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By the time you read this, we will be on our way to Galicia, Spain, to the village and the people that have stolen our hearts. It's a long trip. But stay tuned. I'll be posting about our new ventures soon.
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Please check out my book review of Goodnight, Mr. Holmes, by Carole Nelson Douglas. It's on my other blog: Victorian Scribbles, and features Irene Adler, the only woman to ever outwit Sherlock Holmes. I posted it there, along with an earlier review, Claude and Camille, a Novel of Monet, by Stephanie Cowell, because both books take place during the Victorian Era/ Belle Époque Era, which is the focus of my Victorian Scribbles blog.
Enjoy both reviews. If you like historical novels, these books are for you!
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Back to my recent trip to Galicia, Spain:
One evening in particular stands out. It was the 24th of June, the night that the moon was so much closer than usual to earth, a good setting for the music I heard that night, a music that pulled emotions closer to the surface of one's heart -- that haunting genre of singing born in Portugal, Fado.
I sat with friends, David and Terry and Marta at the Rectoral de Castillon, a lovely casa rural near Goian and Ferreira that offers fine meals in its unique restaurant as well as lodgings for travelers. My husband and I have eaten there several times with Terri and David. This night, Rajan was home in California, taking care of our ailing dog. Terri and David picked me up, and Marta joined us, for a dinner celebrating Rectoral de Castillon's tenth year in operation. (More information about Rectoral de Castillon can be found below.) But here is a picture of how the tables are set up inside:
A delicious meal served inside was followed by an evening of song outside.
Fado is about fate, destiny, about how things can go wrong and what one is left with. Fado is a particular genre of Portugese song that dates back in record to the 1800s, but even earlier by word of mouth. Its roots are in cities, most notably Porto, Lisbon, and Coimbra. It became popular originally among the poor and unfortunate, was sung on the streets and in taverns. There are hints of a Moorish influence. (Portugal has always been a crossroads of cultures.) The music is characteristically sad, nostalgic, full of longing, recalling star-crossed dreams, lost loves, bitter-sweet memories. Its deepest roots reach into the human heart. The lyrics have evolved in modern times into a complex structure as well. Today's Fado is as soulful as the blues, as poetic as a sonnet. It's a genre like no other.
You can also visit her bandpage on Facebook and listen to three more songs to get an idea of the full range of her artistry. The disc shown on this page is the disc I bought and brought home for my husband to hear, and he is now a fan.
Visit, too, Rectoral de Castillon, which hosted this wonderful event:
The hosts are charming, the atmosphere is elegant, the prices are reasonable, and the food is delicious.
You can contact them and like them at Facebook
You can also learn more about their lodging accommodations on Trip Advisor
And you can learn more about Fado here and HERE.
What about you? Do you have a favorite musical form that touches you like no other? If you listened to the above songs, did one move you more than the others? If so, which one?
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I had planned to post more about the Spain trip (which I will in due course), but when I arrived home close to midnight nearly two weeks ago, I came down with a summer cold that my husband caught a few days later. The upside of being sick with a cold is that you are sick enough to hold off on work, but not too sick to read! So I read indeed, and with great pleasure. One of these pleasures was Mira's Diary -- Home Sweet Rome.
Mira's Diary is the charming time travel mystery series by Marissa Moss.
The Paris adventure left me waiting for Mira's next one, and Home Sweet Rome does not disappoint.
The over-all frame is this: Mira's mother, a time traveler, is somewhere in the past, trying to avert something terrible happening in the future. She shifts around to various historical eras -- and she can't tell the family all the details, but she leaves postcards as clues as to her next destination. Mira's father -- who knows his wife time travels -- is a renowned photographer on a fellowship to photograph modern wonders of the world. This gives the family the excuse they need to go to the cities mentioned in the postcards. As it turns out, Mira is a time traveler, too, and her mother needs her help in piecing together the various cases that all seem part of the larger mystery.
This time, Mira lands in 16th century Rome during the Inquisition, when the Church is persecuting independent scientific thinkers. Dressed as a boy named Marco, she first works in the kitchen of the Del Monte palazzo. Another servant named Giovanni befriends her and introduces her to his master, none other than the painter Caravaggio. Caravaggio arranges for her to meet Del Monte in person and Mira -- as Marco-- is soon put to work as a scribe, copying letters and reports and cataloguing books for the Cardinal del Monte. Soon she finds her work is connected to the heretical ideas (in those days) of Giordano Bruno, a mathemetician and scientist. (I will not be a spoiler and reveal how these are linked.)
The story is fast paced, the settings wonderfully realized, pulling a reader into a personal experience of ancient architecture and well-known paintings. This is like a free trip to 16th century Rome—a tour of famous buildings, without a tedious tour guide. One of the delights of a series like this is that you can learn about history in ways that aren't a bit dull. Young people will like this book for the adventure, and it's a great introduction to some of the science we take for granted today.
Meanwhile . . . there are the Watchers. The Watchers are a group of "time police" who punish anyone trying to tamper with history. They are trying to hunt down Mira's mother -- and Mira, too, whenever she shows up out of her own time. Mira manages to complete her part of the mission involving Bruno; but her mother hasn't returned to the present, and the overriding mystery remains with an aura of worry for Mira's family. Mira's father believes Mother's ultimate mission involves something in the future that threatens them as a family.
One can only wait for Book Three to get a closer look at what that threat may be, and to enjoy another free trip to a historical locale.
Author, Marissa Moss |
Contact information:
Marissa Moss's Website
Author Page on Amazon
How about you? Do you like time travel stories? Historical novels? Mysteries? Stories involving art? What are some of your favorite reads? Why?
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Beautiful Galicia |
There's a reason I haven't found time to blog. My husband stayed home on this trip (as I did in April) to take care of our old and ailing dog. Because I'm alone, I was busy opening the house (and this Sunday will be busy closing it). Because I'm alone, all our friends have been inviting me places. Because I'm alone, I was busy shopping and cooking for company. Because I'm alone, I've been the one driving everywhere, and managed to get lost twice, ending up in towns I didn't truly plan to visit at the time.
But, it's all been a grand experience. And, since I am alone, roadside walks take on a special significance. So I thought I'd share with you the wild flowers I've been talking about on Facebook, where I've been sharing short snippets of the trip. (Do come and visit me there: on my timeline, and also on my author page )
One day I walked down the winding road to the carretera snapping pictures of all the wildflowers I saw. They are abundant this time of the year (we usually come in spring or fall); some of them are familiar, some of them I've only read about but was able to look up, and some of them are still mystery plants that maybe you can help identify for me. Here they are:
Wild foxglove, and all in this lovely color. All along roadsides. |
Small white daisies -- and a mysterious purple flower I've never seen. Have you? |
Wild broom everywhere; really a bush more than a flower, filling the landscape. |
I thought these were dandelions, but a closer look makes me think not. Maybe yellow daisies? |
Purple thistles -- but so small! |
Queen Anne's lace. |
Of course, ferns aren't flowers, but these are abundant on roadsides and in fields. |
This wild elderberry bush is growing just a few feet away from our house. |
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Families looking in the window |
Enjoy the 15 pieces of art, and, since art is subjective, I'll be interested to know which pieces caught your fancy and why. After the 15 art pieces, I have pictures of the reception. A happy time for all.
Julia Benson, Age 12 "Mother Nature's Toddler" Watercolor |
Daniella Bishop, Age 9 "Flowers in Abstract" Watercolor |
Ayla Adjari, Age 9 "Red Riding Hood" Acrylic on Canvas |
Ethan Bland, Age 9 "Kitchen Flowers" Oil Pastel |
Kaitlyn Bland, Age 11 "A Resting Cheetah" Acrylic on Canvas |
Erica Cruz, Age 10 "Still Life" Oil Pastel |
Hannah Cunningham, Age 10 "Butterfly on the Branch" Watercolor |
Ella Diltz, Age 8 "Music" Oil Pastel |
Maya Diltz, Age 11 "Pretty Lady" Oil Pastel |
Jamin Dunlap, Age 8 "Boys Rock" Charcoal |
Neviah Dunlap, Age 10, "Bluebird and Poppies" Watercolor |
Bethany Huff, Age 12 "The Woodpecker" Soft Pastel |
Miranda La Torre, Age 8 "A Christmas Present" Watercolor |
Trisha Nagin, Age 9 "Sunset" Acrylic on Canvas |
Justice Olivier, Age 10 "Village Girl" Oil Pastel |
Ethan and Kaitlyn Bland; Grandmother, Father, & Mother |
Julia Benson, back row, to your right Father, Mother, in back row; cousin, sister in front row |
Erica Cruz, Center with red blouse, Father, Uncle, Grandmother, Mother; Cousins in front row |
Hannah Cunningham and Mother |
They enjoyed punch and cookies, as well as browsing around inside the store and buying some art supplies.
Ella and Maya Diltz and Mother (Sharon Tanovitz in window, marking a piece of art "Sold") |
Bethany Huff and Mother |
Justice Oliver, Mother and Sister |
Trisha Nagin and Father |
Miranda LaTorre, Grandmother, Mother, and Father |
Neviah and Jamin Dunlap, Father, Younger Sisters |
And that's it for this year. Hope you enjoyed this little art show.
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A side street in Tui |
Since we returned from Galicia last October, revisions, dog problems, and health issues in my god-family interrupted my posting about the trip. Because of our dog's age-related condition we are staggering our trips this year, and it occurred to me it's time to finish the post I promised: the trip to Tui, pronounced "Twee". (My husband just came back from his trip to Galicia two and a half weeks ago, and I'm leaving for my trip June 8th. I'll be posting while I'm there, though.)
But—returning to the trip to Portugal last fall—we spent an afternoon in Tui with our friends, David and Terri, on the way back from Porto. Porto, a bay city and a port, is on the Río Douro (the Portuguese name for Río Duero in Spanish); Tui is on the Río Minho (the Portuguese name for Río Miño, and pronounced the same way.) The Río Minho partially divides Spain from Portugal. (You can see a map of the Iberian Peninsula and the Río Minho HERE ).
Walking around Tui |
Typical balconies |
One view of the Cathedral. |
Then we walked from the cathedral area with its adjoining buildings, down to the river, which was smooth as glass. The river walk along the Río Miño turned into a series of reflected scenes, as if on a mirror. On the opposite side was the ancient fortress city of Valença (pronounced Valensa) in Portugal. You can see we had good weather that day.
There was also a small exercise park at one point; a "playground for seniors". And then, just as we thought we were coming to a dead end, we saw a road going back up to the Cathedral. By that time, we were all hungry, and David found a charming cafe (A Muralla) that overlooked another street and had outdoor tables covered by awnings, from which you could also see across to Portugal. (A nice view of the balcony section of the restaurant can be seen at A Muralla, Tui - Opiniones de restaurantes - TripAdvisor.) The food was delicious. And a very nice waiter took our picture before we left.
Senior playground? |
Starting back to the old quarter |
A great end to the afternoon! |
For those of you who have traveled to other parts of Europe, I'd be interested in similarities or differences you've noticed in the places you've visited.
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Dear Blog Friends,
Please excuse my being remiss in posting. I'm finishing up a re-write and should be done next week.
Please come back after April 23rd. Thanks.
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A more realistic photograph of the composer. |
Verdi, who's birthday becomes the focus of this wonderful story. |
I don't usually review movies, but the recent movie, Quartet, a movie about opera, opera singers, and so much more, has special resonance for me.
My mother was an opera singer. Not a famous one. You could say she was a failed opera singer. In her head she was simply an undiscovered one. She never got beyond parts in light opera at the Maya Theater in L.A., concerts in Mexico, and understudy at the San Francisco Opera Company for the role of Marguerite in Faust. The family legend was that she turned down that contract when she learned it meant she would have to put me and my middle brother out for adoption. (My older brother from a previous marriage was being raised by my grandparents in L.A.)
Opera never left my mother, not for a minute. A single mom raising kids from more than one marriage, ill-trained for the working world, she held numerous jobs through the years from clerking in music stores and bookstores, cashiering for the Greyhound bus station, playing piano in cocktail lounges, to sometimes opening vocal studios. All the while, opera continued to play in her head, exerting its promise over her imagination—overtures, arias, duets, heartbreak scenes, applause, curtain calls, the overall magic that made the stage more real than ordinary life.
Quartet, the movie directed by Dustin Hoffman, has a magnificent cast, glorious music, a tender plot, some funny, funny scenes, and a sweet, happy ending. But what moved me so much that I had to see it twice, was the way Quartet brings to life the essence of what opera means to the singers, and what aging means to someone who once held audiences in thrall by the delivery of an impeccable high note.
A group of world famous musicians live in a retirement home for opera singers. Each year on Verdi's birthday they stage a musical performance as a fundraiser for the home. This year, the home is in danger of closing. What to do? Then the diva Jean Horton (Maggie Smith) retires to the home, and the director of the performance, Cedric Livingston (played wonderfully by Michael Gambon) has a brilliant idea: Jean, along with 3 other famous singers in the home should perform the quartet from Rigoletto.
However, Jean was married to Reginald Paget ("Reggie", played by Tom Courtenay), and the marriage ended badly. The other two singers, Cecily Robson ("Cissy", played by Pauline Collins) and Wilf Bond (Billy Connolly) offer humorous counterpoint to the emotionally fraught moments between Jean and Reggie: Cissy is on the edge of dementia and sometimes tips over into it in a way that is sweet and funny; Wilf is a wickedly endearing roué, always propositioning the female nurses and doctors. In earlier days, these four singers sang together in one of the most lauded performances of Rigoletto. They sang "the quartet", and it is Cedric Livingston's hope that performing it again will save the home.
Under Hoffman's direction and the splendid acting by all, Quartet opens up the world of opera that lingers long after the glory days onstage are over. Those days may be gone, but not a single singer in the movie has forgotten them. Cissy carries around and listens to a recording of their earlier Rigoletto. Jean furtively plays LPs of her own performances in her room. Each singer's room is decorated in posters and photographs showing their most famous moments. In the communal dining room another soprano, Dame Gwyneth Jones (Anne Langley), and Jean Horton trade snipes in cultured put-downs about high notes and curtain calls. Through it all, music continues to pulse through their hearts and minds, along with memories of their rarified lives. And rarified is the word. Instead of knitting for grandchildren, or making birdies in golf, their memories are about waiting in the wings, slowly losing oneself, then stepping out into the music and letting the voice blossom forth.
My mother once told me she only felt fully alive when she was singing. At first I found that melodramatic. But when I thought about it some more, it seemed a reasonable statement for someone who cared so passionately about opera: You could say when one plays a piano, the piano comes briefly alive: Hammers strike the hidden strings, and music flows out and touches listeners. When silent again, a piano goes back to being simply a piece of furniture. In opera, the singer is the instrument. Music flows through the chest, the throat, the face, making the singer a vessel, a conduit. In essence, singers breathe music. When the music is over, they simply breathe. Alive, yes, but not the same kind of alive.
When my mother was 83 in a nursing home, I arrived one day to take her to lunch. I walked into her room, and stopped. She was listening to the radio (on earbuds so as not to disturb her room-mate). Her face was radiant. After a moment (the music over) she took out the ear buds and smiled at me. "That was the Queen of the Night's aria," she told me. (From Mozart's The Magic Flute.) "I could follow along in my head," she exulted. "I didn't miss a single note!" And for a moment her face was young again, the future still a promise, the past rich with memory. Quartet gives you a kept promise.
If you haven't seen the trailer for this wonderful movie, go here: (Just be patient through a brief ad)
For some good listening you can hear the famous quartet here.
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So I've done it: I've started a new blog called, Victorian Scribbles, a historical blog about the Victorian Era in England, as well as the Victorian Era/Gilded Age in the United States and La Belle Époque in Europe (they overlapped). Please click here or go to the top and click "My Other Blog" to read the first post.
I hope you will read both blogs whenever you have time.
Whichever blog you return to the most, I hope you will comment and leave information about yourself, so that I can read your blog. I love meeting new bloggers and keeping in touch with old blogging friends.
Ciao for now,
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Out of the blue, I was recently (and kindly, I might add) awarded The Liebster Award, by Murees Dupé at Daily Drama of an Aspiring Writer.
Here's how it works:
Liebster Award Rules:
1. Thank the blogger who gave you the award and link back to his or
her blog.
2. Answer 11 questions from the presenter; list 11 random facts about
you, and create 11 questions for your nominees. (Whew, this part
is a lot of work, which is why it's taking me awhile to complete.)
3. Present the Liebster Award to 11 bloggers whose blogs have 200
followers or less and whom you feel deserve to be noticed. Leave
a comment on their blog notifying them of your nomination.
4. Upload the Liebster Award to your own blog.
Murees's Questions for Me:
1. What is the worst job you ever had? A laundry I worked in, once. The biggest problem was boredom.
2. What is your favorite snack? Cookies. Any kind. I love them.
3. What is your favorite TV series? Downton Abbey. I confess, I'm hooked.
4. Who would you like to meet? (Person could be dead or alive.) Hmm. Perhaps Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Then I could ask him why he felt his Holmes stories weren't literary.
5. If you could be any animal, what would it be? A dog. They are such noble creatures.
6. What are you most grateful for? My marriage, my extended family, and my friends.
7. What do you hate? I don't hate.
8. Do you include exercise into your daily routine? I should, shouldn't I . . . Does gardening count?
9. Do you like animals? Dogs, cats, horses, for sure. Maybe not octopi.
10.What is your favorite season? Fall, but Spring runs a close second.
11.What is your favorite food? South Indian cuisine. So many delicious dishes. So much variety.
Eleven Random Facts About Me:
1. I love to read a good mystery, whether for adults or for children.
2. I love poetry, both reading it and writing it.
3. So, it follows that I hang out at book stores and libraries, right?
4. I love the French Impressionist painters.
5. I'm hooked on the Victorian Era. So much so, that I'm starting a second blog, called, Victorian Scribbles. It's still in construction, but it should be ready for visits by next week. Take a peek.
6. I love opera. Especially Puccini's operas. Especially La Boheme, Madame Butterfly, and Tosca.
7. I once nibbled a dog biscuit just to see what the appeal was for my dog. I don't recommend it; not my kind of cookie. Probably not yours, either.
8. One of my ambitions in life is to walk a part of the pilgrimage road in Galicia that leads to Santiago. To get a certificate, you have to walk 100 kilometers on it. (Hmm, maybe I should start exercising. See Murees's question #8.)
9. I drink a cup of hot chocolate every morning. It's a great way to start the day.
10.That said, I'm not particularly keen on chocolate per se. I mean, I enjoy a piece now and then, but I can have a gift box of chocolates on the shelf for a good six months before its contents are finally gone.
11.Some day I would like to go to Ireland. It's a land that seems (to me) both haunting and haunted.
Here's My List of Questions for My Award Recipients:
1. Who is your favorite artist?
2. Favorite author?
3. Have you ever interviewed someone? If so, who? and about what?
4. What is your favorite genre in literature?
5. Do you speak any languages other than English?
6. If you were 19, what career would you choose—the one you did choose, or another?
7. Which deceased author would you most like to meet, and why?
8. Which living author would you most like to meet, and why?
9. What is number one on your bucket list?
10. Do you believe in Hobbits?
11. If you could travel anywhere in the world, where would you go?
And Here Are My Picks for the Liebster Award:
(Go check out their sites; they write good stuff!)
1. Rosi Hollinbeck - The Write Stuff
2. JaNay Brown - JaNay With Words
3. Richard Hughes - Writing and Living by Richard P. Hughes
4. Victoria Lindstrom - Writ of Whimsy
5. Julia Hones - My Writing Life
6. Catherine Winn - The Writing Room
7. Julie Luek - A Thought Grows
8. Joanna Marple - Miss Marple's Musings
9. Linda Jackson - Writers Do Laundry Too
10.Shannon Lawrence - Writing from the Peak
11.Kenda Turner - Words and Such
Ciao for now . . .
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A city of cathedrals |
Porto from the river. |
An amazing wine shop/bar. |
It's time for Portugal again. Our dog has improved. My godfather's health is improving. And now I'm ready to return to O Porto. albeit only in memory and in pictures.
For those of you who lost the thread of that journey, on our fall trip to Galicia my husband and I went with friends Terri and David to the old city of Porto, for three days and two nights. Porto is like an aging beauty queen: Despite the make-up and glittery clothing of main streets and the wharf side cafes and shops, you can see the "wrinkles" on back streets. But Porto has an air of grandeur, of lost days of glory still sparkling on tiled walls and statues, on the gleaming waters of the Rio Douro where boats bob on rippling water and reflections of colorful buildings on the far bank shimmer below on the wet surface. Just writing about it brings it all back. You can see why:
A city of statues. |
The wharf-side |
A back street. |
The far bank. |
You can scroll back to read the earlier post about our first day there and where we stayed. And also the fabulous restaurant where we ate: O u (which means "the oven"). Also, in the earlier post you can see the lovely tile work of our hotel and the wonderful garden grounds.
The second morning, when we headed out to sightsee, we noticed a school across the street, and several young girls were crowded at the window, waving at us. Then the teacher must have told them to sit down, because a moment after the picture below, they all vanished.
On our way to the wharf, we passed the wine shop you see above, at the beginning of this post, and again below. The owner is from Brazil. The shop was absolutely tiny, with a small bar that would seat four at most, and the shelves were lined with every kind of bottle of wine you could imagine. We stopped by on the way back and enjoyed a glass of port. I am not really a port drinker, but it was good to try. After all, Portugal is the inventor of port.
Rajan photographing the wineshop. |
School of curious girls. |
On our way up the river. |
And what wonderful sights we did see! Below are just a few samples.
Leaving the wharf. |
I love the woods behind buildings. |
A hidden castle in those woods. |
So much color! |
Awesome bridge for sure. |
For every one of these, we have oodles more. It was a splendid sight up and down the river.
A truly grand view. |
Two rather interesting boats, we thought.
With the wind rippling against our faces and the smell of freshness surrounding us, once we returned to land, we were hungry. So we ate at a charming little restaurant with great atmosphere at the wharf—its name eludes me, alas.
The restaurant. |
Our server. |
The atmosphere. |
Meanwhile, I hope you enjoyed this little (and limited) trip to Portugal.
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No travel or writing post today, but it seemed time to post. Our dog is improving, but still acting weird, and I don't think he'll ever quite come back to where he was before his episode. His head still waggles when he looks up at you. He lurches from side to side when he walks. And he can laboriously climb the four stairs to our back door, with one of us hovering near by, but we have to help him down the stairs or he loses balance. I think this will be the pattern for the short rest if his life, but he still has his sweet personality.
But there are other concerns in my life and my husband's as well. My godfather has been quite ill with pneumonia. He's out of hospital and into a "restorative care" facility, but it's a bit touch and go as to how "restored" he'll be. He's on an oxygen tank now, and when he goes home, it will go with him, and his wife will need some assistance with the times he needs to get out of bed. He's 97 and has had a blessed life. He and my godmother are incredible people who have impacted so many lives. They live about 90 miles away from us, so the past few days my husband and I took turns going to the Bay Area to visit.
Though it's sad to see him so helpless (and it really bothers him -- even at his age, he wants to be up and about), it's also an inspiration to see him and his wife. They have a wonderful, loving, even romantic relationship after 65 years of marriage. They laugh and tease each other and hold hands. (The whole family is like that. Their son and daughter and their spouses are as near and dear to us as they are, and even while visiting the facility, a lot of laughter fills the air and keeps all the attendants chuckling as well.) And, behind all the laughter, they have always been deeply philosophical folks, so the conversations get profound at times as well. You can see their spirits in the pictures above taken just a few years ago.
It's nice to write about this, because I walk around thinking about them all the time. Writing about anything else (travel, writing posts, book reviews, etc.) just doesn't seem, well, meaningful right now. It seems a time to be away from all that; a time for introspection and appreciation of the part they've all played in my life.
All this by way of saying that I won't be posting for awhile, though I'll definitely be back. And I will take time to read your posts when I can. Meanwhile, I wish you all happy writing until I "see" you again.
Ciao for now.
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I hope to be back to posting about our travels and books and writing soon. I do miss it. But first things first.
Till then, hope the writing goes well and look forward to reading your posts in the near future.
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Top left corner is Galicia. |
Today's post, however, is about a trip we took with our friends, David and Terri, to Porto, or "O Porto", in Portugal. Portugal is directly south from Galicia and is like a continuation in many ways. If you look on a map, you can see that one flows into the other, and, indeed, Gallego and Portuguese are "sister languages". For the most part, a speaker of one can understand a speaker of the other with very little difficulty.
But when I think of Porto, I remember tiled walls, a feature, I have to say, of any Portuguese city. (We went to a walled border town, Valenca, a few years ago, and were struck at that time, too, by the many artistically tiled walls.) Along every street, whether old or restored, buildings gleamed with colorful tiles. We stayed for two nights, and the day we arrived the weather was overcast, but that made no difference. In sun or mist or rain, Porto is a beautiful and colorful city.
We stayed at what a brochure described as a castle, appropriately named Castelo de Santa Catarina. We've also been told it was a mansion built by someone from Argentina, who later returned to South America. It's a beautiful place, as you can see from the pictures below. There is a central crenelated tower that certainly epitomizes a castle tower, and also a separate chapel (which was typical of castles in olden days), but the rest of Castelo de Santa Catarina branches out in wings with tiled walls, and gardens at several levels. My husband and I both went crazy with the cameras. Below is just a sampler of what this amazing place looked like! |
Neither Terri nor I could resist the opportunity in one of the gardens to sit with ancient pharaohs:
(Do you get the feeling they're ignoring us, though? That's just like those ancient pharaohs!)
The first day, despite overcast weather, we headed down to the river (the Río Douro), where the cafés and shops are. It was a nice walk from our lodgings, ever downward toward the river, and finally down a flight of stairs to the river level and the main wharf area—a convivial sight to say the least, flocking with tourists. Lots of handmade items in some shops. I picked up a few souvenirs there to bring back.
Before returning to Castelo de Santa Catarina, we had a really fabulous dinner at a restaurant close to our lodgings: It was an unbelievable meal, enhanced greatly by one of the servers who had a truly funny sense of humor. Here we are, having a grand old time at O Forno:
O Forno |
Rajan, the server, Terri, and David |
Me, Terri, David, & Rajan |
Our bedroom. |
Our bathroom. |
The breakfast room next morning. |
Blog: Elizabeth Varadan's Fourth Wish (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
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She's tried to escape her grief by fleeing to a small town in Florida. Much to her frustration, the locals think they recognize her even though she's never been there before. To make things worse, a man named Jack spouts outrageous theories about her.
Both spur Christa to bolt, to start fresh yet again, but there's something about Jack that intrigues her enough to stay. The only problem? Someone else wants her to leave, and they won't stop until she's dead.
Go this minute to the J. Tayor Publishing Make Believe website HERE to read blurbs about all the stories in this wonderful collection, as well as how to order it.
Lynda R. Young lives in Sydney, Australia, with her sweetheart of a husband who is her rock, and a cat who believes world domination starts in the home. She writes speculative short stories and is currently writing novels for young adults. In her spare time she also dabbles in photography and all things creative. You can find her here: Blog, Twitter, Facebook, Goodreads
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The winner in the recent photo contest for a free print from my husband's Galicia Gallery is:
JaNay Brown-Wood. Congratulations, JaNay!
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I am two-and -a-half weeks into recovery from foot surgery, and there isn't a lot to think about when your day is spent reading one book after another while your foot is propped up on 3 or 4 pillows to keep it above your waist. (The first 2 weeks it was above my heart.) I could be doing book reviews, true, but it would be hard to pick one. I think I've read about 20 books in two weeks!
I keep wondering how this experience will play into my writing. Will it? Can it? I write mainly for kids. I had bunions and hammer-toes, an adult affliction that develops over time. The protagonist in my present WIP is a ten-year-old girl in the Victorian era, when corrective surgery for these didn't exist, and ten-year-olds wouldn't even know what they were.
Write what you know. Well, at present, what I know is all about foot surgery for bunions and hammertoes. Maybe one of you can have a character with this problem, in which case, please help yourself to the following information.
This is kinda what my feet looked like before surgery. I had one of each of these on each foot. And let me tell you, they are really uncomfortable. Almost all my shoes started rubbing painful blisters. I could only wear those comfy sliders that look like bedroom slippers. You know the ones I mean.
I had the right foot done last summer, and the left foot done on June 22nd this summer. It's amazing what the doctor does: He cuts bone. Yes. He cuts the bunion off. Then he cuts the hammertoe off and pins that toe so that it's flat. Yeah. A pin. (That comes out after 5 weeks). The new big toe, now minus a bunion, has a little screw in the joint. That's forever.
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Maybe why I post less frequently? |
What happened was that I read an important post about the fact that bloggers can be sued for using clip art and online photos if they aren't actually in the public domain or royalty free. If you haven't already read about this on blog sites or on Facebook, you can go to my friend Rosi Hollinbeck's site, The Write Stuff, where she posted two good sites where you can learn about the hazards and also learn about the free sites you really can count on.
Because this can be tricky business: Some of the sites I visited in the past looked like they were royalty free, but they only were if you paid a fee to become a member with unlimited downloads, and stuff like that (info I hadn't read closely enough). This past week, instead of blogging, I've been diligently going through old posts to cull out pictures I wasn't sure about. In the process, a couple of times I clicked "post" instead of "update", and my subscribers have been getting reposts from last summer and fall. (Just disregard them, folks. If they aren't the current date, it just means I clicked the wrong icon. You can delete them.)
Yesterday two friend who subscribe let me know they received my Thanksgiving Post!
Not that I don't have a lot to be thankful for.
Now we come to the good news. The other reason I haven't been posting for so long is because I've been doing rewrites of my middle grade mystery for an agent who was interested. And a few days ago I got the signed contract! I've posted this on Facebook, but some of you aren't on Facebook, so here is the news: Yes, I have an agent, a very good one. I'm very happy about it. She requested rewrites before we ever signed the contract, but, in the process, she nudged my writing up to a higher level, which will stand me in good stead for the sequel. (This is a mystery series.)
So there you have it: the reason for the long silence, and the reason for surprises out of the blue (if you're a subscriber). I'll be posting more often again from now on, so please stop by. And if you came by today, please leave a comment; I have a few questions:
Did you know about the issue re: public domain pictures?
Have you been hard at work on your own writing?
Are any of you at the SCBWI Conference in LA? (If so, I am sooooo envious. I went two years ago, and it was marvelous.)
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The good news is that I've been writing. And re-writing. And, yup, re-writing. And when I'm not doing that, I'm reading in a focused way that I hope will make the current re-write better. I keep thinking that any day now I'm going to blog again and write a brilliant post or at least a book review of one of the many books I've been reading. But duty calls: I get immersed in my WIP. And I need to, too! There is someone waiting for me to finish this rewrite.
I think while I'm so engaged in the WIP right now, I'll have to content myself with visiting your blogs and commenting and defer posting for awhile.
But, in the meantime, if you've stopped by, please share what you are doing and where you are in the writing process. I'm sure others who stop by will be just as interested as I am and will want to visit your blog to learn more.
I do hope to be doing it again before too long.
Until then, write on.
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Expect to finish this draft in October. Please check back November 1st, because by then I'll be dying to post!
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Here we are, still in our first week, and it has felt jam-packed. We arrived Monday evening, late. It was midnight before we got to bed. Then we spent the first couple of days opening the house, vacuuming and dusting, etc., and unpacking. Thursday we met friends in town at our favorite café bar in Monforte, Adega do Carlos, and yesterday we went to Lugo and stayed overnight for the San Froilán Fiesta.
The festival actually goes on for eight days, and yesterday, Friday, was the major religious day as San Froilán is the patron saint of Lugo, and the second day was the actual saint's day. Lugo is an ancient city about 60 miles north of Monforte, and it has both a Roman and Celtic past. (Well, for that matter, you can say that of all of Galicia: a Roman and Celtic past. There are old Roman bridges with arches everywhere, and the culture is both castiliano and galegan .)
What's fascinating about Lugo is that the center of town—the original town—is enclosed in a circular wall with about 17 arched entrances; a wall so thick it's wide enough for a car to drive atop, although only walking is permitted. Inside the walls are the old crooked cobbled streets, replete with restaurants and café bars, as well as two cathedrals and several plazas. Once we drove in and found the closest parking garage to our hotel, we unpacked and headed out to stroll the plazas and listen to music. Because it was the saint's day, all the clothing shops, etc., were closed, although eateries and bakeries were open.
Around the Plaza Mayor two huge stages were in preparation for the evening orchestra/bands. But the ayuntamiento (council building) flanks one side of the Plaza Mayor, and the municipal orchestra of Lugo was playing excerpts from Tschaikovky's Swan Lake, as well as music by Rodrigo and other composers. Really lovely to listen to. Walking down one of the narrow streets, waiting for lunch time (2:00 p.m.), we heard strains by Mozart floating from a restaurant's open doorway.
We are vegetarians, so sometimes it's hard to find restaurant food in Spain, but, luckily we eat fish and seafood. So we had a really tasty lunch of croquetas bacalao (codfish), grilled prawns, and—a real adventurous "first" for us—steamed cockles with lemon. My goodness, they were good. They looked to me like tiny versions of clams, and they had that "ocean" flavor that was quite evocative. Along with wine, of course.
After lunch, wandering around, we found a band in rehearsal at the Plaza Santa Maria. They were playing all the traditional Galician music with traditional instruments. Their orchestra was composed of four harps, four bagpipes, four violins, six tambourines, one huge set of drums and a smaller drum, and about eight "lap" organs with handles, as well as castanets and a mouth instrument that was "twanged". The music was haunting and beautiful, and sometimes sounded Irish, and sometimes sounded Greek, and sometimes sounded Spanish. Just fantastic. Later, around nine p.m., after a picnic dinner in our room, we heard the concert all over again and enjoyed it just as much. Then, at 10:30 p.m. we returned to the Plaza Mayor to listen to another Latin orchestra. We sat and enjoyed that until nearly midnight, and then returned to the hotel and went to bed.
After rolls and coffee at a bakery this morning, we walked along the shopping areas (and I did find a nice belt and scarf.) We returned, then, to the "artesian" tent, where local artisans were showing their beautiful handicrafts. And then we headed back "home" around noon.
Weather-wise, we have been lucky. Except for rain this morning, and not a heavy one, it's another beautiful sunny day. And now, I must wrap this up. I'm at a wi-fi café, and I want to post this before we return to the house. Later, I'll try to post some pictures.
Meanwhile, for us, Galicia is a magical place. I write poetry about it at times. Before we started coming here, McKinley Park in Sacramento used to affect me that way. Do you have a place like that? If so, where?
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Monastery |
Ribeira Sacra Doade |
I am pleased to announce my husband's new website, VARADANARTFOTO.COM
featuring his black and white art photographs.
Many of you have commented on the photographs of Galicia posted in my blog. Most of them were done by my husband, Rajan Varadan, whose specialty is actually black and white photography. Ever since we've been going to Galicia, he's been captivated by the beautiful old stone buildings and walls (some of them in ruins, and some in beautiful repair). And the countryside especially offers beauty because of the various textures in the landscape (vineyards, forests, pastures, and rising mist).
A Small Vineyard |
Now he has started an online gallery with photos to share: So far he only has the Galicia gallery up, but in the future, he will have a California gallery and a gallery with photos of places in India. (He's from India, and is especially enamored of the Belur Halibid temples with their many exquisite sculptures and carvings.)
Sheep Grazing in Bramble |
A Path through the Village |
The Gathering |
Country Lane in Mist |
Broken Steps |
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Trasulfe in the far upper right; lower, to the left is a neighbor's farm. (The neighbor who brought us the quemada described later in this post.) |
When people learn how often we go to Galicia, Spain, they often just hear "Spain", and ask us if we've seen Madrid, Barcelona, Sevilla . . . No, we haven't been to any of those places (except for the Madrid airport).
Somehow Galicia has cast its spell over us, and, except for two short trips to Portugal (which we loved, and I'll write about in a later post), we haven't gotten out of Galicia. There is, of course, the famous city of Santiago, destination of pilgrims from all over the world, with a beautiful cathedral and an interesting old part of the city (as is the case with so many of these ancient cities in Galicia.) And I wrote about Lugo my previous post. But what captures our hearts so completely is the tiny village of Trasulfe. We bought a restored house there from friends, and the people of Trasulfe and their way of life have become an integral part of our lives.
One of the bends in the road on the way. |
The road we take is on the other side of this building |
And there it is: The village we love. |
Trasulfe once had a population of 84 people (counting the children) and a couple of grand houses that have fallen to ruin. Many of the stone buildings are in ruins. It is a rural area, and for years young people have left for the big cities or even gone out of the country to find jobs. Our neighbor across the lane worked for many years in Switzerland before returning home to care for his mother, and now he tends sheep. The couple down the hill lived in Barcelona for many years, but are originally from Trasulfe. The man who built our garage lives in a nearby town/village of Turiz, (or Toiriz in Gallegan), but his wife is from Trasulfe, and he tends his cows in a pasture nearby. And our neighbors down the lane who have had such an impact on us, Eva and Manolo, are both from Trasulfe. All of them have siblings, cousins, or grown children, who are living in places like Madrid or Barcelona or abroad in Argentina or Venezuela. The old villages are emptying out, and it's a shame.
Originally, as I said, Trasulfe had a population of 84, and now it has a year-round population of 8! This is the story of a lot of the hill towns of Galicia, and also other parts of Spain. The village populations are aging, but they still carry on their way of life, keeping chickens, pigs, rabbits, sheep, cows (never a huge herd), and growing crops and vineyards. When we arrive, our neighbors bring us wine and eggs regularly, along with whatever is growing that time of year. (We go in spring and fall, so it can be anything from tomatoes, walnuts, chestnuts, peaches, figs -- whatever they have, they generously share.)
One of our neighbors' vines. |
Our neighbor across the lane and his sheep. |
Gary Larson cows, gossiping. |
From our galería window. |
From our galería window. |
Piñeiro, a village on the far slope. |
Another day of mist and sunlight. |
Another view from our galeria. |
Spooky chestnut forest. |
One of the turning points on the way to Trasulfe is a hunting preserve filled with chestnut trees. It always freaks me out, because it reminds me of the forest in Disney's original Snow White, when the trees seemed malevolent. But actually neighbors from all the nearby villages go there to pick chestnuts. The chestnuts were late this year, due to a very dry summer.
Galicia -- all of Spain, in fact -- abounds with festivals and fiestas, and we missed two crucial ones this year: The festival in Toiriz Santa Maria which ended the day before we arrived is one we usually go to. It is not related to the wine harvest at all -- it's a saint's day fiesta -- but it follows the wine harvest (or vendimia), so it's always associated in our minds with the vendimia. But the festival at Santa Eulalia is actually a festival of the chestnuts, a one day festival that had an orchestra this year, and it was on the very day we were leaving, sad to say. The fiestas are so much fun. Orchestras and dancing mostly, but people come from nearby villages and it's an opportunity to catch up on talk.
You can see why these good people have stolen our hearts. |
Another moment of great sociability at day's end is gathering at the bench or some convenient group of rocks to just sit and talk. We look forward to this, despite our broken Spanish, and each year we can understand more and more. The picture to the right is from a couple of years ago, as we haven't yet downloaded all of this trip's pictures. It is always such a pleasure to see them again.
This photo is from our very first fall trip, which coincided with the vendimia. Friends and relatives were helping to make wine -- a wine that is very low in alcoholic content, as they don't add sugar when making it. They've been making it in their families for centuries, and every household has its bodega with a store of wine.
What does have a high alcoholic content is the aguardiente, a clear brandy they distill, similar to grappa in Italy. All the neighbors make it in small quantities for home use, and sometimes they keep it clear, and sometimes they make herbal or coffee liquors from it. But it's always strong: A little goes a long, long way! We have a bottle going back years, because we drink it once or twice only, when the neighbor who gave it to us comes over for meriendas (snacks) a couple of nights before we leave.
This year we had a delightful surprise: I call it "The Night of the Quemada". We invited our neighbors down the road in for meriendas one evening, as they had given us a lovely lunch one day, and they brought the quemada and invited our neighbor across the road too. Quemada is made in a special clay bowl and prepared in a special way: You peel an orange, an apple, and a lemon, and put only the peels in the bowl, along with some sugar, then a generous handful of coffee beans.
Quemada bowl with peels, beans, and aguardiente. |
Then you pour a generous quantity of aguardiente over it -- and set fire to it! The fire burns a soft blue with some yellow, and it has to burn for a few minutes so that the drink picks up all the essence of the fruit peels and beans. It's a marvelous aroma! (Our little dining room smelled so good afterwards!) Then it's served in very small cups -- and for good reason!
The fire burned . . . |
The fire was set . . . |
Everyone was merry . . . |
And I was more than a little surprised! |
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More Reviews by Mike Suskie
Forza Motorsport 5 (Xbox One)
The flagship title for a very expensive piece of hardware really shouldn't be thinner rehash of an experience that's already been available for years, sh... |
Resogun (PlayStation 4)
Sit up, look at the screen and save the last humans, or else. |
LocoCycle (Xbox One)
Every mechanic is walled off from the next; a mission could begin with a Shooting Segment and then move on to a Hand-to-Hand Combat Segment before concluding wi... |
If you enjoyed this Alpha Protocol review, you're encouraged to discuss it with the author and with other members of the site's community. If you don't already have an HonestGamers account, you can sign up for one right here. Thank you for reading!
I was waiting for you to review this. Sounds like it isn't a lost cause, but I think I'll still be waiting for additional price drops since it still sounds far from amazing. The game is selling like shit anyway so I'm sure it'll be even cheaper soon. Thanks for writing this. |
No problem. Yeah, I definitely wouldn't recommend that anyone buy it at full price, but I would recommend that anyone who's interested try it out at some point. I think our old friend Draqq over at Game Revolution put it well: "If theres one thing that is certain about Alpha Protocol, its that youre going to have an opinion on it that at least one-third of gamers will disagree with." Because really, Alpha Protocol is brilliant. It's just also a mess. |
Great review. I was already leaning towards trying out Alpha Protocol based on other reviews, but you fully convinced me that it'll most likely be a game that I'll enjoy (for the most part). Though, like Genj, I'll wait for a price drop first. |
I'll admit that I wasn't terribly interested in Alpha Protocal before reading this review, but you've piqued my interest while also letting me know that some of the issues that I built up in my mind without playing the game are--as expected--quite genuine. I'm getting pretty good at judging games like this by their cover, I guess. Maybe I've played too many video games. Still, despite the score of 7/10, I think that this sounds like something I might enjoy in spurts and that's more than I could have said before your well-constructed review. I think you may be the person on the site who writes the reviews taht I find most convincing on a gut level that hits my wallet. That's no small accomplishment, so keep up the good work! |
Thanks for the comments. This was actually an extremely difficult review to write, simply because I was so conflicted about it. I wasn't kidding when I said that I had to play through the game twice before I could come to any sort of conclusion about how I felt towards this game. I'm glad to see my thoughts seem to have come through, at least. |
:) really like the review, Suskie. Good approach with the "on the one hand, but" - sounds like that mirrors the game. Definitively going to pick this up eventually. "That's almost as good, though, because it makes everything about Alpha Protocol no less than tolerable." ->..makes everything horribly wrong about Alpha Protocol tolerable? ..How do the levels play out, by the way? Do you go down a virtual corridor until the boss, or do you get a lot of mission things in between? |
"Thats almost as good, though, because it makes everything about Alpha Protocol no less than tolerable." ->..makes everything horribly wrong about Alpha Protocol tolerable? Well, that's what I was talking about in the preceding two paragraphs. Basically, the Michael Thorton I started out with under Recruit was so horribly underpowered that the game appeared frustratingly broken. Unlocking skills made the weapons more useful, the AI less of an annoyance, etc. I tried to limit what I said in this review at the risk of rambling, but one of the things I would have liked to discuss in greater detail was the variety in mission design. Much of it is typical spy thriller stuff, where you're sent to a warehouse or a terrorist hideout or something and given a list of simple objectives (secure this intelligence, take down this villain, etc.). But there's plenty of variety in the types of locales you visit, and what exactly you're doing. I also liked the missions where you'd simply meet with a contact or informant, since the conversation system is one of the best things about Alpha Protocol. |
...Yep, something's definitely wrong with the HTML coding. |
Let me see hmmm edit - |
Test Oh. Lower-case works, then. |
EDIT: Oh, I ordered Alpha Protocol earlier today. It was already less than half-price on Amazon, which seems ridiculous to me. I guess it means sales have been abysmal. |
Oh so you were using capital letters for the html tags? Why would you make more work for yourself? edit - venter's crappy etc |
Well, see, you need to hold down the shift key anyway to type greater than and less than symbols, so actually, the act of releasing the shift key and then pressing it again is more work. So there. |
It was already less than half-price on Amazon, which seems ridiculous to me. I guess it means sales have been abysmal. Huh, really? Still $40 on US Amazon. Then again don't games start out at around $80 USD in Europe? If VG Charts is correct, it's only at around 200,000 units sold worldwide. I'm not biting until $25ish. edit - Constantly applying pressure with one finger is too much work for me. |
Huh, really? Still $40 on US Amazon. Then again don't games start out at around $80 USD in Europe? I bought it for £21 on Amazon UK when RRP was £50. Maybe it's doing worse in Europe? |
I eliminated a few italic-codes and things don't look fucked up now. In the event the things that were italicized were quotes by others, I'd guess things are code-fucked badly, as from entering "edit-mode" everything looked A-OK. EDIT: No...the coded stuff that was fucking everything up on at least the "last 50 posts" page seems to be non-quotes with proper markings that didn't work. Anything that looks like intentional italics works right, but there were a few randomly placed ones I deleted that didn't work and turned an entire page into italics. |
I'm very much broke, Suskie, so I have a question for you before I run out and spend the money I don't have on this. It will be your fault, too, when I can't eat next week. Maybe I'll call it the "Suskie Diet..." My question is, simply, is this a 7 or an 8? I know we're getting into score questions here, but there's a deeper meaning to this. What I'm seeing from your review is that this is a game that is replayable, has a great setting, and is one that you'll want to try over and over. My question is, with all of that, where does the drop to an average-seeming 7 come in? I'm not distrusting your review, mind you, I'm just trying to clarify. My big fear is that it would be the kind of replayability that left me feeling like I was doing the same thing over and over, once I'd figured out the proper way to do it. Is that the case? |
First of all, know that a 7 on my rating scale is very much above average. Of course, you're better off interpreting the text of the review and coming to a conclusion about the game yourself, which obviously you're trying to do. There are a lot of things I love about Alpha Protocol, but there are also a lot of things that hold it back from ever being "great," in my book. Like I said, many elements of the game (many of which have been commonplace in the gaming world for ages, like stealth and cover-based combat) feel clunky and dated at best. Alpha Protocol defines unpolished. It's ugly, it's buggy, it's unbalanced, the mechanics never feel smooth and the AI is finicky as all living hell. Realistically, there is no reason a game this unpolished should exist in today's gaming market, and that's where the disappointingly low score comes from. But then again, there are things that Alpha Protocol does brilliantly that would appeal to any serious RPG fan. Consider the positive things I had to say about the game in my review: the story, the conversations, the NPC relationships, the freedom of choice, and the flexibility in character creation. If that all sounds appealing to you, then know that there's enough of that in Alpha Protocol to override what the game does wrong. As far as replayability is concerned, I'd be surprised if anyone who legitimately enjoys Alpha Protocol isn't looking forward to another run by the time the credits roll. The story really is ludicrously open-ended. I can't overstate that. Don't think in terms of Mass Effect-style moral choices, where all of your decisions more or less lead to the same end anyway, but where you define the character along the way. That sort of thing is fine, of course, but Alpha Protocol is precisely the other way around: Michael Thorton always has the same distinct personality, and it's up to you to direct him. And while the basic plot is the same every time you play the game, there really are drastic large-scale consequences to every major decision you make. You'll see them, I have no doubt. |
Cool! Thanks for the post-review and I think you've sold me. !@#$! you for that. |
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Often coming up with a theme is the hardest piece of party planning, especially when your child is so young they can't tell you what they want!
I was just meeting with a friend today and she gave me the most awesome tip for where to get a party theme from…check out the cookie cutter aisle. There are so many different types of cookie cutters from numbers to shapes to letters to animals and beyond. The cookie cutter can cut out all of your sandwiches, fruit, cookies, etc. to fit your theme and build your party menu.
Cookie Cutters…Idea Creators!
Say It!
Do you have an idea for this theme? - Share with others, or add a comment


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- March 25, 2012
- 8:01 p.m.
- Suggest removal
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ednbgst1#475290 writes:
in response to NeverSniffaGiftFish:
This ones easy, see theres this GoogleThingy that you can search for stuff, I know your in a big ol hurry to type yourself clever, but here ya go-
Teens set kid on fire for being 'white boy'
Sunday, March 04, 2012
A 13-year-old boy who police say was doused with gasoline and lit on fire last week while walking home from school is recovering from first-degree burns to his face and head.
The boy was just two blocks from his home in Kansas City Tuesday when two teenagers began to follow him and then attacked him, his mother, Melissa Coon, said.
Police have described the suspects as black 16-year-olds, while the victim is white.
"We were told it's a hate crime," Coon told KTLA.
"They rushed him on the porch as he tried to get the door open," Coon told KMBC. "(One of them) poured the gasoline, then flicked the Bic, and said, 'This is what you deserve. You get what you deserve, white boy.'"By lighting the gasoline, the second attacker "produced a large fireball burning the face and hair" of the boy, according to a Kansas City Police Department report obtained by KCTV.
"It was pretty bad stuff," Detective Stacey Taylor told the TV station, adding that police are concerned the boy may have suffered damage to his eyes and lungs.
Coon said her son put out the fire with his shirt and called 911 himself. He was rushed to the hospital and was treated for his injuries.
She believes the students also attend East High School with her son, and said he will not be returning to the school. She also told KMBC her traumatized family plans now plans to move.
"My 5-year-old came in and asked me, 'Mom, am I going to get set on fire today?'" Coon said. "I was in tears."
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More work
The defence minister has found himself in the line of fire for several reasons in recent times, but the Congress chief continues to support him nonetheless. Evidence of Sonia Gandhis unwavering faith lies in AK Antonys appointment to head a panel that has been constituted to investigate the factors that led to the poll debacle in Uttar Pradesh. This task, Antony will concede, is far more easy than managing the present army chief, for instance. This is the third time since the 1990s that Antony has been asked to look into the causes behind a Congress rout in the Hindi heartland. In 1996, PV Narasimha Rao had asked him to file a report after the Congress suffered reverses. In 1998-99, Sonia Gandhi had ordered him to tour several states, including UP, to reveal the factors behind the poor showing. However, the Congress chief and the Congress Working Committee did not have the time or the inclination to go through Antonys findings on the two previous occasions. The reports continue to gather dust somewhere in the party headquarters. Some partymen are wondering whether it would have been more prudent to go through the old reports instead of sending the beleaguered defence minister on another wild goose chase.
Sudden jolt
Akhilesh Yadav loves his pet name. The young chief minister insists on being addressed as Tipu, his pet name, rather than as Netaji or Manyawar Mukhyamantri. But what must have surprised him is that a section of the minority community has started to call him names. Minority leaders can be heard grumbling these days, even though the young chief minister has taken up the reins of the state only recently. The imam of Delhis Jama Masjid, Syed Ahmed Bukhari, is one such petulant soul. Bukhari, who backed the Samajwadi Party during the assembly elections, has shot off a letter to Mulayam Singh Yadav and complained that his son has shown a tendency to slight Muslims. As proof, Bukhari has referred to the SPs list of candidates for the Rajya Sabha in which only one of the six nominees came from the Muslim community. This, in a state that has a 20 per cent Muslim population. Adding insult to injury, the imams son-in-law, Umar Khan, who was an aspirant for the Upper House, was nominated to the UP legislative council seat. Bukhari signed off saying that he was declining the offer that had been made to his son-in-law. All this must worry Akhilesh, who wouldnt want his name to be tarnished in any manner at such an early juncture in his political career.
Tricky case
Anshuman Mishra, who was engaged in an ugly spat with Arun Jaitley over the nomination of candidates to the Rajya Sabha from Jharkhand, is apparently ready to buy peace with the senior leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party. The London-based BJP sympathizer has been sending feelers to Jaitley to mend fences. Apparently, he has also expressed his willingness to tender an apology in court when the defamation suit comes up for hearing.
Mishra has roped in Rajiv Shukla to convey the peace proposal to Jaitley. This is because Shukla and Jaitley go back a long way, thanks to their immense love for cricket. Last heard, Shukla has not shown much interest in taking up Mishras case with Jaitley. This fight, Shukla knows, is a different ball game altogether.
Fixed date
The prime minister had called an all-party meeting to discuss the lok pal bill. The meeting had been called on a day when Parliament was not in session on account of festivals such as Gudi Padwa and Ugadi New Year celebrations that take place in many parts of the country at this time of the year. Sitaram Yechury, the leader of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), had come to attend the meeting but was in a hurry to leave in order to participate in the Telugu New Year celebrations. Seeing Yechurys rush, a senior BJP leader remarked in jest that at last communists have started to believe in the Hindu calendar.
Breaking news
The coal controversy brought a smile to the faces of Prakash Javadekar and Hansraj Ahir. The two BJP leaders had highlighted the problem earlier but the 2G scam, which had broken around that time, had shifted collective attention elsewhere. Now, the duo can claim like seasoned scribes that the murky coal affair was their exclusive story.
Strange question
The pop singer, Katy Perry, who has ruled the music charts as well as the hearts of teeny-boppers, was flown in to entertain the young and the old during the inauguration of the recent edition of the Indian Premier League. The hot star, however, received a cold reception from the crowd in Chennai.
But the going got even worse for Perry. It is being reported that when Perry was introduced to Sachin Tendulkar sometime later, she ended up asking the maestro which position he played for. Perhaps it would have been better had the organizers taken the necessary steps to educate Perry so that she could have known that the rules that guide the gentlemans game are very different from those that are followed in sport such as American football or baseball.


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55 Comments
stablercake said 233 weeks ago
I like it, but not as a tee. Horizontal line/grid stuff like this make my torso look goofy. D: -
Comrade said 233 weeks ago
i like the design,
but i don't think theres really a "punch line" and that guys face is really messed up. girly lips -
snarkygal said 233 weeks ago
@minimum ooo DonkeyKong Cheney shot him.
@L3 This is a dead bird shirt in a way hehehehe
The designs on the right are very clever. However, the shirt tonite is not for me. But congratulations on the print. -
Zhyd said 233 weeks ago
@Chellio- NC in da house!
@razz007- Same here!
And the organ donation is brilliant. I would buy that for a few of my friends if it was printed. -
L3g3ndQ said 233 weeks ago
For this shirt? yea!! for you no! i would MUCH rather have a teevil bird shirt than this one, thats why i was asking for another dead teefury bird shirt.
then again i would just rather have a teevil bird shirt than just about anything. B^) -
roboroller said 233 weeks ago
More of teefury's PRO BIRD PROPAGANDA! When will the tyranny of this avian-centric doctrine ever end! -
L3g3ndQ said 233 weeks ago
@Snarky - i was actually asking for a Teefury bird shirt again. hoping that this shirt mid way through the day will be replaced with a teefury bird shirt. B^)
OR Teevil bird shirt!!! B^) -
Hjdttt said 233 weeks ago
Why you folks so down on the birdman's face? I am reading pure consternation, as it should be.
And a shoutout to the NC folks. I am currently enjoying a little break on the Outer Banks. =) -
challen14 said 233 weeks ago
cool design but FAIL as a Tee ! im jealoous cause teefury wont print my tee :( congrats -
snarkygal said 233 weeks ago
@L3 I know you were. But they only replace shirts during the day if something is very very wrong. Not a nice thing to wish for today's artist for his shirt to be pulled. -
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text: by Eric Perrine News Intern firstname.lastname@example.com COLUMBUS (TEC News) -- The Wildlife Science Center in Columbus, MN will have mushers and their dog-sledding teams on-hand Feb. 16 from 11 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. for the center's winter festival. Activities include demonstrations by local experts on equipment and techniques, kid's games and a book signing with local author and musher, Scott Miller. Cost of attendance is $6 for adults and $4 for children; for more information about the event, go to wildlifesciencecenter.org.


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Simply go to https://iforgot.apple.com on any device and follow the prompts to reset your password. You can have the password reset emailed to your Apple ID, or choose to answer some security questions you created.
After adding your iCloud account when prompted during set up, or by going to Settings >> iCloud. Simply go into Settings >> iCloud if you aren't already there and you'll see a range of switches allowing you to turn of individual iCloud features or all of them using your iCloud only for iMessage at that point.
iCloud is a powerful tool that offers a lot of functionality for free. It is not recommended to turn it off, however it is easily possible. You don't need an iCloud account at all to use an iPhone effectively.
You'll need to go into your Settings then Wifi. You'll be able to turn it on and see near by networks. Simply tap on your network and enter a password if necessary.
It's worth noting that wifi supports hidden networks as well. So if you've set your network to hidden, you'll need to tap other networks and enter the network name manually.
Also, wifi has multiple standards throughout the years. Each iPhone supports the latest standard from the year it was released. If your iPhone is too new for your wifi or your wifi too new for your iPhone, there could be compatibility issues. Likely this relates to 2.4GHz vs 5GHz. A setting on newer routers. The iPhone 4S and under support 2.4GHz while the iPhone 5 and newer support 5GHz and 2.4GHz.
One of the first and easiest things you can do is update your software. Apple releases free, iOS updates available through iTunes. These updates often include fixes and performance improvements for both the phone and its firmware.
Carriers also update their software from time to time. These carrier updates normally download automatically, but if they don't you can go to Settings > General > About to manually trigger them. Learn more about Carrier Updates here.
Though its not likely the issue if you have no signal, having GPS and Wifi turned on can help improve wireless signal if you're just having problems with poor signal. These can both be found in your settings.
Lastly, check the Settings > Cellular section. These have several options such as roaming and turning off 3G. If for some reason 3G/LTE is turned off, well thats your problem. But you would have needed to turn it off to start with so this is likely not the case.
If nothing has worked so far, it could be a hardware problem. A quick trip to the Apple Store should pinpoint the problem for free, though a fix may cost you if you're out of warranty or its accidental damage.
You won't be able to stop them all easily, but there are a few other things you can do.
Home your homescreen, if you tap on an app that is loading, it will pause.
If you tap an app waiting, it will skip to the front of the line and start loading.
And finally if you restart your iPad, apps paused from loading, should cancel themselves.
If you want to take black and white pictures, there is a fantastic app called Camera Noir that does just that.
ColorBlast is a great tool to turn already captured photos black and white.
Many popular camera apps like Flickr and Instagram also offer black and white filters.
Press and hold the home button and Siri will be listening. You can say anything, but if you press the I you'll get a list of some common commands.
This means the app has been removed from sale, either by Apple because of a problem with the app or the developer because they no longer wish to sell it. You won't be able to redownload the application.
However, if you synced with iTunes on your computer at some point before deleting the application, a copy will be there. You can then sync with iTunes to put it back on your device and it should work as long as its compatible with your version of iOS as apps not updated can sometimes lose compatibility over time.
Open your Settings.app, find the General section then the Restrictions section. Turn on Restrictions then down the list you'll find a switch that will allow you to turn off In-App Purchases.
On iOS6 and iOS5 you can open the App Store on your device, go to the Updates tab, and At the top you'll see a Purchased section. All the apps here are apps your downloaded, free or paid, and can be redownloaded at no additional cost.
Its important to note that you can't buy an app twice. So if you go into the app store and search for an application, the buy button will instead say install if you've downloaded it before.
iTunes on Windows and Mac also offers a purchased section of all your music, videos, and apps. You can use it to download apps then sync your iOS device to get them there. But this isn't necessary on devices running iOS4 or later.


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Why ads?Based on 108 Ratings for the 2008 - 2013 models.
Review this carBy Ken (MI) on Tuesday, October 22, 2013
I own this car - My approximate mileage is 50,143
overall rating 10 of 10rating detailsPros: "The fun factor"
Cons: "To some the fact I get around 25 mpg avg."
Likely to recommend this car? (1-10): 10
"This car is so fun to go out for a drive in. I had gotten to the point I hated driving, but this car changed that. I am having to much fun in it for the stupid drivers to even bother me. It is not going to blow the doors off a full fledged sports car. It will give you that sports cars fun with the comfort of BMW. I plan on owning this cars for many more years!"
4 people out of 4 found this review helpful
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By Norman (AZ) on Saturday, October 19, 2013
I own this car - My approximate mileage is 20,000
overall rating 5 of 10rating detailsPros: "Handles well"
Cons: "Service requests"
Likely to recommend this car? (1-10): 1
"This car needs more maintenance that a high school girl with a crush. Every time I open my email I another email from the dealership telling me the car needs to come in for service. While they explain to me it's routine, they don't have any respect for my time, and it's a royal pain. The dealership sells me, "don't you want your car to be well maintained, it's a free service." Having had over forty vehicles before this one, I'm not accustomed to weekly visits to the dealership. The dealership (Chapman) BMW sold me a 'certified' used BMW, claiming the car had been gone over from the top of the antenna, to the bottom of the tires, from the front bumper to the rear. Well, one alternator, one oil leak, and three days of lost service in the first four months, has taught me I'll never own another BMW. My time is far more valuable and their respect for my time isn't important enough for this headache."
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By durhamnative (NC) on Monday, August 19, 2013
I own this car - My approximate mileage is 26,000
overall rating 5 of 10rating detailsPros: "great engine, ride, handling"
Cons: "lacking in the quality of the vehicle"
Likely to recommend this car? (1-10): 4
"Purchased my 2009 128i new with the premium package and Navigation in December 2010. Traded a 6 year old Audi TT that was starting to give problems. The 128i has excellent power, a super smooth inline 6 and has a nice balance of ride/handling. Reliability has not been great. There have been 6 trips to the dealer for power window problems, 2 trips for the third brake light lens falling off, 2 trips for the power steering gear puking fluid all over the garage and finally the leather seat stitching on the rear seats has failed even though no one has ever sat on them. All this on a car with just over 25,000 miles that is garage kept and well maintained. I love the way it drives, but just not happy with the repairs, my warranty runs out in December and I will probably be trading this Bimmer in and it will probably be for a 2014 Honda Accord Coupe EX-L V6, not another BMW."
4 people out of 4 found this review helpful
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By KevinB (CA) on Monday, July 29, 2013
I own this car - My approximate mileage is 52,000
overall rating 10 of 10rating detailsPros: "Powerful, sporty, handles great"
Cons: "Expensive, minor problems"
Likely to recommend this car? (1-10): 9
"I originally purchased the 135i back when I lived in Chicago. At the time, we were just entering winter and I had never driven a RWD car in snow before. As far as winter is concerned, this car should be kept as far away from snow as possible. I actually had to miss a few days of work due to not being able to get out of my neighborhood from the lack of traction. In any weather besides snow and ice, this car absolutely shines. I had made the decision to move to Southern California in the fall of 2012 and being as such, I would drive my 135i all the way from Chicago to San Diego. That is a 2200 mile trip for those wondering. Through the duration of that trip, the car did not have a single hiccup or problem. It cruises perfectly, it handles elevation changes like a dream and it surprisingly has plenty of room to fit tons of belongings by using the folding rear seats. My only qualms with this car are the remote keys do not have an internal battery and thus need to be charged in order to work. The problem with that is the keys sometimes barely charge or do not charge at all, so you may find yourself using the actual key more frequently than you use the remote entry keys. Then of course, there is the fuel economy. While it does get relatively decent fuel economy (21.5mpg overall), I wished it got just a bit higher mileage for the sake of my wallet. Something in the 26 to 27mpg area seems feasible to me. Now granted, you can achieve those numbers or higher ones, but you are not going to enjoy the car for what it is, which brings me to my final point. This car is a true sports car. The gear changes, both upshifts and downshifts, are precise. The engine builds power from way down low in the RPMs all the way to redline. And, of course, the handling is absolutely extraordinary. Since the car is so small and light, while still producing plenty of power, you would be surprised by the different types of higher horsepower cars it can keep up with. Overall, the BMW 135i is an amazing little sports car which I would absolutely recommend to anyone looking for something sporty and small."
5 people out of 5 found this review helpful
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By eb (CA) on Wednesday, July 24, 2013
I own this car - My approximate mileage is 51,000
overall rating 10 of 10rating detailsPros: "extended warranty a bargin, fun drive"
Cons: "cruise control in out of view and hard to engage"
Likely to recommend this car? (1-10): 10
"This is my first BMW 128i...bought it sight unseen from the dealer - no test drive - went on my instincts....proved I was not wrong. I have the Premium package, which serves me perfectly fine. I would encourage anyone looking for a fun _relaxing driving experience to purchase or lease this car.....you will not be sorry."
2 people out of 3 found this review helpful
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text: Exactly, and you'll often get 2 chances to get the Holy TV proc anyway. It's actually not that much of a swing and I think it's a good set bonus, but I'll be testing that this week after the reset to make sure. Rotation shouldn't change at all without cooldowns EXCEPT for 2 and maybe 3 targets (maybe 4 for the same reason as 3). Never use HOTR on 2 targets unless you got a Holy TV proc already and you're not at 5HP, and never use DS over Holy TV on 2 targets. Use DS on 2 targets only if you don't get a proc. DS still barely wins out on 3 targets, but if there's a high priority target, then Holy TV is more worth it anyway because the gain from Holy TV to DS on 3 targets isn't much, and from 3 to 4 is an okay gain but depending on how important that priority target is, Holy TV could win out on that factor alone over pure DPS.


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Anime Fighter - The Fighting Anime Online Game
April 16th, 2012
Anime Fighter is a 3D online action game that introduced from Japan. Its originality is that user can design and customize their game character to be unique which can increase imagination and creativity.
It is set in a fantasy world in which each player can choose from one of 16 different game characters to fight and compete. User can play together maximum to 8 people in 1 room, either teamplay or solo. The game itself has many kind of genre, from fighting, competition and sports. The gameplay is also easy to learn and fun, user can control their game character using keyboard or Gamepad.
And for user enjoyment, user can set their favorite MP3 song for the game's background music.
Visit Anime Fighter
Anime Fighter, Licensed and Distributed in Indonesia by LYTO.NET.
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