The new TV season has begun. Some of my favorite new shows from last year bit the dust, others wait for a new host, others continue onward. But I’m always up to try new ones if they appeal to me. Limitless was one of those this season. I have to admit I did not see the movie but that didn’t limit me from getting the TV show. (more…)
I put this on my to-read list (again it’s over 300 books!) after reading her Wicked Plants. I chose this as my reentry into non-fiction reading partly because how much I enjoyed Wicked Plants. I will say I enjoyed this book about the fruits, woods, spices, and herbs that make up our alcoholic beverages. However, I did not enjoy it as much a Wicked Plants. It’s not the author’s fault I think but rather my inability to drink any more. I was left wanting to know what a liquor made from violets taste like over crushed ice mixed with seltzer on a hot day in France. How a Pimm’s Cup is refreshing when ruling India while trying act like I’m in Britain. How beer made with green hops taste different from the beer I know. But alas I was left with the images and descriptions only if I want to keep taking my medications. However I do have a son and husband who drink so who knows I might get to watch too. If not trust me some character somewhere in my writings will know that violet liquor and LOVE it.
After a few heavy books – neurosurgeon, corporate politics, and climbing Mt. Everest I was ready for a light read. I picked Savannah Breeze by Mary Kay Andrews. I didn’t know it was the second of a series but the premise intrigued me. Southern socialite has her money swindled in a sweetheart scam leaving her only a seedy motel. She tries to put her life back together. As she is doing so she learns where the con-man is and goes to con her money back from him with a little help from her friends. Fun huh? It was!, definitely a beach blanket read of the first class chick lit type, nothing heavy here.
Does moral obligation change with altitude? That’s the root question pondered but never answered as Michael Kodas retells his and Nils Atezana’s quests in 2004 to summit Mt. Everest. He recounts also the famous death of David Sharp early on to illustrate his points. The tales of lies, abuse, theft, fraud, and more when ultimately lives are at stake and most look to shirk blame leaves one more fearful of the humans on the climb than the environment in which they climb. (more…)
Back in September we discovered this movie on Netflix. Mike started it, rewound it, and called me in to watch it. I’m glad he did. This sci-fi (or is it syfy or science fiction) movie with the tension of the first Alien combined with questions about humanity similar to those in 2001. (more…)
I’ve started doing scheduled postings and it has helped me get back to blogging regularly. I was pondering what could I do to add a regular day to my Anything Goes Tuesdays and Throwback Thursdays. I came up with Memoir Mondays where I tell a little memory of mine. It seems people think I’ve had an interesting life. I don’t think it’s anything beyond the mundane but I’ve been told it is. Maybe like many Southerners I have a great
I like informative but fun non-fiction reads. I love to learn about things but I don’t want the textbook droning feel. That’s why after hearing a radio interview of Caitlin Doughty I picked up her book. She and I hold some shared views on death, more on that below. Also I learned something about the funeral industry as well as about cremation in the interview. I found the book a page turner that I consumed voraciously. I highly recommend it but then again I’m one who still recommends Behind The Formaldehyde Curtain By Jessica Mitford decades after I read it my freshman year in college. If you find frank discussion of what happens to bodies after death disturbing, heck, if you find frank talk about death itself in relations to you and other humans disturbing this book is not for you (nor is that link to the Formaldehyde Curtain above). BUT if like me you are curious even a little bit about death, how we do it and how others deal with it the book is for you and so are my comments below. (more…)
This week is Banned Book Week. I have to admit I’ve never met a book I thought should be banned. I’ve read many books that were banned at one point or another and always came away disappointed. You see when my folks would get me a ‘banned’ book I thought there HAD to be something exciting and salacious about it to earn such a dubious honor. Then I read Grapes of Wrath, Catcher In The Rye, The Great Gatsby, 1984, To Kill a Mocking Bird, Clockwork Orange, and so on… I came away with great stories but nothing so salacious that I saw any reason to ban it. At first being a skeptical high schooler I thought maybe parents got together and banned it to make teenagers want to read good literature. Then I thought maybe it was banned as a marketing gimmick. Finally I came to the sad realization that no these books were banned because there are people out there who want to control our thoughts. They want to decide what’s okay to write and thus think about and what’s not. They are under the delusion if you don’t look at stuff you don’t like it’ll go away. (more…)
Okay here’s something I’m going to try to do. Throw back Thursday posts – old things I have that I’ll share. Some are to laugh at myself like this one here. Others I imagine will interest me enough to share for other reasons.
Here’s what I know about that picture – it’s me! I’m in my maternal grandparent’s house in Laurens, South Carolina’s guest bathroom. That potty was wooden. Which at the time I thought was odd. (more…)
Yes we are hammering away at our recorded movie backlog. I mean really what else are you going to do on a cold March evening? Looking for something light, we chose RIPD. It fit the bill for light entertainment.
Mary Louise Eklund 