birthday picnic

It has been eight months since we had a picnic at Lake Tahoe. We decided to have a sunset picnic today to celebrate my birthday yesterday. I am fifty-twoooooo.

Some Things I Wish I Had Said

My mother, and probably yours too said to us: "If you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all." Sometimes when I read my favorite blogs, I enjoy the witty comments and posts. Other times I am distressed by sarcasm and arrogance. As Christians we try to discern when it is ok to use sarcasm and when it is probably not the best idea. Some words should be taken back, and some words cause great laughter (best not to be drinking coffee in front of the computer at these times). I decided to post some classic insults, some very funny, most somewhat mean, and all very witty.

"I have never killed a man, but I have read many obituaries with great pleasure."
-- Clarence Darrow

"He has never been known to use a word that might send a reader to the dictionary."
-- William Faulkner (about Ernest Hemingway)

"I didn't attend the funeral, but I sent a nice letter saying I approved of it."
-- Mark Twain

"I am enclosing two tickets to the first night of my new play, bring a friend ... if you have one."
-- George Bernard Shaw to Winston Churchill

"Cannot possibly attend first night, will attend second ... if there is one."
-- Winston Churchill to Shaw, in response

"He is a self-made man and worships his creator."
-- John Bright

He is simply a shiver looking for a spine to run up."
-- Paul Keating

"He had delusions of adequacy."
-- Walter Kerr

"Some cause happiness wherever they go; others, whenever they go."
-- Oscar Wilde

A modest little person, with much to be modest about.
- - - Winston Churchill

Differently clued.
- - - Dave Clark

Doesn't know much, but leads the league in nostril hair.
- - - Josh Billing

End of season sale at the cerebral department.
- - - Gareth Blackstock

Has the mathematical abilities of a Clydesdale.
- - - David Letterman

He can compress the most words into the smallest idea of any man I know.
- - - Abraham Lincoln

He has the attention span of a lightning bolt.
- - - Robert Redford

He is brilliant - to the top of his boots.
- - - David Lloyd George

He knew everything about literature except how to enjoy it.
- - - Joseph Heller

He knows nothing and thinks he knows everything. That points clearly to a political career.
- - - George Bernard Shaw

He knows so little and knows it so fluently.
- - - Ellen Glasgow

He loves nature in spite of what it did to him.
- - - Forrest Tucker

He never chooses an opinion; he just wears whatever happens to be in style.
- - - Leo Tolstoy

He never said a foolish thing nor never did a wise one.
- - - Earl of Rochester

He not only overflowed with learning, but stood in the slop.
- - - Sydney Smith

He thinks by infection, catching an opinion like a cold.
- - - John Ruskin

He was distinguished for ignorance; for he had only one idea and that was wrong.
- - - Benjamin Disraeli

His ignorance covers the world like a blanket, and there's scarcely a hole in it anywhere.
- - - Mark Twain

His ignorance is encyclopedic.
- - - Abba Eban

I want to reach your mind - where is it currently located?
- - - Ashleigh Brilliant

I wish I'd known you when you were alive.
- - - Leonard Louis Levinson

If he ever had a bright idea it would be beginner's luck.
- - - William Lashner "Veritas"

Sharp as a sack full of wet mice.
- - - Foghorn Leghorn

She had a pretty gift for quotation, which is a serviceable substitute for wit.
- - - W. Somerset Maugham

That young girl is one of the least benightedly unintelligent organic life forms it has been my profound lack of pleasure not to be able to avoid meeting.
- - - Douglas Adams

They never open their mouths without subtracting from the sum of human knowledge.
- - - Thomas Brackett Reed

What's on your mind? If you'll forgive the overstatement.
- - - Fred Allen

While he was not dumber than an ox he was not any smarter either.
- - - James Thurber

A gentleman is one who never hurts anyone's feelings unintentionally.
- - - Oscar Wilde

A great many people now reading and writing would be better employed keeping rabbits.
- - - Edith Sitwell

A sophisticated rhetorician, inebriated with the exuberance of his own verbosity.
- - - Benjamin Disraeli

Abstract art? A product of the untalented, sold by the unprincipled to the utterly bewildered.
- - - Al Capp

God made the Idiot for practice, and then He made the School Board.
- - - Mark Twain

Hanging is too good for a man who makes puns; he should be drawn and quoted.
- - - Fred Allen

I didn't like the play, but then I saw it under adverse conditions - the curtain was up.
- - - Groucho Marx

In the United States today, we have more than our share of the nattering nabobs of negativism. They have formed their own 4-H Club - the 'hopeless, hysterical hypochondriacs of history.
- - - Spiro T. Agnew (about the press, 1970)

Nature not content with denying him the ability to think, has endowed him with the ability to write.
- - - A. E. Housman

Reader, suppose you were an idiot; and suppose you were a member of Congress; but I repeat myself.
- - - Mark Twain

Thank you for sending me a copy of your book - I'll waste no time reading it.
- - - -Moses Hadas

The fact that a man is a newspaper reporter is evidence of some flaw of character.
- - - Lyndon Johnson

This is not a book that should be tossed lightly aside. It should be hurled with great force.
- - - Dorothy Parker

This is one of those big, fat paperbacks, intended to while away a monsoon or two, which, if thrown with a good overarm action, will bring a water buffalo to its knees.
- - - Nancy Banks-Smith (review of M.M. Kaye's "The Far Pavillions")

You have all the characteristics of a popular politician: a horrible voice, bad breeding, and a vulgar manner.
- - - Aristophanes

Being attacked by him is like being savaged by a dead sheep.
- - - Dennis Healy

Debating against him is no fun, say something insulting and he looks at you like a whipped dog.
- - - Harold Wilson

Failure has gone to his head.
- - - Wilson Mizner

He has sat on the fence so long that the iron has entered his soul.
- - - David Lloyd George

He is an old bore. Even the grave yawns for him.
- - - Herbert Beerbohm Tree

He is as good as his word - and his word is no good.
- - - Seamus MacManus

He is one of those people who would be enormously improved by death.
- - - H. H. Munro

He is so mean, he won't let his little baby have more than one measle at a time.
- - - Eugene Field

He is the same old sausage, fizzing and sputtering in his own grease.
- - - Henry James

He made enemies as naturally as soap makes suds.
- - - Percival Wilde

He makes a July's day short as December.
- - - William Shakespeare

He never bore a grudge against anyone he wronged.
- - - Simone Signoret

He was a bit like a corkscrew. Twisted, cold and sharp.
- - - Kate Cruise O'Brien

He was a solemn, unsmiling, sanctimonious old iceberg who looked like he was waiting for a vacancy in the Trinity.
- - - Mark Twain

He was about as useful in a crisis as a sheep.
- - - Dorothy Eden

He was as great as a man can be without morality.
- - - Alexis de Tocqueville

He was one of those men who possess almost every gift, except the gift of the power to use them.
- - - Charles Kingsley

He was so crooked, you could have used his spine for a safety-pin.
- - - Dorothy L. Sayers

He was so narrow minded he could see through a keyhole with both eyes.
- - - Molly Ivins

He was so narrow minded that if he fell on a pin it would blind him in both eyes.
- - - Fred Allen

He was trying to save both his faces.
- - - John Gunther

He would stab his best friend for the sake of writing an epigram on his tombstone.
- - - Oscar Wilde

He's so snobbish he has an unlisted zip-code.
- - - Earl Wilson

He's very clever, but sometimes his brains go to his head.
- - - Margot Asquith

I will always love the false image I had of you.
- - - Ashleigh Brilliant

Ordinarily he is insane. But he has lucid moments when he is only stupid.
- - - Heinrich Heine

She could carry off anything; and some people said that she did.
- - - Ada Leverson

She is such a good friend that she would throw all her acquaintances into the water for the pleasure of fishing them out again.
- - - Charles Talleyrand

She tells enough white lies to ice a wedding cake.
- - - Margot Asquith

She never lets ideas interrupt the easy flow of her conversation.
- - - Jean Webster

She never was really charming till she died.
- - - Terence

She not only expects the worst, but makes the worst of it when it happens.
- - - Michael Arlen

She plunged into a sea of platitudes, and with the powerful breast stroke of a channel swimmer, made her confident way towards the white cliffs of the obvious.
- - - W. Somerset Maugham

She was kind of girl who'd eat all your cashews and leave you with nothing but peanuts and filberts.
- - - Raymond Chandler

She was like a sinking ship firing on the rescuers.
- - - Alexander Woollcott

She's got such a narrow mind, when she walks fast her earrings bang together.
- - - John Cantu

She's the sort of woman who lives for others -- you can tell the others by their hunted expression.
- - - C. S. Lewis

So boring you fall asleep halfway through her name.
- - - Alan Bennett

Some folks are wise and some are otherwise.
- - - Tobias George Smolett

The greatest thing since they reinvented unsliced bread.
- - - William Keegan

The triumph of sugar over diabetes.
- - - George Jean Nathan

The trouble with her is that she lacks the power of conversation but not the power of speech.
- - - George Bernard Shaw

You take the lies out of him, and he'll shrink to the size of your hat; you take the malice out of him, and he'll disappear.
- - - Mark Twain

You're a mouse studying to be a rat.
- - - Wilson Mizner

A graceful taunt is worth a thousand insults.
- - - Louis Nizer

As entertaining as watching a potato bake.
- - - Marc Savlov (about the movie, Taxi)

Don't look now, but there's one too many in this room and I think it's you.
- - - Groucho Marx

Every time I look at you I get a fierce desire to be lonesome.
- - - Oscar Levant

Everyone has his day and some days last longer than others.
- - - Winston Churchill

Fine words! I wonder where you stole them.
- - - Jonathan Swift

From the moment I picked your book up until I laid it down I was convulsed with laughter. Some day I intend reading it.
- - - Groucho Marx

He looked as inconspicuous as a tarantula on a slice of angel food.
- - - Raymond Chandler

He's liked, but he's not well liked.
- - - Arthur Miller

Here's where we we get out the thesaurus and look up synonyms for "garbage."
- - - Mike LaSalle (about the movie, Shanghai Knights)

I can't believe that out of 100,000 sperm, you were the quickest.
- - - Steven Pearl

I could never learn to like her, except on a raft at sea with no other provisions in sight.
- - - Mark Twain


I like long walks, especially when they are taken by people who annoy me.
- - - Fred Allen

I regard you with an indifference bordering on aversion.
- - - Robert Louis Stevenson

She's good, being gone.
- - - William Shakespeare

Some people stay longer in an hour than others can in a week.
- - - William Dean Howells

You have delighted us long enough.
- - - Jane Austen

You're a good example of why some animals eat their young.
- - - Jim Samuels

You're a parasite for sore eyes.
- - - Gregory Ratoff

Thoughts on Prayer

I have to confess that I have had some real struggles with prayer. It was hard to see my mother enter eternity recently and not know whether she was with God. I have had someone very close to me just go through a horrible and ugly divorce and my prayers in the matter seemed to prevail nothing. My husband and I have had some struggles with his job. He has been demeaned and treated badly and every time we think the situation might change or he has an opportunity for another job, things fall through. Years ago, I prayed for my previous marriage, that God would restore and reconcile and it didn't happen. I have prayed for my grown children's salvation and one walked away recently and I am still waiting for the other two.

I don't mean to say that God has not answered any of my prayers. He brought me my husband who is such a blessing. He has blessed me with certain jobs, and took care of me when I was single. I can go on and on about his many answers to prayer.

I wish I had the confidence in prayer that George Muller had. He just seemed to have a gift of confidence and trust in God. Sometimes I don't trust God. Isn't that terrible to confess? I know He is sovereign and providential, but when I pray sometimes it is with an air of resignation, almost expecting a no answer despite my pleas. I have noticed that my prayers have become fewer in number and I add a prayer of grace that I might desire to pray and seek God. I feel dry instead. So, as I shared this with my husband recently, it is interesting that today I read from Spurgeon these words. I hope they sink in and I can be renewed in my desire to glorify God in my life and prayers.


AND GOING A LITTLE FARTHER HE FELL ON HIS FACE AND PRAYED.”
Matthew 26:39

There are several instructive features in our Savior's prayer in His hour of trial. It was lonely prayer. He withdrew even from His three favored disciples. Believer, be diligent in solitary prayer, especially in times of trial. Family prayer, social prayer, prayer in the church will not be sufficient; these are very precious, but the fragrance of heaven will be sweetest in your private devotions, where no ear hears but God's. It was humble prayer. Luke says He knelt, but another evangelist says He "fell on His face." Where, then, must be your place, you humble servant of the great Master? What dust and ashes should cover your head! Humility gives us a good foothold in prayer. There is no hope of prevailing with God unless we abase ourselves, that He may exalt us in due time.
It was filial prayer. "Abba, Father." You will find it a stronghold in the day of trial to plead your adoption. You have no rights as a subject--you have forfeited them by your treason; but nothing can forfeit a child's right to a father's protection. Do not be afraid to say, "My Father, hear my cry."
Observe that it was persevering prayer. He prayed three times. Do not stop until you prevail. Be like the importunate widow, whose continual coming earned what her first supplication could not win. Continue in prayer with a thankful heart. Lastly, it was the prayer of resignation. "Nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will." Let it be as God wills, and God will determine for the best. Be content to leave your prayer in His hands, who knows when to give, and how to give, and what to give, and what to withhold. So pleading, earnestly, importunately, yet with humility and resignation, you will surely prevail.

Self Righteousness

This is really good!

Whatever it be that makes us trust in ourselves that we are comparatively wise or good, so as to treat those with contempt who do not subscribe to our doctrines, or follow our party, is a proof and fruit of a self-righteous spirit. Self-righteousness can feed upon doctrines, as well as upon works; and a man may have the heart of a Pharisee, while his head is stored with orthodox notions of the unworthiness of the creature and the riches of free grace. John Newton HT:Between Two Worlds

Expert Marksmen In The Eyes of Men

I am reading To Kill A Mockingbird for the the 10th time (I think). I participate in a neighborhood book club and this book is our selection for the month, to my delight. I have always gleaned so much from this book. I have picked up a few thoughts during my reading lately and may post a couple over the next few days.

The title of the book is derived from a conversation Jem and Scout (two kids) have with a neighbor. Their father had given them air rifles for Christmas and stated that they could shoot tin cans, and he supposed they would want to shoot birds. Since Blue Jays and other birds ate crops and wreaked havoc in particular ways, Atticus, their father, said they were fair game. He told his children never to shoot a Mockingbird. Miss Maudie, the neighbor lady, explained to the kids that it was a sin to kill a Mockingbird because all they did was sing their hearts out for us to enjoy. As the story progresses, that whole idea gets fleshed out in other ways, but I was struck by her comment and put it together with another quote in the book by Miss Maudie concerning Jem and Scout's revelation that their stodgy old father is quite the marksman with a rifle. He had to shoot a rabid dog, and he had a second to do it as the dog would have attacked. He had to get it right.

If your father's anything, he's civilized in his heart. Marksmanship's a gift of God, a talent - oh, you have to practice to make it perfect, but shootin's different from playing the piano or the like. I think maybe he put his gun down when he realized that God had given him an unfair advantage over most living things. I guess he decided he wouldn't shoot till he had to, and he had to today.
" Looks like he'd be proud of it, " I said.
"People in their right minds never take pride in their talents," said Miss Maudie.

I have always had a bit of a crush on Atticus. He is portrayed as a very dignified, respectful man with a dry sense of humor and a sense of responsibility towards his children, his neighbors, and the downtrodden. As a lawyer, he defends a man that nobody else would ever defend, and he warned his children that they would bear the brunt of that decision, but that they would have to make the best of the situation.

I was struck recently by ongoing abrasiveness in Christian blogs. Recently, rather acerbic comments have been made by Christians who may be expert marksmen but seem to take pride in their talents and flaunt their ability to shoot. I wish that men would study the character of Atticus and practice what C.J. Mahaney calls "humble orthodoxy". The emphasis on shooting often and hitting the mark overrides the idea of shooting only when absolutely necessary.

Some shots heard recently that have caused me to ponder the lesson in To Kill A Mockingbird are:

• Personal attacks on Al Mohler regarding comments he made and tried to clarify. Whatever comments are questionable and possibly regrettable, does not negate his ministry and contributions to the cause of Christ.
  
  
• Slams on Mark Driscoll regarding his confession of exhaustion and discouragement.
  
  

• Slams on John MacArthur's personal position in Christ. Statements that he is not REALLY reformed.

I read recently that C.J. Mahaney traveled up to visit Mark Driscoll, play basketball with his sons, and encourage Mark in the faith. I respect Mahaney so much for taking time to mentor and encourage another pastor. His approach is far superior than public slams against Driscoll on the internet. Mahaney gets my silent award for being most Atticuslike this week. May more men learn by his example.

Feelin' a Bit Irish Are Ya?

Ow About a bit o' bagpipes?



... and a glimpse of some of
Dublin's lovely gardens?

Words to Admonish Myself

Words that have ministered to me lately.

From The Purple Cellar:

We all struggle with anxiety to varying degrees, from the nail-biting stress of a normal busy day to the stomach-gnawing fear that can overtake us in the bigger crises of life. Anxiety is so much a part of American life today that we are prone to forget that worry is sin. Jesus himself commanded us not to worry. The reason worry is so bad is that what underlies it is a lack of trust in the goodness and power of God. There is just no need to worry when we have a loving, heavenly Father in control of everything. Someone wisely said, God has the love to choose what’s best for us, the knowledge of how to make it happen, and the power to bring it about. So why worry? There’s just no need. Nevertheless, we are prone to it, which is why Paul provides a remedy here.

When we are tempted to worry about something, Paul tells us not to surrender to our fear, but to pray instead, telling God what’s bothering us, asking him to meet our need, and thanking him for the answer that he will provide, even when we cannot yet see it. This is a true faith-based prayer. Paul also attaches a promise to this remedy for worry—peace. If God doesn’t give what we think is best, we can be sure that he will give what he thinks is best. What we are actually promised is supernatural peace, the kind that governs our thoughts and feelings along God’s path for us. Not only does God want to give us what’s best, but he also wants us to want the very things he longs to give.

If we are chronic worriers, chances are it’s because we are set on structuring our lives our own way. In many cases, it’s not that we doubt that God can do something; it’s that we fear he may not do exactly what we want. However, if we really trust that God’s ways are best, then we will come to want the same things he wants for us. What an amazing God we have!

Some quotes from John Newton found at Between Two Worlds:

A Christian knows that communion with God in prayer, faith, and the Word should be our sweetest delight, our exceeding desire. But in reality, these are often difficult for us. Newton writes:

Though he knows that communion with God is his highest privilege, he too seldom finds it so; on the contrary, if duty, conscience, and necessity did not compel, he would leave the throne of grace unvisited from day to day. He takes up the Bible, conscious that it is the fountain of life and true comfort; yet perhaps, while he is making the reflection, he feels a secret distaste, which prompts him to lay it down, and give him preference to a newspaper." [You could substitute the word "website"!]

But then Newton turns to a perplexing question indeed:

How can these things be, or why are they permitted? Since the Lord hates sin, teaches his people to hate it and cry against it, and has promised to hear their prayers, how is it that they go thus burdened? Surely, if he could not, or would not, over-rule evil for good, he would permit it to continue.

Here is how he answers:

By these exercises he teaches us more truly to know and feel the utter depravity and corruption of our whole nature, that we are indeed defiled in every part.

His method of salvation is likewise hereby exceedingly endeared to us: we see that it is and must be of grace, wholly of grace; and that the Lord Jesus Christ, and his perfect righteousness, is and must be our all in all.

His power likewise, in maintaining his own work notwithstanding our infirmities, temptations, and enemies, is hereby displayed in the clearest light; his strength is manifested in our weakness.

The Great Global Warming Swindle

This is the most compelling ESSENTIAL documentary I have seen on the Global Warming issue. I wish I could send this to trendy evangelicals on the Global Warming Initiative. Especially interesting to me were the comments by Patrick Moore who was the co-founder of Greenpeace, one of the more radical branches of the environmental movement. This is a long documentary. In fact, I was ready to take a good hike and I just couldn't stop watching, so get a cup of coffee and settle in for the long run.

Sneezes Do That To Me Too!

Book Arts

Kim over at Hiraeth creates hand lettered bookmarks. I was reminded of a wonderful class I took three times.It was called History of Practical Printmaking. It delved into the history of printmaking, and of course we learned about Gutenberg's press along with other historical facts. We had to complete a broadside and an edition of 20 copies of a book. The books are called Chapbooks, and they usually incorporate handmade papers, are hand bound, and are usually illustrated with steel engravings or wood engravings . They are small books, containing a poem or brief words.

The process of making a handmade book is meticulous and time consuming. In the three classes I took, with a total of six students per class, only a couple of students completed the assignments. I was one of them, because I totally loved the class.

We hand set the type for the book which meant that we selected pieces of metal type from a wooden box, placed them upside down, right to left in a galley, tied the type securely with string, placed the type on a press, surrounded the type with "furniture" which consisted of strips of metal and wood measured precisely against the edge of the press bed in order to center the type, and then ran our pages through the printing press. The wooden boxes of type held various styles of fonts, and each box within the box carried a particular letter or punctuation mark. We learned to read the box much the same as we learn to read letters on our keyboards.

I have created two books with my own illustrations and poems I have written.

I made 20 copies of each book I created. I used handmade paper and illustrated one book with a steel engraving (a pen and ink was sent to a company which transformed it to an engraving) and another book with a wood engraving that I created.

Title of Book: Trails

Wood engraving created from silky end piece of wood

Illustration for book

End piece indicating what font, where printed, and how many copies


Trails

On solitary wanderings,
I watch clouds push edges of blue
and starlings weave patterns
in elusive windstreams.

I walk through shadowed canyons
listening in the stillness
for poetry in quiet voices

I am a printer in a back room
planting letters one by one,
pouring ink like rivers,
irrigating orchards of words.

When storms rage through
leaving trails of broken words and ink,
I hope the strongest will survive.

Book Arts have become quite the art form. Papermaking, marbling, handbinding, various ways to put together pages, from accordian pages to pages made from unusual materials have really blossomed in the art world. I would love to continue to explore this particular art form, combining my love for books, and my love of art. Here is one last picture of an example of various handmade books.

Celtic Christianity

In honor of Rebecca, here is an excerpt from a Celtic Historical site Celtic Life that highlights bits of Celtic Christian history and practices.

Features of Celtic Christianity:

-love of nature and a passion for the wild and elemental as a reminder of God's gift.
-love and respect for art and poetry.
-love and respect for the great stories and "higher learning".
-sense of God and the saints as a continuing, personal, helpful presence.
-theologically orthodox, yet with heavy emphasis on the Trinity, and a love and respect for Mary, the Incarnation of Christ, and Liturgy.
-religious practice characterized by a love for tough penitential acts, vigils, self-exile, pilgrimages, and resorting to holy wells, mountains, caves, ancient monastic sites, and other sacred locations.
-no boundaries between the sacred and the secular
-unique Church structure:
-there were originally no towns, just nomadic settlements, hence the church was more monastic rather than diocesan, resulting in quite independent rules and liturgies.
-also, Ireland was very isolated and it was hard to impose outside central Roman authority.
-influenced much by middle-eastern and coptic monasticism.
-they celebrated Easter and Lent according to the ancient calendar system.
-Irish tonsure shaved the front of the head (like the druids).
-abbots had more power than the bishops.
-monasteries often huge theocratic villages often associated with a clan with the same kinship ties, along with their slaves, freemen, with celibate monks, married clergy, professed lay people, men and women living side by side. (Sometimes monasteries "raided" other monasteries, esp. during the period of the Anglo-Norman invasion.)
-while some monasteries were in isolated places, many more were were at the crossroads of provincial territories.
-women had more equal footing in ancient Irish law, thus had more equal say in church government. (Did St. Bridget receive Holy Orders and act as an Abbot?)
-developed the idea of having a "soul friend" (anmchara) to help in spiritual direction.
-invented personal confession.
-monks traveled as "Peregrinari Pro Christ" (White Martyrdom).
-many pagan practices were "Baptized" such as St.Stephen's Day, and the resorting to holy wells, and many monasteries were built on pagan sacred site (as evident in the names Derry, and Durrow).

Book Meme and A Call to Check Out Some Great Bookmarks

Kim at Hiraeth has this fun book meme and she also makes these wonderful hand lettered bookmarks that you simply MUST check out.

Bookworm Meme

Hardback or trade paperback or mass market paperback?

Whatever comes my way. Mostly paperbacks due to costs.

Online purchase or brick and mortar?

These days, it is all about online. So easy. I do love old dusty bookstores though. Hey...the best in the world is Powell's in Portland Ore. More than a million new and used books.

Barnes & Noble or Borders?

Neither. A good ole mom and pop bookstore for me.

Bookmark or dog-ear?

Bookmark.

Mark or not mark?

I don't like to mark books. It is distracting if I read it again. I like clean fresh pages.

Alphabetize by author or alphabetize by title or random?

I am not anal. I place books according to size. Large books on bottom shelf, medium books, etc. I am lucky if I can get the titles going the same way.

Keep, throw away, or sell?

I keep the good ones. I throw away bad theological books I once read because I don't want anyone else to read them. I am ashamed to say that I once got rid of some beautifully illustrated books when I became a Christian because I thought I shouldn't read secular books. I got rid of very early editions of Pinocchio, Alice in Wonderland, stories by Louisa May Alcott, and Smoky the Horse that my mother had owned as a child. I so, so, so regret that early decision over 30 years ago.

Keep dustjacket or toss it?

I keep them but they are not on the books when I read them.


Short story or novel?

Mostly novels.

Collection (short stories by same author) or anthology (short stories by different authors)?

Both, but I do prefer anthologies.

Lord of the Rings or Narnia

Both.

Stop reading when tired or at chapter breaks?

I am like most people. I read just one more chapter. Just one more. Ok...one more.

“It was a dark and stormy night” or “Once upon a time”?

Dark and stormy night is too contrived and dramatic. I like clean literature, not cluttered words.

Buy or Borrow?

Both.

New or used?

I am poor these days. I mostly buy used.

Buying choice: book reviews, recommendation or browse?

Mostly recommendations.

Tidy ending or cliffhanger?

Tidy ending. If I am staying up all night just to read one more chapter and another and another, I better not end on a cliffhanger!

Morning reading, afternoon reading or night time reading?

Whenever I have time. I do love to read before I go to sleep.

Standalone or series?

Both.

Favorite series?

I liked the series about Merlin and Arthur( Crystal Cave and a couple of others) years ago. I forget the author at the moment but I was on an English History bent at the time.

Favorite book of which nobody else has heard?

Angle of Repose. Pulitzer prize winner by a favorite author, Wallace Stegner. It takes place in the west during the days of settlement and mining in the 1800's. I like literature that deals with the west.

Favorite books read last year?

The little lady up the street asked me to be a part of her book club and I didn't want to read one of the books, but then found myself totally into it. In fact, I was sick one night and read in the bathtub. The pages got all wavy like, and since it was a library book, I had to replace it. Anyways, it was Gone With The Wind. I also have some theological books but can't remember at the moment what my favorites were. I will probably add those later.


Favorite book of all time?

To Kill A Mockingbird and the Bible. Not necessarily in that order.

A Glimpse into Me.

I saw this over at Miss Mel's old blog and thought I might try it myself. A bit of fun. All pictures are ones you choose to portray who you are. I thought at first the pics were Miss Mel's. I'm a little slow that way.

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All Things Irish

Rebecca has a great new series this month on All Things Irish. I am including some images and a video of my favorite Irish worship leader, Robin Marks.

Book of Kells

Irish Art "Galway Street"

Irish Memorial in Boston depicting the potato famine

Green hills of Ireland