It's Strewsday Tuesday again!
Two websites that Becky really likes to visit: American Girl
Girlsgogames
We actually learn some stuff from the American Girl site. Becky especially likes the quiz games. We've learned all sorts of facts about different subjects, candy, for instance!
Thought I'd do a review of the books everyone's been reading:
Me: Right now reading aloud The Creed in Slow Motion (we are going really slowly through this), A Tale of Two Cities, Meet the Austins (almost done!), A Little History of the World, Henry V.
Independent reading:
Josh - a series of Star Wars books that his friend keeps lending him. Can't say I'm up to date on what they are exactly. He's also reading a lot of Shakespeare for his class. Recently finished MacBeth. And he also reads on line a lot of fanfic for the Naruto graphic novels.
Sean - recently finished reading the whole Scott Pilgrim series. We are reading Henry V together. I read it aloud and he follows along in his own book.
Becky - She's almost done reading the Mysterious Benedict Society trilogy. She's also working her way through the Life of Fred series. She's almost finished the Edgewood book. She's reading a book on line at the American Girl site as well. And she has a tendency to pick up any book lying around and read it for a while. She started Little Women the other day, but I don't think she's read too much of it.
Rick - has been reading Walter Isaacson's biography of Ben Franklin. It's his third Isaacson book in a row!
Me - well I didn't finish any books for this past Sunday's Read 52 Books in 52 Weeks, but I will definitely have finished them by next week! So stay tuned. I'm posting my reviews this weekend.
Any book or website strewing going on at your place?
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
Monday, January 30, 2012
The HHS Mandate
If you haven't heard, Kathleen Sibelius of the Department of Health and Human Services has mandated that all Catholic organizations that hire non-Catholics must provide free contraceptive, abortificients and sterilization insurance coverage. The nice thing about Catholics is we hire anybody! We don't discriminate! So that means that anybody who runs any kind of business has to go against Church teaching and provide something that is considered a gravely mortal sin. This is tyranny and violates the free exercise of religion guaranteed in our Constitution. I urge everyone to become proactive about this. Even if you are for birth control, most rational people would not agree that the Constitution should be violated in this way. Especially if you voted for Obama, please, you owe it to your country to make a big stink about this! This threat to freedom threatens all Americans.
Go to these links to help.
Go to these links to help.
Saturday, January 28, 2012
Menu Planning
Tonight, Saturday, I think we are doing carry out from Noodles and Company. I just can't muster up energy for cooking right now. This is my menu planning for the week. I'm printing it out and putting it on my fridge.
Sunday:
(I didn't make pancakes last Sunday, so I think I will this time.)
Breakfast:
Sprouted multigrain pancakes
eggs
bacon
Lunch: come and get it yourself! (Don't forget to soak oatmeal!)
Dinner: grilled steaks, roasted cauliflower and baked acorn squash, mashed potatoes
Monday:
Breakfast:
oatmeal and fruit
Lunch:
Chik-fil-e????
Dinner:
beef fajitas, leftover veggies, corn
Tuesday:
eggs, breakfast ham, fruit
applegate hotdogs plus whatever veggies I can put out
Chicken coq e vin, brown rice, salad, applesauce
Wednesday:
smoothies, scones (I have to use up the package!)
leftovers, peanut butter and fruit (don't forget to start the chicken broth after lunch!)
Easy mac and cheese, salad, apple sauce
Thursday:
breakfast sandwiches for the road
packed sandwiches, fruit, veggies (don't forget to soak oatmeal when you get home!)
pizza
Friday:
oatmeal and fruit
fish sticks, sweet potato fries, veggies (don't forget to start the bread after lunch!)
potato cheese soup, home made bread, veggie platter
Fruit for week: clementines, pears, apples, raisins, blueberries, frozen strawberries, bananas, jar of peaches, applesauce.
Veggies: potatoes, acorn squash, raw and roasted cauliflower, sugar snap peas, celery, carrots, cucumbers, tomatoes, peppers.
Snacks: yogurt with honey, trail mix, homemade cheesy popcorn, cheese and crackers, choco milk
Sunday:
(I didn't make pancakes last Sunday, so I think I will this time.)
Breakfast:
Sprouted multigrain pancakes
eggs
bacon
Lunch: come and get it yourself! (Don't forget to soak oatmeal!)
Dinner: grilled steaks, roasted cauliflower and baked acorn squash, mashed potatoes
Monday:
Breakfast:
oatmeal and fruit
Lunch:
Chik-fil-e????
Dinner:
beef fajitas, leftover veggies, corn
Tuesday:
eggs, breakfast ham, fruit
applegate hotdogs plus whatever veggies I can put out
Chicken coq e vin, brown rice, salad, applesauce
Wednesday:
smoothies, scones (I have to use up the package!)
leftovers, peanut butter and fruit (don't forget to start the chicken broth after lunch!)
Easy mac and cheese, salad, apple sauce
Thursday:
breakfast sandwiches for the road
packed sandwiches, fruit, veggies (don't forget to soak oatmeal when you get home!)
pizza
Friday:
oatmeal and fruit
fish sticks, sweet potato fries, veggies (don't forget to start the bread after lunch!)
potato cheese soup, home made bread, veggie platter
Fruit for week: clementines, pears, apples, raisins, blueberries, frozen strawberries, bananas, jar of peaches, applesauce.
Veggies: potatoes, acorn squash, raw and roasted cauliflower, sugar snap peas, celery, carrots, cucumbers, tomatoes, peppers.
Snacks: yogurt with honey, trail mix, homemade cheesy popcorn, cheese and crackers, choco milk
Friday, January 27, 2012
7 Quick Takes - 1/27/12
1. I've been reading a great little book of meditations based on the writing of St. John Henry Newman, most mornings. It is called Take Five and it's by Mike Aquilina and Fr. Juan R. Velez. I am really enjoying the pithy but thought provoking meditations. I read while I'm waiting for my kettle to boil for my first cup of coffee. Usually they address something that's been floating around in my life somehow and I get a little moment of crystallization. This morning's meditation was especially on target for me and my state of mind. Newman was giving advice to a new convert (of which I am not, but I always seem to be in the state of permanent conversion!):
"She should give herself to the contemplation of obedience and holiness, and reading of the lives of the saints; and set herself deliberately to the business of self-government, of changing herself where she most requires it, of gaining perfect resignation to God's Will, of unlearning worldly opinions, motives and principles, and living as if in sight of the things invisible - and that without impatience at apparent failure or apparent slow advance."
I bolded the last part, because that's the part that really rang true as a message I needed to hear this a.m. Thank you St. John Henry Newman!
2. Another prayer help I've been utilizing this week is one that send novenas to your email so you remember to pray them. You can find it here at www.praymorenovenas.com. I think I found out about this on the Unschooling Catholics yahoolist.
3. I've started reading Don Quixote! I've never read it before. I haven't gotten far though. In fact, I haven't gotten past the Prelude. The Prelude is 167 pages long but it is wonderful. It is written by the translator, Walter Starkie. I was so charmed by his writing style that I looked him up. What a lovely man! You can read his wikipedia article here. I love stumbling on obscure (at least to me) literary history. This version of Don Quixote sat on my parents shelf for decades. It's an old edition but it is missing the page that has the copyright so I don't know the year.
4. We went to the March for Life on Monday and I've been trying to recover all week. It was rainy and cold and the conditions seemed pretty miserable at first, but once you got into the enormous crowd and started walking, things got much more comfortable. I haven't been to the march personally in about 25 years I think. It has grown incredibly. It reminded me of those photos of MLK's speech, where you just see a sea of people. Really, really huge. The minute we started marching everyone got separated. This proved to be a bit stressful, to say the least. However, we finally managed to meet up again in front of the Supreme Court. The staging wasn't set up due to some snafu, so we couldn't really see anybody speaking and we only got to hear a few minutes before we were told we had to get back to the bus. We got stuck in the crowd right before some counter protestors. We saw this women there. It was disturbing and baffling to us. But I must say they are courageous to speak out when there were at least a quarter of million people there, maybe more, I am horrible at estimating numbers (who were directly opposed to them). I wonder if they'd be so bold for any other movement. Instead people apparently were approaching them in good will to engage them in conversation. The whole mood of the crowd is one of love and peace. Everyone is praying, singing, or chanting slogans (like: we love babies, yes we do. We love babies, how about you!). I think that says something wonderful about the pro-life movement and our country. That we can be so peaceful.
5. But the March really bothered me, just because of my own personality. I am not meant to be political. It truly upsets me and makes me lose sleep and hope! I was particularly upset at the lack of coverage by both the New York Times (who I hear hasn't covered this enormous annual event in 5 years! Anybody who trusts news from that paper has their head buried in the sand!) and the Washington Post (which almost to a ludicrous level, underreported the event. No integrity there at all. Deliberate manipulation of the facts!). I was having an discussion with a staunchly liberal relative. When I dared to criticize the objectivity of these two institutions I was heartily scoffed at. The Crescat also talks about the duplicitous coverage of the March by mainstream media.
6. Update on changing to a Nourishing Traditions style of cooking! Well, the one thing I've really stuck to is the soaking and slow cooking oatmeal; it is great! Today we made popcorn on the stove with olive oil, butter, cheddar cheese and sea salt. The kids loved it. A good, but sugarless snack. I think I did pretty well with dinners this week, except for Thursday when we got carry out pizza. But Monday we had scallops wrapped in bacon, Tuesday we had tacos, Wednesday we had roast chicken. Tonight we are having wild salmon, corn, sweet potato fries, sauteed mushrooms and then some sliced cucumbers. The problem, though with all these meals is that the kids don't eat much of them at all. But we are working on it. Becky has refused to eat oatmeal for the past three weeks but this a.m. she had a couple of spoonfuls after she witnessed Sean exclaiming over how good it was. So there's something! And I'm thinking if I get rid of my own negative attitude (which can only be done by the Holy Spirit because I know I'll never change on my own!) and just keep steadily presenting food as attractively as I can while at the same time educating them on what is healthy and why so many bad carbs and sugars are so awful for them (I mean they are living with a woman who had to get her leg amputated due to complications from diabetes!) that we can make progress. I have to remember to sign and send in my contract with a farm where we can get fresh meat, milk and veggies delivered once a week to our town. I wonder when the pick up is though.....
7. Speaking of leg problems (bad segue there!) for some reason Tillie, our Sheltie, keeps limping. This has been going on since June! She'll just start limping very badly and then the next day or two it will go away. The vet had given me some medicine for her, but it got used up over the months. Everyone kept chiding me for not taking her to the vet to get it checked out again. I made an appointment a couple weeks ago but then she mysteriously stopped limping, so I cancelled. This week she started limping really badly on Monday, I mean she was only walking on three legs. I had a crazy busy week and I just couldn't make time to take her in until Thursday. She limped on Tuesday, on Wednesday and on Thursday up until the point of taking her into the vet. Then she didn't limp at all. AT ALL!!!! The vet checked out her paw very thoroughly anyway, and could find nothing wrong with her. She gave us more of the same medicine. The visit cost $110. I took Tillie home and 1/2 hour after she got home she was back to walking on only three legs again!!!!! What is up with that???
For more quick takes please visit Jennifer Fulwiler's blog, Conversion Diary.
"She should give herself to the contemplation of obedience and holiness, and reading of the lives of the saints; and set herself deliberately to the business of self-government, of changing herself where she most requires it, of gaining perfect resignation to God's Will, of unlearning worldly opinions, motives and principles, and living as if in sight of the things invisible - and that without impatience at apparent failure or apparent slow advance."
I bolded the last part, because that's the part that really rang true as a message I needed to hear this a.m. Thank you St. John Henry Newman!
2. Another prayer help I've been utilizing this week is one that send novenas to your email so you remember to pray them. You can find it here at www.praymorenovenas.com. I think I found out about this on the Unschooling Catholics yahoolist.
3. I've started reading Don Quixote! I've never read it before. I haven't gotten far though. In fact, I haven't gotten past the Prelude. The Prelude is 167 pages long but it is wonderful. It is written by the translator, Walter Starkie. I was so charmed by his writing style that I looked him up. What a lovely man! You can read his wikipedia article here. I love stumbling on obscure (at least to me) literary history. This version of Don Quixote sat on my parents shelf for decades. It's an old edition but it is missing the page that has the copyright so I don't know the year.
4. We went to the March for Life on Monday and I've been trying to recover all week. It was rainy and cold and the conditions seemed pretty miserable at first, but once you got into the enormous crowd and started walking, things got much more comfortable. I haven't been to the march personally in about 25 years I think. It has grown incredibly. It reminded me of those photos of MLK's speech, where you just see a sea of people. Really, really huge. The minute we started marching everyone got separated. This proved to be a bit stressful, to say the least. However, we finally managed to meet up again in front of the Supreme Court. The staging wasn't set up due to some snafu, so we couldn't really see anybody speaking and we only got to hear a few minutes before we were told we had to get back to the bus. We got stuck in the crowd right before some counter protestors. We saw this women there. It was disturbing and baffling to us. But I must say they are courageous to speak out when there were at least a quarter of million people there, maybe more, I am horrible at estimating numbers (who were directly opposed to them). I wonder if they'd be so bold for any other movement. Instead people apparently were approaching them in good will to engage them in conversation. The whole mood of the crowd is one of love and peace. Everyone is praying, singing, or chanting slogans (like: we love babies, yes we do. We love babies, how about you!). I think that says something wonderful about the pro-life movement and our country. That we can be so peaceful.
5. But the March really bothered me, just because of my own personality. I am not meant to be political. It truly upsets me and makes me lose sleep and hope! I was particularly upset at the lack of coverage by both the New York Times (who I hear hasn't covered this enormous annual event in 5 years! Anybody who trusts news from that paper has their head buried in the sand!) and the Washington Post (which almost to a ludicrous level, underreported the event. No integrity there at all. Deliberate manipulation of the facts!). I was having an discussion with a staunchly liberal relative. When I dared to criticize the objectivity of these two institutions I was heartily scoffed at. The Crescat also talks about the duplicitous coverage of the March by mainstream media.
6. Update on changing to a Nourishing Traditions style of cooking! Well, the one thing I've really stuck to is the soaking and slow cooking oatmeal; it is great! Today we made popcorn on the stove with olive oil, butter, cheddar cheese and sea salt. The kids loved it. A good, but sugarless snack. I think I did pretty well with dinners this week, except for Thursday when we got carry out pizza. But Monday we had scallops wrapped in bacon, Tuesday we had tacos, Wednesday we had roast chicken. Tonight we are having wild salmon, corn, sweet potato fries, sauteed mushrooms and then some sliced cucumbers. The problem, though with all these meals is that the kids don't eat much of them at all. But we are working on it. Becky has refused to eat oatmeal for the past three weeks but this a.m. she had a couple of spoonfuls after she witnessed Sean exclaiming over how good it was. So there's something! And I'm thinking if I get rid of my own negative attitude (which can only be done by the Holy Spirit because I know I'll never change on my own!) and just keep steadily presenting food as attractively as I can while at the same time educating them on what is healthy and why so many bad carbs and sugars are so awful for them (I mean they are living with a woman who had to get her leg amputated due to complications from diabetes!) that we can make progress. I have to remember to sign and send in my contract with a farm where we can get fresh meat, milk and veggies delivered once a week to our town. I wonder when the pick up is though.....
7. Speaking of leg problems (bad segue there!) for some reason Tillie, our Sheltie, keeps limping. This has been going on since June! She'll just start limping very badly and then the next day or two it will go away. The vet had given me some medicine for her, but it got used up over the months. Everyone kept chiding me for not taking her to the vet to get it checked out again. I made an appointment a couple weeks ago but then she mysteriously stopped limping, so I cancelled. This week she started limping really badly on Monday, I mean she was only walking on three legs. I had a crazy busy week and I just couldn't make time to take her in until Thursday. She limped on Tuesday, on Wednesday and on Thursday up until the point of taking her into the vet. Then she didn't limp at all. AT ALL!!!! The vet checked out her paw very thoroughly anyway, and could find nothing wrong with her. She gave us more of the same medicine. The visit cost $110. I took Tillie home and 1/2 hour after she got home she was back to walking on only three legs again!!!!! What is up with that???
For more quick takes please visit Jennifer Fulwiler's blog, Conversion Diary.
Tuesday, January 24, 2012
Strewsday Tuesday - 1/24/12
Let's see, what's strewing around here?
Becky has been using the Apple computer's video capability to play newscaster. She stood a gymnastic mat we have on its side and put it behind her while she sits at the computer. That's so you can't see the rest of the room. I guess it gives a more official looking background while she's reporting! I think she was inspired by this because we've been watching the caucuses and primaries in the news. (We don't watch the news much around here). Also we watched Keenan Kampa being interviewed (Becky is friendly with her little sister). In Becky's own newscasts, she's reported on both the primaries (where she keeps pronouncing Gingrich as Gringidge LOL!) and Keenan as well as things going on in our family, the weather and silly things like interviewing our cat. She's been playing newscaster every day for the past several days. It's her new, very absorbing game.
I've been reading A Tale of Two Cities out loud to everyone. During the chapter with the courtroom scene where we first meet the characters of Sidney Carton and Charles Darnay, Becky drew s great picture of a courtroom on our whiteboard, complete with judge, jury and audience. Wish I knew how to upload a photo of it to this blog! Grrr.
Sean has started playing Minecraft and his vocabulary is suddenly full of words like ore, smelting and resources. He's really into it and it is leading into a lot of discussion, especially with Josh about all sorts of things geological as well as basic economics principles. Pretty neat game!
Yesterday, we all went to the March for Life which inspired many a discussion all day long. Before the March we attended a Mass at the parish the bus was leaving from. Becky and Sean got to carry up the offertory gifts. I realized that they have never gotten to do this before! My older kids all have done this several times, at one time or another. They were a bit pleased to be asked.
That's all I can think of right now. It was cold and damp at the March yesterday and I fear I have come down with a cold as a result. So it is taking a while for the fog to clear in my head this a.m.
Will left us yesterday right after the March to fly back to Berklee in Boston. He called when he arrived safely and he sounded very glad to be back. I think his winter break was just about a week too long for him. He really was ready to go back. He's made some good friends there already and he loves studying music! He got all A's and one B in his classes. He's very excited to start the new semester. I find coming home for breaks is very hard on my college students! They've made their own lives on campus where they feel more independent and then they come home and feel like a high schooler again. I think it is a bit of a strain for them, until they work out how to balance these aspects of their lives. We will miss William heartily until spring break!
So what's strewing in your home?
Becky has been using the Apple computer's video capability to play newscaster. She stood a gymnastic mat we have on its side and put it behind her while she sits at the computer. That's so you can't see the rest of the room. I guess it gives a more official looking background while she's reporting! I think she was inspired by this because we've been watching the caucuses and primaries in the news. (We don't watch the news much around here). Also we watched Keenan Kampa being interviewed (Becky is friendly with her little sister). In Becky's own newscasts, she's reported on both the primaries (where she keeps pronouncing Gingrich as Gringidge LOL!) and Keenan as well as things going on in our family, the weather and silly things like interviewing our cat. She's been playing newscaster every day for the past several days. It's her new, very absorbing game.
I've been reading A Tale of Two Cities out loud to everyone. During the chapter with the courtroom scene where we first meet the characters of Sidney Carton and Charles Darnay, Becky drew s great picture of a courtroom on our whiteboard, complete with judge, jury and audience. Wish I knew how to upload a photo of it to this blog! Grrr.
Sean has started playing Minecraft and his vocabulary is suddenly full of words like ore, smelting and resources. He's really into it and it is leading into a lot of discussion, especially with Josh about all sorts of things geological as well as basic economics principles. Pretty neat game!
Yesterday, we all went to the March for Life which inspired many a discussion all day long. Before the March we attended a Mass at the parish the bus was leaving from. Becky and Sean got to carry up the offertory gifts. I realized that they have never gotten to do this before! My older kids all have done this several times, at one time or another. They were a bit pleased to be asked.
That's all I can think of right now. It was cold and damp at the March yesterday and I fear I have come down with a cold as a result. So it is taking a while for the fog to clear in my head this a.m.
Will left us yesterday right after the March to fly back to Berklee in Boston. He called when he arrived safely and he sounded very glad to be back. I think his winter break was just about a week too long for him. He really was ready to go back. He's made some good friends there already and he loves studying music! He got all A's and one B in his classes. He's very excited to start the new semester. I find coming home for breaks is very hard on my college students! They've made their own lives on campus where they feel more independent and then they come home and feel like a high schooler again. I think it is a bit of a strain for them, until they work out how to balance these aspects of their lives. We will miss William heartily until spring break!
So what's strewing in your home?
Saturday, January 21, 2012
The Abolition of Man - Book 6
The Abolition of Man by C.S. Lewis is really a collection of two essays or lectures and an appendix. It is a fairly quick read. I read this on my Kindle.
In this book, Lewis addresses the purpose of education and the dangerous impact modern thinking has on true education. He begins by criticizing a grammar book that was sent to him for review. He finds that the authors of the textbook, thinking that are teaching the student skepticism about being unduly influenced by propaganda and advertisements, really have taught the students to fear or dismiss what is good, true and beautiful. The textbook authors do this by reducing human response to beauty or anything deeply appealing as something that is mere subjective feeling and has nothing to do with the truth of the thing being considered. The textbook authors, probably without even realizing it, have bought into the modern view of relativism and this is the gospel they preached in between the lines of teaching grammar and rhetoric.
Lewis then sets out to show that there are self-evident core values that every human culture has acknowledged. He looks at all different Ancient traditions from Babylonian, to Lao Tzu to the Ancient Greeks, the Old Testament, Buddhism and Christianity to show that humankind, independent of each other's societies, have each come to a realization of the Tao, as Lewis terms it. He uses this term because he is not particularly interested in converting anyone to his own faith, but rather is trying to show the universality of ethics, so he chooses a non-western word to convey his idea. In Christian terminology we would call the Tao, natural law.
Lewis' further point, once he establishes that there are these universal, self-evident standards of good and evil, is that the modern viewpoint wants to deconstruct these truths in the name of progress. Scientifically, the west has excelled because it has embraced the scientific approach of deconstruction and analysis, but morally we suffer from this because modern thinking wants to debunk everything! Lewis talks about how we want now to 'see through' everything. We think this will get us to the truth, but if even self-evident truths are 'seen through,' we will eventually see nothing. If everything is transparent the world is invisible! There's nothing there to guide us anymore.
Lewis paints a very dark picture of what becomes of man when he wants to 'progress' past natural law, or Nature. When mankind wants to become the final arbiter, the social engineer, the eugenic designer; when those few who gain that sort of power begin to manipulate the rest of society, because they concoct their own ad hoc law based on temporary things instead of following the natural law, they actually will cease to let humankind be human. Instead we will become pawns and less than human. That is the meaning of the ironic title of this book. This relativistic, scientific worldview which promises so much progress and freedom, will actually be the "freeing" of man from being human. Humankind will be diminished not elevated. He'll become less because he does not live by the Tao that allows him to be what he was created to be.
Of course, Lewis is much better at building an argument and conveying it than I am at summarizing it! As I read the book, I felt I needed a little guidance. I googled around and found this very helpful study guide. I know also that the blog Ordo Armoris had a book study not too long ago though I did not follow it.
The appendix to this book is very interesting. Lewis compiled quotes from ancient writings from all over the world to illustrate his point about the Tao. This collection reminded me of an exhibit that I saw several years ago at the John Paul II Cultural Institute in Washington DC. The exhibit was a collection of art work and quotes that showed how natural law existed in all different cultures. I found the exhibit so intriguing and ultimately comforting, for I think that though our world might go through periods of confusion where powerful but unwise people make decisions that guide us down that dark road towards Lewis' prophecy, because God's law is written on the heart of His children, that Tao can never be extinguished forever. It will always rear its surly head!
This gives me hope in our own time when abortion on demand has become such a precept of our culture, control over reproduction and our bodies to an unhealthy and ultimately destructive degree is seen as a right, and the fact that our government and all the politicos seem to buy into the very worldview Lewis warns against in this book. It is a dismal world out there, but as time passes, these things will pass too and once again the universal will somehow reassert itself. Eternal truths never die.
For more book reviews go to 52 Books in 52 Weeks.
In this book, Lewis addresses the purpose of education and the dangerous impact modern thinking has on true education. He begins by criticizing a grammar book that was sent to him for review. He finds that the authors of the textbook, thinking that are teaching the student skepticism about being unduly influenced by propaganda and advertisements, really have taught the students to fear or dismiss what is good, true and beautiful. The textbook authors do this by reducing human response to beauty or anything deeply appealing as something that is mere subjective feeling and has nothing to do with the truth of the thing being considered. The textbook authors, probably without even realizing it, have bought into the modern view of relativism and this is the gospel they preached in between the lines of teaching grammar and rhetoric.
Lewis then sets out to show that there are self-evident core values that every human culture has acknowledged. He looks at all different Ancient traditions from Babylonian, to Lao Tzu to the Ancient Greeks, the Old Testament, Buddhism and Christianity to show that humankind, independent of each other's societies, have each come to a realization of the Tao, as Lewis terms it. He uses this term because he is not particularly interested in converting anyone to his own faith, but rather is trying to show the universality of ethics, so he chooses a non-western word to convey his idea. In Christian terminology we would call the Tao, natural law.
Lewis' further point, once he establishes that there are these universal, self-evident standards of good and evil, is that the modern viewpoint wants to deconstruct these truths in the name of progress. Scientifically, the west has excelled because it has embraced the scientific approach of deconstruction and analysis, but morally we suffer from this because modern thinking wants to debunk everything! Lewis talks about how we want now to 'see through' everything. We think this will get us to the truth, but if even self-evident truths are 'seen through,' we will eventually see nothing. If everything is transparent the world is invisible! There's nothing there to guide us anymore.
Lewis paints a very dark picture of what becomes of man when he wants to 'progress' past natural law, or Nature. When mankind wants to become the final arbiter, the social engineer, the eugenic designer; when those few who gain that sort of power begin to manipulate the rest of society, because they concoct their own ad hoc law based on temporary things instead of following the natural law, they actually will cease to let humankind be human. Instead we will become pawns and less than human. That is the meaning of the ironic title of this book. This relativistic, scientific worldview which promises so much progress and freedom, will actually be the "freeing" of man from being human. Humankind will be diminished not elevated. He'll become less because he does not live by the Tao that allows him to be what he was created to be.
Of course, Lewis is much better at building an argument and conveying it than I am at summarizing it! As I read the book, I felt I needed a little guidance. I googled around and found this very helpful study guide. I know also that the blog Ordo Armoris had a book study not too long ago though I did not follow it.
The appendix to this book is very interesting. Lewis compiled quotes from ancient writings from all over the world to illustrate his point about the Tao. This collection reminded me of an exhibit that I saw several years ago at the John Paul II Cultural Institute in Washington DC. The exhibit was a collection of art work and quotes that showed how natural law existed in all different cultures. I found the exhibit so intriguing and ultimately comforting, for I think that though our world might go through periods of confusion where powerful but unwise people make decisions that guide us down that dark road towards Lewis' prophecy, because God's law is written on the heart of His children, that Tao can never be extinguished forever. It will always rear its surly head!
This gives me hope in our own time when abortion on demand has become such a precept of our culture, control over reproduction and our bodies to an unhealthy and ultimately destructive degree is seen as a right, and the fact that our government and all the politicos seem to buy into the very worldview Lewis warns against in this book. It is a dismal world out there, but as time passes, these things will pass too and once again the universal will somehow reassert itself. Eternal truths never die.
For more book reviews go to 52 Books in 52 Weeks.
The Little World of Don Camillo - Book 5
This collection of humorous and touching stories was first published in Italy post World War II. The two main characters are Don Camillo, the feisty village priest and Peppone, the equally feisty Communist mayor. These two men, who apparently have a long history of partisan fighting together in the hills during the Nazi occupation, love to hate each other. Their constant one-upmanship is the fodder for these highly enjoyable stories. Don Camillo's first instinct is always to fight and then think later. This gets him into lots of ticklish situations. The tension in post World War II Italy is palpable. The violence and scars of the war are everywhere and though the characters of Don Camillo and Peppone are lovable and entertaining there is a dark, brutal undercurrent that is always present. Don Camillo tries to be a good priest but he has to deal with Peppone who can't quite be an atheist (He wants Don Camillo to baptize his baby with the name Lenin). The third main character in the book is Christ. The Christ up on the crucifix in Don Camillo's church talks to him. Christ is by turns encouraging, sympathetic, stern, chiding, tongue in cheek; always wise and always affectionate.
The characters of Don Camillo and Peppone are based on a real life priest and mayor the author knew. Giovanni Guareschi was a magazine editor, writer and cartoonist who spent time in concentration camps before being freed and returning to his native Po Valley. These stories were published in magazines at first but proved so popular they were collected into books. Three books were published in the author's lifetime but after his death five more volumes came out. The first book, The Little World of Don Camillo, was made into a very popular movie. Here's a clip from it.
The edition I read was printed by Benediction Classics. It is a slim paperback volume, pricey at $20.99 and there are numerous typos in it. It looks like something that was transcribed and then printed from a Pdf file. It has a Lulu publishing look to it. I guess the original book went out of print at some point and no big publisher has offered to reprint it. It Italy apparently this book is in its 7th edition. Someone started a webpage, www.doncamillo.net but frustratingly, it seems incomplete.
I had heard about these stories for years. I can see why people recall them fondly and treasure them. Guareschi was a delightful story-teller with memorable characters and whose writing was intelligent, insightful, clever and wise. The presentation of Christ is especially wonderful.
For more book reviews, go to 52 Books in 52 Weeks.
The characters of Don Camillo and Peppone are based on a real life priest and mayor the author knew. Giovanni Guareschi was a magazine editor, writer and cartoonist who spent time in concentration camps before being freed and returning to his native Po Valley. These stories were published in magazines at first but proved so popular they were collected into books. Three books were published in the author's lifetime but after his death five more volumes came out. The first book, The Little World of Don Camillo, was made into a very popular movie. Here's a clip from it.
The edition I read was printed by Benediction Classics. It is a slim paperback volume, pricey at $20.99 and there are numerous typos in it. It looks like something that was transcribed and then printed from a Pdf file. It has a Lulu publishing look to it. I guess the original book went out of print at some point and no big publisher has offered to reprint it. It Italy apparently this book is in its 7th edition. Someone started a webpage, www.doncamillo.net but frustratingly, it seems incomplete.
I had heard about these stories for years. I can see why people recall them fondly and treasure them. Guareschi was a delightful story-teller with memorable characters and whose writing was intelligent, insightful, clever and wise. The presentation of Christ is especially wonderful.
For more book reviews, go to 52 Books in 52 Weeks.
Friday, January 20, 2012
7 Quick Takes - 1/21/12
1. I had signed up several weeks ago to make sandwiches for the hypothermia shelter my parish church helps out. I wrote it up on my calendar which sits on the wall right in front of my desk. On Friday I reminded the kids that this was the weekend we were supposed to make and bring sandwiches. Sunday morning, the pastor mentioned the hypothermia shelter in his homily. Sunday afternoon I get an email asking: where are the sandwiches? I had somehow managed to forget completely and utterly even though I had remembered on Friday and had multiple reminders! That kind of thing really scares me! How can I let something like that just slip my mind???? It seems incredible to me! In my mind when I volunteered I thought how it would be this wonderful teaching moment when the kids and I would work together to make the 15 sandwiches knowing we were doing something for those less fortunate. It was going to be a little glowing moment in Christian motherhood. Instead I rushed home from the grocery store so disgusted with myself that I gruffly recruited Becky to help me and was quite impatient with her as we worked frantically. This was because Rick had made this nice dinner for us and I was going to be late getting back for it after I rush-delivered the sandwiches. Afterwards I thought about how I had sabotaged the little bonding moment Becky and I could have had with my own bad mood. FAIL!
2. I feel even more isolated in my political life than ever. Rick Santorum lives around here. He or rather his wife, homeschools their kids and they move in our circle. I have dear friends who know him, love him and are fundraising and campaigning for him. He's an orthodox Catholic, pro-life, homeschooling man. His daughter goes to college with my daughter. They hang out together between classes sometimes. I should love him, right? I don't. It's great that he is pro-life but I simply think Neo-cons are WRONG. And that's what he is. I think his position on waterboarding is disingenuous equivocating and his clothing pre-emptive war and murder in terms of 'just war' is a travesty. It makes all pro-lifers look hypocritical when they seem to only be ethical when it comes to the unborn but push unjust war and torture, don't you think? Also, I think he has no chance of winning against Obama. I don't like Mitch Romney either for the same reasons. So there's no one else except Ron Paul, but he's not going to get the nomination. And anyway, I am not really a Libertarian, though I can be sympathetic to some of their views. I think I'll just protest vote again. I like Joe Schriner. I've voted for him in the past when I couldn't stomach either candidate.
3. On Tuesday, I made pot roast for a mom who is about to have their 7th child. Her son was the one that Sean shadowed the day he visited Trinity, the school he might go to next year. The boy he shadowed is really nice and Sean was excited about visiting with him while I chatted with the mom. Both mother and son were talking about what a fantastic music teacher the school has. That teacher tutored Will in music for a year which enabled Will to test into Ear Training 3 at Berklee. He's a tremendously talented teacher and musician. Sean mentioned that he had Will's ipod with him and that he actually had music written by Mr. Dusenbury on it. So on the way home we listened. We were both completely blown away! And one of the chorale pieces was sung by the Trinity choir. Now Sean is all revved to go to Trinity again.
4. My aunt and I are continuing to watch the Catholicism series by Father Robert Barron. Our Aquinas Learning Center is going to host a study group starting in February. I'm only up to episode 6! But so far it is fantastic. I love Father Barron's intelligent and articulate take on the Church. The cinematography and music are gorgeous. And I love that he uses the words 'non-violent' to describe the Christian faith. We've forgotten that! Somebody show this series to Rick Santorum, please!
5. Will and I have a date! We are going to go shopping and to lunch on Saturday. I truly feel like I've hardly seen him except to: 1) nag at him 2) ask him to do be a favor like run an errand or help Sean with math.
6. Josh doesn't have Shakespeare today. That's because his teacher, a homeschooling mom of 7 also happens to be a press agent for the Kennedy Center. And she also happens to be in charge of publicity for this ballerina. The news of her officially joining the Kirov Ballet is being made today at the Kennedy Center and Josh's teacher needs to be there for the interviews with the press. Keenan comes from a family in our homeschool group. They are a lovely, lovely family and we are thrilled for them! We are reading all the newspaper accounts with gladness. Josh is especially glad because he didn't have to write the paper that was due today in class. He can put it off for another week!
7. We are gearing up for the March for Life on Monday. No Latin class for us that day! And for the first time we are all going as a family (except for Rick who has to work). Will is staying home from his first day of classes for the spring semester so he can go. He has to leave the march early for his flight back to Boston. The plan right now is that Rick will take Will's luggage into work in the morning. Will will come down to the march with me and the others, then go to Rick's office and Rick will drive him to the airport. I hope it works out!
So those are my quick takes! For more go to Conversion Diary!
2. I feel even more isolated in my political life than ever. Rick Santorum lives around here. He or rather his wife, homeschools their kids and they move in our circle. I have dear friends who know him, love him and are fundraising and campaigning for him. He's an orthodox Catholic, pro-life, homeschooling man. His daughter goes to college with my daughter. They hang out together between classes sometimes. I should love him, right? I don't. It's great that he is pro-life but I simply think Neo-cons are WRONG. And that's what he is. I think his position on waterboarding is disingenuous equivocating and his clothing pre-emptive war and murder in terms of 'just war' is a travesty. It makes all pro-lifers look hypocritical when they seem to only be ethical when it comes to the unborn but push unjust war and torture, don't you think? Also, I think he has no chance of winning against Obama. I don't like Mitch Romney either for the same reasons. So there's no one else except Ron Paul, but he's not going to get the nomination. And anyway, I am not really a Libertarian, though I can be sympathetic to some of their views. I think I'll just protest vote again. I like Joe Schriner. I've voted for him in the past when I couldn't stomach either candidate.
3. On Tuesday, I made pot roast for a mom who is about to have their 7th child. Her son was the one that Sean shadowed the day he visited Trinity, the school he might go to next year. The boy he shadowed is really nice and Sean was excited about visiting with him while I chatted with the mom. Both mother and son were talking about what a fantastic music teacher the school has. That teacher tutored Will in music for a year which enabled Will to test into Ear Training 3 at Berklee. He's a tremendously talented teacher and musician. Sean mentioned that he had Will's ipod with him and that he actually had music written by Mr. Dusenbury on it. So on the way home we listened. We were both completely blown away! And one of the chorale pieces was sung by the Trinity choir. Now Sean is all revved to go to Trinity again.
4. My aunt and I are continuing to watch the Catholicism series by Father Robert Barron. Our Aquinas Learning Center is going to host a study group starting in February. I'm only up to episode 6! But so far it is fantastic. I love Father Barron's intelligent and articulate take on the Church. The cinematography and music are gorgeous. And I love that he uses the words 'non-violent' to describe the Christian faith. We've forgotten that! Somebody show this series to Rick Santorum, please!
5. Will and I have a date! We are going to go shopping and to lunch on Saturday. I truly feel like I've hardly seen him except to: 1) nag at him 2) ask him to do be a favor like run an errand or help Sean with math.
6. Josh doesn't have Shakespeare today. That's because his teacher, a homeschooling mom of 7 also happens to be a press agent for the Kennedy Center. And she also happens to be in charge of publicity for this ballerina. The news of her officially joining the Kirov Ballet is being made today at the Kennedy Center and Josh's teacher needs to be there for the interviews with the press. Keenan comes from a family in our homeschool group. They are a lovely, lovely family and we are thrilled for them! We are reading all the newspaper accounts with gladness. Josh is especially glad because he didn't have to write the paper that was due today in class. He can put it off for another week!
7. We are gearing up for the March for Life on Monday. No Latin class for us that day! And for the first time we are all going as a family (except for Rick who has to work). Will is staying home from his first day of classes for the spring semester so he can go. He has to leave the march early for his flight back to Boston. The plan right now is that Rick will take Will's luggage into work in the morning. Will will come down to the march with me and the others, then go to Rick's office and Rick will drive him to the airport. I hope it works out!
So those are my quick takes! For more go to Conversion Diary!
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
Strewsday Tuesday - 1/17/12
No intentional strewing going on right now. Lots of unintentional though. Since Will is still here on his winter break, he's been spending lots of time with Sean and Becky. I overheard a conversation yesterday. Sean asked Will who exactly was Martn Luther King. Will, to my surprise knew a ton about him and then launched into an in depth recounting of Malcolm X and compared the two men and why we have a day named after MLK but not Malcolm X.
Will has also been teaching Becky how to play Linus and Lucy on the piano. Becky works very hard at it. Ever since Thanksgiving or even before she's been practicing little pieces on the piano. Rick showed her how to play Good King Wencelaus and she still plays that. Then she made up a couple of her own little pieces and then there is the Linus and Lucy piece. Everyone keeps asking her if she wants piano lessons, but she doesn't. She just wants to sit at the piano and teach herself. Fine with me!
Becky went on her first sleepover this past weekend. It was what they call a 'lock-in' with her American Heritage Girls troop. It must have been at least 100 girls. They slept in classrooms on bedrolls and sleeping bags. She had loads of fun. They got ot play basketball in the school gym, make crafts, tell stories. They rejected watching a movie and decided to play games instead. Last night Becky read me a little book they made of many different car games. Apparentely yesterday, when Rick took the kids to see The Adventures of Tin Tin, she forced them to play the car games going to and from the theater.
Oh one tiny bit of intentional strewing on my part. I got out the book This is Paris by M. Lasek and put it on the coffee table. And everybody who comes by at one point or another has picked it up and looked through it. I also found my Spanish Made Simple book but I've yet to put it out. Keep forgetting! Going to go do it now!
I've informed the kids of my plan. Hannah, William, and Josh are the Spanish language people. Becky, Sean and Rick are the French people. I'll be both. So we are dividing and conquering. Each group has to learn the phrases travelers need to know in their assigned language. Important stuff like Where is the bathroom and how much does this cost?
So any strewing going on in your neck of the woods?
Will has also been teaching Becky how to play Linus and Lucy on the piano. Becky works very hard at it. Ever since Thanksgiving or even before she's been practicing little pieces on the piano. Rick showed her how to play Good King Wencelaus and she still plays that. Then she made up a couple of her own little pieces and then there is the Linus and Lucy piece. Everyone keeps asking her if she wants piano lessons, but she doesn't. She just wants to sit at the piano and teach herself. Fine with me!
Becky went on her first sleepover this past weekend. It was what they call a 'lock-in' with her American Heritage Girls troop. It must have been at least 100 girls. They slept in classrooms on bedrolls and sleeping bags. She had loads of fun. They got ot play basketball in the school gym, make crafts, tell stories. They rejected watching a movie and decided to play games instead. Last night Becky read me a little book they made of many different car games. Apparentely yesterday, when Rick took the kids to see The Adventures of Tin Tin, she forced them to play the car games going to and from the theater.
Oh one tiny bit of intentional strewing on my part. I got out the book This is Paris by M. Lasek and put it on the coffee table. And everybody who comes by at one point or another has picked it up and looked through it. I also found my Spanish Made Simple book but I've yet to put it out. Keep forgetting! Going to go do it now!
I've informed the kids of my plan. Hannah, William, and Josh are the Spanish language people. Becky, Sean and Rick are the French people. I'll be both. So we are dividing and conquering. Each group has to learn the phrases travelers need to know in their assigned language. Important stuff like Where is the bathroom and how much does this cost?
So any strewing going on in your neck of the woods?
Monday, January 16, 2012
Cooking resolutions update
So last week, I tried to follow my breakfast plan and I was pretty successful:
Sunday - I made the sprouted grain pancakes with Arrowhead Mill flour. They were a hit for almost everybody except Sean. But Rick, Josh and Becky really loved them. I made them with coconut oil. The coconut oil I got from Trader Joe's is too strong, I think. That was the one caveat. I got another kind from Whole Foods which I think is a little milder in flavor. Instead of frying up the pancakes in canola oil or some other vegetable oil, I used bacon grease and they turned out well, but I have to be careful of burning. Also, the recipe on the back of the sprouted grain isn't accurate. I add a cup of whole milk (I double the recipe) but then I have to add at least a 1/2 cup of water to get the batter to the right consistency for pancakes.
I've been buying the organic, fake nitrate/nitrite free bacon and saving the grease in an old water bottle that we lost the lid to. It's been working really well.
Monday - slow cooker oatmeal Excellent! I'm eating a bowl right now! I think I'm starting to get in the habit of remembering to soak the oatmeal before starting it in the slow cooker right before I go to bed.
Tuesday - I made eggs and bacon again. But I didn't have time to cook up and freeze for Thursday's breakfast. That made me feel out of sorts.
Wednesday - I made smoothies and everybody liked them (except Becky who thought I'd put too much yogurt in. She can't stand the sour taste of yogurt). I'm just buying organic Greek plain yogurt. Haven't gotten into yogurt making yet! Also, everybody wanted more than just a smoothie for breakfast. They don't want to drink a big milkshake of it. They tended to pour it into our teacups and drink it that way and then want something else. I need a uberhealthy/tasty muffin perhaps to go along with it?
Thursday - I managed to get up early and make Becky a breakfast sandwich before we left for Adler. I didn't bother with the others but I did leave food out for them to eat, just not in breakfast sandwich form. The kids are getting sick of bacon. I need to find sausage they like. Also, Sean misses turkey bacon. Is there healthy turkey bacon out there?
Friday - made a huge vat of the oatmeal and fed the teens (about 20 plus a couple of adults) after the 6:15 a.m. Mass. Wildly successful! Everybody loved it!
Saturday - we did the same old, same old with bagels and cream cheese.
I'm starting the whole cycle over again. Yesterday did the pancakes, eggs and bacon, today the oatmeal. So I think I'm getting in the groove.
For other meals: reading Kelly the Kitchen Kop's blog I saw a suggestion for alternative hot dogs. We always do Hebrew National but even they've got bad stuff in them. Somebody mentioned Trader Joe's uncured hot dogs, so we tried them. The kids LOVED them! Really good hot dogs! Hurrah! A success.
Still haven't gotten around to cheesemaking yet. Hopefully this week at some point!
I signed up on line to join a community farm. They were supposed to send me a contract. I've been checking the mail every day and no contract so far. No mail today because it is MLK day, but if I don't get one tomorrow I'm going to e-mail again. They are just up in Lancaster, PA. I thought it would get here in three or four days. Hope I didn't inadvertently throw it out!
Tomorrow - Tuesday - I'm supposed to bring a meal to a mom who is expecting her 7th child and is having all sorts of health and other issues. Really hard time for her. Anyway, I'm going to try a pot roast recipe from Nourished Kitchen. It calls for parsnips and turnips. I think I've cooked turnips once in my life before (and they were delicious) and I don't think I've ever cooked parsnips. But both those vegetables make me feel all Beatrix Potter-ish. LOL! So we'll see how that works out.
I can't take the time to link things right now. Must finish Latin homework and then go to Latin class. We don't get these holiday Mondays off.
Sunday - I made the sprouted grain pancakes with Arrowhead Mill flour. They were a hit for almost everybody except Sean. But Rick, Josh and Becky really loved them. I made them with coconut oil. The coconut oil I got from Trader Joe's is too strong, I think. That was the one caveat. I got another kind from Whole Foods which I think is a little milder in flavor. Instead of frying up the pancakes in canola oil or some other vegetable oil, I used bacon grease and they turned out well, but I have to be careful of burning. Also, the recipe on the back of the sprouted grain isn't accurate. I add a cup of whole milk (I double the recipe) but then I have to add at least a 1/2 cup of water to get the batter to the right consistency for pancakes.
I've been buying the organic, fake nitrate/nitrite free bacon and saving the grease in an old water bottle that we lost the lid to. It's been working really well.
Monday - slow cooker oatmeal Excellent! I'm eating a bowl right now! I think I'm starting to get in the habit of remembering to soak the oatmeal before starting it in the slow cooker right before I go to bed.
Tuesday - I made eggs and bacon again. But I didn't have time to cook up and freeze for Thursday's breakfast. That made me feel out of sorts.
Wednesday - I made smoothies and everybody liked them (except Becky who thought I'd put too much yogurt in. She can't stand the sour taste of yogurt). I'm just buying organic Greek plain yogurt. Haven't gotten into yogurt making yet! Also, everybody wanted more than just a smoothie for breakfast. They don't want to drink a big milkshake of it. They tended to pour it into our teacups and drink it that way and then want something else. I need a uberhealthy/tasty muffin perhaps to go along with it?
Thursday - I managed to get up early and make Becky a breakfast sandwich before we left for Adler. I didn't bother with the others but I did leave food out for them to eat, just not in breakfast sandwich form. The kids are getting sick of bacon. I need to find sausage they like. Also, Sean misses turkey bacon. Is there healthy turkey bacon out there?
Friday - made a huge vat of the oatmeal and fed the teens (about 20 plus a couple of adults) after the 6:15 a.m. Mass. Wildly successful! Everybody loved it!
Saturday - we did the same old, same old with bagels and cream cheese.
I'm starting the whole cycle over again. Yesterday did the pancakes, eggs and bacon, today the oatmeal. So I think I'm getting in the groove.
For other meals: reading Kelly the Kitchen Kop's blog I saw a suggestion for alternative hot dogs. We always do Hebrew National but even they've got bad stuff in them. Somebody mentioned Trader Joe's uncured hot dogs, so we tried them. The kids LOVED them! Really good hot dogs! Hurrah! A success.
Still haven't gotten around to cheesemaking yet. Hopefully this week at some point!
I signed up on line to join a community farm. They were supposed to send me a contract. I've been checking the mail every day and no contract so far. No mail today because it is MLK day, but if I don't get one tomorrow I'm going to e-mail again. They are just up in Lancaster, PA. I thought it would get here in three or four days. Hope I didn't inadvertently throw it out!
Tomorrow - Tuesday - I'm supposed to bring a meal to a mom who is expecting her 7th child and is having all sorts of health and other issues. Really hard time for her. Anyway, I'm going to try a pot roast recipe from Nourished Kitchen. It calls for parsnips and turnips. I think I've cooked turnips once in my life before (and they were delicious) and I don't think I've ever cooked parsnips. But both those vegetables make me feel all Beatrix Potter-ish. LOL! So we'll see how that works out.
I can't take the time to link things right now. Must finish Latin homework and then go to Latin class. We don't get these holiday Mondays off.
Sunday, January 15, 2012
Death Comes to Pemberley - Book 4
This book seems to be making the rounds! My husband gave it to me for Christmas and I think he was a little hurt that I didn't grab it up and read it immediately. I was busy finishing up other books and then got waylaid a bit by Book 3. Anyway, this was a fun read, though I was a tad disappointed with it as well.
First of all, I thought such a veteran and successful writer as P.D. James would not fall into the trap of so many other lesser writers who write sequels to Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice; that is, spending so much time recounting what happened in the original book. I like the fan fiction novels that assume the reader has already read P&P. There is no need to rehash in so much detail something that is so well known. But the first chapter of Death Comes to Pemberley does just this in a rather awkward and wooden way. I almost didn't want to continue reading it, but since it was a gift, I felt compelled to read more. Also, I thought maybe the book would pick up once the author got all that 'bridging' out of the way. And it did! Once James was telling her own story, it got more interesting. I was truly interested in the mystery part of the book; what exactly had happened and how all the pieces fitted together. And the ending of the book was satisfying to me. But I had some problems with James' characterizations of the well-known personalities from P&P. Here's my list!
Elizabeth - she isn't nearly as light and witty. One of the strong points of P&P is the delightful dialogues that go on. This was missing. I liked Elizabeth well enough here, and initially in this story, you see things from her point of view but somewhere in the middle the author switches to Darcy's. I missed Elizabeth presence in the latter part of the book.
Darcy - Darcy doesn't seemed to have grown at all in the six years he's been married. In fact, he's still hashing out the old guilt about everything concerning Georgiana and Wickham and Elizabeth.
Wickham - Wickham's personality just wasn't developed well to me. James keeps reiterating her own details about Wickham, that he fought in the Irish Revolt and was wounded and cited for bravery. And that he fought under Colonel Fitzwilliam, somehow. And James had everybody refering to Wickham as Darcy's 'brother.' Even Darcy calls him his brother! What! They played together like brothers as children, but Wickham was always the Steward's son and not a brother.
Denny - He is the poor murder victim, but again I couldn't figure out why he was friends with Wickham if he had such virtuous impulses which inadvertently led to his demise.
Colonel Fitwilliam - he's a major actor in this story but I never got a feel for his personality. He was very different from the character in Pride and Prejudice. This is supposed to be because of the death of his older brother and his becoming a viscount, I think. But he and Darcy speak to each other so stiffly, it seemed unrealistic that two men who knew each other so well would converse the way they do here.
Jane and Bingley are just extras in this book. Mr. Bennet makes one enjoyable showing. Mrs. Bennet is missing almost completely from the book.
One thing that bothered me, and again, it is something that bothers me about fan fiction for this novel, is when the writers take a phrase directly from the original book and put it in another person's mouth. For example, at one point Darcy is talking about 'polluting the shades of Pemberley.' Would Darcy really say this? This was something spoken by Lady Catherine de Bourgh to Elizabeth when the former went to visit the latter and warn her off of marrying Darcy. This was a private conversation between the two and was spoken as an appalling insult to Lizzie. Would Darcy really have thought the same exact phrase?
Or another thing that rankled a little bit was when Lady Catherine de Bourgh says to Darcy in a letter to mention her name somewhere in London and he will be attended to. Lady Catherine said this to Lizzie in the original book to show her patronizing and condescending over bloated self-importance. Would she really show that same kind of attitude to Darcy himself? Hardly!
And one more thing! The characterization of Charlotte's attitude to Elizabeth was wrong I think. James writes that Charlotte had never forgiven Elizabeth for her reaction to her engagement with Collins. That just isn't true. I think in P&P there was awkwardness there after Charlotte's marriage but I don't think Charlotte felt any animosity to her old friend. In fact I remember a line in the book where Charlotte entertained hope that Darcy was showing attention to her friend, so any rumors started there were partly out of wishful thinking for her friend and not out of malice.
I did however enjoy the references to Emma in this book. (ed. I forgot there is also a reference to Persuasion as well!). I thought that was a nice touch.
I could go on and on picking apart certain things both in the references to Pride and Prejudice and in the mystery, but that would be unfair. This is a fun mystery; a light read that pays homage to Austen and doesn't warrant too much close inspection! Although I've heard much of P.D. James I haven't ever read her mysteries. I did read Children of Men which I thought was a powerful and provocative novel. I think maybe her forte must be genres not of this nature, but this was a noble effort made to write an Austen inspired novel. I'm glad I read it.
For more book reviews go to 52 Books in 52 Weeks.
First of all, I thought such a veteran and successful writer as P.D. James would not fall into the trap of so many other lesser writers who write sequels to Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice; that is, spending so much time recounting what happened in the original book. I like the fan fiction novels that assume the reader has already read P&P. There is no need to rehash in so much detail something that is so well known. But the first chapter of Death Comes to Pemberley does just this in a rather awkward and wooden way. I almost didn't want to continue reading it, but since it was a gift, I felt compelled to read more. Also, I thought maybe the book would pick up once the author got all that 'bridging' out of the way. And it did! Once James was telling her own story, it got more interesting. I was truly interested in the mystery part of the book; what exactly had happened and how all the pieces fitted together. And the ending of the book was satisfying to me. But I had some problems with James' characterizations of the well-known personalities from P&P. Here's my list!
Elizabeth - she isn't nearly as light and witty. One of the strong points of P&P is the delightful dialogues that go on. This was missing. I liked Elizabeth well enough here, and initially in this story, you see things from her point of view but somewhere in the middle the author switches to Darcy's. I missed Elizabeth presence in the latter part of the book.
Darcy - Darcy doesn't seemed to have grown at all in the six years he's been married. In fact, he's still hashing out the old guilt about everything concerning Georgiana and Wickham and Elizabeth.
Wickham - Wickham's personality just wasn't developed well to me. James keeps reiterating her own details about Wickham, that he fought in the Irish Revolt and was wounded and cited for bravery. And that he fought under Colonel Fitzwilliam, somehow. And James had everybody refering to Wickham as Darcy's 'brother.' Even Darcy calls him his brother! What! They played together like brothers as children, but Wickham was always the Steward's son and not a brother.
Denny - He is the poor murder victim, but again I couldn't figure out why he was friends with Wickham if he had such virtuous impulses which inadvertently led to his demise.
Colonel Fitwilliam - he's a major actor in this story but I never got a feel for his personality. He was very different from the character in Pride and Prejudice. This is supposed to be because of the death of his older brother and his becoming a viscount, I think. But he and Darcy speak to each other so stiffly, it seemed unrealistic that two men who knew each other so well would converse the way they do here.
Jane and Bingley are just extras in this book. Mr. Bennet makes one enjoyable showing. Mrs. Bennet is missing almost completely from the book.
One thing that bothered me, and again, it is something that bothers me about fan fiction for this novel, is when the writers take a phrase directly from the original book and put it in another person's mouth. For example, at one point Darcy is talking about 'polluting the shades of Pemberley.' Would Darcy really say this? This was something spoken by Lady Catherine de Bourgh to Elizabeth when the former went to visit the latter and warn her off of marrying Darcy. This was a private conversation between the two and was spoken as an appalling insult to Lizzie. Would Darcy really have thought the same exact phrase?
Or another thing that rankled a little bit was when Lady Catherine de Bourgh says to Darcy in a letter to mention her name somewhere in London and he will be attended to. Lady Catherine said this to Lizzie in the original book to show her patronizing and condescending over bloated self-importance. Would she really show that same kind of attitude to Darcy himself? Hardly!
And one more thing! The characterization of Charlotte's attitude to Elizabeth was wrong I think. James writes that Charlotte had never forgiven Elizabeth for her reaction to her engagement with Collins. That just isn't true. I think in P&P there was awkwardness there after Charlotte's marriage but I don't think Charlotte felt any animosity to her old friend. In fact I remember a line in the book where Charlotte entertained hope that Darcy was showing attention to her friend, so any rumors started there were partly out of wishful thinking for her friend and not out of malice.
I did however enjoy the references to Emma in this book. (ed. I forgot there is also a reference to Persuasion as well!). I thought that was a nice touch.
I could go on and on picking apart certain things both in the references to Pride and Prejudice and in the mystery, but that would be unfair. This is a fun mystery; a light read that pays homage to Austen and doesn't warrant too much close inspection! Although I've heard much of P.D. James I haven't ever read her mysteries. I did read Children of Men which I thought was a powerful and provocative novel. I think maybe her forte must be genres not of this nature, but this was a noble effort made to write an Austen inspired novel. I'm glad I read it.
For more book reviews go to 52 Books in 52 Weeks.
Friday, January 13, 2012
Seven Quick Takes
I know a lot of people do the 7 Quick Takes thing started by Jennifer Fulwiler. I've never participated before I don't think, because I used to do a Week in Review over at Well Trained Mind. But I never seem to get to that anymore! So 7 Quicks Takes seems easier and fun. I think I'll give it a whirl!
1. This week we started up with Writing with Skill and so far we have a very positive impression of it. We've also started up with Rex Barks again. Both of these are Sean's subjects, to get him up to speed for when or if he attends school next year.
2. We started up our Aquinas Learning Center again this week after a long Christmas break. It felt good to get back in the saddle again! Becky loves being a teacher's helper to the K-3 mentor. And she learns a lot too!
3. Every week at Aquinas we have a saint of the week, which I get to choose. This week it was St. Marguerite Bourgeoys. I didn't really know much about her at all. Someone at the unschooling Catholics yahoo list linked to this wonderful website. Thank you, Beate!
4. Will has been home from college for a few weeks now, since right before Christmas and yet I feel I've hardly seen him. His sleeping hours are so messed up. I am determined that he and I will go out and do something together before he heads back to Boston.
5. We went to apply for passports this week! We are going to France and Spain for two weeks this summer while Hannah, Will and Josh study Spanish. Pretty exciting! I know I already posted about this earlier in the week, but it is too exciting to be contained in just one post!
6. I started reading Meet the Austins this week to Becky. What a great book! How have I missed this all my life???
7. Two blog posts that I really enjoyed this week: Willa's list of fiction she read in 2011 and Cindy's post about how she teaches Language Arts.
For more 7 Quick Takes, go here!
1. This week we started up with Writing with Skill and so far we have a very positive impression of it. We've also started up with Rex Barks again. Both of these are Sean's subjects, to get him up to speed for when or if he attends school next year.
2. We started up our Aquinas Learning Center again this week after a long Christmas break. It felt good to get back in the saddle again! Becky loves being a teacher's helper to the K-3 mentor. And she learns a lot too!
3. Every week at Aquinas we have a saint of the week, which I get to choose. This week it was St. Marguerite Bourgeoys. I didn't really know much about her at all. Someone at the unschooling Catholics yahoo list linked to this wonderful website. Thank you, Beate!
4. Will has been home from college for a few weeks now, since right before Christmas and yet I feel I've hardly seen him. His sleeping hours are so messed up. I am determined that he and I will go out and do something together before he heads back to Boston.
5. We went to apply for passports this week! We are going to France and Spain for two weeks this summer while Hannah, Will and Josh study Spanish. Pretty exciting! I know I already posted about this earlier in the week, but it is too exciting to be contained in just one post!
6. I started reading Meet the Austins this week to Becky. What a great book! How have I missed this all my life???
7. Two blog posts that I really enjoyed this week: Willa's list of fiction she read in 2011 and Cindy's post about how she teaches Language Arts.
For more 7 Quick Takes, go here!
Tuesday, January 10, 2012
Strewsday Tuesday - 1/10/12
Well, I am getting kind of excited! It looks like we are going on a trip to Europe this summer!
It all started when Hannah, who previously spent a semester in Rome with the University of Dallas, asked us if she could study Spanish at the Catholic University of Avila. UD apparently has a relationship with the Universidad Catolica de Avila and often sends students there. Somehow we thought that maybe Will could go too and then Joshua got tacked onto the end of that. Well, we've been talking about it for a couple of months now. Will checked with Berklee and in order to get credit, he has to go through some organization that validates credits, but Berklee seems very open to that. And for Josh, I think it will be a great, broadening experience for him. Hannah already had her passport and UD is taking care of her paper work, but for the other two there's more work involved, for instance, they need passports! While thinking about getting them passports, Rick said why not all of us get them now, just in case. So then we started thinking that maybe we'd all go, the oldest three to study for a month and the rest of us just for a two week vacation. Rick doesn't want to take anymore than that off from work. And in fact, he's always nervous about taking time off from work.
So here's what's going on with this:
1) Today we go and get our passport photos taken and we have to fill out all the forms, we've printed out and make sure we have everything ready, because,
2) Tomorrow we have an appointment to go to the post office and finish applying for our passports. You have to bring a slew of things with you! Birth certificates, forms, driver's licenses, photo copies of driver's licenses, a check for each application and proper passport photos.
3) This a.m. I just got notice that we can stay on a houseboat on the Seine! So we are planning to go a week earlier than the Avila program starts and spend six days in Paris! Then we'll take a train to Madrid and then onto Avila. Avila will be our base camp for Spain and while the three oldest kids start their program there, Rick, Sean, Becky and I will explore Spain!
I think this is really going to happen! We had thought about traveling to Italy when Hannah was there last winter, but Becky was so frightened of the idea of flying and going so far away and I just was afraid that we'd spend tons of money and have a rotten time. But she has matured so much. Rick took her up in a plane at the beach and she loved flying! So now she's over that fear. And she has always loved the idea of learning French. I don't know why she latched onto that particular language, but she likes it. I got her a French workbook at Barnes and Noble and she gets in moods where she sits and studies it! She's only learned a little bit, of course, but the idea of going to France has made her study more.
I'm excited to go to Spain. I've been to France before and I am sure I'll love going back, but it will be neat to go to a new country. I've never thought much about Spain before, but now I am kind of obsessing over it!
And one place I never made it to when I was in France 33 years ago (oh my goodness, that is long time!) was Lourdes. I really hope we get to Lourdes!
So that's what's brewing (rather than strewing!) in our household right now! What's going on in yours?
It all started when Hannah, who previously spent a semester in Rome with the University of Dallas, asked us if she could study Spanish at the Catholic University of Avila. UD apparently has a relationship with the Universidad Catolica de Avila and often sends students there. Somehow we thought that maybe Will could go too and then Joshua got tacked onto the end of that. Well, we've been talking about it for a couple of months now. Will checked with Berklee and in order to get credit, he has to go through some organization that validates credits, but Berklee seems very open to that. And for Josh, I think it will be a great, broadening experience for him. Hannah already had her passport and UD is taking care of her paper work, but for the other two there's more work involved, for instance, they need passports! While thinking about getting them passports, Rick said why not all of us get them now, just in case. So then we started thinking that maybe we'd all go, the oldest three to study for a month and the rest of us just for a two week vacation. Rick doesn't want to take anymore than that off from work. And in fact, he's always nervous about taking time off from work.
So here's what's going on with this:
1) Today we go and get our passport photos taken and we have to fill out all the forms, we've printed out and make sure we have everything ready, because,
2) Tomorrow we have an appointment to go to the post office and finish applying for our passports. You have to bring a slew of things with you! Birth certificates, forms, driver's licenses, photo copies of driver's licenses, a check for each application and proper passport photos.
3) This a.m. I just got notice that we can stay on a houseboat on the Seine! So we are planning to go a week earlier than the Avila program starts and spend six days in Paris! Then we'll take a train to Madrid and then onto Avila. Avila will be our base camp for Spain and while the three oldest kids start their program there, Rick, Sean, Becky and I will explore Spain!
I think this is really going to happen! We had thought about traveling to Italy when Hannah was there last winter, but Becky was so frightened of the idea of flying and going so far away and I just was afraid that we'd spend tons of money and have a rotten time. But she has matured so much. Rick took her up in a plane at the beach and she loved flying! So now she's over that fear. And she has always loved the idea of learning French. I don't know why she latched onto that particular language, but she likes it. I got her a French workbook at Barnes and Noble and she gets in moods where she sits and studies it! She's only learned a little bit, of course, but the idea of going to France has made her study more.
I'm excited to go to Spain. I've been to France before and I am sure I'll love going back, but it will be neat to go to a new country. I've never thought much about Spain before, but now I am kind of obsessing over it!
And one place I never made it to when I was in France 33 years ago (oh my goodness, that is long time!) was Lourdes. I really hope we get to Lourdes!
So that's what's brewing (rather than strewing!) in our household right now! What's going on in yours?
Sunday, January 8, 2012
Bean Blossom Dreams - Book 3
Bean Blossom Dreams by Sallyann Murphey is a delightful book about a family's decision to quit city life and move to a farm. It is a memoir of their first two years of adjusting to country life. The author was born in England and worked as a BBC producer before meeting her American husband (a professional free lance photographer). She moved to Chicago to be with him and eventually they had their only daughter Charlotte, or Charley as they call her. They grew dissatisfied with the pace of their career-centered, city life and wanted a better place to raise their child. So taking a huge financial risk, they bought a 42 acre farm in Brown County, Indiana, took the plunge and moved. And they have never regretted it! Their farm is a beautiful piece of property and a wonderful place for their daughter to grow up. Both the Murpheys had enjoyed gardening. Sally loved flowers and herbs and Greg, her husband, loved growing food! They eventually accumulate something like 72 animals, most of these poultry, but with a number of stray dogs and cats factored in there as well. It turns out Brown County is the pet drop off capital of the world, abounding in abandoned pets.
It takes a while to acclimate and Sally relates humorous stories of city slickers getting used to the earthiness of farm living, like dealing with ticks, snakes and tornadoes. There's a lot of blood and death on a farm from marauding foxes and stray dogs and even the occasional sudden attacks on the chickens from the family's usually well behaved German Shepherd. And there is tons of physical work involved in maintaining a farm and preserving their harvest. But the Murpheys tackle it all joyfully. They have good neighbors who willingly and generously help them learn the ropes.
The book relates all sorts of stories about Charley's delight in gardening and farm life, dealing with their testy horse, Hotshot, learning to track deer, and especially, cooking. At the back of the book, the author included many wonderful sounding recipes as well as garden plans and instructions on how to can food and make potpourri. I actually copied out some of the delicious sounding recipes.
I'm on a homemaking, back-to-nature-and-the-simple-life kick right now and Bean Blossom Dreams fit that mood perfectly. This book was written back in 1996. Bean Blossom Farm still exists and apparently the Murpheys still supply seedlings and food at farmer's markets as well as make organic fertilizer. They've got a facebook page! This was a library read for me, so I apparently read the first edition. The link above is to the 2nd edition which has an updated afterward. I didn't have the benefit of the update, but the minute I finished reading the book I did a google search to find out how the family was doing now!
I give Bean Blossom Dreams two thumbs up! For more book reviews, please go to 52 Books.
It takes a while to acclimate and Sally relates humorous stories of city slickers getting used to the earthiness of farm living, like dealing with ticks, snakes and tornadoes. There's a lot of blood and death on a farm from marauding foxes and stray dogs and even the occasional sudden attacks on the chickens from the family's usually well behaved German Shepherd. And there is tons of physical work involved in maintaining a farm and preserving their harvest. But the Murpheys tackle it all joyfully. They have good neighbors who willingly and generously help them learn the ropes.
The book relates all sorts of stories about Charley's delight in gardening and farm life, dealing with their testy horse, Hotshot, learning to track deer, and especially, cooking. At the back of the book, the author included many wonderful sounding recipes as well as garden plans and instructions on how to can food and make potpourri. I actually copied out some of the delicious sounding recipes.
I'm on a homemaking, back-to-nature-and-the-simple-life kick right now and Bean Blossom Dreams fit that mood perfectly. This book was written back in 1996. Bean Blossom Farm still exists and apparently the Murpheys still supply seedlings and food at farmer's markets as well as make organic fertilizer. They've got a facebook page! This was a library read for me, so I apparently read the first edition. The link above is to the 2nd edition which has an updated afterward. I didn't have the benefit of the update, but the minute I finished reading the book I did a google search to find out how the family was doing now!
I give Bean Blossom Dreams two thumbs up! For more book reviews, please go to 52 Books.
Friday, January 6, 2012
Breakfast Plans (and Snacks too)
So I'm trying to switch to a Nourishing Traditions way of cooking. I'm in transition so it is rather modified. I'm working to wean us off so much white, bleached flour and white sugar. I decided to start with breakfast. Here are my plans as of right now; they are still a bit tentative, since, for instance, I still haven't made a smoothie that I like as much as commercial ones like at Reeboks.
Sunday
Eggs (scrambled or fried)
Sausage or bacon (from either WF or Farm)
Sprouted Wheat pancakes (Arrowmill Brand flour from WF-haven't made these yet! This Sunday!)
Grade B Maple Syrup
Monday
Slow cooker oatmeal
Fruit
Tuesday
Eggs
Bacon, sausage or ham (I want to make extra and freeze so that I can quick put together Thursdays breakfast)
Wednesday
Fruit Smoothies
Thursday
Breakfast sandwiches on the road
(We have to leave the house early this a.m. and have been eating Poptarts on the way. I know, I know! Terrible! But the kids love breakfast sandwiches too. I'll have still do English muffins with this, but it is still better than Poptarts! I am hoping to be able to cook up the eggs and bacon/sausage on Tuesday a.m. and freeze them and then quickly assemble the sandwiches and toast them just before we leave in the a.m. I'm going to try this on Thursday so we'll see how it works!)
Friday
Slow cooker oatmeal
Fruit
Saturday
Bagels and cream cheese. I know that the bagels are white flour but this breakfast has been a long standing tradition on Saturday mornings, so I don't think we will change this particular custom. At this point I can not be a purist and have to work with what I've got!
I'm also working on better snacks to have around the house. Here are some ideas:
Fruit - we already have this but often the fruit goes neglected in preference for the junkie stuff I've bought. Well, I am going to stop buying junkie stuff so hopefully fruit consumption will go up!
Popcorn - this is easy and healthy. We've got an air popper.
Trail mix
Cheese and crackers - slowly getting the kids to like whole wheat crackers. They like Trader's Joe's Multi-grain crackers and some organic brands of Wheat Thin type crackers, I just can't remember which brands!
Quick breads like banana or zucchini or pumpkin
Granola bars - though store bought ones are very sugary
Hummus and veggies
Peanut butter or almond butter and fruit - they don't like natural pb and they didn't take to the almond butter but I'm going to keep trying!
Things I'd like to try:
Homemade cheese crackers - they love those Pepperidge Farm Goldfish or Cheez-Its. I want to try to duplicate those but in a healthier form.
Home made granola
Homemade ice cream - this might be a Sunday dessert. We actually have an ice cream maker and we've made ice cream a total of two times. And it was delicious! I want to make it with less sugar and healthier sugar.
Homemade cookies - maybe I could find a good chocolate chip/oatmeal cookie the kids would like. Again, I'd try to use less sugar and healthier sugar.
Sunday
Eggs (scrambled or fried)
Sausage or bacon (from either WF or Farm)
Sprouted Wheat pancakes (Arrowmill Brand flour from WF-haven't made these yet! This Sunday!)
Grade B Maple Syrup
Monday
Slow cooker oatmeal
Fruit
Tuesday
Eggs
Bacon, sausage or ham (I want to make extra and freeze so that I can quick put together Thursdays breakfast)
Wednesday
Fruit Smoothies
Thursday
Breakfast sandwiches on the road
(We have to leave the house early this a.m. and have been eating Poptarts on the way. I know, I know! Terrible! But the kids love breakfast sandwiches too. I'll have still do English muffins with this, but it is still better than Poptarts! I am hoping to be able to cook up the eggs and bacon/sausage on Tuesday a.m. and freeze them and then quickly assemble the sandwiches and toast them just before we leave in the a.m. I'm going to try this on Thursday so we'll see how it works!)
Friday
Slow cooker oatmeal
Fruit
Saturday
Bagels and cream cheese. I know that the bagels are white flour but this breakfast has been a long standing tradition on Saturday mornings, so I don't think we will change this particular custom. At this point I can not be a purist and have to work with what I've got!
I'm also working on better snacks to have around the house. Here are some ideas:
Fruit - we already have this but often the fruit goes neglected in preference for the junkie stuff I've bought. Well, I am going to stop buying junkie stuff so hopefully fruit consumption will go up!
Popcorn - this is easy and healthy. We've got an air popper.
Trail mix
Cheese and crackers - slowly getting the kids to like whole wheat crackers. They like Trader's Joe's Multi-grain crackers and some organic brands of Wheat Thin type crackers, I just can't remember which brands!
Quick breads like banana or zucchini or pumpkin
Granola bars - though store bought ones are very sugary
Hummus and veggies
Peanut butter or almond butter and fruit - they don't like natural pb and they didn't take to the almond butter but I'm going to keep trying!
Things I'd like to try:
Homemade cheese crackers - they love those Pepperidge Farm Goldfish or Cheez-Its. I want to try to duplicate those but in a healthier form.
Home made granola
Homemade ice cream - this might be a Sunday dessert. We actually have an ice cream maker and we've made ice cream a total of two times. And it was delicious! I want to make it with less sugar and healthier sugar.
Homemade cookies - maybe I could find a good chocolate chip/oatmeal cookie the kids would like. Again, I'd try to use less sugar and healthier sugar.
Thursday, January 5, 2012
Salt; A World History - Book 2
I found the book Salt; A World History by Mark Kurlansky, to be a fascinating read. I like quirky histories. Kurlansky traces the impact of salt, the only rock we eat (as the back cover states) on human history. We need salt to live and so the obtaining of salt was one of the very first reasons humankind developed trade and engineering and even taxes (salt was often a great source of revenue for the state).
This book is filled with all sorts of interesting facts about salt. Kurlansky follows a chronological timeline, more or less. He starts with the Chinese and how very early on they learned to use natural gas (deposits of which quite often are near salt deposits) as fuel to boil brine to get salt. He takes us on a trip around the world to Europe, the Caribbean, India, and the Dead Sea, among other places, traveling through history and exposing the intricate connections that the need for salt has created.
Kurlansky tells us everything! Do you know why Salzburg is so named? Did you know the 'wich' ending on the name of many British towns signifies that a saltwork existed there? Did you know that Roman soldiers were often paid in salt and thus we have the word salary? In the Austro-Hungarian empire they actually held balls and built a beautiful chapel down in the salt mines. Did you know that in the Middle Ages the Church's required fast days drove a need for fish which in turn needed to be preserved, and so we have the great popularity of cod and herring. Transportation of salt was a major engineering problem. A large reason for the building of the Erie canal was to transport salt from Syracuse which used to be a great salt producing town!
I enjoyed learning about the Basques, how caviar is fished from the Caspian Sea and why Ghandi chose to walk across India to harvest salt by the sea as a symbolic protest against the British Empire. Really the whole thing was just so fascinating to me. Things I had never thought about or connected were revealed in this book.
Kurlansky's writing style took me a little while to get used to. He writes in kind of clipped vignettes at times. I could almost picture him researching for this book and writing little tidbits of information on index card after index card and then putting them in the order he thought worked. I could imagine him then transcribing each card onto his manuscript. His book reads like that. It felt especially choppy in the beginning and the very end, but the vast bulk of the book seems to relax and flow better. Kurlansky does get a little glib sometimes and as I was initially reading the book, I remembered about Ghandi and his march (not that I know much about Ghandi but I saw the movie with Ben Kingsley a long time ago!) and I thought, I bet Kurlansky is going to mention Ghandi's peculiar habit of sleeping (just sleeping apparently!) with young girls to test himself. Kurlansky reminded me a bit of Bill Bryson who never seems to have gotten over his adolescent delight in salacious facts (salacious! Get it! Derived from the Latin for salt!) and sure enough in the very first paragraph about Ghandi, Kurlansky manages to work that little detail in. So he was a bit predictable in that way.
But aside from the quibbles above, I heartily enjoyed this book. One little touch that I found delightful was that Kurlansky includes recipes from Ancient times to our current age. These are sprinkled throughout the book and I thought added a wonderful touch.
Kurlansky has also written other books on the Basque and on Cod as these things are related (as you discover in the book). I'd really like to read these books as well, especially the one on the Basques.
[A little aside: This book is published by Penguin. I read it in paperback and it was on the New York Times Bestseller list in 2002 or something. Yet I found on page 300 a misspelling of the word receiving! It is spelled recieving! How the heck did that typo get past the spell checker and the editors????? I had one of those 'what is the world coming to' moments when I noticed that. LOL!]
So this book gets two thumbs up! For more reviews go to 52 Books in 52 Weeks.
This book is filled with all sorts of interesting facts about salt. Kurlansky follows a chronological timeline, more or less. He starts with the Chinese and how very early on they learned to use natural gas (deposits of which quite often are near salt deposits) as fuel to boil brine to get salt. He takes us on a trip around the world to Europe, the Caribbean, India, and the Dead Sea, among other places, traveling through history and exposing the intricate connections that the need for salt has created.
Kurlansky tells us everything! Do you know why Salzburg is so named? Did you know the 'wich' ending on the name of many British towns signifies that a saltwork existed there? Did you know that Roman soldiers were often paid in salt and thus we have the word salary? In the Austro-Hungarian empire they actually held balls and built a beautiful chapel down in the salt mines. Did you know that in the Middle Ages the Church's required fast days drove a need for fish which in turn needed to be preserved, and so we have the great popularity of cod and herring. Transportation of salt was a major engineering problem. A large reason for the building of the Erie canal was to transport salt from Syracuse which used to be a great salt producing town!
I enjoyed learning about the Basques, how caviar is fished from the Caspian Sea and why Ghandi chose to walk across India to harvest salt by the sea as a symbolic protest against the British Empire. Really the whole thing was just so fascinating to me. Things I had never thought about or connected were revealed in this book.
Kurlansky's writing style took me a little while to get used to. He writes in kind of clipped vignettes at times. I could almost picture him researching for this book and writing little tidbits of information on index card after index card and then putting them in the order he thought worked. I could imagine him then transcribing each card onto his manuscript. His book reads like that. It felt especially choppy in the beginning and the very end, but the vast bulk of the book seems to relax and flow better. Kurlansky does get a little glib sometimes and as I was initially reading the book, I remembered about Ghandi and his march (not that I know much about Ghandi but I saw the movie with Ben Kingsley a long time ago!) and I thought, I bet Kurlansky is going to mention Ghandi's peculiar habit of sleeping (just sleeping apparently!) with young girls to test himself. Kurlansky reminded me a bit of Bill Bryson who never seems to have gotten over his adolescent delight in salacious facts (salacious! Get it! Derived from the Latin for salt!) and sure enough in the very first paragraph about Ghandi, Kurlansky manages to work that little detail in. So he was a bit predictable in that way.
But aside from the quibbles above, I heartily enjoyed this book. One little touch that I found delightful was that Kurlansky includes recipes from Ancient times to our current age. These are sprinkled throughout the book and I thought added a wonderful touch.
Kurlansky has also written other books on the Basque and on Cod as these things are related (as you discover in the book). I'd really like to read these books as well, especially the one on the Basques.
[A little aside: This book is published by Penguin. I read it in paperback and it was on the New York Times Bestseller list in 2002 or something. Yet I found on page 300 a misspelling of the word receiving! It is spelled recieving! How the heck did that typo get past the spell checker and the editors????? I had one of those 'what is the world coming to' moments when I noticed that. LOL!]
So this book gets two thumbs up! For more reviews go to 52 Books in 52 Weeks.
Wednesday, January 4, 2012
The Mary Frances Housekeeper - Book 1
The Mary Frances Housekeeper; Adventures Among the Doll People by Jane Eayre Fryer is my first completed book in 2012. I've actually been reading it aloud to Becky on and off for several weeks. This book was written back in 1914 and it is a charming didactic sort of book that teaches little girls about housekeeping duties by telling the story of Mary Frances and how she helps her paper dolls get a house, furniture, clothes and an automobile among other things. The dialogue is quite dated as is the representation of the 'colored' maid and chauffeur. We had to have a little bit of a talk about stereotypes. However what comes through is the kindness of everyone, both Mary Frances' family, her mother, brother and father, as well as the doll family. It is quite comical at points. And it is fascinating to read the homey instructions for how to make an invalid's bed, how to do wash, how to dust properly, etc.
The neatest thing though about this particular Mary Frances book is that it comes with the paper dolls. Becky liked to play with them while I read. And inside the book there are colored plates showing the cut outs for making the furniture. It is really darling!
Jane Eayre Fryer wrote a whole Mary Frances series of books about cooking, gardening and knitting and crocheting. I love the cookbook one. I love to read recipes from the olden days!
This book is very enjoyable if you want to cozy up with your daughter and work out your domestic impulses! The stereotyping of the maid and chauffeur are regrettable however.
For more 52 Books in 52 Weeks, please go here!
The neatest thing though about this particular Mary Frances book is that it comes with the paper dolls. Becky liked to play with them while I read. And inside the book there are colored plates showing the cut outs for making the furniture. It is really darling!
Jane Eayre Fryer wrote a whole Mary Frances series of books about cooking, gardening and knitting and crocheting. I love the cookbook one. I love to read recipes from the olden days!
This book is very enjoyable if you want to cozy up with your daughter and work out your domestic impulses! The stereotyping of the maid and chauffeur are regrettable however.
For more 52 Books in 52 Weeks, please go here!
Tuesday, January 3, 2012
Strewsday Tuesday - 1/3/12
I do believe that's the first time I've typed /12 like that! Happy New Year!
Strewing.....strewing.....trying to think of any strewing going on lately here.
Really it is still Christmas presents. Becky got a camera and Sean a little video recorder. Becky's been using hers more. Lately our neighborhood has suddenly become a place for turkey vultures to hang out. There have always been a few in the area but since they've started building a new fire house about 1/4 mile away towards the main road, the turkey vulture numbers have increased to a kind of scary degree! I feel like they must have uncovered an old grave site or something when they dug up the earth to lay the foundation for the station. At least that's what my overactive imagination thinks! Why else would so many turkey vultures move into the area. Every afternoon about 2 dozen of them just circle around in the sky above us (or rather slightly to the east of our house) for a couple hours. One day as I was driving into the garage I saw one perched in a tree in our side yard with its wings extended. I swear it looked just like a gargoyle!
Anyway, Becky's been taking pictures of these birds. And a day or two ago she saw a hawk perched in a very low branch in our yard. The hawk let her get pretty close to it and she snapped a picture. I wish I could put the pictures on here! And that inspires me to again renew my efforts to put photos back on my blog. I'm going to have my 19 yo home from college work on this! He's not been doing anything but sleeping (well, he did come down with a cold).
Let's see what else. Sean really wants to start cheesemaking. He's asked me two days in a row, but I just haven't gotten myself prepared in terms of materials and emotionally (LOL!) to do it. I'm thinking I'll get all the stuff today at the store and we'll work on it tomorrow.
We got a cheesemaking kit from this company.
It finally got cold out and Rick's been home for four days! He something huge due at work right before Christmas so now he's actually been able to be home and relax a bit. But cold weather plus Rick being home means fires in our fireplace. He loves to haul in wood and build fires. Anyway, he taught Becky how to make a fire. Last night she made one all by herself. She loves to sit in her little rocker (she still fits; she's so petite!) and stare into the flames. I joked that she'd make a great Girl Scout and she got very insulted because her loyalty lies with American Heritage Girls. Lately, you have to be very careful with her or she gets offended.
So I'll stop rambling and ask any reader out there who might mosey along and actually read this, what are you strewing these days?
Strewing.....strewing.....trying to think of any strewing going on lately here.
Really it is still Christmas presents. Becky got a camera and Sean a little video recorder. Becky's been using hers more. Lately our neighborhood has suddenly become a place for turkey vultures to hang out. There have always been a few in the area but since they've started building a new fire house about 1/4 mile away towards the main road, the turkey vulture numbers have increased to a kind of scary degree! I feel like they must have uncovered an old grave site or something when they dug up the earth to lay the foundation for the station. At least that's what my overactive imagination thinks! Why else would so many turkey vultures move into the area. Every afternoon about 2 dozen of them just circle around in the sky above us (or rather slightly to the east of our house) for a couple hours. One day as I was driving into the garage I saw one perched in a tree in our side yard with its wings extended. I swear it looked just like a gargoyle!
Anyway, Becky's been taking pictures of these birds. And a day or two ago she saw a hawk perched in a very low branch in our yard. The hawk let her get pretty close to it and she snapped a picture. I wish I could put the pictures on here! And that inspires me to again renew my efforts to put photos back on my blog. I'm going to have my 19 yo home from college work on this! He's not been doing anything but sleeping (well, he did come down with a cold).
Let's see what else. Sean really wants to start cheesemaking. He's asked me two days in a row, but I just haven't gotten myself prepared in terms of materials and emotionally (LOL!) to do it. I'm thinking I'll get all the stuff today at the store and we'll work on it tomorrow.
We got a cheesemaking kit from this company.
It finally got cold out and Rick's been home for four days! He something huge due at work right before Christmas so now he's actually been able to be home and relax a bit. But cold weather plus Rick being home means fires in our fireplace. He loves to haul in wood and build fires. Anyway, he taught Becky how to make a fire. Last night she made one all by herself. She loves to sit in her little rocker (she still fits; she's so petite!) and stare into the flames. I joked that she'd make a great Girl Scout and she got very insulted because her loyalty lies with American Heritage Girls. Lately, you have to be very careful with her or she gets offended.
So I'll stop rambling and ask any reader out there who might mosey along and actually read this, what are you strewing these days?
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