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taste the rainbow
June 07, 2010
Weekend: Spouse and I didn't have any big plans for this weekend; just a list of several things we wanted to get done.
Friday afternoon, we packed and shipped some jars of jam out to Phoenix for my aunt and uncle, had a bite of lunch, and ran a couple of errands. On Saturday morning, Spouse took Mr. B over to the groomers for a complete "beauty treatment". They did his nails, glands, and teeth on top of the trim, shampoo, blow dry and de-shed brushing.
While he was getting the works, Spouse and I enjoyed some time at the coffee house, playing on the laptops, sipping Intelligensia and eating muffins. Then I ran down to Zion to pick up a carton of smokes, since they are over $20 cheaper south of the border. Then we picked up B, ran out to McHenry to go to the Meijer and Borders, and came home & relaxed.
Sunday started out pretty relaxed--I got up, made cofee and cinnamon rolls, and started in on the laundry while Spouse cleaned the pool filter. We'd planned to run out to Uke's later for the big open house, and have Spouse's patches sewn on his leather vest. But for the time being, we were happily puttering around in our jammies and kiciking back.
Then, as I came upstairs from putting a load in the machine, I heard my phone beeping.
It was a voicemail from my dad, informing us that he and Mom were on their way for a visit.
Well. Shift into overdrive. Spouse and I flew around the house. He vacummed, dusted, washed dishes, cleaned the bathroom. I straightend, de-cluttered, made beds, and got my own shit together. We had the place, and ourselves looking spiffy in about an hour.
And so much for Spouse's patches. But it was a nice little visit; I got to give Mom her Mother's day gift and Dad his blackberry jam. We had a leisurely lunch at Bull & Bear, and then they tooled home.
They almost never come to see us, so it was a bit of a shock--but I should never underestimate my dad when he finds out there's homemade jam.
On commencing my morning commute today, I was greeted with the most gorgeous, enormous, perfect rainbow I have ever had the pleasure to view. It was a complete bow, and every color was clearly represented. I even pulled into a parking lot and tried to snap photos, but it was just too big, and my camera too inadequate, to get a decent shot. So I decided to just take it in, savor its beauty, accept it as a good omen, and continue on my way.
The good omen part wasn't worth much, though. Still had a shitty day at work.
Book Notes: The Outdoor Girls
This series contains the typical characterizations you find in of series from this era: annoying foppish boy, as in The Girls of Central High. Girl with a fiery Latin temper and girl with mysterious past, see: Grace Harlowe. Girl with all her shit together, al'a ALL of them. Etc.
I have to admit that The Outdoor Girls seem to run to a more well-developed type of mystery than some of the other series I've read from the time. Even so, they still rely too much on coincidence.
But another thing this series has going for it is the likability of the characters--there is no one you want to bludgeon to death, like Tommy Thompson in The Meadow Brook Girls. And I haven't run into a lot of racism here, although the lack of racism may be simply a lack of race. This series is mighty whitebread. I pride myself on being able to accept books as products of their time, but overtly racist references can still send me shooting right out of the story.
One thing that seems odd (although I'm only on book three, so this may change) is the lack of overt villainy, even though these are mystery-type stories. In the first books, there is some petty gossip and a sense that the "core four" exclude other girls (and this also gives the reader insight into the class-ism and adoption stigma of the time), but the actual mystery involves the restoration of lost property to a likable young man. In the second, although there are dire hints about possible dirty dealings, everything turns out to be fine, and the mystery is a perfectly natural, if unusual set of circumstances. Even the young men who inadvertantly caused the severe injury of a young child turn out to be stout fellows, with no actual harm in them!
This third volume is already implying more serious villainy, so I'm hoping that the mysteries sharpen a bit as the series progresses.
Reading: Hobby related--"The Outdoor Girls in a Motor Car, or The Haunted Mansion of Shadow Valley", by "Laura Lee Hope" (Howard Garis)(1913). "Phyllis", by Maria Thompson Daviess (1914).
Modern--"Say Goodbye", by Lisa Gardner.
Surfing:
Listening: Johnny Clegg, Sheryl Crow
At Random:
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