you're right. Kudos to Chihuly for keeping going after something like that. You're right, a biography of him would be interesting to read.

>21 scaifea: That is a most excellent one, Amber! That certainly would be inspiring to pass by. Symphony rehearsal - that sounds like an intriguing part of your life. What instrument did you/do you play?

>22 PawsforThought: Ah, glad you like them, Paws! They're beautiful, aren't they?

>23 laytonwoman3rd: You know, my wife stayed at the Bellagio for a gals' weekend a few years ago (a friend's getaway before her wedding). I'll remember to ask her whether she remembers the Chihuly piece there. Love to see your photo if you find it.

>24 msf59: Yes, did I remember to tell you that, Mark? Aprill 6 works fine. Looking forward to it. Book nerds and geeks unite!

just about to finish Gaiman's Coraline, only my 2nd Gaiman. whee doggies. i tell you, one part of this sucker gave me such creepies that i wouldn't listen to it before going to sleep at 4 am, only at nap time. haven't felt like that since i was a kid and the real (original) Invasion of the body snatchers totally creeped me out and i was looking under my bed for a week.

great book, Coraline. anybody seen the movie?

just put City of glass: the graphic novel on hold at the lieberry. you people have ruinated me with your GN stuff. rather can't wait, though i do have Nao of Brown in happy progress. it's an addiction. a total addiction, this book thing. never ever enough.

ah, the crows and the sunlight are calling. last day of temps i can put my face in. must away for a toddle up the street.

Joe: I'm a percussionist, and while I was teaching at Kenyon I participated in the Knox County Symphony - an organization for community members and college students. I played all manner of percussion instruments, whatever the pieces we played required, beyond the timpani, as we had a resident timpanist for that. I miss those days - the area in which we live now has no such community group.

>27 scaifea: a percussionist? ohmigod, Amber! heaven. you had me beetling off to iTunes for some Evelyn Glennie and Evelyn Glennie and Bela Fleck. any recommendations for others, esp. women? i wallow in ignorance.

Joe, ever been to see Diana Krall in your estimable musical environs? there's something about her touch on the ivories that does scary things to my entire being. not to mention the voice. i would love to see her.

#26 I have seen the movie, Coraline, and it was quite creepy. Brilliantly executed, I thought, although I haven't read the book, so can't comment on how it matches up.

>26 mirrordrum: Loved the Coraline book and movie, Ellie. Both creepy in somewhat different ways - in the book it was creepy in my imagination; in the movie they get you right in there visually.

Let me know what you think of City of Glass: The Graphic Novel. What an unusual one to tackle for that format! I've wondered about it. Glad you're making happy progress with Nao of Brown. Love that one.

>27 scaifea: Way cool, Amber! What a shame they don't have a community symphony orchestra near you. Symphony percussion looks like a blast when we see it at the CSO.

>28 mirrordrum: I'll look forward to hearing Amber's response, Ellie. Diana Krall: we have lots of recordings of her, and I want to get her new one, but we've never seen her live. What's the matter with us? We need to change that. Debbi likes her as much as, or maybe even more than, I do. I hope she comes to town some time soon.

>29 laytonwoman3rd: Yup, I'd say the same, Linda, and it matches up quite closely with the book.

Joe- You may have mentioned something about the 6th of April but I just wanted to verify. I was thinking around 3. Maybe start at Myopia?
I read City of Glass but I do not remember much about it! I know I need to read more Auster.

This is the pizza/brewery place I was thinking about: http://www.piecechicago.com/about/index.html

How close do you think it is, to the bookstores?

That's perfect, Mark. Myopic is just a ways south of North Ave on Milwaukee, and Piece apparently is close by on North, near the intersection with Milwaukee. Easy walk from one to the other. Just FYI, there's a good used cds/dvds place nearby on Milwaukee, too, called Restless Records: http://www.reckless.com/selltous.php.

>28 mirrordrum: Ellie: Well, I'm afraid I'm going to disappoint you, but I don't really follow percussionists per se (I wouldn't single out female percussionists for their own sake - in my book a good percussionist is a good percussionist is a good percussionist, as it were). My personal tastes run toward Drum Corps stuff mostly - I would highly recommend checking out The Cavaliers or the Madison Scouts or the Santa Clara Vanguard on YouTube - there's some amazing chops going on out there, and if you ever happen to hear of a drum corps show anywhere near you, GO. It's unbelievable when it's live. Otherwise, and not really strictly percussion, I really like the two-man group, Matmos. They're off-the-beaten-path, techno-y, weird, but very *very* cool and they do some cool percussive stuff with unordinary objects. (Cool story: I used to date a good friend of theirs and thus have met them and they're so cool it's unreal. Makes me feel hip just saying that I've met them.)

Where does Quimbys fit in?

>33 scaifea: not a bit disappointed. you're knowledgeable, i'm not and your perspective makes sense. i just rarely get to hear or see female percussionists, am absolutely clueless. PMed you since this is largely OT.

Joe what a lovely new thread. To my surprise my name is already mentioned in post #16 but it was Bianca you were referring to in post #12. Not that I mind to be mistaken for the lovely Bianca.

I work extra this week but will get together with my cousins at the end of the week for some chick flicks and wine.

#26 Ellie - I absolutely love the Nao of Brown! Thanks to Joe for introducing that one. I borrowed it from the library but I think I am going to splurge and buy it.

>35 mirrordrum:: Oh, let's not forget Shiela E, for sobbing out loud. Perhaps not the most outstanding set player ever, but still a female force for good in the field, eh? Plus, The Glamourous Life? Awesome piece of the 80's.

Oh Joe, I am absolutely loving the Chihuly scuptures. Thank you for highlighting such beautiful work. I read Howl as a college freshman and your terrific review brought back memories of that, fairly vivid memories;-)

What a wondrous vision Dale Chihuly has, such forms and colors, a real treat for the eye.

>37 scaifea: Sheila E always struck me as more of an "oh, wow, look, there's a woman who can play the drums" performer but i enjoyed her because she had the ovaries to do it and because it was fun to see a woman. naturally, i don't know what a 'set performer' is. *sigh* whoever said 'ignorance is bliss' was painting knowledge with far too encompassing a brush.

>40 mirrordrum: Ellie: Sorry for the jargon - "set performer" just means someone who plays one a drum set, as opposed to being in a marching drumline, or a part of a percussion section in an orchestra. Lots of percussionist do more than one of these things, or all three (I've dabbled in all three (I have a set of my own, inherited from my brother), but my true love is being part of a line).
I think my love of Sheila E is mostly tied to my great nostalgia for All Things 80's, really. Sigh.

Back to Chihuly: They're lovely, no doubt, but the dreary, practical side of me always wondered as I passed under the one at Kenyon, "How in the world does one dust/otherwise clean such a thing?!"

Joe, those glass sculptures are stunning! I would love to see them in person. Maybe someday.

I hope you're open for business. I got up at 4:00 a.m. to take my hubby and son to the airport. They are off to China in a snowstorm. They got out of Missouri okay, now they have to hope the Chicago connection to Shanghai comes through. I had my morning coffee but could use some hot chocolate before I battle my way out to get the newspaper!

>42 Donna828: Sounds like Donna needs HoCho pronto, so here we go:



What a great adventure for your hubby and son. Is it for fun, or is there a project involved?

>>33 scaifea:, 35, 37, 40 Good info, Amber and Ellie! The only one I know is Sheila E. I remember her mainly with Prince.

Good point about cleaning Chihuly pieces. I'm guessing they've got a set process they use, since cleaning them must be an issue a lot.

Darn, lost all my other posts. I'll be back. Hit a wrong key somehow and never could find my way back.

>34 msf59: Quimbys is just a block away from Pieces on the other side of the street, Mark. Another easy walk. http://www.quimbys.com/

It's quite a neighborhood. The border of Bucktown and Wicker Park. Lots of artists.

>36 luvamystery65: Thanks, Roberta! Jeesh, I'd better have some of the cafe coffee. Sorry, Bianca! It's fixed now. I occasionally get mixed up by LTers with Jim (drneutron), and I similarly figure that's pretty good, all things considered.

I'm so glad you enjoyed The Nao of Brown so much! I bought it; couldn't resist. What a good one it is.

Hang in there; that most excellent weekend is coming up soon.

>38 brenzi: My pleasure, Bonnie! It's a good feeling to have folks enjoy the Chihuly pieces. We're looking forward to seeing his ones out in Seattle.

If you liked Howl in college, take a peek at this graphic version in a bookstore or the library. You can tell, I think it really enhances the poem. I also like that Eric Drooker, the illustrator, knew Ginsberg and worked with him.

>39 DeltaQueen50: Isn't he a treat, Judy? Yes, it's not just the wonderful shapes, but the colors, and how they mix with the environment and each other.

>42 Donna828: Hope that HoCho hit the spot, Donna. And glad to hear the Chihuly pieces strike your fancy. I wouldn't be surprised if you could find some exhibited near you. He's had (has?) some in the Missouri Botanical Garden.

Such a busy place! More traveling being planned? What busy guys you are :)

I find the Chihuly interesting.. I also find the a wee bit jarring "in the wild" I think? I mean, I canpicture them ina big glass room, in a tower, maybe? But outdoors? I guess I am more of a nature enthusiast than a glass art enthusiast?

*ducks*

>44 jnwelch: Woo, a bit busier now that I got that post to work, Kath! Yes, we've got some travel up ahead. We miss having that son of ours around.

I have to admit, seeing Chihuly's glass sculptures in the wild, among nature, really works for me. There's something magical about it - surely fairy folk must be somewhere near by? But you can find his work in buildings, too.

Amber, shame on you for sending Ellie to Cavaliers & Madison Scouts for female percussionists! They're all boys...

The Chihuly exhibit at the MO Botanical Gardens is gone (and was fabulous), but MOBot did purchase a Blue Chandelier. I can't find a really good picture of it, but here's a link to it: http://www.missouribotanicalgarden.org/media/fact-pages/ridgway-visitor-center.a...

Oh. Hi Joe!

Terri: I wasn't sending her to them for females - I had stated that I don't like the distinction (hence the Getrude Stein-ism statement above). I chose those two groups because they're my favorites! Actually, beyond the Santa Clara Vanguard, my guess is that one would be hard-pressed to find many ladies amongst the male-dominated world of drum corp drumlines.

Chihuly sculptures - awesome! I want to see some in person!
Need to put together a USA tour of Chihuly exhibits... I have a feeling the pictures (though they are impressive) cannot match the real thing. Maine needs some of those.

I checked your 2013 reads and, like Genny, find I have not read even one myself! Will have to remedy that. Which should I read? Forget AK!

It's aimed at kids but here's how they clean Chihuly sculptures - with Swiffers!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0kFsLvP6TcE

>47 tloeffler: Hi, Terri! Good to see you! Thanks for the Chihuly MO Botanical update. It looks like a fabulous show all right, from what I can see online.

>48 scaifea: I hadn't thought about drum corp drumlines being male-dominated, Amber, but I'm one of those who finds male-dominated things like that more boring, plus it raises the question: why? I hope it changes. It was a good thing here when the Chicago Symphony Orchestra started having blind auditions where the judges couldn't see the people auditioning, and now it's got quite a mixture of folks.

>49 -Cee-: Ha! I like that idea, Cee, a USA tour to see Chihuly exhibits. You're right, the pictures cannot match the real thing. Here's the list of public installations on his website, and Maine unfortunately isn't on there yet: http://www.chihuly.com/places-public-installations.aspx. But I did see that the Portland (Maine) Museum of Art says it has work by him.

You know, as you can tell, my reading is all over the place, including in 2013. If you like short stories, I'd recommend Volt Stories. High quality. If you like Jane Austen and travel memoirs, All Roads Lead to Austen is a fun one. If you like autobiographies, Bend Not Break is amazing in content, although a bit pedestrian in the writing style. I still have trouble fathoming what Ping Fu has done with her life. If you like YA, then I'd recommend Cinder and Scarlet. Really well done. If you like graphic novels, The Nao of Brown and Howl A Graphic Novel are both standouts. If you like gritty fantasy, Low Town was a really good debut. If you read and liked Cheryl Strayed's Wild, or you like advice columns, Tiny Beautiful Things is excellent. You should be able to find my reviews pretty easily on the book pages for all of those.

>50 Morphidae: Thanks, Morphy! That's a great Children's Museum in Indianapolis, too.

De-lurking to mention Heather Robb of the Spring Standards as a percussionist (although not exclusively). There are plenty of videos of Little Bug on YouTube. I have no idea whether she is a particularly good percussionist, but she's certainly enthusiastic.

Also, there is Torry Castellano of the Donnas. They opened for Pat Benatar recently and I remember being fascinated to watch a female percussionist. Made me realize at the time that they must be pretty rare.

Thanks, Joe, for being such a gracious host.

*** scuttles back behind a pile of books ***

Just chiming in to say Piece Pizza is fantastic!! One of my favorites, but it can get really busy.

>52 MDGentleReader: Good to see you, MD! Glad you found a good seat behind that pile of books. Did you by any chance see our cat back there?



You're quite welcome about the gracious hostingness; I suspect it's the intriguing denizens who carry the day on that one. If you decide you'd like anything from the kitchen, just let us know.

Thanks for identifying some more female percussionists. Have no idea how helpful this is, but here's a list of "famous female drummers": http://www.ranker.com/list/famous-female-drummers/reference. It shouldn't be unusual, should it?

>53 seasonsoflove: There's our favorite pre-K teacher! How'd it go today? Good to hear about Piece Pizza. Maybe late afternoon Saturday will work out okay for gathering there?

It's going good, thanks Dad! Sounds like a plan :)

>54 jnwelch: well i shall check out your list but not a mention do i see of my new pash, Dame Evelyn Glennie who, btw, played the aluphone at the 2012 Olympics and lovely it was, too. also, she has an 8 minute youtube thing on the snare drum that dropped my jaw!

librarything at Joe's: more than i could have hoped for! all this and book stuff too.

i finished Coraline and was not quite happy with the penultimate ending as i was hoping, idiotically i suppose, for something creepily hokey like a presentiment that the Other Mother was still around and not to be done away with so easily. but the denouement was clever if a bit of a stretch. i gave it a 4 star anyway because it's very well done and bits of it really gave me great ooglies. love that.

i'm going to take a very close look at that hocho you made for Donna to, you know, be quite sure it's up to standard.

yes, yes, i took a very close look but i believe it requires further consideration so am taking it to my ferny nook for a long inquisition.

i checked all the way to the bottom, just to be sure, and it's just fine. it is now resting comfortably in my hocho repository reflecting on its experience.

>56 mirrordrum: Thanks, Ellie. I'm going to have to find time to listen to Dame Evelyn now. Aluphone? OK, I'm curious.

I'll have to revisit penultimate and ultimate in Coraline. I'm glad in the end there were bits of great ooglies and a 4 star experience. He's quite a storyteller, isn't he?

In case Donna comes looking for her comprehensively tested HoCho, here's some more:

Hi Joe- I hope you are hanging in there with the snowstorm. Yikes. Fortunately, my son was home today, so he cleared most of our driveway with the snowblower. I helped with the shovel. It's nice getting help. I hope there isn't much more. Boo snow!
Well, it looks like we'll have to hit Quimbys too! LOL.

I saw Chihuly's work at the Bellagio way back--maybe late 1980s?

I've checked my photo album, and the only picture I took of the Bellagio lobby isn't worth sharing. The difficulty of doing justice to that incredible ceiling is illustrated by the photo on Chihuly's own website You just can't see it properly unless you're there. And then, you can't stop looking at it.

there's even a little embedded video about the making of the sculpture on Chihuly's site. there are some interesting videos of him (his studio people) working on YouTube as well.

here's the shortest EG bit i can find from the 2012 opening ceremonies. and a really kickass snare drum solo. you need to watch it from at least 6 mins in.

Is that a pic of your real kitty?

>58 msf59: Hi, Mark. Digging out wasn't as bad as it might have been - a neighbor snowblew (is that a word?) the sidewalk, so I just had to do some cleanup and get our porch and stairs. I know what you mean about getting help; I've had to resist going over and waking up the helpful neighborhood kid now that our son's on the West Coast. His parents probably wouldn't appreciate that.

Crummy and sloppy out this a.m., but could've been a lot worse. Boo snow! I agree.

Yeah, not sure if we'll have universal interest in Quimby's, but we'll see.

>59 ronincats: I keep forgetting to ask my wife about Bellagio's and Chihuly, Roni. I believe it's still there. She was there much more recently.

>60 laytonwoman3rd: Whoa! Thanks for the link, Linda! There's a lot going on there. I can see why it's hard to capture in a photo. I'm not a big fan of Las Vegas, but at least that gives me a fun destination if I end up there.

BTW, I finished the Lockridge's Show Red for Danger and had a good time with it.

>61 mirrordrum: Thanks for the links, Ellie. Enjoyed the EG aluphone music - what an unusual instrument! I listened to some of her comments before she started snare drumming, and she seems quite charming. One comment said she's been a TED speaker? I then heard some of the solo before the 6 minute mark and all of it after. Woo, she's good! I don't know that I'd have the strength, and certainly not the rhythm.

Yes, I want to explore that Chihuly site a bit when time opens up. I saw a PBS show on him and his workshop that was very good.

>62 mckait: I wish, Kath. We had two great cats, Dora and Grace, many years ago, but our daughter was a severe asthmatic and we had to give them away (to a very nice lady who kept them on a farm - our daughter is convinced they live there still, although that would mean history-making life spans). Now we enjoy grandparenting Sherlock the hypoallergenic miniature poodle.

I'm glad you enjoyed the Lockridge, Joe. As for the Bellagio Chichuly, it was about 5 years ago that I saw it. It was commissioned for the space, and has something like 2,000 flowers in it. (I also wonder how it gets cleaned. There must be specialists... ) It was my first, and probably last excursion to Las Vegas, and I went kicking and screaming. But my husband had a chance to attend a National Association of Broadcasters convention and trade show, with his flight, the hotel room and his food comp'd, so I relented to his begging, and went along. I really wasn't sorry (although I hate to fly), and if you ever find yourself there, I will tell you there are many many things to see, do and enjoy outside of casinos (or attached to casinos), including a branch of Bauman Rare Books, a couple very good art galleries (one of which is in The Bellagio), interesting shops, and fantastic food. Then, of course, there are day trips into the desert and to Hoover Dam, easily arranged. As I was on my own there for most of 10 ten days, I saw a lot of the good stuff, and spent very little time in bars and casinos. None of the shows appealed to both of us (especially at the prices they command), although I might have gone to see Cirque de Soleil if it had just been up to me.

I unfortunately didn't like Jerusalem Chronicles from the Holy City by Guy Deslisle as much as I did his Pyongyang, set in North Korea. Because of his wife’s job with Doctors Without Borders, this cartoonist gets to travel to places that welcome such help and create memoirs in comic form. In this one he deals with the fallout from the Israeli/Arab divisions every day, including a high barrier wall that fascinates him and he draws from many angles, until security moves him on. In Jerusalem Israelis normally don't travel in Arab areas, and vice versa. One Israeli cab driver doesn't even know how the Arabs get around, saying, "The Arabs have buses?"

This is a substantial volume, 320 pages, and has many things to like in it. He's there with his two kids, and in his wanderings finds some good playgrounds and cafes, as well as attractive places to view the city. Because it's difficult to work at home, he ends up in a lovely high up windowed room in a church, thanks to a friendly priest. There nonetheless is plenty of violence around their lives, countless security checkpoints, and access to points of curiosity limited, based on religion. He's an atheist, but learns to carry around a kippa to wear to facilitate entry. He's seemingly apolitical, so we accompany him on his travels through the city without any strong religious or political slant. And yet, there seemed to me to be a continuous undercurrent of bully (Israelis) vs. victim (Arabs/Palestinians), and he doesn't seem to get to know any Israelis very well. It makes for quite a contrast to How to Understand Israel in 60 Days or Less by Sarah Glidden, an open-hearted exploration of the country and her internal feelings that finds many more positives, not to mention much physical beauty. My wife has many warm memories of Israel and that beauty, so I may be affected by that, but this visit to Jerusalem raised the question for me of why so many people love living there. Despite pockets of civilized living, the answer would be hard to find in Deslisle's memoir of his year there. I had read somewhere that if you're going to read this one, you should read How to Understand Israel in 60 Days or Less as a balancing companion. I agree with that. It may simply be the differences in how people experience a locale, but I didn't feel I was getting close to the whole picture with Jerusalem Chronicles.

>64 laytonwoman3rd: You experienced Las Vegas the way I'd like to, Linda, so if we do end up going there some time I'll try to remember to get some tips from you. Bauman Books - that would be great. I'm one of those who longingly reads the back of the NYTimes Book Review and dreams of owning some of the rare literary gems they offer. My MBH saw Cirque de Soleil when she was in LV and loved it. Plus Chihuly in the Bellagio. It's starting to sound like a much better place to visit. I was there as a youth (or yute, as Joe Pesci would say), but I'm not much of a gambler, (nor did I have much money), so at that time it was pretty much lost on me. I do like the desert environment.

There are original Picassos in the Bellagio's restaurant. You can afford to look, even if you can't afford to eat! And since this is the cafe, I can highly recommend the Bouillabaise at the Paris. This is one of my photos.

I had the great joy of holding a first edition of The Sound and the Fury for a second or two at Bauman's. A delightful agent there treated me as if there were a chance in h--- that I could be a real customer.

>66 jnwelch: i'm not going to comment on Las Vegas except to say "no comment." ;)

you may wish me joy. i finished Middlemarch, all 36 hrs, and i was on ESPN.com last night (sorry 'bout the Bulls' 2-in-a-row-bummers, Joe) reading an excerpt from Pat Summitt's autobiography due out on March 5. i bemoaned not being able to read it, but went to the "pre-order" place on amazon just to see the cover and WHAT LO! it will release simultaneously in print, cd, and audible.com. YAY, i say.

>eta some hocho w/ a little Maj. Dickeson's added:

>67 laytonwoman3rd: Yum! Picassos, too? Better and better.

>68 mirrordrum: Yay! Double yay! How did you like Middlemarch? I really enjoyed that one, although I wanted to throttle Casaubon.

I think the Bulls team members were really hoping they'd get Derrick back if they could just hold the fort through the All-Star break. He's doing well, apparently, but not well enough. And may not be back this season. (Ouch!) He's such a good kid, I hope this all has a happy ending.

Congrats on finding Pat Summit's autobio in enjoyable form!

ETA: that HoCho with a little Major Dickason's looks good!

I'd like to try both those Jerusalem books I think. I did enjoy Guy Deslisle's Pyongyang.

>54 jnwelch:. Cute Kitty.
*** Achoo! Wheeze. ***
Like your daughter, Joe, I am allergic to cats.

>70 SandDune: If you liked Pyongyang, there's a good chance you'd like these ones, too, Rhian. I'd love to hear your reaction; you can tell I have mixed feelings about the Delisle, but there's no question it's well done.

>71 MDGentleReader: Ah, my sympathy, MD. They're such endearing little critters, but they're tough for people with allergies. It's a treat to have young Sherlock around, who has no effect on our daughter at all (other than charming her).

Hi Joe!

Hiya, Joe- Good review of Jerusalem Chronicles. I'll probably take a pass. You are my GN Go-to Guy after all. I have to make some more head-way into Anomaly. I like it so far, but it's just LONG.

Hi Joe, I feel like a teenager about to pull an all night study session. I have one last book that I want to fit into various challenges and I have to get it read by midnight tomorrow. It's a YA fantasy called The Iron King by Julie Kagawa and luckily it's turning into a fast read and is holding my attention.

I have no books to report, still haven't started the LTER I planned to. I think I have only read half of the days ( or less ) of the year so far. Woe is me. Not a GN person, so that one isn't for me :) Have a happy day Joe

@ 63

I very nearly inhaled yogurt up my nose as I had the misfortune to be eating breakfast when I laughed at an unexpected "snowblew."

*snork* It's still funny.

@ 64

Dad didn't want to see Cirque du Soleil? Whassamatter him?

#78 Well....he might have had to get up too early in the a.m.'s to go to any show at night during that trip.

>73 richardderus: Hi, Richard! Shortest message I think we ever got from you!

>74 msf59: Hiya, Mark. Yeah, I'm looking forward to Rhian's report when she gets around to reading it, but I just can't give you a rec on it. I still want to read his Burma Chronicles at some point.

Anomaly is a long one, for sure. Nothing earth-shaking, but fun.

I want to do something to help the folks in Building Stories, but apparently they're only images on paper.

>75 DeltaQueen50: Good for you, Judy. Jeez, I haven't had come through like that on a deadline (for pleasure reading, anyway) for a long time. Glad it's a fast read. That's a new one to me, so let me know if you like it. Rebel Heart is a fast read YA I'm in the middle of right now.

>76 mckait: Thanks, Kath. I know you liked Kristin Cashore's books. Have you tried Cinder? You might like that one. Hope you have a happy day, too.

>>77 lycomayflower:, 78 Ha! Glad you liked "snowblew", Laura. Sounds like it nearly gave you a noseblow. Cirque de Soleil: I don't know what I was doing the first time, but my wife and daughter went without me in Chicago. For the other one, my wife went to Las Vegas on a husband-free escapade. (Luckily, she eventually came back).

>79 laytonwoman3rd: Hmm, is that "early in the a.m." you speak of, Linda, what some might call the wee hours of the night? If Cirque de Soleil puts on a 7 or 8 a.m. performance, I can do it. Midnight or after, you'll probably just want to prop me up out in the lobby and pick me up when it's done.

I don't remember what time the performances were scheduled, but I do know that the man had to be up, on the monorail, and out to the convention center (far other end of the strip) by 8:00 every day, and he was brain-tired by dinner time. I had a lot more fun on that trip than he did.

>81 laytonwoman3rd: We do manage to get out when Debbi comes with me to those kinds of things, Linda, but your hubby probably pays a lot more attention than I do. I just kind of surf on the top of the brainwaves and try to reach shore without hurting myself.

BTW, I found out I'm actually getting the ER book I wanted most, the newest in C.J. Box's Joe Pickett mystery series, called Breaking Point. I've been hooked on that series for a while. Perfect for Mystery March.

This was kind of a once-in-a-career opportunity, so he wanted to make the most of it, AND his boss (who is also a friend) was a constant companion. But we had excellent dinners, and that rates very high on his list of entertainment!

>83 laytonwoman3rd: Couldn't agree more on the excellent dinners. We try to collect ideas for the cafe. :-)

You may have seen this competition for oddest book title: http://news.yahoo.com/tea-cozies-pencil-sharpening-vye-oddest-book-title-1256551...

Personally, I do love How Tea Cosies Changed the World.

>85 jnwelch: Bizarre....

>86 richardderus: Oo, here's a fun collection: http://www.bikepaths.com/humor/oddTitles.html

Some that grabbed me:

Crocheting Adventures with Hyperbolic Planes, by Daina Talmina

Living With Crazy Buttocks, by Kaz Cooke

How To Avoid Huge Ships, by John W. Trimmer

Our Lady of the Potatoes, by Duncan Sprott (a cafe favorite)

>87 jnwelch: ::boggle::

Our Lady of the Potatoes...by SPROTT...!!

Loves to watch them sprott.

i loved the original winner Proceedings of the Second International Workshop on Nude Mice but your pick is definitely a close second. more yarn splashing about.



i also liked God's Doodle: The Life and Times of the Penis, though it's not a title i'd rush out and buy. but then, neither is the tea cozy book.

what fun! thanks, Joe.

>eta what's probably most amazing is that there was ever a first Int'l wkshp on nude mice. i'm w/ RD. *boggle*

Ha! Yes, how could we have missed that first international workshop?

I keep breaking up over Whose Bottom is This? A Lift-the-Flap Book. Hmm. I don't think so. Nope, not me.

while you were away, i got the chef to serve me a grilled swiss sammo and a Waldorf salad. nosh nosh nosh



finally started Perks of being a wallflower. most enjoyable. :)

>93 jnwelch: Yum! I'm so glad you know your way around the cafe kitchen, Ellie. Occasionally the staff gets caught up in reading good books (or silly titles) and forgets what the heck we're supposed to be doing.

Oo, I look forward to hearing what you think of Perks of a Wallflower!

If you're a scientist, workshops on nude mice aren't funny at all, but perfectly commonplace. :)

um, Liz, what's the diff between a mouse and a nude mouse, given that mice don't wear clothes in the ordinary way. are we talking "shaved"? tacky thing to do to a mouse, i must say. must be very cold-making.

95. I'm guessing a "nude mouse" means a fur-less mouse (born that way, like some cat and dog breeds are). I could obviously be very wrong.

Mice don't wear clothes? Tell that to Mickey & Minnie!

Hi Joe,
I love the Chihuly sculptures. I was laughing as someone commented that Seattle doesn't have hail -- we actually just had a huge hail storm this past weekend. It hailed for over 30 minutes and I watched the robins hide under the rhododendron bushes. I assume Chihuly's outdoor installations are tough enough to take the hail, but it does seem that they could be damaged.....

I had a really wonderful margarita at a restaurant here in Salt Lake City -- it had pineapple and jalapeno and ... something else.

I did complete Ready Player One and very much enjoyed it, more than I expected to do.

Happy Friday!

I do not know what I've been doing to miss so many funny postings in your thread. Thank goodness I went to bed so early last night that I arose at about 20 minutes after 4 am today. Lots of spare minutes to read threads while I inject coffee into my psyche!

I am very busy reading - my Camera's Owners' Manual, and an associated book, and the class text book - before tomorrow morning's class on Know Your Camera. If it is not yet clear - I'm taking an intensive photography class and unhappily LT and books are temporarily in the second "most important thing in my life" position for the month of March.

Nice to see the cafe full of happy folks. Carry on. I'll see you in April.

>92 mirrordrum: Those look absolutely scrumptious and now I'm tempted to make myself some Waldorf Salad.

>>94 lyzard:-97 As cafes should, we've had many in-depth conversations here about a wide range of topics, but I never expected to have such an idea exchange about nude mice. As it turns out, we were able to locate additional visual information on nudes, not-nudes, and really not-nudes.



>98 EBT1002: Hi, Ellen! That makes sense to me - I would think Seattle would get its share of hail. Apparently hail did damage a Chihuly exhibit in Dallas last year: http://chicagowritersconference.org/.

That margarita sounds most excellent - and in Salt Lake City. Shows civilization really is progressing. :-) Pineapple and jalapeno and . . . something else. Hmm. I'd like to try one of those.



Glad you had a good time with RPO. It surprised me, too. The author, Ernest Cline seems like a fun guy.



Happy Friday!

>99 maggie1944: Good for you, Karen! You take such great photos already, but I can tell that's a major interest of yours. We'll look forward to hearing how it goes. Enjoy, and learn a lot!

Rebel Heart by Moira Young is the second in the YA Dustlands series, following the breakout success, Blood Red Road. The latter got these kind of comments:

"Blood Red Road is an eerie and adventurous dystopian fantasy on par with Suzanne Collins The Hunger Games and Paolo Bacigalupi's Shipbreaker" - LA Times

"A natural for Hunger Games fans." - Publishers Weekly (red star review)

"Fans of The Hunger Games's Katniss will find in {Saba} similar reserves of hidden good nature and ferocious fighting abilities . . . Young has leveraged an intriguing action-romance story into a Mad Max-style world that'll have readers both satisfied and eager for more." - Booklist

In the first one Saba fought to rescue her twin brother Lugh in Plague Town and took on the "mad king", acquiring her nickname "Angel of Death" in the process. This one starts a few weeks after that, as she and other survivors try to travel west to the fabled and paradisiacal land of "Big Water". To do so, they have to cross dangerous Mad Max-like territories. At the same time, Saba wants to find romantic interest Jack, a formerly unreliable adventurer who may or may not have reformed. She is haunted by what happened in the first book, including those she had to kill and mistakes she believes she made.

This book is more concerned with romantic conflicts (Saba in particular has multiple suitors), and therefore doesn't achieve the action drive of the first volume. At the same time, it digs deeper into the characters than the first book did. Saba believes she is losing track of her identity and purpose, and needs the help of young "Sky Speaker" Auriel to sort some of it out. Meanwhile, charismatic DeMalo has reorganized the "Tontons", essentially a gang of ruthless mercenaries, to "cleanse" the environmentally plagued land, recruit new members, and give them a new beginning in the Eden he envisions. The old and the weak need not apply for residency; only the young, healthy and strong will have a place. Everyone helping Saba is at the same time struggling with the consequences of what happened in the first book. Her twin was damaged during his time imprisoned by the Tontons in ways he won't share, and others, like Saba, grieve for those they lost and experience guilt that they survived when others didn't. As to key character Jack, is he out for himself, or a traitor, or something else entirely?

The author doesn't try to recreate the success of the first book. She changes up what has come before and its significance, taking risks with her characters and showing she has a clear vision of where this story is going, even as she takes the reader through one unexpected twist and turn after another. This second book doesn't reach the heights of the first one, in my view, but it is a well done, intriguing follow up that has me looking forward to finding out what's up the road.

A couple of excerpts:

(A memory from growing up): "I tug on Pa's shirt. Pa? You never said. What'm I gonna be? Good or bad?

He kisses the top of my head. Whispers in my ear, so's only him an me can hear.

You, my darlin daughter, are gonna be something else entirely."

"Jack pulls up his horse. He breathes in. A long, deep, grateful breath. He drinks in the view. On the cleared valley floor, a small lake glints in the sun. Beside it stands a junkshack with a bark and sod roof, the rest of it cobbled together from Wrecker trash, stones, dried mud and the odd tree trunk. A man, a woman and a girl are working in the well-tended patches of cultivated land."

happy Friday, JNW. hope fun is in the offing. :)

tell them Bulls to get their game on. Lady Vols clinched the SEC reg season title last night at the cost of two knee injuries, status unknown: point guard went down--looked bad, and one of our posts and best shot blocker who'd just returned 2 games ago went down w/ a horrid hyperextension to previously blown knee. we still won. those young women battled like the Furies themselves. i was very, very proud and inspired.

have a good 'un.

Thanks, Ellie! Looking forward to the weekend. Last night them Bulls did it, with Noah getting a triple double with eleven blocks. We'll see. They've shown a lot of heart all year, but they've been on the bad end of some real blowouts and losses to lesser teams, too.

Congrats to the Lady Vols on the clinch; sorry it was accompanied by the injuries. Good for them for overcoming them. They can do a lot medically these days, so I'll hope the two turn out okay. Knees take so much of the stress in this and other sports.

Have a great weekend yisself!

Hi Joe!
Dropping by to scan the happenings here, lap up the visual feasts and ....the nude mice....and generally say hi. Have a great weekend!

Hi Joe- Great review of Rebel Heart! I hope you can inspire a few LTers to give the Dustland books a try, especially since I never reviewed the 2nd one. Bad Mark. I'm curious to see where Young takes us next. I started Fire. I love it already!
Have you read Ex-Heroes? It was mentioned on a podcast and it looks like just your cuppa.

Good review of Rebel Heart Joe! I enjoyed both books but i agree with you that the first was a little better. I am looking forward to more in that series (or is it a trilogy?)

I am really enjoying the Chihuly artwork here!

Upgethumbed!

i'm adding my thumbzup to RD's. a fine review that convinced me this is a book that, barring some very strange and unforeseen occurrence, will never rattle my ear drums.

Great review, Joe. I doubt I'll read it but you get a thumb nonetheless.

I hope you're having a wonderful weekend!

Dropping in for some breakfast, to save making my own. I'd love some scrambled egg on wholemeal toast, with fresh squeezed orange juice and some good strong coffee.

Oh, I think that does sound just right. As my arthritis in my hands is really bugging me this morning, I think I'd like the chef to make some of that for me, too.

(I think I'll stop by Starbucks on my way to the photo class this morning too.) Can I count reading the Owner's Manual for my camera as reading a book? I think I will.

Just finished The Sealed Letter by Emma Donoghue and I have to drag myself out of that world again.
Have a happy weekend, Joe!

Oh good, I'm glad you won the Box book you wanted!
I am trying to read one that is from last month, and not what I expected. le sigh.
I will get through it... and quickly, I hope!

>105 LovingLit: Hi, Megan! I know, didn't see the nude mice discussion coming. :-) Hope you're having a great weekend!

>106 msf59: Thanks, Mark! I know you liked Rebel Heart, and I'm glad the review passed muster. No worries - I can't get to reviewing every one I read either.

Never heard of Ex-Heroes. Looks intriguing. I am one of those who's getting zombied out, but that one may be an exception.

>107 ChelleBearss: Thanks, Chelle. Good to see you! Yeah, I don't know if there's one more planned in the Dustlands series, or more than one. Trilogies are the norm now for this kind of book, so I'm guessing one more, but that may not be right.

Glad you're liking those Chihulys!

>108 richardderus: Bygumthanks, RD!

>109 mirrordrum: Ha! Thanks, Ellie! I know, it's nice to hear the positive responses to the review, as I know this and its predecessor are outside the reading ambit of a lot of LTers.

I do wish Dorothea in Middlemarch at some point had mounted up on her horse, grabbed her bow and quiver, left Casaubon in the dust, and gone after scumbags, but I may be alone in that.

>110 EBT1002: Thanks, Ellen! Any parties going on over at your thread? I'll have to check it out.

Yeah, I know this book won't be everyone's cuppa, but I aperciate the thumb. Hope you're having a great weekend, too! I'm working (or not working, as you can see) from home this a.m., and liking that.

>111 gennyt: Hi, Genny! Sounds good, indeed. Here you go (if the toast doesn't suit, let us know):





>112 maggie1944: Ha! Good morning, Karen. Yes, I think you should count reading that camera manual as reading a book. I like that positive attitude. Review?

Sorry that crummy arthritis is bugging your hands. Let's get you that brekk and some coffee:

>113 wilkiec: I know how that is, Diana. That's the sign of a good read, when you have to drag yourself back into RL and figure out where you are and what's going on. Sounds like the main character in Sealed Letter got dragged into something, too. Based on a true story?

Hope you're having a great weekend, too! So far so good on my end. A little work, maybe a dvd movie with my MBH (Brave), and a Chicagger Bulls game tonight.

>114 mckait: Ha! Hi, Kath. I love, "le sigh". I've only gotten one ER so far that was disappointing, a somewhat clunky mystery. Like you're saying, I just plowed through it as quickly as I could.

Yes, I'm looking forward to the new Box; I really didn't think I'd get it, as he's pretty popular and there were lots of requests. While I'm waiting for it to arrive, I'm currently reading Yoga for People Who Can't Be Bothered to Do It. I've been wanting to read some Geoff Dyer, and the title was irresistible.

Reading is backseating to writing just now. Did want to mention that eggs on toast is proof there is a beneficent force at work in the Universe and she was kind enough to provide coffee, eggs, and toast with butter.

Joe - I have persuaded my Dutch friend to join SIL, Belle and I at the Book Fair tomorrow early hours (well actually persuaded his wife to allow him).

Would love a nice hip flask of cognac and some salt beef sandwiches to pack for the foray.

Have a great weekend mate.

>118 richardderus: So true, so true. When sitting down to eggs, toast and coffee, I'm filled with that beneficent universe feeling. All's right with the world.

Glad to hear you're writing. Can you say what you're working on? If you'd rather not, no worries.

>119 PaulCranswick: Good for you, Paul. Can't wait to hear about the second house you bought to hold the books. We love going to book fairs, too. Wish we could join you.

All right, let's get you some proper fuel for the adventure:



Hope you have a great weekend, too, mate. Sounds like you will!

I forgot that you don't read minds...I've got a gaslight mystery I'm pitching to an editrix who, before she'll even look at it, wants me to make it have a happily-ever-after ending for the guys. When one of them is a murdering bank robber, that becomes problematic.

I was given an idea that fits with modern obsessions in the romantic field: The murder and robbery took place during a demonic possession. Am thinking that one over.

I'm pretty good at losing my own mind, but not at reading others. That's exciting! Good luck. Maybe he gets sprayed with No-Demon, and they all decide to open a cafe together?

I'm available for helpful idea-assists like that one.

...No-Demon Brand spray...I need to come here more often!

LOL!

The only product I could find would only make him look spiffier, so you may have to just make it up as you go:

I certainly will have a good 'un with Remy Martin Joe. Top man you are always.

Glad to help, Paul. Have a great time!

All righty then, everyone is fuelled up and shined up, LOL.

I do wish Dorothea in Middlemarch at some point had mounted up on her horse, grabbed her bow and quiver, left Casaubon in the dust, and gone after scumbags, but I may be alone in that. ... You are NOT alone in that!

Ha! Glad to hear it, Nancy. I do love that book, but that would have been a nice twist - and Dorothea definitely deserved some adventures. Good to know I'm not alone on this! :-)

>115 jnwelch:/127 it was a conundrum. the narrator, Juliet Stevenson, was so good at voicing Casaubon in his interchanges with Dottie, that after an hour or two of saying, "oh, for pity's sake, Dodo, for pity's sake, pull yourself together," i finally just seecoombed, as my grandmother used to say, and enjoyed the narration. and we were warned by Ms. Eliot: Dorothea as a latter-day St. Theresa and "that kind of thing, you know." if she'd gotten aholt of a sword, she'd only have done some Joan of Arc number with it, that kind of thing, you know. she was that sunk in her "Theresa-complex."

as you may, or may not, have gathered, i was also quite taken with Stevenson's voicing of Mr. Brooke, that kind of thing. she's an exceptional narrator.

eta to fix html frack up

oh, Stevenson records? Lovely. She's one of my favorites on stage or screen.

>130 ffortsa: of course you've seen her, Judy. beast! i suppose you saw Angels in America, too, both parts. i'm rewatching the HBO movie which, while not, of course, equal to the stage production, was quite exceptional. i totally lost my head over Jeffrey Wright as Belize and Streep and Pacino knocked it so far out of the park that we never saw it land. Pacino and Wright together were unbelievable. and good old Mike Nichols with his signature where-the-frack-are-the-cutaways opening is wonderful too.

Stevenson does a fine Mrs. Dalloway as well. the one i chose first was Phyllida Law's version and then will listen to Stevenson's as each brings something completely different to the book. i've read the book visually a couple of times and hope to listen to it in several versions in the fullness of time.

>>129 mirrordrum:-131 That does sound good, Ellie. Wish I knew Juliet Stevenson well enough to make Judy's comment. And I've got to see Angels in America some day.

I will say that Dorothea wielding a sword would be as good as her with a bow and quiver, as far as I'm concerned.

re: Juliet Stevenson, CBE

my idea of drop-dead gorgeous.


and how can you not dote on somebody who gave the following answers in an interview with The Guardian:

How often do you have sex?

Maths was never my strong point.

What single thing would improve the quality of your life?

More time to read.

What song would you like played at your funeral?

Something by Bach or Bob Dylan.

I'm watching CONTACT, a long time favorite..

talked the chef into making me some toasted tea cakes with apricot compote and a pot of Assam tea with cream. i believe she made extra.

I had a wonderful lunch at a Mediterranean restaurant in Salt Lake City today.
Do you have a sampler plate with hummus and baba ganoush and etc.?

106/115
"Have you read Ex-Heroes? It was mentioned on a podcast and it looks like just your cuppa" - must have been listening to the same podcast - though the vampire thing does put me off .....

>133 mirrordrum: For some reason my iPad won't let me see the Juliet Stevenson photo, Ellie, but I've seen others of her. Love those interview answers! She's obviously an LTer at heart with that "More time to read" one.

>134 mckait: We liked "Contact", too, Kath. It holds up well over time, doesn't it?

Sounds like a relaxing Saturday night - good! Hope today is, too.

>135 mirrordrum: Nice, Ellie! With the extra, I may sample a bit meself.

Them Bulls played well last night. Noah followed up that triple double with 21 points, 10 rebounds, 4 blocks, 5 assists. He was all over the place! My favorite is when he rebounds and then dribbles down the court, leading the fast break. No other center can do that. And he makes smart decisions with the ball.

So far they're looking like they're over that February slump.

>136 EBT1002: That sounds good, Ellen. I love eating like that. Glad you're having such a fine time in SLC. Here's that sampler plate:



>137 roundballnz: Bet you're right, Alex. Yeah, vampires and zombies everywhere has started to dampen my enthusiasm, but this may be an exception.

There are some beautiful stretches of writing in the one I'm reading, Yoga for People Who Can't Be Bothered to Do It.

Hope everyone's having a good Sunday. So far we played with young furry Sherlock, and took a walk for coffee and pastries from Rudy's, a local baker who let us know today is his 40th anniversary of being a baker. Nice guy, and great baked goods. I've been gnoshing on a cheese danish and almond croissant. Mmm.

Morning Joe- Just checking in. Bree is coming by this afternoon to spend the day, which will be nice. I'll be finishing up the Marquez and then moving onto Lone Ranger and Tonto. I know that's one you loved. I hope you have a nice day planned.

Well, yes I did see Angels..., but I agree the movie is excellent. I first saw Stevenson in the film 'Truely, Madly, Deeply', and then in a political miniseries, and then onstage in 'a little night music'. What an actor!

*headpop* ...notable absence of pancakes... *retreat*

>139 msf59: Hiya, Mark. How are you liking the Marquez? He's quite a writer. I'm sure you'll enjoy the visit with Bree. Becca and Sherlock just went home. Becca and I went to the Bulls game last night. She's an avid and knowledgeable fan, so we always have a good time. Plus there was pizza and, in her case, a caramel apple.

Can't wait to hear what you think of The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight. It should be right up your alley.

>140 ffortsa: That sounds great, Judy. We've actually got A Little Night Music coming up in our Netflix cue, as we've never had the chance to see it live. We missed it here a few years ago, darn it.

>141 richardderus:


Better now? Should inspire some good writing . . .

*headopop* Ooo, pancakes! *snarfs pancakes* Research reading calls. Must off to the hounds!

LOL! Good luck!

Mmmm those pancakes look yummy! Perfect for a lazy Sunday brunch!
Hope you had a good weekend Joe!

Nonfiction by sociologist/historian PhD types is NOT riveting reading.

That is all.

Afternoon, Joe! Have just caught up on over 300 posts and could use a little something to drink - bartender's choice. Hope you are enjoying the last of your weekend!

>145 ChelleBearss: Hi, Chelle! It's been a good weekend indeed. Enjoyed Brave (animated) on DVD, good Bulls game last night, a bit of reading this that and the other thing, nice Hawks hockey win (what a start to the season!), fun with seasonoflove and her furry pal, good walk on a chilly day, and I may be able to talk my storyteller wife to read some Lee Child to me (we're doing one together for fun).

Hope yours has been good, too!

Pancakes?



>146 richardderus: Our sympathy, maestro. No doubt you will transform the dross into gold.

>147 LauraBrook: Hey, Laura! Yeah, the LT train just keeps on moving, doesn't it? 300 posts is what, an afternoon on Paul's thread? I am indeed enjoying the last of the weekend. Hope you are, too.

We're facing a screwed up commute tomorrow, and for the rest of the week, unfortunately. They're doing a big time fix on the Wells St. bridge over the river by the Loop, which means the Brown line train stops short of the river and downtown. Choices: schlep from there, or switch to an overcrowded Red line train further north, and walk back across the loop from State St. Neither choice is particularly good, but I'll probably choose the first, because I'd have a long walk plus an overcrowded train ride with the second.

Wouldn't be so bad in nice weather, but winter temps continue and supposedly more snow is coming in. Bleah.

So what should we have for our evening beverage? How about hot cider with rum?

i'm probably going to watch Brave at some point just b/c i love Julie Fowlis and look fwd to the soundtrack. glad to hear it was enjoyable.

you can channel the movie as you're making your fearsome trek tomorrow. i wish you godspeed and a following wind (makes it less colder and the going more easier). :)

Joe, being a Murakami fan you might want to give The ghosts of Nagasaki a whirl .......

I love the Juliet Stephenson interview. She's a wonderful actress. I too also first saw her in Truly, Madly, Deeply - the same place I first saw Alan Rickman too; he'll always be a cello-playing ghost first and foremost for me, before a Die Hard villain or Snape.

Oh, Brave was such a fun movie!

>149 mirrordrum: I think you'll enjoy Brave, Ellie. The visual detail is mind-boggling, and the music is indeed lovely. Plus the characters and story are fun.

Thank you for the good wishes on the trek. It was clunky and took a good bit longer than usual, but I left home early, and at least the trains weren't as overpacked as I feared. The long walk first thing in the morning ain't bad, either, if you stay philosophical about it. I'll report back on the rush hour commute home - that may be a toughie. Mondays aren't exactly a box full of delights, anyway, so I expect we've got a lot of grumpazoids downtown today.

>150 roundballnz: You're right, that does look intriguing, Alex. I like the comment of the first LT reviewer: "Bottom line up front: I have absolutely no idea what this book is about." With ghosts and cats - it shows a lot of promise. :-) Is it only available as an e-book? Amazon shows it only for Kindle. Did you read it and like it?

>151 gennyt: Ha! I like that description of Alan Rickman, Genny. For me he'll always be the guy drinking tea in slow motion and overturning the table on Youtube.

>153 jnwelch: Amen to that, Morphy. Really great. And we were knocked over by the visual detail. Among others, when she drinks from the waterfall - wow! How'd they do that? Pure wizardry these days.

Morning Joe- Peet's please! It looks like we are bracing ourselves for another snowstorm. Boo! I started Lone Ranger. My edition has an excellent introduction by Alexie and the very 1st story is both poignant and hard-hitting. I did not realize the film smoke Signals was based on one of these stories. I saw it many years ago.
I am still making my way through Anomaly. It's good but LONG! Why do they all have to be 350 pages?

>154 msf59: Good morning, Mark! Oh, I think you're going to have an exceptionally good time with Lone Ranger if that's your initial reaction. I had forgotten Smoke Signals was based on it; I haven't seen that and probably should.

I think the publisher and author for some reason had a very grandiose conception for Anomaly with the size and length. It's gotten a good reception from reviewers as far as I've seen, but I'm not sure it's had the widespread reader reaction they hoped for. It seemed to me to be setting up for a sequel, too. Maybe they should downsize the next one?

ETA: Oops! Here you go:

I think the artwork in Anomaly is stunning but how big and ungainly can you get? LOL. I can't even take it anywhere, for fear of a muscle pull or a back strain.

153 > I was lucky to get a physical copy given out by the Author via Murakami group on Goodreads ( no strings) - am about 80% thru after 2 work days of reading - its dam good ......

>156 msf59: If you're like Paul Cranswick, Mark, I understand the trick is to get your son to carry it. :-) I still don't understand why they made it that big and heavy, although the illustrations do get the royal treatment that way. I suppose that's why. But it seems pretty presumptuous, if that's the right word. Absolute Sandman, for example, gets that treatment, but that's because all these years later the series is considered a classic. This is a new sci-fi pulp story. The huge, unwieldy format doesn't seem warranted at this point.

>157 roundballnz: Thanks, Alex. Please keep me posted. If you still feel that way 100% through, I'll pick it up on Kindle. It does sound like my cuppa.

just checking in. great accomplishments. dropped a dime on a dog-abusing family and am hoping the two poor creatures chained without shelter in a back yard and unable even to reach each other will be moved to warm, clean, dry quarters today or tomorrow. Blount Co. TN has become no-kill over the last few years.

have also finally finished Mountains beyond mountains! i swooped through the last 5 hrs of that *and* Middlemarch within a week, mirabile dictu. my ears are alternately twitching and clamoring.

my best beloved went librarying today and brought home City of Glass: the graphic novel, intro by Art Spiegelman who writes therein:

"it was a misnomer that started it. . .

A "Graphic Novel!" Bah!

what would Peter Stillman, Paul Aster's cracked seeker of Ur-language in City of Glass call the visual adaptation of the novel he figures in? A Crumblechaw? A Nincompictopoop?? An Ikonologosplatt???" he continues from thence in an intro i read parts of and enjoyed. i'm looking forward to it and now plan to read The New York Trilogy in toto.

glad you survived your trek, Joe. ah the stories you can tell your grandchildren or, if you don't wish to wait, young Sherlock, about your adventures on the winter streets.

i'm outta here. must find sustenance, real sustenance, and have a lie down.

p.s. may i have some New England clam and corn chowder with herbs (a la bon appetit), please oh please?

148: Perfect, that really hit the spot! Thanks, Joe. I haven't seen Brave yet, though it's on my "Soon" list, and I play the Brave version of Temple Run on my iPhone all of the time!

Good luck on your commute home tonight, here's hoping it's as good (at least) as it was this morning!

>159 mirrordrum: Woo, you've been a busy woman, Ellie! You finished two of my favorite books, Mountains Beyond Mountains and Middlemarch, for one thing. How did you like them? Could you have just smacked Casaubon, the old creep? Should we nominate Dr. Paul for secular sainthood?

I haven't read the non-graphic City of Glass, so I can't comment from that POV, but I do like Crumblechaw an awful lot. I've actually read good things about the graphic adaptation, even though that originally seemed so unlikely given what I know about the Paul Auster book.

My trek: I've told my kids many times how I walked miles in the snow every day to school as a kid, uphill both ways, so I have no credibility with them whatsoever. I like your idea of my telling these tales of woe to the untainted ears of young Sherlock. I suspect if I combine it with a belly rub, he'll be quite attentive.

Mmm, that chowder does sound good. I may have to join you.

Hello Joe - I would visit here more often, but it always makes me hungry! Love the glass sculptures!

>162 PrueGallagher: Ha! Good to see you, Prue. No worries. Glad you like those glass sculptures. I don't know if he's gotten some of his work on display in your part of the world yet, but it wouldn't surprise me if he has.

We could use a bit of your weather right now - are you in the 70s or so Fahrenheit? We're still trying to shake winter here in the northern USA.

>160 LauraBrook: Whoops, almost missed you there, Laura! Glad that suited. Yes, I think you'll enjoy Brave. I know, I may have to get that soundtrack. Good stuff.

I'm just about to find out about the commute back home, so I'll report back. As I said to someone, it's a bit hard to complain - I'd rather have the annoyance for a bit than have the bridge collapse into the river. They brought in a whole new section of bridge on the river, and somehow, in a week's time, they're going to take out the old crumbly section and raise up this huge new one and replace it. Pretty amazing.

Those folks with offices overlooking the river are getting high entertainment value.

OK, off I go. Pies on the counter.

Wow that sounds like an incredible commute Joe. I sure don't envy you. I suppose they couldn't put it off until the weather was better.

Oh, I do want to see Brave... too lazy to do what I need to do to see it :P
Cold weather...I hear another snow maker is meandering across the country...anything happen while I was busy today?

OK! That New England Clam/Corn chowder does indeed appeal. I hope there is some left in the kitchen.

All caught up. I am not only going to count the camera's User Manual as a book, I am going to count the Mountaineers Photography class text book as a book, even though it is loose leaf paper in a notebook. I will get a couple of books finished this month!

Still picking at The Magus and Buying the Farm: Peace and War on a Sixties Commune. The latter gave me reason to look for one of the people involved who I knew in the 70s and 80s...she lives across Puget Sound, and responded to a FB feeler. Need to go visit her!

158 > 100% finished my rating is brilliant up there with my favourite books of the last year - I will be very surprised if its disappoints.

my only proviso is like Murakami you have to be in the right head space to read ....

Good morning, Joe!
Nothing for me today; I'll just take that corner table and read Knots and Crosses and ignore everyone around me. I'm also ignoring The Magus which I'm supposed to read for my real-life book group (but I couldn't renew it because someone else -- probably someone in my book group! -- had it on hold). Oh well, Ian Rankin it is.

>164 brenzi: Thanks, Bonnie. No, it's in the city code somewhere that they must pick the most inconvenient time for any operation like this. Our favorite is how they'll tear up a street for new paving, and then make sure the paving isn't done for at least weeks, and hopefully more than a month. This bridge replacement is pretty good though - make sure everyone's inconvenienced while the biggest snowstorm of the year blows in. I'm sure City Works Impresario is rubbing his/her hands together and chuckling right now.

This morning's commute was really tough - I won't go into the ridiculously slow train ride with many standstills along the way. But once we arrived at the train station, to get above the crowds, I had to secure my mountain climbing rope (I always carry some) near the top of a nearby building, climb up, and then jury rig a connection to a neonlit diner across the street. I managed to chew up the palms of my gloves getting over to the diner, not to mention scaring a few early morning customers when I whammed into the "Takeout" sign. Once there, I was able to rappel down and then zigzag my way through the messy morning traffic, as the snow blew hard into everyone's faces and had us skittering like crabs on ice rink. No worries though, I'm at my computer now, and someone will be coming by to dress the few wounds I incurred along the way.

Hope I didn't overstate any of that.

>165 mckait: Ha! You know you need some break time, Kath, when you're too lazy to see a movie. I understand, though. There are times when I'd just like someone to bring the movie to me, set it up, and get it going. We've tried training young Sherlock, but he loses interest - particularly if we can't promise him there's a dog in the movie.

Our snowstorm held off until this a.m., so you didn't miss anything from our part of the world. We're supposed to get 4-8" or more. Other than that, it's mainly been no nude mice and some good chowder.

>166 maggie1944: I like it, Karen! Good for you. I remember The Magus giving me the creeps way back when. Sixties communes - ah, those were the days. When the clueless could band together and do clueless things in peace. I was clueless enough, but too young and Archie-like to try that one.

Do we have chowder left? Does the pope resign from popeness? Mais oui:



>167 roundballnz: Great, Alex! Thanks. I was born in that right head space. Worries people who know me sometimes, but there it is. It comes in handy when reading books like this one.

ETA: Got it! Jeez Louise, it was only 99 cents today on Amazon. Woo-hoo!

Hiya Joe, in dire dire dire need of something extrremely bad for me. Carrot cake and italian cream cake and espresso by the vat after 10lb of chili cheese fries, maybe? Just whatever it is make sure the food nazis and vegans will blench when they see it.

Acquiring knowledge is agonizing when those who possess it dribble it out in drams that are hidden within floods of bloviation.

>169 jnwelch: Ah, yes. Floods of bloviation, dribbling drams of agonizing knowledge, crummy weather - some vittle succor is definitely called for.

Here's we goes (sorry about the espresso poacher):

oh, my, that looks good. I must have some version of Richard's constellation of taste/desire/disorder in the eating department. I certainly want the same "know it is not good for you" stuff as he does!

Day off today - sitting in front of the fire, playing with my learnings about cameras, and preparing myself for a trip to the dentist about lunch time today. Better than battle of the snow storm in Chicago early morning, though, if you ask me. Good luck and best wishes for a less troublesome trip home this afternoon!

>168 EBT1002: Good for you, Ellen! (I was busy posting when you came in). I've read Knots and Crosses, but never caught the Inspector Rebus fever for some reason. I've got a sister who's a fan. Let us know if you need anything at your corner table.

>172 maggie1944: It does, doesn't it, Karen? Ah, a day off - how great. Our lovely daughter has an unexpected "snow day", with her school closed because of the weather, so she's taking it easy, too. Sitting in front of the fire, enjoying your favorite pastime, that sounds mighty good.

Thanks - who knows, by the end of the day we may only have a relatively small number of people downtown and the commute may be easy. But I'll have my mountain climbing rope with me just in case.

Here's a bit of the RD life:

The two-handled coffee bowl is a dream!

I am contemplating gouging out my own eyes so I can stop suffering through this unspeakably boringly written textbook.

Do we have chowder left? Does the pope resign from popeness?

Why does this pope thing make me LOL ?

The whole situation is funny to me.

>174 richardderus: We need more of those dream bowls, don't we? I'm liking that one, too.

I think it's time, RD, for you to consider the book toss before your eyes get hurt by . . . you.



>175 mckait: I know, Kath, it seems bizarre and funny to me, too. Who these days knew that was a position you could resign from? He's onto something, though.

Love that cartoon, Joe. The former pope is a smart man!

It's a good one, isn't it, Pat? Very smart to get himself out of that position and enjoy life, under the circumstances.

Hi Joe, I am in the mood for something sweet, a piece of either of the two cakes Richard ordered would do nicely and I need a cup of strong coffee to keep me awake. Everytime I settle down to read today I fall asleep!

>169 jnwelch: Soooooooo is there a book in this inconvenience somewhere Joe?? It sounds like you may have the first paragraph done;-)

I actually think the Pope made a good decision. Why would anyone that age (or anyone else, for that matter) think it was a good idea to be traveling all over the globe while in a high stress job that demanded 12-14 hour days, seven days a week. And who wants to go through another death watch like we did with John Paul? No, Benedict made the right decision in IMO, at least for that topic of concern. Many other problems, not such good resolutions were provided. I don't think he could deal with all those problems at his age. I know I couldn't and I'm not nearly as old as he is.

Hi Joe- Sorry to hear about your morning commute! That's ugly. Mine wasn't bad at all but I left early. I hope your return home is much smoother!
I am doing back-flips over Lone Ranger! You guys know your books!

Mornin', Joe. De-lurking to say that I hope you ended up with less snow than we did - 8-10 inches here, and that's on top of what we already had. It's March, isn't it? Hard to tell these days.

ahahahahaha good cartoon!

So, did you go to work today? Do you have piles of snow?

>179 DeltaQueen50: OK, Judy, we're going to get those to you via time jiggery. Falling asleep while reading is not such a bad thing, from my POV. Any good dreams? Didn't Coleridge write Kubla Khan after dreaming it? Except I think opium was part of that, too.

Anyway, here you go, cake and strong coffee:



OK, maybe that coffee is a little too strong. Here's some more reasonably strong coffee:



>180 brenzi: You wouldn't believe how hard it is to read while hand over handing along a mountain climbing rope, Bonnie. But I'm an LTer, so I sucked it up and kept switching hands. I was reading Yoga for People Who Can't Be Bothered to Do It, which was appropriate somehow.

I know what you mean about the Pope. His health hasn't been too swell either, right? Yeah, it'll be good not to go through a death watch with him, and I agree, this is a tough world of problems to deal with at his age.

>181 msf59: Yay! Glad you're back flipping over Lone Ranger, Mark! Nothing better than seeing a pal enjoy a book like that.

Oof, looking forward to this week being over as far as commuting goes. It's a challenge for everyone involved. People know it's tough, so they're being good to each other, which helps.

>182 scaifea: Hi, Amber! I always think of the Romulan ships de-cloaking when I read "de-lurking". Then that weird Star Trek theme song starts running through my head. But I digress.

I think we got about the same as you. They're reporting 9 inches of snow in the city. Folks in our neighborhood were great in helping each other. I had to shovel last night and this a.m., but it could have been a lot harder. Hope it wasn't too difficult in Platteville.

>183 mckait: Ha! Glad you like the cartoon, Kath. Yes, I made it into work today. Getting here was like being carried in a big basket filled with warm blankets that have just come out of the dryer, except it was just the opposite, darn it.

We do have piles of snow, but really everyone has handled it well. The snow plows were out, the streets are clear, the sidewalks generally are shoveled and snowblown, and we're thinking the worst of it is done. Can we hop skip right over lions and lambs and showers, and go right to the flowers?

How is it in PA? Are you snowed in, snowed out, or snowed just right?

No snow in this part of PA, and none of any significance predicted. It's all going to the south of I-80, so say our indefatigable weather persons. DC may get buried. Is the universe trying to tell them something? A peanut encrusted donut, and a large black, please, Landlord.

>185 laytonwoman3rd: Ha! Hi, Linda. You know, DC gets freaked out over an inch of snow. If they get buried, they may be at a standstill for a while. Or have they been at a standstill for quite some time now, even without snow? (Couldn't resist).

Glad to hear you all didn't get hit. I wouldn't have minded if the storm gave us a miss, but we've been pretty lucky this winter.

Hope it's a good one for you today.

Let's get you that PED and large black to help it along:

Joe, glad to hear you've survived yet another harrowing commute! Didn't get nearly as much snow as you guys did, glad to say it only took me an hour to shovel and blow snow this morning. Hope your Wednesday is a good one!

Thanks, Laura! Perhaps I exaggerate a bit with the commute, but it feels good to blow off steam about it. Between shoveling and clearing off the car for my MBH and working through that commute, I feel like I've had a full day's work before I start my full day's work. In fact, I'm going to ask the chef for something as a treat, once I figure out what.

Glad to hear it's better where you are, but an hour of shoveling and snowblowing seems like a big effort to me. How are you liking the new job? I'll stop over and say hi. Hope you have a good one today, too.

Hmm, okay, how about a big piece of apple cinnamon pie?



Ah, that's better.

ETA: More, please.

Joe, the story about the new bridge was on NPR this morning. It must be amazing to watch what is essentially a Lego swap operation. Will the new bridge also be a drawbridge? I suppose it would have to be.

Well, we shouldn't be surprised that Chicago folks can do anything. They reversed the river, after all.

Joe, I brought you a little something:



Pear tarte tatin. Served warm with creme fraiche:



You and Chef spend so much time catering to us, I thought a little turn-about might be welcome.

>189 ffortsa: It is amazing to swap out a whole bridge section like that, isn't it, Judy? Yes, it has to be a drawbridge to let the boats on the river through. Fun to see the bridges go up and the boats go through when the weather's nice. (If you're driving and waiting for those bridges to come back down, or looking to walk across, you have to be patient and enjoy the sight).

You're one of the few non-Chicagoans I know who knows about the river reversal. Even my structural engineer dad didn't know that one. They didn't want sewage going into Lake Michigan, and in 1900 or so reversed the flow to direct it to a treatment facility via the locks. Now, of course, sewage is treated differently, and the river has been cleaned up, but it still flows away from the lake.

>190 richardderus: Thanks, RD! You're right, the chef is thrilled, and so am I. *proprietor and chef sneak away to back table with Pear tarte tatin and creme fraiche*

>190 richardderus: you're so sweet, RD. however, since Joe's not here, i'd better look closely at this Martha Stewart-type delight to be sure it's up to snuff. gloryoski! i'll bet you really make these delicacies, don't you?

now a cuppa Peet's Sumatra Batak Peaberry (the first roasting was today) might be tasty with that. i wonder what creme fraiche tastes like in coffee.

hi Joe. :)

Not so fast, young lady! I'm here, and so is the chef. But we're willing to share, especially since those RD creations look quite ginormous.

We do happen to have some of that coffee, too, thanks to your advance tip on its availability:

>193 jnwelch: who you callin' "young lady," ya young whippersnapper?

Sorry, I get a bit peevish when my vittles are threatened. At least I didn't say food swiper or tarte taker. But I must say, I do like being called a young whippersnapper.

Reminds me of when the surgeon was assessing me for my first hip replacement and said, "You're young and thin, so this should go well". I cracked him up when, without thinking, I said, "jeez, I sure haven't had those two words said to me in a long time!" It's all relative, I guess.

ETA:

*chuckle* when my gastroent guy called me "spry," i thought well, lord, i'm officially over the hill. kinda tickled me. never in my life envisioned myself as heading for "spry!" well, he did say it as a compliment, which was good, given the givens.

i'm glad your youth and svelte frame made the hip replacements possible and, apparently, a gift. how lucky we are.

Definitely a gift. I'm much more spry than I used to be. :-) We are lucky indeed.

*vibrates with joint-replacement envy*

OMG all these cakes and pies and pastries! I feel my blood sugar rising just reading through your thread, Joe!

>198 richardderus: It's miraculous what they can do now, RD, no bout a doubt it. My crimefighting career has just gone to a whole new level.

>199 EBT1002: And that's a good thing, right, Ellen? :-) Where would the world be without cakes and pies and pastries? We can't just gnaw on grit and gristle, can we?

>180 brenzi:/184 I actually didn't think you were reading during that commute Joe. I meant that you had written the first paragraph of your first book. When do you think it will be published?

Hi Joe- Just checking in! We survived the snowstorm! Let's hope that's the end of it, at least until next February.
I loved L.R. and I also wrapped up Fire, which I enjoyed. I did snag the audio of Cinder too, so I'll be starting that one soon. What would we do, without LT?

Is there any of that pear tarte tatin left? It looks delicious!

Hi Joe! I walk past that bridge swapping business every day - amazing! And I'm always glad that I don't get conked on the head with a large beam.

>201 brenzi: Ah, gotcha, Bonnie. Well, if you think it's hard to read while hand over handing on a mountain climbing rope that's jury-rigged between two buildings, try writing a book while you're doing it! So it will probably take me at least a few days to finish writing it. Fact-based, of course.

And RD thinks doing boring research is the tough part of writing!



>202 msf59: I know, Mark, LT recs are a major part of my reading repertoire these days. Wish we had something like the Steinbeckathon this year. That was great.

This should be a much better day for you, I'm hoping, weather-wise. My commute was much less gymnastically and acrobatically challenging.

>203 gennyt: I believe RD left a bit more of the pear tarte tatin for consumption, Genny, unless Ellie got to it while we were distracted. Ah, okay, here you go:



>204 DorsVenabili: Oh, that must be pretty interesting to watch, Kerri! Amazing is right. I may try to get over there at lunch just to check out the progress. I'll watch out for conk-inclined large beams if I do it. So far with all the rope climbing and rappelling and dodging traffic and I don't know what all, I've missed watching them do the bridge swap-out.





OK, must report on last night. We went to the Louder Than a Bomb teen poetry slam Indy finals at the Cultural Center, and it was fab. These were the 12 finalists out of 800+ who originally competed all over the city. Lamar (see pic above)was the emcee this time, and did a great job. Emma Coleman from Northside won it, and deserved to win. Her poems were ambitious, thought-provoking, well written, and well performed. Her first one was, among other things, about the innate insanity of our shared fascination with violence in the media versus our decrying it and getting heartbroken about its victims, and her second one was about the innate insanity of going to Catholic school Opus Dei where she realized what she most wanted was to not be like them and to challenge the nuns by having a baby with a "black Jew". Both funny, but they also gave us a lot to think about.

No one else came close to her level in my view.

There was a bizarre "halftime entertainment" involving teacher artist Jamilla sitting perched up high on a wheeled tricycle contraption wearing a bird headdress, singing and poetizing, rolling through the audience behind former LTAB-er Chakiera (probably spelling that wrong, and no, not Shakira) standing while riding a motorized chariot that a friend's husband built (we learned later), with Emma, former Indy winner and now slam judge, poetizing from the stage, and others poetizing via megaphones on either side, and Red Moon Theater actors in bird costumes birding all about while making bird calls. What was it all about? If you find out, please let me know. It was beautiful, but no one we've talked to so far has figured it out.

We're going to the team finals Saturday night (four person teams from area schools) at the Cadillac Theater. This has gotten popular enough they moved finals to a 2400 seat theater. Looking forward to it!

I am so baffled by your genuine, and infectious, enthusiasm for poetry as spoken aloud. I hate it on the page, and loathe it "rapped," and am repulsed by "performance art" of all sorts...so here you and the MBH are, avidly seeking the stuff out, loving it, appreciating it, communicating such pleasure in the experiences...baffled. Completely verschmeckeled. I'd rather lie in a pool of my own blood at the bottom of a dry LA drainage ditch than go to one of those events.

And still I find myself thinking how fun it sounds when you talk about it! Ridiculous of me, I know.

Ha! You know, the kids' enthusiasm is really contagious, Richard, for all the excellent points you make about this being poetry (egad!), and performed (yikes!). If you listen to them talk about it, the kids always mention two aspects - that they never had an outlet like this for their innards and creativity until they found Young Chicago Authors and LTAB, and that it creates a community in which they meet other kids from all over the city that they never would have met otherwise. It becomes their family, and they all enjoy and root for each other. Some of what they share is as heartbreaking as it is beautiful - one poised and defiant girl last night obviously has been surrounded by awfulness her entire life so far, and yet - there she is, putting it out there, with her peers and others like us pulling for her.

A lot of these kids describe themselves as sit quietly in the back of the class types, and then they learn to perform on stage, and a whole new world opens up.

I'm of the curmudgeonly persuasion myself, but you just can't go to one of these and not be changed by it.

Bottom line is, yup, it is fun. Amazing and fun. A "good" in what often is a sea of "bad."

They've now spread the program to seven other cities, with plans for a dozen more, and there's outside-the-U.S. and across the pond interest. Exciting times.

#193-197 My husband and I were out to dinner not too long ago, and he was chatting up the waitress (as he does), and when we left she said she hoped we would come back soon, adding " You guys are so sweet!" Dammit...that's as bad as being called "spry". You know when they start thinking you're "sweet" as a couple, you've turned some corner or other, and you probably aren't going to like the neighborhood. It's just a matter of time until you see our picture in the paper in silly hats celebrating some unfathomable wedding anniversary at The Home.

>208 laytonwoman3rd: Ha! I love it, Linda. We'll probably be sitting somewhere near you in the Home, looking sweet and spry, and sporting oh so flattering silly hats.

I've had young 'uns offer me their seat on the train, and been nonplussed as to why, until I remember how freakin' old I am.

My wife and I remember going to a party with neighbors our age at a hip restaurant/bar in our neighborhood, and having the young guy working the door, without asking us anything, immediately direct us to a table in the back. Why? Because everyone else there was at least 20-30 years younger than the folks at our back table. :-) "In the back" probably kept us from damaging their image too much, too.

does this count as a silly enough "hat" for me to join you in the Home? actually, i'll get there afore you and keep your seats warm.



thanks for the report on the LTAB experience. those kids are amazing! glad you had a good time with more to come. :)

like RD, i'm not a fan of performance art largely, i suspect, because i don't understand it and so it simply irritates me. art museums everywhere are full of things i don't understand. *sigh*

LOL, Joe. I've been offered seats on the subway a lot this past year. After the first two or three events, I decided to let people have their moment of goodness and let them give me their seat - unless I was only a stop away from my target.

Sometimes I get up in the morning and have no idea how my mother got in the mirror.

>211 ffortsa: oh, Judy! what a stitch. sadly, on my "puffy" days, it's my grandmother looking back at me and that's really scary!

>210 mirrordrum: That hat has the advantage of looking pretty cool but probably permitting entry to the silly hat party, Ellie. I like those colors, and that's a nice photo.

I was emailing with our favorite (and only) son, and he was really happy with Emma C. winning. He went to Northside, too, and I learned that he helped her with the "Opus Dei" poem when he was in town.

I don't see much performance art these days, but I'm okay with it if it's clever. Stuffing a bunch of people into a doorway?



I'm okay with that. It's got some fun to it. Putting on a TV head while watching TVs?



Not so much.

>211 ffortsa: Yeah, I probably should swallow my much-battered pride and take the darn seat, Judy. I did accept the gracious offers right after getting the bionic hips, but once I got back into crimefighting shape, I started declining them. It's actually very nice of the youngsters. I probably could share stories with some about what it was like to live in the last century.

>212 mirrordrum: Somehow I got one of my mom's brothers (no longer with us) looking back at me in the mirror. How did that happen? He wasn't the handsomest guy I ever knew, either, although he sure had a lot of charm.

Just got caught up here Joe! Do you have a costume or uniform for your crime fighting? There is a guy last summer that would wear a Superman costume, cape and all, and ride his bicycle down Highway 6. Never could find out why. A few weeks ago he was out again on the highway wearing a Woverine costume. The bright yellow was blinding!

Hi Joe- Nice day, today! Lots of sun. We should start taking a vote for the next author marathon. Someone with a healthy bibliography. Hemingway, Faulkner, Patterson....

I love that you went to a teen poetry slam. I mean, how many of us can say we've ever done that?
And I love the colorfully dressed people stuffed into a doorway.

Yoga for People Who Can't Be Bothered to Do It by Geoff Dyer is a fairly slim collection of essays that might be called travel memoirs, but that would be like calling Carnivale a street fair. There's a lot going on here that is awfully hard to categorize. Some readers would take to this like a duck to water, and some like a cat to water.

What you might not like:

- Recreational drugs are central to much that happens. A number of times I was reminded of Hunter Thompson's post-Hell's Angels books. On a trip in Rome: "Did I neglect to mention that we had dropped a couple of micro-dots an hour and a half previously? Well, if I did, we had. It was part of my investigations into the research potential of what I liked to call acid archaeology, or psychedelica antiqua: using LSD to scrape away the intervening years and achieve unmediated access to the living past. Either that or it was just a way of whiling away the weeklong days."

- He is often filled with ennui. The title piece is about a piece of that title that he can't be bothered to write.

- His thinking often goes around in circles. For example, the title piece is about a piece of that title that he can't be bothered to write.

- He's often in despair, either because of a breakup with a girlfriend or because he's just in some unbelievably depressing area, like (as he describes it), Libya.

- He flits about in a maddening way that you'll probably envy, dropping names of exotic locales, and he meets lots of people you may not care about. "The best example {of dissolving the separation of the viewer from the view} is the overflow pool, which has become such a feature of upmarket resorts in Bali, like Sayan Terrace, where we stayed when we came back from Ubud after an abortive trip to Lovina with our friend Gregor from Munich, whom we had met at the Kuang Si waterfalls, near Luang Prabang, in Laos."

- He can make you want to kick him in the butt, while you're envying him: "In Rome I lived in the grand manner of writers. I basically did nothing all day. Not a thing. Perhaps this is why I was such a seductive role model for many of the aspiring writers who lived nearby. More exactly, I was a role model for Nick, the youthful American who lived opposite, who had not read any of my books and to whom my name meant nothing."

What you might like:

- There are many beautiful stretches of writing. I liked this one, about Ubud in Bali: "We'd never seen anything as green as these rice paddies. It was not just the paddies themselves: the surrounding vegetation - foliage so dense the trees lost track of whose leaves were whose - was a rainbow coalition of one colour: green. There was an infinity of greens, rendered all the greener by splashes of red hibiscus and the herons floating past, so white and big it seemed as if sheets hung out to dry had suddenly taken wing. All other colours - even purple and black - were shades of green. Light and shade were degrees of green. Greenness, here, was less a colour than a colonising impulse. Everything was either already green - like a snake, bright as a blade of grass, sidling across the footpath - or in the process of becoming so. Statues of the Buddha were mossy, furred with green." And he goes on, and I'd probably still be reading about how green it was if he were still writing it.

- He has some great lines, e.g. in one treacherous area, "Every branch and rock exuded snake."

- He can be really, really funny. E.g. his current flame tests him: "Without any warning, Dazed asked what I would do if she threw herself in front of one of these cars. I said I didn't know, but my general policy is not to get involved." In an extended nightmare while he is trashed on, yes, more drugs, he's trying to change from rainwet pants to dry ones in a cafe toilet, without much success: "In the cramped confines of the toilet I had trouble getting out of my wet trousers, which clung to my legs like a drowning man. The new ones were quite complicated too in that they had more legs than a spider; either that or they didn't have enough legs to get mine into. The numbers failed to add up. Always there was one trouser leg too many or one of my legs was left over. From the outside it may have looked like a simple toilet, but once you were locked in here the most basic rules of arithmetic no longer held true." If that makes you chuckle, you'll want to find out what he ends up wearing when he leaves the toilet.

-He does things you may have dreamed of doing, and makes you wish you had been there with him. I've always been intrigued by the Burning Man festival in Nevada, and of course, he goes there and enchants us with the tale.

Part of why as a reader I was willing to put up with some of his nonsense (and he surely knows it's nonsense) is he laughs at himself, and cries at himself, and sincerely is trying to sort it all out, to make sense of his life, and of our lives. So if some of the above sounds like fun and the rest not too bad, he's worth the read. The guy is brilliant, that's for sure.

Hi Joe, I put this book on my library list after Lucy gave it 5 stars. I appreciate your examples of the good and the not so good. I'll definitely give it a try.

Joe - I like Geoff Dyer - he is a bit of a throw-back to the days when authors were truly writers and would scrawl about most things - he has also written extensively on jazz and is sometimes irritating but never dull.
Speaking of which thumbs up for Richard's pear tartin and the earlier seafood chowder. The latter is a favourite of Kyran's which as you rightly point out he needs to boost his strength having an old man who prefers him to flex his muscles rather then using his own wasting ones.

Loved your review, Joe, and will probably love the book since the trouser-changing scene made me laugh so loudly that the dog came in to see if I was alright.

oh, gawd. i laughed so hard at the pants-changing bit i nearly had a senior urinary moment. and RD didn't help. sadly, not available on audible. pah!

oy! flexing thumb. again.

>213 jnwelch: qwery: why is/are a bunch of people in a window "art?"

Morning Joe- Coffee please! Make it a large. Great review of the Dyer book. Big Thumb! Sounds very interesting. Have a great Friday.
ETA- Speaking of Alexie and Native American writing- Have you heard of When My Brother Was an Aztec. It's a collection of poetry, about reservation life. Sounds good.

Um What rd said in >206 richardderus: but glad you had fun :)

oh and I like the "hat" in 210! very fun :)

also

wonderful book report Joe!

Thanks, everyone! I'll be getting into the cafe a bit late today, but no worries.

Joe, have a good weekend!

Morning, Joe! Stopping in to wish you a lovely Friday. Very nice review up there - thumb for you!

I'll have to be ducking in and out today more than usual, but at least there won't be winter snow trying to get in while I do it.

>214 luvamystery65: Hi, Roberta! I have not had time to go to the superhero crimefighting costume store, so I'm pretty mundane except for my silly hat from the silly hat party. I'm impressed with a superhero who has enough confidence in his abilities to ride a bicycle. Do you have a costume? Should we all have costumes?

>215 msf59: Hiya, Mark! A new author marathon would be great, but count me out if it's Faulkner. *ducks Faulknerian doodads thrown from all over LT land*

>216 EBT1002: Hi, Ellen! Thanks - we've been to a lot of teen poetry slams, and recommend them highly. In general I actually like them better than the adult ones. There are some excellent adult performance poets (e.g. Patricia Smith, Andrea Gibson), but they don't need the slam format, as far as I'm concerned. It adds excitement for the teens, and helps get them involved, and helps get them to push themselves.

ETA: Adult slams probably have more value than I'm indicating. They do create opportunities for poets to stay involved and performing. Our son is going through that out in Seattle, performing in slams at the ReBar there.

>218 phebj: Hi, Pat! I think Lucy's and Tui's excellent reviews got Yoga for People Who Can't Be Bothered on my radar, and for me the title was irresistible. I have a sister who has taught yoga forever, so that probably factored into it, too.

>219 PaulCranswick: "sometimes irritating but never dull" - well put, Paul. Yes, at some point I want to turn to other things he's written. Good to know you've liked his writing elsewhere.

I'd suggest sending Kyran to us so we can feed him and build him up to carry those big book buys of yours, but I suspect he'd put on nary a pound or muscle eating at the cafe.

>220 richardderus: Ha! Love it, Richard. I actually thought of you more than once while reading Dyer. I think you'd find him a very kindred spirit, particularly in his humor. That whole trousers section, which I've only excerpted a piece of, is funny like nothing else I've read.

>221 mirrordrum: LOL! Glad that one got you going (in a non-urinary way), Ellie! Can't believe this one isn't on audio here. I would think it would have to be on audio in the UK, but if so, that would raise price issues, I guess. I hope that changes here - seems to me audio books just keep getting more popular.

I'm not sure those stuffed in the doorway would call it performance art. I think that's just a phrase we have for weird things like this people do in public for others to see. Can you imagine organizing that and figuring out how to fit everyone in? I like it.

>222 msf59: Thanks, Mark! I hadn't heard of When My Brother was an Aztec, and that does look intriguing. Have a good one today - here's that coffee:

>223 mckait: Thanks, Kath! I like that hat, too, and I'm glad you enjoyed the description of the Louder Than a Bomb indy finals, even if you and RD might never go near one. :-)

>225 wilkiec: Thanks, Diana! Have a good weekend, too!

*throws a virtual bourbon bottle at Joe* No Faulkner!??? Sho'ly you can't mean that.

He makes me want to throw the book at the wall, along with a virtual bottle of bourbon, unfortunately, Linda. I'm just not a Southern Gothic kind of guy. The Sound and the Fury and As I Lay Dying both left me annoyed. That's enough of him for me.

*sobs* I could help you, I really could. But first you must acknowledge that you NEED help....

LOL! I'm afraid I'm a hopeless case, Linda. It's so bad that I don't even keep him in my LT library.

Your Faulkner-hatred is making me very nervous, Joe. I'm planning on reading The Sound and the Fury this year and I was already worried about possibly not liking it - you're making it ten times worse now!

Sorry, Paws! As you can tell, there are high quality readers who love reading him. My BIL is one. We may have some denizens who see this and can encourage you.

Hmmm I have two of Dyer's books on my shelf: Jeff in Venice, Death in Varanasi and The Missing of the Somme that I will undoubtedly read before I read Yoga for People Who Can't Be Bothered to Do It but you certainly make him sound like a fascinating character Joe. Humor is always a plus for me.

Yes, he is a fascinating character, Bonnie. I'll look forward to your reactions to those you have on the shelf. Paul may be able to comment on them. Dyer is a very funny man, and humor is always a plus for me, too.

Good Saturday morning! I'm caught up, for now. Will spend this day cleaning house, doing laundry and getting set for next week. I also need to outline a process for deciding a big deal decision at the other home owners association, where my rental house is. It will be a snake pit with all sorts of unpleasant people coming out of the woodwork to make the job of a volunteer board all the harder. I am thinking it will not be fun.

But that is not about books and reading, or photography, so I won't go into detail. Tomorrow we are having a couple of field trips with the camera and I sincerely hope I get enough done today so that I feel free to go to them. I learn so, so, much! I am just so sad that I've stuffed my life full of things I said I'd do....and for now, I have scarce time to read. Sigh.

Your last book sounds quite interesting and I'm thinking your review deserves a thumb from me. I received an interesting looking ER book yesterday, so I should be reading at least it!

onwards..

Good morning, Karen! Sounds like you've got quite a day ahead of you. Hoping your meeting is better than anticipated. A volunteer board should get some recognition for the service and less duress, but I know that doesn't always happen. I'm going to be in a meeting this a.m. with pleasant enough people but a host of tedious issues to address, so I'll be in a somewhat kindred world.

Fingers crossed that you get to go on those field trips - doing something you enjoy and learning a lot is one of life's best combos. I know about the "scarce time to read" problem, that's for sure. Thanks for the thumb! What ER book did you get?

I received Dead Money* which is a horse racing setting for a mystery, I believe.

* bad touchstone. This book is written by Steve O'Brien, and published by The Cadence Group, publishers located in Forest Park, IL.

I also received a book I bought due to LT conversations: The Searchers: The Making of an American Legend. I am looking forward to reading both of them as soon as I can find the time! Maybe in April, May, June etc. But then there is gardening.... oh, dear, you can see I've worked myself up....

#234 I'm here for you, Paws. But if this is your first Faulkner, be warned that I do not advise starting with The Sound and the Fury. If you really want to appreciate the man, it's better to lead yourself into his world with other things. It was, after all, an experiment in form, and it isn't representative of his work.

241. I'll keep that in mind when I read it (but as it's part of a theme month, I won't be exchanging it for another Faulkner). Thanks for letting me know.

>240 maggie1944: Thanks, Karen. Yes, I've seen a lot of LT buzz about The Searchers, and it got a positive NYTimes review, too. I'm always curious about mysteries, so I'll look forward to your reaction to that. I used to read a lot of Dick Francis's horse racing mysteries.

>>241 laytonwoman3rd:-242 *goes into the kitchen for a piece of pie*

No to Faulkner.

Yes to *shudder* poetry and *wincecringeshudder* comic books. Oh dear, I mean graphic novels.

If I had not just this minute received a CARE package of Thin Mints, I would be tearin' this bitch down and rampaging around Chicago with an UZI and bandoliers of ammo. As it is, I shall confine myself to tutting disapprovingly.

Phew!

We found more thin mints for you, Richard:

Thank the Girl Scouts for your survival Joe! I shall write to them that they can change the 5 skills they learn from selling cookies to 6, SAVING LIVES!

Sorry, to say Joe I don't have a superhero/crime fighting costume since I am neither a superhero nor a crime fighter. I am partial to Batman (named my dog Bruce for Mr. Wayne) so I don't mind if you need help in an Alfred Pennyworth capacity. I know an excellent dry cleaner for your costume.

LOL! Thanks, Roberta. I like our dry cleaner a lot, but I haven't tried crimefighting costumes on them, and we know those can get pretty grimed up with alley spills and wallclimbing and the like. So I may get a hold of you for that info. I appreciate the Pennyworth offer, and may get back to you on that, too. *note to self: need something like the Batcave. What will much better half say?*

Joe - spent almost all of yesterday at a barbeque for friends and work colleagues ( food got barbequed not the friends and colleagues of course). Could do with a palate cleansing, RD imitating, bowl of chilli and fries but with less cheese.

When I finally get my schedule organised you will, God willing, get to meet Kyran who is permanently ravenous for everything other than homework.

Morning Joe- Peets, please! I have the Searchers on my WL too. I love that era and I love that film. I am really enjoying cinder. I don't know why I let this one get past me, the first time around. Very creative. Hope you have a nice Sunday planned.

>249 PaulCranswick: Hiya, Paul! Cooking up friends and colleagues tends to put a damper on get-togethers, so I think you made a good decision there in not doing it. A day long party sounds like a whole lot of fun - where did you do it?

Meeting Kyran would be a pleasure. We have some heavy stuff we could use some help moving. :-)

Here you go on the less cheese RD special:



>250 msf59: Morning, Mark! Glad you're enjoying Cinder - given that, I'm sure you'll like the next one, too.

I'm not much of a Western fan (the exception being the Clint Eastwood ones, for some reason, especially Unforgiven), but I'll be interested in what you think of the book.

Yes, we're off to visit Becca today and see "new" furniture she got from a friend's mother who's moving to a smaller place. Plus Sherlock got a trim and his eyes are now uncovered, so we'll see him with a new look - and he'll be able to see us better.

When to the slam team finals last night, and they were very well done. Filling a downtown theater like that - amazing.

Here's that Peet's. Hope you're having a good one, too. I'm reading The Dance of the Seagull, the new Inspector Montalbano, and the bizarro The Ghosts of Nagasaki rec'd by Alex. Enjoying both.

Waffles. I need waffles. I've got timechange blues and I need waffles.

Learning to Swim...post #259.

Exhausting, intense, wonderful. More waffles needed.

Oh, and another review of a very good, though not as exciting, book: The Might Have Been, a poignant-while-exasperating baseball novel of missed chances, in my thread...post #261.

It does seem to be morning... I am not ready for Monday at all...

>>252 richardderus:-254 Looking forward to reading the reviews, Richard. Here are some time-jiggered, timechange blues-quelling waffles.



>255 mckait: Me either, Kath. We'll all just have to pull together and help get ourselves through it. Gray, rainy, yucky here in Chi-town. But I'm about to get some coffee, and that'll help. Here's a pot for thems that needs it: