Candide

OK - onto the next contestant for ARG's high school reading list. I'm picking the short ones right now.

Candide is a book one can read in a day. It's a fanciful story of an innocent youth losing his innocence through exposure to a corrupt, ugly, deceitful, disloyal world. Voltaire. Sounds impressive, "the embodiment of the eighteenth-century Enlightenment" and all that.

It was slightly entertaining. Slightly comical. A few good jabs at the hubris of aristocracy, corruption of men in power, and the Inquisition. The gist of it was (at least I think) that the world is not a pretty place, and the best way to deal with it is to work hard (farming especially) and try to be happy.

OK. I can deal with that.

The plot is fantastical. The characters shallow. The satire, pretty funny. It must've been especially biting when it was written.

Since it's so short, I think it's worth a read.

Cuckoo

I loved reading in high school. Some of my favorite books then are still in my top ten: Gone With The Wind, 1984, Watership Down. I have forgotten most of the books that were assigned reading (1984 is the exception). Does that mean those books weren't as good? Or did I dislike dissecting them so much that I blanked them out of my mind?

I've been thinking about high school reading for ARG. Looking at lists and considering what he should read. Another question is whether I will make him write about what he reads. I thought I would, at first. But I just read an article in the NYTimes about how kids end up hating the classics because they are forced to write inane essays about themes, metaphors, writing styles...etc. So the jury is out on the writing for me.

But I am positive I want to encourage (if not insist) that he read a certain set of books. I also know that if I want him to get anything from them, I'll need to discuss them with him (unless a brilliant high school book club falls in our laps magically).

So, I've started checking books out from the library. I'll never make it through them all before they are due (I always check out too many!), but I have started. I picked an easy one to start: One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. Who can forget Jack Nickelson in the movie? I remembered liking the book in high school.

I was not prepared for what a page turner it is! I couldn't put it down. Kesey tells a fine tale that wraps you up and holds you and then doesn't really let you go at the end. Some of the things that I would want to discuss are:

- Why did he do it? Why did MacMurphy decide to continue his war against nurse Ratchett when he knew where it would lead? Was he some sort of sacrificial lamb? To show the guys that it was possible to defy her? Kesey never explains why MacMurphy changes his tune from self interested gambler to heroic leader. At least I didn't catch it.

- What exactly does MacMurphy represent? Freedom? And nurse Ratchett? Institutionalism?

- How does Kesey manage to rope us in so completely? How does he make us care about a bunch of loons, a renegade and a control freak?

- I wonder what happens to Chief after the story ends.....

Those are the kinds of things I'd like to discuss. Maybe I'll look up some literary sites and see if there are other "important" questions that we need to discuss.

Bragging Moment

For all of the garbage and nonsense I put up with being a mom, I think I get the right to brag and take pride in my kids when they do something awesome. It's like a payment for all that hard work and sacrifice. (prepare for braggage)

My son is ranked 4th IN THE NATION !!! in his age group for mens' saber!!!

How awesome is that? Who would've thunk I'd have a kid ranked anything anywhere? Not me.

The rankings are based on rolling points (I dare you to try to figure out how points are awarded, I sure haven't yet). I only know points are awarded at national tournaments. So you want to go to a lot of nationals, and/or do really well when you do go. ARG has been to a few, but many have been to a lot more. It's a money thing.

Anyways, I think it is way cool. And I want to brag. I'm a proud mama.

Summer nationals are next week. I don't care how ARG fences, he ROCKS the fencing world in my book.

Poopy Tales

There has got to be some unwritten universal law about (my) dog's poops.

I can walk little Lucy for an hour and see a handful of cars in our neighborhood. But when she decides it's time to do the dirty deed? Always. ALWAYS. A car drives by right then.

I'm standing there pretending nothing is happening, "Heh, heh...."
(Yes! I carry a plastic bag)

Today she decided to go in front of someone's house (where I live there are no sidewalks and lots of grassy/weedy spaces). Can you guess what happened. The OWNER of the house pulled up right as she is plopping. I mean, what are the odds?

Then there are all the lovely times when Lucy decides pooping in the middle of the street is the thing to do. Ah yes, I'm the proud owner..... (cringe).

I don't even have the energy to get into how much Lucy barks. Let's just say my pride has taken a hit recently. I used to mock them. Now I OWN one. Sadly, Lucy can be qualified as a yap dog.

Poor Neglected Blog

Isn't it summer?

Isn't it the season when I'm supposed to have all kinds of spare time to mess around with my blog? Guess this summer is different.

At this moment my menfolk are in the dining room with assorted other teens, preteens and fathers playing Texas Hold'em.Thankfully, I don't have to play. I am happily overindulging in Reese's Pieces and writing this.

Today was MiniMe's 5th Bday party. Wow. I forgot how hard it is to have 10 5-8 year olds in your house for three hours. Plus, MiniMe is coming down with a cold (great timing). She didn't want to do half the activities I had planned. Or if she did, she bailed on them way before I was ready. Then, I forgot that kids this age sometimes don't want to participate. "I'm not gonna do that!" Swell....lovely.....super.

I busted my behind getting this shindig together, and you don't want to do it? Fine.

They laughed and screamed and played and ate. And then at the end I asked MiniMe how she liked her cake. "Not very much..."

Okaaaaay. Breath. Don't cry. Don't take it personal. Breath.

Now the boys are playing poker. MiniMe is sick and asking for me to read a book. Rosie is watching a movie, wishing she could play poker with the big kids. Lucy the dog is barking annoyingly. How do you stop dogs from barking unless you follow them around with a spray bottle.

Oh, did I mention I had a glass of wine?

MiniMe's eye is dripipng. She is begging. I've got to go......

One more post about NYC

It will probably be the last for a while. But I wanted to share these two pics that are only compromising to myself. Oh there are other pics..... but I won't go there.

Here's me with Lady Liberty:


And don't ask how this picture was taken, I don't recall. But we were walking to find a dance club and I guess we were near Times Square. Woo hoo! (another up the nostril shot!)

Weird

Do you ever wake up and have weird thoughts?

I'm convinced that hormones are involved in my case. I woke up today and thought, "Life is dull. Nothing is fun. I won't enjoy my day."

Well, Good Mornin' to Ya!

Heck of a way to wake up, huh? Those thoughts are so not me. I am just not like that (usually). I've had one (well, maybe two) other times in my life when I had dark thoughts, and they were both about 3 months postpartum. One time I actually thought, "Why should I live?" and immediately was like "Wut???? I don't even feel that way! That thought does not belong to me." Thankfully it was so foreign, that I recognized it as so and blew it off. But there were some uncomfortable months when the kids were babies.

Because of other physical signs, I know I am at a certain time (you gals know what I mean). I fully attribute lame-o thoughts like the ones I had this morning to hormones. What is up with that? Why were we women made to have these crazy hormonal fluctuations? Were we just meant to keep having babies until 45? No way.

Sometimes I am a rebellious believer. I get a little annoyed with God for certain things. Like hormones. And lame-o thoughts that I have to endure. It's really a pain in my head.

Luckily I have a healthy enough mindset to immediately want to overcome. I start thinking about how I can make today special and fun. I realize I haven't had reading/cuddle time with the kids on the couch for a long time. Need to find a good book. And read.

Perhaps some ice cream......... the remedy to all ills.

Does that man ever shut up?

The elevators in the NY Hilton have TV screens in them. The executive lounge has big screen TVs. And let me tell you, 9 out of 10 times we rode the elevator or went into the lounge, Mr Hope himself was talking.

That's right, President Obama has a lot to say. And he says it. All the time. Yack. Yack. Yack. I couldn't believe how many times I saw that man's face on a screen that week.

Now that I've been home I've gotten a reprieve (remember, we don't have cable). But, I swear, that many never stops! I hear about him on the radio in the car. This speech. That speech. This address. That rant. Oh, sorry.

Honestly, I don't listen to carefully to what he says. I'm pretty sure that I don't like most of it. Though I do approve of his call to the Palestinians to turn away from violence as a tool for legitimacy. And now and then I appreciate an articulate president.

But mostly I wonder at the amount of air time that guy receives. Are we seeing a cult of Obama? I mean, I remember the heady early days of Clinton's presidency. But it was nothing like this.

But I can be sure each time I plop my behind behind the wheel and turn on NPR, I'll be sure to get the latest update on what Mr. Hope is saying today.