What I Did for Love by Susan Elizabeth Phillips

Many people have brushed What I Did for Love off as a rip-off of the Jennifer Anniston-Brangelina affair and the similarities are hard to ignore.  This did not hinder my enjoyment of the story.  

Georgie York is having a bad day.  She has just found out, from a ravenous crowd of paparazzi, that her ex-husband and his new super-humanitarian wife, with whom he was having an affair before he left Georgie, are expecting their first child.  Georgie's former co-star in a much beloved comedy series, Bram Shephard, witnesses the fierce paparazzi attack and does nothing to help her.  A series of other humiliating events leads Georgie to plan a Vegas party trip with her best friend.  Her best friend unintentially stands her up for the trip and she, far too conveniently, runs into Bram.  He convinces her to go out and party with him, they get drunk and then these two staunch enemies wake up married.  Think about the Ashton Kutcher/Cameron Diaz movie What Happens In Vegas.  Georgie talks Bram into going along with the marriage for a while in hopes that the paparazzi will leave her alone if they think she's moved on.  

Okay, this book got back to the SEP that I love!  WIDFL was still not up to some of her earlier books, especially the Bonner brothers, but I laughed out loud many a time and I loved these characters.  Georgie and Bram's sparring matches were right up there with any work she's done AND I read it in one sitting because I couldn't bear to put it down.  Phillips brought in characters from some of her other books and I thoroughly enjoyed visiting with them again, however briefly.  Some of the plot points are terribly transparent and some not as fully fleshed out as I would have liked, but over all I think SEP is getting back on track with this.

spring green!

Spring is nearly on us and there's no time like the present to clean and redecorate for a fresh start to 2009!  I've dipped once again into the generous font of ideas from my 1968 book, Decorating Ideas for Every Room in Your Home...check it out!

the description: "Fabrics lend flair to a living room made attractive and inviting by the well-planned juxtaposition of pattern, color, scale, and texture.  The key print, on a weave of Avisco rayon and cotton, is used to false-front an unattractive wall, and to freshen upholstered furniture and to frame a window.  Flooring is vinyl tile."

can you use "well-planned" and "juxtaposition" together in the same sentence?  Hence, "oxymoron"...at least in this instance.  If you have a touch of epilepsy, you might need to look away from this livingroom.  My favorite part?  The reflective light fixtures to each side of the mantel painting.  They're like flowery disco balls and they match the brass fireplace tool set so well...

What's your favorite part of this ensemble?

2 hours later...

Coraline by Neil Gaiman

I wanted to read Coraline before seeing Coraline, and now I have!

Coraline discovers a secret door in her new house that takes her to another house almost just like the one she left. Almost, but not quite the same, everything seems to have a thin veneer of dislike and bad intention and the "other mother" there doesn't intend for Coraline to EVER get back home. The trusty black cat helps Coraline find her way home in this very unsettling children's book.

Despite the label on the back that says "Ages 8 and up," this would give nightmares of one kind or another to most of the 8 year olds I know. While the "other mother" seems innocuous enough at first save for her bright button eyes, she quickly devolves into a thin, dead-skinned, spidery, vaguely carnivorous beast that reminded me of the eye-in-the-palm creature from Pan's Labyrinth. In fact, this whole story seemed like a warped combo of Home Alone and Pan's Labyrinth. The ghost children kept referring to the "other mother" as a beldam so I had to look it up. I thought it was a typo of bedlam until it kept coming up, but a beldam is a hag or ugly evil looking old woman (using define: on Google). I love a new word :) I really like this slim little volume. It took me maybe an hour to read it and it was truly a bit creepy, even for me!

Run by Anne Patchett

Bernadette and her husband wanted a houseful of children but when that didn't happen, they adopted.  The two boys, Tip and Teddy, were perfect for them in every way.  If the neighbors were startled by a white couple adopting two black children, no one really said anything.  When Bernadette dies, Doyle does his best to raise their three children as Bernadette would have wanted but something gets lost in the shuffle.  Their natural child (is that the word for it) kind of gets lost in the shuffle as Doyle focuses on raising two little politicians just like him.  What he gets are a scientist and a shy young man interested in joining the Catholic clergy.  After dragging the two young men to yet another political rally, Tip decides to put his foot down about attending any more.  During their arguement, Tip edges backward away from his father and unknowingly steps into the street, not seeing the oncoming headlights.  Tip is pushed out of the way by an unknown savior but her identity soon comes to light, changing Doyle's and his sons' lives forever.

I liked Run much better than I did Bel Canto, but it wasn't a terribly exciting novel.  There were no heartbreaking lows (despite the serious subject matter) and no soul-lifting highs (despite the relatively satisfying ending).  It was alot like digitally remastered music...you are left with pretty good music but all the high and low points have sort of been shaved off.  There was no character to hate and I didn't love any of them either.  Have I come to expect too much drama from my books, maybe?  Who knows?

Dragondrums by Anne McCaffrey

Menolly figures into the last of the Harper Hall Trilogy only tangentially, Dragondrums is really Piemur's story.  

Piemur was Menolly's first friend in the Harper Hall and one of the youngest apprentices in the Hall due to his voice.  He is one of the most talented singers to be trained there.  Unfortunately, Piemur is of a certain age and his voice is changing.  He doesn't really have another talent other than getting into trouble.  Will he be sent away from the Hall in disgrace?  If not, what could the Master Harper possibly have in mind for him?  The answer will be the greatest adventure of Piemur's life and will ask of him the one thing few think him capable of...secrecy.  Will Piemur be able to find a new place in the Hall while adulthood settles on him?  Finish up the Harper Hall Trilogy and find out for yourself!

all good things and all that

oh well, the sun came out and all that magic snowiness is sloughing off like so much dead skin...

Hopefully the roads will be dry by nightfall, there won't be any ice on the roads tomorrow, and my mom and I can still gad about tomorrow for birthday fun!

I came back in and took a shower to warm up my cold feet, had lunch and am not planning to budge from the house til tomorrow.  I have a strenuous hot chocolate schedule to maintain :)

I heard the volunteer fire department truck down the street leave out while I was out and I don't plan to be part of their problems.  We just don't do snow driving down here.  I'll be 32 tomorrow and it has only snowed and iced up once in my driving life.  I'm sure I could learn how to drive in those conditions but there's no opportunity.

To those who've had a snow day, keep the fun going!  To those for whom snow is a fact of life, sorry! :-)

catching spring by surprise

the poor little spring blossoms got caught!

not all areas got accumulation, product of last week's balmy temps and fridays thunderstorms

Me, bundled up!

winter wonderland

the first footsteps on my porch, it was over the tops of my shoes!

I hated to mess up the snow, but fun must be had!

the snow didn't hold together so well so this is all I could manage before I got frustrated :) No snowangels because, as you can see, right below Alabama snow is good ol' Alabama mud! Not surprising since it was nearly 70 degrees last week and rained fit to die all day on Friday.

You can tell snow doesn't really belong here because the pine trees always look so sad and depressed coated in snow and ice :-)

thank you, really!

But, snow on my birthday (or day before it, anyway!)??? Really, this is too much! :-) I haven't seen this much snow in YeArS! I'm about to go out and play so you'll see more pictures later no doubt! I took the above photo (of my front yard) when I woke up this morning around 7:30 and the one below (my back yard) just a few minutes ago!

Oh well, snowpeople await!