Something I Really Like - Personally

There is no thrill like seeing the people you love grow to be more "themselves." (If that makes sense.)

Recent examples:

• Reading the third draft of Rose's screenplay.
  This is a project from her screenwriting class that her teacher (who has sold screenplays under a pen name) feels has great potential, especially after a few more drafts.
  
  It came alive ... so very satisfying compared to draft 2. It isn't perfect, but ... wow. She's good. And I'm not just saying that because she's our own sweet Rose.
  
  
• Hannah looking at a chirping sparrow sitting in the entrance to a birdhouse and providing the translation of his chirping.
  She's a nut about animals as her Wildlife and Biology degree will attest. Birds are a special passion. I forgot that birds are actually doing some communication beyond singing until that moment.
  
  The translation? This works best if done in a sing-song ...
  "This is mine. Mine, mine, mine. This is mine. Mine, mine, mine."
  
  It makes me smile just to think of that little guy staking out his territory.
  

In which we hear learn some about Fraulein Dollman, consider Von Brunning's cleverness, and change plans

Yes, it's Episode 124 of Forgotten Classics as we forge ahead with The Riddle of the Sands ... and find out about a good source of movie info along the way.

PSA: Nelnet ≠ Customer Service

I don't use this as a forum for complaining ... well, not usually anyway.

In this instance, however, my personal interest in lowering Tom's blood pressure makes it incumbent upon me to warn people about using nelnet for student loans. A couple of early loans we got for Hannah's college were sold to them which is how we have been flung into the dizzying world of what they laughingly term "customer service."

However, if you have the right sense of the ridiculous, then perhaps the more outrageous of our examples will simply tickle your funny bone.

• Receiving an email telling you that in 24 hours your statement will be posted to your account.
  
  Really? This is the computer age, guys. Why not just send the email when it is posted instead of making us check back in 24 hours?
  
  
• Their customer service phone number message tells you they are open from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m., Eastern time.
  
  Why the special hours? Every message leads to a computer and they never sleep. If you try "O" then it kicks you out. This is especially annoying when you are responding to that 24-hour notice email (24-hours later) to tell them that your statement has not been updated.
  

As I say these are just a few examples of the extremes. On the plus side, if you finally find a phone number that allows you to speak to a human (yes, the "apply for a loan!" phone number), then they are very nice ... but ultimately powerless.

It is too late to save us, but if you're applying for school loans then save yourselves!

Something I Really Like - Fun

My narration of Mike Resnick's "The Bride of Frankenstein" is now live at Escape Pod.

This is one of their series of Hugo-nominated stories and it was a great compliment to be asked to narrate it ... and the story is a lot of fun.  It was a real treat to read it.

There's a bit of depth that Happy Catholic readers will appreciate.

To top it all off, it is guest hosted by my favorite ... Alasdair Stuart of Pseudopod

Enjoy!

(Note: contains a bit of language ... )

Something I Really Like - Easy on the Eye

Not the puppies, though they are drop-dead cute.

The TV.

Tom bought my MacBook with some of our tax refund. I realized that what he'd really have liked for his birthday was something to replace our 20-year-old television. However, we didn't have that tax refund when it was his birthday. Obviously it was necessary to rectify that oversight. Especially after I heard him going over all the specs for televisions while we were lunching with friends.

Voila!

Apex Digital LD4088 40 in. LCD TV

Key Features

• Flat Panel Type: LCD TV
• Aspect Ratio: Widescreen (16:9)
• Broadcast Format Displayed: 1080p (HDTV) 1080i (HDTV) 720p (HDTV) 480p (EDTV) 480i (SDTV)
• LCD Response Time: 7 ms
• Screen Size: 40 inch
• Contrast Ratio: 1,800:1

It also has provided him with a bonus activity ... a new hobby as he tries to find just the right way to improve the sound, which he says is worse than that of our old television. Being glued to the glorious new "pop out of the screen" vision in front of me, I have hardly noticed.

The first movies we watched on it? Monsters, Inc. and The Incredibles.

Worth a Thousand Words

You may kiss the bride
from Mom, I'm getting married
at the King Arthur Flour Baking Blog

This is a photo that captures sheer joy. If you click through then you'll also see the cake her mother and friends made for her.

Atheists Don't Have No Songs -- Steve Martin with the Steep Canyon Rangers

Much thanks to Mike Aquilina for pointing out this good natured and clever song. I laughed out loud but, then, Steve Martin usually has that effect on me.

Something I Really Like* - Tasty

Truly a delicious potato chip, worth the extra money. Just enough salt, zipped (or is it zapped?) with just enough pepper on hand-made potato chips. One bag per week for the household makes sure we appreciate these savory bits.

If you have a few extra bucks, then it is worth picking up a package of their most recent limited edition.

Hoochey mama, that's a zesty chip! You can read the story behind the flavor here.

Thank you Zapp's!

*Something I really like is one of Dr. Gemma's regular segments on her podcast, which I thought I'd try to adapt as I have so much I'd like to share that I never can get to it. One bite at a time ... maybe I can do it.

Fish, Fish, Fishes, and Grammar

Fish are our first group of animals, but before we discuss them, a note on English. One fish is, of course, a fish. The plural is also fish. However, the plural of different kinds of fish is “fishes.” So if you catch five of them, you’ve caught five fish. If you’re talking about groups, as we will, its fishes.

A Life of Life preps us to dive into discussing vertebrates. (Pun intentional)

Good Reading for the Weekend at the WSJ

The Wall Street Journal had tons of good stuff ... here are my picks:

• The Case for Having More Kids
  

  The main problem with parenting pessimists, though, is that they assume there's no acceptable way to make parenting less work and more fun. Parents may feel like their pressure, encouragement, money and time are all that stands between their kids and failure. But decades' worth of twin and adoption research says the opposite: Parents have a lot more room to safely maneuver than they realize, because the long-run effects of parenting on children's outcomes are much smaller than they look.

  A must read story about having more children which uses statistics and current observations to counter "what everybody knows." Tom and I agree that this story's information and attitude is much needed and a true reflection of what we have experienced. The short version would be: don't worry, be happy, and relax more. I am going to read this book when it comes out.


• Frederick Douglass's Eloquent Biography

  By its own terms, "Narrative" is the story of "how a slave became a man," and that story is intimately connected with Douglass's discovery, while still a slave, of the power of language. That process, as told in "Narrative," began like a trickster's tale. After learning a few letters of the alphabet by observing the markings on timbers in a shipyard, Douglass started boasting of what he knew to be his very limited knowledge to the white boys he met, knowing that, in their pride, the boys would try to top him by showing him letters he had not mastered. In this way, Douglass recalled, he got "a good many lessons in writing." The true turning point in his education, however, came when he happened upon a copy of "The Columbian Orator," a book of classic speeches, poems and dialogues "calculated to improve youth . . . in the ornamental and useful art of eloquence."

• The Bumper Book of Nature

  Not so funny but sadder still is the degree to which our own tech-absorbed society is cut off from nature's beauty and cadences. That sentiment, at least, and with gentle rue rather than Betjeman-like invocations of violence, is what emanates from the pleasant pages of "The Bumper Book of Nature: A User's Guide to the Great Outdoors." [...]
  
  Mr. Moss further urges readers to pursue outdoor pleasures that might seem laughably self-evident. "Climb a tree," he exhorts, and then goes on to explain when it is best to climb (late fall, when the leaves have dropped) and what it is most prudent to wear (jeans and a long-sleeved top, to keep from getting skinned). "Stand out in the rain," Mr. Moss advises. "It doesn't have to be for long—just time enough to appreciate the sensation of pure rainwater."
  
  Screamingly obvious? Well, sure. Yet the spirit of this sweet book is such that one is inclined less to mock than to think: "What a great idea!" And there is no doubting that Mr. Moss is onto something.

  Hannah, with her training in wildlife and nature (and Wildlife Biologist certificate in sight), has had occasion to bring up the idea several times in the last couple of weeks just how divorced most of us are from nature. Sometimes it is to the point where people are afraid of it in any manifestation. This looks like a nice counter to that tendency. I am going to see if our library has a copy.


• Three Shaw Films in Their DVD Debut

  George Bernard Shaw loved movies—or, more accurately, silent ones. But he didn't much care for early sound films, especially cinematic adaptations of his plays. That is until the appearance on his doorstep in 1935 of Gabriel Pascal, a gap-toothed, Transylvania-born actor turned producer who, in the words of the playwright's biographer Michael Holroyd, "belonged to a breed of troubadour-entertainers . . . for whom Shaw had special fondness."

• What I Learned in Pappy's Study

  I can still see him now, balding and bearded, seated behind his massive wooden desk, his powerful shoulders bent over a book, left hand pulling a pencil across the page. I enter Pappy's study and he looks up from his reading and greets me. Sometimes the greeting is light and playful; sometimes it is weary or stern. Always it is followed by the same: "Come, have a seat, son."
  
  To enter my father's home was to step into his scrutinizing gaze, a gaze that swept over my geometric haircuts, oversized basketball jerseys and voluminous, sagging trousers like an infrared beam, ...

  Sadly, this is only available to WSJ online subscribers and if you are one then I urge you to go read this. For the rest of us (except actual subscribers like me) then go look for William's book, Losing My Cool: How a Father's Love and 15,000 Books Beat Hip-hop Culture. Another one I'm going to be hitting our library for.

"When Catholics are Attacked All Christians Should React "

Scott Nehring, our token Protestant (his label, not mine, folks!) over at Catholic Media Review, has a clip on his blog, Good News Film Reviews explaining why he believes Christians of all denominations should stand with the Catholic Church when it is unfairly criticized or attacked by those in the entertainment industry.

There is a segment in his book titled “Attack on Catholics: Just Because I Don’t Follow You Doesn’t Mean I Won’t Back You Up” where he delivers the same message. Scott told me, "It ends w/ the line 'When filmmakers throw cinematic eggs at the Vatican, they are intended to splatter on us all.'"

We all remember Scott's book, right? The one I read the galley of and can't wait to get a copy of? You Are What You See: Watching Movies Through a Christian Lens

Luckily, Scott is kindly not going to make me break my book fast experiment* as I will be getting a review copy. As he emailed:

Literally, I am sending one to the Vatican, then one to the Texas Chainsaw.

You read that right. A copy of his book will be residing at the Vatican. So you know you'd better read it, just in case the Pope twitters about it.

And, yes, you read that right. He calls me the Texas Chainsaw. Perhaps because of our frequent sparring over movies, most notably Memento.

*No books bought since the New Year.

“You gotta try and save them. It’s pretty simple.”

In those bleak moments when the lost souls stood atop the cliff, wondering whether to jump, the sound of the wind and the waves was broken by a soft voice. "Why don't you come and have a cup of tea?" the stranger would ask. And when they turned to him, his smile was often their salvation.

For almost 50 years, Don Ritchie has lived across the street from Australia's most notorious suicide spot, a rocky cliff at the entrance to Sydney Harbour called The Gap. And in that time, the man widely regarded as a guardian angel has shepherded countless people away from the edge.

What some consider grim, Ritchie considers a gift. How wonderful, the former life insurance salesman says, to save so many. How wonderful to sell them life.

"You can't just sit there and watch them," says Ritchie, now 84, perched on his beloved green leather chair, from which he keeps a watchful eye on the cliff outside. "You gotta try and save them. It's pretty simple."

Since the 1800s, Australians have flocked to The Gap to end their lives, with little more than a 3-foot (1 meter) fence separating them from the edge. Local officials say around one person a week commits suicide there, and in January, the Woollahra Council applied for 2.1 million Australian dollars ($1.7 million) in federal funding to build a higher fence and overhaul security.

[...]

But he remains available to lend an ear, though he never tries to counsel, advise or pry. He just gives them a warm smile, asks if they'd like to talk and invites them back to his house for tea. Sometimes, they join him.

"I'm offering them an alternative, really," Ritchie says. "I always act in a friendly manner. I smile."

A smile cannot, of course, save everyone; the motivations behind suicide are too varied. But simple kindness can be surprisingly effective. Mental health professionals tell the story of a note left behind by a man who jumped off San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge. If one person smiles at me on the way to the bridge, the man wrote, I will not jump.

By offering compassion, Ritchie helps those who are suicidal think beyond the terrible present moment, says psychiatrist Gordon Parker, executive director of the Black Dog Institute, a mood disorder research center that has supported the council's efforts to improve safety at The Gap.

"They often don't want to die, it's more that they want the pain to go away," Parker says. "So anyone that offers kindness or hope has the capacity to help a number of people."

Obviously I could quote the entire article but please do go read it for yourself. I only know that the man's note who jumped off the Golden Gate Bridge brought tears to my eyes. How much does it affect someone when we are too preoccupied to even notice that another human being is near us and give them a smile? We see that sometimes there is much more at stake than we could ever know.

Via The Anchoress.

Atheist Bus Ads in Chicago are an Opportunity, Not a Threat

The Freedom From Religion Foundation plastered more signs on 75 Chicago buses this week encouraging Chicagoans to skip church and sleep in on Sundays. But that's just the beginning.

Riders also will see 200 interior bus signs with quotations from five famous freethinkers or skeptics, including author Mark Twain, attorney Clarence Darrow, poets Carl Sandburg and Emily Dickinson; and actresses Butterfly McQueen and Katharine Hepburn.The interior ads also will feature a provocative quote from Richard Dawkins, author of "The God Delusion: "The God of the Old Testament is arguably the most unpleasant character in all fiction."

"Obviously, there are many reasons to reject religion, most of them intellectual," said Dan Barker, co-president of the Freedom from Religion Foundation. "But face it -- one of the immediate benefits of quitting church, besides getting a 10 percent raise because you can stop tithing, is getting to sleep in on Sundays! What the world really needs is a good night's sleep."

I saw this at The Deacon's Bench where the first thing I thought was, "Really? That's the best they could do? Promise more sleep?"

Upon reading the excerpt it turns out that even so-called atheists are not immune to pressure from outside. Of course, that is only possible if they are treating their disbelief as a religion and trying to coax others into seeing what it's all about. Which is sad. Seriously. Give me a good, solid atheist like my Mom used to be. She cared not about what anyone believed as long as they treated others decently because to her all religion was hoo-haw.

Anyway, back to the business at hand. Let's get real. These bus signs are actually more of an acknowledgment of the way things really work. People profess faith but don't examine their profession and all too often do not live it.

Those bus ads are a talking point, a conversation starter for us to be able to talk about what we know and love about our faith. To talk about why we would rather go worship than sleep late on Sunday. We can use this to express our joy and peace in having a person-to-person relationship with God.

If we can't have that discussion honestly, then the ads are a good jump start for self examination of what we do believe, why we do not have the relationship we'd like, and what we might be missing by sleeping late on Sunday.

Captain Picard Day! Why Didn't Anyone Tell Me Until Now?

Thank goodness for Savage Chickens who clued me in.

In which we meet someone new and a surprising hint is dropped!

Yes, we're back to puzzling out The Riddle of the Sands over at Forgotten Classics. Enjoy!

Hard Hat Zone ... Crane Operating Nearby

I'm finally biting the bullet and updating my template to a more user-friendly version. Blogger gave it the final push by tempting me with a really customizable set of new template designs and images.

All sidebar items will be restored in due time.

You patience is appreciated while I work through the process.

(I know ... no time for posting, but time for template redo? Shhhh. I gotta have some fun!)

Update: as you can see I've been looking at different formats and colors, etc. I like the idea of coordinating a bit with the liturgical time of year (though if I am feeling like sun or sand then that will be a bit more tenuous). So, for now, we have the leafy green feel.

The New Liturgy: Let's Educate Ourselves Before Making Judgments

We are going to begin seeing more and more questions about the new liturgy as it is circulated. In an unlikely place, I came across someone referencing this article and expressing perturbation over the line "Jesus died for many" and then referencing their own belief of what it means.

To have questions is only natural and I wish there a comprehensive, official explanation of the new liturgy, line by line. The USCCB's "coming soon" is not enough when there are dribs and drabs being released. I know that our diocese is having all the priests go to classes to receive training and education about the new liturgical form. Considering how long the translation took, how many countries and committees it had to make it through before getting to us, and the fact that the Church is trying to get us back to important basics ... I would hope we could relax and trust the Church before putting our own hasty judgments on bits and pieces.

However, that is not really human nature. Certainly is is not American human nature.

Therefore, I would strongly advise doing some research about just what the background and meaning is behind any of the new liturgy before making any guesses ourselves.

An excellent book which is very easy to understand and also helps one understand the Mass better is Praying the Mass: The Prayers of the Peopleby Jeffrey Pinyan. It goes through it piece by piece. He has further books coming out on the Prayers of the Priest and more which will I hope will be equally illuminating.

If you are Catholic and have questions about the new liturgy, do yourself a favor. Get that book and read it. Note: the introduction is written in a much more scholarly vein than the rest of the book. If it bogs you down skip it.

In which we find Goldfish. (Yes, that's what I said. Goldfish.)

The Raymond Chandler sampler. Get it at Forgotten Classics.

Photo of the Week (Maybe of the Month)

RESCUE AND PROTECT: Staff Sgt. Edward Rosa reads the Bible and extends a cigarette to Pfc. Jorge Rostra Obando, who was stunned by an explosion in Afghanistan’s Arghanab Valley. One comrade was killed and two injured in the blast. Pfc. Rostran asked the sergeant to read Psalm 91, a favorite from his childhood. (Ricardo Garcia Vilanova for The Wall Street Journal)

What a surprise and a pleasure it was to see this photo in the middle of the front page of our Wall Street Journal this morning. Two comrades and faith under fire. Inspiring and a good reminder to keep our soldiers in our prayers.

Psalms
Chapter 91

You who dwell in the shelter of the Most High, who abide in the shadow of the Almighty,

Say to the LORD, "My refuge and fortress, my God in whom I trust."

God will rescue you from the fowler's snare, from the destroying plague,

Will shelter you with pinions, spread wings that you may take refuge; God's faithfulness is a protecting shield.

You shall not fear the terror of the night nor the arrow that flies by day,

Nor the pestilence that roams in darkness, nor the plague that ravages at noon.

Though a thousand fall at your side, ten thousand at your right hand, near you it shall not come.

You need simply watch; the punishment of the wicked you will see.

You have the LORD for your refuge; you have made the Most High your stronghold.

No evil shall befall you, no affliction come near your tent.

For God commands the angels to guard you in all your ways.

With their hands they shall support you, lest you strike your foot against a stone.

You shall tread upon the asp and the viper, trample the lion and the dragon.

Whoever clings to me I will deliver; whoever knows my name I will set on high.

All who call upon me I will answer; I will be with them in distress; I will deliver them and give them honor.

With length of days I will satisfy them and show them my saving power.

Both Sides Now ... WE WISH!

I’m no expert on the issue of celibacy and Catholic priests. Fortunately, I don’t need to be to critique an NPR Morning Edition report headlined “Letter From Priests’ Lovers Reignites Celibacy Debate.” A Journalism 101 student could handle this post.

Let’s start with the question posed by the GetReligion reader who passed along the link: “Isn’t it standard journalistic practice to ‘present both sides’ when a story is news rather than an editorial?”

Um, good question.

Then again, as the perceptive reader noted, “In short, this report appears to be a thinly sourced piece of advocacy masquerading as a news story.”

GetReligion examines this story which I can't believe got past an editor in this condition. Or perhaps, as we are seeing in much of the publishing industry these days, they just bypassed an editor altogether. Truly an embarrassing piece of journalism.

Read Sam Mendes’ Apple iPhone Ad Script

Yes, film buffs and Apple worshipers, what you hear is true. Sam Mendes, the man who brought us American Beauty and Revolutionary Road, has been tapped to direct an iPhone ad. The folks at Engadget have certainly done their homework, reporting that “the ads will feature at least one spot where a mother and daughter are having a video chat conversation using the new front-facing camera.” We can confirm that this is true… because we’ve nabbed a copy of Mendes’ shooting script for the commercial.* Read it here first, after the jump.

Yes, it's a joke but a hilarious one. I'd quote a bit of the "script" but that would ruin it overall. Read it here.

Summer Reading Ideas? We've Got 'Em in Spades.

Actually, this is our Catholic women's book club summing up from last night. But that's no reason not to share it with everyone, is it? Of course not ...

Remember, this is open to any Catholic woman who can get to my house at the right time, on the right day. You don't have to belong to our parish, etc. We're a relaxed crowd and you don't have to have read the book as long as you don't mind us mentioning spoilers in discussion. There were some newcomers last night who I think can attest to that fact. Also, we have refreshments (you can see, I stop at nothing to lure readers in ... ). If you have questions don't hesitate to contact me.

We had a really wonderful discussion last night about Flannery O'Connor and how inspirational she was as a person. This is a real tribute to Abbess of Andalusia author Lorraine Murray. Everyone agreed that the book was very easy to read and told us a lot about Flannery without sugar-coating who she was as a person.

Next up is Quo Vadis. We will be reading half of it for July and finishing up in August. (As soon as I pick up my copy from the library we will know what "first half" means in terms of chapters and pages.)

Quo Vadis by Henryk Sienkiewicz, an epic tale from the days when Christianity was new ... of Romans, Christians, slaves, and ... lions in the arena. Yep, we're doin' it old-school. I think that you can find this pretty cheaply from Half Price Books though I haven't yet looked. I never realized that this was written in Polish and, as it says on Amazon, "The novel has as a subtext the persecution and political subjugation of Poland by Russia."

Upcoming books were also selected. I have arranged them in alternating fiction and nonfiction sequence with the only reasoning behind anything being to keep some of the lighter, shorter books for summer reading and trying to aim close to Halloween in reading The Rite (yes, I'm all about themes).

1. The Power of Pause (September)
   
2. The Bridge of San Luis Rey (October)
   
3. The Rite: The Making of a Modern Exorcist (November)
   
4. Til We Have Faces (December)
   
5. Circling My Mother (January)
   

I have links and descriptions of these books in the July meeting post.

Please keep in mind that we have an ongoing book recommendations list which I try to keep fairly current with new suggestions. It is good for personal reading ideas as well as for selecting book club readings. :-)

Also, there were many recommendations for summer reading which was just of a generally good nature, not necessarily religious at all. I list them below for your own exploration:

1. The Help - Kathryn Stockett
2. Major Pettigrew's Last Stand
3. My Life with Karol
4. Mother of Pearl
5. World War Z
6. The Heretic

I've Been Listening to The Rookie ... and I Miss Football

THE ROOKIE is set amongst a lethal pro football league 700 years in the future. Aliens play positions based on physiology, creating receivers that jump 25 feet into the air, linemen that bench-press 1,200 pounds, and linebackers that -- literally -- want to eat you. Organized crime runs every franchise, games are fixed and rival players are assassinated.

Follow the story of Quentin Barnes, a 19-year-old quarterback prodigy that has been raised all his life to hate, and kill, those aliens. Quentin must deal with his racism and learn to lead, or he'll wind up just another stat in the column marked "killed on the field."

I was listening to Luke Burrage's excellent review of The Rookie audiobook when I realized I had set it aside about halfway through in order to listen to something else (can't remember why) and forgotten to go back to it. I'm finishing up the last few chapters now. but as always Sigler writes completely entertainingly. Not a deep story but more of a coming of age story in space. The alien races created are very creative, as are the adaptations of the football rules to accommodate their participation.

Warning: when he says with glee "lots and LOTS of violence" he means it.

Narration on StarShipSofa

Just a quick mention that I am one of the two narrators in the Juliette Wade story featured in the most recent "Then and Now" episode at StarShipSofa. I remember enjoying the story and enjoying the reading but not much else since I did it a long time ago (maybe a year ago?). I'm looking forward to hearing the story as a whole again.

Then and Now episodes feature a classic sf story and a new story. Listeners then vote on which they prefer. It's just for fun. And you get two stories for the price of one. This episode also features a Philip K. Dick story.

"R" We Thinking About What We Pray?

If you love ... you will perceive the divine mystery in things, and once perceived, you will begin to comprehend it ceaselessly.

Fyodor Dostoevsky
The Brothers Karamazov

Mark Hart obviously lives his life and faith according to Dostoevsky's insight above. The "R" Father showcases Hart's musings on the Our Father (Lord's Prayer) broken down into 14 segments, all based around a single word beginning with R such as response, revelation, relationship, and reunion. A young husband and father, Hart shares the way that daily living helps remind and reinforce the lessons of the Our Father, as well as opening a more detailed look into theology as a further extension of those musings.

I truly enjoyed this book. Even when I thought that I knew where Hart was headed, he still managed to pull out a few reminders and observations that would stick with me into my own daily life. For instance, the excerpt below is one that came back to me repeatedly in the weeks after I read it and influenced my actions when interacting with other people.

"Who Art"
The Art of RESPONSE

... the minute we returned home [from a family vacation], I had to head to the airport for a work trip. My three-year-old daughter entered the room as I was pulling out my bag. "Are you leaving, Daddy?" she asked, with tears welling up in her eyes.

I was puzzled at her question, to the point of being almost indignant. Had I not just spent the better portion of five days discussing the intricate ins and outs of various Disney princess story lines? Had I not just packed up every stuffed animal in a six-foot-square radius of our home, transported them across state lines, and followed detailed instructions for their arrangement each night in the hotel bed? Had I not just stopped at every McDonald's restaurant on a ten-hour trip home, one that should have taken less than seven? How could she give me those eyes? What more could she possibly want from me? Was she so blind not to see that Daddy now had to leave and actually make money to pay for the vacation we had just enjoyed? Was she just blind to life's realities?

No, she wasn't. Like Bartimaeus before me, I was the blind one (Mark 10:46).

She had enjoyed my constant and consistent fatherly presence in the previous five days. With the idea of her daddy leaving now, there was a deep void, a true emptiness. ...

... while "who art" reminds us of God's constant presence, it also reveals his constant response to his children--to our wants, our needs, and our hearts. God is a Father who is always watching, not as a disciplinarian waiting for any misstep, but as the proud father at every sporting event, the front row with video camera in hand, refusing to miss a moment of his child's precious life. In our childishness we often want our Father present only when it suits us. How often we desire a Father to respond to our needs without desiring his response to our daily life. We want the loan when things are bad, but don't make the phone call when things are good. ...

God, our Father, is love (1 John 4:8). We teach it. We proclaim it. Do we believe it? How often do we really stop to ponder all that those three words contain? Nothing on earth proclaims love the way being present to someone does. My vacation experience drove home this fact to me: Love is spelled t-i-m-e.

The reflection continues into deeper issues related to this which were also influential on me during that same time period. Definitely recommended.

You can read another excerpt at The Word Among Us website. The book I read was a review copy from The Word Among Us.

Still insanely busy ...

... so if you've emailed and I haven't gotten back to you ... I'm working on it.

Thanks for your patience.

Oil Spill Images

In case you are like me and thought that the lack of images of wildlife covered with oil meant that it wasn't affecting things much ... here are some. (Not for the faint of heart.) Via A Momentary Taste of Being where Steven Riddle usually is talking about books.

Book Club Meets on Monday

Just a reminder for anyone in the Dallas area who was interested in dropping in on our Catholic women's book club ... we meet on Monday.

A bit more about it and a link to the club site can be found here.

Back Tomorrow

Rose is only here for one more day of her one week visit.

Also, several big projects requiring much time ... and many meetings.

Back later, y'all. :-)

Major Pettigrew's Last Stand: A Story of Surprising Depth

"Women always ask," she said. "My aunt Noreen is having migraine attacks from all the scandalized ladies dropping by to ask her about me."

"Nasty things, migraines," said the Major.

"Men never ask, but you can see they've made up a whole story about me and George in their heads." She turned away and placed her fingers where the rain ran sideways along the glass of her window. The Major's first impulse was to claim he never had given it a thought, but she was very observant. He wondered what truthful comment he could make.

"I'm not going to answer for men, or women, in general," he said after a moment. "But in my own case, I believe there is a great deal too much mutual confession going on today, as if sharing one's problems somehow makes them go away. All it really does, of course, is increase the number of people who have to worry about a particular issue." He paused while he negotiated a particularly tricky, right-hand turn across the busy road and into the shortcut of a narrow back lane. "Personally, I have never sought to burden other people with my life history and I have no intention of meddling in theirs," he added.

"But you're making judgments about people all the time--and if you don't know the whole story ..."

"My dear young woman, we are complete strangers, are we not?" he said. "Of course we will make shallow and quite possibly erroneous judgments about each other. I'm sure, for example, that you already have me pegged as an old git too, do you not?" She said nothing and he thought he detected a guilty smirk.

"But we have no right to demand more of each other, do we?" he continued. "I mean, I'm sure your life is very complicated, but I'm equally sure that I have no incentive to give it any thought and you have no right to demand it of me."

"I think everyone has the right to be shown respect," she said.

"Ah well, there you go." He shook his head. "Young people are always demanding respect instead of trying to earn it. In my day, respect was something you strove for. Something to be given, not taken."

"You know, you should be an old git," she said with a faint smile, "but for some reason I like you."

This is one of the relatively few straight forward commentaries about modern behavior found in this delightful book. However, it still managed to surprise me with that last truthful observation about earning respect. Keep in mind that the major here is speaking of the respecting of an individual versus the respecting of people in general. That is an important distinction and one which the major himself must be reminded of during the telling of this wonderful story. Adding another layer of irony is the fact that the Major's policy has failed entirely in his own son, who we love to loathe.

Major Pettigrew's Last Stand is a wonderful romance late in life by two people. As well it has a wonderful look at the tensions of old-style English village life versus modernization, the older generation versus the newer and generally callower generation, and various other issues of the times in which we live. All of it is handled gently and with humor.

"I wonder if it might be a little spicy for the main course," said Grace, cupping her hand around her mouth as if making a small megaphone. "What do you think major?"

"Anyone who doesn't find this delicious is a fool," said the Major. He nodded his head fiercely at Mrs. Rasool and Mrs. Ali. "However. . . ." He was not sure how to express his firm conviction that the golf club crowd would throw a fit if served a rice-based main course instead of a hearty slab of congealing meat. Mrs. Rasool raised an eyebrow at him.

"However, it is perhaps not foolproof, so to speak?" she asked. The Major could only smile in vague apology.

"I understand perfectly," said Mrs. Rasool. She waved her hand and a waiter hurried into the kitchen. The band stopped abruptly as if the wave included them. They followed the waiter out of the room.

"It's certainly a very interesting flavor," said Grace. "We don't want to be difficult."

"Of course not," said Mrs. Rasool. "I'm sure you will approve of our more popular alternative." The waiter returned at a run with a silver slaver that held a perfectly shaped individual Yorkshire pudding containing a fragrant slice of pinkish beef. It sat on a pool of burgundy gravy and was accompanied by a dollop of cumin-scented yellow potatoes and a lettuce leaf holding slice of tomato, red onion, and star fruit. A wisp of steam rose from the beef as they contemplated it in astonished silence.

"It's quite perfect," breathed Grace. "Are the potatoes spicy?" The elder Mr. Rasool muttered something to his son. Mrs. Rassol gave a sharp laugh that was almost a hiss.

"Not at all. I will give you picture to take back with you," she said. "I think we have agreed on the chicken skewers, samosas, and chicken wings as passed hors d'oeuvres, and then the beef, and I suggest trifle for dessert."

"Trifle?" said the Major. He had been hoping for some samples of dessert.

"One of the more agreeable traditions that you left us," said Mrs. Rasool. "We spice ours with tamarind jam."

"Roast beef and trifle," said Grace in a daze of food and punch. "And all authentically Mughal, you say?"

"Of course," said Mrs. Rasool. "Everyone will be happy to dine like the Emperor Shah Jehan and no one will find it too spicy."

Helen Simenson tells a story of Major Pettigrew's path to true love, sacrifice, and redemption as it can only be told in a small, unspoiled English village. That is to say, she tells it using everyday people and problems, none of which are completely good or bad. In fact, the least fleshed out character in the novel, who commits an act of villainy, is allowed to deliver a few sentences which do not alleviate our dislike of the character or their actions, but likewise lend us understanding of their own history and motive.

For Steven Riddle's comprehensive review, go here.

Super Fast Books and Movies List from the Weekend

We are having such a blast with Hannah and Rose home and Kirsten here too. It is like Christmas in the middle of the year. Consequently there has been tons of movie and book talk.

Books
For some reason, fiction is on my radar right now. Meaning novels, not sf or mystery genre stuff.

1. Just finished reading The Help by Kathryn Stockett. Honestly, if I’d really known what it was about I’d never have been interested but once I was engrossed in it I was glad to have read this excellent book. Told by two different servants and one young woman who doesn’t fit into the Jackson, Mississippi society because she didn’t immediately get married and begin a family, this is a story of their unexpected collaboration on a secret project that results in all of them crossing lines that are not acknowledged aloud but which must be crossed in order to truly know themselves. I raced through the last fourth of it. Highly recommended. HIGHLY!
2. Now am reading Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell, which I suppose actually is genre fiction (sf maybe?). I have tried it before but either wasn’t in the right mood or was expecting something different. Hannah read it, loved it, shoved it on my nightstand, and has been nagging me about it (with that hopeful, wistful, little puppy look that a mom can’t say no to…). Began it this morning and don’t understand why I didn’t warm to it before … the writing is charmingly understated and amusing. It is about magic, English practitioners of magic, books about magic, and set in England during the Napoleonic war. Only on chapter 3, but jolly good writing so far.
3. Also began The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society because it looked light and easy AND because everyone else said it was wonderful. A series of letters between various people about reading and food in post-WWII England. That's all I know so far as I have only read about 6 letters and am just getting everyone sorted out. So far, so good. More later, I'm sure.

Movies
Remember I said "super fast!"

1. Sherlock Holmes (Robert Downey Jr.): not all that it could have been but great fun nonetheless (grade: B).
2. Jennifer’s Body: warning, warning … horrible. Do not watch. (Insider info tells me that the script was a comedy but the studio got scared and cut most of the funny scenes to turn it into a horror movie. It shows. aaargh). Grade: F
3. Zombieland: finally I have found a suitable alternative for Shaun of the Dead. A true delight AND a movie that celebrates family (still chock-full of flesh-eating zombies). Hilarious though. Rule #4: watch this movie. Grade: A+. (The plus may seem extreme but Tom says that is because I had to compare it to Jennifer's Body, besides which practically anything would get a plus.)
   

Lost in Three Minutes

Brilliant. Watching the last two seasons of Lost may have a whole lot more meaning ... and it certainly is something I might be more interested in now.

In which we find They Can Only Hang You Once

Yes, we're breaking from espionage in Europe to come back home for a look at Dashiell Hammett and Sam Spade on Forgotten Classics. Join us for some very American storytelling over this holiday weekend!

You Know You Need It

The oven mitt you've always wanted but couldn't find ... Star Wars Space Slug Oven Mitt.

Thanks to Rose for putting us all on the path to discontent with her heads up on this..

I just finished reading the latest Harry Dresden novel, Changes. That's several hours I won't get back again.

What the Sam Hill was that supposed to be?

It was like a book version of a bad sequel to an action movie.

SPOILERS ... for those who haven't gotten this far in the series but not for this book.
So much action and yet I didn't care about it. I got the idea that author Jim Butcher didn't care either and was forcing the action to have to avoid actually thinking about character development or plot.

I have occasionally wondered if I was getting tired of the series and then something would happen that would reignite my interest such as Molly becoming Harry's apprentice or the rise of the Gray Council. This was just one damned thing after another (literally) with Harry calling in one favor after another.

And yet I didn't care.

As for the ending ... what the Sam Hill was that supposed to be?

This book wasn't as disappointing as Blackout (it would have to be monumentally horrible to match that), but it was a big mess nonetheless.

A Birthday Like When I Was a Kid

Once you get to a certain age, you lose that frisson of excitement over your birthday. Members of our household know that my birthday is special and I yield to no one in my enjoyment of my special day. However, you can't control feelings, as we all know, so it is a rare occasion indeed when we are transported back to those glorious days of our extreme youth when everything is possible and every gift is magical.

It began when I went home and did only what I wanted. Right there, that was a darned freeing feeling.

Then Tom came home half an hour early, having left work an hour early to drive to the other side of town to Cheesecake Royale where, which despite what you might expect from the bakery's name, he was picking up "the best tiramisu in Dallas."

You might think they would mention this on their website, but no. They are evidently hoping that the fact they even produce tiramisu will also be the best kept secret in Dallas. Anyway, it is truly amazing as is evidenced by the fact that we had it over ten years ago at an acquaintance's home who I no longer even recall by name. Wow. This bakery uses all fresh ingredients and starts from scratch each day. It shows. Delicious, creamy, not too sweet, and dripping a bit of fresh espresso from the lady fingers. So very good. So very much also as they sell it in a large plastic pan that is about 9x13". Hannah and Rose, we have a ton of tiramisu just waiting for you to help us eat it!

Then we grabbed Kirsten (a college friend of Hannah's who is staying with us for a few weeks as she has begun working after graduating but needs to save up some deposit/rent money) and went to Fireside Pies on Henderson. I'd been curious about the quality of their pizza since they mention a wood burning oven and hand stretched dough. Hoochy mama, that's good pizza!

They definitely encourage communal dining as diners are advised that pizzas are good to share between two to three people, as are the salads (which are gigantic). We tried Jimmy's Spicy Italian Sausage Pizza (with Scamorza & Roasted Red Onions) and the Peta Pie (Sonoma Goat Cheese, Balsamic Mustard Portobellas, Arugula, Roasted Red Peppers, Roasted Pinon Nuts & Charred Tomato Vinaigrette). Both were delicious with thin, oven baked crust and perfectly balanced flavor. The sausage pizza was definitely spicy while the Peta Pizza almost seemed as if it came with salad atop it which made it a bit difficult to eat but the balsamic element shone through and made the trouble worth it. We were all full with four pieces total left over. Tom and I indulged in an Italian beer on tap which was a flavorful lager that complemented the pizza perfectly.

In a mellow mood, we returned home where I attacked a pile of gifts, most of which were books ... my idea of the perfect birthday.

• The Help (thanks to Mom and I can't wait to read it),
  
• complete Flannery O'Connor short story collection,
  
• Flannery O'Connor essay collection (noticing a trend here?),
  
• an absolutely gorgeous book on the Vatican (from my sis who now is determined that I should visit some day after she and her husband were there about a month ago ... isn't it great when people want something so wonderful for you? It makes me feel very loved ...),
  
• A gift certificate for buying books (woohoo, another way around that New Year's resolution of no book buying ... with my own money ... thank you Kirsten!),
• In Bruges, such a profane, violent movie and yet I love it so
  
• Hot, Sour, Salty, Sweet, one of the best cookbooks/photography books ever but ever so expensive
• And, of course, baby Mac. From darling Tom who understands me as no one else does. It also may help explain my feeling of being overcome by the munificence of this gift when I mention that not only are we on a tight budget but I have the hand-me-down that has made it through everyone else in the house. I was fine with that actually. But Tom wanted me to have new. What a sweetheart.
  

Then there was the fun of powering up the MacBook, setting it up, learning the new and nifty tricks it can do (can you say two-finger-scrolling? how about four-finger-scrolling!).

My cup runneth over.

Truly Amazing Use of Flash ... And Food

And then there was salsa is something that you really need to see at the home site to appreciate. It's short. Enjoy this land of luscious tomato trees, spicy jalapeño cacti and canopies of fresh cilantro where anything is possible.

More Precious Than Diamonds Is a Thoughtful Husband

For one thing, as we now know, Tom knew that I wouldn't particularly care about diamonds!

For another, he said that he considered giving me an iPad. However, on thinking it over, he realized that iPads are strictly for consuming.

"You're not just a consumer. You're a creator."

That is a gift I will treasure always.

Quick Birthday Update

Posted from my new MacBook.
Gotta love that man 'o mine. What a sweetie.

Tom is soooo lucky he doesn't have to actually make a cake for me

Because I have now seen the new cake of my dreams. Zebra Cake!

Simply amazing looking isn't it? To be fair, it isn't the stripes that would kill Tom, it is the concept of cake making in general that would do him in. He would appreciate the simplicity and use of kitchen science that makes it work.

I'm going to have to try this one out soon.

Do We Know What Today Is? The Third Most Important Day of the Year!

I say this every year, but that's just because it is always true. First is Easter, then is Christmas, then is ... my birthday!

Some people ignore their birthdays or don't want much fuss made. Not me. Everyone in the household knows it too. (To be fair, they all regard their birthdays to be the third most important day of the year.)

You notice that only Jesus trumps this day for me ... so then imagine the place He holds to overcome a lifetime of "most important day of the year" before I became Christian.

Hannah showed the proper spirit several years ago when she was filling out a job application on Sunday and asked me what the date was. Then she answered her own question with, "Oh, wait. It must be the 22nd because I know Wednesday is the 25th." Yep, just like Christmas. All other dates are figured around this one.

Tom is supplying the celebratory dessert. Not a cake or a Strawberry Tart as I made last year, but Tiramisu which for some reason really struck me a few days ago as just the thing.

Also I love the fact that this is also St. (Padre) Pio's birthday. I couldn't find anything online that communicates the sense of joy and light-heartedness that I received while reading a biography of him. It was a photo of him with his head thrown back laughing that first made me notice him. I thought, "Now there is someone I could talk to..."

While praying before a cross, he received the stigmata on 20 September 1918, the first priest ever to be so blessed. As word spread, especially after American soldiers brought home stories of Padre Pio following WWII, the priest himself became a point of pilgrimage for both the pious and the curious. He would hear confessions by the hour, reportedly able to read the consciences of those who held back. Reportedly able to bilocate, levitate, and heal by touch. Founded the House for the Relief of Suffering in 1956, a hospital that serves 60,000 a year. In the 1920's he started a series of prayer groups that continue today with over 400,000 members worldwide.

And it is the Venerable Bede's saint day which is also very cool. You will never read a better death than that of the Venerable Bede ("Write faster!").

Even on the day of his death (the vigil of the Ascension, 735) the saint was still busy dictating a translation of the Gospel of St. John. In the evening the boy Wilbert, who was writing it, said to him: "There is still one sentence, dear master, which is not written down." And when this had been supplied, and the boy had told him it was finished, "Thou hast spoken truth", Bede answered, "it is finished. Take my head in thy hands for it much delights me to sit opposite any holy place where I used to pray, that so sitting I may call upon my Father." And thus upon the floor of his cell singing, "Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost" and the rest, he peacefully breathed his last breath.

So It Was Purgatory All Along? UPDATED

I quit watching Lost about two seasons ago. It was dragging on so much getting to any real answers that I just didn't care anymore.

However, I said from the beginning that it was Purgatory, even when the show's creators decried that (because, frankly, just about everyone pegged it for Purgatory).

An office mate who stuck with it described the end and I said, triumphantly, "So it was Purgatory all along."

He said, "Well that depends on your definition." (Being a nonreligious person for all I can tell.)

Then he said, it was like a halfway house between life and death where you had to be so you could sort out everything that was true about your life and see it with complete clarity.

Yep. Purgatory.

UPDATE
Here's the a bit of the post that has settled it for me. I'm going to have to rent the DVDs and watch the last two seasons of Lost.

As the story ended, the people sitting with me immediately began discussing: So is the Sideways real? I just smiled to myself, being too exhausted to formulate an answer. I wanted to say with Dumbledore, “It was in their heads, but why on earth should that make it not real?” What LOST did was make the statement: what is in your head is real. Imagination vindicated. Faith vindicated. Spiritual reality vindicated.

In other words, this was logos epistemology, as I had hoped when watching “Across the Sea.” The light of the world is in every person. We recognize it in each other. We recognize the spiritual reality within and behind the physical world, and it’s in our minds – in our imaginations – that we perceive the truth. Just note the way the show opened and closed: Jack’s eye. And then remember your eye symbolism from Harry Potter.

Via Amy H. Sturgis.

Sunday Snippets - a good idea

RAnn wrote to tell me about a new Catholic Carnival she's hosting called Sunday Snippets.

Sunday Snippets is a chance for Catholic bloggers to share their posts with each other. It doesn't matter if you blog exclusively about things Catholic or whether, like me, it pops up periodically. If you are Catholic you are welcome to join us.

For more information, here is last week's post to peruse.

"We get our weirdest when we compete over who is the most pure."

Yes, we’re moving into an era of hyper-accountability. Soon Cain will no longer answer, “Am I my brother’s keeper?” but will take great pride in keeping his brother on the straight and narrow. The Cain of tomorrow will be a pest, a prig and a self-righteous tattle-tale. The Spanish Inquisition and the holocaust of the Nazis were the result of just such a trend getting out of control.

From Roy H. Williams' Monday Morning Memo which I just finished listening to (here's the mp3 link location).

I have been noticing that for a while and the heat has been turned up in the last year, or so it seems to me. It smacked me upside the head when we were hosting a party and a guest innocently asked if I recycled, while waving an aluminum can. I had a surprising moment of inward cringing before saying, "No." Another friend nearby jokingly said, "Julie, Jesus would be green, you know."

Yes, he really was joking. And we laughed. But he was making a point. And it was not him making the point that mattered. I didn't care, honestly because that's nothing. I have been getting lectures from a particular grocery store check out girl for some time. In fact, I wickedly delight in asking for plastic bags when I am in her line even though my preference is paper.

The point was that I was conditioned to know somewhere, somehow judgment was going to be rendered. It made me reflect upon how many people these days think nothing of butting into other people's business at the drop of a hat.

I've been paying more attention ever since.

Perhaps that is why the Monday Morning Memo had me nodding and saying, "Preach it!"

It is also undoubtedly why I noticed the C.S. Lewis quote at Brandywine Books today. It starts like this ...

Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It would be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies.

Be sure to read or listen to that Monday Morning Memo and take special note of his prescribed antidotes. Another way to say that would be "live and let live."

Play PacMan on the Google Homepage Today!

It's the 30th anniversary and Google's special home page logo doesn't just emulate the game ... it is the game. (Use up and down arrows to move the PacMan.)

Thus allowing us to squander time in yet one more place, but with nostalgia so that's ok, right?

Freedom from Porn. Freedom from The Old Boss?

"Yep, freedom from programs that steal your private data. Freedom from programs that trash your battery," the Apple honcho [Steve Jobs] wrote. And then came the kicker in his litany: "Freedom from porn. Yep, freedom. The times they are a changin'."

Mr. Tate gasped. "I don't want 'freedom from porn,'" he shot back, "Porn is just fine!"

"[Y]ou might care more about porn when you have kids..." was Mr. Jobs' response.

After some sparring with Mr. Jobs on another topic, Mr. Tate came back to what is now bothering him most: "I may sound bitter," he wrote, explaining why: "It's you imposing your morality, about porn."

My, how the definition of imposing one's morality has changed over the years. Once it meant enforcing criminal sanctions on smut-peddlers. Now, a businessman who prefers to opt out of the trade is accused of impinging on everyone else's free speech.

This email exchange is the subject of Eric Felten's WSJ column today. Felton nails it.

Also, as Tom and I discussed, if the masses are crying out for porn then Apple will find out the old fashioned way. They'll go out of business.

I will take a moment here to point out that this led to a continuation of a long-running and enlightening conversation we have been having about Flash and Apple.

Simply, Steve Jobs may be against porn. But he is more against allowing open development. He is about control.

Here's how that works in this case.*

Flash is a program that is used to make and show moving things on websites, including YouTube embedded videos. (This is an extremely simplified explanation.)

Apple can't run Flash on the iPhone.

This is because they don't care to develop the iPhone to run Flash, for whatever reason.

Therefore, Steve Jobs denigrates Flash whenever he gets a chance by mentioning things like buggy programming. I will spare you the details and slurs.

This led to an exchange of attacks between Adobe (developers of Flash) and Apple.

Until finally, Apple has shown their true colors in this fight. They make tons of money from the Apps that are sold to go on the iPhone.

A way to produce an App for the iPhone has been developed that uses Flash and then exports it (with no moving elements) as an App. Therefore, it is perfectly usable with no buggy programming.

Apple has made it a policy to refuse Apps developed using Flash, even though it does not affect the end product or the iPhone's ability to use it.

Simply put, this is about total control. Period.

Goodbye Old Boss Microsoft.

Hello New Boss Apple.

Same as the old boss.

*This has deliberately been made extremely simple since it is a very complicated topic. However, keep in mind that complex arguments can be used to obscure real objectives, which when stripped down are fairly simple. Control. Ownership. Money. Steve Job's reality distortion field. Etc. (We love Apple in general, but we have NOT drunk the Kool-Aid.)

Stacked ... Everywhere

I am once again in the position of having many books, partially read, stacked all over the house. However, the great thing about these books is that all of them can be picked up and enjoyed no matter what.

Trouble is My Business by Raymond Chandler
Having suffered through City of Dragons, I realized I'd never really read any of the prototypical genre she was attempting to emulate. My random selections of Raymond Chandler from the library yielded a book of short stories and a novel. Beginning with this book of short stories, I discovered that Chandler is an author I am enjoying. These pithy stories are exactly what you would expect from the creator of Philip Marlowe, except that they show the quintessential hard-boiled detective from a developmental stage through many different stories. The last four stories, so I'm told from the book blurb, have Philip Marlowe in them, though I am not sure how he differs from the 'tecs I've read about thus far (except in name). Great fun.

Nightmare Town by Dashiell Hammett
Yep. I couldn't just try Chandler without also sampling the other great master of hard-boiled mystery fiction, Dashiell Hammett. Again, my random library selections yielded a novel and this short story selection. It also has an interesting overview of Hammett's life in the introduction. These stories contain hard boiled detectives but also, surprisingly, twist ending stories from different points of view as well. Hammett is a more varied writer than Chandler and I am always amused whenever the main detective describes himself as short and stout (which seems to happen frequently). About halfway through and thoroughly enjoying this intro to Hammett.

Assam and Darjeeling by T.M. Camp
If there is any justice in this world, then this book will become a classic. I was enchanted by it when listening to T.M. Camp's audio version on iTunes (want a sample? go listen.)

Taking up the published version (it is on Kindle also but the actual book is high quality ... Tom was very impressed) I was afraid that the story wouldn't hold up to what I remembered. I need not have feared. The printed version is superior, in fact, because the eye can linger over the beautifully written phrases, which add a depth that the ear doesn't convey in quite the same way. I am uncharacteristically reading this slowly for the pure pleasure of it. (Also, I must say that I am reading a copy bearing the author's inscription, though that in no way is influencing my commentary. I have always been a fangirl of this book.)

A masterful and nuanced book, Assam & Darjeeling is the story of a quest straight into legendary, mythological landscape. Two children’s efforts to save their mother serves as a lens through which we see pure love, redemption, and sacrifice. (For my complete review, go to SFFaudio. Highest recommendation.

The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexander Dumas
Rose has been after me to read this for some time. But it took SFFaudio mentioning a read-along of The Stars My Destination by Alfred Bester ... then they said it was based on The Count of Monte Cristo and I knew, with a sense of doom, that my time had come.

I am listening to the LibriVox free audio book. I have gotten to about chapter 35 (out of 117 ... oy!) but so far I am enjoying it. Though that villain Villefort! Oh, I want to give him such a slap! And I could have done without that exceedingly long history of the shepherd/bandit, although Dumas certainly threw his heart into the telling of it. Sadly, there is one reader who did quite a few chapters which are agony for me to try to follow as her foreign accent mushes everything together to the point where listening is a chore. So I am alternately listening and filling in by reading, which has been quite a few chapters thus far.

Major Pettigrew's Last Stand by Helen Simonson
A lovely surprise given by my friend Meg. Major Pettigrew is living a quiet life in the village of Edgecombe St. Mary when the news that his brother has suddenly died comes and sends him into a (very quiet) tailspin. It sparks a sudden friendship with Mrs. Ali who has also lost her husband. Both are struggling quietly with relatives who selfishly want to force them to behave differently.

I'm only on chapter 4 but am struck with the simultaneous feelings of wanting to gulp it down at once and also savor it slowly. So far it is truly a gem.

Walk This [Roman] Way

I did make one hypothesis while I was there. Just one. I wish I could share with you more than that. It was something I noticed. As I stood close to the location to the Temple of the Vestal Virgins I could see the collossium. In fact it is in walking distance. It was not that far from the Senate building where the laws were made, and the emperors sat, and I could imagine that when the wind was good, and the conditions right, 50, 000 voices shouting in their blood lust could be heard through the windows.

I wonder what laws were passed based on that sound.

I've been thoroughly enjoying the Ancient Rome Refocused podcast. It has the informality and "outside the envelope" thinking that puts one in mind of Hardcore History (I have a feeling that Rob Cain is going to get very tired of that comparison). Now I see that his blog is just as entertaining, informative, and thought provoking. Check it out.

It's All Downhill from Here: Nature's Mathematician

A little mid-week humor (more or less midweek) from the brilliant Dr. Boli whose latest allegorical bestiary topic is timely since I just installed bird feeders outside my kitchen window about a month ago. Though I, of course, must adapt it to the fox squirrel.

DR. BOLI’S ALLEGORICAL BESTIARY.

No. 22.—The Grey Squirrel.

THE GREY SQUIRREL is a cunning mathematician whose skill in calculating trajectories is unmatched in the animal kingdom. It has, in fact, been estimated by behavioral scientists that the Grey Squirrel would have reached the moon at least two million years before man did, had not the squirrel’s calculations revealed that the probability of finding peanuts on the moon was practically nil.

Ornithologically inclined observers who keep bird feeders in the back yard may frequently see Grey Squirrels sitting in low branches near the bird feeders, manipulating their tiny slide rules with astonishing speed and consummate skill to arrive at exactly the correct parabola that will take a squirrel from branch to feeder in one leap.

No amount of ingenuity in the design of bird feeders will ultimately defeat a determined Grey Squirrel, and the best strategy for bird lovers who wish to preserve something for their feathered friends is to feed the squirrels themselves so often that they become more or less spherical, which throws off their parabolic calculations.

Although human intelligence is no match for the squirrel’s, there is one enemy for whose formidable brain the Grey Squirrel is no match. This is the Blue Jay, a member of the hyperintelligent Corvid family of birds. Alas, the Blue Jay uses his brain for evil instead of good, his favorite recreation being the theft of nuts from (relatively) innocent squirrels. Squirrel lovers should not attempt to thwart the Blue Jay, no matter how much sympathy they feel for their furry grey friends. The Blue Jay is a bird you would not wish to have for an enemy.

Allegorically, the Grey Squirrel represents Engineers’ and Technicians’ Local No. 348, which has kindly agreed to sponsor this allegory through March 28, 2014.

Vive La Difference!

... women and men strive for the same virtues, but often attain them and express them in different ways. The virtues will be lived and manifested differently in the lives of sisters, mothers, and wives than in brothers, husbands, and fathers. Two different musical instruments, playing the exact same notes, will produce two different sounds. The difference in the sounds is one of those ineffable things that’s hard to describe with words, but easy to discern. Neither instrument is better than the other; in the hands of the diligent and dedicated, each instrument plays music which fills the spirit and adds beauty to the world.

I have never seen that truth stated more beautifully. Be sure to read What is Manliness in its entirety. It is a splendid article.

Anyone remember the name of this book?

I have been wracking my brains trying to recall the title of a book where a modern woman who complained night and day about everything in her life was sent back to Roman times (not to Rome though) by some ancient gods. She may have had their statues around as decorations?

In the process, she learns many lessons about just what life was like back then, beginning with why you didn't drink the water but went for the wine. In those long ago times she experiences the boredom of a life without constant entertainment, the terrors of being overrun by enemies, as well as the dubious joys of being saved by the soldiers on your own side. In a rather more unlikely fashion she also has brief dealings with the head of the army in order to negotiate a settlement for damages (perhaps she was a lawyer in modern times?).

Anyway, it was a very good look at what life may have been like back then if seen through modern eyes. My search engine forays haven't turned up anything so I'm tossing the question out there to y'all.

My Prescription for 26 Years of Wedded Bliss?

We began with me getting married in a nightgown, though that is not, of course, a prerequisite.

Perhaps being married to the most patient and wonderful man in the world? That's certainly a help.

(Did I mention that he's very patient?)

Whatever it is, we're going strong and happier than ever.

We celebrated last weekend as a friend of Hannah's is going to be arriving today to stay for a few weeks while she saves up enough money to establish herself in an apartment. We went to MoMo's, which is such a well kept secret that we had forgotten all about it. It still features the same excellent Italian food that we recalled from when it opened not too long after we married.

As it turns out, it is a good thing that we celebrated early because Tom has a meeting scheduled for 5:00 tomorrow which may run rather long. It would have played havoc with celebration plans. That's all par for the course on our little web-farm.

Also, Happy Birthday to my sweet sis, Lisa, who generously agreed to share her birthday with us each year. If we lived closer I'd bake you this cake (or at least give it my best shot).

Photo source

Another Batch o' Books

More of the books that have been flowing through our house and my consciousness ...

The Daughter of Time by Josephine Tey *****
A classic mystery except that it is conducted by a Scotland Yard inspector who is in the hospital for several weeks bored out of his mind (this is before television). He is known for his ability to "read faces" and is intrigued by a portrait of Richard III. Could such a sensitive face actually belong to a king who murdered his nephews to secure his crown? With the help of an American scholar, he investigates using historical sources, and then must investigate their sources. This is a brilliant work that remains deservedly one of the best known mystery stories ever. (#43)

Blackout by Connie Willis *
I never thought I'd give Connie Willis a one-star review. Honestly? If they had no stars, that is what I'd give. What a waste of time. If it were any other author I'd have stopped long ago but I kept giving her more chances.

This is the first of a two-part series about traveling back to WWII London. Problems with the book: Soooo many different characters. Thrown in seemingly randomly in fairly similar settings so it takes me a bit to catch the switch. That is quite annoying. Worse yet, no forward motion ever takes place. The various characters move throughout their little stories, all wondering why no one from home base has come through to save them and take them back to their own time (they do this over and over and over ... aaargh .. what a bunch of wusses). You may or may not care about the characters and their stories, but eventually you tire even of those because they, too, go nowhere. What a lot of wasted ink and paper.

Editors, you should have reined Willis in and forced the story into one book. I no longer care what happens to any of them so the second book is completely wasted. What a shame and a waste of writing talent. (#44)

How's Your Drink? Cocktails, Culture, and the Art of Drinking Well by Eric Felten ****
I always enjoyed reading Eric Felten's weekly cocktail column in the Wall Street Journal and was very sorry when it recently ended. Luckily, this book conveys the interesting combination of history and drink that Felten is so good at writing. With delicious and carefully selected recipes, naturally! I have tried the Raspberry Shrub and found it delicious. (#45)

The Beer Trials by Fearless Media Critic ****
As with The Wine Trials, the authors give many different kinds of beer the paper-bag review treatment. This allows them to find the best tasting beer without prejudicing results by seeing labels or brands.

I can say this is probably the only book that Tom has ever hijacked from me. He spent quite some time perusing the results and reading aloud various selections that had been reviewed. Yes, we're more beer drinkers than wine drinkers in our household.

The book also has a very interesting front section that describes the difference between all the different kinds of beer. Who knew? Not me!

We have several sorts of beer on our list to try now and luckily we can probably find many of them at our nearby Central Market.

Highly recommended. (This was a review copy.) (#46)

The "R" Father by Mark Hart ***
Written in a straight forward fashion but providing surprising insights to the Our Father (The Lord's Prayer) from the perspective of reflecting on it in 14 phrases. I plan on reviewing this properly but don't wait for that. Get it. Recommended. (#47)

City of Dragons by Kelli Stanley *
I believe that many have read my comments from when I was about halfway through this book. Just when I thought I was reconciled to all the above, was jogging along, in a story that has been told in the detective's POV (including thoughts) ... the author suddenly throws in one sentence that tells us what someone else is thinking. Then back to usual. I figured it was an editorial miss from rewriting. But no, a couple of pages later, there is a whole paragraph that way again. No warning, just tossed in there and then gone again. So disruptive to the reader. Or at least this reader. It tosses me out of the story completely. And guess what? It tells us nothing new. Nothing. We already knew those things about the reporter. Was it that the editor missed this? Lost a fight? Or, worse, thought it was a good idea? Oy veh ...

In summary: this noir wannabe is actually chick lit. It should have been cut in half by the editors. This could have been easily achieved by not indulging the author in her desire to "take us back in time" by describing every single item, person, and place encountered. I know her afterward discusses the authenticity. I'd prefer an authentically well told tale to meandering about in old San Francisco.

These Just In
From St. Benedict Press I received this interesting grab bag of books:

• Bleeding Hands, Weeping Stone by Elizabeth Ficocelli: when Ficocelli discovered that she wasn't the only one who'd never heard of many of the Church's approved miracles, she wrote this book.
• The Essential Belloc edited by McCloskey, Bloch, and Robertson: quotes and fairly lengthy excerpts make up this compilation, sorted by subject. I was initially uninterested, however, as I have always meant to read Belloc, this actually looks like a good beginning point what with those lengthy excerpts and all. Tom picked this up, flipped through, and instantly began laughing and reading me a bit. Which is a good beginning I think we would all agree.
• The Judas Syndrome: Seven Ancient Heresies Return to Betray Christ Anew by Thomas Colyandro: I believe that this is the book I wrote to request. I am fascinated by all the ways that old heresies pop up in new clothing to mislead us anew. This looks very interesting.
• The Three Marks of Manhood: How to be Priest, Prophet and King of Your Family by G.C. Dilsaver: Tom saw this and instantly quipped, "As long as I'm king then I don't need to be priest or prophet." Joking and title aside, this actually looks like a pretty good book for those who want to regain a sense of proportion about their marriages and homes. Rather akin to the goals that I see and agree with in The Art of Manliness, which is a regular read for me.
  

I just wanna say one more time to small publishers ... giant type makes baby Jesus cry. Puhleez people!