Bean Verbs

This one is for all my grammarian friends. I call it Bean Verbs.

Ha! Ha! Ha! Get it???

Aren't people who laugh at their own jokes just too much! Sorry, not sorry. :)

Sad Guitar

Remember those hearts I made for Valentine's Day? Well, I think I have a crush on book page mosaics now.

I also have a crush on sad guitars.

Sad guitars, you ask? Yeah, like the ones Karen Carpenter used to sing about. Or George Harrison. Or Brian Pounds.

So book page mosaics + sad guitars = this new creation.

It's a lot bigger in size than those 8x8" hearts were. This baby measures in at 30x15".

I used the same combination of book pages that I used for the hearts for the face of the guitar, but the other parts needed some color, so I used some RDCB pages with pictures for the sound hole, bridge and pick guard. It was fun going through pages trying to find just the right colors to use in my "palette."

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I've got stacks and stacks of pages that are primarily black. But the cool thing is that when I tore them into pieces, the edges are white. I thought it was such a neat effect on the neck of the guitar. They almost look like frets.

So sad guitar = happy Stephanie. I've got tons of ideas for new mosaics now, and I can't wait to get started!

Mid-Century Madness

Everybody is complaining about the weather. In Houston we aren't getting the snow that everyone else is, but it is downright gloomy. So gloomy, in fact, that this weekend Captain America said, "Hey, you wanna go to the antique mall?"

I know, right?!?

After checking his forehead to make sure he didn't have a fever or anything, I said, "Heck yeah!" Our antique mall is 85,000 square feet of goodness and it would be possible to spend several days happily perusing the aisles, but I knew I only had about an hour before Captain America woke from his hallucination that he liked antiques and made me leave.

I actually ended up getting a whole 90 minutes to play, because it turns out our antique mall has great hot dogs, so that kept him busy for an extra few. By that time I had picked out these beauties. Aren't they spectacular!

The best part of the deal was that the blue decanter was on half price and we didn't even know it until the gal rung it up on the cash register. Score! 

And so, we walked toward the front door--Captain America with his arms full of a box of glass and me with a face full of smile. But wait! What was that in the front window?? 

Oh. My. Goodness. How did I miss that on the way in? It's orange. It's mid-century. It screams "Stephanie!" AND it was the same price as half of the blue decanter, which basically meant it was free, right? (Someone check my math. Wait...don't.)

So we got them all home and look how fabulous they look together. They make the shelf pop!

Heck, they make the whole wall pop!

Speaking of popping. The other day I was in Barnes and Noble and found this book. Check out the pop of color on the cover. I had to have it! It also was screaming, "Stephanie!" (Did I say Captain America hallucinates? Well, maybe it's me. Don't judge.) 

The book is meant to be used as a coloring book for adults. Apparently that's a thing now--and it could totally become my thing, because check out the cool shapes inside. 

I became so inspired that I grabbed some book pages and my paint pens and got this. 

And then I took my markers...wait I don't think I ever told you. Guess what Captain America got me for Christmas. THIS!! Isn't he fabulous??

So I took those and my white paint pen and made this.

And when you add a frame and a little glass, these guys take me to my happy place.

Book Review: Stoner

Title: Stoner
Author: John Williams
Format: Audible
Reading Dates: 31 Jan 2015 - 13 Feb 2015
Rating: *****

I was about halfway through Stoner when I realized how much it reminded me of The Bridges of Madison County. They both are stories that aren't action packed or driven by mystery, but in the end they pack an emotional punch as you realize the enormity of a simple life told in a simple way. 

Stoner is a farm boy who comes to the University of Missouri to learn farming only to be taken with literature and never leaving the college, choosing a teaching career over that of a farmer. He takes few risks in life and almost all of them after careful deliberation. He makes mistakes, but makes no excuses. He gains no great reward or honor during his life, but neither does he end up a derelict. He lives his life with a quiet, slow dignity that carries him through until the end.

Robin Field does an excellent job with the voices on this recording. Spot on.

Recommended!

Book Review: All the Light We Cannot See

Title: All the Light We Cannot See
Author: Anthony Doerr
Format: Audible
Reading Dates: 18 Dec 2014 - 29 Jan 2015
Rating: *****

What more can you write about World War II? Hasn't everything been said already? Apparently not, and good for us, because Anthony Doerr has written a jewel of a book about a blind French girl and a orphaned German boy who struggle to deal with a war not of their choosing in All the Light We Cannot See. Woven into the narrative is the legend of the Sea of Flames, a rare diamond with deadly powers.

Doerr's book explores the ideas of good and bad/dark and light. Is anyone ever just one thing or the other? When faced with impossible choices, what do you choose? How do you face the world falling apart around you when you can't even see the world around you? Are you the brave one or the one who lives to tell the tale?

As the book jumped back and forth in time, I began to think of it as a constant cliffhanger--always leaving me wanting more as it quickly picked up the last story. That made it a true page-turner, although in this case I was listening to an audiobook and finding excuses to keep driving.

Really great book. Highly recommended!

Book Review: The Court-Martial of Paul Revere: A Son of Liberty and America's Forgotten Military Disaster

Title: The Court-Martial of Paul Revere: A Son of Liberty and America's Forgotten Military Disaster
Author: Michael M. Greenburg
Format: Kindle
Reading Dates: 09 Dec 2014 - 18 Jan 2015
Rating: *****

I guess if you grew up taking Massachusetts or Maine History classes in high school, you might have heard of the Penobscot Expedition, but otherwise, it’s probably nothing that hit your radar. In short, it was a disastrous foray of Americans from Massachusetts into the Penobscot Bay in Maine, the purpose of which was to forcibly remove a British garrison that had established itself on the Majabigwaduce peninsula and had begun building a fort.

The Massachusetts men comprised both an army and a navy and the officer in charge of the artillery was none other than American hero and Son of Liberty, Paul Revere. Despite outnumbering the Redcoats, the Expedition ended in an all-out rout of the Americans and the destruction of the entire Expeditionary Fleet. After the troops’ ignominious return to Boston, the blame game began and many fingers were pointing at Paul Revere, accusing him of disobeying orders, being generally lazy, and being a coward.

Author Michael M. Greenburg has created an altogether readable book on the entire affair beginning with Revere’s famous ride, its aftermath, his part in the Penobscot Expedition, and the court-martial that followed. The book is obviously well-researched but it doesn’t end up reading like a textbook. Instead, it is a gripping account of the doomed siege and its players and paints Revere in a different light than what you might have been brought up to believe.

I enjoyed Revere's story, but I also liked this book because it’s been a long time since I’ve read any history on the Revolutionary War. Greenburg does a really fine job in describing the general events that led to war and then placing the particulars of the Penobscot Expedition in context.

If I could change one thing about this book, I wish there was a good map of the area around Majabigwaduce. Greenburg includes some hand-drawn maps contemporary with the Expedition, but a larger, more readable map would have helped me better place the action he describes.

A well-done history book! Highly recommended!

Ten Word Novel

The End.

Happy Valentine's Day!