So, just now I went to put a book on the book truck, and I saw another book that was already on the book truck.
This book, I thought, was called God. Huh, interesting, I thought, I like books called God. I went for a closer look.
Alas, it is not called God. It is called Cod. It is about the fish. According to the subtitle, Cod changed the world.
Well, so did God.
:) Happy finals!
Showing posts with label Books. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Books. Show all posts
Sunday, May 11, 2008
Tuesday, January 08, 2008
From Me, With Love
Hi all,
So, my throat is sore and my head is spacey, and ironically this is making it difficult for me to focus on the book I have with me, called The Body in Pain, by Elaine Scarry. Instead, I think I will make a nice survey for you to take, if you feel so inclined. And I will answer my own questions now, so as to be fair and not pave a road with good intentions like the last time.
1. Close your eyes. Turn your head slightly to the right. Open them. What do you see? A white table, chairs with gray cushions, a sign detailing what is prohibited in Cabot Science Library.
2. Are you reading a good book now? What is it? I am almost done with Midnight's Children by Salman Rushdie, but can't quite bring myself to finish it. I think this is because it is the last novel I have to read for class, and beyond that it's all scholarly stuff. Not that I'm not reading the scholarly stuff now, but somehow this is psychologically relevant.
3. It's 2008. Do you believe this? Not really. I mean, I get the date right when I write it down or something, but I think sometimes I still believe it is 2004, when I graduated Bryn Mawr. I don't know why, but when I pick up a book or something that was written in 2004, I'm always like, wow, that's really new... wait... it's not.
4. Do you want to do a paper about Christian tattoos as icons? No.
5. Is it abnormally warm today where you live? Yes!
6. Have you ever been in a serious physical fight? Tell me about it. Why did it happen? What did it feel like? If you've been in many, pick one. I have not been in a serious physical fight. I have been in play-fights, and they feel like there's this energy I always carry that is suddenly focused, absorbed, and released.
7. Can you see out a window right now? If so, describe the first person you see out the window. If there's no person, or no window, tell me who is not there. I see a woman in a denim jacket with red-brown hair, walking on the rock fountain with a child who is out of view. I was going to make up a story about her, but it seems suddenly disrespectful.
8. What is right in front of you that you love? Right now I feel warmly toward this man sitting in a chair with his hands interlaced on top of his bald spot. He is wearing a tan jacket, a button down shirt of an indescribable browny-gray color, and a watch.
9. What is right in front of you that you find perplexing? I am perplexed by two small squares of velcro affixed to the circulation desk.
10. Are you tired? Yes.
11. When is the last time you made a conscious decision to lie? Why did you do so? It was a couple of weeks ago. I did it to preserve a man's good opinion of me across difficulties of language, culture, religion, sexual mores, etc. I did it to make my life easier. I don't know if it has or not.
12. What worries you right now? I am worried because I feel like I have a cold or something, and I need to be healthy when I go to Baltimore. I am worried about my school work. I am worried about the future.
13. What pleases you right now? I am pleased to be wearing shoes, not boots. I am pleased by the feel of the rim of the little garbage can against the arches of my feet. I am pleased that my shift is over in 45 minutes. I am pleased by seeing Charlotte every day, and I am pleased to be home with Rachel and Amy. In a general sense, not right at this moment, clearly.
14. What can you hear right now? Security guards discussing politics. It's interesting.
15. What (approximately) was happening in your life 5 years ago? I was 20 years old... I was still in Europe, I think, travelling with Rachel and Katie. Now I want to look up and see exactly where we were, or if we were coming back yet. I'm going to guess that it was a later part of the trip, perhaps Berlin or Paris or Dublin. Was it in Ireland that Katie told us about this blackcurrent ale or cider or something? And we got some in a pub? I remember the way the streets looked in Dublin, somehow, more than anything else. And I remember that statue of Oscar Wilde. That was in Dublin, right?
16. Has anything fundamentally changed about your emotional life since then? That's a hard question. But I have no one to blame for it but myself. I think I'm on a little more of an even keel than I was then, but fundamentally... I'm not sure that anything is fundamentally changed. Or, I think the way I understand my emotions is a bit different, but the sensations themselves are not, really. Oh... I have noticed that I am much more easily moved by things than I used to be. I find myself tearing up over lots of things, on TV or whatever, that never would have produced such a reaction before. I don't know why that is, but I think it has something to do with getting older, having a range of experiences that stretch out to contact more than they could before, and... something I can't describe, something about a broader awareness of just how vulnerable we are, of just how bad things can be. (That doesn't explain what I want to explain at all, and sounds weird. But still.)
17. Do you have any secret that you have never told anyone, at all, ever, even anonymously? I honestly didn't think so as I was writing that, but now I am thinking of things that I don't think I ever told anyone. However, I don't have anything that is a constant presence with me, that I have never told anyone, at all, ever, even anonymously.
18. Have you ever hugged a book? Yep.
19. Thrown one across the room? Yep.
20. Hit one? Yes.
21. Kissed one? I think so.
22. Destroyed one on purpose? No.
23. Yelled at one? Yes.
24. Refused to continue reading at one point due to a moral objection to certain events, but then just had to get back to it? Would I make up such a question if the answer was no? It was The Witching Hour by Anne Rice.
25. Have you done all those things to other people? I have not thrown a person across the room, nor destroyed one on purpose. And... this is interesting... I don't think I have ever explicitly refused to associate with someone because of moral objections. I think the only people I have had deep, sincere, lasting moral objections to with regard to their behavior have not been my friends. What does this mean?
26. What is the strangest thing you have ever hugged? Probably a dumbwaiter. It was a big one.
27. Kissed? A locker.
28. The very first time you were enamoured of someone, what did you do in immediate reaction? I ran weird circles around my room, sort of jumping over my bed, listening to an a capella tape of "For the Longest Time" and singing.
29. Name something unusual that had some influence in your sexual development. Lucius Cornelius Sulla.
30. And something cliched? Spin the Bottle. But I wasn't playing, really.
31. How about a minor guilty secret? Doesn't have to be about sex, just something not-huge that bugged you. Hmm... I never bought Annie on my Mind, in high school, even though I wanted to read it, because I didn't want the cashier to think I was a lesbian. And I thought that was dumb, especially since I was often buying books with gay men in them. But I still didn't buy it.
32. What about a small act of heroism? There was this man lying in the alleyway beside Merriam Theater, and everybody was sort of uncomfortably hoping he was ok and not dead and not in serious trouble, and I finally just went out myself and woke him up and made sure he was alright. That's pretty small, but it felt like kind of a big deal when everybody was older than me and technically more experienced in life.
That's all folks, time to leave work! Take my survey for a rip-roaring good time!
So, my throat is sore and my head is spacey, and ironically this is making it difficult for me to focus on the book I have with me, called The Body in Pain, by Elaine Scarry. Instead, I think I will make a nice survey for you to take, if you feel so inclined. And I will answer my own questions now, so as to be fair and not pave a road with good intentions like the last time.
1. Close your eyes. Turn your head slightly to the right. Open them. What do you see? A white table, chairs with gray cushions, a sign detailing what is prohibited in Cabot Science Library.
2. Are you reading a good book now? What is it? I am almost done with Midnight's Children by Salman Rushdie, but can't quite bring myself to finish it. I think this is because it is the last novel I have to read for class, and beyond that it's all scholarly stuff. Not that I'm not reading the scholarly stuff now, but somehow this is psychologically relevant.
3. It's 2008. Do you believe this? Not really. I mean, I get the date right when I write it down or something, but I think sometimes I still believe it is 2004, when I graduated Bryn Mawr. I don't know why, but when I pick up a book or something that was written in 2004, I'm always like, wow, that's really new... wait... it's not.
4. Do you want to do a paper about Christian tattoos as icons? No.
5. Is it abnormally warm today where you live? Yes!
6. Have you ever been in a serious physical fight? Tell me about it. Why did it happen? What did it feel like? If you've been in many, pick one. I have not been in a serious physical fight. I have been in play-fights, and they feel like there's this energy I always carry that is suddenly focused, absorbed, and released.
7. Can you see out a window right now? If so, describe the first person you see out the window. If there's no person, or no window, tell me who is not there. I see a woman in a denim jacket with red-brown hair, walking on the rock fountain with a child who is out of view. I was going to make up a story about her, but it seems suddenly disrespectful.
8. What is right in front of you that you love? Right now I feel warmly toward this man sitting in a chair with his hands interlaced on top of his bald spot. He is wearing a tan jacket, a button down shirt of an indescribable browny-gray color, and a watch.
9. What is right in front of you that you find perplexing? I am perplexed by two small squares of velcro affixed to the circulation desk.
10. Are you tired? Yes.
11. When is the last time you made a conscious decision to lie? Why did you do so? It was a couple of weeks ago. I did it to preserve a man's good opinion of me across difficulties of language, culture, religion, sexual mores, etc. I did it to make my life easier. I don't know if it has or not.
12. What worries you right now? I am worried because I feel like I have a cold or something, and I need to be healthy when I go to Baltimore. I am worried about my school work. I am worried about the future.
13. What pleases you right now? I am pleased to be wearing shoes, not boots. I am pleased by the feel of the rim of the little garbage can against the arches of my feet. I am pleased that my shift is over in 45 minutes. I am pleased by seeing Charlotte every day, and I am pleased to be home with Rachel and Amy. In a general sense, not right at this moment, clearly.
14. What can you hear right now? Security guards discussing politics. It's interesting.
15. What (approximately) was happening in your life 5 years ago? I was 20 years old... I was still in Europe, I think, travelling with Rachel and Katie. Now I want to look up and see exactly where we were, or if we were coming back yet. I'm going to guess that it was a later part of the trip, perhaps Berlin or Paris or Dublin. Was it in Ireland that Katie told us about this blackcurrent ale or cider or something? And we got some in a pub? I remember the way the streets looked in Dublin, somehow, more than anything else. And I remember that statue of Oscar Wilde. That was in Dublin, right?
16. Has anything fundamentally changed about your emotional life since then? That's a hard question. But I have no one to blame for it but myself. I think I'm on a little more of an even keel than I was then, but fundamentally... I'm not sure that anything is fundamentally changed. Or, I think the way I understand my emotions is a bit different, but the sensations themselves are not, really. Oh... I have noticed that I am much more easily moved by things than I used to be. I find myself tearing up over lots of things, on TV or whatever, that never would have produced such a reaction before. I don't know why that is, but I think it has something to do with getting older, having a range of experiences that stretch out to contact more than they could before, and... something I can't describe, something about a broader awareness of just how vulnerable we are, of just how bad things can be. (That doesn't explain what I want to explain at all, and sounds weird. But still.)
17. Do you have any secret that you have never told anyone, at all, ever, even anonymously? I honestly didn't think so as I was writing that, but now I am thinking of things that I don't think I ever told anyone. However, I don't have anything that is a constant presence with me, that I have never told anyone, at all, ever, even anonymously.
18. Have you ever hugged a book? Yep.
19. Thrown one across the room? Yep.
20. Hit one? Yes.
21. Kissed one? I think so.
22. Destroyed one on purpose? No.
23. Yelled at one? Yes.
24. Refused to continue reading at one point due to a moral objection to certain events, but then just had to get back to it? Would I make up such a question if the answer was no? It was The Witching Hour by Anne Rice.
25. Have you done all those things to other people? I have not thrown a person across the room, nor destroyed one on purpose. And... this is interesting... I don't think I have ever explicitly refused to associate with someone because of moral objections. I think the only people I have had deep, sincere, lasting moral objections to with regard to their behavior have not been my friends. What does this mean?
26. What is the strangest thing you have ever hugged? Probably a dumbwaiter. It was a big one.
27. Kissed? A locker.
28. The very first time you were enamoured of someone, what did you do in immediate reaction? I ran weird circles around my room, sort of jumping over my bed, listening to an a capella tape of "For the Longest Time" and singing.
29. Name something unusual that had some influence in your sexual development. Lucius Cornelius Sulla.
30. And something cliched? Spin the Bottle. But I wasn't playing, really.
31. How about a minor guilty secret? Doesn't have to be about sex, just something not-huge that bugged you. Hmm... I never bought Annie on my Mind, in high school, even though I wanted to read it, because I didn't want the cashier to think I was a lesbian. And I thought that was dumb, especially since I was often buying books with gay men in them. But I still didn't buy it.
32. What about a small act of heroism? There was this man lying in the alleyway beside Merriam Theater, and everybody was sort of uncomfortably hoping he was ok and not dead and not in serious trouble, and I finally just went out myself and woke him up and made sure he was alright. That's pretty small, but it felt like kind of a big deal when everybody was older than me and technically more experienced in life.
That's all folks, time to leave work! Take my survey for a rip-roaring good time!
Thursday, December 20, 2007
Notes to (or on) the World
It's snowing. It's been a real winter so far. Several real snowstorms and lots of trudging through ice and snowbanks and having big snow crystals in my hair and finding my feet sliding out from under me. I think I'm happy about it. Or, it's a pain, and it's cold, and it's difficult to get around, but somehow I feel some kind of strange joy when I am out in it nonetheless. I did this morning, anyway.
And last night, I was cutting home through the woods and I suddenly noticed how beautiful it was, and how quiet. I looked over and I saw this small tree, thin and curvy and bent, standing by itself. I felt like this was Christmas, or Advent, this was something I'd been waiting for. So I stood there looking for awhile, debating whether I wanted to get my feet wet to go over to it, and then I got off the path and trudged through the snow, and when I made it to the tree I fit perfectly against the curve of it, with my arm around the side and my cheek against the cold, wet bark.
I hope this will do as a resumption of posting. If I have any faithful readers left. ;)
A more petty note is that people should not write in library books. Ever. Especially not if it's a complicated novel like Midnight's Children which I am trying to read and pay attention to, but somebody has underlined half of every page and written crap like "style" and "shows failure of omniscient narrator" all over the margins. Just read! Don't write! Or, if you must, get your own book or write notes on a notebook or something.
And last night, I was cutting home through the woods and I suddenly noticed how beautiful it was, and how quiet. I looked over and I saw this small tree, thin and curvy and bent, standing by itself. I felt like this was Christmas, or Advent, this was something I'd been waiting for. So I stood there looking for awhile, debating whether I wanted to get my feet wet to go over to it, and then I got off the path and trudged through the snow, and when I made it to the tree I fit perfectly against the curve of it, with my arm around the side and my cheek against the cold, wet bark.
I hope this will do as a resumption of posting. If I have any faithful readers left. ;)
A more petty note is that people should not write in library books. Ever. Especially not if it's a complicated novel like Midnight's Children which I am trying to read and pay attention to, but somebody has underlined half of every page and written crap like "style" and "shows failure of omniscient narrator" all over the margins. Just read! Don't write! Or, if you must, get your own book or write notes on a notebook or something.
Monday, July 16, 2007
Dear Alan Rickman
Dear Alan Rickman and/or Professor Snape,
Yes. Ok. Whatever you want. I love your face, I love your voice, I am in complete thrall to the dark redemption thing you've got going on. Take me somewhere shadowy and penetrate my mind.
Yours sincerely,
Becky
P.S. It's a little weird that you are older than my father, but let's not worry about that too much.
Yes. Ok. Whatever you want. I love your face, I love your voice, I am in complete thrall to the dark redemption thing you've got going on. Take me somewhere shadowy and penetrate my mind.
Yours sincerely,
Becky
P.S. It's a little weird that you are older than my father, but let's not worry about that too much.
Sunday, June 17, 2007
I love Armistead Maupin!
This is just a celebratory post to delight in the fact that Armistead Maupin has written a new book, called Michael Tolliver Lives. Rachel caught sight of it on display in the window belonging to Porter Square Books during a midnight excursion, and we both got so excited and started jumping up and down. It's narrated by Michael Tolliver, as you might imagine, and he is now 55! And that's all I will say, in case anyone wants to read it. I read it! It's lovely! :-D YAY ARMISTEAD!
Tuesday, May 15, 2007
The World Smells Good Today!
Every time I go outside I have a wonderful olfactory experience! I have also received ice cream, free books (2 "legitimate literature," 2 thrilling-looking adventures, 1 complete smut), and an HDS Exam survival kit. I know that the HDS Alumni/ae think that I am a smartie, not a dum-dum, and they have given me play-doh and bubbles.
I have a lot of writing to do, a frightening amount actually... but I am happy.
I have a lot of writing to do, a frightening amount actually... but I am happy.
Wednesday, April 18, 2007
Creating the Survey I Want to Take
Book Word Association Game:
Just what it sounds like. Put down the first book or work of literature that comes to mind with whatever word is given. Feel free, though not obligated, to explain. I have written my answers in cream, so you can reply without influence if you so desire, and then highlight to see what I said.
Green: O Beautiful by Jesse Green
Red: The First Man in Rome by Colleen McCullough
Spring: "The Wasteland" by T.S. Eliot (poem)
Death: On a Pale Horse by Piers Anthony
Wings: Skellig by David Almond
Maze: If on a Winter's Night a Traveler by Italo Calvino
Crowbar: ...All I can think of is Clue. Which is not a book. How about "The Raven" by Edgar Allen Poe (poem)
Hyacinth: When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloomed by Walt Whitman (poem)
Astronomical: A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle
Blessed: Jacob Have I Loved by Katherine Paterson
Birth: Still Life by A.S. Byatt
Fate: The Mahabharata, especially the Book of the Assembly Hall and the Battle Books
Mumble: The Silver Chair by C.S. Lewis
Chimera: Angels in America: Millennium Approaches by Tony Kushner (play)
Terror: The Haunting at Hill House by Shirley Jackson
Bear: The Hotel New Hampshire by John Irving
Bunny: The Bunny Book by Richard Scarry
Lion: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis
Song: Cattail Moon by Jean Thesman
Robin: The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett
Blue: Gathering Blue by Lois Lowry
Pink: The Great Gilly Hopkins by Katherine Paterson
Sky: Enchantress from the Stars by Sylvia Louise Engdahl
Underneath: A Solitary Blue by Cynthia Voight
Volcanic: Tomorrow, When the War Began by John Marsden
Remnant: Winter of Fire by Sheryl Jordan
Fury: When Rabbit Howls by Truddi Chase
Undulate: Many Waters by Madeleine L'Engle
Dodo: The Lost World by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
Nose: Anne of Avonlea by L.M. Montgomery
Assent: Servant of the Bones by Anne Rice
Jumping: "Paul's Case" by Willa Cather (story)
Skate: Eight Cousins by Louisa May Alcott
Gold: The Country Bunny and the Little Gold Shoes by Marjorie Flack and Dubose Hayward
Monster: Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson
Elephant: The Night Listener by Armistead Maupin
Magic: Half Magic by Edward Eager
Statue: Tom's Midnight Garden by Philippa Pierce
Dervish: House of Stairs by William Sleator
Singularity: The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
Food: Anne of the Island by L.M. Montgomery
Adoration: Sonnet 74: "Batter my heart, three personed God" by John Donne
Pleasant: The Five Little Peppers and How They Grew by Margaret Sidney
Pogo stick: The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster
Popcorn: Cinema Nirvana by Dean Sluyter
Umbrella: Down Came the Rain by Brooke Shields
Wow, what a strange and random list! Including at least one book I know I've never read, and a number of others I haven't finished... Anyway, I hope you have fun with this! Sorry about "crowbar."
Just what it sounds like. Put down the first book or work of literature that comes to mind with whatever word is given. Feel free, though not obligated, to explain. I have written my answers in cream, so you can reply without influence if you so desire, and then highlight to see what I said.
Green: O Beautiful by Jesse Green
Red: The First Man in Rome by Colleen McCullough
Spring: "The Wasteland" by T.S. Eliot (poem)
Death: On a Pale Horse by Piers Anthony
Wings: Skellig by David Almond
Maze: If on a Winter's Night a Traveler by Italo Calvino
Crowbar: ...All I can think of is Clue. Which is not a book. How about "The Raven" by Edgar Allen Poe (poem)
Hyacinth: When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloomed by Walt Whitman (poem)
Astronomical: A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle
Blessed: Jacob Have I Loved by Katherine Paterson
Birth: Still Life by A.S. Byatt
Fate: The Mahabharata, especially the Book of the Assembly Hall and the Battle Books
Mumble: The Silver Chair by C.S. Lewis
Chimera: Angels in America: Millennium Approaches by Tony Kushner (play)
Terror: The Haunting at Hill House by Shirley Jackson
Bear: The Hotel New Hampshire by John Irving
Bunny: The Bunny Book by Richard Scarry
Lion: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis
Song: Cattail Moon by Jean Thesman
Robin: The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett
Blue: Gathering Blue by Lois Lowry
Pink: The Great Gilly Hopkins by Katherine Paterson
Sky: Enchantress from the Stars by Sylvia Louise Engdahl
Underneath: A Solitary Blue by Cynthia Voight
Volcanic: Tomorrow, When the War Began by John Marsden
Remnant: Winter of Fire by Sheryl Jordan
Fury: When Rabbit Howls by Truddi Chase
Undulate: Many Waters by Madeleine L'Engle
Dodo: The Lost World by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
Nose: Anne of Avonlea by L.M. Montgomery
Assent: Servant of the Bones by Anne Rice
Jumping: "Paul's Case" by Willa Cather (story)
Skate: Eight Cousins by Louisa May Alcott
Gold: The Country Bunny and the Little Gold Shoes by Marjorie Flack and Dubose Hayward
Monster: Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson
Elephant: The Night Listener by Armistead Maupin
Magic: Half Magic by Edward Eager
Statue: Tom's Midnight Garden by Philippa Pierce
Dervish: House of Stairs by William Sleator
Singularity: The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
Food: Anne of the Island by L.M. Montgomery
Adoration: Sonnet 74: "Batter my heart, three personed God" by John Donne
Pleasant: The Five Little Peppers and How They Grew by Margaret Sidney
Pogo stick: The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster
Popcorn: Cinema Nirvana by Dean Sluyter
Umbrella: Down Came the Rain by Brooke Shields
Wow, what a strange and random list! Including at least one book I know I've never read, and a number of others I haven't finished... Anyway, I hope you have fun with this! Sorry about "crowbar."
Monday, March 12, 2007
Some Books + How to Seduce Me With Spam
Today I got an email from "Prodigal G. Wrongheadedness." And I'm looking at it thinking, "Right, that's gonna get me to open the email." But of course... it did. I wasn't expecting much, but sometimes I just can't resist the charmingly ridiculous names. It was an advertisement for some sort of erectile drug. Which... not to say that there's no place for that kind of drug, but I do not think that the place it currently occupies is ideal, to put it mildly. Or, at any rate, it highlights the gross inequities of the pharmaceutical system. So, perhaps Prodigal G. Wrongheadedness is not the wrong name...
Jesus H. Christ, but I can't see anything without analyzing it anymore, can I?
I intended to come on in here and let you all know what fine things I've been reading lately:
*Paradiso by Dante Alighieri
**Gilead by Marilynne Robinson
**In the Theater of Consciousness: The Workspace of the Mind by Bernard J. Baars
The Country Parson by George Herbert
*The Temple by George Herbert
*The Book of Revelations
The First Letter to the Thessalonians
The Second Letter to the Thessalonians
*The Second Letter of Peter
**The Gospel of Mark (as implied in the previous post about it)
I think there might be a couple more, but I'll fill those in as I remember them.
Jesus H. Christ, but I can't see anything without analyzing it anymore, can I?
I intended to come on in here and let you all know what fine things I've been reading lately:
*Paradiso by Dante Alighieri
**Gilead by Marilynne Robinson
**In the Theater of Consciousness: The Workspace of the Mind by Bernard J. Baars
The Country Parson by George Herbert
*The Temple by George Herbert
*The Book of Revelations
The First Letter to the Thessalonians
The Second Letter to the Thessalonians
*The Second Letter of Peter
**The Gospel of Mark (as implied in the previous post about it)
I think there might be a couple more, but I'll fill those in as I remember them.
Not Quite Paradise
Before going to bed last night (which was weird enough anyway, since I had a sudden mild illness that has now disappeared, happily), I read a few pages of Toni Morrison's Paradise, which I have to read and write a response paper on for class next week. I find that reading novels before bed is way more successful than reading books about say, brain chemistry, or legal definitions of race.
I have read Paradise before, but, probably because we were going through all of Morrison's novels at breakneck speed, I remember almost nothing about it. The first few pages, in which women at a convent (but not nuns, I don't think) were being pursued and shot by men, reminded me a little. And then I fell asleep.
After a brief dream in which I went back to my old high school for a class with all my old classmates, I segued into a dream that was explicitly about the book. That is, in my dream, I was re-reading the book as I had been in real life, but my re-reading took the form of explicitly experiencing the things in the book, with a sort of fuzzy consciousness reminding me that I knew what would happen and that it will be all right.
In my dream, I was simultaneously a little girl and a grown woman caring for the little girl, and most of the time we were black. I remember looking at my skin with some fascination. But I think other times we might have briefly been white, almost like my brain forgot to make the switch. Anyway, there was this man coming after us, also mostly black, and he had seen a flyer that offered a reward if you killed women and children that were unaccompanied by men. He was someone we knew, but the woman knew he was going to try to kill them, and the little girl didn't. So the woman had to quiet the little girl and get her to hide. In my memory of the book, I had an image of the man sort of beating the top of a tree with a baseball bat while the woman and the girl hid below. This translated into us hiding in a sort of wooden structure below the floor of the the house we were in, and hearing the man crashing around with his bat. I think he was drunk, too. It was terrifying.
Then my perspective switched and I was outside, looking at the house and the man, although part of my consciousness was still with the girl and the woman. And I saw in an upper window that there was a doll house, and that the woman had convinced the girl to reach up through the floor of the doll house and manipulate the dolls inside, so the man would think we were playing there and come attack it. And I was shocked by this plan, even though I knew it had to work. The man saw the dolls moving and started to head for that part of the house. I knew he was going to smash up the doll house, but I didn't know how we were going to escape after that. I had images of us crawling out the bottom of the house somehow while he was occupied on top, but it was just such a terrifying idea, that we would have to lie there while he broke everything around us, that I guess I couldn't stay in it anymore, because I woke up.
Bizarre and scary, and I will be somewhat curious to see what it has to do with Paradise in reality. Hopefully not too much, but the novel already seems chilling and bleak.
I have read Paradise before, but, probably because we were going through all of Morrison's novels at breakneck speed, I remember almost nothing about it. The first few pages, in which women at a convent (but not nuns, I don't think) were being pursued and shot by men, reminded me a little. And then I fell asleep.
After a brief dream in which I went back to my old high school for a class with all my old classmates, I segued into a dream that was explicitly about the book. That is, in my dream, I was re-reading the book as I had been in real life, but my re-reading took the form of explicitly experiencing the things in the book, with a sort of fuzzy consciousness reminding me that I knew what would happen and that it will be all right.
In my dream, I was simultaneously a little girl and a grown woman caring for the little girl, and most of the time we were black. I remember looking at my skin with some fascination. But I think other times we might have briefly been white, almost like my brain forgot to make the switch. Anyway, there was this man coming after us, also mostly black, and he had seen a flyer that offered a reward if you killed women and children that were unaccompanied by men. He was someone we knew, but the woman knew he was going to try to kill them, and the little girl didn't. So the woman had to quiet the little girl and get her to hide. In my memory of the book, I had an image of the man sort of beating the top of a tree with a baseball bat while the woman and the girl hid below. This translated into us hiding in a sort of wooden structure below the floor of the the house we were in, and hearing the man crashing around with his bat. I think he was drunk, too. It was terrifying.
Then my perspective switched and I was outside, looking at the house and the man, although part of my consciousness was still with the girl and the woman. And I saw in an upper window that there was a doll house, and that the woman had convinced the girl to reach up through the floor of the doll house and manipulate the dolls inside, so the man would think we were playing there and come attack it. And I was shocked by this plan, even though I knew it had to work. The man saw the dolls moving and started to head for that part of the house. I knew he was going to smash up the doll house, but I didn't know how we were going to escape after that. I had images of us crawling out the bottom of the house somehow while he was occupied on top, but it was just such a terrifying idea, that we would have to lie there while he broke everything around us, that I guess I couldn't stay in it anymore, because I woke up.
Bizarre and scary, and I will be somewhat curious to see what it has to do with Paradise in reality. Hopefully not too much, but the novel already seems chilling and bleak.
Friday, March 09, 2007
There is No Earthly Reason Why I'm Not Asleep Right Now
10 out of 10! I knew there was a point to all that reading...
http://www.slangcity.com/quiz/vintage_sex_slang_quiz.htm
In less pleasant news, I have again managed to split my phone in half, this time by falling on my face, outside, in very cold weather.
The curse lives on. Call my apartment phone if you want me. And now that you've seen my score on the vintage sex slang quiz, I'm expecting a lot of calls.
http://www.slangcity.com/quiz/vintage_sex_slang_quiz.htm
In less pleasant news, I have again managed to split my phone in half, this time by falling on my face, outside, in very cold weather.
The curse lives on. Call my apartment phone if you want me. And now that you've seen my score on the vintage sex slang quiz, I'm expecting a lot of calls.
Tuesday, February 27, 2007
Tart and Startling and Strange
Who am I talking about? Jesus, in the Gospel of Mark. I read it today for Intro to New Testament, and it was so bizarre and interesting... very quick, action-packed, this happened then this happened in style, and Jesus was sort of... brisk and unpredictable and hard to read, but a very compelling presence, at least to me. I am so curious about what the experience of reading this would be if you had no background in the story, and also concretely realizing how much I know the Gospel stories in the chunks they are told in in church, and how little I know the actual Gospels straight through.
I'm also a little confused about all the methods of New Testament criticism. Some of them seem kind of problematic, but maybe I just don't completely comprehend them yet.
Bracing, that's another good word for Jesus-of-Mark. Has anybody else read it? What are your thoughts?
I'm also a little confused about all the methods of New Testament criticism. Some of them seem kind of problematic, but maybe I just don't completely comprehend them yet.
Bracing, that's another good word for Jesus-of-Mark. Has anybody else read it? What are your thoughts?
Saturday, February 17, 2007
A Little Bundle of Books
It's kind of sad, because lately I read so many parts of books, but it seems wrong to count those. So, the complete books I have read recently:
*The Heart of Whiteness by Robert Jensen
*The First R: How Children Learn Race and Racism by Debra Van Ausdale and Joe R. Feagin
The Book of Jude (books of the Bible count, right? I think they should.)
The Second Letter of Peter (I wish I could recommend this one, since I love Peter so much, but at least he didn't really write it. Not that it was awful, it just wasn't that compelling.)
*The Heart of Whiteness by Robert Jensen
*The First R: How Children Learn Race and Racism by Debra Van Ausdale and Joe R. Feagin
The Book of Jude (books of the Bible count, right? I think they should.)
The Second Letter of Peter (I wish I could recommend this one, since I love Peter so much, but at least he didn't really write it. Not that it was awful, it just wasn't that compelling.)
Wednesday, February 14, 2007
My Valentine, In Fact, Is In All Ways Better Than The Aforementioned.
I was taught, never brag or shout,
still it's hot, just like how you read about,
and also caring, and never too uncouth,
that's the simple truth.
Can you tell, I have been revised?
It's so swell, dammit, even I'm surprised.
We laugh, we fumble, we take it day by day...
What more can I say?
--William Finn
Happy Valentine's Day, darling.
Thursday, February 01, 2007
New Year, New Books
So, last year I tried to post thoughtfully about each book I read, and that quickly became onerous. This year, I think I will try just listing the books I read. If you want to know more about them, let me know. ;)
So far:
*The End (A Series of Unfortunate Events, Book the Thirteenth) by Lemony Snickett
**Arcadia by Tom Stoppard
*As Nature Made Him: The Boy Who Was Raised a Girl by John Colapinto
**Everything is Illuminated by Johnathan Safran Foer
*The Beatrice Letters by Lemony Snickett and Beatrice Baudelaire (yes, going backwards here)
*The Good Person of Szechwan by Bertold Brecht
*Uncommon Women and Others by Wendy Wasserstein
**The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
*The Faith Club: A Muslim, A Christian, and a Jew--Three Women Search for Understanding by Ranya Idliby, Suzanne Oliver, and Priscilla Warner
* = recommended
** = highly recommended
I was going to put three stars for my favorite in the batch, but that could get strange, especially if I'm just listing one or two books. Let me just say that clearly this was an excellent selection. :) Let me know if you read any of them... and stay tuned for a way more academic list, as school has officially re-begun.
So far:
*The End (A Series of Unfortunate Events, Book the Thirteenth) by Lemony Snickett
**Arcadia by Tom Stoppard
*As Nature Made Him: The Boy Who Was Raised a Girl by John Colapinto
**Everything is Illuminated by Johnathan Safran Foer
*The Beatrice Letters by Lemony Snickett and Beatrice Baudelaire (yes, going backwards here)
*The Good Person of Szechwan by Bertold Brecht
*Uncommon Women and Others by Wendy Wasserstein
**The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
*The Faith Club: A Muslim, A Christian, and a Jew--Three Women Search for Understanding by Ranya Idliby, Suzanne Oliver, and Priscilla Warner
* = recommended
** = highly recommended
I was going to put three stars for my favorite in the batch, but that could get strange, especially if I'm just listing one or two books. Let me just say that clearly this was an excellent selection. :) Let me know if you read any of them... and stay tuned for a way more academic list, as school has officially re-begun.
Wednesday, January 17, 2007
A Little Spot of Fun Before I Turn in My Paper...
1. Grab the nearest book.
2. Open the book to page 123.
3. Find the fifth sentence.
4. Post the text of the next 3 sentences on your LJ along with these instructions.
5. Don’t you dare dig for that "cool" or "intellectual" book in your closet! I know you were thinking about it! Just pick up whatever is closest.
" '...They had him on horses so he could look like the Marlboro Man.' Cole states that female consumers nonetheless soon began to worry that he 'looked gay' because 'they did not see what they considered masculine by conventional standards.' Cole's comments imply that the male model's apparently lack of 'conventional masculinity' was a direct result of his nakedness."
Oooh, and I'm not going to do a big citation! I'll just tell you that it's from a book called Strip Show by Katherine Liepe-Levinson.
Guess what my paper was about?
:)
2. Open the book to page 123.
3. Find the fifth sentence.
4. Post the text of the next 3 sentences on your LJ along with these instructions.
5. Don’t you dare dig for that "cool" or "intellectual" book in your closet! I know you were thinking about it! Just pick up whatever is closest.
" '...They had him on horses so he could look like the Marlboro Man.' Cole states that female consumers nonetheless soon began to worry that he 'looked gay' because 'they did not see what they considered masculine by conventional standards.' Cole's comments imply that the male model's apparently lack of 'conventional masculinity' was a direct result of his nakedness."
Oooh, and I'm not going to do a big citation! I'll just tell you that it's from a book called Strip Show by Katherine Liepe-Levinson.
Guess what my paper was about?
:)
Friday, December 15, 2006
Book List
So, it's that time of year when everyone is thinking obsessively about what to get me for Christmas. I love surprises best of all, and I don't want to stifle creativity, but I have a bunch of books I've been looking at/hearing about/writing down randomly in my notebook during class when they are mentioned, and I figured I would share. Anyway, it will be helpful to me to have them all in one place instead of scattered through various notebooks and scraps of paper. This list will probably grow, so check often. And maybe it will be a wish list, too. Would that be more fun, or just confusing? We'll see how I feel when I'm writing it two seconds from now.
1. Sunflower: On the Possibilities and Limits of Forgiveness by Simon Wiesanthal. So excited about this one! It's based on the true experience of a Holocaust survivor who encountered an SS officer on his deathbed, whose dying wish was to speak to someone who had survived the Holocaust and seek forgiveness for his crimes.
2. Severance by Robert Olen Butler. Ok, this one is weird given my intense dislike of the whole decapitation thing, but it's intriguing... it's a collection of mini-stories, each with exactly however many words correspond to the number of seconds the brain apparently retains consciousness after decapitation (200 something I think), each from the POV of some decaptitated person across human history.
3. Fallen by David Maine. Family saga: Adam and Eve and Cain and Abel.
4. The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien. Been meaning to read this one for years, never quite do.
5. Love by Toni Morrison. See #4, also it's the only book of hers I haven't read.
6. Vested Interests: Cross-Dressing and Cultural Anxiety by Marjorie Garber. Because eventually, the library will make me return it.
7. The End of Memory: Remembering Rightly in a Violent World by Miroslav Wolf. Or Volf, my writing there is iffy.
8. On Photography and Regarding the Pain of Others by Susan Sontag. She's totally intriguing, though I understand if this is not the sort of title you look for in a Christmas present.
9. Angels in America by Tony Kushner, but what I want is the movie/miniseries, not the book. Because I just love Angels in America, and I never get to see anything but the first part over and over and over again.
There are more, I think, but this is getting dull, and I'm kind of assuming that buying me theory is not what most people have in mind. Nonetheless, it's good to have them written down some place. Perhaps I'll add later.
1. Sunflower: On the Possibilities and Limits of Forgiveness by Simon Wiesanthal. So excited about this one! It's based on the true experience of a Holocaust survivor who encountered an SS officer on his deathbed, whose dying wish was to speak to someone who had survived the Holocaust and seek forgiveness for his crimes.
2. Severance by Robert Olen Butler. Ok, this one is weird given my intense dislike of the whole decapitation thing, but it's intriguing... it's a collection of mini-stories, each with exactly however many words correspond to the number of seconds the brain apparently retains consciousness after decapitation (200 something I think), each from the POV of some decaptitated person across human history.
3. Fallen by David Maine. Family saga: Adam and Eve and Cain and Abel.
4. The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien. Been meaning to read this one for years, never quite do.
5. Love by Toni Morrison. See #4, also it's the only book of hers I haven't read.
6. Vested Interests: Cross-Dressing and Cultural Anxiety by Marjorie Garber. Because eventually, the library will make me return it.
7. The End of Memory: Remembering Rightly in a Violent World by Miroslav Wolf. Or Volf, my writing there is iffy.
8. On Photography and Regarding the Pain of Others by Susan Sontag. She's totally intriguing, though I understand if this is not the sort of title you look for in a Christmas present.
9. Angels in America by Tony Kushner, but what I want is the movie/miniseries, not the book. Because I just love Angels in America, and I never get to see anything but the first part over and over and over again.
There are more, I think, but this is getting dull, and I'm kind of assuming that buying me theory is not what most people have in mind. Nonetheless, it's good to have them written down some place. Perhaps I'll add later.
Friday, April 21, 2006
A Month in Review
Wow, it's truly been far too long since I posted last, as some faithful readers have pointed out. My apologies!
I'm not sure where to start, but in the past month I have:
*Visited Harvard Divinity School and accepted their offer of admission for the fall. (Yikes!)
*Entertained various guests, including Liz.
*Turned 24 (that yesterday)!
*Read lots of books, including A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court by Mark Twain, My Brother is Getting Arrested Again by Daisy Fried (my former poetry teacher, who recognized me when I went to her reading!), A Woman Like That by lots of people, The People of Paper by Salvador Plascencia (one of the weirdest books ever, in terms of structure and layout, and in lots of other ways too. Interesting, though), and I know I am missing some in the middle here... or I think I am... but more recently, Close Range: Wyoming Stories by Annie Proulx (including Brokeback Mountain, a really interesting but sometimes overwhelmingly bleak collection) and The Icarus Girl by Helen Oyeyemi, who graduates from college this year.
*Thought about many things, tried to worry less and do more, wrote a bunch of poems, some better than others.
*Cleaned about half my room.
*Celebrated Easter at home with my family.
Hmmm. That's boring. I've decided list posts are not too fun! I will be more descriptive, and hopefully more prolific, now that I have resumed posting!
;)
I'm not sure where to start, but in the past month I have:
*Visited Harvard Divinity School and accepted their offer of admission for the fall. (Yikes!)
*Entertained various guests, including Liz.
*Turned 24 (that yesterday)!
*Read lots of books, including A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court by Mark Twain, My Brother is Getting Arrested Again by Daisy Fried (my former poetry teacher, who recognized me when I went to her reading!), A Woman Like That by lots of people, The People of Paper by Salvador Plascencia (one of the weirdest books ever, in terms of structure and layout, and in lots of other ways too. Interesting, though), and I know I am missing some in the middle here... or I think I am... but more recently, Close Range: Wyoming Stories by Annie Proulx (including Brokeback Mountain, a really interesting but sometimes overwhelmingly bleak collection) and The Icarus Girl by Helen Oyeyemi, who graduates from college this year.
*Thought about many things, tried to worry less and do more, wrote a bunch of poems, some better than others.
*Cleaned about half my room.
*Celebrated Easter at home with my family.
Hmmm. That's boring. I've decided list posts are not too fun! I will be more descriptive, and hopefully more prolific, now that I have resumed posting!
;)
Thursday, March 09, 2006
Twelfth Book: A Girl Named Disaster
I got this book, which is by Nancy Farmer, in the 10-books-for-a-dollar batch in the NYC library, and for some reason I tried to begin reading it several times and kept getting caught up in other books. As you can see, I finally began and finished it! I picked it because I've read two other books by Nancy Farmer (The Ear, the Eye, and the Arm and The House of the Scorpion,) and enjoyed them both very much. The House of the Scorpion was especially powerful for me, because I read it at a time when I was feeling abandoned and betrayed, and the main character goes through an extraordinary abandonment/betrayal.
In a lot of ways, in a completely different story, A Girl Named Disaster deals with the same themes. It was a powerful story, and a pretty fascinating look at an alien (in the earthly sense, which I feel I should clarify since Farmer does write science fiction sometimes!) culture. Also an exciting "surivival" story. Great if you want a decently quick, engaging read with a very empowering message.
In a lot of ways, in a completely different story, A Girl Named Disaster deals with the same themes. It was a powerful story, and a pretty fascinating look at an alien (in the earthly sense, which I feel I should clarify since Farmer does write science fiction sometimes!) culture. Also an exciting "surivival" story. Great if you want a decently quick, engaging read with a very empowering message.
Friday, March 03, 2006
Eleventh Book: The Great Divorce
My mom sent me this one, out of the blue. She's been sending good books lately! The Great Divorce is by my old friend C.S. Lewis, and though it is not for children or really that much like Narnia, I recognized and relaxed into his familiar style right away. I have said many times that Lewis, in The Last Battle gives the only version/description of Hell that I am able to understand and fit into the context of a loving God. The Great Divorce, interestingly enough, is also a sort of supposal, like the Chronicles, and in it, Lewis recounts a dream he has had about Heaven and Hell. It's fascinating. He does not disappoint, nor does he lose the distinction I just mentioned. I am fascinated, in fact, to read more of his theology. I think it's so interesting, because he is definitely (as far as I know) considered a fairly orthodox Christian writer, but his theology seems (to me) quite mystical. Not that mysticism precludes orthodoxy, but it's interesting. To tie in with my last post, he also mentioned Julian of Norwich. ;) But anyway, while absolutely affirming the idea of Hell, he also leaves it open as to whether anyone will be there forever. He leaves a lot open, in fact, while being absolutely convinced of the ultimate, all-encompassing good of God, and the need to turn toward Him.
There are some quotes I marked to put in here... I will do that when I'm at home and have the book to hand.
In the meantime, I am very enthusiastic about this book, and I want to read more of what my old friend has to say. He's one of those people of whom I wonder whether he would like me/think me talented/approve of my work. Just as a by-the-by. And to close, if you're looking for some very readable theology, give him a shot. I think I will seek out some more. And thank you, C. S. Lewis, for being so honest and interesting.
There are some quotes I marked to put in here... I will do that when I'm at home and have the book to hand.
In the meantime, I am very enthusiastic about this book, and I want to read more of what my old friend has to say. He's one of those people of whom I wonder whether he would like me/think me talented/approve of my work. Just as a by-the-by. And to close, if you're looking for some very readable theology, give him a shot. I think I will seek out some more. And thank you, C. S. Lewis, for being so honest and interesting.
Tenth Book: The Illuminator
Wow, I've gotten a bit behind on these. This one is by Brenda Rickman Vantrease. I'd been intrigued by it for awhile, but the deal was clinched when I realized Julian of Norwich was a character in the book!
It was basically good, with interesting characters and a plot that really surprised me... I didn't guess where it was going at all. My favorites, I think, were the more minor characters Half-Tom and Magda. But really, most of the characters were engaging, except for some of the more cardboard villains, and at least one cardboard good person, too, in my opinion. I sort of think you should read it, Katie, because the main female character is named Kathryn! I think, too, that it might be the kind of story you would enjoy. On the less positive side, there was some clumsy writing. I would have liked to see more of Julian of Norwich, too, but it's hard to write about actually historical folks and make it work, I think. Not that it didn't work, I just have such a high opinion of Julian that it would be hard to write about her in a way that I thought was doing her justice.
Ok, I think that's all about this for now. Definitely worth reading, if sometimes flawed. :)
It was basically good, with interesting characters and a plot that really surprised me... I didn't guess where it was going at all. My favorites, I think, were the more minor characters Half-Tom and Magda. But really, most of the characters were engaging, except for some of the more cardboard villains, and at least one cardboard good person, too, in my opinion. I sort of think you should read it, Katie, because the main female character is named Kathryn! I think, too, that it might be the kind of story you would enjoy. On the less positive side, there was some clumsy writing. I would have liked to see more of Julian of Norwich, too, but it's hard to write about actually historical folks and make it work, I think. Not that it didn't work, I just have such a high opinion of Julian that it would be hard to write about her in a way that I thought was doing her justice.
Ok, I think that's all about this for now. Definitely worth reading, if sometimes flawed. :)
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