There's a point of intersection between what you love, waht you are good at, what the world needs and what you can be paid for and that's Ikigai, and I'm still not sure what mine is. It's something I really should think about rather than yearning for something more in my life, and maybe it's in my hobbies rather than in my job but I really should try to find something in my life that feeds my soul.

Comes across as a bit pat and simplistic but interesting and food for thought

'The Boys in the Band's action is a long, tense evening and one of the worst birthday parties I've ever read about. Its also very typical, because the bitchy "friend" who throws the party makes it all about himself.

This play is simultaneously celebrated and castigated for portraying its gay characters the way it does. The characters are archetypes and are not the most flattering portraits, but, being archetypes, they're based on a reality. Even in today's enlightened times I've known similarly stunted and irritating people (and have some of those traits myself). 'Boys' is relevant and would be even if it hadn't been one of the first successful plays with a majority of gay characters.

The problem I had with it is that, because I was reading it, and that they were pretty much all horrible people, I lost track of who was who except for the straight one. They all blended into each other and I had to keep flipping to the front of the book to remember who was who. As that's more my fault than Crowley's I don't have any objections to this play. Bring on the unflattering self-hatred, bring on the tossed aside luxurious sweaters, and the lady pronouns, and most of all, bring on the hissing and spitting. The story its trying to tell isn't any less valid because it doesn't fit some nobler purpose for a political or social cause. That said, whether you're reading this for its landmark status or for camp pleasure, don't go into it expecting some universal message.

Chloe is a cosmetic saleswoman in a small town. She goes with her friend, Kristina to an employee appreciation barbecue where she sees lots of unhappy people. The owner of Mattress Mart, Marty Diamond likes money more than anything or anyone else so he has lots of people who don't like him. For what should have been a festive occasion, there sure where a lot of arguments. All included Marty. When Marty is murdered, the police had so many suspects that it was going to take a very long time to solve the crime. Since their top suspect was Kristina, Chloe knew she was innocent and had to find the killer herself.

This is a fun story (even though it is about a murder) and the writing is smooth making it easy to read and follow the plot. You have to love Chloe 's determination to be a good friend by proving Kristina is innocent. She clearly is not experienced at sleuthing which showed in her lack of investigative and questioning skills. But you've got to give her points for trying. On the personal side it's funny how the older women in town try to set Chloe up on a blind date. Since she's 34 and there aren't many single men in the small tourist town, they seem to feel it's up to them to connect Chloe with someone.

Please note I received a copy of Mattress Mart Murder in exchange for an honest review. While Chloe Cook isn't Daisy McDare, I liked this mystery and recommend it.