Thank you for pointing the way to Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog. I'm having a terrific time watching it.

I'm very cranky today. The smoke in the valley is thick. The sky is gray and the shadows are yellow. My eyes are burning and I'm coughing. My ankles are swollen. I didn't feel rested when I woke up this morning. The list could go on and on. Blah, blah, blah.

I came home and told my woes to hubby, who listened thoughtfully and sympathetically.

Then he said he had some more bad news for me.

"Lay it on me," I invited, feeling rather put-upon.

He looked down for a moment, then looked me straight in the eyes.

"Your laptop died."

I stared at him, looking for the hint of smile that would let me know he was joking.

It wasn't there.

"I was listening to a podcast and it just went dead." He went on to explain that he had tried taking out the battery, in case it had just overheated, and attempted to just run it off external power, but it was a no-go.

He tried plugging it in again, but the ring around the power jack didn't even light up.

Hey - it didn't light up. "Maybe it's the power supply," I suggested.

He looked hopeful. He rummaged through the cords on the couch to look at it. He traced the cord from the laptop to the power supply, which came up dangling, connected only to the atmosphere.

The lead from the wall had fallen out of the power supply. He held it up and looked at me.

Hope stirred.

"Shall I try it again?" he asked.

I nodded. He plugged everything together as it should have been, and lo! There was power.

My laptop is resurrected!

My husband, the computer expert, had been foiled by a power cord.

Suddenly I feel better.

I am *so* keeping him.

The Big Read reckons that the average adult has only read 6 of the top 100 books they've printed. Well let's see. (I've read 46 but whoever said bookcrossers were average?)

1) Look at the list and bold those you have read.
2) Italicise those you intend to read.
3) Underline the books you LOVE.
4) Reprint this list in your own LJ so we can try and track down these people who've read 6 and force books upon them ;-)

( The List )

I had just settled into bed for a little reading time when the phone rang. I could hear my husband pick it up and the beginnings of murmurs, then with sudden clarity the speaker phone was switched on and I heard DS1 giving directions to spouse and DS2.

Oh dear, I thought, listening harder, but the phone call was over. Spouse came into the bedroom.

"Get dressed. The Taurus is dead."

Oh boy. So I gave up my jammies, pulled on some jeans, found my bra and some shoes, and pulled myself together enough to be seen in public.

He was only about fifteen minutes away. We could see him and A standing by the defunct car and waving at us.

"It had better not be another belt," muttered DS2.

We got out and circled the car, wondering if this was the end of the road or if there was hope that we could keep it going a little longer.

Our Smart car isn't likely to be built until next year.

Spouse pops the hood and an oily, scorched smell wafts out. He asks if we have a flash light. I get mine from the glove box of my car. I am proud that I stole it back from the boys when they borrowed it last month.

A quick look reveals...

a broken belt.

It's the one that drives the power steering, the air conditioner, and the alternator. The hope of repair remains.

Spouse entertains the idea of driving it home. I remind him that it's dark and that the old battery is not likely to last 15 minutes without the alternator.

A's mom pulls in and we tell her the diagnosis and chat for a bit. She and A wave goodnight and head home. We all pile in my car. Nobody suggests trying to coax the Taurus home.

We've left it in a parking lot, sulking under a light. Perhaps someone will steal it.

Nah. I think it's ours until the bitter end.

Swiped from many.

1. Where is your cell phone? pocket

2. Your significant other? hiding
( More here )

The top 106 books most often marked as "unread" by LibraryThing’s users. As in, they sit on the shelf to make you look smart or well-rounded. Bold the ones you've read, underline the ones you read for school, italicize the ones you started but didn't finish.

( Long list of books )

For the past several months I've been watching the river as I cross over on the way home. I've been wanting a photo of the pedestrian bridge reflected in the water. On days that I had my big camera with me the river has been choppy and non-reflective. On days when there was some reflection I would find that I didn't have my camera. I had hoped to get a picture of it for last week's photo challenge in croc_sandwich, but it didn't work out.

It was clear yesterday but, as usual, I didn't have my camera. This morning I made sure it was in the trunk and as I made my way home from my PT appointment (Yay! I'm so glad I got to go. I have a Plan to get my hips feeling better.:-) ) I looked out over the bridge and saw the calmest water I have ever seen on the American River.

I managed not to crash as I did a small happy dance in the driver's seat, then pulled off and hiked back to the bridge to take a few pictures. Ok, eighty nine, but who's counting?

I'm still trying to decide which one I like for the bridge, but here's one that amused me.

I was listening to the radio on the way to work this morning. As I parked, the feature was librarian Nancy Pearl discussing book recommendations. The book they were discussing as I turned off the power was "Gimme Cracked Corn and I Will Share," which I assume is a children's book.

Now I have "Jimmy Cracked Corn and I Don't Care" running through my head. I had to stop for a few moments to remember the words of the first verse, but it eventually came to me. Now it won't go away.

I know that I was taught this song in school. I don't think my sons know it.

I'm curious about how many of my friends here know it. Do you?

Yes, in another installment of the project that never ends, we finally have a counter top for the bathroom cabinet.

We began this project last March.

The bathroom was totally non-functional for at least six months. We've had the new cabinets in for several months with plywood holding the old sink in place so that the boys would have somewhere other than our bathroom to shave and brush their teeth.

The Friday after Christmas, both S and I had the day off, so we went hunting for the perfect counter top. We went to several places and had one truly hair-raising quote in which we would have to purchase an entire slab of rock to have our top fabricated.

I had originally had visions of filled Travertine to match the floor, but once I thought about it for a few months, I decided that I would rather go with something that would match the colors in the shower tiles.

We weren't able to find matching marble, but in the third place we stopped, we found a very helpful group of brothers who had a stock of smaller slabs left over from larger jobs, many of which were of a size to match our needs.

The young man led us through the fabrication shop where they were water cutting huge slabs of rock (cool!) to the area where the stone was racked. We paged through a few, with him pointing out suggestions, when I spotted one about halfway through the next rack.

He wasn't sure that there would be enough for our project, but it looked just perfect to me, both in size and in color. He hauled out several surrounding sheets so that he could measure it, and found that there was plenty there. I pointed to another slab leaning against the wall.

"Isn't that the same stone?"

It was, and there was plenty there to do the back splash.

We went in and he proceeded to write up a quote. They could do the job for more than a thousand dollars less than the stone alone would have cost us from another place. !!!

We agreed and he told us they would be out to install it a week from that day. We were impressed.

They ended up not being able to come on the day scheduled because they lost power in the storm that left hundreds of thousands of us without power. They hadn't quite finished grinding and polishing the edges, so they asked if they could come the next day instead.

We agreed and they showed up on time and installed it last Saturday. I am very happy with the way it looks and how well it ended up complementing the tumbled marble in the shower.

Plus it's shiny.

( Pictures here )

Wow, it's wet today! We had been warned that a couple of storms were heading our way, but it's been so long since we've had a big one that I had kind of forgotten what they were like.

I went to the store last night to pick up a few things and found that the entire population of the Sacramento valley had been there first. More than half of the bread was gone, there were no bananas, and when I went to pick up some almonds that were on sale, the bin was empty. I've never seen Raley's so poorly stocked. The gentleman who keeps the produce stocked and looking appealing told me that they simply hadn't expected to be so busy that day and that they would have some more bananas in soon. In fact, they may be there today, but I didn't look. But! As I meandered around the store I found a second bin of almonds that had plenty available, so I had some luck with that. Yay!

I was the only clinician on my side of the office scheduled to come in today, so I couldn't avoid trekking in through the heavy rain and winds this morning. I wasn't brave enough to hazard the freeway, so I took surface streets in. There was very little traffic, but the commute had plenty of challenges. As I tried to see past the sheets of rain, I had several types of road hazards to avoid.

There were palm fronds scattered in heaps around their trees, discarded Christmas trees that had been sent traveling through the streets like tumbleweeds, empty and half-empty garbage cans that had been blown over, and, of course, the ever present puddles. Now I don't mean those cute little puddles that were fun to jump in and out of when we were kids.

No, these were mutant puddles that were feeding off the rain and off the small hybrid cars that lacked the wariness to avoid them.

I made it safely to work and saw exactly one patient this morning. All the others called in while I was busy with that one and rescheduled, hoping to come on days where their chances of being blown off the road, crushed by a falling limb, or swallowed by a mutant puddle would be slightly reduced.

Shortly before lunch, I learned that my services wouldn't be needed in the afternoon either, as the doctor whose patient I would have been testing had been called into surgery, with all the afternoon's patients rescheduled.

I stayed through lunch to attend a coworker's going-away party, then signed out and headed home. The rain had picked up while I was at work and was now working with the wind to design breaking waves of water similar to those called up by Mickey Mouse as the sorcerer's apprentice in Fantasia, only without the benefit of brooms. I'm sure it would have been a lovely sight, but since my windshield wipers couldn't keep up with the amount of water pouring from the sky, I can't say for certain.

I do know that the amount of branches on the roadway had at least tripled. There were areas where lanes were blocked by fallen branches as large as some of the trees in my back yard. Other lanes were impassable simply from the volume of water on the roadway. It was flooded over the curb and completely covering the sidewalk at one intersection. Cars drew together like stranded campers huddling together for warmth as they tried to stay out of the worst of the flooding. It would have been a touching Hallmark moment if it hadn't made me fear for my life.

The air, while clean from the scouring it was getting, carried the scents of the broken trees to me even with the windows rolled up on my car. As I passed different neighborhoods, the sharp smell of Eucalyptus would make itself known, only to be nudged out of the way by the tang of pine sap. If palm trees have a characteristic smell, I can't recognize it. I think they only attempted to leap under my tires to draw attention to their sad, scentless plight.

Eventually I made it back to my home, my sanctuary. My sanctuary that had been without electricity since I left that morning. Thankfully, my husband had stayed home and had a cheerful fire going in the wood stove. The house was cozy and warm.

Still, cozy and warm only takes you so far when the light fades and I can no longer see the pages of the book I'm trying to read. We left our older son sleeping off his day, spent herding small children, and took ourselves off to find light, coffee, and free Wi-fi. That's right. We're hanging out at Panera Bread.

Eventually we'll head back home. If nothing else, we should try to eat what's in the fridge before it has a chance to spoil. I heard on the radio that there are about 350,000 people in the greater Sacramento area, including up in the foothills, who are without power. Last time we had outages this widespread, we were without power for several days. Still, we have water, we have lamps and oil to keep them going, we have wood and a stove to burn it in for warmth.

And when we need to get away, there's always Panera.

Starting the list today. I'll add to it throughout the year.


January:

1. Iron Kissed by Patricia Briggs
2. Shaman's Crossing by Robin Hobb
3. Forest Mage by Robin Hobb
4. Marooned In Real Time by Vernor Vinge
5. Big Boned by Meg Cabot
6. Past Secrets by Cathy Kelly
7. The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins
8. Nightlife by Rob Thurman
9. The Stranger by Albert Camus
10. Kitty and the Midnight Hour by Carrie Vaughn
11. Dust by Elizabeth Bear
12. Academ's Fury by Jim Butcher
13. Kitty Goes To Washington by Carrie Vaughn
14. Lisey's Story by Stephen King
15. Strawberry Shortcake Murder by Joanne Fluke

February:
16. Kitty and the Silver Bullet by Carrie Vaughn
17. Idlewild by Nick Sagan
18. The Friendship Test by Elizabeth Noble
19. Chocolate Chip Cookie Murder by Joanne Fluke
20. Rollback by Robert Sawyer
21. Kitty Takes a Holiday by Carrie Vaughn
22. Earth by David Brin
23. The Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan
24. Blueberry Muffin Murder by Joann Fluke
25. White Night by Jim Butcher
26. Key Lime Pie Murder by Joann Fluke
27. Yarrow by Charles de Lint
28. The Sacrifice: The First Book of the Fey by Kristine Kathryn Rusch
29. Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler

March:
30. The Elysium Comission by LE Modesitt, Jr.
31. The Heart of Valor by Tanya Huff
32. The Changeling by Kristine Kathryn Rusch
33. The Rival by Kristine Kathryn Rusch
34. The Lady In the Loch by Elizabeth Ann Scarborough
35. Animal Dreams by Barbara Kingsolver
36. The Margarets by Sheri S Tepper
37. The Terrorists of Irustan by Louise Marley
38. What Looks Like Crazy by Charlotte Hughes
39. Ghost of a Chance by Kate Marsh
40. Carnival by Elizabeth Bear
41. The Callahan Chronicals by Spider Robinson
42. Victory by Kristine Kathryn Rusch
43. Captain's Fury by Jim Butcher

April:
44. Sideshow by Sheri S Tepper
45. Wife For Hire by Janet Evanovich
46. Naughty Neighbor by Janet Evanovich
47. Catspaw by Joan Vinge
48. Shape Changers by Jennifer Roberson
49. To Catch a Cheat by Kelley St. John
50. The Little Lady Agency by Hester Browne
51. Remember Me? by Sophie Kinsella
52. Six Moon Dance by Sheri S Tepper
53. The Other Woman by Jane Green
54. Lucy Sullivan is Getting Married by Marion Keyes
55. Parable of the Talents by Octavia Butler
56. Something Borrowed by Emily Giffin
57. The Memory Keeper's Daughter by Kim Edwards
58. The Heartbreaker by Carly Phillips
59. Bonk: The Curious Coupling of Science and Sex by Mary Roach
60. Lemon Meringue Pie Murder by Joanne Fluke
61. Good In Bed by Jennifer Weiner
62. Fortune's Fool by Mercedes Lackey
63. Back to the Bedroom by Janet Evanovich
64. A Tree Grows In Brooklyn by Betty Smith
65. Stroke of Midnight by Carly Phillips
66. Something Blue by Emily Giffin
67. The Good Earth by Pearl S Buck
68. The Hopeless Romantic's Handbook by Gemma Townly
69. Marrying the Mistress by Joanna Trollope
70. Fudge Cupcake Murder by Joanne Fluke

May:
71. Material Girl by Julia London
72. The Lady and the Unicorn by Tracy Chevalier
73. P.S. I Love You by Cecelia Ahern
74. O Pioneers by Willa Cather
75. Playing With Fire by Katie MacAlister
76. Spin State by Chris Moriarty
77. Simply Sensual by Carly Phillips
78. Vanishing Acts by Jodi Picoult
79. My Best Friend's Girl by Dorothy Koomson
80. Simply Scandalous by Carly Phillips
81. Baby Proof by Emily Giffin
82. The Cipher by Diana Pharaoh Francis
83. Touch the Dark by Karen Chance
84. Smoke and Ashes by Tanya Huff
85. Simply Sinful by Carly Phillips
86. Simply Sexy by Carly Phillips
87. Tales of the City by Armistead Maupin
88. Smoke and Shadows by Tanya Huff
89. Claimed by Shadow by Karen Chance
90. Peach Cobbler Murder by Joanne Fluke
91. Not Another Bad Date by Rachel Gibson
92. Embrace the Night by Karen Chance
93. Sugar Cookie Murder by Joanne Fluke
94. Smoke and Mirrors by Tanya Huff
95. Natural Born Charmer by Susan Elizabeth Phillips

June:
96. On the Prowl by Patricia Briggs, et al
97. Year of Wonders by Geraldine Brooks
98. Thigh High by Christina Dodd
99. The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
100. The Big Bad Wolf Tells All by Donna Kauffman
101. The Touch of Twilight by Vickie Pettersson
102. The Queen of Babble In the Big City by Meg Cabot
103. It Must Be Love by Rachel Gibson
104. I'm In No Mood For Love by Rachel Gibson
105. Season of Strangers by Kat Martin
106. Water For Elephants by Sara Gruen
107. Daisy's Back in Town by Rachel Gibson
108. The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
109. Swimming Without a Net by Mary Janice Davidson
110. Fearless Fourteen by Janet Evanovich
111. The Innocent Mage by Karen Miller
112. Natural Ordermage by LE Modesitt, Jr
113. Queen of Babble by Meg Cabot
114. Hot Property by Carly Phillips
115. The Gatecrasher by Madeleine Wickham
116. Little Lady Big Apple by Hester Browne
117. Second Chance by Jane Green

July:
118. The Awakened Mage by Karen Miller
119. Self-Made Man: One Woman's Journey into Manhood and Back by Norah Vincent
120. The Hob's Bargain by Patricia Briggs
121. An Unexpected Apprentice by Jody Lynn Nye
122. Empress by Karen Miller
123. Crazy For You by Jennifer Cruise
124. Jemima J by Jane Green
125. Wife For a Day by Patti Berg
126. Swapping Lives by Jane Green
127. Bride For a Night by Patti Berg
128. The Memory of Whiteness by Kim Stanley Robinson
129. Coming Undone by Susan Anderson
130. Match Me If You Can by Susan Phillips
131. Straight Talking by Jane Green
132. Welcome to Temptation by Jennifer Cruise
133. Boy Meets Girl by Meg Cabot

Thank, enigmacat, for pointing out the problem with the buttons on the last list. This should work now. ::sheepish grin::

Any errors or misspellings are all mine. These are all the authors from the books I read in 2007. Some I really love. Some I will walk through muck and mire to avoid ever reading again. Well, ok, there is only one of those and I've marked her.

You don't need to have read them last year for them to count. You don't even need to have enjoyed them to vote. If you have a strong opinion about a listed author, positive or negative, feel free to mention it in comments to the post.

Poll #1114216 Do you read who I read? (Take two)
Open to: All, detailed results viewable to: All

Authors

more...

and more...

only a few more...

Will you recommend a favorite author that doesn't appear on my list?

I thought I might be crazy when I signed up and I was truly sure of it at times this past month, but I made it!

So nyah! to the little voice that kept urging me to just give it up. I thumb my nose at my inner critic. I don't care that it's crap, I did it!*



Of course, that's just getting past the word count. The story is not finished. I don't mean rough, I mean there is still a lot to tell. So I'm not really finished, but at least I'm a winner. Now I can work on the rest of it at my own pace.

I think I'll finish it even though I don't expect to ever feel brave enough to share it with anyone else. I may even edit it, though not next month.

Pardon me, I have to go do a little happy dance. :-D


*Ok, so I really do care that it's crap and will certainly try to improve it, but I managed to shut the bum up for an entire month and that's got to be worth something. ;-)

The Plane's escort
Originally uploaded by Rendiru.

This morning the phone calls started around 8:30. Our 4pm flight had been canceled.

S called the airline's 800 number and was told that they could get us on a plane tomorrow morning, but that L wouldn't be on the same plane. We were all trying to figure out what to do when a local ticketing agent for US Air called us and arranged to get all five of us on the 2pm flight today.

We were so happy. We would all fly together and we would actually get there earlier than we had expected.

We got out to the airport early, checked through security, had lunch, and sat down to wait.

As the 1:30 boarding time came and went with no plane in sight, we started to get a little nervous. A couple of minutes later, a plane bearing the US Air logo came taxiing up the runway with an escort of fire trucks and support personnel.

"Please tell me that's not our plane," S muttered.

Alas, it was.

We've been told that there will be an unavoidable significant delay in this flight and that they will try to book all 127 of us on other flights. What are the chances of getting to Dallas/Fort Worth all together before midnight.

Bets, anyone?

Update:
They have worked on the plane and it will be flying in the next half hour or so. It is the flight that will take us to Dallas.

Safe flight vibes would be very much appreciated!

*is scared*

when even the fake plants are dropping their leaves. ;-)

I took these on my walk tonight.







I took off for my walk feeling like I was about to burst with energy. My steps were sprightly. I was in love with the afternoon. There were so many interesting things to look at. I felt like I could walk forever.

I got to the store and picked up what I needed, standing in line for a few minutes as it was a busy time of day for shopping. When I stepped out of the store, the sun had disappeared below the horizon. The light was dim, the air chilly.

When had each leg gained twenty pounds? Had I moved furniture all afternoon yesterday and forgotten about it? Why had I thought I could walk to the store and back? When had I started thinking only in questions?

Okay, I guess I got ahead of my recovery a little bit, but it felt so good to *have* energy, even if fleeting. I have hope that it will return someday soon. :-)

Not feeling creative today. Just went back out into my yard again.





Oh, and I forgot that I took one at lunch today too.

First five pictures.

( In here )

Stolen from nearly everyone. :-)

These are the top 106 books most often marked as "unread" by LibraryThing users as of October 1, 2007. I'm to bold what I have read, italicize what I started but didn't finish, and strike through what I couldn't stand.

Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell
Anna Karenina Though it was so long ago I don't really remember it.
Crime and Punishment
( See how many I havn't read )