Couple of Books I Read Recently

Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West Read Gregory Maguire's take on the Wicked Witch of the West. Pretty good first novel I must say. Though, I've heard some of his other stuff ain't so hot. I really liked the witch. She was believable in a fantasy kind of way. You have to sympathize with the witch when you read this tome. I'm quite sure, though that he sees OZ alot (A LOT!) differently than Baum did. The characters in this book were positively RANDY! T's rates it: TTTTT (Side note - I just started reading Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister) Also read (again) Connie Willis' tongue in cheek take on chaos theory, fad research, and love: Belwether. I love the way Connie writes prose! This book is a series of absolute corporate fuck-ups from front to back! I used to work in a big research facility that was not academic, so I can identify! If you are into speculative fiction and you work in the corporate world, you should read this book! Of course, I recommend (really!) anything by Connie! T's rates it: TTTTT

More from North Florida

It's about time to take off for Houston. I'll be leaving in the early morning, to head back out west. Think I'll actually overnight somewhere in between, this time! It's been an interesting visit. Both my sisters kids are great! The reunion was a bust (for me). But nothing ventured, nothing gained. Comments for my last few Mo-Posts! A1A Well, apparently when you ZOOOOOOM in, it makes the photo a bit smaller. Who knew?! I'll have to try to get a more decent one before I leave.But the photo is actually taken outside of St. Augustine, Florida. Up the road a piece from the School for the Blind there. This is the school Ray Charles attended as a child. On the way to the Beach! My sister Jean driving on the way to Vilano beach. Vilano Beach is south of Ponte Vedra Beach (and north of St. Augustine beach) and appears to be one of the last beaches you can drive your car on in North Florida. Recycled Roofing Parking lot at UNF. University of North Florida. I think this is a great way to recycle old roofing materials. Beats the hell out of putting them in a landfill, don't it?

Recycled roofing parking lot at UNF

On the way to the beach!

A1A

A Few Things From Jacksonville...

My Sister is on Dial-up (sigh) Holy Crap! Does it take forever to display a page...And the browser that Compuserve uses is so much like AOL (Grrrrrr!) and doesn't seem to like the Standard Blogger interface So - forced to connect with Compuserve and then use IE 6 (or whatever...) (Grrrrrrrr!) But hey, there is a PC so I can stay connected. It Doesn't Feel Like 30 Years! Met up with an old school bud yesterday. It had actually been about 32 or 33 years since I'd seen him. Still the same ornery guy - but mellowed somewhat with age. And he has more gray hair than I do! He was always a cowboy. Loved Hosses and Dawgs and still does...And holy shit! Does he live a long way in the country! Drove out to his job site - A concrete plant - had a little conversation there...Then drove back into town for lunch. What's wrong with this picture? I drove a thousand miles so I could go to the Texas Roadhouse in Jacksonville for lunch?? There has got to be some irony there, boy! Food was good, though! I ain't even sure we have any of these in Texas... After lunch we drove out to his house - Far (far) west of JAX. Thought I had driven halfway back to Texas by the time we pulled into his front yard. He's got 3 acres that he shares with his wife, 2 hosses and a passel of Dawgs. They (my friend and his wife) think they are in charge, but it ain't too hard to see who really rules the roost! And it ain't the humans! Ha Ha! Driving back to my sister's after dark was a trip Hell, just gettin' back to a paved county road was a trip. And then there was the RAIN. Couple of real gully washers! At a couple of points I had to downshift to 2d gear and drive r-e-a-l s-l-o-w cause the wipers in the Saturn wouldn't go fast enough to let me see out the dang windshield(!) Only lasted a couple of minutes each time, though and then it was back to 70 MPH. I love the north Florida back country. I had forgotten just how hilly it is in North FLA... I think the entire state ain't nothin' but a series of tall sand dunes! Off to cruise down A1A for a while today And then check in at the re-union this evening! THAT should be interesting!! Seeya! t...

Blogging From Email?? A Test...

So I've set up to send posts to "Sound Off" via email. And from my mobile. The first post from my mobile phone should already be here. Just testing a couple of things to see how long it takes. However images cannot be sent to blogger via email. Just from a mobile. Still this is some pretty cool stuff! T's from Jacksonville, Florida!

MoBlog experiment

My sister was good enough to put me up this week.

Where the Hell is TexasT's??

Excuse me...I've been a little busy... This week, I've travelled to Jacksonville, Florida to attend my 30th Highschool re-union. Seems a bit informal - as there is no set agenda - other than a meet and greet at a hotel in Downtown JAX on Friday. I've never attended any of the others...So I'll just have to wait and see how that goes. Oh yeah and I've setup to blog via email. so I'll have a test post before too long. Think I'll set up to post via my cell as well. Sooo experimental blogging is in the offing! t...