Richardderus 2013 thread 12

“There was nothing fake or added about him. He was all himself.”

Colin Cotterill, describing Dr. Siri in The Coroner's Lunch

I have a category called Orphans, which will still catch all the other reading I do in 2013. Thinking 60 reviews as my target.

My 2013 ORPHANED books ticker:




I want to treat the Short Story collection challenge as a ticker-to-itself thread, thinking 48 reviews as my goal. I'll keep the thread over in the Short Stories forum.

My 2013 SHORT STORY collections ticker:




I'm going to keep a mystery-genre thread over in Crime, Thriller, and Mystery forum, with a goal of 50 reviews. Way way way too many of my reviews this year, in all forums, were mysteries and thrillers, and while I love them, I don't want to get too rut-ified and read only those books while keeping up my self-made review writing census.

My MYSTERY & THRILLER books ticker:




THIS THREAD is the 75 challenge for 2013, which will be non-fiction and non-genre-fiction books published in 2012 and 2013, plus recommendations from other 75ers.

My last thread of 2012.

My 2013 NEW books ticker:




Book 1...thread one.
Books 2 & 3...thread two.
Book 4...thread three.
Book 5...thread five.
Books 6 & 7...thread seven.
Books 8-11...thread eight.
Books 12-19...thread nine.
Books 20 & 21...thread 10.
Books 22-25...thread 11.

Books are reviewed in post:

26. Care Giver...#23.

27. Let's Bring Back: The Lost Language Edition...#167.


This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.

Good grief...am I accidentally first?

Hi Gail! You're first indeed. Have some cake:

Hi Richard - I've been lurking for a few threads now but will come in for cake.

I'll have a slice too RD if I may and so long as I can scrape off any excess icing. Wonders never cease we have a lady reading to adorn the top of your latest.

Ooh, you are actually SHARING cake? How so? It must be the positive effect of your new medications!

*smooch*

It's Gail's cake, so talk to her about sharing...and I'm not all the way sure I like the implication that I'm ungenerous.

HEY!!! BACK AWAY FROM THE OLIVES!! Mineminemine!

You would think it was your medications you are being asked to share not Cake ..... did not realise there was a sugar shortage in your dear country .......

Cakkkkkeeee.....mmmmmm....

Hi, Richard. Having caught up, and having read your last thread's last review, I confess I am having thoughts of "well, I could do that" (copyediting). That is where someone looks for misspelled words, yes? And what else? Don't all these poor souls who are trying to self publish their first novels need one? Where do these people congregate and to whom do they speak? Don't they tell each other about good editors and copy readers?

I am barely able to tolerate the silly spellings and forgotten capital letters and non-existant punctuation when I read the text messages on my phone from a small select group of relatives. Why are we abandoning the English language? It has served so well, for so long, in expressing so many of humanity's awful and awesome ideas and feelings! Why are we kicking it about as if it did not matter?

*steps down off soap box*

Other than that, Richard, I hope your weekend (relatively pain free) is relaxing and good! I've cranked up my Prednisone so my flare aches and pains are a bit in retreat, but I can't sustain this level. I'm headed in to see the Rheumatologist and having a discussion soon. Sigh. I will probably go in for my next Breathing Test before so I'll know if the lungs are still an issue. Getting older definitely has its sucky moments.

I'm having some fun this weekend. Shopping for garden plants, and meeting up with Joe at Elliott Bay Books tomorrow. Whoo hoo!

>9 roundballnz: Cake, I'll share. Back away from the olives or draw back a stump. I'd never share the meds, they're waaay too toxic!

>10 BekkaJo: Yeah!

>11 maggie1944: Proofreading is like human spellchecking, with the added bonus of knowing the difference between "rotund" and "orotund."

Copyediting is the nitpicking, precise art of finding faulty parallelisms and ascertaining the author's adherence to style as well as rule..."Coke" is a cola drink made by capitalist vampire Atlanteans; "coke" is norma loquendi in some places for any soft drink; it can also mean a variety of coal. Is the book set in 1850s London? Then "Coke" is ALWAYS an error. Is it set in 1950s Georgia? Close reading required to determine whether there's an error or not. Its bible is called Words Into Type, a simply amazing work of didactic clarity and brilliance.

*smoochings* for your good wishes, heartily returned, for a pain-free passage. I am sorry prednisone is the only effective treatment for you. It's a rough, user-unfriendly way to get inflammation under control.

Hello! *Waves*

Hi Sacil! *smoochings*

*smooch* for the new thread

Definitely not touching your olives:)

Hope you are having a great weekend.

>15 calm: Hey there calm! *smooch* back...and thanks, it's a GORGEOUS day that I'm thoroughly enjoying.

Wise decision re: olives.



I love this image...where is he going? Why so few books? How do I get my own personal porter? The artist is Quint Buchholz.

Morning Richard Dearest :) Hoping your having a lovely day. I alas am :( I am at work looking out to the sunshine stuck here until 6PM Sigh. I can't even read here today as I have a trainee attached at my side. Grrr..... Oh well.... Smooches to you and Stella...

Must be the books he just bought and is now transporting to home base.

Anyone may have a slice of cake.

*And I have another jar of olives over here...*

A good week-end to you, Rdear.

OK! Thanks for the info re: proofreading and copyediting. Carry on....

I also love that image. And a personal porter sounds just the thing! Happy new thread, dear. Wishing for you a weekend full of fabulous. And I bought the book, so you can relax your puppy dog eyes now. *smooch*

>17 MonicaLynn: Hiya Monica! Stella sends happy slurps. She's in a great mood because it's so pretty today. Have fun training. I know it means the bosses see that you're doing a good job, but dayum!

>18 Matke: mmmmmmmmmm olives yyyuuummm

Happy weekend back, cuddlepunkin.

>19 maggie1944: I am a fount of useless information, Karen44, so it's no problem to emit some now and again.

>20 Crazymamie: *rubs aching eyes* Whew! That's a relief. I really hope it is as good a read for you as it was for me. I am off to get the crowbar so I can cross a few things that haven't seen each other in years.

I defy you not to smile looking at daffodils.

Review: 26 of seventy-five

Title: CARE GIVER

Author: RICHARD BLANCHARD

Gordon Lish praises Care Giver:
"I'm sold. I'm so sold I read this book four times before--trembling, trembling--sitting myself down to write this comment. You want to know what the business of the mind is going to be as the body declines into its notorious bankruptcy? Like this, like Care Giver, like the stuff in the braided sentences that constitute the telling of Blanchard's true story. Oh, and the person in the pic on page six?--that's the object of desire for you, perfect and, of course, lost, yet never the least lost."

Rating: 4* of five

The Publisher Says: Care Giver leads us through a kaleidoscope of events as a failing old man pens unmailed letters to his lost love from a nursing home bed. A caring paperboy aids the man for a passage to his promised land, and becomes the unexpected inheritor of the man’s hallowed highlands. As the boy seeks to build his own life on those gifted lands, he too is haunted by visions of a lost soul, and finally makes ready for his own deliverance in the high peaks.

This strange story unfolds as we consider the man’s letters, the boy’s writings, and the photos and clippings all found among the boy’s belongings. If you’ve ever been troubled by someone’s incurable suffering, then read Care Giver. It is at once a testament to forbidden mercies and to the power of enduring faith. For me, it rings of the utter truth.

My Review: In the emerging literary genre of dementia fiction, this short novel stands out for its brutal, unsparing honesty of presentation. In alternating sections, too short to be chapters, Bob Brown's stream-of-consciousness narration of his deteriorating grasp on his own mind juxtaposes with the short, sibylline utterances of John Fulton, a kind-hearted and shy young paperboy who becomes the living anchor of Bob's world.

Bob writes letters, from his addled 81-year-old brain, to his long-lost love Margo Jones. The more letters he writes to her, the more we are treated to a ringside seat in the spectacle of a mind's disappearance. The mixture of times present and past is complete and the distinction, for Bob, is gone; for us, the strands of meaning are tightly twined and are mutually supportive narratives, often seeming to merge like hairs in the plaits of a braid: Tightly spaced, closely woven, touching all down their lengths, forming one constructed object and still made up of discrete parts. The book emphasizes this joined-but-separate quality of narrative with the two men's voices alternating and with the liberal use of photos throughout the book.

John, the boy who brings Bob his paper, is a shy kid of seventeen when he meets the old man. He's like all young people in that all things come back to himself in reference. He's a good man, though, because he spares moments of his life to spend with the slowly disappearing Bob. He listens. He asks questions, engages with the person before him. John straightens pillows and leaves the elder to sleep when he's been drugged and never flags in offering his precious gift of attention.

The beauty of writing this book from the PoV of the dying man and his care giver, his giver of caring beyond the physical, is wondrous. The end of the story is already known, the end is the ending...and the ending is a lovely thing. Only Bob speaks...we see the photos he cherishes enough to will them to his young best friend...we hear his letters, last ones ever, to his Margo....

This book is a lonely and frightened and confused old man's orison to the lost god of love.


This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.

I'll pass on the cake, thanks. *waits while everyone picks themselves off the floor*

'Cause I have triple chocolate brownies in the kitchen, hopefully to take to Trivia tonight, but possibly to be eaten by me ahead of time. I could always pick up some chips on the way...

Hi, Richard! Long time, no "see." Sounds like you're doing well, so I'll leave with a big *smooch*!!

>24 tloeffler: Hi Terri! *smoochiesmooch* You g'wan ahaid with them brownies...I'll take the olives.

Hi Richard,

I'm a first time poster on your thread but have read many of your witty and insightful comments on other threads here. But maybe stopping in was a dangerous thing for me to do when I am meant to not be buying any new books and am meant to be making my slow way through the far too many still waiting to be read books in my collection!

But what has been seen cannot be unseen, so I will just have to add Words Into Type and Care Giver by Richard Blanchard onto my 'to acquire' list. : )

Cheers,
Charles

Oh, yeah, I forgot to tell you how mad I am that you recommended such a great-sounding book that ISN'T EVEN OUT YET!

That's all.

Lol, yes!

Ah, Richard, that was kind of underhanded ? Not out yet, eh? Hmmmm. Naughty naughty!

Nice new digs. Doctor Who.

>26 Emrayfo:, 28 Hi Charles, welcome! Glad to see you here. Heh, I am an evil book-sniper all right.

>27 tloeffler:, 29 Two words, TLo and Karen44: Pre-order

>30 mckait: Thanks...I'm amazed you're here after the day you've had!

Hi Richard! I LOVE that photo at the top of your new thread! It may be my favorite yet! Oddly sexy, to be honest....

I had a wonderful day wine-tasting in Central Washington with friends. Ended up as the designated driver for the afternoon which was more fun than I expected. Not getting much reading done, though.

>16 richardderus: oh, and that image is extraordinary! Your questions are spot on, too, as usual.

Forgot to mention that there were lots of dogs at the wineries today. :-)

Hi Ellen, no it doesn't sound like a reading-heavy time...but the tasting trip is fun so that's really more important. Dogs at the wineries! Of course, wine people would like dogs. They go together like warm and cozy do.

I love that image, too. So moody...as in setting a mood...and really lovely.

HI RD,
Im on a fly-by, but intend fully to do a proper catch up this evening. :)
Happy new thread!

I wanted to peek in and save a spot on your new thread :)
Hope your weekend is a good one.

*skim, skim, skim* *snarfle cake* *skim, skim* *Stop short* "Why are we abandoning the English language? It has served so well, for so long, in expressing so many of humanity's awful and awesome ideas and feelings! Why are we kicking it about as if it did not matter?" YES, why, indeed?! *sigh* *Makes note of Words Into Type for copyediting offspring* *leaves to find my own olives*

>35 LovingLit: Howdy do, Marvella. Wafting smooches to the Antipodes.

>36 mckait: Hi sweetness, it's been fine. The Twosome arrive, with his sister the Baroness in tow, at 4 today, thence to remain until Tuesday. *sigh*

>37 laytonwoman3rd: Good plan re: olives. Trouble could brew. xo

Now may to I be the first to say that it's just brilliant. Love it! Carpe Librum!

>40 Emrayfo: You may indeed be the only one to say it, Charles, and thank you for it.

OK, Im late (its now the next morning, not yesterday's this evening). But I have caught up, back-to-frontly. For all the good it did me, I have at least caught up for now :)

Carpe Librum! Hooray!

One of my favorite wineries for ambience (the wine was fine but not spectacular) was Sleeping Dog Wines.
This is Aurora, their lovely elderly dog who loves to be petted by wine tasters.

I didn't buy any wines from them but I did buy a nice long-sleeved t-shirt. I'm a sucker when it comes to winery dogs.

((Hugs)) and xx smooches xx and hopes that you are doing better, RD!

Am pre-ordering. It can't hurt to see how he is seeing things. And if it does hurt too much,I'll stop.
A serene smooch to you, Rdear.

Sending you good and healing vibes, Richard dear.

Morning RD- Wow, I missed the opening of the new thread. Bad Mark. Love the thread topper and like the cozy feel of this place. Hey, sunny and 74 today. Sounds heavenly, doesn't it? Have a good one, sir.

What I can't figure is how she (the topper girl) is reading that book when she is sideways and the book is straight up and down.

How is your knee? Gail, what are you pre-ordering? The last book reviewed? I thumbed that btw.. it looks good.

Nothing much to say, but wanted to wish you a happy non hurty day.

>42 LovingLit: Carpe Librum! *smooch*

>43 EBT1002:, 44 Oh what an adorable dog! I love the winery name and mascot. I'm now planning my winery label: "Stella the Jindo"? "Korean Puppydog"?

>45 alcottacre: *smoochiesmoochhughug* Hi Stasia! I'm much better, thanks. Hope you're actually relaxing in your time off.

>46 Matke: I hope it's a good read for you, me deario. I really enjoyed the book. Livingston Press does such interesting stuff...and they ALWAYS send me the ARCs I ask for.

>47 EBT1002: Thanks! It's working, so keep it up, k?

>48 msf59: Morning, Mark, happy sunny to you...we're cloudy and chilly today, only 60. Still and all, since summer is looming, I am smilin' through.

>49 maggie1944: I suspect the pooch has interrupted normal reading functionality, Karen44.

>50 mckait: Hiya sweetness, the knee is improved and a deal less painful today thanks! I injured it yesterday while running around getting ready for the Baroness's arrival, of course. What's the most painful thing that can happen? Of course that's what will. *sigh*

Morning, dear! Sorry to hear about the bleach incident - no good. And I would love to see Stella on a wine bottle! Stella's Hooch? Stella's Choice? Stella's Cellar?

Poochie Hooch! I love that. *smooch* for Mamie's creative juices.

LOL! I just like to say Poochie Hooch! How can you not smile at that?!

I just told Poochie she's going to be the mascot for a new wine brand. She licked my nose.

Endorsement? I think so.

Yes, the last book reviewed, Kath. I might find it too close to home, but I think I need to try to read it at least.

It does seem that often what happens is the (pick any two or three) least convenient, most painful, most expensive, most time-consuming, least desirable, most unhealthy, or most exasperating thing one can imagine. And sometimes what happens beggars the imagination.

Here's to a better week for you, Lovely Man.

>57 Matke: Thanks, Gail, and also for you. May you not mold over in the ceaseless rains of your week ahead.

Definitely an endorsement!

Hi Richard! Glad to read you have at least had a short-term prescription filled and that it is helping somewhat with your pain. Hope it continues....

Loved your review of Care Giver above. I am not one to read about such topics but you make it sound amazing. I loved the phrase "giver of care" from your review....all of us could be that much at least.

Also, Sleeping Dog Wines is the best name for a wine company evah!

>59 Crazymamie: I think so, too. She's not an effusive dog by nature.

>60 Cobscook: Hi Heidi! Glad to see you. The book is on a roll: The publisher got, just today, a blurb from no less a luminary than Gordon Lish! I am so pleased for the author and the publisher both.

Medicine news: Th gastric side effects have kicked in with a vengeance. I spent most of this day miserable with cramps and diarrhea. This completely sucks, and blows, and rots, and stinks.

I love the Poochie Hooch name!

Oh, man. Sorry to hear about the gastric side effects. Gentle ((hugs)) and xx smooches xx to your fevered brow.

Oh no. Sorry to hear that you are miserable one way or the other. Not fair. Not fair at all.

>62 alcottacre: It's a good'un alright! Thanks for the sympathy.

>63 ffortsa: It isn't fair, and I'm sick of being miserable. I'm allergic to Imodium. Nothing anti-diarrheal works. Plain rice, plain potato, useless. It's not a bacterium or microbe or amoeba. It's chemicals irrirtating the stomach IN SPITE OF prescription stomach meds.

Ugh! So sorry to hear that, Richard. {{{{Richard"}}}}

Thanks, Roni. I need to adjust to the misery is all.

A drastically foreshortened sleep night. This is the part of the meds I don't miss! I hope it calms down soon.

I share your sadness and anger that the meds we need to handle one set of unacceptables gives us another set of unacceptables! Oh, SH*T!

lots of fluids. Do not let dehydration come, too.

That is le mot juste indeed, Karen44. Yech.

54,877 words of THE DEVIL MADE HIM DO IT. While doing other things, that's not too shabby!

>68 richardderus:: Wow! Am patiently (oh, sure) awaiting this tome.

So sorry about the stomach mess. I knew there was something unpleasant about that stuff...Hope that your poor ol' body strikingly attractive frame soon adjusts to the chemicals needed to subdue the bigger problem.

hugs and kisses from Danny

Sorry to hear that you're having GI side effects, Richard; I assume that this is due to colchicine. Hyoscyamine is an effective anti-spasmodic agent in general, and from what I looked at there is no contraindication in using it and colchicine together (needless to say I know very little about gout, though).

Feel better soon!

Praise from Lish, that's rare indeed.

Oh yes, I do hope you feel better soon.

COFFEE cups.

>69 Matke: Colchicine is terrible on the stomach and always has been. Then add in allopurinol and katy bar the door! Ick.

>70 kidzdoc: Ain't a-helpin' doc. Not enough, anyway. Mega boo hiss.

>71 sibylline: Hi cuz! I hope I do too. *smooch*

You poor, poor baby! *hugs and smooches*

>74 Crazymamie: Thanks, doll...it's not getting better...but it will. I hope.

Big love - sorry the meds are so brutal :/ Not sure if you can do hot baths with your legs but if so, I always find they help ease tummy cramps. XX

Alternatively, a really awesome book...

Probiotics? Maybe? I always keep them around. They may not cure but might they help? Of course yu have to be able to get some... Ammy?

Sorry about the horrid side effects. :( poor you.. I hope it passes soon and you are back to feeling better.
They say those things do pass, right? :(

I like big cups too. But it has to be strong, Im not having any of this "heres a huge cup of coffee for you!" and then you dive in and its very weak and a waste of my time ;)

If I have a huge cup I want 4 shots of coffee in it! (which of course I would never do as I would start shaking and jabbering nonstop if I did!).

How long must you be on the meds with the sucky side effects?

>76 BekkaJo: Thanks, Bekka...but no, baths are right out these past 20 years. Sadly, I must simply grit my teeth and endure.

>77 mckait: Not sure that probiotics are the answer when the problem is medicine-based and diarrhea is a side effect...after the diarrhea calms down I'll need probiotics for sure to repopulate the gut.

>78 LovingLit: Hiya Millicent! Weak coffee = affront to the serious drinker. Boos and hisses at weak coffee. My entire life will be medicated or else I can't move, like for the past year. The stomach damage stops hurting so much after a while. It never goes away, just gets manageable.

So sorry about your misery, Richard. It really stinks when what you need to address one ailment just brings on a different ailment! This is life being totally unfair. Hmph.

And - on to important canine things - what pooch would not love to have her own wine label? It simply stands to reason.

I do hope you feel better soon, Richard dear.

And I agree one hundred percent. Coffee should be opaque. Very, very opaque.

Wow! That really sucks, RD! You were doing so good too!

I always take probiotics when I have to take antibiotics. Worth a try, right? It seems you can't buy a break, chum. Sad about that.

Sorry about your suffering and the general suckiness of your situation, Richard. Hoping some balance and relief comes your way.

I do love Carpe Librum.

>80 mckait: Amen, sister lady!

>81 EBT1002: Thanks, Ellen, it's unpleasant but it's not anything like as horrible as the gout it replaces. We've decided to have a distillery making Jindo Jin (gin? get it? huh? huh?) under the Poochie Hooch label.

>82 msf59: It kinda sorta does, Mark, but I'll get used to it and it won't be so bad.

>83 tiffin: Probiotics give me diarrhea, without fail and instantly. I don't think this is the time. Later, after stuff settles in.

>84 jnwelch: Thanks, Joe. And yeah, Carpe Librum is about perfect for all of us!

Like everyone wishing your cramps etc lessen & the medication benefits/effects balance all out - assume you will soon be able to move around etc without pain or least less than before .....

To quote the 1980s song, "it still hurts but the pain has shifted...."

Thanks, Alex, I'm hoping the adjustment will be rapid.

Add me to the masses hoping the nasty intestinal stuff settles down ASAP! So sorry you are dealing with negative side effects from your meds.

My coffee mug is very very big - I can't bear a small mug.

So glad that maybe things are ameliorating.

>88 Cobscook: Thank you, Heidi!

>89 sibylline: Your keyboard, the goddess's inbox there, cuz.

***********GENERAL QUESTION**********SEEKING INPUT*********

It might not have been obvious, but I've started a blog, and begun contributing to a group blog. I'm wondering if I ran a giveaway of Care Giver, would that entice folks here to come to visit the group blog and leave comments there? If, for example, the books were hardcovers, or signed by the author?

I want to know before I commit to this if it will appeal. Please say your piece!

Hey all and sundry, May is Short Story Month! Come and tell the world what you plan to read in celebration.

Richard, truth telling: I have so many books, at this point I am not enticed by the promise of a book.

>92 maggie1944: Heh...no, quite a lot of us are past the lure of free, unless it's something one wants A LOT. Kinda me too.

I'm the same way. Give-aways aren't the lure for a blog for me, the person's writing & content are the pull.

Hi Richard - sorry no real help on the Blog giveaway question, Care Giver sounds like a book I could not face reading, but I'm sure the "free" books would pull in some people.

Hope your side effects ease soon.

*smooch*

It's May Day! A good chance to pause and reflect on the labor of reviewing books. After all, who needs 'em? http://tinyurl.com/cqe6spg

>61 richardderus: i hear you, brother. i really do. spend a lot of time there myself and i'm more distressed for you than i can say which, unfortunately, ain't worth chit! DAMN it! dammitdammitdammit!

>96 richardderus: mmmm. i liked this piece. you do write beautifully. never thought of reviews this way. i was struck by many things including "a perspective not your own on an experience uniquely your own."

i'm very much afraid of writing reviews. almost phobic. i found your thoughts most helpful. posted link to Facebook in fact.

Popping in to say hello to you and Stella. Sending you healing hugs.

((Hugs)) and xx smooches xx for today - and your blog now has a new subscriber :) Giveaways hold no allure for me these days, alas, as I already have too many unread books laying about!

It looks like things are not worse, anyway? Good. Do try to behave a bit?

Or not.

xo

>79 richardderus: (in response to 78) well now that is just sucky.
((hugs))

>99 alcottacre: GIVEAWAYS?
*Im SO there*

Have you tried eating a banana a day? In my family, bananas are the non-medicinal way to combat dairrhea, and at least for us they work nicely.

At any rate, I hope you start feeling better soon.

>97 mirrordrum: Thanks, Ellie me deario! Sympathy helps. *smooch* I'm glad you liked my essay.

>98 luvamystery65: Thanks, Roberta, when Stella wakes up from her morning nap I'll tell her. Lazy thing. All that exhausting nothing she's doing!

>99 alcottacre: *smooch* right back, Stasia dear! Thanks for weighing in.

>100 mckait: No, not worse blessedly! Not worse is a wonderful thing. And I *am* being have, I'll have you know!!

>101 LovingLit: One FOR giveaways, check. *smooch*

>102 scaifea: Bananas aren't a practical solution, I fear. But things will settle down, they always do. The adjustment is miserable. It feels like forever, but it's usually only a few days.

>96 richardderus:: I signed up to get your blog sent by email now. I find things get lost here at LT, plus I get busy with my garden or whatnot and fall behind. This way I'll read it as you write it.

>105 tiffin: Awww! Thanks, Tui. I'm endeavoring to supply a daily dose of review, musing, or amusement.

Since I have a very minor prescription drug induced discomfort I am very empathetic with your plight, and I must tell you I am also very admiring of your ability to "carry on". Frankly, when I get uncomfortable, and sick feeling, I just want to throw up my hands, eat "bad for me foods" and do nothing but read, and sleep. I am sort of feeling like that now but will encourage myself to do my school work, pickup around the house, go visit a retirement home, and go to a board meeting. Way too much to ask of myself, but I'll do it any way because I am only in a very minor way not feeling well.

Can't give in to it!

Sending a scritch for Stella's ears and a high five for you. Great reviews and blogging.

Thanks, Karen44! It's always better to keep demanding more of yourself than giving in and lying down for too long. Years ago, my right great toe joint was the site of a 22cm-diameter tophus. It was eating away at the joint, and ended up dissolving most of the bones in that joint. I was uninsured, working for myself in NYC, and walking a lot.

The docs in Texas, once I got a job with insurance there, asked me how I did it, how I kept walking around on what had to be an extremely painful joint. "Because if I sat down, I wasn't getting up."

Still my motto. Don't sit down until you have to, getting up might be impossible.

Good point, my friend. I am carrying on. Academic chores done for today. Only have a quiz left which I'll attack tomorrow. It is good to have a schedule.

>109 maggie1944: 'Tis! Even more good: breaking it.

RD - I think the content/writing are more enticing than free books ......... that said i have seen "free book giveaway" used before a significant number of the commenters do stay around .....

>111 roundballnz: Kinda sorta what I thought. I'm still mulling it over.

This was tough for me to do.

*Brain explodes*

Actually it's not so bad after the first row or so - it's just getting those first few that's the problem! Hi by the way :) Hope you're starting to feel a bit better .

Oooohhhh, author-signed sounds very enticing.

>113 richardderus: what fascinates me is that it gets easier as one goes down the page. learning is so extraordinary! remember those experiments--well, you probably don't as they were in the '60s or thereabouts--where they put people in glasses that reversed left and right? a bit like looking in a mirror. after a fairly short time, the brain adjusts and then when the glasses were removed, the people experienced the same temporary disability they did before donning the glasses.

i think with chronic pain and fatigue, up to a point, it's the same. we learn how to just keep taking the next necessary step. you get so you can tolerate things that would have laid you flat out x number of years ago.

i'm proud of you, hon, i really am. at the same time, i'd be much happier to be proud of you for your writing or some of your other skills and frack the pain. ya know?

oh, and thanks for the link to Not the New York Times Book Review. great site!

*smooch*

*Flops onto chair and gazes at ceiling*

>117 mckait: you realize, don't you, that on account of you, by this time tomorrow there will be hundreds of people here flopped in chairs just staring at the ceiling?

>114 BekkaJo: Hi Bekka, I'm feeling better, but sleeping an amazing amount. Don't know what's happened to me! I'm a log.

>115 Emrayfo: Okay, CHarles makes two yeses.

>116 mirrordrum: Thank you, Ellie, for your lovely words and thoughts. And you're welcome for NNYTBR! I like the ladies a lot.

>117 mckait:, 118 *stares at ceiling too* ...is that a crack...?

cobwebs? I have cobwebs?

Why do you have cobwebs? Where are they?

When do cobs build their webs

I didn't realize boy spiders were called cobs! Are girl spiders called hens?

New Review on my group blog! Nancy, usually a tough cookie, says TELL THE WOLVES I'M HOME http://tinyurl.com/dxtah8z with a 5* yodel of praise. Me, I'm harder to please. I gave it 3.5* http://tinyurl.com/cqb24z6

I ***adore*** this

So I missed my deadline by approx 15 min! :(

Sorry RD love. I'm still running around a bit but hope to get on here for reals this eve. Much love & ((((hugs))))!

Divine. Simply...divine.

>125 richardderus: i second your adoration

Oh, I'm stealing that one of the bookworms, Richard... I love the gif.

It's a good one, Caro!

I've posted a review of Published & Perished on my blog. I love this kind of leisurely browsing and grazing read! The pieces all celebrate American writers after they pass away, and are written by friends and frenemies also in the writing game. Makes for some terrific reading.

*still staring at the ceiling*

>127 richardderus: Yum!

Last stop before I put the threads to bed for the night. I hope today was kind to you. I hope tomorrow is kinder still. Why are we looking at the ceiling?

*plops down and gazes at ceiling with Kathleen and Karen* Can I get some of those ginger cookies?

>131 maggie1944: Don't hurt your neck, love.

>132 jnwelch: They are so so so yum that they should be listed with the Cat'lick choich as a Near Occasion of Sin.

>133 Crazymamie: Thanks, Mamie, I slept most of the day away. I have no idea about the ceiling thing. Some sort of fad.

Here's a cookie. Because I like you.

Never thought that I would have thought that Newman would be better served by baking biscuits but the ginger creams look much better than stuffing down hard boiled eggs anyday.
Have a great weekend RD.

125>third

Have a wonderful weekend, Richard!

Just passing through.. have a few thing to do before work..
Hope today is a good one for you .

>135 PaulCranswick: Hard boiled eggs are among my favorite snickysnack items because they're cheap, so easy to make, to keep fresh, and to eat. They will never equal the rapturous slurpsomeness of the Ginger-Os, however.

>136 wilkiec: Okay, Diana's on board...and hi there! Happy Coronation! I like this new king, for his water-rights activism before becoming king.

>137 mckait: I hope so, too, and expect it will be just peachy because it's me solo until MONDAY!!!!!!!

Sorry about your Candy day.

Bonjour beau Richard - I just finished up that book about Cahokia and we must be related. You voiced many of the things I felt reading it. I don't believe either in nicey matrilineal behaviour, but I did see this effort as a jointly gendered affair, and also as a hierarchical one. Prolly I shouldn't be cluttering up yr. thread with this, but too late.

I am partial to those lemon-ginger cookies - oh jeez -it's an orange box - swanky name like Fitzgobble and Blabworth - but they are delicious!!!!!

Good Morning! Stopping by to wish you a pain free day filled with sunshine!

>139 sibylline: So much of the stuff that is written about Native American culture is speculation and based on fantasies of equal silliness to the Noble Savage myth, and passed off as scholarship. It's disheartening.

What about that was clutter? Clutter is cat pictures.

>140 Whisper1: Thanks, Linda! What a great meme, that dog is joy personified. Or canified, I suppose. Makes me smile, anyhow.

Pleased as punch to report that the pain AND the GI issues are on the wane!

Whoo hoo! Dog does make one smile, irrepressible! Richard, good news that your health is marginally improving.

>142 maggie1944: Thanks, Karen44! The only word I really care about is "improving."

Don't know where this is, but me likee.

Ooh, I hope it's the dollar table!

>144 richardderus:, love the photo, it would be a regular stop for me.

I'm just de-lurking to say hello, Richard. I'm glad your symptoms are waning.

144 I love, love, love that photo! The bookworms are cute, too.

Great. Now I'm desperately craving Ginger-O's and I don't have the car today.
The only thing better than a Ginger-O is a Triple Ginger Snap from Trader Joe's.

I'm getting a jones for ginger snaps, too. Sigh

Ice Tea. Lawn Mowing....

>145 tloeffler: Somehow I suspect that place hasn't got a dollar table...look at the setting, I bet it's the $10 table.

>146 johnsimpson: Yeah, no joke! I doubt I'd leave. Willingly.

>147 tymfos: Hi Terri! Thanks, it's better a little each day.

>148 EBT1002: Heh. Amazon sells 'em. Shipped free via Prime. And OH are they fabulous!

>149 maggie1944: *evil Muttley laugh* The Newman's Own check's gonna be goooood.

Since you shared your cookies, I'll share mine. These are my very favorite store bought cookies.



Fabulous, I'm telling you just fabulous!

Indeed they are! Thanks for sharing WITH ME. ***I*** appreciate it.

*glowers significantly around*

#150 Don'cha just LOVE Amazon Prime?

*smooch*

*waving* hello. Glad to hear that those nasty side effects are improving, and I hope it continues to do so. Happy rest of the weekend!

RD - Wouldn't mind a share in that al fresco bookstall. Speaks to me of Spain but I could be wrong.
Have instructed SWMBO to bake an imitation of those ginger cookies. Obedient being has driven off in my car 200 miles to Johor Bahru to vote in the 13th General Election here. The vote rigging and corruption in the same is so blatant it is actually pretty hilarious.

Oh dear me. I get busy for a couple of days and get way behind once again. I hope all is well with you Richard Dear.. Hugs and smooches to you and Stella.

>113 richardderus: that colour/word thing was a piece of cake. Unless, that is, if I actually got all the answers wrong and just thought I got them right? Hm.

>151 Crazymamie:

Belgian Creme :: Tim Tam :: Toffee Pop
These biscuits will be the death of me, but I try not to let them win. Daily.

I was just this morning, as I put sugar in my coffee, thinking about the fact that I can not keep those types of foods in my house. I don't eat them, I inhale them. I am a huge fan of sweets, and really have to keep them away.

Now you are telling me I can order them on my computer from Amazon, and they'll send them to me, to my very mail box to which I only have to walk. Oh, no, oh, no.

It gets worse. You can buy almost anything (reasonable) you can think of from Amazon. Pots and pans, fish food, cat food, human food, oil of oregano, vitamins, clothes, shoes, refrigerator air filters, toys, sports, office supplies, TVs (we almost bought a flat screen TV with Prime. We would have over $200 in shipping), jewelry, computers and cameras. Plus you get Amazon Streaming Video included so there are lots of things you can watch for free.

'Morning, RD! No, I'm not a shill for Amazon.
*smooch*

How much do I want biscuits right now???? I wonder if Amazon will deliver me Ginger Os? They look awesome and not something I've ever seen in the UK. I imagine the mark up would be considerable though.

Edited to add - wow yes, I will not be having those. £20 for a pack of six packs with £11 postage! I'm off to bake ginger bikkies!

>153 karenmarie: Hooked. Completely hooked. $80 a year and I watch TV shows and movies all the time. Plus the free two-day shipping. Hooked.

>154 bell7: Hi Mary!! *smooch* So happy to see you! I love having you visit.

>155 PaulCranswick: Hey Paul, I think it's in Italy actually...I read something about it, I think. Well, free and fair elections are increasingly rare the world over, and it was only the shouting and vigilance from the leftward fringes that kept a very similar thing from happening in the US last year.

>156 MonicaLynn: I know how you feel, Monica, I have completely lost several folks' threads several times already this year. The price of hanging out with chatterboxes! Stella sends slurps. Or will when she wakes up from her nap to have elevenses.

>157 LovingLit:

Dark chocolate rum raisin Tim Tams. We are acquainted. Oh my yes. Supercalafragilisticexpialadocious.

>158 maggie1944: Heh. Oh my heck. I think we've helped create a monster, Horrible.

>159 karenmarie: I've ordered underwear, dog treats, space heaters, Ribena, Ginger-O's, Tums, glucosamine chondroitin/MSM...

>160 BekkaJo: Hi Bekka! Or you could get the Carr's Ginger Lemon tea biscuits...they're pretty darned scrumptious.

xo

Morning sweetness! Glad you're still alive. *smooch*

*covering eyes, and then ears* I do not want to know how many things Amazon could deliver to my door step. I have a hard enough time as it is matching my income to my outgo. And now, I'm wanting to build more savings. No, no, no Amazon for me.

Review: 27 of seventy-five

Title: LET'S BRING BACK: The Lost Language Edition

Author: LESLEY M.M. BLUME

Rating: 5* of five

***I received this book in a Goodreads giveaway; the publisher made no request that I write a review***

The Publisher Says: Too often, when struggling to find just the right turn of phrase, exclamation of joy, or witty barb, it's easy to forget that history is positively brimming with rich words deserving of rejuvenation. Lesley M. M. Blume gathers forgotten words, phrases, names, insults, and idioms, plus fascinating and funny anecdotes, etymologies, and occasions for use. Let's Bring Back: The Lost Language Edition takes readers on a philological journey through words from the not-too-distant past. From all-overish to zounds, the vintage vernacular collected here will make any reader the cat's meow among friends, relations, and acquaintances.

My Review: I've mentioned earlier that I am a fan of browser-books. I think most people who've read a few of my reviews will sense that I'm a wordnik. I collect and treasure weird and wonderful words, and colorful turns of phrase, and I enjoy using them all.

Along comes this beautiful, beautiful package of browsing delights, many new to me (which is quite an achievement since I have so many of this kind of book) and many old friends, presented in the best possible way to please my aesthetic.

The case is printed in three colors, purple, green, and black; it is beautifully composed, with a very William-Morris-wallpaper overall design, a blind-stamped decorative double cartouche, and type!, and charmingly Victorian illustration of a typewriter.

The requisite bar code and sales bunf is printed on a band slipped around the back board. The endsheets are printed in the case's green color, at its most intense saturation used in the book; the front endsheet has a printed "ex libris" that made me chuckle: "Darling, Please...don't forget to bring back this book."

The text is printed in two colors, with multiple small and fine design elements in screens of the black and orange used. There is not one register problem that I could find, and I looked. It's a seamless and charming presentation that enhances the exuberantly recherché compendium of these glorious nuggets of expression.

So the publisher is sending a signal by making these choices, that the contents of the book so charmingly and carefully designed are to be valued and given attention to; the presentation isn't merely informative, though it is that, it's also visually arresting and enhances the message being delivered. Things material need not be uniformly, grimly, boringly samey-samey. Make your choice for the colorful, and it will be rewarded.

The words and phrases themselves? How about "kicksy-wicksy" (agreeably drunk), "chickabiddy" (young girl), "rinky-dink" (shabby or insignificant)? It's a small sampling, but it shows you what the author is about. She wants Norma Loquendi to take back the colorful and the powerful and the expressive from the gray, grim grip of PC and dumbed-down dimness of Bureaucratical Babble.

There are two other volumes in this series of wonderful compendia: Let's Bring Back (calling cards! cuckoo clocks!) and Let's Bring Back: The Cocktail Edition (the Angel's Tit will henceforth be my go-to order in bars). Clearly Blume and I are soul siblings. She says out loud, to a large (I hope) bookbuying audience, what I grouse about in my red leather wingback over scotch and sodas. Bless you, good Madam. I am your devoted acquaintance, aspiring to friendhood.


This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.

Sounds totally delightful. Reminds me of my copy of four of Charles Earle Funk's books in an ominbus (I think that's the right word) edition. 2107 Curious Word Origins, Sayings & Expressions from White Elephant to A Song & Dance has made me laugh more than once, and is probably a good deal more pedestrian than your book reviewed above. However, searching out these various sayings is good fun. So I learn that a whippersnapper is one who snaps a whip loudly to gain attention he/she would not get otherwise, thus an insignificant, impudent nobody. And I won't be using that word on myself any time soon.

I enjoyed your review. As always.

>141 richardderus: YAY! excellentsomeness.

this should be you whilst you can:



no, it's not a cat, it's a sloth. one truly cool beast.

>168 maggie1944: The wonders of this language! I'm more and more besotted the more I learn. Such astonishing richness, all there just for the using.

>169 mirrordrum: I love the sloth! What a cute cartoon.

>167 richardderus: Just thumbed that exquisite review for what sounds like an exquisite book Richard. And to think, you got it for free. Lucky, lucky.

ETA: Heh, I just noticed the Flannery O'Conner bio in the picture at the top and it's the exact one that's on my shelf. Some day I will go on a Flannery spree and reread all her work and her bio:)

Love your review of Let's Bring Back. It sounds like great fun.

I am also an Amazon Prime fan although I haven't (yet) bought any food through it. *ponders cookie choices*

>171 brenzi: Thank you, Bonnie, it is an exquisite little thing. I really like this kind of book, and to get it free...! Now I need the other two.

>172 Cobscook: I'm so glad you liked it, Heidi...but I feel a little guilty about the cookie thing.

How fun! Our book group met today, and decided that we are going to bring into common use the words fortnight, myriad, and plethora. SO many great words out there; so few people who would understand what you were talking about. Which could be a good thing...

>174 tloeffler: I'm pretty much used to it, TLo.

i couldn't resist making you a book sloth. i promise, no more sloths. well, not for a while anyway.

Mamie - those are the ones! VERY popular around here. A box can empty out in ten minutes flat - and we are only a household of 3.

Mamie, I wish you hadn't found and posted those enticing cookies..

xo ~ rd... hope you are well... I saw that you had no one there over the weekend, but are they home today?Just curious. Or are you free until the weekend?

mmm ...cookies.

I found some Keebler cookies at the store last week. El Duende Coconut cookies. No idea why they have a sSpanish name, but they 6 cookies ( wafer-ish) for 150 cal. They are yummy. I love coconut!

>161 richardderus: Why thank you for your warm welcome, Richard! By the way, should you happen to check out my latest thread, the book of cat poems I read earlier this year is long past. ;)

Lucy - Those are my very favorites! I just discovered them when we moved to Georgia - I went down that aisle to get Craig his favorites (Biscoff) and there they were, calling to me. I usually by two boxes - one to place in plain sight and one to hide!

Kathleen - They are delicious! Truly delicious! And I might have to try those Keebler cookies - I love coconut, too!

Richard - It's Monday, but it will be over in just 14 more hours. I LOVE that review up there - thumb for you!

I love those ginger lemon cremes. The British shop in town carries them, as well as REAL Cadbury's stuff. Deadly.

>176 mirrordrum: HA! Adorable!

>177 sibylline: *pssshhh* I could empty that little thing out in 3min tops all by myself.

>178 mckait: Fairly well indeed, thanks, it's amazing what proper medication will do for a chronic condition like mine. The Gruesome Twosome are here until Wed. doing various businesses.

Coconut = num for me too. I shall studiously ignore the existence of these marvies.

>179 bell7: ...you PROMISE there aren't any cats...?

>180 Crazymamie: Monday, Monday...can't trust that day. Cloudy and a little blechsome, but after the sparkling perfect weekend I don't want to complain. So so beautiful, the spring days of sunshine and breezes!

>181 tiffin: At least they aren't on your computer, one measly click away. Oh wait...yes they are!

>167 richardderus: Nice review, Richard, and Let's Bring Back: The Lost Language Edition sounds like a source of merriment and edification. I've put it on my wishlist.

We actually used "rinky-dink" that way when I was a youngster. It makes me think it may be time for "Let's Bring Back: The Old Guys Edition".

>184 jnwelch: Thanks, Joe! I felt that way all through reading the book, frankly, since a lot of the stuff that the author posits as gone is stuff I use all the time. Still, I admit I'm an odd duck, so not the best judge of what is and isn't au courant.

> 174 Is 'fortnight' not common? It might explain why people often claim to not understand me. I wish you and your book group well on your quest! It is an admirable objective to bring into use uncommon words! : )

>183 richardderus: Nary a one. :)

I'm putting on weight just reading your thread, Richard. This will never do!

not a big fan of coconut but 'cept in

Stopping by to say hello, Richard and to find out how things are with you but I have been left speechless, drooling and now ravenous by the pic posted above. YUM!!!!!

>176 mirrordrum: haha, its that look in their eye! Its perfect. (and of course the drooping arms, I like them too)

Drat. Was hoping you would be free tonight.

Oh dear, those ginger lemon creams look even better right now.
I just ate few coconut ones..but still....

>186 Emrayfo: Here in the USA, Charles, it's as bizarre as hearing someone use "his or her" instead of "their."

>187 bell7: ...wellllll...maybe I'll venture back...

>188 ronincats: Yeah, me too, but it's so gooooood I can't resist.

>189 mirrordrum: Ohhhhhhhhhhhh yyyyyyyyyuuuuuuuuuuuuuuummmmmmmmmmm

>190 lkernagh: I totally, totally relate, Lori. Totally.

>191 LovingLit: Heh!

>192 mckait: ...Amazon is calling...Kaaaathyyyyyy I sell ginger lemon tea biscuits....

I'm awaiting dessert announcement.

Ah-ha! That explains it. : )

I love hearing about little linguistic divergences between the English-speaking cousins of the Anglosphere. I will actually be travelling to the US for the first time later this year, spending 12 weeks in total travelling around. I'm really looking forward to what I will learn! But I'm beginning to expect I will have a lot of what will be perceived as bizarre speech mannerisms (not to mention my accent possibly being indecipherable to some! ).

; )

((Hugs)) and xx smooches xx for today, RD

Not bothering to play catchup or pretend that I can. Just moving forward from here! Smooches. : )

Fortnight gets used in Canada...although perhaps not by the younger set. Rinky-dink gets used by people over 40 as well.

Ayuh. Shore is.

>195 Emrayfo: Good gravy, Charles! Twelve weeks. Quite a tour! Will you be in New York City? Perhaps we could meet up.

>196 alcottacre: Thanks, Stasia! *smooch* right back

>197 Berly: *smoochiesmoochsmooch* Always glad you're here.

>198 tiffin: What worries me is that over-forty clause...so many good things get lost due to generational change. But I suppose that's inevitable, isn't it? Very few of us want to be just like dear old mom or dad. And out goes the baby with the bathwater. Sad.

Good morning, Richard. I am hoping your health is allowing you to enjoy springtime on Long Island.

Hmmm. 199... I always told my kids that home is where the mom is. I still think that..
Books can go with you anywhere and everywhere.. especially with devices ! But I will agree that all
homes need books. And cats. ( of course, dogs too... )

>201 maggie1944: Good morning, Karen44, it's a dismal kind of a waiting-for-it-to-rain day here. Also part of spring!

>202 mckait: Home = safe, and that was wherever my mom wasn't, so I'm not down with that definition, and IX-NAY ON THE ATS-CAY forever and ever world without end amen.

Oh! I have a religion now! Anticattitism.

Because it's Pub Day for the last-ever Sookie Stackhouse novel (sob), and because it's soooooo haaaaaard to wait for my copy to arrive, I'm collecting my reviews of the whole series at Expendable Mudge Muses Aloud, aka my book blog. The first five books are up today.

I am so far behind with Sookie. I think the next one for me to read is Dead and Gone. I need to catch up before I get spoiled on the ending of the series!!

Oh my heck yes, Heidi, get readin' because there will be spoilers out there a-plenty and only more will show up!

it just seemed . . . well . . . you.


oh GAWD. you don't hate horses do you?

Richard - Yes NYC is definitely on the agenda, probably late August or early September. Would be great to meet up for a coffee or beer if possible! : )
Cheers,
Charles

>207 mirrordrum: Ha! Cute. No, don't hate horses. Does anyone hate horses? Why would anyone hate horses?

>208 Emrayfo: Good then! If you'll PM me an email address, or whatever contact info you will be using, I'll send you off my details for us to work out timing closer to the day.

Came home from work, started Dead and Gone and am already halfway through. Sorry kiddos, no supper tonight! LOL

Uh oh...some hungry hungry hippos (remember that game from kidhood?) are to be found, then, it's a long one.

>211 richardderus: what game? hungry hippos?

Hungry Hungry Hippos!

OH my all this delicious food.. You guys are going to kill my diet. I am already down 13 lbs but just seeing all this you are making me salivate. LOL ;) Just stopping by to try and catch up. Still at work today have been here 14hrs only 2 more to go... Needed to have some kind of break so stopped by to say Hi pass out my smooches to you and Stella my Dear Richard.

thanks for the hippo piccy (piccie?), but ah, yer all a bunch of youngsters! when i was growing up, i played with iron (?) cars that belonged to my grandmother. i mean, seriously heavy cars, a bit rusty. very cool. my dad bought me a set of sturdy metal toy trucks and earth moving equipment for building roads and stuff in the back yard. my best friend's Lego set was made of wood. we didn't know from plastic.

Good morning, RD. I forgot about the newest Sookie Stackhouse - just checked my Amazon open orders status and it's due to be delivered today. Yay. Sad.

I've already re-read the series once. Guess I'll re-read it again in a couple of months. Fun stuff indeed.

>214 MonicaLynn: Hi Monica! Happy to see you, though worried about that diet in here.

>215 mirrordrum: Well, to be fair, they *had* just discovered iron smelting when you were a lassie. Only natural they'd want to show off the technology.

>216 karenmarie: Hi Horrible! A little sad, but the right decision. Go out still able to attract a crowd.

Truth be printed here!

^ Yep.

Loved the cookie contest around here. Really, when you come right down to it, anything with ginger in it is likely to please.

Hmmmm...... he likes horses......

>219 maggie1944: Out of the mouths of Janes....

>220 EBT1002: Only mildly.

Heh

Just caught sight of a post earlier up the thread - have to say Richard that I agree entirely, boiled eggs make great protein-filled snacks; also good for camping, hikes and long trips!

I haven't gotten caught up in the Sookie series, but I'm enjoying your reviews, Richard. Liking that JA quote, too.

There are cats who like to hang out with horses, and I almost posted a pic for you, but I didn't want to throw off your day.

Just a quick hello.. same old.. much stuff to do.. trying to visit and clean and fold and cook and etc..
Hope to actually read, too The Enchanted Life of Adam Hope is waiting for me..

>222 EBT1002: ...oh dear...

>223 Emrayfo: I'll take your word for it re: camping and hikes, and on long trips (as I recall) they're brilliant.

>224 jnwelch: I think Sookie's adventures are, well, let's say it's not litrachoor but it is thought-provoking fluff. Good call on the cat thing. I have lots and lots of eye surgery photos bookmarked, and a few saved to the hard drive.

>225 mckait: Sounds like your usual day to me! Have fun at work. Happy that Hazel wasn't a nightmare.

RD, I'm so glad your health is improving.

>227 ffortsa: Thanks, Judy! It is, and that's a blessing.

New Reviews on my blog! It's Sookie Stackhouse week, so I reviewed books 6, 7, and 8 in the 13-book series http://tinyurl.com/bwn47c6

Some are better than others, for sure.

I finished Dead and Gone last night....and it was soooo good! I had forgotten how much I enjoy Sookie books. Now I *have* to get the next one ASAP. I'm hoping the kiddos will give me an Amazon gift card for Mothers Day...even though I didn't cook supper last night! LOL I DID cook tonight however. We had grilled pork chops, boiled potatoes, parsnips, and a tossed salad. I think I was forgiven after that!

And yes, I played Hungry Hungry Hippos. I was a child of the 80s!

I'm not going to your blog until I can catch up with my Sookie reading, Richard. I've got to finish my current ER though first. This may be a very good reason to purchase the newest...... Hmmmmmm..

OH, and I literally LOL'ed at "anticattitism." You are a scream, sir!!

Hi RD- Just checking in. I hope you are feeling better. Fingers crossed.

>230 Cobscook: I wish I'd played it, instead of bought it as a parent, but...

>231 TinaV95: Anticattitism. I've got the paperwork now to register it as a church. It's already a deeply satisfying spiritual practice.

>232 msf59: Thanks, Mark, better every day. It's amazing!

>233 richardderus: better every day? well if that ain't the best news i've heard in a long time! wow. i rejoice, my dear, truly i do, even though you are a reprehensible old antifelidite.

Harrumph! Not content with calling me prehensible, no no, must call me REprehensible.

*miff*

I assume the horse is reading a book from the Foalio Society?

>236 sibylline: I pronounce excommunication on you for that pun. Henceforth the Anticattitichists will shun you.

#238 Hmmm...sometimes... Still, I can think of one or two examples Mencken may not have considered.

238 = true

hope it's a good one for you!

>239 laytonwoman3rd: Doubtless.

>240 mckait: Me too!

My wondering: driven to despair, or choosing despair?

Inasmuch as all emotional states involve choice, I suppose choosing.

Morning dear! Thanks so much for the delicious breakfast with REAL coffee. I'm all caught up here. Wishing for you a day full of delight!

Running through to say "A good day to you, Sir," and promising to catch up later.

XO

Danny

>244 Crazymamie: Hiya Mamie! Happy to see you. Especially now that you're all properly caffeinated. *surreptitious brow-wipe*

>245 Matke: How do Danny dear, I'll hope for a return visit soon. *smooch*

The nicest thing that's been said to me in years came in my Goodreads inbox today:
"As I read your "rant" in your Neuromancer review, I felt compelled to write to you and tell you that this is the way I feel about YOUR reviews. As a matter of fact, I sometimes only look at the stars and avoid your reviews because I know that you will sway me with your review! Although you may never be given money or fame for your writing, you are indeed a wonderful writer. I am grateful that the internet age has given you an outlet for your writing so that I may partake. My "to-read" queue (and some of my "read" list!) is half-filled with books from your reviews. Thank you, Richard."

Sweet validation RD!

>248 luvamystery65: It was, it was. Very enjoyable.

New Reviews on the group blog! Life-changing reads MONTANA 1948 and JUSTICE http://tinyurl.com/dxpugzp Larry Watson is a storytelling god. Amazing how his simple, direct sentences create such an amazing impact.

>243 richardderus: actually, nahsomuch. affective responses are pre-cognitive although they can be, and often are, learned. we can sometimes choose to alter our reactions to our emotions and ultimately change how we react to events and thoughts that cause problematic emotions, e.g. phobias. emotions themselves arise spontaneously and some appear to be unlearned.

as examples, i give you PTSD, anxiety disorders, and many kinds of enjoyment, pleasure, affection, attraction and joy. also, take a look at the children and non-human animal species from whom we differ largely in our ability to symbolize.

a dog learns to get excited and happy when s/he sees you because you're a source of good stuff. she doesn't choose her emotional reactions and has no choice about them. you can help her learn over time to alter her actions through training but you can't stop the initial affective response. you and i are the same although we have the added blessing/curse of being able to recognize and think about our affective responses.

we often praise or blame people, or ourselves, for the ways we feel. what we ought to be looking at is how we want to act when we're, say, attracted to someone inappropriate or irrationally afraid of something. we may not be able to stop arousal or fear, but we can choose how to act on those feelings. we can't stop our emotions from arising, but we can sometimes choose how to handle them.

this is one of those odd places where cognitive behaviorism and Buddhism concur. actually, there are lots of them, but this is one that i find helpful.

pedant (n.) from Dictionary.com
1580s, "schoolmaster," from Middle French pédant (1560s) or directly from Italian pedante, literally "teacher, schoolmaster," of uncertain origin, apparently an alteration of Late Latin paedagogantem (nominative paedagogans), present participle of paedagogare (see pedagogue). Meaning "person who trumpets minor points of learning" first recorded 1590s. *chuckle*

>247 richardderus: how lovely, RD.

>247 richardderus: AWESOME!

>238 richardderus: I love that quote. Love it.

>250 mirrordrum: I understood about a third of that...

>251 mirrordrum: It was!

>252 avidmom: Thanks!

>253 richardderus: oh good. that's more than i hoped for. i did have fun writing it. :)

"Naturally you're out of book space. Everyone is always out of book space. If you're not out of book space, you're probably not worth knowing."

she doesn't choose her emotional reactions and has no choice about them.
I'm sorry that you feel that way about animals lacking true and sincere emotions. While I agree that you can train them to behave a certain way, they do indeed have emotions. I believe there are studies available on this subject. I know from close association with a variety of animals over the years, so I haven't read them myownself.

I agree that to a point anxiety /fear etc. can be controlled to a point, but only once a person reaches a certain point in healing..

I am out of book space, thank goodness rd. So for at least that reason, perhaps I am worth knowing?

My un-favorite-ist day of the year is looming. Bah.

Off to get wet soon, but bright side, then I wil be done for the day!
kinda. But I have cooked for Dunkers and so I am on my way with the day.

Reading today for sure.

*smoochiesmoochsmooch*

Yes, I know it loometh. No need for us who are blithely indifferent to such days to dwell on the fact that we're so so so so so much younger than others of us, though.

I agree with the sentiment, but I *love* the painting. How extremely adorable!

>258 richardderus: LOVE that! And how lovely that someone expressed so well what the rest of us all know (up there in 247). You are indeed a wonderful writer, and your reviews are always a delight.

Now about post 255. Um...I am not out of book space, yet. It's a new house, much bigger than our last home, so there are still nooks and crannies to be filled. SO, could you make an exception in my case? I'm working on being out of book space.

>259 Crazymamie: You're grandfathered in, you've moved to a bigger house to get more book space!

xo

Mother's Day... I hate it. I miss my kids every day, I miss them more on Mothers day.

But they all call you, since it's Sunday, right? And they'll all be home later this month, won't they?

Fwiw, Kath, MirrorDrum didn't say that animals don't have emotions, but said that they don't choose their emotions, they "simply" respond. That in no way signifies that their emotions are not real and genuine. They respond to care and love with love. Unconditional love.

ETA Oops, I really dropped in, Richard, to say that the weather last night looked like you would have an absolutely gorgeous spring day today, so I hope you can enjoy it!

>258 richardderus: I love that painting, too, RD. And I enjoyed Ellie's non-pedantic explanation of emotional reactions vs. how we act on them in >250 mirrordrum:.

>255 richardderus: Richard, wherever did you find that brilliant quote? Also, love the accompanying picture.

I finished the last Sookie last night..... who knows, I might even write a review!

Richard, your thread is always so interesting. I liked Ellie's explanation, too. And I agree animals have affective responses, which we also call emotions, otherwise why would all those dogs smile so much? Benny actually jumps for joy... about 18 inches off the ground. The picture is darling and one I should have in every room of my house. Finally, and most importantly, yes, you are a damned good writer.

Mencken quote on point. RD on point. Have a great weekend my point.

hey, smoochie face. happy Friday night. :)

>267 maggie1944: Karen, i wish you had a picture up of Benny disporting himself. he looks so stationary and grounded, though very alert, in the photos you've got. i think i'll find some happy Casey shots and post those. he doesn't really have a sense of humor as some dogs do but he can be very joyful. i shall scrub mention of other pet species as i wouldn't wish to sully RD's thread.

So.... I checked out my bookshelf and turns out I already read the two Sookies I had waiting. I just didn't remember it! So, it's off to the book store this weekend sometime to buy Dead Ever After!! Here's my conundrum: I really can't remember much from #12! Wondering if I need to read it again or if I can just get my recap from your blog when you read it? Hmmm, that's an idea. So, yeah... when will that be???? ;0)

255> Right on.
Someone told me today that she had gotten rid of all the books she didn't want to keep and has no more shelf space in her house, and that this has served as a good prophylaxis from buying more books. I was unimpressed.

>263 ronincats: I did enjoy the beautiful day, up to 76 and enough sunshine to make it fun. *smooch*

>264 jnwelch: Hey there Joe!

>265 Emrayfo: Hi Charles, it was on Facebook, but it's unattributed and I haven't found it in any of my usual quote-finding haunts. That picture...!

>266 karenmarie: *gasp* ...you...might...*klunk*

>267 maggie1944: Thanks so much, dearie-me-lass, for saying so!

>268 PaulCranswick: Mencken always on point. Me usually blunt. Like your point.

>269 mirrordrum: It was! My little punkin Jeremy dropped by. He's already bored with his non-reading man-friend. Heh. An unworthy part of me is gleefully amused. A larger part of me feels really sad for him, I know how hard his struggle is going to be finding someone who loves reading the way he does.

>270 TinaV95: I'm expecting Sunday, hoping at least for Sunday. Stay tuned! *smooch*

>271 EBT1002: Ain't it the truth! I can't imagine WANTING prophylaxis against buying more books.

Really? He did? ( ice cream ? ) How funny that he stopped by yesterday :)
Thanks again for the help withthe phone thing.. and have a happy day!

I just finished reading Dead Ever After and wish I had re-read #12. There was quite a bit of "Oh yeah - that happened." in my reading.

They're such quick reads it's really worth it IMHO.

I just finished reading The Enchanted Life of Adam Hope and am wondering if you would be reading it? I am so curious as to what you might think of it. First novel. Very interesting premise: mixture of magical realism which is more to the realism side than the magical, and yet, not realistic at all. And then family, ties to the earth, love, small town prejudices, horses and people who know them, and whisper to them, more love. Yes, I am curious what you might think, Richard. Might be too much of a woman's book for you or not.

Stopping by for a very quick smooch with eyes closed before fleeing any book bullets! I'm broke and too busy, no more!

" If you're not out of book space, you're probably not worth knowing." LOL. I love it! Hope you are having a great weekend, my friend.

>275 mckait: Salter caramel truffle ice cream. It was delicious! I can't say I was entirely surprised at the visit, since he's out of school, and the bored-by-studmuffin issue has been percolating. I did a deal of listening.

>276 karenmarie: Agree completely...and that's one big reason I'm going back through them before I get my copy of Dead Ever After.

>277 maggie1944: I suspect I will, based on yours and Kath's responses. It will probably be next year, though.

>278 BekkaJo: Heh. I'll come and tell you about some good'uns in your thread then. Cause, you know, I'm all awesome like that.

>279 msf59: It's been a very nice one, Mark, and it's a beautiful Sunday here. Perfect, cool, sunshiney day.

New Reviews on my blog! Sookie Stackhouse Week continues with the 10th, 11th, & 12th books appreciated http://tinyurl.com/bwn47c6 One more to go before Charlaine Harris ends the series! Boo hoo.

Sookie had me by page 7. Bliss! Thank you!

Oh goody good good! I can only find #10 and then there's #13 on the way. So #7 and #8 are hiding, #11 and #12 are, I think, liberry borrowings...though I can't be sure of that.

Go check your email.

Into book#2 and enjoying the fun. It brightened my day yesterday, I must say...
Now all I want to do is sit and read.

>284 mckait: Day-brightening is good! Sookie's good at that.

I visited and upgethumbed your Adam What's-it review, too.

thanks :) Stupid thing (review) is too long... but I had to do one for work.

An oldie but a goodie. TWO FLOORS of bookshelves. I swoon.

>287 mckait: I didn't think it was too long. I thought you got a lot into it.

Ohh Reading Sookie Stackhouse. I have the first 8 books, I have not read them yet. I actually have watched the True Blood Series on TV, of course I am behind because I do not have HBO and have to wait until it comes on Netflix. But I do love the show. I am sure I will get around to reading the books eventually. Glad to hear you are enjoying them :) As far as my earlier comment of Diet, I am a diabetic and working very very hard to lose some weight to get off of my medication. My goal is to change my eating habits to better ones which is difficult to do, so therefore it is still a "Diet" to me eventually it will be habit and normal eating hopefully. Not that I am totally giving up goodies just not as often. Hope all is well with you. Hugs and smooches to you and Stella.

I had type 2 diabetes for years, Monica, and got away from it by portion control dieting. I took half of what I wanted to eat, and ate half of what I took. If, ten minutes after I'd eaten my portion, I was still hungry, I ate the other half of what I took.

I walked an hour a day, split into four fifteen-minute walks. (Up from as clost to zero as I could manage...gout pain made this horribly hard.)

A year and a half later, I no longer needed the meds.

So whatever program you're doing, I'm living proof that you can and will succeed by sticking to it.

Stella sends slurps!

Way to go on that diabetes, Richard. I had an uncle who got off the meds for diabetes by losing weight, too, and he did it in a similar fashion. (Hard to avoid "eat less, exercise more" if you're going to lose weight, right?) Hope that encourages Monica, too.

I just finished Stones for Ibarra and found it a quiet, good read.

>292 jnwelch: Thanks, Joe, it was such a long time ago it feels like ancient history...but it was so worth it.

Stones for Ibarra! Heavens. I think I read that ~10 years ago, just after I finished Consider This, Senora. She's low-output but high-quality storytelling!

It's on my TBR. Sigh. I spend more time shuffling the order than reading, sometimes.

>294 ffortsa: Ha! I know that feeling all too well. When I say "who's next?" to my TBR pile, I get a huge cascading lehaar of books demanding their turn.

Way to go Richard, I had actually done this a while ago and got off of my meds. However with the stress of a bad marriage that ended in divorce and quite a time of stress with raising my step daughter and her leaving me as well. I ended up back in the same predicament I was in the first time around. I do not weigh what Idid before when I started and I stuck to things a long time. I just went by the wayside on my travels to this point in my life and ended up back on meds. So I do know it can be done and kept under control. But I appreciate you sharing your experience with me and I am so happy that you were able to do this as well with the Gout, it gives me encouragement to keep going. It is hard to do once you get off track and have to go back.

Thank you again for sharing your experience.

Just stopping in to say thank you for all of the goodness that you bring to my thread. I SO appreciate you! Hope Monday is being kind to you!

Everybody go watch this.

>296 MonicaLynn: Thanks, Monica!

>297 Crazymamie: *smoochiesmoochsmooch*

Thank you, Richard. That is a gem. Brought a tear to my eye, it did.

Oh, my, we are having a thunder storm. A good day for reading.

That was charming! Simply charming!

Caught up. So glad the gout is in abeyance (sp?). Did you suggest that I read a book about the Amish? 'Cause that's where the touochstone led me.

Right now I'm reading the second Flavia mystery and a quite new item about Orson Welles. Both are delightful.

Dh managed to decrease his meds to just mealtimes by...surprise...not eating as much. Exercise is hard for him, but he does many sets of arm turns daily.

I too suffer from Book Choosing Indecision, especially when stressed. This? No. This one? No Perhaps that one over there? No, just play mah jong for awhile until you can make a decision.

That is the sort of conversation I have with myself. Sigh.

Just catching up. As much as I am enjoying Sookie, and I am ( no HBO here ) I still have book hangover from Adam Hope.

Thank you for this. I still am all choked up...

Rousseau & Voltaire - what a great name for a bookstore. It has just been added to my 'must visit' list for when I reach Scotland later this year. Wonderful! I would lose myself in there for hours, and then I would relieve them off several armfuls of stock. Hmmm. Given the number of books I have bought in recent days maybe it would be best if I stayed away...

>291 richardderus:: That sounds like a good plan even if one doesn't have diabetes!

eta: I gotta get these darn speakers fixed.

:274 "Don't please don't throw me into that brier patch, Br'er Fox"

>209 richardderus: Does anyone hate horses? Why would anyone hate horses?
Ahem, ah.....*awkward pause*...ahem. Moving on.

>253 richardderus:/254 lol, at least you're honest RD ;) (I understood a tad more, but dont pretend to be an expert)

>255 richardderus: a few too many (unorganised) books for me, I need more piles where the edges are neat and tidy. I know, weird, as I am really not a neat freak in any other aspect of my life!

You have more self control than me if you can take half of what you want and only eat half of that.....nice job!

>299 maggie1944:, 300 It was, wasn't it! So charming.

>301 Matke: Thanks, dearie, I'm glad the gout's in abeyance as well...and yes, that was me recommending the Amish mystery. Shocking, eh what?

I understand about the difficulties of exercising. It still needs to be done...but in the constellation of issues he's got, it's pretty darned minor.

Mah jong? Really?

>302 mckait: Oh well, those pass. It's hard not to be all verklempt by a truly wonderful read! *smooch*

>303 Dianekeenoy: Hi Diane! I'm guessing that you mean the bookstore video.

>304 Emrayfo: It might well be best, Charles, but how likely is it? Hmmm? Be honest...

>305 EBT1002: It is indeed, and prevents the onset of so many issues. Diabetes not least among them.

>306 magicians_nephew: Ha! Exactly, precisely correct, Jim.

>307 LovingLit: You don't hate horses, Maude. You know you don't.

Tidy is a terrible word. It has four letters and means awful judgmental things.

I have no self-control to speak of, so I limited my diet to foods I disliked for a few months. Lots of chicken and turkey and corn and carrots. No cabbage or broccoli or cauliflower. Easy not to take too much chicken. Hard to take ANY turkey or corn. Carrots I just get sick of in a hurry.