Book Review: The Hunger Games

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

I read.  I read voraciously.  In the last two days I couldn't put this book down.  It is a young adult book, very easy to burn through, and gripping. I discovered it when I saw they were making a movie from the books (it's one in a series of three) and went to Amazon to check out the first few pages.  Then I got hooked.  At least it's not cocaine. 

Set in North America sometime after civilization as we know it has been wiped out, a new nation called Panem has arrisen.  This nation keeps its citizens in line through harsh tactics and a yearly festival called The Hunger Games.  In this celebration one girl and one boy from each of the nation's districts is chosen to fight to the death in a vast arena where only one can survive.  The sixteen-year-old heroine, Katniss, has an unbearable choice when her little sister gets chosen to fight.  Does she take her sister's place or let her sister go? Either way it is surely a death sentence for whoever goes.  And what about the other children chosen to go into the ring? 

The back of the book will tell you more than I am, but lets just say there were enough twists to keep me interested, even though it's young adult fiction.  The ending wasn't too surprising, but it is well worth the read. 

I love books...

Word of the Day: Miffed

Miffed:
  adjective

put into an irritable mood, especially by an offending incident

Definition courtesy of Dictionary.com.


I was miffed today by the fact that I didn't get to go work out because I had to get up early for my CPR/First Aid re-certification.  More than being miffed though I enjoyed the clouds today, my dogs, and the ability to go to the store and get organic fat-free milk, come home and have graham crackers dunked in said milk.  What a world to live in, where one can not only get a gallon of milk that easily, but a very specific "I'm-just-a-little-picky" kind of milk.  I apologize for probably sounding goody-two-shoes or gag-me grateful.  I'm trying to take fewer things for granted.  And I'm foisting it on you through my blog.  Woohoo! I hope this post didn't miff you. 

Have a good night... 

Welcome To The Jungle

Isn’t my girl Suka exotic and beautiful? Yes. I have cats. Two cats. I love them. I detest their litter box.

They were miffed I hadn’t really written about them yet.  I told them I was miffed they have decided after seven years of peaceful cohabitation that they now hate each other and that it scares me when they try and pull each others fur out and scratch each others eyes out all while howling as though they were being brutalized.  They said I needed to be more flexible.  I said “oh my goodness I’m talking to my cats again and they are answering back, I need to get more sleep.” 

Lets forget I started that conversation.  It makes me sound crazy. 

This is Suka in her most dignified position.  

 

She loves crawling under the covers and sleeping against my belly.  Her absolute favorite thing is when I curl up around her and she is the warm purring fluff-ball at the center of my world. The fur on her belly is the softest thing I've ever touched.

This is Porter.  He is large and not so in charge.  In fact he really busts the myth that cats are graceful wide open.  He falls off things.  Once a friend of mine was napping at my house and Porter almost broke my friend’s nose by falling on his face.  Good times.   I love him though.  He has asthma, just like me.  Every month we trek to the vet and he gets a shot for his breathing which makes him hungry.  This, he insists, is why he is a portly twenty pounds.  That means he weighs more than both my Little Girls put together. 

He just melts in your arms when you pick him up.  This boy is a lover, pure and simple.  Every time we go to the vet for his shot the vet and her techs come in and rub his belly and he purrs and purrs through the whole thing.  They always tell me they wish all cats were like him.  They'd need a lot less band aids. 

I love my cats.  Even if I am allergic to them, they now hate each other and wake me up by screaming at each other in the middle of the night, and they track kitty litter everywhere... they are still my cats.    

Some things are just worth the trouble...

Word of the Day: Hiemel

Hiemel:
  adjective

of or pertaining to winter; wintry.

Definition courtesy of Dictionary.com.


The hiemel  weather is gone.  Tucson has come into its warm days, cool nights season.  One of my favorite times here.  Then again, everything but the coldest days here are my favorite times here.  I love Tucson, warts and all. 

I think about Tucson a lot.  It's an imperfect town.  We are fiftieth in the nation for mental health care for people.  Don't do much better in education.  And yet, where there is most need, theoretically, there is the most ability to help.  Right?  Goodness I sound rather blindly optimistic.

Last night I was talking with some people about the scam artist's in mental health system.  The people who go to the hospital too much, or use the hospital as a homeless shelter of sorts, or milk social security.  We got onto the topic of cuts to benefits though and I found myself saying something about how I would rather support the scam artist's than let one honest person go hungry.

Then we got into philosophy mind games:  "If there was one person who was honest and nine scam artist's would you still feel this way?  What if there was one person who was honest and fifty scam artist's?  How many scam artist's would it take for you to feel the system is broken?"

The answer?  I don't know.  I have faces to go with both sides.  I work with scam artists who make my blood boil.  I work with little old ladies who fall through the floors on their rotting trailers.  My desire to stick it to the scam artists is just as strong as my urge to protect and help the little old ladies. 

Ugh.  It makes my brain hurt.  I'm going to go make pancakes... nothing like the ostrich approach to a difficult question...

 

...mmm, pancakes are yummy.

Orchid Miracle

So I love Orchids.  I find them exotic and alluring.  I keep one in my kitchen that is a ravishing purple and white.  It makes me feel like I’m cooking in some lovely foreign place.  Well, it probably would if I cooked.  The night I made cookies I felt exotic and lovely. Okay, so sometimes I feel a little less like a harried Master’s student when I’m microwaving my dinner.  That's more accurate.

I found a little miracle the other day.  The Orchid from last year that I thought I killed…

 

… has sent out a shoot and is popping out another.  

I just heard on NPR a few days ago too that this is the best time to replant them, so I am going to replant this beauty and see what happens.  I actually replanted my purple and white orchid when it wasn’t growing and I’m afraid I hurt it because the flowers are already wilting and it’s barely been any time.  But look!  This one is growing!  Made my day. 

Things I Learned Today

1.)  Apparently my dogs don't eat when I am not home.  This morning was rushed.  I fed them, left them to go to a meeting, came back to let them out to potty, left again.  Didn't check the food bowls.  Got home. All three food bowls are untouched.  Within five minutes of me being home everybody, including me, was chowing down.  The way my dogs eat you'd think it was a speed sport and I'm always home over their meal times so I was shocked that they didn't inhale their food with or without me. 

2.)  In case you were worried I was chowing down on dog food here is the second thing I learned today.  I can make a pretty good pineapple smoothie.  

                            1C. Kefir

                            6 to 8 ice cubes

                            6 chunks fresh pineapple

                            Blend until smooth. YUM! 

3.) Even though my entire job is working with people who have tried to kill themselves, are threatening to kill themselves, hearing voices and a danger to themselves, doing drugs and a danger to themselves, or threatening someone else…yes, even though my entire job is working with these people, I actually rarely see someone who I really believe is going to hurt themselves or someone else.  Today I learned that it still really scares me when I do see someone who I think is going to do hurt themselves or someone else.  Good to know.    

4.)  I really, really like Graham Crackers dipped in milk even though as a child I would scoff at my Dad whenever he suggested I eat them as a healthy alternative to cookies.  

5.)  Making numbered lists in my blog is harder than I expected. 

6.) My coworkers think about me when they see animals in need.  

This is how horribly skinny Ket was when I found her.  

 This is Ravi, a super cute kitten I fostered a while ago.  

Now back to my list.  Where was I?  Oh yes...

6.) My coworkers think about me when they see animals in need.  

7.)  Or when they see a cute guy.

8.)  And especially when they see a cute guy helping an animal in need.  

When I got into the office today my one coworker said “Oooh!  I thought of you today.  I saw two dogs running around near traffic and was trying to figure out how to turn around and get to the other side of the street to help them when I got distracted by a really cute guy walking down the sidewalk.  Then he stopped to help the dogs and I thought I’d found the perfect guy for you.  Since my front window doesn’t roll down I didn’t get to shout your phone number to him as I rolled past, but….”  

Nice to know my coworkers seriously consider giving my number to random strangers...hmm…