Summer's End

PROM

#2Son is preparing to drive himself to college to begin his freshman year. Of course, he's only going 40 miles away. We'll be seeing him this weekend. I'm happy and sad at the same time. DH keeps asking me what we're going to do and I look about me and think, "there's plenty to be done here." But we'll both miss them.

Reading

I'm keeping track of the books I'm reading on my LibraryThing discussion list. I have now reached the 2008 goal of 50 books. I wonder how many I'll get through before the end of the year. My family is not impressed--they say I read all the time.

The 50th book is Persepolis 2 by Marjane Satrapi. I highly recommend reading Persepolis and Persepolis 2. Satrapi is an Iranian who was sent to Europe as a teenager during the Iran-Iraq war. Iraq was bombing Tehran and fundamentalists were coming to power in Iran--danger on both sides. Her parents fortunately had the means to send her to live with a friend/cousin in Vienna. These are graphic novels, and although I haven't liked them in the past, these are wonderful. The illustrations intensify the emotions in the story. There is now a movie, too.

I have been trying to read some new authors this year. Among them are: Julie Kramer (1st time novelist), Georges Simenon (Belgian mystery writer a la Agatha Christie), Robin White (mystery-thrillers set in Siberia), Stephen Booth (police procedurals set in English Peak District).

One notable book I have read is Child 44 by Tom Rob Smith, which is on this year's Man Booker prize longlist. I hope he makes it to the shortlist, at least. Child 44 is set in 1950's Soviet Union, where no crime exists. Leo Demidov, a state security officer, begins unofficially looking into a far-flung series of child murders with shocking results.

I love reading these books with cultures, countries, and people who are different from me. Child 44 and Robin White's books really give you the feel of living in Soviet and post-Soviet Russia. Even though the stories are fiction, I think the feel for the culture is real. And this is one reason I read.

Rites of Passage

I spent last weekend taking #1Son to Indiana where he is starting grad school. He has moved out of our house and his new home is his apartment. This is a good thing--but a major emotional change for me. I was a little sad before and after. But also happy, because I get his room to make into an office/study. Now, all we have to do is get rid of or assimilate the stuff he didn't take. He even had books with him in boxes he hadn't opened for 2 years that we brought back! (I just can't stand to throw books away.) They'll either go on bookmooch or ebay. Some, I'll keep.

I have been catching up with a friend who is undergoing treatment for breast cancer. She has a great blog about her experiences. It's alarming to me how many people I know have or are having an experience with breast cancer. I do work in a library, where 90% of the staff are women--but it's very frightening and saddening to me. Although there's been no breast cancer in my immediate family to date (knock on wood), I have had some experience with cancer in a fairly young relative. My uncle had kidney cancer when he was in his forties. He was young and otherwise healthy and underwent all of the latest treatments. He did live for 10 years after his diagnosis, but eventually died of his cancer. That was the saddest thing in my life.


Here's something to lighten your day:

Olympics

My dh and I were watching the Today show this morning--and we got to wondering when the opening ceremonies were actually happening--since they are on US tv tonight at 8:00. I got online and finally figured out that they happened at 8/8/08 at 8pm Beijing time and what we'll see tonight is tape-delay. Usually I don't mind tape delay, but it was difficult even on the web site to determine that the actual event was taking place this morning. There are video feeds that are blocked for the US. I was trying to find results for events that were already over but nothing was posted yet. I just wanted to look at archery and shooting, not the most popular sports. I don't see how anyone would care if you could find out the results early. It's amazing that a) there's even technology to do this, and b) that nbc has that much power. Either that, or the IOC is really slow at updating the website.

My son asked about the air quality and I found this site--the BeijingAirBlog. The current conditions in Beijing were "Haze" this morning. I really hate air you can see!

Corn & Autocross Results

The summer corn crop has come in. Michigan has the best sweet corn I've ever tasted. A family up the street grows the corn and sells in front of their house. It is the Peaches & Cream variety and so sweet!!!

The autocross went well, I had fun driving my car fast--at least it seems fast when you have to drive around those cones. Here's a photo of my car. It's a 2004 Mercedes C230 Kompressor--a great road car, and quick, too. Another photo of grid with dh's car. Results.

Packing up, I got my ring finger on my right hand squished between the trailer tongue and jack--hurt like crazy. I spent about 10 minutes with my hand in the cooler, then filled a bottle with ice and sat in the car. Monday, it hurt so much, I left work early. My sup wanted me to see a dr. so I went ahead. It's not broken and they didn't do anything for it--just keep it iced. That was a waste of medical resources--they even did an xray. It doesn't look as bad today, but the nail is black and it's still sore and a little swollen. Typing is painful.

Also, my phone spent a couple of extra days at the Tawas Bay Big Boy. I left it there when we had lunch on Sunday. I finally realized it wasn't anywhere at home on Wed. I called them and they put it in the mail--amazingly, it arrived home in Thursday's mail.

More exciting stuff coming up! Stay in touch.

The Mad Librarian

Oscoda Detroit vs SVR Autocross

This year, the Detroit region is joining with the Saginaw Valley Region (SVR) of the SCCA to have an autocross at Wurtsmith Airport in Oscoda MI. I'm going to run my Mercedes C230 "Elsa" this weekend. I finally decided I need to run my own car. I'll post some photos on Monday.