Fiction Habit

A says I read too much fiction. Looking at my list down the side of this page, I have to admit he's right. I love fiction. I deal with enough reality that I need an escape. To be sure, some of these books I've enjoyed reading aloud to D and S; however (oh darn, there went a semicolon), the majority are just ones I've read on my own.

Which reminds me I need to update the list to include some Elfquest graphic novels (read: full-length comic books).

However, I am all about "achieving balance" in Life. Therefore, I henceforth vow that for every five fiction books I read, I will read one non-fiction book. Hm. Did I say five? Erm, maybe ten? YEAH. Ten.

At any rate, I'm behind. I'd better polish up some of the 'serious' books I'm working on (though some of these Bible studies just can't be rushed, you know?)--and forge ahead.

So I will have to construct a book list of NONFICTION books to divide and conquer. Biographies are a good place to start. Way back in Sept. when we were in CO I'd picked up one on Winston Churchill that was fascinating. Almost lifted it from the cabin to bring back home to WA with me, but A informed me that we had it on our shelves, and there was no need to resort to theivery.

Oh, but I have to say this: I'm reading Moby Dick for the first time. I endured the study of Melville in HS and college, but now his writing is rather interesting. Maybe I'm just getting old. Does reading a book by an author you REALLY don't care for count in this contest, even if it is fiction?

I probably ought to tackle Ivanhoe next. (Curses, foiled again! More fiction!)

Give me up as hopeless. I am who I am; I like what I like. (Gads, more semicolons!)

A Rant about Semicolons, courtesy of James Kilpatrick

I read this in the Seattle Times and located a copy on uexpress. Finally, someone who's as passionate about punctuation as I am!

However, my passion runs more in the vein of apostrophe errors and the misuse of your/you're, their/there/they're.

I'll never use a semicolon again without serious thought first! I promise!!

The Ultimate Rejection

I about cried laughing when I heard this.

Andy and his brother David have a good friend from college who is unmarried, but would really like to be. So in this day and age, what do you do? You go to eHarmony, of course! Thousands upon thousands of people use this service; you've heard the commercials about how people have found their perfect match using the special questionnaires eHarmony provides!

After completing their online pages of forms and clicking the "submit" button, this poor man received an email from eHarmony:

"We're sorry, but we are unable to help you."




>> OUCH! <<

ROFL~!

Aesop's Newest: The Station that Cried "Lahar"

Who ever listens to 1560 anyway? It's the SIRENS I'm interested in! If they sound at any time other than 10:05 A.M. on a Wednesday morning, I'm heading for Audra's house!

(The lahar sirens usually are tested mid mornings on Wednesdays, for those of you not "in the know").

So this was basically a non-event for me. I don't ever listen to 1560 AM. I heard about this news story from my MIL in MICHIGAN! (ooOOOooo Puyallup's in the national news again!)

The last time Puyallup was center stage on the national scene was when some attention-hungry psychopath from Rogers High School wanted to blow up the school.

News: It's always bad.

The Magic Number

80%. That's the magic number at which we can finish school and be done for the year, if we so desire.

Today we reached 80% in Science! However, because we're in the middle of a unit (the really cool one where you grow bean plants and put them in a box with one hole for the light, to demonstrate tropism...) I've decided we'll finish up the unit and then focus on the other areas that aren't quite up to the 80% level.

We're at 75% in history, so within the next week or two we'll finish up--and then be able to concentrate on math, language arts, and (blushing) ART.

I have issues with art. It always gets pushed to the back burner because other things, frankly, are more important. And the kids get plenty of self-expressive opportunities through piano and just being THEMSELVES, so they're not frustrated with no artistic outlet.

But, at any rate, I'm declaring a fiat finish to school somewhere on or around June 9. We may have to do some catch-up (like in art), but I think we'll pretty much be done by then.

I've astounded my SIL with this declaration. My dear niece is unbelievably good, diligent, and efficient. She finishes 100% of her school yearly. My dear nephews take more after the Oliver side, occasionally giving Penny frustration and grief (I do sympathize. I have two Olivers of my own)(Three, if you include the father of my children). So, in discussing this with her this evening, it seemed almost as if she felt liberated: "80% !! They finish 80%!! They don't do every single exercise and activity laid out in the teacher's guide! WE COULD DO THAT TOO!"
(Please understand that she didn't quite verbalize it this way, but I was interpreting her feelings). So I think P. is seeing the light at the end of the tunnel.

As am I!

I am SO READY for a break from school, from piano lessons... I bet I could EVEN GO TO THE GYM REGULARLY AGAIN! (NO, Rebecca, I did NOT make it to the gym today.)

Endurance!

the best laid plans of mice and men

gang aft a-gley...

Not that I had any grandiose plans today, except one: to get my miserable carcass to Bally's. I haven't gone regularly since the middle of March, when The World Came To A Halt while the family endured Influenza and Beyond.

So today, at least, I was going to teach the kids in the morning, clean Mimi's in the afternoon, eat a light dinner, and go to the gym.

Got a late start in the morning. Ok, no problem, can overcome this with persistence during school.

Persistence during school is a 3-person affair, not a one-person thing. We'd only accomplished History by 2:30. I left detailed lists of math and LA for the kids, and went out the door, a-cleaning on my mind and my new Zen Nano plugged into my ears. (Still don't have it set up the way I want, but it's improved.)

Came home around 5:30. Not a single lick of math or LA was completed. (What did I honestly expect?)

I made dinner, informing the halflings that all they were getting was the SCENT of food until I saw some finished work. I served dinner (baked spaghetti, salad, and leftover focaccia bread from Stanley and Seaforts) at 6:45. A. and I had a lovely dinner for two on the back porch. S. was just about done and was able to eat; D. was too busy telling me that I would never receive any Mothers Day presents ever again from him, and the next time we went out to eat, he would order all the foods I didn't like. (How that is going to affect me, I do not know.)

D finished his work at 9:30 p.m. Late dinner. Straight to bed.

So much for my going to the gym. >:O| big sigh.

A tells me I beat myself up too much over things I can't control. He's probably right, but I hate this feeling of doing things half-baked.

Tomorrow and Wednesday: piano lessons all afternoon. Endurance.

Zen Daisies and Olive Gardens

Today I celebrated my birthday with Audra and Bonnie. They were after me to come up with something for us all to do. So after deliberation, I decided I'd just like to have lunch and hang out. Audra and Bonnie are scrapbookers; I personally gave that up as hopeless soon after the birth of S. HOWEVER, I thought we'd just get together and work on whatever. Since I have a bridal shower cake to make for next Saturday (Lora Pierson's!), I thought I'd work on the fondant daisies for the cake while they scrapbooked. It was a pleasant morning, with Randy Travis singing hymns in the background. The daisies need yellow centers still, but with Bonnie's help I got about 90 of those things made.

We had planned to go to the Antique Sandwich Co. in Tacoma for lunch, but Olive Garden won out (closer, and we didn't feel like having sandwiches). After lunch we walked around Bradley Lake Park behind WalMart to aid our digestion. :) There were scores of people there, some sitting, most fishing, and a select group of warriors with cloth-tipped arrows and bows, padded staffs (or is it staves?), padded broadswords, shields, and one in a tunic and what looked like chain mail. They staged a mock battle--it was fascinating! I scanned the group to see if Steve Williams (how long's it been since anyone's heard tell of him?!) was among the medieval warrior wannabes; thought I spied him, actually! but on closer examination it was a much younger clone. There were burly, muscular guys and geeky, skinny ones--all united under their separate standards. I wonder if they host public tournaments, because this was obviously a practice.

Following that, we returned to Audra's, where I did some preliminary meal planning for the Failsafe Elimination Diet that we will be doing pretty soon. (I got the Failsafe Cookbook from New Zealand! It was the store's last copy, and the book is out of print! SCORE!) FAILSAFE is an acronym for foods that are Free of Additives, Low In Salicylates, Amines, and Flavor Enhancers. When we begin I will be keeping a food diary, as well as recording any behavior differences I observe in self and, more importantly, others. ;) This blog may get rather tedious during that time, as I intend to use it for the food diary/response part.

After that, I bid Audra and Bonnie adieu and headed to Ross--time to spend birthday money! New purse, and a tablecloth/placemats for the back porch table, plus some "outside" type of flatware. I didn't find any acrylic/plastic plates that I liked, so off to Wal-Mart! There I got a pair of fake Birkenstocks, because my last pair is 5 years old and literally fallen apart.

My last purchase of the day was from The Good Guys (now turned into CompUSA) - I got an mp3 player. Not an iPod. sheesh. No, I got a Zen Nano Plus. Holds about 500 songs. I just hooked it up to my computer, and before I knew what I was doing, I uploaded my ENTIRE MEDIA folder onto this thing! DOH! I wanted to be selective!! So I have everything from 32 DOHS of Homer Simpson (a goofy .wav file I have had since 1999) to Bill Cosby, to the Northern Lights (the Northland Singing Group). Now I have to figure out how to pull OFF this stuff and get on there what I WANT!

Right now I'm listening to Bill Cosby and his "Old Weird Harold" sketch, where he goes to the movies with his friend and watches a lot of monster flicks (the one where they get the black jujubes stuck all over their backs because they're lying on the floor, too scared to watch the movie.

Now how's this for contrast? Up next: the BJU Symphony Wind Ensemble playing "Amazing Grace." I have GOT to fix this up better!!

So those of you with mp3 players, I need tips. Desperately. Because now it's playing Harry Simeone's "Do You Hear What I Hear?"

Birthaversary

TODAY I have been alive for 36 years, and married for 15 of them!

Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.

(POP QUIZ: Now, somebody tell me, whom did I just quote? :O> )

More on today, but later. Ciao.

Lux perpetua luceat eis

My grandmother, Anna Mae Laura Flannigan, passed away yesterday afternoon. She would have been 93 this coming June 8.

NOBODY called her Anna Mae Laura! She was "Mickey," an' it please you. They named her thus to please three crotchety old aunts. But to all and sundry, she was Mickey. (Irish, you know).

Reading her recipe collection that Aunt Cathy sent me last month, "G.G." had put a 3x5 card in the front that read "This is the property of Michaela Patricia Flannigan." Then she drew a shamrock and wrote "trademark" next to it. (Michaela... WHO??) So apparently her dislike of her three given names was so great that she invented new ones that suited her fancy better!


G.G. was raised Catholic (naturally) in Waukegan, IL. She met Grandpa "Red" Edwards while he was playing sax in a band. (Once he opened for Tommy Dorsey's band). She says she fell in love with him because he was such a good dancer. Problem: he was Episcopalian! That, in addition to finances being tight, caused them to seek a justice of the peace. As they left his office, newly married, whom did they meet on the steps of the courthouse but her older sister Eleanor! So much for secrets.

They lost their first child, Nancy, to SIDS, though it wasn't called that at the time. It was that event that eventually brought them both to an acknowledgement of Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. She and Grandpa Red loved the Lord greatly. Mom told me that G.G. contributed regularly to 22 different missionary and church works, including our own Grace Baptist Church. She led and hosted Community Bible Study for years.

My children had the opportunity to meet GG twice; most recently in 2003. We were down in CA for her 90th birthday celebration. Mom's friend Ray recorded and made a DVD of the event. When D learned of GG's passing, he immediately went to the video cabinet and said, "Well, at least we have this [to remember her by]."

There will be no memorial service for her. Her friends back in IL have mostly passed on or are in retirement/assisted living homes. Her body is being shipped to the North Shore of Chicago to rest next to her husband's. Apparently the 90th birthday was the last hurrah for the family to reunite and catch up.

This disturbs me. However, this is what Mom and Uncle John have decided. I doubt very much that I will ever see Uncle John and Aunt Cathy again in this lifetime. Grandma was the unifying bond, and now she is gone. Not that there is conflict within the family; no, there's just not a commonness, a reason to get together. Mom was 10 when John was born, and they've just never seemed to be close.

This also disturbs me. There's something to be said for marrying and staying close to family. I have cousins; literal heaps of them on Dad's side--but I don't know them at all. I'm of the renegade California branch, and I'm the sole offshoot.

I can't really castigate my parents' choice--I've done no better, myself; moving to Washington, away from my Californian roots (and Andy from his MI roots) - family is a rare treat; a twice-a-year event. (Grandma Karen is here this week!) But I want my kids to know their cousins, know them well. However, this doesn't seem very likely, distances between WA and MI being what they are--and airfare for four being what IT is! (This is why I need to get a job at Alaska Airlines like Lavonne and go WHEREVER--as "standby", yes, but the ability to GO CHEAPLY!)

Ahh, I'm rambling now.

So to quote from my favorite work in Faure's Requiem, "Libera Me":

Requiem aeternam dona eis, Domine:
et lux perpetua luceat eis.

(Which, being translated, is: Grant eternal rest to them, Lord,
and let perpetual light shine on them.)

Alert!

At Heathrow Airport today, an individual, later discovered to be a public school teacher, was arrested trying to board a flight while in possession of a compass, a protractor, and a graphical calculator. Authorities believe he is a member of the notorious Al-Gebra movement.

He is being charged with carrying weapons of math instruction!

Sing Unto God

Last night God enabled me to sing with the South Sound Classical Choir at Mason United Methodist Church in the Proctor District of Tacoma. INCREDIBLE facility, incredible acoustics. There was at least a 4-second reverberation after each cutoff.

The sanctuary itself had cathedral-high ceilings, with stained glass head-high along the left wall, and angled wall panels extending vertically to the ceiling. Every third wall panel had a white banner with colorful butterflies on it. On half of the right wall was the pipes for the pipe organ. The platform had no steps; rather, a series of curving ramps of light-colored pergo. The piano was a small Steinway L or S.

I would love to go there on a Sunday to see what kind of music they produce. Not the sermon, though; I doubt very much that the sermon would contain anything more than your typical "brotherhood of man, Fatherhood of God" twaddle.

I hadn't sung since losing my voice; I didn't know what manner of squawk would emerge when I began. But after warming up, I had a passable imitation of what I usually can sing like. Head voice, but limited chest voice. The first half of the concert went well, then we filed off for the middle section where the soloists and the madrigal ensemble sang. I took the opportunity to suck on a Ricola cough drop and get a drink.

The second half of the concert I began to feel some dry spots. The crucial thing was to make it to the last song, "Sing Unto God" by Handel, which begins with the altos singing a long melismatic section. Praise God, I did! Because RIGHT after making it through that section, I began to lose it. Only my head voice was left, and a mezzo piano at best. But it was enough!

On a side note, during the intermission I had the opportunity to sit and chat with some of the choir members. There are more born again believers in there than I had originally thought! It seemed to me like everywhere I turned, there was a Unitarian, ironically, singing the praises of God (Goddess? Buddha? Great Spirit? all one to them). But tonight I discovered other sisters in Christ. That was a blessing.

Pno Pneumonia

A's chest x-ray came back negative. No pneumonia!

So why is he still coughing up his lungs and it's been 6 weeks? We don't know. But last night he got over eight hours of sleep... very unusual of late.

Unfortunately I woke him up a little after 9 this morning by practicing some Mozart.

I gave him some freshly brewed coffee to heal the breach.

Grass and Dentists. Not sure how these relate.

There's nothing better than the smell of freshly-mown grass!

Ask me how I know.

Yep! I mowed the front lawn today. I'd put Scott's Weed and Feed on it about 2 weeks ago, and it greened right up and began growing like, well, a weed! The kids were kind enough to empty out the grass catcher for me onto the compost pile in the backyard.

I have regained my voice, mostly. It's not full-strength, but Lord willing by tomorrow night I should be able to sing in the first concert of the season. I will be packing some Ricola cough drops to suck on in between halves of the program!! I can't imagine trying to sing "The Last Words of David" at present, much less the two Handel pieces, but that's tomorrow night, so I'm not gonna worry!

S. had a trip to the dentist this afternoon. When she was in there a week ago for her cleaning, the dentist accidentally chipped out one of her fillings (it must have been loose). So the office and I scheduled her for a re-do *(for free, thank you) for this afternoon at two. We showed up on time, and presented ourselves to a new receptionist, who was rather scantily clad in a spaghetti-strap halter top that didn't leave much to the imagination. She could not find our appointment in the computer! But I had their handwritten card with the information written on it. Fortunately, I know several people in that office, and they worked Sammie in, despite the fact that our appointment seemed to have vanished into the mists of computer limbo.

Oh, and the dentist's name? Dr. Chu.

S. laughed about that all the way to Burger King ("Chu, CHEW, GET IT??!") , where she got her standard chocolate milk shake. If the kids have to have their teeth numbed, I let them have a milk shake, since they can't chew food until the numbness is gone. Therefore, going to the dentist is not such a bad thing...for them!

the sound of silence

Andy now tells me he has empathy with me. Not sympathy, but empathy.

I have no voice at all today. What does come out is a dry, raspy squeak rather like an ancient playground's merry-go-round. So why bother talking?

Two reasons:

1. Son, and
   
2. Daughter.
   

Have you any idea how much a mom needs a voice?? It's been a rainy day today; kids are stuck inside and driving each other crazy, and my trying to control them by the power of my voice is laughable. Rather like David attempting to kill Goliath with a well-slung marshmallow.

I've been drinking tons of water and herbal tea the last several days and resting my voice as much as possible, but it has only worsened. Oh, and did I mention I have concerts this coming Friday and Saturday night with the South Sound Classical Choir? Not to worry. (Mantra, must repeat this to myself continuously over the next few days if things do not improve.)

Well, after all, which of us, by worrying, can add "a cubit to our stature" ? So therefore, I will not worry about my voice being gone. My Heavenly Father knows I have need of this thing! ;O)

On the plus side, I did a graduation cake this morning/afternoon; the people will be here any minute to pick it up. I've known Alexandra since she was about 3. I remember well that the teenagers at church would dread having her in their teen-run Sunday night children's program. She was a smart kid, opinionated, and determined to have her own way. Now she's graduating from high school this year, and has a scholarship to Wazzu to major in engineering. I am not surprised. The "Cindy" I do not know; she's someone else at their church who is graduating with her master's in TESL. (Sorry the photo is yellow; the flash didn't fire because the batts are low.) By the way, burgundy makes frosting taste absolutely horrible. Word.








Another plus: I snapped this future blackmail photo of D. this evening. He was stomping around the house shouting "YUM YUM! EAT 'EM UP! YUM YUM! EAT 'EM UP~!" I have no idea why. Finally I took notice (remember marshmallows and Goliath: I haven't been doing much interactive parenting today)--- the dear boy had pulled a diaper around his neck and stuck a maxi pad over his eyes! I was laughing my head off - (squeaky-quiet)-- but the expression on A's face was a great sight to behold. He said tiredly: "Get that off your face...do you KNOW what that is?" D's response: "A diaper!"

We didn't bother to enlighten him. Two different kinds of diapers, sure! Well, actually...

Chocolate Rules!

hat tip to Rebecca. I shamelessely memed this (is that the right term?) from her blog.

Your Icecream Flavour is...Chocolate!

You are the all time favorite, chocolate! Turning white kids black since the 1800s. Staining carpets, car seats, and bed sheets for centuries. One thing is for sure, you will never go out of style. You can't go wrong with chocolate!

What is your Icecream Flavour?

Find out at Go Quiz

Praise the Lord, and Pass the Cough Drops

S is on round 2 of antibiotics: ear infection is back. A. continues to cough up his lungs nightly (I am listening to him hack even as I type). I am dealing with some really nice allergies that glue my eyelids closed every morning, post-nasal drip that gives me a chesty cough and a sore throat, and laryngitis that makes it nigh impossible to speak. D. is just fine and dandy, thank you for asking!


Ah well, "in sickness and in health"! Pray for patience. God will give us the grace to deal with this.

On the investigative front: I'm looking into a preservative/additive-free diet called Failsafe (similar to Feingold, if you have heard of either) to help with some issues I'm observing in the kids. I am not your typical crunchy granola hippie mother, but there is something to be said for how much chemical crud is in the food we eat -and how does this really affect us, long-term? So I'm trying to do my homework, and once I've gotten more of my ducks in a row, and if the Lord wills, I will be starting an elimination diet amongst our family to see if there are some food intolerances that are affecting us negatively. I am pretty sure that most of the store-bought breads and crackers will be gone. What I'm not sure about is whether we'll go gluten- and dairy- free at the same time, or wait a bit. Fortunately the kids like Rice Dream, but not VitaSoy at this point. I don't even want to think about what A. will say. ("WHAT?? I switched from whole milk to fat free, and now you want to get rid of milk altogether?!") Not to mention what will happen when the salami and cheese disappears on Sunday night picnics.

*sigh....* yes, ONLY if the Lord wills, this will happen.

There's lots I do not know, so, like I said, I have to do my homework.

Another Reason to Homeschool

Yep, this is our town. Thank God that Columbine has left everyone much more sensitive and not willing to regard people like this as just blowhards without any true intent. They actually found the makings of bombs in this kid's house! "Take me seriously, or you'll be sorry if you don't."

This whole "striving for significance" that, really, all of mankind does--for some, it doesn't matter whether they are loved and adored; they'll be just as fulfilled if they are hated and feared. As long as they are KNOWN.

Don't we all have this tendency, though? A desire to leave our mark on the world in some way? (Not everyone, of course, will do this by violent and destructive means!) Maybe for me, it's through this blog. Or the book that I keep thinking about writing, but never actually doing. Or the music I'd like to compose. For someone else, it might be through their children. Or their car collection. Or their perfectly-manicured lawn. Or their stock portfolio. Or their fashion sense. Go on, ad nauseam.

Any self-aggrandizement, however seemingly harmless, detracts from the glory of God.

Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart
be acceptable in your sight,
O LORD, my rock and my redeemer!

--Psalm 19:14

Bakers Dozen(s)

Right now the Spring Fair is going on, which means instead of 17 days of crowds, weirdos, and lovely burger aromas wafting around town, we only get 4.

And the owner of the scone trailers at The Fair made a deal with those of us in the Valley Arts Society: we could staff one of his trailers from 4-closing every night during the Spring Fair, and he would donate $0.15 per scone sold during our time!

I've always wanted to work at the fair, but never have been able to. I remember Rebecca telling me about working scones, and how the dough made her hands feel. Since that time I've always wanted to work in the scone booth! I mean, the product sells itself; the scones are marvelous. So yesterday at 4 pm, I showed up at the designated trailer and got to work! But not in the dough. And not baking. And not even splitting, buttering, jamming, or bagging the scones.

I got to be the cashier.

YES! Meeting thousands of strangers, taking their money, giving them their scones, talking them into buying MORE scones, introducing new soldiers at Fort Lewis to the wonders of the Fisher Fair Scones.... I had a fabulous time. We were busy the whole night. The baker had 5 trays in the oven going constantly (about 200 scones; the max that the oven could hold) - and we got rid of them as fast as we could make them.

The lines got longer. Many people wanted Bakers Dozens. And I don't blame them: with scones priced at $1/each, and a bakers dozen (meaning 13 scones) priced at $11- hey, it's a deal, especially when you're a teenager hanging out with a group of friends and you're all ravenous. It wasn't always teens, though--one woman in her mid 60's walked up and ordered 3 Dozens. She had to wait for a bit; the assembly line was backed up. Immediately behind her, a man ordered 2 Dozen. Eeep! I reassured them that their scones would be extremely fresh and hot; if they'd please just step to the right, I'd get them their scones ASAP. The customer behind him: another dozen! I was getting a little antsy that people might start to get irritated at the wait, but nobody seemed to mind at all. And in reality, their wait was only 1-2 minutes each.

I had some spending money in my purse to go out and grab a Smitty Burger and see the rest of the fair when I took a break, only that time never came. I was behind that register from 4:30 until 10! The lines died down at 9:35, but I was going to be ready: I got 7 bakers dozens prepped and in their bags, waiting for the onslaught of the fair workers that I suspected would come by on their way home from their shifts. My efforts were rewarded; however, it really wasn't an onslaught at all. Just one or two dozen.

Then the owner came by, closed the lid down, told us to wipe off the counters and sweep the crud out the door; let the morning crew deal with the details... but I do NOT like to operate that way. So I restocked the pop cooler, filled the napkin dispenser, got out more coffee cups and lids, restocked the bags of mix, and filled up the brown paper bag rack.

And funny enough, after we were closed, people STILL came by, asking if we had any scones left! We made an additional $6 after the till was empty and we were officially shut down.

OH. And all those bakers dozens I'd made up in advance? the owner told us to divvy them up and take them home with us.

I have 26 scones in ziplocs in my freezer!



--and I looked at the cash register report on the way out: we'd sold about $5400 worth of products. That wasn't *all* scones, but 98% of it surely was. About 5000 scones! WoW!

Is this for real??!

Puh LEEZE. People give this woman money?

INSOMNIA and book reviews

After flipping and flopping in bed for the last 1.5 hours, I gave up sleeping as pointless for the time being and came out to the living room. I love laptops and WiFi!

Occasionally I make it to the library. It's pretty sad; me, the literature geek, not able to regularly visit the library, but it's true. However, due to WASL testing this week, I didn't begin piano teaching until 3 pm on Weds, so at 1 pm the family --ME INCLUDED!-- walked down to the library.

Hence, I've read a couple new books. Let me preface by saying (if you don't know already) that I really don't read "grownup" books and never have done much of that. I honestly prefer reading young adult fiction. It's a throwback to my teaching days, trying to find "that perfect book for so-and-so" - but also, I just enjoy the whole genre. With the exception of the Printz award books, but that's another post.

Before I got to the library, though, Tuesday night I picked up Robert Newton Peck's book A Day No Pigs Would Die. Geared for early teen boys, it's a serious coming-of-age story. If you're looking for similarities to Peck's VERY funny Soup series of books--you won't find any, except that the main character is named Rob Peck. I've got mixed emotions on this book; in a nutshell, it's like your classic boy and dog story, except PIG replaces dog. And you know what happens to the dog in all those "classic" books!! It's (overly) graphic at times; the language is occasionally rude, but not gratuitous. One of my 6th grade English students had LOVED THIS BOOK and his mom told me about it, so I followed through and read it myself. I could see where it would appeal to Philip; I'd use caution with other, different kids though! Rob (main character, first person narrative) is a Shaker boy growing up in Vermont. He helps a neighbor's cow give birth; and in gratitude, the neighbor gives Rob a piglet. The pig is more pet than pork - but the Shaker lifestyle (according to this book) doesn't put up with frills, so when the piggie doesn't produce piggies of her own.....well, that' s just an extra mouth to feed, so to the butcher she must go. Oh, and conveniently, Rob's Shaker dad is a butcher. There's a lot of conflicting emotion there! "I love my dad, but I love my pig==I hate my dad, who has to kill my pig....I love my dad, who does what's right even though it's difficult..." etc.
Ironically enough, from what I know of Shakers, they were celibate. Which is why the sect has just about died out. So for this boy to be living in a "Shaker Family" makes me wonder about the rest of the "Shaker traditions" mentioned in this book --artistic license?


Yesterday I read a library book that I got entirely because of the title: How To Train Your Dragon, by Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III, translated from the Old Norse by Cressida Cowell (btw her husband's name is....Simon. Isn't that the guy on American Idol?? (which I have never seen, for the record) (like it matters, but some people start to wonder about your "spirituality" if you mention something like that without some foolish disclaimer. BUT I DIGRESS.) ) )

Anyway, back to the point! CHARMING book. I'm going to read it to the kids, especially since we are studying the Vikings right now in History. In the book, Hiccup has a huge problem: he's the chief's son, therefore he's expected to be More Viking Than Thou--the issue is, Hiccup tends to use his brains, rather than the typical Viking response of brawn (which he lacks). To pass the rite of initiation into their tribe, he and each of his age-mates have to go steal a baby dragon from a dragon nursery, and train it/make it obedient by Thor's Day (which my two children could tell you is where we get our day "Thursday" thanks to History lessons) (excuse the parental moment). Well, Hiccup ends up getting the smallest, toothless dragon. (How will THAT look as a chief's son?) The book details How To Become A Hero The Hard Way. Hiccup's brains (plus his ability to understand and speak the dragons' language) eventually save the day when a huge Sea Dragon washes ashore and threatens the entire tribe. Geared toward lower elementary, but not quite a read-alone book until grade 3 or so.

Tonight's book was Red Scarf Girl: A Memoir of the Cultural Revolution by Ji-Li Jiang. Unputdownable. Should be required reading for every middle school student. It's Ji-Li's autobiography of growing up in China during Chairman Mao's quest to abolish the Four Olds: old culture, old traditions, old ideas, old habits. She is devoted to Mao and his ideas, and longs to be a revolutionary, but finds herself increasingly held back, because her grandfather was a landlord---hence, a capitalist who exploited others. THroughout the book, she struggles with her family's bad class status and witnesses the propaganda campaigns launched against many people whom she loved and respected. I'm still processing all the ramifications of this, plus I'm a little sleep drunk (do I hear robins chirping outside now? NUTS. It's 5:25 am and I've been awake since 3!!!!) --- but this is a book I plan to get and keep on my shelves.

OK. I have to be out the door at 8:45 to take the kids to piano. Hopefully I've sat up long enough now to be able to scrounge another few hours of sleep. Begorrah!