Maureen’s Comments (group member since Mar 02, 2009)

Maureen’s comments from the fiction files redux group.

Brian wrote: "Hi... I'm Brian. I'm a bookaholic but have been sober for too long. I've secretly hidden 3 books in my desk drawer at school and have a book near my bed. I can't kick the addiction. Sorry for denyi..."

i missed you! i'm glad you've found your thirst for books again! and remembered to come telling us what you were reading. it is hard work having to find out about books all by myself! that's why i am glad the group moved to goodreads, for better or worse. if the OG members can't help, somebody else can pitch in. :)

Laima wrote: "h how I would love to!!! But, at this time it just would not work for me:(

Take tons of photos and post them here.
Mo, you really have fun times! We must do something here in Toronto with all these wonderful GReaders. Of course that would include Greg & Karen too. "

laima! i do enjoy book folk. i will certainly let you know if any other fiction filers plan on coming to town. kerry has come to visit from vegas, and dan when he was living in upstate new york, and patty from nyc. i met michael and his wife for dinner when they took the train across canada! so sometimes they do visit. it would be great if we could get karen and greg up here too. :)

Kerry wrote: "It does scare me a little cooking for such a big group! BUT I have a good, easy recipe that serves six, so I will just double it. Or double and a half it! And I know I'll have helpers! ..."

glad you're jumping in. cooking is fun, and it's never too late to learn. i've been trying to perfect the perfect tomato lentil soup for me recently, and it's been a blast. i think i added a little too much hot sauce to the last batch. :)

Laima wrote: "Wow! Sounds like an amazing time!
Where is this taking place?

It'a an AIFAF Mo style ... LOL!"

ha! it's hardly my style, but i'll take the compliment for the group. it is certainly why i was keen to see karen doing the aifafs though, and why i wanted to meet her -- finding this group clued me into the fact you could find people who liked to read who also liked to have a good time. :)

you would love the skipper, jonathan evison, our illustrious leader, laima! he's not as present here anymore because he's busy with a two little ones, a wife, and getting his fourth novel out the door. just about one of the most generous and open people you'd ever meet. he found all these great people and i found them and i found you and you found us! now i think i am in a really cheesy shampoo commercial.

(they are just nice to me because they like lasagna. ;P)

Kerry wrote: "I've added to the spreadsheet too. I have volunteered to make a dinner this year! YES! ME! The girl who never cooked, will cook for everyone!"

congratulations on enjoying a new frontier. will be happy to see you take on the challenge of cooking for such a big group! :)

Martha wrote: "No boys for me this trip. Paul is wrapping up his final class at Evergreen. After the Dork, I'll be driving up to Seattle to pack up a college graduate. Holy cow!"

what amazing news -- though i'm sorry i won't see paul and will miss meeting your honey. :)

also, i notice you have one pasta dinner set down -- in this over and above the night where i make the meat lasagna and you make a veggie pasta option? doesn't matter to me; just trying to figure it out. :)

Dan wrote: "I added to the spreadsheet this morning. Hopefully this helps Mo feel secure in her Coke Zeros supply."

hurray! you're the best, dan! :)

i just saw this announcement from keith on fb:

back in the game! -- book number four hits the shelves today. hope you'll consider having a read -- kindle copies a mere $3.99 for a limited time!

http://www.amazon.com/This-How-You-Fa...

congratulations, keith!

also, sweet smarty! is paul coming this year? your beau?

mo
xo

well, i'm back. i just went out in a lightning storm to get some -- you guessed it! coke zero. i feel like it's also time to remind you all that even as a child, i was obsessed with caramel carbonated beverages, and lived in fear of death because there would be no coca-cola in heaven. so you know, long-term addiction/neurosis. :)

happily, patty has assuaged my concerns about a drive-through park visit (that seemed so strange but you all know i don't even have my driver's license :) and martha has assuaged my concerns about the phyllo and the immersion blender (i really can't keep buying them and leaving them at each vacation spot we go to :)

i still might bring some cheese. there can never be enough good mozzarella. i can freeze it and bring it on the plane with little difficulty. i am also bringing a couple of those grocery freezer bags i brought last time. also, i already sent ben an email alerting him to the fact he'll probably have to take me to the grocery store in LA. so my anxiety has ebbed somewhat! :)

(also, i'm sorry if i was making anybody anxious with my planning and associated anxiety. things are not very good here so i'm literally hanging on by my fingernails.)

LOOKING FORWARD TO SEEING YOU ALL. :)

love love love,

mo
xo

Laima wrote: "This sounds like my kind of group!"

i think it's definitely your kind of group. :)

Laima wrote: "Maureen!!!

I have just joined your group :)"

laima!!! welcome! :)

please have a look around, grab a seat and stay a while. there used to be more vocal canadians around here but i think i'm the only one now. but you can make two! :)

right now there's a bit more traffic because we're all planning (sic) the dorkapalooza, a gathering of booknerds. the first one was held at the home of our illustration founder, author jonathan evison in 2006? i think. the history is written somewhere on these boards. it's loads of fun. everybody drinks, relaxes, takes day trips, plays drunk bingo, eats big family meals, and of course we have a book exchange. :)

glad you're here!

Kerry wrote: "I think a food tab a useful idea, just want to encourage everyone to look at it!"

you're so sweet. my response was geared to the "i used to hope people would use the tools but now i've given up" attitude i am currently trying out. i just know it's like pulling teeth to get people to plan when they don't want to.

also, i decided i should probably post a link to the spreadsheet every time i post in this thread. maybe i will also post a link to it at our fan page. :P

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/c...

plus i just realized i am going to drink gin & tonics this trip so i will also have to stock up on tonic!

fiend? friend? it's just an "r" away. but here's a case in point: you are fast and loose and i am all written in stone. :)

but feel free to make it up to me by volunteering to bring a case this year. i have put myself down for two already but since i'm not the only one who will end up drinking it i'm not sure that's going to be enough. :)

we're all really good at pitching in. i just want to make sure we do as equitable a job of that as possible. i mean, i know everybody will make sure that we have enough beer, but there are those of it who (SHOCKING i know) don't like it. and in my case, i'm trying to pack a reasonable suitcase but it's hard since i want to bring prizes for the bingo, and books for the book exchange, etc. at this point, i'm already bringing lasagna cheese from canada. still concerned about the phyllo but maybe i can ask smarty kate to bring it from her town so i know we have it. :)

also the grocery tab will not account for every possible grocery we will need. as much as i would like to do that, i won't hem in the free spirits! i think it's just to let people know if you are planning to bring stuff with you so they don't duplicate. :)

Kerry wrote: "Mo, Yosemite is HUGE. You have to drive through it and stop at different viewpoints, trails, etc along the way. The Skipper means that there will be a lot of traffic going from one viewpoint/trail ..."

aha! thanks kerry. i didn't realize it was such a big production. i thought we could drive there and get out and look at stuff. for my part, i'm happy to go and do just that. i don't know that i need to see all the viewpoints and all the trails but whatever. i'll just sit tight and see what plan is put together when the time comes and then decide. since i don't drive, i'm just excess baggage anyway. :)

i am guessing a few people are using the spreadsheet but most aren't because generally the group is made up of people who aren't really big planners anyway.

i am trying to help martha by keeping all the info in one place so that should people want to know information they can find it readily. if they want to drink maple syrup every day because everybody brought some because of that year you guys didn't bring any, they are more than welcome. of course, i am guessing they aren't all that fussy anyway. but we all know how CRANKY i get when there is no coke zero. especially if coke zero has been promised to me, faithfully. :)

link to the spreadsheet again: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/c...

quite often i am confused by things. like i think what the skipper means is that there's a long line of parking before you get in the park? the idea isn't that you drive through the park is it?

anyway. i'm really here to talk about groceries because of course, the trip is a couple of weeks away and i am very neurotic. it seems that there is not a conveniently located grocery store within ten minutes' drive from our adventure house this year. to that end, it might be advisable for me to add yet another tab to the spreadsheet in case people are intending to bring groceries up with them so we don't end up all buying the same thing. :)

(also, the address is on the spreadsheet on the directions tab -- easy for printing out and bringing with you!)

when i last spoke with patty, she mentioned we'll be close by yosemite national park. to whet your whistles, i'm posting a cool time lapse video of the park i saw last night!

here you go: http://www.thecultureist.com/2012/02/...#

i warn you. it's stunningly beautiful (though i'm not entirely sold on accompanying soundtrack. :)

Matt wrote: "I posted a poem 10 days ago, it has since been pulled"

aha! so you're doing poetry drive-bys now. reminds me of adrian and his disappearing posts. :) do you tweet, emonk? i imagine you'd be adept in the milieu. :)

i wondered if it was a poem. but i still don't know what it means. "since pulled" begs lots of questions. :)

Matt wrote: "10 days ago since pulled"

i have no idea what that means. :)