A while back it was suggested to me to try coconut flour in place of the traditional flours of all purpose, whole wheat pastry flours, etc. I've tried it twice now and apparently I had blocked out my first experience when I attempted this morning to modify a pineapple muffin recipe I found on the internet. When I saw how this was going, I did a quick search on the internet and found the problem . . . coconut flour acts like a sponge and absorbs liquids without seeming to add any moisture to the mixture. If a recipe calls for 2 cups all purpose flour and 1 cup of liquids, you need to cut back on the flour included and up the liquids. Hopefully I will remember that the next time I cook with coconut flour.
In addition, the recipe I was working from included dairy products, including eggs. Since I don't eat meat or dairy, I made other substitutions. You can usually get by with adding a banana or vegan yogurt in place of eggs in recipes and since I had a rotting banana sitting on my counter, I started with that. In hindsight I see where that would be a mistake when you are starting with a flour that needs all the moisture it can get and a banana really doesn't provide that.
So I added a single serving container of vegan vanilla yogurt. It helped but wasn't quite enough, so I added a second container of the vanilla yogurt. It was looking a lot better by this point but still not where it needed to be so I added 1/4 cup of canola oil. By now the batter was close enough to what I was looking for that I loaded up my muffin pan and started to bake.
The finished product, though delicious, wasn't quite the recipe I was looking for. It produced a moist muffin that didn't quite hold together completely. I obviously need to tweak the recipe some more and possibly cook a little longer.
Having said that, here is my working recipe:
Ingredients:
2 cups coconut flour
1/2 cup maple sugar
1/4 cup canola oil
1 banana (mashed)
2 5.3 ounce containers of non-dairy vanilla yogurt
1 tablespoon of baking powder
1/2 fresh pineapple chopped
3/4 cup almond milk
1/4 cup non-dairy butter
water (I kept adding trying to get the right texture - I probably added about a cup of water)
Preparation:
1. Preheat oven to 375 and lightly oil a 6 muffin tin.
2. Combine the flour, sugar and baking powder in a large bowl.
3. Add the remaining ingredients and mix until well.
4. Distribute mixture in the muffin tin (will completely fill tin).
5. Bake for 35 minutes.
Makes 6 muffins.
Obviously you can use a 12 muffin tin and adjust the time of baking but since I used a 6 muffin tin, this is how I did it. As I said, it produced a delicious, moist muffin but it didn't quite hold together properly. I still have half the pineapple chopped up so I see a take two in my future. :)
Saturday, December 19, 2015
Wednesday, December 16, 2015
Jury Duty
I've been called to jury duty three times in my life. The first time it involved a condo and maintenance fees for the property. I wasn't selected to sit on the jury but it had been an afternoon case and I wasn't going back to work so I stayed after I had been released to hear the case. Unfortunately, because it was so late in the day when it started, they didn't finish that afternoon so I asked one of the jurors to email me the verdict when they were done. I had already formed an opinion about the case and, as it turned out, the jury came to the same conclusion.
The next time I was called I don't actually recall what the case was about. What I remember is that the plaintiff didn't have an attorney. Nor did she speak English. They had an interpreter for her but there seemed to be some communication issues between them and I was dreading being selected for the jury. The defendant had an attorney though and she asked the panel a couple of questions. We were asked if we had ever been to small claims court before. I said I had and I was asked whether I had won or not. I said no. Apparently that was enough to get me eliminated from serving. I say that because the judge said he was going to take the first 6 people who weren't eliminated and I had been number 3 or 4. I was okay that with that.
The third time was today. I've always wanted to serve on a jury but today I was hoping to NOT be selected. So of course I was. And actually, it was an interesting situation involving a landlord / tenant dispute. Neither side had counsel. The landlord was claiming that the tenant wouldn't allow her to inspect the house. She said they hadn't been paying rent and owed for October, November and December. She said that she went by one day and that the kitchen cabinets were outside with the trash. She said they had painted the walls without permission. She said the tenants were verbally abusive to her. This was all told in her opening statement.
The tenant's side was that the landlord showed up one day unannounced and wanted to inspect the house. They scheduled an appointment for her to do so the next day but the landlord never showed up. They admitted to pulling out the cabinets but said they did so because the landlord had had them painted and that there were dead roaches stuck to them. They also admitted to painting the walls but said the landlord liked the color and was okay with it. They said they had always paid their rent but that it was refused in November. They also said the landlord had her friend present himself as a police officer to let the landlord into their home. This was all told in their opening statement.
I should mention that the arrangement between the landlord and the tenant was that the tenant was leasing with the intent to buy the house.
After their opening statements the plaintiff presented a letter she had written that was signed by the defendants. It was two pages long. The defendant admitted to seeing the second page and signing it but denied having ever seen the first page of the letter. The judge asked the plaintiff if she had proof they had seen the first page and she said "it's there!" and that was all she said. The judge ruled that the second page made no sense without the first page so he allowed it as evidence in the case. The first page accused them of violating specific rules allegedly put into place when they moved in (personally, given that it was a lease to buy situation, I'm inclined to believe that page one was created specifically for the case and believe the defendants never saw it) and the second just said she wasn't paying anymore and that they hadn't paid rent.
The judge said she should probably tell us what she was looking to get out of the case and the plaintiff said she wanted them to move out of their house in one week. The judge asked if she was looking for any rent payments and she said no. Then the judge asked the defendants if they could move in one week, they said yes so the judge said they had a deal and closed the case and told us we could leave. The plaintiff then asked if she could ask a question and the judge said "no you may not!" and that was that. The whole thing took less than an hour. In fact, the call time was 10:00 a.m. and I was literally pulling into my driveway at 11:00 a.m. So a short day to be sure!
I really wanted to hear testimony - particularly from the friend who supposedly presented himself as a police officer - but that didn't happen.
But, now I've served on a jury. Now I have a new goal for next time though, I hope attorneys are involved and that we get to the testimony. :)
The next time I was called I don't actually recall what the case was about. What I remember is that the plaintiff didn't have an attorney. Nor did she speak English. They had an interpreter for her but there seemed to be some communication issues between them and I was dreading being selected for the jury. The defendant had an attorney though and she asked the panel a couple of questions. We were asked if we had ever been to small claims court before. I said I had and I was asked whether I had won or not. I said no. Apparently that was enough to get me eliminated from serving. I say that because the judge said he was going to take the first 6 people who weren't eliminated and I had been number 3 or 4. I was okay that with that.
The third time was today. I've always wanted to serve on a jury but today I was hoping to NOT be selected. So of course I was. And actually, it was an interesting situation involving a landlord / tenant dispute. Neither side had counsel. The landlord was claiming that the tenant wouldn't allow her to inspect the house. She said they hadn't been paying rent and owed for October, November and December. She said that she went by one day and that the kitchen cabinets were outside with the trash. She said they had painted the walls without permission. She said the tenants were verbally abusive to her. This was all told in her opening statement.
The tenant's side was that the landlord showed up one day unannounced and wanted to inspect the house. They scheduled an appointment for her to do so the next day but the landlord never showed up. They admitted to pulling out the cabinets but said they did so because the landlord had had them painted and that there were dead roaches stuck to them. They also admitted to painting the walls but said the landlord liked the color and was okay with it. They said they had always paid their rent but that it was refused in November. They also said the landlord had her friend present himself as a police officer to let the landlord into their home. This was all told in their opening statement.
I should mention that the arrangement between the landlord and the tenant was that the tenant was leasing with the intent to buy the house.
After their opening statements the plaintiff presented a letter she had written that was signed by the defendants. It was two pages long. The defendant admitted to seeing the second page and signing it but denied having ever seen the first page of the letter. The judge asked the plaintiff if she had proof they had seen the first page and she said "it's there!" and that was all she said. The judge ruled that the second page made no sense without the first page so he allowed it as evidence in the case. The first page accused them of violating specific rules allegedly put into place when they moved in (personally, given that it was a lease to buy situation, I'm inclined to believe that page one was created specifically for the case and believe the defendants never saw it) and the second just said she wasn't paying anymore and that they hadn't paid rent.
The judge said she should probably tell us what she was looking to get out of the case and the plaintiff said she wanted them to move out of their house in one week. The judge asked if she was looking for any rent payments and she said no. Then the judge asked the defendants if they could move in one week, they said yes so the judge said they had a deal and closed the case and told us we could leave. The plaintiff then asked if she could ask a question and the judge said "no you may not!" and that was that. The whole thing took less than an hour. In fact, the call time was 10:00 a.m. and I was literally pulling into my driveway at 11:00 a.m. So a short day to be sure!
I really wanted to hear testimony - particularly from the friend who supposedly presented himself as a police officer - but that didn't happen.
But, now I've served on a jury. Now I have a new goal for next time though, I hope attorneys are involved and that we get to the testimony. :)
Wednesday, October 14, 2015
October Book Review
As October is the month for breast cancer awareness, I thought it would be fitting to write a review on a book about one person's journey dealing with breast cancer. I will be reviewing Amy Robach's book, Better.
Amy Robach is news journalist on ABC's Good Morning America. As you may know, she discovered she had breast cancer when she agreed to have an on-air mammogram to help raise awareness for the cause on October 1, 2013. She tells in her book how she was reluctant to have the mammogram when her producers first approached her. They asked her to think about it before she gave a definite "no" response. So she talked to her family about it and still said no. When she told her producers the reason she didn't want to participate was because she was only 40, had no family history of breast cancer and had no connection to the cause (other than her main job on GMA was to backfill for Robin Roberts who was being treated for a secondary cancer caused by the treatment she received from her breast cancer diagnosis). They once again asked her to think about it some more. So she did. She talked to Robin Roberts, someone she didn't know well at the time, about it. When Robin told her that 80% of women diagnosed with breast cancer have no family history of the disease, Amy relented and agreed to have the mammogram live.
However, she still felt maybe she wasn't the right person to do this and felt it necessary to explain her decision to the public prior to stepping into the mammovan for the mammogram. In her pre-taped piece she explained that this was not something she wanted to do but that she was doing it in the hopes that someone else might see it and realize they should or could do it as well.
Shortly thereafter, because she had done this and a few necessary follow up tests, she found out she had breast cancer.
In the book she goes into detail about all of the tests and doctors appointments she went to. She talks about how sick she felt during treatment and how hard some days were to get through. She describes how uncomfortable it was to go from telling the story to being the story. Yet despite that, she did tell the story because she felt it was an important message. Here she had been very reluctant to have the mammogram that revealed she had cancer. It's a powerful message.
Amy really opens up in the book about what she went through but it's obvious that she's still not comfortable being completely vulnerable in this. She did go into detail what she was feeling at particular times but I had hoped she would reveal more. I realize it is very personal and not really anyone's business but something I had hoped she would discuss was how what she went through affected her intimate relationship with her husband. I remember when Ann Jillian was diagnosed with breast cancer 20+ years ago and how it initially had a very negative impact on her intimate relationship with her husband (per the movie made about it in which Ann starred in so I believe it's credible). Amy didn't delve that deeply into what she covered and I think it would be beneficial to women who go through this and read her story.
The other thing I would like to mention about her story is, I watched GMA a lot when she was going through treatment and I remember thinking she must've been fast-tracked on the treatment (not that there is a fast-track that I know of) because she looked great and I figured she had to have completed treatment, when in fact she was still getting treatment. I remember specific episodes where I thought that and some of those specific episodes are mentioned in the book - as hard days to get through because she was so sick.
Amy is a true survivor and after having read her book I have so much admiration for her and how strong she is. She was scheduled to cover the Olympics in Russia during her treatment. Her family and doctors said that might not be the best idea but she had determined that cancer wasn't going to take anything else away from her so in between treatments, she covered the Olympics! Such an amazing person, with a strong message . . . just because you don't have a family history of breast cancer doesn't mean you shouldn't get checked out. There always has to be the first one.
Even if it wasn't breast cancer awareness month, I would recommend this book. It was an engaging, easy read . . . I didn't want to put it down.
For more book reviews, go to www.barriesummy.blogspot.com.
Amy Robach is news journalist on ABC's Good Morning America. As you may know, she discovered she had breast cancer when she agreed to have an on-air mammogram to help raise awareness for the cause on October 1, 2013. She tells in her book how she was reluctant to have the mammogram when her producers first approached her. They asked her to think about it before she gave a definite "no" response. So she talked to her family about it and still said no. When she told her producers the reason she didn't want to participate was because she was only 40, had no family history of breast cancer and had no connection to the cause (other than her main job on GMA was to backfill for Robin Roberts who was being treated for a secondary cancer caused by the treatment she received from her breast cancer diagnosis). They once again asked her to think about it some more. So she did. She talked to Robin Roberts, someone she didn't know well at the time, about it. When Robin told her that 80% of women diagnosed with breast cancer have no family history of the disease, Amy relented and agreed to have the mammogram live.
However, she still felt maybe she wasn't the right person to do this and felt it necessary to explain her decision to the public prior to stepping into the mammovan for the mammogram. In her pre-taped piece she explained that this was not something she wanted to do but that she was doing it in the hopes that someone else might see it and realize they should or could do it as well.
Shortly thereafter, because she had done this and a few necessary follow up tests, she found out she had breast cancer.
In the book she goes into detail about all of the tests and doctors appointments she went to. She talks about how sick she felt during treatment and how hard some days were to get through. She describes how uncomfortable it was to go from telling the story to being the story. Yet despite that, she did tell the story because she felt it was an important message. Here she had been very reluctant to have the mammogram that revealed she had cancer. It's a powerful message.
Amy really opens up in the book about what she went through but it's obvious that she's still not comfortable being completely vulnerable in this. She did go into detail what she was feeling at particular times but I had hoped she would reveal more. I realize it is very personal and not really anyone's business but something I had hoped she would discuss was how what she went through affected her intimate relationship with her husband. I remember when Ann Jillian was diagnosed with breast cancer 20+ years ago and how it initially had a very negative impact on her intimate relationship with her husband (per the movie made about it in which Ann starred in so I believe it's credible). Amy didn't delve that deeply into what she covered and I think it would be beneficial to women who go through this and read her story.
The other thing I would like to mention about her story is, I watched GMA a lot when she was going through treatment and I remember thinking she must've been fast-tracked on the treatment (not that there is a fast-track that I know of) because she looked great and I figured she had to have completed treatment, when in fact she was still getting treatment. I remember specific episodes where I thought that and some of those specific episodes are mentioned in the book - as hard days to get through because she was so sick.
Amy is a true survivor and after having read her book I have so much admiration for her and how strong she is. She was scheduled to cover the Olympics in Russia during her treatment. Her family and doctors said that might not be the best idea but she had determined that cancer wasn't going to take anything else away from her so in between treatments, she covered the Olympics! Such an amazing person, with a strong message . . . just because you don't have a family history of breast cancer doesn't mean you shouldn't get checked out. There always has to be the first one.
Even if it wasn't breast cancer awareness month, I would recommend this book. It was an engaging, easy read . . . I didn't want to put it down.
For more book reviews, go to www.barriesummy.blogspot.com.
Tuesday, June 16, 2015
June Book Review
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It's time for more book reviews. This month I will be reviewing two books that I enjoyed in the last month. The first is our gracious host's latest book, The Disappearance of Emily H. This book was reviewed last month by Sarah Laurence here. I had already pre-ordered the book and was excited about reading it but Sarah gave a great review that only upped my anticipation of receiving the book.
The story is about Raine, who can read people's memories through sparkles. She describes it this way "Some people come from a family with loads of money. Some ace math without trying. Some never get zits. Reading sparkles is my thing, my little talent."
Her mother's talent is getting involved with loser boyfriends and then relocating with Raine when they don't work out. And that is why Raine is a new student at Yielding. Because she has moved around so much, Raine has learned to adapt rather quickly. She can spot the popular kids, the nerds, the mean kids easily and she has learned how to deal with them and stay under the radar.
Raine has met the mean girls in her new school but they don't bother her much, that is until she stands up against them when she sees them bullying another new student, Shirlee. Once she does that she has a target on her own back for the mean girls.
Raine uses her talent of reading memories to put a stop to the bullying of Shirlee and herself in a very unique way, while also helping to solve the mystery of what happened to Emily H.
One of the many things I like about Barrie's books (characters, story, etc.) is that they tell a story that is good for any age. Disney movies used to be movies that you could take your small child to, as well as your elderly grandparent and everyone would enjoy it and no one would be uncomfortable by any of its content. That's how I view Barrie's books, people of all ages can enjoy them and no one need be embarrassed by the content. I recommend this book highly.
The second book I'm reviewing is Queen of the Trailer Park, A Rosie Maldonne Mystery by Alice Quinn. I came across this book quite by accident. You see amazon offers its prime service for free for a month every year or two and I take them up on it fairly regularly but this past year I forgot to cancel it before they charged me for it. It's my understanding that you can still cancel if you haven't had anything shipped but I decided to keep it, see how I liked it. Then I started getting all these emails about kindle books. I'm not a fan of reading ebooks so I would delete the emails without seeing what they were about. Turns out that you get one free ebook a month with your prime membership and I just realized it at the end of May and decided to check this book out from it.
It's a story about Rosie and her life. She doesn't have money, she lives in a trailer and she's raising three kids, one of which isn't hers. Then one day her friend and her friend's child go missing and she starts trying to figure out what happens. The police question her and follow her. She meets an eccentric man who takes her under his wing. And she follows clues to try to find her friend and her child.
This was a quirky, fun book that I read in one day (which is highly unusual for me these days). There were some things in the book that I had difficulty suspending disbelief for but it didn't take away from my overall enjoyment of the book and its story. There were some passages what didn't flow as well as they could but I considered that this book was translated from French and felt that was likely a contributing factor. But again, it didn't take away from my enjoyment of the book.
This was the first in a series of Rosie Maldonne stories by Alice Quinn and I plan on checking out more in the series. So thank you amazon for offering it to me . . . I can recommend it as a fun, light read (despite that it being a mystery). :)
For more book reviews, click on the icon at the top of this post.
Wednesday, May 06, 2015
May Book Review
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This month I will be reviewing GONE GIRL by Gillian Flynn. There was such a buzz when this book was made into a movie that came out last fall that I decided to check it out. I went online to my local library and put a hold on the audio version of the book.
I was far enough down the list that it took six months to become available to me to download and listen to it. By that time I wasn't as "into" it as I had been so I actually considered not downloading it. Before I let it go though I looked to see how many people were on the hold list . . . 268! I don't remember where I started but I really believe it was a much smaller number than that so I decided I could download it and decide later if I would actually listen to it.
Then I decided after all that that I really should listen to it, so I did.
For those unfamiliar with the story, Nick Dunne is a man whose wife has gone missing. At first people (i.e. the police) don't want to listen to him because nothing major seems amiss. Yes, the living room looks like there may have been a struggle in there but it also appears staged. And the iron was left on but they think it was just absent-mindedness, not foul play.
The story is told in three parts. The first part is told from Nick's point of view in the present, as well as Amy Elliott Dunne's (his wife) point of view as seen from old journal entries. The reader gets benefit from these journal entries but it's not something (the journal or the entries) that comes to light for anyone else until much, much later in the book.
In the first part you get to see the inner workings of the relationship between Nick and Amy and it's not a pretty picture. As the story starts unfolding everything points to Nick having caused harm to his wife, despite his denials of any wrong doing and best efforts to uncover the truth of what happened.
What I liked about the book is that it was well written and an interesting story came out of it. Amy and Nick weren't particularly likeable people but I was still drawn in and interested in what happened next.
What I didn't like about the book . . . I checked out the table of contents on the audio book and it provided some spoilers that I would've rather been totally shocked by when they came to light. It also was read at a very slow pace. Fortunately you can speed up the cadence so I listened to a lot of the book at double time, which sounded normal. If that hadn't been an option I probably wouldn't have finished the book.
But the bottom line is that I really liked this book and now want to check out the movie that was based on it.
For more book reviews, click on the icon at the top of this post.
Tuesday, April 28, 2015
Born Free
I have a confession to make . . . I'm becoming obsessed with all things related to the movie Born Free.
I feel quite certain that I probably saw the movie as a child but I don't remember actually seeing it. Then, a year or so ago I watched the movie and really enjoyed it. It came on cable a few months ago, along with the sequel Living Free and I recorded both of them and watched them the weekend before last.
I'm not sure what happened but it affected me differently this time around. I became very attached to Elsa, the lion the movie is based on. Watching Born Free I wondered if she was still alive so I did a search of how long lions live. The life expectancy of a lion in the wild is 15 years. In captivity the life expectancy is 25 years. When I read that I knew that Elsa was likely gone a long time. And then I got annoyed because I felt that by deciding to release Elsa into the wild again that George and Joy Adamson effectively made the decision to cut her life expectancy almost in half for reasons that had nothing to do with what was in Elsa's best interest. You see, by this point I had decided that they trained her to go back into the wild for recognition and fame.
So by the time I started to watch Living Free, I already didn't like George or Joy. I would mention that I'm about to post a spoiler but since this is 50+ year old news I'll just say that if you don't know what happens and want to discover it somewhere else, you should stop reading now. Okay then. In the first 5 minutes of Living Free, Elsa dies. I was totally shocked and immediately did a search of Elsa online. She died at age 5.
I was upset and felt that George and Joy's selfish and egotistical decision had cut Elsa's life short by 80%. I liked them even less.
But despite that, for some reason I ordered the book Born Free from my library. I read it and it changed my opinion of George. He was a good man who really cared about Elsa. My opinion of Joy only got worse from reading the book. Not only did it show no love or compassion for Elsa in the writing, it confirmed that for her it was an "experiment".
Since reading the book I've ordered the two other books in the series and have read excerpts from them. I've also watched some documentaries and read archived articles on George, Joy and Elsa.
The bottom line is that through Elsa's story we see unconditional love from Elsa to the humans who raised her, despite that they didn't always act in her best interests and repeatedly betrayed her trust. That love is what has me so obsessed with this story. Elsa was an incredible creature and despite her having died before I was even born, I feel her loss and feel compelled to contribute in some way to a cause that would protect the species and educate people about their value. It's an amazing story that if you haven't read it or seen the movie, it's worth the efforts to do so.
As for George and Joy, what I read about them and saw in documentaries is that my second opinions of the two were accurate. George was an amazing human being who spent his life making sure animals were protected and treated with respect. Everyone who met him loved him and only spoke highly of them. Joy, on the other hand, was not a good person. She was selfish and manipulative and cared only for herself. The book Born Free was taken from George's notes, written in part by him and edited by him, yet she wouldn't share the income from the franchise with him. In 1970 a lion George was rehabilitating attacked a child (the child survived) and he was forced to move to a more isolated area to continue his work. Joy wanted to move on from lions (for more recognition) and refused to go with him. He had no money and was living off of camel meat and tinned army rations while Joy gave money to foundations all over the world but she refused to help George because he didn't do as she'd demanded. All comments about Joy in the documentaries and articles was that she was not a pleasant person and difficult to be around. Despite having no money, George had workers to worked with him without compensation. Joy, on the other hand, was murdered by a paid employee because of how she had treated them. That says a lot about the people.
But, as I said, I feel a void and a sadness that Elsa is gone and it calls me to action on behalf of animals like her. I'm not sure what I will do but I hope it is meaningful and honors a life that was cut way too short.
I feel quite certain that I probably saw the movie as a child but I don't remember actually seeing it. Then, a year or so ago I watched the movie and really enjoyed it. It came on cable a few months ago, along with the sequel Living Free and I recorded both of them and watched them the weekend before last.
I'm not sure what happened but it affected me differently this time around. I became very attached to Elsa, the lion the movie is based on. Watching Born Free I wondered if she was still alive so I did a search of how long lions live. The life expectancy of a lion in the wild is 15 years. In captivity the life expectancy is 25 years. When I read that I knew that Elsa was likely gone a long time. And then I got annoyed because I felt that by deciding to release Elsa into the wild again that George and Joy Adamson effectively made the decision to cut her life expectancy almost in half for reasons that had nothing to do with what was in Elsa's best interest. You see, by this point I had decided that they trained her to go back into the wild for recognition and fame.
So by the time I started to watch Living Free, I already didn't like George or Joy. I would mention that I'm about to post a spoiler but since this is 50+ year old news I'll just say that if you don't know what happens and want to discover it somewhere else, you should stop reading now. Okay then. In the first 5 minutes of Living Free, Elsa dies. I was totally shocked and immediately did a search of Elsa online. She died at age 5.
I was upset and felt that George and Joy's selfish and egotistical decision had cut Elsa's life short by 80%. I liked them even less.
But despite that, for some reason I ordered the book Born Free from my library. I read it and it changed my opinion of George. He was a good man who really cared about Elsa. My opinion of Joy only got worse from reading the book. Not only did it show no love or compassion for Elsa in the writing, it confirmed that for her it was an "experiment".
Since reading the book I've ordered the two other books in the series and have read excerpts from them. I've also watched some documentaries and read archived articles on George, Joy and Elsa.
The bottom line is that through Elsa's story we see unconditional love from Elsa to the humans who raised her, despite that they didn't always act in her best interests and repeatedly betrayed her trust. That love is what has me so obsessed with this story. Elsa was an incredible creature and despite her having died before I was even born, I feel her loss and feel compelled to contribute in some way to a cause that would protect the species and educate people about their value. It's an amazing story that if you haven't read it or seen the movie, it's worth the efforts to do so.
As for George and Joy, what I read about them and saw in documentaries is that my second opinions of the two were accurate. George was an amazing human being who spent his life making sure animals were protected and treated with respect. Everyone who met him loved him and only spoke highly of them. Joy, on the other hand, was not a good person. She was selfish and manipulative and cared only for herself. The book Born Free was taken from George's notes, written in part by him and edited by him, yet she wouldn't share the income from the franchise with him. In 1970 a lion George was rehabilitating attacked a child (the child survived) and he was forced to move to a more isolated area to continue his work. Joy wanted to move on from lions (for more recognition) and refused to go with him. He had no money and was living off of camel meat and tinned army rations while Joy gave money to foundations all over the world but she refused to help George because he didn't do as she'd demanded. All comments about Joy in the documentaries and articles was that she was not a pleasant person and difficult to be around. Despite having no money, George had workers to worked with him without compensation. Joy, on the other hand, was murdered by a paid employee because of how she had treated them. That says a lot about the people.
But, as I said, I feel a void and a sadness that Elsa is gone and it calls me to action on behalf of animals like her. I'm not sure what I will do but I hope it is meaningful and honors a life that was cut way too short.
Friday, April 24, 2015
Odd Dream
I had an odd dream last night. In it Matt Damon and Allison Holker were married and I worked with them. I'm not sure what Matt's job was but Allison was a lawyer and they both were what society knows them to be - Matt an actor and Allison a dancer, currently performing on Dancing with the Stars.
It was a Monday morning in my dream and Allison had to perform that night . . . in Los Angeles. The office was in Houston, Texas. I asked Allison about it and she said she was going to be performing that night so I asked her when she was leaving. She said she was leaving at 5:00 p.m. I was trying to do the math in my head of the time change and time it would take to fly to L.A. from Houston but - at best - I thought she was cutting it really close. I thought it was great that our company was allowing her the time off to participate in DWTS but as she was leaving I wondered if they realized she would have to be there two days now because of the Tuesday elimination shows they're starting now. I couldn't ask her though because she was already out the door.
We'd been in a meeting with Matt, and I assume someone else because I had a bottle of alcohol in my bag and I was concerned it would be discovered and I would get fired. I couldn't follow the meeting for thinking about it and wondering if it was buried deep enough that it couldn't be seen. The reason I assumed someone else was in the meeting is because I didn't think Matt would rat me out and I'm pretty sure Allison was with me when I put the alcohol in the bag.
Anyway, I left the office and we were all in a living room with a wonderful view and I realized I didn't have my wig with me and thought I had left it at the office so needed to go back to get it. (I haven't discussed why I would have a wig on my blog but it was in my dream so I'm including it.) The wig looks like my real hair used to, just maybe a little fuller. My real hair is growing in much darker though and is only a few inches long at this point so it's definitely a different look than people I work with have seen, and that also applies to the people I worked with in my dream - exception being Matt and Allison, who had seen me wigless. Anyway, I went back to the office with my real hair showing and not one person seemed to notice a difference or not know who I was.
Someone I used to work with (and still worked with in the dream) came into my office and I found myself spilling my guts about the hair thing and she said she hadn't noticed anything different. I woke up after that, never having seen or found my wig.
Weird.
It was a Monday morning in my dream and Allison had to perform that night . . . in Los Angeles. The office was in Houston, Texas. I asked Allison about it and she said she was going to be performing that night so I asked her when she was leaving. She said she was leaving at 5:00 p.m. I was trying to do the math in my head of the time change and time it would take to fly to L.A. from Houston but - at best - I thought she was cutting it really close. I thought it was great that our company was allowing her the time off to participate in DWTS but as she was leaving I wondered if they realized she would have to be there two days now because of the Tuesday elimination shows they're starting now. I couldn't ask her though because she was already out the door.
We'd been in a meeting with Matt, and I assume someone else because I had a bottle of alcohol in my bag and I was concerned it would be discovered and I would get fired. I couldn't follow the meeting for thinking about it and wondering if it was buried deep enough that it couldn't be seen. The reason I assumed someone else was in the meeting is because I didn't think Matt would rat me out and I'm pretty sure Allison was with me when I put the alcohol in the bag.
Anyway, I left the office and we were all in a living room with a wonderful view and I realized I didn't have my wig with me and thought I had left it at the office so needed to go back to get it. (I haven't discussed why I would have a wig on my blog but it was in my dream so I'm including it.) The wig looks like my real hair used to, just maybe a little fuller. My real hair is growing in much darker though and is only a few inches long at this point so it's definitely a different look than people I work with have seen, and that also applies to the people I worked with in my dream - exception being Matt and Allison, who had seen me wigless. Anyway, I went back to the office with my real hair showing and not one person seemed to notice a difference or not know who I was.
Someone I used to work with (and still worked with in the dream) came into my office and I found myself spilling my guts about the hair thing and she said she hadn't noticed anything different. I woke up after that, never having seen or found my wig.
Weird.
Thursday, April 16, 2015
Is it deja vu?
I recently changed vets for my dog. It's a long story but I had changed vets around 5 years ago and I liked the vet initially. Over the years though I've come to realize that she's really in the wrong profession. She's afraid of dogs and I believe her negligence contributed to me losing one of my dogs. Attributes I would think you'd want to avoid when looking for pet care. So, at the end of last year when we were in the middle of getting my dog, Harley, off of steroids and she went on maternity leave, I decided to find a new vet.
I reached out to a friend of mine who I would trust my dog(s) with if something happened to me and she referred me to the vet she went to when she had pets (she lost both of her sweet babies within the last year and a half). I took Harley to see this person and she was quite competent and nice and immediately addressed an issue he was having and he was like a new dog. Perfect, right?
Well, last night I was reading through blog posts from my other blogs (yeah, this isn't my only blog - it is, however, the only one I've posted on in years) and apparently I "switched' vets about 7 years ago. It's not specific and I only have vague memories of the incidents I mention but I'm pretty sure I had switched to the vet I'm currently taking my dog to.
It wasn't pretty. After one visit and a few phone calls I went back to the vet I had moved from. I didn't have an issue with the first vet, it's just he's so far away and it was making getting treatment for my dogs difficult. It got bad enough that I did have to change vets 5 years ago. At first the vet seemed good and competent but over time and a series of issues later, I realized I had to move again.
Finding good pet care is as important to me as finding good doctors for myself but the sad thing about it is, it doesn't seem to matter if they're a people doctor or an animal doctor, they just don't seem to provide the same quality care you know they'd expect if they needed medical attention. I'm going to stay with this new vet for now but I'll be keeping my eyes out for any issues and I won't wait so long to make a change the next time.
I reached out to a friend of mine who I would trust my dog(s) with if something happened to me and she referred me to the vet she went to when she had pets (she lost both of her sweet babies within the last year and a half). I took Harley to see this person and she was quite competent and nice and immediately addressed an issue he was having and he was like a new dog. Perfect, right?
Well, last night I was reading through blog posts from my other blogs (yeah, this isn't my only blog - it is, however, the only one I've posted on in years) and apparently I "switched' vets about 7 years ago. It's not specific and I only have vague memories of the incidents I mention but I'm pretty sure I had switched to the vet I'm currently taking my dog to.
It wasn't pretty. After one visit and a few phone calls I went back to the vet I had moved from. I didn't have an issue with the first vet, it's just he's so far away and it was making getting treatment for my dogs difficult. It got bad enough that I did have to change vets 5 years ago. At first the vet seemed good and competent but over time and a series of issues later, I realized I had to move again.
Finding good pet care is as important to me as finding good doctors for myself but the sad thing about it is, it doesn't seem to matter if they're a people doctor or an animal doctor, they just don't seem to provide the same quality care you know they'd expect if they needed medical attention. I'm going to stay with this new vet for now but I'll be keeping my eyes out for any issues and I won't wait so long to make a change the next time.
Wednesday, April 08, 2015
My Biggest Fear
The older I get the less social I seem get. It's not something I particularly like about myself but it's the reality of things. In the last few years though, I've been working to remedy that and not just rely on others to maintain our friendships.
Add to that, I like being single. It's hard for me to imagine sharing my home with someone else and having to answer to someone else as to how I spend money or who I can socialize with. I know some will jump in and say that's not how marriage is supposed to be but I know how mine was and I know what my friends say about their husbands now. For as much as some have a partnership and enjoy each other's company, I don't have one single married female friend who doesn't live in a hierarchy where the man rules the roost. They may have some balance in their relationships but at the end of the day, the man calls the shots. I've had that and don't relish the thought of returning to that. No, I like being single.
Then I came across something recently that makes me want to be more diligent in maintaining friendships.
It started with an interview of a celebrity. This celebrity mentioned a family member (also a celebrity) and spoke of them in the past tense. So I looked up this family member on the internet movie database. Apparently this person had died at a young age roughly 40 years ago.
I was reading their profile and discovered that someone they'd had a long term love affair with was found dead in their home in 2011. The coroner's report revealed that they had been dead approximately a year. A year!
Before I did a search on this person and started reading articles about their life and death (they were also a celebrity, for the record), I wondered how this could happen. Did they own their home free and clear? Otherwise I would assume the landlord or mortgage company would have found this person before then. Utilities wouldn't matter because they'd just shut them off and wouldn't come looking for you. But what about the lawn and grounds? How would they be maintained? In my subdivision they'd eventually send someone over and charge you for the work. I'd assume as much in a ritzy Los Angeles neighborhood.
Then I wondered, did this person have automatic payments set up? If so, there'd need to be sufficient money in the account to cover this year. But even at that, wouldn't the lawn guy eventually come looking for you? Somebody's got to notice, right?
Oh, and supposedly the thing that caught the attention of the neighbor was overflowing mail that was yellowing. The interesting thing with that for me is that I get excited to get mail so when I hear the mail person driving around, I will look out the window and watch them come to my house to see if they're delivering anything. The house next door is vacant (for all intents and purposes). It was bought just over a year ago by a family who has yet to live there. They do stop by and mow the lawn and had a couple of parties there last summer, but otherwise the house is essentially vacant. A few weeks ago, as I was looking out the window to see if I was getting any mail, the mail person got to their house and shoved some mail in. Then the mail person reached back into the mail box and shoved some more. I assumed the mailbox was full. After another minute, the mail person pulled all the mail out, sticking it into a pouch on the dashboard, and then stuck in one sheet. I assume the sheet told them something like they'd need to come pick up their mail at the post office. My point is, the mail person didn't let the mailbox get to an overflowing condition where the mail would turn yellow. And again, where this was happening was in an upscale LA home.
Well, after reading the articles on this person's death I still have some questions. There were a few discrepancies in how the body was discovered but the facts were this:
1) The utilities were still on because the body was laying next to a space heater that was still on.
2) The yard was overgrown.
3) The overflowing mail was yellowing.
4) The house was as close to the road as it can get - not offset where people couldn't see what was going on.
People ignored this poor person, turned a blind eye - for a year. The neighbors ignored the situation, no one came to check on them. And apparently this person didn't have good enough friends that they came and checked on them. In my mind I imagine that maybe a few calls came in for this person. But when they didn't call back, no one cared enough to make sure they were okay.
That scares me. I have a fear of that happening to me and then reading that it happened to someone who had been a high profile celebrity, well, it just freaks me out. It also makes not want to have accounts set up as auto pay. I don't now but this makes me want to never have it set up and always have some sort of required payment (other than taxes) attached to my house.
It also makes me want to be sure I really cultivate more close friendships so that someone would notice if I wasn't around. I don't want my mummified body to be discovered by a neighbor I didn't really know and who didn't care enough about me to check in on me until the dilapidated condition of my home brought down their own home values.
The lesson here is to appreciate your friends and continue to cultivate and nurture those friendships 'til the bitter end! (No pun intended.)
Tuesday, March 31, 2015
April Book Review
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It's that time again . . .
This month I will be reviewing Eileen Cook's Remember. From amazon
A thrilling tale about what a girl will do to get back a memory she lost…or remove what she wants to forget.
Harper is used to her family being hounded by protestors. Her father runs the company that trademarked the “Memtex” procedure to wipe away sad memories, and plenty of people think it shouldn’t be legal. Then a new demonstrator crosses her path, Neil, who’s as persistent as he is hot. Not that Harper’s noticing, since she already has a boyfriend.
When Harper suffers a loss, she’s shocked her father won’t allow her to get the treatment, so she finds a way to get it without his approval. Soon afterward, she’s plagued with strange symptoms, including hallucinations of a woman who is somehow both a stranger, yet incredibly familiar. Harper begins to wonder if she is delusional, or if these are somehow memories.
Together with Neil, who insists he has his own reasons for needing answers about the real dangers of Memtex, Harper begins her search for the truth. What she finds could uproot all she’s ever believed about her life…
For those of you who know me or have followed my blog over the years know that I am a huge fan of Eileen Cook's books. I've reviewed several of them on this blog and even interviewed her once for this blog. She's an auto-buy author for me. I don't have to see the cover or know what it says on the back cover. If Ms. Cook wrote it, I will buy it. Having said that, if I didn't really like this book, I wouldn't be reviewing it now.
It's funny because like the book I reviewed last month, the father plays a big part in what drives the main character and you find he isn't quite what you expected. I didn't plan it that way, it's just how it worked out.
In any event, the book was very engaging and I had to keep reading to find out what happened and it did not disappoint. Since I knew Harper was going to suffer a loss I had (correctly) anticipated what that loss would be. Beyond that the book was not predictable and had a few quite unexpected twists and turns and I'm sure my jaw dropped a couple of times for things I didn't see coming. Very good story and very well written.
The bottom line, for me, is that this is another Eileen Cook hit that I recommend and as an author she remains on my auto-buy list. :)
Friday, February 27, 2015
March Book Review Club
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It's been a while since I've participated in the Book Review Club but I'm glad to be back.
In the interest of full disclosure here, the book I'm reviewing this month was gifted to me by its author, Sara Hantz. Sara was not aware that I participate in this Book Review Club, much less that I would be reviewing it here. That said, I would not be reviewing it if I didn't believe it warranted recommendation.
Growing up we start out by idolizing our parents and want to be just like them. At some point though we typically get embarrassed by our parents and want to be nothing like them.
In the Blood starts nine months after Jed Franklin's world has turned upside down . . . when he learned his father is a serial killing pedophile.
There are so many things I like about the way this story was told that it's hard to know where to start. I like that even though it starts nine months after the you-know-what hit the fan, we get glimpses into what life was like before his world comes crumbling down. We see a teenager who, in addition to the struggles that all teenagers go through, has to deal with the fallout for what his father has done. Most of his friends have deserted him and some taunt him, saying he's just like his father, which is what worries him most because all of his life Jed has been told he's just like his father in so many ways and he worries that he will also become a serial killing pedophile at some point in his life. I know this could seem like a dark subject but the author told it with compassion and sensitivity and she made Jed relatable. At one time or another I think most of us have struggled with doubts about who we are based on the guilt by association factor - granted, not as much as Jed has - and that makes this character relatable in an unexpected way.
For reasons I won't go into here, I've had some challenges when it came to reading this past year so I've read very little. In the Blood was a book that I thought might be too intense for me to take up at this point but once I started it, I didn't want to put it down. It was very engaging and pulled me in from the start and I wanted to / need to know what was going to happen next. Bottom line, it was a very well written, well told story that I highly recommend.
Thursday, October 16, 2014
My Sweet Max
I lost my sweet Max this past February 13th. It was one day shy of his 13th birthday (according to his mother's owner, February 14th was his actual birthday - not a made up date).
He was only a couple of months old when I got him. I used to say he came with the house because he was born about a week before I moved in and it was only a few weeks before him and his brothers and sisters would sneak through the holes in my fence line to come visit.
Max stood out from the others because while all the other dogs would jump on me, claw and nibble on me, Max would sit at the back patiently as if to say "I know you're busy but when you have a minute . . . " I would pick up the other dogs and hold them to my chest and they would fidget and scratch me to get down but I would pick up Max and he would snuggle down as if it was where he wanted to be.
I had wanted to talk to his mother's owner about buying Max but I had just bought a house and was a little concerned about finances so had put it off. Then one day I decided to bite the bullet. Max and his brothers and sisters had stopped by and I picked up Max and brought him into my house, separating him from his brothers and sisters. Once we got in the house he started fidgeting in a "stranger danger" kind of way like he wasn't comfortable being separated from his brothers and sisters. I tried to make him feel comfortable when I noticed out the window his mother's owner was calling all the dogs back from my yard. Apparently he was counting them as they came back and noticed that one was missing. I ran outside with Max, apologized for "snatching" him and told him I wanted to buy him, if he'd let me. He told me no charge and passed him back to me. And that's how I came to have my sweet baby.
Shortly after I got him a friend of mine gave me a wading pool for him. He loved that pool. He'd jump into it and "dig" in it to splash water onto his tummy. On occasion he'd sit in the pool. And I'm pretty sure I saw him lay down in it at least once. He was so cute in it.
Then back in 2005 we had a hurricane headed towards this area (it turned before it hit land so we were minimally affected, as it turned out). I had tried to evacuate but couldn't get out of town due to horrible traffic and ended up staying with a friend of mine who had a full size, inground pool. Max had never seen that kind pool before so the first time I took him into the backyard to do his business I watched as he tried to figure it out. At home he had to step up over the edge to get in but this body of water was at ground level. He pawed at it a few times before he stepped into (before I could stop him). He was used to stepping into 4 or 5 inches of water and found himself completely submerged in this new body of water. I could see the complete horror on his face as he worked his way to get his head back above water. When it happened I was horrified but when I think of the look on his face now, knowing that he survived the ordeal, it's kind of amusing . . . bless his heart. :) The next time I took him out I had to watch him because I could just imagine the thoughts he had about it . . . "okay, it's deep but after I figured it out, it really wasn't that bad. I think I should do it again." Of course I stopped him and he never went back in but it was an experience for him.
When I got Max I had a doberman named Cleo. Cleo (bless her heart) had bladder control issues so I had to restrict her from getting on the furniture. As a result Max was also restricted from getting on the furniture. He learned at a young age that getting on the furniture was by invitation only. After Cleo died and I got Brewsky and Harley, they would jump up on the furniture without invitation but Max still wouldn't. Now, to be clear, if he wanted up on the furniture he would make it known, in no uncertain terms. He would whine and bark until he got an invitation, even if it meant he had to wake me up to get that invitation. He was very persistent. The rare exception to that would be if it was storming outside and he was too freaked out to wait for the invitation, even then he would usually wait to be invited up on the furniture.
It has been suggested that I get a crate for Max when I got him. And I did. I would put him in the crate when I was at work (I'd come home at lunch) and I felt so guilty. I hated doing that to him so to make me feel a little better, I would give him a treat when I put him in and I'd give him another one when I let him out . . . every time. I only used the crate for a short while but the "need" to give him a treat when I left the house continues to this day (with Harley). I stopped the "I'm home" treat a few years ago (Max tried to get me to continue it for a long time after I decided to stop that one). If I didn't give him a treat when I left the house, he thought that meant he got to go with me (he also thought if he rejected the treat that that meant he got to go with me too, but he was wrong about that :) ).
Max was always a good traveler. He liked to go places in the car. I learned early on though that for long trips I couldn't feed him beforehand because he did get car sick and throw up. But for the short trips around town he was good. He liked to rest his head on the window ledge (?), close his eyes and let the wind blow on his face. Typically his favorite side of the car was the passenger side but whenever I would go through a drive thru of any kind, he'd nonchalantly wander over to the driver's side car like he'd decided he wanted a change of scenery or something. Then, when I'd pull up to the window he'd start barking like a possessed dog at whoever had the misfortune of helping me with whatever I was getting. It was comical to see their reactions to his outbursts but I never could hear anything they would be saying to me over his barking. It was pretty funny though.
I took Max to obedience training when he was a puppy. Max had a bad habit of jumping on people when they came to visit and she got him to stop in two instances of walking over to him. It was amazing how well it worked. The only time after that he ever jumped on anyone, he warned them first. How? He'd come over to say hello. If you didn't pet him immediately he would sit in front of you. If you still didn't pet him he would start whining. If you STILL didn't pet him, he would bark. If you didn't pet him after that, he'd jump on you to let you know he wanted your attention. Can't say you weren't warned first. :)
There are so many other stories I could share with about Max and why I loved him so much (and why I will miss him so much) but I think this captures his essence. He was such a sweet dog and it's still so hard to believe he's gone.
Max
February 14, 2001 - February 13, 2014
He was only a couple of months old when I got him. I used to say he came with the house because he was born about a week before I moved in and it was only a few weeks before him and his brothers and sisters would sneak through the holes in my fence line to come visit.
Max stood out from the others because while all the other dogs would jump on me, claw and nibble on me, Max would sit at the back patiently as if to say "I know you're busy but when you have a minute . . . " I would pick up the other dogs and hold them to my chest and they would fidget and scratch me to get down but I would pick up Max and he would snuggle down as if it was where he wanted to be.
I had wanted to talk to his mother's owner about buying Max but I had just bought a house and was a little concerned about finances so had put it off. Then one day I decided to bite the bullet. Max and his brothers and sisters had stopped by and I picked up Max and brought him into my house, separating him from his brothers and sisters. Once we got in the house he started fidgeting in a "stranger danger" kind of way like he wasn't comfortable being separated from his brothers and sisters. I tried to make him feel comfortable when I noticed out the window his mother's owner was calling all the dogs back from my yard. Apparently he was counting them as they came back and noticed that one was missing. I ran outside with Max, apologized for "snatching" him and told him I wanted to buy him, if he'd let me. He told me no charge and passed him back to me. And that's how I came to have my sweet baby.
Shortly after I got him a friend of mine gave me a wading pool for him. He loved that pool. He'd jump into it and "dig" in it to splash water onto his tummy. On occasion he'd sit in the pool. And I'm pretty sure I saw him lay down in it at least once. He was so cute in it.
Then back in 2005 we had a hurricane headed towards this area (it turned before it hit land so we were minimally affected, as it turned out). I had tried to evacuate but couldn't get out of town due to horrible traffic and ended up staying with a friend of mine who had a full size, inground pool. Max had never seen that kind pool before so the first time I took him into the backyard to do his business I watched as he tried to figure it out. At home he had to step up over the edge to get in but this body of water was at ground level. He pawed at it a few times before he stepped into (before I could stop him). He was used to stepping into 4 or 5 inches of water and found himself completely submerged in this new body of water. I could see the complete horror on his face as he worked his way to get his head back above water. When it happened I was horrified but when I think of the look on his face now, knowing that he survived the ordeal, it's kind of amusing . . . bless his heart. :) The next time I took him out I had to watch him because I could just imagine the thoughts he had about it . . . "okay, it's deep but after I figured it out, it really wasn't that bad. I think I should do it again." Of course I stopped him and he never went back in but it was an experience for him.
When I got Max I had a doberman named Cleo. Cleo (bless her heart) had bladder control issues so I had to restrict her from getting on the furniture. As a result Max was also restricted from getting on the furniture. He learned at a young age that getting on the furniture was by invitation only. After Cleo died and I got Brewsky and Harley, they would jump up on the furniture without invitation but Max still wouldn't. Now, to be clear, if he wanted up on the furniture he would make it known, in no uncertain terms. He would whine and bark until he got an invitation, even if it meant he had to wake me up to get that invitation. He was very persistent. The rare exception to that would be if it was storming outside and he was too freaked out to wait for the invitation, even then he would usually wait to be invited up on the furniture.
It has been suggested that I get a crate for Max when I got him. And I did. I would put him in the crate when I was at work (I'd come home at lunch) and I felt so guilty. I hated doing that to him so to make me feel a little better, I would give him a treat when I put him in and I'd give him another one when I let him out . . . every time. I only used the crate for a short while but the "need" to give him a treat when I left the house continues to this day (with Harley). I stopped the "I'm home" treat a few years ago (Max tried to get me to continue it for a long time after I decided to stop that one). If I didn't give him a treat when I left the house, he thought that meant he got to go with me (he also thought if he rejected the treat that that meant he got to go with me too, but he was wrong about that :) ).
Max was always a good traveler. He liked to go places in the car. I learned early on though that for long trips I couldn't feed him beforehand because he did get car sick and throw up. But for the short trips around town he was good. He liked to rest his head on the window ledge (?), close his eyes and let the wind blow on his face. Typically his favorite side of the car was the passenger side but whenever I would go through a drive thru of any kind, he'd nonchalantly wander over to the driver's side car like he'd decided he wanted a change of scenery or something. Then, when I'd pull up to the window he'd start barking like a possessed dog at whoever had the misfortune of helping me with whatever I was getting. It was comical to see their reactions to his outbursts but I never could hear anything they would be saying to me over his barking. It was pretty funny though.
There are so many other stories I could share with about Max and why I loved him so much (and why I will miss him so much) but I think this captures his essence. He was such a sweet dog and it's still so hard to believe he's gone.
Max
February 14, 2001 - February 13, 2014
Note: Due to technical difficulties I wasn't able to post more pictures. If I can resolve the issues, I will update post to include more pictures of this sweet dog.
Friday, May 30, 2014
June Book Review
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I'm posting this early because I really want to participate and share about a great book I recently read.
The book I am reviewing this month is Love Life by Rob Lowe. I had previously reviewed Rob's first book Stories I Only Tell My Friends (here). I really enjoyed his first book but I think his second book is better. Before I went back and read my review, if you'd asked me about his first book I would have told you it wasn't an easy read but it was definitely worth reading. I couldn't remember specifically what made it a difficult read but when I read the review, I remembered. With the first sentence I was confused as to whether he was telling a story or whether someone was telling a story about him. Then once I got past that he seemed removed from the stories to where, in my head, he was narrating a E! True Hollywood Story vs. actually sharing stories with the readers.
In Love Life Rob seems to have worked out the writing issues I had with his first book. It's definitely more conversational with a feel that an old friend is sharing stories. I should mention that I read some of the reviews after I read the book and some people were disappointed that it wasn't a scandalous tell-all book. Others were disappointed that it didn't discuss more of his romantic encounters. Fact told, I thought it would have more romance stories based on the title and I don't think he discusses romance in this book outside of his love affair with his wife, I'm actually okay with that - they weren't needed.
Now, about the writing . . . in the beginning he told a couple of stories where he chose not to share names. I don't remember the stories being scandalous or particularly embarrassing for anyone so I didn't get why the names weren't shared. I kind of felt like if he wasn't going to share the names, he shouldn't have included the stories. These were at the beginning of the book and concerned me that it was going to be a long, hard read if he did that with all his stories but I needn't have worried. There's also a passage towards the end of the book (next to last chapter I think) where he starts talking about his wife. It seems like an incoherent, rambling that has no point. It stops suddenly and the next chapter starts. It was kind of weird. Other than that, I had no issues with his writing.
As for the stories he shares . . . it's funny because as I was reading it, I knew I wanted to review it and kept thinking "I'll share this in the review". I thought that enough times that if I shared everything I liked about the book and found funny, I would basically be retelling his entire book, in my own words. :)
Having said that, I do want to touch on a few that deserve mentioning. The first one I'll mention has to do with his time in rehab. He was in rehab with a famous athlete (whose name he changed in the story to protect his anonymity). During his stay, the athlete had a major break through that Rob shared. It was beautifully told. It was powerful and gut-wrenching . . . I was crying as I read it. That said, I felt it wasn't his story to tell. Now, I do understand WHY he told it because it had such an impact on Rob and has a lot to do with why and how he maintains his own sobriety but I still feel it was inappropriate for Rob to share that particular story.
But the stories that were his to share . . . he tells this hysterical story about how he wants to create a memory for his kids, all while having a little fun at their expense. His family and his sister-in-law and her family all took a vacation up the west coast in an RV. Rob thinks it will be funny to tell them stories about Bigfoot and create a "sighting" for the kids. He's gotten a Bigfoot costume for it and everything. Only, when the time comes things don't go quite as he had planned. For example, he hadn't tried on the suit before and it was a really tight fit. He had to rub up against the trees to secure the velcro on the back of the suit that closed it up. The eye slits were no where near where his eyeballs were so he was flying blind. Best of all, his oldest son (about 7 at the time) realized it wasn't really Bigfoot and thought it was some college person trying to scare them so kicked him in an area no man ever wants to be kicked in. I was laughing so hard as I read the story that I had to put the book down several times while I collected myself again to read the next misfortune awaiting Rob. I barely touch on it here. Priceless.
Personally, I've always considered Rob to be a movie star. I know he's starred on The West Wing (which I've never seen), Parks and Recreation (which I've also never seen) and Brothers and Sisters (which I have seen) but I thought of those as one-offs that he's done while I guess I thought he was waiting for suitable movie scripts. In this book he talks about series that he's done that I had no idea about (and for reasons I'll go into a little here). Did you know he was offered the part that Patrick Dempsey got in Grey's Anatomy? At the time he had a verbal agreement to star in a show titled Dr. Vegas. Nothing had been signed though so he could've done either at that point. He talked to people and thought about it, it would seem in great detail. He felt that on the surface Grey's Anatomy had the better script but conceptually, Dr. Vegas had much more potential. Grey's Anatomy was going to be broadcast on the flailing ABC network who hadn't successfully launched a drama in more than a decade. Dr. Vegas was going to be aired on a network that had a longstanding success rate with dramas. He decided to go with Dr. Vegas, which never made it to air. Meanwhile, Grey's Anatomy just wrapped its 10th season.
He also did a show called Lyon's Den. The first script was fantastic. Great concept, great potential. Then, when he talks about the second script I have an image in my head of him calling the writers asking if they'd sent him the wrong script because it doesn't go with what they started in the first script. He doesn't say anything remotely like that in his book, it's just how I imagine it in my head. Anyway, he voices his concerns but ultimately does what he's told, against his better judgment. By the time the show actually airs, they've filmed 6 episodes. I didn't know this but apparently one hour shows get ratings feedback per half hour so that they can see if viewers turned in because of who was on the show and whether they were able to keep the audience through the second half hour. Because of this they know after the first show that they didn't keep the viewers interested and the show is pulled. BUT, they've contracted to film 13 episodes so they have to keep filming for a show that's not only been cancelled but is no longer even airing. What this does, however, is allow them the freedom to really get creative with the last few shows. Rob goes into detail about how they ended the series and I, again, put down the book so that I could see if I could rent the series from Netflix. Unfortunately they don't have it but I may find it somewhere else.
In the end, I felt that Rob opened up a lot more in this book and shared more of who he is. I really feel like I know him better than I did before - and I like him better for it. His love and devotion to his family is very evident in this book. If you're looking for a scandalous type tell-all book, this isn't it. But if you're looking for an enjoyable, laugh-til-your-sides-hurt book, I think you'll really like this one. I highly recommend it.
The book I am reviewing this month is Love Life by Rob Lowe. I had previously reviewed Rob's first book Stories I Only Tell My Friends (here). I really enjoyed his first book but I think his second book is better. Before I went back and read my review, if you'd asked me about his first book I would have told you it wasn't an easy read but it was definitely worth reading. I couldn't remember specifically what made it a difficult read but when I read the review, I remembered. With the first sentence I was confused as to whether he was telling a story or whether someone was telling a story about him. Then once I got past that he seemed removed from the stories to where, in my head, he was narrating a E! True Hollywood Story vs. actually sharing stories with the readers.
In Love Life Rob seems to have worked out the writing issues I had with his first book. It's definitely more conversational with a feel that an old friend is sharing stories. I should mention that I read some of the reviews after I read the book and some people were disappointed that it wasn't a scandalous tell-all book. Others were disappointed that it didn't discuss more of his romantic encounters. Fact told, I thought it would have more romance stories based on the title and I don't think he discusses romance in this book outside of his love affair with his wife, I'm actually okay with that - they weren't needed.
Now, about the writing . . . in the beginning he told a couple of stories where he chose not to share names. I don't remember the stories being scandalous or particularly embarrassing for anyone so I didn't get why the names weren't shared. I kind of felt like if he wasn't going to share the names, he shouldn't have included the stories. These were at the beginning of the book and concerned me that it was going to be a long, hard read if he did that with all his stories but I needn't have worried. There's also a passage towards the end of the book (next to last chapter I think) where he starts talking about his wife. It seems like an incoherent, rambling that has no point. It stops suddenly and the next chapter starts. It was kind of weird. Other than that, I had no issues with his writing.
As for the stories he shares . . . it's funny because as I was reading it, I knew I wanted to review it and kept thinking "I'll share this in the review". I thought that enough times that if I shared everything I liked about the book and found funny, I would basically be retelling his entire book, in my own words. :)
Having said that, I do want to touch on a few that deserve mentioning. The first one I'll mention has to do with his time in rehab. He was in rehab with a famous athlete (whose name he changed in the story to protect his anonymity). During his stay, the athlete had a major break through that Rob shared. It was beautifully told. It was powerful and gut-wrenching . . . I was crying as I read it. That said, I felt it wasn't his story to tell. Now, I do understand WHY he told it because it had such an impact on Rob and has a lot to do with why and how he maintains his own sobriety but I still feel it was inappropriate for Rob to share that particular story.
But the stories that were his to share . . . he tells this hysterical story about how he wants to create a memory for his kids, all while having a little fun at their expense. His family and his sister-in-law and her family all took a vacation up the west coast in an RV. Rob thinks it will be funny to tell them stories about Bigfoot and create a "sighting" for the kids. He's gotten a Bigfoot costume for it and everything. Only, when the time comes things don't go quite as he had planned. For example, he hadn't tried on the suit before and it was a really tight fit. He had to rub up against the trees to secure the velcro on the back of the suit that closed it up. The eye slits were no where near where his eyeballs were so he was flying blind. Best of all, his oldest son (about 7 at the time) realized it wasn't really Bigfoot and thought it was some college person trying to scare them so kicked him in an area no man ever wants to be kicked in. I was laughing so hard as I read the story that I had to put the book down several times while I collected myself again to read the next misfortune awaiting Rob. I barely touch on it here. Priceless.
Personally, I've always considered Rob to be a movie star. I know he's starred on The West Wing (which I've never seen), Parks and Recreation (which I've also never seen) and Brothers and Sisters (which I have seen) but I thought of those as one-offs that he's done while I guess I thought he was waiting for suitable movie scripts. In this book he talks about series that he's done that I had no idea about (and for reasons I'll go into a little here). Did you know he was offered the part that Patrick Dempsey got in Grey's Anatomy? At the time he had a verbal agreement to star in a show titled Dr. Vegas. Nothing had been signed though so he could've done either at that point. He talked to people and thought about it, it would seem in great detail. He felt that on the surface Grey's Anatomy had the better script but conceptually, Dr. Vegas had much more potential. Grey's Anatomy was going to be broadcast on the flailing ABC network who hadn't successfully launched a drama in more than a decade. Dr. Vegas was going to be aired on a network that had a longstanding success rate with dramas. He decided to go with Dr. Vegas, which never made it to air. Meanwhile, Grey's Anatomy just wrapped its 10th season.
He also did a show called Lyon's Den. The first script was fantastic. Great concept, great potential. Then, when he talks about the second script I have an image in my head of him calling the writers asking if they'd sent him the wrong script because it doesn't go with what they started in the first script. He doesn't say anything remotely like that in his book, it's just how I imagine it in my head. Anyway, he voices his concerns but ultimately does what he's told, against his better judgment. By the time the show actually airs, they've filmed 6 episodes. I didn't know this but apparently one hour shows get ratings feedback per half hour so that they can see if viewers turned in because of who was on the show and whether they were able to keep the audience through the second half hour. Because of this they know after the first show that they didn't keep the viewers interested and the show is pulled. BUT, they've contracted to film 13 episodes so they have to keep filming for a show that's not only been cancelled but is no longer even airing. What this does, however, is allow them the freedom to really get creative with the last few shows. Rob goes into detail about how they ended the series and I, again, put down the book so that I could see if I could rent the series from Netflix. Unfortunately they don't have it but I may find it somewhere else.
In the end, I felt that Rob opened up a lot more in this book and shared more of who he is. I really feel like I know him better than I did before - and I like him better for it. His love and devotion to his family is very evident in this book. If you're looking for a scandalous type tell-all book, this isn't it. But if you're looking for an enjoyable, laugh-til-your-sides-hurt book, I think you'll really like this one. I highly recommend it.
Sunday, January 05, 2014
January Book Review
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@Barrie Summy
(Note: I'm currently having difficulties uploading the book covers. Sorry.)
Starting with the book from last month the first book I'm reviewing is One for the Murphys by Lynda Mullaly Hunt - the original review can be read here. The story is about Carley Connors, a twelve year old girl that has found herself in the foster care system, placed with the Murphys. It's told from the point of view of Carley.
Back in 1999 I went to a local adoption agency to see about adopting and/or fostering a child. We had to go through a 12-week program so that we could be in a position to understand what we would be getting ourselves into and so we could understand where the children were coming from. One of the exercises that was most powerful for me was one where we were all given 5 slips of paper and told to write the five most important things on them - one per page. Once we had done this we were told we had to immediately give one up - decide which one and they would collect it from us. Then we had to place the remaining 4 slips of paper face up on the table as they came and looked at them and took another away from us. Then we had to have them face down and close our eyes and they kept taking the slips of paper from us until we didn't have any slips of paper left. The exercise evoked a lot of emotions from the participants, including but not limited to "that's mine you can't have it!", and we weren't really having anything taken from us, it was just symbolic. But it really brought home what these kids go through when they're taken from their homes and placed with strangers - even if it's in their best interest. They have no control and they lose so much and they're so vulnerable but they don't want to show that because they're wounded beings.
The author did an excellent job of capturing the vulnerability and letting us see what Carley was going through. The Murphys home was different than what she was used to - it was a happy home - but she didn't want to let them in because as soon as she did, she was afraid she'd be removed from the home and have to start all over. Mrs. Murphy was patient with her and really wanted to have an impact on her life - and did. The building of the relationship between Carley and the Murphys seemed natural and not forced by the author. It is a beautiful story and beautifully told. I think the other reviewer mentioned that it would make you cry, and it did make me cry. Sob actually to the point I literally had to put the book down at one point, collect myself and blow my nose before I could continue reading. But in a good way.
Having said that, there were a couple of things that bothered me. The first being that the way it was presented, Mrs. Murphy went to Children's Services and said she wanted a child and since Carley had just entered their system, they gave her to Mrs. Murphy. As I mentioned, I had to go through a 12-week program, followed by a background check and home study as a pre-requisite to even being considered as an adoptive of foster parent so I think that might have been lacking some research on the author's part. Obviously they may do things differently in different areas of the country but I don't think they just hand over kids because people say they want to foster a child. The other thing I'll mention here is that at one point Carley called the social worker and said she wanted to leave the Murphys house so the social worker paid a visit. Mrs. Murphy was surprised by the visit and asked the social worker if this was standard practice. The social worker said no. Going back to my situation, there were regular check-ups as well as random visits so that they could see the circumstances the child would be/was living in. And it's worth noting that the 12-week program I went through did not only include the one agency I was working with but rather it included several area agencies so the practices weren't exclusive to the one agency.
But while that bothered me some, it doesn't take away from the story itself. One for the Murphys is a book I highly recommend without reservation.
Okay, the other book I'm reviewing this month is Keep Calm and Carry a Big Drink by Kim Gruenenfelder. This is a follow up to her book There's Cake in my Future which I reviewed here. It picks up with Mel, Seema and Nic about a year later. They're getting ready for Seema's wedding and are once again having a cake pull with charms that supposedly predict your future. As with the last cake pull, Nic had rigged the cake so that her, Seema and Mel would get the fortunes they wanted. This time they weren't taking any chances though so just before Seema's bridal shower, they all tested the placement of their charms by pulling them out and putting them back into the cake, which Nic smoothed over before the shower.
Once again something happened and they all got the wrong charms. Mel had wanted the passport charm, which means travel but instead she got the money tree, which means financial security for the rest of your life. (Personally I think I'd prefer the money tree because you could still probably travel but you're guaranteed financial security, but that's just me.) Last time Mel had gotten the "hot sex" charm and while she didn't believe in the charms, she did her best to make it come true.
This time, since she again didn't get the charm she wanted, she decided to take fate into her own hands and be in charge of what happens.
In the last book the story was told from the perspective of each of the friends in alternating chapters. This time it was told solely from Mel's point of view. I think this may have been because the author possibly thought Seema's and Nic's journeys were complete and didn't need further first person telling. And while I would agree that Mel had more of a story to complete, I was a bit disappointed that it was strictly told from her point of view.
That said, I really enjoyed the book. The take away - for me - from the book is that it's important to follow your own dreams, despite what anyone else says or thinks. If you're open, you just might find happiness. :)
So, both good books. Both worth reading.
Saturday, November 30, 2013
December Book Review
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@Barrie Summy
It's that time again. And since I've read several good books this month, I'm going to share more than one review with you.
I should point out that last month I bought four of the books that were reviewed. I've read two of them already and both of those will be reviewed here.
Okay.
Let's start with The Partner Track by Helen Wan. Review that made me want the book can be found here.
I really liked this book. A lot. Ingrid Yung is a Senior Associate Attorney who is up for a partnership at the Manhattan Corporate Law firm she works for. She works hard and feels she has earned a partnership but, like everyone else, she has to wait for the announcement comes down and hopes nothing happens to mess things up for her.
Many people think she's a shoo-in because she has a few things going for her. For one thing she's a female. For another, she's Asian. The firm has never appointed a minority female as a partner in Mergers & Acquisitions, where Ingrid works and the pressure is really on the partners to have diversity. With Ingrid they get a "two-fer".
What I like about Ingrid is she's every person who's fighting for position in the workforce. She's very likeable and very relatable, even if you're not up for a partnership in a law firm. :) Plus, she doesn't want to be appointed based on giving the firm an appearance of diversity - she wants it based on merit, which she's earned. She doesn't ever want that questioned either.
Ingrid is a good person and she cares about others and the author does a wonderful job of conveying that. The book was very well written - very moving. You get a close up look at someone's vulnerability at working towards something but not knowing if you'll get the result you want - or for the reason you want it. I highly recommend this book.
Okay, on to the next one.
The next I'm going to review is The Opportunist by Tarryn Fisher. The review that made me want to read this book can be found here.Let me first say that I have a totally different take on the book than the review that made me by this book. In that review the reviewer said that Olivia was really horrible to Caleb but that she (the reviewer) was still pulling for Olivia (I'm going from memory here because I won't re-read the review until I've posted mine so sorry if I'm remembering wrong here). I didn't see it that way at all.
Yes, Olivia did some cruel things and Caleb was impacted by them BUT they weren't so much to him as to get others out of the way because she saw them as obstacles between her and Caleb. The one thing she did purposefully to hurt Caleb, he more than deserved. Plus, even as she did these things she knew they were wrong and was bothered by them - just not enough to take them back or stop doing them.
The other reviewer also has said that it doesn't end like you'd expect it to which had me guessing from the beginning. And while I didn't see the ending coming, I wasn't surprised by things either.
That all said, my take on the characters was different from the other reviewer's in that I saw Olivia as very vulnerable and afraid of loving anyone. She desperately wanted to love and be loved, which is why she did the things she did, but it also scared the crap out of her. I think the other review had said she was yelling at the characters. I was too, only I think what I was yelling was different. I felt the relationship between Olivia and Caleb was toxic. I felt like Caleb was a manipulator and abusive towards Olivia. I was yelling at her to dump him and move on but she wasn't listening. I had a hard time understanding why she'd want him back.
Despite all that, I did like this book and can recommend it without hesitation. But, what I will say is that there are two other books in this series, told from the perspectives of Caleb and Leah (Caleb's girlfriend when he gets amnesia . . . oh yeah, Caleb gets amnesia and Olivia takes the opportunity to win him back, even though he's been with Leah for a few years). This book came to a satisfying conclusion for me so I see no need to read the other two books in the series. Leah wasn't portrayed favorably in this book and I've already mentioned how I felt about Caleb so I don't want to read their versions of this story. Having said that, I did break down and read the first couple of paragraphs of each of the books online, in case I wasn't being fair to the characters. And well, I only read the first couple of paragraphs because that was all I could stomach - they did nothing to change my mind on reading the sequels.
So that's my take, a big yes on The Opportunist and a big pass on the sequels . . . but that's just me.
Next up is Takedown Twenty by Janet Evanovich. No previous review to look up with this one . . . it's all me. I love this series. I know there are some who stopped reading the series because Stephanie goes too much between Morelli and Ranger and while I don't always like what she does in the book, I love the series.
Stephanie Plum is a bounty hunter who brings in people (skips) who didn't show up to court when her sleazy cousin Vinnie posted bond for them. Lulu (a former "ho") helps her track down and bring in the skips.
They're both entirely unqualified for the job so it makes for some fun, light reading. I read these books in a few hours time. And if you're one of the people that has sworn off the books due to the Morelli/Ranger thing, they kind of address that in this book. I mean I would've read the book anyway but I feel that maybe the author considered some of the negative feedback that was coming and addressed it - maybe not to some people's satisfaction but addressed nonetheless. So, for me, this is another book to recommend. :)
Sunday, November 03, 2013
November Book Review
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@Barrie Summy
It's been a while since I've participated in the book club because, frankly, I haven't been reading a lot of books that I wanted to - or even felt right about - recommending. Then a few weeks ago I picked up a book I'd ordered a while back based on another review I had read from a book club member. The review had me ordering the book the instant after I posted a comment, it was that compelling to me. Then, as I do some times, I didn't pick up the book for a while because I couldn't remember exactly what it was that made me want it. After reading a series of very bad books, I figured I had nothing to lose and started reading the book I'm reviewing today.
I'm reviewing The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate.Ivan is a gorilla. He lives in a mall where he is expected to bring in customers who will spend their hard earned money. His home consists of three walls made of glass and one wall that is painted to resemble a jungle. He's friends with Stella the elephant, who has to perform several times a day and Bob, a stray dog. The story is told in first person narrative from the viewpoint of Ivan.
During the time that I was reading this book I got my flu shot from the medical department where I work. We're required to wait for 20 minutes after we get our shot to ensure we don't have an adverse reaction. I always take a book down with me to fill the time and so I had this book with me. The nurse administering the shot asked what I was reading and asked if it was good. I said that it was good and then compared Ivan to Eeyore from the Winnie the Pooh series. They're both loveable characters but I think the difference is that Eeyore expects bad things to happen to him. He takes the bad things in stride but they're still expected. Ivan, on the other hand, is just reporting events. He doesn't complain and he doesn't whine, it's just how things are.
He's also very loyal to his friends. Where he accepts his lot in life, he takes actions to make things right or better for his friends.
I fell in love with Ivan. I laughed and cried while reading this book. I wanted to help Ivan and make things better for him. The details were that well told by the author. At the beginning of the book there are some definitions of things you will be reading. A me-ball is "dried excrement thrown at observers". The following passage from the book is one that I found meaningful and tugged at my heart.
Three visitors
Three visitors are here: a woman, a boy, a girl.
I strut across my domain for them. I dangle from my tire swing. I eat three banana peels in a row.
The boys spit at my window. The girls throws a handful of pebbles.
Sometimes I'm glad the glass is there.
My visitors return
After the show, the spit-pebble children come back.
I display my impressive teeth. I splash in my filthy pool. I grunt and hoot. I eat and eat and eat some more.
The children pound their pathetic chests. They toss more pebbles.
"Slimy chimps," I mutter. I throw a me-ball at them.
Sometimes I wish the glass were not there.
I love kids and I know this is a work of fiction but I was upset by the kids and wished the me-ball had hit them.
Now, having said it was a work of fiction, it is inspired by a true story. There really exists a gorilla who lived in a mall as entertainment. I didn't know this until I finished the book and read the author's note. Of course the events and thoughts of Ivan were created from the author's imagination but they made me care about a gorilla, two elephants and a dog named Bob.
Some may say it's cheating that I'm reviewing a book that was previously reviewed but I think it's reinforcing the original recommendation that this is a book that should be read.
Edited to add: After adding the link to the previous review, I went back and read it. That review really captures the essence of the book so well. If you haven't read it before, follow the link - it's worth the re-read.
Monday, June 03, 2013
June Book Review
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@Barrie Summy
It's time for more book reviews!
This month I'm reviewing Easy Sexy Raw by Carol Alt. A little over three years ago I gave up meat and dairy. I bought several cookbooks and even started experimenting with some recipes. Then about two years ago I heard about raw food for the first time. It was referred to as a "raw diet" by someone I knew was trying to lose some weight so I thought it was something like the Adkins diet, but with raw foods.
Raw, to me, meant completely uncooked so in my head we were talking raw fruits and vegetables. The subject came up again about six months later when my doctor prescribed (yes, prescribed!) Pringles as a means to an end for an issue I was having at the time. This same doctor had prescribed Pringles to a friend of mine and her sister had sent her an article entitled "Pringles Causes Cancer". The article went on to talk about what raw cooking is. Essentially it comes down to not heating anything over a certain temperature.
So fast forward to a couple of months ago when I went on a cookbook buying binge. The idea of raw cooking came back up and I found myself at Barnes and Nobles checking out some raw cookbooks. I selected several and took them to a table to see which ones might best fit my self-imposed dietary restrictions. This book was the standout for me.
Since buying the book, I've also invested in a dehydrator and a mandoline. I've made several of the recipes and so far have not found one I didn't like. Among my favorite recipes is the Vegan Bay Crab Cakes. I wasn't sure what to expect because, truth told, I've never had crab cakes so I didn't know if I would like this recipe, assuming it tasted like real crab cakes. Among the ingredients are zucchini, celery, bell peppers, cashews, pine nuts (for the tartar sauce), almonds and macadamia nuts (which I've discovered I love on their own!). So it's healthy. And so scrumptious! But it's not a quick recipe to make. The almonds have to soak for 8-12 hours and then, once everything is prepared, it "cooks" in the dehydrator for a total of 4 hours so it's not something that you come home from work and say "I'd like to have raw, vegan crab cakes for dinner tonight." It takes some planning - but I promise it's worth it. And I'm fully aware that when I heat up my leftovers in the microwave, the meal is no longer raw.
Another good recipe is the Avocado/Kale Salad (actual recipe name may be different). It's something that is truly raw and can be made in 15-20 minutes. It's not quite as appetizing to look at but it's delicious.
For me, those two recipes alone were worth the price of the book. Oh, and it's not a vegan cookbook - there are recipes involving meat included as well. I won't be trying the meat or fish recipes in the book but that doesn't mean I won't maybe substitute ingredients for those with meat.
And something I did to test out what I call a theory in the book is I baked some cookies using the dehydrator. Carol states that cookies put in the dehydrator to cook taste exactly the same as their baked counterparts. I used recipes from other cookbooks I have - recipes that are tried and proven hits. I split the batches evenly and baked half in the oven and half in the dehydrator. There was absolutely zero difference in the taste. The only differences were 1) dehydrated cookies do not spread out when cooked so the size/shape you put into the dehydrator is the same size/shape you get out; and 2) length of time to cook (10 minutes in the oven vs. 13 hours in the dehydrator). The oatmeal chocolate chip cookies did stick a little in the dehydrator (peanut butter cookies did not) but I'm going to test that some more to see if there's a fix for that.
This book was an interesting discovery for me and I highly recommend it for anyone looking to experiment with raw cooking. The thing to remember though is that raw doesn't necessarily mean fast.
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