Richardderus thread 14 of 2014

Bathing Men, Edvard Munch (1915)

“The sun shone, having no alternative, on the nothing new.”
― Samuel Beckett, Murphy

I have a category called Orphans, which will still catch all the other reading I do.

My ORPHANED books ticker:




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

My SHORT STORY collections ticker:




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

My MYSTERY & THRILLER books ticker:




THIS THREAD is the 75 challenge for 2014, which will be non-fiction and non-genre-fiction books published in 2013 and 2014, plus recommendations from other 75ers.

My last thread of 2012.
My last reviews of 2013 in this thread.

My 2014 NEW books ticker:




Books 1 & 2...thread 5.
Books 3 & 4...thread 10.
Books 5-7...thread 12.
Books 8 & 9...thread 13.

Books are reviewed in post:

10. It Came!...#21.

11. 43*: When Gore Beat Bush-A Political Fable...#43.

Hello Richard - I haven't seen that Munch before ... I think I like it.

Happy new thread I hope today is treating you well. *smooch* for you and *sctitches* for miss Stella

Happy new thread, Rdear!

Hello, Sweet Man. Your threads are piling up dramatically this year.

Like the Munch very much.

We herewith crown calm as the First Visitrix to this thread!

Stella appreciated the scritches...she's shedding.

*smooch*

>4 Ameise1: Thank you, Barbara! Hard to be in a bad mood, snow notwithstanding, when I look at all those smileys.

>5 Matke: *smooch* So glad to see you, Danvers me lurve! Isn't that one lovely? I've never seen it before, either.

Well so much for commenting on the previous thread . . .

Happy Tuesday!

Hi Juli! Kinda no point now, is there? Happy Tuesday right back at'cha!

I gave my review of Beasts of No Nation a serious titivation and posted it to my blog...but if you've never read this book, go straight to the bookstore and buy it.

http://tinyurl.com/kncknpy

Stories like this are too true to tell in non-fiction. Stories like this are too hard to read when they're merely factual. But don't kid yourself, this is a reality and we here in the fat and happy West don't give it any thought.

Change that. Buy the book. Read the book.

*starred*

cannot thumb :(

Happiness is a new thread!
With tasteful nudes atop it.
And the impending purchase of 5 books....mwa haha......that one is for me.

>290 richardderus: in thread number 13! I love, love, love that whole house and everything in it!

Happy new thread, Richardmydear!!

Hi RD- Happy New Thread! Love the Munch. Vibrant colors. And I like the fact that he made things...well...to scale.

>290 richardderus: (thread 13) How about a game of chess. Are you ready Rdear?

>10 richardderus: I was going to by the dead tree version from Amazon (got some Christmas money burning a hole in my account), but they don't seem carry it. Definitely going to WL it. Sounds very interesting

>11 mckait: Here it is, Kath. It's an oldie that I reworked, so it's waaaay down the list.

>16 mahsdad: Jeff, here it is. Three left at $10.42 each.

Happy new thread Richard!

>12 LovingLit: Happiness is nudes, for sure, though I'm always of the opinion that book-buying and sex are tied for first place in the happy happy, joy joy sweepstakes. Eating is a close second.

>13 connie53: Thank you, Connie! *smooch* I agree, it's a beautiful space.

>14 msf59: Heh, that he did. No prurient purpose to that watercolor. It's so...free...isn't it?

>15 Ameise1: Hi Barbara! Oh dear, chess causes me to get sleepy. I'll read over in the corner chair.

>18 Thebookdiva: Thank you, Abby! Sending hugs Paradiso-ward.

Review: 10 of seventy-five

Title: IT CAME!

Author: DAN BOULTWOOD

Rating: 3.5* of five

The Publisher Says: 1958. Driving through the British countryside, unthinkingly misogynistic space scientist, Dr. Boy Brett, and his companion, Doris Night, pop into a quaint village pub for a cheese ploughman's...

But waiting for them outside is a most unwelcome visitor: Grurk, an indestructible, monosyllabic robot from outer space, on a mission to harvest the British Blitz spirit for energy!

Pursuing Grurk in their Morris Minor, will Boy and Doris be able to save the British from a life without stiff upper lippedness, or will Her Majesty's Kingdom be forever resigned to a life down in the mouth?

Witty, satirical and a rollicking good laugh, IT CAME! is a stunning piece of work, infusing the best (and worst!) bits of the 1950s B-movie with whimsical British charm.

My Review: Yep. Not only did I **favorably** review a phauntaisee nawvelle, and not only have I read more of the author's phauntaisee nawvelles, but today I am reviewing and rating above a single star a comic book.

No, my account hasn't been hacked. No, I have not been bribed, well at least not directly, and no, I am not having hot monkey-sex with the creator. He lives in England, and I'm not able to travel.

The bribery thing is a bit weird. I got an Amazon shipment last week, and this book was in it. I didn't order it. It wasn't a separate shipment, but in the box with some other books. The one friend I had who sent me random books has disappeared from the Internet, so far as I know. Sweetienubbins blankly denied responsibility and has become a bit edgy again, so he's out.

Anyway, whyever I got the book here it is. And it's cute. I will say right up front that there is nothing about it that would make me put down twenty United States dollars of my own to procure it. But having read it in the half-hour that my dinner was baking (cauliflower, ricotta, parmesan, sausage, and pasta under parmesan/breadcrumb crust), I can think of many worse ways to wile away a spare moment.

It's like looking at storyboards, largely because of the conceit I suppose, but that realization enabled me not to roll my eyes and sigh gustily as the pages turned. The silliness is based in the Saturday sci-fi theater movies of my youth, the sheer awfulness of the plots and effects and acting even then apparent to me, the appeal being that the movies were...were...on my level somehow. The written sci fi I was gobbling up was ***far*** superior in execution and conception. But there were then, as there are now, moments when only the vapidity of TV will do.

This trifling entertainment fills exactly that slot, and offers an extra level of snickerdom with its in-jokes (eg, PineTREE Studios *heeheehee* and innumerable bad double entendres) and its aesthetic of taking the piss (Britishism, google it).

Speaking of which, the monster Grork is defeated by...no, that's a spoiler! Well, you're already here, so it's defeated by being hosed with tankers of TEA!! Oh how I laughed.

Does anybody want it? I'll mail it to you. PM me.


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>19 richardderus: Not surprisingly, RD, a seconding resoundingly for the 1= books buying and sex and 3rd food analysis. Depends slightly on the level of the splurge and the passion of the ..........
Congratulations on your latest thread, dear fellow and it is nice to see you add the best part of 80 posts whilst I came back home yesterday exhausted by the politics of my river project kick-off meeting and by taking out my SIL to celebrate her big 4 oh.

Richard,
Nothing to add to the chaos, except thank you again for your generosity and kindness. Atticus is turning out to be a charming companion.

>17 richardderus: Thank you kind sir. I'm a little bit under the weather and I was a bit of a mush mind when it came to seeing the forest for the trees, between Amazon selling it and "we have it used" from these different locations. Buying it now. :)

>22 PaulCranswick: Greetings Paul! Happy to see you here...and I had little doubt about your priorities marching alongside mine in this regard. Happy 40th to Fifi!

>23 AuntieClio: *smooch* I hardly call a buck generous. More like "cruelly calculatingly addicting the innocent young lass to the cult of Oberonians." PoTAYto, poTAHto....

>24 mahsdad: See? Full-service book pushing right here!

I got a delayed delivery today!! Yippee, I love that.

On Leave -- someone reviewed this and it sounded yummy so I ordered it. Since it was so late, I got it free! A translation of one of the few novels to treat the Algerian War of Independence from the French PoV.

What? Hey, Darryl's not the only one who likes grim, unhappy stories of miserable people! Yes, I know I just reviewed a comic book, but honest and truly I like real books better.

>25 richardderus:
Richard, indeed PoTAYto, poTAHto. I still count it as a moment of grace in my life, even if you did just give me crack. :-P

HA!! Good analogy. Very good indeed.

Hello Richard -- nice new thread. I hope you are having a lovely week.

I think this guy has your number.

A comic book? hmmm

Too much Vitamin C and Zink? you think?

Sadly, it is pour rain here and the folks looking for folks in the slide area, deep in mud, are much disadvantaged by the rain.

I finished the Downton Abbey book and wrote an itty bitty review on my thread. I liked it.

>29 AMQS: Hi Anne, well it's certainly been sleep-filled, and this cold is loosening its grip nap by nap.

>30 AuntieClio: I think you're right. He even looks like me.

>31 maggie1944: Make sport as you will, Karen44, I'm already 100% improved from when this damned thing started making its run on my poor, addled. raddled person.

I shall be by directly to consume the review.

I am so glad you are better! Colds are no fun. I'll see you over in my thread.....

Random, tired *smooch* for you. And thank you for your kind message(s) earlier today.

>25 richardderus: Hahaha I'll let Fifi know she's 40 - she will be in 2027! It is number two sister, Yabo, that is 40.

>33 maggie1944: This cold is tenacious! I'm a lot better, but it's still trying its goddamnedest to sick me up.

>34 katiekrug: Random, germy *smooch* back! I'm happy that all went well. It's always stressful when a general anesthesia is required.

>35 PaulCranswick: Heh! Fifi will be after my guts for her garters, so BELT UP!! So Yabo is Hani's older sister, is she?

Here I am, staking a claim in the early going like I usually do Richard. Before the thread takes off like a steaming locomotive and I'm left sputtering in the dust. Happy to be here. And who knew Munch painted something besides the screaming meemie? Heh. Reviews have been appropriately thumbed.

Oh, Richard, I'm sorry! I can attest to the fact that the bug going around is terrible. My daughter stayed home form school four days with a weekend in the middle of that, and she never does that. I'm sorry! Glad you can get some sleep -- the very best thing.

Take care of yourself!

>37 brenzi: Hiya Bonnie! I'm pleased you're here. I'd seen some of Munch's lovely winterscapes, but I had no idea he'd ever painted in watercolors OR that he'd ever painted naked men. I'd've paid a lot more attention to him had I known the last.

Thanks for the thumbs.

>38 AMQS: Hi Anne! Thanks for the health-wishes. I'd love to have a solid sleep instead of a lot of naps. Still, I'm way better than I was. That makes me happy.

>36 richardderus: Hahaha again RD - Yabo is 40 and is a year younger than Hani who apparently remains at 27.

Lovely new thread. Things are really cracking around here!

*waves* lovely new thread!

Review: 11 of seventy-five

Title: 43*: WHEN GORE BEAT BUSH-A Political Fable

Author: JEFF GREENFIELD

Rating: 3.5* of five

The Publisher Says: At 5:00 p.m. on September 11, 2001, an ashen-faced but composed President Al Gore stepped into the East Room of the White House to deliver a televised address to the nation. With him were former presidents Clinton and Bush, as well as Texas governor George W. Bush—flown to Washington from Dallas on a military jet, his first visit back to the capital after the close race that lost him the presidency just months before.

That’s not how you remember it?

Imagine if the 2000 presidential election had turned out differently and Al Gore had defeated George W. Bush to become the 43rd president of the United States. How might events have played out? Would Osama bin Laden have loomed as large? Would the 9/11 attacks have been even worse? Would we have invaded Iraq? Would the economy have plunged into recession?

This is the provocative alternate universe of 43*, a riveting thriller by veteran political commentator Jeff Greenfield. Richly reported and anchored in actual events, 43*: When Gore Beat Bush is the fascinating follow-up to Greenfield’s bestselling Then Everything Changed, which imagined what-if scenarios for the Kennedy, Ford, Carter, and Reagan administrations.

Greenfield takes readers deep inside the Gore administration and reveals high-level meetings, top-secret programs, and ego-fueled battles that forever altered the global landscape. And in Greenfield’s hauntingly plausible parallel universe, the law of unintended consequences has a dramatic effect on the fate of the United States.

“It’s the ‘butterfly effect,’” writes Greenfield, “where one dead butterfly millions of years ago leads to a contemporary world immeasurably more coarse, less kind. It’s the notion of the old nursery rhyme: ‘For want of a nail the kingdom was lost.’”

My Review: I'll lead off with the fact that I agree with Greenfield's central premise: No way in HELL was a Gore presidency going to be an easy and smooth continuation of Clinton's easy and smooth presidency. (pause for hilarious laughter) Lieberman was a stupid, bad choice for veep; Gore himself was visibly annoyed by the process of campaigning on an even footing with that simpering chimp, and it showed; and perhaps most tellingly, Gore is a smart man, and Murrikinz hates them some smart folk. Lookit what happened to that nice perfesser dude in the 1950s. (Adlai Stevenson, for the furriners and nursery crowd.)

Rep. Tom DeLay would've been a freakin' nightmare opponent as Speaker-in-fact, Sen. Jesse Helms, well, let's just say there's some folks for whom death is too good, and on and on and on. This is matched against Gore's clear strengths: at that time, 25 years in Washington as an elected official, a lifetime in politics via his daddy's Senate life, a pretty blonde wife with some wingnutty ideas about free speech that would've played well in the shitty little GOP burgs that, for some reason, haven't been ethnically cleansed. Proof positive there is no vast left-wing conspiracy, that.

And while I agree that Gore's proven effectiveness at knocking heads saved the 1996 Olympics, I don't agree with Mr. Greenfield's assessment that a Gore presidency would've been ineffective at doing much the same in DC's intelligence community. I suspect that Mr. Greenfield had excellent reasons for his choice...read the Acknowledgments, man's up on this stuff...but I dunno, this seems an easy-to-write choice, not an inevitable one. Like the millionaire tax-free battle. Like the dot-bust. Due attention is paid to the screaming rooms at Faux News and on Wingnut Central Raddee-O-Land, and their entrenched right-wing insane clown posse. These would've made Gore's life hell, as they have Obama's. Like enough, they'd've been even more strident under Gore because of their sense of outrage: He's one of us and he's not twangin' the Teabilly Horst Wessel!

Whatever my cavils about that, let me assure you the piece is well-written and contains the trademark Greenfield slyness. Moments of savorable irony for political junkies are placed hither, thither, and yon, but those without the information needed to appreciate them won't feel a sharp whizz as the ninja star slices their hair-do.

So why the mingy three-and-a-half of five rating? Because, in the end, I felt I was being in-the-roomed. I was too close to the trees and I wanted a look at the forest. Now a big part of that is the length of the piece, at under 100pp. Can't do it all, after all, when you're aiming at the lunch-plus-commute reader. But it's more than that. Greenfield knows a lot more than I do about his subject. He's telling his own story, and it's got plausibility everywhere and everywhen. So why is it that I can purse my lips and shake my head and wonder what makes you think that follows from this other thing? Just working from his own data presented in the piece, I wasn't as sold as I expected to be.

But I was sold enough to say this to you: Spend $1.99 on this Kindle Single and you'll have ~2hrs tops of well-crafted, thought-provoking, and ultimately satisfying counterfactual fun.


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>40 PaulCranswick: Hani is most certainly not over 40. She is, like all ladies, eternally 21, size six, and deserving of lavish and unsolicited gifts from the nasty, brutish males she deigns not to cause intense and ongoing suffering to.

>41 michigantrumpet: Hi Marianne! *smooch*

>42 leperdbunny: Hey there Tamara, how lovely to see you!

>44 richardderus:
I must not be a lady then. I do not wish to be eternally 21 and have never been a size 6. I do deserve lavish and unsolicited gifts though.

And thank you for turning me on to Book Darts. I just unearthed the packet of 100 that landed several weeks ago. They are now in their own special receptacle awaiting the call of duty.

Nice review of 43*: When Gore Beat Bush, sir.

Oh, that's a wonderful Munch painting at the top, Richard! It's so much softer than the screaming person.
Happy new thread, dear! xx

>43 richardderus: Great review, Richard, but I think I'll pass. Alternate histories just don't do it for me. Plus, well, I don't know, too soon, maybe? Ha! I'm still sore about the 'real' outcome of that election.

^Thinking of you!

Good review of When Gore Beat Bush. No matter how ineffective Gore would have been, he would have been a far better choice.

>17 richardderus: oh! I see... I had already thumbed it :) I suspect that you liked my review attempt at Ammy, so thank you for that. I almost sent my last review your way to ask for editing....but I sent it off, almost as is here, Hope people can understand it.. :P

Have a good day, hope it is warmer there than here! Snow= Wah!

>48 scaifea: Wow! That is amazing, I love it!

>43 richardderus: Thumbed

Good morning, RD. I thought you might smile when I write "I'm liking Blonde: A Novel a bit better as I go along.

Have a relaxed day, without the discomforts of respiratory malaise.

>51 mckait: Why, thank you, my lady! But I think perhaps you didn't mean me... :)

cauliflower, ricotta, parmesan, sausage, and pasta under parmesan/breadcrumb crust

Sooooooo, what time is dinner?

>45 AuntieClio: I am far too wily an old campaigner to comment on part I, and you're welcome re: Book Darts! I love them.

>46 kidzdoc: Thank you, Dr. Grimsley McMiserableton!

>47 wilkiec: Hi Diana, I agree that it's almost a 180° turn from The Scream...after all, the men have no faces, so it's not entirely un-spooky.

>48 scaifea: Heh, I dunno Amber, things unfolded the way they did and now we're seeing the erosion of the "triumphs" that asshole rightwingnut politics wrought. Not fast enough and not far enough, but the process is reversing and that is A Good Thing.

Richard, I can't post the image of these octopus beads, but they are gorgeous--go take a look!

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=371030973457&ssPageNa...

>49 msf59: Ha! Yes indeed, it could be me if you added ~50lb! I'm glad you liked the review. I suspect Gore would've been a better president than Greenfield suggests, only because Gore was a very experienced pol and would've made many good choices of enforcers.

>50 mckait: Of course I liked your review on Ammy, sweetness. One must bolster the effectiveness of GOOD reviewers in that snake-pit. A fair, reasonable reviewer, one who talks about the merits of a book without becoming a simpering sycophant, is a reviewer to encourage.

But since it was you, I hit "yes" anyway. :-P

>51 mckait: Thanks, me lurve.

>52 maggie1944: Mornin' Karen44! I'm so zincked up I'm clankin' when I piddle, but after a bad start to the night I've got a lot of rest and feel tip-top!

>53 scaifea: Heh...pesky numbers.

>54 Morphidae: Leftovers okay? Otherwise it's grilled hot dog sammies on rye with pepper jack.

>56 ronincats: OOOOOOooooOOOOOOOOOoooooooooooooooOOOOO!!!! So cool! Thanks for posting that, Roni. And only six bucks!

NO chess?!? O.k., then some reading and some coffee.

Reading and coffee! Exactly what I love most. Thanks, Barbara!

>58 richardderus: Oh yes. Most casserole type dishes do quite well as leftovers.

Especially tomato-based ones. What is it about cooked tomatoes that makes them so much more scrummy after a day in the fridge?

>62 richardderus: - I don't know, but it was the only way my mother could get me to eat spaghetti or chili as a child - she had to make it a day ahead and warm it up for me the next day :)

>21 richardderus: What the hey? Someone hacked your thread and reviewed a comic book, Richard. Did a good job, too. I added it to my WL.

Hope you're feeling better today, Richard!

>63 katiekrug: I required then and require now no persuasion to eat spaghetti or chili. And I will slide right past the horrifying implications of your mention of chili in this context.

>64 jnwelch: I know, right?! Amazing. And I even didn't hate it!

>65 Storeetllr: HA!! Love that, Mary!

>65 Storeetllr: ROTFL! Oh my, you got me, Mary. I could be looking at myself in the mirror.

>53 scaifea: of course I did! but I also meant >49 msf59: :)

>57 richardderus: you are so sweet..lol xo

hmmm... no book porn, no sweets, no octopus cake... I am stopping by and you do not put out anything.
Well... besides the naked men at the top. Although there is something to be said for muscled, oiled firemen vs painting artsy slim men ;) (says the philistine in me, I can feel eyebrows raising including mine)

Good morning or good afternoon hon, hope there is sun and warmth and you enjoy a marvelous Wednesday :)
(just think, 2 more days and weekend is here and then you get to marvel all over again at each day of the week :P)

Thoughtful review of the Gore/Bush book. Alternate universe!

>10 richardderus: Fabulous review of Beasts of No Nation. That one was on my radar already, but your review gives it more importance.

>43 richardderus: This one hits all my buttons but I'm not sure I am well informed enough to "get" all the political insider stuff. Still and all, for $1.99, it may be worth a couple of eyeblinks!

>66 richardderus: - I have obviously missed something...? How did I offend chili?

>43 richardderus: Very interesting review RD. Would 9/11 have happened with Gore in the White House - would the reaction have been much different if it had? I think he would have been an effective, though probably one-term President. His choice of Lieberman was plainly daft and possibly cost him a few of the votes that lost him college points.

>44 richardderus: I can see why she likes you so much.

>49 msf59: Richard looking for his dog and shoes - and Anna Karenina.

>74 PaulCranswick: I agree with what you said about Gore...

rdear, I might have to try to read that book! I like alternate history books ...

How are you this lovely spring day?

( yes it's 23F but I'm pretending)

*waves from the pacific northwest*

xoxo to you and Stella

>67 jnwelch: I love that meme, it makes me wonder what they did to get that dog so hepped up though.

>68 mckait:, 69 *smooch*

>70 tigerlyly: Hi Lyly! I'm not at all sure I'm prepared to marvel over anything except the Universe. Now that it's a Multiverse especially! *happy sigh*

>71 sibylline: Thanks, Lucy, it's an interesting essay and I found it quite thought-provoking. Now that science is in the process of defining how we will know we live in a Multiverse, all things that can be imagined are certain to be out there somewhere. What a thought!

>72 Cobscook: Hi Heidi, the Beasts are indeed beastly but I think you'll enjoy the trip into this very different world. As for Gore, yes indeed it's worth the minor cost and the commitment of eyeblinks. *smooch*

>73 katiekrug: Your placement of chili with spaghetti sauce implies the presence of tomatoes in what you're calling "chili" when all right-thinking people know that chili is beef, dried spices, and cooking liquid(s). "Spicy Mexican stew" or whatever else you'd like to call it has vegetation in it. (Also, right-thinking people know that "chile" is a country in South America or a representation of Southern dialect speech for "child.")

>74 PaulCranswick: Hi Paul! Gore made big mistakes in his campaign, but his heart's in the right place. I was most intrigued by Greenfield's assessment of the Gore character vis-a-vis the race.

I found the dog! She's napping a few feet away.

>75 mckait: Hi sweetness, at $1.99 I think it's worth the risk. Spring! HAH! It's not even 30° yet! This is effin' February. At least it's sunshiney.

>76 maggie1944: Howdy do, Karen44!

>77 luvamystery65: Hi there, Roberta, sending schmoozles to the Devilles and a *smooch* for you.

I got a lotta nothin' to contribute but wanted to say "Good morning" to you. Barely made it, too.

Heh! Morning, afternoon, whatevs. I'm not fussy, seeing you here is enough good news for me. *smooch*

Us Kindle deals I succumbed to today:

The Fifth Witness is one of Michael Connelly's Lincoln Lawyer series. I'm a fan of the Harry Bosch books, and frankly can't wait for the new Prime series, but Connelly's a good procedural writer and all his stuff to date has made me happy I've read it. $2.99? Sign me up.

Lisa Scottoline isn't quite as familiar to me, I've read maybe one or two, but $1.99 for Final Appeal sounded like a safe bet.

Hello R-Dear! Coming by to wish you a good rest of the week as I will probably not get another chance this week. *smooch*

>84 Thebookdiva: Hi Abby, have a lot of fun this weekend with your bestie from Indiana!!

Quote of the Day
“The first duty of wine is to be red. Don't talk to me of your white wines.”
— Henri Murger

Whoever the heck he is, we were clearly meant to be friends.

>79 richardderus: - Ah! I get it. Yes, I do put some tomato in my chili. I'm from the north. We also put beans in it - shock! horror!

But I don't think I ever spelled it with an "e" so you can take back that chastisement this instant.

Stopping by to drop off a smooch before it gets even crazier here. *smooch*

>43 richardderus: I don't generally "do" alternative histories either, but dang, that one sounds interesting! Lucky for me my WL is not only overloaded but actually temporarily abandoned now on account of reading research articles on corporate social responsibility. At least my topic is riveting to me....the books will have to wait patiently.

>86 katiekrug: >79 richardderus: Chili/chile/chilli con/sin carne, con/sin frijoles con/sin tomates: it's all chilli to me :) Just gotta have the heat baby. Mmmm, chili peppers, I love them things.

>86 katiekrug: There is nothing in chili except beef, powdered spices, and cooking liquid(s). I'm sure your spicy Mexican stew is tasty as all get-out, but chili is a thing it isn't.

Consider the "e" a dire, dire warning.

PS a bottle of tequila makes for a slammin' chili!

>87 Crazymamie: *smooch* for Mamie's retreating back

>88 LovingLit: It's quite an abbreviated read, Maudie, but I think that your eyeblinks are best spent on research. What about Benetton? All those inclusive ads in the 1990s were somethin'!

If chili, then carne. Otherwise it's spicy Mexican stew. Isn't "chilli" from India?

From the last thread (I just can't NOT comment on this statement): I felt it wiser than saying "tattooed Druidic horde" or "wild-eyed press gang of Celtophiles." I actually LOVE both comments and would be proud to be called either one, thank you!!!! :)

Ok, so now I'm off to thumb the last two of your reviews. Stop it man... really. You're on some kind of a roll with these things!

>90 TinaV95: ...and I'm not remotely caught up with the books I need to review! About 30 need doing.

*sigh*

zipping thru....just to keep my unreads from getting unmanageable. Enjoying (when a few empty minutes are available to recharge mysanity) Bruno, Chief of Police in audio. wonderful to accompany a Bushmill's on the rocks, a blanket, and a cuddly lapster. Took a quick scroll thru to look at the reviews and the art. As usual, they were enriching.

>92 tututhefirst: I relate. I'm having end-of-cold sleepy-can't-sleep yuckiness.



Here's an oldie-but-goodie nook porn.

>79 richardderus: rd Are you kidding? Of course chili has tomatoes in it! Beans too. Onions, peppers and tomatoes, and of course ground turkey.

*ducks and runs*

Sorry to hear about the end-of-cold sleepy-can't-sleep yuckiness. Hope it goes away soon. In the meantime, Happy Friday, BigDaddy!

OMG, I'm going to go buy a cinnamon roll. It has been entirely too long since I've had one, and that picture has burned a permanent longing into my brain.

>94 EBT1002: Heh. Appropriate for me, fer sher. Satan's work, is Friday, for it bringeth back the Gruesome Twosome.

>95 mckait: No, no, dear, that's some sort of abominable mess with no chipotle, no chili powder, no powdered onion, no asa foetida, no Tabasco...not chili at all. And unfit for human consumption, to boot, as it has *shudder* turkey in it.

>96 Crazymamie: OooooooooOOOOOOOOOOooooooOOOO!! Cinnamon bun!! Don't look, this won't be pretty....

>97 maggie1944: I know, right?! I must have must have must have NNNOOOWWW!

>98 richardderus: Well, I do use jalapeno, chopped onion, and hot sauce...

As condiments, one hopes. "Hot sauce"? One hopes you're using the One True Pepper Sauce, Tabasco *cue flights of angels in full trumpet*

The orange-colored vinegary goo with lighter fluid in it ain't the same. In fact, the one reason I'd go gladly to Louisiana again is to visit Avery Island and take their tour. Fascinating!

Franks, or whatever...Amy often sends us some fancy hot saucy stuff

I wonder...do they still make lighter fluid? If so, what for?

lighters?

Lighters that one can refill are very uncommon since the 1980s. Just one of those things...like why they still make fruitcakes...simply no reason to, and yet there they are.

mysteries of the universe....

Late breaking news:

Attorney General Eric Holder announces The federal government will recognize the same sex weddings conducted in Michigan on Saturday.

The Michigan Democratic congressional delegation requested the move. The state Republican congressmen refused to sign.

RD, you are awesomesauce with fantastitoast. You are all that and a bag of chips. I thought you were mailing me YOUR copy of The New Astrology not BUYING me one and mailing it! Silly man.

I wasn't in the house five minutes before reading "my" section and MrMorphy's. Fun stuff. Thank you so much!

RD an early call off this weekend (for me it is anyways) to wish you all the best and to hope for fairer weather.

>43 richardderus:. So Richard: First, I'm not a big fan of alternate history, of any type. I just don't really see the point. What is their point? Apropos of nothing, Al Gore scares the crap out of me--always has--and no need for anyone to say, "But Chimpy scares me worse"--since that's not really the point I'm making. I'm not sure what my point is, maybe nothing much, except that I think Gore is psychotic and probably made that way (with good reason) by the results of the 2000 campaign. So maybe he would have been OK if the election had gone his way. Or not. Let's just say age hasn't been kind to him. God knows what 4 or 8 years in the WH would have done. Second, it seems to me that it's always people on the Left writing AH. Why is that? Ramblings of a Friday mind.

Another sale! All ereaders can, in the US and Canada (it looks to me like that), get a $1.99 copy of the gripping and very sad non-fiction tale Last Hours on Everest by Graham Hoyland. I'm fascinated by Everest stories.

And on Kindle only, War and Peace illustrated with period artwork and "formatted for the Kindle" (ie, file effed around with so you can see the illos) is a whopping 99¢.

>105 mckait: Yep.

>106 michigantrumpet: Of course they wouldn't sign. Their lock-step sieg-heiling of the Teabillies' platform would make that suicide.

Holder's move makes the legal position of the Guv untenable. But hang on to the bitter end, screeching and howling about States' Rights and the Will of the Peeepull, Governor Loser. Cost your unemployed and underemployed citizens millions that will enrich only the goddamned lawyers (sorry) fighting a doomed battle. That's modern conservatism in a nutshell.

>107 Morphidae: *smooch* Enjoy!

>111 richardderus: No apologies necessary if I get to enjoy a screed like that. Rant away, dear sir!

>108 PaulCranswick: Happy weekending, Paul!

>112 michigantrumpet: Heh. You know I mean it as an indictment of a profession that's lost its way (almost typed soul) in this horrific, greed-centered, selfish culture.

>109 labwriter: First, I'm not a big fan of alternate history, of any type. I just don't really see the point. What is their point? Apropos of nothing, Al Gore scares the crap out of me--always has--and no need for anyone to say, "But Chimpy scares me worse"--since that's not really the point I'm making. I'm not sure what my point is, maybe nothing much, except that I think Gore is psychotic and probably made that way (with good reason) by the results of the 2000 campaign. So maybe he would have been OK if the election had gone his way. Or not. Let's just say age hasn't been kind to him. God knows what 4 or 8 years in the WH would have done. Second, it seems to me that it's always people on the Left writing AH. Why is that? Ramblings of a Friday mind.

Well, let's just say the wrongnesss of your assertions vis-a-vis Gore are glaringly obvious and leave it at that. Psychosis? Not remotely.

I'll leave all political rants, screams, screeches, and thumpings aside because I don't want to start a war.

What's the point of any fiction? Why tell lies and have people pay to see them? Movies, books, religion, all a pack of lies, and either tailored to suit one's prejudices and preconceptions or not.

The existence of fiction is enduring...look at the church!...and its influence is enormous. People are changed by stories (Saul of Tarsheesh having his major "aha" moment on how better to fleece the boobs on the road to Damascus, changing Jewish tax collector into christian saint) and can completely organize their entire lives around a story that resonates within them (Trekkies, christians, comic book fans at their numerous conventions).

So why write alternatives to "factual" history? Why not?

Where is today's coffee?!? OMG, I have to bring everything over here on my own *sigh*



*waves*

>115 Ameise1: Ah there's the stuff! Happy to see you, Barbara, and thanks for the coffee. I'll do better tomorrow.

*smooches*

>102 richardderus: Well, you made me look. Apparently they DO still make and sell lighter fluid. You can buy it at Walgreens. It's good for removing grease and oil stains, that's why. (Cause why shouldn't your clothes be as incendiary as your views?)

>114 richardderus:. Oh good heavens, I don't want to start a war either. Never mind. But Gore scares me. Fright is an emotion, not an assertion. I didn't know emotions could be wrong. Sheesh. Just ignore me. It's another gloomy March day, and I'm doing my best not to succumb. I guess I'm not succeeding.

ETA. I guess my assertion was that he's psychotic. OK, you don't agree, that's fine--my pov is glaringly obviously wrong. OK. I'll just slink back to my own thread and talk to myself.

>93 richardderus: Could I live there, please!! I need just a little quiet place to sleep and read!

Gentle Hugs, RmD!

>117 Ameise1: :-)

>118 laytonwoman3rd: My views, incendiary? Hmmm. Why so?

>120 connie53: Thanks, Connie! *smooch* If you can find the place, you have my permission to live there. Sadly though I don't know where it is.

I am home and about to take a nap. Dreams far too vivid to make for a good night's sleep. Although they weren't scary, thankyewverramuch.

*smooch*

>119 labwriter: >114 richardderus: richardderus:. Oh good heavens, I don't want to start a war either. Never mind. But Gore scares me. Fright is an emotion, not an assertion. I didn't know emotions could be wrong. Sheesh. Just ignore me. It's another gloomy March day, and I'm doing my best not to succumb. I guess I'm not succeeding.

ETA. I guess my assertion was that he's psychotic. OK, you don't agree, that's fine--my pov is glaringly obviously wrong. OK. I'll just slink back to my own thread and talk to myself.

Becky, I didn't come to your thread and make ridiculous counterfactual assertions. Don't even pull the "poor misunderstood little me" trip. You walked in, made a risibly uninformed psychiatric diagnosis of someone you don't know, and now you're bent out of shape because I called you on it.

Definition of psychosis:

People with psychosis may have one or more of the following: hallucinations, delusions, catatonia, or a thought disorder, as described below. Impairments in social cognition also occur.

Since you don't know Gore, I have to assume you'd admit you have no way to know if he's having hallucinations or catatonia. Permaybehaps you think he's delusional?

Psychosis may involve delusional beliefs, some of which are paranoid in nature. Put simply, delusions are false beliefs that a person holds on to, without adequate evidence. It may be difficult to change the belief even with evidence to the contrary. Common themes of delusions are persecutory (person believes that others are out to harm him/her), grandiose (person believing that he or she has special powers or skills) etc. Depressed persons may have delusions consistent with their low mood e.g., delusions that they have sinned, or have contracted serious illness etc. Karl Jaspers has classified psychotic delusions into primary and secondary types. Primary delusions are defined as arising suddenly and not being comprehensible in terms of normal mental processes, whereas secondary delusions may be understood as being influenced by the person's background or current situation (e.g., ethnicity; religious, superstitious, or political beliefs)

I don't know which among these symptoms you purport to know enough to adduce to a politician whose views you dislike. I will say this: These symptoms fit every Teabilly and Fox News viewer and evangelical numskull I've ever met, in the flesh or online.

Now as to that promise to retreat to your thread and talk to yourself, your offer is acceptable to me. I hate fighting. If for any reason you feel the need to respond to this message (which for the information of all you onlookers I am also sending as a private message on Becky's profile), don't. I will be the big bad ogre and say "I don't care to hear it, because it's not my job to get along with people who come to *my* space and make themselves unpleasant to me, then act like it's *my* fault for starting a fight."

I didn't start this fight. I won't fight this fight. I'll ignore you when we run across each other, and ask that you accord me the same courtesy. Ask Ilana how it works. I keep my word.

Over.

I'm feeling like smooching you, for various reasons.

So, *smooch!*

>124 scaifea: *baaawwww* Thanks, sweetiedumplin, and a *smooch* right back.

>124 scaifea: Just, like, um, stay ABOVE the neck line, like you know?

>126 Morphidae: Married people and all ladies are so adjured.

>126 Morphidae: Morphy: Wow, you are hurting for entertainment, aren't you? Ha!

>128 scaifea: Well, yeah. I was looking to start something.

Didn't work. *snaps fingers*

>114 richardderus:
(Saul of Tarsheesh having his major "aha" moment on how better to fleece the boobs on the road to Damascus ...)

Richard, I just had this image of Saul and lovely fleece sweaters fly through my mind. What?

Sleeping morning wavies. Dear gods and goddesses and whoever... I NEED coffee.

Maybe intravenously.

*smoochles*

>130 AuntieClio: now I had a completely different thought.... interesting...
>131 BekkaJo: I have sucked down 2 cups since my shower. Still no noticeable boost. So #3 coming up.

Saturday? How can this be? I feel like the last week just dissolved. Seriously. I don't even remember most of it. Maybe because it was exactly like last week, and next week. MOre and more hours with Eeyore. Woe. Time is speeding by and that black dog Breezy talks about has me by the throat. OH! and my phone has been acting up again. Dropping calls.. no idea if it is failing to ring etc. Harder to know that.

Today I work with Candy... may be some reading in my future. Rain, too. Boo. I hope you are recovered and feeling relaxed and cookie-ed. If not hop over to my thread where Steph took care of that whole cookie thing.

Wishing you a soft, sweet day.

>129 Morphidae: Morphy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Uj3zitETs4

Morning, Richard!

>133 scaifea: *snorts* That's just because I want everyone to be https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y6Sxv-sUYtM

Happy Saturday to you Richard. I hope it is painfree and restful!

Good Saturday Morning to you!



Three good things about this picture:
1. That's a lot of coffee.
2. That's a book to lose oneself in.
3. The guy is pretty cute in that attractive nerdy/intellectual kind of way.

Oh I love the Samuel Beckett quote at the top of your thread Richard! What is it from?

#10 Okey dokey, Beasts of No Nation added to the wishlist.

#21 Ha - the premise of that comic made me laugh out loud! Not sure it's one for me nonetheless, even though I do read comics (and a lot of silly fluff). Have you read Maus incidentally (probably?). To me it's a wonderful example of what comics should be (it just wouldn't be as good as a memoir/novel - the art is what makes it).

#26 "What? Hey, Darryl's not the only one who likes grim, unhappy stories of miserable people!". *Cackles loudly, thus disturbing the squirrels in the tree immediately outside...*

#85 "Quote of the Day
“The first duty of wine is to be red. Don't talk to me of your white wines.”
— Henri Murger

Whoever the heck he is, we were clearly meant to be friends."

Yup!

#93 Ooooooooh. The only thing that nook is missing is a large mug of tea (and me). Possibly a few more cushions...

Right, back to finishing Sir Percy Leads the Band, so that I can get on with The Luminaries!

Well, that was an entertaining way to start Saturday morning! For the record, I think Al Gore is a fine man, and I'm glad he was brave enough to start the conversation about climate change. It is chilly and rainy here today and the TV is full of news about the hardy souls who are digging in the mud slide. I'm amazed at how much the larger community is coming together to support the folks in this little valley of the Cascade mountain foothills - I just hope it is sustained until the job is done. There will be more disasters as the earth and her humans find new ways to live with each other. I also hope they are able to find the company who logged this hillside illegally, and clear cut trees right to the edge, or perhaps even over the edge, of the zone where clear cutting may result in the hillside absorbing more of the rain water, since the trees are gone. So with record breaking rainfall, and clear cutting the trees, the hill absorbed more water than it could hold. Gravity being a fact of life.

I'm caught up now, and hope your Saturday is excellent. As for my side, I am planning on spending large chunks of today reading Blonde: A Novel largely because you keep cheering Ellen and me along. She seems to be loving it right out of the gate which is good for her. Me, not so much, but I will say I'm beginning to feel more "hooked" and enjoying it even!

I'll be scrubbing the April Budget to see if I can't send a few more dollars to the Red Cross.

>134 Morphidae: *dances around crazy-happy-Kermit-style* I love that song so much.

>128 scaifea:, >129 Morphidae: I'm a wily old catfish, I don't rise to every bait. *smooch*

>130 AuntieClio: I've often wondered if St. Paul's misogyny didn't stem from the fact that he'd've liked to wear fleecy sweaters and feel pretty. In an ancient Roman way, of course.

>131 BekkaJo: It's dank and 8C right now, and coffee isn't turbocharging my yeccchhh. Some days jus' be like that.

>132 mckait: Thanks for the wishes, though they won't come true since the Gruesome Twosome will be here in a few minutes. My rapture is unbridled.

Candy has the virtue of being lazy instead of malicious. Lazy one can work around.

*smooch*

>133 scaifea:, >134 Morphidae: Link salad! Link salad!

>135 Whisper1: Thank you, Linda my dear! I appreciate the wishes.

Good luck with the Gruesome Twosome, Richard. xx

>113 richardderus: yeah, everyone hates lawyers until they need one. We're sort of like dentists without the anesthetic. ;-P

Hope you're having a great weekend!

Why, a good morning to ya, me Deario. A slug of Jamesons in your next cuppa may not perk you up, but it will ease the angsty nature of today.

>93 richardderus: Claiming this as mine. Well, right after I get a cinnamon bun. Crikey, all I can think of is very-bad-for-you food. Perhaps a bit of brunch would make that go away.

Getting the A. H. book in a moment. Sounds like something I'd enjoy.

I'm so sleepy I might have to go back to bed.

>136 katiekrug: Ooo! He's a cutie. I like 'em thin and intense. And big and muscular. And average. Hell, he's human and male, I'll at least think about it.

>137 flissp: Hi Fliss, how lovely to see you! It's the first line of Beckett's novel Murphy. Wonderful book, that.

I did absorb (I can't really call it "reading" when it's as much or more about decoding artwork) Maus. Unlike the rest of the Universe, I wasn't enthralled. I think it might be because I'm always casting and directing the movie in my mind, so the storyboards aren't all that helpful to me?

I hope you'll enjoy Beasts of No Nation! Well...enjoy...hmmm

Murger, I've discovered, wrote Scenes de la Vie de Bohème on which Puccini based the opera La Bohème. I didn't know that, and am now thinking about reading the source material.

Enjoy the nook, try the comic, and have a delightful weekend!

>138 maggie1944: SO much about the current state of the world stems from not listening to the ones hollering "smoke! smoke!" and pointing at the merrily burning fire.

*smooch* I'm very happy you're finding more to appreciate as Blonde grinds on.

>139 scaifea: Heh, so cute.

>142 wilkiec: Thanks, Diana! *smooch* Not starting off well.

>143 michigantrumpet: Hey there Marianne! Wouldn't *need* lawyers if lawyers didn't write the laws...just sayin'

*smooch*

>144 Matke: Danvers dear! *smooch* So happy to see you. I hope you'll enjoy the book.

That nook is a wonder, isn't it? Very soothing. Very usable. A little side table for my gin and tonic, and a serving boy to bring me sliced limes, I'm set.

So very true.

Hi Richard Dear! I hope you Saturday is going well. It is in the 40s here today....I can almost hear the choir singing in wonder!

I finished The Goldfinch. It is a Very Good Read.

Good day Rdear,

>148 Cobscook: Oh goodygoodgood! I'm happy you found the Very Good Read inside the many, many pages of The Goldfinch. To paraphrase Roger Ebert, it's a great 500-page book crammed into 700 pages.

Damp, dank, and 48°. Ew.

>149 Ameise1: Barbara! Yow!! Greetings like that, well, whoooo-eeeeeeee! Have a happy weekend.

I saw Kindle bargains on The Nazi Officer's Wife ($1.99) and the complete novels of George Eliot (99¢) today. I've wanted to read the Beer book because it's such an amazing survival story...and Eliot all in one place? Yes please.

>150 richardderus: *smooches*

Howdy Richard! That guy in #136 is not your usual beefy sort and he is fully dressed but I see Barbara has taken care of you.

xoxo to you and Stella

>152 Ameise1: :-)

>153 luvamystery65: Thanks, Roberta, we're rained-on and chilly, though not cold...I'm callin' it good.

Oh my, oh dear, April in SF will be hard on the wallet.

Hi, Richardmydear. I hope your saturday is a good one and your sunday will be even better!

#150 - Good afternoon, RD! I always preen when I see a book you recommend and it's already on my shelves, just waiting to be read. No money to be spent, good book to read. :)

I pulled The Nazi Officer's Wife by Edith Hahn Beer off of Sunroom Shelf 1, row 7 and might move it to the top of the stack. As always, I looked at the photos before starting a book...... wonderful.

Now the stress begins - Beer's book, the newest Eve Dallas just purchased at Sam's, the next Peter Diamond... and the decision whether to finish Emotionally Weird by Kate Atkinson. I normally love Atkinson, but this book is a pretty serious slog. I found myself saying "I don't care!" about every other paragraph. I have it in trade paperback AND Kindle, and neither format is enticing me to continue. I'd rather read the Peter Diamonds until I run out of them. Unfortunately, it's my choice for our bookclub's next meeting. Perhaps I'll lie by omission and just ask everybody else what they thought? Yeesh.

>155 connie53: Hi Connie, thanks for the wishes which I most heartily return. Sending hugs!

>156 karenmarie: I read Life After Life last year, and was glad that I had done so. I had to work up to it, because I disliked Case Histories so much. So my advice to you is: Lie like a dog on a rug. Read 'em the flap copy, tell 'em you're going last, and start asking questions. With any luck, they'll be so busy telling you what they thought, they'll fail to realize you've failed to opine.

I've read the first 30pp of the Beer. Oh oh. Intensity.

>154 richardderus: Lots of interesting SF coming out. The cover of Lagoon looks right up your alley.

>158 luvamystery65: No kiddin'! I already own it, so I'm good to go. In about 2023, at the current rate.

Sorry about the twosome, rd :( >144 Matke: Breezy has a good idea, and I wish I had a bottle of that stashed away :-/ but it is not to be..... woe is me... Also, Me Gail... could that have something to do with the early in the day discussion of all the bad ffod in the world, this morning. Of course... Cinnamon buns don't count as bad, they are delicious. The more cinnamon the better and they have no fat or sugar or carbs... right?

>141 richardderus: Today was actually pretty fine... it was busy, but that helped the time pass, so I was fine with it. OF course the printer quit working again.............

>145 richardderus: I quite agree with you about those who won't see the fire behind the smoke, etc. Gore = a farseer of a sort, methinks?

ok.. gotta go scoop litter. and do dishes from all 6 of us. The stuffed pepper was yummy.

So so much better to be busy than bored, eh what?

Speaking of delicious, I made the pinterest-ipe of angel food mix (gaaak) mixed with apple pie filling (yum) and poured over melted butter and thinly sliced, sugar-and-cinnamon roasted apples in a 9x13 pan. It hasn't been cut yet, but it smells good. (You flip it out so it's like an upside-down cake.)

ok.. gotta go scoop litter.

ParTAY, sistah! *shudder*

Oh that sounds yummy

>162 SuziQoregon: I know, right?! I'll report after it's sampled.

^Man with a Red Book - Luigi Lucioni

Hope you are having a fine Saturday, my friend.

I know rd... I have been scooping litter daily for many years!

fun!

The cake sounds delish.. I love angel food cake!

>164 msf59: Zounds! Such a dapper gent. Thanks for the ornament, Mark, and your Saturday be beautimous too.

>165 mckait: Ick.

I hope it is delicious, because I can't think of anything easier to assemble than this was. (Can't really call it "making" because I unwrapped a stick of butter, melted it, stirred some cinnamon into some sugar, opened a can of pie filling and a box of cake mix and stirred them together. Slicing an apple is the closest thing to work I did!)

>140 richardderus:
Richard, this one made me giggle. Don wanted to know why so I had to think a bit about context. He wouldn't have known Saul or that much about St. Paul. And, of course I think you're right about Paul. That's one of the arrows in my arsenal if some Christian is just asking for it.

>138 maggie1944: "Gravity being a fact of life." Uh huh. You got that right, Karen.

Richard, I love your paraphrase of Roger Ebert. P got The Goldfinch from the library today (I'm still in the queue) and it will be interesting to see how she likes it.

I've decided to go ahead and finish Home, Mark's April designation for Toni Morrison be damned (not Mark be damned! Just... well.... you know what I mean). I will get back to Blonde later this evening.

I think our weather is similar. Damp, gray, 48F. We heard thunder a bit earlier which is a comment-worthy event in this neck of the woods.

*smooches* to you and Stella

>167 AuntieClio: S/Paul's comment about women covering their heads so gawd's angels couldn't see them was all I ever needed to hear.

>168 EBT1002: Heh, well, Ebert done nailed that concept to the cathedral door.

I myownself have read all the Morrison I can. Blonde won't get any shorter for the wait, ya know....

Stella's post-bath mood has only now lightened to allow for smooching, so I'll let her know.

Period Piece: A Cambridge Childhood is charming and winsome and delightful. The Nazi Officer's Wife is none of those things. It is nightmarish! And well done.

Drive by fabulous Sunday wishes :)

Good Morning! Still hoping that your weekend is going better than you expected.. based on olives...

Snow on the ground. Yep. Snow.

Otherwise, I got nuthin' ... xo

I do wish I could remember this.

>170 BekkaJo: Thanks, Bekka!

>171 mckait: SNOW AGAIN? Yoicks. It's rainy here, but warm.

Hi Richard dear. I hope you don't encounter to much rudeness. *smooch*

>172 richardderus:. Me, too, I need to remember that. I also try to use "be nice to difficult people, they need it more", when I can. But sometimes the rudeness borders on being a bully and I need to learn to not tolerate being bullied.

Sometimes, the problem is Haddit. It creeps in unnoticed and builds up day by day until finally, it bursts! Better the result of the bursting is a vocal altercation ( or simple text) than what might happen if it takes longer to burst. Holding in your feelings can be harmful, if someone is hurtful. IMO. No saints at LT... just a few who have been misidentified as such by theireownselves. That happens with information as well as opinions. Some think that they own the only good and true information that exists in all the world, when in fact:

You have your way, I have my way. As for the right way, the correct way, and the only way, it does not exist. - Friedrich Nietzsche

IMO only of course.

Good morning, Deario. How's by you? Remember that you can stop by any time for an olive fix.

>172 richardderus: is something I'm working on as well. So often I leap into the fray, only to think later that I should have ignored the whole thing. However ymmv depending on precise circumstances. It's a fine line to walk.

Sunday morning smooches.

ETA what Kath said.

*bumps into Breezy* Why hello there :) Cross posted!

Oh brava, brava, Mme Mckait!!!

BTW XO

>173 wilkiec: Me too, Milady Diana the Red! Thanks for the well-wishes.

>174 maggie1944: An optimal intention, Karen44, and one I can only say "brava! you GO!" to.

>175 mckait: To be specific, sweetness, this is not in response to Becky's and my dust-up. She hasn't made any effort to contact me, and so far as I know hasn't been muttering into her metaphorical beard in other places, unlike Ilana. It is specifically this comment which triggered the Haddit outburst here that I'm regretting. Why did I engage with this person? Yes, true, my comment was not directed towards her but towards Paul, but to acknowledge this person is a grave error on my part. Now I don't want to go back to Paul's threads. She is not a safe person for me to be around, as her bile continues to be directed at me. I don't mention her in my threads and pay no mind to her posts when we're in the same places. I wish I'd just kept it up. Now I've lost a friend.

>176 Matke: Hiya Danvers! *smooch* I had some of the apple-pie/angel-food cake this morning. I don't like it. The cake tastes like marzipan. I just don't like angel food. So olives sound really really good.

>177 mckait: :-)

>178 sibylline: Heh! Yes, Mme Mckait made a sight of sense, didn't she?

Paul's thread is safe. If you see a poster you are not comfortable interacting with, then... don't. Just don't interact, and move on. I know you can do that.. Don't deprive yourself of a good, friendly and kind man's interaction and friendship due to someone whose energy sets your own alight. Just carry on as before... you haven't lost a friend. We are all only human and sometimes say things we wish we hadn't ..

>181 mckait: I don't dislike Paul, but after this most recent attempt to "reconcile" or whatever it was the breach between that person and me, I don't want to go back there. If that ever happens again, I will be extremely upset. I'm upset now. That person said nasty things to me more than once, and the response from our host over there is to reaffirm his affection for her?

This isn't someone I can trust. The evidence is there that someone is carrying bile and anger towards me, and I am not playing, and that person is the one he chooses to soothe?

Nope. I'll never be unkind, I won't say ugly things because I don't carry any malice; but I am hurt by the tender and solicitous response to the aggressor in the situation, and am unwilling to trust that I am safe in that environment.

Oh, Richard. I'm so sorry.

>183 Matke: Thanks, Gail, it really really hurts. This dreadful individual has cost me a friendship I treasured. Well, to be scrupulously fair, Paul's response to that person's attack is what caused me to feel I couldn't trust him. Emotionally, I'd strongly prefer to load all the blame on her, but it's not fair to do so.

Today I'm completely bulleted!

The Secret of Chanel No. 5 by Tilar Mazzeo is one of the microhistories, the tight close-up looks at a slice of world culture that I so enjoy. I know this author wrote The Widow Clicquot some time ago, and that wasn't the best-reviewed book; but like that subject, this one sounds too intriguing to miss! $2.99 on all ereaders.

Also $2.99 on all ereaders is Drama, a "personal history" by the delightful John Lithgow. I don't have any idea what the difference is among personal history, memoir, or autobiography, but I have so enjoyed all the Lithgow performances I've seen that I can't say no to this.

Hello Richard! I am back now, & I found that I was almost 100 posts behind here. I decided for once to just jump to the bottom and say high.

>186 Thebookdiva: Hi Abby! Happy Sunday, and I hope you're enjoying your old friend's visit.

I enjoyed her visit immensely. Unfortunately she had to leave yesterday night, as she has school monday. She is determined to come back and stay with us though, and for a longer period of time. Hope your having a good Sunday yourself.

It's all about intention, rd. Everything is, really. I am sure that Paul's intention was not to hurt your feelings but to attempt to smooth things over. He likes you.. I have seen that clearly in posts. Don't let it hurt you..I am so sorry that you feel hurt, but losing a friend is a very not good thing. I am sure that Paul counts you among his LT friends.. don't lose the camaraderie I have seen between you :( It would be so sad :(

*Smoocherooos*

I thought you might like a big hug and kiss .... I've worn a mask to prevent the little flu germies from escaping.

>188 Thebookdiva: Oh good, happy you enjoyed it, and when she comes back it will be even nicer to see her.

>189 mckait: What hurts me about this is the fact that Paul rushed to soothe the attacker, and left no indication that he saw her attack as unkind, still less unjustified. I can't trust a person like that as a friend. I expect a friend to have my back. And in this case, as in all others, I apply the universal rule, "what one doesn't condemn, one condones."

>190 cameling: Hiya Caro! Thanks for the masked smooches. I beat back this horrible cold virus in less than a week, and it never got more than a little icky. I credit instant action with the zinc-and-C remedy.

I am just ... *hugs* and *smooches* and *olives*

Happy new thread RD!

.....okay, so I actually had to finish off reading the previous thread and then work my way over here, but I am here now!

Re: Lighter fluid. We have some and it is super handy in more ways than you might think. For example, I use it to remove the annoying stickers that some stores place on the soles of shoes. The lighter fluid is awesome for removing all of the sticky glue residue when the stickers are peeled off. Even though all of my work shoes are only worn indoors, I don't like them attracting stuff like stray hairs and whatnot off of the office floor/carpet.

Here is hoping that you will be fully recovered from this flu/cold/bug/thingee real soon!

>192 AuntieClio: *smooch* Thanks, dearie.

>193 lkernagh: I am, I think, 90%+ over it. Today's main issue is really painful joints. Low pressure does that to a person with my issues.

>192 AuntieClio: *perks up * Olives?! Are ther bagels to go with them? Oh and cream cheese, of course..

>193 lkernagh: > Don't you worry that you will be walking along a hot sidewalk one day and burst into flame?

>194 richardderus: I hope you are over it ALL and soon...

I could *murder* a toasted bialy with cream cheese, lox, and sliced green olives. I like bialys better than bagels for all purposes sandwichy.

Thanks, sweetness, I am hopin' so too. *smooch*

>>194 richardderus: - That is good news! ETA: about the cold, that is. Sorry to see painful joint issues are ruining your Sunday.

>195 mckait: - Nope. The beauty of lighter fluid is that it evaporates, just like rubbing alcohol. There is no reside, or at least not enough given how I use it, for my precious shoes burst into flames on me. ;-)

>195 mckait:
Kath,
After the kerfuffle about olives on Gail's page, I am out of the olive business. ;-)

Bagels/Bialies with lox, cream cheese and tomatoes sound oh so yummy.

RD, I have read all your posts with increasing sadness. Over at my place I apologised to both of you for my unwarranted attempt to bring two of my friends together. I quickly realised the mistake I had made. For the record dear fellow I didn't take sides and I didn't see the need to have either back as you both made your positions abundantly clear.

Quite hurt in point of fact that you feel you can't trust me and that you have lost a friend. For my part I still consider you to be such and you remain the only one in the group I term "dear fellow". You will be welcome over at my place any time and I would consider it a lesser place without you.

I also wish to say a big thank you to Kath for her messages of warmth and kindness here today. You are a big hearted lady.

You know Richard, I don't have any monopoly on being right or making always the right choices but I think I am big (or should that be wide) enough to admit a bad judgement call. One bad judgement call, well intentioned, will not I hope cause too many permanent rifts.

found on Pinterest

Awww... see now, rdear.. >200 ronincats: brought you a nice octopus ! Come and see :)

http://youtu.be/lEzmzpoaKek

I am. I'm standing.

Standing right beside Kath.

good morning , and thank you for stopping by :)

I am all moved in, ready to tackle my new fresh hell - unpacking all in 20 days instead of my usual 3 months - so little nice surprises like visits are appreciated :)

Hope you have a wonderful , sunny and warm morning. Here is the coffee - the mug is kind of like me now, happy I moved and enjoying little things here on one side, but sad and disheartened on the other side.

Heh.

You miss three days around here and there is some mighty catching up to do. Back up at lighters: people actually collect these things. Himself has a collection of two (WWII vintage & inherited) which not only need fluid but those leetle tiny red flint things. We actually own a can of lighter fluid.
p.s. >93 richardderus: is still my all-time favourite

Dropping in as I'm trying to catch up on threads!

I hope your absence does NOT mean you are suffering more than usual today. Happy Monday! It's above freezing there and no rain, at least.

Hellooooooooooo. Its Monday, its sleeting out, and I am cranky. So how are you? Heh!

*Smooches*

>205 katiekrug: Katie: *snork!* I like Pepe the Giant Prawn's version, too: "I like my women like I like my coffee - a latte."

Afternoon, Richard!

Ooh guests! *smooch* to you all. I've spent my morning mulling over the events of yesterday. So here is what I have to say. I'm saying it all publicly and for the record because sneaking, whispering, and hiding are inimical to me.

I care for my emotional health so assiduously because my mother was insane, sexually abusive, and utterly without any sense of anyone else's actual existence in the world. No one anywhere ever will be allowed to jab and poke at me after growing up with that set of behaviors. Most often, the best thing I can do is walk away, like I have from that person. Her M.O. is to be the victim, always and forever Wronged By ______, despite the fact that she is perfectly free and has her own permission to say unkind, unpleasant, or simply untrue things at, to, or about anyone she should choose to say them to, at, or about.

Because, you see, she is RIGHT.

Well, I grew up with that precise pattern of behavior, and it is unacceptable to me. I don't have the least intention of asking anyone to change or make up their minds about their friendships. I am setting this down publicly because no one, anywhere, ever can now say they have no idea why any of this happened. I avoid Ilana because she exhibits these behaviors I've described, and I don't interact with her (as a firmer-than-ever rule) because these behaviors are toxic to me.

As for any and all others, if you do not see what occurred in Paul's thread as the attack on me that it was, then you're entitled to your opinion. I operate on one simple rule: What you don't condemn, you condone. Paul soothed and cosseted Ilana with reassurances of his regard, where what was called for was a rebuke, even a mild one. That's his choice. Quite possibly he agrees with Ilana. In any case, I don't feel it's wise for me to visit his threads given that I'm an open target for *personal* attacks. Not on my reading tastes, not on my politics, on ME.

Not now, and not ever, will that be okay with me.

I'm hurt by this, but I have no ill will towards Paul. I'm not going to shun him, or speak unkindly (that is, more than I already do) about or to him. (I'm still privately convinced that he has a shrine to HM the Queen in his WC.) But I've lost my trust that he's a friend to me. Again said publicly so no one is in any doubt about why this happened: I don't suddenly hate him, at all.

But my first duty is to myself because I can't be a friend to others without being one to myself.

I'm so surprised and saddened reading all this, Richard.

I really don't know what to say or do, so I will just keep silent and hope your week will be better than your weekend was.

Good afternoon Richard, I hope your Monday is going ok, I forgot to let you know that the girls were baking last Friday (I know I am a bad person for forgetting you) and the chocolate biscuits and chocolate cookies are lovely. Enjoy the rest of Monday my friend.

Richard, I finished Hounded "last night." Up until 0430 I was with that druid and his dog. So much fun.

man, bed, book. need one say more?



Happy March 31st, liebling.

Hi, RD! Hope your week is an improvement on your weekend. {{{big hug}}}

>196 richardderus: I could *murder* a toasted bialy with cream cheese, lox, and sliced green olives. I like bialys better than bagels for all purposes sandwichy. I want!!! I want!!! I want!!!

I heart you dear man and I'm sorry for everything you have been through.

Mom is in the hospital through Wednesday most likely then on to SNF for speech therapy (for swallowing) & PT. It's :( but it's also good if she gets stronger.

xoxo to you and Stella

+

+ +

your mouth to the Goddess' ear. work your mayhem.

>200 ronincats:, >201 mckait: Ooo! What a handsome Tentacled American!

>202 mckait:, >203 Matke: Thank you both, dear sweet friends. It is so lovely to know I'm appreciated!

>204 tigerlyly: There, there, Lyly, the move will do wonders for your emotional altitude. I send smooches for your easiest possible unpacking results!

>205 katiekrug: YEAH!!

*ahem*

That is, I am in agreement with this assertion. And on an unrelated topic, I miss Jeremy.

>206 tiffin: Collect lighters. Really. Wow, something I'd never even have wondered about and now I know it. *smooch* for dear Tui

>207 thornton37814: Hi Lori! I wish you luck on your (doomed) quest to catch up.

>208 ronincats: Hi Roni, see post #211.

>209 Cobscook: It snowed here this morning, revoltingly enough, but as it's been over 50° so it didn't stick. But since there was 2" of rain over the weekend, it's left stuff in a soggy, sodden mess.

Uchhhh.

>210 scaifea: Hi Amber, that one's cute too. *smooch*

>212 connie53: Hi Connie, it's something I feel sad about too. It's not something any of us should dwell on, since it's over and done with. The world will spin and the sun will rise and set, and LT will hum along like it always has.

>213 johnsimpson: I think, John, that we've finally made the turn into spring! In spite of snow this morning, the air lacks that sharp, cold edge that it has when winter's a-prowl.

*tsk* for neglecting me!

>214 AuntieClio: Isn't it?! I'm so happy you've found Atticus and Oberon as much fun as I (and legions of others) have.

>215 mirrordrum: Oh myyyyyyy, to quote Takei. And I had a call from Himself a moment ago, wondering why dark-haired men were appearing on my thread. Since the most recent anonymous book gift arrived, he's been...edgy. And blond. I have to say that, as unbecoming of me as it is, the fact that he's a bit jealous is deeply gratifying.

Unlurk, kiddo, the folks would like to meet you!

>216 Storeetllr: Hiya Mary, me too.

>217 luvamystery65: Oh Roberta, that isn't any fun at all! But the good thing is it bids fair to help the situation a lot in the long run.

>218 mirrordrum: Ooohhh myyyyyyyyyyy, Ellie!!! Yes yes yes! ROBERTA!! Bialys are on!

>196 richardderus: "I could *murder* a toasted bialy with cream cheese, lox, and sliced green olives."
Now, that does sound yummy. Green olives make so many good things even better. Including gin martinis.

Dare I ask: Where did Jeremy, um, go?

Sorry I've been gone for a few days. Feeling sad, but trusting you in taking care of you.

I heard someone today say that he believes healing happens through relationship (with which I agree) -- and, ironically, that most trauma also happens through relationship (with which I also agree).
It's a weird world.

I know my answer: C!

>223 EBT1002: Thank you for that vote of confidence, it means a lot coming from you.

I confess I puzzled over the question about Jeremy...*blink* the light came on! He's in school in the Midwest, last semester before launching his (I expect) stellar career in sports therapy and nutrition. From here on Long Island, which is how we met.

>211 richardderus: I note your comments RD whilst not agreeing with the import of your conclusions. If you are not comfortable coming to my thread then I have no choice but to respect that.
I have no shrine to QEII in the toilet but a picture of RIII hangs in my reading room. That particular Richard was hacked to death at Bosworth Field because his friends betrayed him. I don't betray my friends before, now and never. Unfortunately I had two friends in this instance.
You remain my friend though you doubt its quality and genuineness.
Thank you for obviously taking some time to think about this and its impact upon you. I will not raise the issue again as it will only put a blight on the group which had given me so much happiness until very recently.
Take good care, dear fellow.

>224 richardderus: - (D) All of the above!

I am glad to hear that spring is making her appearance in your neck of the woods. She is showing up here too occasionally and I'm heartened by that.

My drama of the Board of Directors continues and today the woman who insists on being irritated or irritating out did herself in making herself look stupid, and vindictive. I am lucky that staying quiet is available to me and she continues to create drama all by herself. I must remind myself to be as nice to her as I can because clearly it is no fun being her.

I continue to read Blonde: A Novel and it is uncanny how much JCO's depiction of Norma Jeane reminds me of my foster daughter, who continues to struggle with not being well emotionally. Sigh. So much damage is created in our world, it is a wonder any of us can find the health and well being to love and care for each other. But I am thankful we can, and we do.

Have a lovely week, dear man.

>226 PaulCranswick: I really appreciate your kind and consistent reassurance, Paul. Let's draw a line under an unpleasant experience for all of us and move into spring. Well, those of us with seasons, that is.

RIII was the single unluckiest person ever to occupy the throne, NOT barring King John, Kind Stephen, or Edward II. I truly wish that someone, somewhere out there among the Ricardian hordes, would write an alternative history novel about the *proper* ending of Bosworth and its knock-on effects.

>227 katiekrug: Amen, sister woman!

>228 maggie1944: Instability of mental health is so horrendously pervasive an issue in a person's life. I feel for your daughter. There is nothing in the world as it is to support healing and growth from this issue, to my lasting sorrow.

>229 richardderus: Suzanne could I am sure write that alt-history. Don't agree though and would put forward King Harold as a tad unluckier than those mentioned. Wallops the Dane at Stamford Bridge and then marches down in Hastings and gets an arrow through his monocle by William the Bastard.

Hmmm

I'd give him second place overall...how about pre- and post-Conquest categories? After all, there's Aethelred to consider....

>229 richardderus: re: >226 PaulCranswick: just popped in for one last second and saw Paul's post and your response. i can't tell you how humbled i am by you, by both of you and how fortunate i am to have you amongst my friends. you two simply blow me away. it takes tremendous courage to say, "enough" as well as to reach out over and over again in friendship. i bow to you both with deep respect. wow!

and re: RIII, reading of him makes me want to go and watch Sir Ian's RIII again--esp. the scene between Riii and his mum (sir Ian and dame Maggie) before he sets off to war. i do wish Ian had left the scene whole just so i could watch Maggie be brilliantly venomous a bit longer.

>232 mirrordrum: Thank you, Ellie, and right back at'cha. smooch

>231 richardderus: Nah Aethelred wasn't ready.
>232 mirrordrum: Shakespeare always had sweet words but they weren't always truthful. He did a disservice with RIII, but it is a great play.

>234 PaulCranswick: Boo. Hiss. Punny punny boy.

I like spring. It's my favorite season.
Just sayin'.

Aha! Shakespeare, the perfect example of historical fiction. *grin*

Rdear, I wish you



Hugs xx

Hey, good morning from sunny .... my neck of the "cement buildings" cause I can't really call it woods and they are like4-10 stories high so they are not skyscrapers either.

QB senior, hope your pains are gone in a long visit or "vacay" (I really hate this word, whoever invented really did not know the joy of rolling of your tongue the word "vacation" once a year).
Have a nice, strong cup of coffee




and some book porn to go with it

Good morning Richard from this side of the pond, I have taken heed not to forget you when it comes to baking day with the little monkey. I must post a photo of her in her apron, she does look cute even though you can spot a little wicked grin now and again.

Good morning! April! Funny how February to FOREVER to pass, March flew by in a blur of white. Now April. A time of new beginnings. Happy day to you. I will think of you while I am working with E today :)

Good morning, Deario. Nothing of substance to contribute.

Have you readThe Daughter of Time? It's a unique little book in which Our Hero, an ailing detective, researches the Princes in the Tower calumny against RIII. Fascinating reading.

And agreed that Shakespeare was quite creative in the history plays--but with the Star Chamber looming in the background, it probably seemed best to favor the ruling party.

>236 EBT1002: Deranged. Spring?! The mud! The slush! The stupid flowers! The impending *shudder* summer hanging like Auschwitz air over the entire proceedings!

Bah.

>237 AuntieClio: He was certainly writing for a specific audience's take on the world. And so as not to be tortured and/or murdered, like poor ol' Marlowe.

>238 Ameise1: Thank you, Barbara! *smooch*

Here you go. Coffee that won't stain your teeth or carpet...

>239 tigerlyly: Ooo! Nice book porn! Thanks, Lyly!

>240 johnsimpson: Well, she *is* yours and Karen's granddaughter, John...

>241 mckait: EW! Poor angel! I'm sorry. Her Preggersness needed a day, eh?

All hail Pope Gregory. April Fool's Day wouldn't be there without him and his calendar.

>242 Matke: Hiya Danvers me lurve, no worries about substance-free-ness today. It's Camp NaNoWriMo and I got 2922 words done (of a target 50,000, or 1667 a day). It might easily be a TV day.

I read The Daughter of Time recently and liked it a lot. Inspector Grant's being laid up and needing a chew-toy for his brain really resonated with me.

>244 Morphidae: I sense a Pepsi Clear moment in the marketing world....

>243 richardderus: You are, as usual, cracking me up, Richard. :-)

I still love spring but I must say that I'm in sinus hell with all these bloody trees in bloom. Oh well.

xo

>247 EBT1002: It's not my sinuses, but my eyes that're making me crazy. Eye allergy symptoms are very frustrating, but they aren't painful like sinus stuff. I have only very mild nasal symptoms after years of suffering, because of the neti pot. It doesn't help the eyes, though.

I just want to lay on the chaise in >239 tigerlyly: and fall asleep this very minute. Heaven!

That is what I call worship service and if I am snoring then count it a joyful noise and please let me continue praising!

>249 luvamystery65: Perfect attitude to bring to it. *smooch*

A quick hello from NYC, Richard. Looks like all's going swimmingly in RD land, other than aggravating eye allergies? Hope the latter pass soon.

Hiya Joe, thanks for dropping in! I'm glad y'all're having a good trip...today is a gift from the Weather Goddess for touring the city.

Eye allergies come and go all year round, since most of them are mold sensitivity aggravated by pollens, not just pollens.

>243 richardderus: Rdear, you're welcome. :-D

. . . runs in . . . . waves madly . . . runs out . . . .

Happy Tuesday!

hi Richardmydear, I just want to let you (and everybody else) know we will be spending a few days in London (UK) and no time on LT.

{{{hugs}}}

>244 Morphidae: Exactly what do they take out to make it clear (she asked, suspiciously)? I don't like peoples messin' wif da brew...

Richard, I'm a walking sneeze-and-snuffle generator myself today, and my poor husband's eyes streamed so badly over the weekend he couldn't read or even look at the TV or computer screens. It's a combination of allergies and germs, I think, and I hope we all get past it pretty soon.

>253 Ameise1: :-)

>254 SuziQoregon: *whiplash* ...say, was that Juli's voice I heard just now?

>255 connie53: Have a lovely visit, Connie, he said without a trace or speck of jealous loathing or envious rancor.

No. Really.

>256 laytonwoman3rd: Oh dear, Linda3rd, that is double plus ungood. I'm so sorry! *smooch*

I got a book today! A present from the still-edgy sweetienubbins...no one has ever claimed responsibility for giving me that graphique nawvelle a while back and it's got him a wee bit nervous...so he ordered me a copy of The Islanders by Christopher Priest and, can you believe this!, the Amazon Marketplace seller gift-wrapped it! Didn't charge him for it, just assumed it was a gift since he was sending to a different addy than his own, and just...did it!

AZ_Fulfillment, I will order more from you because of that.

>242 Matke:
*perk* A princes in the tower story? Must run to put it on the wishlist.

Poor sweetienubbins.

Nothing more to add at the moment, I am wrapping up my internetz duties and then off for errands and helping Don.

ETA: oh I forgot, *hugs* and *smooches*

>259 AuntieClio: Not perzackly. It's a careful and extremely thorough going-over of the evidence commonly asserted against RIII, which is shown to be flimsoleum and brummagem. Tey wrote it as an Inspector Grant case because, frankly, no one would've paid the book the slightest bit of mind had it been billed as what it was: A fact-by-fact refutation of the calumny held against RIII's name.

>260 AuntieClio: It's mean of me to be so warmly pleased that Jeremy's having the painful stabs of jealousy.

*gleeful chortle*

I helps that I am completely sure there is no rival for his place, no plans to look for one, and no chance any will simply *spring* from the earth. Being innocent of word or deed to *cause* him this jealousy, I can sit back and revel in the fact that a handsome young studmuffin is jealous of *me*!

He hates when I say that he's got an eye condition and a cognitive disorder to want me at all, but this is MY thread. Nyah!

>257 richardderus: non seen!

>258 richardderus: awwwwww!

So sweet... see? nice people pop up all over if you keep your eyes open :)

Oh dear.... did I read correctly, RD: You suffer from allergy symptoms? I am sympathetic to anyone who has a negative reaction for health reasons when bountiful spring is in the air. I won't go into any details about my day. Lets just say it was divine, even my walk home, and leave it at that.

>261 richardderus: Your sweetie is obviously amazing and smart because he sees how wonderful you are just like all of us do!

>262 connie53: Smart, these Dutch ladies....

>263 mckait: They're all around, all the time, and luckily there are a lot more of them around here than there are sour apples.

>264 lkernagh: Divine. Ah. I see.

*begins incantation for Canadian Winter Demon to visit Edmonton from 15 April all the way to 13 April 2015*

>265 Cobscook: "All of us" might juuust be a weentsy tidge overstated, Heidi.

Jeremy is a fine young man, and as time rolls on he amazes and delights me with his maturity and thoughtfulness. He'll make some guy a wonderful husband. The fact that he's only 10 years older than my oldest grandson is a really really big issue for me.

Not to mention his mother and father, who are younger than I am, and his grandmother, who is CM's age...13 years older than me. All three of them regard me as Satan.

And honestly, I can't say I blame them.

Nice of sweetienubbins to send you a book, and nice of Amazon to gift wrap it for you. :-)
He sounds like a charming young man.

>266 richardderus:
Well, you are a Satanic Book Warbler after all.

*smooches*

Richard, for my Thingadingy next month I will be reading a book you suggested, The Rehearsal by Eleanor Catton. Really looking forward to it. Thanks for the suggestion.

>239 tigerlyly: Want. Both.

I think real connections between people, love if you wish, is a rare flower and must be appreciated whenever one comes upon it. Age is much like other societal constructions in that it too often limits people unnecessarily. I hope you enjoy your connection as much as is possible.

That's my opinion, about which no one asked.

GOOOOD morning Richard D!

Okay, that's all I got.

Hope you have a good one, feel well and enjoy your day :)

Morning! Coffee?

>266 richardderus: - Oh dear.... its a good thing Micky has moved from Edmonton. I don't think she would appreciate to idea of a never ending winter season. ;-)

*Smooch!*

>267 EBT1002: I am still amazed that the Marketplace vendor did that! Amazon as a corporation wouldn't do it for fear of making a terrible mistake and causing a gigantic problem, and they'd be right to avoid the possibility.

>268 AuntieClio:, >269 AuntieClio: Heh, so true! And my warblings about Eleanor Catton are well and truly taking root. Yay!

>270 LovingLit: Agreed.

>271 maggie1944: Asked, no; ignored, no; appreciated, yes. Age is not just a number. It's a stand-in for layers and layers and layers of life lived and remembered. It's shorthand for the difference between history and memory.

It's an obstacle and can't simply be ignored. To his credit, he's not ignoring it, but says we'll find a way around it. So sweet.

>272 mckait: Hi Kath, nothing wrong with today that I can see. I've done my 2502 words. I'll be along directly to see if you're working. *smooch*

>273 Thebookdiva: Yes please, Abby, I am in *serious* need! Angel flower that you are.

>274 lkernagh: *smirk* We'll see about "divine," little missie. Oh yes we will.

*smooch*

Hi Rdear, waves from good old Europe.

Congratulations on the word count. I'm mithering over a stupid internal memo that will probably run less than 200 words, but is bound to make somebody cranky. Must choose wisely, which ox to gore.

>277 Ameise1: Ooh how wonderful, Barbara! You find great stuff! Thanks, and a transAtlantic *smooch*

>278 laytonwoman3rd: I'd far rather write 200,000 words of fiction than 200 words of company memo. And that right there is the reason. Plus I am a very very poor corporate culture warrior. I tell people when they have their facts wrong and that makes me a pariah; and when their conclusions don't add up, I'm almost always the only one to say so.

I hated that life.

Oh myyyyyyy, as Takei says. I am so this.

You're welcome :-D

>280 richardderus: The one abut the doctor's office should be amended to read "and you find the stupid television is on and you have to try to block out The View or some educational medical video in order to read your book". (Same goes for pretty much any public waiting area.)

>280 richardderus: - Yes! Yes! A thousand times yes!

Oh, er, good morning....

And if it's not the television it is someone on a cell phone talking really loudly. Hush! I'm trying to read here!

I remember waiting for a ride after an ER trip and the woman was on her cell phone for AN HOUR AND A HALF. I was going out of my mind.

>280 richardderus: Does your head explode with a blinding rage when you see a book open face down breaking that pristine spine. Or is that just me, yeah that might just be me. I'm sorry I fear I've said too much, look away..

Yes to everything except lying, cheating, deceiving, maiming and seducing. Thank heavens I have always had sufficient resources that I never had to stoop quite that low. Oh, and I don't lend my books, except to my lads who were raised to treat them with reverence.

>281 Ameise1: :-)

>282 laytonwoman3rd: I know...it's appalling to me that there is no public space that isn't advertised in.

>283 katiekrug: Heh, good morning fellow bibliophilic person.

>284 Morphidae: I want to be able, without fear of legal repercussions, strangle them. SHUT THE FUCK UP. No one here wants to hear your mouth. Sadly, one can't simply clean the gene pool or some damned busybody or another will come along and moo about murder being wrong and pule about tolerating others. Sheesh.

>285 mahsdad: Nope, you're among the like-minded here, Jeff. I feel the same way when I see people mistreating animals or children.

>286 tiffin: I lend books, or more accurately I give books, to people so long as the book isn't one I'm sentimental about. Any others, yeah sure. I simply mentally take it out of the inventory as "gifted."

Touch one of the few I'm in love with and see how fast Santa turns into Krampus.

>287 richardderus: I had to look up Krampus. Then I snarfled.

>285 mahsdad: mrsdrneutron is one of *those* people who bend back the cover on a paperback book to read it. If I'd known before the wedding there may not have been one... :)

>288 Morphidae: Heh.

>289 drneutron: Amazing there hasn't been a divorce. Or a murder trial.

The Night Circus, one of my very very few six-stars-out-of-five reviews, is $4.99 on Kindle.

Slow, deep, unsettling, and illuminative.

>289 drneutron:. I wasn't going to say anything (even though she'll never read this), but MahsMom does the exact same thing :)

>277 Ameise1:, >280 richardderus: = LIKE

On the realizing I've no book at the dr.'s office, being able to read on my phone has been a savior, RD.

My four-star review is, at its simplest level, an exhortation to read this very good book, The Imperfectionists.

http://tinyurl.com/n66zcsv

My reason for finally, four years later, writing the review is simply that it's on Kindle-sale in the US for $1.99. It's hard to find used books for that little money. It's hard to find a book I'd more strongly urge you to read for that kind of dosh.

The Imperfectionists has one of my all-time favorite exchanges (from the story about the stringer in Cairo):

”I have a couple of gripes, but they’re pretty minor.”

“Like?”

“Nothing serious.”

“Tell me one.”

“Well, the air is kind of hard to breathe, with all this pollution. Sort of like inhaling from an exhaust pipe. The heat makes me faint sometimes. And the food isn’t all that edible. Or maybe I’ve just been unlucky. Also, it’s a police state, which I don’t love. And I get the impression the locals want to shoot me. Only when I talk to them, though. Which is my fault – my Arabic is useless. But basically, yeah,” he summarizes, “it’s really interesting.”

Cracks me up every time :)

Ha! Yes indeed, a few minor li'l no-account things...ha!!

>280 richardderus:
Especially the one about the apocalypse