Tim and Jen Live Here

We’re through the first 6 months of 2008, and I thought I’d look back on a half-year’s worth of books read and listened to.

Stats:

• 43 books read
• 20 books listened to
• 5 books in progress
• 4 books started and put away, never to be returned to
• 1 book started and put away, to be returned to at some point

Some of my favorite books read in the first half of 2008:

• Christine Merrill’s “An Inconvenient Duchess” - I can hardly wait to read her “An Unladylike Offer”.
• R.L. LaFevers’s “Theodosia and the Serpents of Chaos” - A YA adventure with a bit of magic. I loved adventuring with Theo, and can’t wait for the sequel coming in November.
• “You Can’t Hide” by Karen Rose - This mystery blew me away. I’m anxious to read everything she’s written!
• Joshilyn Jackson’s “God’s in Alabama”. I read this in one sitting. Couldn’t put it down.
• “Enemy Combatant” by Ed Gaffney This was a great thriller. I’m also looking forward to reading the rest of his. And he’s married to Suzanne Brockmann, who also writes fabulous books!
• “Trust Me On This” by Jennifer Crusie This was the last of hers I hadn’t read yet. They’re all amazing. Seriously.
• Lani Diane Rich’s “A Little Ray of Sunshine” - One of few books to make me both laugh and cry, sometimes simultaneously, which results in rather strange noises that scare the cats.

2008 listening highlights so far:

• “Daddy’s Girl” by Lisa Scottoline Great lawyer thriller with a few interesting twists
• “Second Glance” by Jodi Picoult - The second book of hers that I’ve read. This one was fabulous. You have to suspend disbelief even beyond what I’d consider normal for a ghost story, but I loved it all the same.
• Chelsea Cain’s “Heartsick”. If you haven’t read this psychological thriller, run right out now and get it. It’s got a sequel coming soon also, and I can hardly wait.
• “American Gods” and “Anansi Boys”, both by Neil Gaiman. Both fabulous stories, as well as amazing audio productions.
• “Twilight” by Stephenie Meyer, whose name I’ve only just learned how to spell. Great teen vampire romance, and the first of a series, so yay! More to come!

to automatic things in public bathrooms?

I’m sure we’ve all been subjected to the over-zealous auto-flush toilet that flushes several times while we’re still mid-go. This is beyond frustrating and, of course, wasteful. Especially considering you still have to flush when you’re finished, when, inevitably, the auto-flusher will decide it’s already performed its final duty and has headed out for a smoke break.

But today in two airport bathrooms (both in Memphis) I indirectly caused quite a lot of waste. First was the bathroom where the toilets flushed as soon as you opened the stall door. I chose a stall and was greeted with a flush, and a huge mess, so I promptly chose another stall, where another flush was ready for me as soon as I arrived. It did deign to flush again at the end at least.

Then I headed to the sink, which had auto-soap and auto-water. As I was beginning to get my hands wet, the auto-soap, apparently located too close to the faucet, spit out soap, leaving a gooey pink puddle in the sink.

Later, just before boarding, I chose a bathroom that at least didn’t pre-flush upon entry. Still, while I was getting my hands wet in the sink after - really, this does not take long - the soap dispenser spit out soap not once, not twice, but three times. Do the soap people not realize that wherever there are auto-soap dispensers, people will be moving their hands nearby under the faucet? To make matters worse, the auto-paper-towel-dispenser that time gave me my towel as requested, then gave me another after I had backed up three feet to dry my hands. Sigh.

All this does make me wonder how difficult these are to design, though. I’ve certainly used auto-flush toilets that worked perfectly. Was that random luck? Or is it up to the installer to get the right settings? This is mostly a matter of curiosity - I’m not off to learn more about auto-flush toilets - but today certainly had me thinking.

It was suggested to me that this might be a columbine, so I did some searching, and it is! It’s aquilegia ‘Black Barlow’. And I definitely didn’t plant it. But I might buy more now that I know what it is.

This beauty is growing under the pine tree in my back yard, alongside hostas. It’s definitely a shade-lover. My trouble is I don’t remember planting it, so I have no idea what it is. I’m definitely an impulse plant-buyer, so that part makes sense, but I usually know the plants I’m buying before I buy them, so identification later isn’t really an issue.

When the leaves first came out this spring, they kind of looked like red clover. But you can see they’ve gotten more finger-y since then. They’re also considerably thicker than clover leaves. Here are a few photos. Does anyone know what this is?

Whoever names this plant correctly wins my undying gratitude. Of course, I may never know if you’re right, but still.

More flowers are blooming, and I’ve got photos to share. Actually, I really wish I could send the garden smells to you via the Internet. With the windows open, I’ve got lilac scent filling the air inside. Outside the lilacs are joined by lilies of the valley and pinks (carnations). And if you get up close, the geraniums in the pots also have a pretty smell. In any event, I can share photos, so that’s what I’m doing. Click the images for larger versions.

Again, I was reading outside. Twice I watched a paper wasp gather nest materials before I ran in to get the camera. I really, really tried to get video of this, because it was amazing. But I don’t know my camera well enough to get it to focus on the right spot in video mode, so I’m stuck with a still photo (and very blurry video).

This is again sitting in my sky chair. I spend a lot of time there. The chairs have wood dowels that run the length of the chair as support along the arms, sort of. This wasp landed on the dowel to my left and proceeded to scrape off the top layer of wood, rolling it into a little ball with his feet from time to time. He spent maybe five minutes each time rolling, then headed back to his nest (I imagine). He came back maybe five minutes later. It was really so incredible to watch this happen, maybe 6 inches from my face. I’ve never seen anything like it. Here’s a still photo of the action. The little gray ball attached to the wasp’s mouth is the scraped-off wood.