Colleen at The Thursday 13 holds a weekly blogging prompt where bloggers make a list of 13 things on Thursdays. The topic is for you to choose. The blog host doesn't have any official graphics to display on the Thursday 13 posts, so I decided to whip one up myself. 🙂
As I said earlier this week, I've been trying to avoid posting political stuff on Facebook. Here are just some of the non-political things I've posted or shared so far this week. A mix of things, including:
Last week about three people dropped me as a friend on Facebook over a political meme. Since that day, I've tried to avoid posting political stuff. But most of the stuff I have posted seems to be ignored.
I now ask why politics always seems to be the focus of Facebook. There did not seem to be many political posting when I first signed on in 2008, just as George W. Bush's final term was ending and Obama was elected as the new president. It seemed like everyone was posting about parties (not political ones!) they were having, or pictures of their kids (those who have them).
Does anyone not care about animal pictures? Or funny cartoons? I Know I will be posting more of those as Halloween and Christmas approach. I even try to avoid watching most of my local newscast, tuning at then just before Jeopardy, to watch the "Animal Stories" segment that comes at the very end of the newscast. Now, that's always fun. And what abut posting cartoons other than those about politics? I've even complained about the delay in the opening of the Spirit Halloween store in my town. Most people didn't care. Though I did post about this on group that focuses on what is happening in my town, and someone said that it should open if the building is up to code and "the city doesn't give them any trouble." I'm only trying to post anything to avoid politics! But not everyone seems interested in that!
As U2 said in the song "Sunday Bloody Sunday," "I can't believe the news today/Oh, I can't close my eyes and make it go away." I now sometimes wish this could happen.
I just now came across this link. Sad but true. And it's been going on for a long time now.
I didn't exactly like these kind of posts at first. But now I'd much to hear more about those things rather than politics! Even I can't post those things myself. Now will someone start liking my animal and holiday cartoons?
I'd only completed two of my challenges when I made my Mid-Year Reading post in June. I also noted in that post that there were a few I still one or two books to complete. Well, now all but one of those are done. I'm still stuck on deciding on something to re-read, the last category left for Unabridged.
Needing a book set on a train for one of my summer reading challenges, I chose this one since it included a crime in the title. Not one I was looking forward to, but I got through it. This was the one category that I had the most trouble finding.
Some colors get harder and harder to find each year. Though I intend to keep going on the one in the coming year :) I'm glad they allow shades of colors (such as "lime" for "green," "coffee" for "brown," "lemon" for "yellow," etc.). "Other color" was the one I had left. Every year, I wonder what my "other color" will be.
As I said in the post from June, I was stuck the most on U and X for both titles and authors. The author one I completed in early June, with U as the last one completed. I was stuck on X for the titles, and chose a title that contains the letter X, though it is not the first word. X was as difficult as ever.
And there were some I completed that I did not mention in the June post. I don't remember how many spaces I had left on these up to that point.
The UFO category was my least favorite on this one. I only read so much science fiction. But I needed cli-fi or solar punk book for another challenge, and UFO was the last one I nedeed for this one. So it all worked out.
This was an unexpected finish. It was new to me in 2024, and had almost the same categories as that year. I'm now debating if I'm going to attempt this one in 2026, if it gets offered for then.
Trying to find a nonfiction book on islands was the one thin that was keeping from completing this one. I decided to look for a short one I could read quickly while at the library (a short work as noted in this post).
On a side note, the book I chose for the UFO category was also for this August category. And I though I rarely do monthly challenges out of order, I included it for this one in September. As I said, I only read so much sci-fi, so I decided to jump ahead on this one. I did the same for the August Decades category and the September category for NoveList. The decade in question was the 1970s and the September category was "Set in the decade you were born." I was worried about having to find another 70s set book. But I just noticed one of the library books I have out right now is set in the 70s. Do I double the requirement for September, or remove the previous book and use the one I have out now instead, I'm trying to decide. This blogger said she never does the monthly ones in order. I like to decide what to read as I go along, so that usually means going in order for me. The categories above just happened to be a month apart.
Colleen at The Thursday 13 holds a weekly blogging prompt where bloggers make a list of 13 things on Thursdays. The topic is for you to choose. The blog host doesn't have any official graphics to display on the Thursday 13 posts, so I decided to whip one up myself. 🙂
September’s name comes from the Latin word septem, meaning “seven.” This month had originally been the seventh month of the early Roman calendar.
September 11 is Patriot Day, held in honor and remembrance of those who died in the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.
Out of all 12 months of the year, September is spelled with the most letters. It contains nine letters, and it happens to be the ninth month of the year. No other months have the same amount of letters as their number in the calendar year.
There are more pop and classic songs with “September” in the title than any other month.
The birthstone for September is the sapphire which is said to reduce inflammation, treat fever and act as a lucky charm for the person wearing it. It symbolizes intuition, clarity of thought, peacefulness, as well as loyalty and trust.
A little-known, but highly significant holiday falls in September. September 17th is Constitution Day, which marks the day that the U.S. Constitution was adopted.
September 19 is International Talk Like a Pirate Day.
September has seen its share of major historic world events, including the 1666 Great Fire of London, the 1939 start of World War II, the 1945 declaration of victory over Japan, and the 2001 September 11 terror attacks. See some lesser-known events here.
The oft-forgotten medieval Christian holiday of Michaelmas celebrates the archangel St. Michael, a leader of heavenly armies and the protector against winter darkness. Held on September 29, the feast day marks the beginning of fall as the harvest season ends, according to the National Trust for Scotland. Medieval English traditions included giving daisies as presents, stealing your neighbor’s horse (just for a night) and eating a fattened goose to ensure prosperity through the winter season.
The fashion magazine Vogue's September issue is the publication's most important edition of the year. The semi-annual Fashion Week also occurs in September.
Notable individuals who were born in September include Amy Winehouse, Adam Sandler, Bruce Springsteen, Bill Murray, Freddie Mercury, Confucius, Queen Elizabeth, Sophia Loren, and Stephen King.
September is known as Harvest Month because it is the perfect time to gather crops in preparation for winter.
The first American newspaper, “Publick Occurrences Both Foreign and Domestick,” was published in Boston on September 25th, 1690. However, it was shut down after its first issue due to the British authorities’ disagreement with its content.
And there's more. As usual, it was hard picking out just 13 for the list.
Welcome to September. Here is yet another day I did not know about. It's about ginger cats, also known as orange tabbies. They too, have their own day of appreciation.
Yet, the weird weather is still here. It was really hot yesterday and is expected to be the same today in my area. And for the first days of September as well. Again, it's going to be too hot to play pickleball so we will be meeting at the center this coming Wednesday. We haven't been able to play pickleball since June, when the summer weather was not so hot. And our beach trip in July was on one of the mornings that started out foggy, with the sun trying to break through.
All this being true, just what can we expect for the remainder of the season and the beginning of the next one? Though, being from California, I nearly always expect the nearly-100 degrees scenario to occur. It usually is never time for sweaters in late September around here.
And of course, the Halloween stuff has arrived in some stores. I was under the impression that Spirit would not be returning to my town this year, since it was initially on the company's website. A few days later, someone on Facebook said it will be coming, and it was now on the site. I then saw the sign at the old Kmart, the same place it was last year. I have not as of yet seen any delivery trucks. Last year around this time, they has arrived, with boxes piled on the sidewalk in front the store. I will let you know how it is when it opens.
How many of you have done this? I have, for many reasons. Just last Friday, we had a movie day at work and watched the movie Holes, based on the book of the same name. I've never read the book, but now I want to.
People will argue that the book was better. Some will brag that they read the book, but didn't see the movie. I have most often tried to read the book first, but there have been times when I did not know that the movie was based on a book. One year, back when I got DVDs from Netflix, I had queued the movie A Hero Ain't Nothing but a Sandwich, unaware of the book it was based on. Now years later, I now want to read the book, even though it's a hard one to find. I'm not sure about ordering it from Amazon, and it seems unlikely that I will find it in a nearby thrift store. (Though you never can tell on that one). I was also unaware that Fast Food Nation was a book first. It was one of the first movies I got from Netflix when I started using the service. The movie must have looked good at the time. I have since read the book. I still have not read The Descendants despite seeing the movie. I saw that one with a Meetup group I'd briefly joined in the 2010s. I was new to the group and not aware of the book then. And on watching Holes just two days ago--the movie day had planned as part of this month's activities schedule, but the movie had only been decided on that day.
What is your take on books vs. movies? Which to you prefer to do first? How often have you seen a movie not knowing it was based on a book?
