jessibud2 reads off her own shelves in 2019 - chapter 6

Thanks to some gentle nudging, I am starting a final thread of 2019.



This is a fused glass piece I did several years ago. Close-ups of the individual panels on my gallery. For lack of patience, I am sticking this here instead of something more festive and seasonal. I think my patience in general has been used up, for now... Sue me.

Wasn't sure I'd hit 75 but now that I have, and still have a few weeks left of this dismal year I will aim for my original goal of 90. Don't think I'll get there but I'll give it a try.

ticker:

Another try:



Well, hell. This is the pic that gave me so much grief uploading earlier. I wanted it as my topper but will be satisfied to have it as number 3 and I am going to leave well enough alone, not try to get too fine and move it. Enjoy!

Hiya. yay and new thread.
I posted a reply to you in the old one, https://www.librarything.com/topic/310773#6985762

>4 SandyAMcPherson: - Thanks, Sandy. Will check in later.

Here's my newest tutorial on Junk drawer, incorporating your feedback... hope this is what you needed...
https://www.librarything.com/topic/313532#6985818

PS, until LT software devs fix the bug, I am avoiding comments on member's walls.

>1 jessibud2: Major WOWzeroo ~ that is one of the loveliest fused glass pieces I've seen in years!

I adore seeing people's own creations on Talk as well as local views in their community. And yay for the upload.

Happy new thread, Shelley!

>1 jessibud2: Lovely glass pieces at the top, I am in awe you made them!

>1 jessibud2: Shelley, that is gorgeous! I didn't know you did fused glass!

Happy new one!

Love the glass art. You are quite talented!!

Happy new thread, Shelley and congratulations on making it to 75.

I hope to join you there shortly.

Yes, beautiful work!

That's a lovely fused glass piece up top, Shelley! Way to go, you! I'll have to visit your LT gallery after this.

And Happy New Thread! It's all gravy now that you reached 75.

P.S. Nice!

>8 SandyAMcPherson:, >9 FAMeulstee:, >10 SqueakyChu:, >11 figsfromthistle:, >12 PaulCranswick:, >13 torontoc:, >14 jnwelch: - Thanks muchly, all. I don't know if my junk drawer is visible to others or just me, but if you can find your way there and see the pic there, that's the one I wanted as my topper. But I get a message that it cannot be moved, when I try to transport it to my thread. But if you can see it, it's a great one. Maybe it's a copyright thing? I don't want to break rules so I will leave it there but it's something a friend sent me in an email and what could be better for book lovers? Madeline, it's been hanging there since long before you visited! ;-)

>1 jessibud2: Hi Shelley, didn't get to visit your junk drawer yet, but I really loved your glass windows up there. Lovely colours!

>16 EllaTim: Hi Shelley! I loved your glass work up there. Lovely soft colours. I visited your gallery, but I think I couldn't see your junk drawer. But I really loved this look of your glass work:-)

>15 jessibud2: I don't think we can see anyone's Junk Drawer (just the Member's Gallery); at least, I couldn't. Only my own junk drawer is visible when I'm on my profile page...

In your "Member's Gallery" there's this intriguing one,

It would be great for an LT profile picture!

BTW, I did post a new tutorial ~ https://www.librarything.com/topic/313532#6985818 ~ better images and more details.

>17 EllaTim: - Thank you, Ella.

>6 SandyAMcPherson:, >18 SandyAMcPherson: - Thanks, Sandy. I did post that pic on my last thread but the details are too tiny to really appreciate. I don't know how to make it large enough to really see. Anyhow, I am just too damn lazy to change anything right now.

I had to chuckle when I saw how you enlarged the red font on the tutorial. Perfect for my aging eyes! No need for my magnifying glass! lol

I may try again or I may just save the link for some other time when I have more patience. Real life has cut into my physical allotment of patience and ability to focus lately. C'est la vie...

>19 jessibud2: I'm glad you can see the visuals. Thanks for your input. Sharing your experience has helped make the "tutorial" more user-friendly.

When drneutron is not so busy with managing the Parker solar probe (!), he might use the jpgs for updating the 75-er group wiki.

Be well and I hope RL cuts you some slack soon. LT is here for pure enjoyment and it doesn't truly matter how we mess around with our talk threads. Just have fun reading!

Hi Shelley my dear, happy new thread and congrats on reaching 75 books read dear friend, I will try and get back here a few more times before year end as I have been missing from threads of late.

Happy new thread Shelley.,
The fused glass piece is gorgeous!
Hope things go well in Montreal for your visit.
Congrats on achieving the BIG 75 number. Well done!

Hi Shelley and Happy New Thread! Also, congrats on reaching our collective 75 goal.

Beautiful fused glass up there.... ^^^

>1 jessibud2: is just lovely. I particularly like the dragonfly bodies being colorful and the wings textural, that is (as you know) how it is in real life but so often in art that's left by the wayside.

Happy Yuletide orisons!

Thanks, Sandy, John, Mary and Ellen. I would like to get back to doing the glass one of these days. That was the last piece I did and it has to be, I would say, maybe 10 years since then. One of these days....

We must have been posting at the same time, Richard. Thanks! I am a person who often finds myself overwhelmed when I have too much choice. When I found myself surrounded by so many different textures of clear glass, it was both overwhelming and exciting at the same time and this particular method of *fused* as opposed to straight stained glass (using lead or foil to attach and connect pieces) made the ability to use them all, and the final effect of them, quite different from what I had been used to. I also loved the effect of the clear with the coloured opaque pieces and glass beads. In this method, we glued (or *fused*) the pieces to the actual window pane (the window frame had all glass panes intact). The stems are flattened pieces of remnant glass that had been used for other things, and are much greener than they appear in my photo. I think I was just at a wrong angle to capture that true colour.

>24 richardderus: Shelley, I thought you and Richard would enjoy this amazing dragonfly wing shot I got this summer. I didn't even know that the dragonfly was blue until I enlarged the picture! :O

Wow! Madeline, that is really something! Reminds me of the Glasswing butterflies. I've never seen one in person but are fascinated by them: http://www.lovethesepics.com/2013/03/gorgeous-glasswing-butterflies-42-stunning-...

But the dragonfly wings are so much more intricate and delicate.

Happy New Thread, Shelley! And congrats on hitting 75! Yippee! You did it!

>27 SqueakyChu: That photo is *glorious*, Madeline! Perfect, and as is so often the case, accidentally so. Serendipity = perfection.

Hope your hip pain is better today, Shelley.

>29 msf59: - Thanks, Mark.

>30 richardderus: - Thanks, Richard. I am perfectly fine walking around and sitting, even bending down. It's the getting up that catches me. The physio will take care of it on Tuesday (I hope).

Some holiday reading from Grant Snider:

http://www.incidentalcomics.com/2019/12/holiday-reading.html

Happy new thread, Shelley. Love your topper. Congrats on reading 75 and good luck getting back to your original goal of 90. Now that you are home, I hope that you are gaining some of your patience back or at least finding some relaxing time.

Guess what? I managed to get the picture I wanted as my topper, into my thread. See >3 jessibud2:. Happy holidays to all booklovers!

I wonder if it mattered that I used Chrome as my browser to do it. I discovered by accident that in order to insert pics to my thread, I have to be using Chrome, instead of my usual default Microsoft Edge as my browser. The weird thing is I can upload pics to my gallery just fine using Edge but to the thread, it has to be Chrome.

I am not even going to attempt to understand why.

Well done Shelley. It feels great to conquer technology!

>35 mdoris: - Well, Mary, I'm not sure I'd go that far. *Conquer* implies I understood what I was doing. *Lucky break* is more like it! ;-)

>3 jessibud2: So very appropriate. I 💙💜💖 the biblio vibe for Christmas time.

>3 jessibud2: You did it! I can see why you wanted the picture as your topper, very seasonally appropriate, Shelley.

>3 jessibud2: How beautiful! Mysterious are the ways of The Code....

>37 SandyAMcPherson:, >38 Familyhistorian:, >39 richardderus: - Thanks Sandy, Meg, Richard. I am pleased it worked, however the ways of The Code.

So, after physio this morning, I needed a bit of retail therapy. I hit Value Village and got lucky. Their usual is buy 4 books, get the 5th free. So I found 10 I liked and only had to pay for 8. Plus, it's Tuesday so I got my senior's discount, on top of that. See, Richard, the benefits of being a senior... :-). No crankiness here, my friend :-)

>40 jessibud2: *fume*

OK Boomer

*seethe*

;-*

Dear Mrs. Bird by AJ Pearce.

It's 1941, London is being bombed nightly by the Germans, and Emmeline Lake just wants to be a war correspondent, a journalist. A Lady Journalist. She is a 23-year old woman, full of energy and determined to do her part for the war effort. She works as a secretary, and also volunteers a shift at a local fire station when, on her way home one evening, she sees an ad in the paper and decides this is the break she has been waiting for. The London Evening Chronicle is advertising for a junior position and Emmy decides she is perfect for the job.

What follows is a picture of determination and grit, good humour and kindness. Emmy is initially terribly disappointed when she realizes that the job she is hired for is, in fact, not at all the job she thought she was applying for. It turns out she is to type letters for the advice column, and as if that weren't enough of a let-down, her main boss, the *Mrs. Bird* readers write to, is an old, insensitive windbag, who rejects any letter that isn't Pleasant. This doesn't sit well with Emmy, who battles mightily with her conscience, but finds a way to salvage some of the most poignant letters and answer them, signing Ms. Bird's name. What ensues reveals the true essence of Emmy.

But Emmy is not a one-dimensional character and her job is not the only story line. First-time author AJ Pearce has absolutely captured the era and feel of war time London. She has an ear for the way people really spoke, the idioms, the expressions, the humour of the time. Also, the Keep Calm, Carry On spirit as well as the real fears and tensions of living through the Blitz. Pearce really writes so well and though there are many heartbreaking moments in this book, I also found myself laughing out loud many times. I cheered for Emmy and I cried for Emmy.

I also loved Pearce's notes at the end, saying how she was inspired to write this book after finding a woman's magazine from 1939 and being intrigued and impressed at not only the letters people wrote to the advice column, seeking help or solace, but also by the quality of the responses, as well. She called this her bridge into a world she wanted to write about. I found the ending a bit pat, but as a first-time novel, I thought the book was excellent and I look forward to more from AJ Pearce.

Great review of Dear Mrs Bird, Shelley, which earned a well deserved thumbs up from me.

Echoing what Darryl said, Shelley. Excellent review. Thumb from me, too, and I'm adding Dear Mrs. Bird to my WL.

Thanks, Darryl and Joe. It was a good read.

I am trying to read slimmer volumes from now till the end of the year in order to up my numbers and get me closer to my target goal, which is 90 but I'll be pleased if I can reach 80. So, this afternoon, I started Alberto Manguel's Packing My Library. I am a bit embarrassed to admit that I own a few of his books but haven't read any of them yet. But though only on page 6, this one looks to be good so far.

Earth and High Heaven by Gwethalyn Graham.

I read this for the community centre book club that I occasionally go to. Ends up, I missed that meeting for the discussion but I finished reading it anyhow. This is a book I read a million years ago, maybe high school? and this is, in fact, the very copy I still had on my shelf, yellowed pages, $1.25 price tag and all.

The story centres on Erica Drake, a wealthy protestant woman in Montreal in 1942 and Marc Reiser, the young Jewish lawyer she meets and falls in love with. Antisemitism is a common theme in many novels, as in life, and Montreal was no exception, especially back then. This was still in the middle of WWII, so the book would have been rather explosive in those days (published in 1944), to say the least. While I had no memory of reading it when I started it this time, I must have liked it to have kept this copy all this time.

I found the writing rather stilted and affected, at times but that could have just been the times. What I found particularly serendipitous, though, was an article I found in the most recent Persephone catalogue, about the author, Graham. Very timely and it gave me insight I never had into her life. This book, while not overtly autobiographical, did mirror some experiences she, herself, had had at that time, and that was pretty interesting. I cut the article out and will stick it into the back of the book. I may pass it along to a friend if she is interested.

Overall, I'd rate it 3 stars, at best. And that's another book off my shelf (and a Canadian one, at that). Yay me :-)

>46 jessibud2:, Yes, "Yay, you"!

That was very interesting commentary on Earth and High Heaven . And a plus that it was quintessentially Canadian wartime.

I placed a hold... our library system shows the 1944 copy. I wonder if it will actually be available?

>47 SandyAMcPherson: - If you pm me your address, I am happy to send you this one, Sandy

Don't click if you are hungry. From the good folks at Cake Wrecks, 'tis the season:

http://www.cakewrecks.com/home/2019/12/15/sunday-sweets-holly-jolly-gingerbread-...

>42 jessibud2: Yay! I have the book here, although I can't tell you why; but now I think I'll read it before I pass it along.

>46 jessibud2: A lot like the Richler book St. Urbain's Horseman in its treating Canadian anti-semitism. I liked that book but suspect a protracted search for this one wouldn't be warranted.

>49 jessibud2: Gingerbread is delightful!

>49 jessibud2: I loved them all but I especially loved the tree house one from Canada! Amazing!!!

>50 richardderus: - Dear Mrs. Bird was a good read, Richard. Light but not fluff, and while the ending was (in my opinion) a bit too...easy?, still, it was a good story and I'd look for more from this author.

I will admit that I haven't read much of Richler, though I did enjoy Barney's Version. His work, at least from what I know, is somewhat controversial, not always well-received. I did like his kid's book, Jacob Two-Two and the Dinosaur. I also own a few books written by a couple of his children (who are obviously adults now)

As far as the Gwethalyn Graham book, it just felt dated to me. Back in those days, and in that generation, *mixed* marriages were a big deal. Today, in this time and place, anyhow, it's almost the rule rather than the exception, I might dare to say. Or at least, it's not as big a deal. In my own very average, not at all religious family, we have many mixed faith and one mixed race marriages and no one has busted a gut over them. And of all those, only one divorce so far.

>51 mdoris: - Aren't those amazing, Mary? I love the Cake Wrecks site.

Hi Shelley!

Congrats on getting the pic you want by using a different browser. I use two different browsers now - had to switch to Mozilla Firefox a while back since Microsoft Internet Explorer, dinosaur that it is, wasn't supporting the change cover feature of LT properly any more. I've finally gotten used to it, but still like IE for a few other websites.

And good luck with your year-end reading.

>53 jessibud2: Great!

>53 jessibud2: - Oh, that's perfect!

>53 jessibud2: What a great picture for us bibliophiles!
I snagged it to e-mail a friend in UK who will identify with Violet.

>57 SandyAMcPherson: - Oh, Sandy (she says in mock horror), don't we all? ;-)

>42 jessibud2: Good review of Dear Mrs. Bird, Shelley. I have that one somewhere on the shelves. Maybe I will get to it soon but the library holds keep coming in. I just picked up another 5 of them today.

>49 jessibud2: Ha, you can't tempt me with the Cake Wrecks. I once won a very big Gingerbread House which was already made. It was a long time ago at my son's grade one Christmas Concert. I was standing there holding onto it when they pulled the ticket for the main prize, a Gameboy (I told you it was a long time ago). I won that too. Well, I said it was mine but you know who got to play with it. Come to think of it, he ate most of the Gingerbread House as well but, as I remember it didn't taste that good.

A cautionary tale. This morning at 7:45, my mother phoned me from Montreal. She said she just had a call from the fraud dept. of her VISA card. She said it was a woman, and she was polite and sounded professional. She said there had been 2 charges, one small, one large on her card and she wanted to check. She asked my mother if she had her VISA card in her purse. My mother said yes (which, by the way, is not true). She asked if she could get it and my mother said no. Then she called me.

My mother has dementia and lives in an assisted living facility. How she had the presence of mind to call me right away and how she remembered even that much of the conversation, is amazing. I asked if the woman asked for her by name and she said she thinks so. I asked if she said which bank's VISA card she was calling from, but she couldn't remember. I then asked her to have a look at her phone and tell me if there was a CID (caller ID) button. She said yes so I had her hang up, and push that button and told her if there was a name or phone number displayed, to write it down and call me right back. She did and, as I expected, no name was displayed but there was a number. I googled it right away and it was from some mobile telecom company in Sackville, New Brunswick. To me, this smacks of fraud and scammers. Besides, the fact that they called her at such an early hour, what bank is open and doing business at 7:45 in the morning? Probably someone hoping to get a groggy and not-clear-thinking person at the other end.

We got lucky. The truth is that my mother does not have a VISA or any other credit card. My brother and I cancelled it a couple of months ago, after I saw a charge for a donation on her statement that I didn't recognize. I asked her if she had made a donation and she said no. When I asked if anyone had called asking for money, she didn't remember. I cancelled the card immediately but a couple of days later, a thank you letter arrived for my mother, thanking her for the donation. THEN, she remembered. I explained to her that phone scamming happens and seniors are especially vulnerable and with her memory so spotty, it was just safer for her not to have a credit card. I have her power of attorney and I do all her banking and pay her bills. I also have her chequebook. Between my brother and I when we visit, we always make sure she has enough cash in her wallet to pay for her hairdresser or lunch out with friends but she doesn't need more than that. She understood and said it was ok with her.

So, when this happened today, it was really lucky. I told her to remember one rule: NEVER ever give any personal information to ANYONE on the phone if you don't know who it is, no matter what they say. I also told her (tongue in cheek) to ask the person at the other end of the line for her name and number and say you'll call them back. That is sure to get rid of them quickly. Or just hang up.

I feel I should report this to someone but those scammers are so hard to track down. There must be thousands of them. I know we all know this but it can't hurt to mention it again, especially if you have seniors in your life. Though, seriously, it could happen to any of us.

>60 jessibud2: Such an excellent post, thank you.
It is wonderful that you wrote this up in detail ~~~ anecdotes like this are much more convincing than bald statements at banks or in info sheets.

Perhaps calling the fraud number at the RCMP would be helpful ~ we have been told by our neighbourhood liaison officer that we (as a community) should always report incidents. The message is that "we" won't know what they're working on and that our information may be contributing to a larger scenario. Basically, it isn't up to the public to decide about the difficulty with scammers being so hard to track down or whatever else we're reporting.

I think you did an absolutely great job with your Mom. And wasn't she wonderful?! She has some sharp cookies happening. It is so easy to be lulled into co-operating and agreeing. We're often just too polite.

That happened to me last year- I got a call at 7:30 am with the same information that your mother received-asking me to press a number and see what charges were made. I had heard of this scam on CBC and hung up. I then called VISA( they didn't open until 9 am) I was told that the calls are made early in the morning so that the person receiving the call is indeed groggy and maybe will respond. VISA told me that they will never call and that I should never give out my information to someone who calls me. I have had some similar calls this month at 8:15 with a recorded voice- I just hang up.
Your mother made a good decision to call you!

>1 jessibud2: I LOVE that glass piece you did!! It is beautiful, both colors and texture. Wow. I am not-so-secretly hoping I get another GC to Bullseye Glass here in Portland so I can go do another glass project. : )

Congrats on hitting the big 75!!

>61 SandyAMcPherson:, >62 torontoc: - Thanks, Sandy and Cyrel. I used to get those idiotic automated calls, supposedly from CRA (Canada Revenue Agency) all the time, and I mean ALL the time, threatening me with lawsuits and jail if I didn't immediately call this number back. I never did, of course, because I knew I had done nothing wrong plus it is so obviously a scam when it is a computer-generated voice, they never address you by name and it's so ubiquitous that for weeks, it's one of the top stories on the news (I was getting these calls multiple times a day, for weeks on end). Still, there are always people, often seniors, who are vulnerable and get scared and ultimately, caught in the scam. It's really awful. Anyhow, this time, we were just lucky.

>63 Berly: - Thanks, Kim. I may start to look around for a studio or somewhere else that offers workshops here, in the new year. It's been far too long since I did any glass projects and I am eager to get back to it. Of course, I could do it on my own but it would have to be in summer, when I can use my garage as work space because I don't really want to be doing glass work when I have cats roaming the house (well, I only have one cat at the moment and she will be turning 20 (yes!) next month and in truth, she mostly sleeps and rarely *roams* any more). But still.

>60 jessibud2: Close call Shelley. Wise not to let your mum have a card with so much fraud around.

This report was just on the CBC- so a little is being done about scam callers
https://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/crtc-call-blocking-1.5401057

>66 torontoc: - So funny to hear that this morning on the news, right after my post yesterday. I am a skeptic at heart though, and doubt much will change. Scammers and criminals always seem to be at least a step or two ahead of law enforcement. Personally, I am much more concerned at the moment about the Life Labs security breach!!

https://globalnews.ca/news/6308439/lifelabs-data-breach/

>60 jessibud2: Thanks for the warning. We can't be careful enough these days. Even more so around the holiday season as many try to take advantage.

Becoming RBG by Debbie Levy is a graphic novel format, about the life of Ruth Bader Ginsburg, probably aimed at a middle school audience but very nicely done. I seem to have read a number of different books this year about RBG, but each has presented her story in slightly different ways and formats and I so admire her, that I don't think there can be too many books about her.

Thanku subtitled Poems of Gratitude. I am not generally a reader of poetry but this one is a gorgeously illustrated book, snagged from a list of illustrated books for children that I found on Linda's thread (Whisper1) and it is truly beautiful. We have all heard of haiku, quatrain, sonnet, acrostic, etc but I also liked that at the end of each poem, it stated what style of poem it was (there are many I had never hard of, such as pantoum, Etheree, tanka, to name a few). And at the end of the book, there is a definition of each style. Maybe it's the teacher in me but I really loved and appreciated this extra touch. My favourite was a poem by Charles Ghigna called Paint the Sunset (in the style of metaphor):

Paint the sunset with your eyes,
Sculpt the morning with your heart,
Brush your dreams with light and laughter,
Make your life a work of art.

It also has the prettiest illustration in the book, in my opinion, apart from the book cover itself.

And yes, I am grabbing shorter books as December winds down, in the hope of reaching my original goal of 90 books. I still am not sure I'll make it but ya never know!

>60 jessibud2:, Hi Shelley, what a worrisome episode but at least your mum had the presence to cut the call and then call you. On Monday Karen got a text from our cell phone company saying that they had had trouble processing her monthly payment, they had attached a link. Karen messaged me and sent the link but I could not access it. I was worried at first that we were overdrawn but when Karen got home she got on the link but bailed out when asked for bank details. On Tuesday morning I went to the bank and they had not stopped any payment and after checking she found that the payment shouldn't go out until the end of the month. They thought it was a scam and so I went to the O2 store and checked with them and they confirmed that it was a scam and told me to get Karen to ring customer services to change her password to be doubly sure.

Although scams are done throughout the year I think that they are trying to use the busy Christmas period to catch us out. I think we both have a salutary warning for others to keep in mind at this time of year.

Hope you are well my dear and that things are going fine, sending love and hugs to you from both of us dear friend.

>60 jessibud2: Thanks for that great post, Shelley.

I'm very familiar with that problem. My smart father had lost several marbles from his brain in his 90s, and I was very worried he'd get taken advantage of. Like you, I had the power of attorney for him, and I arranged for his bank to review and pay all his bills. We were lucky that he had an alert caregiver who was there daily and kept an eye on his mail. For example, I remember that he was quite taken with a promo for a diabetic cookbook; he was not diabetic and by then didn't cook beyond using the microwave once in a while. She alerted us and we talked him out of it.

At one point, he said, now you get to be the parent, and I get to be the child. Woo, he sure got that one right. It was a challenge.

>65 Caroline_McElwee:, >68 figsfromthistle:, >70 johnsimpson: - Thanks, Caroline, Anita and John. I think you are right about scammers using the holidays to their advantage. It's just a fact of life these days that we - everyone - have to be extra vigilant and alert.

>71 jnwelch: - Yes, Joe, that role reversal is in full force right now. And it's harder when you don't live in the same city as your aging parent, as you well know. Remarkably, my mother's physical health seems to be very stable (she has a rare form of non-Hodgkins lymphoma but is being monitored closely and is responding well to her meds); even her doctor is surprised and impressed, as her cognitive abilities seem to be fading slowly. Well, it is what it is and we just deal with whatever comes up. I still go to Montreal every 5 to 8 weeks, to take her to her appointments and that works out well for both of us. When she first got sick, around 3 years ago, it was just the lymphoma, no cognitive decline then, and in some ways, that was harder than things seem to be now. Oh well, c'est la vie. We do what must be done for those we love.

>60 jessibud2: Good that your Mum had the presence of mind to be uneasy about the conversation and call you, Shelley. I don't even bother to answer my landline anymore unless I can hear someone I know trying to leave a message. Most of the other calls are scams, some of them in languages I don't understand.

>73 Familyhistorian: - Me too, Meg. I always look at the ID window on my phone. If it's a number I don't recognize or a name, though there usually is just *caller unknown* or *anonymous* showing there, if anything, I also don't bother to pick it up. I figure that if it's actually a legitimate call, they will leave a message, though I'd guess that 99% of the time, it's a robocall of some sort, probably the scammy sort.

I just flagged the above message (>75 Julieanna40:) because it looks like spam to me. (speaking of spam messages!!)

This person just joined today, has nothing on their profile and the message, which was also sent to me via pm on my profile, just smacks of those bogus emails that we all know about and know never to click on. Is there a way to report this to the powers that be?

I'm glad the scammer story had a happy ending for your mother, Shelley.

We never answer any call except from people we know and the financial institutions we bank with. All have to have caller-ID.

My mother got caught up in a "your grandson is in a jail in Mexico and you need to send money, don't tell his parents" scam for about $11K. My niece, in her 20s at the time, got caught up in a "we have banking delays but need cash, we'll send you a check" scheme. I think that was about $3K.

>76 jessibud2: I got a friend request from zoe.r2005 in August to be a friend - and stupidly accepted. I then got this, which I completely ignored, although apparently many people accepted her invite. I didn't report her but maybe should have:

Dear Karen,

Thanks for being my friend on LibraryThing. We share quite a few books in reading. I wonder if you’d be interested in reviewing my novel Spinster Kang, set in Toronto, Canada, and Moscow, Russia. Kang is a Chinese immigrant in Toronto. Impacted by her sister’s misery, she distrusts the man. However, ironically and funnily, as a confirmed spinster, she falls in love.

If you are, please let me know your email, and a PDF file could be sent to you.
Your time is very much appreciated!

Zoë

>77 karenmarie: - Wow, that's awful, about your family getting caught in those scams! Ouch! About half an hour ago, I had a phone call, which I didn't answer. After it's done, I always look to see if they left a message, which rarely happens with robocalls. This time, they had. It was a computer generated robotic voice telling me there was a compromise on my Social Insurance card. I never even listened to the end, I just deleted it. For one thing, it was a 1-800 number, and that says it all. Also, they never address me by name, it's just a computer generated message. What more proof does one need?

As for that pm and message on my thread from yesterday, whoever removed it was pretty quick! It rarely happens to me here on LT, I think only once before. But I already spend way too much time sitting in front of the computer so unless it's a name I know from the 75ers, I tend to be suspicious and not bother following up.

Book #80. I may make it to 90 yet!

Making Toast by Roger Rosenblatt was written in 2010, 3 years after the sudden and tragic death of his 38-year-old daughter. Rosenblatt is an author, essayist, memoirist and professor of writing. And although this book evolved from a shorter piece he wrote for a magazine (I think), it isn't really an essay or a memoir, per se. There are no chapters, just vignettes, some short, some longer. It also isn't a journal through grief, no dated entries. But Rosenblatt does what writers do, to work through issues, in this case, profound grief: he writes.

His daughter Amy was 38, a pediatrician herself and married to a surgeon. She had 3 young children under the age of 6 at the time of her death. As soon as Rosenblatt and his wife got the news, they drove the 5 hours from their home in New York, to Maryland, where her family lived. They moved in, to help their son-in-law and stayed.

While it's easy to imagine just reeling from such an unexpected tragedy, this book is not solemn. It is a window into surviving, carrying on and getting up in the morning with a purpose. As Rosenblatt says at one point, what other choice is there? The unconditional love of family, and of friends, is there. The humour, and the difficulties are there, as are the strength, the tenderness and the pain. But I also found myself laughing and smiling a lot, and the book felt more uplifting that depressing. I would recommend it. Not being American, I had not known Rosenblatt's name at all before I read this book. But I think I may seek out some of his work. I certainly was moved by this book.

I was curious if Rosenblatt and his wife are still living in Maryland, over 10 years on, now, but google gave me no definitive answer. However, I did find this interview and it's an interesting one:

https://www.washingtonian.com/2011/04/20/roger-rosenblatt-life-after-the-death-o...

My recent scam experience is pretty odd.

A package came to my address, but addressed to a person I'd never heard of.
I politely contacted SWANSON, the company that had sent it, for a return to them.

SWANSON said that the order was placed with my credit card and my address was used
from an order placed with SWANSON a few years ago...

...then stated it was a Scam.

I contacted my credit card company, cancelled my card, and was told that NO order had
been placed in my name from SWANSON...

...and that it could have been an "inside job" at SWANSON.

I called SWANSON again - they told me just to open the box and use whatever it was,
that it only cost nine dollars. I said, not seriously,"Well, what if there's a bomb inside?"
and asked again for a return label and for followup on tracing order and how my address was released.

Label finally came - have heard no followup from SWANSON, except a note stating that I would receive credit
for my returned order (!) - new credit card came via, at my request, Fed Ex -
the policy of sending new credit cards via regular mail no longer is even slightly secure -
maybe that's the lesson, aside from not using a credit card...?

Soviet Santa says "Happy Yule!" Solstice Greetings to all. Read more here: https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/soviet-santa

>74 jessibud2: I’d use caller ID but it only comes up fleetingly on my TV or on the phone which I am rarely next to. I just don’t bother to answer and hate when people want to call me as I have to answer incoming calls around that time. Scam emails make it difficult to contact fellow genealogists out of the blue, which we sometimes do if we think we have a family connection. It was much better before our communication channels became clogged.

Greetings to my fellow biblio-geeks! It has been a privilege to chatter here with you.

A winter solstice is the moment in time when the Earth's tilt away from the Sun is at its maximum and the Sun's maximum elevation in the sky is at its lowest. Thus the ice crystals form magical lighting effects ~


Sundogs and a sunrise on the Winter Solstice

Happy Sunday, Shelley. We are enjoying some very nice weather, here in the Midwest, which is supposed to stick around, right through the holidays. Yah!!

You read The Lost Words, right? I thought you were one of my pals that recommended it. ^That is one of the many gorgeous illustrations from it.

>80 m.belljackson: What a strange story! How did this benefit that scammer? But maybe SWANSON should remove your address and credit card data?

We all have experience with scamming. Or identity theft. It's pretty scary. You suddenly have to prove that no, this wasn't you, and that can be difficult.

>81 richardderus:, >83 SandyAMcPherson: - Thanks, Richard and Sandy, for the lovely images (and words).

>80 m.belljackson:, >82 Familyhistorian:, >85 EllaTim: - Marianne, Meg, and Ella. I guess the *new normal* is more vigilance and spreading the word of more vigilance. I think it helps that it is so much in the news these days as scammers get ore and more sophisticated. Scary, indeed.

>84 msf59: - You are right, Mark. I loved that book. I actually bought postcards made from some of the illustrations, and they are lovely, too. I am happy that you agreed. I want to get my hands on more of Macfarlane's work, too.

I have Underland waiting in the wings. Maybe, I'll bookhorn it in, before the end of the year.

>87 msf59: - In the last few days, almost all of the holds I've had at the library (quite a few, including dvds!) have come in but once those are done, Underland is one of the ones high on my radar. Let me know what you think of it when you get to it!

This is from Grant Snider's upcoming book, I Will Judge You By Your Bookshelf

Ha! Don't we all? ;-)

>89 jessibud2: Fun!
I like seeing other folks shelves, more to discover a new facet to my friend, or to find a genre I didn't know would interest me.

Recently, I discovered Sea People on a friend's shelf and it is turning out to be fascinating. Part of my Christmas library book cascade. This friend is super organized and shelves by year published, so I had a great time looking at her 2018 and 2019 shelves. I would guess there are some 8,000 books at her house (shared with a husband, a dog and 2 cats, I might add).

>90 SandyAMcPherson: - Sounds intriguing! I love Winchester as an author (and as a wonderful narrator of his own books, on audio), and I have read several of his titles. I do own 2 books by Jaren Diamond but have not yet got to them. I will make a note of Sea People. Thanks!

>89 jessibud2: Lovely.

Have a great holiday, Shelley. We head out to a family gathering starting tomorrow.

Thanks, Joe. you, too.

Just finished Show Your Work by Austin Kleon. I read his earlier book, Steal Like An Artist a couple of years ago and this is a sort of follow-up. I like the way he thinks. Kleon is an artist who writes, or a writer who draws, depends how you think about it. He gives practical advice but really, it's less advice than it is just common sense, clear thinking, and a good dose of humour and fun, thrown in. I just had a peek at his website/blog, too. I like this guy!

Next up: Primates, a graphic bio by Jim Ottaviani and Maris Wicks. It's about the three women who transformed what we know and think about the 3 primates, chimps, orangutans and gorillas, long a subject of fascination for me. Thankfully, these books came into the library last week. I will bring them back tomorrow and pick up some longer, heavier holds that have arrived in the last days.

>91 jessibud2: Might have got our wires crossed. I'm not sure who 'Winchester' is...
Sea People is by Christina Thompson.

Confession ~ I am not a fan of Jared Diamond. I read the first third or so of Guns, Germs, and Steel but just-could-not persevere with his steam-roller presentation style. Scientifically, he has cherry-picked a lot of the facts to support his arguments and does not encourage academic (scholarly) debate of his thesis in public presentations.

>94 SandyAMcPherson: - When I moused over the title of the book you are reading, it shows a bit of a review and mentioned the author being a sort-of cross between Jared Diamond and Simon Winchester. As mentioned, I haven't read Diamond yet but I do love Simon Winchester

Oh - got it! I didn't see that mouse-over commentary. I had a synopsis of the story from the friend who has a copy. It was probably a different overview from the mouse-over synopsis. I'll have to investigate who Simon Winchester is as an author... thanks for the idea. Always good to expand my reading repertoire!

>96 SandyAMcPherson: - He is terrific. He writes tomes and has a tendency to meander a bit, tangents, etc. But he always ties everything together and is so knowledgeable and interesting, and an excellent storyteller and writer. And if you enjoy audiobooks (not everyone, does, I know), see if your library has any by him. He narrates his own work and is wonderful to listen to. Not all writers are good readers but he is excellent.

I just finished the graphic novel called Primates: The Fearless Science of Jane Goodall, Dian Fossey and Birute Galdikas. I thought it was ok, as it goes, for the younger target audience. I was somewhat confused by the author's use of the title *Prologue* at the end of the book. A better editor might have caught that, I would think. It made no sense to me. But otherwise, a decent introduction the what these three women contributed to our knowledge of primate and human behaviour.

Hope you have a wonderful Christmas.

No idea how scam on SWANSON could have benefitted anyone and yes,
I asked for both address and credit card removal.

Card won't be a problem since I cancelled it, but it's easy to place an order on a site and forget to go back after the order goes through to remove card number.

And, even when you do this, AMAZON can still pull # up from old orders.

Amazon may be working on the old "So you want an egg in your beer and foam in the middle?"
Likely delivered by drone.

>93 jessibud2: I have Show Your Work on my shelves and your review makes me want to seek it out, Shelley. Good luck with all your library holds. I am still working through mine which kept coming in bunches every week for a couple of months.

>89 jessibud2: Love the cartoon.

>99 ChelleBearss: - Good to see you again, Chelle. Hope all is well with you.

>100 m.belljackson: - I have no idea what or who Swanson is but I avoid amazon, myself, if I can help it.

>101 Familyhistorian: - Meg, have you read Austin Kleon's first one, Steal Like an Artist? I liked that one a lot. I brought 2 books back to the library today and picked up one more, with 2 others currently *in transit* to my branch.

Hi Shelley!

Merry Christmas Shelley my dear from both of us dear friend.

Here's a fitting book to wish you a Very Merry Christmas!



Merry holidays, Shelley.

Merry Christmas Shelley. I look forward to keeping up with your adventures in 2020.

Thank you, Karen, John, Ella, and Caroline. All the best of the season to all of you, too.

And, because I am lazy and sometimes just have to be march to my own drum, I will leave this here for everyone who visits (and in case you missed it, up there in post #3):



All my best wishes to all, for a year ahead of good reading, and, most importantly, good health. What else is there, after all.

>105 EllaTim: - Ella, I LOVE Jan Brett's books and art. I used her books a lot when I was still teaching. I had very early learners and we used to combine literature with dramatic play and her books really lend themselves wonderfully to that. If you know her book, The Mitten, my assistant once sewed a giant mitten out of sturdy canvas fabric and we used hand puppets of all the various animals to act the story out as we read. If you are familiar with the story, let me just say, that the final page was always anticipated with great delight!

And for those of us celebrating Hanukkah instead of Christmas, a friend sent me this, a random pic from facebook, she told me. I was hoping to be able to credit where it came from but so far, despite googling, I have had no luck. Let's hope I don't get sued.

Happy Hanukkah, from one of my heroes:

>110 jessibud2: I love that!!

I'm enjoying a very stormy Christmas eve on Kauai. They are predicting possible flash floods and power outages for the holiday. Sheesh.

Oh well, it's still a holiday.



to you, Shelley!

Have a great holiday, Shelley! We have been enjoying this mild weather and the birds seem to like it too. B.A.G.

All the best to you Shelley!

Thank you for keeping me company in 2019.......onward to 2020.

Whether you celebrate Christmas, Hanukkah, Solstice, some other tradition or none at all, this is what I wish for you!

Thanks, Ellen, Mark, Mary, Paul, and Roni. All the best to you all, too.

The other day, I went with a friend to see the final film in a wonderful British series called The Up Series. This final film is called 63 Up. The director/filmmaker, Michael Apted, interviewed several British children in 1964, when they were 7 years old. The kids were from a wide swath of the British class system across London, and his premise was, give me a child when he is 7 and I will show you the man. I believe it was intended to be a one-off but 7 years later, he interviewed them again and from then, every 7 years up to now, when they are 63 years old. This is the final chapter as Apted himself is in his late 70s and not well and won't be doing any more. I have seen all the films in this series. A handful of the participants have dropped out over the years but the core group have all agreed (sometimes reluctantly) to continue to be interviewed. Each new film shows clips from previous ones, so that you really get to see them grow over the years. It is truly a wonderful social study of not just the class system but also of humanity. I remember watching the first 2 films in this series as part of my teacher training undergrad program and after that, I was hooked. There are some surprises in watching the evolution of these people who I almost felt I knew as friends, and I couldn't help afterwards, thinking back and trying to remember who and what I was at those ages.

There was also a book published after the 42 film came out, called 42 Up, which, of course, I had to buy at that time. I saw this latest at my local documentary theatre and after the previous one, 56 Up, I purchased the box set of the films. I am hoping that this 63 Up will also soon be available on dvd so I can complete the series set.

Here is an article published recently in the New York Times Magazine about the series:

The Up Series

I can't recommend it highly enough.

Edited to add the trailer, Scroll once to the right:

63 Up film trailer

Best wishes this holiday season!! See you in 2020!

>117 Berly: - Thanks, Kim. So many beautiful season's greetings pics here! Love them all!

I will be getting my new thread up soon, likely in a day or so. I am still trying to find and decide on a topper.

>109 jessibud2: I just picked the book by its nice cover, but now that I've seen some of Jan Brett's beautiful work, I can understand your love for it. And the last scene fromThe Mitten must have been great fun:-)

>116 jessibud2: Interesting. Those first seven years are so important for the rest of one's life. I am glad there were some surprises, it would be depressing to think people can't change.

Greetings of the season to you and yours, Shelley. As per usual, our children and grandchildren made this a very happy holiday for my wife and me. They know me so well; aside from three pairs of Keith Haring socks, I got books. Yay!

>110 jessibud2: THAT. IS. PERFECTION!

Happy happy, merry merry, whoopee!

>119 EllaTim: - One of the things I love about Jan Brett's artistic style is her use of borders on each double page, and even more, the *windows* she incorporates into those borders, so the reader gets a peek ahead at the next pages, or a look back at the previous ones. All without any reference to them in the text. It's just one of those visual gems to be discovered by the readers. It was a great device to engage my students, and have them guess or predict what they think will happen next.

If you ever have a chance to see these films, especially the final one, do give it a go. I've edited my above post to add the film trailer. Go check it out: >116 jessibud2:

>120 weird_O: - Hi, Bill. And happy holidays to you, too. I hope all three pair of socks weren't identical! ;-)

>121 richardderus: - I love it too, Richard!

Please help me, of little brain, to remember something. Who was it who posted (not all that long ago, I'm quite sure), some pictures on their thread of the wonderful botanical paintings of an artist named Maria Sibylla Merian? I remember commenting on how lovely her work was. I thought it might be Ella or Anita but I skimmed back through their threads and couldn't find anything. I think you had seen a museum exhibit of her work, if I am not mistaken.

Anyhow, the reason I ask is because I just received as a gift a book of her work! Maria Sibylla Merian Artist, Scientist, Adventurer. It was from a friend in the States, not an LTer, so she would have had no way of knowing that I even knew who this was. We just share a common interest in art, nature and such but when I opened the package today and saw it, I thought, what are the odds! I love when this kind of coincidence happens but it drives me a bit nuts when I only half remember something, and can't recall the rest.

>117 Berly: I haven't seen the latest one Shelley, but it's been an excellent series.

>102 jessibud2: No, I've heard of Steal Like an Artist but never read it. The Up Series sounds interesting.

>124 Caroline_McElwee: - I feel kind of sad that it's ended now, Caroline. After watching all of the films in the series, I feel as if I know them personally!

>125 Familyhistorian: - See if your library has it, Meg. You can easily read it in one sitting.

I am trying to finish up one library book tonight as I have 2 more holds to pick up tomorrow and one in transit. And 3 more still on hold but 2 of those won't be ready for me for awhile, due to the long wait lists. I am still hoping to meet my goal but not sure I'll make it.

>123 jessibud2: My money's on Joe's arty cafes, but don't ask me which one!

Also, I hate you now. That is one cool gift book!

>123 jessibud2: Jessie, that would have been Anita's thread here, at the top of the thread:
https://www.librarything.com/topic/312606

No, I didn't remember it, but when you want to find out where the thread is where you saw something, you can put that thing in search and then, on the results page, click on "conversations" in the left column, which will tell you where it's been mentioned in Talk.

>128 ronincats: - Oh! Thank you, Roni! I never would have thought to search that way but of course, that makes sense. I had thought it was Anita or Ella, because this artist died in The Netherlands and I thought the museum exhibit had been there. Nice to know I am not totally losing it. Thanks again for finding that!

>128 ronincats: Yes, it was Anita.

Congratulations Shelley, such a nice gift, I guess it's a beautiful book, and an interesting and adventurous woman.

>123 jessibud2: That was me, Shelley, at the top of my previous thread .
Wow, that is a nice gift. I was not aware of Merian before seeing her work at the Suriname exhibition.

BTW: I see Roni and Ella already put you in the right direction :-)

ETA: You can also search the threads at the group page, just above the threads there is a search box.

>130 EllaTim: - Thanks, Ella.

>131 FAMeulstee: - I had never heard of her either Anita, until I saw the photos you posted and I was really taken with her art work, the detail and the fact that she did this so long before anyone else did. I am really looking forward to this book. Even as I unwrapped it, the name did not jump out at me but the moment I saw the illustrations, I remembered your thread. I love how LT makes the world smaller and closer together! :-)

>116 jessibud2: Wow, what an article on the 7 Up movies, Shelley. Thanks for the link. I've read about them over the years, but haven't seen them yet. They're on Britbox, and we intend to get Britbox soon.

>133 jnwelch: - Joe, did you have a look at the short trailer (link in that post, too)? If you get Britbox, this series is truly worth a look. I do hope you get to see it.

As Good As Anybody by Richard Michelson and illustrated by Raul Colon.

Written as a children's illustrated book, this lovely book tells the story of the friendship between Marin Luther King Jr. and Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel and how, though from very different backgrounds, they shared many similarities in values and upbringing. I knew of both men, though, admittedly, I knew less about Heschel than I should. This story is a loving portrait of the two men and though written and published in 2008, is as relevant today as ever.

Both King and Heschel had fathers who were religious leaders and both followed in their fathers' footsteps. Both lived through racial oppression and both were told by their parents to never forget that they are *as good as anybody*.

I did a little googling and found this very good article, written by Heschel's daughter, Susannah:

https://www.plough.com/en/topics/community/leadership/two-friends-two-prophets

Also, unbidden, and maybe oddly, as I finished the book, a song from my teenage years came back to me and began to run through my head:

Abraham, Martin and John

But no, the song is not about Abraham Heschel; it refers to Abraham Lincoln, King, and the Kennedy brothers. Perhaps an honest mistake, and still a good song.

>126 jessibud2: My library does have Steal Like an Artist so it is now on my list to pick up later. Good luck with reaching your goal.

Hi Shelley. The Up series sounds really interesting. I will definitely check it out.

>136 Familyhistorian: - I hope you get to it, Meg. It's a quickie but a good one.

>137 EBT1002: - It really is, Ellen. I am still thinking about it, a week later!

Hi Shelley!

>110 jessibud2: Yay for RBG.

My brother, bless him, is trying to help but, not being much of a reader himself (how he came from my family of readers, I will never understand), he was pretty clueless in this. He told me that when he visited our mum a few weeks ago, he bought her a book. He meant well but I was curious so I borrowed the book from my library: Keep Your Brain Alive - 83 Neurobic Exercises to prevent memory loss and increase mental fitness. Well, apart from the fact that it was published 20 years ago, in 1999, and makes reference (more than once!) to cufflinks -- does anyone younger than me even know what those are?? -- it really isn't something that my mum will be able to benefit from. I think it is meant for people with healthy brains, to *keep* their brains healthy. With her dementia, I think she is already past that point and as far as I understand, dementia is not reversible.

The actual exercises don't even appear till the second half of the book; the first half talks about the brain function and the various parts of the brain. She'll never make it past that with any comprehension, in my opinion. Then, the exercises. They are interesting, for the most part doable but most truly don't apply to my mother. Some would be downright dangerous for her to try and most just not practical. Basically, what the neurobics are is a way of engaging all the senses in order to keep the synapses active. The authors claim that our world is mostly visual and auditory and we have lost the ability to actively engage our other senses. They divide the exercises into chapters such as Commuting, At Work, Starting and Ending the Day, At The Market, At Mealtimes, At Leisure. The exercises are simple and fun (closing your eyes and navigating in your own home, showering in the dark, taking a new route to work whether you drive or walk, etc), and remaining socially connected. All make sense. I just don't think many (if any) are practical for my mother. Oh well. He meant well. And I learned a few things so it isn't all bad! I won't tell him because I don't want him to feel bad.

This was book #85 for me. I will finish one more book for sure, and possibly another, before the end of the year. I won't reach my goal of 90 but then, I wasn't sure I'd get to 75! So, while I had hopes of maybe getting to 90, I can't say I am disappointed. (I may lower the goal a tad for 2020 ;-)

My 2020 thread is up, if not 100% ready yet:

https://www.librarything.com/topic/314660

Congrats on reading 85, Shelley. Onward to 2020!

Apparently, I can't count. I squeezed in a kids' book yesterday, making my final number #86 and though I had hoped to finish up #87 today, it won't happen. It will be my first book of 2020, though.

Congrats on reading 86, Shelly. lol

Well done Shelley to read a BIG 86! Impressive!

>140 jessibud2: I can see it is too late to benefit your mom, but an interesting book all the same Shelley. Some of my young colleagues do actually wear cufflinks.

There has been some positive outcomes for people with dementia who listen to music or join with others to sing. It doesn't cure it, but they seem to get pleasure from it.

https://www.ageuk.org.uk/information-advice/health-wellbeing/conditions-illnesse...

>146 Caroline_McElwee: - Thanks for this link, Caroline. So interesting. Have you ever seen the documentary film (from some years ago, I forget exactly which year it came out) called Alive Inside? It was about this very thing, maybe it was even the beginning of this awareness of the connection between music and the dementia brain. Here is a clip:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NKDXuCE7LeQ

Also, one of the things I noticed in your clip was that one woman said that Lewy Body dementia is likened to a combination of dementia and Parkinson's. Not so much this past year because of the frequency of my travels to Montreal for my mum, but for the past 4 or 5 years, I have been volunteering for a wonderful organization called Dancing With Parkinson's, which began in New York City but is now here in Toronto and has expanded to around 9 locations in our city alone. It does basically what the music does except it also incorporates movement to help Parkinson's patients reawaken some control over their bodies. Here is a short clip narrated by Sarah Robichaud, the woman who brought it here, from a few years ago:

https://www.dancingwithparkinsons.com/

Sadly, you are right about there being no cure but to be able to prevent isolation and be able to offer active engagement in something enjoyable that is also beneficial, is a gift and a privilege.

I'll check out those video bites Shelley, thanks. The illness itself is so hard for the families as much as the sufferers, but knowing there are things that can give those with the disease some kind of pleasure helps all concerned.

Your Dancing With Parkinsons sounds wonderful.