Good Pals

A common occurrence around here!  But don't be deceived by the picture - Buster (the cat) is so much closer to the camera than Buddy (the dog) that he looks almost as big.  But Buddy weighs 85 pounds, while Buster weighs 12 pounds.

Lost in the City by Edward P. Jones

I had told my son about listening to an audio book, The Known World, by this author, so he loaned my this collection of short stories.  He knows that I'm not too fond of short stories, but he thought that since I'd enjoyed Jones's other book, I might enjoy this one (plus, since he writes short stories, he's trying to convert me).  I had read several of the stories last year when he loaned it to me, and then put it aside.  I kept thinking I'd get back to it and didn't.  But since my son and daughter-in-law are coming for a visit next month, I finally had an incentive to finish it.  I'm still not too fond of short stories.  And modern short stories seem to be just a snippet in time with no definitive ending.  That was true of these stories.  I rate it 2 out of 5.  It was my seventh book for the Off the Shelf Reading Challenge (my goal was five books, but I'm not going to stop).

All Other Nights by Dara Horn

Jacob Rappaport, a Jewish soldier in the Union Army, enlisted in 1861 to escape an arranged marriage, never understanding that he could have said no.  This lack of knowledge that he could say no is a recurrent theme throughout the book.   After serving for a year, his commanders send him to New Orleans to murder his uncle, who is believed to be a Confederate spy.  After this mission, he is sent to Virginia to pursue another enemy agent.  But this time, his mission is not to murder the agent, but to marry her.  Jacob matures by the end of the book, which I enjoyed and found to be well written.  It was my third book for both the US Civil War Reading Challenge and the I Want More Book Challenge.  I rate it 4 out of 5.

21 Days of Gratitude - Day 12

Nature - Color Drop Flower class by Martha Lever.

21 Days of Gratitude - Days 10 & 11

Treasure Hunt - Busy weekend.

21 Days of Gratitude - Day 9

Three Things - What inspired me, brought me happiness, and brought me comfort and deep peace.

Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov

This was my book club's selection for May.  I finished it on the 8th, but put off writing my review, hoping for enlightenment at our meeting on the 20th.  That didn't happen.  Many of the members (including me) found the book disturbing; some didn't finish it.

According to Wikipedia:

Lolita is a novel by Vladimir Nabokov, first written in English and published in 1955 in Paris and 1958 in New York, and later translated by the author into Russian. The book is internationally famous for its innovative style and infamous for its controversial subject: the protagonist and unreliable narrator, middle-aged Humbert Humbert, who becomes obsessed and sexually involved with a 12-year-old girl named Dolores Haze.

The novel is a tragicomedy narrated by Humbert, who riddles the narrative with word play and his wry observations of American culture. His humor provides an effective counterpoint to the pathos of the tragic plot. The novel's flamboyant style is characterized by double entendres, multilingual puns, anagrams, and coinages such as nymphet, a word that has since had a life of its own and can be found in most dictionaries, and the lesser used "faunlet." One of the novel's characters, "Vivian Darkbloom", is an anagram of the author's name.

As mentioned above, while I was disturbed by the book, I also recognized that it was well written.  Although I often didn't "get" the word play, and I was very annoyed by the fact that there were whole passages in French with no translation.  So I can't really say that I liked the book or that I would recommend it.  I rate it 2 out of 5.

21 Days of Gratitude - Day 8

Family - my fur family that is.

21 Days of Gratitude - Day 7

Music - this page is dedicated to my DH.

21 Days of Gratitude - Day 6

A Special Place - my home. I took the bottom photo about 4 years ago. I made the quilt as a wedding gift for my son and daughter-in-law, who celebrated their 4th anniversary yesterday.

21 Days of Gratitude - Day 5

Today You Are You.

Book Giveaway

The same blogger I blogged about yesterday (Tee from Green Isles Crafts) with the class giveaway is also giving away a book (generous, isn't she?).  The blog post that describes the book and giveaway is here.  Good luck if you decide to enter!

Class Giveaway

I just read about an online class that looks pretty fun, called Rustic Journal Workshop; and the teacher is giving away one scholarship.  You can read all about the class, and even see a brief video, here.  Someone is going to be really lucky to win the scholarship - maybe it will be you (or me).

21 Days of Gratitude - Days 3 & 4

Combined two days onto one page. I used Distress (rubber stamping) Inks for my background.

21 Days of Gratitude - Day 2

I wet the whole page, then painted several colors of watercolor on. While it was still fairly wet, I spattered some more paint on. Once it was dry, I added my writing.

21 Days of Gratitude - Day 1

I started another online class yesterday - 21 Days of Gratitude - with Donna Mulholland of Creativity Matters. I found this quote for day 1 (I don't know who Epictetus is, but that's who said this). I used my new Daniel Smith masking fluid to draw squiggly lines and dots, then painted over it once it dried. I removed the masking fluid and wrote the quote.

This is also for the Sketchbook Challenge, whose May theme is Can't Resist This.

Iris

We have irises scattered over our yard. Of all of the ones we have, this is my favorite color. My DH picked 4 for me today, so I had to paint one. It's much better than the one I painted last year (here). However, it was even better before I decided the lower right petal needed to be darkened (watercolor is so touchy!). But all in all, I'm quite pleased with it.

This is also for the Sketchbook Challenge (current month's theme Can't Resist This) because irises are one of my favorite flowers - I can't resist them!

Imaginary Trip to New Orleans - Mardi Gras World

Who could resist this laughing jester outside Mardi Gras World. We didn't make it inside on this trip, but that's just one more reason to come back.

And no, I'm not really in New Orleans; I'm on an Imaginary Trip with Laure Ferlita.

Imaginary Trip to New Orleans - Crescent City Connection

On our last night in New Orleans, we did a jazz and dinner cruise on the Creole Queen! I arrived a few minutes early and decided to sketch the bridge. This has been a wonderful trip, and I really hate to see it end.

And no, I'm not really in New Orleans; I'm on an Imaginary Trip with Laure Ferlita.

Imaginary Trip to New Orleans - Street Performers

This street musician was concentrating so hard on her music, which was amazing.

And no, I'm not really in New Orleans. I'm on an imaginary trip with Laure Ferlita.

Imaginary Trip to New Orleans - Masquerade

The masks were awesome - I couldn't resist this beauty.

And no, I'm not really in New Orleans. I'm on an imaginary trip with Laure Ferlita.

Imaginary Trip to New Orleans - Hidden Gems

Journaling reads, "This is just one example of the many courtyards we discovered as we walked around the French Quarter. They provide welcome relief from the heat and humidity that plagues the city for much of the year. We saw lush greenery, comfortable-looking patio furniture . . . and locked gates. I so wanted to sneak in, sit awhile, sketch a little, and enjoy an ice-cold lemonade, but sadly, that was not to be. But I still enjoyed looking."

And no, I'm not really in New Orleans. I'm on an imaginary trip with Laure Ferlita.

Imaginary Trip to New Orleans - Pierre Maspero's

Journaling reads, "What a lot of fun we all had! Laughing and talking all at once and telling stories. And the food here - DELICIOUS! I arrived 20 minutes early - not much time, but all the plants were so wild and free. A little hard to believe this place started out as the Slave Exchange. That's a sobering thought."

And no, I'm not really in New Orleans. I'm on an imaginary trip with Laure Ferlita.

Sketchbook Challenge - Branching Out

I finally had a chance to do my journal page for the current month's theme for the Sketchbook Challenge, which is Branching Out. This is supposed to be a weeping willow tree - not sure that it looks like a weeping willow, but at least maybe it looks like a tree! LOL!

Abundance - A Novel of Marie Antoinette by Sena Jeter Naslund

I didn't know a lot about Marie Antoinette before reading this book.  I knew she was the queen of France during the French Revolution, and I knew that when she was told her people were starving, she supposedly said, "If they have no bread, then let them eat cake."  It turns out that Marie Antoinette never said that - it was said a hundred years earlier by the wife of Louis XIV rather than Louis XVI.

Marie Antoinette was the fifteenth child of Empress Maria Theresa of Austria, and she was fourteen years old when she was sent to France to marry fifteen year old Louis Auguste, who became Louis XVI four years later (in 1774).  It was interesting to read about the extravagant lifestyle of the royalty (financed primarily by taxes on the poor); it was easy to see why the people were starving.  But over time, as Marie Antoinette matured, she became much more sensitive to the plight of her people and actually tried to economize.  This was a sympathetic portrait of the woman behind the legend, and I enjoyed it very much.  It was my 3rd book for the 2nds Reading Challenge 2011 (the first book by this author that I read was Ahab's Wife; my review of it is here) and my 6th book for the Off the Shelf Reading Challenge 2011.  I rate this book 4 out of 5.

Wildflower Delight

I finally finished my quilt that I designed in Jane Sassaman's class (Abstracting from Nature) in January. I'm really pleased with it. I used the photo below as inspiration.

Garden Turtle

Another page I did while visiting friends out of town. They actually had 3 of these turtles - I wanted to take this one home (but I also wanted to be invited back next year, so I didn't take him!).  I did this in ink - no pencil first.

Morel & Hellebore

One of the pages I did while visiting friends out of town. We only found one morel the week we were there - and it was a bit past its prime. The hellebore (also called Christmas Rose) was blooming and some of the blooms (like this one) were a light green. You don't see many green flowers.

A Room With a View by E.M. Forster

Lucy Honeychurch, a young Englishwoman, goes to Italy with her prim cousin, Miss Bartlett, acting as chaperone.  While staying at a pensione in Florence, she meets George Emerson, an Englishman she is attracted to, but whom is considered unsuitable.  After Lucy returns to England, she accepts the marriage proposal of a more suitable but stuffy man she has known for a number of years.  It is a satirical look at the manners of the time and I found it to be quite entertaining. This is the second book by E.M. Forster that I have read; my first book was A Passage to India.  This book was lighter in tone than A Passage to India, and I enjoyed it a bit more (although I liked A Passage to India as well, and I liked the look into the British attitude towards and treatment of Indians in that book).  One similarity between the two books was that there was an "incident" in both that was considered shocking at the time but would be considered trivial to us today.  This is my second book for the 2nds Challenge 2011 and my book club's current selection.  I rate it 4 out of 5.

Backyard Birdbath

We stopped in Little Rock to visit one set of friends on our way to Tennessee to visit another set of friends. This birdbath is in their backyard, visible from their kitchen window.