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Heavy is my heart
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200 ways to say went

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Silent Scream Review

Silent Scream by Karen Rose

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Recommended by my friend Karra, I enjoyed this read immensely. It was a fast paced story with multiple strong story lines with meaty characters. Environmental ecoterrorism goes awry amid a backdrop of blackmail, revenge and family loss. Makes one think about the value of keeping personal information private and avoiding free-wifi. Innocuous coffee shop becomes the scene for hacking and blackmailing.



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Let the Turkey Carcasses do their work!

I could not pass up the two turkey carcasses, they were begging to be made into soup. This house is going to smell good all day.

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Learning to say no...

Clearly I have issues with the word no. I cannot say it when it matters. I cannot say it when I am already overworked and stressed. I need to make this word my new best friend.

I cried over this one...

Pearl's Oyster Bar

I love taking my friends and family to the Redding Market Terminal, but some places are better to visit on a food crawl than others. I am an oyster lover, so Pearl's was definitely on my to-eat-at list. I assumed that since they were famous, they cared a bit about their product and offered up famous-worthy fare. Unfortunately, the oysters were very small and contained a green slimy rim inside- they don't really clean out the shells. Now there are purists out there that will argue with me about the slime, but as I wasn't sitting right on a dock or boat, it seemed out of place. The soup was decent, bu nothing to write about.

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2011 Teen Arts Festival

The Bishop

The Bishop by Steven James

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Well, this book was total guilty pleasure, as a result I did not use my time as wisely as I could this weekend. I have never read a Patrick Bowers Mystery, and I appear not to have read the first books, so I have to go back. It was a very good read, I give it five stars and would have given it more if I could. An interesting book all the way through, combining family dynamics, serial killers, virtual lives, and a corrupt government system. You know, our usual everyday problems. I was kept guessing for a long time, and I appreciate that in a mystery, as many red herrings as the criminals were supplying to the FBI, the author Steven James was supplying to the reader. Consequently, I was almost able to get to the end of the book before all the disparate pieces came together. It would have been so easy to to assume other endings, which is a testament to the author. I appreciated the inclusion of Shakespeare and Sir Arthur Conan Dolye. It appears that there was a debate within the the story, and of course I sought out my edition of Hamlet right away to compare my thoughts to James'. I can hardly wait to get back to the library for more...



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Techy Things Teachers Should Try: My Avatar Editor

Techy Things Teachers Should Try: My Avatar Editor: "My Avatar Editor is a free online site where you can create and edit avatars. Gender, height, size, hair and eye color, along with other ph..."

Crashers

Crashers by Dana Haynes

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


WOW! Could not put it down! incredible and dangerous implications for the technology we unthinkingly use everyday. This was a cliffhanger- all the way through, with nice little dalliances into romance and matters of the heart- Plane crashes, huge investigations,FBI, NCIB and more. I especially like the way the investigation played out in the timeline from initial crash point. Reading about the underpinnings of our investigative bodies and how they manage a scene was a big draw for me. I like knowing how things work...



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Bury Your Dead

Bury Your Dead by Louise Penny

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


At first I was confused, I got characters mixed up and had to go back a few times to straighten them out in my head; it was well worth the effort however. Louise Penny managed stories within stories, some critical, others secondary but no less important for the characters involved. The humanity each character has makes me want to go back in and find out more about each of the people who made this book such a rich reading experience. They are all flawed, have feelings, histories and messy lives where they are sometimes forced to make difficult choices. I have not read much about Canada, in particular I knew next to nothing about Quebec other than what my school textbooks taught us about trading. I come away after reading this piece with a glimpse of a world unexplored and a need to know more. Chief Inspector Gamache is a man to follow, so I will be looking for him among the stacks.



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Good Friends on Good Reads!

Last one is a rotten egg!
No seriously, the last one is my epal from Guatemala

My epal from Guatemala is finally on Goodreads.com.  I am thrilled!  With all the social networking going on out there, I cannot seem to get my friends to join easily. I know we all read books, maybe they don't all read as voraciously, but they do keep up a respectable pile by their beds.  I have sent out invites a few times, and they slowly trickle in. After a whole year, I am now up to a whopping seven friends.  Ugggh!  I hope if you are a reader, you will take the time to participate.  I have found some good books my friends have suggested to me this way, and I always know what they are reading.  I LOVE talking about books more than technology.  I tell my students about this web 2.0 tool, I want them to track what they are reading while they are young.  Hopefully it will stay free as they grow up.  Yeah Goodreads.com.

Epsilon System Hacked: Has Your E-Mail Been Stolen?

I know mine must have been, I received eight different emails from various companies that my email information was exposed due to the Epsilon hacking incident.  I wonder how many of you got that same message? United retail group, Best Buy, Target and College Board all sent me Epsilon warning notifications in one day.   We use a specific email just for any online transactions, but it doesn't help.  Ultimately, we cannot have a throwaway email.  We actually need some of the  information companies send when we buy stuff online.  For instance, at the Apple store, they email us our receipts, well, I need those receipts.  I need the entrance ticket to the SAT test for my daughter, I need the concert  tickets and boarding passes.   There has to be a secure email associated with my banking and shopping where I can receive notifications if there is a problem.   This past month, I have received three emails from friends that were clearly not from them, they were hacked and now I have changed all my passwords again in case they start getting some from me.  I send out  quite a few emails, I know that may be weird in this world of texting, but it is how schools get work done.  I do not need people scared to open my emails. I have  eleven email accounts and have started just opening them all on my phone, rather than on my computer, I can handle a virus on my phone easier.  The sprint store is closer than the Apple store. Haha!   Meanwhile, I just keep changing my passwords and trying to stay ahead of the hackers.

techtocktoe: Epsilon System Hacked: Has Your E-Mail Been Stolen...

techtocktoe: Epsilon System Hacked: Has Your E-Mail Been Stolen...: "I know mine must have been, I received eight different emails from various companies that my email information was exposed due to the Epsilo..."

Bananas Freeze Beautifully!

My sister told me to freeze the bananas!

I have been chucking out dead bananas for years that were just ripe enough for banana bread, but too ripe to eat.  If I didn't have time to make the bread, out they would go.  Now I know to just chuck them in the freezer.  After 2 weeks I have enough for a few loaves of bread.  The family loves it, I don't have to throw anything away and I don't feel guilty buying bananas a few times a  week.

I always add extra bananas to my recipe.  The secret is to add two more than they ask for in  a recipe and leave some nice chunks- don't over-mix if you want moist bread.


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Is Your Apple Cozy? You can help out.

My apples are super cozy thanks to a local crafter who showed up at knitting last week.  She is looking for other crafters to benefit Emmie Mangione at a Spring Festival Fundraiser.

 It will take place on Saturday, April 30th,
10am-3pm at the Marlton Assembly of God
625 East Main Street in Marlton.

If you are a crafter and want to book a table to benefit Emmie, call 609-980-2240.

 Emmie is a young lady from Marlton, NJ with DiGeorge Syndrome.  She is in need of a special wheelchair with shock absorption to prevent fractures.  Her family also needs the family van adapted to accommodate the chair.   Emmie has four siblings and has been through so much, seven  open-heart surgeries, several strokes, a cardiac arrest and continuous spine fractures. You can meet Emmie at her website.

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After Ever After

After Ever After by Jordan Sonnenblick

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Late effects- I never thought about them before. We have a teacher in our town who has been fighting her battle with cancer for the last two years. We are all focused on fundraising, getting her well and into remission, but we don't think about the after, when she may lose her career and not have control of her body again. All those poisons may help her turn a corner, but they may also devastate her golden years. As a follow-up to Drums, Girls and Dangerous Pie, Sonnenblick tells the other part of the story, what happens to people after they "make it." The long-term effects on family, friends and finances still lurk in the future...

Moving on with a life that was once ruled by cancer can be as uplifting and as heartbreaking as the progression of the disease itself.



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A Midsummer Night's Dream at the Lantern

These pictures are shot from angles I was not privy to, alas we arrived too late for choice seats. I should have driven into the city the way I intended, over the Ben and through the woods... but I took the Walt Whitman, and we all know how long-winded he can be. Just saying. The largest cast I have ever seen at the Lantern Theatre Company's yearly Shakespearian production did not delight as much as their Hamlet or Richard the III. Considering it was a comedy, I thought I would enjoy it more than the amazing tragedies I have seen by this theatre company. For all the costuming (which was highly unusual for the lantern) and large cast, it was the small moments that made this production work. Wall for instance, fittingly played by Mark Cairns, who also played Snout and Mustardseed, carried a large portion of the comic relief on his shoulders. I hope to see more of him at the Lantern. Our beloved Benjamin Lloyd made a reappearance and his resounding bellows as Bottom brought life to a production that can be a drag, no offense William, but it is not one of your best plays. The staging was particularly good, staying true to the company's sparse style but offering moments of magic with the fairies. I did wonder at the costuming though, I could not fathom why Mary Folino would have chosen linen of all fabrics for Helena and Hermia. I kept imagining the frantic ironing that needs to take place to bring those mangled costumes back to life. When I write mangled, I mean it, these actors commit fully to every fight and struggle, shedding and tearing at one another's clothes. I only hope that they had a few spare outfits, or they will never make it through the run. As costuming goes, in some areas it can detract, but with performers playing double and triple roles, I can understand the necessity. I need to see this play staged by other companies to make any true review because I never warmed up to the main characters at all, and I am not sure that I am supposed to. Puck (Dave Johnson) stealthily stole this production out from underneath all other players. I found myself watching his face above all others. It was me watching him, watching the action... hmmmm what does that remind me of?

Digital summary of Synectics