Monday, July 26, 2010
hiatus
Day after tomorrow, I'm off with the youngsters to explore the West Coast. Since I doubt there'll be much time for blogging, we'll be on hiatus here until I get back, hopefully with something more scintillating to say than has been the case in recent postings!
Thursday, July 22, 2010
600th post
Apparently, I've had 600 interesting things to say over the years. Or, at least, I hope they were interesting!
I celebrated just now with 600 seconds of snuggles from the giant blond kid, who is an excellent snuggler when he's in the mood.
Other things I've done 600 times in the last few days - blown my nose, told Veronica to be quiet, tripped over the dog, worried about my plot, stressed about my deadlines.
By this time next week, I'll have turned in all my work, hopefully gotten somewhere on my plot, be across the country where I can't trip on the dog, still have a very loud child, and be over this cold. Theoretically.
I celebrated just now with 600 seconds of snuggles from the giant blond kid, who is an excellent snuggler when he's in the mood.
Other things I've done 600 times in the last few days - blown my nose, told Veronica to be quiet, tripped over the dog, worried about my plot, stressed about my deadlines.
By this time next week, I'll have turned in all my work, hopefully gotten somewhere on my plot, be across the country where I can't trip on the dog, still have a very loud child, and be over this cold. Theoretically.
Monday, July 19, 2010
back at it
Monday again. Quiet day, nothing planned. Dual computers open, hoping to work on transferring files from old to new, working on work, thinking about some writing, did lots of laundry. Later, dinner, possibly swimming, more of the work and writing. But nowhere to go, which is enough to make it feel like a vacation!
Saturday, July 17, 2010
book reviews
Whew! Long week. Glad to get through it, hoping to have more to say now. For the moment, book reviews!
Roger Lea MacBride, Little Town in the Ozarks. In this book, you can see the beginning of Mrs. A.J. Wilder, author and commentator, as Rose's mother is moved into town and begins to be encouraged to join in things and speak her mind, and Rose the only child doted on and indulged by her parents. It's an interesting slice of their lives where things are just beginning, and vividly pictured.
Robert Lawson, Ben and Me. The story of Ben Franklin, as told by a mouse, Amos, who claims to have been instrumental in many of Ben's best ideas. It's a bit on the silly side, but entertaining, and the kids seemed to enjoy it.
Chelsea Quinn Yarbro, Communion Blood. This story had less of Yarbro's standard tropes and as such, was fairly entertaining. There was a big gap where a pivotal character pushed a pivotal plot point for reasons that were never explained or even touched on, except in the lightest, most obvious way. Also, Yarbro spends a great deal of time and attention on the lives of her vampires, how they manage to live through the years, the decades, the centuries, without detection ... but the ghouls that go along with the vampires, who are often the servants of the vampires, are never mentioned, as if they are completely unnoticed by those around them, which seems unlikely. In this book, where one of the ghouls is a central figure, that lack of attention is more obvious than in some others. Still, it was an entertaining book.
Laura Ingalls Wilder, Little Town on the Prairie. In this book, where blind older sister Mary goes off to college for the learning she so hungers for, Laura becomes the oldest child, a circumstance that would never have occurred had Mary, so close to Laura in age, not lost her sight. It's an interesting speculation, how life would have been different (who would have written the books), had Laura not been put in the position of needing to be oldest child and assistant breadwinner in order to help put her sister in college. It's also interesting to think of Mary, with her love of learning, who goes to college and then comes home to spend the rest of her life living with her parents. In another time, given other options, what might she have done with her scholarship!
Roger Lea MacBride, Little Town in the Ozarks. In this book, you can see the beginning of Mrs. A.J. Wilder, author and commentator, as Rose's mother is moved into town and begins to be encouraged to join in things and speak her mind, and Rose the only child doted on and indulged by her parents. It's an interesting slice of their lives where things are just beginning, and vividly pictured.
Robert Lawson, Ben and Me. The story of Ben Franklin, as told by a mouse, Amos, who claims to have been instrumental in many of Ben's best ideas. It's a bit on the silly side, but entertaining, and the kids seemed to enjoy it.
Chelsea Quinn Yarbro, Communion Blood. This story had less of Yarbro's standard tropes and as such, was fairly entertaining. There was a big gap where a pivotal character pushed a pivotal plot point for reasons that were never explained or even touched on, except in the lightest, most obvious way. Also, Yarbro spends a great deal of time and attention on the lives of her vampires, how they manage to live through the years, the decades, the centuries, without detection ... but the ghouls that go along with the vampires, who are often the servants of the vampires, are never mentioned, as if they are completely unnoticed by those around them, which seems unlikely. In this book, where one of the ghouls is a central figure, that lack of attention is more obvious than in some others. Still, it was an entertaining book.
Laura Ingalls Wilder, Little Town on the Prairie. In this book, where blind older sister Mary goes off to college for the learning she so hungers for, Laura becomes the oldest child, a circumstance that would never have occurred had Mary, so close to Laura in age, not lost her sight. It's an interesting speculation, how life would have been different (who would have written the books), had Laura not been put in the position of needing to be oldest child and assistant breadwinner in order to help put her sister in college. It's also interesting to think of Mary, with her love of learning, who goes to college and then comes home to spend the rest of her life living with her parents. In another time, given other options, what might she have done with her scholarship!
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
rainy days and Wednesdays
Go very well together! So far today, I've taken my middle child off to camp; taken my older and younger children to the school library; and at least touched on 11 of the 20 items on today's to-do list. Also, collected the new receivers from FedEx, which will hopefully mean someday I'll know how to turn on a TV in my house again.
The attempt to put the youngest child down for a nap was only marginally successful. She's upstairs in her room, but is happily playing with toys rather than peacefully sleeping. Which probably means she will be deeply asleep when it's time to pick her brother up from camp.
Later today, I will collect middle child from camp and drop older child off at friend's house; continue to work on to-do list; and collect and put out garbage. These are the kinds of peaceful days I wish we had more of!
The attempt to put the youngest child down for a nap was only marginally successful. She's upstairs in her room, but is happily playing with toys rather than peacefully sleeping. Which probably means she will be deeply asleep when it's time to pick her brother up from camp.
Later today, I will collect middle child from camp and drop older child off at friend's house; continue to work on to-do list; and collect and put out garbage. These are the kinds of peaceful days I wish we had more of!
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
thoughts for the day
Just a few random thoughts today for my poor neglected blog. It's been a very full couple of weeks, with a bit too much going on - nice to have a more or less quiet day (still with five different items on the calendar!) today.
By the time I get used to waking by alarm clock again, Charles's week of camp will be over. I'll have to just resign myself to being sleepy all week.
I love sun and heat, but really, all I want is one nice rainy day (okay, maybe two) where I don't have to feel guilty if I don't get around to getting the kids in the pool or shooing them out of the house, and we can all just quietly stay in.
Coffee is good. More coffee is better.
Hoping tonight's new book club selection falls into the interesting and enjoyable camp.
Very glad Charles enjoyed his first day of theatre camp so much! He's a zebra on Noah's Ark. I could wish they'd chosen a more secular story, but I'm sure it'll be cute.
Veronica's making enough noise for a gaggle of 4-year-olds, playing with her toys downstairs.
I would like a nap.
By the time I get used to waking by alarm clock again, Charles's week of camp will be over. I'll have to just resign myself to being sleepy all week.
I love sun and heat, but really, all I want is one nice rainy day (okay, maybe two) where I don't have to feel guilty if I don't get around to getting the kids in the pool or shooing them out of the house, and we can all just quietly stay in.
Coffee is good. More coffee is better.
Hoping tonight's new book club selection falls into the interesting and enjoyable camp.
Very glad Charles enjoyed his first day of theatre camp so much! He's a zebra on Noah's Ark. I could wish they'd chosen a more secular story, but I'm sure it'll be cute.
Veronica's making enough noise for a gaggle of 4-year-olds, playing with her toys downstairs.
I would like a nap.
Tuesday, July 06, 2010
book reviews
Yes, another set! So exciting!
Laura Ingalls Wilder, Little House on the Prairie. I haven't read this one in a long time, but it's of course a familiar childhood favorite. Reading it now, I'm intensely curious as to why they chose to settle in Indian territory on the word of a 'fellow' who'd been to Washington, D.C., and I think of Caroline Ingalls, who didn't have the same wanderlust that afflicted her husband, riding farther and farther into Indian territory, away from the civilization she loved, for him.
Elizabeth Peters, Curse of the Pharaohs. This second installment in the series finds the protagonist male and female back in Egypt on a dig, uncovering a mystery with their good sense and skepticism. The relationship between the two is entertaining, the female protagonist is tart and refreshing, and generally it's a pretty good book. Good enough to move farther into the series, for sure!
Chelsea Quinn Yarbro, Tempting Fate. I find Yarbro and Saint Germain are a bit hit or miss. There's a fair amount of formula to her works, they're often overly dense, and many of them overdo the famous figures of the time period. This one, however, was none of those things. It moved well, had a lot of different characters and plotlines interwoven, and captured the turbulent years between the ending of World War I and beginning of World War II in an effective and affecting way.
Fran Lantz, Swept Away #8: All Shook Up. This I believe final entry in the Swept Away teen time traveler series of the '80s is definitely a bit on the light side, but it's entertaining and fun, with interesting characters, and I enjoyed the bit of Memphis in the 1950s it offered. I'm a fan of the series, anyway, having read them all (or almost all) when they first came out, so I'm glad to be rediscovering them now.
Laura Ingalls Wilder, Little House on the Prairie. I haven't read this one in a long time, but it's of course a familiar childhood favorite. Reading it now, I'm intensely curious as to why they chose to settle in Indian territory on the word of a 'fellow' who'd been to Washington, D.C., and I think of Caroline Ingalls, who didn't have the same wanderlust that afflicted her husband, riding farther and farther into Indian territory, away from the civilization she loved, for him.
Elizabeth Peters, Curse of the Pharaohs. This second installment in the series finds the protagonist male and female back in Egypt on a dig, uncovering a mystery with their good sense and skepticism. The relationship between the two is entertaining, the female protagonist is tart and refreshing, and generally it's a pretty good book. Good enough to move farther into the series, for sure!
Chelsea Quinn Yarbro, Tempting Fate. I find Yarbro and Saint Germain are a bit hit or miss. There's a fair amount of formula to her works, they're often overly dense, and many of them overdo the famous figures of the time period. This one, however, was none of those things. It moved well, had a lot of different characters and plotlines interwoven, and captured the turbulent years between the ending of World War I and beginning of World War II in an effective and affecting way.
Fran Lantz, Swept Away #8: All Shook Up. This I believe final entry in the Swept Away teen time traveler series of the '80s is definitely a bit on the light side, but it's entertaining and fun, with interesting characters, and I enjoyed the bit of Memphis in the 1950s it offered. I'm a fan of the series, anyway, having read them all (or almost all) when they first came out, so I'm glad to be rediscovering them now.
Monday, July 05, 2010
book reviews
Summer does tend to mess with my schedule, which is why the blog is getting updated even less often than usual. On the plus side, it means I have quite a few finished books stacked up!
Noah Andre Trudeau, Southern Storm. A comprehensive overview of the March to the Sea, the book is richly detailed, covers each portion of the army's daily activities as well as the efforts of the Confederates to counter the march, and does so in a highly engaging style. One of the best Civil War books I've read in some time.
Michael N. McConnell, Army & Empire. This is an overview of life on the American frontier for British troops before the Revolution. It was pretty interesting, covering most aspects of their daily lives and painting a vivid picture of a mostly forgotten army forced to make do at remote outposts around the country.
Jamie Ford, Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet. This was my book group's pick this month, and I found it a lovely book, very tender and sentimental, while bringing the reality of what was done to Japanese Americans during the Second World War home sharply.
Rick Riordan, The Titan's Curse. The third book in the Percy Jackson series delivers fast-paced humorous action, just as the first two did, and the plotline remains both tense and highly enjoyable. The cast of characters is believable and interesting, and I really enjoy his take on how the gods have adapted to the modern world.
Noah Andre Trudeau, Southern Storm. A comprehensive overview of the March to the Sea, the book is richly detailed, covers each portion of the army's daily activities as well as the efforts of the Confederates to counter the march, and does so in a highly engaging style. One of the best Civil War books I've read in some time.
Michael N. McConnell, Army & Empire. This is an overview of life on the American frontier for British troops before the Revolution. It was pretty interesting, covering most aspects of their daily lives and painting a vivid picture of a mostly forgotten army forced to make do at remote outposts around the country.
Jamie Ford, Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet. This was my book group's pick this month, and I found it a lovely book, very tender and sentimental, while bringing the reality of what was done to Japanese Americans during the Second World War home sharply.
Rick Riordan, The Titan's Curse. The third book in the Percy Jackson series delivers fast-paced humorous action, just as the first two did, and the plotline remains both tense and highly enjoyable. The cast of characters is believable and interesting, and I really enjoy his take on how the gods have adapted to the modern world.
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