Wahoo! Fursday Cat Joy Mashup

This will be an all-cat Wahoo! Fursday (Wednesday went by like this), kind of a mashup of Wahoo! Wednesday and Fiona Friday squashed into a Thursday post. Some weeks are like that.

Cat things that made us Wahoo!, this week:

1. Fiona survived her shots!!! Wahoo! Last year, she had a very bad reaction to her vaccinations, so this year she had to have two shots one week, two the next and stay at the vet's for half a day so they could watch her for trouble. The first time I went to pick her up, I was told she was, "mad as heck," but she was obviously thrilled to see me when I picked her up and chattered happily all the way home. This week, she was so anxious to go home that she got a little ahead of the guys who were trying to load her into her carrier and started to jump in before they were ready.

Here she's being silly in the old-towel cabinet (going to donate the contents of this, soon):

2. Isabel is a nut, Part 1: When I made the bed, I had to make the entire thing around Izzy. She had a rollicking good time chasing the sheets as I snapped them and diving under the covers. She even attempted to take a nap under the bedspread.



3. Isabel is a nut, Part 2: Izzy loves Daddy's new tree saw. In fact, she was a little possessive of it, when it came out of the box.

She's also quite fond of the square tunnel that came with the saw.

4. Let's just face it, my cats are full of awesome.

In other news:

• A single book arrived unexpectedly on my doorstep: A final copy of Heading Out to Wonderful by Robert Goolrick from Algonquin. Can't wait to dig into this one!
• I just finished reading Next to Love by Ellen Feldman, a book that follows three friends who are left behind when their men go off to fight in WWII and the aftermath into the 50s and 60s.
• Normally, I balance several books at once but lately I've been reading one at a time. I have no idea why.
• Weirdest dream I've had, recently: I dreamed that I stabbed a piece of broccoli, held up the fork and said to my husband, "Is this a cruciferous vegetable?" He replied, "Yes, it is. It's the only green cruciferous vegetable." In the morning, I looked up cruciferous vegetables and found that broccoli, cauliflower and cabbage are cruciferous. Weird the things your brain pulls out of the files to play with at night.

May your days be filled with wahoos!

©2012 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery and Babble or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.

Because I haven't wahooed in a while . . .

. . . and, this statue makes me feel like saying, "Wahoo!", I figured I should share it.

Wahoo Thursday! Silly Animal Edition

Well, shucks. I managed to fix up a few photos for today's Silly Animal Wahoos, but then lolcats began to have problems and I've been unable to finish. So, you get a mere three with captions and one without. I hope you like this little bit of animal fun. The top three were taken at the Jackson Zoo on Saturday (that's some kind of primate's hand, in the second photo, but I was zoned in on photographing and didn't think to see what kind) and the final photo is our Miss Spooky.

Uncaptioned, but I was going to have him say, "Have Snack, Will Pose":

Hey, looky there!

I forgot to do a Wahoo! Wednesday post and I'm only halfway through my review of Just Jane by Nancy Moser, so I had to share this little bit of wahooeyness (wahooiness?). We have fall color!!!! Wahoo! Yes, the grass is still green and this is only a teeny part of the tree, but still . . . cool.

Don't You Forget About Me by Jancee Dunn and Two Belated Wahoos

Don't You Forget About Me by Jancee Dunn
Copyright 2008
Villard (Random House) Fiction
276 pages
Author's blog

On weekends, the bustling quotidian activities that move the day forward would slow and catch. I was steeped in lonesomeness. My pride wouldn't allow me to tell Ginny that I was foolishly, absurdly glad to go to sleep knowing that there were other people breathing quietly in a room down the hall.

What led you to pick up this book? I was in the mood for something light (but not painfully fluffy).

Summarize the plot but don't give away the ending. Lillian Curtis has a great job as the producer of a talk show and a quiet stable marriage -- or so she thinks. Then, her husband drops a bombshell: he is bored and unhappy; the marriage is over. Shocked and suddenly lonely, her boss advises her to take time off and 38-year-old Lily moves into her parents' house when the lease on her apartment expires. Her high school reunion is coming up, so she immerses herself in memories and imagines herself hooking up with the popular boyfriend who disappeared from her life shortly after college began. But, as she closes herself up within her memories, Lily is also shutting out the truth of her past.

Will her high school reunion bring back happy days or simply force her to face up to adult life? Is it possible to heal old wounds and find a newer, better way to live life? And, what on earth happened to Christian, the handsome boyfriend who has been spotted in Paris and London?

What did you like most about the book? I loved the fact that the book was a fairly quick, light read without being completely meaningless. Sometimes the dialogue was a little lame and some of the reflections on the 80s were uncomfortable (it was just not my favorite decade), but I never felt bogged down. There was an underlying theme of facing the fact that life moves on, that growth and change are inevitable.

What did you think of the characters? I liked Lily a lot, primarily because she was a simple person who preferred to spend her time off in her pajamas or watching old movies with a friend (as opposed to partying). Her simple habits didn't make her uninteresting or unlikable. They just made her unique.

Why did every other person feel compelled to mention how busy and overbooked they were? And what could I possibly write? I keep idle with a full roster of daytime television, Internet surfing, and lingering visits to big-box stores to buy nothing in particular. Suddenly I turn around and it's dinnertime!

Share a favorite scene from the book: The Los Angeles Times review describes my favorite scene as just one "occasionally gimmicky contrivance". Oh, well, hmm. Actually, I thought it was rather delightful and funny when Lily called a catalog phone number to order a pair of green sweatpants (because she thought her parents wouldn't appreciate her habit of relaxing in her pajamas) and the sales representative ended up giving her useful advice. I did think it was odd when Lily called the same catalog in order to speak to Trish, once again, and managed to get in touch with the her immediately, without having to ask for her by name. But, the first of those advice scenes was such fun that I read it aloud to my husband. He liked it, too.

Recommended for those who are looking for a light, nostalgic (80s nostalgia, that is) read that is not totally fluffy, but is in some ways highly improbable. There were a few points at which I had a little difficulty with suspension of disbelief, but when I pick up a lighter book I'm usually willing to work at shutting off skepticism because I want a little vapid fun. I really enjoyed this read.

In general, I'd call the book "average to slightly above average compared to similar books". Definitely not a book to pick up when you're in the mood for deep thinking and beautiful word pictures, but great for a brain break.

I would have loved it if the author had elaborated on some of the characters' weird traits. For example, Lily's boss Vi mentioned Lily's special ability to sniff out minor scents and note that someone had, for example, bathed in lavender soap, eaten in a Chinese restaurant and then arranged some carnations (or, whatever). It would have been really fun if Dunn had expanded on that and had Lily noting that a friend had obviously changed a diaper before jumping on a plane and throwing on perfume at the last minute or sniffed out the lemon pledge and fabric softener scent clinging to her mother as she passed.

This is another good example of another character's oddities that I would have loved to hear more about:

Drew had a boundless trove of life rules, simple stratagems that he deemed necessary for happiness and that he was not shy in announcing. No "inspirational coach" movies, except on airplane flights longer than four hours. Never wait in line for breakfast; no exceptions. Baseball caps are for males under six years of age or over sixty-five. Do not date a woman who uses journal or dialogue as a verb. And no sandwiches at dinner ("There's a pathos to sandwiches at dinner. Lunch only").

Read another review, here (let me know if you've read this book and I'll add a link to your review):
Los Angeles Times

Squeeee! and Wahooooo! High school swim season has started and the kids were finally able to get to the pool, after a week of storms. I'm so glad to be back to watching the kiddo do this:

Also, wahoo! for my lovely book-gobbling friends, who got me through yet another really awful day of the sister's lunacy. You're my real sisters.

Just finished:

Get Smart: How e-mail can make or break your career And Your Organization by Mary Lynn Pulley and Jane Hilberry (it's a very quick read -- review forthcoming).

Happy Thursday!

Belated Wahoos, July in Review, Pat's News and The UFO

Welcome to the Wahoo! for Things That Aren't Dead Issue! Because we've had a drought, this year, almost nothing in the garden survived and the critters are not as easy to spot. But, a few things are alive and I think they're worth celebrating.

#1 Wahoo! for my little moss rose (note that she's surrounded by some yucky brown stuff, yet still perseveres):

We interrupt this wahooful post for an exciting bit of information about Patricia Wood that should have been announced last week:

Lottery has been declared a semifinalist for the 2007 Cabell First Novelist Award! Wahoo for Pat!!! Note that she is in good company. The Ocean in the Closet was another of my my 2007 favorites and I'm sure most of you recognize at least a few more great titles.

#2 - Wahoo! for undead tomatoes. No, silly, they're not vampire tomatoes -- although they've got an odd, fang-like protrusion at the bottom. We won't theorize about that, right now.

The Emergency Wahoo Broadcast System sirens are going off, again. What now? Oh, another important announcement! The August issue of Estella's Revenge is available for your reading pleasure! Well, that is definitely important. We now return to our regularly scheduled wahoos.

#3 - Wahoo! for these hardy little ladies (impatiens)! They're sickly (note the spots on the leaves), but alive. Alive is good.

#4 - Wahoo! for the hydrangea that I had already mentally buried! It's back! There's not much there, and it probably won't bloom for a while, but . . . again . . . alive is good.


And, finally -- July Reading in Review:

1. In the Clearing - Robert Frost - Some annoying rhyme and rhythm, a few bits that made me laugh out loud, a little spiritual epiphany and one truly funny, opinionated free verse. Worth reading.

2. At Home in Mitford - Jan Karon - A fun romp around the village of Mitford with Father Tim, friends, neighbors and one hilarious, irreverent little sort-of-adopted boy.

3. The Questory of Root Karbunkulus - Kamilla Reid - Fun fantasy; a few too many creatures and some lame dialogue mixed in with some excellent weirdness and plucky adventure.

4. Anne of Green Gables - L. M. Montgomery - Can't believe I waited so long. Excellent! Canadian! Must read more!

5. Life as We Knew It - Susan Beth Pfeffer - World ends, people die, winter is miserable. The writing was duller than expected but the storyline fascinated me. I love this kind of "what if?"

6. The Rabbit and the Snowman - Sally O. Lee - Pretty picture book with a story that I thought was sort of silly. But, Debi's kids loved the story and hated the illustrations. So there, grownups!

7. Legerdemain - James J. Heaphey - Real-life spy adventures set in 1950's Morocco. Loved it!

8. Will Storr vs. the Supernatural - Will Storr - Things that go bump in the night and breathe loudly nearby convince Will of their existence. Loads of fun daylight reading.

9. Remember Me? - Sophie Kinsella - Amnesia's never been so fun.

10. What if . . . ? - Steven N. Lee - Taut action and suspense that didn't quite pull together but still made for thought-provoking reading.

11. Washington's Lady - Nancy Moser - Fictionalized account of Martha Washington's life. Loved it!

12. Queen of Babble - Meg Cabot - Fun character's jaunt to England and France to find romance, lose it, and find it again. But, she should have mentioned Zingerman's, since Lizzie was "from Ann Arbor". It's just not right not to mention Zingerman's.

13. Unnamed YA galley - Ouch. It's hard not to tell.

14. Down to a Sunless Sea - Mathias B. Freese - Thought-provoking, difficult reading (and kind of depressing) but worth the time. Should have gone on medication, first.

That's it! 14 books - 3803 pages worth. As of the end of July, I'd read 76 books - 18,702 pages. Not bad for a poky reader who had a couple of really awful months.

And, now, the answer to the UFO question . . . what was that weird black and white and red thing? Several of you are going to say, "I knew it!" The UFO was a red-headed woodpecker. Here he is, before he took flight:

Once you realize how vivid they are in flight, they're quite easy to spot in their natural habitat. Very wahooey. I love watching these guys. They're so pretty they almost don't look real.

One final wahoo: Wahoo! for surviving another year with Huzzybuns (and vice versa . . . not getting kicked out, or anything to that effect). Yesterday was our anniversary. 26 years without any serious spouse-inflicted injuries on either side! Would you believe I married at the age of 3? Pretending to be 29 gets harder every year.

Wishing you many wahoos!

Bookfool, 29 and then some

Slightly Early Wahooey Stuff (unless you're living in my future, aka another time zone)

One more reason lizards are cool, in case you haven't gotten enough of my anole lizard buddies, lately:

Oooh, I want to hang upside down and grin while I'm at it! How wahooey is that?

Today, I read the intro of Beyond the Mommy Years: Empty Nest, Full Life by Carin Rubenstein, which a friend sent to me (thank you, Lover of Books!) bought a copy of The Diamond Age by Neal Stephenson in the library sale and hired a roofer to replace the roof before it falls to pieces (bits keep flying off -- we've had an awful lot of storms, this year). I'm really quite proud of my roof. It survived Hurricane Katrina. Good for you, roof; you did your part. When I first opened the door to my roofer, Ronnie, he looked waaaaay up at our two gigantic oak trees and said, "I'd be scared of those trees." Well, they do have a tendency to fall over, around here. But, I told him I figured we'd just be goners if they did, so I don't bother thinking about it.

I didn't get around to Weekly Geeking, although I still have the best of intentions, but I'm all about environmental issues: global warming, saving the rainforests and the polar bears (because it's a bad idea to plunk the polar bears in the rain forest, we keep these two mentally separated, although they're really interconnected), planting trees and subsistence-only whaling, etc. And, I noted this comment in the Alaska Newsreader:

"The ice is melting three weeks earlier in the spring than it did 20 years ago, and it's re-forming a month later in the fall," said Carleton Ray of the University of Virginia, who has studied walruses since the 1950s. "There's no question that these changes are very bad for walruses."

Save the walruses! Stop global warming! Okay, got that off my chest. One excellent book that relates to the whole saving-nature theme is Silence of the Songbirds by Bridget Stutchbury You can read my review of Silence of the Songbirds, here. Wahoo! for songbirds.

And, on the other extreme of life (the exterminating end), I kicked the anthill to see if the fire ants have expired. They're sluggish, but aren't we all? It's hot out there. Still, they're alive so it's possible that the old home remedy won't work. I'll give them another package of cheese grits before making any judgment calls. Maybe their absence will be a future wahoo.

My youngest son is now officially employed as a lifeguard (Wahoo! for the teenager having a job) and I'm not quite ready to let him drive himself to the pool alone, so afternoons involve a lot of zipping back and forth to and from the pool. I'm driving our 18-year-old Honda Accord on pool and school runs. It's the most fuel-efficient vehicle on the Lizard Central Parking Lot and the car the youngster is most comfortable driving when he takes the wheel (with Mom in the passenger seat, of course). I love that car; it's got pep. Never mind the fact that little bits and pieces are falling off because it's elderly. It's your health that counts, even if you're an automobile. Wahoo! for a nice old car that runs like a dream.

The kiddo won't let me photograph him, these days, but I recently sneaked in a photo of his hair. Doesn't he have great hair? Very wahooey hair, if you ask me -- it's auburn and wavy with streaks of blond from sun exposure.


I haven't gotten back to it, but my friend Mike, a very wahooey email pal with whom I exchange lists of books read, finally tipped the scales with his enthusiastic recommendation of Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert. So far, I'm really enjoying it. Mike doesn't read blogs or I'd send him a virtual smooch. I've decided that my reading is taking a terrible turn towards Attention Deficit Chaos, though, so I'm going to focus on finishing Moonstruck by Susan Grant before I read another page of anything else at all. Sometimes I just have to tell myself, "Focus, lady, focus."

Vicksburg and Warren County: A History of People and Place by Pamela Lea Grillis -- Book #1 completed for the Southern Reading Challenge -- is probably not of interest to many of y'all, so I'm going to skip reviewing it and return it to the library. But, there are a couple of quotes I have to share because they made me chuckle:

To populate the Yazoo plantations, the French sent peasants, slaves, tramps, prostitutes and anyone out of work for more than four days in France. [p. 27]

In fact, in 1827, a Baptist minister, Zebulon Butler, had visited Vicksburg with an eye toward establishing a ministry there. After less than a year, Reverend Butler had fled, aghast at the "lawless immorality" he had encountered. Indeed, Vicksburg was a wild, rambunctious town of singular personalities at its beginning. [p. 40]

Things have changed a bit. We have a lot of Baptists, now. Wahoo for that, eh?

Must go read before I babble so long that it really turns into Wednesday on our side of the globe.

Bookfool, who used to be able to walk upside-down on her hands but is so over that, doggone it

Well, it was storming, you see . . . belated wahoos, again

So, I didn't get to the wahoos on Wednesday, again, for the same reason as last week . . . storms. It crashed and flashed and rumbled and basically God kicked over the proverbial bucket (quite a gully-washer, in other words), so things were unplugged most of yesterday and well into today. I will try to get the wahoos ready on the normal day, next week. In the meantime:

1. Wahoo for our kite couple, nesting across the street. One is shown, above. I added the "string", but I'll bet you'd already figured that out.

2. Although I still haven't finished planting everything and we've gone beyond the good planting weather -- in other words, the humidity and mosquitoes have descended -- I got a good bit done and things that I stuck in the ground a week or two ago are now blooming vigorously, as are some of the perennials I planted last spring. I love watching things bloom and grow, so wahoo for blooming things! My sidebar should be updated more regularly, now that things are blooming. The white flower is a moss rose and the pinks are dianthus. They seem to be sharing planter space very nicely.


3. Kiddo and I went to see Iron Man on Saturday, on the way to pick up hubby at the airport. This was Kiddo's idea. He still doesn't mind going to the theater with his mom, even though he's now 16. And, he had the intelligence to appeal to my budget-minded nature by mentioning that we just happened to be heading that direction anyway, so why not stop by the theater? Well, that worked. I think I've mentioned we no longer have a theater in Vicksburg. It now costs more to drive to the theater and back than it does to buy a brand-new $20 DVD. Stopping on the way while on another errand works for me, though. We really enjoyed Iron Man, so wahoo for a chance to get out and see a movie!

4. Wahoo for that stupid camera of mine. It has some sort of electrical problem that causes it to misfire, now and then, but I love it. Anything is subject matter, as you can see from the following photo.


5. Still envious of hubby's trip to Norway, even though he actually lost a brand new book (horrors!) because he was in such a big hurry to get off a bus upon which he had to sit next to a Very Smelly Person for 8 hours. Ewww.

I just love a country with lots of sheep and snow. So, wahoo for the photos hubby brought home. I'll try to forgive him for going to yet another wonderful country without me, but I make no promises.


6. I finished a book because of the rain, yesterday! Wahoo! An Irish Country Village by Patrick Taylor is an Estella review book, so the review will be posted around the first of June.

7. Wahoo for emergency books in the trunk of the car!! Yesterday, I was unexpectedly detained at poolside; and, since I'd just finished reading An Irish Country Village, I had nothing in my purse. Fortunately, I keep spare books in a basket in my trunk and had three to choose from. I chose The Boy Who Loved Anne Frank by Ellen Feldman. So far, so good.

Very wahooey week, yes? I could go on, but I'll stop. Wishing you a life that is bursting with wahoos and flowers and, if necessary, antihistamines.

Wordless Flowery Wahoos - One Day Late

Well, of course there's a lizard. You knew there had to be a lizard. He says, "Pardon my peeling face, please." Or, he probably would, if he could speak human.

I'll try to get some reviews written, soon. Please pardon the lack of posts and blog-hopping. Between gardening, chauffeuring and getting roof estimates, I am one busy and tired chick.

Happy belated Wahoo Day!

Bookfool on the run