Kelly’s Neighborhood

QotD: Favorite High School Class

Nacwolin
2 hours ago
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What was your favorite class in high school? (And no, lunch doesn't count.)
French. Was my favorite college class too.
Would love to take more classes - or better yet, spend a year in Paris so I could be immersed in the language. I love the way it sounds.

read it once, read it twice...

Look! NumNuts! I mean YumNuts!

For the record, my father's favorite expression while driving when I was a kid: Get the fuck out of the way, NumNuts!

(I love the package design though.)

Things that make you go hmmm

Just wondering if I am the only person that tends to eat more when they are sick. It's like, I feel bad, so I go around the house eating whatever I can get my hands on hoping that it will be the magical thing that will make me feel better. In the end, I'm still sick and now my pants are tight too.

Where my nose was stuck in October.

Definitely Dead (Book 6 [Southern Vampire Series #6](Book Club Edition)

Whisper to the Blood: A Novel (Kate Shugak Novels)

The Treasure Map of Boys: Noel, Jackson, Finn, Hutch, Gideon--and me, Ruby Oliver

I decided that I would undertake more of Scott Westerfeld's books, since I was writing summaries of the Uglies series for the RFI website. I decided to embark on the Midnighters series, and started with book one: The Silent Hour. It is the story of five teenagers who all were born at Midnight, and therefore can see things that others can't. They get a whole extra hour at Midnight, where the rest of the world is frozen, and their powers come alive. On can fly, one can mind cast. You get the picture. They discover that there are ancient creatures that can only move during this 25th hr, and they have a dangerous power, and are evil. This book was fun. Fluff but fun. Westerfeld is an engaging author, and not overly verbose. It is a quick read.

The Books of Umber: Happenstance Found was a formulaic book that really didn't seem to have much of a story. Sure there was stuff going on. Lord Umber is clearly a man from our world who escaped into another one just as we succeed In destroying ourselves. He is struggling to find meaning, and documenting everything he finds. He comes across Happenstance, a young boy with startling eyes, who has no recollection of his past. There is some conflict, but for the most part this was a fairly bland story. It seems like it's mostly exposition for later volumes in the series. I'd read another, but only if it promised more action.

Love, Stargirl is the sequel to Stargirl, both by Jerry Spinelli. I loved these books, and this one is written as a letter from Stargirl to the boy she loves, Leo. She's dealing with the heartbreak of the last year, and the move from Arizona to Pennsylvania. We meet Dootsie, the adorable 5-yr-old. The "Honeybee's" and a myriad of other characters, all a part of Stargirls new entourage. It was so good watching this unusual girl rediscover herself in the midst of a new world. I highly recommend these books, especially for girls. It's such a great lesson in how important it is to be yourself.

Then I skated through the next in the "Trueblood" series. I'm so enjoying them. Such a delightful guilty pleasure. Life is so much more fun with vampires, shifters, faeries, and Sookie Stackhouse. Definitely Dead was no exception. Sookie has started dating a Were-Tiger, Quinn, and is going to pack up her murdered cousin's apartment. In the middle she saves Louisiana's vampire Queen a lot of Disappointment, and even Death. She also discovers some horrible things about Bill, the first love of her life, and Civil war Veteran (yes, in case you hadn't figured it out, Bill's a vampire). Sometimes Sookie gets a tad tiresome, but if you listen to it, like I do, the soft southern lilt of the reader makes up for any poor editing :)

Kate DiCamillo never fails to win my heart, and The Tiger Rising is no exception. This story follows a young boy who's miserably picked on at school, and ignored at home. He lives in a small motel where his father is the maintenance man. It's been their home since his mother died of a long illness. There is heartbreak and hope intertwined all through this book. Kate DiCamillo creates characters of depth and life. You just want to reach through the book and hug them. Then, of course, there is the Tiger.

Push by Sapphire is a novel that is coming out in theaters this week. It's the story of Precious, a 16yr old African-American girl who's father has repeatedly raped her. She's pregnant with her second child by him, and has just been kicked out of school. She's illiterate, and abused by her mother, who has stood idly by as Precious has been abused by her father. What makes this novel even more authentic is that it's written in Precious's voice, just like she would speak it. A daring and heartbreaking book.

My second Russian Novel. Crime and Punishment was not near as enjoyable as Anna Karenina. I really was not impressed with Raskolnikov. He really was just a user who thought he was superior to everyone, and therefore entitled to live by a different set of rules. Bah. I wasn't fooled. He really needed a good spanking! That being said, some of the other characters were interesting. Razumhikin, Donia, and Svid...whatever the rest of his name is. I might attempt Dostoevsky again, but I would rather do Tolstoy again.

Whisper to the Blood is the latest in Dana Stabenow's 'Kate Shugak' series. I love this Author, this Series, and this lead character. Kate is interesting, complex, deep, clever, and in short, everything I would want to be, in the same circumstances....well most everything :) This installment is great in furthering her story, her struggles with admitting her love of Jim Chopin, dealing with the native politics, and finding her place in the Niniltna Native Association. Kate is also working to find who killed the person going around selling the idea of a new gold mine in the area. Twists, turns, snow mobiles, and Mutt, half dog half wolf that is Kate's best friend, all populate this enjoyable read.

The Treasure Map of Boys is the latest in the Ruby Oliver series. Ruby has panic attacks, and has trouble navigating the world of boys, high school, friendships, and being a social pariah. She's intelligent and inventive, and insecure and inept all in one. The book is ok. Not Brilliant, Not Horrible. I was glad for a new installment, as I'm somewhat invested in her fictional life now, but wouldn't be heartbroken if no more came out.

you've got to be kidding....

no more mr. WHAT?

poor dog

I feel like I'm 5 years old sometimes.

gunderson bee
4 days ago

I believe when people die, that their spirit is absorbed into the universe, just as god intended*. My mom, my best friend, my grand dad....

On a nightly basis, (usually when I take the dogs out) I look up at the sky, see all of those stars and realize that the number of familiar spirits is increasing. It makes me sad, but it also makes me incredibly curious.

I say hello to them all, say a little prayer and wonder what it's like for them out there....

(*well, that's what I think fwiw.)

WTF?

What is wrong with this picture

Need a Catchy Title

Since I have been neglected my blog I thought the perfect way to work back into it would to do a post everyday with the catchy little title/themes...Me and My Monday, Things on Tuesday, Wordless Wednesday...I think I made up Thankful Thursday, but since we are in the month of Thanksgiving I thought it would be appropriate. Problem is, I do not have a catchy title/theme for Friday. I know many people used to participate in Ugly Outfit Friday, but all of my outfits are ugly and I am not in to photographing myself lately.

So...what to call today....Fantastic Friday would probably be okay if it was indeed a fantastic Friday, but it is not. Freaky Friday might work better, but what do I post for that? Fried Friday could be an interesting. Kind of stumped.

Plus, after having a horrible night, I wake to find out that a neighbor's husband hung himself. And then one of the blog families I have come to love is losing their little boy today.

Maybe a more appropriate title would be F-ed Up Friday, but that is probably too offensive.

It's The Little Graces*

java janie
7 days ago
5 comments

Sure, I've been sick for a week and a half now with a cold that is holding on like a pit bull. And swine flu has hit the kids' school (not my kids luckily). But there are the graces in life that make it all ok.

Like a husband that snuggles with me every night, doesn't complain when I'm still under the weather, and is going to bring me home a cheesesteak for dinner or a good hair day when I am still struggling to come to grips with the fact that I cut all my hair off. (Also helps the lead alien on V is a brunette that's rocking the pixie cut.) Or realizing I have all the ingredients to make Cranberry Almond Biscotti and having it turn out so deliciously.

Nothing like the grace of a warm cozy sweater on a beautiful Autumn day and the smell of biscotti baking in the oven. Or the grace of a silly fuzzy chinchilla that begs for my attention every time I walk by the cage. A 15 year old son that will still give me bear hugs and 14 year old daughter that will still curl up on the couch next to me and lay her head on my shoulder when she isn't feeling well. New music that warms my heart and brightens my day.

Sure, I have a lot I could complain about, but so much more that God has blessed me with. And that's what I choose to do today.

*I realize this post is a complete mess as far as punctuation and grammar. I am hoping God would give me the grace of an editor to fix it. (I'm looking at you, Cori.) ;-)

White Space, take 2

Nacwolin
7 days ago
2 comments

Here I am again, two weeks in a row - woohoo! I probably won't get to do this next week since I only have three days in the office, but I am going to relish it today!

Notes from The Noticer:

"...a true friend holds you to a higher standard. A true friend brings out the best in you... A best friend...will tell you the truth...and a wise best friend will include a healthy dose of perspective." (p. 30)

"We grow up expecting everyone else to be just like us. And they aren't." (p. 42)

"I just think it's amazing...that a person could lose everything, chasing nothing." (p.49)

"...smart people get tripped up with worry and fear. Worry...fear...is just a misuse of the creative imagination that has been placed in each of us. Because we are smart and creative, we imagine all the things that could happen, that might happen, that will happen if this or that happens." (p.52)

About 8% of what we worry about are legitimate concerns (p.55)

"Most people spend so much time fearing the things that are never going to happen or can't be controlled that they have no energy to deal with the few things they can actually handle." (p. 55)

"...the seeds of depression cannot take root in a grateful heart." (p. 56)

Big takeaway from today's time: Perspective is everything.