Monday, June 4, 2007

Home Again, Home Again

Jiggity Jig.


Just warning you that this is a booooring entry. Just some plane pictures and stuff ...



It has been a long week and a half. It is hard to believe that I have been away for almost two weeks. I miss my family and am eager to see them. When I am making a big trip, I begin thinking about it the day before and am halfway there on the first day of travel. Last night, I did a quick mental pack and did a little organizing. I am a little anxious about getting on the road -- I have visions of long customs lines and other unanticipated delays. Part of me will be very, very glad to be on the plane.

When I get up, it is very cold and there is frost on the ground for the first time. I hope that it is not too slick driving to the airport. My plane leaves at ten and I want to be there an hour and a half early, just to stave off any problems. I get washed and packed in record time. I have my two bags, one of which has my posters in it, rolled up in a cardboard tube. My ultra-dangerous lip balm is in a plastic sandwich bag.

After breakfast, Rowan's stepdad comes to take us to the airport, which again, is very kind of him. Her mom and stepdad have been marvelous to allow us to stravaig aboot, by watching the kids as needed. It has been a wonderful visit, all the way around. We crunch out to the car and load up. I give Lena a hug good bye and leave enriched with her artwork.

This trip is a little different from the trip in -- Rowan and I are not meeting each other in 3D for the first time; we are no longer a little ill-at-ease with each other. We are quiet, and we chat of this and that. I think that we are both tired and I am a little preoccupied with travel thoughts ... do I have my passport, what time is it at home, will I have a good seatmate, am I going to get hung up in customs? That kind of stuff. This time we take the freeway, not the back roads to Edinburgh, and make good time. I wonder if I will be brave enough to drive the next time I come here.

I look at the car clock and start to get a little nervous -- it is much later than I had hoped. Instead of having an hour buffer, it looks like I am going to have substantially less. I begin to hyperventilate a little. I am not sure how we have lost so much time. When we drive into the airport, I stifle the urge to yell, "stop the car!" and merely say, in a tense sort of way, that I will get out. Although they do not have to do so, Rowan and her stepdad say that they will park and meet me in the terminal. I grab my cases and trundle off to the ticket counter. It takes a while to get to the ticket counter -- the signs are a little confusing, and I am nervous because I am much later than I would like to be. The line is looooong, and some of the people in front of me are leaving on a later flight, and I am just about to have a panic attack.

I looked at the clock in disbelief -- it is an hour earlier than I had thought -- an hour earlier than the car clock in Rowan's stepdad's car. I realize that his clock is an hour late. I am not late, but am just right -- just as I am handing over my passport and reeling from the blood rushing to my head, Rowan and comes to say good-bye.

I am not a fan of long good-byes, so I thank her stepdad, most sincerely, for his help. He went above and beyond in the hospitality department. Rowan and I hug goodbye, and I tell her that I will let her know when I get home. It is quick, because I am close to the front of the line, and I shoo her away -- my mind is already occupied with the trip home. We will see each other again, for sure. They depart, and I watch them disappear into the crowd.

I am trying to impress the sound of Scottish voices in my mind -- and I remember what it was like to arrive in the airport for the first time. I don't feel much like a visitor. I have been enriched by the experience. It has been a great trip.

I get through the ticket counter -- there was some hang up, one I can't remember right now, but I had to wait for a bit at the counter. Oh, I remember, it was to do with the electronic boarding pass -- I had printed it out before I left the US, and there was some confusion about it, as the ticket people had apparently never seen such a thing. I am getting irritated. And worried. And when I get worried, I get irritated.

Finally I get through the ticket line with my two bags and poster tube. When I say two bags, I mean one carry-on and my purse. Please remember that I just left the ticket counter with these items, clearly observed by all of the counter personnel. There is a little pub-ish place where I get a coffee (I remember when Rowan and I peeked in on the way to London) and a mini-Boots, which I quickly look into, again remembering walking through with Rowan. I finish my coffee quickly and I get to the security screening line and am informed that you are only allowed to have one bag. I goggled at the person. I just left the ticket counter and all of my luggage is checked. I stomp over to some chairs and begin throwing away unnecessary items -- not that there are many (good-bye tuna and sweetcorn sandwich that Rowan made for me) -- and manage to cram everything into one bag. Thankfully, I travel light, but it was not an easy task. I have to cram, and I do mean cram stuff into my larger bag. I can't zip it. Things are stacked on the top of my open bag, but I only have one bag, so technically it is all good. The same amount of stuff in one bag is less dangerous than the same amount of stuff in two bags, apparently. My poster tube is laying across the top of my bag and there is just enough room to get my fingers at the top of the handle to carry it. Not the most comfortable arrangement, but workable. I have no idea why they did not tell me that I could only take one bag at the ticket counter ... grrrrr. I might have hated the people at the baggage counter for a moment or two.

We don't have to take our shoes off, for a mercy, but we have to practically strip when getting our bags x-rayed.

I get into the second waiting room and once again curse the lack of wheels on my bag. I get a slice of quiche, as I am starving. I nostalgically over-pay and I settle in to read for a bit before getting on the plane. I check the boarding information like one hundred times, waiting to find that I have messed up the time. Finally, I get on the plane and find, to my delight, that I have a whole seat to myself. No seatmate! Bliss. I rearrange my stuff and settle in to read. Here are some shots outside the plane as we take off over Edinburgh.



This is the city as we leave. I think it is lovely. I heart Edinburgh.



Straightening out over the Firth of Forth.



And over the countryside.



Pretty, no?



I feel like I am wrapping things up, taking pictures of the countryside as I leave, impressing the images on my mind.




These are the colors that I remember from the window of the train.










And we turn to head out over the Atlantic. I am officially a trans-Atlantic traveler. Hard to imagine that, really.












I always like being above the clouds. It is a nice trip so far -- the extra space is a bonus. About now, I have pulled out my magazines that I did not read on the way out. I have a copy of People Magazine that I brought from home -- the Sexiest Man or something issue. I look at the cover and then do a double-take. There is a familiar, but unexpected face on the magazine cover. I burst out laughing, because my husband has taken a picture of himself and glued it on the cover. It is hilarious and I miss him quite desperately. I am soooo glad that I did not throw the magazine away in the Great Edinburgh Airport Divesture.

The flight attendant comes by later, and sees the magazine and makes a comment about the cover, saying something about George Clooney, I think it was. Laughing, I show her my husband's handiwork. She is so impressed that she takes it back to the back of the plane to show to the rest of the crew. It is a big hit and she tells me that I have a keeper. I know -- after 17 and a half years, my husband still makes me laugh as much as ever. He is smart and funny and kind and does not grudge his wife trans-Atlantic flights. There is no way that I would be as accommodating, I have to say. I will have to make it up to him ...





The flight seems much faster this time, and very quickly, we are over the ocean. I look up from my book and I catch the first glimpse of land -- I know it for Greenland this time. I remember the flight attendant on the trip in saying that if it is green, it is Iceland and if it is white, it is Greenland. It seems a long time ago.



It looks white to me.



I wonder where we are ... When does Greenland become Canada? Or Newfoundland or Nova Scotia or wherever it is that we are. Should I be more embarrassed at my lack of knowledge?



I am irresistibly reminded of the Penguin Encounter at Sea World. I love that place.









I wonder what those lines are -- roads?



Where is Jack Bauer when you need him?! The plane does not seem to be threatening to shoot us down, though.



It is still there, and I am a little nervous. Don't they have laws about planes being too close to each other? That plane is practically looking up our nose.












I ask the flight attendant what she thinks that the straight lines are, and we think it must be a road, but it looks all snowy. The flight attendants are much nicer on the way back than they were on the way out. We talk about her recent trip to Edinburgh, her first with her husband.



Well, I looked out the window as we went south to Atlanta, but nothing much more interesting or picture worthy. I waved hello to all of the Southern Monkbots as I flew over. When they said that we were over Mississippi, I waved. Hi, Shelley!

I was very excited to get off in Atlanta, as my cell phone finally worked properly. I had about two hours in Georgia, long enough to get some lunch and to stretch my legs. I collected my one over-stuffed bag and poster tube and went through Customs. You have to collect your bags and re-check them in as you enter the country. I re-organized my one heavy bag into the two original smaller bags and got a cart and trundled over to the baggage area. It took a long, and I do mean a long time to get my suitcases. I think that mine were the last to be put out. Visions of lost luggage began to dance through my head. I was really glad that I had my computer with me.

I rechecked the bags and went through security again. It is at this point that my poster tube was confiscated, as being oversized. Please remember that it was checked in at Edinburgh with no difficulty at all. I was re-routed through to the "oversized carryon" counter where it was taken away. I was assured that it would be at my final destination. I asked if that was for sure, and I was reassured that it was. I was not convinced, but three people swore to me that the poster tube would get there with no difficulty and would be waiting happily for me at my destination.

I went on through and got lunch while I waited. A young woman commented admiringly on the jacket that Rowan had given me, a lovely teal one with Celtic petroglyphs on it. She had been studying at the University of Edinburgh and found them familiar. She said that I was wearing all of her favorite symbols. She was traveling back to California, as well. I left messages for folks that I was alive and well and on the way home. Rowan emailed me, and it came through on my phone, and once again, I marveled at technology.

It was interesting to be in the US again and to hear Southern accents. There was a Scotswoman talking on a pay phone as I walked to the gate, and I got a little pang, realizing that I was not going to hear that accent for a while.

It was about a half an hour before we boarded that I was stuck with the realization that there was no address on my poster tube. I went to the counter and said that I thought that there was no way that my stuff was going to make it to my destination. I was asked to show my claim ticket, and admitted that I had not been given one. Apparently, I was supposed to get one, but the crack TSA staff took away my stuff and did not give me one, despite the fact that there were three of them clustered around me, telling me that my posters would get to California. How did they know? What was I thinking, to TRUST THE TSA?? I deserved to lose my stuff for that alone. Anyway, it took a number of phone calls to everywhere from lost and found to the Delta baggage counter to verify that my stuff was lost. I was very sad ...

I learned a valuable lesson though, about getting claim tickets and following your own instincts, even when you are confronted with the scary TSA people who have the power of life and travel and getting home over you.

I was on the phone, trying to hunt my stuff down, even as we were on the tarmac ready for departure. I was one of those obnoxious people who had a cell phone glued to her ear as if what she had to say was soooo important that she couldn't hang up. Needless to to say, my stuff was not waiting for me at home and every one that I spoke to agreed that the TSA had botched it. I ended up getting a claim reimbursed, but That Was Not The Point.

Ah well.

I got off the plane at home and was greeted by my husband and the boys. My husband looked very handsome and some part of me eased when I saw him. Being with him feels like home -- he snuck up on me, just to get the reaction. I was reminded that it had been a long time since we had seen each other. It was a lovely kiss hello. My youngest did the traditional "run across the airport" to greet me, and I got all choked up. Let's just say that he has good dramatic instincts, but it was heartfelt. My oldest boy gave me a hug and mumbled hello. It was so good to see them -- it felt like a million years that I had been gone and I was all full of new experiences.


So, I went off to the UK to see a friend that I met over the Internets, which, in general, is not a good idea. In this case, however, it was a very good one. We had a wonderful time, exploring London and Edinburgh and Dundee. It was an adventure for sure. Somehow, across a continent and an ocean, we have become fast friends. My husband says that we deserve each other -- which is a high compliment. We are both refugees from the academic feminist world and have small children. Rowan knows more about literature than I will ever know and has a wide sentimental streak combined with journalist's observing, wry, eye. We are both marching into the world of the middle-aged woman, sans elastic-waisted pants. I refuse. Rowan has a wonderful twisty sense of humor. She hates pizza and avocados (which I do not understand) and is enamored with a great turn of phrase. In a lot of ways, we are more similar than we are different. We "get" each other, which is a great basis for friendship. I like that she is smart and funny and has a bit of a kick to her gallop.

I would say that one of the best ways to see a new place is with a friend who lives there, and I got to do that. She also shared her world with me, seeing it fresh through my eyes. It is her turn next, so stay tuned. I wonder what Rowan will make of California?

We are planning our next stravaig, now that Rowan sees that the world is not too scary and strange. I think that she needs to come out this way soon. Dublin would be fun. London, of course, is a must-do. I have my eye on Spain, as well. I have barely scratched the surface of Scotland.

The world is a wide-open place, waiting to be explored.

239 comments:

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Anonymous said...

Y'all are funny!

Lee, I am glad you have your pillowcase. That is sort of a triumphal thing. Very high on the Irony-o-meter! I would like one too. It would make me giggle. Is it the one with his head surrounded in a big heart, that was on Ebay?

Laughed at your description of HC4S's book jacket. Tell me it is a smiley pic on the front! I can't help smiling at the intense brooding ones.

Bama - funny on the childhood thing! That comment made me ponder. Thanks for the head's up. HP sounds a bit much for Lena. It is funny, though - I got "Jaws" for a couple of pounds in a bargain bin, and was sitting watching it, when Lena got out of bed and started asking questions. Worried she'd be upset, I switched it off, as she'd witnessed the part where the little boy disappears from his rubber dinghy, before voicing her presence. She was most indignant:

"But Muuuum...you don't actually see the little boy being eaten by a shark! Why not?"

"Because the shark is rubber, and you don't get to see it close up until the final scene where it eats the old sea captain, and it is kinda rubbery then. And it makes he film scarier if you don't see him properly till the end. Also, It would be too horrible, you know, for the mummies watching."

"Well not me, Mummy. That's just not fair. They should have shown him being eaten by the shark, and not just the empty boat and people screaming. can I skip on through the scenes and see him eating the sea captain?"

Don't know how watching big musicals starring Dick van Dyke and Julie andrews can desensitise a wee person to watching scary sharks...but it seemingly has. Or maybe it is Finding Nemo...the shark is pretty scary in that.

>_<

Anonymous said...

Hahahahahaa! I lerve Lena so much! She's the funniest little girl I've ever "known". What a precocious little tot! I was TERRIFIED of Jaws when it came out....and I was much older than Lena is now.

I saw "Hush, Hush, Sweet Charlotte" when I was about six, and it was the fodder of my most vivid nightmares and the reason I slept with the covers over my head until adulthood. Lena would prolly yawn and ask why they didn't show the boyfriend's head actually being chopped off!

For the record though, Mary Poppins kind of scared me as a child too. The thought of her floating through the clouds was creepy...

Anonymous said...

Bama, Hush, Hush Sweet Charlotte is a seriously creepy movie. I watched it one night/am when I couldn't sleep (around 3am). It freaked me the heck out. I had to sleep downstairs with evil bob (the dog) cuz I was too afraid to walk upstairs alone. Was it the boyfriend's head or hand that was chopped off? Either one was freaky enough!

My kids' have high tolerance to scary movies like Lena! HC4S has always loved scary movies. I caught her watching the "Chucky" movie (Child's Play) when she was like 5 yrs old. She has a fascination with killer dummies/dolls . Slappy from Goosebumps was her favorite character at around 5 or 6. It's weird but I think at age 10 or 11 they get more easily frightened. I think at 5 they're very matter-of-fact about it like Lena--If the kid got eaten by the shark in the movie why not show it Mummy? Very grounded at that age. They just get all hivvy-skivvy around pre-teen years.

Rowan, I would say Taylor is smiling/smirking on the cover. He looks quite handsome. He's not making the serious tortured musician/constipated look that some misdirected photographers have urged him to do in the past. I always want to hand him a good laxative when I see those!

p.s. yes said pillowcase has a heart and says "sweet dreams Lisa Hurt"--so very personal!

Anonymous said...

Bama - hee hee on finding Mary Poppins scary. Yeh, she was a bit eerily zealous about a lot of atuff. Cleaning, and suchlike. I am a seriously peaceable sort, but I think Mary and I might have just come to blows. Perhaps I am just a little jellis of her drifiting above the London skyline without having to negotiate the scary ticket machines at the Underground stations. They had it in for me.

Lee - glad to hear that Taylor is smiling a little on his pic. With teeth like those, he ought to smile. Yeh, those deeply brooding pics never looked right. The one on his cd is of that ilk, and the ones of him perched uncomfortably on the artistically distressed pickup truck, in the blue suit, glaring over the top of his harmonica. Yep - bad directing. A big cheesy grin is much more 'him'.

I was terrified of "Jaws", also. I could never watch anyhorror movies, though. "Jaws" is my limit, and I would prolly not watch it all the way through. I used to like heartstring-tugging movies when I was younger, but can't stand them now. Like escapist ones that take me to other places and times. last year, I had a video of "Out of Africa." Lena used to ask me to skip to the scene where Meryl Streep's coffee farm burns down.O_o

Lee - do you tumble dry or line dry your pillowcase? Am interested to know if he flies the flag in the community for all things Taylor-zany, drying in the wind. I think I might find him scary if I woke up in the night and saw his eyes looking at me. I onc read a story where scary eyes haunt the protagonist - an old Scottish novel called, The House with the Green Shutters." Now I have a thing about scary eyes. have to shut my eyes at that close-up of Anthony Perkins at the end of Psycho. Wouldn't watch Psycho now, either. My mum went to see it when it first came out, and fainted in the cinema.

Dr. Bob said...

Yep on the no Harry Potter for Lena. They are getting darker and less fun as they go.

The Shining always scared the heck out of me. Jaws not so much.

Anonymous said...

Oooh, "The Shining" was the scariest movie EVER! Those little ghost twins, the blood rushing off the elevator and through the halls...."Heeeeeeere's Johnny!"

Very scary.

I don't really watch horror movies either. Well, not the supernatural ones at least. The "thriller" types don't scare me quite as much. Those are kind of fun. I just can't handle ghosts/poltergeists, occultic type films.

In a way, I feel more secure watching the psycho-killer movies b/c the victims, if smarter and stronger, have a chance against the predator. How are they suppposed to protect themselves from haunted video tapes (The Ring)?

And with Jaws, if I "stay out of the water", then I have no prollum!

Anonymous said...

Oh, yeah, "The Omen" scared me half to death too!

Anonymous said...

Dr Bob, Bama -- thanks oh the HP advice. Lena can stick to her Veggie Tales dvds! I am not into supernatual horror stuff either.

Lena likes Monsters Inc. It is a pretty clever storyline, methinks. She does cool drawings of the characters.

Mega-yikes to The Omen. Very very horrible. The Shining makes me more angry than scared. Am angry cuz he is such a crazed bully, and his wife so unassuming. Want to ride into the film on a classic Norton and beat him about the bonce with a hardback Simone de Beauvoir.

Jack Nicholson has always disturbed me in everything he is in. He has such a skeery face. I find it hard to believe him in romantic roles. He was good in The Witches of Eastwick, tho.

Anonymous said...

I love Monsters, Inc.!! That and Shrek are my favorite of the newer animated films. That little baby girl in the film is so adorable. I just wanna squish her!

I loved the Witches of Eastwick. That was a fantastic movie.

I think JN is pretty sexy. I kind of like that he looks half crazed!

Anonymous said...

My fav JN movie is As Good as it Gets. Greg Kinnear was fantastic in it--he didn't go over the top with the gay thing. I lerve it when GK tells him he loves him and JN says if that did it for him he'd be the luckiets guy in the world (or something close to that). I think if you've lived with mental illness that movie hits a nerve. Plus I love the dog!!!!

Monsters,Inc is faboo! Toy Story is one of my favs also.

We watched a skeery movie last night--Descent. It was filmed in Scotland. I of course thought of the Monkbots as it was a group of fearless woman spelunking. My hubby said it would be more like us to traverse a covered bridge whilst holding on to a cable. Ha ha! He underestimates monkbot powah . Although I'm sure I'd be the 1st to run screaming from the cave as soon as it got dark. Dr bob and Rowan might be up to it since they have such cool stravaigin adventures.

Rowan, I use a dryer--I must hide my TH obsession in my suburban neighborhood. No line drying in site. It prolly breaks some neighborhood association rule.

Speaking of Psycho--HC4S thought Anthony Perkins was cute in Psycho II (I think) and felt sorry for him. She named her hermit crab after him (Norman). She's a goober.

Has anybody heard from Shelley? if so tell her I say "hi" and hope her house adventure is going well. I miss her!

Anonymous said...

Well, Bama,I am kinda lost for words. As you are also an admirer of TH, JN must have sumpin on the charm front, I guess!

My favest film of this genre is a comic portrayal of a young man bumping off the members of an aristocratic family who are ahead of him in line for a dukedom, the family which disinherited and disowned his mother many years before, for, 'marrying beneath her.' Alec Guinness plays all of the family, men and women. He is so perfectly matter of fact, and so poised. Guess he is every bit of the psycho that is the Talented Mr Ripley, but it is all very gore-free, very stiff upper-lip and very funny. The film, Kind Hearts and Coronets, is very worth checking out!

Lee - yeah, Toy Story rawks! Haven't seen Psycho 11. HC4S is funny! Norman the hermit crab.:D

Haven't seen Descent. If it involves dangling on a rope, no way would I stravaig within a hundred yards of cliff or cave!

Aw Lee, yer pillowcase is under wraps! Hope he doesn't fade or shrink in the dryer. Was thinking line drying would prolong his presence.

Anonymous said...

Rowan, he probably needs a good washing. He's had a little sleep slobber drooled on him. He's also slept outside on the sidewalk with us when we were in line to buy tix to see him. He's long overdue for a good washin!

Alec Guinness rawks! He will always be Obi Wan Kenobi to me from Star Wars. I haven't seen Kind Hearts and Coronets, but it sounds like i would like it. I'm infamous in my family for liking off the wall type movies. I saw a really great movie set in Ireland and it featured brown sauce. I wish I could remember the name of it. It had the cute skinny blond guy in it that was also in The Full Monty. It was kind of dark but funny. I was thrilled when I read yours and dr bob's posts about brown sauce.

Can you tell I'm bored at work today. Have things to do, but I don't want to do them. Ugh!

Anonymous said...

Lee - the actor's name is Robert Carlyle. I did search through msn live search, and found he has been in three or four movies set in Ireland there is a wee resume of each. Don't know which one you saw!

Robert Carlyle is indeed quite cute, for a skinny guy. I used to like John Goodman, when he was in Roseanne. He was chunky and wore tartan shirts and was funny - and he had a motorbike.

I think i will have to let you into a secret - brown sauce is kinda, well, kinda reserved for days when you are really going downmarket and having something greasy, and you're closing your ears to the audible protests from your arteries, via your conscience. Ah...bacon eggs sausage and fried tomatoes, with chips (french fries) and brown sauce. It is truck-stop/motorway caff food sauce. Nothing graceful about it. strong and tangy. You can also restore old pennies to their original minted shine with it.:D

Anonymous said...

I lerve brown sauce. Must admit I've only, thus far, eaten it with french fries! Hope to try it on a bacon sandwich someday...as Rowan has suggested once or twice!

Dr. Bob said...

Yep, that does sound good. I love BT sandwiches ... Brown sauce would be good on them.

Anonymous said...

Dr Bob - does BT stand for bacon and tomato?

Bama - Glad you liked bs on chips! Yep, bacon is the true home of the brown stuff. (Drools inefectually at the thought of those fab sarnies... am on the cereal diet!)

Anonymous said...

It was truly a sad day when the American Dietary Assn (or whatever it's official name is) moved bacon from the "meat" category of the food pyramid to the "fats" category. I truly think that it still qualifies for a meat--at least 1/3 of the strip is meat. In a pinch, or when feeling dietarily judicious, I will use turkey bacon, but it's just not the same! I lerve A1--is it similar to brown sauce? It's got a little tang to it.

Isn't it funny how we always end up talking about food?

Only 5 more days until Taylor time!!!! Lex and I are going to stalk him all day thruout the fair. I'm sure he and Bill will be out and about eating fair food. Maybe a deep fried snickers? We are taking Bill an engraved flashlight since he is Taylor's flashlight slave.

Anybody read any good books lately? I've been into Phillipa Gregory and all the Boleyn sister books and he earlier trilogy. Really good books, but I'm jsut about at the end. I need some good suggestions. ONly fiction please--I dont do non-fiction usually.

Anonymous said...

I just ate about a pound of bacon at lunch. Oops....guess I'll be a little fatty!

I haven't been reading much lately ('cept Tay's book). I've been obsessed with Sudoku. I work those puzzles til my fingers bleed!

Anonymous said...

Sudoku is the devil! It is totally addictive.

Anonymous said...

Have never tried Sudoku! I am a dyspraxic math-head. Would prolly take me a year to do one puzzle, complete with lots of scoring out, and liquid paper smears. I have real numerosity issues...wot am I saying? Am completely inumerate.

Will ponder re the books, Lee. haven't read much actual fiction lately, apart from "The Princess bride", which Dr Bob sent. It was quirky and fun. I like stuff by Alexander McCall Smith: "Portugese Irregular verbs" trilogy and "44 Scotland street" series are my faves. Nice gentle satire. (I can hear a former lit tutor saying that that is an oxymoron - satire is by nature biting. okay...it is a mild and somewhat affectionate knowing chuckle at academia on the one hand, and well-to-do Edinburgh in the latter.)

Lee - you and HC4S have fun stalking Tay around the fair! Wave that pillowcase with pride. (only whern you've got tired of stalking and go for a cappucino, cos he would see you otherwise, and know he was being stalked. hey -- he did hug someone who stalked him once, tho! :D

Enjoy the concert!

Is there a junior Sudoku, ot a pre-school version I could start off with? Sounds like good brain exercise, without investing in one of those wee stylusy gadget things Nicole Kidman advertises.

Anonymous said...

Rowan! I am mathmetically challenged as well. I was skeered of Sudoku at first and couldn't figure out how to work it b/c numbers were involved. But, really, the numbers themselves are meaningless. They are simply symbols in the Sudoku game. It's a puzzle...and really, any of nine symbols would do..."they" just happened to use the numbers 1-9.

Originally I couldn't seem to "work" the puzzles b/c I kept trying to do mathmatical equations with the numbers. Like, I kept thinking the numbers had to equal something...but they don't!

You can buy a sudoko book that starts with really easy, beginner puzzles...and then they start getting more complicated as you go along. The book I'm in has 1-star through 5-star puzzles. The 1-star puzzles are really easy. I'm comfortable with the 3-stars, can work the 4-stars, and have to cheat on the 5-stars.

Can you tell I'm passionate about Sudoku?!

Anonymous said...

Oooh...very mysterious Bama! I must get a book. Thought it was about adding up numbers so they all came to the same total, or sumpin. If not, I might just have a chance! Really need to get the numberly chambers of me brain furnished a little, if I am to get back to work. Sudoku may be the answer!

Anonymous said...

I thought the same thing about Sudoku...about adding the columns up to equal the same thing.

Not so, my friend!

You can find Sudoku online games too, ya know!

Anonymous said...

Really? How fascinating! Got to nip into the local hospital tomorrow, briefly, and they have a good bookshop with loads and loads of Sudoku books. I am inspired to find out what it is all about, and if I am any good at it. May have some spatial ability bouncing around in the empty halls somwheres!

Dr. Bob said...

I sort of suck at it -- I have made abortive attempts to learn. I may have to give it another shot. My son is good at it ...

Anonymous said...

Seriously you guys...if I can do it...anyone can!

Just ask someone that plays on a regular basis to sit with you through one or two of the easier games!

Anonymous said...

dr bob and rowan, bama is right--it is more like a letter/word puzzle than a math one. It's all deductive reasoning (i think). I'm such a sudoku snob now that I don't bother with the 1 or 2 start puzzles. Skip right to the 3's and 4's. The 5 stars frustrate me to no end because there are no rows that are "sure things" right off the bat, and you have to think 2 or 3 steps ahead (like chess) and it makes my brain hurt. I don't like to think too hard!!

It turns out the Harry Potter book was printed right here in Indiana, and the employees just about had to wear blindfolds whilst working on it (j/k, but almost true). I can't believe all the scuttlebutt about the book. They interviewed a Meijer manager and he said the flats of merchandise were "shrouded in black cloth". Supposedly some place sent out books in error too early, and they're asking the receipients to not open the pkgs until saturday. That cracked me up!

Rowan, thanks for the book recommendation. I'll have to write it down and take the list with me next time I visit Barnes and NOble.

Anonymous said...

Curiouser and curiouser! Must look into this Sudoku thang fer sure.

Lee - I enjoyed Alexander McCall Smith's "No 1 ladies' Detective Agency" books too and read them all, but the others are maybe more an ironic type of humour. All his stuff is funny in a gentle sort of way,when all's said and done.He does a series about a well-heeled Edonburgh lady who edits a philosophy journal and solves mysteries. One book was about a possible case of received memories, reported top her by a psychologist who had had a heart transplant. Most intriguing. It is called, Friends, Lovers, Chocolate, methinks.

AMC is a retired eminent surgeon! Here is his great website, describing all the books.

Anonymous said...

I read on the internet that there are "grief counselors" standing by at phone banks....in case Harry dies in The Deathly Hallows.

I mean, really? Do parents not explain to their children that Harry is FICTIONAL??

I can't wait to read it, but I'm going to wait till the fervor has died down...and by then, I'll know all the spoilers...but that's okay.

Rowan- I'm gonna have to check out Alexander McCall Smith's novels! Sounds up my alley!

Dr. Bob said...

My son is under a ban to tell me the ending until I can read it for myself. We have had the tradition of going to the midnight party for about the last six years or so. He has a good time, and it is worth it.

I have to avoid hearing the spoilers, though ...

Dr. Bob said...

And I do like McCall's novels -- I did not read the other series and will have to do so. I keep a set in my office at work (I run a small lending library for the patients). McCall's are a favorite, along with Amy Tan.

Anonymous said...

I lerve Amy Tan. The Joy Luck Club is in my top 10. I'll have to check out Mr McCall. I havent' read any of the HP books. If I ever take a long beach vaca I may take a couple of the books with me.

Bama, grief counsellors, really? I prolly shouldn't laugh cuz I've been sad at the end of books (especially trilogies) before.

Anonymous said...

Lee - I am laughing on behalf of us both. Is is part of the HP spin? Bama - are the publishers paying for the helpline, or so else? Man oh man! I heard that HP leaves school and goes to train as an assistant associate for an insurance firm. He impresses the secretaries with his sleight of hand, processing data, but they secretly laugh at his specs behind his back.

Nah.... but grief counsellors for HP, bigoodness? What about the reissue of Bambi, huh...huh?

:D

Anonymous said...

Here is a link to that report I saw: Grief Counselors.

I remember sobbing violently when Matthew Cuthbert died in Anne of Green Gables. I knew it was fiction...but I was DISTRAUGHT for poor Anne.

Anonymous said...

I loved Anne of Green Gables. I can't remember who Matthew Cuthbert was--it has been around 30yrs, but what in the heck is wrong with my brain? I have trouble remembering plots/characters of even the most beloved books. My dh thinks this is a major defect in my brain.

I don't cry at books too much, although I did have tears running down my face when I thought of poor 2nd grade Taylor passing out and hitting his great big head on a toilet stall--but they were tears of laughter not sorrow. I should have been crying that i spent almost $50 on 2 copies of the silly book. At least I haven't bought the audio cd yet.

Speaking of Taylor--Monday night is the big event! Front row for HC4S and I. We're going to hold up signs and act silly. I must say this is Taylor's last chance to meet me personally and smile and be charming. After this I am not chasing that poor boy down anymore. Watch Entertainment Tonight or EXTRA on Tuesday night cuz they're might be big news about Caroline being dumped, and Taylor running off with a short chubby woman from the midwest holding a monkey/robot picture on a stick. Just sayin!

Dr. Bob said...

I hope that you two have a terrific time. If you get on ET, you will be my hero. Give HC4S all of our best from over here ... have fun!!

(I am totally hating my job today -- looking forward to time away this summer.)

Anonymous said...

OOOOHHH! I'm so excited. I just found Rowan's new posting from 7/18. I'm going to leave a comment, and I think I'll be #1--for the 1st time in my life. Wooooo!

dr bob, I will tell HC4S hello from y'all. I always tell her about our silly conversations on the "strav" blog. She misses all of the misplaced monkbots. She's begging me to let her start a myspace page for me. I think i'm just too darned old. Plus, I'd probably become obsessed with it. Jobs--unfortunately a necessary evil. Good news for me today--my boss' boss is "no longer with the company". He was a total jerk. He had never worked in healthcare, let alone pharmacy, and the only thing he cared about was the bottom line. He never mentioned patient care at all. I couldn't stand him. Oh happy day, he is now gone! Hope your day gets better.

Rowan, look for my comment under your new thread.

Anonymous said...

Bama - thamks for the link! Wowzers. It is being set up by an entirely serious charity.

I cried at the end of one book, "Sunset Song", consistently voted Scotland's greatest ever novel. The main character, a young farmer's wife, sees her husband, shot for desertion in the First WW, come across the hill to her. He had been distant and not himself on his last leave, and hadn't treated her well. A friend of his who had beeen with him at the end, described to her how he'd talked abou her, how wrong he'd been, and how he had to ger back to her to put things right, and he'd started back through the lines, trudging through the mud, unil he was picked up and tried for desertion. That final chapter is the most moving I've ever encountered. here I am, telling you the end, or part of it - but it is such a good read, and hugely funny in parts too. There is a trilogy of novels, of which Sunset Song is the first: "A Scots Quair" by Lewis Grassic Gibbon.

I always thought crying over books or films was cathartic, though - a release. You can boo hoo yourself blotchy, and end up feeeling drained and silly, but you have identified with someone else's deep feelings, and thatis a valuable experience. It is theatre.

Having taught literature to kids for years I've had a few cry a little, and one faint ( a 12 year-old boy reading Roald Dahl's autobiography, empathising with the child Dahl having his tonsils out. It is indeed a pretty graphic passage.) Still...I wonder what sort of response their helpline will get. I did have one girl stay off school when "Take That" split up, but all her friends, who were fans too, found the end of the band little sad, but found their own sadness a little amusing. They were chuckling at the whole fangirly thing. These are real people though - a boy band: the guys are unattainable, but they are actual people. I would be curious to know how much the loss of a fictional character could impact on someone, especially as it is all in such an overtly fantasy genre, to begin with. Still, I am not keyed into it all, and HP does seem to provoke a lot of fervour. Am out of my depth, but watching from the sidelines with interest.

Lee - Enjoy the concert! wave those signs! yer post made me giggle. Hee hee! Is Caroline the girl in the bikini in Hawaii? I am very behind the times. Have a blast, you two. It does me good to think of you cheering and having fun. I liked your take on the book, btw. Look forward to readin it!

Anonymous said...

Okay, I know there is a new post up, but I had to respond to Rowan's last comment!

That novel, "Sunset Song", sounds curiously similar to "Cold Mountain" by Charles Fraizer.

It chronicles the story of a couple separated by The Civil War. They weren't married when the man left...but they were in love. He (Inman) ends up deserting the army to go back home to Ada. (The book is written from the perspective of both...as well as using flashbacks.)

Ada doesn't know he's on his way back...and in the very end they do get to spend some time together...and you think all is well...but he ends up shot and killed as deserter...and spends his last moments in her arms.

Very similar stories, huh????

(BTW-The book was excellent...the movie so-so. I don't know WHY they had an Aussie actress and English actor play the leads of two American Southerners. Their accents are atrocious!)

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