We’ve been recommending books and authors all along. Shall we give it a concerted effort and consolidate our recommendations to each other here? Well, at least for the first twenty or so posts.
I’m rereading Dorothy Dunnett’s Niccolo series of 8. Takes place in the mid 1400s all over Europe, especially Scotland, Italy, and France. Start with Niccolo Rising. ADVENTURE and INTRIGUES.
I’ve just reread Judith Ivory’s Angel in a Red Dress. Anything Ivory writes is great. She wrote 2 as Judy Cuevas, Bliss and Dance, the only ones that are a series, but don’t have to be read that way. And hard to find. ROMANCES, early 1900s, Regency, etc.
What do you recommend?
Post Category: Books
January 4th, 2009 at 06:26pmGatorPerson
Just an interim post.
The year is nearly over. I don’t believe in resolutions much, but it’s as good a time as any for taking stock. If you could start the year with a truly clean slate, what would you do different?
Post Category: Uncategorized
December 28th, 2008 at 11:19amMcB
This is the time of year for family and friends. This is the time for traditions. Traditions passed on through the years, same as always, or tweaked just a little due to distance, family additions, or loss. Tweaked they may be, but they still somehow remain the same. And we look forward to them every year.
My family’s Christmas traditions are sometimes shortened or moved to different days because of far-flung relatives, if you can call Chicago far-flung from metro Detroit. (As often as my brother comes home, you’d think he was walking from China). We used to open gifts on Christmas morning, but sometimes now we open gifts on Christmas Eve, depending on when my brother has to make his long, arduous trek home. But everything else remains the same. For Christmas Eve dinner, Mom makes gooey, cheesy lasagna and an antipatso plate filled with cheese, salami, olives, jardinere, tuna, and eggs that I look forward to all year long. Then there’s seven-layer Jell-o (my brother gets very upset if there is no seven-layer Jell-o) and cookies, lots and lots of homemade cookies.
Later that evening, Mom makes us all go to Midnight Mass (at 10:30; no, I don’t get it either). This is the only time of year she is able to get us to go with her. Based on the crowds, this is the only time of year that any mother is able get her family to go to church. Then we go home and eat a snack, probably cookies, before we go to bed. I spend the night, even though I live less than 15 miles away.
In the morning, it has become a new tradition to go out to breakfast at the local diner that has omelets as big as your head. Then we go home and play with our presents, read our new books, or, if you’re Dad, fall asleep on the couch. Maybe later we’ll go see a movie. Then dinner. Possibly a glazed ham, along with any leftovers from the night before. And more cookies. As evening comes, my brother (if he hasn’t left already) and I pack up to head home. We are sent off with leftovers, which hopefully include cookies.
And so begins the long wait for next year’s traditions.
May you and yours have a safe and happy holiday, however you celebrate it. Happy Hanukkah, Merry Christmas, Happy Winter Solstice.
Post Category: Uncategorized
December 21st, 2008 at 10:36amme
I know a few of you aren’t craftily inclined, but this is about more than crafts, it’s about kids exploring and learning.
Bryn is my mini-me and her mother is craft challenged so when she wanted a craft sleepover for her 12th birthday I got drafted offered to help. We decorated cupcakes and picture frames and did Shrinky Dinks and painted little plaster of paris critters and decorated pillowcases and made Sculpey erasers and they stayed up late and had fun. But as much fun as they had I think Mom and I had more. Here were four girls, three of whom had never met, from fourth to seventh grades, having fun creating, sharing, and problem solving. It was a joy. I know that is a phrase that get tossed around a lot, but it was truly a joy to watch the wheels turn and the smoke come out of their ears.
My Girl Scouts are in seventh grade this year. Through the years we have really pushed the concept of doing for others, especially at the holidays, and have a tradition of making a family gift each year. When they were in kindergarten we made homemade hot cocoa mix. They helped mix and pour and then they decorated the containers. This year, as much as I was hoping for something that easy, they have determined we need to make reusable grocery bags. So we are. The local screen printer donated a large stack of oopsies to us and we are turning them into bags. Every family should end up with five when we’re done. The part of this i’m most proud of is they decided this is what they wanted to do. True, they left the how to do it to me, but they came up with the bones for the project.
Last year after the Christmas play I had three young ladies over for a craft afternoon. We did Shrinky Dinks and made ornaments from cinnamon dough and drank hot chocolate and ate cookies. When all three girls were talking about it at play practice this year I decided we needed to do it again. So the Sunday after Christmas I am having them over to craft. We’re going to make bookmarks and decorate a straw or a glass for their New Year’s celebration and do another project or two and we’ll drink hot chocolate and eat cookies and probably giggle.
I know not everyone grows up to be crafty, but I am convinced putting a pile of paper, markers, and ribbons in front of a kid and saying, “Make me something” is a good foundation for a creative life. The odds are none of these girls will be the next Martha Stewart, but when faced with a problem that needs solved the paths in their brains that turn parts and pieces into whole items are already there. In the words of the immortal Shake N Bake commercial, “And I helped.”
What life skills do you hope you have been able to teach kids in your world?
Post Category: Craft
December 17th, 2008 at 11:55pmConscripted Cherry
‘Twith just a few days before Hanukkah and inside the ‘Grill
me stirred margaritas, Andi minded the til.
GP hung her flannel by the chimney with care
It got soaked in a snowball fight …who would dare?
The CBs were nestled all snug on the couch
A shelf full of books falling on their heads … ouch!
With Scope in her eyepatch and CMS spinning thread
It was a vision to send most sane people to bed.
When outside the building came a car horn blast
And BCB was yelling, “We found Canada! At last!”
The moon on the brim of McB’s festive sombrero
Gave doubt to that statement, and sported an arrow.
Then what to innocent bystander eyes should appear?
A caravan of cars, with Orange Hands in the rear.
Ms. Merry, directing traffic, was lively and quick
“Let me out of here. I’ve done my time with this clique!”
More rapid than Spartens the drivers they came
As Cary whistled and shouted and called them by name
“Now K.L., now Eidhle, now Lou and JenB
What the heck did you do with Theresa and CC?”
As wild geese before a hurricane fly
So, too, did Jenny and Bob, (was that a swear or a sigh?)
Then into the parking lot the caravan they came
All loaded down with CBs, Portland was never the same
And then in a twinkling was heard from the back
“I’ve got pics of the grandkids!” called out Wapak
As she was pulling out the pack, and gaining some ground
Down the pole came GAM Louis, swinging around
He was dressed like a cowboy and carrying loot
From which spilled Cerise (but still no sign of Moot)
His bag was quite plump, a gift from an elf
Who, it turned out was Dee’s DD, her very own self
A wink of her eye and a twist of her head
Told Dee, a little wary, she had nothing to dread.
Her eyes how they twinkled, her dimples how merry
“I had to drive,” she laughed, “RSS got into the sherry.”
GG wore the tiara, in her hands held a bow
As she helped MNO decorate, it started to snow
They spoke a few words and put TT to work
CBpen filled the stockings, JenT came to lurk
Then pointing a finger, Xenia stood on her toes
And giving a shout, to the chimney she goes
Btuda spotted a sleigh the color of thistle
It held men in kilts! The gals started to whistle
Brian just shook his head as it came to a hault
’cause he knew that somehow this was all Lori’s fault.
Post Category: Uncategorized, CB World
December 14th, 2008 at 08:41amMcB
This is what I woke up to this morning. 
Ever optimistic(that and the fact that some days it is indeed warm enough to lounge) I’ve left the plastic lounger beneath the tree.
It was such a beautiful, icey drive to Niagara-on-the-lake that I stopped to take some photographs for those of you who are unfamiliar with icewine. I doubt Lou’s local winery makes any. 
Grapes are carefully wrapped to protect them before the Icewine Harvest,often around the winter solstice. Temperatures have to drop, and stay below 17F before the grapes can be picked. This ensures dehydration is complete so that the sugar content of the grape is coma inducing. It’s a proces done entirely by hand, and most often in the middle of the night so that the grapes, and workers, remain frozen until pressing. When you consider it takes an entire vine to make one glass of wine you could see how costly a mistakes can be. Not that I’ve actually heard of workers being pressed in with the wine…
Once the midnight party is over, the vines are bare. Still pretty though.
Post Category: Uncategorized, Food and Cooking
December 10th, 2008 at 07:30pmCherry Magic Sheryl
CMS if you have a post- feel free to hop over this! We were getting close to the 100 mark.
I saw an article in the paper that someone had written a book based on this premise: Describe Your LIFE in 6 words. Not 5 not 7, but 6. They asked famous people, they asked neighbors, and some were very insightful.
No, I’m not giving you examples- what 6 words would You use to describe your life? As you look at it today.
Here’s Luca!
Carry On!
Post Category: Uncategorized
December 10th, 2008 at 11:32amWapakGram
The 3 moons had aligned themselves again. Or maybe I should say, against me. This happens fairly often, and I’ve already done as much as I can to keep it from happening. So I must fend for myself internally.
For me, it’s through McB’s magnificent gift of Pandora. Yep, I can sit right here and listen to my beloved baroque music. Also turn on XM and listen with GeekMobileGoddess, or start up a CD. There are many kinds of music that work negatively for me: Rap, jazz, heavy or light metal. These might work very well for some CBs, but baroque feeds my soul and soothes the tender nerve endings.
Mr. Darcy and chocolate work to some degree, but music seems to go straight to the source.
What do you do for yourself to help get through the grim times?
Post Category: Uncategorized
December 5th, 2008 at 08:15amGatorPerson
An excerpt from the beginning of North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell the CherryBombs.
‘Edith!’ said Margaret, QUICKLY, ‘Edith!’
But, as Margaret half WHINED, Edith had RETURNED. She lay ASCENDED up on the GARDEROBE in the back drawing-room in Harley Street, looking very PLAID in her PUCE muslin and TAWNY TIARA. If Titania had ever been dressed in PUCE muslin and a TAWNY TIARA, and had RETURNED on a ORANGE AND PINK WITH FRINGE AND SPANGLES damask GARDEROBE in a back drawing-room, Edith might have been taken for her. Margaret was struck afresh by her cousin’s MELLIFLUOUS. They had grown up together from childhood, and all along Edith had been remarked upon by every one, except Margaret, for her RECALCITRANTNESS; but Margaret had never thought about it until the last few days, when the prospect of soon losing her CABANA BOY seemed to give force to every ADLEPATED quality and charm which Edith possessed. They had been talking about GALOSHES, and wedding ceremonies; and Captain Lennox, and what he had told Edith about her future life at the CLOSET UNDER THE STAIRS, where his SWARM was stationed; and the VINDICTIVENESS of keeping a KAZOO (not to mention a PICCOLO or a ZITHER) in good tune (a VINDICTIVENESS which Edith seemed to consider as one of the most HAPPY that could befall her in her married life), and what FLANNEL SHIRTS she should want in the visits to THE CB BAR & GRILL, which would immediately succeed her marriage; but the whispered tone had latterly become more SULTRY; and Margaret, after a pause of ONE NANOSECOND, found, as she TRIUMPHED, that in spite of the DING DONG in the next room, Edith had rolled herself up into a WISE ball of muslin and SPATS, and OBSEQUIOUS curls, and gone off into a DISGUSTING little after-dinner nap.
The end.
Post Category: Uncategorized
December 3rd, 2008 at 02:19amtheresa
I came up with this idea the last time I was going through the spam, making sure no one was lost in there. If you take the time to read any of the spam comments, you’ll find that many of them read very much like a Mad Lib. And so the idea for this blog post was born. Hopefully, it will end up being an entertaining and fun diversion! *crossing fingers*
If anyone by chance doesn’t know what a Mad Lib is, this is how Wikipedia describes them:
Mad Libs (a play on ad lib, from Latin ad libitum - as you wish) is a word game where one player prompts another for a list of words to substitute for blanks in a story; these word substitutions have a humorous effect when the resulting story is then read aloud. The game is especially popular with American children and is frequently played as a party game or as a pastime.
How this will work:
Below I have listed what I need from you. I figure that you all can take turns, going round-robin, making a suggestion for one or two of the numbers in each comment. If there ends up being more than one suggestion for each number, I reserve the right to use whichever I feel will make the funniest mad lib! As this isn’t a discussion topic per se, we can just carry on in the comments with discussion as usual.
Edited to show what we have so far.
(1) ADVERB - quickly
(2) half VERB - half-whined
(3) had VERB - had blown/had returned
(4) VERB up - ascended
(5) FURNITURE ITEM - garderobe
(6) ADJECTIVE - plaid
(7) COLOR - puce
(8) COLOR - tawny
(9) ACCESSORY - handbag/tiara
(10) ADJECTIVE - mellifluous
(11) ADJECTIVAL NOUN - recalcitrantness
(12) OCCUPATION - cabana boy
(13) ADJECTIVE - adlepated
(14) NOUN and NOUN describing a person - PLETHORA AND COOK
(15) CLOTHING ITEM (plural) - galoshes
(16) PLACE - closet under the stairs
(17) his GROUP NOUN - swarm
(18) ADJECTIVAL NOUN - retribution/vindictiveness
(19) MUSICAL INSTRUMENT - piccolo/kazoo/zither
(20) ADJECTIVE - happy/wise/inebriated/obese
(21) CLOTHING ITEM (plural) - flannel shirts/socks/spats
(22) PLACE - CB Bar & Grill/Lion’s Den
(23) ADJECTIVE - sultry/loyal/maloderous
(24) LENGTH OF TIME - eons/nanosecond
(25) VERB ending in -ed - triumphed
(26) SOUND - ding dong
(27) ADJECTIVE - decisive/disgusting/obsequious
For each number, the word/word phrase that I need is given in UPPER CASE. Any additional lower case words narrow the scope a bit. For example, (2) is looking for a VERB that can follow the word half. And for an ADJECTIVAL NOUN think about nouns that can be made out of an adjective, for example, the adjective smart gives the noun smartness, from agile we get agility, and so on.
I’ve taken the first paragraph or so from a classic romantic novel to use for the mad lib. In a day or two, I’ll post the end version.
Have fun!
Post Category: Useless Fun, Sophomoric Brain Development
December 1st, 2008 at 10:13amtheresa
Previous Posts
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i was also listening underwater, that helps with the sound pitches
