I started to write, “I haven’t forgotten about Weird Wednesday,” but I realized it would have been a lie. I did forget about Weird Wednesday! It was fun that one time, though, and I will do that again soon. It’s kind of like going back over my own work and putting a silly caption over the original—probably making it funnier in the process. Today, however, is another two-fer as we continue rearranging the furniture. It’s Friday, and I must finish churning out new Arlo & Janis fare. I’ll try to post something over the weekend. Maybe “Silly Saturday.”
Rearranged Marriage, cont.
By Jimmy Johnson
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140 responses to “Rearranged Marriage, cont.”
I too agree on McManus and Shepherd, who I think helped shape the way I write. I became fans of Shepherd long, long ago. I find Fanny Flagg to be sort of spotty, some good humor, some not. I recommend Billie Letts, her “Honk and Holler Cafe Opening Soon” is just totally right on and hilarious.
I looked to see what else she might have written lately, only to find out she had died in August of last year in Tulsa hospital. August 2014 was a bad time for me of course, so I wasn’t reading newspapers much. Her son won the Pulitzer for “August Osage County”, Tracy Letts. I just read something funny she said, “Everyone in Tracy’s stories gets dead or naked.”
We probably are a bad influence, literate and enabling.
Ursen, go to Barnes and Noble’s Nook books, or Amazon’s Kindle books and search for megapack. These are collections of books/stories that are mostly 99 cents, plus tax. They have Sherlock Holmes, Victorian mysteries, ghost stories, sea stories, cat stories, etc. Lots of fun cheap reading as most are out of copyright so publisher doesn’t have to make a lot of money on putting these together.
If you want more Christie-type mysteries…have you read Ngaio Marsh’s work? Good stuff there.
I watched the astronauts working outside the space station for a while today. It was neat! Reminded me of watching the astronauts on various moon landings- except the reception is much better today. 🙂 So cool what we can enjoy these days.
And then I went back to my book. 🙂
Also agree with Llee on Ngaio Marsh. I used to love the Nero Wolfe books as well, the orchid growing detective written by Rex Stout. I just looked and he wrote 33 novels, plus lots f short stories.
The next OF blast is supposed to be about 17:42 MST, but unless someone clears the glass/shield protecting the camera, all you will see is a solid sheet of ice.
Jackie Monies, there have been new Nero Wolfe books written by Robert Goldsborough that are also good.
Find the John the Balladeer stories by Manly Wade Wellman for something out of the ordinary. Also the Master Li and Number Ten Ox books by Barry Hughart, (there are only 3 and there is an ebook edition containing all of them, so you won’t go broke trying to keep up). Unfortunately for the readers, Bantam books made a hash of publishing Hughart’s books, so those 3 are all there are. He got disgusted with them and quit.
Read the Little Fuzzy books by H. Beam Piper too.
It’s been years since I encountered a mini-storm like the one that caused I-15 to close in the Ogden UT area today… It’s strange to drive on perfectly dry pavement for miles in either direction and to find a short stretch of road iced over. That last time I was heading up a slight rise with a curve on the other side of the crest on I-15 south of Nephi UT when I got a sick feeling of impending doom… I slowed down a LOT and, sure enough, the next quarter mile was iced over with about 6 big rigs and a dozen or so cars slid off the road and into each other. I crawled through at about 5 mph. There were several UHP patrol cars already there, and I saw several other emergency vehicles coming from Nephi, so I didn’t stop and add to the confusion.
Here’s the story I meant to post:
http://www.ksl.com/?sid=33563682&nid=148&title=microburst-snowstorm-blamed-for-11-vehicle-crash-on-i-15
I forgot to mention that I had completed 16 marathons until 10 years ago when the congenital condition in my hips finally slowed me down. Dr. said that running did not do me any damage and actually helped keep the arthritis away. My personal doctor told me that walking keeps me moving and endorsed the idea of trying this.
So as I walked today I felt a little soreness that I had expected earlier in my training. As got to mile 10 or 11, I realized that with this bitter cold, I have not been able to get in much walking. As a matter of fact I did not walk all last weekend, so I shut it down. I still have plenty of time and because of my experience at running these things, I must remember the cardinal rule and that is to always remember not to push so hard that you cannot run/walk in the future.
Went through my mystery phase ages ago, JHS-HS, maybe a few later. Wife never tired of them, taught me how to pronounce Ngaio Marsh.
Peace, emb
EMB. I beat you by a few years, began reading them when I was about 7 years old, by age 9 I had moved on to Mickey Spillane and devoured all mysteries up until I was perhaps in junior high? I never read children’s mysteries or if I did it only took me an hour or so I think. I was a speed reader and just raced through. My mother while educated with a college degree never read anything at all, so she had no idea what I was reading and would let me buy all the paper backs I wanted, as they were inexpensive then. I do not believe my mother ever read a book after she got out of school, not by choice even then!
Jackie, one of the earliest books I read through: https://openlibrary.org/works/OL7150356W/Sermons_by_the_devil
My maternal great-grandfather was a Methodist circuit rider and this was one of his books.
My maternal grandfather was a meter reader for Alabama Power and I read through some of his training books. Don’t say I understood the technical information, but enjoyed it anyway.
My mom read to me early on, but she didn’t realized I could read until I read the words on a traffic sign one day. I don’t know how old I was, but it was before I started kindergarten.
Mark, as I have mentioned before, the comics taught me to read and early. My mom bought comic books for me and I read them long before I began school. Either fortuitous or a prediction of the future? Anyway, I was lucky that I was allowed to read and once the librarian became convinced I could both read and understand books, I was allowed to check out books from school library to 12th grade level at age 7, after I read all those I moved on to the adult lending library which was housed at the oil company’s employee club aka. the country and golf club. Since few read them, I could read all I wanted, not appropriate but that was OK with me! My grandmother was extremely religious who helped raise me but I’d check out all my quota, her quota and all my cousins’ quotas from the Bookmobile lady and have them read by the time she made next trip out to farms.
I never lost my love of the funny papers and I can remember vividly lying on my stomach and reading them spread out on floor on Sunday papers. Snuffy Smith and Pogo, all the classics.I think that is definitely where my love of words and language originated.
Love, Jackie
Jackie, same here with the comics. My favorites were the Duck comics written and drawn by Carl Barks. Comic strip favorites were Dick Tracy, Li’l Abner and Pogo.
Barks was a master at matching his images with the story line, and said that his inspiration for his adventure stories was Hal Foster’s Prince Valiant.
I loved Lil Abner and Pogo and I too loved the Uncle Scrooge, Donald and the Boys, Huey, Dewey and Louie. When Mad Magazine debuted I became a fanatical Mad fan and read every word in every issue. They were my mad comics heroes.
But even the soap opera strips were far better back then, well drawn and often with plots far more complex than they use today.
Love, Jackie
Maybe they have beavers in La., but they definitely have an animal called the nutra. Spellcheck doesn’t agree so maybe I’m wrong. In any case I think that I will take a break and just lurk for awhile.
Nutria, maybe
OK, nutria. Sounds like a food supplement or diet program.
Jerry, so far as I know, the nutria range in South Louisiana and the beavers in the northern part of state.
Stay with us, Jerry! Wake up and quit lurking. I enjoy your comments.
Good morning Villagers…
Re: today’s real time, it doesn’t apply to me. If it wasn’t for my Carharts, I’d freeze to death. In the house I wear two pair of sweat pants, one sweater and my fuzzy, warm housecoat, and three pair of socks with my house shoes.
Gotta go….emergency at hen house.
Took a veg out day on Saturday. Just catching up. Love the theme about early childhood reading, doesn’t come as a surprise that this group started early. I recall the comics, big Terry and the Pirates fan.
Nutria or coypu [speelczech likes both], S.A. semiaquatic rodent, way larger than muskrat, introduced as a potential fur-farm critter, has largely replaced native muskrat in Mississippi delta, ranges N. along the Atlantic coast, but sensitive to cold. Is it in Chesapeake Bay yet? There must be web sites. Local college got sent a coypu skull from a biol. supply house when we’d ordered something else. Glad to have it.
OF: Fog city; lens clean but no predictions yet. emb
http://www.nps.gov/features/yell/webcam/oldFaithfulStreaming.html
I’ve been reading Sunday funnies and comic books for as long as I can remember. About the only strip I didn’t really like was Little Orphan Annie. Don’t know why, just didn’t care for it.
We lived in Augusta Ga for several years when I was a small girl, and I remember many a Saturday or weekday in the summer when my Mom would drop me off at the city library while she shopped. I would bypass the children’s section and go to the adult section and settle in with Last of the Mohicans or something similar and stay til Mom came for me. We moved when I was ten, and I got the opportunity to raid my uncle’s bookshelves, and I discovered Isaac Asimov and Robert Heinlein, which started a life-long love affair with science fiction and fantasy. That’s still the first section I head to when I go into a bookstore.
Speaking of mystery novels, don’t forget Robert B. Parker’s Spenser books or John D. McDonald’s Travis McGee!
Absolutely Travis McGee, have most of them on shelf behind me, What about James Lee Burke, for mystery-suspense with a large serving of angst?
Sand, I thought Terry and the Pirates were real. They were to me, they lived in my mind. I still call them Dragon-lady nails which confuses my nail techs!
I have already confessed to falling in love with Steve Canyon and the Air Force.
Who else wants to admit to their childhood reading obsessions?
Love, Jackie