Onward Gladys

Title: The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie
Author: Alan Bradley
Read by: Jayne Entwistle


A dead body in the cucumber patch! I enjoyed this mystery novel with its eccentric characters and cheeky young protagonist. It had a classic feel that reminded me of Agatha Christie or Nancy Drew stories. I think I would have enjoyed this even more when I was a kid and would definitely recommend it to young friends who might enjoy reading about a clever, persistent 11 year-old budding chemist.

The narrator of the audio book was very good and probably contributed a lot to my enjoyment of the story.

Let's try something

Title:Will Grayson, will grayson
By:  John Green and David Levithan

I listened to this as a downloadable audiobook from the public library and found it due to the FYA blog http://www.foreveryoungadult.com/2010/04/15/they-shouldve-called-this-book-tiny-cooper-tiny-cooper/

I really enjoyed this book and yes, Tiny Cooper is fabulous.
I found that for myself I was much more drawn to & liked/related to Will Grayson [written by David Levithan i believe, whose Nick from Nick & Norah I also enjoyed] much more than will grayson. will grayson's negativity - while i could understand how he got there - was a bit grating to me and i found I was eager to get back to Will Grayson's POV during those sections.
Likely because I've become a parent, I just was moved to tears by how awesome both boys parents were and how supportive and understanding they could be. I hope someday to be that great.

Secret to Contentment #3

"Maintain an Appreciative Attitude - Why not make a mental or written list of the things for which you are grateful?"

Sounds so simple but why are all the problems, petty or otherwise, the ones we dwell on instead?  Instead of being depressed about the fact that I'm not traveling right now, wouldn't it be wiser to be grateful for all the traveling I have been able to do in my past and grateful for the fact that I have a good paying job in this economy and don't have to worry about paying my rent, health costs, my next meal, etc.? HA - silly human your problems are really so small and you have SO MUCH goodness spread out before you. It's like focusing on the rock in your shoe and missing looking out at the Grand Canyon right in front of you.

Bah - now if only I can remember this bit of wisdom!

Why I accomplished no work today

In the fuzzy headed haze of early morning today, I, not once but TWICE, inadvertantly headed my car towards the beach. I was supposed to be heading toward work - the complete opposite direction - but without thinking I kept trying to run the other way. In that odd lit-up darkness of a predawn city, I got on the freeway...and into the lane to head south towards the coast. Hey wait, I told myself, this is wrong. So I resolutely headed to the first available exit and got myself back on the freeway heading in the direction of work. Then it was time to get off the freeway - oh wait, somehow I stayed in the exit lane and am right back on the freeway...now headed away from work and towards the coast again. I finally realized that there was no way I was ever going to work if this kept up, so off the freeway I got and off I stayed. Surface streets were apparently the way to go this morning.

Really? Twice?

I'm not even a beach person - baking on the sand just isn't my idea of fun. If I think about it - I am a striding along the cliffs, climbing over rocks and staring at the sea type person. And today - well I guess today that is what my brain was trying to tell me to do. Instead, here I sit, enveloped in my little beige cube in the maze of other beige cubes. But my brain, it is on the steep cliffs with the wind blowing steadily against me, eyes squinting in the sun as I gaze out at the sea and sky.