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Chrysalis Academy

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  1. Chrysalis Academy
    Ok, in my efforts to communicate why I love Jose Saramago (as if anyone was questioning it) may I offer this quote from Death With Interruptions. So the setup is that death has written a letter that was published in the paper, but published with "corrected" grammar, punctuation, syntax, etc. Those of you who have read Saramago will appreciate that this may very well be his own response to the grammar police he has no doubt encountered: "According to the authorized opinion of a grammarian consulted by the newspaper, death had simply failed to master even the first rudiments of the art of writing. And then, he said, there's the calligraphy, which is strangely irregular, it's as if it combined all the known ways, both possible and aberrant, of forming the letters of the latin alphabet, as if each had been written by a different person, but that could be forgiven, one could even consider it a minor defect given the chaotic syntax, the absence of full stops, the complete lack of very necessary parentheses, the obsessive elimination of paragraphs, the random use of commas and, most unforgivable sin of all, the intentional and almost diabolical abolition of the capital letter, which, can you imagine, is even omitted from the actual signature of the letter and replaced by a lower-case d. It was a disgrace, an insult, the grammarian went on, asking, If death, who has had the priceless privilege of seeing the great literary geniuses of the past, writes like this, what of our children if they choose to imitate such a philological monstrosity, on the excuse that, considering how long death has been around, she should know everything there is to know about all branches of knowledge." This is one page of a 5-page long paragraph. I can only imagine Saramago had tongue firmly planted in cheek as he wrote it. Anyway, it made me giggle.
  2. Chrysalis Academy
    I will confess to being another who does not love Ray Bradbury. F451 has its place among major dystopian novels but I don't actually enjoy reading it. And I've tried a couple of the short story collections and liked one or two, but not most of them. 'There Will Come Soft Rains' from The Martian Chronicles is a standout for me, I love that story.
  3. Chrysalis Academy
    I just finished listening to The Patience Stone, an Afghan novel about a woman taking care of her comatose husband in the middle of a war zone, written by an Afghani poet in French and translated. It was dark, harsh and disturbing. But I didn't hate it till the end. Now I do.
  4. Chrysalis Academy
    Yes, you are very, very fortunate that she had a rash. So glad that you now have a clear diagnosis and treatment plan! And I agree, I'd send the letter too.
  5. Chrysalis Academy
    We're home :001_wub: Although we do have to turn around and drive to Oakland tomorrow for doctor's appointments. But it's nice to be back. Sky is blue and air is clear at our house, though it was horrific from Petaluma to Windsor. Here's hoping for rain.
  6. Chrysalis Academy
    Yes!! The theater still stands. There is some damage, but not horrible. We're so happy! And so sad for Anova, the school for autistic kids right next to our theater that was completely destroyed. We're home, and though we drove through brown sludge, I am currently seeing blue sky at our house! The air quality is pretty good right here, too, despite the fact that they've been setting a ton of controlled burn backfires up at the Pocket fire (just north of us) to try and get rid of the rest of the fuel in the fire zone. We're still really hoping for rain tomorrow.
  7. Chrysalis Academy
    I finished Stoker's Manuscript today. I listened to the first 2/3 then read the last 1/3. It was entertaining, but I thought there were some plot contortions required to make it all work out . . . So looking forward to going home tomorrow! It's been a lovely respite to be down here, but I'm kind of missing my life. And my dh!! Shannon has her big appointment at the Pediatric Autonomic Disorders clinic on Thursday, down in Oakland. I'm nervous but hopeful about that, and want to get home and settled before having to head down there.
  8. Chrysalis Academy
    I just finished a lovely book: The Sound of a Wild Snail Eating. The author wrote this book while she was bedridden, chronically ill, about the life of her companion, a brown wood snail that a friend had brought to her bedside. It was a wonderful read, and i highly recommend it, even if you aren't particularly interested in chronic illness or snails. It's our last day in Half Moon Bay - we extended our stay because the air quality at home is so bad. We'll return tomorrow, though, and hope that the chance of rain on Thursday cleans things up.
  9. Chrysalis Academy
    As of yesterday many evacuation advisories have been lifted, including ours, but we decided to spend one more day at the beach, as it's supposed to be 90 at home and the lack of winds, although excellent news for the firefight, means that the air quality will not be good. It's supposed to cool off each day and may even be raining by Thursday, so we'll plan to go home tomorrow, I think.
  10. Chrysalis Academy
    Colleen, Congrats to your son, and Penguin, best wishes to your friend. As of yesterday many evacuation advisories have been lifted, including ours, but we decided to spend one more day at the beach, as it's supposed to be 90 at home and the lack of winds, although excellent news for the firefight, means that the air quality will not be good. It's supposed to cool off each day and may even be raining by Thursday, so we'll plan to go home tomorrow, I think. I really, really appreciate The Dispossessed, but I don't love it the way I do Left Hand of Darkness. I'm eager to read more LeGuin, I think I am finally mature enough to really appreciate her! Yes, I can't remember if I posted my thoughts after finishing Provenance. I ended up liking it very much, but not finding it completely mindblowing the way I did the Imperial Radch series. With the Ancillaries, I turned around and re-read the trilogy as soon as all 3 books were out. This one was a perfectly enjoyable book, but not one I'll feel the need to re-read in the near future. I may take my books and go lay on the beach and read today. :)
  11. Chrysalis Academy
    I'm not really getting any reading done. When I walk the dog, I'm listening to Stoker's Manuscript and enjoying it. The books I brought with me are Snow Crash, Sunshine, A Brief History of the Dead, and Death With Interruptions. I'm enjoying them all but not really having either the time or headspace to read. The horrible winds weren't as horrible as predicted, so they've been able to hold the line on the fire to the north (the Pocket fire). The fire to the southeast could still pose a risk if the winds changed, but that's not in the forecast, so I'm thinking we will head home tomorrow. Dh says air quality is pretty good.
  12. Chrysalis Academy
    Oh, I'm so sorry. Things are not going as well in the south and east parts of the county. There have been structures burned in Sonoma, I understand. I hope your folks are ok.
  13. Chrysalis Academy
    Re: the Healdsburg/Geyserville/Alexander Valley evacuation posts from yesterday afternoon: they caused a lot of stress and concern for folks, because the mandatory evacuation notice was unclear - it said Northern Geyserville, but then listed locations that are south of Geyserville, between Geyserville and Healdsburg. At the same time evacuation advisories were put out (by the city) for the north part of Healdsburg. It seems like a lot of people who were still in town fled at that point. It looks like the Pocket Fire expanded a lot last night, but not into populated areas as of yet. The big worry today continues to be the wind: if they can hold the fire at Geysers Road and keep it out of Alexander Valley that will be good. If the wind pushes it past the fire line, there will be a whole lot more devastation. They've got some containment on the Tubbs fire, but it's still burning hard toward Sonoma Valley and those folks are still very much in harm's way. After today, wind is supposed to die down, but it will then get hot for a few days. Starting Wednesday night, there is a chance of showers in the forecast. That's what we need more than anything - the wind to die down, and some rain to fall.
  14. Chrysalis Academy
    Yesterday seems to have been a good day in the firefight. We're hearing from a lot of people who left, and a lot of people who stayed, and all seem to be in pretty good spirits, feeling optimistic as the wind was not as bad as predicted yesterday. Now attention focuses to tonight and Saturday. Let's hope the predicted wind gusting does *not* happen. They could lose all their gains in one night if nature takes over. It's supposed to be windy, then dry and hot for a couple of days, but we might even be lucky enough to have rain in our forecast by midweek next week. We will be doing rain dances!!!
  15. Chrysalis Academy
    Thanks for the word on Sunshine, guys, I will keep reading. I feel silly asking. I am a grownup after all, and I don't have a problem with talk of the act, I just don't feel like reading anything that's designed to turn one on. At the moment in particular, but that's generally true.
  16. Chrysalis Academy
    I finally had a little time to read last night. I started Sunshine. I like it so far, but I have to ask - is there a lot of sex in it? I'm not sure if I'm up for steamy vampire sex right now and I kinda want to know before I get to much further into it . . .
  17. Chrysalis Academy
    We are safe and sound in Half Moon Bay. The air is so much clearer here, the sun is out, it makes the last few days seem very surreal. It is smoky - my friend's kid's school is not letting the kids go outside today - but it's nothing like what we came from, so I'm relieved for Shannon. She's still asleep this morning. The best thing is being surrounded by my choice-family. The friends we are staying with have been our best friends for the last 17 years, we spend Thanksgiving together and camp together. We're friends with the whole neighborhood - the neighbors across the back fence offered Shannon a room in their house so she could have quiet and sleep as late as she wanted to. I'm so grateful, it feels so warm and so good to be loved. When I drove up somebody put a glass of wine in my hand and later led me to a deck where I could watch the sun setting over the Pacific. Definitely a better place to be! There have been some additional advisory evacuations in Healdsburg, but mostly from an abundance of caution, I think. There are several areas with just one road in and out that could get really dangerous really quickly. Most of our friends left town yesterday when we did - it was a bit of a panic there for awhile. Dh stayed, and he says things are quiet there this morning. Thanks for all the good wishes, my friends. We didn't bring any school stuff with us, so my plan is to sit on the deck and read a book and chat with my best friend and just relax for a couple of days.
  18. Chrysalis Academy
    We are safe and sound in Half Moon bay staying with our best friends - the girls and I, dh stayed behind because he works for the Town of Windsor and is on call there, and also so that he could bring more stuff if evacuation became mandatory. He says things are quiet this morning. The air is much clearer here, although my friend just got a call from her kid's school saying they aren't letting the kids play outside today because of how bad the air is. If they only knew!
  19. Chrysalis Academy
    Conditions deteriorating, heavy wind. The girls and I are getting out of Dodge, heading south to stay with friends in Half Moon Bay. I'll check in when I can.
  20. Chrysalis Academy
    Things have gotten really dodgy here, high winds getting worse. We are evacuating, heading to the coast and south. I'll check in when I can. Hope everyone else in CA is safe.
  21. Chrysalis Academy
    :grouphug: I was wondering how you guys were doing. I hope your neighborhood stays safe.
  22. Chrysalis Academy
    So hard to plan as conditions keep changing. Definitely won't be going north. Still safer where we are with fires both north and south of here. Curse that wind, it's really fouling everything up.
  23. Chrysalis Academy
    Holy crap, it's getting really windy already. This is not good.
  24. Chrysalis Academy
    Believe me, I'm feeling incredibly lucky. It was a scary night for a lot of people, but we slept well and are feeling relatively secure where we are. So like away. It's hard to imagine how difficult the cleanup and rebuilding will be in so many areas. But that's a worry for the future, at this point, we've just got to get these fires OUT!
  25. Chrysalis Academy
    Good morning, everyone. We're fine this morning. There were evacuations in Geyserville (north of us) due to the Pocket Fire last night, and people were pretty on edge. That fire is a scary wildland fire, and is threatening homes and ranches, but is unlikely to threaten us here in Healdsburg. Geyserville is under an evacuation watch. The Tubbs fire is still going strong to the southeast. There is fire on the outskirts of Windsor (town to the south, where Dh works) but it is not currently threatening residences. The big challenge is the winds, which are slated to pick up to Red Flag levels again today and tomorrow. That adds a lot of uncertainty and danger to the whole situation.
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