Thanks for posting that, Catlady! I just gave it a quick perusal and I think I've read all but one. Now you're making me want to go back and start all over with them, in chronological order rather than in the order I originally read them in.
Chit Chat in VOLTVILLE Thread #2 :)
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Celtic, up until about 4 years ago, I had read every one of the "In Death" series, in order. So I've got 4-5 to look forward to. The sheer number of books written by Nora Roberts still catches me by surprise, sometimes. I know I've read dozens, but I still thoroughly go thru the titles each time I go to Goodwill, because I still, every once in a while, find one that I've never read. Have you read the Outlander series, by Diana Galbaldon?
No i haven't but I will check it out.
I'm always looking for new (to me) authors to read. 
The thing about "pleasure" reading is that it, generally, is an escape where you can learn something.
You are so right, awsum. When I was reading Sandy's entry about teaching her students how to pluralize words, I realized that it was pretty easy for me to get it right, simply because of the large number of books I'd already read by the time we covered that subject. I'm thinking the only alternative to my experience is brute memorization. Boring and tedious for children, but necessary if they wish to at least appear educated.
I used to imagine that it would be wonderful if I could make my living reading books, but eventually realized I would sorely resent being told what to read. I suspect that that bone-deep resentment of being told what is permissible to read or think or say is a very American trait. Too few of us treasure these basic rights that so many take for granted. And that so many others are determined to abolish.
The people that work in the publishing industry have my eternal gratitude; imagine if books were still something so expensive that only the richest people could afford them.
I used to imagine that it would be wonderful if I could make my living reading books, but eventually realized I would sorely resent being told what to read. I suspect that that bone-deep resentment of being told what is permissible to read or think or say is a very American trait. Too few of us treasure these basic rights that so many take for granted. And that so many others are determined to abolish.
The people that work in the publishing industry have my eternal gratitude; imagine if books were still something so expensive that only the richest people could afford them.
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I dunno, CL, I think most people resent being told what they can read, or hear for that matter. I suspect it's built into our gene pool, human gene pool, somehow
Somebody on another thread recommended her books. I have read all available at our library, and they are good.
Our librarian recommended Tracie Peterson's books, says they are popular among the Amish ladies. Getting into one, and it deals nicely with the realities of life and ethical issues. Interesting perspective.
CatLady, you have to realize that the boy I'm teaching plural rules to knows very little English. It's a lot easier when English is your first language, and you are taught to speak grammatically by your parents when you start learning to speak.
I find the toughest nuts to crack of the 4 kids I tutor are the ones that I began tutoring in 3rd grade. The earlier I get them, it seems, the better they'll catch on.
I only got the idea to teach plurals to the little one so early because his older siblings seem to still have trouble with them, still writing things like "the boy go here" or "the three cat." Not quite that basic, but you get the idea. And when they read aloud, they don't pronounce the s at the end of the word very often, and I repeatedly have to stop them and get them to say it.
The sound of th is another big stumbling block, and it's been a laughing matter with all the kids to get them to stick their tongue out between their teeth to say it. They often spray it instead of saying it in their attempts, and I wipe up a lot of saliva with tissues.
I have very vivid childhood memories, which I thought all people had till I asked people about theirs and realized most of their childhood was a blank. Why? I don't know. But I remember when I was three, some adult asking me how old I was, and I said, "Free." That person tried to correct me, but I remember being impatient and uncooperative. So when my kids do this, though they are a lot older than 3, I still understand how bothersome it is to speak correctly. Still, I know it's my job to get them to do it.
As for being told what to read when you are a freelance proofreader and copy editor, I could have refused to read a book. They would contact me and ask me if I could do a certain book. They would tell me the title, maybe sometimes the genre, how many pages long the manuscript or proofs were, and how long I'd have to do it in. I could then answer yes or no. If I got several offers at once, I could choose which book I wanted to work on and refuse the others. That didn't mean I got to read what I'd choose at the library, but I did have some minor control over what I read. Still, if all the choices weren't the great classics of world literature, I had to choose one, and often it was the price and the deadline that made me decide, not what I wanted to read but what I could in the time allowed, or who offered the highest hourly rate for doing it.
Actually, while I was doing this, I thought it was sort of interesting to have read a lot of books I'd never choose to read if I just went to the library. I got to read a lot of perspectives and genres I might have ignored, and I got to see trends in what people wanted to read at certain times over the years I was doing it. Those trends changed, and I noticed it, and it made me think why people's preferences were changing.
When I started freelancing, they gave me a bunch of soft porn westerns, one after the other, a series about a guy called Raider who moved from town to town, having a lurid affair with some woman in the town, a gunfight or fistfight or both, and then Raider moved on. Yech! But it was sort of fun when I was at cocktail parties, and someone would ask, "What do you do for a living?" and I could reply, "I read porno westerns." I loved the expressions I got!
So it wasn't all bad, and I never felt like my reading was being dictated more than anyone's life is being dictated by their job. I read what I got hired to read, and I could do it in whatever clothes I chose to wear at home, not having to dress up for the office or deal with company politics and all that nonsense, which I did deal with when I worked in-house before I went freelance.
From the other end, I worked at a publishing company for may years giving out that same freelance work I got, so I understood both sides of it. While I was giving out the work I had fussy readers who said they didn't want books with violence, excessive sex, spiders, aliens, etc. I couldn't read every book beforehand and vet it for these people, so I didn't assign work to them unless it was a Barbara Cartland romance. So when I freelanced, I vowed I'd never be one of these fussy people, and I took whatever came my way.
I hadn't thought about it that deeply; it sounds like you gained extra insight into what was affecting popular tastes and trends. So many of the people on this forum have led, and still lead, such interesting (to me, anyway) lives. I so enjoy the conversations I find here.
Porno westerns!
Porno westerns!
Very interesting, SandySu. Those soft porno books make me cringe but then again I close my eyes when people are getting too frisky in a movie, too. Yuck, people, get a room
Good morning, Voltmaniacs. I have a big day of shopping ahead. Plus, I will be going to the legislative sub-committee on water meeting for an hour or two. Some of my group is supposed to show up. We shall see. I'm leaving early and going to Home Depot, getting some donuts or breakfast and heading to the 9am meeting. Then, I still need to go do some shopping and errands. Maybe pick up a pizza for dinner on my way out of town so I don't have to cook tonight
Good morning, Voltmaniacs. I have a big day of shopping ahead. Plus, I will be going to the legislative sub-committee on water meeting for an hour or two. Some of my group is supposed to show up. We shall see. I'm leaving early and going to Home Depot, getting some donuts or breakfast and heading to the 9am meeting. Then, I still need to go do some shopping and errands. Maybe pick up a pizza for dinner on my way out of town so I don't have to cook tonight
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Very interesting, SandySu. Those soft porno books make me cringe but then again I close my eyes when people are getting too frisky in a movie, too. Yuck, people, get a room
Good morning, Voltmaniacs. I have a big day of shopping ahead. Plus, I will be going to the legislative sub-committee on water meeting for an hour or two. Some of my group is supposed to show up. We shall see. I'm leaving early and going to Home Depot, getting some donuts or breakfast and heading to the 9am meeting. Then, I still need to go do some shopping and errands. Maybe pick up a pizza for dinner on my way out of town so I don't have to cook tonight
We do too Lizzie. Or if a nudie scene pops up in a movie, say its a girl, fiance turns his head and if its a guy I turn mine. It'd really be nice if they didn't show tatas and booty in movies. I guess some folks out there enjoy that stuff but, blech!
The problem, in my feeble mind, with nudity in movies is that it becomes too easily sexualized in the watchers mind, and usually the scene as well. I guess I'm weird, but I look at the human body as something to appreciate, form, function and beauty. I can appreciate a male or female just on those attributes. I know, I'm weird.
Not so weird, awsum; I think we all have the necessary "wiring" to appreciate beauty, grace, and wherever we find it, as you said, "in form, function, and beauty" It is social mores that make others decide we're weird. They can have their say, and it won't impact my deep appreciation/satisfaction in observing the fantastic levels of accomplishment.
PS==all that said, I ust prefer
PS==all that said, I ust prefer
Healthy attitudes, I'm sure, awsum and catlady.
Got the eggs boiled and cooling for tater salad, got some of the pavers unloaded for the side of the shade cover. Taking a break until later on that.
Big plans to keep cooking, cleaning and finishing up the details in the back yard for the BBQ tomorrow. Gosh, I would love to have all of the Voltpeeps here. That would be so fun.
Good morning, Voltmaniacs.
Wonderful BBQ. Everyone had a good time. Had just about the right amount of food and the food turned out good. The smoked turkey was excellent. A couple of people showed up that I didn't think would come. It was worth all the effort!
Wonderful BBQ. Everyone had a good time. Had just about the right amount of food and the food turned out good. The smoked turkey was excellent. A couple of people showed up that I didn't think would come. It was worth all the effort!
'afternoon, Voltatics.
I now you're busy with your BBQ (wish I was there!), Lizzie, but when you get a chance how'd the water meeting work out?
We went to have dinner with an old friend yesterday, lobster, grilled veggies, corn on the cob, salads, gnashies, and apple strudel for dessert. Way more than either of us normally eat plus we were up pretty late for us, especially on a Saturday when we're both up at zero dark thirty, so we're both kind of dragging today.
I decided to look into alternatives for my cell service as well. I really use a cell phone as a phone and wanted to move my old GZ-One Rock to a new service, but it's a Verizon phone so that won't work. Instead I looked around and found a "ruggedized" smart phone, Samsung Galaxy Rugby Pro, used and "unlocked" for $60. Yeah, it's not the latest and greatest but since it's, more or less, an experiment for me and I'm not a big fan of surfing the web on a tiny screen anyway, seems to be fine. It came in on Friday and looks brand new.
I got service from Consumers Cellular, being a retired, old, geezer for about half what I'm paying Verizon. Plus that includes data while the Verizon service is voice only, data by the megabyte isn't very appealing. Anyhow, I had to manually enter my contacts, which was a bit of a pain, and create an appropriate APN profile for Consumers Cellular (that give the data connection), but it wasn't all that bad.
If coverage works out well I'll port my old number onto the new phone and shut down Verizon in a few weeks. Since they're buying air time from AT&T I really don't expect any coverage problems.
I now you're busy with your BBQ (wish I was there!), Lizzie, but when you get a chance how'd the water meeting work out?
We went to have dinner with an old friend yesterday, lobster, grilled veggies, corn on the cob, salads, gnashies, and apple strudel for dessert. Way more than either of us normally eat plus we were up pretty late for us, especially on a Saturday when we're both up at zero dark thirty, so we're both kind of dragging today.
I decided to look into alternatives for my cell service as well. I really use a cell phone as a phone and wanted to move my old GZ-One Rock to a new service, but it's a Verizon phone so that won't work. Instead I looked around and found a "ruggedized" smart phone, Samsung Galaxy Rugby Pro, used and "unlocked" for $60. Yeah, it's not the latest and greatest but since it's, more or less, an experiment for me and I'm not a big fan of surfing the web on a tiny screen anyway, seems to be fine. It came in on Friday and looks brand new.
I got service from Consumers Cellular, being a retired, old, geezer for about half what I'm paying Verizon. Plus that includes data while the Verizon service is voice only, data by the megabyte isn't very appealing. Anyhow, I had to manually enter my contacts, which was a bit of a pain, and create an appropriate APN profile for Consumers Cellular (that give the data connection), but it wasn't all that bad.
If coverage works out well I'll port my old number onto the new phone and shut down Verizon in a few weeks. Since they're buying air time from AT&T I really don't expect any coverage problems.
Geez! I wrote that yesterday and never posted it! Senior moment or an interruption? Can't remember, LOL.
Too funny, awsum.
We need to put away the tables and chairs from the BBQ and freeze some leftovers. Then, head to Fallon to take care of several items at the DMV.
'moanin, Voltaticalytes.
There be puppies!
That's mommy's leg in the center. They're sure tiny, about three days old in this photo.
This one has the most even coloring.
But I kind of like the coloring on this one. The darker area on the back and darker ears add some character. Again, that's mommy's leg and a little of her jowls in the photo. Really hard to believe that they'll be over 100 pounds in a year.
There be puppies!
That's mommy's leg in the center. They're sure tiny, about three days old in this photo.
This one has the most even coloring.
But I kind of like the coloring on this one. The darker area on the back and darker ears add some character. Again, that's mommy's leg and a little of her jowls in the photo. Really hard to believe that they'll be over 100 pounds in a year.
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