Books Read in the Past Week

Books read for the first time are marked with  a #

Books are grouped in their sections by author,
and not necessarily in the order read.

Sunday book(s) 

"The Happiness of Heaven"

by Fr. J. Boudreau, S.J.

"In This House of Brede"

by Rumer Godden

[fiction]

one of my favorite novels; I loved this even

before my conversion.

Weekday Books

"Hold Fast To Your Dreams"
by Catherine Blanton
[YA fiction]

"The Fuzzy Kitten" #
by Helen Hoke
[picture book]
(openlibrary.org loan)


"Larger-Than-Life LARA"
by Dandi Daley Mackall
(children's fiction)



"B is for Brighton Beach" #
by Michael Salita
[picture book]
(Kindle book)

"Tough Choices for Roxie"
{carried over from last week}
"Chelsea's Special Touch"
{carrying over into next week}
by Hilda Stahl
[children's fiction, Christian, Protestant (denomination(s) not specified), series]

"I Met A Boy I Used To Know"
"Angel In Heavy Shoes" 

by Lenora Mattingly Weber

[YA fiction]

 
A Book for Weekdays AND Sundays

"The Imitation of Christ"

by Thomas A Kempis

[Kindle book]

This Week's Fan Fiction

Unsuited to Each Other
New chapters added to this
AU Katie Rose and Stacy Belford story.

One Careless Moment
New chapter added to this AU Another World story.

23rd Precinct
New chapter added to this ongoing Another World fic.

Chloe, My Love
New  AU Bonanza fic.

Revealed Relationships
New chapter added to this ongoing Another World fic.




 

New Fanfiction Schedule

I now have seven works in progress posted on fanfiction.net, four of which are
"Another World" fics.
"23rd Precinct" [story arcs begin and end, but the nature of this fic allows it to go on ad infinitum. ]
"Dante's Troubles"
"One Careless Moment"
"Revealed Relationships"

In addition to my "Another World" stories, I'm working on:
"Chloe, My Love"
an AU Bonanza fic
"The Poem"
an AU prequel to "The Waltons"
and
"Unsuited to Each Other"
an AU Katie Rose and Stacy Belford story.

It's hard, sometimes, juggling all these fics, so I've decided on
a posting schedule.

"23rd Precinct"
will be posted on Sunday (in the evening)
"Chloe, My Love"
will be posted on Monday
"Dante's Troubles"
will be posted on Tuesday
"One Careless Moment"
will be posted on Wednesday
"The Poem"
will be posted on Thursday
"Revealed Relationships"
will be posted on Friday
"Unsuited to Each Other"
will be posted on Saturday.

Of course, I will be working on all of these fics throughout the week!

Working on a Fic

I wrote a new fanfic today, a double drabble,  but I haven't posted it because, well, it just
doesn't work within those limitations.  It needs to be fleshed out and built up.
The funny thing is that I've had the ending planned for several months.

B Is For Brighton Beach

I've just discovered this book, which was published last year.

Of course, I went right to smile.amazon. com and, to my utter delight, saw that they had it
on Kindle... at a very low price!
CLICK!

All through the book there  are places I've been so many times.
Asser Levy Park, which I called "The Big Park" when I was a little girl.
The boardwalk.
The Ezra Jack Keats School (known as P.S. 253 when I went there.)
And, most meaningful of all to me, Guardian Angel Roman Catholic Church,
unnamed in the book because it is on the J page along with the Jewish Center
across the street.

This book makes me feel so happy, but at the same time, a bit homesick.

I'm just sorry that I didn't know about it last year.... I would have gotten a physical
copy for Mom.
She would have loved it.

Books Read In The Week of September 13-19

Books read for the first time are marked with  a #

Books are grouped in their sections by author,
and not necessarily in the order read.

Sunday book(s) 

"The Happiness of Heaven"

by Fr. J. Boudreau, S.J.

"In This House of Brede"

by Rumer Godden

[fiction]

one of my favorite novels; I loved this even

before my conversion.

Weekday Books


"Do You Call That A Dream Date?"
by Mary Anderson
[YA fiction]
(openlibrary.org loan)
{carried over from last week}  

"Why Did They Name It?"
by Hannah Campbell
[non-fiction]


 "Pies and Prejudice"
by Heather Vogel Frederick
[fiction]
(Kindle book0 

"Pippi Longstocking in the Park"
by Astrid Lindgren
[picture book]

 "No, No, Rosina" #
[picture book]
(openlibrary.org loan)
"Trina"
[children's fiction]
(physical copy)
by Patricia Miles Martin


"Uncle Fonzo's Ford" #
by Miska Miles
[children's fiction]
(openlibrary.org loan)

"The Secret Tunnel Mystery"
"Tough Choices for Roxie"
{carrying over into next week}
by Hilda Stahl
[children's fiction, Christian, Protestant (denomination(s) not specified), series]

"The Winds of March"
"A New and Different Summer"

by Lenora Mattingly Weber

[YA fiction]

 
A Book for Weekdays AND Sundays

"The Imitation of Christ"

by Thomas A Kempis

[Kindle book

This Week's Fan Fiction

The Poem
New chapter added to this AU prequel to The Waltons.

For Once, A Negative Post About Clubs

I usually write positive posts about clubs, but this one is different.  It's about some of the negative
aspects of clubs and club membership.  In other words, it's about the some of the wrong reasons
for forming or joining a club.
Years ago, when I was a young teenager and The Monkees were popular, someone sent a letter to
one of the many teen magazines out there and wrote that she and her friends had formed a Monkee
Haters Unfan Club.
I thought that this was terrible.  If they didn't like The Monkees, they didn't have to watch their tv show or buy their records, but forming an unfan club... sad.  And even sadder that the magazine would print that letter.
Then there are what I call gang-up clubs. A gang-up club is one that a group of kids forms in order
to pick on ONE kid, quite often one they are mad at for some reason or other.   Such a club might also
be called a REVENGE club.  The worst part is that the target is usually a former friend.
[The Spy Catcher Club in Louise Fitzhugh's "Harriet the Spy" comes to mind!]

Then there are those who join a club, usually an online club, simply to cause trouble, to attack
the other members.  These people are known as TROLLS.  I've had to deal with them from
time to time in my old groups on Yahoo. I have NOT had any problems with trolls in my
 Share-Care-Prayer Club.

And yes, The Share-Care-Prayer Club is going strong after more than a year... so this post ends on a POSITIVE note.

Lap Cat

I recently posted that one of Winky's "places" is my lap.  What I didn't mention, though, is that
this wasn't always the case.
When we lived in Brooklyn, Winky was NOT a "lap cat," much to Mom's regret. Not that he
wasn't affectionate; he'd sit next to us, kiss us, forehead-rub us, nuzzle us, (all of which he
still does) but he never curled up on our laps.
That changed when we moved.
Maybe Winky decided that a change of location called for a change in his routine.

Too Funny!

I saw this on Facebook yesterday, and I almost fell over laughing.
Please click here.

I think that's such a funny coincidence.

Maybe I'll start collecting humorous news items, both past and current, on my computer.

I've Always Wanted A Tiffany Lamp

I've always wanted a Tiffany lamp, and now I'm finally getting one.  Or, at least, I'm getting a Tiffany
Lamp magnet for my collection!  I ordered it just minutes ago.

There are several advantages, at least for me, to getting a magnet rather than an actual lamp.
1: It's MUCH less expensive.
2: It's unbreakable.
3:  It's another new item for my Decorative Magnet Collection.

I've Always Felt that Something was Missing

I recently re-read "Do You Call That A Dream Date?" by Mary Anderson


Briefly, it's about a girl named Jennifer who plagiarizes, with some slight changes, an essay written by her older sister in order to win a "dream date" with a celebrity.
She wins, and has her "dream date," which, in fact seems more like a dream than reality to her.

And then she is exposed, and has to apologize in assembly.

Now, I've always felt a bit cheated when it comes to this book.   There seems to be something missing.

Shouldn't the girl whose essay was judged second-best.... the girl who should have won the contest... have at least received some recognition?

So I asked myself, "What if, when I was a teenager, I lost out on a chance to spend an
evening with one of my favorite singers because someone else cheated?  How would I have felt
when I learned the truth?"

I came to these conclusions:

1: The writer in me would have been darn proud of having WRITTEN the best essay.

2: The teenage fan in me would have been, to use a cliche, madder than a wet hen.


As for the READER in me, she would have liked to see a confrontation between Jennifer and the
girl who SHOULD HAVE won.

And as a fanfic writer, well, someday, maybe....

Post

I've started several posts in the past hour, but somehow not ONE of them seems right.
But I said that I would post SOMETHING every day, either here or on fanfiction.net.
I did get an idea for a fic; I've jotted it down in my Plot Bunny Hutch.  However, it
probably won't get written right away; I'm juggling too many fics, both ongoing and
in the planning stage, as it is. Incidentally, the word Juggling will be in the title of that fic!
Notice that I said PROBABLY; it could very well get written tomorrow!
As for the posts I've started, with a little work I should be able to make something out of them.
So I'm set for most of the week!
Funny... I thought this would be a post about not being able to post, but it turned out to be
just a post!

Books Read in the Week of September 6-12

Books read for the first time are marked with  a #

Books are grouped in their sections by author,
and not necessarily in the order read.

Sunday book(s) 

"The Happiness of Heaven"

by Fr. J. Boudreau, S.J.

"In This House of Brede"

by Rumer Godden

[fiction]

one of my favorite novels; I loved this even

before my conversion.

Weekday Books


"Do You Call That A Dream Date?"
by Mary Anderson
[YA fiction]
(openlibrary.org loan)
{carrying over into next week} 

"Casebook of Successful Ideas for Advertising and Selling"
by Samm Sinclair Baker
[non-fiction]
(This has been a favorite book of mine for years.  
I love the anecdotes!)
{carried over from last week} 


 "The Kitten's Secret" #
by Margaret Gossett
[picture book]
(openlibrary.org loan)


"Dinky Hocker Shoots Smack!"
by M. E. Kerr
[YA fiction]
{carried over from last week}  

"Betsy and the Great World"
"Betsy's Wedding"
by Maud Hart Lovelace 
[YA fiction] 


 
A Book for Weekdays AND Sundays

"The Imitation of Christ"

by Thomas A Kempis

[Kindle book]

This Week's Fan Fiction

The Poem
Two new chapters added to this AU prequel to The Waltons.

Heroes

September 11th again. 
I don't want to think about the attacks.
I don't want to think about the terrorists.
This year, I've been focusing on the heroes.
All the heroes.
The passengers who fought the terrorists.
The police officers.
The firefighters.
The doctors and nurses who tended the wounded.
 And the unsung heroes.
The teachers who kept their students as calm as possible.
The parents and grandparents who had to explain to their
children and grandchildren how such things could happen.

And all those who clung to and comforted each other.

Perhaps you who are reading this are among the heroes,
but you never realized it.

Post 2 On A Book About Clubs

This, as the heading indicates, is my second post about "Ladies, Please Come To Order," by Peggy Cameron King. 
In the chapter called "Rub-a-dub-dub, What Name for the Club?" the author writes (or should I say, wrote, to be perfectly accurate?)
"Nowadays most people belong to something anonymous..... But your club is special and should have a more descriptive title. One of the first decisions will be regarding the suffix which might be Association, Auxiliary, Circle, Federation, Group, Guild, League, Unit, or anything else that implies a union of congenial personalities."
 I agree that these are all good suffixes, and there are others just as good, for example, Society.  (I belong to the Betsy-Tacy Society.)
This is the part I do NOT agree with:
"It seems too bad to fall back on the standard Club."
Sorry, but I don't see anything wrong with calling a club a CLUB, in fact, it often sounds better than the other suffixes, good as they may be.  Try replacing the word CLUB in  Book Club or Garden Club.  It doesn't work, at least in my opinion.  
 Then again, one  could give a Card Club a tongue-in-cheek name, such as Card Spade, Card Heart, or Card Diamond.

Post One Of Two on A Book About Clubs

I recently borrowed "Ladies, Please Come To Order," by Peggy Cameron King, (published in 1968) from openlibrary.org. It won't be on my book list, however, because I don't intend to finish it.  I found certain parts too annoying.
This paragraph in the chapter called "A Very Select Membership"  especially irritated me. (My responses, which I wish I could have made directly to the author, are in blue.
"Girls who are in poor health you can class as bad risks just as insurance companies do. They always use the excuse "I'm under the doctor's care" to get out of any little demands you may make of them, 
 They are not making excuses; they are stating a fact.   Many of them are glad to do what they can, and those who can't exert themselves too much physically may come up with some excellent ideas that the more able-bodied members can carry out. Besides, there are many clubs whose members just meet to talk about a chosen subject.
and no matter what the menu is, it doesn't agree with them. 
 Is it that difficult to provide something they can eat? 
 Perhaps you should admit a few as a humanitarian gesture
So the able-bodied members can feel good about themselves?
 although I can't think of any good reason for exposing the club to their ailments."
Poor health isn't always contagious. 

I also wish that I could ask the author if she even thought about how her unkind her statements sound,  and how they might make someone in poor health feel.  Perhaps, though, she didn't mean to be unkind; she may simply have been trying to be funny.   If so, she laid an egg as far as I'm concerned.

Pen Pals and Salami

One of my worst memories is the year when everyone in the sixth grade in my elementary school had a pen pal from another school, a school where most of the students were African-American.  The idea, I think, was to promote understanding and brotherhood.
Yes, everyone had a pen pal, except for one child.
Me.
I wasn't allowed to have a pen pal because of my handwriting.
It was hard having to listen to my classmates read the letters they received from their pen pals.
But that wasn't the worst. 
One day, we were told to bring our lunch to school the next day.  There would be a special assembly, and everyone would be eating in the auditorium... with their pen pals.
Mom said I had to go to school, but she sent a note asking that I be excused from the assembly.
It didn't do any good.
So there I was in that crowded auditorium that might as well have been empty as far as I was concerned.  There I was, sitting in the aisle,  listening to everyone else talking to his or her pen pal,
wondering what they thought when they saw me not talking to anyone.  Did they think it was because I was prejudiced?
That was the loneliest moment of my life.
Almost everyone had a salami sandwich.
I used to like salami, but that day the smell of it, added to the way I already felt, made me sick.
It was a long time before I could stand the sight or smell of salami, and I've never been able to
eat it since that day.

LOTH.... Weekdays and Sundays

The way I pray the Liturgy of the Hours on Sunday is different from the way I pray it on weekdays.

On weekdays,  I pray the Office of Readings at or around 6:30, followed immediately by Morning
Prayer.

On Sundays, I rise at 2:00 AM for the Office of Readings, and then go back to bed.
I pray Morning Prayer after The Angelus with Pope Francis.

During the week, I pray only one of the Daytime Hours, usually Midday, but sometimes Midafternoon... NEVER Midmorning.
On Sundays, I pray all three Hours, rotating which one is Current, and which two are Complementary.

As for Morning and Evening Prayer, during the week I say the Our Father in English.
On Sundays, I sing it in Latin.

This is just one of several ways in which I make my Sundays different.

Books Read in the week of August 30-September 5

Books read for the first time are marked with  a #

Books are grouped in their sections by author,
and not necessarily in the order read.

Sunday book(s) 

"The Happiness of Heaven"

by Fr. J. Boudreau, S.J.

"In This House of Brede"

by Rumer Godden

[fiction]

one of my favorite novels; I loved this even

before my conversion.

Weekday Books

"Casebook of Successful Ideas for Advertising and Selling"
by Samm Sinclair Baker
[non-fiction]
(This has been a favorite book of mine for years.  
I love the anecdotes!)
{carrying over into next week}


"The Home Has A Heart"
by Thyra Ferre Bjorn
[non-fiction, Christian (Protestant) themes,
anecdotes, recipes]
(September chapter only)

"Dinky Hocker Shoots Smack!"
by M. E. Kerr
[YA fiction]
{carrying over into next week}

"The Tale of  Johnny Town-Mouse" #
by Beatrix Potter

[picture book.
( in "Beatrix Potter The Complete Tales") ]

(Kindle book)

"Annabelle Swift, Kindergartner" #
by Amy Schwartz
[picture book]
(openlibrary.org loan)

"To Teach, To Love"

by Jesse Stuart

(openlibrary.org loan)

{carried over from last week}

"On Our Own"
by Libby Lazewnik
"Ghosthunters"
by Malky Siegal
"And The Winner Is"
"Stars In Their Eyes"
by Aidel Stein

"The Inside Story"

By Libby Lazewnik

"Trapped!"

by Libby Lazewnik, Miriam Zakon, Emmy Zitter

"Ima Come Home" 
by Aidel Stein 
"Hey Waiter!"
by Emmy Zitter
"Through Thick and Thin"
by Debby Garfunkel 
[children's fiction, Jewish] 

The above nine books are part of the
Baker's Dozen series, created by Miriam Zakon. 

A Book for Weekdays AND Sundays

"The Imitation of Christ"

by Thomas A Kempis

[Kindle book]

This Week's Fan Fiction

  
Unsuited to Each Other
New chapter added to this
AU Katie Rose and Stacy Belford story.

Reusing Coffee

Soon after I make my Morning Offering, I make my morning coffee, a good, strong cup.
Later the same morning, I make a second cup, using the same grounds, which have not
been removed from the coffee maker.  This cup is a bit weaker, but still good.
So do I get rid of the grounds now, or, rather, when they've cooled?
No.  I make a third cup of coffee.   It's too weak for drinking purposes, but I find
it very good for pouring over Ritz crackers or Ramen noodles (omitting the flavoring
packet, of course!) or for flavoring Farina.
I guess you could call it recycling!

Non-New Year's Resolution

So what is a non-New Year's resolution?  It's a resolution one makes at some time other than the New Year's.   I think I hear

a chorus of "Well,  d'uhhhhhh!!"

Okay, so almost two weeks ago I made one... I decided that I was going to post SOMETHING  new every day, either here on this blog, (not counting my book list)  or on fanfiction.net.

So far I've stuck to it.

Why am I saying so far when I intend to stick to it anyway?

Winky's Spaces

Winky has more spaces in this house than I do... but then, don't all cats?

So what are his personal (purrsonal?) spaces?

1: A large cardboard box, turned lengthwise.

2: The back of the couch in the living room.

3: The top of the pantry, which I call Winky's loft.

4: Under/behind the living room couch.

5:  And one more place: my lap.

Fanfiction.net Site Problems

There has been a problem all day with fanfiction.net.  While the site itself is accessible, and people can still read the stories, nobody has been able to log in.
I know that the trouble isn't with my account, or my computer, because I've seen complaints, posted today, on a message board.
I hope the problem, whatever it is, will be resolved soon.  In the meantime, I'm jotting down scenes and ideas offline on Notepad.