The Girdle of Melian

Mentally, that is. No internet for me - I just got my copy of My Lord and Spymaster! Yay, Jo !

From Snail's Tales : TECHNOLOGY What is the wallpaper on your computer? A trail through lush woods. How many televisions do you have in your house? One. BIOLOGY Are you right handed or left handed? Left, but ambidextrous by necessity - everything's made for righties, including cappuccino machines :-) Have you ever had anything removed from your body? A tooth nerve. What is the last heavy item you lifted? A HUGE pile of documents at work. They didn't *look* that heavy... Have you ever been knocked out? Nope. BULLSHITOLOGY If it were possible, would you want to know the day you were going to die? No. If you could change your name, what would you change it to? I wouldn't! I'd just take on a pile of middle names. What color do you think looks best on you? Red. Have you ever swallowed a non-food item? Nooo... Can't remember. DAREOLOGY Would you kiss a member of the same sex for $100? Already done it for free! Would you allow one of your little fingers to be cut off f...

Lifted this from Jen ’s blog, who got it from Moonrat : “ The Big Read , an initiative by the National Endowment for the Arts, has estimated that the average adult has only read 6 of the top 100 books they've printed. How do you do? 1) Look at the list and bold those you have read. 2) Italicize those you intend to read. (I’ve followed Jen’s pattern and only italicized the ones I currently have in my TBR pile, and passed over the ones *not* fighting for shelf space in my house). 3) Underline the books you LOVE. (Which, for the purposes of this blog, means a bold and an italic...) 1 Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen 2 The Lord of the Rings - JRR Tolkien 3 Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte 4 Harry Potter series - JK Rowling 5 To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee 6 The Bible 7 Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte 8 Nineteen Eighty Four - George Orwell 9 His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman 10 Great Expectations - Charles Dickens 11 Little Women - Louisa M Alcott 12 Tess of the D'Urbervilles - ...

Written when I was twelve, so copyright 1992. It doesn't have a title, because apparently I could never come up with one that didn't give the ending away... I woke up this morning to find Dad sitting, as usual, at the kitchen table with the cup of coffee he could not do without. It was – I glanced at the clock – four-thirty in the morning. Four-thirty! He got up early, I knew, but not this early. Come to think of it, there had been some commotion in the night. Maybe something had happened; maybe Granny had died! That would be terrible! Dear old Granny. She was the only one who drank tea in the mornings. She did not believe in coffee. “Too much caffeine,” she said. Dad got up, mumbling something about getting some sleep. What had he done all night if he had not slept? I knew I would probably find out at breakfast, so I tried to go back to sleep. I kept thinking about all of the horrible things that might have happened, and it was over an hour before I finally fell asleep. I woke...

(In honour of Tennessee Whiskey, No. 7 that is...) I’ve made this resolution before, but think I have a better than usual chance of keeping it this time: I will not buy any more books between now and the McGill Book Fair ! I have to update the catalogue and the books I’m reading list, but suffice to say that my To Read pile is actually about seven piles (No. 7 again!) and shows no signs of dwindling in the near future. Originally, I was going to set my deadline for the release of Diana ’s next book but I’m not sure when the noir is coming out and I’m especially not sure I can wait for a whole other year or so before the graphic novel and Echo in the Bone are released. If, however, the book fair date (22 October) comes and goes, and I find I still don’t need to actually * buy * any books (no excuses!), I might try to hang on to my resolution. The only flaw I can see in this plan even now is that Folio Society membership renewals are usually due around September. These books look expe...

Which Muse is this? Outside the Symphony Hall in TN...

What's the English name for Zakkum? Is this a Magnolia Tree?

The Battle of the Alamance, including Hermon Husband's brother-in-law's cabin; life in the 18th century shots (including medicine sans Claire); possible locations for Fraser's Ridge; and interesting characters (Archibald Rutledge, Francis Marion and Thomas Lynch)...

Jellyfish at Myrtle Beach, SC Lizard at Hampton Plantation, SC 17 year Cicada at Maker's Mark Distillery in KY Bug at Hampton Plantation, SC Bug at NC border

Well, more like Jenny 's home, where we were visiting last night! Unfortunately, tonight we're in Erie, PA with a rather slow wireless connection, so the only photo is over at Jenny's. Look for more photos here by the weekend! Thanks Jenny and Shaylin, and Gabe too! Already wish we were back in the slow Southern heat...