droolie's corner o' the planet

never know when a droolie'll pop up

I've been a blog slacker, haven't I?  Time's got wingy appendages.  That's my story, and I'm sticking to it. 

I've been a bit busy since the 11th, when my sister (and bestest buddy ever) got to town from Oregon.  Besides working, I spent my spare time with her and with her mom-in-law, helping pack up a house.  Lots of schlepping and wrapping, and carting and toting.  And only 100+ degrees out. 

My head has behaved better this summer than in the past several in terms of the hot and humid fluctuations.  Usually that triggers me in a heartbeat, but this summer, not so much.  Today I felt all apprehensive and edgy, but that was the wind talking.  Another trigger, wind is, and even it's been going easy on me.  I'd be suspicious of the Beasties in Lurk Mode, but I don't want to waste the energy, or tempt them.  If I stay really still, perchance they won't find me. 

I've been reading some. All kinds of stuff.  I'm about ready to go on a sf binge, I think.  Or mysteries.  We'll see. The Owl and Moon Cafe is a great little book.  Small town, quirky little family kind of story.  Just a nice, easy read.  Currently I'm toting around an older novel, called On the Beach, about life following nuclear fallout.  It's intriguing.  I've also got a book of Caitlin R. Kiernan short stories.  Also for amusement while I sit at the pool, I've been doing New York Times Sunday crosswords (and, yep, I'm a purist ~ in ink).  The only TV show I catch this season is Hell's Kitchen.  And a couple of times I've watched assorted stuff on the Food Network.  Mostly the TV is off as far as I'm concerned.  I'm also starting to pick up my computer chess program again. 

I did go see Pirates of the Caribbean 2: Dead Man's Chest last Thursday.  I will readily admit that the first movie didn't do much for me.  My sister bought it when it came out on DVD, and we watched it then.  I nearly fell asleep in the middle.  So I was a bit apprehensive about the second installment.  But, all in all, I thought it was a great popcorn movie.  I liked it much better than the first movie by far, and would even see it again.  I don't really get the people who gripe about there not being an ending.  It's a middle movie of a trilogy, so a person shouldn't really go in expecting a stand-alone ending for something like that.  At least I don't think so.  Besides. it was plain ol' fun.  Arrrrrgggghh!

There.  Not overly exciting as far as entries go, but enough to prove I'm still on the planet.  :)

Hope this sees everybuddy well, and in the midst of good fortune. 

one that made me cry

Not many books have made me cry.  Not even when I was on those horrid hyperthyroid crying jags over little things like pocket lint.  So when a book does, it sticks with me.  The other day I read just such a book. 

Folding Paper Cranes is a memoir by Leonard Bird (how's that for an appropos name?).  In it, he recounts his military experiences with atomic testing during the 1950's.  Protected by nothing more than WWI issue gas masks and a five foot trench, Bird was witness to major atomic detonations, many times the size of Fat Man and Little Boy.  Struck by multiple myeloma due to the fallout, his is a journey of life, memories, and survival.  He ties his experiences to the testing, Sadako and her famous origami cranes, and the Hiroshima memorial, which he has visited three times.  Currently, Bird is an English professor, and his own poetry appears in the book as a preface to the sections, and as an epilogue of sorts, and this is what I loved most about the book.  The first poem, especially, left me absolutely breathless.  As much as I could be, I was there in the trench as the bomb went off.  So intense was the imagery of Bird's writing that when I'd read the first poem, I had to close the book and set it aside for a few minutes, in order to catch my bearing and my breath.  I cried when coming home from treatment, Bird was greeted by the sight of a five-foot chain of hundreds of folded paper cranes, some from friends, and some from people he didn't even know at all.  This is just one of those books that is important to read.  If you have read or plan on reading Hersey's Hiroshima, Folding Paper Cranes is a perfect companion book to it.  Both resonate.