Wednesday, December 28, 2016

time travel for boys



One of the good things about being at home more is this: I've had some time to read.
I'm glad of that!
I have finally read "In The Nick Of Time", the book penned by J. L. Graham, and successfully supported during his 2012 kickstarter campaign.
I had known it was about time travel and a 13-year-old boy, but that was the limit of my knowledge.
Imagine my surprise when I finally cracked it open and fell right into a nightmare!
But I kept reading... and reading... and reading!
I know now that it is better suited to the tastes of my Beaufort nephew than to those of my Port Wentworth great-niece.
First, he won't be grossed out by some of the scenes.
Second, he has an interest in history, as well as in science.
Third, he will be able to relate to the feelings of a newly-teen.
Interested in others' views of the book?
Check here...
and good reading to you!

Monday, December 26, 2016

stranded here like the rest of you



After all this time, I've begun reading Peter S. Beagle's "52/50 Project".
I've only had it languishing on the bookshelf for...oh...about...quite awhile.
That makes this the right time to start.
I will have had it two years at the end of this week.
Most babes are talking and have an interest in books by then, right?

Why have I waited so long?
No particular reason.
I printed the pages and placed them into a nice binder. The finished tome was then placed on the shelf with my other goodies garnered from kickstarter projects.
That's all it took.
I checked off that item from my "to do" list and went on to the next.

So, why now?
You can thank my ex-husband, Jeff, for that, as well as the VA hospital.
Let's take that second one first.
A mere week ago, I had ridden the shuttle 'twixt Savannah and Charleston yet again, this time for the post-operation consult. Even though I had made the first appointment of the day for the Plastics Clinic, I still ended up with almost four hours of idleness.
Ugh.
I had found on my last visit that the hospital lobby had several bookshelves of loaners, so I went in search of a book to pass the time.
Wonder of wonders, I found one on the top shelf of the first bookstand!
Even better, it was by a mystery author I enjoy, Sidney Sheldon.
Titled, "Tell Me Your Dreams", it hooked from the very start and was a fast read. Fur hours was not quite long enough to finish it, but I had a good grasp of the plot by the time I my name was called.
I also had a desire to read more.
Enter the ex.
After the wrapping session with him, I was inspired to take care of little ones on my list. So, into the gift closet I delved, and through the kickstarter rewards I explored, finding treasures I had forgotten.
Treasures like this book.

Today, I read the first one.
It's a song, as it so happens.
Perhaps because it was meant for publication on his 70th birthday?
That would certainly be appropriate, as these could just as easily be the musings of a newborn human as of an extraterrestrial being.
Titled simply "The Alien", I really love the chorus:

"I'm just an alien from anywhere -
Point out a star, and it might be there,
With thirteen purple moons and an orange sky
I'm stranded here like the rest of you
Doing those things that people do
Trying to love you,
Trying to learn to cry.
"

I do have to wonder what tune was playing in his head...

I intend to read another of his creations on Monday.
Why that day?
Because that's the day of the week on which he published them!
I'll keep the book on my coffee table, open, to draw me in...
(smile)

Saturday, December 17, 2016

keeping the wik burning


I use the internet reference source frequently.
I know there are some in the world of academia that look disparagingly at it...
but I believe it to be the best free source of reliable information that there is.
So, I have contributed to help keep it free for all.
You know what I'm talking about...
wikipedia.org.
I also use its dictionary format, too.
I not only use the two often as a source for information in my blogs, but anytime I am researching any topic that is not medical in nature.
For those occasions, I use the site my tax dollars have provided, courtesy of the Surgeon General's office. My doctor, Peggy Byck, had told me about it years ago.
In case you would like to contribute to an ad-free, reliable source of knowledge at your fingertips, just click here.
Thanks!

Friday, December 16, 2016

space cats in my house!!!



The two shirts featuring the blind kitteh, Oskar, actually arrived a couple of weeks ago.
A few days too late for the bfe's birthday, but in plenty of time for Christmas!
I had then "put them away safely"... using who knows what logic to define "safely"... and so I could not find them last week when the physicist came by to pick me up for the school Christmas party.
Good!
That meant I would simply have to see him one more time before he left town for the holidays and his sabbatical!
Very nice how that worked out in my favor, isn't it?
(smile)
The date is set for brunch on Sunday.
I am so excited to be sharing this story with him!