There Was A Farmer Had A Cat...

Last week... wait, was it last week? No, two weeks ago... ish. Whatever. Some not to distant time ago, Julia from Our Simple Life sent me a copy of her new children's book, Bingo's Big Adventure.

 I'd like to say that I gathered the kids up in a comfy armchair and read it as soon as the postman delivered it, but that wouldn't be true. For one thing, our armchair is too small for all of us to sit in anymore and even if we did the boys would just end up fighting. That and I don't have a postman, I have a postwoman. What did happen was I unwrapped it, flipped through the pretty pictures and put it down on the counter because the baby was crying or the boys were trying to push each other down the stairs or it was lunch or time for tae kwon do, yadda yadda yadda. 

I'd like to say I read it the next day, but that wouldn't be true either. Not so much because things got in the way (which they would have) or I forgot about it (which I probably did), but because I couldn't get them out of the books they were reading then. I don't know about your kids, but my rabid baboons have a tendency to latch onto one book and demand to read it every night. Every. Single. Night. Sigh.


Anyway, to make a long book review that I haven't even started yet short, I finally managed to remember to grab the book at story time and refused to let them bring anything else into bed. It worked.  Bingo's Big Adventure is a cute story about a real kitten Julia adopted and brought home to her farm. The book is filled with beautiful real life photos that follow Bingo for a day and the story is written through his eyes. The boys loved these since kids books tend to be filled with artwork instead of photography so it was a little different for them. They got some big laughs out of Bingo climbing a tree and trying to sneak up on a rooster. My ability to mimic a rooster at high volume made the story a total hit with the kids. My rooster noises that got the kids all wound up before bedtime was not a hit with my wife.


So two thumbs up from the boys. Ok, not literally, but when Connor went to bed that night he told us that he was going to dream about being Bingo, so that must be good. Also, whenever they watch Milo and Otis now they feel a need to bring Bingo with them. That's got to mean something, right?

If you're interested in seeing a little more of it, you can check out the book's website, Bingo's Big Adventure.

Jane Austen: With Blood On My Hands And Love In My Heart

Today I am doing a book review of Pride & Prejudice & Zombies with Middle Aged Woman over on He Read/She Read, and while "review" might be a liberal use of the word (if by "liberal" you mean using an entirely inappropriate word to describe an action for which that word bares very little resemblance) I think this is something that I could definitely see myself doing professionally, so if you happen to work for a large newspaper and/or some other type of large and/or prestigious book reviewing institution and you happened by here accidentally consider it my resume.

Do you need a little breather?

Good?

Ok.

So, click on this funny blue... er, red (it's blue in the draft, huh?) coloured text here because it will magically take you to another website where I'll be since I'm not really here and it won't hurt a bit I promise. Hell, I even translated Russian, American and ancient Greek. Not that I'm bragging. Go! GO!

PS. As an added bonus, Middle Aged Woman is giving away a signed copy of the book over on her sight, Unmitigated. Signed by the two of us. That's right, just think of the future value of that.

RTT: Other People's Thoughts In Random Order

My newest hobby once I ok it with my wife.



Heroes: I hate carnivals. Take any show and let it run long enough, some writer will insert a frickin' carnival into it. It's kinda like the jumping the shark but it doesn't necessarily have to be the end since some shows do it early on. I love Heroes. I hate carnivals.

The Virtual Autopsy Table from NorrköpingsVisualiseringscenter on Vimeo.

Aside from Arizona's speech to Callie's dad, Christina's breakdown and something Alex did that I've forgotten now, Grey's Anatomy has kinda sucked this year. Until last week's "I Saw What I Saw" episode. That was great tv.




Palm Pre. Couldn't they find a whiter actress?


Fireplace screens. Rome and London, get it?

So tomorrow Middle Aged Woman and I are reviewing Pride & Prejudice & Zombies over on He Read/She Read. Come by Wednesday for what will surely be my shoe-in to the New York Times Book Review. I promise to remember the little people.

Keely's. Go. Now.


via oneplusinfinity and BB Blog

Not Sure What This Is Aboot

Ok, I've been trying to behave myself and only post once a day like everybody else, but... I just can't. I gotta be me. If I don't get these things down they just disappear. Or I find something I wrote down a week ago and it's just not that funny anymore. This way you can suffer the unfunny stuff RIGHT AWAY! Like a few days ago I had to send Liam up to his room for some infraction I can't even remember now. To show me how angry he was about this he stripped his bed and threw all the sheets and blankets on the floor. Apparently this was not enough so he stripped off all of his clothes as well. Then he wandered over to our bedroom and peed on my brand new Salman Rushdie book. Now I don't mind if he doesn't like Rushdie's writing, but I think he should read the book before making such a strong statement.

Continuing on with Liam's anger management issues, Supreme Leader banished him to his room yesterday afternoon for some reason. His protests stalled on the stairs and he needed some assistance getting to his room. I escorted him the rest of the way and tried to talk him down. I patiently explained why he had been banished and that we still loved him. He responded, "I'm rubbing nasty snot on you!" And he did. And he had a lot.

Later on in the afternoon the boys and I were playing in the living room. Daddy was hiding under a blanket while the boys dove off the love seat on top of me. At one point the screaming got a little too loud and since dinner was quickly approaching I told them we needed to relax now because it was quiet time. Then I threw off the blanket and found my little angels jumping naked from love seat to sofa and back again. I said, "Hey, quiet time is not naked time!" They thought this was funny as hell and started chanting "Quiet time is naked time!" I'm hoping my little talk with Connor holds and he doesn't start singing this at kindergarten today.

And finally, a little something special for some 'special' people.

Lit 101

From McSweeney's, Lit 101 Class in Three Lines or Less:

Paradise Lost

ADAM: Paradise has arbitrary dietary restrictions?

DEVIL: They're really more like guidelines.

GOD: Incorrect.


Moby-Dick

ISHMAEL: I'm existential.

AHAB: Really? Try vengeance.

ISHMAEL: I dig this dynamic. Can we drag it out for 600 pages?