Mystic Two-by-Fours

I've taken some creative license with the phrase (borrowed from a friend)....but it's meant to be an expression of the principle that sometimes you are given the messages you need to receive in a somewhat abrupt and loud fashion...leaving little room to doubt from whence they come. (By the way, I'm having to type this one-handed as Smoochie, aka The Orange Menace, is curled up in my lap and on my left arm; also, if anyone is worried about staying warm this winter might I recommend a cat?)

Here are the quotes that drew my attention this week:

Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not: nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not: the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. -- Calvin Coolidge

 "Here's a thing I think," she said, then paused as if to make sure that she found the most apt words. "Sometimes in life a thing happens, sometimes it's a person, and you know that what happens next and for some time, maybe for minutes or hours, will not be common, will not be just life moving on how it usually does. You know that those minutes or hours will be a gift of clarity; that the truth of the world will reveal itself if you care to look. Day after day, everything we see that seems real is only apparition, a ghost reality that we have conjured up in our self-delusion. Then the clarifying thing happens, and what you need to do, what you must do, is not question it, not demand more revelation than what is given, be quiet in the face of it, quiet and grateful that it has been given to you to see this, to be for even a short time aware of the extraordinary layered depths and profound beauty of the world to which we mostly blind ourselves." -- an excerpt from  Deeply Odd, Dean Koontz

My own version of "Where's Waldo"...where's Spike?

 And, lest I leave you thinking I'm being too serious, or metaphysical, or just downright weird (which, admittedly, I am), I leave you with this:

In fact, although it isn't profound, there are worse mottoes to live by than "We might as well eat." Say your neighbor's secret meth lab blows up, destroying your house along with his. We might as well eat. The secretary of defense announces from Sweden that he is having a sex-change operation, is in love with the prime minister of Russia, and has given his lover our nuclear launch codes. We might as well eat. -- an excerpt from  Deeply Odd, Dean Koontz

Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not: nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not: the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent.

Calvin Coolidge

Read more at http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/c/calvincool414555.html#EsxMfMyYQ0VS5xPw.99

Sleeping - There's a Fine Art to it

One that kittehs are Zen masters of:

How many kittehs do you see in the picture above? (There's 3...plus one LoML in the background!) The smaller white boy is hard to spot lying in the bright sunlight.

And, boy! Does he ever get into some funny positions! That's the think about 'em when they're little...they're flexible like Gumby dolls. Remember all those funny sleeping pix of Xander I used to post?

Sweet Willow isn't opposed to sleeping on my robe and Spike's "blankie." (Hat tip to his auntie, Spike still loves his pink blankie!)

And nothing draws a cat so much as sunshine. The following illustrates another interesting Spike phenomenon: the curly coat! Seriously. What is that? A bit of Chesapeake Bay Retriever in the ancestry some where?

It seems to be getting curlier.

Not to be outdone, Xander still knows a thing or two about sleeping well.

Here's the "I'm sleeping on the hooman's pillow" pose:

And then there was this. I was afraid they'd move, so I snapped pix as soon as I came in...and cropped...but was able to get closer without disturbing anyone.

What a pose!

But then there was the moment when I came in and found LoML dozing with Spike dozing on his shoulder. The cuteness was unbearable!

*************

So, like I said last night, there's just been all kinds of wackiness around. Nothing particularly new, but it seems there's always so many things competing for my time and energy. (Yeah, I know. Welcome to the 21st century!) Aside from the normal work madness (you know the drill: always too much to do and not enough time to do it in), I decided to come down with a good old-fashioned cold. Nothing exotic. Just the kind that drags you down. Plus, we're remodeling our spare bathroom. (Will share some pix of that soon.) And, I've been trying to update some computer stuff....more on that later too.

One "advantage" to being home sick is that it does give me more time to catch up on my reading. At least during the hours that I'm awake. (I don't know about you, but when I'm sick, I sleep. A lot.) Last week I devoured the latest Stephen King novel, Doctor Sleep. Have I talked about Stephen King here before? I feel sure I have. Okay, understand that I love reading. I don't pretend to be well-read in the sense of scope of reading material. I mostly stick to fiction; mostly mysteries, with a smattering of sci-fi/fantasy and "horror". Except that the "horror" I read...I don't think of as horror. And mainly I'm referring to Stephen King here, although I also read a lot of Dean Koontz and he gets lumped in that category too. But back to King. Sure, I'll give you that King's work contains some pretty graphic and disturbing images...though not all of it. Some more so than others. His newer works tend to be less easily-defined as "horror." But above all, King's works are about character. He is masterful in his ability to bring characters to life; to allow us inside their worlds, and their minds. He reminds us that we're all complex beings made up of seeming contradictions and capable of the most remarkable actions--both good and bad. If you've never read any of his books, you shouldn't knock him. While some of them may be what you expect they are, I'm quite sure that some of them are not. As one of my friends likes to remind me, she's had people argue with her about him being the author of Stand by Me. (Yes. That one. The one that was made popular by Rob Reiner's coming-of-age film in the '80's.)

So. Doctor Sleep. It's incredible. It's a sequel to The Shining. (While the movie was made famous thanks in large part to Jack Nicholson's fabulously mad performance, the book was wonderful and deserves to be savored in its own right.) I heard that King said that someone asked him once what ever became of Danny Torrence, the child protagonist from The Shining, and that King realized he'd been wondering that same thing. So, Constant Reader, we get to find out. And it's King at his finest. He's one of those authors that grabs me, won't let me go, makes me want to not put a book down until its done, and then regret that its done. I loved every second of it.

But I still have issues with clowns and sewer grates....and that's all King's doing!

Reviews

Well, not really...more like just telling you what I've been reading and listening to...so many of my friends were talking about Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn:

I'm not going to give away any spoilers but I will say that it was quite a book! When I first started it, I wasn't sure if I'd like it...found it very difficult to care enough about the characters to keep going, but then shortly after that I was hooked. Unique plot. Interesting style. Surprises you never saw coming.

What am I listening to? No surprise here that I was all excited about the release of Tim McGraw's newest album (sorry...still have trouble calling it anything else...) Had so much fun seeing Tim on tour this past summer...Really like the new release...especially "Number 37405 - a song that gripped me from the first listen.

Beauty All Around

No time to natter on as I love to do...I live in a beautiful area. They're working on the bridge that leads to the island I live on...it's one-lane right now and so most days there's a wait at a temporary stop light...shot this out the car window the other morning...

On another note: am *loving* the Moby Dick Big Read (see Sep. 20 post for explanation)...more on that later too.

Be safe! It's a big world out there!!

Moby Dick Big Read

In the realm of spare time...I'm in the negative right now. Adding anything to my schedule/to-do list is clearly a sign of insanity (and there are already so many signs I don't think any more are necessary for a diagnosis!). But I was listening to NPR's "All Things Considered"...because, well, sometimes, but not often, I like to consider things...and I considered this: the Moby Dick Big Read 

Go check out the website. The premise is that every day from now into January you can download (for free) one chapter of Moby Dick. Each will be read by different people. The biggest hook for me was the fact that Tilda Swinton reads the first chapter. I could listen to her read her grocery list :D

While I *love* to read and fervently wish someone would pay me a decent salary to do nothing but read novels (a lament for another day), I confess that I have never read Moby Dick. I'm also not much for audiobooks...something to do with the fact that I truly need the visual along with the audio, I have memory problems and need to be able to look back a few pages, and/or I'm too easily distracted and have to keep backing up...but I can't resist trying this. I have a decent amount of solo drive time that I can try it out. Will keep you posted.

New Books & Crazy Dogs

First: For me, there is nothing quite like opening up that new novel by Stephen King. It makes me so happy. It makes me wish I could call in sick and stay home and do nothing but read. Alas, since I was actually sick recently I am woefully behind at work and have too much of a conscience to "play" sick. Here's something I wrote a while back and somehow never published:

Okay. I get it. Stephen King is not for everyone. But, for those of us that he speaks to, well, the man is a genius. And I'm not ashamed to say I adore the man! I firmly believe he's the most amazing writer of our age. He is the every-man writer of our age. Unbelievably prolific. I'm glad he couldn't stick to his threat of a few years ago to never publish again. Turns out he could not leave Constant Reader after all.

So, I've just finished his latest novel, Under the Dome. As usual, I am blown away. His books transport me to another place and time (which, when it comes right down to it is really my main [only?] criteria for a good book...or movie....hmmm, see a pattern here?). But, I digress.

This would have been in 2009 that I wrote that. It all still applies. I adore Stephen King. I just started my copy of his latest, 11/22/63, and look forward to telling you more about it later.

Next: One of the phrases you're likely to hear me repeat frequently these days is that Gwyn is the funniest dog on the planet. I get that I'm biased. But she is. Really. One day soon I will post a video of her playing with her Kong Extreme Flyer. But for now I'll just tell you about it and show you a few pictures. It's the best toy. Ever. It holds its shape to fly like a regular frisbee, but is made of very pliant rubber and is so soft it can be picked up and folded in half easily. Gwyn has an entire ritual that's developed that in part includes running around the yard with it, playing keep-away and then hiking it like a football between her legs and spinning around to try to catch it when it flies off.

One more reason I love my Nikon Coolpix is the sport continuous mode can take a great series of shots to capture such craziness (Gwyndiculousness--the root phrase originally coined by LoML). Here are just a few of the shots I took yesterday morning:

Hike!

 You can't see it, but the flyer just went behind her...she's right up against the flower bed that borders the screened-in porch...that's our rosemary bush in the foreground..it's not unusual for Gwyn to come in smelling like rosemary...which is not a bad thing in my book!

spinning...

spinning...

running the loop

part of the shake

shaking and walking

Kindness of Strangers

"I have always relied on the kindness of strangers." -- Blanche DuBois

Once again, yesterday I was reminded that when I am humble & kind I am treated in kind. I had occasion to talk to a representative of a large corporation who had no duty to help me out but did. I choose to believe that in good measure it was because instead of being belligerent or cocky, I calmly explained my crisis and asked for help. And left it at that. The person went above and beyond in helping me. Just when all hope for humanity can seem all but lost, my faith in basic kindness is restored.

Had a really good day yesterday. Had the corporate phone encounter and then a nice new trim from my amazing hairdresser (who I've been going to for over 30 years!). The only mild disappointment came when my copy of 11/22/63 the new release from Stephen King was not in my mailbox. Because I belong to the Stephen King Book Club, the new releases usually arrive day of release. I had already "called it" (LoML has to wait for me to read it first...similar to calling shotgun). Oh well. Feel sure it will be there today.

Still participating in Mayzie's Rescue Me Week We're competing to win a donation for Greyhound Friends of North Carolina. Today's featured goggie:
This is Mo (Zam Mop Up) and here's a bit more about him: Mo is 2 years old. No Cats. Mo has really blossomed since he's gotten here. He is a very sweet boy. He's friendly, silly and a little playful. He's got it all. Mo's got some goofy ears, but he's convinced this adds to his character. You can go to GFNC's site (linky above) and click on "Greys for Adoption" on the left-hand side to see more terrific goggies just waiting for their forever home!