Review: The Framed Women of Ardemore House

The Framed Women of Ardemore House by Brandy Schillace
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

I never ever shook the feeling that this was basically a Harlequin romance with a mystery in the background. And the penultimate chapter describing what really happened got kind of tedious. By the time the last chapter came around, it was past time for the book to be over."

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Review: Shards of Earth

Shards of Earth by Adrian Tchaikovsky
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

December 2, 2024 –
0% "Once upon a time, mysterious beings appeared, made a bunch of planets unlivable, then went away after one man spontaneously developed superpowers and managed to defeat just one ship. The splintered masses of humanity, including the genetically engineered and the AI offspring, are not truly ready for the BBEGs to come back.
Oh, and one Amazon falls for this man, who is surprisingly youthful for his years."
December 3, 2024 –
0% "Let's see - an all-female warrior race with relaxed social mores regarding sex. Check."
December 8, 2024 –
0% "Everybody has too many names. I'm beginning to think that Tchaikovsky is hostile toward audiobooks.

This is turning into a sidequest story."
December 9, 2024 –
0% "Oh, they found the Infinity Stones!"
December 10, 2024 –
0% "These AIs sure are sarcastic.

I like the spacer's wake.

Can't help but think that the mystical ability of a select few to navigate un-space and mentally connect with Originators and Architects, is just a wee bit like The Force."
December 15, 2024 –
0% "The early text stated that Ollie could not adapt to standard limb prosthetics because she was not born with standard limbs and couldn't operate them efficiently. And yet, she routinely operates an arachnid form with several more limbs, AND was able to plug directly into a ship's controls? She wasn't born with those, either!"
December 16, 2024 –
0% ""Oh, pay no attention to the veteran with PTSD. No WAY the enemy could come at us again!""
December 22, 2024 – Finished Reading

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Review: The Second Murderer: A Philip Marlowe Novel

The Second Murderer: A Philip Marlowe Novel by Denise Mina
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

While the media of the 40's did not cover it extensively, it was a dangerous time to be any flavor of queer in America. That absolutely does not mean that such people did not exist, merely that society would rather that they didn't.
From what I understand of Philip Marlowe, he was a live-and-let-live kind of person, and would absolutely not have judged anyone for their sexuality.
He does judge people upon their privilege level, though.

Overall, I liked this book, didn't love it.

Below this point are my in progress notes.

November 17, 2024 – Started Reading
November 17, 2024 – Shelved as: owned
November 17, 2024 – Shelved
November 17, 2024 – Shelved as: mystery-book-club
November 17, 2024 –
43.0% "I'm not an afficionado of Chandler's work, but it seems to me that the author kept true to the character. The narrator sounds like an upright fellow, but in my opinion lacks he nuance needed."
November 24, 2024 –
100.0% "Overall, I think that Marlowe (as usual) goes the long way around to solve things."
November 24, 2024 – Finished Reading



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Dog Prop

2005:

This was my first role in Omaha.  Got Arthur and Kyrie involved in auditions for Oliver, out at the Chanticleer Theatre in Council Bluffs Iowa.

The director loved Loved LOVED this play, above all others, and he insisted on having a dog in the show.

You know what WC Fields said?  Never work with children or animals.

I was cast as Bill Sikes, so I had to work with that dog.  A German Shepherd with lots of energy and a love for peanut butter.

I had a lot of experience onstage, but no experience animal training.  The dog had ... a lot of energy.

We were about two weeks into rehearsal.  The owners provided me with a choke chain to keep him under control and we were just about to the point where we were used to each other.

So now let me backtrack a bit.

Our stage had a kind of bridge over it.  Stairs leading up both sides and a walkway above.  Very sturdy.  BUT!  The bottom step was about a step and a quarter.

The dog, eager for his exit treat, pulled me a little off-balance.  I missed the last step and fell.  And didn't let go of his lead right away.  I hurt my leg, and he got pinched on his neck.

This set our trust back very badly.

I had to work extra with the dog for another three weeks just to get us back to where we were.

And during that three weeks, I could barely walk.

My thigh turned some very pretty colors.

In the end, though, I even got him to take a bow, so that was nice.

We called him my prop, and didn't allow the kids to touch him.  His owners even got him a bandanna with the word "Prop" on it.

So, that's my stage dog story.

Review: An Ugly World for Beautiful Boys

An Ugly World for Beautiful Boys by Rob Costello
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

One might think that this sort of book is not my cup of tea ... and one would be right. Not because I'm straight and CIS, but because I've reached an age where I find much more in common with the adults in a book, than with the teenagers. I found Toby just plain annoying, and remarkably unaware considering how often he self-reflects in the narrative. Found myself thinking, "listen to your elders, you little punk!" way too often.

The overall plot is very similar to older stories about young women being seduced into the sleazy culture of the Big City - the author has merely changed the gender of the protagonist.

That being said, I was impressed with Dabb's narration. He differentiates very well between character voices and attitudes (with the possible exception of the sleazy older guys in the nightclub; they seemed to blend together -- perhaps on purpose). I had some minor questions about pacing, and look forward to speaking with Myles about his process and techniques.

Overall, I didn't hate it, I'm just aged out of the target audience.

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Don't Hire Remodel Work From Home Depot

Original rant:  12/18/2024

I work nights.  I have a sign next to my doorbell telling people so, and asking them to not disturb me.  Today I have had to take that sign down.  Apparently no one can understand that this does not apply when I'm expecting them - and more than one person has used that sign as an excuse to not do the job that they were hired for.  Today's incident is a case in point (but not the only example).

I've a kitchen remodel in progress since June, because we wanted it done before Christmas.  

It is now mid-December, and still not finished.  

This project has been mismanaged every step of the way.  

Starting with the delivery of materials.  We were given a window of delivery that fell outside of our vacation plans, but received notice of delivery DURING our vacation.  The only recourse was to cancel delivery and reschedule later.  That cost an extra month.

The boxes sat in our house for weeks before the project manager came to unbox/inspect.  Items were missing, and had to be ordered before installation could occur.

When installation finally was scheduled, the install team found one of the cabinets was broken - which the PM missed.  Installation was half-done, awaiting a new cabinet.  They also found that the studs in my house are 24" apart, not 18" as estimated by PM - requiring bracing be installed, additional work for which the contractors were not originally hired.

And then there are the drawer pulls that never got ordered.  We picked out handles/pulls to match the other cabinets, but those never got ordered because "I thought you wanted to get something special for that."  We never said that.  We wanted something to match the existing cabinets.

After another 3 weeks wait (during which time I bought and installed drawer pulls myself, thank you very much).  Replacement cabinet is here (no PM inspection) and today the installers were scheduled to show up (between 8 and 10, ha ha).  

They were not here by noon, and no communication.  Wife called the PM and was told that they were on their way.  We waited. 

My outside camera shows that they were here shortly after 1:00, knocked so softly that even the dogs didn't hear it (did not ring doorbell), and left.  Without knocking again, without calling.

The countertop/backsplash can't even be started until the cabinets are done.  This will likely not be finished until well into January - and that's optimistic. 

Look, I understand about scheduling, and how sometimes you can't follow through on a promise no matter how much you want to.  But is it too much to ask for a bit of notice when you can't make an appointment?

I work nights.  I literally have to sacrifice sleep to be present for anyone coming to my home during the day.  A little common courtesy would have turned this ranting negative review to a simple "oh well, shit happens" shrug.  But I have not received that from anyone involved in this project.

I cannot recommend that anyone use this storefront to arrange any kind of contract work.  No one communicates anything, no one does the job that they were hired to do. 

(The install was not finished until February '25.)

Review: Vera Wong's Unsolicited Advice for Murderers

Vera Wong's Unsolicited Advice for Murderers by Jesse Q. Sutanto
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Vera Wong runs a teahouse, but she's really a professional busybody. Her own child won't listen to her, so she tries to run everybody else's life. When a dead body appears in her shop overnight, she naturally tries to run the murder investigation.

The problem is, she's so bad at it! Miss Swan meets Columbo. Absolutely hilarious.

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