Glens Falls (NY) Online Book Discussion Group discussion
What are U doing today?
>
What are U doing today? (Ongoing thread)
message 6251:
by
Nina
(new)
Jul 06, 2016 01:24PM
A quote for Joy: "Make me good and chaste, but not Just yet," St. Augustine.
reply
|
flag
Mary, no need to read at this point. Concentrate on regaining your strength. We're rooting for you!
Joy, feeling better. A ways t go yet, but slow progress is being seen. Reading short odds and ends; I still tire too quickly to start a long book.I am enjoying listening to music, though.
Here are pics from the Renaissance Festival, mostly the jousting, although there are some pics of the coppersmith's stuff as well & a fun ride.https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?s...
Fun shots. I have seen Renaissance festivals but never with horses.
I am wondering of you goodreaders if you have an opinion on books being written by authors who deem to translate classics into the future times/"Emma," by Alexander McCall Smith's version left a bit to be desired. Not Jane Austin, is he. He is clever but don't think he pulled it off. Watched the movie, McClintok," last night starring John Wayne and Maureen O'Hara and supposedly it was a re-make of "Taming of the Shrew," Not good. And another recent remake of Ulysses by Maya Lang's "The Sixteenth of June." I know there is another one of Taming of the Shrew and I haven't read it, "Vinegar Girl," by Ann Tyler and after reading the review in the NYT I doubt I would like it either.
No opinion beyond liking McClintok, not in the least because Yvonne DeCarlo is in it. She played Lily Munster very well, too. Almost anything can be compared to one of the Bard's plays if someone tries hard enough & I don't recall reading "Taming of the Shrew".The jousting was definitely the high point of the Renaissance festival for us, although we had a lot of fun looking around at the rest. They had quite a bit going on with pub singing, plays, & various contests in archery & hammer throwing & such.
Mary JL wrote: "Joy, feeling better. A ways t go yet, but slow progress is being seen. Reading short odds and ends; I still tire too quickly to start a long book. I am enjoying listening to music, though."Thank goodness for music!
Jim wrote: "Here are pics from the Renaissance Festival, mostly the jousting, although there are some pics of the coppersmith's stuff as well & a fun ride.https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?s......"
Thanks for the pics, Jim. Sometimes I wonder where people get all the time and energy for this type of thing.
Nina wrote: "I am wondering of you goodreaders if you have an opinion on books being written by authors who deem to translate classics into the future times/"Emma," by Alexander McCall Smith's version left a bi..."You made some good points, Nina.
The camping season has begun. All our kids will have started camping on the islands this week. We're home base so things are pretty busy here! So good to see all the kids enjoying themselves.
I'm on vacation now for 2 weeks, the first time I've taken such a long time in over a decade. It upset my boss very much. He seems to think the place will fall apart without me there. I thought I'd joke with him the other day & said Marg & I were thinking of an extended vacation next year so I'd have to take a month off. Not funny, apparently. Looked like he was going to have a fit.Mom says they're dry as a bone & HOT up in MD. We've been pretty warm, but have been getting a fair amount of rain here in KY. Everything is in bloom & popping. The gourd plants along the fence have grown a couple of feet or more in the past week. The grass in the back yard was so thick I had to go over some spots twice to blow the clippings off the path to the barn so we wouldn't track it into the house.
The hummingbirds have all had a set of babies. They're now swarming the feeders, although there aren't as many as we've had in previous years. There are maybe a dozen feeding in the back & half that in front. With the trumpet vines, lilies, Rose of Sharon, Cone flowers, & Bee balm all in bloom, that's not a bad turn out.
The rest of the birds have deserted us since we had to quit feeding them for a while due to the coons. There are too many again this year & our vet bill is awful with the lameness issues we've had. We don't need stitches added in & we'd almost certainly have them if the dogs go after them if for no other reason than Molly & Amber would fight. Those 2 are getting grumpier toward each other as they get older.
Josh & Erin have a contract in on the house south of us, but it's in limbo. The moron quit paying his mortgage when his wife left & it went into foreclosure just about the time their contract went in. Now they've got to wait on the bank to clear the paperwork. Hopefully they'll still get it, but they're looking at other places again.
Jim, thanks for the summer summary. I suppose you miss your birds just as I do, now that you've stopped feeding them. At least you have the hummingbirds.Hope things go well for Josh and Erin.
We're doing our usual summer thing with the kids. Yesterday I drove down to the Boathouse Restaurant and met our kids who arrived there by boat. Here's their web page: http://www.lakegeorgeboathouse.com/home
I met them at the dock. They arrived in 2 boats! We were a party of 12. I'd hate to see the bill! I hope my grands and their friends know how lucky they are to be able to do all they do. After the restaurant they cruised down to Lake George Village to "shop". Soon they will all go home and Ed and I will go through the pangs of missing them. But it's been fun seeing the 2 babies. We probably won't see them again until Thanksgiving. That will roll around soon enough. Summer is half over (and I haven't even put on my bathing suit.) I'm too comfy at home. :)
Joy, not only are your family members/young and not so young, lucky to have this special time together so are you and your husband. We are not that lucky, as out of our many grandchildren only two live in our area. I have seven grandsons in CA, one in VA, granddaughters in Vietnam and Africa/sons in TX and CA, granddaughter in CT and so on. I, too, miss them when I see them leave or when I do. So, I envy your closeness but all in all we are blessed to have them no matter how far away they are. But, in the meantime, count your blessings.
Jim, Wish your hummingbirds would come visit.
Have a nice peaceful vacation with your family and furry animals.
Nina wrote: "And nice to be needed."Yes, Nina, it's nice to be needed. As you say, we should count our blessings and cherish what we have today.
Apropos to being needed, there was a female comedienne called Victoria Jackson who performed her original song called "Use Me". I thought it was very touching. Here's a YouTube of it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NlKV3...
My back is toast. No idea what I did to it, either. Hurts to sit, bend, or even lay down. Rolling over last night was torture. It's been getting worse since Saturday, so I'm going to the chiropractor this morning. Hell of a way to start my first 2 week vacation in over a decade. We're supposed to drive up to MD later this week & then to RI & back. Not happening unless this gets a lot better fast. :(
Jim wrote: "My back is toast. No idea what I did to it, either. Hurts to sit, bend, or even lay down. Rolling over last night was torture. It's been getting worse since Saturday, so I'm going to the chiropract..."Sorry to hear that, Jim. You don't deserve a break like that on your vacation. Let us know how you make out at the chiropractor. Those aches and pains can really slow you down. Very frustrating besides being very painful. I feel like that every morning but thank goodness I limber up as the day goes on. Can't lift anything heavy or I pay the price!
Sorry. Sounds terrible. Hope the dr can prescribe some relief. Sad for your vacation time might be spoiled but glad you aren't at work. Take Care. I am saying a prayer for you.
Thanks. I rarely have back problems. When I do, I generally know I did something stupid. That's one of the things that is making this case even worse. My back is a little better this afternoon. I'll go back to the chiropractor Wed morning to get it as good as it can get before making any decisions on the trip. I took it easy today, mostly read, but did a bit in the shop & made zucchini bread. The cherry tomatoes are coming in strong.
Glad your back is a bit better, Jim. Did the chiropractor say exactly what the problem is? I suppose there are many reasons why our backs give out. Exactly what does the chiropractor do to fix the problem?
Standard chiropractor answer is that things are out of alignment. I'm not sure how much truth there is to that. The x-rays showed that my disks & all are fine. He relaxes things with heat & electro-therapy & then cracks it a bit. Usually that puts things back together. I see him every few years for it & usually it works great in the first visit. This time it hasn't.
Good it isn't a disc problem. When I had that problem I had to end up with surgery as the only relief from pain.
Jim wrote: "Standard chiropractor answer is that things are out of alignment. I'm not sure how much truth there is to that. The x-rays showed that my disks & all are fine. He relaxes things with heat & electro..."Thanks for explaining, Jim. Maybe the heat relaxes sore, stiff muscles. My doctor said I have spinal stenosis. The effects of it come and go. Sometimes I can't go another step and have to sit down. Occasionally I use an electric cart at the supermarket. My husband ALWAYS uses an electric cart. He has COPD and weak leg muscles from using Lipitor.
It's a gorgeous morning in Hope Valley, RI. I'm sitting out on the back deck in 65 degree, clear weather with the woods coming to life in front of me. A hawk off to my left screeched & the squirrel overhead froze, then made a wild leap & whirl around a tree before stopping & looking up.It took us about 6 hours to drive up here from MD. I was really worried about the traffic, but the new Garmin handled that well. An accident on the Cross Bronx Expressway backed traffic up across the GWB, but the Garmin routed us into the right lane - the only one that was moving - & we went up Riverside & across north Bronx & Yonkers. The speed limit was usually 40 mph, but traffic flowed along at 60-80mph no matter how twisty the road got. I'm usually a fast driver, but a few places had me worrying!
My back is slowly getting better. I'm wearing the brace when I sit in the car, but have it off the rest of the time. it's the left sciatic joint that was out & bucket seats are the worst thing for it. I put a rolled up towel back there for a while & that seems to have kept it in. Anyway, I woke up this morning & could actually sit up in bed!
We're going to drive down the Sound this morning when everyone else gets up. All the outlaws are coming over for dinner tonight - 2 couples since they got divorced & remarried. Should be fun. Lauren's dad is also a woodworker & her mom is into horses, although mostly dressage.
We'll head back to MD tomorrow morning. We're planning to leave about 9am. It's 2 or 3 hours to NYC, so we'd have to leave too early to beat rush hour. Instead we'll go after it's over. Hopefully it won't be too jammed up.
I enjoyed reading your vacation resume. The weather sounds far better than around here this week/near 100 degrees almost every day. Supposed to be a break starting tonight. We hope. Long ago my husband's Peck ancestors in the early sixteen hundreds owned most of what is now R.I. He says his family unlike most came over rich and turned out poor instead of the usual other way around. Take Care going home.
Jim wrote: "It's a gorgeous morning in Hope Valley, RI. I'm sitting out on the back deck in 65 degree, clear weather with the woods coming to life in front of me. A hawk off to my left screeched & the squirrel..."Wow, Jim, you are sure covering a lot of territory here in the "East". My ears perked up when I saw that you mentioned Yonkers (where I grew up) and those places in the Bronx. I went to college at Hunter College in the Bronx (now Lehman College). In my early 20s I occasionally drove through the Bronx area to visit friends. I hope they fixed all those potholes! LOL
Have a safe trip home. Glad your back is improving.
We have been watching old Mash TV series and it's still good/stood the test of time that many "old" ones don't. I think Alan Alda is a very good actor. I had forgotten about him.
Nina wrote: "We have been watching old Mash TV series and it's still good/stood the test of time that many "old" ones don't. I think Alan Alda is a very good actor. I had forgotten about him."Nina, Mash was a great series. Yes, Alda is good. In 2011, I listened to an audio version of his book: Things I Overheard While Talking to Myself. Here's my review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Yeehaw!!! I got my old S10 running again. Brandon gave me a fuel pump, but it didn't work either, so I went over the electrical system again. Turned out to be a bad ground. Now I have to wait until the weekend for Josh to give me a hand putting the bed back on. I'd do it myself, but I just can't figure out how I'd hold up & guide the fuel fill hose in. It's pretty exacting work with the front end loader, so a guide would be a big help. Might get The Girl to help, too. She should know how to do this.We got over 3" of rain last night & it drizzled all morning. Then the sun came out with a vengeance. I can practically see everything growing. Josh had told me there was a problem with the little lawnmower tractor, so I fiddled with it & made a test pass in an area he mowed Tuesday night. I cut a good inch off! I know what I'll be doing tomorrow, if I can get some more of the weeding done in the morning. I spent this morning vacuuming & dusting. Yuck.
I have plenty do in the shop now. I sold or gave away almost all my bowls, candle sticks, yoyos, backscratchers, & bandsaw puzzles, so the cupboard is bare, thankfully. So now I can turn more without any guilt.
We have a cherry tree down, but it still has half its roots in, so no worry about it wilting. Once I get the little truck's bed on again, I'll cut off all the limbs & start chopping off pieces to turn. I have to be careful with cherry leaves since they're poisonous to horses when they're in the wilt stage. Live or dead, they're OK, but when wilting they create a cyanide compound that is sweet & they'll kill the horses or goats. Luckily, it doesn't have a lot of limbs, so I'll trim it up & take them out of the field into the woods where the monsters can't get to them.
I envy your rain/it hasn't rained here since July 13th and expecting very hot again days next week. Not too untypical of July in Kansas City. I have a picture of my great grandson with Tim Kaine taken about four years ago in VA when he was running for Senate at that time. My husband was good friends with his father/worked with him at Bendix for twenty five years and they were golf buddies. My daughter was in the same middle school but one year ahead of Tim. Small world.
Today I am pulling vine weed which I hate. Do you have it in NY or KY? I hope you don't. And also cutting Autumn clematis and other clematis vine that are so overgrown you can't see yourself coming or going as the saying goes. It looks better except now you can see the worn out fence behind it. Can't win. Now I am tired and it's time to read. Joy, the Beach boy movie got a rave review in our paper this morning.
There are a lot of vine weeds, Nina. We have a thorny sort of blackberry one, purple vetch, trumpet vine, poison ivy, Japanese honeysuckle, & many others. I like the trumpet vine in some places & Virginia Creeper is pretty in the woods. I don't care much for the rest no matter where it is.
I've been pulling weedy vines too. They get into everything. It's been a busy week and I'm falling behind in everything! :)Nina, that's interesting about the Beach Boy movie. I wonder why they mentioned it. It came out in 2014. So it's not a new movie.
"Love & Mercy" (2014)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0903657/?...
Well, today just sitting around the house.Reading a military SF novel called Slanted Jack. Just a light, fun adventure read---but I am not in the mood for anything more challenging today.Feeling some better. I start cardiac rehab Monday morning.
I think they were mentioning the best movies of certain years and that one was the reviewers idea that it was the best one. I thought it might be of interest to you. Jim at our place at the Ozarks my husband who was up in a tree trimming branches thought the poison ivy was so thick it was a tree branch. He got a terrible case of poison ivy that time.
So glad to hear you are improving Mary JL and hope you keep it up. Take Care.
I typically don't get poison ivy much. I'll get it when I weedeat a lot of it in shorts since the juice winds up getting driven into my legs. I'll get it between my fingers if I weed a lot of it on a hot day, too. In both cases it usually goes away pretty quickly if I scratch it a bit & coat it with alcohol. The worst case I ever got was on my forearms when an old, dead tree came down across our lane years ago. It had rotted out in the center & was completely covered inside & out with poison ivy. It was jammed in at an angle & I wound up smoking it some as I tried to cut up the log. The smoke got on my forearms, but I knew enough not to breath it. Tough job, but I got it done. I had red Popeye forearms for a while, though.
I knew about poison ivy smoke from Mom telling me about some neighbors who had burned some when she was a kid. The smoke got into their clothes on the laundry line, including their underwear. They were a VERY miserable couple. I think one of them had to be hospitalized.
Mary JL wrote: "Well, today just sitting around the house.Reading a military SF novel called Slanted Jack. Just a light, fun adventure read---but I am not in the mood for anything more challenging ..."Happy to hear from you, Mary JL. Glad you're feeling better! It's good that you've found a good book to interest you.
Jim wrote: "I typically don't get poison ivy much. I'll get it when I weedeat a lot of it in shorts since the juice winds up getting driven into my legs. I'll get it between my fingers if I weed a lot of it on..."Jim, poison ivy is no fun. I was a bit itchy after pulling out a lot of weedy vines but, thank goodness, the itching has stopped.
Nina wrote: "I think they were mentioning the best movies of certain years and that one was the reviewers idea that it was the best one. I thought it might be of interest to you. ..."Nina, I'm glad you mentioned it. What a coincidence that I had just seen the movie about the Beach Boys. I thought it was a good movie but it was disturbing to see how Brian Wilson had suffered from years of mental illness.
Here's the Amazon page about the film (it has a link to a trailer.):
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01...
"Love & Mercy" - "John Cusack and Paul Dano star as Beach Boys genius Brian Wilson in "the best musical biopic in decades" (CHICAGO TRIBUNE). Also starring Elizabeth Banks and Paul Giamatti."
There is a survey that we can take that addresses the changes to the GoodReads Home Page. It's different than the one I got via email. This one is on Survey Monkey. Here's the link:https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/MWN8LVZ
Jim wrote: "There is a survey that we can take that addresses the changes to the GoodReads Home Page. It's different from the one I got via email. This one is on Survey Monkey. Here's the link: https://www.sur..."Jim, thanks for the link and also for the note about the upcoming Goodreads changes.
To tell the truth, I usually stick to navigating my own GR group. I don't usually navigate the rest of GR website.
Frankly, I looked around the GR website and I find the whole site very confusing and distracting. It's not enjoyable for me at all.
In the past, when I recommended GR to friends, some of them told me that they found the site too difficult to navigate.
As an experiment, I tried to start a topic at the following page:
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/new
I found it difficult to do. It seemed to be full of glitches which I had to suffer through. And after I finally started the topic, I couldn't find it anywhere.
My topic was about the graphic book, March: Book One by John Lewis. I simply asked if anyone had read it and what they thought of it. Can you find that topic I started? It's not the one at my GR GF group.
You're welcome. We all use the site differently & it can be very confusing. There are links all over the place & many are not intuitive to me. Others are, but not to others. We all seem to think about books differently.I don't care for the book discussions either. Yes, I can find your topic & so can you. Just click on the link you made for the book itself. Now scroll ALL the way to the very bottom of the page & there is a section for discussions. It's different than the questions or group topics.
Another way to get to this sort of discussion is when a topic with the book in the 'about' section creates a link. Clicking on that brings it up along with other groups & topics that list the book. I don't use it regularly, but occasionally it can be interesting to explore a book that way.
For the umpteenth time we watched "Going My Way," again and enjoyed it just as much as the first time I saw it when I was sixteen. A dear movie that they don't make like that any more. It won all kinds of awards that year/best picture, best actor/best music/best director and maybe some more.
Jim wrote: "... Now scroll ALL the way to the very bottom of the page & there is a section for discussions...."... Another way to get to this sort of discussion is when a topic with the book in the 'about' section creates a link... .
Thanks, Jim. I finally found it. I doubt that the members will have the patience to scroll and scroll and scroll, unless they know what they're looking for.
BTW, where's the "about" section?
Glens Falls (NY) Online Book Discussion Group
Books mentioned in this topic
Educated (other topics)Pride and Prejudice (other topics)
Moby-Dick or, The Whale (other topics)
The Count of Monte Cristo (other topics)
War and Peace (other topics)
More...
Authors mentioned in this topic
Tara Westover (other topics)Ann Howard Creel (other topics)
Ann Howard Creel (other topics)
C.W. Gortner (other topics)
C.W. Gortner (other topics)
More...
