Berly's Books and Stuff - 2

Happy Easter and Hurry Up Spring!!

Here is 2012!!

My Rating System:
***** excellent, go get it!
**** very good
*** still enjoyable
** disappointing
* not worth finishing

January

1. Me, Myself and Bob, by Phil Vescher ****1/2
2. Still Life, by Louise Penny ****
3. Chess Story, by Stefan Zweig *****
4. Cannery Row, by John Steinbeck ***1/2
5. Shadow Tag, by Louise Erdrich ****
6. Year of Wonders, by Geraldine Brooks ***
7. A Fatal Grace, by Louise Penny ****1/2

February

8. 77 Shadow Street, by Dean Koontz ***1/2
9. Inheritance, by Christopher Paolini ***1/2
10. Catching Fire, by Suzanne Collins *****
11. Behemoth, by Scott Westerfield ****
12. Shadow Spinner, Suzanne ***1/2

March
13. Dead Man's Folly, by Agatha Christie ***1/2
14. Lone Wolf, by Jodi Piccoult ****1/2
15. The 9th Judgement, by James Patterson ***
16. Mr. Churchill's Secretary, by Susan Elia MacNeal ****
17. Mennonite in a Little Black Dress, by Rhoda Janzen ****
18. The Cruelest Month, by Louise Penny ****
19. Somebody Tell Aunt Tillie She's Dead, by Christiana Miller ****1/2
20. Mockingjay, by Suzanne Collins ****

April
21. Executive Privilege, by Phillip Margolin ***
22. Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese ***/didn't finish

May
23. 1Q84, by Haruki Murakami 4.5
24. Remarkable Creatures, Tracy Chevalier 3.0

June
25. Habibi, by Craig Thompson 4.0
26. The Psychopath Test by Jon Ronson 3.5

Favorites from 2011...

Charlie Bone Series, by Jenny Nimmo (YA)
The Ask and the Answer, by Patrick Ness
Cloud Atlas, by David Mitchell
The Tiger's Wife, by Tea Obreht
A Discovery of Witches, by Deborah Harkness
Little Bee, by Chris Cleave
Night Circus, by Erin Morgenstern
Spooner, by Pete Dexter
The Invention of Hugo Cabret, by Brian Selznick
The Vanishers, by Heidi Julavits
Life Itself, by Roger Ebert

And 2010...

Shades of Gray, by Jasper Fforde
The Widow Clicquot, by Tilar J, Mazzeo
The Art of Racing in the Rain, by Garth Stein
The Elegance of the Hedgehog, by Muriel Barberry
The Lonely Polygamist, by Brady Udall
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, by Stieg Larsson
The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake, by Aimee Bender
The Help, by Kathryn Stockett
Author Patricia Briggs

I'm first! Happy February, Berly!

Hi Ren! Congratulations!! ; )

I am glad to see you here: that means I haven't lost everyone. Phew!

Found you again :)

Yay!! Hi Chelle. I am busy inputting books. It is only February...how can I be so far behind already? I think I need an LT assistant. :O

Hey Kim! In case you were wondering, the Continuation link doesn't show up until a thread reaches 200 posts. :)

So, am I allowed to be bitter and unhappy during February? Please! I don't want to break my routine. :P

Hey, I'm reading 77 Shadow Street too!

Stephen, I'l be bitter and unhappy with you!

Hi Kim!

#7 200 huh? Well, I guess you guys will just have to post more if I want a thread a month!! LOL Stephen, snap out of it! Try happy for a while. : P back atcha.

#8 I am still meeting the cast of characters...

#9 Laura, not you too! Well, as long as you guys come tell me about it, I guess you can wallow. And at least you are not alone.

Hello and goodnight!

Luxx, thanks, I think. Kinda abrupt....I'll chalk it up to you being tired. : )

#8 Okay, weird things are happening at 77 Shadow Street, which is good. I mean, it is written be Koontz, whom I love. This better be a good one!

Laura: Is it possible to be bitter and happy WITH someone? Seems like a paradox or something. :)

Kim: Happy? Awww, do I have to? :(

I think it is called marriage, LOL.

I'm not sure if I should be taking that as a warning or a recommendation... :P

Count me in to helping you reach the 200 posts within Feb so you can invoke the continuation tool for a March thread, Kim. ;-)

Stephen, happily married for 21 years. Highly recommended...with the right person!

Thanks Caro! I guess I have a new-found appreciation for one-liners. LOL

Oh no, I have to talk to PEOPLE? Blech, not worth it. :P

Popping in to say hello and contribute my post in attempt to get you to 200 posts before March :)

Sorry Stephen. Must. Talk. To. People. Worth. It. : )

Chelle--Thanks for the hello!

Okay. Finished 77 Shadow Street by Koontz. It was great; no surprise there! More details later. Starting Christopher Paolini's Inheritance. Can you tell I am doing Fantasy February?

Nope. Not worth it. I refuse to believe it. :)

Hi Kim!

Inheritance - good series? Curious about your opinion :)

Stephen--Non-believers are such a pain. : P

Cee-Yes! I very much like the series. I am on book #4 of what was supposed to be trilogy and the latest book is over 800 pages!! Yay, more great reading for me. You have to be into the whole dragon, dwarves, elves and magic thing in order to like it. The battle scenes are becoming a little lengthy, but I still really enjoy the storyline and characters. And I am SOOOO glad he had a recap at the beginning of the book, or I would have been completely lost. It has been a while since I read the other books and everyone has unusual names including the swords and trees. Book four is off to a good start. : )

See? I don't talk to people, so I don't have to deal with those pesky non-believers. :)

Good morning, Kim! Found you!

I'm still giggling over that list of English-as-second-language signs from your last thread. ;)

Way behind on reviews...

4.

Cannery Row, by Steinbeck ***1/2

So, at the risk of pissing off all the people in the Steinbeckathon that adored this book, I thought it was good, but not great. I love Steinbeck and have read several of his works, but this one just didn't draw me in. It is a vivid portrayal of small town life and the colorful characters living there. And, yes, his language was wonderful; however, I had to force myself to read this book and found it kinda quaint and dated. The several chapters that have stuck with me had nothing to do with the poetry of his writing. The three scenes I remember most are the one about living in on old boiler (mostly because Joe and Smiler gave a link to this picture in the Cannery Row thread http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3160/2565431733_6376bcd0a7_z.jpg -- thanks!); the scene with the groundhog, although I remember this because I kept thinking it reminded me of a kid's Saturday cartoon; and the scene with Doc at the ocean where he discovers something (this was sad and haunting, but maybe I was drawn to it because of my love for the macabre?). I have always enjoyed plot-driven books, which this clearly was not. I just wish I could have found it in me to appreciate this book more. Maybe I was in the wrong space to read it. Pooh! Don't hate me.

And for the musically inclined, a little play on words:

Minor triad goes into a bar...the WHOLE story:

C, E-flat, and G go into a bar. The bartender says, "Sorry, but we
don't serve minors." So E-flat leaves, and C and G have an open
fifth between them. After a few drinks, the fifth is diminished, and
G is out flat. F comes in and tries to augment the situation, but is
not sharp enough. D comes in and heads for the bathroom, saying,
"Excuse me; I'll just be a second." Then A comes in, but the
bartender is not convinced that this relative of C is not a minor.
Then the bartender notices B-flat hiding at the end of the bar and
says, "Get out! You're the seventh minor I've found in this bar
tonight." E-flat comes back the next night in a three-piece suit
with nicely shined shoes. The bartender says, "You're looking sharp
tonight. Come on in, this could be a major development." Sure
enough, E-flat soon takes off his suit and everything else, and is
au natural. Eventually C sobers up and realizes in horror that he's
under a rest. C is brought to trial, found guilty of contributing to
the diminution of a minor, and is sentenced to 10 years of D.S.
without Coda at an upscale correctional facility.

LOL. sometimes my musical background pays off!

And what pray tell is your musical background Miss Judy? I had years of piano as a child, but would be hard pressed to sightread a tune off sheet music right now, at least without the risk of several finger mishaps!

I played the violin for many years, right through and after college. Unfortunately, I also developed a long-misdiagnosed case of TMJ and eventually had to stop playing. When I retire and (I hope) have a less stressful life, I hope to go back to it - otherwise there's no excuse to keep my lovely Italian fiddle in the closet.

TMJ...bummer! Keep your lovely Italian fiddle and someday you'll play again!

Okay...can I just gripe about trying to book airline tix? Over the past month I have tried three times to book tix for spring break: found the flights, entered the info for 4 people, entered the VISA stuff only to get the notice that the current tix price has changed by $500 each ticket all three times!!! Are you kidding me?

So today I called a real person who then tried to walk me through the arduous task of combining frequent flyers miles only to have a glitch of some sort ultimately defeat that process, so no free tix. After 2 hours of trying to buy the blinking things (TWO HOURS! I kid you not!) I finally have tix. The sales rep was great but the process sucks. Oh, and let's not forget the fee you can pay so that your family can have the privilege of sitting together, not to mention paying to check you bags. GRRRRR!!

Thanks for listening.

Yeah, the airlines are total crap. I guess 'highway robbery' doesn't fit for an airplane, but it sure is a devious business filled with hucksters that so many people have to deal with all the time. Yuck.

I would propose something violent at the end of that paragraph but I'm afraid the government will think I'm a terrorist.

They charge you a fee to sit your family together? We don't usually pay for seat selection. We just show up with kids, and they magically rearrange things so at least each kid has a parent with them. Nobody wants to sit next to somebody else's kid! (Or is just our kids....?)

Stephen-- I won't tell. Shhhhh!

SCR--It is some new way for the airlines to make money. I am thinking I'll just leave things as they are and if my kids cause a problem (which they probably won't since they are good kids) then someone can pay ME to take THEM back. Brilliant, right?! LOL

SCR--Hey! You live in OR too! Whereabouts? And we share 85 books, some of which are my favorites. : )

Which airline is charging for seat arrangements these days? Yuck. Jim and I have our tickets for San Francisco, and I hope he has enough leg room, that being a necessary consideration for him. Sometimes we pay the bulkhead/exit row increment. I keep trying to win the lottery so we can fly first class and get treated like people.

Hello, neighbor! I live in Redland (outside of Oregon City), and work near Tanasbourne.

Hi Judy--I think a lot of them are. I was talking to Delta. I liked it better when they were Northwest Airlines because I could call them NorthWORST!

SCR--It is so nice to meet someone else from Oregon!

I spent yesterday in bed with a nasty headcold. I have been fighting it for days and lost the battle. But I read a lot! Halfway through Inheritance, the fourth in Christopher Paolini's series. It is a tome! 850ish pages. I keep getting this indentation in my hand from holding it. : )

Well I was wondering where you were Kim; missed the thread change. Booking flights? Belch!

Kim hope you are feeling better and that the 850 pager hasn't done you in completely!

8. Still fighting the cold, but I conquered Inheritance!

The series takes place in the distant land of Alagaesia controlled by the evil King Galbatorix. Eragon and his dragon, Saphira, must use all their training, magic and spirit to best him. It was not my favorite of the series--too much time spent on warfare and strategies and not as much on relationships and magic, but it was still a very solid read. The second half of the book was definitely better than the first, pacing, etc, and Paolini did an admirable job wrapping up this saga. Most, but not all, of the loose ends were tied up and the resolutions were satisfying. He has created a truly magnificent world with a memorable cast of characters and if you have enjoyed the series so far, you should read the ending! (There was also a very nice recap at the start of the book, which was ever so helpful since I haven't read the series in years.) ***1/2

9. 77 Shadow Street, by Dean Koontz ***1/2

Just your typical end-of-the-world, horror book by Koontz, which was fun! I haven't read him in a while and I thoroughly enjoyed it. The book takes a while to pick up momentum and there seems to be an endless cast of characters. New people even appear two thirds of the way into the book, which I found slightly annoying. Residents of a historic home-turned-condominium are yanked into the future and it is a grim one. The atmosphere was great, with lots of decay and slime (if you are into that kinda stuff) and don't forget the evil, lots of that, too. Towards the end, it was a real page turner, and during the last couple of chapters, I wasn't sure where Koontz was going to go. A perfect book for Fantasy February of save it for October. : )

I can't do horror books, so at least that's a book bullet I can avoid easily, Kim.

But I did like the Eragon series and I thought Inheritance tied the series up very neatly. Good review, Kim.

Hi Kim- I have no idea how I lost you, but I did. All apologies. Hey, nice new thread! Hope you are enjoying your weekend.
BTW- My daughter is flying down and meeting us in San Diego on Tuesday. It'll be great to see her.

Good morning you guys!
Bonnie, Thanks for tracking me down. I was beginning to feel a little lonely here. ; ) That's the last time I switch threads before the magic 200 and that little blue continue-the-topic arrow shows up. I think I lost more than just you...
Paul, Hello there sir. I am feeling better but only because I gave in and got some antibiotics. And, as you can see, I managed to finish Inheritance.
Caro, I am glad you avoided the book bullet...this time!!
And Mark, it's about time you found me again! I missed you. Have a great time in San Diego. I expect to hear a shout-out echoing its way up the coast. I am off for a day trip down to Eugene to visit my daughter at the U on Thursday. : )

Happy Valentines Day!!

Happy V-Day, Kim!

Hope you had a nice Valentine's Day, Kim!

Sorry to hear about the airline hassles and head cold.

I'm hoping to get around to 77 Shadow Street, which we have at our library. Have you read Koontz's novella -Moonlit Mind? I read it as an e-book download. Part of it takes place at another address on Shadow Street. (They had a sample of 77 Shadow at the end of the novella.) Must be one bizarre neighborhood!

Hi Cee and Stephen and Terri! Thanks for the Valentine wishes. : )

My hubbie was very nice and bought me flowers and TWO BOOKS!! The first was Tree of Codes and it is the coolest concept. The author, Jonathan Safran Foer, took another book, The Street of Crocodiles and cut out all the words from each page that he didn't want and wrote a new story. Each die-cut page has maybe 20 or 30 words left on it and it reads very poetically. I am only in 10 pages or so. I find it easier to read with a blank page behind it; otherwise, you can see through to all the pages and the words behind it. WILD!!

The second book, is IQ84. Is he a genius or what?! What a nice guy. I think I will keep him.

On my end, I got him some very cool dishes for sushi. He LOVES sushi. So I sent him off to pick up one of the kids and then quick set the table and put out his favorite foods on the new dinnerware. It's very contemporary. Square dishes with bold colors. It should make our frequent take out a little more classy.

I got back yesterday from visiting Jess down at college. Just a quick overnighter. A chance to baby her a little: eat out, take the obligatory visit to Target to buy a few supplies, and then she stayed with me in the hotel and we watched movies and did our nails. An excellent time was had by all!

As for literature (that's why we are here, right?), I had to switch books and read The Shadow Spinner this week. I am now the facilitator for a literary circle (5 little girls) at the middle school that my son goes to. It is an interesting story, in that it looks at Shahrazad from a new perspective. They were all very cute and enthusiastic. I also had the dubious honor of explaining what a eunich was. Hmmmm. Lots of twitters. This was week one; two to go.

Hi Sweetie. I hope you are well!

Kim, your new literary circle sounds like great fun. I used to have a "Chat & Chew" group with 5th Graders. We met at lunchtime and talked about our book. What a cool program that was. Such enthusiasm and good discussion.

I let my husband deal with booking flights. He has more patience than I do...and he also has a special number to call because of all the air miles he accumulates. I can't imagine charging families extra to sit together - but then I couldn't believe it when they stopped giving me those dry pretzels either!

>51 Berly: The author, Jonathan Safran Foer, took another book, The Street of Crocodiles and cut out all the words from each page that he didn't want and wrote a new story
wow, is that for real? Sounds interesting, and arty.

I think I would like Oregon, I have been hearing good things about your state lately.

Thanks Linda! I am doing very well at the moment!

Hi Donna. I love the name of your literary group: Chat and Chew. THat's so funny! And I am jealous of your husband's special airline number. : P

Hi Megan--Yes, the book is very arty and you should come visit Oregon and see for yourself. I have a guest bedroom. : )

The English Plural
According to....George Carlin


We'll begin with a box, and the plural is boxes,
But the plural of ox becomes oxen, not oxes.
One fowl is a goose, but two are called geese,
Yet the plural of moose should never be meese.
You may find a lone mouse or a nest full of mice,
Yet the plural of house is houses, not hice.

If the plural of man is always called men,
Why shouldn't the plural of pan be called pen?
If I speak of my foot and show you my feet,
And I give you a boot, would a pair be called beet?
If one is a tooth and a whole set are teeth,
Why shouldn't the plural of booth be called beeth?

Then one may be that, and three would be those,
Yet hat in the plural would never be hose,
And the plural of cat is cats, not cose.
We speak of a brother and also of brethren,
But though we say mother, we never say methren.
Then the masculine pronouns are he, his and him,
But imagine the feminine: she, shis and shim!

Let's face it - English is a crazy language.
There is no egg in eggplant nor ham in hamburger;
Neither apple nor pine in pineapple.
English muffins weren't invented in England .

We take English for granted, but if we explore its paradoxes,
We find that quicksand can work slowly, boxing rings are square,
And a guinea pig is neither from Guinea nor is it a pig.
And why is it that writers write, but fingers don't fing,
Grocers don't groce and hammers don't ham?

Doesn't it seem crazy that you can make amends but not one amend?
If you have a bunch of odds and ends and get rid of all but one of them,
What do you call it?

If teachers taught, why didn't preachers praught?
If a vegetarian eats vegetables, what does a humanitarian eat?

Sometimes I think all the folks who grew up speakingEnglish
Should be committed to an asylum for the verbally insane.
In what other language do people recite at a play and play at a recital?

We ship by truck but send cargo by ship...
We have noses that run and feet that smell.
We park in a driveway and drive in a parkway.
And how can a slim chance and a fat chance be the same,
While a wise man and a wise guy are opposites?

You have to marvel at the unique lunacy of a language
In which your house can burn up as it burns down,
In which you fill in a form by filling it out,
And in which an alarm goes off by going on.
And in closing..........

If Father is Pop, how come Mother's not Mop?

Off to dinner and a movie. Today is my hubby's birthday and mine is tomorrow! Taking the kids and we are seeing This Means War.

Happy Birthday a little bit early Kim! You gotta love George Carlin...such a creative genius.

Happy Birthday, Kim!! Big Hugs!!

Happy Birthday, Kim! and happy birthday to your hubby a day late.

Thanks you guys! Walt came through with another cool book, House of Leaves. I know nothing about it. Inside flap says it is about a family that moves into a small house that is bigger on the inside than it is on the outside. And then their two little children wander off.... The San Fran Examiner says it is "A rollicking Pynchonesque oddity, a Nabokovian linguistic obsession and a Borgesian unreality." Holy cow! For a guy who never reads books, he sure can find them. : )

Hippo birdie!

Thanks Ricardo! My hubby gave me a funny card that went something like this: 29 years plus some years=29 years. Happy Birthday to an expert in "girl math!" Now, you might think this slightly sexist, but in my family, this is my Dad's birthday line ever year, and my better half knows that I took all kinds of calculus in college, so basically I think it is just another example of women being brilliant!! : )

LOL No wonder you're still married to him!

Whoohoo! My collections have passed the 1000 mark! I have been on a buying spree with a few gifts thrown in. Mr. Churchill's Secretary, an ARC; Mennonite in a Little Black Dress, a Thank-You present; Habibi; Wonderstruck; 1,000 Mitzvahs, written by a friend; some Steinbecks; F in Exams, the Very Best Wrong Answers, so I can cheer my daughter up at Finals; Running the Rift, an Indiespensible book about genocide in Rwanda and my birthday and Valentine books listed above. WOW!! Now, the goal for the year is to get the READ books past the 1000 mark on LT.... : )

Happy Birthday!! (And a Happy Belated Birthday to your Hubby!) Hope you have a great one!

Thanks Richard and Chelle. : )

xo

Must chat soon!

Soon would be good.

We have been doing room switch-a-roos with the oldest at college now; that and major purging since my kids have grown up a lot since we moved in 6 years ago. All of which has freed up this little room at the top of the stairs, barely 8 by 8, with a sloped ceiling and no windows, but it is MINE! And I have set it up to do meditations and Reiki in and it means I now have a permanent place to use the BioMat everyday to keep my ever-constant pain under control. Yay! I have candles and a really cool picture and awesome relaxing music. Heaven. : )

Happy Birthday, Kim. Your little room sounds like a cozy place to relax. I have a small room all of my own, and spend as much time there as I can. That's where my best reading gets done.

Thanks Donna! I am glad you have a space of your own, too. We are lucky, aren't we?

Ouch. Didn't realize the pain was unresolved. I'm sorry to hear that, and if I had any magic I'd send it your way. I hope your little room at the top of the stairs has some magic of its own.

Thanks Judy. I don't talk about it much because a) it is old news and b) some people on LT are great at writing about the downside of their days and they hit just the right note whereas I am quite sure I would just sound like a whiner!! It is one of the major reasons I go offline on LT. Sometimes it is all I can do to get through the day and be here for the kids. I just try to make the most of my good days. : )

And I'll take that magic wish -- Thanks!

Love the private space! How great...every mom's dream, space to HERSELF!

*smooch* for ouchies, and a big boo hiss on pain!

I know, right? No laundry or dishes, no bills to pay, no toys to step on. LOL. In fact, I think I will go upstairs right now to make sure my alternative universe is still there...

10. I just finished Catching Fire, book 2 in the Hunger Games and all I have to say is: "You can't stop the book there! Suzanne, what are you thinking?" Sigh. And the third book is with my daughter in Eugene. Can I wait until Spring Break? I don't think so! Off to the library I go.

Everyone, except my non-reader husband, is devouring the series. Need I say more? 5 Stars

I loved that series! I passed it around to a bunch of people at work and they all loved it to!

My girlfriends are going to see the movie when it comes out, poor Nate is going to have to go with me because we move the week before it comes so I can't go with the girls :(
Oh well, there is enough violence that he will probably like it lol

Lost your thread for a bit, but finally found it again. We all loved those books - all four of my kids read them and then passed them around to their friends. Even my husband read them because he is a pediatrician, and so he likes to stay current with what his patients are reading. We are eagerly awaiting the movie.

Hi Chelle! I think you are right: there should be enough "Guy Stuff" to keep Nate happy when you force him to see The Hunger Games! Sorry you can't go with the girls. : ( (No offense Nate.)

Mamie--You found me! Thanks for the persistence. We should compare notes after the movie comes out.

I trekked down to the library to reserve the last book, Mockingjay and there are 273 people in front of me! Arghhh. I may just break down and buy it on Kindle and then when Jess comes home from college she can bring back the hard copy for the shelves.

Plans for the day include dealing with piles: the mail, the laundry and hangars. Yup! Hangars. My husband has acquired TONS of nice, wooden hangars at work and wants to replace all the mismatched ones we have in the house. Really?! He is not usually OCD, but apparently this means a lot to him, LOL. Maybe I should purge my wardrobe while I am at it. I have some very old clothes!

I know it's all low-tech and silly of me, but why not ask Jess to mail the book back to you before spending scarce book-buying money on a Kindle copy? And then you can buy The Coroner's Lunch for Kindle for only $7.19 and prevent me from whining at you and nagging you to read it already.

Win-win!

LOL! Because she is reading her roommates copy of the second in the series and she hasn't even started the third. Coroner's Lunch hmmm? Well, I can't stand it when you nag at me, so I will see what I can do. Smooches.

Here's a funny coincidence - I just bought that book The Coroner's Lunch because of your review, Richard! I LOVE your reviews - always so funny and insightful. My youngest daughter (13 going on 70) loved the Wrinkle in Time book that you recently reviewed and read that whole series, but she really LOVED When You Reach Me, which is also YA and time travel, but the main character's favorite book was - you guessed it - A Wrinkle in Time, so that story was woven into her thought process. Either of you read that one - really good. Now I'm off to start Coroner's Lunch.

Mamie-- I loved A Wrinkle in Time and the second in the series, A Wind in the Door, both of which I read as a kid. I only recently read another one, A Swiftly Tilting Planet and liked that one as well. That's 3 for 3! So, now I guess I will have to add When You Reach Me to the obese TBR list. And you know that's not fair right? I am supposed to be safe from insidious blue titles on my own thread! Richard, that goes for you too! ; )

>82 Crazymamie: Why, thank you Mamie! That's lovely to hear. I've never read the other L'Engle books because I have a severe allergy to Christian themes. I suspect it's too late now for me to absorb these, too.

>83 Berly: *evil Muttley laugh* You don't come to my threads often enough for me to get the full effect of bloating your TBR list. The mountain must needs come to Mohammed Anne.

No "e" on the "Ann" thank you very much! : P

I am so excited!! We ordered new dishes for our (Walt's and mine) joint birthday and they arrived today. Pistoulet by Pfatzgraff and it is in the nick of time...we have only one microwaveable bowl left! Time and kids have dwindled our crockery substantially. The new ones are mix and match with a French feel. Goes perfectly with my purposefully mismatched kitchen chairs.

Good grief I missed your birthdays!
Great gifts all around :)
Best wishes for another 30th year to both of you!

Hey there, Kim! *Hugs*

Cee--I am so glad you have bought into my illusion...30 indeed! Thanks. And nice cake!

Stephen-- *Hugs* to you too!

I am off tonight to hear Sebastian Junger talk. I have read The Perfect Storm, bu tnot War. It should still be interesting.

He's a hottie, too, so slip him my number, k?

Like the new dishes! Vrai chic.

I *finally* have a Kindle! At last! Whee!!

R--OK. I'm always willing to aid and abet the pursuit of a hottie! So, what pray tell will be the inaugural book for the beloved Kindle? And congrats!

Oops...Sorry Bonnie.... I goofed.



I love the new dishes. I'm a big fan of mismatched crockery. I think it just makes the table look so cosy.

IT's okay, but now you have to apologize for calling me Bonnie! (This is Kim) LOL. Don't you hate when you do that (implying that I maybe possibly have done the same). : )

Arrgghhh... mea culpa, Kim.

I know why I did it too .... I was just typing this up when a co-worker named Bonnie came into my office so I could sign some documents for her and I had to send an email off to legal to inform them I've approved certain changes in her docs. So had 'Bonnie' on the brain for a few mins. *sigh*

Kim- I hope you enjoy the Junger talk. I'm a big fan too and have read 3 of his, including "War", which was excellent. Let us know how it goes.

It's okay, Caro. Thanks for the birthday wish and I am glad you like my dishes. : )

THanks Mark! I will let you know tomorrow.

Opps, so sorry I missed your special day.

I love the new dishes!!!! They look festive and fun.

Love to you!

THanks Linda! It's quite all right. I am just happy to be remembered. Besides, I kinda like the whole celebrate for a week Mardi Gras approach. And I love flowers. : )

Oh! I am so excited. I attended my Literary Arts Series last night and in the program was a series they are offering on 1Q84 so I signed up today!! The only bummer is now I have to wait until April to read the book...

Destined to become a modern classic, Haruki Murakami’s novel 1Q84 was published in Japan to meteoric sales and rapturous reviews. This novel, now available in English, contains all the strange and insightful elements his famously frenzied fan-base has come to love. This seminar explores the novel both as a piece of imaginative fiction (the complex Murakami universe of alternate worlds and strange characters) and as a dramatization of contemporary life (its title provocatively borrows from George Orwell’s 1984). Along the way, we consider the pleasures of the Murakami novel – the intricate narrative architecture, the surreal sense of humor and the beautifully rendered moments of contemporary life.

GUIDE: Bruce Suttmeier is Associate Professor of Japanese and Chair of the Foreign Languages and Literatures Department at Lewis & Clark College. He researches and writes on Japan in the 1960s, and his current project / obsession involves the changes in public space in Olympic-era Tokyo.

Whoohoo!

As for Sebastian Junger...His talk last night was EXCELLENT! It is being rebroadcast sometime in March, but I am not sure if it is only for OPB or nationwide. He had several brilliant points, but the biggest and easiest takeaway for me to explain was his statement that there are only two things we have complete control over (as opposed to our looks, who our parents are, our intelligence, etc.): our courage and our compassion. So true!

He also had an interesting discussion regarding the dirfference between "friendship" and "brotherhood." He said (vastly simplified), that in brotherhood, even if you don't like the guy, you would still be willing to give your life for him. That is not necessarily true for a friend.

Anyhow, I was much impressed and would like to read some more of his work.

*jealous hatred of Kimmers seethes within breast*

SO glad you had such a good time! Really! SO glad! And, of course, no chance to tell Hottie McHotterson about your single friend, oh I *quite* understand!

*voodoo dolly abuse*

xo

Oh the pain... can't talk... too bad...can't tell...Richard...I gave out his ...

98, 99: I'm excited for you, Kim. Your literary world is expanding by leaps and bounds. How many sessions will be in the series of lectures? I need a guide through his new book, and hope you will be passing on what you learn.

Sebastian Junger sounds fascinating in person. His books are equally fascinating. I, too, need to read more of his work.

Hi, Kim! Happy Birthday Month! I love your dishes! They would go equally well with MY mismatched kitchen chairs. I want to read Sebastian Junger too. How are you liking Coroner's Lunch. Mark actually sent me my copy and it turned out to be one of my Top Ten favorites a couple of years ago--mostly because I didn't think I was going to like it all that much and was so pleasantly surprised.

Very slow catching up Kim - very happy very belated birthday! Enjoy what is left of your weekend.

Hi Kim- Wow, some exciting literary news! The 1Q84 class sounds fantastic. I hope to read it sometime in the next few months. You know I'm a big Murakami fan.
Glad the Junger talk was so rewarding. I remember he came under some fire for things he wrote in WAR. I never understood why. Did he address this?
You should have hooked him up with RD. They would make a fine couple.

I'm way behind here, but I like the George Carlin poem in #56--very cute.

Hey Bonnie! How nice to see you here. Thanks for the birthday month wishes (why not prolong the celebration?!) Well, I haven't started Coroner's Lunch, but with your recommendation I will have to move it up the list!

Hi Paul! Thanks also for the getting-older well wishes! I had an excellent weekend. The inlaws took us all out for dinner and I had Osso Bucco, which was a first for me and it was AMAZING!

Mark-Mark! Yes, Junger was a great talk. He didn't specifically address any issues with War and no one asked about in the Q&A. I tried to hook him up with Richard, but it seems he is married. Although I am not sure that would stop Ricardo! I can hardly wait for the 1Q84 discussion! I will try to post some of the thoughts each week after class. April seems very far away!

Hi Carlym! I am glad you enjoyed Carlin's poem. He is a hoot! Thanks for taking the time to catch up and say Hi! What are you reading these days?

>107 Berly: Married *pshaw* never met a married man that

hmmm

perhaps not the politic topic to discuss with a married lady

Hiya Berly-boo! How's it goin'?

*whistles innocently off*

Yup. That's what I thought! Ricardo, you devil you! ;)

Theory and memories now, I fear. Since I'm all *single* and stuff. I mean, it's not like my *friends* are *helping* me out with the introductions or anything.

*hemhem*

Didn't speak, never mind.

Just stopping in to say hi - and to mention that I finished The Coroner's Lunch and really enjoyed it. In fact, I already ordered the next one in the series. Feel like that book is haunting you?

Hi Kim!
Sounds like Junger made some strong points to think about... (esp courage & compassion).
Would have loved to hear that presentation.

Glad you got to sign up for 1Q84 class. April is right around the corner :)

Sorry I missed your birthday, Kim. Glad you enjoyed the Junger lecture. I've read The Perfect Storm and A Death in Belmont, and thought they were great.

Love the George Carlin piece about English! :)

Hi! I am alive. Swamped. Practicing TKD like mad. I am competing in the Oregon Classic tomorrow. Poomse Taeguk Form Pal Jang and Board Breaking. Wish me luck!

Sorry, I will respond to all the nice people above tomorrow!!

xoxo : )

Oh dear! YOU practiced TKD too? Great, now I really do have to start behaving around here. :P

Ricardo--Big smooches and I promise to keep an eye out for people to introduce you to. ; )

Crazymamie--Well, if I have to be huanted, at least Coroner's Lunch fits in with Mystery March LT theme...right?

Bahzah--April is coming up soon. In fact, I am kinda freaked out by just how fast time is flying!! I am looking forward to the end of March though because I am taking the kids to visit my folks, who happily live in Florida this time of year. Yay!

T--Happy wishes are accepted always. : ) Glad you like the Carlin piece (He is just a stitch!) and I will have to read another Junger book soon.

S--Hiiiiii Yaaaa!!! : )

TKD update: I took silver in the form and gold in the board breaking for my group (which admittedly wasn't that big, but still)!! I performed the last of the Tae Guek forms, Pal Jang and then I broke 10 boards in three tries. Best run was 5 boards at once. One and 1/4 inches thick. Whoohoo! There were mobs of people there and about 8 different schools. The whole event started off with teams doing demonstrations and they were AMAZING! So much fun.

Now, as to books, I am behind on a few reviews (coming soon) and off and running on the March Mystery theme. Starting off with a classic author and character, Agatha Christie's Hercule Poirot in Dead Man's Folly. The setup is a beautiful old estate, where an assortment of characters have assembled to take part in a weekend mock murder/mystery game, only someone thinks things might actually turn deadly and they have invited Poirot in to help.

Happy Sunday!

Morning Kim- Congrats on your TKD wins! Yah! I dabbled in TKD back in the late 80s. I think I made it to green belt. I liked it but it was a big commitment and does get expensive.

I always knew you kicked butt, Kim! :D

Wow! I don't know if I should be impressed or cautious! Really, congratulations on your wins. Your determination is inspiring.

Thanks guys! Just remember, I am a nice person and TKD is supposed to be for self-defense, so I think you are all safe!

TKD - I have very little idea what you are talking about, but it sounds like you did great! I promise I will always be nice to you :)

Congrats!

Congrats on your TKD wins, Kim. I took TKD as a kid and had great fun but always came home with bruises all over my person. The nuns in school thought I was being abused by my parents and so they switched me to swimming instead.

Cee--Perfect! The TKD had the desired effect. ; )

Caro--That's funny! Yup. I get bruises, although I seem to get more of them from the "non-contact" sessions than the ones where I am all prepared and bundled up in protective gear. Go figure! I was a swimmer as a youngster and played on the men's water polo team at Amherst. I escaped the nuns. : )

It being Super Tuesday and All, I thought some of you might enjoy these:

In this silly season of what is euphemistically called the American
Political System, it's good to remember what the wiser sages of human
history have had to say about politics in general, and politicians in
particular.

The problem with political jokes is they get elected. ~Henry VII,
King of England

We hang the petty thieves and appoint the great ones to public
office. ~Aesop

If we got one-tenth of what was promised to us in these acceptance
speeches there wouldn't be any inducement to go to heaven. ~Will
Rogers

Those who are too smart to engage in politics are punished by being
governed by those who are dumber. ~Plato

Politicians are the same all over. They promise to build a bridge
even where there is no river. ~Nikita Khrushchev

When I was a boy I was told that anybody could become President; I'm
beginning to believe it. ~Clarence Darrow

Why pay money to have your family tree traced; go into politics and your opponents will do it for you. ~Unknown

Politicians are people who, when they see light at the end of the
tunnel, go out and buy some more tunnel. ~John Quinton

Politics is the gentle art of getting votes from the poor and campaign
funds from the rich, by promising to protect each from the other.
~Oscar Ameringer

I offer my opponents a bargain: if they will stop telling lies about
us, I will stop telling the truth about them. ~Adlai Stevenson,
campaign speech, 1952

A politician is a fellow who will lay down your life for his country.
~ Texas Guinan

Any American who is prepared to run for president should automatically,
by definition, be disqualified from ever doing so. ~Gore Vidal

I have come to the conclusion that politics is too serious a matter to
be left to the politicians. ~Charles de Gaulle

Politics is supposed to be the second-oldest profession. I have come
to realize that it bears a very close resemblance to the first.
~Ronald Reagan

Instead of giving a politician the keys to the city, it might be better
to change the locks. ~Doug Larson

Don't vote, it only encourages them. ~Unknown

There ought to be one day - just one - when there is open season on
senators. ~Will Rogers

I am NOT looking forward to the early part of today: Mammogram and a filling. Thought I should lump all the nastiness together and get it over with!

This evening should be fun though. Goin with a bunch of girlfriends to hear Heidi Durrow, the author of The Girl Who Fell From the Sky, talk.

Good list of political jokes, Kim. I especially like the one from Oscar Ameringer.

Yuck on the filling n mammogram. Both often painful but necessary. Hope you reward yourself for your bravery after. I've always wondered, with the progression of technology why isn't there a less painful method of drilling for a filling and xraying for a mammy?

Ditto to both parts of Caro's comment. Ameringer's comment seems especially appropriate this season.

Another ditto to Caroline's comments. Hope all went well!

Survived the mammogram. Tooth repaired.

Heidi Durrow was amazing! She recounted lots of stories about growing up (she's from Portland! well, at least after she turned 11) and how she wrote her book. It took her 12 years! And she was rejected for publication everywhere. Finally, Barbara Kingsolver awarded her manuscript the Bellwether Prize for Fiction (one has to wonder how she found the manuscript) and now it is a hit! From her picture, I did not realize that Durrow is biracial, and as she puts it, an African American Viking. Kinda like Rachel in The Girl Who Fell From the Sky. But as she laughingly put it, the book is only 12.5% autobiographical. At the end of the talk, she had a surprise visitor come onstage: Thomas Lauderdale from Pink Martini and he played a tune that he had come up with to represent the harmonica melody that Jamie had learned from his father. Very cool.

Also learned that the Multnomah County Library system is the 2nd most active behind NYC (according to books borrowed/population)!! Yeah, I live amongst literary peoples!!

Glad you survived both the tooth and the mammogram! I have not had to have a mammogram yet but I hear they are rather unpleasant and squishy. ick

Squishy. Ah yes. I'm going on Monday.

Hi Berly. Glad you got through the icky medical stuff.

Hello! Love the quotes, and the George Carlin earlier. Hope you have a great weekend!

Gone for ten days and what do I come back to but a bulging thread! I won't pretend to catch up, just drop a *smooch* and keep up from here.

126: I'm glad to see a little bit of fun interjected into this pathetic political campaign. I will be so glad when November gets here and we can focus on fixing problems rather than talking about them.

Another interesting author talk. I'm a teeny bit jealous, Kim, but I thank you for sharing about it. Now I'm going to check out what an African-American Viking might look like.

#132 Chelle- Squishy to say the least! Glad you haven't had one yet, but do when you should! I have a few friends who found the nasty C stuff that way, but are still here today because they caught it early.

#133 Judy, you have my condolences. Good luck!

#134 Hi Ren! Thanks. : )

#135 Anne-- Glad you like my random quotes and so nice to see you! Have you read any good children's books lately? How is school going?

#136 Richard. Bulging?! I think rather not! LOL Furthermore, I think you are perfectly capable of reading your backlog on my humble thread if I keep up on your much more prolific one, dear sir. : p folowed by a smooch.

#137 Donna. So glad to add a little fun to politics.

And it is only fair that I get to add my author talks...it makes up for my lack of book reports and keeps my thread more interesting. Which I am sure is appreciated by all. : )

I think I'll get to review Somebody Tell Aunt Tillie She's Dead later on today. I'm still really interested, but no longer enchanted, and that's always annoying to me...what happened, authoress? Why did you veer off, instead of zagging to complement the zigs? *sigh*

11. Behemoth, by Scott Westerfeld ****

How did I get so far behind on reviews?? Ah well...

The second in the Leviathon Trilogy, this is a great steampunk adventure where two imperial forces meet, one based on the manipulations of DNA and the other on the machinations of steam. Two young protagonists, Alek and Dylan, are alone and in enemy territory. What they do may determine the fate of the world, and both are operating under assumed identities. The Darwinists are hoping that the fiercest creature in the British navy, the Behemoth, will turn the tide in their campaign against the Clankers. I like this one just as much as the first and only wish the third book was already out! A very good read. The action is beautifully illustrated by black and white drawings by Keith Thompson. Winner of the 2010 Locus Award for Best Young Adult Fiction.

Nice review- I have the first one, but have not read it yet. LOVE the quotes about politics!!

Richard--pooh on losing the enchantment. I look forward to the review!

Mamie--Hi there! I love when people can all agree on what I say about politics, LOL. When you get around to it, Leviathan will be entertaining.

Kim- Good review of Behemoth. For some silly reason, I've been dragging my feet on reading this one and like you I really enjoyed the 1st one. FYI- The 3rd book, Goliath has been out since last fall.
Hope you are enjoying your weekend.

12. Shadow Spinner, by Suzanne Fletcher ***1/2

Each night, Shahrazad begins a story and every morning, the women of the harem wait to see if she emerges alive, to know if her story was captivating enough to win her another night to continue the tale. A poor crippled servant girl and her Aunt venture to the palace to sell their wares in the harem. While there, she entertains the children with a story. It is one Shahrazad's sister suspects the Sultan has not heard. Our heroine, Marjan, is whisked into the folds of the harem to retell the tale to Scherezade who, after almost 1000 nights, is running dangerously low on tales to tell.

It falls to Marjan to help Shahrazad discover new stories. To this end, she must sneak from the harem and travel the city, pulling tales from strangers and bringing them back to Shahrazad. The fate of all women in the Sultan's kingdom hang on her success.

This was a good YA book, and one that I enjoyed sharing with the sixth grade girls in a literary circle at my son's school. I had the dubious pleasure of explaining what a eunich is...lots of titters and giggles on that one! I was appalled that they did not know the story of Shahrazad, but when I mentioned a few of the stories, at least they had heard of them (Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves, etc).

I was a bit miffed at the ending, which was abrupt, and I also felt it took away from Shahrazad's ultimate victory, but it was a great discussion book and the girls liked it too.

Endings! WHY do so many stories have ~meh~ endings?! *grrr*

Yay Mark! Now I don't have to wait! Why did I think the third one, Goliath, wasn't out yet? Probably because the book I had waiting for me in my shelves was a hardback, thus assuming no paperback was out yet and hence no third book. Happy to be wrong on this one! You should read Behemoth, but make sure you are in the mood for a YA, because the lead characters are definitely young. Happy Sunday!

#145 Exactly!! As my daughter says, Grrrrrr-ness!!

13. Dead Man's Folly, by Agatha Christie ***1/2

The setup is a beautiful old estate, where an assortment of characters have assembled to take part in a weekend mock murder/mystery game, only someone thinks things might actually turn deadly and they have invited Poirot in to help. The cast includes Sir George Stubbs, he of the newly rich class and owner of the mansion; his air-headed wife; the deposed daughter of the original owners of the estate; the successful crime writer, Ariadne Oliver; the womanizing architect; a couple falling out of love; and the simple teenager playing the "dead body." And, of course, Hercule Poirot.

This is usual Christie fare. You just gotta love Poirot! A quick read, and I must admit, I was blindsided by the twist at the end. Recommended.

Ayrkyool Pwahroh! I only watch them these days.

David Suchet? Peter Ustinov?

14. Lone Wolf by Jodi Picoult ****

What can I say? I love Picoult! I love the issues she tackles in her books, her characters, and the moral tension. I also like how often she publishes and while we are at it, I want her hair! Oh! Sorry. Back to the book.

A tragic car accident leaves a dad, Luke Warren, in a coma. His estranged son, Edward, returns home at the bidding of his mother, Georgie. She is no longer married to Luke and cannot make medical decisions for him. So who gets the right? Edward, at 24, is an adult but he left the country six years ago and has not spoken a word to his Dad in all that time. Cara, the younger sister, is not yet 18 and still a minor, but she was living with her dad and thinks she knows him well. Questions abound. Who wants to keep him alive, or not, and what's the motivation? How can they make any decision in the face of family secrets, pain and guilt?

And most importantly, what would Luke want? Luke is a wolf researcher. He has spent his life tracking, watching, and even living out in the wild with his wolves. He is, in many ways, more at home with his animal pack than his human family. In the wild, a sick wolf can wander away to die, but humans aren't that lucky.

I have to say, I enjoyed this book a lot. Along with the really interesting medical dilemma of if and when to pull the plug, and whether or not to donate one's organs, I loved learning about wolves. I looked forward to Luke's chapters even more than any of the others. Picoult, through Luke, has revealed great information on pack mentality and the individual roles and hierarchy of wolves, as well as much more. Picoult talked with a real-life wolf authority to build the authenticity of these passages and I plan to read her source's book, The Man Who Lives with Wolves.

And if anyone has read this book, I'd love to talk to you about the epilogue...

Recommended.

#149 and #150 Bless you Richard. Did you sneeze? Oh wait, Ren seems to think there is some meaning to your outburst. Oh good! I am lost on my own thread!! Since I never watch Agatha Christie movies and only read the books, I am inferring that the two of you are mentioning leading men for Poirot? And if so, wasn't David Niven another one?

David Niven played Captain Hastings against Ustinov's Poirot.

Ah, the side-kick. Yes, I see he was also Col. Race to Ustinov's Poirot in Death on the Nile. They seem like a great pair. Perhaps I SHOULD watch one?

Bless you! A very special person is having a birthday tomorrow. She loves wolves. I'm going to order Lone Wolf for her and send it along.

What a great review!

I think of you often Kim and I send gentle hugs!

Did someone say 'birthday'? Ooooooh. Save me some cake. I'll be right out. Always happy to celebrate someone's birthday.

Now who could Linda be talking about?

Hi Kim!
Got a laugh out of your comment on wanting Picoult's hair :D

I have to admit I have not read any of her books yet. Do you have a favorite to recommend?

Thanks for the review on Lone Wolf! I have it waiting for me on my Kindle, but I am "saving it" for vacation. I hadn't read any synopses or reviews before yours; I had just bought it because it was a Picoult. Now that I see it ties in with actual wolf research.... I am so there!!! I've read The Man Who Lives With Wolves, so I'm all primed and ready to go. I may not be able to wait for vacation to read it!

I myownself think that David Suchet is the *perfect* embodiment of Poirot. Ustinov, goddesses bless him, overdid the accent to the point of red-cheeked embarrassment.

Birthday? Whose birthday and how old is she? And can we make her get an Italian cream cake?

>138 Berly: Thanks, Kim! Today is officially the midway point of spring semester -- I keep counting down the weeks! Only one class this semester, but it's fairly intense. I've been so busy I haven't been able to read much lately, but we're enjoying our current read aloud: Island of the Aunts by Eva Ibbotson. She's one of our favorite authors. We've also enjoyed Abel's Island by William Steig and Toys Come Home by Emily Jenkins this year. I'll hopefully be reading The Hunger Games soon -- my 13 year old read it twice withing 24 hours of receiving it, and will want to see the movie when it comes out in a couple pf weeks. Hope you have a good week!

#155-- Hi Linda! As always, so nice to see you and thanks for keeping me in your thoughts, as I do you. Glad my timing was good on the wolf book review! (Who is the person with the birthday tomorrow? Is an LT person? Whisper in my ear....)

#156--Judy! Save some of the cake for me. (When you find out whose birthday it is, fill me in!)

#157--Cee! I like her books, her hair, her smile.... ; )

Hmmmm. A favorite to recommend: Handle with Care, Nineteen Minutes, Change of Heart and of course, the latest, Lone Wolf. I have never rated a book of hers below 3.5 (and only 2 at this level). All the rest are solid 4s or above. I have read 12 of her books and, at this point, if I see her name on the cover, I just buy it! The order doesn't matter so dive in and try one! Jodi Picoult you should put me on your marketing team!

#158--SugarCreekRanch (can I just call you Sugar?). See what I mean! You see Picoult's name and you buy it! I can't wait to read The Man Who Lives With Wolves now. (How long till vacation?)

#159--Suchet, huh. Well, I am thinking a Poirot movie download might just come with me on the plane to Florida later this month! Heck, if we can't find out whose birthday it is let's just have an Italian cream cake just because! I'll get the forks and plates.

#160--Anne. Wow! You are turning into a regular! ; ) And I like it!
I have heard of Steig and Jenkins but do not know Obbotson. And she is a favorite? I will have to remedy the situation!

As to Hunger Games, all my kids have read at least book one. Not sure if we can fit them all in before the movie comes out, but going to try for finishing at least book two with them (and I want to finish book three.) My middle one is going with her English class to the midnight showing on opening night before Spring Break. She can bring friends and my oldest and I might just tag along. (She doesn't have school on Friday). Trying to decide if my youngest should go, too, just so he doesn't feel left out. (He has school on Friday after.) Hmmm.

I have succumbed to the sniffles today. : ( Running out of tissues.

Hi there Kim, I have no idea how I got so far behind here. Loved reading about your experience with Sebastian Junger and your upcoming 1Q84 thing.

Hi Bonnie! I don't know. You did you get so far behind? LOL. Glad you enjoyed my Sebastian Junger encounter and, yes, I can't wait for the 1Q84 read!!

Snow this morning. Not enough to cancel school. Just enough for buses to be on snow routes. I love that they have a phone tree to update parents on the school status, but I always lose an hour of sleep when they wake me up with the recorded message. Grrrr.

Still have the sniffles and I have to belt test tomorrow night. My board breaking technique is the spinning hood kick and I have no sense of balance right now. This could be embarrassing!!

Can you not postpone the test? Better that than a broken ankle, I'd suspect.

Kimmers...apple blossom...sweetiedarling...I have begun a book that you ***MUST*** read. The Song of Achilles. Must. You won't *care* that you have the sniffles, or even a broken ankle, because you'll be swept into the mythic past.

This is the way LotR should have been written.

The makeup test is scheduled for Spring break and I plan to be lounging on warm sand in Florida, so suck it up I must! : )

Song of Achilles huh? Well, I might read it just 'cuz the recommendation came from yours truly, but NOT because Lord of the Rings should be changed in any, way, shape or form! And how could you lump it in with Twilight?! The noive!

Twilight's besetting sin is that it's badly written and boringly conceived. Do the parallels not strike you instantly and forcefully?

No, dear sir. I am standing safely between the perpendiculars. Where arst thou standing that you have such a warp-ed view?

On the Monadnock of Massive Erudition. ;-P~~~

Self-proclaimed erudites fall the farthest me thinks, especially when perched on yon isolated mountain. ;-P

Hmmm . . . the second interesting review of a Jodi Picoult book I've seen today. I've never read her. Perhaps I've had the wrong impression of her.

You have SNOW, huh . . . ah, we are so far from snow here, on this anniversary of the 1993 Storm of the Century, it is weird. Upper 60's.

Kim- Good luck on the belt test tomorrow and I hope you are feeling better. Boo snow!

Good luck tomorrow - I hope your balance is better.

Snow in Portland? I didn't think that happened. Shows what I know.

It was in the low 80s here in Missouri today. Spring has sprung with a vengeance. I woke up with the allergy-related sniffles in the wee hours due to my reading by an open window yesterday afternoon.

Kim, enjoy your fun-in-the-sun on spring break. Nothing like a late snow to make one appreciate the beach!

Thanks for the recs on Jodi Picoult books. I'll give one a whirl! :)
Good luck (but pls DON'T "break a leg"!) tomorrow.

#172--Hi Terri! I am jealous...weather in the 60's. Wow! How nice. So, what opinion do you have of Picoult? I am interested.

#173--THanks Mark. Okay, the Boo Snow comment makes amends for your gushing about spring weather yesterday. I am sorry I exalted about the mosquito bite. ; )

#174 Hi Judy! Snow doesn't happen in Portland. That's the point! LOL My sniffles are getting better, so I have hope tonight for the test. As long as I can pull off the board breaking in my first one or two tries, I shouldn't get too dizzy!

#175--Hello Donna! Due to weather envy, I am not talking to you today. : P

#176--Cee! Let me know which one you decide to brave. And thanks for the good wishes.

Son had a choir concert last night. Bunch of very excited 6th graders on stage. He actually had a small solo and it all went very well. : )

I am currently reading Mr. Churchill's Secretary, an ARC. I'd tell you about it, but then I'd have to kill you, LOL. It's all very hush, hush. The cover says no reviews are supposed to be posted until after the release date in April. Seriously? I thought we were supposed to help out with the early buzz about books...

Good morning! Our surprise snow was kind of fun, wasn't it? Too bad it was gone so quickly.

It's pretty common for ARC's to say no reviews until the release date. Typically that means no published reviews -- like in a newspaper, magazine, or book blog. They want those reviews to happen when the book is actually for sale, so that readers can impulse buy before they forget about this book. But it's usually fine to post on LT, Amazon, etc -- where the potential reader is already looking for information about the upcoming book.

162 -- Feel free to call me 'Sugar', 'SugarCreek', 'SCR', any derivation of 'SugarCreekRanch'. Or my actual name, Carol. Whatever. It's all good! Vacation is in 1.5 weeks. Mexican Carribbean. Can. not. wait!

Hi Carol! I think snow is more fun when school gets canceled. I made the mistake of thinking it was all done and headed out without a coat, only to get doused about lunchtime by the wettest snow I think I have ever seen!! My windshield wipers were on high speed, as if it were raining. It was very pretty though.

I know! Big VK countdown. We can compare tans when we get back. ; ) My husband is not coming this year. Just me and the kids. Probably just as well. When he comes, we invariably call him lobster man -- he burns so easily! Luckily the rest of us brown well.

As to ARC's...I figured as much. But it was a rare chance to be melodramatic!

I passed my TKD test!! Now I am a black stripe. Black belt test is in 6 months -- November!! Whoohoo! Everything went well except the board breaking. Master Kim decided 1) that he would personally hold the board for me, which always makes me nervous because I am afraid I will kick his fingers holding the board and then 2) he decided he would just hold one side of the board instead of two, which makes it ever so much harder to break the board and then 3) he made me go last and 4) by myself. Everyone in the room was watching! I am flattered and it was an honor, but it totally frazzled me. And I couldn't do it. Four tries. I did break the darn board as soon as he held it with two hands. And I was very dizzy by then. Spinning hook kick. Whew! I am glad he believes in me and I hope someday I can actually do it. Thank you for the opportunity, Sir!! : )

BRAVA!! *note to self: do not piss off the Berly-monster*

Congrats Kim!! Yahoo! That is very impressive, my friend! I don't recall the spinning hook kick but I'm sure you delivered it with style.

Ah, great, Kim! Glad you were able to get through that spinning hook!

Did I mention that I was the only one that got to try the one-hand method? Not even the teenagers or two grown men were asked to try. : ) (That is me beaming!)

Somehow my star became unglued from your thread! But I found you again, and will store away your mentioning you have a guest bedroom for some future date.....well in the future date.....

Loved the poem btw, very fun to read as all true!

I saw some good looking Agatha Christie books cheap the other day and stopped to look at them, probably because of you? whereas I wouldnt have before seeing your reviews. Didnt quite grab me this time, but I will read one one day.

Kim - I got a wee bit behind on your post as I somehow managed to accidentally unstar you - I'm not in cahoots with Megan on this by the way! Happy St. Pats to you. Enjoyed the political quotes and would choose the Clarence Darrow as my favourite. Glad you didn't get the mammogram and the filling muddled up as it could have embarrassed the Dentist somewhat and required a partial replacement of a key component of your wardrobe!

Have a lovely weekend.

Congrats, Kim! You did great!
Things you learn about on LT! What do the kids and DH think of your success? Does it help with disciplining? lol

I've requested Picoult's Handle with Care from the library. :)

What is it with the faulty star-glue around here?! LOL. Glad you guys found me again and welcome back! I missed you and I am so glad it wasn't something I said. ; )

Megan--Yes,you really should try an Agatha Christie someday. It will happen! And I am glad you enjoyed the poem.

Paul--I don't know...I think cahoots with Megan might be a fun thing...just don't gang up on me again!! Glad you liked the political quotes and thank you so much for the medical advice. What would I do without you? : )

Cee--Thanks!! My TKD level has not helped with discipline...yet. My daughter outclasses me as she is already a black belt but I am now even with my son, so perhaps, now that I am his equal, he will listen to me once in a while. LOL I hope you enjoy Piccoult.

I have just picked up Mennonite in a Little Black Dress, suggested to me by a friend, and it is frickin' hysterical!! I am only 40 pages in, but I love it. I only wish I had more time to read today. I am off to help set up for a fundraiser and then I will be attending said event this evening. Gotta run!

Happy St. Patty's Day!!

Hi Kim, Mennonite in a Little Black Dress sounds like a lot of fun:)

Yes, Eva Ibbotson is a favorite -- some more than others of course. The Secret of Platform 13 and The Star of Kazan are definitely favorites. We're enjoying Island of the Aunts, but we're so busy it's slow going.

Kimmers...The Song of Achilles...read it or weep, as I shall curse you with unhappy children and unending not-quite-snow not-quite-sleet precip until August.

Congratulaions Kim on the TKD excellence! I'm glad you're now even with your son. I haven't been losing my stars but I've been apparently "Ignoring" people. Who knew? I blame it on fat finger typing when I use the iPad.

Hi Anne--I know about busy. I feel like I am hanging on by my fingertips! The final countdown to Spring Break has begun though, so I can see the light.

Richard--Thanks for the strong recommendation, but this kinda reminds me of all those good luck emails you get that say good things will happen if you forward this, but EVIL shall reign down upon you if you don't....I delete those emails, or at least delete the curses-upon-you part before I forward!! Loving curses right back atcha. : p

Bonnie--Thanks for the kudos. Now stop blaming everything on your fat finger and pay attention here! Nice to see you. : )

Still enjoying Mennonite in a Little Black Dress. Here is a quick culinary excerpt:

"...Connie Isaac made her first payment to me for babysitting services rendered.

Connie Isaac paid me in fresh brown potatoes.

I think we can all agree that the lives of most twelve-year-olds improve significantly with an incoming flow of brown potatoes. You may not be able to buy that bootleg lip gloss your heart yearns for but you can prepare tasty potato dishes for the whole family. And cooking is one thing a Mennonite girl knows how to do.

I have been happily and busily cooking since age five, when I served up my first kettle of Borscht, made with boiled lettuce instead of cabbage. (Say what you will, but it is easy to get confused in the face of such look-alike vegetables.)"

good luck emails you get that say good things will happen if you forward this, but EVIL shall reign down upon you if you don't

I just can't believe these things are still around. And it's always the one person in your life that you hesitate to fuss at it because they are a sensitive sort that sends the blighters. Blargh.

Hey Morphy--I know, right?!

I've tossed sensitivity overboard a few times and asked that the sender PLEASE REFRAIN from including me in her chain mail. It seems to work.

good luck emails you get that say good things will happen if you forward this, but EVIL shall reign down upon you if you don't

Especially offensive when they invoke God in their magic. My husband permanently alienated a church member by telling him that he considered such messages theologically indefensible. :(

Congrats on your TKD test!

ETA to add Oh, you asked what it was that I thought of Picoult. I wasn't sure what to think, as I never read them, but I figured them to be . . . I don't know, maybe sappy and sentimental? Girly? Chick lit? I don't know. Not at all as substantial as you made this one sound.

Whoohooo.... congrats to your TKD test, Kim!

I can't believe there are still people sending these crazy chain emails. I get them occasionally, sometimes even from people I know should know better..... and I just delete them.

Hi, Berly! Hi-ya! ;-)

Hi Judy! Hi Terri! Hi Caro! Hi Bonnie!!

How did I get so snowed under? Oh yeah...it DID snow! Again! I thought I lived in Portland OREGON, but it feels like MAINE. Another two hour delay on school, which made the kids very happy yesterday.

Then it was off to the midnight showing of The Hunger Games. The general consensus was B+/A-. Jess and I like the book slightly better, but all agreed it was a fun movie. I am bringing the third book in the series along on vacation and everyone else is somewhere in the second one.

Vacation is tomorrow!! We fly out mid-day for a week in Florida. Walt if holding down the fort here and the rest of us are going to see my parents and a little sunshine. : ) I also have several mysteries downloaded on my Kindle to round out the rest of Mystery March here on LT so I think I am all set. Bringing my IPad, so I should be able to get on and check in once in a while.

Talk to ya soon!

have a fantastic holiday!
*going green with envy imagining reading all day in the sun*

HI Kim! Congrats on passing your test! You should be very proud of that achievement! (I would probably have broken my foot instead of the board!! ;)

Happy Vacation! At least you're unlikely to run into more snow. People may not really understand me, but not having a winter has really bummed me out, and I envy you this late anomaly.

Mystery story report when you return, please. I need some new fodder for my habit.

Kim, I wished you a good trip to sunny Florida prematurely... and now I may be too late. Oh well, I'm certain you will have a fantastic time with or without my goodbye waves. Kick some butt on the beach!

*smooch* have a Floridatastic time!

Ooh, Florida! Hope you have a wonderful vacation.

Where you going in Florida? I grew up in SE Florida and my mom lives in Orlando.

Kim- I'm glad you guys liked the Hunger Games. We are going to see it this afternoon. Have a wonderful time in Florida. Make sure you check in with us. Hugs!

Have fun in the sun Kim!

Ah...vacation! Blessing from the gods!
Have a wonderful trip and safe travels :)

Hope you're having a wonderful vacation!

Hi guys! Thanks for all the wonderful vacation wishes. They worked!! We had a great time visiting my folks in Florida. They weather was absolutely perfect. We hit all the favorite places. Kilwin's for amazing ice cream and fudge. Putt Putt golf with the alligators. The circle for a little girl shopping and lunch. There was a storm the day before we arrived so the beach was great fun with big, huge waves to battle--we were happy but exhausted!! Then of course we visited the pool, too. Everyone argued over who got to sleep on the darn air mattress each night, but it's all part of building memories. : )

The return trip, on the other hand, was a nightmare. Remember how I said the weather was great? Well, it was until they pushed us back from the runway and then we sat there for one and a half hours. A thunderstorm system was coming in and they grounded everyone traveling north. We still could have made the connection, but then the flaps didn't correlate with the instrumentation for landing. So we had to abort and circle around. Twenty minutes later.....we missed the connection to Portland. Instead, we flew to Cincinnati, Ohio, and spent the night there. And no hotel comp because the airline blamed the missed connection on weather and not the equipment failure. Grrrrrrr! Next day we flew to Salt Lake and then FINALLY on to Portland. Whew. The kids were great sports!

Last night was spent doing school projects that we thought we would have Sunday to work on. Great, but painful lesson on the evils of procrastination.

Well, read lots of good books during the trip and I will write more on them later today.

Glad to be home! Even if it is raining...still. I think we set an all-time record for rain in the month of March here.

Kim - glad you had a good time and that you made it home safe and sound.... Eventually! Bummer about the trip home.

Relieved *smooch* for the Weyler Hegira arriving safely

So you WERE in Ohio!? Eeeeek! You could have warned me first! *Scrambles around cleaning the house several days too late*

Hey CM!! *Smooch* to Richard. Waves map at Stephen (too bad I didn't have a car or the time....!)

Off to hear Phillip Margolin speak at my favorite small bookstore, Annie Bloom's. And I just got my syllabus for IQ84! Class starts end of April. Yippee!!

Welcome Home, Kim! Glad you had a great time! Missed you!

Oh, that was an annoying end to what sounded like a blissful week away! At least you're home and you sound in very good spirits. Vacations are so restorative - I should take one once in q while!

Sounds like a wonderful vacation! Sorry to hear about your troubles on the way home. That makes a very long trip even longer, especially with kids. Glad to hear you're all home safe :)

Hi Mark, Judy and Anne!!

Crazy, crazy week!! Yesterday was my 21st anniversary and Walt and I were APART, darn it. He was being soccer coach and took the boys on an overnighter for a game down in Bend. I stayed home to pick up my oldest who came home again from college for Easter. The problem is I had high expectations: we started out having the night to ourselves and had tickets to the theatre, but then the game got changed and yada yada yada....Oh well. I have declared a redo and we have to pick another day to celebrate. : )

My in-laws are bringing most of the food for tomorrow's Easter brunch, so I just have to clean and do the veggies. Not bad!

Oh, and I forgot to mention how the Phillip Margolin appearance went...it was great! One of the local TV crews showed up to interview him, which was kinda fun. And he is a stitch!! He had one funny story after another. He is very interesting-- a criminal lawyer, a Peace Corp boy, he argued before the Supreme Court, originally from the East Coast, but loves Portland, and a great sense of humor. I wish I knew him well! So, of course, I bought the Washington Trilogy and had him sign them. His latest is Capitol Murder, which may or may not seem like a good idea this fall. ; ) I just started the first in the series, which means I am continuing LT Mystery March into April!

And Happy Easter!!!

Love the eggs!! Congrats on the 21 years - that's how long we have been married, too! Bummer about the APART part...Running off to investigate Phillip Margolin. Have a great Easter holiday, Kim!

My kinda Eastre eggs! *smooch*

Your marriage is old enough to buy its own alcohol! They grow up so fast, don't they? I hope that isn't the reason everything went wrong...no no, I'm sure it was all just a coincidence. I hope your re-do goes as planned! :)

Here ya go, turn about is fair play.

#223 LOL. Old enough to buy liquor!

#224
Darling, I haven't time for that right now.

Good goddle mitey! A Primpasaurus egg!

HAPPY EASTER, KIM!

Hope you are having a good weekend with your family!

#226 Primpasaurus!! I like that. And I am glad you liked the zombies I posted on yours.

#227 Awwww! That's so cute, Cee! Thanks and I hope you had a great day, too. : )

#228 Hi Chelle! I had a great weekend, but I am so tired...I can't wait for Monday! LOL Hope yours was a good one, too.

Oh! I am so screwed!! I have tix to hear Abraham Verghese talk this Thursday and I haven't read Cutting for Stone yet and it is 600+ pages. It didn't look that long on my shelf. Sigh. Must be very thin paper. And I am in the middle of the Philip Margolin mystery, which I don't want to put down. Good thing I have leftovers from Easter for dinner tonight!

Oh My Word! I LOVE that book - lucky you to get to hear the author speak! But yeah, you're screwed unless you are quite the speed reader. I loved what he had to say about how we are all born broken and spend our lives trying to fix our brokenness...and how home is not where you are from but where you are wanted... Okay, I really LOVED that book. So jealous... (puts on her angry eyes)

** just kidding:)

Whew, that's a marathon and a half! I say ditch the whole exercise and stay home with a bottle of Veuve Cliquot and a hot guy.

>214 Ape: hehe *imagining Berly doing a random surprise visit to Ape's house*

Glad the holiday was a success, even if the return trip was a round about way of getting home. Boo on airline blaming weather rather than their own failures, of course they would say that though :/

Kim - read what you can! It's an awesome book - don't miss Verghese! Oh, I'm quite green... well actually a little lavendar as I got splashed in the armpit with paint today ;-)
Purple pit... Don't ask.

I agree with Cee. Read as much as you can or save it for after his presentation but in no way should you miss him. You would end up regretting that in the end Kim.

Yay for Verghese tickets! I listed to Cutting for Stone on audio, and thought it was very good. It's one of those books that sticks with you.

Cm--glad you were kidding about the angry eyes! You scared me.

R--See drink and guy mentioned below.

Megan--someone, someday is gonna sneak up on Ape and we are all gonna laugh!!

Cee--You say purple pit and I am NOT supposed to ask?! Really?? Spill the story...

Bonnie--Who needs regrets? I am going!!

Okay, after all the positive input, here's the plan. I read as much as I can. I go hear Verghese talk; go out for drinks with my girl friend afterwards, Cliquot or otherwise; then go home to my hot guy!! Yeah, that works..thanks everyone! Okay, kids are home from school, dinner and dishes are done, I have read 50 pages, but off to read more!!

Oh, I missed you Carol--we cross posted. Further confirmation to go see him! Thanks.

What everybody is saying --- YOU MUST GO to the Verghese talk....even if just to report back to the rest of us green jealous fans. Definitely read Cutting for stone but don't worry if you don't get to it before hearing him speak. It's a fab book - both in print and in audio. Just wish I were on your coast to go!

Tina--I promise to report back and I wish you lived on this coast, too! But for me not Verghese!!

Okay. Up to page 140, but I have to get some sleep!!

Kim- Aren't those opening sequences in CFS, incredible? Looking forward to your thoughts.

Oh, I'm jealous. I really enjoyed Cutting for Stone and bet Verghese is an amazing speaker.

Kim- How was the Verghese talk? Did you finish the book yet?

*waving* at Kim

Swamped! Haven't read a page in a week!! Tragic, I know. All is well though. Verghese was amazing! Poised and wonderfully articulate, funny. Most of the talk had a medical slant, which I loved being a neuroscience major. He is Indian, and as he put it, all Indian parents expect their children to be lawyers, engineers or doctors. Not wanting to dissapoint them, he told them he wanted to be doctor, but wasn't passionate about it until much later and had an epiphany when reading a book (Don't ask which one because I forgot already). Of course, then he couldn't tell his parents he wanted to be a doctor because he had already told them that! OHSU, a very good hospital here, had all their incoming residents read Cutting for Stone and Verghese was thrilled to know that. He loves when Drs tell him that they decided to go into medicine after reading his book. He doesn't see his writing as a separate career from his medicine, but simply a part of or a continuation of who he is. He thinks Drs are too reliant on medical tests (expensive ones at that) and a more thorough, personal exam would be more instructive. He believes in listening to his patients. A lot of his work has been with people suffering from AIDS and fiber myalgia and in both cases, he was able to see the big picture and gain his patients trust by listening. With his fiber myalgia patients he scheduled his entire first session to simply listening to the stories and then required a second visit to run tests. He plans his books at ahead of time and knows where its going. Now, if I can just get back to reading his book!!

Hi Mark, Morphy and Mamie!!

Stasia!!! Darn, you were here and I totally missed it.

Happy Wednesday. : )

Thanks for sharing. Sorry you are swamped.

I loved both Verghese's Cutting for Stone and My Own Country. I hope whichever of his books you are reading, Kim, that you are enjoying it.

I'm glad that the Verghese talk was so great. He sounds like a fascinating person!

>248 tymfos: ditto that, and hope that being bogged down relents soon and you can get some pages under your belt, as they say :)

Verghese sounds like an excellent speaker Kim. Hope you're making progress on Cutting for Stone which I just loved.

Kimmers! Come out and play!

Argh!!! I am so far behind here! Had a rough bout of pain. It was all I could do to stay up with the RL family stuff. On the other side of it now and picking up the pieces. I have missed everyone here!

Still plowing through Cutting for Stone. I am enjoying it, but not immensely. That could be the result of my crappy last two weeks though, so perhaps it will pick up for me now that I feel better. I do LOVE 1Q84 no matter what!!! I had my first of 6 classes last week and we talked about the first 150 pages for two hours! So much fun. I love all the dualities of this book. Oh, and it is threaded throughout with provocative sex talk, which I am sure will benefit my husband now that I have some energy back, LOL! If anyone wants to read along with me, I would be happy to share some of the thoughts from my class...

More later. I am also newly elected to the board of my daughter's old middle school (the one for kids with learning differences) and we are in the midst of hiring a new Head of School. Interviews all day long today. Hope we find a good candidate!!

xoxo

Glad to hear you're feeling better and enjoying things again.

I'm so sorry to be out of touch with you. I hope to have more time when the semester ends. For now, hello and hugs!

Kim, sorry to hear about the painful spell. Glad you're feeling better. Good luck with the hiring process!

Maurice Sendak: 1928-2012
We're sorry to note that Maurice Sendak, one of our favorite children's book authors, died at age 83. His wonderful works included Where the Wild Things Are and In the Night Kitchen. In a long obituary, the New York Times said Sendak "wrenched the picture book out of the safe, sanitized world of the nursery and plunged it into the dark, terrifying and hauntingly beautiful recesses of the human psyche."

: (

Oh, I am so sorry to hear that. We are big fans of his work. We loved both Where the Wild Things are and In The Night Kitchen, but his biggest gift to us will always be his illustrations for the Little Bear books. He is an embedded part of my children's childhood and he will be missed.

Maurice Sendak was a favorite at our house, too. :-(

Seems like a lot of great authors have died recently. Or maybe I just pay more attention to such news these days.

>253 ffortsa: no wonder you're so busy. Hope the interviews come up with the perfect employee.

Oh Kim, I'm sorry you haven't been feeling well but now that it's behind you lets hope it stays there. Good lunch finding a new leader for your school.

Love and smooches and a request to go and visit my thread because among the well-loved books from my past is Islandia...one of the reads that made me, me. I've finally reviewed it in post #50.

Happy Mother's Day!! And Hi! to everyone who has stopped by.

Can I just share? I am grumpy!! Our first round of candidates did not yield the perfect person, not even close. And one of the potential people is an internal candidate with lots of close ties to parents. Everyone is up in arms that he didn't get it and we are busy putting out fires. Sigh. I miss you guys! But nasty emails are flying and overnight I have gone from a dedicated parent of four years to one of "them." Grrrr!!

At least it is beautiful and sunny out. In the 80's. yay!!

xoxo

Happy Mother's Day, Kim! Enjoy the day with your family. And I hope you're feeling better too.
We are off to see the Avengers.

Makes one wish for a personality-altering spell, doesn't it? *sigh* I'm sorry it's not easier.

*smooch* and Happy Mother's Day weather!!

I don't envy you having to hire while being eyed so closely. Hard enough to find someone without people breathing down your neck!

On a lighter note...
My favorites are 3, 8, 24, 25. : )

A 1st grade school teacher had twenty-six students in her class. She presented each child in her classroom the 1st half of a well-known proverb and asked them to come up with the remainder of the proverb. Their insight may surprise you..

1. Don't change horses / until they stop running.
2. Strike while the / bug is close.
3. It's always darkest before / Daylight Saving Time.
4. Never underestimate the power of / termites.
5. You can lead a horse to water but / how?
6. Don't bite the hand that / looks dirty.
7. No news is / impossible.
8. A miss is as good as a / Mr.
9. You can't teach an old dog new / math.
10. If you lie down with dogs, you'll / stink in the morning.
11. Love all, trust / me.
12. The pen is mightier than the / pigs.
13. An idle mind is / the best way to relax.
14. Where there's smoke there's / pollution.
15. Happy the bride who / gets all the presents.
16. A penny saved is / not much.
17. Two's company, three's / the Musketeers.
18. Don't put off till tomorrow what / you put on to go to bed.
19. Laugh and the whole world laughs with you, cry and /
you have to blow your nose.
20. There are none so blind as / Stevie Wonder.
21. Children should be seen and not / spanked or grounded.
22. If at first you don't succeed / get new batteries.
23. You get out of something only what you /
see in the picture on the box.
24. When the blind lead the blind / get out of the way.
25. A bird in the hand / is going to poop on you.

And the WINNER and last one!

26. Better late than / pregnant

16. A penny saved is / not much.

HA!

I liked 24 the best :)

Hi Kim, it seems like ages since I last commented here...probably because it was before Easter! The Verghese talk sounded awesome. I love hearing authors talk about their work.

How is the 1Q84 class going? I hope you're taking good notes so you can give Mark's GR the lowdown this fall. I'm not sure if I'll participate but I'll check out the GR when I do get to the book.

I hope you're feeling better these days. I'm sure you have lots of summer plans with the family and want to feel your best.

It was difficult to read the latter half of that through the blurriness of my laughter-induced tears. XD

267 Love it, love it! :-D

Sorry the school director search is putting you in such a no-win kind of spot. :(

Love those new proverbs!

Still alive...life is CRAZY!!

The school board stuff at my daughter's old middle school (For kids with learning differences) has been insanely time-consuming, but we are making progress.

My husband and I are now also chairs of next year's annual Gala at my daughter's new high school. (Yes, we are insane!)

My husband is starting up a new business that works on purifying water (like after an oil spill or after drilling).

My son was chosen by Nike to be the only male dancer in their fashion runway show in two weeks.

My oldest daughter came home from college yesterday for 7 hours before taking off for the weekend. We got her hair cut, shopped for weekend supplies, made a special dinner for her, and watched So You Think You Can Dance.

This weekend (Which is devoid of soccer, praise the Lord! Did I mention my husband coached 6 competitive soccer teams last year, ages 10-12? He only has two next year. Yay!) is going to be devoted to projects around the house. Last weekend we power washed the deck, got the furniture out and planted plants. Also took down the decrepit and dangerous trampoline. Halfway through de-mossing the sport court.

Books?? Oh yeah. I LOVE my 1Q84 class!! One more week to go. : ) I am also reading Remarkable Creatures.

Hi Richard, Hibernator (nice to meet you!), Donna, Stephen, Terri, and Joe. I love my LT friends!!

And to tickle your funny bone...more word play from my Dad.

Punographics

When chemists die, they barium.

Jokes about German sausage are the wurst.

I know a guy who's addicted to brake fluid. He says he can stop any time.

How does Moses make his tea? Hebrews it.

I stayed up all night to see where the sun went. Then it dawned on me.

This girl said she recognized me from the vegetarian club, but I'd never met herbivore.

I'm reading a book about anti-gravity. I just can't put it down.

I did a theatrical performance about puns. It was a play on words.

They told me I had type A blood, but it was a Type-O.

PMS jokes aren't funny; period.

Why were the Indians here first? They had reservations.

We are going on a class trip to the Coca-Cola factory. I hope there's no pop quiz.

I didn't like my beard at first. Then it grew on me.

Did you hear about the cross-eyed teacher who lost her job because she couldn't control her pupils?

When you get a bladder infection urine trouble.

Broken pencils are pointless.

I tried to catch some fog, but I mist.

What do you call a dinosaur with an extensive vocabulary?
A thesaurus.

England has no kidney bank, but it does have a Liverpool.

I used to be a banker, but then I lost interest.

I dropped out of communism class because of lousy Marx.

All the toilets in New York's police stations have been stolen. The police have nothing to go on.

I got a job at a bakery because I kneaded dough.

Velcro, what a rip off!

A cartoonist was found dead in his home. Details are sketchy.

Venison for dinner again? Oh deer!

The earthquake in Washington obviously was the government's fault.

Be kind to your dentist. He has fillings, too.

Stop! You're killing me. Are these really from your Dad? He slays me!~! lol!~!

Sorry you are having a working weekend. I hope you are being well paid.
The only Haruki Murakami I have read, I am very sorry to say because I LOVED it, is Norwegian Wood. I thought it written a bit differently than anything I had previously read. I will have to pick up some more by him. So glad you are enjoying the book and the class so much.
later babe,

>275 Berly: *snort* the wurst *eyeroll*

*smooch*

Kim- Great to see you! Thanks for checking in and for the RL updates! And good to hear your are loving the Murakami class. That is so cool. I'm going to do the Group Read of 1Q84 in October. Can't wait. The 3 book softcover edition is beautiful.
Hope you are having a wonderful weekend.

Hi Belva-- I know. He is such a funny guy. I have not read Norwegian Wood yet but I did read The Windup Bird Chronicle, another quirky and very enjoyable book. Others in the class have really enjoyed NW, so I will have to keep that one in mind for the future. How's gardening going? We are in the process of taking out stuff that the builder put in to make the house look good right away, but which is now way to big for the spot it was planted. I got out of sport court cleaning duty, but just spent about 6 hours going through paperwork. My pile is almost gone!!

Ricardo!! smooches to you too. : )

Marky, Mark. I will be sure to check in on the group read in October. I have the all-in-one hardback version of 1Q84 and now it has all sorts of ear-marked pages and notes inside it! There is SOOOOO much to talk about. We meet for two hours each week and it has flown by!

>267 Berly: theres none so blind as Stevie WOnder! Haha, great insights from kids :)

Hi Megan! Thanks for finding me now that I am back on the scene. I am a wee bit behind on everyone's threads, but I will do my best! And I am glad you appreciated the wisdom of the children. ; )

You always manage to crack me up Kim. It's good to see you back posting especially since your RL appears to be really hectic.

Hello? Is this thing on?

So funny! Thanks for the giggles!

Kim, I sent both your proverbs and your punographics to my husband's pediatric office and they were rolling on the floor - they LOVED them!!

Dropping son off at Nike this morning. He has practice today for the runway show on Tuesday. He is the only kid male dancer--pretty cool! I think his chance of scoring any clothes are slim though. This is for fall 2013 stuff, so highly classified!! Then I am off to TKD. I will be back this afternoon and maybe even talk about 1Q84. (That my friends is a teaser...) My class ended and I am already going through withdrawal. : (

Hugs to Brenzi, Whats-His-Name, Chelle, Mamie and all other silent lurkers. So glad to have passed on the giggles! : )

Okay. Ran out of time. No 1Q84 talk today. Too late to be erudite and pithy. Tomorrow....I promise!! Did three TKD classes today. Which is insane, I grant you, but I have to build up my endurance. The Black Belt Test is 5 hours long! My son had a great day. Nike asked him to stay after on Tuesday for a photo shoot now! He is sooooo psyched! And so am I! He has to put most of towards saving for college. : )

Oh...BTW, I am now reading Remarkable Creatures from the author of The Girl with the Pearl Earring. It has been a little slow, but is picking up steam. It is about a poor, but genteel woman who befriends a young girl who has a knack for finding fossils. Their first discovery is already leading to difficult questions in the Church. Surely God didn't create creatures that were imperfect? Onward I read.

Hi Kimmers! Thanks for checking in. And good luck with that Black Belt test. Yikes!

Hey Thingummy dearest, 5 hours of TKD?!? You iz nutz.

And for all you Murakami lovers, check out this comic from the NR Times Book Review! http://www.incidentalcomics.com/2012/06/haruki-murakami-bingo.html

I love your puns, Kim!

So much for my promise. This end of the year school stuff is killing me! So busy!! TKD this morning then off to my son's soccer.

Just finished Remarkable Creatures by Tracy Chevalier with mixed emotions.

Hi Mark, Richard and Terri!!