Cammykitty's Tag-your-it Category Challenge thread 2

So, middle of the year so I feel I don't need to say much about who I am or how I set up the categories. Note to self though, after being at Diversicon this year, I want to have a category for small press books next year. I'm thinking a lot of the non-traditional, innovative writing is being published by the small presses. I've heard too many stories about good books being rejected because "we don't know how to market it."

And news, Wanda has been bred to Sage's brother, Ghan (said Han), so hopefully there will be puppies. If so, I apologize if this thread gets just too cute for awhile.

I'm keeping my Easter eggs from the last thread, because they amuse me. For most of the images here, if you click on them they will take you to something on Youtube. So here's how I'm doing mid year. The dog is far behind the rabbit. I'm not going to meet that goal, 1/2 the books off the shelves. Alas.

And I'd like to take a moment to honor David Hartwell who passed this February. He was a long-time editor for Tor, well known for both his ties and his horror collections and best of sf collections. He started The New York Review of Science Fiction because he felt the industry needed criticism, literary criticism, to help it grow. I met him a few years ago when he was a guest at Diversicon, and I actually have a few of his ties that I got at the Diversicon auction. Sadly, not as flashy as the tie he has on in this picture. He broadened my understanding of horror, from something I didn't like much to something I love - now that I know that Faulkner and Flannery O'Connor also wrote horror, stories that threaten the core of the main character's identity.

Get your butt moving, dog!

Spanish Language books
1. El Mal Principio by Lemony Snicket
2. The Censors by Luisa Valenzuela Second section - One Siren or Another
3. Las criaturas del más allá by R.L. Stine
4. Cuentos Infantiles clasicos on audio
5. La Otra Vida de Caz

My favorite Spanish Language reading is Blacksad. I've read them all, but I've heard rumors that there may be another one soon.

visited 43 states (19.1%)
Create your own visited map of The World

And this year's Literary trip is too: The east side of South America, including Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay, Brazil, Surinam, Guyana and French Guyana. Too many countries, but I'm thinking it will be virtually impossible to find translated fiction from the little three on the top bulge of South America. I hear that there are free ebooks from www.ebook.visitbrasil.com I'll have to check it out when I'm ready.

1. Kamchatka by Marcelo Figueras Argentina's dirty war
2. short story - "Arnold" by Astrid Roemer Suriname
3. The Seamstress Brazil
4. The Seamstress
5. Papillon French Guiana & Venezuela
6. Papillon

And of course, no trip is complete without the music.

este minuto



A note on the Easter egg - Remember the cute little 20something guy that I told you I wanted to pinch his cheeks/ The one that is one of the most popular singers in Argentina, Andres Calamaro. Well this is a song by his younger brother (my exact age) Javier Calamara, and Andres helps him out. Dig the Condor at the end of the song.

Possibles:
The Seamstress by Frances de Pontes Peebles Brazil
Eduardo Galeano Uruguay Voices of Time and several other books available through library
Augusto Roa Bastos Paraguay
Astrid Roemer Surinam
Beryl Gilroy, John Agard, Grace Nichols, Jan Shinebourne, Cyril Dabydeen, Sasenarine Persaud, and David Dabydeen. Guyana

Oops! This is a sadly neglected category. And I doubt I'm going to change the video for this one. It's hard to beat OKgo's White Knuckles. Impressive dog handling. And fun.

Animal/Human behavior:
1. When Pigs Fly
2. A Beautiful Mind
3. Hunting Eichmann by Neal Bascomb
4. Clicker Training for Dogs
5. How dogs learn

Sage


Possibles:
The Feeling of What Happens

Future Problem Solving

This section is for books that I read to prepare my students for Future Problem Solving. The subjects for 2017 are Educational Disparities, It's All in the Genes, 3D Printing, and Identity Theft. I wish they were in the opposite order though. Educational Disparities is optional, Identity Theft is State. I'm leaving the song the same as it was on the last thread because, honestly, I can't think of anything that suits them more.



My two individuals at the 2016 State Competition. One of the boys made it all the way to internationals as a MAGIC competitor. A MAGIC competitor is someone who has competed as an individual who competes on a team made up of kids from all over. And yes, it really was international. I competed as a MAGIC competitor too, and had someone from Portugal on my team.

1. Slow Apocalypse
2. The Travels of the T-shirt in the Global Economy
3.
4.
5.

Possibles:

Diversicon


Jessica Amanda Salmonson was the GoH for 2016 and she was refreshing. I got to spend quite a bit of time from her and the talk ranged from Victorian women horror writers, used book stores owned by wonderfully eccentric people, to her chihuahuas. She lives with three.

This section is for anything I feel I need to read to prepare for this year's convention. Or next years. Or that I read because of the convention.

The easter egg video is of a past posthumous guest. He's an interesting one.

1. The Dark Worlds of HP Lovecraft: Volume 2
2. Barrow
3. A Planet For Rent by Yoss
4. Super Extra Grande by Yoss
5. The Disfavored Hero
6. Saga: Volume one
7. A Legend of the Future by Agustin de Rojas

To Be Read:
1.

John Till and Paula Fleming used to do a Latino Science Fiction and Fantasy talk at Diversicon. Then Paula moved on and John and I planned to keep it up. However, it's fallen through two years in a row. This year John and I had great fun about the Yoss books from Restless Books' series of Cuban Science Fiction. Next year, we plan to do a panel on Agustin de Rojas, who has returned from Russia to Cuba, even though he says Fidel Castro doesn't exist. Never existed. ??? I'll have to see if I can find out more about this. I wouldn't be shocked to hear someone say he is dead and they are using impersonators to hide it from the world, but never existed?

YA (Young Adult)
My most common tag, with 161 entries. I'm sure it's more than that if I went through my tags and cleaned it up so YA, ya, and Young Adult was all the same category.

1. Chasing Secrets
2. Minion
3. These Shallow Graves by Jennifer Donnelly
4. Joey Pigza Swallows the Key
5. I am a Taxi
6. The 39 Clues: The Maze of Bones

Fantasy, ya or not

1. Goblin Secrets
2. The Real Boy
3. The Wee Free Men
4. Doll Bones
5. What we found in the sofa and how it saved the world
6. Flight by Sherman Alexie
8. Bunnicula

Short Stories and Essays
This category surprises me. I had no idea that I owned so many short story collections.

1. Slasher Girls and Monster Boys
2. Think Indian
3. Tales by Amiri Baraka
4. from The Weird Compendium
The Man in the Bottle - Gustav Meyrink
The Dissection - Georg Heym
The Hungry Stones - Rabindranath Tagore
The People of the Pit - A. Merritt
The Hell Screen - Ryunosuke Akutagawa
Unseen - Unfeared
The Penal Colony - Franz Kafka
The White Weyrak
The Night Wire
The Dunwich Horror
The Book
The Mainz Psalter
The Shadowy Street

5. Guys Read: Thriller including
The Snake Mafia by Gennifer Choldenko

6. From long hidden
Free Jim's Mine
F f y d d spell check doesn't like this title
Numbers
Each Part Without Mercy

7. The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

8. from Guys Read
Plan B
The Klack Brothers Museum
Best of Friends

Science Fiction
No surprise here.

1. Slow Apocalypse
2. Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
3. Restaurant at the End of the Universe
4. So Long and Thanks for All the Fish
5. Space Station Rat by Michael J Daley
6. Dirk Gentley's Holistic Detective Agency
7. Long, Dark Tea-Time of the Soul

Classics
Defined as anything written before I was born. I'm not telling you how old I am, but yup, I'm turning a classic age this year.

1. The Spy who Loved Me
2. Maurice
3. The Religious Body
4. We Have Always Lived in a Castle
5. Seven Years in Tibet
6. The Wind in the Willows



Possibles
Sense and Sensibility
A room with a view
Trollope?
The Master and Margarita

Earthquakes!!! Tag kindly supplied by Terry.



1. In Darkness by Nick Lake is a Printz award novel about Haiti.
2. The Night of the Howling Dogs

Possibles:

Tagmash = Dogs, Mystery brought to me by MathGirl40! Thanks Paulina!



1. Dog on It
2. Woof
3. Howliday Inn

Possibles:

Poirot Loses a Client
A Cat was involved followed by Dog on It

Historical Fiction mashed with Journeys, courtesy of DeltaQueen!



1. A Single Shard
2. The Dead in their Vaulted Arches
3. Cold Mountain

Possibles:
La Linea
Where the Mountain Meets the Moon
Ship Fever
Bridge of Birds
The Sisters Brothers
A Far Off Place

Midwestern Noir - Chosen by Kay - Sam Spade in Minnesota! You betcha.
Noir = hardboiled detectives started in the 1940s



1. A Hell of a Woman by Jim Thompson
2. Twin Cities Noir

Possibles:

Mr White's Confession by Robert Clark
Dresden Files

Autobiography, chosen by Paul Cranswick who visited from the 75ers



Yup, Dave King's musical autobiography is the video. Well, he did change a few factual details for the audience...

Your tag-mash here:

1. When I was Puerto Rican
2. Don't Let us go to the dogs tonight
3. Pumpkinflowers

Possibles:
The road from Coorain
Teacher Man

Tag mash Mental Illness, Adventure courtesy of Rachel!



1. Small as an Elephant
2. The Haunting of Hill House

Possibles
Slaughterhouse Five
Fingersmith

Randomly picked from the piles of books in my living room

1. The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox
2. Rez Life


(I am a Taxi)

Miscellaneous!

1. The Reptile Room
2. The Wide Window
3. 13 Words
4. File Under: 13 Suspicious Incidents

21

22

And the last few comments from the old thread, because this is still news!

Diversicon was last weekend. Our panel on Yoss, This is the Universe: Speak Spanglish Here, went well but we only had two audience members who thought we were going to be speaking about language, not Cuban SF. We were up against the guest of honor reading and the State of the Universe.

#54 The Disfavored Hero by our GoH, Jessica Amanda Salmonson was three novellas hiding as a novel. The were each very different. The first was a samurai horror novella, the second more like a supernatural hero tale where we meet both unlikely villains and unlikely helpers along the way, the third was a Japanese flavored tale that could have been from the Arabian Nights. Very enjoyable, and FYI, I was reading it during summer school and summarized each day's reading to the kids. They were into it.

#55 Saga, Volume one is an adult (very adult) graphic novel about two people on opposite sides of a war who fall in love and have a baby. But of course, both sides are after them and will follow them through the whole universe to stop them - even though all they want to do is get out of the war. Beautiful illustration. I think I'll read more, but it isn't as compelling to me as Blacksad that I miss enough that I may go back and buy the ones I've read in English in Spanish.

Here's an image of Marko, the happy dad.

Anyone found a good image hosting site? I've had trouble with google and facebook and photobucket. This is from an unrestricted fb album. Let me know if you have trouble seeing it.


This is Wanda checking out the future father of her puppies, Ghan.

Sage has had a tough time lately. He got his tail caught in a door so the tip had to be amputated. Maybe he'll become cone-free next Tuesday, but in the mean time...

I think it is safe?! I will come back later to see what has been filled in. :)

LOL, Berly!!! Yes it's safe! I think I'm going to take days to move into this thread though! I've been putting it off. So I must have something worse to put off today!

LOL. Here, let me help...

That's exactly how I feel! I've got too many books and too many thoughts to cram into one moving van! Thanks.

*gets front row seat for puppies!!!*

Happy new thread! Glad to hear your Diversicon panel went well.

And isn't it funny how we set categories and then during the year realize, "I really need a category on *different subject* next year!" This year I read (and added to the TBR list) so many books about boats. Should have had a boat category.

A lovely new thread and Puppies to look forward to!

Happy new thread.

Thanks everyone! I was afraid that if I started a new thread, no one would come by! I've changed the images and videos for everything up to the tag mashes, but sleep calls. And Sage too. He's very clutzy with the cone on his head and trapped himself in the bathroom. Now he's all upset and wanting attention! So from Earthquakes on will just have to wait for another day to have an update. October is coming up. I think it kind of subconsciously added a goth air to the thread!

Happy new thread!

Hi Birgit!!!

I think I'm moved in now. Got new pics and new videos for the pics! I'll be tired tomorrow!

I'm "reading" Joey Pigza Swallowed the Key on audio. First time I read it was right when I was beginning to work in the schools and I thought it was hysterical, believable in an extreme sort of way, but hysterical. Now I'm finding it sort of sad. This poor kid really is doing the best he can, and even though his teachers and relatives are trying to be nice (most of the time), he is still getting the message "Something is wrong with you. You are not okay." Sigh

Congrats on the new thread (and the puppies)!

Happy new thread! It was interesting reading about Diversicon. I'm an SFF fan myself and would love to attend one day, though it is a little far from my home.

Happy New Thread!

Yay for impending puppies!

>25 cammykitty: Shame Saga didn't quite grab you but I know how you feel. I'm having a similar encounter with another of the author's titles that's generally well regarded, Y: The Last Man. I have persevered for a few volumes and while it's okay it's not providing any wow factor. I do quite like Saga though.

Hi everyone! Thanks for visiting. Wolfy, I enjoyed Saga a lot. It's just at $10 for each volume, maybe not. If I saw the next one at the library, I'd grab it.

#56 on audio, Joey Pigza Swallows the Key. It had a happy ending. I didn't remember that, because in the following books, he's just as troubled and wired. Okay, maybe not as wired. Very realistic story about a kid with severe ADD trying to get it under control while also dealing with a lot of disruption in his family life. I find the chair scene hard to believe now, but maybe somewhere they might try that. The rest of the Special Ed room sounded realistic, but what we would call a DCD room in our district.

This is Sage defending me from unseen DIY power tools in use next door. Hopefully, his stitches come out today and we will have a new, although shorter, tail.

Puppies?!?!

Sorry, I skipped everything else on the thread. Priorities, you know. :)

Oh and poor Sage - give him some cuddles from us. :)

Eva, LOL!!! Yes, puppies!!!! & Sage appreciates your cuddles. The tail amputation isn't healing the way it should. So he's got more time in the cone.

Aw, poor Sage. One should not have to spend more in the cone of shame than absolutely necessary.

Yes poor guy. & it's a stinky breath amplifier.

>48 cammykitty:
Haha! Didn't think of that! :)

Awww, poor Sage! I hope he is out of the cone soon.

Hi Eva and RP - I'll give you all a Sage update tomorrow. He's going in for a bandage change, and hopefully they can see if it's healing right. But it had been healing right... He actually doesn't mind the comfy cone much. Prefers it to a gentle leader. What does that tell you?

Anyway, books: I finished up A Legend of the Future today by Agustin de Rojas, a Cuban writer. John and I are planning to do a panel on him next year. As for finding biographical info on him, looks like we may only find teasers. He's not on the English version of Wikipedia but is included in the Spanish one. The book was a 3 1/2 star read??? Maybe 4 if it gets bonus points for being from a rare perspective, Cuban, although personally I think Yoss is more representative of Cuba. de Rojas lived much of his life in Russia and was heavily influenced by Russian SF writers, especially the Strugatskys. Legend is a space opera, socialist style. The crew has been specially picked and trained to act as a group. Many groups are trained, but most of them fail in some way. Usually not by not working as a group. Most of the groups stay together for life. They fail by not having quite the right skill set for space exploration. So this is kind of a thought experiment on what happens to a tight knit group when faced by an emergency that includes the death of some of its members.

>51 cammykitty: This sounds interesting!

>51 cammykitty: That does sound interesting!

>51 cammykitty: You could have kept A Legend of the Future for next month. Fits in well with the SFFKIT.

I don't read much SF that 's been translated into English so it's one I should bear in mind as the only other review on LT is a positive one.

LOL, Wolfy - I'm sure I'll be reading some other Science Fiction next month. There really isn't that much SF&F that has been translated into English. Not that it isn't being written. I just think that it isn't considered "literary" enough to being translated a lot.

Victoria & Birgit - If you do read it, I'll be interested to know what you think. Aparently it is the middle of a trilogy. But it didn't seem to start in the middle of things.

In short stories, I just reread Franz Kafka's The Penal Colony. Yuck. Brilliant, but a very very high ick factor. I can't believe it was written in 1919 because it seems prescient of Nazi Germany.

And in dog news, Sage lost his bandage at 4:00 am running around outside, so he scuttled around the house trying to hide from me because I was trying to put a temporary bandage on him. Then we cuddled while I made certain sure he hadn't figured out a way around the cone and kept him from his tail. And finally, it was morning and we ran to the vet where they rebandaged it, prescribed yet another antibiotic and refilled his pain killers. Poor boy!

Kafka can definitely go to some dark places. I've read Metamorphosis, but that's about it, and I keep meaning to read more of his work.

Metamorphosis is a happy vacation spot compared to The Penal Colony!

>56 cammykitty:
Aw, little buddy. Hope the medicine and nature work fast to heal him!

Thanks, Eva! His spirits are good, but yes, we are already to be done with the Comfy Cone. And the every two day vet visits. After this is done, we will be visiting the vet to do some classical conditioning. You go to the vet, get chicken or ham or something yummy, step on the scale and go home.

Book news, I started reading Papillon, all 500+ pages or 1000+ if you go by the e-book count. I picked it up for my country category, being the closest thing to a book from French Guiana I could find. And I thought it was written by a Venezuelan too, so double bonus. That's a country I haven't been able to find either. In truth, it doesn't really fit either category. It is written by a French man who was sentenced to life imprisonment in French Guiana. I was expecting a Gulag Archipelago sort of story, and am delighted to say it isn't. Not much time was spent in French Guiana before our Frenchman organized an escape. After that, it turns into a weird combo of adventure tale and travelogue. As for French Guiana, sounds like much of its history is as a penal colony, so I'm going to let Papillon stand as a representative of that country - and there isn't even a dot of color representing it on the map I'm using! The Falkland Islands shows up, but I certainly can't see anything for Guiana.

And thinking ahead to next year. I'll be pretty much done with the Spanish speaking countries, so I think I'll read something from Portugal and visit Southern Europe while I'm at it, which according to someplace on the net is Italy, Andorra, Macedonia, Gibraltar, Greece, France, Spain, Portugal, Albania, Serbia, Kosovo, Montenegro, Slovenia, Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina.

Wow, I'm happy and sunburned. Wanda is very full. We were at Minnesota Irish Fair. She spent the mornings in the Native Dogs tent, then we wandered by the river, she went home and I soaked up some music. Here's a photo of Wanda and a young Irish-American lass.

Yeah! LT is back up!!!

#58-59 Papillion pretty much completes South America for me, with French Guiana and Venezuela. I still need Uruguay, Paraguay and Guyana but I'm satisfied with the way it is now. Papillion was a joy to read. It was published as fiction but it is really an embellished memoir of a man who was sentenced to life in the penal colonies of France. At first I thought it was going to be like Gulag Archipelago but it really wasn't. It became almost a comedy of errors or a travelogue crossed with an adventure tale as our man, Papillion, tried again and again to escape.

60 - off the shelves! And the animal/human behavior category which I struggle with - partly because of books like Getting Started: Clicker training for dogs. Yup, I've already done all the activities outlined in this book because I've been training dogs over ten years. That said, it is a great little book that outlines the basics on how you clicker train. Once you understand the "why" of what she tells you to do, basically, your unstoppable. She did have a few approaches that were new or clarifying for me, and a couple paragraphs that I wish I could memorize to tell my students because she says it better than I do.

book rehoming going well today. Sent two off through bookmooch and stuck two in someone's little free library. Picked up one a few days ago from the little free library, so don't think the book population isn't growing in this house. It just isn't growing as fast as it could.

I need to get rid of quite a bit myself and take forever to do it. Congrats for finding new homes/outlets for yours. Love all the dog pictures =)

Erin, thanks for stopping by! Hopefully next year we can convince you to make the category thread your home. As for lowering the bookage around here, ha ha! My LT Anniversary bookmooches have started showing up. I now have The Good Soldier, Dona Perfecta and The Power of One and a Diversicon purchase arrived What Did Miss Darrington See. Glad Miss D showed up before Halloween It's a collection of classic Gothic short stories by women.

#61 - also of the shelves - I was going to put this in "Classics" but at the last moment moved it to mental illness, adventures tag mash. The Haunting of Hill House. I haven't decided whether or not the house was haunted, working through someone "open" to poltergeist phenomenon or not, but yes, we certainly had an unreliable narrator. Eleanor definitely didn't see/experience the world as most people do. She was certainly unloved, and I'd say there's even an argument from the text that she was abused. Possibly. Before I read this, I had listened to a talk on Shirley Jackson's work and one person had suggested that Hill House was all Eleanor. Possibly. From a scientific point of view, it bothered me that they all knew what to "expect" from the house before they had even stayed in it, but that's a trope of haunted house literature. and the Dr's account of the house was discredited. Definitely a shuddery, enjoyable book. Very psychological.

Puppy news. Wanda went to vet today and he felt 3 puppies in her abdomen, which means she may be carrying 5 - 9 pups. Everything is going well. Sage is jealous because Wanda is getting extra yummy food. ;) But she had a couple morning sickness days, so she deserves it.

Holy moly, that's a lot of puppies! And they will all be adorable.

Thanks RP - plenty of photos over here eventually

Do I have my count screwed up? Oh well. Either way, the rabbit has met its goal and the dog is lagging woefully behind. There's all ya need to know about the statistics.

#62 in the Classics section We Have Always Lived in a Castle - Brrrr... I've done my Halloween reading already! Shirley Jackson is a master of claustrophobic, small town, psychological messed up stuff. It isn't hard to figure out who did what in We-Castle, but wow, it's an interesting ride and so much is left in between the lines. Can't say too much without spoiling this, but if you want a creepy read for October, this one should be on your short list.

#63 in the YA/MG category I am a Taxi by Deborah Ellis is interesting, but not as compelling or well written as her novel The Breadwinner. Like The Breadwinner, it takes a child from an unusual place in the world (Bolivia) and follows them through a very difficult situation. Diego's parents are in prison for allegedly smuggling coca paste. He is living in a cell in the women's prison along with his mother and baby sister. Then his friend talks him into a mysterious "something" that isn't smuggling that will make them lots of money. Yup, processing coca into cocaine. I actually found the prison section more interesting than the drug industry section, partly because it is a less familiar setting than kids being used in the drug industry. I almost wish she had written the novel around his problems in prison instead. The other problem that became obvious in the drug section was a bunch of "as you know, Bobs", in other words a bunch of sections where a character explains something to another character that the other character already knows, just because the reader needs to know. It felt clumsy and took me out of the psychological side of the novel. Of course, 4th grade readers won't be so bothered by that, at least not on a conscious level. But ultimately it pointed out a weakness in the novel; that it was written to explain a political situation rather than to explore the minds of the characters.

>68 cammykitty:
Congrats on the puppies-to-come!

Eva, thanks! Wanda is a hungry mama right now! She's started to steal my food, so by the time she's due... I'll lose weight for every pound she gains. ;) I'm both excited and scared.

Best wishes to mama-dog Wanda in the upcoming pup-birth!

How is Sage? Besides jealous, that is?

Hi Terry! Sage is fabulous and enjoying life much more now that the cone of shame is off! His tail is just a little bit stumpier and is still good at clearing things off tables. Wanda is looking chunkier and she's insanely hungry, even though the vet told me she'd already gained all the weight she needed too. Last night, she stole three cans of unopened dog food, carried them into the bedroom, and then managed to chew her way into one and was eating happily while I was wondering why she hadn't come to the door to go outside. She's eating tin cans?

64, 65, 66 - I've been babysitting kids that love to read, and also have had a little cold, so lots of reading time. Then it's back to school where I'll fall off the face of the earth again.

64. Guys Read: Thriller is a group of short stories chosen for boys by Jon Scieska. He's done a real great job editing this series and I don't think there's a clunker in the lot. Although I have the admit, I'll probably never read Guys Read: Sports.

65. Twin Cities Noir from the Akashic Noir series. Dark crime stories set all over Minneapolis and St. Paul. Some of them were better at getting the feel for the Twin Cities than others, such as "Mai-Nu's Window" and "If You Harm Us." Very good set of stories, although some were light weight compared to the other. I would recommend reading it a bit at a time because after awhile I got a little sick of knowing someone was going to be murdered soon.

66. What we found in the sofa and how it saved the world Silly

One of my favorite stories about my Yellow Lab, Topaz, was how Monsieur caught the tip of her tail in the sliding glass door. He has a problem with seeing blood and here he was having to deal with blood spraying all over as she could not stop wagging to save her life. The hallway to the bathroom looking like a scene from CSI. He couldn't stop the bleeding so he finally just put her out on the deck and closed the door. When I came home from picking up the kiddos at school, he opened the garage door and announced, "She's YOUR dog!" We all packed up in the car with Monsieur holding a towel on her tail as we went off to the vet's. For those of you who aren't aware, the tip of the tail is one of those places that is very hard to stop bleeding. To stop it the vet had to nip a little bit of the tailbone off and stitch the skin over the wound. We did not have to put a cone on her head but we were extremely vigilant making sure the bandage stayed on until the tail healed. The vet said we were lucky. He had a Great Dane who wouldn't heal and almost lost his whole tail. I can still see her standing at the door with her tail waving back and forth and drops of blood flying all over. I miss her terribly.

>76 cammykitty:
Wow, through tin cans! Those are some impressing chompers! :)

Mamzel - wow! That's what we call Happy Tail! A scene from CSI is right! I wonder how many forensic people have had to rule out dog "painting" from a real murder scene spatter pattern! Poor Monsieur! Funny thing is the dogs seem to act as though it's just a little scrape.

Eva, yes!!! And I have to throw out the cans right away now because she's acting like they are all rawhides! Even if they are empty.

67. In Fantasy Flight by Sherman Alexie - what a strange tale, realistic yet not with that bitter edge we expect from

68. Rick Riordan's contribution to The 39 Clues, the first one, The Maze of Bones. I liked this much more than the other 39 clues I read, which I think may have been the second one. I can see why kids really get into this, but if they are of inconsistent quality, I'll only read them when I want something light and escapist to read. I don't really want to invest in a series that isn't absolutely top notch.

>80 cammykitty:
Preggers-cravings can apparently take any odd shape they wish. :)

Eva - Apparently!!! When they raided the fridge, I noticed some cucumbers went missing - Couldn't open the pickle jar?

>83 cammykitty:
Hahaha!!!!!!!!

Glad Sage has healed up finally and congrats to Wanda and you! Puppies!! Also thanks for the creepy October books suggestions. ; )

Hi Berly!!! Puppies are here! 5 grrls, all huge for puppies, 8 days old today. I'll post photos when I have energy.

Congratulations on the girl puppies!

Wow! How exciting! I guess I never realized how short the gestation period was in dogs. You barely have time to set up all the cribs and car seats :)

Ooooo! The puppies are 'ere! The puppies are 'ere! :D

/101 Dalmatians reference

Yippers!

Let's see if this photo will post. Pups are about a week old in this photo.


And a close up

Can people see the photos above?

Sorry I haven't been here much. So here's the excuses. Puppies!!! School has started and I'm working two jobs. Car totaled. I'm okay, but must start car shopping soon. Puppies!!! And here's the really bad one. I'm surprised at how much this is affecting me. I'm tired and a little off my food from this. One of the 8th graders at our school was murdered about a week ago. His little sister too, and his mother is in the hospital. Murderer killed himself after all this. At least we don't have to worry about a killer in our community. The thing that makes it really difficult is watching the other students react to this. They've been troopers, especially his close friends. But I don't know how much they know about what really happened, so we have to be really careful talking about it. Hopefully we can get some positive energy going from this tragedy.

In reading news, read The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. Sherlock sure was a conceited a.....e. I'm sure these wouldn't have survived if it weren't for the character of Watson.

Also read Seven Years in Tibet and have chosen to put it in classics even though it could fit in other categories as well. Slow start to this memoir about a German POW during WWII escaping to Tibet and becoming a member of the community there. Very intriguing picture of pre Red China invasion. An odd mix of technologically backwards, inventive, corrupt and idealistic, cruel and generous. The 14th Dalai Lama has definitely adapted and changed much of Tibetan culture to allow it to survive in a less isolated, and certainly more spread out, place in the world. Very worth reading even though the Tibet described no longer exists and sounds almost as unrealistic as the world built in a Sword and Sorcery novel.

Yes - I can see the pictures. They were very big yesterday when I stopped in, but they are in better proportion today. (at least for me). New puppies sleeping are so adorable.

There's just seems to be more and more violence everywhere. No one is immune and with social media the way it is, it's so much more available. Hope the kiddies get some good counselling.

The puppies look adorable. Sorry to hear that life has been so rough!

How awful! That's a traumatic event on its own, and I imagine that being concerned for the other students and how much they know would add another layer of worry to your basket. Seconding Betty's thoughts on hoping that the kids have some good counselling and support, and I hope the puppies continue to bring you lots of joy.

(the pictures look fine, by the way!)

>92 cammykitty: Sad to hear of those traumatic events. It's bound to have an effect on anyone who knew them. Being in the position that you're in is going to generate protective feelings for the other kids but make sure you look after yourself too.

Hope the car shopping goes well and that the puppies continue to thrive.

Puppies! So cute!

My goodness, so much happening with you! The puppies look delightful and I am sure they are just the perfect things to cuddle with when the bad stuff comes along. Terrible news about the murder of such young children, it's hard to even begin to understand violence like that.

What an awful thing, the murder of such young children! It seems that there's violence everywhere. It's unnerving to read about it from afar; must be horrible to have it so close at hand.

I'm glad that at least you have the sweet puppies to give you something positive to think about! How adorable!

What an awful event - for everyone involved or near. Give those adorable puppies all the love and hugs you have to give! And mama too, of course.

What absolutely sweet puppies! I'm so glad you have them there to balance out the sadness.

What a terrible thing to happen at your school. I'm glad, though, to hear that the puppies are keeping you busy.

Thanks for all the kind words. They help more than you can know. I keep thinking I've moved on, and then I do something weird like watch The Amityville Horror and then think real life is far worse than that. At least in the Horror, the people can blame the house for the violence. In this world, what? Mental illness? Or extreme anger? Alcohol? I don't know. I didn't know him real well, but he's becoming a symbol of all the kids in the school for me. You'd love to protect them, but at the end of the day, they go home to who knows what. Some good, some bad. And as a teacher, all you can really do is teach.

On to more cheerful subjects. I've been doing a bit of fractured reading - several guys read stories that are all wonderful. I'm picking away at The Arabian Nights. If I finish it this year, that will have been three years in the reading. And from Lemony Snickett's urgings, Wind in the Willows. I've read it before, and for some reason it wasn't as charming this time around. Toad is really... immature. duh. Ha ha!

As for the puppies, I'm really going to miss them when they go on to their forever homes. They are staying with the breeder, but I go over there any time I can, even if the breeder is going to bed and ignoring me. I feel a bit like a house guest and a bit like family. Wanda, my dog, is losing her manners! She's becoming so hungry, but picky hungry, that she's jumping up to swipe the last bit of pizza crust from plates or licking the pans that are on the counter. They feed her tons, and lots of people food, but she's lactating and has lost all her puppy weight. I can't blame her for being voracious.

And the puppies have put on every ounce that Wanda has lost. They started out huge and seem to be growing super fast, unusually fast. For example, Irish Water Spaniels first open their eyes just a little bit and you can see something that looks like a big pupil. Then they get blue irises. Then the blue slowly turns to hazel, then brown and gets darker as they get older, maybe not even getting their true color until the dog is older than two years. These pups appear to be skipping right over the blue stage! They are turning 4 weeks old tomorrow, and their eyes are already gray or greenish brown. And they have beautiful coats! And they like exploring the world now. So, I'll quit talking about them and give you a puppy pic. This one is from last week, at three weeks old.

AWWWWWWWW!!!

I can almost smell that wonderful puppy smell here! She look so soft and cuddly.

>103 cammykitty:
Ooh my goodness!!!!!!!!!

>103 cammykitty:
Sooooooo cuuuuteeee.

Thanks all for stopping by and admiring my cute little pink grrl. She is adorable. They are all adorable. Tomorrow, I'm puppysitting all day so I'll bring you more pics.

sorry world

>109 cammykitty:
Ug. :(

Sorry I haven't been around much, but I wanted to say Happy Thanksgiving!



The grrlls forgot to say grace, but they are thankful for everything!

Happy Thanksgiving, Katie. Those pups look to be growing fast!

Love all the puppy pictures!!! They are absolutely beautiful. : ) Sorry about all the rest. But great puppies!!

Awwww! I want to snorgle all those puppies!!! Give them extra cuddles for me. Happy Thanksgiving!

>111 cammykitty: Happy Thanksgiving to you too. Great photo!

They're lovely! And belated Happy Thanksgiving!

>111 cammykitty:
A whole bundle of cuddles! Lovely!

Thanks everyone!!! Ms Yellow has gone to her forever home and we've been hearing updates from her new owner. Green is going tomorrow. Here's a group photo from a couple weeks ago.


As for reading, I finished Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency and Long, Dark Tea Time of the Soul a few weeks ago and have been slowly watching the TV series. Loved the first one, amused by the third, the TV show is "inspired by" but certainly not the same Dirk Gently. So far I'm liking it, but I'm a bit afraid it might be going the way of Lost - in other words, I don't trust that the writers know where they are going with it.

Also finished a Spanish translation of an Orca book. Orca is a Canadian imprint that publishes hi-low books for "reluctant readers." I hated this one. It follows an EBD girl who gets switched to a different school because she's been fighting, finds herself in her first special ed class of her life, starts running with an EBDier girl who likes shoplifting and picking on girls who are vulnerable and not all there. And a predictable event happens. The girl who they pick on the most commits suicide. Guilt happens. I don't think it was the greatest book to start with, but I'm certainly not at a place in my life where I can appreciate a book like this. Too close to home. But, that completes my Spanish Language section! Oh, the book has a name. La Otra Vida de Caz by Tanya Lloyd Kyi.

They are definitely cute!

>118 cammykitty: Great picture!

Bittersweet day today! Green Grrrrll, my pick of the puppies, fell asleep on my lap while we were waiting for her new daddy to find us at the airport. Here she is.

Aww! What a sweet face!

>121 cammykitty: At first I thought that was one of those airplane pillows around her neck! I'm sure the new dad fell in love with her in an instant!

So much puppy cuteness. Happy Holidays to you as well!

Thanks everyone! All but the local one have left, and I'm two days without my happy pills and sitting here with a pile of tissues. ! Hah! Well, it is true. The last grrl is going to stay with me for awhile while who knows what happens. The Dad's breeder is getting her. The breeder is out of town briefly, but then she's trying to find a home for her that will show her and allow her to be bred a couple times. I'd love to, but Sage and Wanda aren't getting enough attention as it is. And all of this is a game of telephone, because I haven't actually spoken to her so don't know how long pink is going to be here, what her real name is, or if I should make suggestions of possible owners. There is someone I know at TCOTC (but not the name of the person!) who does agility with a border collie, is an excellent trainer and has told me she has "Irish Water Spaniel Envy" because she's seen Liz and Jen's IWSs do agility. She'd be the perfect person. Anyway, time to get the happy pill prescription filled. ;)

Oh, they're so precious! How hard it must be to let them go to their forever-homes!!

ETA: until they become annoying teenagers, that is... :)

LOL, Eva. I have one with me that I'm going to care for until the Holidays are over and I go from "I'm such a horrible mommy. I don't have enough time for her." to "She's so sweet" to "she doesn't cuddle anymore" to "OMG she's pooping again!" She does deserve a better home than this. I know how to provide a good home, but I'm working way too much. And the other dogs deserve attention too.

So just finished reading How Dogs Learn. Good book, but it doesn't get so much into the mind of dogs. It goes over standard learning theories such as operant conditioning, but it does this as thoroughly as any book I've run into. Good solid advice on dogs when it gives it, but it provides more the skeleton of how to train than how to handle x type of problem. Which is cool. If you got this stuff down, you can train for anything. The thing I loved about it was that it took human child behavior to explain dog behavior. Historically, it's the other way around. The psychologists experimented on dogs because it was borderline or outright unethical to do it on children.

FYI, in 2017 I'm planning on doing 75ers. I know a lot of you do both, but I can't keep up with two groups. I can barely keep up with one, so perhaps I'm setting myself up for failure. I'm going to keep a couple category goals - 5 Spanish language, 5 dog/human behavior, 5 from Southern Europe. Otherwise, I'll follow my muse.

>127 cammykitty: Drop us a link to your 75ers thread once you set up shop there, so we can keep you starred! :)

I certainly will RP, and I'll visit you guys too. I'll probably be back to Category in 2018. I'm expected to be run over like a beat up ford against a fleet of Ferraris.

Finished "reading" Bunnicula a few days ago. Awesome bedtime companion on audio, except the part where the mother decides to combine the names "BunBun" and "Dracula" "Bunny-Cula." If you know Spanish, she says it much more like the Spanish word for "Tail" than the North American name for a certain male Vampire. And yes, in Spanish "tail" has the same vulgar meaning that it has in English... So for a moment, I' have the image of one of Hugh Hefner's wives in my mind.

Taking the morning to play catch-up on all the threads in the group.

Sorry to read about Sage's tail news but YAY for puppies! Sorry to see that your October was such a busy and intense time for you.

We will miss you, Katie, but glad to hear you will drop in to visit. Good luck over at the 75 Group.

Lori & Judy, thanks for stopping by! Of course I'll keep in touch with the Category group.

Finished Howliday Inn today. I don't think I've read this Bunnicula before. Of course it was cute, and I liked the cat/dog sleuthing team. Chester and Harold get stuck in The Chateau Bow Wow while their family goes on vacation, and of course something ain't right. I think I'm too much into getting the facts right for writing this kind of light-hearted fantasy. Of course dogs and cats can read and reason, but the kennel details got me! However, having worked in a doggy day care (glorified kennel), I have to say they got a few things wrong. 1. Too few guests. 9 animals wouldn't pay for the building rent. 2. I can see someone boarding their preggie and due any day pure bred bitch if a family emergency came up, but only at a vet's office! OMG, not at a place like this with only 2 twenty-something twits as staff. 3. No one takes a puppy home that isn't even a week old. That said, it is completely accurate that all the dogs and cats know how to get out of their "bungalows" ie cages. And yes, someone has to howl all night. And yes, there usually isn't staff on at night. So yes, good entertainment but no it isn't really an accurate picture of how a kennel works. But did we think it would be?

And just so you don't think my brain has revolted on me and reverted to nine years old, I am reading Emma right now but finding it a bit of a slow go just because Emma isn't terribly likable. But I knew she wouldn't be.

Merry Christmas Katie and good luck over in the 75s. Maybe I'll stop by.

Betty, thanks! I'll keep visiting your thread. Hopefully 2017 will end up being a more relaxing year than 2016.

I am a philistine! I'm pearl ruling Emma. I just consulted with a friend who has read it and she said she didn't get into it like the other Austen novels. Then after I said, okay I'll watch the BBC production then, she spoilered it for me, which wasn't much of a spoiler because I'd figured both of those connections already and my response is "He deserved much better." LOL! Think I should abandon and watch BBC version instead. Perhaps an actress can make Emma far more forgivable/likable.

The best part about the Pearl Rule is the opportunity to move on to more interesting books! I hope your next read is better.

I will drop my star on your thread wherever you land!! : )

Hope you are enjoying the Holidays.

Cool Berly! I'm kind of looking forward to returning to 75ers. Been thinking of doing theme months, and going back and forth between dedicating January to our student who died last year or starting off on a more positive note - the resistance!!! In other words, starting off very politically. :)

I'd love a link to your 2017 thread so I can put my star! And wishing you a very Happy New Year.

Happy reading in 2017!

Thanks for stopping by Paruline and Paulina. My new thread in the 75ers is at https://www.librarything.com/topic/244638
Hope to see you there! I plan to drop in to the Category threads once in awhile and I'll probably be back in 2018. This year is probably going to be busy enough that I won't have energy to keep 2 threads going.