Get me outta here!

Suzanne’s Diary for Nicholas

17 June 2004 by Melissa

James Patterson
Imagine life is a game in which you are juggling five balls. The balls are called work, family, health, friends, and integrity. And you’re keeping all of them in the air. But one day you finally come to understand that work is a rubber ball. If you drop it, it will bounce back. The other four balls – family, health, friends, integrity – are made of glass. If you drop one of these, it will be irrevocably scuffed, nicked, perhaps even shattered. And once you truly understand the lesson of the five balls, you will have the beginnings of balance in your life.
–from Suzanne’s Diary for Nicholas, by James Patterson
Continue reading →

Islands

10 June 2004 by Melissa

Anne Rivers Siddons

We all have “guilty pleasure” authors – Anne Rivers Siddons is one of mine.

I’ve just finished her most recent novel, Islands, and while I have to agree that it’s not her best work, it was still an enjoyable read. She’s returned to the South Carolina Low Country she loves so much, which means that even when you hate the characters, you love the houses they live in, and even when the plot gets rather cheesey, you can still feel the sea breezes and smell the sand, and feel the humidity.

People are often surprised that I read Siddons’ work, because her target demographic is really my mother’s generations, but there’s something compelling about her tragic heroines in their weathered beach houses. Though, admittedly, my favorite of her novels didn’t take place anywhere near a beach.

This novel tells the story of a group of friends – doctors and their wives – who own a Low Country beach house together. It’s fairly typical beach reading: entangled relationships, personal tragedy, a dash of romance. It’s not as meaty as, say, Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood, but I’d still recommended it.

Aquatopia Amphigory of Lost Creatures: Burrowbrock + Camelocant

This pair makes the same argument for stubbornness from two opposite directions. One needs no water at all. The other needed almost none to begin with. Judge for yourselves which of them made the wiser bargain.

Aquatopia Amphigory of Lost Creatures: Aukiris (Aukiris Frigidorum)

Today, let’s talk about the Aukiris — Aukiris frigidorum. Some centuries ago, a colony of auks looked at the sky, looked at the water, and made a decision the rest of us have been quietly admiring ever since. The wings did not disappear. They simply retired from flying and took up a more practical line of work.

15 Minutes to Showtime

There’s a superstition in our band: no one says the word good before we go on. You can say loud, tight, let’s try not to break anything expensive, but never good. That’s jinx bait.

TBM-2608.20 – DDOP-02 – Meles obstinatus and Camelus latimeria

Today, let’s talk about the Burrobrock and Camelocant
This pair makes the same argument for stubbornness from two opposite directions. One needs no water at all. The other needed almost none to begin with. Judge for yourselves which of them made the wiser bargain.

TBM-2608.12 – DDOP-01 – Aukiris Frigidorum

Today, let’s talk about the Aukiris — Aukiris frigidorum. Some centuries ago, a colony of auks looked at the sky, looked at the water, and made a decision the rest of us have been quietly admiring ever since. The wings did not disappear. They simply retired from flying and took up a more practical line of work.

TBM-2608.12 – DDOP-00: Calamities and Other Updates

So, MeMe del Mare is taking a well-deserved vacation and doing some field research for the Aquatopia Amphigory of Lost Creatures. In her place, Professor Darya Aban of Atlantis University, curator of the Amphigory, will be stepping in to introduce us to some of the remarkable creatures in the collection. I can’t wait for you to meet her. In about 12-15 hours