My yearly poll is here. Take it if you wish, or just go check out my year's reading.

I didn't read as many books as I thought I would, and it's way heavier on fiction than non-fiction than I would have liked.

As usual, the year-end "have you read what I've read" poll!Poll Have we shared any reading in 2014?

Really. It's not just that it's in the 90s. It's humid and stuffy to boot. I dashed to the library earlier today to return a book and renew my card, and, after realizing how bad it really was outside, I nixed my plans to go to an outdoor concert tonight. I'd have been sitting out with no shade, no breeze, and I know I couldn't have tolerated it for ( Read more... )

Our "mild" winter has disappeared with a vengeance, now that spring is just a few weeks away. We got about 10" of snow yesterday (yes, New Englanders, I know that's nothing compared to what you've been dealing with!). It started in the early morning and just kept snowing into the night. Both things I had planned for yesterday were cancelled by ( Read more... )

I hope everyone behaved, or is recovering from, last night! I stayed home, fixed a nice dinner, and had a glass or two of prosecco.

For some of us, this year has been what Queen Elizabeth called an "annus horribilis". I fervently hope that that will not be the case for any of us next year, but that, instead, all will have an annus excellensEvery ( Read more... )

A couple of weeks ago, I went to the Chicago Air and Water Show, a big, noisy deal on the lakefront. Ordinarily, I'd never go, as it would entail fighting crowds on the beaches. But I was invited to a private event on the Rooftop Terrace of Navy Pier, with lots of yummy food, and far enough from the main action to carry on a conversation. It was ( Read more... )

Back last April, at B.C. in D.C., I won the raffle for a free weekend at the Sheraton Crystal City (the convention hotel). When I went to New York last July, I volunteered to be bumped from the plane in exchange for travel vouchers. So this past weekend, I put the two together and went to see the cherry blossoms ( Read more... )

After dithering for quite a while, I bought a Kindle.

Now I can read Ulysses on the bus.

I have just come in from clearing a few inches of snow off the car. It's supposed to snow all night, and since I have a class in the morning, I wanted to get a head start. A friend of mine is supposed to be flying in from New York tonight to see her mom and her two kids (I say "kids", but they are college grads); I hope she makes it ( Read more... )

( The Holidays )