Got back from New York last night. I had to start laundry within five minutes of walking in the door, and today was busy running errands like a chicken  with my head cut off all morning. And yes, I have more laundry washing as I type.  I did have a productive morning, though -- I took the kids into town and we got Steven registered for middle school, picked up the mail from while we were gone, stopped off at the bakery for breakfast, got Bill registered for high school (their registration days happened while we were in New York), went to the music store to buy Steven's band book (they weren't ready yet), visited the photographer to make an appointment to look at the proofs of Bill's senior pictures, ate lunch , and then went grocery shopping. When we got home I started more laundry, made some phone calls  for appointments for next week, fed and watered the dog, and brushed the cats (though taking care of the dog and brushing the cats is a joy rather than a chore)..

The kids are loading up Bill's little truck so he can do a dump run for his father, so I am seizing the opportunity to type a bit.

More about our camping trip :

Day One:

We got up to Harrisville about dusk. There was a lot of construction on the freeway on the journey up. There were also some unforeseen problems, like having to take the spare tire off of the back of the Jeep in order to hitch up the camper.  We settled in, though, set up the camper as night was falling, and quickly made a dinner of bean and cheese quesadillas on the electric griddle after dark.

Day Two

A very quiet and relaxing day in beautiful northern Michigan. We read, and Steven spent a lot of time drawing. We went grocery shopping in Harrisville, and had pork chops and corn on the cob grilled over the campfire for dinner.  Sleeping on the sandy beach on Lake Huron was miraculously relaxing.  This is the weekend of the big yacht race from Mackinac Island to Port Huron, and a lot of people were on the beach or out in boats on the water hoping to catch glimpses of the racers.

Day Three

Some passing storms made things nice and cozy. Whenever a little thunderstorm (though one in the afternoon was strong enough to cause some hail) rumbled through, we all took long naps in the camper. When it wasn't raining we went down to the beach and slept in the sun. We have been spending a lot of time brushing and walking Max this trip. He is getting very old and gray, and he loves camping, and we do not know if he will ever be able to go camping again after this trip, due to the fact that he is getting to be so elderly and frail.

Day Four

A day spent primarily on the beach between thunder showers. We played beach football and beach frisbee and watched people flying fancy kites. Dinner was hot dogs  and brats and corn over the campfire.

I did a lot of reading while we were up there.

I read through a big stack of mystery books while camping on the beach the last few days.

I finished up the third book in the Karma Crime Series by Claire Daniels, called Cruel and Unusual Intuition. This is the mystery series I have been reading for awhile, and that was extremely "New Agey". As I said before, I had some trouble taking it seriously. And I wanted to kick the boyfriend, and his "Dark Forces" nonsense right in the pooter.

I read the second book in the Blackbird Sisters Mysteries by Nancy Martin, called Dead Girls Don't Wear Diamonds. This series is set in an old blood/money family in Philadelphia who has fallen on hard times. The family also has an old curse that the daughters all marry bad boys who die young, leaving them young widows. This generation has three daughters, no sons -- all three of them young widows who are attracted to bad boys. It is written very tongue-in-cheek, and even though I wouldn't normally be particularly interested in stories about poor-little-rich-girls, these are actually a lot of fun.

I read the first and the fourth (someday I hope to go back and read the second and third ) books in The Archaeological Mysteries by Lyn Hamilton. These books were called The Xibalba Murders and The Celtic Riddle. They are about an antique collector/boutique owner from Toronto, Canada who travels the world on buying trips for her store, and runs into mysteries involving valuable ancient artifacts. The first book was set in the Yucatan and involved a priceless Mayan artifact, that people are willing to murder to get their hands on. The seond is set in Ireland and involves a will that leaves clues for a treasure hunt for a valuable artifact -- and also an old family feud. These were fairly interesting (it helps to know a bit of the mythology of the involved culture) and I hope to read more of the series someday.

I also finished up the third book in Robin Hobb's Liveship Traders Trilogy, called Ship of Destiny. Robin Hobb is a brillaint fantasy writer, who creates very realistic characters with plenty of personality warts and flaws. When they make mistakes, bad things often happen to them and to the people who are most important to them. This series was about these fantastic sentient ships, who are brought to life when three generations of the same family (linked by blood) live and die upon them. There was also a well written anti-hero, a pirate named Kennit who was a complete slimeball, but usually (though not always) ended up doing the right things for all of the wrong, selfish reasons -- and everyone thinks he's a hero because of his results.

I, Alien

On my recent camping trip I read a great little anthology called I, Alien, edited by Mike Resnick.

All of the stories are alien/human encounters told from the alien viewpoint. Some of the stories are hilarious, particularly one by Mike Resnick where the alien is God, a story called Me

Quote:
For example, when I manifested my presence on Gybyon II, every last inhabitant keeled over and died from the sheer thrill of meeting their maker. Yet the last time I set foot on earth, I was immediately panhandled by three grifters along Fifth Avenue, mugged in a back alley off 49th Street, and given free tickets to Letterman. When I explained I was a fourth-level Star Maker, the few people who were paying attention immediately wanted to know what the job paid and if medical benefits were included. Finally I decided to lower myself to their comprehension level and announced in front of nine Men that I was God. Five of them called me a liar, two more said they were atheists and therefore I couldn't exist and I was probably just a manifestation of Buddha, the eighth claimed it was a Republican trick, and the ninth wanted to know what I had against the Chicago White Sox.

Contents:
Diary of a Galactic Emigree by Laura Resnick
The Injustice Collector by Kristine Kathryn Rusch
Creature for Hire by Paul E. Martens
Pedagogy by Michael A. Burstein
The Last Wave by Kay Kenyon
The Eagle has Landed by Robert J. Sawyer
Correspondence with a Breeder by Janis Ian
Resident Alien by barbara Delaplace
Xenoforming Earth by Tom gerencer
The Skeptic by Jennifer roberson
Natural Selection by Laura Frankos
Aortic Insubordination by Batya Swift Yasgur and Barry N. Malzberg
Harvesting by Nina Kirkiri Hoffman
What Must Be by Josepha Sherman
And I Will Sing a Lullaby by Paul Crilley
Aquarius by Susan R. Matthews
First Contact by Linda J. Dunn
Anakoinosis by Tobias S. Buckell
Threshold by Terry McGarry
Nobodies by Adrienne Gormley
The Loaves and the Fishes by John DeChance
Alien Ground by Anthony R. Lewis
Hi, Colonic by Harry Turtledove
Acts by William Sanders
Life Happens by Ralph Roberts
You by Anonymous (aka Stephen Leigh)
Me by Mike Resnick

Irresistable Forces

I recently read a science fiction anthology edited by Catherine Asaro called Irresistable Forces They are all science fiction love stories.

While I got it for the Vorkosigan story by Lois McMaster Bujold (which did not disappoint), a couple of other authors managed to catch my attention as well -- there was a rather cool Robin Hood story by an author named Jennifer Roberson. I will have to keep an eye out for some of her fantasy novels.

I also really enjoyed a story called Stained Glass Heart by Catherine Asaro. I will have to keep an eye out for some of her science fiction novels, as well.

Quote:
For all that our dreams bring meaning to our lives, we cannot have them all. What we give up may cause regret, even grief, but we must find a balance we can bear. Otherwise our hearts will shatter.

Contents include:
Winterfair Gifts by Lois McMaster Bujold
The Alchemical Marriage by Mary Jo Putney
Stained Glass Heart by Catherine Asaro
Skin Deep by Deb Stover
The Trouble with Heroes by Jo Beverley
Shadows in the Wood by Jennifer Roberson

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