My Cat Is Such A Weirdo Vol. 7

 

By Tamako Tamagoyama

A book about three cats and an axolotl. Mainly concerned about how the cats will adapt to a new house. And about the various health problems the animals experience. Not in great detail though.

The drawings are cute. But the cats don't seem any weirder than most cats. The axolotl's health problem was very weird, I think. 

For the most part, I don't get this book. It was very dull. How does a series this boring sell well enough to extend to seven volumes? That is what is weird about this book.

Anyway, here are three drawings from the book that I found to be a little bit amusing (Note -- the comic reads from right to left):

Number One Is Walking

 

By Steve Martin, drawings by Harry Bliss

A look back at his career in cinema by actor/writer/comedian Steve Martin. Steve provided the prose and Harry Bliss did the illustrations. 

I first saw Steve Martin on Saturday Night Live when he sang "King Tut" dressed like Egyptian royalty. It was funny and weird and introduced the world to an extraordinary performer who went on to have a very successful career in entertainment. Still going strong as far as I know. More power to him!

On the other hand, I had never heard of Harry Bliss so I looked him up on Wikipedia: "Harry Bliss ... is an American cartoonist and illustrator. He has illustrated many books and produced thousands of cartoons including 25 covers for The New Yorker. He has a syndicated single-panel comic titled 'Bliss'. 'Bliss' is syndicated through Tribune Content Agency and appears in over 80 newspapers in the United States, Canada, and Japan."

I enjoyed what Steve has to say and I really enjoyed the drawings Bliss contributed. They add so much to the story. Here are a few examples of his drawings from the book:

Here is an example the style in which the story is told. And also has an explanation of the book title:

The Book of the Pig

 

By Jack Denton Smith, photos by Ozzie Sweet

I would call this book a brief introduction to the domesticated pig. It has lots of photos, but all in black and white, a strike against it, in my opinion.

It discusses the origins of the domesticated pig and its temperament and the benefits it provides for humanity and not just as delicious food. It also gives brief descriptions of the various commercial breeds of swine.

Clearly the author really appreciates and admires pigs which he claims are not the messy smelly critters they have been portrayed to be. He even says pigs are the smartest domesticated animal, smarter even than dogs, citing a five-year research program at the University of Kentucky which found that:

"...pigs not only are the smartest of all farm animals, but also are more intelligent than dogs, mastering any trick of feat accomplished by canines in much shorter time."

The author also quotes naturalist W.H. Hudson on the innate quality of swine:

"The pig is not suspicious, or shrinkingly submissive, like horses, cattle and sheep; nor an impudent devil-may-care like the goat; nor hostile like the goose; nor condescending like the cat; nor a flattering parasite like the dog. The pig views us as fellow citizens and brothers, and takes it for granted that we understand his language." 

 

So the book is a good, short introduction to the humble farm animal, the pig. But at only sixty-three pages it is only an introduction. It definitely paints pigs in a much kinder light than they are usually portrayed. It's just too bad none of the many photos are in color.  That would have really improved what is basically a picture book. Although the blurb on the inside flap of the book cover calls it a "photo essay." 

A Hummingbird in My House : The Story of Squeak

 

By Arnette Heidcamp

Arnette Heidcamp had a garden full of the kind of flowering plants that hummingbirds like. In late October of 1988, after pruning her plants for winter, she noticed a young male hummingbird in the garden who was obviously looking for something to eat. She could see it was not in good condition for the long trip to its wintering grounds down south. Being fond of hummingbirds, Arnette  was worried about the little bird and managed to lure it into her house. She set him up in her sunroom which was filled with flowering plants that a hummingbird would enjoy. Plus she supplemented his food with a commercial hummingbird food that contained everything the hummer would need to survive until spring in Arnette's sunroom.

So from October 1988 to May 1989, Arnette had the pleasure of getting to know a charming little fellow who spent the winter living in her sunroom and being catered to in every way. She named him Squeak because he was quite the squeaky boy. They became quite close, Squeak even allowed he to stroke his chest and he became quite attached to her and followed her about the sunroom whenever she was in there with him. 

Arnette knew that when spring arrived, she would have to let Squeak go free. She hoped he would make her garden the center of his world and continue to be part of her life. But when he flew out the sunroom door in May, he flew away, never to return. But he went with her best wishes for his wellbeing accompanying him.

This was an enchanting look at the life of a young, male hummingbird who got to spend the winter being pampered indoors instead of facing certain death migrating south. A time the author surely cherishes in her memories and that she generously shared with the rest of us, letting us get to know Squeak too. Lots of color photos of Squeak included.

Living in the Country Growing Weird

 

By Dennis Parks

From the University of Nevada Press:

"In 1972, Dennis Parks, a young potter with a promising academic career ahead of him, decided to move to Tuscarora, a near-abandoned mining town in remote northeastern Nevada. Parks and his wife were attracted to Tuscarora's isolation and beautiful setting, and they believed that it might be a healthy environment in which to raise their two small sons. This is Parks' account of his family's life in Tuscarora, a tiny settlement whose population even forty years later numbers fewer than twenty permanent residents.
Parks created a pottery school that attracts students from around the world and developed for himself an international reputation as the creator of powerful, innovative works in clay. Meanwhile, he and his family had to master the skills required of those who choose to live in the back country--growing and hunting their own food, renovating or building from scratch the structures they needed for residences or studios, resolving conflicts with neighbors, inventing their own amusements. The transformation from middle-class urbanity to small-town simplicity is, as Parks reveals, a lurching and sometimes hilarious process, and the achievement of self-sufficiency is similarly fraught with unexpected challenges."



Dennis and his wife Julie made a good life for themselves and their two boys in the very isolated town of Tuscarora. They managed to make ends meet without feeling too deprived of the finer things in life, according to what he writes in his book. One of his sons, Ben, joined his dad at the pottery school and continued on with it after Parks passed in 2021.

You can find out more about his life in this obituary on the Legacy.com website.

This was an inspiring read and makes the simple life seem very appealing. It has lots of black and white photos in it but their quality is rather poor.

Man and Dog

 

By Brad Steiger

From the book jacket:

"Brad Steiger explores the bond between human and canine by relating true stories of the remarkable social-spiritual contract that has existed between humankind and its loyal companions for thousands of years. He shares fascinating true stories about the creatures that have more than earned the title of 'man's best friend,' such as:

• A man, paralyzed and alone, who was kept alive by his dog for nine days
• The dog that brought a girl back from a five-week coma
• A dog named 'Blaze' that saved a family from fire

Brad Steiger also reveals the findings of current medical research into the positive effects pets have on our lives, from lowering blood pressure and alleviating stress to easing the pain of bereavement.

In this charming, thought-provoking, often astounding book, Brad Steiger fully substantiates the 'ancient contract between dogs and human.'"

The book jacket also includes a review by Publishers Weekly: "Remarkable tales of canine heroism...Steiger gives advice on how to communicate with dogs, discusses the value of pet therapy and offers several instances of ghost dogs appearing to their owners. Also covered are findings of current medical research into the positive effects of pets on humans, such as lowered blood pressure...enjoyable."

The book is chock full of mystical claims and other such other worldly stuff. I enjoyed the ghost stories and the stories about the bond between people and their dogs and the stories of dogs helping people. But the mystical content did not interest me and I skipped most of it. 

How I Got This Way

 

By Patrick F. McManus

Another collection of the author's funny short stories, including hilarious stories of his childhood, stories of his adult outdoor experiences (not as funny but still very enjoyable) and even some more serious and touching stories, including a rather melancholy one about a kingfisher. All in all a wonderful, funny and touching collection that I thoroughly enjoyed reading.

The stories:

• How I Got This Way, Part I
• Ethics, and What to Do About Them
• Bambo
• Get Ready
• Toe
• The Bandage
• The Big Woods
• Elk Magic
• There She Blows
• Brimstone
• The Blue Dress
• Warped Camshaft
• The 400-Pound Pumpkin
• Tenner-Shoe Blight
• Letter from a Kingfisher
• The Ultimate Bull
• My Greatest Triumph
• Another Boring Day
• The Complete Curmudgeon
• The Liars Club
• A Couple Pickles Shy of a Full Barrel
• Excuse Me, While I Get Out of the Way
• The Two Masked Raiders
• Mosquito Bay
• My Hike with, ahem, the President
• Ed in Camp
• How I Got This Way, Part II

Here is a review from Publishers Weekly.

My Life and Hard Times

 

By James Thurber

A collection of short stories based on Thurber's childhood and teenage years. 

In the introduction to the stories, written by John K. Hutchens, he claims that Thurber had an excellent memory and that the stories are all true, for the greater part. I don't know if that is the case or not, but they are all funny and amazing and worthy of being cherished and passed on to later generations. 

The stories are:

• The Night the Bed Fell
• The Car We Had to Push
• The Day the Damn Broke
• The Night the Ghost Got In
• More Alarms at Night
• A Sequence of Servants
• The Dog That Bit People
• University Days
• Draft Board Nights
• A Note at the End - a commentary by Thurber on his stories. 

The book is available to read online for free at Project Gutenberg Canada.

Kirkus Reviews has a review of the book, dating from when it was published in the early 1930s: Kirkus Reviews.

Never Eat Your Heart Out

 

By Judith Moore

Moore reminisces about her childhood and adulthood and her marriage and about food. The first two thirds of the book were very interesting but after her marriage ends, the rest of it was pretty boring.  

Here is a review by Publishers Weekly. 

My Old Kentucky Home

 

By Elliot Paul

In about 1908, Elliot Paul, fresh out of college, moved from the northeast to Louisville, Kentucky to take on an engineering job. He lived in a boarding house while there and became quite close to some of the other boarders and to the family that ran the boarding house. He may have actually become a little too involved in their lives, but he was young and inexperienced and he got caught up in their drama. He also experienced the thrill of jazz music and became a lifelong fan of jazz and of jazz musicians. And he fell in love with a beautiful Spanish woman who was a bit older than he was. She kept him at arms length, romantically, but was quite happy to use him to help keep her slightly loony mother entertained. And the son of the boarding house owner happily introduced him to the various whore houses in town. 

This was actually an enjoyable read. Though it certainly has its racist moments. Not just about blacks but also a Jewish man. But the author does address the unfairness of discrimination later in the book: 

I tried to understand how a man like Bud, one of the advance guard of an advancing people, and one who wished everyone well, could enter so thoroughly into his small foster-son's experience and not worry himself sick about the boy's future. At that time, I was sure that if I were a Negro I would kill myself, and miss a wonderfully good time rather than face the hourly indignities to which a black man was subjected. It is one thing to acknowledge that another kind of man can throw a boomerang farther than one could hope to do, or add figures faster, or find more small talk for women's entertainment. But how would it feel, I asked myself, again and again, to have another race assume superiority, and impose their assumptions on me, denying my fundamental equality as a man, however young?

 

Kirkus has uploaded a review of the book dating from when it was first published in 1949. It does cast some doubt on the truthfulness of Eliott's narrative. Find it here: Kirkus Reviews.

 

Seek You : A Journey Through American Loneliness

 

By Kristen Radtke

Radtke takes a look at why people feel so isolated and lonely these days. She talks about her own struggle with loneliness and also looks at other professionals' thoughts about and studies of loneliness, including the negative effects it has on people and on society. And I also enjoyed the illustrations.

I picked this book up in the new book section of our local library. It was classified as fiction and I thought it was a graphical romance novel. OK, I was disappointed when I started to read it and bit angry at the library for misclassifying it. But I decided to keep on reading it and I quickly overcame my disappointment. It is a really worthy look at the way people are affected by loneliness and how, in the end, it just pushes us deeper and deeper into our isolation. It was interesting and surprising and I liked it. But I'm still not happy that the librarians decided it belonged in fiction. Just because it is a graphical essay? I suppose they had their reasons.

Go here for a review by NPR.

Best. State. Ever.

 

By Dave Barry

Barry travels around his home state of Florida and reports on some of the more out-of-the-way attractions. 

As a fan of Dave Barry, this book is right up there as one of his funniest, which is saying a lot because he really is an amazing, funny wonderful writer. His books never disappoint. Here are a few of the jokes I encountered that made me laugh out loud: 

"The Fountain of Youth is purely mythical, like the Easter Bunny, or edible vegan food."

 

"As an aging Boomer . . . if they really are having wild sex up there [The Villages], I say more power to them. It's good for people our age to have sex. It upsets the children."

 

 . . ." I shot my brother Phil with it [BB gun] at a fairly close range and he did not die. In my defense, I had a good reason for shooting Phil; namely, I wanted to find out what happens if you shoot somebody with a BB gun. (Answer: He tells your mother,)"

It a fun book and almost makes me want to visit Florida. Almost.

Here is a review by Kirkus Reviews.

Nine Nasty Words

 

By John McWhorter

English in the Gutter: Then, Now and Forever

John McWhorter is a linguist and professor at Columbia University and has published several books, including several on language. Nine Nasty Words looks at the origin and evolution of nine common profane words.

From inside the book jacket: "McWhorter examines the realms of language that are considered shocking and taboo in order to understand what imbues curse words with such power—and why we love them so much."

These are the words he examines, censored;

• Damn & Hell
• F*ck
• Sh*t
• Ass & Assh*le
• D*ck & C*nt
• N-word
• F*ggot
• Bitch
• Motherf*cker

This isn't a long read but it is really interesting, especially to see how words change over time and how we react to them changes over time too. It's been something that has puzzled me: why is "sh*t" censored but "poop" is acceptable? They both mean the same thing: feces. Why is it ok to say "frick" but not "f*ck"? Everyone knows when you say frick, you are really mean f*uck. Asshat is acceptable but assh*le is censored on some social media. Hat is OK but hole is too much? McWhorter does explain how words gain emotional attachments that they never had in the past. An informative and enjoyable read.

Review from Publishers Weekly.

Swan Watch

 

By Budd Schulberg

Budd and his wife Geraldine bought a house on Long Island that was a riverfront property. Wasn't long before they discovered that a pair of swans lived nearby on the river. As is generally true, these swans were aggressive. Locals warned them that swans could be dangerous and advised them to steer clear of the pair. 

But Budd decided to embark on a campaign of gaining the swans' trust. He began by feeding the two birds bread. His campaign worked, although it did take some time. But eventually he got the birds to take bread from his hand. The male was the bravest of the two and let Budd get the closest to him. But the female remained a bit wary. 

Eventually the two swans built a nest and raised a brood of baby swans, seven in all. The cygnets all fledged and were ultimately driven away by their parents in due time. The mated pair stayed on the river year round and the next spring again hatched a brood of baby swans. But this time things did not go well and all the cygnets were victims of predation by a new arrival to the river, the black backed gull.

The book ends with the author wondering about the ability of these two swans to successfully raise their offspring to adulthood with this aggressive new predator on the scene, the black backed gull.

The swans the author was enamored of were mute swans, a non-native species originally from Europe which now considered invasive. This is what Cornell University has to say about mute swans in New York:

Some mute swans are very aggressive and territorial and will chase off and sometimes kill other waterfowl species that enter their territory. With the swan’s large breeding territories in wetlands, they displace many native birds for breeding habitat. Swans tend to be most aggressive during the nesting and brood-rearing stages.

Schulberg's true story about this pair of mute swans dates from the 1970s and I suppose that was before the birds were considered an invasive species. So maybe the arrival of the predatory black backed gulls was not really a bad thing, although he clearly felt it was.

Whatever their ultimate fate in the United States, I did enjoy this short story about Budd Schulberg and the mute swans.

 

They Came to Stay

 

By Marjorie Margolies and Ruth Gruber

Back in the early seventies, Marjorie Margolies decided she wanted to adopt a child from Korea. At the time, she was a career woman and not married although she had not ruled out marriage at some time in the future. In those days, unmarried women (and men, I suppose) were not encouraged to adopt children. But Marjorie was determined and flew to Korea to find the child of her dreams: Lee Heh. 

Lee Heh was a dream child, sweet, smart, enthusiastic about her new life and new mother. Sure, there were adjustments, but Lee Heh did fantastically well. So well, indeed, that Marjorie began to think of adopting a second child to be a little sister to Lee Heh. This time she set her sights on Vietnam, this being the time when the Vietnam war was winding down. 

And so Holly (not her birth name) came into their lives. Unlike Lee Heh, Holly's father was an American and Holly really didn't look Vietnamese. Whatever the truth of Holly's origin, it soon became clear that she was a troubled child. Marjorie and Lee Heh's lives were disrupted by Holly's rages and neediness. Holly spoke almost no English and Marjorie had a difficult time figuring out what she was so upset about. Eventually Marjorie found a Vietnamese student to serve as translator and together they found out what Holly was finding difficult to deal with in her new homeland. The whole family went into therapy to help Holly deal with her childhood traumas and to help Marjorie and Lee Heh deal with Holly.

This was a very engrossing and true story. But beyond adopting the two girls, Marjorie went on to have quite a life. She worked for NBC News and won several Emmys during her career. She also ran for Congress and served during President Bill Clinton's term. Holly and Lee Heh were not her only children. She later married and one of her sons is married to Chelsea Clinton. Marjorie is quite an accomplished and amazing woman.

Review by the New York Times.

Secrets of the Supernatural

 

By Daniel S. Levy

The author gives brief overviews of various aspects of the supernatural. He doesn't go into much depth, just touches on a wide variety of subjects.

Chapter 1: Faith, Magic & the Miraculous which includes healing and miracles, love magic, levitation, divination, sixth sense, astrology, talismans, alchemy, immortality, superstitions, black and white magic, and satanism.

Chapter 2: The World of Witchcraft

Chapter 3: The Undead: Vampires, Ghosts & More which includes zombies, mummies, werewolves and Halloween.

Chapter 4: Signs of the Otherworldly which deals with UFOs and other mysterious phenomena. 

This was a fairly interesting read, but just basically skims the subjects. Most of the items rate only a few paragraphs. But I did come across some information about the occult and the Nazis that I was not aware of before. And it has lots of color images.

The Longest Trip Home

By John Grogan

John Grogan grew up in a suburb of Detroit. His dad had a good job and his children wanted for nothing. At one point, the dad bought his son a sail boat, which tells you something about their situation.
It was a pretty sweet childhood, far from the struggles and poverty of urban Detroit. About the only fly in John's ointment was his parents  religiosity. They were extremely devout Catholics but John never felt an affinity to the religion.
Boys grow up and John heads off to live his life, eventually sharing a house with the woman he later marries. His devout parents find this arrangement very upsetting when John finally works up the nerve to tell them, which takes him a long time. Even after they get married, his parents continue to bombard him with prayers for his safe return to the religion they cherish that they have finally figured out means nothing to their son.
And so it goes. Mom and Dad get old and the inevitable arrives and  though John never returns to their religion, he and his father come to a sort of understanding about it.

I enjoyed the book. It was nice reading about his family. John was a lucky boy, that's for sure: loving parents with a stable marriage, financial security, a safe environment to grow up in. He never even got fondled by a priest even though he was an altar boy! (Or if he did, he doesn't mention it in the story.) He had the kind of childhood many can only dream about.

Review by Publishers Weekly.

The Children's Blizzard

By David Laskin

The winter of 1887-1888 was something else in the upper Midwest: cold and snow and cold and snow. So when a sudden warm spell arrived in January, folks relaxed and went outside and tried to enjoy the relatively balmy temperatures. This was a time to do chores, bring in hay, put the cattle in the pasture. Farmers went out to work in their shirt sleeves. Children left for school without their coats, hats and gloves.
At the time there was no national weather service. The Signal Corps was in charge of weather monitoring and forecasting and were a branch of the military. And although they had predicted falling temperatures and snow, they did not forecast a coming blizzard. And what a blizzard it was.
It happened so fast. One moment it was warm and sunny. The next it was a blast of snow, a curtain of black clouds and gale force winds. It hit the Dakotas while kids were in school. Teachers had to choose between trying to get the kids home or staying in the school house with rapidly declining fuel to heat the building and no food beyond what the students had brought from home for their lunch. Those who risked the trip often did not make it home. Their bodies were discovered later after the storm passed.
Farmers who have released their cattle to pasture risked their lives bringing them back in. Many died trying.
Some who got caught out took shelter in hay stacks but died of the cold. It was so cold that even people in their homes froze to death. Cattle died in the thousands.

Parts of this book were really interesting. The stories of the immigrants and how they came to settle in the upper Midwest and set up their homes on the prairie. The stories of the struggle to survive the cruel onslaught of the unexpected blizzard. The stories of those who survived and those who didn't. All that was quite gripping.
What wasn't so interesting was the tale of the Signal Corps and how it failed to warn of the coming and drastic weather change. The author also goes into quite detailed descriptions of how the weather works, meteorological detail that was quite boring. Worse was his description of what happens to the human body when it freezes to death, just gruesome. I mostly skipped those parts.
But even with the more boring parts, this is an amazing story of a terrible tragedy that affected people from the Dakotas, Minnesota, Iowa and Nebraska. The cold front that came roaring down out of Canada pushed cold weather clear down into Texas with temperatures in some locations there falling into the teens (Fahrenheit). A reminder that we humans are not the rulers of this planet.

A review from Publishers Weekly.

The Angry Christian

By Bert Ghezzi

Are you a Christian who finds themselves losing their temper and feel like you need to do something about that? This little book is intended to give some guidance for Christians in dealing with anger.
Basically, the author has a three step method for bringing anger under control:
1. Do not supress anger.
2. Express it righteously.
3. Settle things quickly.

The author uses the Bible to back up his thinking on anger with appropriate references. He points out that anger is inevitable and not a sin. He says anger can be channeled  in positive ways. However, he does caution that those with extreme anger and emotional problems should seek professional help.

His suggestions can be applied to nonbelievers too, except for the parts where he recommends turning it over to the Holy Spirit. Anyone who feels their anger is getting in the way of their happiness can use his advice to improve their peace of mind, believer or nonbeliever, in my opinion.

Our Love of Bees

By Jaret C. Daniels

This little picture book give the reader the basics about bees, mostly honey bees.

I picked the book thinking it would be about lots of different kinds of bees. But it is mostly just concerned with honey bees. Lots of information about honey bees but the other bees not so much.
My fault, I should have looked at it a little closer before taking it home.