Day: April 12, 2021

Memory: Driving a Stick

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This past year I purchased a brand new car. The vehicle is only the second one I’ve purchased where I was the original owner.

The first time I purchased a bare-bone “starter” vehicle: a charcoal gray hatchback with a standard transmission because back then, an automatic transmission cost more, and I was on a tight budget.  The only problem was I didn’t know how to drive a manual transmission. I figured the best way to learn was to buy the car. Then I wouldn’t have a choice.

There were some funny moments those first couple of days. My younger brother still tells stories of me rolling backward at a traffic light on I-690 and panicking about it. But I did learn. And I loved driving a stick. There had been one or two occasions in the past when the ability to do so would have saved me some grief. It’s a handy skill to have.

Even after I mastered the ability, I encountered some amusing moments –that weren’t so amusing at the time.

My boss at the time had some fancy-schmancy sports car–low slung and long in the front. She was also very tall, maybe close to six feet. I am barely five feet tall. She needed me to drive her car . . . I don’t remember the details. The gist was “you know how to drive a manual transmission, my car needs to be someplace I can’t take it, please do this.”  Except even with the seat pulled all the way up, I couldn’t reach the clutch. I was nearly fully reclined, barely able to see over the dashboard, driving in the city (i.e. lots of stop-and-go traffic), driving a hideously expensive sports car that didn’t belong to me.

That was a moment.

Book Review-Linda Howard: Kill and Tell

Image credit: tieury / 123RF Stock Photo

Kill and Tell by Linda Howard was a little difficult to get into. The first time I read the book I didn’t much care for the heroine–I thought she was unfeeling. She so unlike me, I had a difficult time relating. The hero, IMHO, was a jerk. Let’s just say the characters improved the second time I read the book, and continue to improve with each re-reading.

Why, you may ask, did I revisit the story?

  • Vietnam Vets
  • Political corruption light
  • Black Ops light
  • Family
  • New Orleans (even though most of the story takes place in Ohio)
  • Great first kiss/seduction scene

Of all of the above listed things, the last one was the clincher.  Picture a rainy, steamy, sultry New Orleans night, sitting on a balcony in the French Quarter, sipping red wine, eating cookies with white chocolate chunks, and listening to bluesy jazz being played in the distance. A perfect recipe.

Oh. My.

 

 

MJ Monday-Movies: Guardians of the Galaxy

Guardians of the Galaxy and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2:  This is a must see double header. I saw the first one in a movie theater and loved it. When Vol 2 came out on DVD, we all trooped to my nephew’s home theater for a double header, as my sister hadn’t yet seen the first one. It was an amazing experience.

Flash forward several months. My critique partners and I were enroute to a retreat in the woods when we learned at least one of our group hadn’t seen either movie. Out came the cell phones as we searched every Barnes & Noble, Target, Wal-Mart, Red Box etc. between where we were on the highway and our final destination looking for copies of both movies. As luck would have it, the Wal-Mart very near our destination had both. I purchased them and had another double-header night with my besties. I laughed as hard as  I had the first time seeing the films.

Action films sometimes bore me because they depend too much on special effects and bang-bang-shoot-em-up instead of plot. Guardians brushed against that threshold for me. But just when I would start to squirm and yawn, the boring stuff ended.

Solid plot, solid acting, solid humor, solid action.

Book Review: Linda Howard-Mr. Perfect

Image credit: tieury / 123RF Stock Photo

I recently learned some people have stopped reading Linda Howard due to alleged racist comments she’s made on social media. I haven’t seen the comments, so I’m not going to judge.

I’ve also read that people think Mr. Perfect  is a dreadful book because of the way she treated one of the characters who some might consider marginalized. As an author, I’ve often been told as long as something is well-motivated, an author can do anything. And that is the case in this book. The motivation is . . . perfect.

Mr. Perfect is one of my favorite books of all time. It starts out with a group of friends–co-workers–who get together every Friday night after work for dinner and drinks. This circle of women reminds me of my friends and how much fun we have when we get together. One Friday night, these women laughingly put together a list of what they think would constitute the perfect man. Some of the items are ribald and made in jest; others are serious and thoughtful.

Little did these four women know their fun time was about to turn deadly.

The main character has just purchased her own home and is having issues with her cranky neighbor, who turns out to be a cop. A sexy cop. A sexy alpha male cop.

My biggest complaint about this book is the negative portrayal of a cat. It’s well known that Howard is a dog person. She doesn’t understand cats.

Five stars anyway.

 

MJ’S Musing: Cat in the Car

I like to drive, but I also don’t mind being a passenger–if I can have a window seat. Being short, I’ve spent more than my fair share of time in the middle of the back seat. As a cranky old lady, I now reserve the right to a window seat.

I love to observe. Sometimes I see the craziest things. Recently, my besties and I were on the interstate, heading home from a wonderfully productive long writing weekend, when I saw a car with California plates.  But that’s not what caught my eye. The cat did. She was sprawled on the dashboard of the car in all  her gray and white glory. She seemed to be basking in the sun. She was not a small cat. I was surprised the driver could see around kitty kitty.

As is the way on the interstate, we passed the car, the car passed us, and so it went for miles. Sometimes the cat was on the lap of the passenger, who was reclined all the way back in his seat. Other times, the cat was draped around the driver’s neck like a fur stole. A couple of times, the cat used the rear window ledge as her napping spot.

Of course the California Cat Car occupants and I smiled and waved to each other as we tootled down the highway.

What struck me was how comfortable the cat seemed in the car. A dog, yes. But I’ve never met a cat who took a car ride calmly. Maybe there is something to a laid-back California lifestyle.