Amber's (scaifea's) Thread #12

Hey, everybody!

I'm Amber, a one-time Classics professor, turned stay-at-home parent/lady of leisure, turned part-time library assistant, turned once again Classics professor, and turned librarian again. I spend my free time sewing, writing, knitting, baking, and, of course, reading.

My reading life is happily governed by lists, which means that I read a healthy variety of things across various genres.

I'm 46 going on 12 and live in Ohio with my husband, Tomm; our son, Charlie; Mario, the Golden Retriever; and the newest addition to the family: Agent Fitzsimmons, the Border Collie.

The haircut isn't all that new anymore, but, well, here I am:



Favorite Books from 2021
Spinning Silver
Far Away Across the Sea
The Book Thief
Return of the Thief
Mister Impossible
Something Wicked This Way Comes
The House in the Cerulean Sea
Under the Whispering Door

What I'm Reading Now:
-Les Miserables (books by year - 1862)
-Mansfield Park (an unread book from my shelves)
-A Brief History of Time (books I'm reading with my friend, Rob)
-Bear, Otter, and the Kid (romance list)
-An Offer From a Gentleman (romance list)
-Kepler's Witch (wishlist book)
-A Court of Mist and Fury (a Beauty & the Beast retelling)
-Chocolate Chip Cookie Murder (mystery)
-Deathnote 1 (manga)
-The Only Good Indians (Alex Award)
-Up from Slavery (audiobook)
-The Dream Thieves (family bedtime read-aloud)

Books on Deck:
-(a book from my Read Soon! shelves)
-Loving-Kindness: The Revolutionary Art of Happiness (Buddhist reading list)
-Word to the Wise (mysteries)
-Richard III (Shakespeare re-read)
-The Land of the Free (100 Banned Books)
-Lest Darkness Fall (Green Dragon 1001 Fantasy Books)
-Titan (Locus SF Award)
-The Thief of Time (Boyne bibliography)

The five-ish or so books I have going at once and the On Deck books nearly all come from the following categories and lists:

1. A book from the 100 Banned Books book (at least currently. As soon as I finish this list, I'll replace it with another, and oh, I've got tons of lists).

2. 13 years ago I started working my way through a handful of awards lists for children's books. I've finished a fair few of those, but I'm still working through the 1001 Children’s Books You Must Read Before You Die list, and I try to stay up to date with several of the YALSA awards each year.

3. A book from the Green Dragon 1001 Fantasy List, in chronological order.

4. A list I'm working through together with my best friend, Rob: The Hugo/Nebula/WFA/Bram Stoker (and other) lists (combined, in chronological order)

5. For this category, I cycle through 9 different stacks:
a. Agatha Christie's bibliography (in chronological order)
b. Stephen Fry's bibliography (in chronological order)
c. John Boyne bibliography (in chronological order, sort of)
d. Neil Gaiman's bibliography (in some order other than chronological (don't
ask)).
e. Christopher Moore's bibliography (in chronological order)
f. Maggie Stiefvater's bibliography (in chronological order)
g. The NEH Timeless Classics list
h. The National Book Award list (in alpha order by title)
i. The Pulitzer list (in alpha order by author)

6. An unread book from my shelves.

7. A book from my Read Soon! shelves.

8. A book on Buddhism or from the Dalai Lama's bibliography.

9. Book-a-year challenge: A few years ago, along with a few others in this group (*cough* Paul *cough*), I made a year-by-year list to see how far I could go back with consecutive reads. I've since been trying to fill in the gap years.

10. A cozy mystery.

11. A full-on re-read through Shakespeare's stuff.

12. A read-aloud-to-Charlie-at-bedtime book (or two).

13. An audio book, which I listen to as I knit/sew/otherwise craft/drive.

14. A romance novel.

15. A book from my wishlist (it's *so* long).

16. This slot is reserved for books that just grab me and shout that they need to be read Right Now.

Books Read

JANUARY
1. The Cave Children (1001 Children's Books) - 7/10
2. Conan the Barbarian (Green Dragon 1001 Fantasy Books) - 7/10
3. Beauties, Beasts, and Enchantment (Green Dragon 1001 Fantasy Books) - 8/10
4. The Paradise War (audiobook/Green Dragon 1001 Fantasy Books) - 7/10
5. What Fresh Hell Is This? (impulse read) - 8/10
6. The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (I reread this one with Charlie, who's reading it for his ELA class) - 8/10
7. The Hidden Face of Eve (100 Banned Books) - 7/10
8. Guilty Pleasures (Green Dragon 1001 Fantasy Books) - 7/10
9. Cue for Treason (1001 Children's Books) - 9/10
10. Perfume: The Story of a Murderer (books I'm reading with my friend, Rob) - 9/10
11. Metropolis (1001 Children's Books) - 7/10
12. Timescape (Nebula Award) - 6/10
13. A Fatal Grace (mysteries) - 9/10
14. A Loyal Character Dancer (mysteries) - 8/10

FEBRUARY
15. Beetle and the Hollowbones (Stonewall Honor Book) - 8/10
16. More Fool Me (Fry bibliography) - 8/10
17. The Ghost Writer (wishlist book) - 9/10
18. Chimera (National Book Award) - 8/10
19. Cat's Cradle (unread book from my shelves) - 9/10
20. Mockingjay (reread with Charlie) - 10/10
21. Solutions and Other Problems (Alex Award) - 10/10
22. Heartsong (audiobook) - 9/10
23. Beat the Reaper (an unread book from my shelves) - 10/10
24. One More Thing (a book from my Read Soon! shelves) - 8/10
25. Darius the Great Deserves Better (Stonewall Honor Book) - 9/10
26. In the Woods (mysteries) - 9/10
27. The Cloven Viscount (1001 Children's Books) - 7/10
28. Hyperbole and a Half (just because) - 10/10

MARCH
29. This Book Is Gay (impulse read) - 9/10
30. Brothersong (audiobook) - 9/10
31. Into the Land of the Unicorns (audiobook) - 7/10
32. We Ride Upon Sticks (Alex Award) - 10/10
33. Hitting the Books (mystery) - 8/10
34. Beyond the Pawpaw Trees (Green Dragon 1001 Fantasy Books) - 7/10
35. A Court of Thorns and Roses (B&B retelling) - 9/10
36. The Black Gryphon (audiobook) - 9/10
37. Stradivari's Genius (wishlist) - 7/10
38. The Last Unicorn (Green Dragon 1001 Fantasy Books) - 8/10
39. The Prestige (Green Dragon 1001 Fantasy Books) - 10/10
40. The Portrait of a Lady (books I'm reading with my friend, Rob) - 7/10

APRIL
41. The Last Cuentista (Newbery Medal) - 9/10
42. Grendel (Green Dragon 1001 Fantasy Books) - 6/10
43. First Test (Green Dragon 1001 Fantasy Books) - 8/10
44. Fahrenheit 451 (audiobook) - 10/10
45. Changing Planes (audiobook) - 7/10
46. Gifts (Green Dragon 1001 Fantasy Books) - 9/10
47. Escape from Warsaw (1001 Children's Books) - 9/10
48. Kent State: Four Dead in Ohio (Alex Award) - 8/10
49. Peeps (audiobook) - 9/10
50. Red, White, and Whole (Newbery Honor Book) - 8/10
51. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (mysteries) - 9/10
52. Waiting for the Flood (Read Soon! shelves) - 9/10
53. Moon Called (Green Dragon 1001 Fantasy List/audiobook) - 9/10
54. The World of Tibetan Buddhism (Buddhist reading list) - 8/10

MAY
55. The Raven Boys (family bedtime read-aloud) - 10/10
56. Wicked Lovely (Green Dragon 1001 Fantasy Books/audiobook) - 9/10
57. The Shape of Water (mystery) - 6/10
58. Ink Exchange (audiobook/series read) - 9/10
59. The Kids Are Gonna Ask (Alex Award) - 8/10
60. A Snake Falls to Earth (Newbery Honor Book) - 6/10
61. My Hero Academia Vol. 1 (manga) - 9/10
62. The Junior Officers' Reading Club (unread book from my shelves) - 7/10
63. Fragile Eternity (audiobook) - 7/10
64. The Book of the Dun Cow (Green Dragon 1001 Fantasy Books) - 4/10

JUNE
65. Murder Is Easy (Christie bibliography/audiobook) - 8/10
66. The Ogress and the Orphans (impulse library shelf grab) - 10/10
67. They Do It with Mirrors (Christie bibliography/audiobook) - 8/10
68. A Caribbean Mystery (Christie bibliography/audiobook) - 8/10
69. Friedrich (1001 Children's Books list) - 7/10
70. A Night to Remember (NEH list) - 8/10
71. My Hero Academia Volume 2 (manga) - 9/10
72. The Member of the Wedding (NEH list) - 8/10
73. Love in Focus (manga) - 9/10

Still with the B&W Mario because I love this one:



Simmons being adorable:



Charlie in his concert duds:

Next one is yours!

Happy new one, Amber!

Can't get enough of artsy-fartsy Mario and the Simmons blep!

Charlie looks handsome as ever, too, of course, but sadly blep-less. :-D

>7 drneutron: Thanks, Jim!

>8 rosalita: *snork!* Mario is SO artsy-fartsy. And Simmons' tongue is too big for her mouth, so it frequently sticks out when she sleeps. Adorable and hilarious. Charlie is clearly way too serious for such shenanigans.

Happy new thread, Amber!

Love the teensy sailboat from your last thread, along with the Quid faceret Cicero mug.

Happy New Thread, Amber! That B&W photo of Mario is lovely. Simmons = adorable (redundancy, that). And Charlie! I feel like I've kind of gotten to watch him grow up here on LT. :-)

Have a great Tuesday!

>11 karenmarie: Thanks, Karen!

One of my students *made* that mug for me - and he even got the Latin right! There's a picture of a Cicero bust on the other side. I adore it.

>12 EBT1002: Charlie *has* grown up in these threads - I became pregnant with him not too long after joining, I think...

Happy new one, Amber! Great pics, as always.

Happy new thread, Amber! Love the Simmons blep :D

Happy new thread, Amber!

Happy new thread! Love the aquarium photos from your last one!

>15 katiekrug: >16 curioussquared: >17 bell7: >18 foggidawn: Thanks, everyone!!

Happy new one!

>20 figsfromthistle: Thanks, Anita!

Woof, it's *busy* today at the library. In a good way, though: all those kiddos getting excited about the summer program. I'm not unhappy that I'm on my break, though...

Happy new thread!

Hi Amber my dear, Happy New Thread and great thread photos once again dear friend.

Happy New Thread, Amber. I also love the B & W Mario.

Happy new thread Amber.

Thanks, everyone!!

On the Agenda for Today:
Charlie has marching band practice again today, so I'll be playing the parts of Pickup and Dropoff (a little Car Talk humor for you), and otherwise I think I'll do a bit of cleaning, maybe some writing, and some reading. I am slightly zonked from yesterday; we were *so* busy! That's a good thing, though, and it was a hoot. I'm not sure what we'll have for dinner tonight; Tomm's out of town for work, so Charlie and I may order out. We'll see.

On the Reading Front:
Ooof, hardly anything to report here. One page - ONE PAGE! - of The Count of Monte Cristo is all I managed yesterday, plus a bit of The Ogress and the Orphans. I did get to listen to some Murder Is Easy while unpacking book cargo, though, and I'm nearly finished with that one.

The Crafting Report:
Nothing here, either. I'll maybe try to do some crocheting today.

What We're Watching:
A couple of Modern Family episodes.

Ah, good old chauffeur Pickup Andropov — that brings back fond memories. I still use Click and Clack's diagnosis of experiencing an "anal-cranial inversion" for people with their ... well, you know.

>29 rosalita: Ha! *That's* the spelling my brain couldn't come up with! I loved those guys so much.

Morning, Amber!

Is Charlie out of school now? Or is marching band practice before and after school hours?

And am I correct in thinking this is a re-read of The Count of Monte Cristo for you?

>31 katiekrug: Morning, Katie!

Yep, Charlie's out of school as of last Thursday. This week band practice is 10:45-1, but it will vary through the summer.

Ope! I completely mistyped! I'm reading Les Mis, not CoMC! Yoicks. What a dummy. It *would* be a reread if it were CoMC, but this is my first time through LM.

Ah, okay. I thought maybe you just couldn't stay away from your book boyfriend, the Count ;-)

>33 katiekrug: He's never far from my mind, don't worry...

Hi Amber!

>28 scaifea: I miss the Car Talk Guys. Sigh. Marching Band Practice, outside in the summer, even in the morning, is vicious. I hope they’re keeping the kids hydrated, hydrated, hydrated.

>35 karenmarie: Ooof, yeah, and it's hot here today. I make sure he takes a full water bottle and sunscreen with him.

65. Murder Is Easy by Agatha Christie (Christie bibliography/audiobook) - 8/10
Luke Fitzwilliam shares a train carriage with a lovely, if strange, old lady as they're both on their way to London. The woman seems nice, but has a curious story: she's on her way to Scotland Yard to report a mass murderer in her small country village. Luke listens politely but mentally dismisses the possibility, until he sees in the paper the next day that the old woman was killed by a hit-and-run just near the police station. He decides to investigate her story, which now seems like a very possible one.

And so starts another Murder in a Small English Village mystery. And it's a good one. Tons of possible culprits, all with interesting motives, and a couple of excellent twists along the way. I figured out the Bad Guy *just* before they were revealed, which is exactly how I like it. Another win for Christie.

Happy new thread Amber!

>38 swynn: Thanks, Steve!

>28 scaifea: I miss the energy of Car Talk. It was such fun.

Happy new thread, Amber!

>4 scaifea: I follow your footstreps, I just started reading The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

>5 scaifea: Indeed, Mario looks great in black and white.
No need to do the same with a black and white Simmons ;-)

>40 quondame: It's really one of the few npr shows that I could ever stomach, to be honest, and I loved it.

>41 FAMeulstee: Thanks, Anita! I hope you love The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. I loved it. And yes! Simmons comes already B&W - no need for filters!

On the Agenda for Today:
Band practice for Charlie again today, and we may go out for lunch after. I'll do some cleaning, the menu planning for next week and organizing my list for tomorrow's shopping, and maybe some writing, which didn't happen at all yesterday. Not sure what we'll have for dinner tonight. Last night instead of ordering out, I made fried rice, so we'll either go out for lunch or maybe get take-out for dinner. We'll see how it goes.

On the Reading Front:
I read a bit of Mansfield Park and some of The Ogress and the Orphans, plus listened to some They Do It with Mirrors. I have a teetering tower of library books; I need to get cracking with those.

The Crafting Report:
Now that my crochet method has been corrected (I hope!), I started a new, small project to practice my stitches. I think I won't say what it is and just let you see how it progresses (and hopefully by the time it's finished, you'll be able to tell what it's supposed to be!). Here's the bit of progress I made yesterday on it:



What We're Watching:
More Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood while Tomm's away (he's not all that fond of the show).

I don't generally share my Wordle results, but this one just looks so pretty and neat:

Wordle 348 5/6

🟩⬜⬜⬜⬜
🟩🟩⬜⬜⬜
🟩🟩⬜⬜⬜
🟩🟩🟩⬜⬜
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

>45 scaifea: - Oh, yes, very share-worthy!

I usually only share if I do uncommonly well or uncommonly badly :-P

>46 katiekrug: My way of thinking is that the only "doing badly" is if I don't manage to get in time at all. Otherwise, I actually kind of love the ones that have me thinking until nearly the end. I feel cheated if I get it in two (so it's a very good thing that I very rarely do!).

>45 scaifea: excellent pattern making. I got a very jammy 3 today.

I suppose the trouble with being a marching band is that you need enough space to actually march. Must make indoor practice slightly limiting. The band bit would be OK, the marching bit less so.

>37 scaifea: sounds like a good one. I like getting the answer right, but there is such a thing as getting it right too early.

There's a woman who comes into the library on the regular and she only speaks Spanish, so we communicate with her through her (American) husband. I've gotten, as my mom would say, a wild hair up my *ss and decided to use Duolingo to try to learn Spanish so that someday maybe I can actually talk directly with her. So far I have a 7 day streak and could ask her for a fish hamburger, which doesn't seem too helpful yet (and I'm also slightly confused as to what exactly IS a fish hamburger), but I'm having a blast learning a new language (one of my favorite things). And it's an actual, living one! Those are rare in my repertoire.

>48 Helenliz: At least Charlie's band gets to practice on the actual football field; we weren't allowed and so had to use a section of the asphalt parking lot. You could actually feel the 20+ rise in temperature when you stepped onto that black stuff in the summer. Yoicks.

>49 scaifea: Yay for language learning! As we discussed on Twitter, I have finished the Duolingo Italian course and am feeling like that app won't get me any closer to fluency than it already has. I bought a book (The Big Green Book of Italian Verbs) for extra help (verb tenses/conjugations are a pain in the tuchas for me), but I hate to lose my 700+ day Duolingo streak. Maybe I should switch to the Spanish module. I took two years of Spanish in high school, and I would certainly have more opportunities to practice that in real life than Italian.

>51 rosalita: The optimist in my would love to work through as many duolingo languages as I can, so I support the switch to Spanish option!

>52 scaifea: OK, then. I will! (I also friended you on Duolingo so don't be alarmed if a stranger pops up in your friends list).

I could have used your help today in my trivia league. This question: Identify the mythical herb, described by Homer as having milk-white blossoms and a black root, which, while not exactly holy per se, did have magical powers, as Hermes gave it to Odysseus to counteract Circe's spells was a complete miss for me, sadly. Although now I guess I know the origin of the phrase. :-)

>49 scaifea: I had a fish hamburger for supper last night. Only we call them salmon patties... And now I need to know how to say it in Spanish.

>53 rosalita: - I got that question correct, only because I remembered it from reading Circe by Madeline Miller and wondering if it was the same moly as "holy moly" :)

>55 katiekrug: The annoying thing is that I have Circe on the shelf but haven't read it yet! Dang TBR dragging me down.

>56 rosalita: - :)

>53 rosalita: Woot! A Language friend!!

>53 rosalita: >55 katiekrug: Sadly, I don't think that's the origin of the phrase, but I still stubbornly believe it in my brain and in my heart.

>54 laytonwoman3rd: Oh! Of course! But we don't make those into sandwiches when I make 'em, so I guess that's why I didn't think of it. It's hamburguesa de pescado in Spanish.

>56 rosalita: Oh, you should try to get to it soon - it's *so* good.

>58 scaifea: We don't make them into sandwiches either, but as a kid, we often had burgers at home that were just plunked on the plate all nakey, because hamburger buns weren't all that common in our stores. I think my Dad put his between two pieces of bread, but ick. (This was in the ancient times, y'know.) I don't mind eating them bunless even now.

there are also hamburguesas de pollo which might be more familiar to folks from el norte

>60 laytonwoman3rd: Aha. That makes sense!

>61 RebaRelishesReading: Those kinds of hamburguesas make much more sense to me, Reba!

>44 scaifea: I am all too familiar with stacks of unread library books O_o I swear they stare at me.

I'm excited to see where this mystery project goes. Little tip to help: I keep a stitch marker on my working loop when I'm done working on a project for the day to keep it from unraveling in the bag. They have some in stores that have labels on them, too, so you can record the hook you need.

>64 Ravenwoodwitch: That's a good tip about the stitch marker; I have tons of those already for my knitting. I've not had any trouble yet, though, with losing stitches since when I travel with it I just pull out a giant loop. Seems to work fine so far.

On the Agenda for Today:
A bit of a busy-ish day. Grocery shopping first thing this morning, and then Mario will ride with me to drop Charlie off at band practice because we then need to hustle straight to the vet's office for a check-up for her. I'll need to drop her back off at home and run to the bank, come home to sort out the weekly bills and then hustle back to school to pick up Charlie. Whew. Frozen Friday for dinner tonight.

On the Reading Front:
I read a bit of A Brief History of Time and another nice chunk of The Ogress and the Orphans. Currently listening to They Do It with Mirrors; it's nice to get back to Miss Marple.

The Crafting Report:
I finished a few rows on the crochet project but not really enough to merit a new photo just yet. It just looks like a slightly bigger white rectangle right now. I'm also slowly but steadily working on that scarf, but progress photos aren't necessary, I think. It's just more of the same, 'cept longer.

What We're Watching:
More Fullmetal Alchemist while Tomm's still away.

>65 scaifea: I also do the giant loop at the end of the row and all has been well for me for every crochet project I've done.

Sounds like a busy Friday morning. Hopefully you get some chill time this afternoon. Is Tomm gone all weekend?

>67 MickyFine: In the past I've seen crochet people do this and thought, "that seems reckless" because as a knitter that just...wouldn't work. But now I know!

Tomm gets back late tonight, as long as his flights are all on time.

>68 scaifea: Fingers crossed for Tomm.

The more I hear technical details about knitting, the more it intimidates me.

I'm currently making a baby blanket for a coworker. It involves some ribbing where you go three regular knit stitches, three pearl, back to knit and repeat. And then one whole row of knitting (rinse, lather, repeat.) I did not for the life of me understand how this was working until I got a decent chunk done. I think that may separate knitting from crochet in a way? Crochet you can kinda see what shapes are happening as you go, but knitting is a bit of a leap of faith until you finish a small chunk of the product (I saw, about 1/4th of the way in, that it was basically some thin lines of stockinette stitch for the ribbing but I didn't get it for awhile, heh :) )

>70 Ravenwoodwitch: I think it depends on what your making regardless of which method you use, no?

On the Agenda for Today:
Welp. Tomm was supposed to get home late last night, but one of his flights was canceled so he's still in Dallas at the moment and now won't get home until 10pm tonight. His parents were going to come down today for a visit, but he's calling to cancel that since I'm working and, well, he's not here, and we're not going to leave Charlie to grandparent-sit on his own. The worst part is that we were all going to go out for dinner, so now I have no idea what Charlie and I will eat tonight... I hate last-minute changes in plans. It's got me all flustered this morning. Gah.

Anyway. I'm working 9:30-3 today. I'm going to try to get a couple of loads of laundry done before I go, and also try to get my Duolingo time in this morning, too. Donde es el museo? El museo esta aqui! I'm so used to learning languages in a more...academic? way (explanations of how the grammar works and verb charts and such instead of this more organic way) and I'm a little twitchy about a few things so far. For example, what's the difference between es and esta? Are there rules about when you use one versus the other?

Anyway. I forgot to mention that of course yesterday was cookie baking day! I made these Caramel Nut Bars:



On the Reading Front:
I read bits of An Offer from a Gentleman and The Ogress and the Orphans yesterday, plus I'm still listening to They Do It with Mirrors.

The Crafting Report:
Here's how the crochet project is coming along. I'll need to block it eventually because my edges are wonky, and I think I could have done a better job with the top corners, but anyway, here's my progress so far:



What We're Watching:
Charlie and I started watching Glee for the first time last night and within half an episode we were hooked. We love it.

Ooh, I know what it is! A white rectangle!
(just kidding)

And Glee, wow. That would be right up Charlie's street right now. We watched a few seasons when it was originally broadcast. My girls, being musical theater/chorus kids, both loved it.

ETA: I'm sorry the airline messed up your weekend plans.

Stuck in Dallas? *shudder*

'Glee' was fun for the first season or two. Jane Lynch was always the best part.

Sorry the change of plans got you flustered. I'd just eat those caramel nut bars for dinner...

>73 lauralkeet: Hey, if you can identify it as a rectangle, I'll take it! Ha!

Yep, Charlie loves it so far, and I do, too. Perfect new series to start for Pride Month, I think.

>73 lauralkeet: >74 katiekrug: After changing three or four more times, plans for today are back to the original version. Tomm managed to snag earlier flights and will be home around noon, which is when the in-laws will be here. So. Still, I resent being put through all those last-minute changes. Gross.

>74 katiekrug: Jane Lynch is an absolute QUEEN.

Glad Tomm will make it home sooner! Flight delays are the worst.

I'm doing Italian Duolingo right now and am totally with you, as someone who speaks French and conversational Spanish and learned both in school. There was a bit where I could not for the life of me figure out what the deal was with what appeared to be a second singular masculine definite article and there was no explanation of when you were supposed to use the alternate one. I finally had to Google it and it turns out you only use it for words that start with specific letter combinations 🤦‍♀️ not sure how I was supposed to figure that out! Overall I enjoy the Duolingo method, but I wish they had a little more supplemental material for those of us who like some rules in our language learning!

>76 curioussquared: I think we're the odd ones out as far as duolingo is concerned. Maybe we need Duolingo for Language Nerds, or something. Ha!

>77 scaifea: Seriously! You mean... Some people don't like memorizing verb conjugations? Weird.

I'm hoping the Italian course will at least get me ready to talk to waiters or whatever when we're in Italy in September. I hope so! I think the idea is that this kind of learning gets you actually talking faster so I'm planning to put it to the test :)

>78 curioussquared: *snork!* Right?! Weirdos.

I suspect that that's pretty much exactly what Duolingo is mostly designed for, so I bet you'll be well served by it.

>72 scaifea: I've found that I learnt languages much better if I learn in a more organic way. Just say something and worry about the grammatical correctness later! Saying that, I'm learning Welsh at the moment and there is a lot of fiddly grammar involved with that! We've been doing possessives. Welsh has a lot of mutations and possessives use a lot of them. There is a nasal mutation where it's the first person singular, a soft mutation where it's the second person singular, and then when it's the third person no mutation at all if you're talking about a male person doing the possessing, but an aspirate mutation if it's a female person. Great fun!

>80 SandDune: Almost all of the languages I know are dead ones, and those you learn grammar-forwardly. So I'm just not used to this modern language learning business.

>72 scaifea: I remember enough of my Spanish to know that "es" is a form of the verb "ser", which means "to be", and "esta" is a form of the verb "estar", which also means "to be". I have totally forgotten the difference in usage, so I looked it up.

"Ser and estar in action: 4 golden rules

Use ser to describe someone's or something's nature or identity. ...
Use estar to talk about about someone's or something's state. ...
Use ser to talk about time and events. ...
Use estar to talk about someone's or something's location."

I have no idea why answering the question "Where is the museum" with "The museum is here" would require a change of verb. I would say "Donde es el museo" is ungrammatical according to those rules.

Sorry to hear about the late flight :( I hate last-minute changes that change the whole day, too.

I wasn't a big fan of Glee, to be honest. Their take on a specific musical in one episode left a lot to be desired for me. But, hey, taste, what you gonna do?

I use Duolingo too. Not so much to learn the language completely but to pick up bits and pieces to better understand some non-English bands I like. I find their lesson plans a bit scatter-shot.

>72 scaifea: It's always fun learning a new language and thought I'd chime in as a long time Duolingo user with 7+ languages I jump between. I'm most familiar with Spanish, having taken three years of it back in school and using Duolingo to stay refreshed on it.
>82 laytonwoman3rd: is correct here that estar should be used for location and feelings - I even went on Duolingo and under their first 'Travel' lesson it goes over this under 'Tips'. To be honest when I first started using Duolingo years ago they did have charts and lessons that broke down how to conjugate these with verb charts but going through it now I could not find any - which seems like a backwards change. The app/site is very different from how it was years ago though, but is a nice free way to learn basics. Good luck with your Spanish!

>82 laytonwoman3rd: Interesting - thanks! I'm resisting the urge to buy a Spanish grammar book to go along with all this. I want to give Duolingo's way of doing things a fair trial.

>83 Ravenwoodwitch: Taste - exactly. Nothing is going to be loved by everyone, and that's totally cool.

As a (dead) language prof, I understand the logic behind their lesson plans, so although it may seem slightly rando, it isn't really. It seems to be a nice mix of introducing new things, repetition of previous material in different ways, while keeping track of what you have issues with and what you don't.

>84 WhiteRaven.17: It's interesting that they've changed the website so much. It seems to work well, though, the way they have it set up now. I enjoy it, at least.

On the Agenda for Today:
This afternoon we're going to head out for some shopping: Charlie needs running gear for this summer's cross country training (good running shoes, shorts, etc.) and then we'll have dinner out somewhere. Otherwise, I've got a few loads of laundry to get through, and then maybe some knitting/crocheting and some reading.

On the Reading Front:
I finished up The Ogress and the Orphans yesterday - review to come.

The Crafting Report:
Nothing to report here at all. Between work and the in-laws, there was just no time to pick up the needles or the hook.

What We're Watching:
We finally got round to watching the newest Ghostbusters movie (the one with Paul Rudd) and it was really fun and surprisingly touching. Great acting by the young ones, too.

>86 scaifea: I hadn't thought of it that way. I was just focusing on constantly learning the words for milk and bread (Milch und brot.) But What you say makes sense :)
Speaking of dead languages, I'm learning a dying one (or at least I'm told Irish is dying, which is a crying shame; it's so lovely). If Duolingo isn't lying, their word for whiskey is "uisce beatha" which basically means "water of life" and that amuses me, greatly.

Best of luck on the knitting/crochet projects today :)

>89 Ravenwoodwitch: Oh, good for you for learning Irish! I'd love to do that, too. I love how languages have interesting phrasings for things when you translate them literally. So cool how language logic works.

>89 Ravenwoodwitch: In 7th grade I participated in a speech competition that involved performing a duet from Romeo and Juliet. The scene was between Juliet and her nurse, and I remember nothing about it except that the nurse (me) had a line about drinking some "aqua vitae," which I had never heard of but the teacher explained was a common term back then for any strong distilled spirit, such as whiskey.

>91 rosalita: Oh, that's right! I'd forgotten about that particular phrase being used in English!

66. The Ogress and the Orphans by Kelly Barnhill (impulse library shelf grab) - 10/10
The once friendly and beautiful town of Stone-in-the-Glenn started deteriorating, both physically and in the attitudes of the residents, when the library burned down. And now it's a broken-down mess with sullen and distrustful citizens. The mayor, whom they all worship unthinkingly, arrived in town as a famous dragon slayer not too long before the loss of the library, and although everyone seems to think he's amazing, somehow he manages to do nothing to improve the state of affairs. Meanwhile, an ogress lives on the outskirts of town and quietly watches and loves the citizens, delivering baked goods and the abundance of her garden on all of their doorsteps at night. In the midst of all this, the residents of the Orphan House struggle to find enough food for the table each day while also struggling to understand the misery all around them. Things will need to change soon if any of them can survive, and the answer lies in the kindness of ogres and orphans.

Folks, I LOVED this one. Barnhill has an absolute knack for shaping parables that aren't heavy handed in any way, and are a joy to read. There's just the right amount of magic, and she has a lovely way with words and storytelling. Do yourself a favor and read this one.

>91 rosalita: >92 scaifea: Heh, guess alcohol being the stuff "vigor" was cross-cultural *waggles eyebrows*
And yeah, the Irish has been fun. It was very helpful when I watched the film Song of The Sea on Netflix. It is drop-dead gorgeous for art and the story so sweet. Can't recommend it enough :)

>89 Ravenwoodwitch: ""uisce beatha" Also usquebaugh, which is more Scottish, I think. Same translation.

>95 laytonwoman3rd: I wonder if this is at all tied to the idea of calling it "spirits"? Interesting.

>94 Ravenwoodwitch: Oooh, I'll add Song of the Sea to my watchlist.

On the Agenda for Today:
Charlie has a first appointment with our new pediatrician this morning - I finally found a new one after our old one closed up show so suddenly this spring. So strange. If that wraps up early enough then we'll probably head to the nearby mall where there's a ginormous Hot Topical to look around. Then, when we get home, I need to hustle to put together dinner (Asian Chicken Noodle Soup) in the crock pot before heading to work from 2-6. This week will be a little bananas, folks.

On the Reading Front:
I started two yesterday: Kepler's Witch and Friedrich. Both seem promising so far. Oh, and I'm also still listening to They Do It with Mirrors. Still no idea how mirrors will be involved yet.

The Crafting Report:
I did some crocheting yesterday, but since it's just another of the rectangles I've already posted, I'll spare you the photos for now.

What We're Watching:
More Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood last night.

>93 scaifea: I have that one waiting on the shelf for me!

>93 scaifea: You sold me on The Ogress and the Orphans, Amber! I’ve got it requested at the library. Thanks!

Karen O

>99 foggidawn: >100 klobrien2: I hope you both love it as much as I did!

>97 scaifea: I haven't yet seen Song of the Sea, but The Book of Kells and Wolfwalkers, the other two in that trilogy, are amazing.

>102 jjmcgaffey: *adding those to the list too...*

On the Agenda for Today:
It's a rainy Tuesday here at Scaife Manor. In general I love those kind of days, but I woke up with a headache for this one and so missed my usual treadmilling and now the day just feels off kilter. Gah. Anyway. I have a therapy appointment today, kind of in the middle of the day, which means not a lot else will get done, likely. And then this evening Charlie has a D&D meeting that's a summer library program...program. He's pretty excited about it because it means he can actually play in this campaign, since he's the DM for the group he runs himself. I think this afternoon he'll also work some of his magic in the kitchen: he wants to make butterscotch pudding from scratch. I have no idea how we'll work dinner tonight, since his D&D runs from 5-7... We'll figure something out, I suppose.

On the reading front:
I started the second volume of the My Hero Academia manga yesterday, plus I read a bit of Friedrich and listened to more They Do It with Mirrors.

The Crafting Report:
I worked a couple of rounds on the crochet project, but still nothing exciting enough to share. Oh! But I also received my pattern order in the mail yesterday and I'm really happy about it: part of Charlie's band uniform involves spats for his shoes, and I LOVE to look of spats, so I decided that I'd like to make some for myself. I found a pattern for some, which also includes a cool pattern for fingerless gloves! Is it a costume pattern? Possibly. Will I be making these things for myself for everyday use? Yes, yes I will.

What We're Watching:
A couple of Psych episodes last night and a Modern Family.

>104 scaifea: Sounds like a bit of a busy day, but the D&D summer library program sounds like fun. My little hometown library just tweeted about their new program "Garden Swap," which is rather genius — people can bring in their extra houseplants, garden plants, cuttings, or fruits & veggies, and then take home something someone else brought in. My only question is what happens when summer squash season hits and everyone is bringing in all zucchini, all the time?

>105 rosalita: My old library in Platteville recently did one of those houseplant swaps and I think it's brilliant! They also do craft supply swaps, which would also be useful, I think.

So interesting to read about how other people learn languages. I'm a Duolingo fan and use it to try and re-capture the French I learnt at school and learn some German. The format works well for me (gamification in general works well for me, I think) but I definitely learn better when I combine that with more structured learning and explanations of grammar, etc.I've been meaning to borrow some language learning literature from the library - maybe something for the summer holidays?

>107 PawsforThought: That's my inclination, too, but because I don't teach modern languages, I'm going to trust the system this time around and see how it goes. There's a lot of the grammar that I'm sussing out on my own, just by nature of having in intimate knowledge of how languages work, and that helps.

On the Agenda for Today:
I'm working 10-6, so that's pretty much the day for me. I've got a load of laundry going now, and I'll get dinner halfway prepped (baked potatoes, so not much prep needed) and then have Charlie stick them in the oven in time for them to be ready when I get home.

It's summer, which means that Able Baker Charlie and Chef Charliemagne will be making weekly appearances at Scaife Manor. Yesterday he made butterscotch pudding from scratch and I kid you know that was The Best butterscotch pudding I have ever tasted. He has officially passed me in kitchen skills: I never have luck with anything that requires a candy thermometer but he knocked this one out of the park!

He also had his first library program D&D meeting last night and had a great time. He's wanted to play with an actual character for a long time, but since he's the DM for the group he runs, he hasn't had the chance. This group meets at a branch of our library that I hadn't been to before and it's a lovely little library. I stuck around this first time to check it all out and then sit and read (which was so nice and I haven't had the chance to just sit in a library and read in *forever*), and I found a couple of cookbooks to check out, too. It was fun to chit-chat with colleagues I hadn't had the chance to meet yet, too. I checked Google Maps and discovered that there are four or five thrift stores in easy distance from there, so next week I'll probably do a little thrifting while he's D&Ding.

On the Reading Front:
I started For Real yesterday, read a nice chunk of Chocolate Chip Cookie Murder, and listened to more They Do It with Mirrors (still no mirrors in sight, folks).

The Crafting Report:
I finished the second of those white rectangles yesterday - two more to go...

What We're Watching:
A couple of episodes of Our Flag Means Death. Gosh, we love that show.

>109 scaifea: Aww I'm glad Charlie had a great time at D&D and you had some awesome solo time!

>110 MickyFine: Yes! I miss the days when he was little and we'd go hang out at the library a couple of times a week. He'd either have a story time or just play in the children's area and I'd get to sit and read. *sigh*

>109 scaifea: Yay, Our Flag Means Death! They just announced that season 2 has been greenlit (they made us wait until Pride month to announce it, which ok, I get it, but we waited so long!!) and I'm so so excited.

Ok, that seems to be the prod I needed. I'm going to brush up on my German. We work with German suppliers and I can barely remember a word from my GCSE that I did at 16. Well apart from the particularly un-useful "Ich habe einen Wellensittich." I've never owned a budgerigar, I invented one for the oral exam, on the basis that everyone had cats or dogs and a yellow budgie gave me a load of different vocab to play with.

So far I've done lesson 1. We've spent a lot of time ordering coffee with milk. The word for decaf would be useful, I can't drink caffeine. I'm going to assume that it is just "decaf" and shove it on the end of the sentence.

>112 curioussquared: YAS! I'm so excited for another season and we're not even finished with the first!

>113 Helenliz: Ha! Yep, I suspect if you said "decaf" they'd know what you meant. I'm having an absolute blast learning Spanish. It's been a *very* long time since I learned a language in order to speak it and not just read it!

On the Agenda for Today:
I'm working from 9-4. It's Tie Dye Day. We have 100 kiddos signed up to come and make tie dye shirts. With, you know, dye. And kids. 100 of them. What could possibly go wrong?! When I get home I need to do the menu planning and prep my grocery list for next week, since Charlie and I are going to Indiana this weekend to visit my parents and I'll need Tomm to do the shopping while we're gone.

Chef Charliemagne is in charge of dinner tonight. He's making a sort of Asian chicken and rice noodles dish that sounds amazing. I'm already looking forward to it.

On the Reading Front:
Not a lot of reading time yesterday, but I did manage a few pages in A Court of Mist and Fury, a few in Friedrich, and I listened to more of the Christie. I'll likely finish that one up today while loading cargo at work.

The Crafting Report:
I didn't do any actual crafting yesterday, but I *did* check out a ginormous crochet book from the library. That counts for something, right?

What We're Watching:
Charlie's pick last night, so more Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood.

Morning, Amber. Sweet Thursday. We are back. It was a great family reunion, minus a few members. We mostly hung out and visited, in a nice outdoor setting. Now, I am slipping back into my usual routine. I hope you and the Scaife boys are doing fine.

>117 msf59: Welcome back, Mark! I'm glad you had a good time and are home again safe and sound.

>112 curioussquared: I’m enjoying that silly but so funny Our Flag Means Death! I’m about halfway through Season 1 and have been using the episodes like little treats. Good to know there will be another season.

Karen O

>119 klobrien2: It's so good, isn't it? Just perfectly done.

>116 scaifea: What could possibly go wrong, indeed! I'm picturing everyone in the library finishing their shift looking like they've just completed one of those "color run" events where people throw colored powder on the runners. We may need an "after" photo!

Tie-dye day sounds like an absolute exhausting blast. I have a program tonight, too, but teaching a bunch of seniors how to use Ancestry Library Edition will be much more calm in comparison, I think.

Very cool that Charlie's cooking tonight, and it sounds fantastic.

What crochet book did you get?

Oooh, Tie Dye Day sounds intense but fun. I hope you and the kids have the blast. Are you helping with the program or just in the building while it happens?

>114 scaifea: >119 klobrien2: I'm so glad it's finding so many fans :D Every episode really is the perfect little treat! I might start rewatching it during my elliptical workouts -- the episodes are the right length and I have the feeling that it's the type of show where you discover something you missed upon a second viewing.

>116 scaifea: Anxiously awaiting to hear about tie dye day shenanigans ;)

>121 rosalita: *snork!* Oh boy, I hope not...

>122 bell7: I dunno, Mary, maybe you should introduce some tie dye into the mix. Those seniors can get WILD...

I love it when Charlie cooks because it's always so delicious.

The crochet book is Crochet: The Complete Step-by-Step Guide

>123 MickyFine: I *may* be helping, but I may also luck out and get to hold down the circ desk fort. We'll see.

>124 curioussquared: Me too! It's *so* good and everyone should watch it! I'm definitely going to want to do a rewatch at some point, too.

On the Agenda for Today:
I didn't get the menu planning and grocery list sorting done yesterday, so I'll try to do that, along with the weekly bill sorting, before heading to work today at 9:30. Once I'm back home, I'll need to pack for Indiana - Charlie and I are visiting my parents this weekend. Frozen Friday for dinner tonight.

The tie dye event went off without any hitches: I helped with set-up but then stayed stationed at the circ desk during the actual activity. That was manic enough on its own, though, with 100 kiddos and their parents coming through and checking out books. Fun, though, and there was leftover dye, so Charlie and I may do some dyeing this afternoon.

Charlie's chicken and rice noodle meal last night was amazing. The kid can cook:



On the Reading Front:
I read some Les Miserables yesterday, a bit of Friedrich, and finished up They Do It with Mirrors (review to come at some point soon).

The Crafting Report:
Still plugging along with the white rectangles. I need four of them.

What We're Watching:
A couple of West Wings and the first episode of Ms. Marvel, which was fantastic.

>129 scaifea: Glad to hear the tie dye event went smoothly and you didn't come home dyed purple. :P

We were also very happy with the first episode of Ms. Marvel at our house. Can't wait to see what they do with the rest of the season.

I hope everything goes smoothly today and the drive to Indiana is uneventful!

>129 scaifea: I guess I'm happy the tie-dye event went well and you came through unscathed. Not gonna lie, though, I was looking forward to some pictures of the carnage afterward. ;-)

>130 MickyFine: Thanks, Micky!

I feel the same way about Ms. Marvel. That first episode was great!

>131 rosalita: *snork!* Well, my boss has been running a tie dye day event every summer for several years, so she has it all down to a science. It runs like a pretty well-oiled machine. Some of the kiddos came in wearing shirts they'd made in previous years and it was so cute. They really love it.

>133 scaifea: Such fun!

Glad to hear you didn't come home wearing the tye dye! That had great mess potential.

>134 rosalita: The kiddos are a big part of what makes this job so great. Today a 4yo gal nearly chatted my arm off the whole time she and her mom were there. She told me that she and her mom were going to have lunch and then read under the tree in their front yard. "Doesn't that sound lovely?" Yes, Layla, that does sound lovely. And then she ran over to offer me a hug before they left, and then asked, "Can I also give you a kiss on the cheek?" The girl knows about consent and I love it. Definitely my Favorite Patron of the Day.

>135 Helenliz: Well, Charlie and I did some tie dyeing of our own when I got home this afternoon and apparently my glove had a hole in it, so now I have a teal middle finger. I suppose I can now flip people off in style!

>137 scaifea: LOL. Very handy right before a driving trip.

Flip off people in style… *snerk*

*giggles* at the teal middle finger. Micky's not wrong...

Glad tie-dye day was such a success, and that you and Charlie also had some fun with it!

>138 MickyFine: >139 drneutron: >140 bell7: I can possibly insult *and* confuse at the same time! ("Why is her finger TEAL?!")

Charlie and I are off to Indiana this morning, so I probably won't be on the threads until tomorrow evening or possibly Monday. Have a great weekend!

Safe travels, Amber and Charlie!

>137 scaifea: As a fan of irony, you have to know you made my day. 100 little kids in a library with dye kits---no problem. One grown woman and a particularly competent teenaged boy with dye kit---breach resulting in staining of long digit.

>144 katiekrug: Thanks, Katie!

>145 laytonwoman3rd: *snork!* I'm glad my ridiculous mishap amused you, Linda. Stupid glove...

We're back from Indiana, safe but a little exhausted. That drive just isn't as easy as it used to be for me. And it gets harder every time to see my parents getting older and less capable. I'm not sure how much longer they'll be able to stay in their own home, and that kills me.

Anyway. I finished a few books; reviews to come.

67. They Do It with Mirrors by Agatha Christie (Christie bibliography/audiobook) - 8/10
Miss Marple meets up with an old school friend, who asks her to check in on her sister because she's worried that something's just not quite right. Miss Marple agrees and pays a visit to said sister, who is also an old school friend, and who now lives with her third husband at the halfway home he runs for young reforming criminal types. As it turns out, it seems that someone may be trying to poison the sister, and Miss Marple is, of course, on the case.
As usual, Christie gives us lots of red herrings and a myriad of characters and possible motives. And again, as usual, it took me nearly the whole book to suss out the culprit. Thoroughly enjoyable.

>149 scaifea: - Did the mirrors ever show up?

>150 katiekrug: Sort of...but not really.

Welcome home, Amber. Sorry the drive gets harder as your parents are getting older 🙁

68. A Caribbean Mystery by Agatha Christie (Christie bibliography/audiobook) - 8/10
Miss Marple is enjoying a holiday in the Caribbean when the death of a retired military man who was staying at the same hotel strikes her as somewhat suspicious. And then there's a (second) murder and things get even more interesting.
Again, lots of characters, lots of possible murderers, all with their own motives. But Miss Marple sorts it all out, and just in time.

>152 bell7: Thanks, Mary. It's just that time of their lives and mine. I think it's hard for everyone. Lots of difficult decisions coming up, probably.

69. Friedrich by Hans Peter Richter (1001 Children's Books list) - 7/10
The story of two young boys growing up as friends in Germany in the early 1930s. One of them is Jewish, and of course their lives take very different paths.

*sigh* I think my mental and emotional tolerance for Holocaust literature is overtaxed. This was a compelling read, but so stark and bleak. And of course in some ways that's only right, but that's *all* this book offered. No hint that there were people trying to help others escape, no commentary on the bleakness at all. I think that if this were a novel written for adults, I'd not have an issue with it, but as a middle school book it just seems too grim and with no payoff for it.

I’m sorry to hear about your folks, Amber. That’s a tough journey to walk.

>156 lauralkeet: Thanks, Laura. It would be so much easier if they would accept help more easily, but they're still of the mindset that Parents Help Their Children and Not the Other Way Round. *sigh*

>129 scaifea: Oh Wow! Cooking is a great skill to have. Glad Charlie's creations taste good.

>148 scaifea: Sorry to hear about your folks. It's funny that we never think or notice parents getting old until they need more help. I am beginning to see it with mine as well. I always thought that they were ageless ;)

Hope you have a great start to the week.

>153 scaifea: I think this is one of my favourite Miss Marples. Glad to see it was a hit with you.

Hugs for the aging parents concerns. I'm not there yet but I am watching my parents have to deal with it for their parents. It's a challenging road for everyone involved.

>158 figsfromthistle: Charlie's an excellent cook and baker - it's so nice to have someone else take over the kitchen sometimes!

You're right about the ageless thing. It's so hard to watch them get older.

And thanks - I hope you have a great week, too!

>159 MickyFine: The Marple books are all hits with me. I like her better than Poirot, I admit, although I enjoy the Poirot ones, too.

On the Agenda for Today:
I always feel a little off kilter after a weekend trip, so today will be a slow adjustment back to normal, hopefully. I'll be at the library 10-6 and before that I need to run to the vet's office to pick up some Mario meds (just her usual thyroid med refill - nothing serious). Tomato Soup for dinner tonight, I think.

On the Reading Front:
I did some good reading and listening this weekend, including the books reviewed above. I also started listening to A Night to Remember, read a chunk of A Court of Mist and Fury, and started reading Love in Focus.

The Crafting Report:
I now have the for white rectangles I need for the Mystery Project. Next step is to put a border around those...

What We're Watching:
Last night was Tomm's pick, so we watched a couple of Psych episodes and a Modern Family.

Morning, Amber. Sorry to hear about your aging parents. I am sure that is difficult to deal with, especially a long distance away. Good luck with everything.

Hi Amber!

>37 scaifea: Ah, a Superintendent Battle book. I like this character by Christie.

>49 scaifea: I’ve been toying with the idea of trying to learn French. I should return to Spanish – I took it for 7 years in elementary-high school and can still understand a fair amount if it's spoken slowly or I can read it – but the idea of studying French makes me happier. We’ll see. Fish hamburger? Perhaps a fish taco makes more sense. *smile*

>148 scaifea: I’m sorry that you have to see your parents getting older and less capable. I saw it with my parents from a distance – I was in NC and they were in CA. If/when will Charlie be able to drive? Once that happens, perhaps he could help out. I’m reminded of a quote from The Golem and the Jinni. I won’t burden you with it on your thread, but just posted it on my thread in case you'd like to see it. I sent my sister the quote, and she gussied it up and made it memorable.

>153 scaifea: I really liked this one, for itself and because Mr. Rafiel features in the last book of the Miss Marple books, Nemesis.

>163 msf59: Thanks for that, Mark. The distance does add to the guilt on my side - I can't be there to help as much as my siblings.

>164 karenmarie: Morning, Karen!

Battle is only in this one for a tiny bit at the end, but I agree that he's a great character.

If you've had seven years of Spanish, French will come along pretty easily for you, I bet. Give it a go!

I enjoyed The Golem and the Jinni when I read a few years ago!

Ha! I wondered after reading this one if that character had anything to do with Nemesis...

>148 scaifea:, >154 scaifea:, >157 scaifea: **HUGS**

>148 scaifea: Glad you're safely home. Sorry you're worried about your parents.

>149 scaifea:, >153 scaifea: We watched TV versions of those the other night. I always enjoy Christie on film but haven't read many in print.

>167 laytonwoman3rd: Thanks for that, Linda. I'll take all the hugs I can get about this, to be honest. Two of my siblings who live nearby have been great about helping them out as much as my parents will allow them to. I feel guilty about being the Child Who Moved Away and therefore can't help as much as I'd like. I *have* however hit upon a system that seems to be working so far: they refuse to let me send them grocery store gift cards or anything that seems like Help, but I've taken on the role of the child who sends them the fun stuff that they don't really need, and that seems both allowed and appreciated. So far, at least. I signed my mom up for a book box subscription that she's loving, for example, and subscribed to Farm Collector magazine for my dad. And I send them random stuff when I think of something I think they may like. So at least I have that much I can claim as sort of helpful. Groceries and getting to doctor's appointments is important, but joy is important, too.

>168 RebaRelishesReading: Thanks, Reba.

Ha! I'm the opposite: I've read more Christie than I've watched, but I'd like to see more!

>169 scaifea: Joy is definitely important!!

>171 RebaRelishesReading: Thanks for that, Reba!

On the Agenda for Today:
Able Baker Charlie will be in the kitchen this morning making a French Silk Pie and I'll be working in my capacity as sous pastry chef (which these days isn't much of a job since he does pretty much everything - I mostly just sit back and watch him work). This evening, then, he has his second D&D meeting at the library. Last time I stayed and explored the new-to-me branch and then sat and read, which was heavenly. But this time I think I'll go round to the two or three thrift shops that are nearby. We'll pick up Jimmy John's on the way home. And in between the baking and the D&Ding I'll probably do some cleaning (my sewing room needs it badly), some laundry, some writing, and maybe some crocheting.

We had a pretty strong storm go through last night and it knocked our mailbox off its post! So that's on Tomm's agenda today...

On the Reading Front:
I spent my reading time yesterday with A Brief History of Time trying to understand how black holes work. Yeesh. I told Tomm last night that it's silly to argue that you couldn't escape a black hole when clearly all you need to do is tie a rope around your waist before heading in. He...wasn't amused. And then he launched into an argument about how it would need to be a very *special* kind of rope, so listening to that lecture was my nemesis, I suppose. Never poke a physicist unless you're willing to pay the price.
Oh, and I listened to a nice chunk of A Night to Remember, too.

The Crafting Report:
Sorry, nothing to report here for yesterday. I'll try to do something crafty today.

What We're Watching:
My pick last night: Our Flag Means Death!

‘Morning, Amber!

>169 scaifea: I’m the Child Who Moved Away too – first time from 1977 – 1981, then permanently in 1991. My sister had to be the one to be there for our parents and frankly, there’s some mostly-hidden anger that she had all of that burden and all I had to do was play executor for Mom’s will in 2016. Oh well. Most parents want their children to find their own happiness, even if it means moving away. At least mine did. And, you’ve come up with a good solution – giving them joy.

>173 scaifea: I read Hawkings’ book 14 years ago – yikes – and remember not understanding much at all. I also read Tyson’s Astrophysics for People in a Hurry 6 years ago and had a little better grasp on it, but not much.

I didn’t realize Tomm was a physicist. You just had to jerk his chain… well, rope… didn’t you? *smile*

>174 karenmarie: As a first generation college kid, it was difficult for my parents when I moved away. I think they've resigned themselves to it, but I know they wish I were closer. I don't think there's any actual resentment there, though, even with my siblings, so that's good, at least.

Yep, Tomm has a PhD in astrophysics. He's a smarty.

So, a followup question: What, exactly, does Tomm do for a living? Lots of travel again, I do know that.

>176 karenmarie: He now works for a company that creates online career assessment platforms for schools and such. Before that he worked for McGraw Hill, managing their science textbook division. And before that he was a physics professor. He traveled a lot for McGraw Hill to various colleges and universities, and now he occasionally travels to and from the company he works for, since he works from home most of the time and the company is in Iowa.

Joining the discussion-in-progress ... Amber, were both you and Tomm professors at Kenyon, and is that where you met? Or did he teach elsewhere? I'm imagining some kind of You've Got Mail meet-cute, so humor me ...

>178 lauralkeet: *cough*

No, Tomm wasn't a prof at Kenyon. He was, once upon a time, my Latin student...

Nothing untoward, I promise: he was in my beginning Latin class at OSU when he was a freshman and I was a 2nd year grad student TA. We kept in touch after the class was over - I'm still in touch with many of my former students - and then in the fall of his senior year we met for breakfast during the first week of classes, again just as a keeping-in-touch sort of thing. I ordered chocolate chip pancakes with peanut butter on the side instead of butter, and apparently that was the moment he decided he was completely charmed. (I had also complained that the menu called their waffles "Belgium" instead of "Belgian" and that also pushed him over the edge into infatuation, I guess. I'm pretty irresistible when I'm pedantic.) So, he asked me on a date. And I said yes. He showed up to my apartment with flowers, but told me they weren't for me in the normal sense because he'd also brought some liquid nitrogen so we could freeze and shatter them. And that's when I was swept off my feet.

>179 scaifea: I love every single word of this. Thanks Amber!

>179 scaifea: :)

"I guess. I'm pretty irresistible when I'm pedantic." LOL. Aren't we all (the pedants among us, I mean)?!?!

Great story.

You need to bring back the Bonus Question feature and collect people's meet-cutes/first date stories :)

>179 scaifea: The liquid nitrogen to freeze and shatter the flowers is such a hilarious and cute detail! That could be in a movie.

>180 lauralkeet: You're very welcome. I'm glad you like it! I think it's a pretty great meet story, too.

>181 RebaRelishesReading: *BAG*

>182 katiekrug: Being pedantic is always adorable, right?
...
RIGHT?!

>183 katiekrug: YES! I was just thinking that I should ask that question here!

>184 curioussquared: So adorkable of him. I couldn't resist.

>190 scaifea: Tim and I are boring because we met via an app, but we did have our first real more-than-a-peck kiss outside of a chocolate factory. The air smelled heavenly.

We met at the graduation party for a young woman who had been his student and my intern. We were the only two people over 25 and gravitated to each other to talk. A few months later I needed an escort to a business social function and invited him. 15 months to the day after that we were married.

>191 curioussquared: Oooh, I LOVE the chocolate factory story!

>192 RebaRelishesReading: I love it when those to-the-day things happen. So cool!

Well, crap. I don't actually have a meet-cute story to share. We had a cute second date, though (IMO)...

So, after our first date (weekday lunch: in case it was excruciating, I had to leave to get back to work after an hour anyway), he went out of town so we talked on the phone a few times. When he got back, our second date was him taking me to an incredible used bookstore about 45 minutes away that I had mentioned wanting to check out. And on the drive back, he asked if I wanted to get dinner and I was all like "YES!" and he took me to my favorite Indian restaurant (none of my friends or family liked Indian, so I rarely got to go...) and we had a great time and then he asked if I wanted to go see a movie and I was all like "YES!" again because I just wanted to keep being with him. So we went to see Spiderman 3, and he tried to kiss me even before the lights went down and I was all like "NO!" because I didn't want our first kiss to be awkwardly public, so we spent the whole movie wishing it was over, and then he took me home and we had our first kiss. And then I sent him home because I'm a good girl ;-)

This is now known as our Superdate.

70. A Night to Remember by Walter Lord (NEH list) - 8/10
An interesting account of the night the Titanic sank. Lord is no Simon Winchester, but it's still a fairly engaging historical narrative.

>195 katiekrug: Aw, adorable! I love that you kept saying yes because you didn't want the date to end!

Tomm is a typical oblivious scientist type so I had to be increasingly unsubtle over the course of our first several dates to get him to realize that I was interested in not being a good girl...

>197 scaifea: - When we meet (some day!) I'll share the story of our third date, where I, uh, apparently took him by surprise and thus revealed I went to Catholic school for the fine Jesuit education and not the religion. Heh.

>198 katiekrug: *snork!* I LOVE IT.

>179 scaifea: That's brilliant!

>190 scaifea: The first time I met my husband, I hit him. Gently, it wasn't a thump or anything. I thought he'd just been rude about someone, and he hadn't really. Took us 3 months to get together. There were rumours going round about us way before that. So clearly everyone else twigged before we did.

>200 Helenliz: Ha! At first I thought you meant you hit him with your car!!

One of my closest friends and her now husband spent years trying to set me up with Mr. Fine. She first mentioned him to me when I was briefly living in another city and the distance and the fact his daughter was 13 scared me off the idea. A couple years later, I was back to living in the same city and fine with the idea of being set up. Friend and her fiance wanted to put us at the same table at their wedding reception but Mr. Fine foiled this nascent idea when he said he was bringing a date. About eight months after that, Mr. Fine was hanging out with them at the Calgary Fan Expo (comic con) and he mentioned that he was about to break up with his girlfriend. Our friends were delighted and shared they had someone in mind for him. About a month later they hosted a game night for several friends so that we could meet. Two days later we had our first date. We walked around the Edmonton river valley for six hours chatting about everything and then went for dinner. The rest is history. :)

Mike and I only got together after 10 years in the same SF community, having pretty much exhausted all other possibilities. We met while I was dating the club librarian and he was selling books on behalf of the F&SF bookstore and we went through 3 iterations of building new shelving for the library when I became the main club librarian. During the last shelf building binge I'd take the crew to various interesting restaurants, and when I and my then current boyfriend organized a short lived D&D game Mike invited himself in.

Chris and I met the fall of my sophomore year in college. We lived in the same dorm, and we were both on the rebound from relationships the previous year so we were both NOT LOOKING FOR A RELATIONSHIP AT THIS TIME. We each represented our floor in a sort of dorm student government which pretty much just planned social events. A girl on my floor was dating a guy on Chris' floor so she suggested we organize something for our two floors. I was warned by the girls on my floor that Chris was trouble, which naturally piqued my interest. I met with him in his room and he immediately offered me a beer (against the rules in 1981). We ended up planning a hayride which was super fun, and started dating the following weekend.

I’m single so no meet-cute for me, but my parents met when my mum was interviewing for a job and dad was one of the interviewers. And she didn’t get the job. But was later hired by another company in the same building and they met in the cafeteria. Mum decided he was good enough to go for because he had “kind eyes”.

>202 MickyFine: >203 quondame: So you're both in the "took you long enough!" category. Ha!

>204 lauralkeet: Oooh, trouble is always a good sign...

>205 PawsforThought: Aw, I love that story! My parents have a pretty great one, too:

My dad was working at a used car lot at the time they met and he sold my mom a lemon. She brought it back to complain and he quit the job because he didn't know it was a lemon and he was fed up with working for an underhanded deeds sort of guy. He then got a job at a gas station/car repair shop and Mom started taking her car there. He kept asking her out and she kept saying no because he always asked for the date for the same night and her policy was never to say yes if the guy can't think far enough ahead to ask at least a couple of days early. She didn't tell him her reasons for saying no, though, because she thought he should be able to figure that out on his own. Dad decided to ask one more time before giving up, and that time he just happened to ask on a Thursday for a date on Saturday. So, she said yes. They were married within a year; he had two teen daughters and she had two teen sons and a 4yo boy. From all accounts, that new big household (including my mom's mom, who moved in with them too) was...challenging. I came along a few years later as a big surprise.

On the Agenda for Today:
Folks, it's Ew outside with 100% chance of You've Got to Be Kidding Me How Is It THIS HOT?! I loathe summer weather.

Charlie and I are going Father's Day shopping later this morning and then we'll probably have lunch out because why not? I also need to do a bit of cleaning (my office today, which means mostly just some dusting), and I really want to try to get myself to write some, too, because it's been a WHILE. Chef Charliemagne is in charge of dinner tonight; he's making Miner's Pie (a D&D cookbook version of Shepherd's Pie). His French Silk Pie yesterday turned out *so* good. I didn't take a photo because I was too busy drooling.

On the Reading Front:
It was a manga day for me yesterday: I finished the second volume of My Hero Academia and read a nice chunk of Love in Focus. I also started listening to The Member of the Wedding.

The Crafting Report:
I cleaned up my sewing space, which was an absolute mess and it took a long while, so that should count for something, right? I also finished putting a border on the white rectangles:



Two more elements of the project to make...

What We're Watching:
A couple of Modern Family episodes after getting home from Charlie's D&D meeting.

>208 scaifea: Ha, that's a cute story!

Their engagement story is fun too -- no proposals involved. Just mum being out shopping with grandma and spotting a dress she liked (not a "wedding gown", more like a shirt dress) and declaring to dad that "they could get married now cause she'd fond a dress she liked".

>209 scaifea: - Is your crochet project a sandwich of some sort?

Cute story about your parents!

>210 PawsforThought: *snork!* I love that!!

>211 katiekrug: Winner winner chicken dinner!!

*preens*

>214 katiekrug:

>208 scaifea: I had the same policy as your mom, and turned Chris down the first time he asked me out after the hayride. He called on Friday for Friday night and I said no on principle.

>216 lauralkeet: I mean honestly. That's just rude to ask for the same day, like we are just sitting around waiting for them. *eye roll*

71. My Hero Academia Volume 2 by Kouhei Horikoshi (manga) - 9/10
Deku tries to adjust to life in the Hero Course at UA High while also trying to get control of his new quirk. His frenemy, Kacchan, is his usual angry, shouty self, and when the two of them are pitted against each other in a training exercise, things get intense. All of that fades to the background, though, when real live villains invade the school...
I'm loving reading the manga after watching the anime. It's like revisiting old friends.

>217 scaifea: I know right?! Even if that's exactly what I was doing. Ha.

>219 lauralkeet: *snork!* Well, that's beside the point.

Lots of people are familiar with my meet-cute story from my own thread, but here it is: I loathe online dating, but I wasn't having any luck meeting people in the course of my normal (quiet) life, so periodically I would give it a try, until I became disgusted (or freaked out) by it. I had gone on a date that didn't work out with one guy, and was just about to give up on the process again for a while, but there was still this other guy I was talking with. We had been chatting about Shakespeare and theatre and books, and he seemed nice. I figured that the conversation would peter out and then I'd get off the app for a while. Instead, we ended up going on a date at an arboretum about halfway between our respective towns, and it was nice. (It being the middle of the pandemic, we did a lot of outdoor dates involving walking, hiking, picnicking, etc.) So, one date led to another, and now, here we are: getting married in about three months!

>221 foggidawn: How is it possible that you've told your story without even once using the phrase "chainsaw boyfriend"? *tsk*

72. The Member of the Wedding by Carson McCullers (NEH list) - 8/10
Twelve-year-old Frankie is a girl on the brink of moving from the innocence of childhood into the life of adults. She's led a simple and sheltered life so far it seems, but the news of her brother's engagement and approaching wedding brings about a turning point into that transition from girl into womanhood. She's made starkly aware that there is *more* out there and she very keenly feels the desire to be a part of something bigger, better, and more intimate than she's ever known.
I appreciate the qualities of the novel - it's a very well written and unique coming-of-age story - but I didn't...like it. I think, though, that I didn't enjoy it exactly *because* it's so well done: it reminds me too much of that awful, awkward feeling at that age of both wanting so desperately to be an adult but also hating the idea of growing up.

>223 scaifea: On the one hand, I adored The Member of the Wedding. On the other hand, I completely understand why you had reservations about it. It's a real conundrum!

>224 rosalita: I've read other of her work and I feel like that's par for the course with her. She's just a little too good at capturing certain emotions.

Frank and me met at a students association, it was dislike at first sight.
A year later we went out with some friends, and were the last two leaving the place. Frank brought me home, and stayed ever after.

>226 FAMeulstee: Dislike at first sight - ha! I love it!

>223 scaifea: We had to read The Member of the Wedding for English class, and I hated it with a fiery loathing. Other than that, I don't remember it, except that my similar aged self found the viewpoint character extremely cringe-worthy.

>223 scaifea: Hallo :)

I haven't read this one; but I am familiar with the sensation of something being well written, recognizing it, but still not liking it because it captures something unpleasant (that's how I felt about Mill on the Floss. So well written; the actual story makes me want to tear my hair out and yell at someone's awful parents/siblings since I can't scream at Maggie's.)

>228 ArlieS: We had to read The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter in high school and I remember having the same feeling about it as I did this one: I appreciated the writing skills but didn't like the book. I found this one cringey too, but because it reminded me of my own cringey-ness at that age.

>229 Ravenwoodwitch: Yes! I think it's a good distinction to make: you can acknowledge the skill while still disliking the story.

On the Agenda for Today:
This morning I'll do some cleaning (I puttered around yesterday and didn't get my office fully cleaned), do my menu planning and prep my grocery list for tomorrow, and get through a couple loads of laundry before heading to work at 11(-7).

On the Reading Front:
I'm a bit in over my head with library checkouts so I reorganized my rotation and I'll focus on getting through the books I've had out the longest for now until I can get things back under control. So I spent most of my reading time yesterday with A Court of Mist and Fury, read a bit of Love in Focus, and listened to Up from Slavery.

The Crafting Report:
I worked some on the scarf I have on my knitting needles yesterday, mostly because I broke my crochet hook (I crochet HARD, folks) and have to wait until the new one I ordered arrives before I can continue with that project. *sigh*

What We're Watching:
Charlie's pick last night: Fullmetal Alchemist. I also watched a Lucifer episode while having my lunch yesterday.

That's some serious crochet energy, Amber.

And I agree with your take on Carson McCullers. I read The Heart is a Lonely Hunter and it didn't do much for me, although I could appreciate the writing.

>233 lauralkeet: *snork!* Yeah. I'm a badass stitcher. (Or maybe just bad.)

I think McCullers just belongs to a genre that I don't really love. *shrug* I'm glad I have company there.

Morning Amber!

RIP the hook. Was it plastic or wood? I've been using the clover metal ones and they haven't snapped once.
And I feel that, the checkout pile getting overwhelming. Best of luck conquoring the mountain.
(Both the local libraries in my area auto-renew. They enable me.)

>232 scaifea: I haven't broken a crochet hook yet, although mine are all plastic or metal (some of the latter have silicone handles if the hook size is small) so it would take some serious effort. However, I've broken more than one tapestry needle while doing cross-stitch. I had to mooch some off my Mom once but I now just keep a stash in my cross-stitch supplies. :)

I hope the shift goes smoothly!

I've got some serious catching up to do:

1) Never poke a physicist unless you're willing to pay the price. If he ever starts looking for a whiteboard, run...

2) Mrsdrneutron and I knew each other casually - she went to a little college in my home town, I went to a state college in hers. Our first date was a pity date - she went with me to their homecoming game when her roommate accidentally made a date with me and another guy. Our second date was when she invited me to her mom & dad's house for dinner one night just to be nice. Her mom invited me for the weekend. I planted flowers with her mom, I didn't bring my laundry, even though her mom invited me to. I was smitten after the weekend. She took a little convincing, but I was apparently successful.

>235 Ravenwoodwitch: Auto-renew is quite convenient.

>235 Ravenwoodwitch: The hook was bamboo, which I love, but they can be fragile.

Our library both has auto renew and no late fees, plus of course I work there, so I could just override my due dates if I wanted to go power-hungry. But I still feel the pressure of getting them back on time.

>236 MickyFine: The needles I've used for years to weave in the ends on my knitting projects are cheap plastic things that came with my first knitting needle kit. Most of them are pretty bent out of shape, so I invested in some metal ones when I ordered a new hook!

Oh, the shift went something, but I wouldn't exactly call it smooth... (see below)

>237 drneutron: I wondered if you'd respond to the poking a physicist comment! Oh, Tomm made his own 'white' board for his home office, out of bamboo and a special finishing coat. It's pretty cool looking, really, but you're right - I'll start running if he tries to use it in my direction. It came in handy this past school year when he and Charlie had math homework sessions in the evenings, though.

I love your How You Met story! You planted flowers with her mom?! That's adorable!!

>238 ArlieS: It's such a nice system, isn't it?

On the Agenda for Today:
Grocery shopping and a Target run this morning, then some cleaning (I STILL haven't finished cleaning my office, for sobbing out loud), the weekly bill sorting, cookie baking (Speculaas), and then hopefully some reading time. Frozen Friday dinner tonight.

Yesterday at the library was...interesting. Our internet was out. The only offline service our system can do is checking out books, so while the books to be checked back in and shelved (plus the incoming cargo, plus holds that needed to be pulled from the shelves and processed) piled up, the four of us working just had to sit around and watch and wait, knowing that when the internet was restored, we'd be hustling to get caught up. It came back online around 3pm and amazingly we managed to get all the backlog stuff done within two hours! Clearly we are Super Women. Plus, while we were waiting, we all got a nice bit of crocheting done! In the moments when the library was empty, we had a lovely sort of stitch-and-bitch session with lots of hilarity. I love my coworkers.

Favorite Patron of the Day:
One of our older gentlemen regulars (I'd guess that he's in his early 70s) had checked out a movie from our monthly movie display, which this month is based around the theme of Cult Classics. He returned it yesterday, held it up so I could see what it was (John Waters' Pink Flamingos), and said, "This movie is WEIRD..." and my split second thought was that he was about to complain about it somehow, but then he continued, "...are there any more movies by this guy?" And then we proceeded to spend the next 15 minutes looking up Waters' filmography, chatting about the ones I've seen and if I recommend them (I do!), and requesting them for him. He left very excited and happy that there will be more Weird Waters in his near future. There was a fantastic bit of the conversation where I had to explain that Cry-Baby isn't some surreal movie with a grown man in a diaper; by the end we were both laughing so hard we were crying ourselves.

On the Reading Front:
Between the craziness at work, the impromptu librarians' crochet club, and being pretty wiped out when I got home, I didn't find much reading time yesterday. I did, however, finish up Love in Focus before falling asleep last night, and I listened to more Up from Slavery, which I may finish today.

The Crafting Report:
The library crochet session helped me get through the last two elements of The Mystery Project! I just need to weave in the ends:



What We're Watching:
A West Wing and the second episode of Ms. Marvel.

>243 scaifea: - Ah! It's a PB&J sandwich! Cute.

Your day at the library sounds pretty fun.

>244 katiekrug: Yep, you got it!

Altogether, yeah, it was pretty fun. But then again, my job is pretty wonderful every day.

>244 katiekrug: ohhhh! I was with you on your first guess Katie, but was momentarily baffled by >243 scaifea:. Fun project, Amber.

>240 scaifea: Via my craft circle, I discovered needles that have metal bodies but the eye is flexible plastic hoop. It's made a huge difference in my feelings towards weaving in ends (although let's be clear, I still hate doing it).

>243 scaifea: Oh yes, internet down days are always interesting. When I worked public facing ages ago, I had at least one shift where the internet went down and as soon as you announced it the building got a whole lot emptier as everyone who was in to use the computers disappeared. Sounds like you had a great time anyway!

>246 lauralkeet: Ha! Thanks, Laura. I picked it for the practice, mostly, but the bread turned out pretty cool.

>247 MickyFine: I hate weaving ends, too. Gah.

We mostly had kiddos in for a science show, so not too many people disappointed about the wifi and the computers. We did have one regular who was in to use the wifi and to escape the heat (his power was off at home, too), but he just announced that he was going to take a nap in the study room he was using and not to forget him at closing time. *snork!*

>249 scaifea:

Joining in on the weaving in ends hate. >250 MickyFine: is perfect.

>243 scaifea: I completely relate to the library without Internet. I was nodding along at your description (other than the knitting/crocheting, sadly my boss would frown on that). But oh yes, the sudden burst of activity checking everything in when it comes back up!

>250 MickyFine: Exactly, Gollem.

>251 bell7: I have the best boss on the planet. Plus, the patrons love to chat with us about what we're making!

>222 scaifea: *shrugs and grins*

73. Love in Focus by Yoko Nogiri (manga) - 9/10
Mako starts a new life at a boarding school away from home, following her lifelong best friend and living in the same boarding house as he. Her love of photography above all else, though, gets her into some awkward situations, and she finds herself in a bit of love triangle with the BFF and another new student living in the house.
Adorable story and gorgeous art. It's simple and yes, predictable, but none of that takes away from the loveliness of it. Reading it felt like getting a big, beautifully drawn hug.

>250 MickyFine: Yep, that's the feeling. It's tempted me to take up nålebinding which is basically one knot after another seems to hold together just fine if you double up the joins.

>255 scaifea: I struggle to get into manga, but if I ever feel like trying another one, you've made a good case for that one!

>256 quondame: Interesting. Good luck with that!

>257 foggidawn: I think it would be a good way to ease into manga.

On the Agenda for Today:
It's our 18th anniversary today! I'm working, but Tomm's going to bring food to the library where we'll have a romantic-ish lunch in the staff lounge. In the next couple of weeks we'll go out for a somewhat fancier dinner somewhere, too. Hamburgers on the grill for dinner tonight.

On the reading front:
I'm nearing the end of A Court of Mist and Fury; I would have finished it yesterday had I not fallen asleep while reading in the afternoon. But I *did* finish Up from Slavery and started listening to Ethan Frome, and I also started The Only Good Indians.

The Crafting Report:
The PB&J sandwich is finished:





What We're Watching:
As part of our LotR Friday Night Rewatch we started The Two Towers last night.

Happy anniversary, Amber, enjoy your lunch with Tomm!

>261 FAMeulstee: Thanks, Anita!

Happy anniversary!

Your PB&J looks fabulous.

>263 bell7: Thanks, Mary!

Happy Anniversary, Amber & Tomm!

Happy anniversary to the Scaifes!

Your PB&J sandwich is the only one that's ever looked appealing to me — I am not a fan (yes, I'm that sort of picky-eater weirdo). Does the sandwich get stitched together into one piece somehow or is it always separate bits?

>265 katiekrug: Thanks, Katie!

>266 rosalita: Thanks, Julia!

I go through phases of craving PB&J and very much not. So some of the time I totally get not liking them.

They don't get stitched together and I kind of love that. The books has all sorts of foods like that (hamburgers, tacos,...) and maybe someday I'll make up a bunch of them for the library play area...

I like the idea of peanut butter & jam sandwiches, but the reality never quite lives up to the expectation.

The crochet version, however, is delightful.

>260 scaifea: That sandwitch is adorable (but hopefully not your romantic-ish lunch, right? ;) )
Happy Anniversry Amber!

>232 scaifea: You might want to try metal hooks, Amber. I've used my for a lot of non-crochet purposes plus crocheting for years and years and have never had one break. -- now I see you've already done that :)

>250 MickyFine: Where did you find that photo of me?

>269 Helenliz: I think you *really* have to be in the mood for it, and then have the exact ratio of PB to J, and also a tall glass of coldest milk.

And thanks!

>270 Ravenwoodwitch: Thanks! And no, thankfully I didn't have to eat it!

I get a craving for a PB+J about once every three years, and it has to be really high quality peanut butter and a non-grape jam. But I love your crochet one!

>271 RebaRelishesReading: I think part of the problem is that I was using extremely acrylic yarn (just a cheap scrap ball I had lying around, plus my stitches were too tight. Hopefully it won't be a problem very often for me!

Happy Anniversary, you crazy flower-freezin' kids!

I'm way behind, but have really enjoyed the howdja meet stories. Seems like "good girls" and "trouble" are a common theme here. Who am I to break a trend?

My freshman year in college, my roomie was dating a guy whose mother was from India and whose father was British. I thought he was an absolute dreamboat, he had an exotic hyphenated surname, AND he was funny, but, y'know, spoken for. So when he told me I'd like HIS roommate, I thought "why not"? Apparently he sort of told his roommate to meet us in the Student Union Lounge on a weekend night, but was pretty lackadaisical about it. So when Mr. K (later to be known as flamingrabbit) sauntered in, breaking up a pretty intense ping pong match between David and me, it was late and he was a bit tipsy, none of which pleased me at all. (To make matters worse, I recognized him as a guy who often came into my Intro to Bio lecture at the last possible minute, wearing a leather motorcycle jacket, with his long blond hair flopping in his eyes, and making a point of walking all the way down the long aisle to a seat near the front. Can you say "trouble"?) He tried to cosy up, and I wasn't having it; he told me I was "hostile", and that my eyes flashed. I told him I had other things to do, waved good-bye to my roomie and his, and went back to the dorm. Wasn't bothered. Or interested. What did I know? We celebrated our 50th wedding anniversary a month ago.

>276 laytonwoman3rd: Oh, that's a great story! Did your roommate end up with the dreamy guy?

On the Agenda for Today:
A bit of cleaning, laundry, baking (coffee cake for this week's breakfasts), and hopefully a lot of reading time.

On the Reading Front:
I think I may actually be able to finish up A Court of Mist and Fury today, and possibly also Ethan Frome.

The Crafting Report:
I started knitting a tiny firecracker yesterday. We'll see how it goes.

What We're Watching:
Tomm's pick last night: Psych and Modern Family.

>277 scaifea: No, that didn't last very long at all. She married another guy before we graduated, and he turned out to be a mistake. (Interestingly, she told me I was making a big mistake dating Mr. K. So much for her judgment, eh?) David Dreamboat, unfortunately, died a couple years after graduation, a victim of his own recklessness. Very sad.

>279 laytonwoman3rd: Oh no. That's too bad. But yeah, I don't think I would have taken her advice, either!

The new thread is up:

https://www.librarything.com/topic/342426