Yep. It’s a choose your own adventure style One-Liner Wednesday. 🤗
Archive for August, 2024
I’m sure I have things to say and pictures to post but this whole day escaped and I still have nothing. Oh well.
Happy Tuesday
My Broken Language by Quiara AlegrÃa Hudes
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Oh my! This was so different than any other memoir. It came at me like my own crazy memories. In and out. Mine are mostly English. But if I were raised with another language spoken around me, it might have sounded like this.
Cousins and relatives played a big part in this book. Exactly like my memories, just different.
If you have a lot of Spanish in your vocabulary, it might be even better. My meager amount barely got me by. At least the author, as she narrated, helped me hear her implications.
I picked up this Audible version after hearing about it on a talk show. I had the spare credit, so grabbed it. I’m thinking I will try to find the paperback so I could I can work on the Spanish more.
Please read some of the more eloquent reviews. Even if you have no Spanish, there is enough to absorb this beautiful story. I’m glad I own it so I can go back and enjoy it and Quiara’s voice and spirit again.
Besides finishing The End of Alzheimer’s (see previous post) these are things I’m working on this week.
Musically, I’m beginning to recognize The Dexter Theme. It has been hard as how it’s written is a little hard to interpret. After I get the basics I may rewrite it to the way I hear it on the show.
Succession, title song from the show. I didn’t much like the show, but I loved the music. I’ve finally played all the way to the end. It’s certainly not ready for anyone’s ears. Still it’s fun as I get to play the whole piano, less than an octave from either end. It’s cool!
Since the smoke causes my throat to hurt a bit I haven’t been playing the recorders, just in case it’s more than smoke irritation.
Enya, my ukulele, is getting easier. The B flat minor has been the toughie. But it sounded fine a couple times this week. I’m beginning to pay faster and smoother and having fun.
Violin! Whoa, what a challenge! I’ve barely gotten beyond tuning and putting resin on the bow. But I can finally say I’ve played Twinkle, Twinkle a few times now. My eyes get tired looking up the strings to my fingers. But I think that is good for my lazy eye and tracking issues. So I’ll take my time and learn.
I rarely report on my Duolingo, but it is such habit for me to pick up my phone and do a Duolingo 5 minutes here or there. In fact, it has joined me as I ride the stationary bike. It works when I’m just riding slowly but I have to put my phone down to get cardio.
Our weather is getting chilly. Though we get smoke from other places we’ve had huge rains lately that seem to help clear the air a bit. As of next Monday we will have a low in the upper 30s. I think we will welcome an early Fall.
The End of Alzheimer’s: The First Program to Prevent and Reverse Cognitive Decline by Dale E. Bredesen
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
When I was in my forties, both of my grandmothers died of Alzheimer’s. As you can imagine, I am working hard to avoid what has been assumed to be my fate. Genetically, I seem to favor the heavier side of the family, so when 2020 warned us to lose weight or get hospitalized with COVID, I went on a fasting diet. After losing 30 pounds, I have kind of plateaued. Even still, in my 18/6 or sometimes 20/4 fast, I am trying to eat as healthy as I can: veggies and a little fruit. I don’t like meat, but I do eat salmon in my daily salad and minimize anything processed. Lots of water or tea. One or two cups of coffee. I have increased my exercise and am trying to get cardio and weights. I’m still not optimum on any of it. I try to get better and better.
Meanwhile I have increased learning a lot of new things. I have 11 languages I’m playing with on Duolingo. There’s a lot of knitting and diamond painting. And I am bringing back my piano playing, learning new songs while awakening old ones I had forgotten. I’ve since started playing recorders, soprano, alto, and tenor. Then I took up the ukulele, and now adding violin. I feel learning new things helps my brain. I work at my sleep hygiene aiming for 7 or 8 hours.
Imagine my surprise to see that I am doing a lot that Dale E. Bredesen recommends in his book. I was able to get the Kindle version through Libby. But now I have ordered the audiobook and my own copy of the paperback. The text-to-speech helped me read the book but I felt I could use a knowledgeable voice to read the technical terminology. And there are charts of the supplements and other aids that I want to be able to follow more closely. So, even after I return the library versions, I will have my own copy to refer to regularly.
I highly recommend this book. It’s quite user-friendly, not too sciency but you can follow the science if you like (I like).
The Covenant of Water by Abraham Verghese
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Can I give this book 20 stars? This was amazing! So many levels and people and places and stories to immerse in!
Abraham Verghese (Author/Narrator) is breathtaking. His writing, knowledge, and ability to voice all the characters so believably from an Indian accent to a Scottish accent, and for a man, his women were varied and respectable, all just astounded me.
I think I saw this recommended on a television show. I was able to pick it up on Libby. I’m so glad I did. But I loved this huge book so much that even though it took me days to read (listen to), I felt at a loss to bid my new friends goodbye. This goes on my wishlist for paperback, Kindle, and Audible versions.
It is a hefty book. But if you plug away at it, you will have lived through several generations and lands. How many books give you that kind of experience?
Please, if you get the chance, read or listen to this one. I doubt you will regret it.
*I’ve mentioned how I’m a talker. My grandmother called me Chatty Cathy.
I learned finger spelling so I could talk to my fellow soprano in the church choir. For those that are fingerspelling challenged it says: Inhale the future; Exhale the past.
What is chatting but exhaling with consonants?
Voice-Over Voice Actor: The Extended Edition by Yuri Lowenthal
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
The thought of podcasting and/or narrating books has run through my mind a few times, um, a day, for quite a while. I’ve done research and have played with ideas for a while. This book was fun and informative about it all. And the voice-over industry I hadn’t thought of.
The narrating tag team authors, Yuri Lowenthal and Tara Platt kept the information hopping and interesting. If one can read cartoons, that’s what it felt like at times, as the team has a population of voices between them.
Now, if only I can conquer the stagefright that silences me with distractions and anti-schedules to keep it organized.
I think this is a lot more that can be gleaned from the wisdom these two grant us in this book. And though I have the audiobook, I feel I need the paper copy to visualize much of the information.
Darswords 
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