Eleventh 2010 Thread of richardderus

Avast, me hearties, this is thread the eleventh for my challenge!

Books Off the Shelf group thread is there, where I will review 25 books that've sat on my shelves since who-whipped-the-cat and also 75 new books...published no earlier than 2008...this year.

Reviews 1,2,3: first thread
Reviews 4-7: second thread
Reviews 8-12: : third thread
Reviews 13-20: ... fourth thread
Reviews 21-30: ... fifth thread
Reviews 31-37:... sixth thread
Reviews 38-42: seventh thread
Reviews 43-46: eighth thread
Reviews 47 & 48: ninth thread
Reviews 49-51: tenth thread

I now have a Homeless Reviews thread in Club Read 2010. I've set a completely arbitrary goal of 50 books to review that I don't own, and were published before 2008, so they don't fit anywhere else.

FOR THOSE JUST TUNING IN: I don't know the readers of my reviews personally, for the most part, so I don't have any way to gauge whether you'll agree or disagree with me. It's always perfectly fine with me either way, and I invite comments from all.










Books are reviewed in post number:

57. How to Watch a Bird...#218.

56. Heaven: Our Enduring Fascination with the Afterlife...#180.

55. Home, Away...#64.

54. The September Society...#60.

53. The Bucolic Plague...#42.

52. A Beautiful Blue Death...#32.

I do not know what it is I did right this weekend, but today was a damn fine day! FOUR separate and distinct vvveeerrryyy good looking men *came right in to the house* and *flirted shamelessly* with me, three of them giving me their cell numbers and the fourth just wandered back by "accidentally" and stopped in for a chat.

It annoyed The Divine Miss, whose latest beautiful boyfriend spent the weekend...a one-to-four ratio wasn't fun for her. *evil laugh*

Two of the cell-phone givers didn't wait for me to call, they've called already.

Did I mention they're each *really* cute? And not one of them over 30? And the one who "wandered by" has some very beautiful body art: An angel defeating a demon using White Light on his chest, just gorgeous.

I needed a good day.

For what?

Or whom?

See above. *gruntled sigh*

I am glad you had a good day, Richard. You definitely deserve some!

Hope that makes your back feel better. You can have pleasant thoughts.

Okay, ungruntle now.

Starred and found you. Not in that order.

2: ...HOW DOES THAT HAPPEN!? Ridiculous, honestly. How do you do it, Richard, I wanna know! Or, at the very least, can someone please make that happen with women at my house!? ;)

Seriously though, I'm happy for you Richard.

(*grumble grumble*)

Ah, what a treat! Soak it up, sir - you deserve that kind of attention.

Being flirted with is always nice :)

Why, hello, richardear. I just managed to catch up...great news on the bed for Auntie. You'll be much more comfortable too, I'm sure.

I'm also sure that there are few who could resist a little flirtation with you. Hope you are enjoying it all!

Ok, so I've determined that Richard sold his soul to the devil to have such luck as seen in post 2, but I want to back up a bit:

The Rdear picture...on the last thread...well, I was curious about why his neck was so long, seemed odd, and upon closer inspection... *ahem* please tell me I'm not the only one... *sigh* :(

Glad you had a great day!

Whooohooo....way to go Ricardo! Beacon to all good looking hunks .... I'd say one or 2 in a day would be a good day but 4 good looking specimens seeking you out in a single day?!! That's striking gold and the lottery all in one.

*sings - Ce....lebrate good times, come on! ..dum dum de dum*

This made me think of you (and Stephen).

I think Richard's been smokin' something...FOUR potentials, right in the house on the same day??? Come on... what kind of sign did you put out on the porch?

*la li laaa*

And les bon temps keep roulez-ing, Body Art just hung up after making a date for this week after our long chat this afternoon...carefully asking if my wife would mind if we went out, "you know, like, on a date."

I do not know what it was I did, but I plan to do it again. After I do Body Art.

you have had quite a day! thought I would suggest one of these ... to help you keep track of things..

Luxx: Yep, sounds familiar. Fortunately Richard doesn't come at me with Sharpie markers and Write-Out! :)

Oooh, nearly missed you! Glad you're having such a great day (and with Stephen on the ever so slightly jealous).

#16 Hilarious! We have a "for-sale" mailing list at work (you can guess what it's for) and someone keeps trying to sell on "DVD's" - it makes me wince every time - I am this close (*pinches forefinger and thumb together*) to emailing back to correct her!

carefully asking if my wife would mind if we went out

I love it!

OOO La La.....this old lady is fanning herself having been thru this new thread. Way too much info for my brain to process. Enjoy Richard --you deserve love in your life.

That's more men than have flirted with me in the last year. *Sulks briefly*

Glad you're having a good week, Richard.

>24 Eat_Read_Knit: ROFL

I'm so pleased my derisory love life is entertaining for someone.

</deadpan>

Don't worry, Caty, it's more men than I've flirted with in my lifetime.

...of course...I suppose that doesn't mean much coming from me, but still! :)

Found you...

I missed a whole thread?! *hangs head in shame*

For my part, I plead summer hols at work and reading time to rest my frazzled head at home... I had to take a deep breath and purge nearly 200 emails last night because I've been skipping over all but the most vital for weeks... and don't even get me started on the state of my living room! ;-)

Just read this on FB and thought of your curtains:

"so i saw this beautiful $200 hammock in a magazine and it reminded me of some curtains i had. dusted off the ol' sewing machine and scrounged up 2 closet rods and some rope. hello hammock!"

This gal has done some amazing things in her home! Chenille hammock anyone?

Will never have time to catch up so just dropping by to say hello where you are now . . .

Review: 52 of seventy-five

Title: A BEAUTIFUL BLUE DEATH

Author: CHARLES FINCH

Rating: 3.8* of five

I read this as a July TIOLI, sort of, but never even got past the title page until after August 1. So here it is, unTIOLIed.

I submerged into 1865 London with surprising ease in this debut mystery. I was irked by lots of little picky detail boo-boos, but charmed by the characters of Charles Lenox and Lady Jane Grey, who *should* be called Lady Deere or the Dowager Countess of Deere, but whatever. Their interspecies friendship, as the Victorians would see it, is charming and sweet and very vibrantly drawn. Its charm makes me feel all squooshy inside.

And that's the real reason I've only rated this 3.8 stars. (Still getting used to the decimal star system.) I think the mystery was nicely handled, and I think the period details were very well sprinkled in the book. I like the idea of the sleuth...a humane, likable Sherlock Holmes...and I appreciate the historical "huh" moments the character, born about 1827, feels as he moves through the huge, modern, scary metropolis. I feel the same way whenever I go to New York City. It's a function of middle age, this peculiarly acute recognition of time's passing and its effects on the world around us.

But in the end, it was all more fun to read than it is to remember, which I barely do. A good entertainment, but not a fine one; a decent day's read, but nothing to keep me up late finishing.

Faint praise, I fear. Not bad. Don't break a leg getting to the store to buy it.

#32: Nice review, Richard. It was a rather 'meh' book for me too, but others in the group loved it.

--->32 richardderus:: An excellent review, Richard, with precisely the sort of advice I look for from a reviewer: "Don't break a leg getting to the store to buy it." Perfect.

Excellent review, Richard!

Oh my, I am so verrrry, verrrry behind in your posts Richard and though I know I am going to miss a tremendous amount of wonderful banter I'm just going to jump in right here and begin anew. Hope all is well with you and yours.

>33 alcottacre: Stasia, I only read it at all because the August TIOLI has The September Society on it, and I needed the background. That review is next.

>34 Matke: Hi Gail...glad you're able to use the information...and really, no rush to get it. Library borrowing will do nicely.

>35 leperdbunny: Yoodley-hoooo-hoo!

>36 Carmenere: Hi Lynda! I haven't seen you around in ages. I appear to have lost your thread somewhere along the line, too. Post a link for me?

32- Nice review! I'm going to try that book...I think I'd like it, even if I do forget it later. :)

As requested: http://www.librarything.com/topic/92978

Nice review of A Beautiful Blue Death, but I'll give it a pass.

Excellent review of A Beautiful Blue Death Richard. But then again you always tell it like it is.

Review: 53 of seventy-five

Title: THE BUCOLIC PLAGUE

Author: JOSH KILMER-PURCELL

Rating: 4.3* of five

Oh no you don't! No sighing, sneaking past this review, and saying how good it is! Sit there and READ this.

Josh and Brent, two of the most annoying perfectionist queens Manhattan has ever sucked into its lapidary drum of the effete, are bare-naked and warty as all get-out in this hilarious, touching, brutally honest memoir by the tall one. (Josh.) And he memoirs the way it feels to be human, alive, selfish and self-absorbed and sweet and lovable better than most. He's honest about how hard it is to work like a (highly paid) slave so you can have a dream come true. Then, as so many before him have, he wonders when in the HELL he's going to have time to enjoy the said dream.

Then there's the short one. (Brent.) He isn't writing the book, so of course he doesn't get all the best lines. Just most of them. He's the alpha perfectionist of the pair...good gravy, he worked for MARTHA STEWART!...and he decides, on hearing the tall one articulate his dream to live in their fantabulously gorgeous mansionfarm full time, that He Will Make This Happen. Because he loves, so much, the tall one. The scene in the book where they have that conversation, about why they'd have to give the place up in the rancid economy of 2008, made me cry. What they wanted, what their dreams hung on, *pffft* because the rotten shits on Wall Street wanted morebiggerfatter bonuses.

Now these two aren't guiltless little cogs in the Murrikin Machine, mind. They were both in the sizzle biz, taking home oodles of the spondulix selling people an unattainable dream's unattainable health goals for old farts (the short one) and unnecessary, overpriced goods and services (the tall one). But they made so much more out of their lives...they worked hard, they deserved their success...than the standard script for rural gay boys reads.

And then they found, accidentally and because the tall one is a lousy navigator, the perfect place to turn their well-honed swordsmanship skills at these useless pursuits into the plowshares of a real, and really funny, and very satisfying life.

Their website makes me drool. (Not over them, keep your minds out of the gutter.) The farm, the recipes, the products, the involving and addictive blogs, and of course Polka Spot the llama are tremendous pleasures.

Their TV show, The Fabulous Beekman Boys, is a gem and it's worth seeking out on Planet Green, the little bitty Discovery Networks offshoot they run on. This is Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House for the 21st century. Buy it, read it, and heavenly days, recommend it to your friends! The boys need money! Farmer John's goats don't eat air, and that hip replacement wasn't free, and the boys have aging parents who'll need to come live with them soon enough.

Think of the scuff marks. Poor short one. (Brent.)

#42: I already have that one in the BlackHole or I would add it again. Thanks for the review, Richard!

Fantastic review, Richard! Even if the title is misleading and it's not really a book on microbiology.

Waiting for you to post it so I can give it a thumb! :)

I always see the commercials when I watch Future Foods...but I haven't taken the time to actually watch it yet.

>43 alcottacre: You're welcome, dear!

>44 Ape: It's up now. I forgot.

Well, you've already buried the show in my brain, so I may as well seek out the book. :-p

Well, I may have to stop reading your reviews. I look for books that you review at libraries within 15 miles of my town. Not one has it. So I am going to try interlibrary loan. Closet library 90 miles away hope I can get it. Just cannot afford to buy books.

Another great review, I'll have to find out more about the book and the show.

>42 richardderus:: Great review. Makes me miss my cable! I'll be looking out for this.

Great review, Richard!

Richard your reviews are superb! Will add this one to my TBR. Hope all is well in LI for you. Don't you love this nice much cooler weather.

hmmm hope they appreciate you.. I think the sales just went up on Amazon.. lol

Well, It is official. I am officially unable to attend the party, regardless of being able ( or not) to get time off from work. Dan's trip is from Sept 3-11.

I have been trying for 3 weeks to get the dates out of him, finally today he told me.
:(

#53: I am sorry to hear that Kath. I had hoped to meet you while up that way :(

I was hoping to get there and meet all of you..
Didn't dare start to make plans until I got back to work though..
but...

I know - the 'buts' get you every time!

Richard, I hope you realize that you are directly responsible for many book purchases among your victimsfriends here at LT. I appreciate your rec's very much because: a. we have mostly similar tastes in books; b. you always make new-to-me items sound so intriguing and fun; and c. you don't hesitate to say if you think a book is just drek.

I can't wait to read Bucolic Plague.

I miss planet green! I used to have it on cable in Oklahoma when I had the "digital" tier. I was really fascinated for a while with building an earth home (partially in the ground). I seem to remember them having eco stuff having to do with the home.

*heeheehee* I love making others want a book! And this is worth wanting. I still don't feel well, and the book made me laugh very hard despite terminal aches, semi-lethal twinges, and general malaise. I swear, I'm dying of West Nile.

Review: 54 of seventy-five

Title: THE SEPTEMBER SOCIETY

Author: CHARLES FINCH

Rating: 3.6* of five

I read the frist mystery in this series, after intending to do it for the July "Walla-Walla" TIOLI, just so I could read this second entry in August's TIOLI. Well, I did. And it's all marked on the wiki and everything. No goin' back now.

This entire review is one long spoiler. Don't read it if you don't want to know important things.

Jesus God, Charles, MAN UP AND ASK HER TO MARRY YOU! I got very, very, very tired of his pussfied wishywashying about whether or not to ask this perfectly lovely long-term widow, who **moved next door to him** after her husband died, if she would consent to marry him. Dude...she's been WAITING for you to do it for like ten years!! She's never even looked at another man! HELLO?!?

Yeeesh.

So he does, after yet another book's-worth of annoying shillyshallying, and she says yes (gasp), and I lost all interest in the series. I just do not care a whit about this charming, adorable, suffocatingly cozy world any more.

Oh...this mystery is set largely in Oxford, which is always lovely, and the London bits that don't involve the romantic idiocy were set in a nasty club of murdering swine, the September Society, who were covering up their illicit possession of a huge hoard of gems that they'd killed this one kid's father to protect the secret of its existence. Only they didn't, see, because he fooled 'em good! He hid for 20 years to protect his abused wife and newborn son!

Oh God. Who the hell cares. I read it, I swear, from cover-to-cover, and I wondered as I read WHY I felt I needed to finish it. Charles Finch has some voodoo or another that made me want to finish it up.

I did. Poke me with a fork, I'm done now. For good.

If you need a cozy fix, and you're more wimp-tolerant than I am, go on and read it. Otherwise, Xanax is a better tranq and peyote takes you on a better trip.

ETA blasted bedamned touchstone!!!!!!!!!!!!

When you aren't feeling good, your reviews are adorably snarky! Despite that, I hope you start feeling better today, Richard Dear.

yes.. adorably snarky about covers it... lol

Re >42 richardderus: Richard, you are too funny! You make me want to read Bucolic Plague - but even more than that I want to read what you are writing. You must be writing something! It just pours out of you!
Claudia

Review: 55 of seventy-five

Title: HOME, AWAY

Author: JEFF GILLENKIRK

Rating: 4.6* of five

It's taken me *weeks* to calm down enough to write a review of this book that didn't amount to a woman-hating scream of fury at the stupidity and unfairness of a court system and a culture that privileges mothers to the exclusion of fathers.

So I don't intend to say a single word about that hugely important part of this novel. I can't be objective in the least on the topic. I limit myself to the broad observation that this is a much needed corrective to the man-bad, woman-good writing that infests family fiction like maggots infest a dead cat.

I can tell you that novels about baseball are seldom so deeply satisfying...a man who pursues his dream to become a major league pitcher, gives it up several times to be a father to his son, screws *everything* up and crawls into a bottle to stop the hurting, and then, and then--well, then a dream beyond dreaming comes true, and it's so wonderfully imagined and so movingly presented that I read the ending three times and cried each one of them.

I doubt a large number of women will read this book because it's so very honest about them, and who wants to read about *that, right? And it's got LOTS of baseball in it. That's too bad, really. But it is what it is. I am very, very glad Mr. Gillenkirk wrote this book. I truly treasured it. I hope other divorced men, baseball fans, and frustrated fathers will find it.

I must read this book! (number 55)

I love baseball. My husband not only obtained cusody of, but received child support for, a daughter from a previous marriage. This sounds like a great book. And of course it's another I never would have heard of but for you.

Hope you soon feel better; I would have said so sooner but didn't realize you were poorly. Be comforted by the fact that the aches and pains are having absolutely no ill (gak) effects on your writing or humor.

And, if it's not asking tooooo much, could ya please hurry up and write something for publication? Please?

>65 Matke: Gail, I think you'd really like this book. The baseball part makes the infuriating parts more fun, and the fantasy of the ending is a baseball fan's most sentimental dream. Stasia might like it, too, he hinted. And so might Bonnie Renzi....

This entire review is one long spoiler. Don't read it if you don't want to know important things

...but...this...but... You say I shouldn't read it if I plan to read it, which I don't, but if I read your review I'll want to read the book, but then I won't want to because it'll be spoiled, but despite being spoiled I'm sure your review will still want me to read it...so so so...ummm, what do I do? *confused*

I love baseball books and well you know it, RD. I will be looking for Home, Away. Thanks for the recommendation! (and thumbs up for the review as well)

Glad to find someone who finds Charles Finch's characters as irritating as I did!!

Well, I'm not a divorced dad or a frustrated father, but I am a baseball fan, so Home, Away sounds good for me, too!

*Hello Str-a-anger* (sorry, I'm no Barbara Lewis)

My "Lazarus" computer keeps on....computing...the new MacBook should be here in a day or two...Crap, then I'll have two 'puters.......*dope slaps herself*

Like your latest reviews, by the by....and I have no problem with novels that treat women as "the beasts we really are".....sadly, I hate sports...in novels or otherwise....except for The Devil and Sonny Liston..but Nick Tosches wrote that one....hey, I might give Home, Away a try..thanks for a good review

;-}

rdear ~ ~ thank you~

Hi Richard. I'm delurking to say I hope you're feeling better.

Well, as it seems I am not dead yet, there must be a point to my suffering. Aches and pains and intermittent fever, plus swelling joints, and a headache that would do Torquemada proud.

Entering week three.

Ick.

I recommend Home, Away, really I do, and I think most people will find something to like about the characters who try to do the right thing and whose lives are fraught with tensions older than they themselves are; but Jude, my dear old, don't even pick it up. The sports parts will cause you physical pain, they are so long, and skipping them or simply not "getting" them will harm the pleasure you can possibly derive from the read. Just not a book for you.

I really, really recommend Heaven: Our Enduring Fascination with the Afterlife, though, to believers and unbelievers (yo!) alike. The concept is fascinating.

Oh--Hi, Pat! Thanks.

*smooch* to Kath

>67 Ape: You won't want to read these books, Stephen. Trust me on this, you and Jude should avoid them.

>68 alcottacre: Okay, Stasia, but You Were Warned.

>69 Chatterbox: I want to find Little Mister Finch and strike him soundly with a stout stick.

>70 JanetinLondon: You know, Janet, I think your essential characteristic in reading is "interest me, enlighten me, but do not waste my time," so this is a very good book for you.

Richard, so sorry you are feeling unwell. Please feel better soon!

Week three? What are you taking for this? Do you have an internist or GP that you can see?

>77 momom248: Hi Maureen! Thanks. I'm trying.

>78 kidzdoc: Nope, Darryl, I'm uninsured and not sick enough to go to the ER and let the taxpayers deal with it. I take Tylenol 3, drink oodles of Gatorade, and sleep a lot. I feel Ciceronian on this: "Scorn pain: it will pass, or you will."

#79: #$%*!! American health care system. It shouldn't have to be this way, for you and other uninsured people. I wish there was something I could do, but I can't think of anything (I'm only allowed to prescribe meds in the state that I'm licensed (Georgia)). Do let me know if you think I could be of any help in any other way, and I hope and pray that you feel better soon.

true words. very true words

#79: #$%*!! American health care system. It shouldn't have to be this way, for you and other uninsured people.

Sorry to hear you still aren't feeling well, Richard! :(

You seem to be in quite a medical funk, richardderus. Hoping whatever it is works its way out by your big birthday bash. I am not able to attend because of a pre existing condition called commited to clambake but I'm sure it will be lovely celebration none the less.

delurking to say....
Richard! Hie thee to a walk-in-clinic! Three weeks of this is saying to you "sum sing wong!" Sell a couple books and take care of yourself. Please.
back to lurking before I get hit...

I'm with bahzah on that one, Richard. Fever, swelling joints - not to be messed with (I had complications from strep w/ swelling which lasted for months). Your body's not fighting it off - get some help! Just a thought... Feel better...

Seriously, Richard, take the advice. Your organs are going to start rebelling any minute.

Auntie's doctor's nurse practicioner has taken pity on me, and I see her in an hour. Maybe she'll give me some cyanide.

On a lighter note, I've been listening to Internet radio station Live365. Specifically, the Theme Song Channel. It's completely hilarious, and it also amazes me that *everything* before 1973 is familiar, then nothing is until 2000 or so, because I stopped watching TV.

I'm back from seeing the NP. Pending lab results, she says it looks to her like stress, and the joint swelling is probably strain from lifting Auntie's avoirdupois, which wasn't necessary until recently. Fever? Probably stress too. I never knew that stress could give you a fever. I just need to drink more.

She didn't say that, I did.

stress huh

dunno about that. Hope she is right.

As for lifting.. Can you get a Hoyer Lift?
or can she do more to help ??

Indeed...not sure about the stress thing...keep us updated! :(

Richard, so very sorry you are still ill! Stress-induced fever...hmmm...could explain a lot of things.

So, was there a destressing rec. from the NP, like a, um, chemical calm (you really should see how wonderful that can be at times), or are ya just gonna wing it with the liquid -type relaxers?

At least it must be somewhat comforting to know that all of us, and who knows how many lurking folks, care about your health and well-being.

I hate it when I know all the "Old Folks" cultural references and none of the middling younger ones. Embarassing and annoying. Not sayin' you're an Old Folk, here.

Yes, please do keep us updated, Richard! I hope that whatever it is that is bugging you, it goes away soon!

Ice pack and putting your feet up, richard .... maybe calling in your 4 new hotties and asking them for help? ;-)

rdear....not as good as the microwave, but the madness goes on..

http://www.thepittsburghchannel.com/news/24672390/detail.html

Stress? Well, yes, but stress causes or encourages real things to take hold, too. So a virus can thrive more readily in a stressed system, but it's still stress. I'm uninsured, too, but would def get to a walk-in clinic at this point.

Happily my cold has relapsed into a mild nagging cough, and I brought back cough syrup with codeine from Canada for just this kind of eventuality, so I'm feeling better. Hopefully the same will be true for you in another 48 hours or so! You just need a respite break, methinks.

Suz: Oh yes, I agree, stress could weaken an immune system, but that makes it all the more critical to see a doc!

I posted a message on my thread in response to your message, Richard. I can buy the stress theory (stress + increased or excessive physical activity → joint inflammation (especially in a condition such as gout or rheumatoid arthritis) → low grade chronic fever). High fevers or very abnormal labs would make me doubt this theory, though.

Keep us posted, bro.

I'm glad you clarified that, Darryl. Stress causing inflammation which causes a fever. Yes, that makes sense. Pure stress-induced fever was making me scratch my non-medical head.

#97, 98: I clarified my post a little bit (italicized text).

Well, thanks to a substance I shall refer to as "Vitamin X" which found its way into the home pharmacopoeia though not specifically for me, you understand, and a thing called "Meditation Music" on Live365 radio, I have been in pillow-drooling sleep mode for 4.5 hours and just awoke feeling *marvelous*!

Although I am mortally sick of synthesizer music, as it seems to have worked on my subconscious while I was unconscious. Apparently waking up every three hours to check on Auntie means I've been sleeping badly, too. Added source of stress. Lord, this crap by itself could make a person comatose. Duh-reary.

Good heavens! I don't have a headache! First time in weeks!!

Things are looking up.

Good!

Good Lord I hope this is the enough of that and you go on to feel like your old self Richard (if that's what you want;-)

No, I'm not cured, but the thrill of feeling no headache *and* not feeling dragged out is pretty heady.

I've only had a few fevers over 101, mostly 100. Maybe a few little colds have crept in.

Well, it sounds like things are looking up. At least you're not looking for cyanide anymore! Hope this trend continues.

I hope that this is the start of the end of the problem. I am a very firm believer in Vitamin X under certain conditions.

You know, enough stress can make one begin to see the appeal of opium dens...

Love you, Richard; get better soon.

So glad to hear you are feeling better!

As someone who has suffered with headaches and migraines for the last 35 years, I can appreciate how good you feel when they go away! :)

Hope this is the big breakthrough, and you'll be ready to celebrate your b-day in style!!!

Woot! Glad to hear the headache at least has cleared up! Hopefully the rest of the Ebola et al goes away soon.

OK... a nap made you feel better. That's a great start. What are you doing to relieve some of your stress? If stress is your problem, you need to mitigate that somehow. Don't mean to lecture you... but it's what I do best. ;}

btw - when you figure out how to do that, please let me know!

*hops on broom and takes off again*

Sending you a *cyber* head, neck, shoulder & back rub, a soft and comfy chair or mattress, clean, sunny outdoor scented sheets to lie upon, soft and relaxing music of your favorite kind, and a respite volunteer to give you some much deserved time off from being a carer.

Lots of love also wafting your way.

Hope the pain eases up and the headaches are, from this moment on, only a memory.

I am so glad you are able to sleep! Rest can do wonders.

>110 womansheart: Sounds wonderful!

>104 phebj: It's a trend to enjoy, Pat, that's for sure. A headache-free awakening this morning, too! *aaah*

>105 Matke: Apparently, Gail, it's stress that kills. *snort* I need something to interrupt the stress thinking cycle, which is endlessly self-reinforcing. The *reasons* I'm stressing out are real, as in not products of my imagination, but my response is now maladaptive. So a pill at lunch and one at bedtime for a week, then one at bedtime for a week, then as needed.

>106 Copperskye: Hi Joanne! Oh, I can't even imagine having these things regularly. And mine was just *nothing* compared to a migraine!

>107 Chatterbox: Suzanne, there is nothing I can imagine that will prevent me from celebrating that day. Not a thing, no how.

>108 alcottacre: As I get more rest, Stasia, I think the symptoms will sort themselves out. I am just reveling in no headache at the moment, so nothing else is important.

>109 -Cee-: That's what makes chemistry so wonderful, Claudia, I can interrupt the response to the (real) stress and let proper perspective return! Give it some thought, stressball. *smooch*

>110 womansheart: Negotiations are ongoing for a respite volunteer. There are issues to address here at home before I'm allowed such a thing. *sigh*

>111 London_StJ: No joke! I sleep quickly and easily, but apparently not well. According to the NP, it's quite possible I should get a CPAP machine for sleep apnea. I've suspected this for some time. Now how to make it happen, that's trickier.

*falls off broom in a swoon* Oh! He called me "stressball"! How sweet! No one has ever called me that before! LOL

I started to major in chemistry... but decided it wasn't for me after I blew up a few too many experiments. Methinks I was on the wrong track. Should have gone for the biochemistry! N'est pas?

Back in the old, old days, they would say "oh, it's your nerves that are making you sick. Now they call it stress but it's the same thing---overwhelming life situation that you can't control (or don't think you can) taking over your mind and, eventually, your body. Try yoga, very stress relieving. Seriously.

>116 -Cee-: Someone call the Paranormal Paramedics! CLaudia's off the broom again!

>117 brenzi: Yoga was a fabulous discipline, indeed, but since I am now unable to sit on the ground, kneel, or even bend from the waist without serious problems ensuing, I can only do the chair yoga. It's nowhere near as good at stress relief, but it's the only reason I can move at all!

Richard - so sorry to hear you are having such a stressful time. Hope you can manage to find time for yourself.

Lots of advice here, I'll add another. One thing that works to manage my stress levels is Vitamin B Complex - fewer and less severe headaches and reduced tummy upsets, amongst other things.

B complex? Huh--okay, I'll get some next trip to the pharmacy. Thanks!

Y'know what I do when I'm feeling stressed? I get all my biggest guns I have and go on a killing spree, killing everyone in sight and just having a good ol' time firing bullets all over the place and throwing grenades if I have any and just causing all kinds of chaos. It's fun. Very satisfying.

Errr, in video games, I mean!! ;)

Seriously, when things are getting to me, usually the best thing is to do something a little out of my comfort zone. Reading just doesn't work. Usually I can't read because I'm too jittery over whatever is stressing me. So I do something that I don't normally do, something that is 'different' enough to take my mind off of whatever the problem is, but still relaxing. For me, a trip to the movies can actually be very calming. I don't do it often because I'm not a big movie guy, but it's still very relaxing, so its a nice way to calm myself down.

Just don't get my paragraphs mixed up and go on a killing spree in a movie theatre. Not recommended!

121..interesting....

I am sorry you don't like chocolate. It is very good for stress.

119, 120 - I take two drops of liquid vitamin B complex (liquid is easier for my body to absorb/digest) daily, and it's w-o-n-d-e-r-f-u-l! The first day I took it I noticed a huge decrease in stress...I wanted to call everyone I knew and tell them how good/calm I felt!

Glad you're feeling better. :)

I just don't have it in me today. I am better, I think, but I am just too worn down to do much here. It's moments like this that I wish I liked TV more than I do.

Off to do more laundry. See y'all when I get more oomph.

Hugs to you buddy!

I'm so sorry you are not feeling well. In 21 days some of your group of loyal followers will be able to give you a big hug.

Sending oomph by UPS.

Not sure how to pack it up, but, it is in scarce supply and cost me a bundle, so it better arrive safely. Enjoy at your leisure.

Lovings - W

Thinking happy healthy thoughts for you, Padre.

mmm...hmmm
aaahhh... haaahhh... hrump! *playing doctor*

Just as I feared! One nap just doesn't do it! Gonna need rest on a regular basis.

Let's see... what organ is it that builds up your oomph? Liver? kidney? Kotzschmar? mmm.. gotta think this through. In the meantime, maybe another nap will help.

Sending a big wave of 'oomph' to you. Hope your spirits perk up soon and you're back bouncing on your feet. Don't worry if you don't like tv much ... there's not a lot of good tv to watch these days, IMO.

Rest well, my friend.

I'm glad you're a little bit better today, Richard, and I hope you're soon feeling much better, and have a lot more oomph.

I hope further rest will help you get over the hump Richard.

Hoping that you start feeling much much better Richard. Take care .

{{{{{{{{hugs}}}}}}}}

I like doing things like streaming the Car Guys or some program I love, like Fiona Ritchie's Thistle and Shamrock, or Marion McPartland.... Vermont Public Radio has an amazing program on 50's and 60's music and the origins of rock and roll with this fellow Joel Nageman that I simply adore or listening to a book instead of reading it and, I hope this isn't too quaint, doing something like darning or hand sewing some little thing -- I'm not a knitter, but I do a little needlepoint too. Tea with a bit of a splash of something, yo ho ho - ish.... all of that together can make for a very nice interlude.

Hope you're sleeping soundly and that tomorrow is a better day.

Garshk, I may be a whiner, but I'm a lucky whiner! I'm not sure how much rest I got today, but more than usual and less than necessary. Tomorrow I've refused to do anything at all. Laundry's done, someone wants something not in the fridge, go buy it, I'm readin' all day.

Well, actually, listenin' to Live365 all day. I still can't focus enough to read well.

A great big *smooch* to each and all. Y'all're the best!

I am planning on planting one on you in person in about 3 weeks, Richard, so you need to recuperate swiftly!

Have a wonderful, stress-free, reading Saturday :)

I am sending DM a camera and asking her to please photograph every minute..
or maybe I should send her my Flip? That is a very cute GIF

As long as I am not in the pictures, I do not care! I refuse to be responsible for breaking your camera, Kath!

oh no no no..... I must have pictures of all of you. would you deny me that?
Just think how sad I will be not to be there .... and how I will look forward to seeing all of you.....? Rdear... you will keep that in mind right ::sniff::

( How did I do? Did I sound pathetic enough?)

Nope.

>143 mckait: Not bad for a rookie effort, but a little tearage, some chin tremolo...y'know, the grace notes...you'll be whimperin' with the big dogs in no time.

Ignore Stasia. She's not resigned to the fashion shoot I've got scheduled for her with Tim Gunn as her stylist yet.

I will practice, and then try again.

Who the heck is Tim Gunn? I have no use for fashion shoots. Actually, I have no use for fashion :)

Tim Gunn's on Project Runway and he's the sexiest silver fox ever and he's superultra cool and if he came to my birthday party I'd faint and run and hide I have such a big crush on him.

LOLOL Send him an invite.. who knows?

Do not send him an invite! If Tim Gunn comes to the party and then Richard faints and runs and hides, what is the point of my showing up? lol

NoNoNoNO! If if if he actually *came* I'd blush and stammer and act like I was 12!! And and and The Divine Miss would be all over him like white on rice, her crush's as big as mine!

*hyperventilates at the mere idea*

OK, no inviting Tim Gunn to the party. Richard is already stressing out. I do not want him hyperventilating and making himself sicker than he already is!

Claudia must know someone who knows him??
Maybe someone should call her and suggest.......

Richard- Just swinging through to say hi! Hope all is well with you, good sir! Have a great weekend!

Huh? Me know who? Not much fashion up here in Maine... Did I miss something? (How did you know I was lurking? Part of me must not be tucked under my invisibiity cloak. Drat!)
>148 alcottacre: What Stasia said...
Even if I knew this illustrious Tim, "Rdear" would have to take 100 more naps before this kind of excitement!
Hope you all have a great day... I'm gonna try like hell.

Claudia

How I envy your life in Maine. I still have dreams of retiring there, but with a partner with asthma and the cold, it is unlikely.

Richard...we are counting the days until we meet! Stasia, Terri and I are sharing a hotel room...what a hoot!

Gonna check out the Internet radio channel you are mentioning here. Sounds excellent. I think I will be able to find it through iTunes.

Loving you, W

157 - Should we warn the hotel???

#159: Definitely!

I fear for the Republic when the three of y'all are let loose in a crummy area of Queens!

General Notice: I recently complained that an ARC I received, very late, from smaller publisher Chin Music Press, was in poor condition when I got it. I went on to review Home, Away in terms I hope we can all agree were very favorable, because the book is an important corrective to the one-sided presentations of family dramas now available. I liked the book, and I hope many of us here on LT will give it a chance.

What I didn't expect was the response to my mild bleat of dissatisfaction at the condition issue the book sent to me had...a publicist contacted me here, saying how sorry they were that my copy wasn't pristine, and they'd be sending me another copy of the book that *was* pristine for my library.

**!**

I emailed them, suggesting that they keep the book as I wasn't likely to re-read such an emotionally charged book again; the publicist responded IMMEDIATELY that she'd already sent the book out (!!) and should feel free to share it onwards.

This level of attentiveness cannot be overpraised. Please, bookaholics assembled here, go shopping and supoort a press that deserves support for its brave aesthetic choices and its high-caliber people skills.

#161: Congratulations to a press that will go to such lengths to make a reader happy. Thanks for letting us know, Richard.

Morning Richard- I loved your review of Home, Away! It sounds excellent! And I loved the accompanying story! Once in awhile, people can really shine through!

I am so glad to hear that they are dedicated to the quality of their products and services. Kudos to them!

Wow! A bright light in a sea of darkness! Bravo to Chin Music Press and that publicist Richard.

That was very nice of them! Usually it's quite the opposite - when I started reading your post I was expecting you to say the publisher messaged you and complained about your posting of the book condition. Didn't expect that at all. Wow, what a nice publisher! :)

Curse you Richard Dear! Now there are at least three more books I can't live without, since visiting Chin Music Press's website.

Wait wait.. I just got caught up ... Stas gets a fashion make-over with Tim Gunn? I'm assuming *foot-tapping rapidly* that you've scheduled me for a session with Tim too, Ricardo?!!

>163 msf59: Hiya Mark-a-doodle-doo! You'll love the book.

>164 London_StJ: Luxxlypookins, kudos are deserved, but go spend!

>165 brenzi: I couldn't agree more, Bonnie...I wonder if this title might appeal to you...?

>166 Ape: I'd say you should go shop there, but knowing how things are with you, I don't think I could be that cruel...you'd **love** their stuff!

>167 laytonwoman3rd: My work here is done *evil chuckle*

>168 cameling: First someone would have to invite him, Caro, and he'd have to accept, and then someone would have to make sure the paramedics were nearby to resuscitate me; The Divine Miss will be sure Tim is well flirted with and probably heterosexually converted before anyone can revive me to fight her back!

So what are you waiting for .... send the invite to the delicious Tim already!

#161: I loved your shout out to Chin Music Press. I have at least two Chin Music books, Do You Know What it Means to Miss New Orleans? and Kuhaku & Other Accounts from Japan, which were both very good. I'm checking their online catalog now...

#161 That's wonderful customer service: very impressive!

>170 cameling: WHAT ARE YOU, CRAZY?!??! And set myself up for the ghastly disappointment of his not showing up, or worse, the dread and anxiety that he *might*??!? Do I look that stupid?!?!

>171 kidzdoc: I just ordered Big in Japan, despite The Divine Miss's stern injunction against purchasing more books, as well as Buddy Zooka in the French Quarter and Beyond which I think sounds interesting. Must support them as does right, or they'll think we don't notice.

#173: I just ordered Oh! A Mystery of Mono no Aware by Todd Shimoda from Chin Music; it's been on my wish list for awhile.

Hi ya handsome stranger! Back from my VK. Missed you horribly and am so sad to hear you weren't feeling well. Hope you continue to get better sleep. Amazing what a difference it can make! xoxo

>166 Ape: I'd say you should go shop there, but knowing how things are with you, I don't think I could be that cruel...you'd **love** their stuff!

Oh sure, way to NOT be cruel!! >:(

Actually, I clicked the link, and it was taking forever for the images to load up because they are so many big ones, so there! Couldn't visit if I wanted to, neener neener. :P

>175 Berly: Was that actually Berly or has someone taken over her name which LT gave away to another patron because it's previous owner disappeared from the face of the earth???

>175 Berly: Option 2. The *real* Berly was consumed by triffids last month. I read it in "Weekly World News."

#177, #178 So, actually, deep down, what you are both saying is you missed me horribly!! How nice. I missed you too. ; ) Hi Brenzi! Hi Richard! xoxo

PS--Triffids wouldn't dare! Besides, after years of botanical study in the jungle I have cleverly devised an antidote to their deadly venom. Well, all right. I didn't really do that -- they are only fictional plants after all. In fact, I dare say I am quite safe and such rumors of my untimely and early death should be put to rest!

What scares me more than Triffids, is the thought of LT giving away my name...

I am here! I am here! I am here!! (Think Whorton Hears a Who.)

Review: 56 of seventy-five

Title: HEAVEN: Our Enduring Fascination with the Afterlife

Author: LISA MILLER

Rating: 3.8* of five

I approached the book as a non-believer in any of the Big Three religions responsible for the idea of Heaven in the first place. I want always to keep my antennae out for changes in their belief systems, since the Big Three have a history of disliking people like me, and the only way to do that is to read up on where things began. Can't recongize change if you don't have a picture of the starting point, can you?

Ideas of Heaven have always seemed so...well, silly is the only word I have for it...to me. I can think of nothing that fits more exactly the "are you KIDDING with this stuff?!" strain of unbelief than the notion of Eternal Delight or Eternal Punishment. What could one possibly do in one meager lifetime to merit Eternal Anything At All? It's a very exclusion-oriented, blame-fixated kind of concept.

So that's what I learned about myself from reading this book: I chose wisely when I waved bye-bye to Jesus, I can't even buy into the rewards program, still less the nonsensical rules part of the contract.

But the evolution of the idea, which remains one of the most powerful and motivating in the Big Three's arsenal, is fascinating. The author is a professional religion journalist in mainstream publications (!) and a sort of practicing Jew. Of the Big Three, Judaism is the lightest on the Heaven front, and isn't growing as fast as the other two, more nimble, marketers. She approaches each of her subjects with a profound respect for his or her beliefs, with the notable and quite rudely dismissive exception of a psychic medium. She delves briefly into the history of each of the Big Three's ideas of Heaven before going into a lot of detail about the current set of beliefs in the current version of their concepts.

It's a shock to me that people buy this guff at all. It's transparently manipulative, and it's not in the least bit shy about its net effect of damning those Not Like You to eternity without happiness. What a horrifyingly vicious mindset that is.

Well, the author doesn't agree with me, and she very carefully and very thoroughly explains what the Big Three's adherents today think without judging them. I wish I could be so kind. I judge them harshly for this mindset, and I think they should all remember that chickens always come home to roost...what goes out strongly flavors what comes back.

Look at me! I give out rationalistic unbelief, and am engulfed in *tidal waves* of emotionalistic credulity. It is the way of the world. More's the pity.

>179 Berly: EEEEEEEEEEEEK!!!!

Triffids have learned to type!!!!!!

Hi Richard!
You seen perkier now... hope that means you're feeling better.
Good story of Chin Music Press.
Hope you have a good day! :) Claudia

>182 -Cee-: Hi CLaudia! I think the fact that it's ***raining*** right now would prevent me from having a bad day no matter what! I can't believe how very much I've missed seeing water fall from the sky. I can hear The Divine Miss's garden moaning in relief.

Great review Richard. I wish I could read books on the topic, but I'm far too closed-minded to tolerate other people's opinions on such matters! :(

#180 Well, my heaven is a colossal library above the clouds and there has not been a book written to tell me otherwise.

Triffid typing here...Ape, you are close-minded, but honest. How sweet!

>184 Ape: Truthfully, Stephen, I think it's not a moment too soon to start pry-barring yourself open to others's ideas. Particularly about matters spiritual! I'm not overly likely to suddenly start hosanna-ing and praising the Lord, but I require myself to keep in touch with the topic just to see if I'm still where I started out, or if I've grown, or *shudder* shrunk.

Like YOU should about God's greatest, most delightful gift to Man: Onions.

>185 Carmenere: Lynda, if *my* heaven exists, it'll be the St. Deinol's two-story liberry with big French doors leading out onto a beautifully landscaped parterre, which leads to Philip Johnson's Glass House where I'll be sleeping and eating, all located on one of the beautiful coastal stretches of Big Sur in central California. Whatever book I'm in the mood to read will be the one I walk directly to; at dinner, the author and I will discuss the book over endless plates of perfectly delicious pasta, rare steaks, salads that have NO romaine or iceberg polyesters, and a napoleon with ice cream for dessert. Comfy chairs abound, of course, and fires burn in all the fireplaces to ward off the hint of chill.

Still and all, the idea however lovely seems unlikely....

>186 Berly: ACK!! Triffid Alert!!!!

Another good review & book added to my list. Although I'm not religious I do find the subject of religion quite fascinating and picked up a couple of religious study papers at university as part of my degree a few years back. Religion is so much a part of our society that you can't close yourself off from the subject.

>180 richardderus: - Amazing what a good rant can do! Well done, Richard, for being so honest in your views about this book, given that so many others here do have very different attitudes towards religion. I hope they will not feel insulted personally, and maybe they will think about the basis on which they do believe (it would be a great debate).

>137 sibylline: - Marion McPartland, Sib! I haven't heard anyone mention her in years. I actually saw her play in Sanders Theatre at Harvard in 1975 - she was amazing, and I had never heard of her before. I might have to look for some of her music. Thanks for putting her back in my mind.

#180 Interesting review, Richard, and it sounds like a pretty good book to me in that the author doesn't seem to be pushing any particular belief. I'm not religious and don't know very much at all about any religion. I think I'll put this one on my library list and see if I like it.

*huffs......but I want to meet Tim Gunn!*

Good review ...but i'm going to pass on this book for now .. it's in my KIV list though. I think it's something I might be curious enough to read one of these days and I do like to think that it's there for us, as long as we don't kill people deliberately.

Interesting sounding book rd...

Richard: Oh, I might have worded my post a bit better. I'm very open to people's opinions on most things, just not religion. I'm very bitter and stubbon on this particular topic.

I certainly would never judge anyone for their choice. I am not judgemental nor do I harbor any ill feelings or prejudices against those who choose such a path, but I can NOT read a nonfiction book on the topic. I just can't. :-/

Great to see more posts from you. I'm equating this with the hope that you are feeling much, much better.

Hugs!

Richard dahlink....so good to see you back and becoming more snarky....I love it. I simply must get my hands on Heaven: Our Enduring fascination with the afterlife - I have very definite views that appear to be opposite of yours, but like you, I never mind a reality check along the way.

I went to an all female Catholic girls college, and had a Jewish roomate. We used to stay up until all hours of the night arguing the existence of an afterlife (this probably the semester when the philosophy classes were heavy on Spinoza and Kant, etc. etc.)

We finally decided that when we died, one of us would be surprised and the other would just be dead. If there was no afterlife then I'd never know I was wrong, but if there was, then she'd be delighted to find out how wrong she had been when I welcomed her to my book and ice cream filled vision.

I think this is a fascinating discussion, and while it can degrade quickly into the quirky and the nasty, this book sounds like the kind of exploration that can keep the discussion on an even intellectual keel. The real problem is, I think, that this is a topic that does not lend itself to staying intellectual. It is a belief (or dis-belief) that is guttural, emotional, and deeply psychic-ly personal. Can't wait to read it.

Once again, you have come through with something I would never have discovered in a thousand years if it hadn't been for LT.

I do like the idea (or delusion!) that when we die, we all end up in the heaven that we expect. So Richard, I'll see you in that library, but retreat to my own little cozy cottage in the evenings!

I personally think and feel that God, however you think of her/him/it/them, is much larger and all-encompassing than human-devised religions can come close to explaining or understanding. I also think that God is "big" enough to allow many paths to reach her/him/it/them.

We do have free will after all - why would "God" allow free will if there's only one path to salvation or a sanctified life?

That's why I have a real problem with the exclusivity of organized religions - "the only way to God is through our set of beliefs and the rest of you are damned." Especially Christianity, but that's just because I have the face that launched a thousand conversion-to-Christianity attempts.

>188 avatiakh: Religion is so much a part of our society that you can't close yourself off from the subject. That's exactly what I try to do when I read books like this: Stay open to information about the subject. Who knows, maybe I'll be converted!

ROFL

>189 JanetinLondon: I hope they will not feel insulted personally When I let others know about the review, I was careful to warn off my religious friends. I do NOT want to hurt others's feelings, but honesty compels me to be truthful in my assessments of books where I can easily justify fudging and waffling when it's personal to another.

>190 phebj: Thank you, Pat! I expect you'll get some very good food for thought out of it.

>191 cameling: Okay, there, Caro, you can go on and invite him! He won't come. If he did, I'd have to leave out of sheer hero-worship. But if you'd like to meet him, by all means feel free to use the garden as a rendez-vous.

>192 mckait: 'Twas.

>193 Ape: I'm very bitter and stubbon on this particular topic. So am I. That's why I fight the tendency by forcing my mind open to new information. I've mellowed a LOT in that way.

>194 Whisper1: I am better day upon day, Linda, thanks for asking! I've been resting better. It makes a lot of difference. Looking forward to the 11th!

>195 tututhefirst: Tina, it's exactly that sort of response that I believe the author wanted to elicit. She seems like the kind of person who would *love* the kind of conversation you're remembering, and so she makes it almost impossible not to have that very reaction with her conversational style.

Your reality check awaits, and it will be a fascinating one. (Side note: In this day and age, shouldn't we face up to change and call it a "reality debit VISA?")

>196 Chatterbox: Unlike most views of Heaven that I've run across, Suzanne, you're welcome in mine. That liberry is HUGE.

>197 karenmarie: We do have free will after all - why would "God" allow free will if there's only one path to salvation or a sanctified life? Because humans need to exclude, be better than, reject, judge, and ostracize.

"I have made you in my image."

Q.E.D.

#201 Trenchant, Richard. *applause*

So am I. That's why I fight the tendency by forcing my mind open to new information. I've mellowed a LOT in that way.

But I only like to open my mind to factual information! :(

>202 laytonwoman3rd: Thank you, Linda3rd, but I fear I see it as a sad, sad example of human self-deception. How can one interpret that Biblical statement as anything other than an indictment of the speaker?

>203 Ape: But I only like to open my mind to factual information! Emphasis added...liking it isn't the point, whippersnapper. Doing it isn't always pleasant but it's always, always necessary and in the end rewarding.

Richard, that's exactly what I tell anyone who tries to convert me. That if God created me as I am, he created me with a mind and a way of using it that has led me in a different direction than they did. Happily, I have yet to encounter anyone prepared to deliver the obvious riposte -- that it's Satan that's manipulating me!

What 202 said.......

Oh dear Stephen, you are showing your age. Get a few more years under your belt, and it might be easier for you to understand a few things about "facts".

Here is a little something for you dear APE..

Doing it isn't always pleasant but it's always, always necessary and in the end rewarding.

You could hire a dominatrix and have her feed me that same line. I ain't listening. And the dominatrix, I think, would be much less painful. :)

Kath: Hey, c'mon, I get to show my years every once in awhile don't I? :(

>207 Ape: *sigh* Okay.

Can I say 'neener neener' now? :)

*pokes head in and waves*

Hello! I'm too far behind to catch up, so I'll just say hi!

#209: The answer to that is a resounding "No!" :)

>209 Ape: You listen to your Auntie Stasia, now. Horrid child! How did we ever produce such a rude little monkey?

>210 tymfos: Hi Terri!

Clearly you didn't spank me enough when I was a child. Now I'm out of control!

Well, too late for me to do anything about it now. I'll have to send you to Ellie for discipline and correction.

Not the encyclopedia!! Run away!

First you announce your proclivity for discipline, and then you shun one of your favorite tutors? Tisk tisk. Someone doth protest too much...

>216 London_StJ: Sing it, sister! I witness! Seriously...we should set up some sort of "round it up and donate it" scheme to get little Aperino over to Bag End or whatever the name of that little place is...every card purchase rounded up to the nearest dollar and the change donated to a ticket fund.

Review: 57 of seventy-five

Title: HOW TO WATCH A BIRD

Author: STEVE BRAUNIAS

Rating: 3.9* of five

This short and shiny bagatelle of a beautifully produced book was a birthday gift from a Kiwi member of our 75 family, thanks Kerry!

I don't think I have ever in all my life read so many books about birds as I have this year. (Two.) Oh no...does this mean I'm going to become a birder?!? Oh Noooooooo...but wait...after reading this book, I have a much higher opinion of birders than before. And please note, that is "birder," NOT "bird-watcher" which is a mildly pejorative and condescending term for unserious casual glancers.

Of course, this is a view of the New Zealand birding world, so isn't overly likely to be applicable to Long Island, New York. More's the pity. Braunias presents a cast of lovably obsessed if socially prickly monomaniacs, past and present, who sound as though they'd render any cocktail party chatter silent. But, if you're in the right frame of mind (ie, to learn), they're fascinating to listen in on. I found myself rooting for birds I've never seen and likely will never see to win their fight for survival.

Braunias's gift as a writer is the short, punchy anecdote...he's a columnist for Sunday Magazine, which appears to be a lot like the Sunday New York Times Magazine, so that makes sense...and this book is just exactly long enough to let him showcase his brightest turns about birds and birding to best advantage.

I love that the book is so physically attractive, too, with its heavy cover stock, its well-reproduced halftone photos inside, and its all-around crisp design. New Zealand press AWA Press has distribution in the USA, so I assume it's possible to buy one here. I'd encourage yo to do so, because it's a delightful way to spend a few hours in good company.

Luxx: But the encyclopedia is heavy. I'm mostly concerned about brain damage.

Richard: You forget I'm the guy who won't even accept your books...

And please note, that is "birder," NOT "bird-watcher" which is a mildly pejorative and condescending term for unserious casual glancers.

That, my friend, sounds like a symptom of becoming a birder to me! ;)

That, my friend, sounds like a symptom of becoming a birder to me! ;)

No, no, no, no, you have it ALL WRONG I was quoting the author and and no no no it was not me was NOT me saying that nononono! I am NOT A BIRD PERSON!

*ulp*

--->218 richardderus:: "...a cast of lovably obsessed if socially prickly monomaniacs"

You said the book was about birders, not LT members, Richard.

Great review, though. You make books sound so very attractive.

*running away to add the book to wishlist*

Don't birders usually eventually become cat people too? >:)

Methinks the man doth protest too much. NOT A BIRD PERSON! I'll bet he has a budgie in a cage right there in the parlor. ETA (after reading Ape's simultaneous post): YES! And a Persian cat on a velvet cushion....a total fraud, that's our Richard.

>221 Matke: Gail, I don't know about YOU, but I am NOT socially prickly, and if you say I am one more time, I'm gonna hack your email account and send all your contacts the nastiest porn I can find in your name.

>222 Ape: You. Are. Dead.

>223 laytonwoman3rd: Linda3rd, I do not have any birds in durance vile, when they should be free and unfettered in their natural, Goddess-given state of...

*ulp* again

So what's the difference between a 'birder' and a 'bird-watcher' then, Ricardo? I would suppose that I'd be a bird-watcher since I don't do anything else with the ones that I'm ...er.... watching either outside my windows, or at the bird sanctuary in Concord that I sit in every once in a while to ...err... watch the heron, ospreys, ducks, geese, some yellow feathered birds and some tiny black and brown ones.

I'm so far behind on threads that I will never see the light of day.

Just popped in to say, a young man who was in the high school band with my son, a good friend during high school but fell apart since, and whose mother is a friend of mine, is a contestant on Project Runway this season....

#218-224 Great review, Richard, and hilarious comments.

224I am NOT socially prickly I have to agree with this.. curmudgeonly?
yes...but prickly ..no

>225 cameling: You and I are bird-watchers, Caro. I have *no* idea what the names of the birds are, or how many I've seen, or anything like that.

>226 tloeffler: That AJ critter?! Egads! I wondered when I saw his point of origin.

>227 phebj: Thanks, Pat!

>228 mckait: Curmudgeon and proud of it!

Just popping in to say...........what the heck is going on here??

Howdy. It sounds like you're feeling perkier and I'm glad. I am not glad however that the NY ain't gonna happen this fall. But, I promise, if I'm ever close (i.e. NYC) I'll give you a shout... maybe show the husband Manorville :) xox

>230 brenzi: I never ask that question, Bonnie. Too scary to learn the answer....

>231 suslyn: Oh boo hiss! But one day we'll meet face-to-face. I'm holding out for Provence, like in my dream, though without the Citroen wagon.

That works!! :) Of course, since I'm sure we'll have a blast, I'm open to both!

Simply lurking around here, sitting in a quiet corner, observing the chit chat and quick banter.

Can't speak. Too busy ROFLMAO!! Tweet , tweet. I am sorry Richard killed Ape in #224.

Very very strange things are happening here, in answer to Bonnie's query...

btw, oh thread policeman, isn't about that time???

>236 Chatterbox: Fourteen more.

What strange things are going on in here?! I won't have strange things going on without my knowledge and participation! Where? Who? What?!?

I am adding How to Watch a Bird to the BlackHole since, like you and Caro, I am a bird watcher rather than a birder.

Only 17 more days until the invasion, Richard. Are you ready?

Bird watching is one thing.. books about bird watching? no thank you dears.

235: *rises from grave* You're sorry!? :P

I was only trying to say that it is good that Richard is going to get over his hatred for cute cuddly kittens in the near future. This is a good thing! No reason to go killing me and whatnot, geez! :)

How about this, Richard. I'll go read a book on religion and you go buy a kitten. Whoever tosses theirs out the window first loses. :)

240 Rofl!

>238 alcottacre: Only 17 days!! I have to hide the naked dancing boys!! *stuffs Juan into closet* *shoves Luigi under bed*

>239 mckait: Closet birder.

>240 Ape: You. Are. Irresurrectable.

#240/242 *Falls off chair laughing*

#218 richarddear - for a book about North American bird watching, here's a very amusing book about competitive bird watching called The Big Year - A Tale of Man, Nature and Fowl Obsession by Mark Obmascik.

Possibly another book for your tbr?

xo Horrible

#240/242 you know guys, I just heard that Jimmy Fallon will be drawing funny comments off of Tweeter during his hosting bit on the Emmy's and using them during the show. You guys have a good chance of getting your funnies on air.

>243 Eat_Read_Knit: Caty, whatever is the matter with your balance?! You're falling off your chair often enough that I'm growing concerned!

>244 karenmarie: HORRIBLE!! I WILL NOT READ ANY MORE BIRDING BOOKS!!! NO NIX NYET NEIN NUH-UH!!
*slithers off to wishlist The Big Year but is really pissed about it*

>245 Carmenere: Lynda, we'd have to tweet them first and Twitter makes me itch.

#246 Yeah whatever.

sigh.. finally catched up on your threads Richard dear, I was terrible behind (halfway thread nine ....)

I don't think I will ever be able to cross the big pond, but if you ever end up on our side of the Atlantic Richard, I will do my bestest to meet you!!

#246 It's all down to having one leg shorter than the others. The chair, that is. Not me.

Ok. It's now 250 .... the thread police are gathering to weigh in heavily against thread abuse, Ricardo.

>249 Eat_Read_Knit: Mmm-hmmm. Sure. I buy that. o_O

>250 cameling: Ha! I snort! I toss my locks! I reject Authority in any and all of its oppressive ways!

I've been reviewing all the books I've sent out via Operation Paperback in my Books off the Shelf thread. Inching up there! Come by and read a few.

Looks like you're gonna need this...

glitter-graphics.com

Ve haf vays to make you COMPLY...

EEEAAARRRGGGHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!

#254 did it ewewew my eyes ewewew ick-yuck-ptui

So number 12 is up and runnin'!