One Hundred Things My Mother Taught Me A Million Times - Chapter 11

#11 - "Always put your husband above your children. Children grow up and leave, but you’ve got to live with your husband forever."

As I sit here staring at the blinking cursor, wondering what to say about this lesson my mom taught me a million times, I push myself to not think. My head knows what it wants to reveal, but the cautious side of me wants to pretty it up. I should probably talk about mom's lesson, "Don't tell too much about yourself. It makes you vulnerable." But unwisely, I'll save that one for later, and instead, just stick it out there.

Since I've been through a number of husbands (I'll bet you're wondering how many), I obviously haven't taken this lesson to heart. In fact, my current, and hopefully last husband will tell you that when we were contemplating marriage (I still remember that queasy feeling 20 years later), I told him outright, "My kids come first. You will never be first, and if you can't handle that, then check out now." To his credit, he's always honored that decree, and it is just one of the many reasons I love him. Click on Read More Below...

Geek Love by Katherine Dunn

"Geek Love" by Katherine Dunn is without a doubt the sickest book I ever read, and I l-o-v-e it!!! I am not even going to try to explain what this beyond creepy book is about. I am not usually attracted to books of this genre, but the writing is so good and the story so imaginative that I couldn't help myself.

Amazing, lyrical, disgusting, wonderful!

Julie & Julia- The Book (Not the Movie!)

Since the movie Julie & Julia is out and all the rage, I wanted to have my say. First, I admit that I haven’t seen the movie, but have seen many reviews and gotten feedback from friends who have seen it. A common theme of those reviews and comments is that Meryl Streep steals the show as Julia Child, and is hilarious and endearing, and that Amy Adams as Julie Powell, is slow and annoying. Please Read The Book!!

I can’t help but feel that the movie just exploits our love of Meryl Streep (to sell movie tickets) and ignores the true story, which is actually very little about Julia Child and all about Julie Powell. Julie, who is an Austin gal, wrote this wonderful book, which I think deserves better treatment. It is a great, laugh out loud story that made me want to adopt her as my daughter. I felt the same about the book and movie, Under The Tuscan Sun – wonderful book, mediocre movie that was nothing, nothing like the book.

So please buy and read Julie & Julia by Julie Powell. You’ll be glad you did.

The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman, 2009 Newbery Medal Winner

In what has become a tradition, each summer my granddaughter attends horse camp in Austin, and during the commute to and from camp each day, we listen to a book on my iPod. Last year we listened to Audie Award winner, Tall Grass, by Sandra Dallas, and it was rich and rewarding. We would discuss the book, the characters and plot, and Sydney would ask me questions about things she didn’t understand. This year, I chose Coraline, by Neil Gaiman, and it too was lovely, and provocative in a fun and intellectually spooky way. But the book I must tell you about today is The Graveyard Book, also by Gaiman.

The Graveyard Book first grabbed my attention because for it, Gaiman received the 2009 Newbery Medal, an annual award given to an author for the most distinguished contribution to American literature for children. However, what made me curious enough to purchase the book was repeated reviews saying that although this is a children’s book, adults absolutely loved it!