Jane in NC Posted August 25, 2014 Share Posted August 25, 2014 Everything old becomes new eventually... Introducing the "p-book" (link to ~5 min video) We love our e-readers, but we all enjoyed this... That was pretty silly. :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rosie_0801 Posted August 25, 2014 Share Posted August 25, 2014 The boxes for Rosie are so beautiful - Robin, you did amazing work! ...and, Rosie, I so wanted to be part of that project, it was one of many good intentions that fell by the wayside when our grandbaby arrived... but I am sure I am not alone in sending lots of invisible love along with the more tangible (and beautiful!) contributions. :grouphug: No need to word it as though you sent nothing but invisible love (which would have been perfectly sufficient. :) ) You'll make a beautiful midwife. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pam in CT Posted August 25, 2014 Share Posted August 25, 2014 Everything old becomes new eventually... Introducing the "p-book" (link to ~5 min video) We love our e-readers, but we all enjoyed this... :laugh: Remember this one? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shukriyya Posted August 26, 2014 Share Posted August 26, 2014 :laugh: Remember this one? :smilielol5: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mom-ninja. Posted August 26, 2014 Share Posted August 26, 2014 Yes, I do feel that authors who are dead and gone have the amazing capacity for getting to know their reader, sometimes most intimately, but more often than not in some small personal way. They take up residence somewhere in the psyche and show up in the oddest of places, because they can do that, you know. Some of my best relationships are with dead people. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stacia Posted August 26, 2014 Share Posted August 26, 2014 Road tripping today & I ended up digging out my old cd of Chicago (the movie/musical) -- perfect for belting out tunes as you drive! Rosie, your comments about The Great Gatsby popped in my head as I revisited this movie through the music, lol. Chicago's characters make the Gatsby characters seem positively altruistic & modest by comparison. I think there's no redeeming character in Chicago & the 'bad' guys (& gals) win. But, it's a saucy, fabulous movie with some scathing commentary on the American obsession with fame, the (in)justice system in this country, media manipulation as well as manipulation of public perception, etc.... Any other Chicago fans here? I need to watch the movie again! I saw it when it was first out with a movie/tv editor friend of mine & she said "it's beautiful" partway through, meaning that each & every edit/cut in the movie is perfectly spot-on. It that respect, it is pretty amazing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rosie_0801 Posted August 26, 2014 Share Posted August 26, 2014 I just finished reading Terry Pratchett's 'Truckers.' I love Terry Pratchett. It's not a Discworld novel but it was good fun anyway. I think I only have one act to go of 'As You Like It.' I don't love Shakespeare. I don't know whether to congratulate myself on my perseverance or whether to consider it a character flaw. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Violet Crown Posted August 26, 2014 Share Posted August 26, 2014 :laugh: Remember this one? Ha! Great Girl enjoyed it especially, being the one in her summer math program who kept getting called over to make computers work. She thought it would be even better if the tech support guy turned the page and the book reader gasped, "Now you've lost all my data!!" Samuel Johnson tweet of the day: Elphinston @Johnson Have you read *********'s new book Johnson @Elphinston I have looked into it Elphinston @Johnson What?! Have you not read it through? Johnson @Elphinston @Boswell No, Sir; do you read books through? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pam in CT Posted August 26, 2014 Share Posted August 26, 2014 re Le Book: Ha!Great Girl enjoyed it especially, being the one in her summer math program who kept getting called over to make computers work. She thought it would be even better if the tech support guy turned the page and the book reader gasped, "Now you've lost all my data!!" :laugh: Indeed. I think my favorite bit is that the Deadpan Monks are Swedish. Or maybe Danish. Or Norwegian... In any event, not a language that anyone here has any hope of reading... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rosie_0801 Posted August 26, 2014 Share Posted August 26, 2014 Phew. That last act is finished. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Angel Posted August 26, 2014 Share Posted August 26, 2014 I'm a couple weeks behind, I think, so I'm playing catch-up with the posts! House is officially on the market. Still no idea if dh is going to take this job opportunity or not but having faith that God will put us where we need to be, wherever that is. School started yesterday, though only partially because I haven't had time to plan. You guys were totally cracking me up when I got the chance to sit down and read through last week's thread! I'm curious what my BaW buddies think. What do you do with really old paperbacks that are falling apart? Is there ever a point where you don't even bother donating them because they are in such poor condition? I have an aversion to throwing a book away! (The recyclers say they don't want them....) I now own 3 sets of the Lord of the Rings and am definitely keeping the hard bound edition because it has a sensible font and clean white paper so my middle aged eyes can reread in comfort. But the other 2 sets are old paper backs -- one I inherited from my brother and read when I was 13 or so, the other I married into. My set is about to disintegrate but I have a stupid sentimental attachment to it because those are the actual books where I first crushed on Aragorn, where I attempted to learn Elvish. Is that enough of a reason to keep it? My husband's set is at least in good donate-able condition. Yes!!!! My favorite copy of The Belgariad by David Eddings is an old book club edition given to me by my cousin (who really encouraged my interest in fantasy. The front cover is falling off and so is the back cover (hardback) and I am beginning to lose the first pages. All that said, it will stay on my shelf! So I say keep your precious book! What has *liking* a book got to do with anything? :confused1: The dead Russian fellas books are classics because they are heavy enough to beat a wolf to death with and keep a fire burning until morning, should you get stuck out on the steppes one winters night. Rosie, I'm so glad that I wasn't eating or drinking when I read this :lol: I laughed so hard! I'm still chuckling and its been a few hours! Has he read Black Beauty? Or Old Yeller? Now that I think about it, these kinds of stories were probably deliberately crafted to produce visceral emotional responses. It seems strange to me now, but at one time I loved reading books that would draw me into that place where the tears of empathy would start flowing. My children just seemed to feel like they were being manipulated by the author, (and maybe their mother) which I guess is true. I stopped assigning those books and just put them on optional reading lists instead. On a different note.... Shukriyya, based on what you're saying, your ds will not like Call of the Wild. I was (& am) extremely sensitive to stuff like that in stories & hated all books like that when I was a kid (when we were forced to read certain books, such as Charlotte's Web, Black Beauty, Old Yeller, Where the Red Fern Grows, Call of the Wild, etc...). They all ripped my heart out so badly that I absolutely hated reading them. I still don't read them & never read them to my kids. Dd is fine w/ things like that & I told her there were certain stories I couldn't handle, so she just needed to learn how to read well-enough to read them on her own, lol. Black Beauty is one of her favorite books (& movies), owning various copies/versions. Whenever she would watch the movie, I had to be in an entirely separate part of the house because I couldn't even stand to overhear the movie. Ds has not read any of those books & I have never made him do so because he is just like me in that respect. Anyway, maybe I'm too sensitive to things like that, but it is what it is.... It's almost like I 'over-feel' it to the point that I can't cope with it, if that makes any sense. :mellow: :iagree: I see no value in these stories. I cannot deal with it. Stacia, you put it very well. I took it one step further. Those movies were never allowed to come in my house. If dd wanted to watch them she had to watch them at Granny's. I just can't stand it. Of course, I couldn't even handle Lassie. One of my most vivid memories as a child is sobbing on my bed in the middle of a Lassie episode. My mom said that it was all ok, Lassie always comes home but I couldn't get there. Lassie was also banned from our house ;) Oh my word...I'm feeling a decided lack of optimism about this book. And since the program starts with it I'm now scrambling to figure out what to replace it with. If it elicits such a viscerally emotional reaction why it's it always included on middle school reading lists??? As I read further I saw that your lit curriculum didn't have The Call of the Wild! :hurray: I frequently wonder about books on school reading lists. Some things just shouldn't be read in Jr. High or High School. And then some books just shouldn't be read at all! :tongue_smilie: Off to catch up on this week's thread! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shukriyya Posted August 26, 2014 Share Posted August 26, 2014 Her Royal Spyness fans, the first book in that series is available on audible for $3. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stacia Posted August 27, 2014 Share Posted August 27, 2014 Spent this evening reading an utterly delightful book, The Book of Chameleons by Jose Eduardo Agualusa. Loved it! This is definitely on my list of favorites this year. http://www.theguardian.com/books/2007/jun/30/featuresreviews.guardianreview26 http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/reviews/the-book-of-chameleons-by-joseacute-eduardo-agualusa-trans-daniel-hahn-427483.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mumto2 Posted August 27, 2014 Share Posted August 27, 2014 Spent this evening reading an utterly delightful book, The Book of Chameleons by Jose Eduardo Agualusa. Loved it! This is definitely on my list of favorites this year. http://www.theguardian.com/books/2007/jun/30/featuresreviews.guardianreview26 http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/reviews/the-book-of-chameleons-by-joseacute-eduardo-agualusa-trans-daniel-hahn-427483.html I managed to find it at one of my libraries. Placed a hold. This is one of those that will be a stretch for me but sounds intriguing. Glad you loved it Stacia. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Onceuponatime Posted August 27, 2014 Share Posted August 27, 2014 I gave up on The Bear. After the actual story of the bear, the rest of the book was a conglomeration of theology, philosophy, and history of the Deep South. It was difficult to follow the author's wordy meandering thoughts. He must have had a point to it all but I don't have the energy right now to try to tease it out. Yesterday I read Letter to a Christian Nation in one hour. It was a reader's digest version of material that is covered more fully in dozens of other books. I have started The Time Cat by Lloyd Alexander. :-) My excuse is I wanted to read it to see if my 10 year old would like it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mom-ninja. Posted August 27, 2014 Share Posted August 27, 2014 Yesterday I read Letter to a Christian Nation in one hour. It was a reader's digest version of material that is covered more fully in dozens of other books. That was my first Harris. He makes me swoon. Several books came from the library. Yes, they are all non-fiction. Your point? Yes, I realize I read 98% non-fiction. So? I started Proust and the Squid. I began it during dance lesson (not mine :tongue_smilie: ) and I almost fell asleep. Not due to the book content but because I was so tired yesterday. The book so far is interesting, but I was sitting in a plush armchair, reading, with classical music playing in the background. That's a recipe for sleepiness. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Onceuponatime Posted August 27, 2014 Share Posted August 27, 2014 That was my first Harris. He makes me swoon. . This was my first book of his too. Before this, I had read articles by him and listened to YouTube videos. I figured it was time to read one of his books. I must admit to finding his voice mesmerizing. He's so...so....reasonable. ;-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shukriyya Posted August 27, 2014 Share Posted August 27, 2014 Classics lovers, Mary Renault's, 'The King Must Die', is available on kindle for $2... "In myth, Theseus was the slayer of the child-devouring Minotaur in Crete. What the founder-hero might have been in real life is another question, brilliantly explored in The King Must Die. Drawing on modern scholarship and archaeological findings at Knossos, Mary Renault’s Theseus is an utterly lifelike figure—a king of immense charisma, whose boundless strivings flow from strength and weakness—but also one steered by implacable prophecy. The story follows Theseus’s adventures from Troizen to Eleusis, where the death in the book’s title is to take place, and from Athens to Crete, where he learns to jump bulls and is named king of the victims. Richly imbued with the spirit of its time, this is a page-turner as well as a daring act of imagination." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ladydusk Posted August 27, 2014 Share Posted August 27, 2014 Jane has fantasies of a BaW wine tasting.... Sounds fab! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ladydusk Posted August 27, 2014 Share Posted August 27, 2014 Happy Anniversary and Happy Birthday! I'm a bit behind. I finished Heyer's A Civil Contract and it was pretty good. Then I read Merely a Mister by Sherry Lynn Ferguson (cheap on kindle). It was fine. I've requested the first St Cyr book from the library. I am trying to read Chasing Francis and The Liberal Arts Tradition. But am being slow and avoidant. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stacia Posted August 27, 2014 Share Posted August 27, 2014 I always thought Time Cat was a cute book, Onceuponatime. My dc both enjoyed it when they were younger, though it was not a favorite. Finished another short book -- The Club of Angels by Luis Fernando Verissimo. It's an entertaining, ghastly little tale, filled with delicious food & dark humor. The mystery is not so much in the 'who', but in the 'why'. Probably recommended for gourmands, gluttons, & fans of non-traditional mysteries. Quick & easy to read in one sitting. I read this one because I loved Verissimo's book Borges and the Eternal Orangutans. The books share some similarities of style, but I loved the Orangutans book because it featured Borges, Poe, & surrealism (very much my style), while this one featured gourmet food, wines, & King Lear (less my style). Lol. I suspect foodies might get a macabre kick out of The Club of Angels. http://www.publishersweekly.com/978-0-8112-1500-8#path/978-0-8112-1500-8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TeacherZee Posted August 27, 2014 Share Posted August 27, 2014 re Le Book: :laugh: Indeed. I think my favorite bit is that the Deadpan Monks are Swedish. Or maybe Danish. Or Norwegian... In any event, not a language that anyone here has any hope of reading... Norwegian. I can read it. And I would have been able to read it in the other two languages as well. I speak Swedish (and can read and write in it as well :)), I can read and understand spoken Norwegian and I can read Danish. :blush: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
-M- Posted August 27, 2014 Share Posted August 27, 2014 Hello, BaWers. I've finished another three since my last post, for a total of sixty-five books so far this year. â– The Book of You (Clare Kendal; 2014. 368 pages. Fiction.)â– Bird Box (Josh Malerman; 2014. 272 pages. Fiction.)â– Snowpiercer, Vol. 2: The Explorers (Jacques Lob; Benjamin Legrand (1999 and 2000); 2014. 140 pages. Graphic fiction.) I am still making my way through Greenblatt's Will in the World and Hill's Howards End Is on the Landing, and I've scheduled my reread of King Lear for the upcoming holiday weekend. As I noted in my last post, I've also begun the Lydia Davis translation of Proust's Swann's Way. (Worthy of repeating... a line from Bechdel's graphic memoir Fun Home: "It's said, after all, that people reach middle age the day they realize they're never going to read Remembrance of Things Past.") Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Violet Crown Posted August 27, 2014 Share Posted August 27, 2014 The Johnson Twitterfeed: DrJohnCampbell @Johnson Opinion on taxing Americans w/out consent? Johnson @DrJohnCampbell @Boswell Sir, they are a race of convicts & ought to be thankful for any thing we allow them short of hanging. #DetestAmericans #ToriesRule Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stacia Posted August 27, 2014 Share Posted August 27, 2014 Poking around the library website brought me to a book that may appeal to some the BaW oenophiles: Adventures in Wine: True Stories of Vineyards and Vintages Around the World. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rosie_0801 Posted August 27, 2014 Share Posted August 27, 2014 I don't want y'all to think someone has hacked my account... but I think you should ditch reading Shakespeare, love. ...if you ever come to my part of the States, I'll take you to some fabulous productions... I suspect that my experience reading Shakespeare has been shaped by years of immersion in really good productions (perhaps theater going has shaped how I read scripts in general?), but if the language doesn't 'sing' for you, if it isn't tickling your funny bone or tearing out your heart... I'm not sure it adds any value you couldn't get from reading a retelling... A girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do. :driving: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jane in NC Posted August 27, 2014 Share Posted August 27, 2014 "It's not lies, it's politics." This quote from Scholastique Mukasonga's novel Our Lady of the Nile (translated from the French by Melanie Mauthner and published by Archipelago Books) sums up the theme of the story. The Archipelago website offers a good description of the plot: In her first novel, Our Lady of the Nile, originally published in 2012 by Gallimard, Scholastique Mukasonga drops us into an elite Catholic boarding school for young women perched on the ridge of the Nile. Parents send their daughters to Our Lady of the Nile to be molded into respectable citizens . . . and to escape the dangers of the outside world. Fifteen years prior to the 1994 Rwandan genocide, we watch as these girls try on their parents’ preconceptions and attitudes, transforming the lycée into a microcosm of the country’s mounting racial tensions and violence. In the midst of the interminable rainy season, everything unfolds behind the closed doors of the school: friendship, curiosity, fear, deceit, prejudice, and persecution. With a masterful prose that is at once subtle and penetrating, Mukasonga captures a society hurtling toward horror. Mukasonga won three French literary prizes for this work, the 2012 Prix Renaudot, the 2012 Prix Ahmadou Kourouma, and the 2012 Prix Océans. Wow. I am still digesting this powerful tale which despite the impending horror in its pages is beautiful. What a book! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stacia Posted August 28, 2014 Share Posted August 28, 2014 "It's not lies, it's politics." This quote from Scholastique Mukasonga's novel Our Lady of the Nile (translated from the French by Melanie Mauthner and published by Archipelago Books) sums up the theme of the story. The Archipelago website offers a good description of the plot: Mukasonga won three French literary prizes for this work, the 2012 Prix Renaudot, the 2012 Prix Ahmadou Kourouma, and the 2012 Prix Océans. Wow. I am still digesting this powerful tale which despite the impending horror in its pages is beautiful. What a book! I thought this sounded like a wonderful book when I first heard about it & I'm happy that you've confirmed it, Jane! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shukriyya Posted August 28, 2014 Share Posted August 28, 2014 "It's not lies, it's politics." This quote from Scholastique Mukasonga's novel Our Lady of the Nile (translated from the French by Melanie Mauthner and published by Archipelago Books) sums up the theme of the story. The Archipelago website offers a good description of the plot: Mukasonga won three French literary prizes for this work, the 2012 Prix Renaudot, the 2012 Prix Ahmadou Kourouma, and the 2012 Prix Océans. Wow. I am still digesting this powerful tale which despite the impending horror in its pages is beautiful. What a book! Oh, this looks so good but it's not available from my library in either paperback or kindle. Hmm, trying to decide if it's worth buying. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shukriyya Posted August 28, 2014 Share Posted August 28, 2014 I stay even further away from fictional bios of authors than I do from real ones... but I am intrigued all the same. I don't have relationships with the authors, but the books (and their characters) are part of the fabric of my being in ways I I can't even begin to articulate. Even with poetry, it feels as if the poems have a life of their own - and it is the poems not the poet which has infiltrated my psyche. ... but I think we're talking about the same thing, just seeing it through different lenses. I cannot help but feel the breath of the writer around her or his words, cannot help but borrow the author's own expansive wings and wear them awhile, lightly and with interest. For me the poet arises most generously in the space and silence around their words, in that intimate hush and voluptuous sky that feels like the poet's own heart. It isn't restraint - I don't enjoy chocolate (to fend off charges of heresy, I will confess that I don't enjoy food in general, well I like *making* it, just not consuming it...) Heresy indeed :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robin M Posted August 28, 2014 Author Share Posted August 28, 2014 Road tripping today & I ended up digging out my old cd of Chicago (the movie/musical) -- perfect for belting out tunes as you drive! Rosie, your comments about The Great Gatsby popped in my head as I revisited this movie through the music, lol. Chicago's characters make the Gatsby characters seem positively altruistic & modest by comparison. I think there's no redeeming character in Chicago & the 'bad' guys (& gals) win. But, it's a saucy, fabulous movie with some scathing commentary on the American obsession with fame, the (in)justice system in this country, media manipulation as well as manipulation of public perception, etc.... Any other Chicago fans here? http://youtu.be/VoDS1lWdpjw I need to watch the movie again! I saw it when it was first out with a movie/tv editor friend of mine & she said "it's beautiful" partway through, meaning that each & every edit/cut in the movie is perfectly spot-on. It that respect, it is pretty amazing. I love Chicago! Even though we have the DVD will watch it every time come across it on tv. The songs and choreography were so well done and it's always fun seeing an actor do something out of their normal element. Besides the songs are addictive and every time I watch it makes me wish I could dance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mumto2 Posted August 28, 2014 Share Posted August 28, 2014 Can't remember if I ever mentioned that I finished Aunt Dimity and the Duke last week. I was a bit disappointed to discover that it(listed as number 2 on series order lists) actually takes place before Aunt Dimity's Death (number 1 on lists). I spent the first portion of the book wondering if my memory was going. Kids grew younger, wives had different names......irritated me greatly. Overall just a perfectly pleasant cozy after I got over my timing issues. Amy(since you are always hunting for books for your dd) I found an interesting link when looking for a review http://www.fictiondb.com/author/nancy-atherton~aunt-dimity-and-the-duke~53308~b.htm. This website appears to rate books by appropriate reader age, appears to be a precursor to goodreads. Not sure how accurate I feel it is because Aunt Dimity is pretty mild as a series thus far. Would not have minded dd reading them younger, so 18 is a bit old imo. The only part of the book 1 that I remember that could be objectionable was a one line comment along the lines of the couple went upstairs (night time) and had a wonderful time, not sure if they were married at that point or not( they were definately seriously going to marry asap). In book 2 the female main character was recovering from a 15 year partner relationship where she was dumped and he immediately married a younger woman. Once again undertones but not descriptive at all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jane in NC Posted August 28, 2014 Share Posted August 28, 2014 Oh, this looks so good but it's not available from my library in either paperback or kindle. Hmm, trying to decide if it's worth buying. If I had not already designated this book for my sister-in-law, I would send it to you. May I suggest that you ask your library to order the book? Archipelago needs to be on every library's radar. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Uff Da! Posted August 28, 2014 Share Posted August 28, 2014 I've never felt that I sacrificed anything of myself to be a mother, and a mother to many. (Though I have often felt as if health issues have sacrificed a lot without consulting me!) ....but I am standing at a place where I realize that there are pieces of myself I have set aside, pieces I want to have be part of the final tapestry of my life. It isn't a bad or sad thing that I haven't used those strands yet, but I am feeling that it would be if I never use them. If that makes any sense at all. ...this might not be the way to do that, but it is somewhere to start. I've been feeling like this lately. My kids are young and there are no grandchildren in sight for a loooooooooong time! Now, they are both potty trained, can sleep in in the mornings without touching me and can somewhat self-entertain so I am finding my way back to things I did pre-mommy. I was running the other day and remembering what it was like to run when I was younger and imagining what it will be like when I'm old. It was like the young me, present me and future me were all compressed into one moment. I'm thinking of dropping "Life of Pi". It seems heavy and dark and I want light and fun right now. I Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shukriyya Posted August 28, 2014 Share Posted August 28, 2014 If I had not already designated this book for my sister-in-law, I would send it to you. May I suggest that you ask your library to order the book? Archipelago needs to be on every library's radar. Thank you, Jane, that's very kind of you. Of course, your suggestion to have the library order it would mean so many more people than my little self would get to enjoy it :D We have a library visit scheduled for the next day or two and this will go on the list of to-do items when we're there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jane in NC Posted August 28, 2014 Share Posted August 28, 2014 For those of you contemplating Life After Homeschooling, here is a glimpse of my morning. While drinking my first cup of coffee around 6 AM, I exchanged a couple of emails with my son who returns to the US from the UK next week. He informed me that he and his girlfriend went to The Globe yesterday to see Julius Caesar. And while the actor who played Mark Antony was amazing, "The guy who really stole the show was Casca which was really surprising." (May I just say that, as a mother, I love receiving emails like this!) We had the good fortune to see Royal Shakespeare perform JC about a decade ago; he says the Globe production is better. :cool: I wonder if some of the political statements RSC made by setting JC in modern Russia went over his twelve year old head! But who am I to doubt this? Planning my day usually includes the question of what's for dinner. A curry with some corn pakoras on the side sounds good but I needed a couple of ingredients. In my life of leisure, I am able to ride my bike the three miles to the store, stopping by the Wee Free Library to see if anything interesting has been placed in the box. Nope, but I did find that our local beekeeper had jars of honey out. She operates on the honor system. Take a jar and put the money in a rusted tin. Like everything else, the price has gone up though, from $5 to $6 a pint now. Rest of the day? I am sewing a shirt for my son (Vogue 8800). It is coming together really well. Today I will finish the flat fell side seams and start the cuffs. I also need to help one of the organizations with which I volunteer come up with some sound bites for a presentation. And read. Not a bad life, eh? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shukriyya Posted August 28, 2014 Share Posted August 28, 2014 I think we all need to convene at Jane's place for coffee and biscuits slathered with butter and local honey. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brehon Posted August 28, 2014 Share Posted August 28, 2014 For those of you contemplating Life After Homeschooling, here is a glimpse of my morning. While drinking my first cup of coffee around 6 AM, I exchanged a couple of emails with my son who returns to the US from the UK next week. He informed me that he and his girlfriend went to The Globe yesterday to see Julius Caesar. And while the actor who played Mark Antony was amazing, "The guy who really stole the show was Casca which was really surprising." (May I just say that, as a mother, I love receiving emails like this!) We had the good fortune to see Royal Shakespeare perform JC about a decade ago; he says the Globe production is better. :cool: I wonder if some of the political statements RSC made by setting JC in modern Russia went over his twelve year old head! But who am I to doubt this? Planning my day usually includes the question of what's for dinner. A curry with some corn pakoras on the side sounds good but I needed a couple of ingredients. In my life of leisure, I am able to ride my bike the three miles to the store, stopping by the Wee Free Library to see if anything interesting has been placed in the box. Nope, but I did find that our local beekeeper had jars of honey out. She operates on the honor system. Take a jar and put the money in a rusted tin. Like everything else, the price has gone up though, from $5 to $6 a pint now. Rest of the day? I am sewing a shirt for my son (Vogue 8800). It is coming together really well. Today I will finish the flat fell side seams and start the cuffs. I also need to help one of the organizations with which I volunteer come up with some sound bites for a presentation. And read. Not a bad life, eh? How absolutely lovely! <sigh> Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shage Posted August 28, 2014 Share Posted August 28, 2014 re Le Book: :laugh: Indeed. I think my favorite bit is that the Deadpan Monks are Swedish. Or maybe Danish. Or Norwegian... In any event, not a language that anyone here has any hope of reading... Throw down. Norwegian of course. Which I also read. :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pam in CT Posted August 28, 2014 Share Posted August 28, 2014 So happy to have smoked out the Norwegians on the thread! (bonus points, now, for card-playing BAWers who know from "smoking out the queen...") Norwegian. I can read it. And I would have been able to read it in the other two languages as well. I speak Swedish (and can read and write in it as well :)), I can read and understand spoken Norwegian and I can read Danish. :blush: Throw down. Norwegian of course. Which I also read. :-) We have Norwegians on distant branches of our family tree, but not close enough that anybody has any residual language skills. My parents do have a very lovely, very large, very very HEAVY wooden chest intricately carved with boats and ropes and serpent heads. re thinking of the next passage: I don't know if I'll ever get there, but thinking about trying to has been really amazingly lovely. I've never felt that I sacrificed anything of myself to be a mother, and a mother to many. (Though I have often felt as if health issues have sacrificed a lot without consulting me!) ....but I am standing at a place where I realize that there are pieces of myself I have set aside, pieces I want to have be part of the final tapestry of my life. It isn't a bad or sad thing that I haven't used those strands yet, but I am feeling that it would be if I never use them. If that makes any sense at all. ...this might not be the way to do that, but it is somewhere to start. I've been feeling like this lately. My kids are young and there are no grandchildren in sight for a loooooooooong time! Now, they are both potty trained, can sleep in in the mornings without touching me and can somewhat self-entertain so I am finding my way back to things I did pre-mommy. I was running the other day and remembering what it was like to run when I was younger and imagining what it will be like when I'm old. It was like the young me, present me and future me were all compressed into one moment. Thank you both for offering up these marvelous images... though my youngers are still around, they're are all in school, and I'm at this cusp as well... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MicheleinMN Posted August 28, 2014 Share Posted August 28, 2014 Road tripping today & I ended up digging out my old cd of Chicago (the movie/musical) -- perfect for belting out tunes as you drive! Rosie, your comments about The Great Gatsby popped in my head as I revisited this movie through the music, lol. Chicago's characters make the Gatsby characters seem positively altruistic & modest by comparison. I think there's no redeeming character in Chicago & the 'bad' guys (& gals) win. But, it's a saucy, fabulous movie with some scathing commentary on the American obsession with fame, the (in)justice system in this country, media manipulation as well as manipulation of public perception, etc.... Any other Chicago fans here? I need to watch the movie again! I saw it when it was first out with a movie/tv editor friend of mine & she said "it's beautiful" partway through, meaning that each & every edit/cut in the movie is perfectly spot-on. It that respect, it is pretty amazing. LOVE that movie and haven't watched it in ages. (I hated it the first time I watched it and only watched it again because my mom and aunt both said I needed to. It turned into a favorite!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MicheleinMN Posted August 28, 2014 Share Posted August 28, 2014 I haven't finished a single book this week. I'm reading Dead Witch Walking which feels like a Stephanie Plum book mixed with the supernatural. :laugh: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TeacherZee Posted August 28, 2014 Share Posted August 28, 2014 So happy to have smoked out the Norwegians on the thread! (bonus points, now, for card-playing BAWers who know from "smoking out the queen...") We have Norwegians on distant branches of our family tree, but not close enough that anybody has any residual language skills. My parents do have a very lovely, very large, very very HEAVY wooden chest intricately carved with boats and ropes and serpent heads. Well I'm Swedish, important distinction ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stacia Posted August 28, 2014 Share Posted August 28, 2014 Well, I'm not Norwegian, Swedish, Danish, or Finnish. (I also have *no clue* about any of those languages. I did recognize a word or two in the video, probably because I've heard Dutch quite a bit, so perhaps there's a tiny overlap or similarity somewhere?) I do like lingonberries & Scandinavian design in general, though. Can I be an honorary member of the Scandinavian club? ;) :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TeacherZee Posted August 28, 2014 Share Posted August 28, 2014 Sweden today Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stacia Posted August 28, 2014 Share Posted August 28, 2014 Gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous, TeacherZee!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Violet Crown Posted August 28, 2014 Share Posted August 28, 2014 Beautiful! What is that blue stuff in the background? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shage Posted August 28, 2014 Share Posted August 28, 2014 Well I'm Swedish, important distinction ;) Laughing. What does Sweden have that Norway does not? Good neighbors. I have no Scandinavian heritage but spent most of my teen years in Norway because of my father's job. Lovely country, lovely people. Sweden too. (Confession: I am a very long time Book a Week lurker and you guys are mostly responsible for my reading list choices. I don't have time for much free reading this days but reading the threads makes me feel less out of the loop. Thank you. All of you.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Angel Posted August 28, 2014 Share Posted August 28, 2014 I find uncertainty more challenging than actual crisis. ...not knowing what direction to look in is really, really hard for me. So, of course, my life has been a series of opportunities to practice doing so! [i can report that after, what, 42? years of living, I am starting to figure out flexibility - I am even, on occasion, spontaneous!] So, Angel, I am so admiring of your calm and patience - doing the work you need to do in case and letting go of the things you can't control... wow! We're approaching the Jewish New Year (Rosh HaShanah) where the traditional greeting/with is 'l'shana tova u'mesuka (loosely translated as Have a happy, sweet New Year. The obvious question is why ask for 'sweet' as well as 'good'. The traditional answer is: we ask not just that things be 'good' or 'for the best', but that they be sweet to our perception... I wish for you that this transition should be not just good, but sweet to the taste, that the logistics go smoothly and easily and your whole family has joy and excitement about the direction your lives are heading in. I don't want y'all to think someone has hacked my account... but I think you should ditch reading Shakespeare, love. ...if you ever come to my part of the States, I'll take you to some fabulous productions... I suspect that my experience reading Shakespeare has been shaped by years of immersion in really good productions (perhaps theater going has shaped how I read scripts in general?), but if the language doesn't 'sing' for you, if it isn't tickling your funny bone or tearing out your heart... I'm not sure it adds any value you couldn't get from reading a retelling... Awww! :001_wub: Thanks! But I need to be really honest and tell you that it took me 8 months to get to this spot. Most of those months were spent amid tears, despair, and frustration, and even anger. I was very unhappy. I truly despise change and not only was that changing and unknown but so many other things in my life were falling to pieces and changing as well. Finally God gave me a little tap and said haven't I always been there and won't I continue to be wherever and whatever the path I have for you may lead. That along with the realization that moving, though "life" threatening to me, was not really compared to those of my friends and acquaintances who were dealing with truly life threatening illness or other major issues in their lives. I felt fairly selfish in my little pity party at that point and have been striving to thrive in my faith than striving to "strive" for no purpose. It has been a journey, and though I still have rough days, I realize that it is what my husband always says "10% of life is what happens to you. 90% is how you deal with it." I'm trying to do my best with the 90%. I appreciate so much your sweet wishes! I agree that we need to take Rosie to see some truly magnificent Shakespeare productions! Shakespeare was meant to be performed first and foremost. The beauty and truth of the words really blossom when they take the stage. So Rosie come on over, and bring little dd, and we'll see a romping performance of A Midsummer Night's Dream and you will see Shakespeare in a marvelous new light and your dd with start early with an appreciation for the fun. For I truly believe that once you start them early on the path, there is no need to "fear" Shakespeare and his language any longer. And with that I will tell a funny story. Last year dd19 wanted to take the older of the girls she nannies for to see A Midsummer Night's Dream. She had just turned 8. So she picked a beautiful retelling by Bruce Colville and spent a couple mornings reading to her before she went to school. It was a few months before the actual performance and when asked if she remembered the story, the little girl said "Yes! It had Puck and all the fairies slept together!" :lol: Dd was so worried that the mom would get a call from the school asking what the nanny was reading to her :lol: In the end, she thoroughly enjoyed the production, was totally mesmerized by the performance of Puck, and laughed so loud at the antics of the lovers. She has no idea that Shakespeare is scary or hard. ;) That performance was also the first for one of our homeschool friends (almost 12) and her grandma. Both who returned with us to see more! So pack your bags, Rosie! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stacia Posted August 28, 2014 Share Posted August 28, 2014 I agree that Shakespeare is more fun to watch than to read, lol. Last year, I got to see a pretty funky performance of A Midsummer Night's Dream at the Spoleto festival. http://www.bristololdvic.org.uk/dream.html I thought it was fun & funky; my sis, who attended with me, didn't like it. Lol. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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