Weird_O Bill's Magically Real ADD Library (2)

 
Books Read, as of March 31, 2024                 Books Read, as of February 20, 2024

Books I've read in Quarter Two, 2024

April 2024 (8 read)
32. Radiant: The Life and Line of Keith Haring, Brad Gooch. Finished 4/5/24.
33. The Singing Sands, Josephine Tey. Finished 4/9/24.
34. Shtum, Jem Lester. Finished 4/15/24.
35. How to Win an Information War, Peter Pomerantsev. Finished 4/16/24.
36. Eileen Gray: A House Under the Sun, Charlotte Malterre-Barthes & Zosia Dzierzawska. Finished 4/16/24.
37. Life: Classic Photographs: A Personal Interpretation, John Loengard. Finished 4/20/24.
38. Something Fresh, P. G. Wodehouse. Finished 4/22/24.
  The Arrest, Jonathan Lethem.
39. Death From a Top Hat, Clayton Rawson. Finished 4/28, 2024.

May 2024 (00 read)

June 2024 (00 read)

Books I've Read in Quarter One, 2024

January 2024 (10 read)
1. About Alice, Calvin Trillin. Finished 1/1/24.  
2. Egon Schiele: 1890-1918: Desire and Decay, Wolfgang Georg Fischer. Finished 1/1/24.  
3. Time and Again, Jack Finney. Finished 1/7/24. 
4. Finna, Nino Cipri. Finished 1/15/24.  
5. Oranges, John McPhee. Finished 1/17/24.  
  The Innocents Abroad, Mark Twain.
6. The Possessed: Adventures with Russian Books and the People Who Read Them, Elif Batuman. Finished 1/19/23. 
7. The Color of Magic, Terry Pratchett. Finished 1/26/24. 
8. Make Russia Great Again, Christopher Buckley. Finished 1/27/24. 
  Snark, David Denby.
9. The Light Fantastic, Terry Pratchett. Finished 1/30/24, 
10. The Discworld Graphic Novels: The Colour of Magic & The Light Fantastic, Terry Pratchett. Finished 1/31/24. 

February 2024 (9 read)
11. The Book of Genesis Illustrated by R. Crumb, R. Crumb. Finished 2/4/24. 
12. Gun, with Occasional Music, Jonathan Lethem. Finished 2/8/24. 
13. Doisneau, Peter Hamilton. Finished 2/14/24. 
14. H. P. Lovecraft Tales of Horror*, H. P. Lovecraft. Finished 2/16/24. 
15. The Biggest Bear, Lynd Ward. Finished 2/18/24.  
16. Breakdowns: Portrait of the Artist as a Young %@&*!, Art Spiegelman. Finished 2/19/24. 
17. Redshirts: A Novel with Three Codas, John Scalzi. Finished 2/23/24. 
18. The Iron Man, Ted Hughes; illustrations by Chris Mould. Finished 2/24/24.  
19. Lethal White, Jo-Bob Rowling-Galbraith. Finished 2/29/24. 

* The Touchstone for this book is kinda sorta beyond normal (yes, and even abnormal) access. It won't supply you with any useful info, so why bother? Just one of LT's quirks.

March 2024 (11 read)
20. Martin Dressler: The Tale of an American Dreamer, Steven Millhauser. Finished 3/5/24. 
21. Answered Prayers, Truman Capote. Finished 3/11/24. not rated
22. A Commonplace Book of Pie, Kate Lebo; illustrations, Jessica Lynn Bonin. Finished 3/14/24. Tasty
23. Kafka, R. Crumb and David Zane Mairowitz. Finished 3/16/24. 
24. The Canary Trainer, Nicholas Meyer. Finished 3/17/24. 
25. More: A Memoir of Open Marriage, Molly Roden Winter. Finished 3/20/24. 
26. Judge This., Chip Kidd. Finished 3/21/24. 
27. Hench, Natalie Zina Walschots. Finished 3/25/2024. 
28. The Intuitionist, Colson Whitehead. Finished 3/27/24. 
29. Three Rocks: The Story of Ernie Bushmiller, the Man Who Created Nancy, Bill Griffith. Finished 3/28/24. 
30. Greenwich Village: A Guide to America's Legendary Left Bank, Judith Stonehill. Finished 3/29/24. SnackBook. 
31. The Muses Are Heard, Truman Capote. Finished 3/31/24. 

      

Porgy and Bess cast members often gathered a crowd. Before opening night, the entourage was taken to a movie. At intermission, there being no snack bar in the theater, Capote reported:

[M]ost of the “Porgy and Bess” company went to the Maryinsky’s café-salon, where refreshments were on sale—beer, liqueurs, raspberry soda, sandwiches, candy, and ice cream…Earl Bruce Jackson announced that he was starving. “But, man, that ice cream costs a dollar a lick,” he said. “And guess what they want for a little bitty piece of chocolate not as big as your toe? Five-fifty.” Ice cream, advertised by the Soviets as a delicacy of their own contriving, started to become a national passion in the U.S.S.R. in 1939, when American machinery was imported for making it.

I am going to post something magical...

But only if I am still content after my routine dental checkup. 

Hallo, Bill, and happy new thread.

>1 weird_O: and >3 weird_O: Lots of good books read here in Bill-land.

>5 weird_O: You’ve already posted 4 magical things. How’s that for sucking up?

Happy New Thread Bill!

Happy New Thread, Bill. Good luck at the dentist. How was your Easter? Quiet?

Happy new thread Bill!

Happy new thread, Bill

Happy New Thread!

>6 karenmarie: Thank you, Karen. I look at the stack from time to time and think, "There's an awful lot of SnackBook in there." Other times, I look at the list and ask myself, "Are you marking too hard?" I rue my self-doubt.

It's nice to get a pat on the back now and then.

Happy new thread, Bill!

Happy new one, Bill!

Neglect. It's one of my special characteristics. I'm inordinately skilled at it. So my apologies to those of you who stopped by and found no one here. Specifically, to Karenmarie, Lily, Mark, Susan, Paul, Jeff, Anita, and Jim.

I'm being scattered, working a bunch of books, putzing with bookshelves, pretending I'm cleaning out the garage. I did have the lawn mower/tractor hauled away to be mechanically tuned up for the mowing season, which is edging closer and closer... All that stuff.

Books: I finished Radiant: The Life and Line of Keith Haring yesterday. It wasn't as satisfying as I had hoped. I was very conscious of names being dropped. Haring was relentlessly active, partying when he wasn't painting. But the bio is very short on visuals, so I've been switching between Radiant and Keith Haring, a colossal (9" x 10", 522 pages) picture book. Haven't read all the text in the latter book yet. I'll be counting them as reads for the April 2024 AAC. Of course.

x           

Turning away from Haring, I'm engaged in Shtum, a novel about coping with a profoundly autistic 10-year-old, an alcoholic father, an absent mother, and a cranky grandfather. Leavening that with Josephine Tey's last mystery, The Singing Sands.

You did warn us that the April Fool's joke might be that there wasn't one...so well played!! Happy new one and I'm glad you're back. : )

I'm glad I was home, and even awake, this afternoon to witness the Great 2024 Eclipse. I was out on the deck at just the right time, and I caught some great photos. Here's one:

       

I'm looking forward to the next one, in 2044, just 20 years hence. Sneak it in before my 100th birthday. Yeehaaaa!

Hey! My picture is just as good as yours!! LOL

>17 weird_O:
You don't have to wait that long. The next solar eclipse is October 2, 2024. It will be visible in parts of South America, the Pacific Ocean, the Atlantic Ocean, and Antarctica. If you go to South America you might not even have to change time zones to see it.

After that the next full eclipse will be in 2026 and visible in Greenland, Iceland, Spain, and Russia.

If you want to see it from your back porch you will have to wait, but seeing a solar eclipse is not that hard to do because they occur about every 18 months.

>17 weird_O: I hope to goodness I'll be dead and gone by then myownself. You do you, though.

Bummer, you got cloudy skies yesterday, Bill. Us folks in Illinois got lucky with mostly clear skies.

Got to do that happy dance today. A slot opened up, and I'll be seeing a hearing-aid magician in a couple of weeks, instead of mid-May. Hooray for me.

Wow! I can hear better already.

>22 weird_O: Excellent news, Bill!

>22 weird_O: Hurray!! That's good news. : )

>22 weird_O: Crossing my crossable parts that it will be a success.

Best of wishes with the hearing aid.

>19 benitastrnad: A world traveller I am not, Benita. I believe that the whirlwind tour of Copenhagen, Amsterdam, and Dublin I got to tag along on two years ago is likely to be the last. Not sufficiently adventurous to go to Central or South America. Iceland or Greenland or Spain, yes; Russia never.

>20 richardderus: I don't really envision me viewing that 2045 eclipse. TBH.

>21 msf59: Luck of climate change, Mark. Some acquaintances in my community did get glimpses of the eclipse through fleeting breaks in the cloud cover. I missed it, but I've experienced greater disappointments in my life.

>23 lauralkeet:, >24 Berly:, >25 richardderus:, >26 elorin:: Thankies for the good wishes. A friend demo'ed his hearing aids and phone apt. I couldn't hear any change as he tweaked the settings, but I'd bet that if the little gizmos were in MY ears, I would have. I am not at all adept with my cell, so I will have to see (or hear).

Working those income taxes.

Still reading Keith Haring, that pink colossus (see >15 weird_O:) which isn't a bedtime read, given its girth. About halfway through Shtum, an awfully melancholy story, and I have a firm beachhead in How to Win an Information War. To infinity...and BEYOND.

My sister has those wonderful hearing aids and loves them. She can even talk on her phone using the hearing aids. They have become sort of an all-purpose gizmo for her. Sort of like her phone. However, she has learned that she has to have a very expensive phone or the quality of her hearing goes down.

She is a school teacher and found that she was having trouble dealing with kids in class because she couldn't hear what direction the sound was coming from. Getting the hearing aids revived her career. She loves the hearing aids because she loves teaching 10th grade English.

>27 weird_O:
You might find that if you didn't do a whirlwind tour of three cities in Europe you would still like to travel. I would also bet that with the hearing aids you will love travel again. I find that I like to travel solo. I get to make all the decisions about when and where I go. I can go at my own speed, which is slower than it was. I take more time to really see things. Travel by your own self might be a better way to go.

Also, if you have the money for it, a friend recommended to me those wonderful boat tours available in parts of Europe. You can get on and off when you want to, and don't have to lug luggage around with you. Plus, she said that the food was great.

>27 weird_O: You will always be welcome to visit either Malaysia or the UK depending upon where I am at any given time, Bill. My place in Malaysia has four bedrooms and very rarely more than two of them occupied.

Made it to Sunday, pretty much unscathed. The Fed Tax I have mailed, and the state tax is posted beside the door, for to be mailed today or tomorrow. The mower is back, all tuned and sharpened, but I'm holding out until May Day for the mowing to commence to begin. My next project is cued up.

The happy-proud news is that Classics Claire has chosen Stanford U. for graduate studies. She'll start in September.

I am reading still about life with an autistic adolescent (Shtum) and about propaganda (How to Win an Information War). With the library table cleared off (well, mostly cleared off), I'll be able to deal with that gargantuan Keith Haring art book. A self-reward, due to land on the porch Monday, is a package containing a graphic biography of Eileen Gray, a pioneering 20th century Irish-born architect; Double Fold: Libraries and the Assault on Paper by Nicholson Baker; and Something Fresh, a Wodehouse SnackBook.
---------------------
>23 lauralkeet:, >24 Berly:, >25 richardderus:, >26 elorin: >28 benitastrnad: Thanks to all. Your tips from your sister, Benita, give me pause regarding the phone ap. My phone is an elderly Google Pixel; I'll just hope it will be adequate, and cope if it is not.

>29 benitastrnad: >30 PaulCranswick: I do appreciate the offer, Paul. And the suggestions, Benita. But my travelling companion of 50 years is gone, and I'm not at all tempted by tours or cruises. I'm content to be a hermit.

>31 weird_O: My wife was tested and qualifies for hearing aids but the quoted price is impossible. I have hope of better coverage with new insurance. I hope your experience is better and they improve your quality of life!

Happy new thread, Bill!

>31 weird_O: That is lovely, Bill, that you don't want to go without your much loved traveling companion of 30 years.

>34 PaulCranswick: ...traveling companion of 30 years Typo! 50 years. 50. Don't want to be cheated out of 20 of those years of traveling with my honey.

>32 elorin: I'm Medicare age, and I have Medicare advantage insurance. I know these miniscule items cost a bloody fortune, but another week will reveal to me what my OOP share will cost.

>33 bell7: Thanks, Mary.

-----------------------

Finished Shtum and hour or so ago. It was very good. Tough going, but I think it's a worthy read, especially if, like me, you have an autistic child in your family. In this story, three generations (actually, I guess, four) have multiple "carry-around" bags to unpack to achieve peace. Shtum means in Yiddish silent or mute.

I am more than halfway through How to Win an Information War by Peter Pomerantsev. Oh, and I have established a solid beachhead in that image-rich Keith Haring doorstop.

The Amazon emissary DID visit my house with my three-book award for being an amazing guy. (I don't know of a more deserving fellow.)

Double Fold: Libraries and the Assault on Paper, Nicholson Baker
Something Fresh, P. G. Wodehouse.
Eileen Gray: A House Under the Sun, Charlotte Malterre-Barthes & Zosia Dzierzawska.

Slainte!

     

The view from the deck, April 23, 2024. Could it be Spring?

Howdy, Bill. Happy Wednesday! Love the deck view. That is perfect. Congrats on the hearing aids. I have been wearing them for more than a decade. How are those books treating you?

That's a beautiful view of spring from your deck. Thanks for sharing it.

>36 weird_O: very pretty, Bill. Looks like a nice spot to sit and read, too.

>37 msf59:, >38 ffortsa:, >39 lauralkeet: It is a happy place, that deck.

Reading's kind of stalled. I got about 50 pages into Jonathan Lethem's odd novel called The Arrest and have called it quits. I'm disappointed. Vexed because I had two Lethems on the shelf. Choosing unwisely, I left The Feral Detective in favor of The Arrest. It's a

The other book I've been reading, Double Fold: Libraries and the Assault on Paper is depressing to me. The great libraries of the U. S. (and elsewhere) have methodically trashed their archives of newspapers in favor of microfilm of them.

So I'll reach out my hand and seize something off a shelf. Choose wisely, Hand, and pluck something worthy of my attention!

Great view, Bill! It looks like spring to me. I hope you find something worthy of your attention soon.

>36 weird_O: Beautiful shot of a lovely view! I bet you spend a fair amount of time out on the deck!

Hope you find some good reading soon to make up for your DNF.

Karen O

>36 weird_O: What a peaceful, pleasant vista to walk out on whenever you like! That redbud's especially well-sited.

Bill and Mark > what is the latest ballpark cost for decent hearing aids?

The damn things ain't cheap, Marianne. The pitchlady gave me a four-tier price list. The lowest price gadget is $2,000, per ear. Top of the line is $3,400, per ear. For me, getting the high end hearing aid would also entail buying a new cell phone, because adjustments are made via cell. It is a big expense for the likes of me—and I believe you are a few months older than me—because I just might pop off at any time. I'd prefer not to put down the BIG money, only to "expire" before getting much use out of the investment.

        

        Library expansion is underway. 4-23-24.

>45 weird_O: Oh dear. Once you expire you won't care what the expense was. While you are able to hear, hearing well is worth what really works for you. Which may not be $3400 per ear, but if it won't shorten you life or make you live on peanut butter, go for what works the best for you!

That may be nothing, after all, who wants to hear what most people are yammering on about.

>46 weird_O: Wow! And so much room to expand. Paradise!

>41 vancouverdeb: I have no worries about DNFing that Lethem book, Deborah, but I'm not giving up on Mr. Baker. I did pluck a 1938 murder mystery from the TBR. Death from a Top Hat by Clayton Rawson, rescued from retirement and republished in 2018 by Otto Penzler, proprietor of The Mysterious Bookstore in, where else, New York City. I passed the halfway point last night. I should finish it tomorrow, then we'll see what will follow.

>42 klobrien2: I should get an umbrella. The deck faces south, which means it basks in full sun most of the day. As I wrote to Deborah, it did pick murder mystery, and I'm halfway through it. Of course, that foreshadows another choice to be made tomorrow. :-) I have a "few" items in the TBR warehouse.

>43 richardderus: Thanks, Richard. I feel blessed to have this as my home. No redbuds here. The tree that's centered in the photo, at the bottom of the hill, is a maple.

>47 quondame: Once you expire you won't care what the expense was. That's sensible, Susan. With better hearing, I'll be able to hear Death skulking about and make my escape. Yeah! That's the ticket.

Actually, the high end hearing aids can do (I think) everything earbuds do.

Yes, room to expand. I've got boxes and boxes of books that need a shelf under them. At this time, I have five "boxes" standing in place, taking up the wall space to within inches of the light switch.

Bill, your view is wonderful, peaceful. An umbrella would be a great addition.

I have also been thinking about hearing aids. I don't think I need them yet but am beginning to wonder if they would only amplify the tinnitus I have lived with all my life. And if there is a way to find out, before shelling out the $$. Somehow, I don't quite believe the hearing aid people would tell me the truth if I suspect this could happen. That would impinge on a (big) sale, now, wouldn't it. So far, I'm holding out.

>50 jessibud2: As it was explained to me, tinnitus is centered in the brain, not the ear mechanisms, so it's unlikely that hearing aids would make it worse. In fact, if you hear more and better, it might even lessen the brain's need to 'make up' sounds. But I'm just a lay person. Speak to an ENT about it, not the vendor.

"Speak to an ENT about it, not the vendor." Excellent advice. My mother had tinnitus, and was deaf in one ear. She did a 30 day trial of a hearing aid in her one good ear, and nearly everything the vendor told her it would do for her, it did NOT. She was able to return them without cost, at the end of the trial. Naturally everyone's condition is individual, and this was probably 10 years ago now, so the technology is likely different now. My MIL is having very good results with tiny devices from HearUSA, for what that's worth.

I am a big advocate for hearing aids. They do cost alot, but the cost is coming down, thanks to the Biden Administrations pressure on the industry. The VA is also in the getting the cost down game. My mother had hearing aids, and my sister has had hearing aids for about 10 years. She got them in her late 50's. Both people said that hearing aids will change your life. My recommendation is getting them sooner rather than later is a good thing. People make much more sense if you can hear what they are saying and those around you will appreciate the lowering of the volume on all sorts of things - like the radio, the TV, and will appreciate the fact that they no longer have to yell to be heard. Good hearing relaxes so many things.

Oh - and managing them on your cell phone is easier than you think. You can even talk on the phone via your hearing aids! It is amazing what those little things can do.