Marking Time

I got this little handmade box in the mail today....

Such a surprise. A cute little set of stitch-markers from Laura. When I cleaned out the tea-cabinet a couple weeks ago and said there were bunches of tea I was getting rid of, she said that one of them (the Peet's Holiday tea) was one of her favorites. So, I stuck it (and all the others) in a box and sent them to her--they were perfectly good teas, just not my, er, cup of tea, so why should they go in the garbage, right?

Well, she liked them so much, she bought me these adorable little stitch-markers from Miss Purl . . . note the teapot dangling from one of them. What's not to love, huh?

Speaking of Laura, she's started a Read-Along which won't kick in until June. Because, if you haven't heard, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows is coming out JULY 21ST!! Woo-hoo!! I can't wait. Only 169 days to go....

The idea behind the read-along is to read each of the already-existing six books in the six weeks before publication date. So, by my calculations, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's/Sorcerer's Stone will be started on Saturday, June 9th, followed by Chamber of Secrets on June 16th, and so on. I had mentioned that this is what I've done for the last two books, and she thought it was such a great idea, she's doing a whole, organized thing. Please do join--it should be fun.

Speaking of reading, I'm working my way through Doris Kearns Goodwin's excellent Team of Rivals, about "the political genius of Abraham Lincoln." As I passed by page 600, I saw this: "Fred Seward records a pleasant evening that January when Lincoln walked over to Seward's with John Hay to share a humorous language guidebook, English as She is Spoke. 'As John Hay read aloud its queer inverted sentences, Lincoln and Seward laughed heartily, their minds finding a brief but welcom relief from care'." How FUNNY is it that Lincoln would have read this ridiculous, obscure, little book that I just happen to have also read? (I finished it on 12/12/04--book journals really are handy.)

Amazon's description? Here: In 1855, when Jose da Fonseca and Pedro Carolino wrote an English phrasebook for Portuguese students, they faced just one problem: they didn't know any English. Even worse, they didn't own an English-to-Portuguese dictionary. What they did have, though, was a Portuguese-to-French dictionary, and a French-to-English dictionary. The linguistic train wreck that ensued is a classic of unintentional humor, now revived in the first newly selected edition in a century. Armed with Fonseca and Carolino's guide, a Portuguese traveler can insult a barber ("What news tell me? All hairs dresser are newsmonger"), complain about the orchestra ("It is a noise which to cleve the head"), go hunting ("let aim it! let make fire him"), and consult a handy selection of truly mystifying "Idiotisms and Proverbs."

Really, though, Team of Rivals is amazingly good, even it if is 900+ pages (including the indexes, notes, and such). And--a trivial little side-note--one of my co-workers is related to Seward. Lincoln's Secretary of State and my co-worker's great-something grandfather were cousins. It's not exactly a direct line, or anything, but still kind of interesting--the sad part is that he would find this book interesting, too, but with an almost-4-year old and a set of almost-2-year old twins, it would take him about 10 years to read it....

Oh, and yes, I brushed Chappy's teeth tonight. He's remembered how much he really liked that toothpaste, though he's still not crazy about ME deciding where the brush should go . . . one of these nights, I'll try to get my Able Assistant (aka Mom) to take a picture of Chappy's pearly whites . . .

Oh. And my broken one is going to the dentist on Monday. I'm pretty sure this is the crown that he tried to patch last June . . . We knew it was just a temporary fix, but I was hoping it would last a little longer. If it IS the same tooth, it's actually a crown already . . . I just wish I could remember if it was one that had already had a root canal . . .  I THINK that's a yes, which is good . . . in fact, if I'm remembering correctly, that's one of the reasons he was willing to try patching it at the time, but I could be wrong.

Oh, well.

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Booking Through Thursday

     What are your reading habits? Do you tend to read at specific times during the day, or does it vary from day to day, hour to hour, minute to minute?

I think it should be reasonably clear by now that I read fairly often. All right, a lot. I pretty much always have a book with me, I usually have a pile of in-process books by my bed. I read during breakfast, during lunch. While brushing my teeth. In the bathroom. In bed before going to sleep. While watching television. Sitting on the couch with Chappy. . .

Okay, it might be easier to tell you when I'm NOT reading.

Pretty much if I'm not in a social situation, at work, actively doing something with my hands (i.e., cooking, washing, knitting--but especially something wet). I don't read when I'm out on a walk with Chappy, or when I'm driving . . . rarely ever when I'm out of the house, actually, although I used to constantly keep a book in my purse. So . . . we're talking in the leisure time that's not work, not doing chores, not sleeping, knitting, or spinning. But mostly every, other, possible minute. I have absolutely no trouble picking up a book for 30 seconds, or just a couple minutes--while waiting for the kettle to boil, or waiting for a webpage to load. Reading time is precious!

Comments

[michelle]

Hey I'm trying to follow your read along link but it keeps opening up my gmail account :-) This is perfect for me and number one daughter since we both usually do this also.

Oh and that teapot stitch marker is to cute, and uh very fitting.

Good luck with the tooth!

[Laura]

I'm so glad you like the stitch markers, gf! :-) I saw that little teapot hanging there, and it struck me as absolutely perfect. Yes, I'm still working my way through all those teas... The one that gave me the most concern was the coconut one, as I don't like processed coconut (only fresh, the real stuff). But I had that one this morning, and it was good! Helps that there's *real* coconut in it. ;-)

Um. The link you provided for my Harry Potter read along is wrong. It goes straight to gmail instead of the page. LOL Here's the correct link:
http://hpral.wordpress.com/

[Jennifer]

Wow - what lovely stitch markers. I'm also really impressed by the lovely packaging. I know that they say that presentation is everything, but this is really amazing. Enjoy!

[Carole]

Did I tell you that Dale just recently finished Team of Rivals? He really enjoyed it, too.

[minnie]

when i was working on the phones, i kept a pencil with an eraser with me, and i would read between calls. i would mark where i stopped, and take a call. when the call was finished, i could quickly find where i was. 30 seconds. 15 seconds. 1 minute. i also read in the bathroom, lol. however, i've had to ban books in the bathroom for the boys, because they stay in there for HOURS!

[Tammy]

I just saw that HP7 will be out this year. For some reason I thought it would be next year, BUT I was planning on reading/listening to them in order this year already. What fun!! I have to start now though to get through all of them before the 7th one comes out.