Beccy's Octoberread

Sort of like Octoberfest. It counts as a fest when you have lots to read.
Welcome Samantha! I am loving this. It's great to stay in touch, but even more fun when you have a topic besides-"how are ya?"

Mim, Rae: What ever happened to our copy of Tales of Brer Rabbit?! Does Jon have it? Sam, did you ever see it/read from it as a kid? I can't imagine any of us ever getting rid of it. Maybe Jody has it?

Tonight Troy and I went to Borders for our date and I finally made use of my birthday gift card (Thanks Rae)! We topped the evening off with Baskin Robbins, which made me think of Grandpa. Whenever Mom would take Gpa and me (and/or Rae and Matt) with her to run errands, the car would inevitably and inexplicably turn into the B&R parking lot. They would always marvel at this strange phenomenon . . . I was telling Troy how Grandpa almost always got pralines and cream or black walnut, and Mom always got burnt almond fudge. I usually had mint chocolate chip which is how Troy recognized me in our earliest years as his true soulmate--but I digress. (Let no spirit of "disgression" overcome you in the evil hour . . . :)

In the past 48 hours I have planted 155 tulip bulbs, watched 5 episodes of The Upside Down Show and sewed a leprechaun costume (for myself, no less) so I'm feeling a little punchy tonight.

Anyway, I bought 3 books tonight (it was a generous gift card): Stradivari's Genius, and The Art of Practicing and The Complete Book of Running for Women. One of them will not be my October blog-book. :) I guess the titles are pretty self-explanatory, but Stradivari's Genius is unusual. The author (Toby Faber) traces the stories of six of the remaining (some 600 in the world) original Stradivarius instruments (5 violins and 1 cello) and their creator. When I visited Mom on Friday, she asked me if I had named my violin reminding me that Stradivari's violins each had a name. This was an intriguing thought to me and I was wondering what their names were and how they got them. The paragraph on the back of the book piqued my interest with: "Blending history, biography, meticulous detective work, and an abiding passion for music, Faber takes us from the salons of Vienna to the concert halls of New York . . ." I read most of a chapter and was hooked. There are cool photos and illustrations, too.

When I showed Troy the titles, he quoted Inigo Montoya's question to the Man in Black, saying, "Who arrrre you?!" I can happily justify my new interests by remembering Mom's tendency to do the same when were kids--to pick up something completely new and throw herself into it. Ten years ago, if someone had told me that I'd be living in PG, own a violin and love running when I was 40, I would have laughed. Never say never, I guess.

Happy Octoberreading to you all--
love, Beccy