"The Soul of a Doctor: Harvard Medical Students Face Life and Death", which was edited by Susan Pories turned out to be not nearly as interesting as I expected. I usually like essays, and I usually really enjoy books that follow medical students as they become doctors, but this collection is lacking. Maybe if the essays had been long enough for me to really get to know each of these medical students, at least enough so that I would care more about their thoughts and feelings, it might have been better.

As it was... :: shrugs ::

I'd write more, but I'm tired and this book wasn't really worth it. Hopefully the other books I currently have checked out from the library will be better.

Your result for The 3 Variable Funny Test...

the Ham

Take The 3 Variable Funny Test at HelloQuizzy

In response to a previous book count, somebody -- oddmonster? -- commented that I was good, somehow, for finishing a book that was difficult (in many senses of the word) to read. We had a conversation about how I often times DO give up on books... Well, I SHOULD have given up on book #43, but didn't, and now I want the time *back* that I wasted reading it!

"The Book Shop" by Penelope Fitzgerald *seemed* like it would be an interesting read when I picked it up at a used book sale at my library. The back of the book says that it's about Florence Green, a kind-hearted widow who decides to open a bookstore in a small town in England, only to face some resistance from the local residents. Also, the building where she opens the shop is haunted.

Sounds interesting, yes? No. With an interesting premise, and reviews on the inside cover like "The finest British writer alive." (Los Angeles Times Book Review), she still managed to make it boring AND frustrating AND infuriating, both in the sense of none of the characters being sympathetic, even the protagonist, and trying to make sense of why one character or another was doing something without any explanation of why. If it was a series and I should have known these other characters, maybe I could understand their bizarre choices, but... ugh. Don't bother to read this book.

It is only 100+ pages long, but not worth the time.

***

On the other hand, I am ALWAYS happen to recommend ANY book by the wonderful Amy Stewart, and her newest book is no exception.

"Wicked Plants - The Weed That Killed Abraham Lincoln's Mother & Other Botanical Atrocities" is just as cool as the title would imply. This is an excellent reference book for any writer who would like some interesting suggestions for ways to kill off characters or anybody who is interesting in gardening or hiking in the wilderness and wants to know what plants to *avoid*, or people with pets and/or children who have the bad habit of chewing houseplants or garden plants.

In all seriousness, there are a lot of stories out there (online and in this book and elsewhere) about kids (and adults) dying because of a careless mistake.

It's a beautiful book, besides, with the most incredible illustrations (copper etchings!) by artist Briony Morrow-Cribbs.

*Highly recommended!*

****

I also highly recommend book #45 -- but only if you like reading books about zombies. *grin*

"World War Z - An Oral History of the Zombie War" by Max Brooks (son of Mel Brooks) is easily my favorite (also my only) book about zombies. It's a history of the battles that were fought around the world when a plague of zombies spread all over the world, as told by the people who were there.

Out of a great deal of respect for those in my flist who would not like to hear the details of a book about zombies and how best to fight them, I will leave it at that. But those of you who LIKE shuddering with fear (little_tristan and oddmonster, I'm looking at you!) would enjoy it, of that I have no doubt!

From <lj user=hardboiledbaby> and <lj user=oddmonster>:

Go to http://quotationspage.com/random.php3 and browse the random quotes until you find five that you think reflect who you are or what you believe.

My religion consists of a humble admiration of the illimitable superior spirit who reveals himself in the slight details we are able to perceive with our frail and feeble mind.

Albert Einstein

The only thing that makes life possible is permanent, intolerable uncertainty; not knowing what comes next.

Ursula K. LeGuin

One kind word can warm three winter months.

Japanese proverb

A room without books is like a body without a soul.

Cicero, (Attributed)
Roman author, orator, & politician (106 BC - 43 BC)

And lastly, I had this quote copied, but couldn't get it to paste -- and besides, the website attributed it to the wrong person!

'Tis better to be silent and be thought a fool, than to speak and remove all doubt."  - Abraham Lincoln
(The website said that Mark Twain said it, and I bet he did, but he forgot to say that Abraham Lincoln said it before him!)

While chatting with sara_merry99 last night, I mentioned a new dress that I'd bought for myself last week, and she asked to see it -- so, for Sara, here I am in my new dress from India!



and



Isn't it pretty?

We had some friends visiting us from out of state this last week, and we took them around town to see the sights -- one of Mr Catyah's suggestions was the Global Market. Long ago, back when I was a kid, and long before that, there was a HUGE Sears store in the city. When it closed down, the store sat empty for YEARS. Various suggestions were made, but in the last few years, someone finally developed the property so it could be used to good advantage. The upper floors are apartments and lofts and office space, and the main floor is a thriving marketplace of little shops and restaurants run by people from all over the world. One of the shops is run by a lady from India who sells dresses, and I needed a new dress, and there was a sale... *grin*

I wore the dress to church on Sunday and to work on Monday, and got lots of nice compliments, but I kept thinking that I'd like nicer shoes to wear with it. So on my way home from work today, I stopped on a whim at a local thrift store, just to take a look, not expecting to find anything. I walked over to the shoe department, and the shoes I am wearing in the picture happen to be the first ones I saw! I tried on several other pairs, but I always came back to these.

I'm going to be seeing various fangirls in the near future -- I'll be glad to model it for you in person, dear friends. I think I'm going to be getting a lot of use out of this outfit.

:: silly little happy dance, humming "I Feel Pretty" ::

I saw this YouTube video at kev_bot's LJ yesterday, and loved it, but due to circumstances beyond my control, I didn't have access to sound for it. Today, I listened to it, and I love it even more.

I have no idea what the music means, but it's a music video, and is VERY cool. Enjoy!

Just testing out using "Semagic" for my LJ posts -- testing, one, two, three... A B C D E F G H I got a gal in Kalamazoo...

(Grrr. Sometimes LJ really annoys me. But it's not really LJs fault so much as it is mine -- as arouette once wrote in one of our Riptide fics, 'the problem is not with the computer, it's the loose nut in front of the keyboard.' So now I am going to re-write this post in WordPad and copy and paste it into LJ.)

On to the reviews:

( book 41 & 42 )

I'm really posting out of order today -- I've been reading a bunch of books at the same time, and book #38 is actually a book that I read completely today in less than an hour, at the library, and then returned.

Book #38 was Yossel April 19, 1943 by Joe Kubert. The author is apparently a very well-regarded artist in comic book history, and in reading this short graphic novel, I can see why. His drawings are simple, but at the same time, they seem breathtakingly detailed. It's the story of a Jewish boy in Poland. He is ordered to move into a ghetto with his parents and his sister, who are soon transported to Auschwitz. He isn't sent with them because his gift as an artist has caught the eyes of the Nazi soldiers who guard the ghetto and their commanding officers. Ultimately, the novel is about the Warsaw ghetto uprising that took place on April 19, 1943. It's extremely graphic and disturbing, as only a novel about the Holocaust can be.

little_tristan, I think this is a novel that would definitely interest you.

Book #39 was Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver, and co-written by her husband Steven L Hopp and older daughter Camille Kingsolver. Her younger daughter Lily also contributed, but more as a member of the family/co-farmer, it seems, and so she wasn't given a co-author credit. Her mother explains in the book that she wasn't old enough to sign a contract with the publisher, though I have certainly read books written by younger children. But those were children's books.

Anyway, their family decided to "eat locally" for a year, moving back to the farm that has been in their family (but rented out) for hundreds of years. For one year, they only bought food raised in their neighborhood, grew it themselves (the youngest daughter raised chickens and turkeys for eggs and meat, and sold the excess), or learned to live without it.
As a book on gardening and farming and the world in general, it won't ever surpass my beloved From the Ground Up, but it has its gorgeous moments:
Every gardener I know is a junkie for the experience of being out there in the mud and fresh green growth. Why? An astute therapist might diagnose us as codependent and sign us up for Tomato-Anon meetings. We love our gardens so much it hurts. For their sake, we'll bend over till our backs ache, yanking out fistfuls of quackgrass by the roots as if we are tearing out the hair of the world. We lead our favorite hoe like a dance partner down one long row and up the next, in a dance marathon that leaves us exhausted. We scrutinize the yellow beetles with black polka dots that have suddenly appeared like chickenpox on the bean leaves. We spend hours bent to our crops as if enslaved, only now and then straightening our backs and wiping a hand across our sweaty brow, leaving it striped with mud like some child's idea of war paint.
Oh, *yes*. Exactly.

And book 40 was read one night when I couldn't get to sleep -- another old and dear young adult favorite, From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs Basil E Frankweiler by E.L. Konigsburg. I'm tired now and about to go to sleep. Those of you who've read this book know why I love it. Especially those of you who have been to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. I couldn't walk anywhere in that museum without having Claudia and her brother Jamie tagging along in my mind. Any of you who haven't ever read this book -- you *should*.

After seeing valis2's garden pictures this evening, I realized that I haven't posted pictures of my garden in awhile. So here they are!


Here are two 'yellow pear tomatoes' in a pot on our deck. I bought these two teeny little seedlings from a neighbor's garage sale some weeks ago (for a quarter apiece). They looked so tiny and helpless, I put them in a pot instead of the garden (besides, I was out of tomato cages). Apparently, they like it there.


Remember those early pictures of my straggly little parsley seedlings? They were still pretty scrawny when it became nice enough to put them outside, but I was nervous that the bunnies would be very grateful for it, so I planted them in a hanging basket, and sprinkled a bunch of parsley seeds on the surface of the soil along with the seedlings. I guess they like it, too. *grin*


I forgot to buy a package of zucchini seeds this year, and happened across an ebay auction for some, and bought them on a whim. I planted them all (25 seeds) divided between 4 hills, remembering that zuke seeds don't always do that well for me. They must have been really good seeds!


My green beans are finally going to be successful, thanks to some good advice -- several people advised me to use chicken wire to keep the bunnies out. But The Home Depot had it only in enormous rolls, so I bought these cute green wire fences instead, and THEN planted a big bunch of bean seeds. As you can see, the bunnies have not been able to invade.


The cucumbers are not nearly as tall as the ones I started inside earlier this spring, but they're coming along. Assuming that we continue to alternate rainy days and hot days, I'll be good and sick of cukes by October.


Next time I take garden pictures, I hope I'll remember to take them earlier in the day. Hopefully the shadows of the early evening don't make this picture too hard to decipher. The green cages (4 of them) each have 2 cherry tomato plants that I bought at the grocery store. The silver cages (3 of them) each have 2 or 3 tomato plants that I started from seed. I got those mixed up, so I'm eager for them to start producing so I can tell which plant is which! Like the yellow pear tomatoes pictured above, they're starting to get flowers.


And lastly, here's a fuscia New Guinea Impatien. The more important thing in the picture is the flowerpot that I got as a birthday present from my friend Jean a few years ago -- she painted it herself, and I use it to grow something special every year.
(The window you see behind it is my bedroom window.)

ETA: Corrected a picture to show the flowerpot instead of the tomatoes again.
Also, if you look behind the zucchini plants, you'll see that the rhubarb patch is growing back very nicely after the spring harvest. There WILL be rhubarb cake at LoonCon. And maybe for WriterCon, too, if it is requested.

I'm picturing my f-list rolling their eyes and thinking "o lord not more ranting about her kitchen again", but this is DIFFERENT.

The kitchen is actually *done*.

Well, I'd still like to paint part of a wall on the other side of the room, and paint the ceiling -- still white, but freshen it up -- and maybe new light fixtures in the ceiling.

But it's *pretty* now. Seriously. You can walk into my kitchen now and say "ooh". I know I do. LOOK!


Here's a general shot showing most of the kitchen. I took bunches more, but they're too blurry -- I've been cleaning house all day, so my hands are kind of trembly. But the backsplash and the cupboard fronts... :: happy sigh ::


Here's a better view of the detail on the backsplash. Mr Catyah found it when we were doing some shopping at the Home Depot -- it's actually plastic, but it's designed to look like pressed tin panels (it also comes in silver, copper, gold and various other colors and patterns).


And for no other reason than they're pretty, here's one of the cereal bowls I bought on sale at Herberger's yesterday. (We're having houseguests starting on Tuesday morning, and need more cereal bowls. These immediately caught my eye, especially with the colors of the countertops and cabinets.)

:: twirls ::

I was never a full-blown *fan* of Farrah Fawcett or Michael Jackson, but I certainly spent plenty of time watching them on television during my growing-up years.  

And I continued to follow their careers/lives as I got older, often in a "slowing down to gawk as you drive by a horrible accident"/"(s)he did *what*?" kind of way.  

I expected/hoped that Farrah Fawcett would hold on long enough to marry Ryan O'Neal, but I'm also grateful that she didn't continue to suffer any longer than she already had.  But... Michael Jackson?  That was a surprise. 

People that I grew up watching on TV shouldn't be old enough to die.  Not yet. 

And 62 and 50 years old respectively is too young. 

Rest in peace, Farrah and Michael.  I'm sorry that your deaths will be much like your lives, a media circus.  And I'm sorry, Farrah, that people are forgetting you in the rush to mourn/be shocked by Michael's sudden departure. 

I have a brand new Riptide vid to share!  I was actually considering holding it back so that it could officially premier at WriterCon in July, but I just couldn't wait.   *grin* 

I uploaded it to YouSendIt on Sunday afternoon, so this link will work for a few more days, yet:
https://www.yousendit.com/transfer.php?action=batch_download&send_id=700639216&email=14f5fcce6a46f800f8080c6353dba2d9
 
I hope you enjoy it as much as I enjoyed making it. 

(Cross-posted to Pier56)

Okay, so it's my mom's birthday on Friday, and she is really hard to buy for.  I ask her for ideas every year, and every year she insists "No, no, you don't have to get me anything..."  

Yeah, right.  I tried that one year when I was a teenager, and I got the cold shoulder for *weeks* afterwards, even though I gave her a really nice card. 

So, I have to get her something, but her motherly refrain when she opens each year's gift is "Oh, you shouldn't spend so much."

I called her just now to suggest that maybe we could go out to lunch on her birthday, my treat?   She hemmed and hawed about it for a couple of minutes before she finally admitted that she was planning to go and play BINGO on her birthday.   Apparently on your birthday, you can play for free. 

Feh.  I'll get her a gift card to Bachman's again this year and if she says I spent too much, I'll just smile and shrug. 

When I read a book that has a "regional dialect", I usually enjoy the story but *hate* the language. 

"Prayers For Sale" by Sandra Dallas was -- well, I shouldn't say "the opposite", because I didn't hate the story, but the dialect was actually more interesting than the story.   The characters were also more interesting than what they were given to do, which was sort of sad to see.

This novel takes place in 1936 in a town called Middle Swan, Colorado.  But for some reason the characters talk as though they're all from the South.  Or maybe the language is just what I think of as "old timey".   The main character (and most of the supporting characters) say things like:
"You want you another toddy, Tom?"
and
"Just you come in.  I don't like to be alone in this fallen weather."
and
"I've got dinner in the bucket, and I ask would you like to go up above where the gold boat's working and have us a picnic." 

Sandra Dallas is known for her historical fiction, always from the POV of women facing hard times, usually during the Civil War or the Depression, and her characters are often quilters, too. 

cowboyquilter , if you're reading this, I think you would like this story (and others by this author)! 

It's the sweet story of Hennie Comfort, who is 86 and has a story for every occasion.  She meets Nit Spindle, a 17 year old girl who has just moved to this town with her husband Dick.  The two women quickly become friends, and even more than that, Hennie becomes like a mother to the young woman.   The title comes from a sign that Hennie has in her front yard -- and is actually the reason that these two women meet -- but Hennie doesn't really sell them, they're free for the asking. 

It's honestly one of the sweetest stories that I've read all year.