reading in comfort

Last night brought more rain, lots of it and thunder and lightning. What else is new, right? I was happily ensconced in my bed reading with the A&E tv show First 48 on in the background - hubbie and I are addicted to these shows. Suddenly it started getting a little cramped and warm in the bed because once the rain started furry kids showed up. Within minutes there were 3 or 4 cats on the bed and 1 or 2 elsewhere in the room. I love them with all my heart, but do they all have to hang out with us at once?! Mind you, if it's a clear, sunny day we'll see "neither hide nor hair "of them for hours.

I started thinking how nice it would be to be reading my very enjoyable book, America America on the porch of the The Narragansett Inn on Block Island

or inside comfy in the pretty sun porch in the above-left picture at the 1794 Watchtide by the Sea in Searsport ME overlooking Penobscot Bay.

But I think it'll be a while before we go very far from home because as hubbie correctly (much as I hate to admit it!) points out, we have a responsibility to these cats and, because they came off the street, they are pretty wary of most people so bringing someone else in to care for them would prove difficult. I think I would be an emotional mess if we left them for more than a night anyway. When they were each new to our home, I hated leaving the house for even an hour. I just want them to know that they are safe and loved now and can just enjoy their lives, which from the looks of most of them when they first came to us, they weren't really enjoying life.

So for now I will just dream of porches in distant places.....

This place looks really nice but the name Bellevue, although spelled differently just makes me think of the Bellevue Hospital in Manhattan (NY)! Maybe that would make it easier to spend some time here! Ha ha!

What do you Daydream about?!

Amy

Light it up!

I found this picture on-line and thought it was great ... and scary!

We've had some major lightning and thunderstorms late at night the last couple of weeks. It's the kind of thunder that is so loud it wakes you out of a sound sleep. I saw a picture similar to this in the paper yesterday and wanted to post it here.

I worked as an arts & crafts counselor at a country club summer program when I was in high school. The club was on the water and I saw some amazing lightning storms those summers. I also saw some beautiful boats destroyed by the lightning. So beautiful yet so powerful and destructive.

Nature is very cool.

Morning musings

"Difficult times have helped me to understand better than before how infinitely rich and beautiful life is in every way, and that so many things that one goes worrying about are of no importance whatsoever." ~ Isak Denison

I love this quote because it gives me a different perspective to view the more trying times. I don't think it's easy to see the good in the difficult period in our lives but I do find when I look back on the difficult things that have happened, good things occurred as a result. And the good times and things in my life always seem so much better because of the trying times. I can be a real worry wart. In fact, when I was only 10 or 11 years old, my orthopedist told my mom, after we discussed one of my upcoming surgeries, that I was a worry wart! He was teasing me but he also meant it! I know worrying tends to be a waste of time and I have learned not to worry so much but I have to work at not doing it!

I meant to post yesterday but I guess i got distracted! When I get on the internet, there's always a list of things I want to do and time got away from me yesterday. I was also irritated because I wrote a long email to some friends and saved it as a draft while I searched for an article I wanted to include in the email. When I hit "send" my email program deleted it after asking for my password again! ugh! So I gave up and decided to read before I threw this computer out the window! Ha ha!

I don't work anymore since I went on disability several years ago. Sometimes, many days go by without me leaving the house. I have plenty to do here and a great backyard to relax in and many kitties to entertain me in addition to my almost always funny husband (H from now on!). But it is good to get out once in a while - well, that might depend on where you go! Sunday H and I decided to go to Target in the Mall. There's also a large music store that H likes to go to (I forget the name) and I can and will happily spend many hours in Target. Most days anyway. Unfortunately, it seems as if all the nuts in Brooklyn where at the mall, it was so crowded and chaotic. If I had paid better attention to the flyer that came in the NYTimes I would have known that school supplies were on sale, a huge sale. There were kids running amok as if it was a playground (I almsot ran over s few!). Their parents were either completely oblivious or standing staionery and screaming like a banshee! Not pretty & very rough on the ears! In the school supplies area I thought some mother was going to beat her child into the ground she looked so angry (and the little girl looked so meek & scared). She stopped after 1 hard smack otherwise I think I would have said something just because I have difficulty keeping quiet when I see a child getting hit excessively or really hard. I know kids can really try your patience and be completely bratty but so often it seems parents either spoil them rotten and think all of their child's behaviour, no matter how outrageous, is "so cute!" or they beat the child within an inch of his life until he's a sniveling, cowardly mess. What's going on with this world?

Anyway, sorry for the tangent there, I tend to go off and babble on various subjects when writing. So, while looking at sheets and things I over-heard a couple having a very heated argument about pillows! Pillows to sleep on, not decorative pillows, it was kind of funny actually. I think the person sleeping on the pillow should pick the pillow that will be most comfortable for them, but that's just mho. Over in the Bath section a couple was arguing about shower hooks of all things - just seems kind of silly. But I'm used to H who always says, whatever you like I will like! Gotta love that!

The absolute worst part about Target was the power scooter! Usually I just stick to my wheelchair but yesterday I wanted to have a little fun and roaming around Target in those behemoth scooters they have for customer's use always elicits some kind of response from people - they look afraid, they gawk at me, they get really self-conscious and become "all thumbs" and almost run into me! It interests & entertains me! And backing up in the scooter is the best because it makes this hideous loud noise that I think could pop your ear drums if you listen to it for too long. The fiirst time I used one of the scooters and discovered that noise I was mortified but it doesn't bother me anymore. The scooter also gives my legs a break from the wheelchair. I know that sounds odd so I'll explain. I don't like to put the leg extensions on my wheelchair because they are bulky and make it difficult to manuever store aisles and small places. If I know I'm going to be in the wheelchair for several hours I usually attach at least one leg, though, because after several hours in the chair with my legs hanging over the seat just swinging back & forth with no support (I'm very short - under 5 feet-so my legs don't touch the ground) I often experience a lot of pain and very bad leg cramps. In the scooter I can rest my feet on the scooter's base board and take the pressure. On Sunday the @#%&$$**@# scooter died on me! I was on the second floor by the books, about as far away from the scooter staion as I could be and it stopped running. Boy did I feel like a moronbut hey, isn't somebody supposed to make sure these things are charged? H was at the music store unfortunately and so he couldn't be any help to me. I waited a while, looked at many books, started reading one! lol and finally was able to get the attention of a store employee who brought me a new scooter. I think next time I'll stick to my wheelchair. In retrospect it's pretty funny! I was just annoyed on Sunday because I wanted to check out a lot of different things in the store and it's more enjoyable if H isn't with me. He's always patient & sweet & would let me browse for hours but I know he gets bored to tears quickly so I feel guilty dragging him around the stores.

So, although it was nice to get out of the house for a little while next time I go to Target, I think it'll be much earlier in the day and during the week maybe? The good thing about Target being a bit of a nightmare is that I think I've now convinced Scott the Brooklyn Flea market is a better idea - it's outside, but it's made for browsing and supposedly it has many awesome food booths! And there's always the greenmarket. We forgot about it this week. H often picks everything up on his way home but if I want to get out for a while, the greenmarket is ideal And Mr. Pickle is there!

That's my story for the moment! Enjoy your day & try not to worry!

Amy

My first review!

Title: After You
Author: Julie Buxbaum
ISBN: 978-0-385-34124-0
Pages: 337
Release Date: August 25, 2009
Publisher: Dial Press
Genre: Contemporary Fiction
Rating: 3.5 out of 5
A wonderful, emotionally-charged, character driven story about loss, love and the power of the human spirit to adapt and change. You won't want to put it down.

Publisher: On a cobblestone street in Notting Hill, Ellie Lerner's life-long best friend, Lucy, is stabbed to death in front of her eight-year-old daughter. Ellie, of course, drops everything - her job, her marriage, her life in the Boston suburbs - and travels to London to pick up the pieces of the life Lucy has left behind. While Lucy's husband, Greg copes with his grief by retreating to the pub, eight-year-old Sophie has simply stopped speaking.
Desperate to help Sophie, Ellie turns to a book that gave her comfort as a child, The Secret Garden. As the two spend hours exploring the novel, its story of hurt, magic and healing blooms around them. But so, too, do the secrets Lucy kept hidden, even from her best friend. As Ellie peels back the layers of her friend's life, she's forced to confront her own as well - the marriage she left behind, the loss she'd hoped to escape, and the elusiveness of the place we choose to call home.
A novel that will resonate in the heart of anyone who's had a best friend, a love lost, or a past full of regrets, AFTER YOU proves once again the unique and compelling talent of Julie Buxbaum.

I thought this book was going to be fluff, finished quickly with no lingering attachments. I was wrong. This is an emotionally charged story filled with myriads of life-altering, painful events sure to test even the most stoic of individuals. Eight year-old Sophie's reaction to her mother's murder is an example of the emotionally taught, touching and relatable writing by Ms. Buxbaum. As Ellie supports and comforts Sophie and Greg, Lucy's husband, she struggles to cope with her own pain at losing her best friend. Ellie's grief forces her to confront her own actions, both recent and in her past. When nightmares ensue and secrets are revealed, relationships are questioned as well as what it is to feel secure and happy. The reader discovers that Ms. Buxbaum has written a complex and ultimately satisfying tale about loss, love, forgiveness and new beginnings.

Ms. Buxbaum excels at creating some rich, complex, three-dimensional characters readers from all walks of life will find familiar. I was able to feel their pain, anger and their aggravations as well as relate to their times of joy. Several times I wanted to wrap my arms around Sophie and protect her, even read to her. I wanted to sit with Ellie over a cup of tea and commiserate while she tried to figure out her life and there were times I wanted to shake her! Ms. Buxbaum's characters dealt with real-life situations in realistic ways and the dialogue rang true, peppered with wry, sarcastic humor that offered welcome breaks from the tension in the story.

Unfortunately, not all of Ms. Buxbaum's characters were developed as well as others. I regret not getting to know Ellie's husband, Phillip, and father, Christopher better. Though seemingly secondary characters, a better fleshing out would have helped the reader understand better Ellie's motivations and decisions. For example, one wonders why we aren't given more information and insight into the husband, who's role in Ellie's life is pivotal.

A charming, yet ultimately unsatisfactory part of the book is when Ellie reads The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett with Sophie. Ellie hopes that Sophie will be able to "forget everything that has been lost and taken." for a little while, anyway. She introduces Sophie, an avid reader, to the book, counting on Burnett's magical story to distract Sophie and help her heal. The reader is reminded several times that Ellie and Sophie are reading The Secret Garden, otherwise it is seldom discussed beyond broad outlines. I expected that the reader would "hear" more about how the characters' story in The Secret Garden helped Sophie, and maybe Ellie, cope with their losses but that largely remained untold. I was disappointed that this wonderful book (if you've never read The Secret Garden, make sure you do!) didn't have a more substantial role in After You.

"You have to accept whatever comes and the only important thing is that you meet it with courage and with the best that you have to give" ~ Eleanor Roosevelt

I need to remember and believe this today. I have a tendency to worry and stress myself out about things I cannot control. It's so silly. No worries! Today I'll do what I need to do and do it the best that I can!

I just read a blurb on Yahoo about Michael Vick meeting with the NFL today to discuss the terms of his return. Jeez! There shouldn't be anything to discuss because he shouldn't be returning, at least not this soon, to the NFL after what he did. But all that matters is the money of course. ugh, it makes me so mad! I really don't think 2 years in prison for promoting dog fights is sufficient. Whatever happens I hope he learned his lesson but I'm not going to hold my breath.

Amy

Coffee hour!

To laugh often and much;
To win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children;
To earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends;
To appreciate beauty, to find the best in others;
To leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch or a redeemed social condition;
To know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived.
This is to have succeeded.

This well known quote, attributed to Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803 - 1882) is one of my favorites. I think of it often especially when life gets a little trying!

Amy

I was looking for some pictures of roses on the internet and I came across this picture by Linda Lee called "Nantucket Roses". It surprised me and I stopped and sat for a bit - this picture took me back to many days of my childhood when my family spent part of every summer on Nantucket.

We rented a cottage in a beautiful, quiet area called Siasconset. There were three lanes of grey-shingled, weather-beaten cottages, many with little pink roses growing haphazardly up the walls and across the roof and white picket fences out front. The three lanes met and ended at a church and an old-fashioned candy store. My sister and I were thrilled that we were allowed to walk down to the store and sit at the counter by ourselves and order ice cream cones or sodas or buy candy or get dad the local paper. Mind you, at home we weren't allowed to go anywhere without an adult! Every summer we met several other children to play with and we used to gather on the large lawn in between the cottages in the early evenings to play softball, croquet or tag. Earlier in the day, after a late breakfast we would cross the large green lawn and head down the long flight of rickety steps to the beach. This was the ocean or what we called the 'big-waves" beach! We only walked along the edge getting our feet wet, cheering my parents when they went in swimming, diving into the waves and sometimes coming up with a large clam shell which they used for ashtrays in those days. In the afternoon we drove out to the quiet saltwater pond where my sister and I spent hours in the water swimming and playing.

On rainy or overcast days we drove 20 minutes into the town and walked the cobble-stone streets, stopping in the stores to browse, agonizing over which souvenir to buy and worrying that our new rope bracelet wouldn't shrink enough in the salt water! Some afternoons when we had had enough sun and swimming, as a special treat, my mom would take us into town to see a movie. I remember I saw the Goodbye Girl at the Nantucket Theater. I think I was 12 and my mother was so worried that I was too young for the movie but I suffered no irreperable harm from any of the scenes! lol One night a week the small communty center in Siasconset showed several cartoon movies and served popcorn. Other nights we sat out under the stars roasting marshmallows, playing tag or reading. The 4th of July celebration was always the highlight of the summer. During the day there were games and contests and picnicking and at night, a huge fireworks display. I loved fireworks! There was never a TV in the cottage and we didn't miss it. But we always missed Nantucket when it was time to go home.

Wow, that was quite a trip down memory lane! lol I think Nantucket is still a wonderful island but it was very different when I was a child, quieter, more simple, safer. I'm glad I had the chance to spend those summers there with my family. To this day, many things remind me of Nantucket especially grey-shingled cottages and little pink roses.

Amy

Crazy Beautiful Jazzy

I don't have many pictures of Jazzy because she doesn't sit still for long. Even when she is in the room long enough to take a picture of her, she's always seems to be moving! She's a lot of fun and very sweet when she wants to be!



This is Jazzy in a zen moment on the cable box ------->
(the cable box ix very popular in our house!)

This is Jazzy taking a break from playing!

Reading and viewing for your pleasure!

I received my first ARC (Advanced Reader Copy) in the mail last week! Yay! It just showed up one day. It doesn't even have the proper cover yet, it just has a temporary cover from the publisher with the title and author names and the date it will be available for sale. It's very cool! I feel like a spy or something carrying around and reading a book few other people have. Yes, I'm a dork! lol And I also know that many, many other people have the book too. Still, it's fun to make believe! The picture of the book came out a little bigger than I expected. I guess I'll choose the "small" size next time. It'll be nice when all of this blog stuff is second nature.

So today I'm going to write my review. I'm really looking forward to doing this but right now I'm a bit nervous since it's been a long time sine I wrote a review or book report! lol I know once I start I'll be fine. It helps that I really enjoyed the book, much more than I thought I would. I expected it to be fluff, light beach reading but as I read the book, the plot intensified and there were a few surprises! I'll post my review when I'm finished.

Hubbie and I belong to Netflix. I love it, they have a great selection of films and documentaries, they ship very quickly and they have the best customer service. We watched a documentary from 1972 about Marjoe Gortner a revivalist, a child evangelist and faith healer. It was really interesting and bizarre. His name Marjoe is a combination of Mary and Joseph and he is the youngest ever ordained preacher. By age 4 this boy started supporting his family by preaching to crowds, healing people and he even performed a wedding, about which there was some controversy. His parents were professional evangelists, something I didn't know anything about. They taught Marjoe scripture and how to reach people through preaching but they also taught him money-making tactics involving the sale of various items that would "heal" the sick and dying. He traveled around the country with his parents preaching and "healing" the sick. Marjoe stopped preaching when he was about 16 and his family parts ways. Marjoe returns to preaching in his late 20's to make money. He eventually hires a film crew and they follow him around filming his revivals. He also allows them to film him back-stage counting the money he makes and he advises them on camera about how he and other evangelists make their money. He says outright on camera that it's all a scam. The film wins the 1972 Oscar for best documentary . Marjoe Gortner is friendly, affable, funny and charming so it's hard to dislike him much as you want to. The documentary is fascinating, sad, pathetic and worth seeing. I left out a lot of interesting info here in case you want to see it and no review is nearly as good as seeing Marjoe in action! lol

Amy

To read or not to read?

I like to read many different magazines as well as books. I love interior design and the different ways people decorate the rooms they live in. I also love fashion and the look of clothes. So when I have the chance I like to spend a couple of hours looking through many different magazines in the big chain book stores. But I only subscribe to two magazines : Elle and Vogue. I like these magazines because they both have interesting articles almost every month in addition to several fashion spreads. This year so far there were articles on Michelle Obama, Monica Seles, the new US Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, Francis Bacon, Nell Newman, who is carrying on her father's legacy, Leonard Bernstein and the new director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Tom Campbell. Elle also discusses several different books every month and movies and has an "Living" section I love in which they profile a designer or a chef and show you a different side of their life.
But when the new issue of Elle showed up this month with Miley Cyrus on the cover I started wondering if I really enjoy this magazine as much as I thought I did. And this isn't the first time one of these magazines had a cover I didn't appreciate. I don't always like the actress or model on the cover but that's ok, I don't expect to like them all. It's just that usually the cover woman is a woman, a person of of voting age who has some experience in the adult world. I guess that's what has got my goat the most, she's only 16 years old. Sure she sings and I guess she also acts but there are several other girls who do that and they show up on the cover of Seventeen or Glamour. It just seems a little ridiculous to me. But I suppose the biggest concern of the people behind the magazine is staying in business. I am glad I wrote out what I like about the magazines because I can see there's a lot I do like but still.....So I have to decide by the time my subscription runs out in a few months if I like the rest of the magazine enough to ignore the parts I don't like or should I just stick to books and home decor magazines?! lol Maybe I'm getting too crabby in my old age!!
If you have an opinion, let me know!

Amy

Oh yea! I have a blog!!

This weekend I've learned that part of having a blog is remembering I have one! lol I have a great group of dear friends I email with regularly and that obliges me to try to get on the computer daily, a goal I rarely achieve. But now that I've created my blog, I need to remember to come here on a regular basis and post something that is at least interesting, ideally witty and intelligent to entice my readers to keep coming back. I still wasn't feeling my best this weekend but I managed to get out of the house yesterday and enjoy the beautiful weather we're having particularily because the weather report for the rest of the week is pretty icky. But while I was reading and dozing on Saturday and being beaten mercilessly in Scrabble by hubbie and playing with the kitties on Sunday something kept nagging at me. There was something I had to do but I couldn't for the life of me, in my "brain-fog" state, figure out what it was. Then, suddenly, late evening it occurred to me that I had a blog. ugh! lol In my defense, my head felt like it was about 500 lbs. until yesterday afternoon after a short nap. It was quite a relief to awake from that nap and be able to sit up without feeling whoozy and more tired than I felt before I fell asleep. I don't think I'll forget about my blog again (but, just in case, I put a post-it note next to the computer reminding me!)



All of the cats we have now found us. They were feral kittens or cats or previously owned, abandoned cats who wanted a home. They like it outside so they are indoor/outdoor cats and spend most of the warm, sunny weather outside, coming inside to eat and to sleep at night. All except one, Magoo, the sleeping tabby at the top of my blog. Magoo was living with an elderly woman whose building burned down and she moved to a shelter. It was believed that she may have started the fire because she couldn't pay her rent but we don't know if that's really true and we hope it's not. Magoo became part of our family as a result and we're really happy about that. He lived indoors his entire 3 years of life so he doesn't go outside. He loves sitting in the windows watching the other cats as well as birds, dogs and any other happenings!


When I first go outside all of my cats, except for Daisy, the "matriarch" and Sadie, the baby, act like I'm a complete stranger and, therefore, scary and run away from me, especially Huxley and Jazzy ! But cute little Sadie, whose becoming quite pudgy! runs up and head-butts my leg while making an adorable trilling sound. I'm permitted to pet her on the head and maybe rub her cheeks but she doesn't stay within distance of my touch for very for fear I try to pick her up! She wants her independance right now and gets mad if made to do something she hasn't orchestrated herself! Daisy is indifferent to everybody, human and cat alike, and a little haughty unless she wants some lovin'. She lets me know when she wants attention by sitting right in front of me and fixing me with her big green eyes, staring intensely until I pet her, it was a little freaky at first, now I'm used to it! If I am staying outside to read or relax, once I'm settled in and it's quiet, the cats come around little by little. They don't get too close, they have to act like they don't really care that I'm there! They find a spot close enough that they can see me and they settle down and take another nap. They're hoping I'll bring out some food or a toy or cat-nip! (They know me pretty well!) Sometimes if I don't bring out any treats quickly enough, Huxley will get impatient and come over and nuzzle my legs as if to say, "Hey, remember me? Whaddya got for me?" I love watching the cats because when they're outside their naps are always interruptedby a bug that flies by they must chase or a tall weed that keeps waving in the wind that they have to subdue or a fellow feline they have to wrestle with or chase! I don't always get a lot of reading done outside. lol


Hubbie just called to let me know that the author Richard Russo is going to be promoting his new book at a Barnes and Noble in Union Square in early August. He's one of my favorite authors and hubbie's too. I'm definitely going to plan on attending this book signing!

On a much sadder note, an author I liked very much, Frank McCourt, died. He wrote and won the Pulitzer for his intense, wonderful book about his childhood in Ireland Angela's Ashes. I've heard that, he and his brother spent a lot of time at a cool NY pub, White Horse Tavern telling stories about life in Ireland and singing some great Irish songs. I don't know if that's true but White Horse Tavern is a good old-fashioned Irish pub well worth a visit. Dylan Thomas drank many a beer here and plenty of other well-known musicians and writers stopped by, Hunter S. Thompson, Jim Morrison, Bon Dylan, Jack Kerouac, James Baldwin etc....


I'll be back in a little while with some book and magazine chat and other things!

Amy

Murphy's Law or more like Amy World!

I'm so excited to have my blog up and running finally and I wanted to spend the last few days blogging, visiting other blogs especially those of my visitors, alerting my readers to some giveaways I've discovered. And then, lo and behold in the early hours of Thursday morning I came down with a virus. I've had a bit of a cold, more a nuisance than anything but now it's developed into one of those unwelcome (like a bug is ever welcome!) summer bugs. So yesterday I spent in bed. I did get a little bit of reading done but mostly slept and watched some trash TV! (having an excuse to watch bad TV is never quite as good as it sounds!) I'm feeling a little better today although still under the weather. But I wanted to blog while I felt up to it.



I think hubbie was trying to scare the virus out of me or something. I woke up as he was leaving for work this morning. He always turns the TV on in the morning and checks the weather and flips through the channels while he's getting ready. After he left, I was lying in bed trying to decide how I felt and I turned on the TV. Well I just about leapt right out of the bed because staring back at me from the TV screen was a gigantic, furry tarantula, beady little eyes and all! My heart was beating a mile a minute watching his legs move around and seeing his little fangs. I knowI yelled because several of the cats were staring at me as if to say "what's her problem now?" I am not at all fond of spiders or most small creepy, crawly things. I'm telling you, if I had been planning to drink coffee this morning, I no longer needed it! I was wide awake! I don't suggest waking up this way. When I looked up at the TV screen again, that large spider had been joined by several buddies and they all seemd to be walking towards the camera. I turned the channel! Blech!



I want to thank all the bloggers who visited me on my first day! I was so happy to see all of you. I promise to visit your blogs as soon as I am feeling 100% and am able to spend some time around here! Have a great day! It's Friiiiiiday! yay!



Amy

My First Post

I guess that's kind of obvious, uh? Oh well. So after weeks and weeks of lurking in other blogs and posting in the comment section of other blogs, always being sure to include my email address, I decided to take the plunge! I like to journal but I can be lazy about it so I thought it would be fun to keep a record of sorts here and talk with other bloggers while I do. I also read a lot and I noticed that many bloggers discuss the books they're reading, post reviews, and trade and giveaway books a little like an on-line book club but better! And, in case you didn't notice, although how could you not?! I have a few cats and I love them a lot! What better place to show them off and brag (or whine!} about their antics but here! No worries, although it appears as if I may be a crazy cat lady, I promise you I'm not! Really.
Oh yes, I am completely new to blogging so this is a work in progress and I expect to make several mistakes so please bear with me!