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Here is how things have been working for the last few months - or years - or lifetime.

My Brain tells my Self that I should stop playing around and get certain things done.

My Self tells my Brain that I DO have time to play seventeen more games of whatever and also scroll through FB posts and "like" most of them, etc.  Also, there are those awesome kids' crafts that I will never have a chance to use, but, aren't they GREAT??

This continues until, finally, my Brain grabs my Self around the throat and forces Self to do what needs to be done - usually in a half-baked manner.

Then I complain - loudly and often - that I don't have time to get things done, read all the books I want to read, exercise, etc.

Repeat. Ad Nauseam.

Then do a blog post about it.

And in disgust go do something that my Brain might approve of.

That's how it works.

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Randomity today:

Check the storytelling page for new stuff, - a new link and a new game.

We switched cable/bundle providers last week.  I hate change and so does the Hub.  All that technical stuff making things work the way they used to is very trying.  Any techies willing to reinstall Adobe Flash for patience-challenged older folks?  My Mac is untouched.  Finally, a reason to be grateful for my iMac.

This is the American cover, much more expressive than the British cover, I think.

I read Earwig and the Witch by the great and, sadly, late Diana Wynne Jones.  It's very short and reads like the beginning of a longer book or possibly a series for younger readers.    We will never know, though, will we?  Suddenly, I feel bereft - again.

Anyway, Earwig is a typical Diana Wynne Jones character - willful, clever, maybe even a little devious.  She gets "adopted" by a witch who really just wants "another pair of hands".  Earwig makes sure the witch gets what she wants.  Hehehehehehehehehehe.  Man, I wish there could be another book about Earwig.

Started Wonder by R. J. Palacio.  Love Auggie's voice so far.  There is not a lot of detail about his deformities.  Is that good or bad?  I will find out.  Check out the book trailer.



I read The Running Dream by Wende Van Draanen last week.  I liked it but it read, in parts, like a manual on the building and fitting of prosthetic limbs.  Fascinating!  No, actually, very fascinating!

It's a very hopeful book, full of good people pulling together to "make things work".  A track star loses part of one leg in a bus accident.  That's how the book starts.  Somehow, she and her family and her friends have to make her recurring running dreams a reality again.  Although I wonder how realistic the main character's reactions could be, I feel that Van Draanen provides a model for how these challenges should  be met.  Hope keeps people alive and striving.  Hope makes people happy.  Hope rules. 

That's it for now. 

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Yesterday, I woke up and the heat was....gone!  Like a miracle.  Like it was all a sticky uncomfortable dream.  A breeze blew and the wind chimes clattered and I decided before the heat rose again, I was going to bake up some rhubarb muffins.  A fellow rhubarb enthusiast found a great recipe made with whole wheat flour, oatmeal and brown sugar.  No muffins stay as moist and luscious as rhubarb muffins.  And this is good because I have LOTS of rhubarb.

In the afternoon the skies opened up.  And our new "water feature" - a bucket set under the second floor air conditioner to catch the condensation - became a lake.  I don't want to dump that good rain water but I don't want to invite mosquitoes to stay either.  I will solve that dilemma in the morning if I have time to water.

I have two interests that I need to look into and they both involve water.  The first is an easier way to re-use grey water.  I scoop out my shower water and pour it on the flower beds when I have time.  But what about dishwasher and washing machine waste water?  How can those sources of relatively harmless water be tapped?

The other is to find and install a rain barrel system for watering the vegetable garden.  And can rain water be used for other things such as washing clothes?  Older homes had cisterns for catching that water and then city sewer and water became the norm.  I'm just wondering here.

I am having a dry spell with my reading.  I still have about 15 ARCs from Book Expo to finish but I can't decide what I want to read about - a disaffected teen who has been forced to relocate?  A boy whose palm bears a mysterious mark and who lives with his Uncle Phineas?

OH MY STARS AND BOLTS!!!  I just found a Maggie Stiefvater book in my BEA Bag of Swag.  Thank you, God!  I am reading The Scorpio Races this week.  It comes out in October.  Happy Desk Chair Dance!!!

If you like kids' books - and I do -, check out Delightful Children's Books, a website devoted to producing book lists on just about anything for children of almost any age.  This week's featured book list is devoted to birds.  Story program planners, take note!

So...rhubarb muffins in the kitchen.  A breeze blowing in the window.  A good book to look forward to. Lunch with a long time friend where we talked and talked.  Tomorrow is the last day of Stories in the Schools.  The Storytelling Workshop next week is full up.  Yeah, life is good.

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