The Bookity Book & Tall Grass Salon

Matty lll · Feb 26, 2015

Kylabelle said:
Perhaps I shall, one of these days. Thanks for the encouragement.

Do you now have a feeling of a big empty place in your life, and are you wondering what to do next?

Funny you should say that...thats exactly what I feel like. Part of that is just the length of course, I got something a bit similar when I finished David Copperfield too for example, but it's more than that, it's like you have to invest so much of your mental capacity to reading the book/thinking about it. I actually feel mentally drained (in a good way) or something. I tried to start reading the next book I had planned, but I couldn't focus on it haha

Kylabelle · Feb 26, 2015

Yeah, I would expect it might take a little while to readjust.

Kylabelle · Feb 27, 2015

Good morning.

The Writer's Almanac for February 27, 2015

I quite like today's poem. Anything is a fit subject for poetry, if the poet is equal to the task.

Today is the anniversary of Abraham Lincoln's famous and arguably world-changing speech against slavery at the Cooper Union in New York.

It's the birthday of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, and of John Steinbeck. I didn't know Steinbeck served as an advisor to President Lyndon Johnson. I guess he qualified to do that because of having written propaganda during WWII. Huh.

Lillith1991 · Feb 27, 2015

Oh, I like it! I'm a bit too grumpy to completely enjoy it, but I do like it. Right now I want to thump people upside their heads.

Priene · Feb 27, 2015

Matty lll said:
Just finished Ulysses

It's time for Finnegans Wake.

You know you want to.

Matty lll · Feb 27, 2015

Priene said:
It's time for Finnegans Wake.

You know you want to.

No! Never! You can't make me! Haha

Priene · Feb 27, 2015

Matty lll said:
No! Never! You can't make me! Haha

The Ulysses hit will wear off and you'll develop a craving for the harder stuff.

Matty lll · Feb 27, 2015

Priene said:
The Ulysses hit will wear off and you'll develop a craving for the harder stuff.

"I started out on Ulysses but soon hit the harder stuff"

That joke might only be funny to me though haha

Priene · Feb 27, 2015

Matty lll said:
"I started out on Ulysses but soon hit the harder stuff"

That joke might only be funny to me though haha

Started reading it yet? When you come to, it'll be mid-May, you'll be lying dazed in a Portsmouth backstreet with Finnegans Wake next to you. And you'll still only be on page 43.

Matty lll · Feb 27, 2015

Priene said:
Started reading it yet? When you come to, it'll be mid-May, you'll be lying dazed in a Portsmouth backstreet with Finnegans Wake next to you. And you'll still only be on page 43.

Nope, but I will eventually try it I think. Gonna some shorter things for a while, short stories/novellas. Reading Death in Venice at the minute.

Kylabelle · Feb 27, 2015

Priene said:
Started reading it yet? When you come to, it'll be mid-May, you'll be lying dazed in a Portsmouth backstreet with Finnegans Wake next to you. And you'll still only be on page 43.

Sounds like actually finishing it could be fatal.

And, yeah. It's no Ulysses, but, Swanny! I am loving Station Eleven. You were so right. At first it didn't grab me like Dog Stars did, and it took me a while to warm up, but now it's coming toward the close and it's too soon! Dog Stars was simpler -- at first the various timelines in Station Eleven put me off a bit. But I see how she is pulling all her plot strands together. Thanks so much for the recommendation.

Have you read any of her other books? Are they as good?

Priene · Feb 28, 2015

Kylabelle said:
Sounds like actually finishing it could be fatal.

It could be, but we won't know that until someone actually manages to finish it.

Kylabelle · Feb 28, 2015

Priene said:
It could be, but we won't know that until someone actually manages to finish it.

And tell us about it. The ones who've managed may have died before they could report back.

Good morning.

The Writer's Almanac for February 28, 2015

Today's poem is a kind of refreshment, simple and light on the palate.

Today is the birthday of essayist Michel de Montaigne; I've not read him either.

It's also the birthday of Colum McCann. The segment about his life and work is the bulk of the almanac today. He says "Every novel is a failure." I've been thinking about that kind of failure a lot lately, the way a creative project veers toward the vision or intention of its creator but never quite merges and rests, always reaching and pushing against inertia. It's a feeling like trying to bring opposite poles of a magnet together.

Maryn · Feb 28, 2015

Hi, people. Just wanted to announce I remain alive.

Maryn, pretty sure

Kylabelle · Feb 28, 2015

Heya, Maryn, I was pretty sure too, but it's nice to have a little evidence.

Are you at a nice beach somewhere? Heading south, heck, you might as well go all the way down the Keys and visit that other Sloppy Joe's!

Maryn · Feb 28, 2015

We're in Bonita Springs, where it's either been cool and windy, or hot and thundershowery. But I ain't complainin' because back home, the high today was 12.

I slept poorly last night (I blame a wee bit more wine than was wise) and am therefore cranky now. It was the perfect time to write my not-so-hot rating for the hotel, which cannot manage a breakfast bar even though hundreds of hotels in this area do it seven days a week. No coffee? Yogurt but no spoons? Cereal, but no milk? And when the coffee arrived after a half an hour, no cups. For cryin' out loud!

Maryn, who writes scathing reviews at Trip Adviser

Kylabelle · Feb 28, 2015

For shame! They should really be able to do better than that.

But even so, better there than even here, where we have freezing rain forecast all day tomorrow. (I do have coffee cups, though....)

Kylabelle · Mar 1, 2015

Good morning.

The Writer's Almanac for March 1, 2015

Huh. Right before opening the almanac this morning, I was reading a blog post by an expat American in China, talking about the Chinese tradition of returning to one's birthplace at the New Year (which this is) and -- then here is this poem by someone with a Chinese name, at least, and its theme echoes the reflections in the blog rather closely.

Cool.

It is really early on a Sunday morning, but cats don't care about early or Sunday either one, so I'm up.

Today is the anniversary of the day that Yellowstone was named a national partk.

It's the birthday of poets Richard Wilbur and Robert Lowell, and of novelist Ralph Ellison. Ah. I hadn't known that Lowell lived with bipolar disorder.

I remember reading Ellison's Invisible Man while I was in high school and that it affected me strongly, though I can't recall any details of the book at this point.

Kylabelle · Mar 1, 2015

Happy Birthday Chris!

Looks like today is Chris's birthday. Have a great day, Chris!

Lillith1991 · Mar 1, 2015

Happy birthday Chris!

ION: I'm grumpy today from lack of sleep and the subtext thread. No one has said anything disrespectful, but I feel like they're assuming something based on the fact I think Kirk and Spock from Star Trek were in love with each other. The assumption being that I think they were sexually or romantically involved, when even as a shipper I see no evidence for that. None. Being in love with someone doesn't automatically mean you're with them, you know what I mean? All it means is that you're in love with them. I mean, the show establishes "let me help" as being more romantic than "I love you." Kirk even explains it to his female love intrest in one episode. The next episode Spock says it, to Jim. Am I supposed to ignore precident set up just because Spock has male reproductive organs?

I feel like I need a case of Klingon Bloodwine.

Chris P · Mar 1, 2015

Would you prefer the 2145 or the 2146? Based on your mood, I'll uncork the '45.

I totally see how Kirk and Spock could have a platonic love relationship. I think they balanced each other in a way that they (and the show and movies) would have been poorer without. Sort of like Zorba the Greek and the book's unnamed narrator. Or Dumb and Dumber (for real; as a buddy movie that film's near genius).

Today is also the birthday of the Peace Corps, born on my -10th birthday.

And thanks for the birthday wishes! My girlfriend got me bacon. A pound of high-end bacon, a loaf of bake-at-home bacon bread, a bar of bacon chocolate, and a package of bacon-ish sausage. Does she know me or what?

I also got The Dog Stars, Gone Girl, and The Duplex by Kathryn Davis. I read the first chapter of The Duplex in a short story anthology, and I'm intrigued. Not that I've gotten through my books from Christmas yet, but hey.

Kylabelle · Mar 1, 2015

A good haul there, Chris!

I'll be really interested in hearing how you like The Dog Stars. It's still resonating with me.

Lillith1991 · Mar 1, 2015

Chris P said:
Would you prefer the 2145 or the 2146? Based on your mood, I'll uncork the '45.

I totally see how Kirk and Spock could have a platonic love relationship. I think they balanced each other in a way that they (and the show and movies) would have been poorer without. Sort of like Zorba the Greek and the book's unnamed narrator. Or Dumb and Dumber (for real; as a buddy movie that film's near genius).

Today is also the birthday of the Peace Corps, born on my -10th birthday.

And thanks for the birthday wishes! My girlfriend got me bacon. A pound of high-end bacon, a loaf of bake-at-home bacon bread, a bar of bacon chocolate, and a package of bacon-ish sausage. Does she know me or what?

I also got The Dog Stars, Gone Girl, and The Duplex by Kathryn Davis. I read the first chapter of The Duplex in a short story anthology, and I'm intrigued. Not that I've gotten through my books from Christmas yet, but hey.

I can see where you're going with this, but Gene said in an interview when the question of them as a couple came up and they were compared to Alexander the great and Hapheastion (sp?):

Yes, there's certainly some of that -- certainly with love overtones. Deep love. The only difference being, the Greek ideal-- we never suggested in the series-- physical love between the two. But it's the-- we certainly had the feeling that the affection was sufficient for that, if that were the particular style of the 23rd century.

To me that says, "No they weren't together during the show, but they loved each other enough that it is possible."

*accepts wine*

I'm glad to see your birthday is going well.

Kylabelle · Mar 2, 2015

Good morning.

The Writer's Almanac for March 2, 2015

I love the poem today; every line is a surprise.

Today is the birthday of John Irving, Thedore Geisel (Dr. Seuss), and Tom Wolfe. I've read all of them; the only one I never tired of is Dr. Seuss.

Chris P · Mar 2, 2015

That's pretty good company to keep writer-wise.

Can't say the poem caught me. It tugged at a deeper idea for me, but couldn't quite pull it out.

The Bookity Book & Tall Grass Salon

unaccounted for

unaccounted for

The Hobbit-Vulcan hybrid

Out to lunch

Out to lunch

Out to lunch

unaccounted for

Out to lunch

unaccounted for

At Sea

unaccounted for

At Sea

unaccounted for

unaccounted for

unaccounted for

The Hobbit-Vulcan hybrid

Likes metaphors mixed, not stirred

unaccounted for

The Hobbit-Vulcan hybrid

unaccounted for

Likes metaphors mixed, not stirred