Julia Rachel Barrett's Blog, page 19

Just for the smell of it…

An Olfactory-Invoked Recall: According to scientists, a faint fragrance can bring back the memory of a long-forgotten time.

Maybe not so forgotten. I love the smell of books. Always have, always will. Lawrence Block gifted me with both a memory and a keepsake, a signed lettered edition complete with a postage stamp. I haven’t felt so content since those long ago days spent browsing through the stacks in the (haunted) Council Bluffs, Iowa Carnegie Library.

The Burglar Who Counted the Spoons.

I wa...

Ringing in the New Year with free books and freaky lemons!

I think one resembles a trussed up chicken.

Just harvested 8 bushels of lemons. I’ve got at least 3 more still up in the tree. I’m declaring 2014 The Year of Abundant Lemon Curd. Every season we get some of the oddest lemons. I suspect it’s because our lemon tree has reverted to an earlier and far more ancient genotype. Those pictured above are not even the best. I gave the best to the neighbor’s kids to take to school for show and tell.

Ah, free books! What better way to start the year. I’m st...

Should I really? Avoid this, I mean.

Yeah, probably.

Rachel says this– Two things a blogger probably should not touch with a ten-foot pole, politics and religion. Well crappola. Probably shouldn’t touch diet issues either.

I have really strong opinions and I have to bite my lip every damn day because I figure my readers have zero interest in my personal political and religious views, and yet…This is important stuff. Le’ sigh…

Woody Allen, yeah, the guy who slept with and then married his step-daughter, sums it up best in these stel...

Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus.

Our family Christmas in Montana was amazing. As one of my daughters said, “The best thing about this trip is the isolation. If we were in Napa everyone would be off in different directions, spending time with friends, eating at restaurants, going to clubs… We’d be scattered. But here we’re all together, cooking together, working together, playing together. It’s perfect!”

Cows gotta be fed. Horses gotta be watered. Dolly, the milk cow, has gotta be milked, sick heifers gotta be doctored. Christ...

The best dancing I’ve seen in a long time!

Now if Oscar and I could only dance like this! Once we took Swing lessons… Nearly destroyed our marriage. We both like to lead…

Regardless – Have a wonderful, beautiful, joyous Noel! We’re off to Montana. Love, Julia

Related posts:
Can you smile with your eyes? I can’t. I tried. I look like an idiot, a...
Victor Felipe Pellot Pove. He was one of the greatest baseball players from Puerto...
Transcendent sexiness. I checked out People’s sexiest man alive cover and boy...

Related posts brought to you...

Jake’s Christmas Letter to His Mom.

The drive home.

Dear Mom, I’m sorry I dragged you over the cliff. But it was a herd of eight deer, mom. A. Herd. Of. Eight. Deer. I counted… eight. And in my defense, they leaped over the trail right in front of us, all eight of them, single file. I didn’t have time to think. You sometimes forget at heart I am a predator. I may be a doggie genius, but my instinctive prey drive can override my cognitive processes in a nanosecond. Oh, and I’m sorry for hauling you across the meadow when I spotte...

Price Just Don’t Matter No More…

Now that the big time pubs have decided to disappear our self-pubbing advantageous low prices… Well hell… I could price an ebook at $10 or $1 and I suspect my sales would be about the same.

But I know money is tight for a lot of people so here you go.

I think in 2014 I’ll sell all my self-pubbed books for $.99, at least for a while.

The point of writing is to be read. My books are worth reading.

Oh! The Soul Series, a terrific paranormal series, is only $.99 right now!

Here’s the buy link: The Sou...

Fun with Julia and Jake!

So this morning I planned to take Jake to Rodeo Beach. The drive takes an hour, well, maybe 50 minutes on a good day like today. Nevertheless I like to get him out for a walk first so he can complete his toilette before he’s stuck in the car for a prolonged period of time.

I decided to stay in the neighborhood – walk a mile or so. Stress free… Right?

Jake’s dream came true on this little walk and I got to witness the entire episode in slow motion. At least it sure seemed like slow motion.

We wal...

I read an article on regret…

10 Regrets No One Has At The End of Life. Take a sec to read it. Go ahead, I’ll wait… lalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalala…

So the article resonated with me, not in the sense that it said anything new. It’s kind of what you’d expect, pretty obvious stuff– spend time with your kids, tell your wife/husband you love her/him. Everyone says things like what you won’t say is– I really really really wish I’d spent more time at the office. The Facebook comment was unique...

Why I May Be Forced to Pre-Kill My Husband.

Ya’ll remember the Canoe Trip of Death? (Those of you who are new here, ask any of the oldies. They’ll tell you. We paddled through Dante’s Fifth through Ninth Circles of hell. Just type canoe trip into the search window on the main page and you’ll find the series.)

Speaks for Itself!

Well. The guide from said canoe trip wants my husband to accompany him on a very challenging technical backpacking trip, not in the Boundary Waters of Northern Minnesota, but into grizzly country in the wilds of M...