I has a Mad

This time I am mad at the economy.

As you know, one of my favorite pastimes is reading mystery novels.

As you also may know, many of my favorite mystery authors reside in the U.K.

And I love them.

Often, as is the case, they release new books months before they hit the shores in the U.S.   And because of the wonder of the internet and global shipping,  I could purchase them and devour them long before most of my friends in the U.S. even knew they had been published.   It was a little thing I liked to do.  It supported my favorite writers and it made me feel like I was in the know about something, even something small like the world of mystery books.

Then the economy took a turn for the worse and gas prices started to spike.   And now, I spend my money filling up the tank,  and paying bills.     Much of the “extra” money I had for little luxuries is no longer there.

And, to top it off, the exchange rate on the U.S. dollar is really high and so, when you add the cost of shipping into the mix, the chances of getting my books first really is no longer a possibility.

And this makes me sad.

Especially since Barbara Vine, P.D.James, Val McDermid and Arnuldar Indridisson all have new books.

And I want them NOW!

Sigh.

Head Cold

I am having a miserable day.   I had a miserable yesterday as well.

I think it might be my allergies acting up, as they do every year around this time.  My nose is stuffed up and I can’t breathe.  I have post nasal drip that ends up in my stomach and I am constantly naseous.  I want to just lie down but when I do my sinuses just clog up and I am uncomfortable.   I feel really tired and irritable.

I have taken some Benadryl and some Sudafed.  I am going to try some Clariton next.  I just hope something works.   I feel like death warmed over.  Sigh.

On the news front,  we went to a new restaurant here in Hampden on Saturday night called “Dangerously Delicious Savory House”.  Apparently Dangerously Delicious Pies have been making quite a splash in Baltimore and are even going to be featured in the Food Network.   The concept behind the Savory House is that you can have pie for any meal and it’s all good.   I had a steak chili pie with a blue cornmeal crust and Chris had the mushroom quiche.    I thought the pie was good, but it is a bit pricely.   It is a small place and only seats 35 and I guess to make ends meet you have to charge a price but Chris’s piece of quiche definately could have been a bit bigger.    You also get a small salad with the savory pies.

The dessert pie we tried was fabulous, it was a chocolate chess pie and I enjoyed that.  I think if I do go back I will skip the savory pies and go for dessert and coffee.  I did not try the coffee so I can’t tell you what that was like.

Anyway. I am off to suffer for a bit more.   Hope things look better tomorrow.

They did it with love

I have been spending my time reading “They did it with Love” by Kate Morgenroth, one that is guaranteed to have a big suprise ending.   I am very excited, as I am about halfway through and can’t wait to spend the day tomorrow reading and finishing the book.

My good friend and coworker Lois gave me this title, and I usually like what Lois has to offer  (well, except for the Penny Vincenzi potboiler – Sheer Abandon – I could not get into that one )   but this one I am buzzing right through.

It is like an episode of Desperate Housewives with murder.  There are several couples that live in Greenwich Connecticut,  couples that are very wealthy and childless.    The woman have formed a book group and one of the conditions of this particular group is that you cannot have children.  If you end up with child, you have to move to another book group for young mothers.  There are a lot of rules to participate in this particular group!

The group is lorded over by the overbearing Priscilla who seems to have a strong attitude and does not necessarily like all the other members of the group.  Sofie and her husband Dean are recent residents of this Connecticut neighborhood and Sofie seems to be an expert in the mystery genre, one that this reading group favors as the books that they will read.

But then one of the book group members is found swinging from a branch of a tree and it appears to be suicide but that is highly questionable.

And of course, nothing is as it seems and everybody has secrets that they are longing to hide.  Could one of them kill for their secrets?

At the moment, I could not tell you as I am only halfway through but I am definately going to finish!  It is a great little mystery and one that is perfect to pull you in and keep you reading.    I am anxious to discover the solution!

Anyway. Hope you are all having a great week!

The Corn Maze, Take 1

We went to Shrewsbury PA this past weekend to visit the king of all corn mazes.

This year, in honor of the Olympics, the conn maze theme is the Forbidden City and you can find all sorts of information about China located in the maze.

It is also one of the harder mazes that I have ever been through.  Or should I say almost been through.  The truth is, we never managed to find the exit.   We located the entrance again but not the way out.  And we were in the maze for quite some time.   Wandering around in circles as you might expect.  I will have to go back one more time and try and tackle the maze again.

It was a warm day and probably still a little too hot for me to be wandering around in the corn but I did manage to wander around for a few hours.   The corn maze park has a lot to do while you are there, there is a bamboo maze, a fence maze,  a maze with wire netting ( we never finished that one, either) and this new maze called a plank maze that has these cool little seesaw things that you have to walk up one side and then it dips you down to the other side.   You can only cross the seesaw bridges when they are facing you, otherwise you have to find another way around.  It was pretty cool.

Luckily they have a snack bar at the corn maze with plenty of water when you get parched.  And we did get parched!   But a good time was had by all.

I think it wore me out and that is why I was too tired to post yesterday!   

The week is moving on steadily.  Sigh.   Only two more weeks til vacation!

I sense a theme…

It’s an ABBA-tastic Sunday!

Mamma Mia!

Yesterday I went to see the movie Mamma Mia again.

I know I am a sap.

Maybe I would just like to believe that there is a place in the world that people live on a beautiful Greek island and spontaneously sing Abba songs.   Maybe that would be a place where I would belong. 

The movie is joyous and silly.  And it is true, Pierce Brosnan can’t sing.   But that just adds to the charm.  It means that ANYBODY can sing an Abba song, no matter what quality your voice may be in.  You can belt out “Take a Chance on Me” or “Dancing Queen”.  And you can have fun doing it.

The time I spent in the theater, I was captivated.   The cast really seemed to be having a great time.  I loved Meryl Streep in the role.  And Julie Walters was a hoot.   It would have been so much fun to be there during filming.     I just wanted the music to go on and on and on.

Now it makes me want to go back to New York and see the show again.   I have been listening to the soundtrack in my car over and over again.  I am probably going to drive Chris to drink.  I know when the DVD comes out, I am probably going to buy two or three, just to have a back-up.

I really want to put on the show in my backyard.  I don’t know what role I would play.   But I really would need to sing “Super Trooper!”

Hell, I would even add some songs that didn’t make it into the show!  

Anyway, if you really want a good time and a chance to forget about everything, go see Mamma Mia!  You will love it!  I sure did!

Los Campesinos

As I have not much to say, here is You! Me! Dancing!

Hugs all around!

More Book notes

Just finished four teen novels in a row.

One was your standard “girl gets hit by car, girl ends up in a coma, parents pull the plug” novels. They happen every year. And this one was not very good. But if someone asks me for a book in that genre, I have one to give them.

I also read a short novel filled with crap short stories. Just awful. And I read a short novel about what it would have been like in the Superdome during hurricane Katrina. That one showed promise. At least the kids can learn from that one!

One novel I read and thouroughly enjoyed was the Writing Class by Jincy Willet. This was an adult novel that I managed to throw into the mix and am glad I did!

It centers around Amy, a woman to teaches an adult education class in writing for the local college. She gets quite a variety of students, all ready to turn in recent work and be criticized. Unfortunately for Amy, one of her students has gone around the bend and starts playing some dangerous pranks that eventually lead to murder.

The book is witty and very funny. I liked the fact that she included the writing of each of the students in the class and you could see how very different their styles were. Could their be clues in the subtext of the various plots? The teacher, Amy, also has created a blog. She wanted it to be her own personal space on the web and is dismayed when people actually find the damn thing and begin to leave comments. But she soldiers on and continues to post.

If you like a book about writing, the process behind writing and peer criticism, this might be the book for you. It also is a darn good mystery. It is very well written and as I said before, it is pretty funny. I got a real kick out of it and read it in a day and a half, not being able to put the thing down. It is great when I can find a book that pulls me right through it. I have read some duds as of late and I needed a couple of real page turners to keep me on track. You know all about my reading habit, so you know how important finding a good book is to me.

My friend gave me 8 in the Box by Yessayan, and I have started it and am going to see how it goes. This one is about the district attorney’s office, and so far it is a little too legal for me. I am not really into the court system, more into the police investigation side of things, so I might give this one a pass.

Anyway, happy reading everyone!

New To Me

This is a recent acquisition to my CD collection. The band is Texas and the song is Halo. It is from their 1997 album White on Blonde. It is amazing. I really like the sound of Sharleen Spiteri’s voice. I really like this track. Good stuff.

It is Sunday night. Chris and I are about to go see Mamma Mia, finally! I am pretty excited. We went out for a bit of Italian food and mine was not very good, and I have a bit of a sour feeling in my stomach and wish it would go away. But I really want to see the film, so we will go.

Had a bit of a lazy day today and spent the day reading teen novels in the comfort of my air conditioning. I think I fell asleep for a bit as well. But I did get some reading done and am back on track for next month.

Hope you all are having a great sunday!

Marimba Ponies

My friend sent me this and it really cheered me up. It comes from Japan and nobody in the group is over the age of 13. Pretty impressive.

I have another book review but as the last book review I posted fell totally flat, I may leave this one alone. We shall see.

Have a great weekend everybody!