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September 26th, 2004
07:20 am - Challenged Books
In honor of Banned Books week (behind the cut). Books I've read are in bold. Books one of my children has read are in italics. The asterisked books are on my daughter's seventh grade reading list for this year, strongly suggesting that I make Tom Sawyer the next challenged book on my reading list. And special kudos for Alvin Schwartz's Scary Stories, a book more funny than scary and which was the first book my phonics-challenged son ever willingly read.
( The Most Challenged Books of 1990-2000 )
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September 12th, 2004
06:17 pm - A retrospective, but a day late, as always . . .
Yesterday I happened to turn on the radio at exactly 9:41 a.m., and what I heard was a rerun of the first report of the plane that crashed at the Pentagon. And I remembered where I was when I first heard about the Pentagon attack, in a tiny little carryout in Chinatown where I had stopped to buy a bottle of water, in an attempt to cleanse my parched throat of WTC particles. I had just begun to convince myself that there were no more planes coming, so that perhaps we could stop running now.
The Washington Post had stories about some of the forgotten victims - the ones that survived the attack but suffered head injuries from being thrown across the room and who are now brain-damaged and unable to work. And our firefighters, who are now suffering from PTSD. They're now split into three groups: the ones on disability, the ones about to ask for disability, and the ones who need to ask but don't want to admit the problem.
When we remember 9/11, we tend to remember the dead and their families. Here's a plea to remember these forgotten victims, who continue to live 9/11 every day. In retrospect, I was perhaps very lucky. I was away from home, and out on the streets away from the television. I saw the North Tower on fire, and I saw it collapse. But only once. I had a moment of terror when we were enveloped by the cloud, but we were able to run. The fight or flight response was in good working order and served me well. I didn't watch the events over and over again on television. And I seemed to bounce back much faster than some who only saw the events on TV. Perhaps television is not such a good thing in a crisis after all.
At that point, I decided I needed to visit the Pentagon. The bike path still goes right along the west facade, the one that was hit (it's been moved closer to the highway, and a fence has been installed, but it's still very close). I hadn't been out for a good long ride all summer. There was nobody there except for two tourists reading a plaque about a planned memorial. The rebuilt facade looks much like it always did, though the parking lots and a nearby highway have been shifted and a lot of incidental construction has taken place to make the building inaccessible to truck bombers.
And I had a great ride. The bike path on the Arlington side parallels the Potomac, so all the memorials were in view. And where the path passes the airport, I took the traditional cyclist's rest to enjoy the rush of watching the airplanes take off right above my head. Don't ask me why, but all the cyclists stop there before heading south. The planes took off and flew past the Pentagon, as it should be.
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September 6th, 2004
09:00 am - Where did the summer go?
My friends and I have traditionally held and end-of-summer cookout for our families. It nearly didn't happen this year, but a telephone call at 4:30 p.m. yesterday led to an inventory of everyone's refrigerator shelves and by 6:30 we were all assembled and busy conjuring up ways to cook our pooled groceries. A wonderful time was had by all, and I've managed to avoid the end-of-summer blues. At least so far. This afternoon may be gloomy, between the edges of Frances (it's a Texas-sized storm, after all) taking away our Labor Day sunshine and the final preparations for the first day of school tomorrow. But for now I feel relaxed and happy. It was a good summer, and the family is spending the last day together. If it's too cool and cloudy for the pool, we'll take a family bike ride instead.
This is not a proper update. A proper update would provide some kind of clue as to what my good summer consisted of. ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) alpheratz chided me at least a month ago for not updating more frequently, and look how long it's taken me to write just a couple of short paragraphs. It's just that I don't ever write anything personal until all my work is done, and of course my work is never done. ::sigh::
Soon. I promise.
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July 11th, 2004
07:34 am - Six-Month Booklist
With the year more than half over already, it’s time to take stock of what I’ve been reading. I’ve watched enviously while here_be_dragons has been reading about 2 books per week. In between work, family and all those things I foolishly volunteer for, I’m pretty much at the one-book-a-month rate, and I read most of these books on the subway, often standing up hanging onto a pole.
Since I can’t possibly read all the books I’d like to (I haven’t even read all the ones that I own), I’ve tried to look at why I choose to read a particular book:
Benjamin Franklin: An American Life by David Isaacson. This was a Christmas present. ( review )
Anne of Green Gables, by L.M. Montgomery. I picked this one up (which I’d never read before) off my daughter’s bookshelf because her best friend was scheduled to appear in a dramatic adaptation of the novel. ( Review )
The Woman in White, by Willkie Collins. This is the book that sageofgodalming recommended. This book, which was described as the first real mystery, was a wonderful read, and I highly recommend it.( Spoilers )
Mandragola by Niccolo Machiavelli. I pulled it off my bookshelf after DH noted a reference to mandrakes (aka mandragola) in a book he was reading. This is a very short, but delightfully funny play in which Machiavelli applies the realpolitik principles he expounded on in The Prince to the art of seduction. Recommended, especially if your only prior experience of Machiavelli took place in a tedious political philosophy class.
Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison. Morrison came up in a conversation I had with my sister, who said this was her favorite. ( Review )
Appalachian Mountain Girl, By Rhoda Bailey Warren. I only knew about this book because the author’s son is a friend of mine, in fact the only RL friend with whom I've ever had a serious discussion about HP. This is a short, sometimes poignant, sometimes humorous, series of reminiscences about the author’s childhood in Kentucky coal mining country, beginning with the family’s decision to leave the company town.
Mansfield Park by Jane Austen. I happened to visit www.pemberley.com just as they were beginning a “group read” of this book. I’ve read it more than once before, and I’d also read a lot of critical essays on this book and on Jane Austen, but I’d never participated in a group discussion, so I got out my old paperback and joined in. This is my favorite of all Austen’s works (with Persuasion a close second); though it lacks the “light, bright and sparkling” (and arguably fairy-tale) quality of Pride and Prejudice, I suppose I prefer its shade. ( Spoilers ) As a good HP fan, I paid particular attention to the character of Mrs. Norris in this reading. ( another spoiler ) Other than her nosiness (ex: "The Grants had their faults, and Mrs. Norris soon found them out"), though, I can't see a lot of similarities between her and Filch's cat.
What am I going to read next? While reading Mansfield Park I also reread the MP chapter of Vladimir Nabokov’s Lectures on Literature from his teaching days at Cornell University. Unlike many critics, Nabokov seems to like Fanny’s innocence, and I cannot read that Nabokov’s lecture without feeling urged to run to the library to check out Lolita. So that’s what I’ve done.
Also must borrow The Jane Austen Book Club from my friend, after taking a sneak peek at her copy yesterday.
Goal for the next six months: Double the number of books read.
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May 3rd, 2004
06:00 pm - Who is this?
I took this quiz:
I took the most accurate villain personality test
created by: The Arch Villainess Gracie
And I haven't got a clue who this villain is.
Please help!
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April 4th, 2004
07:58 pm - Life Begins on Opening Day
Spring is finally here. My daffodils are in bloom. And they're playing baseball again here in the States (I don't count the two games last week in Japan, even though they count in the standings, and even though my 9-year-old insisted on getting up at 5 a.m. to watch).
I love the progress of the seasons, and spring, the season of renewal, of new life and new hopes, seems inextricably and appropriately linked with the beginning of the baseball season, when the World Series is within everyone's reach. The Orioles look much better, at least on paper. And the Red Sox fans have even rallied with high hopes that this year their beloved team will finally discover the countercurse to the Curse of the Bambino.
No matter that the game-time temperature hovered at the freezing mark, and a 20 mph wind was whipping through the ballpark, not exactly springlike weather. We are watching in the comfort of our own home, armed with our hopes for our teams, our real teams and our fantasy teams. ( Read more... )
Boston is losing already. I'm going to suggest the team join Dumbledore's Army and learn some countercurses. But no matter. Baseball is back and I'm going to enjoy this season.
I'd write a real update, but nobody wants to hear about my job, and I've been doing very little else. No, that's not quite correct. I'm still keeping up with my new fitness regimen, and for me that's an incredible accomplishment.
Current Mood: ![[mood icon]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/mood/charitycam/suns/happy.gif) optimistic
Current Music: Jon Miller and Joe Morgan
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December 11th, 2003
05:24 am - Dipping my toe in the LJ waters
Okay. This is my very first attempt to use my lj, so I'm going to do something very simple. I took this quiz that everyone seems to have been taking, and I'm attempting to post the results, though I'm not entirely convinced this will work. I'm also not sure why I want to publish anything that says I should be an accountant (!). While I could use some accounting skills these days, I *really* don't want to be one.
You are Phlegmatic. You have a peace-loving
nature, and make a good listener and a faithful
friend. You do have a tendency to be selfish
and stubborn in your worst moments, and your
worrying can lean towards paranoia. Phlegmatics
should consider careers as accountants,
diplomats, engineers, and administrators. You
are a somewhat reluctant leader, but your
practicality and steady nerve under pressure
makes you a natural choice for leadership
roles.
Which of the Humours are you?
brought to you by Quizilla
If this works, I'll have to figure out how to get myself a cool icon.
Current Mood: hopeful
Current Music: blissful silence
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