Archive for October, 2007

We’ll Meet Again–Mary Higgins Clark

October 29, 2007 · Filed under Book Stuff & Reviews · Tagged ,

This was a good and exciting read. I had read this book a few years back, but had forgotten about it. lol I read so many books that sometimes I forget. So with much anticipation I picked up the book and then a few pages in realized my happy blunder. Since it was a few years ago that I read it, I decided to give it another go ahead. And was very happily surprised that I had even forgotten who the true villain was! lol

Basically this book is about a woman who is accused and convicted of killing her husband. She was accused because she couldn’t remember whether she did it or not. Can you believe that? I would lie through my teeth. Heck no your honor I loved this man so much that I’m going to die now that he’s not here. (see the pun there?? lol)

Anyway, back to the book….Molly has to find a way to regain her memory quick fast and in a hurry or face having the past repeated. I’m not going to divulge who did what or even who the villain was. Let’s just say that this book is a good example of the mantra that I live by.

Nancy’s Mantra
Make sure you like who you bring to your house…cause she’s the next one in your bed!

Anyway, Molly has a chance at second love, but she’s too busy trying to regain her memories. And the author has some good characters who help draw the limelight away from Molly and direct it in a few different directions. It goes to prove that money can buy you comfort and every material item your heart desires, but it cannot buy you peace or love. I’d read it again. Maybe you should pick it up when you go to the library to pick up the other book (In the company of cheerful ladies). lol

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In the Company of cheerful Ladies — A Book

October 29, 2007 · Filed under Book Stuff & Reviews, Contributor Craziness · Tagged , ,

In the company of cheerful ladies
This is the second book to The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency. It is written by Alexander McCall Smith. Both of these books detail the work of female private detectives in Botswana. The characters are likable and very funny. The lead detective is an overweight Botswanian who is called Precious. Her sidekick is Ms. Makutsi. They are both amateur detectives that use common sense and practicality to solve the cases that come across their desk. This time around mma Botswana (as she is referred to in the entire book) has married Mr JLB Matekoni, the successful mechanic in whose car repair shop she used to drop in and chat with. Mr. JLB Maketoni (as he is also referred to in the entire book) has 2 apprentices working in his garage. Charlie and another one, whose name escapes my memory. Mma Botswana has a nasty encounter with a stranger that broke into her home. Quick snapshot of this scene. Picture an old tinish house in the deserts of Africa. 1 level house (obviously) and picture an old style brass bed (without the fancy brass) very low to the ground. Anyway, mma Botswana has checked all the rooms and has decided that her suspicious mind is getting the best of her. So she decides to lay down on her bed and take a quick nap before the husband and kids come home. So she lays down and she hears a sound right by her window that sounds like an old dog howling or something. So she jumps up and checks the window looking towards the bushes. Seeing nothing she returns to the bed. That’s when she heard the noise again and realized that it was coming not from outside her window but from underneath her BED! All of a sudden this guy leaps out and runs out the house partially naked because his pants got stuck on a coil from the mattress! She was literally crushing this guy to death! OMG. When I read that I busted out laughing. I could totally picture this scene in my head. And I’m sure that in years to come and senility sets in I will swear that I saw it in a movie, when in fact it is totally not a movie, but rather a good book. Anyway, the author paints such a graphic description of a slow moving and quaint life in Africa, that I found myself wish I had her life. The simplicity and lack of the RAT RACE was so enticing!! I first read the first novel a few years ago and on Monday found myself thinking about it. Well imagine my surprise when I went on Tuesday to the library (as I do every Tuesday) and saw the newest read! I was excited. I called Lisy just to talk about it. As I truly am a book enthusiast. lol

I found the author’s web page and am including it here. In my humble opinion, I suggest you pick up both books and become familiar with his writings and fall in love with these simple, yet lovable characters. If you find yourself wanting to discuss the book, just drop us a line.

I personally DESPISE my space, so you will never catch me on it. However, my co-conspirator has created a my space page. So feel free to drop her a line if you want to.

Enjoy the good read! :)

http://www.alexandermccallsmith.co.uk/Pages/Home.aspx

UPDATE: I decided to poke around the website and realized that while “In the Company of Cheerful Ladies” is the second book, there are really 8 books in the series so far! I’ve got alot of reading to do!! How could I have missed all those other titles! I’m so happy because I thoroughly enjoy the writings of Mr. Smith and I now have another good reason to visit the library! Do yourself the favor and pick up one of these books!! You’ll never regret it. :)

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Embassy Suites

October 29, 2007 · Filed under My Tattered Life! LOL

So I need sleep but instead I wanted to write on my blog! My friend’s daughter turned 8 and they gave her a slumber party at Embassy Suites in Parsippany. I took my cousin’s children—Richard Jr who is 10 years old and is Richard Sr’s child and Alexis who is 5 years old is Alex’s child. This was the first time I’ve ever been allowed to take Alexis by myself. Her mom is very overprotective. I was afraid that she was going to give me a hard time because well, she’s a little spoiled by her mommy. And since I’ve never had her over before, I was unsure what to expect. But Alexis turned out to be spectacular. She was an absolute doll and everyone loved her! The only thing I had trouble with was getting her to eat. She was unhappy with it all—and they had scrambled eggs, sausage, bacon, pancakes, fresh fruit, yogurt, jello, Danish, Froot Loops. She took a couple bites of everything but ate nothing. Now I know what a pain in the a@@ I must’ve been as a child. I have the reputation for being the worst eater in my family. I guess I now pass the torch to Alexis. Richard, was an absolute horror! OK I’m exaggerating. He lives with me and there are no other children in the house and he rarely gets to play with children. So he was sooooo hyper amongst the children. I guess he was just letting out all that pent-up energy. All in all, the kids had a good time. The adults needed naps. The hotel is spectacular. The breakfast was great. And although they had beautiful little samples of shampoos, conditioners, hand lotions, and nice plushy towels—what is that I couldn’t resist?? That’s right all—the darn pen with the Embassy Suites logo. I told you all I had a problem. LOL
P.S. Our myspace page is coming along great. You need to check it out at www.myspace.com/mytatteredpages

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Reading Is Sexy

October 27, 2007 · Filed under Book Stuff & Reviews, My Tattered Life! LOL, Welcome · Tagged , ,

Come on everybody–repeat after me–”Where in the world is co-writer?” You see how she leaves us every weekend? I called her earlier and left a message to meet up by Target. I had to go buy a gift for my friend’s daughter. We are having a slumber party tomorrow night. We are all staying at the Embassy Suites. Doesn’t it sound special? I’ve never gone there and I’ve never had a slumber party. I was never allowed to sleep over anyone’s house unless it was family. So this will be my first slumber party!! I’ll tell you all about it!! Anyway, it’s now four hours after I left her the message and she still hasn’t called me. After I write this, I will call again. I worry about her! LOL I do.
So anyway, I made a my space page and guess what it’s called??? My Tattered Pages! I know it was difficult to guess. And on my page, I say that reading is sexy! And it is!! At least I always thought so. And yea, some may think I’m a nerd but I really am just a proud bookworm.
When I was in high school, I wasn’t as proud because it would’ve hurt my popularity!! LOL Seriously though, you all know it’s true. If a girl liked to read, it was a good sign of intelligence and for whatever reason, the boys didn’t want to hook-up with the smart girls. Now that I’m all grown up, I know why!!
Anyhow, I love books, pens, and purses/handbags. Not always in that order–it would depend on my mood and how much money I have to spend. LOL
I cannot go into a Walgreens or CVS and not glance by the school supplies section. Why? I have absolutely no idea. But I automatically gravitate there. I love pens in all colors and I love promotional pens. If I go into a business and they have a pen, I want one. It’s one of my quirks.
I also cannot go into a mall without checking out their bookstore or drive by Route 3 in Clifton and not go into that huge Barnes & Noble store. It’s beautiful. It has an escalator!!! And it’s a book store. They have books and pens!! It’s my heaven. LOL
I also have an addiction to purses. Yes, handbags. I love Coach bags followed by Gucci. I cannot, of course afford to buy a real one every week, so I resort to Canal Street knock-offs. And the occasional purse party. I have tons of them. And every time I am depressed, nothing perks me up more than a new purse, or a bright new pen, or a tattered old book.
Ok, so I am quirky. But isn’t it sexy? Christmas is coming. You all know what to get me now.
Welcome again to My Tattered Pages!!

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So where is my co-writer huh?

October 25, 2007 · Filed under My Tattered Life! LOL

OK so the world is clamoring–where is the co-writer? Where is she hiding? It’s a rainy day so maybe she decided to stay snuggled up next to her honey bear this morning. Could be. Let’s speculate.
She could be holed up typing a memo or organizing her boss’s life. Maybe she is out getting his low fat milk. He is very worried about his health I guess. Though I don’t know why, being as he doesn’t seem to have much of a life outside of work. Staying healthy to hide behind a desk all day. Arghh! You may as well be fluffy and happy! Drink whole milk you frog! LOL Inside joke. She can let you all in if she wants to.
OK so I just got a response from our friend. I emailed her earlier. Apparently, she’s busy at work. Go figure!! And she has the nerve to tell me to go update my blog!! Has she read our blog for the past few days?? I think not! So you see how she is. She has these bursts of energy all the time and goes on and on like a big ‘ole Energizer bunny. Sometimes you just want to pop her on the back and take out the batteries! LOL
But she has a lot on her plate lately. I tell her she needs to rest and leave people to their own problems, especially self-made problems. I’m sure we all do it at some point or another. When the people we love get themselves into jams and then think it is out birth given right to save their little “molasses.” And you know, lately she has had to save a lot of “molasses” and it gets to be too much! Rest up girl. Do some work and come back to us. We miss you.

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I PASSED INSPECTION!!

October 25, 2007 · Filed under My Tattered Life! LOL

OK well in my last post I think I mentioned how I had my cousin bring my car to the window guy. By the way, this has nothing to do with anything, but what do you call that guy? I mean the guy that works on the engine/motor is a mechanic. Is there a better term for the guy who does windows? If anybody knows, tell me. For me, he’s the window guy.
OK so Saturday, my cousin drops the car off and swears it’ll be done by the time I return from A.C. He calls me while I’m there and tells me the window won’t be in until Monday so I won’t have my car until then. This must’ve been right after I had my pina colada because all I said was OK.
Well on my way home I started to stress because I absolutely had to go somewhere on Sunday and had no way to get there. I texted my friend (my blog co-writer) but she never got back to me that night. I had no idea if she got my message but I hadn’t wanted to disturb her because I knew she was busy entertaining her pastor and his wife. She’d been planning that dinner all week!! So I finally called another friend who was going to give me a ride and later go and pick me up. I was able to go to bed somewhat relieved at about 1 am.
At about 8 am, my phone rings and it’s her!!!! She said something to me about loaning me her car after church and coming to get me. Then she said go back to sleep, I’ll call you later. I vaguely remember what she said because I was already asleep!!! I mumbled OK I think and rolled back to sleep. Then 5 minutes later at about 10 am (LOL) the phone rings again. It’s her again and she’s telling me she’s on her way. My thoughts are scrambling to get together–where is she going? And then I caught on. Ohhhhhhh!!!
I hurry out of bed, brush my teeth, wipe here and there, wash my face, put hair in a scrunchy and fall into a pair of sweatpants. Before I go downstairs, I call my other friend and let her off the hook. It was going to be such a hassle for her but she would’ve done it anyway. She’s great.
So I go down and there they are–all big annoying smiles –my friend and her hubby, who is lately just as bubbly as his wife! Normally, bubbliness is cute but I had not even had coffee yet. So I wasn’t thinking that either one of them was very cute even though they were there to do ME a favor. LOL
I am soooooo NOT a morning person. My perfect job would start at about 11 am and end about 8 or 9pm or even later. I love to be up at night and sleep during the day like a vampire. LOL
OK so they took me all over Jersey City. I don’t really remember what we did. I was half asleep. I think we stopped at a bakery. We went to their apartment and She started making breakfast. She is such a hostess.
So I left, did what I had to do, and came back about 4:30 pm. And then they really did kidnap me because I did not get home until 9 pm. She made dinner–eggplant Parmesan. Her hubby loves it and she will make it but not eat it. I never thought I liked it but I had to have a taste because it really just looked like lasagna. She put so much cheese on it. It was very good.
The next day I got up early because I had to take the bus and trains to work. But then I suddenly decided that I was physically exhausted. I went back to bed and slept until 11 am!!! It was great. My phone had not rang once. That never happens. God knew I needed rest. LOL
I call my cousin and ask if the car is ready. No it isn’t he says but it should be by latest 2 pm! I call at 2 pm. It’s not ready!!!! I start to stress. I NEED my car. The thought of public transportation is just too much for me to bear. LOL So I make him pick me up to take me to run some errands and tell him let’s just go get the car. The window guy can call when he’s ready to put the window in. We drive up to the place and my car is parked right out front with a brand new window!!!!!!!!!
So I took my car away and went to do my errands in my own car. I missed it. Yesterday I went to work and after work I went to get my tire fixed. I had been driving on my dummy tire for weeks!! Today was a late day at the NJ Inspection Center in Secaucus. I went and I thought all they had to do was look that I had put the new window in but nooooo. They put my car through a bunch of tests again. So I started to get nervous. What if something happened in the weeks since last time I was there? What if I fail again? What happens? I hated it. In school I was never really nervous for tests because I studied and I knew I’d be OK. But how do you study for inspection? Anyway, I was so happy when the guy put the new sticker on and he congratulated me. He should’ve congratulated the car!

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My Atlantic City Trip

October 24, 2007 · Filed under My Tattered Life! LOL

Hello everyone! It’s Tuesday night and I thought I’d finally catch everyone up on my weekend. This past Saturday morning I took a bus trip with my aunt, my friend Marisol and her mom. We went to Atlantic City. I’m not much of a gambler. I usually go play a couple of $20’s on either the nickel or penny machines. I always come home empty handed. I went because I promised my aunt that I would take her for her birthday. And Mari’s job was organizing a trip so it was perfect. It also gave me time to leave my car at home so that my cousin can have the windshield put in for me. I failed inspection and have to go back before the end of the month!!

So on our way there, we all got to talking and my aunt and her mom were scolding us because apparently we don’t gamble correctly. We are suppose to stick to a “hot” machine. By hot I don’t mean the machine is better looking tan the rest. LOL No. We are suppose to touch the machine and feel it for warmth. The warmer the better. And if we want to win real money, we should get away from the penny and nickel machines.
So Mari and I decided to devise a gambling plan. We were going to play $20 on penny and nickel machines and then $20 on quarter and dollar machines. After tat, we would have a couple of drinks and go check out te boardwalk.
So after going from one machine to the next (becoming what Mari calls a “slot slut”), we finally found two quarter machines side by side. So we sat there. I was daydreaming (it was way too early for me still) and just kept pushing the “repeat bet” button. Mari likes to yank the slot and hear the tinker tanker of her bangle bracelets. LOL Suddenly, I start pushing the button and my machine is stuck! It kept spinning and I wasn’t doing anything. I said this to her and she looks over and as we figure out that my machine was going into some sort of bonus round, her machine starts making the same noise!! Nothing was wrong with the machine. We were winning!! As soon as all the noise stopped, we both hit the “cash out” button. Out comes this white ticket with a bar code and an amount. I won $110 and she won $145. Not bad!!! We immediately took our ticket to some ATM look-alike machine where we feed the ticket and it spits out our money!! We stopped the lady with the drink trays and had a pina colada each. It was very loaded by the way. Guess they think if you are drunk, you’ll spend more.
Anyway, we ended up taking one of those little cart rides (basically you sit in a basket and some guy pushes you down the boardwalk) down to the fancy mall by Bally’s. It was suppose to be an outlet mall but it’s really just designer stores. We walked into the M*A*C makeup store and shopped our little hearts out.
When we finally met my aunt and her mom, they wanted to know how much we’d won and we proudly showed them our small plastic bags. They both just looked at us and then gave each other this knowing look. Guess we aren’t as good at gambling as we are at shopping!

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My First Post on Yahoo! Groups

October 22, 2007 · Filed under Book Stuff & Reviews, Contributor Craziness · Tagged ,

Well for those of you that read my blog, then it will come as no surprise that my first entry on this group would be about Janet Evanovich. Janet is a pure genius. She has come up with a story line that always has me intrigued. Not only that but the cast of characters are so lovable that you find yourself wishing to be part of them. Janet’s story is about a bungling bail recovery agent, aka a bounty hunter named Stephanie. Stephanie is your typical single woman still strung by a string to her mothers kitchen! She goes home to eat a few times a week. Stephanie has a grandmother that has lost 1/2 her marbles and thinks she is a teeny bopper/columbo/miami vice. Her father is the strong, quiet type who wishes his mother in law would be picked up by aliens or abducted by rodeo midgets! Her mother can cook up a storm and awake any coma patient with her culinary cuisines! When Steph’s mother is upset she can iron till her hands shrivel up with all the steam!! Now Stephanie is in love with Joe Morelli, a Trenton cop who has a big shaggy orange dog named Bob. BUT as if her life wasn’t complicated enough she’s in LUST with Ranger. A fellow recovery agent. Life is grand no? lol She also has a penchant for having her cars blown up and being kidnapped or shot at. Her good friend and coworker is a retired hooker named Lula.Lula is 200 pounds and loves spandex and short skirts. Lula does the filing for the Plum Agency. Add all of this and a few other extended characters and villains and the stage is set for drama, excitement and you got yourself a heck of a funny story line. Do yourself a favor and wander over to www.evanovich.com You will never regret it. I’d love to hear from you if you are also an Evanovich lover. :)

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TO MY FANS….Ha!

October 19, 2007 · Filed under Book Stuff & Reviews, My Tattered Life! LOL

I am not ignoring anybody! First of all, I was working, actually working because today is payday and I want to at least earn today’s pay! LOL
I was also starting a my space so be sure to look us up and add us, of course “My Tattered Pages.” As I speak we already have 7 friends on my space!! Not bad for a page created hours ago huh?
Well anyway my friend wants me to speed blog like she does but I cannot keep up with her because she is on super-speed all the time. I mean she is constantly on the move. Have you read her latest posts? I’m tired after all that! How could I possibly even attempt to keep up with her?
Anyhow we both finished Linwood Barclay’s “No Time For Goodbye” on the same day but I think that’s because she was so damn busy partying. This was my first Barclay book and let me just say that I LOVED IT!! The beginning is excellent. A 14 year old girl wakes up to find that her parents and brother are missing. She later gets married and has a child of her own. She has a lot of anxiety about the safety of her own child and rightfully so since she still has no idea what happened to her family. Anyway, I will not give away the ending but it was great although I must say there was one particular plot twist that was introduced at the very end (and I mean the last few pages) that I thought was totally unnecessary. The mystery and plot were great without it!
And I did not mean to make my friend not want to read “Two Little Girls in Blue” by Mary Higgins Clark but I have to admit it was not one of her best. It is about two twin girls who go missing for ransom. Getting the ransom paid was one of the issues but it gets done. Plot twist–only one twin gets returned. Then the mom thinks the other twin is actually still alive and sick somewhere because the returned twin can speak “twin talk” to her. People don’t believe her at first but then they do and it’s a race against time to find the missing twin who is very ill.
I think I like the idea of twin talk but these little girls seemed a bit too smart for having just turned three. It was OK but not great.
Right now I’m reading “Remember Me” by Sharon Sala. It’s actually very good so far. I’m about a third of the way through.
Anyway, this will not be a long post because I have to leave work now but I may come post some more later. I’m very excited because I’m going to Atlantic City tomorrow. I hope I win something because I really could use the extra cash right about now. But $50 is my limit. For gambling that is. I want to go shopping too!! LOL
Well keep on tattering those pages!!! TTYL

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Over run by books???

October 17, 2007 · Filed under Book Stuff & Reviews, Contributor Craziness

Well I finished reading “No Time for Goodbye” yesterday. I read the last few pages while walking in the middle of the street in this little block that’s rarely used for oncoming traffic. It was just too good to be put down! I wont spoil the fun for you guys but suffice to say that this book is worth the trip to the library!

Anyway, as I was finished reading the last few lines. I said to myself….self, this is so worthy of being added to my collection. And then I thought to myself…self you are only 36 and you have (God willing) a lifetime ahead of you to collect books. If I keep adding books to my every growing collection, how long will it take till I’m overrun by the many books that I love?! So I decided NOT to buy this book! UNLESS I can find it at a flea market OR its a gift. lolol

BTW, is over run one word or two? well for the process of this blog, its going to be two words. lolol

I’ve been away for a few days. Busy with reading, partying and golfing has led me no time for blogging. But today I’m back. I’m going to delve a little into my activities this past weekend. I’m sure that you’ll find them as interesting as I did.

Reading: OK you already know that I finished No Time for Goodbye, but did I tell you that I also read “No Humans Allowed”. Another great read. I’m also NOT going to read Two Little Girls in Blue. I was on the fence about this one and Lisy has just pushed me over the fence to the NOT GONNA READ side. lol thanks Lisy, you saved me 2 days. I got a few other reads which I have to turn in on Tuesday, so I could use that time for something else that is fun!

Partying: oh my! It’s been nonstop fun for me this weekend! On Saturday night I trekked it all the way up to my sisters house in Bergen County for her House Warming/Engagement party/Niece Birthday party. I had such a nice time. Her home is so lovely. I even threw on the dog! Yep! I put on some make up and heels for this occasion! My brother even said I was beautiful! It made my day/night. lol I do have to tell you that a few guests brought their own Tupperware and loaded up on food. How tacky!! At least I had the good taste to ask my sister for her own Tupperware! lol

Sunday afternoon was the church dinner! It was great. We went to Al & Lynette’s house. It was so charming…the house & the dinner. They served chicken franchez (I know its not the right spelling but for the sake of sanity for my readers and myself, I’m going with the pronunciation), arroz con gandules, mash potatoes, pernil, veggies. They also had appetizers. Which consisted of crackers with a crab dip, and some other stuff. lol For desert I had some ice cream cake that had actual cake. It was too sweet and I was way too full. lol There was alot of different things, like strawberry & blueberry cheesecake, fruit salad, two different types of brownies and we brought vanilla/chocolate cake. All in all we had a great time. Our hostess is a very perky & nice woman, very talkative and upbeat always. Our host is more on the quiet side and is an excellent cook! We also had a chance to socialize. It was my first dinner with the church. And I loved it. :)

Miniature Golfing: yes I love the game now! My husband took me and I had a great time!! I have a new found respect for the real deal now. lol I sucked at it, but it was great to try something new with my hubby.

Oh and I got a part time job!! I start next week. I will be working at a plus size ladies clothing store and with my new 31% discount I will be racking up on clothes! I’m so excited. And the great part is that the store manager and I have so many things in common so far! I found all this out at the interview! which btw, was totally Jesus that got me the job. I went in to buy pantyhose and walked out with a job! lol My new manager and I share a love for eating (tho I display it way more than she does), reading and buying bed sheets! I’m so excited. They look like a fun group to work with. I see that they are hard working too. So I’ll make a fine addition to their group. Stop by and see me sometime! :) I cant guarantee you a discount…but…I’ll always be honest with you about your choice of clothing! You will never walk out of their looking ridiculous!

Oh I also had plans for this upcoming weekend but my husband put the kibosh on them! lol He surprised me and the pastor by inviting him & his wife for dinner! lol Child now you know that Jesus was the one behind all of this. He must have something to say to me! Let me tell you how the rain crept in and rained on my parade a full week ahead of its beginning! lol While sitting in church the pastor mentioned that their discipleship class was beginning on Saturday. Pastor Joe said I’ll put the time for those that put the effort. So I said to myself….self, you should give the effort and reap the benefits!! So I made a mental note to be back in time for the class. Then my husband turns around and tells me that he invited them for dinner! That was the downpour to my flea market dreams! So this Saturday I’m going to be busy visiting the bakery for the dessert, the butcher for the fresh meat and the pastors house for the discipleship class. lol It’s OK, there will always be more flea markets in my future (God willing).

It seems I’ve droned on for far too long. See what happens when I’m away for too long? lol I can just see you clamoring for my shorter posts. oh well, happy reading. It’s good to know that I’m blogging for and with friends. Happy reading!

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