Earlier this year, hubby submitted for a company transfer. He got it – but not quite the timeline he expected. The interviewers dragged out the inquisition process for about a month while being very noncommittal. Then on March 4, they contacted him saying they wanted him to start April 1. Take it or leave it.

So it’s been a whirlwind uprooting from LA County and plunking down in the Silicon Valley. I don’t know about you, but I hate moving. Not just the packing/unpacking, but having to notify everyone and every agency of the new address (the US Post Office now charges one dollar to forward mail–what’s up with that?!) and rebuilding a resource network (going to have to look for a new doctor again). Fortunately, leaving Los Angeles went much smoother than I dreamed because of kind and generous friends willing to lend muscle, Wi-Fi, a place to crash, and moving boxes, Many thanks to the Rydins, Trapps, Kevin, Linda, Boyts, Kristi, and Ransoms!

Getting into our new place was a whole other story though.

I’d assumed that the housing market in the Silicon Valley was similar to Los Angeles when I began looking for a place to rent. Boy, was I wrong. The economy might be stagnating in other parts of California, but it’s revving along in the Silicon Valley, and the rents reflect it. So it was a bit of a mad scramble to find a place before hubby’s starting work date.

Well, we finally found a condo to rent a week before hubby had to move. But in our rush, we overlooked several problems that quickly reared their heads within the first weeks of our arrival. I won’t bore you with them all, but I’ll share the craziest of them.

Shortly before move-in, our landlord (who actually is very responsive and conscientious) mentioned that there had been a bee problem on the balcony. However, she told us that the HOA had already taken care of it. So we checked the balcony when we moved in, saw no bees, and thought no more of it.

Then a few days later, I found THIS on the balcony:

The pictures aren’t the greatest (I didn’t dare try for a closer close-up), but that darker brown on the light beige isn’t paint or moss. Those are BEES. And actually, this isn’t the best angle. Hundreds of them were crawling on the other side of the balcony wall.

I freaked out. Unfortunately, the HOA didn’t sense the same level of urgency I did and dragged its heels addressing the matter, which made it worse. In the midst of running around trying to get someone to evict the bees, I pieced together a few things about my new home:

• Our unit had been uninhabited for several years. (Our landlord had bought it earlier this year in a short sale as a rental investment).
•  The bees had been a known problem for several years.
•  Despite numerous past complaints from neighbors, the HOA didn’t do anything about the bees.

So these bees had been living in the balcony wall for several years (knowing that there’s only a single layer of plywood between you and an established beehive will definitely keep you up at night). And whatever it was they used to drive off the bees prior to our move-in was just a temporary irritant, because they came back en force. Seriously, that swarm covered the entire balcony.

After a ridiculous number of phone calls from me and my landlord, an HOA-approved bee guy came three days later to remove the swarm and hive, both of which were huge. The amount of wax and honeycomb he took out of the wall filled a 5 gallon bucket (ick). As for the bees, he captured them using a shop vac (DO NOT try this at home). So they got vacuumed up and thrown into his SUV to be taken to a ranch in Morgan Hill.

Unfortunately, swarm was big enough that there were still dozens of strays that kept lingering around the balcony (which required another round of complaints to the HOA to evict). But now they’re finally gone. Meaning I can get back to focusing on more enjoyable things.

 Like writing.

Oresama Teacher is a shojo manga that offers humor of the silly variety. Volume 13 has recently been released, and you can read on for the review. (For those who are interested, you can click here for my reviews of earlier volumes).

Back Cover Blurb

So far every Student Council member who has gone up against Mafuyu and the Public Morals Club has fallen to the team’s superior friendship skills. But Kanon Nonoguchi has a plan to turn their strengths against them! She’s spreading rumors that Midorigaoka girls are in danger and counting on Super Bun to run to the rescue… and right into her trap!

The RevieW

Having added a new member to the Public Morals Club, Tsubaki-sensei returns to the business of introducing Student Council officers bent on thwarting the efforts of Mafuyu and her friends. This time it’s Kanon Nonoguchi. Not only is she super skilled at martial arts, she’s fairly crafty. Her one weakness and major quirk, however, is that she detests men (something Miyabi uses to his advantage despite the fact that he is a guy himself). As such, Kanon has a tendency to exacerbate things, and what starts as a focused investigation on the Public Morals Club’s two mystery members turns into a dangerous conflict with the delinquents at Kiyama High.

All the Public Morals Club members are involved in this arc, but Akki in particular gets to show what he can (and can’t) do. Unlike Hayasaka and Yui, he’s actually perceptive enough to pick up on the actual identity of secret members Natsuo and Super Bun, and Tsubaki-sensei uses him to great comedic advantage when Mafuyu finds herself in a situation where both Super Bun and Natsuo have to be in the same place at the same time. From what he’s shown so far, Akki promises to be a great addition to the club.

Some of the plot is predictable; it’s fairly obvious Natsuo/Mafuyu will somehow win Kanon over, but as things escalate into a Public Morals Club versus Kiyama delinquents brawl, Tsubaki-sensei throws in a surprise: help for the Public Morals Club from not one but two unexpected individuals. Overall, this volume delivers a nice balance of character development, comedy, and action.

In Summary

The Public Morals Club faces its next Student Council challenger, Kanon Nonoguchi. Her target: Natsuo and Super Bun. Tsubaki-sensei lays on the comedy with this man-hating Student Council member trying to get to the bottom of the Public Morals Club’s secret members. It’s pretty obvious Mafuyu will work a change of heart in Kanon, but a couple unexpected allies will surprise fans in the face-off against the Kiyama delinquents.

First published at the Fandom Post.

The story centers on orphan Teru Kurebayashi, who, after the death of her beloved older brother, finds solace in the messages she exchanges with Daisy, an enigmatic figure who can only be reached through the cell phone her brother left her. One day, she accidentally breaks a window at school, and as  a result winds up becoming a servant for Kurosaki, the delinquent school custodian. Although brusque and rude, he somehow always shows up in her time of need, and Teru finds herself increasingly drawn to him.

The RevieW

In terms of relationship, Teru and Kurosaki have pretty much settled into the role of the established couple. Certainly Kurosaki’s keeping his passion for his underage love interest in check, but the two are in each other’s space a lot now. One chapter in Volume 11 opens with Teru waking Kurosaki up from his bed. Another opens with a freshly showered and shirtless Kurosaki walking around his living room while Teru’s there. With most of the mystery and tension in their relationship resolved, Motomi-sensei switches to Kiyoshi, Rena, and Rena’s fiancé Morizono to provide the tension, romantic and otherwise.

Volume 11 provides us with our first actual glimpse of Morizono. He’s an arrogant and somewhat dim rich bully with bad news written all over him. He serves the dual purpose of introducing the threat of a new Jack Frost virus and providing Kiyoshi with a villain that he can rescue Rena from.

To be quite honest, Kiyoshi and Rena have completely transformed over the series’ eleven volumes. As Motomi-sensei points out in the author’s notes, the very first chapter of Dengeki Daisy shows Kiyoshi standing behind Teru as she defends him from Rena and the Student Council bullies. In this volume, he wields a bamboo sword to thwart bad guys and lends a sympathetic ear to Rena whenever she gets weepy. As for Rena, she’s gone from spoiled rich girl that everyone hates to spoiled rich girl that everyone loves. The “Everyone Loves You, Rena” snowball fight is somewhat sappy and contrived, but the plot shapes up once Rena gets trapped by Morizono. As a villain, Morizono’s not the sharpest opponent, but he’s got the resources and clout to cause Teru and company problems, and that’s good enough to drive the story forward.

By the way, for Kurosaki fans, one of the extras included in this volume is a guide to drawing Kurosaki’s face.

In Summary

Akira’s been the bad boy of late, but he fades into the background as Motomi-sensei gives readers a new guy to despise: Rena’s fiancé Morizono. Not only is he a bad match, he’s also trying to set loose a new Jack Frost virus on the world. That of course gets Teru and friends involved, especially when Rena gets abducted by Morizono. It’s a little odd having Rena as damsel in distress and Kiyoshi playing knight in shining armor, but I am intrigued to see how Morizono intends to pull off his “engagement party plot.”

First published at the Fandom Post.

Back Cover Blurb

In part two of Message to Adolf, with World War II escalating things have become quite heated for the Adolfs. Adolf Kaufman is now enrolled in a Hitler Youth Academy. While there he quickly is taught to distinguish between races and religions. He would eventually hand out stars of David to Jews in his community. His work, some of which would be physically difficult, would lead to a visit with the Führer. Unfortunately as young Kaufman would reach such heights, he like Kamil and Toge before him would find out that Hitler may have a very heavy secret he is hiding.

The RevieW

While “secondary character” Toge dominates Volume 1 of Message to Adolf, Volume 2 focuses predominantly on Adolf Kaufmann, the half-Japanese boy who gets shipped off to Adolf Hitler School. It follows his Nazi indoctrination, and you sympathize with his plight as he struggles to reconcile Hitler’s ideals with his mixed ethnic heritage and his friendship with Jew Adolf Kamil. To complicate matters, Kaufmann falls in love with Elisa, a Jewish girl, and on top of that, discovers by accident the secret of Hitler’s lineage.

All these factors add up to mold Kaufmann into an SD officer with a twisted personality. Having gained Hitler’s favor, he devotes himself wholeheartedly to the Nazis, but he must continually delude himself to justify the inconsistencies between the Nazi worldview and reality – not the least of which is the fact that the Fuehrer is part Jewish. But he can’t completely ignore his conscience. En route through the Arctic Ocean via submarine, he nearly loses his grip on sanity as the ghosts of the hundreds of Jews he’s murdered come to haunt him.

In a sense, Kaufman is a reflection of the entire Nazi party. Blinded by patriotism and fervor, Hitler’s deranged minions carry out his brutal and pointless orders unquestioningly while anyone trying to be a voice of reason gets killed off as a traitor. Even after Hitler’s paranoia nearly results in Kaufmann’s execution, Kaufmann remains loyal despite knowing that his Fuehrer isn’t right in the head. And the decline of Kaufmann’s fortunes in the SD coincide with the Nazis’ fall on the world stage.

As for the other Adolfs, Hitler serves mainly as a caricature of himself. A couple times Tezuka-sensei does show him agonizing about his impure heritage. Other than that, he’s just a standard crazed dictator. Meanwhile, back in Japan, Kamil continues the espionage arc and also provides Kaufmann someone to hate when he returns to Japan.

The impetus for Kaufmann’s return, of course, is the secret documents. But although intrigue remains an element of the plot, the main drama arises when the Nazi-brainwashed Kaufmann clashes with the people he once knew. In fact, the fall of Germany turns the Hitler documents into a non-issue, but the story continues past World War II to show how utterly Nazi doctrine estranges Kaufmann from former loved ones and ruins his life.

As in Volume 1, Tezuka-sensei doesn’t hesitate to depict the worst of humanity. Between the Nazi party and Japanese militarists, Volume 2 includes torture, rape, and genocide as well as the harrowing aftermath of war strikes. However, Tezuka-sensei’s intent clearly isn’t to glorify violence but to warn against it, and his illustrations of the casualties of war aren’t nearly as graphic as, say, Barefoot Gen.

In Summary

Although the manga opener states that this story is about three Adolfs, the half-Japanese Nazi officer Adolf Kaufmann gets the lion’s share of the narrative in Volume 2. While the Hitler documents do remain as a plot driver to torment Adolf Hitler, these chapters are less cat and mouse espionage and more a commentary on Nazi atrocities and the horrors of human violence in general. Tezuka-sensei keeps the content from getting dry with the grudge that arises between Kaufmann and his former Jewish friend Kamil, but the story does takes a preachy tone at its conclusion.

First published at the Fandom Post.

Yen Press has recently released the seventh volume of this series, and you can read on for the review. (You can also click here for my reviews of previous Spice and Wolf releases).

The Review

For those curious about Holo, Lawrence, and Col’s ongoing journey, you’ll have to wait a bit longer. Volume 7, as the back cover states, takes a break from their adventures to present a series of short vignettes. They consist of the novella, “The Boy and the Girl and the White Flowers,” and two short stories, “The Red of the Apple, the Blue of the Sky” and “Wolf and Amber Melancholy.”

According to the author’s notes, the novella features “Holo’s big-sisterly side” as it delves into Holo’s past. I’d hoped it would be about how she came to settle in her wheat field, but it has nothing to do with her old village or even Yoitsu. Instead, the story tells of an earlier journey. However, the journey is not Holo’s but that of two children. Former occupants of a rustic estate, they find themselves thrust into the wide world with only one another to rely upon.

The two young sojourners are opposites. The boy Klass is uneducated while the girl Ayres can read and write, but she has led such a sheltered life she’s never seen flowers growing in a field. So when the manor’s new master throws them out, Klass is constantly having to help Ayres. But Klass himself is only ten, and they soon find themselves in dire straits. Fortunately for them, they encounter Holo, who takes them under her wing. But her aid is not without a price. She teases poor Klass is badly as she does Lawrence, which surprised me given the gentler treatment she displays toward Col in Volume 6. Meanwhile, Ayres gets spared the brunt of Holo’s jabs and jibes. By the end of the novella, I felt thoroughly sorry for Klass, and Holo came off as a mean big sister figure indeed.

The short stories, on the other hand, feature Holo’s gluttony, according to Hasekura-sensei. Lawrence appears alongside her in these stories, which were both included in the Spice and Wolf anime. In “The Red of the Apple, the Blue of the Sky,” Lawrence gets to show off his business sense as he and Holo go shopping for clothes. Of the three stories, this is the only one that focuses on trade, though it isn’t quite an economics lesson. And though Lawrence does teach Holo something new, she, of course, manages to one-up him in the end.

Poor Lawrence seems ever at the mercy of Holo’s demands and sharp tongue so “Wolf and Amber Melancholy” is a refreshing change of pace. It is, as Hasekura-sensei mentions, the first time he writes from Holo’s perspective. Not much talk of business, but there is a bit of medieval medicine theory with our wisewolf sick in bed. Considering how much she frustrates and embarrasses Lawrence, it’s fun to see her frustrated and embarrassed as she deals with illness and jealousy. It’s also nice to know exactly how the wisewolf feels about her travel companion for once.

I should mention that the text is a bit choppy. I’m not sure if it’s because of the original Japanese text or the translation, but there are several short phrases and short sentences bunched together that makes for a less than smooth read. Plus, there are also a couple grammatical errors in the text.

This light novel includes the title page, three two-page spreads, and the table of contents printed in color as well as ten black-and-white illustrations.

In Summary

Hasekura-sensei takes a break from Holo and Lawrence’s wanderings in the north to share three Spice and Wolf vignettes. Fans of the anime and manga series will recognize the two short stories, which feature Lawrence and Holo. The novella, on the other hand, takes place far in Holo’s past as it tells of her journey with a pair of children who’ve been cast out of a manor. And though she earns points for protecting the poor little waifs, we discover that even children aren’t spared a wisewolf’s mischief.

First published at the Fandom Post.

Not long ago I asked my horse ladies about the physics of horse sweat as described in this post. A couple days later I found myself with yet another sweat related question. This time, it wasn’t about the how but the when of horse sweat.

Sweating is not an across-the-board phenomenon in the animal kingdom. That’s why pigs lie in mud and dogs pant while horses and humans get drippy when temperatures go up. The thing about people though is heat isn’t the only thing that causes a sweat. Excitement or nerves can also put human sweat glands into overdrive.

So I wondered as I reviewed a scene where a charioteer’s palms grow damp right before race time whether his horses might be sweating nervously as well. A quick e-mail to my horse ladies ensued, and here’s the answer I got from the Boyz’ Mom:

Indeed they do, and like people, they can drip with sweat from excitement, frustration, nervousness. It isn’t foaming like when they are working. It is a clear dripping sweat that slowly foams. The working foam comes on quickly due to the exertion of muscles… Latherin, a soaplike protein in horse sweat and saliva, helps spread sweat over the coat, maximizing evaporation of water for heat loss, and causing the foam that we see when horses sweat profusely. Latherin is also found in saliva, which explains the foam often seen around a bitted horse’s lips.

Interesting! Not only can heightened emotions trigger a sweat response in horses, the sweat generated has different qualities than workout sweat!

So the take away (for me at least) is that a horse that has been working hard will look like he’s come out of a bubble bath while one who is jittery or excited will just be drippy. Wouldn’t it be interesting if the same were true for people, if nervous sweat was distinctly different than exercise sweat?

Back Cover Blurb

As he journeys to India, Mr. Smith is snapped out of his melancholic reverie by a tumble from his camel into a river and by the pair of identical twin girls who dive in to pull him out. Leili and Laila have reached marrying age, but their minds are more on mischief than romance.

Meanwhile, back in the Eihons’ village, Pariya has finally caught the interest of a suitor. But now that the moment has finally arrived, will Pariya’s outspoken personality draw him in or drive him away?

The RevieW

Volume 3 hinted that trouble might be stirring for Amir’s native clan, and in Volume 4, we discover just how bad things get when a clan can’t provide a necessary bride. The opener is tense with the Halgal facing potential starvation, and Amir’s brother and his companions get the dangerous task of negotiating an alliance with another clan. Even beyond the Halgal, emotions are running high in the region, with everyone from Russians to Persians to tribesmen on edge. Mori-sensei’s illustrations are excellent as usual, and she inserts stunning scenes of wolves that parallel the ongoing human drama.

The story then steps back from the broader geopolitical situation to focus on more personal matters–namely marriage. The tone quickly goes from suspenseful to comical with marriage talks for Pariya. This episode is relatively brief, but those who like the outspoken, slightly surly baker girl will enjoy the two new characters who take up the rest of the volume: the twins Laila and Leily.

Much about these fishing village girls will appeal to modern readers. They’re spunky. They’re loud. They talk back to their elders. They’re also like Amir in that they’re very athletic, but the place where they shine isn’t on horseback with bow and arrows, but in the water with nets and baskets. Their chapters are full of illustrations of them swimming, and they make their grand splash of an entrance by rescuing Mr. Smith from drowning.

Despite these traits, the young teens know very well that they must marry, and indeed are already concerned about becoming old maids. The way they go about their dilemma, however, is very modern. Having grown impatient waiting for their father to find them prospects, they decide to get their own grooms. Their selection criteria, though, is best described as shallow, and ditzy as they are, the story turns into a sitcom as the girls fail over and over to catch a “big fish.”

The comedy continues when dad finally finds their less than ideal matches. The story does take a sentimental tone as the girls warm up to their fiancés but drops right back into comedy with mom giving her slacker daughters a crash course in bridehood. As the reluctant students suffer through their mother’s teachings, readers get a glimpse of what marriage negotiation, wedding preparations, and the role of women in an Aral Sea fishing village are like. The story wraps up just before the double wedding, and like Mr. Smith, I’m looking forward to the celebration.

In Summary

Bride’s Story switches from melodrama to sitcom with two new brides, the twins Laila and Leily. These Aral Sea girls are very different from the women encountered so far, but marriage is just as important to them! With their father slow to bring them prospects, they take matters into their own hands with ridiculous results. Volume 4 definitely has a modern ditzy-girl-desperate-to-find-Mr.-Right flavor, but despite the silliness, Mori-sensei continues to beautifully showcase different aspects of life from this time period.

First published at the Fandom Post.

Fortunately for me, Dalby’s Siren Feasts lists fruit available to ancient Greeks. Among them are:

• Strawberry
• Apple
• Blackberry
• Sloe
• Plum
• Date
• Pomegranate
• Musk Melon
• Cherry
• Quince
• Watermelon
• Pear
• Mulberry

The Greeks also had grapes and figs according to Dalby, but because they were deemed luxuries, not staples, I didn’t include them for consideration. After all, you might have access to filet mignon and love your dog, but I doubt you’d feed filet mignon to your dog.

Finally, I ran the list past my horsy ladies to see if any fruit candidates were potentially toxic to horses, the way chocolate is to dogs. Julie responded by saying that horses can eat pretty much anything, with a few exceptions. For horse owners, oak and maple leaves (which can get horses sick if ingested) are more cause for concern than fruit.

In the end, I chose apples for a fall scene, and plums and blackberries for  summer scenes. I wasn’t able to find exact dates on their seasons in Greece, but Greece has a Mediterranean climate as does California, so I used California fruit seasons as a best guess.

When I shared my choices with the ladies, Julie had me add one more detail to the scene with the blackberries: stains. According to her, even if a horse is being as gentle as can be, there will still be squished berries.

When Julie’s horses do well or if she just wants to spoil them, she gives them peppermints. I thought sugar cubes were the equestrian treat of choice, but in her barn, it’s peppermints. And it is an acquired taste. When she first got Elle and gave her a mint, Elle was very ho-hum about it. But after a few weeks, she’d start raising a fuss if she heard a whisper of cellophane. If Julie’s not quick enough unwrapping the mint, Elle will just eat the whole thing, wrapper and all.

Using special foods to show love is something I believe Julie’s ancient Greek counterparts would’ve done, but that raises the question of what they would’ve used. Many foods that are regional mainstays might not have existed in the area thousands of years ago. For example, potatoes became an Irish staple, but that was only after Columbus got to the New World.

Fortunately, I had A. Dalby’s Siren Feasts for help. In this book, he describes the food culture of the ancient Greeks. He even includes a simple fish recipe from an ancient cookbook. While diet did vary from Greek city-state to city-state, the text was handy in determining what basic ingredients would have been available in that part of the world.

One thing I quickly determined with that sugar lumps were out. Ubiquitous as it is in our culture, refined sugar is a relatively recent development. The sweeteners available to the ancient Greeks were honey and date syrup, and those were luxuries. Not to mention, they’re not exactly amenable to feeding to a horse.

However, something our ancient horse folk did have access to was fruit, something I’ll delve into next time.

Julie’s mare Elle is big as far as her breed goes. Morgans average between 14 and 15 hands (56 inches to 60 inches at the shoulder). Early last year, Julie was telling me and the Boyz’ Mom that Elle had gotten all awkward again because she had hit yet another growth spurt.

To which I responded, Elle’s STILL growing?

You see, I’d read that the cutoff between a filly and a mare is four years. At the time, Elle was already past her fourth birthday so she had to be a full-grown adult already, right?

Wrong.

While people do use the age of four to delineate between mature and immature horses, it’s no absolute. Rates of growth differ from horse to horse and there are definite variations between breeds. According to the Boyz’ Mom, Friesian horses don’t start training until they’re three and training continues on till they’re around six. That’s because they don’t fully mature until they’re six to eight years old. By that age, some thoroughbreds have already reached the end of their racing careers!

Once my horse ladies explained this to me, I felt a little silly. After all, I should’ve known better, considering what I’ve learned about ancient Olympic horse racing. The officials spent the month before the Olympics determining whether young animals would compete in the horse races or colt races. If physical maturity was simply a matter of age, they wouldn’t have had such a rigorous process.

So using age 4 to delineate between colts and horses is about as accurate as using age 18 to delineate between adults and children. I reached my full height (just over 5 feet) at age 15, but one of my guy pals kept growing well into his college years (I forget his exact height but he’s well over 6 feet tall).

By the way, Elle will be five this year, and her current height is over 16 hands and still going…