Daily Gratitude: Today I'm thankful for:
- I have sunshine inside of me today. They skies are grey, which usually sends me into a funk. However, I feel rested and fresh. I really love feeling good!
- Angels who watch over me, protecting me from evil plans and onslaughts of destruction. The stories they must tell when they check in with their peer angels! I am grateful for their willingness to go about the business of comforting and protection.
- I have awesome neighbors. They are the perfect balance of honoring my privacy and extending generosity. How many people can say that?
What do you hunt for? It's books for me!
Earlier I shared my love of
beautiful vintage books. It's true that they occupy a special place in my heart. Another aspect of collecting books is hunting for great used books. It's one of my favorite pastimes.
One of the best hunting grounds is the St. Vincent DePaul where my sister lives. Every visit to see Leslie includes a trip to St. Vinnie's. This Thanksgiving was no exception. I found three awesome books for $.50 each. SCORE!
Here are my finds:
The Flanders Panel by
Arturo Perez-Reverte. I have several books by this Spanish author. His writing is smart and complex, just the way like I like my books. I just cracked opened this one and it hooked me immediately.
Here's a synopsis of the plot: A fifteenth-century painting by a Flemish master is about to be auctioned when Julia, a young art restorer, discovers a peculiar inscription hidden in a corner: Who killed the knight? In the painting, the Duke of Flanders and his knight are locked in a game of chess, and a dark lady lurks mysteriously in the background. Julia is determined to solve the five-hundred-year-old murder, but as she begins to look for clues, several of her friends in the art world are brutally murdered in quick succession. Messages left with the bodies suggest a crucial connection between the chess game in the painting, the knight's murder, the sordid underside of the contemporary art world, and the latest deaths. Just when all of the players in the mystery seem to be pawns themselves, events race toward a shocking conclusion. A thriller like no other, The Flanders Panel presents a tantalizing puzzle for any connoisseur of mystery, chess, art, and history.
I'm a Stranger Here Myself by
Ogden Nash. Witty twists of words that make light of things pompous and inhuman. Love that his poetry reflects his heart for the glories of the mundane.
Here's a good one:
What Almost Every Woman Knows Sooner Or Later
Husbands are things that wives have to get used to putting up with.
And with whom they breakfast with and sup with.
They interfere with the discipline of nurseries,
And forget anniversaries,
And when they have been particularly remiss
They think they can cure everything with a great big kiss,
And when you tell them about something awful they have done they just
look unbearably patient and smile a superior smile,
And think, Oh she'll get over it after a while.
And they always drink cocktails faster than they can assimilate them,
And if you look in their direction they act as if they were martyrs and
you were trying to sacrifice, or immolate them,
And when it's a question of walking five miles to play golf they are very
energetic but if it's doing anything useful around the house they are
very lethargic,
And then they tell you that women are unreasonable and don't know
anything about logic,
And they never want to get up or go to bed at the same time as you do,
And when you perform some simple common or garden rite like putting
cold cream on your face or applying a touch of lipstick they seem to
think that you are up to some kind of black magic like a priestess of Voodoo.
And they are brave and calm and cool and collected about the ailments
of the person they have promised to honor and cherish,
But the minute they get a sniffle or a stomachache of their own, why
you'd think they were about to perish,
And when you are alone with them they ignore all the minor courtesies
and as for airs and graces, they uttlerly lack them,
But when there are a lot of people around they hand you so many chairs
and ashtrays and sandwiches and butter you with such bowings and
scrapings that you want to smack them.
Husbands are indeed an irritating form of life,
And yet through some quirk of Providence most of them are really very
deeply ensconced in the affection of their wife.
Ogden Nash
The Elegant Universe by
Brian Green. Always want to know more about superstrings and hidden dimensions. This national bestseller has my attention! Haven't jumped into it yet, but am anticipating it with relish.
Here's why: Beginning with a brief consideration of classical physics, which concentrates on the major conflicts in physics, Greene establishes a historical context for string theory as a necessary means of integrating the probabilistic world of the standard model of particle physics and the deterministic Newtonian physics of the macroscopic world. Greene discusses the essential problem facing modern physics: unification of
Albert Einstein's theory of
General Relativity and
Quantum Mechanics. Greene suggests that string theory is the solution to these two conflicting approaches. Greene frequently uses analogies and thought experiments to provide a means for the layman to come to terms with the theory which has the potential to create a unified theory of physics.
Ok ok, I know it's a bit heady, but how cool?!
Anyway, just love hunting for a good book...or two. It's one of my favorite things, right up there with actually reading them!
