Ode to Vincent V.

This is supposed to be me. I only have one ear... but a really big head to make up for it! Water color then Photoshop'd.

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Book Review: Two "Listers"

Here's two more "catch-up" reviews. This time, their both from my TBR lists. (See sidebar.)

Gilead by Marilynne Robinson - Source: 2009-2010 Prize Winning Fiction TBR List; Rating: 5 of 5 STARS

Although I've had Gilead on my TBR list for almost two years, I finally got around to it because our church book club selected it this past October. I had listened to the sequel, Home, early this year and really enjoyed it. Honestly, I think listening to Home first made me like Gilead even more. I believe I followed the storyline better. This book is different from Home in that it's a collection of letters from a dying father to his young son, telling him all the things he thinks is most important to know about himself, life, and the world. Marilynne Robinson is truly, truly gifted writer. There's just too many passages I marked to share here. Her knowledge of the Bible and theology are so wonderfully woven into a realistic story of believable characters. One reason I dislike Christian fiction is that usually the author is too preachy, the plot is stilted, and the characters are unrealistic. The way Robinson can write a believable story while pointing you to The Bigger Story is truly amazing. Highly, highly recommend either Gilead or Home.


That Hideous Strength by C.S. Lewis - Source: 2009-2010 Fiction I Own TBR List; Rating: 5 of 5 STARS

Some of you know I love, love, love C.S. Lewis. I'll read anything he's written. Anything. I found out a long time ago that he had a Space Trilogy and a friend gave me the collection for Christmas. I decided to savour each one and not read the whole series all at once. I just got to the third this summer at the beach and it was good. Really good. Another friend told me it was a bit disturbing and I'd have to agree she was right. Written in 1945, it's amazing how much of the social turmoil depicted in the story is true of us today. I do have to say it's the one I liked least of the three, though. Maybe because it's more fantasy than science fiction. Perelandra continues to be my favorite of the series and also one of my top five books of all time. At any rate, I'd recommend the whole series whether your a sci-fi fan or not.

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Book Reviews - Artsy Stuff

How was your Christmas, bloggy friends? All is well here. It snowed yesterday. A lot. How lovely! I'm still trying to catch up on my book reviews for the year, so here's four more all relating to something "artsy."

1. Refractions: A Journey of Faith, Art, & Culture by Makoto Fujimura - Source: Recognized the author and picked up off a sales rake for $1.50! What a find! Rating: 5 of 5 STARS

Paperback: 176 pages, Publisher: NavPress (February 1, 2009), ISBN-10: 1600063012

Fujimura was named "Daniel of the Year" by World Magazine in December, 2005. (Great magazine, by the way.) He's a contemporary artist with a home and studio near Ground Zero. Matt and I visited New York with some friends in March of 2006 and found our way to his exhibit. Unfortunately, we caught the tail end of it and all of his paintings were being packed away for shipment to the next exhibit. But the studio was kind enough to let us browse some of the pieces. They were beautiful - as is this book of meditations. Not always a easy read, often focused on the post-911 artistic world of NYC, but always linking his art with his faith, Fujimura fills this slim volume with beautiful pictures made of both words and ink. Highly recommend this one. He also has an autobiography, River Grace, but it looks like it's out of publication right now.

2. Drawing Lab - by Carla Sonheim - Source: Ordered it randomly from Amazon and then found an online group to work through it with; Rating: 5 of 5 STARS

Paperback: 144 pages, Publisher: Quarry Books (July 1, 2010), ISBN-10: 1592536131

5 STARS is probably not enough for this book. It's simply marvelous and I learned so much working through it this year with the Artists of the Round Table group. I follow Carla's blog now and am planning to try her next Silliness Workshop beginning January 5th. Drawing Lab has made me a huge fan and admirer of her work. If you have any interest in art or developing your skills, buy this book, grab a couple of friends, and work through it together.


3. Lettering & Type - by Willen & Strals - Source: picked up at Barnes & Noble; Rating: 3 of 5 STARS

Paperback: 144 pages, Publisher: Princeton Architectural Press; 1 edition (September 23, 2009), ISBN-10: 156898765X

This probably isn't a totally fair rating of the book. I think it just turned out to be a bit more technical for me than I wanted. I was looking for something more on hand lettering than type. This book seemed to be more focused on the "Type" portion than "Lettering." Still an interesting read.



4. Everyday Matters by Danny Gregory; Source: Read about it on Internet; Rating: 3 of 5 STARS

Paperback: 120 pages, Publisher: Hyperion (January 9, 2007), ISBN-10: 1401307957

After reading so much about this book, I was a little disappointed in it. It's Gregory's drawing journal of how he coped after his wife survived being ran over by a subway train in New York. His drawings are charming and the idea of a drawing journal for healing is interesting, but the book left me with an overall depressed feeling.

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Gearing Up...

Gearing up for The Sketchbook Challenge that starts January 1st! I found out about it from the super talented Carla Sonheim and am ordering this sketchbook she recommended for starters.

I drew this page of faces after watching this tutorial.

And this sketch I made from another artist's illustration. Now I can't find the site!

Then the letter E inspired by this artist....
and colored in Photoshop from a color palette found here.

And then I did this letter M! Both added to my letterPLAYGROUND account.

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Seven on Monday

Hello, dearies. Hope you are staying warm and dry out there! Here's seven for this chilly Monday:

The Boy

The Girl

When He Saw Her...

Happy Together

The Boy & His Dad

All My Babies

1. Over 300 wedding pics have been posted on the photographer's site. I won't bore you will them all!! :-) But here are six of my favorites above. (I was going to do three, but really, that's impossible to choose!) The Boy and The Girl seem to be settling into married life just fine.

2. I think I'm going to join in on this for 2011. How about you? Want to try with me?

3. I watched this tutorial above and then drew a page of faces while... er.... watching episodes from Season 3 of 24! I know I said I wouldn't, but I did. Matt gave me an early Christmas present, too... really nice headphones so he wouldn't have to hear that "beep, bEeP, BEEP!"

4. Saturday was an annual Christmas exchange for Mary and four other little girls who have pretty much been together their whole lives. A few of them were bed baby friends. Every year we get them together and let them exchange presents. This year we stepped out and met up at a local tea room. Very quaint and dainty! The girls had one table and the Mama's had another. Very nice. (Sorry for the quality of the picture. I'm still figuring out my phone's camera! But aren't they sweet? I just love little girls at this in between age.)

5. So - my girl Mary is quite the crafty one. She has created, designed, and sewn up about 10 or so of these little critters she calls "Pouch Pals." She does them all by hand. These are four she made for the Christmas exchange above. They all have a pouch somewhere (usually on the back) to hide away secret things little girls always have around.

6. Here's me (the chubby-faced brunette, although the turtleneck does help!) and a friend (the gorgeous blond) who walked with me through some tough spots this year. Love her. She's one of the Mamas in #4 above.

7. I don't talk much about the work I actually get paid to do. I work with about 30 guys (including hubby) who are pretty awesome. A few know about this blog, but (thankfully!) most don't! This is a shot of a few of them during a training day recently where they were practicing responding to an emergency. Part of my job is to make sure they have the proper equipment and training. Yes, I'm the Plant Mama. Or at least that's what one of these guys said as I was making sure he was all zipped, snapped, and gloved before heading out for the drill. Good guys. Good place to work. Blessings. I forget sometimes.

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Book Review: "The Girl..." (Two Audio Books)

Here are two audio books that I listened to earlier this year but am tardy in reviewing. Funny they are both "The Girl...." books!

1. The Girl Who Stopped Swimming (Audio) - Rating: 4.5 of 5 STARS, Source: Public Library
Written and read by Joshilyn Jackson, Publisher: Hachette Audio; Unabridged edition (March 4, 2008), ISBN-10: 1594839220

I'm not usually one for ghost stories, but this was a good book. Picking it up at the library, I didn't have high hopes but was pleasantly surprised. Laurel has the perfect life. She escaped from childhood poverty, has a great career as an artist, has a lovely home, and has a wonderful little family. But she has always seen ghosts. Not very many and not very often, but still. This book explains why she sees them in the first place (due to a childhood "hunting accident" that killed her perverted uncle), works out the present-day mystery of her daughter's friend's death in their swimming pool, and deals with some complicated relational issues with the heroine and her husband, daughter, and sister. All-in-all a lot going on that the author managed to make work. And - something I love when it's done well - the author is the reader for this audio version. She did a fabulous job. Definitely recommend.




2. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (Audio) - 4.5 of 5 STARS, Source: Public Library
Written by Stieg Larsson, read by Martin Wenner, Publisher: Random House Audio; Unabridged edition (June 23, 2009), ISBN-10: 0307577589

So, everyone's been reading this Millennium Series by Larsson. I just kind of stumbled upon this book without realizing it's popularity. Since it is so popular, I won't go into details on the plot, I'll just say I really liked it. One review I read said once you start it, you can't put it down. That's very true. It's a classic page-turner (or would it be "CD inserter" since we're talking about the audio version?): 1) makes you use your brain, 2) throws in some surprise twists, 3) develops interesting (very!) characters. The only reason it's not a "5" for me is a couple of graphic scenes that just aren't my cup of tea. (I tried to watch the movie a few weeks ago and couldn't get past these scenes visually and had to stop. Not trying to be a prude, just a little too much for me.) I've been toying with the idea of reading the second book in the trilogy, but think I'd rather listen to it also so I'll have to wait until it's available at our library. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo definitely kept me entertained driving back and forth to work and around town! Highly recommend.

Ok - that's my catch-up on audio books. I've taken a break from them lately since I've been listening to sermons for preparation for the Bible study on Ephesians I've been leading since October. That will be over the end of January and I look forward to going to the library to pick my next audio book. I pretty much just make a random choice based on the cover and I've found some of my favorite books that way! Usually, I pick things I would never actually choose to read as a physical book, so audio books stretch me out of my comfort zone a bit. Good stuff.

On a separate bookish note - a very intellectual friend of mine whose reading choices I highly respect has gotten on a Dean Koontz kick. Really? Dean Koontz? I haven't read him since.... er.... maybe when my kids were very small. A bit creepy, from what I remember. But, she spoke so highly of his plots that I think I'm going to have to go back and try one from a different (ahem, that is older) perspective. Maybe this one or this one.

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Book Review: Room

Room by Emma Donoghue, Hardcover: 336 pages, Publisher: Little, Brown and Company; 1st Ed.: Sept. 2010 edition (September 13, 2010), ISBN-10: 0316098337


Source: Read about it in a magazine
Rating: 5 of 5 STARS

I'm sadly, sadly behind on book reviews for this year. But I just finished this one and wanted to get it reviewed before trying to go back and play catch-up.

This was my first book to read on a Kindle and it was a perfect choice. The story and writing kept me engaged the whole time. It's about a mother and child and their ordeal of living captive in an 11 x 11 cork-lined room. It's a story of two perspectives: "Ma" who knows she's a prisoner and knows what's the "Outside" really holds and Jack who was born in captivity and knows nothing other than this small life with his mother.

The whole book is narrated by five-year old Jack which is really what makes the whole book so brilliant. Donoghue had me with the first lines:

'Today I'm five. I was four last night going to sleep in Wardrobe, but when I wake up in Bed in the dark I'm changed to five, abracadabra. Before that I was three, then two, then one, then zero. "Was I minus numbers?"'

I was hesitant to read Room because I thought there might be some disturbing scenes that would stick in my head. I was completely wrong. While the whole idea of being trapped in this way and for this length of time is disturbing in itself, the author did a wonderful job of conveying the scenes and situations without being too graphic. It's really a story about a boy and his mother, about the power of a mother's love, and about the resilience of a child. It makes you appreciate your own children, reconsider the time you spend with them, and the words you say.

As far as the Kindle? It's awesome! I can't see reading non-fiction books on it, but for novels I think it's perfect. I devoured this book in four days which for me is really fast. I'm not sure if it's because the Kindle is so easy to read or if it was because the book was so good. I highly recommend this one and am looking at reading Donoghue's other best seller, Slammerkin.

One last thing - apparently this book was somewhat based on a much worse real-life situation in Austria. The days are truly evil.




P.S. I didn't think I would like the Kindle. I was wrong! BUT I still like all my AcTuAl books. Now I'm reading this one on the Kindle.

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Bleh

bleh (comparative more bleh, superlative most bleh)

1.(slang) Mildly uncomfortable; not good.

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Tuesday Tidbits

Here I am with some "tidbits" for you again this very cold Tuesday morning! :-)

1. The photo above is of Mary in the Christmas program at church last week. I drew and water colored the frame at a friend's house Saturday night. I have visions of making this into a Christmas card but (sadly) have little confidence that I will follow through.

2. Two weeks ago I got this phone. I really, really like it! It's probably way too much technology to waste on me, but so far I'm enjoying its super-cool features.

3. Last weekend, I got this lovely as an early Christmas present from my employer. I've downloaded this book and this book. I'm almost halfway through the first and am enjoying it immensely.

4. Sunday night at our church's Christmas Cantata, I helped our resident professional chef put out his homemade fancy-smancy desserts. I can't believe someone can actually do this! Every church needs a chef!

5. Here's our family Christmas tree (real) that we put our rather eclectic collection of annual family ornaments. We have everything from a golf cart to Hello Kitty to baby Jesus. We bought our tree in the cold, cold rain rather quickly. Not our best selection! This year I've wrapped up The Boy's ornaments to give to him and his Bride for their tree. Sad and happy all at the same time!

6. And here's the little tree (artificial) that I've started putting up in my study/library. I'm trying to add a homemade ornament to it every year. So far I have a fuzzy sheep, a house, a strand of sparkly stars, and a "joy" banner (last year's addition). What shall I do this year?

7. Last thing - I made this cake for a friend at work yesterday... his special request. I've never made one before. I used butter instead of margarine and made it in a 9 x 13 pan instead of rounds. It was very crumbly but very yummy. I think it needed another egg.

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Friday Fumblings

Oh, it's Friday! It's Friday! Hooray for Fridays!

Does that tell you anything about my week so far? No... really... it's all good. Busy time, though, just like for everyone else.

One of the greatest pleasures in life for me is a NAP. I'm quite the napper. I can pretty much sleep on demand. And anywhere. (The parking lot of Mary's school as I'm waiting for her dismissal is an especially primo spot!) But I was thinking yesterday that I can't remember the last time I took a good long afternoon nap! Where have my priorities gone?

Well, one place is watching Season 2 of 24 on Netflix. Years ago a friend gave me Season 1 on DVD and Matt and I (mostly me!) pretty much watched it non-stop. I thought then I had better not start any more seasons because it was so addictive. However, I subscribed to Netflix a few months ago and (alas) have started watching 24 again. I'm on "Hour 22" now, I think, so I've almost finished.

I.WILL.NOT.WATCH.SEASON.3! At least not anytime soon. Sigh. (But it IS really good, bloggy friends! Jack is such a cutie and, really, how many times can his daughter be randomly kidnapped, arrested, survive car wrecks, shot at, and assaulted in one day??)

One last thing to leave you with - a secret Louisiana recipe. My sister gave this to me some time ago saying she gets tons of compliments on it. I was skeptical... and well... looking at the ingredients... thought it couldn't be that good. I made it last night for our neighborhood supper club - "Cajun Christmas" - hosted at our house. (No, we're not Cajuns, we're just from Louisiana, which means those NOT from Louisiana think EVERYONE from Louisiana must be Cajuns. Ha.)

So here's the recipe. I've renamed it:

Cheater Crawfish Etouffee*

1/2 cup green onions - diced
1/2 cup bell pepper - diced
1/2 cup celery - diced
1 stick of butter
1 can Golden Cream of Mushroom soup
1 can Cream of Celery soup
1 lb. crawfish tails with juice

Melt butter. Add onions, bell pepper, and celery. Saute. Add soups. Mi x thoroughly. Add crawfish tails, stir, and heat through. Serve over rice.

No other seasonings. Nothing. Natta. Zippo. That's it. I ended up adding a little chicken broth to thin it up just a tad, but that's it.

I'm not a crawfish eater (shocking, I know), but the flavor really was good. And hubby (a big crawfish fan) LOVED it. So did most of the non-Louisianians last night. The trick up here in NC is finding crawfish, especially in December. But, apparently, our Harris Teeter carries frozen crawfish tails all year round - Boudreaux's brand. Funny, the bag says "authentic Louisiana Crawfish" but then in bottom corner, it says "Product of China." Go figure. That brings a WHOLE lot of questions to mind, doesn't it?

*Etouffee (pronounced ay-too-fay) means literally "smothered" in French.

Ok - time to get this day started!

(Oh, the art above is a weird little doodle I made while watching -yes- 24 (!) and then dabbed some water color on it. I scanned it in this morning and put it on a green background.)

Hoping a wonderful weekend is coming your way!

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Tuesday Tidbits

Tidbit - a choice or pleasing bit.

Great word, isn't it?

1. Just found this site that helps you write daily morning pages (from Julia Cameron in The Artist's Way.) I signed up and did 750 words today. Hooray!

2. And The Five Word Monologue is back! Words for this week are coconut, ferry, envelope, burlap, and handkerchief. Go here for the rules and to read last week's monologues. Glad you're back GM.

3. I may have told you about this writing site before. Or maybe not. But check it out. Prompt that made me think today: They say it’s better to have loved and lost than to never have loved at all. Who have you loved and lost?

4. In studying for this week's Ephesian Bible study lesson, I listened to a sermon by Tim Keller who quoted a favorite author of mine - D. Martyn Lloyd Jones:

“We could use the familiar illustration of the slaves that were set at liberty after the American Civil War. There were thousands of people who had been brought up as slaves and lived as slaves but slavery was abolished. However, the former slaves had to learn to reckon themselves to no longer be slaves. The old masters continued to act like masters though they could no longer legally exercise that authority. Though they could still be cruel and violent, they did not have the law or federal government behind them so if they were resisted they could no longer prevail. The former slaves also had to fight the tendency of all human beings to act according to habits and customs and practices that had long been ingrained. The way to get rid of the evil is to tell yourself what is true. You are no longer a slave. You are free. The masters keep saying I own you but you have to turn to the maters and say you don’t own me and I don’t even own myself. Praise the king, he owns me. That is what I mean when I say the Christian no longer sins as a slave but as a free man. And that is why I say a Christian is always a fool when he sins. The old compulsions, though not the feelings, is gone. It is he who now yields voluntarily to any wrong practice. Your whole condition has changed. But we must add even to this. Nothing and no one, not even the evil one himself, can make the Christian do wrong, can make a Christian a slave again to sin and its consequences.”

5. I made this yummy soup tonight. In the reviews a couple of people said to put a whole rotisserie chicken in the pot and boil for 15 minutes with the broth and veggies. Then they said to take it out, debone, and add the chicken back in. I followed the advice and it was truly scrumptious. I also added carrots. A definite keeper.

6. Check out Aimee at artsyville's post on the handmade holiday doodletour. Very inspiring stuff out there!

That's all, my dears! G'night.

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Seven on Sunday

Evening, bloggy friends! How are you?

1. As part of E's senior project she had to cook a meal (healthy and easy) for us yesterday. Here's each dish of her yummy four-course meal. Looks pretty good, huh?

2. And here's a photo of E working with her project sponsor a few days earlier:

3. And how cool is this?

4. And here's Mary tonight in her Christmas program at church. Cute, isn't she? Matt & I were thinking this is probably our last Christmas program as "parents." :-( She did a fabulous, fabulous job!!

5. This looks like an interesting site. Heard of it?

6. A friend bought this book for me. Good friend, huh?

7. "A theologian is born by living, nay dying and being damned, not by thinking, reading, or speculating." ~Martin Luther

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