Engineer News

Congratulations to the Engineer! He received his green belt in tae kwon do at the school Christmas party last night. In an unusual belt ceremony, the most recent test takers received their belts at a party rather than in class.

The previous class session, the instructor was unexpectedly unable to attend. Also, The Artist and the Engineer had been asked to demonstrate sparring with the satellite school at the Seven Hills Recreation Center the day the belt ceremony was expected. We were not sure when the new belt would come. But his smile and the big "Yes!" after he received it show it is appreciated!The next day, I found the Engineer lounging on the couch with a book. Yep, it is the dictionary. He was having fun reading the list of synonyms and antonyms. I'm glad he is starting to enjoy reading. I am also surprised at his choice in books.

Front Page Girl

I just completed Front Page Girl a fascinating autobiography of Doris O'Donnell, former writer for the Cleveland Plain Dealer and some other newspapers. She grew up in a neighborhood not far from my church and stayed local most of her career. The blurb on the front cover states "A memoir brimming with local flavor and political intrigue" and it did not disappoint! The story of Ms. O'Donnell beginning her career in Cleveland and following several national stories is fascinating. The more local stories about the history of organized crime in northeast Ohio were eye opening too.

With the turn of every page I learned more tidbits of Cleveland history I did not have opportunity to pick up anywhere else, such as stories of some of the mayors in the city's history, the race riots in the 1960s, and the history of some of the unions so important to the region.

But most interesting to me were the stories of Ms. O'Donnell's travels abroad. The lengths she would go to in order to get a story are stated matter-of-factly in her book, but the fact that she went to those lengths is what set her apart from her peers during her career. I can't help but agree with her opinions about how news reporting has changed in the last two decades especially.
I am interested in the stories of Cleveland's history. Through reading front Page Girl I discovered two more books to request from my local library. I hope those lead to even more!

Book Giveaway: Sweetsmoke

Indiana Jane recently posted about a book giveaway she is having at her blog, Indiana Jane's Journal. Sweetsmoke is a civil war historical fiction by David Fuller. Plantation life in Virginia during civil war times is a setting that has been used before, but the reviews at Amazon unanimously note that this story is exceptional and exceptionally well told.

All three reviewers at the Amazon site give the book five of five stars. In particular, Indiana Jane explains why the writing draws the reader in to the story. I look forward to being drawn in myself!

On a Mission

We're on a mission! Through the magic of audio we've been brought along on A Journey to the Center of the Earth and 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. In another ten days the recording of Around the World in 80 Days that I borrowed is due. I've already renewed it once and we have not yet begun the story. Can we do 80 Days in ten days?

Once our audio experience is complete I've lined up the G rated 1959 version of the film A Journey to the Center of the Earth starring James Mason, Pat Boone and Arlene Dahl. I think the kids will enjoy that very much. One of Rick's co-workers did see the movie of the same name that is in theaters now. He told Rick it was good and that it stayed fairly true to the book. The conversation did not last long enough for Rick to learn whether it was acceptable for kids or not. Have you seen the movie that is out now? Or have you heard about why it earned the PG rating? Maybe I can find a way to bring the Artist along to see it with me.

The reading of 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea was extremely entertaining. I ended up abandoning my knitting in favor of snuggling up in a blanket with the Artist and just listening to the story.

Book Buddies

The Artist has taken her first volunteer job after a fashion. She signed up to be a Book Buddy at a local library. The program pairs older readers, such as the Artist, with younger readers or would-be readers. The little ones are 5-6 years old.

During her orientation session, the Artist learned which sort of books, first readers and such, she would be asked to choose and read with her student. Each week now, the Artist and her student, a little girl, sit together with their heads in a book for an hour or so. They are supposed to read three books together each session, and they usually complete their third right on time.

When asked what she has learned from the program, she tells, "It doesn't always go the way you want it to. I'm not really happy about that, but life isn't always the way you want it to be."

Quickly, though, she added, "It is fun reading to others, and if they want to read to me it is fun to know they are learning and to help with the stuff they don't know."

I think the parts she has to cope with that she does not enjoy are mostly enduring strange looks from her student. I get the feeling her student is a little exuberant. There is probably also a degree of the Artist talking down to her student because I notice this happening at home with her brother. Perhaps those strange looks are warranted!

After they read, all the Book Buddies, the older and younger sets, have game time together with a librarian. This continues to be the Artists' favorite part of the sessions. I'll admit I was rather perturbed last week when she came home and told me the librarian said hangman was too violent, so they would play build a princess instead.

The whole experience should be valuable for her. I think she is enjoying being a leader and it is good for her to experience leadership in other areas of her life besides martial arts. And it gives me more opportunities to discuss the idiocies of political correctness with her.

Catching Up A Bit

Due to the many ways I found to inflict minor injuries on myself in April I only managed to get 13.05 miles logged on the treadmill. I'm thankful I'm feeling better and I'm thankful Rick suggested we go buy ourselves new shoes. Every little bit helps!

I plan to get my regular walk schedule back in gear for May. I'll need to keep it up as I'll be missing several days when we are out of town.

Just for you, Polly, I've graduated to 11 push ups. It is most disconcerting to do them when your hand is on a squeaky spot on the floor! Well, 20 still seems very far away. But if I can keep up with adding (a measly) one every couple of weeks I'll get there eventually.

A little while ago I mentioned that I was going to read Rhett Butler's People. (Is it cheating that I never have read Gone With the Wind? I saw the movie long before I knew of the book.)I thoroughly enjoyed the book. It was vivid and gripping. In parts it was genteel, and base in others, the whole mix making a well-rounded view of life in the South immediately before, during, and immediately after the Civil War. I found myself wondering when a movie might be made of this story! I liked it enough to request Gone With the Wind from my library. It is waiting there for me to pick it up now.

By the way, I'm so glad I read March first. Rhett Butler's People contains no tearing down models of good character, creating dirty laundry for the sake of exposure.

Finally, I made five kitchen hanging towels and ten dish cloths for various households in my family. Then I wrapped them up and shipped them off to my cousin's house where I'll be staying in a few weeks. The whole time I was knitting I had planned to get some photos when I was done. Of course, in the end, I forgot.

March

I was not terribly impressed with March by Geraldine Brooks. As a novel that provided the story of Mr. March at war it was mildly interesting. I thought the civil war camp scenes were well done. But all in all the book is certainly not worth of being associated with Little Women.

I thought the characters of Mr. and Mrs. March were a little contrived and more seamy than those which could have molded the characters of their daughters as written by Alcott.

Maybe it was just too big a glimpse at the Godless world of Emerson, Thoreau, and others epitomizing the Enlightenment for me. I prefer not to believe Papa was away at war committing adultery, or that Marmee was a vicious-mouthed zealot who slandered Calvinists at every opportunity. She is depicted as having all Jo's faults and none of her virtues.

I'm really glad I read this one first, and saved Rhett Butler's People for last. I'm only about one third into it, and I'm enjoying it. After this I suppose I'll need to read Gone With the Wind. I had seen it on TV as a youngster before I ever knew great movies came from great books.

Few Eggs and No Oranges

Almost exactly one year ago Little Jenny Wren posted about Few Eggs and No Oranges. Her description of the book sparked my interest. Unfortunately, my library system did not have a copy, nor did Cleveland Public Library.

Then just last month ago Jenny Wren mentioned the book again and I tried my luck again. This time I found the book at the University of Cincinnati -- woo hoo! A couple of clicks and it was on its way to me. I love love love inter-library loan.

I was thoroughly engaged by the book. It is a diary of daily life written by one Vere Hodgson, a woman living in London during WWII. She writes to her cousin in Rhodesia. It records how the war changed daily life in ways I'd not through about before. While I was aware of blacking out before, I had never considered being fined for having a Blackout slip out of place in the concussion of a blast in a room where a light was left on while the occupant hastened to a shelter. Numerous other experiences that I have known about intellectually were made much more real through the diary.

I was amused at one entry in which the writer sees the American film Citizen Kane. "His last word on earth was Rosebud, so the film digs back into his life to see what it meant. Never discovered. Most unsatisfactory!" --Well I should think so! Did the theater cut the film short? Was she talking to her neighbor or fumbling in her purse during the last moment of the film? I was surprised at the dismay I felt that this diary-writing woman never saw the solution to the mystery of the film.

In another place her sentiments struck a chord with me, "Margaret is full of enthusiasm about World Citizenship and internationalism--just as we all were 25 years ago. I suppose all young people think they will succeed where their elders have failed. That means another war...because these lessons are not passed on to the Race. It is all disheartening. These youngsters are just as opinionated as I was at their age."

In another part of the book she talks about fulfilling her dream of having Tea at one of the grandest hotels in London. She compares her expectations to the actual experience in a way I'll never forget.

Finally, I was impressed by her recording how she learned that one country or another in Europe was wrested from Nazi control on the morning or evening wireless news. When the announcements were made, the radio played the national anthem for the country in question, and the writer, alone in her flat, stood at attention in respect. I could very much identify with this, but it still filled me with wonder each time I read about her doing it as another nation was freed. How many people all over the world participated in the same private paying of respects the moment the news was brought to them? How many radio stations today could spare the moments of precious air time to play an ally's anthem?

My cousin in Tennessee recommended some more books to me. I've borrowed Rhett Butler's People (by Donald McCaig, with permission from Margaret Mitchell's estate) and March (by Geraldine Brooks) from the library. One tells Rhett's back story. The other tells the story of Mr. March, father of the four Little Women. I expect both to be fun reads.

The American Home Front

I didn't think I'd have anything much to say about The American Home Front by Alistair Cooke until I had finished reading it. But when I got to pages 55 and 56 some of Cooke's observations about his profession are poured out to his readers. Understand that Cooke did the legwork and writing for this book in 1941 and 1942 although the manuscript was not published until 2006. (The Acknowledgments and Forward of the book are interesting reading).

The topic is foreign correspondents. Cooke compares asking a person about how the war is affecting him or her, or the community to "...asking a man if he thinks he is neurotic and if he thinks he's adjusted." Cooke asserts that the questions foreign correspondents ask are seen as challenges to the interviewee. And answers are therefore unconsciously designed to resolve the psychological dilemma into which the has placed him. Cooke calls the "reams of conscientious 'reporting' of civilian attitudes by reporters who are quite sincerely eager to know," a " brave waste of curiosity."

I was intrigued by these reflections on the task Cooke had laid before himself coming so early in his journey across the States. I was roughly 1/8 of the way into the book! Did he believe his task futile? Will he change the way he talks with the people he encounters later in the book? I'll need to read more to find out!

Permit me one more passage to quote here.

"But when you ask a human being how he feels about ...whether his town is prepared for air raids, or whether he thinks we'll win, or whether his neighbors know what the war is all about, you are putting forth nothing but leading questions, enclitic invitations to answer Yes, sir, or No, sir. It is for this sad reason that most roving reporters, and indeed all foreign correspondents whenever they desert statistics for judgments of opinion and 'morale', become models of self-deception."

I don't think the times have changed much in this regard. It reminds me strongly of the stench of media outlets that conduct polls and present the results as news.

Tip O' The Hat

A while back I read this post at Scribbit's blog. Ever so many worthwhile books are out there, and every so often worthwhile books are recommended to me by friends or e-friends who seem to have similar literary tastes to mine. Now I need to tip my hat and say "Thank you, Michelle!" This one, The Tipping Point, was a home run for me and, especially for Rick (the now unmasked man formerly known as the Quipper).

Shortly after I read Michelle's review I went to my library's website to request The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference by Malcolm Gladwell. In my haste I must have checked the wrong box. When my voicemail got the message that "Items are available for pick up" at the library I stopped into the branch. I came out with the book on audio cassette. Rats! Well, we do still have a tape player on the old stereo and another in my car. I figured we would eventually have the chance to listen to the book together. Hopefully, "eventually" would come within three weeks.

It didn't. I renewed the tapes. Last night we finally got to go through them. It was a great listen. We took breaks to discuss the material and we were impressed. In between tape one and tape two I suggested we buy the book. With a bright, dreaming and visionary husband this book is a must own.