So, the stars crossed in the heavens and planets aligned just right, and....I'm alone until Thursday afternoon.  Husband and Son are at Boy Scout camp, doing outdoorsly things.  Daughter is at Girl Scout camp, riding horses and other camp stuff. 

and, me.  I'm doing my lonesome happy dance.  I'll be trilled to see everyone again come the weekend, but the silence is golden.

Again, see astrological happenings.... what, you may ask, did I do first about coming home from GS camp?  Why, indeed, I began writing a story?!!!  what!!   Ok, see, this place (as yet nameless) has been living in my head for a couple of months.  I keep taking notes, which tend to contradict each other, and thinking that I should write it all down.  Well, I got thinking harder on the drive back from camp and started writing it down when I came home.  Got some ideas and some character type people to start talking to me.  Do you know characters have friends?

Guess what??  I have NO earthly idea what I'm doing.  But, I figure since I have some quality alone time, where I don't have to fight for computer access, maybe I'll see what happens.  BTW... 1000 words took an hour and a half.  Is this normal? 

dazed and confused....

Took Tony to a concert on Wednesday, as part of the Columbia Festival of the Arts.  It was an outdoor event with dinner and music from a string quartet, Sweet Plantain.  This is a group of young, professional musicians having an awful lot of fun blending sounds from Latin, jazz, classical and other types of music.  Two of the violinists are from Venezuela, one is from Orange, NJ, and the cellist is from the Bronx.  The cellist rocked!!  He played his cello as much pizzo as bowed.  Improv all over the place.  I never realized how rhythmic the string instruments could be. They played an arrangement of Cole Porter that took almost ten minutes, with all the riffs and solos. Lots of fun, and it was a perfect night to be out and enjoying music with the boy.

They are currently in the process of recording their first CD, but you can get a taste here.

as reported by rolanni

"The Big Read reckons that the average adult has only read 6 of the top 100 books they've printed."
1) Look at the list and bold those you have read.
2) Italicize those you intend to read.
3) Underline the books you LOVE.
4) Reprint this list in your own LJ so we can try and track down these people who've read 6 and force books upon them ;-)

my answers:

1 Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen
2 The Lord of the Rings - JRR Tolkien
3 Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte
4 Harry Potter series - JK Rowling (only through Goblet of Fire; I got bored)
5 To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee
6 The Bible (not ALL of it)
7 Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte
8 Nineteen Eighty Four - George Orwell
9 His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman
10 Great Expectations - Charles Dickens
11 Little Women - Louisa M Alcott
12 Tess of the D'Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy
13 Catch 22 - Joseph Heller
14 Complete Works of Shakespeare (not all of them)
15 Rebecca - Daphne Du Maurier
16 The Hobbit - JRR Tolkien
17 Birdsong - Sebastian Faulks
18 Catcher in the Rye - JD Salinger
19 The Time Traveller's Wife - Audrey Niffenegger
20 Middlemarch - George Eliot
21 Gone With The Wind - Margaret Mitchell
22 The Great Gatsby - F Scott Fitzgerald
23 Bleak House - Charles Dickens
24 War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy
25 The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams
26 Brideshead Revisited - Evelyn Waugh
27 Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoyevsky
28 Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck
29 Alice in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll
30 The Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Grahame
31 Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy
32 David Copperfield - Charles Dickens
33 Chronicles of Narnia - CS Lewis
34 Emma - Jane Austen
35 Persuasion - Jane Austen
36 The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe - CS Lewis
37 The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini
38 Captain Corelli's Mandolin - Louis De Bernieres
39 Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden
40 Winnie the Pooh - AA Milne
41 Animal Farm - George Orwell
42 The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown
43 One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
44 A Prayer for Owen Meaney - John Irving
45 The Woman in White - Wilkie Collins
46 Anne of Green Gables - LM Montgomery
47 Far From The Madding Crowd - Thomas Hardy
48 The Handmaid's Tale - Margaret Atwood
49 Lord of the Flies - William Golding
50 Atonement - Ian McEwan
51 Life of Pi - Yann Martel
52 Dune - Frank Herbert
53 Cold Comfort Farm - Stella Gibbons
54 Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen
55 A Suitable Boy - Vikram Seth
56 The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon
57 A Tale Of Two Cities - Charles Dickens
58 Brave New World - Aldous Huxley
59 The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time - Mark Haddon
60 Love In The Time Of Cholera - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
61 Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck
62 Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov
63 The Secret History - Donna Tartt
64 The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold
65 Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas
66 On The Road - Jack Kerouac
67 Jude the Obscure - Thomas Hardy
68 Bridget Jones's Diary - Helen Fielding
69 Midnight's Children - Salman Rushdie
70 Moby Dick - Herman Melville
71 Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens
72 Dracula - Bram Stoker
73 The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett
74 Notes From A Small Island - Bill Bryson
75 Ulysses - James Joyce
76 The Bell Jar - Sylvia Plath
77 Swallows and Amazons - Arthur Ransome
78 Germinal - Emile Zola
79 Vanity Fair - William Makepeace Thackeray
80 Possession - AS Byatt
81 A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens
82 Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell
83 The Color Purple - Alice Walker
84 The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro
85 Madame Bovary - Gustave Flaubert
86 A Fine Balance - Rohinton Mistry
87 Charlotte's Web - EB White
88 The Five People You Meet In Heaven - Mitch Albom
89 Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (not all of them)
90 The Faraway Tree Collection - Enid Blyton
91 Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad
92 The Little Prince - Antoine De Saint-Exupery
93 The Wasp Factory - Iain Banks
94 Watership Down - Richard Adams
95 A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole
96 A Town Like Alice - Nevil Shute
97 The Three Musketeers - Alexandre Dumas
98 Hamlet - William Shakespeare
99 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Roald Dahl
100 Les Miserables - Victor Hu

If you like military science fiction, then you’ll love R.M. Meluch’s novels of the U.S.S. Merrimack. They have an unquestionably good guy, an intrinsically evil nemesis, and all the shades of gray in between. Many of Meluch’s characters are simply larger than life. Captain John Farragut is the charismatic leader who commands respect because he cares deeply about everyone on his ship. Marine Kerry Blue is the ship’s self-appointed morale officer, much to the dismay of her hard-headed superior. Jose Maria Cordillera, a Nobel-winning scientist and aristocrat, provides a sophisticated civilian influence. The Roman Augustus, a cyborg-like patterner, can sift and collate information at an inhuman rate with amazing results. These characters and many others lead you through adventures, and you root for them to succeed against the odds all the way.

The series contains three novels to date, including The Myriad, Wolf Star, and The Sagittarius Command.  When the books begin, Earth has long established itself in space, complete with FTL travel.  In an interesting twist, once Earth reached the stars, Rome re-created itself as an empire by claiming the planet Palatine and calling all true Romans home. Earth and Roman immediately declare war, each trying to bring its erring children back into the fold.

Against this background comes the Hive, a monstrous entity that exists only to devour all organic material in its path. The Hive learns from its fights, reducing the Merrimack’s Marines to wielding swords. Necessity makes for strange bed partners, and the Hive forces Earth and Rome to unite uneasily against a common enemy.  The fun has only begun.

Meluch gives her readers not just a good story, but interesting science too. The first book plays with time, paradoxes, and parallel universes. Then ending of the first book is so wonderfully startling that I couldn’t wait to start the next immediately. The series also offers ideas about intra-galactic travel, FTL, colonization, pacifism, and alien life forms. Meluch provides some fun aliens, including plant lizards as pets and squid geneticists.

Read the three available books now, because a fourth Merrimack adventure is set o be published in November.

Celebrate. Remember. Fight Back.

On Friday night, the Howard County Library participated in a Relay for Life -- the major American Cancer Society fundraiser.  This is my second year walking in the Relay, and it's still just an amazing experience. It starts at about 6:30 pm with a Survivors' Lap... where all the cancer survivors in the community walk the track by themselves while the emcee calls names.  They usually receive a standing ovation as they take their lap.  Then all the teams start walking and try to maintain a track presence until about 6:30 am.  At 9:00-ish, the luminaria are lit in a wonderful, moving ceremony.  I know there weren't many dry eyes... including mine.  The candles provide the light for the track for the rest of the night.  It's beautiful, especially at the quiet time of about 3:00 am. 

I didn't get much sleep, but it was definitely worth the experience.  This year we had a team of about 20 people, who took turns walking the track.  Between turns walking, we'd hang out in camp, talk, and (at times) dance around.  Just about everyone had a story about how cancer has affected their lives and families.  Our team raised more than $5,000 and our Relay brought in more than $85,000.

If you have the opportunity to participate, it's a terrific experience.  If you can't participate, but hear of someone else doing so, please consider sponsoring them for the walk.  This fundraiser goes directly to the ACS, with very little taken out for administrative overhead.  The Relay helps fund research for ALL types of cancer.  Let's all work to together to defeat the Big C!

Here are the questions sent to me from danceswithwaves

1) If you could go into any book to talk to the characters there, but by doing so you may change the story, would you?

2) Has being a parent changed your perspective on books where kids are the main character and point of view?

3) If you had to pick one guilty pleasure to give up (eg: chocolate, soppy romances, weekly starbucks latte, etc) what would you pick and why?

4) What super-genius sci-fi-like machine would you invent if the materials were available?

5) What type of weather would you be?

1.  I would love to spend an afternoon talking to Cordelia Naismith Vorkosigan.  She has always sounded like loads of fun to engage in that lost art of conversation.  I'm not sure a single conversation with me could change Cordelia's story, she's such a strong, sure woman.  After all, this is the woman who gives the term "shopping the capital" an entirely new meaning.  It could change the story, it would still be worth it.  I'm betting Betan Dollars to sand that any change would be as interesting as the original story.  Besides, her heart is so true that the changes would be in the details not the main body of action.

2.  Yes.  I think I have a better 'ear' for how kids talk and think.  I've always enjoyed coming of age stories, and enjoy them more with young teens in my house.  Inda rocked my world every time I thought about his age compared to the children I live with, same goes for Jethri Gobelin from Lee and Miller's Balance of Trade.  I have much less patience for Pollyanna-type portrayals.  Kids are not all sweetness and light, and raising children has to be the hardest job on the planet when done well.  I'm also reading more YA-genre books.  I highly recommend Chris Crutcher for brutally truthful, well written books about teens.  Whale Talk is one of the most inspiring books I've ever read.

I also am much more aware of how adults in kid POV books are portrayed.  I get a little tired of being the bad guy.  For example, I read an ARC of Holly Black's Tithe for a friend at work.  I loved the story from the perspective of cool elves and strong YA female, but had some real reservations about how the parents (or complete lack of) were portrayed.  ummm...if any of my kids disappeared for long periods of time, I'd be raising hell -- literally and figuratively.  I have similar problems with the Stephenie Meyer books, where are the adults helping this young woman make decisions?  Where are the adults at all? Part of coming of age is gaining independence from parents/adults in your life, but I'd like to see the nurturing side of this sometimes, too.  Maybe it doesn't make for as good a story?  But, then again, see Cordelia Vorkosigan above.

3.  My guilty pleasures include chocolate, big bags of corn chips, soppy romances (books and movies), going out to lunch, and drinking with my girlfriends. NOOOOOOO... don't take any of them away.  OK... that's out of my system.  Corn chips would be hard but do-able, I'm not sure I could succeed with any of the others.  Isn't that awful?  Wow, I really had to think hard about this one.

4.  An air-scrubber.  Honestly, if we don't come up with some super-duper new-fangled save-the-world anti-pollution device, my kids' kids aren't going to live in the same world we do. I live in Maryland, and this state has one of the highest cancer rates in the nation.  Common sense tells us that it's because of the high amounts of industry, high density of living,  and that we've poisoned the Bay.  Despite 20 years or more of the Chesapeake Bay Foundation trying to raise awareness and make changes, the Bay's long-term diagnosis is dire.  We're going to try to grow oyster spats at home this summer.  Plus,  I read today in the newspaper that part of the Iowa/mid-west flooding is a man-made problem.  Like the song, "we paved paradise and put up a parking lot."

5.  I'm a fairly easy going human being.  I'd want to be a crisp fall day, with bright colors on the trees but a chill in the breeze.  I'd probably also bring over-night showers... because we need the rain, but I don't want to spoil the day.

Today my eldest-born finishes eighth grade and heads to high school in the fall.  How did this happen already?  My cheerful, curious toddler who always wanted to know how something worked is still mostly cheerful and curious.  He's also taller than I am (and I'm 5'9") and has to shave.  sigh

I like the adult my boy is becoming.  He's passionate about music and books.  He has a wicked dry sense of humor... but still laughs hysterically at You Tube vidoes of people doing stupid things.  His giggle is the most infectious sound I know.  He could care less for sports, although he's a brown-belt in tang soo do and really enjoys personal achievement. He enjoys the kitchen and is becoming a fairly good cook.  He's a first-class Boy Scout, with a love of nature and a good understanding of his place in it.  He seems to have a deep respect for God, and actually does not mind going to church.  (He'll ask which Mass we're planning for, assuming we're attending.)  Tony is almost unfailingly kind, but has no tolerance for fools. 

I can't wait to see what the future brings Tony.  He's so bright that he could accomplish whatever he wants.  I've thought engineering of some sort would suit him perfectly...but he has developed such a love for music.  I have such high hopes/desires for him:  to find real fulfillment in a career, to find a soul mate, to know deep down happiness and joy... and all the goodness of the world. 

sigh and smile...

My thoughts and prayers are with the families of the Boys Scouts killed in the tornado yesterday.  This was a leadership camp (boys getting ready to be counselors this summer, probably).  I'm sure these were all great kids.  I know this for sure of this because my family's highly involved in scouting, and I know the kids we have.  They are bright, beautiful, normal teenagers who love the outdoors and serving their communities. 

A tornado hit the shelter where the boys were waiting out the storm, and it knocked down the chimney.  They did everything right.

All Honor to Them. 

I tend to read several things at once: depending on my amount of time available, mood, and location.  Here's a quick update on what's current:

1.  The Feasting Season by Nancy Coons
This is a sexy, foodie, travel through France novel.  It's yummy on many levels, and complicated on several others.  Quick synopsis:  American writer, married to a Brit, living in France with the Brit and two small children is overwhelmed by her not-what-I-thought-it-would-be married life.  She pitches a travel/history book to her publisher, who pairs her with a cantankerous French photographer who is more interested in what's happening NOW than the wonders of history.  Sparks Fly!  Great meals and good sex ensues.  I suspect our photographer has Issues, which will further complicate the rest of the book.  So far, highly recommended.

2.  Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett
Currently re-re-reading just for fun, and in no particular order.  If you haven't read this yet, RUN to the bookstore and buy at least 2 copies.  It's one of the funniest books I've ever read.  I keep copies to lend, knowing they won't come back.

3.  The Sagittarius Command by R.M. Meluch
Just looked into this one yesterday.  Great space opera, fun characters, and twisty science.  It's brain bending in a sneaky way. The story seems to coming in close circles back to the first book... time paradoxes are quite strange creatures, apparently.  I'm very interested to see where this goes.  I'm told by unreliable sources that another Merrimack book might be coming soon.

4.  God Stalk by P.C. Hodgell
Started this one when the power went down a couple days ago, but didn't have the brain cells for it.  They kept melting in the 99 degree heat.  This has been recommended in several places, but I never thought much about it.  Then I found a short story in an old anthology (from the 80's!), and realized that my favorite piece was a P.C. Hodgell story set in the same world, about the same characters.  I bought this from Amazon's marketplace used tout-suite.  This one's going to have to wait until next week or later, once all the end-of-school stuff is out of my hair.

What are y'all reading?

I love thunderstorms.  I love the feel in the air as the wind picks up and the clouds billow over the house.  I love the reminder of nature's force and fury.

Yesterday, I was frightened by the thunderstorm that drove across the mid-Atlantic.  As I left work the storm was just beginning with big blops of raindrops.  I barely got wet in the 200 feet to my car. By the time I was four blocks away from the library, I could hardly see because it was raining buckets.  The rain came down so hard and fast that I could SEE the wind coming across the road.  And the wind seemed like a gale, knocking loose branches down all over.  I managed to get close to home, and cresting a hill I saw a lightening strike near (it seemed) close to home.  I couldn't get home by my normal route because a downed tree blocked the road.  I asked the kids (safe at home before the storm hit) about the lightening strike... my son said he felt the thunder in his chest it was so close.  Once the road cleared, I took my daughter to dance lessons by our normal route.  A giant old oak at the top of our street had been struck by lightening, and it just had shattered.  Luckily, it didn't hit a house!

I admire that power and glory of Nature.  BUT, I don't need to experience in that intensity again for a long while. The weather channel reported that storm moved at 70 mph.  !


On a happier note, today my husband and I celebrate 15 years of marriage.  I've now known him for almost half my life... and still can't imagine life without him.