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Friday, March 25, 2005
a book meme from Ria
I've not been as addicted to memes lately as I used to be, but KiwiRia passed me this baton, so how could I refuse? That's like getting my name in a KS list post! ;)
You're stuck inside Fahrenheit 451-- which book do you want to be?
Hmm. Which book? I don't know. It's not so much the paper and ink that are key to what's important in a book, it's the content (although I realize that for many many years, print was basically the only enduring medium for retaining content, and so was very important) -- so I would be one of the people memorizing books in the woods -- a human book, so to speak.
Have you ever had a crush on a fictional character?
I've answered this one a few times. Justin in Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH and Stan Crandall in Fifteen, among others.
The last book you bought is:
Actually, it was Fahrenheit 451.
The last book you read:
Les Misérables.
What are you currently reading?
After Les Mis I wanted something stirring and pungent without being heavy, so I'm reading some Cynthia Voigt -- Izzy, Willy-Nilly. I also am midway through Anne of Avonlea but I haven't picked it up in a while. And in my morning reading, I've just started Joshua and am a few chapters in.
Five books you would take to a deserted island:
1) The Bible
2) War and Peace. I'd be sure to get through it then.
3) Anne of Green Gables, the definitive "comfort read" for me.
4) Pride and Prejudice
5) Persuasion
Whom are you going to pass this stick to (3 persons) and why?
Kristen, Jenn, and -- Mary, do you still keep an online journal? If you do, send me a link, missy!
Thursday, February 03, 2005
"Mean Girls" and a meme
We just finished watching "Mean Girls". I've wanted to watch this for a long time. The reason I have given whenever I mentioned that in the past has been that I wanted to see how it treated homeschooling (which is, by the way, really pretty badly, but who's shocked about that? not me), but I will just come clean and admit it, right now, right here:
I wanted to watch it because it looked like a funny movie.
And it was. Even though the previews told us loud and clear, before we even got to the menu (yes we watch previews on purpose. I LIKE previews. I must not be the only one. Right?) that we were about fourteen and nineteen respective years outside the target demographic for the film, we laughed. A lot. I've heard this movie called the Heathers for this generation, and I can see where that comes from. (Query: I wonder if the fashions and attitudes in "Heathers" are as unfathomable to a modern 16-year-old WHO OH GOOD LORD WAS, WHAT, A NEWBORN WEARING BOOTIES AND A LITTLE PINK-FABRIC-COVERED ELASTIC BAND AROUND HER HEAD WITH A BOW ON IT WHEN HEATHERS WAS MADE as the fashions in "Mean Girls" were to me. I mean, come on. There are about five million more flattering styles for girls' jeans than low-rise boot-cuts. But I guess "flattering" isn't necessarily what we're aiming for nowadays.)
Also, the whole bit about friend C rejoicing a little when friend A gets mad at friend B because that means that friend C can get closer to friend A -- eerily, creepily familiar. And I couldn't figure out why until I remembered the dynamics of this one trio of girls, of which I was one, where there was a friend A, and then friend B and C (I and another girl) were constantly jockeying for the position Right Next to friend A. Sometimes not very nicely.
Thank you, God, that I will never ever have to go to junior high or high school again. Oh, God, thank you.
And then I stole this from KiwiRia:
List five fictional people -- from television, movies, books, whatever -- that you had a crush on as a child (or early teens). Then post this on your [journal] so other people can know what a dork you've always been.
1. The most memorable was Justin from Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH. Just finished rereading this book and I can still see why. ;-)
2. Stan Crandall from Fifteen by Beverly Cleary. The button-down shirts! The politeness! The dip in his hair!
3. Like KiwiRia, I must confess to having had a thing -- just a LITTLE thing -- for Uncle Jesse from Full House.
4. Jim Craig in "The Man From Snowy River".
5. Frank Hardy in the Hardy Boys series.
Thursday, January 13, 2005
and the enslavement to memes continues...
Again, I lifted this audience-participation game from the equally-meme-enslaved KiwiRia.
1. Pick one dozen movies that are ones that you have special feelings about.
2. Pick a few lines of dialogue.
3. As people guess the film, strike out that entry. (I decided to highlight them in yellow instead)
4. If possible, after the film is guessed, explain why that movie made the list.
OK, I know a lot of these are going to be total giveaways. Oh well. :)
- "As the good book says, 'if a poor man eats a chicken, one of them is sick!'" -- Paula knew this one. And I didn't know that it was a genuine old Jewish saying; thanks for the educational tidbit! I think I should change one of my columns on the left to "learn something new every day..."
- "I'm scared of what I saw, of what I did, of who I am -- and more than anything else, I'm scared of walking out of this room and never feeling again in my whole life the way I feel when I'm with you!" -- Susan came through for Baby and Johnny :)
- "In vain have I struggled, it will not do. You must allow me to tell you how ardently I admire and love you." -- Kat knew her Austen adaptations well :)
- "Christmas? Christmas means dinner; dinner means death! Death means carnage! Christmas means carnage! "
- "I'm French. Why do you think I have this outrageous accent, you silly king?" (say this one with the "outrageous" French accent and it may be a little easier) -- Good job KiwiRia; I was beginning to think I'd picked a too-difficult quote from this very quotable movie. :)
- "I'm saying I love you. I'm saying it out loud." -- So I'm not the only one who's seen this skating movie multiple times. ***sigh*** Thanks, Cami! :)
- "I came here tonight because when you realize you want to spend the rest of your life with somebody, you want the rest of your life to start as soon as possible." -- Cami got this one too. Now I want to have a nice romantic-comedy film fest tonight.
- "Jean Louise. Jean Louise, stand up. Your father's passing."
- "I think Margaret was right. Piracy is our only option." -- Again, good for Kat
- Sam: Although I cried at the end of "the Dirty Dozen."
Greg: Who didn't?
Sam: Jim Brown was throwing these hand grenades down these airshafts. And Richard Jaeckel and Lee Marvin [begins to cry] were sitting on top of this armored personnel carrier, dressed up like Nazis...
Greg: [Crying too] Stop, stop!
Sam: And Trini Lopez...
Greg: Yes, Trini Lopez!
Sam: He busted his neck while they were parachuting down behind the Nazi lines...
Greg: Stop.
Sam: And Richard Jaeckel - at the beginning he had on this shiny helmet...
Greg: [Crying harder] Please no more. Oh God! I loved that movie. -- Debi figured this one out. T and I LOVE that part of that movie. We generally have to watch it multiple times before we can proceed through the rest of the DVD.
- "Playing music is supposed to be fun. It's about heart, it's about feelings, moving people, and something beautiful, and it's not about notes on a page. I can teach you notes on a page, I can't teach you that other stuff." -- Susan again, yay Susan! :) I have a question. Is a crush on a high-school music teacher pretty much a universal thing? Do all girls do this? Because I did.
- "I know I chatter on far too much, but if you only knew how many things I want to say and don't, you'd give me some credit." -- Kat again! Of course a fellow "Kindred Spirit" would know it :)
Friday, December 31, 2004
the year in review
I've been expressly saving this survey to do tonight. So here it is. Never say I can't show self-restraint; you know how much I am addicted to surveys. :)
1. What did you do in 2004 that you'd never done before?
I took a trip in an airplane, and went to Florida. I got furry pets for my children (and, well, me, too, but furry pets + children is the new thing).
2. Did you keep your new years' resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
I don't think I made any last year. I just now decided that my 2005 resolution will be to get back on the housecleaning wagon. Did I just say that? But it's true. I say "get back on" as if it were longer than two months five years ago that I was on it. But for those two months -- wow, I had a system, it worked, my house was always ready for company. I am going to try the system again.
3. Did anyone close to you give birth?
My dear, beloved, sister-friend Susan did. In June. Yay Susan!
4. Did anyone close to you die?
Sadly, a friend's son, Conor, died of cancer at the age of 4 on I think February 2.
5. What countries did you visit?
ha! you're funny.
6. What would you like to have in 2005 that you lacked in 2004?
Financial discipline. And house-cleaning discipline too.
7. What date from 2004 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
The first week of February was really eventful -- we were on our trip to Florida, and my friend's son died. Lots of up-and-down emotions that week.
8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
hmm. My son learned his multiplication tables and my daughter can read. But those are their accomplishments; I just helped. I started sewing again, I guess, and had a lot of fun and made some nice things doing that.
9. What was your biggest failure?
Not gaining any financial or other discipline.
10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
Nothing other than the usual clutzy Rachel-ish stubbed toes and smacked noggins, no.
11. What was the best thing you bought?
Ack, I dunno.
12. Whose behavior merited celebration?
I dunno, I think pretty much everyone with whom I've been in contact this year did pretty well. My husband loved me, my kids learned a lot, my friends weathered difficult situations with grace.
13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?
It takes a lot in a public sort of thing to depress me. But when mothers injure their children, which made the news a few times this year, that does it. Also, the mainstream media and its 'fear sells' mentality didn't exactly get my stamp of approval.
14. Where did most of your money go?
Rent. And gasoline, ack! and groceries. The usual.
15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?
Going to Florida. Camping in Morro Bay. Christmas.
16. What song will always remind you of 2004?
Probably Vivaldi's "Gloria", since we worked very hard on that in chorus, and performed it twice.
17. Compared to this time last year, are you:
happier or sadder? Well, looking back at my journal, I was apparently at a really high point this time last year. Now I'm happy, but not all elated like that. So probably a teeny weeny bit sadder, but not sad at all.
thinner or fatter? The same. Sigh.
richer or poorer? Also the same, no sigh this time.
18. What do you wish you'd done more of?
Spiritual stuff. Even after the amazing retreat in the fall -- things are better but not as good as they should be. Also, did I mention housecleaning? And reading. And hugging my children. Can't do too much of that.
19. What do you wish you'd done less of?
Yelling. I'm better about yelling but it still happens sometimes.
20. How will you be spending Christmas?
Already spent it, the usual way, with family and the whole turkey dinner and all.
22. Did you fall in love in 2004?
Again and again, with the same man. :)
23. How many one-night stands?
Um. Zero.
24. What was your favorite TV program?
n/a, the only TV I watched was the election returns and that certainly would never qualify as my favorite anything, even if they did go basically the way I hoped they would.
25. Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year?
I am not a very hateful person. I can't think of anyone I know personally whom I hate. I don't LIKE everybody, but I don't think I hate anyone either. So no.
26. What was the best book you read?
Dang, I knew this was coming. This is so hard. I will stick to books that were not re-reads this year, otherwise I would never be able to shut up, and I will just say these:
- Possession, by A.S. Byatt. Very complex and rich.
- A Catch of Consequence by Diana Norman. Historical fiction, very very readable, almost has the feel of classic literature in a way.
- Bel Canto by Ann Patchett (actually the end of December 2003). All I can say about Ann Patchett, especially this amazing book, is WOW.
- Fire Along the Sky by Sara Donati -- fourth in her Into the Wilderness series
- I read Stephanie Plum books for the first time this year. By the time I whizzed through to #10 I was heartily tired of them. HOWEVER. If I had stuck with just reading one or two, she might have made this list. So in the spirit of goodwill, I will list One for the Money. But don't expect Austen.
27. What was your greatest musical discovery?
Yahoo Launchcast radio. Yay. I hope that link works.
28. What did you want and get?
Two or three new Jane Austen movie adaptations on DVD. Lots of books. A new schoolroom, because this is the year we started renting the apartment next door. A trip to Florida. Lots and LOTS of love. It was a good, good year.
29. What did you want and not get?
I am so spoiled. I can't think of anything. Oh, except a house. We had originally thought 2004 was the year we would buy a house, but by the time 2004 began we had discovered that the real estate market was (and is) too insane for us to seriously contemplate ever doing that in California, unless a miracle occurs. Oh well.
30. What was your favourite film of this year?
There were several that I watched over and over, which I've loved for more than just this year, like "Pride and Prejudice". Then there were some that I discovered this year, but which were not new this year, like "Moulin Rouge". I don't know if any 2004 movies will be on my favorites list.
31. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
I turned 30 on Christmas, and spent the day quietly with my family, which, considering when my birthday is, was a rare and welcome event. We also had a little party a few days beforehand, wherein my extended family went out to eat, I opened presents, and then we walked Christmas Tree Lane in Fresno, as is our annual tradition. This was nice also.
32. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
If my house had always been clean. If we had been able to buy a house.
33. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2004?
Housewife casual.
34. What kept you sane?
My faith. My family.
35. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?
I really don't spend a lot of energy fancying celebrities.
36. What political issue stirred you the most?
The U.S. election, of course. :)
37. Whom did you miss?
Plenty of people at various times. Some because they live far away, some because they are no longer living. As I get older I realize more and more how good it would have been to have known my deceased grandparents as an adult.
38. Who were the best new people you met?
I don't meet a lot of new people in any given year, and 2004 was no exception. There is, however, a family in our church I'd never met before this past May and we're becoming pretty good friends with them. Not FRIENDS friends, but casual friends.
39. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2004:
God really wants to be front and center in my life. Also, always ALWAYS bring plenty of water on an airline flight.
40. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year:
I am not good at finding song lyrics that fit situations. I left that behind in my days of falling in infatuation with a boy and writing intensely-worded notes to my friends (with big circles for dots over the i's) about how much this song fits how I feel about The Boy. I do not mean this as a slight to people who DO find lyrics that are meaningful to them. Maybe it's because most of the music I listen to does not have lyrics.
Oh, and after typing up all of that I DID think of a song with lyrics that are fitting for this year, spiritually speaking. It's called "Remember Surrender" and it's by Sara Groves.
Remember surrender, remember the rest
Remember that weight lifting off of your chest
And realizing that it's not up to you
and it never was
Remember surrender, remember relief
Remember how tears rolled down both of your cheeks
As the warmth of a heavenly father
came closing in
I want to do that again
Why can't I live there and make my home
In sweet surrender
I want to do so much more than remember
Remember surrender, remember the peace
Remember how soundly you fell fast asleep
In the face of your troubles your future still shone
like the morning sun
Remember surrender, remember that sound
Of all of those voices inside dying down
But one who speaks clearly of helping and healing you deep within
I want to do that again
Why can't I live there and make my home
In sweet surrender
I want to do so much more than remember...
Wednesday, December 15, 2004
The Thursday Bookworm
I had these all answered and then I clicked "add entry" and my DSL modem spazzed and my entry was eaten by this blasted machine. And it was long and well-thought-out too. So I had to go away from the computer for a while before I had the energy to try to re-create it. No promises though.
I am a slave to surveys, as anyone who has spent three seconds reading this journal probably knows. This one is from The Thursday Bookworm. I've lifted these surveys from KiwiRia before but this is the first time I've gone to the source myself.
1. What is your favorite movie adapted from a book that you have actually read? Was it pretty true to the original author's vision, or was too much vital information left out or changed?
Pride and Prejudice -- the 5-hour A&E/BBC version. Even after repeated viewings I still do not find flaws in it.
A close second on this one is To Kill A Mockingbird.
2. What, in your opinion, is the worst movie adaptation of a book? What did you not like about it?
Possession by A.S. Byatt. The book was so rich, so fascinating -- and the movie was a hollow shell, with two Americans in the lead of what is a very British story (and one of them wasn't even pretending to be British; they wrote his character as an American, which was a travesty in this case).
3. Have you ever liked the movie version of a book despite its glaring differences from the original story?
This is going to be very shocking to people who know me. Debi, are you sitting down? Susan? Everyone else? OK. I really, really like Patricia Rozema's movie Mansfield Park. In all honesty, I rented it once (for free, from the library) because I wanted to be able to criticize it and know what I was criticizing. But wow. For once in my life I was able to separate the movie from the book (which I love) and enjoy the movie as its own work even though it deviated in staggering ways from the source material. It was an interpretation rather than a retelling, which is something I usually do not let filmmakers get away with, when defenders of movies which deviate from the original use it as their reasoning. Usually I say, if you're not going to tell the story the way the author intended it, you can write your own story with your own characters and not try to ride on the author's coattails. But maybe it was because Rozema strayed so far from the original in so many ways that I was able to forgive her for it in this case, I don't know. All I know is that I really enjoyed this pretty, emotionally rich, originally-directed film, even with its flaws (and there were a few, even apart from the adaptation thing).
And then there are movies that have been part of our lives and culture for so long, so thoroughly ingrained in our childhoods, that we can like them even though they stray wildly from the books on which they were based. Two that come ot mind are The Wizard of Oz and "Little House on the Prairie".
4. Have you ever seen a movie adaptation that actually made you go out and read that book after seeing the film?
Hmm. Pollyanna. The Man from Snowy River (a really great Australian poem is the basis for this pretty movie). The Fiddler on the Roof (Sholem Alecheim's stories are hard to get through if I read a lot of them at a time, but one at a time, they were very interesting). Bambi (didn't like the book). Forrest Gump (book was execrable). I don't remember if I read Pygmalion before I saw My Fair Lady or not. I have gone seeking autobiographies of the people depicted in The Sound of Music. And I know there are some examples I'm forgetting here.
And there are a lot of adaptations where I'm already familiar with the book, but watching the movie gives me the itch to read that particular book again. Just about any film adaptation will do that to me.
5. Have you ever seen a movie without knowing beforehand that it had first been published in book form?
Mostly when I was little -- things like Mary Poppins, etc. Well, here's a big example: Every single Disney animated feature film up until The Lion King was based on outside source material, and I had no idea about some of those -- again, when I was little. I know there are some from my adulthood too but I just can't think of them offhand.
One question that was left off here that I think is a good one is: Are there any adaptations where you like the movie better than the book? And two that come to mind here are The Black Stallion (heart-poundingly beautiful movie, just stunning, based on an average-at-best boy-and-horse book -- but let's give the author credit; from what I understand he wrote it in high school) and Forrest Gump as mentioned before. I don't love the movie of that one, but I couldn't even get five pages into the book. Oh, and Wings of the Dove. I just cannot get into Henry James -- and I'm not afraid of older literature. He is just so dry and bleak in his writing style; I can read a page and have no idea what I've just read. But the 1997 movie of this is, well, very racy, and also quite engaging.
Thursday, December 09, 2004
Holiday dinner survey
Here's another survey. I promise a real entry soon. I seem to have lost the muse for the past few days ;-). Can't think of anything to write about to save my life.
1. What is your favorite pie?
Pecan, if it's not too sweet. Otherwise it gets hard to choose. Cherry probably. With vanilla ice cream.
2. How many people were at Thanksgiving dinner?
13 (superstitious people need not apply, eh? Fitting, though, because it WAS at my in-laws'...)
3. What will you be drinking?
Diet Coke.
4. Do you help with the dishes?
Yes. Fortunately there are generally a lot of people who help. I don't mind doing the dishes as long as there're people to help with the clearing, wiping down surfaces, all that. It's the WHOLE clean-up -- which has been dumped all on me a few times, just by mistake, everyone else was distracted -- that intimidates me.
5. What have you burnt before?
Generally I am more of a not-starting-things-in-time-so-they're-underdone-and-we-have-to-wait person. In high school, though, a friend and I were making spaghetti dinner for our two families to eat when our parents got back from a trip they were on together, and we had the bread under the broiler ready to toast, but they were so late getting home that we got hungry and decided to heat up some corn dogs for ourselves to eat while we waited. We put them in the oven and forgot about the bread under the broiler, which caught on fire. It was exciting. We took pictures.
6. Do you bring the host or hostess a gift?
Shoot. No. I should but we have just never been that kind of family. I know nothing about wine, and I am death to all plants, and what else do you bring? Input please.
7. Is anyone going out of state for dinner?
No.
8. Is anyone coming in from another state?
No.
9. If celebrated at your house, what will the centerpiece on the table
be?
We don't have centerpieces. It's hard enough fitting the food on the table. Someday in my permanent house I'd like to have a nice sideboard in my nice dining room, to hold the food as well as napkins and silverware and all that, and then we'll do centerpieces on the table.
10. Who carves the turkey?
Either my dad or me. I'm pretty good at it, but he's better.
11. Do you look forward to going shopping the day after
Thanksgiving?
Occasionally, if there's a specific sale that has something I wanted to buy anyway (like this year at the fabric store)
12. When do you put up your Christmas tree?
The day after Thanksgiving, every year.
13. What is on your Christmas list this year?
A soft fuzzy red sweater. Black boots to go with aforementioned red sweater and my plaid skirt. Books. The movie "Emma" with Kate Beckinsale.
14. Do you write out a list for Christmas?
Yes
15. Do you have a budget for Christmas or just buy stuff when you
see it?
We budget. Then in the week before Christmas we generally ruin our grocery budget for the month of January by hopelessly overspending on Christmas presents for the kids.
16. What are your favorite traditions?
We usually drive around looking at Christmas lights several times during the year. We put up the Christmas tree as soon as it gets dark the day after Thanksgiving without fail. We made a set of 25 ornaments, which we start putting on the tree on December 1st, and we put one on each evening and one on Christmas morning, each with a Bible verse relating to Jesus.
17. Did you have any traditions when you were younger that you
didn't like?
No.
18. Do you usually make a New Year's resolution?
About half the time I make one. And about half those times I keep it.
computer use survey
Here's a little computer-use survey:
How often do you check your email?
Almost constantly. If I'm going by doing something else, I'll just do a quick send-and-receive and see what's there. This is very baaad and is a major reason why I don't get enough done around here.
How often do you check your favorite sites (journals, etc)?
I have a list of them that I go through several times a day. Some of them I only check every few days, however, because they don't update as often.
How many folders do you have in your email program?
24, counting the default ones (inbox, outbox, deleted, etc)
How many emails are in your deleted folder?
9724 (I empty it maybe once a week. No, not that often. A few times a month.)
When did you first use the Internet?
In the summer of 1996.
What was the first thing you remember using the Internet to do?
I went online at the library to look up recipes for homemade baby food (and was bewildered when page 20 of an altavista search for baby food recipes had stuff totally unrelated to baby food). I also looked up information about L.M. Montgomery, author of the Anne of Green Gables books.
When did you first get Internet access at home?
email summer 1996, actual Internet in the fall of 1996.
What do you use the computer for most?
Email and Internet usually. When I have a job (transcription or data entry) the email and stuff falls by the wayside and I use the other programs more.
Are you on any email lists?
I am on about 10. Which is way down from the 30-something I used to be on. Most are fairly inactive but there are a few that put out a hundred or so messages a day.
How often do you update your online journal, if you have one?
Um. It used to be every day. Now it's more like twice or three times a week.
How much time to you spend IMing?
Not much these days. It used to be more. Often I don't even turn Yahoo on.
How many people are in your IM buddy list? How many of those do you chat with on a regular basis?
Um, maybe thirty people on the list. I chat regularly with... two.
What takes up most of the space on your hard drive?
Music.
What was the first computer you remember using? Where was it?
We had a little Atari 800 at home, which was not just a game machine, it also had a keyboard and you could run little BASIC programs in it. I remember we made one that looked like a rocket launching, in ASCII. Mostly, however, it was for games. We got that when I was in third grade, I think -- around 1983 or 1984. Then at school we had first Ataris, which we didn't use much, and then Apple IIs, and we played Oregon Trail and learned how to make basic little databases and do word processing with those. That was in sixth grade, so 1986.
Thursday, December 02, 2004
a book meme
Another book meme lifted from KiwiRia.
The idea is to recommend a few books from each genre.
01. Horror:
- The Stand by Stephen King. This is in a different vein from most of the other stuff he wrote -- at least, what he'd written up until the early 90's when I stopped reading his books.
- Edgar Allen Poe's short stories. The Pit and the Pendulum, The Cask of Amontillado, The Tell -Tale Heart -- wow. One of my junior-high friends had a tape set of Vincent Price reading some of Poe's short stories; we lay in her rec room listening to them on Halloween night and neither of us could get up afterward to
blow out the candles we'd lit, so we just let them burn down until they were gone.
02. Suspense/Mystery: I am drawing a blank here. I know I've read some good suspense stuff in the last few years but I just can't remember any of it. So I'll shrug and say, "Trixie Belden. She was way better than Nancy Drew."
03. Science-Fiction/Fantasy:
- The Martian Chronicles -- Ray Bradbury
- The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien. The movies are pretty well-made, but as is the case with almost all adaptations, if you've seen them, you haven't experienced the whole stories. The books are much richer, and the characters are more admirable in the original than they're portrayed to be in the movies.
- The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis. These are, no pun intended, an absolute staple in our household.
04. Romance/Chick Lit:
- Diana Gabaldon's Outlander series
- Sara Donati's Into the Wilderness series (both of the
above are really deeply researched historical fiction) - A few of Jennifer Crusie's books. Some of them are too over-the-top for me, but I really like her latest one, called Bet Me.
- Elizabeth Berg -- she writes chick lit but not romances. Read with tissues.
- Marian Keyes. So funny and yet she's not JUST funny.
05. American Classic:
- To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee -- this is an absolute, utter must-read, in my opinion.
- The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne. Don't be turned off by having been forced to read this in high school. Read it in your twenties or beyond and you'll get a lot more out of it.
- Laura Ingalls Wilder's Little House series. They're ostensibly for kids but they're an amazing look at pioneer life.
- Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
- Of Mice and Men, and even though I disagree with its overarching political message, The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck.
06. British/World Classic:
- Any of Jane Austen's six novels (yes, even Mansfield Park), along with her juvenilia and unpublished work.
- Dickens: David Copperfield, Great Expectations, A Christmas Carol, Oliver Twist ... I could go on.
- Gaston Leroux, The Phantom of the Opera
- Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë
- L.M. Montgomery's books. Not just the Anne of Green Gables series, although that's wonderful; she wrote a dozen other novels, and they're all worth reading.
07. Drama (Play):
- Shakespeare of course, when you feel like slogging through a lot of words to get the meaning of a great story ;-) (also, reading Shakespeare is great because you realize just how many of his phrases and quotations have made their way into common speech)
- Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller
08. Biography/Autobiography:
- MiG Pilot by John Barron, about Viktor Belenko. This tells the story of a Russian fighter pilot who, in the late 70's, defected to the US along with his top-secret jet. His impressions of America alone make the book worth reading.
- Mover of Men and Mountains by R.G. LeTourneau.
Autobiography of a Christian inventor who lived to see (and in great part brought about) mind-blowing changes in the mechanical and earth-moving industries. Not just a Christian testimony or a book about tractors; you get a very good picture of life in the early 20th century and beyond from this book. - The Selected Journals of L.M. Montgomery in five volumes.
There was a lot going on behind the scenes as all those tranquil "children's" books were being written.
Friday, November 19, 2004
playlist meme
I stole this really cool meme from Beth.
Here’s what you do. You open Winamp or whatever media player you use, make a playlist with all the songs on your computer (all LEGALLY ACQUIRED, of course!), and randomize the list. Then you write down the first twenty songs in the list. (Beth only did ten. But I am a classic overachiever where slackerish things like diary memes are concerned). Mine came up with:
- Foreigner -- "Juke Box Hero" (I hate this song. T loves it.)
- Jars of Clay -- "I Could Sing Of Your Love Forever"
- Nirvana -- "Smells Like Teen Spirit"
- CPE Bach -- Concerto for Flute and Orchestra
- Vanessa Williams -- "Save The Best For Last" (shut up.)
- Mercy Me -- "Word Of God Speak"
- Veggie Tales -- "StuffMart Rap"
- WOW Worship -- "Shout to the Lord"
- Evanescence -- "Fields of Innocence"
- Clarke -- Trumpet Voluntary
- Alison Krauss -- "Now That I've Found You"
- Roger Whitaker -- "The Last Farewell" (shut up again.)
- Chanticleer -- "Lo, How A Rose"
- The Mormon Tabernacle Choir -- "Hallelujah Amen"
- The Flaming Lips -- "Do You Realize"
- Amadeus Soundtrack -- Early 18th-Century Gypsy Music
- Roxette -- The Look
- Pearl Jam -- "Last Kiss"
- Alison Krauss -- "When You Say Nothing At All"
- Journey -- "Open Arms"
Try it, you'll like it. ;-)
Wednesday, October 27, 2004
more answers to questions
This is the second entry today with answers to the question "meme"; don't miss the first one.
Some GREAT questions from Paula:
Do you think your kids would be as well off if it were your husband instead of you home with them, assuming you were making as good a wage?
I think they are maybe marginally better off with me home. Mostly, a role reversal would just make their lives different, not necessarily better or worse. But I think our family is better off overall with me the one at home, and T the one at work. Hey, if we could have it any way we wanted it, both their parents would be home all day. Not a lot of work for a telecommuting dad around here, though.
If not, is it a matter of gender or just who would be better at child-rearing and home-schooling? (Because both certainly take talent to do well.)
Well, initially it was definitely a gender issue, because I was the one with the breasts. ;-) Nowadays, well, we each have different strengths. I am more patient, and am more inclined to accept that kids are kids and not to expect them to behave like little adults. I am perhaps better at breaking things down to teach them, although chances are he'd do fine at that, he's just never been tried. I have less of a tendency to expect them to catch on to academic concepts as soon as they're presented the very first time. He, on the other hand, is more organized than I am, and tidier, and probably more attentive, because he's less trusting that the kids are OK left alone for longish periods. It would certainly be an interesting learning experience for both of us to switch roles for a while.
As far as why we don't do it, well, that's more complicated. The simple answer is, we do it this way because the status quo works and why fix it if it's not broken. Also, the fact is that I probably am a LITTLE better-suited to the homeschooling aspects of raising them, because of the patience thing. And he is better at "regular" jobs than I am. I've done "9-5" in a variety of occupations, and I will again someday I'm sure, but if it's one of us going to work and the other not, he's the one to go, because he's better at taking criticism and dealing with the sort of interpersonal stress one encounters in a workplace without getting trembly. Also, husband working/wife tending the home is the Biblical pattern, which is important to us, and it's more suited to our inherent natures. It's not that he's not nurturing, because he is; he's a fantastic and loving father who is seriously emotionally invested in his kids. But he is also tougher and more aggressive than me, which is important in a work environment, and I, as I said, am more patient, which is good for someone who's going to be the sole caregiver for kids. And I'm a better cook. ;-)
None of this is to say that if circumstances changed in some way, we would not roll with the punches and switch roles. I've thought about doing it for a few years just to help T have a little more freedom to find a job that he LOVES rather than one that he tolerates and at which he is competent. But again with the status quo thing -- it's hard to just step out and do that.
Did you have to decide if you wanted kids or was it something you always knew and never questioned?
I have always, always wanted kids. I never ever went through a period when I didn't. I used to pretend I was "having a baby" with my dolls, when I was like three. For a while when I was in high school I decided that I wanted to be a single mom -- didn't want to marry or live with anyone, but still I wanted the kids. My husband also wanted kids as soon as he was mature enough to think about it seriously, and never had to be convinced. When we were first married he wanted to wait a couple years and I didn't, so we compromised and waited one year. :)
oh, great, another meme Archives | Page 6 of 10
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