Detroit Diva

I've been reading a lot of mysteries lately and in particular, ones written in other languages and translated into English.  It's interesting that after you've read a few translations, you start to tell the good translators from the not so good.  Norwegian Karin Fossum's books are excellent and except for the fact that they're set in Norway, you would never know that they weren't originally written in English.  Swede Hakan Nesser's book,  Borkmann's Point, had some very weird phrasing (and not the phrasing of a non-native English speaker) and Asa Nonami's Tokyo mystery, The Hunter, has a Japanese detective who talks like he's channeling a 1950's detective or Humphrey Bogart. The other characters use slang that American kids would use like "gangsta" or "yo dog".  What? I've never been to Japan so maybe they actually speak that way but somehow I doubt that Konichiwa translates to "yo dog".  I read books set in other countries and written by non-Americans because I'm interested in other cultures and even if it's a translation, I still want to get a sense of place and culture.  I don't want an americanized version.  The world's been americanized enough - and maybe that's the problem.  Maybe the author is truly representing the place and culture of their country because "yo dog" and Starbucks have replaced the unique aspects of other parts of the world.  God, I hope not.  So, I don't know  - bad translations, bad writers, who knows.  If you want some good mysteries, try Andrea Camilleri's Inspector Monalbano series, Henning Mankell's Kurt Wallander, and of course, Karin Fossum.

I only have a need for a kitchen timer about once every 2 weeks when I hard boil eggs.  I like them at exactly 7 minutes, btw.   But this is so darn cute - I'd use it even if I wasn't timing anything.  You can get it at fredflare.com.

Where do crazy, attempted murdering, stalker, astronauts go when they get fired by NASA? Jail? No, apparently they go work for the Navy.  I guess the Navy has a less strenuous psych test or maybe there's just less love triangle potential.

No More War

Today is the 4th Anniversary of the start of the Iraq War.  That makes me very sad. The idiot in the White House asked for "more time" and "patience".   From "Mission Accomplished" to "More Time".    3021 troops dead, 2884 of those killed since May 1, 2003 - when the end of major combat was declared.   An estimated 54,000 Iraqis have been killed.   I think President Dumbass has  had plenty of time and the American people, including me, are  out of patience.  Bring our Troops home NOW!

Happy
St. Patrick's
Day!

Ann in Confused Land

Amazon recommended this book to me today,  Alice in Quantumland.  While I appreciate that Amazon thinks I'm smart enough to read a book on quantum physics, there is absolutely nothing in my buying patterns that would indicate that I would be interested in a book like this one.  My God, I can barely wrap my head around simple arithmatic - but quantum physics?  Hell, I can barely pronounce it.  For a kick, read the reviews  - actual physicists are torn between whimsical and boring. Yeah, hmmm, math hurts my brain.  I just realized that physics isn't even math. I think I'm getting it confused with triginometry. Oh well, science hurts my brain, too.

I have this magnet on my fridge that says "Do one thing everyday that scares you".  I've had this magnet on my fridge for about 2 years and during that time, I've maybe done one thing that scares me.  I did it today.  Actually, I did it last Saturday night - I went to a party by myself, where I knew one person, the hostess.  Now for most people this is not scary but, for me, it's scary. I get anxious and start to worry that people won't like me and will think I'm some kind of circus freak.  Believe it or not, not one person told me I was some kind of circus freak. Astonishing.  Anyway, there was a guy at the party who I thought was cute and seemed nice.  Today, I e-mailed the hostess and asked her what his story is.  Now I'm nervous. I don't fear men - I just fear being rejected by them and pretty much everybody else.  Yes, my therapist and I have a lot to talk about.   So, I’ve thrown it out to the universe and we’ll see what happens.  Hopefully it won’t come back to me in the form of a giant meteorite.  What did you do today that scared you – go skydiving, stick your head in a lion’s mouth, enter a war zone?  Small fish, people, small fish.

I watched the movie The Departed last night.  This was the movie that won the Oscar for Best Movie and an Oscar, finally, for Martin Scorcese.  It's a long movie - over 2 and a half hours long but it moves along and it's worth it for the last 30 minutes which held more surprises in a movie than I've seen in a long time.  I was shocked by how some of it played out.  Jack Nicholson and Leonardo DiCaprio are always good and Mark Wahlberg was exceptional.  I'm always surprised at how good he is - probably because I always picture him in the Good Vibrations video.  Yep, we're all going to have that going through our heads for the rest of the day, now aren't we.  Hey, it's better than ice, ice, baby.  You can thank me later.

Our book group just finished reading The Book Thief by Markus Zusak.  I loved this book - it's the story of Liesel Meminger, a young girl who lives outside Munich, Germany, during World War II, and the power of books and words.  The story is narrated by Death.  Death and WWII.  Not a happy tale.  Get yourself a box of tissue and this book.  I don't think you'll regret it.

U2's album, Joshua Tree, turns 20 today.  Wow, I'm feeling really old right now. The first U2 album I ever bought was October, which was their second album.  And, yes, I bought it when it was first released, in freaking 1981.  I was 19 - you do the math.  Let me just say that 26! years later, I still love U2. Love them (and reaaaallly love Adam Clayton. *sigh*).