Scaifea's 2013 Challenge - Thread 5

Welcome to Thread #5!

Last year, I started each thread off with a photo from my Mythology course files; this year I thought I'd take inspiration from Paul's threads and share photos of places I've lived and interesting attractions thereabouts.

This is University Hall on the Ohio State University campus. The first campus building (since burned to the ground and rebuilt), it is also home to the Classics department and so housed my graduate student cubicle for 7 years, and I took and taught nearly all of my courses there, too. See the three windows all in a row right underneath the tower clock? I could look out of those windows from my cubicle (I was lucky enough to have a window seat!).



Below you’ll find an explanation of my reading habits, which, I warn you, is a bit crazy. Usually I have about 10-12 books going at once, one each from the following groups (and occasionally other books slipped in there too):

1. A library book. In Library of Congress call number order. So, yes, from the beginning of the library's shelves. Crazy? Or crazy like a fox?...

2. A book from the 100 Banned Books book (at least currently. As soon as I finish this list, I'll replace it with another, and oh, I've got tons of lists).

3. A children's book, for Charlie's library. I'm trying to collect books from various award lists, and I like reading them before reading them to Charlie or deciding to add them to Charlie's shelves. For this category, I’m working through two lists:
a. 1001 Children’s Books You Must Read Before You Die
b. The CYOA books

4. A book from the Green Dragon 1001 Fantasy List, in chronological order.

5. A book for the Presidential Challenge. Books for this category are read in chronological (presidentially) order.

6. An audio book, which I listen to as I knit/sew/otherwise craft/drive.

7. A list I'm working through together with my best friend, Rob: The Hugo/Nebula/WFA/Bram Stoker lists (combined, in chronological order)

8. For this category, I cycle through 7 different stacks:
a. A book from my shelves which I haven't yet read
b. Agatha Christie's bibliography (in chronological order)
c. Stephen King's bibliography (in chronological order)
d. Neil Gaiman's bibliography (in some order other than chronological (don't
ask)).
e. Christopher Moore's bibliography (in chronological order)
f. Stephen Fry's bibliography (in chronological order)
g. The NEH Timeless Classics list
h. The National Book Award list (in alpha order by title)
i. The Pulizer list (in alpha order by author)

9. A bath-time book: I read aloud while Tomm gives Charlie his bath.

So, now you've got a glimpse of just how neurotic I am.
Please feel free to post comments, recommendations, or whatever else strikes your fancy. And Happy Reading, everyone!

What I'm reading now:
-The Harvard Classics Five Foot Shelf of Books, Volume 26: Continental Drama (library book - call #AC1.A4 v.26)
-The Harvard Classics Five Foot Shelf of Books, Volume 27: English Essays Sidney to Macaulay (library book - call #AC1.A4 v.27)
-An American Tragedy (Banned Books list)
-Watership Down (1001 Children's Books list)
-The Faerie Queen (The Green Dragon 1001 Fantasy List)
-The Last Founding Father: James Monroe and a Nation's Call to Greatness (Presidential Challenge)
-The Disappearing Spoon (audio book)
-A Case of Conscience (Hugo award list)
-A Good Scent from a Strange Mountain (Pulitzer award list)
-The Cambridge Companion to the Age of Augustus (off of my classics shelves)
-Paddington Takes to TV (bath-time book)
-The Look-It-Up Book of Presidents (to accompany the presidential challenge)
-Our Country's Presidents (to accompany the presidential challenge)
-Vogue Sewing

In addition to these, I have some classics-related texts that I'm working through (quite slowly):
-Asinaria by Plautus (reading in Latin)
-Iliad by Homer (reading in Greek)
-Latin Literature by Gian Biagio Conte
-The Cambridge History of Classical Literature Volume 1 Part 1

Books Read:
JANUARY
1. Little Mouse Makes a Mess (CYOA series) - 7/10
2. The Very Lonely Firefly (gift to Charlie from The Ladies Who Live Next Door) - 7/10
3. Lots of Bots (present to Charlie from Santa) - 8/10
4. The Tower at the End of the World (Bellairs bibliography) - 9/10
5. Wall-e (present to Charlie from Santa) - 8/10
6. Eve (present to Charlie from Santa) - 8/10
7. Mo (present to Charlie from Santa) - 8/10
8. Aboard the Axiom (present to Charlie from Santa) - 8/10
9. The Whistle, the Grave and the Ghost (Bellairs bibliography) - 8/10
10. That's Not My Pony (public library book) - 8/10
11. Feet Are Not For Kicking (public library book) - 7/10
12. Was It a Good Trade? (public library book) - 6/10
13. Checklists for Life (christmas present from Tomm) - 8/10
14. The House Where Nobody Lived (Bellairs bibliography) - 9/10
15. Toy Boat (public library book) - 9/10
16. The Sign of the Sinister Sorcerer (Bellairs bibliography) - 9/10
17. Oh, What Nonsense! (book off of my shelves) - 7/10
18. Little Panda Gets Lost (CYOA series) - 8/10
19. The Light at Tern Rock (picked up from the library sale shelf) - 6/10
20. Greetings from the 50 States and How They Got Their Names (picked up from the library sale shelf) - 7/10
21. A Grand Old Tree (public library book) - 9/10
22. Valentine Surprise (public library book) - 8/10
23. At the Back of the North Wind (1001 Children's Books list) - 6/10
24. Llama Llama Home with Mama (public library book) - 8/10
25. The Tale of Desperaux (Newbery award list) - 9/10
26. Llama Llama Mad at Mama (public library book) - 9/10
27. Llama Lllama Misses Mama (public library book) - 8/10
28. The Hunger Games (Parent & Child list) - 10/10
29. Happy Valentine's Day, Curious George! (public library book) - 8/10
30. Cranberry Valentine (public library book) - 8/10
31. The Water Babies (1001 Children's Books) - 6/10
32. Happy Valentine's Day, Mouse! (Charlie book) - 8/10
33. What the Ladybug Heard (public library book) - 8/10
34. The Kettles Get New Clothes (public library book) - 8/10
35. Paddington at Work (Charlie bath-time book) - 9/10
36. Catching Fire (Parent & Child list) - 9/10
37. Little Boat (public library book) - 6/10
38. Clink (public library book) - 9/10
39. Mockingjay (Parent & Child list) - 9/10
40. Gossie (public library book) - 8/10
41. Kira Kira (Newbery award list) - 7/10
42. Gossie & Gertie (public ibrary book) - 8/10
43. Little Kangaroo's Bad Day (CYOA series) - 8/10
44. The Lightning Thief (Parent & Child list) - 6/10
45. Old Bear and His Cub (public library book) - 8/10
46. Criss Cross (Newbery award list) - 7/10
47. Llama Llama Time to Share (public library book) - 8/10

FEBRUARY
48. The Bad Beginning (Parent & Child list) - 8/10
49. Good Masters! Sweet Ladies! (Newbery award list) - 8/10
50. Don't Worry, Bear (public library book) - 8/10
51. This Is Not My Hat (Caldecott award list) - 8/10
52. I Want My Hat Back (public library book) - 8/10
53. Who Sees the Lighthouse? (public library book) - 7/10
54. When You Reach Me (Newbery award list) - 9/10
55. Honk! (public library book) - 8/10
56. The Monster of Florence (audio book) - 9/10
57. The Princess and the Goblin (1001 Children's Books list) - 7/10
58. The One and Only Ivan (Newbery award list) - 8/10
59. The Forever Machine (Hugo award list) - 8/10
60. Little Men (NEH list) - 7/10
61. The Graveyard Book (Newbery award list) - 10/10
62. The Family That Couldn't Sleep (audio book) - 9/10
63. Where Is the Green Sheep? (public library book) - 9/10
64. Let's Count Goats! (public library book) - 9/10
65. Bear Says Thanks (public library book) - 8/10
66. The Higher Power of Lucky (Newbery award list) - 8/10
67. Moon over Manifest (Newbery award list) - 10/10
68. Bear's New Friend (public library book) - 8/10
69. Dead End in Norvelt (Newbery award list) - 8/10
70. Bear Feels Scared (public library book) - 8/10
71. The Canterville Ghost (1001 Children's Books list) - 9/10
72. Hide and Squeak (public library book) - 8/10
73. Bear's Loose Tooth (public library book) - 8/10
74. The Happy Prince (1001 Children's Books) - 9/10
75. Bear Wants More (public library book) - 8/10
76. Bear Feels Sick (public library book) - 9/10
77. Blue Chicken (public library book) - 9/10
78. Diary of a Wombat (public library book) - 7/10
79. Little Raccoon Goes to the Beach (CYOA series) - 8/10
80. Little Auto (public library book) - 7/10
81. Paddington Goes to Town (bath-time book) - 9/10
82. Worms for Lunch? (public library book) - 8/10
83. Little Lord Fauntleroy (1001 Children's Books list) - 8/10
84. Caramba (public library book) - 8/10

MARCH
85. This Is the Firefighter (public library book) - 8/10
86. Little Bear and the Papagini Circus (public library book) - 7/10
87. The Best Tales of Hoffmann (1001 Children's Books list) - 9/10
88. Where Is That Cat? (public library book) - 9/10
89. Drum City (public library book) - 8/10
90. Three by the Sea (public library book) - 9/10
91. Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm (1001 Children's Books list) - 8/10
92. The Very Busy Day (public library book) - 7/10
93. Five Children and It (1001 Children's Books list) - 7/10
94. The Boxcar Children (1001 Children's Books list) - 8/10
95. The Little Prince (1001 Children's Books list) - 6/10
96. Half Magic (1001 Children's Books list) - 9/10
97. Double Star (Hugo award list) - 9/10
98. A History of Greece to 322 B.C. (from my classics shelves) - 8/10
99. Women in Love (banned books list) - 5/10
100. Augustus: A Novel (NBA list) - 9/10
101. The Tower Treasure (1001 Children's Books list) - 8/10
102. At Home (audio book) - 9/10
103. The Funny Thing Is... (audio book) - 8/10
104. The Very Noisy Night (public library book) - 8/10
105. Don't You Feel Well, Sam? (public library book) - 8/10
106. Old Bear (public library book) - 7/10
107. Duck Sock Hop (public library book) - 8/10
108. A Little Princess (1001 Children's Books list) - 8/10
109. Kiss Good Night (public library book) - 9/10
110. How Rocket Learned to Read (public library book) - 9/10
111. Pollyanna (1001 Children's Books list) - 8/10
112. Wow! Said the Owl (public library book) - 8/10
113. The Incredible Journey (1001 Children's Books list) - 8/10
114. A New House for Mouse (public library book) - 8/10
115. The Children's Hour, volume 12: Stories of Long Ago (I'm working through this series of old volumes that were my brothers' when they were little) - 8/10
116. Little Goat's Big Brother (CYOA series) - 7/10
117. Up and Down (public library book) - 9/10
118. Is Everyone Hanging Out without Me? (audio book) - 9/10
119. Kipper's Book of Weather (public library book) - 9/10
120. Milky Way Railroad (1001 Children's Books list) - 8/10
121. If I Had a Sheep (public library book) - 8/10
122. The Great Pet Sale (public library book) - 9/10
123. Dora Loves Boots (public library book) - 8/10
124. Max & Ruby's Treasure Hunt (public library book) - 8/10
125. The Big Time (Hugo award list) - 7/10
126. Bedtime in the Forest (public library book) - 8/10
127. Will Spring Be Early or Will Spring Be Late? (public library book) - 7/10
128. Harriet the Spy (1001 Children's Books list) - 8/10
129. Henry Hikes to Fitchburg (public library book) - 8/10
130. The Adventures of Pinocchio (1001 Children's Books list) - 7/10
131. Poppy & Ella (public library book) - 9/10

APRIL
132. The Village Garage (public library book) - 9/10
133. Neville (public library book) - 9/10
134. Nurse Matilda (1001 Children's Books list) - 7/10
135. Imagine Harry (public library book) - 7/10
136. Sheep in Wolves' Clothing (public library book) - 8/10
137. The Three Cabritos (public library book) - 9/10
138. Big Kicks (public library book) - 7/10
139. Policeman Small (public library book) - 8/10
140. A Wizard of Earthsea (1001 Children's Books list) - 9/10
141. Paddington Takes the Air (bath time book) - 10/10
142. Tell Me the Day Backwards (public library book) - 8/10
143. Wall-E: Love at First Beep (found for Charlie at a garage sale) - 9/10
144. Boo and Baa Have Company (public library book) - 9/10

Charlie in an admirable pose, no?

And this thread's Bonus Question:

What sound do you hate?

Slurpy and grunty noises when "somebody" is eating

Also...

Constant clicking of a pen
Chalk on a chalkboard or marker on a marker board

#2 Ohhh....I want a big ole "LIKE" button for that one.

What sound do I hate? Coughing...coughing coming from the cubicles all around me at work! (People should stay home...really. That's what sick time is for.) I agree with Morphy too---clicking pens are really annoying.

I hate any sound that isn't quiet.

The sound I hate and the sound I love are the same sound: high heels. I love the sound when I'm out and about or at work, but it makes me cringe in my own house, especially when one of the monsters is sleeping.

Excellent photo of Charlie!

A sound I hate: the noise that comes from the apartment above ours. It sounds like they are rolling boulders along their hall, back and forth, back and forth, and then periodically picking them up and dropping them down again. It is maddening.

Congrats on the great new thread, Amber. Looks like idyllic university life up top, and great photo of book-reading Charlie.

Sounds I hate: screechy un-oiled machinery fingernails on the blackboard type sounds.

> 8 Sounds like the elephants on pogo sticks who lived on the floor above me my senior year of college moved into your building. Sorry.

I'm extremely sensitive to noise and sounds, probably overly so. I actually have a touch of misophonia, although I'm working on it.

Personally I can't stand:
- Eating noises (smacking, gulping, slurping, chomping)
- People talking on the radio--I like the music, but can't stand the DJs, commercials, or talk radio because the voices interfere with the constant stream-of-consciousness workings of my brain. Essentially I can't hear myself think because all I can hear is the radio
- The sound of silverware scraping against dishes. If you can't scrape the last bits of food off your plate quietly, don't bother scraping them up at all.
- Thumping bass in people's cars
- Mic feedback *cringes just thinking about it*
- People who just sniff and sniff and sniff and who won't just go get a tissue and blow their noses already. Gah.

Am I the only one who has occasionally wished to be deaf, just so as to not put up with all the obnoxious and revolting sounds in this world? This mostly happens when the bar down the street is blaring its music from 3 pm to 2 am when I've got to get up at 6 am for a 10-hour waitressing shift.

Morphy: Tomm is the same way about eating noises, to the point that I only eat cereal when he's not around (even though I'm eating it as quietly as I possibly can, he can't stand the sound of *anyone* eating cereal).

Linda: It's a great photo, isn't it? A chip off the ol' block, of course. And, yes, the coughing incessantly is bothersome.

Stephen: You don't go to concerts much, then, eh? Or movies, these days, which are waaaaay louder than they need to be.

Luxx: Ooooh, good answer! I love the sound of high heels on cement, but not in the house.

Laura: Thanks! I was particularly proud of snapping that one, I have to say. And I very much don't envy you apartment noises. I'm so happy to have left the apartment living days behind, as I was *never* tolerant of neighbors being even the slightest bit loud. People can be so selfish, inconsiderate and just plain rude.

Joe: One of the nice things about being a classicist is that we tend to get the best buildings on campuses, mostly because we tend to have been around at the beginning of the college and so got pretty good dips on the first buildings! It was the same at Kenyon - Classics is in the oldest, and most lovely, building.

casvelyn: I don't like any of those sounds, either, really, particularly the talk radio one. Although I do like listening to audio books. Weird.

116. Little Goat's Big Brother by Marcia Leonard (CYOA series, 20 pages) - 7/10
Little Goat looks up to his big brother, but is envious of him because he himself can't do all the things his older brother can.
This one, the last in the Your First Adventure series, clearly shows that this younger series was at it's end. There's not as much interaction in this one, and the plot is nearly non-existent.

Hi Amber, just wanted to wish you a lovely weekend and then I saw your "lovely" Inlaws are coming, or is it the next weekend? So, you have my sympathies. However, I think that Nora's idea is ideal in coping with the situation.

Can't see any photos on this stupid work computer, so I will check them out tomorrow.

Your bonus question - There are two sounds which make me absolutely cringe.
1. When someone scratches with a knife of fork over a plate *big shudder*
2. When someone sniffels all the time and is to lazy to blow his nose (someone mentioned that one before)

Bianca: Yep, it's this weekend. Blech. And I'm realizing that this question is all-round cringe-causing, because I've already shuddered multiple times reading the answers, especially your (and others') knife/fork screeching on a plate. Yikes! Much the same reaction that I have to my MIL's voice, I'm sad to say. *sigh*

Oh well, I will send you this weekend lots of positive thought and *hugs* and hope you will survive this encounter with as less stress as possible.

Thanks, Bianca!

On today's agenda:
-Cleaning the house. It's not filthy, but a quick swish-swish with the vacuum wouldn't hurt and there's some seriously picking-up that needs to happen in the living room before The Inlaws get here tomorrow.
-Trip to post office and then lunch out with Charlie, at the eatery of his choosing.
-Baking & cooking. Pear Bread & Chicken Salad.
-Laundry. Again. Sigh.

Morning Amber- Congrats on # 5! "Sounds you hate: Grass blowers, both gas or electric. Talk about a noise machine! I have never owned one but it's funny how many people are obsessed with them in the 'burbs. Enjoy the weekend.

Oooh, good one, Mark! 'Round here, I'm becoming discontent with snow blowers, both because they make a lot of noise, and because they seem to do so, mockingly, when I'm out shoveling the driveway in the old-fashioned way.

I like that, Amber. Heckuva lot better to have classics get the most beautiful buildings than the latest hot trend.

Campus buildings are incredibly beautiful. Your opening photo is lovely.

I've been employed at Lehigh University for 29 years. The campus is stunning, and when I ask students why those chose Lehigh rather than another college, inevitably they respond that they love the look of the campus.

Here is a sampling:

This is the building where I work. It houses The Department of Journalism and Communication


Here are photos of one of our beautiful libraries:



This is the Alumni Memorial building which houses administrative offices.

Linda: Oh, lovely! It looks a lot like the IU campus, which is just gorgeous.

117. Up and Down by Oliver Jeffers (public library book, picture book) - 9/10
The boy and his penguin are back, this time the penguin wants to learn how to fly, with hilarious and adorable - hildorable, even - results.
We at Scaife Manor very much love Lost and Found, the first book featuring the boy and his penguin, so I was delighted (there was a bit of silent hopping up and down in the library stacks) when I found this one on the shelf. Definitely recommended, along with its predecessor, of course.

Hi Amber
I love the picture of Charlie reading. Such a cutie!

One of the sounds I hate is screaming. Little girls screaming is the worst. One of my old neighbours had a little girl that screamed her head off while playing and it always made me cringe! (not delightful squealing though, that's a cute sound)

Good luck with your in-laws this weekend!

Thanks, Chelle! And yes, little ones screaming is high up on my list, too.

11: I've never been to a concert, and though I enjoy going to the movies, I do usually get grumpy about the overly-loud volume.

Stephen: It's been a long time since I've been to a concert, and the only ones I could ever tolerate were the ones in outdoor venues. The best one I ever went to was the one I took my best friend to for his birthday - Iron Maiden (his favorite band). I don't particularly care for them (they're okay, just not my favorite), but it was still the best concert ever because of the 40-50-somethings in the audience (which was nearly all of them - we were the youngest by far), who were nearly to a one stoned and rocking out on their air guitars. Best audience ever. So fun to people watch.

Yeah, I'm not a huge fan of that era of metal myself (really noisy and scream-y) but I like older metal audiences, the ones that attract young kids are totally obnoxious. My sister tried to get me to go to a Lamb of God concert (they were a favorite band of mine in high school) but I've seen videos of their audiences and I have little interest taking part in that. *Shudders*

It seems much less an issue in other countries though, sadly. I have a lot of concert DVDs and it seems like the ones that take place overseas are a lot calmer, not matter how heavy or extreme the music. Lucky!

118. (53rd non-picture book read) Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? by Mindy Kaling (audio book) - 9/10
I'm not particularly a fan of The Office, although I have watched it (Tomm is a huge fan), and I'd never thought one way or the other about Mindy Kaling, but I picked this up at the library because I like these sorts of quirky memoirs. I wasn't disappointed, and indeed I know think that I kind of love Mindy. A fun read/listen.

What I'm reading now:
-The Harvard Classics Five Foot Shelf of Books, Volume 26: Continental Drama (library book - call #AC1.A4 v.26)
-The Harvard Classics Five Foot Shelf of Books, Volume 27: English Essays Sidney to Macaulay (library book - call #AC1.A4 v.27)
-An American Tragedy (Banned Books list)
-Milky Way Railroad (1001 Children's Books list)
-The Faerie Queen (The Green Dragon 1001 Fantasy List)
-The Last Founding Father: James Monroe and a Nation's Call to Greatness (Presidential Challenge)
-The Disappearing Spoon (audio book)
-The Big Time (Hugo award list)
-A Good Scent from a Strange Mountain (Pulitzer award list)
-The Cambridge Companion to the Age of Augustus (off of my classics shelves)
-Paddington Takes the Air (bath-time book)
-The Children's Hour Volume 13: Roads to Adventure (I'm working through this series of old volumes that were my brothers' when they were little.)
-The Look-It-Up Book of Presidents (to accompany the presidential challenge)
-Our Country's Presidents (to accompany the presidential challenge)
-Vogue Sewing

In addition to these, I have some classics-related texts that I'm working through (quite slowly):
-Asinaria by Plautus (reading in Latin)
-Iliad by Homer (reading in Greek)
-Latin Literature by Gian Biagio Conte
-The Cambridge History of Classical Literature Volume 1 Part 1

Love the buildings here Amber.
The noise I hate the most is probably the noise of someone jabbering away through the movie at the cinema.

Have a lovely weekend.

>24 ChelleBearss: Hearing people scream makes me more nervous than annoyed. I understand shouting, particularly when kids are playing outside, but screaming makes me think something is wrong. It reminds me of college, when girls would be outside screaming at 2 am, and my roommate and I always wondered if we should call the police or just let it go.

119. Kipper's Book of Weather by Mick Inkpen (public library book, picture book) - 9/10
Kipper, a little dog who is well-beloved here at Scaife Manor, takes us through the various kinds of weather (rain, sun, snow,...) with lovely and adorable illustrations.
If you haven't read any of Kipper's stories, I highly suggest that you do, or check out one of his dvds, which are equally adorable and clever.

Hi Amber, congrats on Thread #5. I love the Charlie picture. What book is he reading?

Hmmm..noises I don't like. Unfortunately, I live with a noisy eater. He has many good qualities, however, so I have retrained myself to think his slurping and crunching sounds are acceptable. What really bugs me are whiny children and loud cell phone conversations in public places, especially restaurants. Thank goodness none of my grandkids are whiners. Oh, one more, the sound of a dripping faucet at night is torture.

Samantha & Donna: Boy, noisy eaters are a common peeve here, eh? Donna, he's looking at one of his CYOA books.

Paul: Oh, man. People talking in a movie theater really gets to me, too.

casvelyn: So, did you ever call the police?

120. (54th non-picture book read) Milky Way Railroad by Kenji Miyazawa (1001 Children's Books list, 143 pages) - 8/10
A young boy, unhappy and lonesome, dreams of a trip on the Milky Way Railroad one night.
Yeah. I'm not really sure how to summarize this one, as I'm not entirely (read: at all) sure what it's really about. The magical celestial train seems to represent the soul's journey to heaven, or from this life to the next. I think. At any rate, it's lovely.

What I'm reading now:
-The Harvard Classics Five Foot Shelf of Books, Volume 26: Continental Drama (library book - call #AC1.A4 v.26)
-The Harvard Classics Five Foot Shelf of Books, Volume 27: English Essays Sidney to Macaulay (library book - call #AC1.A4 v.27)
-An American Tragedy (Banned Books list)
-(awaiting next trip to the library) (1001 Children's Books list)
-The Faerie Queen (The Green Dragon 1001 Fantasy List)
-The Last Founding Father: James Monroe and a Nation's Call to Greatness (Presidential Challenge)
-The Disappearing Spoon (audio book)
-The Big Time (Hugo award list)
-A Good Scent from a Strange Mountain (Pulitzer award list)
-The Cambridge Companion to the Age of Augustus (off of my classics shelves)
-Paddington Takes the Air (bath-time book)
-The Children's Hour Volume 13: Roads to Adventure (I'm working through this series of old volumes that were my brothers' when they were little.)
-The Look-It-Up Book of Presidents (to accompany the presidential challenge)
-Our Country's Presidents (to accompany the presidential challenge)
-Vogue Sewing

In addition to these, I have some classics-related texts that I'm working through (quite slowly):
-Asinaria by Plautus (reading in Latin)
-Iliad by Homer (reading in Greek)
-Latin Literature by Gian Biagio Conte
-The Cambridge History of Classical Literature Volume 1 Part 1

>35 scaifea: We never did, and nothing bad ever happened to anybody, so I suppose these people just liked screaming or something. I know when I was a kid, my mom always said that we should never scream unless it was an emergency, or people wouldn't take us seriously when we needed real help. I guess other people's parents never told them that.

casvelyn: Oh, their parents could have told them. Many college students do things that their parents told them no to do...

121. If I Had a Sheep by Mick Inkpen (public library book, picture book) - 8/10
A little girl imagines all of the things she would do if she should b so fortunate as to have a sheep as a playmate.
Very cute, and Inkpen's illustrations are excellent as always, but not on the level of his Kipper stuff.

Well, the InLaws are gone and the weekend went fairly okay, other than MIL's dramatic oh-I-threw-my-leg-out-and-need-crutches-and-can't-go-to-the-museum-like-we-promised-Charlie-we-would. Sigh. If she weren't such an attention-seeker, I'd have more sympathy/belief in her ailments. Plus, I really don't like it when someone doesn't carry through on a promise to my son. She should know better than to make a promise like that in advance to a child. He was very excited and then devastated that we weren't going. At any rate, it's over now until sometime this summer.

>38 scaifea: That's true. I have a low tolerance for reckless behavior, and so I tend to forget that some people enjoy acting irresponsibly.

#40 I'd have suggested she plop herself in a wheelchair and soldier on. Most museums can supply one... Oh, well, I suppose she would have had a Good Reason why that wouldn't have worked either.

Hi Amber, glad you got through your week and things have returned to normal. Poor Charley, but kids have a way of seeing through the bullsh-t and I suspect he's probably already learned to be careful around her. Her loss, cause an unreserved grandchild's love is the best.

Amber

I can certainly relate to the drama queen mother in law. My ex mother in law was quite a piece of work. We mistakenly took her to Disneyworld (at the insistence of my ex husband). It was a disaster.

I totally agree with the fact that she should never have promised something to Charlie and then dropped the ball.

Ick. Glad you survived and have months before the next encounter.

Love the latest Charlie pic...he looks like he is reading out loud to you? You did luck out with your grad cubicle location. My office was subterranean, with windows at ground level, looking out into shrubs. Oh well, at least I had a window!

You're making me feel blessed with how good my in-laws were to my lads. Now in their mid 90s, they are reaping the benefits of their love because my sons will drive for hours to see them whenever they are able to. You reaps what you sows.

Noises I hate: oh you've lifted the lid off of Pandora's box here, as a noise sensitive person.
People rattling popcorn, slurping drinks, or crinkling candy bags during a movie.
People who talk during movies.
Children who scream for no reason.
Those whumpa whumpa whumpa bass speakers in cars that rearrange your brain cells at stop lights.
People who belch as though they are trying to turn themselves inside out.
Motorcycles with no baffles in their mufflers.
People who chew with their mouths open.
Leaf blowers.
Neighbours with chain saws or belt sanders or wood chippers who start before 8 a.m. and go all day.
Neighbours who play their radio VERY LOUDLY beside their pool in the summer so you can't sit out on the deck and listen to the birds.
I could go on but you get the idea.

122. The Great Pet Sale by Mick Inkpen (public library book, picture book) - 9/10
A young boy visits a pet shop and is sales-pressured by a $0.01 rat.
Sweet and funny story with adorably funny illustrations. Inkpen in top form.

casvelyn: I've never understood that desire in people, either.

Linda: Oh, I'm certain she had one all worked out.

Judy: You're spot on with that - although my heart breaks a little for Charlie when this sort of thing happens with her, I also think it's not a bad thing that he's learning what kind of person she is, and he's very perceptive, so I'm certain he's already beginning to understand about her.

Linda: We're already trying to figure out how not to let her know too much ahead of time when we're going to Disney World, as we *really* don't want her inviting herself (and she absolutely would).

Laura: Thanks - me too!

tiffin: Yep, he is (although he doesn't really read yet; he pretends to read. Some stories he knows by heart, though). And agreed about the reaping what you sow bit - I'm certain she'll be sorry later about all this, although I bet she'll blame me somehow for 'turning him against her' and not herself. Indeed, I try *very* hard not to let me feelings about her show around Charlie - she is one of his grandparents, after all. Your unloved sounds seem to be like mine - evidence of thoughtlessness in others make the worst noises.

I'm glad you got through another episode of the In-Law Visitation. I hope it will be a nice long time before another one occurs! At least you got a visit in to your own parents beforehand as an inoculation!

Morphy: True! And I talk with my mom every day at least once (usually more), and she's great to vent to about it and always makes me feel better.

123. Dora Loves Boots by Alison Inches (public library book, picture book) - 8/10
Dora and Boots are on their way to meet each other for a Valentine's Day picnic. The reader must help the both find their way to Rainbow Rock and to each other.
Charlie is a fan of Dora, and I'm okay with that, since he's picking up a bit of Spanish along the way.

40: She did that? Ugh. I would have told Charlie "That's okay, we'll go together after she leaves" in front of her. :P

Stephen: Ha! That's just exactly what I did do!

#53 I want a ANOTHER "Like" button!

124. Max & Ruby's Treasure Hunt by Rosemary Wells (public library book, picture book) - 8/10
Max, Ruby and their friends must play inside, since it's storming outside. Grandma comes up with a treasure hunt to keep them occupied.
Charlie loves Ma & Ruby, so he was very excited when we found this one at the library. It's okay, not fantastic, but Charlie enjoyed it, so, *shrug*.

125. (55th non-picture book read) The Big Time by Fritz Leiber (Hugo award list, 130 pages) - 7/10
The Change War (a battle of changing the past to change the future) has been started long ago in the distant future, and the two factions, the Spiders and the Snakes, are hard at work fighting each other. Their agents are the resurrected Demons, people who have been cut out of their true lifelines just before their real deaths and given a half-life of sorts, slipping in and out of various times and places, trying to change history/the future in favor of their side. This screws with the sanity a bit, as you might suspect, and so the Places have been established, outside of time and space, to act as hospitals/night clubs for those 'soldiers' just coming off of their various missions. This book focuses on one such Place for one day, the people who run it and the soldiers who come in for some recuperation. A screwed-up mission and an a-bomb throw everything off course, though, and we watch the characters react to the situation through the eyes of one of the Entertainers (a Demon courtesan, essentially).
Sounds kind of cool, no? Yeeeah. It isn't. It's, in fact, pretty terrible. A tragic case of a great idea had and executed by the wrong writer. Man, if Stephen R. Donaldson would take up this idea, or even someone like Garth Ennis, or possibly Orson Scott Card, it could really be something special. Alas, it's barely readable. Sigh.

What I'm reading now:
-The Harvard Classics Five Foot Shelf of Books, Volume 26: Continental Drama (library book - call #AC1.A4 v.26)
-The Harvard Classics Five Foot Shelf of Books, Volume 27: English Essays Sidney to Macaulay (library book - call #AC1.A4 v.27)
-An American Tragedy (Banned Books list)
-Harriet the Spy (1001 Children's Books list)
-The Faerie Queen (The Green Dragon 1001 Fantasy List)
-The Last Founding Father: James Monroe and a Nation's Call to Greatness (Presidential Challenge)
-The Disappearing Spoon (audio book)
-A Case of Conscience (Hugo award list)
-A Good Scent from a Strange Mountain (Pulitzer award list)
-The Cambridge Companion to the Age of Augustus (off of my classics shelves)
-Paddington Takes the Air (bath-time book)
-The Children's Hour Volume 13: Roads to Adventure (I'm working through this series of old volumes that were my brothers' when they were little.)
-The Look-It-Up Book of Presidents (to accompany the presidential challenge)
-Our Country's Presidents (to accompany the presidential challenge)
-Vogue Sewing

In addition to these, I have some classics-related texts that I'm working through (quite slowly):
-Asinaria by Plautus (reading in Latin)
-Iliad by Homer (reading in Greek)
-Latin Literature by Gian Biagio Conte
-The Cambridge History of Classical Literature Volume 1 Part 1

Linda: Ha! Thanks! She ignored the comment, of course. She also does this shitty thing (every time she's come here, in fact (!)), where she'll decide that she needs a snack and whip out a small package of cookies or something and start eating them, in front of Charlie, and - wait for it - never offers him one or asks me if he could have one. Unbelievable! Who does that in front of a child?! So, every ding-dang time she does it, I pointedly ask Charlie if he'd like to have a cookie snack, too, and give him one from our own stash. SHEESH!

126. Bedtime in the Forest by Kazuo Iamura (public library book, picture book) - 8/10
Some young squirrels sneak out at night to play with their neighbors, the young owls, and quickly realize that their parents are right: squirrels sleep at night and play during the day.
Sweet illustrations, but uninventive story.

I watched last night, for the first time, Love Story. It's strange that I'd never watched it, or read the book, before now, as the book was written by a classicist - one of the few to break through our obscure little world and into the popular one. I watched it now because it's on the AFI 100 Romance Movies list. So, here's the thing: I thought for certain that I would completely lose my composure by the end, knowing as I went into it that it was going to be a sad sad ending. But I didn't. Not one tear. But I also didn't think that the movie was bad. I guess I just didn't fully engage with the characters; the girl was a bit too obnoxious for me to like, and the guy was, well, Bones' dad and that distracted me. *shrug* An okay movie, but not my idea of one of the best romances I've ever watched.

Wow...it's amazing what a connection can do, isn't it? I've never seen "Bones", and had to look up Ryan O'Neal's roles to see what you were referring to. (And that brings me to this: If you haven't seen "Paper Moon", then GIT IT. That one I predict you'll love.) This is one of those moments when I'm glad of my age, because in 1970 I was still a teenager (OK, just barely), and he was still a heartthrob, and I could cry over that soapy, sappy movie. But even then I hated the line "Love means never having to say you're sorry". And it was one of those things that showed up all over everywhere, even in the days before Facebook and Twitter.

Linda: Paper Moon is now in the Netflix queueueue - thanks for the recommendation!
And I was already tired of that Love line, too, even before I watched the movie. And it's counter, "Love means always having to say you're sorry." Gah.
So, my equivalent Romance That Made My Heart Throb When I Was a Teenager would be Benny & Joon. Johnny and Mary Stuart Masterson. Sigh.

It sounds like Love Story could be dated? I wasn't old enough to see it when it first came out, but read the book and saw the movie later, in my teens, which would have been late 970s and like Linda, I cried over its soapy sappiness. But it seems like one of those films that doesn't compare well to either classic 1940s/50s films or modern ones.

Laura: Yes and no. It's essentially a timeless plot, but the music and the lighting and such seems dated.

@ 60

Oh, Benny and Joon. Love.

Laura: I know! Me too. I pull it out and watch it again every once in awhile. Johnny doing the Chaplin bit = wonderful.

>62 scaifea:: oh right, I can imagine. The hubster and I watched a 1980s-era BBC drama recently starring Colin Firth. Young Colin made for some fine eye candy, indeed. But the production values were very much of its time, lighting etc. were pretty awful.

Laura: I can hardly stand to watch some late-60's/early-70's movies, where the lighting is almost non-existent and you can't see what's happening half the time - arrgh!

I'm feeling old. ^ & ^

tiffin: Ha! Sorry.

Came to wish you and your family a Happy Easter, Amber. I was of the generation that "Love Story" spoke to, and although I was never a big Ryan O'Neal fan, I did love that movie and Ali McGraw. I'd be afraid to watch it now, it's probably dated badly.

Happy Easter, Judy! I hope you and yours have a wonderful holiday.

127. Will Spring Be Early or Will Spring Be Late? by Crockett Johnson (public library book, picture book) - 7/10
Our now-frenemy, Phil (although he's not named that in the book) the Groundhog, pokes his head out of the ground and muses about how important his job is to bring the news of an early or late spring to all of the other animals. He mistakenly thinks he sees the first flower of spring and spreads the false report. A 'grumpy' pig dispels the wrongful rumor and gets nothing for his efforts but the slander of villainy.
Note: I may be unfairly bitter in my summary. For obvious reasons.
Otherwise, however, it's still not an outstanding book - the plot is fairly silly (not the good kind of silly) and I'm not fond of this variety of illustration (same author/illustrator as for Harold and the Purple Crayon, which I know is a 'classic' but I still don't like it).

Grocery shopping today, with The Charld. So we'll see how that goes. I normally do the shopping while he's at preschool, since he generally intensely dislikes the experience, but he's off school this week for spring break and the shopping needs doing. Sigh. We did make some fairly awesomesauce cookies yesterday, about which I'm completely excited. I've been searching for a recipe for my absolute favorite kind of cookie for a long time and finally found a good and easy one - Speculaas! Yes, I know that they are traditionally a christmas cookie, but that's why I need the recipe - I want them all year round and they can only be purchased in November/December. The bad news is that I've scarfed down way too many cookies in the last 18 hours (and I'm having some right now with my morning tea, of course!).

Last night's Tomm Is Out Of Town So I'll Watch Whatever Movies I Want selection was Atlantis the Lost Empire (the Disney film). I'd never watched this one before, but I've been gradually collecting all the disney animated movies for Charlie's collection and I also watch them all first before I let Charlie watch them (looking for potential scary bits), so this one has been waiting on the shelf for awhile. Cute movie, with a surprisingly large and famous cast of voices. Michael J. Fox was one of my first school-girl crushes, so he has a special place in my heart.

Speaking of Ryan O'Neal. Check out the TV series from the 60's Peyton Place. Now he was my heart throb back then.

Hi Amber, just stopping by to wish you and your family a wonderful Easter weekend *smile*

I loved Atlantis when I have seen it many years back :)

Cindy: I keep meaning to watch that - now even more so!

Bianca: It *is* good, isn't it? Tonight I watched Treasure Planet - not quite as good but still very watchable. It'll go on the wait-til-he's-older pile, though - I'm fairly certain that some of those aliens would give him nightmares right now.

128. (56th non-picture book read) Harriet the Spy by Louise Fitzhugh (1001 Children's Books list, 298 pages) - 8/10
Harriet wants to be a writer when she grows up. And a spy. So she spends her time spying on the neighborhood and obsessively writing in her secret notebook. She has a nice, comfortable routine to her days, until her nanny leaves and then her friends find and read her notebook (in which she is uncomfortably candid about them).
A nice little read, although I felt that at times it couldn't figure out what sort of story it wanted to be (comedy? drama? A Very Special After-School Special?).

What I'm reading now:
-The Harvard Classics Five Foot Shelf of Books, Volume 26: Continental Drama (library book - call #AC1.A4 v.26)
-The Harvard Classics Five Foot Shelf of Books, Volume 27: English Essays Sidney to Macaulay (library book - call #AC1.A4 v.27)
-An American Tragedy (Banned Books list)
-Pinocchio (1001 Children's Books list)
-The Faerie Queen (The Green Dragon 1001 Fantasy List)
-The Last Founding Father: James Monroe and a Nation's Call to Greatness (Presidential Challenge)
-The Disappearing Spoon (audio book)
-A Case of Conscience (Hugo award list)
-A Good Scent from a Strange Mountain (Pulitzer award list)
-The Cambridge Companion to the Age of Augustus (off of my classics shelves)
-Paddington Takes the Air (bath-time book)
-The Children's Hour Volume 13: Roads to Adventure (I'm working through this series of old volumes that were my brothers' when they were little.)
-The Look-It-Up Book of Presidents (to accompany the presidential challenge)
-Our Country's Presidents (to accompany the presidential challenge)
-Vogue Sewing

In addition to these, I have some classics-related texts that I'm working through (quite slowly):
-Asinaria by Plautus (reading in Latin)
-Iliad by Homer (reading in Greek)
-Latin Literature by Gian Biagio Conte
-The Cambridge History of Classical Literature Volume 1 Part 1

>76 scaifea:: when I was a kid I really wanted to be Harriet the Spy. My best friend and I carried around little notebooks and recording everything we encountered. The only problem was, nothing interesting ever happened!

Laura: Funny! I can certainly see myself having done that when I was little, had I read the book then.

I've decided to do a bit of re-ordering of my books; I'm pulling all of my series (Penguin classics, Everyman's Library, Norton Critical Editions,...) and shelving them together, instead of having them scattered in with the general alpha-by-author collection. Why I've not done this before, I have no clue, as my classical studies books have been organized in this way from the beginning. *shrug* At any rate, I have the exciting project ahead of me today, plus coloring eggs with Tomm and Charlie, of course.

Oh yay! I love re-organizing books! :)

I think if I had a big book collection my shelves would actually be in complete disarray, simply because I was re-organize them so much that I'd probably always forget just how I have them organized at any given time. :P

Stephen: Ha! I have to resist the urge to find new ways to organize all the time.

Ooh! I just reorganized some books yesterday. Such fun!

Laura: It *was* fun! Getting more organized is one of my favorite things.

I love organizing books too--enjoy!

Roni: I enjoyed it very much - a very satisfying day. And now, it's nearly time for the Easter Bunny to hide some eggs and fill a basket for Charlie!

129. Henry Hikes to Fitchburg by D. B. Johnson (public library book, picture book) - 8/10
A bear named Henry makes a wager with his friend: Henry will walk to Fitchburg and his friend will work until he has enough money to buy a train ticket there, and they'll see who gets there first. The story follows on facing pages, each bear's day as he, in his chosen way, makes his way to Fitchburg.
The book was, apparently, inspired by Henry Thoreau, so if you like that kind of thing, you may like this little book. I'm not a fan of Thoreau myself, but I did enjoy the picture book.

Happy Easter to all who celebrate today, and Happy Sunday to everyone else!

Here at Scaife Manor, the eggs have all been found, the basket unpacked, the Easter Cinnamon Roll Breakfast eaten. Charlie's playing with his new stuff and Tomm and I are resting a bit before starting to prep Easter Lunch (for us it's turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing and green beans). This afternoon, Tomm and Charlie have some home improvement projects to work on together, mainly a new light fixture for our bedroom, and I'll likely be sewing. Or reading, of course. Or just staring lovingly at my newly-reorganized bookshelves!

Oh, and I forgot to mention the movie that Tomm and I watched last night: Be Kind Rewind. Hilarious! I'm a Jack Black fan, and he, along with Mos Def, are really great in this one. Many laugh-right-out-loud moments. Definitely recommended if you haven't seen it.

Happy Easter, Amber! I hope you and your family have a great day. It supposed to get cold again the next couple days but I think it is going to be temporary. Whew!

Thanks, Mark!

Sounds like you have a nice day planned Amber. We are just relaxing around the home front. It's supposed to rain later so I'm glad we spent time outdoors gardening yesterday.

Be Kind Rewind was one of the movies I checked out from the library, when I was doing that. The most fascinating part of it for me was the fact that they shot it in a really tiny town, and they used the local residents as actors, which is why there was so much of that stiff, slightly-awkward acting occassionally. They talked about it in a sort of mini-documentary in the special features, and I thought that was pretty cool.

Happy Easter Amber!
Book reorganizing and egg coloring, sounds like an awesome day!
Any pictures of the pretty eggs?

ETA
I apparently can not spell. *humph*

Stephen: Yes, we watched that documentary, too, and I agree that it was cool and very much like what the movie was about.

Chelle: Ha! Our eggs generally aren't photo-worthy; just plain, solid colors. It's still fun, though.

130. (57th non-picture book read) The Adventures of Pinocchio by C. Collodi (1001 Children's Books list, 254 pages) - 7/10
The well-known tale of the little wooden puppet who wishes to be a real boy.
Unlike the Disney version, the original Pinocchio is more than just a sweet but, well, dumb, little thing; he's still not the brightest bulb in the box, and on top of that, he's annoyingly rude, mean, and stubbornly disobedient. The story was repetitious: P. promises to be good, gets hornswaggled by some bad guys, disobeys his betters, gets himself into trouble, gets rescued and repents,...repeat again and again. Needless to say, it got tedious. I demonstrably prefer the Disney version of this one.

What I'm reading now:
-The Harvard Classics Five Foot Shelf of Books, Volume 26: Continental Drama (library book - call #AC1.A4 v.26)
-The Harvard Classics Five Foot Shelf of Books, Volume 27: English Essays Sidney to Macaulay (library book - call #AC1.A4 v.27)
-An American Tragedy (Banned Books list)
-Nurse Matilda (1001 Children's Books list)
-The Faerie Queen (The Green Dragon 1001 Fantasy List)
-The Last Founding Father: James Monroe and a Nation's Call to Greatness (Presidential Challenge)
-The Disappearing Spoon (audio book)
-A Case of Conscience (Hugo award list)
-A Good Scent from a Strange Mountain (Pulitzer award list)
-The Cambridge Companion to the Age of Augustus (off of my classics shelves)
-Paddington Takes the Air (bath-time book)
-The Children's Hour Volume 13: Roads to Adventure (I'm working through this series of old volumes that were my brothers' when they were little.)
-The Look-It-Up Book of Presidents (to accompany the presidential challenge)
-Our Country's Presidents (to accompany the presidential challenge)
-Vogue Sewing

In addition to these, I have some classics-related texts that I'm working through (quite slowly):
-Asinaria by Plautus (reading in Latin)
-Iliad by Homer (reading in Greek)
-Latin Literature by Gian Biagio Conte
-The Cambridge History of Classical Literature Volume 1 Part 1

Happy Easter to you, Tomm & Charlie today!

Thanks, Terri! You, too!

Happy Easter, Amber!

131. Poppy & Ella by Jef Kaminsky (public library book, picture book) - 9/10
Poppy and Ella are two birds. This cute little book contains three stories about their friendship, told in a quirky, very likable way. Excellent illustrations, too. Recommended.

Thanks, Roni - I hope you and yours have had a good day, too!

I love re-organizing my books as well. Actually, I do it on a regular basis as I use that to sort out the books I will give away.
Have a great day, Amber!

Bianca: I pretty much have had my books in the same order for awhile now, and for the most part I'm happy with it, but this had been something that has but tickling the back of my mind for a bit and I'm glad I finally just did it. I keep toying with the idea of LoC-ing the whole thing, but always back down from it as too daunting.

We watched Wreck-It Ralph last night - what a cool movie! Very funny, I loved the nod to vintage video games, and the cast of voices was amazingly well-chosen. Absolutely recommended!

"vintage" video games? God, I feel old!

Linda: Agreed. It makes me feel vintage, too.

There are kids today who have never played a Super Nintendo! OH MY GOD! Should I start shopping for a walking stick now?

How vintage is vintage?
Pac Man ... or Pong?

Qbert! From what I heard Qbert is a character and I remember him fondly.

Stephen: You should.

Laura: Both.

Morphy: Yes! He's adorable, too.

#108 How about Ducks Ahoy! and Solar Fox?

Hmmmm, maybe games that are composed of pixels are vintage? Polygons (from the Playstation/Nintendo 64 era) are just plain 'old and ugly' perhaps? :)

This movie made my kids want to play some of the old games. I have been looking for Qbert and Donkey Kong apps for the ipad. They did not really understand my explanation of why "up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right, B, A, Start" was significant.

Linda: I don't remember those, but then again we only had a small handful of video games growing up.

Stephen: There are jokes in the movie about how some characters' graphics are so much better looking than others.

Oberon: I still have a function atari set, believe it or not. And yes, I loved that joke!

I never played the original game, but the 'infamous cheat code' was used so much in other games that I learned it elsewhere. I guess one of the sad aspect of modern games is there are no cheat codes anymore (usually) so you don't see that now.

Stephen: There are still some games that have some cheat stuff to them, but you're right that it's not as common now.

Amber, you still have a functioning Atari set? *jaws hanging on floor in amazement*. I always have to laugh, because even the first Nintendo's are considered Vintage. Alex is collecting the old games, since he received a fully functioning, big, fat old game boy. He thinks it's so cool *grin*

cheat codes?

132. The Village Garage by G. Brian Karas (public library book, picture book) - 9/10
Follows the road and grounds crew of a small town through the seasons, showing what work they do for the village.
A lovely little book, especially for us, as Charlie and I enjoy watching our own small town crew work their wood chippers, leaf-sucker-uppers (a technical term, of course), and street sweepers. Recommended.

Bianca: Well, my parents never throw *anything* away, so it's still at their house, and since we always took very good care of our stuff, it's in great condition. I also have a fully-functioning Commodore 64 computer. Ha!

That is--amazing, Amber! An Atari AND a Commodore 64, the first computer I ever used.

Roni: Yes! I learned how to work a computer on that Commodore 64! Ah, Basic. And my Computer Science class in grade school was a room full of them. Ha!

Last night's movie: Santo contra Los Zombies. An awesomely, hilariously bad horror movie. My favorite kind! A Mexican wrestler/super hero fights off a group of ridiculously buff 'zombies' in tights and robin-hood-style belted tunics, controlled by the equally ridiculous bay guy with his Utility Belt of Evil. Loved it - laughed right out loud through most of it. I definitely need to seek out more Santo movies.

Morning Amber- We are getting plenty of sunshine here, which is nice but it is still cool. I want to be able to shed these jackets & hats. Enjoy your day.

Oh, that lovely fertility bunny brought Wreck-It Ralph, and we all enjoyed it Sunday morning! Hubster really wanted to see it, and I'm glad we made the purchase. I don't know that the kids and I "got it" as much as Michael, but I thought it was good fun anyway.

Is Charlie now calling you a Dynamite Gal?

Luxx: Ha! No, he isn't. I'm glad you and the little (and one big) monsters enjoyed it, too!

Santo contra Los Zombies sounds like Nate's kind of movie! I should find him a copy for when he gets home

Chelle: Best of luck; I think it's kind of hard to come by. I watched it in installments on youtube, in Spanish, of course, with no subtitles! That's how dedicated a bad-horror-movie nerd I am. Nate sounds like my kind of guy!

I haven't been posting about my sewing projects lately because I've been working on stocking the shop with purses, but here's a photo I took today of the bags I've finished recently:

Fantastic work! I especially like the mint-and-floral one in the back row.

Thanks, Luxx - I like that one, too; makes me think of mint chocolates.

133. Neville by Norton Juster (public library book, picture book) - 9/10
A boy has just moved with his family and is unhappy about starting a new school and not having any friends. His mother suggests that he go for a walk round their new block, and he does, although he thinks it's silly to think that he'll make friends just by walking around. He goes so far, stops, and calls out, "Neville!" He's joined by one boy, then a girl, and then more and more neighborhood children, until they're all searching for and asking about Neville. By the end of the day, they all really like the new boy and are excited about helping him find Neville again tomorrow. They don't know that they already have.
A very cool book about how scary it is, but sometimes needn't be, to move to a new place and make new friends. Not surprising that it's good, as this is the same author who gave us The Phantom Tollbooth, one of my favorite childhood reads.

Hmm I've always wondered about Norton Juster's non-Phantom Tollbooth books. Thanks Amber!

Those bags look very functional as well as being attractive. It looks like they could easily hold a real book or two along with an iPad. Nice work, Amber. I think my kids pretty well wore out our Atari; although, I probably helped as I could hold my own with them at PacMan! Those were the days...

I'm still completely in love with the purse I bought from you, Amber. Just in case you need a testimonial.

Donna: Thanks! They do indeed make great book bags, as Nora can attest - if you check out my etsy shop, under my feedback, Nora very kindly posted a photo of her bag, full of books!

Nora: Many thanks! I'm so so glad that you like it!

(I also posted it on my 75ers thread here.)

134. (58th non-picture book read) Nurse Matilda by Christianna Brand (1001 Children's Books list, 133 pages) - 7/10
A family of very naughty children run through governesses and nurses like nobody's business, until Nurse Matilda comes along. She tortures them, essentially, by forcing them with her evil magic cane, to keep misbehaving in whatever way they are on a given day, ad nauseum. And for this they love her. A version of Stockholm Syndrome, most likely.
Seriously, I find nothing quaint or enjoyable at all in this book; it's Mary Poppins gone horribly, terribly wrong. Apparently the movie, Nanny McPhee, is based on this book (and others in the series), but I've not seen it and likely won't, now that I've read it. Honestly, just read Mary Poppins instead and save yourself the, well, just save yourself.

What I'm reading now:
-The Harvard Classics Five Foot Shelf of Books, Volume 26: Continental Drama (library book - call #AC1.A4 v.26)
-The Harvard Classics Five Foot Shelf of Books, Volume 27: English Essays Sidney to Macaulay (library book - call #AC1.A4 v.27)
-An American Tragedy (Banned Books list)
-A Wizard of Earthsea (1001 Children's Books list)
-The Faerie Queen (The Green Dragon 1001 Fantasy List)
-The Last Founding Father: James Monroe and a Nation's Call to Greatness (Presidential Challenge)
-The Disappearing Spoon (audio book)
-A Case of Conscience (Hugo award list)
-A Good Scent from a Strange Mountain (Pulitzer award list)
-The Cambridge Companion to the Age of Augustus (off of my classics shelves)
-Paddington Takes the Air (bath-time book)
-The Look-It-Up Book of Presidents (to accompany the presidential challenge)
-Our Country's Presidents (to accompany the presidential challenge)
-Vogue Sewing

In addition to these, I have some classics-related texts that I'm working through (quite slowly):
-Asinaria by Plautus (reading in Latin)
-Iliad by Homer (reading in Greek)
-Latin Literature by Gian Biagio Conte
-The Cambridge History of Classical Literature Volume 1 Part 1

Last night's movie was The Way We Were. Number 6 on AFI's Top 100 Romance Movies list. Number 6, really?! What in holy hell is at all romantic about this movie?! It's on of the worst relationships I've ever seen on film! She's needy and dependent, and completely blind to all of his faults, and he's a jackass of the first degree to her. And this is a great love story? No, thanks. The acting was fine - good, even - (Streisand and Redford, so of course it was), so it was watchable, but the characters and plot were painful to me. Sheesh.

I didn't read the books but found the movie Nanny McPhee charming.

>137 scaifea: She's needy and dependent, and completely blind to all of his faults, and he's a jackass of the first degree to her
Sounds like a lot of romance movies, to me! :-/

Morphy: I wonder if that's Emma Thompson, though? She's amazing, I think, and would be the only reason I would ever consider watching the movie.

Nora: Ha! Touche.

Well, I heard, officially, today that I will be teaching the online summer Latin course that I mentioned in some earlier thread. Woohoo!

HOORAY!

Hi Amber,

first of all congrats on teaching the online summer Latin course - Hooray from me as well :)

Love your purses and I loved your description of that crappy mexican horror movie. I am so glad to see that there are others who can enjoy movies like that.

Nora: Thanks!

Bianca: I am a *huge* fan of crappy horror movies. Tomm doesn't understand that they're awesomely funny to watch, so now that we live two states away from my best friend (with whom I used to watch them - he's a big enthusiast, too), I have to watch them on my own. When we can, Rob (the BF) and I watch them at the same time and IM back and forth as we watch.

LOL - most people I know can't understand either why I enjoy them that much, but I seriously do. However, I think it is great that you have got a friend you can share your passion with. I do that at times with my younger brother or sister, but otherwise there isn't anyone. For me it is not just the horror movies, but in general "old" action, sci-fi or any older movie.

I am loving the purses that you've been posting! If I had any extra cash right now I'd totally be buying one! Although Nate does need to get me a bday present next month :)

Bianca: I like all sorts of movies, too, but the bad ones are only fun if they're horror or scifi, it seems.

Chelle: Thanks! Yes - tell him you need a book bag for the beach! Ha!

135. Imagine Harry by Kate & M. Sarah Klise (public library book, picture book) - 7/10
A young rabbit starts school and gradually forgets about his best friend, and 'imaginary' friend named Harry.
This was a well-written story, and the illustrations are great, but it was the wrong kind of story for me. To me, it was heartbreaking that the imaginary friend got forgotten! Seriously, both Tomm and I nearly cried last night over it. Sheesh!

Last night we finished watching State Fair, which we've been watching in installments in the time between Charlie's bath and his bedtime (30 minute stretches). Loved it. *Loved* it. I'm a complete sucker for R&H musicals, and this one was amazing. And now that we live close enough, I want to go to Iowa's state fair this year! Charlie is also a huge fan of musicals, and dances and sings right along; we watched The Sound of Music not too long ago, and he's still singing those songs!

Congratulations, Amber. I have to ask you, in all seriousness, how did you get to be so smart? What factors do you think played a role? And don't tell me you worked hard because a lot of people work hard.

Every day of my life I have wished that I was smart. No one has ever been able to provide me with a reasonable explanation why I am not.

Careful, deniro, or you'll make my head swell to monstrous proportions!
Well, I didn't work too hard, really, but I did work, and I learned to work at studying early on (because I'm not really naturally 'smart'), and after teaching at an elite, smarty-pants college, I've realized just how important that is. I've seen so many very intelligent college students seriously struggle with their studies at some point during their four years because they hit their natural threshold and then don't know what to do - they make it so far on natural talent and smarts without needing to learn how to study, and then when they come to the point that they do finally need to put some effort into their learning, they're completely at a loss for what to do and how to budget their time. I never had that problem since I had to work for every ounce of learning, so I learned very early on (we're talking grade school, here) how to set up a study schedule and such. Oh, and having a PhD in Latin and Greek sounds way more impressive than it is in reality. Latin isn't difficult in the least. I can't truthfully say the same for Greek, but, again, with a little brain-cell grease (that's a parallel phrase for 'elbow grease,' no?) it can be done. If a farm girl from Indiana can do it...

I also have parents who have encouraged and supported me in everything I've done, and that counts for so much. There's no way I would have survived grad school without them telling me that I could do it. They're amazing and I'm so very grateful for them, every day of my life.

Now, really-and-truly smarts? Tomm's got 'em in spades. That guy is one of the smartest I've ever met and he puts me to shame. AND he's got the work ethic, too. Crazy over-achiever. But I'm not complaining, as he's making it possible for me to live my cushy lady-of-leisure life right now.

I think I have indeed met 2 people who could accurately be labeled as geniuses, and both happen to be classicists. One of them, Bill McCulloh, is also the most humble and friendliest person I've ever met (an amazing combination of smarts and personality) and the other one, William Batstone, taught me everything I know about teaching, and if there is anything good about my teaching, it's because of him.

When it rains, it pours - I've just been offered an editing job on a new book of Latin fairy tales (i.e. fairly tales that have been translated into Latin as a reader for students). Whew! Still mulling over whether to accept it; it's just the kind of work I'd love to keep being offered, but I'm also committed to teaching this course over the summer, and I don't want to be so busy working that Charlie feels neglected. Looks like there may be some late nights this summer...

I know what you mean. I was one of those smarty-pants that never had to study in high school and therefore never learned to study. I failed miserably at college my first go around.

I don't envy you that, Morphy; I'm much happier having developed the work ethic early on.

Hey, but I've got a 4.0 this time! Only took me 30 years to learn!

You know, I get excited on those rare occasions now when I get to take some sort of test, such as the written driving test. I miss test-taking - ha!

Oh, the editing job sounds marvelous... a lot of work, but really fantastic. I'm getting excited FOR you... haha.

136. Sheep in Wolves' Clothing by Satoshi Kitamura (public library book, picture book) - 8/10
Three sheep friends decide to go to the beach for the day. While there, they're tricked out of their wool by a group of mafia wolves. A detective uncle to one of the sheep helps them find the wolves and bring them to justice.
A little on the weird side, but in a good way. Neat illustrations, too.

Last night's movie: Secret Window.
I was excited about this one, as I enjoyed the King short story and, well, it's Johnny Depp. But the movie changed the ending, making it even darker than the original, and I didn't like that. Not because it was darker, but it came out hokey. Why change what King wrote, ever? Sheesh.

SPOILER
Another weirdness for me was that Depp was playing a crazy murderer, and I *knew* that and still couldn't help nearly drooling. I caught myself thinking, "Well, we could still work it out - this relationship could *work*!" Sigh.

>156 scaifea: I held a permit from age 18 to age 26 because I couldn't afford car insurance and thus couldn't afford to get a driver's license. I took the written test so many times (every year, in fact) and the BMV workers were always amazed by my perfect scores. Well, if they wouldn't ask the same questions every time, a perfect score might be a bit less impressive.

Still catching up with everyone's threads as the Easter long weekend set me back. I love reorganising books...just wish I had more shelf space to play with. A farm girl from Indiana with a passion for Latin and Greek can't be an every day occurrence. But I'm finding it fascinating how many of us here both read and make things with our hands.

casvelyn: Ha! The last time I took the driver's test was the first time I renewed my license in Ohio. I missed 1 question out of something like 75, and the trooper who proctored it gave me the strangest look when I asked which one I had missed. As if that were a bad thing? Hello? Shouldn't you *want* me to learn from my mistakes? Sheesh.

tiffin: I've found that many *many* academics enjoy all sorts of crafts, and after talking about it with many of them, we've decided that it may have something to do with the fact that we don't produce anything really tangible in our line of work and so we crave practical productivity. I think that this likely is relevant to other people in other similar fields.

@ 161, 162

But I'm finding it fascinating how many of us here both read and make things with our hands.

I've noticed this, too. I think in addition to the practical and tangible side, for me anyway (and maybe especially for academics?), it's about doing something. I love the sense of doing something with my hands when I crochet and it feels more like doing than even writing or reading does (which are, in many ways, what I do.) There's probably a lot of imbedded notions about the value of work, of reading as "leisure," and the inability to point to "reading" as a result of time spent that could be unpacked in there. But it's also just: hands. They like to have something to do.

Laura: Yep, agreed.

It's a different form of creating, manual vs. brain work. Both are equally satisfying but often times with manual work you have something to show for it when you're done!

Exactly, tiffin. I don't know how many times that I've had to defend my choice to profession to certain non-academics who ask me what practical good my job is. Sigh. And that leads to a frustration that finds a nice therapy in making things with one's hands.

Scholarly farm girl, fellow Hoosier, could you tell me more about growing up on a farm? What was the day like? What were your chores? Or, if not yours, your Mom and Dad's.

There were farmers on my Mom's side, also in a small, Indiana town. But Mom had enough of small-town people, if you know what I mean. A scholarship was her ticket out. She got a degree in Library Science from I.U. She was the first and only one in her family to graduate from high school, the first and only one to graduate from college. She has been a reader all her life.

Mom took Latin in school (a one-room schoolhouse) and so did I.

But I'm finding it fascinating how many of us here both read and make things with our hands.
Enjoying this discussion.

Scholarly farm girl, fellow Hoosier, could you tell me more about growing up on a farm?
Oh yes! That would be interesting.

deniro: I thought more than once of entering the Library Science program when I was at IU - thanks for sharing your mom's story, and Yay for Latin in school! It wasn't offered at my high school, so I didn't encounter it until IU.

More about my up-bringing, eh? Well, okay. Here it goes:
My parents own a small farm in Indiana - 40 acres with a great old farmhouse, 4 barns, a chicken house (which has long-since been re-purposed as a workshop for my mom's rug loom), smoke house (which they've never used for its intended purpose and was renovated into an amazing playhouse for me when I was a kid) and a summer house, in which we didn't do any cooking, but in which my mom had her candle-making set up. I grew up around horses and cows (not milking ones, but new calves each spring that would be slaughtered in the fall and come back in little white paper packages and feed us through the next year). I rode horseback in my first parade when I was just over a year old (my dad held me in front of him on the saddle) and had my own horse at 6.
For pets I had all sorts of barn cats, which I made it my mission to tame each spring when a new batch of fluffy adorable kittens appeared, and farm dogs (never more than one at a time); for one Easter I was given a box full of ducklings and we have some pretty adorable photos of them following me around the barnyard in a single-file line. They lived most of one summer, until killed by a coyote - my brother then took me out to set traps to catch it, but I don't remember it working (it could be that it did and he spared me the gory results (I was always overly-sad about any sort of death on the farm, including the inevitable and occasional death of a new-born colt)).
Growing up on a farm with a nearly-out-of-control imagination was amazing. Despite a slightly-over-protective mom, I still had the free-run of the farm from a pretty early age, and spent endless summer hours playing Castle in the hay loft, or School Bus in the cab of the combine harvester.
Chores? Well, I was the youngest of 6, by 11 years, and I think my parents had really mellowed in those intervening years. I didn't have that many chores, as in things that I *had* to do every day. But I did happily help out in certain areas; I was driving a tractor (an antique International, which my dad still uses) and helping to work up the garden (which was - and still is - *huge*, by the way) by the time I was 5. But I didn't have chores in the way that my brothers and sisters had had. Instead, when I was 5, my parents started me in piano lessons, and that was my sole chore - practicing a couple of hours every day. Not a lot by some standards, but between that and school work, they thought that was enough. So, I spent lots of time - you guessed it - reading. And reading. And reading. My dad teased me constantly about my nose always being in a book. (He didn't finish school and doesn't read very well, but he can walk out into a field of soy beans, step off in a square, reach down and inspect a seed pod, stand there among the plants for a couple of minutes thinking and then tell you, with an amazing accuracy, what the yield of that crop will be. Oh, and he'll fix your tractor or combine or farm truck in a heartbeat, or at least tell you just by squinting at it what's wrong with it if it won't run.) I think they're happy with the results of the no-chores-just-study approach; I'm the first of my family graduate from college, and they're ridiculously proud of that. They can turn almost *any* conversation with a complete stranger into one about how their daughter has a PhD and was a professor at a fancy-pants college. I could pretend that that embarrasses me, but I'm not gonna lie - it's amazing to have such proud and supportive parents. I'm the luckiest of the lucky.

Is that enough? Too much? I'll field specific questions if you have them. Ha!

137. The Three Cabritos by Eric A. Kimmel (public library book, picture book) - 9/10
A Tex-Mex re-telling of The Three Billy Goats Gruff.
Excellently done. Hilarious and imaginative, with fantastic illustrations. Definitely recommended.

What a fantastic description of what it was like for you growing up. It sounds wonderful! Just curious, when you say that you were "the youngest of 6, by 11 years," do you mean the oldest child in your family was eleven years older than you, or that you were eleven years younger than the next youngest sibling?

I agree with my own brilliant child, Amber---that was a wonderful capsule of your childhood. The best of everything, I'd call it.

Laura: I'm 11 years younger than my closest sibling, my brother, Steve, the one who died suddenly 3 years ago on the first day of spring. We two were the closest and I miss him every ding dang day.
I am the only product of the marriage between my parents. They were both married previously; my three brothers were born to my mom and her previous husband and my two sisters were the product of my dad's previous marriage. I was a surprise, change-of-life baby, as I think we're called.

Linda: Agreed. I'm a lucky gal.

Our families have many things in common. The farm (I didn't grow up on one, but both of my parents did, and I experienced it to a lesser degree as a kid loving my grandmother's garden and animals; now my "little" brother owns that property, and there are once again horses, chickens and barn cats). And both of my parents were also the product of second or third marriages. One of my grandmothers, the third wife one, is the source of my user name here. When she married my grandfather, who had already outlived two wives, her own father commented that her husband would be unlikely to outlive her, because "he never married a Layton woman before, did he?"

Ha! Cool story about your user name - I love finding out how people choose their LT monikers.

138. Big Kicks by Bob Kolar (public library book, picture book) - 7/10
A largish bear is asked to participate in the town youth soccer team. He has trouble playing because he's so big, but ends up winning the game. Then they all go back to his house and play jazz.
Sounds a bit weird, no? It is. Just a bit. S'okay but not wonderful.

I've had the most amazing day today: Made cookies this morning with my favorite person under the age of 5, spent most of the rest of the day outside playing with aforesaid favorite person, had a lovely visit from one of our awesome neighbors, tried a new bread recipe that turned out awesomesauce, had a excellently cozy dinner of said bread and homemade soup with the Scaife Men of the House, and am now happily listening through all the open windows of the house to The Husband and The FPUF (Favorite Person Under Five (see above)) playing and laughing together outside, while sleepily enjoying that tiredness that comes from those first hours of spring spent out of doors. Ahhhhhh.

Holy crap man, this is too much Happy, someone say something negative before my head explodes! :P

Oh fine, I'll admit it, I thought today was wonderul too. The weather is blissful.

Well, it's supposed to rain for the rest of the week and only be in the 40's. So there's that.

*Sighs in relief* You do so know how to comfort me. :P

#177 Those are the best days ever.

Stephen: To be fair, you're pretty easy to please.

Linda: Agreed. Absolutely agreed.

I don't know Amber, I'm perpetually grumpy and I complain about everything, it just comes easy for YOU, I think. :)

What kind of bread was it? I'm very curious!

It was (and I say "was" because it is *gone*) Parmesan Herb Bread, a savory, non-yeast quick bread, so it was quick and easy to put together, too. Definitely will be a repeat recipe.

Last night's movie: The High and Mighty (1954), with John Wayne and Robert Stack. I went into this one thinking I wouldn't like it (I'm very much not a Wayne fan), but happily it wasn't terribly Wayne-heavy, and it *is* a disaster movie of sorts (one of my very favorite kinds), so I in actual fact enjoyed it. Goofy? Yes. But I like goofy.

Ah those rare perfect days. When the inside of one is in sync with the outside world, everything seems so simple and yet lovely.

Happy Day to You Amber. I used the tote bag today to bring books to work. Thanks!

tiffin: Exactly!

Linda: Oh, I'm so glad that you like it!

169 I LOVE your story! Sounds like you had a pretty great childhood. Sounds like your parents are incredibly proud of you, as they should be!

I saw some of your mom's rugs on your etsy store. Very nice!

Thanks, Chelle!

We finished 2 movies last night. The first was another musical that we've been watching in installments with Charlie - South Pacific. I'd never watched this one before and I have to say that I wasn't prepared for it, really. It was a good deal stranger than I was expected. I found most of the characters creepy in some ay or another and it just didn't click for me, but I'm happy to have context for all of those extremely popular songs, now.
The second movie was An Affair to Remember, which, again, I'd never watched before. Oh, Cary Grant! Amazing. And I want to wear ridiculously fancy evening gowns and have elegant dinners on a trans-atlantic cruise, please. With this movie, I'm finished with the AFI's 100 Romance Films list! Now on to their 100 Cheers list, 36 of which I've not seen.

139. Policeman Small by Lois Lenski (public library book, picture book) - 8/10
Follows a day in the life of Policeman Small.
Dated, but in a nice way. Some of the illustrations are strange, though (hands all out of proportion to the body and such).

140. (59th non-picture book read) A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. LeGuin (1001 Children's Books list, 183 pages) - 9/10
The story of the younger years of Ged the wizard, his early and clear talent in the field, and how his pride and anger gets him into some pretty big trouble.
This is only my second LeGuin book, but certainly won't be my last. I'm excited to read the rest of this series and see what else happens to Ged, on whom I'm already a wee bit crushed.

What I'm reading now:
-The Harvard Classics Five Foot Shelf of Books, Volume 26: Continental Drama (library book - call #AC1.A4 v.26)
-The Harvard Classics Five Foot Shelf of Books, Volume 27: English Essays Sidney to Macaulay (library book - call #AC1.A4 v.27)
-An American Tragedy (Banned Books list)
-Watership Down (1001 Children's Books list)
-The Faerie Queen (The Green Dragon 1001 Fantasy List)
-The Last Founding Father: James Monroe and a Nation's Call to Greatness (Presidential Challenge)
-The Disappearing Spoon (audio book)
-A Case of Conscience (Hugo award list)
-A Good Scent from a Strange Mountain (Pulitzer award list)
-The Cambridge Companion to the Age of Augustus (off of my classics shelves)
-Paddington Takes the Air (bath-time book)
-The Look-It-Up Book of Presidents (to accompany the presidential challenge)
-Our Country's Presidents (to accompany the presidential challenge)
-Vogue Sewing

In addition to these, I have some classics-related texts that I'm working through (quite slowly):
-Asinaria by Plautus (reading in Latin)
-Iliad by Homer (reading in Greek)
-Latin Literature by Gian Biagio Conte
-The Cambridge History of Classical Literature Volume 1 Part 1

Cowboy Small was my son's favorite book at Charlie's age. We nearly wore out the library copy and I eventually found a copy on ABEbooks

Glad you enjoyed A Wizard of Earthsea so much. The rest of the trilogy is just as good. The later books are pretty good too.

Helen: They're cute books, definitely, but I think I liked this one more than Charlie did. That's great, isn't it, when they find a book they love quite literally to pieces?

Roni: It will be couple of weeks before I get to the rest of the series, because this one was a library copy, and I'm going to buy up the series before reading any more of them, so that they'll be on our shelves in a few years in case Charlie's interested. I'll likely be making another Amazon purchase in a few days, so...

Just wanted to brag about this:

http://www.amazon.com/Complete-Novels-Jane-Austen-Sensibility/dp/1612184146/ref=...

This came in the mail today - I got it last week as one of their Lightening Deals for $30! WOOHOO!! So excited.

Ooh what a lovely set!!

Laura: Isn't it, though? It was delivered yesterday, as was a package for Charlie from my parents (which are always crammed with toys and candy, *sigh*); he wasn't a bit more giddy and excited than I was about my package! Ha!

141. (60th non-picture book read) Paddington Take the Air by Michael Bond (bath time book, 158 pages) - 10/10
In this volume of the Paddington series, the eponymous bear visits the dentist, learns to sew, participates in a steeplechase, tries his paw at being a private detective, and enters a ballroom dance competition.
Still our favorite bear, here in Scaife Manor. Love Paddington.

What I'm reading now:
-The Harvard Classics Five Foot Shelf of Books, Volume 26: Continental Drama (library book - call #AC1.A4 v.26)
-The Harvard Classics Five Foot Shelf of Books, Volume 27: English Essays Sidney to Macaulay (library book - call #AC1.A4 v.27)
-An American Tragedy (Banned Books list)
-Watership Down (1001 Children's Books list)
-The Faerie Queen (The Green Dragon 1001 Fantasy List)
-The Last Founding Father: James Monroe and a Nation's Call to Greatness (Presidential Challenge)
-The Disappearing Spoon (audio book)
-A Case of Conscience (Hugo award list)
-A Good Scent from a Strange Mountain (Pulitzer award list)
-The Cambridge Companion to the Age of Augustus (off of my classics shelves)
-Paddington Takes to TV (bath-time book)
-The Look-It-Up Book of Presidents (to accompany the presidential challenge)
-Our Country's Presidents (to accompany the presidential challenge)
-Vogue Sewing

In addition to these, I have some classics-related texts that I'm working through (quite slowly):
-Asinaria by Plautus (reading in Latin)
-Iliad by Homer (reading in Greek)
-Latin Literature by Gian Biagio Conte
-The Cambridge History of Classical Literature Volume 1 Part 1

I've missed about 63 posts, and hope that I'm not jumping in the middle of an important discussion...

... but you're first on my mind when I do certain things, and today I'm doing one of those things: baking. Specifically, I think I'm going to give this honey oat bread recipe a try, to use for french toast for brunch on Saturday. :)

Hope all is well!

it's amazing to have such proud and supportive parents

Oh, I'm glad I scrolled up. What a wonderful upbringing you had! And equally wonderful to have your parents. I really love that your paths are so different, and everyone can still support one another.

And now I want a farm. Or at least a remote house with a big vegetable garden.

>196 scaifea:: oh my!

Luxx: Oh, I love baking bread! Feeling your hands in the dough, how warm and cozy the house smells while it's baking... Ah. I have a good honey oat bread recipe, too - it's a favorite among the Scaife Men. So, uh, when should I be over to help you sample? (Wow, I just reminded myself of The Little Red Hen story. Ha!) Well, I grew up on a farm and clearly had a wonderful time, but I don't want one myself. It's very nearly unbelievable how hard my parents work (still! In their 70's!) on that farm and in that huge garden. I'm not exactly what I'd call outright lazy, but I'm demonstrably *not* an outdoors enthusiast, and so all that in-the-fields time makes me shudder.

tiffin: I know, right?! I just ran back into the other room to flip through them and love them a little bit more again. Sigh.

Baking bread is my favorite, followed by cakes (but not the kind you decorate - ick).

Having a real farm would be far too much for me, but a good size garden and a few animals sounds wonderful. Of course, I wouldn't trade my own life for anything!

Hello Amber

I'm simply stopping by to wave hi.

Luxx: I like doing most anything that falls under the baking category, really. I have an excellent little helper, too, and that makes it even more fun.

Linda: Good to see you!

Oh, so envious am I, Amber. $30? How great is that? Makes me want to pay some attention to their lightning deals. Those look great.

Joe: Yes! I keep an eye on them every day, in fact, and have found some excellent deals that way. Just last month I bought a boxed set of Rogers & Hammerstein musicals for only $30, too.

142. Tell Me the Day Backwards by Albert Lamb (public library book, picture book) - 8/10
A little bear cub is being put to bed my his momma; they settle him in for sleep by playing a favorite game, Tel Me the Day Backwards, in which they work through all the things they did that day, starting with the last.
Very cute, and Charlie and I liked it especially, since we do something very similar every night just before he goes to sleep (although we don't go backwards).

Excited: Today is the annual town-wide garage sales for a near-by village, and I and a friend are going. Never mind that it's in the 30's and snowing. I'm hoping that the weather keeps the light-weights away. Garage sailing is Serious Business. I'll report back with any awesomesauce finds.

Hi Amber,
I loved the details about your bringing up and the loving descriptions of your family :) I think it is great to be part of a patchwork family. I am one as well. Well, and that your parents are as proud as they are? Absolutely understandable :)

Great collection of the Jane Austen books they look absolutely stunning. I couldn't really see that on the photo, but are they deckle-edge books?

Ahem, it's still snowing where you are? Ok, ok I stop whining straight away, because it took spring such a long time to arrive here. I hope you and your family have a great weekend Amber.

The garage sale buy of the day:



Got it for $1.00. One. Dollar. Including the cabinet! WOOHOO!

Bianca: Thanks for the kind words. No, the Austen books aren't deckle-edged, but they are much bigger than I expected them to be, and hefty, too!

>212 scaifea:: woo hoo! What a find!

Laura: Yes! I'm excited to get it fixed up. Today's project is to re-arrange my sewing room to accommodate the newest member of the family.

143. Love at First Beep (found for Charlie at one of yesterday's garage sales, 32 pages) - 9/10
Re-tells the plot of the movie is very simple terms and in large font - as part of the Step into Reading series, it's meant to be a first read-on-your-own book. Love the Disney illustrations for Wall-E.

144. Boo and Baa Have Company by Lena & Olof Landstrom (public library book, picture book) - 9/10
Boo and Baa are two sheep cleaning up the leaves in their yard. The discover a cat stuck up the tree in their back yard and spend most of the book trying to help it down.
Funny and sweet story with excellently funny illustrations. Recommended.

I am in awe of your yard sale purchase for $1. Now you have three sewing machines?

Oooo, I'm jealous! What kind of work does it need? Someone really wanted it out of their house (how lucky for you!).

Linda: Um, yeah. I have 6 now.

Luxx: I'm not completely sure, but at the very least the foot pedal needs replacing.

6 sewing machines!?

Why don't you have 7?

*SNORK!!*

Just give me time.

That's a beaut! You are making me wish I hadn't got rid of my nana's ancient knee treadle one speed, one direction, sew through concrete model.

Hi Amber, I've finally caught up with you, and firstly congratulations on the summer internet teaching job, and the offer to edit. I didn't notice in my quick skim of your thread - did you agree to do the editing job?

Great to see everything is going so well with you and your family. It appears that spring has finally arrived in your corner of the world.

tiffin: I think that there are many people out there who regret getting rid of their mothers' machines.

Judy: I did indeed to the editing job and will receive the book to edit sometime this summer. And no, spring on showed up for that one day - we had snow on the ground yesterday morning. Sigh.

New thread is up and running:

http://www.librarything.com/topic/153090