Echo

I've met so many friends here! You, Michelle, Kell, Nollaig, Abby, Kat, Chrissy, Kylie, and so many more! I remember drama with certain members, fun contests, banning spammers, the Jane Austen group read...but most of all, I remember the amazing support of the BCF members.

I can't say enough about the tremendous job you have done over the years, Michelle. I was honored to be part of the Mod team, and I have met some lifelong friends here on the forum. I'm sad to see it go, but I'm excited to be part of the future of BCF. The community that has been created here will last for years to come!

I finished Song of Solomon on the bus this morning. It was so magical! That book is going to stay with me for a long time. I have no idea what to read next.

Given that so many of us are dealing with heatwaves at the moment (90F coming this Sunday...oh, joy), I thought we might share some of our favorite hot weather food and drink recipes. Something that helps you beat the heat, so to speak. Me, I love a sweet iced tea or lemonade, cold grapes from the fridge, a peanut butter and honey sandwich with a cold glass of milk, or I just wallow in the heat and eat tacos, enchiladas, or quesadillas. Love me some Mexican food! What are your hot weather favorites?

Welcome to the forum!

Welcome, Loretta! Glad to have you here!

The Tommyknockers - Stephen King

The Things They Carried - Tim O'Brien

jail

Take a Bow - Madonna

We had a bit of a reprieve from the heat the past 2 or 3 days, with temps in the mid-70s, but starting today, we're back up into the high 80s and 90s.

I read Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe by Fannie Flagg over the weekend, and I absolutely loved it! I've always loved the movie, but the book went so much deeper into Idgie's and Ruth's relationship, into the way race relations changed in the South over time, and I felt like the characters were better developed. I just started Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison last night, and I'm really enjoying it so far.

hammer

Red River Valley - folk song of unknown origin

It's been hot. The last 2 days were 90F, and today is 85. We got our portable air conditioner installed in our bedroom, so we're much more comfortable at night, at least. But the heat makes my joints ache for some reason. (maybe I'm just getting old)

itch

Fury

Please Forgive Me - Bryan Adams

round-about

It's overcast and there's a bit of a drizzle, and it's only going to get to about 70F today. My hands were freezing on my walk to work this morning!

I've started my annual re-read of Faerie Tale by Raymond E. Feist. It's what I would describe as "spine-tingling". I read it every year, but weirdly enough, it's not very well-written. It's as though the author is an alien from another planet and described human behavior the way he sees it, as a total outsider. Nevertheless, I love it.

Brick House - The Commodores

Thanks, everyone, for your kind words about my coworker. There's still a lot of sadness around the office today, and anxiety, as the team he was a part of was just notified that the "large e-commerce client" we all work with has decided to go with another vendor for their work scope, which means they will either need to switch to a new team within our company, find a new position with our client's organization, or be absorbed into the company that is taking over their scope. This on top of the loss of their colleague has them all reeling. Our weekend was kind of stressful. We spent Saturday with my family at my parents' house, and having everyone together can be intense. We came home feeling stressed out. And we found out that my two brothers are going on vacation together (with my older brother's wife and son) to California, and the only time they thought to bring it up was when they asked BF and I to feed their cats. So not only were we left out of the plans, they decided last minute to ask us to take care of something they should have planned for. We said no. I feel sorry for all of you who are experiencing the heat wave! As I've gotten older, I've become less and less tolerant of the heat. We've had a few heatwaves and droughts in the PNW, and they are no joke. Here's hoping for some relief soon!

The book that disturbed me the most, and affected me more than any other, was And the Band Played On by Randy Shilts. However, it's non-fiction....it's an account of how the AIDS epidemic spread across America and how the government did nothing to stop it because it didn't care about the people who were dying. The descriptions of the deaths and the truth that is revealed (basically the homicidal indifference of the American government) has stayed with me since I first read it 20 years ago. For fiction, I guess I was disturbed the most by Monster by Jonathan Kellerman, due to the description of one of the villain's most horrible crimes. Other than that, I read a lot of horror and psychological thrillers, and I'm not really disturbed by them.

Dombey and Son Nicholas Nickelby David Copperfield