Ireadthereforeiam: three bags full

Puffin classics: on Wilbur's shelf, but my babies really.

Completed Books March
14 The Fair Society by Peter Corning (194p)

Completed Books February
13 American Gods by Neil Gaiman (620p)
12. On Equilibrium by John Ralston Saul (234p)
11. 84 Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff (230p)
10. The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler (220p)

Completed Books January
9. Pilgrim at Tinker Creek by Annie Dillard (290p)
8. The Demon in the Freezer by Richard Preston (233p)
7. Other Halves by Sue McCauley (283p)
6. An American Childhood by Annie Dillard (250p)
5. Crossing Open Ground by Barry Lopez (209p)
4. Clandestine in Chile by Gabriel García Márquez (105p)
3. The Body Artist by Don DeLillo (126p)
2. The Great Degeneration by Niall Ferguson (152p)
1. Portrait of a House by Simon Devitt

Reading BINGO



At the Movies:
The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug
August: Osage County
Frozen
American Hustle
Labor Day
The Dallas Buyers Club

Currently Reading


On Equilibrium, Erewhon Calling and The Scarlet Letter

Last night I attended the inaugural Record Club, at a little sonic art gallery in the city (think just like Book Club, but with records). The same place I had my second hand book stand a few months back. I took my chances with the cool crowd and brought along one of the 7 records I actually own, to play a track from. I took a friend for moral support, as it was a slightly daunting proposition. But as with so many things, it as far more welcoming and open than I had anticipated. There were people I knew, wine and little groups sitting at tables, and everyone got a turn to play their record. FUN!

I played an instrumental dance version of "The First Cut" by the Eurythmics. I see it has a whole 38 views on You Tube! It felt very commercial in that context considering the other music played was VERY obscure- I'm talking lock groove limited presses, spooky spoken word records and other such oddities. My friends records are all stored elsewhere, so she went through her FiL's collection and came up with a mambo style thing called Provocative Percussion. That with my dance one, some opera, and the crazy scratchy noise art...added up to quite an evenings listening. Here's to getting out there and doing random things!

Annie Lennox in the 80's - Sweet Dreams Are Made of This. Indeed.

Congratulations on your latest thread my dear. Record clubs are a good idea aren't they?

Yay random!

Happy new thread! That record club sounds very cool! Glad you enjoyed yourself :)

Boy I think this might be the earliest I have ever posted on someone's thread!

Annie Lennox's hair from the 80s was very inspirational to me. No girls my age in my high school had short hair...they all had BIG hair....but I loved short hair and went with it anyway. Such a big step for a teenager!

>5 PaulCranswick: Hello Paul- my firstest visitor :)
Annie Lennox was an inspiration to me in my tweenie years, I thought her very tough as well as beautiful, and admired her reluctance to "dolly up". Plus my brother had their records and tapes and so the music invariably filtered down to me.

>6 AuntieClio: random is good! I think I am embracing the random :)

>7 ChelleBearss: It was really fun Chelle, I was glad to get out in to the city too. Believe it or not it is nearly 3 years since our central city was closed off because of the Feb 22 earthquake. There has been very little life in there since.

>8 Cobscook: Heidi- that is so cool! I liked her for pushing the androgynous look. I believe it took the focus off her and on to her music, but perhaps it just brought her more under the spotlight! My sister had short hair (buzzed up the back, a tad longer on top) at high school, it was not a common look!

Hi Megan, glad I found you again. Not sure how, but you somehow got 'unstarred' though certainly not because I meant for it to happen. Sounds like you had a fun music night. I was a huge Annie Lennox fan for many years. That voice!

Hi, Megan! I'm here for the promised happiness, joy, and fun times. The record club sounds like a great idea and a lot of fun to hear all the different choices.

Checking in on your shiny new thread.

Woohoo! A new thread. Hope I can keep up this time. : ) Also, how do you get the green rating stars after your books? And I love Annie.

>10 Smiler69: hi Ilana- you didn't miss much (reading or else) on my last thread. I plan to have more 'else' here and probably the same amount of reading seeing as I am about to start American Gods which will likely take me an age to get through.

>11 rosalita: hi Julia- I have to admit that the wine was also a big draw card for me :) I am a fan these days. I might run out of options to play soon seeing as I only own 7! Luckily for me I have at my disposal my lovely other's collection of hundreds.

>12 thornton37814: Hi Lori- consider yourself checked in! No valet fee either ;)

>13 Berly: howdy Kim(berly)- I don't like your chances of keeping up sorry. That there is the cold hard truth, but I will enjoy seeing you try!
The green stars use the following formula, but enclosed in triangle brackets as you'd expect. Just change that last number to a 1-10 and half for the 'out of 5' rating.
{img src="http://static.librarything.com/pics/ss8.gif"/}

Carrying from last threads comments about John Ralston Paul ( sorry touchstones seem to be throwing a tanty tonight) ... Great to see another fan, Think I have read all his books, if you find more or another similar be sure to let me know ....

I'm in on your shiny new thread. Congratulations!

Happy Valentine's day Megan.

Congrats on #3!! Keep those bags full! And yah to "happiness joy and fun times!"

Have a great weekend!

Moving over to your new thread, Megan. I love the idea of a Record Club! What a great way to hear different music.

Happy New Thread and Happy Valentine's day!

Valentine's day waves and far far away hugs.

Ha! Two days in a row I am here. : P Thanks for the star info.

*smooch*

>15 roundballnz: I read Voltaire's Bastards too young and can't say I understood much of it. But I still have it so maybe will go back to it one day. I want to read the set too :)

>16 wilkiec: Hi Diana, there's something about a new thread that draws people, it is nice.

>17 johnsimpson: hi John, thanks for the Valentines greeting. I can't say we are big on V's Day in this house, but thanks all the same :)

>18 msf59: Hi Mark! This weekend we have a few things planned, an obligatory birthday BBQ which I shall make the most of, and tomorrow (Sunday), a Community Fun Day- right down the road at Wilbur's school- this is going to be fun. Free sausage sizzle, and free bouncy castles for the kids, adventure courses and a soccer skills area. I bet Wilbur will wear his sports gear all day in anticipation!

>19 lkernagh: hi Lori- different is right. Some of that stuff was was out there, but because of that all the more fascinating, I thought. I would like to go back again for the chats, and just getting back out in our city centre- it has been so long since I could count that as a 'place to go', it is exciting to see it grow instead of decline. (since the earthquake 3 years ago it has been mostly empty).

>20 connie53: Hi Connie- and thanks for the greeting.

>21 BekkaJo: Hi Bekka, thanks for visiting! How are those rugrats treating you? ;)
Mine are equal parts adorable and aggravating. Yesterday Wilbur came out with a corker.....I was checking his bed for pins seeing as he as a pin board above his bed. He said "oh mum can you stop talking about pins in my bed? It's making me want to go haywire!".

>22 Berly: Hi Kim- two visits already! And here I was accusing you of having no chance of keeping up.
*eats hat*
Happy VD to you too, although that does sound a tad inappropriate!!

HI RMD, sneaking in a smooch there I see ;)
Happy Valentines Day (if you are into that sort of thing) to you Mr D.

So long as no one sends me *shudder* flowers, I'm fine with it.

^ urgh, me too. I am not into lillies particularly. Because:
(a) they stink
(b) I stayed somewhere when I had terrible morning sickness that had lillies all over the place (which stank)
(c) they have that awful yellow pollen that takes gamma rays to remove from clothing
(d) they make my lovely other sneeze
Happy flower-free love day!

Plus they're DEAD and that's just gross.

Yeah, and that too.

#24 LOL - I see school is having an effect on him :) Terrifyingly my Will is 3 today. Where the hell does time go! He's such a character these days.

>30 BekkaJo: yay- Happy Birthday Will!! Lenny is 3 in July (or SHU-lai as he calls it). He delights in telling people that he is 2, and that his great-grandfather died. Kids huh!?

BOOKS BOUGHT IN 2014
JANUARY
1. Clandestine in Chile by Gabriel Garcia Marquez (biography?) $15 (yikes!)
2. An American Childhood by Annie Dillard (autobiography) $3
3. The Glass Room by Simon Mawer $7
4. The Leopard by Giuseppe Di Lampedusa $1
5. The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler $4
6. Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury, $4
7. Crossing Open Ground by Barry Lopez $4
8. House of Meetings by Martin Amis $5
9. Monkey Grip by Helen Garner $3
10. The Industry of Souls by Martin Booth $5
11. The Conservationist by Nadine Gordimer $4
12. To Die in California by Newton Thornburg $3
13. The Solitude of Prime Numbers by Paolo Giordano $4
14.Other Halves by Sue McCauley $4
15. Gullliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift $3
16. The House Gun by Nadine Gordimer $2
17. Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress by Dai Sijie $2.50

FEBRUARY
17. Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank .50c
18. As the Earth Turns Silver by Alison Wong $2
19. A Patchwork Planet by Anne Tyler $2
20. Amongst Women by John MaGahern $2
21. Dream Story by Arthur Schnitzler $2

NEW TODAY: (garage sale)
22. Mercator by Nicholas Crane $1
23. Novel About my Wife by Emily Perkins $1
24. Guns, Germs and Steel by Jared Diamond $1

You did well at the garage sale.

ooooh, nice additions! Tomorrow (Saturday) I am meeting a friend for lunch and going to try a new used bookstore just down the street. I have decided that from now on, if the choice of restaurant is left up to me, I will pick something near a used bookstore I've not visited.

I'm a bit behind here, but just wanted to say that Annie Lennox is amazing. Love her. Gorgeous voice.

Also, Charlie and I made your ginger scones this morning - delicious!! Thanks again for sharing the recipe!

I think you win the award for the Most Frugal Book Buyer, Megan (unlike Paul and yours truly).

Have a great weekend!

I hope you enjoy American Gods more than I did Megan. I had gotten the 10th anniversary audio edition, which was supplemented with 12,000 words that were cut out from the original edition, and ended up finding it... about 12,000 words too long!

>33 thornton37814: thanks Lori- I also came away with 2 day packs for a very reasonable price! It looks new, is normally $199 at the shops, for me: $10 :)


>34 AuntieClio: that sounds like a fantastic idea, Stephanie, and just like the kind of thing I would surreptitiously arrange :)

>35 scaifea: OOOh, glad you made the scones! They are so tender, yet lovely and dense as well. A favourite of mine too. I still have some buttermilk left from when I made them so I might make pancakes, OR better yet....rd velvet cupcakes with it!

>36 kidzdoc: Hi Darryl, I am very frugal (in books and in life). :)
Books-wise I kind of have to be as full priced books are crazy expensive here. The used books I get are nearly always in new condition though, so I dont feel like I miss out on much.

>37 Smiler69: Hi Ilana, I had heard that about American Gods on the LT GR thread. I am glad my copy is 'only' 632 pages ;)

Excellent garage sale haul, Maudie! *smooch*

ps Mercator is sitting around here somewhere. I needed the push to start looking for it.

Hi Megan -- lovely Puffin books up top! Excellent thread-topper. Happy weekend to you, or perhaps I should say happy week!

Hi Megan, I hope you have a lovely sunday!

From one frugal chap to another.......yeah ok, I'm not very frugal at all.....but anyway - happy-what's-left-of-Sunday.

>38 LovingLit:: I have leftover buttermilk, too... I'm too lazy to make pancakes this morning, though. Maybe buttermilk biscuits soon...

Megan, good for you and your random adventure. I have a lot of record albums that I can't seem to part with. They are mostly from the 60s...The Beatles are well represented. I need to get a phonograph so I can play them for my grandkids. They would probably realize just how cool their grandmother really is was!

I love the idea of a record-listening club! My husband would be all over that. Although he got rid of a lot of his records when we moved from Denver. The guy who bought 90% of them was thrilled with the find - Morgan had a lot of rare early punk records. We still have a turntable, although it's in storage at the moment (along with what's left of the records, so no harm done. ;)). Personally, I never had any really interesting records. I wasn't able to buy them very often, and my tastes ran toward the seriously mainstream at the time anyway!

Hi Megan!
Just stopping by to say hello and to wish you a painfully late happy new year. Hope everything is going well :)

>39 richardderus: I guess it pays t garage sale in fancy neighbourhoods :) It was an impulse stop that worked out well this time.

>40 AMQS: Hi Anne, I will take it as 'happy week' seeing as I didn't even check LT yesterday *shock*
We were too busy having an action packed family fun day. Care to hear more? OK ;)
There actually was a "Family Fun Day" at our local school, a free event to get the community together. Big inflatable slides, bouncy castles, pony rides, food stalls, music, soccer skills 'training'. Lenny and Wilbur spent an hour straight on the very high very steep inflatable slide. Lenny being the youngest on it by far, but having a ball. I don't know if you have heard of the saying "rip shit and bust"...but it still applies to Lenny :)
Then a BBQ on a beautiful farm just out of town, with old family friends. All ages were represented from 1-6 (with 2x2 year olds) plus 6 parents and 3 grandparents. Venison on the BBQ and a lot of "ninja-training" from Wilbur (running about, jumping over things and swinging on ropes).

>41 connie53: Hi Connie- I did have a lovely Sunday and recounted the highlights above in Anne's post :)

>42 PaulCranswick: Hi Paul- there was very little left of Sunday when you posted, in fact it had disappeared completely by then and I was fast asleep (It was sometime in between the midnight wake up- "I'm thirsty" and the 3am wake up -"I need a cuddle"). Nevertheless, I had a lovely Sunday indeed, and frolicked in the summer heat with the family, as I outlined in my response to Anne :)

>43 scaifea: (have yet to use up buttermilk)
Hi Amber- now that my confession is out of the way I can wish you a happy upcoming week!

>44 Donna828: Hi Donna, the turntable is a fascinating object. So much easier to comprehend than digital music but even so, incredibly complex and amazing. I love the warm crackly sound of a record going around.

>45 ursula: Hello Ursula- I will definitely have to raid my lovely others records if I go next month, as my 7 records are not enough to keep me going long. Especially in the art gallery setting- I definitely get an "interesting music required" vibe.

>46 calliasbooks: Hi Callia! Lovely to see you around here again.
Did you have a lovely birthday? (Happy Birthday, btw, I left greetings to you via your mums thread).
It's never too late for (New Years) greetings. :) I accept them anytime.

Oh my we have a boatload of records Megan but no way of listening to them at present. We actually have a couple of turntables but they are not connected to anything. We've got lots of Beatles, just like Donna (same generation) as well as Joni Mitchell, the Rolling Stones and Judy Collins and a bunch of others.

Megan-I did, thank you very much for your kind wishes! I had a fun day :)

>47 LovingLit:: Charlie would have been in hog heaven at the Family Fun Day, rip shit & bustin' right alongside Lenny & Wilbur. He *loves* those bouncy house slides.

>48 brenzi: Bonnie- the only records I remember at my house growing up are Arlo Guthrie, Simon and Garfunkel and Nana Moskouri (sp??). Haha. I came away from my childhood liking the first two but could never gel with Nana.
My lovely other has a tonne of records, maybe 6 crates? A lot of those came from when he did some shows on student radio (well past when he was actually student), they radio station did a clear out or records and he scored a crate or two from there. Some real odds and bods.

>49 calliasbooks: that is great to hear Callia.
I remember being 15, it was a fun year for me, and only 23 years ago (only!!??) :)
For most NZ kids being 15 meant sitting the first real academic examinations- then called School Certificate. It was a daunting prospect having it all ride on 6 exams at the end of the year! Now they do it differently and have partial credit throughout the school year.

>50 scaifea: lol- I can see it now, Amber.
Lenny could not even get up the ledge that led to the inflatable ladder of the mega-slide. But a quick boost on the backside from big bro and he was up and away. His first time down he just flung himself,got to the bottom and said with grinning glee "I rolled dahn!!". The attendant smiled at me and said "I think he'll be fine".

Meanwhile: I am fully ensconced in the story of American Gods which is crazy yet somehow grounded in the main characters humanness. This may mainly make sense to the have-reads.

Today I go to see the post-graduate coordinator again to finalise my course of study, and from March 3 it is all on. I will be a student again! In the wake of my friends death, my cold feet with regard to study warmed up again, so, I am in boots and all.
The deal-sealer was that the 2 year part time course to gain a Post-Grad Diploma can be extended to become a Masters Degree, or can be cut off half way to be called a Post-Graduate Certificate (in Social Science). With all that flexibility I am sure I can handle it!

#52 Megan,
Oh good for you! I loved American Gods, you might want to read Anansi Boys too.

^fantasy is not my genre....if that is what you would even call American Gods.....I don't even know enough about it to apply the label properly! But it is good to push yourself sometimes into other territories- just to see. I am grabbing at it whenever I can, so that must mean I am enjoying it!

52 > Good stuff on finalising your study !

I loved the fact that Thoth lived in the Delta of Cairo, Illinois. Heh.

Alex: yep- all good bar the $$$$$ and the lack of $$$$ that I will accumulate from not working :)
All in the name of education!

RMD: um- I guess I will get to that part soon? :)

I suppose you will, it's part of the road trip.

^ RMD: I read the foreword about people potentially doing the road trip in the book...it is exactly the kind of thing I would do. I figure, I know next to nothing about the US anyway, so why not take a random route mapped out in a random book I read?
I have found in the past that being open to randomness can make travel very interesting. I still regret not taking the mad Irish truck driver up on his plan to take my friend and me all the way to Portugal, instead of "just" to Bordeaux. Although, maybe if I had.....the course of my life would have changed dramatically and I would not be here today talking to you on LT! (I'll leave that discussion for PSYC602 maybe...)

Hi Megan- Glad you are enjoying American Gods. It was my 2nd Gaiman. Many of the settings, in the early part of the novel, take place in Illinois and Wisconsin. It's like a road trip along the backroads. I have to get to the Anansi Boys too.

"rip shit and bust"! I love it! Go Lenny!

Hi Megan,

I liked the American Gods too. The Anansi boys are unread yet, but on the shelves.

31.2 °C (88°F) here right now- phew. Warm. And the sun is heading for the lounge right now...afternoons can get uncomfortable warm in this house. Curtains are drawn and the sun umbrella has been enlisted to further inhibit the penetration of heat into the house.

I completed my enrollment (minus the pesky payment part) at university this morning. *excited* Completed Lenny's enrollment at kindergarten this morning also, designed to fit well with university hours (next semester/year may be more tricky but I will deal with that then).

My friends are teasing me that I will soon me president of MatSoc (Mature Students Society) but I assure them I am nowhere near mature enough to be even a member :)

>60 msf59: Mark: hello friend! American Gods is also my second Gaiman, my first being Coraline which was directed at an age-group that was not me. Well, I didn't love it , anyway :)
Whenever I see the word Anansi, I think of that British band, Skunk Anansi. I wonder? I suppose they have the word's meaning in common.

>61 connie53: Hi Connie, I hadn't heard of Anansi Boys til the other day. If I continue liking American Gods, I suppose I will be reading it one of these days. It is inevitable.

Oh, I love the record club thing! We have two friends (a couple) who we do a thing where we each take turns playing songs of choice (one at a time of course), while the other three sit and listen attentively. Records are an option, but it's usually iPods or Spotify. In this group, I'm sort of the odd one, as the other three are more punk and metal, and I'm all about sad sack rock and really old country music. It's fun though.

re: American Gods: Yep, people really do try to make the same road trip, which is pretty easily doable, I think. When your finished, you clearly need to come and visit me, as I live only about 30 minutes from one of the most important spots in the book - The House on the Rock. I keep day-dreaming about an LT meet-up of all the 75er Gaiman fans here...

Megan: I am excited! Here 15 means you can get your driving permit but I have had very little time for driving education classes so that will have to wait :)

oooooohhhhh The House on the Rock aaaaaaaahhhhhh

>64 scaifea: OK Amber, I call that planning enough. How's 2026 looking for you? That's about when I will have saved enough. Actually, that will be when I have paid off my about-to-be-drawn-down-on student loan ;)
It is still a great plan though.

>65 calliasbooks: Callia: driving is a very convenient skill to learn. I put off learning it til I was nearly 20. But now I wouldn't be without it! I hope you get some time to get lessons.

>66 richardderus: oh my gawd! Cool. Thanks for that RD. Talk about fleshing out the story.

>63 DorsVenabili: yikes, nearly missed you Kerri!
An old rocker amongst metallers. hehe, sounds an interesting record night right there! My lovely other is punk too. His ONE costume (for any party) is punk. :)

BOOK 12
On Equilibrium by John Ralston Saul

In this work, the author calls for a more rational and balanced society. He makes a great case for relying more on our innate human intuition and thus our core feeling on whether things are right or wrong. And then, of course, the harder part- to act on those feelings in order to effect change in this self-obsessed world.

So much of this book made sense to me and encapsulated well things I already felt to be true. It encompassed ethics, justness, politics, commerce, social responsibility, thought and society: all of which interest me greatly at present.

Oh, yes.
And books #10 and 11 have been read but not reviewed.

BOOK 10
The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler

BOOK 11
84 Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff

I think you will find Mature means you have lived :) nothing to do with acting responsible or anything boring like that ...

^ you are right Alex...I am told that students over the age of 21 are considered mature students. Ha.
I'm all that plus a few greys!!

In the US we call them "non-traditional" students. I certainly was, in more ways that one ;-)

>66 richardderus: Richard: Have you been there? It's pretty cool but a bit creepy (just like Gaiman, eh?).

>67 LovingLit:: 2026 - right, then, I'll just pencil you in...

Hi Megan- Why didn't the Chandler work for you? Dated? He is one of my crime novel heroes, although I haven't read him in quite some time.

>73 AuntieClio: really? "non-traditional"? Wow, and all the rest are "traditional". :)
Hehe.
I will stand out as non-traditional at Lincoln University (where I am going) as it is traditionally an agricultural college! The Arts Dept is quite small, and everyone else looks like a farmer.

>74 scaifea: 2026- that's right Amber. Wilbur will be 18, Lenny 15. I'm positive that would be a great time to take 6 months off life and go travelling :)

>75 msf59: Hi Mark- The Chandler was....odd! Dated yes, sexist yes. (things like...just after he slapped a broad for being hysterical... I bet she is used to being knocked around by her lovers...*ew*)
The protagonist so cool it hurt. I wonder if it would work better on the big (or small, now) screen. I bet it would.

#76 - I had similar issues with The Big Sleep, but when I read it, I didn't know anyone who is familiar with it (or likes it). My big issue was: Is this supposed to be funny? To quote my book comments: "I was unsure whether some of the corniness (including the freakishly excessive use of bizarre similes) was an intentional attempt at humor by the author. Briefly scanning reviews hasn’t helped me much in figuring this out, as some people seem to take the novel very seriously, while others find it funny. For me, it was definitely more enjoyable once I decided to embrace the corniness and laugh (I think that’s an appropriate reaction.)"

Maybe Mark can shed some light if he comes back. I'm seriously and sincerely interested. It was a strange reading experience. Like, was this cool when it was published, but now it's corny and campy?

>74 scaifea: Oh yes indeed! First trip was 1967, when Mama took me to the grand re-opening of Taliesin in Spring Green. We drove. She hated that, but was keen on House on the Rock.

>77 DorsVenabili: hi Kerri. I am trying to think of the bizarre similies....but there were a few oddities in there. Nice to know I am not the only one for whom it transcended time in a strange manner :)
I can see it being cool when it was published though. That kind of rogue PI thing was novel then when everyone was so straight-laced (in public, anyway).

>78 richardderus: Hi RMD. I love that the House on the Rock is a real thing. And is really as crazy as the book makes out.
Btw- we have reached Cairo, Illinois now, and are in fact moving on already. Talk about road trip!

Now...what to make for dinner? I am still basking in the glory of having succeeded in last nights nutritious and healthy meal. And looky here, a new meal is again needed for tonight. At least tomorrow nights meal is sorted - out for tea just me and the kids to take advantage of my lovely other being away. If they behave we will do it more often :)

I am so very far behind, but a quick skim seems to show that all is well and warm in your neighborhood. Warm is a feeling that I seem to have forgotten :P so remember to soak up plenty of it, for when winter comes. This has been such a snowy and crazy weather year!

Take care and have fun with your meal out with just you and the little ones :)

Hi Kath- how is DD? (Duncan Dog) I hope he is coming along nicely.
It is shaping up to be a hot one today, after the fog lifts it is meant to get to 31°C (88°F), and lucky for Wilbur it is his school swimming fun day. They have a pool at his school, but are all going to a big city pool to have picnic, activities, swimming, and possibly the highlight for W, the bus ride there.
Not like your snow snow and more snow.

I've been vicariously enjoying your warm weather. I think several of us could use a swimming fun day! OUr day will come!

Congrats on your new educational adventure. What a wonderful role model you are for your little ones. Glad you enjoyed 84 Charing Cross Road

^hi Marianne,
The warmer weather, although still warm, did not ratchet up to the promised heights. Which was a shame really, as I was geared up for it. Ah well, tomorrow might give us the excesses we were expecting, and as we have another swim planned, it wouldn't go un-used :)

So- Friday is upon us (me). I am sole-parenting this weekend on account of the lovely other being away tramping (hiking). So it's out for dinner tonight (no dishes), out to my sisters tomorrow (swim at the local school pool) (no planning activities) and then ad hoc the rest. No complaints from me as I plan to use my extended evening to read American Gods which I have made a large dent in in the last few days.

Three years tomorrow since the Feb 22 earthquake (at lunchtime, 12.51pm) killed 185 people. And street art has taken over our still crippled CBD. Instead of focussing on the slow progress however, I am focussing on the interesting spaces that have become canvasses for big art.

First up: a typical vacant lot and exposed brick wall with art. See to the left and right the ruined buildings yet to be demolished OR mended. The containers on the left are supporting the facade of a historically significant building. Also, the sculpture by/of Ronnie Van Hout atop a building centre top right.


And: right at the back of the Christchurch Cathedral (fate yet to be decided, Anglican top dogs want it gone, public want it saved. Temporary replacement already been built of cardboard- v. cool btw) I love this image.


And: city centre again, with a whole building gone, a whole wall of tilt-slab concrete makes a great space for art! Weeds on gravel in foreground is typical also.


And: pretty! Much prettier than concrete walls.

Hi Megan- It's been 20-25 years since I read the Big Sleep and nearly half of that since I read any Chandler. So, I can't be a big help. I can understand much of it being dated, though. I should find time time for a revisit.

To answer Kerri, I do not think these were meant to be funny, other than the occasional wisecracks. I remember them being dark & moody.

Hi Mark- I think we overlapped.
Wisecracks: such a good word when talking about The Big Sleep - it fits in so well :)
I liked reading it out of interest though, it was certainly a time and place thing!

Hi Megan. Guess what? We can talk about the internet now. *jumping up and down*

Love the photos of artwork in Christchurch. It's amazing how long it takes to rebuild - or decide what to rebuild. I am reading a book about earthquakes right now. Maybe a bad idea... not sure. It's interesting though, and since my husband is an earthquake engineer, he can explain the technical bits.

Excited for you re going back to school. I kind of wish I could - kind of. :)

>78 richardderus:: I have no interest in going to see Taliesin, even though we live *right here*. I like neither the man nor his architectural style.

Hi, Megan! Love the street art - thanks for sharing!

Wonderful way for Chch to make lemonade from the lemon of the quake! Get an insurance company involved, and the planning process becomes interminable as they decline to pay and decline to pay and refuse to settle etc etc ad nauseam.

>88 scaifea: He was a bounder, all right; the architecture annoys me a bit because the ceilings are all made for runty little people, all the furniture is shrimpy, and a normal-sized human (over 6ft, over 200lb) is squashed and scrunched and generally uncomfortable in it. Pretty to look at, though.

>87 nittnut: oooh, what book about earthquakes Jenn? (I will come and see soon) Haruki Murakami has one about earthquakes, it has been solidly out from out library system for *years* now (about 3) ;)

Oh, and the penny just dropped about what brought you to NZ, and to Wellington specifically! I guess there is a high demand these days.

>88 scaifea: hi Amber, you are welcome.
I took a walk through town a last week on my way to record club, and some of the streets I walked down it was my first time in over 3 years! That is because a lot of the central city was cordoned off for danger from falling buildings, and/or construction works. So it was nice to stumble upon 2 of the above art works on my merry way.

>89 richardderus: Hi RD! Yes, insurance. What an ass! (not for us, ours was sorted quickly and easily). We have the added bonus/complication of having the Earthquake Commission here (EQC) into which some of our insurance payments go. When there is a natural disaster 'event', the first 10K of payments to property owners comes from EQC and the rest from your private insurer. The insurer then gets to decide if it is more worth their while to write the property off, or repair it. Needless to say there are discussions still going on about that. Oh! And there is also the issue of land houses are on being deemed um-livable-upon and the govt buying owners out. These areas will eventually be made city green spaces or communal areas I think, but some land owners are understandable irate about being kicked off and paid what they see as a pittance for it.
Ad nauseam indeed.

Anansi is a West African god, a trickster god and associated with spiders. I know he is a character in the Gaiman book--have no idea whether the band consciously referenced him.

Hi Megan!
A big congrats on enrolling in school again! I wish you lots of luck and fun on this new adventure. You'll do great.

Wow... three years since the quakes already.
Interesting street art ;-)

>91 ronincats: oh, thanks for that. I figured it was a related theme somehow. It makes sense. I reckon the odds are on the band calling themselves after Anansi....but I don't know either.

>92 -Cee-: Hi Cee- I didn't go to any memorials for the earthquake anniversary today. In fact I didn't even know one was on until I caught the news this evening (I actually might have gone if I had have known...). I went to my niece's school fundraiser instead.
I was swimming in a relay competition with my sister and brother-in-law (!#*&!@) The last time I swam a lap was over three years ago. *yikes* There was a time that I could swim 1km without stopping (that is 20 lengths of a 50m pool thank you very much). But I got out of the habit when trips to the pool became an exercise only in keeping the kids from drowning.

Anyway. Our team won three heats, and then got into the final by beating out two teams and then in the final......got.......4th. Out of 4. :) Just missed out on a bottle of wine as a prize and scored a pen and some chocolates instead. Which Wilbur appropriated , then lost. Haha, it was so much fun, and I think the kids liked seeing mum in racing mode.

Loving the pics of Christchurch -- the city as a giant canvas. Reminds me a bit of parts of Berlin after the wall first came down.

Rebuilding: difficult. I'm just now seeing what the WTC site will look like in its post 9/11 incarnation. It's difficult to believe it has taken this long. Perhaps inevitable?

Your comments re John Ralston Saul make me want to revisit Voltaire's Bastards, which I read when it first came out. I'm trying to remember now what element I disagreed with fundamentally, but I know there was some aspect to his reasoning that I just didn't agree with; where he seemed to contradict himself or didn't support his argument in a way that I could agree with or follow. But then, that often happens when I'm reading political philosophy! My gut instinct is to try to relate it to observed reality, which is kind of counterintuitive. I think I need to go back to some of the basics -- Kant, Montesquieu, Rousseau, even Spinoza and Descartes. Sigh. Remedial education clearly required.

Congrats on the performance in the heats at least!! I used to love swimming, but basically gave it up after moving to NY and discovering only teeny tiny pools. Even here, the available pools are on the other side of the city, requiring a special trip of about 45 mins each way. Bah humbug.

>94 Chatterbox: Hi Suzanne,
Voltaire's Bastards is the only book in my catalogue that I have read but not rated. I saw a lot of potential and potential merit in it, but simply did not get a lot of it. I found that frustrating, as if it were all just out of my reach. I obviously need to re-read it. But will go for the 2nd in the trilogy first, I think. Just to get the lot done.

My local pool (1km away) is a 'summer pool', open air and only open in summer. The one a bit further away is a 5 minute drive away and is open from 6am til 9pm every day. Costs me $5.50 to swim laps but also get the use of a spa/sauna/steam room and showers. The cities only 50m pool complex (built for the 1974 Commonwealth Games) was demolished after the earthquake of three years ago. I prefer swimming laps in a 50m pool as there is less counting involved!

Good job with the swimming! I wish I could swim well enough to do laps. I just never really got into it. I started after my daughter was born, but then got pregnant with my last and I am the worlds most instant couch potato while pregnant. Just never went back to swimming at all after he was born. Lame, but true. My oldest is quite a good swimmer and will be competing at the Wellington College meet next week. He's out of condition, so we don't have high expectations, but hope he gets some points for the team.
We did move to NZ for my husband's job - he works for a company that monitors dams, landslides, etc. One of the interesting things he does is measure risk - as in prioritizing work on dams, etc. based on the risk of failure and the risk to the population that would be affected. It's a relatively new way of assigning priority to remediation projects.

I sent your photos to my son Adam, who is a huge fan of art in the wild... I hope you don't mind? Adam is my artist son... and he just did an interview with GSU tv about how artists move in and help when bad things happen... he was impressed!

Speaking of impressed, you never fail to impress me :) a major swimmer, you are! And yeah... the mom things changes a lot of things.

It sounds like a successful swimming re-debut for you, Megan, despite not winning the whole thing. Although the wine would have been nice, for sure. :-) I never learned to swim properly as a kid but I often think I would like to get back to it as I've heard moving in water is less painful on arthritic joints than moving on land. It would be nice to be able to do some sort of exercise.

I like all the art, it brightens things up while rebuilding is happening (or being planned). I lived in Santa Cruz, CA when the 1989 earthquake happened. Pretty much the entire downtown was reduced to rubble and empty pits. It stayed that way for far more than 3 years, and there was no art to make it look less like the disaster area it was.

I love swimming as a form of exercise but haven't got around to making it a part of my routine so good on you for getting back into swimming!

>96 nittnut: I started swimming (laps) in 2001, when my brother told me that to be a raft guide you had to be able to swim 1km without stopping. I didn't want to be a raft guide (like he was, in Colorado) but I liked the idea of having a target like that. I was living in Perth (Australia) where it was warm so me and my sister would go and swim together. Once we swam before work in an open air pool, and it was still dark. When I looked up to take a breath I looked a little longer to see the starts as it was so odd!

>97 mckait: Kath that is so cool! (that your son is keen, and that you sent him the images). There are more here. There were a couple that, if you stood in a certain spot, reflected the sky or other buildings exactly. So pretty.

I have a friend who is an arts therapist for kids. Another instance where art moves in when bad things happen? I don't think the arts in general should be underrated as a tool for good.

>98 rosalita: Julia, water is so so good for exercising in if you have tricky joints. Just try sitting in a bath while the water is draining and you feel gravity taking over as the water level drops. After I had my hip surgery (to rid the joint of osteo-arthritis) part of the therapy was water therapy. They had a warm pool within the hospital grounds designated for just that. Even just walking in the lanes is so much easier on your body. (now I really am getting revved up to do more water exercise!)

>99 ursula: Hi ursula, thanks for the solidarity. It actually makes me feel better when I hear about other cities and their taking their time to rebuild. I should be clear that the loss of our central city to me is no more than an inconvenience. I had no business lost or bad memories of the chaos there when the earthquake happened, but I just really liked being there.

>100 lkernagh: I am now thinking seriously about getting back into swimming regularly. And not JUST to get a place in next years school fundraiser relay race :)

Nothing to add, just "hi Megan" :-)

^hi back then, and I hope your weekend is grand.

Megan - Impressed with the swimming details. I used to be able to swim a goodly distance but backstroke only. Crawl and breast-stroke I am not very good at all. Here of course we have a lovely pool in my condo but it is more recreational than for pure fitness training. Loved also the aside of Wilbur losing the prizes - Kyran would have done just that.

This is a picture of our pool: note that it is empty!

*waving* at Megan

Thanks for the link... I'll pass it on :)

Lovely Pool, Paul!

>104 PaulCranswick: Hi Paul- I remember your pool from a post somewhere somewhen....it looks like a resort! If it weren't for the fact that people had to work to live in the condo, I bet the pool would be more full more often.
I still remember my dad at my school swimming sports coming out for the parents race in a snorkel and goggle, and flippers. He thought he was hilarious (so did I), but some parents actually thought he was trying to cheat!!

>105 alcottacre: Hi Stasia- I saw you were about and doing the rounds. nice to have you popping in.

>106 mckait: good one Kath. I think they are on facebook too, maybe. There are certainly lots of other examples of vacant lots being used in arty ways. The Gap Filler Project did some cool stuff.

>107 connie53: yu huh- I am thinking that would be a nice spot to sit and read *anywhere* in that photo!

FEBRUARY (books bought)
17. Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank .50c
18. As the Earth Turns Silver by Alison Wong $2
19. A Patchwork Planet by Anne Tyler $2
20. Amongst Women by John MaGahern $2
21. Dream Story by Arthur Schnitzler $2
22. Mercator by Nicholas Crane $1
23. Novel About my Wife by Emily Perkins $1
24. Guns, Germs and Steel by Jared Diamond $1

NEW TODAY:
25. American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis $2

Hi Megan- Catching any P & Q, or is that hopeless? I never read American Psycho but did see the film. It was dark, twisted and pretty funny. I think I have only read Ellis' very first novel.

^ Mark I was deep into some P & Q when there was a knock on the door from a policewoman. All is well, she was just visiting to get me to sign a witness statement I had emailed her about an incident I happened upon last week (one silly drunk young woman decking another about the head....euurrgh). Luckily for me the house smelled of fresh baking and was tidy! It's tough being a model citizen, but what can you do? ;)

I am thinking of abandoning this:


in favour of this pretty new library book I picked up today. White Gold is just not told in a catchy enough narrative. And The Fair Society really is more up my street considering I start university next week with a sociology paper. (yay, I am really doing this!!!!)

Wow, lots of excitement in your neck of the woods. LOL.

You are really doing this, Megan, and I'm so excited for you!! I must apologize profusely because I have not yet mailed that book I promised to you, but this winter has been so enervating that I was pretty much hibernating other than going to work. Fingers crossed that there is (spring) light at the end of the (winter) tunnel, and I will get it sent off soonest!

Next week! *eep* Well, fair fortune and a wonderful experience be yours.

>113 msf59: yes, Mark, I live an exciting life. In between cooking cleaning tidying and washing I manage to squeeze in some excitement :)
It was better this time the police arrived than the last time they did. That was when I had a wine rep friend over. She had a case of opened wines on the kitchen table in full view of the approaching officers. 3 people and about 7 bottles of half-finished wine on the table ......*yikes*.....it may have looked bad :) Turned out the officers had been given the wrong address when looking for someone who had been reported was going to harm themselves. We got the whole set of questions, but came out of it ok.

>114 rosalita: Hi Julia! I just figured you got to the post office, found out it was going to cost a ga-zillion dollars to post it, so decided against it. In fairness to you, I can't ask you to post it now, as it might cost you as much to send as it would for me to buy from the Book Depository. But I really (really) appreciate(d) the offer!!
I shall read all the other books that must be out there on the topic. And that may be more local :)

>115 richardderus: indeed RD. I'll take 'em all thanks. I am looking for some intellectual stimulation and existential affirmation! I am sure I will find it since I am looking so hard.

I need to get busy reading a Vine book, but I am stuck in the book Weeds, and can't get out. I am really enjoying it. I also have 2 library books sitting here. I need some reading time where my brain is functioning.

I don't want any intellectual stimulation. I would just like to know what day it is at any given time. This month has sucked my grey matter dry or something. I feel undone.

^hi Kath, sorry to hear that February continues to disappoint. I say embrace March as the month to turn things around! I plan to too :)
I see Weeds is about weeds, and not weed, which I what I thought it might have been about. So this leads me to believe you will not be moving to Colorado then?

Move to Colorado? I wish!

Oh, I see. :0
hehe. I am teasing, not that you would know as you can't hear my tone. If you do decide to move to Colorado, I would love to join you, and it is convenient that AMQS/Anne lives there and would be happy to move us in! (surely, right??!)

Hi Megan. Very exciting that you will be starting school. I think you will do fine and I hope it turns out to be an enjoyable experience as well.

Stimulating the old grey matter? Isn't that why we are all reading?

>120 LovingLit: Oh! THAT's what the three bags are full of!

>121 brenzi: Hi Bonnie- I have nerves but I think my fears of failure are unlikely to become reality. My biggest concern *as usual for a mother* is that the kids will not be disrupted too much. Lenny only really, as he started kindy today on account of getting him warmed in before my classes start.

>122 PaulCranswick: Paul, you could be right. But I think a lot of folks read for pure entertainment. And there are pa-lenty of books out there where the challenge is just being able to string the letters together into words!

>123 richardderus: LOL, RD, I'm *sure* I don't know *what* you are talking about!

PfffffffT! You will do great in school!

I have faith in you :)

Oh, I just can not keep up with you ;) Two weeks of winter olympics, and I am far, far behind...On everything! I hope you will have a wonderful day:)

I sort of envy your educational journey. Sometimes I think college is better left until AFTER one gets some life experience to fully appreciate and take full use of the time and effort there.

I'm sure Lenny has loved kindy - my two both adored/adore their nursery. I get tears some days taking Will out!

I heartily agree with #127 though! I'd love to go back and do it again, knowing what I know now. Though I do think you are amazing doing it with the kids :)

Janet Megan, I think you'll do well in college. I believe in you!

>125 mckait: Kath - thanks for the vote of confidence!! (((hugs))) I really appreciate it. I enrolled today so now have my trusty student ID...see????
eta: took out pic on second thoughts.

>126 Apolline: Bente, hello. Did you follow the winter Olympics? I didn't at all...can't really see the point in the whole palaver actually. But I can see why people get excited for their teams. It was hard not to get excited for NZ rowers in the Summer Olympics a few years back.

>127 michigantrumpet: Stephanie, I think you are right. I actually wanted to take a gap year between school and university, but my dad dissuaded me. I would have had far more confidence and the ability to have a clearer picture on what I wanted to study.

>128 BekkaJo: I am glad to hear it, Bekka! W loved kindy after not liking pre-school, that was an age thing I think though. Len is looking like he is quite proud to be a kindy boy at this stage, but we will see what happens when I leave him there tomorrow!

>129 AuntieClio: you mean me, Megan? :) Thought so. Thanks for your support! I think I can do it too but have that tiny fear that education has changed and I will be flummoxed. hehe, natural for mature students they say.

Janet? As in Frame? Oh dear, I thought this was Maudie's thread.

RD, it is Maudie's thread! Don't you go going anywhere now :)

*whew* First this flashy-posty-thing, then Janet Frame invading your thread, I don't know where I am these days.

Names have me confused
127 should be Marianne
129 should be Stephanie
The new student lady is Megan
And Janet is nowhere to be found, praise Richard.

I am sorry. I fixed it.

Whatever, I still believe in you Megan!

Hooray for the student ID! It looks like you! You'll be amazing. And you'll like it so much more than you did when you were young-er.

Hi Megan, the student id looks great, you will have a wonderful time my dear. I went to Uni at 37 and was there for two years and loved it. Hope you are having a lovely evening (it is evening isn't it) if not have a lovely day.

#130: Well, yeah! Living in a winter/skiing country, we tend to go "all crazy" up here when the winter olympic is on. Skiing is fun, but normally I'm more of a spring/summer/autumn person, and prefer the rest of the year when there is no snow around :) But we win a lot, so I guess that helps! On the other hand, we suck in the summer olympics, so it is not as popular. Go figure ;)

Congrats on becoming a student again! That is so exciting!:)

WooHoo for the student ID! Go, Megan!!

It's all official now with that ID, Megan! And you will be totally fine. I went back to finish university at age 39 and found it to be a completely different (and much more rewarding) experience than the one I had right out of high school. I bet you will, too.

Congratulations on resuming your studies, Megan! We'll all be pulling for you.

I was also an older student, as an undergraduate and in medical school. I was a wayward, lovestruck student who concentrated in Creole studies during my first stint at university in New Orleans. The problem was that my real major was biomedical engineering, but I spent most of my time chasing after the cute Creole women in the city before I chose one to be a serious girlfriend. I ultimately returned home with an unmentionably bad GPA, and had to start over while working full time, taking classes after work and on weekends. I was much more successful on a second go round, and eventually graduated at the age of 28. I admired my fellow working students, who were generally much more focused and serious than the teenagers and early twentysomethings who took courses alongside us.

There were quite a few "non-traditional" students in my classes when I was in college. Some of them were pretty kooky (I have some very funny stories about them), some of them were self-righteous (more funny stories!), but most of them just fit in well with everyone else.

>133 richardderus: RD :)

>134 PaulCranswick: Paul- I am always thinking Marianne and Stephanie are each other! Because I 'met' them both around the same time I think. I even consciously repeated my mantra when writing that post "M Marianne M michigantrumpet". Obviously I failed, so thanks for drawing it to everyone's attention ;) haha, Murhpy's Law!

>135 AuntieClio: well, Stephanie, I accidentally did the same and assigned your name to Marianne! There must be something in the water :)
Thanks again for your support!

>136 nittnut: Hi Jenn- it does look like me! I was hoping I would get the chance to veto a poor photo, as staring and producing a bad photo all year would be a shame :) Luckily it turned out OK

>137 johnsimpson: Hi John, yes, it was evening when you posted. Late evening, and I was nearly in bed. Probably reading actually!

>138 Apolline: Hi Bente, I bet you all do go crazy for winter sports up there. I am dreading winter here actually. We have no central heating so are up early in the dark lighting the fire.....bbbrrrr.

>139 scaifea: thanks Amber! And the funny part is that the payment for the years course hasn't even gone through yet so, theoretically, I could cancel the courses and still have the ID!! Now that would be a long winded way to get discounts in shops!

>140 rosalita: Hi Julia- I feel pretty excited about it all actually. It is just getting Lenny settled at Kindergarten that has me worried, I hate to think of the little guy pining for me all morning :(
(*he'll be fine....he'll be fine*)

>141 kidzdoc: Darryl that is a great lesson for me then. No pining after any undergrad farmers! (the university I will be at is traditionally a farming and agricultural one- my friends father went there *years* ago and there were a total of 13 women there!).
I like your story, and it proves your commitment that you went back to 'do it properly'! I can't say I gave my all first time around.

>142 norabelle414: I love that term, non-traditional! One of the women I met yesterday had already done a Masters in Micro-Biology and was coming back to do a diploma in a non-related topic! That is non-trad if ever I saw it.
I'd like to hear some of those stories, btw :)

>143 LovingLit: The kookiest one was a woman in my freshman-level biology course (a large lecture of about 250 students) who was constantly hitting on the 55-year-old professor, to the abject horror of the room full of 18-year-olds. She also started all her questions to the professor with "Well, I know the answer to this question, but I think other people would like to know . . . ."
The best self-righteous story was a woman who was in my genetics lab (a collaborative class of about 20 people). There was a big report due that day and my friends and I were swapping stories about how we had been working on the report right up until class started. The woman turns around and gives us all a long lecture about how we need to be more responsible and mature and how she completed her report a week ago and if we ever wanted to get anywhere in life we needed to be less lazy and more like her!! Once class began she discovered that sometime in the week since she had finished her report, she had misplaced it. So in the end she was the only person who didn't turn their report in on time!

No offense taken over the mix up on my name. Can't speak for Stephanie, though!

Good luck with the studies, Megan. Lincoln looks to be a great campus.

>144 norabelle414: LOL_ classic stories! It does not pay to sing your own praises. Those students sound like prize dick-heads :)

>145 michigantrumpet: *phew* Thanks Marianne :) I was so honored when I first came on to LT that someone had bothered to look at my profile page to find out my name. Having 2 names can be tricky for people to remember.

>146 avatiakh: It is really quite lovely and accessible (read: small), Kerry. And the library is beautiful:

Megan - That campus does look marvellous.
I remember getting a fair few names wrong back in the day and still occasionally have slips. It's part of the fun, Non?

Hi Paul, can't you just see me sitting in that library reading reading and reading!? I can :)

I am very happy for you Megan! Good luck going back to school. My wife was able to do it, in her early 40s and I was very proud of her accomplishment.

I can see you in the library, reading & reading.

For the most part, I enjoyed the "non-traditional" students in our courses -- they tended to be more in first/second year lectures than in third/fourth year seminars. I think we had one of those "I know more than you do" kinds of people, but mostly they were just bringing a greater degree of seriousness and a different life experience to the whole thing, which was great.

Congrats on the student ID and the new life!

If you like Giles Milton, read his book about Smyrna/Izmir -- chilling and plenty of pace for a non-fiction book.

A funny tale re John McGahern, since I see you added one of his books to your shelves. He is from Co. Leitrim, Ireland's smallest county, and home to my ancestors 200-odd years ago. It turns out that McGahern had such an obnoxious habit of only thinly disguising his characters in his novels that he became VERY unpopular among his Leitrim neighbors...

#145 Marianne,
I can't think of anyone I'd rather be mixed up with ;-)

>150 msf59: aw thanks, Mark. I appreciate it. I had a WOAH moment when I just read the course outline this afternoon....yikes. I am in for some brain workouts I think. And a 4000-5000 essay assignment. And a 20 minute presentation.
*meditative breathing*

>151 Chatterbox: Hi Suzanne- I don't remember any particular adult students from my under grad papers. I was too inward-focussed back then....and socially anxious (and possibly hungover). But I do remember the people in the front row of lectures who didn't follow fashion (ie- were tidily dressed) and had their hands up to answer questions a lot. That person will now be me, only it is a very small group in post-grad. Only 8 in my first group.

I don't have any books by John McGahern- where did you see that I had added one? I will now go ahead and add his book The Pornographer though, as in my research into the author I came across it. Its one review leads me to believe he is right up my alley (the first bit of it anyway).

>152 AuntieClio: Stephanie- you make a good point! And from now on I will make sure to check twice before posting the wrong name :)

This morning we try Lenny for his third day at kindergarten. Yesterday got off to a shaky start with a face of abject world-crumbling sadness and trauma as I left. Which of course led me to a few tears in the carpark....but a phone call from the teachers a mere ten minutes later advised that he was fine and playing with trains. *sigh* Kids certainly know how to pull on your heart-strings!!

Hi Megan! Congrats on your official student status!!

I have long wanted to read The Big Sleep, if only for its classic-ness. I bet the library has a copy.

I love the street art in you Post-quake CBD!! What a cool way for the community to reclaim some of those spaces while waiting for the wheels of government and business to decide what to do....

And, I used to be a lap swimmer. I actually miss it a lot but haven't connected with a pool here in Seattle that works for me in terms of location.

Skimming through on my iPhone. Hope I didn't miss anything too major.

Oh. Kids. Heartstrings. Oh my, yes. xo

^Hi Ellen, no major missings and well done on skimming so thoroughly on your device (I have started calling anything with a plug a device now).

I hadn't seen all those street murals in the flesh, but a lot online. When I do stumble across one in RL I feel like I am meeting a celebrity. It doesn't quite compare to when I rounded the corner of MoMA and saw Picasso's Les Demoiselles d'Avignon.....that was so exciting and moving I actually cried a little bit!!!

=============

Just got back from kindergarten drop off- little Lenny was very brave after an initial moment of "want come TOO, want come TOO". And I am now home alone wondering what the heck to do with myself!

*focus Megan, focus*

I will hopefully achieve some of the following:
- book review of American Gods
- dinner plan and execution
- boring house jobs
- read The Fair Society: The Science of Human Nature and the Pursuit of Social Justice, in preparation for next week's course start
- have a coffee out
- frantic relaxation
- visit my neighbour

ta ra for now!

BOOK 13
American Gods by Neil Gaiman (620p)

Pushing myself to read outside of my genre comfort zone has not produced good results in the past. But I persist, thinking that maybe there is something I am missing in sticking to my favoured genre of modern literary fiction. Unfortunately this book did nothing to persuade me to try more fantasy writing. I can deal with a story I am not loving if the writing amazes me, but I found this writing to be fairly plain and literal in its descriptions. Even, at times, twee.

He gently patted Shadow on the back and nearly sent him sprawling. It was like being gently patted on the back by a wrecking ball.

The story itself I found engaging at first, but as soon as it got into ghosts, ghouls, gods and the like, I found I could not suspend my disbelief. I admit that having a knowledge of the mythology that underpinned the god characters would have been helpful, but in the same breath feel that a novel should be able to stand alone.

There was a mild payoff when the ending wrapped up, but the hoop-la to get there made it more of a relief to finish than anything. So my stars are for the imagination, balls and hard graft it must have taken to get this book written than for my appreciation of it.

Appropriately, it was BOOK 13. In my mind, the ending is the worst let-down in recent memory.

^Ha! Maybe you enjoyed the part that wasn't the ending more than I did then? ;)

Nope, less. I was annoyed throughout that Shadow never changed. Ever. Not even in the Big Scene. He starts out a depressed, dull loser, and stays that way. Y.A.W.N.

Congratulations and Great Expectations for your school year, Megan!!! I hope that it's everything you want and need it to be.
You know that every pool has one little old lady in the lap lane faithfully swimming at a snail's pace, but swimming. That's me. ¾ mile three days every week. Good stuff!
Embrace the Random - if you can find it and pin it down.

Heya Megan - you go student girl! So sorry you didn't love American Gods - especially as I only just ordered it from BD (obviously prior to visiting your thread) Yikes! But it was under $10 so....but I really really enjoyed all of the Chandler books. And I do think there is a tongue-in-cheekiness to the language. Wise-cracking and droll. I think. Plus, I was always amused that this very American genre author went to Dulwich College in London - just around the corner from where I lived. I used to think, 'Chandler walked down these lanes'. Very cool.

Megan,
Aw sorry you didn't like American Gods, I loved it.

Mr. Gaiman will be in town in two weeks and I have a ticket to go see his Q&A. Looking forward to it!

>161 richardderus: oh, so no love at all for the book really then, like me. :)

>162 LizzieD: Peggy that is so cool that you swim so regularly. I was in the groove with swimming a long while ago, it felt good. But I am well out of the habit now. I get too lazy in the evenings and mornings are so early around here anyway.

>163 PrueGallagher: Well, Prue, my copy of American Gods was free. I got it from the book exchange and it felt free seeing as I had taken a load of books down the week or two before, so that time i just grabbed it. It's a lovely copy, so I don't regret getting it and I am glad I managed to finish it!

>164 AuntieClio: hi Stephanie, I am glad you got something from it. It wasn't that I actively hated it, just that there was little there to grab me. I need things to be more in the realm of reality, I think. I have no brain for imagination :)

^oooh, what's this??? I new LT feature? That should clear up the confusion people had with user vs real names/posts/and what was directed at what and where.

>166 LovingLit: Testing to see how new feature works! That'll save typing!
I didn't realise you were starting so soon! Good luck for next week.

*Ignoring the Gaiman haters...ignoring the Gaiman haters...*

I'm so sorry to hear about the Lenny tears at Kindergarten! I was so, so worried that I'd have to face that with Charlie when he started preschool last year, but nope, he skipped right in without so much as a backwards glance and has loved school every day since. I still cried in the car in the parking lot, but I'd rather there be just Mommy tears and not Charlie/Lenny tears, too...

Once they start school... time moves differently. I goes more quickly.. hang on tight!

I love Gaiman but American Gods is by far my least favorite of his work.

>167 SandDune: it's fun isn't it Rhian (see, I will still have to try and remember peoples names) Thanks for the well wishes for next week. The course outline has me concerned in that it mentions assessments and presentations....yikes, I have got some work to do!

>168 scaifea: Aw, Amber, don't ignore me! I don't even qualify as a Gaiman hater. I like the guy. He seems a very interesting dude. And his wife too.

>169 mckait: Hi Kath, I can see how that would happen (time moving faster once school starts). It is true. I am managing OK which school so far this year because they had my wrong email address so I wasn't getting bombarded with mindless messages these last 3 weeks. It has been nice ;)

>170 norabelle414: You mean I have to try more? ;)
Neverwhere was the first Gaiman I had on my list. After that I think I can file him away as an author I tried but need no more of. Like Michael Chabon who I have really tried to like. Really.

>171 LovingLit: If you like short stories, I think those are where Gaiman really shines. Fragile Things and Smoke and Mirrors are both very good collections. And Stardust, which is just about the loveliest story ever.

>171 LovingLit:: I should amend that to say "ignoring the Gaiman hating..." I wouldn't ignore you - you're too awesomesauce to ignore!

Nora: now you have me in a corner. Short stories I thought I liked. I had read quite a few. But these days I just cannot call myself a fan of the SS. Stardust I have heard of though....I could try that one day. Thanks for the recs!

Amber: well, now you've made me really want to buy your book magnets from etsy! They are ausomesauce indeedy. (how must is shipping for 4 to little ole NZ d'ya think?)
And I still want to go to that house on the rock. It looks just as kooky as it needs to be, and not a tad more. haha :)

Megan - not going to try to push Chabon or Gaiman, both of whom I really like....but... maybe you should peek at Chabon's nonfiction Manhood for Amateurs, you might like parts of it such as this The Wilderness of Childhood essay.

With Gaiman, I'd probably just say he's not your thing...but..for all those suggesting Anansi Boys, I have to say take the audiobook version narrated by Lenny Henry, it's just perfect. I'd suggest reading one of his essays, he writes really well about reading, fantasy, writers etc etc.
http://www.theguardian.com/books/2013/oct/24/neil-gaiman-face-facts-need-fiction

Have you read anything by Paul Auster?

>157 LovingLit: LOL; how does one frantically relax?

>130 LovingLit: Looking at that big smile, I predict you will LOVE going back to school. And it starts next week?
Cool!
Wishing you lots of fun, hard work, good friends, and great rewards!
GO Megan!

Kerry: I have read Manhood for Amateurs and quite liked it. And then I read his wife's motherhood memoir Bad Mother straight of the back of it. Also good. And re: Gaiman, I must have heard him talk on the radio or something, as I am convinced he is wonderful and interesting. So I will check out the link, thanks!
Lenny Henry sounds/looks so much to me like my little Lenny's name seeing as the surnames are so close!

Darryl: One frantically relaxes when one has only a few minutes to do so :) I am fairly good at it and reckon I can feel pretty relaxed after ten minutes of uninterrupted silent reading. :)

Cee: I was inexplicably happy about holding my new student ID that day. Perhaps because I had yet to post off the signed loan forms!!! I am pushing myself in doing this which is good, as I can easily slip into inertia ;)
*excited*
I am hoping to meet some like-minded people, as am sick of feeling like a fish out of water when I interact with *people*. My lovely other is of course on my page (we bonded initially over our love of music, hatred of malls and dislike of uninformed loudmouths- amongst other things), but even in my book group I feel like I have two heads because I read so much and so much non-fiction. And don't get me started on my mums coffee group that I used to attend. Yikes, I felt like an alien amongst them.

>175 avatiakh: oh, and Kerry, I have not read any Paul Aster.

Nothing much to add - just waving - and considering some of Amber's magnets myself.

A bit late, but congrats on being a student again, Megan!

>180 nittnut: Jenn, you ought to get the magnets sent to someone you know in the US who will be travelling to NZ. It's much cheaper ;)
They are very cool, aren't they? I have a map badge (do you call it a pin?) that I thought I could possibly reproduce if I had the right equipment.

>181 connie53: Why thanks Connie :) I had a dream about it last night....obviously it is on my mind!! All part of the nail-biting fun, I suppose.

Megan, what classes are you signed up for?

I wish I knew someone traveling to NZ sometime soon. :)

LOL - I was just about to offer, thinking that friends of mine are emigrating (or actually the wife is returning) to NZ in a few weeks. To the Christchurch area in fact. But I'm a twist - I do not fulfil the US bit and thinking it would be equally hard to get them to me first!

>178 LovingLit: even in my book group I feel like I have two heads because I read so much and so much non-fiction. And don't get me started on my mums coffee group that I used to attend. Yikes, I felt like an alien amongst them.

Megan - that's what I feel quite a lot of the time. I'm constantly having to tone down what I think, what I've read, what I'm really interested in to fit in with the people around me and have something to talk about. Not with Mr SandDune or J, and not on LT but it happens a lot!

Hi Megan- Sorry you didn't care for American Gods. It might be least favorite of Gaiman's work but I still really liked it, despite a couple flaws.

Glad you liked the film version of Double Indemnity. Film noir at it's very best.

Megan, I'm delurking to wish you all the best in your educational endeavor! I am a perpetual student and have gone back to university two times since my initial foray after high school fizzled out when I got married. I love having notebooks to fill and textbooks to read. I will have to satisfy my love for learning through your experiences, however, as granddaughters seem to have filled my "spare" time. You will share your learning adventures with us I hope!

Thank you for the arty pictures of beautiful Christchurch. I remember the earthquakes 3 years ago very well. I think that is when we first became online friends? I was so concerned for you and your family. I'm glad to say I have never experienced an earthquake, although the New Madrid fault runs through the eastern part of Missouri and could cause a big rumble at any time.

I'm not surprised Gaiman was not your thing, well based on your reading loves & not so loves .... but then you like Greene when others don't, it's this variety which makes things interesting .....

>183 AuntieClio: hi Stephanie. I am doing a post-grad diploma in Social Science, it has certain mandatory classes which I have chosen to do first in case they lead me on to other good choices. My first paper is a sociology one- broad, but with 12 x 2 hour sessions and very small class size (less than 10!) I will be expected to contribute a lot, I'd say. Others will be research methods, and a psychology one.
I will be taking a theme of social justice through all the papers, and there seems to be a fair bit of scope to do that.

>184 nittnut: hehe, Jenn, did you leave your favourite slippers behind? Now that I think of it, we could have organised this better. You could have filled out container with Amber's literary magnets, and had a weekly market stall down Cuba Street!

>185 BekkaJo: well, between the 3 of us we have a few continents covered. Maybe Paul will travel the world eventually and can act as magnet-mule?

>186 SandDune: I'm constantly having to tone down what I think, what I've read, what I'm really interested in...
Ack. I hate to hear that. Only because I dislike doing it myself, I would like to have the guts to be myself and damn the consequences. Rather than being myself and then as a consequence feeling a bit sad at being a social outcast. I think my sister has contributed a bit to my 'toning down'- the eye rolls and comments really used to get to me in our old bookclub. Probably our sisterliness gave her license to give me more stick than would be normally polite to do.
Ah, anyway..... like-minded people are wonderful aren't they?

>187 msf59: Mark, I was really impressed with Double Indemnity (the film version, as you say: this is not VideoLibraryThing after all, is it?). :)
My friends have a mini cinema in their tiny beach house. It is small, but the TV screen takes up most of the smaller wall and they have blackout curtains. It is cool. I often stay the night there when we have a movie night as it is a half hour drive, and I get to have a sleep in proper (ie: without listening to the kids calling out for me from til 8am when "sleep-ins' officially end). So what used to be 80s movie night is now just movie night....we are thinking of doing a Bond marathon next time. One Bond film for each actor!

>188 Donna828: thanks for de-lurking Donna! I remember escaping university the first time and not looking back. Even though I loved the learning, I was a very different person then so was not really able to get the most out of the experience. I was quite...anxious.Things like presentations made me feel physically ill. I surprised myself in my last full time job by discovering that I actually quite liked public speaking in the context of that job (which was talking in meetings, to interested parties and in workplaces).
I also liked seeing the back of University days as that feeling that I always should be studying plagued me. At least now, my time will be divided and there will be very little crossover. I *know* that I will get no reading or writing done in the presence of the kids, so will not try to. And vice versa. Hopefully that will eliminate that "I should be doing something else" feeling.

I think that is when we first became online friends?
Yes, it is. I was so touched by all the messages from people worldwide. It was a very real warm feeling for me to think that people cared. *warm fuzzies*

>189 roundballnz: hi Alex, turns out I ought to trust my gut feeling more huh? And go less on the pretty cover- haha. I am sucker and a half for a nice cover. Greene....I am not convinced he is an author I like. I mean, I don't hate him or anything, but...the jury is still out.

In other news, Wilbur lost hie first tooth yesterday, and in typical Wilbur style he is questioning the existence of the tooth fairy. His logic was flawed though in that he said well, I know Father Christmas is real as he gave me presents, but the tooth fairy would be too small to carry the coins. Lol.
He quizzed me repeatedly this morning on if it was me who planted the $3 under his pillow. I have managed to avoid giving him a straight answer as yet and have encouraged him to ask his classmates if they have had a visit from the Tooth Fairy.
*we'll see*

>192 LovingLit: That's simply adorable, Megan!

>192 LovingLit: I remember figuring out that Santa Claus wasn't real at Easter one year when all of a sudden it dawned on me that there was no huge bunny delivering chocolate eggs. Once that myth crumbled, Santa Claus was next and I've been devastated ever since. Hope Wilbur is able to see his way through to continuing to believe in the Tooth Fairy.

>193 connie53: thanks, Connie. He is a thinker, my Wilbur :) It makes any situation a negotiable one with him. *exhausting* But that is what you get having a smart kid, you just have to try to nourish it while not letting them get the better of you!

>194 phebj: I would love to think I get him to hold out a bit longer re: the Tooth Fairy, but he is just so rational! At Christmas time he was skeptical too, but seems to have remembered mainly the presents from that time. I was little (youngest sibling) when my sister and brother spoiled the magic of it for me. Haha, I came through it OK, but remember my mum consoling me whilst giving me the cold hard truth.

>192 LovingLit: Love that story, Megan! He's a smart one!

I'm so proud of you and excited for you on your school journey! You are going to be GREAT!!!

Someone who didn't rave about American Gods. Brava, Megan!
(I haven't read it, but still...)

"...in typical Wilbur style he is questioning the existence of the tooth fairy."
I actually think his logic makes total sense. :-)

191 > Now I haven't read any Greene yet but have it on good advice that The Ministry of Fear is a very one .... maybe worth checking the library out ???

Always trust your gut feeling ......

>190 LovingLit: Magnet mule? oh well I suppose that would be fine!

>158 LovingLit: Your take on Gaiman's opus equated closely to my own.

>191 LovingLit: I am on the other hand a big fan of Greene. Brighton Rock, The Heart of the Matter, England Made Me, The Comedians, A Burnt Out Case and yes The Ministry of Fear all first rate IMO.

>196 TinaV95: Hi Tina, my multi-platform online friend. :)
Wilbur is one serious guy, thinks a lot. He has always been hard to pull one over on. I hope i haven't taught him cynicism accidentally!

>197 EBT1002: Ellen, you are right of course. The tooth fairy is a ridiculous concept. But I love the thought of the kids believing in magic for as long as they can (within the bounds of sanity). I can't help but think "good for you" when he uses his brain instead of just accepting things though!!
I taught him chess last night and today when we 'played' he pretty much remembered how all the pieces move! It counted as maths homework seeing as it used directional movements and counting and patterns. So that was good.

>198 roundballnz: Oh yes, I do have Ministry of Fear on my TBR, now that you mention it. I will certainly give that a try maybe even this year.

>199 PaulCranswick: hi Paul, so you noticed that I was recruiting you for an international magnet smuggling ring? I can promise you great rewards.....of the satisfaction variety. What? Don't tell me you were thinking of cash?
I am so glad I have an American Gods buddy to be indifferent with.

>153 LovingLit: -- I think I noticed that you added Amongst Women, up in #109?

>186 SandDune: -- and Megan -- yes, toning down what I read, what I think, in order to fit in, is an interesting exercise... Someone actually told me that I might have trouble finding a bf because there just aren't enough well-read men around. (Not that I'm actually hunting for one...) the saddest part of this? I suspect he was right.

"I taught him chess last night and today when we 'played' he pretty much remembered how all the pieces move!"
Awesome.

>202 Chatterbox: >186 SandDune: I've been thinking about what I actually do since posting my comment yesterday. I know that if I'm talking with most people I know I'll pick the lighter books I've read to talk about, assuming that they're people who read at all, in order to keep the conversation going. I might keep quiet when particular topics are discussed because the people I'm talking to have only a very superficial view of what they are talking about, but I know that if I was to challenge their views they would be hurt. At home, on the other hand, we spend most (or at least a lot) of our time arguing (in a friendly way) about politics or historical events or environmental issues, but I hardly know anyone else who I can do that with. Part of the problem will be that I'm not a naturally outgoing person, so I don't get to know huge numbers of people.

Good luck with returning to school, Megan! I am not sure how I did not know that until now, but now that I do, we can commiserate together during midterms, finals, etc.

>190 LovingLit:, >199 PaulCranswick: & >201 LovingLit:: *SNORK!*

I'm worried about how long Charlie will hold onto the magic of Santa and the Easter Bunny et al. It *is* a problem with the smarty pants kids, isn't it? Ha!

>202 Chatterbox: *penny drops*
Now I recall, it was one of those books that drew me in for the cover. I barely looked at the author other than to note that I hadn't hear of him.

As if your #1 requirement for a mate is that they can read as much/more than you. That they can read is of course is helpful, that they do (by choice) is a bonus for me!

>203 EBT1002: Well, he isn't gifted or anything. Just has a good memory and a thinking brain. I friend from our kids music group started to read at age 3- the pres school asked the mum if they knew he could. They had had no idea as it seemed he just started!

>204 SandDune: I have been thinking about it too, Rhian! And talking with my lovely other about it. I reckon it is a conciliatory measure (not sure that is the correct word there)...I mean a way of meeting someone half way before you even know what measure you would take to do that. I liken it to how I stand on my shorter leg (one of my legs is 2½ cms shorter than the other) when I am standing next to shorter people- it just makes things more even.

>205 alcottacre: thanks Stasia! If I get grades anything like you are getting I will be one happy and hard working lady!

>206 scaifea: oh hi! You heard about the Magnet-running business huh? :)
I have heard nothing else about the Tooth Fairy, so I will rest assured that she/he lives another day .
*I must find that photo of W at his cousins fairy b'day party where he is wishing his little heart out along with 7 little girls*

I have been fiddling around on photoshop when I ought to have been reading. But yesterday in the break between two hail storms I had a tonne of fun making these 'round the world' images from existing photos. They limiting factors being that the horizon is level, or that each end of the photo is relatively similar. This is my favourite one, of my lovely other in the salt water baths this Christmas.



Eta: and today! Well, today it has been stormy all day. It has hailed and rained and blown the garden to smithereens. One of out front trees came down and there is surface flooding on the roads. What a better introduction to WINTER and yes: I have lit the fire for the first time this year and we are all now *cosy*

What. You don't mean it. Winter. Well, you poor poor thing.

^hmph. It is persisting down here! I am going to do the good thing and go and collect the lovely other from work to save him biking into head-wind and driving rain.

Heheheehe Its Still SUMMER up here ..... *** runs from the room avoiding wine bottle missiles****

Oh, dang - that sounds like a serious storm! Glad that you're all okay and cozy.
Also, *love* the round-the-world photo!

Love the 'round the world' image.... I need to go play around with that feature! I didn't even know it existed. Thanks, Megan!'

If Paul is going to be magnet-mule I can volunteer myself to be the U.S.-based magnet recipient, since I think Paul is pretty sure he'll be visiting Washington DC on his upcoming trip. I've already bought several of Amber's magnets and they are delightful.

You could decorate a dinner plate with that picture, Megan!

>211 roundballnz: Alex- you cruel, cruel man ;)
We now have a lake as our back lawn, and the tree that came down is still down (so no changes there).

>212 scaifea: Hi Amber- there is some flooding (including houses) but not our place thank goodness. We are a foot or so above ground so that is paying off now (I didn't think so when I fell down our steps when pregnant with Wilbur !!)

>213 lkernagh: you go to Filter > Distort > Polar Coordinates, on Photoshop. If you have panoramic photos they work well, and having equal horizons as well. You can blur the seam if it looks too obvious.

>214 norabelle414: Great idea Nora. We will await Paul's exact schedule- he should love that! Being needled by foreign parties for his exact schedule ;)
I had this idea that they would post easily and cheaply considering they are so flat and small.

>215 connie53: A dinner plate- what a great idea. Although I am no sure I could eat my dinner off my lovely other :)

Well, you could use other photo's, could you not?

Love your Photoshop shenanigans, Megan!

>217 connie53: well, now that you mention it. Of course. The following ones I think could work well!

Originally a road-side marker against snow and blue sky:


Fiordland, the original foreground was the sea, then the mountains give way to the surrounding skies.


Bird on the power lines outside my house. I would need to tweak this one to make it a more round circle.


>218 rosalita: ooh, goodie. Then you might be interested in my other experiments as well. In case you need directions, they are posted (^) above ;)
It is quite addictive and it is lucky that I have no more suitable photos (with matching horizons) to fiddle with. That is....until I take some more!

I think the bird is my favorite...

I like that one too, Kath. I want to go back to photoshop now and get it properly round! It is irking me.

IN ther news, we have had a 100 year flood here in Christchurch, so I hear. I know for sure it has been raining for 36 hours straight. But our place is none the wiser that the city is flooded. My lovely other will be on the bus tonight though as his bike would likely not get through this:



His office building is at the other end of this street, lucky he's on the 4th floor :)

216 > All the more so because I wish SUMMER was over where I think you would still want it to be present :)

Hope this storm is not the sign of things to come this Winter for you all down there .... days like this I do appreciate the very moderate Auckland climate...

>221 LovingLit: Megan,
YIKES!

>119 mckait: I like them all. The middle one Is like a hole in the universe.

And that flood looks awsome! No, biking will not get you anywhere.

Hi Megan- Sorry, to hear about all the rain & flooding. Wow! Are you having any problems near your home?

Sorry to see you are having floods as well Megan. I would not be driving through water that deep personally. So many people have seriously damaged their cars in the floods over here by assuming that they can drive through them (including my nephew who managed to write his car off after he got water in the engine.)

>222 roundballnz: it was a very odd and lengthy period of rain here. I saw a satellite photo of the cloud formations over NZ on facebook, it was a huge spiral. Awesome looking.

>223 AuntieClio: hehe, YIKES indeed! That is a bridge over the 'river' on the top left hand side of the image. The river is supposedly top and top right. But as you can see it has spilled out and takes up more than its fair share.

>224 connie53: The photo may be misleading in that I hear (now) that the roads were only flooded in that spot for a few hours as the Avon River is tidal, so the high tide pushed the river over its banks.
So as it turned out my lovely other DID bike home! I was shocked to see him roll up the driveway, but he said the main thoroughfare was clear of water and traffic was light.

>225 msf59: Hi Mark, no problems at our place. *phew* (again!) We feel pretty lucky actually- the earthquakes left our place relatively undamaged structurally as well as getting off lightly with the liquefaction (wet silty stuff that was pushed up from underground and had to be wheel-barrowed away multiple times). Out house is a foot above the ground, so although the back lawn is 20cm deep in water, we are fine!
The tree that was blown over couldn't say the same thing though ;) The kids are (as I type) making a hut in it. I love kids!

>226 SandDune: Hi Rhian, there is no way I would drive through that either. All it takes is the spark plugs getting wet and the engine stops, doesn't it? There were a few cars abandoned in water they should not have attempted to go through.
I am so glad my little corner of the city is all I need to travel about in!

HI there! Getting caught up on threads. Loved your description of the assimilation into kindergarden.

A dear friend spent all summer preparing her son for the first day of school. On the appointed day, he hid under his bed, shreiking, "I don't WANT to go to school! I don't WANT to go to school." After dragging him out by the feet, they made the walk to school with him him hiccoughing and hyperventialting from all the tears. The whole way, she imagined she had irreparably harmed his psyche, he would hate school forever and become a grade school drop out.

They get to the classroom, and he notices 1) one of his friends from the neighborhood, and 2) the teacher holding his FAVORITE book. Tears magically dried up as he tosssed off a "Bye, Mummy. You can go home now" and trotted happily to join the group. She cried the whole way back home! ;-)

Ack, Megan, sorry to hear about the flooding. NOT FUN. I guess the good news is that you're not likely to be around for the next 100-year flood. Heh.

So, still summer in Auckland, rainy and very windy, but not hailing or flooding here in Wellington, and hail and floods in Christchurch. Wow.

>186 SandDune: >190 LovingLit: >202 Chatterbox: I know what you mean about having to tone yourself down or not share how much you read in some social situations, including book clubs. My last book club had a lot of women much younger than I am in it and they were really intimidated by me and kept deferring their opinions on books to me. Drove me nuts. I am well read, and pretty smart, but I was horrified to realize that they felt that I would discount their opinions. I finally quit going. It wasn't fun. They probably had a better time without me. :)

>202 Chatterbox:, I think it's hilarious that someone would relate how much you read to the lack of eligible men. As if that would be the only thing you would look for, and as if that's the only reason a man would be ineligible. If you were looking...

My husband doesn't read much other than his technical stuff for work. We agree that I will be the well read one, and he will be the expert on sports. It works. :)

>228 michigantrumpet: I love that story!!

Megan, Glad your house stayed unflooded! (if that's a word)

Ack! I hope the bus makes it through the flood. Can't your lovely other work from home? Surely with the flood companies must be closed?

A well thought out and lengthy post was *lost* this morning, so I am re-doing what I can remember. I was at university, using the system computers, so that may have limited my access, letting me type but not post my responses- eeuurgh.

>228 michigantrumpet: Marianne, what a lovely story! Not the mother crying part, but the child quickly assimilating part :)
I think of it as testament to your bond with a child, the tricky separation part.

>229 EBT1002: Well, the funny thing is there was a 100 year flood here in the 1970s. And now that water levels and ground levels have changed here since earthquakes, the flood risk is much higher. You can expect to her more about 100 year floods here I suspect!

>230 nittnut: Isn't it odd how you get assigned a label in certain groups. My label has been "mother' for a while, and at bookclub it is 'nerdy over-reader' ;)

>231 connie53: I am very certain that unflooded is definitely positively a word:)

>232 cameling: Hi Caro. My lovely other works for the city council and is generally more required at work in the event of the activation of a civil defense situation. It is part of his job description. Even though he is an office guy, he gets conscripted under the civil defense act, to do alternative duties in emergencies. Earthquake time, for eg, he was working all hours, inside the cordons etc. But this time, he just had to get to work and didn't make too much of a fuss about it.

>233 LovingLit: Megan, I'm glad you weren't flooded. Auckland had "once in a lifetime snow" a couple of years ago. My father, who could remember the last time it happened (in the 1930s) wasn't very impressed by the media reporting :-)

Go Lenny! Go Lenny! I am proud of my little buddy.

Hope you had a good week, my friend! Hugs!

Hi Megan:) I am glad things are going well for you and that you aren't being affected by the bad weather..other than enduring it.. You must live in a very positive area !

>234 susanj67: hi Susan- there was similar talk here recently! It is possibly an outdated or misunderstood classification system. I don't particularly like it either.
Snow in Auckland though, that is pretty rare I am thinking.

Mark: thanks! I am proud of Little Lenny too :) Seeing his little face trying to be brave is so unbelievable sweet. And when I come to pick him up he sounds out in delight and surprise "mummy came back!"
On the way out of kindergarten yesterday he interrupted the rest of the children and the teacher to stutter: "uh uh uh uh uh I will see you next week", and then as we breezed out of there, in a sing song voice "Thanks for haaaa-ving us!". That got smiles all round :)

Kath: howdy :)
Sunshining pleasantness two days straight now. I guess other parts of the city are struggling to dry out homes, sort out insurance and alternative accommodation. Poor them I say.
Meanwhile, we carry on :)

BOOK 14
The Fair Society by Peter Corning

This book presents an argument that there is a workable compromise between capitalism and socialism. It does so while explaining the existing theories on fairness and justice (right back to Plato) and the elements of human nature that have got the big-wigs of unfettered capitalism to the top. It talks of humans having an innate sense of fairness which is only hampered by individual greed and the complexities of society that allow us to lose sight of what is fair, and to become emotionally disengaged.

It presents a sound argument and also describes ideas and possible ways forward. All within the key idea that is our duty to re-balance our society to being a more fair one. It is written in a smooth and accessible narrative style, avoiding academic jargon. This book was right up my alley and was a riveting read.

>238 LovingLit: Sounds fascinating! I want a violent, bloody revolution, with banksters, their wives, and their children sent to death camps and allowed to starve.

But that's just me.

Or maybe not.

>238 LovingLit: - Have you read When Corporations Rule the World by David Korten? It was written in the 90s, but covers similar ground, and I believe it would still hold up nicely. It's been a while since I've read it, so it's hard to tease out specific thingybobs, but lots on a local focus, sustainability, citizen engagement, etc. Some might say a tad utopian, but some good ideas.

RD: when I spotted it at the library I ran for it and grabbed it so fast, thinking that surely there would be huge competition for it...haha, as if! I sometimes need reminding that the things that excite me can be boring to others.
A violent bloody revolution might not be on the cards, but maybe a groundswell of informed debate could be the start!?

Kerri: No, I have not read that. I was thinking of The New Rulers of the World by John Pilger, which I have read. There are a few books mentioned in The Fair Society which I would like to check out: The Spirit Level by Richard Wilkinson and Kate Pickett, The Ethical Brain by Michael Gazzaniga and Moral Minds by Marc Hauser. They are more course related books.

>241 LovingLit: Wanna stroke out? Read The Frackers. Suz put me onto it a while back and I still froth a bit when I see it sitting on my shelf. I need to review it, but I fear for my blood pressure and my sanity (and my freedom, what with the NSA and all) if I try.

Human beings are vile, irredeemable scum. Violent revolution. Screw debate, start the killing machine.

#241 - Thanks! I will check out some of those titles. I used to do far more reading in the realms of politics and (shall we say) "enlightened" economics, but that's tapered off in the last few years for various reasons (burn-out being the biggest). I wrote my post #240 in a rush, but I would like to point out that, despite the semi-goofy title of that book, David Korten is a legit, competent dude (brief bio: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Korten).

>242 richardderus: well, I can't argue with you on the vile part, but the rest would get me on a "list" somewhere, I am sure. You are probably at the top of that list by now with your threats of violent revolution!
Frackers I have WL'd on my library page and even put a hold on it, for the princely sum of $2. I care that much :)

>243 DorsVenabili: I was in a hurry posting before too!!
What I meant to say when I said They are more course related books. is: of those three I mentioned that were mentioned in The Fair Society, the last two are more ethics and morals (so general human condition type/philosophy related). The first one The Spirit Level really excites me as the subtitle is: Why Greater Equality Makes Societies Stronger. YES!
I like the term 'enlightened economics'. From what I have read (in political books and some mags like Adbusters) the whole concept that traditional economics is based on is flawed beyond reasoning. And I believe it too. It came across to me when I was 16 at high school like a mind experiment or theory rather than fact, but it is presented as solid unequivocal truth. This appears to me as the root of a very big problem.
I quite like the title When Corporations Rule the World- I think the 'when' refers to now, doesn't it?

>241 LovingLit: Thanks for the suggestions of economics/politics titles as well as your review of The Fair Society which sounds excellent. I need to do more reading in this area. I already have The Frackers on the WL of course!

I'm glad Lenny is handling the transition to school ok. My daughter cried every day for a month when she started school...I almost pulled her out because I was afraid I was traumatizing her. She is in seventh grade now and perfectly fine! It was probably harder on me than her!

>245 Cobscook: I am totally into learning more about political theories, it is such a complex area (to me) I feel like I could use all the help I can get.
There is a girl in Wilbur's class (he is year 1) who cries semi-hysterically every time her mum leaves. It is a little bit heart-breaking even for me to watch. She is getting better these days, but boy, she made a run for the door a few times and had to be restrained! Yikes.

Lenny is at kindergarten, and the teachers there are very maternal caring and demonstrative in their love of the kids. They make sure to let the kids feel heard and included. It is a wonderful place :)

237 > That was not snow ...despite some media boffins getting themselves all over excited ......

More books for the wish list ..... thanks i think!

^ you're welcome! (I know)
It was a great reading experience for me.

Maybe the snow was extremely localised. Just maybe.

Hmmm There was Rain & Hail but there was not snow ... unless it was a ** special kind*** taken by said media boffins :)

I had a great day today:

A game of chess with Wilbur (I swear he is going to beat me soon the little tyke), the under 5s Science Alive expo with Lenny (having dropped off The Lovely Other and W to the Armageddon Expo on the way), a lovely coffee, a wee read of a book club required reading .......not my thing but entertaining: Never Go Back by Robert Goddard) home to draw some posters of Storm Troopers with Wilbur, sunny time in the garden and now din dins. (potato bake), and out to a movie tonight!

>249 roundballnz: OK, I'll take your word for it :)

>241 LovingLit: I'll take a groundswell of substantive informed debate every day of the year. I just don't like bloodshed. No matter whose blood is being shed.

>242 richardderus: Oh dear.

>230 nittnut: The greatest aspiration in terms of any hypothetical future partner is that he not think I'm demented for reading this much, or think that I'm eccentric, but simply take it for granted. Oh, and that he have an active/curious mind, intelligence and and ability to view the world through some kind of analytical framework (preferably one that doesn't involve advocating bloodshed.)

^ (preferably one that doesn't involve advocating bloodshed.)
So that would count RD out then? ;)

I am not all that keen on bloodshed either (understatement of the year), so I am on the debate team. Currently I am trying desperately to nail down a research topic around this so-called vile populace of capitalist bourgeois pigs (not my phrasing, but it reads well)...not to actually research, but to do a literature review on for my first class (a sociology paper). My over-arching topic of choice is so broad, being social justice, that all within it is overwhelming. I am thinking as a working title....Corporate Social Responsibilty: Is it real or just a real marketing tool. Snappy huh? But still too broad. Think on I must!

I'm admiring the Aztecs more and more as I grow older.

>253 LovingLit: Here's the CSR question that I always get stuck on: how do we define a good outcome for "society" and for the "corporation"? Because that's the only way that this will gain traction. It's also incredibly hard to quantify a non-numerical outcome, which is another, related issue.

I think there is a link to your question -- real vs marketing tool. If it's to be real, there has to be a benefit for making it real, right? (If it's just marketing, well, it's just PR, and nobody will care whether it's real...) So, what might some of the tangible benefits be to be a good citizen, beside coming across as warm and fuzzy? Something that has come up a lot in the recent debates here over minimum wage is the Costco example. I'm not sure that this meets the criteria of CSR, but Costco pays more than double the minimum wage, and often more than that. It clearly adds to their bottom line, but while it's good PR, that's not enough to sustain that kind of policy, with its drain on the bottom line. So perhaps Costco is paying employees more, aware that they're going to be more likely and able to shop at Costco stores? Will they be more motivated? etc...

Another question related to your real vs hype question is the different ways that companies interpret CSR. Is it about writing checks? Or about corporate policies? The definition of CSR can be very broad or very narrow.

I could go on for ages, but... it's a very fertile area for research, even at the top level of a literature review.

I agree, social justice is a tad unwieldy. I think if you focused on minimum wage issues or living wage questions, it might be topical, too. A narrow enough focus, and lots of stuff to work with, and one in which the literature remains reasonably divided. Does "social justice" have to come at a high economic cost? I think the jury is out on that.

>250 LovingLit: Oh, that *does* sound lovely!

>237 LovingLit: It is possibly an outdated or misunderstood classification system.

Having lived through two 100-year floods in the space of 15 years, I have learned a lot about the classification system (assuming you all use the same one). A 100-year-flood just means that the odds are that a flood of that magnitude will happen no more than once in a hundred years. In actuality, just like flipping a coin is even odds whether it will come up heads or tails but you can flip five heads up in a row, so you can have two 100-year floods in a short period of time. At least that's the way it was explained in the media around here.

>254 richardderus: yikes, RD. I am steering clear of reading any NNF books about the Spanish settling/invading/terrorizing South America as I simply cannot handle the violent and torturous descriptions that I am 100% sure I will find. Which is tricky seeing as I would quite like to know a bit more about the history there.

>255 Chatterbox: Suzanne, thank you so much for your discussion on this. It is all so useful to me in helping me to define my topic.
The parameters of the literature review (apart from it being 4-5K words) is that it deals with a current social issue, that it can be linked to social theory, that there is sufficient literature (journal articles etc) to 'review' pertaining to the issue, and that there be local examples to discuss (this just means NZ examples I think). So- narrowing it down to one aspect of CSR would be a good idea, and the minimum wage debate is running high here with pressure on various local councils to pay a 'living wage' as opposed to the minimum. One or two have committed to that, and others are talking about it not being a viable option. Ho hum...on goes the debate.

Does "social justice" have to come at a high economic cost?
I think it does come at a financial cost (which is not that big a deal if your profits run to ga-zillions of dollars), but that financial cost is (to me) so obviously offset by the benefits to society. I guess it depends on what your priorities are, yourself (and your dependents) only, or a better place for all. And there will always be people in both camps.

>256 scaifea: hi Amber, it was a lovely day. The movie I saw was the Dallas Buyers Club, which I very much liked.
It was funny actually, in my current obsession with social justice and my new course of study, there were many examples in the film of injustices and even at the ticket purchasing counter!
I was here with 2 friends one of them used to be a solicitor. She asked for a water at the counter and was told there was not water to be served unless it was purchased. I wondered out loud to her if they were not legally obliged to provide water free of charge seeing as they were a licensed premises....she then wondered out loud to the server who said that was only if you were drinking alcohol there. So she forked out for an over-priced drink. This morning I got a text from my ex-solicitor friend who had checked the legalities of the situation and it turns out they were supposed to provide her with water. I replied to her "I know an injustice when I see one!"

>257 rosalita: yes, now you mention it I recall that is the case! It is a statistical probability not a limit for natural events. I am surprised there wasn't more clarification of this in the media, especially on the radio panel I listen to where they have more time to go into details.

>158 LovingLit: That's a lot of words for a paper, even a literature review! It sounds like the minimum wage/living wage debate would fit your criteria if you think it's something that would engage you, and the fact that there is no easy/obvious answer (other than that which each of us develops independently and personally) makes it all the more intriguing, IMO.

I tend to agree with you in aggregate re financial cost -- and then I hear about a day care running on teeny tiny margins that would collapse if they had to pay every worker $2 an hour more and... Or would have to charge cash-strapped parents more, and ... But then, if you allow loopholes, you know that Wal-Mart will be driving through 'em in five minutes flat, so... Enuf to make the head spin.

Re movie theater: next time, just ask to speak to the manager. Even if it weren't the letter of the law, the fact that someone is making such a fuss ensures you'll be served. Here, I've never run into that problem -- usually am handed a cup and pointed to the water fountain.

^ Re movie theater: next time, just ask to speak to the manager.
The funny thing is, at the time of the water discussion, the line from the counter was to the door and I had just had a discussion with the attendant about whether my student ID card could be applied retrospectively to the already-bought-tickets. The other friend with us was already rolling her eyes with the two of us holding everyone up.
But we maintain our right to apply our heightened senses of justice to situations :)

Re: the other stuff- if everyone adhered to the spirit of the law rather than the wording of the law, the world would be a much better place. Damned loopholes.