Archive for March, 2009
This is not just a plug for the Michigan State Spartans in March Madness. This is a plug for spring cleaning and saving a few trees. And a few books.
I’ve been going through my closets, shelves, and drawers, organizing things and getting rid of stuff I no longer wear, read, or use. (I must say, I really impressed myself with what I’ve done with my bedroom closet.) Then this article caught my eye: http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/story?id=7130147&page=1 The headline is: Learning to ‘Green’ Your Books; Forget the Trash, Give Your Old Books a Second Chance. I did a double-take. Did this writer just suggest some people throw away books?!
If you remember my very first post here last year, I had trouble parting with a favorite book that lost a few pages. Even though I bought a new copy, I still have the original book, still unable to relegate it to garbage.
I can’t believe anyone would toss a book. Especially at these prices. I have never thrown out a book. I’ve given them to friends, sold them at garage sales, donated them to library used book sales and the Salvation Army, and even left one in the Dayton hotel’s guest library. But throw them in the trash?
Are they nuts? Or maybe it’s me.
How’s your spring cleaning coming along?
March 29th, 2009
We’ve broke the 100 comment mark. Wapak isn’t due up for another three hours according to my clock, and then she has 24 hours after that when it’s still Thursday, add to that CHOIR and who knows if she will ever be heard from again.
So, I’m taking the opportunity to ask a question- I need some new audio books. Are there authors you like that translate well to audio books? Are there authors to avoid? Likewise with readers, who are some of the people you like and some you don’t like?
March 25th, 2009
Good morning everyone. I have nothing profound in my brain at the moment, so I’m going to tell you the saga of my found puppy.
Last Wednesday evening, I was walking in my neighborhood with my two Rat Terriers when I saw a small black object about two or three blocks away running (in the street). When I got to the place where I had seen this small, black runner, I saw it again. It turned out to be a small black and white dog obviously lost. It wouldn’t come to me or follow me because of my dogs who were larger than it (almost anything would be) and agressively interested.
So I walk back to my house, deposit my dogs, climb into my truck to go to the grocery store and to look for the dog. I didn’t see it, but when I pulled into a side driveway to go to the store, there it was running from the park next to the store. I stopped the truck, got out, and called it. It came right to me. My initial thought was that it didn’t seem as big as the one I had seen in my neighborhood, but that thought soon passed.
She did not have a collar or any other means of identification. Adorable was the first thought that crossed my mind. She stayed the truck while I went to the store and rode back home as well-behaved as could be. As you know, I named her Gypsy. She’s very well-behaved in the house and has had only one accident. Bowie is now trying to play with her, but he’s bigger and a bit rough so it’s not going as well as he would like but Gypsy is holding her own.
I put up Found notices that night in and near the store plus in my neighborhood. No one has yet contacted me*. I put an ad in the local paper, but it won’t appear until next Wednesday (the paper is twice a week). So I’ve been checking the classifieds in the Sacramento paper and came across an ad this Sunday morning stating that a small black and white male dog had been found in the same vicinity as I found Gypsy. I called the number and talked to a gentleman with the appropriate name of Angel. He stated that Wednesday night, his wife had been driving home when she saw this small black and white dog run across a busy street (the one the grocery store is on). She stopped and called the dog, and it ran right to her truck and jumped in. He said that the dog had a leash and collar but no tags. He and his wife have put up Found notices where they found him (which was about an eight of a mile from where I found Gypsy) and have placed ads in the paper. He also said that the male was well-behaved.
So it appears that there were two dogs that were lost, and they got separated from each other. (I wonder if the first dog I saw was the male?) From the description, I would assume that they were litter mates. Angel said that he and his wife have three Pomeranians and probably won’t keep the male but will find him a good home if no one calls (they already have a candidate). I, on the other hand, am leaning towards keeping her if no one calls. The last thing I need is another dog, but she’s soooo cute and such a good little dog that. . . .
March 22nd, 2009
There are people in this world that you don’t see daily but who have an impact on how it runs. These are background people. They have a purpose in life, in an organization, in a moment and they work to fulfill that purpose. They don’t expect a parade to be thrown or a newspaper article to be written and would die of embarrassment if something like that happened. I’m not one of these people. I don’t want a parade, but I do want my gold star.
The reason these people are in my mind is because of the really really really yummy peanut butter cookies and monster cookies I ate last night at play practice. Doris made them. Doris makes cookies for all of the practices of the drama team at church. Even when we have two a week like we’re doing now. She started making goodies for us when her granddaughter was in the plays and she was her ride. The granddaughter got to junior high and was too cool to be in the plays anymore, Doris stopped coming to practice, and we are still getting cookies. Every week she makes dozens of cookies, pops them in her gallon zip top bag, and delivers them to the church. And every week we eat them.
We include her in the programs under technical support as Cookie Lady but that’s not why she does it. I’m not sure why she does it. I’m not sure why people like this do what they do. We have some of those people in our midst at the Bar and Grill, and you probably have some of those people in other parts of your world. Take the time to tell them thank you and to let them know they are appreciated. For me, I’m taking a few bags of sugar and some chocolate chips to church and putting a note on them for Doris. Hey, maybe I can learn to be one of those people.
March 18th, 2009
CC isn’t on until tomorrow, and we are over 100 comments, so I thought I’d through this up for us to gaze at.
Pretty, isn’t it? Would you believe that this is a photo taken at a botanical garden here in Scotland? Yes, here’s your random trivia for the day. There are palm trees growing in Scotland.
March 17th, 2009
Nothing much, just that we’ve gone past the 100 comment line and no one’s scheduled for another few days.
If someone who has something to say actually wants to say it that would be great. If not, you’re stuck with my rambles.
I’m off to work on the office some more- it’s really more of a workroom with a desk, two large countertops, a vent hood, a sink, and lots of floor. Unfortunately not lots of storage.
March 12th, 2009
I’m really perverse.
In the days following Katrina, when one of my friends was still missing, I picked up JoAnn Ross’s Magnolia Moon in which a hurricane plays a significant role. I did the same thing again this week with her High Risk series which features soldiers who’ve just returned home from Afghanistan, none of them whole.
I take a lot of comfort from her books. She writes characters that resonate with me*, obviously. I know they’ll overcome whatever horrible things she throws at them, save the world and find love.
It’s been rough over here at the Bar and Grill for many folk lately. I was lying in bed last night, unable to sleep as I thought of all the things we do to comfort ourselves. And I know this is a group that dives into a book every chance they can get. Or chocolate.
Chocolate is my main comfort food. I ate it even when I was sick this week. Not a lot but enough to soothe my battered soul. I stretched out on the couch and let the cat’s purrs send healing ultrasound through my belly. I scratched Ky’s ears a lot. I’m very tactile and surround myself with textures.
I listened to Some gave alland watched I want you to live which was filmed at Canadian Forces Base Trenton. Strange comfort indeed.
It’s important to use all the senses, remind ourselves of our connection to this world so that we can find our way out of the fog of grief. When we’re ready.
And of course, there are the CBs. Chatting. Listening. Hugging. Whipping up hot chocolate, chili, guacamole, margaritas. Whatever we need.
Thank you.
Now what can I do to offer you comfort?
March 10th, 2009
Tonight we set our clocks ahead one hour. Tomorrow YOU WILL CHANGE THE BATTERIES IN YOUR SMOKE DETECTORS.
We now return you to your regularly scheduled blog post.
You might have seen a variation on this making the internet rounds before. I think it was maybe four or five years ago when I first saw it. The idea was to ask people to name five famous people they would most like to meet at a party. At the time I thought it was intriguing because it made me think. And now that a few years have passed, I realize that the names I’d come up with today would be a little different. But famous doesn’t necessarily mean interesting (Sometimes the famous are the least interesting. Um, so what are they famous for?) And anyway, if I get to choose the five people I want to sit down to dinner with, why limit myself to reality? So much better to thumb through the pages of fiction and assemble my guest list from a much more entertaining group. Here’s my list, which is subject to change almost hourly as I think of yet another very cool fictional character:
- The Dowager Duchess from Dorothy Sayers’ Lord Peter mysteries. Of all the books in the series, my favorite passage is the letters to and from the DD at the beginning of Busman’s Honeymoon. She’s a much sharper cookie than she appears at first glance.
- Brother Cadfael from the Ellis Peter’s series. I’d love to spend some time talking with him. But not in the 12th century. He’ll have to come to me.
- Moist von Lipwig from Terry Pratchett’s Going Postal and Making Money. I really think he and Brother Cadfael would hit it off.
- Archie Goodwin from Rex Stout’s Nero Wolfe mysteries. Because the Yanks need representing, too, and it would be interesting to pit him against Moist in the wise-cracking department.
- Laurie R. King’s Mary Russell character. That will even the numbers up, and I think both the Duchess and Brother Cadfael would like her.
And, of course, all of you are invited, provided I can come to your party, too. What would your guest list look like?
March 7th, 2009
Back in January, I was hunting around for a 5k race to run this spring, and there were none to be found in my neck of Scotland. But I really, really wanted to find a race to run in, so I started looking farther afield, and stumbled across the St. David’s Day 5k and 10k races in Cardiff, Wales. Hmmmm…Wales…I’d never been to Wales. A quick email to Xenia and she was all for the idea of a weekend in Cardiff, including the race. And so Theresa and Xenia’s Excellent Wales Adventure was on the calendar!
Friday, I caught the 2pm train down to London, and after a short ride on the Underground from Kings Cross to Paddington station and then a bit longer of a wait, I was on the train to Cardiff!
Once in Cardiff, I gave Xenia a call to let her know I’d arrived. It was about 10:30pm. It’s a LONG train ride from Edinburgh to Cardiff, but I blatantly ignored the opportunity to do work and instead spent the time reading Kushiel’s Dart, 
which is a LONG book. (I’d been working on it for a while, and finally finished it on the train ride back. A good, but EPIC story.) Xenia had a much shorter train ride, and had arrived earlier in the evening.
I initially started to walk to the B&B where we were staying (Beaufort Guesthouse, I would recommend it), but shortly realized that this was a stupid thing to do at this time of night in a strange city and caught a cab. And so, I arrived in Cardiff at the B&B after an uneventful day of traveling and a productive day of reading. Xenia didn’t want to come down to open the door for me — something about already being in her pajamas — but luckily, someone did come when I rang the front bell.
Saturday morning, after a yummy breakfast in a fancy, fancy dining room, Xenia and I were off to collect our rental car. 
The plan was that Xenia would drive and I would navigate. Unfortunately, navigation relies on other things than being able to read a map, namely adequate signage and maps that do not look like this. 
It also helps if all the roads are not mixtures of the letters A and B and numbers. In the end, it took us about an hour, and I swear we went around the same round-a-bout three times, but we did eventually make it out of Cardiff and on to our first destination: Caerleon!
Caerleon was the site of a Roman Legionary Fortress. It is also believed by some to be the location of King Arthur’s Camelot. Sadly, there were no legionares or knights left roaming around, only the remains of a Roman bath, soldier barracks, and a Roman amphitheatre. Admittedly, these were pretty cool. If ever given the chance, I do recommend seeing historical Roman sites with Xenia. Being an archeologist of Roman stuff, it’s like having your own personal tour guide!
After exploring the amphitheatre (to the soundtrack of some seriously disturbed cows from the farm right next door) it was off to our next sight: Raglan Castle!
Raglan Castle was just amazing! It’s in ruins, but there is enough there to get a feel for what it must have been like once upon a time. The atmosphere sparked a sense of romance and adventure, and Xenia and I spent maybe a couple hours exploring.
After Raglan Castle, our plan was to find something to eat in Monmouth (which I still can’t say properly, for some reason). And while there were plenty of places to eat in Monmouth, there was a dearth of places to park, so we decided to continue on to Tintern Abbey, and munch on our provisions once there. (I always travel with food.)
Like Raglan, Tintern Abbey is in ruins now, but still an amazing sight. Whereas Raglan Castle sparked feelings of romance and adventure, Tintern Abbey evoked feelings of tranquility and reverence. I could have just sat and soaked up the quiet there for hours I think. What it must have been like way back when!
By now it was about 3:30 in the afternoon, and we had seen our fill. Xenia and I were both ready to head back to Cardiff. It was an uneventful drive back with no episodes of misdirection (yay!). We dropped off the car, then droped off our stuff, and went in search of an early dinner. This involved passing by Cardiff Castle, 
which was protected by many fierce beasts, 
as well as a few not so fierce beasts. 
Walking back after dinner, Xenia was tempted to hurdle the baracades and make a dash for the still open doors to the castle, but we worried about the time it would take to transfer the bail money to pounds sterling.
Sunday was race day! With the 5k race not starting until 10:30, it was a leisurely morning. It turned out to be an almost perfect day for a race, with temperatures around 50 F. The race was held in Bute Park, which is basically the grounds of Cardiff Castle.
I ran the race in 37:12 minutes, according to my watch, which I was quite pleased with. (You can read Xenia’s race report here. I still need to write mine.) After the 5k race,
I hurried back to the B&B for a quick shower. (I asked for a late checkout, because an 8+ hour train ride back to Edinburgh without a shower, eeeew. No time to fix my hair though, so had weird curls going on for the rest of the day.) Xenia stayed so that she could run the 10k race as well. Go Xenia!
After a quick trip back to the B&B to get our stuff, it was time to head in the general direction of the train station, via Bute Park, and a quick stop for lunch. Unfortunately, our walk to the train station was a bit too leisurely, and we ended up having to sprint at the end to catch our train! (Not fair, we’d already done our running that day!)
There was one worrying train delay on the way from Cardiff to London, but thankfully I’d left enough leeway in the schedule that I was still able to make my London train back to Edinburgh. Xenia had switched trains at Didcot Parkway, and was home before dinner. For me, it was a late night, and I wasn’t pleased by the delay when a couple of taxi drivers started arguing and nearly came to fisticuffs. (Ok, maybe a slight exaggeration, but I’ve always wanted to use that word.) Eventually, around midnight, I finally got home.
And that’s the end of our Wales adventure. It was a terrific weekend and great to see Xenia again!!
March 5th, 2009
I was about to read an Ellis Peter’s novel. (Thanks to McB and RSS for recommending her.) As usual I couldn’t remember the title. Was it The Rose Rent or The Rent Rose? Then I started imagining what either title’s story could be.
Ms. Peter’s wrote The Rose Rent. So let’s write The Rent Rose. Maybe several.
March 1st, 2009
