Riffday: Another one already?

1. Thanks for your patience with my whiney day on Friday, but I have to say there were more comments on that post than on anything in a long time, so maybe I should whine more often.

2. There was a brief discussion about migraine remedies in the comments of that post, so I will update you on what I've tried.  Hmmm. that could get fairly long. what I've tried in the past week, let's put it that way.  Just a couple of weeks ago I read about another blogger's near-miraculous success with peppermint oil.  I've heard of lavender (which gives me a headache), but not peppermint oil.  So I tried it, and I give it a guarded thumbs-up.  For low-level headaches, it works as well as advil.  It didn't do anything for the major one I had on Tuesday.  Eva mentioned ginger, which was also new to me. I have ginger tea here at the house but I haven't used it as a headache remedy.  It worked better than the peppermint oil, but still not as well as Maxalt--which is the prescription drug I've used for years now.  But Maxalt is expensive and has side effects and I start running out of it when I have a long run of headaches, so overall I'm happy to know about both of these. All remedies are individual in how well they work, but these are definitely worth a try if you are also a headache sufferer.

3. We've never had a dog that likes to ride in the car before.  Zeke, the border collie who was our first child, hated to ride in the car and would drool all over the place (which our vet said was a sign of carsickness).  Jazz is happy to go in the car but she gets so obnoxiously excited that I can't stand to take her anywhere.  She spends the whole trip with her head hanging over the seat, panting.  But Sadie just wants to go.  If I pick up my keys, she heads straight for the back seat, and she settles right down and goes to sleep.  It's kind of nice to have company on my interminable rounds of errands.  I've joined the legions of Montanans who drive around with their dog(s) in the car.

4.  April Reading Report:  Skinny Dip by Carl Hiaasen (fun book, perfect vacation read).  If Chins Could Kill by Bruce Campbell (interesting insider look at the movie industry).  Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman (fabulous, wonderful, loved it--but it's Gaiman so no surprise there).  Women Food and God by Geneen Roth (thought provoking. It seemed to me to be more about life in general and applicable to men as well, unlike the title sounds).  All of them good and well worth reading, but none of them seemed worth writing out a full review.  Or maybe I'm just not in the mood this month.  Some thoughts inspired by the Geneen Roth book may show up later.

5. I think we should all read Great Gatsby before the movie comes out.  It's not that long (less than 200 pages) and it's not a terribly difficult read.  It doesn't have a happy ending, but the writing is beautiful.  I might even vote for it for the Great American Novel, or at least one of them--I suppose we could create subcategories: "Greatest U.S. Novel about the Myth of the Self-Made Man."

6.  Brag On My Children Time:  MadMax broke the freshman record for discus throw at a meet on Saturday--for his high school and possibly for the state.  And PellMel got into medical school--it happened about a month ago but I don't think I ever told you. So she will be busy for the Next Eight Years.  My children totally rock.

7.  I sang tenor in choir this week!  There were four altos but only two tenors, so I moved up to the top row with the guys.  It was fun.