Book in Review: Michael O'Halloran by Gene Stratton-Porter

After I finished Her Father's Daughter I jumped right into Michael O'Halloran, by the same author, with enthusiasm. This book is much longer than the first, but intriguing to me. It's about this boy, Mickey, who lives in the big city selling newspapers. He has a strong sense of right and wrong, which was instilled in him by his loving mother now deceased. He works hard and pays for his room, his food, and also saves for "rainy days". His compassionate nature is shown when he finds a sick little girl who was left by herself after her alcoholic grandmother died. To save her from the "Orphings Home" he took her home with him and took care of her. Her name was Peaches, but she reminded him so much of a lily all white and delicate, that he called her Lily Peaches. She became Mickey's family and he was very protective of her and wanted what was best for her.
As the story continues Mickey meets several nice people who help him in different ways, but who get help from him too. Its not the help they would have expected, but he helps each one to understand the people closest to them. Many of them have intentions of "taking care" of Mickey but he stricktly refuses charity and works hard to earn everything.
I really enjoyed this book, better than Her Father's Daughter. Mickey is of such strong character! Yet he is just a little boy! I wish this were more commonly found in real life. Not just among children but among the young men too! It's not often you can find such a sense of responsibility for family and self! I truly commend the mothers and fathers of today who, so far, are succeeding in this with their sons. Because these sons will be highly desirable and honorable in the sight of God and men.

Book in Review: Her Father's Daughter by Gene Stratton-Porter

With all the extra time I've had lately (since I've been without a job) I took it into my head to get back that love of reading which was once so strong in my heart. So last week I pulled The Girl of the Limberlost by Gene Stratton-Porter off my shelf and dove in. I've read this book several times in the past, and still am able to derive much pleasure out of it. I have also previously read Freckles by the same author and thoroughly enjoyed that. Because of this I decided to look Gene Stratton-Porter up on the Library. Several books were listed, a couple of which I was able to pick up right away.
I finished the first one early this morning (around 3 am), called Her Father's Daughter. It takes place in California right after World War 2. Its about a 17 year old girl, Linda, who inherited her Father's love & knowledge of the outdoors. Her parents were killed in an automobile accident, so Linda is left to be cared for by her older sister who only cares about being a social butterfly. Linda and her sister, Eileen, could not be more different, and their personalities clash more than once during the story.
A good part of the book is used to describe the nature that Linda so enjoys and is consistently amongst. As a Horticulture student living on the West Coast, I liked reading about the plants Linda came across because I was able to recognize many of them. However, it sometimes seemed to chop up the story too much for me.
One thing that made me uncomfortable was the attitude Linda had towards the Japanese students in her school. When I started the book it really bothered me when she would refer to one as a "Jap". As I continued reading I realized that the Japanese influence on public education and on the economy was a common concern in those days.
Overall I thought the book was fairly good, but definetly not as good as Girl of the Limberlost.

left brained or right brained?

You Are 35% Left Brained, 65% Right Brained

The left side of your brain controls verbal ability, attention to detail, and reasoning.Left brained people are good at communication and persuading others.If you're left brained, you are likely good at math and logic.Your left brain prefers dogs, reading, and quiet. The right side of your brain is all about creativity and flexibility.Daring and intuitive, right brained people see the world in their unique way.If you're right brained, you likely have a talent for creative writing and art.Your right brain prefers day dreaming, philosophy, and sports.

Are You Right or Left Brained?

cool quiz

I saw this on The Common Room and thought it was cool...

What Kind of Reader Are You? Your Result: Literate Good Citizen You read to inform or entertain yourself, but you're not nerdy about it. You've read most major classics (in school) and you have a favorite genre or two.
Dedicated Reader
Book Snob
Obsessive-Compulsive Bookworm
Fad Reader
Non-Reader
What Kind of Reader Are You? Create Your Own Quiz

SNOW!!!

yes.. thats right we got snow. about a foot of it! in NOVEMBER! I can hardly believe it... but I look out the window and - sure enough there is snow out there. :) thought you all might enjoy some pics:

have you ever...

I got this cool survey thingy from Beth Spera in Domino

Have you:

01. Bought everyone in the bar a drink
02. Swam with wild dolphins
03. Climbed a mountain
04. Taken a Ferrari for a test drive
05. Been inside the Great Pyramid
06. Held a tarantula
07. Taken a candlelit bath
08. Said “I love you’ and meant it
09. Hugged a tree
10. Bungee jumped
11. Visited Paris
12. Watched a lightning storm at sea
13. Stayed up all night long and saw the sun rise
14. Seen the Northern Lights
15. Gone to a huge sports game
16. Walked the stairs to the top of the leaning Tower of Pisa
17. Grown and eaten your own vegetables
18. Touched an iceberg
19. Slept under the stars (don't you always do that?)
20. Changed a baby’s diaper (I have three younger brothers go figure!)
21. Taken a trip in a hot air balloon
22. Watched a meteor shower
23. Gotten tipsy on champagne
24. Given more than you can afford to charity
25. Looked up at the night sky through a telescope
26. Had an uncontrollable giggling fit at the worst possible moment (many times in fact)
27. Had a food fight
28. Bet on a winning horse
29. Asked out a stranger
30. Had a snowball fight
31. Screamed as loudly as you possibly can
32. Held a lamb (does petting one count?)
33. Seen a total eclipse
34. Ridden a roller coaster
35. Hit a home run
36. Danced like a fool and not cared who was looking
37. Adopted an accent for an entire day (it was actually for a whole weekend, and was completely unintentional)
38. Actually felt happy about your life, even for just a moment
39. Had two hard drives for your computer
40. Visited all 50 states (no... but I've been to 23 of them)
41. Taken care of someone who was drunk
42. Had amazing friends
43. Danced with a stranger in a foreign country
44. Watched wild whales
45. Stolen a sign (I didn't do it myself but I was an accomplice)
46. Backpacked in Europe
47. Taken a road-trip (I've taken several - thanks to my mom)
48. Gone rock climbing
49. Midnight walk on the beach (THE best thing ever!)
50. Gone sky diving
51. Visited Ireland
52. Been heartbroken longer than you were actually in love
53. In a restaurant, sat at a stranger’s table and had a meal with them
54. Visited Japan
55. Milked a cow
56. Alphabetized your CDs (well... I alphabetize the cases and some of the cases have CD's in them...)
57. Pretended to be a superhero
58. Sung karaoke
59. Lounged around in bed all day (I think that was when I had my wisdom teeth pulled)
61. Gone scuba diving
62. Kissed in the rain (no but that would be cool to do with my future hubby)
63. Played in the mud
64. Played in the rain (uh hello! I live in the great pacific NW!!!!)
65. Gone to a drive-in theater
66. Visited the Great Wall of China
67. Started a business
68. Fallen in love and not had your heart broken
69. Toured ancient sites
70. Taken a martial arts class
71. Played D&D for more than 6 hours straight
72. Gotten married
73. Been in a movie
74. Crashed a party
75. Gotten divorced
76. Gone without food for 5 days
77. Made cookies from scratch
78. Won first prize in a costume contest
79. Ridden a gondola in Venice
80. Gotten a tattoo
81. Rafted the Snake River
82. Been on television news programs as an “expert”
83. Got flowers for no reason
84. Performed on stage (quite a few times)
85. Been to Las Vegas
86. Recorded music
87. Eaten shark
89. Gone to Thailand
90. Bought a house
91. Been in a combat zone
92. Buried one/both of your parents ( thankfully no...)
93. Been on a cruise ship
94. Spoken more than one language fluently
95. Performed in Rocky Horror
96. Raised children
97. Followed your favorite band/singer on tour
99. Taken an exotic bicycle tour in a foreign country
100. Picked up and moved to another city to just start over
101. Walked the Golden Gate Bridge
102. Sang loudly in the car, and didn’t stop when you knew someone was looking (I do that all the time!)
103. Had plastic surgery
104. Survived an accident that you shouldn’t have survived
105. Wrote articles for a large publication
106. Lost over 100 pounds
107. Held someone while they were having a flashback
108. Piloted an airplane
109. Petted a stingray
110. Broken someone’s heart
111. Helped an animal give birth
112. Won money on a T.V. game show
113. Broken a bone (i broke a toe once)
114. Gone on an African photo safari
115. Had a body part of yours below the neck pierced
116. Fired a rifle, shotgun, or pistol (does an airsoft rifle or shotgun count? how about a BB rifle?)
117. Eaten mushrooms that were gathered in the wild
118. Ridden a horse
119. Had major surgery
120. Had a snake as a pet (my mom would never allow that)
121. Hiked to the bottom of the Grand Canyon
122. Slept for more than 30 hours over the course of 48 hours
123. Visited more foreign countries than U.S. states
124. Visited all 7 continents
125. Taken a canoe trip that lasted more than 2 days
126. Eaten kangaroo meat
127. Eaten sushi
128. Had your picture in the newspaper
129. Changed someone’s mind about something you care deeply about
130. Gone back to school (every week I go back!)
131. Parasailed
132. Petted a cockroach
133. Eaten fried green tomatoes
134. Read The Iliad
135. Selected one “important” author who you missed in school, and read
136. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
137. Skipped all your school reunions
138. Communicated with someone without sharing a common spoken language
139. Been elected to public office
140. Written your own computer language
141. Thought to yourself that you’re living your dream
142. Had to put someone you love into hospice care
143. Built your own PC from parts
144. Sold your own artwork to someone who didn’t know you
145. Had a booth at a street fair
146. Dyed your hair (not with permanent dye)
147. Been a DJ
148. Shaved your head
149. Caused a car accident
150. Saved someone’s life

made in china

today I was working at my new job within my place of employment... and part of that is pricing christmas merchandise. one of the sets of merchandise that I happened to be pricing today was 6 piece nativity sets. They were porcelain or ceramic and actually quite tastefully done. As I was pulling each one out of the styrofoam, unwrapping it, and putting a price sticker on the bottom I noticed a little sticker on each that I would normally pay no attention to. It read "Made in China".

I started thinking about that. The fact that I was pricing something made in China was not unusual. A lot of the merchandise that our store sells is made in China, I mean come on - what store doesn't? (I know there are exceptions like the Made in Washington store) However, it was the combination of what the items were and where they were made is what threw me. it seemed quite ironic to me. here I was pricing Mary, Joseph, and baby Jesus (and three wise men) all of which are strong symbols of Christianity and they were made in a country by people who are not allowed to practice Christianity. It comes down to this apparently: the Chinese government refuses for any person to be a Christian, but allow their people to produce symbols of Christianity to sell. What I wondered, is what the workers are thinking that actually produce this merchandise... do they ever think about the irony?

corn maze

ok... so last night I went with some friends to the corn maze in Snohomish at Stocker Farms. It was sooo much fun! It was a little freaky too... at the maze, they have two different sections to go in: the regular maze, and the "Field of Screams". We paid to do both. We started by doing one section of the regular maze and then went to the Field of Screams and then went back to do the second section of the regular maze. By the time we went back into the regular maze, I was just enough freaked out from the Field of Screams that I kept thinking someone was going to pop out of the corn at me. (it didn't help that one of my friends kept getting ahead of us and hiding in the corn) after we did the maze we went to ColdStone Creamery for ice cream. It was cool.

anywho... it was fun - mostly because I went with friends.

here is what the maze looked like:

Jennings Park

Fall has begun and with that, school. One of the classes I am taking this quarter is called Plant Diseases. One of the weekly assignments I have is to bring in samples of diseased plants I find. I have to bring 3 samples to class each week and so far I only had 1 for this week. I decided to go to our local park and see if I could find some good specimens. Mom has been running around like a crazy-woman for the last few weeks trying to get all the boys to their activities, and Bouncy Boy didn't have anywhere to be yesterday so I asked if he wanted to go with me to the park. This gave Mom one less person to worry about, and gave Bouncy Boy something to do.



We dropped the Sportster off at football practice and then headed over to the park. At Jennings Park they have a garden that is cared for by local Master Gardeners. It was very nice, they had a lot of different things there. Mostly herbaceous plants, but they did have a few shrubs and trees too. I was able to find one specimen there and then we walked around the rest of it.


We also went down to the pond, watching the ducks, and looking for snails. The weather was perfect for a day at the park, sunny but not unbearably hot. It was a lot of fun! I don't often get the chance to take just one of my brothers on an outing, and spend time with them individually.