2011 in review

How to start blogging again after a long absence? With a meme, of course! This comes from the Friday 5.

1. In 2011, what did you do far too many times?

   Go to the hospital for doctor visits or tests. I did this way too often before finally getting a diagnosis in early Summer. I’d love to be able to say that it’s over, but apparently chronic illness means I get a few month reprieve before the series of follow-up and maintenance appointments begin.
   

2. In 2011, what did you rediscover?

   The unlimited support of my family and friends. The simple joy of hanging out and talking about a television show with my husband. My enjoyment of writing.
   

3. What 2011 event will you still be paying for in 2012?

   You know, I don’t really know how to answer this. Paying for in a monetary way? In an emotional way? A van hit my house and caused some damage that will be repaired in the Spring, but I won’t be paying for any of that. There’s nothing I regret emotionally that I’ll be paying for. The only thing I can really think of is how my MS diagnosis means that from here on out I will always be paying for expensive medications. (Let’s hear it for good insurance coverage that makes copaxone only $50/month insted of $4k.)
   

4. In what unexpected place did you find a friend in 2011?

   MS Support groups and conferences. I won’t say they are best friends or even really more than acquaintances, but it was so unbelievably nice to talk to people who get it. Not only do they get it, they live it, every single day. There was no having to pause the conversation to explain the weird symptom, there was just a lot of “hey, you know that thing…?” and someone replying with an emphatic “YES!” That’s something I won’t forget and it’s why I’m going to continue to attend these types of events.
   

5. As 2011 comes to a close, what in your life is trending upward toward a much better 2012?

   I’m getting better at controlling my symptoms, following up with doctors, taking medications, doing all sorts of exercises, relaxation techniques, and therapy. Hopefully that will get me to a place in 2012 where I’m better able to participate in life the way I want to.

In a nutshell, 2011 was full of stress. First the stress of still not knowing what was wrong with me, then the stress of having Multiple Sclerosis. In between was that brief and wonderful time of relief when I was happy to finally know what was wrong so that I could start treatment. I’d like to regain that feeling, at least part of it. and I know I can do that by continuing to take control of my illness and getting back to the things I enjoy.

MASSACHUSETTS – Call your state rep, voting Wed. 11/16!

EMERGENCY ACTION NEEDED BY YOU NOW ON H3811: An Act Relative to Habitual Offenders

Today the House submitted its version of the Habitual Offender Bill. This Bill which was rushed into consideration in the House, would result in three strikes sentences in MA mandating life without parole. H3811 is even harsher than the notorious California Three Strikes law, which permits parole after 25 years. It will be voted on TOMORROW (Wednesday). Please call your Rep as soon as possible on Wednesday. After tomorrow, the House will be in recess. [More information at the source.]

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I have written and will also call.

I urge you to vote against H3811: An Act Relative to Habitual Offenders.

According to the MA DOC the total custody overcrowding rate for DOC facilities as of June 27, 2011 was 144% and the average cost per year to house an inmate is $45,917. Passing H3811 will only add to our already overcrowded prison system and will further increase our financial burden. From an economic standpoint it is simply not logical to pass this bill. [1]

A study on three-strikes laws by the Justice Policy Institute found that states that did not have three-strikes laws had lower average rates of violent crime and larger average drops in violent crime than states with a three-strikes law. In other words, three-strikes laws do not reduce crime. They also found that in California — a state with a three-strikes law of less severity than the proposed H3811 — the number of prisoners serving 25 years to life for drug possession are more than the combined total of those serving time for second-degree murder, assault with a deadly weapon, and rape.[2]

This law is costly and ill-conceived. It would not reduce crime and would disproportionately imprison perpetrators of non-violent crimes, specifically crimes related to illegal drugs. Again, I urge you to vote against H3811.

[Sincerely redacted]

[1] http://www.mass.gov/?pageID=eopsmodulechunk&L=3&L0=Home&L1=Public+Safety+Agencies&L2=Massachusetts+Department+of+Correction&sid=Eeops&b=terminalcontent&f=doc_faq&csid=Eeops

[2] https://www.justicefellowship.org/key-issues/issues-in-criminal-justice-reform/11689-study-shows-three-strikes-laws-do-not-reduce-violent-crime

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This law is bullshit, yo. It accomplishes nothing but furthering the war on drugs which disproportionately targets African Americans, women, and lower economic classes. Spread the word.

Kindle: The Big Deal

I’ve been doing a bit of shopping in Kindle’s “The Big Deal” sale. Here’s what interested me. There are so many books on sale, all can be found from The Kindle Store.

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies – $0.99

Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters – $0.99

Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson – $1.99

The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake by Aimee Bender – $3.99 [Bender's narrator is young, needy Rose Edelstein, who can literally taste the emotions of whoever prepares her food, giving her unwanted insight into other people's secret emotional lives—including her mother's, whose lemon cake betrays a deep dissatisfaction.]

Bewitching by Jill Barnett – $0.99 [Joyous Fiona MacQuarrie bewitched Alec, the Duke of Belmore, the moment she appeared from nowhere and tumbled into his lap. Joy, a witch whose powers of white magic are not always well controlled, turns the life of the most serious and snobbish Duke in England upside down when he decides to marry the beautiful Scottish pixie who has aroused his desire.]

Zoo City by Lauren Beukes – $0.99 [Zinzi has a Sloth on her back, a dirty online 419 scam habit – and a talent for finding lost things. But when her latest client, a little old lady, turns up dead and the cops confiscate her lastpaycheck, she’s forced to take on her least favourite kind of job: missing persons. Character of Color. Modern Fantasy. Johannesburg.]

Hard Spell: An Occult Crimes Unit Investigation by Justin Gustainis – $0.99 [Like the rest of America, Scranton's got an uneasy 'live and let unlive' relationship with the supernatural. But when a vamp puts the bite on an unwilling victim, or some witch casts the wrong kind of spell, that's when they call Markowski. He carries a badge. Also, a crucifix, some wooden stakes, a big vial of holy water, and a 9mm Beretta loaded with silver bullets.]

Keeping It Real (Quantum Gravity, Book 1) by Justina Robson – $0.99 [After the Quantum Bomb of 2015, Earth proper has coexisted with alternate dimensions peopled by elves, demons, elementals, faeries, and the dead. Government agent Lila Black was nearly killed by elves while on a diplomatic mission, and now she is mostly machine. She has been assigned to guard the legendary band the No-Shows, especially lead singer Zal, who's precisely opposed to every elf stereotype out there, first and foremost in his music.]

Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke – $2.99 [It's 1808 and that Corsican upstart Napoleon is battering the English army and navy. Enter Mr. Norrell, a fusty but ambitious scholar from the Yorkshire countryside and the first practical magician in hundreds of years. What better way to demonstrate his revival of British magic than to change the course of the Napoleonic wars?]

The Strangely Beautiful Tale of Miss Percy Parker by Leanna Renee Hieber – $2.99 [Six young men and women are called to protect the living world from the dead in Hieber's Gothic romance debut. Mysterious powers give Alexi and his peers the mission of keeping the restless dead in line and seeking a prophesied seventh guardian. Miss Percy Parker, an albino orphan with a talent for languages, fills none of their expectations, but Alexi is drawn to her all the same.]

Ghost in the Polka Dot Bikini (A Ghost of Granny Apples Mystery) by Sue Ann Jaffarian – $1.99 [While enjoying a Thanksgiving getaway with boyfriend Phil Bowers on Catalina Island, ghost whisperer Emma Whitecastle encounters a bikini-clad ghost in Jaffarian's spirited second Ghost of Granny Apples mystery (after 2009's Ghost à la Mode).]

Moms, Dads, and Moral Support

Today was my first copaxone injection at home alone (yesterday’s was done at my injection training session with my MS Nurse). I got everything set up, loaded the autoinject device, and had it against my leg. Then… total chicken. I took some deep breaths, closed my eyes, got centered, and then… more chicken. So I did what any adult would do in this situation. I called my parents.

Mom was and always is my cheerleader. You can do it, you did it yesterday. I looked at the damn thing resting on my leg and thought, no. No, I really cannot. So I had her put Dad on the phone.

Dad is a retired small town cop. Today I really got a good idea of exactly who he was as a cop and why everyone in town knew his name. Dad also right now has a broken pelvis and is in an immense amount of pain. When he answered the phone he sounded a little rough but as soon as I told him what was going on his entire voice changed. I listened to him telling me to imagine I was putting a needle into my skin to get a splinter. This is a normal action I’m doing, is what he’s trying to show me. It’s nothing special, nothing to even think about. So I closed my eyes, pushed the button, and gave myself the shot.

I don’t know why I was so afraid. The needle itself does not hurt. Today I didn’t even feel a pinch when it went in. The injection site hurts after but I learned yesterday that a cold pack will make it feel better right away, and I had a cold pack waiting. I guess I just needed a little moral support for my first time.

Seven Sisters Pride

The Women and Public Service Initiative will bring together the resources of Smith, Wellesley, Mount Holyoke, Barnard and Bryn Mawr, with the State Department to increase the participation of women around the globe, in public service and political leadership, Clinton, a 1969 Wellesley alumna, said on Friday.

“Together we will seek to promote the next generation of women leaders who will invest in their countries and communities, provide leadership for their governments and societies, and help change the way global solutions are developed,” Clinton said.

[Source: Boston Globe]

All She Wrote (Holmes & Moriarity Book 2) by Josh Lanyon

All She Wrote by Josh Lanyon
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I might have waited a whole hour after finishing Holmes & Moriarity Book 1 before I set my Kindle to shop and downloaded book 2. And that was probably only because I took a break from reading to eat dinner.

Lanyon’s Holmes & Moriarity books are filling a void I hadn’t realized was missing. I grew up reading mysteries–some very much like Christopher’s Miss Butterwith series–and have been looking for something that captures my imagination the way they did. What can I say, I like a nice, academic, gentle mystery. And I especially like it when the good guys can’t always save the day and when the bad guys aren’t all bad.

With Miss Butterwith safely ensconced at a new publishing house and Christopher freed from having to develop a new series, he’s a little more relaxed. Well, relaxed about his work, certainly not about his relationship with J.X. When his old mentor asks him to step in and run a writer’s workshop for her he jumps at the chance and easily cancels plans with J.X. We all know how much Christopher hates writer’s workshops and so does J.X. so he sees the writing on the wall when Kit bails on him yet again.

Christopher tells himself he did it for good reasons. His mentor, Anna–the American Agatha Christie–thinks someone is trying to kill her and after Christopher saved the day at his last writer’s retreat she thinks he’s the one to help her find out who done it. J.X. isn’t buying it and neither is Christopher, not really. When Christopher gets hurt in the line of duty it’s J.X. he wants and J.X. who comes.

The mystery, as with the first book, kept me guessing, and the resolution was highly satisfactory. The love story was especially interesting to me as J.X. and Kit tried to navigate their various power imbalances without hurting each other. The sex scenes were more explicit than in the first book, but still highly emotionally charged.

If you like characters with depth and shades of grey, you’ll enjoy this mystery.

Buy on Amazon.com: All She Wrote, Holmes & Moriarity, Book 2

View all my reviews on Goodreads

Somebody Killed His Editor by Josh Lanyon

Somebody Killed His Editor by Josh Lanyon
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I picked this book up for my Kindle on a whim and it did not disappoint.

The main character, Christopher–only J.X. calls me Kit–Holmes, is a forty-something author of charming mysteries featuring elderly British spinster, Miss Butterwith. His books have gone out of fashion and his house is threatening to drop him, so his agent sends him to a writer’s retreat–horrors!–to make nice with his new editor, not-so-fondly known as “Satan.” Christopher has new clothes, more hair products than he knows how to use, and is being pushed into pitching a new series about a Regency P.I. and her Demon Lover. To put icing on his cake of misery he runs into J.X. Moriarity, a very successful author–read: more successful than Christopher is now–who just happens to be Christopher’s ex-lover. He’s so miserable the dead bodies almost come as a relief; until he becomes the main suspect, that is.

Christopher is sarcastic, cranky, and I liked him very much. He doesn’t pull his punches, maybe not even when he should, and except for that minor matter of being scared to death of love he’s pretty brave when he has to be. The mystery was solid and kept me guessing until the end. The love story was tender and touching and had me sighing. The sex scenes were realistic, not shying away from the physical but not ignoring the ever-important emotions involved. (For example: “There it was…there…that spate of wet heat and snapping energy, a fireball blazing through nerves and muscles and razing everything in its path, setting the fields of gold on fire. Summer once more.” Lovely, just lovely.)

Writers and readers will get a laugh out of Christopher’s behind the scenes commentary on the publishing world and current popular trends in books. Mystery fans will enjoy Lanyon’s plotting and gentle poking fun at mystery trends past and present. Readers who enjoy well-rounded characters will like Christopher and his supporting cast, most of whom rise above cardboard or token.

Buy from Amazon.com: Somebody Killed His Editor

View all my reviews on Goodreads

Happy New Year!

Image via Wikipedia

 

This is an end of the year shout out to the many friends I have never been in the same room with but who have inspired, amused, comforted, encouraged, and touched me in so many ways. Here’s to another year together.

 

Today

Outside my window… It’s dark and quiet because it’s oh’dark-thirty in the morning right now. It’s nice, I’m enjoying the quiet.
I am thinking… not at all. At least I’m trying. I’ve reached critical mass on my stress levels and it’s either disconnect or explode.
I am thankful for… so much, but mostly right now for the people in my life who are wonderful and supportive. ♥
From the learning rooms… I’ve been thinking about poetry lately. Elizabeth Bishop’s poetry to be exact. I’d like to write a paper on one of her poems, I just have to choose one. How I suffer, having to read all of that poetry.
From the kitchen… The most recent thing I ate was banana nut cheerios. This caused The Husband and I to discuss my need to increase my calcium intake, thereby cementing our position as the most boring people in the world.
I am wearing… a black nightdress that reads “real women are sexy.” I think it was Lane Bryant who came out with these years ago. I have another one that says real women are strong.
I am creating… plenty of knit things. I knit therefore I am.
I am going… to sleep soon and for a very long time. I can feel a crash coming on.
I am reading… nothing right this minute. I am in one of those very rare times where I’m between books. I most recently finished K.A. Mitchell’s No Souvenirs and loved it.
I am hoping… for things to get better or at least easier. It’s my fondest wish these days.
I am hearing… my husband and dog each breathing gently while they sleep.
Around the house… there is a pile of neatly packaged Christmas presents waiting to be given to my family.
One of my favorite things… is a warm bed on a cold night.
A few plans for the rest of the week… are surviving it.
Here is picture for thought I am sharing…

Image by dawn m. armfield via Flickr

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Create your own daybook entries by visiting The Simple Woman’s Daybook.

Lowfat Chocolate Truffle Kefir

It’s good for you. It tastes delicious. What more could you want?

“The drink we now call Kefir (it is sometimes pronounced Kee-Fur) originated in ancient times when Eastern nomadic shepherds discovered that fresh milk carried in leather pouches would occasionally ferment into a deliciously effervescent beverage. Once the accidental process was discovered, this bubbly refresher became popular throughout the known world. It is thought to originate from the Turkish word “Keif” meaning “good feeling”, for the sense of well-being experienced after drinking it.

“Similar to yogurt but far more beneficial, Lifeway Kefir contains seven to ten billion CFU’s of 10 strains of bacteria, plus ProBoost, our exclusive pair of clinically proven probiotics to balance your body’s ecosystem, support digestive health and immunity – that’s 12 live and active cultures per cup. These friendly, probiotic bacteria fortify your body and help to boost immunity, improve digestion, ward off side effects from antibiotics, fight lactose intolerance and may even aid in weight loss.” (Lifeway)

I’ve yet to find a flavor of Lifeway Kefir that I don’t like. The fruit flavors are enhanced by the thick liquid, and the holiday flavors, like cranberry creme brulee, are rich and delicious. The chocolate truffle flavor is made with real cocoa, making it my new chocolate-craving solution.