This K-Drama is a science fiction thriller. Our hero is Dae-ho, a young investigative reporter and single father whose son is kidnapped from a park when turns his back while son is on the merry go round. No ransom note is received, and three years go by with no leads. Dae-ho learns of a new treatment for mental patients who need to relive important memories through chemical induced lucid dreaming. He knows one of the doctors involved and convinces her to give him the chemical so he can go back to that day and see if he can find the kidnapper. Of course, he goes back many times before he finally gets some solid leads, and one of the leads is dying in a hospital, and he must enter that person’s dream, he must go into the dreams of someone else and convince him to help find his son.
The story moved along quite well, I didn’t get up to do dishes while it was on, and the CGI were wonderful. My brother, Craig, could tell you all about the camera angles, the plot lines, all the things I probably should pay attention to, but if it’s a good story, I get sucked into it and am totally unaware of all that other stuff. My brother, Craig Good, reviews on https://letterboxd.com/clgood/ , if you want to check out his reviews. He’s in the business. He knows more than I do. We watch different movies.
PBS American, 4-part series on the Natives of the Americas Closed captioning Premiered October 2018 About 53 minutes each
⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 4 out of 5.
These four episodes looked back as far as 15,000 years to the Indigenous Peoples of the three Americas. It shows the massive cities, built in perfect alignment to the stars. It shows some of the science systems of the early people, and their spirituality, and how 100 million people e connected by social networks spanning two continents. These roads and social connections were good for trade, marriages, and war.
I found all episodes interesting, with episodes 1, 2, & 4 being the best, to my way of thinking. Possibly because a fair portion of the information was new to me, whereas I found 3 lacking in anything truly new.
The indigenous peoples they featured were from North America, Central America, and South America. And, I believe, dealt with fairly and evenly. If you’re a historian, or a history buff, you might notice they left a lot out. Well, there is only so much that can be done in an hour tv show, and I think they did a pretty good job overall. Of course, I had questions on some of them that were not answered, but that’s ok. I can do some research and look for the answers on my own, if they are that important.
Hoo Boy! I expected cold this past week, and the Weatherperson gave us warm, and winds. This next week will be cold. Maybe. I dunno. Lows in the low 30s, highs in the upper 30s and 40s. Maybe. If the Weatherperson was sober when s/he looked at the computer. How does s/he know? How do I know? Does anyone care?
Sorry, Wrong Number:
In reading some of the news, I came across a story about someone dialing a wrong number, it was one digit off her sister’s number, and she kept getting a stranger. They became friends over the phone, and after twenty years, met. A nice, feel-good story. It got me going down memory lane. Like many people, I no longer have a land line, and in the last few years, I quit answering the phone if I didn’t recognize the name or number of the caller. But sometimes wrong numbers can be fun.
Years ago, a very old gentleman kept calling me, at first by mistake, and then I think on purpose. My number was one digit off from his daughter. I lived in a relatively small town, and discussed it with a friend, and she knew the guy. Old, almost blind, and crippled with arthritis. His wife was old, but not as old as he, and I think she was totally blind. He was great fun to talk with.
I grew up in Portland, Oregon. We had four elementary schools with Olympic regulation-sized swimming pools. I learned to swim in one of them. When Mom and I moved, our new phone number was one digit off from another school’s pool. We got lots of strange calls, but the one I loved the best was some woman called and identified herself as Johnny’s mother and she would be there in fifteen minutes to pick him up. Please tell him. Then she hung up, before I could tell her I wasn’t the pool. I thought about calling the pool, but she was so self-important I didn’t. Sure enough about thirty minutes later she called back, angrier than the proverbial wet hen. Johnny hadn’t been ready and waiting when she got there! When she stopped talking to breathe, I told her she had the wrong number, and told her the correct number. She asked me why I didn’t tell her the first time, so I told her she hadn’t stopped talking long enough to tell her before she hung up. I believe the pause was one of those “pregnant pauses” we hear so much about.
One time, my phone number was a recycled one. It had belonged to a Taxi Company, but they went out of business. Of course, the phone number was by the phones of the ER receptionists, the truck stops, and various other places. I got some really great calls on that line, from long haul truckers who wanted a ride to a hotel to people who were in the hospital with loved ones and needed a ride home. Fortunately, each one was kind enough to remove my number. And then, we had an Arctic Express come to town, and dump over a foot of snow on us, in a very short time. Seattle just isn’t geared for that kind of a dump. Fortunately, it came at night, after the majority of worker bees were home.
I lived out a ways, and on my drive to work every day, I passed a university agriculture station, and that night of the snow, a woman called and told me she wanted to schedule a pick up for her husband who was Professor at the college and he couldn’t walk that far in snow. She started to give me detailed instructions as to her house, I told her I knew which one was hers, and described it, and told her I passed it every day on my sojourn to and from work, and that I wasn’t a taxi and I wasn’t going to work tomorrow, and I doubted any taxis would be out, to turn off her alarm and enjoy having her husband home an extra day.
The last wrong number I received for the Taxi Company was the next morning. A young lady called to order a cab. Uh, sorry, wrong number. She started to cry. How was she going to get to work? She’d just started a new job, and… The buses weren’t running, she couldn’t get her car out of the garage, and by now she was really crying. I suggested her boss would understand. Call and leave a message on her voice mail and go back to bed and enjoy her extra day off. Happiness is new telephone books with old numbers deleted.
Of course, when the phone rings in the middle of the night, one answers it, usually with adrenaline pumping—which kid is in trouble? Who died? Etc., and so forth. One number I had must have belonged to a couple of party girls, because I couldn’t convince the men who called at midnight and later, they had a wrong number. I finally put a message on my answering machine that said something like, “If you’re calling Jane Doe, she has moved out of the area, and no longer lives here. If you’re calling Lacy Doe, she too, has moved.” Then I turned the ringer off on my bedroom phone and started sleeping better. The messages the angered people left were pretty funny—not by intention.
I think it’s fortunate that caller id came out, at a glance or a listen, we no longer need to answer wrong numbers. What great chuckles, though, are we missing?
Photo of the Week:
Entertainment:
TV: Nothing.
Books: Remember, if I finish a book, the review is posted at Rainy Day Reads.
I have finished one full length book this week, Out of Violence Into Poetry by Margaret Randall. A marvelous book by a woman I wished I’d met when I lived in ABQ. I’d love to have a coffer with her and her wife.
I also finished two delightful chapbooks: The Light on Sifnos by Barbara Quick and Sin is Due to Open in a Room Above Kitty’s by Morag Anderson. All three are worth your investment in both time and money.
Auntie Lenora’s Bookstore:
Two books, both repeats, to consider for Winter/Christmas gifts:
and
You know these are both good books because a. they are advertised in Auntie Lenora’s Bookstore, and b. they both state on the cover they are Good. 😉 And, yes, in the interest of full disclosure, we are siblings.
Henry Stevenson: You can’t live on dreams forever. Waiting only weakens you and your dream. My motto is: “If you want something, get it now!”
Henry Stevenson: “Besides, what does a dame like you want with a guy like me?”
Wow, another week has passed us by. Sammy Brave Dog has faced the dried puppy brain eating zombies down, and most are gone now, looking for less ferocious puppies to tackle. And I’m about to get my wee gifts mailed tomorrow. I hope. Tuesday at the latest. Have a grand week, enjoy December while it’s here, and remember, it’s less than three weeks until…… 😉
Weather in the Tries: Cold and colder, with some damp.
Follow-up on Auntie Lenora’s Bookstore:
My web Mistress has said she can put a bookstore page up for me, so those of you who send me books to post, I’ll have them in the blog the week I get them, then transfer them to the Bookstore page. So if/when you have a book for sale, send me the info: IF you have a “sell sheet” send me an electronic copy, otherwise please send me a picture of the book, how many pages, cost, plus shipping if you’re selling them directly, the ISBN, a bit about your book, and your email. The email will be posted so readers can contact you directly.
Follow-up on my contribution to the National day of Gluttony:
Oh my, did we feast. Mashed spuds, gravy, turkey cooked in champagne, sweet spuds, tossed salad, and four different desserts—cheesecake, Indian Pudding, pecan pie, and another pie. Auntie Lenora is patting herself on the back for being smart enough to wear a pair of TIGHT jeans, thereby not allowing her to eat too much. Trust me, she didn’t go hungry. Not a bit.
Some potential good news, but don’t hold your breath:
December 1 is just a few days away, and SCOTUS will once again decide if Women are full human beings with rights, or if women are slaves with only those rights that the ones with testicles care to grant them. Yes, they are tackling Roe v. Wade. I truly don’t understand their animus, other than they think as males they are perfect and more intelligent than females. I do not know of a single person who was told to get an abortion she didn’t want, unless it was her politician lover or her rock n roll husband who told hMary er her. It’s so simple. If you don’t believe in abortion, DON’T HAVE ONE. But don’t hold the rest of the nation to your ideas of right and wrong.
Photo of the Week:
My Great Great Grandma, Mary Jane Carlisle Huckabay
Entertainment:
TV: Zip
Books:Remember, if I finish a book, I review it at: Rainy Day Reads
Thinking About Thinking, not quite essays —by Margaret Randall. This book, chock full of short, mini, almost essays as bad as a bag full of pistachios without the shells! (Fewer calories in the book!) I couldn’t read just one!
Spell of Trouble, Book 1 of a series, by Leighann Dobbs, a great piece of brain candy— a cozy murder mystery with paranormals mixed in with the mundanes. No animals were hurt to produce the story.
If you don’t know history, you don’t know anything. You are a leaf that doesn’t know it is part of a tree. – Michael Crichton
To forget one’s ancestors is to be a brook without a source, a tree without a root. – Chinese Proverb
There you have it. Another week gone; another week closer to the world-wide Gift Exchange Day. Are you ready? Me, neither. Sammy says he’s ready. I’m sure that means I’ll get pupkisses. Can’t think of anything I’d rather have!
This next week highs will go from 45 to 57, with lows from 27 to 43. We’ll start the week with patchy freezing fog. Can you say, “Black Ice”? I’m sure we’ll get drizzle, a few drops of rain, and sunshine. Thursday will be 50 with a chance of rain—a good temp to avoid, stay in, and eat. 😉
Auntie Lenora’s Bookstore:
I decided to start a new feature this week: Auntie Lenora’s Bookstore. Come in, browse around, bring your cuppa, bring your snacks, buy books. Auntie Lenora’s Bookstore is never closed. Are you a night owl? The store is open at 2am. You can even come in your jammies. 😉 (please be quiet, ok? Auntie Lenora is a light sleeper.)
As you probably know, I have many friends who also write, and since the Winter Solstice, by whatever name you call it, is coming (oddly, it comes at the same time every year), I thought I’d give you some ideas for Solstice Gifts. Of course, they are books. I put a call out to the writers on my list and have some nice responses which you will see below. If you have a book you’d like to show, feel free to contact me. I see no reason why Auntie can’t operate her bookstore whenever a new book arrives, do you? 😉
My contribution to the National Day of Gluttony:
I’ve been invited to a friend’s home for dinner this coming Thursday. Because I have a sweet tooth, I am taking dessert. I am taking The BEST Bourbon Pumpkin Cheesecake in a 9×13 pan with a gingersnap crust and Plimoth Plantation’s Slow Cooker Indian Pudding. It isn’t as sweet as the cheesecake, I will have enough bourbon sauce for cheesecake and pudding, as well as enough whipped cream for both, so people can have their choice of toppings. I thought the Indian Pudding would be a nice tribute to the indigenous people, but guess what? It was made by the Pilgrims. They didn’t have as good a supply of wheat flour, so couldn’t make their beloved Hasty Pudding so they they used the local ingredients, cornmeal, and improvised. Yummmmm. Unfortunately, they didn’t go home when the meal was over, and are still here today. Since the uniform of the day is blue jeans and tee shirts, I’m going to wear my pink tee bought special for this occasion.
My neighbor is doing turkey and dressing, and oh, does he do them well! Yummmmmm. And I know what his secret ingredient is. Between the turkey and dressing and desserts, Auntie Lenora will not go hungry. Honest. Trust me. And someone is bringing a pecan pie. No, Auntie Lenora will not leave the table hungry. Have you ever heard of the Groaning Board? There shall be one on Thursday to hold all our food.
Some more good news for a change: Oklahoma decided not to indulge in legal blood lust, and the Guv commuted Julius Jones sentence to life in prison. I do not believe in the death penalty, ever. Though I admit there was one man I wished dead and did not cry when he died in prison. In fact, he was trying to stay out of prison to die at home, but Fate and I intervened. Couldn’t happen to a more deserving chap. But, if states must have their blood lust, then why don’t they go back to the old-time bit of using a firing squad. It’s quick, and over before pain has a chance to register, unlike the modern methods of suffocating them in a gas chamber, boiling them in an electric chair, or burning them from the inside out with chemicals, or maybe or maybe not breaking their neck with a rope? At any rate, in this one case, Kudos to Oklahoma!
Entertainment:
TV: nada.Requires more concentration than I have at the moment.
YouTube: I found a fascinating video, about an hour on Korean street food, primarily making dumplings, which I love. No talking, at least not much, and it’s in Hangul, so I couldn’t understand it anyhow (well, I did understand “Thank You,” (kam sa ham ni da) but that was all). Very entertaining. Makes me want to visit Korea. Not someday, but right now! Of all the Asian countries I’d like to visit—and I’d like to visit all, Korea is #1! I love dumplings and stuffed steamed breads (Hum Bao in Chinese).
Books: Remember, if I finish a book, I review it at: Rainy Day Reads
Their War —by Julie Pham, PhD. I saw Dr. Pham on a zoom discussion talk about her book and ordered a copy before the end of the show. It is primarily interviews with South Vietnamese military veterans and their recollections about the war and American participation. I found it fascinating to get their side of the story.
Started Murder at the Mission by Blaine Harden. A new history of Dr. Marcus and Narcissa Whitman and their mission near current day Walla Walla. A topic of fascination for years.
Also reading two books by Margaret Randall. One is poetry, Out of Violence into Poetry. The other is Thinking About Thinking — Not Quite Essays.
Got to a point in The Water Dancer by Ta-Nehisi Coates where I had to stop. Pretty intense, especially considering Jim’s passing. I’ll get back to it. It is beautifully written and his debut novel.
Books require concentration, too, but easier to go back a page or three to reread.
Music: Have you heard The HU? They are a Mongolian heavy metal band, and a lot of fun. I love Wolf Totem and there are English lyrics. Surely there is a Native American heavy metal group out there someplace. I think it would be great fun to have a video of HU and Lakota meeting. They also incorporate the Mongolian throat singing into their music. There is another group, Hanggai, that plays more traditional rock and Mongolian fused together that I was just introduced to.
Auntie Lenora’s Bookstore:
If you have a book you’d like promoted here, please let me know. You may email me at my personal email, or use the Contact Me form if you don’t have it.
by Diane Helentjaris:
Poems of forging an American life. In 1910 Anastasius, in defiance of his father, immigrates from Greece to the United States. Diaspora speaks powerfully of the aftermath. Poverty, wars, miscommunications, new roles for women emerge. The family struggles to bridge the challenges of time and distance in the age before modern technology knit the world together. The word “diaspora” comes from the Greek term for “to scatter.” Today new immigrants scatter across the globe. Diane Helentjaris, in her debut chapbook, shares the story of one of the many immigrants who went before them. Poetry lovers – teens and adults – with an interest in family, justice, immigration, women’s history, and modern Greece will enjoy this strongly themed collection.
Here’s one of the five star reviews:
This year, 2021, is the bicentennial of the Greek War of Independence, and what better way to celebrate it than with poetry about Greece.
These poems touched me to the core, and I enjoyed reading every one of them! They evoked strong images in my mind of the poet’s Greek past, as she shares nostalgic memories of her family members. Each person in the poems felt so alive.
ASIN: B08YXZDLQ
ISBN: 9798721584541
Diaspora is available on Amazon as a paperback or in an electronic version (Kindle). Signed copies are available for $10 which includes shipping and handling. To buy a signed copy, message me through my website www.dianehelentjaris.com.
by Mark Fleisher:
Each book is $15 plus $3 for s/h if ordered from me (signed copies, of course). The books are also available from the giant behemoth retailer whose name is that of a very major South American river. Copies will not be signed — unless Jeff Bezos is available.
Reflections: Soundings from the Deep
ISBN: 9781940769905
“Narratives weaving no-nonsense poetry and prose tales while at times throwing readers a stream-of-consciousness curveball.”
Intersections: Poems from the Crossroads
ISBN: 9781940769547
“Hammers home the futility of war while tenderly exploring family and relationships with a lyrical, image-filled style.”
Moments of Time
ISBN: 9781940769295
“Recalling youthful years in New York City, the horrific inhumanity of Vietnam, a major personal loss, and finding new life in an unfamiliar place.”
I have an M.F.A. in poetry from Columbia University.
I have four volumes of poetry memoirs. They are self-published and available on Amazon.
“Blue Watermelon,” “Cheer for Freedom,” “Furs for a Vegetarian,” and “Green Eyes.” The last two were published 2020.
“Furs for a Vegetarian” focuses on her artist mother, Sonia Avakian, who studied with Kandinsky in Moscow. She escaped starvation and the communists through marriage and her move to Iran. After Papa’s unexpected death she took a Victory Ship with her two sons and daughter to the U.S.A.
Price: $15 paper back plus shipping of $4.00 if ordered from Mary.
ISBN: 978169385512.
“Green Eyes” is a love story set on the East Coast joining together of an American-German heritage civil engineer with an Armenian-Russian graduate in the arts. They share love, raise sons, travel, till tragedy strikes. The poetry is joyful, sensual, heart rending.
Price: $15 paper back plus shipping of $4.00 if ordered from Mary.
I think it goes without saying but all prices above and shipping/handling are for the USA. If you live overseas and would like a copy, you can probably order it from that certain large company named after a rather large South American river–and get it from your country or area.–Auntie Lenora
Quotes of the Week:
“You see, bookshops are dreams built of wood and paper. They are time travel and escape and knowledge and power. They are, simply put, the best of places.” —Jen Campbell
“I love walking into a bookstore. It’s like all my friends are sitting on shelves, waving their pages at me.” —Tahereh Mafi
And there it is. Another week come, another week gone, another Coffee Break Escape, and the Winter Solstice (and all the marvelous holidays associated with it) gets closer and closer–you know, like it does every year. Sammy Brave Dog is ignoring the whole thing. He really prefers foods on time and a warm bed to snuggle in. He’s happy.
Weather in the Tries: Winds, diminishing tears, now and then clouds, and a bit of sun now and again. I’m not joking about the tears. One of my bestest friends died unexpectedly last Sunday (7 Nov), James Walter “Jim” Fiscus. I’m still crying. But not as much. You do know I lie a lot, don’t you?
Jim:
I first met Jim something like 35-40 years ago. Whenever I started attending the SFF Cons (conventions) About 5 years after we met, we started drifting into friendship. We kept it at friendship until last Sunday when he ruined it for all of us. Which is a good thing, because he met a young lady who became the light of his life, Shawn, and they have been happily married for several years. And Shawn and I are friends.
I cannot even begin to guess at how badly Shawn feels. I know it is a lot worse than I feel, and all I can say is the edges of the hole through my life are if not healing, at least scabbing over. It takes time. But one thing I do know about Grief—you will grieve. Best to do it when appropriate, because if you stuff it somewhere, it will come to visit later, usually at a most inappropriate time.
If you are, or were, in the SFF community on the West Coast, you probably knew Jim. If you attended OryCon, you for sure knew Jim. If you belong to SFWA, you undoubtedly knew Jim. He was a photographer who was seldom, if ever, without his camera. He had a set up out his office window to shoot birds. His shots (photos) were amazing.
Have you ever wanted the release of crying, but just couldn’t cry? Every so often, I would play Who Will Answer? by Ed Ames and that would make me cry, but someone has added a religious blurb at the end of the video that is not in the song and is a great detraction. I found a different song that brings tears when I need them, The Sound of Silence by Disturbed. Kind of a heavy metal rendition of the gentle Simon and Garfunkel’s recording. Great fun to sing along with, though. 😉 Incidentally, I understand Paul Simon loved Disturbed’s rendition!)
Library Cards:
Remember the old Library Cards stuck in a glued-on envelope on the inside cover of the books the librarian let you take home and read? When you checked it out, the librarian put your name and due date on it and put it in a file and put another card with the due date in the book. And if you were late returning it, well, there went your allowance for the fines. And a stern warning from the Librarian.
In a conversation with a friend a couple days ago, she mentioned she had a stack of books she was getting ready to ship me so I could sign them and ship them back to her and she could then wrap them and ship them to whoever and wherever. I suggested she buy some bookplates, send them to me, with a sticky note on each one telling me who was getting the book, and their favorite color. I will sign the bookplate to the person, in colored ink, and mail them back to her. Much faster, and less expensive than mailing books.
So, I went online to find some blank bookplates, and found a packet of the old-style library cards. If you want to send someone one of my books, signed by me, send me a SASE (self-addressed stamped envelope) with the name of the book and the name of the person to receive it, and their favorite color, and I’ll send you a signed library card, which you can then tape into the book with a piece of double sticky tape. The cards are 3”x5.” I can just sign them, or personalize them, just tell me what you want. (Obviously, if you want special bookplates signed, send those.)
If you don’t have my address, either email me or use the “contact me” form requesting same. My books can be ordered from Amazon.com or your favorite bookseller. Please do not order from me, it will take too long for me to order them, sign them, and ship them on, and cost you a whole lot more money.
Photos of the Week:
These were taken Jan ’02 at my house in Myrtle Point, Oregon. He still looked pretty much the same the last time I saw him. A smidge older, a teensy bit heavier. At least that’s how I remember him. I’ll always remember Jim and his smile. I just wish I could remember the joke….
Entertainment:
TV News:Stephen K. Bannon got two criminal indictments. Finally, some good news!
And how I hope there is at least one mother on the Kyle Rittenhouse jury to explain to the rest of the members that the tears were a great spectacle, but that’s all they were! It was Tantrum on Demand. Been there, seen that!
Facebook:
If you’ve missed me on Facebook, I’ll be back in a week or two. I’m just processing a helluvalot of hurt right now.
Quotes of the Week:
“Death is not extinguishing the light; it is putting out the lamp because the dawn has come.” —Rabindranath Tagore
Mole asked Raven “…what happens at the point of death?” // Raven sat silently for a while, then said, “I give away my belongings.” —Zen Master Raven by Robert Aitken
And there you have it, another week gone, another week closer to Winter Solstice (Summer Solstice if you live Down Under), and another blog. Sammy is some concerned over my crying, so he’s hiding in the bed. In the meantime, remember, Books always make good gifts. One size fits all. And if someone end up with two copies of the same book, they will have one to cherish and one to loan 😉
Weather in the Tries: Oh, yay! We are back to PST. Spring forward, fall back. I just wish ‘They’ would choose a time and make it all year long. Daylight, Standard, or split the difference! Sorry for the rant. Most of our days will be in the mid to upper 50s, one day with a 40% chance of rain, and the overnight lows from 34 to 43. Yep. Fall has done fell.
Dune Again:
Remember last week when I reviewed Dune, and asked if any of you, or your friends, had seen the movie but not read the book and if so, did the movie make sense? Well, Craig Good (my brother) reviewed Dune 2021 on Letterboxd and indeed, a friend of his saw the latest movie, and had not read the book, and had no trouble following the story. I haven’t seen it again, but I hope to, soon, though the 3D version seems to have left the area so I’ll have to contend with the regular movie. Oh, well. It will give me a good comparison.
Do give Craig’s review a read-through. He brings a totally different element to his reviews than I do to mine. He’s worked in the industry for a long time—like, his whole adult working life 😉
News Again:
A week or two ago, Mary MacCarthy was questioned about human trafficking while she was traveling with her bi-racial daughter, Moira. A lot has been said but the one thing I’ve missed is the relief, the gratefulness of the airlines personnel who flagged the mother/daughter for possible trafficking. They were already in grief over the death of a family member, so weren’t acting “normal” when they boarded. They were quiet. For whatever reasons, they set off alarms, and those alarms were acted on.
It must have been a horrible thing, both for Mrs. MacCarthy as well as her daughter, who can be heard crying off camera. But at least the flight crew who reported it, and the cops were trying to protect the child from a nightmarish fate, if in fact, she had been kidnapped and was being trafficked. Now, if it was simply a brown skinned child with a white skinned woman, so of course there had to be something wrong with that picture, then it is not okay. Not okay for the flight crew to have thought that, and not okay for the cops to have acted on it. And if that’s the story, then shame on them all and may they lose some pay over it. Lots of pay. Enough to make them hurt.
But if it was not racial profiling, if they were in fact concerned for the child’s welfare, then hats off to them for thinking of the brown-skinned child and trying to save her. The world will be a much better place when we all have tea colored skin!
Photo of the Week:
Visited a friend last weekend, and there was a squirrel who played in the back. The poor thing was so camera shy, I never could see/shoot more of his face than what I got here. Not sure what the plant behind him is, but he sure loved playing, searching for foods in that one spot.
Entertainment:
Book: Remember, if I finish a book, I (eventually) post a review at Rainy Day Reads
Artificial Intelligence: A Guide for Thinking Humans —by Melanie Mitchell
My book group chose this book. It’s not one that would have normally found its way into my stack of ‘to read’ books, but I wanted to give it an honest try. I believe it was about halfway through chapter 5 that she snagged me. She talked about her time in school when she got zero on a math page of problems. She had the right answers but hadn’t proved her work. By golly, that happened to me, too. Only I got 50% for having the correct answers. After that, I had to prove my work, show that I knew how to get the answer. And I had to do it algebraically. Some of the most fascinating parts in the book was looking at two photos of the same object. In one, the computer guessed correctly in the identical looking one, it was way off. If the picture was of a dog, it would be a dog in one and an ostrich in the other. But they looked alike. Well, no, not quite. Someone had sabotaged the second identical photo by moving/deleting a few pixels just enough to through the computer off. A stop sign might have a couple of pixels added/deleted that the human eye couldn’t detect, but the computer could, and it might read it as a speed sign instead of a stop sign. Not so go on a self-driving car, eh?
Anyhow, I’m going to give her 5 Stars when I post my review. Ms. Mitchell took a subject in which I had no interest and wrote about it in such a way I finished the book early. By the time I finished, I realized I did have an interest in it. Oh, not enough to rush out and take college level courses in it, but I now have a better understanding of AI, and find it less frightening (that seems too strong a word) than I did before.
Quote of the Week:
“Forget artificial intelligence – in the brave new world of big data, it’s artificial idiocy we should be looking out for.” —Tom Chatfield
So, Gentle Readers, another week has come and gone, and you know what? Winter Solstice is coming. Yes, it is. Honest. Trust me. And with it an array of holidays from several different religions. If you know the person is a member of one, by all means greet them appropriately, but if unsure, Happy Holidays covers Kwanzaa, Christmas, Solstice and at least a dozen more. And remember, the Solstice is the Reason for the Season. The nights will get shorter, the days longer, and our politicians can mess with our minds and sleep cycles once again when it’s time to turn our clocks ahead an hour.
Weather in the Tries: Saturday and Sunday were cool but mostly sunny. Starting Monday it will be mostly cloudy with lows down to 30 and highs (one day) all the way up to 59. Most of the highs will be mid 50s, most of the lows will be high 30s to low 40s.,
Happy Halloween:
I hope we have our usual amount of trick or treaters tonight (remember, I write this the day before you read it) which is zero. We do have a couple of kidlets in the complex, but I have nothing to give out.
But I do have a Halloween story for you:
I was four, it was summer, I was bored, and we were poor (but I had no concept of that at the time) and I wanted some candy. I had been a good girl and thought I deserved some. Mom explained that we didn’t have any and we didn’t have money for candy. What was a girl to do?
I shrugged and said okay and went back to playing. But this devious mind of mine developed early.
Fast forward an hour or two, and Mom caught me chewing something and wanted to know what I was eating.
“Candy,” I said.
“Candy? Where did you get it?” Now that I think about it, there was probably a lot of concern I had no clue of at the time. What had I done for what dirty old man that he gave me candy?
I produced a paper bag with several candies in it. “From the neighbors. I went Trick or Treating.” I was quite proud of myself that I’d solved my problem, and my sweet tooth, without any adult help. Well, other than giving me candy when they answered the door.
Poor Mom, she had no idea who I had frauded, and she heard later from various neighborhood sources that some sweet little girl had come around Trick or Treating and she was so cute and the idea so novel, they had to share their largess.
But I learned we can only go Trick or Treating one night a year. Bummer, eh?
November is American Indian Heritage Month. I shall honor my Ancestors to the best of my ability. (I do that anyhow, but I’ll make a special attempt the whole month. Honest. Trust me.)
You can honor your favorite Catawba and buy my new book, The Bride’s Gate and Other Assorted Writings. A friend who is also a writer, says some of my stories remind him of Kurt Vonnegut! Wowser! Talk about high praise.
Photo of the Week:
One of my neighbor’s Jack O’Lanterns. One neighbor, with a short person in the house, got three large pumpkins and carved them, set them outside for all to enjoy. The skunks must have smelled dinner because within a couple of days they were pretty well demolished.
Entertainment:
Movie: Dune 3D. OMG. I have to go back and see it again!!! This is the first time I’ve been in a theater in about 10 years. I have avoided them like the plague (or Covid). They are sooooo loud, they not only make my ears hurt, they give me serious headaches for a couple days. But I so wanted to see the new Dune on a big screen. AND in 3D. The last time I saw a 3D movie I was in elementary school, and they had the lenses in two colors glued into cardboard. These glasses were plastic, and the lenses were clear. I’m assuming they were polarized, but haven’t bothered to look it up.
The ONLY gripe about the movie is its Part I. We have to wait a couple years for part 2. If you are familiar with the story, get thee to a theater, preferably a 3D one. Yes, they left out a couple scenes that I remember as being important, but it’s been 21 years (at least) since the last time I read it. They made some changes, but one can’t just dump a book into a movie without some changes. The movie got to about the half way part of the book, according to something I read. And, no, I’m not going to tell you any more than that.
Oh, and the soundtrack was loud, but not LOUD like the last time I was in a theater. I had actually removed my hearing aids and was preparing to put in some really good ear plugs. I ended up putting my aids back in my ears and enjoying the movie. If you’re not familiar with the story, I think it would still make sense, but I don’t know for sure. If you’re not familiar with the story, and go see it, would you please let me know if it made sense?
Quotes of the Week (from the new Dune movie):
“The mystery of life isn’t a problem to solve, but a reality to experience.” – Jamis
And of course, the most famous of all Dune Quotes, book or movie:
“I must not fear. Fear is the Mind-Killer. Fear is the little death that brings obliteration.” — Litany Against Fear, spoken by Lady Jessica.
Personally, I prefer Reverend Mother Odrade’s version better: “Face your fears or they will ride your back.” As she said, it’s much simpler to remember. (I think that was from Chapter House Dune.)
And there it is, Gentle Readers, your Coffee Break Escape for the week. Uh, don’t try the movie during coffee break. Unless you take your boss with you. I had a couple of bosses back in the day, who would have gone with me and loved it. But one would have felt dire guilt, I think.
And a note on the brave dog. I was gone all day Saturday from about 7am to 9pm and I left Sammy with a neighbor. He was a good boy and loved every minute. No heart ache I had left him. He seemed to know I’d be back. Of course, he visits that neighbor every day or so and “inspects” the floor;-)
Having yourself a fantastically wonderful week. And go see Dune 3D.
Weather in the Tries: Rain for Sunday, looks to be cloudy with sun breaks throughout the week, high of mid-low 60s until 68 On Thursday, going down to 55 after. Nighttime lows mostly in 40s, but next Saturday heading into 30s.
Hey! Thanks to all of you who contacted me to see how I was feeling. By the time you read the blog I was considerably better, perchance if you read it in the afternoon, I was back to my normal curmudgeonly self.
Boy Howdy! Have we gone overboard on Cancel Culture or what?
I agree it’s sometimes hard to separate the good guys from the bad guys, and what do we do when a bad guy is really, really talented somehow?
Years ago, I became in literary lust with a particular author. He wrote prose, he wrote poetry, and as far as I know, he still does. Good stuff, at least the stuff I read. And then it came out that he also used his fame and glory to molest women, that he used his fame and glory and higher status to his benefit, but not anyone else’s.
I immediately cancelled him out of my life. But I couldn’t toss his books. I just couldn’t. a) I’d invested too many dollars in them and b) I’d invested too much time and c) they were just too darned good.
Life isn’t black and white. There are many shades of gray between the black and the white. Why should I give up good writing, something I enjoy, just because? Besides, he doesn’t come home to my house, he goes home to his house, his wife, his kidlets. But it’s hard to separate the Art from the Artist.
Take Thomas Jefferson. Please. I’m finding it very difficult to find any socially redeeming qualities about him. Yes, he was a fantastic writer of fiction. Read our Constitution and the Bill of Rights. Aren’t they beautiful? Well, if you belong to the dominant caste, I guess they are. But if you belong to a lesser caste, they ain’t.
Speaking of the dominant caste in this country, what is it the White Supremacists say? If you have a bucket of white paint and put a single drop of black in it, it is no longer white? Well, they need to get their DNA done. All of us are at least 3% African American, and many are more. All of our ancestors walked out of Africa at one time or another.
And the Aryan Race? According to Wikipedia that is “a debunked historical race concept which emerged in the late 19th century.” Some were pale, many were darker brown. Oh, my. It’s an interesting article, check it out. But then, the term “Race” is a human construct. It’s one way for the dominant caste to keep the subordinate castes subordinate.
But, back to Jefferson. He did write beautifully. And he did recognize his own hypocrisy. But from what I’ve read he did not free his slaves when he died, except for Sally Hemmings. He did not free his children by her, because he was in such horrendous debt, but he did allow them to “walk” and often asked trusted friends to help, especially with his daughters. Some of his sons helped build the college they would never be allowed to attend. I’ve also read in several places that his sons were unmistakably his. At least Washington freed his slaves on his death.
I wonder what threat or inducement Jefferson used on Sally to get her to return to slavery, for she was legally free when they lived in Paris. She could have left him at that time, there was help. I wonder if she thought she loved him. Once she got on the ship heading west, she was doomed. He owned her siblings, at least some. Perhaps they were the price she paid. He is said to have said that Sally had sons, he didn’t.
Something like twelve of our early presidents owned people. And then, we have President Abraham Lincoln who said, “As I would not be a slave, so I would not be a master. This expresses my idea of democracy. Whatever differs from this, to the extent of the difference, is no democracy.” (Definition of Democracy, August 1, 1858?) Surely, there are some socially redeeming qualities to those 12. They knew it was wrong, some freed their slaves on their deaths. I wonder if any of them kept families together?
Enough of my ranting. I had ancestors on both sides. No wonder I’m conflicted!
Photos of the Week:
Fall is arriving. Bateman Island from my back yard. Note the fog by the water. Curb maker. The concrete goes into a bin (my technical term) and gets extruded as a curb. You can see one across the street. No forms to build or remove. Kinda fun. But still not as excited as the Road Eater from a few weeks ago.
Entertainment:
Alas no new movies or series. And, no, my love of K-Drama has not made me even a wee bit curious about Squid Games. Have any of you seen it. Whatcha think?
Books: Remember, if I finish a book, I review it here.
O.M.G!!! I finished reading The Glass Constellation by Arthur Sze. What a fantastic book. I loved it. I am in deep literary lust! There wasn’t a single poem in the book (560 pages) I didn’t love. Some I loved more than others. I am in awe of his long poems where sections are numbered. Shucks, I am in awe of him! If you don’t want to make a long-term commitment, don’t buy this book, but buy one or two of his smaller ones. Go to your library and check one out.
I also got some other reviews up for books (novels) I finished a couple weeks ago—A Day Like This: A Novel —by Kelley McNeil, Peace of Music (Book 1 of 3) —by Denise Kahn, Swimmer in the Secret Sea —by William Kotzwinkle.
“I am naturally anti-slavery. If slavery is not wrong, nothing is wrong. I can not remember when I did not so think, and feel.” April 4, 1864 – Letter to Albert Hodges
Poor Sammy Brave Dog. The Zombie Leaf Warriors keep attacking him to eat puppy brains. Leaves have fallen off the trees, and the wind skitters them across the parking lot, or down the sidewalk, and he doesn’t like them at all! I suppose if I was his size and that close to the ground, and dried leaves blew in my face, I wouldn’t like it, either. He sends pupkisses to you all!! And Auntie Lenora sends virtual and socially distanced hugs to each and every one of you ;-)cancel culture
I apologize for the brevity of today’s post. As I’m sure I told you in prior posts, I usually write this ahead of time, and schedule it for publication in the wee hours of Monday. Alas, I’m a bit under the weather, and it has interrupted what concentration I have. I’m sure I’ll be fine in a day or two, however…
Daniel Craig certainly stirred the Conversation Pot this week, didn’t he? And, ya know what? I see his point of view. When I took my first and only cruise a few years back with my friend and travel partner Jan, she introduced me to the gay bar onboard the ship. I asked how she knew it was gay before we got there, and she explained that Friends of Dorothy was for LGBTQ and Friends of Bill was for recovering alcoholics. We spent a few nights in the gay bars, having a drink, sitting at a table, and enjoying a conversation. The music was quiet, people danced, they talked without yelling to be heard, and it was pleasant. I would have no qualms going into a gay bar, especially if I was in a strange city.
But I can also see the other side of that coin. There aren’t too many places members of that community can go and feel welcome and accepted. The bars really are theirs. It’s where they can go, and just be themselves. They don’t need straight people in there cluttering the place up. And they surely don’t need straight gawkers coming in to watch the “show.”
I think a few straight bars can take a lesson or two. Tone it down, have music at a reasonable decibel level, encourage civility (OMG, what a concept!) and leave the biker bars for those who need to prove they’re the strongest of the strong, the meanest of the mean. Know what I mean, Jelly Bean?
There used to be a bar in downtown Portland that catered to businessmen and women. A woman could go into the bar alone, and not be hit on, she could sit, have a drink or two, and enjoy. Even at night, they kept that ambience. If anyone got drunk and disorderly, they were quietly taken care of. (The bar was in a hotel, so maybe they disorderly one got a room put on his tab? I dunno, I never saw anyone get kicked out.)
There’s a tavern where I live that I used to meet my gal pals when they got off work. It’s what my daddy would call a working man’s tavern. Most of the guys who come in are laborers, and the women work in the shops. It’s a blue jeans and steel toed boot kind of place. Families come in. It’s amazing how small children can keep the civility at a reasonable level. The music is seldom loud, and the food is good as long as you want pub food. I have gone in alone and felt quite comfortable. The owners opened an upscale place a couple miles away. I never go there. Too hoity toity, and the Reubens suck bilgewater.
So, if you are ever on a cruise ship and want a quiet drink, check out Friends of Dorothy. Especially if you’re female and just want to be alone. But then, why are you on a cruise? Oh, well, we all need some down time, alone, yes?
The books haven’t changed, neither has the tv watching. And that’s it for this week. See you next week.
