Thursday, July 31, 2008

Jonathan Kellerman

I threw down breakfast and threw on clothes and off we went to Ft. Woof. Guess who was there> Fifteen cops on motorsickles, seemingly being trained. The cops set up an obstacle course in the parking lot, using traffic cones. These guys seemed to be learning. An instructor was out yelling at them.
Blitzen and Lady Chica run side by side in perfect tandem, and people are amazed. It comes from being on a double leash and running. They learned.

I went Krogering. Indulged myself with dove bars and a calzone.
Mystery solved: Marilyn and I have thot Mildred non compos mentis. She confided that she is on meds for Alzheimer's.

I worry about senility but Martha assures me that I have always been like this.

Took a nap. This evening I went over and sewed while chatting with Marilyn. She tells me about her childhood.


BOOK REVIEW
Jonathan Kellerman, *The Conspiracy Club*
In my opinion, this is not one of his better novels. Kellerman introduces a new protagonist, a young psychologist whose fiance is slain by a serial killer. With the help of the Central Conspiracy Club he tracks down the killer.

Wednesday, July 30, 2008

Wednesday July 30

The cover jacket for *Under the Beetle's Cellar* calls it a modern morality play.
I have slept the clock around more or less. It rained this morning. Off to Ft. Woof.
We had the place to ourselves and Lady Chica loves to chase birds all over the field.
Went over to Martha's. She and I ran errands. Then we went to Kohl's. I bought a beautiful sleevless dress.
Jeff grilled exotic chicken breasts. We had the usual great chat. Had a wonderful time.

No book reviews. Did not have time to read.


Hugs, Dr. Liz

Tuesday, July 29, 2008

Under the beetle's cave

My usual Tuesday routine. I hit the snooze button thinking I have Sunday school time. Only I need to leave at 8:30. Threw on my clothes and arrived early.
Lighter load this morning. Altho later we had hostile people demanding groceries. The director suggested people were desparate.

I came home and slept for three hours. Then the dogs demanded to go to the dog park. Fairly cool with a breeze.

BOOK REVIEW
Mary Willis Walker, *Under the Beetle's Cellar*
The title comes from a line in a poem by Emily Dickinson.
The story concernes a hi-jacked school bus where the driver and eleven children are taken hostage to be sacrificed after 50 days when the world would end. Members of a cult had taken them hostage and buried them in a school bus underground "to purify them".
The driver is allowed a phone call of one minute. He refers to the poem as a means of telling the FBI negotiators where the hostages were located, under ground.
This is not a mystery. I found it compelling. The bus driver displays courage, keeping the children alive, altho he dies in the final attack by the FBI swat team.


Hugs, Dr. Liz

Monday, July 28, 2008

Mary Willis Walker

I sat up until 4 am listening to The Red Scream. And I did not guess the killer. It was a big surprise.

10 am. Listening to *Under the Beetle's Cellar*, another Molly Cates novel. A cult buries school children in a bus.

I listened and sewed most of the day. Off to PPQS tonight. Temp was reputed to be 104 yesterday and the same today.

It was so hot. So hot. Had a great time talking with Lea. Lady Chica was barking at a mouse.

BOOK REVIEW
Mary Willis Walker, *Under the Beetle's Cellar*
Molly Cates is a writer for Lone Star Monthly and had written an article on religious cults. Hence she was assigned to write an article on the situation where Mordecai and his cult had kidnaped a school bus and eleven children, making a total of twelve. They were buried in a school bus under the beetle's cellar. I am half through.


Hugs, Dr. Liz

Sunday, July 27, 2008

Mary Willis Walker

I went to bed in time to get up for Sunday School. It is 8:14 am and Blitzen is still in bed, rather than up begging to lick my breakfast bowl.

Our new Interim Pastor preached his first sermon. He has a pronounced southern accent (not Texan). Margie T is on the other side of the church divide. She and I each agreed it was a good sermon. He used a lot of Biblical support but it was a strong sermon. He has spent the last ten years teaching in a seminary, the same job that our former pastor has taken over.

Lay around all afternoon. went to the dog park. I told Ray about the jack russel. It turns out that Ray knows that jack russel. Chip (the jack russel) attacks Ray's dog every time Chip comes to the park. Ray threatens to shoot the jack russel.

BOOK REVIEW
Mary Willis Walker, *Red Scream*
Molly is a true crime writer. She has written a book about a serial killer. Now it appears that there is one murder the serial killer did not commit. I am halfway through the tape. I can think of three suspects. It is going to be a surprise ending.
I recommend this book to all mystery fans.
Hugs, Dr. Liz

Saturday, July 26, 2008

Mary Willis Walker

I slept so well, perhaps because I am pain free. Slept till eleven and we made the dog park by noon. Only dog knowedgable people there and not many. Two owners came over from the big dog area bc somebody brot in three, yes thee intact male pit bulls.
There was a dog who looked just like Blitzen, she was part lab/part rottweiler. Caused me to wonder what Blitzen's genetic makeup is. Blitzen and I had a confrontation last night. He refused to "down" for a treat. So I walked away and he raced over to hastily "down".

I have found two Texas writers, William Manchee and Mary Willis Walker

Just lay around all afternoon. Trip to the dog park does me in. Listened to tape of *Red Scream* by Mary Willis Walker. Red scream refers to the scream of a person being executed.

Attended AA birthday night. Always a lot of food and birthday cake. Tomorrow I start my diet. Ha. I brot home some home made bread. The lady who brot it kept telling me to take some more.


Hugs, Dr. Liz

Friday, July 25, 2008

Sunshine and Shadow

We were up and out to the dog park by 8:45 am. I went before breakfast. Judy was there and we had fun chatting.
Then the dogs had a fight. A little jack russel snapped at Blitzen and he retaliated.
I lost my temper when the owner told me to take my aggressive dog out of the park. I used the f word. Her dog had already attacked two other dogs, including Szabo. She complained that Blitzen didn't have a collar. Well, he lost that in the fight.
Then she came over and harangued me that I did not get up and stop the fight. By that time I thought she was humorous. She decided I was too old to jump up and control my dog.

I know that I lose my temper when people deny something. I need to prepare myself. also be more proactive about Blitzen, altho that snippy dog was fast.
I despise jack russels. They are aggressive and their owners do not realize that or acknowledge.

I dropped by Senior Center bc Lee D called to see if I was OK. Then I made a library run. I think I have taken two naps today. Went to AlAnon birthday night. Leta celebrated and gave a moving talk.
Naomi from DID 12 step AA once asked me why we AlAnons celebrated birthdays. I think it is a chance to look at how far one has come.

BOOK REVIEW
Earlene Fowler, *Sunshine and Shadow*
cozy quilting mystery. This is a series where each title is the name of a quilting pattern. Benni Harper is curator of a quilt museum. In this case an old friend of her husband comes to town and is slain. Benni's husband is chief of police and formerly with LA police department. Is the killer somebody out of Gabe's past? I guessed the plot.


Hugs, Dr. Liz

Thursday, July 24, 2008

Loren Estleman

I slept in till eleven, no manic lawn care workers breaking the silence. We left for Ft. Woof just in time.
The park was cool and we had it all to ourselves. Lady Chica spent the hour chasing birds. I think they play with her.
One clueless couple planned to have a picnic lunch in the big dog side. Somebody must have shooed them away bc they had a radiator picnic. (They put food on front of vehicle.)
I think we must be feeling the effects of Hurricane Dolly.

had a massage this aft. It seems to have fixed my shoulder. We shall see.
Dinner at Outback with Leslie where we discussed linguistics. We split an order of this and that.


BOOK REVIEW
Loren Estleman, *Frames*
One never knows about Estlemann. This book is the first of a new series and I loved it. Valentino is a film archivist. He hunts for old films in order to save them. In this case he buys an old movie theatre and finds a silent movie as well as a skeleton in the liquor cellar.
He buys a movie theatre to live in bc he needs the space for viewing his movie finds.
He does a lot of detective work, discovers the murderer finds the police have reached the same conclusion.

Hugs, Dr. Liz

Wednesday, July 23, 2008

Wednesday July 23

10 am. I intend to rest today. Just rest. No pains this morning. Temp is reaching at least 100 every day. The air feels like mush.

The dogs and I lay around all day. Spent two hours at Ft. Woof. Blitzen got a pack of eight dogs running on the other side of the fence. Later the dogs just lay in the shade. Lady Chica actually lay on the bench beside me. I read a Mrs. Murphy cat story. review soon.

BOOK REVIEW
William Manchester, *World Lit by Fire*
I read the chapter on Magellan. When his expedition returned to Spain, the 18 survivors found that they had lost a day. Magellan had been sailing westward as the earth turned east.
At first people tried to hide it, but several logs had been kept. The king destroyed one original but a copy had been kept. I don't understand how anyone figured out that the earth turned on its axis.
Actually, some scholars had known for years that the earth was round. Aristotle watched an eclipse and saw the round shadow on the moon.





Hugs, Dr. Liz

Tuesday, July 22, 2008

Tuesday July 22

Baptist Center. Busy morning. Ninety sack lunches in 30 minutes. The guys (volunteers) are working.

My grandson, Josh, took me out to lunch at El Chico. Then we went to the Kimball Art Museum to see the Impressionist collection from Chicago Art Institute. We had a great time.

It was a workout, however. I came home and slept like the dead. I managed to get up and take dogs to Ft. Woof. Nothing to report.

I did not have time to read a word today.

Monday, July 21, 2008

Monday strikes again July 21

Monday morning strikes again. Dogs got me out of bed. I have been struggling with my computer for an hour. Windows involuntarily updates or did I hit the wrong button. etc etc etc
Off to purchase a new cell phone.

I did not need a new cell phone. Clerk cleaned dust in two minutes. I left happily.
Drifted past Thrift Town. Found a Chico's blouse. On Monday seniors get a 30% discount. I will get rid of two tee shirts.
Arrived home soaked to the skin with sweat. I changed clothes and Lady Chica expected me to be taking a shower.

I lounged in bed all afternoon, listening to Manchester on tape. The heat is getting to me, as well as ozone alert.
PPQS met tonight. I am going to try writing some stuff about my life. I want to write about the vast change that has occurred in my life time. *I Have Seen Rocks From the Moon*. Lea encourages me.

BOOK REVIEW
James Grippando, *Under Cover of Darkness*
Author has left some ends dangling, including woman hung in prison (literally dangling, get it?) On the whole, however, I recommend it for a thriller.
Got tapes for William Manchester. Struggling thru Milton Friedman. For lightening up I read Hank the cowdog.
Library does not have Gary Manzies, *1421 China Discovers America* and *1434 China Discovers Portugal*

Hugs, Dr. Liz

Sunday, July 20, 2008

James Grippando

Made it to church and the Sunday feed.
Came home. Took a nap. Chatted with Marilyn for a while. Took dogs to park.
Lady Chica has completely changed. She recognized Judy coming into the park and ran to meet Judy. When Judy sat on a bench, Lady Chica sat down beside her.
The dogs sat in the shade. After we came home they raced and raced around the house.
Dropped by marilyn's house again. Ola Mae, her daughter visitin from Ohio, Clara with Benja the chihuahua, and Mildred. We had a party.

BOOK REVIEW
James Grippando, *Under Cover of Darkness*
This is a complex novel, with threads of plot. Beth W disappears. Her husband is frantic and one plot thread concerns his change in character as he remembers their marriage. Meanwhile the FBI is trailing a serial killer.
The tape is in terrible conditon. Anyhow, the husband and the FBI are converging upon a cult. A cult. Beth has joined a cult which is murdering people.

Saturday, July 19, 2008

July 19

Saturday morning is so tranquil, with nobody coming or going. I feel rested this morning with little pain. I am off to Kroger's. I discovered last week that Sat twilight is no time to go Krogering. The store was crowded with people buying supplies for their party.
Think I will drop by Marilyn for another cup of coffee.

Met some Jehovah's Witnesses on the way. Marilyn was not up. I went Krogering and then made a library run. Did chant with Marilyn. Then I slept for three hours.

Nothing new at the dog park. I am still tired. Listening to tape of a novel. Cant remember author nor title.



BOOK REVIEW
Finished Death and Honor. I am waiting for the next episode. (proably not even in Griffen's mind)

I cannot finish Purgatory Ridge. Read the ending. One of the characters is too tragic. Another character is Lake Superior who never gives up her dead. That is because the lake is so cold that bodies do not deteriorate and rise to surface.


Hugs, Dr. Liz

Friday, July 18, 2008

WEB Griffin

This will be another day. I was up and down all night with an aching shoulder. From the Food Bank I recd a can of turnip greens. So I am feeding it to the dogs. They are crazy for it. A new book, *Me or the Dog* recommended a varied diet. Wolves eat the intestines of prey hence get vegies.
Potato soup for breaky.

Spent some time with Marilyn and the girls. Then I tried to take a nap. Finally I went to sleep.
Lady Chica behaved entirely different at Ft. Woof. She sort of adopted another little dog. She acted as if this dog were her puppy. It was so atypical. And Lady Chica did not run the fence.

Came home, and we all forced Marilyn to take a walk around the building. Then I came home and finished listening to Big Red Tequila. I am still reading *Death and Honor* It is a thick book.




BOOK REVIEW
W.E.B. Griffin, *Death and Honor*
This series is set in 1943 in Argentina, telling about OSS operations in that country, supposedly neutral. OSS was the precursor of the CIA. Griffin's heroes are all essentially the same guy with different names. Clete Frade had an American mother and Argentinian father. His mother's family raised him in Texas, they being wealthy oil people
I recommend the book for excitement. As usual with Griffin. Frade is recruited for OSS and goes down to meet his father. The first three books are about that encounter etc. In 1943 Frade is setting up an airline. Meanwhile the high ranking Nazis are preparing a nest egg for settlement after the war, which everybody but Hitler knows is lost. And senior staff officers of the Wermacht are planning to assasinate Hitler. Another character is Juan peron. I keep wondering how Frade survives the Peron years.

I looked up Canaris in Wikipedia. He was executed in 1945 after the failed July 20 assassination attempt on Hitler.
Hugs, Dr. Liz

Thursday, July 17, 2008

Joan Hess

My avocado seed is sprouting. I have three little citrus sprouts.
Meanwhile I have two white denim pants and shorts I cannot find. Where did I pack them away? I have searched everwhere.
Well, I got up and walked dogs. Took package to post office. took some books to Half Price Books and did not make my gas money. When one buys used books from Amazon.com one cannot hope to make much at resale.
Then I attended birthday ice cream social at rec center. Marilyn, Mildred and Ola Mae insist I attend. We had banana splits and cup cake. Wow it was good. Now for a nap
NEW SCAM:
Some kind of Nestle something.

I was napping nicely when the lawn mower came by. Guess what!!!
Took dogs to Ft. Woof. Awfully warm.

BOOK REVIEW
Joan Hess, *A Diet to Die For*
Actually a classic mystery story. Claire Malloy owns a second hand book store. This novel deals with a friend who joins a diet clinic. I found it enthralling but light.

Hugs, Dr. Liz

Wednesday, July 16, 2008

William Krueger

Woke at 8 and took dogs out for a walk. It was so cool we jumped into the car and drove to Ft. Woof. I let Blitzen drive. (taht is a joke) The dogs really needed the exercise. Lady Chica was chasing birds back and forth across the field. The birds do this on purpose. I was enthralled in a trashy novel (review soon) and we stayed two hours. As we were leaving Judy was entering. I had not thot to call her.

I will spend the rest of the week de-tidying. I threw everything into leaf bags and shoved into the closet like Fibber McGee. I intend to keep lr and kitchen like a model apartment. I can close doors on bedroom and studio.

Slept for two hours. Went down to sit with Marilyn and do hand sewing. I dashed over to Dollar General for her, got cranberry juice and bread. Was amazed at the rise in prices.
Spent the evening listening to Big Red Tequila on tape.
Reading Milton Friedman and arguing with him.

BOOK REVIEW
William Krueger, *Purgatory Ridge*
I would classify this series as police procedural. Cork O'Conner is on again, off again sheriff in Aurora, Minnesota. (I dated a guy from Aurora, MI). Cork is part Ojibway Indian and each novel is usually about white/Indian hostilities. In this case, lumbering virgin pines. Cork's wife, Jo, is a lawyer representing the Indians.

I am adamantly opposed to lumbering. I was raised in the stump country of lower Michigan, the desert remaining after the pines were clear cut. My great grandfather was killed in the lumber woods. Pines grow only in soil where other plants do not flourish. I think it is acid soil.


Hugs, Dr. Liz

Tuesday, July 15, 2008

No book review

I do so want to sleep in. 8:30 AM off to Baptist Center. Dogs exhausted and glad to be home.

Baptist Center. 10 am and six people have been processed for groceries. Ricipients were calm today. No hostility.
I am the happiest and most serene ever.
Probably no book review.I have had no time to read.

I came home and slept three hours. starting to rain. I am not going to drive into Arlington for AlAnon meeting and group conscience (aka business meeting).

In lieu of book review:
Reading more on middle ages by William Manchester.
manchester thinks that Magellen is the key pin to the end of middle ages. Not only did his expedition sail around the world, but they discoverd TIME.

The ships kept a daily log, as ships do. When the survivors (18) reached Spain they found they had gained a day. This blew apart all the old theories about anything.
Hugs, Dr. Liz

Monday, July 14, 2008

Gerry Boyle

Woke up at 8 AM. Threw a bunch of towels and such in the washer. Going back to bed after sending Ruth an addition to family tree. Ruth has worked up a web site for me. It is so exciting.

Well, management inspected my apartment at 2 PM. It looked like a model apartment for rent. Sylvia, the mgr, brot the new maintenance man, Tony, who seems rational. Anyhow, I passed inspection and Tony fixed the pump on my toilet.

Went over for PPQS meeting and pick up dogs. Lady Chica was tired and glad to get home. She met me at the gate. Both dogs are tired. I am exhausted. And high as a kite. On adrenalin. I am so releived I passed inspection.

BOOK REVIEW:
Gerry Boyle, *Borderline*
I think the title has to do with the two young people Jack McMorrow met. I am skipping the middle of this book because it is boring.
McMorrow has contracted to write a travel article on Benedict Arnold's trek to conquer Quebec. obvious he failed. We are not speaking French.
I had no idea Arnold was trying to conquer Quebec.

Gerry Boyle, *Pretty Dead*
This book is fun and moves. Boyle's style varies so much. I did guess the plot. Jack McMorrow is a stringer for the NY Times. His cohab is a social worker. Roxanne, the social worker, is called to investigate a case of alleged child abuse, the child of wealthy parents. Complications ensue.

Gerry Boyle, *Cover Story*
This book was written earlier than the above. I think this was a turning point in Boyle's writing. In it Jack McMorrow is hired as a stringer for New York Times. the mystery has to do with the assassination of the mayor of New York.
Apparently Boyle has given up writing travelogues of Maine.





Hugs, Dr. Liz

Sunday, July 13, 2008

Warren Jeffs

Woke up tired. A good tired, Ruth pointed out. Martha is coming over today to mop kitchen and finish up. Meanwhile I must tidy.
I found my book on overcoming chronic pain. There are rewards for tidying. One finds lost treasures.

At 4 PM I am so tired. I played gofer all day while Jeff and Martha mopped and cleaned.
I put things in bags and piled them into closet.

I am planning to shred old letters and journals.

I took the dogs over to John and Lea's so that they don't mess anything up. John invited me to join Lea's birthday dinner. We went to La Isaleta because Lea chose flan.
Spending the night in Lea's yard is Lady Chica's dream come true.


BOOK REVIEW
Stephen Singular, *When Men Become Gods*
This is the further adventures of the Fundamentalist Modern Day Saints, FLDS.
The author's wife suggested he write about Warren Jeffs who at that time was a fugitive. Singular had earlier written a book about neo-Nazis in Denver, where faith meets terrorism. The author and his wife drove to southern Utah where Singular met Elaine Tyler, who was running Hope Organization which helped women and children escape Warren Jeffs.
Warren had taken over as Prophet after his father died, and he was brutal.
Only recently had I heard about the Lost Boys. I had not thought that if one man has 80 wives, then 79 men go without. The young men are excommunicated.
My thinking about polygamy had been conditioned by hunting and fishing cultures where the mortality rate of men is high.
The book reads like a novel and I stayed up late to finish it. Singular weaves the threads of Warren Jeffs and the women who are organizing to rescue other women. Women organizing began happening in the eighties, probably as the women's movement washed over the culture.

The members of FLDS have Biblical precedence. When King David got old, his advisors procured a young damsel to put in bed with him to keep him warm. Altho the king knew her not.

I Kings 1:1-4 (King James version)


Hugs, Dr. Liz

Saturday, July 12, 2008

William Manchester

I forgot to mention that Tres Nevarre uses tai chi as a martial art.

Saturday morning. Suddenly these last two days I have become energized. I popped out of bed, walked dogs, did more tidying.

Jeff and Martha came over and steam cleaned my carpet. What a job! Martha went thru my kitchen counter tossing packrat stuff.

I am so tired I can hardly move. I intend to skip church again tomorrow and continue tidying.

Took the dogs to the park. Judy had emailed me to meet her. Lady Chica lay under the bench in the shade for the hour I spent there. Somehow I made a movement which told her I was leaving for home and she took off in sweeping circles. A kind lady held her at the wading pool.


BOOK REVIEW
William Manchester, *A World Lit Only By Fire*: medieval mind and the renaissance
Martha and I had a discussion about middle ages and what upheavals segued into the renaissance. So I am looking at Manchester's book. He started to write a biography of Magellan and it turned into this book. Manchester thinks Magellan is a huge factor in the change into the renaissance.
All I know about magellan is that his crew went around the world, altho he was killed in the Pacific somewhere. (I then looked him up in Wikipedia. He started with five ships and one ship and 18 sailors reached home.)
So far in the book we are dealing with the Dark ages. Roman Empire overrun by the barbarians. Manchester discusses how Chirstianity is diluted by paganism. I took a course in Applied Anthropology and most of the course was devoted to this subject, altho the course had a different approach. The Church survived by assimilating the pagan gods and rituals. Many churches are built on pagan sacred sites, e.g. Mexico City. to be continued



Hugs, Dr. Liz

Friday, July 11, 2008

Rick Riordan

I had a dreadful dream. I was a tourist in New York city and I put my purse down and it vanished. (I remember in Israel I wore a belly bag). Waking from that nightmare I got up and went to the bathroom. Went back and slept like a log. Woke at 8 am and walked dogs in a beautiful morning.
Baby bird has died. Wrong. I went to take it to trash and found it alive. I gave it some water and put it into a hanging plant where maybe the parents could feed it. They are still hanging around yapping.
Eventually the baby bird did perish.
I intend to spend the day tidying in preparation for Martha helping me clean tomorrow.

I worked all day. I am amazed at what I can do when I put my mind to it.
9:15 PM We just got back from Fort Woof. Days are slowly getting shorter.

BOOK REVIEW
Rick Riordan, *Big Red Tequila* (on tape)
This is the first novel in the Tres Navarre series. The title comes from Tres' memories of high school and drinking tequila and Big Red (a soda). Tres is raised in San Antonio. He leaves when his father, Bexar County sheriff, is assasinated. He goes to California and gets his PhD in English. Unable to find a job he works as an investigator for a law firm. The book begins when Tres returns to San Antonio after ten years.



Hugs, Dr. Liz

Thursday, July 10, 2008

Catherine Coulter

Writing at 7 PM. I didn't want to spend time at my computer today. I got up this morning and took car to get oil changed.
I am becoming absent minded about my absent mindedness. I had a coupon for a discount for oil change. About halfway to Kwik Kar I realized I did not have my coupon with me. I was irritated with myself. Waiting for my car, I went to the rest room and found the coupon in my pocket.

Had a massage this afternoon. I am tidying the house.
Making a big dent in the fabric pile.


BOOK REVIEW
Catherine Coulter, *Tailspin*
Coulter is a romance novelist turned mystery writer. One of those suspense thrillers with soft porn.
I found this entertaining. This is a police procedural. Coulter's two heros are FBI Special Agents married to each other. In this book they have two cases, each of which is a person being targeted for assassination. It is not much of a mystery. We sort of know who is attempting the assassinations. But how will we catch them?


Hugs, Dr. Liz

Wednesday, July 9, 2008

Clive Cussler

If I complain too much, I will get put in assisted living, altho I cannot afford that. IN my panic last night I ran after Blitzen altho that is counter productive. He is just playing chase.
The fastest human runs at 15 mph whereas Lady Chica has been clocked at 25 mph and Blitzen keeps up with her.
My dilemna is that I want to wring Blitzen's neck bc I am afraid he will get killed in the street.

Just learned from Wikipedia that a knot is nautical miles per hour and that it is one degree of latitude. (For my purposes I can use mph.) I have reached that place in a Clive Cusler novel when i get bored. We know what the villain is up to. Now we have the good guys go after the villain and we know Dirk Pitt wins. Or at least survives. Since the villain is planning to dump small pox on Los Angeles, we know that the good guys win.

For almost an hour we were totally alone at Ft. Woof, on both sides of the fence, but we had police protection. A police car was parked in the lot. I was reading, *When Men are Gods*, another story of the fendamentalist Mormons, focusing on Warren Jeffs.

came home and attended Open AA speaker meeting.



BOOK REVIEW
Clive Cusler, *Dark Wind* (on tape cassettes)
You have to be a Clive Cusler fan. He thinks up wildly improbable scenarioes.
His books always begin with a scene from the past. In this case, a Japanese submarine in 1943 sets sail with a cargo of *Dark Wind*. bombs to drop on the U.s. Sub is sunk.
Dirk Pitt Jr. is sent to the Aleutians to look into the deaths of two Coast Guard meteorologists and a herd of sea lions. I can't remember how he finds the submarine. He dives down, finds strange canisters as well as a modern timer. People on a Japanese fishing boat shoot at him and later two guys try to assassinate him. Exciting chase.
Eventually we find a second submarine. Dirk has done historical research and finds records of it. So the NUMA ship dives on the sub and retreives canisters with small pox.
The NUMA ship is boarded by ninjas who steal the canisters as well as Dirk Pitt Jr and his sister. Meanwhile, in alternate chapters, we have followed the career of a north Korean fanatic who wants to reunite the two Koreas. He plans to bomb the US with enhanced small pox virus. Meanwhile everybody thinks this is a Japanese grp called Red Japanese.
I am only half way through the book. I may read Hank the Cowdog to put me to sleep.

Hugs, Dr. Liz

Tuesday, July 8, 2008

Gillian Roberts

I lay in bed hitting the snooze button thinking I had an hour to spare. Oh,no. I leaped up and threw on my clothes. Security officer asked if I combed my hair.
The dogs get tired with their outing at Lea's backyard. Blitzen did not even get out of bed. Lady Chica checked that I was going bye bye and she curled up in her favorite chair.

I came home exhausted. I was so tired I did not untie my shoes. I think more people are hostile. People seeking food pantry argue when I ask to see proof of residence. I had to turn two people away. It was explained that if people could get groceries just anywhere they would drive around and around getting free food and selling it.
Two families drove off with each of two grocery carts.
One man asked Nancy for two lunch sacks. Upon being refused, he accused her of racial prejudice. That was almost funny.

Well, wearing my shoes I took a nap. Went to Ft. Woof. We came home. As I was unlocking the door, Blitzen took off. I guess I did not have the leash locked securely.
The whole neighborhood was mobilized. I was terrified bc Blitzen crossed the street behind us. He only stayed out about ten minutes. Usually he stays out forty, but he is getting exervise at the park. I am totally exhausted. What a day!!!



BOOK REVIEW
Gillian Roberts, *All's well that Ends*
This is the last book in the Amanda Pepper series, by ukase of the author. The author did not want the series to deteriorate.
Amanda has married her cohab, the homicide dick. Meanwhile MacKenzie, the detective, has gone back to grad school to get his doctorate in criminology.
Amanda's friend's step mother dies in a mysterious fasion. Amanda is still teachig but working on her PI certification part time.
I dont think the following spoils the ending. Mackenzie's extended family lives near New Orleans and are devastated by hurricane. Eventually after the crime is solved, Amanda and MacKenzie with their cat move to New Orleans.
Having finished the book I agree with the author. She has lost her verve. She says on her web site that Amanda did not age. Faye Kellerman has her characters age. Clive Cussler had Dirk Pitt dig up two children he had never known he had. The younguns do all the exciting stuff.


Hugs, Dr. Liz

Monday, July 7, 2008

Ellen Hart

1:25 am I sleep and dream and wake, discernment of each dissolving as one slides into another.
***************
I set the alarm and planned to go to yoga but I just couldn't. My shoulder ached and I cannot endure the torture of exercise.

I sort of rested today. by late afternoon my shoulder stops hurting. PPQS meeting tonight. Lea and I are going to Puerto Villarta in September. Tonight we were booking airline tickets. Took forever.

BOOK REVIEW
Ellen Hart, *The Oldest Sin*
The oldest sin is eating. After all, Eve ate the apple. Sophie Greenway owns a hotel in St. Paul, Minn. One of her college room mates has a support group for fat ladies. (It is now a big time organization.) They are having a national convention at the hotel the same time as a fundamentalist church. Sophie has a small reuinion of college room mates. They all attended a fundamentalist church college. Some have strayed and one remains in the church. The CEO of the fat ladies is poisoned. Eating? Get it? And the game is afoot.
A great deal of the book is devoted to the politics of the fundamentalist church.

Sunday, July 6, 2008

Gillian Roberts

The alarm rang and I just could not get out of bed. So I missed church. My arm is not hurting this morning. Yeah.
Lady Chica is so tired she ate her lunch lying down and now she is asleep in her den.
Temp was 88 and humidity low. So I took dogs to Ft. Woof in order to clear up this evening for a meeting. during noon hour no other small dogs. Lady Chica went through the last half of agility all by herself. The goal is to go thru the whole thing all by herself. Blue does. Then she gave me a run for my money in order to go home. She runs all over.

I took a nap and went to an AlAnon meeting. First Sunday is always "Newcomers Meeting". We talk about AlAnon.




BOOK REVIEW
Gillian Roberts, *The Bluest Blood*
By now I feel that Amanda Pepper is an old friend. She teaches high school in Philadelphia and she spends about a third of the book complaining about her students. She teaches in an expensive private school for rich kids.
One set of parents is holding a fund raiser for the school. And then there is the Moral Environmentalists who burn books. The MEs picket the school wanting certain books removed from the library. And the leader of the cult is the step father of one of the students. then this leader is murdered and the game is afoot.


Hugs, Dr. Liz

Saturday, July 5, 2008

Gillian Roberts

Slept in until almost ten. Hot already. In fact, when I made library run the outdoor thermometer read 98 degrees.
Noon and I am sleepy.
Last night the dogs were pestering me. After all, they had not seen me for eight hours. I gave them each a bone. So we took our bones to bed. I lay there trying to sleep with a bone chewing on each side of me. (I am the filling in the dog sandwich in bed.)

Took a long nap. Waking at 4:30 pm I spent an hour or so with Marilyn. I am giving her an AlAnon lesson in one easy hour. Her children are worried about her and have taken over complete control.

As the sun sinks below the trees, the dog park is pleasant. Few small dogs and many big dogs. Blitzen talks trash at the fence and they race in packs along the fence.



BOOK REVIEW
Gillian Roberts, *The Dead of Summer*
Reading the book rather than listening to tapes gives one the feeling of reading an intimate letter, rather than the slowness of the series.
Amanda Pepper is an English teacher in Philadelphia. For financial reasons she agrees to teach remedial English during summer school. The classes are a mix of ethnic groups. A Vietnamese girl is kidnapped. Racist graffitti are found in the surrounding areas. And the game is afoot.

Friday, July 4, 2008

Tom Clancy

At the dog park, Ray has invented something cute. He has two dachsunds, Maggie and Charlie. Charlie follows him w/o a leash. So Ray has attached Maggie's leash to Charlie's collar. Putt, putt, putt, the two weinie dogs follow their leader to the gate.

Woke at ten. Off to Ft. Woof. Cookout with Martha and Jeff this aft.

The park was beastly hot. I get so irritated with people altho my dog is at fault. Blitzen was humping this little female.
bitch is the technical term
I believe there is a condition i term peri-esterus. weeks before they come in heat females give off pheronomes. (Other owners of fixed males agree with me.)
So many owners of small dogs think their dogs are babies, literally. I also think Blitzen humps little dogs just to get attention. Everybody goes into orbit. I mean the humans go into orbit. They pick up their dog, and Blitzen thinks this is a great game and he barks his play bark which frightens everybody. Well, I am home in the air conditioning. I need to shower and go to the cookout. Blitzen will be driving.

Cookout was great. Jeff grilled a turkey. We sat and chatted, drinking wine and beer. First we talked about the Battle of Hastings, then the Battle of Crecy, then the factors contributing to the dissolution of the middle ages, and finally the American Civil War. After eating nummies, I took a nap. The turkey was out of this world. Martha sent home pieces in freezer bags. Potato salad. And sorbet for desset. Some strange kind of berry from the Amazon, acacia.
On the way home I saw fireworks in all directions.


BOOK NOTES
Tom Clancy made a mistake. He thot the English won the Battle of Hastings with their long bows and we continued to speak English.

Actually the Duke of Normandy won the Battle of Hastings with soldiers who had stirrups on their saddles, giving them better balance. And we gave up speaking Anglo Saxon English. Our Creole language contains about half the words derived from Norman French. (who pronounce chateau like castle)Or is it vice versa, Leslie?

I think Clancy was thinking of the Battle of Crecy in 1315. Long bows sent arrows like a cloud over the sun. I have been trying to remember that passage about "band of brothers on St. Crispin's Eve"

BOOK REVIEW:
Gillian Roberts, *All's Well That Ends*
I picked up the book and read the jacket. This is the last of the Amanda Pepper series. I went to the web site. Roberts wanted to stop while the series was good. fourteen books. I feel as if I had lost a friend.

Sue Henry, *Degrees of Separation*
Sue Henry has created a new plot. I loved her first novel, *Murder on the Iditarod Trail*, which I have read about three times. Jesse Arnold is a musher who raises, trains and runs dog sled teams. I liked her second book. From then on the plots remained the same with different names. Even another series about Maxie and a dachsund. I thot I would try this latest, and it has an inventive plot. No snow. So her dogs are not mushing.


Hugs, Dr. Liz

Thursday, July 3, 2008

Gillian Roberts

Hunger drove me from my bed at 10 am. I intend to rest today, preparing for tomorrow's
cookout with Martha and Jeff. I may go back to bed. I may take some hand sewing over
and sit with Marilyn.

Listening to Shelby Foote on the Civil War I am once more amazed at the mass delusion of
the South. But I guess they were provincial. They were expecting peace movements in the
North. And they did not count on the wild Irishmen just off the boat who were paid
substitutes in the draft.

Borrowed discs for Diana Stabenow's *Deeper Sleep*. Unfortunately I have read the book
twice and have it memorized.
Stabenow's main character is Kate Shugack, an Aleut in Alaska, who is an investigator. I
can't remember how she makes her living at the moment. She was an investigator for DA in
Anchorage. I have read all her books and love her. She has two books that are the Coast
Guard. It never occurred to me that there was Coast Guard presence in Alaska.

After a nap, I spent some hours sitting with Marilyn and doing hand sewing. Then to the
dog park. Not many people there.

BOOK REVIEW
Gillian Roberts, *Adam and Evil*
Caution: this is slow.
Amanda Pepper is a high school English teacher in Philadelphia and as usual in danger of
getting fired (contract not renewed). In her senior class is a boy named Adam who is
showing signs of mental deterioration. Amanda calls a conference with his parents who
are furious, insist Amanda has battered him and plan to go to the media. Amanda teaches
in a private school.
So one day Amanda takes her senior class on a field trip to the city library where a
librarian is strangled while the class is there. Adam is missing and becomes the chief
suspect. And the game's afoot.


Hugs, Dr. Liz

Wednesday, July 2, 2008

Laura Lippman

Rose and dashed off to grocery bingo. Then off to Kroger for liniment especially.
Latest word on Bill, our tai chi teacher, is that he has shingles. My hunch is that he has always had shingles outbreak, not poison ivy.
Folklore. One woman was telling about some friend whose shingles brought on Alzheimers.
Speaking of Alzheimers, our neighbor Jessie gets worse and worse.

Slept for three hours. Woke up, ate supper, slept for two more. My shoulder no longer hurts. Not getting much reading done today. Listening to Shelby Foote and the Gettysburg campaign. I had never read much about what was going on in the Confederate states.

Took dogs to park. Came home and spent an hour or so at marilyn's. Oda Mae and Mildred are taking care of her.

BOOK REVIEW
Laura Lippman, *In Big Trouble*
This is one in a series about Tess Monoghan, a PI in Baltimore, MD. I was carried away by the book jacket which says that a new case "will end far away in another world, where people dress and talk differently." I thot she was going off planet. Turns out she was going to San Antonio.
Her former boy friend vanishes, and she is hired by the guy's parents to find him. The trail leads to Austin, TX, and on to San Antonio. Several bodies along the way.





Hugs, Dr. Liz

Tuesday, July 1, 2008

Birthday Party

Baptist Center. Told by director to crack down on showing address. More people are coming in. I track people coming in for groceries.

Came home, took a nap. Took dogs early to dog park. The humidity was low. So a cold scarf around my neck kept me cool.

And what an evening this was!!!! Oda Mae and Russ had a birthday party for three of s, Mildred, Clara and me. So Marilyn in her wheel chair, Jessie, Peggy, Mildred, Clara and I were sitting with our hosts, waiting for Helen. Oda Mae kept calling Helen. No answer. I thot they were being overly protective.
Oda Mae, Clara and Mildred went over to see about Helen. She was lying on the bathroom floor. So Russ called 911 and her neice and her daughter. The ambulance came and carried Helen off on a stretcher. Later Oda Mae informed us that Helen had not broken anything. She was in the hospital with IVs attached.
We think Helen had the flu or something and passed out.
So eventually we had our ice cream and cake.



BOOK REVIEW
Gerry Boyle, *Bloodline*
The title is something of a stretch. I thot it was going to be a book about pedigreed dogs. (Nobody ever has a mutt. or a generic dog, like Blitzen)
The author is a man but this reads like a woman's book. The man is sensitive. Jack McMorrow is a former reporter for the New York Times who has retired to the woods of Maine. He contracts to do a free lance article on "babies having babies", that is, teen age mothers. That does not sound dangerous, does it? Nevertheless, he is almost killed.