karenmarie, addictively turning pages, chapter 2

Welcome to my second thread of 2018! This will be my 3rd year of retirement from the 8-5, 5 day-a-week world. I don’t miss work at all. I read, am a charter member of the Redbud and Beyond Book Club, now in its 21st year, am Treasurer for our local Friends of the Library (henceforth abbreviated FoL), and manage our home, finances and etc. as my husband heads off to work Monday – Friday. Being an introvert (you’d never guess it from these pages!) I need and cherish the alone time to recharge my batteries.

I have been married to Bill for 26 years and am mother to Jenna, now 24, living about 3 hours away and starting a 2-year business administration program at Cape Fear Community College in Wilmington. We have two kitties, 18-year old Kitty William and 10-year old Inara Starbuck. We live in our own little corner of paradise on 8 acres in central North Carolina USA.

The picture I’ve chosen for this thread is of my daughter Jenna when she was about 3 and my niece Heather, when she would have been about 17. My sister and her husband, niece, and nephew Ryan came to visit us at our previous house and Jenna was totally enamored of her cousin. She piled up blankets and pillows in an act of love.




My goal is to read 105 books in 2018, 5 more than I read in 2017. I missed my pages read goal of 34,000 pages by 525 pages, so will keep the same pages goal.







And, in honor of Sue Grafton, I am going to re-read all her Kinsey Millhone Alphabet Series books this year. Alas, there will never be a Z.




A few quotes about libraries that mean a lot to me:

Libraries are reservoirs of strength, grace and wit, reminders of order, calm and continuity, lakes of mental energy, neither warm nor cold, light nor dark. The pleasure they give is steady, unorgastic, reliable, deep and long-lasting. In any library in the world, I am at home, unselfconscious, still and absorbed. Germaine Greer

I declare after all there is no enjoyment like reading! How much sooner one tires of any thing than of a book. – When I have a house of my own, I shall be miserable if I have not an excellent library. Jane Austen

I like libraries. It makes me feel comfortable and secure to have walls of words, beautiful and wise, all around me. I always feel better when I can see that there is something to hold back the shadows. Roger Zelazny

And finally, very few books are worth slogging through when the inspiration to read them has gone. I abandon books with glee.

My theme for 2018, addictively turning pages, comes from an image on Mark’s thread first thread of 2018. In this case, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.

Books read

1. Every Dead Thing by John Connolly 12/27/17 1/6/18 *** 467 pages trade paperback
2. Kinsey and Me by Sue Grafton 1/6/18 1/9/18 **** 283 pages hardcover
3. The Country Girls by Edna O'Brien 1/1/18 1/10/18 *** 1/2 175 pages trade paperback
4. You're All Just Jealous of My Jetpack by Tom Gauld 1/1/18 1/15/18 **** 160 pages hardcover
5. Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House by Michael Wolff 1/6/18 1/17/18 *** 1/2 328 pages hardcover, Kindle
6. No Middle Name by Lee Child 1/17/18 1/19/18 **** 418 pages hardcover
**abandoned after 90 pages** Brain Food by Lisa Mosconi 1/9/18 326 pages trade paperback ER Book
7. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince 12/3/17 1/22/18 **** audiobook, 19 hours
8. The Hounds of Spring by Lucy Andrews Cummin 1/23/18 1/23/18 ****1/2 160 pages trade paperback
9. A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman 1/20/18 1/26/18 **** 337 pages trade paperback
10. The Far Side Gallery 5 by Gary Larson 1/24/18 1/27/18 159 pages trade paperback 1995

Currently Reading:

A is for Alibi by Sue Grafton 1/26/18 209 pages hardcover 1982
Nicholas Nickleby by Charles Dickens 1/1/17 780 pages plus 9 pages introduction, 1838
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows 1/22/18 audiobook 2007

Books Added

January -

1. SomeGuyInVirginia - True Tales from the Annals of Crime and Rascality by St. Clair McKelway
2. Thrift Shop - Secrets in Death by J.D. Robb
3. BookMooch - Guardian Angels & Spirit Guides by Brad Steiger
4. BookMooch - God's Fires by Patricia Anthony
5. Circle City Books - A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman for Feb Book club
6. Circle City Books - Plainsong by Kent Haruf for March Book club
7. Amazon - Why Buddhism is True by Robert Wright
8. LT ER - The Hounds of Spring by Lucy Andrews Cummin
9. BookMooch - The Silver Swan by Benjamin Black
10. Thrift Shop - The Princess Bride by William Goldman
11. Amazon - A Trail Through Time by Jodi Taylor e-book
12. Amazon - Fire and Fury by Michael Wolff e-book
13. B&N - Persons Unknown by Susie Steiner

Culls

1. Every Dead Thing by John Connolly first of a series I will never continue
2. Brain Food by Lisa Mosconi

Stats

Next One's Yours!

At the bottom of my last thread @streamsong, Janet, asked the following:

I've never watched the Midsomer Murders but I now have them in my Netflix que (DVD's since I can't stream with my internet). Netflix only has them starting with series 3. I can get series 1 & 2 through ILL. Should I start with season 1? Is there a better place to start?

My answer was:

Hi Janet!

If you can wait to get season one it's always better to start at the beginning, but in reviewing the first 9 episodes you'll obviously miss some character development but each episode is standalone as far as the mystery goes. IMO only.

Anybody have a better answer?

Happy new thread, Karen!

Hi Horrible, I'm coppin' a squat.

>7 FAMeulstee: Hi Anita! Thank you.

>8 richardderus: Excellent! *smooch* I just posted on your thread.....

Happy new thread, Karen!

Hey Karen, happy newthread.

I'm in!

Happy new thread!

Happy new thread, Karen!

>6 karenmarie: I agree. We DVR them and watch them in "whatever" order. They're usually from the same season, but not always, and quite random. I don't think it's a problem at all.

Hi Karen, happy new thread my dear, hope you are having a good weekend and send love and hugs from both of us dear friend.

HI Karen,

Re: Sue Grafton talk on last thread, it sounds like her family has the series sewn up at "Y". For valid reasons. So close....

Great top pic! I love how children express their love :) :) :)

>10 Crazymamie: Thanks, Mamie!

>11 majleavy: Hey back, Michael, and thank you!

>12 SomeGuyInVirginia: Of course you are! What would I do without you here, Larry?

>13 drneutron: Thanks, Jim our Group Administrator Extraordinaire.

>14 harrygbutler: Hi Harry! Thanks.

>15 RebaRelishesReading: We’ve enjoyed watching them in order, Reba, although one could watch an individual episode and enjoy it thoroughly. I refused to watch NCIS until Bill had recorded all the seasons – twelve by then, I think, at 20 episodes per season. Since then we’ve watched each new season as the episodes have become available. In MM, I think the peripheral characters’ stories could benefit by being watched in order, but it’s not the end of the world if that doesn’t happen. I can’t say who they are because that would be a spoiler!

>16 johnsimpson: Hi John! Good weekend, cold out, warm in. Sending love and hugs to you an Karen.

>17 LovingLit: Hi Megan. I agree that that the reasons are valid – they are Grafton’s wishes, and the family doesn’t seem to be making money-grubbing noises. Thank you re the pic of Jenna and Heather.

Book club has been cancelled permanently for January since the hostess has been sick since Thursday. She sent an e-mail out last night and after a couple of abortive attempts to move the cooked food to someone else’s house, Blanche said she was too sick to even think about trying to pack the food up. In hindsight, food from a sick person’s house wasn’t a good idea anyway. We can talk about A Good Man is Hard to Find next month for a few minutes perhaps.

Bill and I watched the Pittsburgh-Jacksonville NFL game and if I was a Steelers fan, I'd have been livid at how stupidly they played in the last 2 minutes or so.

Happy new thread, Karen!

What a cute picture of your daughter and your cousin!

Happy new thread, Karen.

Happy new thread, Karen.

I think you'll ace 105 books no problem this year.

Happy new thread!

>19 EllaTim: Thank you, Ella! Heather is my niece, my daughter’s first cousin. Just sayin’.

>20 BLBera: Thank you, Beth!

>21 PaulCranswick: Thanks, Paul! Whew! I sure do hope so. I feel good about it, that’s for sure.

>22 ChelleBearss: Thanks, Chelle. I’m stunned that I’m on my second thread in the middle of January.

Well, we also just watched the Vikings/Saints game and OMG. 70-yard touchdown by the Vikings with no time left on the clock, had to kick people off the field in order to snap the ball for the extra point, which was immediately spiked. 29-24 Vikings. Fun stuff.

OMG, I've completely missed your first thread of the year. And I was going to be so good. Ah well, I'll catch up later.

I saw some of the Jacksonville-Pittsburgh game this afternoon, a welcome distraction on a family visit. What kind of a score is that? Really, it sounds like basketball to me. Someone find their defense, please!

I saw on your previous thread that your husband was a submariner. Whoa! Good on him.

A high school friend got drafted into the navy just after he graduated from med school. At a reunion years ago, he said he volunteered for submarine duty. He said he spend most of his time counseling crew members for stress. After his discharge, he studied psychiatry.

>24 ffortsa: Hi Judy! You're right about the defense. I watched some, left, came back, and stayed for the last few minutes of the 3rd and all of the 4th quarter.

>25 weird_O: Thanks, Bill. My Bill had no problems with stress during his 6 years as a bubblehead. I had another friend who had to be airlifted off the boomer run (3 months at sea, 3 months in port, rinse and repeat) because they didn't catch his claustrophobia. I have claustrophobia and can't imagine sleeping with your face less than six inches below the bunk above you.

I didn't want to be awake at this time - I forgot to turn off a cell phone alarm from last Monday and it went off at 6 a.m. But first sip of coffee and the propane stove taking the chill off the room is not a bad way to start the day.

Good morning, Karen. Happy New Thread. Waking up to snow this A.M. Ugh! At least I have the holiday off. Not much planned for the day- a massage and hanging with the books.

Hi Mark! I hope you enjoy and/or get relief from the massage. We might get some freezing rain/snow Tuesday night through late Wednesday. It's still too far off to tell, I think.

Hanging with the books sounds fun, too. I'm working on NN, Fire and Fury, and Brain Food, an ER book.

Karen! I can't believe I missed your entire first thread and am only now finding you! How the heck did that happen??! Apologies.

From your last thread, I have Quiet on my shelf and this is the year I will finally get to it. I honestly have no idea why I have let it languish so long on the shelf but not anymore! I actually have a fridge magnet on my fridge door that says *People are ok. I prefer the company of books*. It's not always true for me; I really do like my friends and I am not totally a hermit. But it struck me as funny and it still makes me smile.

This thread is starred now!!

Edited to add that, after a few weeks of almost no birds at all at my feeder, they are back in full force. The other day, I counted 19 or 20 goldfinches on the feeder and lawn! All still in winter drab but the gorgeous black and white tail feathers don't change and make for easy ID.

Good morning, Karen! Yesterday while out and about we saw an immature bald eagle in a tree near the road. When we came back for a closer look, we got to watch it flying around, too.

>29 jessibud2: Hi Shelley! The flurry of activity this year on the threads has overwhelmed me, for sure and I'm still finding threads I missed at the beginning of the year. So, no apologies needed, I completely understand. It's nice to see you here!

When you decide to read Quiet let me know - I want to read it this year.

I currently see 2 birds on the sunflower se4d feeder and 3 birds on the seed/sunflower seed feeder. There's a fourth in the Crepe Myrtle. They are fun to watch. Pecking order exemplified.

>30 harrygbutler: Hi Harry! How wonderful. I really need to start going to the State Park at Jordan Lake, they have many events about the bald eagles this time of year, as it turns out.

Happy New Thread, Karen!

That Vikings win was unbelievable. What a finish!

Hi Joe! Thank you.

Absolutely amazing, I agree. I sure wouldn't want to be #43 for the Saints after that snafu. I guess it makes sense that he didn't want to allow a field goal in the last seconds by tackling him right away, but he clobbered the only other Saint who had a chance to take Diggs out as he sprinted for the touchdown. I was grumbling that since I didn't have a horse in the race (Panthers) that I guessed it would have to be okay that the Saints won. After the Vikings won Bill said "And that's why the games get played." We were happy. Still don't have a horse in the race, but we'll probably be cheering for the Vikings.

Morning, Karen! I watched that Vikings/Saints game, too - incredible!

'Morning, Mamie! A great end to second-half-interesting game.

4. You’re All Just Jealous of My Jetpack by Tom Gauld
1/1/18 to 1/15/18





The description from Amazon:

"Precise and wryly hilarious...Gauld's both a literature nerd and a science-fiction nerd whose deadpan mashups belong on the same shelf as R. Sikoryak, Michael Kupperman, and Kate Beaton."―NPR, Best Books of 2013

A new collection from the Guardian and New York Times Magazine cartoonist.

The New York Times Magazine cartoonist Tom Gauld follows up his widely praised graphic novel Goliath with You're All Just Jealous of My Jetpack, a collection of cartoons made for The Guardian. Over the past eight years, Gauld has produced a weekly cartoon for the Saturday Review section of Britain's best-regarded newspaper. Only a handful of comics from this huge and hilarious body of work have ever been printed in North America―and these have been available exclusively within the pages of the prestigious Believer magazine.

You're All Just Jealous of My Jetpack distills perfectly Gauld's dark humor, impeccable timing, and distinctive style. Arrests by the fiction police and imaginary towns designed by Tom Waits intermingle hilariously with piercing observations about human behavior and whimsical imaginings of the future. Again and again, Gauld reaffirms his position as a first-rank cartoonist, creating work infused with a deep understanding of both literary and cartoon history

Why I wanted to read it: I saw a cartoon on somebody’s the review on Richard's second thread of 2017, message #154 and wanted it. Daughter Jenna obliged at Christmas (see Richard's second thread, message #162).

Literature and science fiction collide in this book, with wonderful results. I laughed out loud more times than not.

I have posted two of the comics relating to Dickens on the Nicholas Nickleby group read thread, and here’s one that is a fitting tribute to the things that interest Mr. Gauld.

>36 karenmarie: SOMEbody's thread.

Oh. I see. That's how the land lies.

SOMEbody's thread. *harrumph*

Was it yours? If so, I apologize for the laziness that prevented me from researching back to 'WAY BEFORE CHRISTMAS.

No smooches? Only *harrumph*s?

Well, *smooches* back anyway. Did your pin land on Chulhu?

>36 karenmarie: Happy new thread! And I just love the title, You’re All Just Jealous of My Jetpack--made me grin. I don' think of myself as claustrophobic, but not sure how well I would do with the next bunk 6 inches above my nose. Yikes!

Thanks, Kim! It's a fun little book, with thoughtful comics that say much more than one would think. Yikes indeed.

I didn't marry Bill 'til 1991, but met him in 1977 when he was still in the Navy. We were just friends then. He'd come back from patrol - heck, they all would - and keep their arms tucked to their sides, take short steps, and keep their heads down as a result of being in a submarine for 3 months. It's almost like they'd blossom after several days - longer strides, arms less constrained, walking taller, and making more gestures.

>38 karenmarie: O mighty tentaclefaced Cthulhu I draw thy dread attention to *harrumph*able Horrible the short-memoried one

Amen, brother Richard, although I've never read anything by Lovecraft. *persistent smooches*

I'm beginning to wish my people weren't quite so hard to kill, what with the 45erment and short-memoried friends and all.

Okay, RD. You win. I have wasted copious amounts of time to feed your ego and found my response to your 5-star review of You're All Just Jealous of My Jetpack. It's in your second thread of last year. The review is dated 11/13/17 and is message #154. My response is dated 11/14/17 and is message 162.

Ya got me! I've added it to my wishlist and included it on my list of books for daughter to choose from for Christmas.

I hope you have a lovely day, RD! *smooches* from TVT du Horrible.

I am humbled. I am abased. I still send *smooches* to Long Island NY.

*mollified smooch*

> Hi Karen - So, on your advice, I've ordered the first season of Midsomer Murders from the library sharing group. I'm excited. I don't usually sit down to watch a movie, but I enjoy series that I can watch or binge as my heart dictates.

I'm not going to request anything else bookish from the library until I get caught up with what I already have out and with my ROOTS challenge. Nope, no way. Uh uh.

I also have home You're All Just Jealous of my Jetpack. I think it was a **Mark and Joe (Jark?) rec but I'm really enjoying it and would def recommend it to all my buddies.

**Ok, I don't usually make it to Richard's thread, but am willing to let him have the prize. It deserves one for all the laughs the book contains.

>45 richardderus: Whew! I'm glad that I'm at least back in your mollified graces. *exuberant smooch*

>46 streamsong: Hi Janet! I hope you like it - I'm almost tempted to go back to the first several just to see how different they are from the end of season 19. Excitement is good.

I wish you success in your plan on not requesting anything else bookish from the library until.... etc. I know I couldn't do it, so more power to you if you can!

So glad you're going to give Richard the prize, although honorable mentions to Mark and Joe. I seem to recall @drneutron being in the mix somewhere, too, but don't quote me on it. *smile*

Haven't read it yet, so no prize for me. But I'm loving the ones that have been posted.

>23 karenmarie: Cousin or niece, Dutch uses just one word for both, so it always leads to confusion for me.

>40 karenmarie: That sounds absolutely awful, I don't think I could do it. Imagine feeling so constrained all the time!

>48 drneutron: You'd love it, Jim! I've been strong in not posting dozens of them. They're just all so good.

>49 EllaTim: Hi Ella. That's interesting. I didn't know that, so using the English words interchangeably makes sense. But how do you differentiate your sibling's child from your parent's sibling's child? In this case, my sister's daughter from (my daughter's point of view) her mother's sister's daughter?

Oh yes, if you're claustrophobic then it's an impossible living situation.

>50 karenmarie: This is similar to an issue I get when taking about aunts/uncles and grandparents. Swedish differentiates between your father's sisters/brothers/parents and your mother's ditto. And we have different words for cousin vs. second cousin etc., as well (not just adding "second", "third", and so on).

Happy new thread! *Wave*

Love the photo at top with pillow piles of love. So cute.

Sorry book club got cancelled, but cooked food from the sick house sounds like a really terrible idea. What did you think of A Good Man is Hard to Find? Sigh. Lazy me. I will scroll back in time and read what you said... maybe. Lol

>51 PawsforThought: Hi Paws! This is one case where English might just be a bit easier with seconds and thirds and maternals and paternals..... at least to me, because I grew up with it.

>52 nittnut: Hi Jenn! Thank you. Jenna was so cute with Heather. I know - after book club was finally cancelled I thought that eating that food might be problematic for remaining sick free.

My opinion about A Good Man is Hard to Find isn't on this thread since I abandoned it in December. Here it is from December 22nd:

I am reading A Good Man is Hard to Find, the most depressing stories in the world. They're by Flannery O'Connor for book club in January. I've never read any O'Connor before, and now I know why. The book chooser frequently feels the need to give us a dose of something classic, or challenging, or esoteric.

Here's what I wrote in an e-mail to the group this morning:

I read the first five stories and then decided that although they might be wonderful stories, intriguing, thought-provoking, and intellectually-satisfying stories, I didn’t want to read any more of them. They had the flavor of cod-liver oil – read ‘em cuz they’re good for you. They seriously disturbed my equilibrium. And, frankly, I just couldn’t stomach the N-word and especially in the title of the 6th story.

After I commented about my distaste for these short stories on LibraryThing, one of my friends there wrote “Aw, c’mon. You like Flannery O’Connor.” I read some biographical info about her and realize it’s true – I do like Flannery O’Connor, would have enjoyed a dinner party with her there. It’s just her fiction I don’t like.

>53 karenmarie: But Swedish is SO easy with this. We literally call people "mum-mum" (maternal grandma) and "dad-brother" (paternal uncle), etc.
Of course, what you've grown up with is always easiest to you, but the lack of an exact equivalent in other languages is frustrating a lot of the time.

Hooray for You're All Just Jealous of my Jetpack. Another Gauld gem!

Sorry, you didn't care for A Good Man is Hard to Find. I loved this collection, but I like dark, disturbing and edgy. Grins...

Well...I take a few days off to visit friends and you start a new thread!

>46 streamsong: >47 karenmarie: I started Midsomer Murders at the beginning and am at about season four. I binge then take a break. Time to get back to it during the long winter evenings.

>50 karenmarie: Most times you just don't, when it's important you explain. I can sometimes use the word 'tantezeggertje' (literally auntsayer) for a niece or nephew, but lots of Dutch people don't know this expression, might be some kind of dialect. But we get by:-;

So here I am again and happy to see you moving on and still reading and reporting. Keep it up!

Happy new thread, Karen. It took a while to catch up with you. Interesting review of You're All Just Jealous of my Jetpack. I didn't read that one but I do have Baking with Kafka on the shelf.

>54 PawsforThought: I bow to your examples, they make a lot of sense, Paws. After all, I’m mostly monolingual, with a smattering of Spanish.

>55 msf59: Now I want Baking with Kafka for sure and perhaps others, Mark. A reader’s job is never done, is it? I like some dark, disturbing and edgy, but apparently not Southern grotesque. Grins back…

>56 witchyrichy: Hi Karen! I was going to say “You snooze you lose”, but visiting friends is a worthy reason (among many) to not keep up with threads.

>57 EllaTim: Getting by is good, isn’t it, Ella? Or explaining if it’s required.

>58 LizzieD: Hi Peggy, happy to see you! Thanks, I’m halfway through Nicholas Nickleby and going crazy with Fire and Fury. I’m also reading Brain Food by Lisa Mosconi, but so far it’s just a rehash of things I’ve studied about nutrition for decades. I’m hoping she breaks new ground pretty soon.

>59 Familyhistorian: Thank you, Meg! I’ve added Baking with Kafka to my wish list.

Morning, Karen. Woke up to more snow. We had to have received 5-6 inches total. I should finish Nickelby today.

You will love Baking with Kafka.

How-dee-doo, Mark! I definitely need many laughs these days with the dangerous, bloviating orange gasbag debasing the office of the Presidency.

Good morning, Karen! Enjoy your Tuesday.

Morning Karen! You're Just Jealous of my Jetpack is an awesome name!

>63 harrygbutler: Thanks, Harry! My cleaning ladies are due in 10 minutes, then I'm going to go get a mani/pedi and do some food shopping. My aunt gave me her "compromise Lasagna" my Uncle "likes it soupy, and I like it layered and holding its shape." according to my Aunt. 26 different ingredients, I need to buy 12.

We might get snow tomorrow, which means Bill will stay home. Might be a good day to make lasagna. Even if we lose power I can cook and bake.

>64 ChelleBearss: Isn't it, Chelle? Good morning to you, too!

>65 karenmarie: If you lose power, it's almost de rigueur to cook and bake! Keeps both the heat and the spirits up.

>57 EllaTim: The lack of distinction between cousin and niece/nephew used to bother me when I lived in the Netherlands but then I came across the "oom/tantezegger' and felt much better. Now I miss the ability to distinguish between female and male cousins. Languages are so interesting!

>66 richardderus: And read. And watch birds. The possum was back, eating sunflower seeds from a dish I had on the ground. He let me get within about 5 feet of him, then ambled off behind the tiger grass.

>67 RebaRelishesReading: Hi Reba! Have you ever seen anything or heard anything by John McWhorter? I listened to a series by him years ago - audiobooks from the library - and he's fascinating. He talks about how one language influences another, how words evolve, and etc.

>1 karenmarie: What a lovely topper!

That it's a cute picture of your little girl. Have you shown it to her, and what does she say? I've always liked to see pics of me when I was a kid, but understand why some people wouldn't.

I've always through that if you didn't feed the critters you'd just tick God off. Prolly one reason why I don't like to hunt. One winters years ago I drove across the mountain from the valley into Sperryville late at night. It was about 7 degrees out and the ground had been frozen solid for a week, and covered under several inches of snow. I turned a bend and came across a small herd of deer, maybe 5 or 7. I though that the next person who came the other way would run right into them, and rolled down my window to tell the critters to push off. Instead of running one of the bucks came up to my window, I guess looking for food because the ground was frozen and under snow, and the deer were probably starving. I was so moved by this last ditch effort to try and secure food that I though I would just stay bawling. I didn't have anything at all to eat and the closest open store was about 45 minutes there and back. Ever since then I feed them critters.

Happy almost new thread!

>36 karenmarie: Already have it on my list! I love the cartoons I've seen so far.

Ed and I were married in 1991 as well!

Way over back in the last thread, I think you said that you had read the first 4 Thomas Lynley books by Elizabeth George. I'ts been so long for me that I can't remember what they were about either. It's funny because in a way, it's almost like 2 series to me, and maybe even 3, as I can remember a distinct feel to the beginning books, then the middle books and now the most recent books.

>69 Whisper1: Thank you, Linda!

>70 SomeGuyInVirginia: Hi Larry! I'm not sure she's seen it. I might email it to her and see what she says!

That is such a sad story about the deer and the desperation of the buck. If a critter comes close to the house I know it must be desperate, so I let it graze. And yesterday the possum was back. I just let him keep eating. Here's a photo of him.



>71 rretzler: Thanks, Robin. A good year for marriage, wasn't it?

I want Baking with Kafka and Goliath, but so far am remaining strong.

I wonder whether I should start the Lynley series over again. I did that with Outlander since I'd read the first four books so long ago; it was a great undertaking, with me reading over 7,500 pages from April - July.

Gotta get through Nicholas Nickleby first, then read my two ER books. The first is a bit of a slog, but I'm very anxious to start our own @sibyx's The Hounds of Spring, which arrived yesterday. I want to give it the attention it deserves.

We were supposed to wake up to snow, but it's still rain. Looks like were' supposed to get a bit of freezing rain and then it's supposed to snow all day. Weather Service says 4-8", local WRAL-TV is a bit confused since they're saying 3-6" in one place on their website and 2-3" another. Either way, Bill's home, the TV is now on for the duration (le sigh), and I'm halfway through my first cup of coffee. I want it to snow soon because don't want freezing rain AT ALL.

Hi, Karen! We have snow here; I don't know how much is expected, but it is coming down steadily at the moment.

Have a good Wednesday!

We cross posted, Harry! I said about the same thing on your thread.

"bloviating orange gasbag debasing the office of the Presidency." That could be the title, of the next exposé.

Morning, Karen. Hope the snow totals, stay on the low side for you guys. Fingers crossed.

Looks like that opossum is quite industrious.

>67 RebaRelishesReading: Hi Reba, yes, languages are fascinating. And they evolve on their own. You must have come up on some interesting examples living in the Netherlands, and speaking Dutch as an original English speaker?

>72 karenmarie: Good picture Karen!

I hope you get some snow, lots better than the icy rain you get when it's near freezing.

>74 karenmarie: Ah, then I'll also comment on the return visit from the hungry opossum. It reminds me I should think about scattering some seed on the ground when I refill the feeders, though I've not seen an opossum around here this year.

>75 msf59: Hi Mark! I wonder who'll write it? I envision a lot of books - looks like Comey's book is due out May 1, Spicer's due out in July. Unfortunately they might not use such an accurate title.

It's switched over to snow and coming down thickly but not blizzard-y. I wonder if Mr. Possum will come back today?

>76 EllaTim: Thanks, Ella. Yes, it converted to snow a bit ago, thank goodness. Freezing rain means power outages. This snow doesn't look wet so far so I'm hoping for another 'powder event' like last week.

>77 harrygbutler: Once the ground gets covered I think I'll put a tray of seed out. It will get snowed on, but I can see the birds hovering in the trees even now and some swooping to the ground looking for food already. Both of our kitties are soaking up the heat here in the Sunroom - they are on the dresser, conked out.

I also had an opossum on my front lawn a few years ago. A face only a mother could love, as they say... ;-)

Hi Shelley! Definitely not a cuddly animal, for sure.

Whenever I see possums on the hoof, so to speak, I picture the cheap fur jackets of the 1970s:


Mangy looking things, possums.

They always look diseased because of the strange way their fur sticks out. Not 'dorable at all. Heh. Strange jacket. And yet, someone went to a tremendous amount of effort to make it.

>81 richardderus: This jacket reminds of the old video game Qbert.

>82 karenmarie: Horrid critters!

>83 Oberon: I don't know what that is, I have never played a video game.

>81 richardderus: Blast from the past.

For similar offenses, see the Plaid Stallions blog: http://plaidstallions.blogspot.com/search/label/fashion%20mockery

>85 harrygbutler: *aaarrrgggh* my eyes my eyes

>84 richardderus:

>83 Oberon: Hi Erik! I never played Qbert, but have played my fair share of computer and video games over the years. It started with Mystery Mansion on the HP 3000. Now I mostly play match 3 games and Sudoku.

>>84 richardderus: *smooch*

>87 Oberon: That gives me a headache.

>68 karenmarie: No, I haven't heard of him. Any particular book you'd recommend?

>76 EllaTim: Yes, it was interesting to see the differences. Were you asking if I'm an original English speaker? If so, yes I am. I didn't learn Dutch until I moved there as an adult but was fluent enough by the time I moved away 10 years later to think and dream more in Dutch than in English. It's been 34 years since I lived there but I still slip back into it quickly when we visit.

>89 richardderus: I vaguely recall it, but it doesn't give me a headache.

>90 RebaRelishesReading: Hi Reba! I listened to an audiobook series - nothing looks familiar from his bibliography. I'd have to research it. The Power of Babel might be it, but I don't remember the title. I'd recommend listening to whatever you do get, because he reads his own stuff beautifully and listening to the language is priceless.

We're getting power glitches now because of the heavy snow. We had a slight scare when Bill couldn't start the generator, but he got it going and now we're afraid to shut it off. We've got 6" of snow with no end in sight, so burning a bit of propane is good for our peace of mind, even if wasteful.

...

>92 karenmarie: Nice! Our snow stopped earlier, with less accumulation, and it is just warm enough that our street is clear.

beautiful picture! Hope you didn't get too much snow!

Good Lord, you guys are getting hammered. We just had a dusting here.

I haven't been out of bed all day, it's been kind of awesome. I always feel guilty taking sick days even if I'm barfing up a lung.

We got about 1.5 inches here. We still had big fluffy flakes this morning but it wasn't accumulating.

I'm amazed that the possum allowed you to get close enough to snap the photo. We had 4-6 inches last night. It is a pretty snow. Our sheltie Lilly loves the snow.

>93 harrygbutler: Our friend and neighbor Larry just plowed our drive and concrete pad, bless his heart. He does this for our whole one-street subdivision if it gets bad enough. He’s got a serious tractor and it took him all of 10 minutes for the 300-foot drive and 4 swipes on the concrete. The crepe myrtle branch is bent under the weight of the snow - I just went out, sweeping as I went and used the broom to knock the snow off the branch.



>94 ChelleBearss: Hi Chelle! So far about 9” on the north side of the house. It might be tapering off a bit. Looks like were still in it on the radar, but on the ground it’s smaller flakes.

>95 SomeGuyInVirginia: Since we were only expecting 2-3”, I’d say so. WRAL got it wrong, the Weather Service sorta got it right with 4-8”. It's going to go down into the 20Fs tonight making for a nasty day for tomorrow with nothing to do except stay in the house.

Staying home sick, Larry, not good at all. I hope you feel better soon.

>96 thornton37814: Frankly, Lori, I thought we’d get a dusting. Fortunately we’ve got the generator, food, drink, and TV for Bill and LT and books for me. Plus I just made a pan of my Aunt Joyce’s lasagna. I’ve never made this recipe before, and it’s a winner.

>97 Whisper1: Hi Linda! I’ve been hissed at by possums before, both large and small, but this guy was very passive. I think he knows I’m giving him the food. Lilly is gorgeous and looks just fine in the snow. Thanks for sharing!

My sister wrote that she wanted pictures of the kitties frolicking in the snow and the best I could do was send her one of Inara Starbuck comatose on a blanket on the top of the dresser in the Sunroom. She did go out earlier, but only on the porch.

Wow! That's a lot of snow, Karen. I think you are smart to keep the generator going. Your photos are beautiful - thanks for sharing.

And lasagna! Good thinking!

>98 karenmarie: The lasagna sounds yummy on a cold winter's day. I'll probably do breakfast for supper this evening because a friend of mine on Facebook mentioned biscuits with fig preserves. I just happen to have the fig preserves on hand.

>99 Crazymamie: Hi Mamie! Thanks for the confirmation about the generator. And We've been taking tons of photos and sharing them with our daughter and my sister. thought I'd share a few here, too!

The lasagna is to die for although it's a time-consuming recipe to make. It's my aunt and uncle's "Compromise Lasagna" - has extra sauce for him but is 'structured' for her. Somehow it works.

>100 thornton37814: It hit the spot. Warm, nourishing, tons of protein, flavorful. We have enough for quite a few more meals. Breakfast for supper - we did that a lot growing up. Oooh. Biscuits. I was thinking of making biscuits and chipped beef for brekkie tomorrow - I think I have enough fresh buttermilk, but if not I keep powdered buttermilk in the refrigerator. More warm and nourishing.

Your snow pictues are beautiful, Karen. We have about 4 inches here. The schools are closed for the below zero temps we've been having the past few days. Warmup started this afternoon so I expect to see more cars on the roads tomorrow.

Love the snow pics - it looks pretty much the same over here (though with more snow). We've had a few milder days this week, but it's been incredibly windy and there was even more snow today. It's supposed to get colder again this weekend.
I'm not a winter loving person, but I've been quite giddy at the "proper winter weather" this year. It's been so long since we had a real, snow-filled and cold winter (though it's not quite as cold as I'd consider normal) that it's a real treat to experience it again.

Love the winter wonderland photos, Karen. Wow! We have only got about 10 inches so far this season. You may have surpassed us.

>92 karenmarie: Beautiful! Our rain turned to light snow/rain mix. No accumulation. Nice.

>102 Donna828: Hi Donna! Thank you. With daughter living in Wilmington, we are not as aware of the schools here in our county, but no doubt they'll be shut the rest of the week because the rural roads are so treacherous after this type of snow event. We'll probably see the warm up Friday.

>103 PawsforThought: Thanks, Paws! I don't mind winter weather at all now that there's no pressure for me to be at work - before I retired the company I worked for went bat shit insane if you missed a day of work because of weather. Husband's company doesn't put the pressure on either, which is very nice as he can get cranky if he feels pressure from work. *smile*

>104 msf59: We may beat you so far, Mark, but I bet by the end of the season you'll surpass us.

There's a slight second wave of snow that might give us another inch or two in the next several hours. The temps tonight are supposed to be 13F. That means at our house it will probably be 8-9F.

I just finished Fire and Fury. By reading it on my Kindle I was not prepared for the abrupt ending. It said 88% read, but I guess that includes acknowledgements and the appendix. So one page to the next, it just .... ended. I'll be writing a review soon.

So pretty, isn't it, Karen? Lovely photos. Ours looked like that yesterday but today, it's already a slushy mess and my Friday, we will be above zero with rain moving in so it could be all gone by the weekend. Oh well.

Hi Karen. I'm starting Nicholas Nickleby in just a few minutes.

>91 karenmarie: That's great. Thanks. I'm always looking for new audio books so I'll see if I can find something by him.

Gosh, that is a lot of snow! It looks nice, but where I live , we do not get snow very often and when we do, it's a nightmare. We are not the Southern US, but the Vancouver area in Canada is very temperate and we are not prepared for snow. Yikes to the threat of power gone due to the snow. I'm glad that you have a generator. I was quite put out when our power went out for an hour or so about a week ago, due to a Snow Goose hitting the power lines.

Morning, Karen. Sweet Thursday. You guys have been cold. We are creeping up to the freezing mark today. It should feel good, after a few frigid days.

How is Nickelby coming?

Good morning, all! It’s a nice, bright, clear-sky 9F. We lost power about 1:30 a.m. The Duke outage map shows 164 customers without power = ~500+ people here. Looks like quite a few outages in NC overall. Thank goodness we kept the generator on!!! Bill just got up. I don’t think he turned all the circuits over to generator, but he did the important ones – my coffee pot and coffee mill – and the one to the Sunroom. *smile* Both our computers are on battery backup, but it’s nice to not have to test that, at least here in the Sunroom. I haven’t checked his Home Office. He just switched the refrigerator/garage freezer circuit off for a while so the well pump can be used to fill the reservoir in the garage. I had to use bottled water for the coffee – leftover from the threat of a hurricane last summer. But I do have coffee, one of the four food groups.

>107 jessibud2: Hi Jessie! Thanks re the photos. We haven’t gotten to the ugly phase yet. Looks like we got about 2” more last night, but since it didn’t get above freezing it’s not crusty or icy yet here at the house. I think I’d prefer the ugly phase, but don’t know when that will start.

>108 weird_O: Hi Bill! Good for you. I hope you’re not in any pain from your ankle – just casts and inconvenience.

>109 RebaRelishesReading: You’re welcome, Reba. I’m fascinated with language and loved his opinions.

>110 vancouverdeb: Hi Deborah! We are much less able to ‘handle’ snow than up North, but I must say that the state has been very proactive on this one, even though the amount of snow seems to have been seriously underestimated. I never think of anywhere in Canada as not being prepared for snow, which is stupid of me. I bet you don’t have a salt storage facility near you like I do. Even an hour would be hellish without the generator here although we do still have oil lamps and candles and I can cook and bake. We’re spoiled.

>111 msf59: Morning, Mark! Ah yes, sweet, without power but on generator Thursday. I’m a tad worried about Louise, but if she’s asleep I don’t want to call and wake her. I can’t believe our winter weather’s been as bad as it has. Yay for warmth for you as you have to be out in it.

I’m up to Chapter XXXII and will get some read today, I think. I picked up No Middle Name, a book of Jack Reacher short stories last night and read the first one. It was very good.

>112 karenmarie: If coffee then brain function. Happy coldness! It's already 23° here, clear, lovely.

>113 richardderus: Hallo, RD! We're up to 17F. The power came on about 20 minutes ago but we're leaving the generator on until at least 32F. Yes indeedy for coffee.

Good morning, Karen! We're considering putting in an automatic backup whole-house gas generator when we replace our furnace and get some other gas line work done.

5. Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House by Michael Wolff
1/6/18 to 1/17/18





The description from Amazon:

With extraordinary access to the Trump White House, Michael Wolff tells the inside story of the most controversial presidency of our time.

The first nine months of Donald Trump’s term were stormy, outrageous―and absolutely mesmerizing. Now, thanks to his deep access to the West Wing, bestselling author Michael Wolff tells the riveting story of how Trump launched a tenure as volatile and fiery as the man himself.

In this explosive book, Wolff provides a wealth of new details about the chaos in the Oval Office. Among the revelations:
-- What President Trump’s staff really thinks of him
-- What inspired Trump to claim he was wire-tapped by President Obama
-- Why FBI director James Comey was really fired
-- Why chief strategist Steve Bannon and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner couldn’t be in the same room
-- Who is really directing the Trump administration’s strategy in the wake of Bannon’s firing
-- What the secret to communicating with Trump is
-- What the Trump administration has in common with the movie The Producers

Never before has a presidency so divided the American people. Brilliantly reported and astoundingly fresh, Michael Wolff’s Fire and Fury shows us how and why Donald Trump has become the king of discord and disunion.

Why I wanted to read it: drumpf. I guess I wanted to confirm my opinion that the WH was and is chaotic, divided, out of control, and trying to manage a narcissistic and crazy man. I knew it wouldn’t make me feel better, wouldn’t give me warm fuzzies about the idiots in control, and I was right.

I’ve been following the escapades of the idiot 45 with fear and trepidation. This book actually confirms that things were and are much worse than I thought. Very little of it makes me confident that there are any adults in the WH because even if someone starts off as an adult they eventually go down the rabbit hole. Even Kelly, and other generals. I'm reminded of the tale of The Emperor's New Clothes.

Jarvanka – his term for Jared and Ivanka – clarifies that the two or more factions started battling before day one. He reiterated that whoever got to drumpf last had the most influence. It’s an insane environment, debasing the office of the President. Bannon comes off as a combination of crazy and astute. Spicer, Scaramucci, Hicks, etc. are all portrayed as passive or idiots.

The writing itself is interesting and the book flows nicely. It sounds plausible, even if very little of what he says is attributed to specific people with the exception of Bannon. I’m not even sure he was a fly on the wall like he says he was, but let’s all remember back to Watergate when Woodward and Bernstein were publishing amazing things but wouldn’t identify their source beyond calling him “Deep Throat”.

I read it with some “ah-ha” moments, some “So that’s how it happened” moments, and some “OMG we’re all gonna die” moments. Much of it is bitchy even though he tries to make this seem like mere reportage, which is perhaps why I enjoyed it so much. Always remembering that this is MY country and they are making a mockery of it.

Glad I read it, some things now make more sense, unfortunately.

"More sense" being a relative term, of course.

Good review, Horrible, of a harrowing read.

>117 richardderus: Thank you, darling RD! Everything is relative in this book, of course. In any sane world drumpf would have been impeached or 25th Amendment-ed. He's the 1-lb-short-of-obese Emperor. I've decided to start posting my reviews on the book page again, so have put it there, too.

Wow, you've gotten quite a lot of snow! Do you have power back now?

We are in for rain this weekend. I'm getting tired of alternating cold/snow with mild/rain. Chloe just wants to play outside but our lawn is very icy and not really child play friendly right now.

Hi Chelle! We got power on about an hour and a half ago but are still leaving the generator on.

If my daughter was still a little'un, she and I would be out in the snow right now. Then we'd come in, wet and cold, I'd put the clothes in the dryer while we warmed up and thawed out, then back out we'd go in dry warm clothes again. Ice is another matter. We'd be indoors with her chomping at the bit.

Thank goodness she's grown up and lives 3 hours away! I'm not stepping one foot out in this except to fill bird feeders.

Bill just called to me from the living room and I saw an amazing sight. These are Cowbirds, all males by the look of it.

120 - WOW! I have seen grackles in large groups swarm and land but have only ever seen one cowbird at a time

>122 karenmarie: Hi Shelley! I've seen up to 6 or so, mixed males and females, but never a flock. I saw a Common Grackle the other day, but have never seen them in large groups.

I'm reading No Middle Name, Jack Reacher short stories. The first one was very good, the second one better as it is a story of when Reacher was 13 and the family had been posted to Okinawa.

The following is a tiny spoiler, but only in that it describes how one man's, Reacher's grandfather's, thoughts became philosophical near his death. I found this quite powerful.

Old Laurent Moutier was gone, at the age of ninety, taking with him like everyone does a lifetime of unknown private hopes and dreams and fears and experiences, and leaving behind him like most people do a thin trace of himself in his living descendants. He had never had a clear idea of what would become of his beautiful mop-haired daughter and his two handsome grandsons, nor did he really want one, but like every other twentieth-century male human in Europe he hoped they would live lives of peace prosperity, and plenty, while simultaneously knowing they almost certainly wouldn't. So he hoped they would bear their burdens with grace and good humor, and he was comforted in his final moments by the knowledge that so far they always had, and probably always would.

Karen, thought you might enjoy this article. I just got it in my inbox, in a newsletter from Audubon:

tracks in the snow

I love the *dance steps* I find in my snow but am pretty useless when it comes to decoding them

>116 karenmarie: Great review of Fire and Fury, Karen. What a disaster the drumpf White House is.

I imagine the "secret to communicating with Trump" is flattery?

I read it with some “ah-ha” moments, some “So that’s how it happened” moments, and some “OMG we’re all gonna die” moments. Ha! So well said.

I can't read it because I've already had too much Trump in my life, but I'm off to thumb the review. Kudos to you for your strong stomach.

That's quite a lot of snow you have there, Karen. I much prefer looking out my window and seeing green grass, thank you very much. Good review of Fire and Fury. I am quite ready for this scary part of our history to be over.

>123 jessibud2: Thanks, Shelley! It’s fascinating. Thanks for sharing.

>124 jnwelch: Thanks, Joe. Yes. A moral, political, and ethical disaster. Flattery, not contradicting him, not challenging him intellectually. Tippy-toeing around him and spoon feeding him, manipulating him and reverse psychology. all things you'd use with a child.

I brought the same emotional energy to this book that I brought to several books about Watergate. I lived through it, saw some of it on the news and in discussions in college, and reading made more clear. Of course reading about it made me angrier at RMN and his criminal cohort, even including John Dean although he eventually saw the writing on the wall and saw the wickness that was going on. Nobody’s done that in the drumpf White House yet – Wolff was never an insider.

>125 Familyhistorian: Yup, lots of snow. *smiles happily* It’s still beautiful, melting a bit as it’s gotten to 35F. Most of the snow in the trees has fallen as the wind and birds have disturbed it. I saw a Red-Shouldered Hawk cruising the fields looking for lunch earlier, a gorgeous sight.

Thanks re F&F. I’m ready for it to be over, too, but truly don’t know how that’s going to happen. Impeachment, 25th Amendment, incapacity? And then Pence takes over. Until 2020 - we’ll make great strides in the mid-term elections and hopefully wipe the floor with the nasties in 2020.

I read a tweet today about the Muller investigation being timed to do maximum damage to the GOP in the midterms. Can't remember if it was a RawStory opinion piece, which would make sense, or a more reputable source, but I remember the jolt of intense schadenfreude it gave me!

The snow looks lovely, Karen, sorry you lost power. Glad you have backup to make coffee ;-)

>120 karenmarie: That is a lot of bird together. If I see that many birds together in my garden, they are either sparrows or starlings.

>127 richardderus: You know, RD, I hadn't heard too much about the Muller investigation recently and am glad if the pin gets pulled close to the miderms.

One nice thing here in NC is that on Jan. 9, 2018, the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina granted full relief from the state's gerrymandered maps, in a victory for the state's voters. New maps have to be presented on the 24th, I believe.

>128 FAMeulstee: Thanks, Anita - it's back. Bill still hasn't turned off the generator. I guess we'll leave it on all night in the off-chance we lose power again.

I haven't seen a flock of birds here for years - we used to get large flocks of robins before we turned the fields into pastures. Sigh.

Glad your power came back on. : )

Not sure I want to read Fire and Fury, although it sounds interesting. I think I would just get too depressed!

>116 karenmarie: Good review, Karen. Thumb! I think I will still take a pass on this one, but I do have it saved on audio, just in case.

>120 karenmarie: Love this photo! Cowbirds galore, eh? We only get them here, now and then, mostly then...

Morning, Karen. Happy Friday. The owl walk was a wash, but hanging out with birders is always a delight and we did hear a pair of GHOs calling.

>130 Berly: Hi Kim! Me, too. Our generator is a lots-of-house but not full-house generator, so our spoiled reliance on electricity is able to roar ahead full bore. *smile*

It is depressing, F&F, but also an interesting expansion of the crap I heard on the news.

>131 msf59: Hi Mark! Sorry about not seeing any owls, but hearing GHOs calling must have been exciting. I do not hear owls at this house - I heard them all the time at our other house.

It's a nice bright 10F. I filled one of the feeders on the porch and the morning crowd has found it, mostly finches and cardinals so far. Surprisingly, we didn't see blue jays yesterday.

First sip of coffee done, NN on tap.

6. No Middle Name by Lee Child
1/17/18 to 1/19/18





The description from Amazon:

No Middle Name begins with “Too Much Time,” a brand-new work of short fiction that finds Reacher in a hollowed-out town in Maine, where he witnesses a random bag-snatching but sees much more than a simple crime. “Small Wars” takes readers back to 1989, when Reacher is an MP assigned to solve the brutal murder of a young officer found along an isolated forest road in Georgia—and whose killer may be hiding in plain sight. In “Not a Drill,” Reacher tries to take some downtime, but a pleasant hike in Maine turns into a walk on the wild side—and perhaps something far more sinister. “High Heat” time-hops to 1977, when Reacher is a teenager in sweltering New York City during a sudden blackout that awakens the dark side of the city that never sleeps. Okinawa is the setting of “Second Son,” which reveals the pivotal moment when young Reacher’s sharp “lizard brain” becomes just as important as his muscle. In “Deep Down,” Reacher tracks down a spy by matching wits with four formidable females—three of whom are clean, but the fourth may prove fatal. Rounding out the collection are “Guy Walks into a Bar,” “James Penney’s New Identity,” “Everyone Talks,” “The Picture of the Lonely Diner,” “Maybe They Have a Tradition,” and “No Room at the Motel.”

No suitcase. No destination. No middle name. No matter how far Reacher travels off the beaten path, trouble always finds him. Feel bad for trouble.

Praise for No Middle Name

“Captivating . . . classic Lee Child . . . This volume demonstrates what his fans already know: he’s a born storyteller and an astute observer.”—Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“Lee Child, like his creation, always knows exactly what he’s doing—and he does it well. Time in his company is never wasted.”—Evening Standard

Why I wanted to read it: Christmas present, Jack Reacher.

I’ve read all 22 Reacher novels and each one has been a joy if you like eccentricity, justice, cleverness, weaponry, and violence, at least in fictional form.

Some of these short stories are two or three pages, some are 70 or more. They vary from when Reacher was 13 on Okinawa to NYC many years after he’s out of the military. In some he’s tracking the criminal down, in others he’s pursuing justice even at the expense of turning a ‘criminal’ in. In some he’s a good Samaritan in others he’s an avenging fury. In some he’s violent, in some he’s gentle. In all of them we are treated to a situation he’s dropped into and comes out of to his own satisfaction.

As a rule I do not like short stories, but I do like short stories about my favorite characters. Reacher is one of my favorite characters, and in addition to mastering the long form, Lee Child has mastered the short story.

I admire you for reading Wolff's Fire and Fury, I would probably die of an apoplectic fit if I even tried. I have to ration drumpf very carefully.

I had a good time with No Middle Name, too, Karen. As a rule I do not like short stories, but I do like short stories about my favorite characters. Ditto, except I'll also read them by my favorite authors, Murakami being number one.

Thanks, Lucy! I go through phases of rationing drumpf. I always watch yesterday's Colbert on YouTube, and want to get back into watching Morning Joe, but not every day. Some things I can't bear to read period flat, the bury-your-head-in-the-sand approach.

What makes me absolutely crazy and must make drumpf preen with pride is that his name is everywhere on the news, all the time, all outlets, all sources. F***ing narcissist.

>136 karenmarie: Indeed. I heard him quoted once as saying "it's all about the ratings". (I wish a narcissist was the worst that he is!!)

What do I know, but I think surely Drumpf will be impeached. I do enjoy Colbert and Trevor Noah. If we did n't laugh, we'd weep. At least I've the good fortune to live in Canada, but Trump is driving us mad too.

I've read on one of the threads here something about a kitten filter, every picture of Trump on the internet is automatically turned into a picture of a kitten. It seemed a marvellous, though partial solution;-)

>137 RebaRelishesReading: Hi Reba! Well. Mr. Deal Maker has allowed a government shutdown. And yes, I agree, that I wish narcissist was the worst he was. I rather think he's a perfect example of the seven deadly sins: pride, greed, lust, envy, gluttony, wrath and sloth.

>138 vancouverdeb: Deborah, nothing would please me better than for him to be impeached or to have the won't-do-it-because-they-have-no-integrity 'principal officers of the executive departments or of such other body as Congress may by law provide' and Vice President to invoke Amendment 25, Section 4:

Section 4.

Whenever the Vice President and a majority of either the principal officers of the executive departments or of such other body as Congress may by law provide, transmit to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives their written declaration that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, the Vice President shall immediately assume the powers and duties of the office as Acting President.

Thereafter, when the President transmits to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives his written declaration that no inability exists, he shall resume the powers and duties of his office unless the Vice President and a majority of either the principal officers of the executive department or of such other body as Congress may by law provide, transmit within four days to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives their written declaration that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office. Thereupon Congress shall decide the issue, assembling within forty-eight hours for that purpose if not in session. If the Congress, within twenty-one days after receipt of the latter written declaration, or, if Congress is not in session, within twenty-one days after Congress is required to assemble, determines by two-thirds vote of both Houses that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, the Vice President shall continue to discharge the same as Acting President; otherwise, the President shall resume the powers and duties of his office.

>139 EllaTim: Hi Ella! It appears that the kitten filter is on Chrome. Alas, I don't use Chrome, but there are some very cute kitten replacements there. What I wish someone would come up with is to replace his name with drumpf. It would drive him bat shit crazy.

First cup of coffee. Kitty in printer soaking up the heat, Inara on the dresser near propane heater, doing same. 25F is still cold, but not frigid.

I've started A Man Called Ove for February's book club discussion and I am surprised at how much I like the writing.

Morning, Karen. Happy Saturday. Nothing to report on the birding front. I didn't even see anything at the feeders when I got home. WTH?

It will be in the low 40s today, so it should be a pleasant work day.

Hooray for Ove. I loved that one. Enjoy!

Hi Karen,

I saw an amazing film yesterday, called The Final Year, about the last 12 months of Obama's tenure in the White House. Full review on my thread. I am still thinking about it.

>141 msf59: Hi Mark! Strange bird behavior. Yay for a pleasant work day. It was 25F when I got up a while ago, about 31F now, will get to near 60F. Lots of melting, yay.

>142 jessibud2: Hi Shelley! I'll zoom over and check it out..... Bill and I have been watching The Blacklist, which, frankly, I'm getting a bit bored with. Way too much over-emoting and whining by Megan Boone, who plays Elizabeth Keen. And the stupid things she does in season 4! We've watched through S4, E 5. We've been alternating with Grace and Frankie, which Bill didn't really get into until about episode 3 or 4 of season 1. Now he's the one who wants to watch 'just one more'.

>143 karenmarie: - I started watching Grace and Frankie, because I really like both lead actresses. But in truth, I was somewhat disappointed by the 4th or 5th episode. It started to feel a bit *over the top* and a bit *forced*, to me. Oh well.

>144 jessibud2: I agree, some of it is forced and over the top, but there are some zingers and some very well done conversations that keep us coming back. Over the top is Saul and Robert's bachelor party..... but it was so over the top that I just had to laugh.

What I like about the series are the very real discussions about boundaries, loneliness, and how to fight assertively. I also love the fact that Jane Fonda is absolutely willing to have scenes where she isn't wearing makeup (well, she's really wearing makeup but is made up to appear that she isn't) and that she is no spring chicken. But I also resent the fact that she has a body a 30-year old would die for......

>145 karenmarie: - Yes, to your last paragraph, above. All of it! :-)

I think my tv-watching attention span has just been gone for so long that it's hard to get it back. ;-p

Hi, Karen! Likely a quiet day in store, so I may need to do some book shopping. :-)

>146 jessibud2: :-) indeed. I watch 1-2 hours or so of TV an evening with Bill. It's either pro football (although with the Panthers and the Cowboys out of it we're watching a bit of the Australian Open) or whatever series we're in the middle of.

>147 harrygbutler: Hi Harry! What a wonderful idea. Book shopping. Have fun and I hope you find some good'uns.

Hi Karen. I love the photo of the Cowbirds!

Just catching up and it made me smile when you mentioned your husband being the one to say "just one more episode..." I have not been much of a tv-watcher but I do feel like there are a few series that have sucked me in now: The Crown, Longmire, Godless, and Victoria. The first three are on Netflix which we just acquired a couple of months ago. It might take a bite out of my reading this year.

Oh I am so glad to hear that others have been watching less TV of late. I just can't seem to turn on my interest, although I want to catch up on a number of series I missed. And then it's a free day and the last thing I want to do is turn on the tv and hunt for the first season of Wired or something.

Jim has the first season of Boardwalk Empire on DVD, so maybe I'll try that. But I'll have to be doing something with my hands. I don't relax well anymore.

>148 karenmarie:, >150 ffortsa: - I watch Jeopardy every night plus half an hour of local news, around half an hour of global news and that's more news than I probably need. I do listen to it on the radio, during the day, on and off but, in those 5 minute slots, it's almost tolerable.

As you may have seen from my comments on other threads, I recently *found* the series Call the Midwife and have been ordering the seasons from the library, one season at a time. I am all caught up to the end of season 5 but apparently have a long wait line ahead of me for season 6. I believe season 7 begins this weekend so I think I will tune in even though I am not yet totally caught up.

I also ordered season one of The Crown, thanks to a lot of warbling here on LT. Once upon a time, I was a big tv watcher. But to show you how long ago that was, possibly the last series I was hooked on might have been LA Law..... or Murphy Brown. Ha! Practically the dark ages!

What's a cowbird?

I'm so so so ill after reading Donna Brazile's book Hacks: The Inside Story of the Break-ins and Breakdowns that put Donald Trump in the White House...not just for the sheer horror of the Russian hacking that swayed the election but for Brazile's quiet but obvious disdain for HRC's Establishment-ness and her clear, obvious dislike for the woman personally, which I can't help but think played a role in the debacle we're enduring now.

I would like to go on record as believing with my whole heart and soul that anyone who voted for 45 should be stripped of all future voting rights and their families placed on the lowest rung of welfare unto the seven hundredth generation.

>152 richardderus: - Richard here you go: https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Brown-headed_Cowbird/id

They lay their eggs in the nests of other birds then abandon all parental responsibilities. I have more than once observed, on my own front lawn, a poor mama chipping sparrow feeding a giant *baby* cowbird as he followed her along the lawn, obviously having hatched in her nest. It would be amusing if it weren't sad. But, c'est la vie

>153 jessibud2: I thought that was cuckoos that did that.

I guess I've seen a cowbird since they're endemic to these parts. I would've thought "oh look a not-seagull" if I'd noticed one at all, they're so blah looking. Do they taste good? Can we hunt them into endangerment or extinction since they appear to be as pernicious as Republicans?

>154 richardderus: - LOL!

>133 karenmarie: I have only read the first Jack Reacher and I loved it! Can this one be read so early in the series? Or should I wait a bit?

>143 karenmarie: Elizabeth Keane is not my favorite, which is unfortunate as she is the major character. I am liking her more in the current season though: less whiny, more action, breaking some rules. ; )

>149 EBT1002: Hi Ellen! Thank you. Big herd….. er…. flock.

I need to check out Longmire and Godless. English royalty doesn’t interest me so much although I must admit that I loved the movie The King’s Speech.

TV has taken a chunk out of my reading ever since I got married in 1991. Bill is not a book reader – he used to read lots of magazines and reads our local county’s weekly paper from cover to cover, but not books since school. In order to spend time with him, which I like to do, *smile*, I have had to find TV in common. And, I must admit, I usually enjoy what we’re watching. Our daughter has Netflix and has shared and we have Amazon Prime, so between the two we don’t pay for too much TV except sports and local news through our Dish Network subscription. Living in the boonies, no cable.

I’m thrilled that Bill is really enjoying Grace and Frankie because after the first episode he said “Well, this is a series for women.” I harrumphed, and he said he’d watch one more episode and now loves it.

>150 ffortsa: Like I just wrote above, Judy, I watch more because there are so many good series on Amazon Prime and Netflix. If it’s something Bill likes more than me, I’ll play match-3 games on my cell phone while watching. He doesn’t like that at all, but puts up with it for the company. Beware! Boardwalk Empire is fascinating and violent.

A friend of mine knits while watching TV. I either watch TV without distractions or play cell phone games.

>>151 jessibud2: Hey Shelley. We used to watch Jeopardy when we were first married and up until when our daughter was about 4 or so. She used to dance to the theme. I watched it some in California when I was staying with my sister in Oct. of 2016 before her MiL moved in, and I was very competitive so just started being quiet. My sister and her husband aren’t readers. My sister’s smart as a whip but has found it difficult to read since she had a heart attack some years ago, but her husband is the dull knife in the drawer. AND, they both voted for drumpf, so we can’t even talk about politics.

For many years I didn’t have a TV. I bought one for $100 from my brother’s ex-girlfriend in 1989, I think, brought it to NC when I moved here to get married, and then gave it away because Bill had and has pretty up-to-date TVs and sound.

>152 richardderus: A type of blackbird, see Shelley’s link below.

You are a glutton for punishment, aren’t you RD? You read F&F and now read Hacks. I just want drumpf-voters to realize what economic calumny they’ve foisted on themselves unless they’re stinking rich. Let them take the hit on their taxes, their mortgage interest write-off, etc., but let me keep what I had. Let them lose their medical insurance and etc.

>154 richardderus: Cuckoos, cowbirds, indigobirds, whydahs, etc. are all what are called brood parasites. Ya learn something new every single day!

Louise, my friend and neighbor, chases cowbirds away. I let ’em hang around unless they overwhelm feeders. After about 5 minutes of the herd the other day, I poked my head outdoors and screeched at the top of my lungs and they didn’t come back. Bill thinks they thought it was a hawk. That was fine with me…..

They are actually quite beautiful, if you consider their shiny feathers and brown head/shoulders. I don’t know how they taste. Ha. Pernicious as Republicans. And yet, 3 million more people voted for the Democratic candidate than the idiot. They're not pernicious so much as gerrymandered.

>155 jessibud2: He’s a hoot, isn’t he, Shelley! And not even an owl.

I was excited by Fire and Fury, but quickly concluded I didn't want to or need to read it.

I was reminded a day or two ago that the prosecutor who built the case that jailed NY mobster John Gotti, widely regarded as The Untouchable, was Robert Mueller III. I think that his investigation is a bright hope. But so much patience we must have, for it takes time to carefully line up all the dots. And in the meantime, the GOP is filling all those Federal judgeships (the one they wouldn't let Obama fill). And Scott Pruitt is demolishing the environment, Ryan Zinke the national parks, and...

The depressing aspect is the cohesion of the GOP in its drive back to the Victorian era (those happy times chronicled by Mr. Dickens). Even legislators who grandstand targeted opposition to Drumpf and say they are retiring (Jeff Flake and Bob Corker, notably) nevertheless vote with the party.

Oh! Sorry. Carried away; musta been the whiskey.

>158 weird_O: Hi Bill! Best reasons of all to not read a book - not wanting to and not needing to. I did enough of that in high school and college to last me a lifetime.

I can barely think about the right-wing zealots and rich men he's putting into positions of power and authority and the terrible things they are doing to our agencies and infrastructure.

It constantly amazes me the things they are doing and getting away with. Like you said, unfortunately we're going to live with the results for a very long time.

On a brighter note, lots of snow melted off yesterday, and I've had my first sip of coffee.

I'm very much enjoying A Man Called Ove, thank goodness!

Morning, Karen. Happy Sunday. Mild start to the day here, nearly 40 all ready but damp and gloomy. And the snow has departed.

Looks to be a lazy day for me, books and football later.

Hi Mark! Glad you've got the day off. Books and sports are good. For me it will be books, LT, and something on the telly after dinner with Bill. I might possibly put away some of the Christmas wrapping supplies, too.

Hi, Karen. I love the idea of a kitten filter to replace every social media photo of drumpf with a kitten. And yours of replacing every mention of his name with drumpf!

Book, LT and telly - sounds like a perfect day ahead of you.

Good morning, Karen. It's a beautiful day here, warm(ish) temps, sunshine, great for a walk.

I will be going to a very interesting-sounding exhibit this afternoon at a local museum. Called *Seeing Music, Hearing Art* or something like that. If it's as good as it sounds, full report later on my thread.

Enjoy your day!

>162 jnwelch: Hi Joe! I'd use it except it's on Chrome. I use duckduckgo.com for searching. I don't use Google unless I can't avoid it.

I refuse to use that idiot's name. Names are powerful and I don't want to give him any power I don't have to. Small potatoes, for sure, but it makes me feel good. *smile*

I searched on "kitten comb over drumpf" on duckduckgo, and this was one of the images that showed up:

>163 jessibud2: Wonderful weather, Shelley, and the exhibit is intriguing. I hope it is a good one. I'll check your thread out later to see how you liked it.

Today should be quite nice, high of 65F. Should melt even more of the snow off.

Sunday morning benisons, Horrible dear.

I just abandoned an ER book, Brain Food: The Surprising Science of Eating for Cognitive Power by Lisa Mosconi after about 90 pages. I did take the quiz to determine where you're at (intermediate), and am very appreciative of the Brain Food Pyramid at Chapter 13.



I actually disagree with the carb-heavy emphasis, but like the format of the pyramid and how inclusive it is.

I already knew quite a bit of what was being said and found it un-doable for anybody who doesn't have unlimited funds, organic/specialty food access, and time for preparation. And frankly some of the recipes sounded atrocious. Sad, but there it is. I much prefer the scientific basis of The Zone for example, and although I'm not as good as following it as I should be, understand and agree with the concept of protein-carb-fat ratios promoted in that book.

Drink lots of water, check. Rarely, if at all, eat processed foods, check. Eat low glycemic index foods, check. Eat things rich in antioxidants, check.

I was disappointed that the index was not available in the Advance Uncorrected Proof, as I was interested in why she feels that gluten-free is not necessarily a good idea and realize that must be after page 90. I don't follow a gluten-free diet but was interested in her thoughts.

Having said all this, for someone who isn't familiar with amino acids/antioxidants andwhat foods are rich in these things, food pyramids, healthy eating, processed foods, etc., the value of organic, or wants more info, this is not a bad book.

I have to keep it in my Library to keep the ER Gods Happy, but if somebody wants it, PM me with your address and I'll be glad to send it to you.

Hi, Karen. I saw dark chocolate at the pyramid's pinnacle, and said, hoo boy! But I guess one is supposed to focus on the base?

I'm with you on rejecting carb-heavy diets - I'm surprised especially to see it on a brain diet. Based on what I've read about carbs and the brain, I try to keep to no more than 75 carbs a day, and feel mentally sharper whenever I manage to do so for a day or three. (Not to mention I have fewer food cravings.)

Hi Michael!

Yup, focus on the base. And even the chocolate is supposed to be 65% with hardly any, if any at all, sugar. *shudder* I like dark chocolate, but with sugar.

Let's see - if I was to actually follow The Zone like I should with the number of protein-carb-fat blocks based on my particulars, I should eat 81 grams carbs, 63 grams protein, and 13.5 grams fat per day.

Hello Karen! I am slowly poking my head into some threads over here that I need to star so I can find my way back. I am taking a year off from having a thread in the 75er group. I was so sad to learn about Grafton's passing and loved your review for Kinsey and Me. Once I finish "X" and "Y" I am looking forward to reading that one. My TV time suck at the moment is A Place to Call Home, an Australian family drama. 6 more expisodes and I will be caught up with that series. Might need to do a re-watch of the Midsomer Murders... that should carry me through half the year. ;-)

Love the family photos and stories.

No BB for the Gauld book, but I do love that book title!

Lasagna is perfect winter comfort food. That, and beef stroganoff. Yum.

Wow on the power loss. Good thing you have a generator!

Wishing you a fabulous week.

Happy Sunday!

Interesting food pyramid - thanks for posting it. It's a little different but not overly much, true?

I went to a seminar a week or so ago where the speaker, a FNP who specializes in diet issues, said that in her opinion, eating organic was probably important when eating very thin skinned items like berries, which have been proven to absorb pesticides, etc. (Award for most commas in a sentence ever!)

>164 karenmarie: That cat is not amused by the dead thing on its head.

>164 karenmarie: LOL!!

>171 streamsong: That cat is not amused by the dead thing on its head. --Ha!

Stopping by to say hello! I've started the literary Bible and finding it a fascinating way to connect with the book.

>157 karenmarie: My husband is also not a book reader so we watch TV together and I crochet. When I need to get away, I head to my library and my favorite reading chair. I can, however, read through sports so can hang out while he watches ice hockey.

Hope you had similarly warm weather as we did today. The snow if mostly gone although there is a swath along the edge of the woods where the sun doesn't reach.

Best wishes for a wonderful week!

Stopping by for a quick hello. The snow geese are not new to my area at all, but when they take out the power , they really come to the forefront of my mind :-) I've gotten to avoiding pooped up paths and fields and usually I don't mind them to much. But when you lost power due to the the dashed creatures, well - grrr! But I've herd more flocks flying over and no power outages, so that it is good. Some teased me when we lost the power I ought to go in search of the fried dead bird and have it for supper. Yes, there's always that. Makes me a bit sick to think of . Ugh!

>170 lkernagh: Hi Lori! Sorry to hear that you’re taking a year off, but LT can be addictive so I understand. Just come visit us some, eh?

Some of the lasagna went into the freezer and tonight we had lemon chicken, “church” rice, and green beans. I also had a small glass of red wine.

“Church food” is defined as anything with Campbell’s Cream of *** soup, Lipton packaged soup mixes, Cool Whip, or packaged ingredients. “Church” rice is actually officially called Skillet Pilaf, and I use ½ of the butter called for. I’m not sure our daughter knows its official name…..

I hope you have a wonderful week, too! Thanks for stopping by.

>171 streamsong: Thanks Janet. Any diet that is not paleo – protein intensive – will follow basically the same guide, although this one is nice for highlighting how many servings of something per week.

Interesting about using organic thin-skinned items. I don’t use organic frequently because where I live it’s extremely hard to find certified organic produce at any kind of reasonable price and quality. I’d have to drive 30 miles to Chapel Hill or 35 miles to Cary.

Nobody is amused by that thing on his head. No matter how I look at his …. hair…. it looks like cotton candy and I can’t figure out for the life of me what the actual configuration and quantity are prior to the hair effort.

>172 Berly: Hi Kim! I know, a riot, isn’t it? That cat does not look happy at all.

>173 witchyrichy: Hi Karen! Yay for The Literary Bible. I’m glad it’s of use to you.

If it’s not a sport I want to watch, I come to the Sunroom. If it’s a sport I want to watch, I’ll mostly watch and occasionally play a match-3 game on my cell phone.

We did have warm weather. The snow is still in the pastures and fields and on the north side of the house, but other than that pretty much gone. It sounded like it was raining today – the snow was melting and funneling into the gutters, just like rain.

No horse in the race exactly for either game, but I wish Jacksonville had beat New England just on principle. Vikings vs Eagles is on now, so I’ll head back to the living room for that game. I think I want the Vikings to win, but only because they finished up so spectacularly last weekend.

>175 karenmarie: Laughing at your description of church food. There is an element of truth to it.

I'm laughing at church food too, Karen. My favored terminology since reading Reamde is Stephenson's "recombinant cooking" for the same kind of effort.
You really did have snow! Wow! We really didn't - twice now - and the sprinkling we got came at night so that we couldn't even watch it fall.
I have access to *Fire/Fury*, and I'll probably have to read it. My blood pressure stays high enough as it is, so I don't know that I need confirmation of fear and loathing.

>164 karenmarie: I like that plan, and I love that picture :)
duckduckgo huh? I will check it out!

Morning, Karen. Waking up to buckets of rain, but it will be mild, just wet. Enjoy your day.

Morning, Karen!
>164 karenmarie: That poor Kitty!

>116 karenmarie: Kudos to you for reading and finishing Fire and fury. I can imagine it did not make for happy reading.

I have done my share of "I don't want to know", when I felt too taxed to deal with the news, but I do think it's better to be informed. I'm still reading No is not Enough by Naomi Klein. I started it for the January non-fiction challenge, but I'm afraid it's going to take me more than a month to finish. There is a lot of good information in it, but it's mostly pretty depressing, I find myself reading a few pages and then needing a breather to digest it all.

I use organic as much as possible. Here it's more prices that can be a problem, more than availability. For some reason organic chicken is very expensive, for example. I've now bought and fried a whole organic chicken, and plan to eat it, freeze the rest, and make chicken soup of the last parts.
Fruits are usually quite expensive, but meat, milk, cheese and vegetables are quite doable. When I can't buy organic I try and buy stuff that I think has got less pesticides. Buy in season, buy locally, when you can find it. It all helps.
Yesterday I saw some exotic fruits from China in the supermarket, they looked lovely but every individual pear wrapped in some kind of plastic protection, and really, China, where they are just starting to hear about the environment, a definitive no-no for me. (Sorry to go on, I care about there's things:-;)

Have a nice day!

>176 thornton37814: It’s definitely my concept – I made it up myownself. I’m glad you can see some truth in it.

>177 LizzieD: Yup. I read Reamde but didn’t catch the reference. Recombinant cooking is a good one, too.

We sure did get a lot of snow. There’s still snow on the north side of the house. I loved watching it come down, for sure. We got the last little bit after it got dark last Wednesday. We might get thunderstorms tonight or tomorrow morning, which might mean more snow. Here’s a bit of interesting science:

Winter thunder does tell us a bit more about how the weather might behave than, say, a groundhog that sniffs its way out of a burrow once a year. Thunder, on the other hand, does in fact signal a certain type of weather front, which might give us a glimpse of the cold stuff.

The general idea is that thunder develops in atmospheres conducive to — surprise! — thunderstorms. You're not going to get a ton of the rumbly stuff on, say, a clear day with no chance of rain. However, cold air and low-pressure systems from the north, displacing warm air and high pressure in the south, form an unstable atmosphere that can create terrific conditions for thunderstorms. Now, that means if you're hearing thunder in the winter, it could signal that a cold front is moving in. A moist weather system making its way through next could conceivably bring snow. A safe prediction you could make after hearing thunder in winter? Some cold weather is on its way.

Naturally, the "seven days" thing is a bit of a stretch. While a cold front could signal some snow, there's certainly no predicting when (or if) another wet weather system could arrive. What we do know (according to a 2006 study) is that if you do get "thundersnow," you're likely to get dumped on quite heavily. So if it does start coming down and thundering, be prepared for a snow day.

Peggy, reading F&F might raise your blood pressure, but honestly, nuclear war with North Korea, alienating the entire world, raping our agencies and departments, courts and environment, bumbling around the Middle East, AND closing down the government with a majority in the House, the Senate, and White House make this book seem like just a quaint prequel.

>178 LovingLit: I love visuals, Megan, glad you do too. There are scads of them – just look for kitten comb over drumpf. You don’t even have to use his real name. drumpf works just fine. *smile*

I was using ixquick.com until I saw this:



Then I remembered the guy manning the Republican tent on election day, an idiot politically, of course, but smart in the ways of security. He was using duckduckgo, covering the camera in the front of his computer AND cell phone (a bit irritating if you take a lot of selfies), and other things I can’t remember. So duckduckgo it is.

>179 msf59: Hi Mark! Stay dry. I’ve got to work on some FoL things – deposit, PO, bank, library – and I think I’m going to dinner with a friend. We cancel at the blink of an eye, so we’ll see if either of us bows out.

>180 ChelleBearss: Morning, Chelle! Yup. Poor guy.

>181 EllaTim: Hi Ella! Thanks. Not happy: disbelieving, crazy-making, and mad-making.

Slow and steady wins the race if you want to read a book but are having a hard time with it. I at least read news headlines every day. I read news on my cell phone and computer, and some of them I just cannot click to get the details of. It’s like poking a sore tooth with your tongue.

Even though we went through the ground beef years ago and have been buying at the store, we still have quite a bit of no-antibiotics, grass-and-corn-fed beef in our freezer from the times we’ve bought from our friend and neighbor Larry. I have found that some of the exotic fruit from distant lands, regardless of how well coddled, is tasteless, so I never bother any more.

Today is a day with Bill at work. 5 days at home, mostly sitting on the couch watching TV and playing with his cell phone, bless him. I’m glad to have the house back to myself, as mean as that sounds. It’s energy-recharging day for this introvert.

Good morning, Karen! I hope you have an enjoyable Monday.

Thanks, Harry! First cup of coffee down, two to go (medium sized mug. I always make the same amount of coffee.)

>164 karenmarie: Ha! That kitten comb-over is great. That kitten probably could do a better job of being President, too.

I also read Reamde, and liked it. My favorite of those I've read of his remains Snow Crash.

>184 karenmarie: Gotcha. I make an 8-cup pot in the morning and then usually another for the afternoon, and have a smaller pot in the evening. Today started an hour earlier, however, so I may need to make more soon.

>185 jnwelch: Hi Joe! I think he could, too, Joe! Let's hope that drumpf gets 25th Amendment-ed, Pence quits because the Christians in the Middle East rejected him (headline I saw this morning), and Mr. Kitten beats everybody else in that rat's nest out in an IQ test.

Hmm. Snow Crash is one of the few books I continued reading when I made the rash New Year's Resolution in 2008 to finish every book I started. That resolution was quickly dropped after Snow Crash. I think there were about 30 pages in the middle that were pure magic, but I loved Reamde. I've got his Baroque Cycle on my shelves and like everything else I think about, would like to read this year.

>186 harrygbutler: Go for it. You use a percolator, don't you?

>187 karenmarie: Yep. I'll likely get it going again shortly, as I just finished my last cup from the first pot.

Morning, Karen! I had fun catching up with your delightful and informative thread. Hoping that today is kind ti you.

>188 harrygbutler: Nothing beats a good cup of coffee. I'm halfway through my second.

>189 Crazymamie: Hi Mamie! Thank you. I'm flattered. So far so good - laundry drying on hangers, laundry in the dryer, breakfast done. I'm definitely going out tonight to dinner with a friend, so now can plan on one trip into town today with errands before meeting her. I don't have to out twice, yay!

>182 karenmarie: I have duckduckgo up and going! And it's easy to use too, so I am in .

Mamie's Monday mojo has turned this into a dank, unpleasant day outside. I *know* she's the perpetratrix. After all she's a vice-goddess.

Need to make more coffee...reality is slipping away...

xoxo

>191 LovingLit: Good for you, Megan! Anything to thwart Google.....

>192 richardderus: Aww, RD! Coffee, books, *smooches* from Horrible.

It took me almost 3 hours to get caught up on FoL business. And Jenna called twice and a friend from work days called and my printer lost wireless connectivity to my PC and I had to call Brother. Sheesh.

>182 karenmarie: Thank you for that, Karen. I had been intending to check out alternative search engines now that net neutrality is no more. I used to use Dogpile before Google made it so easy. Dogpile uses multiple search engines, including Google, and Google was the best by far at that point, but for privacy, therefore, Dogpile doesn't give any advantage, although it does deal with a particular search engine restricting information. I'll try duckduckgo.

I must have missed the reason you have a Google aversion. Problems with it?

Ah oh, Karen! I think you missed me up at >174 vancouverdeb:. No worries. I understand your " church food " designation. I tell you, years ago when I helped out with The Alpha Program at my church ( in the kitchen where we prepared a meal ) I often could not bring myself to eat the food we made. I was just "kitchen help" but the fat and other ingredients on the food was not for me. I also shuddered inside when I saw how the food was handled - not as a sanitary as it should be, by any means. I understand that the person in charge of the kitchen now has made some big improvements .

>194 ronincats: You’re welcome, Roni. I’m sure there are others, but this is the one I currently like.

>195 weird_O: It’s ubiquitous, invasive, and unavoidable in some circumstances, like on my android phone although I also use duckduckgo there for searching. Irrational, perhaps. No problems, just intellectual dislike and using me for marketing. Duckduckgo, if you can believe them, doesn’t keep info. Of course they could be LYING and I wouldn’t know. I liked ixquick until I saw the dread “enhanced by Google” show up a while back. And although I had to get a gmail account for the phone, I don't use it at all, ever, except when I get a new phone.

>196 vancouverdeb: Deborah, I am so sorry. I looked at videos of Snow Geese and my goodness! Thousands and thousands of them. Loud and poopy.

I read an article by Nora Ephron years ago in Crazy Salad, called Baking Off. I have always vaguely remembered a paragraph about using two cups of sugar when one would do, and using Kraft American Cheese instead of any other kind. I still have my 1975 edition, bought new, and here’s the paragraph:

There were samples everywhere, try this, try that, but after six tries, climaxed by Mrs. Frisbie’s creation, I stopped sampling. The overkill was unbearable: none of the recipes seemed to contain one cup of sugar when two would do, or a delicate cheese when Kraft American would do, or an actual minced onion when instant minced onions would do. It was snack time. It was convenience-food time. It was less-work-for-Mother time. All I could think about was a steak.

It impressed me and was at a time I was reading Adele Davis's book Eat Right to Keep Fit. So when I started collecting women’s group and church cookbooks, I was primed for the identification of “church food”.

The only time I worked in a commercial kitchen was the weekend I spent with the Hare Krishnas in SoCal in 1974 for a sociology class. In addition to having to promise in writing to not drink alcohol or have sex while at the Krishna Consciousness Center, I was put to work in their kitchen cutting fresh green beans. Every time I accidentally touched my face I had to go wash my hands. I was not good at not touching my face.

They were super clean, super fresh only, super vegetarian. I nearly starved to death. I also caught a terrible cold after chanting on Hollywood Blvd in a sari but barefoot on a cold February Saturday night. Fun times. *smile* I’m glad your church’s kitchen is doing better than it used to.

>98 karenmarie: Lilly is a lovely lady, inside and out. I took her to the vet for her annual exam, shots and medications. He really likes Lilly. She was lying on the floor and he kneeled down to get blood from her leg area. She was so calm that he could not get blood. It too a few times before he could obtain what he needed for her blood test. He laughed and said she is so calm that her blood pressure is low.

Oh yeah, I remember Adele Davis!
>185 jnwelch: Snow Crash blew me away at the time, but I've been afraid that it's dated and haven't reread it. Cryptonomicon remains my favorite on many levels, but I think I just enjoy Stephenson. I wish he cared more about ending his novels. I think he gets tired and just stops.
I am terrible about touching my face, and that's not good in this flu season.

>198 Whisper1: Hi Linda! Good for Lilly.

>199 LizzieD: Hi Peggy. Even if some of her recommendations and conclusions were debunked, her emphasis on nutrition and eating properly made a big impression on me.

This is a very bad flu season, isn't it? Bill and I both got our flu shots, but the vaccine this season is not as effective as other seasons and the flu is virulent. I just read that a 6-year old in Cary died last week. Started getting sick Tuesday and died on Friday.

I have no clue as to why I'm awake this early, but I've now had a sip or two of coffee and will do some reading soon.

Morning, Karen. Back to the 30s today, but no rain or snow in the immediate forecast. Zero seen at the feeders. I wonder what's up?

>201 msf59: 'Morning, Mark! Our feeder activity comes and goes in waves and I never know why. It's a puzzlement, for sure. *smile* I'm glad that even if it's cold out you don't have precipitation to deal with.

Good morning, Karen!

>201 msf59: >202 karenmarie: With rain today, I expect our feeders to be fairly quiet, but yesterday we had a small flock of starlings come around for the first time in months.

>203 harrygbutler: Hi Harry. Our rain has passed and the clouds are alternating with patches of blue. I need to fill the feeders again today after the snow-induced frenzy of Wed - Sat.

Flocks of any type of bird make me feel good, even the frenzy of cowbirds last week that emptied all the feeders. I must admit that I wouldn't like @vancouverdeb's Snow Geese pooping up my pastures, though.

.... quick! I'm all caught up on threads, signing out so I can actually get some reading done.

Knock knock, anyone home?

Ugh, geese are horribly messy birds.

Yup. I'm home. I read a bit, put up some Christmas stuff, missed a call from my daughter, :(, and am back.

Are you recovered?

Flying in formation over the house heading north or south is fine, and that's all the Canada Geese mostly do around here. These are the only two geese who have ever landed on our property to my knowledge, and they came to visit one year on our anniversary, April 27th. We don't get Snow Geese, thank goodness.

We get oodles of Canada Geese on Long Island's vast open spaces. (No, not joking, vast open spaces are parks and golf courses and estate gardens.) I myownself don't mind because I don't golf or park or garden.

>206 karenmarie: Yeah geese here are a nuisance too. We have a number that live on our lake and thus visit the yard a lot leaving it a mess. The only thing I will credit the geese with is they are smart. They will come up on the yard to eat the grass so we let the dog out to chase them away. After a couple of times of this the geese figured out that the dog is stopped by the invisible fence. So, when the dog comes out now the geese hustle just over the line into the neighbor's yard and no further secure in the knowledge that the dog won't keep coming after them.

>207 richardderus: Good afternoon, RD! Oodles, eh? That reminds me of the oodles of seagulls that hang out in the KMart and WalMart and Big Lots parking lots in Sanford. At home I hear the geese honking as they fly thither and yon.

>208 Oberon: Hi Erik! Poor dog, that must drive him/her absolutely crazy. The more I pay attention to our feathered friends, the more I appreciate their smarts.

>197 karenmarie: I was just curious. I just might feel the same way if I didn't have a son working there.

I too remember Adele Davis.

Geese. I saw a piece on The TV about a fellow who had two unemployed border collies. He got them work herding geese at a couple of nearby golf courses. Although the geese are naturally equipped for "boating", they don't want to always be on the water. So by herding them off the turf and onto the water, the dogs are helping to discourage them from hanging around.

You've been keeping yourself busy over here, Karen! I'm delighted you and Bill are enjoying Grace and Frankie. It's not high art but it's enjoyable and some of the topics really resonate with me. Have you settled on a good replacement for Midsomer Murders now that you are all caught up? I've been watching Planet Earth 2 but that's not really narrative storytelling. :-)

I was listening to the BBC radio 4 comedy show 'Old Harry's Game' and they mentioned Midsomer Murders. It's a show about the devil. Pretty funny.

Speaking of devils, I had to lock P-Bitty up today, since they may/may not paint my front door, and I don't want a black cat with taupe accents when he tries to wriggle out the front door when I get home. So tonight when he wants his back scratched, I better make with the toot sweet.

>210 weird_O: Gulp. I didn't realize you had a son working there, although it doesn't change my not wanting to use Google.

I had 3 of her books, actually, but when I moved back to CA from CT in 1980 two boxes of my books got lost by the Post Office (to be fair, they were probably poorly packaged) and that was that.

That's funny about the dogs.

>211 rosalita: It's been a fun January here on LT so far, Julia. Bill was quite put out last night when we wanted to watch just one more Grace and Frankie and our daughter called us with computer woes. When we got off the phone with her I wanted to watch the episode, but Bill is nothing if not a creature of habit, and at 10 the TV usually goes off and since we hadn't really started watching the episode, the TV went off. The episode was the one where Grace and Frankie are getting ready to pitch their business plan for vibrators for seniors with arthritis to the banker. This show cracks me up.

No replacement for MM yet. We are watching the newest season of The Blacklist that's just come on Netflix, but are liking G&F more right now. We also have new episodes of NCIS and Bull and some other things I can't remember offhand. I think we already watched Planet Earth II.

>212 SomeGuyInVirginia: Hi Larry! It's like if you buy a Volvo, and all of a sudden you see Volvos everywhere. Now that I know about MM, I read references to it everywhere.

You don't want your escape artist getting out. I understand. Does the taupe go with his gorgeous eyes? Gotta make it up to him, too. *smile*

8. The Hounds of Spring by Lucy Andrews Cummin
1/23/18 to 1/23/18





From the back cover:

On a crisp April day in Philadelphia, Poppy Starkweather, in her mid-twenties, begins the rounds of her clients – Penelope, Fauna, Horatio, Bliss, and Chutney, accompanied by her own hound, Spock – assuming that this will be another ordinary day. Since abandoning a PhD. program in literature, Poppy has stumbled into walking dogs as a stopgap while she figures out what to do with her life.

Although happy in a steady relationship, Poppy is leery of further commitment while in career limbo, fearing she might commit the age-old error of hiding from herself inside marriage. Shouldn’t she get it all figured out first?

By noon her day will be careening off course, diverted by an unexpected visit from her brother, a scary medical appointment with her boyfriend, and an urgent request from a client. By the small hours of the night Poppy will be questioning her assumptions about what it means to be truly adult.

Why I wanted to read it: It sounds just like the type of intense fiction that appeals to me. The description intrigued me. I requested it, and won a copy from the Early Reviewers program.

It's a day in the life, replete with normal dog-walking experiences and unexpected chaos as Poppy can’t say no to her brother, her boyfriend, and a client. It will all work out logistically, right? Everybody’s needs can be met with just a little bit of juggling, right?

Emotions are sharply and lovingly portrayed. There are also clear and detailed descriptions of things - roads, sidewalks, dog “items” left behind during walks, flowers, houses, furniture, food. It all works. Everything is vibrant and alive.

May I say here and now that I’d give quite a bit to be with her on this day? May I also say that as a rule I am not a dog person but fell in love with Spock, Penelope, and other members of the canine cast?

It is hard to believe that we learn all about Poppy’s family and her boyfriend, the lives of her clients AND their dogs within a few deft paragraphs or pages. This is a beautifully written book that flows with the ups and downs of Poppy’s insecurities, uncertainties, and love for her people and dogs. I really like Poppy and her thoughts and feelings as the day progresses.

Good that you haven't had to deal with a lot of geese-on-land. I don't mind seeing them in the sky, but they can be messy monsters on land.

Happy Wednesday!

Good morning, Karen! Enjoy your Gary Larson reading!

>215 The_Hibernator: Hi Rachel! Oh yes, I like looking at small v-formations of them flying but would be appalled if this happened on my land. @vancouverdeb posted this a while back. Admittedly these are Snow Geese not Canada Geese, but still.

Snow Geese Migration.

Today will be a few errands, a haircut, then back home to read and etc.

>216 harrygbutler: Hi Harry! Fun stuff. This one really makes me laugh.

Bwahahahaha! I wonder if I can get that on a tee-shirt?

>217 karenmarie:, >218 SomeGuyInVirginia: If he gets one, I want one too!

>214 karenmarie: Lovely review of Lucy's book.

Have you and Bill tried Death In Paradise, Horrible? It's on Netflix. British hewmore in the Caribbean.

Karen, I am 198 messages behind (!) so think I'll just pretend they don't exist and settle in from here :)

>218 SomeGuyInVirginia: Hi Larry! I would imagine you could.... Are you "Born to be Wired"?

>219 richardderus: Okay RD! You two work it out and make it happen. *smile*

Thank you re Lucy's book, RD.

Ooh, Death in Paradise looks wonderful. Thanks - I'll mention it to Bill!

>220 katiekrug: Hi Katie! I know the feeling, so it's just nice to see you here. I'm still proud of you for 'adulting' in TX, by the way.

Well, errands run, hair cut. I've got 50 lbs of black oil sunflower seeds in the back of Steve, salad fixin's, and I'm going to try yogurt again -plain greek. I put a few raisins in it and will let them plump and see if I can get back into a yogurt frame of mind. Lots of protein and etc.

We LOVED Death in Paradise!

I'm blushing and thrilled by your review. Thank you!

>214 karenmarie: You've read it already!!! I'm really jealous but I'm going to have to wait until my pre-order arrives.

We loved Death in Paradise too.

>222 sibylline: Good to know, Lucy.

And you're very welcome re the review. All from the heart. Thank YOU for writing such a wonderful story.

>223 RebaRelishesReading: Hi Reba! Yup. Check your comments. *smile*

Another vote for Death in Paradise. Yay.

I also vote for Death in Paradise. I've only watched the first season, though, and was sorry to see that Ben Miller is no longer on the show. I've enjoyed several shows he's been in.

A Man Called Ove - yay! I read it last year and it was a fabulous book. I intend to read more by Backman someday.

Great review for Fire and Fury but I too will have to pass. I know I would get too worked up. I almost forgot that I had installed the kitten filter and wondered why there was a picture of kittens on your review!

>214 karenmarie: Good review, Karen! Makes me think I wouldn't mind a day with them too.

>225 rretzler: you actually installed the kitten filter and it worked! I kept half thinking it had to be a joke, but it's for real, wow.

>225 rretzler: Hi Robin. I've mentioned DiP to Bill. We're going to be finishing Grace and Frankie soon since we usually binge-watch 3 or 4 a night and have 15 to go through the end of season 4.

I'm about 2/3 of the way through A Man Called Ove. It's very good.

Thanks re F&F. The kitten worked on his face embedded in the image of the book cover? Well, color me surprised.

>226 EllaTim: Thank you, Ella!

Messy monsters is right about too many Canada Geese or Snow Geese! Beautiful in the air, but what mess when they land in a field or take out the power!

I really enjoyed A Man Called Ove. Glad you are too.

Hi, Karen! Erika and I both like Death in Paradise, though it has its flaws. We've seen the first five seasons and at least some of the sixth.

Hey there Horrible. *smooch*

>53 karenmarie: (Seriously? 53? I can't keep up around here) I enjoyed your thoughts about A Good Man is Hard to Find. I love your comparison to cod liver oil. I read them all, but I did not enjoy them. I respected their quality, but I did not enjoy them. I tried to listen to Wise Blood and gave it up finally. What an interesting human being though.

Good call on skipping our meetup this week. Daughter started with the fever yesterday. It's 102 today. Not a good week at ours. I am doing all the possible things to prevent illness, but in the end it's "wash your hands and pray" as my Grandma used to say.

I am nearly done with The Year of Magical Thinking, and it's wonderful.

>228 vancouverdeb: Hi Deborah! I like the way A Man Called Ove evolves – present day and backstory. I almost got the tissue box out last night as I read about the bus accident, Sonja’s coma, loss of the child, and what I assume to be her permanent disability.

>229 harrygbutler: Hi Harry. Okay, so many folks are voting for Death in Paradise that I hope we can watch it next.

>230 richardderus: *smooch* back, darling Richard.

>231 nittnut: I am shocked, too, that I’m almost done with thread 2 while still in January. A very good way to put it re Flannery O'Connor's short stories - I respected their quality, but I did not enjoy them.

I just checked out Wise Blood and won’t go near it with a 20-foot barge pole. Nope, nope, nope.

I’m sorry your husband and daughter are sick – I hope you and your son can avoid it. I sent some anti-bacterial handwipes to work with Bill on Monday as one of his bosses just got over the flu and the other is in the midst of it. Bill gets sick easier and stays sick longer than I do. I’m glad that we didn’t meet up although I have the book-buying bug – let’s hope next week works out!

I’m glad you like The Year of Magical Thinking. I was profoundly moved by it.

Well, I was able to find the gift card I got at Christmas from Aunt Ann and clean up an extra cat carrier that I’m giving her for Chatty Cat. I’m driving out to her house tomorrow, where we plan on visiting for a while, then going to spend my gift card, have lunch, and finish browsing the second half of the B&N. Costco on the way home, and a nice day to look forward to.

Good morning, Karen! Sounds like you have a good day planned. Enjoy!

Hi Harry! Yes, I am looking forward to it. Kitchen gadgets store, lunch, B&N - what's not to love?

I've already had a good day actually - I got up at 3:30 EST to watch Roger Federer play Hyeon Chung in the Semi-Finals of the Australian Open. I finally figured out how to turn the TV and Dish Network on (it was early, no coffee yet, *smile*) then came downstairs to make my own coffee, put it in my work thermos (which hasn't seen work in almost 2 years, yay!) and went back upstairs with a 2-Newton package of Fig Newtons, coffee mug and thermos.

In case anybody wishes to watch the rebroadcast of the match, here's how my early morning went. I was just getting into it, first set to Roger 6-1, second set with Hyeon Chung down a break when he took a medical timeout for blisters. He wasn't looking like the phenom I'd heard about, and at 5-2 30-30 Roger in the second set he retired. Total shock for everybody there. Jim Courier's interview with Roger was great, as usual. Roger was clearly jazzed at getting to the final and had to say all the right words about it not being the way he wanted to get there - it's like a net-cord drop over into your opponent's court - you wave it off like you wish it hadn't happened yet inside are going Yes! Yes! Yes!. I'll get up again at 3:30 am on Sunday to watch the final - Roger and Cilic.

My thermos of coffee was still half-full, so I'm finishing it now. It's still a very good temperature.

Wow, 330am to watch tennis! That's dedication!

Hi Chelle!

I'm a Roger Federer fan through and through. He's 36, he had a few bad years, but the last several have been good and I wanted to watch. Retired, can catch up on sleep later....

I loved The Year of Magical Thinking, too. Of course, I'm a yuge Didion fan.

It was an audiobook for me. I really enjoy them, and can remember where I was when this chapter was read out, and where I was when that one played. So audiobooks are tied, in my head, with geographic locations and events on the road. Magical Thinking is pegged for me on the road across the mountain into Sperryville, VA. It was late at night, I had more than an hour left driving to get back to DC, and I was looking for 'my' bend in the road so I could pull over and take a leak. From that place your can spot approaching cars long before they actually get near. It's a life saver.

3:30 a.m. for TV?!?! Not a hope for me ... but I could set the DVR and watch it at a civilized hour :)

Aha. I'm caught up! A friend of mine sent out a plea to his friends to make sure to eat organic strawberries, as they do absorb pesticides more than any other fruit. The prices are steep, of course.

Afternoon, Karen! I am all caught up here now. I loved your review of Lucy's book - thumb from me. And I will add my kudos to Death in Paradise - Rae and I loved that show.

I have The Year of Magical Thinking out from the library, but I have not gotten to it yet. Very soon, I hope.

Hoping that you had fun today - your plans sounded full of fabulous!

*pats foot impatiently awaiting documented evidence of Horrible's weak will in the face of bibliotemptation at Buns and Nubile*

Go Roger! I am also a Federer fan, Karen, but I can't get up at 2:30 a.m. (Central time) to watch. I did stay up last Friday night to watch one of his earlier round matches, but not on a work night! So you'll have to root him on for me in the final, please.

Whew! Just got home about half an hour ago. Wild-caught salmon in the freezer, gallon of skim milk, smoked gouda and feta in the refrigerator, other stuff still on the island in the kitchen. My feet hurt.

>237 SomeGuyInVirginia: I need to read more of Didion, Larry. Audiobook as GPS….. I like it.

>238 RebaRelishesReading: Okay Reba, you got me – I don’t know how to record stuff. Bill does, but we only got the Dish Joey for my Retreat about 2 months ago, and I haven’t a clue. I was proud to get the TV on, the Dish remote on, and find the Australian Open. Baby steps.

>239 ffortsa: Hi Judy! Brava to getting caught up and yum to organic strawberries. Have you ever had them dipped into sour cream then dipped into brown sugar? To die for.

>240 Crazymamie: Excellent, Mamie! Good for you. Thank you re Lucy’s book. Easy to write a good review when the book is ‘Stunning’ – 4.5 stars in my rating system. More DiP praise.

Fun, tiring, and in replying to Richard’s >241 richardderus:, I’ll mention the book I got. What!? Only one book? Well, yes. I’m slowing down in book acquisitions, how temporary a situation I do not know.

>241 richardderus: Ha. Only somewhat weak will. Persons Unknown by Susie Steiner. I loved Missing, Presumed when I read it last October. There were several series I would have bought more of had they had the next one I needed. And there were no audiobooks that spoke to me. Both Aunt Ann and I used my daughter’s B&N card by giving daughter’s cell phone number and getting 10% off each. $2.70 is $2.70, after all.

>242 rosalita: Yay Julia! I will root for him for anybody who needs me to. This final will be different because it’s the first time I’ll be able to watch upstairs in my Retreat. I’ll have to figure out a different arrangement for my Federer charms than what I usually do.



FederBear, authenticated signed photo, Wimbledon towels. I have never put out the official Swiss Postal Stamps issued in 2009.

$2.70 is a respectable sum to shave off a purchase. Am stunned at the strength of your resistance. STUNNED.

>244 richardderus: I'm feeling satiated, in a book glut. It will change, not to worry.

There's also a teensy bit of consideration for Aunt Ann's budget in this stunning display of will power - I would have felt a bit churlish buying lots of books when she is on such a tight fixed budget. She debated buying the one book she did, and her fierce pride wouldn't let me buy any books for her.

So. A combination of not finding too many books I wanted and not wanting to buy too many books in a display of conspicuous consumption.

9. A Man Called Ove by Fredrick Backman
1/19/18 to 1/26/18





From Amazon:

Read the New York Times bestseller that has taken the world by storm!

Meet Ove. He’s a curmudgeon—the kind of man who points at people he dislikes as if they were burglars caught outside his bedroom window. He has staunch principles, strict routines, and a short fuse. People call him “the bitter neighbor from hell.” But must Ove be bitter just because he doesn’t walk around with a smile plastered to his face all the time?

Behind the cranky exterior there is a story and a sadness. So when one November morning a chatty young couple with two chatty young daughters move in next door and accidentally flatten Ove’s mailbox, it is the lead-in to a comical and heartwarming tale of unkempt cats, unexpected friendship, and the ancient art of backing up a U-Haul. All of which will change one cranky old man and a local residents’ association to their very foundations.

A feel-good story in the spirit of The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry and Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand, Fredrik Backman’s novel about the angry old man next door is a thoughtful exploration of the profound impact one life has on countless others. “If there was an award for ‘Most Charming Book of the Year,’ this first novel by a Swedish blogger-turned-overnight-sensation would win hands down” (Booklist, starred review).

Why I wanted to read it: I felt obligated to at least start it, as it is my book club’s choice for the February discussion. Frankly I expected to abandon it.

I was irritated at the idea of this book. I abandoned The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry and The 100-Year Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window although I loved Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand. I don’t like the movie Grumpy Old Men. I’m cranky about cranky old men.

Therefore I surprised myself by really liking this book and caring deeply about Ove, Sonja, and the other folks who live in a subdivision with strict rules and enmity between Ove and pretty much everybody else in the world.

I liked the way Ove and Sonja’s backstory was handled – chapters here and there leading up to the present day. I can’t say much about their love story at all because almost anything is a spoiler, but the one thing I can say is that their love for each other was profound and unconditional and beautiful to read.

The translation was brilliant, echoing Ove’s deeply practical and no-frills approach to life. Almost awkward, not quite, the wording and phrasing were frequently laugh-out-loud funny, especially as regards The Cat. And I was quietly amused at Ove’s loyalty to Saab and Rune’s loyalty to Volvo over the decades they knew each other.

Being a cat person (I know, RD, I know….) I thoroughly enjoyed how quickly and deeply entrenched the cat became. I also liked it that we got the cat’s perspective on things, too.

Ove changed. His life became enriched. He helped people, almost against his will, because it was the right thing to do.

>245 karenmarie: Well, that makes perfect sense.

>246 karenmarie: It was the cat. Same reason I would rate it one star is the reason you liked it!

Cats, RD! Sorry, but there it is. Toxic spit creatures that they are. ATD, right?

For those of you who either love kitties or don't mind looking at pictures of them, here are the five Hengeveld kitties.

Magic 1996-2012
Merlin 1996-2014
Coco Chanel 1998-2015
Kitty William 1999-
Inara Starbuck 2007-

This is from The Far Side Gallery 5 by Gary Larson. Harry inspired me to re-read it over on his thread. This one is absolutely perfect, especially after my first sip of hot, strong, black coffee.

>246 karenmarie: Hooray for Ove! Good review. I had a nice time with this one too.

Morning, Karen. Happy Saturday. Last work day and it looks like it might hit 50, so cheers all around.

>249 karenmarie: LIKE!

>250 msf59: Hi Mark! Thank you re my review. That's a good way to put it - I had a nice time with it.

I'm glad your last work day pre Mexico will at least not be trudging through the frozen tundra. Yay.

>246 karenmarie: Thanks for that review, Karen. Was looking for a nice book!

>252 EllaTim: Thank you, Ella! I hope you like it as much as I did.

Morning, Karen!
>246 karenmarie: Good review of Ove! It's waiting for me on my eReader (being neglected with all his sad little friends)

>248 karenmarie: So much cuteness here!! I miss having a kitty but at least I have my giant suck of a doggie still :)

Hi Chelle!

Thank you. I know reading time is not your highest priority these days - I remember when my daughter was little and the only reading I could do was at lunch time at work and after she was in bed. I usually fell asleep with the light and my glasses still on, the book face down on top of the covers. Bill would come in, I'd be vaguely aware of him taking my glasses off and putting them on the night stand, putting the book ditto, and turning off the light.

We love our kitties. We just have the two now. Aunt Ann asked me if I wanted a black kitty from the Pet Smart in a town about 60 miles away. She keeps her horse in that town, the woman she boards her horse with cleans the kitty cages at the Pet Smart. I told her that my 18-year old boy kitty would get too stressed and she understood. When Kitty William goes to kitty heaven I might consider getting two young cats from the shelter.

>255 karenmarie: I do manage to get a bit of reading in during some of Elissa's naps when Chloe wants some TV time or usually it's just after they go to bed. I managed two hours last night before I passed out :)

My sister keeps trying to give me two of her cats. She has three but when they got a dog two of the cats prefer to avoid the pooch. I also have a dog though so I don't see that changing anything for them. Plus Nate would not be happy to have two kids, a dog and two cats. Just too much!

Ah! I plan on reading A Man Called Ove this year. My mom is reading it right now, though. Hopefully he enjoys it.

Hi Karen. Your cats (like my own) have had nice long lives. My current 2 were born in 2000 and 2001. My previous 2 lived to be 18 and 19 years old. And yes, it's not easy bringing in a new one when a *senior* is still king of the castle. I also waited and at the time, I was still working so actually lived without any cat for 3 months, after the last one died, so I could be off work in the summer to be home full time when bringing in 2 new ones together.

Ove is on my list!

>248 karenmarie: Love seeing all the cats!

I love that Larson cartoon!

Super sweet Hengeveld kitties.

>256 ChelleBearss: I would tend to agree, Chelle, just too much, what with already having the one dog. I think you also went through losing a kitty last year too, right?

>257 The_Hibernator: It’s a very good book, Rachel. You’ve got a lot on your plate, too, what with stepkids and a wedding and classics challenges and etc.

>258 jessibud2: Bill has always said that he’d love to come back as a Hengeveld kitty. Spoiled rotten and well loved.

Sounds like it worked out well when you waited a bit then brought in two new kitties at the same time. That’s what we did with Merlin and Magic. Jenna was 3, I had an old cranky cat named Imsai who only loved me, and when Jenna asked “Mommy, how come Aye-Aye doesn’t love me?” I knew more kitties were in our future. Two made sense, and Imsai went to kitty heaven about a year and a half later.

>259 thornton37814: Thanks, Lori!

>260 katiekrug: Hi Katie! Yup. Saw that one first thing this morning and knew I had to share.

Getting ready to go run errands. I puttered around in the kitchen, cleaning my glass stove top properly and cleaning out my coffee mill. I love my coffee mill - Kitchenaid KCG200OB.

Karen, are >262 ThesisWork.Matlab: and 263 spam? Should we flag them? I don't want to click or open them

>246 karenmarie: I loved it too - same reasons. I was very skeptical at first, but the whole thing grew on me.

>248 karenmarie: I like cats, I'm just very allergic. Your kitties are lovely.

Starting life anew from here...haven't looked above.

>246 karenmarie: I didn't expect to like it either but I simply loved it. High on my list of favorite reads ever!

>261 SomeGuyInVirginia: Thank you Larry.

>265 jessibud2: Thank you guys for flagging. Yes. I looked at them after there were already 4 flags and there’s some website referenced.

>266 nittnut: Hi Jenn! Cat allergies – good to know. I’ll have to be very careful about making sure I wear non-cat hair clothing when I come to visit next week. *smile*

>267 richardderus: Good idea, RD! You also missed the troll.

>268 RebaRelishesReading: Hi Reba! It's a good'un. Has anybody else read any of his other works?

Okay. Back from errands, talked to Jenna, looking at the bird activity. Finches, Cardinals. I've started A is for Alibi, the first of Sue Grafton's alphabet series.

And I'm definitely on track to finish up Nicholas Nickleby this week. I'm on chapter XLIX - chapter 49 of 65 to those who don't speak Roman Numerals.

>249 karenmarie: Oh, I'm glad you posted it!

Today, we visited Bowman's Hill Wildflower Preserve, where we are members, to watch the birds at their feeders. Not too much activity — a few chickadees and one or to tufted titmice.

>269 karenmarie: >268 RebaRelishesReading: Hi Karen!
Besides Ove I have read and loved And Every Morning the Way Home Gets Longer and Longer and My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She's Sorry. I hope to get to Britt-Marie Was Here, wich is a sort of sequel to My Grandmother asked.

Happy Saturday, Karen! I'm all caught up here now.

>246 karenmarie: Great review - I have that one in the stacks.

>248 karenmarie: Such sweet photos - thanks for sharing.

>249 karenmarie: LOVE this!

>264 karenmarie: And also the coffee mill!

>269 karenmarie: Trolling you too?! Yikes. *smooch*

I really enjoyed A Man Called Ove too. Glad you did too! Love the pictures of the cats! Such imagination when it comes to names. My husband is very allergic to cats, so that is not an option for us. But we do love dogs. Our three dogs have had fairly unimaginative names. Our first was a Border Terrier and the breeder had called him " Geordie". We did not have the heart to change his name, as he was already about 5 months old when we adopted him . He traveled to us by plane, all by his lonesome and we had him for a wonderful 15 years. He was the dog our boys grew up with. Then we adopted what I never thought I'd go for - a little white dog that caught my heart in the local animal shelter. She was all shaved , due to being neglected and looked quite dreadful . But she sat in my lap for an entire afternoon and I was smitten. So we adopted Daisy, a bichon frise. She was already 8 years old, and we only had her until the age of 13 1/2. I was so heartbroken when she passed that we looked into a third dog very quickly . Poppy was a puppy from a dog that had been rescued from California. Mom turned out to be pregnant when she arrived in Vancouver. We decided that this time we wanted a puppy - young dog so we would not have to say good bye so quickly . Poppy was the first dog we actually named. Of course Dave and I had to negotiate the name.

Finally caught up with your thread, Karen. LT seems to be getting away from me even though I am supposed to have more time to keep up now. This retirement gig is interesting, it throws up all kinds of fun things to take up your time. I just recently started watching Death in Paradise and like it even though it looks like I started mid way through (story of my life).

>167 karenmarie: The food pyramid is interesting.

>270 harrygbutler: Couldn’t resist, Harry. Even if you didn’t see too many birds your day trip sounds wonderful.

>271 FAMeulstee: Hi Anita! It sounds like I need to keep my eye out for more books by Backman.

>272 Crazymamie: Yay Mamie. Thank you re the review and my kitty photos. Coffee and coffee mill are both very important to me. The coffee mill makes it easy to grind fresh beans. I really dislike the hand-held mills because you have to measure beans, scrape ground beans out, and put the darned thing away (well, at least I do.)

>273 richardderus: Yup. Drat. Trolls be gone! *smooch* to you, RD.

>274 vancouverdeb: Hi Deborah! Kitty names are very important to us. Interestingly, our daughter Jenna named Merlin and Magic when she was 3 – I worked with a guy who had 5 cats. I don’t remember all their names, but 2 of them were Merlin and Magic, so when we said she could keep the kittens and name them, she immediately said Merlin was the brown mackerel tabby GIRL, and Magic was the orange mackerel tabby BOY. Bill named Coco – caliCO, and I added the Chanel. Kitty was a stray and Jenna gave him William as his middle name in honor of her dad. Inara Starbuck – Inara from Firefly and Starbuck from Battlestar Galactica II, the one with the female Starbuck. We were more heartless than you – Inara came from the shelter at 15 months old and her name was Rusty, but she was absolutely not a Rusty. It took us perhaps a week or two to ‘find’ her name.

Excellent dog stories and keeping original names does make sense in most cases. Good negotiating on Poppy, too. I had a girl kitty once named Poppy Seed – her blue-gray fur was the exact color of poppy seeds. She was that beautiful blue-gray and white.

>275 Familyhistorian: Hi Meg! It gets away from me, too, and especially this January seems like we’re all in message overdrive. Retirement is fun because there is time to be diverted. Another DiP fan. We’ll start at the beginning, probably after we finish The Blacklist. Bill likes it more than I do right now. He’s making Longmire noises though, so we’ll just have to see what makes sense next.

I like that food pyramid because it shows servings-per-week by category. I personally think it's too carb-heavy, but different diets work for different people. I seem to need a lot of animal protein.

So. I got up at 3:10 a.m. to watch the Men’s Final of the Australian Open, and Roger won in 5 sets over Marin Cilic. I wasn’t sure at the end of the fourth set that Roger would pull it out, but he regrouped and got back his serve. Cilic had a break chance in the first game of the 5th but blew it. Roger broke him, and the writing was the wall. He broke him again. Roger has now won 20 Grand Slam Men’s Singles Titles.

…

Morning, Karen. Happy Sunday. I am trying to post a couple of mini-reviews and set up the new AAC thread, otherwise it be a day filled with packing, and other preparations, along with some reading time.

Enjoy your day.

The REAL food pyramid:

Happy Sunday, Horrible!

Morning, Karen! I must confess that I am liking Richard's food pyramid.

>277 msf59: Good almost-afternoon, Mark! I just got back up about half an hour ago. I feel groggy. Yay for LT thread prep and vacation packing. I'm sure I speak for everybody when I say how happy I am that you have such an exciting vacation ahead of you!

>278 richardderus: Do I get more bacon and chocolate for the beer I don't drink? *smile*

Thanks, RD! Sunday II has started after going back to sleep from 7:30 - 11:20 a.m. I need to make some serious inroads into the last 17 chapters of a certain book I'm reading for a group read, read more of A is for Alibi, and just be lazy with Bill.

>279 Crazymamie: Hi Mamie! It's a good'un. Let's see. At 4 a.m. I had a thermos of coffee and a dark chocolate/peanut protein bar, and I just had a taco salad without tortilla chips/shell, so that takes care of 3 of the 5 food groups. No bacon today, and definitely no beer. I wonder if one can substitute wine for beer?

>280 karenmarie: I think absolutely yes. I myownself prefer wine to beer.

>281 Crazymamie: Good news. I value your opinion, Mamie! I've got a bottle of Justin 2015 Justification open. Think I'll pour a glass and re-watch some of the match with Bill.

*grin*

>214 karenmarie: Oh, this sounds like a great book. Thanks for the high recommendation.

>283 Crazymamie: Wine drunk, re-broadcast of match done - Roger won! Amazing. *smile*

>284 Whisper1: Hi Linda! Did you get it through ER, too? I see that it's in your catalog. It's a winner!

Happy to report that I'm now ambulatory (in a somewhat limited way). I can walk now, but I have to wear The Boot whilst doing it. I have interpreted this to mean I can drive if I wear an ankle brace (or wrap the ankle with an Ace bandage). Didn't really ask, 'cause if you don't ask, they can't say no. And since my wife no longer drives, this busted ankle has had us totally grounded.

We celebrated Friday by mailing a couple of Christmas packages and getting groceries. Yesterday I took a truckload of recycling and trash to the township transfer station. Oh, the mundane activities that bestow pleasure and a sense of accomplishment.

Hi Bill!

I didn't realize your wife didn't drive. Glad that you're somewhat ambulatory. Good thinking - don't ask, they can't say no. A corollary to "It's better to ask forgiveness than permission." Getting things out of the house (trash and presents) and getting things in, all good. I hope that things start getting back to normal soon.

Hi, Karen! I hope you've had a good Sunday, despite the intermission. :-) Not bad for me: I wrapped up a couple books and have already gotten in one movie (with possibly another later).

Hi Harry! It has been good. Congrats on books read and movie(s) watched.

I'm going to go watch some more The Blacklist with Bill. I'm getting engrossed in A is for Alibi by Sue Grafton. Only read one chapter of Nicholas Nickleby today. Sigh.

>289 karenmarie: - Hi Karen. Although I will admit to being not much of a fan of the mystery genre (shh, don't tell anyone), I did read several of Grafton's alphabet series and made it as far as I or J, I believe, before stopping. Not because they were bad (they weren't and I quite enjoyed them) but more because I had just run out of *mystery* steam... I also did read G is for Grafton at some point, as well.

>269 karenmarie: Well, if you don't sit on my lap or whatever else cats do, it will probably be fine if the odd cat hair comes along. LOL

>276 karenmarie: Looks like the good luck charms were effective. :)

>243 karenmarie: >276 karenmarie: Yay Federer!! I am so happy for him. I haven't done much reading because I've been watching all the tennis. Although not in the middle of the night! LOL Love your good luck charm collection.

>290 jessibud2: Hi Shelley! I won't tell anybody. *smile* I tend to run out of literary fiction steam. I have G is for Grafton on my shelves, just haven't read it yet.

>291 nittnut: Okay, Jenn, no lap sitting! My charms were effective. Even in the fourth set when he wasn't looking on top of it and Cilic was hot, I kept my cool, only said the f word a dozen or so times, and presto! Roger won.

>292 Berly: Yay indeed, Kim! Me, too. I admit that I don't watch much of the AO because of the 16-hour time difference, but for Federer I'm willing to get up for a 3:30 a.m. start. For me he's grace and class personified. He got over his early anger and control issues, and is simply the GOAT. Have you ever read the essay that David Foster Wallace wrote in 2006? If not here it is, if so, here it is again. Federer as Religious Experience

It's also in DFW's book of essays Both Flesh and Not and String Theory.

Morning, Karen! Wishing you a good week!

Happy days are here again, Horrible! Federer wins his 20th Grand Slam title, it's Monday and we don't have to go to the office, the planet hasn't succumbed to the orange shitgibbon's toddleresque tantrums, and you're reading non-Chuckles the Dick books. What could be finer?

>290 jessibud2: *shocked silence*

Hi, Karen! Happy Monday! Quiet around the feeders, but I need to refill them.

>294 ChelleBearss: Thanks, Chelle! Busy tomorrow and Wednesday, no commitments the rest of today, Thursday or Friday.

>295 richardderus: Yes! Yes, yes for us retired folks, yes so far, and non-Chuckles the Dick. Nothing much at all. I also just finished some Friends of the Library stuff so the rest of the day is open.

>296 harrygbutler: Hi Harry and thanks! I've got finches, and ... finches, and ooh. A female cardinal. And did I mention finches? It seems to be bird lunch time. I refilled all the feeders yesterday.

Ah! The rest of the day off...that sounds wonderful!

Karen, I wanted to stop in and say that I did manage to see Federer win the Australian Open after all! For some reason when we were discussing it earlier, I thought the match was Sunday night/Monday morning and thought there was no way I was going to get up at 2:30 on a work night. But when I realized it was Saturday night/Sunday morning I decided to set my alarm and watch. I'm glad I did, although things got a little dicey there at the end of the fourth set!

Hi Karen, hope you had a good weekend my dear and you seem to have a reasonably good week ahead. Talking of cats names, Leo's was easy as he was born in August and it suits him. Karen has been ill since Saturday has been in bed since she came home from work poor love. I am a good nurse and am looking after her and making sure she has plenty of fluid and sitting with her to keep her company as she is very fed up.

Sending love and hugs to you and Bill dear friend from both of us.

>298 The_Hibernator: Even with the excitement of Aaron, stepkids, weddings, and etc., you need to have Rachel time. You already know this, just keep remembering it.

This afternoon's been fun. I just baked a pie crust and will make chocolate cream to go in it. I've been reading A is for Alibi, and playing with the kitties.

>299 rosalita: I'm glad, Julia - it was a historic match on many levels. I must admit that I got a bit depressed in the fourth set with Federer's let down, but his hold in the first game of the 5th set and breaking Cilic right away sealed the deal for me. Then and only then, was I really able to enjoy it thoroughly. It was also fun to watch Mirka's emotions as the match went on.

>300 johnsimpson: Hi John! Good weekend, especially with Roger winning. Good week ahead, for sure. Leo is easy - although with that rule that's what my daughter's name would have had to be, as she was born August 3.

I'm sorry Karen's been ill. You are a good nurse, no doubt of it! She's lucky to have you. Sending love and hugs to you and Karen!

And, now off to create a new thread.

>301 karenmarie:, Funnily enough the 3rd August is Leo's birthday as well, how coincidental.