The Library

[BarbStAubrey]

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

Thank you, Barbara

[BarbStAubrey]

I got such a kick out of reading the Agatha Raisin books I could not wait for the paperback that was more affordable - the last few I did a used hardback and then the very last few I lost track - I think there is over 20 of them and kept going regularly till around 14 or 15 - but fun - she also wrote the Hamish MacBeth stories of a Scottish Constable who of course solves things using logic and his knowledge of those who live in the small community - well last night found a group of the Hamish MacBeth stories as a TV series and enjoyed watching several - story line actually a bit deeper than the Agatha Raisin stories but both are light and fun and easy to read or watch.

Frybabe the title of the book by Desmund Shum sounds fascinating - need to look if it is on kindle   

Ginny seems to me I remembering starting Snobs and one of those I set aside and forgot I was ever reading it - I thought at the time it probably did not grab me because our issues are more about race than upstairs downstairs status although of late that seems to be front and center with some. But I did not know he wrote Gosford Park - wasn't that made into a move? Seems we are all looking for some nostalgia to get away from all the opinions on both the news and now even TV shows - so much aggression all pushing an agenda - I'm thinking some of the stories in Books and Movies about the recent past and for Britain the WWII years - anything that allows us to see ourselves as accomplishing noble outcomes or at least everyday pleasurable activities is what most of us are wanting - either that or history that is not the cause of current differences.

[ginny]

Interesting how many are reading Agatha Raisin books now, also. I was a big fan of them initially but she wore on me.  The constant ....I don't know what it was, negativity?

I did like the Hamish McBeth ones. But I haven't read anything  of hers in a long time.

I think Agatha Christie was very clever in letting the reader fill in the details of the character. That way the reader engages with his own perceptions and fleshes out the character himself and thus feels more attached (or repelled) depending, it's a collaboration the way she writes. Almost no description to speak of.

I did finish the Glass Onion again, I still like it and now am watching Seaside Hotel season 9. Not as good as the other 8  years so far,  but I love seeing the old cast again.

Also enjoyed the most recent Great British Bake Off, the people are SO nice to each other. That's what I've come to after all, if people are NICE to each other.  I don't think I'm the only one.

I expect I need to put this in the Movie area but in order to have something to say , I have to put it here.

Anybody but me sort of watching the Murdaugh trial on the news? I have been convinced he did it since I heard about it and apparently SLED was, too, though everybody says oh no.

Whether he did or not, his unbelievable swindles which just keep mounting put him solidly in the Bernie Madoff category with the inevitable result to come, so I guess it's judgmental to think he did it, but I do.

[ginny]

PS: Am I the only one with the Murdaugh trial in the background?

[Tomereader1]

Have absolutely NO idea about any Murdaugh Trial!

[ginny]

I'm as obsessed with it as I was OJ Simpson, it's quite similar. It's also in South Carolina so naturally it's on the news, although I notice it's been on  the NBC nightly news and ABC, I think,  since it started.

[Frybabe]

I haven't been following it, but my sister has been. Yesterday she mentioned more bodies found on South Mountain. I thought she was talking about the one near us and wondered just where along our South Mountain the bodies were found. This morning I saw an article that it was a South Mountain in Arizona somewhere. These days I am trying, not very successfully, to avoid the overabundant reports of murder, shootings and the uptick in robberies.

[ginny]

I find court trials fascinating. Especially when they involve  unrepentant formerly rich and powerful people who have gotten away with murder as the saying goes for years and have cheated  others to the extent that even Bernie Madoff would shudder at. Just unbelievable.  Housekeeper mysteriously dies, he handles the insurance settlement, her  children don't get a penny, money laundering, cocaine habit,  on and on and on.  Yesterday Mr. Murdaugh's attorneys, the famous former State Senator  Harpootlian and co and Murdaugh himself, a former trial attorney whose family ran the courts for decades in their little neck of the woods, and who apparently abused that power enormously, appeared to be snickering at the expense of the state prosecuting attorney. Snickering. It appeared to ME, and what do I know, Good ol Boys in Power pretending to be Johnny Depp. I can't think of any worse thing for any of them to do,  when he's on trial because his wife  and son were savagely gunned down  on their 1,700 acre estate, and he himself most  recently was caught trying to stage his own  death and failing, and his false tears (crying without tears is also not a good presentation, as Amber Heard found out) didn't help.  I don't know who is on that jury or if I saw that correctly,  but if I were on that jury I would definitely remember that. The legal advisors  of the various programs covering it seemed to think  Harpootlian was wonderful,  etc., but his haranguing of the Sled Agent who stood up for herself and said "I didn't say that," was, I thought, ineffective. SLED looks much more impressive  to me this morning all around, and it's pretty clear they think he did it.

[PatH]

Ginny, I've totally missed the details of the trial, and it does sound like the kind of thing I like, but I don't think I'll try to catch up now.  Like Frybabe, I'm trying to avoid too darn much stupid violence.  Frybabe, I assume your South Mountain is the top end of the Blue Ridge South Mountain, whose bottom end was part of my hiking territory on the East Coast.  I wonder how many South Mountains there are in the US.

[Frybabe]

Pretty much, Pat. The PA map for the Appalachian Trail lists the South Mountain ridge way over at the Berks and Schuylkill County line. The one above me don't seem to have a name, although I have always called it Blue Mountain. It is all part of the top end of the Blue Ridge Mountain range. The official Appalachian Trail map shows the trail heading up over the ridge behind Carlisle and then heading east to cross the Susquehanna River just above Duncannon. I was told a very long time ago that the ridge just behind me and Harrisburg was part of the trail. It might have been at one time, or an offshoot of it, but I don't think it is used anymore. Recently, houses have been creeping up the side, and there are even more TV and cell towers up there now. I am actually a bit upset about the developers putting up housing of the lower parts of the ridge above me. All I can think of is there goes another forested watershed to protect the Susquehanna River and by extension The Chesapeake Bay.

Great! Shan barfed on the futon. Now I have to change out two covers, try to get rid of what is left on the bottom cover, and go throw the rest in the washer. One of those was just washed four or five days ago. Thanks a lot, Shan, for the messy present.

[Frybabe]

I am back, briefly. Last evening, I downloaded the audio book Velocity Weapon by Megan E. O'Keefe. It is, as you may suspect, a Scifi, part of a series of three. Also, I started reading another of the Galaxy's Edge series books, part of the Order of the Centurian subset. Today I am going to rummage through my non-fiction books to see what appeals.

[jane]

I've been following Alex's trial....or as much as the national news shows....which isn't much.  He's led quite a life; I suspect the rest of it will be in an orange jumpsuit and a small cell.

[ginny]

Oh I agree, Jane, absolutely. I don't know why he doesn't confess to the murders, he lied about where he was, he changed clothes, he was filmed AT the scene minutes before the murders...I mean it goes on and on...  He'll be in jail a long time anyway on the 99 proven fraud, corrupt cheating,  money laundering,  and flat out stealing,  which his law firm has had  to reimburse.


Pat, and Frybabe,  I can understand wanting to avoid the subject.

I think it's wanting to see justice done here amidst all the chicanery. And there's that element of privilege and good ol boy thing going. And the mysterious deaths of those who seem associated with him, his housekeeper of 30 years, whose children he cheated of the insurance settlements, a friend of his son, mysteriously run down, hmmm.


I gave up on Snobs again, that's twice and I think that's enough. It was simply too boring and predictable. Sort of cliche after cliche. Maybe that life IS a cliche, I wouldn't  know.

I picked up a Robert Barnard yesterday  but haven't started reading it. I've got a lot of books but no time to read them. I can listen to the trial  while doing something else, but I can't read while doing something else. hahahaha

[BarbStAubrey]

finally saw a news clip showing the Murdoch trial - I thought the Murdochs lived in Britain - I'm assuming this is a son or Rupert - the children seem too old to make the father on trial a grandson of Rupert

Making a public spectacle with a trail of a famous person does not seem to stop or slow down the murder rate especially within families -

I've noticed the faster the communication the less good or wholesome news showing people helping each other or being brave and saving others or creating a business or something that adds to lives...

Frankly current social values are so topsy turvey I feel like I fell into Alice's Rabbit hole.

[ginny]

 These are Murdaugh's, and they in their own world (which this morning appears to be full  of absolutely unbelievable corruption) were as important as Rupert in his.

And the judge has just allowed to be presented  as evidence toward  motive in this perfect family,  all the stealing, money laundering, jury tampering, fraud, theft, and unbelievable background of the defendant.  And it's been going on for a long long time, and touches people in very high places in their little community. The defendant, from his jail cell,  is still trying to move money about so it can't be seized,  and it was just revealed that he attempted to bribe his mother's caretaker to firm up a very poor alibi to the murders.

It's a  lot stranger than any fiction and worse, I think, than Bernie Madoff. It's an example of local power gone wrong, way wrong.  For a long long time.

[BarbStAubrey]

ahh Murdaugh rather than Murdoch - Frankly Ginny nothing surprises me any more - evidently people, lots of people are far more corrupt than I ever imagined -

I was thinking badly of myself for being so out of it - well I am tired of beating up myself because I do not take for granted the simplest activity as being fraught with mischief. And yes, mischief is lame compared to the reality that is laid out in front of us - no moral anchor or even life-buoy - even Catholic Church is waging a civil war from Parish to Bishop along with the Pope and the Curia - leadership on all fronts reminds me of the Trollope story where like Louis Trevelyan who had to be 'right' to their ultimate destruction and as leaders the destruction of everyone around them and their followers.

God knows what is moral character because I can no longer make heads or tails out of it  - with as many issues as there are people, Murdaugh is the current poster boy for all of them - even in some cases our neighbors - as you say Ginny. "local power gone wrong, way wrong for a long long time only I think it is on every level" - local, city, state, national, between nations, religion, law, medicine, universities, business - Those of us who took do unto others... seriously are being played - watching a bit of TV or reading just neighborhood news someone is always in our face or creating a 'todo' over something or with someone  - its madness -

With so much madness I am beginning to wonder if everyone, especially leaders who bring the dramas, are all living through a fog of drug use...  The daily news could be swapped for a book describing addicts - I'm thinking i need to pull out my Al-anon books to get through the day and just accept that on everyfront I'm face to face with an addict whose logic is topsy turvey with no thought for anyone else but themselves and how others are only a means to obtain what they want... 

[ginny]

I think perhaps it's always been that way. I think maybe the current state of "information" venues which give any and everybody a platform for ideas sometimes best left in the shadows  is making us more aware of it, but there are still good people out there, they just aren't as loud and In Your Face as some of our current people featured on the news. And I also think there is going to be a great revolt and I mean in a good way, by our youth, to what the young people see in front of them now. Just like there has been in the past in this country.

I can't speak for anybody else but I myself think Murdaugh is the result, the horrific result,  of a man without principles or conscience  working the system he saw  the hidden side of  to an horrific result. But bringing the hidden into the  public,  for instance,  I am also extremely  tired of the antics of some of our elected officials, the rudeness, the disgusting display of....well.. In the past they kept it hidden, now it's on view. Just as well. We know now who  not to  elect in future and avoid.

I'm afraid my reading has really taken a dive. I'm reading myself to sleep about the Queen Mother at the moment and her background as a child. Holy smoke! I always thought  Glamis was a romantic looking castle, imagine growing up in that. WELL!!! All I can say is WELL!!! Ghosts,   I'm serious, GHOSTS thoroughly believed in, quite the bloody history.  Just unreal.  I had no idea.

We have no idea when we meet somebody what burden they are carrying, do we? As a remedy and comedic relief, I'm currently watching Jeeves and Wooster, the old ones free, suddenly  on youtube, just as silly as they ever were.  And as enjoyable.

Light escapism. Love it. Nothing like a good laugh.

[Frybabe]

I finished listening to Velocity Weapon last night The farther I got into it, the harder it was to put down. It sucked me right in. One of the main characters is a ship that is designed to be a weapon, not carrying weapons, but actually being one. When sentient AI running the ship became aware of the true nature of his ship and that he would be forced to comply, he became paranoid and angry. Then there are the two neighboring planetary system groups who are at odds because one has a warp gate and won't share tech. There are the rulers in the "Prime" system who have chips implanted in their brains, and there are some people who are gradually enhancing themselves to become, what, cyborgs? Uplifted? They are still in the shadows but consider what they are doing is the future of mankind. Included: spies, politicians, military, smugglers, junkies, secret and illicit scientific experiments in human and weapons development, oh, and family. Seen from three points of view and experiences. Can't wait to start the second book.

[ginny]

Those look good, Frybabe. You may finally influence some of us to try the genre. I haven't read any Sci Fi for many years, why not give it a try? Loved Ray Bradbury and Asimov when I read them.

I picked up a book this weekend I had never heard of and am really enjoying it. It's called Without Reservations: Travels of an Independent Woman by Alice Steinbach. I had never heard of her but I liked the premise and by luck started it in the middle as  she attends  a courses at Oxford one year. Since I did the same, I enjoyed her writing as it allowed me to relive it over again, even  though I was at Christ Church and she as Brasenose. I really like the way she writes. She wrote another one, too:

Educating Alice: the Adventures of a Curious Woman: " This funny and tender book combines three of Alice Steinbach’s greatest passions: learning, traveling, and writing. After chronicling her European journey of self-discovery in Without Reservations, this Pulitzer Prize—winning columnist for the Baltimore Sun quit her job and left home again. This time she roamed the world, taking lessons and courses in such things as French cooking in Paris, Border collie training in Scotland, traditional Japanese arts in Kyoto, and architecture and art in Havana. With warmth and wit, Steinbach guides us through the pleasures and perils of discovering how to be a student again. She also learns the true value of this second chance at educating herself: the opportunity to connect with and learn from the people she meets along the way."

I am sorry she is no longer with us, but I am going to read that one, too... I am really enjoying her writing and outlook on life, so far.  She reminds me a little of Helene Hanff, remember her and  84 Charing Cross Road? Reminds me of her outlook so far.

[Dana]

I don't understand why Murdaugh isn't facing the death penalty if found guilty.  I am actually not in favour of the death penalty, but isn't it reserved for  premeditated murder?  And isn't that what the prosecution is trying to prove?  They are trying to prove he killed his wife and son to divert attention from his financial mess.  So he planned it...right?  From the evidence we can see the planning that went into it....  So why not the death penalty?   This Southern justice escapes me.  I think he's guilty but I think it will be hard to prove beyond a reasonable doubt.  But the more circumstantial evidence the better.  I have to say everybody down here thinks he's guilty and has done from the get go. (including me...) So it might have been hard to find a jury that wasn't already prejudiced.

[Dana]

Well at least all these imported hogs who managed to escape being shot by the Murdaugh family's many night sight AK 47 rifles used on their specially adapted golf carts might have a chance at life in the fields of sunflowers planted especially to lure them to their deaths.

[ginny]

 Oh mercy, wasn't yesterday awful? I have the live feed on the background on youtube but only hear the sound  while doing something else, but yesterday I had to turn it off with the testimony of the ...was it pathologist?

 I  am so glad I am not on that jury, I could not look at any photographs.  The pathologist's describing Maggie's wounds and their effect sent me from the room after hitting the OFF button for a while, but it was fixed so the photos were not on TV, as I later saw in a recap.

 The channel it's showing on went from a summary of the pathologist  to his interview in the car with the police, and his demeanor standing at the very  scene,  when the police out of respect covered up the bodies.  It's hard to imagine anybody doing that to anybody in the first place,  and then  having such a friendly golf club type chat with the police and taking important  calls on the cell phone, etc. He was still trying to get away with everything. I don't think the police were fooled from the outset, they immediately said there was no danger to the community which  you'd think there might be with these seemingly random and senseless murders, and his attempt to blame the Boat Case which seems to have infuriated the young victim's  family's attorney.

I don't know anybody left now who doesn't  think he did it, all they need to do is find that smoking gun. But apparently the things that meant the most to him are now all gone, which would be his "aura" of being a power player in his family's decades long footsteps being  destroyed forever. I don't think he realizes it, I think he somehow thinks he can pull this off, too. There's something not quite "right" about him, as they say here.

[Dana]

There sure is...look how he tried to get that guy to shoot him, in the head no less and then called it what?  A murder attempt? A suicide attempt?....I think he went from one to the other when they caught his accomplice and he said Murdaugh had asked him to do it.
Personally I would not be surprised if that housekeeper whose insurance claim he stole was pushed down the stairs.
Then there's the gay friend of his younger son who was found shot dead on a dirt road out there.
These are only the ones we know about.

I just re-read my sentence about the hogs.
That's a lovely rolling Latin sentence there, if you ask me, just waiting to be translated!!

[jane]

I'm just watching on You Tube, but I'm becoming obsessed with this trial.  I understand the defense attys are well-thought of in SC, but "poot" as the people in the chat area call him is, to me, revolting.  He's pulling, I think, the old Sam Ervin (for those old enough to remember him) "I'm jus' a po'or ol' Southern lawyer!"  The kennel man was sure someone else was messing with his hose at 8:00-8:30pm.    I thought the pathologist held her own and wouldn't agree it was a  contact wound as "Poot" tried to get her to say.

Lunch is about over, so back to the forensic accountant.

Someone in chat portion of YT says Alec wouldn't spend much time in jail for all that theft.  I hope that's not true.

jane

[BarbStAubrey]

At this point I do not know what to believe - although I did not watch yesterday nor am I watching the trial excepts bits and pieces - not seeing yesterday, today I'm wondering if they can prove he stole all this money then is that suggesting he is depraved enough to kill?

Maybe that is it - the most ordinary looking people turn out to be depraved murderers and I'm expecting to see some sort of vibe or facial expression that pointing to the particulars of the crime it is easy to see the person accused is guilty and in the meantime I see an ordinary looking person that of course in my mind could never carry out a gruesome crime and Murdaugh sure looks ordinary. 

Reassessing and I feel snowed under - all the closets are finished out by the 'seller/owner/builder' with stained oak shelves - huge closets that I have dubbed 'hunting lodge' closets - My daughter and I painted the entire inside of the one that was supposed to be a pantry using a thicker Kilz - a #3  - evidently Kilz just came out with a #4- I planned on painting white the shelves in all the closets using the kilz so the resin from the oak would not bleed through - not only are these 10 foot ceilings but I'm not as good a painter where I can paint shelves nailed to a wall without getting the paint on the wall which means then painting the wall - well I ran out of steam and decided in the budget or not I've painters coming tomorrow to do the three closets and today I'm moving what was in the closets to other nooks and on piles of boxes. Once these closets are done I will be able to unpack much much more and finally see the end of the tunnel.

Then I came across this great article - and I thought looking around yep that is me - hanging on to things with that mentality I won't be able to replace it and I may need it or decide to do something with it and also, can't get rid of that even if it is no longer useful because it belonged to my grandfather or my mother made it when I was a kid or my kids may want the memory - oh oh oh... good article here...

https://www.thesimplifydaily.com/budget/minimalist-living/decluttering/why-we-clutter-and-what-to-do-about-it-44510926 

[ginny]

On the Murdaugh case,  yes they have proven and reimbursed (his law firm did),  99 cases of theft, graft, money laundering, and all sorts of fraud,  some of them over millions, all documented, so that's not an issue.

I expect the idea is what is happening now, that he was trying to keep shifting money about to save face. But  she was talking to a divorce attorney and he told her to get the accounts information, because she had sent in a nice hefty check to a charity and it had bounced, so she had questions, she was staying at Edisto, supervising more construction expenses  on the house,  and they were being sued for $30,000,000 in the "boat case," and they did not have that money, and she told her housekeeper she was worried about it,  nor could he come  up with it, he was broke, and living a lie and all of that  was about to be exploded into exposure.

That sounds like a tremendous amount of work, Barbara, I'm glad you're getting in some painters. Why are you painting oak?

I wouldn't know where to start here. I'm not sure of that why we keep things.  Some of the rationales sound odd. Maybe clutter is odd? If true I'm VERY odd. hahahaa

I remember when we bought this house 42 years ago and I said we'll never fill this one up! I was wrong. hahahaa

[BarbStAubrey]

Goodness - had no idea there was that kind of money involved - as I say not watching except bits and pieces - how do you get yourself into a situation where you must have a boat you cannot afford - I guess if he was a public personality, well known through out the state he had to keep up an appearance - Sounds like the stress level they must both had been living with was through the roof - I could see now why living with stress for years, as he must have he had few emotions he could allow anyone to see since holding tightly back a couple and that affects your whole ability to be real - it would be the only way not to betray his living beyond his means and doing all he did to cover that up and so with no emotions readily available behavior had no control mechanism - it is the only way I could see him murdering his family - I doubt he had any emotions left to react with and why he did not act, as his sister thought he should after the death of his wife and son.

In my mind it is the idea of his killing his son that seems impossible - A different kind of love and blood is thicker plus if she was talking to a divorce attorney than that relationship was shot - Maybe the son sided with his mother and therefore he did not see a father son bond. Also makes sense now when I have tuned in he seems so passive during the trial - if your life is on the line you would think but... notta - hmm maybe he sees no death penalty and he might just as well live in jail as to go back out into the world with no money or even that he sees jail time no matter since they proved he stole money and so what difference if he has more years because of murder - but then the sister, who I did see some of her giving her testimony seemed calm and in control

It all reminds me of the concept after WWII by Hannah Arendt as she shook the world with her report on the Banality of Evil. One of the bits I remember reading about Eichmann's trial which was the source for The Banality of Evil, was when asked if he ever thought about what he was doing and if he conscientiously objected to it, Eichmann replied that there was a split between conscience and his ‘self’ that had to perform obediently. He admitted to having abandoned his conscience during the discharge of his duty as a bureaucrat. While survivors broke down in court before Eichmann, he sat there in a box made of glass, pale from the absence of thought or responsibility. It appears Murdaugh had to perform obediently to bill collectors, banks and ultimately the consumer marketing that was the flag ship for his social status and political position so that he splits from his conscience presenting himself in court with that look of absence and his sister saying he was absent of responsibility.

Eichmann presented more problems to those who persecuted him in court, those who defended him and those who judged him and reported the trial... There was no TV broadcast for the world to immediately see, we were still dependent upon newspapers to report in words a story. The problem was Eichmann consistently held that they could only convict him of aiding and abetting the Final Solution because he had no “base motivations” to kill a Jew or Non-Jew. Poignant was the readiness of Eichmann to admit to his crimes because he did not hate the Jews at all because he simply had no reason to.  Sounds like Murdaugh...

Arendt, proceeds to pen The Banality of Evil, which means that evil acts do not necessarily come from profoundly monstrous people, but from the people who have no motive; people who refuse to think. The people most capable of such monstrosity are people who refuse to be persons, because they give up their ability to think. Arendt says that Eichmann refused to think that he had any spontaneity as an officer, and was simply obeying the law.

I'm thinking that is what I am seeing in Murdaugh and why I am having a difficult time seeing him guilty of killing at least his son but his wife since I do not see any rage  but more his dependency on accumulating money regardless how in order to continue his obedience to the marketable demeanor whose demands increase year by year by not just society but, those who make him a celebrity figure that is required to hold the status he held -

It's like being the most popular girl in class and therefore a cloths horse and leader of the 'in' vocabulary and voice inflection along with setting not just acceptable but the desired behavior - becoming so wrapped into this role that you abandon who you are and if you fear loosing your status you hang on tighter loosing more of being the loving daughter and friend to some whom you will abandon and even make in fun of in order to hold onto your popular girl status. Hmm need to go back and look at a couple of those movies where the girl arrives at the prom and causes major havoc and fire from the eyes. I wonder if these teenage prom queens are based on this giving up of thinking and responsibility.

And to me controversial with no assurance her suggested outcome is true, the best of us can play the role we think is expected of us however, when Arendt says that some Jewish leaders did not resist enough and if they had it would have reduced the numbers who died - that to me is taking a bridge too far... sounds like a survivor's guess - resisting without backup I don't think accomplishes very much

Well all that to suggest that not seeing something evil emanating off Murdaugh and Ginny, your sharing the theft, graft, money laundering and fraud have all been proven along with hearing there was a hefty charity check, the ownership or whatever of a boat and the huge financial law suite suggests he probably parked his thinking and ability to be himself in favor of the role he was committed to keeping alive and well so that he has become a shell of a man and a poster figure for Arendt's Banality of Evil.

Oak wood shelving in closets - first it was not a professional job. Looks like he had lots of oak that he made into anything and everything in his workshop and second the stained oak wood looks dirty, gobbles up all the light and makes the closets look as if I'm living in a hunting lodge - I'm not a hunting lodge sort of person - I like the out-of-doors but I'm not a full time rancher type or hunter or guest lodge hostess.

Now that the shelves are finished the difference is like night and day - completely opened, brightened and lite up these closets tra la... I was going to paint over much of the oak in the house like baseboards, windowsills, crown molding, all the doors but yes, it is good oak and so I've reduced my plans and plan on how I can live with this wood look.

 I have decided the crown molding has to be painted and not all but a few of the interior doors and the woodwork around the doors but leave the baseboards and some of the windowsills and the cabinets in the kitchen - the one bathroom has to be redone and get a sink in there that is for normal tall people rather than giants - the other two bathrooms and laundry room all have these oak cabinets with picture frame molding and crown molding at the top of each cabinet - have not made a decisions what to do - it is costly to have professionals paint but then the cabinets are out not like the interior of a closet which if I had the physical ability I would have continued to paint them on my own.

The painters were wonderful - they not only did a great job of painting but took all my clothes out of the one closet and laid them on my bed and then using a fan to dry it quicker they put all the clothes back on the rods before they left.

[ginny]

It IS hard to believe, it really is. But there is no doubt in my mind he's the murderer. So many exposed cover up lies, he can't seem to get his story straight. They were not fooled for a moment either.

After hearing that witness yesterday, the arms expert, all I can say is a monster did that shooting and if it's he, I hope the rest of his life is tortured by what he saw that night and that they come to him in his sleep.

The trial itself is fascinating. The defense is astoundingly stupid, just mind mindbogglingly  stupid. Intimidating,  irritating, condescending,  and even to the judge they've made two giant mistakes. Deliberately I think.

 I believe this morning they are doing it deliberately: nobody's that stupid. I believe they are deliberately showing no respect to the court in order to force a mistrial, force him into a mistake,  which is what they want, or so they said, they intend to file for a mistrial if this or that is done, just more good ol boys trying to threaten and bribe the system.

Rotten to the core, that entire group and system is which the Defense is representing. Hopefully the good people of SC can show them the door, but without the smoking gun  or a witness it will probably be a hung jury.

So glad the painters came and I do see about the oak now.  I am not sure I'd want it in a closet either. Most everybody who comes in my house wants the paneling  painted in the great room,   and they don't mind saying so. hahaha. I love the look of real paneling  and molding and trim, and if I had my way I'd paint the beams in the ceiling  in decorations  the way Henry VIII did and add more stained glass. I love that look.

But everybody is different. We have friends who bought a house on the side of a mountain, which was very unusual. It had paneling and a gigantic stone fireplace which took up one entire side of the room as you entered,  and had fire on both sides of it,  with all glass walls  on the other side for the view, and the first thing they did was remove that fireplace and all that paneling to make a white wall. The entire house was structured around that fireplace, sort of like an A  Frame or chalet or something. Now it's white walls. So some might say the aesthetic of the house is ruined (I think so) and some might say it's their house and now they have what comforts them, and although it does not fit the house it's sleek and modern.

It's all about feeling at home, to me. I like books, bookcases, and wood. Other people don't. De gustibus.

 The funny part is how many people like to tell you they don't like it while looking at it. I've had people say we should paint it light blue. Light BLUE? Really?  Light blue paneling? I've had people sit in the kitchen (for the last time...salesmen like to sit in the kitchen, they must tell them that in Salesman School)...and say oh we just bought a house, and the kitchen was just  like this, we've finally  about got it redone.   All white.  Again, nobody asked the homeowner in whose kitchen you are sitting for the last time in your life  if she likes the (real) cherry cabinets and trim.

Again, de gustibus. There is no point arguing about taste.

[BarbStAubrey]

Yes we are all different in what helps us feel happy and cheerful in a house - my concern with everything currently being painted white is that is will prove to be a fad and in this house the oak is good solid oak with all the trim a cabinet maker could imagine - I did have the main bedroom, my bedroom painted white before I moved in - I would have preferred a bit of color on the walls but in that room all the oak is now painted and I'm thinking I would prefer the living room an offwhite with white trim although since the floors are wood I'm thinking now to leave the baseboards the Oak - my furnishings and colors are really more feminine and so the heavy look of the wood sets the tone and my things are gobbled up by this heavy masculine look - the one bedroom becomes part library and part office with a hide-a-bed so part guest room as well... that one I think I will leave the wood and only paint the crown molding in the other bedroom that will be my 'doing' room - where I do my handwork, sewing, needlework, knitting, lace, craft work, computers set up and books related to handwork and the arts -

Sounds like your friends with the huge fireplace chose the property for the view and windows opening to the view rather than the rustic mountain feel of the interior - I've noticed most of the photos or home interiors regardless of price range seem to now be clean cut, almost solid shapes within solid shapes so that even a hanging lampshade has nothing on its shade or cut into the shade that takes away from the clean shape - not sure if the decor is called minimalist or not - hearing many now say Boohoo or something to that affect which I have no clue what it means - at this stage I've finally escaped the need to please others and frankly when was all this in your face opinions said outloud considered OK - I'm still remembering sharing a negative personal opinion about someone's home or garden or their attire was rude

Don't know if you get the TV channel DABL - it came onto the scene just after the channel where we were watching the gardening show from Britain - well this DABL channel has about half the shows from the US and half from Britain - the one has to do with, I think they call Real Estate agents in Britain Estate Agents anyhow, the Estate Agent takes usually a couple to see 3 properties most often located in the countryside but some close or within a small town - pretty much all the homes shown are middle and upper middle class price range - I am dumbstruck by property after property usually the ones in town with these itsy tiny living rooms and even the bedrooms  - there is another show where a crew comes in and decorates a house for some deserving individual and yet another where they spend as little as possible to make the house more sell-able - All three shows are from Britain and each are dealing with these tiny rooms - they appear smaller than any room in a US Condo and then it hit me - I bet they do not often have guests - social life is in the local Pub with that way of life having grown from medieval times with the town developing around the Pubs - thinking on it in England the towns developed more around pubs than they did Cathedrals which seem to be the hubs centers in France.

Where as here in the states land and the way of life was more about farming or a Mill that needed running water like a river, still later ranches with in each case long distances to and between cities and towns with the town being where you went to buy sugar, coffee, cloth and nails all in one store with a few elders, who no longer can farm playing domino in or outside the General store so that to this day when we think of going to town it's not a stroll around the corner for a pint but a distance away from the home where there is retail and offices. And so we did need a space to 'entertain' and large kitchens to sit around tables or if there was a fireplace, space for several to sit near it in the evenings and so yes, our room sizes are bigger than these small spaces that have room for a small sofa and maybe, maybe a comfortable chair - do not see coffee tables ether - no wonder the gardens needed a shed - it's like my 'doing' room - a place to 'do' a hobby, to putter - there is no kitchen space with a large table much less a hobby or sewing room - I've yet to see any house featured on any of these shows from Britain with space for anything other than gardening. Now the bigger houses appear to have been for the 'gentry' in their day, and they do have large rooms - not Downton Abby gentry but for instance, the town mayor or those like the Shakespeares and later the caliber of gentry we read about in Jane Austin.

Never thought of that before but I guess where there is a communal place to socialize and relax the homes do not have large rooms.  I wonder if that was why so many Condo Complexes include Gyms.

[ginny]

 Yes I have seen that DABL and I like it. Escape to the Country, is that what they call the one where they go look at houses, and I mean HOUSES with extreme prices. I like the way they don't have to sign a contract with the person who takes them about to look (do I have that right?)...and there's no afterwards, here they are in their small but extremely expensive castle as the prices are in  British Pounds. I was taping it but then they stopped and apparently moved to a new channel.

I also like the Gardening ones, the one day gardeners who transform the yard in one day, I wish they would come here, I will go try to find DABL again.

[BarbStAubrey]

What you don't see Ginny is most of the transaction takes place with an attorney which, from what I hear in both North and South Carolina is not unusual - the western states seldom use attorneys - a complicated commercial transaction yes... but even most land sales use the Title Company as all residential sales - as to committing on paper to work with an agent - I doubt they would show on a TV program any of those details. The show I am seeing where they preview 3 houses usually in the country side are middle price homes and so I wonder if you are seeing another show.

Forgot their names already but I too really liked the gardening show with the two brothers and the gal with the red hair - lots of good ideas that I could use about now to get my creative juices going as to how I am going to plant around this house. I've seen a show with a guy heading up the landscaping of the garden but he got under my skin - to me all I saw was ego out the roof tops.

I cannot find a daily schedule for DABL - that would be really helpful - I bet I'm missing good shows because I don't have the TV tuned in to this channel all the time - I've been keeping this strange weather channel in for background noise - have not found much less unpacked my collection of CDs that i used to play all day in Austin - I prefer music to 'talk' - don't feel comfortable enough yet to take silence.

After all that work to get the kitchen organized I do not want to mess it up so I have not been yet cooking - just throwing things in the micro wave - just finished up the last of the Christmas cookies as a snack - didn't eat supper - the day just went and here it is after 8: at night - probably scramble an egg and call it a day...

[ginny]

You tube is full of new episodes of the one I'm talking about, Escape to the Country 2022. The first  house they are viewing is 435, 000 British Pounds which is $523,914 USD. Is this the program?  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q_mWSiAvgJE&t=954s

[BarbStAubrey]

hmm looks like it probably is - and these rooms are much larger - in fact I even like this house - but then that is it isn't it the house is a ways out of town without a Pub around the corner - It appears they have a different agent for each show... and yes I am used to Austin's prices where that price would be a bargain - without all the land and view and still somewhat of a bargain - With the drop that took place this past summer and without the view that would be close to or over a million according to where it was located - here in the Magnolia area where everything is on at least a half acre and most, except for the few new subdivisions the house would be on an acre to 5 acres it would still be in the high 600K to 900K bracket. Of course nothing anywhere with the age of these houses...

Those fireplaces - wow... the decor is very different and many of the ceilings are far too low for me to feel like I did not need to squat down as if walking in a cave - I'd love it if they ever show one of those row houses in Bath - I'm imagining tall ceilings and an airy feel however, I bet the kitchens would be on the lower level and probably in a space similar to basements in the States.

[Frybabe]

Current listens: Blue Earth Remembered by Alastair Reynolds and another of M. C. Beaton's Agatha Raisin series. Reading another okay but nothing special SciFi. Haven't watched anything of note the last few days.

Blue Earth Remembered begins with childhood remembrances and a funeral in what was Tanganyika. The family is gathering back on Earth from various parts of the solar system for the funeral.  I just started it, so can't tell you anything much about the book other than it appears to be a space opera and perhaps also a family saga story.

[ginny]

Are any of you able to stomach the Murdaugh trial now? Talk about having a Fool for a Client. Yes SIR.
 

I am no longer able to take watching the Monster testify in his own behalf. His attorneys seem poleaxed as they sit and watch him  single-handedly destroy his family, his family's long reputation,  (they had to take down a picture of  his grandfather in the courtroom to have the trial there), and his own brothers. One might need to live in South Carolina to realize the unseen import of what he's done, but what IS seen  is enough to curl one's hair. And the implication that  the apple doesn't fall far from the tree doesn't help his brothers, either.

The only worry I have is that tentacles run deep in the low country. Very deep.  And so does fear. I hope the jury has not been compromised.

Still trying to deal from his jail cell, too.

I can't stomach it, I need to watch highlights. The Paw Paw got me. You can see the Prosecutor is furious and so would anybody be who had a moral principle left.
 

[Tomereader1]

Well, I haven't watched one single minute of it, only a brief, live capture, inserted in my 5:00 news program from yesterday when he took the stand. And I kept wondering when lightning was going to strike! (I'm guessing he is blaming the murders of his family members on an unidentified Perp?)

I had DVR'd almost all of PBS programming for Black History Month, and spent my time,  worthily, (IMO), watching these well-done documentaries.

That trial must really have grabbed the interest of the posters in this forum, as so few relatable posts to The Library showed this week.  I thought the mighty "servers" had gone down!

Have a good weekend everyone, especially those in the areas where blizzards are predicted, or have already occurred!

[BarbStAubrey]

I still do not know what to believe - the little I saw and the reporters that give excerpts on the various news channels all make an issue over his wealth and historical standing -

That approach to me is a crowd pleaser since, in today's world, anyway folks can get back at the wealthy, that they blame for all the ills in economics, as they call it economic injustice, especially how the rich, as they see it, have life on easy street and they don't and the rich could not be wealthy without cheating workers out of what is their due... on and on... that line of bull has been underlying this trial and so, I see a marketing attempt by the prosecution to convict him and I do not think the defense team has realized this trick of perception is being used -

Also, the only reason a defendant flounders on the stand is because his legal team has not prepared him well enough or properly - this guy is not an attorney and I'm imagining everytime he ever needed legal assistance he simply picked up the phone and so left to his own devises he has no background or experience how to handle himself on the stand.

Yes, he is a crook but I am also betting no more or less than many who are a thread away from public positions where politicians have seen the millions that add up with a little from here and there so that their heads are turned and over the decades every way to snitch a few thousand has been exploited. Maybe the defense team is trying to bring to light how crooked and they are using this guy as the fall guy - because I still think he is so into his alternative look at life and his world he had no thought of planning a murder - his thoughts only go to how to hide his money worries - how to get out from under his mountain of debt and hide his stupid money decisions and crimes over money that had piled up for years and years.

We've heard nothing about how other possible 'actors' he or his family knew or did not know were eliminated - only how this is the guy that did it and look all we found that proves he is a low life so of course he did it...

P.S. - Of course there is always the possibility he knows what he is doing - he is going to jail anyhow - he knows you spend years on death row and having scoped out the jail and how he would able to survive he decided jail time will be till he is a very old man with no money when he gets out or family that cares so he may as well spend it on death row where he will be better cared for than in with the general prison population - he only got caught with his financial dealings after the murder of his wife and son so he is smart enough to see the loopholes that this way of serving out the remainder of his life offers. And so with that in mind why not make it so he can appeal and last longer even on death row.

[ginny]

this guy is not an attorney and I'm imagining everytime he ever needed legal assistance he simply picked up the phone and so left to his own devises he has no background or experience how to handle himself on the stand.

Murdaugh is a prominent attorney in a family of attorneys who have run the Solicitor's office in the lower part of the state for generations. He IS a trial attorney, a very successful  prosecuting attorney, who has cheated his clients for something like 15 years,  and he, in his giant ego,  insisted on testifying.  He knows exactly what he's doing. He's still trying to bribe people from his jail cell (recorded phone calls).

And yes,  I think there IS something to the notion of  people wanting to see justice done in this case.

[ginny]

 Tome, I'm sorry this does not seem relatable. This discussion is the only one on this website where folks can talk about what they are doing or may have read about or are interested in, and this subject is  on the national news every night,  but you're right, it's probably of more local interest and  we need to stick to books here.



What's everybody reading?

[BarbStAubrey]

Thanks Ginny, obviously did not know he was an attorney and that puts a very different perspective to the entire case - whow - and not saying people do not want justice - what I am referring to is this notion of economic justice which has been a line of thinking by some that everyone should have a similar income and no one should have so much more wealth than those complaining... But yes, for sure, justice for the wife and son - and justice for the community - and now I have changed my opinion - had no idea this guy was an attorney - then something else is going on - why would he act so incompetent on the stand - that was the only bit I saw and not the complete cross exam at that because now after learning he is an attorney I do still think he is playing some angle - no one can be that incompetent in today's court room with high dollar attorney's on your payroll.