What I'm Reading Now - The Chaperone

Another historical fiction book ;-)

This follows 15 year-old Louise Brooks (who became a silent film actress) as she moves from Kansas to New York City for a summer dance class. Given the era - she needs a chaperone. Thirty-six Cora volunteers for the job even though she does't know the girl...she has her own reasons for going to NY. The story follows these two as they explore the city, form a relationship and navigate their lives as they are changing.

I enjoyed this story. Both story lines reveal to be kinda sad for different reasons. There is some "adult content" and a lot of things in this story that made me wonder how much "wow" factor the author was really trying for! But the story works - you especially get involved in Cora's life as she is the narrator of the story.

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Labor of Love (Part 1 of 3)

I love lace. I love the delicacy with which it presents itself to the world. That being said, I dont really use it very much. I do have some family doilies, and my wedding dress has some lace, but I dont go too crazy. I like to be able to clean things, and not have dust mites clinging to every available piece of cloth (they cling to everything else anyway.) So, I decided to try a painting technique. Why not paint the lace on the object? Easy to clean, lovely design, what could be better? We got this child's vanity in an old attic pick. Yes, we went into someone's hot and muggy attic for several hours. Yes, they let us jsut dig through things (can you believe it?!?!) unsupervised. Yes, we had to take our own flashlights. And yes, there was mouse droppings and dead birds up there. It was gross, but worth it. My boy LOVED it! American Pickers is his favorite tv show. So this school bus yellow vanity sat there looking at us. Begging for new life! I knew if we left ...

Blind Man Stood on the Road and he

First, I need to say that every time I think of this song, I think of one man: Don Strunk. He shaped my middle school years and beyond by singing this song....alot :-) On my way to work yesterday I passed by the subway stop. Usually there is a man with a mohawk at this corner passing out free newspapers. I realized as I was crossing the street that it was a different man (also signaling that it was a different free paper). I also noticed the man had a cane, a cane like blind people normally walk with. As I got onto the sidewalk I was going to continue down the avenue (as opposed to into the train like most people would be doing) and the man asked me if I'd like a newspaper. I was pretty amazed that he heard me walking by in tennis shoes while big trucks zoomed past us. I'm lucky if I can hear the conversation that's meant for me to hear it in these situations.

Me and my shadow!

Please feel free to listen (or watch!) this song while reading this post. :-) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CyEf1Lp7Byk I have always thought silhouettes were such lovely and understated works of art. I would be fascinated by the people who did it at Disney World, Kings Island, or Central Park. They could cut your silhouette out in minutes! I decided I thought it would be fun art to hang in our humble bedroom. Our bedroom is a work in progress. These silhouettes are only the second thing I have hung on the wall, so I am taking my time with it. We did get around to painting in over the summer. It went from drab and boring, to vibrant and living. It was amazing to me how the paint actually made the room look much bigger! In a house cursed with small rooms, that is indeed a blessing. I started out with some frames and material. The frames were fine as they were, but several accent things in our bedroom are white, so I opted to paint them. The material...well, I want to use it behin...

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