Monday, March 02, 2026

Monday, Monday


 

                                                Last Bookstore in LA
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31 comments:

Todd Mason said...

Did that store impress you? First I've heard of it.

12:51 AM
Todd Mason said...

All musicians as well as writers/editors I searched for turned up zilch. Wonder whom they are pitched to, or are they simply not very diligent at cataloging what's come in.

12:58 AM
TM said...

Ah. Well, their eBay listings show a wide variation between good books and magazines in large job-lots for arguably decent prices to pretty shabby sets woefully overpriced.

1:12 AM
TM said...

Nice photo!

1:34 AM
Jerry House said...

Decent weather here for most of the week with just a couple of cold days; usually warm and pleasant. A good way to end February, which is so often a horrendous month.

Christina filled in as a sign language interpreter for a first grade several towns over last week. In her class there was a Jenson, a Castiel, a Watson,, a Waverly, and two Emmys. Going by some of those names, SUPERNATURAL was a very popular show for the parents seven years go. (There was also a Jaymz in the next classroom.) Of course, there had to be a surprise second grade musical performance about bugs on Monday and Christina had to interpret it cold without a script. Second graders performing on microphones all sound like the adults in a PEANUTS television show and Christina managed to understand about one word in twenty. It did not go over well. At lunch one day she heard a couple of kids talking; one had three rabbits but one of them was cut down by a chainsaw. What ?!!

Amy had her surgery for her ow ow ankle ow ow on Thursday. the operation went well but Gimpy (as she is now known when she is not referred to as Ow-Ow-Ouchy-Ow-Ow-Curse-Word) will not be a le to put weight on it until mid-May. We had been planning a week-end trip to St. Augustine for Amy's birthday in April (among many other wonderful things they have a capybara cafe -- like a cat cafe, but with capybaras), and we will postpone that until October. Plans to spend Easter at Blackwater State Park as usual are still a go.

Erin starts her new job today. Yay! She'll knock it out of the park!

Ellen, sadly, is getting worse. Her sister Kathy had been getting bad vibes from Ellen's phone calls and called Christina to find out what was going on. No one had been filling in Ellen's family about her condition. They are saddened but vow to be a little more tolerant.

Leaving Wednesday to visit my brother in Massachusetts. Kenny is suffering from Alzheimer's and it is placing a burden on his wife and daughter. We will be able to spend a few days to help take the load off, TSA, airplane schedules, and weather permitting. Bought a jacket for the occasion; I haven't had one since we moved to Florida ten years ago; my entire wardrobe consists of tees and shorts and one pair of long pants (my "going-to-a-funeral" pants). We will be returning from Providence at 7 am on Saturday, meaning we be leaving Massachusetts at o-dark-hundred; I expect a long, tiring trip to be followed by Daylight savings Time the next day when we will lose an hour's sleep. Yawn!

More in a bit.

7:03 AM
Margot Kinberg said...

That's a lovely photo, Patti. Thanks for sharing it.

7:06 AM
Jerry House said...

Back again.

Started working again on the 1000-piece jigsaw puzzle from hell, the on=e I have been avoiding for the past two months or so. I can only manage to fit in about ten pieces at a time, so by the time the puzzle is completed, we'll be well into Trump's third term, assuming the world lasts until then.

Again, little television. FATHER BROWN continues to be interestingly cloying. GRACE remains a bright spot, although the personal problems of ALL the characters can be a bit too much. The late night comics bring some much-needed sanity.

Some interesting reading this week. Mick Herron's SLOW HORSES proves once again that I am often late to the party. So, too, with Jonathan Maberry's first Joe Ledger novel, PATIENT ZERO, a nifty take on the zombie theme. I also read James Herbert's bucolic horror novel, THE MAGIC COTTAGE, a well-written piece whose Big Bad was big and bad, but not THAT big and bad, leaving me with mixed feelings about the book. Leigh Brackett's science fiction fix-up ALPHA CENTAURI -- OR DIE! had both thrills and an unusual alien race; this was my FFB this week. I worked my way painfully through Sam John's graphic novel HOUSE OF SLAUGHTER, VOL. 6: AZURE; which provided little help in working through the complexities of the characters and the plot (if there ws one). The series is a spin-off of James Tynion's SOMETHING IS KILLING THE CHILDREN series. Murky artwork does not help either series. Lastly I read a "Human Behavior" book, one of many that Lawrence Block wrote under the pseudonym "Benjamin Morse, M.D. for the paperback market in the Sixties, with "real case studies" -- all pure fiction, of course. These were published for a male audience and contained (along with some factual information) a lot of prejudices and misogyny, which is what the market demanded back then. **sigh** Currently reading Chuck Tingle's over-the-top LUCKY DAY, a science fiction novel riffing on Robert M. Coates' 1947 short story "The Law."

This week will mark Kitty's 77th birthday. Appropriately, I'll be celebrating it in the sky, perhaps a little bit closer to her current location.

Have a fantastic week, Patti! Stay safe. Stay warm.

7:44 AM
Jeff Meyerson said...

Great picture of you and Phil.

Jerry, have a safe trip. Jackie's comment on the student names: her school for the first 25 years was in Downtown Brooklyn. It was mixed, though there weren't a lot of black kids, but one year she hit the Afro-centric jackpot with Tawana, Mashanna and Shaquanna.

8:32 AM
Jeff Meyerson said...

A relatively quiet week here. Hard to believe that tomorrow will be 8 weeks in Florida, with 5 more to come. We met my cousins for lunch at the oldest- ca. 1889 - waterfront restaurant in Florida on Friday, the Old Key Lime House in Lantana. And yes, we shared a piece of Key Lime pie.

We finished Shetland series 10 and Slow Horses series 2. Enjoying Shrinking a lot. We gave up on the dark SILO, possibly better than the book but still soso.

I put library books on hold from Brooklyn and Palm Beach County (via the Cloud) and then 5 come in at once.

8:41 AM
George said...

After a couple 40 degree days, we woke up to 7 degrees this morning. I have to go get an echocardiogram this morning. Just routine.

Once in a while, I can't find a book I know I own. Rarely, I'm looking for TWO books I can't locate. Today, I have to make a Serious Search for THREE BOOKS I've somehow mislaid in the past week. Getting Old sucks!

Diane's sister Carol will be visiting Western NY this upcoming weekend. Plans are still sketchy. I'll be making reservations for The Hideaway Grille for Saturday dinner. Diane will be accompanying Carol to see a local play after dinner (I passed). We'll probably dine together on Sunday. Carol returns to Ohio on Monday.

The War in Iran will cause many Unintended Consequences...most of them Bad. Stay safe!

8:56 AM
TracyK said...

Jerry, I am sorry that Ellen is getting worse. I hope that your trip to Massachusetts goes well. I did not realize that Daylight Saving Times was coming so soon.

1:43 PM
TracyK said...

Jerry, again you are reading so much and it makes me envious.

1:45 PM
TracyK said...

Jeff, I wish I could have a piece of Key Lime Pie. That is something I miss from my southern childhood.

1:49 PM
TracyK said...

I agree with Margot, that is a great photo at The Last Bookstore. I checked out the bookstore online, and it is amazing. Inside and out.

We are watching many of the same old shows, including more COLUMBO and PERRY MASON MOVIES. We have watched 13 of the PERRY MASON MOVIES and there are 13 more with Raymond Burr. We finished the last episode of SHAKESPEARE & HATHAWAY Season 5.

Glen read I SEE YOU'VE CALLED IN DEAD by John Kenney, which I read back in January. We both liked it a lot.

Now Glen is reading DO ADMIT: THE MITFORD SISTERS AND ME, a graphic novel by Mimi Pond. He is enjoying it. He likes the art and it is a quick read. It has no page numbers but it is pretty thick. I look forward to reading it soon.

I read YOU CAN NEVER DIE, a graphic memoir by Harry Bliss. Glen read this one first. There is a lot about his dog that he had for 17 years and the grief he experienced after he died. But there is a lot more about his life. Much of it is very interesting, the writing is good, and I love his art. But in some cases I think he shared too much. He had a very difficult childhood; his parents were abusive and fought a lot.

Now I am reading SIDNEY CHAMBERS AND THE PERILS OF THE NIGHT by James Runcie, the second book of short stories in that series, and now I am reading CONTEMPLATION OF A CRIME by Susan Juby. It has a weird subtitle ("A Workplace Romantic Mystery of Deadly Games and Forced Proximity on an Island Retreat") but I am not going to worry about that because I have read the first two books in the series and liked them. The setting is a small island off Vancouver Island.

2:47 PM
Anonymous said...

It did!

10:26 PM
Anonymous said...

It did!

10:26 PM
Anonymous said...

Sorry, I forgot it was Monday. I have been to a Tiger game. And two musical events. Also several nice dinners and Siesta Keys beautiful beach. Hope to see my brother and his wife on Wednesday. Thanks for your great comments. So much better than this one. Am watching GRACE which is so scary. Reading a novel set in Vietnam.

10:32 PM
Todd Mason said...

Thanks for letting us know about it! (Two hours after getting out of the hospital after an attempt to figure out what's making me more literally as well as figuratively dyspeptic.) It seems like a fun browse, at very least.

5:06 AM
Todd Mason said...

Sounds as if Juby doesn't want any reader to claim they didn't know what they were signing up for, Tracy!

3:42 PM
TracyK said...

Todd, it was the "Workplace Romantic Mystery" part that was surprising but I will wait and see what it going on.

4:49 PM
Gerard Saylor said...

I was able to visit my mother in central IL for a long weekend. Took vacation time for both Friday and Monday and did some house work and hung out. Much nicer to visit without having to rush back home in a short amount of time.

Listened to two novels. SciFi Shoot-em-up COLUMBUS DAY by Craig Alanson. Short novel ERADICATION: A FABLE by Jonathan Miles. COLUMBUS was fun with some nice humor. ERADICATION was meh.

Boy #1 has a new cat. An 11-year-old he found at a shelter/pound. The cat is adjusting and Boy #1 seems pleased. We are happy for him.

5:10 PM
Todd Mason said...

Perhaps also, that was the publisher's idead...trying to catch romance-readers' eyes.

6:44 PM
Todd Mason said...

A long and healthy life for your son's new middle-years cat! And many more pleasant visits with your mother.

7:03 PM
Anonymous said...

I am going to try and write an appreciation of my senior center without it being maudlin. For a fundraiser. But i hate writing on this.

11:04 PM
TracyK said...

Todd, you are probably right, but I don't like it when they do that.

12:14 AM
TracyK said...

Gerard, how wonderful that your son adopted an 11-year-old cat.

Our adjustment to our new 2 1/2 year-old cat has been bumpy but he has been here 6 months now and things have calmed down.

12:20 AM
Gerard Saylor said...

I think Boy #1 lucked out with a cat who is able to adjust to a new place. For a month or more Boy #1 was buying pet supplies, cat bed, cat tower, etc.

9:32 AM
Todd Mason said...

Patti, which part of writing about the center makes it a tough task, beyond avoiding anything cloying?

3:51 AM
Todd Mason said...

Understandable, Tracy. Buck-hustling behavior leaves a bad taste.

3:53 AM
Todd Mason said...

We've usually had good luck that way...with the notable exception of our newest adoptee, a young initially(?) street cat, who was living with a friend's sister who suddenly died, so we took the cat in; she's not terribly feral, but she's also not the brightest cat and kept trying to pick fights with our elder cat, who is both larger and smarter than she is, but is also old enough (my parents' last cat, adopted from a shelter in Virginia where they lived) that she doesn't need the hassle of continually teaching this young punk some manners (younger cat has never won any of the fights she started, but that didn't seem to deter her). Almost conveniently, this house is set up in a way that allows the cats to be segregated, so elder lives upstairs and younger downstairs. Not so much MASTERPIECE THEATER as dealing as we can.

4:00 AM
Todd Mason said...

Good news, Tracy!

4:05 AM

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