Christopher,
You got me there. That was truly classic! I have saved the clipping.

Ok, you got 10 for originality; but I think I'm still ahead on the 'most annoying posts' category.
I think Brad's answer about nail clippings should also deserve high marks for the 'most creative content' category.

How about your favorite person since many here not liked would have no chance no matter what?

Lol

O.K.
I think the book should go to a total newbie,like me. :)
And I have 3 good reasons.

The first being, I have no books, and my collection of plants has grown large. Much to learn, and would dearly love to have one like this to curl up and read, the old fashioned way instead of staring at a commputer screen.

Second being, my son, almost 13, who also has his own collection with many questions, needs to learn the computer is not the only way!

And third,
would be hubby, who would get to use the computer more, and be forever greatful,(lol) if my son and I had a great book to share. ;)

JoJo

Christopher and Juper,

What happens on other threads stays on other threads. You got to show me some chops on this one if you want to get your hands in the cookie jar.

Mike,

I like everyone here, but it's true that some are more liked than others.

JoJo,

You are in the pack with that last contribution, and if I may say so, you could very well be in the select group of from runners. As you say, there are compelling reasons there.

(...and she lives in Arizona, where you can't swing a dead cat without whackin' a cacti!) ;)

JoJo,

'from runners' should be 'front runners'.

Josh,

How that evolved from 'can't swing a cat' (as in cat o' nine tails lash) to an expired feline (which makes me think of Monty Python's dead parrot sketch) is mysterious, you think?

Here is a link that might be useful: This Parrot Has Ceased to Be

Everything JoJo said, only substitute '15' for '13' in line 6, and 'wifey' for 'hubby' in line 9.

And I'm from New England, where books on Cacti are about as scarce as hen's teeth.

And, I'm the guy who got that rash all over his body with my eyes swollen nearly shut from touching that unknown Euphorbia!

Christopher

Cactusmcharris,
Thank you...:)

Josh, funny! LOL! And love the clip cactusmcharris..

Christopher... Funny!

But alot of the books here are simple, cutsy books, for the tourist, and snowbirds. :( Hard to find a good one.
Top it off with my fear of driving in unfamiler places, I don't get out much.

Oh,
and i grow my own mint and chamomille herbs to make the tea to go with my reading. :) My collection of flower and veggie books are lonely and need a Cactus book! :)

JoJo

THUNDERDOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So, in accordance with whatever rules we're following here, I'm writing to inform you that you have a little over one week remaining to get your final, best, and winning entry in before the winner is announced. The deadline is May 1, 2010 at the close of business on May 1st (roughly 6. p.m. PST).

Have at it like a hummingbird at an Aloe excelsa in flower.

My surfeited brain cannot cognize the infinitesimal contrarieties between the echeverias, pachyverias, pachyphytums, graptopetalums and graptoverias, let alone the multifariousness of cacti. Accordingly, I stand in need of an omnibus which will aid me with the apperception of said flora.

Nancy

Did I try too hard? ;)

Nancy,

I am in silent awe - you got me twice and may have surged into the lead.

From the Free Dictionary:
contrariety
n pl -ties
1. opposition between one thing and another; disagreement
2. an instance of such opposition; inconsistency; discrepancy
3. (Philosophy / Logic) Logic the relationship between two contraries

ap·per·cep·tion
n.
1. Conscious perception with full awareness.
2. The process of understanding by which newly observed qualities of an object are related to past experience.

Jeff, may I call you that, sir? I owe it all to thesaurus.com.

;)

Nancy

Monsieur:

Je suis dans le besoin urgent d'un ouvrage pour aider à la bonne discernement des subtilités dans les différences entre les myriades d'espèces de cactus, ainsi que les euphorbes succulentes surabondante et d'innombrables autres qui enrichissent la flore de notre planète verdoyante.

Votre obéissant serviteur,

Christophe

Nancy,

You may, Ma'am.

Christophe,

Je ne speakum francais.

Geesh, thought I would score a few brownie points there!

OK, en anglais, basically what I said was:

I am in dire need of a tome to assist in the proper discernment of the subtleties in the differences between the myriad cacti species, as well as the superabundant Euphorbias and the innumerable other succulents which enrich the flora of our verdant planet.

(No thesaurus was used in the previous statement, which solely reflects the view of me.)

Christopher

Christopher

I still just need a goodl ole fashion book to dog ear, book mark, relax with, share and learn from...:)

JoJo

No volume which comes into my care shall be dogeared, highlighted or otherwise defaced while in my possession.

Christopher

OK, so no one has added to this thread for a few days, I will submit my last before May 1st.

I would use the valuable volume in question for the

Clinical categorization of Cacti,

Eloquent erudition of Euphorbias,

Melodious musing of Mesembryanthemums,

Perspicacious perception of Pachypodiums (Pachypodia?)

And the overall sagacious study of Succulents.

Christopher

Yeah, easy for you to say... ;)

Josh

Christopher,

C'est tres bon, mon succulant confrere.

Are you sure it's your absolute last, though? What if someone, somehow, someway, is able to top what you've contributed (and the dues that you've paid re Euphorbia skin peels)? What then?

But thanks are in order because of your perspicacious approach in bringing to everyone's attention that May 1st will be here ere long. In fact, it looks like the deadline will be on sometime Saturday.

It would be nice to be able to take the book outside to compare my plants in the sun light, instead of drag them all inside, dim light, and get grit and yuck all over the computer desk..:)

JoJo

I do know of a really good home for the book.! I take volunteer phone calls for an extension service as a Master Gardner, and a resource book like this would be quite valuable in the library, plus it would be available for anyone who would come in to the office to use.

just a thought......

This is to inform all of contestants that there are now two books, the aforementioned one as well as another one, and I'm wavering on a third one- should it stay or should it go?. Anyway, there definitely is more than one book that will be awarded, perhaps three, and there might even be more - one must look thoroughly through the larder, chucking aside the perennial and grasses books, ignoring the tree and pruning books, and find the grail - wish me luck.

Like a shirt (which I have too many of) that hasn't been worn in a year, if I've not used the book in three years, well, I reckon that's a sign to pass it on to someone who can use it.

And I don't mind at all if you dog ear your pages, write marginella, or otherwise use it with a mind-broadening experience in mind.

Naturally, the deadline's extended until COB on Monday, May 3rd, to give all of you who access the Interwebus at work a chance to win as well.

Lots of luck to all interested.

I'll pick the winners Monday night/Tuesday morning, announce them here, and then ask each of you to PM me with your particular (name, email and snailmail addy) at the mailbox cactusmcharrisatgeemaildotcom.

Happy May 1st!

Merci, O Wise One, pour votre bon mots!

I was away at both Brown and Yale Universities pour mon fils these past few days, so I was unable to further contribute to this contest, but I must say your tres amusant and rather Byronic witticisms have not gone unappreciated by moi since I was fortunate enough to chance upon this forum.

Votre obéissant serviteur,

Christophe(r)

Hiya Jeff,

What's the second title pls? If there's a third, what would that be as well? Thx.

Karen,

It's the Time-Life cactus and succulent book, and the third is the inestimable 'What Kind of Cactus Izzat?'.

And I've extended the deadline.

Harris, it is very nice of you to do this.

How about this: giving it to someone who recently gets very interested in cactus and succulent and so can really use the information from the book? :-)

(I have read the first one through inter-library loan but would love to have the 2nd or 3rd).

{{gwi:537511}}

{{gwi:537512}}

{{gwi:537513}}

Who wins?

I'm dying to know?? LOL!

JoJo

My Adenium awaits in anticipation.

Christopher

Do we have a decision yet? Inquiring minds "wanna" know.

I was wondering the same thing the other night while I sat here with a plant at my elbow trying to find out what it is. ;)

JoJo

I'm overwhelmed by your keen interest and I'm overwhelmed with work - please allow me a few more days. I'll gladly pay you on Friday...

You will know that the selection of the winners is going to be a difficult task - there are too many for too few books. I'm not quite ready to pull my hair out and rend my garments, but I'm telling you, it's not easy being me. Just how to I winnow down the top three? You're making it exceedingly difficult - I might have to call up the Ghost of Cactus Past just to divine some sort of equitable choice of y'all.

Names in a hat....with the help of a cat?

Josh

Hello....anyone here?

bump

I see I shall have to issue a decision soon - perhaps this holiday even.

Well, you don't really have to. This whole thing is out of your own niceness, so take your time. I have had fun and learned that I can do similar thing in the future. This is a good thread regardless of who "wins."

And this is not meant to be a bribery post. :-)

Rule #1: Don't rush the Master. (Genius takes time.)

Now, what's wrong with a little bribery now and then, between friends? :0

Christopher

Dear Everyone Who Are Interested,

First, I apologize for the flakiness shown in the preceding month. Work and play (the work's always there, but the play comes and goes) has interfered with the conclusion of our posting, awarding and sending on this offer.

Be it known then, that throughout this great world of ours, this offer is not only not ended, it's extended for another five weeks. Not only that, there's more......more books. We have, for your receiving pleasure, a hardback of:

Cacti and Succulents Indoors and Outdoors by Martha Van Ness

and

The World of Cacti and Succulents and other water-thrifty plants (it's an softback Ortho book, but that's complemented by the fact that (1) it's the Canada edition and (2) its original cover price of $3.98 makes it the greatest cost-to-value conversion ever).

So, in short, there are two more books to go with the original three, which means there are two more winners out there among you. Our panel of judges is being assembled from the same group of ne'er-do-wells as before, so you can be sure that the selection of the winners will be carried out with the same random precision you've been expecting.

These will be mailed from Canada or the U.S., as appropriate, in late July, so that's ample time to decide who among you fine folk are receiving these books.

Bon chance!

I now realize I'll have to choose the winners and get your addresses well in advance of the mailing day, so when I do announce the winners, using your GardenWeb handle and real name you will have to give me your mailing addresses. I should think I should allow several weeks for that to happen, don't you think, so I'll get the winners out in the first week of July.

Send that information to me at

cactusmcharris at geemaildotcom

but use the appropriate spelling and punctuation in the email address for me.

That's all for now, folks. Again, rots of ruck. And one more thing - upon review, the offering 'What Kinda Cactus Izzat?' isn't really all that helpful and, not to put too fine a point to it, is more than a bit juvenile. However, as you may have guessed, I'm a pseudointellectual elitist snob, part of the so-called coffeehouse illiterati. So public self-analysis aside, I'm thinking of just getting rid of it altogether in the going-to-the-thrift store box, rather than making it one of the prizes.

What do you think?

Bump Hope all is well up north...............

Sophie,

Thank you - I'm hobbling due to a minor injury while gardening but....yes, that shouldn't prevent me from celebrating our country's birthday by selecting the Fab Five from among y'all.

Christopher, Wantonamara, Sophie and JoJo are your 2010 Succulent Book Winners - there are four winners for the five books (someone's getting two).

Contact me at the geemail address above with your mailing information.

Thanks for everyone's participation.

I really do understand the "Hobbling", as I am down to a cain or single crutch now---and occasionally none! TG! My new hip is getting a bit better daily, just wish it would heal faster! Thank you so much----It shall be shared with all those who have questions here for the extension service---I'll take it to the office as soon as it gets here---that is, after I get a chance to look through it.

Thanks, Jeff, I sent you an email. Happy 4th, and belated Canada Day.

Christopher

It was fun! And it gave an idea of what I can do with books that I no longer use. Thanks.

Hi Jeff!
Thank you so much! We are looking forward to it. :)
Email sent. :)

Congrats to the other winners!

I hope your healing well.. and Sophie, you too. Must be the week for boo boo's.. I have been limping all week to. Minor garden injury too.

I hope everyone has a great day!
JoJo

I have been all over the country traveling and had totally thought that this was done with. My what a surprise. THANK YOU Jeff!

SO as my entry discribes, I do get covered in festering needle pricks. I come complete with stigmata at times, especially from transplanting my O. spinocibacca. The lady who gave me that pad calls it Sid Vicious. I also dismembered a huge "Old Mexico" opuntia that was 10' in diamiter since I really had no clue it would get this size. IT had grown out of the space I had allotted for it.SEE, I do need this book. And I am known to kill a few plants from a remiss attitude that needs some "re-edumication" and book larning.

Chris, Mara, JoJo and Sophie,

I'm happy the fickle finger of fate pointed your way.

Opuntia glochids come out with Elmer's White Glue. Who's Elmer, you may ask - well, he's Elsie's husband.

Dave,

It's my version of shareware.