Category Archives: Books

Book Meme: What’s nearest you

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Found this Book Meme out on ‘the web’

1. Grab the nearest book.
2. Open the book to page 123.
3. Find the fifth sentence.
4. Post the text of the sentence in your journal along with these instructions.
5. Don’t search around and look for the “coolest” book you can find. Do what’s actually next to you.

Book next to me -the closest one, sent by my mother the other week.

Page 123, sentence 5, (actually counted the 5th complete sentence, ignored the hangover from page 122)

If it grieves you deeply that your spouse seldom gives you a gift for any occasion, then perhaps your primary love language is “Recieving Gifts.”

The Five Love Languages: How to Express Heartfelt Committment to Your Mate –Now With Comprehensive Study Guide–
By Gary Chapman
——————–

I have a prior edition of this book, I think, as well as I do know that I have a children’s version of this book, which isn’t FOR children, but ABOUT children, learning how to read THEIR love language, as a parent. That’s what introduced me to this topic and I learned that what is on Page 123 sentence 5 is what MY primary love language is. So this Book Meme coincidentally snagged a real live post topic for me!

I decided to do this Book Meme and did it by starting this post, copying the Book Meme instructions into it, THEN getting the book closest to me. I had no agenda other than following instructions, not knowing with full realization what book was closest to me.

So this is the one “love language” that I think most people this is phony or dead-wrong, the one not to have as it’s selfish, materialistic and such. How wrong that all is!

It’s also not the opposite, that it’s fine and any old gift counts since “it’s the thought that counts”.

Bingo! It’s the source of grief for me all my life. It IS the thought that counts. It’s not the monetary value per se. It’s about quality … quality of thought. Light thought, no credit for gift given. Well maybe some, maybe a tad, or maybe a negative sum.

It’s that frivolous “It’s the thought that counts” which is usually employed to mean “You don’t like it, but you have to pretend you do since it’s “the thought that counts” they remembered your birthday at least.”

Yeah, but they put no THOUGHT into it.

For those people who like to Receive Gifts, it’s their primary love language, it means that their loved ones tell them they love you by their deep thoughts in how to show it through something of physical staticness.

It doesn’t have to be costly in $, or time, or thought, it should be easy to think deeply about your loved one. Consider something that would have deep value to that loved one, mean something truly wonderful.

For me it’s easy: I like blue, cats, flowers, candy bars, gadgets, computer geeky stuff …

Sure a pricey object is a gift of love sometimes. But then so is a candy bar. Particularly one I like. Rapunzel makes a good organic good chocolate bar. It’s pricier than hersheys, and so much better, but still cheap. It’s a great gift to person with Receiving Gifts as their Primary Love Language.

How about a coffee mug with a cat or cat saying, or bluebirds, or just a blue mug. Or a teacup that is rimmed with “platinum” since that’s something else I love.

Catnip for my cats, so I can play with them.

A flower picked by the roadside, of blue or gorgeous hue or design.

A new potted herb, to transplant into my herb garden. Something nice: fragrant or flowery, or culinary in purpose.

A pretty pot and some potting soil and a packet of seeds. Some sprouting materials to grow many of something. More than one pretty pot. Seeds that are good for the garden, flowers of herbalness, that can be in pot or the garden. Something like this is a super neat gift, a way to start something, have many of them and do multiple different things with them. Have plants inside and out from a packet of seeds.

A poem written just for me. A story written just for me. A witty comment written down just for me. Those are free things, just mind power need be applied and a steady hand to try and make it legible on paper for me.

A gift to me from my dear husband might be that he “teach himself better handwriting” and then use that to write portions of anything out to me on cards, note cards, index cards, pretty cards, anything.

Something else then is books. Bring me home a book now and then. Something you see in the used bookstore that strikes you as “something she’d love”. Bring me home children’s books. Picture books. Coffee table books. Journals to write in. Paper. Ink for computer printer. Stamps. Puzzles. Scrapbook makings. A desk. A craft carrying case. Boxes of all sizes. Wood crates from stores that give them away from their unpacking of goods, freebees or cheap couple of bucks. The things in this paragraph are cheap or cost a bit of something more, or more than that. This is the area to get super creative in, and find cool things for less by going to antiques stores, used bookstores, thrift stores, etc. Some of the things are useful needful, like computer printer stuff. It keeps one happy to know they can print in color :)

Now something I want that would really float my boat is a feather old-time pen and envelope wax seal kit and ink bottle. There are kits like that at bookstores lately. Really cute and right up my alley. This has a monetary cost though. Also in these sort of places are cool thermal coffee things (one at B&N is tall and stainless steel with pink outer shell, so pretty!) it’s a travel mug type. There are tea-pots-for-one of many designs. These cost too. Of course. One must use money of higher increments at some point during the year ;)

I realize that most of my ideas here cost money. But they also are things that may just spark other ideas that don’t cost money.

This post is dedicated to my husband Frank. Feel free to refer back to this post anytime you need to or want to, bookmark it dearie! ;)

My mom sent this book recently, I said above, the book this post is about. This copy has a study guide in it, so that’s different. Frank said he’d be happy to study it with me. That we need to do. I don’t know what his primary love language is. It’s confusing for some people and easy to understand in others. I didn’t understand it about myself until I read the book about finding your child’s love language. That book made it clearer than daylight to me. I saw myself in the child-examples, how I was as a child, and it transfers rightly over to adulthood, love languages don’t change much. It’s not that they don’t change at all. I think part of this is that all love languages need to be represented in one’s life, just one or two are of primary importance and will be in balance when all needs are met more or less. It’s that one’s primary may seem acutely too sharp if other things are out of kilter, I think.

I’ll close this post by reinterating what it is about Receiving Gifts that is key. It’s thinking deeply about what’s good to give someone like that. It’s meaning deep things by giving something. It’s not just “trying” but it’s excelling at trying to try one’s best to please deeply” It’s to truly know what one would like. It’s to not give something that will make them think “What did he give me THAT for!”. That reaction in someone like me is something of a bad nature. It feels bad, it’s a socked in the stomach kind of feeling. It’s truly blue and sad. It’s a letdown, failure sort of thing. It can be maddening too, depending on the situation. It happens to be more like that when relatives do something that is obviously not well thought out. Or they don’t understand that that thing is really weird, why would anyone want it, let alone me – a relative that … ok it’s this: give things you KNOW they want. OR find something safe and great, like a CD cheap. Don’t give white elephants. It might not hurt the giver, but the givee feels stomped on and can’t say anything, has to hold in that pain.

It’s the thing about having that as one’s love language primarily, that makes the givee in most situations a thoughful giver as well. So it’s hurtful to want to give lovely presents to others, and always get ugly present from them themselves. DH learned to get things from department stores and get them wrapped, for some gifts, there. That puts a huge smile on my face, it means he cares, he knows I appreciate a lovely wrapped box, with something lovely inside, small on sale cheap is fine as long as it’s nice and wearable, usable nice to look at, touch, use. Whatever. Wrap it up nice, put it in cute bag, frilly froo froo hanging out the sides, bows ah, that’s love. (but the insides have to have value too or else the wrappings don’t count as much.) :)

Many Things in One Post

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This is my “many things in one post” post. Weather, books, hens, wild birds, etc.

The weather has turned mild again. Yesterday it was warm enough not to need a fire upon waking. Last night was warm too. It’s currently in the mid-50′s, and that’s without the sun’s aiding. It’s been mostly cloudy, morelike “light overcast” since sometime during the night.

Accuweather is saying that on Saturday high will be 39 and low will be 37. Rain possible.

Weather Channel on TV is saying there is a BIG chance of an “Ice Stor”m looming far enough South to hit us. Which to believe?

Time will show us. :LOL:

In any case, the last time the hens laid eggs is reported on January 22nd. Nothing has been laid since then. Nothing at all. :(

I have listed the book I’m reading currently in this post. Redwall is a great book, the start of a great series that I only recently have become aquainted with. I found it in Barnes & Noble the other night and Frank let me buy it. I’d heard about it on an email list I’m on. I’m nearly done with it. It’s a large book, easy to read, full of lively colorful characters. I mentioned it on a Forum I frequent, and Kelly there said that it’s a great read-aloud series. I must agree, from just the first couple of pages I was thinking that, and now on page 253 I just think that even more ;)

I’m looking forward to finishing it and starting it as a read-aloud to the children. Frank knew that when he said he’d buy the book for me he was getting into a big mudhole that’d reach high over his head. There are quite a few in the series. So the first one I have is in large softback format, my favorite format next to hardback. Most of the other books in this series in B&N were normal paperbacks and hardbacks. Can’t afford brand new hardbacks, but this first one in large format softback was do-able. Frank says that he’ll find the rest in same format … he knows I’m a stickler for “same format” books in a series. :)

So then I thought it’d be nice to mention birds here too. I haven’t had much opportunity to spy any nice birds for months. My big binoculars bit the dust. Frank got me a little pair from Eddie Bauer Outlet. Children have confiscated them and I can’t ever find them. They aren’t for very far distance viewing well though.

Our big feeder fell over in a storm in 2004 and is all falling apart, out of commision this whole time. So in 2004 I didn’t really feed any birds. I had Hummingbird feeders out, but gave up on filling them up when I didn’t see any at all all Spring when they had been sighted elsewhere in this region. I only spied one here or there a couple of times. So feeders were out and just dormant and got moldy, but still, no interest in them was really evident ever all 2004. I put my really nice glass feeder out front later in the season, and it dripped empty with no hits at all. So I totally gave up.

2004 was also the nightmare year for animals and birds and me. The Bluebirds laid three clutches and lost all three. One: eggs didn’t hatch. Two: Babies died. Three: Babies died. It was horrible. I’ve written of this and the other deathy things before.

So it goes to say about the Bluebirds that they tried hard, but failed. I’ve seen them about lately, actually one female and two males. They are so beautiful. I missed them around most of the Summer, with them busy with nests (and not super visible then) and then the nestings failing, they sulked off eventually and only have been more noticeable the last few weeks.

Brownheaded Cowbirds weren’t around last year either. Maybe because I didn’t have a seed feeder out. But then, I don’t now and guess who’s lighting in our trees, screeching out their whistlepiercing sounds? Yup, Brownheaded Cow Birds. They sit on the Bluebird Nest Box too and try to mess with it. I do not like those birds. They are not like the Bluebirds, whom are gentle and sweet. Bluebirds stick around if you go on the deck. Cowbirds fly away if you do that. :)

Just this last week too then we’ve been innundated with droves of Chipping Sparrows. Unfortunately I can’t ever see them very well, with no binoculars to aide my sight into the yard. They are very diminutive birds. Cute little fellas. I call them all fellas. They all look alike, pretty much, and all look like little guys.

I’ve seen a few Starlings, and they are staying clear of bothering my stuff. They are another kind of bird I don’t like. They might be responsible for some of the Bluebird Failed Nestings.

American Robins have been tottering around the yard too. Won’t be long before they are here in droves, no doubt.

I really want to get a new feeder and install it in a great place in the yard. Hopefully I can do that soon!

I lost many of my hummingbird feeders through neglect and then child destruction fully this past year. I have one remaining, my very pretty red glass arsty flower looking one. It’s gorgeous. I’m happy it’s stayed put happily and safe on the front porch. I left it there all Winter, so far, that is. I really should clean it and refill it, in case there are any Hummers around this Winter. I know they’ve been sighted in other areas in North/Central Georgia. I just don’t stay faithful enough to them to lure them in. :( I am trying to make myself say I promise to keep it filled and clean this year. I’m trying. I will try, how about that?

But I need to get a few more feeders just for the Hummers themselves. They are such fun birds! So acrobatic around the feeders in mid-Summer. A delight to watch, that is a sure thing. But you must put out feeders for them –to be able to witness these things so well from inside your house.

I went out front to where I have the peonies and iris and pussywillows. The irises are growing new leaves. The Lambs Ear there is starting new growth. The Pussy Willows are starting to plump up a bit, with a few of them unsheated already, too early though. The Peonies last year growth is still there, dry and brown, just winter texture, you know. I leave it there on purpose. I checked beneath them, and sure enough, there is growth occuring there.

This mild weather is hopefully not going to hurt the plants. We had a very mild Autumn and only got cold weather finally near the end of December, and had mostly very warm weather in January. Some cold snaps. Maybe an ice storm finally this coming weekend, maybe not. But I hope that whatever happens with the weather, that we have a wonderful Spring bloom nonetheless. I really want to see the Yoshino Cherry trees is brilliant blossom. 2004 Spring was terrible for them all around the Atlanta area that we saw. Ours did so very poorly. 2003 was a grand season for them everywhere that we saw them. That’s why last year was such a dissapointment.

We have a Dogwood that we need to remove. It died last year. But the other two next to it are still alive, but all have some dead areas, and peeling bark. I fear we must remove them all. :( Well, our landscaping sort of slacked off the last couple of years. I really am itching to pick it up and do lots of work on it. That take money though. Also my garden is calling me. Frank is letting me order seeds from an heirloom seed company in February. This will be my first time growing everything from seed. I’ll be sure to have a second-season mid-summer planting.

That’s all for now!

Early Book Memories

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I posted this on Carmon’s site today as a comment, and figured I should put it on my own site as a full entry! :)

So here it is:

I remember from very early childhood “The Color Kittens” it really drew me in, as did also “The Poky Little Puppy”. I loved them both.

In later early years, I recall several old books we got from The Book Barn, in the Easton, PA area. My memories of my Dad going there often and bringing home books are fond.

I got to go to The Book Barn once. It was, as I remember, a large old barn, converted into a used book store. It had at least two floors, and large bookcases filling the space and “lots-o-books”. It was very musty smelling, quiet and echoing anyones sniffles and coughs. I can feel the air, smell the air, feel the wooden barn floor under my feet –in my mind. I equate it with good books.

Some books that I really loved were ones from there, old literature/reader books for elementary years, chocked full of colorful stories that have really shaped my love for living books. This was what I read for fun, the good stuff that other children had read in their classes in previous years. My school years didn’t have such nice stories involved in the classroom. In anycase I see pictures in my mind from those books, delicious memories. Some of the pictures were actual pictures in the books, but many are the ones I made in my mind as I read the stories so long ago. Sigh.

So those are the books that I have no names for, as they were just “books full of stories” with blah-covers and they all just look like things you can see on eBay often enough if you look, but I don’t know what kind, who published them, etc. the ones I LOVED were. [All these beloved books were left behind when we left PA for FL when I was 13 :( ]

I read many things in the Library too. At age 8 I voraciously read The Little House series, and re-read them again and again. I have warm images, cozy lovely images of the stories in my head. The TV show that started then tried to rip those images away from me, but didn’t succeed. Hurray! I still love those books and read them every so often.

I really have a nice fondness for Robert Louis Stevenson poems, having my Mom’s childhood edition of A Child’s Garden of Verses as my own now. It’s tattered on the binding but the pages are well worn but still good. The drawings inside are so classic from the 30’s. :) When I hear a RLS poem I see my mother’s book in my mind. I grew up with that very edition, it’s the ONE actual book I’ve had since I can remember.

I also remember Rikki Tikki Tavi (sp?) being read aloud and loved it too. I haven’t read it myself though, yet.

I added another comment the evening of January 10:

Comment #18 on Carmon’s site.

Oh, I just remembered my Mother’s set of “Pollyanna” books. Big books, blue covers, all of them. I read them all. I don’t recall them exactly, but remember how much I disliked the change in authorship, how apparent it was to me. I recall it didn’t seem so apparent to some others at that time though. Well, in any case that was before I was 12.

I liked the stories but didn’t particularly like Pollyanna, at least I didn’t since I was no Pollyanna! I was a good brownie, as my sisters referred to me, but definitely not as good as Pollyanna, or as sweet. :)

We were also a Nancy Drew family, and I read all of those at home from my sisters collections quite early on. I also love “The Littles” and considered it much better than “The Borrowers”, especially with a title like that, “Borrowers? No, they stole!” as my child-self determined.

At 12 years of age I read all the Walter Farley “Black Stallion” books and loved them. So next was his book about Man O’War, a huge book. I finished it easily, and shocked myriads of school and family when they found out I really had read the whole thing. :)

“Misty of Chin…” was captivating also, a bit earlier for me than the Farley books. This up to my Farley time was my “horse period”, and I also have a Paint By Number set of pictures I did in these young years, still have them, close-up horse head portraits. :)

Book Meme

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Our library is not all out of boxes, so I couldn’t do total checking, but by all accounts I do believe I have little of what Carmon (she who went before me book-meme-wise) did write down.

Here’s how it works. Copy the list, then remove from it the names of any authors not in your home library, replacing them with names of authors you have. Boldface the ones you’ve added.

Book Meme

1. Charles Dickens
2. Beatrix Potter
3. John Buchan
4. David Sibley
5. Sir Walter Scott
6. George MacDonald
7. Lloyd Alexander
8. Susan Hunt
9. Loraine Boettner
10. William Shakespeare

Check out Carmon’s site, where I got this from originally.

I just checked at the link that Carmon got hers at, and she (Cindy) must have edited hers, as she had a #9 and Carmon says she didn’t. So then, my #6 is the same as Cindy’s #9, and so when editing goes awry, then nature adds back the good stuff, not in the order we may think though ;)

Keep this going. Trackback to me, or ping, and the others before me — if you can.

Book Meme Links
Carmon – trackback
Cindy: dominionfamily.blogspot.com/2005/01/book-meme.html
Tuplipgirl – trackback

LoTR Return of the King – Extended

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It comes out today. The final installment, the REAL movie of Return of the King. :)

Oh, the theatrical one was good, but this one will be much better.

It’s the way of the good movies. They save the good stuff for the DVD, leave it on the cutting floor for the theatres.

It ensures people going out and buying or at least renting the movie once it comes out on DVD.

LoTR gets it better. They have released the theatrical on DVD first, and saved the Extended for months later. So how much money do REAL LoTR fans sink into the DVD’s?

I don’t know.

What I do know, is that on the day new stuff comes out, you get the cheaper prices in stores, on some discs. The one in particular, that this post is about, is found at Costco for 24.99. That’s the one to start with, the price, to gauge other stores by. Costco will have the disc for LESS than actual “List Price”, but then, no one hardly sells DVD’s at “Actual List Price”. Next consider that Costco will be pricier than most other stores on first day of selling. Costco doesn’t play the games that other stores do. So they hold steady, until they want to get rid of something near the end of stock. :)

Since Fry’s has come to town I have pretty much considered them the next one to check prices on. Nearly always, get their price, and compare it then to Best Buy and Circuit City, and the winner will be Fry’s by $1.00, at the least. This is opening day, first day of sale, mind you.

After that day, you must compare shopping, and find it for the Costco price, or a little less, or for much more. Target is key: much more. What will the price be at Best Buy, Circuit City, and Fry’s tomorrow? They know. I don’t until tomorrow. But most likely I won’t check tomorrow, since we’ll get the DVD today. :)

That will leave us with the full collection: Widescreen Theatrical release of all three. Widescreen Extended Release of all three. That’s a lot of discs. Add movie ticket prices in … :roll:

Considering it all, we’ve not gone overboard and gotten LoTR this and that. We just have the two-sets x 3. Total discs in our LoTR collection: 18. That’s a modest collection :lol:

To that you can also add the inspiration for the movies: the books. So far we’ve bought a large paperback omnibus version, as well as a hardback set. That’s all of them, starting with The Hobbit. [we bought these before the movies came out, yes, much later than we should have ... tsk tsk at myself, and at you if you haven't yet read them!]

I admit fully I’ve not loaded most of the extra DVD’s into the player or computer, yet.

So now the breath is held to await further announcements of Peter Jackson and The Hobbit. I don’t mind turning blue. I like blue :)