I Love You to the Moon and Back

It's the 20th Anniversary Edition of this book.

Just looking at the book cover brings back fond memories.

I still have the copy I read to GI.

You Have to Look With the Heart

Remember ...

"You become responsible, forever, for what you have tamed."
― Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, The Little Prince

The Very Hungry Japanese Caterpillar

Last week, MyGirl went to the city with her friends.

One of their destinations was the Kinokuniya bookstore right beside my office.

I have been working in that area for five years

and despite my love for books, I had only entered the bookstore thrice.

I wondered what was in that bookstore that 14 year olds 

were willing to take the bus to the city to visit.

When I took my lunch break last Thursday,

I decided to explore the bookstore.

To my surprise, Kinokuniya was HUGE!

The bookstore took up practically the whole 2nd level.

And there was a whole section of Japanese books.

They even had one of my favourite books.

Guess How Much I Love You

Guess How Much I Love You is a book that we read to GI many, many, many times.  His copy was a small  board book.  We would flip through the pages at night before going to bed.  GI had heard the story so many times he had memorised the whole book.

GI will always be my Funny Nut Brown Hare,

but my heart belongs to someone else.

HAPPY

VALENTINE'S 

DAY!

The Force is Strong with This One

There is Star Wars movie coming out?

Oh!  There is a Star Wars movie coming out.

In 2015, Star Wars Episode VII is expected to hit the big screens with some of the original Star Wars trilogy stars being part of the film.  No wonder I have been seeing Star Wars on various store window displays.

First at Peter Alexander (sleepwear store)

then at Vans (shoe store)

 

and at Dymock's (bookstore).

At Dymock's they had a whole set of posters like the one above.   Last week, they had a big poster that said, READING, It's Our Only Hope with Darth Vader on a chair reading a book and young Leia seated on the floor by the chair also reading a book. Too bad Dymock's changed the window display over the weekend and I wasn't able to take more photos.  I particularly liked the one that had young Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader at the breakfast table with the words,  "Use the fork, Luke!"  

I discovered that these were by Jeffrey Brown who has illustrated books with the Star Wars theme.  One is entitled Star Wars: Darth Vader & Son, the next one Star Wars : Vader's Little Princess, and the latest one, Star Wars : Jedi Academy.  I generally pass by Dymock's on my way to work so the bookstore is still closed.  I have to drop by when the store is open and check out these charming books.  

I remember how much we enjoyed Star Wars as kids. We would listen to the music by John Williams.  We had a Star Wars board game. We had a Return of the Jedi cartridge for Atari.   If memory serves me right, Sister Deer went to a party with a Princess Leia hairdo.  This last one I am 100% certain to be true, Slash M teased J incessantly by calling him Jabba the Hut Junior.  

Star Wars was a big thing.  When it first came out, we thought all the special effects were awesome.  I am sure that the Star Wars special effects pale in comparison to today's computer graphics but I still think the movie was ahead of its time. I can't remember how many times I've watched the various movies over they years and I will probably always enjoy Star Wars more than any of my kids ever will.  It doesn't matter, I still look forward to watching the new Star Wars movie next year.

Until then, May the Force be with you!

The Power of Now

Someone posted this on their FB wall yesterday.  It was a good reminder.

Eckhart Tolle has his bestselling book entitled The Power of Now which stressed the importance of living in the present.   Jacques Philippe said in his book Interior Freedom says "It is a mistake to add the burden of the past to the weight of the present, it's a still worse mistake to burden the present with the future."  And that hearts anxious about tomorrow can't be open to the grace of the present moment.  

And of course, we know that St. Matthew wrote, "Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own."

So may we all be present in the present.

Timeless Favourite

As for me, I'm a child at heart.

I still love this little hungry caterpillar.

No Arms, No Legs, No Worries

This book was on the 'recent returns' shelf of the library when I passed by about a month ago. I didn't pick the book up. It was one of those times when I wanted to read something light. I think I borrowed a bunch of cookbooks that day.

I suppose I was meant to "meet" Nick Vujicic because a few days later, I heard about him again. Next chance I got, I picked up the book from the library. Before I read the book, RD showed me one of the many youtube videos on this amazing young Australian.

Born without limbs on December 1982, Nick Vujicic is great inspiration.

In his chapter entitled, "Attitude is Altitude," he reminds people that by changing our attitude, we can change our lives (c/o psychologist and philosopher William James). There are many attitudes to choose from but Nick Vujicic recommends (1) an attitude of gratitude, (2) an attitude of action, (3) an attitude of empathy and (4) an attitude of forgiveness.

He has come to realise that as imperfect as he may be, he is the perfect Nick Vujicic. He is God's creation, designed according to God's plan.

In his travels to America (where he now resides, if I read the book right), he met Joni Eareckson Tada who was a 17-year old swimmer and equestrian from Maryland that broke her neck while diving into a lake in 1967. She was paralyzed from her neck down. (I read her autobiography when I was much younger. She learned how to paint with a brush between her teeth and later began to sell her artwork. Her story was likewise amazing.) Joni has become Nick's role model, his mentor, and his fellow traveller in this life.

He also met nineteen month old Daniel Martinez, who like him, was born with out arms and legs. Nick was like a window into what was in store for Daniel so Daniel's parents were very happy to meet him. But it was Nick's parents who were an even bigger blessing to the Martinez family because where else could they get insight on how to be a parent to a child without arms and legs.

Nick has been able to do so many things that most people with four limbs have not yet done. He has gone scuba diving, he surfs, he fishes, he has travelled the world, he has ridden an airport carousel (as well as gotten stuffed in the overhead cabin of an airplane) for the fun of it, he has made a movie, he was a drummer in the school band and an orchestra conductor. He graduated with a double major at Griffith University with a Bachelor of Commerce in Financial Planning and Accounting at the age of 21.

As an internationally successful inspirational speaker, he has spoken to thousands of people and affected many lives.

It is true that God works in mysterious ways.

Multi-Tasking in This Lifetime

Last year, I bought knitting needles and spools of yarn in June. I had high hopes of getting a scarf or a beanie going by the end of winter. Winter is from June to August. I thought that I would be able to come up with something decent in three months time.

In my blog post Knit and Purl I wrote about my intention of finishing a 5"x5" square.

What was I thinking?!! I must have been dreaming.

I managed to get the first 5" out of the way. I had gone through the motions of casting on the required number of stitches.

I knitted a couple of rows ... literally.

The stitches were uneven. It didn't look nice. I didn't like them. (MyGirl's work was heaps better than mine.)

My knitted work looked wonky (if there is such a word) and I was not happy, not happy at all.

I didn't even get to 5" x 1". I stashed the yarn and the needles away.

That was last year.

About a month ago, my sister-in-law's sister-in-law (did you get that?) enrolled in a knitting class. She was the beginner in the class but when I saw her work, I was quite impressed. And that was just after ONE class.

I asked myself -- Do I have hope? Dare I imagine that I can actually knit something decent?

YES! Of course there is hope. One must NEVER lose hope.

I borrowed a couple of knitting books again from the library. (But I also borrowed a whole stack of other books which I ended up reading, leaving the knitting books in the library bag until I had to renew them.)

Yes, I dug up the knitting needles and the yarn but they sat stationary beside the library bag.

That was about three weeks ago.

A couple of days ago, on the bus on my way to the office, I sat beside this lady who was knitting a scarf. She had already gone through several colour changes and was working on rows of beige. I noted her nimble fingers and her even stitches. I noted that her yarn was much thicker than the one I had at home. She was knitting all the way from Castle Hill to Sydney while listening to her MP3 player.

It was a sign. Time to open the book and get the knitting needles to do some crossing.

After dinner on Friday, MyGirl helped me figure out the steps on how to knit. She had to show me how to cast on several times before I was able to get the hang of it. I decided I wouldn't go for an ambitious 5" this time. I didn't even count how many stitches I had cast on. I just decided to stop at a certain point and go for the second row.

I tried to mimic the way the lady on the bus was holding her yarn. I checked some sites in youtube to see how things were supposed to be done. I couldn't replicate the way the lady on the bus wound the yarn around her fingers. I decided as long as the stitches looked decent, I would be happy.

I think I managed to finish five or six rows that evening. It looked nice. I was happy.

While I was knitting, RD handed me over the book Catching Fire which he had borrow from his friend. This book is the second in Suzanne Collins's trilogy. RD had borrowed the first book, The Hunger Games, from his school library some time back after I had told him that I wanted to read them but the copies in the public library were always on reserve.

Oh boy, what is one to do? Knit or read? Read or knit?

I decided why not do both?

So after I ironed the clothes on Saturday, I sat myself down in the living room with my knitting stuff on my lap and the book on the floor.

Here is my knitting at page 246.

Here it is at page 369.

I honestly didn't think I would find myself knitting in this lifetime.

I have absolutely no idea how long it will take to knit this whole ball of yarn. I also don't know how long the end product (eventually a scarf?) will be.

I do know that this labour of love, finished or unfinished, will forever be treasured as my first (and fingers crossed, not only) knitted piece.

I know I am two winters too late, but God willing, I will have more winters to go.

Inspiration : Nigella

I borrowed this book from the library last Monday. I got it from the 7-Day Rapid Reads shelf which means that I can only have it for a week and I cannot renew the book.

http://www.amazon.com/Nigella-Kitchen-Recipes-Heart-Home/dp/1401323952

When I think of Nigella, I do not think of Twinings Tea, I actually think of my brother Slash-M. (He likes her, unless I've got her confused with some other luscious cook.)

I had been able to watch a couple of her shows on the Food Network while we were still in Manila. She always seemed to make things look so easy and so yummy. She was always sneaking a taste of whatever she was cooking.

While I was watching what Nigella was cooking, apparently MacGyver was watching something else. You see, when I borrowed the book, he noted that the book had too many words and not enough pictures ... of Nigella. (Humph! MEN!!)

Anyway, since the book will be due soon, I decided to flip through the pages and see what she had to say. Reading her introductory chapters was like listening to her on TV. She shared what she has in her kitchen, provided some insight and gave some advice.

My favourite part was her Gadget Hall of Shame where she rattled off some of the non-performing assets in her kitchen. Her list included an electric ice cream maker, healthy-eating electric grill, electric bread maker, electric jam maker, electric cheese grater (RD had a hearty laugh when he got to the cheese grater bit), electric slow cooker, electric sauce maker, electric waffle maker, soup-making super-blender, electric super-juicer, yogurt maker and electric carving knife.

Truth be told, the slow cooker is one of my favorite cooking appliances. And, among the items I have in her Gadget Hall of Shame, I just LOVE my waffle iron. So really, to each his own.

This was her bit in the book about the Electric waffle maker.

Now, I do know what likes behind the purchase of this: namely, the all-too-familiar combination of optimism and self-delusion that always turns the shopper into such easy prey. I can make pancakes for fifteen children at the weekend without it being any kind of big deal (although now they're teenagers, it has to be said, it's never early in the morning - or indeed morning at all) but just attempting waffles for my three was more stressful than you can believe possible. I know it's my failure -- that it's my incompetence with the machine that's to blame - but who wants to pay to have that pointed out? And just to highlight my foolishness, I haven't yet implemented its move form cupboard to charity shop; I still delude myself that I am going to be that person who rustles up waffles for breakfast, one day.

Hey, what do you know? I am that person who rustles up waffles for breakfast.

I decided to mix up some waffle batter before going to mass. The yeast needed to rise anyway.

I told MyGirl that if she and her brothers got hungry, they could ask their dad to make the waffles, as long as it was after the needed rising time.

When I got back home, I found MacGyver in the kitchen heating up the waffle iron. I assume RD's stomach couldn't wait for me to get home anymore. So I was lucky enough to get the waffles when they were still nice, hot and crispy.

In fact, the newly baked waffles didn't last one minute on the serving platter because as soon as MacGyver put the waffles on the dining table, they got picked up and moved to a plate.

Tales from China

RD had to read Mao's Last Dancer for school. I had been wanting to watch the movie since last year. I decided I'd borrow the book from the library myself and read the book before I watched the movie. I got the Young Readers' Edition just like what RD had from school. I figured I was going to watch the movie anyway so there was no point going for the long-winded literary version, if such existed.

It was quite a good autobiography (I hope the movie does it justice). It is a story of a young Chinese boy, Li Cunxin, who was born into a poor family but had the good fortune of being selected to join one of Mrs. Mao's cultural programs, and train as a dancer.

The first part of the book is about his hard life as a child. The second part focused mainly on his training as a dancer in Beijing. And the last part was about his experience in the West which led to his eventual defection to the States.

I particularly liked the stories he incorporated in the book which I suppose are told to Chinese children as they are growing up.

p54

Once there was a Chinese emperor who loved cricket fighting. Each year the Emperor required the governors in every province to donate their best crickets. To win the Emperor's favour, each governor ordered his people to search for the best crickets all over the land.

Under a mountain in a small village lived a poor family with one ten-year old son. They named him Brave Hero. His father was a courageous hunter and his mother was kind. He was the sunshine in their eyes. One day the father came home from the mountains with his biggest catch, a beautiful cricket. He named the cricket Brave Hero, after his boy. The father was relieved -- he would have been fined heavily if he hadn't found a cricket within twenty-four hours. The young boy begged his father to allow him to look at it. At first his father said no, but the boy kept begging and eventually he relented. Just as the boy opened the bamboo tube in which the cricket was kept, the cricket jumped out and hopped away. Their rooster nearby ate the cricket. The boy's father was in such a rage over the loss of the cricket that he ordered his son to find another one or else never return. The poor boy went into the mountains. They found him next day lying on a big rock, almost dead. The father cried his heart out. As he picked up his son's limp body, a small and ugly cricket jumped on the boy's pale face. The father brushed the cricket off and carried the boy home.

The parents wept over their dying boy. They placed him a coffin in their living room waiting for the last breath to leave him. As they prayed in front of the coffin, they heard the faint sound of a cricket. It was the same ugly cricket the father had brushed away from the boy's face before. The father threw it outside.

Moments later the Governor came to collect the cricket and the father told him that he had none. Just as the angry Governor was ordering his guards to burn down the house, they heard a cricket singing from the house. Its sound was strong and loud. They followed the sound to a bamboo tube and found the same little cricket inside. The Governor thought the Hunter was playing a joke with him when he saw this ugly little cricket and he threw it towards the rooster. Just as the rooster was about to eat the cricket, it jumped onto the rooster's crown and after a brief struggle the rooster dropped dead. The Governor was very impressed. He asked the Hunter if he had a name for the cricket. The hunter told him that he called it Brave Hero. Brave Hero quickly became the number one fighter in the kingdom. He never lost a fight. He even beat the Emperor's fighting roosters. The Emperor treasured him.

Back in the mountain village, the boy was still breathing. As long as their son breathed the couple would keep him lying in their living room. As the cricket-fighting season drew to a close, the Emperor ordered the Governor to reward the original finder of the cricket with gold and silver because the cricket had given him such pleasure. But material things could not bring their son back to his sorrowful parents.

One day, Brave Hero mysteriously disappeared form his royal cage in the palace. On that same day the boy became alive again. The little cricket was Brave Hero's spirit. He had turned himself into the cricket to save his family.

I loved this tale. I loved the boy's bravery and wished that I too could turn myself into a cricket and save my family from poverty. What a shame Chairman Mao didn't like cricket fights.

p182

'Sit down, Cunxin,' Teacher Xiao said again. 'I want to tell you a story ...'

One of the guards in an emperor's palace went to his teacher. He wanted his teacher to make him the best archer in the land. The teacher told him to go away. The guard returned every day and begged his teacher to teach him. Day after day, week after week, month after month the guard came. He came in the rain and he came in the snow. After one whole year, the teacher was moved by the guard's perseverance and determination and finally accepted him as his student. The teacher asked him to pick up a heavy bow and hold it up. After a few minutes the guard's arms started shaking with tiredness. The teacher made him carry very heavy loads in each hand every day. After a while, when he picked up the heavy bow again it felt like a feather in his hands. One day he asked his teacher, when would he teach him how to shoot an arrow? The teacher told him that he wasn't ready yet and instead asked him if he could see anything far into the sky. He looked up and looked as hard and as far as he could but couldn't see anything. His teacher told him to look at a tiny little spider in a far-away tree that he could hardly see. He kept focusing on it with one eye at a time. Gradually he began to see the spider clearly and eventually when he used both his eyes the little spider seemed as large as his shield. His teacher said that he was now ready to teach him how to shoot an arrow. Soon the guard became the best archer in the land.

'Remember, Cunxin, nothing is impossible,' Teacher Xian said.

I'll tell you if the movie is worth watching.

The Shack

A kidnapped daughter is presumed dead. Her father is overwhelmed with grief and anger. When a letter apparently from God invites him to the scene of the crime, Mack can't help but go and what he finds there changes him forever!

I got this book for my birthday. My first cousin sent it off from the UK. It is a wonderful book and I hope you get to read it. There is a website (www.theshackbook.com) where you can read more about it, but I strongly recommend that you go and get a copy for yourself.

Big thanks, R! I love the book.

Meditation

Encounter with meditation #1. I caught an episode of the TV series Medium the other week that had the father-in-law of Allison DuBois paying her a visit and telling her that his son should go see a doctor. They showed a flashback of the father having a heart attack (and dying). Allison's husband Joe eventually goes to see a doctor who recommends that he does some meditation to help lower his blood pressure. Joe was skeptical about the whole meditation thing but decides to try it anyway. He takes his meditation guidebook and looks for a spot outside his office to meditate during his lunch break. While he was there, someone else arrives. It is the owner of the company Joe works for and the chosen spot just happens to be where his boss does HIS meditation during breaks. This unexpected meeting brings Joe to the attention of his big boss who later pays him a visit, shares his experience about the benefit of meditation, and invites Joe to an upcoming after office event. At the end of the episode, the father pays Allison another visit and admits that nothing is wrong with Joe but that it was his way of helping out his son.

Encounter with meditation #2. When I go to the library, I make a bee-line for light reading in the romance section. Having read most of the Nicholas Sparks and Cecelia Ahern books available in the library, I venture out and borrow books by other authors in the nearby bookshelves. Sometimes, if we arrive towards the end of the day, the returned books waiting to be shelved are stacked in the trolley and parked along the aisle. On two consecutive visits to the library, I found books written by the Dalai Lama on the trolley. I borrowed both of them.

The first one I read was How to See Yourself As You Really Are, while the second one (the one I have been reading on the bus to work), co-written by Laurens van den Muyzenberg is The Leader's Way. Both books mention meditation. The first book mentioned breathing three times through your left nostril, then three times through your right nostril, then three times through both nostrils. The second book has the co-write giving a layman's description of the same thing on pages 62 to 63.

Van den Muyzenberg writes:

Visualization exercises involve some more advanced control over the mind. This type of meditation asks you to imagine yourself changing into something else, and its purpose for non-Buddhists is to calm the mind. Here is just one example of how to go about it.

Imagine that you have three channels in your body. The central channels is a transparent tube about the width of your little finger, running straight down the center of your body from the crown of your head to the base of your spine. The right and the left channels are also transparent tubes but are narrower than the central channel. They run from your nostrils up to the crown of your head, where they curve down like an umbrella handle to run along the central channel, parallel with the spine to slightly below your navel, where they join the central channel.

Having visualized these three channels, first breathe in through your left nostril, imagining that the air is flowing into the crown of your head and continuing down the left channel to the left of your navel, where it switches to the right channel. Here, you breathe out through that channel, passing the crown of the head and flowing out past the right nostril. Repeat this three times. Next, do the same exercise starting with the air coming in through the right nostril and going out through the left nostril. Do this three times. Lastly, breathe in through both nostrils together, bringing the air past the crown and down through the right and left channels to the point where they join the central channel. When the air reaches the central channel, tighten your inner pelvis and hold your breath. As soon as you no longer feel comfortable, exhale naturally through your nostrils, but visualize that, instead of air going out, it dissolves inside the central channel. Do this three times.

On page 65, the Dalia Lama describes the Padme Hum. I found this part interesting because we often see people chanting while doing meditation. I figure this is the Padme Hum which apparently has deeper meaning than just a repetition of words.

This mantra is also often recited as a dedication when someone has died. When my mother passed away,my brother and I and many others recited Om Mani Padme Hum more than a hundred thousand times.

The meaning of Om Mani Padme Hum is very inspiring. OM, pronounced as AUM or OHM, means body, speech, and mind. When we use the sound OM, it signifies that we would like to develop a pure body, speech, and mind, such as those of Buddha. Purity, here, refers to the absence of negative thoughts and emotions and of bad (unwholesome) actions. The remaining syllables indicate how to make this transition and use objects as symbols. MANI, meaning jewel, relates to Right Conduct, taking the right action inspired by an altruistic intention. PADME means lotus. A lotus is perfectly white even though it grows out of mud. It presents an image of your mind that is impure (stained with mud) and can become pure (white lotus flower), so relating to Right View. HUM means "indivisible"; that is, Right View and Right Conduct must be combined.

Breathing exercises helped me immensely when I was going through Lamaze. I don't think I am ready to go down the road of serious meditation just yet but I do believe that there is benefit in doing so.

Four Seasons

I am reading this book by Alan Alda entitled Things I Overheard While Talking to Myself. It is an interesting book. It includes many of the speeches Alan Alda has made over the years to a variety of groups. Plus since the book I borrowed was from the Large Print section, it is also easy reading for the eyes. (Gosh, I'm getting old.)

This is what he wrote about the movie The Four Seasons which I found interesting: Finally, I saw that this was a story of the four seasons of friendship: spring, where everyone is fresh and attractive and new to one another; summer, where the glare of the sun begins to show everyone's blemishes; autumn, where the fig leaves finally fall and you see who they really are; and the winter of friendship, where you either drop them and start all over again with another springtime set of friends or take them as they are and huddle against the cold winds of aging.

This process of going through seasons is true for many things -- friendships, as Alan Alda had written, as well as life. I guess what is important is that we go through each season as they come, learn as much as we can from them and enjoy the journey while we are there.

(When I think of Alan Alda, I cannot help think of LondonEye. I am not sure why. I was certainly a TV addict and M*A*S*H was definitely one of the series we watched together when we were kids. I think LondonEye loved Hawkeye Pierce more than I did which is why she comes to mind. Yes, LondonEye was definitely my TV partner-in-crime. Those were the days.)

He Sleeps In A Storm

Just wanted to share page 93 of Mitch Albom's book Have a Little Faith.

From a Sermon by the Reb, 1975

A man seeks employment on a farm. He hands his letter of recommendation to his new employer. It reads simply, 'He sleeps in a storm.'

The owner is desperate for help, so he hires the man.

Several weeks pass, and suddenly, in the middle of the night, a powerful storm rips through the valley.

Awakened by the swirling rain and howling wind, the owner leaps out of bed. He calls for his new hired hand, but the man is sleeping soundly.

So he dashes off to the barn. He sees, to his amazement, that the animals are secure with plenty of feed.

He runs out to the fields. He sees the bales of wheat have been bound and are wrapped in tarpaulins.

He races to the silo. The doors are latched, and the grain is dry.

And then he understands. 'He sleeps in a storm.'

My friends, if we tend to the things that are important in life, if we are right with those we love and behave in line with our faith, our lives will not be cursed with the aching throb of unfulfilled business. Our words will always be sincere, our embraces will be tight. We will never wallow in the agony of 'I could have, I should have.' We can sleep in a storm.

And when it's time, our good-byes will be complete.

May we all be able to sleep in a storm.

P.S. I Love You

Did you watch the movie, P.S. I Love You? Or read the book?

In the story, Holly Kennedy had recently lost her husband Gerry. To ease the pain of separation and to help her find her way, he had left her ten letters -- one to be opened every month from March to December, after he had passed away.

I don't know about you but I am a romantic at heart.

I enjoy love stories.

I like happy endings.

The story was kind of sad because there was a great loss involved. But it was also happy in a way because it was a story which encouraged one to move forward and to live one's life to the fullest.

I like the idea of having something to look forward to (read) each month.

I have actually done something like this before. I made little notes for someone special to read every month. I like looking back at those messages. They bring me back to a different time and place.

No wonder I found the book fascinating.

Cecelia Ahern is my type of writer.

Now if you are a hopeless romantic like me, you can go off and read her other books, too.

(Oh, Happy Valentine's Day, by the way.)

Eats, Shoots & Leaves

A panda walks into the library. He eats a sandwich, then draws his bow and shoots two arrows.

"Why did you do that?" asks the librarian as the panda walks toward the exit.

The panda shows her a badly punctuated book. "I'm a panda," he says. "That's what it says we do."

The librarian looks at the page:

PANDA

Large black-and-white bear-like mammal, native to China. Eats, shoots and leaves.

I borrowed two books from the library, Eats, Shoots & Leaves (Why, Commas Really Do Make a Difference) and The Girl's Like Spaghetti (Why You Can't Manage Without Apostrophes!) by Lynne Truss. For each example, there are illustrations by Bonnie Timmons. I found these books terribly amusing.

For Eats, Shoots & Leaves, she had the following examples:

Slow, children crossing.

Slow children crossing.

Go, get him doctors!

Go get him, doctors!

Every day, Anthony turns, slides and swings.

Every day, Anthony turns slides and swings.

After we left Grandma, Mummy and I skipped about in the park.

After we left, Grandma, Mummy and I skipped about in the park.

Becky teased the boy with the fluffy duck.

Becky teased the boy, with the fluffy duck.

No cats, thank you.

No cats thank you.

Becky walked on, her head a little higher than usual.

Becky walked on her head, a little higher than usual.

Look at the huge hot dog!

Look at the huge, hot dog!

The kids, who got ice cream, were very happy.

The kids who got ice cream were very happy.

The student, said the teacher, is crazy.

The student said the teacher is crazy.

No pushing, please.

No pushing please.

I've finally decided to cheer up, everybody!

I've finally decided to cheer up everybody!

What is this called, honey?

What is this called honey?

These were the ones in The Girl's Like Spaghetti:

The giant kids' playground.

The giant kid's playground.

Students' refuse to go in the bin.

Students refuse to go in the bin.

The dogs like my dad.

The dog's like my dad.

Ladies' lounge.

Ladies lounge.

Violets for display only.

Violet's for display only.

See the boys bat.

See the boy's bat.

See the boys' bat.

We're here to help you.

Were here to help you.

Those smelly things are my brother's.

Those smelly things are my brothers.

Jack's played here.

Jacks played here.

The tiny cat's home.

The tiny cats' home.

The shop sells boys' and girls' clothing.

The shop sells boys and girls' clothing.

Look, it's behind.

Look, its behind.

The apostrophe's like a flying comma.

The apostrophes like a flying comma.

I wonder when Twenty-Odd Ducks will show up in the library.

Twilight

It is a love story with lots of twists. You have Edward... Bella... and Jacob ... love, of course, lots of love ... forbidden love... love between friends... love among family members... vampires... humans... werewolves...

I have read the book, thanks to GI.

Yes, I admit it. I read a book my teenage son borrowed from his classmate. How could I resist? First of all, the book belonged to GI's classmate, a fifteen year-old male. Secondly, GI actually borrowed this book and brought it home. GI bringing a book he wasn't mandated to read, home from school? Totally unheard of. Thirdly, GI reported that the book was being made into a movie. (He borrowed it some time in September, I think.) But the clincher was my (not-so) little boy, (more like) my young adult, READING a book approximately 2 inches thick. GI reading a 2" book? This book HAD to be interesting.

So I read Twilight before GI returned it to his classmate.  Being the hopeless romantic, I enjoyed the book.

(GI borrowed the 2nd book of the series from his classmate then we borrowed the 3rd and the 4th books from GI's cousin.)

The movie started showing in the Philippines last Thursday, November 27.  As expected, GI asked for permission to watch the movie this afternoon with his classmate. 

He said the movie was good even if it was kind of short and lacking in details that were found in the book. It's getting good reviews. 

I'll get to see the movie ... eventually.

The Giving Tree

It was RD that first introduced me to the book, The Giving Tree. He had brought home a drawing from school when he was five.

Their teacher had read them the story of The Giving Tree at school and had asked them to make a drawing about the book. I was amused by his drawing which had the boy and the tree, and there was a heart drawn at the base of the tree. I tried to get the story out of him but one can only get so much from a preschooler.

The sketchy details he offered were enough to intrigue me. I decided to check the book our for myself.

The Giving Tree is a story that spans one person's lifetime. The boy found love and friendship where he least expected it. The love he'd found was a special kind of love. It was love that was freely given with nothing expected in exchange. It was selfless love.


The friendship between the boy and the tree was unique. And although the story revolves around the tree giving much to the boy, it was very apparent that the love and friendship between the two made such giving and receiving almost natural. And in the end, when the boy became an old man and there was nothing more than a stump left, the two were perfectly happy to be with each other.

A wonderful book for young and old alike. In its simplicity there is depth. Definitely a keeper.

Chapter 26

So far, this is my favorite beading project with MyGirl. I share it with some passages from one of my favorite books.

My star will just be one of the stars, for you. And you will love to watch all the stars in the heavens ... They will all be your friends.

All men have the stars, but they are not the same things for different people. For some, who are travelers, the stars are guides. For others they are no more than little lights in the sky. For others, who are scholars, they are problems. For my businessman they were wealth. But all these stars are silent. You --- you alone --- will have the stars as no one else has them ---

In one of those stars I shall be living. In one of them I shall be laughing. And so it will be as if all the stars were laughing, when you look at the sky at night ... You -- only you -- will have stars that can laugh!

Big kiss for RD and MyGirl if they can guess what book the passages come from.

Here's a clue, in Chapter 21 of this book, the fox shared a very simple secret:

It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye.