Often just junk fiction -- sometimes 2 to 3 books / day.

I should start reading mysteries again 😀

Who is your fav author? I especially enjoy the ones that have dogs and cats as part of the story.

David Rosenfelt is my fav author. He is a real life attorney (likely retired), whose main character in most books is an attorney. Funny as can be and intriguing. He also runs a real life dog rescue with his wife and every single book has something to do with a dog. When I first "discovered" his work, I read all 19 in 1 week. And they're so good, I've re-read them when in a "pinch" with no new authors on tap.

I'm waiting now to get the electronic copy of his most recent release for the 2024 holiday season.

For some reason, I can’t remember the other authors I used to read, but I am going to look up Rosenfelt, if it has cats and dogs in it I’m sure I’ll like it. 😹 The last one I read by Jeffrey Deaver was very grim though… I think it was scaring me too much. More recently when we had a power failure I read a book I had purchased on kindle or maybe it was free I had never read. It was OK. I can’t remember the name of it. It was sort of a mystery… not written by anybody well known and the writing style was tedious but I still wanted to know what happened. 19 in a week is amazing!

I just bought a book for a friend of my father that we visited. She fell and had a brain injury and she’s now in assisted living. She said she likes to read mysteries so I bought her a novel for next time we visit by Ryley Sager, The House Across the Lake… it looks like a mystery maybe… and some of my father’s books one by Bartholomew Gill and a novel by Martin Cruz Smith…I’m going to give her those too.

Unfortunately, I was not able to visit her again because I had a lot of health emergency stuff going on, but hopefully soon… I think she has been moved to a different place now… I have to call and see. She seemed to be doing a lot better than our friend described. She remembered a lot of things and talked in detail about a lot with us, but they said she had short-term memory damage, she did not seem to be that bad at all to me from what I expected.

I also bought The Dovekeepers by Alice Hoffman on clearance a few years ago on audio/ DVD and never listened to it yet, hopefully soon. 😀

I'll check them out for sure.

For me, especially these days, anything I choose to read has to be funny, rather than graphic.

A few more of my fav authors are Jana DeLeon, Gemma Holiday, and Shirley Rousseau Murphy. The latter is the author of the Joe Grey series about a small number of cats who can converse with humans but, of course, they only chat with those the cats know will not exploit them. Lilian Jackson Braun's series The Cat Who us also delightful & extremely well written. Sofie Ryan & Laurie Cass also have crafted excellent long running series with cats & dogs. Rita Mae Brown's Mrs. Murphy series is superb too with a cres of canine & felines who talk among themselves to helo their owner solve crimes (unbeknownst to the one with grossly inferior senses of both smell & hearing. Lol). Superb reads!

That is very kind of you to share with your friend on the mend. I hope she is ok!

Enjoy!

Shakespeare. 14 lines. Captain Picard.

All ours.
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLTe3BtWX_ebfunRB1YeptsrjzqCYFCsaV

I did 3 Shakespeare, 2 Emily Dickinson poem and a couple other modern poets. It was a great project.

I read terribly aloud, so I can't do it. But it's a real talent.

Reorders the mind.
Too from Edward Albee and it really helps.

For zoning out, relaxing we listen to cello music. My husband was a cello major before he switched to Political Science.

Just screwing around making abstract art.

Mostly doing photography now for myself, but I used to paint a lot and I’ve been thinking about starting it up again. After my last injury, I had to stop because I was in so much pain painting. I have done more drawing again in the past two years or so. My studio is still a mess after a mini flood. My mother and I used to paint en plein air together years ago. I stopped doing that because people would bother me while I was painting. Once on a farm some people working there wanted to buy my painting.😀 I got the worst case of poison ivy or poison oak ever that time.

Maybe try finger paints? Not joking. Gushing your fingers through something fluid can be quite cathartic, whether clay, finger paints, or shaving cream.

It sounds as if you have some pleasant memories of painting with your mother, so maybe picking it back up again might help you to remember more of them or to connect with the good memories. Just a thought.

I've quit painting for a bit, too. I will probably pick it back up over the winter.

I try to focus on the process and not as much on the outcome. When I start to dislike a piece, I paint a dark wash over it and start over.

Do you journal about your process-based art?

I find enormous value in these types of posts, just reading what people are doing or planning to do to keep sane, ameliorate the stress and anxiety, etc...

YouTube videos, cooking and cute animals. Fussing over my indoor citrus and avoiding anything serious.

I keep trying out new recipes and can just look it up on youtube. Indoor citrus sounds great 😀

They are trying to bud now, but not the right time of year.

You might be able to take a shelter dog home for the day. They have that program in my town.

I've been avoiding the news also. Seems to help a little.

I will try to find out if they would let me do that and if they have a dog that’s OK with cats, etc. I don’t know how my cats are going to react, though I don’t wanna upset them at all. I have lost two of my cats in the past two years, one very tragically and traumatically last March due to negligence And I don’t want to cause any stress for them. They all ended up having to be treated for a long time for the same condition.

I had a beagle when I was a young child and she was my best friend until she passed when I was about 16 or so.

It's nice to have an escape. Otherwise i'd be running around screaming like that guy in Plan 9...

YOU SEE?!?! YOU SEE! !?! YOUR STUPID MINDS! STUPID! STUPID!

I have to look him up. I forgot about that. I often start screaming at the news if I watch it depending on what they are talking about which is not good for me or anybody.😹

making piles of give away, donate, get rid of. And I've been working on learning and playing new stuff on my guitar that I always mean to do but usually put it off. This week I focused on learning Chicago's Make Me Smile and I think I've got it down pat now. So that's been enjoyable.

I used to play the guitar years ago and then about 15 years ago after a break up I started writing songs, both classical instrumental and singing stuff too in one of those apps with a keyboard.


I have a lot of stuff like that I have to do too, so many things that piled up during the pandemic- everything‘s a big mess… hopefully in the next few months, I’m going to have more time because I think I’m going to be working only online. I will see what happens.

I have given a lot of my father’s things away and there’s still more. I have to decide what I want to keep. When my mother died, we just left all her clothes there for a long time, but eventually, I gave almost everything away.

I’m worried I will be like that woman in the Charles Dickens novel, I think, where she was supposed to get married and her fiancé jilted her on the wedding day… then she just left everything in the house the same way collecting dust 😹

It took me a long time to go through and eventually get rid of my mother's things. I kept a journal, a ring, her photo albums and personal letters she received from her loved ones and friends that she held onto.

But some of the things I've found in the attic, I'm like "why are you holding onto this????" lol

Well, some of it is not mine and probably because I forgot it was there, lol…. It is hard to let go of things.

I kept my mother‘s jewelry and I have a lot of my grandmother‘s jewelry too. We kept my mother‘s books for a long time, but I finally gave a lot of them away before the pandemic. I wish I had kept some of the dresses that she used to sew for me.

That really helps, especially when we win,
which we did twice this week already.

They're out there, just keep looking. They inspire courage, and fortitude and solidarity that empowers us. In dark times they help us regain faith and trust in humanity.

Please don't give in to fear that brings on your anxiety and depression.
We're down but we're not out -- we can get through this together.

MOVE. A lot. Every Day. Stand Up, more than you sit down.

Don’t try to take better care of yourself. Make a NIKE Commercial. Just Do It. NOW.

I’m not being grumpy. I’m loving You. When ya think about doing something, make a NIKE Commercial.

I don’t move around as much, I became more immobile. I still do a lot of things, but I spend too much time sitting now and it’s bad for circulation. I need to get one of those exercise things for circulation for your legs too. I often fall asleep sitting, which is bad. It’s better to have your legs up or lay down.

and I haven’t missed it.

Those Starbucks instants are quite good. I keep the Italian roast ones on hand, and I bring a few with me when I travel. Far superior to most hotel room and conference coffee.

Also trying to take care of myself a little better each day.

Watching old TV shows and movies - and at this time of year, Hallmark Christmas Movies™️.

Cat snuggles def help. Our 14 year old orange boy needs a buddy, so I have put in a mental request to the Cat Distribution System for a suitable companion to show up.

We have to try and hang in there and show up.

Because of being an insulin, and other health issues I can only have a glass rarely.

I go for long runs to burn off stress.
I write in my journal.
I read. I'm currently reading about the Athens music scene. I'm a longtime fan of the B-52s & REM.
I listen to a lot of blues music. The blues speaks to me these days.
I watch football & hockey.
I go about my life: work, family, & friends.
And I drink beer. We all do what we have to, I guess.

for children or people in nursing homes. It is a fun thing to do!

I hope more people will join in and share ideas.

DH signed up for it long ago, but it never made any sense. We hardly buy anything anyway and the monthly premium far outweighs any S&H fees we might get in the 1-2 times a year we might use it. Also, I hate the bastards.

Re-reading Sherlock Holmes, spurred by the Holmes vs Watson PBS 3-parter. I've been a fan since I was six or so and have all the stories.

Trying to get back to sewing and knitting. Just got a lot of fleece backed knit on sale, black this time, because it's imported and will be unaffordable or unavailable soon. But first a friend wants me to make a custom set of pajamas to adapt to her special fitting needs. Since I have a lot of special fitting needs of my own, I can figure this out. I've never worked with minky fabric before and have my doubts, but it'll be ok. I've also got a pair of weird socks for a portable project - apparently back in the 30s and 40s, socks were sometimes made on straight needles. I'm used to double points, but the first sock worked and I like the stitch pattern.

Stocking the pantry to a ridiculous degree. Whatever happens, we'll have something to eat. Canning as much as I can, freezing some, putting dry stuff (beans, etc.) in jars to keep the mice away. 25# bag of rice in a bin. I made space by de-cluttering the area and sent a lot to Goodwill. Most of it was stuff I've been given through the years (and thought "Have we even met?&quot . Cutesy cookie jars, dust-collecting baskets. I made a good faith effort to try the spiralizer from the kids, but that's just not my thing. I did try, though.

This week it's been a hamburger/onion/tomato paste glop from Farm Journal that sounded grim to the point of dire. However, the first batch tastes really good, especially remembering that it's an ingredient to be added to other things and seasoned at that time. I'll make another, which will bring my take to 14 pints, each of which will be in a meal of 4-6 servings. There are only 2 of us and 4# of meat made 7 pints, so it's pretty cost-effective. I'm still thinking of it as hamburger glop, though.

And I've started to cure a kilo of pork belly as pancetta and have to shred and blanch a really large cabbage from United Noodle for the freezer.

If by some luck, the economy doesn't crash, we'll just eat it anyway. It won't go to waste.

That’s great! 😀 The cooking etc. sounds great. I have fabric, some flannel. I bought a few years ago to make belts/ cases for my insulin pump and pj pants / skirts and things like that and I only made one pair of pants. And one belt for the case and then I just got too busy with everything else, but hopefully I’ll have some more time. The fabric was expensive even on sale then, but I’m sure it’s going to go up if they do tariffs.

A few years ago, I reupholstered two of our couches. I nearly killed myself doing it. That was the hardest thing I have ever done. My machine is not made for upholstery fabric either so it was really hard to sew. Lots of staples too, and stripping the whole thing etc. I couldn’t physically do it now.

I used to knit too. And I still have some yarn. I haven’t done anything for a long long time now.

I actually stopped watching a lot of political "news" a while back and life is better.

I always enjoyed going on walks.

when It comes to politics voting regularly is the most important thing. I see things like protests and tryng to convince others as a waste of time.