Now, I want to know. Why is it that we care about Tiger Woods? Why is he important to the world and our survival? Is is necessary for us to know why he had numerous affairs and exactly how many and with whom? Do I care what kind of car was seen leaving his driveway carrying an unidentified passenger to the hospital last week? Why do we need to know the most intimate details of his married life?

He’s a sports figure. I’m sorry for his misfortunes, although he brought them on himself, but, really, why does this man require 4 minutes of national news coverage every broadcast? And that’s not counting what may be happening on CNN, MSNBC, FOX News or Nancy Grace.

If we were to be entirely judged by our news broadcasts, we would be judged incredibly stupid, shallow people.

1. A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens - $0.0

2. Little Women - Louisa May Alcott - $0.0

3. Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens - $0.0

4. The Beautiful and the Damned - F. Scott Fitzgerald - $0.0

5. This Side of Paradise - F. Scott Fitzgerald - $0.0

6. Sookie Stackhouse 8-book “boxed set" - Charlaine Harris - $24.40 (includes: Dead Until Dark, Living Dead in Dallas, Club Dead, Dead to the World, Dead as a Doornail, Definitely Dead, All Together Dead, From Dead to Worse)

I also get a subscription to The New Yorker and daily New York Times latest news articles (in depth and updated several times a day) for a total of $4.98 per Month.

And I get to carry all that reading material (plus about 300 other titles) around in a light-weight device the width and height of an average paperback novel. I really can’t imagine what’s not to like about that, but I know that some people are opposed to digital/e-books for various reasons. Perhaps the monks thought Gutenberg’s invention heralded the end of civilization, too. Change is hard for some folks.

And some folks seem to think that reading is an all or nothing proposition—either you read all paper books or you read all e-books and destroy the world. Never seems to penetrate their noggins that some of us buy dead tree books, borrow dead tree books from the library, and buy and read e-books as well. I’ve even heard it said that some people even—gasp!—listen to audio books. And you know what? It is entirely plausible that we can do all of the above without bringing civilization down around our ears.

Bearing that in mind, this HuffPo article is over the top, stupid, and really offensive. I mean, reaaaaaaally grossly offensive. The author equates the Kindle (and Google books) to Nazi book burnings and concentration camp culture. Slightly ironic that the article’s author has a book offered for $9.99 on Kindle. How much you want to wager he’s donating those evil Nazi royalty dollars to the charity of his choice? Yeah, me neither.

Afghanistan: The boneyard of empires.

As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

Currently, there is a large pot of chicken soup on the kitchen stove.  Just smelling it makes the world a better place. My chicken soup recipe is a little bit different every time I make it. It all depends on what I have in the vegetable crisper drawer. Tonight, I didn’t have very much beyond one large sweet onion, two large potatoes, and four carrots. So, I dragged myself out into the deluge and went to the grocery store.

I scooped up a green pepper, a small bag of parsnips, some celery, and a bag of extra crusty hard rolls. I brought it home and added more stuff to the soup and it is still gently simmering. It won’t be ready to eat until tomorrow, but it surely smells fine tonight.

I haven’t added parsnips to my chicken soup in a long time. I’d forgotten about the possibility until I browsed through a cookbook tonight. Parsnips aren’t everybody’s favorite vegetable. In fact, I don’t know too many people who’d go out of their way to eat them and I’m inclined to agree if they’re cooked like carrots and presented on a serving dish. But when added to a stew or soup for flavor, they add just the perfect touch. Absolutely delightful.

I don’t know...it’s distinctly possible that I might end up having chicken soup for breakfast tomorrow. Don’t know if I’ll be able to wait until later in the day. I think it’s becoming my favorite food. A little bit different every time and, I suppose, there are still a lot of vegetables and flavors to try.

Maybe I should try for the farmer’s market tomorrow morning instead. They’ve extended the Sunday moring market through the end of December. Not sure what they’ll sell during December. Perhaps I should go and find out.

How does this happen? Well, I put in interlibrary requests for books and go on the waiting lists. I had assumed that my place in line was not an arbitrary number, but it appears that it is. If my hometown library gets in the book I want, then the next person on the list From My Town goes to the head of the list. Just so happens, I ended up jumping from something like 57 on a waiting list to number 1. A couple of times. Messed up my reading schedule something awful.

My autumn book list currently looks like this—I just didn’t anticipate having all of them in my possession at the same time.

This Quiet Dust: And Other Writings by William Styron

I’ve had this one for a little while now and have renewed it once. I can’t renew it again and it’s due on Monday, so this is at the top of my list. Interesting book...it begins as a response to both black and white critics who beat Styron to a metaphorical bloody pulp over his book The Confessions of Nat Turner. Styron was born and raised in Virginia, but was a transplanted New Englander. Viewing the situation from both sides of the geographical fence, he was correct is judging the critics hysterical—and not in a funny way. Nat Turner was written at the height of the Civil Rights movement. You could possibly suppose that Styron was either a very brave writer or the book’s timing was most unfortunate. A fine book, in any event. The essays in this book are a worthy read so far as I’ve gone. Quite thought provoking.

An Echo in the Bone by Diana Gabaldon

This book is number 7 in an ongoing series. Historical/paranormal romance and actually, pretty darned good writing. Gabaldon is in a class by herself. These are good reads with lots of reality, a little bit of magic, lots of history, action, and lots more history. (Well, quite a lot of tupping, too. At least in the early books.) The saga of Jamie and Claire continues.

This book is 814 pages long. I was number 118 on the library waiting list when I reserved it back on September 19. A week ago, I was number 57. Suddenly, the next day, it was waiting for me at the library. I gotta read it quickly because I don’t imagine anyone will be able to renew it until there is no longer a waiting list. That may take a few months. This book is due back at the library on November 17.

The End of Energy Obesity: Breaking Today’s Energy Addiction for a Prosperous and Secure Tomorrow by Peter Tertzakian. The author asks the question: How can the world reduce its energy appetite and change its diet of fuels for a prosperous and secure tomorrow? I am quite keen to know the answer to that question. I am skeptical that Tertzakian has the consummate answer(s), but I’ll betcha he has some good ideas. Tertzakian is Chief Energy Economist at ARC Financial Corporation and has a commendable track record in analyzing and forecasting energy trends. His is not always the consensus view. I was surprised to see this book promoted by my library and placed right in the front lobby where you’d almost have to trip over it to get in the door. Huh. Times must be changing. This one is due back on November 10.

Gabriel GarcÍa Márquez: A Life by Gerald Martin

I think Márquez is a remarkable writer and this book devotes 545 pages to telling us who he is, with 16 pages of photographs included. According to the dust jacket blurb, this is the first full and authorized biography of the 1982 winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature. This is a man’s life I want to know more about. What made him the writer he is?

This hardcover edition of the book is gorgeous with deckle edged paper. (I am quite tempted to run off to the bookstore.) I am sure that the written material is equally as gorgeous, too. With surprises. Can’t wait to dig in. I have until the 17th to start and finish it.

Small Wonder by Barbara Kingsolver

This book started out as a library book, but I wanted to buy a copy for myself so I Kindled it. I’ve read about a quarter of this book of essays so far, but it’s on hold until the other library books are finished and returned. Now that I own a copy of it (and a paperback edition of High Tide in Tucson), I can read it at leisure, which is how Barbara Kingsolver ought to be read.

Apparently I’m still conflicted over which I prefer—Kindle books or paper books, even though it is easier reading on my Kindle.

Beyond the Hundredth Meridian: John Wesley Powell and the Second Opening of the West by Wallace Stegner

A few weeks back I watched a PBS show about Wallace Stegner. This biographical work, along with others, was highlighted as relevant to his life as an environmentalist/conservationist. In the old fashioned sense of the word. It wasn’t fashion or fad with Stegner. He was plain-spoken in his belief that the masses of people who moved willy-nilly into the west like a plague of locusts were as bad as a plague of locusts.

This book is about John Wesley Powell who worked for the US Geological Survey (he and his team explored the Colorado River and its canyons) until he was booted out. Some things do not change with the passage of time. Powell relied on science for his projections and analysis for land and water use policy, the government relied on politics to formulate land and water use policy. This is a classic book about water rights and water use in the American West and probably one of the most important ever written on the subject. Many of the West’s environmental problems arising today were forecast by Powell (and Stegner). Purchased paperback.

Angle of Repose by Wallace Stegner

A novel for which he won the Pulitzer Prize in 1972. This will be the first work of fiction I’ve read by Stegner. I love his non-fiction and essays—I understand that this novel is as seamless and lovely as his non-fiction.

It is, not surprisingly, a story about the American West and a family that settled there in the latter half of the 19th century, researched and told by a 20th century, disabled history professor descendent.In reading the synopsis for this, bits of it sound a little familiar from Stegner’s book of autobiographical essays, Where the Bluebird Sings to the Lemonade Springs. A Kindle book.

Idiot America: How Stupidity Became a Virtue in the Land of the Free by Charles P. Pierce

As far as I know, this book was sort of catapulted to the top of the author’s To Do List after a curiosity visit to Kentucky’s Creation Museum. On the dust jacket I read:

It was the saddle on the dinosaur that did it. In a legendary journalism career, Charles P Pierce has interviewed vacuous movie stars, disingenuous politicians, cretinous sports heroes, and all manner of charlatans, demagogues, and fanatics. But it wasn’t until his visit to the Creation Museum in Hebron, Kentucky, that he realized just how far gone America is. At the center of this popular tourist spot are models of dinosaurs, one of which is wearing a saddle. “We are taking the dinosaurs back from the evolutionists!” cries the proprietor, who runs something called Answers in Genesis....

Naturally, I had to buy the book. Someone should probably put one in a time capsule somewhere, just in case. We obviously aren’t getting any smarter. Purchased Hardcover.

The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery

I have to admit that the reason I discovered this book was because my book store had it on the shelf with the cover facing outward. It was pretty. I was intrigued and reached for the book. The rest, as they say, is history. I’d never heard of the book before, but within hours of buying it and bringing it home, I’d stumbled across three different references to the book. Accolades, even. A cynical little girl and an ugly, cranky, brilliant autodidact (art, philosophy, music, Japanese culture), both hiding their lights under a bushel basket for different reasons and both outed by a Japanese interloper who sees straight through them to the delightful people they are. How wonderful. I look forward to reading it.

_______________

Between times for Whacking Good Escapism....

James Rollins’ SIGMA Force Series. I’ve polished off the first two, so far.

And that’s it for my Autumn 2009 Reading List.

Autumn officially ends in 45 days. I’ve gotta read faster.

Well, this evening my house is on the chilly side—about 59°. It’s looking like a fire in the wood stove sort of evening. And because I anticipate (I mean, really, why wouldn’t I at this point?) the Yankees winning the World Series tonight, I figured that a little comfort food was in order, too. So, into the oven went a nice large meat loaf loaded with onions, mushrooms, garlic, and parmesan cheese. I tell you, it smells just fine in here.

While that’s cooking, I’m walking around with a glass of Pinot Noir in one of my recently purchased inexpensive wine glasses (because I am afraid of breaking my good ones since my track record trends in that direction lately) and listening to Phantom of the Opera at ear shattering decibels because my neighbor isn’t home and I can get away with it. I have to say that, despite the snotty reviews by some critics, my backbone disagrees—this music sends chills up and down it and I’m no music neophyte, let me just say this about that.

I’m in a good place tonight.

So, let me just say, if the Damn Yankees win, I don’t care. Life is good in this house tonight and I simply refuse to let them ruin it.

So there.

Last night was Halloween. Did you all have little ghosts and goblins come a knockin’ at your door? I actually had a rather large number of vampires this year. I attribute this to the popularity of the Stephanie Meyer Twilight book series. I found it curious that almost all the vampires were female. The only male vampire knocking on my door was about 5 years old and looked more like Eddie Munster. Adorable, though. His little sister, twin, I think, was a petite princess all decked out in pink and sparklies. Their Mom came along dressed up as a cat and, if I was a guy, probably would have closed the door afterwards and howled a little bit. Wow.

Anyway, back to the vampires at my door. Mostly female as I said. And there was a distinct difference between this year’s vampires and the ones of the past. Once upon a time, vampires were scary things and the vampire make-up was geared to freaky scary.

This year, the vampires were decked out in normal attire with make-up that would make Hollywood jealous. These vampires were attractive. We might even go so far as to say some of them were downright hot. There was some talent behind those paint pots and various make-up brushes.

But there was one vampire who stood out. Not only was her make-up outstanding, but she had the voice and the manner that were so smooth and icy and strange and elegant, that I was almost stricken dumb. I came close to babbling. She was a little frightening. And she had the faintest smile as if she knew it. She brought her little sister with her and the little sister took her vampire sister in stride and told me, “She thinks she’s Bella” and rolled her eyes. The vampire sister smiled and showed her vampire teeth and yanked her little sister (gently) off the front porch. LIttle sisters can be such pains. Really.

I laughed. I still am.

So, did anyone else notice a sudden neighborhood influx of attractively appointed vampires this year?

(Still waiting for the Phillies to load the bases and get a homer. Pleasepleasepleaseplease...)

This month, though, I used close to 900 minutes and boy is that gonna cost me when I get the next bill. So, I decided it was time to either upgrade or switch carriers. Sprint has some interesting new plans available, but I don’t really want to pay for stuff I don’t need or want. AT&T, on the other hand, had just the right fit for me: 900 minutes, 200 text messages, free mobile to mobile, free minutes for 5 different phone numbers that I call frequently, and rollover minutes. All for less than what I’ve been paying Sprint the past few months.

I jumped on it and also bought myself a really pretty new red phone with a slide out keyboard and a touch screen. I’m extremely pleased with it.

When the lad found out that I had 200 text messages per month, he promptly got me to burn through 12 of them. Young people prefer texting to talking, apparently. And since that is the case, I am delighted to have an easy to use keyboard because I think I may use it often. Today a couple more text messages from the lad. I told him he was going to have to go a little easy on the messages because Mom *is* going to use some for Twitter, too. This seemed to surprise him. “Mom! You Twitter?!” Heh, yeah. I am not sure why that’s so surprising.

Anyway. Now I am another couple of feet into the twenty-first century. I read in a book recently that, according to the author, we will be connected in ways we never imagined within 10 years. Our devices will be smaller and they will do all the things that we require 3 or 4 (or more) devices to do now. I look forward to that. I love gadgets that do lots of different things.

Not enough to change my habits immediately, but I did begin shopping at the other grocery store on occasion. What I noticed was that when I stopped by Shaw’s market (my habit store) for my mid-week “just a few things” sprint, the bill almost always came to about $28. When I bought the same sorts of items at the other store—Market Basket—my bill was usually around $17.

Over the summer, I mentioned that to the lad one day. He was doing most of the cooking and composing his own grocery lists. He was finding it a little difficult to get all he wanted at Shaw’s within the budget that I gave him to spend. We decided to go do a full week’s shopping at Market Basket and see how we did.

What we did was spend $83.39 and the lad whooped like a crazy man. He still had money left over in his food budget. “The more I save, the better the stuff I can get,” he reasoned.

We decided to conduct an experiment. We took the grocery receipt tape and wrote everything down in a notebook, with the Market Basket price next to each item. Then we went over to Shaw’s and found the same items. We wrote down the prices next to the Market Basket prices. When we came home, we tallied it all up and found that if we’d done the shopping at Shaw’s, we’d have spent $115.31.

We actually saved $31.92 by shopping at Market Basket. Same brands, same items.

Now, I can’t entirely account for the differences in prices, but I am confident that Shaw’s is quite aware that they’re being beaten to a pulp by the competition. There has been an on-going battle for the past three or four months. When Shaw’s drops the price of something for the weekly sale fliers, Market Basket drops theirs by an additional 10 cents. I can’t remember the last time I bought a can of Bumblebee albacore tuna for 75 cents.

Despite their efforts, Shaw’s has been losing badly. They’ve laid off employees. Their parking lot is quite often empty. While, just around the corner, Market Basket’s parking lot is mobbed. When I stop by Shaw’s for anything (usually my ground coffee and cut flowers which are cheaper there), I can always park near the door. When I stop at Market Basket, I often have to park near the road waaaaay far away from the front door. It’s pretty easy to tell who gets the lion’s share of the trade.

I suppose it might be worth mentioning that a couple of years ago, Shaw’s was purchased by Albertson’s. They’ve gone down hill ever since. Prices went up and the produce section was remodeled practically out of existence. The store uses an astounding amount of real estate for their produce section and cut the amount of produce in half. There’s a problem when you go to buy a head of iceberg lettuce or a package of mushrooms or a plain old leek and there are none to be found. Not.A.One.

Lots of greens in plastic bags, though.

Conversely, Market Basket remodeled their produce section, made it larger, and packed it with more. Not only that, they added special lighting that makes all their produce look even more lush than it already is. A brilliant and (probably) cheap marketing move. Nothing sells like literally beautiful produce.

And, their avocados are only 79 cents. I’m in love.

Then there are the Shaw’s Rewards Cards. Oh yes, new and improved. (Market Basket doesn’t have one.) Shaw’s decided to give us discounts on our gasoline as well as in-store discounts and coupons based on our buying habits. During the gasoline price heights last year, that was a pretty popular option. The more you spent at Shaw’s, the less you’d pay for gasoline at Irving gas. Some people might get up to 30 or 40 cents off per gallon. Which is a nice savings. But, really, I could have bought a whole tank of gasoline plus a little with what I’d save by shopping at the competition.

Yesterday, I stopped by Shaw’s to pick up a couple of items at their deli counter, which is, I think, better than Market Basket’s. While there, I thought I might pick up a couple of other things, too.

Well. I wanted a pound of roast beef and a half a pound of Provolone cheese from the deli, but Shaw’s had jacked their prices up since last week to $9.99 ($7.99 last week) per pound for the roast beef and $5.99 ($3.99 last week) for the Provolone. Holy mackerel. Someone is not only losing the price wars, but throwing in the towel, I think.

While, there I thought I’d check prices for the other items on my list: fresh spinach ($7.99/lb package), a fresh avocado (1.99 each), a pound and a half of hamburger ($2.49/lb), and a pint of store brand heavy cream ($2.19). I wrote ‘em down and went over to Market Basket to buy my stuff.

My Market Basket bill was $15.17 for the roast beef ($5.68 for 1.14 lb), Provolone cheese ($1.61 for .54 lb), spinach ($1.99), avocado ($.79), burger ($2.29/lb), and cream ($1.69). Had I bought it at Shaw’s the total would have been $25.94.

Shaw’s has been here for a long time and it used to have a devoted clientele. Now...well, not so much. It is startling and distressing to drive past and see a nearly empty parking lot while the other store’s lot is jam packed and overflowing. There are even traffic jams in Market Basket’s aisles. On several occasions, when I’ve stopped at Shaw’s to pick up a pound of coffee in the evening, I am virtually the only person in the store and the clerks practically pounce on me as if I’m an endangered species.

I can’t figure out whether this is Albertson’s fault or what. I suppose it must be—they are the owners and business model writer uppers. But it’s positively asinine with rather abstruse reasoning to price oneself out of business like this. Isn’t it? Is the same situation going on in other Shaw’s/Market Basket markets? 

I tweaked the sidebar a bit. The additions will probably slow the loading time down to a crawl, but we’ll give it a try. And I opened a twitter account so there is no excuse for me to completely disappear for weeks on end. Twittering/tweeting/whatevering is kind of entertaining.

Anyway. More tomorrow. Is there anyone left who stops by to read this thing?