2014 Book(s) 6

In a post below, I discussed restacking the two stacks of books I have in the bedroom because the book after #5 was down toward the bottom of the right stack. Part of redoing the stacks was to take a critical look at all those books. What I discovered was a small stack that I could read in 90 minutes and get them out of the big pile and either give them away or move them to another location to save.

As Sunday was a wonderful day to be on the deck, I decided this was the perfect time to read. Let's see what we have here. I could have counted each book as separate and then patted myself on the back for having read my 12 books for 2014. But that felt like cheating, given that the longest read was 15 minutes. So I lumped them all together.

Let's see what I have here.

I'm not one for aphorisms. There are statements that I like and reflect things I believe. At one time, I thought I needed this book with its quick statements to remind me to be uplifting and remove negativity from my life. I have another book of Salmansohn that is meant to be given away. It's more funny than these are. Come to think of it, this might have been a gift from a "well-meaning" friend who is no longer a friend.

I don't need or want aphorical stickies around my house. I have come to a place where I live life with gratitude, every day. Some of these were just weird to me. Maybe I have a friend who could benefit from these, but I don't know who. Rather than foist it on another, it's gone into the give away bag.

For awhile, I was buying a new children's book every Christmas. I had the intention of creating a small library of literature if a grandchild ever came into my life. That's still a possibility and I have a nice size library if it happens. But when financial issues fell upon me, this turned out to be the last Christmas book I purchased. Raise your hand if you memorized this. I'd need a couple weeks but I'd remember it.

It's a gorgeous book.

"...a miniature sleigh and eight tiny reindeer." Some of the pages were a bit stuck together because it's been in the stack for years. With a slight tug, they came apart and the pop-up sprang to life. This would be a fantastic book to share with family, but not something you'd hand to little ones who don't understand the concept of pop-up. Unlike other pop-ups, nothing moves. There are no levers or wheels to manipulate. It's all about opening the page and seeing a 3 dimensional representation of a part of the poem. I heartily recommend this if you can find it.

This is an entry in the cat book library. If you have a pet, you know that you are drawn to books about that animal. That's what this falls into. I don't remember where I got it, but the only reason I would have it is because, oh wow!, it has a cat on the front and it's about a cat.

The premise is that the owner of Clio has discovered a journal written by Clio over the course of nine lives. It starts in ancient Egypt and goes through China and Europe before coming to the US. The cat talks about the way it changed the course of human history by, for instance, helping Leonardo Da Vinci paint the Mona Lisa. For a 1st grader with a good vocabulary and a desire to learn, this might be a good book, but I'm not sure who the target audience is. Plus, at the end, there is a discussion about each life and how some of the things Clio reports couldn't have happened. Um... Giving this away.

Also in the give away bag is this book.

Again, this falls in the "Oh look! A cat book!" category. I know I picked this up for $3.00 at the Printer's Row Book Fair several years ago. At the time, I really didn't page through it. I simply bought it because it was a book about cats, hardcover and $3.00. Had I actually taken the time to look at it, I wouldn't have brought it home.

The premise is that cats and dogs come from another planet. The animal you see is merely a robot, controlled by minute cats and dogs inside. The dogs, tired of being picked on on their home planet, left and found earth. Cats, now having no one to pick on, followed the dogs so they could continue to harass dogs. If ever there was a stupid premise, this is it. No, you can't have this book. I'm giving it away. I should find someone who will recycle it because it really shouldn't be in circulation.

Graeam Base has always been one of our favorite authors/illustrators. He's Australian and his early works reflected life in that country. If you have never seen any of his works, find a copy of Animalia. It is the most amazingly illustrated book I think I have ever seen. There was a coloring book you could get for awhile as well as a boxed set that included the hardcover book, the coloring book and a set of 5 colored pencils. Get the book in hardcover. You will not regret it.

Base often deals with environmental issues by showing what happens to animals when their environment is challenged or changed. That's what this is about. What happens if the water hole dries up. As with all his other books, the art is fantastic. You can lose yourself for hours just pouring over the illustrations. Think you've see it all? Nope, there's a bug over here, a pair of eyes over there, a baby under mom's legs.

I got this when it first came out but never read it. I see on his web site that I'm way behind in my collection. I have 6 of his 15 books. Looks like I should add him to my list to search for at the book fair this June.

I bought this but I don't know when. This is another book that had I taken the time to look through it, to read some of the pages, I wouldn't have purchased it. It's a series of quotes about women and cats interspersed with selected readings about this topic. Too much of the book is spent comparing appearances and suggesting women would do well to follow the lead of their cats.

Cats are always seen as aloof and women are likened to this. There are put-downs galore and the book ends with quotes about how cats are a witch's familiar and the shape witches prefer to change into and then roam the neighborhood.

It wasn't a pleasant book. The only thing I got out of it was a list of names for future cats; Tewhit, Jarmara, Jeso, Prickear, Peyewacket and Griezl Greedigut. Why these names? Well, any cat given one of these was definitely a witch's familiar. Into the bag it goes.

And the last one. 

This is a small book that falls into the "Oh! Cat book!" vein. No clue where I picked it up or if it was a gift. I was prepared to go "meh" about it, but I found that I actually liked it. I like the ink drawings. They are fluid and peaceful. Cats and Eastern religions have long gone together. The cat exhibits the stillness and the ability to be "in the moment", so to speak, that Zen teaches. Some of the quips about cats are true. "One coat of fur sheds everywhere." "Find where the paths cross--sit smack center." "Door open--stay in. Door closed--go out."

One statement I found particularly interesting. "If I have but nine lives to live, let me live them as a cat." That would be with awareness and calm, unless there's a thunderstorm, in which case, go hide under the bed. I'm hanging on to this book.

So, there you have my Sunday reading. Four are being given away and three are staying. My stacks are smaller. Book #7 is on the ottoman in the living room and, based on the first 8 pages, I'm going to enjoy it.

Beverage:  Water

Deb

"Rubber duckie, you're the one"

If you're a certain age or have kids who watched "Sesame Street", you probably know this song by heart. No, I'm not sorry for giving you an earworm. This is much better than some I could reference.

Why this? Well, I'm not sure where my brain was meandering when rubber ducks popped into my head as Christmas presents. You all know that feeling. You're trying to think of something and your brain would rather meander down some mental road you've not been in years. I needed a cheap, silly present for a friend and my brain said, "Rubber duck". He's got some young children so it's the perfect idea.

Searching for "rubber duck" on the Internet yields thousands of hits. Some places had a minimum quantity. I don't need a dozen rubber ducks. I need one for my friend, maybe two, if a very small quantity is allowed. Almost defeated, I scanned the page of places that sell rubber ducks and there was one company, off to the side, whose name seemed to say it all; SqueakyDucks.com. I wound up spending 90 minutes poking about in all the offerings. Man, if they don't have the duck you want, it hasn't been created yet.

My order came really fast. That's a construction duck in the middle. I hated to buy just one duck, although I could have. They had a package of 4 Christmas ducks and I have four great nieces and nephews. Sold. I don't know who will get which duck. These don't squeak but they do float. Extremely inexpensive, too. I'm impressed with the construction of the duck and the deep colors. It's not paint. It's colored plastic. I'm fairly confident these will hold up for awhile.

So now I'm thinking more people on my Christmas list need rubber ducks. Even if you never take a bath, preferring to shower, Ernie is right. "You make bath time lots of fun."

Beverage:  Berry flavored seltzer

Deb

Banded

Doorhangers. They do get your attention. We used to make them for church in advance of the first service of the church "year" in September and go around in the neighborhood hanging them on front doors. I'm not sure it was the most effective advertising but it was inexpensive.

They died out for awhile, but have seen a resurgence of late. I get now, on the average, one a week. It's also a job for people to walk the streets leaving this bit of paper and a plastic bag affixed to the front door.

I came home last night to find another one. This was different however.

Huh? Well, this is something new.

I seem to remember "Bandz" from years ago. Do kids still collect these? It must not have cost a lot of money to include these in a plastic bag that has a better than average chance of being chucked immediately in the waste bin. I'm not like most people. I separated the component parts, recycled the paper flyer, put the plastic bag in recycled bags and set the "Charmz" aside. I think I'll just toss this in the give away bag unless one of my readers really, seriously, declares a lust for it. Ten words or less, "Why I should send this to you." Extra points if you write that in poetry. Next two weeks, until November 20th.

Beverage:  Water

Deb

Family Christmas

Christmas is, perhaps, the one time when families try their darndest to get along. "Because it's Christmas" is a familiar phrase. If you're a parent, there are two families, sometimes more, who seem to "require" your presence and can and do cause problems if you can't be there because you're here on the holiday. We tried to balance that with one year there; one year here; one year with everyone here and one year with no one here. It didn't always work out that way, owing to the unpredictable winter weather of the Upper Midwest, but we made every effort to try.

I don't know the date, off the top of my head, for this photo. My family had come to my house for Christmas. There were the obligatory family photos and my youngest brother and my sister decided silliness needed to be included. I love the look on Dad's face. He's sort of resigned to our shenanigans. I'm guessing, from my haircut and glasses, this is mid-1980's.

In these later years, with a child now on her own, Christmas can sometimes feel like just another day, albeit a day I don't have to work. We always opened the bulk of our gifts on Christmas Eve, leaving a clear spot for whatever Santa brought. So, I open the bulk of my gifts on Christmas Eve. Even now, I send carefully wrapped packages to Carole marked "To Carole, From Santa". It's the spirit of things and it's nice having that one or two packages still under the tree, not to be touched until Christmas morning.

This year, my brother moved into a new house and he insisted Christmas would be at his house. We are now grandparents with two significant others, two kids with significant others, 2 kids not married and 4 of the next generation under the age of 6 roaming the halls. Dad may be gone, but mom has remarried and her husband is a part of the shenanigans that are a hallmark of our family. Dan was insistent that we have "family" Christmas. We even moved the date around to make sure everyone could be there.

Alas, it was not to be. While I made it, thanks to Dan for gas money, the pre-Christmas Blizzard of 2012 knocked out power to my sister's house. She wouldn't leave until it was restored and she knew it was secure. She left for Iowa the day I left Iowa for home. We weren't even in the same state at the same time. Oh well. Such is life sometimes.

We went ahead and had Christmas without her and she will be celebrating again with everyone tomorrow. It was still a bit hectic as people had to come from some distance and people had to leave to head to another location for another family Christmas.

"Do we want to open gifts before the dinner is ready?" Dan asked.

That was the best thing to do. While adults can be patient watching the Packers destroy their opponent, little kids have no idea why people are interested in the TV. They will, however, push the buttons on the remote because it's funny to see how adults react when their football disappears.

So, we jumped into full-scale Christmas mayhem. "We need a garbage bag for wrapping paper!" Mary hollered. There were huge gifts that would have yielded sections of wrapping paper which could be reused next year. I remember, in another time and place, saving the paper, flattened, in a box for reuse. You cut off the edges with tape and the paper was available in ever decreasing sizes for several years on end, if it had wrapped a large toy.

I don't do that anymore. I do recycle all my wrapping paper now that one can do that. I remember when it was burned in the furnace or in the burn barrel. That it can be recycled shows how far we've come in our efforts to be more green and less throw away.

My family has been doing something for a few years now that I didn't know about until gifts were exchanged. They try to mislead someone with the wrapping or wrap a small gift in increasingly larger packages. Carole and I did that with several of her friends from high school. We put one of Niles' gift cards in a duct taped plastic bag and then froze the bag in a block of ice. Rob's gift was buried in our back yard and he was given GPS coordinates spelled out in words on a piece of notebook paper that we got wet. Carole was given a gift card carefully inserted into the side of an empty case of Diet Coke. Think about how thin the cardboard is on a case of soda. It took her 30 minutes and repeated urgings to "look again" before she found it.

Dan gave Mary a birthstone ring. In the above photo, she's down to wrapping number 3. The ring itself was then wrapped and covered with two layers of tape. It took her a good 20 minutes to get through all the packaging. Later, Dan had to figure out how to open a duct taped package. He "cheated" by inserting a knife right along the edges and slicing the top open.

Had I known this was how packages are given, I'd have been more creative in wrapping mine. As it was, I put the same label on two different items which caused a number of "Getting old, Deb?" comments.

The day ended with a huge dinner, some of which was bagged up and sent home with me. There was madness. There was chaos. There were kids crying because whatever he has, she wanted. "No no. This is yours." There were lost tags and "ooh's" and "aahs". There was family. The 6 of us are up to 18 which makes any location a squeeze and a shower of wrappings. But, we were mostly all together, just as silly as we were 20 years ago.

"That's what Christmas is all about, Charlie Brown."

Beverage:  English Breakfast tea

Deb

Day 11- The Book that made you fall in love with reading

I'll always remember this as the first book that made me realize this reading stuff was wonderful.

This is a very simple story. Johnny goes bear hunting and finds an orphaned cub. He brings the cub home and proceeds to raise him, not realizing what a fully grown bear needs. There is a happy ending which I won't give away. This book could have qualified for one that I read again and again and again because I do remember checking it out of the library multiple times. Yes, I own a copy.

Lynd Ward illustrated this book as well as wrote the story. He is considered to be the father of the graphic novel having published 6 novels beginning in 1929, whose story is told only via engravings. The Biggest Bear won the 1953 Caldecott Medal for most distinguished children's picture book. I think that's why I was drawn to it. The illustrations are deep and rich and full of detail. The prose is simple and tells a story but the illustrations make that prose come alive. There is one illustration in the book that is kind of scary so if you are looking for a children's book and chance upon this, page through it. The bear with the honey might be a bit disturbing to young children just because of the perspective.

This has always been my favorite children's book that I can remember. It's still in print and well worth it to add to your library. Oh dear, I'm recommending a book. I said I wouldn't do that.

Beverage:  Earl Gray Tea

Deb

Day 8- An unpopular book you believe should be a Best-Seller

I've been struggling with this category off and on all morning. In between phone calls and reports and checking emails and machines, I've stewed about what book have I read that would meet this qualification. This was hard.

First, I had to define, for myself, both "unpopular" and "Best-Seller". I decided that, for me, a book that wouldn't be sitting on the "Best-Seller" table at a chain bookstore, nor one that would be under the "Best-Sellers, 15% off every day", would be one quality. Now to define "unpopular".

Generally speaking, an "unpopular" book is one that gets bad press. It could still wind up in the best seller bin simply because of the author or the subject. I have two examples. John Travolta wrote a book in 1997, just in time for the Christmas season. Propeller One-Way Night Coach was a small volume and was a story about a kid and his mom who flew in the early years of flight. It was bad; very bad; really, really bad. But, it was a best seller simply because of who the author was.

Another example is Dutch: A Memoir of Ronald Regan. Although the author was granted complete access to Regan, his style of writing and the topics he covered caused most to roundly pan the book. When it was released, it was already a best seller. As more people read it, however, it quickly sank.

I never read either of those books but I was working in a bookstore at the time they were released. I remember the press about how bad each of them was and how this was surely the end of modern civilization when an author or a subject caused a book to get to best seller status instead of good writing. I could insert a snarky remark on fame here, but I won't.

So I decided to use as the definition of "unpopular" a weird book, something I enjoyed but is definitely not what could be considered for the average reader. Having defined "unpopular" in that way, I found several in my journal that could fit. I will list the contenders before the book I picked. The Island of Lost Maps by Miles Harvey; Major Barbara by George Bernard Shaw; Spam: A Biography by Carol Wyman, and This is Not a Novel by David Markson were all considered. I decided on The Inkdrinker by Eric Sanvoisin.

First of all, this is a book for young people, I think 3rd grade and up. It is delightfully creepy with really interesting and image-filled line drawings accompanying the text. What I loved about this book is that it takes place in a bookstore and the premise, as revealed about two-thirds of the way through the book, made me think about my reading and how I experience books. Yes, it is a very fast read, probably an hour or 90 minutes for an adult, but I would defy you not to come away with a sense of wonder.

In searching for the photo to accompany this post, I discovered there are a few more in this series. I don't need any more books, but I liked this first one so well, I'm tempted to get the next 3 just to see where the author took his premise.

If you like your books a bit on the bizarre, I think you'll like this one. Don't everyone rush out and get it. Sometimes the appeal of a book is not that it's a best-seller. Sometimes the appeal is that it's a rare find, something everyone should read, but no one does.

Beverage:  Scottish Blend tea

Deb

Quick Queen of Quincy and her Quacking Quackeroo

Carole's reading the Harry Potter series to David. He had not read the books so they are reading the books and then watching corresponding movies. She's missing book 5 and 6 in Connecticut. She is certain they were left at home. I found book 6, the Half-Blood Prince, Tuesday night. I have not been able to find the 5th book, The Order of the Phoenix. As I was searching, I came across our stash of Dr. Suess books. I pulled a couple out and quickly paged through them. Are there any books more guaranteed to put a smile on your face than Dr. Suess books?

We all know his story, how his editor challenged him to write a book using only 150 words. Out came The Cat in the Hat. He probably "invented" children's literature as a genre. I think he also, with later books, such as his alphabet book from which the title of this post derives, showed that nonsense words could be playful and legitimate in a story.

I've got so many books. Being surrounded by books is a necessary in my life. I couldn't find the alphabet book as I was looking through the stack. I wonder if it was destroyed in one of the many water-in-the-basement episodes we've had over the years. When I was designing dungeons at the time I played Dungeons and Dragons, I relied on situations I'd read about including a problem lifted from directly from Bartholomew and the Oobleck. Someday, I would love to have a room that is a library, floor to ceiling bookcases with every book I own carefully organized and handy.

The search for these two books as well as her collected Chronicles of Narnia, has caused me to (gasp) do a little cleaning in small sections of the basement. I am going to, and I know you will faint, get rid of the apple computer boxes I still have in the basement. I don't need them and they can be broken down and recycled. I'm going through those two boxes "over there" and either tag stuff to give away, toss stuff or put it where it can be used. I resolved to be better about the mess. Baby steps. Baby steps. Clean a section here. Clean a section there. Do I really want to save 'this' when 'this' hasn't been used in 25 years?

Dr. Suess books are exempt from this question.

Beverage:  Scottish Blend tea

Deb

Mortal Musings

The father of one of my best friends has died. I met him twice, I think, over this long friendship we have shared since the fall of 1976 when she moved into the Viterbo College Marian Hall Residence for Girls. (It's now Viterbo University and that floor is co-ed. Talk about culture shock!) I was on 6 North and Laurie was on 5 North.

We've been through miles and miles of pot-hole strewn life roads together. I got married first, had a child first. In fact, Carole was all of 6 months old when Laurie got married to a Marine with full military honors. Man, that's impressive. She had two girls and endured a rocky marriage before divorcing first. She's got one up on me in that she married off a daughter AND she's a grandma.

Our lives have not been the happiest over the long course of this friendship but we have always been there for each other. And, I realized when I read her email about her father's passing, I assumed her dad would always be a part of our letters and emails. I only knew him through her letters and emails, but I knew him to be kind, funny, warm, fiercely independent and very proud of his daughter. His passing leaves a huge hole in Laurie's life and in the lives of her mother and brother, but also in the lives of his friends and family.

In the few days since his death and funeral, Laurie has spoken of expecting him to walk into the living room and ask to play a game of Dominoes, of picking up the phone and hoping it was him calling to check on how she was doing, of expecting him to pull up in the family car saying he'd gone to look at a lawn mower that he thought he could fix up for someone. Understandable feelings. My father has been gone since January of 1991 and I still, on rare occasions, have this fleeting thought that the phone call is from him, that he just "stepped away".

Life goes in these phases. You grow up and graduate high school. For a few years, there are graduations and weddings to attend. Then come the children. There are christenings, confirmations, birthday parties. Your friends change jobs and move to new homes. There might be a time when your grandparents and that generation pass away. Your children graduate and move on to college and their lives which start to involve weddings where you are at a circular table off to the far left with a second cousin who had to be invited or Aunt Mildred would have a cow. Your children's friends, the ones who climbed the tree in the side yard to look at your roof, who tossed toilet paper OVER the house while TP-ing it, who seemed to be at your home every night after school, start having their own families. Your friends, the ones who steadfastly remain 21 in the back of your mind become grandparents. And their parents start falling ill and dying.

I realize that I am quickly becoming the generation at the top. It's rare to have anyone my age with a grandparent still alive. Mortality comes sooner and could be right around the bend. Laurie's dad's departure for better Dominoe playing fields reminds me that there is much I wish to do before I leave.

Beverage: Dr. Pepper

Deb