Saturday, November 28, 2015
WENT TO KEY WEST WITH CORCORAN!
Just finished JB's recommended reading of "The Mango Opera" by Tom Corcoran. Enjoyed the story and found his description of Key West interesting. He did not always paint a pretty picture of the area but made it sound very real and unique. I think I need to add a trip there to my bucket list - especially to Hemingway's residence!
Saturday, November 21, 2015
MOONBOW
A moonbow (also known as a lunar rainbow or white rainbow), is a rainbow produced by light reflected off the surface of the moon (as opposed to direct sunlight) refracting off of moisture laden clouds in the atmosphere.
Thursday, November 12, 2015
SUNDAY'S MEETING
Looking forward to seeing everyone this Sunday at the lodge (hey - if Baron can have a castle I can have a lodge)! Meeting time is 2:00pm - the food is taken care of so just bring your lovely selves. I have the high ball glasses ready for the Pan Galactic Gargle Blasters! See you soon!
Friday, November 6, 2015
WHAT DO YOU KNOW ABOUT PRESSURE?!?!?!?!
I'm sure you're wondering, so the post title is a quote from one of the greatest movies of all time: ACE VENTURA: PET DETECTIVE. And why I used that quote is for the reason that for the first time in this book club's illustrious history, one of my books has been chosen for the discussion. And as has become the tradition, it is up to me to come prepared with a plan for this discussion. Historically, the book's benefactor brings a list of discussion questions with which to guide the book club's discussion.
Well that is certainly a good idea, but during these discussion questions I always find myself in a state dangerously similar to the constant state of Arthur Dent in our current book. And that state is utter and complete confusion. Every book club question is way over my head. Every time. Every single stinkin time. "What statement do you think the author is making about the current political situation in the middle east?... The improbability drive is clearly a metaphor for corporate America. Discuss... This book has permeated our popular culture and parodies government, politics, religion and big business... blah blah blah look how smart we are with these existential questions..." To quote one of my childhood inspirations, Butthead (from the show BEAVIS AND BUTTHEAD) "Uuuhhhh Whhhuuuttt? huhuhuhuhuh." I always try to put on a good front and pretend to know what the heck is going on but the sad truth is that those questions bring me right back to 11th grade literature class with my teacher giving me that "I really pity you with your idiotic lack of literary understanding" look almost on a daily basis. I guess I'm just not very smart.
So since it is my duty to bring the book discussion questions for this meeting, I have a problem. I have done the proper research and found several websites with discussion questions but I am faced with the same old problem: they are all way over my head. And for this book how in the world can you really super analyze it? I mean its just a crazy, whacko, pointless, HILARIOUS book of nonsense. Is there really a deep, underlying, subconsious message?? Well, one thing is for sure, if there is, I am surely not the one who will pick up on it.
So since this meeting is the Baron show, the Baron is taking his 15 minutes of Novel Spirits literary fame. I'm taking you all down (way down) to my intellectual level. I've scrapped all the internet's questions, and come up with a few of my own. Additionally, I thought I might suggest that we play a few games as well? Like party games, sometimes referred to as "drinking games". You might have heard of them. But I wanted to run this all by you all first to give you time to subtely tell me "no" if necessary. I'm still marinating on any possible games we might play, but here are a few question ideas that you can either prepare for or veto:
1. Did you enjoy the book? If yes, why? If no, why?
2. In Vogon fashion, please prepare a short poem describing your views on the book.
3. The Hitchhiker's Guide's entry for Earth is: "Mostly harmless". If you created an entry for Earth in the Hithhiker's Guide, what would your description be?
4. Which character would you like to be? Why?
5. Which character would you definitely not be? Why?
6. What's up with the towel? What would be your equivalent to their towel be? Why?
7. In your opinion, is this book comedic genius or just a load of crap?
8. Do you know anyone with the personality of a Vogon? (Of course you do, lets talk about that)
9. If this book can be written, any book can. What would the book you write be about?
10. Favorite quotes of course!! This book is chock full of them.
We don't have to use all (or any) of these, but they are more on my level. And I posted them early to give you a chance to think about it. Or if you have different ideas, let us know so we can adjust accordingly prior to the meeting.
And as I said, I still haven't finalized all the possible games we might play (assuming you want to do this), but I'll give you a couple freebies:
- every time someone is chastised, we all take a drink
- any time anyone becomes (or even looks) as confused as Arthur Dent, we all take a drink
- high school superlatives for the main characters in the book
- ...more to follow hopefully
These are all just me brainstorming after enjoying somewhere between one and thirteen delicious Sierra Nevada Celebration Ales, so take that for what its worth. We don't have to do any of these if you all don't want to.
Games or no, I'll be drinking :)
Well that is certainly a good idea, but during these discussion questions I always find myself in a state dangerously similar to the constant state of Arthur Dent in our current book. And that state is utter and complete confusion. Every book club question is way over my head. Every time. Every single stinkin time. "What statement do you think the author is making about the current political situation in the middle east?... The improbability drive is clearly a metaphor for corporate America. Discuss... This book has permeated our popular culture and parodies government, politics, religion and big business... blah blah blah look how smart we are with these existential questions..." To quote one of my childhood inspirations, Butthead (from the show BEAVIS AND BUTTHEAD) "Uuuhhhh Whhhuuuttt? huhuhuhuhuh." I always try to put on a good front and pretend to know what the heck is going on but the sad truth is that those questions bring me right back to 11th grade literature class with my teacher giving me that "I really pity you with your idiotic lack of literary understanding" look almost on a daily basis. I guess I'm just not very smart.
So since it is my duty to bring the book discussion questions for this meeting, I have a problem. I have done the proper research and found several websites with discussion questions but I am faced with the same old problem: they are all way over my head. And for this book how in the world can you really super analyze it? I mean its just a crazy, whacko, pointless, HILARIOUS book of nonsense. Is there really a deep, underlying, subconsious message?? Well, one thing is for sure, if there is, I am surely not the one who will pick up on it.
So since this meeting is the Baron show, the Baron is taking his 15 minutes of Novel Spirits literary fame. I'm taking you all down (way down) to my intellectual level. I've scrapped all the internet's questions, and come up with a few of my own. Additionally, I thought I might suggest that we play a few games as well? Like party games, sometimes referred to as "drinking games". You might have heard of them. But I wanted to run this all by you all first to give you time to subtely tell me "no" if necessary. I'm still marinating on any possible games we might play, but here are a few question ideas that you can either prepare for or veto:
1. Did you enjoy the book? If yes, why? If no, why?
2. In Vogon fashion, please prepare a short poem describing your views on the book.
3. The Hitchhiker's Guide's entry for Earth is: "Mostly harmless". If you created an entry for Earth in the Hithhiker's Guide, what would your description be?
4. Which character would you like to be? Why?
5. Which character would you definitely not be? Why?
6. What's up with the towel? What would be your equivalent to their towel be? Why?
7. In your opinion, is this book comedic genius or just a load of crap?
8. Do you know anyone with the personality of a Vogon? (Of course you do, lets talk about that)
9. If this book can be written, any book can. What would the book you write be about?
10. Favorite quotes of course!! This book is chock full of them.
We don't have to use all (or any) of these, but they are more on my level. And I posted them early to give you a chance to think about it. Or if you have different ideas, let us know so we can adjust accordingly prior to the meeting.
And as I said, I still haven't finalized all the possible games we might play (assuming you want to do this), but I'll give you a couple freebies:
- every time someone is chastised, we all take a drink
- any time anyone becomes (or even looks) as confused as Arthur Dent, we all take a drink
- high school superlatives for the main characters in the book
- ...more to follow hopefully
These are all just me brainstorming after enjoying somewhere between one and thirteen delicious Sierra Nevada Celebration Ales, so take that for what its worth. We don't have to do any of these if you all don't want to.
Games or no, I'll be drinking :)
Thursday, November 5, 2015
THE REASON I JUMP DISCUSSION
Hey there Novel Spirits! Time really flies when you're half crazy (like me). I can't believe that it's only a little more than a week until our next meeting! I've been slacking on my blogging duties. So without further ado:
Since THE REASON I JUMP is written by an autistic teenager, we started out our discussion by talking about whether any of us know anyone with autism. Deuce worked with some kids with autism when she was a preschool teacher and one of Baron's friends in the army had a son with autism. The rest of us do not personally know anyone with autism; none of us knew much about autism prior to reading this book. I think all of us had done a little independent research about autism, but still found it a difficult concept to grasp since autism is a "spectrum" rather than a single, defined disorder. This brought us to one of our first criticisms of the book: that the author has a tendency to speak for all children with autism, when the introduction to the book emphasized that autism is highly individualized.
The second major criticism we had was the repetitiveness of the book, though someone pointed out that the author mentioned that repetition and routine are comforting to him, which may explain this particular issue.
The most striking, and sad, aspect of the book for all of us (I think) was the author's struggle to express himself and the isolation he felt at being "trapped" within himself. It is difficult to imagine trying to say something, but accidentally saying the opposite, or realizing that you are doing something you've been told not to do, but not being able to stop yourself.
There were some parts that seemed a little whack, like that autism is caused by our disconnection with nature. We also wondered how much was "lost in translation" and how much gloss was put on it by the translators. Our ultimate conclusion was that the target audience for the book was parents of children with autism who would be comforted and reassured by the message that their child empathized with them and doesn't want to act out. For those of us who started out with very little knowledge of autism, the book did not really provide much insight into autism. Overall, we rated it around 2-3 stars.
I've been enjoying the change of pace with THE HITCHHIKER'S GUIDE TO THE GALAXY, and look forward to our meeting! Catch ya' later, you hoopy froods!
Wednesday, November 4, 2015
Monday, November 2, 2015
Excellent movie about autism!
I had intended to mention this at our last meeting but the thought was lost in all the fun and levity (and possibly three glasses of sangria)! The movie "Temple Grandin" released in 2010 is a wonderful story of an autistic woman who becomes a leading expert on animal behavior. I've seen the movie and it was a fascinating story of someone dealing with autistic disabilities. It was nominated for 15 Emmys and if you haven't seen it you should put it on your meet see list!
Sunday, November 1, 2015
OCTOBER 25TH MEETING PART 2
Our shirts have not yet been purchased. Deuce wants a new club logo so Baron will have to make a new drawing. The bottle neck portion was too short.
And I can't remember what caused this, but Indy proclaimed that she does not like wishy-washy men. So I'm telling you, this club is getting more and more dangerous for the male members. Between Archimedes' approval of getting away with murder, and Indy's disapproval of 93% of men (which is my statistically calculated percentage of all men who are wishy-washy), we are surely an endangered species among the Novel Spirits. Maybe the women are all conspiring to make this a woman-only group.
Indy also told a funny story about how when she went to the public library and discovered that they were remodeling the inside. When she was obviously confused about where all the books were, one of the employees asked Indy, "Is there something you need?" and Indy snapped back, "A book!" Well done Indy!!
It seems as though Indy has updated the "Off the Grid" portion of the blog so well done on that as well. She also noted an article she read in WNC Magazine that talked about an upcoming movie based on Thomas Wolfe's life, starring Jude Law and titled THE GENIUS.
JB informed the group about the news that the popular PBS show SESAME STREET has just introduced an autistic character to that show. This is quite relevant considering our book for this month and meeting was THE REASON I JUMP.
And to draw this post to a close, Archimedes has proposed an idea that for the next meeting, we all either agree on or somehow select a Christmas themed book to read and have ready to discuss for our December or January meeting. This book wouldn't replace anyone's book currently in the queue, just be another addition that gets the ability to jump in line of all the other books. How nice for this Christmas themed book that it can just show up out of nowhere, jump straight to the front of the line and then just bust out of here like a rock star. It's no surprise that Archimedes came up with this idea though, because that is exactly the tactics she takes with my laundry piles!!! I have my piles all nicely sorted and placed in the proper order of washing. Then Archimedes just busts straight up into my perfect plan with her own laundry piles (who knows where they even come from!?!?) and puts hers into the washer as if mine weren't even there watching the whole sad affair occur in front of their poor, sad, crushed little hearts. Welcome to the Archimedes and Baron show everyone!
And I can't remember what caused this, but Indy proclaimed that she does not like wishy-washy men. So I'm telling you, this club is getting more and more dangerous for the male members. Between Archimedes' approval of getting away with murder, and Indy's disapproval of 93% of men (which is my statistically calculated percentage of all men who are wishy-washy), we are surely an endangered species among the Novel Spirits. Maybe the women are all conspiring to make this a woman-only group.
Indy also told a funny story about how when she went to the public library and discovered that they were remodeling the inside. When she was obviously confused about where all the books were, one of the employees asked Indy, "Is there something you need?" and Indy snapped back, "A book!" Well done Indy!!
It seems as though Indy has updated the "Off the Grid" portion of the blog so well done on that as well. She also noted an article she read in WNC Magazine that talked about an upcoming movie based on Thomas Wolfe's life, starring Jude Law and titled THE GENIUS.
JB informed the group about the news that the popular PBS show SESAME STREET has just introduced an autistic character to that show. This is quite relevant considering our book for this month and meeting was THE REASON I JUMP.
And to draw this post to a close, Archimedes has proposed an idea that for the next meeting, we all either agree on or somehow select a Christmas themed book to read and have ready to discuss for our December or January meeting. This book wouldn't replace anyone's book currently in the queue, just be another addition that gets the ability to jump in line of all the other books. How nice for this Christmas themed book that it can just show up out of nowhere, jump straight to the front of the line and then just bust out of here like a rock star. It's no surprise that Archimedes came up with this idea though, because that is exactly the tactics she takes with my laundry piles!!! I have my piles all nicely sorted and placed in the proper order of washing. Then Archimedes just busts straight up into my perfect plan with her own laundry piles (who knows where they even come from!?!?) and puts hers into the washer as if mine weren't even there watching the whole sad affair occur in front of their poor, sad, crushed little hearts. Welcome to the Archimedes and Baron show everyone!
OCTOBER 25TH MEETING NOTES
Another meeting in the books Novel Spirits. We are so official now! We are like a well-oiled not-for-profit business operating machine. Here are the highlights of the business portion of October's meeting:
First off, Boss read to the group. He read THE BERENSTAIN BEARS RIDE THE THUNDERBOLT by Stan and Jan Berenstain. He is getting very good at reading and that makes at least two of us very happy.
Then we all described our costumes and a brief reasoning for our selections. And the turnout was really good! Everyone came correct to this dress-up shindig! So here's the summary:
Deuce: dressed up as Mama Bear from THE BERENSTAIN BEARS series. Not only a very creative selection, but she actually sewed the costume herself. Very well done Deuce. Her reasons werethat she did not like reading until she had her own children. And THE BERENSTAIN BEARS books were what she started reading to her children, so those books have an important place in her life. Additionally, she told her grandchildren that she wrote THE BERENSTAIN BEARS books herself. Sounds like chastisement material to me!!
Diesel: dressed up as Nancy Drew from the NANCY DREW novels. Her reasons were that she read several of those novels when she was younger and that she really enjoys mysteries.
Chief: dressed up as Percy Jackson from the PERCY JACKSON series. His reasons were that he really liked those books. They had action, adventure, and ancient mythology. Additionally, his costume was simple to execute. I can't argue with that logic!
Cat: dressed up as Neil Degrasse Tyson, interestingly the only real person selected in the group. She stated that she prefers non-fiction, particularly science related subjects. She enjoys watching his show STAR TALK on the national geographic channel.
JB: dressed up as Alex Rutledge from the series of books by Tom Corcoran all set in Key West, FL. Anyone who knows JB understands that this is a perfect selection for him. JB loves the weather, atmosphere and general attitude and culture of Key West. Tom Corcoran is native to Key West, and the character Alex Rutledge personifies the Key West culture.
Baron: dressed up as James Bond. No explanation necessary. But just in case, Jame Bond is one of the coolest dudes ever created in reality or in fiction. Intelligent, witty, funny, good-looking, athletic, a spy!!! Get sweet gagdets and vehicles. Travels to the world's most exotic locations, busts up into the bad guys' super-secret lairs and just blow them up. Beats the crap out of all the tough-guy thugs. I mean, Dang! Oh yeah, and he's always gambling and smoking cigarettes. Coolest man EVER
Indy: dressed up as Cosette from LES MISERABLES. She likes in-depth characters such as the ones created in LES MISERABLES. It's a beautiful story. She read it for the first time as a freshman in high school and it had a strong positive effect on her. And as with Chief, she also liked that this costume was a rather simply executed one.
Archimedes: dressed up as Lizbeth Salander from THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO. Her reasons were that this is a very strong female character, it was an interesting story with a very distinct style. Apparently, Lizbeth is a real badass. This worries me because given the fact that Archimedes likes this character, watches the TV show SNAPPED (and takes notes on how the ladies get away with murdering their husbands), enjoys kickboxing, I am starting to see a very scary trend that seems to end in my painful, agonizing, unavenged death!!! Oh dear.
This post is getting long and there are much more notes to go over so I'll end this one and submit a part 2 shortly. Assuming I'm alive in order to do so :(
First off, Boss read to the group. He read THE BERENSTAIN BEARS RIDE THE THUNDERBOLT by Stan and Jan Berenstain. He is getting very good at reading and that makes at least two of us very happy.
Then we all described our costumes and a brief reasoning for our selections. And the turnout was really good! Everyone came correct to this dress-up shindig! So here's the summary:
Deuce: dressed up as Mama Bear from THE BERENSTAIN BEARS series. Not only a very creative selection, but she actually sewed the costume herself. Very well done Deuce. Her reasons werethat she did not like reading until she had her own children. And THE BERENSTAIN BEARS books were what she started reading to her children, so those books have an important place in her life. Additionally, she told her grandchildren that she wrote THE BERENSTAIN BEARS books herself. Sounds like chastisement material to me!!
Diesel: dressed up as Nancy Drew from the NANCY DREW novels. Her reasons were that she read several of those novels when she was younger and that she really enjoys mysteries.
Chief: dressed up as Percy Jackson from the PERCY JACKSON series. His reasons were that he really liked those books. They had action, adventure, and ancient mythology. Additionally, his costume was simple to execute. I can't argue with that logic!
Cat: dressed up as Neil Degrasse Tyson, interestingly the only real person selected in the group. She stated that she prefers non-fiction, particularly science related subjects. She enjoys watching his show STAR TALK on the national geographic channel.
JB: dressed up as Alex Rutledge from the series of books by Tom Corcoran all set in Key West, FL. Anyone who knows JB understands that this is a perfect selection for him. JB loves the weather, atmosphere and general attitude and culture of Key West. Tom Corcoran is native to Key West, and the character Alex Rutledge personifies the Key West culture.
Baron: dressed up as James Bond. No explanation necessary. But just in case, Jame Bond is one of the coolest dudes ever created in reality or in fiction. Intelligent, witty, funny, good-looking, athletic, a spy!!! Get sweet gagdets and vehicles. Travels to the world's most exotic locations, busts up into the bad guys' super-secret lairs and just blow them up. Beats the crap out of all the tough-guy thugs. I mean, Dang! Oh yeah, and he's always gambling and smoking cigarettes. Coolest man EVER
Indy: dressed up as Cosette from LES MISERABLES. She likes in-depth characters such as the ones created in LES MISERABLES. It's a beautiful story. She read it for the first time as a freshman in high school and it had a strong positive effect on her. And as with Chief, she also liked that this costume was a rather simply executed one.
Archimedes: dressed up as Lizbeth Salander from THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO. Her reasons were that this is a very strong female character, it was an interesting story with a very distinct style. Apparently, Lizbeth is a real badass. This worries me because given the fact that Archimedes likes this character, watches the TV show SNAPPED (and takes notes on how the ladies get away with murdering their husbands), enjoys kickboxing, I am starting to see a very scary trend that seems to end in my painful, agonizing, unavenged death!!! Oh dear.
This post is getting long and there are much more notes to go over so I'll end this one and submit a part 2 shortly. Assuming I'm alive in order to do so :(
TRAVELING 13.1 MILES (WITHOUT A MOTORIZED VEHICLE)
This post is purely to give a shout out to Archimedes and Diesel for accomplishing quite an extraordinary feat: just yesterday they both ran a half marathon!! They ran 13.1 miles with their own human generated power. No car, no bike, no motorized scooter. Just Pat and Charlie (their legs).
Congratulations to Archimedes and Diesel for completing that goal!
I think we should give them both a free pass from chastisements at our next meeting. As long as Deuce approves my proposal. And you know I must be proud of them because it really pains me to ever give Archimedes a pass from chastisement. I would prefer to chastise her relentlessly and endlessly. But they certainly deserve that, if not more.
Great job Archimedes and Diesel!!
Just two weeks until next meeting Novel Spirits! Last meeting summary and book discussion posts to follow soon hopefully.
Congratulations to Archimedes and Diesel for completing that goal!
I think we should give them both a free pass from chastisements at our next meeting. As long as Deuce approves my proposal. And you know I must be proud of them because it really pains me to ever give Archimedes a pass from chastisement. I would prefer to chastise her relentlessly and endlessly. But they certainly deserve that, if not more.
Great job Archimedes and Diesel!!
Just two weeks until next meeting Novel Spirits! Last meeting summary and book discussion posts to follow soon hopefully.
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