Alternate endings to classic literature

In the past week alone, I've gotten over a dozen hits on searches for "alternate ending" and a book title. The majority have been searches for Romeo and Juliet, but I've also seen The Grapes of Wrath, 1984, Catcher in the Rye, and Great Expectations.

I was a little confused the first time I saw one of these searches. Since then, DsD clued me in to the fact that apparently some English teachers will assign "write an alternate ending to [title]" as a paper topic. And judging from the fact that many of these hits seem to be from schools, I suspect she's right. Which would mean that many of the people searching are likely trying to cheat.

So I offer the following public service announcement to those who are searching for already-written alternate endings:
Write your own darn paper!
You're not doing yourself or anyone else any favors by stealing someone else's work!

Besides, who knows what creativity may result if people just take time to rub two of their own brain cells together...

Bibliophilia

Tagged again, this time by Suz! Ah, books, my addiction!

1)Total number of books I’ve owned:
Easily in the thousands! At one point I bought a large lot (over 300) from a going-out-of-business used bookstore for $50. Most of those were eventually donated to a booksale fundraiser at church, but I did own them for a while. And if I had to guess, I would say that there are between 1000-1500 books currently in my house.

2) The last book I bought:
Good question. We did a large amazon order that included DH's textbooks, and pieces of that order have been trickling in over the past few weeks, but I think the last book I actually went into a store and bought was C.S. Lewis' Space Trilogy.

3) The last book I read:
I'm assuming the question means "read for myself", as opposed to picturebooks read to DD. I can't remember what I most recently read to her.
Finished: Perelandra, C.S. Lewis
In progress: That Hideous Strength, C.S. Lewis
Actually, things have been busy and I haven't read in a month or so, so I may need to restart That Hideous Strength!

4) 5 books that mean a lot to me
These are books that have impacted my life or my thinking in some manner - this doesn't necessarily mean they're my favorites, but neither does it mean they aren't.
The Sunne in Splendour, Sharon Kay Penman -I read this not long after DH and I married, and it got me interested in medieval history.
The Lord of the Rings, J.R.R. Tolkien - The quintessential fantasy masterpiece
The Last Battle, C.S.Lewis - Indeed the whole Narnia series, but this one keeps coming back to my mind the most.
The Bible
The Prydain Chronicles, Lloyd Alexander - I read these in elementary school, and they spurred a lifelong love of fantasy and Celtic mythology. Were it not for these, I may well never have picked up Tolkien.

5) Tag 5 people and have them fill this out on their blogs:
Ah, the challenge of finding 5 folks who haven't filled this out already! Let's go with a global approach:
Gosia (continental Europe), Darla (USA), Kiwi Jo (US by way of NZ), Shannon (Canada), and Natty from the UK this time.

Where's a house-elf when you need one??

It's been rather a whirlwind week! DsD is graduating high school this weekend, and there will be a small influx of friends and relatives. Which, of course, necessitates that my house be somewhat presentable. That, and that my cablemodem has been rather non-cooperative the past few days, so I feel a bit of catch-up is necessary.

Thursday I had carpet cleaners come in - that took a while. The house does look rather cleaner for it, though. Friday we had a mattress delivered for our guest room, and we also had an estimate on replacing the fence that got taken out by Frances. Ouch - the fence will cost nearly as much as our hurricane shutters! But other than that, and patching a few shingles, and we'll be back to pre-hurricane conditions!

Saturday was DD's birthday party at a local pizzeria/arcade - she had a joint party with her bestest friend, and from the comments I got from other parents, it was a rousing success! We opted not to open presents at the party, since there would be a few guests there for one child but not the other, and at this age the guests only care about their own presents being opened. So we brought home a huge 30-gallon garbage bag full of wrapped presents, and I was wondering how I'd ever be able to find places for DD to put them all away! As it turned out, once the packaging was removed, the bulk of the presents fit into a small (3 gal) storage bin. (I'm not sure whether to be pleased or appalled by the fact that most of the volume was taken up with disposable packaging). Being a small girl, there were the usual run of princess, purse/jewelry, and makeup presents. DD got a couple of Barbie items. I really don't care for Barbie things myself, but I find I certainly prefer them to Bratz. At least Barbies just have a bunch of different outfits and the occasional professional accessories. The only profession Bratz seem suited for is the world's oldest one! But anyway, DD is happy, the toys are pretty well stowed away, and a good time was had by all.

DsS came over Saturday for DD's party, and stayed over to Sunday. We played a full game of 4-player Britannia with gaming buddy J, and the day was capped by an episode of Conquerors on William of Normandy on the History Channel. How appropriate, given that we'd spent the day replaying the history of Britain.

Monday was most excellent from a stitching perspective. A new Secret Stitcher round has started, and I got several packages in the mail. From my new Secret Stitcher, I got some nice overdyed floss, some nummy British chocolate, and Passione Ricamo's "Once Upon A Time" and associated specialty fibers and beads! What an amazing opening gift. And from some unknown benefactor (who was not my SS - I asked), I got the Just CrossStitch Christmas Ornaments 2003 issue, some Piecemaker needles, and a nice opalescent hand-dyed fabric. Very lovely.

So that's been my week in review. Things will probably still be rather hectic the rest of the week in preparation for graduation.

On a side note, there have been a few changes in interstate wine shipments, which will be helpful to a budding wine snob like me! Wine is an integral part of many cultures, and it would be a shame to miss out on this aspect. One nice domestic vineyard DH discovered on a trip to San Diego is Orfila Vineyards. They have an excellent port, among other offerings. I've just tried a Gewürtztraminer from them. Fruity with a slight effervescence, and in my opinion would make a superior replacement to champagne for holiday sipping. I haven't tried a wine from Orfila I didn't like, so I certainly recommend them!

Anyway, such is the abridged version of my life this past week. If you know of any unemployed house-elves, send them my way!

Alternate careers?

I've been tagged! Thanks, Shannon and Nicole...I think! My apologies for being slow to pass it on - my cablemodem was being decidedly stubborn this weekend.

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Pick five things from the following list, and then complete the sentence, and then go on and tag another 3 people.
The List

If I could be a scientist . . .
If I could be a farmer . . .
If I could be a musician . . .
If I could be a doctor . . .
If I could be a painter . . .
If I could be a gardener . . .
If I could be a missionary . . .
If I could be a chef . . .
If I could be an architect . . .
If I could be a linguist . . .
If I could be a psychologist . . .
If I could be a librarian . . .
If I could be an athlete . . .
If I could be a lawyer . . .
If I could be an inn-keeper . . .
If I could be a professor . . .
If I could be a writer . . .
If I could be a llama-rider . . .
If I could be a bonnie pirate . . .
If I could be an astronaut . . .
If I could be a world famous blogger . . .
If I could be a justice on any one court in the world . . .
If I could be married to any current famous political figure . .

Decisions, decisions...just for the sake of daydreaming, I'm also assuming I'd have unlimited capital...

If I could be a gardener... I'd have a walled-in garden for a private retreat, with a rainbow of roses along the walls, violets scattered in the grass near the roses, and a circular garden of herbs with stepping stones leading to a small bench in the center. I'd have a few azaleas and flowering trees such as dogwoods and lilacs to provide shade as needed. And I'd have a small spring or fountain somewhere.
If I could be an architect... I'd get myself the ruins of a small castle in Wales, and restore it. Refitting it for modern conveniences like electricity and indoor plumbing, of course, but otherwise trying to maintain as much of the original feel as possible.
If I could be a linguist... I'd learn all of the Celtic languages, even the lesser-known ones, and try to learn as much of the associated cultural heritage as I can. And if I have time I'd also want to learn as many European languages as possible.
If I could be a writer... I'd want to be commissioned to write travel guides/journals for the UK and continental Europe. Then I could get paid to travel and see all the castles and cathedrals I want!
If I could be a librarian... I'd have a small private library full of good books, comfy chairs, and a small table with tea and coffee service.

Now for the hard part - finding three people who haven't already been tagged! Let's see...how about Tammy, Haze, and Cathy. And I'll add my DH for good measure - even after 15 years I'm sure I can learn something new!

Words....words.... Words!

Cwsg yw bywyd heb lyfrau.- Welsh proverb
(Translation: Boring is life without books.)

I've been an avid reader ever since I first learned the skill. I'm pretty eclectic in my tastes - about the only things I'll give a general pass are certain types of nonfiction and pulp romance. Everything else is fair game.

To my delight, there's a book meme floating around, and it seemed rather suitable. Thanks to Darla for this gem!

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Bold the books on this list that you have read, then add 3 more books on the end that you have read that are not already on the list.
For space considerations, I've just included the top 25. My comprehensive list can be found here.

1.The Lord of the Rings, JRR Tolkien
2. Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen
3. His Dark Materials, Philip Pullman
4. The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, Douglas Adams
5. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, JK Rowling
6. To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee
7. Winnie the Pooh, AA Milne
8. 1984, George Orwell
9. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, CS Lewis
10. Jane Eyre, Charlotte Bronte
11. Catch-22, Joseph Heller
12. Wuthering Heights, Emily Bronte
13. Birdsong, Sebastian Faulks
14. Rebecca, Daphne du Maurier
15. The Catcher in the Rye, JD Salinger
16. The Wind in the Willows, Kenneth Grahame
17. Great Expectations, Charles Dickens
18. Little Women, Louisa May Alcott
19. Captain Corellis Mandolin, Louis de Bernieres
20. War and Peace, Leo Tolstoy
21. Gone with the Wind, Margaret Mitchell
22. Harry Potter And The Sorcerers Stone, JK Rowling
23. Harry Potter And The Chamber Of Secrets, JK Rowling
24. Harry Potter And The Prisoner Of Azkaban, JK Rowling
25. The Hobbit, JRR Tolkien

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Looking at the list:
Some, such as The Catcher in the Rye and 1984, were read for school assignments, years ago. I read others,such as Jane Eyre or Crime and Punishment, because I got interested in an author or genre thanks to school assignments.
Some on the list, I read when I was younger but wouldn't read nowadays, like Mercedes Lackey or Robert Jordan, because my tastes have changed or I got fed up with the author. And some of the books on the list I have no desire at all to read.
I see several that I haven't read but want to eventually, like Pillars of the Earth and Phantom of the Opera
All of Tolkien's offerings, I've read multiple times, and will likely read multiple more times.
And yes, I honestly have read War and Peace, about 8 years ago. Having a DH who's a history buff that knows a fair bit about the Napoleonic era, I could actually follow most of the war parts....

Perspective...

Sometimes when things seem overwhelming, it helps to put things in perspective.

I've been a bit stressed about all the housework that needs to be done over the next week. But then a northern friend clued me in to a house that's far, far worse...

DH has said that if our house ever gets anywhere close to that, he'll have me committed. He is, of course, assuming that I wouldn't have already had myself committed. That much stuff would drive me crazy!

Well, more crazy than I arguably already am....

The circle of life

This weekend addressed both ends of the path of life..

Saturday morning, we attended a funeral. The mother of DH and I's RCIA sponsors (who are brothers) passed away the day before her youngest grandchild's First Communion last week. DH was asked to cantor the Mass, but we would likely have attended even if he wasn't singing, because the brothers are family friends. I had never met the mother (or if I did, it was only in passing), but I got a little emotional. This was the fourth funeral I've attended within my memory, and only one of those was for family (my maternal grandmother back in '90). They never really get easier, especially since I have an unconscious tendency to reflect the emotions of those around me.

Sunday was, of course, Mother's Day, which takes us to birth. I got several nice cards from the kids. DsS came over for a bit, which was nice, and he and DsD gave me a gift certificate to my framer (which is the *only* place in the mall I'm likely to go to willingly!). I know exactly what I'll be using it for! DD cleaned up her room for me so I didn't have to, which was very nice. I've got a lot of cleanup to do in the next couple weeks, so every little bit helps. And I got to sit and stitch for a little bit, and we went to my favorite Irish place again for dinner. So all in all, it was a good Mother's Day.

Speaking of, I should call my mom again and see if her present arrived yet...

In Search Of....

Every once in a while Alternate Dementia gets visitors thanks to the collection of web search engines. It's pretty interesting to see some of the searches that reach me.

Hands down, the most common search that reaches me is "Mythbusters hovercraft". Not a surprise, really, since Mythbusters does get the occasional reference, and the hovercraft episode was really rather cool.

The largest genre of searches is, not surprisingly, cross-stitch related, looking for particular patterns, such as "marbek nativity" (seen this one several times) or designers such as "wessex collection".

Gaming occasionally makes an appearance. Earlier today, someone found me with "How to play Stratego". And one of these days, I'll actually learn how to play Stratego!

But there are other searches that really make me wonder...take a look at these:

"chocolate steak" recipes - Chocolate is good. Steak is good. Combining the two?? Maybe not a good idea.

the grapes of wrath alternate ending - Um...The Grapes of Wrath is a book. The author is dead. I don't think there *are* alternate endings... Well, perhaps in a movie version, but making up alternate endings to classic novels is just plain wrong. It'd be like having Romeo and Juliet ride off into the sunset. Or Gandalf and Sauron becoming golfing buddies.

Alternate Care Bears - Frankly, this one scares me. Would these be like the Garbage Pail Kids from the 80's? Or would they make those seem tame?

Life is good!

Ah, life is good for me right now! I got some great news at work, and this evening the family went to my favorite Irish place to celebrate. Good food, great hard cider, and an absolutely sinful dessert (double fudge cake with raspberry and irish whiskey sauces). It doesn't get much better than this.

Well, maybe if I had all of the above in Europe it could, but I'll try to be realistic for a few moments!

Blinded

Now I can look back and laugh, but this weekend didn't exactly get off to a great start.

Friday afternoon I headed to Curves and then did some grocery shopping. I was quite looking forward to finishing up some laundry and then spending some time stitching.

I got home to find that DD had accidentally pulled down the curtains in the master bedroom...including breaking the mounting bracket for the curtain rod. Oh well - installing a miniblind in there was on my ToDo list anyway. Losing the window treatment for one's master bedroom, especially after no longer having a fence thanks to Hurricane Frances, suddenly made miniblind installation Top Priority. Fortunately, I already had a miniblind for the occasion.

Unfortunately, somehow when I was measuring for the miniblinds in the first place, I'd miscalculated. 36 + 16 = 52, not 56. So off I go to Walmart to return the miniblinds for more appropriately sized ones.

Guess what size they happen to be out of when I arrived. They only had one set of 52" blinds...in khaki. My house is blue and grey.

So off I go to the home improvement store to get 52" blinds. They only had white. Which is better than khaki, at least, so I purchase two sets (I have another window for which I'd also purchased oversized blinds). I got home tired, sweaty, and loudly grumpy. With very few specific exceptions, I dislike shopping at the best of times.

The hour that followed probably reduced DH and DD's stints in Purgatory, but certainly didn't help my cause any. I didn't swear, but I was certainly very crabby, and was riled up enough that I initially installed one of the brackets wrong.
Never try to install miniblinds (or anything else) when you're ticked off.

Finally, the deed was done, my wrath faded like a summer storm, and life went back to normal.

Sort of. The next morning we discovered that the new blinds didn't keep out nearly as much light as the old curtains, which made attempting to sleep in a difficult proposition. On the good side, it's now light enough in the bedroom that I can stitch most of the day without needing the overhead light.

Now I just hope my family forgives me for being such a grouch on Friday...