I know, it's a little late in the Summer to start talking about Beach Books, but there's still more than a month of Summer left to find a few good books (less if you define Summer as the time between when the school year ends and begins)....
(Sadly, Beach lover that I am, I almost never get to go to the Beach.... and especially not the beaches I adore (St. George's Island, Fl, Waikiki Beach, HI, Hilton Head/Myrtle Beach, SC and Nags Head, NC), but I have my beach video (footage I took while at Waikiki and Waikoloa) and I have plans to buy a smallish kiddie pool, which I will fill with play sand and water and create my own beach...if I ever get the basement picked up, I'll put it down there, add a heat lamp, watch the video and viola! Instant Beach!)
So, what makes a good Beach Book? For some people, the Summer is when they can read long, heavy-thinking-required books because the pace of their lives slows down enough to let them indulge. For others, light and frothy is more their speed. For me, it's somewhere in-between: I like adventure stories, especially if its a series.
On the light and frothy end of the spectrum, I like the Harlequin Intrigue novels. Yeah, they're romance novels, but they have a little mystery involved. The books are usually less than 150 pages long, so they make a quick read. Favorite authors: Julie Miller and Dana Marton.
If you want a romance, but maybe a little longer read, I love Julia Quinn and Eloisa James. They both write Georgian/Regency Era novels and they both have linked novels. If you want something more contemporary, Susan Elizabeth Phillips has lots of fun books (my favorite is Match Me If You Can) that are (sometimes) loosely linked. And, of course, you can't go wrong with a Nora Roberts romance.
Still on the light end of the spectrum, but in the fantasy genre is Lisa Shearin's Raine Benares novels. So far, there are five novels about Raine Benares, a seeker who bonds with the Saghred, a stone of unlimited magical power that a lot of people would like to control. Magic, (very sexy) Goblins, Elves, adventure and a bit of intrigue make these some of my favorite books. Book 6 is supposed to come out in December....
There's also Jim C. Hines' Fairy Tales. Well, these aren't really fairy tales, but he has picked 3 princesses (Snow White, Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty) and twisted the source material into 4 fun novels: The Stepsister Scheme, The Mermaid's Madness, Red Hood's Revenge and The Snow Queen's Shadow.
If you're more into science fiction, Gini Koch has a fun series about the aliens who walk among us. So far, there are three books about Kitty Katt, marketing manager turned super being hunter and Jeff Martini, alien sex god from Alpha Centauri (or as Kitty puts it in Touched by an Alien "You come from Planet Hunk, sent to Earth to protect and serve. And make the ladies happy.") Book 4 is also due in December (oh, it's gonna be a Merry Christmas for me!) I spent the months of April and May reading and re-reading these books.
There's also Douglas Adams' Hitchhiker's trilogy... in 5 books (although Eion Colfer has written an authorized 6th book). I think it's always great fun to watch Arthur Dent struggle to make sense of Thursdays and an Earth-less Universe.
For urban fantasy, I love Patricia Briggs' Mercy Thompson novels, and the related Alpha and Omega novels. Mercy is a auto mechanic in an alt-Washington State. She's also a part Native American Walker who can shape shift into a coyote. She grew up with werewolves in Montana and her nearest neighbor is the Alpha (wolf) of the local werewolf pack in the Tri-Cities of Washington State. She also consorts with the Fae, Vampires and other things that go bump in the night. Ms. Briggs has also written a lot of other fantasy novels that I really enjoy.
Also in the urban fantasy list, I really like Kim Harrison's Rachel Morgan series. Imagine a world in which a tomato unwittingly carried a virus that wiped out a good portion of humanity and let the immune witches and Fae come out of hiding. Also the Vampires and Werewolves. Add in Demons and you have a grittier urban fantasy series that kicks butt and takes names. I love seeing the dynamic between Rachel (a witch) and Trent Kalamack (an Elf).
Another Fantasy/Science Fiction author I love is Lois McMaster Bujold. I love her Chalion fantasy series (The Curse of Chalion, Paladin of Souls, and The Hallowed Hunt) The first two are linked novels, the third one is set near Chalion, but not in it. Her science fiction Miles Vorkosigan series is pure adventure, but, sadly, not available as an eBook....
Another alt-universe author I really like is Neil Gaiman. For a light summer read, I recommend Stardust (a movie was made with Robert de Niro and Michelle Pfieffer). If you want a little heavier reading, American Gods is excellent--kind of a Battleground: America between the gods of the Old World and the gods of the modern New World.
For a gritty alt-America (and coming to a theater near you sometime early next year): Suzanne Collins' The Hunger Games trilogy (The Hunger Games, Catching Fire, Mockingjay) is great. As soon as I finished, I started re-reading them.
Although I hesitate to recommend George R. R. Martin, his "Song of Ice and Fire" novels are great reads. My hesitation comes from the fact that the series isn't finished and it was six years between the publication of books 4 and 5. But if you don't mind the uncertainty of when this story will be finished, go ahead and get started.
Not into science fiction or fantasy? How do you like the Civil War? If you haven't read Michael Shaara's The Killer Angels, a novel about the Battle of Gettysburg (couple of side notes here: Michael Shaara was an English professor at Florida State, the Battle of Gettysburg ended on my birthday, a 103 years before my birth, and my great-great-great uncle William was wounded and captured at Gettysburg and sent to Ft. McHenry for a little while). His son, Jeff (also an FSU graduate!), completed the trilogy (for those of you from the Colonial Heights-Petersburg area, The Last Full Measure details the Battle of the Crater), and has written novels about the Revolutionary War and WWII (I haven't read those, but I probably will....someday).
Michael Shaara also wrote a baseball book, that was turned into a Kevin Costner movie: For Love of the Game. I haven't seen the movie, but I love the book.
For more contemporary novels (but not romances or even really "chick-lit"), I like Mary Ann Shaffer's
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. An epistolary novel set at the end of WWII.
Anne Fortier's Juliet is the story of a modern day Juliet Capulet, who is descended from the Juliet. There's a little intrigue, Misunderstanding between Sisters, and a Romeo (yeah, descended from the Romeo). There were a few "it's in the script, dammit" moments, but overall, I liked this book. Another one I started re-reading as soon as I finished reading it.
Want to impress people by reading the classics? Baroness Emmuska Orczy's The Scarlet Pimpernel is great: intrigue, the French Revolution, derring-do....who can ask for more? Want a longer book? Try Alexandre Dumas' The Three Musketeers (then you can tell everyone how the movie panders to modern expectations and the book is much better!)
There are probably a lot more books I could add, but maybe that'll be an entry for another day....maybe for the dead of winter when we wish for the warmth and laziness of Summer.
Stay aMused.....
Princess Muse
Friday, August 12, 2011
Thursday, August 11, 2011
Musings about Hair Donation
Now, I grow my hair out every now and then with the idea that I'll donate my hair to make a wig for somebody who needs it. Mostly, I do it because that way I don't have to think about getting my hair cut. I hate making appointments. Last time I did this, I donated my hair to Locks of Love.
For some reason, I decided to do a little superficial checking on Locks of Love. First, I went to the Better Business Bureau, and looked up Locks of Love. They meet their 20 Standards for Charity Accountability. Then, I googled and found a few websites claiming that Locks of Love is a scam. Most of the scam complaints center on two things: 1) the wigs (or hair prosthetics) don't necessarily go to kids with cancer; and 2) not all donated hair is used for the wigs/hair prosthetics.
Now, the Locks of Love website states that "most of the children helped by Locks of Love have lost their hair due to a medical condition called alopecia areata, which has no known cause or cure." The website also states that they "provide hairpieces to financially disadvantaged children....suffering from long-term medical hair loss from any diagnosis." So, the outrage that Locks of Love doesn't necessarily make these wigs/hair prosthetics for children who have lost their hair due to chemo is a little self-righteous. While not meaning to lessen the pain of hair loss due to chemo, typically, hair does grow back within a year. And even patients with alopecia areata can expect hair to regrow within a few months.
As for the other cause of outrage, I can't get too upset about it. Sometimes the hair isn't usable because it's been chemically damaged, or damaged by hair dryers. Gray hair isn't usable (it can't hold the dyes needed to match hair colors). There may be other reasons why hair isn't usable. Honestly, if you go for a hair cut, where do you think your hair ends up? Evidently, Locks of Love will sell some of the pony tails to wigmakers. I'll bet some of that is because they aren't having wigs made and stored against future need. From what I read about the manufacture of the kinds of wigs they make, hair prosthetic is the better term. These prosthetics aren't cheap (one site quoted a figure of $3,000 - $6,000), and the money has to come from somewhere--either cash donations or the sale of the pony tails. They don't give away every hair prosthetic-- they use a sliding scale to figure out how much you pay.
The New York Times wrote an article about hair donation ("Lather, Rinse, Donate") in 2007. So, even knowing that my hair may end up being thrown away, I'll probably still donate it. Surprisingly, there aren't too many hair donation charities: Lock of Love, Wigs for Kids, and Pantene seem to be the Big Three.
Well, it's time to go be aMused....
Wednesday, August 10, 2011
Musings about Getting Lost
My ability to get lost is almost legendary. I can't read a map to save my life. Actually, that's not true. I can read a map. I can plot out a course. I can find the best way to get from Point A to Point B. I can even find interesting things to see while getting to Point B. However, when it comes to taking that piece of paper and applying to the Real World... yeah, that I can't do. I even have a hard time following verbal directions. You can ask Duey. I went up to Richmond to visit him Saturday and couldn't find the salon he works at, so I whipped out my trusty (but seldom used) cell phone and called him. "Duey, where am I?" Took him 5 minutes to get me to turn in the right direction and find him. When it was time for me to go home, Duey gave me very good directions on how to get back to I -195. I still got lost. Drove around in Richmond for a little bit, found Shockoe Bottom, and then Rt. 5. Drove through Varina before I finally hit I-295 and could get myself back to my parents house. (I kept consoling myself with the thought that by going South, I was heading in the right direction.)
When I got my Toyota Sienna, I called Arlyn to tell her that it had a compass. Know what she said? "What good is that going to do you, Missy?" I replied, "But, now, when I get lost, I can tell you what direction I'm going in."
When I was in junior high (what most people call middle school, now), I lived in West Germany (yeah, that's how old I am.... Germany was two countries). Twice a year, we would have some sort of fitness day and walk to the local fitness park (it was called a fasanerie, but I'm not sure how that's spelled) and run an obstacle course (hey, we were Army brats.... this is what we do). And, twice a year, I'd get lost coming back to school. It was usually the same group of kids. We'd just wander around until we found something that looked vaguely familiar and then somehow we'd end up back at school.
One time, I had a friend from college visiting DC. I went down and we had a great time hanging out. Finally, I had to drag myself back up to Glen Burnie (this was in the days before I got married), so off I went. Yep, got myself lost trying to find I-95. Ended up in Southwest DC. At 2 am. Not a good time to be lost. I was stopped at a light and some people were crossing the street. Next thing I know, there are police officers, with guns out, running after the pedestrians. I hunched down in the car and muttered a quick prayer that I'd make it out okay. Someone was listening, because the light changed and I was able to get out of there before I heard any gun shots. I also found 95 pretty quick after that.
On our honeymoon, my husband and I went to the UK. It was a driving trip. Since Chawton wasn't that far from Heathrow Airport, we decided to drive down and see where Jane Austen lived while she wrote many of her novels. After we, had a lovely lunch and then it was time to go to Salisbury. Going from Heathrow to Chawton, I drove and Ken navigated. No problems getting there. From Chawton to Salisbury, Ken drove and I navigated. I think I got us lost three times. Now, in my defense, I was pretty tired, since I don't sleep well on airplanes. But, after that day, I did the driving and Ken did the navigating.
Now, at some point, you've probably thought to yourself, Missy, just get a GPS. You won't have to worry about getting lost. Yeah, but you see, I kinda like getting lost. Sometimes you find the coolest things. A little garden where you don't expect one. That cool funky store with the bracelets. The bookstore where you find the book you wanted to read.
I also like to travel off of I-95. Except for 16 years, I've lived within 10 miles of 95 my whole life. 95 does make my life easy. When I go down to Florida to visit my dad's family, I know that Florence, SC is about halfway between Jacksonville/Orange Park and my parents' house in Colonial Heights, VA. I don't stop at South of the Border, but I love to see the billboards. I remember when 95 wasn't completed in NC and you had to detour onto Rt.1. We used to stop in Wilson, NC at Parker's and have the best barbecue. And that's why I like to drive off of 95. Yeah, it takes longer, but you can find cool places to visit. I used to go down US 301 and US 1 (which is the same road for a long stretch in VA) to get to my parents' house. One of my favorite places to drive through is Frog Level, VA. Who can't love a town called Frog Level? I don't go down US 1 in VA as much. My mom is too impatient to see her grandchildren, so I have to hit 95 at Ruther Glen, VA. A GPS wouldn't let me go down the backroads. Oh, I know I can tell it to find an alternate route, but it wouldn't be happy. And then it would talk to me. And I'd have to talk back to it. And then we'd have a stony silence as we try not to talk to each other. No, just better not to have one and save ourselves the aggravation.
Well, I guess I better I'd better go aMuse myself. Maybe I'll get lost on Google Earth and try to find the fasanarie....
When I got my Toyota Sienna, I called Arlyn to tell her that it had a compass. Know what she said? "What good is that going to do you, Missy?" I replied, "But, now, when I get lost, I can tell you what direction I'm going in."
When I was in junior high (what most people call middle school, now), I lived in West Germany (yeah, that's how old I am.... Germany was two countries). Twice a year, we would have some sort of fitness day and walk to the local fitness park (it was called a fasanerie, but I'm not sure how that's spelled) and run an obstacle course (hey, we were Army brats.... this is what we do). And, twice a year, I'd get lost coming back to school. It was usually the same group of kids. We'd just wander around until we found something that looked vaguely familiar and then somehow we'd end up back at school.
One time, I had a friend from college visiting DC. I went down and we had a great time hanging out. Finally, I had to drag myself back up to Glen Burnie (this was in the days before I got married), so off I went. Yep, got myself lost trying to find I-95. Ended up in Southwest DC. At 2 am. Not a good time to be lost. I was stopped at a light and some people were crossing the street. Next thing I know, there are police officers, with guns out, running after the pedestrians. I hunched down in the car and muttered a quick prayer that I'd make it out okay. Someone was listening, because the light changed and I was able to get out of there before I heard any gun shots. I also found 95 pretty quick after that.
On our honeymoon, my husband and I went to the UK. It was a driving trip. Since Chawton wasn't that far from Heathrow Airport, we decided to drive down and see where Jane Austen lived while she wrote many of her novels. After we, had a lovely lunch and then it was time to go to Salisbury. Going from Heathrow to Chawton, I drove and Ken navigated. No problems getting there. From Chawton to Salisbury, Ken drove and I navigated. I think I got us lost three times. Now, in my defense, I was pretty tired, since I don't sleep well on airplanes. But, after that day, I did the driving and Ken did the navigating.
Now, at some point, you've probably thought to yourself, Missy, just get a GPS. You won't have to worry about getting lost. Yeah, but you see, I kinda like getting lost. Sometimes you find the coolest things. A little garden where you don't expect one. That cool funky store with the bracelets. The bookstore where you find the book you wanted to read.
I also like to travel off of I-95. Except for 16 years, I've lived within 10 miles of 95 my whole life. 95 does make my life easy. When I go down to Florida to visit my dad's family, I know that Florence, SC is about halfway between Jacksonville/Orange Park and my parents' house in Colonial Heights, VA. I don't stop at South of the Border, but I love to see the billboards. I remember when 95 wasn't completed in NC and you had to detour onto Rt.1. We used to stop in Wilson, NC at Parker's and have the best barbecue. And that's why I like to drive off of 95. Yeah, it takes longer, but you can find cool places to visit. I used to go down US 301 and US 1 (which is the same road for a long stretch in VA) to get to my parents' house. One of my favorite places to drive through is Frog Level, VA. Who can't love a town called Frog Level? I don't go down US 1 in VA as much. My mom is too impatient to see her grandchildren, so I have to hit 95 at Ruther Glen, VA. A GPS wouldn't let me go down the backroads. Oh, I know I can tell it to find an alternate route, but it wouldn't be happy. And then it would talk to me. And I'd have to talk back to it. And then we'd have a stony silence as we try not to talk to each other. No, just better not to have one and save ourselves the aggravation.
Well, I guess I better I'd better go aMuse myself. Maybe I'll get lost on Google Earth and try to find the fasanarie....
Thursday, August 4, 2011
Musings about Coming Attractions
Ken and I have been going to the movies a little more regularly than we had been (thank you to my in-laws), so we've been treated to the previews of coming attractions.
First, I have to say that the Previews before the Previews kinda crack me up. Used to be that when you got to the movies early, you'd listen to whatever Musak the theater had playing. Something the "101 Montovani Strings Plays the Music of the Movies" or something like that. This was your chance to get your popcorn, sit down with your friends, switch seats 300 times so you could talk to this person or that person, look around and see if anybody else you knew was at the theater, etc, etc. Then the lights would dim, and you'd get quiet and watch the 5 or 10 minutes of Coming Attractions (which would be divided into sections like "Coming Soon" or "Coming This Summer" or "Coming Later This Year"). Then the lights would go to full dark and the movie would start. Now, you have to sit through a 20 or 30 minute show (Like Sony's First Look) that lets you see what TELEVISION shows are coming. Okay, movies have been advertising on television for a long time, so I guess turn about is fair play, but I still think it's kinda weird.
So, some of the movies that are coming out soon (where possible, I linked the trailer)
1) Real Steel Rock 'Em Sock 'Em Robots finally get their movie. Hugh Jackman's in it, so it'll go on the list for those days when the kids are in school and I'm not working....
2) The Three Musketeers This ain't your momma's Musketeers. Orlando Bloom will be Buckingham with airships. I don't remember those in the novel (maybe I should re-read this one, too). Lady deWynter is also a bit more kick-ass than before. Ken's not sure he wants to see this, but I do. Oh Yes, I Do....
3) Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol Yes, I know, Tom Cruise. But he's my twin ( a few years older) and I'm a sucker for action movies. And the Mission Impossible theme. I'm getting an adrenaline rush just thinking about it.
4) Killer Elite Jason Statham, Robert DeNiro, Clive Owen. As the trailer plays "Rock You Like a Hurricane," I can't help but grin. Killer soundtrack potential.
5) The Change-Up Freaky Friday, only with a single guy (Ryan Reynolds) and a married with kids guy (Jason Bateman) switching places. I love both these actors, but I'm thinking rental... or late night tv....
6) Friends with Benefits Justin Timberlake and Mila Kunis. This one might be in the theaters now. Unless someone tells me that this is just the funniest movie they've ever seen, I think I'll wait for it to be a rental.
First, I have to say that the Previews before the Previews kinda crack me up. Used to be that when you got to the movies early, you'd listen to whatever Musak the theater had playing. Something the "101 Montovani Strings Plays the Music of the Movies" or something like that. This was your chance to get your popcorn, sit down with your friends, switch seats 300 times so you could talk to this person or that person, look around and see if anybody else you knew was at the theater, etc, etc. Then the lights would dim, and you'd get quiet and watch the 5 or 10 minutes of Coming Attractions (which would be divided into sections like "Coming Soon" or "Coming This Summer" or "Coming Later This Year"). Then the lights would go to full dark and the movie would start. Now, you have to sit through a 20 or 30 minute show (Like Sony's First Look) that lets you see what TELEVISION shows are coming. Okay, movies have been advertising on television for a long time, so I guess turn about is fair play, but I still think it's kinda weird.
So, some of the movies that are coming out soon (where possible, I linked the trailer)
1) Real Steel Rock 'Em Sock 'Em Robots finally get their movie. Hugh Jackman's in it, so it'll go on the list for those days when the kids are in school and I'm not working....
2) The Three Musketeers This ain't your momma's Musketeers. Orlando Bloom will be Buckingham with airships. I don't remember those in the novel (maybe I should re-read this one, too). Lady deWynter is also a bit more kick-ass than before. Ken's not sure he wants to see this, but I do. Oh Yes, I Do....
3) Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol Yes, I know, Tom Cruise. But he's my twin ( a few years older) and I'm a sucker for action movies. And the Mission Impossible theme. I'm getting an adrenaline rush just thinking about it.
4) Killer Elite Jason Statham, Robert DeNiro, Clive Owen. As the trailer plays "Rock You Like a Hurricane," I can't help but grin. Killer soundtrack potential.
5) The Change-Up Freaky Friday, only with a single guy (Ryan Reynolds) and a married with kids guy (Jason Bateman) switching places. I love both these actors, but I'm thinking rental... or late night tv....
6) Friends with Benefits Justin Timberlake and Mila Kunis. This one might be in the theaters now. Unless someone tells me that this is just the funniest movie they've ever seen, I think I'll wait for it to be a rental.
Wednesday, August 3, 2011
Musings about College....
Well, its August and that means that it's almost back to school time for college students.... oh, there are probably two or three weeks before they have to actually be there, but it's getting there.... and writing about Arlyn at the beginning of yesterday's post and then talking to one of the guys on my block who's about to go off to college for the first time has made me think back to my 4 years in college....no, don't worry, this won't be a post about why Florida State is THE best university in the nation....nay, the world, but rather, my reflections on the college experience and what it meant to me.
I have three young friends who I'm as close to as people can be when you're friends with their mothers....that is to say, not very close, but I've watched them grow up and become the kind of people you hope we all can be....each of them were just graduated by the same high school and in a few weeks will be heading off for 3 very different universities....one in the Big City, one in a Smaller Town, and one Local (but he'll be living at the university)....
Now, for a little bit of backtracking.... as an Army Brat (ret), when I'm asked where I'm from, sometimes I make it up. I'll say, "Ft. Benning, GA." (Saves me a lot of explaining later about the moving), or I'll say "Colonial Heights, VA" (because I went to HS there and my parents still live there). Sometimes, though, I'll say "Tallahassee, Fla," partially because I went to college there (and, until I moved up here, it was the longest I'd ever lived in one city...4 years, that was a new record for me!), but partially because college is where I did a lot of growing up.
For the first time in my life, I had to make sure I got myself up, dressed, fed and off to class. There was no Mom there to holler at me if I overslept. That first semester was weird... no one cared what I did between classes.... I didn't have to have 5 classes back to back to back, etc.... if my first class was at 10 am, I didn't have to worry about someone fussing because I was still in the dorms at 7:15.... it took that first semester for me to realize that I didn't have to keep to a grade school schedule. I did learn that I did better if I kept my classes scheduled between 9 am and 2 pm.
I was lucky enough that Mom and Dad could pay for my classes, books, rent (I moved off campus my sophomore year) and I could concentrate on my classes, but I still had to make sure that the bills were paid on time. I had a credit card, but I could only use it for tuition, textbooks and air fare home at Christmas. The expectation was that I would study and make the best grades I could (any semester I had math, it was understood that those grades wouldn't be like all the other grades.) I earned mostly B's....maybe with a little more work I could've had A's, but there you go....and there was one semester that my social life overwhelmed my academic life, but my grades were still decent.
College was great. I'd been wanting to go to FSU since I was 5. Never any doubt as to where I was going. So, of course, my first semester was a little rocky. It was the first time I'd been so far from my parents, and there were so many people at FSU. I thought of transferring to James Madison University (because a lot of my HS friends went there), but Mom told me to stick out for the full year, and if I was still homesick, I could look into transferring. At Spring Break, she called to see if we needed to get the transfer papers. I stared at the phone in shock and said, "What, and leave FSU? I'm having a great time here! Why would I want to transfer?" So, give it a full year if you find yourself homesick and lonely. You might surprise yourself. If it's not any better, then transfer. The schools we think we want to go to are not always the schools we should be going to.
If you're not having to work full time, or be a commuter student, it's the time when you're not a kid, but you're not fully an adult. You can still make mistakes and not have it be irrevocable (well, unless it's a really big crime kind of mistake). You hang out on campus and you're exposed to Ideas. You can try them out and see if they're the Ideas you can live your life by. You'll debate things that you'll almost never talk about again...some of it will be Deep and some of it will be of the "which pizza is really better?"... but you'll bring in Ideas from your classes to figure it out. You'll get to see a little deeper behind the Truths you were taught in grade school... and discover that the Reality had nothing to do with the Truth you were taught. You may have a Crisis of Faith (and this case, I don't necessarily mean Religious Faith). You'll have a chance to Think and Grow. Maybe you'll discover that you aren't the person you thought you were. Maybe you'll discover that you are exactly the person you thought you were.
I recommend to all my young friends to take a class or two outside of your major. One of the best classes I took was not for credit. It was called "The University Experience." We went to see plays and operas, broke into small groups to discuss books and how we were adjusting to university life. If your school offers a class like that, I recommend it. I took a class in the Pascal programming language, not because I was interested in switching majors, but because I was curious about how programs are written. If your universities are like mine, there will probably be some sort of extension courses offered....hobby classes, if you will. Fencing, Chinese calligraphy, Feng Shui, things like that. Take a few. You'll meet different people. Even if you don't really like sports, go to some of the games and get caught up in the excitement. Believe it or not, before I went to FSU, I wasn't into football. My mom bought me season tickets because she wanted to make sure I got out of the dorm at least one night a week. I took a book and read during the game and yelled at people to sit down during Half-time so I could watch the band. By the end of football season of my sophomore year, I had been Converted. I still think the worst thing television did was stop showing the Half-time Shows. I miss watching the Marching Chiefs.
Enjoy the next four years, my friends. I wish I could go with you.
Well, time to go aMuse myself....
I have three young friends who I'm as close to as people can be when you're friends with their mothers....that is to say, not very close, but I've watched them grow up and become the kind of people you hope we all can be....each of them were just graduated by the same high school and in a few weeks will be heading off for 3 very different universities....one in the Big City, one in a Smaller Town, and one Local (but he'll be living at the university)....
Now, for a little bit of backtracking.... as an Army Brat (ret), when I'm asked where I'm from, sometimes I make it up. I'll say, "Ft. Benning, GA." (Saves me a lot of explaining later about the moving), or I'll say "Colonial Heights, VA" (because I went to HS there and my parents still live there). Sometimes, though, I'll say "Tallahassee, Fla," partially because I went to college there (and, until I moved up here, it was the longest I'd ever lived in one city...4 years, that was a new record for me!), but partially because college is where I did a lot of growing up.
For the first time in my life, I had to make sure I got myself up, dressed, fed and off to class. There was no Mom there to holler at me if I overslept. That first semester was weird... no one cared what I did between classes.... I didn't have to have 5 classes back to back to back, etc.... if my first class was at 10 am, I didn't have to worry about someone fussing because I was still in the dorms at 7:15.... it took that first semester for me to realize that I didn't have to keep to a grade school schedule. I did learn that I did better if I kept my classes scheduled between 9 am and 2 pm.
I was lucky enough that Mom and Dad could pay for my classes, books, rent (I moved off campus my sophomore year) and I could concentrate on my classes, but I still had to make sure that the bills were paid on time. I had a credit card, but I could only use it for tuition, textbooks and air fare home at Christmas. The expectation was that I would study and make the best grades I could (any semester I had math, it was understood that those grades wouldn't be like all the other grades.) I earned mostly B's....maybe with a little more work I could've had A's, but there you go....and there was one semester that my social life overwhelmed my academic life, but my grades were still decent.
College was great. I'd been wanting to go to FSU since I was 5. Never any doubt as to where I was going. So, of course, my first semester was a little rocky. It was the first time I'd been so far from my parents, and there were so many people at FSU. I thought of transferring to James Madison University (because a lot of my HS friends went there), but Mom told me to stick out for the full year, and if I was still homesick, I could look into transferring. At Spring Break, she called to see if we needed to get the transfer papers. I stared at the phone in shock and said, "What, and leave FSU? I'm having a great time here! Why would I want to transfer?" So, give it a full year if you find yourself homesick and lonely. You might surprise yourself. If it's not any better, then transfer. The schools we think we want to go to are not always the schools we should be going to.
If you're not having to work full time, or be a commuter student, it's the time when you're not a kid, but you're not fully an adult. You can still make mistakes and not have it be irrevocable (well, unless it's a really big crime kind of mistake). You hang out on campus and you're exposed to Ideas. You can try them out and see if they're the Ideas you can live your life by. You'll debate things that you'll almost never talk about again...some of it will be Deep and some of it will be of the "which pizza is really better?"... but you'll bring in Ideas from your classes to figure it out. You'll get to see a little deeper behind the Truths you were taught in grade school... and discover that the Reality had nothing to do with the Truth you were taught. You may have a Crisis of Faith (and this case, I don't necessarily mean Religious Faith). You'll have a chance to Think and Grow. Maybe you'll discover that you aren't the person you thought you were. Maybe you'll discover that you are exactly the person you thought you were.
I recommend to all my young friends to take a class or two outside of your major. One of the best classes I took was not for credit. It was called "The University Experience." We went to see plays and operas, broke into small groups to discuss books and how we were adjusting to university life. If your school offers a class like that, I recommend it. I took a class in the Pascal programming language, not because I was interested in switching majors, but because I was curious about how programs are written. If your universities are like mine, there will probably be some sort of extension courses offered....hobby classes, if you will. Fencing, Chinese calligraphy, Feng Shui, things like that. Take a few. You'll meet different people. Even if you don't really like sports, go to some of the games and get caught up in the excitement. Believe it or not, before I went to FSU, I wasn't into football. My mom bought me season tickets because she wanted to make sure I got out of the dorm at least one night a week. I took a book and read during the game and yelled at people to sit down during Half-time so I could watch the band. By the end of football season of my sophomore year, I had been Converted. I still think the worst thing television did was stop showing the Half-time Shows. I miss watching the Marching Chiefs.
Enjoy the next four years, my friends. I wish I could go with you.
Well, time to go aMuse myself....
Tuesday, August 2, 2011
Musings about Breast Cancer Awareness
Most of you know that one of my very best friends is Arlyn...we met at Orientation at Florida State. She was suffering from officially undiagnosed appendicitis (she knew, but she hadn't been to the doctor's to have it confirmed...not her fault...), and I was my usual perky, clueless self... and it turned out that we would be in the dorm rooms next to each other... she's the reason why I started writing a blog and her blog is linked here on the page (Forgive Me, I'm a Leo...).
Arlyn, as you can tell from her blog, is a breast cancer "survivor" (she doesn't like that term....). You find out pretty quickly that she had breast cancer.... not because she defines herself by the disease, but because she wants to make sure that other women are doing what they need to catch this early and have a fighting chance at survival.... I don't think of her that way...she's just Ar, my friend....in many ways we are nothing alike, but in all the important ways, I like to think that we are exactly alike. We've suffered through Algebra together (the least said, the better), enjoyed Freshman Biology (us and 998 of our closest friends) together (hey, Ar, remember the professor who dressed up as Dracula to lecture about blood types?), wrote notes to each other during Intro to Anthropology (I might have my notebook around here somewhere....). She's just Ar, my funny friend. She's the one who slaps me upside the head when I'm leaving clueless and heading towards thoughtless. Hopefully, this entry isn't heading there....
Most of you are reading this because you're my friend on FaceBook (which means I've probably at least met you somewhere for at least 5 minutes), which means you're on FaceBook, too. Most of you probably aren't breast cancer survivors, and haven't had more than the 5 minute scare when the lab calls you and says they had a hard time getting a good look at your tissue, could you please come back? And most of us have probably posted (and re-posted) those things about thinking about the troops, or animals in need. And most of us have probably played along with those "games" on FaceBook where all you post is the color of your bra, or where you put your purse, or what your shoe size is. And someone in the comments usually asks what is this for? And we're told, "Oh, to help raise awareness for breast cancer," and then we happily post our whatever and feel good that we're doing our part to raise awareness....except......
Well, if you read Arlyn's latest blog entry "Breast Cancer Awareness FB Game? Who Are We Kidding?," you'll read that there are many breast cancer survivors who don't see the game as cute, harmless fun (and there may be some who do...if in doubt, ask a friend who's walked down that road). Even though I'm sure they're meant that way. And you may have seen my status update about stop posting your shoe size, and make the call to your gyno...we don't have to wait until October to do this. And I'm not trying to be harsh or snarky... I'm sure I posted my bra color or where I put my purse.... but do we need to raise awareness anymore? Is there any woman under the age of 15 who isn't aware that this can happen? Most of us may be in denial that this CAN happen to us, but we are AWARE that it could happen, right?
And if you have a friend who is a breast cancer survivor....give her a hug (mental or physical... but if it's mental, you have to tell them that you're doing it)... if you had a friend who didn't survive breast cancer, give yourself a hug for them.
Arlyn has a few charities she'd like you to think of, if you have some spare change....these are charities that aren't looking for a cure, but rather to give money and aid to women who can't afford a mammogram (about $200-$400)... and, you have to qualify for a free mammogram, so there are still women who fall through the cracks....
Pink Daisy Project http://pinkdaisyproject.com/
Libby's Legacy (if you live in the Central Florida area): http://www.libbyslegacy.org/donate.php
and the Young Survivor's Coalition: http://my.youngsurvival.org/app/render/go.aspx?iPageID=204&xsl=Pages/Layout.xslt&sLayoutConstant=Home&cons_id=&ts=1312311054&signature=5ef9b3c0bfb765cbe2b2285f916f6636
This is about the point where I sign off and go aMuse myself....but today I don't think I will. One thing that all this Breast Cancer Awareness has done for me is made me realize that I could lose one of my precious friends... and, so, I'm not so shy about telling someone how much they mean to me....
Arlyn, as you can tell from her blog, is a breast cancer "survivor" (she doesn't like that term....). You find out pretty quickly that she had breast cancer.... not because she defines herself by the disease, but because she wants to make sure that other women are doing what they need to catch this early and have a fighting chance at survival.... I don't think of her that way...she's just Ar, my friend....in many ways we are nothing alike, but in all the important ways, I like to think that we are exactly alike. We've suffered through Algebra together (the least said, the better), enjoyed Freshman Biology (us and 998 of our closest friends) together (hey, Ar, remember the professor who dressed up as Dracula to lecture about blood types?), wrote notes to each other during Intro to Anthropology (I might have my notebook around here somewhere....). She's just Ar, my funny friend. She's the one who slaps me upside the head when I'm leaving clueless and heading towards thoughtless. Hopefully, this entry isn't heading there....
Most of you are reading this because you're my friend on FaceBook (which means I've probably at least met you somewhere for at least 5 minutes), which means you're on FaceBook, too. Most of you probably aren't breast cancer survivors, and haven't had more than the 5 minute scare when the lab calls you and says they had a hard time getting a good look at your tissue, could you please come back? And most of us have probably posted (and re-posted) those things about thinking about the troops, or animals in need. And most of us have probably played along with those "games" on FaceBook where all you post is the color of your bra, or where you put your purse, or what your shoe size is. And someone in the comments usually asks what is this for? And we're told, "Oh, to help raise awareness for breast cancer," and then we happily post our whatever and feel good that we're doing our part to raise awareness....except......
Well, if you read Arlyn's latest blog entry "Breast Cancer Awareness FB Game? Who Are We Kidding?," you'll read that there are many breast cancer survivors who don't see the game as cute, harmless fun (and there may be some who do...if in doubt, ask a friend who's walked down that road). Even though I'm sure they're meant that way. And you may have seen my status update about stop posting your shoe size, and make the call to your gyno...we don't have to wait until October to do this. And I'm not trying to be harsh or snarky... I'm sure I posted my bra color or where I put my purse.... but do we need to raise awareness anymore? Is there any woman under the age of 15 who isn't aware that this can happen? Most of us may be in denial that this CAN happen to us, but we are AWARE that it could happen, right?
And if you have a friend who is a breast cancer survivor....give her a hug (mental or physical... but if it's mental, you have to tell them that you're doing it)... if you had a friend who didn't survive breast cancer, give yourself a hug for them.
Arlyn has a few charities she'd like you to think of, if you have some spare change....these are charities that aren't looking for a cure, but rather to give money and aid to women who can't afford a mammogram (about $200-$400)... and, you have to qualify for a free mammogram, so there are still women who fall through the cracks....
Pink Daisy Project http://pinkdaisyproject.com/
Libby's Legacy (if you live in the Central Florida area): http://www.libbyslegacy.org/donate.php
and the Young Survivor's Coalition: http://my.youngsurvival.org/app/render/go.aspx?iPageID=204&xsl=Pages/Layout.xslt&sLayoutConstant=Home&cons_id=&ts=1312311054&signature=5ef9b3c0bfb765cbe2b2285f916f6636
This is about the point where I sign off and go aMuse myself....but today I don't think I will. One thing that all this Breast Cancer Awareness has done for me is made me realize that I could lose one of my precious friends... and, so, I'm not so shy about telling someone how much they mean to me....
Breast Cancer Awareness FB Game? Who are we
Monday, August 1, 2011
Musings about Romance novels
Everyone has a weakness....mine is (*sigh*) romance novels. I have a few that I will always read: Nora Roberts, Eloisa James, Julia Quinn, Susan Elizabeth Phillips. Two write contemporary romances, two write Regency/Georgian Era novels.
Then there are a few series from Harlequin that I like to read, even when the little details get messed up. Harlequin Blaze has a series called (*sigh*) Uniformly Hot! that I can't seem to resist. (yes, for me, there is something about a guy in uniform. Knowing that this is someone who accepts that he'll never make as much money as he could as a civilian, that he could be sent over to war and die, who will have to uproot his life ever couple of years just to do a job that most people don't understand why anyone would want to do-- yeah, it hits a lot of buttons for me. What can I say? You can force the Brat out of the Army, but you can never, truly, take the Army out of the Brat.) Even though a lot of details get messed up. Like the one I just finished. Our Heroine is a PA officer for the Air Force, who needs a fighter pilot for a recruitment tour that's starting in San Diego, so she's calling a Public Affairs officer at .... Ft. George G. Meade (which got printed as Mead). Ft. Meade...Maryland. Ft. Meade being an Army installation (not to say that there might not be the odd Air Force unit housed somewhere there--Ft. Lee, Va had a detachment, after all)....Not Air Force. No fighter pilots just hanging around waiting for PA officers to call.
Later, the author has the Air Force pilot disappointed that he didn't go to Top Gun. Which used to be in San Diego, but has since moved to Nevada (I think). Top Gun is a NAVAL fighter school. Not to say that the odd Air Force pilot couldn't be trained there, but the Air Force has it's own (I think it's the Air Force Fighter Weapons School, but I'm not 100%) fighter school.
Now, Missy, I can hear you say, it's a romance novel. You can't expect them to get the little details right. It's all about the emotions and (*ahem*) the sex. Okay, sure, but if 5 minutes of poking around on the internet can show me that those details are wrong, why can't the author do 10 minutes of poking around to get the details...better. Someday, I'm going to write a romance novel, and I'm sure I'll get details wrong, but it won't be because I didn't do a little bit of research.
There was another romance novel I read where the Heroine was interviewing a Spanish film director. Qué sorpresa, they ended up having sex. Afterwards, he said something (I don't remember what) in Spanish to her....using the formal form of "you." I'm sorry, but if I just had sex with a guy and he uses "Ud." instead of "tú" with me, he'd better be leaving a thick wad of bills on the dresser and telling the next guy to come on in. Maybe that's just me, and believe me, this situation was NEVER covered in any of my Spanish classes, but that's how I feel. Even if it is just a one night stand. I threw the book across the room over that.
Now, I know some of the mistakes come because these are fantasies that are written quickly, printed on cheap paper and meant to be read once and passed on. There are no big contracts, minimal publicity, so there's no real incentive to make sure the details are right. Besides, the average person may not even know that the details are wrong. And I sure don't expect them to read this little blog and say, "My God! How could we be so stupid? Let's go out, set up a fact check team and make sure we get these details right!" Yet, according to ParaPublishing.com, about 64 million people read at least 1 romance novel a year (if you didn't, don't worry, I got you covered. I read at least 2 last year). Why shouldn't they try to get the details right?
So, if these little details bother me, why do I still read romance novels? I don't know. Sometimes I read them because I get stressed out--I can always tell when I'm too stressed out by life--romance novels are the only things I can read. Mostly, they're fun. You know what's going to happen: Boy meets Girl. They're attracted to each other. They act on the attraction (how much depends on the spicy level of the author). The Misunderstanding. The Happy Ending. Because there's always a happy ending. Maybe that's it. Maybe I just need to know that, even if it's not real, there's someplace I can go and always find a happy ending (Not that I'm not living my Happy Ending, believe me, but life is messy and hard, and people yell at you because they're not having a good day, and your kids aren't perfect little angels all the time.... or you don't get to have kids and you hear someone complain about how rotten their kids are and you think "Damn, if I had a kid, I'd be thrilled beyond belief.") Yeah, sometimes you just need a little escape into a fantasy world. And my four favorite authors do the research. Eloisa James is an University Shakespearean professor (http://articles.cnn.com/2011-04-25/living/bring.past.sex.to.present_1_historical-romance-novels-romance-fiction?), for goodness sake. Susan Elizabeth Phillips talks to people in the professions she has a her characters work in (just look at the Acknowledgements pages in her books).
Anyway, just a few thoughts about romance novels. Time to go aMuse myself....with another Romance Novel. Lord Badass is just about to have his way with Lady DeMure...and damn....
And before I forget....happy birthday to one of my very best friends, Arlyn!
Then there are a few series from Harlequin that I like to read, even when the little details get messed up. Harlequin Blaze has a series called (*sigh*) Uniformly Hot! that I can't seem to resist. (yes, for me, there is something about a guy in uniform. Knowing that this is someone who accepts that he'll never make as much money as he could as a civilian, that he could be sent over to war and die, who will have to uproot his life ever couple of years just to do a job that most people don't understand why anyone would want to do-- yeah, it hits a lot of buttons for me. What can I say? You can force the Brat out of the Army, but you can never, truly, take the Army out of the Brat.) Even though a lot of details get messed up. Like the one I just finished. Our Heroine is a PA officer for the Air Force, who needs a fighter pilot for a recruitment tour that's starting in San Diego, so she's calling a Public Affairs officer at .... Ft. George G. Meade (which got printed as Mead). Ft. Meade...Maryland. Ft. Meade being an Army installation (not to say that there might not be the odd Air Force unit housed somewhere there--Ft. Lee, Va had a detachment, after all)....Not Air Force. No fighter pilots just hanging around waiting for PA officers to call.
Later, the author has the Air Force pilot disappointed that he didn't go to Top Gun. Which used to be in San Diego, but has since moved to Nevada (I think). Top Gun is a NAVAL fighter school. Not to say that the odd Air Force pilot couldn't be trained there, but the Air Force has it's own (I think it's the Air Force Fighter Weapons School, but I'm not 100%) fighter school.
Now, Missy, I can hear you say, it's a romance novel. You can't expect them to get the little details right. It's all about the emotions and (*ahem*) the sex. Okay, sure, but if 5 minutes of poking around on the internet can show me that those details are wrong, why can't the author do 10 minutes of poking around to get the details...better. Someday, I'm going to write a romance novel, and I'm sure I'll get details wrong, but it won't be because I didn't do a little bit of research.
There was another romance novel I read where the Heroine was interviewing a Spanish film director. Qué sorpresa, they ended up having sex. Afterwards, he said something (I don't remember what) in Spanish to her....using the formal form of "you." I'm sorry, but if I just had sex with a guy and he uses "Ud." instead of "tú" with me, he'd better be leaving a thick wad of bills on the dresser and telling the next guy to come on in. Maybe that's just me, and believe me, this situation was NEVER covered in any of my Spanish classes, but that's how I feel. Even if it is just a one night stand. I threw the book across the room over that.
Now, I know some of the mistakes come because these are fantasies that are written quickly, printed on cheap paper and meant to be read once and passed on. There are no big contracts, minimal publicity, so there's no real incentive to make sure the details are right. Besides, the average person may not even know that the details are wrong. And I sure don't expect them to read this little blog and say, "My God! How could we be so stupid? Let's go out, set up a fact check team and make sure we get these details right!" Yet, according to ParaPublishing.com, about 64 million people read at least 1 romance novel a year (if you didn't, don't worry, I got you covered. I read at least 2 last year). Why shouldn't they try to get the details right?
So, if these little details bother me, why do I still read romance novels? I don't know. Sometimes I read them because I get stressed out--I can always tell when I'm too stressed out by life--romance novels are the only things I can read. Mostly, they're fun. You know what's going to happen: Boy meets Girl. They're attracted to each other. They act on the attraction (how much depends on the spicy level of the author). The Misunderstanding. The Happy Ending. Because there's always a happy ending. Maybe that's it. Maybe I just need to know that, even if it's not real, there's someplace I can go and always find a happy ending (Not that I'm not living my Happy Ending, believe me, but life is messy and hard, and people yell at you because they're not having a good day, and your kids aren't perfect little angels all the time.... or you don't get to have kids and you hear someone complain about how rotten their kids are and you think "Damn, if I had a kid, I'd be thrilled beyond belief.") Yeah, sometimes you just need a little escape into a fantasy world. And my four favorite authors do the research. Eloisa James is an University Shakespearean professor (http://articles.cnn.com/2011-04-25/living/bring.past.sex.to.present_1_historical-romance-novels-romance-fiction?), for goodness sake. Susan Elizabeth Phillips talks to people in the professions she has a her characters work in (just look at the Acknowledgements pages in her books).
Anyway, just a few thoughts about romance novels. Time to go aMuse myself....with another Romance Novel. Lord Badass is just about to have his way with Lady DeMure...and damn....
And before I forget....happy birthday to one of my very best friends, Arlyn!
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