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| I love Dory Story by Jerry Pallotta, Becoming Naomi Leon by Pam Munoz Ryan, and Common Sense by Thomas Paine. |
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A few bookish lines each day. That's the goal. We'll see how it goes. So far, so good.
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Monday, April 9, 2012
I just finished The Map and the Territory by Michel Houellebecq. I like books with short chapters. For some reason. But mostly I like books written by people who know stuff and who provide fictional characters who reveal what the author knows. That’s what Monsieur Houellebecq does. He creates Jed who is an artist who knows art and is a photographer and painter in France. The book was great. I took notes.
There were phrases I liked:
…He was the head of a broken family and had no plans to mend it.
…He had given up all activity, from breeding rabbits to making jam.
…The ancient curse of work.
…A comedian whom Jed almost managed to identify.
…I loved those products, with a passion; I would have spent my life in their presence, buying identical products.
…It’s impossible to live due to accumulated inertia.
…How did it go? Well. Almost well.
…He was never better than when silent.
…He was greeted by the insistent complaint of bagpipes.
…He was conscious of representing power.
But it wasn’t just these out-of-context phrases that made me like the book. It was that the story was smart and well-written. Then of course, I googled Mr. Houellebecq on youtube because I wanted to hear his voice and get a sense of his being. He spoke in French on them mostly, but I did get a sense that he might be an interesting man with whom to enjoy some jams and gin. He was also interviewed in The Paris Review and gave interesting answers to the questioner’s questions, leaving readers to believe that he is a serious writer.
My next book is American Neitzsche because it got a positive review in the NY Times Book Review; and it’s way past time that I really understood this icon. On my kindle, I just finished the third book of The Hunger Games last night. VERY good ending both from a plot point of view as well as a clever use of words. And finally, I downloaded to my ipad Foreign Bodies by Cynthia Ozick because she IS a serious writer; and I want to know lots more about her. She’s written a lot of books; so, it’s gonna take me a long time to get a clear picture of her talents and her message. So, it’s Neitzsche during the day and Ozick in the evening. That’s the plan. Til later.
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Friday, March 25, 2011 There they were. The NY Times Book Review from last Sunday, my coffee, my glasses, and my dog - all there waiting for me. So, I thought they deserved a photo. One picture is worth a thousand words. So, four must be priceless. TTYL.
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Tuesday, December 7, 2010 Today’s the day. I’ve written each day for over two years about things related to books and all things bookish; and today I’ve decided...that’s enough. So, I’m closing out this part of my daily routine and am happy about this decision. I’m sure that a new routine is lurking in the background waiting to be found. All things eventually run their due course. And this bookish blog is...done. For now.
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Monday, December 6, 2010 Sir Salman was wonderful. For three hours, he was a total pro, live on BookTV. His references to literature, his answers about his work as a novelist, and his connections to the big ideas of humanity were inspiring. He answered a myriad of call-in questions and emails with warmth and clarity. BookTV is a critical service to the intellectual life of readers. Wow. What a day. Til tomorrow.
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Sunday, December 5, 2010 Salman Rushdie is live on BookTV for three hours today beginning at 11 AM central. I can’t wait. It’s going to be GREAT!!!! Til tomorrow.
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Saturday, December 4, 2010 My new Consumer Reports came today; and I’m studying the new info on cell phones and plans. Consumer Reports sure is a critical part of my life. Not that I buy that much stuff. I just like to know which stuff is considered really good. And according to the front cover, AT&T doesn't make the cut. I could have told them that. Sorry, AT&T. Til tomorrow.
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Friday, December 3, 2010 Here’s the question for the day. What’s possible now? Til tomorrow.
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Thursday, December 2, 2010 Still reading Hornet. Looking forward to something lighter when I’m finished. Maybe the new book on Mark Twain. Til tomorrow.
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Wednesday, December 1, 2010 I’m thinking of my next book since it’s the beginning of a new month. I’m thinking of reading Metropolitan Life by Fran Lebowitz even though I'm just 2% into Hornet's Nest. You can never do too much planning when it comes to organizing ones reading list. Til tomorrow.
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Tuesday, November 30, 2010 I’m reading The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest on my new Kindle. I’m much preferring the movie at this point; but I know that if I keep reading, the book will win. So, I’m going to stick with it til that happens. I know it will. Til tomorrow.
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Monday, November 29, 2010 I watched Fran Lebowitz as presented by Martin Scorsese on HBO in a documentary titled, Public Speaking. It was great. Everything from her talk with Toni Morrison to her 1978 Checker cab was fabulous. But the real show stopper was The Reader with Kate Winslet. I had previously decided I wouldn't watch it; but then there it was on my TV quite suddenly. So, I watched it. It was a dramatic piece about books, Auschwitz, and moral dilemmas. Til tomorrow.
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Sunday, November 28, 2010 Today, I’m interested in Aristotle for some reason. He divided the art of persuasion into three categories:
Ethos (ethical appeal) Pathos (emotional appeal) Logos (logical appeal)
Ethics, emotions, logic.
That seems to sum it up nicely. Til tomorrow.
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Saturday, November 27, 2010 Toni Morrison and Angela Davis were featured on BookTV last night. They were having a discussion at the New York Public Library this past October. The show was nearly two hours long and was very revealing about their thought processes and values. Ms. Morrison said toward the end of the program that Americans have been manipulated and redefined so that we have evolved from being an American Citizen to being an American Consumer to being an American Taxpayer.
Her point was that language has been used to redefine us all. She recommendas that all Americans redefine ourselves as American Citizens with all the rights and responsibilities that that title entails. She’s nearly 80; and as far as I can tell, knows everything. She said that knowledge is the goal; and from that may come wisdom. She’s very wise. Til tomorrow.
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Friday, November 26, 2010
Haiku #1 Dark blue jellyfish, Beaches dotted with seaweed, Pelicans patrol.
Haiku #2 Molly's energy, Her optimistic nature, She's a happy dog.
Til tomorrow.
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Thursday, November 25, 2010 I’m reading Just Kids by Patti Smith on my new Kindle; and it’s great. Both the book and the Kindle. To grow up in the East Village, to live on bread crusts, to make art every day, to work in a bookstore, and to become a rock n roll singer is a life that few have and many want. Glad she wrote the book and double glad I’m reading it. Til tomorrow.
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Wednesday, November 24, 2010 Is the digital age ruining people’s abilities to concentrate? The Sunday NY Times explored this question in a lengthy, first-page+ article that quoted neuroscientists, teachers, and students. The bottom line is there is no definitive, empirical study that answers the question. Even so, in the absence of those studies, the article warns that yes, it’s probably a problem that people are so tied to their Blackberries, Youtube, Facepage, IMs, and video games that the ordinary pleasure of reading a book is now gone. Even Patti Smith, who just accepted the National Book Award’s best-book award for her memoir Just Kids asked publishers, “Please, no matter how we advance technologically, please don’t abandon the book. There is nothing in our material world more beautiful than the book.” So it seems that to read a book is now a non-pleasurable activity if you’re addicted to the world of video, gaming, TV, and texting. This of course makes it really hard for teachers to gain students’ attention in classrooms. The Times article does end with an educator who said he would rather have a great teacher in a cave than a room full of Smartboards. Good point.
However, back to the Times. The main flaw in the Times article is this: The reporter tried to compare the pleasure of reading books with the pleasure of digital engagements; and of course, reading books came up short. But. Reading books was equated with the reading of books assigned by teachers. This is where the reporter got it wrong. There’s a TOTAL difference between reading a book that a teacher tells you to read and reading a book that you want to read. Had that nuance been explored, the conclusion would have been different. Reading a book that is self-selected is still a joy. Reading a book that someone else is making you read is not. So, the debate continues. And I’m getting a Kindle today for an early Christmas present. How’s that for irony? Til tomorrow.
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Tuesday, November 23, 2010 In yesterday’s paper, there were two articles that were troubling. The first was about three young boys who were being adopted after several years of neglect by their mom and grandfather and then several more years of living in foster care. The second article featured Kate and William and all the glamour of their future marriage. Here’s the question. How did society evolve so that three little boys live without proper care while two people, by birth, own the world? Perhaps a good sociologist could explain it. But for me, it's difficult to accept this massive discrepancy between the most needy and the most powerful. How did our various civilizations arrive at this kind of value system. Don’t know. But. I just found a book I’m going to read. Discourse on the Origin of Inequality by Jean-Jacques Rousseau. Maybe I’ll find some sort of an answer there. Til tomorrow.
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Monday, November 22, 2010 I don’t really know anything about two people: Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky. Except this. I do know they are credited with the best translations of Fyodor Dostoevsky’s works. And for that, the book world is grateful and in awe. Mr. Pevear and Ms. Volokhonsky have taken Dostoevsky’s Russian books and accurately translated all the nuances and subtle humor he intended in his stories and made those stories available to readers of English. What kind of people will spend their lives and talent in the exacting world of literary translation? Only the best. The Brothers Karamazov, Crime and Punishment, Notes from Underground, The Eternal Husband, The Idiot, The Adolescent, The Gambler. Fyodor, Fyodor, Fyodor. Wherefore art thou, Fyodor? I think Russian writers looked at life and got it just right. At least, Fyodor got it just right. In my opinion. Til tomorrow.
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Sunday, November 21, 2010 Whether from the heart and mind of a sailor, nationalist, rebel, nurse, Swede, diplomat, crook, or cook, the best books always explore the human condition and thereby illuminate life’s complexity with the hope that we can all become better people. At least that’s my take on what the best books can do. Til tomorrow.
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Saturday, November 20, 2010 I've been thinking about this poem lately.
Sea Fever I must go down to the seas again, to the lonely sea and the sky, And all I ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by, And the wheel's kick and the wind's song and the white sail's shaking, And a gray mist on the sea's face, and a gray dawn breaking.
I must down go to the seas again, for the call of the running tide Is a wild call and a clear call that may not be denied; And all I ask is a windy day with the white clouds flying, And the flung spray and the blown spume, and the sea-gulls crying.
I must go down to the seas again, to the vagrant gypsy life, To the gull's way and the whale's way, where the wind's like a whetted knife;
And all I ask is a merry yarn from a laughing fellow-rover,
And quiet sleep and a sweet dream when the long trick's over. John Masefield (1878-1967)
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Friday, November 19, 2010 I’m looking for a book titled, No Comment. Til tomorrow.
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Thursday, November 18, 2010 In Motion by Tony Hiss is the next book I’m going to check out. It got a good review and evidently tells us all to slow down and look around as we travel through the day; and if we can travel through the day on foot, all the better. It seems to suggest that we're missing life because we're too busy and too much in a hurry. Really? Gotta run. Til tomorrow.
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Wednesday, November 17, 2010 I caught part of an interview on BookTVwith Ayaan Hirsi Ali who wrote Nomad. She explained that because she had the benefit of education in two different cultures, which she described as first in Islam and then in the West, she felt she had inside perspectives on those two belief systems. She said the West was about science, reason, logic, and intellectual adventure whereas Islam was about tradition and following the Koran. Til tomorrow.
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Tuesday, November 16, 2010 I picked up What the Dog Saw by Malcolm Gladwell again last night. I hadn’t quite finished that book when I had picked up another book several months back. So, I’m finishing the last little bit of this book. And it’s great. Look around. Find a topic. Learn all about it. Write it down. Publish a book. That’s Malcolm’s recipe. And it’s workin’. He’s a really good writer who uses language extremely well. And it's always a thrill to get lost in a book that uses language extremely well. Til tomorrow.
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Monday, November 15, 2010 Thinking about women writers today: Jane Austen (16 December 1775 – 18 July 1817)
Charlotte Brontë (21 April 1816 – 31 March 1855)
Virginia Woolf (25 January 1882 – 28 March 1941)
Emily Dickinson (December 10, 1830 – May 15, 1886)
Edith Wharton (January 24, 1862 – August 11, 1937).
Til tomorrow.
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Sunday, November 14, 2010
A Winter Haiku
The dark winter clouds Hide the blue in sky blue skies And bring chilling winds.
That only Moose Munch from Harry and David can cure. Til tomorrow.
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Saturday, November 13, 2010 I am SO looking for a bit of light reading. I know it’s out there; so I guess I’d better get busy and get myself to a bookstore pronto. Til tomorrow.
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Friday, November 12, 2010 I just picked up the Book Review from the Sunday NY Times that's been sitting on the ottoman waiting to be read; and voila, there’s a whole section on children’s books. So, now I have something interesting to read today before the new Book Review with all new books comes out on Sunday. Whew. Til tomorrow.
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Thursday, November 11, 2010 Yesterday, I learned the meaning of the word caprice because I heard it on a game show and then I read it in a book. All in the same day. After all these years. Two times in the same day for the word caprice. But, right now, right this minute, I can’t recall what it means. I could look it up or I could just wait until life hands it to me again (which of course could be never; in which case, that'd be okay too). Til tomorrow.
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Wednesday, November 10, 2010 Perhaps sociologists who are trying to identify regional differences in America should look to the CEO of Macy’s. He decided to serve local needs in each Macy’s store across the nation so that conservative suits are widely available in D.C. and large cook pans are widely available in Utah. That’s according to today’s paper. I assume Macy’s has the staff to do extensive market analysis region by region so that they don’t stock beachwear in Kansas and overalls in Manhattan. But then again, legitimate sociologists would understand the risk of over generalizing this marketing research as being truly representative of various regional populations. Still, interesting concept. I’d like to see their data. But I’m sure it’s proprietary. Til tomorrow.
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Tuesday, November 9, 2010 Every time I read something about France, it’s either very positive or very negative. National health insurance, high-quality transit, clean public places, nice parks, good heart health from all that red wine, great literature...On the other hand. Culture clashes, a bit snobby, quick to strike, somewhat detached from world affairs…On the other hand, I may have it all wrong. Til tomorrow.
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Monday, November 8, 2010 I finished Mirrors by Eduardo Galeano. It’s by far the saddest and most truthful book I’ve ever read. Even sadder than Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe. Mr. Galeano took humanity’s most painful moments and wrote an epic poem of 600 chapters illuminating all of humanity’s self-inflicted injustices. We can only hope to improve our behavior in the coming millennia. I’m very glad to have found Mr. Galeano and his book. On BookTV, when he was interviewed, he said that the interview was like having a conversation with a friend. What an insightful friend. Til tomorrow.
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| Chinua Achebe from Nigeria and Eduardo Galeano from Uruguay |
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Sunday, November 7, 2010 Daylight savings time. ARGH. I’m leaving one clock on the old time so that I can know what time used to feel like before the big switch last night. Manipulating the clocks seems to be an effort to control the circadian rhythms of life when in fact, real time controls itself. That being said, I like this new time today. It gave me one more hour to the read the paper, which had (among thousands and millions of words) two insightful articles about Debra Winger and Eli Wallach. They seem to be good people. Also, I particularly like Deborah Solomon's interview today with cartoonist Sophie Crumb, the daughter of Robert Crumb who invented the cartoon Fritz the Cat. Til tomorrow.
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Saturday, November 6, 2010 A day of public radio listening to all kinds of people talk about all kinds of stuff starting with Wisconsin Public Radio. Til tomorrow.
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Friday, November 5, 2010 This morning, there are five great books on my desk; and I’ve read them all. Each book is a perfect balance of word, art, and content. How’d they do that?
Wilma Unlimited by Kathleen Krull When Marian Sang by Pam Munoz Ryan Fly High by Louise Borden and Mary Kay Kroeger Rosa by Nikki Giovanni Ella Fitzgerald by Andrea Davis Pinkney Til tomorrow.
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Thursday, November 4, 2010 The Chilean miner who trained in his mining boots beneath the earth’s surface with the notion that he’d eventually get out to run a marathon is now running in the NYC marathon. The genetic markers for survival that he possesses need to be identified, duplicated, and sold to the rest of us. A remarkable story. Til tomorrow.
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Wednesday, November 3, 2010 Pee Wee Herman is on Broadway. He was featured in an article on the front page of the Sunday NY Times Arts and Leisure section. It was really well written and thorough. What a career. Til tomorrow.
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Tuesday, November 2, 2010 I just read today the interview of Garry Wills by Deborah Solomon in the NY Times Sunday Magazine. I read it today, Tuesday, because the Sunday NY Times wasn’t delivered on Sunday. It was delivered on Tuesday. I am interpreting this two-day delay in receiving my Sunday paper as dire financial straits for the NY Times. And while I COULD read it online, it reads better on paper where I can physically sort through the sections discarding Sports and Business before getting to the good stuff, which is the obituary section and the Arts and Leisure section. Anyhoo, Ms. Solomon asked him a question that Mr. Wills thought was silly; and he repeatedly told her he didn’t answer silly interview questions. Go Garry. Til tomorrow.
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| Photo by Charles Rex Arbogast |
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Monday, November 1, 2010 I ran across an old book. Marjorie Morningstar. Herman Wouk (woke) wrote it. He also wrote The Caine Mutiny. He’s an old-school writer, master of character development. Good writers make writing look so easy; but of course it’s not. It’s all about the discipline of sitting at the desk with pen in hand on a regular basis. That’s what they say anyway. Til tomorrow.
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Sunday, October 31, 2010 Bobby McFerrin was on Wait, Wait, Don’t Tell Me, an NPR game show yesterday. He’ll be at Lincoln Center on November 12 and 13. He’s had a very interesting and successful life; and his vocal range is amazing. Til tomorrow.
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Saturday, October 30, 2010 I read today's paper about game three of the World Series. That’s all I read. The title. So, I’m thinking the World Series is baseball. But wait. I always thought baseball was in the spring. Obviously, I need to start keeping better track of sports in America. On second thought, nah. I’m just not into competitive sports. I know the rest of the world is; but for me, nah. Til tomorrow.
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Friday, October 29, 2010 I need (among other things) a lifetime supply of ink for my Waterman rollerball pen. I’m always out. Til tomorrow.
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Thursday, October 28, 2010 I’m going to watch The Ghost and Mrs. Muir starring Rex Harrison and Gene Tierney this weekend. That will be the 6th time. Cool. Til tomorrow.
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Wednesday, October 27, 2010 In today’s paper, Maya Angelou announced that she will be giving her papers to the Schomburg Center of the NY Public Library system. She is donating all her rough drafts of her books and poems as well as correspondence from Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm X. I still have her video interview with Bill Moyers from 1982 as well as her acceptance of the Essence Award from 1994 PLUS a video interview of her on BookTV from 2002 when Michael Silverblatt interviewed her at the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books. Consistency and hope are her hallmarks. Not to mention talent and work ethic. Three cheers for Dr. Maya Angelou. Til tomorrow.
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Tuesday, October 26, 2010 The holidays are just around the corner. I can’t wait. Susan Stamberg is an NPR reporter; and she gave us her recipe for cranberry relish years and years and years ago. I’ve made it once before but that was 15 years ago. So, this is the year that I revisit Susan Stamberg’s famous cranberry relish.
Mama Stamberg's Cranberry Relish 2 cups whole raw cranberries, washed 1 small onion 3/4 cup sour cream 1/2 cup sugar 2 tablespoons horseradish from a jar ("red is a bit milder than white") Grind the raw berries and onion together. Add everything else and mix. Put in a plastic container and freeze. Early Thanksgiving morning, move it from freezer to refrigerator compartment to thaw. ("It should still have some little icy slivers left.")
The relish will be thick, creamy, and shocking pink. ("OK, Pepto Bismol pink. It has a tangy taste that cuts through and perks up the turkey and gravy. It’s also good on next-day turkey sandwiches, and with roast beef.") Makes 1-1/2 pints.
Me again. Hmm. I forgot about the shocking pink part. But I'll give it a go. As I recall, it was deelicious. Til tomorrow.
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Monday, October 25, 2010 I’m reading a few pages of Mirrors by Eduardo Galeano each evening; and it feels like he wrote that book especially for me. He writes so poetically about such tragedies that I keep wondering how he manages to balance hope with the knowledge that such injustices have existed throughout time. I’m very glad he wrote this book; but I wonder if it takes its toll - on both reader and author. Til tomorrow.
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Sunday, October 24, 2010 Keith Richards and Taylor Swift were on the front page of the NY Times Arts and Leisure section this morning. Mr. Richards has a new book titled, Life while Ms. Swift has a new album titled something or other. I liked the juxtaposition of these two singers – the old and the worn versus the new and the naive. And of course the Times editors liked this juxtaposition as well since they are the ones who put them together on the front page and on the facing pages inside. Two, long, well-written articles. In-depth, complete, worth reading. The word madeleines came up in the piece about Mr. Richards. Madeleines are little French cakes referred to by Proust as the catalyst for one of his involuntary memories that came to him in a café where he was having madeleines and tea. So, Mr. Richards has lots of madeleines as well as voluntary memories in his book, which has gotten a really good review (as I recall). Cool. Til tomorrow.
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Saturday, October 23, 2010 Oh my goodness. National Public Radio fired Juan Williams. I never quite trusted him. He always seemed more interested in making money than in pursuing an honorable career in journalism. Not that journalists should have to take a vow of poverty in order to do good work. But they do have to care about professional integrity more than the sordid topic of coin (to quote Isabella Rosselini from Death Becomes Her). What a great line. The sordid topic of coin. Til tomorrow.
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Friday, October 22, 2010 January’s Sparrow is another book destined to be a classic and written by the amazing Patricia Polacco. The illustrations are exquisite and the text is superb. The historical facts are well researched and are woven into a narrative that is both believable and trustworthy. The period of time represented in the book is one of America's saddest but can not be forgotten. As William Faulkner said or might have said, "The past is not dead. It's not even past." Thank you Ms. Polacco. Til tomorrow.
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Thursday, October 21, 2010 Clint Eastwood has produced and directed a new film with Matt Damon. It’s gotten good reviews. Til tomorrow.
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Wednesday, October 20, 2010 Today's paper seems unusually full of madness and mayhem committed by people who evidently are unaware that tomorrow is Dizzy Gillespie's birthday. Til tomorrow.
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Tuesday, October 19, 2010 So, what am I doing now? I’m reading about Facebook’s security breaches, about the First Lady’s fashion sense, and about cracks in the miners’ solidarity in Chile. Truly, I’m too much informed. Til tomorrow.
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Monday, October 18, 2010 I watched an interview with Brian Lamb and Stephen Breyer on BookTV. Justice Breyer took four years to write a book about the Supreme Court; and he sort of considers it a gift to America so that we Americans will understand how the court works. Quite a gift. And he’s quite a jurist. Til tomorrow.
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Sunday, October 17, 2010 I watched Stacy Schiff on BookTV at the Library of Congress. She was talking about her new biography on Cleopatra. And then in today’s NY Times Magazine, Deborah Solomon interviewed her about this same book. It was a very nice interview. Stacy is humorous. She said that biographers tend to write about women for their disabilities, delusions, or sensational deaths like Helen Keller, Joan of Arc, and Isadora Duncan. So, Stacy chose Cleopatra, a strong, smart, powerful woman who ruled the world - descended from Greece and fluent in Egyptian. Til tomorrow.
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Saturday, October 16, 2010 So, two weeks behind reading the NY Times Book Review. Not good. Tomorrow, another one arrives. Last week, Phillip Roth was on the front page. So, I need to check out his latest book and see what all the fuss is about. Plus, I still haven’t picked up a copy of Freedom by Jonathan Franzen. But wait. I just checked Amazon and Freedom has only three starts while Nemesis by Roth has four. Hmm. Til tomorrow.
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Friday, October 15, 2010 In today’s paper, Verizon Wireless announced it will start selling the ipad. So, I’m betting they’ll start selling the iphone in January. I think I’ll get one of each. Plus, I'm thinking how great it would be to have a top-rated digital SLR camera - Canon EOW Rebel T2i. Wow. I must not be busy enough. Here I am thinking of all this consumer stuff. And actually, I'm pretty happy with the stuff I have. Maybe I’ll just follow Henry David Thoreau’s advice to: simplify, simplify, simplify. Til tomorrow.
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Thursday, October 14 Today I’m listening to At Last sung by Etta James who is perfection herself. Til tomorrow.
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Wednesday, October 13, 2010 The miners are being lifted out of their collapsed mine today in Chile. It seems to be taking about one hour per miner. Thirty-three people have been trapped for 69 days in the darkness of the underground. Til tomorrow.
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Tuesday, October 12, 2010 All these words have something in common. But what? deft first calmness canopy laughing stupid crabcake hijack Til tomorrow.
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Monday, October 11, 2010 I’ve been interested in Eyvind Earle this week. His life and work are very fascinating. His art work sells for thousands. He was talented and productive from the beginning of his life to the end (1916-2000). He made a video of himself - http://www.eyvindearle.com/ - talking about his life and work. Below is a painting I can see myself in. Til tomorrow.
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Sunday, October 10, 2010 Texas Public Radio changed their Saturday lineup so that my Saturday listening practices are completely out of sync. So, now I have to use a combination of Wisconsin Public Radio, Texas Public Radio, and NPR. I’m not happy. But then again, these programs are SO good. They are worth the extra clicking to find them at the right times: 9 Car Talk 10 Not Much 12 Wait Wait 1 Splendid Table 2 This American Life 3 Selected Shorts 4 take a break 5 Prairie Home Til tomorrow.
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Saturday, October 9, 2010 The Nobel Prize for Peace went to a Chinese literary critic who is in a Chinese prison because he supports freedom of speech. The Chinese government calls him a criminal and condemns the Nobel committee for interfering with the Chinese way of life by awarding this man, their prisoner, the highest award for peace that exists on this planet. Bravo for Norway. Boo for Beijing. The name of this Peace Prize Laureate is Liu Xiaobo; and because he’s serving his second year of a ten-year prison term for simply demonstrating against a repressive government, he doesn’t know he won. But his wife knows. She’s hopeful that the Chinese government will let her visit him today and tell him the news. Doubtful. The Chinese government has blocked his name from Google, text messages, instant messaging, and are monitoring cell phone conversations. The Nobel committee did exactly the right thing. The Chinese government did not. The Chinese government is repressive and is behind the times. I suggest boycotting everything made in China until all dissidents are released from Chinese prisons. But wait, everything is made in China today. Oops. Til tomorrow.
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Friday, October 8, 2010 I’m very happy. I just read that the iphone 4 will be available through Verizon in January or so of next year. Yea. Hope it’s true. AT&T doesn’t provide the proper level of technology and customer service that I think is appropriate. So, I’m sticking with Verizon. Til tomorrow.
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Thursday, October 7, 2010 The public libraries I’ve used and loved over the years because they are beautifully built and greatly valued by their communities are: Cushing Public Library Columbus Public Library Spokane Public Library New York Public Library
Til tomorrow.
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Wednesday, October 6, 2010 A few years back, I would not have been able to ask the following question, “Is there a Skype app for the ipod touch?” Til tomorrow.
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Tuesday, October 5, 2010 Salman Rushdie will be live on BookTV on Sunday, November 7, 2010 at 11:00 AM Central Time for three hours. It’s going to be great!!! Til tomorrow.
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Monday, October 4, 2010 Michio Kaku was live on BookTV yesterday for three hours. I have never heard anyone speak with such mastery about any subject, let alone the subject of space and time, like Dr. Kaku. Wow. Black holes, white holes, parallel universes, time travel, and then of course, more down to earth physics like explaining the constancy of the speed of light. It was great. He said the world’s three greatest scientists were Isaac Newton, Albert Einstein, and Charles Darwin. Hard to argue with that, except I'd add Michio Kaku to the list for being able to simply explain all that stuff to the rest of us. Til tomorrow.
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Sunday, October 3, 2010 Douglas Brinkley may be the hardest working historian in the history of America. And he signed his new book for me yesterday at the Harte Public Library. Fabulous. I told him that I’ve seen all his BookTV talks but that he’s doubly good in person. He signed my book, “To a fan of the wilderness.” Til tomorrow.
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Saturday, October 2, 2010 Donald Graves died on September 28, 2010. His work over four decades gave the world of writers a process for thinking and composing. There are few academics of his caliber who so successfully bridged the gap between theory and practice as this university professor did. The University of New Hampshire has a site for remembrance at http://unhtoday.wordpress.com/2010/10/01/donald-graves/ Til tomorrow.
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Friday, October 1, 2010 I’m loving the Mirrors book; but wow, it’s page after page of documentation of injustice after injustice. Eduardo Galeano gave us a great reminder in this book that power must be kept in check. And related to this book is what I wrote on April 1, 2009. Arundhati Roy said, “You have to be as difficult and troublesome as possible in order to keep power on a short leash – it’s hard work to be formidable.” Til tomorrow.
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Thursday, September 30, 2010 Finally, the other night I watched The Girl with the Dragon Tatoo. Whoa. I had to fast-forward in a couple of spots. Too graphic. But it was SO great. Now I’m thinking I won’t read the book. Too bad. The books are always better. The Girl Who Played with Fire is the next book; and then the third in the triology is The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest. All three by Stieg Larsson (1954-2004). Til tomorrow.
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Wednesday, September 29, 2010 No new thoughts today except to say that it’s disappointing to have no new thoughts today. Til tomorrow.
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Tuesday, September 28, 2010 Four handy words for today: heuristic – a process of learning through questioning and answering hermetic – airtight or related to Gnostic teachings about spiritual life or reclusive hermeneutics – a close reading of ancient texts hegemony - the influence of a dominant group over others Til tomorrow.
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Monday, September 27, 2010 Two years ago today, I started this site with the notion that each day I would write a few bookish or book-related lines. Today, however, nothing bookish or book related comes to mind except to say that I’m sure glad I’m a reader. Not everyone is. But for me, reading books is the single most important thing I do in my life. I can’t imagine not being able to access ideas and people through the printed word. So…Til tomorrow.
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Sunday, September 26, 2010 Hollywood is working overtime. Solitary Man with Michael Douglas A Single Man with Colin Firth A Serious Man with Michael Stuhlbarg The Family Man with Nicholas Cage Til tomorrow.
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Saturday, September 25, 2010 I’m off to the library to find a cheery book. Til tomorrow.
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Friday, September 24, 2010
I’m returning to the book Mirrors: Stories of Almost Everyone by Eduardo Galeano. I set that book aside many months ago in order to read a couple of other things that had landed on my desk; but now I’m ready to go back to the mirrors. The book seems to be a treatise on the human condition, on power, and on the interaction of those two things. I heard Mr. Galeano interviewed on BookTV and liked what he had to say. But I’m thinking I need something cheerier to read this weekend. Where is the cheery book section in the library? I’m thinking that "cheery" needs to be a new genre. I'm going to check the Dewey Decimal System and see if Mr. Dewey created a section for cheery books. Til tomorrow.
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Thursday, September 23, 2010 I finished The Brave Escape of Edith Wharton last night. I was unaware that she played a big part in the relief effort of WWI by providing various charity houses to the French and Belgians who had been displaced by the German army. The Germans or rather the German army (two very different groups) tried to conquer Paris around 1915 and failed because of the French army, the British army, and the USA. During all that, Edith owned property in Paris and decided to help the refugees and particularly the women who were homeless and widowed. So, she set up charity houses and a small business employing women to make socks and bandages and such. She did all that in order to save a way of life that she loved. Paris in the summer. St. Claire in the winter. So, her actions in WWI were all new to me. How did I not know this? But I didn't. And during all her 70+ years of life, she wrote lots of novels, stories, and war reports that were largely published by Scribner in NYC. Among many, she wrote The House of Mirth, The Age of Innocence, and A Backward Glance. She won the Pulitzer Prize. She received an honorary degree from Yale. She was honored by the French. She defied convention. And since she had an incredible amount of money, she was able to defy convention in style and comfort, with aplomb, and having no regrets. Money does indeed ease ones path in life; and she had bunches of it. I’m very glad to have read this book. Til tomorrow.
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| 1862-1937 Edith Wharton in 1931 at her desk in France. |
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Wednesday, September 22, 2010 Theories of Derrida and Foucault do not hold up to the theoretical requirements set forth by Derrida and Foucault themselves for examining other people’s theories according to Tony Hilfer. In other words, according to Profesor Hilfer, some theorists have much higher standards for examining other people’s scholarship than they do for examing their own. Tony Hilfer's book is titled, The New Hegemony in Literary Studies: Contradictions in Theory. It's challenging reading that requires lots of background info. Not exactly easy reading for a nice fall day. Til tomorrow.
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Tuesday, September 21, 2010 I have not yet bought Freedom, the new novel by Jonathan Franzen. But I need to do that quickly because I’m almost finished with The Brave Escape of Edith Wharton, whose most famous book (to me at least) is The House of Mirth. Too many books, too little time. Til tomorrow.
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Monday, September 20, 2010 Tom Ford of Gucci and Jeff Koons of Jeff Koons were featured on Sundance as iconoclasts this week. It was a good but odd interview. Mr. Ford was skeptical about Mr. Koons but tried to do a worthwhile interview and succeeded for the most part. However, the artistic process for each of them seemed to be more about finances than art. But their world of art is big business. Perhaps the idea of artists being required to suffer for their art is too ingrained. Clearly, they are not suffering. Til tomorrow.
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| Stainless steel Balloon Dog by Jeff Koons. Fabulous! |
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Sunday, September 19, 2010 I’ve been thinking about George and Ira Gershwin, Cole Porter, and Irving Berlin lately. I don’t have a clear picture of what they wrote and when they wrote it. I’m sure it would be worth my time to chart them out and get a clearer understanding of their lives and times. I love their music; but I’d like a clearer picture of their accomplishments and connections. Til tomorrow.
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Saturday, September 18, 2010 What would a perfect day look like? Til tomorrow.
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Friday, September 17, 2010 Last Sunday’s NY Times in the Arts and Leisure section lists all the new plays, movies, openings, and operas for the coming season. I’m still reading about it five days later. There’s sure a lot of art and leisure going on. Til tomorrow.
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Thursday, September 16, 2010
All year on this site, I’ved typed twenty ten, twenty ten, twenty ten in the form of 2010. It’s so easy to type 2010 from the keyboard. And now in just 3.5 months, I’ll have to start typing twenty, eleven, twenty eleven, twenty eleven, 2011. Already I know I’m not gonna like it. Til tomorrow.
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Wednesday, September 15, 2010 I found a new book by Amy Krouse Rosenthal. Duck! Rabbit! It’s a great tribute to visual conundrums. Is it a duck? Is it a rabbit? Depends on perspective. I loved the first book I read of hers titled, Encyclopedia of an Ordinary Life. She got that book exactly right. Then, I met her in person at a conference where she was talking about her books. She’s very bright and just the kind of thinker we should all try to be. Independent and optimistic. Til tomorrow.
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Tuesday, September 14, 2010 I don’t know why I love the NY Times so much. But I do. I love the notion that there are journalists who reveal the secret underbelly of humanity in hopes of making things a little better for those who need it. Most notably, in Sunday’s paper, a journalist explained in detail how the Russian police had shut down an environmental group’s efforts to save a Siberian lake that had been polluted by a paper company. The police stormed in, confiscated their computers, and filed charges against them for pirating Microsoft software. That’s it. Under the guise of protecting Microsoft, the Russian police shut down an environmental activist group, which was trying to save a lake that stores perhaps 20% of the world’s fresh water. Microsoft publicly supported the enforcement of piracy laws but are assumably concerned about being used by the police to silence dissent. On the other hand, if the police had not confiscated the computers (no violations of piracy were found), the Times would not have sent a journalist to cover the story; and the public would not have had the chance to understand what’s happening with one little environmental group in a very cold part of the planet. Til tomorrow.
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Monday, September 13, 2010 I just heard that Maury Chaykin died on July 27 of this year. He was such a wonderful character actor. I’ve watched his Nero Wolfe character on DVD many times; and his performance in Unstrung Heroes was totally excellent. I know that at the atomic level, he’s still here; but still, that’s not a very satisfactory notion. It’s a loss. Til tomorrow.
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Sunday, September 12, 2010 I’m loving my new book about Edith Wharton, The Brave Escape of Edith Wharton. Because it’s for young adults, the text is fairly simple and straightforward. She was born…She lived…She went to…Her parents were…That sort of thing. But the book is definitely engaging. I’m glad to be reading it. Til tomorrow.
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Saturday, September 11, 2010 I’m starting a new book today. Finally. The Brave Escape of Edith Wharton. I know I'll learn a lot. And then of course it’s the usual fare on Texas Public Radio out of San Antonio. They have THE best public radio programming of any place in the nation. I don’t know how they do it. But they do. Lucky me. Til tomorrow.
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Friday, September 10, 2010 I heard this phrase that I like. Memories are not behind us. Memories are here in the present and pushing us forward. Cool. Til tomorrow.
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Thursday, September 9, 2010 I’m finishing Fifteen today; and I’ll have to say that it still holds up as a coming of age story. It would still be a fascinating bit of eavesdropping to listen to current fifteen-year-olds discuss the book and whether or not they identify with Jane Purdy or not. I’m glad I read it. Beverly Clearly got it just right for 1956 - and beyond. Til tomorrow.
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Wednesday, September 8, 2010 I definitely have to read the tattoo book by Stieg Larsson. He died mysteriously. But before that, he was able to weave philosophy, mystery, and great storytelling into a best-selling novel. So, who doesn’t need to read something like that. I’m off to the bookstore. Til tomorrow.
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Tuesday, September 7, 2010 I watched a conversation with Phillip Roth on Youtube yesterday. I’m not sure what led me to that interview; but I watched it twice. It was short. Rather. He said that when he writes, he doesn’t write to promote social causes or to solve social problems. His purpose in writing is to promote the novel. He says that with all the other media available to people that reading a novel is going by the wayside. Is getting lost in a great novel an important engagement for people? He says yes. If that's true, why are people replacing that engagement with movies, games, tweets, youtube videos, and blogging? Maybe we're all too busy. Gotta run. Til tomorrow.
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Monday, September 6, 2010 Jonathan Franzen’s new book was featured in the NY Times Book Review yesterday and according to several critics, it’s required reading. Freedom: A Novel. So, I’ll dive right in. Til tomorrow.
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Sunday, September 5, 2010 I’m still reading Fifteen; and wow, is it slow going!!! I’m going to try and finish it before I read any reviews. Maybe it will suddenly pick up the pace and young Jane will empower herself to take the reins of her life rather than continue to wait by the phone for her special boy to call. And in today’s NY Times, Hillary Clinton is on the front page trying to bring peace to the mideast. I did notice that Mrs. Clinton looked fabulous in her blue suit and matching necklace. She is definitely not waiting for the phone to ring. Til tomorrow.
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Saturday, September 4, 2010
It's Saturday on Texas Public Radio. Car Talk with Tom and Ray Magliozzi Whad'Ya Know? with Michael Feldman Splendid Table with Lynne Rossetto Kasper Wait Wait Don't Tell Me with Peter Sagal and Carl Kasell This American Life with Ira Glass Selected Shorts with Isaiah Sheffer Prairie Home Companion with Garrison Keillor It's a busy, busy day. Til tomorrow.
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Friday, September 3, 2010 Time to celebrate the nation’s labor over Labor Day weekend. I heard that 80% of workers in America used to belong to unions and now only 10% belong to a union. I wonder if those figures are accurate. I can’t remember where I heard them. I did start reading Fifteen by Beverly Cleary last night. The main character is a young girl who wants a boyfriend and who wants to be popular. Because the book was published in 1956, it has an opening scene at the soda shop. It would be interesting to have five, current fifteen-year-olds read and react to the book to see if the issues from 1956 are the same as the issues of 2010. I suppose the issues are the same; but alas, the soda shops are extinct. Til tomorrow.
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Thursday, September 2, 2010 I love fall; and fall is about here. The leaves turn, the air cools, and people seem a little more talkative. And this time of year always puts me in mind of My Side of the Mountain by Jean Craighead George, who is a terrific and sensitive writer. I probably need to reread that book although I've already read it at least 3 times. And this time of year also puts me in mind of The Van Gogh Cafe by Cynthia Rylant which I like even more than Mountain (if that's possible). Til tomorrow.
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Wednesday, September 1, 2010 Nothing to report today except that I’m rereading snippets from a little book I bought at MOMA (I think) a couple of years ago. It’s titled, 101 Things I Learned in Architecture School (I think). I’ve always liked the field of architecture and may pursue a second career in that area. Ha. Til tomorrow.
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Tuesday, August 31, 2010 I rewatched an Ayn Rand panel discussion on BookTV Sunday. The debate focused on whether or not Rand’s advocacy of an “enlightened self-interest” was good for people and the economy. Two panelists seemed to think that an enlightened self-interest had to be balanced with altruism. But two other panelists (Nathaniel and Barbara Branden) said no and that altruism in Rand’s world was not the goal. Barbara Branden defined altruism in an example. If someone you love is drowning, you save them. That is NOT altruism. You automatically save the person from drowning because you love them. On the flip side, if someone you despise is drowning, you also save them. And that IS altruism. You save the person you despise from drowning because of altruism. Made a lot of sense at the time. Atlas Shrugged is a compelling treatise on the ultimate value of living a life of self-interest versus living a life of self-sacrifice. Which is the better goal? Rand says self-interest. Mother Teresa says self-sacrifice. Til tomorrow.
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Monday, August 30, 2010 I finished The Thief Lord yesterday. It ended well. Ida saved the day. And she of course is the matriarch of Venice and all lost orphans it would seem. Comparing Ida to Esther, the book’s other motherly type, is straight forward. Ida is fun and compassionate. Esther is selective and cold. The book has a connection with Tuck Everlasting with the merry-go-round, which almost seemed like a whole new book; but nevertheless, it ended well. Til tomorrow.
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Sunday, August 29, 2010 There was a photo of a young blond woman and a man in today’s paper. I wondered, “Who is that?” Turns out it was Paris Hilton. She was arrested for cocaine useage. I immediately thought, “Wow. All the advantages in the world; and you’re arrested for cocaine.” Then I thought of Chelsea Clinton, who also has all the advantages in the world and is completing a master’s degree in public health policy at Columbia University. The world is full of confusing scenarios. Til tomorrow.
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Saturday, August 28, 2010 There are two books that I want to read and think I should read. The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay by Michael Chabon and The Brothers Karamazov by Leo Tolstoy. The question is when to find the time. But I'm pretty keen on those two books. Til tomorrow.
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Friday, August 27, 2010 The weekend is here. The beach is here. I have five books that I’m in the middle of. Seems like a great match. Til tomorrow.
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Thursday, August 26, 2010 Umberto Eco said there were three kinds of memory: automatic, semantic, autobiographical. Til tomorrow.
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Wednesday, August 25, 2010 I ordered a new book. Used that is from Amazon. Fifteen by Beverly Clearly. It’s an original edition published in 1956 and discarded by a public library in Byron Township, Michigan. I’m going to read it with an eye toward being 15 in 2010 and see if the issues are the same or different. Cool. Til tomorrow.
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Tuesday, August 24, 2010 Still reading about Prop and Bo trying to hide from Victor the detective in The Thief Lord by Cornelia Funke. It has just the right amount of mystery and suspense. And the chapters are the perfect length. Til tomorrow.
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Monday, August 23, 2010 My new book came today. The Brave Escape of Edith Wharton. After I read it, I’m going to house it next to my copy of Eleanor by Russell Freedman. Til tomorrow.
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Sunday, August 22, 2010 I’ve decided I like books with short chapters. This is probably not a good thing. Maybe serious readers don't mind long chapters and simply furrow their brows and forge ahead in spite of all evidence to the contrary that human beings are hard wired with short attention spans in order to be constantly alert for panthers and saber tooth tigers and such. At any rate, hand me a book with short chapters; and I’m happy. Til tomorrow.
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Saturday, August 21, 2010 Christopher Plummer and Helen Mirren did a fabulous job in The Last Station. This film is about the life of Tolstoy and his effort to unite the peasants and assume control of Russia. Never really worked out. Too much corruption, too much greed, too little aspiration. But the film was terrific. Great actors telling a great story. On film. All the better. Til tomorrow.
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Friday, August 20, 2010 In the waiting room at the oil change place this morning, I picked up a copy of Rolling Stone and read about Lada Gaga, Bill Murray, and Leonardo DiCaprio. My life will never be the same. Not really. It will be exactly the same. Ha. Til tomorrow.
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Thursday, August 19, 2010 The best things in life are not free although time spent at the public library comes close. Air conditioning, many books, quiet, free wireless, comfy chairs. Perhaps a bit too sedentary. And then again, perhaps not. Plus, in NYC, you can always always look at the original Winnie the Pooh. Til tomorrow.
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Wednesday, August 18, 2010
If not for the cat And the scarcity of cheese I could be content.
That’s a haiku by Jack Prelutsky in his book titled, If Not for the the Cat.
Here’s a haiku by me.
If not for rain clouds And travel from here to there I’d be at the beach.
Til tomorrow.
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Tuesday, August 17, 2010 I started The Thief Lord by Cornelia Funke last night. It’s another perfect book. Copyright 2000. Victor, Esther the aunt, Boniface, Prosper, Hornet, Mosca, Riccio, and Scipio. Those are the people I’ve met so far plus Barbarossa, the red-bearded shop keeper who buys and sells stolen goods. Street children, detectives, a thief, the alleys and canals of Venice. It’s all there. Plus, it was a movie. Who knew? Everyone but me probably. Anyhoo, I’m lovin’ it so far. Cornelia Dickens. Or rather, Cornelia Funke. Til tomorrow.
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Monday, August 16, 2010 Finished. And all is well. The elephant, the boy, the girl, the husband and wife, the rich lady, the broken lady, the blind dog, the beggar, and the magician each and every one got exactly what they needed. The Magician’s Elephant is a masterpiece of magical realism. Thank you Ms. DiCamillo for figuring it all out so splendidly. Til tomorrow.
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Sunday, August 15, 2010 The Singing Detective is a BBC production consisting of six dramas. It features Michael Gambon, who is wonderful. He plays a detective who also sings. Throw in some German Nazis, some psychological maladies, some love gone wrong, some songs from the 40s, and you have a complex drama housed on three DVDs. It was advertised as a lavish musical. But it’s not. It’s an exploration into the vicissitudes of life and how those changes in fortune and fate can lead to pain and suffering. So, no, I wouldn’t classify it as a lavish musical. A lavish musical is Hello Dolly with either Barbra or Carol. So, what is the The Singing Detective? It's an indepth look at what it takes for life to go right – and wrong. And because it's British, there's a respectable amount of tea and whiskey. Til tomorrow.
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Saturday, August 14, 2010 I’m hooked. By the end of page 1, I was totally hooked. The fact that the book begins with an elephant falling through the roof of an opera house and crushing the legs of a lady in the audience does not deter me. In fact, by the end of the first chapter, falling elephants seem a perfectly plausible aspect of life. Kate DiCamillo knows how to tell a phantasmagorical story better than anybody. What a find. The Magician's Elephant. Til tomorrow.
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Friday, August 13, 2010 I’ve always loved Friday the 13th. There’s always a chance something odd will happen; and then it will be a great story to tell for years to come. Unfortunately, Friday the 13th is normally quite normal. Til tomorrow.
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Thursday, August 12, 2010 Finished Theodore Boone: Kid Lawyer. It was worth the read but it ended sort of oddly I thought without real closure. But I still thought it was well crafted and captured the life of kids pretty well. Maybe I’ll write a book called Theodora Boone: Girl Lawyer. Cool. Til tomorrow.
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Wednesday, August 11, 2010 Turns out the NY Times was not hacked yesterday. Turns out it was my web browser that needed refreshing. Whew.
Also, there was an article in the paper over the weekend about people who are dramatically reducing the amount of stuff they have. The article featured a couple in Oregon who have reduced their stuff to 100 items. That’s it. 100 items. I have 100 items on my desk alone. But I love the idea of reducing to a hundred. Or so. So, I'm going to start culling, cleaning, and reducing. Til tomorrow.
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Tuesday, August 10, 2010 I didn’t put Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand on my list yesterday. I don’t know how to label it. But it’s probably the most intriguing book I’ve ever read. It takes complex economic theory and places it on top of characters in a novel. The characters decide that they are going to stop subsidizing the rest of humanity, which doesn’t seem able to take care of itself and which doesn’t seem to appreciate their contributions. They decide to withhold their talent and creativity from the rest of humanity and to serve only themselves. Ms. Rand thought that if everyone used their creativity and talent to serve themselves first and foremost that economic stability and justice would work itself out throughout all of America. But. Ralph Nader Sunday on BookTV, in response to a caller who asked what he thought about Ms. Rand, said that Rand got it all wrong and that her ideas of economic stability, justice, and fairness would not work. He didn’t elaborate; and I’m glad he didn’t because now I have the chance to sort it out for myself. If that’s possible.
Another thought for today is that Francine Prose reviewed two books by Hans Keilson in Sunday’s NY Times Book Review. She said he was a genius. Among others, he published two novels in the 40s about the Nazis. I suppose as younger readers move further away from that era of time that these translations and reissues are necessary; but at some point, younger musicians, artists, writers, poets, and the like are going to solve these problems of violence and unwarranted hate; and the world will find stasis and justice. That’s my guess at the moment.
And finally, there was a review in the NY Times Book Review about Jack Kerouac and Allen Ginsberg. Mr. Kerouac’s On the Road manuscript was laid out end to end in a glass case in the NY Public Library. I was there. I saw it. What a trip.
Somebody just hacked into the NY Times website. Wasn't me. Photo below. Til tomorrow.
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Monday, August 9, 2010 I’m almost done with Theodore Boone: Kid Lawyer; and it looks like I was wrong. The man on trial for murdering his wife looks guilty at this point when in the beginning, I thought he was innocent. On another matter, yesterday on BookTV, a panel of book critics spoke at the Virginia Festival of the Book. They had great wisdom to share about writing a critique of a book. I took notes. The bottom line is that all book reviews are opinions. It’s just that some opinions are better informed than others. Critics who have a reductive view of the world will write one kind of review while critics who have a progressive view of the world will write another. Know the critics’ values; and you’ll know the value of the critique.
First book ever read – Sword and the Stone First historical fiction – 1876 by Gore Vidal Favorite book for a long time – Catcher in the Rye Hardest book I never finished – Ulysses by James Joyce Next hardest book I hope to finish – Remembrance of Things Past by Marcel Proust Most enlightening book – Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez Best explanation of power – Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe Most powerful and delicate – The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy Most long-lasting impression – Stones from the River by Ursula Hegi Most existentialist book – A History of God by Karen Armstrong Most in depth – Nickel and Dimed by Barbara Ehrenreich Most helpful – Darkness Visible by William Styron Characters I admired most – Angle of Repose by Wallace Stegner Most grateful for – The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven by Sherman Alexie Most disturbing book – Gulag Archipelago by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn Book I couldn’t stop reading – Angela’s Ashes by Frank McCourt Most admired writers – Malcolm Gladwell and Arundhati Roy Most admired poet – Billy Collins Current favorite book – the one coming up
Til tomorrow.
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Sunday, August 8, 2010 The taliban shot and killed 10 relief workers in Afghanistan on Friday.
There are no words that can express the sorrow that those ten words convey. No reason, no justification, no logic, no goal, no purpose can possibly explain this act. Cowardly ignorance is the only possible scenario that can be used to understand this level of ongoing violence conveyed in today’s NY Times. How do you fix cowardly ignorance? That's a question for the world to address. Til tomorrow.
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Saturday, August 7, 2010 The only thing I’m absolutely sure of is that I never get tired of listening to Cats by Andrew Lloyd Webber. Yum. Til tomorrow.
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Friday, August 6, 2010 Theo, a middle schooler, is the main character. Julio, another middle schooler, is the mystery character. There’s a man on murder for the strangulation of his wife. It all takes place in a house in the Country Club. Each evening, I read a few pages and am convinced the man is innocent. Theo and Julio are going to have to get busy though and solve the mystery as I’m nearly half-way through. And there's always another John Grisham novel waiting to be written or read. Til tomorrow.
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Thursday, August 5, 2010 I’ve decided to go see James Earl Jones and Vanessa Redgrave on Broadway in Driving Miss Daisy. It’s gonna be great to see a car on a stage zooming through Georgia and Alabama. Til tomorrow.
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Wednesday, August 4, 2010 The last roll of Kodachrome was used this past month by the same photographer (Steve McCurry) who used Kodachrome to take the photo of that green-eyed Afghan girl who appeared on the cover of National Geographic in 1985. Steve photographed her again in 2002. And the last little bit of the story on that last little bit of film is that that last roll of film will be developed by a film developer in Kansas. It will be his last development of Kodachrome. History and film evolve. Afghanistan remains a torn and sad place to live attested to by a pair of pure green eyes. Til tomorrow.
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| http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2002/04/afghan-girl/index-text/1 |
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Tuesday, August 3, 2010 Richard Peck is such a wonderful writer. I’m going to start rereading his works. I recently finished The Teacher’s Funeral and loved every word. In fact, I may reread that particular book or may go to A Long Way from Chicago and then its sequel A Year Down Yonder. Yes. That’s my plan. Til tomorrow.
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Monday, August 2, 2010 Ralph Nader was live on BookTV yesterday for 3 hours; and he was incredible. His mastery of data and persuasion is second to none. His thesis is that redistribution of the world’s wealth is necessary in order for social justice to be achieved. He was very convincing and knowledgeable about what has gone wrong with the current economic system and what needs to go right. He received calls from all over the country that were favorable and supportive of his efforts. He was even dubbed Philosopher King by one caller. I took four pages of notes. It was humbling to watch his enthusiasm and energy for achieving a just and worthwhile world. Loved it. Til tomorrow.
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Sunday, August 1, 2010 I’ve been writing in a book-related diary for quite some time. I have a leather-bound diary with my initials on it that contains quite a few entries (thanks Bev). On Sunday, December 29, 1996, I wrote, “Heard the editor of Putnam speak on C-SPAN About Books – a great show. Heard the author of Longitude talk about her writing which deals with the history of science. I’ve ordered Longitude and will read her next book about Galileo. Finished High Tide in Tucson by Barbara Kingsolver. It’s a collection of essays. She and I are like-minded. I wonder why and why isn’t everyone else.” Update: I loved Longitude as well as Galileo. Dava Sobel and Barbara Kingsolver are still publishing great works of art, science, and imagination. What a charmed life readers and writers live. Til tomorrow.
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Saturday, July 31, 2010 Michael Feldman is live this morning from Wisconsin while Garrison Keillor is a rerun this evening from San Francisco. Thank goodness for national public radio. I’m connected to the world while remaining in my living room. Too cool. Til tomorrow.
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Friday, July 30, 2010 Love it. Love it. Love it. Last night I started the new book by John Grisham titled, Theodore Boone: Kid Lawyer. By the end of page 1, you like this kid and are ready to go law school or at the very least, you’re ready for a legal/mystery adventure. Til tomorrow.
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Thursday, July 29, 2010 I’ve decided to buy an ipad for Christmas. But only if it comes with a front-facing camera. And only if the price goes down a bit. Or not. Til tomorrow.
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Wednesday, July 28, 2010 The Times Book Review from last Sunday has two front-page reviews of two new books about Somerset Maugham and E. M. Forster. The life of a well-heeled British writer sounds sort of fabulous. Til tomorrow.
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Tuesday, July 27, 2010 Daniel Schorr (1916-2010) died on Saturday. My first memory of him was when he went to jail for contempt of court because he wouldn’t reveal a source for one of his news reports. That act of courage and commitment to the first amendment has made a permanent impression on me. Mr. Schorr has passed; but the first amendment remains. The best obituary of him is located at http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=128565997 Til tomorrow.
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Monday, July 26, 2010
I reread Love that Dog today. It’s SUCH a great book based on SUCH a great premise. And of course that premise is that poetry reveals the subtleties of life in a way that no other medium can even come close to approaching. The intertextual connections, the real-world emotions, and the structure of the text make this book a classic for all time. What a wonderful book. Til tomorrow.
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Sunday, July 25, 2010 Lady Gaga. The former President of Mexico. Shirley Sherrod. Joel Schumacher. All those and more in today’s paper. Articles, interviews, insights. So, the question becomes, when is too much information too much information? Today. Til tomorrow.
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Saturday, July 24, 2010 I’m thinking of reading the complete short stories of Eudora Welty. I have that book on the shelf; and for whatever reason, it seems to be calling my name. Til tomorrow.
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Friday, July 23, 2010 Helen Mirren is in a movie about Sophia Tolstoy. A new book about Sophia Tolstoy was reviewed in last Sunday’s NY Times Book Review. The book is great. The movie is great and is titled, The Last Station. So, I’m planning to watch the movie. Plus, another new book titled, City Dog, Country Frog by Mo Willems and Jon Muth was favorably reviewed. Plenty of food for thought. Til tomorrow.
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Thursday, July 22, 2010 I never get tired of looking out the window. Unfortunately, a lot of time can pass with little getting done. Windows can be a problem. However, Eudora Welty seems to have gotten it just right. She sat at her desk so she could only see her typewriter. Food for thought. Til tomorrow.
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Wednesday, July 21, 2010 Note to self: John Grisham has a book for adolescents that is a mystery and is titled, Theodore Boone: Kid Lawyer. How cool is that. Til tomorrow.
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Tuesday, July 20, 2010 Robert Sabuda is quite a guy. I love his three-book set on pre-historic animals. Quite impressive. Til tomorrow.
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http://www.amazon.com/Encyclopedia-Prehistorica-Collection-Robert-Sabuda/dp/0763637203/ref=sr_1_27?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1279647175&sr=8-27
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Monday, July 19, 2010 I’m still reading a bit from Bryson’s Short History; but I’m going to try out the new book about the girl with the tattoo and see what that’s all about. Senator Olympia Snowe mentioned on C-SPAN when they asked her what she was reading for the summer that she was reading that book. Or maybe it was someone else who was reading that book. Yesterday, C-SPAN interviewed several people asking them what they were reading for the summer. And of course, on a Monday morning, it’s now all a blur as to who said what. Anyhoo, that’s the one I think I’ll try next. Til tomorrow.
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Sunday, July 18, 2010 According to today’s paper, gang violence is up as well as bank profits while the number of people who actually read books is down. Any decent sociologist will see the relationships there. Sounds pretty bleak for humanity. On a brighter note, Bernadette Peters and Elaine Stritch will be the new leads in A Little Night Music on Broadway replacing Catherine Zeta-Jones and Angela Lansbury. Quite a lovely gang of multi-talented women. Til tomorrow.
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Saturday, July 17, 2010 The Sunday NY Times Book Review is due on my doorstep tomorrow. And I still have last week’s Sunday NY Times Book Review waiting to be read. Not good. Til tomorrow.
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Friday, July 16, 2010 The phrase, “the tyranny of text” is still on my mind. I’m still reading Bill Bryson’s A Short History of Nearly Everything; but it’s slow going. He packs so much info on a page that it’s difficult to remember it. I enjoy it the moment that I read it; but beyond that, it’s difficult. I’d MUCH rather watch him talk about the book in an hour lecture on BookTV than read the book. I wonder what that means – that I’d rather watch him talk than read the book. Heresy probably. Til tomorrow.
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Thursday, July 15, 2010 I’m looking at my books and just found a travel guide to Belize. I know I must have purchased it at some point. But why? Am I taking a trip to Belize? I don’t think so. Til tomorrow.
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Wednesday, July 14, 2010 I’m going to make a little chart with the dates and books and lives of Eudora Welty and Flannery O’Connor. I already made a little chart for Wallace Stegner and William Styron. Very helpful in keeping things straight. Til tomorrow.
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Tuesday, July 13, 2010 I bought the 1962 edition of Silent Spring by Rachel Carson. I had a paperback copy; but I felt I needed a hardcover copy. The acknowledgment pages dedicate the book to Albert Schweitzer whom she quotes as saying, “Man has lost the capacity to foresee and to forestall. He will end by destroying the earth.” She also includes two quotes by Keats and E. B. White. What a book. Til tomorrow.
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Monday, July 12, 2010 Ralph Nader interviewed Andrew Napolitano yesterday on BookTV; and it was fabulous. Two articulate, energetic thinkers talking about what could be best for the nation. Very invigorating. So much so that I watched it twice. Til tomorrow.
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Sunday, July 11, 2010 I picked up, again, A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson. I sure like the way he writes; and he’s very smart. Plus, he makes good presentations on BookTV. I had started his book before Earth and the Cabin and am just now getting back to it. It’s been there waiting for me all this time. Cool. Til tomorrow.
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Saturday, July 10, 2010 There’s a new biography out by Hilary Spurling about Pearl Buck. The review in the NY Times of that biography is two thumbs up. Pearl was the daughter of missionaries. All was not well with her life, which apparently included a zealot father, a distant mother, a couple of odd husbands, and the struggle to live in a country, China, with limited everything. I’ve read The Good Earth this summer and am still admiring Pearl Buck’s ability to tell a story within the structure of important philosophical underpinnings. Supposedly, she wrote that book in five months. How'd she do that? The other period piece I’ve read this summer is Uncle Tom’s Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe. All of the world’s most vile acts rest on the shoulders of Simon Legree while all the world’s strongest virtues are in the hands of Tom. Once you read books like those, you maybe feel like you don’t need to read anything else for quite a long while. Til tomorrow.
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Friday, July 9, 2010 David Suchet was filmed in real life on board the Orient Express on PBS the other day. He showed what the 81-hour trip was like from London to Istanbul in the 30s and demonstrated the elegance of train travel during the time when Agatha Christie wrote Murder on the Orient Express. The book, the movie, the actual train, and the good old BBC. I’m ready for a train trip but will settle for the PBS broadcast this coming Sunday of Agatha's masterpiece. Til tomorrow.
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Thursday, July 8, 2010 I’ve been thinking about Robert Louis Stevenson, Treasure Island, and Kidnapped lately. Can’t say exactly what put those books into my head. But must have been something good. Til tomorrow.
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Wednesday, July 7, 2010 My new favorite book is The Dreamer by Pam Muñoz Ryan. She wrote a wonderful book about the life of the poet Pablo Neruda; and then Peter Sis provided illustrations. Pam captured the dynamics of a family, of life in Chile, and of the relationship between a father and a son in ways that are insightful, wise, astute, and sensitive. The most amazing thing about this book is how Pam totally captured the train scenes, the ocean scenes, the living room scenes, the fire scene, the scenes at the dinner table, and the lovely relationships between stepmother and siblings. I loved the book. Thank you, Pam. Til tomorrow.
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Tuesday, July 6, 2010 Hope, work, love. Eric Carle wrote three books about those three topics; and respectively, they are: The Very Hungry Caterpillar, The Very Busy Spider, and The Very Quiet Cricket. Til tomorrow.
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Monday, July 5, 2010 I’m thinking of buying a CD of music composed by Shostakovich, inspired by Bach, and performed by Tatiana Nikolayeva in 1987. Opus 87. Til tomorrow.
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Sunday, July 4, 2010 The road to independence. Til tomorrow.
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Saturday, July 3, 2010 So, according to today's paper, the economy is still a mess in spite of bail outs, hand outs, and all-around best efforts. Therefore, I’m going back to rereading February 17, 2010 and enjoying the wisdom of Adam Smith who encouraged constraint in spending and consuming. Then again, it’s easy for those like Smith who had a fairly easy life to preach constraint to those who don’t have much to constrain to start with. Nevertheless, I think he got it right in The Wealth of Nations. In the end, it's going to be the notions of small, agrarian, simple, and earth-friendly that bring the world back to stasis. Can't wait. Til tomorrow.
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Thursday, July 1 through Friday, July 2, 2010 I’ve started my new book on how the internet is changing our brains; and I really like it. The Shallows: What the Internet is Doing to Our Brains by Nicholas Carr is going to be a great read. His premise is that we are all rewiring our neural networking system when we flit from one page, one screen, one thought, and one device to another and another and another. He says we’re losing the neural ability to focus for sustained lengths of time. And he sees this as a bad thing. I’m not sure he has scientific evidence or if he’s just basing all this on his own experiences. But, it’s going to be interesting to read the whole book. He quotes someone who said that with all the new media comes freedom from the tyranny of text. So, reading on. Til tomorrow.
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Wednesday, June 30, 2010 A national holiday is coming up. Celebrations. Gatherings. Food. Hope. History. Future. Til tomorrow.
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Tuesday, June 29, 2010 Senator Byrd died yesterday. And as can be suspected, the NY Times has published an honorable obituary about the achievements of a man who reminded us all of the value of honesty, strength, poetry, redemption, and relentless effort. Til tomorrow.
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Monday, June 28, 2010
Note to self. Do not upgrade imac or macbook to OS 10.6. And here’s why. Adobe CS3 Photoshop will not work on 10.6; but it will work on 10.5.8, which is what I have. So, there you have it. Do NOT forget this as I LOVE CS3 Photoshop; and I do NOT want to spend more money replacing Photoshop when I am perfectly happy with 10.5.8 and CS3. Why is all this so complicated? Maybe it’s not for everyone else. But it surely is for me. Til tomorrow.
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Sunday, June 27, 2010 Death, vice, and fear are woven into the fairy tales of Wilhelm and Jacob Grimm according to David G. Allan in the Travel section of the NY Times today. Their fairy tale book was titled, Children’s and Household Tales published in Germany in 1812. According to Mr. Allan, hungry wolves and murderous stepmothers abound in the world of the Brothers Grimm. So, from tales told by parents to discipline their children and to keep them safe from the dangers in the forests, Wilhelm and Jacob saw an opportunity; and 200 years later, the Grimms are still with us. Til tomorrow.
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Saturday, June 26, 2010 The Shallows: What the Internet is Doing to Our Brains by Nicholas Carr arrived. So, now I have to read the thing. I’m hoping it has a riveting beginning and then gets better from there. We’ll see. Til tomorrow.
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Friday, June 25, 2010 Not a new book in sight today - only the grass to mow, the kitchen to clean, the dogs to walk, the floor to mop. Toil and trouble. Toil and trouble. Toil and trouble. Toil and trouble. To steal a phrase from Macbeth's three lovely witches by our man William. Shakespeare that is. Til tomorrow.
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Thursday, June 24, 2010 I’m all caught up on my reading. So, I’m going to do what I always do and that’s just wait around a couple of hours or even a couple of days til my next big read finds me. It always does. In the meantime, I am listening over and over to Rostropovich playing his cello rendition of Bach’s Sonata Suite Number 1 in G Major the Prelude. Til tomorrow.
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Wednesday, June 23, 2010 The best thing about books is that they take you to places you need to be but then they allow you to come right back home in the blink of an eye. Whether I’m down the rabbit hole with Alice or in the White House with Eleanor or even in Pakistan watching a school being built, I’m still able to stir the spaghetti and sweeten the tea right in my own little kitchen. Til tomorrow.
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Tuesday, June 22, 2010 Three Cups of Tea is coming along. I do wonder about Western values being imposed on other cultures without our appreciation or even basic understanding that the West does not always know best. The culture of the West, whether it's to bring schools, TV, or disposable diapers to developing nations, needs to tread lightly. There are individuals in the world of great thinkers who have first-hand experience with regard to displacing a region's native wisdom, practices, and culture with industrial and technological progress. People who nearly always get it right from a global perspective are Chris Hedges, Sebastion Junger, Jimmy Carter, Karen Armstrong, Chinua Achebe, and Christiane Amanpour to name six of my favorites. Til tomorrow.
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Monday, June 21, 2010 Matt Ridley spoke yesterday on BookTV about his ideas on the evolution of our species. He said the most remarkable thing about our species is not 2-legs, inventing fire, migrating, or using language. He said the thing that makes our species the most advanced is that we exchange things. We exchange beads for bread, money for spices, people for gold. His ideas are simply way more complex than I can write about here. However, he was on for 90 minutes; and during that time he made perfect sense. Maybe I should read his book. But it was Jon Stewart who stole the show when he introduced Condoleezza Rice, John Grisham, and Mary Roach. Four smart people – all on the same platform at the BookExpo America in NYC last month. I just went online and bought Jon Stewart’s book America. Til tomorrow.
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Sunday, June 20, 2010 Pat Conroy was on BookTV last night and gave a WONDERFUL interview about how books have influenced him as a reader and writer. His new book is My Reading Life and is a veritable compendium of significant canonical writers of the 20th century particularly those from the south. His interview was refreshing to watch. He said all writers are second to William Faulkner, which made me think specifically of Faulkner's The Sound and The Fury. Til tomorrow.
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Saturday, June 19, 2010 Network Solutions has changed its log in procedure so that Image Café is no longer available immediately. I called them and no one answered. So, I’m in the market for moving my hosting package to another company. Not happy. Maybe Network Solutions will read this and will fix this problem. Or maybe they're going bankrupt and they all went home. Comment? Til tomorrow. UPDATE: Network Solutions added a button after their log in page that now fixes the problem. Thanks.
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Friday, June 18, 2010 Today, yes, today, I’m hoping to clean off my desk and get completely caught up with correspondence. We’ll see. Til tomorrow.
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Thursday, June 17, 2010 Just got a new CD in the mail from Amazon. Sweet. Til tomorrow.
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| 16 Biggest Hits for Rosemary Clooney |
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Wednesday, June 16, 2010 Two books are on my desk: The Life of the Mind by Hannah Arendt, copyright 1971 and Existentialists and Mystics by Iris Murdoch, copyright 1950. Not exactly light summer reading; but books in which I am and have been interested for some time. Til tomorrow.
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Tuesday, June 15, 2010 The NY Times Magazine had a wonderful piece about Marian Seldes last Sunday. I thought I had seen her in person on Broadway; but I think I’m thinking of Frances Sternhagen who was with Matthew Broderick in The Foreigner. So, the article was great and so is Miss Marian and so is Frances. Women are young, then they are middle-aged, then they are wonderful (quote from the Times that sums it up nicely). Til tomorrow.
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| Marian Seldes, Matthew Broderick, Frances Sternhagen |
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Monday, June 14, 2010 Nicholas Carr and others were on a panel in Chicago yesterday on live BookTV; and they discussed the brain and how it uses the internet. They identified a problem with attention span in that multitasking on the internet can interfere with the brain’s ability to selectively focus and attend to sustained tasks like reading a book for example. There was also discussion that in spite of the value of a video game's ability to tell a good story with a highly evolved set of narrative elements, it’s still a game. And video games are addictive. Who will plant the wheat and harvest the wheat and make the bread if everybody is tuned into their favorite video game. Just because a game is highly complex doesn't make it anything more than just a game. So, I’m buying Mr. Carr’s book titled, The Shallows: What the Internet is Doing to Our Brains. Til tomorrow.
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Sunday, June 13, 2010 Barbara Ehrenreich has a new book, Bright-Sided. She was on BookTV yesterday, live, at the book festival in Chicago. She was wonderful. She was just as wonderful when I met her in NYC at the 92nd Street Y when she was discussing her book, Nickel and Dimed on February 24, 2002. She is so honest and straightforward and so focused on her work. The premise of the new book is that society is forcing us all to be artificially cheerful. Bah. There’s too much in the world that is absolutely horrific; and always trying to be positive is simply delusional thinking. It’s always so validating when someone of high acclaim states with authority what you’ve been thinking all along. She is very kind, very smart, and very honest. The whole title of her new book? Bright-Sided: How the Relentless Promotion of Positive Thinking has Underminded America. Well documented and well-received by the reading public. Ms. Ehrenreich does a great job of weeding out the popular and highlighting the difficult. What talent. Til tomorrow.
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Saturday, June 12, 2010 Garrison Keillor is live on Prairie Home Companion tonight at 5 PM Central Time. He’s in Spokane Washington, which is where I used to live. I wonder if I bought a plane ticket right now if I could be there in time. Then again…there’s always the radio. Planet ticket versus the radio. Quite a dilemma. Til tomorrow.
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Friday, June 11, 2010 My Hitch 22 and Lemony Snicket CDs have arrived. I’m going to petition Congress to see if they can add an hour, or maybe two, to the clock each day. I need more time. Til tomorrow.
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Thursday, June 10, 2010 Still reading from Uncle Tom’s Cabin and at the same time looking forward to listening to Tim Curry on CD read the first Lemony Snicket book about a series of unfortunate events, which I just ordered on Amazon because 1) it was on sale and 2) it was on sale. But I know I’m gonna LOVE it - on sale or not. I may plan a road trip just so I can listen to this book on CD in the car, which is the best place to listen to a book on tape (or CD). Til tomorrow.
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Wednesday, June 9, 2010 I just bought three great books as gifts for some great young readers: The Lion and the Mouse by Jerry Pinkney. Never Smile at a Monkey: And 17 Other Important Things to Remember by Steve Jenkins. How Do Dinosaurs Say Goodnight by Jane Yolen and Mark Teague.
Cool. Til tomorrow.
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Tuesday, June 8, 2010 Colorless green ideas sleep furiously. Or so says Noam Chomsky; and I couldn't agree more. Til tomorrow.
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Monday, June 7, 2010 I’m three weeks behind on the NY Times Book Review including the one from yesterday that is a pretty massive collection of must-reads for the summer. Where does the time go? When I was a kid, I used to sit in this big elm tree in our back yard in the summertime and read books from the public library. No Amazon. No Kindle. No ipad. No rush. Just a big ol’ elm tree, a public library, and summertime. Til tomorrow.
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Sunday, June 6, 2010 I learned way too much today.
Martha Nussbaum is a philosopher of law at the University of Chicago. She likes the questions that are hard to answer in life. How to behave. How to think about others. How to achieve social justice. How to define decency. How to be a world citizen. She was in my living room today for 3 hours - live. BookTV is simply and unbelievably the best media I know of.
Elizabeth Bandinter is the heir to Simone de Beauvoir. Ms. Bandinter is a French writer and feminist who is rejecting breastfeeding, cloth diapers, and natural childbirth for women because they’re chains of oppression that produce guilt and hardship. She wants women to free themselves from those kinds of chains and work toward equality and assumably happiness.
Christopher Hitchens has a new book out which I just ordered on CD. Fifteen CDs read by the author from his book titled, Hitch 22. He’s probably the world’s best and most articulate essayist; and I wanted to hear him speak his own words. So, I bought the CDs. He brings great artistry and pure reason to the field of debate. He’s better than a Broadway show. Almost.
Stephen Prothero has a new book on the world’s eight most prominent religions:
Islam, which emphasizes keeping ones personal pride in check. Christianity, which emphasizes thoughts on eternal salvation. Confucianism, which emphasizes maintaining a good social order. Buddhism, which emphasizes freedom from suffering. Judaism, which emphasizes study and sovereignty. Hinduism, which emphasizes living a pure life. Daoism, which emphasizes living as one with nature. Atheism, which emphasizes being human.
Then from the Arts and Leisure section of the NY Times:
Sex and City 2 gets dumped on as being trivial, wasteful, and just plain silly.
Catherine Zeta Jones and Angela Lansbury have only 16 more performances left on Broadway in A Little Night Music by Stephen Sondheim. They were so lovely together.
James Spader and David Alan Grier will depart Race by David Mamet June 20 and 13 respectively.
I’m so lucky to have seen both of these plays. Such talent. Such a thrill.
This is a lot to have read about and learned in one day. Time for a break. Til tomorrow.
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Saturday, June 5, 2010 My new book arrived yesterday, Three Cups of Tea. Uncle Tom’s Cabin still remains; and I'm making progress but I'm going to have to discipline myself not to start three cups til the cabin’s done, which is very unlikely. Til tomorrow.
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Friday, June 4, 2010 I’m still into Uncle Tom’s Cabin; but I must admit that I’m having to reread pages to keep track of the action and characters. Ideally, I’m normally able to become immersed in a story line pretty easily; but this book is giving me trouble for some reason. I suspect it’s a combination of the writing style and the fact that I’m not wanting to miss anything in this important book, which is said to have started the Civil War. So, I’m marching on. Til tomorrow.
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Thursday, June 3, 2010 AT&T home phone service is behind the times. This corporation has invested in broadband digital services and has seemingly forgotten about people (me for example) who see a need for a land-based line in their homes for both local and long distance. So, I’m continuing to postpone the iphone until Apple opens up to Verizon as a carrier. I wonder how long that will be? Poor AT&T. I wonder if they'll miss me. Ha. Til tomorrow.
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Wednesday, June 2, 2010 Extraction, immersion, pedagogic. Those are the three kinds of digital reading that we all do on the internet. I really like those three terms. I’ve retyped them today even though I wrote about them previously on May 24, 2010 because I want to try and remember them without looking them up. But if I can’t remember them – voila. I’ll know where to look.
Extraction-taking smaller pieces of information that we need from text. I did this just now when I went back to review my notes from May 24.
Immersion-getting lost in a great read. I've done this with The Perfect Storm by Sebastion Junger and Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez.
Pedagogic-learning something after studying the text for a bit. I've done this my whole life. I have a lot to learn. For example, I just learned how to properly season my new French Staub Cocotte, which I SO love and which is a lovely cast iron pot.
Til tomorrow.
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Tuesday, June 1, 2010 I’m reading the last two weeks of book reviews in the NY Times. I’m a little behind it seems. Book Expo America was in NYC last week. There was a BEA panel on BookTV that discussed the demise of the book industry in favor of ebooks. Their best idea was to sell a book as 1) just a book, 2) just a book along with a CD or password to download it, or 3) just an ebook. Problem solved. Scott Turow was a panelist. He was concerned about copyright violations; but he was also an advocate for authors who want readers. They concluded that it’s the industry’s job to provide readers with the content of books in a variety of formats. So, seems like they got it all worked out. Til tomorrow.
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Monday, May 31, 2010 Memorial Day. Til tomorrow.
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Sunday, May 30, 2010 Nathan Lane and John Waters were featured respectively in the NY Times Arts and Leisure section and The Times Magazine. Very creative and unique people who have found a place for their comedic perspectives and personalities. Only in America. Til tomorrow.
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Saturday, May 29, 2010
Garrison Keillor this week published a piece about the demise of the book. It was a good piece and explained exactly the way most people read nowadays compared to when he was a lad. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/27/opinion/27iht-edkeillor.html
The notion of digital reading on a device means it is possible for readers to lose the ability to read extended text because we all have become accustomed to flitting from here to there. Flitting is not a good thing. According to Garrison, our perpetual flitting takes us from “Henry James to Jesse James to the epistle of James to pajamas to Obama to Alabama to Alanon to non-sequitors, sequins, penguins, penal institutions” at the speed of light. Also, the first three sentences of an online read are going to have be great because today’s readers are quickly fickle and will simple click to another site. So, there you have it. Digital media is changing how we think. I’m thinking this can’t be good – at least for the book industry. Mr. Keillor is live tonight on NPR broadcasting from Vienna, Virginia. I’ll be listening. Til tomorrow.
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Friday, May 28, 2010 I started reading last night Uncle Tom’s Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe. It’s going to be a brutal read I know but a necessary one I feel. Certain pieces of literature reflect certain attributes of humanity; and this book clearly represents the lowest and highest of our potential. Til tomorrow.
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Thursday, May 27, 2010
John Grisham has a new book out featuring a 13-year-old attorney. Mr. Grisham intends to write a series of books featuring this character. I’ll probably read the first one and maybe the whole series. Sounds very cool. Til tomorrow.
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Wednesday, May 26, 2010
I’m finishing up the last bit of Malcolm Gladwell’s What the Dog Saw. The book is a collection of his pieces that he published in the New Yorker in the late 90s; and while they are well written and engaging, they still feel dated, which goes just to show how quickly life changes. Til tomorrow.
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Tuesday, May 25, 2010
I watched Masterpiece Mystery Sunday night. It was an Agatha Christie mystery starring Miss Marple. Fabulous. Til tomorrow.
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Monday, May 24, 2010
I was watching Evan Schnittman of Oxford University Press on BookTV yesterday; and he says there are three kinds of digital reading: extraction, immersion, pedagogic. Can’t argue with that. Til tomorrow.
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Monday, May 17 to Sunday, May 23, 2010
Computer’s been in the shop all week. I listened to The Lightning Thief on tape yesterday. If I had been the writer’s editor, I would have suggested a quicker pace. It seemed like it was being staged to become a movie. “Grover, who was lying a bed with a pink poodle close by, looked stun.” See what I mean? There were staging directions built into the book. I guess that’s the way it’s done in the fast lane of book and movie deals. At any rate, I thought it was distracting. But I did LOVE the weaving of Greek mythology into the current-day dilemma of a kid growing up on the upper east side of Manhattan and trying to save humanity at the same time. Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades - three sons of Cronus and three tough dudes. I still have one chapter to go so I don’t know whether the boy’s mother will be saved or not. But since the boy's father is Poseidon, I suspect so. Til tomorrow.
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Sunday, May 16, 2010
Woody Allen was quoted as saying that if you look at life too closely, you'll find that it's a "a pretty grim enterprise.” He referenced Friedrich Nietzsche, Sigmund Freud, and Eugene O'Neill as having said pretty much the same thing. Pearl S. Buck would not disagree. Til tomorrow.
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Saturday, May 15, 2010
It’s beginning to look a lot like summer. Time to get out Appalachian Spring by Aaron Copland and Summertime by George Gershwin. Til tomorrow.
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Friday, May 14, 2010
I have purchased a new book since I’m almost finished with The Good Earth. My next book will be by Iris Murdoch, titled Existentialists and Mystics: Writings on Philosophy and Literature. She was a novelist and philosopher. Dame Iris Murdoch (July 15, 1919 – February 8, 1999) was married to Professor John Bayley who wrote Elegy to Iris, which I read after Dame Judi Dench and Jim Broadbent portrayed them in 2001 in a movie titled, Iris. I have read two of her novels titled The Sea, the Sea and The Green Knight. It's all exquisite and elegant. Til tomorrow.
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Thursday, May 13, 2010
Almost finished with The Good Earth. It’s SO disturbing to read a pretty accurate account of how fragile we all really are and how we all live lives of quiet desperation whether we know it or not. However, our fragility is greatly reduced when we return to the good earth and take our cues from the seasons, the rivers, and the rhythm of life.Til tomorrow.
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Wednesday, May 12, 2010
No new bookish thoughts today. But Modern Family is on TV this evening. What a great show. I think I’ll watch it. Plus, I’m going to watch Cash Cab if it’s on today on the Discovery Channel. So…Out with the books. On with the TV. Til tomorrow.
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Tuesday, May 11, 2010
Still reading The Good Earth. There’s not a page in the book that doesn’t evoke some sort of thought about a current social dilemma. The book continues to explore issues of class, wealth, and the general pecking order that we have artificially created for ourselves in this world. I’m reading just a few pages a day; so it’s gonna be awhile til I’m finished. Good for Pearl. Oh my gosh. I just now realized that the two gems O-lan keeps from a bag of jewels that she stole during the uprising of the poor against the rich are two small pearls. VERY cool. Til tomorrow.
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Monday, May 10, 2010
I watched Masterpiece Mystery on PBS last night. It was a great murder mystery that took place right after WW II in London. Alan Cumming was the host who introduced the film. He shares the spot with Laura Linney. But of course the masters at intros were Alistair Cooke and Russell Baker from years past. Thank goodness for the BBC. Til tomorrow.
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Sunday, May 9, 2010
Happy Mother’s Day.
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Saturday, May 8, 2010
Wang Lung and his growing family are now experiencing a severe drought. Their fields of rice and wheat have shriveled in the ground; and everyone is growing thin. So, the good earth, as it turns out, is rather fickle when you come to depend on it too much. The nomadic buffalo of North America had it all figured out. Simply roam from north to south and east to west your whole life as the weather and seasons dictate. O-lan, the strong, resourceful, smart, quiet wife remains the hero of the book. Til tomorrow.
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Friday, May 7, 2010
I’m 60 pages into The Good Earth. The book is a treatise on wealth, poverty, power, gender, and all the personality characteristics that make up our species. I’m reading from an original first edition from 1931, which makes the book seem even more important. The quiet suffering and personal resolve of Wang Lung’s wife is both dispiriting and admirable. I’m reading it slowly so I can think about the societal issues and implications as I go. I should probably take a few notes; but that turns the whole experience into a task rather than a pleasure. So, I'm simply reading on. Til tomorrow.
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Thursday, May 6, 2010
There once was a boy from Dubuque
Whose first and last names were Luke.
The boy was game
About his name
Even though his name was a fluke.
Just felt like writing a limerick this morning. Hopefully, this will never happen again. Til tomorrow.
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Wednesday, May 5, 2010
I’ve started The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck. Life at the turn of the century (1900s) in rural China is what this book is about. My prediction is that 100 years from now, we’ll all need to know Mandarin, which is going to be a good thing because Chinese culture minus the Communism strictures is a pretty good culture. After I decided to read this book (even though most people read it in high school), I found out that it was an Oprah selection. I wonder if she's read it. Pearl Buck won both the noble Nobel Prize and the Pulitzer Prize while Oprah's show has won 35 Emmy awards. Good company. Til tomorrow.
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Tuesday, May 4, 2010
Lynn Redgrave died Sunday (March 8, 1943-May 2, 2010). I loved her work. Her ability to take a character from a page of print and endow it with life on a stage and on film was second to none. I missed my chance to see her at the Roundabout Theater in 2005 in Somerset Maugham’s The Constant Wife. I will forever be sorry that I wasn’t there to watch her touch the past. But I did see her on stage in London in The Three Sisters by Anton Chekov with her sister Vanessa and niece Jemma in 1991. The entire play and performance was like being encapsulated in a glass globe where time was suspended. I think that was my first brush with excellence. Lynn Redgrave. A loss. A connection. A sorrow. And more. Til tomorrow.
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| As Lady Bracknell in The Importance of Being Earnest |
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Monday, May 3, 2010
Lilies that fester smell far worse than weeds. That’s what Shakespeare said in Sonnet 94. Til tomorrow.
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Sunday, May 2, 2010
In today's NY Times Magazine, Deborah Solomon interviewed a woman from Arkansas who writes vampire novels and is very successful. As in HBO successful. But I’m not really interested in vampire stories. I am, however, interested in cheerfulness; and Charlaine Harris seems extraordinarily cheerful. And funny. Cheerful and funny. Seems an odd combination for a writer of vampire sagas to possess. But there it is. Til tomorrow.
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Saturday, May 1, 2010
It’s a regular Saturday. NPR. BookTV. And maybe a little baking. Til tomorrow.
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Friday, April 30, 2010
I am SO glad I didn’t buy an ipad because what I really need is a color, laser printer that is quick, economical on toner, and small enough not to take up my whole workspace. Actually, I need two of them. Ha. Til tomorrow.
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Thursday, April 29, 2010
No new bookish thoughts today. Except to say that I read five haikus by Richard Wright yesterday and REALLY liked them.
Glass in the window
Keeps out the bugs and varmints
But lets in the light.
His were much better; but that one’s not bad for a 15 second effort. Til tomorrow.
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Monday, April 26 to Wednesday, April 28, 2010
I met Mary Ann Hoberman in Chicago and she posed for a photo with me. She’s the nation’s children’s poet laureate and her book of poetry, which I received free and am holding in the photo, is titled The Tree that Time Built. It even comes with a CD of people reading some of the poems. Poet Laureate. Now there’s an honorable job! For sure. Til tomorrow.
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Sunday, April 25, 2010
I was thinking of Wilma Mankiller yesterday as I listened to Garrison Keillor on Prairie Home Companion. Can’t say what prompted the thought; but I did look her up as I listened to PHC during a musical number. And I discovered that she had passed away on April 6 of this very month. So, of course I went right to the NY Times and found the obituary. November 18, 1945-April 6, 2010. It's hard to accept. I had come to depend on the thought that she was somewhere on earth crafting policies to give back to the Cherokee tribe their rightful place in the world. When the Bureau of Indian Affairs relocated her family from Oklahoma to California in 1956 in order to take back land that her family had been given in the 1830s, she said the move was her personal Trail of Tears. The Cherokees have lost a great Chief and the world a great woman. Sadly. Til tomorrow.
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Saturday, April 24, 2010
Lee Smith from Hillsboro, NC was on Michael Feldman’s NPR radio show this morning. She’s a southern writer who writes about characters from the south. Her newest book is about a character named Mrs. Darcy (completely unrelated to Mr. Darcy in Jane Austen). Mrs. Darcy and the Blue-Eyed Stranger is the name of the book; and I’m thinking about buying it. Yes, I think I will. Maybe. Perhaps. Possibly. Yes. Til tomorrow.
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Friday, April 23, 2010
Because of the volcanic ash, planes throughout Europe have been grounded. This means that the atmosphere is clear of jet pollution; and people can see the beauty of the unpolluted skies in ways they haven’t been able to in decades. That view will end this weekend as the jets take off once again. In another part of the world, the oil rig in the Gulf that collapsed with lives lost has created an oil sheen five miles long by a mile wide heading for land. It’s difficult to know of those events and just go right on as if all that is inevitable and is simply the cost of doing business in a modern society. But, really, it isn’t okay. Our consumption practices in our oil-based economy are exceeding the ability of the planet to repair itself. For the earth, these are difficult times in spite of 40 years of Earth Day celebrations. But even amidst this darkness, the unstoppable Jane Goodall continues her work on behalf of the chimps every day without fail. She continues to produce good work; and I know she watches the same news as I. She celebrated her 75th birthday this past April 3. She’s alive and well and going strong. She’s the one to watch. Now and always.
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Thursday, April 22, 2010
George Washington has a $300,000 library fine in New York for an overdue library book. He signed out the book as "President." Delightful. Til tomorrow.
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Wednesday, April 21, 2010
Harry Markopolos was interviewed by Deborah Solomon for the NY Times Magazine on February 28, 2010. And then, this weekend, he was interviewed on BookTV by Nicole Gelinas. Mr. Markopolos knew about the Bernie Madoff ponzi scheme ten years before the regulators acted on it. Mr. Markopolos told the regulators Mr. Madoff was engaged in illegal activity; and they ignored him. Mr. Markopolos is now the hero and has written a book all about it. Hollywood will make a movie about him. Tom Hanks will probably produce it; and it will be similar to Charlie Wilson’s War, which Mr. Hanks also produced. During the BookTV interview, Mr. Markopolos said that on Wall Street today the same people and the same practices are still in place, which means Wall Street is back to its exact same practices as before the recent crash. But I suspect that Congress will take a look and eventually fix the problems. In the meantime, Hollywood will tell the story. So, the only question for me is whether to read the book or wait for the movie. Til tomorrow.
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Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Malcolm Gladwell said that one of Adam Gopnik’s books was the most well-written book he'd ever read. At least that’s what I think he said. He and David Grann were discussing the art of writing. So, now I'm going to relisten to that interview and get the name of Mr. Gopnik's book referred to by Mr. Gladwell. Til tomorrow.
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Monday, April 19, 2010
Juan Williams of NPR fame was on BookTV last night giving viewers a look at his desk in his home where he does most of his writing. Richard Allington of IRA fame said that readers will be better readers if four things happen:
1. knowledge goals and grades are established by how much was learned not tests,
2. students have choice in what they read,
3. teachers provide interesting text,
4. teachers and students collaborate on the curriculum.
Juan and Richard - both great readers. Til tomorrow.
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Sunday, April 18, 2010
Said Ernest to Algy in The Importance of Being Earnest, “Algy, you’re always talking nonsense.” To which Algy replied, “Well, it’s better than listening to it.” Bless Oscar Wilde and all his ancestors and descendants. Til tomorrow.
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Saturday, April 17, 2010
Five best libraries according to David McCullough: Harvard, Boston Public, Yale, Library of Congress, NYC Public Library. Til tomorrow.
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Friday, April 16, 2010
One of the best things about books is that they don't feel abandoned when you temporarily abandon them. So. No big insights today. No major conclusions to speak of. No epiphanies in sight. Just temporary abandonment of all things bookish. Til tomorrow.
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Thursday, April 15, 2010
If wishes were horses, beggars would ride. Hmm. I'll have to think about this. Til tomorrow.
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Wednesday, April 14, 2010
A new day. A new book. A new ipad. Almost. I was really close to clicking “buy” on that ipad when I remembered three things:
1. I’m trying to buy less stuff,
2. I have a lot of stuff already,
3. I’m running out of places to put stuff.
Plus, no flash player, no usb, no camera, and you’ve got to buy a lot of peripherals like a docking station, keyboard, camera adaptor, and an extended warranty. So, I’ll wait til the next iteration when the ipad has more features; or I’ll forego the whole thing entirely. Perhaps. Maybe. We’ll see. But the urge to buy stuff is strong; and the Apple ads are so compelling. Note to self: Watch fewer ads. Til tomorrow.
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Tuesday, April 13, 2010
It’s interesting that water is in the news in so many places. The Sunday NY Times had a front-page piece about James Cameron trying to stop the construction of a dam on the Amazon River. The dam would flood thousands of acres of land and displace thousands of families who have lived on the great river since people populated the planet. So, James Cameron is going to take some of his money from Avatar and try to save the land, the people, the habitat, the forests, and the ecosytem of that Brazilian rainforest. Sigourney Weaver is helping him. Arundhati in India. James and Sigourney in Brazil. How will it all end? It doesn't look all that good for Mother Earth. Til tomorrow.
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Monday, April 12, 2010
Arundhati Roy is one of the world’s leading intellectuals and critics of world corporations who are engaging in what she calls ecocide (the total destruction of ecosystems). Yesterday on BookTV as she spoke in Seattle, she specifically cited Coca Cola as a corporation who was destroying natural habitats and forests in India in order to control the water from rivers so that they could make their products. After listening to her read from her new book titled, Field Notes on Democracy: Listening to Grasshoppers, it would be hard to imagine that the CEO and leaders of Coca Cola would not immediately back off, ask forgiveness, and try to restore the rivers and lands they have taken from the indigenous people of India. But my guess is they weren’t watching. Nevertheless, Ms. Roy keeps up her vigilance of those engaged in ecocide. When asked about passive resistance in the great tradition of Gandhi, she replied, "How do you ask the poor who are already starving to go on a hunger strike?" Til tomorrow.
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Sunday, April 11, 2010
Stephen Hawking thinks we need to colonize the moon so that humans can be saved in the event that the earth is destroyed by some astrological catastrophe. Paul Krugman thinks planet earth can be cleaned up and can actually become a desirable, clean, and green place to live. I can not imagine that we need to take oil spills, clear cutting, toxic carbons, and mounds of garbage to the moon. Til tomorrow.
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Saturday, April 10, 2010
Public radio out of San Antonio is having a fund raiser. I've already donated. Too bad that public radio and public television are so underfunded while government bailouts of corporations could have been sent their way. I'm advocating a taxpayer checklist so that taxpayers could check off on their tax return what they are willing to support with their taxes and what they're not. What a great idea. I'd check off public libraries, public radio and public TV, the Library of Congress, Super Fund cleanups, Amtrak, schools, EPA offices, and a couple of others. Sweet. Til tomorrow.
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Friday, April 9, 2010
I met Liz Scanlon, Kelly Bennett, and Don Tate today at a book festival. Very impressive people. Talent, focus, drive, ambition, confidence, wow. Very impressive indeed. Til tomorrow.
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Thursday, April 8, 2010
I woke up thinking about Philip Glass and how he incorporated 3.5 minutes of silence into one of his piano compositions. At least that’s how I remember that anecdote that I heard ten years ago. So, I just now tried to confirm that 3.5 minute silence by Googling for that information; and lo and behold, I couldn’t find it. So, I’m probably remembering it wrong. But I did find info that said Mr. Glass as well as John Cage used silence in their music. So, maybe I’m close to remembering all this correctly. But then in the process of looking up Philip Glass and John Cage, I ran into Friedrich Nietzsche who has evidently inspired all kinds of artists and musicians to focus on the here and now, which of course includes silence. So, what started out as a simple idea this morning is now completely out of hand – as are so many good thoughts. Til tomorrow.
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Wednesday, April 7, 2010
I’m still reading Mr. Gladwell of course; and it’s just as interesting to think about the way he writes as to think about what he has written. He’s a master at knowing how to string together a bunch of words so that the reader simply sails along effortlessly. Til tomorrow.
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Tuesday, April 6, 2010
Finally. Last night I started What the Dog Saw by Malcolm Gladwell. Even though it's been out a while, it’s still fairly new. Regardless, I’m just now getting to it while Malcolm has probably already written three other books. Oh well. Everything to its season. Til tomorrow.
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Monday, April 5, 2010
I stuck by my guns last night and forewent Masterpiece Classic featuring a series about the war between the British Empire and India in and around 1817. I caught instead, Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen. There were two phrases which I jotted down as I watched. Prudence, responsibility, duty. Tastes, passions, pursuits. Ms. Austen admonished a character to live a life of prudence, responsibility, and duty AND to discover ones own tastes, passions, and pursuits. Jane Austen’s Sense in 1811. Til tomorrow.
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Sunday, April 4, 2010
There was a lovely piece about Norris Church Mailer in today’s NY Times Magazine. It’s funny how you find someone whom you’re pretty sure you’d like but didn’t even know existed. And then today, there she is, in a magazine article having lived a long and lively life without your knowledge. The article was written in a way that garnered sympathy and support for a long-suffering and very competent wife. As a sixth wife, she survived life with Mr. Mailer for 33 years, a deadly cancer, several near-death operations, and mothering nine various children. She is in poor health now, overly thin, and worries about physically disappearing. The piece also quoted Doris Kearns Goodwin. Ms. Goodwin said that they were extraordinary and that Norman was a gentle and talented man. Ms. Goodwin's words give the piece automatic validity and dignity. I heard Norman Mailer do a reading from one of his books years ago. It was stunning to hear a person of his talent read his words to a packed house of several thousand. And even though his personal life was messy, he still did all the things that a first-class writer must do. Write, publish, support his family. Even at the very end of his life, he took the stage with Gunther Grass and made a final earnest attempt to make sense of this serious and fallible thing called life. The debate sponsored by the New York Public Library made an impression as I think of it now having watched it on BookTV over three years ago. Norris Church Mailer. I wish her well. Indeed. Always.
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Saturday, April 3, 2010
A perfect day.
9:00 Click and Clack from our fair city, Boston, MA
10:00 Whad'Ya Know-Not Much from Madison, WI
12:00 The Splendid Table from St. Paul, MN
2:00 This American Life from Chicago, IL
3:00 Selected Shorts from NYC, NY
5:00 Prairie Home Companion from St. Paul, MN
Til tomorrow.
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Friday, April 2, 2010
I’ve found too many instances in Calpurnia Tate that don’t sound like a twelve year old girl. So, I’m leaving that book for another time. Perhaps retirement. Instead, I’m going to locate a brand new book - today if possible. Maybe something by Dashiell Hammett or Agatha Christie or maybe even another by Robert Parker. Who knows. Til tomorrow.
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Thursday, April 1, 2010
The movie Sherlock Holmes with Robert Downy, Jr. and Jude Law is on Time Warner this week. They use a film technique that is very cool. The scene was shot and then in post-production it was replayed in slow motion. So, you get to see some of the scenes twice. Once in real time and once in slow-motion. Very engaging. Til tomorrow.
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Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Masterpiece Classic on PBS last Sunday was disturbing. The story was about the war between the British and the India nationalists in and around 1817. It was a brutal story about the madness and futility of war and weapons. India did not achieve freedom from British rule until 1947. I think I will not watch the sequel. Til tomorrow.
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Tuesday, March 30, 2010
The Apple Ipad will be released on Saturday. Five hundred years from now, the kind of technology that will be available will make the Ipad about as handy as a rusty cow bell. But I’d still like to have one. With a docking station, of course. But since the Ipad doesn’t have a front facing camera and since it’s still tied to AT&T, I guess I won’t buy one. Besides, it’s spring and time to plant something that will grow. Til tomorrow.
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Monday, March 29, 2010
Annie Leonard worked for twenty years on a grass-roots level to curb waste and to improve the quality of green in consumer products. She wrote a book, made a 20-minute film, and was honored by Time magazine for being an influential person. So, she’s an overnight success after only twenty years of effort. She was on BookTV yesterday and was totally splendid. The Story of Stuff. That’s the name of her book, her film, and her website. The bookstore in which she was giving her talk was packed to the rafters with citizen activists. She has expectations that the CEOs of Dow Chemical, Monsanto, and Exxon will change their products and practices for the betterment of the planet. Til tomorrow.
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Sunday, March 28, 2010
Chinua Achebe was interviewed by Deborah Solomon in today’s NY Times Magazine. He published Things Fall Apart in 1958. It’s about villagers in Nigeria and their demise at the hands of outsiders who take over their land and their way of life. Mr. Achebe got it just right. He was featured on BookTV not too long ago; and he was subtle, humble, brilliant, and very wise. He had those same qualities in today’s interview. The power of story to reveal the nature of life is the best attribute our species holds. I found my copy of Things waiting for me on the shelf between Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn and Franz Kafka. Oppression and imagination sitting right there together on the shelf. Til tomorrow.
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| Photo of Mr. Achebe by Michael Prince. |
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Saturday, March 27, 2010
It seems like everything I read lately leads me to Fyodor Dostoyevsky. So, a quick Google tells me why. Serious reflection on humanity, four years in a Siberian prison, and surviving it all. But not completely in tact. He paid a price for opposing the Russian imperialism. And then of course there was all that snow. Brrr. Til tomorrow.
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Friday, March 26, 2010
Judy Chicago’s work is at the museum here in town this month. I saw her work 30 years ago; and it was fabulous. It was her newly-created Dinner Party; and I still remember all the details. The huge, installation-piece is still around. And it’s still fabulous. Sometimes I go by the name Gloria Chicago, which of course was inspired by Ms. Judy. The other half of my lovely psedonym was inspired by the wealth of Mrs. Gloria Vanderbilt. Feminism and Wealth. Great twin sisters. Til tomorrow.
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Thursday, March 25, 2010
I started the new Newbery honor book titled, The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate. I’m waiting to be grabbed; and it hasn’t happened yet. I’m confident that the awards committee tries to find books with specific points of view when in fact, I’m always happiest with a book that has a character that I like. I’ll read a couple more pages; and then I’ll have to set this aside if Cal and I don’t connect soon. Til tomorrow.
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Wednesday, March 24, 2010
I was in NYC one time on my way to Strand Bookstore; and I came upon a stretch of city street that had been completely blocked of cars. People were walking and cycling. No cars. It was quiet and peaceful. The pace was leisurely and calm. The air was clean; and it was a lovely 10 blocks. People actually commented on how nice it was. No cars. Wouldn’t that be loverly. Til tomorrow.
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Tuesday, March 23, 2010
I finished The Hunger Games last night; and whoa. What a commentary on the power of the few to rule the rest of humanity – all by fear. Suzanne Collins seems to have captured all oppressive regimes from the French Inquisition to Tiananmen Square and put them in this book. Everything from torture to flowers is included. Ms. Collins has created a world where resistance is futile; and yet even the most oppressed do resist but only in small rather pitiful ways. And she created this world of power and oppression through the eyes of a young girl named Katniss. I wonder who else is reading this book? Til tomorrow.
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Monday, March 22, 2010
BookTV had no sound all weekend as broadcast by Time Warner. I called TW; and they said it was C-SPAN’s problem. I called C-SPAN, no answer, so I emailed them. Didn’t hear back. All weekend, no sound on BookTV. So, I watched online. But still. Til tomorrow.
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Sunday, March 21, 2010
The NY Times Magazine showed the photographs of nine bedrooms left behind by nine soldiers who died in combat in Iraq and Afghanistan. Twin beds of barely-graduated high schoolers, a Bible, a football helmet, a teddy bear, college paraphernalia, handmade quilts, mismatched furniture, and shoes tucked under a bed. It took courage for these photos to be allowed, to be taken, and to be published. Nine photos of bedrooms from a pool of over 5,000. Nine pictures. Nine thousand words. Til tomorrow.
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Saturday, March 20, 2010
According to today’s paper, all the usual mayhem and madness happened yesterday. People got shot; people shot each other; people went to jail; people stole money; people got caught; and on and on. So just think, if all those folks had only thought thrice, they could have spent a nice day, Saturday, listening to NPR out of San Antonio at tpr.org. Til tomorrow.
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Friday, March 19, 2010
I wrote a little poem last night.
Fruit: Shall We Eat?
Why eat bananas
When there’s banana cream pie
Why eat plums
When there’s English plum pudding
Why eat dates
When there’s date-nut bread
Why eat blueberries
When there’s blueberry cobbler
Why eat cherries
When there’s cherries jubilee
Why eat strawberries
When there’s strawberry glacé
Why eat apricots
When there’s apricot jam
Why eat lemons
When there’s lemon cheesecake
Why eat oranges
When there’s crepe suzette
Oh yeah…
Nutrition.
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Thursday, March 18, 2010
Geoffrey Canada started the Harlem Children’s Zone and the Promise Academy, which is a charter school in Harlem. His website lists four charter schools and an administrative office. His goal is 100% of his students will complete college. Students are admitted at age three by lottery. His office is at 125th Street and Madison Avenue in Harlem. His work there began in 1990. He says, “There is no act that is too small to make a difference.” He says he treats the students in his school like children from upper middle-class families are treated in their schools. He seems to never stop working. He's definitely not a seminar-room warrior. He's a social and intellectual activist. Quite impressive. His date of birth is January 13, 1952. Til tomorrow.
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Wednesday, March 17, 2010.
I met Dolores Huerta 15 years ago. She was speaking to a very large group of people who supported unions and farm workers. She exhibited courage, focus, intelligence, and an unstoppable vision for decency. To be an activist like Ms. Huerta is way out of my league; but maybe it’s enough to value her and to write these few humble lines of admiration and support. She has a birthday coming up on April 10. She will be 80 years old. Til tomorrow.
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Tuesday, March 16, 2010.
It’s sad to say that I’ve never read The Good Earth by Pearl Buck. She won the Nobel Prize in 1938 for literature. She said, according to today’s paper, that you couldn’t wait for the right mood to get to work, you just had to get to work. Oh my gosh. I’d better get busy. Til tomorrow.
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Monday, March 15, 2010.
Yesterday on BookTV there was live coverage of the 2010 Tucson Festival of the Book. And the best discussion of writing and history I’ve ever heard was held by a panelist of three history writers: Hampton Sides, Jeff Guinn, and James Donovan. They each referred to the writing style of David McCullough and Shelby Foote. So, when I heard those references, I knew that these three were the historians who could get it right. The panel was moderated by Paul Andrew Hutton who is professor of history at University of New Mexico. They talked for an hour; and it seemed like a minute. Til tomorrow.
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Sunday, March 14, 2010 Today, Deborah Solomon of the NY Times interviewed Mickey Kaus who is a writer for Slate, which is owned by the Washington Post. Mr. Klaus (oops Kaus not Klaus) is running against Senator Barbara Boxer from California for the US Senate. It’s so nice to have so many people who believe they can fix all the messes we're in and will make the effort to do so. I believe our nation would be stronger if every member of Congress read and passed a rigorous quiz on the writings of Bertrand Russell and Adam Smith. In the meantime, I’m going to be on the lookout for things that are not a mess and start a list. I like lists. Til tomorrow.
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Saturday, March 13, 2010 My admiration for Suzanne Collins who wrote The Hunger Games grows with each passing page. I read a few pages every evening from her book and am so impressed with the way she has taken complex societal issues and woven them into a story about class, money, power, and the frailties of human behavior. Since it’s a book for young adults, I know the ending is not going to be too tragic; but still the book and its contents reflect a pretty tragic society both the one present and the one parallel. But that’s not all I’m reading. I have an old, old book (from the 70s) that shows how to build wooden projects for the patio and garden. I have it in my head to build a potting table out of 2 x 12 pieces of lumber. In reality, I KNOW I don’t have the skills to do it; but in the book, it looks SO easy. I really need a potting table. Or so I think at this moment. Til tomorrow.
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Friday, March 12, 2010 An HBO movie about Jackson Pollock and Lee Krasner stars Ed Harris and Marcia Gay Harden; and they do a wonderful job of portraying this pair of artists. I saw Mr. Pollock’s work at MOMA earlier this year and it was surrounded by people, which was art in itself. He died young at age 44 in a car crash. Comparing Mr. Pollock’s life, lifestyle, and accomplishments to the life, lifestyle, and accomplishments of Dr. Avram Noam Chomsky shows a remarkable set of differences. It's almost too much to think about. Til tomorrow.
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Thursday, March 11, 2010 The PC operating system makes the mind dull. The Mac operating system makes the mind buoyant. So, today I’m working on a PC; and my mind is imploding on itself. I may need an extra shot of caffeine or many shots of caffeine to get through the day. But then again, there’s always…procrastination. Til tomorrow.
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Wednesday, March 10, 2010
A list of possible titles for poems.
Three Birds on a Limb.
Yellow Bills and Tiny Chirps.
The Tree Stood Alone.
One Cloud and a Drop of Rain.
Gray to Blue.
Seize Tomorrow.
Banning Pickups and Other Hazards.
Red Plums in the Frigidaire.
Concrete Benches and Wooden Steps.
Green to Gray.
The Beauty of Making a List.
Til tomorrow.
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Tuesday, March 9, 2010 I got two emails from IRS.gov this morning. The email said I had a refund and to send in personal data and numbers to them. HA. This is a phishing scam. Who ARE these people. Why aren’t they caught and prosecuted? I bet a lot of folks will comply and will get in lots of trouble with identity theft and with losing their money. Beware the thieves of March. Til tomorrow.
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Monday, March 8, 2010 Bummer. Masterpiece Theatre wasn’t on the local PBS station last night. The Oscars were very dull. The bulb in my favorite reading lamp burned out. The dust on the window blinds has calcified. I’m out of Cheerios. My internet connection is intermittent. And I’m late for a root canal. Not really. It just sounded funny to say. Til tomorrow.
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Sunday, March 7, 2010 I had such a great day yesterday. I got to be with a group of educators from Delta Kappa Gamma at their annual spring lunch. It was so nice to be among such an elite group of women. The level of good will and graciousness in the room will forever be part of my memory. The books I sent to the President are pictured below. And for now, it’s time to remember and smile. Til tomorrow.
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Saturday, March 6, 2010
I'm going to reread Alice in Wonderland before I go see the movie. But actually, I'm going to wait til the DVD comes out. Movie theatres are too loud, chilly, noisy, not very clean, and uninviting overall. So, that's the plan. Read the book, wait for the DVD. Looks like there's plenty of time. Til tomorrow.
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Friday, March 5, 2010
I finally started The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins last night. It's very upsetting. The people live in a country called Panem, which is a new name for the collapsed USA. People are ranked, sorted, used, eliminated, and left without any means to support themselves. The parallels between this fantasy world and the real world are too close for comfort. Because it's a novel for young adults, I'm pretty sure it will have a palatable ending; but Ms. Collins has created a literary world and a series of events that might light the way to a better world right here right now. Books can do that. Or at least the good ones can. Til tomorrow.
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Thursday, March 4, 2010
Someplace pretty to live.
A bit of daily conversation with interesting people.
Creating a little something each day.
Living to be 80 or so in pretty good health.
or
Saving the seas.
Protecting the whales.
Ending the wars.
Restoring the forests.
Musings. Til tomorrow.
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Wednesday, March 3, 2010
I keep bumping into Bertrand Russell and Harry Connick, Jr. Pipes and pianos. Pianos and pipes. Til tomorrow.
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Tuesday, March 2, 2010
High times at high tide on a Sunday morning. Til tomorrow.
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Monday, March 1, 2010
Jason Goodwin in the NY Times yesterday wrote a review of a new book; and in that review he gave kudos to three writers of travel books: Jonathan Raban, Pico Iyer, and Paul Theroux. Seems like a really great list. And reading the Book Review at the beach was even better. Til tomorrow.
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Sunday, February 28, 2010
Moon River by Johnny Mercer and Henry Mancini.
The Moon Behind the Cottonwoods by Charles Cadman Wakefield and Nelle Richmond Eberhart.
"Lasso the Moon" with Jimmy Stewart and Donna Reed.
The moon on the Missisippi ala Mark Twain.
Ladder to the Moon by Georgia O'Keefe.
Evening Landscape with Rising Moon by Vincent Van Gogh.
Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown.
Enough. Til tomorrow.
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| Photo by moi. |
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Saturday, February 27, 2010
I'm cooking and listening to the radio today.
Michael Feldman at 10
Lynne Rossetto Kasper at noon
Ira Glass at 2
Garrison Keillor at 5
Baked chicken dinner at 6
Then I'll have to rest my ears.
Except for the chicken dinner, it's all online at Texas Public Radio out of San Antonio at tpr.org.
Til tomorrow.
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Friday, February 26, 2010
I've started a new book titled, Madam Will You Talk by Mary Stewart. Two women are on holiday in the south of France. They meet a young boy, his stepmom, and the father who is a potential murderer. What would a holiday be without a lovely murderous adventure or two. This book is considered well written by those in the know. And so far, I'm in France with them keeping an eye out for anything that looks suspicious. Til tomorrow.
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Thursday, February 25, 2010
I downloaded the Cats CD to my computer and have been playing it nonstop for awhile. When I woke up this morning, I heard Jellicle Cats in my head. My dogs were not pleased. Til tomorrow.
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Wednesday, February 24, 2010
The new Newbery is going slow. When You Reach Me starts out slowly, jumps from one time to a different time, and then includes words like tucked-in that really are only meaningful to adults. It's not nearly the easy read as The Graveyard Book was but is much better than The Higher Power of Lucky which contained too many adult problems. Give me The Invention of Hugo Cabret or anything illustrated by Brian Selznick; and I'm happy. But all four of those books are very highly rated on Amazon and about equally so. It's difficult to know what makes a great book great. Til tomorrow.
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Tuesday, February 23, 2010
On January 29, 2009, I wrote that I was reading A Mystery for Thoreau. I also wrote that in the book, it was described how Thoreau had accidentally burned down 300 acres of pine trees around Walden Pond where Ralph Waldo Emerson was letting him live in a little cabin rent free. And then this past week, I heard a comment on BookTV that Walden had accidentally burned down trees at Walden Pond. So, that's two places. One juvenile fiction and one BookTV nonfiction. Surely, he didn't burn down a forest. But then again, sounds like he did. Plus, I heard that we have cut down 98% of old growth forests in the US. This is not a good way to begin the day. But there you have it. Bookish thoughts and dwindling forests. Til tomorrow.
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Monday, February 22, 2010
A Single Man
A Serious Man
He Was a Quiet Man
What's up with all these Man films all of a sudden? That's pretty wild. Til tomorrow.
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Sunday, February 21, 2010
I finished Remember Me; and it was great. Once I committed to remembering who each character was, it made for a very nice read. Let's see who I remember from last night's big finish. Menley, Adam, Hannah, Scott, Vivian, her parents, Nat, Deb, the psychiatrist, Menley's mom, John, Amy, Elaine, Phoebe, her husband, Tina, Fred, Marge, the DA, the sea captain, his wife, her murderer. Yep. That about does it. That's a lot of folks to meet in a book. The fact that they don't really exist has not yet occurred to me. What has occurred to me is that my little dog is lying here at my feet blissfully snoring away. Til tomorrow.
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Saturday, February 20, 2010
My task for the day is to find the quote that supports the notion that doing one or two small things is every bit as good as doing many large things. So, somewhere in my notes, books, papers, hard drives, flash drives, or on my desk lies the little note I took about doing little things. My best guess is that I'll never find it. Til tomorrow.
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Friday, February 19, 2010
Trope is a figure of speech. Types of trope are allegory, irony, and metaphor.
Chronotope is the concept of time and space. Mikhail Bakhtin (1895-1975) used the term to study how language creates time and space. I may pursue this. Til tomorrow.
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Thursday, January 18, 2010
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Wallace Stegner
1909-1993
Iowa, Utah, New Mexico
Big Rock Candy Mountain (1943)
Crossing to Safety (1987)
Angle of Repose (won the Pulitzer in 1971).
He was director of the writing program at Stanford.
To write masterpieces like he did seems an impossible task. I suppose it's called talent. It's also called perseverance.
| William Styron
1925-2006
Virginia, Massachusetts
Lie Down in Darkness (1951)
The Confessions of Nat Turner (1967)
Sophie's Choice (1979)
Darkness Visible (1990) about "despair beyond despair."
Bennett Cerf of Random House published his work. Christopher Cerf interviewed him on BookTV. I met Mr. C. Cerf at a conference and told him how much I admired his father. I told him what a wonderful interview it was and how much I appreciated his own contributions to the world of books. It was quite a moment.
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Wednesday, February 17, 2010
I watched BookTV live last night. Russell Roberts of George Mason University and Samuel Fleischacker of University of Illinois at Chicago were the featured experts. They were live. In my living room with Peter Slen, moderator. BookTV is such a gift. It is funded from 5 cents from each cable bill and was established by Bob Rosenkranz and Bob Tisch way back when a nickel was actually worth something. Anyhoo, BookTV is one of the most valuable media I have.
So, Professor Roberts and Professor Fleischacker brilliantly explained Adam Smith's The Wealth of Nations and The Theory of Moral Sentiments. Both of these are printed in their entirety on econlib.org as part of the public domain. I think I learned these things:
1. Smith believed in education for all as both a moral imperative and good economics.
2. Paying for war year by year will balance the budget and reduce the number of wars.
3. Government needs to do for citizens what the citizens can't do for themselves.
4. Government needs to address big issues like education, war, and helping the poor.
5. Self interests in business CAN lead to good moral outcomes and solid business practices.
6. Poor business practices will lead to business failures and government must not bail them out.
7. People must have CFL - clothing, food, lodging provided by the government if needed.
8. There is a moral imperative for businesses to provide good products.
9. Crony capitalism is immoral. Real-market capitalism is the only acceptable system.
10. Big government can be too big, out of touch, and thus, harmful.
11. Trust the poor to know their own needs.
12. The wealth of a nation and a person is not judged by the purse but rather by happiness.
13. Happiness comes from conversations with friends.
14. Adam Smith and David Hume were friends.
BookTV is worth every nickle on the planet. Til tomorrow.
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Tuesday, February 16, 2010
George Sanders (1906-1972) of movie fame in the 40s and 50s lived the last several years of his life in bewilderment and with bouts of anger all with waning health. He played Uncle Neddie in The Ghost and Mrs. Muir and was highly successful in the movie business until the final few years of life. Til tomorrow.
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Monday, February 15, 2010
Four events collided all within a two-day time frame.
1. I watched Shipping News based on the book by Annie Proux which I had read some time back.
2. I spent the day at the beach.
3. I watched The Ghost and Mrs. Muir.
4. I'm in the middle of Remember Me.
All four things were unplanned and unsought-after; but there they are. Totally related and each revealing the smallness of humanity and the largess of the seas. In essence, the power and rhythm of the ocean came crashing down right into my head. And I didn't even get wet. Ha. Til tomorrow.
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| Photo by moi. |
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Sunday, February 14, 2010
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Saturday, February 13, 2010
I watched The Ghost and Mrs. Muir last night with Gene Tierney, Rex Harrison, George Sanders, Edna Best, Natalie Wood, and Vanessa Brown. The film is about a sea captain turned ghost, a beautiful house on the edge of an English cliff, and a widow who needs a place to live. The scenery, set design, and costuming are too good to be true. Oleg Cassini designed the dresses worn by Ms. Tierney who, as it turns out, was married to Mr. Cassini and would only wear dresses designed by him in her films. So now, the next time I watch the film, I'll be distracted by noticing what she's wearing when up until now I've been loving the set designs. Sometimes, knowing too much is a distraction and a headache. Til tomorrow.
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Friday, February 12, 2010
I can't get Andrew Lloyd Webber's Cats out of my head. I've been listening to that album nonstop for several days now; and it's addictive. Specifically, the tune Jellicle Cats, which has a stanza about all kinds of cats, is the one in my head now:
Practical cats, dramatical cats
Pragmatical cats, fanatical cats
Oratorical cats, Delphicoracle cats
Skeptical cats, Dispeptical cats
Romantical cats, Pedantical cats
Critical cats, parasitical cats
Allegorical cats, metaphorical cats
Statistical cats and mystical cats
Political cats, hypocritical cats
Clerical cats, hysterical cats
Cynical cats, rabbinical cats
How can one man be clever enough to finesse all that greatness onto the stage decade after decade. Sir Andrew is one cool cat. Phantom, Cats, Evita, and the list goes on. Til tomorrow.
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Thursday, February 11, 2010
Remember Me is going well. A few pages a day is all I actually get a chance to read at the moment. But I like the characters; and the sense of suspense in this particular book is very engaging. I'm happy to only have a few moments a day lately to read this book. That way, the book won't come to a close before I'm ready for the ending and before I'm ready to find my next book. Finding the next book has, however, never been a problem. They seem to line themselves up somehow in some cosmic way to make sure they wind up on my desk. The next book? I'll just wait and see what appears. Til tomorrow.
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Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Time and tide wait for no man. I wonder who said that. Very clever. Til tomorrow.
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Tuesday, February 9, 2010
The New Yorker, this week, had a really well-written piece by Lillian Ross about what it was like to be in the life of J.D. Salinger. I didn't read Catcher in the Rye til college; but it's been about my favorite book of all time since then. Mr. Salinger lived in seclusion in New Hampshire and had a remarkable way with words and stories. Even though he avoided people and found them mostly annoying, he still had children, family, and friends. What a puzzle he was. Successful, reclusive, private, and probably pretty normal in at least some ways. He had children. He seemed not to like them. I wonder what they thought of him. Peggy Salinger and Matthew Salinger. Famous father, unhappy children. Not an unfamiliar tale. Til tomorrow.
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| Erik Ross, Lillian Ross, Matthew Salinger, Peggy Salinger, J.D. Salinger-Central Park, NYC |
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Monday, February 8, 2010
I set aside Remember Me by Mary Higgins Clark for a bit last night to watch the last installment of Emma by Jane Austen on PBS. I'm glad I watched it although I had to stop and think several times about the characters. I had to really focus on who married whom and who was courting whom. But in the end, Ms. Austen painted a great picture of life in the 1800s if you were rich. If you weren't rich, then your life was less than great. The second-best character in the broadcast was George Knightley til the end when he gushed a bit too much when Emma said, "Yes." Her immaturity wasn't really all that attractive; and yet he was attracted to her. Hmm. What a conundrum. So, if the second-best character was Mr. Knightley, who was the best? The best character was Miss Bates. The actress who played Miss Bates was Tamsin Greig; and she was 100% brilliant. She chattered away with gusto in every scene she was in. And in the final episode when Emma made a cruel joke about her always talking too much, it seemed like you were watching a real scene rather than actors. Miss Bates was devastated by the joke at her expense and showed her pain by actually turning pale. And when you can turn pale on cue in a film, whoa, you're a great actor. So, back to Remember Me. Til tomorrow.
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Sunday, February 7, 2010
My new book turned out to be not Hunger Games but rather Remember Me by Mary Higgins Clark. Can't say why really. The Clark book just sort of leaped into my hands. So, I'm following its lead. And so far, fabulous. There are times when the only thing that will do is a good mystery thriller. So, I'm all set. Hunger will have to wait. Til tomorrow.
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Saturday, February 6, 2010
I'm starting a new book today by Suzanne Collins titled, The Hunger Games. But then of course, it's Saturday, so there's Michael Feldman, Ira Glass, and Garrison Keillor at tpr.org. Texas Public Radio out of San Antonio is simply the best. It's going to be a busy winter day. Til tomorrow.
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Friday, February 5, 2010
Spring is never gonna get here. Chilly, foggy, snowy, drizzly, cloudy. Brrr. Even my desk is cold. Til tomorrow.
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Thursday, February 4, 2010
Today is the big day for Garrison Keillor at Prairie Home Companion. He's broadcasting his show live at 500 theatres around the the nation tonight at 7 PM. I have a previous commitment and can't go; and I can't believe I'll not be there to witness digital history being made. Maybe there will be equipment failure and they'll have to reschedule; in which case, I'll be sure and be free for the redux. It's gonna be so great. Til tomorrow.
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Wednesday, February 3, 2010
Wow! Frontline on PBS had a documentary titled, Digital Nation last night. I'm going to buy the DVD when it comes out in March. In the meantime, I'm going to rewatch snippets of it online. If the rest of the nation goes completely digital with concomitant multitasking behaviors and then consequently has trouble paying attention long enough to read a book or write an essay, then I think we're missing out on being human. Living in a virtual world is not nearly as nice as living in the real world. So, I'm staying in the realm of the physical until such time as it no longer exists. Til tomorrow.
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Tuesday, February 2, 2010
Finished my Spenser book last night. I kept seeing these images in my head of Marcia Gay Harden and Joe Mantegna. Click, click, click on the internet; and wow. Robert B. Parker had lots of his books made into movies; and Ms. Harden and Mr. Mantegna were in several. I must have seen one or two of them. Very cool to have a movie influence the images from a book - even one I'd already read. Good times. Til tomorrow.
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Monday, February 1, 2010
Luck is the residue of design. Nice phrase. Luck is the residue of design. Yesterday, I'm reading along in my book Potshot by Robert Parker; and I came across that phrase on page 113 spoken by Spenser the fabulous private investigator and lead character in the book. Then I eat lunch. Then I finish the Arts and Leisure section of the NY Times; and there on page 6 is an interview with Ethan Hawke, who is directing a Sam Shepard play on Broadway, and he says THE EXACT SAME PHRASE. Luck is the residue of design. How is that possible? I'm reading a book written ten years ago; and on the very day that I get to page 113 in that book and see that phrase I also see it in an interview in the Times. What are the odds of that happening. What are the odds. If I were a mathematician instead of just a reader, I could calculate those odds. Sure wish I was a mathematician. Not really. A mathematician would probably have never noticed the phrase in the first place. Just kidding. Ha. Luck is the residue of design. Or as Louis Pasteur said, Chance favors the prepared mind. Til tomorrow.
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| Cast of Sam Shepard's play. Photo by Chad Batka. |
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Sunday, January 31, 2010
Although one time, Garrison Keillor did in fact say that the death of old man is not a tragedy, the unexpected loss of Howard Zinn is indeed just that - a tragedy. Last night, BookTV rebroadcast a brilliant lecture of his recorded in January of 2007 at Brandeise University to a packed hall of young intellectuals who supported all that Howard Zinn advocated and stood for. Peace and justice. Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. All of that for all of us and not just for the privileged and wealthy. I don't see anyone on the horizon who can take his place as an advocate, as an historian, and as a leading citizen of the people, by the people, and for the people. His clarity of thought, his quickness of wit, his winning personality, and his total commitment to social justice is the best I've ever witnessed. Who will take his place? Til tomorrow.
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Saturday, January 30, 2010
The end of the month is here; there's a full moon out each evening; and Valentine's Day is just around the corner. It may be time, to read some work by Colette. She was a French novelist whose book Gigi became a Broadway play. There's a hotel room named after her at The Sylvia Beach Hotel in Newport, Oregon. Plus, I heard her referenced on NPR the other day. When several things happen in quick succession like that and point to something particular, I try to pay attention. Seems like Colette is the next novelist (she wrote 50 novels) who needs a new reader. Til tomorrow.
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Friday, January 29, 2010
Howard Zinn
born August 24, 1922
died January 27, 2010
age 87
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/29/us/29zinn.html
I wasn't ready for him to go.
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Thursday, January 28, 2010
I read a live online blog yesterday as Steve Jobs unveiled the new ipad in San Francisco. At first I wanted one. Badly. Then two things occurred to me. No USB port and no front-facing camera for Skyping. Why? Why? Why? Those two things could have easily been included. So, basically, this is a touch Kindle with color or a big ipod. And of course, I could surf the web on the ipad but only if I purchase a $30 a month AT&T (groan) account or can find a hot spot for WiFi. I think the hype for this tablet didn't quite meet my needs; but I wish them well. Apple, Amazon, Google. They're a big part of my life. I wonder if they know. Til tomorrow.
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| Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images |
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Wednesday, January 27, 2010
So, according to the paper, high blood pressure weakens the arteries, which leads to stroke. Also according to the paper, the nation now has a trillion dollar debt. And finally according to the paper, it's going to remain chilly this weekend. Til tomorrow.
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Tuesday, January 26, 2010
I've been thinking about Dava Sobel lately. She wrote Galileo's Daughter. Galileo's daughter had many correspondences with her father over many years. They wrote to each other in Italian. Ms. Sobel said that 20 years earlier when she herself was taking Italian in college, she had no idea that she'd ever use it again. But there she was. In Italy. Holding the letters that Galileo and his daughter, Virginia, wrote to each other in the 1600s. All in Italian. Sometimes the twists and turns of life are revealed and sometimes they're not. Cosi fan tutti. That is the way of the world. Til tomorrow.
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Monday, January 25, 2010
I watched Emma by Jane Austin on PBS last night. The setting was beautiful and the acting appeared effortless. The two scene stealers were of course Michael Gambon and the actor who played Mr. Knightley. The one thing that kept me from being totally absorbed by the play was the fact that I'm currently immersed in books and conversations about power and culture and the influence of those on our lives, language, and happiness levels. As I watched Emma, I was drawn to images of the servants. Their faces were never in focus. Their needs were never addressed. They held open doors. They brought in letters on silver trays. They wore ridiculously uncomfortable clothing. And they appeared robotic. Who wouldn't. You're there in jolly old England without a 401k, with no education, with no property of your own, and dressed in clumsy clothing. So, even though the plight of the servants distracted me, I still enjoyed the performance and will tune in next Sunday for part 2. And of course, all those images portrayed by the servants were on purpose. PBS and the BBC don't make mistakes. Those images were part of the landscape of the film designed to set the tone between the classes. Laura Linney was the mistress of ceremony and did a splendid job. Plus, she was featured in the Times yesterday. She is the actor's actor. Totally talented. Totally versatile. Squeaky clean. And an actor for all classes. Til tomorrow.
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Sunday, January 24, 2010
There is something about sunshine. Love it. When it streams in through a window and lights a room, it's bringing ten billion years of evolution with it. It's not just that sunshine brings warmth and good feelings, it's that through the process of evolution, sunshine makes it all possible. The Seven Daughters of Eve by Bryan Sykes is a book that goes a long way toward understanding the process of evolution. I like that book enough to reread it. Dava Sobel, Oliver Sacks, Bill Bryson, Sebastion Junger, Jared Diamond. I've learned a lot from them. Scientists, historians, anthropologists, thinkers, writers. Wonder what they're up to today. Probably writing their next best seller. Or maybe just reading the Times. Til tomorrow.
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| Bryan, Dava, Oliver, Bill, Sebastion, Jared |
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Saturday, January 23, 2010
As of today, I have two new books and a CD. The new Newbery, When You Reach Me, reached me yesterday via Amazon. Also via Amazon and by way of Mumbai, I have a new cookbook by Judith Jones who was Julie Child's editor; and I have a new Rosemary Clooney CD. So, I'm all set. Til tomorrow.
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Friday, January 22, 2010
I'm thinking about buying a Kindle. But I read an online report in The New Yorker and actually laughed out loud as the author told about his efforts to like the thing. That's so cool when something you read makes you laugh out loud. But back to purchasing a Kindle. I'm still undecided about whether I'll like the technology. Plus, it's a lot of money and it's not backlit, which means when you're reading at night, you have to have a light of some sort. But I sure enjoyed the piece (http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2009/08/03/090803fa_fact_baker) by Nicholson Baker. Til tomorrow.
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Thursday, January 21, 2010
It's interesting to me how I choose something to read. In this week's New Yorker, I started an article by Malcolm Gladwell on entrepreneurs in the world of big money. As I was reading I was thinking, "This is something I should know about so I'll make myself read it." I tried. Really. I love Malcolm. I love Malcolm's books. Didn't work. I gave it up after I realized I didn't care about the money-grubbers he was writing about. Then I tried a piece by Woody Allen who wrote about cows who had squashed, attacked, or bumped into people and killed them. Because he writes comedically and because I have great respect for cattle who don't really do anything other than graze, huddle, and moo, I stopped. I didn't want to take the chance that Woody would make fun of a fairly noble beast. We readers are peculiar folks. Til tomorrow.
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Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Robert Parker died. I love his Spenser mystery books. And for some reason, my copy of Potshot is on the shelf next to Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged. I have GOT to come up with a better system for organizing my books. Til tomorrow.
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Tuesday, January 19, 2010
An NPR report Saturday is on my mind. A scientist said the habitat for the polar bear will be gone by 2030. No more ice cap. No more polar bear. Pretty tragic. Unbelievably tragic. Tragic. So, to soften that news, I'm ordering the new Newbery book that was announced yesterday by ALA. When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead. It's gonna be glorious when it arrives on my desk. Can't wait. And then of course, the incomparable Jerry Pinkney won the Caldecott award for The Lion and the Mouse, which I am happy to say I already own. Glorious. January 19 moves from tragic to glorious in ninety-nine words. It's a lot to ponder. Til tomorrow.
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Monday, January 18, 2010
Thirty-nine when he died. Til tomorrow.
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Sunday, January 17, 2010
Notably sweet and intellectually gifted. Those are the words that Tracy Kidder used to tell about the mother of Dr. Paul Farmer. Mr. Kidder wrote a book about Dr. Farmer who works for the medical needs of the poor around the world. Dr. Farmer said that six million impoverished people around the world die each year from AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria simply because of inadequate or no medical care. Dr. Farmer has written about medical and humanitarian needs of people around the world and specifically about people in Haiti; so BookTV is featuring that 2003 interview this week in light of the Haitian earthquake. Mr. Kidder said that Dr. Farmer uses the 7/3 rule in his writing and in his work. Don't use seven words when three will do. Til tomorrow.
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Saturday, January 16, 2010
I got my office cleaned up last night. I can't believe it. It looks great. I'm so happy to have an office space that actually functions. Moving on. I'm reading a new book, 101 Things I Learned in Architecture School. It's an odd little book. I'm learning about architectural concepts, which I've always liked, but I'm also learning about the connections between how we build our buildings and how we build our lives. But then again, I'm probably reading way too much into this slim little book. I have a tendency to find way too much meaning in things that aren't really all that meaningful. Why is that? Anyhoo, David Brooks had a wonderful piece about Israel in today's paper. He's such a great writer and great thinker. Too bad he's not actually in charge of something big - like the UN or China or AT&T. Til tomorrow.
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Friday, January 15, 2010
My office is a wreck. Books, papers, folders, boxes, mail, discs - everywhere I look. So, today's the day I get it all cleaned up, organized, and put away. Right. Ha. Til tomorrow.
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Thursday, January 14, 2010
I have rediscovered The Mysteries of Harris Burdick by Chris Van Allsburg. I've had the entire portfolio of 15 drawings in my office for some time now; but I didn't examine it carefully until yesterday. It's a gem. I love everything about the exquisite and elegant drawings. And all the time, these wonderful pieces were sitting right there in my office waiting for me to find them. So, today starts my new quest to find out how Chris Van Allsburg came to be. Lovely. Til tomorrow.
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| Photo credit to Christopher Garrison |
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Wednesday, January 13, 2010
I've made the huge mistake of letting way too much time pass between now and a couple of months ago when I started The Lacuna. I'm a third into it; and I've lost track of the characters and plot. So, now I have to decide whether to start over or move on. The reviews of this book have been to describe the book as powerful, rich, large, and moving. Hmm. I'm sure there is something wrong with me since I am not as fully engaged in this book as I should be. And that's so odd since my respect for Barbara Kingsolver is so absolute. So, I'm afraid I will have to quietly set it aside for now until I can give it the attention it deserves. And as I think about it, one thing that may account for my reluctance to finish the thing is my growing dislike of Diego Rivera as portrayed in the book. This all makes me think I don't know enough history to properly appreciate this tome. But how much background information and history should a reader have to have to simply enjoy a good book? That's my question for now. Til tomorrow.
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Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Today, I'm not thinking directly about a book. I'm thinking of a movie. Robert Downey, Jr. and Jaime Foxx were wonderful in The Soloist, which is a movie based on a book by Steve Lopez who was a journalist with the LA Times. The actors were great at portraying the notion of lost souls and misspent talent. Who knew they could each act so convincingly? Their agents of course. Mr. Foxx plays a mentally ill young person, named Nathaniel, who left Julliard for life on the streets. Mr. Downey, Jr. plays a journalist who hears of him, writes up his story, and then tries to rehabilitate him (with only modest success in real life). The movie illustrates the need for better mental health care and a kinder and gentler world. The best line in the movie was when Nathaniel, who was living on the mean streets of LA with a shopping cart and a beat-up cello, said that his dream and hope for the future was that someday he'd have two new strings for his cello. Til tomorrow.
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Monday, January 11, 2010
Cranford and Return to Cranford are Masterpiece Classics on PBS; and I've been watching them for the past several Sunday evenings. Dame Judi Dench is wonderful. She's the epitome of excellence and is the star of the show. The PBS series is based on three books written by Elizabeth Gaskell (1810-1865). The stories take place in England in the 1840s at the time when the railroads are being built across England. Relationships between the classes, between history and progress, and between women and men are each woven into the stories. Thank goodness for PBS and the BBC. Til tomorrow.
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Sunday, January 10, 2010
Flipping through the channels this weekend, I ran into Stockard Channing and Mary Louise Parker. I can't believe I've seen both of them on Broadway. Bernadette Peters, Patti LuPone, Carol Channing, Judith Jamison, Debbie Reynolds, Tyne Daly, Vanessa Redgrave, Angela Lansbury, Diane Weist, Christine Ebersole, Melanie Griffith, Brooke Shields, Whoopi Goldberg, Gina Gershon, Lynn Redgrave, Emma Redgrave, Cady Huffman, Frances Sternhagen, - all of them. I can hardly believe I've seen all of them perform on stage. What a lucky gal am I. Til tomorrow.
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Saturday, January 9, 2010
Michael Feldman is in Madison, Wisconsin this morning at 10.
Ira Glass is featuring people who make difficult bets this afternoon at 2.
Garrison Keillor is in San Francisco this evening at 5.
Marsha Grace is tuned in to public radio at http://www.tpr.org all day today.
Til tomorrow.
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Friday, January 8, 2010
The Red Wheelbarrow
so much depends
upon
a red wheel
barrow
glazed with rain
water
beside the white
chickens.
William Carlos Williams, M.D.
September 17, 1883 - March 4, 1963
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Sunday, January 3 through Thursday, January 7, 2010
So, here's the deal. Network Solutions which hosts this website for $128.50 per year was unable to repair my site til today. They said it somehow got corrupted. Hmmmm. Three phone calls, four emails, and four days to wait. Additionally, they indicated the site takes too long to load and I should create an alternate page. So, while I consider this recommendation and try to figure out how to even do that, I'll tell you that I'm back to reading The Lacuna by Barbara Kingsolver; and it's fabulous. Til tomorrow. Maybe. If Network Solutions allows.
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Saturday, January 2, 2010
I miss Jeremy Brett (1936-1995). Robert Downey, Jr. and Jude Law were both wonderful in the new Sherlock Holmes movie. Their dialogue was clever, sincere, and well-delivered. But it wasn't as contemplative or as kind as Mr. Brett's Sherlock. In this most reincarnation of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's master sleuth, Guy Ritchie has way too many scenes of people chasing each other and not near enough scenes where plain old conversation reveals clues and creates intrigue. Plus, this movie has a lot of the feel of Dan Brown's The DaVinci Code. So, I'm hoping that if Mr. Ritchie, Mr. Downey, Jr., and Mr. Law produce a sequel that they provide more dialogue, more clue-filled conversation, and less running and chasing. The coolest movie magic involved rewinding the film to show what Sherlock saw and thought when he was looking at clues. I hope they have more of those. Plus, I was bothered by how easy it was to blow up a ship, destroy a bridge, or ruin a factory when during Victorian times it took so long to build those things. Plus, I don't think Mr. Doyle had his Sherlock experimenting with drugs on the dog. But I could be wrong about that. Til tomorrow.
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Friday, January 1, 2010
It's here. 2010. A nice round number full of hope. Robert Indiana has a new sculpture called Hope. His most famous sculpture is called Love. Robert Indiana. Quite a guy. Til tomorrow.
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Thursday, December 31, 2009
Welp, 2010 is almost here; and what better way to greet the new decade than to listen to Broadway's Best on Sirius satellite radio with Christine Pedi and the amaahzing Seth Rudetsky. So, that's what I'm doing today while I wait for the new year to ring its way in. Til tomorrow.
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| Photo credit to Mary Beth Tierce, January, 2009 |
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Wednesday, December 30, 2009
I bought a copy of E.L. Konigsburg's Silent to the Bone; and I'm loving it. I bought it at Strand Bookstore to have something to read on the plane back from NYC; and I'm finishing it here at home. It's a simple mystery involving a lot of smart people, a hurt child, and two boys that figure it all out. It's lovely and intriguing. Makes you wish you were a clever writer like Ms. Konigsburg who won a Newbery in 1968 and another in 1997. She's the goods. Til tomorrow.
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Tuesday, December 29, 2009
I'm enjoying comparing the 1961 version with the 2001 version of Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking. This morning I found a difference in the two versions' accounts of how to scramble eggs. In 1961, Julia admonished cooks not to include tomatoes as it would introduce too much liquid into the eggs. In 2001, the admonition is simply not to add more than one-half teaspoon water or milk per egg as a way to help blend the yolk and white. Even progress in scrambling eggs can be made. Til tomorrow.
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Monday, December 28, 2009
I'm just back from NYC. I went to plays and museums and had a grand time.
Race with James Spader and David Alan Grier
A Little Night Music with Angela Lansbury
In the Heights
Bye Bye Birdie with John Stamos and Bill Irwin
Carnegie Hall
Guggenheim with Kandinsky
MOMA with O'Keefe
Metropolitan with all the Greeks and Romans and Rodin's The Thinker
Central Park
Sarabeth's on 59th between 6th and 5th
Fairway at Broadway and 74th
Le Pan Quotidian on 53th between 5th and Madison
Burgers at Parker Meridian on 56th between 6th and 7th
Room service at the Hilton
Strand Bookstore at Broadway and 12th owned by Mr. Fred Bass with whom I spoke.
And of course the Christmas tree at the New York City Public Library at 5th and 42nd.
It was all fabulous.
Glad to be home. Til tomorrow.
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| NYPL Christmas Tree |
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| Central Park's Alice in Wonderland |
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Friday, December 18, 2009
My computer is in the shop til December 27. Til then.
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Thursday, December 17, 2009
Walden Books is closing in Laredo, Texas leaving Laredo with no bookstores. No bookstores at all. This was reported by the Associated Press today. The AP story made Laredo sound like a town without a future; but the director of the public library there has plans to open two more branch libraries. So, even in a town without even one bookstore, there's hope. And her name is Maria Soliz. Madam Librarian. Til tomorrow.
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| Laredo Public Library |
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Wednesday, December 16, 2009
I bought the 40th anniversary edition, published in 2001, of Julia Child's cookbook from Amazon; and it's nearly exactly like the original. Nice surprise. Til tomorrow.
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| Julia Child, 1967 The French Chef on PBS |
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Tuesday, December 15, 2009
Ken Auletta had a nice rebuttal in the Sunday Times Book Review written to the person who somewhat negatively reviewed his new book Googled: The End of the World as We Know It. Mr. Auletta's book is thorough, precise, unbiased, and clearly illuminates the mindset and inner workings of the Google folks. It's too bad that the negative reviewer saw things less clearly. To oppose an idea for the sake of opposition is always a losing proposition. Anyhoo, I liked the book and its thesis. Til tomorrow.
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Monday, December 14, 2009
I started The Lacuna again last night. I had set it aside and taken a break from this particular book to get caught up on other stuff. Probably a mistake. When I'm reading a complicated novel like The Lacuna, it's very difficult to stop, read something else, and then return to it. So, I'm going to give it another go; and see what happens. Til tomorrow.
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Sunday, December 13, 2009
I just love Sunday mornings so much. Coffee, my favorite chair, obedient dogs at my feet, the Sunday Times with a photo of Mexico's newest famous artist at MOMA, a reference to Kant's moral imperative, a glimpse of high society at the Met's Christmas party, or an in-depth analysis of the DJIA, which I never read. All on Sunday, every week, all in my favorite chair. Til tomorrow.
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Saturday, December 12, 2009
Last week's NY Times Book Review listed the 100 best books of 2009. They also had reviews of other books including Kate DiCamillo's new book about an elephant and a new biography of Ayn Rand. All good stuff. Thank heaven for the NY Times which is, according to Ken Auletta, sinking fast financially. Mr. Auletta says the Times is working on ways to beef up advertising sales both online and in print. He said that an ad online generates only 10% of an ad in their printed paper. Or maybe that's the other way round. Can't recall. As I was just now looking that up, I found an article about the fact that Kirkus Reviews has shut down. Kirkus reviewed books and was the source that librarians used to decide which books to buy for their libraries. That leaves Publishers Weekly and Library Journal as the primary places to look for book reviews. The web site, http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/12/books/12kirkus.html?_r=1&ref=media gives the low-down on Kirkus. Goodness. If you're a writer in today's market, better keep your day job. Til tomorrow.
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Friday, December 11, 2009
In no particular order, people I admire are Beatrix Potter, Noam Chomsky, the guy with the flower in Tiananmen Square, Jonathan Kozol, Tom Hayden, Eleanor Roosevelt, all the teachers I had when I was a kid, Chris Hedges, and the 14th Dalai Lama. Til tomorrow.
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Thursday, December 10, 2009
Let it snow. Let it snow. Let it snow. Lyrics to a song written by Sammy Cahn and the composer Jule Styne in 1945. Rosemary Clooney sings it the best. Til tomorrow.
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Wednesday, December 9, 2009
In 1980, Howard Zinn published A People's History of the United States. This coming Sunday on the History Channel, his work will be presented as a documentary extolling the virtues of the working class, dissidents, and anti-war citizens of the US. The documentary encourages viewers to question their government and to hold it accountable for making good and peaceful decisions. I saw a documentary about Howard Zinn last year. He was an anti-war spokesperson in the 60s against the Vietnam War; and he's still consistently speaking out against violence as a solution to world problems. He says the Declaration of Independence gave citizens the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Democracy and freedom of speech at work. Quite a sight. Til tomorrow.
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Tuesday, December 8, 2009
Malcolm Gladwell gave a great interview with Brian Lamb on BookTV recently. He was very gladwellian. http://www.c-spanvideo.org/program/id/216084 Til tomorrow.
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Monday, December 7, 2009
I was so lucky to catch Joy Hakim on BookTV yesterday. She skewered textbook companies who produce poor history textbooks and poor science textbooks. She basically said that all the textbooks are poorly written and pathetic and just putting them online, on a computer, or on a Kindle will not make a poor textbook better. So, there. I own her set of history books; and they're great. She also condemned NCLB and teaching to the test. For three hours - on live TV, she got it just right. BookTV.org is terrific. Til tomorrow.
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Sunday, December 6, 2009
Jeff Bezos was interviewed by Deborah Solomon in the NY Times Magazine this morning. And thankfully, they have returned to color photos of the interviewees after a stint where they were doing black and white. Mr. Bezos is the CEO of Amazon. He said that for every 100 books that are available on Kindle, they sell 52 in book form and 48 on Kindle. His goal is all books all over the world on Kindle. He doesn't sound like a reader to me. I need the book, the page, the smell of paper, and a place to write in the margins from time to time. But if Kindle will keep the book industry alive, then so be it. But what a loss. Til tomorrow.
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| Photo by John Keatley for the NY Times |
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Saturday, December 5, 2009
I have several issues of The New Yorker to read today. I've let them pile up a bit; and that's not good. But, it's chilly out today. So, it's going to be a nice day to get caught up, piddle around, and maybe bake some bread. Christmas is just around the corner; and my shopping i s d o n e ! Til tomorrow.
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Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, December 2, 3, and 4, 2009
I've been away from the computer; but now I'm back. I'm one-fourth into my new book, The Lacuna; and it's a whirlwind of writing style, imagery, language, culture, oppression, and transgression. I'm reminded immediately of Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe, 100 Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, and The House of the Scorpion by Nancy Farmer. At first, I started reading Lacuna closely trying to make small images in my head and trying to read all the Spanish phrases. But then I realized because the story moved around from time to place, it would be best to read it like an easy novel sort of like jumping into the pool all at once versus taking the steps and holding onto the handrail. The novel is about a boy with a Mexican mother and an American father. The boy is raised by his mom, grows up poor, and lives between cultures. He is an outsider everywhere he goes. He's quiet, smart, and makes connections between what he sees and what he reads. He's a kid who loves poetry, books, and pan dulce. He winds up in the house of Frida and Diego (yes, the painters) working in the kitchen; and then issues of class, money, power, and privilege are woven into the plot. Achebe, Marquez, and Farmer weave those things too into their books. And so does Toni Morrison. You sort of feel like you're on a roller coaster or going down a river as you read them. So, I'm back. Til tomorrow.
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Tuesday, December 1, 2009
My new book by Barbara Kingsolver arrived yesterday; and I'm thrilled. I'm almost done with Poppy and Rye so I'm ready for my next big read and that will be, The Lacuna: A Novel. Last night on Sundance, I was lucky to watch a film about the life of Bertolt Brecht (1898-1956) who was a poet and playwright in Germany during the time of the great wars. He lived in Sweden, Switzerland, and Finland before coming to the US. The Sundance film featured his play Mother Courage and Her Children. There was a revival of this play in New York with Meryl Streep and Kevin Kline in 2006. The documentary was released in 2008 and showed Brecht in photos and footage. Featured were the wagon that Mother Courage pulled behind her, Tony Kushner who translated the play, George Wolfe who directed the play, behind-the-scenes rehearsals with Meryl and Kevin, footage of the McCarthy hearings during the Communist scares in the 50s with Richard Nixon sitting right there, and commentary that helped explain the relationship between Bertolt Brecht and Karl Marx. This documentary film, perhaps more than the play, asks viewers to examine why we allow ourselves to be manipulated and exploited by war and its machinery. While the play ends, war continues on with no end in sight. Why? Til tomorrow.
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| Photo credit White Buffalo Entertainment and The Public Theater / Michael Daniel |
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Monday, November 30, 2009
I would love to hear Malcolm Gladwell read his new book; and I would love to hear Ken Auletta read his new book. I'm going to investigate that. Til tomorrow.
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Sunday, November 29, 2009
So, today, finally. In the New York Times Book Review, Malcolm Gladwell responds to Steven Pinker's negative analysis of Mr. Gladwell's new book, What the Dog Saw: And Other Adventures, which I just bought from Amazon seconds ago. On November 15, Dr. Pinker put into question many of Mr. Gladwell's assertions. So, I didn't buy the book. I waited for Mr. Gladwell's rebuttal anticipating that it would come on November 22. When it didn't, I assumed Mr. Gladwell was acquiescing to Dr. Pinker's doubts about the books accuracy; and who wants a book that's inaccurate even if she loves the author. But today. Voila. Mr. Gladwell comes through with flying colors. He explains the statistics he used, he explains the email he sent to Dr. Pinker, he makes a few digs about a book reviewer who checks facts from blogs rather than academic journals, and he does it all with gentlemanly wit. Then Dr. Pinker was given a chance to respond and is equally genteel although obviously standing down. Love it. Til tomorrow.
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Saturday, November 28, 2009
This evening at 5 PM central time, Prairie Home Companion will be live from Town Hall at 123 W. 43rd in NYC. Mr. Keillor had a stroke a month or so ago; and tonight he's broadcasting live from Town Hall. He has certainly maintained and promoted the world of live radio to an art - the art of living well and doing good work. Til tomorrow.
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Friday, November 27, 2009
BookTV is on all day today. I bet there will be somebody on there who has written a book that I want to read. So, it's great to have leftovers and BookTV all day today. Til tomorrow.
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Thursday, November 26, 2009
Happy Thanksgiving.
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Wednesday, November 25, 2009
At some point I'm going to have to just stop reading the newspaper. Today, it was reported that 600 salt water fish died in an aquarium at a local shopping mall. It was reported as though it didn't matter. But it does. Everywhere I look, land is paved, trees are removed, nature is despoiled. It's very tough to tolerate all that. So, when it looks like the planet is going down for the count and the citizens have cut down the last tree of the land, I turn my gaze to Jane Jacobs and Rachel Carson. Ms. Jacobs (1916-2006) wrote The Death and Life of Great American Cities, first published in 1961 and still in print and high demand. She outlined the ways in which city governments were destroying neighborhoods through urban expanision and renewal. She galvanized people to protest all kinds of destructive new building projects and won. She simply never stopped her crusade against progressive destruction. The other person I think about is Rachel Carson (1907-1964) who wrote about the destructive use of pesticides and pollution in her book Silent Spring. Her title predicted that the planet would have silence every spring unless we changed pesticide and pollution practices that were killing the birds. Ms. Carson's book is still in print and still being held up as a powerful model for proper treatment of the environment. Jane Jacobs and Rachel Carson. Their focused efforts and their books are powerfully unique testaments to what can be accomplished. But then again, wouldn't it be nice to be able to live a life that was "for" something rather than having to be "opposed" to something. Til tomorrow.
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| Jane Jacobs and Rachel Carson |
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Tuesday, November 24, 2009
At some point I must have read Kenneth Grahame's The Wind in the Willows copyright 1908, 1913, or 1916 depending on where you look on the copyright page. I've read multiple places that it's the greatest piece of literature for children ever written. Talking animals. Rivers. Nature. Virtues. Just my style. Til tomorrow.
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Monday, November 23, 2009
I ordered Barbara Kingsolver's new book yesterday, The Lacuna: A Novel. I have all of her books. I love her stance on life and literature. And I love the fact that she's been able to apply her wordy talents so that she can make a solid living. She tells a good intelligent story in all her books and leaves you with images that remind you of other things just like Proust described in Remembrance of Things Past. Ms. Kingsolver also connects the past with the future. I wonder how she does that. Til tomorrow.
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Sunday, November 22, 2009
In last week's NY Times Book Review, Steven Pinker reviewed Malcolm Gladwell's new book, What the Dog Saw: And Other Adventures. Dr. Pinker said that although Mr. Gladwell was indefatigable in his intellectual curiosity and his output for new books, the newest book had statistical errors and a spelling error for the word igon which is actually spelled eigen and is a term used in linear algebra. So, I waited all week for Mr. Gladwell to write a letter to the editor as a sort of rebuttal or even apology or perhaps a thank you for the constructive feedback. Nada. There you go. Error. Correction. Move on.
This week in today's Book Review, Steven King has a lengthy piece about two new books about Raymond Carver, who although was a great writer was a total mess in his private life. Mr. King also took the time in preparing for that piece to tell us what an editor of a book should do to help writers. He said that an editor of a book should, "improve the writer's work by doing a number of useful things: posing questions the writer should have answered and didn't, suggesting places where thematic concerns can be reinforced to make a more pleasing whole, and pointing out (gently) infelicities of language. What an editor should never do is superimpose his or her own beliefs about style and story on the author's work. An editor should be an expert midwife, not a surrogate parent." I love that quote. It's 100% true and very helpful.
Finally, in today's Book Review, Sam Tanenhaus used a word that is known by probably seven readers in his review of the autobiography of Andre Agassi. Bildungsroman. Bildungsroman. Bildungsroman. German for a coming-of-age story. I suppose sometimes a foreign word is the only word that will do. Til tomorrow.
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Saturday, November 21, 2009
Michael Feldman at 10.
Ira Glass at 2.
Garrison Keillor at 5.
Supper at 6.
Must be Saturday.
Plus my new book by Shaun Tan arrived. Tales from Outer Suburbia. His other really significant book is The Arrival. I never get tired of studying that book. It's wordless and exquisite in his perspective. His books require an investment of time and thought. They require the reader to focus, clear the mind, and pay attention. The reward is always significant. Art is like that. Til tomorrow.
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Friday, November 20, 2009
It's raining cats and dogs today. Time to stay indoors. Time to finish Confetti Girl by Diana Lopez as well as Poppy and Rye by Avi. Time to plan for Thanksgiving dinner. Time to vacuum. Time to polish the silver. Time. Time. Time. Til tomorrow.
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Thursday, November 19, 2009
I was missing a book. I looked and looked and couldn't find it. Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee by Dee Brown. I read it long ago in college and had recently moved it from one shelf to another. But then I couldn't find it. How's that possible to know where something is for 20 years and then suddenly you don't know where it is. The good news is I found it. Til tomorrow.
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Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Wake up.
Drink some coffee.
Skim the paper.
Email mom.
Walk the dogs.
Go to work.
Eat lunch.
Go back to work.
Fix supper.
Wash the dishes.
Walk the dogs.
Stare at the computer.
Call a friend.
Watch Modern Family on ABC.
Read a book.
Go to sleep.
Perfect.
More or less.
Til tomorrow.
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Tuesday, November 17, 2009
At Bauman Rare Books, located at 535 Madison Avenue in NYC, they have a 1963 copy of Where the Wild Things Are signed by Maurice Sendak. They have the price listed at $25,000. I wonder if they'd take $20,000. They also have an unsigned copy of The Velveteen Rabbit by Margery Williams Bianco from 1922, priced at $22,000, which they seem pretty firm on. And finally, a first edition of E.B. White's Charlotte's Web from 1952 is listed for $3,600. Til tomorrow.
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| I love this bookshop on Madison Avenue. |
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Monday, November 16, 2009
Man oh man. Ralph Nader and Chris Hedges were both on BookTV yesterday. LIVE!!! In my living room. They both have new books and are brilliant and articulate about the way it's supposed to be. They understand everything from the economy to global warming to world peace to the power of words. They seem unstoppable in their devotion to making the planet a better place to live. Mr. Nader says it all starts with small, grass-roots groups who meet and work toward a common goal. Mr. Hedges says it all starts with getting our nation's number one economic drain fixed and that is out-of-control, for-profit health insurance. Very convincing they were. Til tomorrow.
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Sunday, November 15, 2009
Yesterday.
I started and almost finished a new book with a copyright of 1998. Poppy and Rye by Avi.
I caught Al Gore delivering a booktalk in Miami on BookTV.
I listened to Anjelica Huston read a short story on Selected Shorts.
Avi. Al. Anjelica.
All in my living room. Am I spoiled or what? Til tomorrow.
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Saturday, November 14, 2009
James Baker, former Secretary of State, supposedly told Israel and Palestine to solve their peace and war problems themselves. He said, "We have our own country to fix." And then he gave them a phone number and told them to call Barack when they were ready to talk at (202) 456-1414. The phone number appears to be the real deal. I just called it and a guy answered, "White House." Then I went to the reverse phone lookup and got 31 hits with the address of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Washington, D.C. Cool. Til tomorrow.
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Friday, November 13, 2009
Eats, Shoots and Leaves by Lynne Truss is the book I'm thinking about today. I first saw her on BookTV in 2004 and "immediately" loved her inner stickler for punctuation. During this appearance, she was at Powell's Bookstore in Portland, Oregon where I've been several times. It's a fabulous place and rivals Strand Bookstore in Manhattan as the place to find whatever book you might need or want. The subtitle of Ms. Truss's book is The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation. AND I've just reread the foreword to the book by none other than Frank McCourt (1930-2009). Til tomorrow.
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Thursday, November 12, 2009
I just ordered Shaun Tan's newest book, Tales from Outer Suburbia. It got a great review in the NY Times Book Review section this past Sunday. I had just reread The Arrival, which is also by Mr. Tan and so I'm ready to love the newest of his books. Another title receiving a great review in that issue of the Book Review was Jerry Pinkney's newest book The Lion and the Mouse, which is of course one of Aesop's fables and which of course Jerry included in his 2000 edition of Aesop's Fables. How great it is to be a reader. Til tomorrow.
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Wednesday, November 11, 2009
I was reading a scholarly piece about literacy and language and came across a reference to Claude Levi-Strauss (1908-2009), who was an anthropologist who made it possible to systematically study language and communication and culture among and between all kinds of groups of people. And no, he's not related to Levi Strauss (1829-1902) of blue jeans fame. Claude Levi-Strauss died this month just before his 101st birthday. I wondered how to pronounce his name and found a youtube video interview with Pierre Bourdieu (1930-2002) who pronounced his name LEEvee Strose. I am so appreciative of these kinds of thinkers who do the hard, hard thinking that is required to figure out life. But here's what I think. Life is actually pretty simply. It's just that we humans lack the intellectual ability to see it. So, we create very complex ways of trying to figure out why A = B. In most cases, even our best efforts to understand and explain even the simplest set of relationships fall short. But I still admire the effort. Til tomorrow.
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Tuesday, November 10, 2009
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins.
Unwind by Neal Shusterman.
Those are my next two books. They came highly recommended; and their Amazon ratings are off the charts. Til tomorrow.
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Monday, November 9, 2009
Writing a few words each day about books and all things bookish sounds easier than it is. Today, nothing comes to mind. So, I'll say that loud and clear: today, nothing comes to mind. Til tomorrow.
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Sunday, November 8, 2009
For what it's worth. A song from the 60s by Buffalo Springfield. Reading today's paper put me in mind of that tune. We are a species that produces both high art and enormous atrocity. At some point, civilizations will resolve all their conflicts at the peace table rather than the battle field. When will that time come? When will the better angels of our nature show themselves? It's time. Til tomorrow.
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Saturday, November 7, 2009
I've had to update my list of books that have influenced me. I left out Atlas Shrugged. So, I've added that title and removed Sick Puppy, which was a nice book but which doesn't permanently change my outlook like Atlas did. I could have left Puppy on the list; but I wanted to keep it to one page. Ah, the limitations of space. Til tomorrow.
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Friday, November 6, 2009
Al Gore has a new book out. Our Choice: A Plan to Solve the Climate Crisis. He was on Charlie Rose last night and was brilliant. In his case, it's turned out well that Mr. Gore was not our President because it allowed him to focus on saving the planet from global warming. He said that within ten years, America could be free from dependence on an oil-based economy if we start now to develop alternative energy sources. What a guy. And for once, Mr. Rose actually let his guest do most of the talking without interruption. Lovely. Til tomorrow.
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Thursday, November 5, 2009
I'm up way too early to think about books this morning except to say that I watched Ken Auletta on BookTV this weekend. His new book is titled, Googled: The End of the World as We Know It. He was great. He explained how the founders of Google got started, how they use an algorithm to allow searches, and how Google has permanently changed the world. Way cool. Til tomorrow.
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| Brian Lamb and Ken Auletta |
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Wednesday, November 4, 2009
The time change has once again messed up my schedule. I have 17 clocks; and they all say a different time. I've left some of them on pre-change time because I wanted a sense of what kind of time I was losing. Turns out a lot. It's dark way too early, which interferes with my evening reading. Somehow. I don't know how; but this time change business seems unnecessary. I wish that it would stay the same time on the clocks. No more time changes. On a brighter note, the sun still comes up regularly and is unaware of how we humans are trying to manipulate it. Way to go, sun. For today's missive, time's up. Til tomorrow.
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Monday and Tuesday, November 2 and 3, 2009
Days and days go by without Frederick Neitzsche's name ever crossing my mind; and yet yesterday, his work was evoked in two different places. First, in the Sunday Times Book Review a review of a new biography about Ayn Rand was published. Ms. Rand was quoted as saying that Nietzsche "beat me to all my ideas." Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand is about the talented, creative, and powerful people in America who simply got tired of supporting everyone. So, they opted out into a secret society where they vowed to produce no more work to benefit society and consumers. They felt their talents weren't appreciated and were being squandered. John Galt was their iconic leader. I love that book. I love the fact that Ayn Rand could take complex economic and philosophical ideas and craft them into a novel. And as Susan Sontag said, "narrative is more long-lasting than expository." Atlas Shrugged will be here forever. I'm going to reread that book soon. The second invocation of Nietzsche was in the book I just finished titled, Masterpiece by Elise Broach. It's about a boy named James and a beetle named Marvin both of whom you grow to like. How is that possible. Liking a non-existent beetle? Who'd have thunk it. Anyhoo, the art critic in the book named Christina mentions Nietzsche in one of her lectures at the Met. She said, "The Greeks thought the four cardinal virtues were related to one another. It was impossible to master one without mastering all of them." That's what she said on page 152. She went on to say that Nietzsche disagreed by saying the virtues were incompatible. He said you couldn't be both wise and brave.
What are the four Greek virtues?
Temperance, prudence, fortitude, justice.
(Moderation, cautious judgment, courage, ethics.)
I feel like I've been slammed.
Ayn Rand, Frederick Nietzsche, Atlas Shrugged, Susan Sontag, Greek virtues, and an artistic beetle all within a two hour period on a Sunday afternoon.
Rand (1905-1982)
Nietzsche (1844-1900)
Broach (1960-)
Sontag (1933-2004)
Til tomorrow.
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| Rand, Nietzsche, Broach, Sontag |
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Sunday, November 1, 2009
I've found a wonderful new book. No! By David McPhail. It's dedicated to teachers. It's wordless. It's powerful. Mr. McPhail got it just right. Til tomorrow.
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Saturday, October 31, 2009
The winner of Garrison Keillor's contest for the best six-word novel goes like this:
Returning the zuchini; accept this fruitcake.
Til tomorrow.
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Friday, October 30, 2009
I've found my new favorite book, Masterpiece by Elise Broach. It's a story about some beetles that live in a little house beneath the kitchen sink in a house owned by Mr. and Mrs. Pompaday and their young son, James. The book is yummy. As I'm reading it, I'm uber-aware of how books I read as a kid have made me sensitive to the needs of bugs, birds, moose, hares, and all other manner of flora and fauna. The notion of giving human qualities to other life forms is called anthropomorphism. And Masterpiece gives these beetles under the sink all the characteristics of one of the finest families you'd ever want to meet. I'm ready it slowly so it won't conclude too quickly. Deelicious. Til tomorrow.
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| Illustrator Kelly Murphy knows beetles. |
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Thursday, October 29, 2009
I have two new books. The Lion and The Mouse by Jerry Pinkney and Masterpiece by Elise Broach. I have already finished Mr. Pinkney's book including the author's note at the end. I love Jerry Pinkney. I talked with him at a conference where he was the keynote speaker. He came down from the dais to speak to me as I told him how much I had enjoyed his presentation on BookTV. He is a wonderful artist. Ms. Broach is a new author for me; but I'm very anxious to get into her book. It's going to be fabulous. Til tomorrow.
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Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Ethel Merman, Tyne Daly, Bernadette Peters, Patti LuPone. All played Madame Rose in Gypsy. There may have been one more; but I don't know about it. I saw the last three on Broadway. I'm too young to have seen Ms. Merman. Til tomorrow.
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Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Willem Dafoe is on Broadway in Idiot Savant; and Laurie Metcalf is there as well in Brighton Beach Memoirs. Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber has a new opera in London that takes up where Phantom left off. But right here in my study, Leon Redbone is singing away from Up a Lazy River. Artists, performers, musicians, writers, poets - why aren't they in charge of the world? I guess they're busy doing what artists, performers, musicians, writers, and poets do. Til tomorrow.
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| Willem, Laurie, Leon, Andrew |
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Monday, October 26, 2009
Yesterday was good. Reading the Times, sipping coffee, sitting on the patio, watching the hummingbirds, waiting for the beef bourguignon to be done. And finally it was. Til tomorrow.
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Sunday, October 25, 2009
Beef bourguignon is in the oven braising away while I write these few words. The aroma is enormous. While I'm waiting, I'm pining away for a new 27" quad imac; but it's two grand. It's totally beautiful but not in the budget unless I get some sort of stimulus funding in the mail. In the meantime, I'm loving Mirror: Stories of Almost Everyone by Eduardo Galeano. He has chronicled society's shortcomings in 600+ little narratives that have taken place since the beginning of recorded time. His book is not uplifting; but it tells a truth about the inclination of powerful groups to dominate and despoil. For my money, Mr. Galeano got it all just right. I wonder how he'll end it so that hope remains. Til tomorrow.
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Saturday, October 24, 2009
I'm still thumbing through Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking. On page 310 is the recipe for beef bourguignon which I will attempt to make today. French cooking is not for spur-of-the-moment people like me. Beef bourguignon requires a 24 hour marinade. Hmm. Maybe I'll just forget the whole thing. Maybe I'll just be happy that I can now spell b o u r g u i g n o n.
Til tomorrow.
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Friday, October 23, 2009
David Brooks wrote a column for the NY Times on October 19 about Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak. Now that the 1963 copyrighted book is a movie, it's seeing a resurgence of interest and scrutiny. Mr. Brooks analyzes the book according to two lenses. First, he looks at the book through the eyes of a philosopher then a psychologist. The philosopher says that we humans have character traits that dictate how we behave. If you're honest in the morning, you're honest in the evening. If you're compassionate in the morning, you're compassionate in the evening. The psychologist says that we humans have character traits that are totally dependent on the context and situation we're in. If I'm anxious at home, I'm not necessarily anxious at work. If I'm brave at work, I'm not necessarily brave at the mall. So, Max can be analyzed philosophically or psychologically-take your pick. My money is on the psychological analysis. Behavior is totally dependent on where you are at the moment. It's location, location, location. Til tomorrow.
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Thursday, October 22, 2009
Windows 7 came out today to replace Windows Vista. It's still clunky and inelegant. But it's cheap. Til tomorrow.
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Wednesday, October 21, 2009
I found out that kids love a pop-up book on geography. The book is The Amazing Pop-Up Geography Book. Harm de Blij is the nation's most popular geographer; and he's convinced that EVERYTHING is geography from our language to our customs to our culture to our lifestyles and of course to our history. So, I'm delighted to find this little gem of a book. Til tomorrow.
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Tuesday, October 20, 2009
It's dead still outside my window this morning except for this stray dog that has suddenly appeared. That sentence reminds me of Cynthia Rylant's The Van Gogh Cafe which has to be one of my all time favorite books especially the part where pies start baking themselves in Flowers, Kansas in a little cafe owned by Marc and his daughter. I think I'll reread that book. It's delicious. Til tomorrow.
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Monday, October 19, 2009
Wow. I caught William Ouchi on BookTV yesterday. His new book is on TSL. Total student load. I just went to C-SPAN and bought the video. His data shows that if you reduce the number of students per teacher, we will have better schools. The video can be watched online at
http://www.c-spanvideo.org/videoLibrary/video.php?dispid=289124-1
I don't know what I'd do without BookTV. Every single time I watch, I learn. Til tomorrow.
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| williamouchi.com |
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Sunday, October 18, 2009
Deborah Solomon has featured two food people in a row in the Times Magazine for the last two weeks. Lisa Lillien known as Hungry Girl was interviewed last Sunday; and Ruth Reichl, editor of Gourmet, was interviewed today. Reading those interviews makes me want to go cook something fabulous. But in reality, I'll probably warm up the Alfredo and spaghetti I made yesterday along with a bit of salad and peaches with whipped cream...all devoured on the patio. Til tomorrow.
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| Lisa's photo by Christian Oth; Ruth's photo by Fiona Aboud; Alfredo photo by me. |
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Saturday, October 17, 2009
“A great book should leave you with many experiences, and slightly exhausted. You should live several lives while reading it.” That's what William Styron said. How could he have used just 20 words to express the perfect sentiment about books. Twenty words and three pieces of punctuation. Pretty profound. Til tomorrow.
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| William Styron, June 11, 1926-November 1, 2006 |
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Friday, October 16, 2009
Michael Moore's Capitalism has finally arrived in town after opening in the rest of the country two weeks ago. I love his perspective, style, and gumption. He gets it all just right. But I'll probably still wait til it comes out in DVD. Going to the movies is not a pleasant outing. Sticky floors, lots of texting, and commercials that are WAY TOO LOUD. So, what do you do. You wait for the DVD. Til tomorrow.
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Wednesday and Thursday, October 14 and 15, 2009
William Styron came up this week in something I've been reading. I remember him sitting down with Christopher Cerf (Bennett Cerf's son) and talking to BookTV one weekend. Mr. Styron wrote Sophie's Choice and Darkness Visible among many. The interview between those two life-long friends was quite wonderful. And then, I met Christopher Cerf at a conference and told him what a great interview that was of him with Mr. Styron. He asked if it was still available. He hadn't seen it yet. He was absolutely sweet and wonderful. He led Sesame Street and now leads Reading Between the Lions on PBS. Bennett Cerf was on What's My Line for many years with Arlene Francis, Kitty Carlisle, Dorothy Kilgallen, and John Daly as host. Bennett Cerf launched Random House publishers because he thought he'd publish a book every now and then at random. Til tomorrow.
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| Christopher Cerf at The Institute of Expertology |
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Tuesday, October 13, 2009
My list of 33 books from October 9, 2009 contains 17 expository and 16 narratives although a couple of books could fit into both categories. So, the books that have impacted me the most on that list are about evenly split between the two types of books. As his favorite book, I know that Shelby Foote preferred Proust; but I'll stick with Kingsolver although Proust's concept of sense memory is absolutely dead on. We all sense something every single day that brings back a memory. Astute senses spark vivid memories. Dull senses live in the moment. Til tomorrow
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Monday, October 12, 2009
In the NY Times Book Review yesterday, Maureen Dowd criticizes Dan Brown's new book about the Masons for not revealing enough about that group's semiotic secrets. Masons, evidently, lay bricks, share secrets, and stick with their brotherhood through thick and thin. She is guessing that because he was so critical of the Catholic church in his book, The Da Vinci Code that he decided not to rile up too many folks this time around. She also criticized the new book as being a book written more for a movie than a book to be read and appreciated just as a book. I'd say the relationship between Ms. Dowd and Mr. Brown will be forever strained. As much as I like both of their writings, she convinced me to pass on the book. I wonder if that's what she intended. Here's what I want from a book. Does this book tell an engaging story that sustained my attention, fed my imagination, and kept me turning the pages? Til tomorrow.
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| Maureen Dowd and Dan Brown |
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Sunday, October 11, 2009
Michael Feldman had a rebroadcast yesterday and featured the governor of Arkansas since he was in Little Rock; he also interviewed the director of Heifer International, an NGO nonprofit that provides goats, chickens, and cows to developing nations. It was fabulous. Ira Glass explained why people in some cities become more ill after seeing their doctor than people in neighboring cities. Garrison Keillor talked about his stroke during his Lake Woebegone segment. All yesterday. And I'm still reading Eduardo Galeano's Mirror and Bill Bryson's A Short History of Nearly Everything. Plus, I just finished reading Deborah Solomon's interview with Hungry Girl in the Times Magazine this morning. Words. Words. Words. They all got it just right. Today? Coffee, the Times, two loyal dogs, and homemade spaghetti for lunch. Til tomorrow.
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Saturday, October 10, 2009
Michael Feldman at 10
Ira Glass at 2
Garrison Keillor at 5
All online at Texas Public Radio, 89.1 FM in San Antonio or www.tpr.org.
I love Saturdays.
Til tomorrow.
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Friday, October 9, 2009
I made a list of my favorite books last night and typed them up. But then I found a couple more sitting on the shelf that I like but that won't fit on the list. So, I've revised the list a bit and hope that the replaced books don't feel too badly about not making the final cut. Perhaps they'll never know. Til tomorrow.
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Thursday, October 8, 2009
Twenty-four hours later; and I'm still listening to Leon Redbone. He's the master of jazz, blues, and sophisticated guitar playing. He sang "Polly Wolly Doodle All Day" on Prairie Home Companion on May 8, 2008. Garrison asked him who wrote that song. Leon said, "I wrote that song." But then I researched that song; and found that it appeared in a Harvard student song book in 1880. So, this means that like all good artists, Mr. Redbone was speaking metaphorically. He's singing live in Eligin, Illinois this weekend. The house is packed. Lucky ticketholders. The blues ain't nothing but a good man feeling bad. Til tomorrow.
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Wednesday, October 7, 2009
I've listened to Leon Redbone for decades. I'm listening to him now. He's a very private person. His musical talent is boundless. I wish for him much happiness. Til tomorrow.
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Tuesday, October 6, 2009
There once was a writer who blocked
Her mind shut down and locked
She now only stares
At the monitor's glare
And waits for time to tick tock.
Til tomorrow.
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| Edward Lear 1812-1888 |
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Monday October 5, 2009
My mom and I made a lemon meringue pie for Christmas in 2003. We had it with a cup of coffee on the patio. It took all morning to make using Betty Crocker's cookbook. I have not had anything to eat since then that tasted as good. I'm sure glad I took a picture and that my beautiful imac stored the photo til now. Til tomorrow.
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Sunday, October 4, 2009
Chris Hedges has a new book, Empire of Illusion. He was interveiwed by Ron Suskind on BookTV last night. BRILLIANT. I've admired Mr. Hedges forever. He is a journalist. He is a strong proponent of non-violence in world affairs. He is a critic of war as a solution. He is a critic of Wall Street and it's bungling of the world economy. He's written many books all of which are backed up by credible data that he himself has collected, compiled, and distilled. He's articulate, unrelenting, and unapologetic for being a spokesperson for social justice worldwide. How do you get to be him? Graduate from Harvard Divinity School for starts and then live for 20 years in the Middle East watching the world through the eyes of people and cultures whose wisdom and beliefs are underrepresented. Til tomorrow.
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Saturday, October 3, 2009
Margaret Drabble has a new book on life as a jigsaw puzzle. She has written 17 novels. Susan Sontag said that fiction was more long-lasting than non-fiction for illuminating themes and issues. Til tomorrow.
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Friday, October 2, 2009
Eric Carle has produced a video tape showing how he makes his artwork and his books. His trilogy The Very Quiet Cricket, The Very Busy Spider, and The Very Hungry Caterpillar features the respective themes of love, work, and hope. Til tomorrow.
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Thursday, October 1, 2009
I've been writing on this site for over a year now. It's good to wake up, think about something literary, and write a few lines. And the only thing I can think of this morning is Tom Hayden's new book, The Long Sixties: From 1960 to Barack Obama. Mr. Hayden was a 60s revolutionary who supported civil rights and anti-war movements. He's still doing that. So, it is possible to commit to a long-term movement and stay with it. Most people don't. He did. When I hear him speak, I always like what he says. Til tomorrow.
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| Then and Now: The good don't always die young. |
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Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Up early today. Listening to Nathan Lane from The Producers on Sirius radio. Read the paper. Had coffee. Thinking about how great it is to read good writing. My favorite writer? Hmmm. Shelby Foote would say Proust. I would say Cynthia Ozick. Maybe O. Henry. Or perhaps Margaret Drabble. Or probably Barbara Kingsolver. Yes. Barbara Kingsolver. On a related note. Ken Burns said that Shelby Foote sold 60,000 copies of his three-volume set of books on the Civil War. And then after Ken Burns's broadcast of his PBS video on the Civil War that featured much of Shelby Foote's research and voice, Mr. Foote sold over one million copies of the three-volume set. The power of film trumps the power of books. It's easier to view a film than to read a book. Til tomorrow.
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| Barbara Kingsolver |
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Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Michael Moore, Paul Krugman, and John Waters were on Bill Maher this week. They spoke convincingly about the worlds of economics and entertainment. They discussed the notions of greed and violence that are so prevalent in our various societies. I suppose it's in our collective genes to take what we need so that we can survive as part of the world's fittest. We do what we do to survive. But our genes have also given us the ability to reason which means we should be able to rise above our basest instincts. We should be able to rise above the instinct to annihilate each other and take what is not ours. We should be able to bend to the better angels of our nature. But after reading today's paper containing story after story of murder and mayhem, I fear it is not to be. Our genetic makeup is not serving us very well. Our poor species. Burn a candle. Curse the darkness. Maybe both. Til tomorrow.
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Monday, September 28, 2009
Abraham Lincoln, Ulysses Grant, Benjamin Harris. Those were the Presidents who signed into law protection of Yosemite and Yellowstone according to the compelling PBS film by Ken Burns and Dayton Duncan about the nation's parks. But it was John Muir (1838-1914) who was really the star of protecting all this land from developers, strip miners, clear cutters, and polluters. I watched the first two-hours of the twelve-hour film last night; but I did have to mute parts of it when the narrator, Peter Coyote, told stories of the dispossesion and massacre of the native people who had lived on these lands for thousands of years before the US expanded its industrial, capital-producing development of the West. The film begs the question, "What is progress?" Til tomorrow.
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| The Scotsman, John Muir |
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Sunday, September 27, 2009
The National Book Festival in DC was yesterday and was broadcast live on BookTV. Ken Burns and Dayton Duncan talked about their new film and book that feature the national park system. PBS will broadcast the six-part series beginning today. Mr. Burns and Mr. Duncan produced this 12-hour documentary on the 58 national parks that the people of this country own in order to encourage the continuing preservation of the land and the system. Thanks to President Teddy Roosevelt, the national park service controls all those lands that would have otherwise been in the control of private land developers and gated communities. Way to go TR. Til tomorrow.
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| Statue of TR in front of the Museum of Natural History in NYC |
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Saturday, September 26, 2009
I met Michael Moore, Ben Cheever, and Barbara Ehrenreich in NYC at a 92nd Street Y book talk one time a few years back. They were wonderful. They each signed the books I bought from them; and they each gave wonderful, chatty talks to a room packed with people. They also stayed afterwards and signed books and just talked - easily and without even once glancing at their watches. It was easy to see that they each possessed the ability to singularly focus on a topic long enough to write a book no matter how long it took. They looked like and talked like normal people; but if you studied them closely, they each were completely focused on the craft and joy of writing. What a great evening that was. Til tomorrow.
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Friday, September 25, 2009
The Times Magazine last Sunday featured Carl Jung and his Red Book, which is a red, leather book containing thoughts, ideas, and pictures of Jung's dreams and their interpretations. His book, Memories, Dreams, Reflections presents his ideas on figuring out your inner self. And of course, the problem with doing that is that it can drive you crazy. Which in Jung's case, it may have. But then of course, other Jungian analysts have studied Jung and are perfectly fine. Ostensibly. Carl was a well educated reader and thinker who tried to piece together poetry, science, art, philosophy, and ultimately the meaning of life. He died in 1961 leaving his grandchildren to deal with his estate. The Red Book has now been scanned and will be published soon for everyone to see. The original Red Book is locked in a vault in Zurich, Switzerland; but it will be loaned out to the Rubin Museum in NYC later this year for those who want to see the original. Jung's notion of a collective unconscious shared by all is appealing although unprovable at the moment. But at least CGJ tried to make sense of a world that seems coded in complexity. He examined life very thoroughly. Maybe he was guilty of overthinking things when all we really need is peace. Til tomorrow.
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| The Red Book from nytimes.org |
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Thursday, September 24, 2009
Deborah Tannen, a linguist, was featured by Deborah Solomon in last Sunday's Times which I'm still reading because I'm behind in virtually everything but coffee and blogging. So....she talked about her research on sisters. I always thought I'd like a twin sister but that's just because I watched Hayley Mills with Maureen O'Hara and Brian Keith in The Parent Trap way too many times. Til tomorrow.
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| Photos by David Holloway and IMDb. |
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Wednesday, September 23, 2009
I was stuck in an airport for five hours Monday. ARGH. It was the weather. Hail, lightening, wind, torrential downpour. It was great. I bought a book there and almost finished the whole thing. When Engulfed in Flames by David Sedaris. His writing is laugh-out-loud-right-there-in-the-airport. His take on the world is to explore the minutia of life, people, and their things and then to write about it. Where exactly is Normandy? Til tomorrow.
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Saturday, September 19 to Tuesday, September 22, 2009
I had occasion to visit the public library in Cushing, Oklahoma. The library is dedicated to the enlightenment of all so that democracy may prevail. How cool is that. I even checked out a book on my mom's library card. The book you ask? Why it's The Alley by Eleanor Estes, copyright 1964. The exact book I read there as a kid. Exactly. Til tomorrow.
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Friday, September 18, 2009
Said the mouse to no one in particular:
If not for the cat
And the scarcity of cheese,
I could be content.
Poem by Jack Prelutsky
Til tomorrow.
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Thursday, September 17, 2009
Ten more days; and it will be a year that I've been writing daily snippets. When the year gets here, I'll be done for a while. Til tomorrow.
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Wednesday, September 16, 2009
In the movie, Before Sunrise, with Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy, Nina Simone sings the song "Just in Time." Til tomorrow.
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Tuesday, September 15, 2009
The Times had 3 Arts and Leisure sections this past Sunday: Theatre, Movies, Music. Brad Pitt and Matt Damon are everywhere in the movies. While the rest of the world was waiting to see if they could make it in Hollywood, they were out there making it. Versatile actors with talent. They should try their craft on Broadway cause that's where it counts for acting. Waiting for Godot would be an interesting gig for them. Til tomorrow.
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| Inglourious Basterds and The Informant |
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Monday, September 14, 2009
What does it take to raise people like Malcolm Gladwell and Sam Tanenhaus? They were both on BookTV this weekend; and they are the very voice of intellectual curiosity and linguistic agility. They know what to say and exactly how to say it. They study, read, write, speak, and are very generous with their gifts. Modern day heroes. I wonder if they hang out together. Til tomorrow.
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| Malcolm and Sam |
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Sunday, September 13, 2009
The number of women who have made major contributions to literature and art throughout their lives is humbling. In the world of PBS, NPR, HBO, and The NY Times, Alice Neel, Nina Simone, Judith Jamison, Margaret Drabble, Grace Paley, and Cynthia Ozick are just a few who have been featured recently as having made their marks over years and decades. These are not ladies who lunch. They are raw talent and pure work ethic. They write, paint, sing, dance, and went to work every day. Til tomorrow.
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Saturday, September 12, 2009
On December 10, 2008, it was the 60th anniversary of the UN's adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. I have a copy in a little blue book. There are 30 Articles of things like, "people have the right to a nation," "people have the right to education," and "people have the right to rest and leisure." It's a lovely and noble document. Eleanor Roosevelt chaired the committee.
http://www.un.org/events/humanrights/udhr60/declaration.shtml
The book I bought at the gift shop in Hyde Park contains the 30 Articles in English, Spanish, French, Chinese, Russian, and Arabic. After 60 years, it still holds up as a remarkable contribution to world peace. Til tomorrow.
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Friday, September 11, 2009
Eight years ago, the towers fell. The perpetrator of this act is still at large. If I could do one or two or three really big things to repair the world, I wonder what I'd do. Or if I could just wish for a better world, what would I wish for. How do you restore goodness in a world where the seeds of malfeasance are "sown in poverty, ignorance and despair." Til tomorrow.
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Thursday, September 10, 2009
I finished not too long ago a book by Christopher Paul Curtis titled, Elijah of Buxton. It's a wonderful book that gives an absolutely clear perspective on the issue of slavery and how this issue was handled in Canada versus here in the US. The story is told through the eyes of a little boy named Elijah. His family is loving, hardworking, and living in Canada. Elijah is a boy; and when he's needed to help a runaway slave, he steps up and tries to save the day. What a thrilling book. I met Mr. Curtis in Atlanta. He was the keynote speaker at a dinner; and he was fabulous. Til tomorrow.
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Wednesday, September 9, 2009
Jonathan Kozol said that American education needs four things:
1. high-quality preschool for every child in America, all day, every day.
2. a reduction in class size to 18 students per every 1 teacher.
3. restoration of teacher morale by eliminating the testing mania and NCLB.
4. bunches of charming, beautiful books in every American classroom.
Til tomorrow.
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Tuesday, September 8, 2009
I've heard Shelby Foote say it. I've heard Stanley Crouch say it. William Shakespeare is the reigning king of language usage. But to appreciate that kingdom requires a teacher who can help one weed through and understand the difficult parts. And that takes the right person, a chunk of time, and a clear head. Til tomorrow.
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| British Museum. Marble sculpture by Louis-Francois Roubiliac in 1757 |
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Monday, September 7, 2009
Jonathan Kozol was wonderful, inspirational, courageous, strong, focused, determined, hard-working, well read, and totally committed to his life's work. I've already emailed him thanking him for the program; and I ordered the DVD from C-SPAN. Plus, since Jonathan mentioned that he still hasn't been invited to the White House for dinner (even though he helped Barack get elected), I emailed the President and suggested he invite Jonathan to dinner. And me too. What will I wear? My new Keds for sure. Til tomorrow.
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Sunday, September 6, 2009
According to the Times this morning, Jude Law will be playing Hamlet on Broadway for three months. Recently, the audience at Kronborg Castle in Denmark saw his performance after Hamlet had played in London for a season. The current prince of Denmark was actually in the audience. Cool. Others who played Hamlet at that same castle are
Laurence Olivier
Richard Burton
John Gielgud
Kenneth Branagh
The Times said Mr. Law is unfazed by the pressure to play Hamlet under this kind of historical weight. The play was written by Shakespeare around 1600 and is about the Prince of Denmark, named Hamlet. Hamlet's father, The King, was killed by Hamlet's uncle, Claudius, who married Hamlet's mother, Gertrude. Madness, revenge, murder, despair. Always a good mix for a really good story. Til tomorrow.
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| Photo of Jude Law by Jonathan Worth for The NY Times |
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Saturday, September 5, 2009
It's a long weekend. Yea. Plus, tomorrow BookTV will be broadcasting a live, three-hour conversation with Jonathan Kozol. I simply can not wait. A hero right in my own living room for three hours. I simply can not wait. Wait. I already said that. Til tomorrow.
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| Jonathan personalizes his book to me. Thank you, Stan. |
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Friday, September 4, 2009
Network Solutions stopped completely my ability to use Safari to create my web page. Yesterday it worked, today it didn't. So, now I've downloaded Firefox, which I'm using to write these few words. There you go. Til tomorrow.
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Thursday, September 3, 2009 People crash into buildings while they are looking at their GPS devices to find the building they just crashed in to. Facebook is on the decline. Twitter is getting boring. Fees for instant internet access are becoming prohibitive. So. Give me a book and a candle; and I'm good. Next book: Mirror by Eduardo Galeano. Til tomorrow.
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Wednesday, September 2, 2009 I would like 640 acres of forest; and in the middle I'd build a little Henry David Thoreau cabin with three rooms and the necessary furniture. I'd need a creek, a pond, a road, a water well, and some loons. A few chickens, a red wheelbarrow, wireless internet, my dogs, one goat, maybe two, and plenty of Vitamin C. Plus a small garage and my Subaru. Til tomorrow.
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| Walden Pond, Concord, Massachusetts |
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Tuesday, September 1, 2009 I do believe that the book I most admire is Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand. Ms. Rand took a great philosophical debate about our capitalistic society, added fully formed characters, and created a time and place that was more interesting than the time and place in which I now live. Her characters were all financially successful people who ran great corporations but who in the end decided to withhold their creative talents from the rest of society which just seemed too ungrateful and unproductive to support. For a writer to take monetary and societal theories and turn them into a novel with compelling characters seems impossible. At least it's impossible for me. Who is the next Ayn Rand? Not me. Til tomorrow.
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| Atlas on 5th Avenue, NYC between 50th and 51st |
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Monday, August 31, 2009 Howard Gardner added two intelligences to his list of seven multiple intelligences. He added an existentialist intelligence and a flora and fauna intelligence. Linguistic, mathematical, spatial, kinesthetic, intrapersonal, interpersonal, musical. Makes sense. Til tomorrow.
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| Photo by Jon Chase |
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Sunday, August 30, 2009 While the nation's schools continue to debate how to teach children to read and enjoy books, Nancie Atwell continues with her 25-year quest to use readers and writers workshops. And on the front page of the Times this morning, an extensive article about the workshops and a photo of Ms. Atwell demonstrating the process appears. Very refreshing. Til tomorrow.
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| Nancie Atwell in The NY Times |
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Saturday, August 29, 2009 At one point, I was six weeks behind in reading The New York Times Book Review. This morning, I was one week behind. As of this moment, I'm all caught up. So this morning, as I was reading all the book reviews and drinking my tepid cup of coffee with sugar and French Vanilla non-dairy coffee creamer, I was struck by the sheer number of people who have a story to tell or an opinion to share. And the thing is is that all these stories and opinions are worth reading; and yet, there's only 24 hours in a day. So, a selective process of elimination automatically becomes the game. Too bad that life is so short. Til tomorrow.
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Friday, August 28, 2009 I woke up this morning thinking about Voltaire. I remembered one of his short stories about the question of whether it's better to know and understand the truth about the world and be fairly unhappy or whether it's better to live in sort of a protected bubble where the reality of the world's hardships are not visible. So, then I go to wikipedia and I find out that I want to find out a LOT more about his life and work. So, that's my goal. Til tomorrow.
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| Voltaire in white marble by Jean-Antoine Houdon |
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Thursday, August 27, 2009 The August 10, 2009 of The New Yorker has articles by two of my favorite people: Malcolm Gladwell and Sherman Alexie. Mr. Gladwell writes about Atticus Finch in Harper Lee's book To Kill a Mockingbird. He points out the soft bigotry in the story and parallels it with the life of a southern politician named James Folsom. Then, Mr. Alexie has a short story in the same issue about his life, family, and a potential brain tumor that left him mostly deaf in one ear. Both of these writers have got the craft of telling a story down pat. They are very elegant with their words; and they're both decent people who have great talent and tremendous energy for work. Lovely. Til tomorrow.
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Wednesday, August 26, 2009 I've decided to cut back. I'm going to clean out my files and bookshelves and keep only what is essential. Til tomorrow.
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Tuesday, August 25, 2009 Marriage not required. Children not essential. Marriage and children not necessary for women to have a satisfying life. That's what she said. Ama Ata Aidoo. Til tomorrow.
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Monday, August 24, 2009 Alex Storozynski was on BookTV yesterday talking about his new book, The Peasant Prince. The book chronicles the life and times of Thaddeus Kosciuszko who was a Polish statesman, peace negotiator, and world travelor. He was friends with George Washington and Thomas Jefferson and helped win the war of independence. When an audience member asked why people didn't know much about Kosciuszko, Storozynski said two reasons, 1) Kosciuszko's name was hard to pronounce and 2) Polish documents and American documents were just now being opened up to historians for study. Kosciuszko is a world hero who is buried in Poland. Til tomorrow.
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| http://www.kosciuszkofoundation.org/News_Storozynski_Bio.html |
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Sunday, August 23, 2009 Today, I'm planning on finding something to cook from Julia Child's Volume 1 of Mastering the Art of French Cooking. Or maybe I'll just go to the theater and watch Julie and Julia again instead. It's not the cooking that I avoid. It's the cleaning up afterwards that deters me. Til tomorrow.
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Saturday, August 22, 2009 Michael Feldman at 10. Ira Glass at 2. Garrison Keillor at 5 Baked chicken with lemon at 6 It's going to be a busy day. Til tomorrow.
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| Michael, Ira, Garrison, Baked Chicken |
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Friday, August 21, 2009 Ed Young has a new book titled, Hook that I'm going to buy. There's nothing better than holding in your hands the work of great artists. And that's what Ed Young is - a great artist. So, mow the lawn, dye your hair, wash the dishes, cut your nails, but read Ed Young. Til tomorrow.
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Thursday, August 20, 2009 The Brooklyn Bridge. It spans the East River between Brooklyn and Manhattan. David McCullough said that when he visits his old home in Brooklyn, he and his wife walk across the Brooklyn Bridge. So, I vowed that the next time I was in NYC, I too would make the trek. Done. Okay. Alright. I didn't walk completely across it. But I did walk most of the way. It was hot. It was crowded. It was a huge distance. I did walk most of the way before I turned back to go to Strand Bookstore on 12th and Broadway where I bought a copy of Probuditi! by Chris Van Allsburg. He's so great. What a day. Til tomorrow.
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Wednesday, August 19, 2009 Eleanor Roosevelt lived in her own house on the Roosevelt estate when FDR died. The name of the house she lived in was Val-Kill standing for valley and the Dutch word for stream. It's a lovely house with a sunporch on the second floor where she slept in the summertime since it wasn't air conditioned. JFK met with her in her parlor seeking endorsement for the presidency (which he got from her with the condition that he do more to support civil rights). Val-Kill is a place that I would like to live. It's on the Hudson River. It's a cottage. It has a swimming pool. It is designed for work, solitude, and beauty. Who could ask for more. Til tomorrow.
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Tuesday, August 18, 2009 I've been in NYC this past week. I saw Phantom for the third time. LOVED it again. South Pacific and Next to Normal. The talent, work ethic, artistry, and commitment to put on a Broadway show leave me speechless...except to say, I loved it all. Then I took the train from Grand Central Terminal on 42nd to Poughkeepsie and then took a bus to the Roosevelt estate. I saw where Eleanor lived. I saw her desk, her bed, her life. I saw the Presidential library of FDR as well as his Ford. It was all stunning, inspriring, and unforgettable. The National Park Service employs extraordinary people who love their jobs and who love telling the stories of the Roosevelts. It was a wonderful trip. Til tomorrow.
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Thursday, August 13-Monday, August 17, 2009 I'm away from my computer for five days. How sweet it is. Til Tuesday.
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Wednesday, August 12, 2009 A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson is my current book that I'm reading along with Amy Hempel's book as well as Julia Child's cookbooks, Volumes 1 and 2. It's too much. I've vowed to read only one book at a time. But time after time, I find myself in the same pickle I'm in now. Too many books, not enough time. Til tomorrow.
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Tuesday, August 11, 2009 Margaret Whiting had the voice that sang Time after Time in the movie Julie and Julia. I downloaded it from Amazon; and it's lovely. I also downloaded the Amazon mp3 player; and now my computer is freezing periodically. Ah. The price of art. Til tomorrow.
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Monday, August 10, 2009 Julie and Julia is a great film made great by Meryl Streep. She and Stanley Tucci carry the show. The cinematography was great. The scenes in France were great. The chocolate cake was great. The ensemble was great - not to mention picture perfect. Makes you want to go cook something. Yum. Til tomorrow.
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Sunday, August 9, 2009 Carleen Hutchins (May 24, 1911-August 7, 2009) was a violin maker. She used glitter and a huge speaker to find the best spots on a piece of maple so that her violins would sing. Then she shaped the wood based on her glitter technique. Yo Yo Ma recorded an album using one of her cellos. Once with a friend, she stole a solid piece of maple from a phonebooth for one of her violins. She replaced it with a matching but cheaper piece of wood. She was 98 at her death.
Nuala O'Faolain (March 1, 1940-May 9, 2008) lived in Ireland and Manhattan. She was a writer and was the female version of Frank McCourt. In her book, she says, "A lot of us suffered in the Ireland of my day. We came out of a culture where women were utterly powerless and children had no value. If you were hit at school you were hit at home for being hit at school. It goes without saying there was no sex education. The only education a lot of us got was in neglect and being unloved." She had best sellers in both the UK and US. She gave a sobbing interview on Irish radio right before she died. http://www.rte.ie/arts/2008/0513/ofaolainn.html She was 68 at her death.
Til tomorrow.
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| Carleen Hutchins and Nuala O'Faolain |
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Saturday, August 8, 2009 Judge Sonia Sotomayor will be sworn in today as a Justice of the Supreme Court...for life. She's SO smart and knows the law. She'll do well. And she is very photogenic. Til tomorrow.
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Friday, August 7, 2009 The book I love the best is The Van Gogh Cafe by Cynthia Rylant. The story takes place at a cafe in Flowers, Kansas where Marc and his young daughter, Clara, witness the magic of food and life on a daily basis. I read this book years ago; but nearly every day, something happens which reminds me of that book. A possum, a piece of pie, a ceramic rooster. It's all there. Til tomorrow.
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Thursday, August 6, 2009 The short stories I'm reading by Amy Hempel are still wonderful. I read one each evening. I think they are affecting my dreams because I'm having very peaceful dreams where everything turns out just right with no house fires, no burglars, no car crashes, no abandoned kittens, no droughts...just easy-going dreams. Til tomorrow.
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Wednesday, August 5, 2009 I love my Mac. The Mac operating system works like my mind words. Globally. The PC world works like Bill Gates's mind works. Sequentially with one plodding step after another. Ninety percent of the world uses a PC, the rest of the enlightened use a Mac. Apple made a huge mistake in not allowing its product to be sold in retail outlets. People couldn't buy it except online for a long time; so they bought PCs instead. Plus, the elegance of the Apple computers makes them more expensive; and people want a cheaper product. So, moving between the Apple and PC world is not an easy task. I'm in a job where I am required to use both. I wish the world were Apple. Plus, I like Photobooth on my new Mac. Til tomorrow.
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Tuesday, August 5, 2009 My four-cup Farberware coffee pot died yesterday. Actually it didn't die. I left it on; and it rather burned itself up. So, I've ordered another one. A different kind. I want minimal plastic, minimal mess, good style, and nice-tasting coffee. So, I ordered a Bunn. And now that I look at it in the light of day, I'm thinking...HUGE mistake. It's just so ugly looking. Maybe I'll cover it with a tea cozy. It arrives today from Amazon. Fingers crossed. UPDATE: I sent it back. The water smelled like plastic. Hot water and plastic do not a great cup of coffee make. Plus, it was too big and ugly. Til tomorrow.
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Monday, August 3, 2009 Annie Leibovitz is one of the world's best photographers. In the Times yesterday, there was a huge article about her. The article said she was 24 million dollars in debt and was about to lose her three houses and the rights to her intellectual property (photographs and negatives). The article pointed out that the skills and artistry it takes to make beautiful photographs are not the same skills required to manage ones finances. The PBS series American Masters included Ms. Leibovitz in its collection. That's how good she is. She is more than capable of paying off her debts and will continue to snap, snap, snap those photo...graphs. That's my predic...tion. Til tomorrow.
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Sunday, August 2, 2009 Juan Williams of NPR fame will be live on BookTV today at 11:00 AM central time. So, I'm going to watch it just like I do the first Sunday of every month. The most memorable of those Sunday mornings included the authors: John Updike, Steven Pinker, Joan Didion, and Susan Sontag. You watch people like that on live TV for three hours in your living room; and you're never quite the same. Til tomorrow.
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| Juan Williams of NPR fame. |
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Saturday, August 1, 2009 I'll listen to Michael Feldman at 10, Ira Glass at 2, Garrison Keillor at 5. It's a busy, busy, busy day. KSTX in San Antonio, Texas Public Radio at tpr.org or 89.1 FM. The best. Til tomorrow.
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Friday, July 31, 2009 I'm thinking I'd enjoy a beer at the White House also. I'd probably ask for a white wine spritzer instead or maybe just a glass of Evian. The old $20 bill has a picture of the White House on it with a magnolia tree that was planted by Andrew Jackson in 1828. I wonder if it's the same magnolia tree in the photo below. Til tomorrow.
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Thursday, July 30, 2009 Today, there's good news and bad news. First, the bad news... I lied. There is no bad news. Ha. Til tomorrow.
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Wednesday, July 29, 2009 I was reading a book review on a book about absolute zero. Someone did an experiment where a light beam was directed into a mass of absolute zero degrees; and the light was stopped. Whether I got those facts exactly right or not is mostly irrelevant. The notion that really cold coldness can stop light is a cool phenomenon. One of these days, we're going to figure out everything about life; and I bet we're not going to be disappointed. Til tomorrow.
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Tuesday, July 28, 2009 From my window where I sit and watch the neighborhood, there are joggers, walkers, gardeners, mowers, edgers, trimmers, UPS trucks, and two ducks. Two ducks. Two ducks flew in and parked on the neighbor's porch. Looking for Godot? Looking for duck food? Looking for their ancestral home? Looking for clean water? Who knows. But there they were. Til tomorrow.
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Monday, July 27, 2009 I'm looking for a round tuit. I need a bunch of 'em for some projects I'm working on. If only I had some round tuits, I could make more progress. I'll get a round tuit one of these days. Til tomorrow.
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| Get it? Ha. I'll do it all when I get around to it. |
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Sunday, July 26, 2009 Deborah Solomon interviewed Arlo Guthrie in her column today. He said all the right things. Even though he seems to have an easy-come, easy-go and relaxed attitude toward life, he's still a successful businessman with four grown children and several grandchildren. So, none of that can be too relaxing. He said his fans are probably sick of Alice's Restaurant; but I think he's wrong. Til tomorrow.
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| Photo by Cameron Wittig for The NY Times |
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Saturday, July 25, 2009 I watched Cash Cab on Discovery Channel yesterday. It was great. I knew most of the answers, like, "What French monument did Charles Godefroy fly his plane through in 1919?" The Arc de Triomphe of course. I rarely know the answers (actually more like never) on Jeopardy. That's why I like Cash Cab so much. The Arc is the only monument I know of; and it's certainly the only monument you can fly through. So, I knew the answer and would have won $50. Knowledge pays. Til tomorrow.
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Friday, July 24, 2009 Today my scanner won't scan and my printer is out of black ink. That means it's time for a walk in the park, a trip to the beach, or maybe even a nap. Til tomorrow.
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Thursday, July 23, 2009 Ah. To buy the new Apple 3GS iphone or to continue on with my Motorola E815 with the bad battery - that is the question. Whether tis nobler to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageously dropped calls and poor reception or to take arms against a sea of overpriced AT&T options and while opposing them to watch my current phone die and sleep; ay there's the rub. Til tomorrow.
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Wednesday, July 23, 2009 The Declaration of Independence by Thomas Jefferson begins: When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another,
The Preamble to the Constitution of the United States of American begins: We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union,
The Gettysburg Address by Abraham Lincoln begins: Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.
Til tomorrow.
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Tuesday, July 21, 2009 On The Writer's Almanac yesterday, Garrison Keillor explained what a sonnet was. Fourteen lines. Twelve lines of ten syllables each in iambic pentameter and ending with a couplet with a pattern of abab cdcd efef gg. Then he read a couple of Shakespeare's. And here's #18 of William Shakespeare: Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?
Thou art more lovely and more temperate:
Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,
And summer's lease hath all too short a date:
Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,
And often is his gold complexion dimm'd;
And every fair from fair sometime declines,
By chance or nature's changing course untrimm'd;
But thy eternal summer shall not fade
Nor lose possession of that fair thou owest;
Nor shall Death brag thou wander'st in his shade,
When in eternal lines to time thou growest:
So long as men can breathe or eyes can see,
So long lives this and this gives life to thee.
Til tomorrow.
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Monday, July 20, 2009 There aren't many people who tell the truth about religion, poverty, education, life. Frank McCourt was the best at all that. He died yesterday at age 78. It's a loss. A loss because there will be no more stories, no more balderdash, no more insights, no more truth. He was hope. Hope that stories, words, and language could fix things. While he fixed much, he left much too soon. He's gone. His books are here. Yes. I have them. But it's not the same. Books are not a man. Video is not life. Memory is not enough. Beat the drum, stop the clocks, he is done. Ashes to ashes. Til tomorrow.
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| Photo by David Shankbone, March 21, 2007 |
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Sunday, July 19, 2009 Ama Ata Aidoo is a writer from Ghana. She was the topic of discussion yesterday at the Harlem Book Festival broadcast live on BookTV. Four people discussed her political action and her authorship and artistry. She was quoted as saying marriage is not required and childbirth is not essential for women. Ms. Aidoo is working toward equity for women in Africa. Til tomorrow.
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Saturday, July 18, 2009 Michael Jackson, Robert McNamara, and Walter Cronkite. Died young. Died an apologist. Died still trusted. Music, politics, journalism. If they each could have lived one more year, what would they have focused on? Til tomorrow.
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Friday, July 17, 2009 I can't think of anything to write today. I haven't listened to any music in about four days; and my brain isn't working properly. Or maybe it's because I ate 40 points worth of food yesterday (Weight Watchers points) instead of my goal of 28. Or maybe it's because I stayed up too late last night reading Amy Hempel's book. Or maybe it's because it's Friday. Or maybe it's because my two dogs are sitting here staring at me waiting for their walk. Or...who knows why. But I can't think of anything to write today. Til tomorrow.
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Thursday, July 16, 2009 Robert Redford got married to a woman from Germany. Sonia Sotomayor rose above bizarre questioning by Senators from Arizona and South Carolina. The 69-year-old woman who had twins two years ago by lying about her age to a fertility clinic died. That's all I remember from the newspaper this morning. Seems like an odd collection of things to remember; but somehow there's a thread that seems to connect them all. Seems like everyone struggles to find a thread, connect the dots, make sense of the world, and live a happy life. Life isn't that complicated although we tend to make it so. Blaise Pascal said (or may have said), "The sole cause of man's unhappiness is his inability to sit still in his room." Til tomorrow.
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Wednesday, July 15, 2009 I just can't believe how good Amy Hempel writes. I needed a break from Bertrand Russell explaining to me how to conquer deterrents to happiness in his book The Conquest of Happiness. So, I picked up from the table in my study, The Collected Stories of Amy Hempel; and boom, I'm sold after one page. I can't wait to get back to it. I had no idea she was that good of a writer. Her short stories represent the best technique and the best stories in that genre. I'm so happy to have her book. Gotta run. Til tomorrow.
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Tuesday, July 14, 2009 For some time now (four years), I've been thinking about buying a new desk chair. Consumer Reports has rated them. Amazon has rated them. And I've sat in some. But, the really good ones are a huge chunk of money; and I'm thinking the recession, the depression, and the financial disasters that are just around the corner dictate caution. So, I'll probably wait and think about it some more - for like four more years. In the meantime, I'm leaning toward a Deluxe Herman Miller Mirra with Latitude Fabric Cover. Seems way too excessive for just a chair. But then again, the days of excess aren't really over - at least here in the states it seems. Til tomorrow.
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Monday, July 13, 2009 There are six thousand languages on the planet. I was watching House Hunters International last week and saw a young couple who was buying an apartment in Paris. They had the equivalent of about $350,000 US dollars to buy an apartment. They wanted to be in the fifth district. Their agent helped them find a 500 square foot apartment for that price; and they bought it. During the filming, the woman spoke English to the agent and Japanese to her husband. Her husband spoke Japanese to her and limited English to the agent. Then at the end, they both spoke French and Japanese to each other. Three down; five-thousand, nine-hundred, ninety-seven to go. Til tomorrow.
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Sunday, July 12, 2009 I was reading the Times this morning and after I read Deborah Solomon's interview with Howard Dean, I saw an ad from TimesTalks.com featuring Nora Ephron, Meryl Streep, and Stanley Tucci who would all be interviewed by Alex Witchel at The Times Center at 242 West 41st in NYC on July 25. So, I decided to get a ticket and go. I went to the website and.....sold out. Til tomorrow.
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Saturday, July 11, 2009 I was at Barnes and Noble last night having a light supper of a tomato sandwich and an iced mocha when I glanced over and saw Kate DiCamillo's series of books about Mercy Watson. I skimmed through them and loved them. Now I'm off to purchase the whole set. Seems like even when you're out on the town enjoying a great tomato sandwich, you'll run smack dab into a book that you need. And why Barnes and Noble came up with the name Tomato Caprese Sandwich instead of just a plain old tomato sandwich with olive oil and basil, I can not say. Til tomorrow.
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Friday, July 10, 2009 I've barely looked at Mirrors (2009) by Eduardo Galeano but I'm hoping to really get into that book this weekend. Each evening, I'm reading a few pages of Bertrand Russell's The Conquest of Happiness (1930); and I just keep wondering how he got to be so wise and insightful about the foibles and psyches of people and society. Then, finally, I was going to stop by the grocery store today after work so I picked up the grocery list that I add to throughout the week. Today there were three items on my list: Cat food Whip cream Slim fast bars Seems like a very odd collection of food items. But there you have it. Odd. Til tomorrow.
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Thursday, July 9, 2009 I was looking at my new L.L. Bean catalog yesterday and found a dog bed I'm thinking of buying. It's a little bit big though. But it's very cute; and my dogs would love it. I'd have to rearrange the living room however. Hmm. We'll see. Til tomorrow.
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Wednesday, July 8, 2009 So... I'm reading the paper and having coffee this morning and there in the business section is an article about how the airlines put airfares on sale yesterday. So... I'm thinking maybe I'll go someplace; but then the article is mainly about Southwest Airlines, which I do not really like. So... then I'm thinking why don't I just stay home because that's really where I like to be; but then actually a little summer getaway over the weekend might not be a bad thing. So... now it looks like maybe I'll think about, possibly, perhaps, perchance, conceivably take a little trip. So... til tomorrow.
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Tuesday, July 7, 2009 My new book arrived. Mirrors by Eduardo Galeano. He was on BookTV last weekend talking about his book. He's a poet, storyteller, philosopher, and observer of all things good. This book is a collection of about 600 short stories with some of them being half a page. After the hour-long interview on BookTV, he said thank you and that it had been enjoyable and that it had been like "a talking conversation with a friend in a cafe." And it had been. Two friends talking about life and stories in a quiet cafe. Til tomorrow.
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Monday, July 6, 2009 The perfect antidote for all the mischief, madness, mayhem, and murder that makes up the news in today's world is the lovely and talented Miss Marple of Agatha Christie fame. I've watched Miss Marple on PBS for years and love the whole series. The actors who've graced the screen are Margaret Rutherford, Joan Hickson, Geraldine McEwan, and Julia McKenzie. I watched A Pocketful of Rye on Masterpiece Mystery on PBS last night; and voila, I'm ready to tackle the week. Til tomorrow.
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| Margaret Rutherford, Joan Hickson, Geraldine McEwan, Julia McKenzie |
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Sunday, July 5, 2009 I woke up super early this morning. Six-thirty. I watered all the plants, trimmed limbs that were rubbing the house, made coffee, read the Times and the local, walked the dogs, emailed my mom, made a list of things to do, looked for the stray cat I've been feeding, and checked to see who's on BookTV live for three hours today starting at 11:00 AM central time. John Ferling, author and historian, will be interviewed live from George and Martha Washington's Mount Vernon estate near Alexandria, Virginia. I'll be there. Til tomorrow.
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Saturday, July 4, 2009 Happy Fourth of July. I'm off to the beach with the dogs who are hoping to find a rotting fish to roll in or perhaps a sand crab to sniff or maybe even another dog in whom they will be wildly interested for about 30 seconds before wandering off to their next big find. The life of the canine. Pretty sweet. Til tomorrow.
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Friday, July 3, 2009 The newspaper this week has been full of Fourth of July advertisements promising great buys on everything from dog food to stainless steel appliances. But Noam Chomsky said that our culture is one of unnecessary consumerism. So, I'm not going to buy anything. Sales or not. Needed or not. I'll see if I can get by with the excessive amount of stuff I already have. That's not to say that I have everything I need. If I were going to buy just a couple of things, I'd buy...Hmm. Til tomorrow.
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Thursday, July 2, 2009 Noam Chomsky was on BookTV this week; and wow. He's probably the smartest man on the planet. The crowd loved him. He's retired from MIT. His book Syntactic Structures was published in 1968 and explained the mathematical relationships of the structures of our langauge - all languages. All languages are basically the same and can be analyzed according to the rules of each particular language. He's become wildly popular in the last three decades as a world thinker who speaks for freedom, peace, democracy, and humanitarianism with every word he speaks and with every stroke of his pen. Dr. Chomsky. Someone with whom I'd like to have dinner. Til tomorrow.
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Wednesday, July 1, 2009 It's a new month. Cool. I bought new wireless speakers for my computer and my stereo; and they are FABULOUS. Now I can listen to Phantom or NPR or Ira Glass in every room in the house and even outside if it ever cools off. Til tomorrow.
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Tuesday, June 30, 2009 Sharon Creech wrote a great book titled, Love that Dog. She got the story, the rhythm, the references all perfect. I did read Love that Cat as well but didn't relate to it as much as the dog book. Ms. Creech seems to understand boys, dogs, poems, love, loss, and everything in between. I've read that book probably a hundred times. Til tomorrow.
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Monday, June 29, 2009 *Gretchen Peters wrote Seeds of Terror: How Heroin is Bankrolling the Taliban and al Qaeda. She explained on BookTV how Afghan soldiers are forcing farmers to grow poppy under a system where the farmers stay poor and in debt to the Taliban...forever. She explained how Pakistan is divided into four regions without a basic government so that soldiers are running the rural areas. The bookshop she spoke in was packed with smart people who asked amazing questions. *Rick Steves wrote Travel as a Political Act. He explained more about Iran in an hour an BookTV than most federal officials know. People in Iran want the exact same things that people everywhere want. He explained all the misunderstandings the west has about Iranian practices. His talk was brilliant. *Richard Nisbett wrote Intelligence and How to Get It: Why Schools and Cultures Count. He got a few things right. But he missed it when he said that there were computer programs that could teach kids to read. He also missed it when he criticized Head Start and lauded Kipp Schools. He also missed it by quoting a lot of research that is correlative and not causative. He did say that eighty percent of the variation in test scores of children in school is attributed to factors beyond the classroom, which means that schools are being held accountable for factors that are not in their power to address. He is Distinguished University Professor at University of Michigan. I'd like to see those three people in the President's Cabinet. Til tomorrow.
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| Gretchen, Rick, Richard |
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Sunday, June 27, 2009 Three actresses I want to remember are Colleen Dewhurst, Geraldine Page, and Maureen Stapleton. Ms. Dewhurst 1924-1991 Ms. Page 1924-1987 Ms. Stapleton 1925-2006 Be well. Do good work. Keep in touch. Til tomorrow.
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Saturday, June 27, 2009 Bertrand Russell (May 18, 1872-February 2, 1970) won the Nobel Prize in 1950. His grandfather was the Prime Minister of England in 1846 and again for a year in 1865. Bertrand Russell's abilities, accomplishments, and work ethic, not to mention his four marriages, were all well above average. Til tomorrow.
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| 1950 |
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Friday, June 26, 2009 I started rereading The Conquest of Happiness by Bertrand Russell last night. The first time I read it was several years ago at which time I underlined the parts that I connected with the strongest. As I am now rereading the book, I find that I still very much like the underlined parts. I'm sure I'll continue to reread this tome from time to time. Til tomorrow.
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Thursday, June 25, 2009 I think about the book Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance probably once a week. I read that book many years ago; and I like the notions in it. I probably should reread it; but here's what I remember: It's immoral for inorganic needs to be met before biological needs. It's immoral for biological needs to be met before society's needs. It's immoral for society's needs to be met before intellectual needs. It's immoral for intellectual needs to be met before the need for goodness. Goodness. I don't see enough goodness out there these days. Where is all the goodness hiding. And it's not just that there's evidence of too much greed, hegemony, misogyny, and misunderstandings, there's simply too little goodness. Maybe it's the heat. That's it. Maybe there's just too much summer heat. Goodness is out there in the same proportion that it's always been there; it's just too hot. And goodness is taking a break til it cools off. Til tomorrow.
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Wednesday, June 24, 2009 Brundibar is a special folk tale told in book form by the incomparable Maurice Sendak and Tony Kushner. Within the pages of this book is a tale of desperation, hardship, longing, effort, selfishness, and selflessness - all rolled up into the simple characters of a child's book. And yet, the book contains allegorical references to the holocaust and to human inhumanity towards others. In the end, after survivors make sense of their lives, lives hope. Or at least the hope of hope. Til tomorrow.
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Tuesday, June 23, 2009 Yesterday, I was six weeks behind in reading my copies of The New York Times Book Review. But today, I'm only four weeks behind. Yea. And from June 14, 2009, I've found my next book which I'm ordering on Amazon as soon as they repair their website. It's down. Can you believe it? GM, Ford, AIG? Yes. But Amazon. No way. Yes, way. So, I have to wait til they're back up before I can click. Name of the book? Oh yea. Forgot to write it down. The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate. Til tomorrow.
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Monday, June 22, 2009 Agatha Christie's Hercule Poirot character is one of my favorites; and the series started a new season on PBS last night with David Suchet as Monsieur Poirot, the Belgian detective who lives in London and speaks English with a French/Belgian accent. Years ago, I saw him drinking from a glass and silver tea holder; and I wanted one. So, last night, I found him again drinking from a glass and silver tea holder. One hour later, to have a closer look I found the scene on youtube and then found a site where I can buy one just like his.
http://www.therussianstore.com/russian-tea-glass-holder-gh00003a02.html Now all I have to do is find $197 plus shipping. Til tomorrow.
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Sunday, June 21, 2009 On the footstool this morning there were five back issues of The New York Times Book Review; and since it's Sunday, there are now six. How did I get so far behind. Summertime. That must be it. Til tomorrow.
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Saturday, June 20, 2009 Stephen Sondheim's Company was interesting. It told a story of couples and people who are either married or considering marriage. The story was told through song. All the musicians were totally excellent and had been preparing their talents all their lives. They were flawless. The audience was responsive and loved them. It was filmed live as the play was produced on Broadway. It was great to see and hear the end-product of an effort put together by so much talent, dedication, and brilliance. There will never be another Mr. Sondheim. Seven Tony Awards, seven Grammys, one Oscar, one Pulitzer Prize, hit after hit, and still going strong. Til tomorrow.
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| Born March 22, 1930 |
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Friday, June 19, 2009 I stumbled onto Company and can't wait to watch it. Broadway, Amazon, Stephen Sondheim. Right in my living room. Til tomorrow.
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Thursday, June 18, 2009 I heard someplace that they have developed a paint that totally and completely absorbs light so that if an object is painted, it will be invisible. I wonder if that's true. Til tomorrow.
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Wednesday, June 17, 2009 I bought a new DVD; and I'm going to watch it soon. Til tomorrow.
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Tuesday, June 16, 2009 I'm between books at the moment. So, instead of rushing into a new title, I'm looking at some things I've already read. I read Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez in 1989 and knew it was a masterpiece. I'm not sure I followed all the writing techniques Mr. Marquez used; but I knew I was reading something worthwhile and compelling and it was effortless. I read the book, reread parts of it, thought about it all, and then pretty soon, it was done. It's done; but it's still in my head. Another book I loved was Isaac Stern's My First 79 Years. He knew he had a talent for the violin at a very early age. His parents supported him. He practiced, practiced, practiced and didn't just wind up at Carnegie Hall, he saved Carnegie Hall with a massive fundraiser and refurbishing that makes it one of the best acoustical halls in the world. My favorite seat (actually the only seat I've ever sat in there) is Box 28, Seat 3. Til tomorrow.
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Monday, June 15, 2009 Gosh, looking at a blank screen deciding what to write is tough this morning. I've decided to set aside Herzog and Dear Husband for now and am finishing up with The Wordy Shipmates. I haven't decided what I'll read next; and that's bothering me. I like to have something lined up. Hmm. Til tomorrow.
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Sunday, June 14, 2009 It was a simple, Sunday pleasure reading the Arts and Leisure section of the The New York Times this morning. I was actually smiling throughout the whole thing. Don't know why really. A clever interview. A nice phrase. A new idea. A compelling photo. A bit of hope. A reminder of really good things. That's it I suppose. Reminders of really good things were sprinkled throughout. One thing that I'm still thinking about from today's Arts and Leisure section is that someone said we should always have hope for something big in our lives even if we don't think we'll get it. It's good to have something to hope for. Hope is good. Til tomorrow.
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| Starbucks, NYC, 56th and 6th, December, 2006 |
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Saturday, June 13, 2009 My desk is by the window; and the trees and hedges sit there while I work. The birds flit in, fly away; the postman comes and goes; the garbage gets collected; a thief drives by plotting for the new wheelbarrow that replaced the old wheelbarrow stolen by the thief's brother last month; UPS drops off an order of Harry and David's relish; a lawn service mows the weeds next door; and the neighborhood dog drops by to check on Chino. All that ... from that window. Til tomorrow.
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Friday, June 12, 2009 When I was a kid, the city pool was where I spent my summers when I wasn't at the library. Swimming and reading; swimming and reading; swimming and reading. It has a nice rhythm; and it was a great way to grow up. Inexpensive and worthwhile. I'm going to start making a list of things that are inexpensive and worthwhile. The main character in Pam Munoz Ryan's book, Becoming Naomi Leon, makes lists in her notebook. She has all kinds of lists. They are lovely. Gaston, Andrew, Pam, Naomi. That's a pretty good list right there. Til tomorrow.
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Thursday, June 11, 2009 Gaston Leroux (1868-1927) wrote a novel, The Phantom of the Opera, published in 1910 in France. Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber transformed the novel into opera in 1986 in London. I've seen it twice on Broadway and plan to see it again this year. In the meantime, I bought the original London cast on CD with Michael Crawford and Sarah Brightman singing the lead roles and all directed by Harold Prince. It arrived yesterday; and it's transformative. Love, romance, pain, anger, new hopes, old hurts, all of it wrapped around melodies, words, and orchestrations that don't seem possible. And yet there it is - housed in a CD case, shrounded in plastic wrap. Monsieur Leroux. He had no idea what he'd done. Til tomorrow.
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| Written as a novel by Gaston Leroux. |
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Wednesday, June 10, 2009 The best parts of the Tony Awards this week: 1. the three dancers who won the Tony for Billy Elliot. They were so talented and sincere in their demeanor. 2. Martha Plimpton. I thought she should have won the Tony for her category. She was really wonderful in Pal Joey. 3. Angela Lansbury. She's 83 and won the Tony for best actress in Blithe Spirit. 4. Radio City Music Hall. It's a grand theatre (particularly the premium seats). 5. To be a star on old Broad Way. How thrilling. Til tomorrow.
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| Times Square, NYC, January, 2009 |
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Tuesday, June 9, 2009 Anna Quindlen is someone I've admired for the longest of times. Books and writing have basically been her life. She's been on BookTV many times; but there's one time during an interview where she outlined specifically how books and reading them have impacted her and her family. I bought the DVD from BookTV; and now I can't find it. So, that's my task for the day. Finding Anna. Til tomorrow.
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| Anna Quindlen |
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Monday, June 8, 2009 I was right. The three-hour, live interview with Bill Ayers on BookTV yesterday was great. He was gracious and clear when questioned about his anti-war activism during the 60s; and he was scholarly when he spoke about the need to support teachers, rescind NCLB, and make our schools the best of the best for the sake of justice and democracy. Just what I needed to hear. I'm going to send him a thank you note along with a note of encouragement to keep on with his agenda for social justice. Not that he needs a note from me. But sometimes it's hard, most of the time it's hard, to be a lone voice against oppression. So, who knows, maybe he would appreciate a little note of thanks. He was great. Til tomorrow.
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Sunday, June 7, 2009 Bill Ayers is on BookTV live today at noon Eastern Time for three hours. It's going to be great. Til tomorrow.
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Saturday, June 6, 2009 My friends Barbara and Chuck Flanigan of Rainbow Books gave me two signed-by-the-author books by Amy Hempel titled Unleashed and The Collected Stories. How lucky I am 1) to be able to read and 2) to have such wonderfully bookish friends. Til tomorrow.
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Friday, June 5, 2009 It's so easy to make a mess and so difficult to keep things tidy. I've been thinking about hiring someone to make a list of all my books with the shelf number beside each title. Then I could alphabetize the list. When I needed a particular book, I could find it on the list, go to the designated shelf, and voila. There the book would be. Sounds like a great idea. It's not the Dewey Decimal system; but it would work splendidly. Til tomorrow.
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Thursday, June 4, 2009 My friend Scot Hoffman came up with a Writer's Bill of Rights; and I added six or so here and there.
The RIGHT to write.
The RIGHT to choose a topic to write on.
The RIGHT to play when you write.
The RIGHT to write to others.
The RIGHT to time, space, and the right materials needed for
writing.
The RIGHT not to worry about spelling in a draft.
The RIGHT to share your writing.
The RIGHT not to share your writing.
The RIGHT to write about what you know.
The RIGHT to write about what you don't know.
The RIGHT to illustrate.
The RIGHT to decide when to stop writing.
The RIGHT to help and mentorship in your writing.
The RIGHT to have a writing partner.
The RIGHT to seek and choose an audience for your writing.
The RIGHT to use ideas and words that are uncommon.
The RIGHT to create ideas that other people might not like.
The RIGHT to write the truth.
The RIGHT to subsequently change your mind about what is
true.
The RIGHT to hope that others will appreciate what you've
written.
Til tomorrow.
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Wednesday, June 3, 2009
Readers' Bill of Rights by Daniel Pennack (1994) from his book Better than Life.
The
right not to read.
The right to
skip pages.
The right not
to finish.
The right to
reread.
The right to read anything.
The right to
escapism.
The right to
read anywhere.
The right to
browse.
The right to
read out loud.
The right to
not defend your tastes.
Til tomorrow.
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Tuesday, June 2, 2009 Bob Herbert writes an op-ed column for the NY Times each Tuesday and Saturday.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/30/opinion/30herbert.html
On May 30, 2009 he wrote about the genocide, poverty, and inhumanity that still occurs in poverty-stricken countries where misinformed, starving soldiers are given guns and free reign to express their misery. They do. Women, children, each other. All are targets; and none are spared. Humanitarian aid goes to corrupt officials. Those who are starving never see the aid; and they continue to starve and die or be killed outright. Bob Herbert and Elie Wiesel bring all this to the world's attention. Mr. Wiesel survived the Holocaust and is pursuing a better world through his books and activism. It's difficult to know about all of this. But it's better to know. Ignorance is not bliss. Til tomorrow.
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| Bob Herbert and Elie Wiesel |
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Monday, June 1, 2009 I'm still bummed about the thief who stole my wheelbarrow. Whether it's that sort of petty thief or thieves on the scale of Bernie Madoff, it's still maddening that a person will reach out and simply take what is not theirs. Moving on. BookExpo America was this past weekend in NYC and was partly broadcast on BookTV. There was a session with Tina and Harry Brown as MCs with four publishing-house CEOs including:
Macmillan, HarperCollins, Simon & Schuster, and Perseus Books with John Sargent, Brian Murray, Carolyn Reidy, and David Steinberger, respectively.
It all took place at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in NYC located at 655 W. 34th. These four CEOs are in the book business up to their eyeballs. Their whole world revolves around finding great books to publish and figuring out ways to get readers to buy them. They discussed everything from library books to Kindle books to pirated books to turn-around time to laws prohibiting them from talking about the pricing of books with each other. It was GREAT!!! And there wasn't a thief among them. Just all good people doing brilliant work. Til tomorrow.
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Sunday, May 31, 2009 Two non-bookish things. First, Susan Boyle on Britain's Got Talent came in second place last night. If she'd come in first, she'd have gotten to sing for the Queen. Surely, the Queen will seek her out for a song or two even though the rules say that only the first-place winner sings before royalty. Second, someone stole my wheelbarrow last night. I reported it to the police and told them if they catch a thief with a black wheelbarrow, it's mine; and I want it back. Til tomorrow.
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Saturday, May 30, 2009 I've been listening to an album by Harry Connick, Jr. titled, Blue Light, Red Light that he produced in 1991. I didn't really know I had it. I have a Sony CD player that holds 51 CDs; and one day, I heard this music playing. It was great. I didn't recognize it even though it was playing on my own system. I walked over to the player, looked at the CD, and wow, what a surprise. A perfect musician right in my own house. Til tomorrow.
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Friday, May 29, 2009 My copy of Herzog (1964) by Saul Bellow arrived yesterday from a used bookseller on Amazon. I also picked up a copy of The Other Wind (2001) by Ursula K. Le Guin. I read a page in each before deciding which one I'd start. It only took a moment to choose. I put aside the fantasy of Le Guin and opted for the realism of Bellow. For now. Til tomorrow.
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Thursday, May 28, 2009 One thing does lead to another as they say. I'm still thinking about Alice Neel this morning. So, I looked up the American Academy of Arts and Letters. Their membership role for both living and deceased members is at: http://www.artsandletters.org/academicians2_current.php It's lovely to look at the roster and see all the people who gave us all the best in art and literature. The academy is located across the street from a cemetery named Trinity Park. The academy is located at 633 W. 155th in NYC across the street from the Hudson River. Til tomorrow.
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| Maybe I'll go there and visit some day. For real. |
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Wednesday, May 27, 2009 I watched this documentary on Sundance last night about Alice Neel (1900-1984). She had a difficult life as a painter, a woman, and a mother. Her grandson made the documentary. Andrew Neel. Ms. Neel was eventually admitted to the American Academy of Arts and Letters but only after a lifetime of "almost making it" as a renowned painter. And of course, eventually, she received the acclaim that should have been hers all along. In her portrait paintings, she captured the essence of the person and then captured the essence of the times as well in each of her 100s of paintings. She painted, taught, exhibited her work, and eventually saw success. The 90 minute documentary is complete and thorough. There is nothing on the web that comes close to revealing the real-life beliefs, struggles, and accomplishments of Alice Neel except for this video documentary. Her son Hartley said her love for them was unqualified. That was perhaps the best moment in the film. Among others, Ms. Neel painted Kate Millett who wrote a dissertation on sexual politics. I read Ms. Millett's The Looney Bin Trip in 1990 and think about that book still today. Ms. Millett documented the treatment she endured for her manic-depressive state. She's a compelling thinker and writer. She along with Gloria Steinem, Germaine Greer, Betty Friedan, and Marilyn French gave the women's movement strength and courage through their actions and their writing. A photo of this week's Time magazine shows Michelle Obama on the cover beside the archived portrait of Ms. Millett from 1970. I wonder if Mrs. Obama knows about Alice Neel. Til tomorrow.
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Tuesday, May 26, 2009 Elaine Showalter said the first writer she remembered affecting her was Mary McCarthy (1912-1989). Ms. McCarthy wrote about life and politics beginning with stories of young women from Vassar from which she graduated in 1933. Ms. McCarthy corresponded with the philosopher and writer Hannah Arendt (1906-1975) and edited the book written by Dr. Arendt titled The Life of the Mind. I wanted to hear the voices of these two women and found rare audio for each.
McCarthy from 1963: http://www.nytimes.com/books/97/11/23/home/mccarthy.html?_r=1 Arendt from 1968: http://www.bard.edu/arendtcollection/digitalproject.htm
Here's the thing: one thing leads to another; and as Robert Frost said, "It goes on." Til tomorrow.
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Monday May 25, 2009 On the show, After Words, on BookTV yesterday, Elaine Showalter was interviewed by Sara Nelson. Dr. Showalter is professor emeritus from Princeton. Ms. Nelson is former editor-in-chief of Publishers Weekly. It doesn't get better than that. For an hour, they talked about Dr. Showalter's new book, A Jury of Her Peers: American Women Writers from Anne Bradstreet to Annie Proulx. The book documents the lives and works of America women writers from 1650 to 2000. The criteria used for the women to be included in the book is two-fold: First and foremost, the book had to be interesting and compelling to read. In other words, the book had to be written well and had to tell a good story. Second, the author had to have had an impact on history. That's it. Those two criteria. Many writers were left out; and some rather obscure writers were included. But I trust Dr. Showalter's vast knowledge of literature to choose the 250 American women writers who 1) tell a good story and 2) changed history. The conversation on BookTV last night was one that I'd like to have in my living room every evening over dinner. Til tomorrow.
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| Elaine Showalter, photo by Claudio Vazquez, left. Sara Nelson, right. |
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Sunday, May 24, 2009 Reasonable human beings have the capacity to hold two or more disparate thoughts in their heads at the same time. The local paper and the NY Times this morning had several stories that shined a light on four wildly different lifestyles: guns, proms, words, and race:
1. Families in a small Texas town were banding together to try and get a couple of their neighbors to stop having target practice with rifles in their back yards.
2. In Georgia, seniors in a small Georgia town had two separate proms. One for whites; the other for blacks.
3. Deborah Solomon interviewed a man who is responsible for Orwellian doublespeak for the Repulican party so that universal health-care is now dubbed " the Washington takeover" and drilling for oil is now called "energy exploration" while government eavesdropping on email is called "electronic intercepts."
4. A Lebanese-American woman married an African-American man in 2005 and now have two children named Hendrix and Fairuz who listen to their parents speak Arabic, English, and French in their post-race home.
So, all those stories in today's papers. Til tomorrow.
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Saturday, May 23, 2009 When I was a kid, my grandmother called it Cemetery Day. She'd take flowers to the various graves of the family; and we'd go with her. It was always a huge affair with much planning, flower arranging, food, dressing up, and getting the car ready. I also remember going to people's homes "to visit." We'd drop in, sit on the couch, and "visit." I haven't done that for 30 years. It seems unthinkable now to just go to someone's house and talk without an agenda, a purpose, a schedule, or a firm departure time in mind. What were we thinking? We were thinking, "Hey, it's summer; what's the rush?" Til tomorrow.
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Friday, May 22, 2009 David Korten, last weekend on BookTV, talked about his new book Agenda for a New Economy: From Phantom Wealth to Real Wealth. His talk is available for viewing at http://booktv.org/watch.aspx?ProgramId=LW-10284 His explanation of the world's financial collapse points to the greed, excess, and lack of watchdog controls on Wall Street. The world seems to agree. Greed, excess, lack of controls. Those traits brought the world to its knees. During his talk at Elliott Bay Book Company in Seattle, he was asked what kind of economy he favored: capitalism, socialism, communism, or some other ism. His reply was - he's in favor of a free market economy. He explained that capitalism concentrates wealth in the hands of those who already have wealth. Thus, he favors a free market economy that will create a better world and opportunities for all. He favors the Gross National Happiness Index (GNHI) as opposed to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) as a measure of how successful our nation and the world are. He wants to end war, reduce automobile dependence, and create a sense of community for us all. He wants local living economies based on people-friendly and earth-friendly businesses. Me too. Til tomorrow.
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Thursday, May 21, 2009 Hurt, sadness, anger. Those are words I read that described the film Schenectady with Philip Seymour Hoffman as the lead character. And it's true. That film is about a man who lives his life amongst those three themes. I loved the movie; it takes a hard look at what everyone wants: stability, happiness, caring. In this particular movie, Mr. Hoffman's character goes through angst and ennui his whole life and never seems to quite get it together even though he had many chances. A similar theme is found in a book by Joyce Carol Oates whose characters have far more than their share of despair in Dear Husband. I've read three of the book's fourteen short stories. So far, all of the various characters have experienced a full range of hurt, sadness, and anger beyond anything they deserve. Makes you glad there's sunshine to help mediate the rain and certainly makes you glad that Philip Seymour Hoffman and Joyce Carol Oates are two gifted people who have chosen to help illuminate our way. Til tomorrow.
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| Mr. Hoffman and Ms. Oates |
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Wednesday, May 20, 2009 Half-Price Books didn't have Herzog yesterday; so I bought it from Amazon. The sooner it arrives, the better. I also purchased yesterday online from Walgreens three 20" x 30" posters made from photos I took of the waves in the Gulf. And finally, yesterday I tried to purchase a new desk for my living room but couldn't find one the right size. So, today it's time to clean out the garage. Maybe. Perhaps. We'll see. Til tomorrow.
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Tuesday, May 19, 2009 I can't seem to stop working. I rearranged my study yesterday, removed my ten-year old computer, and threw away two bags of stuff that before yesterday seemed essential. Lighten the load, clean out the cobwebs, polish it up, and streamline the day. That's my new motto. On NPR last night, a reviewer was talking about writers who write with style. The reviewer lamented the fact that with so many people dashing off emails, pecking out text messages, processing text, sound, music, and messages all simultaneously that we were all losing the ability to appreciate style. He said that the master of style was Saul Bellow in Herzog: A Novel written in 1964. The reviewer said to go to that book, open a page, any page, and read it out loud. That's style. That's what he said. The incomparable Saul Bellow, with his insight, widsom, and ability to capture the foibles of life, gave us a main character named Moses Herzog written up with style. So, I'm off to Half-Price books to see what I can find under the Bs. Til tomorrow.
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Monday, May 18, 2009 There was a panel of writers from The NY Times yesterday on BookTV. They discussed how they put the newspaper together each day. They start with a meeting at 10:00 AM each morning. There are about seven or eight different editors who pitch stories to the executive editor, Bill Keller. Then he decides what goes on the front page. The main piece is always on the right side at the top. The second-most important piece is on the left side at the top. Below the fold are the other important pieces. They defined news as something of importance that is new. They talked about the conflict between providing people with news that they need versus providing people with news that they want. For example, providing readers with analysis on what is happening in Afghanistan versus providing readers with a story about Jay Leno is always a conflict for them. They said they don't choose stories based on what will sell newspapers but rather what is important for the world to know. The NY Times is the nation's paper of record. This paper attracts the best writers with the most ambitions for writing well day after day and for playing a sustaining part in reporting the news. They admitted they were slow to understand that they had been misled about weapons of mass destruction in Iraq and that had they been quicker to expose the misinformation, the war would have been different. They concluded by explaining the impact of the web on their readership. Older readers read the paper. Younger readers read online. It was a great panel discussion; and I wish them well. Til tomorrow.
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| Bill Keller, photo by Tony Cenicola |
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Sunday, May 17, 2009 Coffee, the Times, walk the dogs, a nice lunch on the patio. Or. Clean out the garage, mop the kitchen floor, do some laundry, collapse on the couch. Til tomorrow.
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Saturday, May 16, 2009 My study is a mess. I've been going to clean it up for the past 10 years but.....I've been busy. So, this week, maybe. Maybe I'll find a place for each piece of paper, paper clip, pencil, pen, old computer, pinking sheers, bills, files, and photos. But wait. A famous photo of William F. Buckley, Jr. in his study seems to imply that productivity and mess go together. So, maybe I'll just leave it all exactly where it is; and maybe I'll even add a Tiffany lamp to the mix. Til tomorrow.
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| Photo by Suzy Allman for The NewYorkTimes |
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Friday, May 15, 2009 My new book arrived this week. So, now I have, recommended by Anna Quindlen, A Field Guide to Writing Fiction by A. B. Guthrie, Jr.; and I have my newest, recommended by Christopher Buckley, On Writing Well: The Classic Guide to Writing Nonfiction by William Zinsser. A great summer reread and a great summer read. Plus, I've decided to treat myself this summer by lowering the thermostat to 79 degrees during the day instead of 81. Cool readers should not break a sweat. Til tomorrow.
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Thursday, May 14, 2009 Cristo and Jeannne-Claude are artists. Two of their many art exhibits are extra compelling. One was in Tokyo titled The Umbrellas in 1991; the other was in Central Park titled The Gates in 2005. Their work is unbelievable in scope and purpose. And of course, artists do art for art's sake and for no other reason other than perhaps to pay the mortgage. These installations, as well as all their work, are photographed exclusively by the eye of Wolfgang Volz. http://www.christojeanneclaude.net/index.shtml
I don't know why I woke up thinking about those two installations today unless it's because I just booked a ticket for NYC and it's supposed to rain this weekend. That's probably it. Art is a luxury. It shouldn't be though. It should be an every day occurrence. But it isn't. So, I look to Christo, Jeanne-Claude, and Wolfgang for their interpretation of life. Til tomorrow.
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| Photos by Wolfgang Volz |
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Wednesday, May 13, 2009 I recently thought of a book from the past...A Dog Called Kitty by Bill Wallace. Kitty takes me back to where I first met Mr. Wallace. He doesn't remember me; but I remember him. We lived in the same small university town; and he came and talked to my university students about his book. I saw him recently from a distance at a conference; he's still the same. He's a writer totally focused on telling good stories. He continues to have a remarkable career. His writing is accessible and kid-friendly. He used to tell the story that he would give chapters of Kitty to his fourth-grade students for their critique. They helped him edit and tone it up. That's a great strategy for launching a writer...real-world readers telling you how it is before you go to press. Gotta run. Time to walk the dogs. Til tomorrow.
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Tuesday, May 12, 2009 It's such a thrill to write these few lines and listen to Liza Minelli and Joel Gray in Cabaret. Plus, I've ordered a new book by Richard Rothstein, Grading Education. He gave a brilliant talk on BookTV this weekend about getting accountability right. He says our current system is wrong, wrong, wrong. Mr. Obama and Mr. Duncan are you listening? Copy and paste this link to watch Mr. Rothstein's 1 hour and 15 minute lecture: http://www.c-spanarchives.org/library/index.php?main_page=product_video_info&products_id=285403-1 Til tomorrow.
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Monday, May 11, 2009 Seems I've been duped. Possibly. ARGH. A new book is out about how NYC put on a world-class PR effort to make people fall in love with NYC at just about the time I fell in love with NYC in the 80s. Movies of the NYC skyline. Sweeping helicopter shots of the city that never sleeps. Broadway stars beckoning theater goers. Those cute little graphic slogans. It was all PR. ? So....the choices are: a. ignore the new book b. reexamine WHY and IF I love NYC c. read the new book and then ignore it d. ignore the new book e. go to NYC immediately and seek reaffirmation f. ignore the new book Til tomorrow.
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Sunday, May 10, 2009 It's Mother's Day; and I sent my mother a lovely Mikasa lead crystal vase. And now I'm thinking about buying one for myself. But in today's paper, there was an article about the virtues of frugality; so maybe I'll just use a vase I already have but which is not as nice. But then again, why not. Why not buy something lovely that I don't really need but which I want. Let me count the ways. Ha. So, anyhoo, here I am in the middle of reading three books when I'm trying so hard to finish one book before I begin the next. The Wordy Shipmates by Sarah Vowell when I'm in the mood for a great account of Puritans. Dear Husband by Joyce Carol Oates when I'm in the mood for the best prose on the planet according to John Updike who said Ms. Oates was the woman of letters for all time. And finally, The Magic City by E. Nesbit when reality doesn't quite do it for me. Happy Mother's Day. Til tomorrow.
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Saturday, May 9, 2009 I've been at an IRA conference in Minneapolis this week. While there, I took advantage of the Kerlan collection at the University of Minnesota. This is a collection of papers and art from authors and illustrators of children's literature. Thousands and thousands of documents are housed in boxes and are available to those who research and use children's literature. For four hours, I looked at and studied manuscripts, editors' notes, letters from children, original artwork, correspondence, and press sheets for: Tomie de Paola Simms Taback Katherine Patterson Beatrix Potter Eve Bunting Eve Merriam Margaret Wise Brown Walter Dean Myers Eric Carle Ezra Jack Keats Randolph Caldecott Lois Lowry Charlotte Zolotow It was great. The best was a handwritten letter from Margaret Wise Brown to Ursula Nordstrom. Next was an ink drawing by Beatrix Potter dated 1928. It all revealed a great deal about humanity. Til tomorrow.
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Tuesday, May 5, 2009 Anna Quindlen recommended the book A Field Guide to Writing Fiction by A. B. Guthrie. Christopher Buckley recommended the book On Writing Well by William Zinsser. I bought Mr. Guthrie's book some time ago and read it. Great. I bought Mr. Zinsser's yesterday and am waiting for Amazon to ship it. Double great. Til tomorrow.
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Monday, May 4, 2009 Thirty years ago, I had this cookbook with a cheesecake recipe that used cottage cheese and no crust. It was authentic and perfect. The only thing I remembered about the cookbook was that it had the word country in the title and it was green. Last week, I went on ebay and found what could be the book. It arrived Friday; and voila. Tis. Page 350. 3 c. cottage cheese, drained 5 eggs, slightly beaten 1/4 tsp salt 1 tsp vanilla 1/4 tsp. almond extract 1 c. sugar 3/4 c. sifted flour 1 & 1/2 c. milk Smoosh, blend, combine, add, and pour into buttered 9" square pan that sits inside a larger pan of water. Bake 1 hour at 350 degrees. Surface may be pale it says. Farm Journal's Country Cookbook is the best cookbook I own. Til tomorrow.
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Sunday, May 3, 2009 I'm researching the iphone and thinking I'll wait to buy until the next iteration comes which is hopefully this summer and even more hopefully with Verizon and not AT&T. I'd like to have the internet 24/7 no matter where I am. That's the deal. But I want the iphone to have: external speaker voice-activated dialing webmail through the internet landscape typing in all apps Word cut and paste capability ability to send photos turn by turn GPS with voice wireless printing of email and Word USB port a cool dock-charger an affordable plug and play stereo And I want it for less than $100 a month. Hmm. Maybe the iphone already has all that. I'll check. Til tomorrow.
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Saturday, May 2, 2009 Last night, I bought a used book by Bill Martin, Jr. He wrote a series of books titled Sounds of Language. They're full of poems, rhymes, chants, pictures, ideas, and language. These books are designed to teach children to read from an aesthetic and holistic stance rather than a cognitive-based, skills-oriented approach. Too bad they're out of print and unused in today's schools. Mr. Martin was a lovely person who gave us everything from brown bears to polar bears. Til tomorrow.
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| http://www.billmartinjr.com/ |
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Friday, May 1, 2009 Today, I'm shopping for a new patio chair. The one I have has a crack down the middle. I also have a rusty side table that is about to collapse. It's difficult in these austere times to know when to call it when. If something is just semi-broken or semi-dysfunctional, is it best to keep it and make do or toss it. The notion of repairing and making do with what you have is a strong one. But still, cracked chairs and rusty tables seem to be beyond the pale. It's all about the money. Spend it. Save it. Spend it. Save it. Money makes the world go round. Til tomorrow.
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Thursday, April 30, 2009 The end of the month. Wow. Where has spring gone? The seasons are one of the few things you can count on completely. It's nice to be outside enjoying trees, grass, birds, bugs, bees, breeze, pollen, and all the rest. Reminds me of my favorite book of all time (in addition to Catcher in the Rye) titled My Side of the Mountain copyright 1959 by Jean Craighead George. Ms. George came from a family of writers, thinkers, and naturalists. After I read her book, I was ready to go live in the forest in a hollowed out tree and enjoy the primal nature of life. But then of course, I wouldn't have the internet, my burr coffee grinder, or hot water. So, I'll just enjoy the book. But Ms. George and her family knew the value of nature as a true wonder of the world. I never get tired of planting things and watching them grow. Til tomorrow.
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| http://www.jeancraigheadgeorge.com/index.html |
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Wednesday, April 29, 2009 I bought a hummingbird feeder yesterday and some nectar. I've hung it on the patio; and I'm conducting an experiment. There are four plastic flowers with yellow centers for the hummingbirds to use. I removed two of the yellow centers to make the holes larger. I'm going to see if the hummingbirds prefer the yellow centers or the bigger holes. Can't wait to see what they do. Til tomorrow.
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| Yellow on the left, no yellow on the right |
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Tuesday, April 28, 2009 I bought eight Betty and Veronica comic books on ebay last week; and they arrived in the mail yesterday. They are wonderful!!!!!!!!!!! I'm going to compare them to the newest graphic novels for children like Seadogs by Lisa Wheeler and Mark Siegel and see how they stack up. I grew up on comic books; and so to find these eight in pristine condition selling for originally 35 cents is very cool. The ebay seller stored them in plastic sleeves designed for comic books; so I feel, somewhat, like they're collector's items that I should house in a museum. But I want to read them, so out they'll come. But then, I'll put them back for safe keeping. Til tomorrow.
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Monday, April 27, 2009 Christopher Buckley wrote a wonderful piece for The New York Times Magazine yesterday. He talked about the life and death of his mum and pup, Pat and William F. Buckley, Jr. It was great prose. His parents were dismissive of him throughout most of his life it seems. They were very busy being grand and acerbic. Mrs. Buckley (1926-2007) and Mr. Buckley, Jr. (1925-2008) lived well; but like most, they died rather poorly in bad health and in a state much less than grand. Christopher Buckley will be on BookTV live on Sunday, May 3 at 11:00 AM Central Time. I'll be there. Til tomorrow.
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| William, Christopher, Pat THE BUCKLEYS |
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Sunday, April 26, 2009 Coffee. The Times. Bette. Chicago. Just another ordinary Sunday. Til tomorrow.
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Saturday, April 25, 2009 I was in Half-Price Books yesterday and found The Magic City published in 1910 by E. Nesbit. I became interested in Ms. Nesbit (1858-1924) after I heard J. K. Rowling say that Ms. Nesbit had influenced her writing. Ms. Nesbit had an interesting life and wrote out of necessity to make a living it seems. On December 3, 1964, Gore Vidal published a laudatory piece about her in The New York Review of Books and skewered American librarians for not making Ms. Nesbit's work available in American libraries. He's always so clever when he skewers unless of course you're the one being skewered. http://www.nybooks.com/articles/13132? Half-Price Books, Edith Nesbit, Gore Vidal, Joanne Rowling. December 3, my birthday. Pretty great connections. Til tomorrow.
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Friday, April 24, 2009 One of the best books I own and have consistently used over the years is The Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Birds. I just saw an American Goldfinch this week in the back yard and found it in my bird book. It was spectacular although I'm sure the bird had no idea how brilliant he appeared. If we take care of the birds and their habitat, then everything else will take care of itself. If it's good for birds, it's good for all. If it's bad for birds, it's bad for all. Til tomorrow.
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| Number 408 in the Field Guide |
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Thursday, April 23, 2009 It's almost Friday and then the weekend. Yea. I went to Lowe's yesterday to look for lumber to build a deck under an oak tree in the back yard where grass won't seem to grow. I thought a deck would look better than dirt; and I thought it would be nice to sit on the deck under the tree and read a book or eat some ice cream or just sit and do nothing. It's a beautiful thing to sit and do nothing; and after that, it's a beautiful thing to rest. So, I measured, budgeted, planned, and almost bought. But today's a new day; and I'm thinking, "Why do I suddenly need a deck? I've got plenty of places already to read a book, eat some ice cream, and just sit and do nothing." Therefore, I've decided to plant some ivy instead and save my energy for another day, another project. Til tomorrow.
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Wednesday, April 22, 2009 At this moment, I'm listening to Patti Lupone sing "Everything's Coming Up Roses" from Gypsy as I write these words. Everything's Coming Up Patti for me. Yesterday, after listening to Susan Boyle sing "I Dreamed a Dream" from Les Miserables on Youtube, I listened to Ms. Lupone talk to Ms. Boyle on a CBS clip. Ms. Lupone sang that very song in London on stage in 1985. Patti's voice is one of those miracles of palate, breath, cords, sensitivity, training, and practice. She is beloved and prolific. I bought the DVD "Candide" composed by Leonard Bernstein in 1956 and performed with Patti and Kristin Chenowith in great leading lady roles in 2004 at Lincoln Center with the New York Philharmonic. To listen to them is to hear something not of this world. They are super human. Til tomorrow.
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| Photo by Chris Lee for Playbill |
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Tuesday, April 21, 2009 I love my imac. There's something very elegant about the way it works. It doesn't plod along hierarchically like a PC does. It doesn't store data in predetermined Bill Gates, Michael Dell compartments. It's all there globally hanging like stars in the sky ready to be touched when needed. Apple products are not designed to be the cheapest suit on the rack. They are designed to be intuitive and a mirror of how the mind works. PCs are more like huge adding machines that also surf the web. I'm so glad I was introduced to Apple way back when I got my first Apple IIe. I'm addicted to its beauty. Til tomorrow.
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Monday April 20, 2009 Is there anyone more compelling than Chris Hedges. He's completely devoted to language, discussion, writing, and peace. His life is so impressive. But I'm partial to people who use language well on a big scale to promote a high quality of life on this planet. And he does that. He was on BookTV yesterday debating the demise of newspapers and the critical thinking and reflection that accompanies them. His thesis is that in a world of moving images, talk radio, and celebrity news, there is very little, if any, time for people to reflect and think. Newspapers normally provide well-written and well-documented reports that give readers the chance to become informed and to reflect. I actually took notes as I listened to him speak. I've admired his stances for a long time. He's been a war correspondent for most of his career and tells the truth about violence, war, death, and corruption that are not seen in America but that are everywhere in poverty-driven countries around the world. I ordered his book American Fascists: The Christian Right and the War on America. His new book is Collateral Damage about the war in Iraq. He writes for truthdig.com after writing for the NY Times for 15 years. Til tomorrow.
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| Chris Hedges |
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Sunday, April 19, 2009 John Goodman and Jeff Goldblum...Both featured in the Times this morning. It's interesting to read about people who are good at what they do. Whether it's John or Jeff or the guy who makes springs by hand and was interviewed by Charles Kuralt one time years ago, they all have something in common. They are rather obsessive about their craft. Acting, cooking, singing, writing, bobsledding, making springs...it all requires obsession...if it's done really well. E. L. Doctorow wrote a book, The Waterworks, and used ellipses throughout the book rather than commas. So, I thought I'd give it a try this morning...I like it. Til tomorrow.
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Saturday, April 18, 2009 Michael Feldman, Ira Glass, and Garrison Keillor. Must be Saturday. But they've been usurped by Susan Boyle of the UK. Beauty has been redefined. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9lp0IWv8QZY What a voice. Til tomorrow.
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Friday, April 17, 2009 Paige Dinn did it again. She and her committee brought Jan Peck, David Davis, and Don Tate to Del Mar College for the 9th Annual Children's Book Festival. Over 1,100 four-year-olds met the authors and heard them read their books. It was a really great event. Til tomorrow.
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Thursday, April 16, 2009 I've been at AERA in San Diego for three days and was lucky to attend sessions with James Banks, Linda Darling-Hammond, Kris Gutierrez, Carol Lee, David Berliner, Elliot Eisner, Patti Lather, Elizabeth St. Pierre, Peter McLaren, Brian Street, and David Bloome. They all know what they're doing and are much appreciated for their work-ethic and brilliance. My role at this conference was to deliver a short paper in response to four research projects completed in four different countries. It was great to meet these four researchers and to talk with them about their ideas. Throughout all sessions and research, one thing was clear, the gap between what the higher ed system is doing and what the K-12 system is doing is monumentally huge. The gap could not be bigger. The folks who control higher ed are not the folks who control K-12. And they don't talk to each other. So as Big Brother gets bigger and controls more and more ideas, agendas, language, and funding, the chance for bringing these two groups together becomes less likely. Today's schools are run by the testing industry while theories of teaching and learning are not part of the schooling equation. Looks bleak. Call it jet lag or reality; but that's what it looks like this morning. Til tomorrow.
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| View from the plane. |
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Monday, April 13, 2009 In Sex and the City a Beethoven love poem was read by Sarah Jessica Parker. In Four Weddings and a Funeral a poem of loss was read by John Hannah. In Out of Africa a burial poem was read Meryl Streep. In Hollywood, there are literate people who know how to connect the ordinary with the super-ordinary. They're all lovely. Til tomorrow.
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Sunday, April 12, 2009 Deborah Solomon interviewed Joyce Carol Oates in today's NY Times Magazine. And a fly landed in my sugar bowl while I was reading the piece. The fly is dead, the sugar is down the drain, and the interview is clipped and placed in my collection of Deborah Solomon's interviews. Ms. Oates has a new book out titled, Dear Husband. She has written 56 novels. I don't see how that's possible. And then in the Arts and Leisure section, there was an extended piece about HBO's Grey Gardens starring Drew Barrymore and Jessica Lange as Little Edie and Big Edie. Christine Ebersole was fabulous on stage as both characters; and I can't believe I got to see her. She was unforgettable. And I know the movie will be great too. Saturday, April 18. Also in the Times there was a well-written piece about the death of Sylvia Plath and Ted Hughes's son, Nicholas Hughes. Mental illness is a disease just like chicken pox; and Nicholas died of mental illness in Alaska by his own hand. He had resigned his university position because of academic politics and administrative drudge work. Terribly sad. And finally, a piece about Merce Cunningham finished up the Arts and Leisure section. To write well enough to write for the NY Times should be everyone's aspiration even if you only blog or text. Til tomorrow.
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Saturday, April 11, 2009 It's stormy-looking outside this morning. Tornadoes tore through Arkansas and fires burned through Oklahoma this week. So, it's a perfect day to listen to public radio. I listen online at KSTX out of San Antonio. They have the finest, online public radio broadcast I've found. They are at 89.1 on the radio dial and at www.tpr.org online. This week, I bought 20 copies of a book for some middle school kids I'm working with. It's a fabulous book and one that I would have loved as kid. One Million Things. Til tomorrow.
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Friday, April 10, 2009 Flights to NYC are on sale. Hotels are on sale. And it takes me back to the beginning of January, '09 when I saw five great plays:
Dividing the Estate by Horton Foote Gypsy with Patti Lupone Hedda Gabler with Mary Louise Parker (Gabler rhymes with cobbler) Pal Joey with Stockard Channing and Martha Plimpton All My Sons by Arthur Miller with John Lithgow, Dianne Wiest, Patrick Wilson, and Katie Holmes I framed the Playbills from each of those and have them hanging by my computer; so I think about them all the time. If I were to go to NYC and take advantage of current sale prices, I'd go see Angela Lansbury, Rupert Evertt, and Christine Ebersole in Blithe Spirit by Noel Coward at the Shubert Theatre. Ms. Lansbury at age 83 is in top form. I'd also see Nathan Lane and Bill Irwin in Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett. And finally, I'd see August Wilson's play, Joe Turner's Come and Gone. And then I'd go to MOMA and have rigatoni for lunch and see some great art. Anyhoo, that's what I'd do if I were taking advantage of sales. Til tomorrow.
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Thursday, April 9, 2009 One day, ten years ago, I sat down and made a list of the people who have influenced me over the years. I still have the list; and I still like the people on my list. They are mostly writers; but all are great thinkers and creative activists who appear to be unstoppable: Barbara Kingsolver Jimmy Carter Michael Moore Shelby Foote Gore Vidal Gloria Steinem Toni Morrison Joseph Campbell Karen Armstrong Ken Burns Henry Louis Gates, Jr. James Michener Wallace Stegner Margaret Atwood Noam Chomsky Mario Cuomo Chris Hedges Mary Francis Berry Jane Goodall Studs Terkel Maya Angelou Bill Moyers Susan Sontag Annie Leibovitz Isaac Stern Arundhati Roy Bob Edwards bell hooks Wilma Mankiller Til tomorrow.
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Wednesday, April 8, 2009 I can find no evidence that you can spend too much time reading. Dishes to be washed? Grass to be mowed? Fence to be fixed? Not now. I'm reading. Til tomorrow.
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Tuesday, April 7, 2009 Four things arrived yesterday: Zoom illustrated by Don Tate who will be in town at Del Mar on Friday April 17; my new Consumer Reports issue featuring this month refrigerators and a Motorola Krave phone which I need but decided not to buy after reading reviews on Amazon; and two new CDs featuring Gwen Verdon in Sweet Charity and George Gershwin in Rhapsody in Blue. Who needs to leave home when the world can come to your desk. Til tomorrow.
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Monday, April 6, 2009 Deadline by Chris Crutcher. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie. The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman. The Afterlife by Gary Soto. These four coming-of-age books where the main character in each is a boy growing into adulthood have lots of things in common. I've read all four of these in the past year and have met Chris Crutcher, Sherman Alexie, and Gary Soto at various conferences and meetings. I've had to settle with meeting Neil Gaiman online by watching the Library of Congress Bookfestival for 2008. So, all four men have written about boys who grow up, try to fall in love, fight with their fist and their wits, and overcome adversity by being sensible, lucky, and eventually wise. I trust all four of these writers to tell the world and to tell the truth about how being a boy is hard work in today's society. The four main characters of these four books lead a more physical life than the emotional angst endured by Holden Caulfield in Catcher in the Rye; but they all share a message that books about boys have a lot to reveal about society, boyhood, manhood, and hope for the future. I read all these books this past year, finishing The Afterlife last night, and am left wondering why growing up has to be so difficult. Til tomorrow.
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| Coming of age for boys times four. |
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Sunday, April 5, 2009 I'm in the middle of four different books in spite of my new year's resolution to read one book at a time. Sarah Vowell's book on the Puritans and the Massachusetts Bay Colony is really interesting. It's historically accurate. funny, and, of course, political and is titled The Wordy Shipmates since evidently the Puritans wrote a lot in their diaries. I usually read a little each evening from it and then go to sleep. But when I'm not in the mood to pay attention to history and actually think about history as I'm reading, I might read a bit from Eudora Welty's short stories or James Thurber's short stories. I suppose one reads books for one of three reasons: enjoyment; knowledge; or social activism. And sometimes all three. But now, it's Sunday afternoon, the quiche and bread were yummy, the dishes are done, the dogs are napping, and it's time to read something light and easy. So, it looks like Gary Soto's The Afterlife. Mr. Soto was here in town at a conference yesterday; and three lovely women gave me a signed copy of that book purchased from Rainbow Books. Thank you muchly Elvira, Donna, and Melissa. Til tomorrow.
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| Barbara Flanigan and Gary Soto |
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Saturday, April 4, 2009 What George Gershwin and Bob Fosse have to do with quiche, I do not know. But I've been listening to their music the last few days (ie. Rhapsody in Blue and The Rhythm of Life specifically); and suddenly this morning I'm in the mood to make quiche.
1 homemade pie shell 4 eggs-lightly beaten
2 cups half and half 1 cup shredded Swiss 1 cup diced ham or bacon 1/2 cup or so of well chopped, drained spinach salt pepper swirl it all together and the secret ingredient - nutmeg, lightly sprinkled on top before baking
Bake 15 minutes at 425 and then 30 minutes at 350.
I adapted this a bit from my 30-year-old Betty Crocker cookbook. And now I'm thinking a loaf of bread in my new breadmaker would be splendid. Til tomorrow.
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| Betty Knows Quiche |
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Friday, April 3, 2009
A Perfect Day.
Walking through the woods With loyal dogs quickly sniffing Every leaf and blade of grass.
A canopy of trees with Dappled sunlight Illuminating the way.
The odd squirrel or two Eyeing us from above As she sways on a limb.
Plodding along As if we were Lewis and Clark Looking for the northwest passage.
And finally, turning back Dogs in tow Panting and happy.
Writing this little snippet Of a perfect day With no problems in sight.
Til tomorrow.
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Thursday, April 2, 2009 In 1966, Neil Simon wrote a book called Sweet Charity. Then Bob Fosse turned it into a Broadway musical starring Gwen Verdon. Then in 1969, Shirley McClaine starred in the Hollywood film version. A movie, All that Jazz, about Bob Fosse written by Bob Fosse (rhymes with glossy) was made in 1979 and starred Roy Scheider playing the talented Mr. Fosse (June 23, 1927 to September 23, 1987). Til tomorrow.
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Wednesday, April 1, 2009 In today's paper, the man who was responsible for the torture and death of thousands of Cambodians in the 70s through the takeover of Cambodia by the Khmer Rouge was on trial for war crimes. He said he did all that to protect his family and asked forgiveness. I remembered a book written by Luong Ung in 2001 who survived those Cambodian death camps, was evacuated to live with a family in Vermont, grew up, and finally went on to work for a peace organization in Washington DC. Her book is First They Killed My Father. She tells the story in a compelling, unblinking look at the reality of war, injustice, and loss. She was a young girl at the time and lost both parents and many siblings to the Khmer Rouge's effort to reeducate the country. Two million Cambodians died. Somehow, she survived both physically and emotionally-but just barely. Then I remembered a book, The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy from India. She won the Booker Prize for that book and is now an activist for peace and disarmament. Ms. Roy is clearly one of the world's most articulate activists. It's always thrilling to hear her speak. She is so compelling and relentless in her effort to produce a peaceful world. She said one time on BookTV, "You have to be as difficult and troublesome as possible in order to keep power on a short leash - it's hard work to be formidable." Ms. Ung and Ms. Roy. Two people from worlds apart sharing a common humanity and a common power. One from Camboida. One from India. Stunning. Where does their courage come from? Til tomorrow.
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| Ms. Ung and Ms. Roy |
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Tuesday, March 31, 2009 I've been thinking about buying a grand piano for some time now. Then I could play Gershwin tunes whenever I wanted. I have no idea how much a grand piano costs. Thousands I'm sure. I'd want a really good one that made my playing sound better than it really is. But if I practiced, maybe I could see what it was like to feel a little bit of what Mr. Gershwin felt. Til tomorrow.
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| Marsha Grace at the $100 piano purchased by her mom. |
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Monday, March 30, 2009 George Gershwin wrote Rhapsody in Blue in 1924. I'm listening to it now after downloading it from iTunes. He was born in 1898 in Brooklyn after his parents immigrated here from Russia. He and his brother Ira changed the world of music. It's hard to imagine that level of talent bubbling up from very humble beginnings. Gershwin.com is their site. George and Ira. Ira and George. Quite something. Til tomorrow.
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| George and Ira |
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Sunday, March 29, 2009 John Hope Franklin died March 25, 2009 at age 94. Marjorie Grene died March 16, 2009 at age 98. Dr. Franklin held a Ph.D. in history from Harvard. He wrote about African-American history and changed the way US history was viewed. Dr. Grene held a Ph.D. in philosophy from Radcliffe. She wrote about the philosophy of biology and investigated the role of chance in Darwin's theory of evolution. They each produced seminal works and were prodigious and disciplined in their work ethic. They were each featured in today's NY Times. He in the Week in Review section. She in the Obituary section. He brought a systematic scholarship to the study of slavery, reconstruction, restitution, and history. She combined the notions of humanity and the natural environment as quintessential to philosophy rather than the egocentric stance of "I think, therefore I am." Two great thinkers who left us their works. Generously. Til tomorrow.
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| John Hope Franklin and Marjorie Glicksman Grene |
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Saturday, March 28, 2009 Michael Feldman, Ira Glass, Garrison Keillor. Public radio. Must be Saturday. So, while I listen to these folks on the radio on Saturdays, I also piddle around, dust, cook, take out the trash, gaze through the window, and search Amazon for cool things that I need. And then I always intend to do something grand like wipe the dust off all the tops of my books. But I never do. I am going to try today, however, to wipe the dust off the top of the refrigerator. I had occasion to look up there yesterday; and it's a puzzle as to how that dust got up there in the first place. But it has to go. That's for sure. Til tomorrow.
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Friday, March 27, 2009 I'm making a list of my favorite words: Modernity Pusillanimous Lapidary Evolution Unbeknownst Stasis Lemon Meringue Pie Til tomorrow.
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| Pie on the patio, Christmas, 2003 |
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Thursday, March 26, 2009 Finally. I bought a burr coffee grinder. And I'm loving it. A Capresso - the best. I decided I didn't want to use a coffee maker that produced a cup of coffee after being processed through a bunch of plastic; and I didn't want coffee that had been filtered through a piece of paper. So, I bought a Farberware percolator and a French Press. I love them both. But the problem was and is is that both of those devices leave coffee grounds. The only answer was to purchase a burr grinder so that the coffee can be ground coarse. Voila. Done. Fresh, coarse, ground coffee with minimal grounds, no plastic, no paper. Just Evian water, Dunkin Donuts' coffee beans, the morning paper, and a cup of coffee (with cream and sugar of course). Til tomorrow.
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Wednesday, March 25, 2009 The Museum of the City of New York had a display of photographs taken by Eudora Welty in the 1930s. She captured in photographs differences in lifestyles between the north and south. She also captured life in the 30s. The same sensitivity she had for writing short stories about people and their lives was the same sensitivity she used in her photography. I feel very fortunate to have seen these photographs this past January. Now, I'm reading a few stories in a collection of her short stories; and as I'm reading them, I find myself reading slower than usual. The pace with which I'm reading is sort of the pace of a hot, summer, southern day when if you move to quickly, you'll be overcome by the heat. Hot weather slows everything down and gives you time to notice things just like Ms. Welty does. Til tomorrow.
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| Marsha Grace & Eudora Welty at MCNY, January, 2009 |
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Tuesday, March 24, 2009 Self-esteem, will-power, and diligence. Those were the words used in today's paper to describe the effort Michelle Obama uses to shape her arms. Her arms. Her arms. Her arms. The article didn't mention that those are the same attributes required to earn a law degree from Harvard or to become a family member at the White House. Her arms. That's what the media wants to focus on. Her arms. Gotta run. Time for some bicep curls. Ha. Til tomorrow.
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Monday, March 23, 2009 Madeleine Albright was on Bill Maher last night. She's so quick and witty. They were talking about all the various violent messes around the world. And I got to thinking about Steven Pinker's new research on violence. He's researching why we have it in our lives. It will come out in the next year or so. Plus, last night on BookTV, I caught a writer talking about his new book A World of Gangs: Armed Young Men and Gangsta Culture. The general consensus is that violence exists all over the world since time began. And it is usually associated with poverty and marginalization. So, while Secretaries of State, cognitive scientists, and anthropologists try to figure out what to do about it, the rest of us watch it in fear and wonder on the screen and across the street. Til tomorrow.
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| The History of the Peloponnesian War By Thucydides Written 431 B.C.E. |
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Sunday, March 22, 2009
Deborah Solomon interviewed Sandra Day O'Connor in
today's NY Times Magazine. Justice O'Connor has started a website and effort to educate the public about the court system, our three branches of
government, and basic civic responsibilities of our nation's citizens. Her
efforts can be found at www.ourcourts.gov. Justice O'Connor is 78 years old
and is as active as ever in promoting good government. Very inspiring. Til tomorrow.
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| Photo by Blair Bunting for NY Times |
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Saturday, March 21, 2009 This morning I'm thinking of Umberto Eco and Bill Clinton.
Mr. Eco said one time on BookTV that there were three kinds of memory: 1. automatic, 2. autobiographical, 3. semantic.
Mr. Clinton said one time on BookTV that there were three top changes in the world: 1. 50% of the world operates under a democracy, 2. the internet is here, 3. private non-governmental organizations (NGOs) are now engaged in serving the public good.
Six big ideas for a Saturday. Til tomorrow.
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| Umberto Eco & Bill Clinton |
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Friday, March 20, 2009 Last night, I finished Dear Genuis The Letters of Ursula Nordstrom compiled by Leonard Marcus. This book is SO wonderful. It contains 45 years worth of letters that Ms. Nordstrom wrote to authors while she was editor at the publishing house of Harper and Brothers during 1937-1982. She died in 1988. I started this book on October 30, 2008 and have been reading a few letters each day and then rereading some because they were so good. As an editor, she honed the craft of letter writing to a fine art. In one letter to Maurice Sendak dated June 2, 1972, Ms. Nordstrom writes,
"Dear Maurice: I think of you often and hope the new apartment and new house in the country and the new car (and the new driving license) are all making you happy. This is our last day at 49 East 33rd Street. It has been somewhat demoralizing to have been trying to work for weeks in a department without any book, any pictures on the walls, any posters, and with very little furniture. So we leave with no regrets and look forward to the future at 10 East 53rd Street where we hope you will be one of our first callers. But of course I have a lot of memories - I remember the day the receptionist came in to my office and said "E. B. White is outside and wants to see you." And I was surprised as I'd had no idea he was coming in, and I rushed out and he said, "Here's my new manuscript. It's called Charlotte's Web."
The WHOLE book is full of delicious anecdotes like that. The letters give you a sense of the artistry and depth that it took and takes to edit books. She speaks several times in her letters to friends about the financial concerns of the publishing industry, about how hard it is to live in NYC, and the very competitive nature of keeping authors on the Harper list. Sounds very familiar. I've always loved biographies; but this is the first time I've read a book of collected letters. The letters reveal so much about the times and the sophistication of the relationships between great writers and great editors. A final example is Ms. Nordstrom's criticism of this phrase in a book: "Get out." She hissed. There was no /s/ sound in the phrase "Get out" to hiss about. She viewed this kind of writing as below par and unacceptable. A better phrase perhaps would have been, "So long." She hissed. So ends a lovely book. Til tomorrow. She thought.
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Thursday, March 19, 2009 Natasha Richardson died yesterday after falling during a skiing trip. Vanessa Redgrave is her mother. Liam Neeson is her husband. Lynn Redgrave is her aunt. The first big movie musical I ever saw was Camelot with Vanessa Redgrave and Richard Harris. And I've loved musicals and Broadway ever since. I saw Vanessa, Lynn, and Jemma Redgrave in The Three Sisters by Anton Chekhov in London. I saw Liam Neeson leave the theater in NYC one evening with Laura Linney after their play. I just watched Natasha Richardson in The Parent Trap on HBO. I saw an interveiw with Lynn Redgrave who had cancer recently; and her daughter photographed her in various stages of recovery. Vanessa Redgrave was in Euguene O'Neill's play Long Day's Journey into Night; and it was thrilling and humbling to watch her. This family has woven itself into the artistic world of theatre and into my life in a direct and intangible way; and yet, this unimaginable loss has occurred. Art and the theatre will not help them now. There's a hole in the universe. Til tomorrow.
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Wednesday, March 18, 2009 I finished Coraline by Neil Gaiman last night. And it was perfect. I loved the "other mother's" crawling and ragged hand. I loved Coraline's tenacity and courage. I loved the cat but not the rats (so much). And I loved that it's a mature kids' book that expects a lot from its readers. Pretty cool to find a graphic novel with a great plot, a lot of gore, and perfect, perfect illustrations. Til tomorrow.
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Tuesday, March 17, 2009 Even a broken clock is right twice a day. I don't know where that line is from; but I like it. Gore Vidal said on BookTV with Jay Parini interviewing him that he never met a stupid six-year-old and he never met an interesting sixteen-year-old. And Mr. Vidal wants to know what the schools do to kids to produce this. We test them to death - that's what. And Mr. Obama, whom I supported, now announces he wants charter schools, more accountability, merit pay for test scores, longer days, and longer years. Guess what? That's the opposite of what we need. Here's what Mr. Obama needs to do: 1. Rescind No Child Left Behind immediately with the same speed that he closed
Gitmo. NCLB is as
counterproductive as any legislation can be. 2. Forbid schools to administer
standardized tests of ANY kind to elementary-age students. See fairtest.org and
alfiekohn.org/stdtest.htm for more information.That’s it. Those two things
to start. 3. Take the money saved and provide full
funding for teachers to pursue their master’s degrees through university-based
teacher-preparation programs. 4. Take the money saved and prepare
teachers to assess their students’ progress through portfolios. Each American student should have a
portfolio that authentically documents achievements throughout the K-12
experience. 5. Take the money saved and award merit
pay to teachers for creative and innovative classroom activities. 6. Take the money saved and ensure that
there are 100 high-quality library books per child in every public school
library in America.
I am
not hopeful. I have seen too many
teachers and students permanently turned away from the joy of learning because
of our nation’s obsession with test scores. However, I am compelled to write this because I want
my profession back. I want it back
from the testing cartel, back from those who profit from tests, and back from
those who lack the talent to teach but who have the power to control those who
do. Let the best among us in the profession of teaching lead America to its next best generation.
And now my blog is ruined. I wasn't going to talk politics. I was just going to talk books. But I'm so disillusioned that I broke my own rule. So, looks like hope has gone away. I want my profession back. Til tomorrow.
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Monday, March 16, 2009 I bought a wheelbarrow and 20 bags of top soil Saturday. I had the idea that I would put in a flower garden this week. And since it's warming up, this is probably a good idea. So, it's all sitting outside on the side of the driveway waiting for me to get up the gumption to go out there and get to work. What was I thinking? Til tomorrow.
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Sunday, March 15, 2009 Will Ferrell was great last night on HBO. He portrayed every side of Mr. Bush, Jr. including the one that is simply not very smart and not well read. But Mr. Ferrell also portrayed a moment of silence while Mr. Bush grieved for all the people who had died as a result of the Iraqi invasion. If we work at it, the country will eventually return to the constitution, to a balanced economy, and to a better understanding that undemocratized power is ALWAYS wrong. But also yesterday, I started a new book by Neil Gaiman titled, Coraline. It's great. It's a cross between The Secret Garden and a modern-day Nancy Drew with cool parents who are either on the computer or cooking leek and potato soup with gruyere cheese. Plus, there are two retired actresses who on page 21, in profile, resemble Kathy Bates and Shelley Winters. It's a mystery, fantasy, action-oriented book with just the right amount of gore and good taste. It's a graphic novel; and the pictures are the balm. Til tomorrow.
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Saturday, March 14, 2009 Tonight, Will Ferrell will bring his Broadway show to HBO at 8:00 PM Central Time; and I'l be glued to the tube. I like Mr. Ferrell and find his talent and versatility to be undeniable. Plus, he seems to be a pretty decent guy. I've been waiting all month for this. Til tomorrow.
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Friday, March 13, 2009 When I was a kid, I used to climb this elm tree in my back yard, get way up high, and read. I used to love it. There was a swaying motion and a freedom from gravity that made reading a book a true "getting-away-from-it-all-experience." Reminds me of Italo Calvino's book The Baron in the Trees. That book is about a man who decided to live the rest of his life in the trees because of unrequieted love. He had a tree house that he built while still in the tree; and he lived there for decades til he died. During all that time, he moved all around his community by moving from treetop to treetop. He never set foot on ground again. It was a wonderful book that I read nearly 20 years ago and am still connected to. I heard Gore Vidal say that he discovered Italo Calvino and brought Mr. Calvino's many novels to America. I am also reminded of the wonderful young woman named Julia Butterfly who lived in a 600-year-old-tree for two years, yes, two years, so that the lumber industry in California wouldn't cut down the tree. Trees. Think I'll plant one today. Til tomorrow.
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Thursday, March 12, 2009 I finished The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman last night. I liked it. I liked the characters; and I liked the fact that a little toddler whose family was killed by a plotting knife-wielding evil man grew up in a graveyard with ghosts who raised him. The main character is Bod Owens, short for Nobody Owens, who grows up smart, savvy, calm, and nice. Unlike the Harry Potter books which have a book for each year of Harry's education, Bod grows up from being a toddler to age 15 in one book. And unlike The Golden Compass where people have a familiar to help guide them through life, Bod has various ghosts, one special witch, and a guardian who steer him through life's trials and tribulations. Finally, the book has a sense of the conspiratorial nature of The Da Vinci Code where ancient sects of some sort seek to rule the world through power and violence while other sects seek to provide goodness and peace. If good books make you like the characters; and if good books have the ability to stay with you; and if good books allow you to see connections between life and bigger issues, then Mr. Gaiman has given us a good read. Til tomorrow.
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Wednesday, March 11, 2009 I finished How We Decide a book on the neurology of how people make decisions. The book included examples of how dopamine allows the neurons to connect, which in turn allows us to make decisions. The author's examples included football and military actions. I found the book lacking in credibility. And studying how the brain works during professional sports and military activities that are not every day ordinary activities does not allow generalizability to non-sports and non-military actions. So, the books I prefer for understanding the brain are by Oliver Sacks and Malcolm Gladwell. I loved The Man who Mistook his Wife for a Hat by Mr. Sacks and Blink by Mr. Gladwell. Two great writers who know their stuff. Til tomorrow.
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| Mr. Sacks and Mr. Gladwell |
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Tuesday, March 10, 2009 I've decided to build a gazebo in the back yard over spring break. I have a book that outlines all the lumber, nails, screws, and directions for making this gazebo. So, I'm all ready to get started. But by tomorrow, I may come to my senses and just do what you're supposed to do over spring break. Get caught up on your reading and pay more attention to your dogs. Til tomorrow.
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Monday, March 9, 2009 This whole daily writing thing started with my mom. When I was born, my mom started writing in a diary every single day for five years. Every single day, she wrote something about me. For example, On June 28, 1953, she wrote, "I pull my ribbon and bobby pins out of my hair and chew on them." On June 28, 1954, she wrote, "If mother won't get me something I always go to gramma and she always gets it." On June 28, 1955, she wrote, "I am a Donald Duck fan. I am always wanting to see him. I have a funny book with him in it." On June 28, 1956, she wrote, "Ma Ma and I went to a ice cream social. We had cookies and cake too. A lot of kids were there." On June 28, 1957, she wrote, "Ma Ma told daddy I looked dirty I was so dark. And I said, 'Well, everyone else says I'm tan." So, for five years, every day, my mom wrote in first person in this little diary the ordinary things that make up a kid's life. First words, first steps, first running away from home, first thoughts, first everything. Recorded forever. Til tomorrow.
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Sunday, March 8, 2009 More pie. Grandma Grace was well known for raising kids and baking pie. Her cream pie is rather legendary. And here tis: 1 cup milk (probably whole) 3/4 cup sugar 1/2 cup flour 1 t vanilla 4 egg whites
1) scald the milk 2) add flour and sugar to the milk and blend well 3) beat egg whites until stiff but not dry 4) add the egg whites to the milk folding in the egg whites gently 5) add the vanilla and stir gently 6) pour into a baked pie shell 7) bake at 350 degrees til brown. There you have it. Til tomorrow.
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| Martha Ellen Grace and Marsha Lynn Grace |
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Saturday, March 7, 2009 Pie. It's time to think pie. And why not. There's just something about a piece of pie that is calming, sweet, wonderful, homey, soothing, and delicious. My mother's mother, Grandma Massey, had a recipe for persimmon pie; and here it is. 2 eggs 2 persimmons (picked from the tree AFTER the first freeze in the fall) 3/4 cup sugar 1/2 t salt 1/2 t cinnamon 1/4 t ginger 1/4 t cloves 1 and 2/3 cup evaporated milk about 2 T flour or cornstarch 9" unbaked shell (homemade of course)
1) mix ingredients in order listed 2) pour into shell 3) bake at 425 degrees for 15 minutes 4) then continue baking at 350 degrees for 45 more minutes 5) top with whipped cream So, there you have it; but it will have to wait til fall for the first freeze. Something to look forward to. Til tomorrow.
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| Bess Beatrice Massey and Marsha Lynn Grace |
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Friday, March 6, 2009 Even though it's March, in south Texas it's time for June Bugs to start appearing, which reminds me of a phrase I heard Kyra Sedgwick say on The Closer when she was interrogating a witness who was not being helpful. She said, "You matter to me about as much as a June Bug in July." I've never heard that phrase before so I'm betting a writer for that series just made it up. Til tomorrow.
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Thursday, March 5, 2009 There is little doubt that the Writer's Almanac presented every day on NPR at 9:00 AM is a gem. I have gotten out of the habit of listening to it; but clearly, every time I hear it, the world stops, the fog is lifted, and it all seems a little lighter. Garrison Keillor writes a little something about a poet; he reads a poem; and he tells us who was born on that day. Here's his website and here's yesterday's poem. http://writersalmanac.publicradio.org/index.php?date=2009/03/04
I hate Mozart. Hate him with that healthy
pleasure one feels when exasperation has
crescendoed, when lungs, heart, throat,
and voice explode at once: I hate that! —
there's bliss in this, rapture. My shrink
tried to disabuse me, convinced I use Amadeus
as a prop: Think further, your father perhaps?
I won't go back, think of the shrink
with a powdered wig, pinched lips, mole:
a transference, he'd say, a relapse: so be it.
I hate broccoli, chain saws, patchouli, bra—
clasps that draw dents in your back, roadblocks,
men in black kneesocks, sandals and shorts—
I love hating that. Loathe stickers on tomatoes,
jerky, deconstruction, nazis, doilies. I delight
in detesting. And love loving so much after that.
Garrison reads the poem and says, "Be well, do good work, and keep in touch." Til tomorrow.
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Wednesday, March 4, 2009 I asked a fifth grader recently what she thought would be the most exciting aspect of going to middle school next year; and she replied, "Well, we'll each have our own locker." A perfect answer. I think it's really difficult to remember our childhoods; but we all are products of being able to see the world through fresh and simple eyes. I'm convinced the world would be a better place if we each focused on the simple joy of having our own locker. Til tomorrow.
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Tuesday, March 3, 2009 Without a list, I'm lost. Grocery list. To-do list. Book list. Appointment list. Music list. Wish list. And the lists go on. But, the list I like the best is the to-do list. I LOVE writing down everything I need to do for the day on a 4x6 card and then looking at the list at the end of the day and seeing a check mark by everything I got done. Two rules. First rule. As soon as I think of something I need to do, I write it immediately on the list. Second rule. If I really don't want to do something, I don't write it on the list. Voila. Til tomorrow.
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| Yesterday's list. |
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Monday, March 2, 2009 In the Times yesterday, there was a front-page article in the business section on Marissa Mayer who is one of the founders of Google. She has a master's degree from Stanford and joined Google in 1999 as one of its primary engineers and is responsible for the way Google looks. She said to be a successful employee at Google, you have to be smart and you have to be a closer. Google has a 20% rule. Employees work on tasks they are assigned 80% of the time; and then 20% of the time, they work on new ideas of their own with no interference from management. She said that 50% of the services and applications that Google produces comes from the 20% time. So, why don't more companies adopt the 20% timeframe; and why doesn't Google increase the 20% time to 50%? Hmm. She's also featured on Youtube in a lecture at Stanford. The lecture covered nine points and was well done. Evidently, she's well known around the globe; but I first learned about her in the Times yesterday. Til tomorrow.
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Sunday, March 1, 2009 I was ready to lose an hour's sleep and change my clock this morning; but that's not til next week. And speaking of clocks, I caught a glimpse on TV last night of a B&W movie staring Gregory Peck. He was having breakfast with his son and mother in the kitchen of their middle-class home. He wore a suit, his mom wore an apron, and his ten-year-old son wore school clothes. They talked about "stuff". Then, they all got up and left for the day. As Mr. Peck was walking out the front door escorted by his mom, they got to the foyer and paused. There, facing the door was a huge grandfather clock so that it was the first thing you saw when you opened the front door and entered the house. Seems odd to have a clock facing the front door particularly in a very small foyer and even odder to write about it. Hmmm. Til tomorrow.
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Saturday, February 28, 2009 On NPR last night, their was an interview with a man who wrote a book that featured letters written to President and Mrs. Roosevelt during the Great Depression. The most compelling letter was from a twelve-year-old boy living in Illinois who asked the President to send help to his family because his father had no job and no money and stayed in the house most of the day and cried. There were also several letters addressed to Mrs. Roosevelt from women who asked if she had any dresses that she no longer needed and could send. No job, no money, no clothes. The Great Depression. Til tomorrow.
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Friday, February 27, 2009 I have several favorite places in NYC; and a major one is the Hans Christian Andersen statue in Central Park. To think of someone who created such great stories still being celebrated is heartening. I just now purchased a 2005 copyright edition of his translated stories. Evidently, many versions of his stories in English were translated from German and therefore lost much of their artistry and even meaning. So, I thought I'd go back to the original Danish-to-English version translated by Diana and Jeffrey Frank and published by Duke University Press. I felt a need to buy this particular version on Amazon this morning since last night I bought a used copy of All Quiet on the Western Front published in 1929 about WW I. I want to read this "all quiet" book; but I know I'll need a sunnier view of life even if that sunnier view is not really real but rather is a lot of stories about swans, ducklings, match girls, and the new clothes of an emperor. So, I'll deal with the depression of war with the help of H.C. Andersen (1805-1875). Til tomorrow.
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Thursday, February 26, 2009 Margaret MacMillan was provost at the University of Trinity College. She's an historian. She was interviewed on BookTV and said that five authors she read and admired were: Marcel Proust Anthony Trollope Alice Munro Charles Dickens Stendhal I suppose that if you want wisdom in your life, you can look to politicians and generals or capitalists and builders or artists and writers. Til tomorrow.
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Wednesday, February 25, 2009 Jane Goodall will be celebrating her 75th birthday on April 3, 2009. I don't think anyone has done more for the planet and for chimps in particular than Dr. Goodall. Her single-minded focus and goodness are just the best. She started out as a young field researcher in her 20s; and has been working without ceasing ever since. She is a scientist, a wonderful person, and a world-wide icon for humane coexistence within the animal world.
http://www.janegoodall.org/
What a life. Til tomorrow.
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Tuesday, February 24, 2009 I read a piece on the internet recently about a contest to write a six-word novel. Here are some: For Sale: One man's new suit. Honestly, who knew it was poison. Wanted: New bride. Must like moose. Wanted: One, new husband. Maybe two. Her purse and shoes sank slowly.
The young couple never looked back. They buried Oscar beneath his tree.
He left her without his trumpet. Someday, he would return to paradise.
She said to him, "You're mine." Really, I thought he was choking. He rang the bell - no more. Closing the door, she turned away. Last Tuesday, they began life again. Falling for Clyde, she left Hollywood. It's happiness all over again. Ha. It's happiness all over again. Bah.
It's happiness all over again. Right.
It's happiness all over again. Sigh.
Til tomorrow. Til tomorrow. Til tomorrow.
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Monday, February 23, 2009 There's nothing better than a cup of coffee and the morning paper. Today's paper is full of Oscar news. And of course honoring great movie actors is a decent thing to do. But it's actually the writers of all those movies who are the real talent. Seems odd that the writers remain relatively unknown while the actors are easily recognizable around the globe. In addition to ceremonies honoring actors, there are also ceremonies honoring writers (writers who write books) ; and the main one is the National Book Award, held in November each year. Unfortunately, it's not telecast. But all the writers dress up in their gowns and tuxes and make speeches and accept their awards in the same format as the movie people. The National Book Award can be found at
http://www.nationalbook.org/
and is quite nice. Til tomorrow.
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Sunday, February 22, 2009 Noel Coward was a playwright; and his play, Blithe Spirit, written in 1941, is on Broadway with Angela Lansbury and Rupert Everett AND Christine Ebersole who was SO fabulous in Grey Gardens. The NY Times Magazine had a lengthy piece today about Mr. Everett and his effort to find an apartment in NYC while the play is in session. The article about Mr. Everett revealed how complicated life is or at least how complicated we make it. Who knows why I love plays, the theatre, Broadway, playwrights, and all the drama so much. But I do. Til tomorrow.
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Saturday, February 21, 2009 Aw, I was sort of right. I did watch most of Brideshead Revisited last night with Emma Thompson and Michael Gambon. And while it was impeccably acted, it wasn't as rich as the 1981 original production. I kept seeing Jeremy Irons and Anthony Andrews. I suppose they sort of "own" those characters. Plus, in 1981 it was a mini-series and so moved much more slowly, which in this case is good because the extended time allowed the characters to become much more developed. When things happen too quickly, you don't connect with the characters as much; and they certainly aren't as memorable. But it's still a good story. And actually, reading Evelyn Waugh' s original book rather than watching either of these movies would be the best. I'm sure he'd approve. Til tomorrow.
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Friday, February 20, 2009 It's whooping crane season here in south Texas; and the whoopers come to Port Aransas Wildlife Refuge to feed and rest. Jane Goodall was here in 2003 and gave a talk about her work with the chimps; and of course she praised the bird sanctuary and the people who made it possible. Afterwards, she was presented with a whooping crane feather as a keepsake; and then she signed all of our books, brochures, pictures, and papers as over 500 of us stood in line to be near her. It was raining that day. We were in a tent, in the mud, in the rain, far from the comforts of home. It was glorious. I sent her a little thank you letter, a roseate spoonbill feather that I'd found near the bay, and a little batch of pink coral. She CALLED me to thank me and left me a voicemail. I videotaped the phone and her voice and still listen to it periodically when I need to connect with a great world leader. Her presence on the planet is a miracle. Til tomorrow.
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Thursday, February 19, 2009 I'm hooked on The Graveyard Book. Even though three people are dead by page 7, it seems rather a gentle book. What a thing to be able to write books. What a talent you must have to translate nothing into something. What an accomplishment to tell a story that compels you to remember it. So, looks like the Newbery committee did an outstanding job of choosing a book that has a great storyline and wonderful prose. Neil Gaiman is quite a writer. And speaking of prose, in Jane Smiley's 13 Ways of Looking at the Novel, she says that the critera for a novel to be a novel are: 1. it is long 2. it is written 3. it is prose 4. it has a protagnoist 5. it is a narrative So, text is either poetry or prose. Then if it's prose, it's either expository or narrative. Thanks Jane. Thanks Neil. Til tomorrow.
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Wednesday, February 18, 2009 My new book arrives today. The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman. He does a great job making you want to read the book during his presentation at the National Book Festival sponsored by the Library of Congress last September 27, 2008. Plus, the book won the Newbery Award this past month. His Library of Congress presentation on the Mall is accessible at loc.gov/bookfest by clicking on his name in about the middle of the page. Til tomorrow.
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Tuesday, February 17, 2009 E.L. Doctorow, author of Ragtime, Billy Bathgate, and The Book of Daniel among many others, was on BookTV Saturday. He was interviewed in DC as I recall at a great hall full of people interested in literature and him. At the end of the interview, people were given a microphone and allowed to ask questions. Mr. Doctorow was asked which of his books was his favorite. He told the questioner that it was obvious that the questioner had not read any of his books and that the questioner was just trying to decide which one to read by asking such a question. Mr. Doctorow then said he didn't think the questioner would like ANY of his books. Whoa. It seemed a harsh answer to give someone who was young, inexperienced, and yet interested or he wouldn't have attended the interview in the first place. Shortly after that, Mr. Doctorow finished the interview, got up, and walked off the stage without properly thanking his host or the audience. Tsk. Tsk. Til tomorrow.
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Monday, February 16, 2009 Gore Vidal was interviewed by Jay Parini in Key West, Florida recently; and the interview was on BookTV this weekend. Mr. Vidal is quick, witty, well-read, and interesting. Mr. Parini is every bit as smart and capable and keeps up with Mr. Vidal in a mannerly and respectful way. The interview was well done because of Mr. Parini's preparation and kindness. On January 8-18, 2009, Key West hosted writers who talked about their work and readers who listened.
http://www.kwls.org/lit/ . They're already planning the 2010 literary event. Why do people write novels? Why not. Til tomorrow.
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Sunday, February 15, 2009 I ordered a new book titled, How We Decide by Jonah Lehrer. Mr. Lehrer was on Michael Feldman's radio show yesterday. It was a great interview. This book is sort of the opposite of Malcolm Gladwell's book titled, Blink. So, rather than viewing these two books as competing with each other, I see them as complimentary. We do have a supercomputer in our craniums that is capable of processing unlimited amounts of data in the blink of an eye. So, Mr. Lehrer is saying that our brains process data quickly while Mr. Gladwell is saying that our brains use intuition. It sounds like they're saying the same thing. Mr. Lehrer relies on neuroscience. Mr. Gladwell relies on narratives. I suspect they're both right. Til tomorrow.
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Saturday, February 14, 2009 Today is Valentine's Day. I'm taking the dogs to the beach for a walk. They love it there. They head for the trash cans where they enjoy all the smells of decay and debris. They love running up and down the beach while I saunter this way and that. They love the idea of getting out of the house and seeing something new. Then they come home and sleep for two days solid. Canine wisdom. Gotta love it. Til tomorrow.
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Friday, February 13, 2009 A defunct Russian satellite collided with an active USA satellite in space yesterday. Millions of pieces of the two destroyed satellites are now rocketing through space inevitably on collision courses with other satellites at a rate of 8 km per second. There are currently about 3,000 satellites circling the planet. Watch out below. Til tomorrow.
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Thursday, February 12, 2009 Two hundred years ago today, Abraham Lincoln was born. Russell Freedman wrote a book titled Lincoln: A Photobiography published in 1987. It won the Newbery award and is still one of the finest books available on Mr. Lincoln's life. Henry Louis Gates, Jr. was on PBS last night in his documentary Looking for Lincoln. The parallel information in these two media was complimentary; and both gave as honest and complete account as possible of the life and times of Mr. Abraham Lincoln. As it happens, Charles Darwin was born on the same day in Shropshire, England. Til tomorrow.
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Wednesday, February 11, 2009 Yesterday, I listened to a story about a little boy named Bobby Dunbar who went missing in 1912 in the swampland of Mississippi. The story was broadcast by Ira Glass on This American Life, which is an NPR radio show that's been on for decades at 2 PM on Saturdays. Mr. Glass chooses interesting stories to tell and shares them with his audience. I missed it last Saturday, so I caught it on a podcast. Two little boys went missing about the same time. They were around three- or four-years-old. One was found and was placed with one of the grieving mothers who claimed him as her own. For decades, there was a question about whether or not the boy had been placed with the right mother. Mr. Glass presents the whole story with interviews, documents, and the storytelling ability that exists in such a grand fashion throughout the South where Bobby Dunbar's descendants still live. The power of kinship, blood relatives, family, genetics, nature, and nurture are all underlying subtexts of this story; and I enjoyed it. Til tomorrow.
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Tuesday, February 10, 2009 Yesterday, I sent President Obama a letter about the state of education in our country. I gave professional advice on testing, portfolios, teachers, books, and how to make schools the property of teachers, students, and parents once again since right now, schools are virtually owned by the testing companies. I included in the Priority Mail box three of my favorite books: Ordinary Resurrections by Jonathan Kozol, The Writer's Desk by Jill Krementz, and Dinosaurs by Robert Sabuda. Books for the whole Obama family. I was told the box might end up in the discard bin since security is tight; so I sent it to Rahm Emanuel, Chief of Staff, with a note asking him to forward the contents to the President. I would like to be able to influence federal policy on education; but I'm doing good to produce these few bloggish words each day. So, I'm happy to have gotten the letter written, the package in the mail, and the receipt for the postage filed away for next year's taxes. If, out of the blue, I am summoned to the White House for a briefing, I may miss a few days of writing on marshagrace.com. But actually, I'm betting that I'll not hear a word about the letter, the advice, or the gifts; but you never know. I once sent President Jimmy Carter a note when he was in the White House; and I'm still on his Christmas card list. Til tomorrow.
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Monday, February 9, 2009 I read the whole NY Times yesterday; and nothing stuck. There was no great article that stuck with me; and that's odd, because usually there is. Maybe the country's depression is casting a pall not just over home owners and shoppers but over writers as well. I should probably go back and reread the whole thing just to make sure I didn't miss something important. There were a couple of Broadway plays that I took note of; but even those seemed to lack the grandeur that I usually find. There were some interesting book reviews that I read and left behind. There were photos of celebrities and people bundled up against the cold. There were the usual ads from Chanel and Dior. And of course, there were the op-ed pieces that I rarely and didn't read. And finally, there were some statistics that indicated TVs and computers are the preferred method of viewing over newspapers and books. I've used a Kindle and don't care for it. I've read the paper online and don't care for it. So, even though I personally prefer newspapers and books over TVs and computers, I doubt that the publishing industry will continue to produce their wares for a reader of one. Reading a newspaper and book take a different mindset than TVs and computers. Books and newspapers are physically and aesthetically different from TVs and computers. They require a more relaxed attitude. They have a bigger gestalt to them. They allow the peripheral vision to lead you from beginning to end. They are mobile and free from batteries and plug-ins. They have texture and smell. They are 3-D. They can't be updated while they're in your hand. They have physical weight that announces their potential for intellectual weight. So, I'm sort of glad I didn't remember anything from the Times yesterday. Til tomorrow.
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Sunday, February 8, 2009 I'm thinking of watching Brideshead Revisited on DVD with Emma Thompson. I'm hesitant, however, because I don't know how it could be as good as it was with Claire Bloom in 1981 on PBS. But I don't think Ms. Thompson would be involved in something that wasn't first rate. So, I'll order it from Amazon and see how it plays. Evelyn Waugh wrote the book in 1945 and depicted life in England from his perspective as a highly literate, financially secure, well-connected writer. There are whole industries of scholarship on Mr. Waugh; so, it will be good to watch a current interpretation of his story. Til tomorrow.
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Saturday, February 7, 2009 On November 7, 2005, I was fortunate to attend the building dedication of the Harte Research Institute. The head of the advisory group for this effort is Dr. Sylvia Earle. She is one of the world's leading oceanographers and is teaching us all how to value and save the world's oceans. She is working with Google to map the world's oceans. She signed her book and posed for a picture with me on that day; and it's still thrilling to know that I have her book, her photo, and most importantly her connection to something as grand as saving the earth through the study of the oceans. I'm headed to the beach for the day. Til tomorrow.
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Friday, February 6, 2009 David McCullough said the five best libraries here in the states are: Boston Public, NY Public, Library of Congress, Yale Library, and one other that I can't remember. He was giving a lecture on BookTV; and he mentioned five great libraries in which he does most of his research. I wrote down the names of the libraries as he said them and taped the list to the wall in my study. And now I can't find the list. It was up there forever; and now that I need it, it's nowhere to be found. One of these days when I least expect it, it will pop up. Til tomorrow. UPDATE April 14, 2010: the fifth library is the library system at Harvard.
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Thursday, February 5, 2009 There was a piece in the paper yesterday about Harriet Tubman. I wonder where a person gets the kind of strength and courage she had. I'm going to look for a definitive account of her life and see if I can channel some of her tenacity. She faced societal situations that were intolerable and morally wrong; and she became an activist and leader. Where did she get that moral courage? Parents? Peers? Role models? Or maybe just from herself. For people of today who have risen above injustice or hardship, I suspect they didn't have nearly as far to travel as did Harriet Tubman. Her life seems to suggest that anything is possible. Til tomorrow.
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Wednesday, February 4, 2009 I watched an online, seven-minute interview with Sam Tanenhaus and John Updike yesterday on the NY Times website. Mr. Updike was the definition of talent and niceness. I don't think the world was ready for him to depart; and yet he did. Three people who seem to be everywhere and who seem to write with extra clear thinking are Thomas Friedman, Paul Krugman, and David Brooks. I wonder what they were like as little kids. They seem to share some of the same personality traits such as reflectivity, independence, attention to detail, and a facility with language. And they all seem to prefer work over leisure. Plus, they seem pretty nice. Til tomorrow.
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Tuesday, February 3, 2009 There are a slew of books out these days about Charles Darwin. This year on February 12, he would have been 200 years old. His studies on the Galapagos Islands and elsewhere led him to write the book On the Origin of Species published in 1859 in London by the publisher John Murray. He saw the similarities and differences of various species of flora and fauna and made connections in how these plants, insects, and animals all were connected and dependent upon each other. He concluded that throughout the millions of generations of life on this planet that all species had each made major and subtle adaptations so that specific insects were perfectly suited to spread pollen from specific flowers; and specific animals were perfectly suited to hunt and eat other specific animals. It's a brilliant observation that makes life on this planet connected and elegant. His entire book, which no one I know personally has ever read, can be found at http://darwin-online.org.uk/EditorialIntroductions/Freeman_OntheOriginofSpecies.html/. Click on the photo of the actual book; and the entire book will come before you. Every page from the book is both scanned and typed. We all of course have our opinion about this book; and of course, having an opinion about a book without having actually read the book is probably a genetic trait that helps keep us alive. Why is that? When people question authority, they become outsiders and can lose their lives and livelihoods. Socrates, Copernicus, Galileo. Rosa Parks, MLK, and right on up to the UN worker who was captured yesterday in Pakistan. It's easier to live your life if you don't question power. It's easier to live your life if you go along to get along. It's easier to live your life if you simply let the authorities proceed without interference. Charles Darwin didn't choose the easy life. He had questions. But, he wasn't just interested in questioning the status quo for the sake of questioning the status quo. He was a scientist with a scientific mind. He was compelled to wonder. He made observations and connections in order to satisfy his intellectual curiosity. So, 150 years later, we have his book. Til tomorrow.
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Monday, February 2, 2009 Nathan Lane will be in Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett on Broadway later this spring. William H. Macy is in Speed the Plow by David Mamet now. For some reason, thinking about those two plays reminds me of Wit a play written by Margaret Edson and played on Broadway by Kathleen Chalfant in 1999. But the version I saw was on TV played by Emma Thompson in 2001. She was brilliant. The author of Wit won the Pulitzer Prize for that play. And she was a kindergarten teacher in Georgia at the time. I remember Ms. Edson was on Charlie Rose around that time; and when he asked her what was next in her life, she rather silenced him by saying that teaching kindergarten was next and was as important as play writing. It was a very nice moment. Til tomorrow.
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Sunday, February 1, 2009 Finally, February first. In May of 2006, BookExpo America was in DC. Last night, BookTV rebroadcast one of those sessions from BookExpo America; and it featured three people who had just published new books: Barack Obama, Amy Sedaris, John Updike. Those three writers wrote about politics, comedy, and life respectively with talent and exactness; and for me, it demonstrated that the world of books is a microcosm for the world at large. Those three writers have nothing in common between their pages except they all use the medium of words. So, for them to be honored on the same podium really means that within the pages of books is something for everyone. Mr. Updike gave a lecture on the sustainability of the book and outlined why books will always be here in spite of people's efforts to digitize the world's words onto a screen. He was very convincing and probably right. We'll always have books. In today's NY Times Magazine, there was an article written by a woman who was showing her three-year-old an animated picture book online. When they were done viewing, the website popped up with a survey asking the question, "Did you enjoy the book?" The three-year-old looked at his mom and said, "That wasn't a book." So, there. Til tomorrow.
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Saturday, January 31, 2009 It's the end of the month; and I'm still so pleased that I didn't make any New Year's Resolutions. I have a plan for today that is the same plan I've had every Saturday for the past few decades. At 10:00 AM, listen to Michael Feldman on his program Whad'Ya Know? At 2:00 PM, listen to Ira Glass on his program This American Life. At 5:00 PM, listen to Garrison Keillor on his program A Prairie Home Companion. The great thing about radio is that you can listen to all these programs while you do other things like clean the house, cook a pot roast, wash the car, or just gaze out the window. The only things you can't do are read a book, play the piano, talk on the phone, or take a nap. For those, there's always Sunday. Til tomorrow.
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Friday, January 30, 2009 The world of books, music, art, libraries, bookstores, and walking the dogs takes up a majority of my life; and I so take it all for granted as being a pretty normal way to live ones life. And then in today's paper I'm reading the column of Leonard Pitts like I regularly do because I like his writing style; and I like the things he chooses to write about. Today, he tells of young girls in Afghanistan who, as they were walking to an all-girls school, were being attacked by young Taliban men on motorcycles who stopped them, raised their burkas from their faces, and sprayed acid on them. So, for the desire to go to school, Afghan girls were being permanently disfigured while the Afghan cowards who perpetrated this crime are still zooming through Afghan streets spreading the twin diseases of poverty and ignorance. The girls' school closed down after a total of 15 teachers and girls were attacked by six men on three motorcycles. This happened in November, 2008 and was reported in the NY Times. Today, the school is back open because at least one set of parents told their daughter it would be better to be killed than to live without an education. Til tomorrow.
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Thursday, January 29, 2009 I've already broken one of my very few and completely flexible new year's resolutions which was to not start so many books at the same time. And here I am in the middle of about five books. How does that happen? It happens. I started a new adolescent literature novel two days ago at the same time I was committed to finishing three other pieces of nonfiction. There you go. So, I'm halfway into A Mystery for Thoreau written by Kin Platt. It's gotten good reviews from the major reviewers so that's a good sign that it's worth finishing. I thought it was a little heavy on describing the setting at the beginning of the book and there seemed to be a lot of words devoted to describing and naming all the characters in the book so that I kept thinking, "Hmm. Should I consciously remember who this character is or is this character just sort of background info?" Plus, there's a scene where Thoreau burns down 300 acres of pine trees around Walden Pond where Emerson is allowing him to live rent free. If this is true, wow. What a twist on the perception that Henry David was a naturalist. Still, it's a good story involving ordinary people who try to get through life as best they can. The main character in the book is Oliver Puckle who is finding his way as a journalist for his local paper. And then a young girl arrives in town and quickly disappears. That's the mystery. Where did she go? Til tomorrow.
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Wednesday, January 28, 2009 John Updike died yesterday. He was a writer and a man of letters. I first learned of him long ago when I stumbled onto his Rabbit series in a public library. Most recently, he was on BookTV for a three-hour live interview; and it was then that his sense and sensibilities were most clearly revealed. And for timing, yesterday afternoon as chance would have it, I was sharing The Writer's Desk by Jill Krementz with some people in a class. Mr. Updike wrote the foreward for that book and was featured between the covers. His talent and work ethic left their marks in the book world and on all those who read his words and stories. He was born in 1932 and died too soon. Til tomorrow.
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Tuesday, January 27, 2009 I just bought a CD from Amazon. The Great Ladies Sing Gershwin. And the great ladies are Ella Fitzgerald, Dinah Washington, Sarah Vaughan, Shirley Horn, Nina Simone, and Betty Carter. It's funny how you wake up in the morning in the mood for Gershwin. So you cruise over to Amazon and find the perfect collection by the perfect singers. The perfect songs are:
| 1. Fascinating Rhythm |
| 2. Let's Call the Whole Thing Off |
| 3. I Loves You, Porgy |
| 4. Summertime |
| 5. Nice Work if You Can Get It |
| 6. Love Is Here to Stay |
| 7. 'S Wonderful |
| 8. I've Got a Crush on You |
| 9. They Can't Take That Away from Me |
| 10. Someone to Watch Over Me |
| 11. Embraceable You |
12. The Man I Love
Since we're in a recession, I'm buying only things that are essential. I'm so happy that Gershwin is essential. Til tomorrow.
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Monday, January 26, 2009 There was a nice piece about the young designer who created Michele Obama's dress for the inauguration. It was interesting that Jason Wu, who has a design studio in Manhattan and who is from Taiwan, sewed on each of the flowery petals on the dress with his staff of four. Also interesting was that he personally delivered the dress to Mrs. Obama's staff for her consideration. He hand-carried it in a dress bag on the plane. He's 26 years old. He came to Canada and then the states when he was 5. His parents recognized his talent early on and took him to stores where fashion was emphasized and important. A child's first teacher is his parent. Mr. Wu's story clearly makes that clear. Til tomorrow.
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Sunday, January 25, 2009 The Poets' Corner: The One-and-Only Poetry Book for the Whole Family compiled by John Lithgow is exactly what I needed. I read a couple of poems each evening; and then I read Lithgow's two or three paragraphs giving insight or background into the poem. It's incredibly effective and not heavy-handed. The poems are presented alphabetically by the poet's last name. I'm up to the Bs. Bryon is next. My goal is to get to the end of the book and then listen to the CD. People who read the poems include Kathy Bates, Helen Mirren, Morgan Freeman, Gary Sinise, Lynn Redgrave, and others of that quality. At this rate, it will take a couple of months to finish reading the book before I listen to the CD making it just about perfect timing. Til tomorrow.
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Saturday, January 24, 2009 My new book of poetry compiled by John Lithgow arrived this week. I started reading it last night. I decided I would try reading the poems in the book before I listen to the CD that came with it. I decided to study the poems and see what I could interpret from them before I listen to the interpretation of someone else. I do think poetry is a difficult art form. I remember explaining to my 8th grade English teacher, Mrs. Williams, that if people really wanted to say something why didn't they just come right out and say it rather than making everyone guess what was on their minds by using all these various poetic devices. In a way, I still feel that way even though I know a poem can reveal a piece of life that can't be accessed in any other way. Rage, rage against the dying of the light would be such a poem and perhaps is my favorite line of poetry of all time. Poetry takes some time; and maybe that's why I bought the book of poems that comes with a CD - in hopes that good orators on a CD can help me understand in a timely manner. At any rate, and hopefully by now, Mrs. Williams has forgiven me for being too little soulful and too much pedestrian. Til tomorrow.
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Friday, January 23, 2009 I have it in my head that I want to see the cherry blossoms in DC this spring. That would be around April 1. Then I'd like to take the train up to Poughkeepsie to see the Roosevelt's home. If I had a really fast jet, I could fly up there and see both of those places in a 3 day period. Unfortunately, I don't have a really fast jet or even a modestly fast jet. So, I'm going to keep thinking about how to do this. Til tomorrow.
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Thursday, January 22, 2009 It's difficult to focus on anything but the White House this week. As I was watching the inauguration take place this past Tuesday in such freezing weather, I got to thinking about Washington and his troops who endured eight years of eight long winters of fighting during the Revolutionary War. Enduring the hardships of those winter-weather years with minimal food and only the skimpiest of clothing seems unimaginable. Why didn't all the soldiers just pick up and go back home? Why didn't they all just give up. To ask people to face that kind of hardship seems excessive. Is there any other way to settle life and death situations beyond muskets, bayonets, and cannon balls? Yes. It seems there are automatic weapsons, grenades, gas, and nuclear bombs. We don't seem to be making a lot of progress toward conflict resolution as a species. We're still solving problems with violence rather than diplomacy. But with Hillary Clinton, George Mitchell, and Richard Holbrooke at the helm of the State Department, I'm thinking that peace is just around the corner. And maybe the warmth of spring as well. Til tomorrow.
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Wednesday, January 21, 2009 The best part of the inauguration yesterday was watching the face of Yo-Yo Ma as he played his cello. He is so obviously in love with music, his cello, and showmanship that you know he's a world treasure. The next best part was the benediction when the reverend said a prayer that made everyone chuckle as he prayed for "that day when black will not be asked to get in back, when brown can stick around ... when yellow will be mellow ... when the red man can get ahead, man; and when white will embrace what is right." The reverend got three amens and applause. He's a man of conviction with a sense of humor. Then finally, my last favorite part Aretha Franklin's hat. The queen of soul wore a hat that has a place in history all its own. Would that everyone had her talent and panache. She is incomparable. It was a great inauguration; and if the country is run as well as the ceremony, we'll be in good shape for decades to come. So, the power and glamour of the nation's capitol has been handed over to the Obamas. And in the meantime, I just bought two boxes of Girl Scout cookies and am getting the dogs ready for their morning walk. Til tomorrow.
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Tuesday, January 20, 2009 Inauguration Day is today. President Obama has made it okay again to be smart and well read. He and his cabinet give a very visible sign to the world that educated, serious, capable, articulate, and informed people are now in charge. The rest of the world's leaders will find comfort in that I do believe. Unfortunately, half of the world lives on two dollars a day or less; and this group will see no change in their lives. It will be decades before the new sunshine brightens their lot in life. They will still live on two dollars a day for the foreseeable future. In the meantime, C-Span is covering the inauguration live with no commercial interruptions. Think I'll check it out. Til tomorrow.
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Monday, January 19, 2009 The Poets' Corner: The One-and-Only Poetry Book for the Whole Family is a book of collected poems compiled by John Lithgow. I heard Mr. Lithgow read a few poems from this book the other evening on PBS with Bill Moyers. The two men talked for an hour. Mr. Lithgow told stories of how his father would read Shakespeare to him and his siblings when they were young kids. It sounded like poetry was part of their lives in the same way that fast food is part of the lives of most kids now. Mr. Lithgow put this book together and got many of his esteemed Hollywood friends to read the poems. So, the book comes with great poems in print read by remarkable people with great voices and theatrical training. I just ordered the book on Amazon. When Mr. Moyers and Mr. Lithgow were talking about art, poetry, and life the other night, it was like listening in on two people who were reviewing their lives through their associations with words, art, poetry, and prose. Before the advent of electric lights, I suspect people all over the planet gathered around the campfire every evening and had exactly that same kind of conversation. Everyone had the chance to be reflective and brilliant. Now, only a select few have that opportunity. Til tomorrow.
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Sunday, January 18, 2009 An overseas friend asked me recently how it felt here in the states to have President Obama at the helm. I said it feels like I have my country back. And it does. In the NY Times Magazine this morning, it devoted the entire magazine to photographs of all of Mr. Obama's people. It was glorious. It was like I was looking at people who think just like me. The Times also implied that NYC is dead; and DC is now the new center of culture, economics, and power. Bah. I don't think so. NYC will soon bounce back from the economic debacle it now faces. A new playwright will wow Broadway, the next wave of immigrants will arrive, a better Wall Street will emerge, and scaffolding on the sidewalk will finally be put away. NYC better than DC? No way. At any rate, spring is just around the corner; and life always improves in the spring, if only until autumn. Til tomorrow.
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Saturday, January 17, 2009 I've been thinking about public libraries lately. I rarely use them in my life of today. But when I was a kid, I was there all the time. The library really wasn't a cool place to be. So, I tried to be there as inconspicuously as possible. The cool place to be was the Dairy Hut where kids in cars would eat burgers and drink cherry Cokes. I had no car and no spending money for burgers and Cokes; so I was at the library. And now today, even though I rarely use the public library, it's not because I'm too cool or that I don't support it 100%. It's because, now, if I want to read a book, I buy it instead of check it out. That's a real luxury to be able to buy a book instead of borrow it. And I'm lucky to have copies of so many books that have given me such critical direction in life. I firmly believe that a free public library system is at the heart of a democracy. In 1939, an unknown WPA stone mason chiseled into the granite above the massive double doors of my childhood hometown library the phrase, "Dedicated to the enlightenment of all the people that democracy may be perpetuated." Couldn't have chiseled it better myself. Til tomorrow.
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Friday, January 16, 2009 I wonder how you get a ticket to the Obama Inauguration. I wonder if I'd go if I had a ticket. I heard that some cab drivers were staying home during the inauguration rather than fight the traffic and the crowds. It will be a packed party town for several days no doubt. And it will be COLD. So, instead of trying to get a ticket, I think I'll buy a huge plasma TV so that when I watch the inauguration, it will be almost like I'm there. Also, I had a friend tell me recently that President Obama's first book Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance was a must read. It gets 4.5 stars on Amazon out of 388 readers; so I might buy that also. Between reading his book and watching the inauguration on a plasma, it will be like I'm there. Almost. Except I'll be warm and cozy in my living room. Til tomorrow.
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Thursday, January 15, 2009 The Museum of the City of New York has a photography exhibit by Eudora Welty. Ms. Welty (1909-2001) took photos of the people and scenes in both NYC and in Mississippi where she lived. Her photos show the realities of life for everyday people and captured the essence of the time showing how the glass ceiling of the day was actually made of granite and the wealth of the era was stored at the top echelons of society. After looking at her photographs, I came home and pulled her collected short stories off the shelf. She captured various truths through her photos and her fiction; and of course that's what a good writer does. As Woody Allen said, "We all know the same truth; our lives consist of how we choose to distort it." The truth is... Til tomorrow.
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Wednesday, January 14, 2009 What makes a person happy? Family, friends, health, financial stability. That seems to be the prevailing wisdom. Perhaps those are the basics. At least for me they're the basics. Overall, I'm happiest when I'm around anything that is done really well. A souffle, a crisply ironed shirt, a well-packed suitcase, a pirouette, a martin birdhouse, a standing ovation, a book written with perfect word after perfect word. Plus, I like a nice desk chair. Happiness. Til tomorrow.
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Tuesday, January 13, 2009 A week in New York; and now I'm home thinking about the five plays I was privileged to see. I love the theater. I love everything about it. Dividing the Estate by Horton Foote Gypsy with Patti Lupone Hedda Gabler with Mary Louise Parker (Gabler rhymes with cobbler) Pal Joey with Stockard Channing and Martha Plimpton All My Sons by Arthur Miller with John Lithgow, Dianne Wiest, Patrick Wilson, and Katie Holmes Every time I go to NYC, I arrive home completely recharged. Penniless? Yes. Exhausted? Yes. Jet-lagged? Yes. Starstruck? Yes. James Earl Jones was across the way at Dividing the Estate. Alan Rickman was at Hedda Gabler. It was a great week. Guggenheim, MOMA, NY Public Library, the UN building, the Statue of Liberty, and the Manhattan New School where first-grade teacher, Paula Rogovin, showed me what it was like to have taught for 35 years. Unforgettable, unbeatable. Til tomorrow.
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Saturday, January 3, 2009 Off on vacation til January 12. Til then.
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Friday, January 2, 2009 Naomi Klein was rebroadcast on BookTV again yesterday from the Miami Book Fair. Her book titled, The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism was the topic of discussion. During her talk, she criticized Larry Summers, the new Secretary of the Treasury appointee, as being part of the economic problems the country is now facing. She said he was in charge of the Treasury years ago and helped create the deregulations that have caused Wall Street and the banking industry to overspeculate, overextend, and engage in what is now known to be illegal activities. The question has to be why didn't President-Elect Obama appoint Naomi Klein as Secretary of the Treasury. She clearly has insight into how the economy went wrong and what has to happen to fix it. Larry Summers is the same person who was president of Harvard. He resigned after his infamous statement that women didn't seem to have the same sort of brain power as men and that's why there weren't more women scientists and mathematicians. I'm wondering if he regrets saying that outloud. Ms. Klein went on to explain that deregulation of economic safeguards that were put into place after the Great Depression and the combining of commercial banking with investment banking caused our current recession. It all seems very complicated of course, except for a very few at the top echelons of our capitalistic system. Lots of people made money on paper when money wasn't really there; and lots of people lost the same kind of funny money. Funny money turns out to be not so funny. I still wish I had lots more of it. Ha. Til tomorrow.
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Thursday, January 1, 2009 Finally. Til tomorrow.
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Wednesday, December 31, 2008 It's the last day of the year. I've decided my new year's resolution is...to make no resolutions. I never keep them; so I've decided to spare myself the disappointment of not living up to them. I suppose if I were going to make one or two resolutions, I would resolve to 1) not start so many books at one time, 2) not let my NY Times Book Reviews stack up beyond two weeks, 3) finish 13 Ways of Looking at the Novel by Jane Smiley, 4) continue to write on this blog every day, and 5) take the advice of E. B. White and Lynne Truss who both encouraged wiser use of the comma. But, then again, like I said, this year, I'm not making any new year's resolutions. Til tomorrow.
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Tuesday, December 30, 2008 About twice a year, I hear the name Svengali; and I can never remember what it refers to. I only remember that on an episode of Seinfeld, Jerry makes a crack that someone funny might be known as Svenjolly. That still doesn't help me remember the original reference of Svengali. So, I looked it up. Svengali was a character in an 1894 novel. He was a hypnotist who manipulated other people into doing things for his own evil intentions. So,... Svengali = an evil manipulator Svenjolly = a pleasant manipulator Til tomorrow.
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Monday, December 29, 2008 Jon Scieszka (rhymes with Fresca) has a new book out. It was reviewed in the Times a couple weeks back. The reviewer quoted passages from the book that showed Jon and his brothers had a boys will be boys kind of childhood where rough games of tackle football and swishing around in the toilet bowl were fun things they did. I know plenty of boys and men who did not do any of those so-called boyish things; and they grew up just fine. It seems to me that as long as we perpetuate the myth that boys will be boys and therefore are allowed a wider range of both good and bad behaviors, then we are continuing to perpetuate inequality between boys and girls, women and men. Gloria Steinem said we need the courage to raise our boys like our girls. And vice versa as well. If swishing around in the toilet bowl is character building, then let's all do it. No? Right. So, while Scieszka has been named the nation's ambassador for children's literature by the Library of Congress, I see the need for a different kind of message to be sent to our boy readers and to our girl readers: be yourself not a stereotype not a caricature not a chip off the old block. Be yourself. Not that I'm beating up on Mr. Scieszka (much) and not that he cares what I think, but I think he could do better. I also take issue with his poem about Darwin in his book Science Verse. He got the theory of evolution wrong; and if he's going to be an ambassador of books, he needs to get it right. His book Math Curse gives children the message that math is hard or so says my mathematician colleague. Math is hard - so I sort of like that book. Ha. I get the feeling that Mr. Scieszka is telling boys and their teachers that boys need different kinds of books than girls need; and that's something I don't think that Faulkner or Calvino or Marquez would agree with. Til tomorrow.
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Sunday, December 28, 2008 Writing a few words each day about anything bookish is the goal. So....once again, here goes. Last night, C-SPAN broadcast the November 21 award dinner honoring Christiane Amanpour who was given the Fourth Estate Award by the National Press Club. Madeleine Albright, Wolf Blitzer, and Richard Cohen gave tributes that were witty, funny, clever, respectful, insightful, kind, generous, and well-written. It was great. She was born in London in 1958 to a father from Iran and a mother from England. She graduated summa cum laude from the University of Rhode Island and specifically went there to university so that, according to Wolf Blitzer, she could be the only Fourth Estate Awardee to come from URI. Chuckle. The Fourth Estate refers to the field of journalism whereas the first three estates are the three estates of British Parliament. Ms. Amanpour said, in her prepared statement at the end of the fete, that being a journalist was part of a noble profession and required that stories be told without fear or favor because people have the right to know. So well said. Til tomorrow.
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Saturday, December 27, 2008 WOW. The end of the year is nearly here. I finished a book yesterday, Just Grace. It was about a little girl named Grace. Grace had friends, adventures, misunderstandings, and very understanding parents. Then I'm also reading The Wordy Shipmates by Sarah Vowell. I read a few pages each day and have a better understanding of why the nation's founders thought we needed amendments to the US constitution. Ms. Vowell explains the 16th century relationship between church and state in England and provides a backdrop for understanding Martin Luther's rebellion against the Catholic Church and the subsequent rebellion against the Church of England by various groups of people. From all that oppression came a belief in the need for separation of church and state. The first amendment to the US Constitution reads, "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances." Living up to that First Amendment right should keep us all busy. There may be no better calling in life than to study law and make social justice and equal opportunity the focus of ones life. I think of Morris Dees who founded the Southern Poverty Law Center as the best example of that calling. Til tomorrow.
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Friday, December 26, 2008 Harold Pinter and Eartha Kitt died this week. He - Christmas Eve. She - Christmas Day. He was a playwright; she was a star. They were both incredibly talented and critically successful. They were also both war protesters. He - Iraq. She - Vietnam. They were 78 and 81 years of age, respectively. I was on a bus somewhere one time and heard a man tell a woman that even after you're dead, you're still here. Your ashes or your molecules remain a part of the physical world forever. That means that everyone who has ever lived on this planet is still here in some form or another. Ashes to ashes; dust to dust. This notion also includes David Foster Wallace who died on September 12, 2008. Mr. Wallace wrote Infinite Jest among other books, essays, and articles. He was a philosopher. I recently watched a ten-year-old clip of him talking to Charlie Rose; and it was obvious that this young man had a brilliant mind but also a troubled heart. Three good people - gone but still here. Til tomorrow.
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Thursday, December 25, 2008 Last night I reread the book, A Christmas Carol written by Charles Dickens and published on December 19, 1843. The copy I have is signed by his great-grandson David Charles Dickens and was given to me as a Christmas gift by a friend named Carla in 1993. Today is a new day and is a day for popovers, White Christmas by Rosemary Clooney, A Christmas Album by The Platters, walking the dogs through some snowy woods if I can find some, cleaning out the fireplace, and fixing the fence - typical Christmas day endeavors. Merry Christmas. Til tomorrow.
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Wednesday, December 24, 2008 The sun is shining, the grass is green, the orange and palm trees sway. There's never been such a day in the good ol' USA. Oops. Too many words borrowed from Irving Berlin. I took piano lessons for ten years; and I learned most of the songs Mr. Berlin wrote. In fact, I still have the Irving Berlin music book I played from. I keep everything. That's why I can find nothing when I actually need it. But, like most of life, if I keep looking long enough, I usually find what I need. Til tomorrow.
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Tuesday, December 23, 2008 When I was a kid, Christmas was always my favorite time of year. No school. Snow. Santa. Presents. Carols. And it still is - for pretty much the same reasons except now it's also Broadway, Rockefeller Center, crowds, subways, MOMA, the Guggenheim, the Whitney, delis, Grants' Tomb, a scrambled egg sandwich and coffee for breakfast at the Art Cafe and Restaurant on the corner of Broadway and 52nd, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the American Museum of Natural History, Central Park, Le Pain Quotidian, the Hans Christian Andersen statue, Shanghai Tang, Carnegie Hall, Fairway Market, NY Public Library, Strand Bookstore, Cuban food at Victor's Cafe, the free ferry to Staten Island, the Statue of Liberty, the hustle, the stress, the speed, the noise, the confusion and E. B. White's Here is New York, copyright, 1949. It's all there; and I love it. Til tomorrow.
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Monday, December 22, 2008 Carol Chomsky died last Friday at the age of 78. Her obituary was in the paper yesterday. She married Noam in 1949; and they had three children and five grandchildren. She held a Ph.D. in linguistics. Together, they made a video titled, Noam Chomsky: Rebel Without a Pause available on Amazon. Til tomorrow.
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Sunday, December 21, 2008 Philip Seymour Hoffman. He was featured in the Times Magazine this morning. He's in a new movie and a new play and has been working hard and steady for the past 100 years it seems even though he's only 40ish. I was fortunate to see him on Sunday, August 17, 2003 on Broadway in Long Day's Journey into Night, an autobiographical play written by Eugene O'Neill in 1956. Vanessa Redgrave was the mother; Brian Dennehy was the father; Phil was their son; Robert Sean Leonard was the younger son. It was disturbing to see these characters completely destroying each other through their own individual pain and misery. The play and the characters' pain was almost too much to watch. I started wondering whether pain was a requirement in order to produce great art. But then there are great artists and actors who live pain free and who simply know how to interpret life with or without pain. I love the theater; and I need it. And I need it in NYC. Once a year, I need a large dose of insight, wisdom, and perfection. And that's where I go to get it. The theatre allows writers, actors, and directors to hold up ideas in front of an audience so that the audience members see themselves clearly for a short time before they go back to living under their own little fog. That's what great theatre is about. Great theatre lifts the fog for a little while and gives you a glimpse of truth. All the world's a stage; and clearly Mr. Hoffman knows some stuff about the world. He's married-mostly, has three children, and is doing long-lasting work. And he seems happy. Cool. Til tomorrow.
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Saturday, December 20, 2008 Flawed, villainous, and valiant. Those were words used to describe Alan Rickman in today's paper. I like Mr. Rickman in all his various roles; but I love those three words in that order and in the context of describing a person. We're all a little flawed, villainous, and valiant at one time or another. And I actually think we have little control over which one of those we'll be from day to day. We're a species that is totally dependent on situations. In one situation, we're valiant; while in another we're flawed. In one situation, road rage wins the day; while in another, we're putting twenty dollars in the Salvation Army pot. Luckily, most of us are rarely villainous unless we wind up in a really abnormal situation which I don't intend to do - ever - but you never know. There it is, flawed, villainous, valiant. Then again, there's funny. I have a new book by Mo Willems titled, You Can Never Find a Rickshaw When it Monsoons; and it's great. Mr. Willems has a great eye for what is funny. Odd, isn't it. Just when I'm ready for funny, BOOM, there it is. In a new book. All laid out. Ready to go. Til tomorrow.
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Friday, December 19, 2008 In today's paper, Will Smith's new movie has not gotten a good review. Unclear character motivation, emotionally sappy, unjustified actions and ending. Oh dear. So, how does that feel to be one of the most sought-after Hollywood types who doesn't do so good in his latest venture? Well, I'm betting Mr. Smith is pretty tough and isn't concerned about the critics. He probably did the best he could under the circumstances. He probably saw the same flaws in the script as the critics. But he's the actor and not the writer; so, he chugged along as best he could in circumstances over which he had very little control. He knows, however, he's got the right stuff; and until the next film rolls around, he'll get by. Til tomorrow.
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Thursday, December 18, 2008 At some point in the last two years, I read or heard someone say that there were five writers who transformed the novel. But what they transformed it from or to, I'm not quite sure. But the five transformative writers are: Toni Morrison Marcel Proust James Joyce William Faulkner Virginia Woolf There they are. That's the order in which I heard the names and jotted them down. I've read them all. When I want wisdom, I go to writers; and I've gone to these five in the past and will hopefully go to them again in the future. Their books are on my shelves; and their names are in my scrapbook. I keep a scrapbook of interesting things that I hear or see. I write things down on little scraps of paper; and then I glue them into my scrapbook. My favorite thing in my scrapbook that I've kept over the past fifteen years is a saying I heard credited to Blaise Pascal, "The sole cause of man's unhappiness is his inability to sit still in his room." Hard to argue with that. Til tomorrow.
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Wednesday, December 17, 2008 I've decided not to read A Mercy by Toni Morrison until spring. I decided after reading the reviews and watching her on Amazon that the book might bring me d o w n . So, I'm going to find something equally well written but with less despair. I just finished Hate that Cat and enjoyed it very much. I'm almost done with Dear Genius and am enthralled with the notion of looking back in time to the kinds of correspondences that the early modern writers of literature for children shared with their editor, Ursula Nordstrom. Looking at Ms. Nordstrom's letters is like being a peeping Tom except it's legal. And speaking of peeping, I'm excited about taking a look at the personal papers of writers housed at the Kerlan Collection at the University of Minnesota where I'll be in May of 2009. It will be my first time to see an actual organized collection of writers' papers at a university library. It won't be the same as seeing the actual letters that John and Abigail Adams wrote to each other; but it will still be pretty cool. David McCullough on BookTV showed us some of those Adams's letters; and it was beyond words to see those actual 200-year-old-documents preserved, protected, and valued. So, Kerlan in May. That's the plan. Til tomorrow.
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Tuesday, December 16, 2008 There sure are a lot of movies coming out this holiday season. I like movies; but I don't like the movie houses these days. They're chilly; the floors are sticky; standing in line to buy a ticket seems so 20th century; the sound is too loud especially during the commercials; too many people crinkle up their snack wrappers; and gosh, this sounds very Scroogish. But there you have it. Going to the movies could be great if all those things could be addressed. Instead, I'll make a list of everything that looks good, and then I'll wait six months and rent it on DVD. Or better yet, I'll read the book since most really great movies are book adaptations although I've just heard that Twilight the movie isn't nearly as good as Twilight the book. Til tomorrow.
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Monday, December 15, 2008 The middle of the month. The start of a day. Most heart attacks happen on Monday mornings when people are returning to their work week after having a couple of days off. Sounds like we need a four-day work week or maybe even three. If Henry David Thoreau was correct, we really shouldn't be working more than a few hours a day anyway. We should be living simply enough that working a few hours a day would provide us with everything we need. What would that feel like if we all worked only a few hours each day and then spent the rest of the time paying attention to what was around us. We'd notice more, consume less, live slower, and have fewer heart attacks. Sounds good. Til tomorow.
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Sunday, December 14, 2008 Today, The NY Times Book Review lists the ten best books of 2008. And I've decided on one of them to read. Toni Morrison's A Mercy. And then another book I'm going to read is How We Decide by Jonah Lehrer who was interviewed today by Deborah Solomon in The New York Times Magazine. So, it looks like a busy holiday season for readers. It's quite surprising to find that while the economy is sinking, the book industry just keeps chugging along. Perhaps it's because book people have always had to struggle financially, so they're really good at making ends meet while the rest of the world has to take more dramatic steps to keep on going. I had a dream last night that I ran in to Meryl Streep in an antique shop. She owned the shop and was searching through some vintage purses looking for old coins. She asked me to help her, which I did; but in my dream I was thinking why does Meryl Streep need to be looking for money. We didn't find any coins; but we did start talking about books. I invited her to go with me to my office to see my signed copies of various books that I have. She said it sounded like fun. But her three 20 something managers looked at me and said no way. Meryl wanted to go anyway. As we were starting to leave the shop, one of her aides came up and said that his father had just died and he needed Meryl to stay at the shop and be with him. She said, "Yes, of course." So, that was the end of showing Meryl my book collection. But then later in the dream, this aide came up to me; and it was obvious that his father had NOT died. He had just said that to keep Meryl from going with me to my office. They were treating her not like their boss but rather like a person who needed looking after. What kind of person tells his boss that his father died when in fact he didn't? The kind, I suppose, who are only in dreams. Her new movie, Doubt, is going to make up for me not being able to show her my signed copies of Ordinary Resurrections, Amelia and Eleanor Go for a Ride, Dory Story, Harlem, Bridge to Terabithia, and The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven. Til tomorrow.
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Saturday, December 13, 2008 I've been reading about purple martins. There's a very specific science to building a birdhouse for purple martins. For the house, there's a specific color, size, shape, and height that must be maintained in order to initially attract the birds and then to also protect them from squirrels and owls. I'm not sure how I would install a 20 foot telescoping pole; but I bet I can figure it out. Evidently, enough of their natural habitat has been usurped by housing developments that their survival depends upon people who will build housing for them and commit to long term landlord duties. If the world's birds and the coral reefs are protected and allowed to flourish, then the rest of the planet will also have a chance. There are 8,000 square miles in the Gulf of Mexico called the Dead Zone. In this zone, the coral reef is dead due to lack of oxygen. The oxygen is being used up by the algae which is growing out of proportion. The algae is growing out of proportion because it is being fed too well due to farmland runoff that courses down the Mississippi River and winds up in the Gulf. We're all connected. Birds, reefs, bugs, people, weeds, sunshine, and hope. We're all connected. Til tomorrow.
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Friday, December 12, 2008 I'm thinking about three new books. The first is a picture book of haiku by Cynthia Rylant. This book got a good review in the NY Times; so I'll probably check it out at Barnes and Noble and then buy it from Amazon. But Rylant's best book is indeed The Van Gogh Cafe. I don't know what kind of talent it takes to write that level of comforting fantasy; but Ms. Rylant has it. The Van Gogh cafe has two main characters who run a little diner in Flowers, Kansas. And were I not very familiar with Kansas, that book would make me want to go live there. As it is, the fantasy of Kansas is enough. The second book I'm thinking about this morning is Animal Life, which is a book from the Museum of Natural History and which contains photographs and information about animals. If it's suitable, I'm thinking of 30 children for whom I might buy a copy. And lastly, I'm thinking of a new book of short stories by Annie Proulx (rhymes with boo). Her best book is Shipping News. That book took me to the east coast shoreline to an old house, to the sea, and to love lost and love found. I didn't see the movie because I knew the film could never hold up to the book. I think of that book regularly. Seems like the oddest things remind me of those characters and that old house. Her newest book is a collection of nine short stories about life in the old west. However, I just checked it out on Amazon; and while the official reviewers say it's wonderful writing and wonderfully authentic, there is a feeling that it's just too harsh and hard. Ms. Proulx is a first-class writer who can take you up and then down pretty fast. I need the lighter touch of David Sedaris this holiday season. Nothing too deep for the year's end - just some animals, a few good laughs, and maybe a couple sips of egg nog. Til tomorrow.
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Thursday, December 11, 2008 Just when you're pretty happy reading your favorite book, you come to the last page and wish it hadn't ended. You realize you really like the characters in that book; and you wish you could go out with them as friends to a restaurant or to a movie or to plan a trip someplace together. But then time passes, and the characters return to their place on the page; and you start looking around for a new book, new characters, new friends. And the whole sequence of friendship, loss, and renewal begins again. But actually, a 2-D friend in a book is not nearly as good as a 3-D friend in real life. Even though a 2-D friend will never argue with you about the best place to eat or the quirkiest show on TV or the fastest route to Fargo, North Dakota, it's only a 3-D friend who will stick with you through thick and thin. And in the end, that's what really counts. Til tomorrow.
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Wednesday, December 10, 2008 Today is cold and blustery. The sun is nowhere to be found. This morning reminds me of Remembrance of Things Past by Marcel Proust. His novel is about the involuntary memories we all have so that the smallest of things reminds us of the largest of things. The smallest whiff or sight or sound can transform our memory to another place or time where we involuntarily adjust our memories to suit our needs of the moment. Memories are neurological; they are atomical; they are dependent on synapses. Our memories are uniquely ours. Umberto Eco says there are three kinds of memories, 1) automatic, 2) autobiographical, and 3) semantic. That's hard to argue with. Til tomorrow.
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Tuesday, December 9, 2008 There was a nice piece in today's paper about Meryl Streep and her new movie, Doubt. Sophie's Choice and The French Lieutenant's Woman were the first two films I remember about her. Both were based on books. She did such an incredible job of becoming the characters in those films that you wonder how she become herself again when the director said, "Cut." How did she go back to being Meryl, mother of four, and normal citizen when just moments before she had been transformed into being a woman of such sorrow. I suppose that's what acting is about - transformation and then returning to normalcy. The article said she lives in Connecticut and New York. Maybe she takes the train in to the city to get a bite of lunch at Le Pain Quotidian; or maybe she walks into the NY Public Library to check out a book or two; or maybe she strolls into Saks and buys some little doodad by Prada; or maybe she hails a cab to the Staten Island Ferry to enjoy a view of the Statue of Liberty. But I doubt it. All that's way too normal for such an extraordinary woman as Meryl. Til tomorrow.
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Monday, December 8, 2008 Kevin Phillips was live on BookTV for three hours yesterday. He's an economist and historian. He was brilliant, outspoken, irreverent, and articulate. He discussed the economy, the White House, U.S. Presidents, and the crooks and scoundrels running Wall Street. He's written 13 books and currently lives in Litchfield, Connecticut. He writes for 8 to 12 hours a day when he's working on a book. He's an expert on McKinley, Roosevelt, Nixon, Reagan, Johnson, Clinton, and the current White House dynasty. He had people calling in from all over the nation asking him questions about what Obama should do to fix the economy. He was very clear. First, get rid of Ben Bernanke as chairman of the Federal Reserve, bail out the auto industry, clean up loopholes on Wall Street, and try to undo the global damage of the past 8 years. I hope Obama was watching; cause this guy, Phillips, knows what he's talking about. I can't even imagine life without BookTV. C-SPAN receives five cents from every cable bill in America to fully fund their tiny budget. This arrangement was explained by Brian Lamb and is the result of the lobbying efforts of Bob Rosenkranz and Bob Tisch back in the late 70s. Forward thinking - a great example. Til tomorrow.
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Sunday, December 7, 2008 There were lots of interesting pieces in today's papers. Leonard Pitts wrote about a PBS special on the German Holocaust. Deborah Solomon wrote about the National Book Award winner, Annette Gordon-Reed who wrote about Sally Hemmings and Thomas Jefferson. The Times Magazine had an extended piece about Cuba and Castro. And of course, this is the sixty-first anniversary of the bombing of Pearl Harbor. There was a Russian warship that went through the Panama Canal this week in conjunction with Venezuela's interest in Russian goods and services. And the list of worldly shenanigans goes on - up close, personal, and semi-scarey. Plus, it's all enhanced and packaged for maximum effect by those who benefit from maximum effect. But for me, the best thing is still Amy Krouse Rosenthal who decided to beckon lovely on Youtube. The good, the bad, the lovely. It's all here. Til tomorrow.
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Saturday, December 6, 2008 Here's a quote that is routinely heard, "I must study politics and war that
my sons may have liberty to study mathematics and philosophy, geography,
natural history, naval architecture, navigation, commerce, and agriculture, in
order to give their children the right to study painting, poetry, music,
architecture, statuary, tapestry, and porcelain.~John Adams, Letter to
Abigail Adams, May 12, 1780." But it seems like we've been studying politics and war for as long as I can remember. I was born as a baby boomer after WW II. Then came Korea; then came Vietnam; then came the assassinations of JFK, Bobby, Martin; then came Afghanistan; then came Iraq; then came Iraq and Afghanistan again. It feels like we're never going to move beyond violence to get to poetry, art, music, and all the stories of our lives. But then suddenly last night, I got an email from Amy Krouse Rosenthal whom I had met at a conference where she shared her books with us. Wow. She has single-handedly moved beyond politics and war right on into the arts all on her own. Her book Encyclopedia of an Ordinary Life is wonderful. As I was reading it a couple years back, I kept wondering who is this Amy person and how has she written down the words that are floating around in my head. How did it happen that a person I don't even know wrote down the ideas that I always assumed were mine? That's an odd phenomenon. Then she wrote a book for children titled Cookies. Another winner. Amy is a writer, artist, mom, social activist, and just plain fun. Anyhoo, her email said that she had started a new movement; and she wanted to share it with the universe, which she has already done on her website and Youtube. Here's her email.
Hello
You
As
a person who has at one time or another expressed interest in my work and/or
sent me a nice note (and by the way, thank you again for that), I am
operating under the assumption that you might want to know about "The
Beckoning of Lovely."
What
is "The Beckoning of Lovely" you ask?
It is a short film (and
by short, I mean like 7 minutes). It's about creating and collaborating
and writing and music and art and life and exploring the unknown and
interacting with the universe and splashing in fountains. So
now, if you will please drop everything you were doing and watch this...)
"The
Beckoning of Lovely" http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=0QVQSZA9zSk
Since
it launched a couple months ago, a lot has happened...And that in turn led to
the next phase of the project (but don't watch this til you've seen the
first part). This part is titled "Invitation to the Universe."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WtNGmXkQQpA
Finally,
if you go to http://www.whoisamy.wordpress.com
you can read about the team I'm assembling to help make the final feature
film -- 14 key positions in all -- and the weird happy bit of syncronicity
having to do with Obama's first 100 days in office.
Maybe
you'll submit your own lovely thing?
Maybe
you'll apply for a key position?
Maybe
you'll just watch and (I can only hope) not regret having done so.
Thanks
for reaching out to me when you did...
Be
well.
amy
krouse rosenthal
So, that's the long and the short of it for today. If you're in the mood for politics and war, go to CNN. If you're in the mood for the arts, check out Amy's lovely Youtube video. Til tomorrow.
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Friday, December 5, 2008 I woke up this morning wondering how Liza Minelli did at her opening at the Palace in NYC this past Wednesday. So, I googled liza minelli palace NY Times review. And I got today's review in the paper. The review was perfect. It gave exactly the right amount of adoration and truth. Ms. Minelli has had two hip replacements and a knee operation. So, her dancing and high-kick days are over; but she still represents a slice of music and tenacity that has to be admired. She's 62 and got a positive review. I'm very happy for her; and I hope she's happy for herself since that's what really matters. Til tomorrow.
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Thursday, December 4, 2008 I started a new book last night. Hate that Cat by Sharon Creech. So far, I'm loving it. Creech is one of those writers who just doesn't stop writing. She's won awards, has a long list of books to her credit, and continues to write like a reader. She's quite an inspiration. It's pretty apparent that I'm going to have purchase another bookshelf. In addition to being almost finished with Dear Genius by Ursula Nordstrom, I'm also wanting to finish The Conquest of Happiness by Bertrand Russell which I've put on the back burner for awhile now. I'm so happy for President-Elect Obama. It feels like I have my country back; and now maybe the world has a chance at repair. That's it for today. Til tomorrow.
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Wednesday, December 3, 2008 Today's a big day. I'm going to venture out and buy a few Christmas gifts. It's totally great to look at the L.L. Bean catalog or the Chelsea Street Market catalog or the Harry and David site; but there's nothing quite like shopping for a specific gift that you can hold in your hand. So, off I go. Til tomorrow.
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Tuesday, December 2, 2008 My two new used books arrived yesterday, The Wondrous O and The 13 Clocks both by James Thurber. They are the original copyrights of 1957 and 1950, respectively. I started reading the O last night and was hooked. There were probably 10 words I came across that I didn't know. They were old words or pirate words or words related to the story that I'd never heard. And I had no need to go look them up. I got the gist of the story without them. That's the way reading works. Not every word has to be read and understand particularly in a novel. Then, I opened another book package from Amazon to reveal a copy of State by State. ARGH. This means I've ordered and received two of this same book in the past 2 weeks. Good grief. So, now, I have two copies of the very same book. The authors were interviewed on BookTV over the weekend; and there are great stories from each state contained within this book, which is patterned after the WPA writing project of the 30s during which time FDR created opportunties through the Works Progress Administration for writers to be employed and to create a travel guide about their respective states. The old state book was a little dry. The new state book is very engaging. So, now I have two. Amazon even has a line at the top of their page that tells you if and when you already purchased something. I simply missed it. So, I guess this is a doubly good book that I'll doubly enjoy. Til tomorrow.
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Monday, December 1, 2008 It's a new month and a new day. There were really great interviews on BookTV this weekend. I learned new things and relearned some old things. Steven Pinker's interview was rebroadcast during which he made a few remarks about his new book on violence. He's looking at the stats on how and why violence in our world exists. If anyone can shed light on that, he can. Perhaps he'll be able to explain a piece in this morning's paper about 23 headless bodies found in Tijuana. Two were police officers. I assume all 23 had families and were doing the best they could to live. Their heads were in a bag nearby. This is such a waste; and to explain it will require a broad view of history, economics, politics, our drug policy, and even more importantly, geography. Also in today's paper, was a piece on President-Elect Obama's cabinet. Included in that article was a list of what liberal voters want from him: end the war in Iraq, provide universal health care, halt illegal interrogation of terrorist suspects, make it easier to form unions, and tackle global warming. President-Elect Obama ran on those platforms. Now that he's closer to the White House, he puts repairing the economy as priority one. Eventually, I suppose he'll tackle the problem of 23 headless bodies in Tijuana. This is a sad way to start the day. Til tomorrow.
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Sunday, November 30, 2008 My, what a rich day. New books by Toni Morrison, Malcolm Gladwell, and Sarah Vowell were reviewed in today's NY Times Book Review. The reviews were positive; and the books are great. I can't wait to read them. Then on the last page of the Book Review was an essay about what to do when you have too many books. I only skimmed the article; but one part did catch my eye. The actuarial tables indicate that since people don't live forever, there's a limited amount of books that one can reasonably have time to read. So, in choosing carefully and respecting time, I choose these three. And then in the Arts and Lesiure section, there was a great piece about Liza Minelli. I'm so glad I bought the four books about Eloise by Kay Thompson in their original pub dates. And it's so refreshing to read an interview with Liza where she says she's feeling in charge of her life after so many years of not. Her Liza at the Palace show starts this coming Wednesday, December 3. So, it's been a full day of reading; and it's not even noon. Thankfully, most of the turkey leftovers have been consumed; and the house is now decorated for Christmas. It's chilly out. The dogs are still asleep. And I'm ready to see what's on BookTV. Til tomorrow.
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Saturday, November 29, 2008 Malcolm Gladwell has a new book out titled, Outliers. It's about successful people who do things outside the norm. Malcolm also wrote The Tipping Point and Blink. I love both of those books so I'm hoping to love his new one too. He's a great example of a bright writer who takes science and sociology to the best-seller list through readable and accessible books. He's energetic and a clear thinker. His presentation that I saw one time on BookTV was wonderful. He's a great speaker and is going to be at the 92nd Street Y in NYC on January 6, 2009 at 8:00 PM for a ticket price of $27. But you can watch him for free on Youtube as well as on Amazon. I suppose that most wildly successful people are so because of focussed hard work and a great deal of being in the right place at the right time. 80% of being successful is just showing up or so says Woody Allen. Hard work and luck. Sounds good. Til tomorrow.
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Friday, November 28, 2008 Thanksgiving dinner was great. Leftovers will be equally great. On BookTV yesterday, William Least Heat Moon and Robert Remini were featured. They each spent 90 to minutes or so talking about their books on Christopher Columbus and Andrew Jackson respectively. Their messages were clearly intended to remind us of the many, many ways in which the indigenous peoples of north and south America were decimated by conquistadors and European settlers during the colonizing periods of our history. They each pointed out independently of each other that we're not really in the post-colonizing period of history since our country still attempts to export our brand of capitalism, democracy, patriotism, and lifestyle to the rest of the world every minute of every day. It seems to me they are the masters at telling us what is hard to hear. Their books as well as Howard Zinn's book, A People's History of the United States: 1492 to Present remind us that truth is many faceted and that looking at only partial truths is ultimately counter-productive. The USA is a relatively young country with miles to go before we reach truth and justice. And we still have much to learn about non-violent leadership and respect for other ways of life throughout the world. It seems we continue to repeat past mistakes with regard to hegemonic attitudes. We continue to impose values and restrictions on other peoples and nations at the same time that we boast of our own fineness. I believe we as a nation should practice more humility and more generosity as well. As a nation, we can look back on our past and recognize our short-comings and our wrongful deeds and vow not to repeat our transgressions. And mean it. It's no good to be the number one super power on the planet when it comes at the expense of rising to the top on the backs of others. We can do better. Til tomorrow.
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Thursday, November 27, 2008 Happy Thanksgiving. And thank goodness for my ancient, Betty Crocker cookbook. I'm in the process of making dinner and am referring to good ol' Betty for recipes, tips, and advice on how not to burn the turkey. Her cranberry relish recipe is simple and basic and tastes great. Cranberry relish and turkey go so good together it seems to me. And of course, turkey with all the trimmings is great. But it's actually the pumpkin pie and the walnut raison pie that will be the best part of the meal. I've toyed around with lots of other cookbooks; but my old Betty Crocker is still the best. Her pie recipes are the tops. Til tomorrow.
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Wednesday, November 26, 2008 If I ever write a book, it will be about a woman with the power of time travel. I actually want that power. I'd go back and tell Galileo and Gutenberg that their efforts had made all the difference. That's it. Just those two. Til tomorrow.
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Tuesday, November 25, 2008 So, what do you do when a young couple living overseas has a baby. Why you send them the original Pooh library set as well as the Olivia gift set collection from Amazon of course. Pooh and Olivia can get you through just about anything in this life. I got to see the original Pooh in the NY Public Library children's section on 53rd a couple of years ago. It was on display in a glass case. Since that time, the British have decided they want it back. Next time I'm in NYC, I'll check to see if we did the right thing or not. Did we keep it or return it? And then of course, Olivia is my favorite book character of all the characters in children's literature. I like her independence, her sense of fun, and her unstoppable curiosity about everything around her. Not a bad way to live your life seems to me. So, welcome to the world of Pooh, Olivia, reading, writing, books, and all things bookish. Til tomorrow.
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Monday, November 24, 2008 Gustavo Arellano has written a book titled Orange County. He's a columnist with the LA Times and has been interviewed by Google and BookTV. He's very funny, witty, quick, smart, and articulate. He's bilingual, bicultural, and transpolitical. He talks about everything and rises above all the petty stuff. His column is titled Ask a Mexican. He reminds me of Malcolm Gladwell and Sarah Vowell in his energy and spontaneity. It's so cool that Google bought Youtube. Google started a program of interviewing authors and putting them on Youtube. It's great. I watched Gustavo last night and today I'm going to watch a Google interview with Noam Chomsky; and it's all on Youtube via Google's efforts. Google has changed the world in the same way that Johannes Gutenberg did in 1439 by inventing the printing press. Speaking of Gutenberg, there was a publishing panel on BookTV yesterday. They quoted stats that said there were 130,000 books published each year. The editor of the Washington Post said she gets 150 books every single day to review for her paper. She narrows it down quickly and picks just a handful that will be reviewed in her paper. I wonder if she'll review Orange County. Til tomorrow.
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Sunday, November 23, 2008 David Lynch was interviewed in the Times Magazine by Deborah Solomon today. It's a totally great interveiw. I clipped it out and put it with all the other interviews she does each Sunday. She's a great interviewer in that she asks questions that are designed to elicit interesting answers although at times, they seem to be questions that the interviewee has answered elsewhere. But I love her style and am hoping for a collection of them some day in a book. But then I'd have to tear out some of the pages where she interviewed total losers like Karl Rove. Oops. Be nice. So, in this same issue of the Times Magazine was a piece written by Will Wright who created the computer game The Sims. He said he likes to buy uranium off the internet; and he also collects items from the Russian space program on the brown market from men who must be named Alexei. It's so great to read the words of others who live an entirely different life from mine. My brain needs a jolt of something different on a regular basis so it doesn't become complacent, sluggish, lazy, or even just bored. And after reading today's NY Times, I'm now thinking I need a drill press for the garage. Til tomorrow.
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Saturday, November 22, 2008 I'm up way too early this morning trying out my new Breadman bread maker. I'm reading cookbooks, online recipes, and dusty old pamphlets trying to figure out the best way to make homemade bread without actually doing any work. Ha. So far, the water, oil, salt, sugar, bread flour, and yeast are in the bread maker bouncing around and having a wonderful time. And in just three hours, I'll check to see if there's actually some bread in this thing or just a mass of wet flour. Til tomorrow.
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Friday, November 21, 2008 The Arrival by Shaun Tan has been on my mind lately. It's a wordless book that outlines a story about a man who leaves his home to immigrate to another place. Mr. Tan is an accomplished artist who seemingly effortlessly creates a world where the reader's imagination and intuition are required. To read his book means you have to set aside some time to see all the subtleties, all the suggestions, and all the aspects of the story that are there and essential but minimally so. I love the cover, the binding, the endpapers, the texture, the smokiness of the pages, and the fact that the book exists. The story, the attention to detail, and the artistic medium lets you know right away that Mr. Tan's talent is major. I like to read this book at the speed with which Mr. Tan drew each picture and made each pencil mark. Til tomorrow.
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Thursday, November 20, 2008 If all the world's a stage, then the curtain is
crashing down - hard. The economy is tanking. Unemployment is up. The
poor are getting poorer. And the uninsured remain uninsured. As a species, it seems
like we've not handled ourselves very well. We owe more money than we have; we
buy more stuff than we need; and we don't seem to appreciate the simple, simple
things of life in the way that Henry David Thoreau tried to do. So, what's to
be done? Retreat into a book? Plan a protest? Look the other way? Hope someone
does something? Ignore the bad stuff? Redefine the good life? Stop thinking so
much? I don't really know. But today's headlines are neither peaceful nor
inspiring. Seems like working hard and doing the right thing are not what's
going to sustain us anymore. Maybe those things never did. But clearly, we are
a world in crisis. I wonder where we'll be 500 years from now.
Til tomorrow.
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Wednesday, November 19, 2008 I bought two new books - used - online last evening. The Wonderful O and The 13 Clocks, both by James Thurber. I think they're going to be wonderful. I'm betting they're great read-alouds. I'm not exactly sure how I discovered them yesterday. I think I was just looking for adolescent literature and Thurber popped into my head. But of course, thinking about ones own neural synapses takes time away from just enjoying that they happened. So, in addition to the 3 books I'm already reading, I'll have two more within the week that are strong contenders for my time and attention. Thurber went blind at the end of his life and became rather bitter about his situation. But his writing, imagination, and storytelling ability still hold up and make you appreciate talent and perseverance. Wait. I just remembered how I found his books. I was looking online at MOMA's site trying to think of Christmas gifts for a couple of people. I thought of a clock. MOMA has some cool ones. I found one I liked and then went to Amazon and typed in clocks to see if they had it. They did. They also told me they had the book The 13 Clocks and his other wonderful book The Wonderful O. Synpases are great especially when Amazon is there to help. Til tomorrow.
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Tuesday, November 18, 2008 I bought a book not too long ago titled, A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson. But I had forgotten all about it. I forgot I bought it. I forgot I had it. I forgot where I put it. Forgotten, forlorn, and lost was that book. Then, on BookTV this weekend, there was Bill Bryson, live, at the Miami Bookfair International talking about his books. I thought, cool, I need one of his books. So, I went to Amazon and typed in the following words - a short history of nearly everything. And voila. Bryson's book popped up. But the wonderfully fabulous, fantastic Amazon pointed out to me at the top of the page in their inimitable charm, "You purchased this item on April 6, 2008." Did I? Must have. Amazon doesn't lie. Computers don't err. I went to my shelves. I started looking. And looking. And looking. Nowhere to be found. Kept looking. Kept looking. Finally. Found it. It was at the office on the shelf right where I put it on April 7, 2008. (I always ship overnight.) So, page one, "Welcome. And congratulations. I am delighted that you could make it. Getting here wasn't easy, I know. In fact, I suspect it was a little tougher than you realize. To begin with, for you to be here now trillions of drifting atoms had somehow to assemble in an intricate and intriguingly obliging manner to create you." And so the book begins. Personally, I would have added a comma after the word now. But who's to argue with a beloved writer. Til tomorrow.
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Monday, November 17, 2008 This weekend on BookTV, they broadcast live from the Miami Bookfair International. It was the 25th year of their Bookfair; and it was fabulous. Vernon Jordan, Bill Bryson, Naomi Klein, and Salman Rushdie were LIVE talking about their books. It was so good I don't even remembering breathing; but I suppose I did cause here I am today alive and well. This morning, I've read the paper, had coffee, and finished two pieces in The New Yorker by Woody Allen and Malcolm Gladwell; and it's not even 9:00 AM yet. Whew. What a day. Time to plan for some lunch of kalaches and tamales. Yum. Til tomorrow.
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Sunday, November 16, 2008 George Plimpton was the feature in the NY Times Book Review this morning. Since I am not part of his living-the-highlife-world, I just look in and imagine what all that privilege and power must be like. But I do like what I see when I'm standing there with my nose pressed to the glass. I've always thought that people born to wealth and privilege should rather earn all that; and it seems like he did. Plimpton's greatest feat was to found The Paris Review. And in the review this morning, it said that if you want to learn the unteachable skill of how to write, The Paris Review is required reading. Kerplunk. That's what it said. Interesting statement. But back to George. Plimpton was a character actor in the A&E TV show Nero Wolfe based on the novel by Rex Stout. I loved that show and particularly loved it when Plimpton was on. A&E took it off the air; so I had to buy the whole DVD set from Amazon. I watch those DVDs when I want to see a great detective and a smart sidekick solve the case through Maury Chaykin and Timothy Hutton respectively. What a team. And Plimpton added that element of instant sophistication to every scene. The new book on Plimpton, which is what prompted these thoughts today, is published by Random House (a publishing house established by Bennett Cerf). I met Chris Cerf, Bennett's son, at a conference one time and shook his hand AND spoke to him about his father Bennett Cerf whom I watched every Sunday night on What's My Line. Random House was started by Bennett who thought he'd publish a few good books every now and then at random. So, all these years later, there's George, Bennett, Chris, Rex, Maury, Timothy, and me. So, I'll either read The Paris Review this afternoon or I'll watch Nero and Archie foil some bad guys. Til tomorrow.
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Saturday, November 15, 2008 It's Saturday; and I'm waiting for Michael Feldman to come on the radio. He's on NPR; and I listen either on the local NPR station or online through KSTX in San Antonio. It's a wonderful radio show. Yesterday, I had kalaches for lunch at the Czech-Mex Bakery and Cafe here in town and woke up this morning wondering if they're open on Saturdays. The food was wonderful. Last night, I read Eloise in Paris and practiced all my sketchy highschool French and learned the new word sklathe. It was wonderful. Today, I'm all caught up at work. And that's double wonderful. And now, I'm thinking of buying a table saw so I can build small wooden projects. The neighbor down the street has one; and I'm thinking I could make a few things from my favorite woodworking book titled Wood Projects for the Garden by Ortho Books copyright 1976 available only at used bookshops. It's a wonderful book. Someone yesterday told me that the best paragraph to teach someone what good writing looks like is the first paragraph in Barbara Kingsolver's The Bean Trees. I just read that first page of that book on Amazon. And it's true; it's wonderful. Well, hmm, after all that, I think I won't even leave the house today. I'll just sit and watch the dogs nap. It's a wonderful life. Til tomorrow.
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Friday, November 14, 2008 It's really nice out this morning. The sun is shining through the leaves; and there's a crisp feeling in the air. In south Texas, you live for days like this. You live for days when it's not hot and muggy. You live for days when there's not a hurricane in sight. You live for days when you can sit and do nothing. And after that, you live for days when you can rest. However, today is not one of those days. No time for considering a book this morning. No time to mention that I now possess all five of Kay Thompson and Hilary Knight's Eloise books. No time to think about David McCullough's writing studio in the woods behind his house. No time to write a few lines of homage to Shelby Foote whose birthday is Monday. No time to mention how great The Immigrant by Shaun Tan is. No time. Til tomorrow.
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Thursday, November 13, 2008 I can't believe how many times a week the book The Invention of Hugo Cabret comes up in conversations. Maybe it's because I bring it up. I love the book. Brian Selznick is such a wonderful artist. He wrote and illustrated Hugo; and I saw an original piece of his from Hugo at the New York Public Library on 53rd last year when they had an art exhibit of originial children's literature art. I met him at a conference once and he signed Amelia and Eleanor Go For a Ride right next to where Pam Munoz Ryan signed the same book. Pam wrote that book; and Brian illustrated it. In both books, his illustrations and sensibilities let you know right away that he's talented, serious, focussed, and someone who's going to be in the book business for a long time to come. I wonder if he's related to David O. Selznic, the Hollywood producer who produced Gone with the Wind. I bet so. Neat. Til tomorrow.
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Wednesday, November 12, 2008 Today it's supposed to rain; but there's not a drop of water in sight. I've just read a letter from Ursula Nordstrom of Harper Publishers to John Steptoe dated June 19, 1967. Steptoe was in high school at the time and had been encouraged by his high school teacher to take his book idea about a kid named Stevie to Harper to see if they would publish it. The teacher's name? Naburma Burris. She was John's teacher at the High School of Art and Design in Manhattan. Nordstrom did publish the book in 1969 and did give him wonderful editorial advice. In her letter to him, she told him to keep the book his own and to consider her advice only to the extent that it helped him keep his own thoughts and emotions in his own book and to write only what was IN HIS HEAD. It's a lovely letter; and I'm so glad I found it in Dear Genius. John Steptoe wrote and illustrated ten books and illustrated six more in 20 years and died in 1997 at the age of 47. There is a collection of some of his papers and letters at de Grummond Children's Literature Collection at The University of Southern Mississippi. And all of these words I've written today started from a letter that Ursula Nordstrom wrote to a high school student in 1967. Til tomorrow.
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Tuesday, November 11, 2008 One of the first times I went to NYC to see some Broadway plays was in the 80s. It was a transformative experience. During one visit, I saw four plays. Tru with Robert Morse, Fiddler on the Roof with Chaim Topol, The Piano Lesson with Charles S. Dutton, and Gypsy with Tyne Daly. To see all those performers and performances in one week was like falling off a horse and getting the breath knocked out of you. You suddenly see a whole new world. Since then, I've seen wonderful plays; but those will always be my most memorable. Plus, I have the Playbills framed and hanging on the wall by my computer; so they're always in view and on my mind. Last year, I saw Tom Stoppard's play Rock 'N' Roll as well as Curtains with David Hyde Pierce and Debra Monk, November with Nathan Lane, The Drowsy Chaperone with Bob Saget, and Phantom for the second time because of the music, the songs, and the chandelier. But, Topol is the clear winner for me. I feel like one of those goslings that gets imprinted with the first thing it sees. Fiddler on the Roof sticks with me even today. Broadway. There's nothing like it. Til tomorrow.
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Monday, November 10, 2008 The NY Times Book Review featured critiques of new children's literature yesterday. There sure are a lot of writers who have a lot of things to say. Writing a book for children means the writer has special insights into childhood and a way of writing that children can respond to. The best book I read as a kid was Sword in the Stone when I was about six. Then it was on to Little Women, Nancy Drew, Jane Eyre, and Love in the Time of Cholera. All but the last came from the public library. The last was given to me by friends. The public library system has been such an important part of my life that I don't think I would be who I am without it. People who choose to serve humanity by working at a library are always the best people among us. Til tomorrow.
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Sunday, November 9, 2008 Ira Glass on This American Life yesterday had about 15 minutes or so of a 1970s clip with Studs Terkel interviewing people who had lived through the depression of the 30s. It was compelling. As are all of Ira's broadcasts. Mr. Terkel was interviewing a woman at length about her memories of when she was a kid and how her family had survived. She recalled her dad taking her to Hoover City where people were living in rusted out Hoovers or living under orange crates strung together with wire. FDR saved the day, many say, with his economic stimulus package encouraged by John Maynard Keynes. The WPA (Works Progress Administration) put people to work in all sorts of jobs including the arts. So today in 2008, to be on the cusp of watching what President-Elect Obama will do to stimulate the economy compared to what Roosevelt did in the 30s will be something Mr. Terkel would have loved to have witnessed. But Mr. Obama came too late; and Mr. Terkel left too soon. Til tomorrow.
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Saturday, November 8, 2008 It's too nice a day to stay in and think about books today. Although I will say this. When I was a kid, I'd take a book and a blanket outside and read all day til my eyes wouldn't focus anymore. It was great. I remember one time, I had checked out a huge, oversized book from the public library. I had set up a card table with a sheet over it in the back yard so that I'd have a quiet place to read this really great book. It was a book about birds and had great color photographs of all kinds of amazing bird creatures. My plan was to sit under the table til the birds landed near by; and then I'd look them up in the bird book and identify them. It didn't work; and it wasn't until a few years back that I found that same book in the public library of my little home town and understood why my life as an ornithologist never took flight. The title of the book was Birds of South America. There I sat in North America waiting for some birds from South America to land. They never came, supper rolled around, and I put away the card table. What a pity. Til tomorrow.
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Friday, November 7, 2008 Once a year or so I try to clean up my study. The books I have are organized chronologically in order of when I read them; and then they are subcategorized by author so that all Barbara Kingsolver's books are together, all Frank McCourt's books are together, all O. Henry's books are together, and then all books by like-minded folks are together so that Isaac Stern, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, and William Least Heat Moon sit beside each other. This means of course that I can never find anything I'm looking for. It also means that I routinely find stuff I'm not looking for. And when you find something you're not looking for but that you suddenly realize you've been needing for some time now, it's a good feeling. In fact, it's the best. So, stumbling around looking for this and that may not make you President; but it may make for an interesting diary entry. Til tomorrow.
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Thursday, November 6, 2008 I'm still reading Dear Genius by Ursula Nordstrom. It's 1966; and she's just written to Maurice Sendak about his book Higgelty Piggelty Pop. This book was a tribute to his dog, Jennie, who had died. Nordstrom writes to him about many specific things she wants him to consider changing in the rough draft of the book. I'm going to find that original 1967 book and see how they worked out all the issues. And speaking of the 60s, I ordered all four of the 1960s Eloise books. Turns out Harper Brothers didn't publish any of them even though Nordstrom corresponded with both Kay Thompson and Hilary Knight, author and illustrator, to try and publish them. Eloise at Christmastime just sold for over $300 on ebay the other day. This was not the reprint from 1999 but rather the original from 1958; and it didn't even come with the dust jacket. The originals were published by Random House and Simon and Schuster. I found my copies of Eloise at Christmastime, Eloise in Paris, Eloise in Moscow, and Eloise all for less than $30 on either Amazon or ebay; and they all had dust jackets. They're all very used; but it's still great to read them. Eloise is spunky and brave and probably led to lots of other books about spunky little girls. Whether it's Eloise at the Plaza or Olivia in her tutu, it's nice to read about characters with tenacity. Til tomorrow.
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Wednesday, November 5, 2008 Politics and government affect everything. Mostly they affect the world's money supply. When government makes bad decisions, the negative impact is exponentially exacerbated. People who had nothing to do with bad governmental decisions feel the ripple effect almost immediately in their wallets and in their emotions and many times don't even see the connection between their personal struggles and the governmental entities that are pulling the strings. But today, there's hope. It's hard not to hope that the days of bad governmental decisions are over. President Obama will have support in the House and Senate; and together maybe they can focus on education, the environment, health care, world peace, and balancing the budget. There's hope in the air. Til tomorrow.
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Tuesday, November 4, 2008 Today's the big day. I'm very anxious to see what life will be like with a Democrat in the White House and a bunch of 'em in Congress. Til tomorrow.
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Monday, November 3, 2008 For
three hours yesterday, I watched BookTV and listened to Steven Pinker explain language, thought,
genetics, history, philosophy, and human nature. What a privilege. If you missed it, it
will be broadcast again next Saturday, November 8 at 8 AM central daylight time
on C-SPAN2; or you can watch it online anytime at booktv.org. He was great. I
sat with my laptop looking stuff up on Google as he answered questions from
callers and emailers. He was so instructive and interesting. I loved his
reference to William James who explained what an intelligent being is. An
intelligent being is something who can get to a destination from multiple
paths. Is a dog intelligent? Is a bacterium intelligent? Is a flower intelligent?
If a wall of some sort were between Romeo and Juliet, they would find a way
around or over the wall. If a wall were between a very strong magnet and a pile
of metal shavings, the shavings would just sit there. Romeo and Juliet are
intellectual beings. A pile of metal shavings is not. Dr. Pinker gave examples
and quoted from all kinds of books and writers and all with no notes. His
life’s work of 21 years at MIT and 6 years now at Harvard has been a life of
thought, discipline, reading, writing, books, and all things bookish. He rightly paid homage to Noam Chomsky and also explained the shortcomings of others' ideas who had missed the mark in the fields of language and cognitive science. And he did it all very nicely. He showed
us his library at his home. He showed us his filing system, his files, his
writing habits, and his book cubes. I remember he was on an Ikea commercial one time in
front of those same cubes. He showed us all the books he’s read and all the
books he’s written. He writes for hours and hours every day and never leaves
anything out in a chapter with the intention of coming back to it later. He
figures out what he needs to write right then. It was a worthwhile three hours.
And then to top it off, Maya Angelou gave a 90 minute talk on BookTV last night
from the new Times Center at 220 E. 42nd in NYC. She has just turned
80 and is as intellectually sharp, savvy, and gracious as ever. She mentioned that Maurice Sendak had also turned 80. He spoke at
the 92nd Street Y located at Lexington and 92nd on
Wednesday, September 17, 2008; and with the power of the internet, he’s here at
http://blog.92y.org/index.php/weblog/2008/09/17/.
It was a great day. Pinker,
Angelou, Sendak – all in my living room. Til tomorrow.
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Sunday, November 2, 2008Every Saturday, I listen to Michael Feldman at 10 AM for two hours while I cook, clean, sit, and ponder. Then at 2 PM, I listen to Ira Glass for an hour while I do nothing but sit and listen to Ira Glass and his stories. Then at 5 PM, I listen to Garrison Keillor for two hours while I do more cooking, cleaning, sitting, and pondering. Mr. Feldman and Mr. Keillor, both, on their shows yesterday paid considerable homage to Studs Terkel. Garrison wrote a song for him and the audience sang along. Garrison also worked him into a skit so that Studs was speaking to us from the afterlife. Mr. Feldman replayed an interview with Mr. Terkel from a couple years back. Mr. Terkel was telling a story about a woman who had 4 little kids and who had never been interviewed or asked her opinion about anything before. The woman asked Mr. Terkel to let her hear the tape he had just made of her. He rewound and let her listen. Afterwards, she said, "I never knew I felt that way before." That's how good Studs Terkel was. He brought out the best in us all. Til Tomorrow.
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Saturday, November 1, 2008As Garrision Keillor would say, the death of an old
man is not a tragedy. But it feels like one knowing that Studs Terkel died
yesterday. Mr. Terkel was 96 and was the voice of the common man. He gave a
platform to all of us who never really get heard. He talked to people about
their ordinary lives and about their everyday living. He did it all with a
microphone and shoe leather. He was a journalist, an ethnographer, a big
talker, a radio man, an oral historian. It seems to me he had a personal ethic that gave
everything he did automatic trustworthiness and dependability. I’m sure he
worked in order to make a living; but mostly it feels like he worked at his
craft because he was compelled to do
so. He gave us good stuff for 96 years. Who will take his place? No one. No one will have his spirit or his insight or his Chicago strength. There's a hole in the world without you. Bless you Mr. Terkel. Til tomorrow.
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Friday, October 31, 2008I just finished the 1956 version of Eloise by Kay Thompson and illustrated by Hilary Knight. Because the book is 52 years olds, it's in a rather fragile state. But it's still a great read. The book captures the life and antics as well as the probable isolation and boredom of a little girl who lives at the Plaza Hotel. And it also captures the tone of life during the 50s. Eloise is six and has a nanny, a tutor, a turtle, and a dog. She plays in the elevator, the garbage bins, secret cubbies, and in her own closet. She attends weddings and receptions regularly. She eats well from room service, talks on the telephone a lot, and knows all the hotel employees by first name. Eloise is depicted as an inquisitive, high-energy child who is lovable and fun fun fun. You have to like her; and you walk away from the book with some of her energy and grandness. Or at least I did this morning. Kay Thompson, Hilary Knight, Judy Garland, Liza Minelli, the nanny, the tutor, the hotel manager. They make quite an impression. Til tomorrow.
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Thursday, October 30, 2008I'm still reading a few letters each day from Dear Genius by Leonard Marcus. Ursula Nordstrom knew good literature and knew how to coax it out of good writers. She was the children's book editor at Harper Brothers in the 50s through the 70s. This book is a collection of many of the letters she wrote to Sendak, Kuskin, Thompson, Toban, and all the rest who were the greats of the time. Her style of letter writing is lost, particularly among those who now text message rather than invest in the time it takes to write a nice letter. I also started reading last night Fodor's travel book on Belize. I'm wondering what it's like to live in Central America in the jungle. Welp, time to take the dogs for a walk. TTYL.
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Wednesday, October 29, 2008What goes around, comes around. Don't judge a book by it's cover. What goes up, must come down. Take it one step at a time. Don't put all your eggs in one basket. Don't count your chicks before they hatch. What's good for the goose is good for the gander. Too many cooks spoil the broth. Look before you leap. The straw that broke the camel's back. Let sleeping dogs lie. Birds of a feather flock together. Judge not, lest ye be judged. An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. Keep a stiff upper lip. Shoulders back, head up. No guts, no glory. It's all in the eye of the beholder. The rich do as they will, the poor do as they must. To learn the truth at daybreak and die at noon is enough. It's a beautiful thing to sit and do nothing; and after that, it's a beautiful thing to rest. Let's hear it for the underappreciated non sequitor. Til tomorrow.
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Tuesday, October 28, 2008Sam Tanenhaus did it again in the New York Times Book Review. He wrote a critique of John Updike's new novel Widows of Eastwick. People probably don't realize that Updike wrote Witches of Eastwick way back when; and then Hollywood rewrote it for the movie. Updike was live on BookTV while back for 3 hours. He's 76 and one of the most clear thinkers and articulate speakers I've ever heard. I read all his Rabbit books way back and also read his book about an apocalyptic war with China titled Toward the End of Time. In all, he's written 60 books and is America's leading man of letters. I think more than his books, I enjoyed listening to him talk about life, writing, influences, style. Three hours of listening to him talk was quite a privilege. Reading Tanenhaus's review of his latest book was enjoyable. Writing these few words compared to 60 novels is indescribable. Til tomorrow.
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Monday, October 27, 2008Sarah Vowell is SO great. She has a new book out, The Wordy Shipmates, about the Puritans who settled in Boston and who founded Harvard. She read their books, their diaries, their letters, and came up with an explanation about why we as Americans believe we're more special than virtually any other country on the planet. And of course she wrote this book to hopefully show that we're not that special. We just have lots of stamina, pride, and conviction in ourselves, our beliefs, and our way of life. Meanwhile, while America seems to be on the path of economic self-destruction because of our pride, our overspending in Iraq, our outsourcing of virtually everything we buy, and our own super-sized hubris, the rest of the world is taking off. The rest of the world is burdgeoning with people, ideas, wants, needs, and competition. Jared Diamond said last week in Brownsville that in 50 years, Americans will probably not be the economic leader of the world. I think it will be China. He didn't mention China though - I just did. Anyway, I love listening to Sarah's lectures. She's on youtube, NPR, This American Life with Ira Glass, and lots of BookTV presentations. She's also a regular with Jon Stewart and is always a hit with his audience. She said one time that she didn't receive a good education; but she did have one history teacher who inspired her to pursue her keen and advanced interest in history. And she did. Voila. Til tomorrow.
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Sunday, October 26, 2008This morning, I've whizzed through the Times, read the local paper, walked the dogs, had 1.5 cups of iced coffee; and now I'm waiting for it to rain. That way, I won't have to mow the lawn. Garrison Keillor was broadcasting on NPR from Tulsa yesterday. Paul Theroux gave a talk on BookTV last night. Christopher Buckley was interviewed by Deborah Solomon in the NY Times Magazine this morning. Mary Kate and Ashley were featured in the Arts and Leisure section as hard working creative people. I just finished watching a youtube video of Charles Bazerman, Peter Elbow, and George Hillocks produced in 2006 by UC Santa Barbara. It seems like all those people have used up all the good words for today. So, I don't have anything left to write. Til tomorrow.
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Saturday, October 25, 2008Whenever I need a laugh, which is most of the time, I turn to P. G. Wodehouse's Jeeves and Wooster as played by Hugh Laurie and Stephen Fry. I bought the whole DVD set from Amazon and watch them periodically. Bertie Wooster, played by Hugh Laurie, is a rather shallow rich gent who is immediately likable because he doesn't seem to have a mean bone in his body. He's simply devoted to leisure and ease and spends much of his day at his club, meeting friends for lunch, making and breaking various marriage proposals to young women, and avoiding his Aunt Agatha who controls the family fortune with pomp and circumstance. Jeeves, Bertie's gentleman's gentleman played by Stephen Fry, is the perfect companion for such a man in that he gives his "master" guidance and deference with a single word, a raised eyebrow, and even a bit of silence as he serves afternoon tea. Ah, to live the life of leisure and ease. It must be grand. However, living a life of leisure and ease is pure fiction for most of us living in the real world. But if you're an imaginary person in the pages of a book, then leisure and ease easily win the day. P. G. Wodehouse gave us Jeeves and Wooster; and we thank him. Til tomorrow.
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Friday, October 24, 2008I've loved
Fridays all of my life. And today is Friday. I just
finished the paper and read that Liza Minnelli will be at the Palace Theatre in
NYC in mid-December. Her mother, Judy Garland, also played the Palace. I wonder
if I could get tickets to see and hear Liza. When Liza was a girl, she had a book written about her. The
book by Kay Thompson and illustrated by Hilary Knight is titled Eloise and
is about a little girl who grows up in the Plaza Hotel. Liza did grow up in the Plaza while her
mom was out making a living by singing her heart out. The Plaza is at 59th and
Fifth Avenue which is right at the south edge of Central Park. Maybe if I go
hear Liza, I'll stay at the Plaza. I did have breakfast there one time in 2003 when the power went out in all of NYC.
The Plaza was the only place open with a generator. They were serving
breakfast for $35. I had eggs and a cinnamon roll. I just looked up the room
rates for mid-December at the Plaza. They start at $1045 per night. Maybe I’ll
stay at the Holiday Inn or maybe I'll just go buy a used copy of Eloise
instead. Til tomorrow.
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Thursday, October 23, 2008It's always easy to extol the virtues of being a reader. And yet, living your life should not be controlled by a bunch of dusty old pages and some dried-up ink. Living your life should be out there looking under some rocks, taking note of the moon, and avoiding Africanized bees. Living your life should be rappelling off buildings, scuba diving in the Bahamas, protecting Redwoods from the lumber industry. Things like that. Books can become too demanding making you a slave to their need to be read. Books can cause you to be too much of a sitter and too much of a thinker and not nearly enough of a doer. So, today, no book talk. Except for these one or two things. Geoffrey Canada has for ten years been putting together a first-rate school in Harlem. His charter school has been featured everywhere and supported by everyone including Wall Street which sort of needs to be looking after its own house; but nevertheless, Canada has garnered Wall Street's support as well as the endorsement of all those who have a public voice. He works with the children of Harlem to provide them with a first-rate education. But mostly, he works with the children's parents through his Baby College, his parenting classes, his workshops, his computer programs, and his unstoppable focus to "contaminate" Harlem with the ethos of learning, education, books, aspirations, and great expectations. Paul Tough writes about him in a new book titled Whatever It Takes: Geoffrey Canada's Quest to Change Harlem and America. The book's been very well received by the critics and those who know schools. Canada and Tough are making a huge impact on all those who stumble in their direction. Every legislator in Texas who supports the state tests, called TAKS, needs to read Tough's book about Canada, dismantle the TAKS test for all Texas elementary schools starting tomorrow, and thereby free teachers to create schools that shine. Cause right now, TAKS is producing schools that are clouded in frustration and sadness. So, maybe we do need to keep reading those dusty old books with that dried up ink; and maybe Tough's book about Canada's Harlem is it. Til tomorrow.
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Wednesday, October 22, 2008The Writer's Desk by Jill Krementz is a book of photographs of major writers of the 20th century. I love this book and have bought about 20 copies of it in the last five years. The book is only available used since the book has been out of print for some time now. Krementz was on BookTV one day being interviewed by the veritable Brian Lamb; and I knew I had to have her book. I went online and found a used one for $10. I did a one-click purchase and was presented with a receipt for $100. Yes, I misread the price. I quickly emailed the owner and explained that $100 for a used book was out of my league. He said no problem; he'd just gotten 100 other requests for the same book. He asked me what was up with Jill Krementz. I explained she'd just been on BookTV. He wrote, "Oh." So, he sold the book to someone else for $100; and since then I've paid up to $50 for a signed copy and normally I pay $20 or $25. I keep them on all my desks. I have three desks at various places throughout the house; plus I give away the book from time to time as a gift to people who might like it. Eudora Welty, Susan Sontag, Toni Morrison, Walker Percy, Joan Didion, John Cheever, P.G. Wodehouse, Tennessee Williams, William Styron, George Plimpton, Robert Coles, E. B. White, and a young Nikki Giovanni to name a few are included. The writers in this book have both shaped America and reflected America because they're such good writers. Good writing is clear thinking made visible. And they're all clear thinkers. But mostly, they all say they work hard and that writing is hard work. I love all the writers in this book and thank them for their work ethic and clarity. They've made a difference. Shelby Foote said one time that 600 words a day was a good day. And even though this reflection is only 352 words, I still am hoping for a good day. Til tomorrow.
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Tuesday, October 21, 2008George Orwell in 1933 published Down and Out in Paris and London. It was a first-hand account of the dramatic differences in quality of life issues of the well-to-do versus those who were down and out. I heard a sociology professor talking about that book on NPR one day, so I read it. Then, I met Barbara Ehrenreich in NYC one time when she was giving a book talk about her book Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting by in America. Both Orwell and Ehrenreich document unflinchingly how difficult it is to survive in a world run by the Dow Jones Industrial Average which I am sad to say is down at the moment. Til tomorrow.
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Monday, October 20, 2008Christopher Buckley seems to be everywhere these days. He has a new book out which will probably be as successful as another one that I didn't even know he wrote which is Thank You for Smoking. Saw the movie - twice. Loved it. It's nice to see a man like Christopher Buckley who was born into automatic privilege and wealth working hard and making his own way in the world. His father was William F. Buckley, Jr. who started the National Review and was on PBS with Firing Line. Buckley, Jr. was the first really smart person I ever met. I was in my 20s; and there he was on TV every Sunday afternoon. I think it's too bad he used his smarts for such a conservative political agenda; but he certainly had a great work ethic, which has to be admired. Christopher Buckley has just endorsed Barack Obama, which of course can't be the correct family thing to do. But there you have it. Turns out the apple can fall far from the tree. Til tomorrow.
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Sunday, October 19, 2008I bought a cookbook that was featured either on NPRs The Splendid Table radio show or in the NY Times. It's titled Roast Chicken and Other Stories by Simon Hopkinson. The recipes are elegant and come with little stories about what makes saffron special or why it's okay to experience a pucker every now and then with the bitterness of endive. The cookbook makes nice reading; but I have yet to cook anything. I'm always out of sesame paste or vanilla beans or cod fillet or some other "staple" required for this type of elegant cooking. I can at any time, however, make a chocolate meringue pie, quiche, fried chicken, tomato soup, corn bread, or biscuits. Those are the staples I keep on hand. Sesame paste? Not so much. But I love reading the book and visualizing 10 cups of rain water, 1/4 cup sea salt, 1.5 cups packed brown sugar, 1/4 cup saltpeter, 1 tsp juniper berries, a pinch of grated nutmeg, 2 bay leaves, 3 thyme sprigs, 1 tsp black peppercorns, and 4 cloves to create a brine that is used to marinate meat for later use. Unfortunately, my larder is fresh out of juniper berries. But I love Simon Hopkinson for having the good taste to keep all this kind of cooking alive and in print. I'm cooking porkchops today for lunch and listening to Seth Rudetsky on Sirius satellite radio on the Broadway channel. It's all too perfect. Til tomorrow.
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Saturday, October 18, 2008Dr. Diamond was everything I had hoped he would be. His life has combined the world of academe and scholarship with the world of environmental activism in a way that many of us dream about but never achieve. He talked with an auditorium full of high school students from all over south Texas. He answered their questions with full respect and authority. He awarded 13 of them certificates for essays they had written. He posed with each student and their parents. He was gracious to his hosts and generous with his audience. UT Brownsville has a lecture series that has included David McCullough and Jane Goodall. And now they can boast Dr. Diamond as well. It was a spectacular day for me. He wasn't signing books; but I took his picture. And that's all I really need. Til tomorrow.
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Friday, October 17, 2008Today's the big day to go hear Dr. Jared Diamond in Brownsville, Texas. I have his book, I have my ticket, the car is gassed up at $2.79 a gallon which I think is a fair price, and it should be great. It's a five-hour drive there and back. If learning is a simple consequence of the company you keep, I figure that hanging around with Dr. Diamond is the opportunity of a lifetime. Til tomorrow.
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Thursday, October 16, 2008I do my best thinking early in the morning after coffee and before the day really begins. I've been thinking about Barbara Kingsolver lately. She wrote two books that have stuck with me for several years now. Prodigal Summer and The Poisonwood Bible. Both books required her to use her knowledge of science, bugs, people, and relationships. Both books capture the way we as people interact with the planet, with each other, and within ourselves. She's been highly successful as a writer, essayist, and environmental activist. Her newest book is about the new lifestyle she and her family adopted where they eat what's been raised and grown around them as it becomes in season and available. No more corn dogs at the quick trip or strawberries in the middle of winter. It's an old idea whose time has returned. It seems like a reasonable way to live your life especially if you're squeamish about melamine in your milk and DDT in your green beans. But that kind of life is a luxury for most people. Most of us are rushing around trying to get through the day and don't have the time to plant a huge garden or to seek out a farmer who can supply us with our daily sustenance. But I still love the idea of what she's done; and I love her books. All of them. Til tomorrow.
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Wednesday, October 15, 2008When I was a kid, I spent a lot of time in the library of my little town in Oklahoma. I can remember where Little Women sat on the shelf. I could walk to it right today although I haven't been to that library in decades. And speaking of decades, I discovered from reading the paper today that I am not in the most important adult TV demographic of 18-49 year olds anymore and haven't been for quite some time. I learned this as I was reading about why they cancelled The Riches with Minnie Driver and Eddie Izzard. It was a great show. I can't believe they let it go simply because those 18-49ers didn't have sense enough to tune in to watch great acting take place. And speaking of great acting, Patti LuPone is giving a talk in NYC November 3. I'm thinking about getting a ticket to go see her. Then I could also go see Kristin Scott Thomas in The Seagull by Anton Chekhov. I'd also like to see Garrison Keillor at The Town Hall on 43rd in NYC when he does his Christmas show. But it's hard to get all those dates and tickets to line up not to mention the cost of a quick trip to the big apple and back. So, I'll just stay here and take the dogs for their morning walk instead. Til tomorrow.
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Tuesday, October 14, 2008Paul Krugman won the Nobel Prize for Economics yesterday. If the US and the world had followed his wisdom, our banking system wouldn't be in the shape it's in. As far as money goes, it's difficult to do the wise thing when it's so much easier to do the expedient thing. But I'm happy he has been acknowledged. The Nobel committee in Sweden certainly is sending a message to the world through his selection; and that message is to tax fairly, support the middle class, honor unions, curb greed, and to know our own economic history. Good stuff. Til tomorrow.
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Monday, October 13, 2008I bought a book and CD yesterday on Amazon. Three Uncommonly Clever Tales by Jim Copp. There was a piece about him in the NY Times yesterday; so I thought I'd check him out. He died in 1999 but left a substantial legacy of books and music for children. The world of clicking to buy books, blenders, hats, scarves, mittens, houseshoes, chainsaws, and Flip Video cameras is marvelous. I LOVE Amazon. You can even buy brownie mix by the Barefoot Contessa. Add milk and eggs to her mix; and voila. Instant deliciousness. Here's a poem I wrote.
When the dogs are all sparkly And the floors are swept clean, I walk through the house And feel like a queen.
What more could I ask Than I've already got More pay? More stuff? A piano? A yacht?
Yes!
Til tomorrow.
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Sunday, October 12, 2008Are there people for whom reading a book is an odd occurrence? I believe so. I
believe there are people who have never read a book from cover to cover. So
what? The what is that people who do not read books are running the risk of
misunderstanding the world. Are there people who don't listen to opera? I
believe so. I believe there are people who have never listened to an opera from
start to finish. So what? The what is that people who do not listen to opera
are running the risk of misunderstanding the world. Or so the arguments go.
Somehow though, I think that neither books nor opera will cure the wrongs of
the world. I’ve read the local paper this morning and the NY Times as
well. The headlines of murder and
mayhem, sorrow and sadness, collapse and degeneration are too much to bear. Too
much of the world is mired in famine, deceipt, corruption, greed, and the list
goes on. Reading books and listening to opera will not fix any of that. So,
what’s to be done? I suppose you do what you can do, live your life, keep it as
simple as possible, and pay attention to what’s going well. Maybe reading fewer
headlines would also help. Til tomorrow.
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Saturday, October 11, 2008I got an email from good friend and famous writer Jerry Pallotta yesterday. He sent me a copy of his new book Show Me How Fast It Is published by Scholastic. He also sent me another book that someone else had written. His email told me to look at the copyright page. I did. But I looked at the other book and not his. When he realized I hadn't seen what he wanted me to see, he emailed and told me to look at the copyright page of his Show Me How Fast It Is. And right there it was waiting for me to find it all along. To Marsha Grace, Mary Beth Tierce, and Tina Ybarra. He dedicated his book to us. Whoa. I was stunned. It's my first book dedication. I couldn't believe it. It's the best thing I own. I still can't believe it. What a nice, nice thing to do. We three met Jerry in 2004 at the Omni in the lobby after he had missed his plane because he was signing books for all the teachers who stood in line for his signature. We took him to dinner, gave him a tour of Corpus, and have been friends ever since. What a lovely gift. Til tomorrow.
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Friday, October 10, 2008 This week went fast. I've been thinking I might like to go to Paris for the weekend sometime soon. I'd sit on a busy street and watch people; and then I'd go to a bookstore and see what Parisians are reading. Since I don't speak French, I'd be reduced to merely watching everyone rather than conversing and would probably get arrested for looking suspicious. When Leonardo DiCaprio was in a French prison in the movie Catch Me If You Can, it looked pretty bleak. So, I guess I'll just stay home and read my travel book. I love staying home unless of course I get to travel first class and stay at the Ritz which never happens; and with the stock market and the economy being reduced to survival mode, we should probably all stay home, save our money, plant a garden, walk the dog, read a book, and watch Tina Fey on SNL over and over. Til tomorrow.
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Thursday, October 9, 2008 Yesterday, I went to the best children's bookstore around. Barbara Flanigan, proprietor of Rainbow Books, provides us all with the best in books for children. While I was there, she told me about the upcoming Corpus Christi Literary Reading Series. Sarah Bird will be the featured author. CCLRS has been bringing in authors for a long time. The event is always packed and extremely well run. Sarah gets good reviews in the Times, on Amazon, in Publishers Weekly, and Kirkus Reviews. Saturday, November 8. $10. 7:00 PM. Art Museum of South Texas. Call (361) 882-2272 during the day to buy a ticket. I just bought two. Til tomorrow.
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Wednesday, October 8, 2008 I was reading the local paper this morning and realized I have 4 weeks worth of the NY Times Book Review sitting here waiting to be read. How did I get this far behind? In last week's Book Review, I noticed that Garrison Keillor was reviewing a book. I want to read that review and maybe the book. But truthfully, I'll probably just read the review. Not that I'm the sort who only reads reviews and pretends I've read the book. It's just that I enjoy Garrison's writing although last month I did think his review was a little hard on a writer who didn't quite meet Garrison's standards. Where did kinder and gentler go in the world of book reviews. Sam Tanenhaus is TBR editor and one of the most literate persons on the planet. He's almost always right in his decisions about books, writers, and quality. And he's very interesting to listen to on BookTV. So, back to Garrison. Til tomorrow.
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Tuesday, October 7, 2008
Jared Diamond will be in Brownsville, Texas on Friday, October 17. I have a ticket; and I'm taking two friends with me to go hear him. He wrote Guns, Germs, and Steel as well as Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed. He has given quite brilliant talks on BookTV and he received a Genius Award from the MacArthur Foundation, which of course is exactly perfect for him since he is a genius. He got that award in 1985. He's an environmental historian. I'm going to take Collapse with me so he can sign it. And of course, I'm going to read it first. Til tomorrow.
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Monday, October 6, 2008 Douglas Brinkley was live on BookTV for three hours yesterday. He's published 28 books. He's just taken a teaching position at Rice University in Houston. I always thought he was David Brinkley's son; but he's not. He's an historian along with David McCullough, Doris Kearns Goodwin, Stephen Ambrose (now deceased), and Bill Brands. But then of course, my favorite is Gore Vidal who doesn't write history but rather fictionalized history. I found Vidal's books in my 20s in the Stillwater Public Library starting with Burr and was pretty much hooked on Vidal at that point. Sarah Vowell's book Assassination Vacation is a best seller. Sarah is a popular writer who lives in NYC and writes clever, insightful books about life in America. She's funny, quick, witty, and would make a great vice-president. Til tomorrow.
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Sunday,
October 5, 2008 A cup of cold coffee. The NY Times. Sunday morning. Stray cats
licking their paws. Two dogs dozing on and off hoping to see a squirrel.
It's an ordinary life. No helicopters crashing into each other in
midair. No suicide bombers. No toxic rivers running with blood or
radioactivity. No wailing women in the center of town. No stock market crashes.
No foreclosures. Just coffee, the paper, some animals, and a little bit of free
time. It's not much; but maybe it's enough. Encyclopedia of an Ordinary
Life by Amy Krouse Rosenthal put me in the mood to consider the ordinary
today. Til tomorrow.
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Saturday, October 4, 2008 It's interesting to write just a few lines each day. After the initial moment of not being able to think of a thing to write, it begins. Ken Burns's name came up yesterday in a conversation. Burns is America's premier documentarian. His work is insightful and tends to linger with the viewer. For his Civil War-PBS effort, Burns relied on Shelby Foote for information and accuracy about Civil War events and battles. Shelby Foote was a friend of Walker Percy and an acquaintance of William Faulkner. Shelby was interviewed on BookTV before he died in 2005. He said that for him, 600 words a day was a good day. Then he showed the live BookTV audience his home library. He said his favorite book was written by Proust and that he's read it five or six times. Duane's therapist in Duane's Depressed recommends that Duane read Proust. Specifically, the book is Remembrance of Things Past (and specifically it's the Kilmartin translation). To understand this book requires effort. I'm hoping to read it some day. It comes in three volumes, which are all sitting right here on my desk. Til tomorrow.
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Friday, October 3, 2008 I've read the book Duane's Depressed by Larry McMurtry five times. I might even read it again. Duane is the
main character. One day, he drives his truck home, parks it in the
garage, hides the keys from his wife, and starts walking everywhere he goes. He relates all his problems and disappointments with life to the fact
that he's been driving around in his truck for most of his life. So, he ditches
the truck, buys a bike, and leaves behind everything that has chained him down. Jack Kerouac and William Least Heat Moon did nearly the opposite. They went on the road, wrote it all down, and became best sellers. Duane is happy just sitting in a chair at his cabin. To sit or to
drive, that is the question. Til
tomorrow.
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Thursday, October 2, 2008 I'm reading a few pages each evening of Dear Genius by Ursula Nordstrom. I'm at the part in the book where she's writing letters to Maurice Sendak and Russell Toban. She was very direct with them about what changes she thought should be made in their proposed books. She suggested they change whole sentences, leave out certain text, or draw a better illustration. I'm very glad that Leonard Marcus collected her letters and organized them for this book. It's the only way I've ever seen that explains what a good editor does. I think today's publishing houses are more like marketing agencies than publishers. I just spilled my coffee. Enough for today. Til tomorrow.
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Wednesday, October 1, 2008 Today
is cool and sunny. The dogs are in
the back yard waiting for a squirrel to walk by so they can chase it. And with no apparent connection, I’ve
been thinking about Jon Scieszka’s book Seen Art? I love the book. I like the joke at the end; and I like
the art that’s featured. The art
that’s featured comes from MOMA.
MOMA is a favorite place of mine.
But that’s no surprise, since it’s a favorite place for millions of art
viewers. I particularly like the
goat by Picasso in MOMA’s courtyard.
I like the fact that that goat is there in the same place each time I
visit. And I like the rigatoni with sausage that they serve in their café on
the second floor. Til tomorrow.
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Tuesday, September 30, 2008 I just bought the soundtrack from Woody Allen’s Radio
Days.
It’s full of big band tunes which are just right for listening to while
you try to work at your desk. I
also downloaded Little Richard’s The Georgia Peach from itunes.
I like the juxtaposition of these two artists and their
sensibilities. So, I play both
albums all the way through while I work; and when the albums are done, I’m
done. Til tomorrow.
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Monday, September 29, 2008 I've decided to write a little bit here each day. I'm reading Dear Genius by Leonard Marcus. This book is a collection of letters written by Ursula Nordstrom who was a key editor with Harper Brothers Publishing Company for decades. She started the careers of Maurice Sendak, Syd Hoff, Shel Silverstein, E. B. White, and dozens of others. This book has many of the letters she wrote to these people. The letters are full of encouragement, editing suggestions, wit, and wisdom. She died in 1988; and Charlotte Zolotow took over as editor. The book gives you insight into the old-world traditions of editors and publishers. Til tomorrow.
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Saturday,
September 27, 2008
Welcome to my new effort at communication. Hmmm. It's slow
going. Network Solutions has changed all the commands; so, now I have to
learn a whole new set of commands. ARGH
Update: I've learned them. October 2, 2008 
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