CELEBRATING CHRISTMAS YEAR ROUND: I HAVE BEEN TOTALLY INSPIRED!

Tuesday, January 17, 2012

I HAVE BEEN TOTALLY INSPIRED!

I ADORE my Bloggy-Friends! You all crack me up, make me think, give me creative ideas, teach me things, connect me to so many OTHER people, and - most of all - INSPIRE me! For REAL! Example #1: Note the righthand side of this blog. See the quote from MLK I just added a short while ago? I ~~stole~~ borrowed it from my good friend, Susan, at http://blackberrycreek.typepad.com/blackberry_creek/ ! But, I did TELL her I borrowed it. I think it's so relevant, and a thing to which we can ALL aspire! THEN I 'visited' my NEW friend Anna (see post about her a couple of days back to find her link) and found myself laughing my head off. (You THOUGHT I was going to say laughing my A** off, didn't you? Well, okay. I WAS. But (a) I TRY to keep this blog G-rated, and (b) NOTHING - especially not just LAUGHING - would get rid of MY a**! Anyway, next I hopped over to my 'sister from another mother's' blog (that would be Natalea at http://kandeland.typepad.com/ ) where I read her post-birthday list of aspirations for the coming year. THAT inspired me to think about what I could reasonably hope to accomplish before my 62nd birthday in September. I will post THAT tomorrow! (NOTE: If you are faint of heart, easily shocked, or under the ~~delusion~~ impression I'm a nice, innocent critter, skip upcoming post! HAHAHAHA ... BET $100 you WILL come back and read it after I wrote THAT. Am I right?) Back to inspiring bloggy pals, Jen Ingle of http://justjingle.blogspot.com/ reminds me to LAUGH and FIND JOY in EVERYTHING EVERYDAY! I love that candy corn eating little thing! And then there are Viv, Jan, Pam, my lil' Chirp, Anita, Carolyn, Colleen, Beth, Jo James, Chris (someone who is as goofy as I am) Sandy ... so many more. THANK YOU, Blog World for giving me all these really cool people who add such richness to my life on a daily basis! To EACH of you I say: I am truly grateful to you for letting me come and play in YOUR blog space, for inspiring me, teaching me, sharing with me, making me smile, keeping me from being lonely sometimes, and accepting me for EXACTLY what I am:

4 comments:

just me said...: Kai you do the same for so many of us as well!! Love your humor and look at life, we could all learn a thing or two from your positiveness!!; January 17, 2012 at 5:07 PM
vivian said...: your just cute as H e double toothpicks! just trying to help you keep your blog G rated!
xoxo
vivian; January 17, 2012 at 5:20 PM
Sandy Michelle said...: Great picture! I can't wait to read your next post..lol!

Sandy xox; January 17, 2012 at 6:29 PM
Christel Hutson said...: Right back at you!..and your big heart..haha thought I was gonna say A#* right?..love you too Kai! xoxo Chris; January 18, 2012 at 12:29 PM

WHAT I'M READING

MOLOKA'I BY ALAN BRENNERT - Rachel is only seven years old when she's torn from her family and isolated in an area of Hawaii reserved for people with Leprosy. This is a very sad, yet very beautifully written account, spanning the years from the late 1800s to the mid 1900s. While the story is a novel, it's based on truth, and as I read, I paused and researched some of what I was reading. I learned so much about Leprosy and how what MOST of the characters in this book actually had compared to the Biblical depiction of the condition. Reaffirmed through not only Rachel's history, but the history and stories of those condemned to live separate from their families and ostracized from mainstream society, was one constant: people learn to live with what they are given. Some retreat, some thrive, some give up. But regardless of circumstances, like Rachel, the fabulously real focal character of Brennert's book, they endure. Moloka'i is 388 pages of wonder. Parts of it will forever haunt me. Parts will bring me to tears years from now. But I will NOT forget it.
THE BUDDHA IN THE ATTIC - At a scant 129 pages, this compact book holds so much intense emotion I could not read it as quickly as I wanted. I had to stop, chew, swallow, and wait for each nuance of each chapter to digest. Narrated by a single (unknown) woman of Japanese heritage, THE BUDDHA IN THE ATTIC is the story of Japanese women pre-WWII, who came to America as promised wives to Japanese men. They arrived with hopes and dreams, fear and excitement, memories and momentos. Each woman carried a different past into her new present. But all carried ONE thing in common - a photo of her husband-to-be. Suffice it to say, all were NOT what the pictures OR the letters promised. This story is a quick moving account of what happened once the women arrived until which time they found themselves in the middle of the second world war and all the fear and prejudice and change it brought. Though the reader never learns the name of the narrator or gets to focus on any one woman, somehow the overview of ALL the women is sufficient to move the story along easily and interestingly. I loved it. I really, really LOVED it!
Noah's Wife 5500 BCE by T.K. Thorne - I've read a lot of novels based on the Bible's Noah. This book is VERY differnt in that it centers almost solely around the woman who was Noah's partner. In this version she is Na'amah, a girl with Asperger's Syndrome, a branch of Autism. I am not quite finished reading this but I had to add it here in hopes that some of you will also read it. Beautifully written, VERY interesting take on the familiar story, and - regardless of the fact that I KNOW how it ends, I am enthralled with this writer's clever portrayal of one who was, in previous versions, all but ignored. BEAUTIFUL, BEAUTIFUL BOOK!
Scars by Cheryl Rainfield - OMG! I read this straight through, shivering, crying, remembering ...! The main character, Khendra, is in therapy for sexual abuse which began at age 2. The problem is - her mind is supressing the identity of her abuser. A WORSE problem? Her abuser is trailing her; leaving threats and insidious messages. Khendra also cuts herself. This relieves the pain inside yet leaves physical scars meant to soothe the emotional ones. This book is one you will read until you gasp for air and realize you haven't been breathing! PLEASE, if you want to understand the methods of a predator and the agony of a person being abused, read this book. It isn't pretty. It isn't happy. But it's REAL. And it MAY just help YOU help someone else one day.
Watersmeet by Ellen Jensen Abbott - This book is well over 300 pages and I read it all, but STILL don't know how I feel about it. Let's just say I wish I had been the editor because her premise was awesome. Her execution? Well ...! The story is about a young woman who lives in a society where she and many others are outcasts because of a ruler's mandate. She ends up finding her father, a leader in another realm, and comes to terms with her anger, prejudices, etc. Am I making it sound compelling? NO? Good, because most of it isn't. The author has some really good segments through the book, but there's so much convoluted yakking & silliness in places, it distracts a reader from the good parts. I would not buy this one if I were you! Just my opinion.
Impossible by Nancy Werlin - (Young Adult) If you like to delve into the realm of faeries (and I DO) and want a bit of mystery, puzzle solving, and 'real life' tossed in, along with amazingly good writing, this is the right book. I own several by the author, but so far have read only IMPOSSIBLE. Despite my strong aversion to ANYTHING that even smells of romance novels, I loved this story. The 'romance' was a focal point in the story, but NOT, by any means THE story. This writer knows her stuff! THUMBS UP!
Reckless by Cornelia Funke - the author of the Inkheart trilogy wrote this very strange novel. It's meant to be a take on the Snow White mirror thing, but it jumps around WAY too much and not necessarily in a good way. Her IDEA is magnificent. Her execution left me cold.
The Poison Diaries by Maryrose Wood, Duchess of Northumberland - I picked up this book about the daughter of a man who heals with plants, the man himself, and a very mysterious young man who's called Weed. Read straight through it because I absolutely COULD NOT put it down!
Folly by Marthe Jocelyn - a rather down-in-the-mouth YA book that seems to focus more on building UP to a 'surprise' ending than on anything else. Didn't HATE it. Also didn't LOVE it.
Dark Song by Gale Giles - a girl finds out her family has been living a lie and the lie changes everything, including who she becomes. I couldn't put it down!
Plain Kate by Erin Bow - a young girl who has learned to carve from her father suddenly finds herself an orphan, accused of using a 'witch-blade' by the superstitious town folks. A good story with so many twists!
Stolen by Lucy Christopher - young adult but not just for kids! Very intense story of a young girl who is kidnapped right out from under her parents' noses at an airport. Extremely suspenseful! Very good!
The Shepherd, the Angel, and Walter, the Christmas Miracle Dog by Dave Barry - for those of you familiar with the author, three words: TYPICAL DAVE BARRY! For those unfamilar, three words: FUNNY, FUNNY, FUNNY! A VERY quick read!
Saving CeeCee Honeycutt by Beth Hoffman - There is NO doubt in my mind why this was a HUGE bestseller! I LOVED IT!
The Weight of Silence by Heather Gudenhauf - a mystery as well as a beautiful story
The Sisters from Hardscrabble Bay by Beverly Jensen - Heartbreakingly wonderful
Knitting by Anne Bartlett - set in Australia, this follows two women and a homeless man's personal journeys - a comforting book!
The Outside Boy by Jeanine Cummins - About Irish 'Travellers' or Gypsies - SOOOOOO GOOD!