Member: imager

Oh! I had to jump in and say that I love that quote! And now, I have to add that I love the profile pic! Funny!

posted by MDLady at 8:34 am (EST) on Nov 6, 2009

It all depends on the members. It's a good start though.

posted by fanderik at 1:38 am (EST) on Oct 22, 2009

Thanks for telling me about the new book, I had not yet heard about it but am looking forward to a new read. I am a big fan of the Series New Frontier, that is how I first started reading Peter David, then when I discovered the Imzaldi set I was hooked.

Again, thanks for the info about the new book.
/Minnie

posted by mrangel at 11:15 am (EST) on Sep 2, 2009

Sometimes the kind of book you don't have to think about is just what you need. I'm finding that is often the answer when I go through one of those phases where nothing seems to grab me. That's usually a sign that I need a nice low-brow murder!

Your family celebrations sound like a lot of fun and the 'big' birthdays of our children are always momentous for us as well. 21 is that sort of age that, when your children were small, you probably thought you wouldn't have to worry about them any more once they got there. Of course, we all learn that that isn't true at all and we go on worrying about them for the rest of their lives, but I do think it's a time you can give yourself a pat on the back for having got them this far. At least any trouble they get into now will be their own fault and not yours, so congratulaions to you and you daughter.

I'm really at the tail-end of sorting out mum's stuff now. Just waiting for a couple of people to sort out final details and then I can file all the paperwork and hopefully forget the whole thing. I have realised while doing this how difficult it would be for our own kids if we were to die without making wills (this has been complicated enough even WITH a will and a lot of good organisation on mum's part) so we finally got round to doing that this week. Another of those things it's good to get out of the way.

You've got me thinking now about books set n Australia. There's no reason for this but I actually seem to have very few. Like you, I had an Afica phase and I seem to have a huge number of books set in India, but Australia hasn't been that high on my radar yet, though I'm petty sure I must have a few - just can't remember what they are. I'll certainly let you know if I can think of any. Just lately I seem to be acquiring quite a few novels that are either set in Japan or by Japanese writers. I think it started when I fell in love with Hurakami's novels and now I seem to have collected quite a few. It's never intentional but something seems to happen every now and then.

That Doctor Who thing is funny. I'm not a great fan of sci-fi in any shape or form and, although the rest of my family are all nuts about Who, I've rarely even watched one episode since I was a child (I do have Rob's best known one recorded though, which I mean to watch one day - I'm thrilled to say that the fact that I'm not a fan doesn't stop him speaking to me). I must say, though, that his own books are very different and I'm happy to recommend them to almost anybody.

posted by Booksloth at 2:08 pm (EST) on Aug 19, 2009

I've just been away from LT for a couple of weeks and I understand you were planning to do the same! I'm now trying to catch up on all my messages and find I don't even have a good excuse for not having replied to people before - LT does have a way of taking over your life, doesn't it. All I've been doing is trying to put off logging on until I've done everything else (cleaning, cooking, the stuff with Mum's will etc) and that way I've found it's time for bed before I even think about online socialising - I'm far too used to logging on first thing then finding the whole day has gone!

You're quite right, it has been a difficult year so far. Mum and I were very close and I feel we always would have been friends even had we not been related. Luckily for me, the rest of the family are a bit like that too - it's only my sister who is decidedly odd. She'sa been spoiling for a fight for more years than I can remember and I tried my best to remain civil for mum's sake but now that isn't necessary any longer and I think I can safely say the relationship is over. It's not just me - mum's sister and our cousins life 50-ish miles away and my sister won't have anything to do with them either. It's really rather sad as she is single with few friends and is looking at a very lonely old age, but it's her own choice entirely.

It's quite true that I'm not a great fan of fantasy writing, though I do love it when something really special comes along. One close friendship I have made here on LT is with Rob Shearman (Shearrob) who has done a fair bit of writing for Doctor Who. I am a massive fan of his book of short stories Tiny Deaths, which recently won its category at the World Fantasy Awards. If you're also a fan of slightly quirky, often touching and frequently very funny short fiction, I'd recommend that one very highly indeed!

posted by Booksloth at 7:28 am (EST) on Aug 12, 2009

Sorry I've been quiet for a while. I've been up to my neck for the past few months now in sorting out the will and estate of my mum who sadly died back in March and every now and then things flare up and get very busy before dying down again. The past week has been one of those times, and although I've still found time to jump in on the occasional online argument I've been unable to answer personal messages for a few days.

I do like your dad! I know we haven't actually met, but he sounds like a lot of fun and a real mischief-maker, which is something that always makes me smile in the elderly - it proves they are keeping those marbles in perfect working order. Good for him!

I'm so sorry to hear your daughter has also recently gone through the break-up of a relationship. I feel for her and, although it's been a good few years for me, I remember all too well what that kind of heartache was like. I hope she's back on her feet again now and that you are also feeling better - because I know you'd rather have suffered it yourself than watch her go through it, wouldn't you?

I haven't actually gone out and bought any of those Robin Hobb books yet but I have added the name to my little list of 'books I want to know more about and might even buy if my Mount TBR ever gets down to under 100'!

posted by Booksloth at 1:43 pm (EST) on Jul 30, 2009

I'm afraid that, like a lot of people, I don't make the most of living near the sea at all. It's partly because we take it for granted and partly because although we're near the coast we aren't really near any very good beaches - and, of course, we rarely have the weather for beach stuff - the last time I swam in the sea in this country I was probably about 13 and trying to impress someone (though I can't imagine why I might have thought my floundering and thrashing about would have impressed anyone but a hungry shark!)

It's a shame you can't visit your distant son more often and I'm really sorry to hear about your husband's lung problem, that's tough on both of you. I'm not one of those mothers who can't bare it when their kids are out of sight for 5 minutes but it is nice to have them close by, especially now that they are both old enough to get on with their own lives and just visit once a week or so. Any more than that and I start worrying that they must be miserable or in some kind of trouble to want to hang around us all the time - nuts, I know, but I'm weird like that. It is wonderful, though, to be able to pick up the phone and say 'we'll be dropping round in 10 minutes' not to mention having them near when something goes wrong. My daughter broke up with her long term boyfriend about 9 months ago and was very upset at the time. Although it meant having to deal with all the tears here, that was much better than worrying about her from a distance and not being able to visit or have her around. In fact, she ended up moving back in here for a while and it felt really good to have her here where I could make sure she was okay.

You have some great taste in dogs - I'm a big fan of Dobies too and I never met one yet that was savage (though I did meet one once that tried to take a chunk out of poor Skeelo but that was more owner's than dog's fault - as is usually the case).

Oh dear, I'm afraid I do have an awful habit of getting myself into trouble on the religion threads here. I generally try and stick to the Happy Heathens, then I think people should know what they are walking into and be prepared to get caught in my crossfire, but I have strayed a few times. I'm afraid the older I get the more anti-religion I become - and the more years I go with people knocking on my door trying to convert me, the more I start to consider this whole 'imaginary friend' thing to be sheer lunacy. I tend to jump into these arguments with both feet then regret it because I know I've sometimes said thngs that have possibly offended or upset others. I do tend to see LT as a kind of online dinner party and I forget I can't just argue like mad then laugh and pour the other person another glass of wine as I would do in real life. It's nice of you to call it 'good work' and I do think atheists have kept quiet too long, but I do sometimes forget the future of the world isn't only dependent on me. Any 'me too's are always welcome!

I don't know the name Robin Hobb but what you say sounds really interesting. I do hope it's not going to be another one for my TBR pile - I already need around an extra 40 years of life to get through what's already there.

posted by Booksloth at 9:09 am (EST) on Jul 27, 2009

You have a kelpie? They're not very common over here but I did meet one a few years ago. It had the most startling blue eyes I've ever seen in a dog and was an absolute darling. Do tell me more about yours - I'm a huge dog lover (that's not necessarily a lover of huge dogs, though that as well). At the moment we have an adorable 7 year old black Labrador called Skeelo who rules both my life and my heart. (We also have two cats but they technically belong to my daughter who isn't allowed to keep them at her current flat. Must admit, I'll always be a 'dog-person' at heart.)

Yes, as I think I said, I have a way of opening my mouth and starting off huge debates that are still going long after I have lost interest. I was getting a bit annoyed at that chap with his not-very-good jokes, though, especially after a few people had made it clear they had been the victims of that kind of thing for rather too long. I suppose there are some people who are too obtuse for anything to get through.

I'm not sure what to tell you about Devon, really. I live on the outskirts of Plymouth, which is the major sea-port and the second biggest city in Devon, so any ideas you may have about cream teas and thatched cottages don't really apply. Then again, we don't have to go very far to get to them - especially in the tourist season. It's not a bad place to live. We are right on the edge of Dartmoor, which has some lovely dog-walking spots, and we also live next to woods that we can access directly from our back garden and a local stately home is 10 minutes walk away - again with lovely walks. A dog could live in a worse place! My parents used to live in a small, slightly more typical village which was only about 5 miles away. Sadly, mum died in March this year (Dad several years ago), and I've been struggling through the admin of her will and the sale of the house lately. It did just cross our minds that we could move out there, but my husband likes the town life - he can walk to his shop in 5 minutes from our house - and we are both pretty happy where we are. Add to that the fact that my sister (who didn't even bother to attend Mum's funeral and with whom there is a pretty major rift) lives in the village too and that's a bit too close for comfort! The house is now sold to a lovely family who wanted the village life and the will stuff is drawing slowly to an end so I just may get some of my life back soon as it's been a struggle.

I suppose the only thing 'wrong' with Plymouth is that we are a bit out of the way when it comes to any excitement. There's not a lot for young people to do here - and not an awful lot for older ones either, though I do think the older we get, the more we appreciate the quiet-ish life. Both my kids (now 29 and 32) lived away from Plymouth for several years but they've both returned now, so I guess there must be something here for them. I'm off this afternoon to a 'book-do' in town (one of the rare 'events') with talks from two local authors (Babs Horton and Simon Hall) so I've spent the past few days tryng to get through some of their books. I'd read Babs Horton before - in fact, had a few of her books, but Simon Hall (who is a local news correspondent) was new to me. Must say I've quite enjoyed his first novel though.

posted by Booksloth at 6:01 am (EST) on Jul 24, 2009

You're probably wise to settle for those puns. I seem to be forever opening my mouth and falling right in but I guess it makes for some interesting threads (none of us like getting into arguments, but I suspect lots of us like reading other people's!) BTW I've always thought the Blue Mountains sound fantastic - what a fabulous place to live!

posted by Booksloth at 1:28 pm (EST) on Jul 22, 2009

Hi Kim - that was really nice of you! It's a funny thing but the bullying of red-haired people actually bothers me more now than when my kids were small. They were both brought up being told how beautiful their hair was - we always referred to it as ginger, rather than red or all those excuses for ginger like Titian etc - partly because I think ginger is a wonderful thing (colour, taste etc) while red, auburn etc seemed to be just for people who didn't want to admit their hair was ginger (but that was just my theory). What comments were made at school they were pretty well-equipped to deal with.

It's perhaps an exaggeration to say either of them was actually bullied for having ginger hair, but it was the thing that people picked on, as kids will pick on anything that is a bit different. I was picked on at school for being a)posh (not so at all, but my father did try to instil a bit of a 'public school' accent into us, which I've been trying to lose ever since, so I guess that's why other kids thought we were posh) and b) skinny (if only that were still the case!) It's really now they are older that I find the bullying of red/ginger haired people is endemic over here. It's usually people who have appeared on television (eg The Duchess of York, Chris Evans (a TV presenter and DJ who has a lot more worth picking on than the colour of his hair!), Mick Hucknall (singer of a now-extinct group called Simply Red), the ginger one of the Spice Girls etc). They're often people who are pretty annoying to start with but it seems to be the colour of their hair that offends the public most of all. The expression 'ginger-minger' is pretty much standard and it just seems to me that if similar expressions were used about a black person there would be an outcry - which is why I described it as the last 'acceptable' form of bullying. Television used to have at least a bit of a code of good-manners which isn't the case now so I dare say its staff make unkind comments about a lot more people in general than just the red-hair brigade, but that does seem to be the one that they don't need any excuse for. It bothers me mostly because I think of kids who are at school now and having to put up with this and I feel the media actually encourages this particular brand of bullying while condemning all others.

I also think I was just in a bit of a stroppy mood when I made that comment and it was just a comment about the world in general - your own remarks didn't cause me any personal offence at all. I love the Australian way of taking the mick out of anyone and everyone indiscriminately - it used to be the way over here too, it's just the narrowing down to certain groups that I object to, and the often very vicious way in which it is done - there is rarely any good humour about it.

I'm also thrilled to hear your family is doing its best for the propagation of the ginger races! I was once told by my children's infants school headmistress that red hair would eventually disappear because it is a recessive colour - which just goes to show how much she knew about genetics! Like other recessive colours (natural blondes, for instance) there will never be as much of it around as other colours but it will always pop up when least expected, even if it's been in hiding for generations. A jolly good thing too, IMO! My own hair is just brown (there's no exotic way of putting it) and I have often wondered about going ginger as I'm so envious of my kids, particularly of my daughter who had masses of orange curls. I thought at one time that it might stop all the remarks about the milkman (husband's is also brown, we think the ginger came from my grandparents) but now my son wears his hair so short you can't really tell what colour it is and my daughter dyes and straightens hers (still lovely and she does now and then go back to various shades of red, just for a change). Fortunately both kids can also take a fair bit of sun as long as they are careful to do it slowly and end up a really nice golden colour, so it really was less my own kids than the current generation I was taking up arms for.

Having said all of that (rambled on, some would rightly say) I do apologise for the general touchiness of my message on the koala thread. Believe it or not, I do actually have a sense of humour (rather too much of one for some LTers, I suspect, judging by the number of scraps I've got into when I thought I was being funny but others didn't 'get' the joke) but - like lots of mums - it has a thin shell round about the bit directly over my kids and (maybe) their potential offspring. I'm sorry about that. I hope it didn't come across as if I was picking on you as it certainly wasn't meant that way. And thanks for your very thoughtful message - it was good to hear from you.

Lyn (Sloth)

posted by Booksloth at 7:29 am (EST) on Jul 21, 2009

Hi,

Just wanted to say thanks for adding The Magic Lands to your list. Look forward to hearing what you think of it!

posted by MarkJH at 10:18 am (EST) on Oct 5, 2008