Valentine’s Day: My Love Affair

Posted on February 14, 2013 by Carol Early Cooney

Yes, today I decided that it was time to uncover my non-secret.  I have been having a love affair with books since I was young.  My family is well aware of this love affair as it has, from time to time, impacted their lives.

I am a reader.  I love to read.  It is a love affair that was handed down to me by my Mother.  She was a more constant in her devotion – I will take time out for knitting or watching television.  She read all the time and kept up with authors.  She would provide her cast off loves to me and I would swoon.

Okay, enough of this Valentine’s Day referencing.  It is tiring and sounds a bit melodramatic.

My Mom did love reading.  Later in her life, one of my challenges was being able to supply her with enough books.  After she broke her hip and was not as mobile, her reading increased even more and I was searching for ways to keep up with it.  I did find a way and she had enough books.

My Mom made sure that each of her children took speed reading in high school.  She was first in line to sign us up for the summer school class.  (Does SRA still exist?)  So I not only read often but I read fast.  One of the big questions when we get home from vacation is not “How was your vacation?” but “How many books did you read?”

I have been saved by my nook (Barnes and Noble’s e-reader) .  I can load many many books on it and still meet the weight restrictions imposed by the airlines.  The vacation gauge is usually about a book a day.  Now, sometimes I don’t make it but it is always close.  Yes, some books are shorter than others and I am not generally reading War and Peace.

What do I read?  I am generally drawn to fiction.  I like mysteries.  No, I don’t usually sit and try and solve the mystery.  I let the author lead me and then decide if it makes sense.  I love a great story about crazy Southern women.  Divine Secrets of the YaYa Sisterhood is a good example but there are many stories of truly incredible (as in crazy) Southern women.  Anne George has a series of mysteries with two sisters that is referred to as the Southern Sisters Mysteries.

I read the Narnia series as an adult and loved them.  That did lead me to some non-fiction as C.S. Lewis was a pretty interesting fellow.  A Grief Observed is a moving account of his grief and reflections after the death of his wife.

All time favorites?  I used to say that my favorite books were Jane Eyre and Valley of the Dolls.  Don’t judge, that Jacqueline  Suzann wrote a pretty good – okay a bit trashy – story.

I now will list favorite authors rather than books.  I think that Madeline L’Engle’s works are brilliant. She wrote in different genres – youth lit, poetry, Christianity, and fiction and  biography.  I have read them all.  I also like Anne Lamott.  While I don’t agree with her all the time, I do like her fearlessness.  She just writes it as she sees it and I respect her honesty.  The mystery authors that often catch my attention are Donna Leon, Deborah Crombie, Elizabeth George, and Jacquline Winspear.

Just a word about Alexander McCall Smith.  I like the 44 Scotland Street series and the  Isabel Dalhousie series but I am not a fan of the No. 1 Ladies Detective series.  They just never caught me but he is very prolific with many series going at the same time.  I think that I started the 44 Scotland street series because they were originally serialized in the Edinburgh newspapers.  I knewMcCall Smith had written it that way and wanted to see how they worked as a book.  I have enjoyed the series overall.  I thought that the first ones were the best – partly because I thought that some of the characters got a bit old and obnoxious.

There are many more and I am sure I have slighted some of my favorites but there will be another day.

I hope you have a wonderful day with your Valentine – whether it be a person or a book. 

Posted in Talking Books | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Recycling an old friend

Posted on February 6, 2013 by Carol Early Cooney

I am feeling a bit “blue” today.  Not depressed, not sad, just sort of regretful.

How serious can this be?  After all the source of my funk is sweatpants.

I knew that my favorite sweatpants were getting a bit tattered.  I noticed a little while ago that there are several large holes in the seat.  I will tell you that I am tempted to grab some duct tape and “mend” them.

(Okay, I saw that some woman on “What Not To Wear” had done that to her pants.  Yea, it was disgusting when she did it but it planted the seed…)

We are not talking fancy “wear to the gym to show off ” sweatpants.  We are talking Walmart Fruit of the Loom sweatpants that probably cost $10.  They are just old enough that the new ones in the store aren’t quite as good.

These sweat pants are a bit big but they are thick and with the exception of the holes, warm.  I have resisted but I know that I must recycle them.  They will no longer be my “go to” home wear.

So I am preparing myself to let go.  To try and find a replacement.  After all, there are several other pairs in the drawer.  None of them are as old and comfortable as this pair but to everything there is a season.

Do you have a comfy old pair of jeans?

Do you get attached to an article of clothing?  Do you have an old “friend” that you bring out when you need some comfort? Share your item of comfy clothing  with me in the comment section below.

 

Posted in Miscellaneous Thoughts | Tagged , , | 27 Comments

Write Start

Posted on January 22, 2013 by Carol Early Cooney

Week One – Finish one thing

I am belatedly going to try and follow Elissa Field’s January Challenge.  You can find the whole thing at Elissa Field’s Write Start .  While you are there, you can find another wonderful blog to read.  It is a home run!  She even provided the artwork to inspire this post.

For this first week (my first week, not necessarily her first week….) I need to finish something.  While it may apply to writing projects, it could be anything.  Like that shawl that I started years ago that actually I think just needs to be “knitted off” and have the  fringe added. It is hard to decide what of the many WIP (work in progress) things I should finish this week.

Now, prepare yourself, this next part is really stupid…

I just looked at the front page of this blog – the page you are reading right now and discovered the “About” tab.  Needless to say, it has never been filled in with information.  I didn’t even know it was there.

So, for my first week doing this challenge, I am going to complete getting this blog together and fill in the “About” page.

What are you going to do?  If you need suggestions, I suggest that you bake some chocolate chip cookies and send them to me.  I know you won’t be able to send them as they are too good to share but you can feel like you are going to do something wonderful and then get the pleasure of just eating them yourself.  Besides, I really should not eat your cookies.  It is really cold this week and I think that the best thing to do when it is really cold is to bake. It keeps you warm and you can use those added calories – you lose so much weight just shivering, right?

So check back at the end of the week and see my “About” page.  It will completed.  Right!??

Nice being in touch with you!

Posted in Miscellaneous Thoughts | 2 Comments

Satellite Radio and Country Music Lyrics

Posted on January 10, 2013 by Carol Early Cooney

 

While I was driving this morning, I was listening to the radio.  When I bought my car, it had satellite radio installed and like a dope, I renewed the service.  If I didn’t, then there would be a useless button in the dash.  Hey, it is a rationalization.  I don’t question your rationalizations.

I have to admit, I had expressed the opinion that paying for radio was a frivolous way to spend  money.  I think the exact word was stupid.  And part of me still feels guilty paying for radio.

I like my satellite radio.  I like the country music stations on my satellite radio.  I know that there is a certain segment of the population that does not like country music.  And I feel sorry for them.

My thoughts while listening this morning were on the lyrics.  There are some terrific phrases in country music.  The word pictures painted are sometimes quite amazing.  In one song they talk about “the FBI in their black Crown Vics”  – can’t you see them (mirror sunglasses and all)?   How about this one “cooler than the flip side of my pillow”?  What a great and clear phrase.  Or the all encompassing “Sometimes I thank God for unanswered prayers”.

As a writer, I am enamored with a great turn of phrase and admire those who can succinctly express an emotion, place, or thought.  I think that you can find many examples in country music.  Yes, I know that you can find great lyrics across the musical landscape but with country the lyrics are clear and usually understandable.  They tell a tale and not always about how they were wronged by their lover or how important their hunting dog is to them.

How do you feel about country music?  Have you listened to it lately?

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I met my husband in a bar.  Yep, a bar.  It wasn’t a nice trendy bar with men in business suits and women in business attire enjoying “happy hour”.  It was a bit of a dive.  To give you a hint – there was a sign over the door proclaiming “Greatest Bar Below Earth.”  I don’t think that there are hip trendy places that make that proclamation.

No, I did not know the minute I saw him that he was the man for me.  I was with two friends and two of his friends started talking to us and they dragged him over so that there would be three of them.  The main problem with this was that he was on a date.  Anyway, introductions were made and we all moved on.

About a month later, I was back at the same bar with two other friends and there he was again.  We spoke. I reminded him that we had met and he agreed.  We then talked some more and drank some more and just kept that up until the early hours of the morning.

I didn’t hear from him.  Since I was dating someone else, I wasn’t supposed to be disappointed but I was.  I kinda liked that guy.

A week or so passed and I went back to the bar with a friend.  Lo and behold he was there.  He explained that he didn’t have a way to get in touch (dark ages = before cell phones) and was hoping that I would come by the bar.

He asked me out and I said “yes”.  That started it all.  We had a lot of fun and figured things out as we went along.

It is now 34 years later.  I am still happy to be with him.  I think he is the best kisser in the entire world. (I can make that judgement based on my extensive experience – NOT)

We have lived through some times that have been more difficult than others.  I don’t know that I would say that we have had hard times.  We have cried at the birth of our two children.  We have laughed because it was the best thing to do.  We have held hands through our son having three neurosurgeries.  We often say “I love you”.   We have held each other through my mom’s burial and memorial service.  That is it – we kiss, we hold hands, and we are there for each other.

No, we don’t always get along.  He can be quiet and to be honest, a bit moody.  I do talk before I think and tend not to couch my comments in the best terms.  We know that working together would be a disaster.  Watching him work a computer to find information could easily drive me out of my mind.  My way of doing most things drives him crazy.  Apparently the directions I give are not the easiest to follow. (it seems that having a hard time telling left from right makes a difference.  Who knew?)

He tells people that he married me for comic relief.  That is on good days.  At other times, I get “the look” because he does not always share my sense of humor.  He seems to think that some situations do have have inherent humor while I do.

Despite it all, we find a way to get along.  We respect each other.  We want to be together.  And I am the luckiest girl in the world.

Posted on October 8, 2012 by Carol Early Cooney | 11 Comments