The Story of Mankind, by Hendrik van Loon, read by Kara and Michelle.
You can buy a lovely thick reprint of the original book, with dozens of lively illustrations, from http://mainlesson.com.
Impatient? Get the entire free audio book here: http://librivox.org/the-story-of-mankind-by-hendrik-van-loon/
The Story of Mankind, by Hendrik van Loon, read by Kara and Michelle.
You can buy a lovely thick reprint of the original book, with dozens of lively illustrations, from http://mainlesson.com.
Impatient? Get the entire free audio book here: http://librivox.org/the-story-of-mankind-by-hendrik-van-loon/
Last week I felt remarkably good most days. I wonder if I’m *finally* on the right dose of synthroid?
The weekend of the 11th I scanned my dad’s old copy of The Swiss Family Robinson for Project Gutenberg (zip file of scanned images here, if you want them). Betsy had helped me submit the info to Gutenberg for copyright clearance, and their experts declared it to be public domain, which means that they can convert my scans to plaintext for their collection and I can record it for LibriVox! They have a translation by a French woman, which I don’t care for at all (too flowery), and a recently-edited version that’s not actually copyright-free. So this one will be the best, heheh :)
I started my recordings on Monday the 13th, and am already more than halfway through the book! You can follow my progress here: http://librivox.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=20254. Click the link at the top of the first post to be emailed when it’s all done and ready to download. Gosh, I just love this book. It’s possibly my favorite librivox project ever.
So besides all the recording I did last week, I was productive in other ways, too, um, of course I can’t remember what I did but trust me, I did a lot of stuff. Not much knitting, though — it’s been too hot.
Friday I got a migraine and then I didn’t feel very well the whole weekend and Monday, which was disappointing. I didn’t even have the ambition to record anything. But I dusted off Wind Waker and picked up my last savegame (2nd time through) in the middle and that amused me, though I still felt bad not being more productive.
Today I felt a lot better again, and even went shopping! We’ve been wishing for just a few more plates, spoons, and forks so I went up to Macy’s and got some more Fiestaware, which was on sale. We bought our first Fiestaware back in December 2007, use it every day, and there’s not a chip or a scratch on any of it. And it’s bright and cheerful — our dishes are red, yellow, orange, turquoise, and a very light green. I got four more 9″ plates (two green, two yellow), two of the deep cereal bowls (green), four little red saucers (on clearance, and perfect for a single bagel), and two sets of red-handled flatware, which were on also on clearance!
And then I went to the bookstore and picked out a few books for baby Ginny and 1-yr-old Jaylah, came back, packaged everything up with (with the little quilt for Ginny), and went out to ship both packages. Well, that doesn’t sound like much, I guess, but I swear it took half the day.
Then I recorded chapter 11 of the Swiss Family, and chapter 10 of a really interesting book called “Observations of an Orderly”, published in 1917, about life in an English war hospital. Great stuff. Here: http://librivox.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=19910
Remind me to tell you about my love affair with the little propane grill another time.
The Story of Mankind, by Hendrik van Loon, read by Kara and Michelle.
You can buy a lovely thick reprint of the original book, with dozens of lively illustrations, from http://mainlesson.com.
Impatient? Get the entire free audio book here: http://librivox.org/the-story-of-mankind-by-hendrik-van-loon/
Walter Cronkite, “the most trusted man in America”, died today. Dad used to watch the CBS Evening News with Walter Cronkite every night when I was little; Walter’s voice was as familiar to me as if he were one of my own family.
That was what The News looked like when I was nine.
Goodbye, Walter.
I feel so sad.
And that’s the way it is.
The Story of Mankind, by Hendrik van Loon, read by Kara and Michelle.
02 Our Earliest Ancestors – 05:06
You can buy a lovely thick reprint of the original book, with dozens of lively illustrations, from http://mainlesson.com.
Impatient? Get the entire free audio book here: http://librivox.org/the-story-of-mankind-by-hendrik-van-loon/
The Story of Mankind, by Hendrik van Loon, read by Kara and Michelle.
01 The Setting of the Stage – 9:08
You can buy a lovely thick reprint of the original book, with dozens of lively illustrations, from http://mainlesson.com.
Impatient? Get the entire free audio book here: http://librivox.org/the-story-of-mankind-by-hendrik-van-loon/
By popular demand: instructions for cold-brewed coffee, which is always smooth and non-acidic and yummy!
You need a jar with a lid. I use an old spaghetti-sauce jar.
Put a scoop of high-quality ground coffee into your jar, and add, oh, a cup or two of cold water. I don’t measure, I just fill the jar about a third full. Put the lid on and give it a good vigorous shake. Leave it on the counter or the window sill until tomorrow.
Next morning, give it another shake and pour the coffee through a filter of some kind. I use an Aeropress but you could put some cheesecloth or a napkin in a sieve, or use one of those single-cup filter thingies, or whatever.
Your coffee will be rather strong, so you can thin it to your taste. I add about an equal amount of cold water, and if it’s a cold day I microwave it till it’s nice and hot. In summer I leave it cold or even add a few ice cubes. Then it needs a big spoon of sugar, and a good glug of heavy cream. Yummmm!
Now don’t forget to start tomorrow’s coffee in your jar!
I have a brand-new little 2nd cousin first cousin once removed, daughter of my cousin Jon and his wife Rosy!
Welcome, baby Ginny! Born July 11 2009, 5 lbs 10oz, healthy and adorable! I wish I were in NY to meet her in person :)
Time for a new book! This is The Story of Mankind, by Hendrik van Loon, an excellent history book for kids, published in 1922, winner of the very first Newbery Award. My friend Shell and I read this one as a duet, each taking every other chapter. So don’t be alarmed when you hear a voice that’s not mine! :) I love the way Shell reads and I hope you do too.
Oh, by the way, you can buy a lovely thick reprint of the original book, with dozens of lively illustrations, from http://mainlesson.com.
Impatient? Get the entire book here: http://librivox.org/the-story-of-mankind-by-hendrik-van-loon/
(This book is very long so I’ll be posting three chapters a week.)
I want this poster. Luckily, the artist is planning to make prints of this and his other marvelous propaganda poster remixes (e.g Loose Tweets Sink Fleets)! I’m on the mailing list. Click the pic to go to his flickr stream and see the rest!
United breaks guitars. Pass it on. I just love the indifferent employees!
[The Sons of Maxwell] were traveling to Nebraska for a one-week tour and my Taylor guitar was witnessed being thrown by United Airlines baggage handlers in Chicago. I discovered later that the $3500 guitar was severely damaged. They didn’t deny the experience occurred but for nine months the various people I communicated with put the responsibility for dealing with the damage on everyone other than themselves and finally said they would do nothing to compensate me for my loss. So I promised the last person to finally say no to compensation (Ms. Irlweg) that I would write and produce three songs about my experience with United Airlines and make videos for each to be viewed online by anyone in the world.
Monday was entry pick-up day at the fairgrounds. Celia had to get her snowglobe collection from Kids’ Best (she won first place and a special award!) and I had to get my Home and Hobby entries (three 2nds and an Honorable Mention), so Bob, Chloe, Celia, Henry, and I all carpooled up there together, which was great fun! We spent the whole time laughing, I swear. First we went to Kids’ Best in the infield, across the scary shaky one-lane bridge, and got Celia’s collection. With five of us helping, it took no time at all to get the snowglobes safely wrapped up, and then we drove back around to the grandstand where the Home and Hobby exhibits are. We parked pretty far away to avoid the terrible one-way traffic funnel through the fairgrounds, so everyone helped me carry my hot heavy handmade things back to the car. And then we all hung out together the whole evening and cooked dinner on the grill and talked and had the best time.
Photos of my prizewinning stuff:
So! What shall I enter next year?
The Adventures of Sally, by P. G. Wodehouse. First published in 1922. Read for you by Kara Shallenberg.
I’ll post another chapter next Monday.
(Impatient? Get the entire audio book for free here: http://librivox.org/the-adventures-of-sally-by-p-g-wodehouse/)
I was really worried that I’d be too sick to go to the fair this year, but I started feeling better last week so Dan, Chloe, and I went last Friday, and then Henry and I went again last night! Dan took photos of my Home and Hobby entries, so I’ll have to post those later, but I remembered my camera last night and got a few fun shots. I’ll post some here and then you can see the rest on my flickr.
First thing we did was get fresh Squeezers lemonade, and then we went to the infield to see the Oasis Camel Dairy demo. Very interesting!
And then we looked at the kids’ collections, went through the Music building, got food (Rose’s burritos), and got seats for the Hypnotist show (it’s super-popular so it’s best to get seats about 45 minutes early). The Hypnotist was hilarious, as usual. Then we went through all three commercial buildings, looking at fancy mops and slicer-dicers and all kinds of freaky stuff. Then we walked slowly through the midway, looking at the lights:
And then we went home. We had a great time!
Wow, this updated version of West Side Story is quite clever and very funny! It’s less than 4 minutes long, so give it a try.
“Pandora… I just found a site called Pandora…”
The Adventures of Sally, by P. G. Wodehouse. First published in 1922. Read for you by Kara Shallenberg.
17 Sally Lays a Ghost – 00:27:28
I’ll post another chapter next Monday.
(Impatient? Get the entire audio book for free here: http://librivox.org/the-adventures-of-sally-by-p-g-wodehouse/)
I dreamt about this Sesame Street animation:
Ah, back when Sesame Street was creative and artistic and trippy and The Count was menacing and the grownups thought the Snuffleupagus was imaginary and there weren’t so many squeaky baby-talking muppets…
Back in August of 2008, Shell Crandall and I started a duet recording of a really excellent children’s history book, “The Story of Mankind.” We alternated chapters. The day after we got to Canada, Shell finished up her last few recordings, Anna proofed them, and I did the cataloging, so this fabulous book is ready for you to download!
http://librivox.org/the-story-of-mankind-by-hendrik-van-loon/
I listened to it over and over for about three days straight, while napping upstairs in Montreal. Very soothing. If you like to read along while listening, you can get the plain-jane text at Project Gutenberg, read along with an illustrated e-text at mainlesson.com, or, best of all, buy the lovely thick paperback reprint with original illustrations from Yesterday’s Classics!
I’ll probably put this book up in my podcast feed when “The Adventures of Sally” is finished. I really think everyone will enjoy it.
Hugh and Christine are amazing hosts and always take good care of us. I thought I’d try to remember all the lovely food they made for us so that maybe I can recreate some of it at home. Most nights Hugh grilled the meat and veggies on his gas grill, which we don’t have, but we do have a regular charcoal barbecue (scavenged when some neighbors moved away) and I suppose I could learn to use it.
Let’s see, one night we had pork chops (my favorite), tiny boiled potatoes, and grilled asparagus. Another time it was lovely butcher-shop sausages with homemade crabapple jelly and grilled peppers/eggplant/zucchini and tiny boiled potatoes. I loved those tiny boiled potatoes so much that they fixed them nearly every night.
A couple times we had chicken brochettes – easy ’cause they came from the butcher shop marinated and pre-skewered with veggies. I think our market sells something similar so that would be something to try, perhaps. Dan loved those especially much.
Several times we had grilled asparagus with dinner; I didn’t think Henry would like asparagus but he did! One night we had broccoli rabe, with normal broccoli for the less adventurous. I liked the rabe a lot. I think they fixed it with lemon juice and maybe garlic?
One night Hugh made orzo with chopped tomatoes, green onion, and zucchini. I’d never had orzo before and loved it; it was so good hot for dinner and cold the next day for lunch. Funny how different shapes of pasta taste so different when it’s all just made from the same stuff.
And of course with every meal we had great conversation. Heck, we could have eaten boxed mac-n-cheese every night and if we got to talk with H and C while eating, it would have been just fine. And we always had bread and interesting cheeses after the main course, and then a sweet after that — Christine’s homemade orange cake, peach cake from Cocoa Locale, strawberries… Yum. Christine often took Henry to the cheese shop to help choose after-dinner cheeses for us. He loved that. :)
I’m sure I’m forgetting something delicious. I was feeling so ill most of the time that a lot of the trip is just a blur. Sigh.
