Confessions of a One-Track Mind

I just got in from church, after not going for three weeks in a row---it's been YEARS since that last happened---and it was very nice.

When she was down last spring, GK gave me a sleeveless solid black dress, microfiber/chiffon. I hadn't worn it, thinking it was a bit dressy for church: I had to pin up the neckline, for one thing! but finally bit the bullet, otherwise I'd never have worn it before I outgrew it. It would benefit from a little taking in, but I thought it looked nice with a blue shrug and blue shoes for a color-block effect.

We had a guest speaker, the Reverend Ann Fuller, who is an actual Unitarian Universalist minister, as opposed to our usual Speaker Potluck. Her talk was "Antidote for Idolatry", defining "idolatry" as anything that comes between us and God, the Universe and Everything.

There was definitely food for thought there. By that definition, I suppose my clutter could be considered idolatry. Or my wardrobe---and I really have to go through that again; I *know* a lot of it---especially tops---is too big for me.

She also referenced "Whitethorn Woods", a novel by Maeve Binchy, which I own but haven't actually read yet. I'll be rectifying that soon, as I know where it is. It was nice to have someone to author-squee with! I recommended "Scarlett Feather" as my favorite of Binchy's---she's never read it, and I hope she does so we can squee some more next time she comes.

Sadly, we're going to be losing the Happy family. RHappy has gotten a job offer in Tampa that pays $20K a year better than what he's doing here, so they'll be departing soon. It's good that they have such a teriffic opportunity, but they were the young blood of the congregation, and it'll be hard to see them go.

I went to WalMart afterward, as is my wont. Got several packs of bug foggers (almost typed "bug floggers"---yikes!); I figure I'll bomb the whole house, give it a week to allow for any potential hatchings, then bomb it again. KILL ALL THE (evil) SPIDERS!!!

And maybe do some more laundry. I got a load done last week, so I've got basics, but I need to do bedding and towels and darks, so---laundry ahoy!

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My yard is mowed! Also got a branch that's been blocking my driveway whacked back. That'll make getting in and out easier.

Finally made a WalMart run and got light bulbs---for some reason, they all seen to go at once---and a few other bits and bobs I've been running out of. Like duct tape, which I was using as bandage adhesive. I had plain white---now I have leopard print. Heh heh. I *did* yield to temptation at one of the DVD bins and snagged "Death Race" for $5.

I'm midway through reading "Raylan", which is...odd. It feels like Leonard put season two and season three in a blender and hit "puree". Or whoever was writing for the show picked a plot here and a character there...bite my tongue, it feels kinda like fan fiction.

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I just got in from running around. I went out this morning, and by 9 AM, had my battery charged and was at the library with my woefully* overdue books shortly thereafter. Snagged Elmore Leonard's Raylan, which should be fun.

After the library, I went by Publix and did some knee-jerk shopping, the kind where we've been running out of things and craving other things and making the occasional impulse buy.

I'm going to do laundry later, honestly I am. Meanwhile, I still feel a certain sense of accomplishment for today.

The toe hasn't grumbled at all, despite shoes and no bandage.

And tomorrow, Jason the Lawn Guy is coming out to mow.

o=o=o==o=o=o=o=o

* "Woefully", in this case, being $8.40. I got a discount for my tale of toe, er, woe, and because they know me there.

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Still house-sitting.

Still no glasses.

Still haven't gotten to see One for the Money.

Still no sign of ANY of the things I had ordered and shipped here: books, LUSH, fabric swatches.

Still being driven crazy by the fence company, who tried to force me to pop for a survey. Funny how speaking with the owner and demanding my deposit back made THAT go away. Permit should be issued shortly; Monday is supposed to be installation day, but we'll see.

J has invited me to a play on Saturday: State Fair. I'm not familiar with it beyond thinking it's Rogers and Hammerstein---and I may be wrong about that, but am too lazy to look it up. She loves the theater but doesn't care to go alone. I like theater, too, and free is good.

Have been watching reruns of CSI: Miami---some so old they still have Tim Speedle in them---and was delighted to catch the two that introduce Kyle Harmon as H's son. What can I say? I cougar the heck out of the kid, I'm still annoyed that they wrote him out.

Currently reading 11/22/63, the latest Stephen King, where his time-traveling protagonist is going to try to stop the Kennedy assassination. It's about 800 pages, and I'm barely halfway through. That's okay, I've got it for a couple more weeks. Also read Hothouse Orchid by Stuart Woods. Not exactly a mystery or a thriller, but still fairly engaging.

I'm on the schedule for hospitality at church on Sunday. It's a voluntary thing; I signed up enthusiastically when I came into money, and this will be the third time in less than six weeks. Time to ease up and make other contributions, I think....

That's about it. TTFN.

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Which book do you find yourself regularly rereading, and why?

There's a warm place in my heart for Scarlet Feather by Maeve Binchy. I first ran across it five or six years ago when it was given to me by two different people within the span of a couple months. It's set in Ireland and has a whole raft of well-realized, engaging characters. Cathy Scarlet and Tom Feather are trying to establish themselves as caterers. The book is set over the course of twelve months as they cope with the demands of launching a business and keeping it afloat amid personal and professional challenges.

Binchy's writing in general is very much focused on character. Don't look for poetic descriptions of the lovely countryside or more than a sketchy setting of scene; on the other hand, you may feel you know her characters better than their mothers do. I also love her style of exposition. One sentence or paragraph gives concise backstory, and yet it hints that there's a whole 'nother book there that we can only guess at. I'd love to be able to write that way---I think one reason I've reread it so much is because I'm hoping it'll rub off.

That said, I wish publishers were required to add warnings for character death. Let me just say that if you DO pick up Scarlet Feather, you might want to avoid her latest, Minding Frankie. She does in a previously established character, and completely broke my heart. Yes, I know that bad stuff happens to good people in real life, but damn it! Art need not imitate life.

This isn't my only much-reread book, but it's been on my mind ever since I read Minding Frankie.

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I've spent most of the last 24 hours in air, it's lovely. The dogs have been furry angels, the cat comes and goes, the ducks are...feathered.

I had the lights off at midnight and slept for seven hours solid, got up early, went out intending to get a couple things from the store...ended up detouring and doing something I haven't done in ages---I went to a yard sale. At least, that's what they were calling it---it was, in fact, being held n a storage unit.

I spent a *total* of $4, for which I got four books, an interesting suede and sheepskin tote and a tropical floral bedspread (full). The books are a treasury of household hints---recent, but done in the style of the 50s. A Grange cookbook, probably from the 50s. And the piece-de-resistance, a big hardcover book of cars from the 50s, which I saw and snatched. The final book is on runes, it's going to AI, cos she's into that stuff.

Hit Publix and WalMart (because there are some things I will NOT pay Publix prices for), came back to the house, watched Overhaulin', had brunch, went upstairs and took a nap. A three-hour nap. Which I wasn't intending, because now I'll be up all night. Swell.

I must've needed it, though, because I had a LOT of REM, some of which I even remember. There was something about Kat down-sizing, and GK was helping her. Instead of the middle-class mobile home she actually lived in, she was in a grand house with a lot of antiques. Part of the dream dealt with some Murano glass sculptures that a gay couple had bought, and we had to get it out to their truck. They were carrying the life-sized glass alligator while I brought up the rear with a smaller piece, some kind of snake or sea serpent.

GK had also rearranged the foyer with a bunch of maple storage cubes being used to display a lot of old classic books. There was an ivory and gold bedroom set that I was lusting after, but wasn't sure it would fit in my room. Two guys came in, young and shifty---they were looking for some money that was supposedly stashed in the house. They were half my age, but I managed to catch them and throw them down a flight of stairs.

There was something else about books---I remember seeing a row of blue Hardy Boys bindings---but I don't know what was going on with that one. Three hours...I know I dreamed more than that.

Going over to J's in a little while for movie night. Am going to try to hook her on Justified. Wish me luck!
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I've GOT to pay closer attention to my library books. I got soaked with a stiff fine when I brough in a stack of overdue stuff this afternoon. Got three more of the Molly Murphy mysteries (by Rhys Brown, and noticed that a couple writers I also like have endorsed her: Maan Myers, Anne Perry and Dorothy Cannell) and thankfully, none of them are short-term books.

Went to WalMart and got a big box of force-flex trash bags, and have already filled two of them with crap from my bedroom. (While watching a DVR of "Enough Already"---I've always fancied Peter Walsh, and it's a lot more positive than "Hoarders".)

Started a new scrapbook, and am annoyed that I can't find the new package of page protectors that I *swear* I bought. I haven't given up on the home decor scrapbook*; this one is for my dream wedding. I know, I know, it's pie-in-the-sky, but I am *so* hooked on "My Fair Wedding" and who knows? Mr. Right could come along and sweep me off my feet, it doesn't hurt to be prepared.

You can't say I'm not an optimist!

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* Although I might start another one for garage and garden.

This afternoon, I dropped a couple things at the post office, then headed over to the library. I parked, and took a walk around the block. It was a gorgeous day for it: Temps in the high 60s, sunny and breezy enough to flutter the flags on the flagpoles.

I noticed that there *IS* still a "For Sale by Owner" sign on a certain house I've been eyeing for a while now, and made a note of the number. (I may call, just for grins and giggles, to find out how much it is.) I stood there for a moment, looking at it and subtracting some of the landscaping---that tree can go, that one needs pruned, definitely paint it something other than stark white...I wonder if it's two bedrooms or three, and how many baths. It's purely fantasy, unless I were to win the lottery, but oh, the location! Library in the backyard and a view of the river from the front. Bliss!

Resumed walking, up the next side-street, down Forrest, and back into the library lot, where I collected my tote of incoming books from my trunk. Returned said books and browsed; in the process, I bumped into CapeGypsy, who said the weather is supposed to get colder overnight, and she wanted a book to curl up with.

I got four, two fic and two non-fic: the lastest Hester Browne, Finishing Touches, a mystery, The Big 5-Oh, Right-size Your Life (an organizing book, hope springs eternal) and a book on knotwork jewelery (now that the sofa is accessable again...).

I'm enjoying Finishing Touches very much so far, but I've enjoyed her previous books, too. The heroine's dad in the Little Lady Agency series reminds me quite a lot of Jools Siviter, and the conclusion of book three made me cheer.

Have had some popcorn but no proper dinner yet. Was also delightfully diverted by a nearly two-hour chat with foreverhermit, who I'm sure is going to have an interesting story to share on Monday. Meanwhile, we conversed about traveling and exes and pets and stuff. Of the few times I've talked to or met members of my f'list, it's never been as awkward as I'm afraid it would be; I tend to think of myself as best on paper, but apparently my raw personality reflects *some* of my scripted savoir-faire.

I think I'm going to scrounge up some food; the rest of last night's turkey has been calling me.

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Was awakened before I was ready this morning by the local ambient noise. Made the best of it; went out and visited the Entermann's store, Publix and the library.

That makes two visits to the library in two days; the trouble was, they were closed yesterday on account of no power (IDEK, rly). Collected the book they were holding for me---the newest Armistead Maupin, Mary Ann in Autumn, a Sophie Kinsella and a crafts book..

From there, I went and played Santa, which would've been a little easier if I'd thought to take the address with me---I've only been there once before. Anyway, I did find it and drop off a wish list gift, so yay, I feel a little less Scroogely. (Which is what happens when you're in limited circumstances at this time of year.)

On the way home, I was getting to Byrd Plaza when my inner voice reminded me that I've been craving Chinese food for days, nay, weeks! and the next thing I knew, I was in the turn lane and aimed for China Garden and some port lo mein. And I have leftovers for tomorrow, yay!

I'm trying to stay awake...all I need is to doze off til ten, then I'll be awake til mid-morning, which will thoroughly bugger up my sleep schedule for the whole weekend. Do. Not. Want. It doesn't help that the temps are dropping again and hibernating under a stack of covers sounds heavenly. I need to sit down with assorted packages and wrap them, as one of my purshases at Publix was some pretty paper with poinsettias on it. (Yes, I have tape AND I know exactly where it is---in fact, I'm looking right at it.)

Was planning to do some cleaning to make room for the pony (Santa's bringing me one this year, I'm sure of it!), but there's still tomorrow....

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I ordered J's gift from Amazon---she told me a while back that she wants a copy of "The Joy of Cooking" that isn't falling apart, and she doesn't mind it used---so I found her a slightly used hardcover copy for a penny, then popped $6.99 for expedited shipping. I'm going to give it to her with some tea, which she also specifically mentioned, and cookies. So she can have a nice cuppa and a nibble and decide what she'd going to cook. *smirk* (She knows nothing about LJ, so I'm safe enough discussing it here. SBJB is our only mutual friend who's liable to see this, and I'm confident she won't blab.)

Have also been slogging away at Yuletide. It's one thing to be intimately familiar with canon, another thing to try to extrapolate it sympathetically. My issue is, the source material has a Very Large Cast, and I'm trying to touch base with the old familiars without overwhelming readers who may not have the first foggy clue---assuming there are any. And, of course, give my recipient something that resembles what she's hoping for.

Finished reading "The Baker Street Letters" (Michael Robertson), which I found disappointing. The premise: A barrister who's renting 221B Baker Street sets his screw-up brother in charge of answering the letters that arrive for Sherlock Holmes. Brother hares off to L.A. in response to one letter, and gets embroiled in a murder. Despite the allusions to Sherlock, there's no deductive reasoning involved at all, and the plot isn't a mystery to anyone who's ever watched TV or for that matter, read any mystery novel more complex than Nancy Drew. Thank goodness it's a library book and therefore cost me nothing but time.

Have started "A Nose for Justice" (Rita Mae Brown), featuring a Dachshund and a German shephard in the middle of a mystery set in Nevada. So far, the dogs are more interesting than the people...I've liked RMB in the past, although more for her novels than her mysteries. I'm still on the fence about this one. Remember: Show, don't tell.

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It's been a mellow week. Hit the food pantry Monday morning and the library after...got a stack of books that I've been reading my way through. Evanovich, "Wicked Appetite", "The Nero Wolfe Cookbook" (A nice reminder of the series, but WAY too rarefied for my tastes.) and a Todd McCaffrey. I've also set my tree up, though it's not trimmed yet.

UPS delivered goodies sent by kukkurkurat, namely some LUSH Ultimate Shine shampoo, which smells incredible. The copy for it says, "Lovely smelling ylang ylang oil makes dull hair shiny; we've even added little bits of glitter to increase the dazzling effects. Beautiful violet leaf to decongest scalp and toning elemi oil calms nerves." I don't know what ylang-ylang or violet leaves smell like---I mean, I know what violets smell like, but the leaves?! IDK.---but the shampoo? Smells like Christmas trees! Fabulously intense. I walk into the bathroom and am surrounded by fir trees.

They also sent a couple trial size bits of soap, Sandstone, which smells like lemon verbena (or Lemon Pledge, if you don't have a frame of reference for lemon verbena). The other is called Alkmaar, which my nose insists is sweet talcum powder and chalkdust, although the site alleges "creamy sexy jasmine and honeysuckle scent with smokey vetivert undertones". Tho' I didn't say I didn't like it!

As if that wasn't lovely enough, GK sent me a couple of great shirts. Both are lightweight gauzy cotton. One is a green-on-green floral print with silver thread sparkling in it. It's missing a couple buttons, but goodness knows, I've got a plethora of replacements and it'll take all of 20 minutes to fix. The other is a pull-on top in a tribal print in shades of brown. It has sort of a sweetheart neckline trimmed with a goldish braid trim.

We're having a cool-down; the weather report says it's a bit low for this time of year: They're saying tonight's low is going to be in the low 40s/high 30s. Brrr! But I've got a nice accumulation of long-sleeved stuff that I picked up after last winter's Big Chill.

And now back to my yuletide story, already in progress....


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To begin with, my shoulders have been giving me heck the last couple days. Thursday night was bad enough that I popped a muscle relaxer (running low and no refill so I'm trying to be thrifty with them)...that left me loggy enough that I took a five-hour afternoon nap---and still managed to sleep last night for the usual hours. Had a series of dreams the last hour or so, not that they took anything like that long.

I was walking down Dixon---don't know why (car trouble? exercise?)---when BC and Daughter drove past in his previous station wagon, not the current one and offered me a ride, which I turned down. After they drove off, Mrs. BC hailed me. She was sitting there reading a book, and there was a bookstore behind her. This was at a new and improved version of Pineridge, which has never been much of a plaza for books, new or used.

I went into the bookstore and wandered around---the place also had New Age tchotchkes---and somehow wound up hired to enter info into a database for some rich collectors. Oddly, it was the two doctors from Nip/Tuck, which isn't a show I'm a fan of, although the Misha ep was highly amusing. They lived together, and I was working at their residence...there was a scene with them showering---separate showers, and me trying not to be too obvious about looking.

One of the docs took off---the one I think of as the Wilson-type--- and I was trying to work on the database. I was supposed to be entering the serial numbers from the packaging of the still-sealed collectables, some kind of action figures, but the database shifted on me and I realized I'd erased half the info for Krull and was overwriting it with Conan...the other doc, the one who was Dr Doom in the Fantastic Four movies paused in his breakfast to help me. He must have been on a low-carb diet, because his plate was heaped with meat and more meat.

From there, I found myself back at St John's (which I attended K-8th grade)...I had almost a half-hour left of lunch, and was trying to get some people together for a game, something like Trivial Pursuit. My schooltime BFF went into the girls' restroom, while I was looking around and wondered it the library was still down the hall. Went in there, and yes it was, but the layout had changed, there was an area with two librarians you had to go through to get to the books. One of the librarians recognized me, was also class of '74 (Monica), and wanted to know what I'd been doing since then. I started telling her, trying to moderate my language and substitute 'heck' for 'hell'.

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Used bookstores...there used to be a bunch of them, but these days, I can only think of one in the whole area (aside from book sections at thrift stores, which isn't the same), and the one that's left is horribly disorganized and doesn't take plastic. And I miss them! I can think of so many that have closed over the years: Kish's, Thorn's, Mary Dee's, the Armchair Adventurer, the Book Worm, the Book Xchange and a bunch of others whose names I can't recall.

SyFy ran Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer last weekend, and I had it on in the background. I suppose that's what prompted Dr Whatsisname to show up. I think even my subconscious is trying to get me a job---and working for a couple of hot guys who play with toys sounds like fun.

Things have changed a lot since I was in school. BC and I were chatting with about that recently: We gradulated in the same class, and his daughter currently attends the same school---except these days, the students don't have lockers and the campus is surrounded by six-foot fencing and gates. In our day, not only were there lockers, there was an open campus, so if you forgot something, you could go back at any time and get it.

Sometimes, it's hard to believe that I'm old enough to have kids that age, and I know classmates who are grandparents, which floors me. Yes, my high school graduation was 31 years ago next month, but...man, it's true: Life is what happens while you're busy making other plans.
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Ganked from karaokegal 'cuz it looked like fun.

There were a couple questions that I didn't have good answers for---so I made up a couple new questions.

The Music, Books and Movie Meme

Name A Song That
Reminds you of your childhood: Big Rock Candy Mountain -- Burl Ives
Reminds you of Middle School: (aka Junior High) Seasons in the Sun -- Terry Jacks
Reminds you of High School: The Boys Are Back in Town -- Thin Lizzy
Makes you cry: Eleanor Fucking Rigby -- The Beatles
Makes you dance: In the Mood -- Glenn Miller
Makes you laugh: Poisoning Pigeons in the Park -- Tom Lehrer
Makes you want to smack the DJ: The Pina Colada Song and/or Cat's in the Cradle
You and your parents like: Swinging on a Star -- Bing Crosby
You would play at your wedding: Always With Me, Always With You -- Joe Satriani
You would play at your funeral: Ding Dong, the Witch is Dead and/or Amazing Grace -- Dropkick Murphys (Rocked out bagpipes, yeah)

Name A Book That
Made you cry: Life's That Way -- Jim Beaver
Made you think: Paradise Lost -- John Milton
Kept you up at night: I'm a night owl anyway.
You reread the most: Forbidden Flowers -- Nancy Friday
Contained a character you will never forget: The Little Lady Agency -- Hester Browne
You will never part with: Roget's Thesaurus -- copy my mom gave me in 9th grade
You wish you owned: The Witch of Portobello -- Paolo Coelho
You wish you'd written: American Gods -- Neil Gaiman

Name a Movie That:
Makes you cry: Shawshank Redemption (The ending---every time)
Makes you feel better: I Remember Mama
Makes you laugh: O Brother, Where Art Thou?
Gives you nightmares: Honestly can't think of any.
You liked but everyone else didn't: Oscar
Reminds you of your childhood: The Wizard of Oz
Reminds you of college: Buckaroo Banzai
You waited too long to see: Secondhand Lions
You wish you hadn't seen: Bicentennial Man
You wish you lived in: Auntie Mame
You quote from at random: The Frisco Kid

 

Reply to this meme by yelling "Words!" and I will give you five words that remind me of you. Then post them in your LJ and explain what they mean to you. (Please note: If you simply wish to comment on something I've said but don't want to participate in the meme, that is fine. I will only give you five words if you specifically comment with 'Words!')

Snagged from pwcorgigirl, who gave me "Fashion, plaid, winter, books, poodles" which amuses me muchly.

Fashion I've spent most of my life completely baffled by the concept of fashion. Finally, now that I'm in a job selling apparel and watching the marketing change from season to season, I think I've got an analogy. Fashion is humans adapting to their environment and their ever-changing needs. Style, on the other hand, is like evolution---it's what actually works, and as such may adapt somewhat from season to season as a response to enviroment, but what works, stays constant. Like breathable fabrics in a hot climate, or clothes with a certain shape to best emphasize one's good points. Am I fashionable? Maybe, sometimes, on a good day. Am I stylish? More now than ever before, I think....

Plaid Okay, that's a full-on kink and has been for years. NOT, I hasten to add, because of the dress code I labored under during nine years of parochial school, which was neither fashionable nor stylish, but because somewhere along the lines, guys in plaid flannel caught my attention. I'm pretty sure it was a kink even before the pilot of The Burning Zone, in which JDM entered in a plaid shirt and a yellow tailfin Caddy convertible. Certainly it's kept me staring at Bobby Singer and licking my lips this season on SPN.

Winter Or, in Florida, any time one's not melting. Usually October through April. I'm looking forward to winter this year! Although I am originally from "up North" and DO know what winter is traditionally like---bare trees, plumes of vapor when breathing outdoors, frost and snow and ice and blizzards, winter sports involving some combination of the aforementioned meteorological phenomena. Also referred to in Florida as "Snowbird Season".

Books Books are magic. My mother read to me from a very early age, so I don't really remember learning HOW to read, I just absorbed it, somehow. I was easily entertained under circumstances when another child might've been obstreparous---car trips, visits to relatives, waiting rooms---give me a book and I was deaf to the world around me. How many books do I own? I couldn't tell you to within a thousand. Some I've read fifty times, others are awaiting my perusal. Yes, I need to edit them, but it goes against my natural inclination. I've got enormous admiration for people who actually manage to write and publish books, even the ones that are transparent drek, because at least they've done it. I lack the tenacity; that's why I write fanfic.

Poodles No, not teacups, with their teaspoon of brains. Possibly miniatures, if they're well-trained. By preference, standard poodles, as with my first dog, my Christmas present at age 6, a silver-grey standard poodle with the thoroughly unimaginative name of Lady. She had tons of personality and the most brains of any dog I've ever known. To give a capsule version of my omnivorous poodle story, Lady, at various times, consumed crayons, dandelions, golf balls, liverwurst, and on one memorable occasion, four pounds of green peppers. She lived to the fine old age of sixteen, and I still mourn her. Some years ago, I found an oil painting---a clearly amateur portrait of a grey poodle. I bought it, not so much because it was a good portrait---it wasn't, and it didn't really resemble Lady (this isn't that kind of kitschy fiction)---but because the painter had captured the spark in the poodle's gaze. The rest of the picture might have been executed by a fifth grader, but there is sure enough a lively poodle looking out from that canvas.

Snagged from adventurat.

What was the last book you bought?
Agnes and the Hitman by Jennifer Cruisie and Bob Meyer (because I'd just finished their previous book together: Don't Look Down)---both very funny.

Name a book you have read MORE than once.
The Sea Wolf by Jack London, which I subverted in a term paper. Totally trashed the POV character and explained what would really have happened.

Has a book ever fundamentally changed the way you see life? If yes, what was it?
Forbidden Flowers by Nancy Friday. An analytical book on sexual fantasy, it fell into my hands at age 14 and helped reinforce my sexual ego (it being a lot more progressive than anything my parents or teachers were trying to indoctrinate me with).

How do you choose a book? eg. by cover design and summary, recommendations or reviews?
All of the above.

Do you prefer Fiction or Non-Fiction?
I'd say a preponderance of fiction.

What’s more important in a novel - beautiful writing or a gripping plot?
I'm siding with adventurat's answer: Character. Because if you don't give a damn about the cast, all the poetry and plotting in the world won't save the story.

Most loved/memorable character (character/book)
Menolly from Dragonsinger by Anne McCaffrey

Which book or books can be found on your nightstand at the moment?
Once a Hero by Elizabeth Moon, The Idiot-Proof Diet, Stitches in Time by Barbara Michaels, Off the Cuff by Carson Kressley and more, including porn.

What was the last book you’ve read, and when was it?
Am reading an anthology of O. Henry short stories...it's in my purse as my to-go book and I was perusing it during dinner.

Have you ever given up on a book half way in?
I've never gotten into Tolkien, aside from The Hobbit, but it was nowhere near halfway in. More like 2-3 pages. Usually if I can make it past the first chapter or two, I'll keep going.

I've managed to resist the urge to bolt out and grab the new HP---I know perfectly well it'll still be available next payday. I want to know, and I don't, y'know? Meanwhile, I'm becoming acquainted with The Golden Compass, having found a used copy at Goodwill. One of these days, I may even make it all the way through Inkheart, which I've had for at least a year---I lost momentum in the middle, but I still remember the plot clearly.

Other stuff I've been reading lately: Mary Kay Andrews, whose Hissy Fit I picked up (also courtesy of Goodwill), and enjoyed enough to snag Savannah Blues when I ran across it in paperback at Publix. They're Southern and funny as heck, and I definitely want to catch up with the rest of her output. Dark Tort, the most recent Diane Mott Davidson...although I was underwhelmed. The tone of this series has gotten darker, and I liked it better through the first half-dozen or so titles. I *am* glad they killed off The Jerk, though. Tom Clancy's The Teeth of the Tiger, which IMO is one of his better books, because he doesn't get all carried away with keeping up with fifteen different POVs and all that technical twaddle. Although I haven't read any of his mysteries, I snagged James Patterson's Maximum Ride books...I've read the first two, and am holding onto the third one for an occasion when I need something special as a pick-me-up.

I was delighted to hear that Armisted Maupin has a "final" Tales of the City novel out, but I haven't scored it yet. Susan Conant has a post-wedding Holly Winter book out, which I'm also trying to be patient about.

And I'm sure there's other stuff, but nothing comes to mind at the moment.