The Hunger Games Saga
Our next door neighbor lent me both Catching Fire and Mockingjay.
His partner was reading Hunger Games on the back patio, and when I noticed of course I was all, "OH! are you totally loving it?"
Because of course if it's my new favorite thing I want to talk about it with EVERYONE. Or ANYONE. Because nobody I know in person had read them. Nobody!
And we couldn't talk about them because his partner was only halfway through the first one. Argh!
So they lent me Catching Fire and Mockingjay and I ate them up. They were delicious. Totally recommend them as suck-you-in kind of stories.
You won't finish them edified, but hell, I don't leave work edified most days.
And if you've read them, what did you think of Mockingjay?
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The Neighborhood Poo Situation
Someone pooped in the garage two doors down. I know this because they came over with a hose and asked if they could use our tap.
They meaning two of our neighbors. Not they meaning the pooper.
They said this was the first time they'd dealt with this. I'm wondering if there's suddenly a pooping bandit in the neighborhood.
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The Sewage Update
Roto Rooter came back last Friday.
The guy was there for quite a while - first he couldn't get his equipment to work, and then one thing, and then another. Finally after about an hour he got to work, and there was a lot of rotorooting to do.
We didn't get charged again, because clearly the last guy hadn't finished the job.
What he said, though, was that we have a broken pipe in front of our house. An eight-foot-underground pipe. He determined that it's either under the wall of our front garden or under the sidewalk. The camera couldn't go any further than the wall, and the guy couldn't tell us precisely.
It's either DC's issue or ours. We won't know until we dig.
What he did say, however, was that it'll cost approximately $6,200 to fix.
Then he said, "Damn. I forgot to load the DVD. Today just isn't my day."
To which Nick replied, "Forgive me if I'm not sympathetic. You're saying this to the man you just told has a $6,200 problem."
I loved Mockingjay, my mom and my friend were kinda meh on it. I think I needed a couple of days to digest it and really let it sink in and figure out the reasons why the author did what she did. I think the end was more realistic than people expected it to be, but that's exactly what I liked about it. It wouldn't have made sense for Katniss to have a perfect happily ever after. So glad you enjoyed them too!
ReplyDeleteI loved Mockingjay, and from what I've heard, I think I'm the only person on earth that loved it. Even the ending. Personally, I would have been disappointed if it wrapped up all happiness and rainbows. Or if Katniss ran around the whole book being Super Rebel. I mean, ultimately she's a 17 year old girl that some really messed up stuff happened to, is it any surprise that she was broken?
ReplyDeleteI'm kind of curious about why someone would have a hose, if they didn't have a tap.
ReplyDeleteSpoiler-y comments below:
ReplyDeleteI loved the first two books, but found Mockingjay a little disappointing. I understand that it wasn't going to end "well," but Katniss was so annoying during the process that I was kind of hoping that she'd die, so Peeta and Delly could live happily ever after. Also I thought that killing Prim was totally ridiculous and unnecessary. It didn't add anything to the story and didn't really change her motivations much.
I really hope there is not a Pooping Bandit in anyone's neighborhood, especially yours. That's a steep price for fixing a pipe, sorry to hear that :(
ReplyDeleteI meant to comment about this on your earlier post, but forgot. When I lived in DC about 12 years ago, there was a guy who would take a crap in a second story parking lot across from my apartment. Every Sunday afternoon, around 2:30, we'd see him saunter up the street, climb up to the second story, undo his pants and relieve himself. We called him the Mad Pooper. Maybe it's the same guy.
ReplyDeleteI loved all three books, and I particularly loved the ending. I'm so glad she chose who I would have chosen for her.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I just really had fun reading it. I was home sick and really needed the distraction.
Is it possible that the homeless guys Nick and Jordan greet on their walks have moved closer and are using neighborhood buildings as restrooms? Ewww...in our neighborhood we have the occasional shooting or burglary, and I'd so much rather deal with that than someone poo-ing.
ReplyDeleteOn Mockingjay:
ReplyDeleteI was a little disappointed but still enjoyed it. What I feel like happened was that the other two were popular so she had to rush to finish the third. I would have prefered if it came out six months later and was as well written as the first two!
So, I haven't read these but I have been sort of trolling around trying to find out what people are recommending now that I've finished the Stieg Larsson trilogy. Loved them. Needed something new - and if you say these are good, I'm requesting them at my library.
ReplyDeleteThat's not true, I've already requested them at your library because you seemed so into them. But I didn't want to say that and look weird.
Jo - I really liked it. I didn't feel like it was quite as well crafted as the first two, but I was fine with how she wrapped things up. It couldn't be all happy sappy, even though those are the kinds of endings I prefer.
ReplyDeleteLisa - Yes. I always prefer happiness and rainbows, but there was no way for that here. I think it was as much rainbow wrap-up as possible without deviating from the story believability.
Jessica - I think they have a tap in front of their building. Or one of the guys has the roof unit - I've never been up but he might have a tap up there for plants?
Annie - You made me laugh with the hoping she'd die so Peeta and Delly could live happily ever after. She was annoying but I still liked her. I thought killing Prim was actually useful, because then she absolutely had to kill the president, no?
HKW - Yah, we'll see with the PB. As for the pipe price, I've heard worse from friends. Argh!
diatribes and dish - That is both really amusing and really horrifying. 2:30 every Sunday. Maybe on his way home from church?
Maiden Metallurgist - She HAD to choose him. Had to. And then with the direction she took Gale's character, there was no way not to.
Susan H - I gave that a flicker of thought but I prefer to believe it's not one of the guys we say hi to. There are plenty of mendicants in the neighborhood. Plenty.
MeganElise - I believe that could be the case, for sure. It wasn't quite as well written, although thinking about it, I'm not sure how different the story might be.
KLZ - They won't change your life, but they are compelling and if you want escape reading, they are perfect, because they suck you right in.
As for looking weird...who am I to judge, really?
I really want to read those books. They are on my list but of course checked out at the library. I may suck it up and buy them.
ReplyDeleteOk I stopped reading the comments because I want to read the books and was getting too much infeed from the comments.
ReplyDeleteEww at the poop and OMFG at the bill to fix the pipes, damn thats expensive :S
Though I love the blog title Lemon Gloria, I was just thinking...if you ever decide to change it, you could call it The Poo Chronicles. ;)
ReplyDeleteI think that even if Prim hadn't been killed, but the weapon was used against District 13 healers, that she would have killed the President. I actually thought that it would have been more interesting if she killed the President to put a stop to the future potential Hunger Games. That is what I saw as the last straw.
ReplyDeleteRe: Hoping she'd die, I think that I just mostly hate teenagers.
I read the Hunger Games and Catching fire on days 3 and 4 of my beach trip. I had just begun Mockingjay when we were leaving, and accidentally left my Kindle at the beach. I'm more upset about having to wait to finish the final book than I am about missing the device itself.
ReplyDelete