And away we go

Today officially begins the competition between my nine-year-old "niece" and myself to see who can be the first to read ten books by the end of the summer.

Sshh! Don't tell her I artfully manipulated her. ::grin::

She loves to read but is easily distracted by her neighbor friends, so this was my way of keeping her on track for her summer reading program.

Iz be sneaky like that.

If you like it then you shoulda put a twang on it

Just when I thought there was nothing left to surprise me musically, I saw a Beyonce song performed by a bluegrass band. Yea, that one. ::points to post title::

At least they didn't bust a Beyonce move.

*sigh*

Motivation, Motivation! Wherefore art thou, Motivation?

AAARRRGGG!!!

The newest issue of Reviews in Fish Biology and Fisheries is out in print, and my article (which went online last October) is STILL NOT IN. What -- the -- hell -- is -- taking -- so -- long?

I didn't think I could sleep until he was dead

6. 9th Judgment by James Patterson and Maxine Paetro

The Women's Murder Club has two new cases. In the first, a high-end cat burglar seemingly breaks pattern and kills a woman. In the second, a man is on a spree, killing mothers and their small children in very public places while leaving cryptic messages for police written with his victims' lipstick.

James Patterson is not one to write grand exposes on the human mind and the many ways it can break. His "plot twists" can be interesting if somewhat predictable, but every once in a while they can take you by surprise. In other words, Mr. Patterson's novels are not deep reads. They're mind candy, a quick bite to give you a little boost. When I spend literally hours reading peer-reviewed journal articles, editing textbooks, and staring at fish heads and fins, sometimes I don't want something else to make me think. Sometimes I do, but sometimes I don't. I want something I can relax into that will entertain me with quippy one-liners and that presents a case and solves it quickly. It's why I watch "Castle", and it's why I read Mr. Patterson's Women's Murder Club series. A quick bit of entertainment to rest my brain.

Oh yeah, that threw me for a loop

The music was the intro to The Beatles' "I Wanna Hold Your Hand", but when the words started, they were all wrong.

The Beatles -- singing in German.

Groovy.

Wherefore art thou?

Oh, motivation, where have you gone?

There are two chapters for Dr. S that have been lounging for so long that he actually emailed to make sure we got them. There are many data to collect and analyze. There is interesting and informative science to be written.

What is this lethargy? We haven't even read for fun or played a game, so it must be serious. We will not meet our goal of being called "Doctor" by Christmas if this persists.

Is my determination stronger than your antipathy? Let us find out.

Tweet tweet tweet

So far, the barn swallows, the meadowlarks, and the red-winged blackbirds have returned. Now I'm anxious to see the orioles.