I so rarely participate in this stuff. Mostly because I never have the time or I don’t know who the bloggers are, but these gals, I know!
Stop by if you can!
Filed under: Bookish Talk | Tagged: © 2013 Book Chatter, Books, Interview, Reading | 3 Comments »
In one sense, it has begun to slow down a bit in our house.
The Girl’s award ceremony is over. She received THREE awards and one of them was for writing! That made me very happy. She has one more week of school and then she is out for the summer.
The Girl’s honors chorus performance (Festival of the Arts 2013) is over and done! She did great! They sang three songs and only had five days of practice. Whew!
We went to the California Science Center and finally saw Endeavour in all its glory. It’s a little smaller than I imagined and the temporary hangar is not very deep so really good photos were difficult to get with just my point and shoot.
I was especially awed by this view. This part of it seemed massive to me.
The Boy also got to ride this bike. This is an alarming three stories high and he insisted on tipping it back and forth.
This week was nuts but it’s over and done with. Next week, I have to attend a meeting for summer school and it’s the week before production week so there will be a lot of prepping for that. The week I dread is production week itself. It’s very, very hard to keep it all straight as the schedules are different nearly every day, but I really do look forward to seeing the kids in the show. I do. I also look forward to working back stage again. It’s just a long, long week.
What am I reading?
I am reading Big Brother by Lionel Shriver, Life Itself by Roger Ebert, and I feel the need to pick-up something else. Not sure what.
What am I cooking?
I will be making Chicken Curry tonight with rice. Simple and yummy. Good leftovers too.
What am I watching?
We watched a lot of movies yesterday, The Lorax (VERY colorful and a little sad), You’ve Got Mail (The Girl loved it), and The Andromeda Strain. We are planning to watch Overboard later (silly Goldie Hawn movie but fun). I REALLY want to watch Jaws but we don’t own it.
That’s my weekend! What are you up to?
Filed under: Bookish Talk, Life | Tagged: Edeavour, Everyday Stuff, Kids, Reading, Sunday Salon | 31 Comments »
I come to you a tad late today. I had to hit the market this morning (not my favorite thing to do) and after getting dinner in the Crock Pot and helping The Girl make Sweet Potato Chips (a recipe she saw on the Disney channel), starting a load of laundry and completing paperwork for The Boy’s Cross Country summer camp, I finally have a moment to myself. Sort of.
If you don’t count the numerous Otter Pup interruptions (she sits on my head while reading) or the numerous questions The Girl has about summer camp, then I guess I have a moment to myself. At this point, I’ll take what I can get!
The Boy finished school last Friday. He is now a 10th grader! The Girl won’t be out until June 13th and she’ll be a 5th grader! Amazing! She still seems so little to me. I am anxious for the school year to end as I have school papers coming out of my ears! I cannot wait to weed through them. Plus, the summer reading program starts in a couple of weeks and for once, The Girl is excited about it!
What have we been doing? Last night, we had the opportunity to see John Mauceri at the Valley Performing Arts Center, which happens to be at the campus where I work. The venue is really very nice and the concert was great. This time, the kids came with us and we all had a really good time. Except the very last performance where The Girl fell asleep. It was very late for her though so I expected that.
We were a little nervous about going because the Powerhouse fire seemed to have changed direction, but right now it’s burning away from us. Let’s hope it stays that way. It’s burned about 20,000 acres so far and isn’t expected to be fully contained until Friday! The air quality is just horrible right now. One thing that you have to get used to when living in Southern California are the brush fires. We haven’t seen rain in 6 months and it’s only going to get worse.
Image Credit: Daily News
Okay, that’s all I have. I am cooking beef tips in the Crock Pot for dinner. We’ll have them with these smashed parmesan potatoes I saw on Pinterest. You bake ‘em, you smash them, butter them up and then top them with parmesan, and then pop them back in the oven a bit to crisp up. Sounds pretty good to me.
I am reading In the Garden of Stone by Susan Tekulve for a tour next week. I am also listening to Life Itself by Roger Ebert. I am enjoying both but deep, deep down…I am wanting something a little bit trashy. Not sure where that is coming from. Trying to shake myself of it and quick!
What’s up with you?
Filed under: Bookish Talk, Life | Tagged: Everyday Stuff, Food, Kids, Reading, Sunday Salon | 21 Comments »
You know that feeling you get when a new, highly anticipated book comes out and that brand new copy ends up in YOUR hands? That is the best feeling. But when you get that copy before it even comes out? Bliss. I’ve been Ms. Lucky pants in that department lately!
Here are just a few that I am really excited about:
Big Brother by Lionel Shriver (June 4, 2013)
For Pandora, cooking is a form of love. Alas, her husband, Fletcher, a self-employed high-end cabinetmaker, now spurns the “toxic” dishes that he’d savored through their courtship, and spends hours each day to manic cycling. Then, when Pandora picks up her older brother Edison at the airport, she doesn’t recognize him. In the years since they’ve seen one another, the once slim, hip New York jazz pianist has gained hundreds of pounds. What happened? After Edison has more than overstayed his welcome, Fletcher delivers his wife an ultimatum: It’s him or me. (Goodreads)
The Illusion of Separateness by Simon Van Booy (June 25, 2013)
Award-winning author Simon Van Booy tells a harrowing and enchanting story of how one man’s act of mercy during World War II changed the lives of a group of strangers, and how they each eventually discover the astonishing truth of their connection. (Goodreads)
We Are Water by Wally Lamb (October 29, 2013)
We Are Water is an intricate and layered portrait of marriage, family, and the inexorable need for understanding and connection, told in the alternating voices of the Ohs-nonconformist Annie; her ex-husband, Orion, a psychologist; Ariane, the do-gooder daughter, and her twin, Andrew, the rebellious only son; and free-spirited Marissa, the youngest Oh. Set in New England and New York during the first years of the Obama presidency, it is also a portrait of modern America, exploring issues of class, changing social mores, the legacy of racial violence, and the nature of creativity and art. (Edelweiss)
What would make this list even better, would be the inclusion of Stephen King’s two books (Joyland and Dr. Sleep) and The Abominable by Dan Simmons. I keep looking out for ARCs but I suspect the King books are impossible to get and I haven’t seen a galley offered of The Abominable as of yet. I keep looking though!
What upcoming books are you excited about?
Filed under: Bookish Talk | Tagged: © 2013 Book Chatter, Bookish Chatter, Reading | 24 Comments »
This past week was pretty much like any other week, except I’ve been feeling a little off. I think my body is telling me to get back into the swing of things as far as exercise goes. Since the hand injury, the routine that I worked so hard to establish went right out the window. I was okay for a really long time, but this past week I’ve been feeling pretty lousy. I think the lack of movement is why so this week I am going to start adding activity back into my morning routine. It will kill me at first because I really do not have ANY extra energy but it has to be done.
On a happier note, the #winditup2013 read-along is in full swing and I couldn’t be happier. Reading The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle is an experience in and of itself, but reading the book with others makes it even more special. We’ve been having a good time discussing the book. Little tidbits here and there, a Tweet, a FB post and emails going back and forth. This week we begin book two!
Reading the book has put me in a very relaxed, dreamy mood. I like it. I like feeling as if the only thing that exists is the book in front of me. I haven’t felt like this in a really long time and it’s made me want to re-read the Murakami books I’ve already read.
Plus…
Have you heard all the fuss about Murakami’s new book? I didn’t even know he had a new book in the works so when it released in Japan last week, I couldn’t help thinking that #winditup2013 hit at the perfect time. All the bookish buzz over his new one makes reading Wind-Up even more exciting, If you want to read about his new book, check out this article. No word on how long it will take for the English translation to come out, but it took over two years for 1Q84 to hit US shelves. I hope we don’t have to wait that long this time.
Other than that, I woke up really late today and what did I do? I shampooed the carpet, My wiring is seriously off. What are you doing today?
Filed under: Bookish Talk, Life | Tagged: Everyday Stuff, Haruki Murakami, Read-along, Reading, Sunday Salon | 23 Comments »
My name is Ti, which is short for Tina. I like to chat about books. Do you?
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