Well, hello again Spirits, it has been quite a while hasn't it? So just to get caught back up real quick: Happy Halloween, Happy Thanksgiving, Happy Birthday Deuce, Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, Happy Birthday Chief, Happy MLK Jr Day, Happy Birthday Indy, Happy Valentine's Day, Happy Birthday JB, and Happy Presidents Day Weekend! I hope I didn't miss anything. I should really make greeting cards for Hallmark. I can really streamline cost savings and grow their profit margins. It kind of reminds me of the Colonel in CATCH-22 who wrote the same standard letter to every person back at home: Dear Mr. Mrs. Miss. Ms. father, mother, husband, wife...etc.
Well let me try to catch us up on the business portions of the past few months' worth of meetings. Let's see, there was probably some chastisement here and there, some food being eaten, some wine being drunk (drank?), some discussion of books, and some fires. I can remember fires at both Indy's lodge and Archimedes' and my castle (in the fireplaces I mean). Here's a few highlights from the past few months:
Deuce came through in the clutch with a winning spinach dip.
Something about chastisement for Baron and Archimedes for not updating blog. I won't waste your time with all the minutiae about all that. Blah, blah, blah, ciencia, ciencia, ciencia, Grande! Well, now I've certainly diverted your attention away from our chastisement by confusing you with that random quote. So here's the story on that: one day, a long time ago, we decided to watch a movie in which we were very familiar, in Spanish. And we are very familiar with the movie Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs, as we have watched it over 34 times I'd bet. So we just turned it on the Spanish option and watched the movie to see if we could understand anything at all. The answer to that question was a definite "no" but it was hilarious none-the-less. So anyway, to sum up all this ridulocity (not sure if that's a word) I just provided you with a Spanish quote from the movie Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs in order to distract you from chastising us for neglecting the blog. Ha!
Indy didn't provide us with an "Off the Grid" segment; JB and Cat failed to provide us Italy pictures at some point. Wow Spirits, we are just dropping the ball all over the place.
I see a note that Chief discussed how he just finished POINT BLANK by Anthony Horowitz (same dude who wrote MORIARTY that we read). POINT BLANK was the second book in that series, which is funny because now we are almost finished with the ninth book in the series. My how time flies when you're a lazy blogger right???? Details.
We had a discussion about providing more of a standard to our book rating. Indy, who is always on the ball with reading and preparing, gave a tentative standard of criteria to rate books: 1/3 based on the skill of writing, 1/3 based on the story and characters, 1/3 on entertainment and education/enlightenment.
And here is another legendary note from Diesel, without any alterations: "Baron then attempted to shed in the fire." Classic Diesel? Capital work, simply Capital!! No need for me to try to improve on that at all.
Deuce proposed downsizing the amount of food that was prepared and brought to the book club meetings. Baron subsequently started throwing furniture, appliances and children across the room in a John McEnroe style tantrum for the ages. If not for the raw strength and cat-like relexes of Archimedes and the rest of the group, poor Deuce may have been seriously injured. However, after Baron was restrained in a straight jacket and Hannibal Lecter-like hockey mask, the group unanimously agreed on the following law: only the host for each meeting prepares the food, a simple, light meal. All the others may bring drinks (that would have been too much for Baron). So it is said, so let it be done.
Since this is getting long, I'll stop this and give you a version 2 for the remaining missing meeting notes. I hope to have us back up to speed by the day after tomorrow. Meeting was changed to Saturday btw, take care now, bye bye then
Baron
Thursday, March 9, 2017
Sunday, March 5, 2017
The Inevitable.
Dear spirits, it is with a heavy heart that I report I will not be at our next meeting on the 12th. We will be headed to Indiana to help our youngest son move to his new home. Quite frankly the meeting would be much more fun but being parents comes first. The fact that Bruce's 41st birthday is that weekend also plays into it. I think he may have planned it that way on purpose. This is the first meeting I have not attended so believe me when I say I will miss not being there for the lively discussion and good food and drink (not to mention the fabulous company). I will text Laura with my rating for the book. Just know that I had tons of knowledge to impart at this meeting. That will keep you in suspense for our next meeting. See you in April! Indy
Sunday, January 29, 2017
JB PICKED A WINNER
Hey Spirits,
I saw that our current book for this month, THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD, won an award for best fiction in 2016. So JB made a good pick.
Looking forward to meeting and discussing with everyone
Baron
Monday, January 16, 2017
Greetings from Diesel!
Hello, my dear Novel Spirits!
I regret that I was unable to attend the January meeting to partake in the merriment of discussing Catch-22, delicious food, and of course the always enjoyable company. I did finish Catch-22 even if I could not be there to discuss it. I thought it was well written, but a bit too repetitious for me. I also struggled with keeping up with how certain characters tied into the story. I did, however, enjoy the humor that was throughout the book. I do believe my favorite part was the ending when Yossarian realizes that Orr had been practicing his crash landing and escape from the very beginning. Overall, my rating was three stars.
On another note, I just recently finished a book called The Royal We by Heather Cocks and Jessica Morgan. It was in the romantic section of the library, so that should give you an idea about the theme of the book. I really did enjoy it! Though it definitely had that hopeless romantic vibe to it, it was comedic throughout and had heartfelt moments. For me, it triggered a range of emotions from happy, sad, surprised, and annoyed. The characters seemed relatable and the story itself drew me in. It was one of those that you want to keep reading, but don't really want it to be over. There is a bonus chapter, but my book did not include it. I may have to see if I can find it somewhere online.
Anyway, I hear the book for February is The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead. I haven't started it but will try to find it soon.
Best of reading everyone! Love and miss you all!
-Diesel
I regret that I was unable to attend the January meeting to partake in the merriment of discussing Catch-22, delicious food, and of course the always enjoyable company. I did finish Catch-22 even if I could not be there to discuss it. I thought it was well written, but a bit too repetitious for me. I also struggled with keeping up with how certain characters tied into the story. I did, however, enjoy the humor that was throughout the book. I do believe my favorite part was the ending when Yossarian realizes that Orr had been practicing his crash landing and escape from the very beginning. Overall, my rating was three stars.
On another note, I just recently finished a book called The Royal We by Heather Cocks and Jessica Morgan. It was in the romantic section of the library, so that should give you an idea about the theme of the book. I really did enjoy it! Though it definitely had that hopeless romantic vibe to it, it was comedic throughout and had heartfelt moments. For me, it triggered a range of emotions from happy, sad, surprised, and annoyed. The characters seemed relatable and the story itself drew me in. It was one of those that you want to keep reading, but don't really want it to be over. There is a bonus chapter, but my book did not include it. I may have to see if I can find it somewhere online.
Anyway, I hear the book for February is The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead. I haven't started it but will try to find it soon.
Best of reading everyone! Love and miss you all!
-Diesel
Sunday, January 8, 2017
NEAT IDEA
Hey Spirits, Happy New Year!
I found this article just in case anyone is interested....
Hope everyone is doing well. See you soon
Baron
Sunday, December 11, 2016
STRESS RELIEF
Check out what I just found Spirits...
Reading for just six minutes a day can reduce stress by 68%
Have a reduced stress Christmas everyone!
Baron
Thursday, December 1, 2016
SEPTEMBER MEETING NOTES (2nd try, now in December)
Howdy Spirits,
Since it took me longer than expected to weave my lyrical magic in the last post, I'll try again at the September meeting notes post now. Wish me luck. Although it looks like it won't be too long since the notes are rather short. Here we goooo.... (said like Peter Pan)
Old Business:
Deuce has posted some pictures to our Pinterest Board. The secret one, sshhhhhhh.
We must have talked a bit about a previous book, KINGS MOUNTAIN, since there is a note saying that most of the prisoners escaped. I think though that we talked some about how it would be a logistical challenge for the Overmountain Men to maintain so many prisoners during the the trek back home. Having to feed, keep watch over, and travel with all those prisoners would complicate and slow things down considerably. As Sir Toppemhat might say, "You are causing confusion and delay!" On a side note about Kings Mountain: we went to spend Thanksgiving with JB's side of the family out in the midwest. I was talking to my Aunt and found out that she too is in a book club. She started it actually. And the book they are reading right now is Sharyn McCrumb's latest book PRAYERS THE DEVIL ANSWERS so I thought that was a pretty cool coincidence. Book clubs are cool! I'm sure that her club isn't nearly as hard core as The Spirits though. Another side note on our trip out to the midwest. I ran a 10k road race on Thanksgiving morning. Several mistakes with that decision: 1. It was at 8:00 in the morning. That should have disqualified it right there. 2. It was 39 degrees. That should have disqualified it right there. 3. It required running 6.2 miles. That should have disqualified it right there. 4. I had to pay $25 to go run 6.2 miles at 8:00 am when it was 39 degrees. But as my North Carolina real estate agent once said, "Some people got more money than they got sense". Fair enough Horace, you got me.
New Business:
On September 24th (2016), there was an Overmountain Men re-enactment at Sycamore Shoals. So if this is the first you've heard of it, I apologize for providing this information just a tippy tap tip tap bit late. At this time please refer to my previous post with a nice little apology song. It's a real catchy tune. :-)
And this month's book, ALL THE LIGHT WE CANNOT SEE is our 20th book! If I remember correctly, we had cake, food and wine. I know food and wine is standard issue for The Spirits, but the cake was a new addition. So now the question is: how often (brief aside: Chief informed me that the proper pronuncion of "often" is "off-un". The "t" is silent. I've been saying it wrong for as long as I can remember. Ugh) so anyway, the question is: how often should we celebrate a bookiversary? Every 5th time around? So the next one would be 25. We can discuss at the next meeting.
We also discussed doing a private painting class for the club. I think that would be a really cool thing to do. It is fun, the painting turns out much better than you would probably expect, and you can bring food and wine/beer! I mean, "Why in the world would you NOT?!" Sorry, that quote is from one of the super cheezy car dealership commercials on TV. I bet you've seen that commercial too? But the price isn't really that bad either, I think maybe around $50 per person, which we could raid the Spirit Fund to finance.
Soooo, yeah about the Spirits Fund, so I was presented with a foolproof investment idea for which to triple our funds in just a few short weeks. As the club Treasurer, I made a wise, quick, unilateral decision to invest all our funds in this guarenteed money-making opportunity and you can thank me later as the dolla bills are raining down upon us in 2017. Don't worry, I know a guy. Just keep your eyes on the pet spa market. It's getting ready to go through the roof!
Chief told us about a book idea he had: it takes place in the future on another planet. The planet is covered with seas/oceans and there are lots of sea creatures inside them. Hopefully he can continue brainstorming creative ideas and really write a book one day. That would be awesome.
Boss read two books: IF YOU GIVE A MOUSE A MUFFIN, and IF YOU GIVE A CAT A CUPCAKE. He's been reading like a champ!
These dudes are the future of the Novel Spirit Empire we are currently building. Until next time Spirits
Baron
Since it took me longer than expected to weave my lyrical magic in the last post, I'll try again at the September meeting notes post now. Wish me luck. Although it looks like it won't be too long since the notes are rather short. Here we goooo.... (said like Peter Pan)
Old Business:
Deuce has posted some pictures to our Pinterest Board. The secret one, sshhhhhhh.
We must have talked a bit about a previous book, KINGS MOUNTAIN, since there is a note saying that most of the prisoners escaped. I think though that we talked some about how it would be a logistical challenge for the Overmountain Men to maintain so many prisoners during the the trek back home. Having to feed, keep watch over, and travel with all those prisoners would complicate and slow things down considerably. As Sir Toppemhat might say, "You are causing confusion and delay!" On a side note about Kings Mountain: we went to spend Thanksgiving with JB's side of the family out in the midwest. I was talking to my Aunt and found out that she too is in a book club. She started it actually. And the book they are reading right now is Sharyn McCrumb's latest book PRAYERS THE DEVIL ANSWERS so I thought that was a pretty cool coincidence. Book clubs are cool! I'm sure that her club isn't nearly as hard core as The Spirits though. Another side note on our trip out to the midwest. I ran a 10k road race on Thanksgiving morning. Several mistakes with that decision: 1. It was at 8:00 in the morning. That should have disqualified it right there. 2. It was 39 degrees. That should have disqualified it right there. 3. It required running 6.2 miles. That should have disqualified it right there. 4. I had to pay $25 to go run 6.2 miles at 8:00 am when it was 39 degrees. But as my North Carolina real estate agent once said, "Some people got more money than they got sense". Fair enough Horace, you got me.
New Business:
On September 24th (2016), there was an Overmountain Men re-enactment at Sycamore Shoals. So if this is the first you've heard of it, I apologize for providing this information just a tippy tap tip tap bit late. At this time please refer to my previous post with a nice little apology song. It's a real catchy tune. :-)
And this month's book, ALL THE LIGHT WE CANNOT SEE is our 20th book! If I remember correctly, we had cake, food and wine. I know food and wine is standard issue for The Spirits, but the cake was a new addition. So now the question is: how often (brief aside: Chief informed me that the proper pronuncion of "often" is "off-un". The "t" is silent. I've been saying it wrong for as long as I can remember. Ugh) so anyway, the question is: how often should we celebrate a bookiversary? Every 5th time around? So the next one would be 25. We can discuss at the next meeting.
We also discussed doing a private painting class for the club. I think that would be a really cool thing to do. It is fun, the painting turns out much better than you would probably expect, and you can bring food and wine/beer! I mean, "Why in the world would you NOT?!" Sorry, that quote is from one of the super cheezy car dealership commercials on TV. I bet you've seen that commercial too? But the price isn't really that bad either, I think maybe around $50 per person, which we could raid the Spirit Fund to finance.
Soooo, yeah about the Spirits Fund, so I was presented with a foolproof investment idea for which to triple our funds in just a few short weeks. As the club Treasurer, I made a wise, quick, unilateral decision to invest all our funds in this guarenteed money-making opportunity and you can thank me later as the dolla bills are raining down upon us in 2017. Don't worry, I know a guy. Just keep your eyes on the pet spa market. It's getting ready to go through the roof!
Chief told us about a book idea he had: it takes place in the future on another planet. The planet is covered with seas/oceans and there are lots of sea creatures inside them. Hopefully he can continue brainstorming creative ideas and really write a book one day. That would be awesome.
Boss read two books: IF YOU GIVE A MOUSE A MUFFIN, and IF YOU GIVE A CAT A CUPCAKE. He's been reading like a champ!
These dudes are the future of the Novel Spirit Empire we are currently building. Until next time Spirits
Baron
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)