Spoony Weather

I waited until June to post just to see if that March Farmer's Almanac blurb about raining in March was correct and it was!!!

In April we had a real live author, Teresa James, come to speak to us about her book (now available on Kindle for $5.99) Below Yudaha.  She was wonderful!  She answered all of our questions about writing and publishing our own books.  She laughed with us, she got deep with us, she talked about the nuances of her book with us.  She stepped right into the meeting as if she belonged there, we were immediately comfortable with her.  And she even signed our books for us!  Teresa is definitely an honorary member of the book club and invited to all future meetings. 

I would love to have more authors come to speak... or... have meetings at readings!  Send me an email as soon as you know of readings that may be of interest to the group.  I am taking my husband to a Neil Gaiman reading for his birthday: http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/179279 but if I happen to see you there no harm no foul!  Speaking of...  Anyone read Moneyball by Michael Lewis?  I will do a separate post about it because it is one of my all-time favorite books although it is written around a subject I never felt passionate about, baseball. 

For me, Moneyball illustrates how we, as a human race, may observe something for decades and build theories off those observations but then some nut job comes along and scratches the surface and says "hey, did you know all those theories and observations are wrong?" And we all laugh because, of course, we know better as we have decades of observations and who-is-this-guy-to-tell-us-differently.  But the nut job, being nutty, persists in his argument, eventually wins the attention of a few important people that happen to have some influence and suddenly the whole human race, after being hit over the head by the argument for 20 or so years, realize that the nut job may have a point. 

It's kind of like the 100th monkey effect, although the 100th monkey effect was discredited it has brought forth another valid point that new methods of behavior are learned then passed down to the next generation.  It would take baseball management about 20 years to retire the employees that didn't believe in the new stats and hire guys that were raised on the new stats.  ...  Moneyball is fascinating stuff, honestly.  There is humor and some great storytelling even if you don't like baseball and you try to avoid statistics. 

Our Reliquary Build for May was reduced to a mini-build due to a family emergency and then the mini-build was cancelled due to a supply shortage, it was shortsighted of me to try to quickly schedule the mini-build without my supply cohort, Nicole, so I apologize to all that were looking forward to that meeting.  We hope to reschedule the Reliquary Build for September and will keep you posted on the location.

Our next meeting is at the Vallejo Pirate Festival on June 18th and so far we have a good turnout.  We have a few guys that RSVP'd so it looks like I have to be more mindful of FB's private event setting, especially when we have the events at private locations!   We'll synchronize our phones and figure out a good meeting spot as the date approaches.  Once there we'll be piratin', guzzlin' grog, mindin' our loot and guardin' against them yellow-bellied ninjas... Arrrrr! 

post hashed by Angela

  

Mistress Roquelaure

Spring is in the air and while we were looking for a subject about resurrection in a literal sense we found that everyone was more interested in erotica in a lustful sense. We revel in the energy that is ushering in Spring and we heard from a certain groundhog that this is going to be a lusty year, we all know what Rabbits do!


Throughout our lives we are in situations where we find ourselves overpowered and dominated into submission, like at the bank when they tell us we could qualify for a better rate if our credit score was just a bit higher. Hopefully we have all experienced the power of domination as well; in everyday life we may dominate in our careers or in sports, all of us exhibiting our natural competitive streak at one time or another. We ask, why not translate that submissive/domination into the bedroom and find out more about this BDSM everyone is talking about? (Privately people, on your own time... sorry to burst your bubble but it's not that kind of book club).


March is the perfect time of year to explore erotica steeped in BDSM, it is said that the month roars in like a lion and goes out like a lamb... Book club translates this to roaring in like a dom and out like a sub and we find it fun to fantasize both roles as we assign The Claiming of Sleeping Beauty by Anne Rice and determine punishments for not doing the assignment. (Okay, really, all I can come up with is forcing you all to read the Sookie series...)



Our meeting is at Maguire's Pub where we'll crush a few recovering leprechauns under the heels of our spiked stiletto's.
March 19th at 6pm
145 Kentucky Street
Petaluma, CA


RSVP by commenting here or on FB.

Valley of the Brunch Drunch

In Hobbiton our Sunday brunch at 1pm would be considered 4th meal, 2nd lunch or 3rd breakfast. In the SF bay area, drinking and eating at 1pm is also considered Drunch, drinking during lunch. In order to simplify the potluck choices we are calling this meeting Brunch!

Here is the potluck list so far:
Angela ~ Hibiscus Cocktails (champagne, hibiscus flowers in syrup)
Nicole ~ Wife Saver (egg, cheese, bacon casserole)

Kim ~ Apple Crumble

Jenny ~ Fruit Plate
Gloria ~ Breakfast Casserole

Melissa ~ Champagne/Orange Juice

And... that's it. If you haven't made a choice yet or you need a little nudge, here is what the hostess suggests:
little sandwiches
potato dish
salad
beverages (Nicole will have coffee)

You may comment here or on Facebook to give your dish of choice and I'll update the blog.

Reboot Post ~ January and February Meetings

Our January meeting is this Saturday the 22nd at Scotty's in Vallejo, 11am!

We haven't caught up to books 5-6 of the Sookie series so this meeting will be all about breakfast, future meeting topics and exchanging books. Bring a book or two that you would like to exchange and another book or two that you would like to discuss for future topics. We are on the hunt for fun/interesting books centering around the following topics:

Pirates (June meeting)
Resurrection/Religion (our theme for Spring)
Horse Racing (August meeting)

Here are the RSVP's we have for Scotty's:
Dalila, Angela, Melissa, Gloria, Alice, Ivy, Darla, Gemma
we'll be holding a table so let us know if you are not on the list or if your name is on the list but you can't make it.

Potluck Brunch at Nicole's place is now scheduled for February 13th at 1pm.
Arrange a designated driver and bring your Valley of the Dolls inspired dish/cocktail. We'll start a potluck list within the next week and everyone that RSVP'd will receive the address to Nicole's place too. We are arranging a carpool caravan from Angela's house in Vallejo, here's the list we currently have for the carpool :
Alice, Gloria, Gemma, Melissa, Angela, Jenny

If you don't have time for reading we found the Valley of the Dolls movie on Netflix!

Hope to see you on Saturday at Scotty's!

2011 Meeting Dates Refresher

This post is quick refresher for everyone recovering from the Holiday excess.

Return to Sookie
11am on Saturday January 22, 2011 ~ Sookie Stackhouse, by Charlaine Harris, books 5-6
Hope you like apple fritters!
Scotty's Cafe
1645 Tennessee St
Vallejo, CA 94590
RSVP on FB

Valley of the Dolls by Jacqueline Susann
Dish over Brunch at Nicole's place
1pm on February 13
Oakland, CA
RSVP on FB and we'll email you the address

Stay warm and hydrated and we'll see you soon!

2011 Meeting Dates / Books

Return to Sookie
11am on Saturday January 22, 2011 ~ Sookie Stackhouse, by Charlaine Harris, books 5-6
Hope you like apple fritters!
Scotty's Cafe
1645 Tennessee St
Vallejo, CA 94590

1pm on Saturday February 13, 2011
Valley of the Dolls by Jacqueline Susann
Dish over Brunch at Nicole's place
Oakland, CA
RSVP on FB and we'll email you the address

6pm on Saturday March 19, 2011 Maguire's Pub
The Claiming of Sleeping Beauty, Anne Rice
145 Kentucky Street
Petaluma, CA
http://www.maguirespub.net/about.html

April 2011 ~ meeting place to be determined, Book to be determined

May 2011
To honor the math-heads, business nerds and baseball nuts in our group the month of May will be:

Moneyball: the art of winning an unfair game by Michael Lewis

As an added bonus the movie about this book will also be released in 2011, hopefully in time for our book club discussion!

We will hold our discussion meeting at a Sacramento River Cats baseball game at Raley Field in Sacramento. The River Cats are a minor league team and the Triple A affiliate of the Oakland A's (the subject of Moneyball). Raley Field has all the usual baseball food (garlic fries!) and fireworks after Saturday night home games.

http://www.raleyfield.com/directions/

This will be a Book Club family event so prepare to bring the significant others, siblings, good buddies and the kiddies!

11am on June 18, 2011 ~ Book to be determined.
Vallejo Pirate Festival
Marina Green
Vallejo, CA 94590
Scheduled early so we can find parking and claim our booty before the place is overrun by pirates. Sexy wench attire required.
Pirate Festival

July 2011 - Geek Love, by Katherine Dunn
Evening potluck picnic, day to be determined
Sonoma Plaza (Sonoma Square)
1 The Plz
Sonoma, CA 95476

August 2011, day to be determined, book to be determined
Meeting Place
Sonoma County Fairgrounds
Wine Country Horse Racing Track