The Bookity Book & Tall Grass Salon

kuwisdelu said:

Thanks for the suggestions, all!

Would a 12-year-old French boy be too much? Or would that be irresponsible of me?



Oh, but I do. Nothing is too good for my niece! I want to be that uncle.

. . . at least as long as the NSF fellowship checks flow, before I become a poor MFA student.

Last year's gift was a Nintendo 3DS.

Next year I'm thinking maybe a smartphone.

This year is a conundrum.

(She literally got her first cell phone yesterday, so no need to obsolete it in a week and a half.)

I'd spring for an iPad, but I don't want to be too irresponsible, at least when it comes to managing future expectations, but I think I have some leeway to spoil her since her parents seem to be doing a pretty good job with her. She said last night she already got her wish of me and her wowo (grandma) coming back for Christmas.

Oh, I hope I do as well with my kids if I ever manage to have any!

Click to expand...

*imagines little Kuwises running around*

Aww.

And nix the french boy. I say go for a nice expensive french perfume. It should last her a good long while.

I don't remember her being much into perfume. Texted her parents to double check. Will keep it in mind.

Good morning.

The Writer's Almanac for December 18, 2014

Today's poem is taut and flawless. Ah.

We've got birthdays for Charles Wesley, hymn writer; Saki, short story writer; Ty Cobb, baseball legend; and Fletcher Henderson, jazz man.

And that's all I've got to say this morning.

Good morning.

The Writer's Almanac for December 19, 2014

Sure is quiet in here.

Whisper whisper.

Tis the season of insane busy-ness (and joy...)

Going to a party on Sat at the house of friend who raises goats. She says they're entertaining - really looking forward to it.

I have a driving when old poem, sorta a counterpart to today's offering. Also Ben Franklin's Autobiography is fascinating (took 2 weeks to sail up the coast from Philly to Boston, passengers bailing all the way) and I've never liked Dickens. Must be something wrong with me. Happy Friday all.

Lacy, I hope you'll post that counterpoint poem. I'd love to see it.

A goat party. Sounds intriguing.

We'll have a fire in the firepit tomorrow evening, I just learned. Family gathering. Hope it doesn't rain.

Meanwhile I have a llama to meet.

Good morning, and Good Solstice.

The Writer's Almanac for December 20, 2014

The poem today is lean, spare, evocative, resonant.

Today is the anniversary of the first opening of the Berlin Wall.

It's also the birthday of John Fletcher, a contemporary of Shakespeare's, who collaborated on Henry VIII and wrote a sequel to The Taming of the Shrew. The latter turned the tables and was, it says, more popular than Taming, in its day. Which I find very interesting, especially since I'd never even heard of Fletcher before this moment.

Goes to show, history as it is taught is always profoundly selective. That's a good thing to remember, I believe. Most of us here know that, no doubt, but sometimes when something emerges from that invisibility, it reminds me how much we take for granted without even realizing we do so.

I have until sundown today to make any monetary transactions, light a fire outside, take out the trash, eat any meat or other greasy foods, or have sex.

Though it's highly unlikely I'll manage to find a partner for that last one in time.

Kuwi, since you're online I guess that fast doesn't include internet connection.

Good morning, good Yule, good Midwinter all.

The Writer's Almanac for December 21, 2014

I think the reason I don't care for the poem today is because of its complete lack of contrast. It has no dynamic tension at all.

Contrasting this with a couple of items in the almanac clarified what it was I disliked: the quote from Edward Hoagland, whose birthday is today, about divorce, and the mention of Maude Gonne, whose birthday is today also, and what Yeats said of meeting her: "The troubling of my life began."

I can see what you mean about the poem. I get the idea he was experimenting with some line break and pacing technique, and the content of the poem took a backset.

My mom told me, then I read it online, that although we are at the solstice, the sun will continue to rise later for a few days because the year is not EXACTLY 365 1/4 days long. They days are getting longer, but for another week the sun will rise later (although the difference is only a couple minutes). Took me some mental gymnastics to get it into my head, but what a thing!

Ah, life is good. Good food, only mildly frustrating and highly lovable family, and my daily fix of Shemar Moore. I've probably told anyone and everyone this at one time or another, but pretty is pretty. Doesn't matter if I don't find guys sexually appealing, Shemar Moore is pretty to look at. And what's more relevant is I adore the character he is most known for, a lot. To the point I gets ansty when my fellow Slash fans pair him with my second favorite character, while trying to prove Shemar's character is gay. I'm not one to ignore canon for the sake of a pairing I like whether gay, lesbian, or straight. It's just lazy, and good fanwriting isn't lazy. A good fan of Slash/femslash and non-canon straight pairings does their homework, they know how to support their pairing through what is already in the actual canon. They don't need to embelish things unless they are the ones making the choice.

Good morning.

*still trying to wrap my mind around that thing about the sun*

The Writer's Almanac for December 22, 2014

So, yeah, cool poem today.

And lotsa stuff. Lessee here. We've got birthdays for Giacomo Puccini, Edwin Arlington Robinson (for whom the almanac has few words to share) and Kenneth Rexroth (who wrote yesterday's poem unless I fell into a time warp which is always possible.)

We've also got a couple of interesting anniversaries of the non-birthday kind: George Bernard Shaw announced he was founding a movement to abolish Christmas, and Willhelm Roentgen took the first x-ray photograph, of his wife's hand. Her reaction on seeing it: "I have seen my death!"

On that note, I am going to go finish my coffee.

Kylabelle said:

Kuwi, since you're online I guess that fast doesn't include internet connection.

Click to expand...

Man, I can deal with the no meat, but the no oils or fats thing is what gets to me.

Kuwi, you're going to be skin and bones. How long is your fast?

And Puccini - I LOVE his operas. Vissi d'arte, vissi d'amore (I lived for art, for love) from Tosca slays me every time. Listen to it here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_OIExoUb8jk

So glad the Solstice has come. My dad always said, "Forget Christmas. Celebrate the solstice." Although there were plenty of Christmas celebrations...

kuwisdelu said:

Man, I can deal with the no meat, but the no oils or fats thing is what gets to me.

Click to expand...

Oh, me too. Gotta have my animal fat. Or at least olive oil!

I had a friend who was from Bulgaria, member of some orthodox church, who did a month long Lenten fast during which she could eat only unseasoned grains and vegetables. No fats, no meat, no sugar, no dairy.

Then, of course, the rest of the year they blew it out with all the trad dishes involving all those yummy things.

lacygnette said:

Kuwi, you're going to be skin and bones. How long is your fast?

Click to expand...

Hah, I wish. I could stand to lose about 30 lbs or so, but I doubt I'll lose any.

It's not really a fast. Just no meat or grease or other oily foods.

It's only ten days, but it's hard to figure out things you can cook without oil, especially when you can't buy anything.

Gotta figure out what I'm going to do with my trash though... going to Zuni on Wednesday, and don't want to leave it...

Maryn said:

If you can't take the trash out now, you can sprinkle liberal amounts of baking soda into it and double or triple bag it, sealing the bags securely. It'll still stink, but maybe not as bad.

Click to expand...

Meh. I don't have any baking soda. The place already smells like cat, and I figure it'll stay like that until I can air it out in the spring. I need to figure out a better way to handle the litter box.

It's a shame you didn't get to the store, though. We might have been able to guide you toward buying things you can cook without fats and oils. We consume very little fat these days at my house. If it weren't for popcorn, a bottle of oil would last forever.

Click to expand...

It's not so much a problem of not knowing what to buy; it's a problem of not having easy access to a grocery store.

God I miss living across the street from a Safeway.

Going grocery shopping is annoyingly difficult without a car, and I try to buy things that will last which rules out lots of things, especially with a small freezer or little cupboard space.

I never shop much in November and December anyway, because I travel so much that I end up throwing more out than I actually manage to eat.

I assume you'll be offline when you're in Zuni? Safe travels.

Click to expand...

No, we've had internet for quite a while now. I used my phone the law few years, but my brother finally got a faster connection.

I once found a ten dollar bill in the pocket of a pair of thrift store jeans. I didn't keep it long because next I found a homeless family using the facilities at a gas station I was walking by, with two babies in shopping carts. I figured the ten bucks was for them.

Ever since then, I always check pockets when buying thrift store clothes.

Good morning.

The Writer's Almanac for December 23, 2014

We've got another traveling poem, this one by Robert Bly, whose birthday is today. Some really tasty moments in the poem.

We've also got the birthday of the transistor, of Harriet Monroe who founded Poetry magazine (with Ezra Pound) and of Donna Tartt. I was glad to be reminded of Donna Tartt's name. Last fall I rode with my cousin to pick up her car -- we were being driven by a courtesy driver from the dealership, and he made conversation by asking us if we'd read The Goldfinch. He'd just finished it, he said, and couldn't decide if it was a good book or not! I knew I'd read her other books but couldn't call her name to mind until I read it just now. But I was tickled that this man chose that as topic of conversation. He opened by asking us what we'd read recently. This all came during a little rash of conversations here and elsewhere about the viability of books and novels and whether they were still important to people. So because of that I was even more tickled to have this encounter.

Hope everyone has a good Christmas Eve Eve.

Morning everyone --

Donna Tart's an odd one. I read The Secret History when it came out, and thought it was a decent, but not overwhelming read, but not the kind of thing that would encourage the devoted following she has, the ones that would clamor for a decade between books. And that's the way I felt about the Goldfinch. She writes well -- don't mean to suggest otherwise -- but I've never been amazed by her or anything.

Hope everyone who celebrates has a wonderful Christmas, and those who don't celebrate it have a wonderful day, too.

Oh dear. Just hit the submit button on my first academic manuscript.