"World's Greatest Books" Review

When I purchased (for free – as these books are in the public domain) Volumes 03, 06, 08 (Fiction) and 12 (History) of this series; I was expecting to find them to be large anthologies of complete texts.  What I received were 4000 location length books that contained abridged digests of classic books.  For many, a digest is satisfactory.  I prefer to read complete texts.  In this series, however, the digests were so abridged that the book was almost unrecognizable.

In Frankenstein, for example, the digest skips from Victor Frankenstein’s arrival at college directly to part three.  While I found the complete text of Frankenstein to be boring, and may have made much shorter work of this shortened text, I also find that some of the key elements of the book are missing.  An example of this is that in the complete text, a murder is committed, and an innocent person stands accused of the crime.  That fact becomes very relevant later in the book.  In the abridged version, the murder occurs, but the resolution of the crime by the courts is omitted, which makes the later repercussions less relevant.

That being said, the abridgement was fairly thoughtfully done, and was able to eliminate most of the very boring parts of the book.  These droning sections tended to be long and filled with Victor Frankenstein’s internal angst.  Much of this is eliminated and the reader is left with a text that is, while much shorter, also far less boring.

My concern here is that not all of these classic texts would be the word filled written nap that Frankenstein turned out to be, and that interesting or significant text might be lost in the abridgement.  In addition, I worry that someone who was purchasing the text for an English or Literature class may believe that they are getting the full text, only to find that they have missed much of what their classmates have learned.

These texts may be fine for a quick overview of the classic fiction (or other genre) contained in them, but I would recommend downloading the complete versions of the books that you wish to read.  All of the books in these editions are in the public domain, so they may be found and downloaded for free.

Don’t own a Kindle, but would like to?  The latest generation of Kindle is available at the following links:  with WiFi only   or with WiFi and 3G.

For comments, questions, and feedback, the author may be contacted at:  unkemptruminations@comcast.net

"Hawaii Five-0" Review

Honestly, I was pretty sure that I would hate this series.  I hated the original series, but that may have worked in my favor here.  I found the pilot episode to be action-packed and fun.  The fight scenes were well-choreographed and intense.  The plot line was believable, for the most part.  It even had Jean Smart in a guest role as the governor of Hawaii.  That’s right, Governor Charlene.  She pulled the part off well.

Those who turn to this series for the chance to watch beautiful people surfing and frolicking on the beaches of Hawaii won’t be disappointed.  It had its requisite beach scenes, including some beautiful shots of Grace Park shredding.  That alone would be worth the time to watch.  It follows the old formula with some new twists.  It uses very modern action sequences and high production values to reproduce an old classic.  I found this version better. I don't suggest that this series is particularly intellectually stimulating, just that it is a fun action series.

Alex O’Loughlin was strong and sexy in the role of McGarrett.   He was a good choice for the role.  As expected, Daniel Dae Kim was stellar, and Grace Park was beautiful, as I previously mentioned.  Even Scott Caan, who I typically find grating and too intense, was unable to tank this experience for me.  His comic timing in the role of Danno was quite good, and the perfect counterbalance to the intensity of McGarrett.  I have to say, it’s an excellent cast.

There was only one thing that I found problematic with the pilot.  They worked so hard to get “Book ‘em, Danno” into the script that it felt forced and heavy-handed.  I can only hope that it was a one-off homage to the original, and that it will not make it into every episode.

Viewers who missed the pilot should not be concerned that they are being left out of the myth arc.  There is a small back story about the murder of the main character’s father (which was the case to be solved in the first episode).  This may play into future episodes – I expect to hear more about it in the season one finale – but I do not expect that to be a major hindrance in being able to follow remaining episodes.  Should you wish to view the pilot, it is available online here http://www.cbs.com/primetime/hawaii_five_0/.  Or, for Comcast subscribers, it is also available on Comcast On Demand under TV series.

Hawaii Five-0 airs Monday nights at 10 PM eastern and 9 PM central.  As always, check your local listing.

Season one of the original series is available on DVD here:

Don’t own a Kindle, but would like to?  The latest generation of Kindle is available at the following links:  with WiFi only  or with WiFi and 3G.

For comments, questions, and feedback, the author may be contacted at:  unkemptruminations@comcast.net

How I Became a Beekeeper

Along with all of the other hobbies in my jack-of-all-trades, master-of-none repertoire, I can add Beekeeping.  I have kept bees for five years now, at one time keeping six rather large hives, suffering a colony collapse in 2008, losing all but one hive.  We then built up to two hives in the summer of 2009, only to lose both hives in the blizzard of 2010.  I am now maintaining two blessedly healthy hives.

The love of bees is an odd thing, it’s part science, part farming, and part pet care.  You start out with a little interest in bees, and you think, “Should I do this?”  You then talk yourself out of it, for a while.  I have been interested in the idea of beekeeping since college (yes, they did have bees back then), but never really followed up on it, mostly because I didn’t own my own home at the time.  Then life got busy, with finding my first “real job” and creating my adult life, and the idea of bees temporarily withered away.  I graduated, started a career, got married, and bought our own farm.

“Ahhhh,” I hear you thinking, “that’s when she got her bees.”  Nope, not yet.  I never really thought to mention it to my husband.  When we were dating, engaged, newly married; it just never came up.  I was still under the impression that it was a crazy idea.  You’d think, given that I am known for crazy ideas, that this wouldn’t have stopped me.  I mean, really, my husband had by then heard every crazy idea that popped into my head, but not beekeeping.

Beekeeping only ever came up because of one thing:  Video Gaming.

“Wait, what?”  See how I read your mind?  It’s a bit creepy, isn’t it?

Yes, video gaming.  I was sitting in the living room, while my husband was reading a tractor magazine (yes, there actually are tractor magazines), playing “The Sims”.  It was the original, and I had the “Making Magic” expansion pack.  And I was keeping virtual bees.  My husband looked over my shoulder and said, “What is your little man doing?”  When I explained it, he responded with, “That’s pretty cool.”

At this point, I should explain that my husband, who works full-time, and then comes home and farms full-time, used to think that video games were a waste of time.  He has since come around  Although he doesn’t like to play them himself, he will, at times, watch me play and cheer me on like I was the quarterback at the Super Bowl.  But, at this time, he merely tolerated my diversion.  So, when I heard something in a video game referred to as “pretty cool,” it was significant.

It became a springboard for a discussion about bees and beekeeping.  I liked it from a scientific standpoint, as well as from a hobby standpoint.  My husband loved the idea from an agricultural perspective. 

Aside from his primary job, my husband and I do everything together.  We work on the farm together, we do our housework together, we cook and eat our meals together, we watch TV together, and we read together.  Beekeeping became significant because it gave us something else to do together, but this something was pure hobby.  Sure, it is a benefit to our farm, and there is work involved, but it’s a hobby.  It’s a very special one, as it is one that neither of us had done before we met, and we have both gone through the learning experience together.  It’s special to us.  Our bees are special to us.  Any bees are special to us.

And to think, none of it would have happened without “The Sims”.

Don’t own a Kindle, but would like to?  The latest generation of Kindle is available at the following links:  with WiFi only  or with WiFi and 3G.

For comments, questions, and feedback, the author may be contacted at:  unkemptruminations@comcast.net

Announcement: New Standards to Be Added to This Blog

Currently, there are several standards that my blog will contain on a regular basis.  These are, as the reader is likely aware:  essays, recipes, crochet patterns, book reviews, and occasional movie or tv reviews.  I would like to announce the addition of two new standards that will occasionally fall into this rotation.

The first is “Things That I Love”.  I had considered being cute, and calling this “My Favorite Things”, but the fact of the matter is that my favorite things are my husband, my dog, and my home, in that order.  As I feel that you could, potentially, get bored with recurrent articles about these three things, I decided to change the title.  “Things that I Love” will encompass many things.  Occasionally, I find products, behaviors, items, bands, and ideas that I enjoy enough to wish to share them.  I have decided to share them with readers.  I hope that you enjoy them.

The second is “Books That Found Me”.  As Kindlers, we spend a good deal of time searching for and finding books.  It’s part of the fun of a Kindle-- the ability to find thousands of books at our fingertips.  I, myself, am a self-professed one-click addict.  This is part of the Kindle lifestyle and something that many of us share.  But, sometimes, we don’t find the books.  Sometimes, the books find us.  When this happens, it’s usually in some unusual circumstance, and those stories can be interesting or funny.  I would like to share some of these stories with readers.

Once we have a few of these new standards added, I would, as always, love to know what you think.

Don’t own a Kindle, but would like to?  The latest generation of Kindle is available at the following links:  with WiFi only   or with WiFi and 3G.

For comments, questions, and feedback, the author may be contacted at:  unkemptruminations@comcast.net

What Blogs Does a Blogger Read?

As a blogger, I am often asked, “Do you subscribe to any blogs?”  The answer is yes.  I certainly do.  When I was preparing to blog, I wanted to research the industry fully.  One thing that I did was to utilize the 14-day free trial on Kindle blogs so that I could get an idea of what was out there, as well as what I liked, what I didn’t like, and how Kindle blogs are formatted.  During that time, I found dozens of blogs that I really liked.  As I am not independently wealthy, I had to whittle down that list to a select few so that I could afford to keep writing, rather than get a second job to cover my subscription costs.

That being said, it means that the blogs that I chose to keep were carefully selected.  They suited my tastes but were also exceptionally well-written.  I can recommend all of them, and recommend all but one of them with confidence.  There are several others that I can recommend as well, but I think that you may prefer to know which blogs, specifically, made the cut.  In no particular order, they are:

1.       I  Love My Kindle– This blog is updated several times per week and is Kindle-related.  It gives    Kindle-related news as well as tips and tricks.  It also has some anecdotal articles, as well as   updates on Amazon free book offerings for Kindle books.

2.       The Kindle Blog Report– This blog is updated about once per day, and it reviews various blogs that are available for subscription via Kindle.  In the interest of full disclosure, I must admit that I have been reviewed by this blog.  To read the Kindle Blog Report of our blog, click here.  I did, however, subscribe to the Kindle Blog Report prior to being reviewed by them, and I have found them to be an invaluable resource while in the planning stages of “Ruminations”.   They have served me very well by letting me know what other blogs are available.  Being a subscriber, imagine my absolute joy at receiving a positive review from them.

3.       Kindle Author– This blog is updated several times per week, sometimes more than once per day.  It interviews self-published authors about their latest books.  It does not provide reviews.   While I thought that this blog would become boring over time, based on the fact that it is just interview after interview, I was quite wrong.  This blog gives you a deeper description of the book in question, directly in the author’s own words.  Because of this, you can get a real feeling of the voice and style of the author, and this can often give you even more perspective into the book than a simple review.

4.       Procrastinating Writers– I subscribe to this one because, well, I am one.  It’s almost as though they wrote this blog just for me.  It is published once a week (you weren’t really expecting it more often, were you?  Come on, writers procrastinate) and has articles on getting it out of your head and onto the paper.  It’s part motivation, part instruction manual.  I have found it helpful as well.  I’m not sure that I ever would have gotten this blog off of the ground without it.

5.       Knucklehead!– OK, this is a blog that I use to help me procrastinate.  It’s hilarious and wildly entertaining.  The author of this blog is, I guess, around forty years old, with a list of life experiences that simply can’t be beat.  He and I are, I believe, contemporaries, so I can really relate to his experiences, having lived during the time that they occurred.  I don’t really think that one needs that to enjoy this blog.  I think that most people will be able to relate to them, and, more importantly, laugh out loud at them.

Don’t own a Kindle, but would like to?  The latest generation of Kindle is available at the following links:  with WiFi only  or with WiFi and 3G.

For comments, questions, and feedback, the author may be contacted at:  unkemptruminations@comcast.net

Book Review: The Lodger by Marie Belloc-Lowndes (Re-edited and Re-published)

Anyone who has run across my posts in the Kindle forums is probably already aware that I plug the book The Lodger.  Mercilessly.  I plug this book so often that one might think that I wrote it, or at least that I have a published edition of it for sale in the Kindle store.  I don’t.  With the way that I plug this book, one might also think that it is the best book that I have ever read.  It wasn’t.  What it was, was the most surprising book that I ever read.  Not the storyline, don’t worry, no spoilers here, it was just the book itself that was surprising.

You see, it was the first book that I read on my first Kindle.  I wanted to take advantage of all of the free public domain books that were available to me, and I selected one at random.  Well, not quite at random.  I searched for the keywords “Jack the Ripper”.  I don’t really know why, it was just the first thing that popped into my mind (should that worry me?).  This book came up as a public domain book, by an author of whom I’d never heard, and there was a free edition available.  So, I downloaded it.  And I read it.  And I loved it.

I have said that this was not the best book that I’d ever read, but it was a thoroughly enjoyable, five-star read.  When I downloaded it (wirelessly, for the first time to a Kindle, which was exciting enough), I expected to read this old book that would be interesting enough and not too boring.  I mean, really, it was almost a century old, and I’d never heard of the author.  Sometime during the course of my life, especially when I was working on a degree in Literature, I had at least heard of EVERY good author from that period, surely.  Right?  Wrong.

This book did not turn out to be a somewhat antiquated, only a little boring, read.  It turned out to be a page-turner.  So much so, that Dobby (my husband, for those of you who are new to my blog) started saying things like, “I’m not sure that this whole Kindle thing was a good idea” because I was giving him so little attention.  He’s learned to cope with that now.

I’ve explained about my personal experience with this book, but what you really want to know is more about the book itself.  I aim to please:

This book is set in London in the time of the Whitechapel Murders.  The main characters are a middle-aged couple who own a rooming house.  They rent out a couple of rooms to a young man whom they’ve never met prior to his becoming their lodger.  The suspense of this story comes from their suspicion that he may indeed be Jack the Ripper.  So, is he?

No, of course he isn’t.  Oh, wait, yes he is.  Not really, I’m just kidding.  Or am I?

The fact of the matter is that it isn’t relevant.  Well, I’m sure that it is to the middle-aged couple, but it’s not really relevant to the reader.  What is relevant in this book is the couple’s CONCERN that he might be.  In the end, we find out the truth one way or the other, but that is not the interesting part.  To be honest, it wouldn’t really matter to the reader whether or not we ever know.  It’s the suspense, the agony, the suspicion, and the excitement that matters.  That’s what the story is about.  “Whodunit” doesn’t matter; what matters is how the main characters feel about it.  This is what Lowndes does unbelievably well.

So, I highly recommend that you check out The Lodger for a suspenseful, pleasure read that won’t cost you a dime.

The Lodger is also available in in other formats.

Check out the Paperwhite here.  

Don’t own a Kindle, but would like to?  The latest generation of Kindle is available at the following links:  with WiFi only  or with WiFi and 3G.

For comments, questions, and feedback, the author may be contacted at:  unkemptruminations@comcast.net

Wheat-Free, Gluten-Free Brownie Recipe

I have an allergy to wheat, not a severe one, I don’t get hives or go into anaphylactic shock, it just makes life unpleasant for about 24 hours.  Because of this, I searched high and low for good wheat-free recipes.  I found some that I liked, but most of the recipes that I now use are of my own invention.  Many of them we like just as much as their wheat counterparts.  There were very few that we like MORE than their wheat counterparts.  This recipe for brownies fits in the latter category.  We liked them so much (as did the neighborhood kids) that we decided to no longer make wheat brownies.

It is important to note that you do not need to use “sweet rice flour” for this recipe to work out well.  Plain “rice flour” works almost as well, but REQUIRES the guar gum for texture.  With the “sweet rice flour”, guar gum is not required for texture, they are equivalent to wheat brownies without it, but I add the guar gum to my sweet rice recipe in order to improve the texture even further.  That is, in my opinion, the secret to “better than wheat” brownies.

(BETTER THAN WHEAT) BROWNIES

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¾ cup unsweetened cocoa (we prefer Hershey’s Special Dark) 
2 sticks butter
2 1/4 cups sugar
4 eggs
1 cup sweet rice flour

½ teaspoon guar gum (optional)

Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease a 13x9-inch glass baking pan.  I prefer to grease my pan with butter.  I have not yet tried this recipe with a foil or metal pan,

Microwave together the cocoa and butter on high setting 2 minutes (if straight out of the fridge), microwave times may vary. Stir in the sugar and blend well. Stir in eggs, flour, and guar gum. Spread this mixture in the greased pan.

Bake in preheated 350 degree oven for 40 minutes or until toothpick has grainy fudge bits but is not clean, like with a cake. Be careful not to over bake.

for comments and feedback, the author may be contacted at:  unkemptruminations@comcast.net

Do Not Fear The Chicken Dance

Recently, I was at a friend’s wedding.  I was sitting at a table chatting with some friends when “The Chicken Dance” came on.  I immediately jumped up and started to head toward the dance floor.  One of my dear friends, we’ll call her Caroline, said to me, “Oh my God, you’re not actually going to do that?”  I said that I was.

After the dance was over, I returned to the table laughing and out of breath.  Caroline shook her head and explained to me that everyone on the dance floor had looked “absolutely ridiculous.”  She then requested an oath from me that should she ever consider playing “The Chicken Dance” at her wedding reception that I just shoot her.   I smiled, said nothing, and changed the subject. 

Two weeks later, videos of the reception were posted online for the guests to view.  They were just brief snippets of things that happened; it certainly wasn’t the whole reception on tape.  But, part of the video was the entirety of “The Chicken Dance”.  The bride and groom were both there, the entire wedding party, myself, my husband, and several other guests all flapping around on the dance floor, swinging each other about like square dancers, and laughing like mental patients on new meds.  Caroline was right.  We looked ridiculous.  I looked ridiculous.  And there is was, on the internet, for the whole world to see.  I should have been mortified.

I wasn’t.

That’s right.  There was no mortification in my soul.  There was only joy.  I watched that video more than once, each time noticing something new and laughing even harder.  I was thrilled.  I didn’t care who saw that video.  Nothing is more pleasant than joy, and nothing causes joy as much as laughter.  And nothing induces laughter quite as quickly as “The Chicken Dance”.  I may have looked quite the fool, and the whole world might have been watching it, but who cares, I was filled with joy.  Right at that moment, sharing giggles with my friends, as well as some strangers, at a wedding.  Not only was I filled with joy, but there was a record of it.  This record meant that I could relive this joy any time that I wanted.  So what if I was ridiculous?

After watching the video about a dozen times, and laughing through every one of them, I noticed something.  It was Caroline.  During the time that we were dancing, she was sitting at the little corner table with her date and a couple of other friends.  They were primarily ignoring the dancing, but when they weren’t, they weren’t laughing.  When they occasionally glanced at the scene, they appeared mildly disgusted.  It was obvious that they felt that “The Chicken Dance” was beneath them.

I have to say, they looked cool.  They looked bored.  They looked miserable.

I hope that I am never that cool.

You see, life is made up of moments.  Some of the moments are good, some are bad, some are filled with stress, and some are filled with pure joy.  The joyous moments only come around if you let them.  That means that you have to be open to “The Chicken Dance”, to hugs from friends and family, to kissing in the rain.  It means that sometimes, you have to embarrass yourself.  Sometimes, you have to cry in a movie theatre, or sing out loud in a public place.  Sometimes you have to share a moment of conversation with a stranger while waiting in line, only to realize that you two would be great friends if that person were a part of your life.  You have to smile at strangers, even if you only get a smile back ten percent of the time.  Take my word for it, that ten percent is worth it.  You have to talk in silly voices to babies.  And puppies.  And your significant other.  In public. 

If you’re “too cool” for these things, then you are missing out.  You’re missing out on the fun in life.  Even the most pious lives need some fun in them.  And in today’s world, the opportunities seem to be fewer and farther between.  Because of this, we need to take advantage of them when they arise.

We all need to laugh more.  We need to take ourselves less seriously.  Most importantly, we need to get over the embarrassment and relish the moment.  You see, nothing is quite as entertaining as laughing at yourself.  The only thing that really beats it is letting others laugh at you while you join in.  That’s what I love about “The Chicken Dance”.  We all look silly doing it.  And when we do it, we laugh at ourselves, realizing that everyone around us is laughing at us too.  And we don’t care.  While we are laughing at ourselves and being laughed at, we are laughing at others while they laugh at themselves.  It’s a sort of shared freedom.  And that freedom leads to joy.

So, I challenge you, Reader.  The next time that you are out in public, and they play “The Chicken Dance” or “The Electric Slide” or “Y.M.C.A.”, join in.  The next time that your office goes to Karaoke after work, get up and sing.  Sing loudly.  Sing badly.  Laugh at yourself, and let others join you.  You won’t regret it.  The fact of the matter is, doing a Julia Sugarbaker down a runway at a fashion show may be embarrassing, but it sure will give you a laugh when you are old and telling the story to your grandchildren.

for comments and feedback, the author may be contacted at:  unkemptruminations@comcast.net