Fall of Giants

So I am going to do my best to convince you to read this masterpiece by Ken with a mischievous letter 'L' on the keyboard and randomly disappearing type. Yes, my laptop has issues. I have raved about my buddy Ken's (I have read and reread his previous novels so he better be considering me his buddy as well, but this may be a one-sided friendship) historical fiction in the past and this one did not let me down. AWESOME book. That is probably the best thing I can say without digressing into cliche phrases like "Page turner!" "Coudn't put it down" "Inspired and well-researched"...... I could go on. So I will.... okay I won't, only because I don't think in cliche phrases so I ran out of them. I looked forward to the debut of this novel for many months before it was released and a few more months until I acquired sufficient funds to purchase it (and my dad ended up doing the actual purchasing so I could save my gift card for a rainy day, or another giant hardback- Thanks Daddy!). Fall of Giants is the story of 5 families from five major countries in the early 1900's (France, England, Wales, Germany, America and Russia) and follows them through the build up to WWI, women's suffrage, the war AND the revolution in Russia. I have always liked history to a certain extent, but nothing has made me more interested in any of those topics than this book. The research and attention to detail is impressive. Ken even includes a list at the front of the book of fictional characters and characters that were actual historical figures. Most things done or said by those characters that actually lived during this time was done or said by them at some point and noted in history. When they show up at a fictional party or whatnot, Ken verified it was possible for them to be in that location at that time. I want to reread it with an encyclopedia handy so I can look up the battles and people mentioned as I go along. I could not put this thing down, but every time I turned a page I wanted to read slower so the book would last longer. My only consolation and one of the best things about Giants is that it's the first in a trilogy. A TRILOGY!  Awesome.

You cannot imagine the editing that went into this after I restarted and the type was back. Whoa. 

For Once the Cover Speaks for Itself

I am not typically a memoir reader. I realize there are a lot of awesome people that have done legitimately amazing things and there are even a few that are actual heroes with stories worth reading, but for every one of those cool cats there's a few dozens crackpots whose wackiest life experience is thinking they are memoir worthy. And the second wackiest is that they have enough money to publish said memoir and trick people into buying it. (Notice I didn't say "reading"?)
Well my point there is that I just don't know where to draw the line. And I like made up stories.

After being lent Zippy's sequel, She Got Up Off the Couch, I had no choice but to look into the first book. My thoughts: I wouldn't go out on a limb and loan a random book unless is was pretty gosh darn spectacular, AND if she managed to publish a sequel about herself it must be pretty entertaining.
I was not let down by my friend or the book. First of all when I read the first few pages it was so odd and dare I say enchanting, I wasn't convinced Haven didn't make the whole thing up. By page 7 I decided I must continue reading to verify the authenticity of this "memoir". (It wasn't a tough decision.) Eventually I decided that the things that happen to Zippy are so random and hilarious they must be true (that sounds awfully cliche, but what can ya do? when it says what ya think...). Growing up in a tiny tiny town in Indiana, Zippy is a real life Ramona Quimby. Seriously. Read it. And then read She Got Up Off the Couch, it's equally entertaining.



P.S. Only managed glimpses of the eclipse through the clouds. Very. brief. glimpses.

yeah whatever, i came back, and it's my birthday

Ok I have been on accidental hiatus. AGAIN. I am sticking with that term though, partly because I made it up and partly because it's true. Mostly because I made it up. SO while I sit outside at 12:30 AM ON MY BIRTHDAY to watch the lunar eclipse that is happening ON MY BIRTHDAY I am going to binge blog. And then just to trick you wacky people I'm going to store them up in drafts and release them to the world when the time is right. 
I feel it is my duty to monitor this eclipse for several reasons:

ONE: Everyone else is going to fall asleep before it happens but I will stay awake since IT'S MY BIRTHDAY

TWO: The actual covered up, color changing moon part is supposed to happen within minutes  (MINUTES) of the time when I WAS ACTUALLY BORN

THREE: If ever one was going to have something life changing happen to them (alien abduction, visions of the future, sprouting of a third arm), it will be me. tonight. see number TWO for my reasoning

FOUR: I've never been one of those lovey dovey, oooey gooey, mushy gushy (ok you get the point) people that gazes upon the stars and thinks about my cats (well turned into my parents' cats) living without me but gazing up at the very same stars. BUT tonight they are looking at the very same ECLIPSE! Even better is that my big brother is watching the same eclipse. (Some day I'll bore you all with stories of how I idolized that dude from the day I WAS BORN!) The main difference here is he is watching it from a park. With friends. I am watching it from the driveway. With a computer. Drinking Christmas.

FIVE: I'll take any excuse to wake up the monster in the middle of the night ON MY BIRTHDAY to cuddle. And what's a cooler excuse than so I can tell him he saw the first lunar eclipse to happen on the shortest day of the year since the 1500's. (AND IT HAPPENED ON HIS MOM'S BIRTHDAY!)

Before I leave you all panting with the excitement of my return combined with your enthusiasm for this very special day, I must inform you that it is currently too cloudy to even see the moon. I am not typically a fan of abbreviations subscribing to the league of people who believe in grammar, but WTF.
mate.

Also, I have heard a few strange noises. I hope it isn't the aliens. I also hope the noises stop. I don't want to have to tell people I missed the eclipse because I went inside for fear of the aliens.

I think the noises are cats.

The Thirteenth Tale

   The Thirteenth Tale is one of my all time favorite books. First of all the main character is a girl that loves books. Margaret Lea and her father have a bookstore and live a pretty pleasant (books and tea and such) but uneventful life when Margaret is summoned by the well known and reclusive author Vida Winter to write her biography. The Tale Miss Winter tells makes it impossible to stop thinking about the story even when the book itself is out of sight.

I came across this a few years back when it just released and put on the Barnes and Noble recommended read of the month list. After reading it once I had immediate intentions of reading through again, but other books came along so I took some time to forget the details before delving back into it. I have to say here that the first time I read it I finished the second half of the book in one sitting. Hours and hours straight through the middle of the night. The second time around I listened to it on cd. The audio version is very well done and read by two separate people to distinguish between the present day as told by Margaret and the past related to us by Miss Winter. I wasn't even through the book before I was thinking of listening (or reading) it again to look for the important details that seemed minor the first (and second) time through.

If you love books for the stories but don't quite as much love the feel and smell and weight of the actual book, don't get bogged down in the first few chapters as Margaret describes herself. Other have told me they had this problem and after not "getting into the story" near the beginning they put the book away and missed out on an interesting tale of a secluded household and it's twins.

The Accidental Leave of Absence

I had no intention of disappearing back into reality and locking the metaphorical door to my online creative escape (I'll give you a hint here since this sentence is declining into something without meaning, the creative escape is The Owl), but somewhere amidst the pile of a fabric scraps I buried the words that used to compose paragraphs for your reading pleasure. Basically I've been sewing a lot. AND the tiny monster has forced me to keep the computer closed during all his waking hours. And there are LOTS of hours when he is awake. And a few days turns into several days that make a week and two weeks and a month and two months and.... and then the weather (FINALLY) cools off and I sit in the dim light filtering through the overcast gloom and then filtering again through the solar screens on the windows drinking Earl Grey and reading a book that makes me laugh. Out loud. I can't wait to share this book now that it's done that so others can laugh too, but what about the line up books I've been reading and not reporting on. After all, there are 39 people (and their friends) stuck rereading The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo (although I hope some of my higher achieving readers were able to move on to the sequel without my prompting) waiting ever so hopefully for some literary direction.

Introducing Alter Egos!

I randomly go on a creative streak, but a couple weeks ago I created a doll on a whim for the kid's friend on her birthday. I think this project is going to stick around for awhile (it has to, it's got a brand name and everything!). The inspiration. For a big group birthday party for kiddos turning 1, we drew names out of a hat and gifted Secret Santa style. The kid got his friend Ava and we decided to get her a set of instruments. Two nights before the birthday bash, on a whim, I decided to make her a dancing monster doll to go with the instruments. Limited by an 8x11 sheet of printer paper I drew an outline and went from there with fabric scraps I already had. The Alter Ego name popped into my head as I made AE Ava because her mom and I both happen to refer to our progeny as monsters on their bad days. My little disclaimer is that the Egos have improved along the way owing partly to figuring out improvements and partly to the time crunch on the first two.

Alter Ego Ava
Ava has THE BEST hair that is stick straight and isn't afraid to stand up in the back. She wears her skirt short so it's not in the way as she sprints through the house terrorizing Chihuahuas. Is she waving? Is she dancing? It depends on her mood, but hike up that short skirt and she'll tell you who she is. When she's had enough of you for the day she crawls off displaying her special birthday patch.

Alter Ego Chloe
Chloe is a girl with some serious dance moves. Although she wears her skirt longer, it's loose and flowing to allow maximum hip sway while still swishing to the beat. Her blonde hair can have a mind of its own, but her fancy bow keeps it in check. Talk sweetly and she'll show you her "tattoos".

Alter Ego Lola
Miss Lola loves strutting around waving to friends and showing off her mini, reversible BabyHawk (and her baby). Sometimes she even leaves baby and Hawk at home so the locals can get a better view of her kickin' tutu inspired skirt. Miss Lola has 12 strands of gorgeous dark hair, one for every month of her first year, and if you compliment her bow she might even show you her secret heart.

You have now entered... The Twilight Zone

I feel like I just woke up in the Twilight Zone. Before the nap I was so wiped out my eyes wouldn't open properly. I looked high. Too bad I didn't feel high too, I just felt half dead. SO I stumbled down the hallway and crashed into bed thinking 'I've got 4 million things to do (I counted and that number is precise), but if I don't sleep now while the kid is asleep I'll lose my chance. And otherwise he might look at my eyes and think his momma is on drugs.' So I lie down for awhile. An hour plus. And I know I wasn't asleep the whole time, but I couldn't have been awake the whole time. I thought about things, but I can't remember what they were, so maybe I was dreaming about things? But when I woke up I didn't have that 'I just woke up this second' feeling. And I am just as tired, if not more so, than before the nap.

I am sorry, that was boring. But I am soooo tired and I love the Twilight Zone. The original black & white ones. If you haven't ever seen one you should check it out. They are quite clever. I actually watched about 18 episodes the day I found out about the kid's impending arrival. Maybe he's the one making me feel like this........