sharing my love of books with you

Month: January 2023

Deadpan

Deadpan – marked by a fixed air of seriousness or calm detachment

“Dr. Tyler thinks we should hold onto [Red October] if we get her,” Harris said deadpan. “And he thinks he has a way we can do it.”

General Harris, The Hunt for Red October, Tom Clancy

Obfuscate

Obfuscate – to confuse; to make unclear

“[Ambassador] Arbatov probably has his instructions on what to tell us already, but he’ll play for all the time he can. It’s also vaguely possible that he’s in the dark. We know how they compartmentalize information. You suppose we’re reading too much into his talent for obfuscation?”

The President, The Hunt for Red October, Tom Clancy

Folderol

Folderol – useless accessory; trifle, nonsense

“Anyway, I hardly thing we need to attach legal folderol to a situation involving nuclear weapons.”

Admiral Daniel Foster, The hunt for red october, Tom Clancey

Dr. Tait on the Sea

“We have our differences, gentlemen, but the sea doesn’t care about that. The sea – well, she tries to kill us all regardless what flag we fly.”

Dr. Tait, The Hunt for Red October, Tom Clancy

The Necessary Foil, by Rumi

Privation and defect, wherever seen,
Are mirrors of the beauty of all that is.
The bone-setter, where should he try his skill
But on the broken limb?  The tailor where?
Not, surely, on the well-cut finished coat.
Were no base copper in the crucible,
How could the alchemist his craft display?

("The Necessary Foil" translated by R.A. Nicholson, Rumi, printed 2006)

Ramius and Melekhin Talk About the Lenin

Ramius chuckled. “Remember the incident on Lenin?” He referred to the nuclear-powered icebreaker that had spent two years tied to the dock, unusable because of a nuclear mishap. “A ship’s cook had some badly crusted pans, and a madman of an engineer suggested that he use live steam to get them cleaned. So the idiot walked down to the steam generator and opened an inspection valve, with his pots under it!”

Melekhin rolled his eyes. “I remember it! I was a staff engineering officer then. The captain had asked for a Kazakh cook – “

“He liked horsemen with his kasha,” Ramius said.

” – and the fool didn’t know the first thing about a ship. Killed himself and three other men, contaminated the whole… compartment for twenty months. The captain only got out of the gulag last year.”

“I bet the cook got his pans cleaned, though,” Ramius observed.

“Indeed Marko Aleksandrovich – they may even be safe to use in another fifty years.” Melekhin laughed raucously.

Captain Ramius and Engineer Melekhin, The Hunt for red october, Tom Clancy

This led the doctor on board to wonder at this phlegmatic conversation.

Phlegmatic

Phlegmatic – unemotional or unenthusiastic

“There was nothing, nothing at all funny about a reactor leak. But Melekhin was known for his heavy sense of humor, and the doctor imagined that twenty years of working on reactors allowed him and the captain to view the potential dangers phlegmatically. Then, there was the implicit lesson in the story: never let someone who does not belong into the reactor spaces.”

thoughts of the soviet doctor, petrov, The hunt for red october, Tom Clancy

Saturdays

I am so glad it’s Saturday again! In my house, Saturday usually means sleeping in and no alarm clocks. Rest, laundry, tea, and writing are my main Saturday goals. When I do laundry, I sort all the clothes that piled up throughout the week into colors or textures. When they are washed and dried, they’re hung back up in the closet, ready for a new week.

I have special tea mugs that I use only on Saturdays because they don’t fit in my car cup holders. They’re bigger or oddly shaped or just too awkward to try to commute with. I will usually enjoy several mugs of tea or coffee during the day. I started today with Sweet Summer Cider Oolong tea with Cinnamon Matcha.

My favorite part of Saturday is when I can read and write uninterrupted. So right now, I am sitting in my big red chair in my newly organized library snuggling with my cat, Hattie, and listening to Prokofiev’s Romeo and Juliet ballet. I plan to write a few different blog posts today. I may even squeeze in a poem or a devotional. And when I’m done, I’ll set my computer aside so I can finish my book.

Happy Saturday!

How is it already January 21?!

Wow, how time flies! I haven’t posted an update, quote, new word, or anything for over a month.

 Well, I did share a New Year’s quote from Sholmes, but that’s it! I have been busy, busy, busy!

Christmas is a hard season for me. While I prefer to stay at home with my books and my tea, at Christmas, there’s an activity almost every day and several on the weekends. And on top of that, I had the crazy idea to crochet a pair of fingerless gloves for all my coworkers. So instead of reading when I got home from work, I turned on the TV and picked up my crochet hook. Then of course, on Christmas day, there was time spent with family and great holiday food and just a lot of lazy fun.

I was very ready to get back to my books this week. The first thing I did was built myself a new bookshelf. I like the eight-cube shelves from Better Homes & Gardens, although I can tell the quality has decreased since the last time I built a shelf. Disappointing, but it will still hold my books. 

I removed all the books from the old shelves and did some rearranging. When the shelves were exactly where I wanted them, I started recategorizing the books. 

I have several categories: Bible study and Christian Living, School and Homeschool tools, Finance (my husband’s books), History, Children’s History, Practical Living, and – my favorite – Stories. I have a hard time separating Juvenile Fiction and Adult Fiction (because it’s all fiction, and I don’t have kids right now). Also, I don’t have a lot of Biographies, so I decided to lump together all my Fiction, Biographies, and Poetry into a large category I call Stories. They are also Alphabetized, from Adair to Zusak. It took almost two days to complete the categorizing and alphabetizing, but now I am sitting in my completed library surrounded by peace and order.

I’m still reading The Hunt for Red October. I’ll bring you up to speed with The Hunt in another time. For now, happy January 21 and happy reading!