First Picture from the Mac Phone Booth

You know what is more difficult than medicating a bird?  Medicating a cat.  This is Spooky, still pouting ten minutes later.

BTT- Coming Soon to a Theater Near You

This was the Booking Through Thursday question that I couldn't answer last night because I needed to run around my own books before making a final decision:

If you could see one book turned into the perfect movie–one that would capture everything you love, the characters, the look, the feel, the story–what book would you choose?

After debating with myself for over 24 hours, I have come up with a Top 3. But first, I must Side Note one of the debates, because it will amuse my mother:

Self 1:  Rhett Butler's People
Self 2:  That's asinine. That wasn't even a Great Book. It was a (Qualified) Good Book.
Self 1:  Don't care. The question read "one book turned into the perfect movie". It didn't say "Great Book", but it did say "perfect movie". "Perfect movie" would involve Clark Gable reprising the role of Rhett Butler, and there isn't anything under Heaven I would rather see on screen.
Self 2:  Dude, Gable's been....
Self 1:  Shut. Up. It said "perfect movie". As in Dreamland! As in Any Actor I Want!

So. Here is where I landed.

1. Wicked.  Not the musical.  The actual plot of the actual book with the sad, scary Land of Oz and the politics and the Animals and the psychological profile of the villain.  I have heard rumors that someone is going to try it.  And I suppose that if Peter Jackson could do LOTR, someone might do Wicked.  But that Perfect Movie might be better in my head.
2. The Vampire Lestat.  Yeah, yeah.  Forget the Tom Cruise movie for a minute.  First, The Vampire Lestat was a better book than Interview with the Vampire.  The reason it was never made into a movie is Hollywood used its one brain cell and determined it was impossible.  It is epic.  I can't conceive of the cast to do it.  I can't imagine how one would harness the scope of it.  But if that Perfect Movie could be made, I would be in my Vampire Costume for the midnight premiere, Baby.
3. Devil in the White City, by Erik Larson is my non-fiction pick.  (I hear Spielberg is doing Team of Rivals, and I am not ready to talk about that, yet.)  Chicago, 1893, World's Fair, serial killer.  This movie can be done and I can't imagine why no one has tried.

I Was a Guest Blogger

For year two, Carlo Garcia has decided to feature one charitable  cause each month.  For April, he chose Literacy Works, an organization in Chicago that works to, "to fulfill the promise of a basic human right: to read, write, and interpret the world."

I made a small donation and you can find my post about that on Living Philanthropic.

Wherein I Think "I Told You So"

The Chicago Tribune ran an article, originally from the L.A. Times about a study of the health of business travelers. It seems frequent flyers are less healthy.

Shocking. Here are the stats:

"Extensive travelers were 260% more likely than light travelers to rate their health as fair to poor. Obesity was 92% more common in the extensive travelers. They also had higher cholesterol and high blood pressure."

I had started to notice that my retiring colleagues were all getting healthier. Exercising, dropping weight, ditching some of the meds. I had associated it with leaving the stress of The Grind, but not with the travel in specific.

I know when I am on the road, I don't sleep as well, don't eat as well and only exercise if I had a good day and the weather is nice. I remember a speaker at a conference once saying that she gained however many pounds her first year on the job because she would order cheesecake from room service whenever she travelled. She literally went on a No Cheesecake diet.

I am not giving up Auntie Anne's pretzels.

Interestingly, the article does not talk about other Traveler Afflictions I have heard mentioned. Blood clots is the one that scares me. Back problems from shlepping the luggage through the airport. I have a colleague whose doctor forbids her to carry on luggage. He doesn't want her lifting anything into the overhead bins anymore. Not to mention Airplane Plague - the general cold-n-flu like symptoms one picks up after a time on the road.

I am not sure how the math might change when looking at people that primarily drive to other locations or business. As for me, I am just glad that I am home this month.

Why I Love (Many) Sports

Today at work, I asked a pack of guys which would be more important - watching the 4th quarter of the Bulls game tonight, or watching the 1st period of the Blackhawks game. They are running concurrently tonight.  The response was unanimous:

Blackhawks.

My mother disagrees. If you really want to hear the story behind this discussion, you can stay after class, but it made me think about the different reasons people enjoy watching sports. I had to explain it to one of my nerd friends once:

1. It is a contest in which I get to root for someone. Picking a side is fun. Good guys and bad guys. 
2. That rooting for someone is often regional. A form of community spirit.
3. Sometimes, I just need to scream about something. I believe I have mentioned that I scream so much during football that my cat is afraid of the theme song for Monday Night Football. Sports are a socially acceptable thing to scream about.  (It is also a socially acceptable reason to drink to excess, but I wouldn't know anything about that.)
4. It is a relatively safe subject when one is required to converse with strangers.
5. It is a relatively safe subject when one is inclined to pick a fight with friends or family.

Example: Great Aunt Bev is from Michigan. As in Detroit.  As in Pistons.  One Christmas Day, the Bulls were playing..someone..and Aunt Bev made a couple of rather snarky comments about Michael Jordan. My brother, age 12 or 13, shouted (in his best Monty Python voice) "Burn the Witch!!"

And he got away with it.

For me, sports are great fun when my teams are winning, and not too hard to shake off when they aren't. (I believe Joy said it takes half of Monday morning for me to get over a bad Bears loss.) A low risk emotional investment.

And tonight, I have two teams in the playoffs.

The $1 Movement

Vonate.org is another organization attempting to Harness the Power of the Internet (or something) in order to do some good. The mission is:

"To socially enable change in the world with one individual and one dollar at a time."

Taking from the idea "if we all gave one dollar", Vonate picks a couple of worthy organizations each month and member pick which to send $1. One becomes a member by registering online and paying the $15 fee ($1 per month for a year plus $3 to support Vonate's expenses.)

So here I am thinking, "This is cool, but am I overextending? Shouldn't I be focused on the places where I volunteer?" I was going to discuss it with my mother, but her response would be, "I don't even want to talk to you about $15."

So I signed up. Then I went to look at the two organizations for the month of April.

This is how they get you. How do you choose between The Starlight Children's Foundation and the Walkabout Foundation?


Anne's Answer:

You flip a coin. Then blog about both.

Look me up if you decide to join. My profile is here.

BTT - Cover

The Booking through Thursday question was:

Can you judge a book by its cover?


I recently read a thought by a writer - I want to say it was Salman Rushdie - that there is a way to judge a book by its cover.

If the author's name is larger than the title of the book, then the book isn't worth reading.  The assumption seems to be that if the marketing people are trying to sell the book on the strength of the author's popularity, something must be wrong.

If you think about the darlings on the Bestseller Lists, there is a lot of truth to that.  However, as I look at my own TBR pile, I find it needs some qualifiers:

1. If the name is larger because it has more letters than the title, it doesn't count. Maybe there is a Font Size standard.  On my copy of Salman Rushdie's Fury, for example, his name stands out more than the title, but the font is the same size.  This led to;
2. If the book is in its upteenth printing, and the author's name is in larger print, it gets a pass.  How the marketers choose to sell a later edition is going to be different, particularly if a publisher has the rights to a whole bunch of one writer's work.  I am looking at my Ward Just novels, here.
3. In fact, since most paperbacks are second printings, the rule might apply there, as well.
4. There is absolutely no reason for an author's name to be larger than the subject of a biography.
5. Shakespeare doesn't count.  Even the "histories".

I wonder how much control the authors have over this concept.  Because while I am not sure this idea is a deal breaker when I am looking for books, but I am certainly judging by it.  

USPS

We've all been hearing about the financial issues that the U.S. Postal service has been having.  We've all been hearing that changes are inevitable.  The Chicago Tribune reported on some of the local glitches as USPS makes adjustments:

"In Highland Park, residents complain they have received mail as late as 7 p.m. In Barrington, the village newsletters were delayed by up to a week, so the calendar listings were outdated by the time residents got them. Mail also is arriving later in Park Ridge."


Interestingly, there was no discussion of the possibility that Saturday service will end.  As I have chatted with people about that, I find many aren't terribly bothered by the idea of not receiving snail mail on Saturday.  But one of my techie colleagues said, "It is a problem for me.  This is a 24/7 world and killing Saturday delivery is a step in the wrong direction."


"Huh,"  was my riveting response.


For the record, I can manage some patience as USPS retools its business model.  I don't particularly care what time of day the mail arrives.  I can live without delivery Saturday service.  The week late deliveries, though, are a problem.


I have also had late newsletters, periodicals, and promotions delivered.  Last weekend, I received notice of an awesome sale.   From two weeks before.  First world problem, I realize.  But I rather wanted to complain to someone.


I didn't want to complain to USPS.  It seemed like kicking them while they are down.  The vendor, perhaps?  Eh.  They'll just chew out the USPS for me.


This, Ladies and Gentlemen, are what blogs are for.

Blanket 14

Another from the fleece swap.  These are monkeys.  You can tell because there are bananas.  In case you couldn't tell.  Is there such a thing as an albino monkey?

Used leftover yarn!  Loops & Threads Impeccable in Aran.

Blanket 13

This was another piece from the fleece swap.  My mother thought I should go back to the store and make one for Alex.

The yarn was Lion Brand Pound of Love in White.