Sunday Salon: Happy St. Patrick's

         Dia duit ar maidin! Happy St. Patrick's day.  It is a beautiful day and spring is approaching.  I'm looking forward to hanging out on the patio, pondering and enjoying nature again.  

         I just finished a book that really made you ponder -  Hopscotch by Julio Cortazar.   One of those book in which the characters discuss the meaning of life to death in a stream of consciousness fashion.  Plus one in which I needed the dictionary/encyclopedia several times to look up words and people.  Which made me realize I wouldn't have liked or finished the book at all 20 to 30 years ago because I wouldn't have appreciated or understood it.  I totally disliked the main character, Horacio Oliveira, and there were times I simply wanted to throw the book across the room in disgust. He had no redeeming qualities and I felt the same way about him as I did about Gatsby in The Great Gatsby.   But like a train wreck waiting to happen, had to finish the book. There were two ways to read the book - straight forward or in a Hopscotch manner jumping into 'expendable' chapters the author had written which were suppose to add to or explain some of what was going on.  I hopscotched around, letting the number at the end of each chapter tell me what to read next.  Which if you weren't paying attention, wouldn't realize you were in an endless loop at the end.  

         My brain was saturated upon finishing the book and needed time to rest. Couldn't even think of reading anything else.  James and I went to the comic book store and Barnes and Noble Friday afternoon and I was quite happy to discover the next book Touch of the Demon in Diana Rowland's urban fantasy Demon series.  Perfect book to dive into and escape for a while.  I also picked up a few next in the series books such as Patricia Brigg's Frost Burned, Laurel K. Hamilton's Hit List and Keri Arthur's Moon Sworn. So happy my son dragged me out to the store.


        I finished listening to the In Death  series by J.D. Robb.  Was at a loss wandering what I was going to listen too after a year and a half of the adventures of Eve and Roark. I'm so picky about the narrators and love Susan Ericksen. Checked out Lorelie King who narrates Patricia Brigg's Mercedes Thompson series and downloaded the first book Moon Called. Already read the series, so it's fun listening to it as well.   Enjoying it so far.  

         It's book week 12 in my 52 Books in 52 Weeks reading challenge and this week I'm highlighting  Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter:  Book # 7 in the list of great fiction from SWB's Well Educated Mind. Coincidentally, this is also the anniversary of the book's publication 163 years ago on March 16, 1850.  

         James has started a new blog based on the latest fan fiction story he wrote called Sonic the Hedgehog Z. which is a mashup involving characters from Sonic, Mega Man, Star Wars and who ever else can cook up. My son has a fascinating imagination. He also wants me to pass on to everyone the news that Sonic the Hedgehog and Mega Man are getting together in a comic book cross over event called Worlds Collide which will be published across three comic books - Sonic the Hedgehog, Sonic Universe and Mega Man and starts April 10. 

        Hubby just finished reading Lincoln's Last Days written by Bill O'Reilly and Dwight Jon Zimmerman.  He says it's excellent and one of the first history books he's read that is suspenseful, based on reality and simple enough for a child to read, but also good enough for an adult to read without being demeaning or feeling they are being talked down to.  He is encouraging both James and I to read it as well.  

       Life beckons. My HP Printer took a dump so just ordered and received a Brothers Wireless color printer with scanner and other nifty things. I have the fun of getting it set up today along with planning lessons for the week.  One more week to Spring break - Yahoo.  Although I'll be spending it doing the taxes.  But first - 50 more chapters to go in my book, so off to read.  Happy Sunday!

Sunday Salon: Hopscotch

Happy Sunday!  It is the oddest thing....whenever the time changes I feel jetlagged?  The cats have been trying to get me up an hour earlier for the past couple weeks so they've already adjusted.  My body won't adjust until April which is when DST used to start until congress changed it in 2007.  My internal clock really is still geared to that. I know...whine, moan, complain when it's only an hour. 

Life wise, with 7th grade, comes STAR testing for James since we are now involved in  the school district's charter home school.  He's never done any of the star tests before so  we arranged to have him do the tests at home. Why?  Because of his aspergers he is easily distracted and can't concentrate in a new environment.  He also very sociable and put him in a new environment with 20 new kids and forget getting anything done. Hey! A new audience and they haven't heard any of his stories and....  He would be as much as distraction as he would be distracted.  

The writing test was this past week and our counselor/teacher is so wonderful and patient with him.   I sat in the living room while they worked in the kitchen, listening to their conversation.  He'd write for a few minutes, then stop and ask her an off topic question. She'd patiently answer, then steer him back to his work.  Next month is the 2nd part which involves the English and math testing. Meanwhile, we'll do a couple practice tests so he knows what to expect.  

Reading wise, I just finished Tana French's The Likeness.  Booklist says it best so not going to reinvent the wheel right now:  

 "French’s debut novel, In the Woods (2007), introduced Dublin Murder Squad detective Cassie Maddox and earned unanimous critical praise. Cassie is back, and French has written another winner. The body of a young woman is found in the ruins of a old stone cottage in a dying village outside of Dublin, and the dead woman and Cassie are virtual twins. Lacking suspects or leads, the victim is reported by the police to be injured but alive, leaving Cassie to step into the dead woman’s life as a Trinity College graduate student and the housemate of four other students. Despite the tensions of being undercover, Cassie quickly learns to love her quirky, insular housemates and her new life in a once-grand house, even as the Murder Squad investigation yields little. Someone stabbed her doppelganger to death, and Cassie must find the killer. The Likeness has everything: memorable characters, crisp dialogue, shrewd psychological insight, mounting tension, a palpable sense of place, and wonderfully evocative, painterly prose."

One of those unputdownable books, at least for me.  So much so, when I should have been writing the 52 Books blog post for week 11, I was reading instead.   Today is the start of the Hopscotch Readalong by Julio Cortazar which is really two books in one. You can either read in regular chapter order or follow his hopscotch order and start with chapter 73.  I'm going to follow his order and see what happens.

Life beckons. Happy Sunday!  

  

Sunday Salon - May wrap up and row80 check in

Stormy skies and rainbows yesterday enthralled us and kept us entertained for the day.  Plus read Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain for my Humanities class.  Realized I had never read it before, because if I had I would have remembered how much I hated it.   Yes, I thoroughly disliked the book.   The constant lying and getting away with the lying and the shenanigans of the Duke and the King and Tom's keeping the secret Jim was free and going through all sorts of machinations with Huck instead of just freeing him.   Between Huck's horrendous behavior and the use of the 'n' word I can see why some high schools and libraries banned the book.   Even if they do come out with a censored version of the book, it is still pretty horrendous.  

May was a mixed bag of reading paranormal and suspense romances and christian contemporary romances with a couple historical fiction novels thrown in for good measure.  

1. Face of Danger -Roxanne St. Claire (e-book)
2. Shiver of Fear - Roxanne St. Claire (e-book)
3. Undertow - Cherry Adair  (e-book)
4. Treachery in Death - J.D. Robb
   
5. Ruthless Games #8 - Christine Feehan
6. Crimson Wind - Diana Pharaoh Francis
7. The Best Gift (#1 Sisters and Brides) - Irene Hannon (ebook)
8. Gift From The Heart (#2 Sisters and Brides) - Irene Hannon (ebook)
   
9. The Unexpected Gift (#3 Sisters and Brides) - Irene Hannon (ebook)
10. Janeology - Karen Harrington
11. The Preacher's Bride - Jody Hedlund
12. Kiss the Moon - Carla Neggers
13. Shadow Game #1 - Christine Feehan (ebook)

Highly recommend The Preacher's Bride by Jody Hedlund, Janeology by Karen Harrington and The Silver Eagle by Ben Kane. All three for different reasons of course, because each is unique in it own right.  I'll also be writing reviews as soon as I can, but class stuff comes first.  I'll be doing a giveaway for The Silver Eagle. Speaking of Giveaways, I'm sending out the books everyone won from my blogoversary on Monday. Thanks for your patience.   

For the A to Z challenge for both author and title, I'm up to the L's.

ROW80 Sunday 6-5 check in  - doing morning pages first thing and plugging away with Red Thief, slowly but surely for half an hour every morning.

It is week 23 in the Read 52 Books in 52 weeks quest and this week I highlighted Virginia Woolf's essay "The Love of Reading."  Very eloquent and educational. Well worth reading.

Have a wonderful week and see you around the blogosphere! 

Sunday Salon - Get Caught Reading and Creative Beginnings Month

Get Caught Reading

Yes, May is Get Caught Reading month as well as Creative Beginnings Month.   Can't imagine anything better than reading or being creative. Speaking of creativity, for ROW80 (A Round of Words in 80 days) I'm still working on first draft of Red Thief.  It's going a bit slowly and shame on me, but I didn't work on it every single day this week.  Kind of an off week. Check out how everyone else is doing here. 

 

I just finished reading "The Sandalwood Tree" by Elle Newmark and will be posting my review on Tuesday.  Excellent historical fiction novel set in India during two time periods - the 1840's and 1940's.    Now I want to read her other books "The Book of Unholy Mischief" and "The Chief's Apprentice."   And guess what, Elle has written a guest post for me about her travels in India while researching "The Sandalwood Tree" which will be live on Wednesday. 

My book buying ban seems to have disappeared with the April winds.  Yesterday, I went to Bereans to pick up "What's in the Bible 5" dvd for James which unfortunately they didn't have.  Instead  I picked up favorite author books  "The Priest's Graveyard" by Ted Dekker, "Tenth Stone" by Bodie Thoene, "Out of Time" by Alton Gansky".  Also a couple authors I haven't read yet - Alister McGrath's "The Aedyn Chronicles" and Robin Hatcher's "Fit to be Tied." 

I just finished Week 10 of The Artist's Way - Recovering a Sense of Self Protection.  It's all about the dangers of the trail and creative roadblocks we place in front of ourselves.  Cameron talks about how 'fame' and 'competition' are spiritual drugs. 

"Fame encourages us to believe that if it hasn't happened yet, it won't happen.  Of course, it is fame.  Fame is not the same as success and in our true souls we know that.  We know--and have felt--success at the end of a good day's work.  But fame?  It is addictive and it always leaves us hungry....   The point of the work is the work.  Fame interferes with that perception. (pg 171)

"Competition is another spiritual drug.  When we focus on competition we poison our own well, impede our own progress.  When we are ogling the accomplishments of others, we take our eye away from our own through line.  We ask ourselves the wrong questions, and those wrong questions, give us the wrong answers.  

As artists we can't afford to think about who is getting ahead of us and how they don't deserve it.  The desire to be better than can choke off the simple desire to be.  As artists we cannot afford this thinking.  It leads us away from our own voices and choices and into a defensive game that centers outside of ourselves and our sphere of influence.  It asks us to define our own creativity in terms of someone else's.  (pg 173)

So true and it is hard not to compare yourself to others.  The grass is always greener mentality seeps through, tainting the well of inspiration.   Cameron says it best:

"If the demand to be original still troubles you, remember this:  each of us is our own country, an interesting place to visit.  It is the accurate mapping out of our own creative interests that invites the term original.  We are the origin of our art, its homeland.  Viewed this way, originality is the process of remaining true to ourselves." (pg 174)

Speaking of creativity, James has started  a blog called Bowser Jr.'s Fan Fiction.  Check out his latest entry.

This week theme for Read 52 Books in 52 weeks is Q is for Queen.  Interesting tidbits about the monarchy.  The British Monarchy website is very interesting, fascinating and educational.


I'm excited.  I got one of these:

Except I didn't get a white one. It came out the day after I ordered my phone.   I'm having a lot of fun exploring and playing, discovering all kinds of interesting apps.  The only thing I'm miffed about.  I didn't find out (and must have missed it in the small print somewhere) that the fee for the Internet Hotspot is $20.00 extra a month.  *face palm*   Oh well. It's worth it in order to have internet where ever I go. 

Happy Reading! 

Merry Christmas from our family to yours!

Merry Christmas from Our Family to yours!

We have this wonderful book "Christmas Garland" by Margaret Tarrant's from 1942 with some beautiful poems and stories in it.   Last night I read to Father and James "Robin Redbreast" by Selma Lagelof which had me both laughing and crying.   Click here to read it on the Baldwin Project site.   I loved this old 12th century carol:

The Friendly Beasts

Jesus, our Brother, strong and good,
Was humbly born in a stable rude,
And the friendly beasts around Him stood,
Jesus, our Brother, strong and good.

"I," said the donkey, shaggy and brown.
"I carried His mother up hill and down,
I carried her safely to Bethlehem town;
I," said the donkey, shaggy and brown.

"I," said the cow all white and red,
"I gave Him my manger for His bed,
I gave Him my hay to pillow His head;
I," said the cow all white and red.

"I," said the sheep with curly horn,
"I gave Him my wool for His blanket warm,
He wore my coat on Christmas morn;
I," said the sheep with curly horn.

"I," said the dove, from the rafters high,
"Cooed Him to sleep, my mate and I,
We cooed Him to sleep, my mate and I;
I," said the dove, from the rafters high.

And every beast, by some good spell,
In the stable dark was glad to tell
Of the gift he gave Emmanuel,
The gift he gave Emmanuel.

As we celebrate the birth of our Lord and the many gifts and blessings he has brought into our lives, we wish you and yours a very Merry Christmas and a Blessed New Year.

Work In Progress Wednesday - 2010 Year of Writing Deliberately

I decided 2010 is going to be my Deliberate Year!  Ever since I heard about Jennifer's idea of the Year of Reading Deliberately, the thoughts started rolling about in my head about being deliberate with not only my reading, but also writing as well.   Plus being deliberate with my health since watching my blood pressure and eating choices, especially after that choking scare.  Happy to say I was pleasantly surprised when I stood on the scale yesterday that since I've given up pepsi's and chips, it resulted in me dropping 8 pounds.  

Then I receive this wonderful email from Chris Baty.

Dear Writer....

I ran into your 2009 NaNoWriMo novel yesterday, and it said that you two are currently "taking a break." I offered my condolences and mentioned that I'd probably be seeing you today. It quickly scribbled out a note for me to give you. The note seemed kind of personal, so I didn't read it. Here it is!

"Hi! Come back to me. I'll be better this time, I promise!".....

....So here's my proposal. What if we pick one of the promising stories we've started and set aside, and then spend 2010 finishing it up and making it great?"   

Hence the birth of The Year of Writing Deliberately was born.  Deliberate - "Done with or marked by full consciousness of the nature and effects."   How often do we go through our days on auto pilot, not giving conscious thought to what we are doing.  Never fully in the moment, but thinking about what needs to be done next, splitting our attention away from what actively doing at the moment.   So, what does this have to do with writing?    I like writing and seem to do plenty of it -whether blogging, class work, lesson plans, business letters, etc.     For each of these things, the outcome has be letter perfect almost from the get go.  You edit as you go and make sure all the grammar and punctuation is perfect.

Writing a novel is different because the first draft is free flowing thought - getting it all out there on paper first, then going back once, twice, maybe half a dozen times to edit until you are happy with it.   It's been an interesting experience and I now have 3 works in progress.   My first nano Floating on the Surface is resting, waiting for me to get back to it.  I decided to rewrite the entire thing this year and worked on it until Nano 2009.  The story is at a turning point in which I either have the action take place in a shorter period of time (which my characters seem to be lobbying for) or spread it out over a longer period of time.   I discovered when you veer away from what the characters want, they rebel.   

My Nano 2008 Winter's Illusion is on the shelf and I'm going to let it stay there until I finish the other two.  I took more time finishing Winter's Illusion and think it going to need a couple edits, but no major rewrites.   I'm looking forward to going back and rereading.

Nano 2009 The first draft of Eyes in the Ashes is about 60% done and I'm already thinking about editing it because about 15% of it is filler.   I ended up writing two different scenarios in the middle of the story.   I wrote scenes for both scenarios so it's a mess, but now know which direction want to take.   But the first part is good and will keep going.  I'm going to go back over what have written so far, take out the filler, and continue from there.  Father sat down one night when I stepped away from the computer and started reading the story.  I thought he would lose interest after a couple minutes, because he did with Floating on the Surface.  He doesn't read fiction, but he got captured by the story and can't wait for me to finish so he can read the rest of the story.  High compliments indeed and really made my day!

So, my first goal will be to finish Eyes, then get back to Floating on the Surface.  I'm going to commit to writing everyday.  Doesn't matter how many words or pages, just as long as I commit to sitting down and writing for at least an hour, giving the story my full attention.  During nano, I had a goal of 2000 words a day and managed to accomplish that because I didn't turn on the computer, didn't check my emails, didn't blog until I was done writing for the day.   I dedicated my morning to writing, before Father and James got up for the day and the daily distractions started.

So for my 2010 Year of Writing Deliberately, I will dedicate my morning to writing.   Every morning!  I found I have to write every single day because when I start differentiating between writing on the weekdays only and taking off on the weekend, by Monday morning, the resolve isn't there.  Then I have to work on Mondays, so justify not writing because I only have an hour before work so go online.  And so on and so on.

I love writing!  I love putting pen to paper and letting my thoughts flow and I amaze myself sometimes.  I look at it later and say "wow I wrote that."   I will be sharing my progress weekly since you all help to keep me accountable.    If anyone wants to join me in the Year of Writing Deliberately, let me know.

What works do you currently have in progress and what are your writing goals for 2010?

Christmas prep and Some People by Flavia

5 Days to Christmas Eve

I'm working on my midterm Essay today comparing the Egyptian sculpture Menkaure and a Queen with a Greek sculpture Anavysos Kouros (warning: graphic nude sculpture alert). Shouldn't be too difficult. In fact, I think it will be fun pointing out the differences!

And then, I'll be braving the crowds to pick up a few odds and ends for Christmas and grocery shopping. I think we're having rock cornish game hens this year for Christmas dinner. We still have half the meat from the 20 pound turkey we had for thanksgiving. If James wants turkey bad enough, since he missed out at Thanksgiving from being sick in bed, then I'll heat some up for him. Then we'll be wrapping up some Christmas gifts to place under our lonely christmas tree. The rest will be arriving via amazon and ups over the next couple days. It's been hilarious with father trying to Christmas shop online at Amazon since we don't have separate accounts. He has a cold and hasn't felt like leaving the house. So, we've been trying to be creative in not seeing what the other has been purchasing but it is extremely difficult. Next year - separate accounts.

Tomorrow is the first day of Winter and the end of the Fall Reading Challenge, so will be posting a wrap up soon. In the meantime, leaving you with one of my favorite poems which is hanging on a wall in our house.

Some People

By

Flavia Weedn

Some people come into our lives
and leave footprints on our hearts
and we are never ever the same.

Some people come into our lives
and quickly go...Some stay for a while
and embrace our silent dreams.
 
They help us become aware
of the delicate winds of hope...
and we discover within every human spirit
there are wings yearning to fly.

They help our hearts to see that
the only stairway to the stars
is woven with dreams...
and we find ourselves
unafraid to reach high.

They celebrate the true essence
of who we are...
and have faith in all
that we may become.

Some people awaken us
to new and deeper realizations...
for we gain insight
from the passing whisper of their wisdom.

Throughout our lives we are sent
precious souls...
meant to share our journey
however brief or lasting their stay
they remind us why we are here.

To learn...to teach...to nurture...to love.

Some people come into our lives
to cast a steady light
upon our path and guide our every step
their shining belief in us
helps us to believe in ourselves.

Some people come into our
lives to teach us about love...
The love that rests within ourselves.

Let us reach out to others
and feel the bliss of giving
for love is far richer in action
than it ever is in words.

Some people come into our lives
and they move our souls to sing
and make our spirits dance.

They help us to see that everything on earth
is part of the incredibility of life...
and that it is always there
for us to take of its joy.

Some people come into our lives
and leave footprints on our hearts
and we are never ever the same.

It's Official - Taking a christmas break.

It's officially recess time

I had planned on continuing lessons this week and only taking the week of Christmas off since James and John both got sick around Thanksgiving and we ended up taking 3 weeks off.  However, none of us can concentrate with the tree to decorate, lights to put up, Christmas shopping to complete.  Plus my midterm is this week.   And on top of that, I am just plain tired.  Tuckered out.  Too pooped to pop.   James has promised to double down and work hard to catch up with lessons after Christmas.

So - Recess Time. Time to watch "White Christmas" and decorate the tree.  Time to bake.  Time to shop and have fun picking out gifts for the family.  Time to figure out what kind of cake I'm going to make for Jesus's birthday this year because after all he is the reason for the season.  Time to put together my list of ingredients needed to shop for to prepare chocolate chip cookies because Santa likes homemade.   Time to stop and catch up with the neighbors and friends.  And a bit more time to relax and read and play and catch up with my favorite blogs and post some reviews. 

I'm reminded of an old Simon and Garfunkel song.

Slow down, you move too fast.

You got to make the morning last.
Just kicking down the cobble stones.
Looking for fun and feelin' groovy.

Hello lamppost,
What cha knowing?
I've come to watch your flowers growing.
Ain't cha got no rhymes for me?
Doot-in' doo-doo,
Feelin' groovy.

Got no deeds to do,
No promises to keep.
I'm dappled and drowsy and ready to sleep.
Let the morning time drop all its petals on me.
Life, I love you,
All is groovy.

I'm groovy! How about you?

How I spent my Saturday Night - is it old age or stupidity

"When having a smackerel of something with a friend, don't eat so much that you get stuck in the doorway trying to get out"- Winnie the Pooh.


Good morning from rainy, dreary California.   Whether you call it aging or stupidity, I ended up spending last night at the emergency room.   Yesterday was my day to open the shop and James went with me.  Father left home around 2:00 to attend the Christmas Party/ Annual Event for the Audio Engineering Society Christmas.   We closed up shop and headed for home.  I had been a craving Jimboy's Steak Taco salad so picked one up on the way home.  I have been on a strict no eating out diet since my blood pressure had been giving me issues.  I gave in to the cravings.  Come supper time I cooked James some french fries and we sat down to eat.  

The first bite of the salad was delicious.  The second bit had a nice piece of steak.  A little big I thought absently, but shouldn't be a problem.   The nice piece of steak had a mind of its own and decided not to go down and lodged itself in my esophagus, just far enough down that I couldn't spit it out.  I've had bits of bread and chicken get semi lodged before so proceeded to drink some water to wash it down.  All of the sudden, I was coughing and choking because the water backed up and wouldn't go down.  Yes, I spewed, but the steak didn't come out.  Went to the backroom and tried the finger method to get myself to throw it up.  Didn't work.  I gave it a few minutes to work itself down, then tried some ginger ale.  The fizz usually works, but no go.  I couldn't eat or drink anything.   I could breath fine as long as I didn't panic and spit out saliva as it collected in my throat.  James wanted me to call 911 and I told him if I start having trouble breathing or pass out, that's what I wanted him to do.    I called father, told him the problem and asked him to come home immediately.  I wanted, I needed to go to the emergency room.  One of the men in his group is a doctor and he told John the same thing  - If I couldn't drink water to go to emergency.   James paced the floor with me as I tried to remain calm about this meat lodged in my throat which was extremely uncomfortable and painful. 

He made it home in record time and we went to the emergency room.  Surprisingly, it wasn't very busy and I only had to wait about 15 minutes.  In the meantime they gave me a barf bag to spit up in.  After all the questions, the doctor came in and told me the scoop.  They would give me adderral, a muscle relaxant and valium.  They would give it two hours and see if the muscles in my throat relaxed enough for the "foreign body" (their word) to work itself down.  If it didn't, then the GI doctor would come in and remove it using a probe of some sort. I forgot what they called it.  The Doctor said the 75% of the time, the relaxation technique didn't work and they had to remove the object.  They laid me down, juiced me up with all this medicine, constantly monitored my blood pressure which of course has gone through the roof during all this. I do have to say that since Kaiser has computerized all our medical records, everyone knew my medical history, what med's I'm taking, what I'm allergic to, etc.  

I sent James and John off for the period of time and they went back over to the AES party.   James had a great time mingling with all the musicians and checking out the equipment.  They came back after two hours, just in time for the doctor to decide he would have to remove the object.  They called in their GI specialists, ousted John and James from the room and went to work.  They gave me a waking sedative, oxygen, and laid me on my side.  The doctor kept patting me on the shoulder, telling me to relax.  Yeah, easier said than done when you are going to stick a probe down my throat.  At times like these, all the yoga and meditation relaxation techniques pretty much go bye bye.   I just concentrated on breathing and anyway by that point, the medicines had kicked in and relaxed me.  He stuck this o ring thing in my mouth to bit on and keep my mouth open.  Then sprays a numbing agent in my throat, telling me not to swallow it.  Easier said than done, but he was fast with the sucker machine.  He did this twice, then proceeded to stick the gadget down my throat.   No it wasn't fun, but he got it out.

Afterwards they showed me the pictures of the x-ray of the piece of meat, plus areas showing my esophagus was bruised.  We got home around 12:30 a.m. and now I'm on a liquid diet for today and soft foods for the next couple days.   They prescribed Omeprazole which is supposed to help relax my throat.  My throat doesn't feel bad, but I'm am all over sore. 

I do have to say the nurses and doctors were very nice and friendly, concerned and helpful, which really helped and explained each step before they did it.  

What would I have been doing if all this hadn't happened. Since Father was supposed to be occupied for the evening, I was going to enjoy some quiet time, after James went to bed and get some Christmas shopping done via Amazon.  I discovered some new released by favorite authors that I wasn't even aware of.   That's what this post was supposed to be about.  Plus finish writing up the answers to this week's art class discussions.   So the post about my new discoveries will be later - when I finish my homework.  Which I've been putting off all week and today's the last day to submit.   Is it the middle age write it down or you'll forget about it gene or just stupidity.  Metaphorical question to be analyzed some other day.

14 days to Christmas:  Have you finished your christmas shopping yet?

TSS: Sunday Salon on Monday - books, papers, nooks, and challenges

Good morning, good afternoon, good evening and happy tomorrow where ever you may be.  Welcome to my new followers and hi to my loyal readers.  November was a very busy month for me and I wasn't blogging much as you can tell by the lack of posts.

I won National Novel Writing Month by the skin of my teeth with 50,049 words. Eyes in the Ashes is flowing along and I will be going back to look at what I wrote, outline and finish the story.   Halfway through I could tell I needed to go back and expand on the story a bit, include more details and yes, some background to how some of the characters knew each other.  Little details that when mixed in with the rest, added to the mystery and provided clues.

My art history class started the first of November and I had to write a project paper last week as well about an Egyptian work of art.    Reason number one why I did a major push with Nano to get it done early.  Fortunately and surprisingly, we had a copy of an egyptian work of art - The Faience Hippo - sitting in our living room.  You can imagine my surprise when I read about the Hippo in my Art History book.  I had no idea.


I'm excited because I pre-ordered the Barnes and Noble Nook E-reader back when it was first announced and my nook is shipping today.   I'll be sharing pictures and thoughts when it arrives.   I've been perusing B & N's and other ebook sights and am pleased that lovely young woman by the name of Rachel aka Athenagwis, short for Athena Goddess of Wisdom, is hosting a book nook forum called Nookboards.  We've already been discussing a book club, plus I'm hoping someone out in the blogosphere is going to host a e-book reading challenge.  It will give me incentive and help me find more e-books to read.

Speaking of reading challenges, I am working on one of my own called

Mind Voyages

I have enjoyed reading science fiction and fantasy  ever since I was a teenager, many many years ago.    Recently I discovered the World Science Fiction Society's Hugo Award web site. I looked at all the winners and nominees and it made my mouth water. So many good books to read and many authors I was already familiar with and some I'm not.   I even have a few of the older books packed away in my closet. It gave me an idea.  At first, I was going to base the challenge on just the Hugo awards. Then as I thought about it some more, I decided to go with a number of quests including the Hugo winners, taking side trips through the decades reading the nominees, two quests featuring Philip K. Dick and Robert Heinlein.  Plus, since I am the type of person who likes variety will include a discovery quest to read new science fiction and fantasy books.  And for those who want to just dip their toes in the water and choose from the book buffet.  an "I'm giving it all she's got, Captain" quest.   

Plus,  if you have any suggestions for side trips - authors to highlight, web sites to link to or new releases I should be aware of, let me know.    The blog will be going live in the next few days.  Now I just need to figure out what's wrong with Mr. Linky and why he doesn't want to work. 

"The only way to discover the limits of the possible is to go beyond them into the impossible." - Arthur C. Clarke

I'm 18,263 days old today!

Yep. 18,263 days old


Fifty

I think it is

Fine Fantastic Fabulous Fitting and first class


I will celebrate it with

Flare Fun frivolity and flash




I will live it with

familiarity flexibility fluency and fancy free



I refuse to bow down to

Fatalism fury foreboding or funks



Fifty is freedom

to be me, to make of it what I will



Our birthdays are feathers in the broad wing of time.
Jean Paul Richter

40th Bookworms Carnival

The 40th edition of Bookworms Carnival

hosted by Literary Escapism


Urban Fantasy and Gothic Literature


There are some great links to great reviews about great books

Including a couple of my own

NaNoWriMo has a theme song

I'm half way there at 25806

The story is rocking along and good guys are turning into bad guys and the one you think is a bad guy maybe a good guy. No one is who they seem with surprises around each corner. The story is unfolding as I write and some of the characters are surprising me. In the midst of writing, I've gotten very behind with book reviews. 

I've decided not to pressure myself and try to write reviews on the books I read in November, except for review books. The only other review book I read so far is "Holiday Grind" by Cleo Coyle and the rest were just for personal pleasure. Yes, I'm still reading. 

However, I'm done with Take a Chance Challenge. There isn't any way I'm going to finish by the end of the November. I couldn't get into "The Venetian Affair" by Helen MacInnes, nor do I favor reading "Dear and Glorious Physician" by Taylor Caldwell. They are both being shelved until 2010. My wrap up post will be done after November 30th. I only have four books left to read for the Fall Reading Challenge and that doesn't end until December 20th so I'm good there. 

Do you remember the song Hotel California by the Eagles? It was released in the 70's and I loved the song. Do you remember the tune?  Good. 

 Sushi of Sushi Must Write came up with a new version called Hotel NaNoWriMo. “Hotel NaNoWriMo” by Sushi (sushimustwrite) Original: “Hotel California” by the Eagles. 

On the Internet highway, surfing links to links 

Discovering new things, getting sucked in time sinks 

Up ahead in the distance, I saw the Wrimonia sign 

My head then perked up, and I looked ahead 

I’d heard this through the grapevine 

There were writers all over Trebuchets and pell mell And I was thinking to myself

 “This could be heaven or this could be hell” 

Then I noticed Wrimo Hall, and I walked on that way 

There were voices all around the square I thought I heard them say

 Welcome to the Hotel NaNoWriMo 

Such a lovely place (such a lovely place) Such a lovely pace 

Plenty of plots at the Hotel NaNoWriMo Muses near and dear 

You can find them here But there were no plots to be found, at least none that would play nice. 

All I had come November first was some bad advice 

Wrimos write on their laptops, tales to beget 

Some write to remember, some write to forget

 So I called up the forums “Can I please resign?” 

They said, “We haven’t had such quitting here since 1999″ 

And still the editor’s calling from far away 

Poking me in the middle of a war 

Just to hear me say 

 Welcome to the Hotel NaNoWriMo 

Such a lovely place (such a lovely place) Such a lovely pace 

You give up your soul at the Hotel NaNoWriMo 

Kiss your time goodbye (kiss your time goodbye) Kiss your life goodbye 

 Staring at a blank screen Two more K would suffice The mod said, 

“Take some dares, Mr. Ian Woon, and a plot device” 

And in the steel cage of doom They tried to get ahead 

They stab it with their steely sporks But the editor’s not dead 

 Last time I tried to write, I was Untangling my plot 

I pondered quitting once again Just like all those years not fought 

“Don’t quit,” said Chris Baty It might be a reprieve 

You can check out any time you like But you can never leave.

Back to writing!

Family Life: Saturday Splash

K.I.S.S.

Keep it simple sherlock or shurley or sally or silly - you choose the s word.

How do you like my new look? I'm a person who can't work in clutter, can't read when there are too many pretty things on a page, overshadowing the words, can't write with music going because it totally relaxes me. So, the blog reflects me. It was getting a bit cluttered and had been thinking of making a few changes, plus coming up with a new challenge blog. However, not in the midst of nano and starting a new class. Oh well.

I've been writing, however I don't know my word count because I haven't typed it up yet. I'm taking my laptop and notebook with me to work today and will work on that between customers. And because of the fact I have something else I want to do, it will be ultra busy. Murphy's law, you know. Paying customers - who can complain about that.

My online art history class - art from the ancients up to the 14th century just started and I have 36 pages to read this week, plus write up a couple short discussion papers. That will keep me busy.

Went to the doctor on Monday and my blood pressure was through the roof. Of course, I had just come from getting mammogram done and having your *books* squashed vertically and horizontally probably accounted for some of it. However, I've been bad lately - eating out a lot, drinking two or three pepsi's a day. Soooo.... I've given up my beloved Pepsi. I have discovered Snapple's Earl Grey Ice tea though - delicious yet expensive. Will also be brown bagging it and trying to exercise everyday.

Totally my fault and since I will be turning fabulous 50 in a couple weeks, am going to dedicate more time for physical fitness. Notice I didn't say schedule more time. I don't do well with schedules. Deadlines and goals work for me, but schedules no. I have to remain flexible. Which means less time blogging and being on the internet. I really don't want to give up anything. There is time for all. I just have to more judicious with my time.

Stay tuned for this weeks homeschool report, book reviews on "The Recipe Club" by Andrea Israel and Nancy Garfinkel and "Holiday Grind" by Cleo Coyle. I'll be updating my word count sometime this weekend and putting the word count meter up.

In Arnold's infamous words "I'll be back"

Blew up my blog.

I unintentionally blew her up. Yep. If you think my blood pressure was high before, I think I just sent it out of the stratosphere. I was playing around with templates for setting up the Hugo Award challenge. Picked the wrong blog. Of course, I hadn't backed up in a while, so....

I'll be reconstructing from bookmarks and what not. At least I didn't lose my posts. I was getting slightly bored with the newspaper template. So guess now is the time to make major changes - whether I like it or not. I knew I should have waited until November was over before thinking about the Hugo award challenge blog.

The Sunday Salon: Nooks and Books

Dear john letter to Kindle. I'm so sorry, darling, but I've found something new that offers me so much more and I can't resist it.

What sold me on the Barnes and Noble Nook: AT&T's 3G Network and Wi-Fi enabled ereader -- Can't, can't stand Sprint. Plus the color touch screen -- cool! Other cool features - ability to download thousands of free ebooks from google and read up to 10 days before having to recharge the battery. After mulling it over for a couple days and discussing it with Father, pre ordered the Nook. It is set to be released on November 30th. It will either be a late birthday or early christmas present to myself.

During BBAW I won the Reading and Writing Bundle from Harper Collins and I received the books on Friday. Very cool selection.

Don't Know Much About Literature * by Kenneth C. Davis. Lots of interesting facts about great books and their authors.

How to Read Literature Like a Professor * by Thomas C. Foster. A guide to reading between the lines and finding out what the author meant or what something symbolized.

A Novel in a Year * by Louise Doughty. 52 chapters of practical advice from start to end. Great timing since just about to start writing a new story.

Reading Like a Writer * by Francine Prose. Using examples from the great books, the author teaches how a close reading will teach you to not only be a better reader, but a better writer.

You've Got to Read This Book * by Jack Canfield and Gay Hendricks. 55 Celebrities, authors, singers, etc talk about the book that changed their lives.

All very neat books and I look forward to reading them. A big thank you to Harper Collins for sending them to me.

I'm currently reading Night Watch by Sergei Lukyanenko. Very interesting and the last of the books I had decided to read for the Spooktacular month of October. I finished "Frankenstein" by Mary Shelley and "From a Whisper to a Scream" by Charles DeLint. Also "Hush Hush" by Becca Fitzpatrick. All very good books and will be reviewing them sometime this week.

I would be remiss if I didn't mention Dewey's Read-a-Thon. Even though I was just a cheerleader this year, I enjoyed the event and had fun cheering on the readers. A big cheer and thank you to the organizers who hosted the event: Eva, Nymeth, Hannah and Trish. They really worked hard and deserve a big round of applause - imagine virtual applause. Also the readers who put their heart and souls into reading and the cheerleaders who urge them on.

You guys Rock!






* note: links are not amazon associate links.

Dewey's 24 hour Read A Thon

The readathon is in full swing. Readers are in their 13th hour. I decided instead of being a reader this year, that I would be a cheerleader. I knew that once the California Capitol March was over, I would be too brain dead to read. And I was right. I tried reading a bit after we got home and couldn't comprehend a thing. Took a nap and jumped on line to visit all the readers and urge them on.

I got in some practice (inadvertently) cheerleading at the march, leading our troop in the YMCA song. They were playing YMCA over the loudspeaker and the cub master thought I was doing such a good job of it, that she appointed me to lead the boys in the Y M C A hand movements. Yes, father took pictures. Soon. Soon.

So, what is the read-a-thon all about.

What is Dewey’s 24-Hour Read-a-thon? For 24 hours, we read books, post to our blogs about our reading, and visit other readers’ blogs. We also participate in mini-challenges throughout the day. It happens twice a year, in April and in October.

It was created by the beloved Dewey. The first one was held in October 2007. Dewey died in late 2008. We’re still saddened by her absence, but the show must go on. The read-a-thon was renamed to honor its founder in 2009.

Dewey’s 24-Hour Read-a-thon is hosted by Eva, Nymeth, Hannah and Trish.

Check it out here and take the time the cheer on some of the 376 readers participating. Some reading for fun and some reading not only for fun, but charities as well. Good luck to all the readers!

Wordless Wednesday - Side Walk Chalk Guy

The sidewalk chalk guy's work always fascinates me!

TSS: More Challenges!

Good morning, good afternoon, good evening and happy monday, depending on where you are on the globe. I swore I wasn't going to join any more reading challenges or set any more challenges for myself, but you know, sometimes you just can't resist. I've been thinking about the new year and reading challenges. I came up with a new challenge for myself - the Hugo Award Reading challenge.


The Hugo Awards are awards for excellence in Science Fiction and Fantasy and are awarded each year at the World Science Fiction convention.

"The Hugo Awards are named after Hugo Gernsback, a famous magazine editor who did much to bring science fiction to a wider audience. Gernsback founded Amazing Stories, the first major American SF magazine, in 1926. He is widely credited with sparking a boom in interest in written SF. In addition to having the Hugo Awards named after him he has been recognized as the “Father of Magazine SF” and has a crater on the Moon named after him."

The first award handed out for best novel in 1953 was The Demolished Man by Alfred Bester. The 2009 award went to Neil Gaiman for The Graveyard Book. I will be working my way through the list of award winners for best novel, starting with 1953. The winners through 1969 are

1. 1953 The Demolished Man - Alfred Bester (have)
2. 1954 Fahrenheit 451 - Ray Bradbury
3. 1955 They'd Rather be Eight - Mark Clifton
4. 1956 Double Star - Robert Heinlein
5. 1957 none
6. 1958 The Big Time - Fritz Leiber
7. 1959 A Case of Conscience - James Blish
8. 1960 Starship Troopers - Robert Heinlein
9. 1961 A Canticle for Leibwitz - Walter Miller
10. 1962 Stranger in a Strange Land - Robert Heinlein
11. 1963 The Man in the High Castle - Philip K. Dick
12. 1964 Here Gather the Stars - Clifford D. Simak
13. 1965 The Wanderer - Fritz Leiber
    
14. 1966 Dune - Frank Herbert
    
15. 1967 The Moon is a Harsh Mistress - Robert Heinlein
16. 1968 Lord of Light - Roger Zelany
17. 1969 Stand on Zanzibar - John Brunner

The website also lists the runner ups and I may be taking side trips reading through those books as well. They all look like really interesting books and I may just have a few packed away in the closet. I'm going to have to go through my boxes and see. At some point I will either write up a post with a total list of best novels or set up a separate site. It will be a perpetual challenge and I'll set a goal of reading the novels winners from 1953 to 1969 for the first year. If anyone wants to join me in the challenge, let me know and I'll set something up.

Two other challenges that I am joining this year are BethF's Sookie Stackhouse Reading Challenge and The Really Old Classics Challenge co hosted by Rebecca and Heather.

A couple weeks ago I picked up "Dead Until Dark" by Charlaine Harris and was hooked. Immediately went out and bought "Living Dead in Dallas." Target had the whole series and I was tempted to buy all then and there, but resisted the temptation. I picked up "Club Dead" and "Dead to the World" today. And when I saw Beth is hosting a Sookie Stackhouse Challenge, couldn't resist joining in on the challenge.

The challenge runs through June 30, 2010 so plenty of time to read Charlaine Harris's Sookie Stackhouse series.

Then Rebecca and Heather announced their Really Old Classics Challenge which is a challenge to read those really old classics written prior to the 1600's.


We have a few books on the shelves I've been meaning to read such as St. Augustine's Confessions and Five Great Dialogues by Plato to name a couple so decided to join the challenge. The challenge runs from November 2009 through February 2010. Will definitely be Reading St. Augustine's Confessions and perhaps a bonus book or two.

How am I doing on my current challenges:

Fall into Reading: Finished 6 out of 13 so far.

Take a Chance Challenge: Finished 3 out of 10 tasks. Have til the end of November. Not sure I'm going to make it.

Random Reading Challenge: Finished 9 out of 12.

Lisa Jackson Reading Fest: Finished 1 out of 6. Have til the end of next year so will carry over to 2010 and not worry about it for the rest of this year.

I Dare You to Accept this Challenge: Finished 1 out of 10 things. Have til April 2010, so will concentrate on finishing those tasks next year.

Agatha Christie and U.S. Presidents Reading Projects are perpetual challenges. Working slowly on these two.

Have a few books I finished but haven't had time to review yet and will try to get caught up before the end of the month: "Hush Hush" by Becca Fitzpatrick, "From a Whisper to a Scream" by Charles DeLint, "The Brutal Telling" by Louise Penny, "The Red Siren" by M.L. Tyndale and "Kill her Again" by Robert Gregory Brown. I'm currently reading "Frankenstein" by Mary Shelley" and next up to bat will be "Night Watch" by Sergie Lukyanenko.

Then I have to clear the decks for National Novel Write Month.

Happy Reading!!!