a bit of lit: upcoming and outgoing [and a big fat DUH]

Today is the release date for The Rhythm of Family. I will be treating myself to this book at some point in the (I hope very near) future.

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I have recently devoured Every Last One. I loved the detail, the every little vignette, simply created. The book could have been longer, I thought, to develop the story a bit more before we hit the climax, but now that I think about it, I think that has more to do with perspective than storyline. As in, we are only getting what we have access to through the point of view of the narrator. (Oh, this is one of those times I seriously miss my many, many lit classes. I need a book club.)

That book's going back to the library domani, but I have plenty more books on my to-read list.

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Pic and I have just finished and restarted James and the Giant Peach. I can't read too much at once because some of the voices, especially Aunt Sponge and Aunt Spiker, start to strain my throat. (However, it's all worth it when Pic's reading and "doing voices" also. I love that.)

I remember reading this book about a million times when I was in elementary school. I think those who were Pic's age a decade ago might have had some interesting conversations with their parents regarding the landing of the peach in New York: the characters experience a bomb scare. I wonder how teachers and parents handled this, or if they even did, ten years ago.

There's also a strange moment when Old-Green-Grasshopper is horrified by a crowd of Cloud-Men and cries that rather than hear about the creatures, he'd "...rather be fried alive and eaten by a Mexican!" That was just odd and rubbed me a bit wrong. Because Mexicans are scary cannibals? Or, they were? I know I notice this more because la mia famiglia* is half-Mexican. I'm guessing Dahl was just figuring that nationality sounded exotic.

Okay, I'm finished overthinking this because Cardo is waiting for me to come watch a movie with him. And, because I think I've thought about it enough.

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* Yes, that's Italian, not Spanish. It's all superficially multicultural here in the pond tonight. ;)

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Edited to add: Um, duh. Duh, duh, duh. I didn't stop thinking the line from the book and it's a good thing. Old-Green-Grasshopper. Old. Green. Grasshopper. As in, he's an insect, not a person. Yes, duh.

I just asked Cardo if people in Mexico eat grasshoppers and he said they do in some states. And, then he described how they are prepared.

I really need to turn off my hyper-over-sensitivity radar, methinks.

overheard

At a program at the (fabulous!) library today, one of the kids in the audience was introducing himself: "My name's Drake! D-r-a-k-e," he spelled out.

"Oh, Drake. I don't know many Drakes," said one of the librarians.

"No! There's only one. There aren't Drakes!"

on being almost frugal

I was checking facebook updates the other day and a friend posted that she had stopped at a thrift store earlier in the day to drop some stuff off. I responded that we can never stop at a thrift store to just drop things off. Today, in fact, we headed over to one of our favorite haunts and picked up a fair share of items. For $21.11, we got a movie (VHS, Shrek), a video game (something Cardo picked up for his gaming system) and seventeen new (to us) books.

* The Lightning Thief, by Rick Riordan (This one's for me. I've been told a lot lately that I should read this and I'm interested.)
* For the Love of Autumn, by Patricia Polacco
* The Little Old Lady Who Was Not Afraid of Anything, written by Linda Williams and illustrated by Megan Lloyd (We might already have this one, but I am really not sure. If we do have it, we'll send this one along to someone else.)
* The Patchwork Quilt, written by Valerie Flournoy and illustrated by Jerry Pinkney
* Does a Kangaroo Have a Mother, Too?, by Eric Carle
* Saint George and the Dragon, retold by Margaret Hodges and illustrated by Trina Schart Hyman
* Ox-Cart Man, written by Donald Hall and illustrated by Barbara Cooney
* Trivia Trackdown: Challenging Questions to Sharpen Research Skills, Grades 4-6, written by Linda Schwartz and illustrated by Beverly Armstrong (This one is kind of, um, dated. The cover has a collage of pictures and one is a country outline labeled Czechoslovakia. I still think it could be an interesting book.)
* The Usborne Book of Dinosaurs, by Susan Mayes and illustrated by Luis Rey
* More Bugs in Boxes, by David A. Carter (This is the one Pic chose.)
* A House Is a House for Me, written by Mary Ann Hoberman and illustrated by Betty Fraser
* The Berenstain Bears the Whole Year Through, by Stan and Jan Berenstain
* Everything You Need to Know about American History Homework: A Desk Reference for Students and Parents, by Anne Zeman and Kate Kelly
* Teaching Writing through Differentiated Instruction with Leveled Graphic Organizers, by Nancy L. Witherell and Mary C. McMackin (I have no idea what "differentiated instruction with leveled graphic organizers" means, but I'm always intersted in texts on writing.)
* Step-by-Step Collage, by Jim RObins and Philip Steele
* The New Astrology: A Unique Synthesis of the World's Two Great Astrological Systems: The Chinese and Western, by Suzanne White (Cardo chose this one.)
* Computers Don't Byte!: Family and Kids Edition, written by Linda Pereira, Tim Haag and Jessica H. G. Schroeter and illustrated by Karon Walstad and Wendy Chang (This one is also dated, but I'm hoping some of the websites are still active.)

I often find myself buying "educational" texts even if I don't know how or if I'll use them. I am somewhat compulsive about this and generally obsessed with the topic. And, I love children's books, so I usually pick up a good number of them. Okay, who am I kidding? I love books in general.

We also stopped at the library today, where we picked up a few new books to browse. Mainly, when it comes to library trips, I pick up anything and everything that looks interesting. Pic and I have been visiting the library together regularly for most of her life (before, we'd just rely on the books we had at home) and we've read untold numbers of books. I'm amazed, every single trip, at how many books we haven't yet read. O, if only sleep were unnecessary!

We also went to 5th St. Bakehouse for a late breakfast. It was good and the company was pleasant, as always. That wasn't one of our frugal activities, but it's a factor in a great week around these parts. Our other not-so-frugal outing was a trip to the Apple store, where we bought some new software and where I decided that I really want the National Geographic software, which includes every issue since 1888. (I'm not sure what year the software was created, so I'm not sure where the issues end.) Alas, that's $60 and isn't in the budget right now.

Pic has been requesting a trip to Cabela's to look a los animales muertos. I'm not exactly sure what the fascination is, but she's been insistent, so we headed over there. We spent a good long while checking out the animals on display and the live fish in the giant fish tank. Pick explained to us that the animals that ended up as meals were called "prey." Then, I re-introduced the word "predator" to her. (She used to pronounce it "creditor.") We didn't buy anything at Cabela's, so our only expense was the gas we used to get there and back.

After all these outings, we have spent a good long time at home. Pic had wanted to go out and try her bicycle senza training wheels, but she later decided against this. We'll have to try this tomorrow, as I really need some time and the park and out on a nice long walk.

Domani.

books, glorious books

I just finished reading Novella Carpenter's Farm City: The Education of an Urban Farmer. It is due back at the library tomorrow, with a number of other books, and I'm working hard to actually turn books in on time, so others might have a chance to enjoy them also. (When we were reading aloud In Defense of Food, I actually finished reading it in the library parking lot, right next to the book drop.)

I can't remember where I came across mention of Carpenter's book, but I'm glad I did. I think I might read this again one day. At first, I thought the narrative jumped around too much, often taking a short trip back to tell a new little story, but as I hurried to finish the book as the due date loomed near, I didn't feel like reading this was a chore. I enjoyed it. Even when I was trying not to gag as she describes the killing and preparing of her various animals for food. (I've often said to Cardo that if I had to kill animals so that we could eat meat, we'd be vegetarians. I don't think I have it in my to hunt/raise animals and then kill them. If I were ever in some kind of Man Versus Wild situation in which I had to kill my own dinner, I'd probably die. As it is, I just try to not eat too much meat.)

Anyhow, I ended up really enjoying the book. And, I've become reinspired to, when we finally, finally one day have a house, raise chickens (for eggs, of course, unless someone else wants to come over and chop their heads off and do all the other preparing for me) and keep bees. (There, I've said it. I've only ever confessed these little fantasies to Cardo. Laugh if you will. I like to dream about the future, and I tend to get idealistic.)

So, tomorrow, I'll return Farm City and, I hope, pick up The Children's Book by A. S. Byatt. I'm next in line on the waiting list for that one. After that? It's coming up to my turn for one of my guilty pleasures: totally nonserious, nonacademic, nonnon-fiction (got that?) mysteries.

What else? I'm not sure where to go after that. No doubt I'll check out some more children's literature. I'm making up for lost time. I feel like I went from Clifford and Berenstain Bears and Ramona to Little Women and Are You There God? It's Me Margaret and Lois Lowery to Dean Koontz and Steven King, passing by oh-so-many great opportunities along the way. Oh, if only I could stop time and all other activity and read, read, read...my heart would burst with joy!

As for Pic, we are on a dog theme this week. She is fairly obsessed with dogs. There really wasn't much in the Juvenile non-fiction section on dogs, especially compared to the entire shelf devoted to cats, so I only picked up one DK Eyewitness Book on Dogs. Pic loves Susan Meddaugh's Martha (who has been animated for PBS Kids), so we also got Perfectly Martha. I picked up The Adventures of Taxi Dog, which I remembered from a Reading Rainbow...and I also picked up that episode of Reading Rainbow. (I also seem to remember something like Doggy News from Reading Rainbow, so I'll have to try to find that on our next library visit.) We got a couple of other books, too, including one we read today: The Very Kind Rich Lady and Her One Hundred Dogs. We both enjoyed this. It's very simple. I think that in 'regular' schools (ones not housed at my dining room table), elementary teachers sometimes do a 100th Day celebration for the 100th day of school, and this might work for that. We also have plenty of Clifford books and let's definitely not forget Go, Dog. Go!

So, what are you all reading right now?

lullaby and good night…mare

Last week, Pic, Cardo and I went to storytime at the library, as usual. One of the songs they sang was a kind of medley of ‘It’s Raining, It’s Pouring’ and ‘Itsy- Bitsy Spider.’ This got me thinking about kids’ verse. (A subject I’d already given entirely too much thought to anyhow.)

Why is it that even when there aren’t somewhat veiled allusions to to-be-beheaded monarchs and the plague and such that kids’ verse can be so disturbing?

The way I learned the ‘It’s Raining’ song is as follows:

It’s raining, it’s pouring,
The old man is snoring,
He bumped his head,
When he went to bed,
And he couldn’t wake up in the morning.

I always thought, even as a child, ‘Somehow he slipped, smacked his head on the headboard…and then he died.’ So, yes, this probably isn’t what this song is saying, but what is it saying? Are there more verses I just don’t know? What is the point of the song? Just in case you couldn’t tell, this song has been haunting me for a good deal of my life.

Of course, there’s also

Rock-a-bye baby,
In the tree top,
When the wind blows,
The cradle will rock,
When the bough breaks,
The cradle will fall,
Down will come baby,
Cradle and all.

What kind of a nightmarish song is that to sing to a baby? Huh? First, why is the baby’s cradle hanging in a tree? Second, seriously?! I have a suspicion that an older sibling invented this ditty for a new baby in the family that seemed nothing more than a nuisance.

Finally, perhaps a weird one:

Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall,
Humpty Dumpty had a great fall,
All the King’s horses
And all the King’s men,
Couldn’t put Humpty Dumpty together again.

For a few reasons this has always disturbed me. One is the imagery associated with Humpty Dumpty. Every time I see depictions of HD, he’s an egg. Usually an egg with pants. This image bothers me. Why is he an egg? Is that part of the original concept, or was someone just tyring to make sense of the rhyme. Also, and again, what kind of a verse is this to recite to children? Is this a warning against hanging out on the wall? ‘Don’t hang out on the wall. You might fall and your body will shatter beyond repair.’ Um…?

Well, what do you all think? About both these and other verse?

cutting back

During a recent storytime, I found out just how bad things are getting for the local library. I knew that several branches and the mobile library would be closed, but I didn’t know how badly my library (I feel very possessive of it) would be affected. It turns out that we are losing two days of library operation and Family Nights. Two days! (That’s an incredulous, not a happy exclamation point, certo.)

We also just found out that a friend’s mom has been laid off. My own parents have been worrying about the state of their jobs. We have a friend who is conducting a multi-state job search. I myself am, once again, unemployed and worrying about long-term job-having.

Because I’m trying to hold onto this ignorance-is-bliss stance, I’m trying not to think too much about all of this (although, I’m obviously not doing that great of a job, right?), I’ll sum this up with one word: UGH.

sweet!*

Okay, so not a phrase I use to display mirthful delight, but if I did use it, I would have used it today. Why?, you wonder...

I'm not quite as crazy as I thought I was. Yea, me!

The local library has a great many magazine subscriptions. This is not, of course, unusual. I have been told, however, that it is somewhat unusual to be able to check out back issues of the magazines. I love this option because I still haven't quite settled on a new magazine to love and hold (behold?) forever and ever.

Anyhow, about a million weeks ago, I checked out a back issue of Time. I read through it and then returned it...or so I thought. However, when I checked my library account, the issue was still listed as being checked out. I looked everywhere I could in our apartment but couldn't find it. I rechecked the magazine in hopes that I'd find it before it was due, but no luck. When it was really, really late, I talked to one of the librarians who was nice enough to recheck it again for me so my late fees would stop piling up.

My child probably believes I'm really insane now, because I recently spend several hours tearing apart oh-so-much crap in our apartment trying to find said missing magazine. Still, no luck. I was pretty sure that I had returned it, but it stubbornly stayed on my 'checked out' list on my library account. Recently, I flipped through some of the back issues at the library in hopes of finding it there, returned but not checked in. Again, no luck. Today, Pic and I went to the library again and I flipped through the back issues in one of the boxes under the shelf. About five issues in...I FOUND IT! That totally deserves all caps because I had been somewhat freaking out about this. I hate the thought of losing the library's materials and I'm overjoyed to know that I didn't.

I brought the magazine up to the front and the librarian working the desk erased all of my late fees and apologized to me for the mix up.

So, yea! The magazine is not lost. It's just a skinny little Time that got slipped in with the rest of them, trying to hide out and make me lose my mind. I was able to put the book I had had on hold back on hold and now by the time I get it, I'll actually have time to read it. (It came to the library during the phase of the missing-Time and I wasn't about to check out more materials when I was already misplacing (or, so I thought) the library's other materials.

So, I'm off to write about four or five more pages of what is feeling very much like a research report to me. I have to get this finished by Tuesday, at the very latest, so that I can delve into my final paper on Wednesday so I don't sound like a complete rambling BS-er when we have our final meeting Wednesday evening. Then, it's a full day of responding to student projects, holding a final, finishing up that final paper and meeting for one more class one more time. (That probably would have made more sense in a bulled list or on a nice little calendar page or something, but there you have it.)

Then...? I have oh-so-many plans, but I'm trying not to get ahead of myself here.



'Marian the Librarian'
[This so doesn't represent the library staff at my local library -- a staff I love -- but I love to sing this song, and I thought I'd share.]

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* May's NaBloPoMo theme is sweet and, really, I have nothing, so I'm stretching here.

catharsis

Recently, a friend and I were discussing massages. I don't remember how we got on the topic, but I mentioned that I had never had a professional massage. My friend told me that, while she enjoys the actual massage, it is always a very emotional experience for her and it's a bit embarrassing to cry during the session. I've heard similar stories before, from other people.

I think I've found something more embarrassing and more weirdly emotional. I get why having the tension kneaded out of you can lead to tears. I don't get, however, how drum music at the library beat tears from me.

This morning, Pic and I went to the library for storytime, as usual, and Ms. Judy announced that tonight's program was going to be a Taiko drum performance put on by Tsurunokai. I was mildly interested, but Pic was enticed by the fact that Ms. Judy told her she could wear her pajamas to the program (usually we go for the Pajama Night activities).

After the library, Pic and I went to House of Bread, of course, and then came home to rest. Pic slept for three hours. I had planned to read a good chunk of The Shepherd's Calendar, but instead I slept for two hours myself (after freaking out a tiny bit about the two earthquakes I felt around 2:30). When I woke up, I was groggy, incoherent and uncomfortable. I just wanted to sit at home, but I mentioned the program to Pic anyway. She was beyond stoked at the idea of going to see/hear the drums, so Cardo, Pic and I piled in the car.

I wish I had brought my video camera, but I don't think that that would have even come close to recording the Taiko performance. There were two Taiko drums (the woman leading the program had made them from wine barrels and cow hide...not bat skin as one of the children guessed) and some smaller drums. The music was so wonderfully loud that it reverberated in my chest. I was afraid, at first, that Pic would want to leave, but soon enough, her entire body was swaying to the music. Okay, so swaying doesn't even begin to describe her very soulful movements (again, I wish I had brought my camera). At the end of the performance, half of the kids got up to play the drums and the other half got up to dance (actually, we all got in on the dancing part). After the program, Pic got to play one of the drums also and one of the performers complimented her on her dancing.

This all sounds well and good, no? However, about twelve seconds into the performance, I was crying. What is that about? I was just so weirdly overcome with emotion and the tremendous volume and the rhythm were strangely cathartic for me. I was sitting in the back of the room, trying to quietly wipe tears from my streaming eyes and hold it together. Talk about embarrassing.

Two thoughts: I need more sleep/less stress and I appear to have the stereotypical hormonal make-up of a pregnant woman (and my body just last week informed me that, thank everything holy and not, I am not a pregnant woman).

I really need to go get on that reading now, but I do have two very exciting (to me) plans for the next couple of weekends. This coming weekend is the Earth Day celebration at Idlewild. Last year I didn't go because Cardo was working and I got entirely too overwhelmed by the volume of people there and realized that I couldn't handle taking Pic by myself. I'm really looking forward to this year (Cardo will be attending with us). The following Sunday is $6-Day at the Friends of the Washoe County Library warehouse sale! Yippie-chi! (Yes, I know, I don't really need more books, but really, I need more books...it's an addiction and it could be worse so I'll keep it.) Last year, I got about 90 'new' books (the books are all used) for $18 (kids' books are small). I can hardly wait.

Oh, one last thing. I couldn't possibly sign off without including a picture of dinner. (As I told Cardo tonight, 'It wouldn't be dinner without a picture.' Of course the freaking camera battery was dead, so I had to take the picture with the computer camera, so it looks a little strange.) The flatbread and the chicken gorgonzola are from Trader Joe's. I made the polenta salad. I baked thin slices of pre-made polenta and added it to the rest of the salad. The rest of the salad was chopped spinach, chopped tomatoes, dried basil (we don't have any fresh basil in the house right now), sauteed minced garlic, olive oil and balsamic vinegar. (I have to say that the color of my salad is beautiful and vibrant!)