Thursday Thunks!

Welcome to the August 13th version of Thursday Thunks!
(which we always seem to post on Wednesday)
Where we make you think a little bit before you blog!
This week we will answer some crazy questions brought to you by
Kimber, the number 4812 and the color of storm clouds.

1. Hypothetical question- you are in a building with famous works of art, old manuscripts of famous novels, and original sheet music fromfamous composers. The building is on fire and looks to be completely destroyed. Do you grab any of the famous works before fleeing, and if so what? no, that would be stealing but if the manager/owner asked me to carry something out for her/him. i would and give it to him/her outside.

2. In August 1969, the Manson family went on a 2 night killing spree. Do you think 40 years later they have paid for their crimes? no.

3. Power Outage! What's the longest you have been without power? 4 freezing days around one new year/s. that is when you discover the value of having 2 fondu pots, one for soup and one for hot water for tea! and o, the joy of flannel sheets, a duvet, and a down filled jacket.

4. Just bought a new tazer gun. Will you let it be tested it on you to see if it works, and how it feels to be tazered? no. and i didn't "just bought it" and "him" can take it right back to the store he got it from!

5. A neighbor's mail was delivered to you. In it is a magazine not wrapped in plastic. Is it ok for you to flip through it before giving it to the neighbor? Do you tell them you looked through it? i don't think.

6. If I went through your purse/wallet right now, what all would I find in there? i've not one single clue. i know the keys are not in there because "him" has lost his again and "borrowed" mine...for a week now.

7. Have you been living under a rock? no, there are worms and things under there! yuck!

8. Tell us something crazy you did this week. i am not crazy, i just look this way. other than that, talk to the hand.

in the mail

in the mail, i got the cd version of carrie fisher's book, wishful drinking, and a hard copy of michelle paver's book oath breaker. these were from my lovely, loving friend, mimosa.

and my picture arrived. you know the one, ballooning by robin maria pedrero.

.

look what i won

first things first. i have to thank royal reviews for this book. after you read what she posted, you will understand why i wanted it. go here to read it. and, while you are there, look to see what else she has up for giveaway! she has good taste in books. well, i think so. could be because she reviews so many of the books i like!

in celebration of my 64th year on earth

well, it worked for a while. i still haven't figured out how to get videos in here and make them stay. so we are back to "click on it if you want to see it". so i give you: Ode to Forgetfulness

i won a book: seduce me

this is what i won from my friend, bridget at readaholic. yes, she is one of the ladies i awarded. i have to admit, i do like entering her contests. you might want to also. so thank you bridget. you know i will be back.

now don't you worry, after i read it, i will give my unsolicited opinion.

Fielding Grey is a treasure seeker with a taste for danger and experienced women. His latest mission: wrest Pandora's fabled box from a notorious criminal mastermind. Not in the job description: save an innocent damsel in distress.

A bookish miss, Esme Worthington has favored dusty tomes over society balls, and thrilling tales over flirtations. But when two scoundrels break into her home, she is thrust into a real-life adventure. Pursued and suddenly possessing the forbidden box, Esme can't resist peeking inside. Under the spell of Pandora's seductive curse, she's soon offering herself to Fielding – body and soul. With her reluctant rescuer determined to resist her charms, can the two outwit an enemy who will stop at nothing to seize their precious prize?

Project Lifesaver

once upon another lifetime (40 years ago), i met a little girl with autism. i also met some kids that were severely retarded. all of them could have used this product. please read her posting and share the knowledge. you never know who will need to read this.

The Bon Bon Gazette: Project Lifesaver keeps my Autistic child safe

i just have to show you one more

i just have to show you one more.

yes, it's another one by robin maria pedrero. now aren't you glad i did? this is my birthday month present to myself. getting to look at this beautiful picture and see all the "little" things in it. what do you see besides the pretty tea lady?

how nice is this

i was awarded the humane award from kayla of the electric element. it make me feel good that someone thinks i deserve this.

Here are the rules for this particular award:

Include the award logo in your blog and or post.

done

Nominate as many blogs as you like.

i hate this rule. how do i answer? all the people i follow in whatever way i have found to follow? too many. let me try to pick one from each umbrella:

books: j kay book blog...i like her reviews and her giveaways...probably because she likes so many of the ones i like.

giveaways: bridget she has two blogs...readaholic and freebies 4 me and you. the last one is lots of links to blogs where other people are giving things away.

travel: i would rather be knitting ...i don't know her name but i have been following her for a time as she travels around as a teacher. she writes so well and takes the greatest pictures!

knitting: shepherd susie...a real live shepard with such lovely animals and yarn webcam and well, again, if you follow me, you know i follow her. there is so much to read and see at her site.

photography: joanna who i first met on ravelry. i so love her photography. if you follow her through the link on her name, you will see her 365 challenge.

general: diane of dk mommy spot. if you have followed me for a while, you know she is into some fun stuff and very adventurous.

Be sure to link to your nominees within your post.

did it

Let them know that they have received this award by commenting on their blog.

next task.

Share the love and link this post to the person from whom you received your award.

did it

my picture.

i tried but i just had to get a copy of this. do you see a baby's face in the clouds. i do.

I like pictures

ok, who else has oooood and awwwwwd? this is from robin of Robin Maria Pedrero. her work is being sponsered on the electric element. as a giveaway. if you like robin's stuff, you ought to go enter this giveaway.

i won another book: Stand the Storm

Breena Clarke.

i won this book and i am so happy i did! bridget always finds the best books to review at her blog, readaholic. in fact bridget likes giveaway so much she has 2 blogs. the second on is called freebied for me and u. that site is just to help us connect other people's giveaways. see, i told you this was a nice lady. you really should visit both sites.

now to share with you why i wanted to read this book...i read the following:

FULL DESCRIPTION

Even though former slaves Annie Coats and her son Gabriel have managed to buy their freedom, their lives are still marked by constant struggle and sacrifice--to the extent that Annie secretly recalls her days on the plantation with fondness. Washington's Georgetown neighborhood, where the Coatses are seeking to build their new lives--with Gabriel, a tailor, producing uniforms for soldiers and fine suits for pompous politicians, and Annie, a seamstress and laundress, catering to the nearby brothels and stately homes--is supposed to be a safe haven, a "promised land" for former slaves, but is effectively a frontier town, gritty and dangerous, with no laws protecting black people. In fact, the city's own emancipation efforts in 1862 serve only to compromise the Coats family's status, putting Gabriel's three young daughters (each of them born free of free parents) at risk of becoming the property of the Coatses' former master. The remarkable emotional energy with which the Coatses rise their daily battles--as they negotiate with their former owner, as they assist other former slaves en route to freedom, as they prepare for the encroaching war, and as they struggle to love each other enough--is what fuels this novel and makes its tragic denoument so devastating.

i can't wait for my copy to arrive! after i read it. i have to put in my two cents after reading. i want everyone to have a shelf of "to be read" as big as mine or bigger.

Fill-Ins: Serendipity

1. tea is my favorite summertime drink.

2. My favorite John Hughes movies is i had to look him up to find out my favorite is The Breakfast Club

3. my puppies' fur is something I love to touch.

4. The full moon is something i would like to get a really good picture of.

5. it;s hot, i think if am melting right now.

6. When daylight fades i love to watch the sunset.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to cooling off. tomorrow my plans include finishing spirit of the snake, and Sunday, I want ti write a review of it.

Thursday Thunks-Much Ado About Nothing

Welcome to the August 6th version of Thursday Thunks!
(which we always seem to post on Wednesday)

Where we make you think a little bit before you blog!
This week we will answer some crazy questions brought to you by Berleen, the number 1 and the color of the crap under your shoe.

1. What the hell were you thinking?
that if i keep reading all the book reviews and getting the books i want, i will have as much yarn as i do books and no time to get to them all...like my yarn...translation...i don't always think.

2. The tornado sirens go off in your neighborhood - what do you do?
they sure are slow. oscar warned us an hour ago.

3. Give us a recipe.
take a girl and her two dogs, add a boy...what'd ya get? me, a dh, and more dogs...well some of them passed and had to be replaced.

4. It's the middle of the night, there isnt a car in sight and you are stuck at a red light that just won't change.... how long do you wait until you run it?

back up, move to the right hand lane wait a second to see if there is anything coming, turn right. it's legal to turn right on red in texas after coming to a complete stop.

5. When was the last time you got all dressed up fancy-like? Where did you go?
i don't remember.

6. Have you ever had a mole removed?
don't think so...no need, have had enough stuff removed already, thank you kindly.

7. Are you in an area of record highs or record lows for the temps this summer? Are you lucky and stuck in the middle where it's somewhat normal?
no, i'm in texas. i also think weather men who tell you the "heat index" should be shot at dawn. i mean there is only so much you can take off before you get arrested for indecent behavior.

8. When was the last time you changed your furnace filter?
i don't have a furnace. i'm in texas. i do have a heater/ac unit. i changed it in the old house. now it is the responsibility of dh.

9. What's your favorite type of frog?
weeeelll, i did like the legs of them for dinner at the french room....so i would have to go with segmented.

10. If you were to go on America's Got Talent, what would you do for your talent? (and choosing not to go is not an option....)
telling stupid animal jokes.

11. Have you ever been on a rooftop of a building?
not that i recall. wait a moment ... we did go to the top of reunion tower...never mind, that doesn't count... it's called atop reunion tower but it really isn't.

12. What is the first website you go to each day when you sit down at your computer, other than your email?
the first one that shows up in my email that looks interesting.

What’s the most serious book you’ve read recently? (I figure it’s easier than asking your most serious boook ever, because, well, it’s recent!)
i am adding this question because it was the next email to follow. circle of souls was serious.

I asked and he answered. A Q&A with Dr. Preetham Grandhi

before we start, i want you, the readers, to know that where you see text underscored, there are links to what Dr. Grandhi is referring to ...well, come on, i know you guys are a nosey as i am. i'm just saving you some time.

why did you decide to write a book?

One day I suddenly had a story in my head and decided to put it on paper. I had never done anything like this before. I always wanted to make movies but couldn't get to Hollywood. Hopefully now one day I can.

(i hope you get there too. this would be a good movie.)
why this book and where did the inspiration come from?

It was a few months post 9/11, and I was looking at the biographies of the people who had lost their lives. I began to wonder if there was a larger meaning to their lives. All of a sudden, a story flashed into my mind, and I quickly wrote it on a piece of paper. I knew then that I needed to write a story that was larger than life. It needed to communicate the essence that there is a bigger purpose and meaning to our passage on earth.

I knew that in order to capture and convey such a message, the book needed to be captivating, interesting, and thrilling. I realized that a story based on the work I do would be the right place to begin. I am a child psychiatrist and had just started a new job. During my fellowship, I worked with children with numerous psychosocial issues and had many life stories to tell. It was at that moment that I decided I could write a book that would capture all these thoughts. That was how A Circle of Souls was born.

what do you coworkers think of the book?

They all liked it and were very appreciative. The book is dedicated to the children and staff on the unit I work with.

is our doctor/hero based on you and your dealings with children?

Yes, it is. Everything about that is a part of a real experience in some way or another.

i have the feeling that your have an interest in folklore/legends. am
i right? if so, where does that come from?

I grew up in India reading a lot of folklore and the epics of Ramayana and the Mahabharata. There are great stories to read full of adventure and life lessons.

besides the story, is there a sub message you are trying to send? like

what children's units are like or how interagencies work or can work
together (like docs and cops) for the best of all concerned. or was
that just an added bonus i got?

I wanted to share with the world what it would be like to be a child psychiatrist and how the current field is, including all the benefits and pitfalls. There are hundreds of people out there who do such wonderful work with children and their families.

do you still work the ungodly hours described in the book? if so, i am
surprised you ever got the book out in 5 years!

No, I still work a lot but I go do bed early. No more night calls.

'bet the family is glad of that!

can you think of any question(s) i have not asked? and will you answer it/them?

This book will keep you on the edge until the very end and will leave you thinking about the larger sense of individual purpose and destiny.

Sandy, if you get a chance download Universal Sense the Blueprint for Success, I am sure you will like it. Its free.

words to a book lover with a small budget's heart. thank you, sir, for your time and what i can see will become a lengthening of my "to be read list."

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Isabella by Through The Loops Designs $6.00

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John Q. Adams

This is cool for history people. I saw a posting that twitter is posting lines from his diary when he went to Russia. If you to want to follow him, this is where you need to go and follow!

Review of a new writer, Dr. Preetham Grandhi - UPDATE

The Story: A Tale of Jutice and Accountabilitys

The sleepy town of Newbury, Connecticut, is shocked when a little girl is found brutally murdered. The town’s top detective, perplexed by a complete lack of leads, calls in FBI agent Leia Bines, an expert in cases involving children.

Meanwhile, Dr. Peter Gram, a psychiatrist at Newbury’s hospital, searches desperately for the cause of seven-year-old Naya Hastings’s devastating nightmares. Afraid that she might hurt herself in the midst of a torturous episode, Naya’s parents have turned to the bright young doctor as their only hope.

The situations confronting Leia and Peter converge when Naya begins drawing chilling images of murder after being bombarded by the disturbing images in her dreams. Amazingly, her sketches are the only clues to the crime that has panicked Newbury residents. Against her better judgment, Leia explores the clues in Naya’s crude drawings, only to set off an alarming chain of events.

In this stunning psychological thriller, innocence gives way to evil, and trust lies forgotten in a web of deceit, fear, and murder.

What's a "slaaf"? That was the first thing I had to find out. I had heard of the trickster.... who i knew about from the American Indian tale of the coyote but did not know that of India's spider. But i found out. These things added so much to the story for me. As did his view of what a child psych ward should be like and what kind of patients you might see there.

I was sure I knew "who done it"; only to find out I was the one caught in Dr. Grandhi's web.

I liked the way he did his chapters, coming at you from one direction and then another. Those story lines had to come together but how and when?

I knew Dr. Grandhi was a child psychiatrist going into the reading. I wonder if he has ever experienced any of "paranormal kind of thing" in his practice. My dad was a doctor. He once said, "I've been a doctor too long not to believe in God." By that one statement, I knew he had seen things he could not explain. Does this happen to all or most doctors.

I wonder if ... well, let's just say that if the good Dr. Grandhi were closer, I would have lots of questions for him.

It is a really good read and moves quite quickly. I do so hope you get to read it soon. I also hope this this debut novel is not a "one of" so that there is another novel coming from him. Soon.

Oh, did you know his wife is a writer too? She has a cook book out. She is Bindu Grandhi. Her book is "Spice up your life the flexitarian way." No, I can't review it, but Emerial Lagasse liked it enough to give it a thumps up!

I asked our writer a few questions and here are his answers.:

Hi Sandy, I do think paranormal experiences do happen, I haven't had one personally but have always been fascinated by it.

The concept of the "seeked one" is from south Indian Astrology, I did not know it had a name until recently and it was my personal experience that I put into the book and the way it was explained to me by an aunt of mine. Here's a link http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nadi_astrology

Every detail of the children's psychiatric unit is real and that's the way its is. Those are all experiences that I have collected since my fellowship days and the realities with managed care.

I have to write my next one. It's in my head and I have no time to write between the hospital, private practice and trying to get this one off the ground. Hopefully should start soon.