Why I love my Kindle

 While I do still love the print version of the book, my preference for reading is on my Kindle.

It does not, of course, replace the feel or smell of a beautifully crafted book.

It's not supposed to.

But it's comfortable for me.

This post isn't an attempt to talk anyone into giving up their books and switch to a Kindle.

If you've been in my home and seen the crowded bookshelves in every room you would realize how silly that is.

But I love love love many things about my Kindle.

One is deciding at some ridiculous hour of the night that I have to read the next book in the series that I'm bingeing on.  Hit a button a voila, there it is.

Another is this feature I am crazy about.  Instant Look-up.  

For example, right now I'm reading Barbara Davis' The Keeper of Happy Endings, which  is an Amazon First Reads Book for September.  I love her books.

One of the protagonists is drinking her favorite wine; "I close my eyes as the first sip of wine goes down. Louis Jadot Gevrey-Chambertin. It’s a guilty pleasure of mine. Chocolate and ripe cherry, chalky on the tongue, velvety on the way down. Plush and pricey."

 I immediately want to know more about this Louis Jadot Gevrey-Chambertin.

So I run my cursor over it to highlight it, hit search and am rewarded with this:  

Product Description -

Louis Jadot Gevrey-Chambertin shows the qualities characteristic of the commune : deep color, with a multi-faceted berry and red fruit bouquet, a full, tannic structure and mellow texture carry into a lasting finish. This powerful and perfumed wine require elaborate and strong-tasting food : leg of mutton, boeuf bourguignon, game pâtés, strong cheeses.

Details

VARIETAL: Pinot Noir

REGION: Gevrey Chambertin

 

😊

I love that

But then, I am easily amused.  I think it comes from growing up an only child.

Is Appalachian State University a Good Neighbor?

 

Not in my opinion.

https://wataugaonline.com/over-32000-expected-to-attend-luke-combs-concert-in-boone-on-saturday/

This is how much Appalachian State University loves us all.  They're having a concert.  A concert for 32,000 people.  Oh, maybe they actually love the money they'll be making from this concert.  A concert for 32,000 people.  Won't it be interesting to see pictures so we can see if all 32,000 people are masked?  Hahahahaha sure that's gonna happen.  I had a doctor's appointment that had me driving through The Town of Boone yesterday. It was a gorgeous day.  Lots of people shopping on King Street. Lots of tourists; families with kids. Masks?  Hahahahaha sure, as if.  Mask mandate?  Hahahaha sure, uh huh.  Let's see how many people are laughing within a few days of this COVID super spreader concert for 32,000 people. Anti-maskers and Anti-vaxxers, I wish I felt some sympathy for you, but you are too ignorant for me to waste my time on.  I'll save my sympathy for the children you're making sick or possibly killing with your stupidity and selfishness.  Enjoy the concert.

SEPTEMBER 1, 1939 by W.H. Auden

 

I sit in one of the dives

On Fifty-second Street

Uncertain and afraid

As the clever hopes expire

Of a low dishonest decade:

Waves of anger and fear

Circulate over the bright

And darkened lands of the earth,

Obsessing our private lives;

The unmentionable odour of death

Offends the September night.

Accurate scholarship can

Unearth the whole offence

From Luther until now

That has driven a culture mad,

Find what occurred at Linz,

What huge imago made

A psychopathic god:

I and the public know

What all schoolchildren learn,

Those to whom evil is done

Do evil in return.

Exiled Thucydides knew

All that a speech can say

About Democracy,

And what dictators do,

The elderly rubbish they talk

To an apathetic grave;

Analysed all in his book,

The enlightenment driven away,

The habit-forming pain,

Mismanagement and grief:

We must suffer them all again.

Into this neutral air

Where blind skyscrapers use

Their full height to proclaim

The strength of Collective Man,

Each language pours its vain

Competitive excuse:

But who can live for long

In an euphoric dream;

Out of the mirror they stare,

Imperialism's face

And the international wrong.

Faces along the bar

Cling to their average day:

The lights must never go out,

The music must always play,

All the conventions conspire

To make this fort assume

The furniture of home;

Lest we should see where we are,

Lost in a haunted wood,

Children afraid of the night

Who have never been happy or good.

The windiest militant trash

Important Persons shout

Is not so crude as our wish:

What mad Nijinsky wrote

About Diaghilev

Is true of the normal heart;

For the error bred in the bone

Of each woman and each man

Craves what it cannot have,

Not universal love

But to be loved alone.

From the conservative dark

Into the ethical life

The dense commuters come,

Repeating their morning vow;

'I will be true to the wife,

I'll concentrate more on my work,'

And helpless governors wake

To resume their compulsory game:

Who can release them now,

Who can reach the dead,

Who can speak for the dumb?

All I have is a voice

To undo the folded lie,

The romantic lie in the brain

Of the sensual man-in-the-street

And the lie of Authority

Whose buildings grope the sky:

There is no such thing as the State

And no one exists alone;

Hunger allows no choice

To the citizen or the police;

We must love one another or die.

Defenseless under the night

Our world in stupor lies;

Yet, dotted everywhere,

Ironic points of light

Flash out wherever the Just

Exchange their messages:

May I, composed like them

Of Eros and of dust,

Beleaguered by the same

Negation and despair,

Show an affirming flame.

A new collage

 "Come in, come in! 

Have a baby . . . I mean a beer.  

Have a beer!"

Feeling let down by my community

 My annual Wellness Appointment is coming up so I went into town to have my blood work done ahead of time.  Loud and sincere applause for employees and patients at Greenway Medical Center who were 100% masked.  Thank you.

Stopped by and picked up my grocery order at Lowe's Foods.  While waiting curbside it appeared that employees coming and going were masked, but not all shoppers.

We don't really spend a lot of money for things other than necessities (like books!), but what we are buying now, more than ever, is being bought on-line.  

The Town of Boone has a mask mandate in force, but many in the business community don't appear to really care.  

Many shops, grocery stores, and restaurants have said they really can't enforce the mandate. 

I don't understand that.

 If some can, and DO, why can't the rest of them?  

Because they don't care.

Okay. Fine.

I will spend my money elsewhere, except for perishables from the grocery store, gas for our car and that sort of thing. 

Am I going to feel guilty?  No.  Sad maybe, but not guilty.

Why should I care, if they don't care?

Several things ordered recently include new jeans (for me and for Don), a few teeshirts, a new dress, new underwear, make-up, skin care products, vitamins, sun screen, new sheets, new towels, shampoo and conditioner, nail polish, some dahlias.  A few hundred dollars.

Not a huge amount of money, but money that would have been spent here if I felt like the community was pulling together and trying to do its share keeping its citizens, friends and neighbors healthy.

I know there will be some local folks who aren't going to like or agree with my little personal protest, but you know what?  I do not care.  Maybe what I'm doing actually shows more care, concern, and respect for your health, and your  children's health, than some of the businesses you're feeling loyal to.

What to do while suffering from a book hangover . . .

 Stay busy!

I stayed up way later than usual last night (this morning) so I could finish the ARC a friend sent me.

The new Amor Towles.

I love Amor Towles' writing.

A Gentleman in Moscow is one of my all-time favorite books ever.  

I loved Rules of Civility.

I've been impatiently awaiting The Lincoln Highway.

it was worth the wait.

It's not going to be a book for everyone.  I can already imagine some of the comments and where they'll be coming from - and why.

'Sokay, not everyone likes livermush or scrapple either.

So today, after sleeping late, knowing the search for the next book needs to be put off for a little while as I recover from this latest book hangover I decided to start cleaning out some kitchen cupboards.

Nobody needs so many mugs.

But.

We all seem to have a gracious plenty, don't we?

Gifted mugs.

Mugs we picked up on vacation.

And the travel mugs!!

Time for them to go.

Some will go to our booth at Antiques on Howard  Some into the trash.  Some set out at the corner of the neighborhood container site where people drop off  "take what you want" items.

(Noooo, not everything on this table is leaving . . .)

while I was washing the dust off these long-unused mugs, I spent some time doing what I often do.

 Dreaming of Paris.  

Wishing there might be a chance in the near future that Don Barley and I might be sitting in green chairs in a Paris garden having coffee and a croissant.  

Photo in Tuilleries Garden by Landen Kerr

But selfish ignorant anti-vaxxers are doing their best to make sure that doesn't happen while endangering the rest of us; including the children. 

 Being the people responsible for so many deaths, wow, what a way to make a point.  

A point of stupidity. 

For shame.

Sweet Little Long Summer Dresses

 

Retirement is great.

I truly love it.

But.

I miss buying and wearing pretty clothes.

Leaving the house every day to go to work (or any where else) has never been something I wanted to do, or enjoyed doing.

Staying home most days suits me just fine.

But there's just no reason to get up and put on a cute little dress for hanging around the shanty.

And now, with a beach trip planned in a few weeks, I have a hankering for a cute new summer dress.

Looking at some of my favorite on-line shopping spots I have seen some adorable long dresses.

Summery, floaty, pretty little summer dresses.

But ooooh have I seen some ugly.

I know I should be very careful here - one girl's cute little summer dress is another girl's horror.

But I'm just going to say, that "Little House on the Prairie" look is this girl's horror.

 

  

Tiers and ruffles.  Smocking and ruching and frills and sleeves with holes in them.  

Sleeves gone wild - flutter sleeves, bell sleeves, ruffled sleeves, bishop, balloon, lantern, leg o' lamb sleeves.

I do love long swishy dresses.  I like thinking of myself sitting on the deck of our beach rental in a simple white maxi dress.  Feeling it skim my toes as I walk along the sand at the edge of the ocean.

The reality of me at the beach, however, is me in jeans and a Tshirt.

The reality of me not at the beach is usually my "uniform" of little black dress, a scarf, and a hat.  

Often with my favorite cape, and almost always with my camera.

The reality of me at home is yoga pants and a Tshirt.

But none of that stops me from dreaming of swanning around in pretty long flowy dresses.

Maybe I'll just treat myself to something for this upcoming beach trip.

Maybe.

Because I would look beyond ridiculous decked out in one of those fairytale dresses on the beach at Topsail Island, North Carolina, maybe something like this . . . 

Maybe.

But,

those tiers . . . 

I do not want to look like Laura Ingalls Wilder lost on the beach searching for Pa.

Revisiting New Orleans Bouchercon 2016

Sadly, one of the mystery community's favorite events is in danger of being missed by many this year.

Last year's Bouchercon in Sacramento was cancelled due to COVID, although many events were handled via Zoom.

This year's event has not been cancelled, but the rates of infection from the new COVID Delta variant is causing many, with fair reason, to rethink their plans about attending.

I love Bouchercon.

And I love New Orleans.

Being in New Orleans in 2016 for Bouchercon was one of the most fun cons ever. 

Heather Graham, Connie Perry and their entire crew did an amazing job, and set the bar extraordinarily high for future events.  Events including this year's B'con, again being coordinated by Heather and Connie and an amazing group of volunteers.

 I have tons of 2016 memories and TONS of photos.

One very personal memory that I will be awfully proud of for a lifetime is having a short story included in the 2016 New Orleans Bouchercon Anthology, Blood on the Bayou, edited by Greg Herren.

If you don't have a copy of this Anthony Award winning anthology - Why NOT?

A few of the authors included are David Morrell, Alison Gaylin, Gary Phillips, Elaine Viets.

My story is about Marie LaVeau.  A woman I've been fascinated with for a long time.  

Visit my webpage to find yourself a copy of Blood on the Bayou, and read my entry, Voodoo at the Jitterbug -  https://kayewilkinsonbarley.com/books/anthologies/

It seemed only fitting that I pay a visit to Madame LaVeau while I was in New Orleans so I could thank her for her inspiration.

For those of you who are sad to miss Bouchercon in New Orleans this year, maybe seeing pictures from Bouchercon in New Orleans circa 2016 will bring back some fond memories.

Enjoy!

http://www.meanderingsandmuses.com/2016/09/bouchercon-2016-new-orleans-part-1.html

http://www.meanderingsandmuses.com/2016/09/bouchercon-2016-new-orleans-part-2.html

http://www.meanderingsandmuses.com/2016/09/bouchercon-2016-new-orleans-part-3.html

http://www.meanderingsandmuses.com/2016/09/bouchercon-2016-new-orleans-part-4.html

http://www.meanderingsandmuses.com/2016/09/bouchercon-2016-new-orleans-part-5.html

Laissez les bon temps roulez!

Wednesday Reflections and Rants

First, the rants.

You know . . . 

Never mind.

I don't have the energy.

Suffice to say if you're not vaccinated and refuse to be - you're an idiot.

Refuse to wear a mask?  You're an idiot.

Mad at Simone Biles?  You're an idiot.

Think the assholes in our Capitol on January 6 were tourists?  You're an idiot.

Think the election was stolen?  You're an idiot.

Random stuff about the letter "P"

A few things I love that begin with the letter "P"  - - -

Princess Annabelle Barley

Pizza

Peonies

Pearls

Paris

Things I don't love that begin with the letter "P"  - - - 

Corrupt lying politicians

People who are too dumb and too selfish to wear a mask and get vaccinated

 

Being a woman of the south, I seek out good southern lit but am disappointed far too often.

Following a tired pattern, many of the books I find lean heavily on southern stereotypes rather than the hard truth of today's south.  Sadly, this includes some highly praised southern novels.  

After receiving an advance copy of Wiley Cash's When Ghosts Come Home I stayed up way past my normal bedtime to read straight through till reaching The End.

Wiley Cash hits every note just right. Relative to the large number of books I read, I rarely give a book 5 stars. This one deserves 10. 

Half way through this year, I have two literary heroes.  Wiley Cash and Shawn A. Cosby .

Today . . .

I had to do it sooner or later.

I had been putting it off for far too long.

It was yet another "needs must" situation.

Jeans and shorts and pants and T-shirts have been living in this little dresser.  

Rarely going anywhere lately because so much of what's in there no longer fits.

Past time for a lot of things to be finding new homes.

Time to admit it.

Some things just don't fit, and they ain't never gonna fit again.

I suppose I could blame it on Evil Pandemic Fairies moving in and sewing seams in my clothes . . .  

But, that would be unfair to the fairies.

Something we should all remember . . . 

Needs must

I'm not sure I truly understood what that little phrase, "needs must", really meant until recently and it slammed home hard and fast and true. And I'm being, admittedly, childishly whiny about it.  I don't care.  I'll whine if I want to.

We have, like everyone, experienced "needs must" moments.  Those unexpected emergencies that can't be ignored.  

What do you do?

You do what needs to be done as best you're able, of course, and move on.

While I take ownership of my personal feelings of  pissed off-edness about this, it's a bigger issue.

Health care cost in this country stinks.  

The fact that people lose homes, go bankrupt, or ignore their health problems in The United States of America because of cost is ludicrous and, IMO, criminal.

Health care, in this particular case, includes dental care.

Donald and I are just beginning our latest adventure.  

The most expensive one yet.  

One that will cost more than our past three trips abroad combined.

But we will have pretty new teeth implanted.  

Even with dental insurance, our out of pocket cost will be around $25,000 +.

Needs must.

This is not going to be an easy financial situation for us. But, I know we're able to do it because we've been, among other things, damned lucky.

When I hear people say something like, "well, they should have planned better", "they should have made better choices," etc. I'd like to shake them.  That is not reality.  

Don Barley and I have worked hard all our lives.  We've worked, at times, more than one job.  When I was single, there was a short period of time when I worked three jobs.  And still, we've been lucky.  Luckier than some who have worked harder for longer.

There will be no adventures to Paris or anywhere else for awhile.  

I'll be a little upset about it, but I hope I can keep it in perspective and hope that some day, this country will come around and do the right thing for its hard working citizens in regard to health care.

Needs must.

 

Dear Meanderings and Muses subscribers,

 Google has decided to eliminate its FeedBurner feature (Boo, Google!) which means you will no longer be receiving Meanderings and Muses in your email boxes.  I think this will be happening during July.

I appreciate each and every one of you and I hope you'll still pop in to see whatever it is I might be rambling about, be it Annabelle, Donald, Paris, politics, the beach (going soon!), poetry or pretty pictures. Peonies or pearls.  Concerts, clothes, nail color or motorcycles. Cameras and coffee.  Rants, recipes, what I'm reading, what I'm writing.  The good stuff, the bad stuff.  Adventures and just plain ol' daily living.

Meanderings and Muses has been around since 2008 and we've covered a lot of topics.  Some have been important, some have been pure silliness.  Type a word or a name into that little search box at the top left corner of the blog and chances are fairly good you'll find something here that I, or a guest, had to say about it.  

So.  Just 'cause you won't find me in your in-box for much longer, I'll still be here, and I hope you will be too.

 

There was no finer man than Joe Maron

 

https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/newsobserver/name/joseph-maron-obituary?n=joseph-maron&pid=199456650

A Good Man by James Whitcomb Riley

I

A good man never dies--
In worthy deed and prayer
And helpful hands, and honest eyes,
If smiles or tears be there:
Who lives for you and me--
Lives for the world he tries
To help--he lives eternally.
A good man never dies.


II

Who lives to bravely take
His share of toil and stress,
And, for his weaker fellows' sake,
Makes every burden less,--
He may, at last, seem worn--
Lie fallen--hands and eyes
Folded--yet, though we mourn and mourn,
A good man never dies.

I will miss you, Joe Maron.

Don Barley has an adventure. Kaye Barley stays home.

Don Barley wrote: 

"I had decided to take up on the 2021 "Carolina Challenge". The challenge was to visit 16 specific Harley Davidson stores across the Carolina's. I planned a route and saw a four to five day window of good weather. A form was filled out at Crossroads Harley last Sat. afternoon. The is to receive a dealership stamp at each location on the form. Planned the trip Sun. and Mon. Ms. Kaye Alan reluctantly agreed to the adventure. I left out Tues. morn about 7. I already had gotten the first stamp at Wilkesboro when the form was filled. Rode past the first location. The rest of the first day was stopping at High Point, Danville Va., Raleigh, Goldsboro, and Greenville stores. I rode on to Myrtle Beach and made it before dark. It was 600+ miles. Next morn got stamps at the two Myrtle Beach stores. Then it was to Charleston, Summerville, Columbia, Irmo, and Augusta. There was a few hours of light, so off to Anderson. The two hour trip was more like three and half. I rode about 40 min. after dark much to Ms. Kaye's displeasure. Got a room in Anderson and a stamp the next morn. Turned to the Charlotte store and after  I stopped and visited friends and stayed much to long talking. Having cut my time close I headed to the Concord store. I made it with 10 minutes before closing. I received the last stamp and was told someone had completed their form with all stamps two days earlier. This is not a timed challenge. The idea is to visit every place and to get high mileage in age groups for a chance at a drawing. The lottery has better odds. So after getting the last stamp I headed for Boone. I made it home just before dark. I managed to cover 1430 miles in about 60 hours. I'm proud to have made this adventure safely, without injuries, or damages. But most of all, I am proud of my wife for tolerating and trying to understand me. I am so damn lucky to be with someone who cares. "

Spending time with old and dear friends, Joe and Sharon Griffin, was a highlight of this trip.

Sharon and I are best buddies from waaay back in our high school days.

If there was trouble to be found, we found it.

She married the nicest guy she ever dated.  

And what did I do while while Donald was out having himself a big ol time?

Mostly I was happy that he took the time to call me from each stop to let me know he was okay.  I knew when he got his beloved bike there would be adventures of this sort.  No, it doesn't stop me from worrying, but I can't imagine being the kind of wife who would try to stop him from doing what he loves.  I did have an almost constant diet of ice cream, cookies and potato chips while he was gone.  😄 #lovinglifewithdonbarley

I spent a lot of time re-reading old Anne Rivers Siddons novels.  Not my two favorites, Peachtree Road and Downtown.  I have read those books so many times I have lost count.  I love them.  Both take place in Atlanta during the time I was living there; new to the city and to the south.  During a time of enormous change for Atlanta, for the South, the country, and for me.  They tell important stories that I feel are a part of who I am.

But I decided to re-read some of her other novels and enjoyed them immensely.  It had been so long that it was like reading them for the first time and I was happy to realize that the writing still affects and moves me.  

Anne Rivers Siddons is no longer with us, but she left a strong and enduring legacy.

When I wasn't reading I was going through boxes of stuff to price so I can cart them to our booth at Antiques on Howard.

And I played in my little studio.

While cleaning, clearing, and purging I found some wonderful old decorating books, including this one from my mom.

The photos of rooms from the '70s  are wonderful!

The furniture, the art, the decorating - all of it.

I haven't looked at these books in years.

And I've decided to repurpose them into collages.

I do know repurposing books offends some people, but I would rather see them used and enjoyed in some manner rather than sitting on a shelf ignored, unloved, and attracting silverfish.

AND, I found some delightful old magazines that combined with the decorating books will hopefully become some fun collages.

Here's my first effort.

I had so much fun doing this.

We'll just see where it goes.

In the meantime, Annabelle and I are tickled pink to have Don Barley home.  💕 

Life is Good