Comfort Reads discussion
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Chit Chat
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Daily Chat
I'm with you there Gundula. Sometimes nature programmes give you too much of what you know happens, but don't really want to watch.
Lance Greenfield wrote: "I'm with you there Gundula. Sometimes nature programmes give you too much of what you know happens, but don't really want to watch."I think they can show hunting behaviour without having to continuously focus on the killing, the blood etc. (it's similar with newscasts).
Sitting at London Heathrow T3 with a mushroom omelette and a mug of tea, waiting to board a flight to Dubai. Sadly, it'll be 3 days packed with business appointments. Not much time for leisure, but, ever the optimist, I have packed my running kit and my swimming shorts!
I submitted my PhD thesis to my committee today. I just need one last member to sign off on having received it and I'll submit my copy to the grad office. Now I have to wait until March 5th to defend.
Tim wrote: "I submitted my PhD thesis to my committee today. I just need one last member to sign off on having received it and I'll submit my copy to the grad office. Now I have to wait until March 5th to defend."That's so cool Tim, CONGRATULATIONS!! I wish I could attend your defense like you did for me, but I am teaching this term, sigh (but good luck and all that)
Tim wrote: "I submitted my PhD thesis to my committee today. I just need one last member to sign off on having received it and I'll submit my copy to the grad office. Now I have to wait until March 5th to defend."Congratulations!
Tim, Congratulations and best wishes!!
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Congratulations to Tim!And to Lance -- hope you can enjoy some airplane reading, if no leisure time in Dubai.
You're right Diane. Hundred year old man is going well. And, in the spirit of this trip, I managed to rush through Salmon Fishing In The Yemen.
Thanks everybody. I got my last sign off tonight, so I'll submit it to the grad office on time.Gundula, while it would be great if you could be there, I certainly understand why you can't.
Tim wrote: "Thanks everybody. I got my last sign off tonight, so I'll submit it to the grad office on time.Gundula, while it would be great if you could be there, I certainly understand why you can't."
I will definitely be keeping my fingers crossed for you.
What a great weekend!My football (soccer) team, Dundee United, beat Glasgow Rangers in the Scottish Cup.
Better than that, the veterans hockey team that I play for, Andover Diamonds, beat our arch-rivals, Salisbury Strollers, 3-1 in the league, despite the fact that they loaded their team with premiership players 'cos their first team didn't have a game on Saturday. Can it get better? Yes it can! I scored the match-clinching third goal for the Diamonds!!!!
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Lance Greenfield wrote: "What a great weekend!My football (soccer) team, Dundee United, beat Glasgow Rangers in the Scottish Cup.
Better than that, the veterans hockey team that I play for, Andover Diamonds, beat our a..."
Congratulations, Lance!!
Lee wrote: "Good for you, Lance! That's exciting. It must feel nice to be the hero. Have you noticed a big difference in your level of play since you've lost so much weight?"I certainly have Lee! I feel so fit. Even my team mates are noticing and making comments like, "Can you run back there - you're much fitter than me!"
On Saturday, I ran 5 km in the Andover Park Run at 9 am. You can click on the link to see my result this week. A bit poor, but it was very muddy! Then I took the three dogs for a walk. Then I vacuumed the whole house. And then, after a sandwich and drink, I played my game of hockey.
After all that, I felt like I could run another 10 km!!!!
Keep going. You'll feel like this soon!
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When I flew over NE Canada on my way to Florida on 5th Jan it was covered in snow with many frozen lakes. It wa beautiful. We just had about an inch of snow in southern England today. Normally, that grind us to a halt! But the temperature is hovering around freezing point, so it just turns slushy. I managed my five Km run today and our game of hockey.
Did you see the article about
us
in the New York Times on Tuesday?Read Any Good Web Sites Lately? Book Lovers Talk Online
Lance Greenfield wrote: "Did you see the article about us
in the New York Times on Tuesday?
Read Any Good Web Sites Lately? Book Lovers Talk Online"
Thanks, Lance. It's a very interesting article. I was amused that we're called fanatics. ;-)
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Happy Anniversary Lee!And thanks from all of us for all the interactions and energy that you put into GR. We all appreciate you!
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I don't do that, and have a mutual agreement with Joy on no cards and no flowers. We love each other equally, every day of the year and I think that we are heavily, commercially exploited on this, and many other "special" days in the year. I am not about to line some billionaire card-manufacturer's pocket, or pay double for flowers, wine or a meal out on Valentine's Day!I sound like a right grump, don't I?!
However, today, 15th February, is the 34th anniversary of the day that I met Joy, so she gets a nice card that I buy, blank, for the local book store. I inscribe some of my rubbish poetry on the inside.
Footnote: we got married just 4 months after we met, before I was sent on an unaccompanied overseas military tour for a few months. Everybody told us that "It will never last!"
Lance Greenfield wrote: "I don't do that, and have a mutual agreement with Joy on no cards and no flowers. We love each other equally, every day of the year and I think that we are heavily, commercially exploited on this, ..."What a nice story, and I love that you make your own cards (I do that as well, I draw or colour pictures for my bf).
And yesterday, for Valentine's Day, we just went out for dinner (no fuss, just a nice time).
Lance, I feel the same way you do about special holidays. You've obviously got a good thing going.Gundula, You make lovely cards/pictures.
Endre and I went out for nice dinner - although he works from home and the dinner was near my office; he was so frazzled when he arrived at the dinner from commuting, I had to laugh - now he can understand what I go through with these aggressive LA drivers! poor guy!Also it's my dad's birthday so I can never forget Valentine's Day.
Diane, That's funny. That's a Valentine's gift for you: empathy. I feel badly for people who are born on holidays but I guess Valentine's Day isn't as bad as Christmas.
Lance Greenfield wrote: "You ALL really need to take a look at this story!From LA to rural Scotland
You really do!"
Will do. On my way out now, but when I get back home. Thanks in advance, Lance.
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I've lived in Scottish fishing villages as I grew up, but I never even worked in a bookshop.
Lance, thanks for the wonderful post, it was great. I agree with Lee, would LOVE to do that. The young lady being interviewed was adorable, and very honest, talking about the time, money, etc. it took to make the change. Good for her. And the part of LA that she moved from (Silver Lake is what I think I caught in the beginning) is a very cool, artsy, bohemian type of setting unlike the LA proper. I love to visit Silver Lake. Scotland looks so tranquil!
For all who are interested in this lifestyle change, I would thoroughly recommend that you take a look at The Hills is Lonely and other Lillian Beckwith books. Fifty years on, they are still just as wonderful as they were when I first read them.
Currently on a SLOW train heading west across southern England. It is packed and hot! My connection is already missed so won't get home till 00:49. Up at five to go to work.
Lance Greenfield wrote: "You ALL really need to take a look at this story!From LA to rural Scotland
You really do!"
Watched it. Loved it. Admire her because I'd probably love to do that. In some ways I've thought I'd fit better in the UK than the US but only in some ways.
Diane, I have a friend who lives in the Silver Lake area but we've been reacquainted only about 3 years (we knew each other elementary through high school) so I've never visited her there. I'm not sure I've spent any time in that neighborhood. But it sounds really wonderful.
Lisa wrote: "Lance Greenfield wrote: "You ALL really need to take a look at this story!From LA to rural Scotland
You really do!"
Watched it. Loved it. Admire her because I'd probably love to do that. In som..."
It is cool, Lance, with quite a few charming and wonderful restaurants, coffee shops and very dog friendly neighborhood.
Here's another article that may interest some of you, particularly the Canadians and the animal lovers. Some of you are both of those, of course!Bimbo the Deer
Lance Greenfield wrote: "Here's another article that may interest some of you, particularly the Canadians and the animal lovers. Some of you are both of those, of course!Bimbo the Deer"
Don't know if I agree with people making pets out of wild animals (and that the deer seems to eat cigarettes is kind of disgusting), but at least the conservation officers did not kill the deer (in another recent Canadian story, a Hutterite colony adopted a deer and when someone called with questions about what to do because the deer was growing antlers, the "conservation officers" came and simply shot the deer in front of the people who had raised it from a fawn, no I stand corrected, they MURDERED the deer). At least in this case, the conservation officers did not come out with guns blazing and actually agreed to let the woman keep the deer, which would very likely have died or been hunted if suddenly released into the wild.
But I do wish people would not "adopt" supposedly orphaned deer (fawns are often left alone by their mothers for hours and if humans approach fawns or touch them, does will often abandon the fawns). So while this is a sweet story to an extent, I am also shaking my head a bit (especially about getting the doe to mate, what happens if Bimbo refuses to accept the fawn or what happens if Bimbo becomes protective and violent once the fawn is born, deer can be dangerous).
It is true that well-meaning people who take in wild animals and birds, often destroy any possible future life that those beasts could've had for themselves in their natural environment. Prime examples are owl chicks which fall out of trees and get picked up. If left alone, their parents will rescue them.
Lance Greenfield wrote: "It is true that well-meaning people who take in wild animals and birds, often destroy any possible future life that those beasts could've had for themselves in their natural environment. Prime exam..."I read this picture book about a wildlife photographer who claimed that she rescued a fawn and then raised it (and her Great Dane adopted the fawn). The story was cute and the photographs adorable until I realised that she put this leash on the poor fawn like a pet dog. And the original photographs of the fawn in the backyard before it was supposedly "abandoned" by its mother looked very much like the photographer was approaching the fawn very closely, was probably talking to it, perhaps even handling it, the photographs looked very stylised, very manipulated, so if the mother, the doe did abandon the fawn, it was perhaps abandoned because of human interference (when I see fawns in my backyard in the summer, I stay out of the yard completely, I even close the blinds because sometimes the fawns will actually approach doors and windows, as they are curious). Kate & Pippin: An Unlikely Love Story (liked the pictures, but what lies behind them or what might lie behind them leaves a suspicious taste in my mouth, and I really hated that leash).
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https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fb...
Lee wrote: "I'm going to attempt to post this image from a neat idea for recycling old books I came across on facebook. https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fb......"
It worked, Lee. Thanks.
DANGEROUS DOGS!Joy, my wife, tripped over the dogs' leads while she was down town with them this afternoon. She fell on her face and was unconscious for a short while. My son, Pete, got there and followed the ambulance to the hospital, 25 miles away. I was at work.
Still sitting in A&E, four hours later. Joy wants to go home, but I'm telling her that she should wait to be checked over by a doctor.
See a photo of my three dangerous dogs on my profile page!
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Apart from being totally crazy (she married me!!!), she should be OK. Thanks Lee. I'll post an update later.
Did anyone watch and enjoy the Academy Awards last night?
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Comfort Reads
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I don't think I want to see that movie either, then (I think I could handle reading about this more than watching it). I sometimes even skip over gruesome scenes in nature programs (I know animals hunt, but some nature programs seem to almost relish focusing in on the bloodiest and most gruesome scenes, which I don't think is necessary and basically overdone and exaggerated, sensationalised).