One way to celebrate your birthday...

From the blog: French Village Diaries

For the fourth consecutive year, I, Jacqui Brown, now aged 47 years old, have cycled my 100km in a day birthday challenge.

Now, I could do this part very well.

Worth reading the rest and viewing the photos:

http://www.frenchvillagediaries.com/2018/10/100km-in-day.html?spref=fb&fbclid=IwAR1JUPhSgUJg5ZWREc4qo87ki5PAmU2YjTFVQp-vFdbtVyvedmhZwdmNzKI

I find this local artist very appealing.

I see she currently has a show at Granville Island called "Vancouver Views"

 Joy Singbeil, nee Peirson - Painter

Joy was born into a  somewhat eccentric scientific family in England.  She always had a strong interest in the arts and creativity was and continues to be  a major passion in her life.   Although discouraged to follow her artistic dreams she did manage to be the student representative on the Arts Committee at Exeter University, UK , responsible for buying art to be on display at the University buildings.

She moved to B.C. in the early seventies and became a successful Batik artist, selling her work at various venues including Circle Craft. She soon had a steady list of clients.

Life was altered completely when she accepted a teaching job with the Surrey School Board.  Travel and  children born in 1983 and 1985 became her main focus.  In  2000 she went back to university at SFU and gained her Fine Arts Diploma. 

 http://www.roamgallery.com/joy-peirson.html

Our old stamping ground....

It was a lovely day and we thought getting a hot dog at English Bay then getting a Red Truck Pale Ale at The Sylvia seemed like a good idea. Neither hot dog guy was there but it was a bit breezy although they do seem to be there year round except on really bad days. So, we split a burger at The Sylvia. We got our favourite table by the window and a server we really like. When we had a walk along the seawall we met some old "beach friends". Then back to the baseball games.

Views from our table..

Jim on the seawall.

The famous tree now in full Fall colours.

Our "Paradise Beach" aka "Bikini Beach"....not even readers there today.

From the blog of Seth Godin....always thoughtful

Gloom (and doom)

Doom is inevitable.

Gloom is optional.

Gloom has no positive effects on ameliorating doom.

Doom happens. Gloom is a choice.

OCTOBER 6, 2018

Bookclubs in Palm Springs

There are lots of bookclubs in Palm Springs. I've included their lists of titles because I know there are avid readers out there and we're all looking for interesting things to read. I mainly go to the bookclub in  Canyon Sands (the condo complex where we live) but have gone to other library bookclubs from time to time.

I see the Wine Bookclub is back although not sponsored by the Palm Springs Library. Erna, I think we might have to give that a try since we enjoyed the previous wine bookclub!

http://www.palmspringsca.gov/government/departments/library/book-clubs

This is what the Wine Bookclub is reading;
Wine Book Club Titles 2018/2019

September 26, 2018: The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah

October 31, 2018: The Woman in the Window by A.J. Finn 

November 28, 2018: The Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes
December 19, 2018 (Please note date change to third Wednesday): The Year of Living Danishly: Uncovering the Secrets of the World's Happiest Country by Helen Russell
January 30, 2019: Commonwealth by Ann Patchett
February 27, 2019: The Souls of Black Folk by W. E. B. Du Bois
March 27, 2019: News of the World by Paulette Jiles
April 24, 2019: Wallis in Love: The Untold Life of the Duchess of Windsor, the Woman Who Changed the Monarchy by Andrew Morton
May 29, 2019: Calling Me Home by Julie Kibler
June 26, 2019: Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders July 31, 2019: Love and Ruin by Paula McLain
August 28, 2019: The Last Crossing by Guy Vanderhaeghe

For more information about the Wine Book Club, please contact Don Markley: don@piefourme.com

This is what the Cover-to-Cover Bookclub is reading:

2018 / 2019 Season

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September 13, 2018: Manhattan Beach by Jennifer Egan

October 11, 2018: Reading with Patrick: A Teacher, a Student and a Life-Changing Friendship by Michelle Kuo

November 8, 2018: The Immortalists by Chloe Benjamin

December 13, 2018: Dinner with Edward: A Story of an Unexpected Friendship by Isabel Vincent

January 10, 2019: The Monk of Mokha by Dave Eggers

February 14, 2019: The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah

March 14, 2019: Crooked Heart by Lissa Evans

April 11, 2019: Girl in Disguise by Greer Macallister

May 9, 2019: Before We Were Yours by Lisa Wingate

June 13, 2019: The Supremes Sing the Happy Heartache Blues by Edward Kelsey Moore


This is what the Morning Coffee Bookclub at the Welwood Murray Memorial Library is reading.

2018 / 2019 Season

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September 19, 2018: In Cold Blood by Truman Capote

October 17, 2018: The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson

November 14, 2018 (DATE CHANGE TO 2ND WEDNESDAY): Sing, Unburied, Sing by Jesmyn Ward

December 19, 2018: Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel García Márquez 

January 16, 2019:  Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami

February 20, 2019: The Snow Leopard by Peter Matthiessen

March 20, 2019: Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng

April 17, 2019: Lagoon by Nnedi Okorafor

May 15, 2019: Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic by Alison Bechdel

And trying to find what Rancho Mirage Library Bookclub was reading I brought up a Meet Up group
called Books and Booze in the Desert (for classy women). That's us, isn't it Erna?

https://www.meetup.com/Books-and-Booze-in-the-Desert-for-classy-women/

This is what the Friends of the Palm Springs Library Bookclub is reading:

2018 / 2019 Season

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September 21, 2018: The Job by Sinclair Lewis

October 19, 2018: A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles

November 16, 2018: White Houses by Amy Bloom

December 21, 2018: Beartown by Fredrik Backman

January 18, 2019: Last Bus to Wisdom by Ivan Doig

February 15, 2019: Cannery Row by John Steinbeck

March 15, 2019: Astrophysics for People in a Hurry by Neil deGrasse Tyson

April 19, 2019: The Woman in the Window by A. J. Finn

May 17, 2019: Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman

June 21, 2019: Dubliners by James Joyce

Most titles are available as Downloadable Audiobooks and/or eBooks from PSPL.

And there is a LGBTQ group as well called Outbook:
OutBook (Evening Meetings)
OutBook is supported by The Palm Springs Cultural Center, Just Fabulous Book Store and the Palm Springs Public Library. OutBook meets on the second floor of The Camelot Theatres (2300 East Baristo Road in Palm Springs) on the first Wednesday of the month at 6:30-8:00 p.m. Selections highlight a mix of new LGBTQ releases and influential classics. Click for titles and meeting dates for OutBook.

I so enjoy the Canyon Sands "All About Books" and I just have to walk across the street!  Deb is doing a great job of taking over from Kathy.

October All About Books – Fright Night

Ready for the DEATH of this endless summer heat? The chills of haunting season will soon be upon us! Reach into the darkest corner of your library for a modern thriller, a classic horror tale, or a cozy murder mystery, and be prepared to tell us what tingled your spine.

September All About Books

Last month we recounted our recent adventures with armchair travel:

• Karen Bourdaise and Diane Weist both visited France: Karen time-traveled with The Paris Wife, Paula McLain’s fictional bio of Ernest Hemingway’s first wife Hadley Richardson, and Diane dined in Provence with Michael Bond’s foodie detective Monsieur Pamplemousse
• First daughter Margaret Truman’s murder mysteries let Barbara Decker explore the landmarks of Washington D.C.
• Bonnie Ewing learned about the gayer side of Palm Springs with David Wallace’s A City Comes Out
• Steve Fanning sailed to the islands with James Michener’s epic, Hawaii
• Deb Hirsch meandered through Venice with Daphne Du Maurier’s thriller Don’t Look Now 

Future Discussion Topics

We’ve agreed on an intriguing list of book discussion topics this year:

Nov. – Fiction for Foodies (Thanksgiving)

Dec. – Sentimental Favorites (holiday season)

Jan. – Lives Well Led (inspirational biographies for the New Year)

Feb. – From the Page to Hollywood (Oscars)

Mar. – Women Writers (in honor of our founder, Kathy Hug, and the Long Beach Literary Women Festival)

Apr. – Laugh Out Loud (April Fools Day)

May – War Stories (Memorial Day)

Jun. – Kickin’ Back (summer reads)

I see the Friends of the College of the Desert bookclub has a format more like what our Canyon Sands Bookclub does. For anybody interested in starting a bookclub and perhaps have had not such great experiences with everyone reading the same book, this format works really well.

"The Book Group meets on the third Wednesday of the month (with three exceptions this season) October through May in the COD Library Quiet Study Room at 1:30 PM.
Categories are selected for each month, everyone reads a different book in that genre, then discusses."

October 17, 2018 -- Your favorite summer read

November  28, 2018 -- Children or Young Adult

December 19, 2018 -- Any book about a holiday

January 16, 2019 -- A book that has been banned

February 20, 2019 -- Any love story

March 27, 2019 -- A prize winning book

April 24, 2019 -- One author, different books

May 15, 2019  -- A book involving food

This is what the Rancho Mirage Library Bookclub is reading:

Hello Janice, 

Thank you for your interest in our book discussion group. We meet monthly in the conference room every second Friday of the month at 10 AM. It's a great group of people and you don't have to come to our monthly meetings. 

Here are the list of books:

October 12, 2018 - A Brief History of Everyone Who Ever Lived- Adam Rutherford 
November 9, 2018- A Gentleman in Moscow - Amor Towles 
December 7, 2018 - Slow Horses - Mick Herron 
January 11, 2019 - Being Mortal - Atul Gawande
February 8, 2019 - The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane - Lisa See 
March 8, 2019 - Lysistrata - Aristophanes 
April 12, 2019 - When Books Went to War - Molly Guptill Manning
May 10, 2019 - The Other Einstein - Marie Benedict 
June 14, 2019 Dead Wake: the Last Crossing of the Lusitania - Erik Larson

What an amazing sky tonight!

Avocado toast with Carol

It is getting to be a bit of a tradition!  Great to see Carol before we leave and I found lots of goodies at Stong's...a treat after the rather mundane offerings at Save-On.

I pointed this out to Carol and she bought it.  It's a "stewing hen" so will make a nice chicken stew I think. It was really quite large for $6.45...a good deal I would say.

We were curious about what this place is going to be. I found this info in Dunbar Life. Sounds like it will be an interesting browse. We guessed a toy store or possibly clothing...neither it seems.

"Ohhh my. I’m so intrigued. Opening October 22nd and featuring fine art, furnishings and select collectables. Can’t wait to have a peek! Located on Dunbar and 27th."

 I couldn't resist these orange tulips to go with my little pumpkin and to keep the cat company.

 The smoked pork loin looks excellent and I haven't seen a veal, pork, and beef meatloaf mix for ages.  I haven't made meatloaf for ages. I guess I'll have to look at a recipe.

A pound of large scallps for $20...a good deal.

I thought I'd give this a try. I was wondering if it would be strong enough for our tastes...it it!

I'm hoping this roast will work out. I haven't seen a roast at Save-On I thought would be any good or else way too big.

I just might be going that extra distance to Stong's.

Autumn leaves in West Point Grey

I do so love Autumn especially on lovely sunny days and even the rain is ok . Well, for a while. I'm sure we'll be looking forward to seeing sunshine, cacti, and palm trees.

And of course I had to pick up some chestnuts...being in a martini glass seems appropriate!

Itty Bitty Book Review: "Dead in the Water" or...

This first mystery novel of Iona Whishaw seems to go by both titles.  I really enjoyed this mystery by this local writer whose background is almost as interesting as the novel. Maureen introduced me to her and we will be attending a talk she is giving at Brock House Oct 18. I look forward to meeting her. She does just about everything right in this novel and her next one in the series has come up on hold at the library so will look forward to that one. I'm glad I took Maureen's advice in starting with the first one although usually I don't bother about just details being very random abstract:)

An article in The Courier:

Daily writing became easier after she became an administrator, first at Vancouver Technical secondary, then at Sir Charles Tupper and David Thompson.

The award-winning Vancouver principal launched a period detective mystery called Dead in the Water at David Thompson. She was encouraged to receive congratulations from internationally popular mystery writer Gail Bowen, who writes the Joanne Kibourn murder mysteries.

Whishaw, who graduated with a master’s degree in fine arts from UBC in creative writing in 1988, started writing Dead in the Water before she retired.

She’d rise at 5:30 a.m. and write 400 words while her brain was “fresh.”

Dead in the Water focuses on a 26-year-old British woman, Lane Winslow, recruited to be a spy in the Second World War from university at the age of 19 because she spoke multiple languages. She was dropped into France with weaponry, equipment and messages and suffered a tragic love affair. At the war’s end, she moves to a tiny community in B.C. to start a new life. And then a dead body appears in a creek near her home and she’s charged with murder.

“I absolutely love the [mystery] genre. I love it, love it, love it,” Whishaw said. “The late, great [crime writer] P.D. James said a good mystery has to be a good novel. I’ve never liked really gory mysteries, or penny dreadfuls.

But there are a lot of really wonderful writers who write excellent novels [where] the whole ethical and moral core is the mystery.”

Meeting James in Vancouver a decade ago motivated Whishaw to pursue her mystery novel-writing dreams.

“Almost from that moment, I thought dammit, I can do this,” said Whishaw, who was in her mid-50s at the time. “She started late.”

Aspects of Whishaw’s real life inspired facets of Dead in the Water.

Winslow’s strong, independent spirit was inspired by Whishaw’s mother, who spoke seven languages, completed four master’s degrees after Whishaw went to university and hitchhiked to Alaska when Whishaw was a child because she was sick of waiting for her husband to return from geology field trips. Lorna Addison Whishaw also told her daughter she’d briefly served as a spy during the war in South Africa where Whishaw’s father was a pilot for the RAF. Her mother’s father was a spy who died in 1943 in a German prison.

Whishaw started her career in education as a youth worker. She became an English teacher and then an administrator and says each role helped her craft well-rounded characters.

“Education is all about people,” she said. “When you’re in education, every single day you’re dealing with real people in every kind of situation, in joy, in tragedy, in fear.”

Whishaw published a children’s book Henry and the Cow Problem nearly 20 years ago, along with poetry, short stories and poetry translations. She spent much of her childhood in Mexico and speaks Spanish. Her education articles appeared in American publications before she self-published Dead in the Water with FriesenPress, which also publishes yearbooks. She was recognized as one of the top 40 principals in Canada in 2012 and won a YWCA Woman of Distinction award in 2010.

Whishaw advises writers to compose without hesitation.