iPod Random Ten 11-9-07

Happy Friday! A little morning music to get things started, featuring: “Waiting on the World to Change,” John Mayer, Continuum“Bad Medicine,” Bon Jovi, New Jersey“Radio, Radio,” Elvis Costello & The Attractions, The Very Best of Elvis Costello & The Attractions“Substitute,” The Who, Hail Brittania: The British Invasion 1964-1968“Another Postcard,” Barenaked Ladies, Everything Acoustic“It’s The End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine),” R.E.M., In Time – Best of R.E.M. “Back to […]

Booking Through Thursday 11-7: “Volume”

Booking Through Thursday 11-7: “Volume”

Would you say that you read about the same amount now as when you were younger? More? Less?Why? Don’t forget to leave a link to your actual response (so people don’t have to go searching for it) in the comments—or if you prefer, leave your answers in the comments themselves! When I was younger, I almost consumed books. I read all the time. If it took me more than a few days to finish a […]

Warning! Dangerous ideas ahead!

Warning! Dangerous ideas ahead!

A well-meaning friend forwarded this to me, and a list of other people, via e-mail last week, with the subject line “Warning – A MUST NOT SEE Movie!”: The Golden Compass, a new movie starring Nicole Kidman and due to be released in December, is based on one of an evil trilogy of books written by atheist, Philip Pullman, who acknowledges that his books are about killing God. Don’t be fooled by either the fantasy […]

A clean slate – or should I say a clean sink?

A clean slate – or should I say a clean sink?

Sometimes my husband calls me “Bubbles.” That’s as in “Scrubbing Bubbles.” The man is actually married to someone who gets a great deal of satisfaction from cleaning bathrooms. Whenever Mom-in-law comes to visit, she’s always complimentary about how clean and well-kept our place is. One thing I’ve noticed is that neat will often give the casual observer the same impression as clean, but as far as I’m concerned they’re not the same thing. Like many […]

Wiki Wednesday 11-7-07

Wiki Wednesday 11-7-07

Time to learn something! 1. Go to Wikipedia.2. Click on “Random article” in the left-hand sidebar box.3. Post it! This isn’t what you might initially think it is: Talladega Gran Prix Raceway is a 1.33 mile (2.14 km) 10 turn road course located near Munford, Alabama. “Little Tally” as it is also known has no affiliation with Talladega Superspeedway, instead it takes its name from the nearby Talladega National Forest. // The track was originally […]

Ten on Tuesday 11-6: Ten Words To Describe You

Ten on Tuesday 11-6: Ten Words To Describe You

The “official” Ten on Tuesday is back! This week’s prompt is one of those things that sounds pretty simple, but can turn out not to be: Ten Words That Describe You Thoughtful Caring Curious Humorous Loyal Nerdy Practical Generous Introverted Petite The thing about an exercise like this is that I find it hard to nail it down to ten – at first I can’t think of that many, and then it gets more complicated […]

A weekend in Avalon

A weekend in Avalon

Santa Catalina Island is located 26 miles off the coast of Southern California, accessible only by boat or air (if you can afford a helicopter or private plane); your actual mileage may vary depending on mode of transportation and departure point. 88% of the island is owned by a nature conservancy and will never be developed. There’s a small village on the western side of the island, at Two Harbors, but most of the action […]

Just ride it out

Just ride it out

Alexandra Levit recently posted this on her Water Cooler Wisdom blog under the title “Troubleshooting Airport Delays,” but I think they’re great suggestions for getting through many situations that are just plain out of your control – and those happen more than we sometimes like to admit. I think Americans like to feel that we’re a can-do, fix-it, whatever-it-takes, accept-no-obstacles people – but sometimes that’s just not the case, like it or not. An excerpt: […]

Kids actually listen, so be careful what you say

Kids actually listen, so be careful what you say

This is officially designated as a “lazy (Sunday) post.” Both of these things came to me via e-mail this week, from two different people – one’s been around before, and one was new to me. But they have a common theme, and they both made me laugh. What I Learned From My Mother (and I honestly remember hearing quite a few of these phrases when I was growing up) 1. My mother taught me TO […]

Book talk: “A Thousand Splendid Suns”

Book talk: “A Thousand Splendid Suns”

A Thousand Splendid SunsKhaled Hosseini Although I can’t truly say I loved The Kite Runner, I’m pretty sure I would have eventually read A Thousand Splendid Suns, but since this is the November pick for my book club, I read it sooner rather than later. This isn’t a sequel to The Kite Runner, despite the similarities in their covers, unless you consider Afghanistan a character in both novels – which it is, but I didn’t […]

iPod Random Ten 11-2-07

iPod Random Ten 11-2-07

“Everything About It Is a Love Song,” Paul Simon, Surprise“Don’t Dream It’s Over,” Crowded House, Recurring Dream – The Best of Crowded House“I Hate Myself for Losing You,” Kelly Clarkson, Breakaway“I Wanna Be Like You,” Big Bad Voodoo Daddy, This Beautiful Life“Probably,” Lisa Loeb, The Way It Really Is“Love Needs a Heart, ” Jackson Browne, Running on Empty“Since U Been Gone,” Kelly Clarkson, Breakaway“Burnin’ for You,” Mike Watt, Guilt by Association“Next Year,” Foo Fighters, There […]

Book talk: The “Nursery Crimes” series

Book talk: The “Nursery Crimes” series

The Big Over Easy andThe Fourth Bearboth by Jasper Fforde After a couple of fairly serious fiction reads, and before tackling the followup to The Kite Runner for my next book club meeting, I wanted something light. I’m a big fan of Jasper Fforde’s series about Thursday Next, Literary Detective (a new adventure just published – yay!), and have had the two installments (thus far) in his “Nursery Crimes” series waiting on one of my […]