6 Things That Make Me Happy Meme

Lisa tagged me for this meme and, boy, do I ever need to focus on the positive, today. I'm having a bear of a week. Note the kitty who is thinking positive, at left. I found this image online and it's not credited to anyone, so if anyone knows the source I'll be glad to provide the correct info.

6 Things That Make Me Happy

1. Space and Light -- I know, that's two. They go together. I need lots of both or I start to lose it. This is one of those weeks that I could definitely stand to have a big, empty room in which to paint, meditate, read, write or dance. Or, all of the above.

2. Books -- Yes, I suppose you knew that.

3. Critters -- All kinds. I love my cat. I'm quite fond of my kids (big critters, these days). I adore the little anole lizards that are absolutely everywhere around our house. I'm ridiculously infatuated with the hawks hanging out in our neighborhood and . . . shoot, I even like snakes. I just love critters. Except, I could really do without the loose dogs in the neighborhood and the insects that try to invade my house when the humidity hits. Books and critters together are also great, provided we're not talking critters who eat books. This critter is generally safe with books, apart from occasional knocking-over and pulling-off-the-shelf fits:

4. People who send or bring books to my house -- The mailman, the UPS guy, the FedEx dude, the guy in the yellow van. I'm very friendly to these people 'cause they make me happy. People who send books to me are way up there on my adoration list, too, as you might imagine.

5. Travel. Except to places where the natives eat, burn or are puzzled by books. My favorite places to travel have either phenomenal scenery, fascinating history or both. Good book shops are a bonus.

6. Long, hot, great-smelling baths. Fizzies. Bubble bath. Heaven.

7. Pickles. Because it would be boring just to follow the rules and write about 6 things, wouldn't it?

In other news . . .

Still battling sore eyeballs, but I'm reading plenty. Staying off the computer does seem to help a bit. You can see from my sidebar that I can't seem to settle on much of anything. But, I'm having fun with the books I'm reading. The Book of Unholy Mischief is heavy on the senses -- lots of food descriptions. Sometimes it makes me hungry. My friend Paula sent Shadow of Colossus to me (so, obviously, she's on my favorite people list -- actually, she's always way up there on my favorites list) and it grabbed me, immediately. Don't be fooled by the fact that two of those books, The Coasts of Canada and Fear in North Carolina, have been in my sidebar forever. I'm enjoying them; I just haven't been in a non-fiction mood.

I'm still working on the balance concept and if a book doesn't grab me I've got automatic permission to withdraw, so to speak. Fortunately, that's really not happening much at all -- I do have one DNF book to post about . . . just one. I've become a bit more selective when it comes to requesting advance readers and I'm mixing in plenty of other books from the library and my own shelves. 2009 has been a delightful reading year, thus far.

Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day by Winifred Watson arrived from Amazon on Wednesday and it's a quick, light read, so I whipped through it in an evening and plan to watch the movie (I ordered both book and movie, just for fun). Last night, I finished reading For Women Only by Shaunti Feldhahn. I'll try to get those reviewed as soon as humanly possible -- don't forget I'm having a drawing for 4 books about keeping the love alive in marriage. Almost nobody has signed up, so your chances are excellent.

For Women Only is really quite fascinating. My husband and I talked about some of what the author had to say about how men think and I admitted that much of what she discovered in her research was mind-boggling from a female point of view. Huzzybuns had trouble maintaining eye contact while discussing how he thinks, but in a cute way. He did a lot of nodding and grinning, indicating that the author did a good job of nailing what's most important to men. I'm going to read the companion book For Men Only and then attempt to coerce my husband into reading it, but he's kind of stubborn and everyone at work seems to be handing him books to read, lately.

Speaking of which, I'm also reading a math book my husband brought home, called Euclid's Window. I haven't added it to my sidebar because he keeps snatching it back, but it's tremendously engrossing for a book about math. The author has a great sense of humor.

I still haven't gotten far into A Lever Long Enough, but that's merely because I distracted myself by starting three other books. Silly me. I'm going to read a bit of Lever, after I get off the computer. Conan Doyle's Wallet is, thus far, making me wrinkle my nose.

On this day in Bookfool's Reading history:

In 1998, I'd just finished reading Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury and was in the midst of The Autobiography of Benvenuto Cellini.

Completely forgot to tag anyone -- tag! If you haven't done the "6 Things" meme, I just hit you on the shoulder. You're it. Have fun!

The List Meme

Care threw me over the edge; I've had such fun reading this meme at other blogs and just loved her answers, so I decided to join in.

The things I have done are in BOLD.

1. Started my own blog (rather obvious, eh?)
2. Slept under the stars (camping -- a tent counts, I assume)
3. Played in a band (not the good kind, the elementary-jr.high-high school variety)
4. Visited Hawaii (Oahu twice, the Big Island and Maui)
5. Watched a meteor shower (numerous times; they're amazing)
6. Given more than I can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland/world (with a nursing baby in that heat -- miserable!)
8. Climbed a mountain (Flat-top mountain and some little bitty ones in Colo.)
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sung a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched lightening at sea
14. Taught myself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning (very non-fun; bad guacamole at the Mexican restaurant)
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown my own vegetables (they were dinky and wrinkled)
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France (walked past the Louvre; didn't go in)
20. Slept on an overnight train (to Chicago, when young)
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitchhiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon (if a 10K counts)
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse (I can see why the ancients were freaked)
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset (Hawaii and Oklahoma win "best sunset locations", IMHO . . . so far)
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of my ancestors (Where's that? My ancestors were from everywhere! I'm a mutt!)
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught myself a new language
37. Have enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41. Sung karaoke (at home, not in public)
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had my portrait painted (I have been sketched, though, by the daughter of one of my father's friends . . . in colored pencils . . . and she was quite talented)
48. Gone deep sea fishing (on the list of things I want to do, definitely)
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris (walked past it . . . sheesh)
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud (made little vases out of mud -- too fun)
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie (O, Brother, Where Art Thou?)
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching (Maine and Alaska -- Alaska was particularly awesome)
63. Got flowers for no reason (but I got a cactus, cough, hack, weird)
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy (plus, I have one of my dad's childhood toys, which is a mess but I love it)
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone (um, a toe -- it still looks weird, like it's pregnant or hunchback)
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person (very, very young -- the north view)
80. Published a book (okay, sort of -- a short story in a book)
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had my picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible (I'm going for it, again, next year)
86. Visited the White House (exterior only -- didn't go inside)
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life (hasn't every mother saved her kid from getting run over, shocked, or drowned, at some point?)
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous (director Alan Parker, now Sir Alan Parker, Willem Dafoe, Kevin Dunn -- all because Mississippi Burning was filmed here and the publicist mistook me for the set photographer, then introduced me to director and stars when I corrected him -- talked to Linda Howard on an elevator, took a workshop led by Nevada Barr . . . I saw the Queen of England from a distance and shared a table at Benihana's with Matt Dillon)
92. Joined a book club (online only)
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee
100. Rode an elephant

Wow, more than I expected! I need to spend more time bopping around Europe, apparently.

What the heck is that???? [below] A space on a bookshelf in Bookfool's house???

Don't worry. I fixed that problem really fast.

Happy Saturday!

6 Random Things About Me

CJ tagged me for this meme and, since I'm trying to cool off and stop thinking about my mosquito bites after attempting a temporary roof fix (I failed dismally -- will try again, tomorrow, and hope that the red wasp goes away), I figured it's a great way to distract myself.

6 Random Things About Me:

1. I inherited a terrible, terrible malady from my paternal grandmother: I'm a packrat. I'm trying to undo the damage from years of clinging to Stuff and it's like digging a hole to China with a baby spoon.

2. My husband and I once spray-painted a car in our garage using a government-reject gas mask to keep from inhaling the fumes. We painted our Volkswagen Jetta flat silver and everywhere we went, people asked us if it was a DeLorean. Jettas were boxy and angular back in the 80's, but still . . . didn't look like a DeLorean to either of us. The paint job turned out great, though, and the car was cute.

3. This is so embarrassing. Honestly, I hope nobody reads this one . . . just skip on past. I once bought a Bay City Rollers album and I can still sing the lyrics to Saturday Night. In case you're not familiar with them, here they are in all their fashion and hairdo horror:

4. I was named after my mother's high-school best friend. I've seen photos of my namesake, but I've never met her and never visited Washington, the state in which my mother attended high school.

5. I never, ever eat chicken with my hands. I cut it off the bone with a knife and fork. Everyone else seems to consider chicken "finger food". I'm lucky to talk myself into eating it at all.

6. My dream home is a log cabin in the Colorado Rockies. I love mountains and gurgling streams, dry, cold air and the smell of pine. And, I adore snow and the wild animals you see in the area (provided I'm not in a tent, on the ground, imagining the sounds of a bear snuffling just inches away -- that bothers me).

I don't know who has completed this meme and who hasn't, so I'm just going to randomly tag a few people and say, "Feel free to ignore the tagging."

Hez's Mom and Knitting Enthusiast Carrie
Chris the Fantasy Freak and Tremendously Cool Dude in New Orleans
Teddy Rose, Who I Adore Because She Obviously Loves Animals
Trish in Dallas, Whose Cat is So Cute I Keep Hoping for More Photos (hint)
Heather, Who Has Beautiful Kiddies and is Not Going to Let You Forget It

Gotta go. This day has done me in and I completely forgot to feed my teenager. Oops.

Bookfool, aka Lonely Airhead with Invisible (riiiiight) Teenager

Six-Word Title Meme

I know the image doesn't totally fit the post, but I love the cover of Circular Fifteen, above, so you're stuck with it.

Onward . . . I've been tagged twice for this meme, by Trish at Hey Lady! Whatcha Readin'? and Stephanie at Stephanie's Confessions of a Book-a-holic. Thanks to both!

The Six-Word Memoir

I'm skipping the details that are usually at the top of this meme, simply because you can read them everywhere else. Also, I'm not going to tag anyone, this time, but feel free to tag yourself on my behalf.

Once I started writing down potential 6-word titles, I had trouble stopping. And, here's the funny thing -- most of them had very little to do with me because I was using it as yet another excuse to have fun being silly. Prime examples of how one can have far too much fun coming up with irrelevant 6-word titles:

Tie-Dyed Underwear Frequently Worn Backwards
The Lawyers Are Gone; Who's Next?
The Lizard Whisperer and Other Lies

And, a few titles that might work just fine:

Grandma Got Pancaked; Grandpa Ran Away
How to Wahoo on a Budget
Tree-Hugging Neo-Liberal Book Freak
Frankly, My Dear, You're Losing It

My favorite, though, and the one I'm sticking with:

Book Avalanche Kills Unknown Blogging Personality

It hasn't come true, yet, but it seems likely. Off to take the fish out of the oven. Have a peachy day!

Hungry Bookfool Eats Fish; Stay Tuned (yes, another 6-word title)

2 Memes - 10 Ways to Tell I Wrote that Book (the one you rushed out and spent full-price to buy) and a Non-Fiction Meme

Chris of Stuff As Dreams Are Made On tagged me for one meme, "10 Ways to Tell a Book Was Written by Me" and then CJ of My Year of Reading Seriously Tagged me for a "Non-Fiction Meme", so I'm going to knock those out in one whack. And, then, I have to actually get dressed and go somewhere. Imagine that.

10 Ways To Tell A Book Was Written By Me

1. It will either have been written in 30 days or it will be unfinished and will essentially drag on, forever, as a part of my life; e.g.: "that paramedic novel . . . you know, the one I almost finished in 1997?"

2. It will have started with a single sentence and then progressed from there (as opposed to a well-formed idea . . . with a plot) or the idea will have arrived in the form of an astoundingly vivid dream that probably scared the peawaddin' out of me.

3. Someone's going to get hurt. I particularly love bonking my characters on the head, but I'm trying really hard to just trip them or get someone to shoot at them, these days. Laser guns are enormously fun.

4. The dialogue will rock. I've been told my dialogue is very realistic. This is humorous, of course, because I'm so seldom in the presence of other humans. Unless you count my family and we're all a little shy on acquaintance with reality.

5. This will surprise you (no, it won't; I'm kidding): the main characters will always have a sense of humor and tend to either poke fun at each other or do exasperating or weird things.

6. I can't even guess at what genre it'll be. You could end up with a sci-fi, a suspense, a romantic comedy, or a generic paranormal story.

7. It will not be a literary masterpiece. Nobody will use the words "tour de force" (thank goodness; that expression is so overused).

8. It will not have a pink cover. I'd seriously put my foot down on this point.

9. The novel will not be entirely my doing. I'll get a lot of help from people who are experts in whatever subject matter the novel involves.

10. It will take place someplace other than the Deep South because I just cannot get the hang of the way people speak, around here.

Wow, that was a bit more difficult than I expected. I actually had to go ahead and get dressed, run to the Big City, drop off my husband at the dental school, shop, pick up said husband, snatch
some lunch, drive to the school, scream all the way home (kiddo was driving -- oh, baby, we have got to work on those turns), feed the cat, and eat an almond cloud cookie (yes, it was every bit as good as it sounds). And, then I did the meme. Can I read now?

Nope, darn it, I can't because I must go on. Anyone who has managed to read this far and for whom the concept of writing their own version of the meme appeals . . . go get 'em.

Non-Fiction Meme

This one's CJ's doing. CJ was tagged by Guatami, who created the meme and whom I have got to add to my sidebar. Someone remind me.

a). What issues/topic interests you most--non-fiction, i.e, cooking, knitting, stitching, there are infinite topics that has nothing to do with novels?

A better question would be what doesn't interest me. Because, honestly, there are very few topics I can think of that I'm not willing to read about (and sometimes I just ignore myself and read them, anyway). I have books on gardening, cooking, food, animals, science, scuba diving, climbing, sculpture, home decorating, geography, geology, history, numerous crafts, sailing, writing, travel/adventure/exploration, war, politics, photography, architecture, medicine, paleontology . . . geez, you name it.

b). Would you like to review books concerning those?

Oh, sure.

c). Would you like to be paid or do it as interest or hobby? Tell reasons for what ever you choose.

It would be nice to be paid for something before I die, yes, thank you.

d). Would you recommend those to your friends and how?

I recommend books to specific people based on what I know of their interests and I recommend books, here. So, yes, I do and I have. All the time.

e). If you have already done something like this, link it to your post.

A war memoir I gave a 5/5 rating and which I highly recommend to anyone who likes reading about WWII.

f). Please don't forget to link back here or whoever tags you.

Hi Guatami! I linked at the top. Have a happy day!

Who wants to do this one? The following people are obviously aching to join in (and if not, totally allowed to ignore the tagging):

Kookiejar
Andi
SuziQ
The Stephanie who Confesses
The Stephanie who Went to China, recently
Bybee
Book Nook Les
Nik of Keep this on the DL
Nat
Candlelit Amy

This could be really fun. I agree with CJ that we don't seem to discuss nonfiction, around here, very often.

Gotta go. Happy Valentine's Day, everyone!!!

Mouse Bar, above, came from Art By Cheryl. Sorry, the HTML thing is eluding me. I need a nap.

The weirdness of Bookfool, a meme

I was tagged for this meme by Joemmama at Life Happens While Books are Waiting. Weird? Me? I had to think about it, even though I know there's plenty of weirdness about me (but I'm used to my personal weirdness level). I've added my husband's opinion to a few of these, just for grins. He's sitting here laughing at me.

7 Weird Things About Me:

1- I am a creature of habit living in a house of chaos. My husband thinks I'm obsessive-compulsive. Personally, I think OCD is a "condition" created by drug companies for the sake of selling lifestyle prescriptions, but that's just me. The gist of it is that I believe there is a place for everything and everything should be in its place. So, I put my keys in the same location every time I walk in the door and my phone in the same slot in my purse and I must read before bed every night or I will surely die, etc. So, when something of mine turns up missing, I go completely ballistic. I know where it should be! But, I live with an absent-minded professor type and my home is bizarrely chaotic, in spite of my efforts. C'est la vie.

2- I have a high musical aptitude and play 4 instruments. But, I've never bothered to become skilled at any of them (although I was a pretty good flute player, way back when). That's just weird. I've always figured it's crazy to let a talent languish. Husband's opinion: "That's not weird; it's just lazy."

3- I spent one summer (as a teenager) completely addicted to soap operas and have been disinterested in television, ever since - to the point that I often forget to tune in, even when I like a show (like House, M.D.). I watched 5 hours' worth of soaps, every day, that particular summer; but, by the time school resumed I'd come to the realization that I hated "cliffhanger" endings. I love movies, though, as it seems to me that they tell a complete story in a way that television does not.

4- I didn't want to go to Hawaii; I wanted to stay home and do housework. Honest. But, I don't consider that completely weird, as my husband trashed the place while I was in Oklahoma and, knowing I have limited time before I have to return to OK, I just wanted to make the house livable. Husband's opinion: "Yep, that's weird, all right."

5- When I bought placemats for our new table, I got an extra one for the cat. They're plastic and wipe clean easily. It makes sense; she's a really messy eater. Husband's opinion: "Now you're really getting into the weird stuff."

6- I am completely unable to put my own needs ahead of those of my husband or children, to the point that I'm perpetually miserable and feel like I've wasted 25 years of my life. However, I'm an optimist and constantly look for the bright side of everything. And, I keep telling myself things will improve. Weird. Husband's opinion: "That's just sad."

7- I can't stop buying books, even though we're all tripping over them. And, I think hamburger is disgusting. And, I think it makes no logical sense to believe in a story that sounds like every other myth created by cultures that go back to the dawn of time, yet I still believe in Christ and am absolutely, firmly convinced there's a higher power. And, I think it's perfectly reasonable to "quote" my poppets. And, I can't stand the ridiculous, shiny-white perfection of all those movie stars' teeth. And, and, and . . . I could, unfortunately, probably go on all day. Darn. I'm weird.

All together, now: Ooooh. Aaaaah. (And, an anticipated comment from Mom: "Oh, my gosh, you're going to blind yourself.")


This is a busy time of year, so I'm going to go for the lazy and kind option, again - if you're interested in doing the weird meme, you've officially been tagged. Go for it.

Bookfool, off to fight the clutter

A Men Meme , a Million Miles, a Mail Delivery, a Mega-cool Contest and More

If only it wasn't true.

Lynne tagged me for the following meme . . . and you can't help but love the description:

“Ten Literary Characters I Would Totally Make Out With If I Were Single and They Were Real But I’m Not, Single I Mean, I Am Real, But I’m Also Happily Married and Want to Stay That Way So Maybe We Should Forget This.”

Hahaha. I love it. This is a much harder list to come up with than I imagined. I tend to forget the characters in a book pretty quickly, so I had to really work at it. Here's my list:

1. Mr. Darcy from Pride and Prejudice (Colin Firth would do fine)
2. Ranger from the Stephanie Plum series by Janet Evanovich
3. Rhett Butler from Gone with the Wind
4. Either Sebastian or Max in the Gardella Vampire Chronicles by Colleen Gleason (or both, but not at the same time)
5. Joe Morelli from the Stephanie Plum books
6. William Ferrers from Sense and Sensibility (not the actor - the character)
7. Cavin of Far Star from Your Planet or Mine? by Susan Grant
8. Dr. Powell from The House on the Strand by Daphne du Maurier
9. Reef, also of Your Planet or Mine by Susan Grant? (and How to Lose an Extraterrestrial in 10 days, which I haven't yet read)
10. Edward Cullen from Twilight by Stephanie Meyer

That was fun! I'm supposed to tag a few people. Les, Colleen (because she had to have gotten her inspiration for Sebastian and Max somewhere), and Kookiejar, tag, you're it!

Speaking of Colleen and her wonderful novels . . . Kailana has a contest going and the prize is a $25 Amazon gift card, a Vis Bulla t-shirt and a copy of Colleen's next book, The Bleeding Dusk. Not an ARC but a real copy with the gorgeous purple cover. Signed and everything! Oooooh, ahhhhh. In order to enter the contest, you need to either write a fan fiction, draw a picture, or take a photo relating in some way to Colleen's novels - the Gardella Vampire Chronicles (read the full details at Kailana's blog). And, of course, if you haven't read them you really ought to just run right out and get the first two, anyway. So, Kailana has given you added incentive. Very cool. Don't you think Colleen must have done something good to garner such fantastic cover art? I never cease to be amazed by her knock-out covers.

In latest news . . . it's Million-Mile Monday (for us, anyway)! Meaning, Delta's Sky Miles program sent hubby a note saying he has reached a million miles of travel with Delta Airlines and he gets a free gift. Well, cool. But, think about it. That's one airline we're talking about. A million miles in 20 years. 50,000 miles a year. At an average of 50 weeks per year (let's just assume he actually stays home for two weeks a year), we're talking 1,000 miles per week. Since 2001, the airlines have downgraded the number of miles they award. That makes it 1000+ miles - not just a thousand but at least a thousand miles a week, on average, that my husband has traveled since our move to the Deep South. And, my Huzzybuns does not just fly with Delta Airlines. Is it any wonder I feel like I've been a single parent for my entire adult life? I looked at that card and thought maybe the husband ought to give me a gift for putting up with him. So, I went to the Delta site and picked out the free gift, a cute little roll-on suitcase. And, you know who will be here when it shows up on the doorstep . . . moi. I feel like I should insert an evil laugh, here. Except, you know, the husband said it was fine if I picked the suitcase out for myself. It would almost be more fun to feel like I'm being sneaky.

It's also Mug the Mailman Monday! Although, I didn't have to mug him because he very kindly delivers. Point being, I got a book in the mail, today. Ask anyone about that and they'll say, "So, what else is new?" Okay, yes, books frequently come and go by mail, here. But, this one is special because I won it from j.kaye in a drawing. It's always ridiculously exciting to win something, especially when you're enough of an airhead to have already forgotten by the time it arrives (yep, that's me). I've tucked her note inside, so you can see it:


J. Kaye's review made it sound like loads of fun, so I'm hoping I'll get to this one, soon.

Currently reading: A Vision of Murder by Victoria Laurie. Figured I'd try to squeeze in one more RIP novel. This one has something to do with ghosts, but I haven't gotten that far, yet.

The book I most want to get my mitts on, as soon as possible: Divisadero by Michael Ondaatje

A random photo that I happened across while looking for photos of autumn leaves (but it was taken in December . . . in Louisiana):


Makes you want to break out the paint set, doesn't it?

Must go. My cat needs me. Happy Monday or Tuesday or Whatever Day You Read This!

Bookfool in a good mood

Moaning Meme

I've got a lot of catch-up to do. Tristi tagged me for the Moaning Meme, earlier this week, and I couldn't concentrate to write anything at all and then I couldn't read the screen because my eyes were all puffy (I was so not ready for that cat to die). But, I'm fine to moan, now. We are all fine here. So, here we go . . .

5 people who will be annoyed you tagged them:

Who wouldn't? Lazy alert! I don't want to take the time to think of 5, so anyone who feels like moaning is tagged. I love saying that: "You're all tagged (insert evil laughter).

4 things that should go into room 101 and be removed from the face of the earth:

Violence of all kinds
Prejudice
The Hollywood image of perfection (I am so sick of those perfect, totally fake teeth)
Icky bugs

3 things people do that make you want to shake them violently:

Refuse to take responsibility for their actions (I'm stealing this one from Tristi)
Drive while talking on cell phones
Drink and drive

2 things you find yourself moaning about:

My house. I hate the clutter, the quantity of things that have gone unrepaired, the fact that it's badly insulated, the shape of the rooms . . . I just hate my house.
The neighborhood dogs that are not fenced because we have no leash laws.

1 thing the above answers tell you about yourself:

I need to get off my fat fanny and do something about the darned house instead of moaning about it and I should just go ahead and fork out the money for a fence.

RULES: Link to the original meme at freelancecynic.com so people know what it's all about! Be as honest as possible, This is about letting people get to know the real you! Try not to insult anyone - unless they really deserve it or are very, very ugly!
Post these rules at the end of every meme!

Anyone feel like moaning?

Definition for Meme: Me Me Me . . . and the latest from that guy in Italy

I've been tagged! In fact, I was tagged twice for the "Eight Things About Me" meme, first by Gentle Reader and then by MizB. And, after I finished, Melissa tagged me! I love being tagged because it makes me feel loved, so thanks to all three of you. It's much more difficult than I realized to come up with eight things that seem to be worth mentioning. You can tell me if they're the slightest bit interesting.

Here are the rules:

1: Each player starts with 8 random facts/habits about themselves.
2: People who are tagged, write a blog post about their own 8 random things, and post these rules.
3: At the end of your post you need to tag 8 people and include their names.
4: Don't forget to leave them a comment and tell them they're tagged, and to read your blog.

It's going to be very, very difficult to find 8 people who haven't been tagged, near as I can tell. I'll get to that later, though . . . here goes:

Eight Things About Me

1. I grew up in a small town in Oklahoma. To receive a television signal, we had a 100-foot metal tower adjacent to our home. On pleasant days (and whenever I heard sirens, if the weather was clear), I used to climb the tower and hop up onto the roof. My family and the neighbors thought I was completely nuts, but I liked the view.

2. I had a grade-school sweetheart. We met in first grade and exchanged gushy valentines throughout elementary school, but never did anything beyond hand-holding. During junior high, we went to separate schools and he walked to my house every year to give me his school photo, always with a nice sentence or two about how much I meant to him scrawled on the back. I think I still have his photos and Valentine's cards, somewhere. I hope not.

3. The first photograph I ever took was a photo of one of my dad's roses. I snapped it with a black-and-white Poloroid camera when I was seven years old, and it was quite clear (no visible camera shake). Everyone was stunned. No amount of begging could convince my cheapskate parents to buy me a 35mm camera, so I didn't get a 35mm till I was in my 20's.

4. I met my husband the second week of my freshman year at Oklahoma State University and was 19 when I walked down the aisle. If anyone at all had said, "You don't have to go through with this," I would have backed out.

5. This is how my mother describes me: "Nancy is not very . . . domestic." No kidding. I am not cut out to be a housewife. Staying home was meant to be a temporary thing. I won't go into why that didn't turn out as planned because I'll start whining.

6.My grandmother (really, the only grandparent I knew) was an artist who taught at university level. I have a beautiful little watercolor painting of hers on my living room wall and I had to do a lot of finagling to talk my mother into letting me have it. My grandmother painted it when she was 10 years old.

7. I park as far away from a store as possible because I love to walk. I'm not good at sitting still.

8. Some of my ancestors on my father's side of the family entered the United States via New Orleans in the 17th Century and traveled up the Mississippi River. They settled in Missouri and farmed; and, during the Civil War, one of my ancestral families had a set of brothers who fought on opposite sides.

I'm tagging a.book.in.the.life, kookiejar, Heather, booklogged, Heidijane, Lotus, malady, and coversgirl. But, don't feel obligated if you don't have the time or inclination.

Latest in the Italian saga: Hubby called, today. The good news is that he thinks he's got it all figured out how we can have an enjoyable holiday in Tuscany, some time in the future. The annoying news is that he prattled on about his latest wonderful experience. And, some of you guys will just drool at the thought of what he did. He took an all-day cooking class. This is how it went:
They pick you up and take you to the villa.
There's a basement kitchen with huge sinks and 15-20 foot counters.
They turn on some music and pour some wine.
The students follow the chef outside, where they cut fresh herbs.
They go inside and learn how to cook something.
They drink a little wine.
They cook a little more.
They drink a little wine.
They cook a little more.
I interjected, at this point: "You burn your sleeve and continue drinking wine . . . "
Suffice it to say, he had a blast and now knows what to do with that monstrous bush of fresh sage we've got growing in our herb garden.

Youngster had tryouts for band at 5:45 and wanted to go early to practice, so I took the camera and walked around the marshy area, twice. It was very difficult to get close enough to shoot photos of the birds, but I did my best. Here's my favorite of the red-winged blackbird photos I took:
I'll try again, another day. I worked a good-sized blister onto the top of one foot. Remind me to wear running shoes, next time.

Here are some other things I saw:


I got a little hot and smelly, so I'm off to take a bath. Chris has tagged me for another meme, so I'll try to do that one, tomorrow. I'm reading far too slowly, so I haven't finished any books, just yet.

Wishing you many beautiful sights.

Bookfool

Five Favorite Restaurants and other jazz

I've been tagged by the lovely Nat of In Spring it is the Dawn for a Restaurant Meme, so I'll write up my meme answers before sinking into chatter mode.

The rules:

1. Add a direct link to your post below the name of the person who tagged you. Include the state and country you’re in.

Nicole Tan (Sydney, New South Wales, Australia)
velverse (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia)
LB (San Giovanni in Marignano, Italy)
Selba (Jakarta, Indonesia)
Olivia (London, England)
ML (Utah, USA)
Lotus (Toronto, Canada)
tanabata (Saitama, Japan)
bookfool (Mississippi, USA)

2. List out your top 5 favorite places to eat at your location.

3. Tag 5 other people (preferably from other countries/states) and let them know they’ve been tagged.

I can tell you, to begin with, that there aren't any places at all, locally, that excite me like . . . say, like a good book. So, I'll go with our area, as a whole, and throw in one restaurant I like in Vicksburg (but which doesn't make me jump up and down, oh well).

My five favorite restaurants:


1. Taylor Grocery in Taylor, Mississippi - Even after 20 years in Mississippi, catfish still turned me off till recently. Something about the idea of catfish being "bottom-feeders", possibly. But, Taylor Grocery (Taylor is near Oxford, home of the University of Misssissippi and Faulkner's Rowan Oak) reformed me, forever. The food was so melt-in-your-mouth good, the catfish so perfectly crispy and tender at the same time . . . seriously, I could imagine myself as Meg Ryan in the diner scene of When Harry Met Sally, but the ecstasy would be real instead of fake and over food instead of a guy. It's that good.

While writing this post, I've realized that atmosphere and service are absolutely critical or I'll ditch a restaurant, no matter how terrific the food. Taylor Grocery has excellent service, a down-home country atmosphere and even live music. It's worth a cross-country drive. But, I only have to drive about 3 1/2 hours to get there.


2. Madre in Oxford, Mississippi (no website available) - Bear in mind that we're still discussing places that require a three-hour drive from my home (close enough). Madre is a Mexican restaurant situated on Oxford's lovely town square. If you order guacamole they bring a little rolling cart with a drawer of ingredients from which you can choose, so your guacamole is specialized with just the right amount of various spices. Cool. At right is my a photo of my husband's meal from our last visit to Oxford: fish tacos. Excellent. I stole a bite, of course

3. Bottletree Bakery in Oxford, Mississippi (no website) - Of course, the baked goods are to die for, but the surprising food at Bottletree is the soup. No matter what kind of homemade soup they whip up (and I promise you, Bottletree is not a can-opening type of place), it is just flat amazing. Unfortunately, you have to get there at just the right time to get soup. Too early and they haven't finished cooking. Too late and it's gone. Well, of course. I used to think I hated soup. Not if it's from Bottletree. The interior is very quirky and artistic, another thing I tend to love in a favorite restaurant.

4. Keifer's in Jackson, Mississippi - Again, I can't find a website, but I see that Keifer's is described as "Greek-American food with a Southern bent". Oh, my. Is that a weird description, or what? Maybe it's the greasy cottage fries that lend it the "Southern bent" bit. Definitely not the place I go for healthy food, as we dip our cottage fries in some kind of heavy cheese sauce that makes me drool just thinking about it. Keifer's typically has excellent service and they have the advantage of a choice between seating inside (the interior has a lot of Greek memorabilia and some old travel posters - kind of cute) or outside on one of two decks. We almost always sit outside.

5. Billy's Italian Villa in Vicksburg, Missisippi- I was going to write about a local hotel restaurant with a French chef and then I started the entry and realized . . . oh, my gosh . . . it could never be a favorite because the atmosphere is cold-shoulder, crappy-service supremo. Okay, so ditch that and let's go with one that has tremendous service. Billy actually lives just down the block from us and the restaurant is a little thing tucked into the corner beside the office of our outlet mall. Before Billy's arrived, many other little establishment's came and went in that mall corner, usually with awful food and sassy service. Billy runs it with family and a few other hires. The food is consistent and probably very, very bad for the hips but absolutely delicious. And, the service is tremendous. The atmosphere is bland but there's so little we like locally (especially with reasonable service) that we always enjoy going there.

I just recently began taking photos of food and interiors of restaurants, so there aren't any photos to go with #'s 4 and 5, sorry. Now for the tagging:

Tag! You're it! Okay, yes, I'm being lazy because I'm a little under the weather and don't feel like doing a lot of blog-hopping, this weekend.

Bookwise:

Still having a little trouble concentrating to read, so I'm halfway into three books. I'm enjoying all three. It's fun revisiting Victoria the vampire slayer in Rises the Night by Colleen Gleason, I love JoJo Moyes' writing and am thoroughly hooked by Foreign Fruit, and Hank has some fascinating little tidbits of life experience to share in A Spoonful of Humor. So, while I'm not doing a great job of concentrating, I'm reading some very good books.

Just walked in: Pressed Pennies by Steven Manchester, a book to review for Estella's Revenge. It looks great and I see he's written about his war experiences in Desert Storm, also. Uh-oh. You know how much I love those war memoirs.

Due to the fact that I've slept off most of the weekend, I've hardly taken any photos at all. That is a strange feeling, I must say. I think I also forgot to mention that the newspaper published a second one of my photos, so they've printed 2 out of the 3 that I sent them for consideration. Last week's was a photo of wisteria dangling over bricks, which some of you may remember from one of my Wahoo! Wednesday posts (not the same one, but I took several). Unfortunately, I didn't bother to correct the misspelling of my name because I figured they wouldn't print any more. Oopsy.

My camera is occasionally doing something terribly hinky. Here are two photos which the camera claims were taken at the same shutter speed and aperture, but obviously something went very wrong on the first exposure:

This has happened several times, now, but in the other cases I simply got a black frame - totally black. Hmm. The only other photos I've taken, this weekend, were a few that I took of the husband mowing the yard. I wanted to practice panning a little, as I haven't done that in a very long time. Here's my favorite practice shot:

In case anyone is wondering, I didn't touch up the color. Our yard really is that green. Mississippi is a very colorful place.

Hope everyone has had a great weekend! I'm off to stick my nose in a book.

Cheers from Bookfool

My Favorite Type of Writing - a Meme - and other stuff

I still need to do the meme Chris tagged me for, but since Andi of Tripping Toward Lucidity and Heather of A High and Hidden Place both also tagged me for a very short meme on favorite writing types, I've decided to go for the writing meme first. It's easier on my little brain. You get to see all sorts of stupid links to my writing, in this one. Oh, goody.

"What's Your Favorite Type of Writing?" And I should mention, your favorite type of writing to do as opposed to your favorite type of writing to read.

Actually, that's a little harder than I thought. Sigh. I think my strong suit in writing is probably the most outwardly boring thing on the planet: writing book reviews and articles. I only really enjoy writing them if I have the freedom to write casually, in a style that I consider chatty and conversational, hence the decision to begin blogging, last year, which gave me the option to post a serious review on my somewhat staid listserv and then talk more freely about my feelings at length, elsewhere. Writing columns or articles is my most heavily published area, as I used to write articles on writing (which were published in various newsletters) and have been involved in writing for two ezines, now (shameless plug for Andi and Heather's cool new book ezine: see Estella's Revenge). My old ezine column was a slice-of-life humor column called "Signs of Life" and the columns are still archived. You can read my third column, which is among my personal favorites, here.

I think my favorite type of writing is anecdotal, but I get the most satisfaction out of completed creative writing, probably because it's something I really have to work hard to finish. I've "won" National Novel Writing Month, twice, but only actually wrote "The End" on one of those two books. And, I've had exactly one short story published. My friend, John, used to rib me about the fact that I had exactly five rejection letters and one published story. He thought that was a pretty good percentage, I guess. In five years, I still haven't altered those statistics. How sad is that? That's because I really haven't written much fiction, apart from those NaNo novels.

Gosh, I hope that didn't put you to sleep. I tag Canadian Chris of Book-a-Rama and Jessica of In Search of Dessert to continue this meme.

Just finished: Earthly Joys by Philippa Gregory. Finally. Review forthcoming.

Almost done with: The Secret Lives of People in Love by Simon Van Booy

Didn't get around to: Posting a Thursday Thirteen. But, I thought about it and started a list; I wasn't actually sure if it was . . . . I don't know, relevant? I was just going to mention thirteen beautiful things from my walk in the park, yesterday. I think I'll just give you a quick list, right now. Here you go.

13 Beautiful Things I saw, heard and smelled in the Park, Yesterday (and a few small pics of some of them, which kiddo and I took, later - 'cause New Orleans Chris asked to see photos):

1. A fuzzy vanilla-colored caterpillar in a hurry (he was hauling - it was so cute).
2. Purple-flowered weeds that are knockout gorgeous.


3. A hawk lazily circling above me and then landing in the top of a tree.
4. Male and female cardinals - a couple - flying together.
5. A jogging mother pushing a dual stroller (one baby, one toddler) with a gorgeous dog on a leash, running at their side.
6. An angel tombstone in the Jewish cemetery (a really interesting old cemetery that borders the park near its exit - you can read about people who died in the yellow-fever epidemics during the 19th century on some of the tombstones).


7. My friend, Tom, leaning on a pickup truck to chat with someone. He never fails to turn to say, "Hey, Nance, how ya doin'?" or wave if he's farther away (or driving past - he works in the park).
8. Bluebirds nesting in a cannon.


9. Three yellow butterflies that swirled around my legs.
10. Mystery snow - really, I don't know what it was, maybe something like cottonwood seeds or insects swarming? Whatever I saw, it was from a distance, back-lit, and looked like falling snow. It was beautiful.
11. Honeysuckle! I love the smell, taste, and sight of honeysuckle!
12. This other plant, which has a powerful, cloying smell but is very attractive:

13. Our flag at half-mast. It's a sad sight, but also a nice symbol of solidarity during a time of grief for many.

I chopped those photos down thinking they'd be good to stick at the top of future Thursday Thirteens (you can click on any of them to see a larger image). Anyone who can teach me how to add lettering to a photo, would you, please please please? I could use some help. I've asked the spouse and he just says, "Photoshop. Need to learn Photoshop." Okay, yes. But, the only course I've seen advertised locally is a night course in Jackson and I can't do that because Mom Chauffeuring is the priority.

Just bought: Some camouflage clothing so I can try not to freak out the wildlife when I want to get a bit closer. Seriously. My husband thinks I've lost it. We'll see if the camo works. I'm pale and blonde, almost luminous in the spring when I have no hint of a tan. Shoot, I'd be frightened if I was a bird and saw a bright thing like a Bookfool heading in my direction.

Hope to get that review posted, tonight. Happy Friday, everybody!