Why Did The Geese Cross The Road?

To make my husband late for work.

My husband's office overlooks Las Colinas Country Club's beautiful golf course. There is a part of the course's lake with a bridge overpass so the lake can continue to the other side of Decker Drive--the street my husband's office building is located. 

Over the past year or so the geese population seems to be growing. And despite the cold, the geese have decided to make the golf course area their home. There are probably about a hundred that have no problem stopping traffic to walk across the street to visit the other side of the lake. If you can enlarge the photo you will see a fraction of the geese on either side of the roadway.

The Future of Us by Carolyn Mackler and Jay Asher

I just finished reading The Future of Us. Since I’ve started writing, I’ve noticed I read novels differently than I used to. Now, when I read, I dissect and analyze the author’s writing style. This leads me to the first reason I enjoyed this novel.

The story is told in two distinct characters: Josh, written by Jay Asher, and Emma, written by Carolyn Mackler. Often books with multiple POVs are written by the same author and, although there are two view points, the underlying style is the same. But this doesn’t happen in The Future of Us because both writers have completely different writing styles.

It is only my opinion, but I enjoyed Josh’s voice better than Emma’s because of Jay’s writing style.

Jay Asher is the bestselling author of Thirteen Reason’s Why. He’s a fabulous writer and his characters always reflect a deep point of view which melts me into the character’s plight more than a writer that doesn’t completely exercise this skill.  

For character depth, however, Emma wins hands down. Carolyn deserves mucho kudos for layering her character’s behavior.

Although, a teen may be able to relate to Emma, an adult reader is able to notice the reasons behind Emma’s actions, which made me deeply sympathize with Emma’s character.  

For example, without giving a spoiler alert, Emma’s mother is on her third husband. Emma’s father moved away, remarried, and has a new baby with his second wife. How can this family dynamic not affect a teenager as she develops dating relationships? Wouldn’t any girl want to find a boyfriend, aka future husband, that she will be happy with until death do they part?

As I got older, that was my dating goal. Luckily, twenty-two years later my husband still puts up with me. Or maybe it’s because I’m a technotard and have never bothered to open a Facebook account. 

MY First Blackberry!

Not the THE first blackberry on the bushes. 

It’s the first blackberry I've been able to eat. My husband, and all of his ten green fingers, takes care of our garden. Whenever, I go out to help—okay, I’ll be honest, to watch him work—I notice the blackberries are always missing from the bush.

When I’d ask what happened to all the berries, he replies, “Stupid birds.”

Birds, nothing! It was his green thumbs that picked those berries, and his lying tongue that ate ‘em.

But now that he’s on a business trip, the blackberries are all mine. 

Muahahaha

Madder than the Mad Hatter...

Tea party anyone?

Opps! The March Hare forgot to remove the empty tea container from the fridge.

(Those are tea bags in the bottom of the container, not the Dormouse and family.)

Follow up to A Posing Question...

Aside from the obvious butter beer, the drink of choice for children after age eleven, I emailed this question to some of my friends and here is some of the answers:

Marijuana flavor Bertie Botts Beans.

Chocolate Frogs, since for many chocolate is their favorite addition.

And since all Hogwarts students take Potions, maybe they can whip up a stimulant of their own.

A Posing Question...

My fourteen-year-old daughter Lucy likes to play the "Posing Question" game. She’s done this all her life, starting when she was two-and-a half and she asked me, “Do you want me to live or do you want me to die?”

All these years later her questions keep coming. Offering me weird insight into the mind of a child who examines life so different from me. Some of the questions border on the ridiculous, as if she asks them specifically to see my reaction, amused at the possibility I'll actually answer her question. For example, I’ll redirect this question to you.

Do you think the students at Hogwarts ever got in trouble for drugs, and if so what drug of choice would be most common in each house?

WKOQIT? (What kind of question is that?)

Got any answers for her? 

In remembrance of those who died...