On reading, on GRE prep, on holiday cheer.....
I am reading Freidman's newest - great as usual. Enjoy his Colbert appearance:
Sunday, November 30, 2008
Catching up
Friday, November 14, 2008
Tom Duffy visits our band
okay, so those of you that know me know of this HUGE project. Tom Duffy visited with our band on Wednesday. A great time had by all. On a personal note (since this is my blog) this was a huge undertaking that I never thought would get off the ground. To see the kids interact with him, to see them so excited was terrific, and worth all the hassles.
Lesson learned? If the project has good purpose and intent, it'll all work out the way it needs to. I'm more relaxed about the second phase - rehearsing his music written for us.
Letting go and watching all this happen has been hard. But the learning is in those spaces where we allow it to happen.
"Let your life speak" had great resonance for me this week. I am intrigued by further results.
Stay tuned!
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
Must-see film
The Visitor
The Visitor stars Richard Jenkins (Six Feet Under) in a perfect performance (Lisa Schwarzbaum, ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY) as Walter, a disaffected college professor who has been drifting aimlessly through his life. When, in a chance encounter on a trip into New York, Walter discovers a couple has taken up residence in his apartment in the city, he develops an unexpected and profound connection to them that will change his life forever. As challenges arise for his tenants, Walter finds himself compelled to help his new friends, and rediscovers a passion he thought he had lost long ago. The year's first genuine must-see film" (Ann Hornaday, THE WASHINGTON POST) about rediscovering life's rhythms in the most unexpected places
Terrific film, slow moving, but I was hooked from the start.
Monday, November 10, 2008
Almost completely proud of America.....
Well, yes, there's still one issue heavy on my heart - the California repeal of gay marriage. A HUGE step backwards on a day of so much forward motion. I will not pontificate, I think Hafiz sums it up for me:
How Does It Feel to Be a Heart? (Hafiz)
Once a young woman asked me,
"How does it feel to be a man?"And I replied,
"My dear,I am not so sure."
Then she said,"Well, aren't you a man?"
And this time I replied,
"I view gender
As a beautiful animal
That people often take for a walk on a leash
And might enter in some odd contest
To try to win strange prizes.
My dear,
A better question for Hafiz
Would have been,
'How does it feel to be a heart?'
For all I know is Love,
And I find my heart Infinite
And Everywhere!"
Brains Are Back! - by Michael Hirsch
After eight years of proud incuriosity and anti-intellectualism, we now have a leader who values nuance and careful thought.
What Obama's election means, above all, is that brains are back. Sense and pragmatism and the idea of considering-all-the-options are back. Studying one's enemies and thinking through strategic problems are back. Cultural understanding is back. Yahooism and jingoism and junk science about global warming and shabby legal reasoning about torture are out. The national culture of flag-pin shallowness that guided our foreign policy is gone with the wind. And for this reason as much as any, perhaps I can renew my pride in being an American.
HOORAY! read the whole article in Newsweek!
The Obama election has made me feel smart - and this is a terrific article that sums up why. We can all be smart! Use your brains! Fix the WORLD!
Sunday, November 09, 2008
Plan B: Further Thoughts on Faith
by Anne Lamott
Another great book from a writer with great imagery. Lamott is someone not trusting of the human side of faith, I think - the religiuos creation of men? And yet, she sees examples of faithful practice in her life and those of others often. All presented in wonderful prose - from which at times I am led to laugh out loud.
Monet Refuses The Operation
by Lisel Mueller
Doctor, you say there are no haloes
around the streetlights in Paris
and what I see is an aberration
caused by old age, an affliction.
I tell you it has taken me all my life
to arrive at the vision of gas lamps as angels,
to soften and blur and finally banish
the edges you regret I don't see,
to learn that the line I called the horizon
does not exist and sky and water,
so long apart, are the same state of being.
Fifty-four years before I could see
Rouen cathedral is builtof parallel shafts of sun,
and now you want to restore
my youthful errors: fixed
notions of top and bottom,
the illusion of three-dimensional space,wisteria separate
from the bridge it covers.
What can I say to convince you
the Houses of Parliament dissolves
night after night to become
the fluid dream of the Thames?
I will not return to a universe
of objects that don't know each other,
as if islands were not the lost children
of one great continent. The world
is flux, and light becomes what it touches,
becomes water, lilies on water,above and below water,
becomes lilac and mauve and yellow
and white and cerulean lamps,
small fists passing sunlight
so quickly to one another
that it would take long, streaming hair inside my brush to catch it.
To paint the speed of light!
Our weighted shapes, these verticals,
burn to mix with air
and change our bones, skin, clothes
to gases. Doctor,
if only you could see
how heaven pulls earth into its arms
and how infinitely the heart expands to claim this world, blue vapor without end.
Thursday, November 06, 2008
RIP Michael Crichton
Unexpected and sad. =(
In Memoriam
Michael Crichton
1942 - 2008
Best-selling author Michael Crichton died unexpectedly in Los Angeles Tuesday, November 4, 2008 after a courageous and private battle against cancer.
Monday, November 03, 2008
The Economist Book of Obituaries
by Keith Colquhoun and Ann Wroe
The Economist Book of Obituaries is a marvelous collection of 200 lives, from the prominent (Hunter S. Thompson, doctor of gonzo journalism: "Explosions were his specialty. Indeed, writing and shooting were much the same." Or George Harrison: "This may prove to be a long goodbye."), to the relatively obscure (Marie Smith, the last speaker of the Eyak language, for whom "the death of Eyak meant the not-to-be-imagined disappearance of the world." Or Yasser Talal al-Zahrani, a prisoner in Guantánamo: "He had sheets and clothes from which, thread by thread, he could make a rope."). (from shelf awareness)
My favorite entry?
Robert Rich, inventor of frozen non-dairy topping, died on February 15, 2006, aged 92:
To top it all, in wartime, heavy whipping cream was a banned substance . . . To dream of an éclair or a cream puff, even of a modest dollop nestling a cherry or topping off a sundae, was close to a traitorous act . . . Mr Rich, however, dreamed often of whipped cream . . . thick, indulgent, faintly golden and utterly unwarlike.
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Spooky ookie
Halloween - and the special GHOST HUNTERS show!
Brace yourself this Halloween when TAPS takes you on the ultimate ghost hunt. The team returns to the Fort Delaware scene of this season's most jolting and revealing episode.
Commonly referred to as the "Black Hole," Fort Delaware was used during the Civil War as a POW camp that housed over 33,000 Confederate soldiers. Ravaged by epidemics and torture nearly 2,400 failed to escape and died on the island. The restless spirits have never left.
Join the exclusive seven-hour hunt from home with access to thermal imaging camera feeds and live Q&A with TAPS team members and host Josh Gates. Watch carefully for anything out of the ordinary — you'll be able to send instant alerts of any sightings you make straight to the Ghost Hunters!
I must admit I am totally addicted to this show - last year I stayed up ALL NIGHT to watch their live episode. This year it's a Friday - even better!
Ghost Hunters Website
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
R.I.P. Tony Hillerman
"Everything is connected. The wing of the corn beetle effects the direction of the wind, the way the sand drifts, the way the light reflects into the eye of man beholding his reality. All is part of totality, and in this totality man finds his horzo, his way of walking in harmony, with beauty all around him." Hillerman
Wise Words.
I have not read any of Hillerman's works, but have recently heard much about him and am intrigued. Sounds like a simple, good man with a healthy dose of reality. I'll have to check out his work!
Sunday, October 26, 2008
CLAMS!
Actually, the Essex clam festival celebrated clam chowder, not the fried variety - but this picture is from a NYTimes article by yesterday's judge. I have not yet heard the results.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/29/dining/29clam.html
We also ate CLAM ICE CREAM. which was only mildly disturbing. Maille loved it!
techno brains....
Born digital : understanding the first generation of digital natives / John Palfrey and Urs Gasser.
by Palfrey, John
iBrain : surviving the technological alteration of the modern mind / Gary Small and Gigi Vorgan.
by Small, Gary W.
Commentary to follow - but both great reads I wanted to list. My, how the world has changed - and so has teaching!
Saturday, October 25, 2008
Last Night at the Lobster
by Stewart O'Nan
There are only four shopping days left until Christmas when Manny DeLeon pulls his beat-up Buick Regal into the parking lot at the Red Lobster—his Red Lobster—at least for one more day. He’s been the general manager of the New Britain location for years and has come to feel a justified pride in its smooth performance. So the news that Darden Restaurants, Inc., plans to close the branch, demote him to assistant manager at a nearby Olive Garden, and fire thirty-nine of the forty-four employees he supervises was a shock that Manny wasn’t happy to face. (from Penguin reading guides)
A simple, great read. A Red Lobster's last night, a glimpse into the lives of the hourly-wagers. Reminded me of layaway at Ames, nights at the theater, being trapped in the photo booth....
Autumn
I love the fall. After I have gotten over the return-to-school stress, things have settled into a routine, and life is filled with fun fairs and events. Especially fun with a toddler - lots of Halloween crafts!Today we shall venture to the Essex Clam Festival for a chowder face-off. And perhaps also to the Woodsom farm festival. I have a fundraiser to be at in Scituate, or else there'd be even more to do!
Sunday, October 19, 2008
Barbie
My child wants a Barbie doll. It has been her only answer for 2 weeks to the question "What would you like for your birthday?" (age 3).
I have been warned of the rival "Bratz" dolls. I just had her look at the picture above. And she still likes Barbie. She said the other girl looks mean, and you shouldn't sit on people's heads. I agree.
I guess Mattel has had their hands full with the popular Bratz dolls, but so far Barbie is winning in our household!
The Book Round-up part one
I have been reading, just not blogging....
I have found lately that I can barely keep up with my library requests, they are coming in fast and furious. Not sure if others are reading less?
Anyways.... my recommendations of the week:
I Am Filled with Heavenly Treasures (CD) - The Enfield Shaker Singers
Simple Gifts: (CD) The Boston Camerata
both very good recordings, the stomping and singing sounded a little scarily powerful. I just visited the Shaker Village of Canterbury, NH last week - and I could picture these songs being sung and danced to. Catchy! =)
Simple Gifts: Lessons in Living From a Shaker Village - June Spriggs
A Great tale of life with the Canterbury Shakers - June lived in the village for the few years before they dissolved. Again, even better if you have visited there and seen the buildings for yourself!
Life: Selected Quotations - Paul Coehlo
I'm on a Coelho kick right now - a good book of basic quotations form his works. More relevant after I read his longer works, I think!
I'm in for a few cold days of reading on the couch while Maille uses the playdoh. Winter is here!
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