Let’s round out the year with a Jane Austen mini-series. Austen has a reputation among the uninformed of being treacly, old timey romance. Mark Twain famously declared that he wanted to “dig her up and beat her over the skull with her own shin-bone.” Twain always writes like the cat who got the cream and … Continue reading ‘Pride and Prejudice,’ Unanswerable Questions and Roguish Speculations
Notions, Of Memory and Forgetting
I spent my 21st birthday at a casino in Wendover, NV with my mother; my father's oldest friend, who had been Best Man at my by then-divorced parents' wedding; and a Catholic priest. I ordered a gin martini because I loved the glasses. It came in a cortado glass, however, filled with probably the worst … Continue reading Notions, Of Memory and Forgetting
Here There Be Monsters: ‘Lady From the Black Lagoon’ and ‘Margaret the First’
What does it mean to be a creative or creatively-engaged person in a culture that values you primarily for your body alone—your beauty, your procreative potential? Two books I read recently explore this question through the experiences of two very different women and they explore it in very different ways. Yet I find illuminating connections … Continue reading Here There Be Monsters: ‘Lady From the Black Lagoon’ and ‘Margaret the First’
Going Off Book-ish: Lord of the Rings and ‘Newcomers’ Podcast
The Lord of the Rings movies. That's what my partner and I decided we wanted to distract us this past Tuesday and throughout the week (because, let's be honest, those movies are looong). We've both seen the trilogy oodles of times so decided to start with the The Two Towers. It's my favorite of the … Continue reading Going Off Book-ish: Lord of the Rings and ‘Newcomers’ Podcast
Hanging on By the Fingernails, or the Comfort of Known Books
Friends, how are you doing? For me, this has been a rough and weary couple of weeks with the looming election and the ongoing state of the nation and the world. Which has made it hard to read. I keep picking up books, peeking at them or starting a bit, and then setting them aside. … Continue reading Hanging on By the Fingernails, or the Comfort of Known Books
Notions, the How is it October?!?! edition
When I was in Scotland a few years ago, I started to notice that "sticky toffee pudding" was on the dessert menu of every restaurant I went to, from the most basic of pubs to hipster joints elevating classic Scottish comfort foods. It began to feel like the de facto dessert of Scotland. So on … Continue reading Notions, the How is it October?!?! edition
The Wheelhouse Project: Language
Go here for an introduction to the Wheelhouse Project. Empire of Wild by Cherie Dimaline may at first glance seem like an odd pick for the "language" wheelhouse. This novel focuses on Joan, a First Nations Métis woman, whose husband Victor stormed out of the house after a fight a year ago and disappeared. Joan has been … Continue reading The Wheelhouse Project: Language
Going Off Book: I kind of want a ‘Neverending Story’ remake?
I stare at the boxed faces of 60 traditional-aged college students. I speak to them about David Foster Wallace and Audre Lorde, urging them to pay attention to this precious, weird, fleeting time period, to determine how they will use their power—collective and individual—to improve the world. It is impossible to know if I am … Continue reading Going Off Book: I kind of want a ‘Neverending Story’ remake?
To Annotate or To Not Annotate. That is the Question
How do we feel about annotation? I'm for it, in the abstract. I tend to get a kick out seeing authors' and others' marginalia. I inherited my parents' shared copies of the Norton Anthology of English Literature, which they used as non-traditional college students. I love their annotations, how what they saw as important enough … Continue reading To Annotate or To Not Annotate. That is the Question
A Delicate Mess
I sit, carefully constructed. Coffee lies within reach. Legs crossed, on the couch, a pillow settled as a spongy lap-desk. A plate balances on the pillow's apex, a beautiful pastry holding court at the center of my being. In my left hand I balance a paperback copy of M Train by Patti Smith. I use … Continue reading A Delicate Mess
Dogs, Coffee, & Books 