pontalba

I'm oozing toward chocolate vodka

Chocolate, or Fudge Ripple. I have plain taste.

Hey! Julie, did you see the fireball? Aren't you near Columbus? http://spaceweather.com/

But, it is, almost..........and all this peculiarity has me thinking I must precipitously visit the kitchen and find the particular bottle of peculiarly chocolate vodka in the freezer......

That is one I picked up and put down. I know I'll read it sometime, but it didn't move me. I've read Neverwhere, my fav so far, and American Gods. Can totally recommend both.

Oh, I've been sick of it for decades now. There is a lot of Mardi Gras celebration out in the suburbs that is more kid friendly than down in the Quarter. I don't care about any of it. You know, we've been exploring a bit, Charles is from New York, so doesn't know this area. I'm learning more myself! There is all kinds of food, not all spicy, that's Cajun cooking you are thinking of, and believe me, there is a lot more to it in New Orleans! Ya oughta come on down!

Oh boy, I wish I'd seen Adair, I remember when he was big doings. New Orleans has all sorts of food, not just spicy food. I can't eat really spicy food, some I'd like to, but my tummy doesn't like it at all. If you do come down, be sure to let us know. Charles and I would love to meet Mr. and Mrs. Muggle.

I've been off as well lately. I've started three since my last book, and don't particularly want any of them! /sheesh/ I mucked about today on here, and on the internet in general, then we went out. /sigh/ Husband is reading right now. I should join him.

Good idea! Oh, boy, I hope they pass it!! /all fingers and toes crossed!/ LOL re girl/boy versions.... I usually keep an eye out on their specials and freebies. I've been surprised at the quality of Amazon's sales sometimes. re the e-reader....ya hafta get in the middle of the bed frankie!! And, really, I believe the kindles are pretty sturdy, you have to have a case, and it pads falls. I haven't dropped it yet.

We drove down to New Orleans, but then across the Ms. River to Algiers Point. It is about a 130 mile round trip. We went the Bridge route, IOW, the Causeway Bridge (as always to N.O., but then drove through N.O. to cross the Ms. River at the Crescent City Connection. Through a bunch of ever decreasing in size streets to Algiers Point. It's the highest point on the "West Bank" of the river. I put west in quotes, because it is actually south of the river, but is the general west bank. heh Since Algiers Point is directly across from the French Quarter, we decided not to retrace out steps, and took the Algiers Ferry. All of this for a not so hot Estate Sale. But it was a great ride, and I'd never been to AP before. In fact, I've hardly ever been to the West Bank......it's like another world over there, and the natives don't mix well. lol Of course we stopped off for lunch and a bit of shopping..... Have you ever been to New Orleans, muggle?

Gawd! lol What a bunch of loonys are down there!! Believe me, I avoid New Orleans like the plague during Mardi Gras.

I loved it too! Sometimes it is better not to know!

Neat poem Julie! Yup, Halloween is a big deal over here, the stores start selling all the paraphernalia early on, then it's the Thanksgiving paraphernalia, then the Christmas paraphernalia.......then New Year's hats and champagne, one holiday after the other, the stores love 'em!! Athena, Carnival, or Mardi Gras is a HUGE deal in New Orleans. Here is a link to a parade schedule for 2014. http://www.mardigrasneworleans.com/schedule.html And, no, I don't bother with it. lol

Danger Will Robinson! Danger!!

I checked my Amazon account and I have 270 books on my kindle. Most of them were of the .99, 1.99, 2.99 USD variety (and some free), but for a handful. And they were e-books of hardcovers I have that were just too darned heavy to carry. I haven't listed them in my Library Thing account...too much trouble.

Thanks, I went to the chiropractor yesterday, and kept ice on my back the whole time driving/riding yesterday. The ice makes a huge difference. Cuts the inflammation, thus the pain.

Re bed times, I ordinarily can't sleep before midnight. I'm a born Night Owl. Although after all the driving yesterday, we crashed a little after 9 p.m. And slept till after 9 this morning! I was really bushed!

It's true, no matter what diet one implements, in the end, it's the calories that count. The low carb diet we are on is good, but calories count as well. The low carb is just a gimmicky way to get around some of it and eat particular items. Congratulations on the loss, and changes you are making Gaia. We've been on this (Atkins) diet about a month and have both lost about 10 pounds. It's a bit up and down, depending, but that's it. Both of our backs went out, and I haven't been able to do the treadmill for a few days, but was up to 35 minutes. For me, that's good. I should be able to get back to it in a day or two.

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That is a nicely varied list LP! And, for a good cause. Can't beat it!

Nice haul! I have The Outlandish Companion.....pretty good. It ties up the previous books nicely. There is supposed to be another one, a sequel covering more books sometime. With Gabaldon one never knows when!

Very nice review Steve! I started, read a few pages, but have been distracted. I'm not sure I really want to read it right now. But your review encourages me.

Interesting themes Athena. Generic questions: - What kind of plot elements do you find interesting? Humor is always good, but for me, only in combination with the unknown. I love plot twists, I guess you could say Twilight Zone sort of themes. - Are you looking for character development? Yes. Or, more to the point, a fully developed character to begin with, nuances and unexpected twists added as the novel progresses. - Do you prefer lots of unexpected plot twists or do you prefer it when a book is a bit more predictable? See above. - Do you like tension in your books? Usually. Perhaps not all the way through, if there is a "resting" period, it makes the tension all the sweeter. - How do you prefer your protagonists, more perfect / strong or more flawed, or a mixture? No Perfect! Yeech! Flawed, or even twisted is good. - Do you prefer to read a book that reads more easily or that's more complicated (in terms of word use and/or story/characters/world), or a mixture? Complex, in and out, up and down, and around the proverbial Mulberry bush. - Do you prefer a show, rather than tell, style? SHOW ME!! - Do you prefer a story to be told with flashbacks or chronologically (or even a flash forward?)? Six to a half dozen of the other. IOW, either, although flash back/forward can spice it up a bit, not to mention put a bit of a twist into it. Below some ideas of elements you can talk about for several genres: Fantasy: Not my genre, although I don't totally rule it out. Thus the abbreviated answers here. How do you feel about magic in your books? ennh. A mild, sort of ambiguous bit of magic. Unexplained, but hovering, so to speak. What about mythical creatures such as dragons? I have read a few with dragons, Tempaire...maybe I have that wrong, but in general, no. Do you prefer swords or guns, or a combination of both? Any combination. Do you like to see a world based on ours or connected to ours, or do you prefer a brand new made up world? Prefer something based in our possible reality. Do you like to have a map in the book, or do you prefer no map? Don't care, either way is fine. What kind of protagonists do you like to see? What kind of political system do you like to see in the world? Science-fiction: - Do you like Time Travel in your books? YES!! - What about planetary travel? Oh, yeah! - Teleporting or ships? Without a doubt! - Aliens? As long as they are interesting, and can relate to them. No slime, please. lol - Brand new universe or based/related on/to our own? Related to our own. - Dystopia or future science-fiction? Prefer dystopia, but like some future SF. Contemporary Fiction: - What kind of plot elements interest you in particular? Moral conflict always works, and covers a multitude of sins. No pun intended. - What kind of subjects do you like to read about? ie. Love between a couple, love triangle, affair, a family, children, secrets, book about a job, coming of age.. Star crossed, generational epics, SECRETS, some coming of age. But mostly ruminations and analysis on /of Life, the whys and wherefores of what has happened to a person. Not to mention Detective stories, mysteries, who dunnits. Historical Fiction: - Which time period do you prefer to read about? Practically any period. Very flexible. - Do you prefer to read something truly accurate or do you prefer it if the author changes things in an attempt to make the story more interesting? I do not like it when the author changes the real course of history....for example, I do not care for alternative history stories. I know they are pretty popular, but they irritate me. I like an author to work with a real time line. Any characters he/she can throw in is fine, but don't change the natural course of history. Biographies: - What kind of people do you like to read about? Not big on bios, but when I do, it's ordinarily historical figures, particularly ones of Ancient History, or, oh well historical covers it. Information: - What kind of subjects are you particularly interested in? History. Some science, if historically based. - Do you prefer books with a lot of text or with some pictures, graphs, tables (if applicable to the subject) Text, a few pics are fine. Paranormal: - What kind of creatures/beings do you like to read about? Not my gig.

Amazing how those little buggers manage to wend their way into our Kindles!

Congratulations for the new glasses CB, I know it feels great! We have a few skyways here.....I know of one at least in New Orleans attached to Tulane Medical School/Center downtown that crosses a pretty wide street/highway.. And, in our closest town, Covington, there is one just put in last year, again at a hospital. It goes from the hospital, across a busy street to a Medical facility where they do specialized testing. Oh, and just remembered there are some at the New Orleans Airport aka Louis Armstrong International Airport.