richardderus's fifth 2020 thread

the first TV image of Earth from Space, via TIROS-1

Sixty years ago this month, NASA began testing the Television InfraRed Observation Satellite, the first in human history to look at the Earth from Space to determine if meaningful data could be collected regarding developments in weather patterns. Seems quaint, doesn't it? The fact that the VAST majority of the world's population was born into a world with a forest of data-collecting satellites, where weather (all y'all's jokes aside) forecasts have become vastly superior to even the elevated accuracy of a decade ago, doesn't seem fair somehow to ignore how Science started to answer important questions like:

The TIROS Program was NASA's first experimental step to determine if satellites could be useful in the study of the Earth. At that time, the effectiveness of satellite observations was still unproven. Since satellites were a new technology, the TIROS Program also tested various design issues for spacecraft: instruments, data and operational parameters. The goal was to improve satellite applications for Earth-bound decisions, such as "should we evacuate the coast because of the hurricane?".

The TIROS-1 Program's first priority was the development of a meteorological satellite information system. Weather forecasting was deemed the most promising application of space-based observations.

lifted from Wikipedia, like the image below

In a mere sixty years, we've gone from "that hurricane's blowing away South Texas" (Carla) to the political failure to evacuate a major US port city despite climatological evidence and scientists' warnings to do so (Katrina). Thus is proved the axiom: "The Republican who does not read has no advantage over the person who cannot read."

I paraphrased a little. I have a point to make about politically motivated stupidity. If you feel offended by it, good; reflect on why.

In 2020, I will post 10 book reviews a month on my blog. I already read a book every other day, as this year's total of 155 (a lot of individual stories don't have entries in the LT database so I didn't post them here; guess I should do more to sync the data this year) reads shows; so it's doable, and I've done better than that in the past.

I will Pearl Rule books I'm not enjoying with notes on Goodreads & LibraryThing about why I'm abandoning the read.







My Last Thread of 2018 Is Here:
Reviews are back-linked there.

My Last Thread of 2019 Is Here:
Reviews are back-linked there.

Reviews 1 through 3 are thataway.

Reviews 4 through 8 reside thitherward.

Reviews 9 through 11 are back here.

Reviews 12 through 20 existen allá.

Reaviews 21 through 24? Go here!.

THIS THREAD'S REVIEW LINKS
Review 25

I really hadn't considered doing this until recently...tracking my Pulitzer Prize in Fiction winners read, and Booker Prize winners read might actually prove useful to me in planning my reading.

1918 HIS FAMILY - Ernest Poole **
1919 THE MAGNIFICENT AMBERSONS - Booth Tarkington *
1921 THE AGE OF INNOCENCE - Edith Wharton *
1922 ALICE ADAMS - Booth Tarkington **
1923 ONE OF OURS - Willa Cather **
1924 THE ABLE MCLAUGHLINS - Margaret Wilson
1925 SO BIG - Edna Ferber *
1926 ARROWSMITH - Sinclair Lewis (Declined) *
1927 EARLY AUTUMN - Louis Bromfield
1928 THE BRIDGE OF SAN LUIS REY - Thornton Wilder *
1929 SCARLET SISTER MARY - Julia Peterkin
1930 LAUGHING BOY - Oliver Lafarge
1931 YEARS OF GRACE - Margaret Ayer Barnes
1932 THE GOOD EARTH - Pearl Buck *
1933 THE STORE - Thomas Sigismund Stribling
1934 LAMB IN HIS BOSOM - Caroline Miller
1935 NOW IN NOVEMBER - Josephine Winslow Johnson
1936 HONEY IN THE HORN - Harold L Davis
1937 GONE WITH THE WIND - Margaret Mitchell *
1938 THE LATE GEORGE APLEY - John Phillips Marquand
1939 THE YEARLING - Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings *
1940 THE GRAPES OF WRATH - John Steinbeck *
1942 IN THIS OUR LIFE - Ellen Glasgow *
1943 DRAGON'S TEETH - Upton Sinclair
1944 JOURNEY IN THE DARK - Martin Flavin
1945 A BELL FOR ADANO - John Hersey *
1947 ALL THE KING'S MEN - Robert Penn Warren *
1948 TALES OF THE SOUTH PACIFIC - James Michener
1949 GUARD OF HONOR - James Gould Cozzens
1950 THE WAY WEST - A.B. Guthrie
1951 THE TOWN - Conrad Richter
1952 THE CAINE MUTINY - Herman Wouk
1953 THE OLD MAN AND THE SEA - Ernest Hemingway *
1955 A FABLE - William Faulkner *
1956 ANDERSONVILLE - McKinlay Kantor *
1958 A DEATH IN THE FAMILY - James Agee *
1959 THE TRAVELS OF JAIMIE McPHEETERS - Robert Lewis Taylor
1960 ADVISE AND CONSENT - Allen Drury *
1961 TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD - Harper Lee *
1962 THE EDGE OF SADNESS - Edwin O'Connor
1963 THE REIVERS - William Faulkner *
1965 THE KEEPERS OF THE HOUSE - Shirley Ann Grau
1966 THE COLLECTED STORIES OF KATHERINE ANNE PORTER - Katherine Anne Porter
1967 THE FIXER - Bernard Malamud
1968 THE CONFESSIONS OF NAT TURNER - William Styron *
1969 HOUSE MADE OF DAWN - N Scott Momaday
1970 THE COLLECTED STORIES OF JEAN STAFFORD - Jean Stafford
1972 ANGLE OF REPOSE - Wallace Stegner *
1973 THE OPTIMIST'S DAUGHTER - Eudora Welty *
1975 THE KILLER ANGELS - Jeff Shaara *
1976 HUMBOLDT'S GIFT - Saul Bellow *
1978 ELBOW ROOM - James Alan McPherson
1979 THE STORIES OF JOHN CHEEVER - John Cheever *
1980 THE EXECUTIONER'S SONG - Norman Mailer *
1981 A CONFEDERACY OF DUNCES - John Kennedy Toole *
1982 RABBIT IS RICH - John Updike *
1983 THE COLOR PURPLE - Alice Walker *
1984 IRONWEED - William Kennedy *
1985 FOREIGN AFFAIRS - Alison Lurie
1986 LONESOME DOVE - Larry McMurtry *
1987 A SUMMONS TO MEMPHIS - Peter Taylor
1988 BELOVED - Toni Morrison *
1989 BREATHING LESSONS - Anne Tyler
1990 THE MAMBO KINGS PLAY SONGS OF LOVE - Oscar Hijuelos *
1991 RABBIT AT REST - John Updike *
1992 A THOUSAND ACRES - Jane Smiley *
1993 A GOOD SCENT FROM A STRANGE MOUNTAIN - Robert Olen Butler *
1994 THE SHIPPING NEWS - E Annie Proulx *
1995 THE STONE DIARIES - Carol Shields
1996 INDEPENDENCE DAY - Richard Ford
1997 MARTIN DRESSLER - Steven Millhauser
1998 AMERICAN PASTORAL - Philip Roth
1999 THE HOURS - Michael Cunningham
2000 INTERPRETER OF MALADIES - Jumpha Lahiri
2001 THE AMAZING ADVENTURES OF KAVALIER & CLAY - Michael Chabon
2002 EMPIRE FALLS - Richard Russo
2003 MIDDLESEX - Jeffrey Eugenides *
2004 THE KNOWN WORLD - Edward P. Jones
2005 GILEAD - Marilynne Robinson
2006 MARCH - Geraldine Brooks
2007 THE ROAD - Cormac McCarthy
2008 THE BRIEF WONDROUS LIFE OF OSCAR WAO - Junot Diaz *
2009 OLIVE KITTERIDGE - Elizabeth Strout
2010 TINKERS - Paul Harding
2011 A VISIT FROM THE GOOD SQUAD - Jennifer Egan
2013 ORPHAN MASTER'S SON - Adam Johnson
2014 THE GOLDFINCH - Donna Tartt
2015 ALL THE LIGHT WE CANNOT SEE - Anthony Doerr **
2016 THE SYMPATHIZER - Viet Thanh Nguyen **
2017 THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD - Colson Whitehead **
2018 LESS - Andrew Sean Greer *
2019 THE OVERSTORY - Richard Powers *

Links are to my reviews
* Read, but not reviewed
** Owned, but not read

Every winner of the Booker Prize since its inception in 1969

1969: P. H. Newby, Something to Answer For
1970: Bernice Rubens, The Elected Member
1970: J. G. Farrell, Troubles ** (awarded in 2010 as the Lost Man Booker Prize) -
1971: V. S. Naipaul, In a Free State
1972: John Berger, G.
1973: J. G. Farrell, The Siege of Krishnapur
1974: Nadine Gordimer, The Conservationist ... and Stanley Middleton, Holiday
1975: Ruth Prawer Jhabvala, Heat and Dust
1976: David Storey, Saville
1977: Paul Scott, Staying On
1978: Iris Murdoch, The Sea, The Sea *
1979: Penelope Fitzgerald, Offshore
1980: William Golding, Rites of Passage
1981: Salman Rushdie, Midnight's Children *
1982: Thomas Keneally, Schindler's Ark
1983: J. M. Coetzee, Life & Times of Michael K
1984: Anita Brookner, Hotel du Lac *
1985: Keri Hulme, The Bone People **
1986: Kingsley Amis, The Old Devils
1987: Penelope Lively, Moon Tiger *
1988: Peter Carey, Oscar and Lucinda *
1989: Kazuo Ishiguro, The Remains of the Day *
1990: A. S. Byatt, Possession: A Romance *
1991: Ben Okri, The Famished Road
1992: Michael Ondaatje, The English Patient * ... and Barry Unsworth, Sacred Hunger
1993: Roddy Doyle, Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha
1994: James Kelman, How late it was, how late
1995: Pat Barker, The Ghost Road *
1996: Graham Swift, Last Orders
1997: Arundhati Roy, The God of Small Things
1998: Ian McEwan, Amsterdam
1999: J. M. Coetzee, Disgrace
2000: Margaret Atwood, The Blind Assassin *
2001: Peter Carey, True History of the Kelly Gang *
2002: Yann Martel, Life of Pi
2003: DBC Pierre, Vernon God Little **
2004: Alan Hollinghurst, The Line of Beauty *
2005: John Banville, The Sea
2006: Kiran Desai, The Inheritance of Loss
2007: Anne Enright, The Gathering
2008: Aravind Adiga, The White Tiger
2009: Hilary Mantel, Wolf Hall
2010: Howard Jacobson, The Finkler Question *
2011: Julian Barnes, The Sense of an Ending **
2012: Hilary Mantel, Bring Up the Bodies
2013: Eleanor Catton, The Luminaries
2014: Richard Flanagan, The Narrow Road to the Deep North
2015: Marlon James, A Brief History of Seven Killings *
2016: Paul Beatty, The Sellout
2017: George Saunders, Lincoln in the Bardo *
2018: Anna Burns, Milkman
2019: Margaret Atwood, The Testaments, and Bernardine Evaristo, Girl, Woman, Other

Links are to my reviews
* Read, but not reviewed
** Owned, but not read

2019 was a *stellar* reading year! For the first time ever, I had two six-stars-of-five reads: Black Light: Stories, a debut story collection that gave me so much pleasure I read it twice (ever rarer occurence that), and the wrenching, gutting agony of Heart Berries, a memoir of such honesty and such vulnerability that I was a wreck after I finished it. I went back and forth a dozen times, first Author Parsons was the sixer, then Author Mailhot; neither book could possibly "win" for long because I couldn't get either book out of my mind.
occ
I handed out 34 5- or damn-near-5-star reviews out of 155 reviewed books; that's 22% and that is a LOT. Many, even most of these (10+) were for short stories, for end-of-beloved-series novels, or for story collections. But hold on to something heavy: TWO, yes that's t-w-o dos due deux zwei два were...POETRY COLLECTIONS. Sarah Tolmie's The Art of Dying and the late Frank Stanford's collected poems, What About This: Collected Poems of Frank Stanford. Both were peak reading experiences. Another was cultural monadnock George Takei's graphic memoir They Called Us Enemy, which could not be more important for young people today to absorb.

What a beautiful year it was, to bring so many delights to my door. I hope, greedy thing that I am, that 2020 will repeat this performance. For all of us, really...honest! I didn't just add that on the end of this summing-up to make it sound less solipsistic.

In 2020, I wanted to post 10 book reviews a month on my blog. As of 21 February, I haven't posted a-one! There are a few mitigating factors, but I need to get this train rollin' or the deficit will become daunting quickly. Even so, I still read a story every other day, as this year's total of 155 (a lot of individual stories don't have entries in the LT database so I didn't post them here; guess I should do more to sync the data this year) reads shows; so it's doable, and I've done better than that in the past.

I will Pearl Rule books I'm not enjoying with notes on Goodreads & LibraryThing about why I'm abandoning the read.

...and that's me done. My reports will continue to be quarterly, the day after the end of the quarter.
1Q20. Twenty-six reads done (two reviews TK), three posted on my blog, or 10% of the goal I set myself. Bad performance. Really bad.

I re-read the four Murderbot novellas by Martha Wells, and loved them just as much as when I first read them. Because Network Effect is coming in May, YAY!!, it felt like time at last to put down some thoughts about them on my poor, neglected blog. Murderbot is a delightfully antisocial being and I am honestly more impressed by Author Wells's beautiful and deft worldbuilding than I am by the lit'ry stylings of many a crowed-over Next Big Thing.

But this quarter's surprise and joy is reserved for a Smashwords COVID-19 sale find, a freebie I completely accidentally stumbled upon: A Justified State by Iain Kelly, a Scottish television editor about whom I had not heard a peep and from whom I expected not a lot.

He overdelivered on my expectations. This could be a six-stars-of-five read; I have a long way to go, so no decisions yet, but this medium-term futuristic dystopian thriller set in a nightmarish Soylent Green-ish Glasgow is $2.99 and cheap at twice the price. Do your distracted self a favor and get sucked in to Author Kelly's hellish world...ours seems paradisical!

Your go.

How about me?

And me?

Horrible! You're first!

I take it you are feeling better this morning? That's reason enough for fireworks! Happy new one

>7 Crazymamie: Mamie me lurve! Lovely to see you out and about today.

>9 jessibud2: I am feeling about the same as yesterday but, knowing it's not related to the plague, I am in a far superior mood. And you, dear lady?

>10 richardderus: - I am about to hop into a shower to try to steam away a migraine I woke up with but other than that, and some boredom, I am doing as well as anyone can be expected to be doing, given the circumstances. It's gray and drizzly and dull outside, a perfect day to stay indoors. Oh, wait. We are all indoors...;-p

Happy new one, RD.

Happy new thread! Fascinating top post - thanks for putting it together.

>11 jessibud2: It's enough to make a person misanthropic. I already was; the existence of...beings...like my state-mandated roommate made me ever so sure that Humanity is irredeemable and unworthy of the sustenance we coerce the planet into providing us. But being with the creature all day makes me forget that there are reasons for us to exist.

>12 PaulCranswick: Hi Paul, thanks. I wish I'd caught the thread title in order to change it to "sixth" but such is life.

>13 katiekrug: ...and it all started on 1 April 1960! Hard to imagine. Thanks!

Hi Richard. Looking forward to seeing what you select in #1!

Edited to say, I must have cross-posted. Very cool images and commentary.

Happy Saturday, Richard! Happy New Thread. I hope you are staying safe and healthy and finding comfort in the books.

>1 richardderus: - I like your paraphrased axiom. I'd say, send it to t-Rump, but of course, he can't/won't read. Or understand.

Happy new one!

Happy new thread!

I’m following every post and thread

>15 SandyAMcPherson: Hi Sandy! I'm unlikely to let a fat one down the middle like this pass me by.

>16 msf59: Thanks, Mark! Comfort is always coming from books, Mark, and I couldn't be more grateful for it than I am now.

>17 jessibud2: Heh. Somehow I'm not surprised you're in favor of the message, Shelley.

>18 figsfromthistle: Thanks, Anita!

>19 ChelleBearss: Thank you, Chelle!

>20 Matke: *smooch*

Happy New Thread Kind Sir!

Hi Jeff! Thank you, it's been brewing for a while.

Happy new thread, Richard dear!

>1 richardderus: Sixty years ago? I wonder how many thought back then it was just another April fool's joke.

Happy new thread!

Happy new thread Richard, dear friend.

>24 FAMeulstee: Thank you, Anita, in the sixty-years-ago USA they thought we'd be using satellites to *control* the weather by now so...well...fewer than you'd imagine. Given our country's eternal minority of eedjits who venerate ignorance.

>25 quondame: Thank you, Susan!

>26 johnsimpson: Hi John, many thanks for the well-wishes, heartily returned to you and all yours.

Am I first? Happy new thread.

The sentiment holds, even if I'm only second or thirty-second.

>28 weird_O: Heh, good wishes and goodwill gratefully accepted around here at all times. Thanks, Bill.

Happy new thread, Richard. Well, because I was one of the minority born before there were satellites monitoring our planet, I set out to find out a weather event that took place in the place and time I first graced the planet - and I stumbled across a book to add to my collection. How strange. So, in an odd way your opening post got me with a BB.

>30 Familyhistorian: *aaahhh* the coveted didn't-even-know-it book-bullet! A lovely new thread gift indeed, Meg.

I hesitate to say this but, your image in >1 richardderus: first struck me as something else altogether. I am glad you captioned it, though, so I know. Perhaps I should not say what I initially thought I was looking at. I can't *unsee* it, even after knowing what it really is....;-)

>1 richardderus: Happy new thread. LOVE your opener, both from a scientific standpoint and from, well, your political standpoint. LOL

>32 jessibud2: It looks a bit like the mammogram one dreads seeing to me, but it *was* 1960.

>33 Berly: Thanks, Berly-boo! *smooch*

Happy new thread!

>35 drneutron: Thanks, Jim!

Happy New Thread, Richard dear. Hope the allergies are getting under control!

>37 ronincats: Thank you, Roni! Actually, due to the glorious concatenation of Bluetooth headpiece, Zoom, and decent Internet speeds, I've been comfort-watching GBBO with Rob most of today, Old Stuff sleeping or whining or whatever blocked out by Paul and Mary wincing politely as Val serves up underdone awful-looking hymn-animals, Selasi making undercooked fougasse (sob), Andrew being pink, chipper, and Irish....

Happy new thread, Richard.

>39 harrygbutler: Thank you, kind sir.

Yo, RD... Thanks for introducing "kakistocracy to me.
I adore the term and it has such stellar application these days (in more than one place).

I hope you read the whole article. The subsequent paragraph is marvellously cutting and I am sure you would appreciate the sentiment:
If such a phrase* were to come from today’s Chinese leaders, who pursue crony capitalism while speaking of Marxism, it could seem like self-satire.

* a “community of shared destiny”

Back to your prior thread, I am SO glad it was Option 2!!!!! You keep staying away from all those old fogies in your living situation, RD.

Oh, and Happy New Thread!

>41 SandyAMcPherson: My favorite line in the piece is, bar none: "When information is hard to access and people are prevented from drawing informed conclusions, hatred, bias, prejudice and violence come rolling out. A shared understanding of life is nearly impossible. The most fundamental humanist understanding is that life and death co-exist, and the attitudes necessary to reach such an understanding are tolerance, empathy, recognition of suffering and willingness to help others."

That is a delightfully concise way to express the one overriding concern that, in my never-remotely humble opinion, should govern the state and the people whose lives form its essence.

>42 EBT1002: Me too, Ellen! It's such a relief to surrender to benadryl's many soporific charms while feeling reasonably confident that I will, in fact, wake up in a few hours.

Thanks!

'Morning, RD!

>43 richardderus: Ah, you remind me that benadryl knocks me out. I might take some tonight when I hit the sheets...

I hope you have another glorious bluetooth-zoom-Rob-GBBO-type day.

*smooch* from your own Madame TVT Horrible

xo. Stay well, please 🥀

>44 karenmarie: With the back pain issue ongoing, it's a good idea to do so. Rest helps all aches, I do believe.

>45 mckait: I will do my utmost to comply with your request. So far, so good, he sniffed his flavorful coffee to reassure all that the senses are all present.

>43 richardderus: Yes! You are so right.
(Love this -- " in my never-remotely humble opinion...")

>34 richardderus: - LOL! That was my first interpretation. Great (or warped?) minds think alike! My second one was, it looks a bit like a close-up profile of a rabbit's face.

>47 SandyAMcPherson: No sense in fronting about it, now is there?

>48 jessibud2: ...rabbit...? Hm. Can't say I can see that one, now that I've got breast cancer on my eyestalks. Then again, I can't see tha Man in the Moon or any of the constellations, either, I see stars and lava flows.

Depressingly literal, me.
***
Y'all go watch A Matter of Life and Death. Just about perfect story of a man who beats the Heavenly System.

>49 richardderus: - Left side of bunny's face, very close up. The eye is the dark oval at the top right. The dark patch beneath that would be what we would call (in ourselves) a dark ring under our eye. The nose is the dark smudge near the bottom left of the mammogram.

I was never good at seeing things inside other things, either. ;-p

>50 jessibud2: *sigh* I think it's like not having a discernible sense of balance...my vision was uncorrected until I was 10 because "no son of {my mother's} is going to wear *shudder* GLASSES!", so I couldn't see a damn thing until my fifth-grade teacher threatened to call Child Protective Services or whatever they were called back then.

Every time I needed new glasses, she bought herself expensive shoes instead. She *needed* them! Glasses were for weaklings!

I consider it poetic justice that she died blind.

>51 richardderus: - Oh dear. I'm so sorry. I hope you wear glasses now. And that they are cool and funky (a 60s word ;-) Even if you can't see the bunny.

>52 jessibud2: She's dead. I'm not beholden to her for anything anymore. I derive a lot of pleasure from putting on my glasses every day!

Happy New Thread, Richard. Those are beautiful fireworks up in >8 richardderus:. Kinda surprised me how vivid they are.

Sorry your mother was a doofus about your glasses. Those ages are tough enough without impeded vision.

I'm giving Black Swan Green a go. I can't remember whether you're a David Mitchell fan or not, but my goal is to read all of his.

While My Guitar Gently Weeps on the lute. Just go listen!
***
>54 jnwelch: Hiya Mark, dead is good in the case of my gene donors, crap people and awful parents that they were.

No Mitchell for me, thenkewveddymahch. I liked the movie one, Cloud Atlas the best. But not for me, I fear. We simply don't connect on a deep level for some odd reason.

>51 richardderus: I'm glad you survived such mothering and enjoy good use of your eyes. I remember my delight at about 11 when with the assistance of glasses I was able to see blades of grass. I'm afraid I was quite complicit in increasing my mom's shoe stash but once she knew I needed glasses/contacts she made sure I got to the optometrist's office regularly - which meant I could be her companion on monthly 120mile trips into Los Angeles for the medical, shopping, and play viewing whirlwind tours. In the absence on #1 son, I really did enjoy myself.

>55 richardderus: Holy Smokes, I want a lute!

>56 quondame: "Mothering" heh...not what I'd ever've called it myownself. Well, I outlived her, so all's well that ends well.

>57 drneutron: Like that? Try this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9LOHsrLWgq4

>51 richardderus: Nasty, selfish woman.

Even though both parents and every except my died-in-1929-paternal-grandfather grandparent was nearsighted and I had to walk up to the board to read lessons in class starting in 3rd grade, I didn’t get glasses until I was in 6th grade. And they were the ugliest olive green cat eye frames with small rhinestones. I didn’t get glasses I liked until I picked aviator frames – daring for a ‘girl’ in 1971.

>59 karenmarie: Good heavens, those cat-eye frames with the landing lights! Eesh.

What were they thinking? They had to know you couldn't see...they couldn't either! And in my case both my older sisters and my father would provoke shrieking screeching abusive tirades pointing out that I couldn't tell there was a bird in a tree at the end of the front lawn. After all, she couldn't either!

>58 richardderus: Of course I should have used Sheri Tepper's term mis-mothering, a sever crime in Six Moon Dance.

RD, I won't finish Rotherweird in time for the end of the Readathon although I did ok to read Girl, Woman, Other and the latest Benny Griessel book.

I agree with you the name aptly depicts the storyline.

Happy new thread Richard. I’m glad to hear it’s just allergies.

Re your topper, weather predictions are going to get even less reliable because 5G networks use the bandwidth that atmospheric readings are sensed on.

>50 jessibud2: Eek, I see it. Scary - a planet sized grumpy bunny face.

>61 quondame: Ha! A severe crime! Like mothers need *another* weight squashed on them. Sometimes a parent is wrong for a given child, not a bad parent per se.

>62 PaulCranswick: Three books was a bit ambitious, PC, quarantine or not. Still...Rotherweird is definitely aptly named and not an easy power-read at any time.

>63 humouress: Sadly, I think it's not going to remain allergies. I lost my sense of taste this morning.

All in all, I don't think I'm sorry I can't see the bunny.

Boo hiss, RD. Lots of social-distancing hugs and *smooches* from your own Horrible.

>65 karenmarie: Boo, as you say, hiss. Mild headache. Anosmia (tried sipping a teaspoon of vinegar...had no effect on me). Lower back pain.

Just don't want to get a nasty case, is all.

>66 richardderus: We do not want you to get any case, let alone a nasty one!! ((Hugs)) and *smooches* and hopes for continued health, RD.

Morning, Richard. Sorry, you are not feeling well. Hope you rebound quickly. My reading has tapered off, the past week or so, I hope get that back to normal.

Take care, RD.

>67 alcottacre: I'm going for a quick knock-out. I'm planning to sleep a lot and drink oodles of hot fluids.

>68 msf59: Me too! I'm not having much joy ATM with Old Stuff here and this icky not-quite-sick feeling. No cough, thank GGODNESS!!

>69 katiekrug: I will, Katie, thanks for checking in.

Ear-reading friends! Expand your Doctor Who experience.
https://www.tor.com/2020/04/06/you-can-now-download-one-free-doctor-who-story-a-...

>64 richardderus: Well, that's true enough, mothers are just people, and we don't choose our children anymore than we choose our parents. Real damage leads to more real damage, and probably 7 generations is about right, my daughter still caught in the echos of my great-grandmother's failures, and who knows where she picked up the damage.

>72 quondame: I said to my daughter, the first collywobble she threw as a mom, "of course your kids will hate you! You only get to choose what they hate you for."

Something I wish someone had said to me 'long 'bout 1979....

How I know I'm unwell: Old Stuff is out of the room, Rob skyped and all I wanted to do is sleep.

>74 richardderus: I hope the sleep is a good restorative, but it's lovely that Rob skyped.

Happy new thread, and sorry to hear you're still under the weather and possibly more with the loss of taste. *smooch*

A breathing technique recommended by a physician in the UK, Richard: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HwLzAdriec0&feature=youtu.be

May it work for you, as the intensive care nurses say it does for their patients.

>75 quondame: I remain gobsmacked that his young, sweet self wants to be in touch with me, and makes it happen regularly. He's had to pull in his financial support for now (he stressed the "for now") but listen, he was so pissed off that I was existing on $200 a month that he did something about it! And, to be fair, it's not like I have mammoth debts or anything, but planning a month ahead for underwear replacement sent him over the edge.

>76 bell7: It's not unexpected. Where I live, who I live with, well...go fight them odds. I was pleased when the nurse found no temperature last week but today's was a little high and the no-smell thing has everyone frowning, but I'm being very sensible, not leaving the room, and sleeping as much as I can.

>77 laytonwoman3rd: Oo! Thank you, Linda3rd, that is a simple and useful way to keep this from getting worse. *smooch*

Ricardo-- Well, damn your mother. Not very nice. And I am so sorry to hear you've lost your sense of taste. : ( I hope if you truly do have the C-Crud that it is a very, very mild case. Sleep is good for you. Please take care. Virtual hugs and smooches.

>79 Berly: She was an appalling human being. But, and I remind myself of this constantly!, I'm alive and she's not.

Thanks for the health-wishes! *smooch*

For all those who see a bunny (?) in >1 richardderus:, I offer this bunny painting by artist Robert Bissell:

Lots more appealing IMO

Some interesting home decor:

>81 richardderus: I like that one, RD. I cannot see the rabbit up top. I must be bunny blind.

Feel better soon, dearest.

>81 richardderus: Aaaah ... Now I see it.

Happy New thread Richard! And:

>1 richardderus: Yay Science!

>82 quondame: Clearly no one du côté de chez Lovecraft has vertigo. *urp*

>83 alcottacre: We're bunny-blind! I love that. Let's make it A Thing.

>84 swynn: LOL

Thanks, Steve!

Just checking in. I'm quite distracted at the moment. Quite concerned for a couple family members working in long term care facilities.

>86 thornton37814: Quite rightly so! Check in with them often, Lori.

>81 richardderus: - Sweet. Ok, flip it so the bunny is facing the other way (to the left), zoom in, and have him looking down instead of up... ;-) Ta-da

>88 jessibud2: ...
...
...
...nope. I got nothin'

>89 richardderus: - As Gilda (in her Emily Litella persona) used to say: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OjYoNL4g5Vg....

Morning, RD! Came to see how you were feeling today...

>90 jessibud2: :-)

>91 katiekrug: Crummy, but not worse, so it's a win.
***
Old Stuff threw a tantrum last night, chucked four styrofoam cups of soda into the shower because he didn't want them and I'd put them by his bed when dinner got delivered while he was in the bathroom.

Today I refused all drinks at the door, and when his whiner opened, said, "after last night, don't say a goddamned word."

I never liked him, but this is the outside of enough.

>82 quondame: I know that's trompe l'oiel, but I'd trip over it anyway.

>93 laytonwoman3rd: Me too!

Hello RD. There is just no way I am going to get caught up so just stopping by your current thread with Happy New Thread wishes. I hope you are keeping safe, sane and healthy during these crazy times we find ourselves in.

>81 richardderus: - Love the bunny! Makes me think of the bunny (jack rabbit really) that tends to show up from time to time at my dad's place.

Sorry to learn that roomie continues to be a pain beyond compare. {{{HUGS}}}

>95 lkernagh: Hi Lori! Thanks for stopping by. He's more than a pain, his habit of hawking up phlegm and spitting it into his trashcan or the sink and leaving it presents an actual hazard to my health. Apparently I'm supposed to pretend he's a human being worthy of life. I don't think that's the case, and don't see evidence for it, but there we are.

'Afternoon, RD.

Crummy, but not worse, so it's a win.

*smooch*

Stolen from Roni, who snagged it from Shelley (jessibud2):
A little literary game, stolen from a post over on bookcrossing. How many titles on your shelves right now (just titles, not necessarily content), can apply to the current life we are all living (for good, for bad or even funny)? Here are a few I jotted down, from my own TBR shelves:

The Kings Depart
Grass for My Pillow
Love in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction
Ice on Fire: The Test of Our Lives
Love and Other Ways of Dying
America's Bitter Pill: Money, Politics, Back-Room Deals, and the Fight to Fix Our Broken Healthcare System
Tomorrow, When the War Began
We Always Treat Women Too Well
By Myself and Then Some
The Price of Dick

I chose one from each 100 entries on my TBR's first thousand, going back to 2006. Each one is, I *pinkieswear*, an actual title of a real book! No touchstones, sadly, IDK what's up with the system but hey.

>97 karenmarie: *smooch* Spend your remaining grocery budget wisely...after all, you've blown it, so buy some books.

Hope your week is going well!

>100 ChelleBearss: I appreciate the kind wishes, Chelle. and return them with interest.

>82 quondame: C'est magnifique!

Hope your day is bookishly bountiful, Mr. D.

>102 jnwelch: Thank you for the kind wishes, Joe.

Hoping today is better and tomorrow is even more so. That you are over the hump, so to speak

>104 jessibud2: *snort* Thanks for the Utopian wishes!

Just checking in to say Hi!

Hope Old stuff is behaving better. Enjoy the rest of your week :)

>106 figsfromthistle: Hi! He isn't. I'm just silent and fully earphoned at all times so I can't hear his whining.

>107 richardderus: Ah well at least you have a strategy/coping mechanism.

>108 figsfromthistle: ...I wish I could still drink...

Gemma Files, horrorista extraordinaire, wrote Haruspicy...a poem...that I really liked.

Here's why:

At least, when the skin is peeled away

we are all flesh, blood, guts—

a red-bone rosary, fit for telling.

Pa-fui all over them daffy-o-dills and lovely trees and lonely clouds!

>82 quondame: Cool!

>98 richardderus: By Myself and Then Some Srsly!

Just stopping by to say hey and that I hope you are doing okay. From what I read on your thread, it's touch and go - on whether you'll be committing murder on Old Farty or whatever you call it.

Don't Panic, Stay Home, and, if you have to go out, Carry a Towel and Wash Your Hands. (There, I think I hit all the salient points.)

>110 richardderus: Hello, Handsome. Hope you are hanging in there. Cheery mood you are in, judging by the poem. LOL

Don't you like Wordsworth? : )

I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud
BY WILLIAM WORDSWORTH

"I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud" is a lyric poem by William Wordsworth. It is Wordsworth's best-known work. The poem was inspired by an event on 15 April 1802 in which Wordsworth and his sister Dorothy came across a "long belt" of daffodils. Written some time between 1804 and 1807, it was first published in 1807 in Poems, in Two Volumes, and a revised version was published in 1815. In a poll conducted in 1995 by the BBC Radio 4 Bookworm programme to determine the nation's favourite poems, I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud came fifth." Wikipedia



I wandered lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o'er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host, of golden daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

Continuous as the stars that shine
And twinkle on the milky way,
They stretched in never-ending line
Along the margin of a bay:
Ten thousand saw I at a glance,
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.

The waves beside them danced; but they
Out-did the sparkling waves in glee:
A poet could not but be gay,
In such a jocund company:
I gazed—and gazed—but little thought
What wealth the show to me had brought:

For oft, when on my couch I lie
In vacant or in pensive mood,
They flash upon that inward eye
Which is the bliss of solitude;
And then my heart with pleasure fills,
And dances with the daffodils.

>111 Storeetllr: Thanks, Mary, I'm all about not ending my life in prison if it can be avoided.

*smooch*

>112 Berly: ewewewewew

Berly did a poetry! Gross!!

I mean, couldn't you have just farted while boiling kale over a coal fire or something?

"daffy-o-dills and lovely trees and lonely clouds" You forgot violets by a mossy stone.

>114 laytonwoman3rd: Here's ya violents all mossed off:

>113 richardderus: Glad you haven't lost your fighting spirit. Come on...I found the lovely trees and the lonely clouds and the DAFFODILS!! Smooch. : )

>116 Berly: Ha ha ha, Poetry-blower, I love the actual fleurs! And those are really lovely.

Srsly, can a person be in a bad mood while looking at a daffodil? I know I can't!

; )

>115 richardderus: Cover that cough, lady!

Hahaha somehow I don't associate RD with daffodils. You have the black belts in TKD, Kimmers, so you are able to be braver than I am.

Sorry to see you still have to put up with such an anti-social ass-wipe as your roomy. Hawking phlegm into waste bins is gross compounded.

>98 richardderus: Will look at a list from my own TBR. If I look at my TBR up to 2018 I have about 4,000 so that would mean listing 40 titles. Let me see.

>98 richardderus: So to make it a little more testing - I took from the first 10 books in each hundred ordered by authors alphabetically: Because the touchstones are a bit dodgy I will do the first 20 - i.e. spanning the first 2,000 books from my TBR shelves

1. Broken Homes by Ben Aaronovitch
2. On Leave by Donald Anselme
3. Shroud by John Banville
4. Pig Earth by John Berger
5. Now is the Time by Melvyn Bragg
6. America America by Ethan Canin
7. Bitter Fruits by Alice Clark-Platts
8. Postmortem by Patricia Cornwell
9. The Inheritance of Loss by Kiran Desai
10. Mourning Ruby by Helen Dunmore
11. The Fahrenheit Twins by Michel Faber
12. Let Me Be Frank With You by Richard Ford
13. A Gathering of Old Men by Ernest Gaines
14. A World of Strangers by Nadine Gordimer
15. A Spot of Bother by Mark Haddon
16. Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert A Heinlein
17. May We Be Forgiven by AM Homes
18. Dead Man's Grip by Peter James
19. Freedom or Death by Nikos Kazantzakis
20. A Separate Peace by John Knowles

>118 Berly: :-)

>119 laytonwoman3rd: Heh. That could get messy as hell!

>120 PaulCranswick: He is indeed antisocial, and gives me shuddering horrors at the vision of my future...except I decided not to live that one, using his *awful* example.

>121 PaulCranswick: America, America is inspired! May We Be Forgiven isn't a real possibility, now is it.

'Morning, RDear, and as happy a Thursday as you an make it with OS being his usual disgusting self.

My back is much better after seeing the chiropractor yesterday. Bill's home and working, I've consumed about half a mug of coffee, and am slowly waking up after sleeping in the arms of Tramadol.

More apropos the pandemic, here's one by Ogden Nash:

The Germ

A mighty creature is the germ,
Though smaller than the pachyderm.
His customary dwelling place
Is deep within the human race.
His childish pride he often pleases
By giving people strange diseases.
Do you, my poppet, feel infirm?
You probably contain a germ.

*air smooch* from your own Madame TVT Horrible

>123 karenmarie: Ha! Dear ol' Ogden, trust him to ring forth with the right words at the right time.

*smooch*

>122 richardderus: The Fahrenheit Twins are the two Nepali guards at our lobby who routinely take my temperature when I return from the shops and inevitably show me that my temperature is 33 degrees meaning I am close to freezing to death!
A Gathering of Old Men was the remaining Democratic Party candidates for President - a gathering no more and Let Me Be Frank With You is or is not fake news.

>125 PaulCranswick: I'mma add The Egg and I because the damn things are disappearing; we're getting murmured messages that eggs are needed for vaccine prep, but as there's no vaccine that I've heard of, how likely is that?

Isn't this the time of year that they start making decisions regarding which strains of flu they anticipate showing up in the fall and therefore vaccine production will start for that with eggs? Admittedly I don't remember an egg shortage in previous years because of flu vaccine requirements.

>127 karenmarie: Yes, it is; but, as you point out, how does that impact this year's food availability? Especially since they don't grow vaccines in food-grade eggs, but the smaller ones.

Maybe that's another thing tossed aside as this weird adjustment time continues.

>126 richardderus: Still plenty of the things over here, RD, and that's no yolk.

Loving all the poetry. LOL

I actually posted the opening line of "Daffodils" by William Wordsworth on one of our English professors' Twitter post the other day. He had been talking about the flowers being pretty but nearly gone.

>129 PaulCranswick: Oh, Paul *descending disappointment voice*


>130 thornton37814: So long as you don't repeat the indiscretion here, Lori, all is well.

We're having a huge windstorm! Maybe a thunderstorm, too, though none yet evident.

>85 richardderus: I will happily join in with making 'Bunny Blind' A Thing, RD. Just not sure how often it will come up though. . .

>116 Berly: I love the daffodils. They look so pretty, especially in that setting.

Happy Thursday, RD! ((Hugs)) and *smooches*

>132 alcottacre: Hm...yes...like the condition itself, I don't see much use for the descriptor.

*smooch* spend a happy Thursday eventide.

Sweet Thursday, Richard! I hope you are hanging in there, my friend. Getting any walks in, or are you ordered inside?

>134 msf59: We're under house arrest until the all-clear blows...another stretcher loaded with a smoker went out this evening and I honestly don't expect I'll see that one return.

>135 richardderus: Well...damn. Not your buddy, tho?

Did you read The Eyre Affair, Richard? There was a scene in it where Tuesday's aunt gets stuck in a book of poetry and that poem was where she ended up. It was pretty funny.

>135 richardderus: Dang. Stay strong my friend.

>136 Storeetllr: I remember that scene! Loved it.

Sending healthy vibes and hugs! Hope you aren't feeling too bad.

Re daffodils, one of my school friends set that poem to music for her GCSE music coursework and our little tiny choir sang it for her. I cannot read it without hearing it, which is both nice and a pain in the rear!

Sorry - duplicated post

Checking in with you, Richard. Good to see you’re as cheerful as ever ;0)

Morning, RD. Just checking in. How are the symptoms?

>136 Storeetllr: No such luck, Mary. He's headed that way...refuses to eat, won't stay in the room...but not yet.

>137 Berly: *smooch*

I loved the Thursday Next books in the Aughties, but I remember almost nothing except The People's Republic of Wales and dodos that said, "plock."

Good morning RichardDear!

>135 richardderus: *shudder*

Bill’s home today for Good Friday holiday – ironic in that none of the 3 bosses of the very small company he works for are at all religious, but it’s good for Bill to relax at home today.

My back’s better since the chiropractic adjustment on Wednesday but Not.Quite.The.Thing this a.m. so, for the first time ever, I’ve taken a Tramadol during the day. I’m only doing it because Bill’s here – I told him he was responsible for keeping me safe and from doing/saying stupid things. He said most likely the only thing I’d do is fall asleep…

>138 BekkaJo: Thanks, Bekka! Ooh, a musical memory...so impossible to unlearn. I can NOT say the alphabet even to myself. I always sing it.

>139 humouress:, >140 humouress: Yippee doodles.


>141 katiekrug: Hiya Katie! They're largely unchanged...mainly feels like a much worse allergy attack than usual. The fever comes and goes. The headache is rank. But breathing exercise keeps me from feeling short of breath.

>143 karenmarie: Heh. Well, yes, that's the normal response...snoozing.

Be well! *smooch*

Huh, posting poetry on your thread. I hadn't thought of that. Nah, even I'm not that mean.

I started The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek and it's surprisingly good. Did you know Kentucky had people in the hills who were a blue color? Almost died out now, but it's a recessive gene that increases the something-or-other in the blood while at the same time decreasing the amount of an enzyme that would turn the blue into red blood cells.

>145 jnwelch: I'd heard that, Joe, but was so repulsed at the implications...inbreeding raises my gorge...that I've never wanted to explore the implications!

Drive-by *smooches* and get-well wishes. We're having the darndest weather over here, it's supposedly rainy but actually we've had hail, the sun peeking through the clouds, and now some type of snow flurry, all with high winds. Makes me glad I don't have to go anywhere - I was planning on a grocery shopping, but it's not really necessary.

Hello Richard, stopping by to see how you are keeping (well, safe and sane, I hope).

>147 bell7: Thanks, Mary, it's a lot the same here (unsurprisingly, we're under 200mi away) but I'm not getting out in it because das ist Verboten! Nein! Nichts ausgefahrten, Schweinhunden!

>147 bell7:, >148 lkernagh: Trapped!! I'm trapped with a foul old fool!! Tiresome, but very necessary. My therapist saw me from two meters away today, which honestly made me chuckle. She still brought me 4lbs of apples and 2lbs of blueberries, goddesses please bless her. I am so grateful I have the sanity check of a therapist, a robust community of kind friends, and a strong sense of self-preservation. I proposed that we Zoom our next session, but she feels strongly that it's better to be face to face and I decline to argue (I *really* need the apples!).

>149 richardderus: May the irrationality of others keep you in apples & sundry fruits. And keep up with the breathing, the snarkometer readings might dip below critical levels without your input.

>144 richardderus: Perhaps I missed it but were you tested for Covid? Is it normal for you to have fever with your allergy symptoms?
Hope you start to feel better very soon!!

>150 quondame: Heh...must'n't allow our snarQ to run low at this delicate juncture, now must we?

>151 ChelleBearss: Oh, no one here's been tested...not even our in-and-out staff. There aren't enough tests. Even the dead people aren't tested unless someone requires it.

I trust these stats about zero percent for this reason: I'm right here, I know no testing's going on, and if it isn't here, it isn't other places either.

>152 richardderus: Oh. Not enough are being tested here either. People with mild enough symptoms are just told to stay home for 14 days. Pretty much anyone who is serious enough to go to hospital gets tested and that's about it. We don't have enough tests or testing facilities either.

>153 ChelleBearss: Which means, expanded to the world, the infection rate, the mortality rate, and the severity index are all unknown and unknowable because the stats are so flawed as to be useless.

I do not see the bunny in >1 richardderus: but I love the bunny in >81 richardderus:.
I have a bunny integrated into my one tattoo, you know.

I have one book on my shelves, the title of which I think is spot on: Shelter in Place by Alexander Maksik.

>152 richardderus: Tests being unavailable is a problem almost everywhere. Only people who are atmitted to hospital are tested here. Recent numbers of our Central Agency for Statistics revealed that there are at least twice as much Covid-19 related deaths as the official numbers of our National Institute for Public Health gives.

Morning, Richard. I hope you are feeling well and finding comfort in those books. With our spring migration ramping up, I am enjoying getting out on my bird rambles. It would probably drive me nuts, being stuck inside, 24-7.

'Morning, RD.

As of 11 a.m. yesterday, ~58K tests have been administered here in NC, with 3900 confirmed cases and 74 deaths. This is according to the official NC Coronavirus webite. Do I trust it? No. Do I believe it? No.

*smooch* from your own Horrible

>155 EBT1002: The bunny-blindness plague marches on!

How perfect a title is that for this passage? I hope, when you get around to reading the book, that you enjoy it.

>156 FAMeulstee: Exactly the problem, Anita, and a preventable one in a world where the greedy kakistocracy is bludgeoned into silence while technocrats use their money to properly equip life-savers for their various jobs.

>157 msf59: Hi Mark! Lovely to be able to walk about in nature, indeed. Enjoy the migration!

>158 karenmarie: ...and isn't that just the worst possible result...

*smooch*

How are you?

>149 richardderus: Yay for fresh fruit, RD! I hope you continue to have access to it however the apples and blueberries come your way.

((Hugs)) and *smooches*

>161 mckait: Yuck! You?

>162 quondame: That's the best Eastre illo I've ever seen! Thank you.

>163 alcottacre: Hey Stasia, fresh fruitt is yay indeed though I can't taste anyhting so it's more health insurance. *smooch*

>162 quondame: Hahahaha, love it!

>162 quondame: Umm.

Aha, aha. Okay.

(Actually, it made me smile. Looks awfully possessive; I’m not going to argue with it.)

Sorry to see that you have lost you sense of taste, Richard. Hope you are over the crud soon.

I wanted my message this year to be fairly universal in a time we all should be pulling together, whatever our beliefs. Happy Celebration, Happy Sunday, RD.

Happy Easter!

>166 humouress: Very sensible, not to rile it up any. I don't know about you but I don't need those eggs enough to, um, liberate them.

>167 Familyhistorian: I hope I am too, thanks.

>168 PaulCranswick: How lovely! Bright, happy flowers. I return the sentiments.

>169 ChelleBearss: To you as well, Chelle!

Happy Sunday, RD!

I always know where to get my octopus itch scratched. Thank goodness I'm an adult, otherwise >162 quondame: Susan's offering might give me nightmares.

Hang in there. Crunch those apples! Tune out OS! Read! Doze!

*smooch*

>170 richardderus: ... although if those are chocolate eggs ...

>171 karenmarie: *smooch*

Thankfully, Old Stuff is sleeping the day away. He's a lot worse than yesterday. My little disposable mask better be doin' its job.

>172 humouress: In which case they are yours, aaalll yours! Assuming, of course, suitable arrangements with that somewhat testy-looking Tentacled American can be reached.

>173 richardderus: Hey, if it’s chocolate, he’s the one arrangements should be made for. American, is he? I’ll try not to hurt him too much, as long as he’s not too stubborn about it.

>174 humouress: mm hmm

Y'all spare a thought for the late La Overkill...took on a much meaner creature...so sad

Nope; still here. Don’t worry about me.

Chocolate egg anyone? No? Really?

Oh, okay. I’m so willing to share.

Here's a goody for you, Richard!

https://joditaylor.online/blogs/news/the-muse-of-history-a-free-short-story?fbcl...

🥀

>176 humouress: Heh. You enjoy those ill-got gains while you can....

>177 ronincats: Ha! Well, that raised a smile...especially the surprised Sahara. Thanks!

>178 mckait: *smooch*

RD! Muchas smooches! Doesn't count if the mask that I wear outside is a domino mask?

>180 SomeGuyInVirginia:
It's the Naked Cowboy's competitor! *smooch*

Happy Easter, Richard! I hope the weekend has treated you well.

>182 harrygbutler: Thanks, Harry, same back at'cha.

>183 richardderus: The coffee line certainly seems right, although a bit low.

>181 richardderus: You can tell that's not me because he's wearing white boots in what is clearly still sweater weather. I mean, Nancy Sinatra couldn't pull off white boots, and her dad was in the mob.

Well hello there.
I love the chart above, and that coffee is the one true constant. This is my truth.

Have you seen the search results for "cthulhu peeps"?

>185 harrygbutler: Relative to all others, it comes out on top, so yeah....

>186 SomeGuyInVirginia: Actually, the give-away is the stickers....

>187 LovingLit: *smooch*

>188 quondame: I do love them:

>177 ronincats: Love it! Thanks for posting the link.

But I’m a bit confused; I see neither the surprised Sahara (see >179 richardderus:) nor the dog who can’t read (see comments below story). Am I missing more goodies?

>190 humouress: "{Zeus} flings himself back in his throne. A mighty thunderstorm crashes down upon a very surprised Sahara Desert."

>191 richardderus: Ah, I see it now. Thanks.

The perils of rushing to read without stopping to look for glasses.

>192 humouress: Good heavens! You can see the computer without your glasses?! I wouldn't be able to perceive its existence with any confidence without mine.

>192 humouress: Yes, if I can juggle the parameters to match my focal distance with still being able to see the letters and (since I’m using my iPad) being within physical reach of it. Thank goodness for zoom (when it feels inclined to work).

>189 richardderus: Darling RD! Like the poet said, I Will always Love You.

-Red-winged Blackbird. I got this one a couple weeks ago. He was singing lustily but then took a little break.

Morning, Richard. I am glad I took an extra day off. My seasonal allergies are erupting and I feel like just hanging around with the books, plus it is cold & windy here.

>194 humouress: Ah! Marvelous thing, technology.

>195 SomeGuyInVirginia: *smooch*

>196 msf59: Pretty birdo!

Cold, windy, and allergic? Nay nay nay, going outside isn't on the cards.

‘Morning, RD!

>183 richardderus: Nailed it. *smile*

*smooch*

>198 karenmarie: Heh. He did, didn't he?

>152 richardderus: Wow. That is so grim. How can *anyone* think the was a good idea? (Obvs that was rhetorical).
>181 richardderus: OMG. My eyeballs fell out.

>183 richardderus: But where is the line for books???

>183 richardderus: Haha. Replace shaving with bra and you have my chart.
>189 richardderus: Snerk.

Hi, Richard. Hope your week is starting out well, by which I mean you are feeling good and staying safe. (>152 richardderus: I hate what they are doing/not doing about testing.)

BTW, after obsessively looking at the pic in >1 richardderus: each time I visited your thread, I finally saw the rabbit face. It's kinda scary, tbh.

>200 SandyAMcPherson: It's just a bunch of old cripples, Sandy...this isn't important to Them.

>201 ronincats: Background conditions, Roni...no line for breathing or wine, either. One simply has no life if reading is impossible, so petty nonsense like sweats, bras, shaving are utterly uninteresting in that world.

>202 Storeetllr: Hi Mary! Feel awful, but it's also true that it's nasty out so hard to know what's causing La Malaise.

>203 richardderus: Old crippies without big bank accounts, which is all that is important to THEM.

>204 quondame: Precisely! I know a few tech types who forgot who I am for a moment, and said among themselves that the burden on society would be lighter now though not by enough.

In case anyone ever wonders why I despise Aynholes and "libertarians," that is why.

>205 richardderus: Aside from them being self-righteous bores with a tendency toward inadequate deodorization? Man may everywhere be born free (not!), but women are born entangled in a web of support and dependence or left to the mercy of those with none.

So, no worse today?

What Kath said.

As you know, I'm currently reading Spying on the South, the final book by Tony Horwitz whose Confederates in the Attic made quite a buzz a few years ago. He follows a journey made by Frederick Olmstead (who later designed Central Park and many other open space) just before the Civil War throughout the South, keeping a diary and sending "observation pieces" to the New York Times. We had just come through East Texas, a very depressing place both then and now with very much the idea of "let me alone to do what I want to". And then we got to San Antonio and a settlement of immigrant German freethinkers--talk about a contrast! A newspaper editor in San Antonio who had been a Prussian judge told Olmstead this:

We view society as a congregation of men: whose aim it is to elevate the well being of the aggregate by the combined exertion. Americans, by contrast, look first upon themselves as private individuals, entitled to ask for all the rights and benefits of an organized community even to the detriment of the whole...

How true that still is, as highlighted by the varied responses to our pandemic, and it is not in any way limited solely to the rich.

>206 quondame: Self-righteousness and boorishness are all in the eye of the beholder, but when enough beholders agree that you and people like you are crappy people then the verdict is in.

Women have spent generations working hard to get even an illusory sniff of equality of opportunity. It continues to recede from their collective grasp. My mother, born wealthy and privileged, left her wastrel husband and went to work outside the home for the first time in her life at 50. I learned the huge cost of inequality early and hard.

>207 mckait: I think the fever broke last night, which was miserable. I can *almost* taste stuff, but smells are utterly gone still.

>208 ronincats: I didn't fit in Texas as I grew. Leaving home because home doesn't want the likes of you is never a delight. The upside is that I know for sure where I'm from, not where I'll go back to.

>204 quondame: Oh my. Such cynicism.
But well-placed cynicism... as I posted earlier, https://tinyurl.com/wl7qq77

Also, >209 richardderus: *pat pat* There, there, RD. I know it is tough in your lodgings, but here on LT you are happier, no? I do wish you could have a home to yourself. That's something I haven't understood, how that can be imposed. Not that *I* need to know.

'Morning, RD!

I'm glad to see that the fever broke and that you can *almost* taste stuff. Boo flunk that your sense of smell is still gone.

*smooch* from your own Horrible

Morning, RD. Only in the 30s, with a chilly wind, at the moment. Come on, Mother Nature! It is mid-April. Our normal temps, are close to 60.

I hope your week is off to a good start.

>210 SandyAMcPherson: LT keeps me in touch with people I do not hold in contempt, which keeps my sanity from fracturing further. My legally enforced roommate is not a person who escapes my sneering dismissive contempt. And there are so very many people who need shelter, as well as assistance with the daily tasks of living...I can not clean my own toilet anymore, nor could I be responsible for vacuuming more than very, very occasionally...that there will never be an adequate supply of assisted living spots.

>211 karenmarie: Hi Horrible! *smooch*

I made a double-strength pot of lemon-ginger tisane and, mirabile dictu, could smell it as it steeped! I felt like I'd won the lottery.

>212 msf59: Hi Mark! 30s!! That's weird, considering the norms for this season. I hope Mother Nature gets back into her Spring wardrobe soon.

>209 richardderus: My sister and her daughter are both MDs and both are still so checked in their ambitions by gender issues though my sister has spent a lifetime of activism undermining from within and battering from without whenever the opportunity presented - sometimes she made her own opportunities.

>213 richardderus: Glad scents are becoming available to you again! Wishing you lots of pleasant ones.

>214 quondame: Thanks, Susan! Sad to report that the smell faded and never translated into taste. But any chink in the damned wall will do nicely to cheer me up.

I do not comprehend the systemic hurdles placed in women's way. In any field. It is illogical, wasteful, and downright idiotic. The two best doctors I've had to date were women, and I mourned bitterly when they ceased practicing here (after their remuneration was cut 50%, though no male doc's was affected). It's a travesty to prevent people with a talent from using it.

Ricardo--I am so glad your fever broke! My hubby is out of quarantine, although still completely wiped out. He says his sense of taste and smell came back. Hope yours follow suit. Smooches!

>216 Berly: Thanks, Berly-boo! I feel immensely better, though smell and taste aren't more than spotty they are at least present in some ways. *smooch*

>215 richardderus: While it does prevent people from talent from using it, as do all discriminatory practices, it's just greed and control and not being able to handle being shown as mediocre in a profession they were often pushed into. As my sister said at her medical school graduation, there isn't any woman graduate that doesn't want to be here for herself and not because her mother pushed her. That may not be 100% true any more, but it sure was in 1973.

>218 quondame: You can't see me, but I assure you I'm rolling my eyes so hard I can see my brain.

>219 richardderus: I'm sure there's much of interest to see up there. Enjoy!

>181 richardderus: What in hell?

Okay, so I googled "Ryan Lahiff naked cowboy photo." And now I know. From the website Untapped New York

...one particular set of photographs captured our eye: the Naked Cowboy is still at work in Times Square singing, albeit with face mask now.

Lahiff shared a post he sent to friends and family on Facebook where he wrote, “Just remember, when you see the Naked Cowboy wearing a face mask shit is getting real! Lahiff says that when he saw Lahiff’s press badge, he immediately went into full song with poses with mask on and off, as “he wanted to make sure people could see his smile.” The Naked Cowboy, whose real name is Robert Burck, is also a staunch Trump supporter. He’s pasted his guitar with Trump 2020 campaign stickers that read “Keep America Great.”

The Cincinnati-born Naked Cowboy also has a history of running for political office: he ran for U.S. President in 2012 under the Tea Party movement and ran against Bloomberg for New York City mayor in 2009. He was challenged by the “Burlesque mayor of New York City” in that race, Jonny Porkpie, who called out the Naked Cowboy for not actually performing naked (the Naked Cowboy wears briefs). At the end of February, The New York Post reported that the Naked Cowboy found it “awesome” that Bloomberg mentioned him in the Democratic Presidential Debate.

How long will the Naked Cowboy be out there? Likely depends if New York City gets a shelter in place order. Lahiff says as of when the photographs were taken, there were “still the usual Elmo’s etc in Times Square, but the Cowboy was the only one doing any business, although mainly with foreign press who were amazed he was still out & about.”

I guess this is familiar to you, RD, but it sure wasn't to me.

>220 quondame: :-)

>221 weird_O: Oh yeah, he's old "hat" so to speak for me. I had a picture of me grabbing his butt while he was puckering up for the camera once upon a time. He's string-straight but has absolutely no fear for scare when it comes to entertaining the people.

Needless to say, I disapprove of his politics, but I was unaware of them before 2012. He's also a Reverend, and when NY State was deciding about the legal status of marriage equality, Bob announced loudly that any gay couples who wanted to get married just needed to get themselves to Times Square and he'd be sure the paperwork was done. So, while errrmmm, misguided, at least he's not a waste of a sperm.

((Hugs)) and *smooches* for today, RD!

>223 alcottacre: Thanks, Stasia, you as well.

'Morning, RD! I hope that you're continuing to improve.

*smooch* from your own Horrible

Happy Wednesday! Hope you are feeling better!

Richard, I've been negligent. I hadn't read all the posts and didn't know that you had been sick. I'm glad you're feeling better, my friend. It sounds like you may have caught 'the illness that dare not speak its name.' You have no idea how happy I am that you're feeling better, both for your sake and, frankly, it's very encouraging to hear that you're feeling better. I'm a germaphobe and I can really get inside my head over this kind of thing.

Back down the fever-slide, y'all, headache roared back. Sleeping today away.

Ooooo. Sleep well, my friend.

Richard, I'm really sorry.

Sleep well, take care. xx

Feel better soon, Richard. xxooxxoo

I'm wishing you better health when you wake up!

Feel better soon, Richard

Sending healing vibes your way.

Sending love

>229 weird_O:, >230 SomeGuyInVirginia:, >231 katiekrug:, >232 Storeetllr:, >233 quondame:, >234 jessibud2:, >235 figsfromthistle:, >236 Matke:

Thanks all, woke up and showered, feel slightly feverish still, but the headache's down to a minor twinge!

Richard, I'm rooting for you. That means thoughts, and prayers, and a lot of worry. Anything that works. Feel better very quickly, my friend. That's my hope for you.

BTW, I saw the bunny.

Here's hoping you continue to get rest and improve, Richard!

Dang! Nasty rebound fever. : P Hope you feel better tomorrow!! Smooches.

*smooch*

Morning, Richard. Sweet Thursday. Sorry, you are feeling cruddy. We got snow yesterday. It is gone and more coming tomorrow morning. WTH? It looks like the weekend will be nice. I am getting the itch to get out on those trails. I am enjoying the Faber collection. Offbeat and twisted stories, just as you would expect.

Hey, Darlin’. Hope you’re continuing to improve on a daily basis.

Good morning, Sunshine!

25 Dead as a Dinosaur by Richard Lockridge (A Mr. & Mrs. North Mystery #16)

Rating: 3* of five

Pleasant enough diversion for attenuated attention-span-afflicted brains. I've read the series before, so felt no lack of having reviewed the prior entries; plus, well, this ain't Agatha Christie-level stuff.

Not the most challenging of mysteries, though I got the identity of the victim's impersonator wrong. Cui bono is still the first thought to have in family-centered stories; in this one, the beneficiary is not the family, but the point remains valid if stretched.

I object to Pamela North's general foolishness, when the fact is she's a deeply observant, very intelligent person shines through until the writers remember she's meant to be foolish. "Of its time" best sums up the final results, and not always in a good way. Gender politics, as is so often the case, diminish the pleasures to be had in older stories.

>238 SomeGuyInVirginia:, >239 SomeGuyInVirginia: I remain bunny-blind. Oh well.

>240 bell7: Rest I am getting in spades! My headaches are proving to be from sinus blockages that're ending, so maybe I can wave bye-bye to reading problems?

>241 Berly: It's just inevitable...the seasonal allergies, the stewpot I'm living in, the roommate whose lung output is so generously shared...but I am not having trouble breathing!

>242 karenmarie: *smooch*

>243 msf59: It is awfully cold! This isn't at all what I'd expect for your weather, and the need to get out and stretch must be getting awful.

Great to find some good stories to keep you moving mentally, though.

>244 Matke: *smooch* Your keyboard, the goddesses' inbox, dear lady.

>245 SomeGuyInVirginia: *smooch*

Glad for the ability to breathe easily!

Hi, Richard. Sorry to hear you've been having headaches and sinus blockages and fever. Yikes. I'm glad it's getting better. We're seeing a whole lot of allergy suffering where we are. Happy Friday, and I'm sending more healing vibes to add to those being sent by others. You can never have enough, right?

>249 ronincats: Thanks, Roni. More easily, anyway. Like the fever, it seems to be cycling through.

>250 jnwelch: Oh well, I'm not suffering anything like the respiratory nightmares the smokers are! Best decision I've ever made, not to smoke.

Friday joys to you as well.

Glad to see you’re doing well

'Morning, RD! I've never smoked either. It comes from my parents smoking in the car when I was little and me swearing I'd never smoke at the age of 6.

I'm glad you're breathing more easily. Healing whammies at'cha!

>252 mckait: *smooch*

>253 karenmarie: Thanks, Horrible, I appreciate the good wishes and whammies...I'm exponentially better today, thank goodness. A little wobbly but not miserable and this is the first time in a while I could say that.

Yay for feeling better! I've been rooting for you, Richard.

I was both pleased and tickled to see you post a book review yesterday. I was reminded of a story about Charles Ludlam, and when he was sick and working in the theater that he founded it in New York City, he used to tie himself to his wheelchair if he felt like he couldn't sit up straight on his own. You got chutzpa, Richard.

>255 SomeGuyInVirginia: That's a sweet observation, thanks cuddlepunkin. Ludlam lived a lot longer than he would have otherwise had he not been fueled by a passion to do the work! *smooch*

Rewatched Penny Dreadful with Rob yesterday and today. He was a newbie to it, and is now sad it's over. I sprang the good news on him: Showtime's bringing it (sorta) back! Penny Dreadful: City of Angels starts in two Sundays! W00t!

I hope that it'll be a good revival of the concept.

Glad you are feeling some better, RD, and hope you make a full recovery very soon.

((Hugs)) and *smooches*

>258 alcottacre: Thanks, Stasia, it's a little sad that I'm excited as a newlywed that I could actually *taste* honeydew melon today but we find our pleasures where we can in this moment.

>254 richardderus: I'm so glad you're getting better! Keep up the good work!

Glad you're feeling better. And able to taste your food again.

Exciting news here. I preordered the audio of Network Effect, the Murderbot novel that's coming out on May 5. I'm going to read the first four novellas the first week of May so I'll be ask ready for it.

>260 quondame: Thanks, Susan, it's all a process...today's food was tasteless again, but at least the curtain lifts once in a way. Means it will, eventually!, lift for good.

>261 Storeetllr: Oh boy! That's a huge treat, Mary, enjoy your Murderbotting. I got Plan for the Worst in the St Mary's series and raced through it. Hazel, Jodi's agent, told the Spoilers group on Facebook that Jodi's already working on the next one. *happy sigh*

Stopping by to see how you are doing RD and sorry to learn that you have been on a bit of a health roller coaster ride. Here is hoping that you will be back to full health soon!

RD, being a country boy from the hills of Shenandoah, I saw the Mystery of Irma Vep at the Barter Theater in Abingdon, Virginia, years ago. I'd seen it before in Washington DC, and I was very interested in how it would play to a group of people from Southwest Virginia. They loved it. That's when I realized how very powerful the theater and communal experiences were.

I hope you're feeling better my friend. when I say that I've been rooting for you, what it means is that I've been thinking of you, and praying for you, and that I very much want you to get better.

Plus, you have to get better quickly, because I live in an apartment building and somebody's car alarm has been going off for the past 48 hours. And I need a lookout while I disable the battery.

>265 SomeGuyInVirginia: I'd think half the block would be up for the lookout post after such a long assault. Also, I want THAT battery. The battery in our smaller Prius has died and that sucker is hard to get to.

>263 lkernagh: Thanks! I'm hopeful as well, Lori.

>264 SomeGuyInVirginia: Theatre, and its bastard daughter TV, absolutely can't be overestimated as societal glue. The shared memories of Must-See TV defined what the Millennials remember as Reality.
It's amazing to me how crucial the touchstones are.

>265 SomeGuyInVirginia: ...I could ball-peen the stupid thing, too...

>266 quondame: Heh. No joke!

Books arrived! I'd forgotten I'd ordered them.
Hostages by Oisin Fagan--"Kilcock has, and always had, a mad suicide rate." ...aaannnd that's me hooked. Plus the Irish dude's name is original Gaelic from which "Ossian" was bastard-Latinized; and look at him:

First-line ball-grab: check. Snobby weird trivia store addition: check. Hawt Irish boy: check.
So.
Last Night in Nuuk by Niviaq Korneliussen--QUILTBAG life in Greenland? By a Native Greenlandic dyke? Shut up and take my money!

I'll go figure out how many Thingaversary purchases this leaves to make the statutory fifteen. I shall return.
***
Returned...there were four left before Oisín and Niviaq's books showed, so I need two more tree books bought with my very own United States dollars to fulfill my fifteen-book Thingaversary haul.

>267 richardderus: Theatre, TV, books and even our little ole group are ways, if used properly, community can be forged. Hell, I count as a friend some addled chap who has no time for Dickens or poetry (Chuckles and Poultry as he would have it).

Have a great weekend, RD.

Jut checking in with smoochies.

'Morning, RD!

I'm still favoring my favorite genre - nothing challenging right now is working well for me. I hope you have a good day.

*smooch*

>269 PaulCranswick: ...and a stout, upstanding fellow he sounds, so of *course* you'd count him as a friend. *quizzing glass* Why ever not?

>270 BekkaJo: *smoochies* back!

>271 karenmarie: Challenges need resources to meet them. Those are in short supply these days. Luckily they seem to be renewable.

*smooch*

>269 PaulCranswick: >272 richardderus: We-e-ell, I’ve heard he’s ... You know, as long as you’re safe on the other side of the world, go for it. If you want to.



Flat faced bunny. As per your thread topper.

OMG, Richard, have you seen what Tor.com is doing? As part of the promo for the upcoming Murderbot novel, they are giving away the four novellas in their free e-book club, one each day starting today through Thursday!!!

https://ebookclub.tor.com/?utm_source=exacttarget&utm_medium=eblast&utm_...

>273 humouress: What a weird-looking creature!

>274 ronincats: Ha!! I just this minute posted the same thing on your thread! That's really funny.

>274 ronincats: >275 richardderus: I'm going to have to put in a reminder for Wed and Thursday. I have ASR (free from Tor several years ago), and I bought Artificial Condition, but I borrowed the last 2 from the library. I'm definitely going to get a copy of them, to keep in my Kindle library. :) All Hail the Murderbot.

Did you all see the podcast with Martha Wells I linked to in my thread?

>274 ronincats: >275 richardderus: And I just popped over to post the same thing on your thread, Richard!

So, I started to download All Systems Red and discovered I already have it in my Calibre library. I just haven't transferred it to my Kindle yet. Doing that as soon as I get off LT. In the meantime, last night (after saying that I'm going to start the 1st four Murderbots on May 1 and then not being able to stop thinking about it) I borrowed it from the library and started reading it. On Chapter 3 or 4 and have laughed out loud at least five times. I really love Murderbot.

>276 mahsdad: I did, and I listened to her. She is so charming! It felt to me like she was almost as surprised as the rest of us how hugely it tapped into the zeitgeist. What fun, and thanks for posting the link.

>277 Storeetllr: I love all the ideas in the series. She's a caustically funny Cassandra, ain't she?

>278 richardderus: My pleasure. I really enjoyed hearing her insight.

Hello. Brilliant conversationalists here... but not me tonight.
Just wanted to see what's up and doing here since there were a zillion unread posts listed.

>279 mahsdad: :-)

>280 SandyAMcPherson: Goodness! A zillion unread posts is an intimidating trudge. Well, here you are now, so that's another item off the list. One of my most favoritest feelings, that.

Had to smile at you and Roni posting about the Murderbot series on each others' threads. Great minds! It took me a few hoops, but I finally have All Systems Red on my Kindle and will look forward to diving in soon. But first, I have The City We Became by N.K. Jemisin and an ARC of Naomi Novik's new book calling my name...

>282 bell7: Une embarrasse de richesse! All of them so, so tempting.

>282 bell7: Is that A Deadly Education?

Morning, Richard. Just checking in. I haven't seen you around much. I hope you are feeling better. My allergies are full throttle. Really hammered me yesterday after a long bird stroll and then tending to some yard work. Sniffles...

'Morning, RDear, and happy Tuesday to you.

I hope you've got some good books going and your sense of taste isn't quite so intermittent.

*smooch* from your own Madame TVT Horrible, although I don't think I've given you any BBs lately.

>284 quondame: That's her newest, so one presumes so.

>285 msf59: Hi Mark! I'm still not 100%, and the illness isn't easy to shake. But each day starts from a higher point!

>286 karenmarie: Hi Horrible, no one much has been bb-ing me in my low, easily-defended position. It's one advantage to having a roller-coaster relationship with the end-game of the virus. Today I actually tasted the pancakes and cottage cheese we got for breakfast.

The downside is I tasted the pancakes and cottage cheese we were served. Not permaybehaps the best first taste of the day...and the coffee I've had since is back to being savorless.

*shudder* Cottage cheese. *shudder some more*

Nasty, curd-y stuff. I'm really sorry the coffee is savorless. :(

Happy almost noon!

You know, I'm not completely convinced that I didn't catch the virus already. About 5 weeks ago I was explosively ill for 24 hours and very sick for another 12 with stomach problems and all that entails, and a real sense of distortion in my perceptions. I had a dry cough and a low-grade fever that would usually come on at night and be gone by the morning. I'm still having cramps. If tests were available the way they should be I'd go and get one just to see.

Muchas smooches dear one.

>283 richardderus: The everlasting problem of so many books, so little time, I'm afraid.

>284 quondame: Yes it is! I was blanking on the title...

Tuesday *smooches* and bah on the frustrating taste buds letting you taste the disgustingness and not savor your coffee!

BTW, cottage cheese is awesome. Ditto the soft drink Tab. They're both like penance, something pleasantly burdensome you pay for past indulgences. We had to special-order Tab for my mom, and when she died she must have had 10 cases of the stuff in her apartment.

>288 karenmarie: I'm sad about the coffee too, though less so about cottage cheese than about cold, gross, unsweetened pancakes.

Cottage cheese is practically ambrosia compared to those.

>289 SomeGuyInVirginia: I suspect you had/have the virus but didn't develop the respiratory symptoms, then. It's a coronavirus, they're pretty damned easy to spread. The common cold is a species of this family and we all know how easy that is to pass around. One of the many, many, many evidences of Cheeto Benito's stupidity is its willingness to "reopen" the country in the teeth of a pandemic of an easily-spread virus.

>290 bell7: Thanks, Mary, it *did* feel a bit unfair....

>291 SomeGuyInVirginia: "Soft drinks" are Satan's Sputum and all artificially sweetened anything should be gathered in Baikonur Cosmodrome and launched into solar orbit.

I have a cousin in her late 40s who told me about 3 weeks ago that she thinks she and her husband had Covid-19 mid-February. They each had a very high fever and other symptoms I can't remember.

Ack-shully, I would totally try a soft drink called Satan's Sputum.

God, I hope I'm immune.

*whispers* I like cottage cheese...but only the small curd kind.

>293 karenmarie: They probably did, and let's hope they get immunity from the experience. That's not even guaranteed.

>294 SomeGuyInVirginia: You edge-livin' wahld thang, you!

>295 laytonwoman3rd: I neither loathe nor love it, it's just sorta...there...and I mostly pay it no mind.