Thursday’s Tale: Yuki-Onna

by Carol1 Comment
Today's story is from Japan. It was told by Lafcadio Hearn in Kwaidan: Stories and Studies of Strange Things, 1907.  I found it in D. L. Ashliman's collection of Folklore and Mythology. In a village of Musashi Province, there lived two woodcutters: Mosaku, an old man, and his apprentice, Minokichi. Every day they went together to a forest situated about five miles from their village. On the way to that forest there is a wide river and a ferry-boat that took people across. One night the two men were heading home when a snowstorm overtook them. When they reached the ferry, the boatman had already left. The men took shelter for the night in the boatman's hut, even though it had no heat and no place to build a fire. Mosaku and Minokichi fastened the door, and lay down to rest, with their straw raincoats over them. The old man almost immediately fell asleep; but the boy, Minokichi, lay awake a long time, listening to the...
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Readers’ Workouts: 3/29

by Carol8 Comments
Here are my steps for the week. I actually made my week overall. My current plan is to do cardio on Tuesday (60 mins), upper body on Wednesday, cardio on Thursday (60 mins), a total body workout on Friday, cardio on Saturday (60+ mins), and a core workout on Monday . I've also signed up for the 30 Days Pilates Challenge at The Balanced Life, which is about 10 mins a day. Tuesday - Walk with the dog. Pilates (legs) Wednesday - Walk with the dog. Pilates (upper body). 15 mins abs Thursday - Pilates (booty) Friday - Pilates (inner thighs). 27 mins full body workout. Saturday - Pilates (abs). 30 mins stair machine. 18 mins elliptical Sunday - Walk with the dog. Pilates (stretch) Monday - Pilates (abs and legs) I usually listen to a book while I'm walking, jogging, whatever. This week I finished Arcadia by Iain Pears and started The Janus Affair by Pip Ballantine and Tee Morris. 2016 miles: 101.72 How was your week? Readers’ Workouts is hosted by...
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Arcadia by Iain Pears

by Carol4 Comments
First a note on the title, since I'd heard of "Arcadia" but really had no clear knowledge about what it was. And it's not actually mentioned in the book, I don't think. Arcadia is a mountainous, landlocked region of Greece. It takes its name from the mythological character Arcas. The Roman poet Virgil recognized that Arcadia's isolation and bucolic character make it a perfect setting for pastoral poetry. Now English speakers often use arcadia to designate a place of rustic innocence and simple, quiet pleasure. Arcadian can mean "idyllically pastoral" or "idyllically innocent, simple, or untroubled." Anterworld is our would-be Arcadia, the land Rosie, from the blurb, enters into. Why did I pick up Arcadia? It embraces things I usually avoid - mainly time-travel, but also science fiction and dystopian and post-apocalyptic societies. Now spies, cheesy romance and fantasy I'm all for. Yes, it does manage to smash all of those together. I also tend to not like audiobooks with two narrators. I...
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Thursday’s Tale: Fox Steals the Butter

by Carol1 Comment
I came across an odd little story today. "Fox Steals the Butter" is a tale from Scotland, collected in J. F. Campbell's Popular Tales of the West Highlands, Orally Collected, 1862. I found it strange because the "bad guy" wins the day. The fox and the wolf were walking near the seashore, when they found a keg of butter which they buried. On the next day the fox went out, and when he returned, he told the wolf that a man had asked him to come to a baptism. The fox dressed up and went away. Of course, he went to the butter keg, but didn't eat any. When he came home, the wolf asked him, "What name was given to the child?" The fox answered that it was Foveeal, which meant "under its mouth." The following day, the fox again said that a man had sent to ask him to a baptism. Again he went to the keg, and this time he took out about half. The wolf asked, when he came...
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