The Read goes ever on and on...MrsLee 2021 chapter 1

Just putting this here to work on later when I can access my laptop. Happy New Year everyone!

I'm trying to decide if I want to set any goals or not. Last year was almost a year long rut, so I don't know if I want to limit or confine myself in any way yet this year.

First book finished this year (2:30 a.m.), The League of Frightened Men by Rex Stout. A reread for me.

Still reading The Chinese Cookbook by Craig Claiborne and Virginia Lee and Greek Myths, vol. 1 by Robert Graves.

I will post last year's stats in the old thread when I get around to it. My son and his girlfriend are coming tonight for the weekend, so I won't be able to do my regular reading roundup today.

Well, finishing your first book of 2021 at 2:30 am is an unexpected achievement and sets a new benchmark for the rest of us to match going forward. Enjoy your time with your family!

Happy New Year!

>1 MrsLee: Best wishes for 2021!

Happy new year!

Happy new year!

Happy new year Lee! I hope it is a good one for you in every way.

Wishing you a good year in reading and in life.

Happy New Year. May it be all you want it to be.

Thank you all of you! You are each a part of what makes my time here in the pub invaluable.

I began a book this morning in spite of myself, because I'm already reading one cookbook, but was given this one last night. "If you can't Stand the Heat: a New Orleans Firefighter's Cookbook" by Robert Medina. He is the uncle of my son's girlfriend. It is endearing, and I don't mean cute, but he has a way with words and the recipes are very readable as well as sounding delicious! Touchstones bring up the wrong work, there are only 2 copies on LT.

I would already recommend this to anyone who loves Creole cooking. Having read Paul Prudholm's cookbooks, I would say that this one seems to have the flavor without the fuss.

>10 MrsLee: Oooooooo! That's probably gonna be a book bullet.

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year Mrs. Lee, I hope 2021 is as good as it can be.

Hippo Gnu Ear! I am envious of the New Orleans cookbook. Be that as it may, may I wish you a long succession of 5-star reads in the year ahead.

Hi! Happy New Year! The New Orleans cookbook sounds like fun, and I may get a copy, tho I don't cook so much anymore. I do love me some cajun cookin'! Or creole. My mom used to make rice creole as a special treat when I was a kid. I still have her handwritten recipe for it. I should dig it out and make it sometime.

For those of you interested in the cookbook, there are only a few used copies on Amazon for under $20, several under $30 and one which condition is listed as new for about $69!

I have an idea it was a small run when published.

>13 hfglen: Wish it were practical to send you one, but maybe I can get permission to share his flash over seasoning. He used to bottle and sell it, but the manufacturer wanted to change the ingredients to give it longer shelf life, so he published the recipe in his book instead.

Happy New Year my friend! I hope there is plenty of cheese and good books.

A very good year to you, in reading and everywhere else.

>1 MrsLee: stopping by and dropping a star!

May your year be filled with joy and excellent books.

Happy new year!

Happy New Year!

One thing I've learned from reading Greek Myths: Vol. 1 by Robert Graves is this. It doesn't pay to be the most handsome/beautiful/gifted/clever or anything else. If you are, some powerful being is bound to fall in love with you and show you favor, which will make another powerful being jealous/envious, which will result in them making your life a misery or killing you horribly.

>22 MrsLee: Something I enjoy about Greco-Roman mythology is how much like a soap opera it all is. We call it mythology, or we label stories about the gods and heroes as 'epics.' But, really, we're reading Days of the Gods' Lives and As Mount Olympus Turns.

>23 libraryperilous: All my Demigods...? ;-)

Happy new year, Lee! I hope you've been enjoying seeing family.

>22 MrsLee: >23 libraryperilous: >24 ScoLgo: so true!

Happy new year!

>10 MrsLee: Direct hit! I've not read Paul Prudhomme's cookboks but one of his seasoning blends is a staple. And so if I can't find "If you can't Stand the Heat: a New Orleans Firefighter's Cookbook" I might look out for one of his instead.

Thanks for the inspiration!!!

>23 libraryperilous: & >24 ScoLgo: "Dark Shadows" had nothing on these folks. :D

>26 Busifer: I hope you can find it. I guess he had troubles with the original publisher and is now with another. I want to write to him and ask if I can share the Flashover Seasoning with my friends here, because it really is terrific. I've used it in eggs, salad, creamed shrimp on toast and more. Rather addictive!

I've finally begun The Curse of Chalion by Bujold, so will begin reading the dedicated thread soon.

Whew! Finally got all of last year's stats finished and posted. Now I can truly move on to this year. I still have to take down Christmas decorations today though.

I finished rereading The Rubber Band by Rex Stout for the Black Orchid reading, now I can get into The Curse of Chalion by Lois McMaster Bujold with this group.

>29 MrsLee: It is an English tradition that if you have failed to take down your Christmas decorations before Epiphany (i.e. on Twelfth Night), then you should leave them up until Candlemas (February 2nd).

A good excuse - should you need one.

>30 -pilgrim-: LOL, yes, excuses are my specialty. Mostly I am procrastinating because I want to sort them differently and cull some of them, but I doubt my efficacy in the project. Sentimentality almost always intervenes. :/

>31 MrsLee: Sentimentality is good. It is what we need at the moment.

There is a campaign here for people and towns to keep their decorations up until the end of January to lift people’s spirits a bit.

There was a parenting advisor (who has nine children) on the radio today. She was telling people to go easy on themselves. Do not be putting yourself in corners with “must do this”, “should do that”, “need to lise weight”...

I like her.

>31 MrsLee:, >32 pgmcc:
This year I had to resort to a plastic tree, rather than have strangers in the house.

But some of the decorations on it are 60 years old this year!

>32 pgmcc: Keeping the decorations up until the end of the Christmas season (2 Feb., Candlemas) is an ancient English tradition, with a much longer pedigree than taking them down on 12th Night. Of course, by then the shops have finished with "back to school" and are selling Easter eggs.

>30 -pilgrim-:, >31 MrsLee:, >32 pgmcc: and >34 hfglen: We're keeping our decorative outside lights on, precisely because we hope it will help cheer people. (And honestly, a box of Christmas presents from one of our sons truly did just arrive today. So hold on to your holiday practices if there's any way possible.)

My decorations are down, sorted and boxed. The tree was turning into good tinder material and needles were falling by the bucket load, so it was time. Furniture is rearranged and there is room for my indoor plants. I have left three decorations in place though. The glass corner cabinet which is full of crystal bowls and vases is also full of small colored lights which play off the crystal and the mirrors in the back of the cabinet. There are also colored lights in the bathroom window. I have a large glass terrarium up on my bookcase which is full of large colored glass balls from the tree.

I filled one box with decorations to dispense with. Some are quite old (from my grandmother and her mother) so I will offer them to siblings first.

>34 hfglen: Indeed. I believe it was the Industrial revolution that impelled the shortening of the Christmas season.

But observing the Twelfth Night traditional was the norm in my childhood. Nowadays one sees Christmas decorations put up well before Christmas, and in the bin immediately after New Year.

And does anyone still cook Dreikönigskuchen - a major component of the seasonal observations of my childhood? They used to be in the shops too when I was a child, but I have not seen them there for ages.

>35 jillmwo: I am all in favour of outdoor lights being left on until the end of January, or even longer. It's the gloomiest part of the year for many people, and anything that helps to brighten it up, both literally and figuratively, is a good thing IMO. When I visited Zwolle in the Netherland 2 years ago in late January I was delighted to see that all their municipal lights were still on.

>37 -pilgrim-: I've not seen Dreikönigskuchen either, but I see galettes des rois in Paul at this time of year. Our vicar usually makes her own to serve after the service on Epiphany. I really missed that this year.

>38 Sakerfalcon: I can see why galette des rois might be preferred; it is certainly a lighter recipe. But do they have the coin in?

>39 -pilgrim-: I'm not sure about the ones that Paul sell, but our vicar puts a little pottery king in each one that she makes.

>40 Sakerfalcon: Excellent.

On the plus side, attending a pan-Orthodox service on December 25th meant that I got to try Greek Christmas food for the first time
- handed out in individually wrapped pieces to take home after the service.

>41 -pilgrim-: Ever since pre-teens I have known that Greek party food is to die for. And considering how many mega-calories they manage to pack into every crumb, possibly also to die of!

I was not raised in any particular religion, and so there were no traditional religious treats at the holiday celebrations. Only traditional-to-our-family candies and coffee cake/breads. My mother used to make a raised dough filled with dried fruits and nuts, liberally treated with butter, cinnamon and sugar on the inside, then rolled, pinched the ends together and cut slices into it so the fruit and nuts could peek out. When this was finished baking, she drizzled a powdered sugar glaze over it. She made these for all the neighbors.

Wait a minute. I'm trying to fill out my thread in the Cookbooker's group. I'm moving the rest of this post over there!

>43 MrsLee: I am always vaguely surprised that the King cake tradition has not survived into secular seasonal celebrations. It is much older than Christianity, having its origin in the "Lord of Misrule" at the Roman feast of Saturnalia.

The idea is that whoever gets the slice with the silver coin, king figure, or whatever, in it, gets to be "King for the day". Great fun for kids, and at least one day in the festive season with no conflict over how the family are going to amuse themselves!

ETA: I think the anthropologists say that the symbolism lies in the turning of the year(whether observed from the point of view of a religious new beginning, of from following the cycle of nature) required a (temporary) inverting of the social order.

>44 -pilgrim-: Hm, hum, after reading in The Greek Myths, it seems that honor would be dubious, for the "false" king or "substitute" king was then killed by the Maenads, ripped apart and eaten. Then the real king would come out of whatever cave he had hidden in when the year had successfully been renewed by his substitute's blood.

>44 -pilgrim-: The King Cake is still a tradition in New Orleans, where many are consumed around Mardi Gras. I had a manager in NC who used to get one sent from his favorite old NO bakery each year. I never did end up with the trinket.

>45 MrsLee: That has parallels elsewhere. The point at the switch away from sacrificial kings to actual ones (an alternative solution to the substitute method) amongst Celtic tribes was part of the plot of Mark of the Horse Lord by Rosemary Sutcliff. (It's one of those "children's novels" best read as an adult.)

ETA: It was the footnotes in Graves' The Greek Myths that first got me exploring Celtic ones.

>44 -pilgrim-: Agree, and it's such a lovely and fun tradition.

Twelfth Night is my favorite part of the holiday season. I deferred this year's celebration until yesterday. I'm not a baker, but I managed to bake a cake using a chocolate cake box mix and a can of Diet Coke. Even I can't mess up a two-ingredient recipe.

>43 MrsLee: Those sound deliciously rich and sweet! I grew up in the 80s, so my mom had a spritz cookie press. She'd make those and sugar cookies from a recipe in Betty Crocker's Cooky Book.

>41 -pilgrim-: Greek Christmas food sounds like a nice addition to the service!

>43 MrsLee: Your mom's fruit-dough-cakes sound delicious! I bet she had very appreciative neighbours!

As my father's family were German we always had Stollen at Christmas. It is tasty but a little goes a long way ....

>49 Sakerfalcon: You remind me of the technician who appeared bearing gifts, about this time of year, to service a microscope. "Yes", he said, "it's a stollen. I stoll it myself."

>48 libraryperilous: my mom used to make the spritz cookies, too. I had her press but never got the hang of making the cookies, so I passed it on to my daughter, who bakes.

>50 hfglen: Hahah! Excellent!

>51 fuzzi: They have such a nice flavor, but the press is hard to use. I think my mom let me 'help' her a couple of times, but the spritz is hard to get right even if you're talented.

>43 MrsLee: Do you cook many of Paul Prudhomme's recipes? I'm a big fan of several.

>54 Karlstar: I use one of his seasoning recipes on our grilled steaks always. I've never found a better. Although I read a couple of his cookbooks, I gave them away because most of the recipes either called for things I didn't have easy access to, or they were more complicated than I wanted to do. Also, I have to be careful with the heat or my husband won't be able to enjoy it.

>55 MrsLee: Some like it hot!* Some don't!

*One of my favourite movies. Absolutely the best last line ever.

>55 MrsLee: That's understandable, some of those recipes are hot! We really like one of his red beans and sausage recipes and a couple of others, so I always make sure we have ground pasilla and guajillo chiles on hand, plus dry mustard and onion powder, I think he's the one who got me started on buying all of those. I make up a double or triple batch of the spice mix for the beans and sausage and keep the extra on hand, we call it the 'magic seasoning' and use it in all sorts of things.

>56 pgmcc: That line makes me think of the song, not a movie!

>57 Karlstar: Sounds like something I would love!

>56 pgmcc: I like that movie, but it's been a long time since I've seen it. Don't remember the last line.

>58 MrsLee: “Nobody’s perfect!”

>59 pgmcc: Ah, speak for yourself. ;)

I prefer Mary Poppins line, "Practically perfect in every way!"

>60 MrsLee: I am sure you are!

The preceding line was, "I'm a man!"

>61 pgmcc: I remember it now! lol That was a fun movie. For the record, I'm a sort of an anti-Mary Poppins, but I still like her. :D

Heh, funny. I don't think I've ever seen M.P. and have no desire to, so when my two neighbors were talking about getting together and watching some special edition, they turned to me for my opinion. I was as nice as I could be about it, but still put the frost on the M.P. party.

>63 Bookmarque: I agree with you about the film.

According to Wikipedia, Pamela L Travers didn't much like the Disney version of Mary Poppins, although she collected a tidy sum of royalties from it. Travers seems to have been a much more interesting person than the Disney film suggests.

>63 Bookmarque: & >64 haydninvienna: Sorry, didn't mean that I had anything against Mary Poppins, not in the film or the book (the film will always be my favorite because I love the singing and dancing and silly and all), only that I cannot/have-not-the-will to live up to her perfection. :) I think it's a nice fantasy for a parent, to have someone come into the household who can magically fix all their relationships and character issues, both parents and children; but we all know it's a bit more difficult than that. Fantasy points out what might be, not necessarily what is. Same with pig boy tales, etc.

>65 MrsLee: I read the book before ever I saw the film. This is a very long time ago now, and this was a very small -pilgrim- that I am taking about.

But my memory of the book is that it is nowhere near as simplistic, or as saccharin, as the Disney film.

(I admire Julie Andrews as a performer, but I never particularly liked the film anyway - and Dick Van Dyke as a Cockney is excruciating.)

>65 MrsLee: & >66 -pilgrim-:

As a little boy who knew nothing of the Cockney world when I was brought to the cinema to watch Mary Poppins, I loved it. Of course I fell in love with Julie Andrews and I thought Dick Van Dyke was great fun. Even today I enjoy watching it again with my grandchildren.

The songs, the music, the make-believe, and the corny jokes still bring a smile to my face. "Twopence a bag" still brings a tear to my eye.

When "Bed Knobs and Broomsticks" came along I regarded it as a cheap imitation, even if it did have the same actor who played Mr. Banks as the leading male. Even as a child I could recognise the way it copied Mary Poppins: children under the care of the leading character; cartoon interlude with singing and dancing; dance scene with, in one case, chimney sweeps, in the other, visitors to the market; magic...

>67 pgmcc: Did you find The Magic Bedknob by Mary Norton derivative as well - or just the film that it was turned into?

(Yet again, I read the book before I ever saw the film - even if it had been repackaged with a still from the film on its cover.)

I also enjoyed Saving Mr. Banks, in which Emma Thompson plays Ms. Travers and clarifies that the real point of the adventures was not to help the children, who were doing perfectly fine, but to rescue their father from his joyless life.

>69 Jim53:, that always seemed to be the point of Mary Poppins, too.

I have finished The Curse of Chalion by Lois McMaster Bujold. Comments in the dedicated thread.

Tomorrow will begin The Red Box by Rex Stout.
I have a DNBR day coming up on Sunday. Was a time I could read 2-3 books on a day like that, but these days I'm lucky to settle reading for an hour or two. We shall see.

>70 MrsLee: DNBR?

>71 -pilgrim-: Do Nothing But Read!

>72 pgmcc: Ah. An excellent idea. Wish I could try it!

>73 -pilgrim-: It's pretty much a standard holiday here in the pub, and should be celebrated at least once during the year. Many choose to celebrate it on their Thingaversary. :) I'm celebrating it on a different "versary" for me, Sunday is my one-more-trip-around-the-sun day. But don't tell anyone.

>73 -pilgrim-: , make sure you do not tell anyone what >74 MrsLee: said. Shshshshsh!

Note to self: Sunday. MrsLee Another Orbit.

>74 MrsLee: And mine is Monday, the very next day! Hippo Birdie Two Ewe!

January is a very popular birthday month.

>58 MrsLee: Sorry Mrs. Lee, been busy with work. Here's the recipe. 1 tsp of cayenne is too much if you don't like it hot, and I always add 1/2 tsp of ground ginger and 1 tsp of some other red chile powder. I also put in half the salt, but that's just our personal preference.

http://mealsteps.com/recipe/red_beans_yo_mamas

>70 MrsLee: Happy birthday, and best wishes for being able to settle and make good reading progress on your DNBR BD!

I don’t think I’ve managed a true DNBR day since my early 20’s. If I actually have time to spend an entire day reading, then there are also other things for which I want to allocate some of that glorious spare time.

>76 hfglen: Same to you! I know jillmwo and clamairy are just ahead of us, too.

>77 pgmcc: Indeed, in my immediate family alone we have a birthday every week in January.

>78 Karlstar: Thank you! I look forward to trying that.

>79 YouKneeK: It remains to be seen whether I can actually spend the whole day reading or not, but husband is busy gathering food and getting it ready so that there will be no cooking needed.

>80 MrsLee: I'm just wondering what all the January birthdays say about April. Spring time I guess.

>81 pgmcc: So - very happy birthday to MrsLee, hfglen, jillmwo & clamairy!!!

Happy birthday MrsLee!

>81 pgmcc: Ayup.

>82 -pilgrim-: & >83 haydninvienna: Thanks!

You get a tiny turtle birthday present, too!

Happy birthday :)

>87 MrsLee: I LOVE TINY TURTLES! Thank you. :) >86 Narilka: and thank you!

Today is a day of preparation. We left the house at 7:30 a.m. to go to the bakery and stock up. Decided I didn't want to bake a whole German Chocolate cake with coconut/pecan icing, because really I only love to eat it for about 2 days and a whole cake can last us more than a week. So I chose a 4" tart of hazelnut-chocolate, and a 4' tart of Key lime. I also chose pain au chocolate, croissant, a lemon tart and some delicious fruit-filled thing with whipped cream in it. I ate that and the pain au chocolate this morning. After all, why not celebrate all weekend instead of one day?

Later my beloved will chase down some eggrolls, chow mien, sushi and sashimi and a few other delectable things for me. He plans to grill steaks in the morning. Thus, no cooking whatsoever on my birthday.

>87 MrsLee: It sounds like your weekend birthday festival is working out well. You are really organised. Have a lovely time.

One of those nasty foil balloons just blew up in my driveway, a day early the powers that be have sent me a birthday message: "Let's Avo-Party" with a picture of a dancing avocado on it. Punny. I will dispose of it properly after tomorrow. :)

>87 MrsLee: Happy birthday a day early, and that's some tasty baked goods!

>80 MrsLee: in my immediate family alone we have a birthday every week in January.

What an excellent way to extend the holiday celebrations. I am envious. At any rate, let me join with others in wishing you the best of birthdays on Sunday!! I hope you open up many presents with pages in them. And your bakery purchases sound absolutely delicious.

I have a new (old) name for my middle finger. Digitus impudicus (not sure of spelling). So called in ancient Greece because the Dactyl it represents offered insult to Hera.

I am learning so much from this Greek Myths book. :D

ETA: >90 Karlstar: & >91 jillmwo: the above post had nothing to do with your very kind regards! Thank you. :)

Best wishes to MrsLee for your special orbit related day and also to hfglen, jillmwo and clamairy

Happy birthday! Sounds like it’ll be fabulous!

Happy Birthday Eve, my friend. Hope the whole weekend is one long celebration!

>93 Peace2:, >94 catzteach:, &>95 clamairy: Thank you! And Salud to you as well.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY! HAPPY DNBR DAY! HAPPY NO FOOD PREPARATION FOR YOU DAY!

>97 pgmcc: :) Wow! I heard that clear in California! Thank you.

>98 MrsLee: IT IS WORTH SHOUTING ABOUT.
I hope I did not disturb your reading and that you are having a lovely day.

Happy birthday!

>99 pgmcc: I did have a lovely, peaceful day. I finished a book! The Red Box by Rex Stout, a reread for me, but worth it. I came across two words which I didn't remember from the other times of reading.
Apodictical and yclept (I thought that one was a typo until I looked it up).

>100 NorthernStar: Thanks!

>101 MrsLee: You cannot argue with old words like that.

Yes, I did have to look them up.

I began Bluebeard by Kurt Vonnegut a couple of days ago, not knowing what to expect. I'm finding it very easy to read. I rather like the narrator.

>103 MrsLee: Oh, I read that about three and a half decades ago. I remember nothing... LOL But Vonnegut is one of my personal gods.

>104 clamairy: I knew that about you, which is one of the reasons I wanted to try it when I stumbled on it. I am learning more about the Abstract Expressionist movement than I knew before, which wasn't much at all. Very interesting.

Finished Bluebeard by Kurt Vonnegut. This afternoon. I very much enjoyed it to the end. After reading summaries of his other novels, I think this may be the only one I could enjoy as much. I might learn things from the others, but I doubt I would enjoy them. Glad this was the first one read, otherwise I might not have tried it!

I began reading The Book Thief by Markus Zusak. A book which has been on the TBR pile for a long, long time. I am not loving it. Disjointed, and I have to work at dissociating the narrator of this book from Terry Pratchett's Death character. The two are not meant to be comparable I'm sure, but Pratchett has done such a fine Death, and this one doesn't grab me. That being said, I am barely into the book and will probably give it more than the 50 page Pearl test because I've heard so much about it from others. Also, it isn't a difficult read, only not very compelling so far.

>107 MrsLee: I found that book gripping. You are probably right about interference from your previous read.

>107 MrsLee: I can't stop laughing at that image. I left this book unfinished because it was depressing me and my real life at the time was depressing enough. I still plan to try it again. But now I'm definitely going to have to wait until that image you planted has faded.

>109 clamairy: I think the depressing subject matter is one reason I'm resistant to it. Still going to keep reading it, but it doesn't call to me yet.

>107 MrsLee: I have started The book thief several times over the years and not made it very far. I really need to sit down with it and give it a serious go. So many people love it. I hope you get over the hump and into the book soon.

>111 Sakerfalcon: Glad to hear I am not the only one who is/has struggled with it! I'm 128 pages in and still don't love it, although I can see why others may.

Finished "If you can't stand the heat: a New Orleans Firefighter's Cookbook" by Robert Medina which still won't show up in the touchstones. :( Anyway, it was fun to read, and there are some recipes I will be trying sooner than later, but to get the full benefits of this cookbook, one needs to live near a source of reliably fresh seafood.

Still reading The Chinese Cookbook by Craig Claiborne.

I finished typing my mother's calendars, ending two days before her death in 2019. I am sad, and also ready to move on the the next project, which will be either her or my uncle's letters. I think a little break first though.

Ugh. Wanted to finish oThe Book Thiefp today, but my eye is red and swollen and it is uncomfortable to read.

I know one reason it isn't calling to me, and it isn't the fault of the book at all. In style, it is very like the Vonnegut book Bluebeard, I just finished, the omniscient narrator, giving bits of the future story to us, the story itself broken into small snippets of information. I preferred the narrator in the previous read.

>114 MrsLee: Sorry to hear about your eye problem. I hope it clears up soon.

You can stop with the Bluebeard shots. You hit me with it when you first mentioned it. You can chalk it up as a direct hit.

Now that you are nearly finished The Book Thief I can tell you what I liked about the book without spoiling it for you. I was very interested in how it gave a voice to impoverished Germans who had no real investment in the politics of the time. Unlike most literature I have read that involves WWII it focused on the humanity of an individual German. I thought this perspective novel in my experience. It brought home the fact that there is suffering on all sides in a conflict.

I cannot remember much else about the book as it was some years ago that I read it.

>115 pgmcc: I agree with you on that. It is all too easy to villainize a whole country/group/people because of the actions of those who have power and the limelight.

Now, go get Bluebeard. ;)

>116 MrsLee:
Now, go get Bluebeard. ;)

You do like kicking a person when they're down.

:-)

>117 pgmcc: And the title makes me immediately think of The Life and Death of My Lord Gilles de Rais by Robert Nye.

Ring any bells, Peter?

>118 -pilgrim-: I can't say it does, although I do have two friends called Gilles.

No doubt you will now provide a link to a conversation you and I had on the book in question. :-)

>119 pgmcc: Not this time.

But I thought I remembered you being a fan of Nye's? (And this Gilles is, of course, the original for Bluebeard.)

>120 -pilgrim-: I cannot say I remember hearing of Nye. Have you been having conversations with someone else? How could you?

>121 pgmcc: And you have not been reading Nye? How could you?

>121 pgmcc: & >122 -pilgrim-: Now, now. Settle down and have some cheese. If that doesn't do it, I will mix up a PGGB for you both.

I have finished typing my mother's calendars. This morning begins a new project, the typing of my uncle's letters from the 1940s to somewhere in the 1970s I believe.

He was an interesting man. After more years than my grandfather preferred in college, changing majors several times, he decided on the legal profession. He was a District Attorney in Ketchikan AK, then moved to the Bay Area to go into private practice as a medical malpractice defense attorney. He was quite successful. I worked for him for a couple of years, until I met my husband, married and chose to devote myself to husband and children rather than the law. My uncle was not thrilled with that decision, but respected it. He and his wife were both top in their field of the law in the Bay Area. She is still sitting as a judge here in California even though she supposedly "retired" a couple of years ago. :)

She and my uncle brought me to the Bay Area and took me under their wing. They exposed me to a more sophisticated way of living. He loved music, opera, classical, jazz and more. His livingroom was designed so one could sit in the "sweet spot" and hear high definition perfection from his huge collection. He sat me there and had me listen to many types of performers, and he also took me to many live performances in the Bay Area. They gave me tennis lessons, helped me to shop for appropriate clothes and taught me the pleasures of fine dining, taking me to many restaurants. My aunt was also a trained chef and brought me into her kitchen, while my uncle introduced me to some of the finest wines there were. They enjoyed sharing their wealth and knowledge with protégées, and I was not the only one they had. They would have supported me in becoming a law clerk or any other career in law, but that was not my path and I knew it, even if I wasn't sure what my path was.

Anyway, he was a person who was larger than life, he was loved by many, respected by more and feared by some. At 6'7" he towered physically, but it was his presence and huge personality that most remember.

I look forward to the insight of his letters as his character was developing.

>123 MrsLee: That sounds like a wonderful project. It's great that your family wrote and kept letters, photos etc so that you can get to know them better (or at all) after all these years.

>123 MrsLee: Please send me a PGGB ASAP.
(Don't usually drink, but today is probably better handled with my brain launched onto another planet.)

And I hope you find as much satisfaction in working your way through your uncle's letters as with other family members.

>123 MrsLee:
Good luck with your continuing family project. That sounds fascinating.

Thank you for the PGGB. Just what I need.

>123 MrsLee: Wow, your aunt and uncle sound like amazing and special people and your project of transcribing his letters fascinating! What a wonderful way to honor his memory.

Finished The Book Thief by Markus Zusak a couple of days ago. Here's my review. Happily, there are about a thousand other reviews, so I didn't go into great detail. Only what I wanted to remember of my reading thereof.

"A story of a poor, young, German girl during WWII, from the perspective of Death.

I had a difficult time getting involved in this story, but I think that was due more to myself than to the story. I had just finished a very good book told in much the same style (snippets of information handed out, not a continuous narrative), and I am reluctant to read of inhumanity towards one another. However, due to the overwhelming love for this story on the part of other readers I trust, I persisted. I am glad I did.

The focus on the poorer population within Germany, those who had no power, no voice, was a perspective I had not read much of before. Though it felt a bit cold and distant at first, by the end, the characters were warm and full of life. One wept with them. At least, this one did. It is never good to de-humanize a population, whether they are victims or perpetrators. This story goes a long way to help us see beyond the names people give each other and into the heart of humanity. This is not a book I would read twice, but I am very glad that I finished it because by the end, it had much to say that needs to be heard."

I also finished The Chinese Cookbook by Craig Claiborne and Virginia Lee.
It has some interesting recipes, some that are way more fuss than I will do, however, I did buy a bamboo steamer so that I could try some of the dumplings. We love dumplings. The only problem is the fuss of making the dough, although for many of them one can find wonton and egg roll wrappers easily enough in the store. What stood out for me in reading this, is how many of the ingredients have become standard supermarket fare compared to 1972 when this was written. Also, the internet has made getting the few things not available easy enough to order. Cool.

In comparing this to the Yan Can Cook cookbook I read recently, the flavors are the same, but he has simplified the process to more manageable methods. There was so much waste in many of the recipes of Claiborne and Lee!

Have begun reading Too Many Cooks by Rex Stout. Will be posting in The Black Orchid group about that.

>128 MrsLee: Nice review. I am glad you got into it eventually.

>129 pgmcc: Thank you, your comments on the book helped me to persevere.

>130 MrsLee: Glad to be of service.

>128 MrsLee: Your comments on The book thief make me think I need to persevere with it. My copy is at my mum's house and I read the first part when I was there last weekend, but hadn't really warmed to it. But I will keep reading when I'm there again.

>132 Sakerfalcon: I didn't warm to it until I was well beyond half finished. It isn't that I didn't like it that far, only that it didn't make me compelled to go on. I do think you won't be sorry to read on.

>132 Sakerfalcon: MrsLee's comments on the book identify the aspect of The Book Thief that I found interesting. I like reading something that gives me a new point of view or looks at things from a different angle. The Book Thief reinforced my belief that when you meet people they generally turn out to be human beings despite any of your preconceptions about them based on generalisations or other prejudices you might have.

Another book that gave me a new viewpoint and had me feeling I was seeing the world from another person's point of view was, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time.

>134 pgmcc: I love your positive reaction to Curious Incident. The main character is much like my youngest brother and I found his view to be very realistic and it helped us understand a lot of things that Thomas hasn't been able to express.

>135 Darth-Heather: I have a number of friends and relations like the main character and at the end of the book I felt right inside the main character's mind and had a greater understanding of my friends and relations. Everything makes sense when you look at it from other people's perspectives.

Which reminds me of something I noted with my second granddaughter. It is not to do with characteristics like the character in The Curious Incident, but is to do with the frustration of not being able to communicate. Having four children of my own, about thirty nieces and nephews, and four grandchildren, I have had plenty of opportunity to experience the frustration that babies and toddlers have when they want to communicate but cannot speak. I think this is a major cause of tantrums and rage in the very young. (Time for a quote from "Cool Hand Luke": What we have here is a failure to communicate.

My second granddaughter, who just turned three years old at the start of the month, was taken to a baby sign language class by my daughter. At a very young age she was able to sign for milk, rabbit, toy, more, and many more words. As she acquired more words she was awarded certificates of accomplishment. Long before she was able to talk she could ask for things and indicate what she wanted. She has been the calmest, least tantrum-esque baby I have known. I believe her ability to communicate non-verbally prevented the frustration she would feel had she wanted to say something but did not know how to.

The class used the standard UK sign-language for those with hearing difficulty which means she already has a grounding in sign-language that will help her in later life when she meets someone with a hearing difficulty. The fact that she is emigrating to the US next week might put a spanner in the works as the US sign-language is different from the UK one.

>136 pgmcc: What a brilliant idea. Who was it that had the idea to even start sign classes for hearing children?

>137 clamairy: Apparently it was an established class where my daughter is living. I think she came across it through the parenting group she is in. All the people due to have a baby around the same time at the hospital formed a group and have kept in touch since the days they were expecting. Before the COVID restrictions hit they were all still in contact and arranged get-togethers for the whole group, mothers, fathers and children. They arranged play dates and supported one another on various topics. It seems to have been a great support group.

>136 pgmcc: Sign language for babies. What an excellent idea!

I hope your daughter is able to make the transition to US sign language without too much difficulty. Of course, she will also be dealing with the transition from metric to imperial as well...

I enjoyed reading The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime and gaining some of that perspective you mention. Another couple of very good books that feature protagonists on the spectrum are Mockingbird and The Speed of Dark. I recommend them both without hesitation.

>139 ScoLgo:

And American English as well

>136 pgmcc: my eldest granddaughter learned sign language before she could speak, just because.

I suspect her younger sister is learning it too.

>140 suitable1:
Her husband is American so she has an interpreter.

>141 fuzzi:
Super.

Have you found her to be calmer than other children her age?

Interesting stuff happens here while I'm gone. I love the idea of babies signing. Will mention to my DIL in case she is interested.

>143 pgmcc: hahaha. She is a genuinely strong-willed child.

Or maybe she would have been worse...

Had a fun little synchronicity of reading today. I began reading The Five Children and It by E. Nesbit on my breaks at work. It is a children's classic I have never read. The "It" is a Psammead, or Sand Fairy. Well, this morning, reading The Greek Myths, in the story of Telamon and Peleus, I found the name Psamathe, meaning 'sandy shore.' Of course it isn't remarkable that the two names are similar, only that I should come across both of them in the same day in quite different books.

I was surprised some years ago to come across a book of ghost stories by E. Nesbit. Apparently she and other female authors of Gothic or supernatural stories at the time had to veil their identity by publishing with their initial rather than their forename to hide the fact they were women. Apparently it was not the type of thing to be writing about if you were a lady. My hat off to the ladies that persevered against that prejudice as they gave us many great stories.

ETA: If you come across a horse with that name running in a race put a few cents on its nose. :-)

>146 MrsLee: Those kinds of serendipitous reading moments always are fun. A few weeks ago, my mom read three books in a row that used the word 'crepuscular.'

>146 MrsLee: You'll be curious, then, to know of a succulent called Psammophila (sand-lover). It lives on the coast of Namaqualand, and stems and leaves secrete a sticky goo that quickly gets covered in sand when the wind blows (i.e. all the time). I don't think I have a picture, unfortunately.

>147 pgmcc: Sadly I am not aware of any racing events whatsoever. Ah well.

>149 hfglen: I think unique and rare words stand out like that when we happen across them more than once. Recently the word yclept appeared in two books in a row. Weird.

>149 hfglen: That sounds like a fascinating plant! Who would want to eat it and get a mouth full of sand? Nice preservation adaptation.

Finished Too Many Cooks by Rex Stout. This remains one of my top five in the series, if not the number one, not sure, but it combines two of my loves, Archie Goodwin and cooking. Plus it has a lot to say without letting the message interfere with the story.

Began The Best of Dorothy Parker today. My first venture into any of her writing aside from the many quotes one sees from her all over the place. The first story, "Arrangement in Black and White" was a Bam! It also segued nicely with Too Many Cooks.

To my mild surprise, I found that I have one picture of a Psammophila. Here it is:



Namaqualand, February 1974. Any animal wanting to eat it would have to see it first; it's necessarily the same colour as the sand it grows in.

>152 hfglen: Thank you! Excellent photo.

I absolutely cannot imagine trying research my uncle's letters without the internet. Oh my, the time it must have taken before. I would never have been able to do it because it would have meant time spent in the library, I suppose, which time I do not have at the moment (not to mention restrictions with Covid).

There are several letters without envelopes or dates, but I was able to pin them down from mentions of Cal Bear (University of Berkeley) games. Also he suggests my grandmother to look at the March issue of Coronet magazine because he thinks the lady on it (Susan Vance) looks like my mother, who was 14 at the time, and yes, there is a similarity. None of which I would have been able to see without the internet, not to mention a radio he purchased for $10, mentioned in passing, which when I looked it up turned out to be a table my mother had had in her home forever (we knew it had been a radio, but not where it had come from.

I feel like I'm cheating! So simple to find and confirm these things.

Not cheating! Sometimes technology does make our lives easier and better.

Some of these letters I'm typing give me the feeling that I'm reading The Catcher in the Rye again! Uncle doesn't hesitate to express himself with arrogance, obscenities, and opinionated aggression! It rather makes me feel proud of my grandparents that they had such a relationship with him that he felt free to write all of it. He has just turned 18, is living in Berkeley, CA, and knows EVERYTHING! lol. Rather amusing, because the political opinions he is espousing are just about the opposite of those he had in later life.

At one point he mentions that he wanted to beat a girl for expressing the opposite view, but he contained himself and talked to her for 45 minutes before she confessed that she had no right to express the opinion she did. My god. I admire her for sticking to it for 45 minutes. I've heard my uncle when he got started "presenting his case." I would have caved much sooner just to leave the room! By the way, the fact that she was a girl was nothing to do with it, he also harangued men who couldn't "see the light" of his ways. :/

His letters are full of the assurance of youth.

>156 MrsLee: thanks for sharing. We all have an "Uncle" in our family.

I'd never harangue someone for having a different view.

>157 fuzzi: I think he was more enamored of words and their power of influence than the power of his convictions. Not that he didn't have them, only that he loved using words and winning arguments with them. He was a very successful trial attorney.

>158 MrsLee: attorney? Oh, that explains it, I think 😉

I finished Five Children and It by E. Nesbit, yesterday. A charming book. Not sure how I never came across this while I was raising my children. My daughter would have loved it when she was in that early stage of reading chapter books. I know my friends and fellow homeschoolers gave it high praise, but somehow it never fell our way.

Anyway, that has been remedied. Perhaps I will be able to share it with my grandson/children? I was fascinated to read of E. Nesbit's life afterwards. She did not have it easy considering she was a woman living in the 1870s. The afterwards in the book told of some of her troubles, but pointed out that her books were quite light-hearted and realistic (within the bounds of their fantasy elements). Anyway, I'm not inspired to go on and read all her books, possibly I might have when my children were younger, but I am glad to have read this one.

I think I will be reading Guards! Guards! by Terrry Pratchett next. I want to refresh my memory of it before I watch the television series "The Watch."

Just catching up with you a bit, MrsLee. It's been a couple of off years for me, and I've missed my regular activity here, but it's nice to see what you've been up to.

I paused my chronological reread of the Nero Wolfe series a while back because I was going too fast and didn't want it to be over yet. What a treat, even allowing for all the political incorrectness of the early years.

I knew "yclept" from reading The Faerie Queene in college, but I can usually count on running into a couple of words in any Wolfe book that I don't encounter elsewhere.

>160 MrsLee: I'm glad you enjoyed Five children and It. If you want more adventures with the family, she wrote two sequels, The phoenix and the carpet and The story of the amulet. I also love the Bastable family series which begins with The story of the treasure seekers. There are no fantastical elements but lots of hilarious misadventures as they try to reverse their family's fortunes.

Enjoy Guards guards!! It's one of Pratchett's best.

>161 Meredy: Thank you for stopping by. You have been missed. We are, in a very laid back manner, trying to do "group" reading of the books by decade, in The Black Orchid group. Each book has a dedicated thread where readers are welcome to post their thoughts as they go, whether now or ten years from now. :) I have one more book left to read from the 1930s. My problem is that as a rule I have thoughts and posts from the first one or two chapters, then I get caught up in the story and gallop through without any notes and have not much to say by the end. :/

>162 Sakerfalcon: I certainly may read more of her works, but I'm not seeking them out at this time. Only because I have far too many books on my shelves at home that are calling out to me to be read. If one should chance to drop in my lap though...

Reading Dorothy Parker at the moment and I can only handle her dark bitterness a bit at a time. She is an excellent portrayer of some of the more negative aspects of relations between male and female.

>163 MrsLee: Thanks! I just joined the group. I do have notes on some or all of my rereads so far and will enjoy seeing others' comments.

>164 Meredy: I eagerly await your participation! I love reading your thoughts and reasoning on books.

Just popping in to say I am enjoying Bluebeard.

Reading The Best of Dorothy Parker, this is my favorite poem so far.
Sanctuary
My land is bare of chattering folk;
The clouds are low along the ridges,
And sweet's the air with curly smoke
From all my burning bridges

>167 MrsLee: She was brilliant. That is one of my favorites.

>167 MrsLee: It could almost have been written about today's world! Love Dorothy Parker. She was brilliant. And what a life she lived.

I own the Collected Stories of Dorothy Parker. You are all making me move it up the TBR pile.

>170 Sakerfalcon: She works best in small doses, I think, in part because the cynicism and pessimism are tragic yet regularly played for laughs. As others have noted, brilliant is the perfect description of her intellect and writing talent.

>171 libraryperilous: I agree. At times I get tired of the bitterness towards relationships, and feel very bad for her. But the clarity of her insight into the way people can behave keeps me coming back.

The Collected Works of Dorothy Parker is a book I looked at many times in Chapters Bookshop in the days when we could visit a bookshop. I considered buying it several time and when I first saw it mentioned above I was not sure if I had bought it or not. Having checked my catalogue I can say I have not put it in my LT catalogue, but I am pretty sure I did not buy it. There are occasions when I have forgotten to catalogue an electronic text, but I seldom forget to catalogue a real book.

>167 MrsLee: oh, I LIKE THAT.

And I'm not much for poetry.

>171 libraryperilous: & >173 pgmcc: I have two books of hers. One is a huge collection called The Portable Dorothy Parker. The other is smaller and called Death and Taxes. I was able to read the second without any damage to my mood. I haven't tried to tackle the first one yet.

I finished Guards! Guards! by Terry Pratchett. I have read this several times now, and am delighted each time. The genius of Pratchett, IMO, is that although the book is chock-a-block full of puns, humor, irony, and sarcasm, he still manages to write a compelling story which pulls the reader along and gives them food for thought as they go. Amazing.

Still reading in bits and pieces:
Greek Myths
The Best of Dorothy Parker
and at work on my breaks:
Out Where the West Begins by Arthur Chapman. A collection of cowboy poetry published in 1917. So far only one poem has moved my soul, but the others are a nice description of life in the early west I guess.

Will be starting The Silmarillion by J.R.R. Tolkien this weekend. I want to try to read with the group, but honestly, I'm not sure I will be able to stick it to the end. I have read it once, and I have a lot of the books which have come from it. Not willing to get bogged down in any reading obligations this year because my will/compulsion/concentration to read is still very fragile.

You expressed an interest in Earth to Earth, when I started it back in December. Having finished it, I would recommend it for you, especially with your current state of reading attention. It has taken me so long because I found it best enjoyed in small snippets.

>177 -pilgrim-: Thank you!

>178 MrsLee: I have posted more detailed comments in my own thread.

I finished the book of cowboy poems, Out Where the West Begins by Arthur Chapman. I guess this was one of the earliest publications of cowboy poems, in 1917. I am no judge of poetry. These poems give a romantic version of many aspects of Western life before the railroad, towns and farms. Most come across to me as somewhat trite, but a couple I liked.
"A Cowboy's Musings
The other day, upon the mesa's level land,
Jest where it slants a leetle to the West,
My hoss destroyed - he couldn't understand -
a purty nest.
Some lark had built it 'neath a grassy screen,
And durn it all! I couldn't find the words
To tell my sorrow, when I stooped and seen
them dead young birds.
Five of 'em there was - not one to test a wing! -
And there the old birds flew, a-callin' sad;
For hours afterword I couldn't laugh nor sing,
I felt that bad.
So mebbe this here Death that compasses our end
Is just some blunderin' critter that goes by.
Like my old hoss, and never does intend
To make us die."

Honorable mention to: "Out Among the Big Things" and "At the Outposts"

>180 MrsLee: I am not one who appreciates poetry as much as others, but the poem you posted is great in terms of telling the emotion of the cowboy when he realised what had happened.

>181 pgmcc: I also liked the viewpoint of Death as indifferent and not intending. Sort of an anti-anthropomorphic vision, if you will. What springs to mind are bacteria, virus and the like as "blunderin' critters." Death isn't necessarily someone's "will," just what happens as the rest of life goes by.

I don't know why that brings me comfort, but it does.

I have finished reading The Greek Myths, 1 by Robert Graves and I can say several things conclusively.
1) I will not be reading volume 2
2) Having read this, I have no desire whatsoever to return to those "Golden Days."
3) To take a phrase from Steinbeck and his friend Ricketts, "It might be so."

This is a work far beyond my experience or knowledge, so I can say nothing about the worthiness of the scholarship, etc. I can only say what I thought as a reader.

I found the individual stories variously enlightening, appalling, entertaining, interesting and somewhat dull, depending on how obscure the people in the tales were. The names were multitudinous, many were similar and interchangeable, which didn't help me keep track at all.

Sources were listed, most of which I will never read, but it is good to know they are there. I do wish heartily that an edition had been published with photographs of the items and murals from which some of the tales were supposedly derived. I may take a little time on Google to see if I can find any of them. I suspect that when I do, it will be like looking at a sonogram of a baby and being told that it is this sex or that, or anything else about it. They all pretty much look a jumble to my untrained eyes, and when I have looked at other ancient art and been told what it represents, all I can do is say, "Oh? Um, hmmm."

As for Graves fixation on the Moon goddess and all that is represented or misrepresented by the myths, that is where I invoke the above Steinbeck quote, because who is to say it isn't?

Now this part is a bit tricky without breaking pub rules, but here goes. Graves asserts that there are many common threads in ancient religions and more modern ones. It is undeniable as far as many of the stories go, however, all would seem to be quite watered down now from the original intent, and for that I have to say, "Thank Whomever you wish, because those practices were horrid!" Like the wine of Olympus which had to be watered lest it drive mortals insane, I would say the same goes for these early religious practices. I am heartily glad that we now have only representations of most of them. Enough said.

Here's one more thought. It doesn't pay to be the most beautiful, talented, wise or athletic. The gods will pay attention to you if you are, and that is almost never a good thing.

I am glad to have read this, it helps much with cultural references, and I will be saving it as a reference book. Made me smile that in watching Endeavor and Inspector Lewis ( two spin-offs of Inspector Morse), I was able to connect many of the quotes and references.

Next "Thinking Room" book: The Best American Science and Nature Writing 2011 edited by Mary Roach

"Here's one more thought. It doesn't pay to be the most beautiful, talented, wise or athletic. The gods will pay attention to you if you are, and that is almost never a good thing."

Too right! I recently listened to Stephen Fry's Mythos and thought the same thing. Fry says it, too, a couple of times throughout. I had more fun with his retelling than you did with Graves's.

>183 MrsLee: I enjoyed your post on "The Greek Myths 1".

>184 Bookmarque: Yes, I would not say this book was written for fun. It certainly had a very polite ax to grind, but it was interesting.

>185 pgmcc: Thank you!

Forgot to add that my new book to read during breaks at work is Some Buried Caesar, which when finished will complete the 1930s novels in Rex Stout's Nero Wolfe series. This one is also one of my favorites, for pure Archie goodness, and has been read by me many times. It was the inspiration for me coming up with a Chicken and Dumpling recipe which I would wager could give the Methodists a run for their money.

I do seem to be getting through books by reading in little snippets of time. 10 minutes here, 30 there, occasionally more. I won't be breaking any reading records, including my own of the past, but I am enjoying them.

>183 MrsLee: I read Robert Graves' Greek Myths, completely unexpurgated, when I was ten. It certainly innoculated me against any impression that Greek culture represented a past "Golden Age" in terms of societal attitudes!

I did find Graves' beliefs in the interrelatedness of the early myths of disparate cultures fascinating. In that he was drawing much on the work of Joseph Campbell. Although a friend from my school Greek class was reading Campbell, and pointing out his relevance to what we were studying, I admit that in all the years since, I have never gone further than dipping into a condensed volume of his work. (My friend was reading the 10 volume edition!) It is something I keep meaning to rectify...

But I would suggest that you do proceed to volume 2 at some point. It is where he gets past the who begat/raped/horrifically murdered who of the cosmogony, and onto the more narrative tales that have had such an influence on Western European culture.

>184 Bookmarque: Graves' was not aiming for a "retelling". He was aiming at documenting every version of the myths, as collected from different Greek peoples and cults, and showing how they all for together in a scheme of his own. He is a poet, so his narratives often have power, but literary effect is not his goal here.

So it is far more complete. But necessarily less consistent, and including fragmented happenings that are included because the Greeks believed in them, not because they make a good story.

I have finished The Best of Dorothy Parker, and while I am glad to have read it, I appreciate her craft and talent with words, her insight into human nature especially as regards many interactions between men and women, I am not eager to pick up anything else of hers to read. It is so, so, very sad.

Reading it makes me aware of the charmed and blessed life I have led in regards to those intimate with me. A world away from that which she describes, and for that I am ever thankful. The men I have/do know have more depth and compassion, as do the women. I am a person who does not suffer superficiality in my relationships. I would rather have none or few, than that. Reading this book reminds me why.

I don't know if I mentioned here about reading a pamphlet found in my grandmother/mother's papers called Fallout Protection: What to Know and do About Nuclear Attack published by the Department of Defense-Office of Civil Defense. Well, I did, and I feel even more fragile than ever because this pamphlet even says there really is no protection, but here we offer you things to do to keep you busy until you are no more. Ugh. That's not really what it says, but that is the feel of it. Please humans, don't go there any more. Too political? Well, if so, we won't continue this line of thought, just let it sit.

I am very much enjoying the Best of Science Writing book in 2011. So far there has been a story about illegal organ transplants (rather horrifying) an article featuring Sandor Katz, a fermenting hero of mine, one about how the government poisoned industrial alcohol during prohibition to discourage people from drinking it, they drank it anyway and possibly 10,000 died (more horror and appalling), another about the brain and memory, which follows nicely on a book I recently read. The only article so far that hasn't been a pleasure to read was one about chimpanzees masturbating and ejaculating (ick), but it is to further our knowledge of human infertility/miscarriages, so. Glad someone is working on it, glad it isn't me.

Also enjoying The Silmarillion in little moments. It has such a soothing rhythm to it in the reading, that I can't read for long chunks of time, but I very much enjoy the reading of it.

Then yesterday I began Some Buried Caesar, and am finding it as lovely as ever. Thought I almost had it memorized, but no. I do remember the villain though, and it is fun finding the clues early on.

I will be taking The Silver Palate Cookbook by Julee Rosso & Sheila A. Lukas to work with me to read during my breaks. A cookbook seems a good thing for 10 minute intervals of reading.

Finished Some Buried Caesar, it did not disappoint, though I've read it several times before. Still had to look up words though. I have a mind like a steel sieve.

Plerophory - a state or quality of full confidence or absolute certainty.
Apodictically - clearly established or beyond dispute.
Booby Booth - Looking this up on Google was no help at all, as I'm sure that Archie would not see "those" kinds of booby booths at a 1939 Exposition on the midway. Best I can come up with are the prize booths for tossing rings around things, etc. Is this a term anyone here is familiar with in their region of this earth? As in relation to a carnival of mostly wholesome fair/exposition goers? :)

>190 MrsLee: I don't know the answer, but "the booby prize" is the one awarded to the person who comes last. Could this be a competition where the point is not so much to win as to avoid coming last - as some sort of forfeit will then have to be paid?

ETA: Or, more unpleasantly:
A "booby" was a term for an"idiot" in those days. Was this an exhibition of "mental defectives", either for the audience's amusement or with a pseudo-scientific basis?

Or alternatively, there is always the possibility that it is a reference to the flightless bird.

>190 MrsLee:
The closest I got was an article on Disney's Pinocchio. "Booby" is for dunces, idiots, etc... Perhaps your booby booth reference is a general term for fairground stalls that are catering for the boobies and taking their money.

Apart from the blue footed birds, what other sort of booby could you be talking about?

https://disney.fandom.com/wiki/Pleasure_Island_(Pinocchio)

>190 MrsLee: I'd have understood it to mean something like Paul Daniels's "Bunco Booth"* that I used to watch in the early 80s.

*"As well as featuring tricks and illusions for pure entertainment, he also included a regular segment (the "Bunco Booth") in which he exposed the confidence tricks of street charlatans." (Wikipedia)

I hope, in his words, "you'll like this. Not a lot, but you'll like it".

>193 hfglen: I remember it well.

>194 pgmcc: So do I.

But I thought "Bunco" derived from "bunkum", meaning "false stuff, total nonsense".

I find it interesting that only people from other continents have responded to my question! Not that I mind, but I hope some eastern Americans will also chime in.

Archie is nothing if not a corn-fed Midwest boy, those are his roots, and the basis of his impulses and morals. He has been transplanted to New York City and now works for a man from Montenegro. So his horizons have broadened. I suppose what I am trying to say is that the idea of charlatans taking naive person's money is probably the closest we can get. Since he uses the plural form of the word, I imagine that is his opinion of all the booths on the midway.

>196 MrsLee: For what it’s worth, this American who has lived primarily in Virginia, Ohio, and Georgia, has never heard the term has absolutely no clue. :)

What >197 YouKneeK: said. If I saw that term in a book I would expect it to reference some sort of peep show. LOL

>196 MrsLee: smaller area than that. Three of us evidently remember the same BBC-TV show, and I had the pleasure of seeing Paul Daniels in London.

>198 clamairy: no idea here, either.

>196 MrsLee: It meant absolutely nothing to me either. A not so smart person working in a Fotomat booth?

Oops, I meant to continue this on March 31st. Better late than never.