Beguiling a Stone

Tuesday, post stay-up-late to watch a sporting event that did not exactly go my way.  I have a gigantic mug of coffee to combat weariness and the melody for "Irish Eyes Are Smiling" stuck in my head.  As a small nod to my alma mater, I wanted a bit of Irish inspiration (and a new song to hum please, but I'll deal with that next).  Frank McCourt was on my mind so we'll use his words from Angela's Ashes as a bit of a mantra:

“Sing your song. Dance your dance. Tell your tale."

Hope your day is a great one!

Lionel Trains of Thought

If you find yourself always ahead of the reading curve or if you'd like a preview into what's in store for the rest of 2013, The Guardian has this nice monthly list of happenings for books and the arts.  A new Bond novel?  Most certainly.

For now, I want to take GBC K1m's suggestion on Mr. Penumbra's 24 Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan before diving into the book which puts the song in my head from the countless weddings for which I played the piano in my youth:  Endless Love by Scott Spencer.

Hope you've had a most delightful of weekends and that if you were under the weather, you're feeling more like yourself.

Do You Have To? Do You Have to?

Today's Friday pic one last nod to the winter season from the comfort of my stainless steel pot.

Cranberries
Thanksgiving 2012

"If you could return, don't let it burn, don't let it fade." 

- The Cranberries "Linger"

What's in a Name?

I think it was fitting that the last book I read in 2012 was WILD by Cheryl Strayed.  [Special thanks to GBC P@1ge for this selection.]  I've long believed that I tend to "find" books when I'm ready for them, and I think in this case I was ready to admit that I could well identify with some aspects of Ms. Strayed's memoir.  Life as normal, chaos, loss, chaos, crazy thread of an idea to regroup.  In her case, she opted to regroup via hiking the Pacific Crest Trail solo.

I've done a number of crazy things solo (volunteer in France?) but hiking for any length of time would likely scare me out of skin.  My most memorable experience back-packing in one run-on sentence:  an external frame, lopsidedly-loaded pack, a fall into a creek on day one, a complete soaking by cold spring water when I couldn't lift out because of the weight of the pack, overnight freezing (night two), and the most adamant determination to hike two days work of miles (14) in one day just to get out (and eat something not pre-packaged in foil).  This connected me with Strayed's pack "Monster."   I could also identify with those moments when one expected tears because it IS hard and none come, and then the surprise "grab you" moment when emotion surfaces unexpected, unplanned...the regrouping bits.

I'd recommend this read in your 2013 list (or when you're ready).