gogo
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Joined
Posts posted by gogo
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I am finally reading Gone Girl. About 2/3 of the way through, and enjoying it. Maudie, give The Goldfinch a shot! I really liked it. Maybe it didn't need to be quite as long as it was, but it was addictive. I also recently finished this:
I'm always racing to finish library books before they're due.
It's still on my list! But, I'm also always in the process of racing through library books, so it'll need to wait until I'm through my current stack, at least.
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I finished Gone Girl, and for all the hoopla about it, I preferred Dark Places (her previous book).
Now:
Laguna Honda is a city-owned long-term care facility in my neighborhood. For over 100 years, it's been the last stop for old people with no where else to go, or people needing long-term care for physical or mental disabilities (lots of bikers, in the days before strict helmet-law enforcement, ended up in Laguna Honda).
It was built to hold dozens of beds in each large ward, which is not considered appropriate care anymore (it's been in its current location since 1909). It became a political hot potato a few years back, between zoning issues, city bonds to pay for remodeling, etc. It's always been a sad place to visit, but even before the updated facilities were put in, the care has always been top-notch.
My grandmother used to talk about her older friends who had no one to take care of them, and wondered what would become of them. The consensus was always that the best possible outcome would be that they could get into Laguna Honda.
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The Fault in Our Stars is really damn good. The author seems to be some kind of hipster doofus Renaissance Man. And I mean that in a good way. Check out his crash course videos on youtube, follow him on Twitter, he has lots of thoughts and ideas on lots of topics and they're mostly interesting.
Agreed. I had the book on my to-read list for ages, before I realized that the author was that same guy with the great videos.
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Recently finished:
Now:
Next:
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I've got this on hold at the library. I loved Let the Great World Spin.
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Much love from my family to you and yours, Sue.
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Relapse starts way before the person picks up a drink or drug. The actual using of a drink or drug is the end of the relapse process, not the beginning. One must be ever vigilant, no matter how many days or years of recovery have been accomplished.
Russell Brand's piece on this is really good: http://www.theguardian.com/culture/2013/mar/09/russell-brand-life-without-drugs (from last year, not about PSH)
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Oh, and we've also got an $11 zazzle balance
, which I can't claim unless our balance reaches $50, or if we're willing to pay a $2.50 processing fee. Unless we come up with something new and great to sell in that store, I'm just going to go ahead and pay the fee pretty soon. -
Last time around it cost about $675. We've got $230 in the bank now (I know, my math is off, that's definitely not half!). A mod or two have made up the difference in the past, when necessary, but obviously, it's preferable to have a lot of VCers give a little, than to rely on one person for a big donation. That's why I've been haranguing on a more regular basis lately, a few donations here and there take some of the stress off as the renewal date is approaching and I start fretting about how we're going to make up the difference.
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Another quick bump for this one. The site will come up for renewal right about the time of Solid Sound 2015. Unless you want the site to go dark just as you're ready to start making meet-up plans and discussing requests, I suggest that you donate now.
Plus, tons of other details up above in the very first post and throughout this thread, if you need more info. Thanks so much to all who have donated, we've got about half of what we'll need to renew in the bank already.
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I've never watched Mad Men, so I'm dying to see how this ends!
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I stopped making a point to watch the SOTU years ago, but not because I find it uninteresting. Instead of watching, I prefer to read the transcript in its entirety. First, it's (much) quicker when you don't have to endure all the pageantry, the dramatic pauses, the neverending applause. Second, reading the speech transforms it from theater into a policy paper, which makes it easier to judge the ideas within. There's nowhere for the ideas to hide; it's all there on the white page, unable to hide behind images, flags, and vocal tones. It just seems like a better way to engage with the content. (Unfortunately, it also usually exposes the content as a lot of vague, empty, generic crowdpleasing rather than measured, thoughtful defense of policy.)
I usually end up watching some of the speech, sometimes all of it. But it's not automatic for me, and certainly not a necessity.
I agree with you about reading the transcripts. When I watch, and I don't always, I'm specifically watching for the theatrical moments: the applause breaks; the times when the two sides of the chamber have wildly different reactions; seeing who has been placed in the audience to illustrate a specific point; the looks on Boehner and Biden's faces... I find those moments to be fascinating, but overall, I don't usually feel that they make it worth my while to sit through the whole thing, when the transcript will be available and much more easily digested.
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Is there a good website to look up weekend house rentals in the area?
Looks like there are a few places on AirBnB:
https://www.airbnb.com/s/North-Adams--MA?checkin=06%2F25%2F2015&checkout=06%2F29%2F2015&guests=2
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I have a friend who moved into a flat in London that had been previously occupied by Shane McGowan. She said they got assorted knocks on the door at odd times of the night, strange past-due notices addressed to him, etc.
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After Merry Clayton's voice cracks singing "Rape, murder" in Gimme Shelter you can hear what I assume is Mick saying "Yeah!". Love that.
If you haven't seen "20 Feet From Stardom" yet, it's worth it for this part alone.
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At the end of "The Goldfinch" by Donna Tartt. Long but worth it. Liked "The Secret History" but this was better.
This one is/was on my list, but I've heard a couple of people say recently that it was too much of a slog, definitely NOT worth it. So I was reconsidering. But, you say better than The Secret History... hmmm...
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Yes, that's correct. Thank you!
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Not musical blasphemy, but semi-related to the above: http://dangerousminds.net/comments/sting_puff_daddy_andy_summers_and_the_case_of_the_misplaced_bajillion_dolla
(long story short: Sting still makes $700,000+ per year from Every Breath You Take and I'll Be Missing You, and a quarter of all the money he's ever earned comes from those songs. He was the sole songwriter listed on Every Breath You Take, even though Andy Summers wrote/played the sampled riff, and P.Diddy didn't ask permission to use the sample, so Sting gets all the rights to both songs. He later realized the unfairness of this situation, and gave 15% of his Police royalties to Andy Summers and Stewart Copeland.)
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TV weather man says it's so cold in an area of this cold front that they had to add a new color to their map.
"None more black".
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According to gogo's link above, the (a?) third is a guitar tech for Beck, or was in 2003 anyway.
Thank you for being the only person in this thread who doesn't have me on ignore.
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The other book thread was started in 2011, not sure it needed to be locked.
Anyhow, next up:
Just trying to keep things tidy, get a fresh start, etc.
I have read The Ask and keep meaning to read some more of his. Let me know what you think of this one.
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Right now:
Next:
which has a chick-lit cover, with a Franzen blurb. We'll see...
This topic is locked
in Tongue-Tied Lightning
Posted
Best of luck.
Everyone, see your doctor regularly, and take care of yourselves!