FALL COLORS

How can anyone not fall in love with Fall?  The colors are so vibrant and every single day the view changes.  My favorite tree in our neighborhood (for Fall color) happens to be right next to my house. It turns a rich, red color and when the sun hits it just right, I can't help but take a moment to just stop and stare and appreciate the beauty of nature.  It doesn't cost a thing to be totally entertained......

I post this view of the tree from my Powder Room window for a few of my high school friends who now live in the South and really miss this glorious time of year.  

Four of us will soon be meeting in ASHEVILLE, NC for a few days to enjoy the breathtaking views from the BLUE RIDGE PARKWAY through the APPALACHIAN HIGHLANDS around Asheville. Naturally we'll drive only a portion of this 469 mile scenic road, but certainly enough of it for the Girls to "get their fix".

On the first morning Liz and I will wander around the RIVER ARTS DISTRICT, filled with artists actively painting, sculpting, glass-blowing, etc., while the other 2 "hike and bike". Asheville is not only an "artsy" town, but is also known for many wonderful restaurants. During a trip to Rome, Italy last year I took a "Walking Food Tour" in the Trastevere section and it actually turned out to be one of the highlights of our trip - not only for the tastings, but also for the historic and architectural tidbits our Guide shared. So, our first afternoon in Asheville we're taking a WALKING FOOD TOUR to sample the tastes of the town while learning a little something. Rumor has it there will be a Chocolate Tasting, but if not, you can bet the 4 of us will find one on our own. 

Marjie chose what looks to be a wonderful Bed & Breakfast - RED ROCKER INN - in a quaint town nearby called BLACK MOUNTAIN. Doesn't the B&B name sound inviting? A future post will have to include at least one photo of their breakfast, right?!    :)

Stay tuned for more FALL.........

Joan

I WAS SENT TO BOARDING SCHOOL and BOOK REVIEW - "THE YONAHLOSSEE RIDING CAMP FOR GIRLS"

In 1968 (age 16 - my 11th grade year), I was sent off to a Girl's Boarding School about an hour from home. And yeah, I defiantly put a blonde streak in my hair with bleach and pierced my ears within days (maybe it was hours??) of arriving!!

In the middle of the school year I told my mother that she needed to find me a co-ed school or I'd run away from home. Not only was I stunned to regularly walk in on girls making out with each other (at the time I had no idea this ever happened), but I was particularly disturbed by a teacher who was walking me down the hall with her arm around me (that wasn't the bad part), and she then moved her arm down my back and her hand landed on my butt. OH NO YOU DON'T!! 

Prior to that she had never bothered me. In fact, I was her star student in Algebra class, consistently scoring over 100% on my tests (thank you for the bonus questions). I had always been careful to lengthen my skirt as much as possible before entering her classroom, because we all had witnessed her inappropriately "feeling" our classmates' "crotches" when she measured with a yardstick, the length of their skirts from the crotch to the knees. Skirts had to be 3/4 long as you can see from me kneeling, far right. 

Gotta love my sourpuss face, PLUS I obviously "didn't get the memo to wear black and white" that day.

GLEE CLUB

 

I can't believe how skinny I was (standing, 3rd from the right). Gotta love age 16!!

 JV FIELD HOCKEY

Anyway, I share with you that I had a Boarding School experience (highlighting some of the "dirt" to get your interest to read more......) because I just finished reading "THE YONAHLOSSEE RIDING CAMP FOR GIRLS" by Anton Disclafani, set in rural Asheville, NC in the 1930's during the Great Depression. Also "a boy" involved - the main character, Thea was sent away from home to a "Girl's Summer Riding Camp" that served as a private boarding school during the year.

I can SO relate to the feelings Thea had about:

• being "sent away"
• immediately sizing up who was in "the in-crowd"
• high school girl jealousies
• craving independence
• the need to get away - for freedom
• feeling so grownup
• having strong sexual desires
• feeling unloved and misunderstood by her parents
• retaining guilt for past actions
• sleeping together in a large dorm room together
• wandering around after "lights out"
• the importance of receiving a letter from home
• realizing that some girls come from "big money"
• misreading and misunderstanding the actions of others

I enjoyed this book and it reads very quickly. I'm anxiously waiting for our "Book Club" discussion next month to hear if those who didn't have a boarding school experience, or who didn't go to college away from home had the same sense of intimacy with this story as I had.

Joan

THE IMPORTANCE OF SLEEP

I'm a sponge for knowledge and hope that this topic interests you enough that you'll listen to this short, 12-minute "TED TALK" video to learn some technical reasons for getting a good night's sleep. FASCINATING!! In fact, it shares the thought that SLEEP might be one of the solutions for the prevention of Alzheimer's Disease as the brain uses SLEEP TIME to clear itself of the proteins linked to Alzheimer's.  Imagine that!!

JEFF ILIFF - "ONE MORE REASON TO GET A GOOD NIGHT'S SLEEP"

• The brain never rests
• Sleep refreshes and clears the mind
• Every cell in the body produces waste and has to get rid of it
• The body uses the lymphatic system to clear the body of its "waste"
• However, the lymphatic system does NOT reach the brain
• The brain uses the cerebral spinal fluid to dump its "waste"
• This system operates ONLY when the brain is asleep
• Sleep may be critical for preventing and treating diseases of tomorrow

I love a good night's sleep - and am one of the fortunate ones who has no trouble getting to sleep. Often I am asleep within MINUTES of my head hitting the pillow. I believe it's because I've programmed myself to know that when I get into bed, "it's time to sleep" - so much so, that I can't read in bed because I fall asleep.  It's a great habit actually....... 


Joan

BOOK - "THE SECRET HISTORY" by DONNA TARTT

Happily enjoying my "retirement", the extra time allows me to be a member of 3 Book Clubs, one of which I host in my home monthly - 5 girls from High School (we graduated almost 45 years ago!!), 2 from my National Sorority Alumni Group (both are younger and bring a fresh viewpoint) and one good friend I worked with for over 25 years (who is 8 years older). I love that we span "generations" for our "intellectual discussions". It really adds so much perspective. 

Ok, so maybe the wine helps too........

Last month we read "THE GOLDFINCH" by Donna Tartt and we ALL REALLY loved it (afterall, the book IS a PULITZER PRIZE WINNER!!). I would have to say it's now one of my favorite books of all time - her writing style is truly remarkable. 

We unanimously decided our next book should be "THE SECRET HISTORY" (1992), Donna Tartt's first of 3 published books. She started writing it when she was a student at Bennington College in Vermont (studying the Classics), publishing it when she was only 28 years old (with a $450,000 advance). Incredible!!

                     

At first I just "liked" "THE SECRET HISTORY" - didn't "love" it and was giving it a "7 out of 10". But after our discussion last night and my thinking and reading more about it, I'm becoming even more intrigued with the story and would move that to an "8 out of 10".  I do LOVE her writing style. I marvel at her ability to draw you into the story, as if you are right there with the characters - all of whom were extremely well developed by the way. Her vocabulary is perfect - not over my head and not trite.

I found it kind of unbelievable however, that these college kids would get trashed for an ancient "ritual", would brutally kill an innocent bystander and would not think much of it, except for the fear of getting caught. They then turn around and push their friend off a cliff without serious remorse. How could (5) young people be that deranged together? It disturbed me. Interestingly, MANY 15-year-old students were reading the book when it was first published and it became almost a cult classic.

One of the Book Clubbers mentioned that she'd like to read it again, feeling that she might gain more from it the second-time-around. At that moment I didn't agree, but when I woke this morning I changed my mind.

Every one of us came away from "THE SECRET HISTORY" wanting to know more about the author, and why she wrote two books that are "on the dark side". Petite Donna Tartt, 50 yrs old, continues to live a very private life.  Just look at how stunning she is!  

I found an interview with Donna written by a friend of hers from Bennington College. Would you enjoy listening to an interview with Donna Tartt about this novel on the BBC? I loved it because it's nice to put a voice/energy with the face, isn't it? 

What follows are a few brief comments about "THE SECRET HISTORY" from members of this and another monthly Book Club that I attend at WELLINGTON SQUARE BOOKSHOP in Exton, PA.  I highly recommend this Bookshop AND their Book Clubs!!

• KAREN - "The Secret History is a very well-written book that is easy to read, yet complex enough to be interesting.  Donna Tartt uses such detailed descriptions of events and characters that they become real and vivid.  I felt immersed in the story and I felt that I knew the characters as real individuals. The story line was dark, disturbing, and almost without a ray of hope.  Yet, I feel that it was all believable, and I was intrigued enough to want to know more."

• MARY ANN - "I love the way she has such a wonderful command of the English language. The storyline kept my interest from the very first page."

• JOELLEN - "Character (Protagonist) seems to place himself in an untenable position, similar to protagonist in The Goldfinch.  Sleeping in a barn with a hole in the roof/almost dying as character in Goldfinch does with the drugs. Does not have a relationship with his family (this too parallels Goldfinch) however does have opportunities to be with people who appear to not live such dysfunctional lives, but chooses not to go there. Book however, keeps me very interested and not wanting to put it down. I appreciate her writing style and though at times the scenarios are frustrating they keep me interested." 

• KERRI - "I really enjoyed it.  It is dark and disturbing like The Goldfinch but I found myself not able to put it down."

• DONNA - "I thought it was interesting and I wanted to stay with it and see what happened.  I was impressed with how she wove in information on Greek literature, etc. (it made me think she was really smart!).  But overall, I didn't Love it.  I feel like her characters need to be taught a lesson and she never teaches them a lesson.

• JUDY - "I, too, found the characters to be morally bankrupt and had a really hard time relating. The whole crew just seemed too contrived. Love her writing, she puts things together so seamlessly but her characters leave me cold."

• LISA - "I gave this an eight out of ten because the writing was so good and the story kept me intrigued. That being said, I did think the whole thing was a little far fetched. Even if one could believe that the group of friends could kill and be so cavalier about it, I doubt they would all be on board to kill one of their own so easily. I also doubt that their teacher would keep their secret. I would read anything by this author because she writes so well, but I would not read this book again."

Joan

I CAN'T STAND CROOKS!!

After some quality time with my sister this weekend, at her urging, I spent the morning adding additional SignIn Security to my GMAIL account, my AOL account (yes I still have an AOL account for "nonsense items"), FACEBOOK, iCloud, CHASE VISA, etc etc.  And after watching a piece about increasing Internet Security Scams on 60 MINUTES last night, her advice was immediately reinforced.

It took me some time to log in, add 2-Step Verification for LogIn Security, improve my PASSWORD, log out, log back in again with my new Password for each website AND then to also log in with new Passwords on my iPhone and iPad. But I'm so glad that I did it all.  

Because GUESS WHAT?!!!!

This afternoon my STARBUCKS card was compromised.  My STARBUCKS card?  Are you kidding me? Who would want to compromise a STARBUCKS card?

Here's what happened.  I received a suspicious email from STARBUCKS this afternoon (I don't trust ANY vendor emails any more).  It was an EXACT COPY of a normal STARBUCKS email with all of the correct information on it . Even when hovering my trusty Mouse over the potentially COMPROMISED LINKS in that email, it showed that if I clicked on any, they were going to take me to a STARBUCKS website location. NOPE. Not so fast....... Hackers know how to make it LOOK like it will take you directly to the Vendor's' website, but it would really be directed elsewhere - not so friendly.

The CROOKS created a new Starbucks account in my name using a fake email address (cleverly using my name - j.kistler@aol.com - which is NOT one of my email addresses). Needless to say, Starbucks deleted and put a Starbucks ALERT on that email address in case the CROOKS try to use it again.

After the CROOKS created the account, they rather quickly deleted it, which the Starbucks guy thought was weird. But as I've heard, CROOKS do that just to see if it's an active account, which they confirm and then come back to it later from another angle.

Well, when you think about it, my credit card information is stored in my account, for the convenience of allowing Starbucks to automatically add money to my iPhone app/account when my balance gets too low...... Doesn't everyone enjoy just pulling up to the Drive-thru, taking out your iPhone, opening up the app and letting the cashier scan it?  FAST.  EASY.  Not so secure.........  BUT MINE IS NOW!!!

Oh, and the best part of the story.......... 

The credit card on my account WAS EXPIRED!! 

HAHAHAHAHA!!!!!.  I got a really good laugh at that one.

And you ask me "What did I do with my day today"?!

Joan

THESE DREADED STINK BUGS!!!

STINK BUGS!!  These dreaded STINK BUGS!!  They really do get on my nerves.  

Where do they all come from?  I know, I know, CHINA.  But I mean why are they still here?   And why are they all over the back of MY house??  I leave the deck door open for only a little bit - Autumn fresh air and all that - and now they're skittering across the walls INSIDE the house.  YUK   EWWWW   YUK

So, I'll solve this problem......

I feel like a complete idiot, talking to myself (and Willow) as I pick up my broom and try to gently urge them off of my wall and back outside.  ZEN.  Don't kill anything.  Bugs deserve to live too, right?  

Did I tell you about the time last year when I caught one (after fighting with the herd for several weeks) and I promptly threw him/her/it into the garbage disposal and turned it on?!  HAVE THAT!  

Oh my..... WHAT IS THAT SMELL?   And it lingered......

So, back to the HUNT with ZEN in my heart........

But some STINK BUGS just don't want to leave - they take off in flight back into the house, I start swinging the broom over my head, trying to bat them out of the house - as if I had ANY batting skill - most of the time to no avail (I never would have made a good lacrosse player either).  Can you just picture this??

And just as I put the broom down, job done and "dust off my hands" after a successful "hunt", THERE'S ANOTHER ONE!!

ARGH..............

Joan