I was writing about a book I am reading "Paul Newman, a life." I wrote that I was writing about Paul Newman, but I wasn't. I was only writing about the book I am reading.
chimera: a fire breathing female monster with a head of a lion, body of a goat and tail of a serpent.
segued: proceed.
anomalous: irregular'

Now I am starting to read a book about Paul Newman. He has been a favorite actor of since I was in high school. So far I have learned he was really old, even by my standards and he was a WWII veteran. Also, he was Jewish and many members of his family are as successful as he was. I'll write more when I read more. It is pretty easy reading. So far, I haven't run across any words I don't know, which isn't good. I want a book to have at least a few new words for me.

I had better finish my "book report" on The Mulberry Empire by Philip Hensher before I forget the whole things.

The historical facts of the book are that from 1838-42 the British were involved in a war (the first Afghan war) against Afghanistan, or maybe it would be more accurate to say IN Afghanistan. OK. The British were established in India and they wanted an alley to the west. So they decided to take over Afghanistan. Well, they supported a has been ruler and tried to put him back on the throne and over throw the ruling ruler. It all gets rather complicated.
Now for the fiction part in the book. The author put real characters and fictional ones in the story. Then he fictionalized lots of things the real characters did and apologized for all that at the end of the book.
Now it sounds complicated (482 pages) and it is, but by reading the book, you get an idea of the situation.
I think the Brits didn't understand the Afghans and somehow thought they could just walk in and tell them how to do things. Well, that didn't work.
I like Philip Hensher books. I have now read two of the four he has written. The other two are not in my library, but I am trying to track them down.
Hensher does a wonderful job of making his people seem so real, with real FEELINGS and real work to do and REAL lives.
I see in his picture in the back of the book, that he looks quit young, 30s maybe. I am glad because I hope he writes a bunch more of these really good books and I also hope the I can talk my library into buying them.
I wonder if anyone else reads these books.

costermonger: a person who sells or hawks fruits or vegetables from a barrow

I am reading "The Mulberry Empire" by Philip Hensher. Overall, it is about British colonization in the early to mid 19th century.
vocab: taranass: Russian carriage, pulled by horses. In summer it has four wheels and in winter the wheels are removed so that it is a slay.

Ok, I am trying to learn to add pictures to my posts, so here is a sample of my iris from this spring.

I had a good garage sale day yesterday. I bought a book of Ibsen plays. I learned last summer that he was originally Norweigen, but the Norweigens got fed up with him so he moved to Germany.

OK so I have learned to add photos to my blog so I am going to practice. Hope I can find some good pictures and "stuff."

Last Friday evening, I had the pleasure of attending my first roller derby. It was at the Douglas County Fairgrounds. The reason I ended up there was that my daughter Rosie was a skater in the event. Her team won 199/186. It was kind of a family event, as Rosie's boyfriend, two of her friends, Jon and Rachel, myself and Jon's friend Chris Dura all attended as a block. At one point we were asked if we were "
Rosie's family." Guess we were her fan club also.

Last evening I went to see "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum." It was at the Union Colony Dinner theater and was the last of their fifth season. It was OK. It really didn't have any socially redeeming value, except that it was good for a laugh. I guess in this world, that is good. The company was fun, my friends the Zumbrums. The food was also OK. But the acting was wonderful. There is something about live theater done well that can't be beat, even if the material is marginal. Same for the music. It is just kind of an insult to see really great actors/ musicians doing a great job on crumby material. But it was an enjoyable evening.

"The Northern Clemency" by Philip Hensher was a long (over 600 p) about Enland in the 70's. It has great character development, something I really like in a book. It also told about life in England, but many of the characters could be anywhere. It told about two families who were neighbors and how their lives were affected by the times and each other. Probably this book would bore most people to sleep, but I like it.
Pantechnican-moving van

I better up date this blog, as someone actually read it.
I read "Blood print" by Kitty Sewell. It was branded a "psychological thriller" not my usual read, but it was set in two places, Key West and Bath, England. These are two places I have visited and I really enjoyed them. Therefore, I was interested to read about them. It actually was a very good read. The book talked about children given up for adoption, as well as Cuban culture.
A recommend for anyone actually reading this paragraph.