Feeds:
Posts
Comments

Posts Tagged ‘lupus’

Woundikins!

Posted in Thoughts on Books, Uncategorized, Writing and Reading, tagged , , , , on August 19, 2010| 8 Comments »

Call it malaise, or maybe ennui. Actually, I’m pretty sure it’s lupus mist. I think it started Monday when I showed up on time for my dentist’s appointment — but a week early. So I went on to the grocery store for supplies, and the heat index was like 107. I spent Tuesday in a daze, muttering, “This, too, shall pass,” Only it didn’t.

I managed to make it to an absolutely necessary appointment on Wednesday (yes, my hair is shorter), came home and collapsed. Books went unread, blog posts unwritten. I wanted to write about the Edward Gorey exhibit at the Orlando Museum of Art (“N is for Neville who died of ennui”), and tell you how wonderful I found Laura Lippman’s new novel, I’d Know You Anywhere. I thought — fleetingly — about the upcoming Katrina anniversary and some good hurricane books to recommend. Mostly I have been horizontal on the couch without the energy to put in a DVD or pick up the remote. I listened to paint dry on HGTV.

This has gone on long enough. Apparently not. You won’t believe how many typos I’ve corrected in these few paragraphs. Thank goodness for the dogwalker in the afternoons. It was 90something when we went out a few hours ago, and the humidity was like a soggy blanket. We didn’t go far. My legs hurt. I’m like Lucy, crabby as all get out. The cats want to be fed. As smart as they are, you’d think they could pour Purina in the dish. Oh, all right.

Woundikins! That’s my only accomplishment of the last 24 hours beyond the essential. Aimlessly surfing the web, I found savetheword.org, which is devoted to rescuing obsolete words before they go completely out of use. Move your cursor across the collage of words on the screen — words I can’t remember now, most I’ve never heard of — and the words talk to you: “Choose me!” “Over here!” “Me! Me! Me!” They’re begging to be adopted. I chose “woundikins,” which is either a mild oath in itself, dating from the 1800s, or referring to mild profanity. Like dadgum, or egads or, batcrap. Having adopted the word (I can now order a T-shirt), I’m supposed to use it in a sentence every day. So, I’ll be back when I don’t feel like woundikins.

Read Full Post »

So long farewell to L&O

Posted in Thoughts on TV, Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , , on May 24, 2010| 2 Comments »

chung-CHUNG! We interrupt this books blog to pay tribute to the television show Law & Order, which ends its original 20-year-run tonight with an episode involving a troubled blogger. Yikes! “‘Ripped from the headlines,” no doubt.

Seriously, I am a serious L&O fan and I think I have seen every episode at least once, and many multiple times, considering its ominipresence on cable. I was up at 5 Saturday morning to walk the dog and flipped on the TV. chung-Chung! Det. Lennie Briscoe was at the scene of yet another murder in New York’s fictional 27th district. When my cousins and I were writing our first Caroline Cousins mystery 10 years ago, we referenced L&O reruns as a reason for cable TV. One of our amateur sleuths is so addicted to L&O that she occasionally lapses into the lingo: “Hey, I’m the vic here!”

The leads have come and gone (and in some cases moved over to other L&Os — Special Victims Unit, Criminal Intent and the short Trial by Jury.) But creator Dick Wolf has sustained the mothership show’s symmetry: first half hour, the cops try to solve the case, second half, prosecuting attorneys follow up. Although “ripped from the headlines”  is often used in promos, the writers usually pull off fictional twists better than most true crimes.

In an SVU episode last year with similarities to the Casey Anthony case, a grandmother ran into the police station declaring her grandchild was missing. But then it turned out the child died from measles, and the law went after a mother who didn’t believe in vaccinations.

L&O in all its many versions and episodes has long been my go-to show on lupus fog days. If I fall asleep in the middle of one case and wake up in the middle of another, no problem. I’ve seen them enough to know the endings. Truth outs, although justice is not always served. Remember Ellen Pompeo pre-Grey’s Anatomy in the “Fool for Love” episode in which she played a character inspired by serial killer partner Karla Homolka?

The popularity of L&O has a lot to do with the appeal of a good mystery novel, be it police procedural, legal drama or some combination thereof. Crime is confined to a certain number of minutes or pages. Clues are discovered and deciphered. Questions asked and answered. Law and order is restored to an increasingly complicated world. We feel safer.

I will miss the original L&O, especially Jack McCoy. Wolf has hinted that he might bring it back as a movie, or it could be revived on cable. Meanwhile, SVU and CI continue, and come next fall, it’s Law & Order: Los Angeles. California, here I come. chung-CHUNG!

Read Full Post »

In a Fog

Posted in Thoughts on Books, Uncategorized, Writing and Reading, tagged , , , , , , on April 14, 2010| 18 Comments »

Shortly after I started writing this blog in January, someone suggested I write about lupus more.  No, I replied, the whole point of the blog was to get away from lupus. Having lupus is boring. I’ve been foggy and lightheaded and achy the last few days. Not surprising since I’d been going full-tilt boogie for a week or so, and this is the way my body responds when I’ve pushed myself too hard and tried to act like a well person.

That being said, I haven’t been reading much, just zoning out to reruns of Law and Order and HGTV. I DVRd the premiere of Treme on HBO because I could feel myself falling asleep. The same with Glee. Happy I did because I really like both of them.

I also thought on things literary that I might like to blog on if I ever have the energy. Like, it’s National Library Week, and all across the country, when people need them most, library branches are closing, and hours and personnel are being cut.  A crying shame. (I get mopey when I don’t feel good).

Also, this year’s the 50th anniversary of the publication of my all-time-favorite book, To Kill a Mockingbird. My aunt gave me a copy when I was 10, and I’ve been reading and rereading it ever since. Rick Bragg has a good article about author Harper Lee and his memories of the book in the most recent issue of Reader’s Digest. First time I’ve picked up the magazine in years — it was at a friend’s house — although it was a staple of my growing-up. My grandmother gave a subscription to my father for Christmas. In turn, I gave her the large-print version.

Should I get an e-book reader? If so, Kindle, Nook, Sony, iPhone, iPad? Let me know what you think. I’m planning a two-week plane/motorcoach/train trip this summer to the Canadian Rockies this summer, and I really don’t have room to haul a bunch of books. (FYI, this is a low physical activity-rated trip; I’m not hiking. Gone are those days.) Maybe I could read e-books of the five books that won the Pulitzer Prize this week because I haven’t read any of them, which is like the first time ever since I can remember. Not that my memory’s too good right now.  See, I told you lupus was boring… In fact, I’m going to take a nap as soon as I find a suitable image of my brain on lupus to illustrate this post.

Read Full Post »

%d bloggers like this: