Sunday, June 9, 2013

Sunday Salon: A Damn Fine Cup of Coffee


 Good morning my friends!  You may or may not have noticed, but for the first time in maybe ever, I did not post a Sunday Salon last week.  I don't know, I guess Sunday rolled around and I just didn't feel like talking and bitching about the same old thing.  So I blew it off.  This may be groundbreaking for me!  Liberating!

Another week has passed and I'm feeling much friendlier about things.  School is DONE.  At least regular school.  My daughter turned around and jumped right back into summer school (Honors Geometry - ugh) for the month of June.  While she is a high maintenance young lady, she is low maintenance with school.  She also has started cross country training, so three days a week I have to get her to school at 5:30am, but in the scheme of things, this is no big deal.

I've started to do a tiny bit of running again myself, after having a terrible time with plantar fasciitis.  I've given my foot a few months off, with lots of icing and stretching and anti-inflammatories.  Now I'm easing into it again.  I'm not training with anyone (like the jackass I trained for my Half Marathon with).  Eventually I'd like to get back to running Halfs again.

Just a comment on the pitfalls of audio.  I reviewed a book this week called "White Horse", that I both read and listened to intermittently.  Several people commented on the mind-blowing last line.  I was confused.  I don't remember anything bizarre!!!  So I dug up the book (I had since deleted the audio) and holy crap!  The pivotal word in this case was plural, but I heard it as singular.  For the sake of spoilerage, I will change the word.  Let's say the pivotal word was "books".  Only I heard the word as "book".  In the scheme of the story, it made all the difference in the world.  Like...it changed the ending completely.  And I missed it because I was listening.  That gave me pause.

So the latest obsession in our house is a fevered re-watching of the TV series Twin Peaks (on Netflix streaming).  My son told me he had been playing a video game based on this series, and was interested in watching it.  Now, when this series first came out, my husband and I planned our entire LIVES around Sunday nights.  That show had the entire nation in its grip back then.  It is amazing to see again - still mind-blowing over 20 years later.  As my son says, it is almost unhealthy, this fascination we have with this show (hence the famous Agent Dale Cooper quote that I used for my post's title).  It ranks right up there with The Big Lebowski and David Fincher films.












On the reading front, I fear I am still limping along.  I continue to read "Metro 2033", a novel about life in the Russian underground after the nuclear holocaust.  Crazy, crazy stuff here, just an awkward translation so the reading is slow.  What is fun is that my son has been showing me the video game that was based on this novel, and OMG it is like these tunnels have come to life right before my eyes.

On audio, I finished "The Fifth Wave" by Rick Yancey as well as "Looking For Me" by Beth Hoffman.  I enjoyed the Yancey novel, but I can't say it blew my mind.  It entertained me enough to bring me back for further installments.  And Hoffman's novel, what can I say?  A truly touching, heart-warming novel that I won't forget.  I am now several discs into Khaled Hosseini's new book "And the Mountains Echoed", and it is beautiful.

I am looking forward to a leisurely day of church, a little animal shelter, and some family time today.  What does everyone have on their agenda?




18 comments:

Megan said...

Honors geometry? Isn't regular geometry bad enough? I see your ugh and raise you an ick, but kudos to her just the same, I think. LOL!

Ah, it is summer at last, time for the devouring of shows that took years to air in mere weeks (at most months). We're in the last couple seasons of re-watching one of my favorite shows on Netflix - The West Wing. I've never seen Twin Peaks - maybe it'll have to go on the short list of "Series to Binge Watch" next.

Today I'm off to church, and then out to the movies to see Now You See Me with my mom. Hope you have a lovely, relaxing day! :)

Sheila (Bookjourney) said...

Good points made about audio - I love them in most cases... but you are right, it is easier to miss stuff and hear it wrong over reading it wrong.

I am laying low today. Nasty sinus infection has me coughing and sneezing. I am catching upon blog reading and possibly later finishing the new Joshilyn Jackson book.

JoAnn said...

Can't wait to hear what you think about And the Mountains Echoed. The first chapter on audio literally gave me goose bumps and the second was sooo gorgeous. I ended up not being able to listen fast enough and bought the book, too!

rhapsodyinbooks said...

You're reading quite a bit again! And yes of course we noticed last week! :--)

bermudaonion said...

I get what you're saying about audios. I've found that some genres work better for me than others when it comes to listening. I can listen to well narrated chick lit and memoirs all day long but struggle with mysteries and thrillers because there are so many details to absorb.

My latest obsession is my fitbit!

Anonymous said...

I did miss you last week! Glad to hear it wasn't anything major. :) And glad that you made it through to summer break, such as it is.

I've got the same plans as you today, with the exception of working at an animal shelter. :) Church, reading, maybe a nap, then family movie night this evening.

The Relentless Reader said...

Gah! Geometry. Shudder ;)

Sorry to hear about your food troubles. I've never dealt with that but a few of my family members have and I hear it's quite awful. I hope it continues to feel better!

I never watched Twin Peaks! It's on Netflix you say? Hmmm ;)

Have a great Sunday!

Anonymous said...

You totally deserve to take a Sunday off every now and again! Feels nice, yes?

I have a million things to do today. What else is new? Going on vacation next weekend so I have a massive to-do list for today and the rest of this week. Yay!

Unknown said...

I don't think it is just a problem with audio - it is so easy to miss things like that in print. It is only thanks to book bloggers that I've realised I've not picked up on an individual word in a key scene. I'll remember to read the last words of that book very carefully - I'm even more intrigued now!

Iliana said...

Happy Sunday, Sandy! I'm looking forward to your review of the Mountains Echoed... I've heard good & bad.

Me, I'm off to relax a bit more because you can never have enough of that :)

Alice said...

Hi Sandy! I'm glad you started running again. I've stopped using Netflix for a while because the Internet connection at my new place is not as good as my old place. It's interfering with my Italian movie challenge but I'll see what I can do. Happy reading and here's to another great week ahead!

Heidenkind said...

I've noticed when I listen to audiobooks that I don't catch as many details as I do when I read. BUT for some reason I pick up on themes and broad strokes a lot more with audiobooks, which is good too.

Unknown said...

I have to be focused somewhat for audios, it's a mental thing for me at times.
Summer school...ugh. Nick had H Geom this past year, he's doubling up soph year with Algebra 2 and Precalc, who are these kids I gave birth to?
I'm reading, busy with Nick most of the time and doing ok.
Be well, happy about the foot healing:).

Julie P. said...

We're done with school here too. This is a pretty calm week, relatively speaking; and then it gets insane again.

caite said...

As to that misheard word, just another reason to hate audios..lol

Ti said...

Cross Country camp in session here as well. The Boy is running early three days a week, and then the other two are spent running in the evening on local trails. I am a tad concerned about rattlesnakes as he has already encountered one, but hopefully if they all stay on the trails and not short-cut it, they will all be okay.

I have a summer school meeting tonight. He will be taking Modern Civilization so he can take a specialty choir class this Fall. We'll see how that works.

The Girl starts summer camp next week. She loves that camp so she will be tan and happy in no time but there is that one week of production week which she will hopefully take in stride. With each show, I see a maturity that wasn't there in the previous show which makes the entire experience easier on me. She used to look for me and now she knows the routine with the costume changes and the green room and the rest of it.

Beth F said...

Oh, I know that last line -- yes a huge difference!

Melissa (Avid Reader) said...

So a year or two ago the Huz and I rented and watched all of Twin Peaks. It was so interesting and strange, we were totally hooked. Last year we watched The Killing and couldn't get over how similar it was, minus the overall quirkiness, which I missed.