Author Topic: The Library (Read 2084810 times)

Steph · « **Reply #16600 on:** March 04, 2016, 08:18:40 AM »

The Library

Our library cafe is open 24/7, the welcome mat is always out.
Do come in from daily chores and spend some time with us.

We look forward to hearing from you, about you and the books you are enjoying (or not).

Let the book talk begin here!

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The minute the reviewers mentioned Gone Girl, I did not pick it up.. I truly disliked Gone Girl.

Dana · « **Reply #16601 on:** March 04, 2016, 07:48:36 PM »

I bought that book in an airport because I had left behind my real book in an hotel and I thought I had read that someone one liked it here. And it was written by a Brit .....I am a Brit..... don't bother. boring,trite and totally unrealistic. Do you want to read a book where the main character is a drunk, but only because that will advance the story by making her forget the main event, nothing to do with real alcoholism, or real psychotherapy ... which also happens by the way.... (Mind you,against my better judgement I read it all, but only because I was flying and hanging about for so many hrs with nil to do)....I left it in my next hotel room tho', as a sort of protest.

Tomereader1 · « **Reply #16602 on:** March 04, 2016, 08:17:01 PM »

Dana, were you referring to "Gone Girl" or Girl on A Train"? They can be lumped in the same bin as far as I'm concerned.

BarbStAubrey · « **Reply #16603 on:** March 05, 2016, 04:17:53 AM »

Pat Conroy died on Friday - age 70... Had pancreatic cancer

Steph · « **Reply #16604 on:** March 05, 2016, 08:55:10 AM »

A favorite author of mine. I discovered him all those years ago with his very first book... Conrack, The Water is wide.. and never looked back. His books always fascinated me. Fair winds and a stiff breeze to paradise for him.

maryz · « **Reply #16605 on:** March 05, 2016, 10:39:50 AM »

What a great loss! There were always passages in his books that begged to be read aloud and shared. The one I remember most was from, I think, "Lords of Discipline". The mother of one of the Charleston boys says, "Yankees have no word for 'tacky', and they need one so badly." (Probably not an exact quote, but close.)

bellamarie · « **Reply #16606 on:** March 05, 2016, 10:54:10 AM »

Tomreader and Dana, I am shocked to hear your opinion of The Girl On The Train, I have a couple of friends who have recommended it. I have not yet begun reading it. I did see the movie Gone Girl and I loved the twisted minds and plots. Left me expecting a sequel one day. I'm not usually into thrillers, but I did like Gone Girl, now when I began to read the book after seeing the movie I could not get into the book. Maybe it's not a good idea to see a book made into a movie, before reading the book.

I'm enjoying Homer's The Odyssey at the moment!

Dana · « **Reply #16607 on:** March 05, 2016, 01:48:42 PM »

I was referring to Girl on a Train, I didn't much care for Gone Girl either,but can't remember it now really. (or why I didn't like it)

BarbStAubrey · « **Reply #16608 on:** March 05, 2016, 02:30:36 PM »

Found this and it sure hits the nail on the head... in life and with what we choose to read...

BarbStAubrey · « **Reply #16609 on:** March 05, 2016, 03:33:15 PM »

Its started - daughter-in-law sent this to me - taken by a photographer near her house. - The popular saying this time of year is that God loved Texas so much he painted it the color of Heaven.

jane · « **Reply #16610 on:** March 05, 2016, 03:38:23 PM »

Ah...yes, and the redbud was in bloom as were various flowering trees as we drove through Texas and Oklahoma earlier this week. Now for Spring to reach us here in Iowa where it snowed yesterday and we have snow on the ground from earlier storms.

jane

BarbStAubrey · « **Reply #16611 on:** March 05, 2016, 03:43:13 PM »

Jane here is one from Ellis County - up off I35W - county seat is Waxahachie

jane · « **Reply #16612 on:** March 05, 2016, 04:01:41 PM »

Ray said they saw small areas of them while golfing in Brownsville last week. Isn't this early for them? I know people who came home from AZ to specifically see them and they were told they were too early...that was late March last year or so.

BarbStAubrey · « **Reply #16613 on:** March 05, 2016, 04:21:22 PM »

Jane they have started - the peak is probably two weeks away - we had a lot of rain this past autumn plus high temps since the end of January - unfortunately not much rain but things are blooming all over - everything is blooming at once - the western part of the state experiences temps a tad colder and so they are probably delayed but between here and Houston the blue carpet has started. I suspect that the peak will hardly happen when the Indian Paints will become part of the mix since things are popping out so quickly.

My redbud is nearly over and the Jasmin has been full yellow for over a week. The Loropetalum is over and anyone from up north who planted forsythia, it came and went in a weekend the end of January, even those who planted daffodils only saw a short showing. The Oak leaves are too deep for a rake so that is about over and the lawn mowers are waking us up on Saturday mornings. It is about where we usually are at the end of the month rather than the first week.

Frybabe · « **Reply #16614 on:** March 05, 2016, 05:06:25 PM »

Beautiful pix, Barb. I know the Lupins but what are the floweres in the first photo? My daffodils are up about 5-6 inches, so I am expecting them to bloom soon.

That saying is wonderful. I hadn't heard it before.

I am now reading a volume of Ray Bradbury's essays. In one, talking about Fahrenheit 451, a friend told Bradbury that he should write a sequel to the book where, after a time, the Book People begin to write down the books they memorized. The speculation was that they would have, over time, become corrupted with misremembered things, omissions, things remembered either more beautifully or more ugly, etc. Bradbury never wrote a sequel, but he thought the idea was a fun thing to do. He suggested writing down a detailed plot to ten of your all time favorite books. Then he said to go back and read those books to see how closely you remembered them.

The final paragraph in the essay, "Remembrance of Books Past (2004)" in Bradbury Speaks: Too Soon from the Cave, Too far From the Stars.

Quote

Go find your bliss, name your favoirtes, and see if your long umbilical memory has been cut or you are still wonderfully tied to the things you loved in libraries a long time ago.

Funny about that, Fahrenheit 451 is one of my top ten.

BarbStAubrey · « **Reply #16615 on:** March 05, 2016, 05:25:42 PM »

they are all bluebonnets Frybabe - we do not call them lupins - as they mature some of the bluebonnets get a tiny fleck of a pinkish orangy red and soon the Indian Paint mixes in - I think the lupin is a larger version of the bluebonnet. Story of the Bluebonnet and how it became the state flower -
https://npsot.org/TrinityForks/TrinityForksWeb/Newsletters/Bluebonnet_Article.pdf

here is a close up of the mixture and if you look closely you can see the tiny fleck of red orange in the bluebonnet to the left side of the bottom of the photo.

BarbStAubrey · « **Reply #16616 on:** March 05, 2016, 05:34:41 PM »

aha - found one with the fleck of pinkish orange red - I believe there are various versions of the bluebonnet - some are darker blue than others and some are fuller where as this one is straggly - could be the soil in the field that makes the difference.

JoanK · « **Reply #16617 on:** March 05, 2016, 05:59:47 PM »

Thank you, BARB. I had heard of the Texas bluebonnets, but never seen them. magnificent!

maryz · « **Reply #16618 on:** March 05, 2016, 06:37:16 PM »

Love the bluebonnets - thanks for posting the pictures.

bellamarie · « **Reply #16619 on:** March 06, 2016, 02:12:50 AM »

Love the bluebonnet pics Barb. I have a Facebook friend who lives in Texas and always posts pics of them. How amazing it must be to see them each year in bloom.

Steph · « **Reply #16620 on:** March 06, 2016, 10:42:21 AM »

I only got to see them once in person.. We took the RV and went adventuring in Texas, but I could swear that it was quite close to the end of March.. They are glorious indeed.

ginny · « **Reply #16621 on:** March 06, 2016, 11:50:53 AM »

Oh aren't they lovely! Now are these the ones Ladybird Johnson was famous for putting alongside the roads or were those other things?

Coming to the end of the Bryson book, he's done an obligatory swipe at the ignorance of Americans about geography, apparently Ken Jennings has written a book on how little Americans know about geography.

I wish I had Ken Jennings's total recall. I think he lives somewhere near me, so obviously it can't be ALL Americans. hahaha

He might be right, tho, about geography. I don't know which I'm more illiterate in: math or geography. I'm actually moving toward total illiteracy in both, and the schools DID try. We did memorize the capitals of each state, we did memorize (where is Jean?) the Lene Lenape Indians. Over and over. Those were the Native American Indians where I grew up, but I know that others in other parts of the country did the same. I must say I have never been asked anything whatsoever about any Lene Lenape Indian, nor if a ladder is leaning against a house what is the whatever of angle it makes, OR two trains are speeding toward each other, if the one train is going 87 mph and the second one is...well you remember the gist, I'm sure.

Never used either one. Why do we spend so much time learning each one when we never ever will use them again? I don't mind about the Lenape, I do about the ladder and the trains, that's brain space I could have used for other things. Like, apparently, finding a US city on the map.

I'll bite my tongue about the "wisdom" of beauty contestants. Perhaps it might have been more accurate to test the geographic knowledge of those in other nations on the same subjects as well, and interview somebody besides beauty contestants.

BarbStAubrey · « **Reply #16622 on:** March 06, 2016, 03:29:46 PM »

Bluebonnets are wild and natural - Lady Bird promoted wild flowers with contests etc for those who carpeted the highways with the biggest show of wildflowers -

We start that season when, till the end of May, it is a varied wildflower show that the best way to describe it would be as if driving through a northern forest of trees so that you cannot see through the trees are so thick, is how the wildflowers are here - in great swaths that are bluebonnets, Indian Paints, Wine cups, Firewheels, Cutleaf daisy, Blackfoot daisy, Copper
Canyon daisy, Coreopsis, Cardinal flower, Prairie Verbena, Tickseed, Evening Primrose, Purple Sage, Blue Sage, Mexican Hats, Prickly Pear Cactus, Mountain Laurel, Oleander, --

One after the other and sometimes several at a time in fields, roadsides, vacant lots, highway separations in town, just about every piece of unattended bit of land as well as the parks - it truly is like driving through an old Walt Disney movie.

Then according to if we have rain or not, we continue the summer flowers that are mostly the Coreopsis and the salt willow along with some of the agave and the crepe myrtle in front yards put on a wonderful show all summer.

With the trees doing their thing my allergies are kicking up a storm - I have the winter allergy to the Ceder pretty much under control but oh oh oh - the slight wind today - I want to open the windows and yet...

I'm convinced what we used to call Spring Fever when I was a kid - that feeling that came over us of not wanting to do anything and to nap was really an allergy reaction but who knew... well I am off for my Spring Fever nap...

Frybabe · « **Reply #16623 on:** March 06, 2016, 04:08:47 PM »

Oh yes, the "Spring Fever nap". Allergy? I never thought of that. I always wondered why I felt so "lazy" and wanted nothing better than to, like you said, nap or lay about and read all day.

Tomereader1 · « **Reply #16624 on:** March 06, 2016, 05:55:04 PM »

What do you take for the Mountain Cedar allergy, Barb?

BarbStAubrey · « **Reply #16625 on:** March 06, 2016, 06:40:18 PM »

HAS it is an old Dr. Christopher formula that he sold to Nature's Way when he sold out about 24 years ago - at the time he was not to start his business again for 20 years - now that he is no longer with us the company is back in business with most of his old formula's except the ones that Nature's Way continues to sell -

Like all herbal combinations it takes a bit for your body to react fully and then it is a case of maintenance so that now during the season I only take 2 capsules in the morning and 2 before bed - I used to get it at Whole Foods and now I get it at Amazon often it is really inexpensive as one of those specials where if you buy 25 dollars or anything you can get this for as little as 6 something where as mostly according to who is selling it is anything from 8 something to 12 - I have Prime so I look for the free delivery.

For lungs nothing beats Dr. Christopher lung and Bronchial combo. Same thing - after your body has adapted you do not need the product as often as they recommend and when just getting started you may need it a tad more often than they recommend.

http://www.amazon.com/Natures-Way-Original-Formula-Capsule/dp/B00016AH9C/ref=sr_1_1_a_it?ie=UTF8&qid=1457307684&sr=8-1&keywords=HAS

Steph · « **Reply #16626 on:** March 07, 2016, 08:40:12 AM »

hmm, I am extremely fond of tiny naps.. Fifteen minutes down makes me energetic again.

Frybabe · « **Reply #16627 on:** March 07, 2016, 07:18:36 PM »

I am surprised no one has mentioned that Pat Conroy has died. I have not had the pleasure of reading any of his books.

You have me beat, Steph. My minis last twenty minutes. Amazing how much more energy I get from such a small nap. When I don't give in, I feel dopey all afternoon.

jane · « **Reply #16628 on:** March 07, 2016, 07:52:56 PM »

Frybabe...the death of Conroy was mentioned up above on March 5 by both Barbara and Steph.

http://seniorlearn.org/forum/index.php?topic=881.msg278320#msg278320

Frybabe · « **Reply #16629 on:** March 07, 2016, 10:48:06 PM »

Thanks Jane. I must have missed it. I've just been skimming the library and mystery discussions the last few days. So it probably did'nt register on my brain. Just saw George Kennedy passed on too.

ginny · « **Reply #16630 on:** March 08, 2016, 08:17:04 AM »

Windows 10 installed itself while I was asleep last night. At first it was a black screen. I shut it down. Then it came up said it was Windows 10 and I would be thrilled. Then it went black. These blackouts lasted quite a while.

Then a message appeared that I still had all my files. And they were where I put them. And another message that they had exciting new things to show me along with Don't shut down. This went on for quite a while.

So it then came back up. They must have made adjustments to their latest installs because I can still access my files, the desk top is now the same and so is the taskbar, so there's very little adjustment to be made. Not sure where the downloads are, another adjustment needed perhaps, or Audacity or Roxio. Maybe I can find them later on.

I can manage until the summer when I will have time to look closer. I have heard some horror stories about 10. I just hope every application works with Windows 10. So far, so good. Am I the only one it just appeared on?

I had allowed Windows 10 to download the exe program some time ago because it said it's free now, it won't be in the future, but I had not allowed it to actually activate, if that makes sense. It was just another file. Last night it decided to activate on its own.

This "cortana" feature requires registration with Microsoft so they can "keep track" of my requests. That's interesting, I passed on that, too. Tomorrow I probably will wake up and Cortana or whatever it is will be cooking breakfast.

Frybabe · « **Reply #16631 on:** March 08, 2016, 08:34:30 AM »

I had a little bit of trouble when mine installed, Ginny. But then, like you said, the black screen stayed on so long that I thought it hung up and shut it down. I think that is what screwed up my first install.

You should have a file folder on your task bar. That is where you will find the folders for your downloads and documents, etc. The Settings link, however, are more problematic for me. I'll be darn if it doesn't take me forever to find things when I want to tweak something or personalize some setting. There is not Control Panel link anymore. Once you have some time, it shouldn't take you too long to figure much of this stuff out. Windows tutorials are also helpful. I am just very happy that I get to keep my desktop looking like my Window 7 did. I dispise the big pix/icon thingies that they use on facebook, pintrest, twitter and the like. They take up way too much space, IMHO, and are annoying in the extreme on a small screen like my Fire.

Steph · « **Reply #16632 on:** March 08, 2016, 08:46:41 AM »

I hated Cortana, so my computer whiz got rid of it for me.. All it does is try to sell you windows nonsense.. Bah..I have my old screen as well and mostly everything is quiet..

bellamarie · « **Reply #16633 on:** March 08, 2016, 04:22:58 PM »

I keep getting these pop up notices that I need to download Windows 10 and that it is free. I am scared to death to download it because of all the problems I have heard others have had. I'm waiting to see if they can perfect it a bit more before risking it. Steph how is Windows 10 working for you since your computer whiz helped you out?

JoanK · « **Reply #16634 on:** March 08, 2016, 04:50:11 PM »

BELLAMARIE: I'm with you. I get a nag almost every day, but I'm scared.

maryz · « **Reply #16635 on:** March 08, 2016, 06:38:55 PM »

I got a new l.aptop that had Win10 on it. I've had no problems with it

ginny · « **Reply #16636 on:** March 08, 2016, 07:30:56 PM »

Frybabe, the files are not on the taskbar. The taskbar itself seems to have several iterations depending.

MaryZ, I am so glad that you've been able to adjust, that gives me hope. Perhaps if it hadn't done it itself I would be more eager to try some of the new features, more prepared, as it were.

What I really miss is the Search feature. It could pick out a phrase in all of the documents on this computer. Do you remember it? In Windows 7 it used to be the ball on the bottom left of the screen? You'd click on that and it would search every document by that phrase. I really really need that.

I downloaded it some time ago and it rested in the downloads by itself happily until last night. My understanding IS that they are going to discontinue "support" for Windows 7 soon and they are going to charge big bucks for 10. If they discontinue "support" that means that vulnerabilities might occur in your system, not a good thing. But I thought I'd have more time, maybe this summer, to deal with it.

It's working but I am not able to find some of the things that I use almost daily.

mabel1015j · « **Reply #16637 on:** March 08, 2016, 11:41:36 PM »

I love you guys! I've had a bad year and a terrible last 6 months with 2 sinus infections and 2 bladder infections and an eye problem. But today we started with temperature at 65, nice and warm outside. I actually love all four seasons and we had a very mild winter, BUT i'm ready for spring! And today it was like spring.

Then my eye doc told me the eye problem is probably not serious, might just be dry eyes. Some eye drops and some heavy duty omega-3s will fix it! THEN i come on here and Barbara has put up that wonderful philosophy and those beautiful flowers. And you're all having the same concerns about Win10 as I have been having! Love it!!! Thank you all for being here.

Jean

Frybabe · « **Reply #16638 on:** March 09, 2016, 05:52:00 AM »

Well Jean, you just gave me another reason to start taking Omega-3.

Ginny, when you click on the little Windlows icon in the left corner, do you see "File Explorer" on the list that comes up? That will get you there too.

When you do the Windows 10 upgrade, it will find and move over all the programs it deems compatible with it. If you have any programs on earlier versions that are not compatible with Windows 10, it will not transfer them. Window 10 also gives you the option, after you install it, to go back to your earlier version if you do not like it. That feature is buried somewhere in the settings folders. I eventurally found it and uninstalled Windows 10 the first time because Cortana was not working. Without Cortana, I couldn't use the search feature and a few other things didn't work or were buggy. My second install came out fine.

I went back and saw Barb's post on Pat Conroy. I do remembe seeing it, but it got forgotten when all the beautiful bluebonnets started blooming on the site.

Steph · « **Reply #16639 on:** March 09, 2016, 08:30:47 AM »

My Computer guru.. gave me a screen that I love, I can get to the windows 10 screen if I want, but dont have to. I am using Mozilla Firefox to get around on the web. I like it very much. Very intuitive for me.. Keeps track of all the places I go every day and reminds me of things I might forget. I still have problems with this business of finishing off things when I am typing, too many stupid errors.. I really hated Cortana and it hated me.. so it is gone.

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Author Topic: The Library (Read 2084810 times)