"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, October 3, 2021

Sunday Salon --- First Sunday in October


Weather: In transition. Yesterday and the day before the sun was out, the sky was blue, and the last nice weather of the year was glorious. Earlier in the week, it was cold and rainy. It is raining today. We are transitioning to Fall weather. The flowers are the happiest they've been all summer as the weather cools. I guess it was too hot for them all summer.

Fair Day: For Ian's fourth birthday we gave him tickets to go to the Western Washington Fair with us. Then he and his family got COVID and they had to quarantine for ten days. Just off quarantine on that Friday we whisked him off for a fun day of baby pigs, petting zoo, a musical adaptation of Cinderella, the Hall of Heroes, and rides! We all had a blast. The collage above is highlights from our day.

No Sunday Salon last week: We were down in Oregon last weekend for a football game. I thought we'd get home with plenty of time to make a Sunday post. Then we had to make an emergency stop at an urgent care medical facility as my husband got sick. He's OK now, thank goodness, but we got home much later than I expected. (One of the highlights of the game was when our mascot dressed up as one of those swingy things that attract attention at businesses. I hope you can view it.)


Books:

  • Completed (since Sept. 18th):
    • The Plot by Jean Hantz Korelitz. Don and I listened to this audiobook together. It has a plot twist that you won't see coming. Wow! 
    • Mary Jane by Jessica Anya Blau. The blogosphere is chattering about this coming-of-age story set in the 1970s but I would recommend you read it. 3 out of 5 stars. E-book.
    • The Souvenir Museum by Elizabeth McCracken. I loved the stories in this collection. Most of them were populated with quirky, oddball people. I found quite a bit to laugh about in them. Click on the title hyperlink to read my review. Audiobook.
    • The Hours by Michael Cunningham. Another past Pulitzer Prize winner. Of the six books I read for this challenge this summer, this one is my favorite. Click hyperlink for my review. Print.
    • We Begin at the End by Chris Whitaker. A crime thriller, coming-of-age, love story, western. We are reading this one for an upcoming book club. Audiobook.
    • This is Your Time by Ruby Bridges. A children's/junior book written by the woman who was once the little girl that desegregated her school in the 1950s. I picked it up from the little library outside a home in a nearby town. The little library was dedicated to justice and equity issues. Print.
  • Currently reading:
    • The Moment of Lift: How Empowering Women Changes the World by Melinda Gates. For an upcoming book club. Print, 5% completed.
    • The Brilliant Life of Eudora Honeysett by Annie Lyons. Another book club selection. Audiobook. 7% completed.
    • The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde. Classic. E-Book. 5%.

Some other things you might want to read this week:

  • I am fascinated and horrified by how anti-science so many people are right now.  This list on BuzzFeed is of 22 Anti-vaxxers who had their bad excuses taken apart. (Very funny, but also eye-rolling stuff.) Link here.
  • The Dunning-Kruger effect: People who have the least amount of knowledge have the most confidence. It appears this is what is happening today with anti-vaxxers who think they know more than scientists and experts.

  •  Cool things companies are doing to suck up excessive CO2 that is warming our planet. This gives me hope. (Reasons to Me Cheerful)

Funnies of the week:

We have a cat and a dog. I love them both. But this is true, for sure. 😅

 
We just did a test ride in the new Ford F-150 Lightning electric pickup truck. No tailpipe!





And the cat photos, of course:

Work from home? No problem. Er.r., one problem.

The golden boys enjoying the remains of the day.




-Anne