A PASSION FOR READING

When I was 10 my most favorite possession was my library card. I loved our trips to the local library every two weeks. Such a tiny hole-in-the-wall kind of place with tightly packed shelves pressing in from all sides in a cozy kind of way. The air was filled with a musty bookish smell - the kind of smell you remember all your life. It's a smell you can still find in second hand or used book stores. It's a smell that immediately transports me back to Hardy Boy mysteries and late nights reading by flash-light under the covers.

 

One of my favorite family memories from my childhood ... It was a dark and stormy night (LOL) literally, the wind was blowing so hard it was blowing the rain sideways as can only happen on the coast during a storm. We lost power but that didn't create much hardship for us. We were prepared with wood heat and a wood cooking stove and lots of candles. After dinner each of us found a cozy chair with a candle close by and snuggled down with a warm quilt and a favorite book. For the longest time the only sounds were the turning of the pages as the wind raged and howled outside.

 

I could never in a million years have dreamed what reading books could be like for me now. I have all my favorites on the shelves, in fact, the movers gave us a hard time about all the books we did choose to move. It was hard decision time when I had to sort through all my books choosing the favorites for packing and donating the rest to family, friends, and local libraries.

 

Fast forward now to reading in the 21st century. I have two new ways to read and I absolutely love each for different reasons. When I got my first IPod I was thinking mostly about music and then I discovered audible books. It wasn't long before my membership was securely established for a year's worth of "good reads" from Audible.Com. My audible books are special treats used to pass the time and entertain me when I have a big "frogging" job on a quilt helping to pass the time. All of a sudden I found myself "reading" again. Many times I choose books that might sound interesting because I love the story-telling voice of the narrator.

 

However, the best part about my IPod books is how they help me get to sleep. I've always been one to listen to talk radio when I can't sleep. There is something about someone talking softly in the background that helps my whirling brain to shut down at night so I can get a decent number of hours of shut-eye.

 

Even though I love my IPod books, my daughter has given me a hard time saying I'm not really reading. My answer to her these days: once again I'm actually reading the words on the page with my favorite new book ... my ebook from Barnes & Noble ... my NOOK. I love the way I can preview a book from anywhere that is available to the internet; I love how I can have lots and lots of books with me when I travel in a space lighter and smaller than a paperback book; and I love it when I actually fall asleep while actually reading the words on the page. Don't get me wrong - I still have my IPod all charged up and ready to go with a favorite selection just in case. I usually wake up to turn off the light thinking "That was a great power nap!" and can't get back to sleep. That's when the earbuds come back out and I come closer to getting the full recommended 8 hrs of sleep each night.

What am I reading right now? I just finished ...

• A Reliable Wife by Robert Goolrick ... and have been listening to
• In The Company of the Courtesan by Sarah Dunant

“The greatest gift is a passion for reading. It is cheap, it consoles, it distracts,
it excites, it gives you knowledge of the world and experience of a wide kind.
It is a moral illumination.” Elizabeth Hardwick

graphic supplies from Scrap Girls

A GOOD BOOK, A GOOD SONG, AND EYE CANDY

A GOOD BOOK: I just finished two good books, one mentioned in an earlier post The Last Wife of Henry VIII. Insterestingly enough, Katherine Parr was a part of court life throughout all of Henry's wives so this book provides a different perspective as an overall view of his reign and desparation to sire an heir to the throne. The chronology of his life and keeping track of his many wives has been difficult for me to follow and this book helped to get "things" in order in my brain.

Another book I would recommend written by Elizabeth Chadwick is the tale of John Marshal father of one of the greatest knights of all time Sir William Marshal A Place Beyond Courage. It took a little bit to get into the story in the beginning, but once it started rolling it is a good read. I think the slow start may have been my trouble in transitioning from the 1500 and all of the Henry VIII drama going back in time to the mid 12th century.

What sparked all this interest in English historical fiction? From way back I've always loved any good book or movie about King Arthur, Robin Hood, King Henry VII, and even Princess Diana and that has continued to the present with a renewal of that interest being sparked by the TV series on showtime The Tudors and the reading of two best sellers by Ken Follett Pillars of the Earth and World Without End. I like the comparitive views presented by reading books from the perspective of the Church and the Kings and their lords.

A simple resource to help me keep track of where I am "in time" as I read has been a chronologial listing of English Monarchs. I appreciate a good story that is historically sound and well-researched.

A GOOD SONG: Being fairly new to the blog scene I find myself spending way too much time exploring different blogs and adding them to my favorites to come back and check out. As time goes on I find myself editing my bookmarks deleting some and adding new ones. And, a few are becoming regular favorites ... enough to maybe even think about starting a blog roll. One of those sites came to light this morning.

Part of our regular morning ritual is reading the paper over breakfast. Mike reads word for word the items of interest to him while I quickly scan the headlines over his shoulder asking an occassional question about an ariticle here and there. I'm interested in only one part of the paper and must anxiously wait until he finishes reading the comics before I can delve into the daily crossword puzzle. Oh how I love the days when I'm incredibally inteligent and rue the days I don't know nuthin' 'bout 'nuthin'.

So, to tie all this together ... crossword puzzles, a good song, and blog rolls? I found a blog that posts all the answers to the Star Tribune crossword each day with comments, links, and general repsonses to the clues, the words, the themes ... you name it. Good quick reading and much easier than hunting up a word in my crossword dictionary.

But what about the good song? Today there was a link posted with 65D: Give it a go: TRY. "TRY me, TRY me..." What a great start to my morning!

THE EYE CANDY: we had some special visitors come walking down the driveway just proud as ... well, you can see ... there were five of them in all ... not a bit afraid of me ... and very intent on eating seeds that had fallen naturally along the fenceline of the pasture.

I love the color of their feathers and the fanned topnot on each of their heads.

I love the way the line of flowers leads your eye across the picture. This is a concept I try to teach in my quilting classes when dealing with the layout of scrappy quilts making them works of art rather than jumbles of color and fabric.

Isn't this little garden of purple flowers just the greatest study on value? Texture and scale differences are minimal, but the change in value holds your interest and makes you come back for a second look.

And, finally, a photo entitled A Mother-Daughter Portrait.

I love you Eryn.

THIS AND THAT

Ahhhh, sight of relief. I've finished uploading all the new patterns into the catalog! Time for a break and fun stuff.

Just Playing: I visited a blog Spoolsewing last night and saw the cutest stuffed bird mobile. Look for Laura's post on May 24th. I stitched my practice bird out tonight but couldn't find any stuffing to finish him. So tomorrow it's off to the store to buy a bag of stuffing. Pictures to follow later, He's a pretty sorry looking little flat birdie right now.

We celebrated the weekend with dinner in tonight and a movie. We watched Lions for Lambs. Very thought-provoking ... and I'll leave it at that. I highly recommend the movie because the subject matter is so timely. I don't think the premise is to take sides, but rather to prod and poke us none too gently away from apathy and to make us think about what we believe, to understand why we believe what we do, and to stand up for those beliefs. We can make a difference. We can make the world a better place. The cost may be higher than any of us ever imagined, but to do any less would be shameful. The world deserved only the best from each and everyone of us.

I've been "reading" like crazy (with my Ipod) while I work. (Don't you just love it when you can multi-task to great activities at the same time - quilting and reading!) I've been reading several of Phillipa Gregory's books about the wives of Henry VIII, and of course, I've been watching the Tudor series on Showtime faithfully every Sunday night. But, now everything is finished ... my books are finished; my TV show is over. I'm going through some serious withdrawal. It was time to visit my favorite on-line "bookstore" Audible.com and find some new reading material.


I've finished up some great books lately. I've always wanted to read The Joy Luck Club but could never get going. Everyt ime I tried to read it, it seemed like it had a slow start and I just couldn't ever get going with enough momentum to want to go back and keep reading the next day. However, listening to it got me hooked. Soon I was off and running not able to unplug my earbuds for even a second. After many many years ... when did that book first come out? Sometime in the early 90's? At last, I have finally read it.



I went from there to Peony in Love. What a poignant love story. Celebrating all that women have to offer in their art, their poetry, music and their writing, and yet, how many times the women of Peony's time were dragged down their spirits crushed by their culture and by fear for after all, "I'm just a girl."


I've never really been a big fan of books set in the Orient, but after seeing the movie Memoirs of a Geisha, I left the movie theater and went straight to the bookstore to purchase the book. After that I finished that book I found Snow Flower and the Secret Fan. An unbelievable story of women in Asia - how they struggled and survived amazing obstacles in their lives with honor and grace. I come away from each of these novels with a greater understanding and appreciation of a culture very different from the world we live in today.



What did I find at Audible tonight, you ask. Oohhhh, way too many books added to my wish list. I did find I wasn't quite ready to leave the Tudors yet so I picked up a book called The Last Wife of Henry VIII. I think it will satisfy my hunger to know and understand the life and times of women juggling life at court attending to the King or present Queen while having to leave their children back at the farm to be raised by attendants. I think I never truly had an appreciation of how much the women of the times were just pawns in political games in the struggle between families for power and wealth. After all, Anne Boleyn and Mary Boleyn, too, said, "I'm just a girl."

Thank goodness, the life and times of women in the world have and are continuing to change and grow. As women become more empowered each day with each step, we no longer have to say those defeating words. We celebrate with our head held high because ... we are girls!

What have you been reading lately ... any good books to recommend? Add your top read to the comments, and don't forget to respond to the poll about music playlists on blog sites. Let your voice be heard.

ONE BIG STAR

Don't you just love a day that is productive ... one where you just keep crossing things off the list? It's just the best feeling in the world. That's saying quite a lot for one who generally does not like lists. I think it might be the Gemini sides of me at war with each other ... one liking very much to be organized and the other hating boxes and loving to just have the day happen as it comes.

So, this morning was filled with left brained organized kind of stuff ... bookwork, website store updates, answering emails left from yesterday. The best part of my morning was working with paypal and smartcart regarding my website and learning I had set up everything correctly for accepting international payments. One more piece of the puzzle in place for those of you having difficulty placing orders for digital patterns on my website store.

And the afternoon it was time to play. I've been working with a design collection to go with the piece I already have in place for the Big Star pattern. You can see from the picture one of the ways I like to work with the design process is to create a quilt top mock-up using the Electric Quilt design software. I use the mock-up I've created in conjunction with my digitizing software to create what I call a quilt plan. I now have a visual idea of what the quilting might look like on the quilt top.

Now the best part about this project today is one of my UFO's just happens to be a Big Star quilt from about 3 years ago. I'm sure I'm not alone in getting a UFO tub out only to find the whole top is together except for the borders. This one had the top and bottom borders already in place. However, I'm ready to quilt this quilt NOW! ... so, cut off the borders I was adding. Now I have one border surrounding the big star in the center. It is square, but will look great on the diagonal across the best. And, finished looks really good.

I've added a couple of square blocks, a medallion, and a triangle to this collection in addition to the star ray which was digitized about a year ago for a friend. You can see Deb's Big Star quilt by visiting her blog and checking out her quilt gallery.

Yes, you caught me with the ripper in hand. I dropped in the first triangle just right, but lost my head on the second one and didn't leave the 1/4" breathing space all the way around. That just means I'll put on the earphones to the IPod and listen to The Memory Keeper's Daughter while I take out all those stitches. Listening to a book helps make the ripping time go a little faster.

I wonder if you're like me. Do you ever create your list for the day and the end of the day? Sometimes when I feel like a need a little extra pat on the back, I go through my day just before bed time, make a list (yup, even add it to the computer calendar ignoring everything on the list that I didn't do) of all the things I got done and then go back and check them off. Done! Completed! Finis!

Click here for more information about my class EQ Out of the Box & Onto the Quilt.

WORKS FOR ME AND FITS MY BUDGET

I just pasted a new widget on the sidebar today ... a listing of recent purchases from ITunes. I thought some of you might be interested in what has replaced the "Holiday Soundtrack" for my studio. I love my Christmas music and start it running non-stop the day after Thanksgiving all the way through to New Year's Day. But now it's time for the January Soundtrack to be running.

One of the best additions with the purchase of my new computer last fall was my new sound bar. As you can see, it fits right under my monitor. It has an on/off volume control knob right on the face of the bar, as well as, responding to the controls on my monitor and great sound. I'm sure there are other sound bars on the market of various sound quality and price ranges. This one happens to be from a company called Altec Lansing. Wouldn't we all love surround-sound Bose throughout the house but, ... this works for me and my budget.

So, once you're wired for sound you want to check out one of my favorite new albums by just clicking on the cover on my ITunes widget. I happen to be a big fan of the acoustical guitar style and I've found a new artist ... I love his sound. Billy McLaughlin and the album is Guitar Meditations, Vol.2 ... Soulfood featuring Billy McLaughlin.

You'll also want to click on the link above to visit his website to read his amazing story. He suffers from a neuromuscular condition diagnosed in 2001 which prevents him from playing the guitar anymore. He has since relearned all of his music playing with his left hand rather than right and is back on stage sharing his beautiful music once more.

You'll see some other purchases in the line-up. I can't always hop on a plane to go hear Toby, my son who is the principal trombonist with the San Diego Symphony, in another concert. So the next best thing is to get together all of the selections for his upcoming performances and put together the playlist for my ITunes library. My favorites are Mussorgsky/Ravel: Pictures at an Exhibition with San Diego and Prokofiev:Symphony No. 7 when he performs in New York City with the New York Phil. Not quite the same as live, but ... works for me and fits my budget.

What else am I listening to these days? For my nightly "reading" via IPod, I'm listening to The Blood of Flowers by Anita Amirrezvani - a novel taking place in 17th century Persia about the struggles of a young girl and her mother trying to rebuild a life for themselves in a very male dominated culture after the tragic sudden death of her father. I usually prefer historical fiction from the Western World so this is very different for me. As I was exploring more about ancient Persia this evening I found a great traditional Persian recipe I'd like to try called Apple Stew. I also enjoyed looking at pictures in the gallery section of the author's website of Isfahan, the city where the story takes place. So, I'll eat the food, check out the pictures from the gallery, and read the story. Not quite the same as visiting Ancient Persia in person but ... works for me and fits my budget.