June 2006

Witness

2006, Books in Bed, Fiction /

Witness, by Karen Hesse , was surprisingly good. And not just because I like a fast read, either! I really didn’t expect to like this book. I peeked over TW’s shoulder last week when she read it and though “bah, boring” and I almost skipped it completely, because I am so far behind… I’m very glad I did not skip it.

Story of a Vermont town and it’s problems with the KKK. The story is actually a lot of short, almost monologues, by residents of the town. Some townies active in the KKK because they believe in them, some lured in by social or financial pressure. A jewish girl. A black girl. Some townies fighting against the KKK’s attempt to take over the town.

Really surprisingly good book.

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Anne McCaffrey, I am still not a fan

1 Comment / 2006, Books in Bed, Fiction, Sci Fi and Fantasy /

I am surrounded by McCaffrey fans and it makes me nervous. I’ve tried to get with the program and love her the way they do but it is just no use. I don’t get it.

I do really like the Acorna series. I might even love it. I don’t often read books about female unicorn-like aliens, do you?

Dragons, on the otherhand, are a dime a dozen. I think that’s why I just can’t love McCaffrey and her Dragons of Pern. Big deal. I understand that these books were written dozens of years ago and were sort of original back then. I understand the social commentary in them. I really do understand the big deal for some of you. But for me, they’re just more dragon books and not the best dragon books I’ve ever read.

I will say that I did not hate Dragonflight like I expected to. I didn’t enjoy the first part at all, but once Lessa joined the Weyr, I did enjoy the story. The folks of Pern are not ever going to be my favorite characters and McCaffrey is never going to make it on my favorites list, with her dragon stories, but that’s ok. I have more than enough favorites, anyway.

Sorry People of Pern. I tried but I just can’t join you in your McCaffrey worship.

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Daily Dose of Miami – Touristy Goodness

3 Comments / Travel Log /

Miami! In June! Is there anything better?  Don’t answer that, the alternatives are too numerous to count.  Also too depressing.  I really am not a fan of Miami.  But, we had a fun time last weekend, even if it was really hot and even if the hotel has a parking problem on weekdays and even if, well… I’ll leave some of you to snicker and others of you to scratch your head… just leave it at, we had a good time,  except for some stuff, ok?

First good time?  Coral Castle.  Gosh I love cheesey attractions.  Visiting the Coral Castle made me sad (briefly) that we never did manage to get that assignment to Homestead (pre-hurricane) that we were dying for.  Who wouldn’t want to live in a town reknown for an attraction like that?  Prince J loved the Throne Room, though oddly enough he first thought the MIL chair was the more comfortable.  Once it was explained to him, he changed his mind and took his rightful place on the throne.  E would have liked to climb down into the well, unfortunately that seems to be frowned upon so we just pondered the fish situation.  RJ and TW loved the recliner and when they gave me a 10 second sit down in it, I can see why.  It’s the perfect size for us.  Surprisingly comfortable.

Second good time?  Venetian Pool.  I am always a little wary of these types of attractions but this one was surprisingly clean, surprisingly uncrowded and surprisingly nice.  The people were just there having a nice time, no seriously rowdy behavior except inside of the caves but the teens and young adults were all very good about easing up while small kids were exploring.  The big waterfall was tougher – the big folks didn’t want to give up their hard won space so the smaller folks had difficulty making their way to a sit spot.  It was still fun to swim over to.  E felt quite a sense of accomplishment at having done it.   Even Prince J, who was extra wary of the pool, enjoyed himself after he watched and pondered the options for a bit. 

The only thing that would have made the touristy fun better would have been a much longed for trip to Monkey Jungle. 

Stay tuned – Miami food fun will be discussed and dissected soon… or when I find a little more energy, whichever comes first.

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Imaginary Friends

2006, Books in Bed, Fiction /

My family loves the movie, Drop Dead Fred. I think it’s probably on the top 5 list for most of us. If You Could See Me Now is a good bit like Drop Dead Fred. A kid sees a grown up friend who nobody else can see – but then weird things happen, adults start seeing him too…

The “best friend” helps folks sort out things in the way a good “best friend” should – go read it, see for yourself. And rent Drop Dead Fred, while you are at it, ok?

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More Trillin

Books in Bed, Non-Fiction /

Remember last week when I posted about Calvin Trillin’s “Tummy Troubles”? Well here’s a bonus, from my pal Ed! You can read another of Trillin’s stories or listen to it on audio. Cool, eh?

I downloaded “Speaking of Soup” last night and am planning on listening to it later this evening. I wonder how the kids will feel about the story? We’ll see….
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Here Be Dragons

2006, Books in Bed, Children's Literature, Favorites /

We listened to Book 2 of the Muddle Earth series, Here Be Dragons, on the way down to Miami and we enjoyed it very much. Some of the kids had listened to it or parts of it before but they all enjoyed it again (well except RJ, who listened to her mp3 player as usual).

Muddle Earth is fun – dragons and warrior heroes, flying wardrobes and wizards, evil in the form of Dr Cuddles. Great family fun, particularly on audio.

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Daily Dose of Cupcake Toppers – Rubber Ducky

6 Comments / Cupcake Toppers /

mini_rubber_duckies250.jpgThe decision for today’s cupcake topper was one of the easiest so far. We’re in Miami at the Sunshine State Games. RJ is a synchronized swimmer. Her solo is performed to “Rubber Duckie” (you moms can start humming now) and her swimsuit has yellow duckies on it. I’m sure there are lots of people looking for cupcake topper ideas for rubber duckie loving kids (and grown-ups). Just go with mini rubber duckies or better yet rubber duck key chains (10 year olds love key cains). They’re 2″ or so, a little big for cupcakes, but still do-able. Kids will smile. And they will squeak the heck out of these things. If you hum the rubber duckie song loud enough, they’ll squeak along with the song. It will be fun. Trust me.

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The Naked Woman

2006, Books in Bed, Non-Fiction /

TW stole this book out from under me and read it first. I thought I might kill her before she finished it. She spent a lot of time staring at me and asking me weird questions like “Can I feel your ear?” and “Can I look at your belly button?” I thought RJ (the 10 year old) was also going to kill her for similar reasons.

Now that I’ve read The Naked Woman: A Study of the Female Body I see why she was staring and asking ridiculous questions. The book should not be read by people like TW because it’s just too much for them to handle. I, on the otherhand, found it interesting but found no need to wander around and compare various female bodies with mine or with other female bodies.

Very interesting book. Quick read. I’m not sure I want to read any of his other “studies” though. I really hope he doesn’t have a Cow Watching book… TW could be really embarrassing with that one.

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Daily Dose of Weather – Hurricanes

3 Comments / Day to Day /

Alberto is around here somewhere and we aren’t ready for him – or any other hurricane.  We discovered this last night, around 9:30, when the power went out. 

Yes, we have that nifty hurricane kit that TW gave me for my birthday a couple of years ago.  We have more "D" batteries than a family of a gazillion should have.  We have a bunch of flashlights, a very cool lantern that gives off more light than TW’s IKEA lamp and my leg lamp combined.  We have all of the RX mediciations various family members require.  We have pet food.  We have shelf after shelf of library books. 

We don’t have AAA batteries, which we really do need to get to power our book lights.  We also don’t have much bottled water, but we do have enough for Tiny Alberto.  What we don’t have and really REALLY need  is a replacement for the Wolfgang Puck canned coffee which is THE most important part of a hurricane kit.  I only have one can left.  I thought there were three.  I’m worried.

We do have a tiny sterno stove that I could heat coffee with.  I think there’s also a cigarette lighter powered coffee pot around here somewhere (Where is that, by the way?  It isn’t in the hurricane kit….)  Neither of those solutions are nearly as good as being able to have a few cans of self heating coffee around.  Why oh why did the magic Wolfgang Puck coffee have to go and melt or explode?  Why oh why weren’t people holding melting cans smart enough to put them down, shrug it off as a cool and interesting science experiment and keep quiet about it? 

Is it November yet?

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The Moonstone – Page 403

11 Comments / The Moonstone /

A bunch of my friends joined me in my quest to finally finish The Moonstone and they’re grumbling through each and every page of it.  (I should say that my significant other is not grumbling, she’s actually enjoying the book.  Odd woman.)

In an effort to encourage them, I mentioned that I really enjoyed pages 403-405 of my version… unfortunately none of them have the same version that I have! So I guess my encouragement isn’t working all that well.

If you own The Moonstone or have a library copy around, could you open it to page 403 and tell me what it says?  Just the first line… mine says:

eighty years of age- never mind exactly where!

 

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