"Outside a dog a book is man's best friend, inside a dog it is too dark to read!" -Groucho Marx========="The person, be it gentleman or lady, who has not pleasure in a good novel, must be intolerably stupid." -Jane Austen========="I don’t believe in the kind of magic in my books. But I do believe something very magical can happen when you read a good book."-JK Rowling========"I spend a lot of time reading." -Bill Gates=========“Ahhh. Bed, book, kitten, sandwich. All one needed in life, really.” -Jacqueline Kelly=========

Sunday, August 20, 2017

Sunday Salon, August 20, one day before...

View of the Puget Sound from Titlow Beach, Tacoma. This is why we love living where we live.
Weather: It is overcast here which is a problem since tomorrow is the day of the total eclipse of the sun. We will not drive to Oregon to see the full eclipse but have decided that the 95% from our home will be good enough...but if it is overcast tomorrow, that will be a bummer because it may obscure our less than 100% view of it.

"If you are not outraged, you are not paying attention": The events at Charlottesville and then Trumps statements which did not condemn White Supremacy and Nazism have really shook me up. We can't be unequivocal about the evils of these organizations. But this is what our President did. He placed those organizations on the same moral level as those organizations standing up for equality and for justice for all. It is disgusting. Arnold Schwarzenegger, of all people, had the best response. If you haven't seen it, I encourage you to click the link on his name and then click the video link on that page.

Human: While I'm at it, I recommend that you watch and listen to this new Pentatonix video of an old John Lennon song, "Imagine". It is very appropriate for this week's events. We have got to stop thinking of people as "other" and just think of them as "human."


Books completed this week:
  • Dear Mr. Darcy by Amanda Grange: a retelling of the Pride and Prejudice from letters written by the characters to each other. I've read several of these types of books before and I didn't like this one as well as the others.
  • The Trouble with Poetry by Billy Collins. What can I say? I am a poetry fan and wish you were, too. Collins is a good poet to start with, if you feel intimidated by it because he is funny and fun.
  • Thunder Boy by Sherman Alexie. A Children's book by a favorite author about a little kid who doesn't like his name.
  • Ordinary Grace by William Kent Krueger. An excellent book club selection, a mystery and coming-of-age story.
Currently reading:
  • Five Days at Memorial: Life and Death in a Storm-Ravaged Hospital by Sheri Fink. 10%, audio.
  • Midnight at the Electric by Jodi Lynn Anderson. Print, just started.
  • Ordering of Love: New and Collected Poems of Madeleine L'Engle. Print. 10%.
Sign found at a favorite local restaurant. It is funny on many levels, especially since I graduated high school in 1975.
Why did they pick that year?
Tomorrow you will find us somewhere in Washington State, hopefully with clear skies, looking up at the 95% of total eclipse of the sun...and yes, we have glasses.

7 comments:

  1. that pic is beautiful! The events that happened have shook me up also. i hope you get a good view of the eclipse!

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  2. I've been trying to avoid the news and social media. It makes me feel very sad. I feel like I must keep taking small actions to offset the wickedness in the world.

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  3. It has been a very upsetting week, that's for sure. Did you or did you not LOVE the ending of Ordinary Grace? Such beautiful writing and wonderful characters, so human.

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  4. I hope you had a good view of the eclipse, Anne! We had 85% here - it was a bit overcast, but we still got to see something. :)

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  5. The Charlottesville/Trump situation is just beyond devastating. I feel the country is spiraling out of control so quickly.

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    1. Using Lord of the Flies as an example, I have long thought it doesn't take any time at all for everything to fall apart. It sure seems like he is on a record-breaking pace to wreck everything in our country.

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  6. Oh, I don't know how we can go on with HIM in the White House...what chaos follows him everywhere, and he is so narcissistic that he thinks his reality is the only one. He doesn't even realize that what he says and does is inappropriate. Or he doesn't care.

    I miss the "olden" days, sometimes, when all the things we had to worry about seem minor in comparison.

    I love Imagine! Thanks for sharing, and here are MY WEEKLY UPDATES


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