Category Archives: Books

As You May Imagine

Weather in the Tries:

Oof Da! Can you say: Sun? Can you say: Hot? Yep, that be us. Am listening to the ambient music, Miyamoto Musashi: Embracing Loneliness. Not that I’m lonely, but it’s raining in the video. You know, cool.

As you may imagine:
Well, I imagine you can imagine this past week was not the bestest in my world. It took a few days for me to get over SCOTUS’ ruling on Monday. Maybe not over it, but through it. Through most of it.

On the sunny side of the street, I was in a bookstore the other day, and came home with two books. Yeah, I know, you’re so surprised. /snort/ One is a book of poetry by Margaret Atwater. I love her poetry, and haven’t seen a new book of hers in a long time. So I am reading Dearly before I turn the light out at night.

The second book is, The Book of Delights by Ross Gay. A small book, maybe 5” x 8”, filled with delightful 2-3 page essays he wrote over a year finding delights where he could, including memories. It is a delightful book, and just what the doctor ordered!

Should you find yourself wandering in a bookstore, wander over to the poetry/essay section and look through his book. Take the time to read a couple of his essays. Shucks, while you’re there, look at Dearly by Margaret Atwood, even if you don’t like poetry. Particularly if you don’t like poetry! Her poems are mini stories in a different form. Try a couple. Perhaps you will walk out of the store with two books (or more).

Also, I discovered some new-to-me channels on YouTube and I thoroughly enjoy them—woodturning and woodworking channels! Absolutely great ways to get my eyes and ears out of the news that is so damn depressing. My two favorite woodworking channels are Foureyes furniture and Blacktail Studio. The guys are fun, they explain what they are doing, what they did wrong, and how they fixed it. I love how they work, too. Would I ever spend $15K on a table? uh, no, but if I decided to, it would be from one of these two guys. And I must be learning something—on Sunday I decided to watch someone else make a table. I was quite taken with the top and I wanted to see how he made it. He made it cheaply. Where the guys above glue and clamp, this guy used way less glue and nails. Where Chris (?) and Cam (above furniture builders) take the time to get every join perfect, where they use several grits of sandpaper, where they spend time finishing their work, the table I was so taken by was very shoddily made. The joins did not match, the sanding was perfunctory, and the finish was sprayed on. I watch they guys for entertainment, but apparently, I’m also getting an education.

If you are in the market for some new and high quality furniture, I strongly suggest you watch a few episodes of the guys at the links above. Not that I’m recommending them to you (which I am) but to see how they work, and what to look for when you go shopping.

By the way, Cam at Blacktail Studio is the one who came up with the Damascus Denim Desk. Yes, a desk made out of denim. Check it out here. Talk about fabric art!!!

Photo of the Week:
Yep, it’s me. I had to get some new headshots for the new book, Saying Goodbye to Thomas, which will be ready for pre-order probably in in Feb/Mar 2025. As you undoubtedly know, there are few things I hate worse than having my picture taken. From my POV, I look like Sophia Loren. From the camera’s POV, I look like me. God, what a let-down for all concerned.

photo by Katrina

from the desk of the hot dog;
the one and only bad thing about the heat is sometimes the hard, black surface of the driveway where most of my walking is done, is too hot for my feets. otherwise, all this sun and hot is pure heaven for this desert dog. can you see my tail wag.

Music of the Week:
Miyamoto Musashi: Embracing Loneliness. Great ambient music to have on, turned low, and write or study by. There are several pieces online for this music. I think if I could play it on the bedside radio I do not have, I could easily sleep with it. No, it doesn’t make me sleepy (couldn’t work or study if it did) but I think it would make great sleeping music.

Quote of the Week:

“Re-examine all you have been told.
Dismiss what insults your soul.”
—Walt Whitman

ps:
Looking for a nightmare? Give this site a once or twice over: American Autocracy Threat Tracker. Truly scary stuff! But necessary. How sad is that?

Great Stories v. Great Literature

7 Replies

Weather in the Tries:
Why yes, thank you, we are having some this coming week.

On a Personal Note:
“Hawkeye” Pierce died this past week at the age of 88. Rest in Peace Donald Sutherland, thank you for so many wonderful characters I would have loved to meet and get to know.

Great Stories v. Great Literature:
I subscribe to the Substack of Sherman Alexie. Because I pay, I get to see more of his writings than if I subscribed to the free version. I also get to leave comments on his writings, which range from poetry to short stories to memoir. I am in awe of the man’s talent. The other day he wrote something about wanting to write great literature. Of course, I couldn’t let that go without a comment. I told him to continue to write great stories, and if they happen to be great literature, fine. But if not, to my way of thinking great stories are more important than great literature.

Great stories are accessible to anyone who can read. Great Literature is often dry, dull, and boring, the characters are not interesting or fun, just ink on a dead processed tree. Margaret Atwood writes great stories, and great literature, but her literature is first and foremost a damn good story.

My book group read a debut novel by a young author. I gave it the requisite 60 pages (I read once that a book editor will read the first 60 pages and if they like it, continue. If not, the great Letter of Rejection is mailed. Actually, I doubt if they read much past 10 pages today). I didn’t like any of the characters, I didn’t care what happened to them, I just didn’t care. I seldom read past page 60, if it’s not my cuppa tea. Sometimes I put the book down, wait a few months and try again, and then I get all the way through and can’t figure out why I disliked it the first time.

I did, once, read a book almost to the middle, and put it down. Not one likable person in the book. Worse than the Godfather. That book I could hardly put down and the only likeable person were the two women Michael Corleone married. Anyhow, back to the one I closed slightly before the halfway mark, I picked it up a week or two later, and I committed a venal sin. A misdemeanor if you will. I read the last chapter. Although I didn’t like anyone, I kept worrying it, and decided I had to know the end.

Literature is character driven. Fiction is plot driven. Perhaps I never had the right literature books, or the right teacher to teach the class, but I feel about most literature I’ve tried as Oprah does about books with happy endings! She will never recommend a book with a happy ending, I heard her say one day during a tv interview. If it’s fiction, and you want me to read it, it had better have a happy ending, with few exceptions. I get too many sad endings in the news. And in my life.

I have a book by George Steiner, Errata: an examined life. It is a collection of essays. I bought it for the first paragraph, which begins thusly: “Rain, particularly to a child, carries distinct smells and colors. Summer rains in the Tyrol are relentless. They have a morose, flogging insistence and come in deepening shades of dark green. At night, the drumming is one of…”

I love essays. I have several books of essays. They are (except for the John McPhee ones) usually short. And interesting. So, I buy a book based on one paragraph, the hook as it’s called in genre writing, and was enthralled all the way through. I also subscribe to magazines based on similar things. I just subscribed to The Paris Review, based on an article they pulled from a past issue and sent out, about Chinua Achebe. I don’t believe I’ve read anything by him, but after reading the article, I will give him a try. (The article was open to one and all, to read the interview, one must subscribe.)

Just what I need. More processed dead trees coming into our house. I am so jealous of my housemate at times. ALL of his books go to his Kindle. Only fiction and the now and then craft book, come to mine. I want the white space of poetry as it’s shown on the page. And if it’s non-fiction, I want to write marginalia in it, well, sometimes. I want to go back to earlier pages and check something. Yes, I can do that on my kindle, but it’s difficult, and I’m special (okay, I’m probably a bit spacey, too) and I can see the page if it’s paper, but not if its electrons. What can I say? I also like the feel and perfume of paper and ink.

Back to Sherman Alexie, if he does write the great literary novel, it will probably be very well written, and interesting. But I hate the idea that he goes into his office one day, sits down at his computer and purposely writes literature. I want him to write stories. I’ve yet to read one of his stories that wasn’t well worth the time and money. Maybe I’m just lazy, and don’t want to have to figure out what the writer is writing about. Maybe I’m tired after a long day, and I want to escape my reality for a few minutes when I go to bed at night. Maybe I want a poem about a father and son at the ice cream store to be just that, and not have 37 metaphors that need to be decoded. Yeah, he writes kick-ass poetry as well as fiction.

Photos of the Week:
Mallard Hen out for an afternoon swim, enjoying the pond to herself

Silver Linden tree at the Library. Several trees, all in bloom. Shedding pollen and perfume like crazy.

from the desk of the big chihuahua;
my human says to buckle up savvy pup, because it’s gonna be hot and not so hot this week. she forgets this dog is a desert dog. my forebears came out of the chihuahua desert down south of the border, down Mexico way. will you look at that. the computer put a capped letter in for me.

Earworm of the Week courtesy of YouTube:
South of the Border (Down Mexico Way by Patsy Cline

Quote of the Week courtesy of azquotes:

“Carnegie Hall was real fabulous, but you know,
it ain’t as big as the Grand Ole Opry.” ~ Patsy Cline

Saying Goodbye to Thomas

3 Replies

Weather in the Tries:
Oh my goodness gracious sakes alive! A week of sunshine is ahead of us. A tad cooler than yesterday, the temps will mostly be in the 80s until the weekend, when it will drop to the 70s. And the humidity, though higher in the morning and night, will be low enough that the heat will be heavenly.

Saying Goodbye to Thomas:
In case you missed the wee bit in last week’s post about my chapbook being accepted, Finishing Line Press has accepted my chapbook, Saying Goodbye to Thomas. These are the poems I wrote, mostly in the final months of his life, about his dying. No, they are not all doom and gloom, you know me better than that. At any rate I think I’ve calmed down a wee bit from the excitement. It will spike again, when I get the contract. Then it will be really real;-)

Here is their acceptance. Well, a small portion thereof, I’m sure you don’t want to read the whole thing. This is the important part:

“Thank you for submitting to us. Your manuscript has been accepted for publication. We would love to publish your book.” Every time I read those three sentences I just get giddy all over again 😉

Please check Finishing Line Press out and consider buying a book. Small Press publishers are a mainstay for poets. Not sure which one to buy, get Finding Her by Kristie L. Williams. It’s a great book.

I’m a writer, I’m used to rejection. But sometimes, when enough come with no breaks, it’s hard to remember that editors aren’t rejecting me, they are rejecting my work. And they can reject it for a myriad of reasons. Maybe I used a word they don’t like, or I wrote about peace instead of war, or I wrote it in this form and they really love another form. Or, as so many rejection/pass letters state, my work just didn’t grab them. Any and all of those reasons are valid, plus the plethora I didn’t list.

It’s really nice when acceptance letters come in like rejections usually do. Within a month, I had something like 8 poems accepted/published. Huzzah! for editors 😉

Depending on your frame of mind, you may or may not want to download the WeCroak app. They will send you 5 messages a day to remind you, you are not a permanent fixture as a live person. It’s inspired by a Bhutanese folk saying: to be a happy person, one must contemplate death five times daily. I just went to the computer one, and they have “the final word on advice columns” you can ask Death for advice on current events, relationships, etc. and so forth. I’m enjoying it very much, but then, I’m weird. However, should you get it for your phone or ipad or watch or whatever, let me know what you think of it. They have both ios and android.

I keep hearing Johnny Mathis singing Chances Are. Yeah, I’m wearing that silly grin, but it’s not because I’m in love with some guy, it’s because my book about my Elder Brother of Choice is being published. Oh, happy dance, happy dance. Oh, wait. Yeah, I am in love with some guy. He’s a spoiled rescue dog!

Speaking of being a spoiled dog, he’s finally taking treats from my hand! That’s huge. I used to have to set them down and walk away, or gently toss them near him. Even the one that looks like a stick to him. Especially the stick one. Now he takes it from my hand. Sometimes it takes a bit. I’d sure like to know how badly he was abused. I think it’s worse than I imagine, which makes me want to hold him and cry and then go find the abuser and abuse him the same way he abused this poor puppy.

Photos of the Week:

Thomas loved watching the bunnies in the yard.

And he loved tossing peanuts out for the crows. One was fairly tame, Thomas called him Podjo, Old Friend.

This Rosemary plant is huge, and was right next to the outside door to Thomas’s area, and when the sun shone, and it was warm, we’d open the door and enjoy the perfume.

from the desk of the big chihuahua;
my human seems tremendously happy i am now taking treats from her hand. i wish i could tell her why it took so long, but she has been patient. sometimes, i still can’t do it, but she doesn’t seem upset when i want it tossed to me.

Earworm of the week:
Need you wonder? One of my girl-hood heart throbs, Johnny Mathis sings Chances Are.

Quote of the week, compliments of Good Housekeeping:

“Live out of your imagination, not your history.” ~ Stephen Covey

New Title: Happy Dance! Happy Dance!

2 Replies

Weather in the Tries:
Days in the coming week will ge as high as 95F, or higher. In fact, we have 2 days scheduled in the 70s, 1 in the high 80s, with the last four in the 90s. I believe the swimming pools will be crowded 😉 We have two pools. This complex used to be large, and then the owners divorced and one got Clearwater Bay, the other got Herron Lake (sic) but about the time we moved in, they went back to one complex, but maintained the two names and two addresses. And each complex has their own pool. Isn’t that just a fascinating bit of trivia? Not.

Holidays and… New Title: Happy Dance! Happy Dance!
Yessiree Bobcat, last Monday was a holiday and I took it. For those of us who used to work for The Boeing Company, it was our first 3-day weekend of the year. The company and our union negotiated trading the week ends until Memorial Day for the days off between Christmas and New Year. Having those days off in the winter were marvelous. If the days fell ‘right’ we could take a couple days of vacation and get two weeks off. It was worth the price! It gave us workers a great break, and the company a chance to do annual maintenance without us underfoot!

Last Thursday (30 May) was the first Deathversary for Thomas. I went back to the Dark Side and spent some time with my Bonus Sister. On Friday, we took some of Thomas’s ashes down to Golden Gardens Park. Bonus Sister Sheryl found a nice tunnel of greenery we walked through to the beach. It was quite windy on the water, but my Bonus Sister found a large, flat piece of seaweed and put the ashes in it, rolled it, and tossed it into the water. Sadness accompanied us, for a short time, but once he was back in the water, his beloved Puget Sound, we wore far more smiles than tears.

On the way back home, she stopped by the Nordic Museum, where we took photos of Frankie Feetsplinters, the resident troll, then went inside to the snack bar and had a very good Ginger Beer (Reed’s Extra—look for it) and a cookie. Then back home for happy hour with the two across-the-street neighbors who were so good to Thomas and Sheryl and me. It was so pleasant, we sat on the patio! There are trolls all over the western part of the state. Or at least Puget Sound area. All made from reclaimed wood. All made by Thomas Dambo.

On Saturday, we were invited to a good friend’s houseboat on Lake Union, where we were feted with salmon grilled on a cedar plank. OMG! It was marvelous. cooked to perfection! We ate on the deck, watched the water traffic and had a marvelous visit. Thomas used to love going to the houseboat to visit and eat. We sat outside and after the other guests left, we watched the sunset, and dropped some more ashes into the lake, followed by a tequila toast to Thomas. Hope the fish appreciated that very good tequila! Sheryl found one of his poems, Water Remembers, one of the last ones he wrote, read it aloud, and then we left.

On Tuesday morning, I tried to post this blog, but as I discovered this morning, Word Press has gone in and changed things that weren’t broke and… Yes, Auntie Lenora got very frustrated, so she went to lunch with a good friend who used to live in the Tries, was forced to move to the Dark Side for personal reasons, and is looking at apartments to rent here, so she can move back. She thinks she found one, I hope so. It will be great to have another friend close by.

Got home from a great gab fest and then had some pooch time and a nap. Woke from the nap to an email that Finishing Line Press has accepted my chapbook, Saying Goodbye to Thomas. What a fantastical addition to the blog, eh? So, prepare yourself for updates. I do know one of the things they require are pre-sells, and when I find out more about it, I will be asking you all to buy a book. Or two or more. When I do ask, there are two things you should consider: 1. No, is an appropriate answer. (You won’t have to see me cry.) and 2. Remember, I am making no money off this book. All royalties will be divided in half, with half going to the ALS Association and the other half to End of Life Washington. Both of which brought a lot of help and succor to Thomas.

Pictures of the Week:
Sheryl walking through the tunnel to the Sound

A sloop, as seen through the tunnel. Thomas had a sloop. The mountains in the back are the Olympics. They used to be white all year. Amazing what a hoax can do, isn’t it?

Frankie Feetsplinters, Troll

Crossing Lake Washington on one of the floating bridges with Mt. Rainier in the background

Sunset on Lake Union, Seattle

from the desk of the not lonesome anymore dog:
my human came home. my human came home. she was gone like forever. i didn’t think she would ever come home, but she did. housemate dan said she would, but i wasn’t sure. it was so lonely, especially at night. it wasn’t warm, she wasn’t there. but she’s home now. see me do my happy dance.

Quote of the Week compliments of Good Housekeeping:

“Life is a song – sing it.
Life is a game – play it.
Life is a challenge – meet it.
Life is a dream – realize it.
Life is a sacrifice – offer it.
Life is love – enjoy.” ~ Sai Baba

I regret to inform you…

5 Replies

Weather in the Tries:
The highest day will be this coming weekend, in the mid 70s, the lowest is scheduled for tomorrow at 60. Most will be in the upper 60s. The nights will be down to a comfortable low 40s, with a couple in the high 30s. There will be no more three dog nights for a few months.

I regret to inform you…

It is with sadness I tell you, your dearly departed uncle has left you the entirety of his estate valued at xxxxxx amount of Dollars, Pounds Sterling, Won, Yen, Whatever. It has taken us some time to find you, as he left only your name and possible location as you’ve recently moved, and there are several people with your name, and we had to ascertain you are the correct recipient of his vast fortune in currency, jewels, and land. yadda, yadda, and more yadda.

Several years ago, my favorite Brother of Choice Dave, told me how to set my computer so the entire sender email is shown (se below). That has saved me no end of hassle and the possibility of embarrassing loss of funds 😉 And, yes, I have sent it on to Phishing@visa.com

This guy is so bad at this, I almost want to edit his letter and send it back. This is his whole letter:

Solomon Williams jeorgekennedy011@gmail.com

hello

To: undisclosed-recipients:;,

Reply-To: cbi.customerservices10@gmail.com

Attention,
I send you this message previously without hearing from you,
Today we received an appropriate letter from the treasury department of the
Executive Board of Directors to continue with the transfer of his
Fund deposited in our bank. We have established all
transfer documents behind your full amount.

1) Through a VISA CARD based on a personalized PIN with a
maximum withdrawal limit of ($10,000.00 USD) per day till
receive your full amount.

(CBI Customer Service)
[cbi.customerservices10@gmail.com]

Photos of the Week:
First up, a photo of my new bookcase. On the left, nonfiction—top shelf is Native American, in the middle are poetry books in the angled shelves, the top middle is my Morgue, in the right is my fiction. Someday I may have to swap location of fiction for poetry 😉 I buy very little hard copy fiction, but all my poetry is hard copy.

Remember my talking about the quilt for my Sister and Brother of Choice’s pet python? Well, as you and I both know, they don’t have a pet python—they have a furry, and claw-bearing cat who likes to sit on the top of their bed’s headboard to look out the window. Here is a shot of the “python quilt” in its new home. And it has been approved!

And here are their new place mats, with the center piece. I drew a circle around the center of the center sunflower in the center piece and used a pale yellow to radiate out from the circle and continue down into the mats. The radiating rays are a stretched out ‘S.’ I was going to use a nice bright yellow, but the backs, or other side, is a soft sage green, and the brighter yellows did not play well with the softer green. Photos of quilts by my SOC, Lee W.

from the desk of the brave dog;
the sun is coming out more and more every day. my human likes it almost as much as me. the days are warmer, and so are the nights. my human still has a heavy quilt on my bed, woof—our bed. but it won’t be long before she will put a summer quilt on it. and then just a sheet. oh, hot weather comes. bark, bark, bark… my human won’t want 2 more dogs to share my, woof, our bed.

Earworm of the week:
woke this morning (Sunday) with Ghost Riders in the Sky by Sons of the Pioneers. Talk about an earworm. And Roy Rogers was still with them at the time. I remember that song from when I was a step above being a toddler. My folks played it over and over. Was I dreaming of them? I don’t know, but my first conscious thought was “Yippee kai yay, yippee kai yo ghost riders in the sky.”

And a quote or two on this national day of poverty, courtesy of romper :

“Isn’t it appropriate that the month of the tax begins with April Fool’s Day and ends with cries of May Day?” — Robert Knauerhase
“Death, taxes, and childbirth! There’s never any convenient time for any of them.” ― Margaret Mitchell
“The income tax has made liars out of more Americans than golf.” ― Will Rogers

…and Life Keeps on Happening

2 Replies

Public Service Announcement:
…and Life Keeps on Happening: On February 6, 2024, I will be the featured reader at Cobalt Café, an online open mic for poets from anywhere in the world. Cobalt Café is every Tuesday night, 7.30 Pacific Time. If you want to read, you need to sign in at 7.15 Pacific Time. Go here to read more about the Cobalt Poets series and here to sign up to attend, whether or not you want to read. You will receive two emails a week from Rick Lupert, our host. One on Sunday and one on Tuesday, sending you the link. If you have subscribed to the Email list.

Weather in the Tries:
Wellllll… the Great They had promised us single digits this coming week, and maybe snow on the week end. Looks like the Great They had a slight change of heart. The nights are going to be down as low as 10F and starting Friday it won’t get above freezing until next Wednesday. Unless the Great They change their minds. Again. The fun part is, we might get snow on Saturday, and it will stick around for a day or two. Maybe.

…and Life Keeps on Bringing Goodness:
Backstory~ when our fiction critique group started, one of the gals was working on a story about a gal in nursing school. It was a fun story, but she had to depart the group to devote her time to her novel, not our writing. Understand that, I do! Anyhow, a week or so before Christmas, she emailed me and asked if I would like to be a Beta Reader. I said I would, but only after the holidays had come and gone. I think it was on Friday I received her ms. I was delighted to see it was the same story we’d critiqued the first few chapters of, and it was finished!

I figured I’d start it Sunday morning, read a few chapters, then go to a couple of my Sunday meetings, and get it finished by the next weekend. WRONG! Life (and a fascinating read) happened. I read it until time to leave for book group, and when we got back from discussing Devolution by Max Brooks, I got right back into the ms. I set the alarm so I could go to my afternoon poetry group, the alarm went off, I shut it off, and was going to read until the end of the chapter. WRONG! Life (and that pesky marvelous read) happened. A little after 10:00, I finished the ms and send it back to her. Like I told her in the email, I loved all her characters including the few we were meant to love to hate;-) I further told her that if I was 50-60 years younger, and a fictional character (there has been doubt on that off and on through my life) I woulda made a play for one of the characters in the story. 😉

I really hope she gets it published soon, because I think you just might enjoy owning and reading your very own copy.

All of that is to explain why Coffee Break Escapes wasn’t waiting in your mailbox this morning. Because I didn’t get it written yesterday.

Photo of the Week:
I don’t watch TV, I watch Computer, to be specific, I either pop movies into my player, watch them on YouTube or AppleTV, or just watch YouTube. Somehow, I got to watching a short piece by a quilter, who was extolling the virtues of Hardware/Lumber stores in relation to quilting. Housemate Dan and I went to Harbor Freight the other day and I bought two items for my quilting/sewing. One of them is a 6” metal bowl with a strong magnet on the bottom. It sits on my sewing machine base and holds my pins. They had a blue one and a yellow one, and some unpainted and smaller. But I liked the red. Quilter do love, and use, their toys.

The other item I bought was a plastic small-tool organizer. Remember the new sewing machine I bought? It has NO attached storage. My older machine has storage in the top part, and part of the base is storage, and it comes off so one can have a small sewing area, perfect for cuffs on sleeves, etc. New machine has NO storage, so I bought a Small Tool Storage box, plastic, with 24 little cubes inside with removable dividers, in which to store my extra feet. Uh, sewing machine feet.

From the Paws of the Brave Dog:
I’m off to a good start on keeping my resolution. Naps are good. Especially when I can make a nest out of my human’s sweater! There’s some sort of horrible doggie disease going around, and my human took me to the Vet the other day, and I got vaxxed. My human doesn’t want me sick, and if a bit of an upset tummy and extra naps will keep me from getting really, really sick, I’ll take the vax. So, I got extra naps in for a couple of days. And I won’t get that new disease.

Quote of the Week:
“Argue for your limitations, and sure enough, they’re yours.” ~ Richard Bach, Illusions

Some Happy News with Which I Begin 2024

1 Reply

May your 2024
Be the Best 2024
You’ve ever had!!

Weather in the Tries:
The coming week will be low 30s at night and low 40s for highs during the days with a tad bit of sun on Thursday and a slight chance of rain on Saturday.

Some Happy News with Which I Begin 2024:
Yeah, I know, I wasn’t going to write and post a new one until next week. But I had such a wonderful phone call the other day, I just had to share. My publisher and Good Friend called to tell me I’d sold 91 copies of Madame Dorian! Thirty were bought on one day!

Good news indeed, but also slightly puzzling. Oh, I’m not complaining, I’m just curious—why the sudden interest? Did a school buy them? Libraries? We have no idea, but Boy Howdy! are we celebrating!!

I’m truly grateful, but I wish I knew why, so I could maybe replicate it;-)

Update on Family Celebration:
Favorite Grandson has a job he enjoys, and he spent the Holidays filling in for people who wanted the time off. He’s taking his time off the end of January, to cover his birthday. That’s when my Favorite Family and I will have our get together and celebration.

Goodbye and Hello:
I am writing this on the last day of 2023, you will receive it on the first day of 2024. I have no idea when you’ll actually read it;-)

I am attending a New Year’s Eve Party tonight. The first one I’ve attended in so many years I’ve forgotten how long it’s been. Someone finally got an idea for said party I can go along with. We can come, drink how much we want and not have to worry about driving home with a road filled with (potential) drunks–including us. We’re having our party on Zoom!! It should be a lot of fun! Now, do I want wine or tequila? I have all day to reach a decision.

And the good news doesn’t stop!
On February 6, 2024, I will be the featured reader at Cobalt Café, an online open mic for poets from anywhere in the world. Cobalt Café is every Tuesday night, 7.30 Pacific Time. If you want to read, you need to sign in at 7.15 Pacific Time. Go here to read more about the Cobalt Poets series and here to sign up to attend, whether or not you want to read. You will receive two emails a week from Rick Lupert, our host. One on Sunday and one on Tuesday, sending you the link. If you have subscribed to the Email list.

Photo of the Week:
Took this a couple years ago. Not sure if it was windy, or my telephoto wobbled, but it’s slightly out of focus, and l think it looks like a painting. It’s a juvenile Great Blue Heron.

From the Paws of the Big Chihuahua:
My human says it’s time to make a New Year’s Resolution. Whatever that is. She explained that people decide to improve their lives, and make a resolution, a promise to themselves, to do whatever to improve. How can I possibly improve me? I mean, I’m the Big Chihuahua! The Brave Dog! Oh, wait, I know. I hereby resolve to take more naps and get my human to join me!!!

Quote from Jimmy Carter (via Robin Givan and NYT):
“Hospice care is not a matter of giving up. It’s a decision to shift our efforts from shoring up a body on the verge of the end to providing solace to a soul that’s on the cusp of forever.”

I’m Home Again, Home Again

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Weather in the Tries:
Lots of wind today, which means the Zombie Leaves will be out to attack the Brave Dog. Will he show them he’s no longer afraid, that he is, after all, the Big Chihuahua??? We shall see. This week will mostly be in the 50s with lows in the high 30s/ low 40s. With perchance a shower or two now and then. Mostly then, according to my phone.

I’m Home Again, Home Again:
Had a great visit with my Sister & Brother of Choice (SOC & BOC) Lee and Dave at their beautiful house in South Seattle. We went out to eat a couple of times, once to a Portuguese restaurant, Ciudad, that was to die for. We had grilled octopus, grilled chicken, and I should have written everything down, because it was to die for. Especially the octopus! The mural is delightful. If you’re in Seattle, or planning a trip, you might want to check Ciudad out!

On Sunday, we went to Jude’s, a neighborhood bar and restaurant, for eats n drinks. The guys who own it are master mixers of great cocktails. Lee & Dave had something truly liked, and I went for a Smokey Salve that could easily become habit forming. Rye, mesquite bourbon, crème de cacao, ginger, & bitters. Oh, yeah, so glad Jude’s is not in my neighborhood. Oh yes, I could develop a habit for that.

The specialize in Cajun cooking, and I had their Grits Plate. Made me homesick for the deep south. Their menu all looked good, it was difficult to choose. Everything I looked at looked better than the one before. The blackened catfish was to die for. So, yes, you must go to Jude’s, too.

Watched the first episode of Foundation. If you read the 4-book trilogy by The Good Doctor (Asimov), the series is based on the books. I read them so many years ago, I can’t remember that much about them to know how close/far the tv show is from the books, but I was hooked, for sure. Now Housemate Dan and I can watch.

We got caught up on gossip, and I left on Monday. I arrived on Thursday pm, left Monday am, so the 3-day rule of company wasn’t too badly stretched. And, on Friday, they drove me to, and fetched me later, my last class of:

Doula Training:
The last class, was a two-parter. We learned how to wash a corpse and shroud a corpse. Sinch we were doing this in a home, we used real live corpses, and the class was divided into two groups. One washed, one shrouded, then we ate and reversed so we all got to see everything. Yes, we did have real live corpses. They were delightful young men, who volunteered, and played dead. Until we got them to laugh. Indeed, their resurrection was a miracle.

In between the first class and the second, when we all traded, we had a feast of a supper. The two corpses joined us to eat. It was fun meeting them, and those of the class who could come. A lot of our cohort is located on the east coast, or otherwise just too far away to come.

I am signed up for the A Sacred Passing class on Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD). Then I will take the class from End of Life Washington (Death With Dignity) if it’s different. I will need to shadow another doula a few times, which may be a tad fun this winter, as I will be the only one in the Tri-Cities. I’m hoping there is someone no farther than Spokane. That’s a trip I can make in the winter. But getting across the Snoqualmie Pass may be dicey. I had to drive from Seattle to Portland to Kennewick one time. It was not a particularly fun drive at double the distance, double the time.

I need to get all my forms filled out, both to know how, and to have them available for when (if?) needed for my death. If you live in Washington State, I strongly urge you to check out End of Live Washington, and go to their Wonderfile, read and download the forms and instructions you need. If you live in another state, I suggest you find the equivalent in your state. There are even forms you can fill out now, leaving instructions for what happens if you develop dementia, if you are in a same sex relationship your bio family doesn’t like, but you do. Some need to be notarized, many do not. Then, every year, on your birthday, go over them, and make any necessary changes. As End of Life Washington says, “Plan now, die later, do a lot of living in between!

From the Paws of the Brave Dog:
My human came home yesterday and the first thing she did, well, almost the first thing, was to come to the bed and snuggle me for a really long time. It’s so hard to snuggle her when she isn’t here. Housemate Dan is good, but he doesn’t snuggle like she does. She didn’t even read her books or anything. She just snuggled. Oh, happy day, happy day. My human came come. My human is home and I happy danced all the way to the bed. Did you see me happy dance?

Duck, Death and the Tulip:
This is a delightful book about a duck who meets Death, and the friendship that develops. It’s a children’s book, that I bought after seeing the video in one of our classes. The words and drawings are from the pen of Wolf Erlbruch, a German writer and illustrator. It is a marvelous story about a duck who sees Death following him and they become friends, until Duck dies. There is no religious theme to the story. Or the death of Duck. The only think I would have liked to see is one more comma in the title, so it reads Duck, Death, and the Tulip. But the Oxford comma is not in high favor at the moment.

Weather and…

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So I thought I’d forgotten to shift the PM to AM when I scheduled the publication of todays exciting adventure. Nope. The computer nicely says it missed the publication, but doesn’t tell me why. Grrrrrrrrr

Weather in the Tries: Wowsa!! A whole week coming up with no triple digit days in sight! Alas, a week of 90+ but they ain’t gonna be triple digit days!!! We takes our cool where we can find it, yes?

For you folks in Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, &c, you have my most sincere sympathies. Maybe get the whitest white paint made and paint your homes? It might help. Use color in the trim if you need color.

Read the other day where if we were able to stop Climate Change now, we will not cool down in our lifetimes or anytime soon, but we can stop the heat climb. If we want to. In other words, if we stop it right now, this is gonna be as good as it gets. And if we don’t stop it, it’s just gonna get hotter. That’s the crux of the problem, eh? We don’t really want to. We want others to do it, but don’t want to take responsibility ourselves because we’re too good, too rich, too obnoxious?! The countries who contribute the least to the Change, suffer the most. Island nations in Southeast are already under water. Bangladesh, is learning how to grow food on floating gardens. Countries with low-lying coastal areas are already losing ground. When I lived in Florida, my house was built on top of a hill with a 27-foot elevation. I think I’d have been okay as long as I had a boat and could out-paddle the resident ‘gators.

And the higher the temps, the smaller the food crops and production. Coral is already bleaching in Florida, when the coral dies, the reef will die, the fish will migrate toward more habitable waters. Sharks will follow, and when they can’t find enough fish, they’ll go for people. ‘Gators will go for dogs, cats, people, whatever they can catch, kill, and eat. And don’t get me started on my beloved salmon and bears!

And check out this magazine. Hakai. It’s free.

It’s kind of nice having a housemate who is a progressive. Slowly, we are cutting down on our use of plastics. I am back to using bar soap, and bar shampoo, and when my conditioner is gone, I’ll use bar conditioner. I wish someone would come up with a solid dish soap. Wait, what did I say? I asked the Duck(DuckGo) and I’ll be hornswaggled, The Earthling Co., has a solid dish soap. Non-toxic ingredients.

Housemate is much better than I in one aspect, he buys ALL his books as electronic ones. I’m still on my paper books for nonfiction and poetry, and if the electronic version of fiction is more than $4.99, I’ll buy a used paper copy for less. I think Amazon &c should be honest, we are only renting books from them, not actually buying the electronic ones. We can’t loan them to friends, although some we can loan ONCE to one person. We can’t give them to our children when we die, unless they want to keep our accounts open. A lot of people check electronic books out from their libraries, but publishers are fighting that, too. They are cutting down on the affordable number of licenses libraries can buy.

Are the authors getting higher royalties when their books are electronic? No. Does it cost the publisher more money? No. In fact, they get more, because once the book is formatted, it’s done. It’s uploaded and forgotten, except the spreadsheet that comes however often from the seller. And they go bwahahahahaha all the way to the bank.

Also, trees are a renewable resource. In fact, we have some planted “forests” (orchards?) not too far from us where some kind of trees are planted and harvested by machine. I believe they are trees for paper. And I think it takes 4 years from plant the trees to harvest. Still, I try to use less paper. I’m afraid I’m failing. I also really like the feel and smell of books. Those tries might be for fence posts with the leftovers going to paper. It’s all used, somehow.

I watched the ducks the other day, when it was really, really hot (triple digit hot) and kinda wished I was a duck, and could go swimming and dabbling in the pond, and then I remembered what all is in that pond and decided a cool shower would make a whole lotta more better sense

So, DuhSantis is strangling the educational system in Florida, Abbot in Texas, and probably all the southern red states will follow suit, as well as a few of the northern ones. What will happen to the kids? Will they have to go to Prager U or Tammy Fey U in order to get a college education? I mean, seriously, do you think Hahvahd will take any of those kids? Or any of the other ivy league schools? And when they graduate and go hunting for jobs??? And those grand old southern schools of higher learning? What’s going to happen to them when-out-of-staters no longer want to apply? Sure, The Crimson Tide is a great football school, and so far a pretty good U. Will Southern Universities start giving local boys from the South preferred acceptance? Will that affect their good standing? Their income? Will they ever recover?

If you have any children in Florida or anywhere else where books are being censored, please, mail them some age-appropriate real books. Or send them an eReader and buy them some real books. Consider
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexei,
We Had Our Reasons–Poems by Ricardo Ruiz and Other Hard-Working Mexicans from Eastern Washington,
Wizard of the Pigeons a novel by Meghan Lindholm, and
Caste: the Origins of Our Discontent by Isabel Wilkerson.
Read these books first, so you can discuss them with your far away child. Don’t forget books by Toni Morrison, Octavia Butler, James Baldwin, Dee Brown, Vine Deloria, N. Scott Momaday, Leslie Marmon Silko, Kathleen Alcala, Isabel Allende, and so many others. Give them a well-rounded reading.

I have left LGBTQ+ category of books off, because I haven’t read that many—and that’s not to say there aren’t Two-Spirit authors mentioned above. I don’t know, nor do I care. I’ve read some LGBTQ+ books, and thoroughly enjoyed them. The best I’ve read lately is This Way Out by Tufayel Ahmed. I laughed, I cried, and I recommended it to all my friends, especially those in the LGBTQ+ community. It’s a great book to show that odd as it seems, they’re just people, too. Oh, yeah, I cheered by the time I got to the end.

If my book suggestions don’t tickle your interest, check with your local librarians, they are the keepers of all knowledge 😉 And they love nothing more than to share that knowledge with readers.

Okay, your assignment, should you choose to accept, is to see that short people you know in book-censored states have access to good books to give them a more or less well-rounded look at the world in which they will live. This blog will not self-destruct in five seconds.

Sammy doesn’t understand the last paragraph. What can I say? He’s a dog. But he’s much happier with new, lower temperatures. It’s still too warm for him to snuggle all night long, but I often feel a little paw touching me somewhere. He sends pupkisses. As long as they come a while after he’s eaten, they are pretty nice to get. We all wish you a fantastical week!

Speaking of books, I have two more reviews posted at Rainy Day Reads.

There are two kinds of people

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Weather in the Tries:

Whoa, Doat! It looks like Friday was (note that, past tense) our last hot day for a while, maybe even until next summer. This week looks mostly sunny with temps from 81 to 93, with most in the 80s someplace. It’s nice to not just think about cooler weather, but for a while to enjoy it. Until it gets super cold this winter. Actually, I don’t mind the cold either, if I can dress for it, and the dog can go out in it, but that time isn’t here. Yet.

There Are Two Kinds of People

Okay, there are probably several kinds of people, but I believe most people will fit into one or the other category. 1. The LOVE talking to computers and playing games with AI. Many don’t want the personal touch of a human, they want to get in, get out, get back to what they were doing. Or, 2. They hate talking with computers, they want a person who can understand them, hold their had (virtually, if necessary) and take care of business with a smile in their voice, and a nice goodbye well-wish. I’m in the latter category. I hate having to push buttons for this, for that, for anything. When I call a business, I want to hear something like, “Please listen to the following menu as we’ve made a few changes. If you’d like to talk to a living, breathing human, press 1; if you’d like a computer who doesn’t give a frap about you or your piddling problem, press 2.

I hate it when I say I want a representative and the AI says, “Before I connect you, please tell me a little bit about what you want.” So I, being the dumb person I am, say, I need a pin number. “Oh, I can help you. Do you want to cancel your account? Press 1. Do you want to cancel someone else’s account? Press 2. Would you really like to unplug me? Press 3.”

I suppose, another way of saying there are two kinds of people is to say there are old farts and fartesses, and young farts and fartesses. Those of us who grew up when telephone operators were there to help like real people. Those who grew up taking computer classes in the second grade, want to talk to AI.

Then, if you’re a fan of AI, may I recommend a book? I read it 25 or 30 years ago, and am sure I’ve forgotten a lot of it, but I remembered enough that I went looking for it and have a new (used) copy to reread again. Lady El a science fiction novel by Jim Starlin and Diana Graziunas. I had just about given up on the book as the beginning was pretty rough—not the writing, the story line where a little girl (black) was the smartest in her class and was on her way to college in a few years and then her stepdad pimped her out. Uh, no. I don’t need that kind of a story, but I gave it another chapter and BAM!! All that was back story that was necessary, but that wasn’t made clear. Anyhow, she escaped, made her way to NYC, worked at menial jobs, but never THAT job, and spent her spare time in the libraries reading (my kind of gal). When she got her ID card, she signed up to be an organ doner. Yeah, you guessed it, she was shoved between the subway and wall, and was crushed to death. Ewwww. BUT the military was looking for ten good brains, from heads that weren’t damaged.

When she came to she found herself in a computer. The other nine either didn’t survive, or couldn’t handle the new them. But Lady El, she was on an adventure. She could visit any and all libraries in the world. She could read and comprehend books in mere seconds instead of hours. She could get even with her stepfather (stand up and cheer!!), she could go anywhere, and do just about anything. Yep, her death was the beginning of a new and best life ever! The best one she could have ever imagined. If you want a fun book, hit your favorite used bookstore and get Lady El, by Jim Starlin and Diana Graziunas.

Photos of the Week:

I may have put this enthusiastic dabbler in before, but I just love him and his kicking. All the other ducks are much more couth. But this little guy is having FUN!

One of the dragonflies. Alas, they are mostly gone now.

Books: Remember, if I finish a book, I review and post it to http://lenoragood.blogspot.com

I not only finished the four Golgotha books that are out (two more are coming—eventually) I ordered his other two series!

I did buy and read a new chapbook. It’s a small book with about 22 pages, 20 poems in Spanish and English, written by young men between 13-17 years of age who were, at the time of the writing, unaccompanied minors waiting in the Selma Carson Home in Pierce County WA to find out if they could stay or would be shipped back to their home country. Really, they were boys, but their poetry says they are old for their years. My review is at http://lenoragood.blogspot.com. The book is $12.00 including shipping & handling. Buy the book at https://www.collateraljournal.com/community. You’ll be glad you did. These young men have found the beauty in life, the book is full of hope. I hope they all got to stay. We need people like them.

Earworms:

3 hours of Spanish Guitar. Great background music while you rest, read, work.

Quotes from Andres Segovia:

“It is not so hard to be original, what is hard, is to be original with continuity.”

“A man without patience is a lamp without oil.”

“The guitar is the easiest instrument to play and the hardest to play well.”

And there you have…the week past, the week future, and I hope an interesting read. Be well, laugh often, and love one another.

Coffee Break Escapes with Auntie Lenora

Short readings for short times