On My Bookshelf

It took me 4 books before I was willing to start reading these. And that was all it took. They are on my top 20 list, all 7 of them. Maybe not number 5. That one might only make the top 50 list.

Guilty pleasure. I can't really say that the writing moves me. Or the story. Yet somehow I was at the bookstore every release date to purchase the newest book in the series.

The Fablehaven series is awesome. I love the character development most of all. All of Brandon Mull's books are on my shelf, and I enjoy them every one.

When I read the Lord of the Rings series, it was tough. It was long. I skipped a lot of the tree songs. But I will admit that when it came to the end of the story, I was sad. I felt like I was saying goodbye to friends. This is a classic for a reason.

I'm a sucker for Pride and Prejudice. The movies. The book. The story. The Austin original. And as long as modern authors decide to tell different sides of this story, I will keep reading them. This particular 3 book series is one of my favorite. It is written from the point of view of Darcy. The middle book is a little like a gothic romance, and doesn't really do anything to move the story along. But it is fun anyway.

I am 50/50 on  Robin McKinley's books. I really like The Blue Sword, The Hero and the Crown, and Rose Daughter. I really didn't like Chalice. It was boring! McKinley writes really good stories, but sometimes they tend to be a little wordy.

This is one of my non-fiction books. This covers the story of the Mt. Everest tragedy in 1996. Becoming a mountain climber is not really on my list of things to accomplish. So reading about it is one of the ways to experience a world I will never be apart of.

My Family

In August my family got together to celebrate my Grandmother's life. It was the first time we have all been together in like 15 years. Maybe more. And the fun part is having a camera or two around to capture how quirky and awesome all of these people are who make up my family.

We had one simple job. To create some explanation cards for the items that were displayed about some of my Grandma's many accomplishments and life experiences. So naturally we formed a committee. My brother was on the production line. I was the design crew. My dad was management. He had to make sure that we did our job right.

We expanded the crew when it was apparent that a staff of 3 wasn't cutting it. So we brought in a little quality control.

When that didn't work, we decided to outsource. It resulted in a great final product.

Yes, this was actually part of the conversation we had around the table.

We had to let some people go because they just weren't keeping up with production goals. Slackers.

Have I mentioned that we like to make funny faces for a camera? I have lots of proof...

Except when we don't know the camera is there. Or we aren't paying any attention.

We had to set the camera up to take some pictures of the family. And you need people in the frame to figure out where to point it. So me and my bro volunteered. Sort of.

We even brought short people in the scene to make sure the camera would pick them up. Just kidding!! Love you Kat. :o)

We wanted to get people of all heights.

And here are all of the grandchildren!

I don't even know what to say. This is my family, and I love them!

I Should Get Out More

A little while ago I got a text from my sis. She decided to share the view from where she is right now.

Hmm. Jerk. I guess Korea is nice this time of year.

Then she issued a challenge for me to send a picture back of something beautiful. I have a list of things to do tonight! But I'm also a sucker for a challenge. So I stepped outside my front door and here is my first attempt.

Oops. It ended up looking more like a Monet painting than a photo. I figured I could do better than that.

This is the tree across the street. Huh. Pretty. Boring. Pretty boring. I sighed in resignation and decided to take a walk around the park to see what I could find. Here are the results.

Yes, the people at the park looked at me funny as I crouched and contorted and twisted and focused. With my iPhone. But I liked the reminder that there is beauty all around me if I just take a minute to look for it.

Books That Made Me Cry

I think I have read at least a couple hundred books in my life. Maybe more. My count might be higher but many of them are repeats. (I think it might be a genetic flaw that I have to read The Scarlet Pimpernel every 18 months or so.)

But I can actually only think of 3 of them that have made me cry. Like more than moisture at the corner of my eyes kind of thing. Well, 4 if I count Bridge to Terabithia when my teacher read it out loud to us in 6th grade. But I am going to chalk that up to 12-year-old insanity. So here is my list of books that made me cry like a little girl.

1. Ender's Shadow - Now, I am fully willing to admit that I have not read the entire Ender's saga. But I have read Ender's Game and Ender's Shadow several times each. Interesting books because they are "parallel" novels. They both cover basically the same course of events, but from the point-of-view of two different characters. The first time I read Ender's Game, I was blown away. I read the short story first for a Science Fiction / Fantasy class for my English degree. (We can talk the validity of a humanities degree another time.) A couple of years later I read Ender's Shadow. I knew the story. I knew the characters. And yet somehow, as the story reaches the climax, the spin from this character's POV (the acronym for point-of-view, for all you camera/literature nerds like me...) struck me in a new and very unexpected way. I bawled.

2. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - I'm not ashamed to admit I love Harry Potter. I think this series will stand the test of time and take its place in the ranks of classic fiction with JRR Tolkien and CS Lewis. It is that good. And after experiencing life with Harry through his 6 years of school and 1 year of hunting, I was a little emotionally invested. It probably didn't help that before each new book came out, I would start the series over again so they would be fresh in my mind. By the time Harry took his walk in the woods to meet Voldomort, I felt a little like it was my own brother walking into a no-win situation. It was hard. And I cried.

3. The Confession - This is a relatively new John Grisham book. Well, old enough to be in paperback. But still new enough they released it in the not-normal-sized paperback. The wrong man is accused and convicted of a crime, and 3 days before his execution, the right guy steps up and admits that he did it. ***WARNING - I don't know how to tell you about this one without a spoiler. So stop reading if you think you might want to read this book and don't want me to ruin the surprise.*** Ok, back to the story. You spend the first half of this book waiting for justice to catch up to the truth. And even though I didn't really like him, I was cheering for the guy who decided to step up and admit his guilt. But the right people wouldn't listen. So this sweet and innocent kid is sent to the death chamber for a crime he doesn't commit. And even as they strap him down I was still waiting for that last second phone call to set it all right. When I finally realized that there was not going to be an 11th hour miracle, I started sobbing. It was truly, honestly heartbreaking.

Do I get a little wrapped up in stories? Yeah. But that is what make reading so enjoyable for me. It is an experience!!

They're Here

The aliens have landed. They are using their mind control on unsuspecting citizens in the greater Colorado Springs area. And I have this totally un-retouched photo I took with my cell phone to prove it. 

Manitou Springs



I visited this place called Manitou Springs. It was kind of a quaint town built right up the canyon from Colorado Springs.

They had historic homes where notorious outlaws stayed when they were being chased by the Texas Rangers. Ok, I made that up. All except the historic homes part.

But they do sell cowboy hats across the street from the historic homes. My favorite part of this picture? The lady's bum hanging out of her SUV in the middle. You can't compose moments like this. They just happen.

In addition to quaint and historic homes, there are quaint and historic shops. That sometimes smell a lot like incense. I skip those.

Why is it called Manitou Springs? I don't know! But I think the springs all over town have something to do with it. Like this one.

And this one. The round house in the back is where the actual spring comes up and is processed. The cute little sculpture in the front is for me to admire.

This one kind of had an attitude. The water didn't flow nicely, it sort of exploded in spurts.

 

But wait, there's more! As if historic homes, quaint shops, and exploding springs are not enough, you have staircases that go...to mysterious places...

All you need is a full moon and a sheet and this is ready for Halloween!

Picturesque creeks. Please don't leave that out of the brochure I know you are creating for this place.

 

And then there were the signs. Mining town...I would expect mining shops. I was wrong. The little people have been here, and they have a shoppe! (Please don't misspell that as "shop" because that would be wrong.)

I expected a banana on this sign. This town is full of surprises.

The Gaelic tradition continues. Because an English sign would have been predictable.

This is more like it. But I was a little surprised that the hemp shop below this didn't smoke out the ghosts.

I don't even know what to say...



This is funny to me. And maybe only me.

Just Fer Fun

I am a lucky girl. Most people don't have family nearby when they have to travel out of town for work. I do! At least in Colorado. But dinner is a little while away, so I am going through some pictures. Because I can! So I thought I would share.

I think if the earth had a soundtrack, the sound of ocean waves would be on it. It is a sound that makes me calm just thinking about it.

The river I almost waded across. Do you know how many ways there are to harm yourself in this gorgeous scene? Spend a few minutes around my mom and you will.... Hi mom! Love you!! :o) We had a conversation about her being a bit of a doomsdayer.

That's a tall tree.

I wanted to see how close I could get with the camera on my iPhone.

Apparently 4 is the limit. That's all the photos my computer wants to load today.

Caio.