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8
Feb

#Non-fiction How Fascism Works

 

  • Starting out slowly…..short reviews.
  • No time to waste on long analysis
  • …just giving you my ‘gut’ reaction to the book.

 

Conclusion:

  1. This was the first audio book I listened to
  2. …and wanted to listen to it again, immediately!
  3. The narrator has a soothing yet compelling voice
  4. and the narrative, well,
  5. …just lean back and let the words  sink in.
  6. Remember what the USA went through the last four years
  7. …and start to connect the dots!
  8. #EducateYourself
  9. ….before it is too late!
26
Dec

#Classic Iola Leroy

Quickscan:

  1. It tells the story of a wealthy Mississippi planter
  2. who frees and marries his mixed-race slave.
  3. They have two children, Iola and Harry.
  4. They are raised without knowledge of their
  5. mixed background and educated in the North.
  6. After  the father’s death
  7. …greedy relatives thrust Iola and her mother into slavery.

Structure:

  1. Ch 1-8  present
  2. Ch 9-12 flashback ( 20 years ago….)
  3. Ch 13- 33 present

 

  1. Strong point:  Regional dialect, characters influenced
  2. by a specific locale with  speech and attitudes
  3. …reflected the deep South in 1860s.
  4. Mainly in ch 1-8…so if you find it irritating reading
  5. ….just remember the rest of the book is ordinary text.

 

  1. Strong point: 
  2. This book  as old as it is…just makes me think!
  3. Pg 32 says:
  4. THEN: “…when the colored men were being enlisted,
  5. …that he (soldier) would
  6. break his sword and resign.”
  1. NOW: 128 years later Lloyd Austin could would be
  2. the first African American to lead the Pentagon.
  3. West Point graduate, retired four-star general,
  4. former commander of the American military effort in Iraq
  5. …has been nominated by President Elect Biden
  6. …to be his Secretary of Defense.
  7. Oh,…times are a changin’!

 

  1. Strong point: 
  2. Ms Harper is prescient…
  3. perceiving  in 1892 the
  4. …significance of events before they occur.
  5. “Other men have plead his (black man’s) cause
  6. but out of the race must come its own defenders.
  7. With them the pen must be mightier than the sword.”
  8. REF: Opinion NYTimes  dd. 12.12.2020 
  9. Svp read –>  “How White is Publishing?”
  10. …and add more voices of color to your reading lists!

 

Conclusion:

  1. Ms Harper fulfills the requirement of historical fiction:
  2. — bringing alive the past
  3. — speaking forcefully
  4. — to the readers of today.
  5. Themes: importance of religion, oppression of women
  6. Themes: racism, central role of women in community/family
  7. Subplot: a beautiful love triangle…
  8. Triangle:  Iola – Dr. Gresham – Dr. Latimar
  9. Some have said this book feels outdated
  10. …but I disagree. 
  11. It made many strong points
  12. …that we can learn from….even today!
  13. Iola Leroy is powerful enough to
  14. remain with readers for years to come.
  15. That is why it is a ….
  16. #MustRead  #Classic!
25
Dec

#Merry Christmas 2020

  1. Glad to report  that despite a
  2. …FULL LOCKDOWN  in The Netherlands
  3. …Santa was able to visit us!
  4. Why are Santa’s reindeer allowed to travel on Christmas Eve?
  5. They have herd immunity.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

10
Dec

#Non-fiction: 2020 Victorian Premier’s Literary Award

Bora Bora

  • Author:  Christina Thompson
  • Title: Sea People: The Puzzle of Polynesia
  • Published: 2019
  • Genre: Non-fiction
  • Rating: A
  • Trivia: 2019 NSW Premier’s History Award  General History
  • Trivia: 2020 Victorian Premier’s Literary Award for Nonfiction
  • List of Challenges 2020
  • Monthly plan
  • #PMLitAwards

Introduction:

  1. Christina Thompson and her family (Maori husband and three sons)
  2. spent 8 weeks traveling across the Pacific, with stops in
  3. Tahiti, Ra’iatea, the Marquesas, the Tuamotu Archipelago, T
  4. onga, Hawai’i, New Zealand, and Vanuatu.
  5. They visited:
  • two points of the Polynesian triangle (Hawai’i and New Zealand);
  • a center of ancient Polynesian culture (Tahiti, Ra’iatea);
  • one of the earliest Polynesian settlements (Tonga);
  • and the most famous Lapita cemetery in the Western Pacific (Vanuatu).

Polynesian Triangle ( 10.000.000 square miles!)

What is the  CORE MESSAGE ?

  1. Problems of Polynesian origins – a great geographical mystery
  2. How did the Sea People spread themselves over the vast ocean (P.Triangle)
  3. The problem is that the events are pre-history, no written records
  4. .…open to interpretation.
  5. Christina Thompson does NOT just follow
  6. ….  James Cook’s three expeditions.
  7. She approaches the origin of the Polynesian ‘Sea People’  from a fresh angle:
  8. NOT what happened…
  9. ….but HOW WE KNOW what happened in the Pacific.
  10. In 20th C science delivers up whole new bodies of information.
  11. In 1970s an experimental voyaging movement emerged.
  12. Scientists used computer simulation the chance of
  13. settling Polynesia by drift voyagages alone was very small.
  14. There had to be some human decision making taken into account.
  15. This  was to show that the ancient Polynesians
  16. …could have purposefully settled the Polynesian Triangle
  17. in double-hulled, voyaging canoes.

What did the Polynesians use to navigate?

  1. Without the aid of sextants or compasses
  2. …the ancient Polynesians navigated their canoes by the
  3. stars and other signs that came from the ocean and sky
  4. for example clouds, swells.

When did the Polynesians explore?

  1. 1200 BC – Polynesians reached Samoa and Tonga 
  2. 300 AD they fanned out to the Marquesas
  3. 400-600 AD heading north to the Hawaiian Islands

Where did the Polynesians come from?

  1. One of the most famous people to investigate
  2. and write about  this was Abraham Fornander (1812 – 1887)
  3. He was a Swedish-born emigrant
  4. …who became an important Hawaiian journalist.
  5. He was committed to the Aryan thesis:
  6. ancestors of Polynesians were a chip of the same block
  7. from which the Hindu, Iranian and Indo-European family
  8. were fashioned.

Strong point:

  1. I knew NOTHING about James Cook’s expeditions
  2. …and this was a great overview of his three journeys.

Strong point:

  1. Thompson makes the book so interesting by discussing
  2. unexpected and closely related topics
  3. to explain the Polynesian Triangle
  4. …Part III, ch 1 “Drowned Continents”
  5. The Belgian voyager, scientist
  6. Jacques-Antoine Moerenhout (1796-1879)
  7. dedicated many years searching for
  8. the origin of the Polynesians and their culture.

Nuku Hiva, Marquesas Islands

Strong point:  structure

  1. This book was easy to follow…even if you need to
  2. take a break and read something else.
  3. Thompson has divided the book in 6 parts
  4. The Eyewitness (1521-1722)
  5. Connecting the Dots (1764-1778)  James Cook voyages
  6. Why Not Just Ask (1778-1920)
  7. The Rise of Science (1920-1959)
  8. Setting Sail (1947-1980)
  9. What We Know Now (1990-2018) DNA and Dates

Weak point:  (Part II, chapter 4)

  1. Discussions about the Indo-European language family
  2. that is related to the languages used in Polynesia were
  3. took some determination to get through…but i did it.
  4. But this is important to know to discover the origin of
  5. the ‘sea people’ in Polynesia…by means of linguistics.

Conclusion:

  1. This book is not ONLY about the Polynesian mariners
  2. but also about the people who over the years have
  3. puzzled over their history
  4. …sailors, linguists, biologists, voyagers, geographers etc.
  5. I did not know Robert Lewis Stevenson visited the
  6. Marquesas Islands!
  7. This was a very interesting book…with some parts that
  8. were amazing
  9. …voyages and methods of
  10. …navigating without compass or sextant,
  11. …other parts a bit soporific (linguistics).
  12. This book is well worth your reading time!
  13. #NonFictionLovers

Last Thoughts:

  1. I recommend the audio book (11 hrs 40 min)
  2. A narrating voice brings life into this very
  3. interesting book.
  4. If you first want get into the Polynesian mood
  5. before you start this book
  6. …sit down (…with the kids) and watch
  7. Disney’s 2016 film Moana!
8
Nov

“We the people of the United States..”

The sun will melt a sea of racism that seemed hard frozen.

Some men become what they were born for,

Joe Biden will finally bring the people

together in the UNITED STATES of America.

I could not be prouder!

#NeedCoffee

2
Nov

#NonFicNov 2020 Week 1

Week 1: (Nov 2 to Nov 06)

  1. Hosted by: Leann of Shelf Aware  (add linky here)
  2. Hashtag: #NonficNov

Hosts:

  1. Leann of Shelf Aware
  2. Julz of JulzReads
  3. Rennie of What’s Nonfiction
  4. Katie @ Doing Dewey

 

  • My TOP 10  non-fiction 2020:
  1. Unmaking of the Presidency – S. Hennessey, B. Wittes
  2. A Very Stable Genius – C. Leonnig, P. Rucker
  3. Donald Trump v. The United States – M. Schmidt
  4. Tears We Cannot Stop – M. Dyson
  5. The New Jim Crow – Michelle Alexander
  6. White Too Long – Robert P. Jones
  7. The Fire This Time – editor Jesmyn Ward (essays)
  8. Just Us – C. Rankine
  9. Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption – Bryan Stevenson
  10. Heavy – Kiese Laymon

My daily reading companion….Mork.

 

 

  1. What was your favorite nonfiction read(s) of the year?
  2. My favorite book is not always the book I recommend to other readers.
  3. My choice is based on how it made me feel not what did I learn from it.
  4. I ask myself: was it …intellectually adventurous?  emotionally wise?
  5. This year I will choose a female writer  and a male writer.
  6. Each has their own perspective to share with the reader.
  7. Female: 
  8. Just Us – C. Rankine
  9. Male:
  10. Heavy – Kiese Laymon

   

 

 

 

  1. Do you have a particular topic you’ve been attracted to more this year?
  2. This year my reading was a result of the
  3. …sorry state of politics and race relations in USA.
  4. This  Election 2020 year….and Americans are voting for the soul of the nation.
  5. Another topic was #Covid19 pandemic.
  6. The misinformation and lack of national plan to combat the virus is THE
  7. …most egregious political decision USA history (IMO).
  8. It has divided the country, politicized the mere wearing f of a mask
  9. …and was the cause of many preventable deaths.
  10. Perhaps a visual will help explain the seriousness of #COVID19.
    Trump keeps telling his rallies….“We’re rounding the curve…”
    For once I agree with him…but I call it Dead Man’s Curve.

 

  1. What nonfiction book have you recommended the most?
  2. A Very Stable Genius – C. Leonnig, P. Rucker
  3. Donald Trump v. The United States – M. Schmidt
  4. Both books are examples of  exemplary writing by
  5. journalists at The Washington Post (C. Leonnig, P. Rucker)
  6. jouraalist at The New York Times (M. Schmidt)
  7. I’ve read 10 books this year about D. J. Trump and his administration.
  8. These 2 books have a polish and
  9. in-depth analysis that makes them the winners!

                          

 

 

 

 

 

 

26
Sep

#Essays Just Us

 

Conclusion:  

  1. A book of essays, poems and images that confront White privilege and White silence.
  2. Just Us: An American Conversation….explores whiteness and white supremacy in a series of everyday conversations, at the airport, dinner party, theatre and voting booth.
  3. Truly…a #MustRead

 

TITLE:    very subtle : Just Us = (…justice)

What if (poem) – needed to read this a few times…I even typed sections on paper for another perspective….a different layout that I hoped would help me understand the poem’s message.

Liminal spaces i – firstly I looked up what ‘liminal spaces means. Then searched the table of contents and see that 2 other essays are named: Liminal spaces ii and Liminal spaces iii (last chapter). So I hope after I finish the book I will discover the importance using these 3 chapters …perhaps as way to divide the book.

Evolution – short essay that no real impact on me. Quote about white people:
“…their socialization in a culture that is set up to keep them ignorant of their ignorance of violence committed against people of color.”

Lemonade
Title: reference to Beyoncé’s album
this is a very short essay. Ms Rankine reveals her battle with breast cancer and her struggles within an interracial marriage.
Strong point: quote that made me think….
“The threat of imminent death had built a mansion in my mind where before there existed only a motel for passing fears.”

Outstretched – EXCELLENT!!
Title: refers to British photographer’s photo “Woman with Arms Outstretched” (Memphis, Tenn)
Photo of the woman is veiled by a white haze due to overexposuring the image…she is difficult to see. This veil is the ‘white gaze’ confronting a black figure. Seeing but not seeing….Graham forces us to squint into racial politics.
Quote: Ms Rankine includes a message from Graham: “…you have to choose to overcome your own blindness.”

Daughter:
Title: describes Ms Rankine’s thoughts while attending a parent-teacher
meeting with her husband at her daughter’s predominantly white high-school.

Notes on the state of whiteness:
Title: …with a wink to Notes on the State of Virginia: by T. Jefferson
…his vigorous argument about the nature of a good society.

Tiki Torches: refers to torch-lit Unite the Right rally Charlottesville march in 2017)
Title: …recalling a cross-burning 1981 the fall before Ms Rankine arrived a college.

Study on white male privilege: ….short observation.
Title: Is this phrase ‘white male privilege’ extremely offensive police Capt. Arendt?
Quote:”…Surely, police Capt. Arndt must understand himself as white and male,
…so perhaps it’s the noun ‘privilege’ that enrages him?

 

Tall: 1 page…narrative method that attempts “to depict the multitudinous thoughts and feelings which pass through the mind of Ms Rankine.
Title: TALL refers to a conversation the author has with a man in a hallway. He thinks his height is greatest privilege….Ms Rankine does not agree. “I think your whiteness is your greatest privilege.
The conversation continues…..

 

Social contract: …what is the proper etiquette?
Title: To create discomfort by pointing out the facts….is seen as socially UNacceptable.
Quote: “A white woman ends the conversation…turning her gaze to a silver tray of brownies. Hers is the fey gesture…..by a white woman. It’s so blatant a redirect.
I can’t help myself and ask ALOUD the most obvious question:
Am I being silenced?”
WOW!….don’t underestimate Claudia Rankine!!

 

Violent: interview with Ms Rankine’s friend about
how whiteness is talked about in her home.
(Ms Rankine is writing about this topic for her work)
Title: Child is told he ‘ruined’ Goldilocks and 3 Bears…by colouring her with brown skin.
Ms Rankine includes interesting notes on the text….don’t forget to read them!

Sound and Fury ( poem)
Title: Knowing that this is a portrait of the Trump voter as a cast-aside worker
helps the reader interpret the poem.
Quote: “…harden into fury” “…white’s right to righteous rage.”

Big Little Lies: EXCELLENT !!
Title: Touching analysis of a 30 year long friendship between college friends: Ms Rankine and unnamed girl coming from northeast USA with wealth going back the Mayflower.
Quote: “Her kind of security is atmospheric and therefore not transferable. It’s what reigns behind the term white.”
“How do we keep the differences on the table and still call that friendship?”

Ethical Loneliness
Title: another analysis of a friendship….so good.

Liminal Spaces ii
Title: The term “liminal spaces” refers to places between destinations that aren’t meant to be existed in as much as passed through.
Think of an airport….or a train station along the railroad tracks!
Quote: “ To converse is to risk the unraveling of the said and the unsaid.
“To converse is to risk the performance of what’s held by the silence.”

José Martí (…one of the longest essays)
…..this essay started out so well…..then I just lost interest. Sorry.
Title: Oh this essay is filled with so many insights about race, racism, whiteness.
Quote: “How can white Democratic and Independent candidates have black people’s humanity in mind on a policy level…..when they themselves exhibit or condone racism with whatever apologetic language comes to mind?”

Boys Will Be Boys
Title: expression “boys will be boys” attempts to explain away aggressive behaviors that a small number of children exhibit.
It creates an easy excuse to fall back on so adults don’t have to examine other reasons for such aggressive behaviours.
Ms Rankine comments on two situations: verbally abusive man towards his wife in line at the airport
Brett Kavanaugh hearings in Washington D.C.
Quote: “Something feels lost…something with a beating heart.”

Complicit Freedoms – long essay…worth the reading time, and photos hair (blond)
by John Lucas (Ms Rankine’s husband)
Title: Modern hair-coloring technology has allowed people to dye their hair virtually any shade. So why is one hue in particular so popular?
Quote: Not in the essay….but I cannot get this out of my head:                                                            “…Only her hairdresser knows for sure.”

Whitening
Title: An interesting look at skin-whitening an why it is valued.
Quote: Naomi Osaka’s Japanese mother was estranged from her parents for 15 years because
of her love for a Haitian man.” Grandparents met Naomi when she was 11 years old. How sad is that…..to turn your back on a daughter, a granddaughter just for the color of a man’s skin.

Liminal Spaces iii
Title: A liminal spaces/experience is the feeling of transition. They may be brief.
Think of a ‘coming of age’ story…passing from teen to adulthood
Think of divorce or a job transition
Quote: “Why aren’t all people actively involved into our present American struggle against a nationalist regime?
Have so many become so vulnerable to white dominance that the pathways to imagined changed are wiped out or our brains….”
“Is it possible to live E pluribus unum?

 

COVER:
Photographer John Lucas (husband) and writer Claudia Rankine (wife) have collaboratively captured photographs of dyed blonde hair, as seen on the heads of strangers and acquaintances.

COVER
John Lucas reveals photographs of people of all races who bleach their hair. If white supremacy and anti-black racism continues to govern by blondness…might this be our most passive modes of complicity?

This photo is framed as still image and also transposed onto real postage stamps. The stamp, a form of currency with inherent mobility, becomes a metaphor for questioning: What do we attribute to blondness? Where do we think it will take us?

19
Sep

Ruth Bader Ginsburg: RIP

 

  1. 6 km done – (06:20-08:00 hr)
  2. I was awake  at 5:40
  3. ….checked twitter and my heart sank.
  4. Justice Ruth Ginsburg dies weeks before election.
  5. Just when you thought it couldn’t get any worse.
  6. I don’t know whether to grieve or fight.
  7. It has been 84 years since a Supreme Court vacancy was
  8. nominated and confirmed in an election year.
  9. This is a tradition I am afraid Mitch McConnell and Trump want desperately to break.
  10. I’ve decided…fighting is winning out.
  11. We can grieve when it’s over.
  12. I hope out of the deepest fiber of my being that the USA makes the right choice.
  13. Will Republican Senators break ranks and refuse to vote for a justice before 03 November?
  14. This is their opportunity to show us that they do have a soul.
  15. Sorry for my political rant so early in the morning but this
  16. …feels like the book “Alexander and the…Terrible, Horrible, No Good Very Bad Day“.
  17. But the children’s book leaves the reader with a hopeful message:
  18. …every bad day comes to an end, eventually.
  19. I leave you with a hopeful sunrise!
  20. Leeuwarden, The Netherlands Foto: 07:14

 

Rest in Peace  (1933-2020)

 

 

15
Aug

#Summer Lockdown….second wave?

July 18

5,6 km – done (04:33 – 06:33 hr)
Walk slowly, wait 10 minutes for the sun to rise….and it was worth the it! I wonder how many people saw this utterly magnificent sunrise! I was speechess. The sun was veiled with a sheer cloud and resembled a sunset….the colors were so warm. Official sunrise: 05:33 Foto: 05:47 hr. The sunrise in these beautiful colors lasted just 5 minutes…but I have captured it for eternity!  “Sauve quelque chose du temps, où on ne sera plus jamais” ( Annie Ernaux, book Les années, 2008)

 

Geese:

I took this photo at the last minute…love geese and it looked like the sunlight was just perfect. But I did not think it would turn out this well! I have to choose a good back round to give the photo composition a polished and peaceful look. Those irritating solar panels just above the reeds (NL: de rietkraag)…seem to ruin many shots. The reeds, the rippling water and the way the geese swim in perfect rows of 3 (…expect the one straggler)…was just a gift to this amateur photographer! Foto: 06:15 hr

 

July 19

5,6 km – done
I really wanted to stay in bed this morning but I knew I would be ridden with guilt the entire day. Very quiet Sunday morning (…no noisy trucks rushing veggies to the grocery stores). Temp 18 C (64 F) at 05:00! Some days the sun wants to stay in bed as well… Foto: 05:28 hr

 

July 20

European  Coot

We have 3 types of friends in life: friends for a reason, friends for a season and friends for a lifetime. Carla is a friend for life! There are other coots hiding in the reeds but when I whistle…Carla swims to greet me! Foto: 06:13 hr

 

Summer in The Netherlands

Now if I had a boat this would be the perfect place to moor parallel alongside the quay or bank. This place is on the outskirts of town…walking paths/bike paths close by and in a 10 minute walk you are in town for a shopping day or coffee. Imagine waking up ….hearing the birds…and perhaps seeing me meandering by! Foto: 06:22 hr. #LoveTheReflection….in the mirror-like water.

Best Friend

Coffee and croissant with a friend….best way to start the week!

 

July 21

5,6 km – done
Good news – walks start later and I feel I’m experiencing a normal sleep cycle. Last month I felt like a dairy farmer who has to get up so early to milk the cows….Exhausting after a few days.
Bad news: more traffic, bikers and the rabbits have gone down their rabbit holes.
Sunrise (05:37 hr…you have 16 hours of sunlight to enjoy!) was hidden by some passing clouds…so I keep walking and hope to catch the light later. Foto: 05:54 hr

 

Heading South soon…?

One on the most haunting sounds of nature is hearing the low ‘honk’ of geese flying. It is always a sign that summer is here…but winter is coming. These geese were out for a practice formation flight before making their long trek south in a few months. As you can see they need to log in some flight hours to pull the team together in the familiar V-formation. #NeverGiveUp Foto: 05:52 hr

 

July 22

5,6 km – done (04:50-06:40 hr)
Struggled to get out of bed….but once I’m outside and sniff the morning air I’m glad I decided to put on my walking shoes. For the first time a car stopped to speak to me! It was a van for a security firm (beveiliging). He said I see you every day…and I said “I see you too….and it gives me a ‘safe/secure feeling’. Response by the gentleman: “That’s my job!’ Sunrise Foto: 05:35 hr

 

Who are you?

Not much happening in the fields and duck ponds this morning. A few bikers on the path but that’s it. My best fotos today were taken just out side my front door! This ‘rode rakker’ (Dutch for red cat) was doing his morning round….checking out the street life. Foto: 06:38 hr

Books:

Finished: 22.07.2020
Genre: non-fiction
Rating: D
#20BooksOfsummer20
Conclusion:
Bad news: parts 1-3
The low score is because of the false advertisement surrounding this book.
About 60% of this book is about her father Freddy Jr., it is a sad, irrelevant story.
Good news: part 4….powerful analysis of D.J. Trump that I very much enjoyed.
Buy the book?….wait and borrow it from the library

 

Books:

Classic… I never thought I would read….b/c I dislike V.S. Naipaul as a person after reading a revealing article about his dysfunctional marriage. Nobel Prize in Literature 2001 for “Bend In The River”. Short review: https://nancyelin.wordpress.com/…/classic-bend-in-the-river/

July 23

Swans:

After a late night “at the Irish theatre” ( watched streaming performance ‘The Weir’ on You Tube)
good news:…I was able to recharge my sleep batteries
bad news: I have a very upset cat who is not liking his ‘eating schedule’ being descimated. My response? “ Tell it to the Marines!” (Tell it to the Marines” is an English-language idiom, originally with reference to Britain’s Royal Marines, connoting that the person addressed is not to be believed). Still I wanted to share with you my 30 seconds of calm…swans. #NeedCoffee

July 24

Heron:

I have waited months to capture a blue heron, and today is my lucky day! Here is Harry…just chillin by the Elefstedenhal skating rink pond! 70% of herons in The Netherlands breed in our province (Friesland, see Google) known for its canals, lakes and wetlands. These birds do not head south in the winter…b/c our winters feel like a very cold Spring…so no need to fly to Benidorm, Spain! Foto: 07:40 hr

July 25

Every cloud has a silver lining and this was a beautiful sky…crisp, clear with volatile clouds in the distance. I was able to protect my camera from the downpour...but must invest in a waterproof carrier bag very soon! Foto: 07:21 hr

 

July 26

Art: …good read in The New Yorker

Hopper depicts solitude….not loneliness.
By being separate, we belong together

 

Art:  Van Gogh

Location of Van Gogh’s last painting “Boomwortels” (tree roots) painted (…sadly unfinished) hours before he committed suicide in 1890, is discovered by Dutch art expert. Place: Auvers-sur-Oise

 

July 27

5,6 km – done (05:23-06:43 hr)
Very slow ‘photo’ morning….I was out walking early. The duck pond gives you and idea what is to come…rain, again. Foto: 05:39 hr

Not even  Bruno was  interested in me!

 

July 28

You always hear…“scattered showers expected”...and it seems they all fall on my head. Second drenching this week…and beware those little pixels on the rain radar….’buienradar’…are very big and wet! Foto: 06:24 hr

 

Soup:

EXCELLENT home made tomato soup
…from scratch! Dinner in 30 minutes!
Makes 3-4 servings (…depending on size of soup bowl)

Sauté in 2 TB butter…in soup pan
1 onion chopped
handful chopped celery( leaves)
2 garlic (crushed)

Sprinkle 1,5 TB flour…..mix
add 2 c. water + 1 tablet bouillon
add 14 oz can tomato chopped
salt
pepper
a…couple squeezes of tomato pasta from tube (test for taste)

add at the end….1 TB fresh pesto (optional)
add couple squirts Balsamico vinegar
add small squeeze honey!
VOILÀ

July 29

Garden:

Your 30 seconds of calm.….my garden.

 

July 30

5,6 km – done (05:15-07:15 hr)
High pressure means clears skies and capturing a sunrise is a challenge. It creeps up on you…but the days are 1 hr 15 min shorter than on 21 June! Foto: 06:08 hr (official sunrise 05:51 hr)

The March Hare:

This was just a rabbit on the run. I’m surprised I even got a decent foto of my furry friend. Foto: 06:10 hr
This reminded me to the March Hare…who appears to be late for his job with the Duchess (Alice in Wonderland)

July 31

Cat:

5,6 km – done (05:27-06:45)
So quiet this morning…many people are on vacation and Friday is often a day people are off from the workweek. The sun was creeping over the treetops around 06:00 hr. Only one friend was prowling the grassy path…I call her Stella. Foto: 05:37 hr #NeedCoffee

 

Now for something completely different…

Well, just when I thought no more photos….I run up against a car with eyelashes! Really, not painted on the hood…real curls…I touched them to make sure! It seems it is a car from a dog walker…lots of hairs and dog blanket in the back seat! #NeedCoffee and a good book.  Foto: 06:59 hr

 

7
Jul

#Summer Lockdown…life goes on

July 3 2020  misty morning walk….

 

July 4 2020 – First real rainy day that kept me from my dawn walk.

 

Time to eat: Omelette, mushrooms, bell pepper avocado and smoked salmon….do you believe it? I’m on a diet!

 

 

July 05 2020

#Caturday just go to the kitchen for a Heineken…to celebrate Max Verstappen Dutch Formule 1 driver starting qualification run in Austria….and there in no more room to sit down in front of TV.

 

July 06 2020

5,6 km – done (walk 04:25 – 05:55 hr)
This was an exciting morning! Moonlight flooded the bedroom 03:00 hr and I saw a Buck Moon in clear skies! (see Google). If that wasn’t enough…suddenly I saw a moving star…it was the Inter Space Station (ISS) making a sweep orbit around the earth and above my house (1 orbit takes 90 min and crew see 16 sunrises and sunsets per day)! Wild and windy this morning with ominous clouds…should I stay home? Of course not…because I would miss this! Foto: 04:52 hr. This shot lasted 30 seconds ….then the clouds covered the moon. Again, I was in the right place at the right time! Song: “Blue moon…you saw me standing alone there, without a dream in my heart, without a love of my own.”

 

Well, my ol’ friend was out prowling this morning. He found something in the grasses…and luckily did not notice me! I took 10 fotos just to get this one. With a zoom lens…the image is shaky when hand-held. So with some luck I got this snap!
I call him Bruno….so brazen and bold when he looks at me!
This in an example of f/2,8 aperture….de focus is on Bruno/flowers and the path behind him is blurry…less depth of field! Foto: 05:45 #NeedCoffee

 

  • I’ve reduced  the shortist to 2 women
  • I think would be an excellent VP choice for 2020 election:
  • Susan Rice could be Biden’s pick as VP choice.
  • Mother, wife, scholar, diplomat, and fierce champion of American interests and values,
  • Rice connects the personal and professional…..we wait and see.

 

Tammy Duckworth:

  • US senator, Iraq War Veteran, Blackhawk helicopter pilot,
  • Purple Heart recipient (dubble amputee, leg) flew Blackhawk heli in Iraq
  • Retired with rank of Lieutenant Colonel in 2014.
  • She is fluent in Thai and Indonesian and has a PhD in political science.
  • She is married and is the mother of 2 young girls.
  • Could this woman be VP….or even President USA, you better believe it!
  • If Biden choses Duckworth it would be a surprise upset!
  • ….we wait and see.

 

I have been trying to read John Bolton’s book The Room Where It Happened….only on chapter 4. It is like pulling teeth…difficult, tiresome and tedious. Is this the book Trump wanted to stop selling? Trump should worry about his niece’s book Too Much and Never Enough  by Mary Trump coming out on 14th of  July.

 

Artist of the future Nigerian-American Toyin Ojih Odutola. This is the portrait of the writer Zadie Smith for the National Portrait Gallery London….#Beautiful…unique style!

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