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rwemad

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About rwemad

  • Birthday 10/20/1963

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  1. Charm

    Happy Birthday!

  2. Mac

    Hey there.

     

    I'm sorry things are not brilliant for you at this time. I do know how it is, you're quite correct. Nothing in life ever seems easy or straightforward - it's them others, isn't it?!?

     

    I've started a new job, working in an inclusion unit in a mainstream secondary school. So far, so good, and I'm currently loving it - it's all new!

     

    I, too, am considering getting myself a cat. I believe that, should he be male, I'll call him 'Paul Newman'.

     

    I like the idea of being outside calling: "Paul Newman! Paul Newman! Come on Paul Newman, it's time to come in!" and making weird tight-mouthed sucking sounds at the same time.

     

    I wonder if I'm a little odd...:blush:

     

    I hope this finds you very well, my friend. PM me if you want a chat about stuff with an understanding near-total stranger. :friends0:

  3. rwemad

    Hi Mac

     

    I haven't been about for a while I have family troubles :roll: Ya know how it is.

     

    I note how much you rated the Wind Up Bird Chronicle. Should I be entirely honest, it is not my favourite Murakami - that is still After Dark. The Wild Sheep Chase and Dance Dance Dance are a joint second:mrgreen:.

     

    I'm shovelling the snow in every direction at the mo:roll:.

     

    However, just wanted to say I have a brand new kitten who I have called called Mackeral.

     

    Daft innit?

  4. Mac

    Ahoy there. I'm just dropping by to see how you are. It's been a while since we last communicated. I hope you are well, my friend. Take good care.

  5. rwemad
    I've read 'Watermelon', 'Sushi for Beginners', The Other Side of the Story' and a couple of others I think which I can't recall. They were all much, MUCH funnier and lighter than 'This Charming Man' which I was very disappointed with. I think one of my favourite books from MK was the one full of her articles, can you recall it's name? I wouldn't mind reading it again as that one was fun.
  6. rwemad

    Thanks for your kind thoughts... and hugs. I'm sorry to have rambled ... particularly on the reading list thread; totally inappropriate :roll:. I have edited. I am thinking of writing a few thoughts and braving the writers corner.... we'll see.

    Stay safe and thanks again.

  7. rwemad

    Hey Charm, Thanks for your message. I'm feeling a little brighter now and edited the post. It is just so wearing having to sit around waiting for somebody to die, which is what we all seem to be doing. It's a sad fact that it comes to us all. I so want to go quickly... when I'm older obviously... but quickly, none of this sitting around having to be washed milarkey.

    Hope you and yours are keeping well.

  8. Kylie

    Sorry to hear that you're going through such a tough time. :friends0: We're all here if you need to talk. :friends0:

  9. Charm

    Hey there. So sorry to hear about your sick relative, I really hope it all works out soon, it must be awful on you after last year :console: Take care and look after yourself too. Sending loads of hugs your way :friends0::friends0:

  10. rwemad

    Rwemad 2009

    rwemad replied to rwemad's topic in Past Book Logs

    I have them waiting in the wings Mac, and Bad Things too. I have also, amongst many others, acquired a book called Nothing to Lose by Lee Child. I believe this may be one of your favourites too:). I have aquired so many books recently I am banning myself from my favourite on line store for the foreseeable future. I struggled but have finished This charming Man by Marian Keyes, gave it a miserable **. I really didn't like it. I found it a bit of a mismatch; I didn't find it funny at all, quite depressing actually. I think the blurb and the cover were misleading causing me to like it less than I would have done had I been expecting such a shift from her usual stuff. I was looking for light and amusing and I got dark and dismal. Having written the above it is worth mentioning that it did take me a long time to read it which may explain why it appeared so dull and depressing. Shame. I'm going to try The Three Muskateers next for the book club.
  11. rwemad

    Ahhhh. so this is how it's done.

    How ya doing?

    I have figured out how to change my avatar to a home grown pic too. What do you think? It's of a beach where I often take the dog for a walk. I haven't been for a while as it is where they were filming the Shell House scene in the new HP movie and currently they are filming a scene for the new Robin Hood with Russell Crowe. I imagine it wil be pretty busy around there at the mo but normally it is very quiet. Mostly, particularly off season, it is just me and the dog. bliss.

    You have given me some great reads.... thank you.

  12. rwemad

    Rwemad 2009

    rwemad replied to rwemad's topic in Past Book Logs

    The Straw Men by Michael Marshall **** Phew. How on earth did he think of all that? This is a book that I would never have picked up had it not been for this forum... thanks Mac... again. I still think The Straw Men sounds a bit of a daft name for what is a very grown up book but it just proves that the old book and cover thing ..... It's about lots and lots of things but involves a gruesome business venture that has the good guys running around in circles chasing the bad guys. There are two leads who are strangers to each other and the book follows both in their quest to find answers to personal events. This is really well written, I think. The plot is intricate and the characters are complex so I had to concentrate . I was a little unsure at first as it began quite slowly ... but it ended at a breakneck speed... G force 7!!! It is insightful, horrific, disturbing, thought provoking and has a touch of comedy where you would least expect it. The characters were incredibly real... they had egos and foibles like all of us... I liked that. There is surely no such thing as a truly altruistic hero is there? Although Bobby came close now I think about it, but that is maybe as I grew quite a soft spot for him. The writer is not at all greedy and this is a book that does not rely on a few good passages padded out with gunk. Every sentence is in there beause it means something to the plot, character, setting or whatever... they all mean something. This is a great book.
  13. rwemad
    I suppose the bottom line is, should 'Mum' have written a book filled with attempts to justify her self pity and behaviour it may raise a little sympathy until one read about the neglect of the son. I mean, he was a child.... she was the adult, end of. I always feel quite sad to think of children who are constantly reminded about how 'grateful' they should be to parents/guardians for their providing for them. They have little choice but to rely on the adults for such provisions. Basics, in my opinion, include not only the food and shelter but love, advice, guidance, protection and support. This particular mother failed on many levels. She was incapable as a parent and the support network clearly failed also. I know it's OT but I can't help thinking about that little girl (and her poor siblings) who was starved to death by those who cared for her... sick parents by any definition who did not have to beat or burn their kids to be so very very cruel. Sorry... I'm feeling a bit sad today..... thinking too much.
  14. rwemad
    Ahh yes.... Dorothy. I can't begin to think where she fit in.... In fact, I think SHE should have been the one to spot all the misery and sickness and interfered. Wasn't she a vicar's wife? They can't ALL have been bonkers surely. Somebody should have done something. I wonder if I had lived down the road I would have suspected enough was amiss to say or do something. Sadly, I suspect not, we cannot see what goes on behind our neighbours curtains and kids in Augusten's position are not aware how unusual their lives are to shout loud enough to invade our busy lives. A lesson for all of us maybe.
  15. rwemad
    I think his mother, as selfish as she was, may also have been very ill. Many people suffering from severe depression are incapable of caring for themselves let alone a child. She too may have been seeking love and attention from all the wrong places. The problem, for me, was the help she chose. Finch was a complete fruitcake and clearly incompetent as a doctor. Society/the community appeared to be have no safety net in place at all. No neighbour, teacher, health worker, nosy parker down the street, nobody to interfere and offer opportunities to change. Hope was ill too if her starving the cat was anything to go by. Neil turned out to be on a path to self destruction and clearly had problems. Natalie and Augusten, it seems, were the two who were able to share a certain degree of normality with each other. I think should Augusten's Mum, Dad, Finch, Neil, Agnes or Hope write a similar tale regarding those same years, they may well read as equally harrowing.
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