Java Davis's Blog, page 8
May 18, 2016
Road Trip: Cambridge MD
http://wp.me/p51aKx-na
Road Trip: Cambridge MD
The Subaru is going; the dog is staying behind.
The next road trip is scheduled for next week, Thursday. My friend and I will be exploring Cambridge, Maryland, which looks good on paper, but then, so did Milford, Delaware, my recent fiasco.
Car Snack Alert: The new limited edition Oreo S’mores cookies taste nothing like S’mores. BEWARE!
May 15, 2016
Last Update: Mina, My Cat
Last Update: Mina, My Cat
Mina’s last hours on earth ended yesterday at about 12 p.m. when she was euthanized. We were hoping that she would pass away peacefully at home, but she seemed determined to live despite dropping from 7 pounds to just under 1-1/2 pounds. She was finally so frail that I couldn’t let it go on any longer. I held her in my arms as the vet administered the drugs and checked to see that her heart had stopped.
Everyone, give your pets an extra hug from Java Davis.
May 13, 2016
Update 3, My Cat Mina
My cat Mina, shaved, living on sips of water and no food.
Mina is still with us. She is surviving on water because she hasn’t eaten in weeks. Once a day, I still try to feed her, but she’s nauseated by the smell of food now.
I hardly go out these days, and I haven’t been to the gym in weeks. I want to be holding Mina when her time finally comes.
In another arena, if you are an indie author or small publishing house, you may have heard about Publishers Weekly’s subsidiary company, BookLife. Ordering a review from PW can cost $500, but requesting a review on BookLife is free. You have to be brave enough to load your book, your cover, and a sample. I jumped in with both feet and uploaded all of mine. Two of my titles, Commune and Metal, were under consideration for free reviews, but now they’ve both been rejected. This is a tough blow to me, because those reviews could finally launch my “author career,” but the good news, of course, is that the process was totally free. If anyone else takes this plunge, I’d love to hear that you had success with this process. Please share if you do.
May 11, 2016
Book Review: Faces, by Diane Winger (4 coffee beans)
I enjoyed this story about Jessica, a computer programmer and rock climber. She has a climbing accident and due to mild brain damage loses her ability to recognize faces — face blindness, or prosopagnosia. The bad guys are able to take advantage of her new disability by roping her into a money skimming scheme by getting her to think she’s working on a secret project, but who has been hoodwinked into programming a client hoax. But Jessica is diligent and follows up her work, discovering that the secret project could be illegal.
Yes, it’s illegal. The police are soon involved, and these “anonymous” bad guys are threatening Jessica to recant her testimony and confess that it was all her plan from the beginning. The police aren’t stupid, and figure out quickly that Jessica’s testimony is the truth and what they’re getting from other interested parties are obviously involved, and lying about her part in this mess.
As a programmer, Jessica explains many programming issues that I admit to having skimmed over. As a climber, Jessica explains the specifics of rock climbing. What I got was the differences in tension, from casual climbing with friends versus other times when the climbs are more dangerous. As a sufferer of face blindness, jessica explains by words and by example how difficult life becomes when no one looks familiar.
While I enjoyed this book very much, the story was a good one, it has one of my fiction pet peeves. Jessica is the only important character, and all of the peripheral characters are mere window dressing. This book is the first in a series about Jessica, and I am hoping that the author makes her characters more rounded out.
Faces (A FACES Novel Book 1)
May 10, 2016
A Bit of Whimsy
http://theroadtripwriter.com/a-bit-of...
A Bit of Whimsy
I root for a minor league baseball club called the Wilmington Blue Rocks. I thought it would be whimsical to own a baseball cap with Blue Rocks in Hebrew, so I had one made up. I’ll be stylin’ at the next game!
For those of you who want a Mina update, she is still with us, although she hasn’t eaten in almost two weeks and can hardly hold her head up, but she still seems alert and affectionate. What do I do, and when do I do it??
May 8, 2016
Update 2: Mina, My Cat
Update 2: Mina, My Cat
It’s been a week since I almost put Mina to sleep and she’s still with me. She hasn’t eaten in over a week except for a spoonful of half and half once a day. I try every day, but she shakes her head and walks away. Nothing appeals to her. She shakes now like a very old lady, and has tics. Her ears are entirely yellow.
My husband went away yesterday to spend Mother’s Day weekend with his mother, and I cried to be left alone with my dying cat. It was a hard choice for him to leave.
The stress level is off the charts.
