Visual and Audio…
Roy Blount jr. is hilarious. The review from Garrison Keillor said it very well, "He can be literate, uncouth, and soulful, all in one sentence." I enjoy listening to the NPR show "Wait Wait" and Roy is often a panelist, so when I heard he had written this book I reserved it at the library. If you love language, word usage, and etymology you will appreciate this book. My use of language throughout my years has been a mixed bag. I get some things right and some things wrong. His entry on the word phenomenon is a hoot. He talks about certain words being "sonicky". Sonicky is his word that replaces onomatopoeia.
Blount has personal stories throughout the text and political opinions. On page 243 he gives the example of John Adams and Josiah Quincy who acted as lawyers for the British troops who reacted by shooting into a mob by writing, "...The country wasn't just threatened by jackleg terrorist, it was occupied by an army, and yet people like Quincy and Adams felt strong enough to focus on due process-to resist the occupation but still identify with the occupiers as people. Those were the days."
The story about the eighth/ninth Marquess of Queensberry was strange and intriguing. Another strange story was found in "S" about a 2003 study done with Sulawesi macaques. The macaques would relieve themselves on the computer keyboards they were supposed to use for typing. Blount goes on to say, "Anyone who hasn't felt like that has never tried writing anything."
I had one of those AH HA! moments in the "S" section when I came to the word sesquipedalian. We just finished reading the last book in the series from The Mysterious Benedict Society and one of the recurring characters is named S.Q. Pedalian. The word means a long uncommunicative word used for the sake of showing off. I chuckled for quite a bit thinking about reading those three books and not knowing the joke.
Blount brings up a word that is used euphemistically for the male anatomy. The etymology of the word is unclear. I have heard this word used since I was very young. My stepmother, who is from Alabama, as is Blount, has used this word for as far back as I can remember. My sister, Tracy, uses it as well. It was a surprise to find it so thoroughly researched in this book. Alice and Tracy should have been interviewed for the section.
The comment he has on the word "Veracity" struck a chord with me, "Is not a simple matter. Some people cause more misunderstanding by going around saying exactly what they think all the time, than others by being hypocritical."
One of the things that is great about the book is just thumbing through and stopping on any word that suits your fancy. The entries are mostly come off as stream of consciousness and the tangents are fun. So word lovers give it a try, but be warned of that he has a salty tongue.
::::::::::Surfing MP3s:::
I am working on a short video for next week and came across this song:
::::::::Observation of the Day:::
It is fun to listen to Run DMC, while seating in a chair with wheels.
Must keeping listening to different songs...later!
Saving the World, One File at a Time! 2010-03-18 12:57:00
Some More Book Reviews:
Twists and turns abound in this last installment (maybe) of The Mysterious Benedict Society. I really enjoy the teamwork aspect of the book and how the kids work with shortcomings from themselves and others for the greater good. The quirky kids with extraordinary abilities that find friendship, family, and adventure make for a good book. This was a fun one to read aloud to the kids.
I inadvertantly read this series out of order, but the book was good in its own right. The detective Charles Lenox has a tight knit circle of friends who help him solve the cases that come his way. Lenox yearned to work in Parliament, but for now is leading the life of a respected detective. Lenox is called to solve the disappearance of George Payson a young Oxford college student. Soon things turn tragic and Lenox has to follow the puzzleling clues left behind. The substory of Lenox's love for his long time neighbor, Lady Jane, gives the detective a more rounded character. I look forward to reading the first book in the series, as well as, the third.
I was a fan of Sesame Street growing up, so my interest was piqued when I saw this book come out. This book is a behind the scenes look at what it took to get an idea off the ground during the late 60's and maintain quality of the next twenty plus years. The partnership of driven, clever and creative people who wanted to help children who were underprivileged and falling through the cracks through the medium of television was interesting. The politics, social struggles, personal struggles and financing were eye opening and often frustrating and sad. I was surprised to find out that one of my favorite shows to come out of the collaborations, "The Electric Company", failed to thrive because there were no cute cuddly creatures to market from the show. The grant money is just seed money to start worthy projects, but they have to find independent funding afterwards and "The Electric Company" could not get the additional funds. This book was well researched. The only draw back was, due to the shear volume of information, the jumping back and forth to different people and circumstances going on during the history. Completely understandable though.
I have found it kind of sad that my children never seemed to like Sesame Street. I wanted to share with them my love for Grover, Cookie Monster, The Count, Mr. Snuffleupagus, Kermit, Bert, and Ernie. They did like "The Electric Company" a bit better, but there interest never stayed for long. I still, happily, sing songs and remember sketches from both shows, so thanks for all the happy memories from all letters in the alphabet and all the numbers, too!
Sarah Vowell is a sponge for historical facts and rather thorough on visiting the places that most would find as the minutiae of the historical sites. In this book of essays she focuses on three assassinated presidents, Abraham Lincoln (her favorite), James A. Garfield, and William McKinley. She doesn't shy away from the each of the president's foibles, nor her opinions on their policies. Vowell is upfront about her liberal stance on politics. She was especially outspoken on McKinley's interventionist policies, which she compares to Pres. George W. Bush's preemptive war in Iraq.
I found the background history of the assassins and what they political atmosphere at the time very interesting. In the case of John Wilkes Booth and his accomplices, the information about their plans for killing more than just Lincoln was something that is often glossed over. Vowell gives a strong circumstantial case that Dr. Samuel Mudd was one of the conspirators even though the Mudd family eventually got letters sympathetic to their name clearing campaign from presidents Carter and Reagan.
The bizarre way politics works with James A. Garfield going to speak for a friend to be the candidate for president, but with Garfield's calm demeanor got him chosen instead. Garfield's love of reading was rather endearing to Vowell and to me.
My family and I love to do historical vacations. I find that I always want to know why something happened and the context. I also know that history repeats itself ad nauseum, so trying to stem that cycle is an important job and a service to my kids.
I love the details in this book and find it a quirky treasure for the history lovers out there.
Our new family reading book is, Peter and The Sword of Mercy. I'm already sucked into the book. It is rather sinister and gripping, so far.
Cookies, Milk and a Good Book
Rachel, Noah and Eve went in for their yearly check-ups last week. Only Noah needed a shot. He got the Chicken Pox booster. I told him he could squeeze my hand if he needed to. I watched his mouth pop open when the needle went in, then he shut it. I looked at him and asked if it hurt? The nurse had the bandaid ready and was looking for the puncture, but wasn's finding it and asked Noah were it was. Then Noah said, "If shots were as painful as they are rumored to be you think I would be able to find it."
Everyone is growing well and pretty healthy. I asked about Noah's ever present bumps on his face. The doctor said it is a hereditary condition called pilaris keratosis. He also has patches on the back of his arms. The doctor recommended Lac-Hydrin. Noah wondered if that meant he could stop washing with the acne wash I had for the kids. I told him no. His skin has a harder time naturally sloughing off cells, so he gets some acne too. Some treatments list Retin-A, but Eve is allergic and so is my nephew Tyler. It leaves red burned patches of skin where the ointment touches, so that idea is out for any of my kids. The doctor said the condition should lessen as he gets older. Noah seemed to get the majority of the attention on this visit. We had him show the doctor how he can pretzel twist his fingers together in a really disturbing, yet interesting way. I wondered if this was a contributing factor to his poor fine motor ability, but the doctor didn't think so. He said that Noah just appeared to have very lax joints. We joke with Noah that he has little paws, and old man ear lobes, so we know his just has lax joints and connective tissue. Hmmm...interesting.
A fun and busy weekend. On Saturday morning I joined Rachel, Julia, Hannah, and Julia's mom, Karen in front of the Wallsmart to sell Girl Scout cookies at a booth sale. It was chilly, but we enjoyed being silly together. Sometimes people would walk out of the store with their carts loaded with different items and we would yell happily about how well that item went with cookies. I made Karen lose her train of thought when I yelled as a man passed by that cookies went great with Bud Light. Later, Rachel told a customer that cookies went well with birdseed. Hey, we worked with what we had. The girls made up a song to the old "Camp Town Races" tune:
C-o-o-k-i-e-s, Cookies! Cookies!
C-o-o-k-i-e-s, Cookies are our friends! Whoo!
We sold most of our wares with just a few dosidos and trefoils left.
Then, we went to Steak and Shake. I called Michael and invited him to bring Aaron, Aaron's friends Jeremy (who slept over) and Shafer. The place was packed so we had to do two nearby booths. Rachel and Julia crumbled a couple of samoas into their vanilla shakes.
The rest of the day I hung out at my mom and Jim's house and kept an eye on my brother so they could go out to a church activity. Michael stayed with Aaron and Rachel. I was able to finish The Lightning Thief by Riordan. Noah begged me to read this book. He gets very animated when he talks about the series and wanted to be able for me to understand what he was so excited about.
I saw the movie before reading the book, which is not the order I like to do things. I was rather stunned as each chapter rolled by that the only thing resembling the book that was in the movie was some of the main characters and the book title. I was less than unimpressed by the movie, but was willing to give the book a chance. The book is directed at the Middle School aged audience, but really hits the mark for the 4th-6th grade set and hovers there. The perils and adventures in the life of Percy Jackson are explained away as the whims and petty jealousies of the bickering Greek gods. I can see why young kids would find this book quite a lot of fun, but I found it rather tedious and am curious its literary staying power.
On a more positive note about this book series, it lit the flame of reading under my reluctant 9 year-old, and for that I am thankful to Mr. Riordan. I find Noah perched (yes, he perches when he reads. I'll have to post a picture of it some time)reading all the time now. He finished every book in the Percy Jackson series and is reading a Mythology book from his teacher's collection. He is also into the ,Animorphs book series.
Another Book Review:
I am absolutely amazed by Navajo Code Talkers. Thanks to Noah's teacher, who lent me this book of historical fiction of the invaluable contribution of the Code Talkers during WWII, I was able to learn more about their struggles.
I agonized over the way the government tried to strip the tribal peoples of their language and culture. The Navajo, along with other tribes, were physically harmed if they used their language or ways, then were called upon to use that same banned language to assist the war effort with their unbreakable code. They were unable to talk about what they did for the U.S. and freedom until the lifting of the top secret status in 1969.I found it fascinating that they were very suited to the strenous life of a Marine, except for the cultural mistrust of water, which they overcame. Their stoic nature made it difficult for them to get help for the post traumatic stress that the horrors of war brought to them. The war gave them the opportunity to prove that their language is valuable and if the government and bigotry had won out, than that same government may have sewn the seed of its own destruction. I think these cautionary tales need to be frequently read. We can use this story into other facets of our life to realize the thing we destroy today, or disregard its value is the very thing that may preserve our lives tomorrow.
This is the first in the series of books set in the dystopian world a few hundred years from now when the "Rusties" have left some of the world in desolation. There are cities that rose from the rubble with advanced technology and the desire to stop future aggression and destruction by making everyone virtually the same. You are an "Ugly" until your 16th birthday, then you get an operation to make you physically attractive and almost impervious to illness. You also become rather docile. This life of perfection is the thing that most uglies desire. Tally Youngblood, the main character, looks forward to her operation, but in the mean time likes to do "tricks" to pass the time. Tally learns that there are people in "The Smoke" that want to live the rest of their lives ugly.
The book is aimed at the young adult group and really hits the mark. I thought the ideas were a great extension of an old Twilight Zone episode. The book is fast paced and interesting throughout. The character of Dr. Cable is a good foil for Tally's character. A good start to the series.
The second in the series finds Tally "Pretty". She finds friends in a clique called "The Crims" who did a lot of tricks during their ugly days. She lives in a world of beauty, parties, limitless food (with calorie purgers), yet is visited by feelings of inadequacy and longing for something she can't quite remember.
This series is like watching a chess match. The interesting thing is that Tally Youngblod's character seems to shift from pawn, to queen, to pawn again. Again the pace is fast and the pretty language is kind of Valley Girlesque, but appropriate. A solid sequel. I look forward to the third book.
The book I'm reading now is, Assassination Vacation by Sarah Vowell.
*****************
Well, Michael made a yummy late lunch of scrambled eggs, bacon, and sweet potato/russet potato hashbrown, so I'm ready to curl up with a book. Two kids are in timeout for fighting and the other two just got out. There is an air of peace in the house, so maybe I could slip in a nap too?
Later!
Book reviews for February 28th
Sarah Vowell loves history and giving her opinion. She inserts her witty comments through out this book about the Puritans coming to America and our vanilla, or white washed version of history. Her comment on page 21, "...Americans have learned history from exaggerated popular art for as long as anyone can remember." Vowell and I are about the same age, so her pop culture references make a lot of sense to me. Her very first paragraph sucked me in to the book, "The only thing more dangerous than an idea is a belief. And by dangerous I don't mean thought-provoking. I mean: might get people killed." The conflict among the Puritans was really fascinating. The trials that removed Roger Williams from the flock to start over in Rhode Island was really fascinating, especially his continued correspondence with John Winthrop.
The story of Anne Hutchinson and the Native American population is fascinating, too. Many eloquent and inspiring writings came from flawed individual, which we all happen to be. By trying to gloss over the dilemmas and trials these people went through it keeps those willing to learn from history intellectually hog-tied. I expect people to have flaws and to live in that shade of grey. I also expect them to try their best to overcome those flaws and to treat others as they wish to be treated themselves.
I, thoroughly, enjoyed reading this book and I need to grab a copy for my shelf soon. If you like history infused with some frequent barbs and jabs of sarcastic wit, you might like this book, too.
The story of Molly a descendant of the Mohawk tribe who has been told the folktales of her tribe. One of these tales is about the Skeleton Man who eats an entire family save one girl. Molly becomes entangled in a modern version of this tale when her parents mysteriously disappear and a man who claims to be her uncle comes to take her in. Molly is a dreamer who has a spirit guide in the form of a rabbit that helps her. This story maintains a sinister and creepy tone throughout, so don't expect anything lighthearted. The author has a moment when Molly goes to see the school counselor to make a somewhat subtle statement against the use of drugs like Ritalin.
Overall, the book is an interesting creepy tale of Mohawk folk legends mixed with the modern day.
This book is a series of essays about ideas and places that interest Sarah Vowell. She infuses her stories with comparisons between her staunch Democratic beliefs and her parents' staunch Republican beliefs, while remember through the bickering that they have shared memories and love one another. She also speaks of her relationship with her fraternal twin sister, Amy, and some of its dichotomies. In the essay titled "Wonder Twins" she brings up the cartoon characters that always drove me nuts as a kid...well, they still do. "Form of a gorilla"..."Form of a ice"...there powers just plain stunk. ARGH!
She also has a reverence for the National Parks (I say that realizing she is an atheist and the definition has more than a religious meaning). Her angst over politics is presented very strongly throughout. Her essay Cowboys vs. Mounties that talks about the polite Canadians is a truly amusing insight. In her explaining why she loves to visit National Parks and historical sites of some of the most heinous parts of our American history she explains some of why I love to do history vacations, "So if I have gleaned anything useful from reading and daytripping through the tribulations of the long dead, it's to count my blessings, to try and quit bellyaching, buck up."
I thought this book was a good read from someone who loves history, as do I, and she knows a ton more than I do about it. She has come to some different conclusions on some things, or similar conclusions that she expresses more harshly than I would state them, but she has done the research to back most of them.
The book was a sad glimpse into the world of Fundamental Mormons. Brent Jeffs gives his account of how life with 3 moms and several siblings was mostly chaos. His father, a Vietnam vet, suffered from PTSD, which was exacerbated by feuding sister wives and the sheer quantity of people who clambored for his attention. Brent speaks of his memories of abuse by Warren Jeffs, who assisted by his brothers, raped Brent. Brent's family is forced out of the community due to harboring gentiles, which happen to be Brent's older brothers who had left the church. The view of how families were created and torn apart was disheartining. The machinations of the church hiearchy for control and their thumping the word "Obedience" into everything gave them a malleable and frightened group that was ineffectual at protecting themselves, or their children from abuse. Brent later is part of a lawsuit against Warren Jeffs and as other "Lost Boys" are interviewed the extent to which Warren Jeffs violated the community begins to paint an ominous picture of life among the FLDS.
The odd thing to me on the literary aspect of the book was the word usage. The book was surprisingly sophisticated except for the expletives sprinkled throughout. The expletives made a sort of since coming from a young man with little education and having done an enormous amount of drugs in his life. It wasn't until the end that I saw that he thanked the female writer that assisted him. Then the mix of grammar styles made since. The more feminine-sophisticated word choices made sense.
The book is worth reading to explain to people that blind obedience is a recipe for disaster and that the math does not work for polgamy to be successful.
More to read and review soon! Later, gators!
Saving the World, One File at a Time! 2010-02-07 11:21:00
Noah's question for today: "What is the point of using Jedi mind tricks on stupid people?"
Discuss!
Thank you, Teacherninja, for the nomination.
• Copy the logo and place it on your blog.
• Link the person who nominated you.
• Name seven things about yourself that no one would really know.
• Nominate ten “Sugar Dolls.”
• Post links to the ten blogs you nominate.
• Leave a comment on each letting them know you nominated them.
Finding seven things that people wouldn't really know is rather difficult. I thought that listing that I was a control freak would be considered universal knowledge, so I had to move unto something else.
1. I believe dogs and cats should be spayed, or neutered to help decrease the sad circumstances that are produced by unwanted and uncared for animals.
2. I have fond memories of square hamburgers because my maternal grandmother would drive in to Columbus near the "Bypass" to go to Krystals. She would always put napkins around the salt and pepper shakers because, "You never know who touched them before you got there." I love mustard, dill pickles, and bread. I don't deviate from what I order there, or Subway for that matter. My brother is autistic, but he hasn't cornered the market on repetitive behavior. For example, Subway has a menu that offers so many choices, but I always order: a 6inch Subway Club with pepper jack cheese, toasted with lettuce, sliced dill pickles, tomatoes, heavy on the spinach, and plain yellow mustard (I can't stand the other stuff, which surprises me, yet is absolutely true).
3. I like so many different things and enjoy talking about them without ever having mastered any of the subjects that I come off as a repository for useless and inane facts, but Hey I like it that way. My guess is this tendency has led me to spend an inordinate amount of time watching the series QI on youtube.com.
4. I consistently lose Scrabble games against my husband. He is a master of getting words that count in two directions, while I am looking to make the coolest word. This really is my only strategy because I don't think well on multiple planes. I'm like the triangles in Flatland...one dimensional and dangerous if you bump into me (that is why we stopped playing Monopoly too).
5. My daughter says I'm not funny...maybe I was twice...in her opinion. I sometimes get laughing so hard at something I, alone, find witty that my sides ache. That is a good time, my friends.
6. I will go to the store to buy something and find something incidental on the way. If I continue shopping I will make the case for and against buying the incidental object. Usually not buying wins out (even in the case of chocolate...tell no one).
7. I think the spork is one of the handy dandiest of cool inventions.
:::::::::::Book Review::::::::
Amelia Peabody is tired of the Victorian trappings both ideologically and physically. I think she would burn her bra, as well, but by the author's description of Amelia that wouldn't be a great idea. Amelia is someone who speaks her mind and due to an inheritance can do so without worrying to much about the consequences. The information on Egypt was interesting along with some of the preservation techniques. There were a few times where I would think to myself, "get on with it already" because the author rehashed things a bit too much, but the characters have a lot of potential. There were several pithy lines between the sparring couple Amelia and Radcliffe Emerson. I enjoyed their interacctions. Not an outstanding beginning to a series, but still worth checking out book 2.
:::::::::::::Yearbook Music:::::::
I have been working on the kids yearbook again this year and I'm becoming "snowblind" looking and relooking at photos, but I thought of this song and it made me nostaligic and I just think it's cool:
:::::::::::::Who Lives in a Pineapple Under the Sea?
Spongebob Squarepants, as many people know. We had a request from a friend and her daughter to help make a 1 year-old's party a bit more fun in the cake department. I enlisted the help of my favorite creative genius and we used date night to help decorate this birthday cake:
Everyone pitched in. Favihola (grandmother to our birthday girl) baked the cakes, made the tube worm and some sea grass. Michael trimmed the cakes. I frosted and covered them with fondant. Michael made the pineapple the red & orange coral, and the cute pink octopus. Alex (uncle) made Gary the Snail and cut out the flowers, Christina (mom) made Nemo, the jellyfish, sea stars, bubbles and some seagrass. Favihola made Planktons body and ears and I stuck on his eye bits. Richard (dad) made a giant clam with a pearl.
The toothpicks will get pulled out today for the party. Happy 1st Birthday, Eliana!
Scrupulous
Rachel's Vocabulary Quiz Show brought to you today by the letter S.
So Rachel quizzed Noah the other day, "Noah do you know what scrupulous means?"
Noah replied, "Isn't that a part of the body?"
Noah's response brought upon him hails of derisive laughter. I think we will keep him for the comic relief alone. We did eventually tell him what scrupulous meant after several attempts at coming up with some new anatomical definitions in the form of a sentence.
:::::::::::::Copious Book Reviews::::::::
This book was recommended to me by a very well read member of our book group. She knows what types of books I like and this does fit the general bill for me. Elna Baker writes about her experiences, hopes, and dreams. It is book worthy because of the juxtaposition she finds herself in being a single Mormon in a community largely made up of non Mormons in New York City. Her insights, especially, in the beginning chapters is spot on about Singles dances and attitudes in the church. She comes off as rather neurotic, but understandable in the context of being someone who by nature questions everything, but is in a religion that requires faith. She reminds me of an adrenaline junky that wants a constant thrill, but needs to run back to the comfort of familiar beliefs. She is an actress, so the personality is not surprising. Faith is an intregal part of her life and I had the feeling it was like an imbilical cord that was both a life line and something she felt like she was growing out of and was trying to cut the cord. She is an amazingly sharp witted person, but her inability to make a decision left me feeling somewhat the way I imagined her ex-boyfriend Matt felt, rather frustrated.
Dr. Carson was brought up in poverty by a mother who had episodes of depression that had her checking herself into the hospital. He had a brother who was a good example and got him involved with ROTC. Dr. Carson's ability to analyze his life and work past his intense anger issues and early poor study skills to become the skilled pediatric neurosurgeon he is today he attributes to his faith in God who gave him the talents to begin with. He tells off the long hours of studying and internships, which tired me out just thinking about all of the hard work. His ability to think spatially has helped him see how the parts of the body, specifically, the brain works in all its varied parts. I enjoyed the stories of some of the specific cases he has encountered and how they have effected him, as well as, the patient. I appreciated his emphasis on procedures as being a team effort realizing that one person can't get it done. He has kept his humanity in the face of the opportunity to be a celebrity. He acknowledges his talents and achievements, while remaining humble. I was impressed by his wife, who is an accomplished woman in her own right and maintains their family amidst her husband's long hours.
This is not just a book of eye candy. You might think bugs aren't eye candy, but the photographs in this book are outstanding. I might not want to meet these bugs in person, but I loved going over and over this book and looking at the variously hued insects and their funky appendages. The introduction is very well written and a definite solid beginning to a fabulous book.
If looking at freaky cool bugs isn't your thing, then maybe photographs of freaky cool plants and their bits might just be. Pretty colors that are worthy of any lsd trippin' Timothy Leary types (that is purely a guess on my part...about the lsd...I mean...I think the hardest thing I've done is Nyquil for a cold back in 1990...but I digress). This book is so cool. It even has words, which explain the photographs...BONUS I highly recommend this one.
This was a solid sequel to Simon Bloom, The Gravity Keeper. The effects of the octopus dna in the kids was really fun. I love the characters of the narrator, and Ms. Fanstrom from the Historical Society. I even think the Books from the different orders are very intriguing. I could have used less running about finding and fighting folks and had more of the cerebral stuff regarding the Books and how they interact. I'm hoping for a sequel that gets more into the scientific and less about the physical Fight Club aspects of finding out the mysteries of the Board of Administration.
Peace out my Peeps!
