Slouching into Podcasting

I'll admit I'm a bit of a geek.  But I've had some trouble getting interested in podcasting.  Late last night, though, as I was trying to work out strategies for my latest online classes, I took a tour of the Internet and discovered a site called WildVoice Studio.

The software they offer is free to download, and they also offer space on their site to upload podcasts and make them available to anyone who wants to listen to them.  I've recorded two lectures for my freshman composition and literature class, and recorded them badly, but I'm learning how to use music and sound clips.  I can record my presentations for my podcasts and take that MP3 file, turn on my Dragon Naturally Speaking software, play the file, and automatically "type" a lecture I've already posted.  That way, my students can have an audio and text copy of my lecture.

I'm still a little new to this podcasting game, but I think, if I can get organized, I'll be able to learn what I need to know to do more professional podcasts.  My English 115 class online will be my guinea pigs.  I hope they don't mind.

Hello, Gustav!

Technorati Tags: Gustav,wind,trees

The wind is gusting, and the rain is falling, so I guess that means Gustav is here.  I'm sure this is not the worst of it.

I picked up a few small limbs this morning when the wind started, and I'm keeping an eye on all of these large trees in my yard and my neighbor's yard, too, since their limbs often fall into my yard.  I have one huge limb down in the back; it fell about a week ago after another rainstorm. I decided to wait until Gustav did its damage before I began sawing that one up. 

I just hope the electricity holds out and the water drains away.

Batten down the hatches!  Anchors Away!

*****

I think I'm going to sleep in the hall closet tonight.  The rain doesn't scare me, but the wind does. 

I love my tall, old trees, but, when the wind gusts up to 30mph, they're frightening.  Reminds me of the trees in the Haunted Forest in "The Wizard of Oz."

The Anniversary

Three years ago, the Friday before Labor Day, I signed the papers on my house.  Three years ago, the Saturday before Labor Day, I sat on my new front porch, without electricity or gas in the house, watching Hurricane Rita pound my new yard into a lake.  Today, I'm typing this, waiting for Gustav to wreak havoc, just as Katrina and Rita did three years ago.

The more things change, the more they stay the same.  My family has been getting phone calls from other family in New Orleans and in Houston; they're making contingency plans in case they need to flee (again).  In Katrina, we lost a great uncle at St. Rita's Nursing Home.  We nearly lost my father's sister, her husband, and their oldest son, our cousin.  They were trapped in their attic when the levee broke down in Violet, LA.  David, my cousin, takes medicine for seizures; he had to be air lifted to Lafayette with his mother.  My uncle ended up in Texas.  It took us a while to find everyone and bring them back together.  I wouldn't be surprised to find out that many, many people still haven't been reunited with all of their family members.

I'm watching the skies and checking my hurricane tracking map regularly.  I mowed the grass today because I wasn't sure when or if I'd be able to do it next week.  Besides, it was knee-high (and I'm not kidding).  I didn't have to mow it at all in July because of the drought, but the recent rains pushed it up.  I don't mind doing it since I bought the riding mower last year.  I can mow this near-acre quickly and meditate while I'm getting it done.

*******

I was so looking forward to a two-day workweek (Well, really, I work every day.  I mean I only had to go into the college two days a week).  I was excited, because I could save on gas.  This summer, I made maybe 10 trips to town because I taught on line.

This is what I get for being so smug.  Our department has had two professors knocked off their feet--one because of a car accident and a seizure, the other because of an operation that needs a re-do.  The department needed seven classes covered.  Of course, I was asked to take one of them.  And it's not a good idea, when you're on a year-to-year contract to say, "No."  So, I said, "Yes."  Now I will be driving into town four days a week, just as I did during the spring semester.  Sigh!  One day...

On the upside, when the college or university calls a meeting on a day I wasn't supposed to be on campus (usually on a Monday or Wednesday), I'll be going that way at some point anyway.  And I do get paid a bit extra for the overload, which is nice.  But, with five classes (two on line, four of them writing classes), I'm wondering when I'll have time to work at the bookstore (or sleep, even).  But, I've done this before; I can do it again.  And the grass doesn't need to be mowed in the winter, usually, so I can knock that chore off my list.

When I'm tempted to complain, I think about that day three years ago, when I sat on the porch of my new home and wondered if I'd ever see my New Orleans' relatives again.  I'm grateful for what I have and what I can do.

Trying out a new program

I received a new program today called Dragon Naturally Speaking.  I think it would be easier for  me to just type. This program does work well in Word and I can open programs from my desktop with voice commands, but I think I can type faster with less aggravation. For example, I sometimes have to give up talking and type what I mean because I can't get the program to type exactly what I'm saying . It can be very confusing.  I'm sure that's just the learning curve, and, once I get used to it, I'll be fine.

One other problem I have is that I had to tell the program where to insert punctuation, which is not hard when I'm typing, but I have trouble remembering that when I'm talking.  I also have to tell it when to capitalize letters within a sentence, and I have to speak very clearly and slowly for the software to catch everything I say.

For the most part, I'm starting to get used to it, and I think once I get used to dictating instead of typing, I could become quite spoiled.  This could also help me avoid carpal tunnel syndrome since I spend so much time on the computer.

I'll keep you posted on my progress with the software and let you know if it's worth the money I paid for it.

And the Madness Begins...

Also known as the beginning of the semester!  Things get frantic for about two weeks, then we all settle in.  The beginning of the semester energizes me and gets me back into a routine--well, a different routine.

The summer--where did it go?  I planned to do so much and didn't.  Sigh...my gardens almost withered and blew away because of the heat and drought.  Now they are green again because of all the rain.  I haven't mowed the grass in a month--didn't need to because it was brown.  Now it's green and knee-high, so I'll chug out the lawn tractor and cut it all down.

I have a huge limb on the back fence--of course, it's not my fence, and the limb came from the neighbor's tree.  I'll have to get back there and cut it to pieces, but I'll need help getting it completely into my yard.  The fence will need mending--again, not my fence, not my problem.  The burn pile is huge.  As soon as the wood dries out, I'll have an immense bonfire.  Somebody bring the marshmallows!

I'm going to try to enjoy my last weekend of vacation, but I've already made contact with a few students--the early birds.  They are the ones who get a head start on the semester and help me get back into teaching mode. 

I promise to blog more.  My students will be reading and I'll need to have some fresh posts for them.  And I'll take pictures of anything remotely fascinating.  Things have been quiet here, thankfully. 

And here comes more rain...

What I did on my summer vacation...

I started looking over my posts and realized I didn't say much about my trip to Austin--my "actual" vacation, though I have been home all summer.

Well, besides the trauma of the drive to Austin, everything else went well.  My sister, Lydia, came in.  Her birthday is the day before mine, so we celebrated together.  Her son goes to UT and is working in Austin over the summer.  We met up at Oasis, a nice restaurant on Lake Travis, the day I arrived.  Oasis is up in the mountains outside of Austin, and the drive there and back scared me--twisty turny roads, steep inclines.  But the views had me dropping my jaws.  We ate outside on one of the decks with an astounding view of the lake and the homes on top of the mountain, as well as those nearer the lake.

On my sister's birthday, she, her friend Pam, and I went lampshade shopping and then we went to see "Mama Mia" at the Alamo Draft House.  My daughter used to work there (she's worked everywhere, really).  The Alamo serves food, so you can eat and watch the movie.  It's a silly, funny movie.  I love ABBA's music, so I had a good time.

We later went to see the bats come out from under the Sixth Street Bridge.  I've seen them before from the shore, but this time we were on a boat.  Spectacular.  I took some video, but it's kind of shaky.  I kept swooping the camera when I should have kept it still.

On my birthday, my daughter cooked dinner, and we stayed up talking late into the night.  Lydia came sans her friend; she needed a break.

On the Friday after my birthday, my son took us to see "The Dark Knight" at the IMax theater in Austin.  What a rush!  I had to close my eyes a couple of times because the IMax scenes made me dizzy.  But the movie was awesome.  Daniel, my son, and I sat up for a while talking about the role of the hero in modern life--well, we just dissected the hero's place in the world.  "The Dark Knight" got it right.

I stayed a day later than I planned, but that was fine.  We needed a day when we didn't have to go anywhere or do anything unless we wanted to.  Dan and I gave in to our meat cravings--we grabbed some burgers and watched "Pirates of the Caribbean--At World's End."

The trip home, as I've already mentioned, was a snap.  I didn't take any wrong turns, and I made it home in six hours exactly--and I stopped once for gas and eats.

With gas prices so high, more than one trip would have been too expensive.  Gas cost me almost $180, which is way more than it used to cost.  I'd love to travel more, but, until prices level off, I'll just use email and the phone.

Technorati Tags: vacation,Austin,birthdays

End of Summer Semester...

But that doesn't mean I can goof off.  I have to get my fall courses up and running well before August 25th, so I'll be working steadily for the next couple of weeks.

Other than grading papers, averaging grades, and working on fall courses, I haven't been doing much.  My poor gardens are in dreadful shape because I was gone for six days, and, obviously, they didn't get much natural watering.  I'm trying to nurse them back, but I think some of the vegetable garden is unsalvageable.  I'll be ripping up a bunch of it and replanting for fall.

I've been using Windows Live Writer for my blog posts, and it works well.   It's good for writing offline for later posting and for typing a blog without getting online.  Uploading to a supported blog program is a snap.  And, if you have other blogs that this program supports, you can post to all of them (one blog at a time, but you don't have to type different posts).  It doesn't work with MySpace, though, and some other blog programs make posting pictures difficult.

Speaking of pictures, here are two pictures of my daughter's "Dollhouse."

This is a front view.  The next view is of the interior.  Look at the paneling that Pete (her boyfriend) put around the lower half of the ground floor.

The picture is fuzzy because I took it through a closed window.

The Dollhouse has two lofts for beds or storage and is quite roomy, really.  With the built-in shelves, Dorothy can get quite a bit in it.

Notice the Adirondack chairs on the "porch."  She rescued those from someone's trash pile (along with a matching table), refinished them, and repaired them.  They're comfortable, too.

With a space heater or a wood burning stove, she should be warm, and, with a fan and opened windows, she stays quite cool in the summer, even on the hottest days. 

We're trying to get Pete to help her build another one with air conditioning so my sister and I can extend our visits!

Oh, and let me say that the return trip went much better.  Springdale to 290 to 95 to 79 to 7/84.  Piece of cake!  And my house didn't suffer much damage at all from the four cats locked inside, so I guess they made their peace.  But, as soon as I opened the door, they all went out!

Technorati Tags: dollhouse,grades,cats,driving

Beautiful Things...

Pete, my daughter's boyfriend, made a cutting board and a trivet for me today. The trivet could be used as a small cutting board, also. I didn't mean for him to do that. All I asked him to do was trim a couple of pieces of scrap wood so I could make a trivet when I got home.

Pete installs floors for a living. From what I've seen of his work, he's a fine craftsman. He installed a Brazilian mahogany floor in my daughter's kitchen--all "reclaimed" wood--and he put down a floor in her "dollhouse" and paneled the lower walls. He also built her a plant table for the kitchen (she's helped with all of this).

As part of his job, he has to take up the old floors before he puts in the new ones, and he tries to reclaim as much wood as possible. As a result, he's stockpiled enough lumber to build a small village. Most of it would have been burned or ended up in a landfill--what a waste. He's also reclaimed tile--enough to tile the bathroom floor at Dot and Dan's house with a surplus.

Here's the cutting board, waxed and ready to go (with a great view of my son's leg!):

I have a close up, but it's kind of fuzzy and doesn't do justice to the piece. And the batteries in my camera have played out, so I'll take another close up when I get home and install fresh batteries. I'll take a picture of the trivet as soon as I wax it. The cutting board combines white oak, some Spanish wood I can't pronounce, mahogany, and purple heart wood. The trivet combines walnut and purple heart wood. I almost don't want to cut or put anything on them because they are too beautiful.

Here's another view:

You can see the purple heart wood well in this picture.

I'm hauling a stack of things home. I brought a carload with me, but I didn't think I'd have so much going back. I have some sheetrock, drywall screws, a post for the garden my sister and I are building, some large coffee sacks, and assorted scraps of wood for other projects. I also have a lampshade, some fabric, seeds and compostable trash bags that I can't seem to find anywhere else. Seems silly to drive to Austin to haul stuff back, but, when the stuff is free, and I can have a good time while I'm getting it, why not?

Stuck Inside of Conroe with the Texas Blues Again...

Technorati Tags: Conroe,Driving,Austin,cats

Sorry, Bob!  I had to use my version of your song title.

So, what should have been a nice, six-hour drive turned into a nerve-wracking adventure in navigation.  One wrong turn in Albuquerque (as Bugs Bunny would say...) and I almost ended up in Houston.  Thanks to some nice people, I managed to correct my course and get into Austin without driving on an Interstate.

I know where I went wrong.  Nacogdoches, Texas.  The sign for Highways 7 and 59 are together.  Hwy 7 goes straight while Hwy 59 goes left.  I turned left.

If I can prevent it, I will NEVER drive in Conroe, Texas, again!  Sure, it's seven lanes of perfect highway with a speed limit of 60mph.  But every 1/2 mile is a traffic signal.  Can't use the cruise control, can't get momentum.  Just start, stop, start, stop.  And that town goes on FOREVER, straight into some little burb named Montgomery. 

But, once I got to Elgin, all was well.  Hwy 290 takes me straight to Springdale, which is the street I need to turn on to get to my kids' house.  Only took me an hour-and-a-half extra and used about the same amount of gas.  But I've never been so happy to reach my destination in my life!  And I managed to circumnavigate Hutto, Round Rock, and I-35--a plus in my book. 

And, while I plan to enjoy myself while I'm here, I can't wait to see the damage my cats do to the house while I'm gone.  I locked all of them inside--don't want any of them to disappear while I'm gone.  I figured out how to leave them enough food and water for at least five days, and I cleaned out the litter boxes before I left.  Unfortunately, my cats don't like one another much, so territory will be an issue.  I expect that they'll pull down half the curtains, at least.  I tried to move all breakable objects, but, with cats, that's an impossibility.  They'll find something to break.  And one of them may figure out how to open a door.  Yikes!  I'll have dreams about this until I get home.

A Lazy Morning

I've been trying to change my "wake-up" habits this summer.  I used to get up, turn on the news, start the coffee, and feed the cats.  Then I'd watch the news and become thoroughly disgusted with the state of the world.

I've begun a new routine.  I still start the coffee and feed the cats--but these days, I take my coffee out to the back yard and sit in one of my Adirondack chairs.  I watch the birds, visit the gardens, and just "wake up" for about an hour before I try to do anything productive.  It's my meditation time.

I feel better.  I'm not as wrought up with what's going on, though I don't ignore the world.  I just delay its impact on me by spending some time observing my small corner of it.

This morning, I took some (fuzzy) pictures of the sunflowers, zinnias, bougainvillea and the one eggplant that's growing.  The sunflowers haven't developed seeds yet, but those are coming, I'm sure.  The zinnias are pretty, too.

I have a whole row of sunflowers along this fence piece, and I'll take another picture as soon as the rest of them begin to bloom.

I noticed, too, this morning that the hummingbirds chase the other birds as well as each other.  One hummingbird chased a cardinal up a tree.  That's tenacity. 

The zinnias are about the same color--a kind of pinkish-purple, very much like the bougainvillea, so they complement each other.

I've never been very good with flowers--well, to be truthful, I'm a neglectful gardener.  I like to plant things and leave them alone, so no-fuss plants are best for me. I probably shouldn't try to grow vegetables, but I can't help myself.  I just love vegetable gardens and the "fruits" of my labor.

Oh, and no peaches from my tree this year.  I went to pick the three I had, and the ants came streaming out.  I think I'll have to treat the bark in the spring to keep the ants off the tree.

And here is my lone eggplant.  I do have a few more about to open, but this one is well on its way to harvest.  And I noticed that the okra is finally producing.  It's been just standing there all summer.  I guess it just had to hit its stride.

The tomatoes are finally producing, but I'll have to wait until I come back from Austin to pick any of them.  By the end of August, I might actually have some vegetables!  I won't wait so late to plant next spring.

Trying a New Program for Writing on My Blog

I'm writing this with Windows Live Writer, which you can download free.  This program allows you to write your blog while you are offline and will upload it to your blog.

It also helps with uploading pictures, maps, video, tables and hyperlinks.  I'll experiment with it and let you know what I think.

A garden picture.

Garden Update

I went out this morning to take a look at the back yard gardens (haven't made it to the front yet). Some of the tomatoes needed staking. I hate pounding stakes in--I've done two like that, but I decided to try to make tomato cages out of some of the tree limbs I've been stacking up. I have an abundance of those. The best part is I don't have to hammer them into the ground! So, here's a picture.

I've made three of them. The one in the foreground is really for the butternut squash. They seem to be vining squash, not bush squash as the yellow squash are. But I tied a tomato plant to that tripod, too, so it's serving double duty.

I also had this great limb that I tied to the cucumber trellis to give the vines more to cling to. I wrapped some of the tendrils around it to give it a nudge. I've included a picture of that, too.

I checked on the "fence" garden. The sunflowers are about to bloom, and I'll post a picture when those are ready. I took a picture of them today, but it's hard to see the flower heads. The zinnas open striped, but turn into a beautiful light purple with a red and yellow center. The purslane is spreading all over, which I want. And I've been able to dig it up and plant it in other gardens.

I have cucumbers, eggplant, yellow squash, bell pepper and tomato fruits coming out. I probably won't be able to pick any of it until the end of July, but at least it's growing. The okra just seems to be hanging around; the watermelon, corn and cantaloupe seem to be doing something, but I only have one tiny ear of corn and a host of flowers on the melons. Probably too early, really, to expect anything.

I'm having some difficulty regulating the watering. I haven't hit on a good schedule yet, but I think I'm going to a Monday-Wednesday-Friday scheme, and maybe Saturday or Sunday if the weather stays dry. The weather psychics have predicted rain at least two days every week this summer, but we haven't seen it for a while. I think being a weather forecaster is one of the few jobs where you get paid even if you're wrong.

This is the cucumber/tomato pot in the herb garden. I'm training the vine to wrap around the ramp going up to my back door.

And I'm including a picture of my puny peach tree and two of the three peaches.

I'll keep you posted on the sunflowers and any other interesting developments. And, trust me, when I manage to harvest something, you'll see pictures of that, too!

Company's Gone...All is Silent Again

I'm constantly begging my family to come visit, and I'm usually pleased when they do. I enjoy company, but I'm equally happy being home alone.

And, I have to say that, sometimes, I'm slightly reticent about what I write on this blog. I don't really know who reads it (meaning, I don't know if my family reads it), so I mostly stick to the gardens, the cats, and the weather. Probably for the best...

I'm not fond of people who talk just to talk. I think that, when you talk, you should have something to say that's worth saying. I'm not a "small-talker." I hate "chit-chat." I like to get to the point, don't necessarily want to state the obvious; I like meaningful conversation.

I also don't like to hear other people say bad things about members of my family. And I don't want people to air their dirty laundry--arguments, trust issues, etc.--especially with regards to my family members. So, after a few days of that, I'm ready for these types of guests to go.

I don't share too much of my private life, even with members of my family. If I have money problems, or children problems, or work problems, I'm likely to spend time writing in my journal or doodling on a piece of paper to try to work those out for myself. If I need to, I'll talk to my mom or dad. When I was married, I talked to a therapist. In marriage, at least, I think it's best to talk to a "neutral" party. Spilling your guts to your spouse's family members doesn't help your case. If you're trying to win them over, that's not the way to do it. My response is, "I haven't heard his/her side of this. I think you should go to a marriage counselor." That usually shuts off the commentary, but not always. Sometimes, I just can't get people to shut up without saying, "I don't want to hear this. It's none of my business." But some people don't get the hint, even when I'm direct about it. I try to look like I'm listening--but I send my mind out for a walk so it doesn't hear what they are saying.

******
I love to play "If" games--"If you were stranded on a desert island..." My favorite is the "Plum Island" game. You are being sent to Plum Island for the rest of your life. You will have adequate food, water, housing. You may bring three CDs, three movies, three books, and one personal item (no animals--dogs, cats, gerbils, etc., and no people). List what you would take and explain why.

Well, my brother determined that three CDs would be about 42 songs, so now we have a new game: which 42 songs would you choose?

I've already made two "42 Songs" lists on my iPod; I'm working on categories now--"42 Dance Songs," "42 Love Songs," "42 Revenge Songs," "42 Angry Songs."

I've challenged my brother to come up with his "42 Songs" list and email it to me. Feel free to play the game!

The Fourth

I thought we already celebrated the Fourth of July with fireworks in my small town, but I heard and saw more tonight, so I don't know what that's all about. Well, I guess you can't celebrate Independence Day too many times. Maybe this is a private celebration, but I'm seeing these fireworks in the same place as the others. Anyway, they are pretty, and I love being able to watch them from my study window.

I worked my part-time part-time job today for four-and-a-half hours--that was all I could stand. The air conditioning wasn't working in the receiving room, so Hunter (the receiving manager) and I spent our time sweating--he unpacked boxes and I packed them. I was so hot my shirt and pants were damp--I mean DAMP. I planned to work longer, but I can sweat at my own house, and I can get some gardening done while I do it. So I came home.

And, hooray, I received season 3 of The Closer and Pirates of the Caribbean--At World's End. So I had an excuse to stay inside and not sweat. But that means I need to get up early tomorrow morning and mow the front yard, which I didn't do this afternoon. Oh, well. I'll do it sooner or later. And I'm waiting for a cordless string trimmer so I can tackle the front ditch and the back corner where I can't reach with the mower. I ordered it Friday and it should be here any day. I love the Internet. I can get what I need without leaving home.

I'm finding that I don't much like leaving home these days. I realize I have to leave once in a while. Otherwise, I'll become the crazy cat lady who talks to her plants. But I also realize that I can get so much done here when I'm not distracted by trips to "the big city." And I've discovered that going out involves planning. I make extensive lists, map travel routes, and calculate gas use--I plan every stop so that I don't have to double back. I've become almost obsessive about it. I think that's good, though. I only go to town when I need to, so I'm not using up as much gas as often.

If I don't have to go to town for myself, my mom will always have a reason for me to go. This weekend, we have a baby shower, and my brother is going to finish what he started last week--putting a new hard drive in my laptop. By then, I should have the rest of the memory for it. I think I'll have a brand new laptop for less than half the cost of a new one.

I sometimes think I lead a boring life. When I write it out, though, it seems more interesting--to me, anyway!

Another Post

I've posted once today, but Nissa suggested that I make a list of "recommended reading."

When and if I teach literature, I usually teach Intro to Fiction or the second freshman comp course that covers fiction, poetry, and drama. My friends will not be surprised when I say that I love poetry, but despair because so many of my students don't "get it." Poetry, for me, is about the human heart in all it's fragility and beauty. It's more feeling; I think of fiction and drama as more cerebral, which may not be entirely true, but that's how I feel about it.

If I listed all of the poets and poems I love (and I mean that), this blog site would kick me off for exceeding my alloted space. So, here are a smattering, in no particular order of preference:

Mary Oliver--she's one of my favorite modern nature poets, but she also touches on her own hard life growing up. Those poems sneak up on you and smack you upside the head. Her nature poetry takes my breath away.

Margaret Atwood--also one of my favorite fiction and nonfiction writers. My favorite poem is "This is a Picture of Me." It's been a jumping off point for many poetry exercises.

Emily Dickinson--I don't think I need to explain this choice. I've been reading her for years, and she never ceases to surprise and confound me.

As odd as this sounds, war poets--Randall Jarrell ("The Death of the Ball Turret Gunner"), Howard Nemerov ("The War in the Air") , Henry Reed ("The Naming of Parts"), Stephen Crane ("War is Kind")--because they don't glorify war. For them, war is bloody, senseless, and deadly.

Well, just begin with Sappho and work your way forward. The Imagists (William Carlos Williams, Wallace Stevens, H.D., Archibald MacLeish ("Ars Poetica")) are some of my favorites, but I also like the Romantics and the Victorians, and Shakespeare's sonnets.

I just scanned my bookshelves and was reminded of the poets I envy--Gerard Manley Hopkins for his language ("The Windhover: To Christ Our Lord"), and Elizabeth Bishop for her specificity (read "One Art," a wonderful sestina).

These are, by no means, all. Just some to start with.

For fiction, again, too many to list.

For short stories and novels, I like the quirky and surprising. In my Intro to Fiction class, I go for the startling endings--"The Lottery," Shirley Jackson; "The Story of an Hour," Kate Chopin; and I like angel/devil stories: "The Demon Lover," Elizabeth Bowen; "Gimpel the Fool," Issac Bashevis Singer; "The Man in the Black Suit," Stephen King' ; "A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings," Gabriel Garcia Marquez; "Young Goodman Brown," Nathaniel Hawthorne.

For depth, I like "The Death of Ivan Illych," by Leo Tolstoy; "The Metamorphosis," Franz Kafka; and "Heart of Darkness," by Joseph Conrad.

And you can't go wrong with anything by T. C. Boyle. Some of his stories are apocalyptic and weird, while some are painfully real ("The Love of My Life").

Again, I have more, but that's a start.

With novels, again, too many to list. I've read a few in the last couple of years that are good--Atonement, by Ian McEwan; The Road, by Cormac McCarthy; Life of Pi, by Yann Martel; Year of Wonders, by Geraldine Brooks. But I also love the African novels of Alexander McCall Smith.

Take a look at Modern Books' list (just Google it). I can't agree with Ulysses by James Joyce. I've never been able to get through it, and I don't particularly care for Ayn Rand. I like apocalyptic fiction--1984, Animal Farm, The Sparrow and Fahrenheit 451 (the last two are classified as "science fiction"). Love The Lord of the Rings trilogy, all the Harry Potter books, and The Mists of Avalon.

I had to come back in here (it's Sunday) and add the original "chick lit" (hate the modern stuff) by Jane Austen and the Bronte sisters. Add Daphne DuMaurier's Rebecca to that.

For drama, anything by Shakespeare. I particularly love "Othello" and "King Lear." I'm drawn more to his dramas and history plays. I like the comedies, but the tragedies seem to resonate with me.

In more modern drama, I like Susan Glaspell's "Trifles," and any of Wendy Wasserstein's plays. Also, Arthur Miller's "Death of a Salesman" and "The Crucible." I like "The Glass Menagerie" by Tennessee Williams. But, then, I like the Greeks, too--Sophocles and Euripedes .("Medea"--Wow! She's one angry woman.)

That's the short list. If I went through my bookshelves and boxes, I'd be typing here all night. And, of course, I haven't mentioned nonfiction--Amy Tan's The Opposite of Fate, Margaret Atwood's Negotiating with the Dead, Alexandra Fuller's Don't Let's Go to the Dogs Tonight, and Peter Godwin's When a Crocodile Eats the Sun (about Zimbabwe--a must read for these times).

Again, that's a short-short list of nonfiction, and these are all books I've read recently. Add to that Stephen King's On Writing, and so many other books about writing.

That's enough for now. I've spent about an hour typing all of this, and I promised myself I wouldn't spend the whole night on the computer. Ha!

So, if you have anything to add, leave a comment--agree, disagree, amplify! I'd love to hear what you're reading right now.

Pass-along Plants

I had a lovely visit from an "almost" former student today. I say "almost" because she wasn't in my class for long before she dropped it and withdrew from the university to pursue another direction, but she's kept up with me through this blog.

When she came out, she brought me two types of mint--a "regular" mint and a "rough" spearmint. I planted those earlier this afternoon. Thank you, Nissa, for the plants and the visit.

Armed with a trowel, we walked around my yard and dug up some plants she wanted to try in her yard--Purslane (which is an edible succulent), periwinkles (they multiply like crabgrass), and a small juniper-like tree (the birds drop the seeds all over my yard; they spring up like weeds, too). She came out to get some of those spider lily bulbs (I filled up a huge bag for her). We talked about plants and she gave me some good ideas about what to plant for ground cover. We took a look at the plum, peach and mayhaw trees.

And we talked and talked. I so enjoy good conversation and funny people, and I had both today. I don't get many visitors, so I cherish the ones I do get. With gas prices so high, it's difficult to just jump in the car and drive 45 miles (90, round-trip) to chat for an hour or two. I do appreciate it, though, when someone does that.

I love when people bring me plants from their yards. I feel that I have a bit of that person with me all of the time. I look at all of the plants my sister, my mother and my friends have given me and appreciate their contributions to the landscape. And I love to pass on what I have that others want. That's the beauty of gardening--getting to know the plants, learning how to care for them, and sharing them with others. The more plants I get, the more I learn and the more I can share.

WiFi in the Backyard

My brother, showing off with his iPhone, located two WiFi signals in my backyard--can't get them in the house, but that's fine. One is secured, so it probably belongs to the police department; the other is not, so all I have to do is plop down in one of the Adirondack Chairs, plug in my WiFi card, and the computer connects. This morning I answered all of my email and looked up birds on the Internet while I let the sprinkler water the vegetable garden. I took care of the email before 8am and did a bit of birdwatching and identifying.

I don't know where the signal is coming from, but to whoever--Thanks!
*****

The garden is doing well. I saw two nice-sized squash and a few baby ones; I have a bell pepper and an eggplant and a few tomato flowers. I think I have a cucumber--and the vines are blooming all over. The watermelon and the butternut squash have spread out over the garden border, so I need to make sure I don't mow them down.

The sunflowers haven't sprouted any blossoms, but they are tall. I expect they'll start busting out soon. I have a few corn plants, but I don't think those are going to produce. I could be wrong; we'll see. Overall, everything's doing well. I think the Miracle Gro has kicked in. I try to "feed" the gardens once a week. I hope the bees are working, but I haven't see too many lately. I think I'll get some Mason bees in the spring just to make sure I have bees when I need them.

*****
George Carlin died. He is/was one of my counterculture heroes. I first heard his "7 Words You Can't Say on Television" on his album "Class Clown," which is one of the funniest comedy recordings. My brother made me a copy of it (on audio tape--that gives you an idea of how long ago that was!), and, while shocking, that routine is one that has stayed with me for the last 40 years. I could even tell you what those words are, but I'd probably get arrested! So I won't detail them here. But he did some funny riffs on going to Catholic school (I did), and his routine about "stuff" is a classic (and so true). His "Hippie Dippy Weatherman" on The Smothers' Brothers Comedy Hour is a classic character. As long as I can listen to his comedy routines and reread his books, he won't leave me. I think he falls in the comedy ranks of Bob Hope, George Burns, Lenny Bruce, the Marx Brothers, and Steve Martin! He broke new ground for comedy and he wasn't afraid to take risks; he pointed out our foibles and idiocies and made us laugh at ourselves. I will miss his presence, but his comedy will endure.
*****

I learned yesterday that I need to keep my cell phone on when I'm driving. I left my wallet at my mom's house--it fell out of my purse--and she tried to call me to tell me it was there. She's mailing it back to me because it's "too far" to drive to my house to return it! I drive that 90 mile trip as often as necessary, but it's too far for my family! What's with that? I drove in Sunday and Monday--that's 180 miles or so in two days. I don't get it. I've started bribing them with homemade bread and a good meal to get them to visit.

Maybe the WiFi will get them out here more often. That could be a selling point, if I market it right!

They're Odd, But They're Family

Well, this has been an interesting Father's Day weekend. I spent Saturday babysitting Skype, waiting for my youngest brother (he lives in Colorado) to install it and contact me. Then I spent the rest of the day waiting for two of my sisters to show up to drop off a load of stuff for me.

My sister Lydia has taken on my yard as a "project," I think, which I don't mind in the least. It's big (about an acre), and I can use all the help I can get. I've planted a few small gardens--I posted pictures of the herb garden she and I created--but I also have my vegetable garden, my camellia garden (flowers), the fence garden (an old piece of fence stuck in the yard for who-knows-what reason), and the front garden (the one where I dug up all of the spider lilies--and I still have those bulbs, if anyone's interested).

When her big red Suburban pulled into the driveway, I had no idea what lurked inside. Two plastic Adirondack chairs (for my birthday), two cedar poles (for the "secret garden" we're working on), several cedar planks left over from fencing her yard (for raised planters), some scrap lumber (I'll do something creative with it), a rack to hang my tools, a hose for the veg. garden (dedicated to that only), two hose hangers, a straight shovel (it's great), and a host of plants (some from the nursery, some from her housekeeper). I have ginger plants, coleus, wandering Jew, and those wonderful orange lilies--not tiger lilies--but the ones that spew out bloom after bloom on the same stalk, and three Esperanzas. I'm sure I'm leaving something out, but I think that gives you an idea. A gardener's Christmas in June! Too bad it's so hot. Working in the yard makes me sweat heavily.

Today, Sunday, I went to my parents' for Father's Day. Usually, these kinds of celebrations cause the house to bulge at the seams, but, today, my father was surrounded by women, most of us single. My brothers were fishing and celebrating with their own children. When I got to the house, my sister had more stuff she forgot to give me--hangers for whatever, and an Off mosquito lantern with refills! And my mom insisted I pull up the remaining edging from her front garden. I'd gotten about half of it when I helped her clean out one side of her front flowerbed. I'm recycling the edging for my front walkway garden. I'll take a picture when I finally get it all in place (I managed to get three more pieces in place today, but was so soaked in sweat, I couldn't finish the job--and that was at 7pm. The sun was behind the trees, but I was so hot I couldn't stand it).

When I talked to my mom on Saturday, she told me to bring the pictures of the chicken coops I was interested in building. So, today, she plotted out how I should build my chicken coop using the shed structure in my backyard. I was thinking about tearing it down, but she sketched out how I could use it to build my frame and chicken run. I had thought about that, but thought I should make a fresh start. She then regaled me with tales about the chickens her grandmother had. My mom's grandmother, Annie, had intended to keep the chickens for food--not eggs, meat. But Annie got rid of the chickens because my mom and her brother, Chris, wouldn't eat the chickens their grandmother killed. The chickens had become pets to them. I don't want to eat any chickens I get; I just want the eggs and the manure for the gardens, so no worries there. I don't mind buying chicken in the store, but I'm not about to start killing them.

When I left to come home, they were hunkered in the living room watching Tiger Woods play golf.

I Got My Answer!

I have the annoying habit of losing track of time when I'm reading. It's a terrible curse, I know! So, if I'm reading late at night (or early in the morning, depending on how you look at it), I don't realize how late/early it is until I take a break. That means I usually don't get to bed until 2am or so. One of the perks (?) of getting older is that I don't sleep as much (unless I'm exhausted), and I get up early in the morning.

Right before I went to bed at 2am this morning, the rain began. Well, we did have a brief, heavy rainstorm yesterday afternoon (right after I watered the garden), but the rain at 2am was fierce. I crawled into bed to strikes of lightning and growls of thunder. I couldn't sleep with Mother Nature's grumbling. At 3am, I was sitting in the living room, waiting for the dish TV system to locate a signal. I think I finally went to sleep at about 4 or 5am. And I got up at 8:30am, so I know one person who will take a nap this afternoon.

My garden loved the rain, in spite of the small limbs that the wind shook down on it. I found my one tomato on the ground. I'll let it ripen on the window sill. I had to stake another tomato plant, but, other than that, everything seems to have survived. I just hope all of my gardens have enough water for a few days. I guess this calls for a tour of the yard to make sure everything is okay.

To change the subject, my cats annoy me. We were down to the bottom of the food bucket where the "old" food is. It stays fresh because the lid snaps on tight, but it's a brand of cat food they don't like, so none of them would eat it. I filled the bowls up yesterday and this morning, and they just sniffed at it and walked away. And, boy, do they complain! "Meow, meow, meow. Lady, when are you going to get some decent food? We want the good stuff, and we mean NOW!"

So, off to the store I went, the dutiful servant--I mean "master." For a large bag of cat food and a four-pack of toilet tissue, I spent almost $20. What the heck is going on here? I guess I could lead the cats away with a breadcrumb trail of expensive treats. They'd just come back. I just know it. But how can you not buy toilet paper? Can anyone recommend a substitute? Gee, on second thought, I don't want to contemplate an alternative.

I guess what I'm saving on gas for the car I'll be spending at the store. Since I'm a big conspiracy buff, this is what I'm thinking. I think the oil companies are helping themselves to our money in order to persuade us (extort us?) into letting them drill for oil in the Alaska Reserve and off the coasts of our beaches. That's just what I think. Of course, I think we're contributing to our own hardships by driving huge cars, driving too fast, and driving too much. I'd love to see more people in jobs where they could telecommute. Companies would save overhead by not having to rent huge buildings (sorry, realtors!), and people wouldn't be driving so much. I realize this isn't possible in every type of business. Sometimes, you have to have an office, and you have to drive. But wouldn't it be nice if more people didn't have to? We could cut our oil dependency somewhat if we could just stay home.

It's too bad more people don't live closer to the necessities, such as grocery stores and dry cleaners. Maybe the "old days" have something to teach us about community living that we've forgotten.

Where's the Rain?

June has just barely arrived, and I can hardly stand to go outside. These 90-degree temps have me hunkering in the house. The thermostat is set to 76 to hold down the energy costs (Ha!), and I'm comfortable, but I have so much I need to do outside; I just can't face those chores right now.

On Tuesday, I planted two climbing bushes my mom and my sis gave me on the back fence. I got up yesterday and found a large tree limb straddling the fence right where I planted the bushes. What are the odds of that? So, early Wednesday, armed with my saws and loppers, I took down the limb on my side of the fence, leaving the rest for my neighbor. I think she got the heavier end of it!

I spent the hottest part of the day cleaning out the closet in my study. How can one person cram so much stuff in a closet? And it's not a big closet, either. I took out three bags of clothes--some for my daughter, some for Goodwill--and I put the computer gadget bookshelf in there to get it out of my sight. I feel as though I have a bit more space in the room; it doesn't feel so wall-to-wall. And everything is organized. I just love organization. So, today, I need to tackle the closet in my bedroom--but I haven't had enough coffee yet!