Him - 06/13/2007

Three "Him's" to be exact.

• I'm driving home from work today on a brand new stretch on road. There are two northbound lanes. It is POURING rain. I, knowing how the streets flood here, am in the left lane behind a man who is unfortunately riding a Harley in the pouring rain. On the right, is a Toyota Avalon, whose driver is really not so bright. He or she is speeding in the downpour. Motorcycle Man and I, in the left lane, notice that up ahead, the right lane is completely flooded out and has in fact come over to our lane. He puts his hand down to signal he is slowing down, but no need, as I had started to slow down as well. Toyota Avalon person? Not so much. This Einstein goes barreling through the small lake in front of him/her, and then decides to slam on the brakes....but not before completely drenching motorcycle man. I said "Ooooooooooh. Idiot." aloud as I saw the tsunami hit. Motorcycle guy was not too happy. He stared down Toyota Avalon person. The rest of the 2 mile ride was spent driving really slow, as motorcycle man kept trying to get beside Toyota person to give him a piece of his....finger and boot, actually, but Toyota person kept slowing down to not be next to him. So, we went really slow up to the point where the right lane becomes a "right turn only" lane and Toyota person had to merge with us. Toyota person let me and another truck pass before they merged. Toyota person was probably too afraid of what motorcycle guy would do. I *so* wished I had a nice XXXL t-shirt in my Jeep. I would have jumped out at the light and handed it to him to change. He was drenched, poor Him.


• David calls tonight to say his battery is acting up and he needed to go buy a new one. I told him to check the auto parts store to see if they could just recharge it. He asks me which auto parts store, as there are 2 right next to each other. Here's how this conversation went:

Me: It's the one next to the Indian place that used to be a Pizza Hut.

Him: What?? You want me to go get the battery checked at the Indian place??

Me: Are you MENTAL??

After I hung up the phone, the hilarity of this conversation finally struck me, and I started giggling, then outright laughing to myself. What could he have possibly heard over that cell phone?

• My son Jake placed his nightly call from the road to me. They are at Camp Lejune (Military base) and are having a ball. He got to sit in the cockpit of an Osprey today and toyed with a glass...something. Some kind of navigation system that is all touch screen and fancy. He was all excited. Then he says "Grandpa wants to talk to you." Oh-oh, I say to myself. What has he done? Alex (my ex-father-in-law) proceeds to tell me what a joy Jacob is and to thank me for letting him spend these 2 weeks on the trip with him. Alex has two grandkids with him; Jake and Jake's cousin Maddy. They are about the same age and as different as night and day; and not just because they are male & female. Maddy is outgoing, exuberant; Jake is introspective and thoughtful (as in he ponders & mulls things over before making up his mind). Alex laughed as he explained how Maddy pushes Jake's buttons because he is so serious. He also says that as they were in an Atomic museum, Jake saw a really neat item. Alex asked him if he wanted it. Jake turned the piece over, saw the price and said "No, it's too expensive," and set it down. Maddy walks over, looks at the price and says "I want it," and walks off through the store with it in hand. Alex told Jake "Don't you worry about cost. Only worry about if you want it." So Jake eventually conceded. Alex said "You raised him good, girl." and I was so proud. This is gold coming from him.

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer - 06/11/2007

I have never read any of Samuel Langhorne Clemens' works, can you believe it? Not a one. Who? Sam? Oh, yea, you may know him by his pen name, Mark Twain.

"The Adventures of Tom Sawyer" is on my list of classic books I am reading. Written in 1876, the book is very quaint. "Lovely" is how I think I put it to someone recently. He's British, so he understood what I meant when I said "lovely." The copy I have belongs to my husband. It was printed in 1971. It is 36 years old. Its pages are yellowing and it smells divine. I spent more time than I care to admit smelling the pages as I read along.

Mr. Twain does an excellent job of capturing the mind of a young boy. I don't think I know his age, actually. Tom felt like 8-10 to me. He's gregarious, outgoing, very imaginative and inventive, just like most kids that age are. I love how Tom would "show off" to the new girl by hitting other kids, being a bully, etc. SO like an elementary-aged child. There was danger and adventure at every turn in Tom's world, and I was right there with him. I loved that he loved his Aunt, even if *he* didn't realize that he loved her. He was brave and fun.

You may have heard of Injun Joe too. I know that even though I have never read it, I've heard tell of him. NOW I know who he is; the evil man! I was so proud of Tom for being brave and standing up in court to defend an innocent man against Injun Joe's lies.

The book was a bit controversial later on, with its use of the "N" word. I'll have to admit even I gave a pause when I read the word. I had to remember this was written in 1876. The world has changed a lot since then....hasn't it?? I hope so.

We get a little "happy ending" that Mr. Clemens was criticized for. Back in the day, novels were supposed to be "realistic" and how realistic is it for a couple of boys to have so much adventure and end up with riches?

I for one, am glad Mr. Clemens chose his own way and gave us the slightly fantastical versus the mundane.

A Green Journey - 06/03/2007

I also finished "A Green Journey" by John Hassler. This was one of the nine books given to me by Joan, David's aunt. I enjoyed this book very much. Not being Catholic, I don't know all the nuances of the religion, but I found myself enchanted by Agatha, a 60-something year old staunch Catholic. She takes no guff, is strong-willed and respected by all. She's also quite lonely. Never having been married, she questions the choices she made in her youth; to not settle. To have a career over men she did not truly love. She sees her Church changing over the years, becoming more secular in her opinion and she fights it tooth and nail.

She strikes up a pen-pal relationship with an Irish man named James who shares her religious beliefs. They discuss the Church, its bishops and priests, its failings and strengths, but as the years go by, they also discuss their loneliness, their childhood, their losses. Agatha feels closer to James than to anyone.

Her church decides to plan a trip to Ireland. She decides to go to meet James, and that's where her world is turned upside-down. You'll have to read the book; I won't give the ending away. Her storyline is heart-wrenching and wonderful , including her interactions with the new Bishop Baker ("Call me Dick.") who, in Agatha's opinion, is destroying the churches in this Midwest town of theirs, closing down Catholic schools, having nun run parishes, getting rid of the ceremony of Confirmation (something Agatha truly believes in for her 6th grade students she piously teaches). Her encounters with Bishop Baker are full of sarcasm, fun banter and eventually mutual respect.

The second story line involves a young girl named Janet, who Agatha takes in during Janet's last month of pregnancy; a girl who is 17 and unmarried. We see Agatha and Janet develop an open friendship that Agatha does not have with anyone else, except with James in Ireland. Janet is an old soul. She does not let her poor circumstances hold her back. She is confident and self-assured. She marries a pathetic excuse for a man, though, and this bothered me. He was whiny, depressed most of the time, made bad financial decisions, quit jobs every other month and was jealous of Janet's son. I didn't see her attraction to this man, and chapters that dealt with him were tedious. Self-Reflection, much? :)

In all though, it was a good read. Ireland sounds both beautiful and frightening. I will remember always laughing aloud at Bishop Baker's reaction to these words: "During our absence Lady Wellington gave birth to four kittens." :) Read it and tell me if you laughed too.

Pickering's Lane - 06/03/2007

I finished "Pickering's Lane" last week. I really wanted to love this book. I wanted to shout out its virtues and urge everyone to buy it. You see, its authors are acquaintances of mine. Jeremy worked in Human Resources and Cindy worked in Accounts Payable at my corporate office several years ago. We never met, but we spoke a lot over e-mails. They were eclectic and fun. I remember when this book was in the works. They were so excited to be publishing it. It came out in 2002. Back then, I really did not have the extra cash flow to spend $16 on a book I could only get at Amazon or on iUniverse's website. The years passed and Jeremy & Cindy left the company.

Recently, I found an e-mail I had printed as a reminder to buy the book. I had congratulated them on getting their book published back in 2002. In cleaning my desk, I found this e-mail & I ordered the book.

Pickering's Lane is a book about several characters. A woman Paige and her young blind son who lose their husband/dad to a murder. Their friend. DianaMarie, who although she is white, is taken in by the elder of an Indian tribe and taught the ways of the Protector Spirits. She meets strong opposition from most of the tribe who cannot swallow having a white woman learn their ways.

Paige & her son move to Pickering's Lane and that's where the troubles begin. The book deals with Indian mysticism & lore. There are demons and protector spirits in modern times. The book title does not mesh well with what's going on in the book. The characters are two-dimensional; I don't know them. I want to feel like I know them. (like the Monkeewrench crew). I SO wanted to like them, but the book moved so fast, changed between characters so quickly, I barely got to know them. I need more backstory. How did DianaMarie struggle through her teachings? The Indians don't like her; show me what she had to go through to be the warrior she is now. It would have been good to learn all about her; maybe in her own book, before we throw in a new town, new people, an evil spirit, a good-looking forest ranger with identity issues, a drugged up indian woman, the leader of the Indian group - a wize old lady and DianaMarie's only support, a blind boy with a gift, etc., etc.

It was a quick read and I liked it. I wanted to love it, so you would love it and buy a book to support two cool people.

The Odyssey - 05/27/2007

I just finished reading "The Odyssey" by Homer. DOH! Not that Homer, people. The original Homer, who we think lived around 750-700 B.C. in Ionia, the Greek-Inhabited islands off the coast of western Turkey. No one knows for sure if Homer even existed. It is all word of mouth. The Odyssey in considered the second work of Western Literature (the first being Homer's "Illiad"), even though it was composed orally and recited to audiences. Who knows what's really Homer's work and what is the work of some bard adding to it. We'll never know.

The Odyssey is the return story of Odysseus, one of the heroes of "The Illiad." (Remember that whole Trojan Horse, Helen of Argos thing? Yea, that "Illiad."

I browsed the library section containing various copies of "The Odyssey." There are numerous translations, and if you choose the wrong one, you get bogged down in ancient rhetoric that will leave you confused & frustrated. I chose one of the Penguin Classics version, translated by E. V. Rieu and revised by his son, D. C. H. Rieu. I looked through it, standing at the library, and it seemed straight-forward enough. Just to be safe, I also picked up a comic book version made for the pre-teen set. Hee hee. I read the comic book first so I would have some idea of what the heck was going on. It helped a lot.

So we have Odysseus, who apparently angered the gods (mainly Poseidon, by poking out the eye of his son the Cyclops) and thus spent 10 years trying to get home after the war. Ten years since the war ended! He's stuck at sea & in various ports for 3 years (although one whole year was spent partying it up with Circe. A whole year? ) and then held captive by Calypso for another 7? Talk about bad luck. Although, he did sleep with Calypso during those 7 years. What's a guy to do? Lord forbid Penelope did the same thing.

In the meantime, his poor wife Penelope is sitting at home pining for his return for 20 years (10 years spent at war). Her infant son is now a 20 year old man, Telemachus. They are being eaten out of house & home by Suitors; men who live in town who want to marry Penelope. These men come to their estate at dawn and eat and party all day long. I don't understand the rules of etiquette back then, but apparently, you weren't allowed to kick people out? No clue, but Penelope and Telemachus have to put up with years of their flocks and wine and riches being consumed by the 50-odd suiters and their menservants, etc. etc.

There's a lot of eating and description of wine being made and calves being slaughtered and the thighs being sacrificed to Zeus ad nauseum;by the Suitors, by Odysseus in his 10 years. They liked to get their drink and eat on, and really did not do much of anything else. I found my eyes glazing over at the 20th description of what they were eating.

The men also cried. A lot. Over & over with the tears & the hair pulling grief. Man UP! These men? Also liking the olive oil. It was considered a luxury to have olive oil. If you owned an olive tree, you were prosperous. They took baths (actually, they were bathed by maids) a lot in the book and then were constantly being rubbed down with olive oil. Yuck. The thought of the smell alone makes me queasy.

Apparently, Zeus is the god of travelers, because every time Odysseus got to a port, he was treated kindly and left with TONS of gifts. It was considered an insult to Zeus if you did not load the traveler up with food, gold, tunics, gold cups, swords, etc. I think I'd just spend half the year visiting people, and the other half enjoying these gifts.

He eventually makes it home, but we have to hear about all the things that happened to him in those 10 years first; including his visit to Hades and the people he sees there. It was actually interesting to read about people and the punishments they had to deal with. Things I knew about but had no clue where I heard them from were there, such as Sisyphus forever pushing the boulder up the cliff, or the man who was up to his neck in water, but every time he went for a drink, the water disappeared, so he was forever thirsty.

We see Odesseus kick some Suitor-butt (lots of arrows through necks and decapitations) with the help of the goddess Athene, who was the one who conviced Zeus to let Odysseus finally see home.

I am checking off book # 4 of my 'classics' list and going on to read some books not on the list to give myself a break.

Trash - 05/26/2007

Ok. Seriously. This happened. I will explain more and post some pictures when I am not so tired, but I HAD to tell you this story.

David, the kids and I went to the Central Florida Spring Gathering today at Hontoon Island; a letterboxing event. We had a great time. In fact, people are still having a good time, as some are camping there in cabins or tents over the weekend.

We did a hike, just the 4 of us. It's about 3 miles, round-trip. On our way to the "end" of the trail (one-way), I notice a very thin lady in a bikini, squatting down in front of a toddler girl. I think "She's helping her daughter with something"....only I realize the lady's bikini bottoms are around her ankles.

I stop in my tracks, and turn my 13 year old son and myself around; we stand there just waiting. David and our daughter were further behind us, as a 3 year old has teeny little legs and takes longer to catch up.

I turn around to see the lady and the girl leave to our right. As we start to walk towards where she was, a British couple that had passed us earlier and were making their way back, start saying to us "Mind your step. Walk to your far right" while the husband is asking "Did you see that?" We all stop together to talk. It seems they came upon her from the other side....and she was not just peeing.

There was a clearing there, right next to the river. Her husband/boyfriend pulled his boat to the clearing, she hopped off the boat with her toddler, left her "gift", went back on the boat and took off.

The British couple were disgusted, as were we, at what this lady had just done. She did not even cover it or bury it, or even hide in the bushes. STRAIGHT on the trail.

We covered our noses and looked away as we walked by. The thought of it made David and my son want to puke. I did not EVEN point out to the two of them that a "used" paper towel was also dropped on the way to the river.

For Real.

Y MAS Libros! 05/24/2007

Today, after running errands with Jake (David is back home and he stayed with a napping Isabel) to the bank, the post office (3 rescued PLB's are on their way), Jake's school (yesterday was his last day of 7th grade. He left his mp3 player in a class. It was there. Phew!) and Lowe's, we stopped by the mailbox to get our mail. There was a large 5 lb box from Powells.com. I had no idea what this was, but it said "Powells Books" on the box as well. Books? Huh? The only book I am waiting on right now is the last Harry Potter book, but I have that on order with Amazon.

Jake & I bring it in and I open it. In it were nine different books. The receipt said it was ordered by Aunt Joan. David's Aunt Joan and I have been having e-mail conversations on books we like, ever since she read my "Grapes of Wrath" review. She mentioned so many of the books that touched her like "Grapes" touched me. She secretly ordered these books for me to read.

"The Chosen" by Chaim Potok

"The Color of Water": A Black Man's Tribute to His White Mother" by James McBride

"Crime & Punishment" by Fyodor Dostoevsky

"Crossing to Safety" by Wallace Stegner

"Cry the Beloved Country" by Alan Paton (she loved this before it became an Oprah book club book)

"The Diary of a Young Girl" by Anne Frank. *sniff* Jake was reading it in 6th grade and I cried as I read a passage to him.

"Good Earth" by Pearl Buck. Apparently Ms. Buck had some "issues" later in her career. I am interested to read not only this book, but about its author.

"A Green Journey" by Jon Hassler. Joan told me to read this first.

"Rascal" by Sterling North.

I am so excited that Joan did this; that she wanted to share the books that touched her, with me. I am honored and excited!

Thanks Aunt Joan!

Libros! 05/24/2007

Last week, during my lunch break, I went to the library. I never made it upstairs to the library. I got stuck perusing the book sale that the "Friends of the Library" book store had going on downstairs in the book store.

A hardbound copy of a book in a series David had in paperback was there. I like hardbound books, so I grabbed it. I can always "Paperback Swap" the paperback copy at home. Next, I found a PJ Tracy book. Remember the "Monkeewrench" book I reviewed? It's a series. I got a hard copy of book # 3; "Snow Blind." Wendy has # 2, so I am going to get it from her when she is done. I enjoyed the writing in "Monkeewrench." Next up, I found a hard copy of a Buffy The Vampire Slayer book. HEY, I deserve some fluffy Buffiness! Lastly, I got a cardboard kids book. I think it is called "The Potty Book."

I go to check out. Drumroll, please. $2.14. Yup, three excellent condition hardcover books and one kids book, for $2.00 plus 14 cent tax. Whooooot!

Grime & Punishment - 05/20/2007

In the mail yesterday was a postal letterbox, including a small novel: "Grime and Punishment: a Jane Jeffry Mystery" by Jill Churchill. I've never heard of this author before. It was a quick, fun read. I think I finished it in 3 hours. One hour yesterday and two today (after coming home from a graduation party for a boy I met when he was 3. I feel so old today). This is the first of 16 novels so far with Jane Jeffry, a widowed suburban mother of 3 who somehow keeps getting involved in murder/mysteries. To be honest, I'd be nervous of my life if I were her. I may read some more. The author, Jill Churchill, likes to name her books based on other book titles, but with a twist. "A Farewell to Yarns," "A Quiche Before Dying," "Was & Peas," and "Mulch Ado About Nothing," to name a few.

If you're looking for a light read, check it out. Not earth-shattering goodness, but still fun enough.

Walden - 05/12/2007

I FINALLY FINISHED WALDEN by Henry David Thoreau!!!! It took two & a half months. (I read like 6 books while reading this one). Did you know that you are supposed to pronounce his name like 'thorough?' Not Thu-ROW, but thorough.

Fortunately, I read The Annotated Walden, annotated by Phillip Van Doren Stern. Thank goodness I chose it. Without Mr. Van Doren Stern's introduction, side bars, pictures and comments, I think I would have been 'thoroughly' lost.

I have to agree with a few of the reviewers on Amazon who stated how pompous Thoreau sounds; he does. He tries to act superior,only to have the side bar notations state something different; something that a friend mentioned. For example, he says he "could easily do without the post-office," yet a contemporary, Sanborne, is quoted off to the side of the annotated version as having said about this quote: "Few residents of Concord frequented the Post Office more punctually or read the newspapers more eagerly than Thoreau."

He contradicts himself constantly. He mocks people who don't read, and then says he barely read a few pages of one book in the two years he was at Walden pond. He could be vindictive; lashing out at Flint's Pond (and Mr. Flint) because Flint would not let him build a cabin on his pond. He comes off as a snob, saying most men learn to read only as a necessity; for work, to add up their profits. But *true* readers are hard to come by. "I aspire to be acquainted with wiser men than this Concord soil has produced.."

Yet, he also has some really great words of wisdom. He questions the wisdom in working so hard during the best part of your life (youth) only to spend the fruits of your labor "during the least valuable part of it." Enjoy life while you are young. Why work so hard when the endgame is death? He comments on things that are still true to this day; fashion and our obsession with appearance. Work to provide for yourself, not to overburden yourself and keep yourself in debt trying to keep up with everyone else.

There are some quotes in there that are still used today. Know that whole "Marching to a different drummer" quote? It's Thoreau's. It just got a little convoluted through time. "If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer." "The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation" - that's his too.

Someone reviewing this book on Amazon wrote that it was a failed experiment; that he meant to live in the woods as a hermit of sorts and failed miserably to do so. That was never the extent of his experiment. He never says he's going to lead a solitary life. He states he visited the village every day or two. "As I walked in the woods to see birds and squirrels, so I walked in the village to see men and boys."

I find myself having mixed feelings regarding this book. He is so contradictory, but then, so am I. He can be judgemental and then he can be spot-on. It was a difficult book to get through, Again, had I not had the annotated version, I would have been truly lost. He frustrated me at times. I was not reading literature. I was reading someone's diary that often went off-tangent (like this review). Is it Top 100 book worthy? My opinion: no. It was good at times, painful at others. I took 2 & 1/2 months to trudge through it, all the while reading 6 other books just to keep me going. I am glad I read it. I won't do it again though. Sorry, Mr. Thoreau