Town Quixote's

[God's Truth]

Conversation is always welcome. It's a beautiful day here. Lot's of blue sky and my day off, so I'm heading out with a good book. Hope your day is shaping up half as interestingly.

That sounds wonderful, what book? It is a beautiful day here too, looking for that rain though next week, California always needs it.

 

[Town Heretic]

That sounds wonderful, what book? It is a beautiful day here too, looking for that rain though next week, California always needs it.

Love the San Diego area. Had a friend stationed there for a long time. We'd go out and take the convertible up the 5 into Hollywood and points north. The book? Nothing serious. A Gothic wanna be bit of fluff that's still a fun read, Anno Dracula. I read a few pages here and there between groups during the school day or when it turns nice out after I'm through instructing. It comes in at a little over 500 pages, which is perfect for me when I'm between serious reads. Long enough to be that distraction and inconsequential enough that I don't forget where I'm at when I set it down for a few days. It's just a moving plot with some interesting characters and historical literary figures, which adds to the fun.

 

[God's Truth]

Love the San Diego area. Had a friend stationed there for a long time. We'd go out and take the convertible up the 5 into Hollywood and points north.

Ahhh, sounds like good memories. My dad comes from twelve siblings and like 50 nieces and nephews all from Kansas. He is the only one who left the fold and went to California. He is a black sheep for sure. I remember many of the relatives taking turns to come see us, and I would wonder if they came to see us or California. When relatives came, we would always entertain by sometimes going to the San Diego zoo, Disneyland of course, Sea World, Magic Mountain, Universal Studies, etc, etc.
There are so many things to see and do in California. When we would travel to Kansas, the only thing we would see was the relatives. Lol That was fine by me though.

Sometimes I want to leave California. What are your favorite places to live? Give me some ideas. hahaha

The book? Nothing serious. A Gothic wanna be bit of fluff that's still a fun read, Anno Dracula. I read a few pages here and there between groups during the school day or when it turns nice out after I'm through instructing. It comes in at a little over 500 pages, which is perfect for me when I'm between serious reads. Long enough to be that distraction and inconsequential enough that I don't forget where I'm at when I set it down for a few days. It's just a moving plot with some interesting characters and historical literary figures, which adds to the fun.

Ever since I was young, I would only want to read real stories of real people, and the same for movies too. My spouse is the opposite with favorite books mostly by Stephen King. Sometimes I think maybe I should get into a fictional story. Since you are an instructor, what would you recommend for someone like me? I don't care for the Stephen King books. I looked up the book you are reading now and it does sound very interesting.

 

[Town Heretic]

Ahhh, sounds like good memories. My dad comes from twelve siblings and like 50 nieces and nephews all from Kansas. He is the only one who left the fold and went to California. He is a black sheep for sure. I remember many of the relatives taking turns to come see us, and I would wonder if they came to see us or California. When relatives came, we would always entertain by sometimes going to the San Diego zoo, Disneyland of course, Sea World, Magic Mountain, Universal Studies, etc, etc.

There are so many things to see and do in California. When we would travel to Kansas, the only thing we would see was the relatives. Lol That was fine by me though.

Sometimes I want to leave California. What are your favorite places to live? Give me some ideas. hahaha

Those are great memories. Thanks for sharing them. Hmmm. Well, I love San Diego in the states. Of course, I'm a child of rivers, and I live in one of the richest and most diverse deltas in the world, so I'm fond of it as well. If you don't mind humidity the Miami area is a great deal of fun. Colorful, diverse, and great food. The southern coast of Spain was one of my favorite areas in the larger world, though the south of France near Avignon gives it a run for its money. If I wanted to live in a city I'd pick New York. Took my Jack there a couple of years ago and mean to take him back for a broader view, spend a week or two there sometime between now and his tenth. Great city. Friendly people too. Paris or Madrid are hard to beat either, though my french is awful (and so are the Parisians too often, unlike New Yorkers).

Ever since I was young, I would only want to read real stories of real people, and the same for movies too.

When I was a kid I read Robert Fulton and His Steamship and got hooked on them for a year or so. Ate them like candy. Then I discovered science fiction and climbed around our house library, came across Lewis and his Great Divorce one night and became attached to fantasy elements. Not sword and sorcery, but more books with an element interjected or mixed into the familiar.

My spouse is the opposite with favorite books mostly by Stephen King.

Oddly enough, I'm mostly familiar with King through his straight fiction, like Different Seasons. My father-in-law is a fan of his and gave me The Stand, recently, though I haven't gotten to it yet.

Hey, ask your husband if he's ever read Ghost Story, and Shadowland by Peter Straub. I loved both of those and I'm told King fans should also.

Sometimes I think maybe I should get into a fictional story. Since you are an instructor, what would you recommend for someone like me? I don't care for the Stephen King books. I looked up the book you are reading now and it does sound very interesting.

Depends on how much of the fantastic you mind or like in the mix as you go along. If you want a romantic blending I'd recommend Winter's Tale, by Mark Helprin.

From Publisher's Weekly: "Mark Helprin's magical masterpiece will transport you to New York of the Belle Epoque, to a city clarified by a siege of unprecedented snows. One winter night, Peter Lake - master mechanic and master second-storey man - attempts to rob a fortress-like mansion on the Upper West Side. Though he thinks it is empty, the daughter of the house is home. Thus begins the affair between a middle-aged Irish burglar and Beverly Penn, a young woman who is dying of consumption. It is a love so powerful that Peter Lake, a simple and uneducated man, will be driven to stop time and bring back the dead. His great struggle is one of the most beautiful and extraordinary stories of American literature."

His writing frequently borders on the poetic, in the best sense. He also wrote another novel that's closer to straight fiction and amazing in its own right, A Soldier of the Great War.

From the Washington Post: "For Alessandro Giuliani, the son of a prosperous Roman lawyer, trees shimmer in the sun beneath a sky of perfect blue, and at night the moon is amber as Rome seethes with light. He races horses across country to the sea, climbs in the Alps, and is a student of painting and aesthetics. And he falls in love, deeply and eternally. Then the Great War intervenes. Half a century later, in August of 1964, Alessandro, a white-haired professor, finds himself unexpectedly on the road with an illiterate young factory worker. During a walk over days and nights, the old man tells the story of his life. How he was a soldier, a hero, a prisoner, and a deserter. And how he tragically lost one family, but gained another. Dazzled by the action and envious of the richness and color of the story, the boy realizes that the old man's magnificent tale of love and war is more than just a tale: it is the recapitulation of his life, his reckoning with mortality, and above all, a love song for his family."

If you want a very entertaining story about a boy who becomes entangled in the life of a major league baseball player on the cusp of WWII, told through postcards, letters, report cards, telegrams...an epistolary telling and one with great humor and warmth, try Last Days of Summer, by Steve Kluger.

Those are good ones to look into. But I have a host more and can cover a wider range. If the Dracula appeals to you (and there three more in that series) you might also consider Anne Rice's first, Interview With the Vampire. I didn't care for the rest of her efforts, but that first one was golden. An American classic as a Gothic reexploration of the topic.

 

[God's Truth]

Those are great memories. Thanks for sharing them. Hmmm. Well, I love San Diego in the states. Of course, I'm a child of rivers, and I live in one of the richest and most diverse deltas in the world, so I'm fond of it as well. If you don't mind humidity the Miami area is a great deal of fun. Colorful, diverse, and great food. The southern coast of Spain was one of my favorite areas in the larger world, though the south of France near Avignon gives it a run for its money. If I wanted to live in a city I'd pick New York. Took my Jack there a couple of years ago and mean to take him back for a broader view, spend a week or two there sometime between now and his tenth. Great city. Friendly people too. Paris or Madrid are hard to beat either, though my french is awful (and so are the Parisians too often, unlike New Yorkers).

I have only been to Germany and Austria and didn’t know Americans were so hated. If my mom wasn’t with me to tell me what people were saying, then I probably never would have known. I did have a wonderful time though. Since all the terrorist action, I don’t ever want to leave the US. If someone would offer me an all expense paid trip to Mexico, I wouldn’t go, it all seems torturous to me now to think of traveling out of the country. I think the person who loves city living, New York has got to be the ultimate place to go to experience it. Thanks for the commentary on your favorite places to travel.

When I was a kid I read Robert Fulton and His Steamship and got hooked on them for a year or so. Ate them like candy. Then I discovered science fiction and climbed around our house library, came across Lewis and his Great Divorce one night and became attached to fantasy elements. Not sword and sorcery, but more books with an element interjected or mixed into the familiar.

Wow. The few times I would read, let’s say a novel, I felt like a part of the book became part of me. You reading all that you have are probably why you are who you are, know what I mean? Does your son read as much as you, and the same type of books?

Oddly enough, I'm mostly familiar with King through his straight fiction, like Different Seasons. My father-in-law is a fan of his and gave me The Stand, recently, though I haven't gotten to it yet
Hey, ask your husband if he's ever read Ghost Story, and Shadowland by Peter Straub. I loved both of those and I'm told King fans should also

Depends on how much of the fantastic you mind or like in the mix as you go along. If you want a romantic blending I'd recommend Winter's Tale, by Mark Helprin.
From Publisher's Weekly: "Mark Helprin's magical masterpiece will transport you to New York of the Belle Epoque, to a city clarified by a siege of unprecedented snows. One winter night, Peter Lake - master mechanic and master second-storey man - attempts to rob a fortress-like mansion on the Upper West Side. Though he thinks it is empty, the daughter of the house is home. Thus begins the affair between a middle-aged Irish burglar and Beverly Penn, a young woman who is dying of consumption. It is a love so powerful that Peter Lake, a simple and uneducated man, will be driven to stop time and bring back the dead. His great struggle is one of the most beautiful and extraordinary stories of American literature."

Now that that sounds like an enticing read. Thanks.

His writing frequently borders on the poetic, in the best sense. He also wrote another novel that's closer to straight fiction and amazing in its own right, A Soldier of the Great War.

From the Washington Post: "For Alessandro Giuliani, the son of a prosperous Roman lawyer, trees shimmer in the sun beneath a sky of perfect blue, and at night the moon is amber as Rome seethes with light. He races horses across country to the sea, climbs in the Alps, and is a student of painting and aesthetics. And he falls in love, deeply and eternally. Then the Great War intervenes. Half a century later, in August of 1964, Alessandro, a white-haired professor, finds himself unexpectedly on the road with an illiterate young factory worker. During a walk over days and nights, the old man tells the story of his life. How he was a soldier, a hero, a prisoner, and a deserter. And how he tragically lost one family, but gained another. Dazzled by the action and envious of the richness and color of the story, the boy realizes that the old man's magnificent tale of love and war is more than just a tale: it is the recapitulation of his life, his reckoning with mortality, and above all, a love song for his family."

Sounds beautiful

If you want a very entertaining story about a boy who becomes entangled in the life of a major league baseball player on the cusp of WWII, told through postcards, letters, report cards, telegrams...an epistolary telling and one with great humor and warmth, try Last Days of Summer, by Steve Kluger.

Those are good ones to look into. But I have a host more and can cover a wider range. If the Dracula appeals to you (and there three more in that series) you might also consider Anne Rice's first, Interview With the Vampire. I didn't care for the rest of her efforts, but that first one was golden. An American classic as a Gothic reexploration of the topic.

Thanks for the all the information it was truly enjoyable. Does your wife read books too, and the same type?

 

[Town Heretic]

I have only been to Germany and Austria and didn’t know Americans were so hated.

It kind of varies though. Depends on what country and what sort of American they think you are. The first time I went over for a protracted stay (a summer) I had longish wild hair, thick and wavy to the point of near curls. I wore t-shirts from the area and I bought a bicycle and pack there to tool around. So no one thought I was military. It's always been harder on them. Plus, In Spain I spoke the language and I tended to use Spanish everywhere, because they didn't expect Americans to speak anything but English. If you did, they warmed to you. I know a tiny bit of German. My Italian was decent, conversationally, though I quickly learned how to say, "More slowly, please," in all of them.
Parla più lentamente, in Italian. Habla mas despacio, in Spanish...and they'd usually help me out because they were pleased by the effort...and my Southern manners played well wherever I went.

I haven't been over since the Paris shooting. I imagine and hear that things are a bit tense, comparatively, which makes sense.

If my mom wasn’t with me to tell me what people were saying, then I probably never would have known. I did have a wonderful time though. Since all the terrorist action, I don’t ever want to leave the US. If someone would offer me an all expense paid trip to Mexico, I wouldn’t go, it all seems torturous to me now to think of traveling out of the country. I think the person who loves city living, New York has got to be the ultimate place to go to experience it. Thanks for the commentary on your favorite places to travel.

There was a little fishing village on the Mediterranean, Torremolinos. Loved that place. I'd watch the blue water and eat pizza or some really fine, locally caught seafood at this cafe I stumbled upon and listen to the owner walking about, singing. He'd had gold records when he was young and his wife would chime in from the kitchen. Lovely, back then. I hear it's overgrown and touristy now, sadly. I'm sure my restaurant is gone. Ah, well.

Wow. The few times I would read, let’s say a novel, I felt like a part of the book became part of me. You reading all that you have are probably why you are who you are, know what I mean? Does your son read as much as you, and the same type of books?

I know precisely what you mean and I think it's true. Jack began reading somewhere between two and three years of age, about the same as I did. His favorite book by six was Call of the Wild, which is funny, because it was mine at about the same age. I named him for Jack London, because that name rang for me when I read it.

Now that that sounds like an enticing read. Thanks.

It's poetic and beautiful, hopeful and impossibly romantic. I was hooked reading a blurb about it where the author mentioned, if memory serves, "...and a great, white horse who may know more than he's letting on."

Sounds beautiful

Helprin doesn't write novels often, but he has one of the most lyrical voices I've ever read and I always end up adoring his characters.

Thanks for the all the information it was truly enjoyable. Does your wife read books too, and the same type?

De nada. It's refreshing to have an actual conversation with someone on a board instead of the usual head knocking and jostling about. My wife is a librarian (and cute as the blazes) and has impressively wide ranging tastes. I'd say she casts a wider net, where I exhaust authors, but don't enjoy her breadth of exposure. We turn each other onto various things we'd have missed else.

Whew. Sorry if that one went on a bit.

 

[God's Truth]

...

 

[Town Heretic]

True Conversations #71

Me: Okay, up off the couch. It's late. Bedtime is (looks at the clock) nearer the other way than now.

Jack: (breathing loudly) I think I have anxiety.

Me: You're eight. You've been playing video games and goofing off all day. What can you be anxious about? Does it have anything to do with a bed?

Jack: I can't get up. Can you help me?

Me: What, does something hurt? Is there a terrible pain somewhere in your body?

Jack: No.

Me: There you go then. You're eight. You're in better shape than I am. Come on. It's time to lay down in a different room.

Jack: I can't feel my legs.

Me: [Sitting on the couch beside him.] That sounds serious. Let me help you. [Back of the knee tickling commences. Thrashing and giggles follow.] Look, it's a couch miracle! Hallelujah.

Just like that. Rise and walk.

Jack: [Giggle subsiding.] Time for bed.

Me: Time to dream.

Jack: Okay.

 

[Town Heretic]

A bitpartisan rib....and really, who doesn't like ribs? Okay, Hindu guy in the back. Got it. I mean other than...vegetarian on the third row, sure. But otherwi--okay, fish only gal. I hear you.

It's getting harder to use meat metaphors these days.

Anyway, this one fellow was talking to a friend of mine about virus symptoms and asked what an itch on his posterior might presage.

I said, "Depends on how you respond to the itch... If you pay an undocumented worker to scratch it for you then you're probably a Republican. If you expect the government to scratch it for you then you're as likely a Democrat. And if you scratch it yourself, but suspect the Democrats and Republicans are responsible for it, you're a Libertarian."

Fair warning: no one sided piling on will be allowed in response. Take partisan shots elsewhere. Thank you: the management.

 

[Idolater]

A bitpartisan rib....and really, who doesn't like ribs? Okay, Hindu guy in the back. Got it. I mean other than...vegetarian on the third row, sure. But otherwi--okay, fish only gal. I hear you.

It's getting harder to use meat metaphors these days.

Anyway, this one fellow was talking to a friend of mine about virus symptoms and asked what an itch on his posterior might presage.

I said, "Depends on how you respond to the itch... If you pay an undocumented worker to scratch it for you then you're probably a Republican. If you expect the government to scratch it for you then you're as likely a Democrat. And if you scratch it yourself, but suspect the Democrats and Republicans are responsible for it, you're a Libertarian."

Fair warning: no one sided piling on will be allowed in response. Take partisan shots elsewhere. Thank you: the management.

I think the liberal would say that without your valid legal consent, you have a right against someone trying to scratch it for you.

 

[Town Heretic]

In the days of Trump, Covid, and Murder Hornets

You know what I miss? I miss hearing people say, "You're not going to believe this, but..."

 

[Town Heretic]

Is it me or shouldn't someone change the periodic table every now and then? lain:

 

[ragTagblues]

Is it me or shouldn't someone change the periodic table every now and then? lain:

The world has become predictable and boring of late... I like this idea!

 

[The Barbarian]

Is it me or shouldn't someone change the periodic table every now and then? lain:

We do.

Most people have been seeing the periodic table on classroom walls since grade school, and most people probably think it never changes. They're wrong. The periodic table is much more fluid than the majority of people realize. It's still changing today.

The first periodic table in the "rows and columns" form we see today was invented by Dmitri Mendeleev in 1869. It included the properties of all of the known elements of that time. Mendeleev predicted that the discovery of some as-yet unknown elements would fill in some of the gaps on his table at some point in the future, and he was correct.

The periodic table has long-since filled in Mendeleev's gaps and has added new elements. It has even changed the weights of other elements. The periodic table is continually being changed as new discoveries are made and new theories are developed to explain the behavior of chemicals.

A huge number of changes were made to the periodic table in the early parts of the 20th century. However, some interesting and significant changes have been made as recently as the past 20 years. For example, two brand new elements were discovered in 2004 and 2006 respectively, and added to the periodic table in 2012. These elements are flerovium (element 114) and livermorium (element 116).
https://www.azom.com/article.aspx?ArticleID=10266

 

[The Barbarian]

 

[The Barbarian]

 

[The Barbarian]

 

[Lon]

True Conversations #71

Me: Okay, up off the couch. It's late. Bedtime is (looks at the clock) nearer the other way than now.

Jack: (breathing loudly) I think I have anxiety.

Me: You're eight. You've been playing video games and goofing off all day. What can you be anxious about? Does it have anything to do with a bed?

Jack: I can't get up. Can you help me?

Me: What, does something hurt? Is there a terrible pain somewhere in your body?

Jack: No.

Me: There you go then. You're eight. You're in better shape than I am. Come on. It's time to lay down in a different room.

Jack: I can't feel my legs.

Me: [Sitting on the couch beside him.] That sounds serious. Let me help you. [Back of the knee tickling commences. Thrashing and giggles follow.] Look, it's a couch miracle! Hallelujah.

Just like that. Rise and walk.

Jack: [Giggle subsiding.] Time for bed.

Me: Time to dream.

Jack: Okay.

Wait, shouldn't this be in All Things Jack? Awesome family time!

 

[Lon]

I think Barbarian might have missed the point, but good use of iron/irony!

 

[patrick jane]

So here is a thread with 238,000 plus views and on the ..And The Rest page it says Zero likes - and some other threads with a handful of views show a few likes. Really?