Joe’s Book Cafe 2024

We’re going to have a very minimalist start to the new year! I’ll add some art and photos as we go along. I just finished Glowrushes by Italian children’s author Roberto Piumini, and liked it a lot. An artist befriends an ill boy who can’t go outside and together they paint the boy’s walls. Beautiful simplicity in the writing, about 125pp. This is one for all ages.

Welcome Back, Joe!

Waiting up here in frigid Token Creek for the traditional January thaw.

Glad to see the cafe open, Joe--just sneaking in line before the mad rush. Hope the proprietor is doing well and no pipes burst due to the cold. I'll take an Earl Grey tea and maybe a scone or two to go with my book.

Welcome back, Joe!

Yay! So glad to see you here, Joe!

Thank goodness. You are important to this group buddy.

Happy new year and welcome back.

We are happy to see you back, Joe! It is definitely a Sweet Thursday, my friend. Looking forward to your artwork and book tallies.

Welcome back, Joe!!

All the YAY! You are back at last, and that makes 2024 a bit better now than it was before.

There you are!!

Welcome back, Joe! Everybody missed you!

Karen O

Joe - don't miss Whisper - Linda's thread with her Review of MARY WHO WROTE FRANKENSTEIN!

Glad to see you !

Happy new year!

I'll have a large, whole milk latte, extra foam, extra hot!

Tip: 💵💵

Good to see you make it back among the 75ers, Joe! We might have starved without the cafe!

Welcome back Joe!

Welcome back Joe! You've been missed around here.

Happy "new" year, Joe :D

Happy New Thread, Happy New Year, Joe!

Joseph_N._Welch_II

No ambiguity there.

Happy new year, Joe! Good to be in the Café again!

Well! It's about time, sir.

So good to have you back, Joe! Welcome!

Happy New Year and new thread! You seem a bit stressed. Can I get you anything? A cafe latte and chocolate scone? Something stronger? Anyway, glad you’re back but do take it easy as you need to.

How nice to see you here at last! Looks like you had a wee bit of trouble with your name this time around. We would all know and love you under any name.

>1 Joseph_N._Welch_II: Happy reading in 2024!

Welcome back, Joe! Happy reading ahead!

Adding to the welcome Joe, you were missed.

^Joe has hit another log-in issue on LT. Hopefully he'll get it squared away this weekend.

How frustrating. Thanks for the update Mark.

OK, bear with me. I had another systemic glitch with LT which Abigail helped me fix. So I’m behind on responses. Here we go.

>2 m.belljackson:. Thanks, Marianne. We’re not expecting a thaw (not a tradition) down here south of you, but I’d appreciate some warmer temps. It’s been polar.

>3 kac522:. Hi, Kathy. I think I’m just too far behind to bring out any food, but feel free to use the cafe kitchen or ask again in a few days. This has been an unusual start to the new year.

>4 drneutron:. Thanks, Jim! I’m almost called on your ingenuity to help me with the sputtering startup to the new cafe. Abigail was very helpful.

>5 EBT1002:. Thank you , Estimable Retiree! I hope we can connect up more now that you’re not being hounded at work.😀

>6 PaulCranswick:. Thanks, Paul. I guess it was in the stars. I got shut out when I transitioned to a new iPhone, and I wasn’t very ept (as opposed to inept) at fixing the problem. Plus Covid after a very fun trip to see Michigan win the Rose Bowl it won the National College Football Championship here a week later - lots of excitement).

>7 msf59:. Thanks, Mark! And thanks for helping me keep my sanity during this weird blackout. Thank goodness we could text and keep up on books together.

>8 lindapanzo:. Thanks, Linda! Stay warm up there above the border (right? Aren’t you in WI?)

>9 richardderus:. Thanks, old friend (I mean, young but wise friend). Kraken be damned, unleash the sarcasm!

>12 m.belljackson: Thanks, Marianne. I loved Mary Who Wrote Frankenstein, and I love WhisperLinda. It may take a while (while I’m catching up) but I’ll visit her thread.

>11 klobrien2:. Thanks, Karen O! And thanks for helping me not mistakenly call you Kathy! I’ll work on being better about that this year.

>10 Berly:. Thanks, Kim! They kicked me out for getting a new phone, and yada, yada, but things seem to be working now. Lovely stars.

>13 figsfromthistle:. Thanks, Anita’. Good to see you, too!

>14 quondame:. Hi, Susan! As I said to someone else, we’re not ready to serve food and drink yet. (I know, what a stumble-filled start to the year). Feel free touse the kitchen, or swing back by in a few days.

>15 Familyhistorian:. Ha! Thanks, Meg. We’ll have the vittles available in a few days. Right now it’s BYE(Bring Your Everything), but we should be organized and serving in a few days. Did you watch The Bear on tv? If so, you know how hard it all is.

>16 SandDune:. Thanks, Rhian!

>17 lauralkeet:. Thanks, Laura! Debbi (walklover) and Mark let me know. I appreciate you patience. The stars had me listed for a late start this year.

>20 foggidawn: Happy New Year, foggi! Great to see you back in the cafe.

>19 karenmarie:. Ha! I won’t bore you with how I got that new user name, Karen, but I didn’t do it. I think LT must’ve picked it up from Facebook. Part of the problem was they did it without telling me! Thank goodness for LT’s Abigail, or I’d still be wandering in the wilderness.

>28 msf59:. Thanks, Katie!😀

>21 kidzdoc:. Ha! You were always a difficult, albeit adorable, man, Darryl. I hope all is well in Philly. Debbi’s in Pittsburgh visiting the grandkiddles and loving it (of course). Becca and I are going to the Bulls game tonight.

>22 ronincats:. Thanks, Roni! How’s life? Where are you located? I’ll try to stop by your thread and catch up.

>23 Storeetllr:. Thanks, Mary! You sre such a simpatico person! A latte would be great, no hurry. Just the sympathy helps. My brain is back, after Covid put it on hiatus.

>24 ffortsa:. Ha! Thank you for the kind words, Judy. And my thanks to you and Jim for the holiday greeting. That was a nice surprise. That new username was foisted upon me when I had to get onto LT via Facebook, and I didn’t know it. I’m back to using the old jnwelch you’re familiar with.

>25 ocgreg34:. Thanks, oc! (Or do you prefer Greg?). I hope you have a great reading year. I’m happy with the start of mine, particularly The Door to Door Bookstore by Carsten Henn, originally recommended by Nancy Quinn, and Glowrushes by Roberto Piumini.

>26 vancouverdeb:. Thanks, Deb! You, too!

>27 Caroline_McElwee:. Thanks, Caroline. I missed being here.

>28 msf59:. Ha! Great to see this, Mark, thanks. You’ve followed the whole tedious odyssey, although the Rose Bowl part was a ton o’ fun. Remind me to be mentally prepared next time I buy a new iPhone. I’m still working on getting my gmail account back.

>29 Caroline_McElwee:. 😀. Agreed, Caroline.

>30 jnwelch:. Yay! I think we’re caught up!

>34 jnwelch: Covid plus connection problems?!? Yikes! Glad you had fun, but not sure any amount of fun is worth getting Covid. I’m glad you’ve recovered, you were missed!

Oof! Modern times woes or what! Covid and connection limbo is a very bad combination. I don't believe in any such thing as the good old days, but really this is too much now!

May you stay connected and avoid future infections!

Hi Joe. I did notice your absence, and I still don't know why you vanished, But you are back now, so all is well.

Hi Joe so good you're back!

Joe, you are indeed an integral part of this group. It is wonderful to visit here and see all the outpouring of love.. I include my feelings as well. You are a stellar person, caring, sympathetic and none can avoid your wonderful toppers and incredible reading list. WELCOME BACK!!!

Glad to see you here Joe!

>32 jnwelch: I was remembering how I kept calling you “John” (I suppose because of the “jn” in your screen name). I forgot about you calling me “Kathy”!

So good to have you back here!

Karen O

>43 klobrien2: It is funny that both made mistakes in names. Somehow we always sort it out. It took me awhile to learn the names of LT members names and what was listed on the heading.

>44 Whisper1: I think that’s why I’ve taken to putting my mark (“Karen O”) on all of my posts around here. Want to make it easy for everyone. And there are a few “Karen”s around LT!

Karen O

Welcome back, Joe!

Welcome back!! Wishing you less computer glitches in the future!!

Joe, I'm glad to see you're back under your original @jnwelch identity. When you appeared under a different name, I noticed you had no books in your library and started to hyperventilate at the prospect of you having to reconstruct all of that. It looks like it's all sorted out now, thank goodness.

>28 msf59:, >31This is what you get for using the damnèd half-bit fruit peoples stuff...not to be unsympathetic or anything....

>37 Storeetllr:. Thanks, Mary! Was it worth the covid? As awful (and scary) as covid is, i have to say yes. It wasn’t just the once in a lifetime ( my lifetime, anyway) chance to see the team I grew up with in an exciting, important bowl game, but the chance to spend 5-6 days with one o my best friends and his family. The 5 hour car ride from SF to Pasadena and the same back was a great chance to have unrushed time to catch up with each other and solve the world’s problems. He knew the whole thing was an effort for me at this stage of life, and appreciated it. In short, it was the right thing to do.

>38 quondame:. Amen to that, Susan, thanks. As I said to Mary, it was worth it, and thank goodness for being vaxxed up the wahzoo and for the ameliorating Paxlovid, which elevated it from truly awful to merely crappy. Then poor Debbi got it, darn it, although we tried to be careful. As she would say about your “no more infections” comment, from your lips to God’s ears.

>39 weird_O:. That’s the essence of it, Bill. I’m back. The rest is mainly old guy crap. If we were sitting on a porch in a couple of rocking chairs I’d share it, but you don’t need it.

>40 mdoris:. Thanks, Mary! It’s good to be back. Sorry about the minimalism, but needs must.

>42 banjo123:. Thanks, Rhonda! Right back atcha. Thanks for stopping by.

>41 Whisper1:. Wow! Thanks so much for the kind words, Linda. As you know, i’m a big fan of you and your thread. Your big heart, love-sharing and graceful handling of your debilitating pain situation is an inspiration to all of us. And I can’t wait to come over to your thread and find out what new books and illustrators you have for us in 2024!

>43 klobrien2:. 😂. Ha! I’d forgotten about “ John, Karen. Regardless of names, we’d know each other anywhere, although I hope we get to meet in person some day. I’m so glad I finagled my way back onto LT and we have these conversations!

>44 Whisper1:. Me, too, Linda. I’m appreciative that we’re all forgiving with each other about occasional slip-ups. It’s a big group of friends we’ve developed here!

>45 klobrien2:. I will not lie, Karen, the “Karen always helps and is appreciated. It’s embarrassing that sometimes I can’t keep “klobrien2” straight in my mind, but I’m still working on it. 😀

>46 jessibud2:. Thanks, Shelley! It’s good to be back and see you posting here!

>47 Berly:. Thanks, Kim. As Debbi would say, “from your lips to God’s ears.” I would love to have fewer computer glitches going forward. I generally find figuring out how to fix them frustrating. I’ve got a bead on how to fix my gmail account, mainly thanks to Debbi, but I still haven’t fixed it.

>48 lauralkeet:. Wow, I hadn’t thought of that part, Laura. Yeah, filling my jnwelch library has been years in the making; recreating that would be onerous. Confession: I’ve been terrible about adding new books since the beginning of last year. I probably should take a day and place them on the imaginary shelves.

>49 richardderus:. Half-bit fruit people stuff? Not sure from what planet this comment emanates, RD.

So good to see you here!

Oh, no! I had no idea that you and Debbi were ill with COVID-19. I'm relieved that the two of you are now doing well.

>53 jnwelch: The logo of a certain very cultish tech company very much of this planet is the source of my comment.

>54 SuziQoregon: Julia?! Thanks! so good to see YOU here!

>55 kidzdoc: Yeah, that nasty, insistent Covid virus finally found me, and ganged up on Debbi a second time. Thank goodness for vaxes and Paxlovid. As she says, if it had found us back in 2020, we probably would've ended up in the hospital on a ventilator. But yes, we're both fine now and noncontagious.

>56 richardderus: Ah, now I twig on it, RD. (Practicing my Canadian). There's a lot of fodder for that kind of criticism. Although the phones are so similar, for example, we can't use our old charge cords on the new ones. They made an extra design change to make sure we had to buy new charge cords. (boo!)
thank goodness the new phones were "free" under our Verizon plan.

Fina turns 4 today! what a little sparklepuss! :-)

>58 jnwelch: Isn't she just! And the eyes are the brightest of bright sparklers!

>50 jnwelch: I’m so glad you got to go and see your friend and your team. I guess you went down I-5, if you did it in 5. I’ve driven from SF to LA on both I-5 and the coastal route often in the past. Great memories. Glad you’re feeling better, and I hope Debbi gets over her bout quickly.

>58 jnwelch: FOUR?!? Already? Didn’t you just post newborn pictures of her the other day? How time flies!

Happy birthday to the beautiful Princess Fina!

>59 quondame:. 😀. I love her eyes, too, Susan. They’re often filled with a bit of mischief.

>60 Storeetllr:. Hi, Mary. Yes, we were on I-5 for most of it. With a son and DIL in LA, he’s no stranger to the trip. Debbi and I have some lingering congestion and coughing, but otherwise we’re both fine. She’s in Pittsburgh, helping Fina celebrate.

>62 jnwelch:. Thanks, Mary. Yes she’s so pleased to be becoming a “big girl”. We’re just enjoying the ride, and you’re right, it’s a fast one.

She has become Princess Fina Ballerina of Strawberry, as she loves to dance and continues to revere that fruit.

>58 jnwelch: Fina is a real cutie, Joe. Happy birthday to the Ballerina of Strawberry. Four years have flown by.

Well, you seem to have started 2024 with a LOT of folderol and HOO-HA, and not of the celebratory kind! Sorry to hear of health and connectivity woes, but it sure is great to see you here, Joe. We'll muddle along without your arts offerings as long as it takes you to get back in the groove.
>58 jnwelch: "Sparklepuss"---that's perfect! Happy Birthday, Fina.

>63 PaulCranswick: Thanks, Paul. She is a cutie, and she’s a treat to spend time with. Debbi’s there now. We’re trying to appreciate every minute of the flying years.

>65 jnwelch:. Thanks,Linda. Yes, this has been an unusual start to the new year. The art will come; I’ve already got an illustrator in mind. I’m keeping track of my reading, and will get that up soon, too. I’m glad I at least got a photo of our sparklepuss birthday girl posted. Thanks for the birthday wishes.

¡Feliz cumpleaños a la bella Fina!

Nice to have you back, Joe!

And happy birthday to Fina - she's adorable!

>66 kidzdoc:. Gracias, amigo. She seemed to have a great time today, and she’s a very happy 4 year old.

>67 bell7:. Thanks, Mary! Appreciate the birthday wishes, and it’s good to hear she’s adorable from someone less biased than me.😀. What a treat it is to follow her adventures.

Hope you and Debbi are over the C in short order and happy, healthy times lie ahead. Fina is a cutie!!

Morning, Joe!

I'll add my Fina adoration to the pile here. What a cutie!

Hi Joe!

>34 jnwelch: Oh my gosh. That’s Very Scary Indeed, for LT to actually change your name based on FB without telling you. I see you’re back to jnwelch. I like consistency, so yay.

>45 klobrien2: There are at least 3 Karens in the 75ers that I can think of offhand – you, me, and @witchyritchy.

>57 jnwelch: Bad Covid. I’m glad you’re both fully recovered.

>58 jnwelch: Wow! I can actually see photos on this thread. I couldn’t the last time I was visiting here, so yay. And, isn’t she a dolly! Four. I can hardly believe it.

Fina Ballerina is FOUR, you say? OMG How is it time does not slow down ever?!?

I am quite gruntled that you are back to your accustomed handle, jnwelch. It was weird when you were that other guy.

Taking my usual place in the cafe over by the comic book spinner rack..

Glad to see you posting again, Joe.

>69 Berly:. Thanks, Kim. There’s some lingering congestion and coughing for both of us, but we’re functioning and feeling A-OK. It’s good to be out of isolation and the mask. Isn’t Fina a cutie? Full of pep, that one.

>70 scaifea:. Morning, Amber! Thanks re Princess Fina Ballerina of Strawberry. Can’t wait to see what her kingdom looks like.

You remind me that it’s time to pick The Iliad back up. From the end of the year to now I’ve been on a relatively easy reading diet, but I’m ready for more sophisticated brain food now.

>71 karenmarie:. Hi Karen!

Yeah, that whole journey with getting shut out and figuring out the way back in was weird. To be fair, Tim Spalding subsequently welcomed me (as a new member!) and told me my username. When I told him all the problems, he connected me to Abigail, which ultimately saved the day.

I’ve tripped over our various Karens and Kathys, for sure. Resolved to do better on that in ‘24. It’s much easier once I meet people in person.

Bad covid! At least I can better empathize with sufferers now. That’s one nasty virus.

I’m glad you can see photos now and enjoy the one of our birthday dolly. She’s been ahead of the game and so ready to be a big girl 4! And she is physically big - in need of new clothes, which we and her parents have happily supplied.

>72 richardderus:. Fina is very energetic, Richard, and as she gets closer to the speed of light, time should slow down.

I love “gruntled”. Like a pig in slop, maybe? Should we start a new company together called “Gruntled and Ept”? We could sell widgets and tweedly-doos. (Yeah, that other user name, after all these years, perturbed me, too).

>73 magicians_nephew:. Ha! The comic book spinner rack is one of my favorite parts of the cafe, Jim. My favorite GN of the year so far is Crude: A Memoir by Pablo Fajardo, recommended by Mark.

I thanked Judy for the surprise holiday card, and thank you, too.

I envy you both your regular theatre-going. We get some good ones here in the heartland, and it’s easier I think for a theater and playwright to take a chance here, but there’s nothing like your city’s scene. Debbi and I are talking about a theatre trip to your backyard soon. I’d particularly like to see Buena Vista Social Club; it’d be hard to miss the target when you start with that music.

Hmm. Is this really Joe, or an AI version of him?

>75 jnwelch: Oh you must let us know when you can come to the Big (unbitten) Apple. I'd like to see Buena Vista too.

We seem to have cut down a wee bit on our theater habit, but I suspect that will pick up as the year goes on. There's so much to see, do, etc., and I even got in some traveling. We are obliged to be in SF on Feb. 29th, but the rest of the travel season is in flux.

And you'd better thank Jim for the card. I'm hopeless about that, but he is excellent.

Imagine, Fina Ballerina and I share a birthday!

>76 kidzdoc:. I think AI would be too smart to say the stupid things I do, Darryl. But if you want to send a grid of book covers and have me pick out the cookbooks, I’m ready.😀

>77 ffortsa:. You share a birthday with Fina?! How great! I’ll let Debbi know.

Yes, we’ll give you a heads-up if we’re coming your way. I always enjoy SF; I hope you have a good time there.

>78 jnwelch: Amen, brother. The same goes for me.

What a delightful birthday girl. Every good wish to Fina.

Glad you are on the mend Joe. What a start to the year. Can’t believe we are two thirds through January already.

>79 kidzdoc:. 😂. What a lifetime we’ve had, Darryl. Now it’s AI? I feel like so many human issues are coming to a head now (climate change, gene editing, AI (what makes humans different), democracy and authoritarianism, a handful of obscenely rich people vs. poverty everywhere, and more). Eesh. That old Chinese curse: May you live in interesting times.

>80 Caroline_McElwee:. We’re definitely on the mend, Caroline, thanks. Yes, what a strange start to the year it’s been. I’m still trying to get myself situated and back in a normal routine. Thank goodness for reading! My current read is the rather charming The Lost Bookshop by Evie Woods, and I’m still catching up on Linda Pastan’s poetry.

P.S. Thank you te Fina’s birthday. Debbi tells me Fina’s a very happy little girl.

>81 jnwelch: Interesting times, indeed...

Ah so glad that you are back and feeling better and the official cafe is open.

singing very off key where ev-er-y-body knows your name, and they're always glad you came

Add me to the list of those that can't believe the adorable Fina is already four!

Happy Birthday, Fina. What a lovely photograph, although she is completely uncapable of taking an unflattering one. I am honored to have met the little princess and she is even more adorable in person. 😁❤️

Happy Monday, Joe!

>83 kidzdoc: May the times be a little less interesting for a while, buddy, and give us a breather! I feel like that's a gift Biden has given us: at least we haven't had the "interesting" Orange Disaster up in our faces every day since Biden took over.

>84 streamsong: Hi, Janet! I join your off-key singing; I, too, love this congenial spot we've all created.

I know, I think we're all going to be agog as this little girl grows up. It's going to be fun! Although I've warned her mom that Princess Headstrong is going to be a lot to handle when she's a teen. :-) From what I now know, her mom was quite a headstrong teen; it's made for a wonderfully strong grown woman, and I hope it's the same for Fina.

>85 msf59: Thanks, Mark. I'm going to put up another photo of the lovely Miss Fina after this. She is even more adorable in person, isn't she? She got to meet lots of good friends like you at the vow renewal.

The Little Books of the LIttle Brontes was an ARC from the publisher. i was happy it avoided being "dumbed down". Publishers Weekly called it, "deeply sensitive",and it manages to be accurate and sufficiently upbeat for children. The little Brontes grew up isolated among the somber, desolate moors and naturally had to create their own entertainment. Hence the titular little books, that they each wrote in tiny print for their toy soldiers to read. I loved the illustrations.



(from the LA Times)

>58 jnwelch: Aw, Fina's so cute, and I am jealous of her dress, which is fabulous.

>89 foggidawn:. Thanks, foggi. Fina’s Mom and Bubbe love to buy her dresses (they’re surprisingly inexpensive for little girls) and Fina loves to wear them. I hope she retains her appetite for the stylish as she grows older.

>87 jnwelch: Heh, headstrong is just applied when someone is persists past your comfort zone. Fina is resolute!

>91 quondame:. Oooh, I love that, Susan. Fina is resolute. You nailed it. And that quality will serve her well when she gets older.

>87 jnwelch: OMG! Love that photo even more. Go Fina!

>93 msf59:😀

>87 jnwelch: What a cutie!! Love the Birthday crown. : )

>88 jnwelch: How amazing this is! Such creativity. And shocked that they have survived the centuries.

>87 jnwelch: *baaaawwww* what a punkin pweshus!

>95 Berly:. Thanks, Kim. I’m pretty sure cutiegirl wore her birthday crown all day.😀

>96 richardderus:. Isn’t that amazing that the Brontes’ little books survived, Richard? What a creative family.

Punkin Pweshus is a happy little girl after a celebration with her friends and a lot of cool presents.

>58 jnwelch: Aww what a cute princess!

Today’s Bargain: Stardust by Neil Gaiman for $1.99 on e-readers. A good ‘un by the author who never lets us down.

>98 figsfromthistle:. 😀. Thanks, Anita.

Aloha, Joe! Fina has grown so much!! And still a cutie, of course.

I hope you are doing well, my friend!

Nice to see the pictures of Fina the Sparklepuss. What a cutie! I hope she had a wonderful birthday.

>58 jnwelch: WOW ! What a beautiful little girl. She looks like someone out of a fairy tale book.

Before I forget, in a combined America-China project, Harvard Medical and Funang(?) University, gene ditors successfully “cured” 5 congenitally deaf children of deafness by altering the gene that was blocking the necessary brain communication. Wow! (It had no effect on a 6th child - they’ll have to figure out why). What amazing medical progress we have ahead of us.

https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2024/01/gene-therapy-breakthrough-allows-...

>87 jnwelch: Happy Belated Birthday to Princess Fina. The years pass too quickly.

Joe, I’m sorry about your Covid and connection issues here. I hope the rest of the year is smooth sailing for you. Happy Reading in 2024!

Rereading Anna Karenina for the Fifth Time

By Linda Pastan

I’m still looking
for the translation where
she says no to Vronsky;

where despite Chekhov,
a dangerous train at the beginning
doesn’t have to mean death by train

at the end. Meanwhile I can
concentrate on Levin and Kitty,
on that happy domesticity

we all surely wish for.
In Russia, the temperatures of passion
and weather are both extreme.

I must wrap
my delicate hands in a muff
to keep out the cold.

I must let my desires
burn safely,
not between the covers

of a carved, four-poster bed,
but between the worn covers
of this book.

Linda Pastan’s reaction to Anna Karenina seems identical to mine, except I couldn’t reread it like she did because Anna always says yes to Vronsky and always ends up under that train. I could happily reread the Levin and Kitty sections, though.

>101 EBT1002:. Aloha, Ellen! Are you in Hawaii? I need to stop by and catch up!

Isn’t Fina something? Debbi just visited them and they all went to some kind of Cirque de Soleil on ice. Debbi says Fina narrated the whole performance! I can just imagine. What a cutie-pie. We’ve told her mother she has to keep Fina’s voice just as is for the rest of her life. We know that would be weird, but we just don’t care.😀

>102 Familyhistorian:. Fina the Sparklepuss had a wonderful birthday.

They took her and her friends to Chucky Cheese. I have vivid memories of loudness and chaos from our kids’ Chucky Cheese days. I’m told it’s better there now. For one thing, they got rid of the ball pit, which caused a lot of the loudness and chaos. She also got a lotta family love and cool presents.

>103 Whisper1:. Ha! Thanks, Linda. She’s Princess Fina Ballerina of Strawberry, although no one’s written the fairy tale book yet. Maybe her talented mom will.

>105 Donna828:. Hi Donna. Thanks for the belated birthday wishes for Fina. And thanks for the sympathy re the start of the year. I hope your smooth sailing hope comes true! I’m very much enjoying my reading so far. I just finished the charming The Lost Bookshop by Evie Woods, which I’m sure Sarah Addison Allen, one of my favorite authors, would approve.

>108 jnwelch: As a kid, I remember loving ball pits, but now that I know a little more about contagious disease transmission, I shudder. I suppose they helped make my immune system what it is today, but . . . ewwww.

>109 foggidawn:. Yeah, I know, foggi. Besides making the kids get too crazy, the ball pits were a great incubator for germ transmission. I don’t know what motivated the change at Chucky Cheese, but I’m glad it happened.

P.S. There are still places with plastic/rubber ball pits (a friend took his sons to one a while ago), but I think most make a point of cleaning and sanitizing the balls because of concerns like yours.

Glad to see you back, Joe!

Lovely Fina! Such a cutie.

Are you starting The Iliad? I am reading it as well, now in book two. Would love to hear your comments.

>111 EllaTim:. Thanks, Ella! It’s good to be back. Isn’t Fina a cutie-pie? We love her to bits.

I’m in Book 13 of The Iliad. I need to get back at it; the traveling and covid disrupted my reading. My reaction has been, Emily Wilson sure makes it exciting and alive. There are other good translations (Fagles, Lombardo), but she sure makes it all fresh.

One of my other books right now is The Paris Bookseller, a fictionalized tale of the life of Sylvia Beach (Shakespeare and Company). Has anyone else read it? I’m really liking it so far.

>113 jnwelch: I've read it recently and it was a 5 stars for me. Enjoy it.
BTW Hi Joe, sending big waves over the pond. 🌊

>110 jnwelch: Year ago I went to the Google offices on 8th Avenue in New York City.

THEY had a ball pit! As well as the usual foosball tables, basketball hoops and other distractions.

Wonder if its still there?

>114 Ameise1:. Great to hear, Ameise. Thanks. I’m sure enjoying The Paris Bookseller so far.

I love hearing from over the pond! Zurich sounds like a great place to live.

>115 magicians_nephew:. Hi, Jim. I think our ex-Google son#1 visited the NY office, so I’ll check with him on the ball pit. I do like the working environment Google creates, as did he.

>116 jnwelch: Joe, I couldn't think of a better place to live than Zürich, but you would probably say the same about Chicago. Where you've put down roots for decades is home, where you feel at ease, isn't it?

>104 jnwelch: Yes, that scientific breakthrough was widely announced in the major media outlets here this week. After a rocky start, gene therapy has become a highly successful modality to treat conditions with a single gene locus, such as sickle cell disease, and studies are being done for patients with cystic fibrosis, hemophilia, and other inherited monogenic conditions.

This reminds me that I want to read Code Breaker: Jennifer Doudna, Gene Editing, and the Future of the Human Race by Walter Isaacson, which concerns the Nobel Prize winning Harvard researcher and the history of gene therapy.

>112 jnwelch: In book 13? You’re way ahead of me! A good translation helps a lot. I’m reading it in dutch, and found a great translation as well. I’m in book 3 and amazed at the cultural differences. All these men gathered to get one woman back. Very weird. Nine years, come on.

>104 jnwelch: So much extraordinary work going on out there, thanks for posting.

>106 jnwelch: Love it. Anna Karenina is still in my future, soonish. I want to reread War and Peace first. I fell in love with those characters watching a dramatisation when I was 12 Joe (a young Anthony Hopkins as Pierre). It took til I was 40 to read the book, I kept falling off 2/3rds through each decade before that. I wonder if I just didn't want to get to the end.

>117 Ameise1:. Well said, Ameise. Do you have non-Zurich folks ask about your weather? I sure get that in Chicago. When i visited California at the turn of the year, they teased me about my returning from their good weather to snowy, windy Chicago.

>118 kidzdoc:. Hey, buddy. I LOVED Code Breaker. A very smart guy telling the story of Jennifer Doudna and the development of gene editing, particularly CRISPR. Read it soon! Great book!

I had read about the exciting possibilities for treating sickle cell disease. Cystic fibrosis! Wouldn’t that also be huge?! This is exciting stuff - that of course comes with the ability to be misused. One concern is the thought of wealthy people using gene editing to “upgrade” their healthy children -smarter, faster, healthier.

So glad to see you are back with us, Joe!

I wasn't much around in the last week, so I had to catch up on 120 messages ;-)
Belated birthdays wishes to Fina!

>119 EllaTim:. Hi, Ella. I’ve been working on The Iliad for a while. Most days I read a few pages. It’s a rich meal!

You’re reading a Dutch translation of Emily Wilson’s English translation of the Greek. Wow, what a world we live in. I’m glad there is a Dutch translation, and it’s a good one! Please keep me posted on what you think.

>120 Caroline_McElwee:. Hiya, Caroline. Isn’t that a cool poem from Linda Pastan about re-reading Anna Karenina? I’m becoming a Pastan fan - her new and selected poems in Almost an Elegy are really good.

I found Anna Karenina a bit frustrating, as you can tell. I know it’s sacrilegious, but I wish he’d written “Kitty and Levin” instead. But War and Peace deserves all the love, doesn’t it. The only things that raised my ire there were the stupid, unnecessary epilogues. War and Peace ain’t a shorty; he could have put the epilogues in a separate publication that I never would have read. ( The commentary i’ve read says they’re unnecessary to the novel (yes!) and the main reason for reading them is so you can debate them with other readers. Who needs that?!)

Anthony Hopkins as Pierre in a dramatization sounds awfully tempting.

One of my professors in college said i reminded her of Pierre from W&P - so of course i had to go out and read the whole thing.

Still not sure i see it

Today’s Bargain: Nettle& Bone by T. Kingfisher for $1.99 on e-readers. A Hugo winner I’ve never read, so I snatched it up. Has anyone here read it?

I also picked up Days at the Morisaki Bookshop for$1.99 today.

>122 FAMeulstee:. Hi, Anita. Kudos to you for thoroughly catching up, and thank you for belated birthday wishes for Princess Fina.

It’s good to be back!

>125 jnwelch:. What an interesting compliment from your professor, Jim. I can imagine you as a young idealist. When I was young, i had a friend tell me I reminded him of Youngblood Hawke (by Herman Wouk), a book I unfortunately never read.

Anyone else here been compared to a literary character?

It’s a long ‘un, but here’s one of mine recently published in Shiuli Journal.

Evening Martinis

Lovely Y-shaped glass
Filled with icy clear liquid.
Half-full, frosted,
Tapering glass pitcher, so
Cool, so healing, so refreshing.

A ritual of preparation, the father
Home from work, mother impatient for
The queen's reward.
Masterfully he mixes gin, vermouth,
A quick stir, then confidently placing the
Sacred vessel before her.

The evening begins.
The king sits kitty-corner at the open counter, the
Young prince sits across, waiting.
The princess near the queen, dreading.
King, queen, pitcher, glass.
All gathered for the sadness.

Her beautiful brain
Slows, dulls, becomes unharmable.
Anger smiles, opportunity wickedly arrives.
The canny snappish slippery thing
Darts forward and flicks,
Looking to strike -
The prince and princess
Immobilized by unstoppable loss
By betrayal, by youth.

The bite pierces deep,
The venom lingers, a sickness of spirit.
Having survived, again and again
Tolerance develops, knowledge recovers.
But somewhere deep
Children never understand,
Never forget.

Daytime, the royal scullery
Empty, all quiet.
Daughter and son watch carefully sideways,
Pour gin into the sink
Then water into the sacred bottle.
Enough to make a difference, maybe,
Not enough to get caught, maybe.
It seems unnoticed.
But that evening the slither
Re-emerges,
Anger still smiles,
Head tilting this way and that.
Sharp red eyes,
Intensely ready, hungry.

When the prince and princess confront the
King, he angers.
Understand, you'll never.
Later they learn of the other
Prince, lost, full term.
The queen's pain, her sadness.
The powerful woman denied
A man's chance, her brothers' chance.

One night, while the
Prince and princess are
Away, the queen stumbles and falls
Among her gathered subjects.
The center of laughter and pity.
Humiliated, she determines to change.
Some new evening it begins
A single short squat glass of
Shimmery orange brown liquid,
A sliver of lemon,
Small blocks of ice,
Shifting cut glass diamonds of
Yellowish light.
Less potent, less dangerous.

The darkness subdues, but it is
Still there, hidden.
No lovely Y-shape, no icy clear liquid.
Older, slower, resigned.

Still, it winds the
Paths, searching, searching.
The queen misses her companion.
Somewhere far inside
She fiercely loves its
Truth to death.

Happy Sunday, Joe! And congrats on getting published.

>126 jnwelch: Back in my working days, since my name is Kathy, I had several people tell me that I reminded them of Cathy from the "Cathy" comic strip. That's about as literary as I get, I guess 😏

>127 jnwelch: Biting! Congratulations on getting published!

>128 kac522:. Happy Sunday, Kathy! And thank you for my getting published. Credit goes to our daughter Becca, who has been submitting my stuff and Debbi’s.

Ha! We used to read Cathy religiously. What a fun comparison!

>129 quondame: Ha! Good word for it, Susan. Oof, it resonated with my sister (the princess).

Congrats on the poem publication! It's a powerful piece.

>130 jnwelch: I'm ever so glad I was born into the waning years of evening cocktails in my family. Not that it was a peaceful home, and the prince and princess required that the two commoners' lives be dedicated to watchfulness and or absence.

Congrats! Quite a piece.

>131 banjo123:. Thanks, Rhonda! This one still gets me. Someone else performed it for me at a gathering today.

>132 quondame:. My sympathy, Susan. I suspect evening cocktails messed up many a family. I can’t imagine what takes their place today.

>133 drneutron:. Thanks, Dr. Jim!

>108 jnwelch: A belated response: yes, P and I are on Kauai. I retired (hooray!) in December and we are here for a little more than three weeks. Talk about deep relaxation.... *smile*

>127 jnwelch: That is a wonderful, painful poem. Congratulations on its publication!!

>127 jnwelch: Fine piece Joe, congratulations on publication.

>136 Caroline_McElwee:. Thanks, Caroline.

>135 EBT1002:. Oh, I’m glad, Ellen. Some well-deserved relaxation. Three weeks! So great. Something you couldn’t have dreamed of before retirement.

My sister is somewhere near you - I’m not sure which island. Looks so beautiful there.

Thanks re the wonderful, painful poem. Woo, it still gets to me.

>125 jnwelch: Oh, I loved Nettle and Bone! It was one of my top books of the year in 2022. Hope you enjoy it!

Ah, dear Joe, I finally found you!

Only to discover that you and Debbi had been waylaid by the dreadful C!
I hope you are both breathing easier now, cozy and warm in your house surrounded by books and photos of the lovely Fina and her handsome brother.

“Evening Martinis” is a searingly wonderful poem. Left a lump in my throat.

I finally have some time to myself and am catching up on the threads. It is good to see you back.

Joe - Another great poem published - Congratulations!

>127 jnwelch: Congratulations on the publication of your lovely poem!

>139 foggidawn:. Good to hear, foggi, thanks! I may move it up in the rotation.

>140 NarratorLady:. Hi, Anne. Calloo, callay! I’m glad you found me, and dove into the poem’s depths. Happy New Year! Are you traveling, or at home?

We are breathing easier, thanks, home among the books and pics of the granddiddlies. Fina turned four, can you believe it?

>141 benitastrnad:. Hi, Benita. I’m glad you have some time to yourself, to catch your breath after the holidays.

It’s good to be back, and good to see you here.

>142 m.belljackson:. Thanks, Marianne!

>143 Whisper1:. Thanks, Linda!

Morning, Joe!

I've been reading through this year's Caldecott winners and I think you would love one of the Honor Books, Jovita Wore Pants. A neat (historical) story well told, and, of course, the illustrations are gorgeous.

>144 jnwelch: Not traveling yet, but scheduled to hit the road next week to babysit our granddiddlies for a few days, aged 9 and 5 1/2. As astonished as you are that they are growing so fast and so beautifully.

I just finished the very spare Foster last week and recommend it. The Irish author, Claire Keegan, was new to me but her work seems to be popping up everywhere. I think she might resonate particularly with those who have the soul of a poet ….

>145 scaifea:. Morning, Amber!

Thanks for the nudge. I’ll go look for Jovita Wore Pants. I was just thinking of you - I just finished Heartstoppers 5 in a GN series I remember you liked, and it’s another good one, as Nick and Charlie’s relationship evolves and Nick picks out a college.

FYI, i’m in Book 15 of The Iliad, and Agamemnon continues to look like a chump.

>1 Joseph_N._Welch_II: Welcome back, Joe! I am not even going to try and catch up (I am still trying to catch up after being gone for 10 days), but wanted to swing by when I saw you posting.

I have added Glowrushes to the BlackHole. Too bad my local library does not have a copy.

>146 NarratorLady:. Babysitting the grandlittles! I know you’ll enjoy that. Good ages. - they don’t know everything yet.😀

Foster looks mighty fine, thanks. Yes, I’m seeing Claire Keegan’s name all over the place. It’ll be good to finally read one of hers.

>148 alcottacre:. Thanks, Stasia! I’m so glad Glowrushes is glowing somewhere in the black hole. It seems to be a little known gem.

>147 jnwelch: Oh! Charlie got first dibs at volume 5 and he just handed it over to my yesterday, so I haven't read it yet, but I'm excited. Have you read Nick and Charlie?

Ooof, yeah, that Agamemnon. What a turd.

>151 scaifea:. Good! I haven’t read Nick and Charlie, but I bet Becca has.

P.S. 😂. Ha! The Turd King!

>127 jnwelch: I really like "Evening Martinis". A lot to chew on there. Is this a recent work? What was the inspiration?

Happy Wednesday, Joe. I brought a nasty virus back with me from Louisville so I have been dealing with that for the last few days and still can't shake it. Fortunately, it isn't preventing me from reading. I am getting ready to start The Bee Sting. My 2024 is off to a good start.

>153 msf59: I’m glad you really like the poem, Mark. As I’m always tweaking, you’d be hardpressed to find one of mine that isn’t recent. But lovely Becca has been submitting that one for a while now. It’s based on a family situation.

>154 msf59:. My sympathy re the nasty virus, Mark. I hope it leaves you alone soon. Happy Wednesday, buddy.

The Bee Sting sounds like a corker. I’m looking forward to hearing your reactions to it.

>125 jnwelch: Thanks for the heads up on Nettle & Bone. I haven't read it, but it's been on my TBR for awhile and figured just under $2 was well worth it.

>127 jnwelch: Congratulations on your recent publication!

>156 bell7:. Oh, glad to hear it, Mary. It brings sunshine to my heart when someone takes advantage of a Today’s Bargain. I’m looking forward to reading that one.

Thanks re the recent poem publication! Becca gets some credit, as our ace submitter.

Congratulations to you and Becca, Joe! She's the best.

Today’s Bargain: The Warmth of Other Suns by Isabel Wilkerson for $1.99 on e-readers. Great book about African-American migration north; its size makes it a good choice for e-readers.

>158 kidzdoc:. Thanks, Darryl! Becca is the best, isn’t she.

>160 jnwelch: Absolutely!

>159 jnwelch: I saw that The Warmth of Other Sons was on sale, and I’ve not read it, and thought I should get it, then thought “but I have so many books to read already!” And I went on to the next thing. But your point brings out the eminently valid point that huge books are much more easily read on an e-reader. So now I’m off to get my copy. Thanks!

Karen O

>161 kidzdoc:. 😀

>162 klobrien2:. Wunderbar, Karen. It’s such a good book, as is her Caste, and it’s a bit of a whopper, well-suited to e-readers. I’ m glad you took advantage.

Congrats on the published poem! Yes, sometimes there's some darkness in the Y-shaped glass.

>164 Berly:. Thanks, Kim! There was some darkness in this one, that’s for sure.

Of course, my mind immediately went to a Bruce song, and I thought, “there’s also a darkness at the edge of town”.😀

: )

The Big Book of Classic Fantasy edited by Ann and Jeff Vandermeer for $1.99 on e-readers. I read a lot of fantasy as a young guy, and this sounds like an excellent collection.

“I will not propose to you that my way is best. The decision is up to you. If you find some point which may be suitable to you, then you can carry out experiments for yourself. If you find that it is of no use, then you can discard it.”

Dalai Lama

This is one of the things I like most about Buddhism - the opposite of proselytizing. I do think the Buddha would say his is the best way, but he also would urge you to judge it yourself.

>167 jnwelch: Ha! I got a copy of this after I read my Bookbub email! The collection sounds really good. I thank you again for pointing me in the direction of Bookbub, and for your regular “heads up”!

Karen O

Congratulations on the publication of Evening Martinis, Joe. Poetry is a handy way to convey the emotion of a situation if one has that gift of words.

>1 Joseph_N._Welch_II: >150 jnwelch: I commented on Debbi's thread about Glowrushes, Joe, only to realise now it is on your thread too. I recognised the story, and am so glad it is now available in English translation!

>169 klobrien2:. So cool, Karen. I’m glad my heads-up was helpful, and particularly glad you picked up this classic fantasy volume. The collection looks outstanding. You’re welcome!

>170 Familyhistorian:. Thanks, Meg. Yes, poetry can encapsulate in a few words some big emotions and important thoughts. I tell Mark it’s like short stories: you’re going to like some more than others, and likewise you’re going to be drawn more to some poets than others.

>171 FAMeulstee:. I’m happy to hear that, Anita! We both think Glowrushes is a special book that we will give to others. Did you read it in Dutch or Italian? I can imagine it being even more beautiful in its original Italian. I hope over time it becomes better known on this side of the pond.

Today’s Bargain: I Have Some Questions For You by Rebecca Makkai for $1.99 on Kindle via Goodreads. Holy Smokes! I sure didn’t see this bargain coming! It’s my next read in hardcover, after Paris Bookseller.. Lots of raves.

>172 jnwelch: I read it in Dutch, Joe, back in 2018. The Dutch translation was published in 1994, 30 years ago!

>174 FAMeulstee:. Oh my, Anita. I had no idea Goldrushes was that old. What a lovely story.

Hallo Joe, how art thou today?

Hallo, Lily. I’m reading a fantasy book right now, Nettle and Bone, and “how art thou today” fits right in. I’m arting and thou-ing just fine thanks. I just went to get my blood drawn for testing ahead of my yearly physical. I’m pleased to still be walking the earth - and reading - and the bits of chipping away from aging are no biggie. I hope things are going okay for you.

Did you see the Grammies last night? I loved Tracy Chapman and Luke Combs who were terrific together, and Billie Eilish and her bro, too. As Trevor Noah pointed out, it was an amazing night for women artists. I’m sure they’re not the only ones, but I think the Eilish siblings are geniuses. And their parents were there!

>178 jnwelch: I didnt watch the grammies but i love Billie Eilish. And basically art thou means are you so i basically said how are you in Shakespearean English.

>179 Owltherian:. I share your love for Billie Eilish - how wonderful that she has come along! She is still so young. She wrote “ocean Eyes” at age 14! So many young ‘uns writing good music for us these days. Miley Cyrus and Olivia Rodrigo were outstanding, too. And Joni Michell, so classy at 80. Bless Brandi Carlisle, who is a loyal, reverent friend to her.

>180 jnwelch: Yeah, i really like her song 'Wish you were gay'

>181 Owltherian:. Ah yes, to explain his lack of interest in her, to help her get away. She’s a clever lyricist.

I guess my current favorite of hers is Lovely (Welcome Home): https://youtu.be/V1Pl8CzNzCw?si=8ThfjbpcG9PWruPu

P.S. Her song for the Barbie movie, What Was I Made For, won Song of the Year. I saw Greta Gerwig talk about how thrilled she was when Phineas and Billie first played it for her.

In a different interview, I saw Billie Eilish talk about how she tries to compose songs that don’t sound like each other. She’s been remarkably successful at that.

>182 jnwelch: I like Lovely as well. Any LGBTQ+ song i like a lot, since I'm nonbinary and a lesbian.

>182 jnwelch:. Gotcha, Lily, thanks. Identity understanding is so much better now. A family member is asexual and aromantic - a hard one for their friends to understand. I’m learning all the time - demisexual is the newest one for me. Has anyone tried to graphicize (word?) the possibilities? It feels a bit like a spectrum, but different. I’m plain old vanilla hetero, which isn’t half as interesting, I suppose, but has been a whole lot easier growing up I’m sure.

>184 jnwelch: Yeah. A lot of people think its bad for people to be in the LGBTQ+ but that's not actually true, the bible doesn't say anything against it. I bet its been easier, coming out to my parents was hard but they accepted me, although my grandparents on my moms side are VERY transphobic

>185 Owltherian:. Oh, Lily, for so many , the older they are, the harder it is to for them to handle change and differences from what they’re used to. With some beautiful exceptions.

I’m from the “the more diverse the better” school. (I was just talking with an old African-American friend about school desegregation in our “liberal” college home town, in the sixties, last century. White people who talked a good game but didn’t want anything changing in their neighborhood or local school. We still get a lot of the same garbage today.

In my mind, LBGBTQ+ is just more (welcome) diversity. When reading fiction or NF from/about earlier eras, one has to imagine that many of the identified people were unhappily living lives not their own. Many people I grew up with had to be like that, and some have come out later in life. There certainly seems to be more understanding now, and I think it’s easier to find your “tribe”, at least in big cities.

Good for your parents! I’ll bet that was hard. But as i’m sure they concluded, love is love, and if their child is a good-hearted person, that’s what really matters. Maybe they’ll be able to bring those moms’ side grandparents around. Life’s too short, and tough, to hang onto these learned phobias. Little kids don’t make these stupid distinctions, they learn them. Our 6and 4 year old grandkids have an apparently trans friend (born as a boy but wearing dresses and identifying as female) and it’s no big deal. The main questions are, are they a jerk and are they fun to play with. We’ve learned to apply similar criteria at the adult level.

I’m not a Bible guy (I’m your resident Buddhist) but I often wonder whether its tales of old do more harm than good. The divisiveness on our planet is staggering. I’d love to see a study of how many Evangelicals actually have read the Bible, and how many even give lip service to what Jesus actually taught (e.g. respect the poor, and try to help them).

>186 jnwelch: There way a typo and it was supposed to say "Man don't sleep with boy as man sleep with woman" but they said "Man don't sleep with man as man sleep with woman" or something like that, which was supposed to say things about Pedophelia instead of LGBTQ. I honestly wish people were so much nicer to people in the LGBTQ instead of just being Homophobic, its so much easier to be nice.

>187 Owltherian:. Yes, kindness should be the prime directive on Planet Earth. I wish people generally were nicer to the LGBTQ, too. I think the quote you’re referring to is in Leviticus? That one has probably caused more harm than any other. There’s a great scene in West Wing involving that, with the President responding beautifully to a Bible-citing reporter. I’ll try to find it. Here you go: https://youtu.be/DSXJzybEeJM?si=_taHGtuIEcS4c_Tj My wife’s favorite scene.

P.S. please let me know if you’d rather I call you Owl or something other than Lily.

>188 jnwelch: Lily is totally fine, its my name after all.

>189 Owltherian:. 😀. Good, will do, Lily. Thank you for all the thought-provoking comments.

>190 jnwelch: Your welcome!

>191 Owltherian:. 😀

Appreciating the kindness conversation.

>188 jnwelch: That is a magnificent scene, indeed. Debbi has good taste...but we knew that.

Have a lovely Tuesday, Joe.

Hallo again Joe, how art thou today?

>159 jnwelch: I am finally going to get that one read this year! I have the hard copy of it though :)

Could I get a cuppa from the cafe this morning?

Today’s Bargain: Matrix by Lauren Goff for $1.99 on e-readers. NBA Finalist, Best Book of ‘22 for the NY Times, the LA Times and a slew of others. A strong, unusual woman ascends to lead an abbey and shrewdly protects it from the winds of politics. I loved this one.

>197 jnwelch: - I also loved Matrix, Joe. A surprisingly (at least to me) compelling read.

>193 EBT1002:. Thanks, Ellen. Kindness is something we can all do to improve the world around us, right? Giving money to charity is fine, and needed, but collective one on one kindness can be a game changer. And it makes our own lives better as well. Jesse (who you met) and Becca are both kind people, and that’s what I treasure most as a parent.

>194 richardderus:. Isn’t that a magnificent scene, Richard? Keenly discerning Debbi reminded me that Martin Sheen as the President originally wasn’t meant to be a prominent character on the show; Sheen was just so good.

I hope you have a lovely Tuesday, too, my friend.

>195 Owltherian:. Hallo again, Lily. I’m enjoying life to a fare thee well, thanks, and I hope you’re having a lovely one today.

>196 alcottacre:. Hi, Stasia. I had to switch to my PC. If I remember correctly, you're a tea quaffologist. Hope this suits as your cuppa. I raise my coffee cup to your health.

>200 jnwelch: So far i have cried once already due to having bad grades and not finishing an assignment that is worth 120 formal assessment points so i have an F in that class so lets see, my day is going quite bad.

>201 Owltherian: Yikes! I'm sorry to hear that, Lily. That would drop my heart into my stomach, too. If it were me, I'd go out and do something nice for myself - in my case, probably a coffee and a pastry. Life on our planet can be so darn tough; I'm sorry that you're having a rough time of it.

>202 jnwelch: Yeah, we even have conferences tomorrow and i already know ny dad is probably going to scream at me for it unless he just tells me what i need to get done.

. Another bargain today: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson for $1.99 on e-readers. Liz Salander is one of my favorite characters ever; this is the first in a virtually unputdownable trilogy.

>198 katiekrug:. Hi, Katie. Yes, the compelling-ness of Groff’s Matrix surprised me, too. It was all the raves that got me to try it. Have you read another by her you’d recommend?

>205 jnwelch: - Nope, that's the only Groff I've read. I've seen good things about her latest on the threads, though. The Vaster Wilds...

>205 jnwelch:. Thanks, Katie, I’ll take a look at that one.

>203 Owltherian:. Jeez, Lily, I hope your dad goes easy on you. You’re in that difficult time period when parents still have a say, and a sway. It won’t always be that way.

>207 jnwelch: Yeah i hope so, he never is easy with F's especially when i have 3 of them. Although i am working on getting two of them up. The last one I'm really stressing about because its in Computer Graphics Design and everybody is done with it while i messed it up and can barely ever work on it.

eschatology

Eve L. Ewing

i’m confident that the absolute dregs of possibility for this society,
the sugary coffee mound at the bottom of this cup,
our last best hope that when our little bit of assigned plasma implodes
it won’t go down as a green mark in the cosmic ledger,
lies in the moment when you say hello to a bus driver
and they say it back—

when someone holds the door open for you
and you do a little jog to meet them where they are—

walking my dog, i used to see this older man
and whenever I said good morning,
he replied ‘GREAT morning’—

in fact, all the creative ways our people greet each other
may be the icing on this flaming trash cake hurtling through the ether.

when the clerk says how are you
and i say ‘i’m blessed and highly favored’

i mean my toes have met sand, and wiggled in it, a lot.
i mean i have laughed until i choked and a friend slapped my back.
i mean my niece wrote me a note: ‘you are so smart + intellajet’

i mean when we do go careening into the sun,

i’ll miss crossing guards ushering the grown folks too, like ducklings
and the lifeguards at the community pool and
men who yelled out the window that they’d fix the dent in my car,
right now! it’d just take a second—

and actually everyone who tried to keep me alive, keep me afloat,
and if not unblemished, suitably repaired.

but I won’t feel too sad about it,
becoming a star

*****

Eve E. Is a talented poet who has also written social treatises (Ghosts in the Schoolyard)and comic books (Ironheart). Intellajet: yup.

>205 jnwelch: I read Fates and Furies by Ms Groff 7 years ago, Joe. (Yeah, you were asking Katie, but...) I wasn't keeping track of ratings at that time, so I dunno. I remember it as intense. Oh, and sex. A couple of years later, I got a copy of Arcadia but haven't read it. Yet.

Nice to have you posting again. Hope you all are feeling reinvigorated. I recall seeing a shot of Finna quite recently, but none of Rafa.

>209 jnwelch:. Ha! Good point re Rafa, Bill. I’ll take a look. He’s become quite the little man, and is starting to read. He just had a violin recital and played really well. Both of them are so composed on stage; their parents are slam poets and also very comfortable on stage.

I’ll take a look at Fates and Furies, too, thanks. She’s such a good writer; I probably can’t mis-step.

>208 Owltherian:. Good luck, Lily. You may want to talk to someone neutral (ideally, a therapist). School isn’t meant to be such a struggle. I did that once when I was in college; my parents (particularly my dad) were driving me crazy. I needed to vent, and I needed someone uninvolved to help me sort through it.

>212 jnwelch: I've had 6 therapists in all, basically all of them were bad.

>213 Owltherian:. Crap. I’m sad to hear that, Lily. A good therapist can really help, particularly when someone is as verbally adept and introspective as you are. I wouldn’t give up on finding a good one, but I’m sure it’s been discouraging so far.

Do you ever write or otherwise create for pleasure? That’s certainly helped me work through knots in the past. See, e.g. my “Evening Martinis” up in >127 jnwelch:.

>214 jnwelch: Yeah, hopefully the 7th one is good. I just want my 4+ years of trauma to not have happened because it sucks to remember.

>215 Owltherian:. I’ll bet it sucks, Lily. Man, that’s a long time to experience trauma. Cut yourself a lot of slack when it comes to life’s difficulties, Lily. You’re a hero for hanging in there like you have.

>216 jnwelch: Yeah, about to be in history. Gonna learn about Hitler and how he came to rule, which i find interesting.

>217 Owltherian:. Yes, that time period is fascinating and scary. My wife and kids are Jewish, and I think about it all the time. Amazingly (to me, anyway) antisemitism is still a big problem all these years later. As is authoritarianism. Hence the Orange Disaster here in our country.

>218 jnwelch: I apparently cant spell a country near Germany that they took over that is not Austria

>209 jnwelch: I loved that poem today, and posted it on my thread, too! I'll have to look up more from her.

Karen O

>219 Owltherian:. Belgium? Czechoslovakia?

>220 klobrien2:. Oh good, Karen. Yes, that is a most excellent poem, and she is worth looking up.

>221 jnwelch: Czechoslovakia. Its hard to spell T-T

>222 Owltherian:. 😀

>209 jnwelch: Going from small daily courtesies to eschatology takes some imagination, especially with the inclusion of stellar time spans.

>223 jnwelch: Why are some countries so hard to say and spell?

Hi, Joe. Just checking in. How is everything going, bud? Everyone healthy?

Good Ewing poem!

Looks like Owl/Lily has made quite a splash in the group.

>224 quondame:. Ha! Ain’t that the truth, Susan. That’s a poet for you. Unexpected connections and huge leaps of imagination. 😀

>225 Owltherian:. Ha! At least this one split into two, Lily. The Czech Republic and Slovakia are easier names to handle separately than squashed together.

>226 msf59:. Hey, buddy. We are getting healthy again, thank goodness. Poor Debbi gets an unfair deal. She’s a virally-induced asthmatic, and Covid of course is the worst virus around. So she’s been in an extended coughing asthma episode that she’s just getting over. But at least the timing is good. We’re off to LA next week for 10 days to visit family.

Yes, Lily’s been an active, interesting LTer. It’s always fun to get new folks.

I’m glad you liked the Ewing poem. She’s a local; went to UChicago.

>227 jnwelch: Yeah, both of those are way easier to spell. We also learned Evolution in Biology and i kinda wanna live in Gondwanaland.

>228 Owltherian:. Isn’t that all fascinating, Lily? All the continents originally were stuck together (Pangea) and then began breaking up from magma pushing up from underneath. I can see why you’d pick lush, tropical Gondwanaland. It sure sounds pretty great on a cold February day in Chicago.

>229 jnwelch: Yeah, i also like the name. Alsooo how are youuu?

>227 jnwelch: LA, huh. I hope the waters have receded by the time you get there. They've been hit very hard by this atmospheric river. It's too much to hope that it all goes into the aquafor.

Today’s Bargain: A Moveable Feast The Restored Edition by Ernest Hemingway for $1.99 on e-readers.. His memoir of Paris in the 1920s (after WWI), where many famous writers and artists gathered.

>231 ffortsa:. Right, Judy. They’re in a deluge from the atmospheric river. Our family members are A-OK, and it’s supposed to be over before we get there. As you know, LA is built in the desert, so this should be interesting.

>230 Owltherian:. All is well, Lily. We’re about to start our every other day workout. For old folks like me, “motion is lotion”, as our trainer likes to say.

Haha, that's funny. My grandpa always says he's 72 years young although I'm not really sure what it means.

>234 Owltherian:. 😀. A tip of the hat to your grandpa.

>235 jnwelch: Yep.

Visiting the Colombian branch of the family plus friends (Rafa and Fina in the front).

Four generations

Hi Joe!

Rafa

>239 Owltherian: Hi, Lily! Bill (weird_o) had asked for a photo of Rafa, and it seemed like a good time to also post the others. Rafa and Fina are our grandkids; our son Jesse and his wife Adriana are their parents.

>241 jnwelch: Thats cool! I think its quite annoying that my school sadly blocked the pictures, i am also working on getting my grades up so i will probably be not as active

>242 Owltherian:. Sounds good, Lily. No worries. We’re here when you have time. Good luck to you getting those grades up.

>243 jnwelch: I'll try.

Great photos Joe. What a family on that side.

>244 Owltherian:. 👍🌝. Go get ‘em, Lily!

>245 Caroline_McElwee:. Thanks, Caroline. They all were so kind to us. The matriarch in the lower right of the 4 gens photo is so strong and wonderful. 96? Something like that.

>246 jnwelch: I got my F in biology up to a C! I'm getting closer to all goodish grades!

>246 jnwelch:. Way to go, Lily! Applauding your tenacity.👏👏

Today’s Bargain: The Last Chance Library by Freya Sampson for $1.99 on e-readers. A satisfying winter comfort read for book nerds like me.

Hi Joe! (It is still Joe, isn't it?) I lost you towards the end of last year and I'm off to a slow start on the threads this year. I'm surprised the Café is still in its original spot at this point in the year, and I'm just skimming through the thread. I missed most of the photos except the last ones with Adriana's family. Wow, the grandkids are growing fast! Rafa, especially, seems to have changed since I last managed to see a photo. Sorry to hear you and Debbi both went down with covid; hope you've both recovered by now.

>250 humouress:. Hi Nina! Did I get that right? Nice indeed to see you here. I’m glad you found us! The cafe actually had some stumbles and sputters getting open this year, as my getting a new iPhone apparently closed the LT gates to me for a while.

Rafa’s a little man these days, coming up on his 6th birthday. Starting to read, very composed at a recent violin recital.

We’ve recovered from Covid, thanks, and Debbi’s past her virus- induced asthma. We’re in good shape and heading out to post-rain LA on Monday. Hope you’re setting up for a good weekend.

>251 jnwelch: Oh good; we're both still who we used to be.

At least I didn't have to chase the café around this time, despite my late start. Glad you're both better. Enjoy your trip. This weekend is a long weekend because of Chinese New Year. My youngest is grumbling because we usually get two public holidays for CNY but this year it falls across the weekend so (policy being that, since some companies work on Saturdays, it counts as a holiday).

Today’s Bargains: Shoeless Joe by W.P. Kinsella and The Book Woman’s Daughter by Kim Michelle Richardson, each for $1.99 on e- readers. The first is the well-written inspiration for the movie Field of Dreams, and the second is a worthy follow-up to the fascinating Book Woman of Troublesome Creek.

>252 humouress:. Hi, Nina! Thank goodness we’re both who we used to be!

Jeez, I’m with your youngest. “Some people work on Saturdays.” What a bogus reason for calling it a holiday. I used to treasure days off when I was a young ‘un, and I still get a vicarious uplift as a retiree. In fact, I may take today off in solidarity with your youngest- and Monday. Happy Chinese New Year!

>254 jnwelch: So you'll be on holiday or will you take a holiday from retirement? :0)

Thank you. Gong xi fa choi.

>255 humouress:. . Gong xi fa choi! Yes, both, in answer to your question. You know how to-do lists apply even for retirees. So this is a holiday, and also a holiday from to-do lists.😀

The new cafe is a little incomplete, but open. See you there!