Berly's ABCs -- Amidst Books and Chums #5

Reading books with friends is the best!!

(Snoopy is not asleep. He is solemnly studying a text book. Or Not!)

Reading
Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood (A) by Trevor Noah
The Globe: The Science of Discworld II (345 pages) by Terry Pratchett, for Paul's BAC

Future Maybes
I Am No One by Patrick Flanery LT ER--need to read!!
The Madwoman Upstairs by Catherine Lowell




Read in February
15. Behind the Beautiful Forevers (256 pages)(OS) by Katherine Boo, for Feb Obama Reading Challenge 4.0
14. Invisible Man (608 pages) (A) by Ralph Ellison, read by Joe Morton, reread of a classic 4.0
13. Nights at the Circus (294 pages) by Angela Carter w/ Cammykitty (Late Bowie read) 2.5
12. The Girl with the Lower Back Tattoo (316 pages) by Amy Schumer 3.5
11. Entwined: Sisters and Secrets in the Silent World of Artist Judith Scott (LT)(215 pages) by Joyce Wallace Scott 5.0
10. Jane Eyre, (457 pages)(OS) by Charlotte Bronte, classic reread for RL book group 4.5

Read in January / 2,683 pages
9. The Secret History of Wonder Woman (OTS)(332 pages not incl. the index) by Jill Lepore 4.0
8. Kindred (264 pages)(L)(K) by Octavia Butler 4.0
7. The Vegetarian (201 pages) by Han Kang 4.5
6. Revenge of the Wrought-Iron Flamingos Meg Langslow #3(288 pgs)(L)(K)by Donna Andrews 3.0
5. An Obvious Fact (336 pages)(A)(L) by Craig Johnson 3.5
4. Fun Home. A Family Tragicomic (232 page)(GN) by Alison Bechdel--RL Bookclub 4.0
3. Night of Fire (358 pages) (IR) by Colin Thubron 4.5
2. Fire Touched Mercy Thompson novel #9 (352 pages)(K)(L) by Patricia Briggs 4.0
1. Murder with Peacocks (320 pages)(K)(L) 1st in Meg Langslow series by Donna Andrews 3.0

Rating System
I think I am giving out too many high scores, so I needed to post a rating chart and I borrowed Karenmarie's. You probably won't see many below three because I am less afraid to use the Pearl rule now, but "Anathema" tickled me. So many books, so little time!

Masterpiece 5.0
Stunning 4.5
Excellent 4.0
Very Good 3.5
Good 3.0
Average 2.5
Bad 2.0
Very Bad 1.5
Don't Bother 1.0
Anathema 0.5

A=Audio
L=Library
OTS=Off the shelf
N=New/Gift
GN=Graphic Novel
IR=Indiespensable Readers
K=Kindle
LT=LibraryThing Early Reviewer

Welcome to the President Obama Challenge!!

This is a chance to read one of his books, or several; independently or following a monthly theme. Just have fun and let us know what you are reading and what you think about it! There are more books suggestions on the thread.

February
1. Age of Ambition: Chasing Fortune, Evan Osnos
2. Thinking, Fast and Slow, Daniel Kahneman
3. Moral Man And Immoral Society, Reinhold Niebuhr
4. A Kind And Just Parent, William Ayers
5. The Post-American World, Fareed Zakaria
6. Lessons in Disaster, Gordon Goldstein
7. Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind, Yuval Noah Harari
8. The Fire Next Time, James Baldwin
9. Andy Grove: The Life and Times of an American, Richard S Tedlow
10. Behind the Beautiful Forevers: Life, Death, and Hope in a Mumbai Undercity, Katherine Boo--reading now

March
1. Moby Dick, Herman Melville ✔ ✔
2. Self-Reliance, Ralph Waldo Emerson--planned read for March
3. Song Of Solomon, Toni Morrison ✔ ✔
4. Parting The Waters, Taylor Branch
5. Gilead, Marylinne Robinson ✔ ✔
6. Best and the Brightest, David Halberstam
7. The Federalist, Alexander Hamilton
8. Souls of Black Folk, W.E.B. Du Bois
9. The Power and the Glory, Graham Greene
10. The Quiet American, Graham Greene
11. Cancer Ward, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn ✔ ✔
12. Gandhi’s autobiography
13. Working, Studs Terkel
14. Wealth of Nations, Adam Smith
15. Theory of Moral Sentiments, Adam Smith
16. All the King’s Men, Robert Penn Warren ✔ ✔

What are you going read? Click on the link and tell everyone!! (✔ ✔ are ones I have read)

https://www.librarything.com/topic/247375

Plans for Reading


The President Obama Reading Challenge
https://www.librarything.com/topic/247375
February - Behind the Beautiful Forevers by Katherine Boo
March - Self-Reliance by Ralph Waldo Emerson
April -
May-
Summer -
September -
October -
November -
December -

RL Book Club #1
February - Jane Eyre - Jane Austin ✔ ✔
April - Being Mortal - Atul Gawade
June - America's First Daughter - Laura Kanole, Stephanie Dray
August - In the Time of Butterflies - Julia Alvarez
October - Commonwealth - Ann Patchett
December - Choose new books! ✔ ✔

And RL Book Club #2
January - snowed out : (
February - Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic by Alison Bechdel ✔ ✔
March - A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman (read last year) ✔ ✔
April -
May-
Summer - Off!
September -
October -
November -

And just maybe an occasional one from here, Mark's AAC or Paul's BAC

January AAC- Kindred by Octavia Butler ✔ ✔
February BAC - The Globe by Terry Pratchett
March- William Styron
April- Poetry Month
May- Zora Neale Hurston
June- AAC Sherman Alexie or BAC Georgette Heyer
July- James McBride
August- Patricia Highsmith
September- Short Story Month
October- Commonwealth (OS) by Ann Patchett
November- Russell Banks
December- AAC Ernest Hemingway or BAC Neil Gaiman

luvamystery65/Roberta's Tony Hillerman and ???

January - The First Eagle
February -
March - Hunting Badger
April -
May - The Wailing Wind
June -
July - The Sinister Pig
August -
September - Skeleton Man
October -
November - The Shape Shifter
December -

And because I don't have enough going on..maybe Ellen's Erdrich thread:

February: The Round House

March (optional): LaRose

April: The Master Butchers' Singing Club

June: The Birchbark House

August: The Beet Queen

October: The Bingo Palace

December: The Antelope Wife or The Painted Drum

Favorites from last year:

Thunder Dog by Michael Hingson 4.5
A Dirty Job by Christopher Moore 4.5
A History of the World In 100 Objects by Neil MacGregor 4.5
Flaubert's Parrot by Julian Barnes 4.5
A Man Called Ove by Fredrick Backman 5.0
The Guise of Another by Allen Eskens 4.5
Library of Souls by Ransom Riggs 4.5
The Life We Bury by Allen Eskens 4.5
Good Omens by Neil Gaiman & Terry Pratchet 5.0
Eleanor Jason Gurley 4.5
Fingersmith by Sarah Waters 5.0
Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal by Jeannete Winterson 5.0
And Again by Jessica Chiarella 4.5
As I Lay Dying by Faulkner 5.0

These are series I still want to follow. This list will evolve over time...

Dublin Murder Squad by Tanya French (on #2 The Likeness)
#2 Lady Cop Makes Trouble by Amy Stewart
Cormoran Strike--#4 whenever that comes out
Alex Cross--I have read (17) and (23)
Alpha and Omega--Next is Dead Heat (4)
Author Terry Pratchett, Discworld, Wyrd Sisters Souloftherose's fault ; )
Longmire Series: now on (9)
The Gaslit Empire Series: (3) The Fall of the Gas-Lit Empire
Morgue Drawer by Jutta Profijt (on book 6, not out yet)
Mercy Thompson by Patricia Briggs--next up is (10)
Meg Langslow Mysteries by Donna Andrews (Read #1, 2, 3, 7, 20)
Spenser and Hawk Series, by Robert Parker (Read # 1,2,3, 15,16,20) And Ace Atkins
Maggie Hope series by Susan Ella MacNeal (on #2 Princess Elizabeth's Spy)

Finished:
End of Watch in Bill Hodges Trilogy by Stephen King
Miss Peregrine's Peculiar Children

New Books in 2017
✔ ✔ = read

A=Audio
N=New/Gift
GN=Graphic Novel
IR=INDIEspensable Readers
K=Kindle
LT=LibraryThing Early Reviewer

8th Thingaversary
1. Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic (GN) by Alison Bechdel ✔ ✔
2. The Vegetarian by Han Kang ✔ ✔
3. Commonwealth (TBR in October) by Ann Patchett
4. Swing Time by Zadie Smith
5. The Girl with the Lower Back Tattoo by Amy Schumer ✔ ✔
6. The Undoing Project by Michael Lewis
7. Nights at the Circus by Angela Carter ✔ ✔
8. Life on Mars by Tracy K. Smith
+1. Self-Reliance and other essays by Ralph Waldo Emerson

Others
10. Wait for Signs by Craig Johnson (Free--Audible)
11. The Night Bird by Brian Freeman (Free--Kindle First Pre-Release)
12. Night of Fire (IR) by Colin Thubron ✔ ✔
13. Moonglow (IR) by Michael Chabon
14. The Madwoman Upstairs by Catherine Lowell (from MichiganTrumpet)
15: History of Wolves (IR) by Emily Fredlund
16: Ordinary Light by Tracy K. Smith

Open!!

Happy New Thread, Kim. Love the Charlie Brown topper.

>9 msf59: Hiya Mark! Fast on the draw. Don't miss my latest add ^^

Go Snoopy! Go Snoopy!

Feeling any better, my friend?

>11 msf59: Mark--I think I need 24 hours for the meds to kick in. Started them at noon. Right now I just want some good sleep tonight--that would make everything a little easier to handle. : )

Rock-a-bye baby, in the treetop...

And I am reposting these...courtesy of my Dad...enjoy!!

When fish are in schools, they sometimes take debate.

A thief who stole a calendar got twelve months.

When the smog lifts in Los Angeles U.C.L.A.

The batteries were given out free of charge.

A dentist and a manicurist married. They fought tooth and nail.

A will is a dead giveaway.

With her marriage, she got a new name and a dress.

A boiled egg is hard to beat.

When you've seen one shopping center you've seen a mall.

Police were summoned to a daycare center where a three-year-old was resisting a rest.

Did you hear about the fellow whose entire left side was cut off? He's all right now.

A bicycle can't stand alone; it's just two tired.

When a clock is hungry it goes back four seconds.

The guy who fell onto an upholstery machine is now fully recovered.

He had a photographic memory which was never developed.

When she saw her first strands of grey hair she thought she'd dye.

Acupuncture is a jab well done. That's the point of it.

>13 msf59: Can you come back and sing that about midnight your time? : )

Happy New Thread, Kim! No way I can catch up on the last one, but I love the puns. Thanks!
Hope you're getting your rest and that you're back to 100% soon!

>1 Berly: Absolutely love the topper except *gasp* Snoopy is asleep! The horror!

Happy new thread, Kim. You are zipping along this year! Some great reading, too.

>16 LizzieD: Lizzie--Glad you liked the puns. And thanks for the get well wishes. I hope Mark is going to come back soon and sing me to sleep. ; )

>17 Morphidae: M--No. Upon closer inspection, Snoopy is NOT sleeping. He is studying with great concentration. Don't you think?

>18 BLBera: Hi Beth. This year is, indeed, off to a good LT start. Thanks to people like you making it so much fun and hitting me with endless book bullets, and getting everyone excited for your March visit!!!

Happy new one, Kim. I LOVE the topper. Are you feeling better?

Hi Barbara! Me too! Ask me tomorrow. Right now : P

Fingers crossed that the meds have kicked in and you're starting to feel better! The LT lurgy certainly likes to hang about.

Happy new thread, Kim!

I LOVE the Peanuts picture up top! Yes, Snoopy is definitely studious and not sonorous...

Happy new thread, Kim. Hope you are back to feeling well enough to join that party up in >1 Berly: real soon!

Happy new thread, Kim!! It's Snoopylicious and I love it!! Your dad's contribution to you thread is so good! It really woke up my brain this morning!

Happy new thread! I hate to say it, but I'm guilty of "studiously reading" a la Snoopy at times. Mostly on Sunday afternoon in my recliner...

Hi Berly! Happy new thread, and I hope the meds have kicked in. And if they haven't, they'd better get going!

Happy New Thread, Kim!

Love that topper. Good to see the gang at the library.

>14 Berly: Me and your dad would get on like a house on fire.

Happy new thread, Kimmers

Sorry, I was in bed before ten, (my time). This is this old guy's schedule. Hard to break.

Hope you got some rest, Kimmers.

>22 lunacat: Thanks. This is LT Lurgy round two. Sigh. So over it!

>23 scaifea: Hi Amber! So nice to see your smiling face here. Another Peanuts fan! Does Charlie have any favorite comics? Hey, in your honor, I am going to pose a question to everyone!!

Do you (or did you) have a favorite comic strip? In addition to the Peanuts, I like Hagar the Horrible, B.C., and the Wizard of Id. It's one of the things I miss about getting the paper on Sundays.

>24 jessibud2: Shelley--Thanks! You just can't see me -- I am back there to the left of Lucy behind the shelf. ; )

>25 Carmenere: Lynda--Glad you enjoyed those and that I could help wake you up this morning! Anytime.

>26 drneutron: Jim--That's like when I find my Hubby asleep on the couch with his glasses on and his computer in his lap, usually in the middle of some online game. We call that "Doing Research."

>27 karenmarie: Karen--Exactly! I think they might start kicking in this afternoon. Fingers crossed!

>28 jnwelch: Joe--That's how I feel about being her on LT--The Gang is all here!! And you are a big part of that. : )

>29 PaulCranswick: Thanks, Paul. And, oh yes, you would!! That would be a fun meet-up. LOL

>30 msf59: It's okay, Mark. I thought of you and it worked anyhow. ; )

Ugh, sorry to hear that not only is this LT lurgy round 2 (which I think I knew but my brain didn't tell me in time!) but that the meds haven't kicked in yet. Hopefully they're starting to do their work in the background and you'll feel the effects of their effort soon.

>34 lunacat: Yes!! You are a sweetie. : )

>31 Berly: Wow. Wizard of Id. Haven't thought of that one in years. I was a pretty big Far Side fan and still read the comics page in the paper daily.

To answer your question from your last thread, I'm going to attempt the joke about why the dentist and the manicurist got divorced. I thought I was most likely to remember the punch line for that one because it's pretty simple. :-)

>31 Berly: Favorite comic strip: Calvin & Hobbes, of course. I went through a period where it felt like the guy who drew Dilbert was working in the newsroom I was in, but I've gotten over it and now that I know Scott Adams is himself a dillweed I like it even less.

As the features editor at a newspaper, I can tell you there are three things that are guaranteed to generate storms of phone calls and letters from irate readers: Screwing up the TV grid/schedule, screwing up the bridge column, and dropping a comic strip. Take it from someone who's done all three.

>31 Berly: - I'd have to say that Wizard of Id was a favourite of mine, for sure. These days, I still subscribe to a couple of comics online so I can read them daily: Calvin & Hobbes, For Better or For Worse, and Pickles. Plus the political cartoon from the Montreal Gazette, though it is now shared by 3 or 4 cartoonists. It was only Aislin when I was living there; I think he may be semi-retired now.

Get rid of that crud before March, Kim!

I love Calvin and Hobbes and Doonesbury.

Fingers crossed and sending lots of healing vibes that you feel better soon, Kim. Happy Wednesday.

>36 Oberon: The Far Side is a good one. Do you get a paper version of the newspaper or do you read an online version? Mpls Star Trib or NY Times or what?

>37 rosalita: I think your chances are pretty good for remembering that one. ; )

So I see you have mastered how to be a popular person!! LOL. Features Editor would be one of my favorite jobs if I worked at a paper. I think. How is your nwsp or nwsps in general doing with subscriptions in the wake of all the electronic gadgets? Have many of them converted to electronic versions? I go back and forth. For some reason, I greatly prefer the comics in the paper format. I like the look of a whole page of fun!

>38 jessibud2: I like Calvin and Hobbes and For Better or For Worse. Don't know Pickles. I didn't even know you could get the comics online by themselves! Good to know.

>39 BLBera: I am feeling better than yesterday and I promise to be well for March!!

For those of you who don't know, we are having a pretty big meet-up in Portland. If anyone hasn't heard about this and wants to be in the know, we have a link going here:

http://www.librarything.com/topic/170100

So, these are the LTers and friends coming so far:

BLBera/Beth and her sister
EBT1002/Ellen
OregonReader/Jan
Banjo123/Rhonda and Mrs.
SuziQOregon/Juli
arubabookwoman/Deborah and Mr.
Maggie1944/Karen
Berly/Kim

It's gonna be fun!!

PS--I totally forgot about Doonesbury! LOL

>40 Ameise1: Barbara--Happy Wednesday!! And I am doing my best to recover. ; )

Happy new thread, Kim. Hope those meds start get you back to "normal" (ha!) in no time :)

Favorite comics: Calvin and Hobbes, Bloom County, and when I was a kid, our whole family used to love to HATE The Family Circus together. Too much cheesiness for us :)

>44 katiekrug: Thanks, Katie. Well, back to MY "normal" is the goal--LOL. I felt the same way about The Family Circus!! Well played.

>41 Berly: I should have said former features editor — I worked in newspapers until 2002 when I jumped ship as the steep revenue slide was beginning. I loved being a journalist but I have no regrets about leaving for a variety of reasons. I'll put the rest of this in spoiler quotes because it's pretty esoteric: One of the things to remember when newspaper owners cry about falling revenue and the need to cut costs is that while yes, their advertising revenues have fallen and no one has really solved the problem of getting readers to pay for online access, the average profit margin for print journalism is 11 percent, which in any other industry would be considered ridiculously good. (For example, that's 3-4 times the profit margin of ExxonMobil.) The problem is that large newspaper chains like Gannett, Lee Enterprises (both of which I worked for) went crazy with expansion back in the heydays of the 1980s-90s when profits were as high as 30-40 percent, taking on massive debt to buy up competitors. Their profit margins now, while nominally healthy, can't service the extreme debt and produce a quality product. Compounding the problem, newspaper chains are publicly traded, which means it doesn't matter so much whether you are making a profit but whether you are making as much profit as the stock analysts predicted you would. (I once sat in all-newsroom meeting and listened to the editor justify the layoffs of our friends by saying it was our fault because the company had an employee stock ownership plan and it was stockholders who were demanding layoffs. That editor, by the way, is an a**hole.) Of course, slashing newsroom staff meant less news which meant less reason for people to subscribe which meant less reason for advertisers to buy ads ... it's a vicious cycle.

If there is one positive that may come out of this dumpster fire of an election, it's that news organizations are finally starting to again aggressively pursue news and demonstrate their worth. Still, I suspect the future of journalism lies less with legacy newspaper companies and more with nonprofit news organizations like ProPublica and the Center for Investigative Journalism, who are not burdened with the fixed costs of producing a physical product. But they need support, and that's why I made it a point at the start of the year to set up recurring monthly contributions to a variety of worthy journalism organizations.

tl;dr If you have a good local newspaper, please consider subscribing! We are lucky here that one of our local newspapers is independently owned by the employees, not publicly traded, and thus less beholden to market forces. They provide all their content free online, but I bought a subscription and donated it to a local shelter, because while I have no desire to have a physical newspaper delivered I want to make sure they are encouraged to do good work.

>46 rosalita: Julia--Thanks for sharing and it's so true! From your spoiler above: "slashing newsroom staff meant less news which meant less reason for people to subscribe which meant less reason for advertisers to buy ads ... it's a vicious cycle." The quality of the journalism at the Oregonian just went downhill, and they began to use articles that were less regional and more generic, bought from other sources. So that's when I quit paying for the print version. I went electronic for a while, because then I at least was saving a tree, but I quit that in time, too. I currently go without and watch my news on TV. My Hubby still gets online versions of the WSJ and NY Times. I like your idea of donating a subscription...

>41 Berly: - Here you go. These are the links I use. I just click on them daily:

CALVIN & HOBBES:
http://www.gocomics.com/calvinandhobbes
FOR BETTER OR FOR WORSE:
http://www.gocomics.com/forbetterorforworse#.U7kiVXZzbIU
PICKLES: http://www.gocomics.com/pickles

>48 jessibud2: Calvin was perfect today!! I printed it out for my son. LOL

And I forgot which one was Pickles--I love that couple! TP jokes are endless.

Thanks!

>49 Berly: - Actually, Pickles today was only meh. They often have story lines that are hilarious! If you use the back button, you can see all previous ones. I love them, too!

Happy new thread, Kim, hope you get a decent sleep tonight, so you will feel better tomorrow!
Perfect topper and >8 Berly: Snoopy again :-)

>31 Berly: Peanuts and Asterix!

>50 jessibud2: Pickles...Oh, don't worry! I found the back button already. ; )



>51 FAMeulstee: Asterix and Obelix!! That's a comic we never got in the newspaper here is the US, but I read it all the time in my French class and then again while my kids are taking French. Love those viking guys and their cute mustaches...and their little dog...

I love Calvin. I would like one of his time machines. Or maybe the replicating machine...

I'm also a Dilbert fan. Any of the meeting set ones usually get me going.

>46 rosalita: That is so interesting, Julia. I loved the esoteric spoiler bit, too!
We are long-time subscribers to The Seattle Times which seems to be pretty good. I also subscribe to The New Yorker and I just signed up to receive The Atlantic in hard copy. I subscribe to The New York Times on-line only (but I do pay). I have The Guardian app, which is free, and they seem to be pretty good, asked me to become a sustainer for a little more than $6/month and I've been thinking about doing that.

Anyway, all this leading to my question:

"...that's why I made it a point at the start of the year to set up recurring monthly contributions to a variety of worthy journalism organizations."
Which organizations do you recommend?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hi Kim!

At least we're getting to stay home from work. :-)

^ Which is to say that Calvin & Hobbes is my all-time favorite.

Kim, you asked for only print cartoons, right? because, going back to when I was a kid, my very favourite tv cartoons would be The Flintstones and The Jetsons. And Rocky & Bullwinkle, maybe even more. Watching R&B as an adult, gives you a whole new perspective on the subversive humour. Love it

>19 Berly: Snoopy isn't sleeping -- he's just in deep concentration with the textbook. I'll try one the next time I'm caught napping!

To answer your poser at >31 Berly:, I'm a big fan of Doonesbury!

Also, even though it's not a comic strip, I'm a big fan of the Swedish Chef on Sesame Street. I'm pretty sure he was the one who coined the word LURGY. :^)

>59 michigantrumpet: - Oh Marianne, that reminded me of a student I had many years ago. He was non-verbal, but pretty sharp, and whenever I'd put on Sesame Street, the Swedish Chef, for some reason, put him into paroxysms of laughter. Only the Chef. Of course, that made us giggle and that made everyone giggle.

I promise I won't go on and on and on...

>19 Berly: >23 scaifea: obviously don't know Snoopy like >26 drneutron: and I (correctly) know Snoopy. I mean really, look at at him...



Re: comics

For Better or For Worse, goes without saying. Two others are Cathy (which would drive me nuts now) and Garfield.

http://www.gocomics.com/cathy/
https://garfield.com/

>14 Berly: the guy who fell onto an upholstery machine is now fully recovered.
Hehe, for some reason that one got me.

I can't believe I have missed 62 posts. Sheesh, things go crazy around here.
I want to read The Post-American World from Obama's Feb list. ill have to check the library for a copy.

Oh, For Better or Worse is a great one. Farley!!!!!

Kim, I saw on Paul's thread that you're tearing your way up the posting league. I don't know if you care a whit, but I thought I would help out.

xo

One of my favorite books:



It will make you laugh. It will make you cry.

Happy new thread, Kim! I love the topper and >14 Berly:, which I was happy to see you brought over from the previous thread. And I was beyond thrilled that someone else mentioned my all time favorite comic (and it was Katie!!!) - Bloom County! I was thrilled when a few years ago they came out with the entire collection in really nice hardback editions:



I have them all, of course.

*I also have big love for Calvin and Hobbs.

>55 EBT1002: Well, since you asked:

* ProPublica calls their work "journalism in the public interest". They cover a variety of issues, from immigration to criminal justice to the opiod epidemic to maternal health.
* The Center for Investigative Reporting covers a variety of topics on their website and also their podcast, Reveal, which I highly recommend if you are into podcasts. On their homepage right now are articles about workplace safety in several different occupations, public education, criminal justice, the border wall, and the Standing Rock protests.
* The Marshall Project does great investigative journalism about the criminal justice system. I've learned a lot from reading their articles.
The Center for Public Integrity won a Pulitzer in 2014 for their report about the struggle coal miners have in getting compensation for black-lung disease. They also founded the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, which helps reporters from more than 60 countries collaborate on investigative projects. It was the ICIJ that broke most of the news about the Panama Papers last year, if you remember that story.

There's also a local group, IowaWatch, that focuses on our state, and a Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting. There may be similar groups where you are — a quick Google search for "nonprofit journalism Washington state" got me a link to InvestigateWest, which is based in Seattle and covers the Pacific Northwest. (It seems to be founded by staffers of the former Seattle Post-Intelligencer.) There may be others that focus on your city or region as well.

My next challenge is to do better at actually reading the journalism that these organizations produce, and trying to find ways to take action accordingly. Giving money is the easy part!

>62 Morphidae: Oh, I forgot about For Better or Worse — good call, Morphy!

>68 rosalita: Thanks for the list.

Hi Kim, happy new thread my dear. I love the sound of your big Portland meet up my dear and wish I could attend as I am sure I would have a great time with you all. I hope you will take a few photo's my dear so we can all see how your meet up has gone on. Karen has had a reasonably good day but things are so up and down we are taking each day as it comes. Karen says hello and thanks for the kind messages you have posted, sending love and hugs from the both of us.

>53 EBT1002: Perfect! A Get Well Snoopy!! Thanks and same to you. Hope you can breath out of your nose today. That's the worst!

>54 charl08: See! I forgot about Dilbert, too. This is like a trip down memory lane. Love the meeting tip. Ha!

>56 EBT1002: Exactly! Although I dread the piles when I go back, which will hopefully be tomorrow. I think the meds are kicking in! And I approve of Calvin and Hobbes. ; )

>58 jessibud2: I watched both the Flinstones and the Jetsons and now you make me want to go back and watch Rocky & Bullwinkle. Thanks?!

>59 michigantrumpet: Don't tell Morphy, but I think Snoopy IS sleeping. LOL. Good luck with trying to get out of being caught when napping.

The Swedish Chef on SS is pretty funny--he cracks all of us up!

I suppose it's a little late to say Happy New Thread! Lol I LOVE the Peanuts topper though.

I am a big fan of Calvin and Hobbes.

Your Portland meetup looks like great fun. Too bad I'm not visiting my parents that week. :)

>60 jessibud2: More Swedish Chef Giggles!!

>61 EBT1002: Oh no...you go right ahead. I am enjoying this. Good thing we got sick together, huh? : )

>62 Morphidae: Obviously my sarcasm didn't work! LOL I have amended the parenthetical underneath my topper. Also see my response where you are mentioned ^^. Agreed about Cathy and Garfield is a favorite. Hugs.

>63 LovingLit: Oh look! Someone is talking about books. I hope you can find a copy soon and I would love to hear what you think about it. Hope you can find time now between your new job!! As it that would stop you from reading. Ha!

>64 EBT1002: For Better or for Worse...I am horrible with names. I had to look this one up.



Today's strip about car insurance hit close to home as we just rented a car for two weeks!

Comics make me think of cartoons which make me think of Saturday mornings which makes me think of...

>65 EBT1002: Thanks for helping my runaway thread! Imagine my surprise when I checked back in today and my thread is bursting with cartoon characters!! Fun!! Help!! I am trying to keep up on my own thread.

>66 EBT1002: Ellen again!! LOL. You need to not be sick. Remind me to look for Farley at Powell's when we go.

>67 Crazymamie: Bloom County and Calvin and Hobbes!! And, of course, you have all of them in hardback. ; )

Ah, Asterix and Obelix. I adore how skilfully they have been translated to make all the names so funny. And brilliant story telling. They are great sick bed reads as well - I might have to repurchase my copies of the books as I think they got donated at some point. Now I feel the need to read them all again!

>55 EBT1002: Great question Ellen and...

>68 rosalita: ^^ Thanks, Julia. Lots to investigate.

>70 ffortsa: Hi Judy!!

>71 johnsimpson: John--continuing to send best wishes to you and Karen. Thanks for passing them along to her. I hope someday we can actually meet in person--that would be so much fun! I will make sure to take photos at the meet-up.

>73 nittnut: Jenn--Your parents are out here!! You'll have to let me know if you get out this way. Course, your parents will probably be heading out your way to check out the new house, right? And it's never to late to wish Happy New Thread. ; )

>75 Morphidae: Morph--Oh, now that's an oldie!!

>77 lunacat: Jenny--I think I have about 6 or 7 of the Asterix and Obelix books around here somewhere. No they are not logged on LT either. Sigh. But I could go find them, just for fun!

I think I am caught up--hope I didn't miss anyone. Shout out if I did!!

>72 Berly: - A few years ago, I bought a box set of The Complete Series, dvds, (1959-1964) of Rocky & Bullwinkle & Friends. Many, many years ago, I also sat through an R&B festival at the local documentary theatre (before it was a dedicated doc cinema, it used to be a repertory theatre). Yep, I'm geeky for R&B :-)

>81 jessibud2: A R&B festival? Wow! Was it disappointing or awesome? Geeky is good.

>82 Berly: - It was hilarious!

>74 Berly: I hope you can find a copy soon and I would love to hear what you think about it. Hope you can find time now between your new job!!
Well, there is also the small matter of starting university again in two-ish weeks :|

Oh, and not being a comic person, I couldn't add a comment here :)

>68 rosalita: Thanks, Julia! I did ask and this is good (and new) information for me.

Hi again Kim. ;-)

Have the meds started helping yet? I hope so.

Yeah, I'm kind of a nuisance when I'm home sick and starting to get stir crazy, aren't I? :-P

My all-time favorite C&H:

I love all the C&H snowman series. You must have seen those...... :-)

>83 jessibud2: Thumbs up!!

>84 LovingLit: Well, two weeks can fit in a lot of books!! Are you psyched to start up classes again? What are you signed up for?

>85 EBT1002: Ellen! Where have you been all my life? : )

>86 lunacat: Meds are kicking in!! Everyone say Yay!!

>87 EBT1002: LOL. You are always welcome here. Even when you are sick. You seem slightly less intellectual when you are sick (it could just be the runny nose thing), but you make up for it by being very friendly and funny!

>88 jessibud2:

>89 Berly: - :-D. Oh yes.
You are lucky I haven't figured out how to post pictures in threads...... ;-)

>90 jessibud2: Tantalizing...!

>41 Berly: I get the Star Tribune in paper 7 days a week and the New York Times on Sunday. I read several others online but the Star Tribune is my source for comics.

I will say that I love Asterix. I own several in book format so never really count them as comic strips. By that measure I would probably put Tintin as my favorite.

Ha, I love all the comics here. I hope you feel better, Kim.

Feel better, Kim! As far as comic go, I'd have to agree, nothing funnier than Calvin and Hobbes.

>89 Berly: Are you psyched to start up classes again? What are you signed up for?
Psyched? Yes! Literally ;) I am starting a Master's in Applied Science, but really is is social science, and I am probably going to be taking a psychological approach to the research, discursive psychology to be exact. So I am psyched!I am going to look talk to parents about what after school activities their kids do and why. It is a departure from what I had thought I would be doing, and a welcome one. My last topic was too unwieldy, I was getting bogged down in it.

>87 EBT1002: kids are always like, what? What do you mean i did something wrong? When W was little he squirted a whole bottle of cream cleanser all over the driveway, when I 'questioned' him on that, he said to me indignantly..."I was practising writing my name".

Everyone say yay? Okey doke! So glad to hear that the meds have kicked in.

>89 Berly: *snerk* That's why I love Calvin and Hobbes!

>92 Oberon: Hi Eric--That's lot of newspaper to read! I am jumping to conclusions here, but I am thinking you skip the Variety section occasionally and favor Business and Features? And the NYT Book Reviews. : ) I used to like and read TinTin as well, but I don't have any of those in book format and they didn't seem to be as popular as Asterix when my kids studied French so they never brought any home. Sadness.

>93 Ameise1: Barbara--Glad you like the "comic" effect here. It is making me laugh, too. I am off to work today and we'll see how long I last. ; )

>94 banjo123: Rhonda--Thanks and I'm not going to argue: C&H is pretty great!

>95 LovingLit: Megan--And what does one do (or what do you want to do) with a Masters in Discursive Psychology? Glad you narrowed down your field of study to a manageable level. Nothing worse than being too broad and general--it just makes you feel spread too thin and then it's frustrating to see any results.

About the W story--Well, duh, Mom?! What did you think he was doing? LOL Glad he had his priorities straight.

>96 lunacat: Jenny--Thanks! He's so cute and little!! If I could I would stay home another day and read books and play on LT, but duty calls and I am headed to work. I am sure I have piles awaiting me!

>97 drneutron: Hi Jim! Exactly!! Glad to start your day off with a laugh, or *snerk* as the case may be.

Man, it is pouring outside! I hope it slacks off before I have to get in the car and drive--I won't be able to see!!

Hi, Kim!

>48 jessibud2: Thanks for the link, Shelley. I bookmarked Calvin and Hobbes, my all-time favorite.

Sorry you can't stay home and read and play on LT, Kim - hope work treats you well.

"You seem slightly less intellectual when you are sick..."
Hmm, I'm not sure how to take this. Are you saying that I'm usually a stuffy person? You know, when my nose isn't stuffed up.
Or are you just appreciating the incredible whimsy of my true personality, which only comes out when I have Free Time?

I'm going to love retirement. :-)

I am SO glad your meds kicked in and you're feeling better!!!! YAY!!!! But I'm sorry you won't be home to play on LT with me again all day. I'm staying home one more day. I've turned the corner but I can tell that it's still a wee bit too early to try to attend meetings and be productive.

And, in keeping with our current era of protests and marches:

>98 Berly: Boy I am giving off the wrong vibes here. The business section is usually my most likely to skip. I read the front page in parts but I am enough of a news junkie that I usually only read parts of the Star Tribune's front section coverage because a chunk of it is reprints from the Washington Post and NYTimes and I have already read the pieces online. The Minnesota specific stuff that is in the front section I generally read. I follow the Minnesota sports stuff but generally not national sports events.

My Sunday NYTimes I usually read the Magazine, Arts & Culture, Books, and Travel (I have a weird love/hate relationship with the glossy style magazine that is in the Sunday Times from time to time). Again, I am usually up on the immediate news of the day so it is the deeper dive pieces that I read in the news sections.

100 posts in two days! geeze my headache REALLY put me behind here!

skim
skim
skim

Hi Kim!

Hi Berly! Yay for meds kicking in!

Yay for Calvin and Hobbes. Time to get one out again.....

>102 Oberon: Seems Erik and I manage to hit just about the same parts of the NYT Sunday paper!

So glad to hear you are starting to feel better!

Glad those meds are working, Kimmers! You doing good?

>100 jnwelch: Thanks Joe! I made it through work. I am not sure it treated me well, and it wasn't as much fun at playing here, but it does pay the bills. : )

>101 EBT1002: "You seem slightly less intellectual when you are sick..."

This is kinda how I imagined you. I rest my case.



And the cartoon theme here has definitely brought out your fun side!! And/Or maybe it truly is all the free time that has liberated your true whimsical personality!!



But no matter what mood you are in, I love seeing you here. Bringing Calvin & Hobbes and the snowmen doesn't hurt either. Hope you are feeling better!!

>102 Oberon: Eric--I told you I was guessing!! And I was clearly wrong. I just assumed, smart guy that you are, that you would be reading the intellectual stuff. See? That's a compliment! But, of course, it would make sense if you have already read those pieces elsewhere or heard it covered on another media that you would skip it. And local papers are the only way to find out what's happening in your town even-wise and sports-wise, so that makes sense that you would check those sections out. At least I got the NYT Book section right!! LOL Am I forgiven for assigning a smart-guy vibe to you now? : )

>103 ChelleBearss: Chelle--Hi! I am glad you didn't panic and skimmed those posts, because they were COMICS and totally fun!! Right? Hope, since you are here, that your headache is gone?

>104 karenmarie: Hi Karen--Yay for meds is right! Definitely on the mend. ; )

>105 michigantrumpet: Hi Marianne--Great minds think alike, you know.

>106 msf59: Mark! I am tired after my first day back at work, but I survived. Trying to muster my energy because I have tickets to see a Literary Art presentation of Tracy K. Smith tonight. She is a Pulitzer Prize-winning poet and has a memoir out" "that explores coming-of-age and the meaning of home against a complex backdrop of race, faith, and the unbreakable bond between a mother and daughter.

The youngest of five children, Tracy K. Smith was raised with limitless affection and a firm belief in God by a stay-at-home mother and an engineer father. But just as Tracy is about to leave home for college, her mother is diagnosed with cancer, a condition she accepts as part of God’s plan. Ordinary Light is the story of a young woman struggling to fashion her own understanding of belief, loss, history, and what it means to be black in America.

In lucid, clear prose, Smith interrogates her childhood in suburban California, her first collision with independence at Harvard, and her Alabama-born parents’ recollections of their own youth in the Civil Rights era. These dizzying juxtapositions—of her family’s past, her own comfortable present, and the promise of her future—will in due course compel Tracy to act on her passions for love and “ecstatic possibility,” and her desire to become a writer.

Shot through with exquisite lyricism, wry humor, and an acute awareness of the beauty of everyday life, Ordinary Light is a gorgeous kaleidoscope of self and family, one that skillfully combines a child’s and teenager’s perceptions with adult retrospection. Here is a universal story of being and becoming, a classic portrait of the ways we find and lose ourselves amid the places we call home."

Looking forward to it!!

This was amazing!! Lots to say, but no brain cells left tonight. Wow!

Oh that sounds like a wonderful reading. Look forward to hearing more.
Glad you are feeling recovered.
(I skip the whole paper except the books)

Good morning, Kim. I FINALLY got around to your thread, and I'm already in love. A comic discussion. What could be better? I would have to join the masses and say Calvin and Hobbes will always be my favorite. Though I also like Garfield, and Bloom County. Dropping a star, so I don't for get to come back here.

Tracy K. Smith is one of the most articulate, thoughtful, sincere people I have ever had the pleasure to listen to. Last night she read poems that had inspired and moved her; reminded us that 1984 is more true now than ever in this political climate (might have to reread that one this year); and encouraged us to choose our words carefully, to use them not to recite what we already know, but to explore and discover more fully who we are and what we stand for; and she moved me to tears at one point.

One of the first poems that grabbed her attention as a young girl was this one by American poet Emily Dickenson:



I'm nobody! Who are you?
Are you nobody, too?
Then there's a pair of us -- don't tell!
They'd banish -- you know!

How dreary to be somebody!
How public like a frog
To tell one's name the livelong day
To an admiring bog!

And another was "Digging" by Seamus Heaney, an Irish poet



Between my finger and my thumb
The squat pen rests; snug as a gun.

Under my window, a clean rasping sound
When the spade sinks into gravelly ground:
My father, digging. I look down

Till his straining rump among the flowerbeds
Bends low, comes up twenty years away
Stooping in rhythm through potato drills
Where he was digging.

The coarse boot nestled on the lug, the shaft
Against the inside knee was levered firmly.
He rooted out tall tops, buried the bright edge deep
To scatter new potatoes that we picked,
Loving their cool hardness in our hands.

By God, the old man could handle a spade.
Just like his old man.

My grandfather cut more turf in a day
Than any other man on Toner's bog.
Once I carried him milk in a bottle
Corked sloppily with paper. He straightened up
To drink it, then fell to right away
Nicking and slicing neatly, heaving sods
Over his shoulder, going down and down
For the good turf. Digging.

The cold smell of potato mould, the squelch and slap
Of soggy peat, the curt cuts of an edge
Through living roots awaken in my head.
But I've no spade to follow men like them.

Between my finger and my thumb
The squat pen rests.
I'll dig with it.

Smith only read snippets of her own poetry, but there were many examples and they were varied and beautiful. She has won a prize for every single poetry book she has published (3), with the last Life on Mars, winning the 2012 Pulitzer. I got a signed copy of that and her latest, her memoir Ordinary Light, which was a finalist for the 2015 National Book Award for Nonfiction. I can't wait to read these and I will definitely be looking for a favorite to share during Poetry Month! Thank you Literary Arts for bringing her to Portland.

Her talk will be broadcast later on Oregon Public Radio (OPB), but there is an earlier interview that you can download on i-Tunes from this site:

https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/opbs-think-out-loud/id274122573?mt=2

>111 charl08: Hi Charlotte! Nice to see you. : ) You wanted to hear more about Tracy Smith...here you go! ^^

>112 thearlybirdy: Morning, Birdy. You can never have too much C&H--thanks for sharing--you fit right in here! I am glad you found me. : )

>109 Berly: Yep, head is good today. I am going to limit my computer time (after coffee, of course) in hopes that will help keep it away. One more week until new glasses

>115 ChelleBearss: Glad you are feeling better today. Good thing you already had the eye appointment set up! Hang in there.

I still have that onesie image from your thread in my head. In fact, I stole it and here it is!! Since my prednisone is already doing that insomnia thing to me, I see naps in my future and I am just going to have this attitude...

>108 Berly: I am ok with a smart-guy vibe! I just find the business section deadly boring. I admit that while I follow soccer avidly that a lot of the sports stuff I follow more out of habit and sense of obligation than truly caring. Whether as part of work or socializing, it seems to be expected that a guy can converse knowledgeably about the local sports teams. Sadly, I have not found that many people that share my passions for archaeology, international politics or African art. So the sports section is part of my regular guy act.

Here's one of my fav poems

The Underground, by Seamus Heaney

There we were in the vaulted tunnel running,
You in your going-away coat speeding ahead
And me, then like a fleet god gaining
Upon you before you turned to a reed

Or some new white flower japped with crimson
As the coat flapped wild and button after button
Sprang off and fell in a trail
Between the Underground and the Albert Hall.

Honeymooning, mooning around, late for the Proms,
Our echoes die in that corridor and now
I come as Hansel came on the moonlit stones
Retracing the path back, lifting the buttons

To end up in a draughty lamplit station
After the trains have gone, the wet track
Barred and tensed as I am, all attention
For your step following and damned if I look back.

And not to be left out of the Cartoon conversation, favs were in chronological order Peanuts, Hagar, Calvin & Hobbes, Bloom County, and Life in Hell:

Wow, Kim. >113 Berly: This sounds great. I will definitely look for work by her. Thanks for sharing. I love the Heaney poem as well.

Hi Kim, Karen has had a good day and she has got her appointment for her scan on Monday. Hope you are having a good day my dear and hope you have a great weekend dear friend, sending love and hugs.

>117 Oberon: Erik--I totally understand your need to read the sports section so you can be a regular guy and keep up your end of the conversation. LOL. I sometimes dread when people find out that I used to work for the MN Timberwolves, because although I love to watch basketball, it isn't my favorite sport and I no longer know all the players or statistics so I feel like a dolt. Oh well!

Hey--Congrats on the Attorney of the Year Award!!! Cute couple shot, too.

WE still get a daily newspaper in our rural box,
but comics are mostly un-funny with boring Mothers and spoiled or
yuck-inducing Kids.

CALVIN and HOBBES was my favorite.

It would be great if newspapers would just start from the beginning and re-run all the favorites -
seeing PEANUTS and CALVIN from their earliest days would be a lot of welcome fun.

>118 cammykitty: Katie--I had never heard of Seamus Heaney until last night, and then I was reading a bio on the next Literary Arts speaker (which is now next Friday after being snowed out in January), Colum McCann, and there is a line McCann references from Digger describing his father!! I think that is a subtle hint from the universe to perhaps read a bit more of his poetry as well.

"Life in Hell" -- what a crack up! My favorite of those signs of stress is the Boxed-In Feeling.

>119 cammykitty: Hi Beth--Glad to lure you in!

>120 BLBera: John-- xoxo to both of you. Have a great weekend and we'll see what's up on Monday.

Madison, Wisconsin has an awful local newspaper, but that's all there is since the liberal one got engulfed.

Even THE ONION is no longer available except online, where I get tired of looking after comparing
New York Times, Washington Post and Yahoo headlines every morning.

Yes, THE ONION had a lot of dumb repetitive stuff, but balanced it with a laugh-out-loud front page
every couple of weeks.

I adore Colum McCann! What an amazing story teller. He was the Fiction Keynote Speaker here at the Boston Book Festival a few years back. I was captivated.

You might be interested in some backstory - While at a hotel in New Haven CT., McCann came across a man being somewhat abusive towards his female companion. McCann intervened and the whole thing seemed to have simmered down. Instead the guy circled down the street, then came up on McCann from behind to attack him. The next thing McCann remembers is waking up in the Hospital two hours later being fed into an MRI machine.

He was in the midst of writing Thirteen Ways of Looking at the time. I was always struck that the short stories organizing theme seemed to be how different people react to something happening to them via an outside agency of some sort.

Here is his victim witness statement:

http://colummccann.com/extended-authors-note-and-victim-impact-statement/

>123 m.belljackson: >125 m.belljackson: It would be fun to have some retro comics thrown in, wouldn't it? And I haven't heard THE ONION mentioned in years (I have been out here on the west coast for 21 years). They do have some funny front pagers.

>126 michigantrumpet: Marianne--I remember that incident, but had totally forgotten that it was McCann! I read his witness statement (thanks for the link). I think it was articulate, focused, compassionate to the victims; and while not vengeful, demanded consequences for actions. Totally just. It was interesting to read how the attack affected his writing and how he did not want it to influence the short stories he was working on (he had already written "Punch"). I look forward to his talk and also hearing about his newest work, due out this April, Letters to a Young Writer.

I've also read Let the Great World Spin and Transatlantic. Looking forward to reading his latest about his advice to a young writer.

Also looking forward to your thoughts when you hear him speak.

I have Let the Great World Spin waiting for me in the TBR pile and I will probably pick up another one when I go. I'll keep you posted!!

I have been thinking of Dr. Neutron a lot lately, thanks to the books I am reading. I shared this on his thread, but I thought I'd put it here, too.

Jim--I have thought of you a lot lately!

1) I am reading The Globe: The Science of Discworld II by Terry Pratchett, and the chapters alternate between the fictional storyline on Discworld and then science chapters which explore things that have an effect on Discworld. "The two are closely related, designed to fit together like foot and glove;* the science story is presented as a series of Very Large Footnotes to the fantasy story....

*Not hand and glove;the fit isn't close."

So far I have encountered Poincaré's phase space viewpoint (used to discuss L-Space or Library Space) and 6N dimensional phase space of thermodynamics (used in reference to the rare incidence of three or more elastic spheres colliding simultaneously). Doesn't this sound like your kind of book?!

And for you non-science people, there is still enough to understand and plenty of humor to get you through. They is also discussions of the evolution of human intelligence, storytelling, music and art. OR you could just skip the science chapters and read the other half. ; )

2) And then I just heard Tracy K. Smith, a poet, last night and her dad worked on the Hubble Telescope. Her Pulitzer Prize-winning book, Life on Mars, has many tributes to him.

An excerpt from "My God, It's Full of Stars"

"The First Few Pictures came back blurred, and I felt ashamed
For all the cheerful engineers, my father and his tribe. The second time,
The optics jibed. We saw to the edge of all that is--

So brutal and alive it seemed to comprehend us back."

How could I get this far behind in a day and a half?!?!

Pogo was my favorite when I was a kid.


And probably Cathy and Sally Forth later on.

ETA along with Doonesbury, of course.

Roni! Hi. You are so far behind because 1) comics will do that and 2) I have been home sick and spending lots of time on LT!! Don't worry. Things will slow down again. : )

I remember Pogo and Cathy and I was just thinking about Sally Forth this morning. I used to love her, too.

But when I did my search to find an image, I found something unexpected:



What the...?! This version is a sexy action-adventure character, often depicted nude, who began as a recruit in a commando unit. She first appeared during June 1968, in Military News, a 16-page tabloid from Armed Forces Diamond Sales.

Umm...no...!!

I was thinking of THIS Sally Forth, a comic strip with a realistic portrayal of the challenges and victories faced by working mothers today. Please note they are talking about Harry Potter!!

>113 Berly: I will be adding her poetry to the list - poetry month is coming in the AAC.

>119 cammykitty: I love Life in Hell. I'd forgotten about that. Which also reminded me of Hyperbole and a Half.



>133 Berly: EEEEK!!!

Oh, so much Calvin & Hobbes, so much fun to catch up on!

>134 nittnut: I don't remember that one! Funny! ROFL! That's the way Sage thinks although I'm not sure he notices "something bad happens" might have a connection with "the thing."

Berly, I had a class in college where we studied 4 poets in depth, like almost everything they wrote in depth and Heaney was one of the ones we studied. He's fantastic.

>136 cammykitty: Agree with Katie on Heaney.

I read the thirties poets - Auden, Spender, MacNeice, Day-Lewis and loved them to bits but Thomas, Hughes and Heaney writing later had their number.

Have a great weekend, Kimmers.

Good morning, Kim. I hope you have a great weekend. It's fun seeing all these different comics, some of which I didn't even know about.

Hi Berly! Your thread is always entertaining.

I'm glad you're on the mend.

>133 Berly: The only consolation to the Harry Potter series being over is that we have now had Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, a play, and Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them: The Original Screenplay. I think JK is trying to expand our horizons as readers, although a juicy old-fashioned HP-related novel from her would be fantastic.

>134 nittnut: Jenn--Love that cartoon. There is that fine line between stubbornness and stupidity!! LOL
Yes, I will definitely be reading for Poetry month this year. I am not sure Life on Mars will be the one though--I am already halfway through it!! Sorry if I scared you. ; )

>135 evilmoose: Fun is good!! Nice to see you around these parts.

>136 cammykitty: I am thinking Heaney might have to be my April poet! Thanks for the endorsement.

>137 PaulCranswick: I have read some Day-Lewis, Thomas, and Hughes, but no Heaney. Okay, it's final! It's Heaney for me in April. I will have to track down something of his. Thanks, Paul.

>138 thearlybirdy: Morning, Birdy! I am really enjoying seeing everyone's favorite comic strips. I don't know all of them either and some I had forgotten about. I do remember being mad when we moved once that my favorite comic strip wasn't carried by the new local paper. 'Course I can't remember which one it was now. Only that it was gone. Happy Saturday!

>139 karenmarie: Hi Karen. Well, the other consolation, now that Harry Potter is over, is that Rowling is writing the Spenser mystery novels under the pen name Robert Galbraith. I am eagerly awaiting book #4!! Of course, she is probably busy with the TV adaptation of that as well. Busy woman!!

Hi Kim, I am loving your thread dear lady, hope you are having a really good Saturday and wish you a super Sunday. We have had a good day and I will post more on my thread, sending love and hugs.

>113 Berly:. Sounds like a great event, Kim. I'll look for a chance to see her. Thanks for telling us about it and sharing those poems. I loved her Life on Mars, and want to read more by her.

Hey, Kim, I'm thinking Life on Mars should be on my Powell's wishlist.

Happy Saturday, Kimmers! I stopped by earlier, while at work, but did not have time to leave appropriate comments.

>113 Berly: So glad you heard Tracy K. Smith. I would love to attend an author talk with her. Joe, turned me on to Life on Mars and I loved it. I love a fresh, new voice. I do not know she had a memoir out. Please, let me know how it is.

I am hoping more people share their poetry over on the 75 poetry thread. Keep the joy going.

Hope you are enjoying the weekend. How are those current reads coming?

>107 Berly: You didn't imagine far from the truth (and that image cracked me up).

Your thread is humming along, my friend! Those meds must be something pretty special. ;-)

Tracy K. Smith sounds amazing! I enjoyed her poem collection, Life on Mars but it didn't knock my socks off as much as did Bright Dead Things by Ada Limon. Still, I will look for her Ordinary Light.

And I'm not catching where this part of the conversation started but I also loved both Let the Great World Spin and TransAtlantic.

Have a great Sunday, Kim! I'm looking forward to seeing you next month (which reminds me, I must make that hotel reservation!).

Happy Sunday, Kim.

>131 Berly: Lovely poetry Kim. Sounds like a great event.

>133 Berly: I was too old to read the HP books this way, but I love that there is a cartoon about reading like this.

Good morning, Berly! I, too, can't wait for the 4th in the Cormoran Strike series. I've read the books once and listened to them once, too.

I hope you have a great day.

I haven't read much poetry for years, but all the good poems I've seen on LT lately make me think I'll have to pick a poet for April too. Don't know if I should revisit an old fav like Elizabeth Bishop, Mary Oliver or Liesel Mueller, or find someone new. Of course, there's time for more than one.

so, I'm half-way in Petersburg. Very trippy, as we both of course expected it would be. Here's a pic from Carter's inspiration for you, circa 1968!
,

>142 johnsimpson: John--Glad to hear you and Karen had a good day. Hoping Sunday was just as good!! Hugs to both of you.

>143 jnwelch: See, Joe, you are always on step ahead of me. You'v already read Life on Mars!! Maybe I'll get to the memoir before you. ; )

>144 BLBera: Beth--I am thinking I better start a Powell's list!! So far, I need some poetry by Heaney; and a Discworld that starts me at the beginning of one of the threads, maybe Guards! Guards! or Wyrd Sisters.

>145 msf59: Hi Mark! I am feeling the poetry love and thank you for making that part of your AAC. I know Heaney isn't American, so I'll have to find another poet that is, so I can be true to the challenge. ; ) I am slowly moving through my current reads. RL is in the way and some of them are heavy reads, so I have to space them out. But they are good. Happy Sunday!

Hi - on my Happy February 1st Thread, you mentioned Powell's Indie books - is that a store location?

Many years ago, I often cruised through the first Powell's on the University of Chicago campus -
a tiny street corner shop packed with something for everyone.

>146 EBT1002: Hi Ellen! I haven't finished anything yet of Tracy K Smith; I am about halfway through her Life on Mars: Poems, and I loved her as a speaker. I am going to hear McCann speak next Friday and I have Let the Great World Spin waiting for me. Both of these authors are part of the Literary Arts Series here in Portland and I love this event because I usually know about half of the yearly authors and the other half are new to me and widen my horizons. This year also included Louise Erdrich and Don DeLillo and the final speaker will be Siddhartha Mukherjee.

PS--Glad you liked the fallen tissue victim. ; ) Make your hotel reservation!!

>147 Ameise1: Happy Sunday, Barbara!! You always know the right thing to say. : )

>148 charl08: Hi Charlotte! My kids were the perfect age to read Harry Potter and so I read to them and along with them. We also have this wonderful independent bookstore very close by and they held these totally fun book release parties for the kids. Loved them!!

>149 karenmarie: Hi Karen--Yesterday was a busy day. I took my oldest to a bank to apply for her first solo credit card and then we went shopping for odds and ends for her new apartment!! She and a friend are moving in in March. I am happy/sad. This is an end to an era and I am really trying to enjoy her last month at home. Today I plan on vegging!

We saw a play last night called Marjorie Prime, By Jordan Harrison, and it was fantastic!

It's about a family grappling with the difference between a life lived and a life remembered. The main actress is 85-year-old Marjorie and she struggles to keep hold of her memories and identity, using an artificial version of her late husband, Walter. It was a cool exploration of aging, memory and technology. Thoughtful, disturbing, funny and poignant. This play was a 2015 Pulitzer Prize finalist for Drama and it will be a 2017 film, adapted by the Season 4 writer/producer of Orange Is the New Black starring Jon Hamm, Lois Smith, Geena Davis & Tim Robbins. I will definitely see the movie when it comes out.

>152 m.belljackson: Powell's is an independent bookstore based in Portland, Oregon. And it is huge and wonderful!! It is the whole white building you see in this picture.



They have subjects by ROOM!! My cute Hubby also signed me up for their INDIEspensable book collection and they send out books every 6-8 weeks or so. They have been some of my favorite books each year. Kudos to the staff who make the picks!!

>150 cammykitty: Ooops!! Almost missed you, Katie!! I vote for more than one poet in April. That way you can do an old favorite and a newbie. Who is in that picture? It almost looks like the actress from Bewitched, the TV show! Elizabeth Montgomery. But I am thinking not.

Nope. Judi Dench, painted green and naked but for a few strategically placed leaves. Midsummer Night's Dream which BTW has a faerie named Cobwebs, just like Sleeping Beauty in Nights at the Circus

>157 cammykitty: I figured it was Midsummer Night's Dream, but not Judi Dench! And now that you have cleared up the cobwebs (see what I did there!) I get the connection. ; )

Your thread.

You and I talked about me making my way to Portland for one or more of the Literary Arts Series and it's just hard to make it down there very often (it's about a 3.5-hour drive, one way) but I'm impressed with this year's line-up!

>98 Berly: And what does one do (or what do you want to do) with a Masters in Discursive Psychology?
Well, the masters is in applied science, and ill be approaching the research using a psychological approach. It is still about kids after school (physical) activities, with more of an angle on hoe parents talk about/justify their choices for their kids.
What Ill do with it? Just try to get through it I suspect ;)

>155 Berly: book subjects by room!!?? One could easily lose a day in there!!!

Hi Kim! I'm returning to LT after a week of mostly-disconnected vacation. No way can I catch up on all threads, so I'm just going to start fresh from here.

* waves *

>159 EBT1002: Ha, ha! Thanks. But I don't do it alone--it is because of amazing people like you who are kind enough to visit here and leave thoughtful, silly and kind comments!! : )

>160 EBT1002: I am not above throwing out inducements to get you down here. ; ) But it is a long trek and the talks are always on a Thursday, which makes it hard. (Not counting the snow-cancelled rebooked McCann.) I look forward to seeing you in March!

>161 LovingLit: Well, I know I would have a lot of fun with your major, because it is in Psychology, and that was one of my majors. And I have no doubt that you will do more than just "get through it"!

And it is great fun to get lost at Powell's!! My next planned excursion is on March 18th with the LT meet-up. I am already making a list, which usually gets added to greatly spur-of-the-moment.

>162 lauralkeet: Vacation, disconnected or otherwise, is wonderful; I will hop over and see what you have been up to. Starting fresh can be a good thing. Welcome back!!

Good morning, Berly!

>153 Berly: They do grow up, don't they? My daughter last lived at home in 2012, and I am rather proud of her working and paying her own bills (except for cell phone and car insurance, which we still pay). Enjoy the month.

>154 Berly: I'll look forward to the movie.

heavy handed again, duplicate. sorry.

Nights at the Circus by Angela Carter 2.5

Okay. I am not going to lie. I did not like this book. And I feel bad giving it a 2.5, but 3.0 on my newly revised rating means "good" and this wasn't. Interestingly enough, this book scores well on LT (3.97), but if you read the reviews, there are a fair number of negative ones.

I powered through to the end because I am reading it with CammyKitty/Jenny and because I never got around to it when I was hosting the David Bowie thread with IreadthereforIam/Megan last year. But I am sorry I spent my time on it.

The book is about the star attraction of the circus, an aerialist who is half woman and half swan, Sophie Fevvers. Other major characters include her foster mother Lizzie, who may be a witch, and a newspaper reporter, Jack Walser, who wants to find out whether Fevvers is a scam artist. The romance didn't work for me, the magic fell flat and the characters never drew me in. The writing is wonderful and I did enjoy Fevvers early childhood growing up in a bordello, but the stories didn't connect later on. Ah well, I finished it and I can check it off my list.

>164 karenmarie: Hi Karen--I am very proud of her and I know she will still be a frequent visitor, so I don't have to be too sad at her moving out. : )

Off to RL book club to discuss Jane Eyre! And eat. : )

>166 Berly: I hated it too and felt faintly daft for hating it so much when everyone else seemed to love it. Glad we agreed!

I will take advantage of time differences to be first:

HAPPY BIRTHDAY KIMMERS!

Is it birthday time? Happy Birthday!

LOL, and I put aside Nights at the Circus to let you catch up! I still have Siberia left. Sorry you didn't like it much. I'm not enjoying it as much as I have her short stories. It seems more like a bunch of related vignettes rather than a novel. If it has a plot, it's buried deep. I'm finding the clowns really disturbing, and it seems like everyone is on the edge of slavery with not much room to improve their lots, with the possible exception of Walser and assorted perverted rich men.

Happy Birthday, Kim. Wishing you a gorgeous day.


To see the birthday greetings click here.

Happy Birthday, Kimmers!

Have a splendid birthday today, Kim!

^Have a great one, Kimmers! Hugs to my pal.

Happy birthday! Hope it's a good one.

Oh my Goodness! I have missed so much since my last visit but of course......timing is everything so Happy Birthday! Have a wonderful day!!!

Hmmm I swear I posted happy birthday wishes before! maybe I forgot to hit the *post* button? In any case, enjoy your big day!!

Hippo birdy

Oh, happy birthday, Kim!!

>169 PaulCranswick: Paul--I am so glad YOU agreed with my review. I feel better! LOL. And thanks for starting off the birthday wishes.

>171 banjo123: Now that's my kind of cake!! Yum!

>172 cammykitty: I was trying to catch up to you! Well, the book may not have been my cup of tea, but it was fun to read something with you. Let me know what you think of the last setting....

>173 Ameise1: I love those mice!! I admit it. I listened to them more than once. ; )

>174 DianaNL: Thank you!

>175 rosalita: I am going to try my darnedest.

>176 msf59: Books, cake, candles and confetti!! Perfect.

>177 lauralkeet: Thank you. Me too!

>178 Carmenere: Right on time! Thanks for the cookies--so cute.

>179 jessibud2: Thanks for double-checking and posting birthday wishes twice!

>180 cammykitty: Well said.

>181 scaifea: Thanks!! : )

Two days ago my hubby was older than me by a year. Yesterday he was two years older than me, but today it is back to only one year. ; )

>184 Berly: Two days ago my hubby was older than me by a year. Yesterday he was two years older than me, but today it is back to only one year. ; )

Wait ... what? You're making my head hurt!

Happiest of Birthdays, Berly! I hope you're having a wonderful day.

Hope you're having fun! >184 Berly: Like this!

Happy Birthday, Kim!

>166 Berly: we agree on that then! Ill just go check what I rated it, but I think i was the same, hovering between a 2.5 and a 3.

Eta: Woah, I gave it a 2! It must have annoyed me more than I remember ;) I agree with your comments, it is checked off the list now, so in that sense it was worth reading.

Hi Kim, Happy birthday dear lady and we hope you have a really lovely day, with us it is Karen that is the elder by two years and two months, I am her toyboy, ha ha. Sending birthday love and hugs on this special day.

The Classic Comics can still make us laugh and fill us with wonder at
the imaginations of their creators.

Here are a couple of the newer ones that have Good Stuff to offer:

RETAIL,
Heart of the City,
Non Sequitur,
Stone Soup,
PEARLS BEFORE SWINE
(though RAT can go way over the top),

and sometimes, Frazz and Funky.

And, Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday! I hope you're having a wonderful day. I was a year younger than TheBF for 23 days.........now it's back to the same again.

Happy Birthday, Kim!

>185 lauralkeet: My Hubby was born a year and a day before me. It actually works out great, because he always knows he has 24 hours to get me something for my birthday when I wish him a happy one!! LOL. I am teasing. He is very romantic and really doesn't need the prodding.

>186 karenmarie: A pretty good day, except for a rock that flew up into my windshield and caused it to crack. Dang. ; (

>187 charl08: Just a quiet family dinner planned for tonight. And then Hubby and I will both open our gifts. Sometimes we do it on his night and sometimes on mine. : )

>188 katiekrug: Thanks Katie!!

HAPPY Birthday, Kimmers! Hope it's been a good one.

>189 LovingLit: Ha! I feel like giving Nights at the Circus a 2.0 as well; I don't know that I have ever done that before. And it is rated as a classic and a David Bowie favorite! But I really didn't like it.

>190 johnsimpson: Toy boy? LOL. Here, you are a boy toy!!! In either case, I will never think of you the same again. ; )

>191 m.belljackson: I will have to check some of these out--thanks!

>192 lunacat: LOL. Dating an older man, heh?

>193 jnwelch: Thank you, Joe!! : )

>195 ronincats: And thank you, Roni! (You snuck in there.)

Happy Birthday!! Mine is next week. With only 28 or 29 days in Feb, mine always sneaks up on people.

>198 lindapanzo: Thanks, Linda! I am going to wish you an early one here, and then I'll pop over next week for the real deal. : )

>199 Berly: I was born on the day the Peace Corps was founded.

Niece is on taper this week. Big regionals meet this weekend. Not sure but I think she might have a state champs time or two for next weekend. Hope she does well. She's at a plateau and I know it's bothering her (she had some of her best ever in season times but she doesn't see it that way). I'll be following along on meet mobile when I can since I won't be able to go this weekend.

>200 lindapanzo: I kinda figured it was the 1st. ; ) I will be sending fast waves her way this weekend!!

Hope you had a fabulous birthday.

Thank you, Morphy! It was a very nice day and I am all tucked in bed with a bit of Bailey's to sip on. The kids are doing the dinner dishes and they gave me the nicest birthday cards and gifts. My son even got all sentimental in his card--made me teary!! I feel very lucky to have such a wonderful family.

I wondered why I was so far behind on your thread, Kim, but then I found out that you were sick at home for days and playing on LT. I hope you feel much better.

Happy Birthday!

Loved the cartoons. Zits is one of my favourites:

>204 Familyhistorian: Hi Meg!! Yeah, LT is a great thing to do when stuck at home sick. Or anytime! Thanks for posting Zits ^^. That's another one I remember fondly. And that particular strip is perfect for the winter in Portland! I think I have had that exact conversation!! LOL

Thanks for taking one for the team, Kim. I'll skip Nights at the Circus.

>206 EBT1002: Yup. You're welcome. Everyone has to take the risk and report back. Oh well.

I'm just glad I am not Susie!!^^

>194 Berly: now I get it. Thanks for the explanation, it makes complete sense but I just couldn't wrap my head around it yesterday!

>206 EBT1002: I'm not sure why this makes me laugh, but it does.

Hi Kim!

>208 lauralkeet: >209 charl08: : )

Good morning, Berly! Your birthday and husband's being a day apart is cool. I hope the joint festivities were special.

I'll skip Nights at the Circus too. Yay. One book bullet dodged.

You are welcome!

Belated happy Birthday, Kim!

I was so absorbed in my book, that I ignored the threads yesterday ;-)

Happy Belated Birthday! I hope it was a good one!

>196 Berly:, Hi Kim this is making me chuckle my dear, I am war wounded today because of last nights high winds (see my thread), a bad cut on my thumb and my poor back is acheing.

I am late to wish you happy, Kim, but I think that is one of the things that you excel in. Thanks for making this place so fun and lively and full of wonder. Hoping your day was as special as you are.

>209 charl08: Because it is Calvin & Hobbes. They do that. They make you laugh. :-)

>210 Berly: Happy Thursday, Kim. The weekend is even closer now except that it comes later here than anywhere *sigh*.

>213 FAMeulstee: Anita--Sounds like it was a good trade-off. : )

>214 nittnut: Thanks, Jenn. Birthdays are always good.

>215 johnsimpson: Uh-oh, John! Can't have you wounded....sending healing mojo.

>216 Crazymamie: Oh, Crazy. That is just so sweet it almost made me cry. Thank you so much. I am marking that one as a favorite!

>217 EBT1002: ; )

>218 Familyhistorian: I can almost reach it....just one more day....!