Every year that we can, I like to take the Coeur d’Alene lake supper cruise for my birthday, with friends, and we are booked with temperate and clear weather, which is nice, because I like to do it in the open air of the upper deck, where we do get wind.
And because we’re going to do it a day after, I still the the free steak the Swinging Doors offers on your birthday. 😉 And even if I have to slice it paper thin, I am going to have that steak! 😉 Happy birthday to me!
Jane and I are purging boxes of old books, stuff we’ve gathered and read over the years, because we have no more room for things, and clearing things out in general. Scanning old pix into computer files (amply backed up) and generally getting rid of detritus. We have a modest-sized house for as much ‘stuff’ as we have, and in order to really enjoy it—we need less ‘stuff.’ So it is going. THat is how we’re spending our copious spare time.
The garden is a mess, but winter will solve that and we’ll get a clean start next spring, hopefully with less clutter in our lives.
A bit belated, but I wanted to stop in to say “Happy Happy Birthday, CJ” … hope that boat ride was lovely 🙂
Such good news to read from WOL and those battling tough fights … good wishes to you all.
Hubby and I were traveling end of July and most of August, with poor to no internet. California was 3.5 weeks by the coast, visiting relatives and a group of dearest friends from far flung corners of the world whom I only get to see once a year. It was exhausting, lost an iPad on a plane that Southwest managed to NOT find despite my immediate report and exact description on location etc. SIGH, some smoke but no immediate fire dangers, and a wonderful trip. Returned to leave again to visit our lonely little vintage travel trailer and dry docked little boat. Managed to get the boat back in the water for some crabbing, fishing and boat riding (mostly hubby), and a lot of book reading (me, yay …). Labor Day brought our daughter and that “I hate to read” grandson, for biking, kayaking, swimming and more … they have SO much energy LOL. Our secret plot worked, and the boy arrived in a panic as he’d … run out of books!!! I thought the bags of books I bought from all your suggestions might last through his birthday, and maybe into Christmas season … nope; he’s read and passed them all along to my sister to read while her husband is in rehab for a minor stroke. The weekend was saved when our daughter went to the marina office and found the “free books” bookshelf, stocked with a generous supply of interesting books … in Spanish, all from Quebec. There was a couple who had a boat from Quebec; they’d spend the summer working on their boat in Maryland, then leave in the fall for the Caribbean; apparently they were learning or improving their Spanish. When last seen, the boy was reading 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea in Spanish … and I need to go back to that list and restock!
Picked up some knitting the other day for the first time; it’s just been to hot. Fingers are sore, but it was good to start something again, even if the pattern is written oddly, and the chart is worse. Fortunately it’s a small project and the knitting shop teacher shed some light on the mysteries, so hopefully … … …
Happy Birthday again, CJ,
Hurray! That sounds great.
If he is genuinely able to read 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea in Spanish, and/or other books in Spanish — then your grandson has enough talent with languages to pursue Spanish or any other language he’d like. (And perhaps adding a language while he’s younger is a good idea.) While I would, of course, be in favor of French (and possibly Portuguese) to let him speak with nearly everyone in North and South America, as a business and practical (and interesting and exotic) pursuit, Russian, Hindi, German, Dutch, French, Portuguese, Italian, in Europe and the Americas, and unrelated languages, Mandarin Chinese, Japanese, and possibly Korean and Arabic, are probably the other biggest contenders for major world languages now and for the foreseeable future.Ah, and if he were to learn American Sign Language, he’d have a sought-after skill.
If he has really devoured a great number of books in such a short time, then this boy who claimed to hate reading books … is hooked! Good! Outfit that kid with a library card and show him how to use the old-fashioned library card catalogue and the Dewey Decimal System (ah, I need a refresher on it) and hmm, consider whatever Amazon Kindle and Audible Audio gift card options there are, so he gets basically a “book allowance” to manage for himself without too much fuss from the ancestral-units. If he learns early how to manage wants/needs and budget, great, excellent prep for later life. And yes, books, music, video, are certainly going to be (and should be) a part of his teenage and adult life.
(Hmm, and as he’s around that age, books on sex ed. would not be amiss and might give him a chance to read such info on his own. School will not provide all the info he needs there; parents need to do more than one talk, or ongoing casual talks about it, but any kid needs to know about that, including info about health and hygiene, free / confidential clinics for checkups as needed, and info about not only straight but not-so-straigh goings-on, not only for oneself, but to understand friends or be prepared for unforeseen situations, with oneself and one’s friends. Just my opinion, there; please pardon that as maybe too controversial or forward. If it weren’t for books on my own, and school, I doubt I would’ve known anything more than hearsay, locker room guy talk.)
Back on-topic: Wow, if he’s gone through the books that were suggested some weeks / months ago — By all means try any C.J. Cherryh books on him. I think people covered the juvenile SF&F books, classics and current, and I think we got a lot of the usual suggestions.
You (or rather he and his parents) could get a nice big book list from his middle school English and Spanish teachers on recommended reading for his age and reading level. But it sounds to me as if he could handle much of what’s on the high school level reading list for English class and possibly for Spanish. That could be coordinated with his current Spanish teacher as to reading level, but if he can manage Jules Verne in Spanish translation and really understand most of what he’s reading, then my goodness, he could likely read anything the high school Spanish teacher would want him to handle. Ah, that is exceedly proficient and if he’s truly comprehending (his teacher can test him) … my goodness, he may have a true talent. Now admittedly, Americans don’t tend to realize that most people have some degree of language talent and most people around the world use one or two (or more) languages every day; still, early interest and evident talent — I would campaign for this to be developed; but then, I’m a language fan / geek. (I’d happily campaign for arts, music, and theater too.)
But both English and Spanish reading lists should be readily available from his middle and high schools, and ah, that would win over his future teachers there too, haha. If he reads through most of those, well, wow, he’ll be doing better than I did. (I did read several books on our reading lists, but tended towards SF&F for personal reading. I now wish I’d read more from the book lists too. This can, however, be remedied, thankfully.)
History books, teen-level biographies or histories, or any books on his favorite hobbies and sports, whatever else he likes to do or is interested in, all good. From the last big conversation, I think it was established he’s very eagerly into any number of things, or at least has a lot of curiosity about the world. Fantastic again. So any books on any subjects…OK, I’m going all booklover-fanboy here, aren’t I? Yes, there’s a reason I loved books and school. But I think most kids have a lot more curiosity than they get to develop in the classroom alone.
Speaking of that — If he gets good chances to do outdoor activities as well as any indoor (geeky) stuff with other kids, Boy Scouts or any other groups, that might be fun prep for him. — When I was in early junior high (middle school nowadays), our school district had a neat several weeks (3 or 6, I think, man, it went by too fast and too lang ago!) science enrichment summer school camp type thing, where our parents brought us (day camp at a junior high school over the summer) each day for several classes and activities. Photography (by hand, the old-fashioned way, back when people used film and darkrooms), some botany and a few other subjects, for about the same amount of time as a regular school day. This was great. Several classes of other girls and boys, maybe a hundred or two hundred kids, I don’t really recall; smaller than our usual school capacities, but still a lot of kids, and a major city able to do so. The only bad point was that we had a lunchtime recess with time on the playground. (Come to think of it, this may have been an elementary school building, as there was jungle gym and other playground equipment you don’t usually see for a middle school.) A few boys took exception to me one day and there was a fight with the result that one boy had to leave the program and I had a very shocked and painful afternoon at the chiropractor, getting my neck popped back into place. I notice side effects now that I’m older, weird sore neck or popping, these days. The boy (and his parents) oh, absolutely did not want to accept any responsibility or apologize or any such thing. Never mind that other kids saw me and got worried, two teacher saw how I was doing, and the kid responsible was dismissed. — However, very thankfully, the chiropractor got me fixed up and there was no more serious damage than that. (There could have been, and how serious that one very short fight could have been, one brief second of a hit, is scary when you think about it. I was lucky and so was that boy, that it did not do more than it did. But getting your legs kicked out from under you as you’re running inside? Not good.)
However, otherwise, the program was great and I loved it. Lots of other smart, cool kids from the school district participated. I knew several, didn’t know others. Only thing was, it was too short! (And I was either back the next day or a day off, then back.) — And one of the kids was an islander, either Bora-Bora or Tonga, IIRC. His name was Bora, I think. I didn’t see him after that summer, since he went to another school. A very nice kid, 6 months to a year older than I was, about a head taller, and thoroughly nice, as well as quietly fun, and typical good looks, with an enviable natural tan. (I’m pale; at best, I get ruddy and faint freckling and just a faint tan. Much sunburn.) — I remember being very intrigued by him, but didn’t know anything more about where he came from or what it was like there than that, as I didn’t have a chance to look it up during the program. A very easygoing guy; whatever happened to him, I hope he’s having a great life. Just an average guy, but the kind you’d want for a good friend. I would’ve liked it if we’d stayed in touch. Several other neat boys and girls that summer.
So, science nerd type stuff, or outdoor skills like camping and hiking, or whatever might appeal to him, while he has years as a teen to enjoy playing and hobbies and bonding with other kids, to give him skills and interests into his college years and later life. It sounds like if he keeps it up, universities will be actively recruiting him. — There is also, if he is enough of a space geek, Space Camp (astronaut camp for teens, high school age), in Alabama, I think it is. Any kid who seriously wants to get into the astronaut corps or space sciences and engineering or biology, whatever, this is a possibility to look into.
If he gets a chance to spend some summer / winter vacation time in Europe or anywhere outside the US, also a good experience. — And if he gets a chance to do a student exchange program in high school, or study abroad (Europe, Australia, wherever) in college, that would be a great learning experience and potentially fun, for someone who has a talent for languages and curiosity about the world, and can develop his people skills and getting by in a new place. Aside from one trip for a few days with my parents between high school and college, I did not get to vacation, live, or study abroad. (Oh, I would have needed friends overseas to help me out, and I would’ve been surprised by how much I didn’t know and wasn’t prepared, but — I also think it would’ve been good for me. I was thinking about doing this while I was studying French, a summer semester in France, but did not do it.) — For a kid who’s learning Spanish very well, many countries south of the border or else in Spain would be a neat experience for study abroad or for vacationing or living there. Yes, the political situations can be tricky, but they always are, lately. (Even here, these days, to one’s dismay.)
Note: My idea as a college kid was to become a tech writer by day, likely with translation too, and pursue (ahem) writing the great American science fiction novel(s) by night. Heh. Well, life did not quite work out that way, but it could have. It ended up not as far from the path as I thought at the time. But I thought a computer science and foreign language background, English and French and adding Spanish fluency and maybe other languages, was a good idea. — Web design did not yet exist; the web would not appear until I was restarting college and got my associate’s degree. It would’ve been ideal for me. (So would have font design, but that’s me.) — In retrospect, I should probably have taken Dr. Hunting’s advice and switched to a language major. (She was a native French woman, quite eccentric, married an English or American guy, and was my French prof.)
So, some general advice for the grandson, there. I feel pretty sure the world is filled with bright, promising kids who could achieve so much more, if only they had more opportunities and the world and people were not so determined to limit those. 🙂
Ah, and I’d recommend he learn cooking and any household skills, whether he is a bachelor for a while, or gets married to some lucky young lady (or young man). Because being able to cook a good meal and take care of things around the house are necessary to being happy on your own, and sure are helps when partnered or with roommates, and help for sure if and when he becomes a dad someday. (I am so glad I am a decent cook!)
All that boating and fishing and swimming sounds awesome! — I’d have to learn my way around a boat or ship. But at the rate we’re going, it will still be that, rather than a spaceship in-system or a starship for interstellar. I had the impression we’d have been to Mars by now, darn it.
Best Wishes!
Ah yes, Cathy, I would like to thank you for soliciting that list of good, kids books to read several months ago. Several folks mentioned “The Thief” by Megan Whalen Turner, whom I had never heard of. I ordered the book at my local Sci-Fi store, Pandemonium, and (though it took ages for the publisher to supply it) now have happily read a fine, fantasy novel.
I then went and ordered the other four books (one just came out) in the series and am eagerly looking forward to reading them too and will as soon as the sequel to TheThief actually arrives. I suspect that the publisher has let the stock of the first two novels sink very low. The last three arrived in just a couple of days.