FiberTribe: Waving Not Drowning

Feed My Head 2010

Andrea Camilleri: The Wings of the Sphinx (Inspector Montalbano Mysteries)
The wonderful, irascible Inspector Montalbano of Vigata, Sicily is at it again. Did I mention he's wonderful? And there are 10 earlier ones in the series.
Ariana Franklin: The Serpent's Tale
The very wonderful Vesuvia Adelia Rachel Ortese Aguilar (prepare to die!) continues her work. Who knew that the wretched pit that is present day Salerno once housed an amazing and Europe-reknowned medical school? Where even women were allowed to become doctors...
Ariana Franklin: Mistress of the Art of Death
Wonderful. And amazing as a first novel. There are some inevitably cringe-worthy scenes (if you're going to be true to the middle ages) but Franklin's ability to bring those times to life is spot-on. And she is amazing with the first of the Plantagenets. Makes me want to jump his unsavory little bones.
Nicholas Blake: The Worm of Death
Vintage 1960 British murder mystery. Good if you'd like to learn quayside shipping vocabulary for the docks at Greenwich...
Kent Haruf: Where You Once Belonged
Well written but depressing. Very depressing. His others are better.
Kent Haruf: Eventide
the sequel, sort of, to the wonderful Plainsong. I know that he's the father someone related to a knitblogger I read regularly. She mentioned him one time and the prior book Plainsong. Who? dunno. I'm not sure I would have appreciated Haruf as much had I not moved to a small, rural town. Go find him. He's quietly wonderful.
Ray Kurzweil Ph.D.: Transcend: Nine Steps to Living Well Forever
Another state-of-the-research book from Kurzweil and the longevity physician, Terry Grossman. I liked Fantastic Voyage better, but for sheer quality of information relevant to our health today, it's hard to beat. You can get a free (but for the shipping cost) copy at Ray and Terry's, their website that sells the supplements key to the program. As they say, they don't care if you get the supplements from them or not, just get them, take them and make the lifestyle changes. Then we'll be around to benefit from the next geometric progression of the health research paradigm.
Mehmet Oz M.D.: Healing from the Heart: A Leading Heart Surgeon Explores the Power of Complementary Medicine
so far so good. the ego required to succeed in the star-system world of cardio-thoracic surgery is only minimally present at the half way point in this book. In his world this is no doubt radical, radical stuff. Interesting to see the highest towers of traditional western medicine allow alternative therapies in.
Diane Ackerman: The Zookeeper's Wife
Love Diane Ackerman. Just started this, I'll get back to you...
Dana Stabenow: Whisper to the Blood: A Kate Shugak Novel (Kate Shugak Novels)
Another keeper. All is not well in The Park. The Aunties have taken matters into their own hands. Be afraid. another bit of wonderfulness from Dana Stabenow. Once again I'll be tapping my fingers for another year till the next Kate Shugak mystery shows up. Sigh.
Byron Katie: A Thousand Names for Joy: Living in Harmony with the Way Things Are
Loving What Is continued on...tough Work but is there really a choice about it? heh.
Greg Mortenson: Three Cups of Tea: One Man's Mission to Promote Peace . . . One School at a Time
Alrighty, I'm late to this game but if you haven't read this, go forth and read it NOW. It's a wonderful tale and it's not over yet. As we ramp up the war in Afghanistan why not join the Dept. of Defense and do your required reading? As Rep. Mary Bono (yes, that one) says, you'll learn more about the region from this book than you will from months of Pentagon briefings. Go Dr. Greg!
Andrea Camilleri: August Heat
Camilleri's latest Inspector Montalbano mystery set in Sicilia. Just wonderful. Now I have to wait a year for the next one. Crap.
Janwillem van de Wetering: The Japanese Corpse (Soho crime)
Two Dutch cops sent to Kyoto to solve a murder in Amsterdam involving the Yakusa. Van de Wetering is a 'voice' like no other. He spent several years in a Zen monastery in Kyoto himself. The entire series has been re-issued by Soho Crime and is totally wonderful. And the cover design by Cheryl Cipriani is awesome. Yes, I'm a cover art ho.
Anthony Bourdain: Kitchen Confidential Updated Ed: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly (P.S.)
Alice Hoffman: Practical Magic
The hardback has an illustration taken from Dante Gabriel Rossetti's Proserpine. Much nicer. Hoffman's a great storyteller. And I always want her characters to go forward to the next book. But they never do. Go read this one anyway. You're welcome.
Tony Hillerman: The Mysterious West
This is a REALLY wonderful short story collection edited by Hillerman. Lord, I'm going to miss that man. All of the stories are set in the west or midwest, small towns and large. They're quirky and somewhat unexpected, especially relative to the usual work of the authors like J.A. Jance, Dana Stabenow (a bit darker), Lia Matera (chilling), etc. The true find for me is Wendy Hornsby. One of the best written stories, independent of genre, I've ever read. I've never read a more skillfully built exposition of the backstory built into the actual story. wow. I'm off to see what else of hers I can find.
Charles de Lint: The Wild Wood
Re-reading this bit of loveliness from de Lint. Among other things, it's about an artist who's lost her mojo. It's apropos given that I've re-started The Artist's Way by Julia Cameron.
Elizabeth A. Lynn: Chronicles of Tornor 3: The Northern Girl (Chronicles of Tornor)
Found this as I was repacking ancient boxes of books. It was written in the late 70s and is flat out wonderful. It's the third book of a trilogy (the 2nd one is Dancers of Arun) I highly recommend all of them. It's Fantasy with an incredibly drawn world worth of an Ursula LeGuin, deep and quirky characters, and stay-up-all-night story telling. go. find them.
Julia Cameron: The Artist's Way: A Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity [10th Anniversary Edition]
A birthday gift from the Gomez. Starting this once again after years of hiatus. Wonderful.

December 19, 2005

Waving Not Drowning

T minus 8 workdays and counting till liftoff from this mortal ~~orifice~~ office. I leave corporate life possibly forever. And now comes the sudden panic that I've left too much to the very end. I keep reminding myself to breathe and that what doesn't get done just won't be my problem any more.

And there's Christmas shopping and organizing the house, etc. Somehow I'm managing to hold on to a mellow spirit. I shopped on Saturday amidst all the chaos. I sauntered, I chilled, I kept visualizing everything flowing nicely along. And it did but for bookstores and electronics stores not stocking the desired presents. I was able to sneak in under the delivery (I hope) wire for some on-line purchases and must resign myself to being late on others. C'est la crazy vie, eh? And I really went out on a limb and ordered a dishwasher online. Including delivery 3 days before Christmas and 2 days before Noche Buena. When the ravening hordes descend to use every plate, cup, glass and utensil in the house. Stay tuned, peeps, I'll let you know whether this is a dream come true or a supremely naive and optimistic leap of faith. It was suggested to me that I just use paper plates and plastic cups. But hey, I'm a child of Earth Day and just can't bear that much waste. And dude, fine wine in plastic cups? Ew.

Knitting content? Heh. I have a scarf to knit and mail to NYC that clearly isn't going to make it before the Day. But does it count that I'm sending Latvian mittens out as presents? Nope, can't show you pictures till after, though. And one set is going out today unphotographed. The recipient DOES have a blog, hint, hint, and she will just have to cough up the pictures herself...heh.

And the camera cord never did turn up so I convinced a friend to part with an extra. Don't hold your breath but fresh pictures may soon appear in a blog near you. That is all from paradise.

Posted at 12:07 PM | Permalink

Comments

Oh, to be leaving the corporate world! I'm so envious today, I'm a festive Christmas Green.

Posted by: Catherine | December 19, 2005 at 05:37 PM

Paper plates *are* compostable, Earth Girl. Just sayin'. ;)

Posted by: Liz | December 20, 2005 at 03:17 PM

Waving and not even getting freakin' snowed on. BTW, I didn't take your cord. Did someone say mittens??????

P.S. Um...think of your gift as more of a New Year's pressie. Heh.

Posted by: Neena | December 20, 2005 at 03:54 PM

Welcome to life outside the corporate sphere! Does the delivery of the dishwasher include fitting? If not, at least there's somewhere to store all those plates and glasses...

Posted by: Mary | December 20, 2005 at 05:06 PM