Open your eyes! Oscar the Octopus is out to escape. After observing that tank full of the powerful, eight-limbed, graceful Oscar, a mollusc of the order Octopoda, figures out the escape route over and over. He outsmarts the humans. Every time. He may be too intelligent for his own good, yet he can’t pass up a challenge.
The ocean is full of outstanding animals! But the octopus is over the top!
Mangos seems like it ought to be the plural of eat in many languages. Mmmm! Neh?
Take that those who say I’m behind.
Shōgun by James Clavell
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
I read this way back in the 80s. It was a big, thick paperback. I loved it. Then I watched the movie (or was it a series?) with Richard Chamberlain. Then I was blown away. I was already crazy about Mr. Chamberlain—so much so that, as an early teen, I’d sneak a mirror into the bookshelf in the hall at just the right angle so that even though it was past my bedtime, I could watch Dr. Kildare. I still think I got away with it.
What I loved about every iteration of Shōgun was the passion, history, culture, and language presented. Richard Chamberlain is going to be hard to beat in his portrayal of Anjin-san, especially in the scene where he is committing Seppuku. But in this Audible edition, I felt that passion through the reading by narrator Ralph Lister.
I have gotten used to Mr. Lister’s reading, but I think this book needs separate actors. I absolutely hate hearing a man do a female voice. It always sounds demeaning to women. And all the men sound similar to each other.
Still, since I am taking Japanese on Duolingo I feel I understand more than the last time I read the book. I’m looking forward to book II and the new streaming series.
My Grape Quebec by Laura Bradbury
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
I love this series! I get to exercise my little bit of Duolingo French and travel with Laura, first to France and then to Montreal, Quebec, the destination of this book. The only bit of Canada I’ve been to was Victoria, BC. And then only a few hours on vacation when I was a child.
The relationship between Laura and Franc develops through cold and scary times.
Ms. Bradbury’s writing pulls the reader in. She knows how to tell her story.
I read this on Kindle. I read it a little at a time on one of my old phones. It was great for those moments when waiting, during commercials, etc. It took a bit, but the story stayed with me, so I never felt I needed to review the last bit I read.
I have already ordered the next book in her series.
Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is: ends with “ound.” Find a word (or words) that ends with “ound” and use it any way you’d like. Have fun!
AND
Since The month of Flounder that word seems in the front of my brain. It obviously fits both and neither of the prompts. So I’ll continue to flounder about in this stream.
It is a real storm outside thunder and lightning giving us a show. But thunder doesn’t fit the prompts. I did unplug electronics and between flashes and noise I’m writing this on my phone.
The sound of the rain hitting our window ranges from pounding to soothing. I am bound to the view, but soon I’ll be found in bed. You know that time when you round up all the stuff to carry to the bedroom.
But the storm has me all wound up. So back to watching out the window.
Of course, K is for knitting!
Just thinking about things can keep you awake at night. Half the time, you justify things done and other times, you go into full-on judgment. Jabberwokies fly or swim with jugglers who jab you in the ribs. All that from the thoughts or books before going to sleep.
At this advanced age, I am learning that I have a bit of control over this potential joyride of the brain. Just as a thought can go all wrong, and that was imagination going negative, jumping the tracks to joyful or boring ideas and letting the imagination make a jolly or juicy bit of fantasy can switch that mindset.
Sometimes, the mind wants to take over, so you must jog it or pull it to a stop with a jerk. A funny dragon, a space voyage, any story to take you away from the current darkness. Something funny or silly joke you tell yourself in the middle of that flow can slow it down. Then, the more you practice this internal journaling, the more you can do it better and better. Write them down if you can. During the day, the darker and come up with ideas to switch it over to something more fun. Sinking into the darkness doesn’t solve the problems. However, using a more positive story can lighten things and bring solutions you might not have reached in the worry world.
That is why I love writing. Imagination is the juice of my mind. By the way, my favorite jolt is to imagine diving into a pool of water and holding my breath, swimming underwater to the other end. I enjoy the quiet of the blue water. I feel the coolness on my skin, the bubbles escaping from my nose or mouth. I swim. I would rather do it in real life, but imagination greatly helps.
Hair. Let’s talk about hair. I was a cosmetologist. I loved doing hair. But my body, back, and legs hated standing all those hours. So, I quit doing hair. Still, when I pass a salon, I swoon at the chemical smells that represent the fun I used to have. I know it wasn’t all that good for me or even the clients, but the artistry of building something nice kept me in pain as long as I could handle it. Wow. That was 53 years ago!
But then, four kids, many other jobs, and hair were left behind—until my daughter and son-in-love’s wedding. That costume wedding called for something different. I knew being a witch was easy and not far from my personality (hehehe), but my then short pixie cute didn’t do the costume justice. So I bought a cheap long blond hair wig.
I didn’t like the long, thick bangs, so I cut it to my bang size. It was too heavy, and I am not adept at wigs yet, so it came off after the wedding. I still want to work with it. Thinning it all over should help. I might even cut it. By the way, I tried to link it, but instead of this look, there was a short, flippy, curly wig in its place.
Now that the pixie is growing out, I’m really sick of my hair. It goes into a ponytail but sticks straight out and is only 2 inches long. And you know where the ear parts were cut out for the pixie? The hole is still there, and I don’t want to cut the hair around it, as it will be shorter again. Ugh! So I ordered some messy bun hair pieces. I had hoped I’d get them by yesterday so the alphabet and my hair would match up. But who expects that? NOT ME! So here is what I ordered:
I don’t know how it will turn out on my hair, but it looks like a fun alternative to the weird poky-outy pony or just boring downess with that Patty Duke flip my hair seems prone to since I was in high school.
UPS says Thursday, so I’ll let you know how it works out soon. I might find an Emoji to match the updo.
Congrats! You have completed your goal of reading 100 books for the 2013 Reading Challenge! 115 of 100 (115%)
Congrats! You have completed your goal of reading 225 books for the 2012 Reading Challenge! 225 of 225 (100%)
Congrats! You have completed your goal of reading 200 books for the 2011 Reading Challenge! 204 of 200 (102%)
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