Pollyanna Rainbow Sunshine and the Needles of Doom

Lyda here.

Part of Pollyanna’s Reading In Wonderland Challenge is:

#8. ‘But what did the Dormouse say?’ one of the jury asked. ‘That I can’t remember,’ said the Hatter. ‘You must remember,’ remarked the King, ‘or I’ll have you executed.’:  Re-read one of your all-time favorite books. Remember all over again why you love it. Blog about it so we will all want to read it too.

So I re-read one of my very favorite books: “The Orange Cat Bistro” by Nancy Linde. Read it free here.

This is one of those books that I wish I’d written. It is inspiring and challenging to me as a writer. And beautiful and amazing to me as a reader.

The year I discovered this book, I bought as many copies as I could and sent it to friends and family.

It’s that kind of book.

It’s unique, erotic, weird, inventive. It’s an exploration of what it means to be an artist, what it means to be a woman, what it means to face your fears and really live.

Yeah. I like it a lot. Ya’ll can tell.

Claire is writing her first novel, and her characters begin to take on a life of their own. And interact with her. Just who is writing this book?

And I’m not telling you any more of the story.

Trust me. You want to read this book for yourself.

Lyda here. As if ya’ll didn’t already know…

I completed another book for Pollyanna’s Reading in Wonderland Challenge.

I’m going to count this for Challenge #1: ‘…at least I know who I was when I got up this morning, but I think I must have been changed several times since then.’  Read a fiction book in a genre you don’t usually read. 

That quote really fits the book I just finished, “Fragile Things: Short Fictions and Wonders” by Neil Gaiman, who wrote “Good Omens” with Terry Pratchett.

A book of short stories and a few poems, these tales are… odd and twisted. In a good and slightly creepy way.

I don’t usually read books of short stories. Either I don’t like all the stories but I feel compelled to plow through them all - or I really like them and feel a sense of loss when each story is done.

But Neil Gaiman is a master. Each story is complete and is exactly the right length for what it is. They vary from one page to a 56-page novella. At the end of each story, I automatically put the book down and let the story sink in.

I also don’t usually read books of… horror? I don’t quite know what to call these. There are monsters, vampires, and zombies. ZOMBIES! There are aliens and creatures from mythology.

Some of the stories/poems are funny as hell. Some are quite disturbing, not in a blood-and-guts way, but in a psychological way.

They defy categorization. In these stories, myths are true and the modern world is a bizarre and alien landscape. No one and nothing can be taken for granted.

I think “The Day The Saucers Came” is my favorite. Or “October in the Chair.” Or “Bitter Grounds.” Or “How to Talk to Girls at Parties.” Or “Forbidden Brides of the Faceless Slaves in the Secret House of the Night of Dread Desire.” Isn’t that an awesome title?  Or maybe…

I can’t choose my favorite. And that’s the way it should be.

There are zombies in several of the stories, but I’m not telling you which ones. You should find out for yourself.

On the Pollyanna Zombie Review scale, I give it 5 out of 5 brains for great storytelling and excellent writing, and a 1/2 brain out of 5 brains for gore and violence. Highly recommended.

See how much I liked it? Not a digression in the whole post.

Oh wait, is this…? 

Damn.

Got to go. The Zombie Army wants me to read their favorite of the stories to them. Again.

Hi, Anna-Liza here. Boy, it’s nice to have Lyda back after her temporary semi-silence! (How’s The List going, girlfriend?)

Things have warmed up here since the Drippy, Foggy, Rainy Memorial Day. I’ve even worn sleeveless tops a few times! (You need to remember that I won’t wear short sleeves until it’s at least 75 degrees out, maybe more.) One day last week, Darlin’ K picked me up from work and we went for a nice stroll around downtown Loveland. The sun and the warmth felt really, really good. Getting into the hot car even felt good.

I took a couple of days off. We had originally planned to go to Apogaea, but a number of things made us decide not to go after all. I decided not to change my vacation days, though. Things have been busy at work and busy at home, with more busyness pretty much all through the rest of June, so a couple days to chill just sounded about as wonderful as chocolate covered strawberries with champagne. Maybe more wonderful–I’m damn picky about champagne. Too much of the bottom-of-the-barrel pseuo-champagne at college cast parties, I guess. (Excuse me while I go rinse out my mouth.)

Thursday was a rainy, drippy, chilly day again. I happened to receive a large shopping bag full of free yarn recently, almost all of which was in loose skeins and rather tangled. A lot of it appears to be a rayon/alpaca/wool blend in nice colors, so I decided it was worth the work to wind it all up. So my friend Jean (who used to have Knit One, Purl Too in Longmont) let me have her swift, ball winder, and measuring thingy on a long term loan.

I spent a lot of time with the ball winding on Thursday as a result, and also took some time to go to the library (this is my idea of fun, y’all. I’m so exciting). The kidlets both like the ball winder, so they’ve been helping. I had several a lot of unwound skeins in the stash already, so this is going to be a longish project. I’ve got somewhere between 10 and 15 done. The yardage ranges from 600 (laceweight) to 5 (for something that was frogged that had stripes). I’ve gotten a little further on the mystery gift project, which is at a very boring knitting stage, I’m afraid, but no further at all on any socks. And I’m just itching to cast on something new … perhaps this? Or possibly some kind of lacy shrug I can wear to work … “lace” seems to be the theme of all the new stuff I’m looking at. Not that I don’t have other things to distract me already from my deadline knitting … but I digress.

Friday was a much nicer day — 70s and sunny. Darlin’ K had to finish some projects on Thursday, but he took Friday off and we spent the whole day together. It’s nice to rediscover uninterrupted conversation (and other things) once in a while! We had breakfast and aforementioned conversation at Java Stop, and later we went to see the new Indiana Jones movie. That was a really perfect bit of action fluff, exactly what we were in the mood for. Roger Ebert’s review (follow the previous link) sums the whole thing up really well. I have to say that Shia LaBoeuf’s initial appearance channeling Marlon Brando was really fun, but he’s not terribly convincing as a switchblade-wielding biker. But as the story developed, I’m not sure he was supposed to be convincing. And Cate Blanchett was really hot in her sword-wielding, sleek and intense Russian villainess way.

I have to admit, I’m really not willing to spend money to see “challenging” or “deep” movies anymore. Life itself is challenging enough–if I’m paying for entertainment, it better be FUN! I can get “challenging” and “deep” just looking around, thankyouverymuch. And Darlin’ K and I spent a very fun day, as I’m sure you can imagine. And we even picked up the kidlets from day camp/preschool on time. (Just.)

I just got Marianne Williamson’s new book about midlife (for men and women) out of the library. I think it will be good, but I haven’t done more than read the dust jacket. It’s basically about midlife being a time to refocus and live more in our own integrity, rather than scattering our energies about as we did when we were younger–a time to live more deeply than ever. And when I say “we”, I mean “I”. Anyway, I’m sure it will fit into the Reading in Wonderland Challenge, but I’m not exactly sure where yet. I’ll let you know.

But first, I need to finish Tamora Pierce’s Protector of the Small series. Escapism and fluff, a sovereign remedy for what ails you. That and lace-oriented startitis. And anticipation of the Wool Market (in just a week! Oh boy!!) And four evenings of shaman-led workshops and SolFest later this month (here’s more info) …

… and this lamp.

Lyda here. I read another book for Pollyanna’s Reading in Wonderland Challenge. I was trying to squeeze this one into this:

Challenge #3. “How doth the little crocodile”:  Read a biography or autobiography about someone whose life is/was vastly different than yours. Or, read a history book or historical fiction about a completely different time or place.

But as you will see, it does not really meet the “vastly different” criteria for me. So instead, for me, it will count for this:

Challenge #13. “Curiouser and curiouser!”:  Read another book, any kind, any genre, anything.

The book is “What Would Barbara Do? How Musicals Changed My Life” by Emma Brockes . I haven’t read any of her articles or anything else she’s written, although I did stumble across her WordPress blog. She only posted three things in 2007, when the book came out.

I love this book! It’s fun and thoughtful at the same time. I laughed out loud while reading it, and I don’t do that often. And there are passages that are incredibly moving. It’s a very personal and opinionated tour of musical theater, and also a memoir. It’s well-written, and a quick read. I devoured it almost in one sitting. Highly recommended, especially for the theater geeks out there.

I can really relate to her stories about her mother singing musical numbers - my mom did that a lot too. We all did; it seemed normal to me growing up to spontaneously burst into song, just as it seemed normal to suddenly recite entire scenes from plays and movies from memory.

And yes, my son has grown up with a mom who does that too. When he was little, he used to put his hand on my mouth when I started to sing. He still rolls his eyes. And the cat goes nuts and makes a lot of noise when I sing. Everyone is a critic. In my defense, I don’t sing when his friends are around, or when I’m with him in public.  So far, he hates musicals, but the seed has been planted… Bwahahaha!

But I digress…

Mom loved to make up her own words and tunes. She played with her voice all the time, doing accents and voices and just being silly.

One time, Dad was casting a musical, and he told the musical director, “What do we do about this part? No one who tried out can sing those songs.” The musical director suggested Mom for the role. Dad said, “Oh, she can’t really sing.” The musical director had to explain to Dad that Mom had a powerful and beautiful voice of incredible range, and could sing any part in any show. When Dad told me this story, he said, “Your mom plays with her voice so much, I hadn’t realized she could really sing.”

One of Mom’s stories was about one of my older brothers bringing a girl home for dinner. “Your brothers were always dating girls who were only children; I don’t know why.”  When my brother and his date arrived, Mom was in the kitchen singing her own words to an Italian aria - what else would one sing while cooking spaghetti? Some of us were singing with her.

Mom swore the girl turned around and left right then.

I have to say, the brother in question denies this categorically, but Mom’s version is funnier. 

Obviously, that girl wouldn’t have fit into the family anyway.

But I digress…

Lyda here. We need a Random Weirdness post, because it’s Wednesday, and because it’s June… 

“…June, June, June,   Just because it’s June!   June!   June!” 

Sorry about that. The theater geekiness never goes away; it just morphs into sudden bursts of song for no apparent reason. And other weird digressions…

Before we get to today’s Random Weirdness, a few blogiverse items:

1.) Most importantly, go over to Frank’s blog and post a comment that’s funny / cheerful / supportive. A joke, a link to a silly site. We love you, Frank! Get well!

2.) As your reward, go over to Crazy Aunt Purl and enter the contest to win a stack of books from Laurie! How generous I am to tell ya’ll about this, as I’ve entered the contest myself (she had me at “free books”). Now ya’ll know how much Pollyanna loves ya.

3.) So ya’ll can plan ahead: Saturday, June 14th is World Wide Knit In Public Day. That link is the official site; you can find a KIP near you, or host a KIP - even a virtual KIP. Ya’ll, I can’t take credit for knowing about this in advance this year - I read about it here on diknit’s blog.

Post a comment and tell us where you will be knitting in public!

And let us know if ya’ll want us to host a Hermit’s Virtual KIP here at Pollyanna’s. Virtual sweet tea, virtual cake, and the Zombie Army! Awesome! Actually, Anna-Liza will probably be KIP for real, so I might be on my own on this one.

Okay, on to the Random Weirdness:

1.) Toy Vault makes Princess Bride toys - every girl’s dream, a Dread Pirate Roberts of her very own! They make Monty Python stuff : Tim the Enchanter hats! The Black Knight, with detachable limbs! And for the final touch for Marin’s desk - a Rabbit with Big Pointy Teeth stapler! Here’s where to buy their stuff.  No one expects the Spanish Inquisition!

2.) Zombie cats!

3.) Actually EFFECTIVE tech support! Heh.

4.) How do you know you’ve had enough to drink? Now.

5.) Among recent searches that lead people to our blog, there was the usual: “Bruce Willis”, “heathers”, variations on “pollyanna” and “rainbow”.

There was the slightly unusual: “zombie movies domesticated”  - what, they don’t like wild zombies??

And there was the uber cool: “cosmic”. I love that you can find us by searching for “cosmic”. That’s how cool the Pollyannas are, ya’ll!

6.) And finally, does someone want to explain it to this guy? Anyone? Anyone?

Hi, Anna-Liza here.

I had to take an unplanned day off to get some emergency dental work done. I managed to break a molar and went in this morning to have my dentist take a look at it. Turned into an impromptu root canal, so now I’m on vicodin (or the generic equivalent thereof) and noticing that it doesn’t work as well as a jawful of novocaine. Then again, it’s nice to be able to taste things and feel my tongue.

You know what? I need to quit doing that mom thing. You know, that thing where we take care of everyone else’s stuff first, and get around to our stuff when we get to it … or it hurts? Yeah, that thing. Because I knew I’d chipped a corner off this molar weeks ago, but I didn’t do anything about it until more bits broke off and it started hurting. It would have been a lot less expensive, for one thing!

I did get a chance to use my Health Savings Account for the first time. Our insurance has it set up so you get a debit card that you can use to pay for things directly out of your HSA. It’s really convenient! I just have to make sure I don’t confuse it with my regular card.

And I have different dental insurance now, with the new job. I had to change dentists, and I’d never met this guy before. Luckily, he’s a good guy and very nice. And when I said something about having put off coming in, he just shrugged and said, “So, you’re saying you’re human.” I really appreciate that–I hate getting scolded by the dentist or hygienist almost as much as I hate getting the novocaine shot.

So instead of getting a temp filling and going in to work for the afternoon, I’m typing this and thinking about taking another pain pill. I’ll be spending the rest of the afternoon reading (probably not knitting, unless it’s something pretty simple). Even so … I’d really rather be at work!

I am taking the opportunity to do part of the Reading in Wonderland challenge. My daughter, the Knitting Sprite, turned me on to Tamora Pierce’s writing a while back. I’m reading the Circle of Magic quartet now, which is set in a different world than most of her books. In this series, she focuses on magic in craft, such as spinning, weaving, metalsmithing, gardening, etc. I’m enjoying it quite a bit! This one would be, I guess, the “read something from a genre you don’t usually read” category. It’s Young Adult, so it doesn’t quite fit the Children’s Picture Book challenge. However, I have to admit I read YA once in a while, because an awful lot of really good books get missed because they’ve been put into that category. Trust me. And go check out the “teen” section at the library sometime soon. 

(ETA: I actually wrote this over a week ago and forgot to post it. But I reread it and decided to post it anyway. Damn drugs! –A)

Lyda here. The other day at the grocery store, I overheard the checker tell a friend that she’s throwing an Alice in Wonderland birthday party for herself. Shiny!

Really, this is just a quick note - no, really! - to let ya’ll know that I’ve created a page for Pollyanna’s Reading in Wonderland Challenge. That way, we can all check the page for the categories and post comments there about the books we’ve read.

Anna-Liza and I will post notes and book reviews on the blog, of course. But this way, ya’ll can check the page for a quick list, instead of searching the blog, and everyone has one place for comments and such.

Not that searching the blog isn’t fun… “How many times can she mention cake and zombies in the same post?”… But I digress…

Just tryin’ to make it easier to manage the flamingo, ya’ll.

Lyda here. Chillin’ at home. Or rather, sweating at home. It’s still way too hot here but they are promising it’s going to cool down tonight. Please!  I haven’t posted much lately, so it’s time to catch up. Which mostly means - movie reviews and babbling about books.

And zombies. Always zombies.

But first, a very beleted Happy Mom’s Day to ya’ll and your moms! I had a great day filled with explosions and zombies, and best of all, time with the Resident Sith Master. What more could this Mom want?

We went and saw Iron Man (2007) - which was fun and action-packed. Thanks to GAAE brother, who was a serious collector of comic books once upon a time, I’d read the original Iron Man comics, and I wasn’t sure about Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark. But he brought humor to the role, and made the character’s development from self-absorbed jerk to hero believable. Gwyneth Paltrow was excellent as the smart and subtly sexy Pepper Potts. And Terence Howard - hello, Hollywood, this guy is awesome, please cast him more! - was great as Tony’s best friend and will hopefully have an even bigger role in the sequel in the works. Look for a quick cameo by Stan Lee (creator of Iron Man and Spiderman, among others) - Tony mistakes him for Hugh Hefner. Stay through the credits for Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury telling Tony to join The Avengers. This movie is a bit violent for the youngest, but probably okay for most tweens.

To add to the Mom Day awesomeness, RSM gave me a great gift: a special edition DVD of I Am Legend (my review here and Pollyanna’s Brain score here)  with two versions of the film - the theatrical release, and an alternative theatrical version “with controversial ending” to quote the box. Of course, we watched the alternative version that very day. We like the alternative even better, but ya’ll will have to see it for yourselves - no spoilers here.

This movie is based on Richard Matheson’s 1954 book, “I Am Legend“, and was also adapted for The Last Man on Earth (1964) with Vincent Price, and The Omega Man (1971) with Charlton Heston. I could read the book for the Reading in Wonderland Challenge. For me, it would count as both #1 - a fiction book in a genre I don’t usually read (I watch horror, but don’t read it), and #6 - a book that has been made into a film. And then of course I would need to watch the film again. And watch the other two films.

For thoroughness. Ya’ll know.

Now, this weekend, RSM was off with his dad, so I checked out (for free! I love the library!)  some things to watch, and quilted all weekend.

Yes, I am quilting up a storm making Mystery Teeny Tiny Squares Projects. Top secret for now, but all will be revealed in the fullness of time. Sewing. Quilting. Ironing.

In the 95 plus heat.

Because I am insane.

But I digress…

It had been recommended to me multiple times over the years, so I checked out Romy and Michele’s High School Reunion (1997). Silly, girly, and giddy. The story is unbelievable - but I didn’t care. The clothes are awesomely over the top, the 80s soundtrack rocks, and it made me happy to see the evil girls get their come-uppance and the fun girls win at last. Pure fun if you’re in the right mood for it.

I also checked out a BBC classic: a three-episode box set of Agatha Christie’s Miss Marple starring Joan Hickson. I watched the first two episodes - this one and this one - and am looking forward to the third. There is something so comforting about Miss Marple, and not only because she knits. She’s definitely one of the characters I’d most like to invite to tea.

In fact, it would be interesting to have Miss Marple and Commander Sam Vimes sit down to tea together, don’t ya’ll think?

Personally, I don’t think Vimes looks like that sketch. See the end of that link for casting suggestions. Sam Neill… hmmm. The L-Space Web is a must for Terry Pratchett fans. And has links to vendors of fun Discworld stuff, including CMOT Dibbler’s where you can get your own ”I Still Aten’t Dead” pin.

Oh, but I digress again…

What characters would you invite to tea? Or for drinks? And can I come too? I promise to leave the Zombie Army at home.

Lyda here. Good morning, ya’ll.

In my copious free time… as I “consider offers” to put it delicately - or wait for the next temporary assignment, to put it accurately. Did I mention that my assignment at Huge Corporation ended? Oh. It did. But I digress… I completed another of the books for Pollyanna’s Reading in Wonderland Challenge.

#2. Read a non-fiction or how-to book about a new topic. Choose something that you are curious about, something that is really far from your current life, work, college major, and hobbies.

So, I read “The Book of Vice: Very Naughty Things and How to Do Them” by Peter Sagal, the host of National Public Radio’s “Wait Wait… Don’t Tell Me.”

What? Vice is very far from my current life. Really! Well, mostly, anyway.

A vice is different from a sin. The author says, “As soon as sinning starts to be fun, it becomes a vice.” A vice may be a sin or may not, but it is done for the thrill. Drinking diet soda? Maybe a vice, but not a sin. Eating a second piece of chocolate cake? Possibly a vice, possibly the sin of gluttony.

Feeding off the brains of the living? That would definitely be a vice and a sin. Yet another reason not to become a zombie. Or hang out with them. Although I’m safe from their attentions, as I’ve mentioned before.

This book explores - carefully, because the floors are sticky - strip clubs, swinging parties, pornography, and gambling. It also looks at lying, conspicuous consumption, and eating.

But not eating as in “Let’s go grab a sandwich” or “I want more CAKE!” Eating in a way I didn’t even know existed: molecular gastronomy. Or, as some of the chefs object to that term, experimental cuisine. Skimming through various websites, like this one and this one, it doesn’t seem they are even talking about food.

This cartoon will give ya’ll the idea.

As Peter Sagal says of his evening at one of these restaurants, “My host for the evening… is insane.”

Ya’ll will notice, I didn’t write about the chapters on sex or gambling or lying - all of which were interesting and funny chapters equally worthy of discussing. No, I wrote about food. I guess we know what my vice is. CAKE!

Ya’ll, this is a seriously funny book. Interesting and informative, and a quick read. But most of all, funny. The kind of first book that has me hoping the author is already working on his next one. I highly recommend it.

Vice was never so much fun.

Lyda here. I’ve had a bit of extra time this week - which is why I had time to make up the reading challenge.

I went to the library and grabbed some books, and I’ve already finished my “fun” book (category #5) for the challenge: “Blood Is The New Black” by Valerie Stivers. A biting look at the bloodsucking fashion industry, if you get my drift. Blood, biting, a word beginning with “V” - yeah, ya’ll know what I’m talking about.  I started it yesterday, fell asleep reading it, grabbed it as soon as I woke up, and I finished it up over breakfast this morning.  Just a light semi-mystery book, with some quirky twists and an appealing heroine. Not really scary, but funny and quick to read. This is the author’s first book; it will be interesting to see what she writes next.

I love reading in bed in the morning. And at night. And in the afternoon. Reading in bed is one of life’s underrated pleasures. Not that there aren’t other good things to do in bed. Ya’ll know.

I had a great surprise visit from the Irish Beauty and her husband yesterday. We went to lunch and caught up over eggrolls. I definitely don’t see her often enough now that she’s living in the desert. After they got back home, she called and we talked for a couple more hours. We definitely must do this more often.

I also stitched together some more of my 2-inch squares, as I am making… mystery things for mystery recipients. All will be revealed in the fullness of time. And once the recipients get their goodies. Don’t hold your breath - might take a while.

I want to experiment a bit with quilting stitching before I quilt the Increasingly Inaccurately Named “Easy” Heart Quilt. And these little projects will give me the perfect chance to try some things out.

Tommy is curled up with his head upside down, snoring gently under my chair. “Stargate: SG 1″ is coming on in, and I have two movies from the library to watch - including a zombie flick. I may not leave the house today.

Life is good.