Sage sagas

Anahita's Woven Riddle, Meghan Nuttall Sayres (350pp) Set in Persia during the late 19th century this story could still, albeit without the evil Russian army, be a modern story. Anahita is a member of a nomadic tribe. Her father has decided that she be married and is ready to engage her to the local kahn. Anahita loves riddles. In fact it is a game that both she and her father regularly play with each other. Anahita is also a forward thinker, much to the dismay of other tribe members who are quite contenet with tradition thank you very much. Included in this Cinderella like tale are snippets of Rumi, of traditional dyeing (though the cochineal did puzzle me; would not kermes or another indigeous species be more likely?) as well as appreciation for a culture we so recently seem to view too shallowly.
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The Black Tulip, Alexandre Dumas (238pp) Once past the elaborate first chapter intro (and a very gory demise ala the French Revolution) the story settles into a menage a trois romance with requisite jealousy, envy, true love and intrigue. And to think the woman these two men are passionate over is a Black Tulip. Well one of them does realise after a bit of a struggle that maybe the jailor's daughter is a bit of all right. More so when she so lovingly takes care of his off set.
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After class today a very angry woman was atthe bus stop collecting discarded bits of willammette weekly. Fine. I need to catch my bus here and I know that the woman you're (you being said very vocal angry woman) talking about could not be me so okay I'll just knit. (She did have a pretty singing voice when she chose to sing I must say). Then in the cafe two people remarked on the knitting whilst reading: I hasten to add it's stockingnette, I'm looking at it whenever I reach a corner, I drop stitches and then have to pick them up.
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Started reading Eigil's Saga. You know how sometimes people can feel a bit overwhelmed with the many choices in baby names nowadays when a baby is expected? Apparently the vikings had no such problem. I've met at least five Thorolfs and two Gunhilds as well as inumerable Thorolds, not to mention Thorirs. And talk about plot jumps.

So this one landholder recieves a group of men and settles them in an out building where their clothes can dry and then he brings them some food apologising because it is all he has (sour curds, sour whey, maybe some bread) That's okay, his guests say, something is better than nothing and they eat what he provides. Then the host offers them lots of nice straw to sleep on. Meanwhile the King and his Queen are on the same property in another building with a full on banquet. The king asks where the host is and is told he is attending some guests. So the King says, well, let the guests join us. And so they do and they all sit down to drink.

(No one says aword about the fact there is a feast in one building and refuse buffet in another.)

Well not true. Eigil starts making up insulting poetry about not treating people in a hostly way, but apparently everyone is clueless. Then the Queen along with the host/landholder decide to poison Eigil's cup (whoa 'scuse me where did that come from? What does the Queen have against Eigil? Was he going to use up all her sleeping straw??) And then Eigil cuts himself and recites something -a rune? before taking the cup and the cup shatters which apparently is an insult (!) to the host (personally I think a dead poisoned guest is a lot more insulting not to say tacky). Anyway it's decided that the men from the refuse buffet are a bit drunk and it's time they leave. So the host and Eigil leave along with Eigil's very drunk captain and Eigil offs the host. Then runs away.

I did not leave any pertinent details out. I should probaly add that while this is Eigil's saga as in he is the hero, Eigil has some anger management problems. The least of which is,when as a child, attacking another child with a battle axe after Eigil lost a game to him. Oh and then when it is realised that he did this, after a full out axe and swords battle between all the adults, being told he will make a fine Viking.......Makes me want to know who invented the first time out chair. Don't think it was a viking. Uh uh.***CV

the Night after.....

Where have all the readers gone?

Out with Harry

When will they e'er return?

When will they e-'er return?

**
Meanwhile I am completing a delightful YA book called Anahita's Woven Riddle having finished the Black Tulip yesterday afternoon. Which means I am out of Dumas. Shoudl I wait until Cody's or should I stick with Powell's ahile I can? Decisions decisions.
***
One pair of scarlett knee highs complete. Actually, I have to frog the foot of one as the heel is too deep. Otherwise it's done and I have 1 1/2 amber kneehighs done as well. I did start the Indigo koigus but on 2.5's and I'm not sure that I like it. Funny that the koigu label says 3mm or US 3 when in fact a 2.5 not a 3 is a 3mm. Odd that.****CV

In which the Adventure goes on after the accustomed Manner

The Three Musketeers, Alexandre Dumas (720pp) I really don't need to comment about this book do I? Everyone knows who the three musketeers are right? Should be enough to say I read this in three days...whoa eerie coincidence. Let me meditate on that for a while. Oh wait, I know what I can say. The movie I saw of this book I think was a well done translation of the story itself. Yes, stuff was left out. Yes, scenes were edited for cinematic blah blah; and yes at least one person died differently in the book then in the novel (but then in the novel one character changed from a brunnette to a blonde wihtout one writer's blush), other than that? Well done you screen authors.
**
Currently reading;

The Black Tulip, Alexandre Dumas

The Time Before History, Colin Tudge

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Recently purchased:

The Female Quixote, Charlotte Lennox (and yes it is a work of fiction written around 1752)

Have a quote from the main character to her maid who has apparently been delivered some letters addressed to her mistress:

" You are a simple Wench, said Arabella smiling: You may depend upon it, all Letters directed to me, must contain Matters of Love and Gallantry; and those I am not permitted to receive. Take them away then immediately. But stay, pursued she, seeing she was about to obey her, one of them, you say, was deliver'd to you as a Letter of Consequence; perhaps it is so: Indeed it may contain an Advertisement of some Design to carry me away. How do I know, but Mr. Selvin, incited by his Love and Despair, may intend to make such an Attempt. Give me that letter, Lucy, I am resolved to open it. As for the other - yet who knows that other may also bring me a Warning of the same Danger from another Quarter. The pains Mr. Tinsel took to conceal his Passion, nay, almost as I think, to deny it, amounts to a Proof that he is meditating some Way to make sure of me. 'Tis ceratinly so: Give me that Letter, Lucy; I should be accessary to their intended Violence, if I neglected this timely Discovery."

I love the capitals sprinkled throughout, the fact that Arabella is a French novel reading over the top melodrama queen (ould it not be aht Mr. TInsel is really not interested in her?), the tons of punctuation sans quotation marks to indicate speech (perhaps this is why the proper names are italicised?) and it is an 18th century book. ***CV

We (may) have cottage!

Knock on wood. Deposits and such still need to be made.
**
Hmmm do you think I should order my madder, indigo, some weld and marigold now? This is because, if the cottage comes through then, there is a private garden that is attached and I could you know try and grow stuff in it. I know I want lavender. And I would love to grow dye plants. Instead of, you know, growing dying plants (I so do not have a green thumb, but I think if it was my plot and I was the one learning from it it would be okay. I was responsible for a garden that was in the back of my former Primary and, ummmm, the lavender did real well as did the poppies; not so much everything else.)
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I am a third of the way through The Three Musketeers. D'artagnan had a much bigger part than I remembered. Perhaps this is because Athos, Porthos and Aramis were played by such good character actors they seemed more main characterish then they actually were.
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I almost have the leg of my second scarlett sock complete (reading and stst are a good combination) and I finished one of the amber knee highs last night*****CV

NB Good thing I didn't mention woad. Apparently it's a noxious weed in CA, as is the wild marigold.

mordi!

La Reine Margot, Alexandre Dumas (468pp) Well. Dumas certainly doesn't believe in cluttering up a story with too many details does he? Really though it's the fighting, the wooing, and the conspiring we read Dumas for right? In some ways I am grateful I saw the old three musketeers on the silver screen (by old I mean the 70's versions) before reading any of the original works. It is also helpful to know that Dumas wrote for the theater. This way I did not get hung up on sudden shifts in plot and what not. Why are Coconnas and Mole at Catherine's perfumer? Why is he making a wax doll? Why is he shaking the heasdsman's hand at this moment?... oh, it's a plot twist *thwack* silly me.

I am now eagerly looking forward to reading the Three Musketeers and The Knight of the Maison Rouge.
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It occurred to me today that a fun way to read French Literature might be to start out with Balzac and then read Dumas and see the similarities as well as differences. Balzac writes romances with lots of detail in setting, politics and what not. Dumas writes romances. Period. On the one hand lots of bric-abrac on the other streamlined efficiency.

Then one could seperate the remaining authors of the period into Balzacian and Dumasian camps. I think Hugo would go into the Balzac column as would Flaubert and Huysmans.But who would be with Dumas?***CV

step 2

Step two of the well educated reader's process is to

(look away now if writing in your books, dog-earing corners, underlining and highlighting bound texts makes you queasy)

go back and re read all those notations you made during your first read through. Notations can be as mininmal as punctuation marks beside certain phrases, sentences, paragraphs, etc; comments written as above; key words circled and/or underlined/highlighted, etc. One could also keep a juournal which actually one is supposed to do for writing down thoughts both during the inital reading and for teh second go through where one is analysing the text. There is a certain list of questions which is provide as a guide through this journal process and the list of questions depends upon whether the work is fiction, non fiction, historical or biographical.

Now in my mind this all sounds extremely cool and I can imagine all sorts of journals and various ways they would look (typed, cursive, calligraphy, Indiana Jones style bundles) but the practice? Not so much. I tend to get distracted. I start out all on top of it: writing out quotes I like or wish to rethink and then I get caught up in the tale and want to know what is on the next page and "I'll get back to that quote", "I'll remember where it was" .... Later "Was that page 302? or 203? or 12? or, Oh wait I think it was 19 years later when x did......so that means it was before the horses....."

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In other news I finished one scarlet knee high and started the second today***CV

So 102, and you?

The Late Mr. Shakespeare may be very late as in, I do not think I will finish reading it and instead see if Powell's will buy it back. I am sure it is a delightful book, if one is alrady familiar with all of Shakespeare's writings and the biographies of said bard and the gossip and the Stratford countryside and the polit- perhaps you see my point. It is a very clever book and I feel as if it is written in alanguge which has been (for me) hidden and dead and buried and well Atlanteanised.

Perhaps if I read the bard as more than a teller of tales I would enjoy this book more. However when I have to rationalise persevering through one book in denial of another, enough! Out it goes.

I was talkng with a friend while she went through my latest sell offs, about various books and she came across a G.G. Marquez and when I mentione 100 years of Solitude she sort of gritted her teeth and said, "Oh don't mention that book. It is so confusing with who is relaled to who and I have to keep rereading to understand-"

I recently picked up a copy of A Well-Educated Mind and the author proposes a two step approach to reading classical or classic books. The first part is to read the book for its story.

Huh.

Think I got that part down.

So I mentioned this to my friend about how when I read a book for its story, at a cetain point I don't really worry about how the characters are intmately related and what they symbolically are meant to represent. I figure if the author thinks it important than the author will repeat the important bits in a variety of ways so as a reader I will know they are important. If the author expects me to work at understanding his agenda (Dude! It says fiction not metaphysical digressions. See? Here it is clearly labeled f-i-c-t-i-o-n on your book) well that is an expectation I most likely won't meet. (Unless the book is labeled metaphysical digression. Then I was fairly warned, wasn't I?)

Clearly I need to work on the second read through skill if I am to be well-educated;)***

Is that the time?

Got a phone call this morning from the property management wondering when they could bring people in to show the apartment. As I looked around noting boxes sealed and unsealed, books stacked in scattered heaps: to keep, to sell, to give away; a kitchen half packed and dust bunnies (some scurrying for cover and others blatantly prancing around the floor) I had to ask myself: Do they want to rent this apartment?
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In other news a cottage was looked at for me today and I have just sent off a generic application for it. Any good thoughts you can spare I appreciate.
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Books I have bought after selling thirty:

La Reine Margot, Alexandre Dumas

The Late Mr. Shakespeare, Robert Nye

Understood Betsy, Dorothy Canfield Fisher

****CV

Displays of......

Regarding my last post. I just read a disturbing entry a friend of mine put up. Last night a drummer in a local band went to watch fireworks at a local park. Other persons were not there to watch but to participate. Said participation involved the throwing of a firework known as an M60.

(What does it say about a society which names its tools of "fun" after other tools of "not fun"?)

So the local drummer? She will not be drumming any more. Some other work yes. Playing an instrument: no.
**
I myself went out last night after some very hot and sticky hours of sorting through way too much paper stuff. Yowza. And there is more waitng me tonight. Ick. (I'm gonna wash those lesson plans right outta my hair. Gonna watch those records disappear in thin air. LaLaLaLa) And I walked to a local cafe. Yup. People were sitting out watching the sunset while their neighbors set up little firework displays for the kiddies. On my return I saw roman candles being set up and off; and, for whatever reason, walked blocks out of my way to avoid them.

I like to watch. Or I did. ***CV

julius display

The White Castle, Orhan Pamuk

The New Life, Orhan Pamuk

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I am still somewhat disoriented by the fact that it is possible to buy fireworks and firecrackers at the grocery store. Perhaps one can tell where someone else has grown up by the reaction they have to the buying of fireworks. Where I grew up it was a clandestine risk to buy firecrackers. The only kind I ever had to light were the ones I found the day after the Fourth of July (no lectures please). They were mostly duds and the few that went off, well, they were few.

But to buy them meant a trip to Chinatown and a long wait at a school playground and maybe the seller wouldn't show up. Very secret agentish, which probaly makes it "fun" if illegal. However here is is legal. The only caveat seems to be that you must be 16 or older.

Uhhuh.

I guess this is what comes of living in a state where the rain percentage is so much higher. A friend of mine from AZ shared my surpsrise at the ease of access. Of course we both have animals in our charge so maybe this also makes us just that much more aware of the fun versus consequences of setting off explosives.

I do like Roman Candles though :)***CV

Beginning to count down

Yesterday, after practice, I went to return some much overdue library books. Then I wandered the sections looking for something to read. I finally settled on AS Byatt's, Little Black Book of Stories.

Then I had to search for a place to sit.

Most of the long tables at this particular branch are taken up by computers. I finally found a place, after passing people hunched at walls and sitting in aisles, at the end of a table which was neatly divided into two sections: one computer with printer section and one for readers.

I proceeded to read and knit for three hours. Very nice. Well, except for the part when I realized I had done 7 inches on a sock leg but four inches back was another one of those barely holding on knit stitches *sigh* I put the book back and then went to a cafe where I ripped four inches back and started again. This is my second pair of to the knee (no I have not finished the first pair) in Shuibui. The color is Amber.
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Today, after a tear filled morning of, Omg** I'm really leaving this place where I've made friends and going somewhere to start all over again!, I cleaned some floors moaned the lack of boxes for my books, booked a Uhaul (let us not go into the price of said vehicle okay), tried to contact my friend who is driving said Uhaul so I could get his ticket back to Portland, put all my CDs into 2 boxes; then went to the cafe where I read a little bit of Bryson's, Mother Tongue while working on the amber leg before going to a book store and finally getting a copy of Good Omens, Gaiman and Pratchett. Oh, and I also found a book I've been looking for for a while, Last Child in the Woods. It was on the store's sale shelf but not marked sale. So I took it to the clerk and after he swallowed what he was eating asked him if the book was on sale. Much computer clicking later :

"No."
"I didn't think so. Here, you probably know better than I where it should go."

And I went back to browsing. Three minutes later I hear a mutter:

"It is on sale? But it's not marked..."
Silence, then:
"Ma'am? It is on sale."

So I got it for sale and an dditional 40% off. It's such an agenda book but since I agree with its particular agenda that's okay with me ;)*****CV

Film at 10

Got the pics today. Wow. I think Portland has kind of spoiled me, or at least the section I live in. The new city is Urban with a capital "U". But that's okay. There is a movie house only a block away and groceries (if not the organinc kind) are three blocks over.

So unless something comes up real sudden and jumps in my lap it looks like this will be the place***CV

O casa mio

Thank you everyone who responded to my SOS. I did contact the owners and they are going to put together some pics today and tomorrow and send them to me. I'm really looking forward to seeing them.
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In other news: Hope I went and got the second in that series you sent me. Bad Hope. ;) I've also been picking up a few, no really, a FEW other reads:

Difficult Loves, Italo Calvino (short stories)

Inferno, Dante

The Rainbow Beneath My Feet, A. Bessette (mushroom dyeing)

Cast in Courtlight, Michele Sagaro

***

The Hester/Wills I'm working on are a pair of to-the-knee scarlet socks. I actualy turned the heel on one today but didn't like the heel and then I noticed in the leg that a stitch had split when knit. It was barely hanging on. So I ripped back about 6 inches and I'm now to the heel flap again. The yarn is Shibui, Chinese Red. It looks like scarlet velvet :) ***CV

oh help please

What do I do?

I just got accepted for an apartment. This makes me feel good. According to the person who looked at it for me it is bright, spacious just really nice. It has hardwood, is on the top floor and the landlords live on the property. One half of the couple who are moving out walked everywhere, even though they both had a car; she felt really felt comfortable doing that. Transportation is reasonable, the public kind. The rent is in budget. The place will be available within my time frame. The landlords have been the most forthcoming and informative of all my contacts (accept the place I just missed getting) so far.

But:

The friend who saw it was not happy with the neighborhood. The house next door, on the corner, is for sale and its interior is trashed (according to one of the property's owners). Another friend who offered to look at it did not stop because of the diversity.

Help. I so want a place and everything so far is either nice but next to a freeway or in a good location and is a box. And really when my fiend who looked at it described it, oh wow.

I should really answer him at the latest early tomorrow am (as he has also apparently left a voice mail and the email is a follow up).

What would you do?
***CV

one ringy dingy ...

While browsing Powell's today my phone rang:
Me: "Hello"
Voice: Hi CV. This is Mother F.
Me: Oh hi!
Mother F.: I was wondering of you had settled on a job yet?
Me: Why yes I have!
Mother F.: (Pause) Oh, I see
Me: ...... (see?see what?what is this about?)
Mother F.: Well congratulations
Me: Thank you.
Mother F.: Bye.
Me: Bye.

Then, two minutes later, as I was getting distracted by a book about the history of astronomy:

Ring!
Me: Hello, this is CV
Mother F.: Hi CV. This is Mother F. again. I was just talking with Sister K. and she wondered if you were happy.
Me: (pause) Happy?
Mother F.:Yes she was wondering if you would rather stay in Portland.
Me: ........
Mother F.:.........
Me: Well I signed the contract and they're helping me look for a place now.
Mother F.: So you're happy?
Me: Yes.
Mother F.: Okay then. Bye.
Me: Bye.
**
Ten minutes later I get a call from one of the people helping me look for a place. Still looking.
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I spent the afternoon working on my Hester/Will socks. 14inches so far. Think I'll start the heel in another two***CV

jingle jangle jingle

Went to practice then to a cafe where I had lunch. Then I came home and decided to do laundry. Got the stuff. Put coins in my pocket. Went out the door. Had to give it two good slams before it decided to actually shut: that was my chance. Went down to the laundry room. Took out my wallet for the coins.....wha- Oh, maybe they're in my pock- %*&!

Of course they're in my pocket. Hear the jingle? That's certainly not a key jingle: it's most definitely a coin jingle.

Fortunately the property management is down the street and they made an exception to let me back in my apartment. If they hadn't I would have had to call a locksmith.

***
Thank you Hope for my swap package! I don't think I would have chosen the book on my own and it looks like so much fun! It's just the type of reading I'm looking for right now :) Jasmine tea and two regia balls perfect to make baby socks with! Thank you so much****CV

Idle Flow

If On A Winter's Night a Traveller..... Italo Calvino (259pp) A book about a reader who meets another reader reading a book that the author is narrating about the readers reading books which never are completed because the translator of the book which was misbound as a Calvino novel which the reader thought he had purchased, may or may not have been crediting author(s) who in fact did not author the book he has translated. Hmmmm. H.Murakami anyone?
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Seven Nights by Borges I just started this one the other day. It consists of seven lectures Borges gave one year. The first is about reading Dante. (Oh lookie. Someone else who doesn't speak Italian yet has read books written in the original Italian without really noticing anything was amiss! )
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Did I mention I was invited to give a presentation about natural dyes next summer? ***CV

If ifs and ands.....

Cicero: On The Good Life

Cicero: Murder Trials

Under the Jaguar Sun*, Italo Calvino

If On A Winter's Night A Traveller .... , Italo Calvino

A Weaver's Garden, Rita Buchanan

Lichen Dyes*, Karen Diadick Casselman

****CV

*read

Midsummer

Happy Summer Solstice

****cv

Sometimes taoism........

I just heard back from one of the places I was really interested in, and who was really interested in me. It was rented to someone else. There was an apparent miscommunication and when the landlady didn't hear from me right away she decided I wasn't interested and I just didn't know how to tell her. *sigh*

To say I'm a bit disappointed would be an understatement.

I'm trying to emmulate taoist thought and accept that what is, is; what will be is what will or will not be.

Bleh. ***CV

fin semana

I finally got around to visiting the bookshop across the street. I thought it was a local division of a specific publisher. But as I was on my way to grocery shop I decided to just pop in and at least see the place before I left. Imagine my surpise to find it to be a new and used (primarily used) collectors book shop. It's somewhat hidden behind a local bakery and in fact is filled with the yeasty scent of freshbaked bread. The shop itself is called Daedalus Books, named I presume, after the greek guy who tried to fly to the sun when his wings were only attached by wax. Now there's someone who needed a lesson on the three states of matter.

I picked up a copy of Fielding's Shamela and Joseph Andrews as well as a Penguin edition of Menicus.
**
Before going there though I attended a workshop given by Paul Grilley, the main instructor of Yin yoga. I was fortunate to attend a mini-workshop of his years ago so this time I only attended the part about meridians and chakras. (The other parts are excellant. Only I had already participated and did not feel like spending critical moving funds on a repeat performance.)
***
Meanwhile I have a pair of socks promised to a friend (a promise I made last year) so I cast on for those last Friday and have 4 more inhes to do before I reach the heel. And I saw the new Knitty and the unmentionables are so cute I want to knit a pair in black for my date night. Hmmmm. ***CV

Oh Baby!

I have a date with this man* in San Francisco.
So what if there'll be a bajillion other people there? He's all I'll see.***CV

*It's a rare pic of him smiling. So you may not guess who he is ;)

Merci

I have some of the nicest friends. Thank you***CV

Stir crazy

Goin' courtin', goin' courtin'
Oh it sets your senses in a whirl.
Goin' courtin', going courtin'
Duding up to go and see a .... flat? crib? squat? dig? hut? cave? squirrel?

Guess that doesn't work.

Where are Rogers &Hammerstein, or Gilbert & Sullivan; heck, good ole Noel when you need 'em?
**
Turned in my school keys today.
***
Threw away almost three years of lesson plans last night. Yikes. I'm afeared to look in the back room. Who knows what school related stuff lurks in the dark of the den.***CV

When I First Came to Town

As I said before it's frustrating trying to find a place when one can't actually go there and look. It must be hard for the landlords too though *sigh* I was this close to havng a place in my old neighborhood, but I didn't go for it. I keep reminding myself that the manager wanted to let it this week and that there is no realistic way I could have done it that quickly.

My goal is July 1st.

I also received a call from a lovely person in the same area the school is, or at least the same town. The place sounds wonderful. No, wonderful, as in perfect for the pedestrian who needs to be in a diverse community of souls person that I am. It also has everything I want: light, hardwood, top floor, seperate rooms, affordable, pet friendly. I've sent what information I could but I do not know if it is enough.
**
I went to Powell's to cheer myself up. Apparently someone had the complete works of Balzac, hardbound, and sold it recently because there they were all teh volumes sitting in a row today where they had not been yesterday. I didn't get any. They were very used copies. But it was interesting to see included in the fiction were some early plays Honore had written.
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Then I went to a music shop and I picked up some CDs with the gift certificate the families had thoughtfully given me: Kirsten Hirsch, Lisa Germano, Peter Murphy and the Abattoir Blues DVD/CD tour. If I can't see Nick when he comes this year I will at least find someone with a DVD player so I can see him that way *g* ****CV

Munincipal Musings

Ah the joys of apartment hunting when one can't actually see the place before putting down a deposit. Trust. Yes. This is what we are developing here.

After my last move or two I've decided I would rather not ship everything; I would prefer to pack a truck and drive down. This is leading to all sorts of questions such as: is the price quoted to rent a truck per day or for the entire trip? do I have to buy all the packing supplies reccomended? and, just what distinguishes an apartment sized vehicle from a 1-2 bedroom truck? Dimensions not withstanding. I'm presuming from the images provided that "apartment" is a euphemism for studio or small dark cramped-space which even the Wild Child would have considered a bit of a tight fit.

I think, though, that I would qualify for the larger size hence my query as to whether the fee be per day, or, however long it takes.

In the housing area I just saw a cottage for rent within my budget, about 15 minutes from where I would be working. Hah! Did I go: Oh boy! Oh boy!?

I did not.

See. I know me. I know if I could walk to work, I would. Not just during the work week but on the weekends, at night, during holidays. In other words: work would be my home. So I want a place which is commuting distance. One which requires a knit project and a book to tide me over to and fro.

*Sigh* It was cute though***CV

tit-willow tit-willow tit-willow

Yesterday was the last day. As usual, we only had class in the morning and then those families that could came and we spent the rest of the afternoon in a nearby park. Very fun. One of the children said, as they were leaving, "Bye. See you next fall." He looked puzzled when his mom said, "No you won't. She's moving to California." Funny, no matter how many times you say something, in a group with everyone present and everyone saying I understand; some still don't realise how true what you're telling them is.
**
Last night the Yarn Harlot was in town and I got to Powell's more than an hour and a half ahead of time. I looked through pattern books as I had just aquired a brand new skein of yarn and was looking for something to work on. I found a pattern for Peacock Plumes which is really fun to make.

Some friends showed up about an hour later and we sat and chatted until Stephanie arrived. How fun she is. One lady in front of me was actually writing Stephanie's talk as she was giving it. I would imagine that over an hour of stenography could prove more painful to hands than the equivalent time spent knitting.

There was quite a turnout which was to be expected: the audience not only filled all the preset seating (which was twice as much as had been put out the last time Stephanie came to town: Burnside edition) but the aisles and the foyer as well.
***
I found out yesterday that one of the children's parents is performing as part of a Ruddigore production. I've only ever seen two Gilbert and Sullivan musicals: the Mikado and Pirates of Penzance. Here's another one :) ***CV

And the winner is....

Out of 15 resumes sent I had about six (?) phonecall interviews and received three offers.

So Carrie better watch out. I'm headed her way :)

Um....supposing I can find an affordable place to live there of course***CV

the envelope please

Tomorrow night there will be an answer (unless something goes terribly awry)***CV

Simple Saturday Afternoon

Cain Saga #5, Kaori Yuki

(in which an ever so helpful Powell's employee must climb a ladder in order to obtain CV's fix)

The Nonexistant Knight and The Cloven Viscount, Italo Calvino

Nux Vomica, the Veils ***CV

Moving Right Along

Okay I was wondering when it was to be this year: June 9th is KIP day. And the night before that the Yarn Harlot will be at Powell's. Appropo, no?
**
Yesterday when I took in my allotment to sell the buyer said, "I see you've been bringing in a lot of books. Are you selling your own?"

Perhaps it is better not to take care of ones books so that they look as if they have never been read? Admittedly almost every YA was a hardcover first edition with the paper covers completely in tact. Still.
***
I have finished reading After Dark by Murakami and if you like resolutions to mysteries stay far, far away from this book 'cause resoloution there ain't. Still it's Murakami so why would you read it if you wanted something that made sense? Wasteland, by FLB, is definitely a retelling of a fairy tale. One of those brother sister ones where all is not what it appears on the surface. And Girl Goddess #9 is a very sweet collection of fey Valley tales.

I'm currently reading A Harlot High and Low by Balzac****CV

If wishes were horses....

****CV

Ain't no Mountain High Enough

Girl Goddess #9, Franesca Lia Block

The Blck Sheep, Honore de Balzac

The Wasteland, Francesca Lia Block

**
10 textile books sold and three new lit.s bought. Not bad. I'm taking in quite a few Young Adult books tomorrow.
***
Asking advice of people is really interesting. One person advises directness and action. Call now!The other person (after you have acted upon the first persons advice because it made so much sense) says the direct approach in the given situation can do more harm than good. Furthermore, an offer is not an offer until it's on paper. Oh? Really? Does this mean I can say to one potential employer "Well even though you told me a starting salary I need to see all the stuff in writing before making up my mind?" A verbal is not enough?***CV

So where is that cave in the mountains I can retreat to?****CV

After Dark

There's a new Haruki Murakami out and I got me one! After Dark, Haruki Murakami, publ. May 2007.

At least this will keep me occupied and perhaps not biting my nails as I wait for a (hopefully) positive response. So I thought the admin. there wanted to call my admin. here after my interview before saying anything but they have apparently talked twice already.
***
This weekend was very productive in the:

Oh My G*** CV what a big wardrobe you have!
All the better to out goth you my dear.

But seriously, there are only so many black silk shirts, velvet coats, lace skirts and blouses one can own before Johnny Depp comes a knocking. Hence the major goodwill shift. I also realized that while one may have a brown bag hoarde to outlast the coming apocalypse, still, there be an end to the brown bags eventually.***CV

bokes solde y boughte

More selling of books today. Before I went to Powell's though I went to practice where a fellow bookaholic had a look through the bag. She ended up with a copy of Bird by Bird by Annie Lamott. The buyer at Powell's actually bought all I brought in today, inluding a twice rejected novel. I guess not everyone is a Malraux fan.
**
For a whole week I have been good and not bought a single book. Today I fell off the wagon and got Botany for Gardeners by Brian Capon. Aaaah practical and erudite. Just what I need.
***
In spite of my "Don't jinx something you want by thinking too much about it" philosophy, I cannot help but wonder what would be good plants for a drought stricken desert garden?***CV

Repris

I am back. I liked what I saw. I will hopefully not jinx things any further ;)
**
Having finished The Doomsday Book (*sniff* that poor, poor cow) I am deciding whether to curl up with Ganesh Gaitonde or Lucien, hmmmm.***CV

Happy Birthday Gautma

All this week I've been taking in small bags of books to Powell's to sell. So far it has been a good experience. Online the site says to be aware that each buyer, while looking for similar quality and condition books, is also a unique person and so not all buyers will accept the same books. Fair enough. So on the first go round when 20 were bought and six rejected I went home and the next day brought those same six back plus about 14 more and all but two were bought. I did the same again the next day and all except one, which I had brought for the first time, were sold.

I guess the site knows of what it speaks.

Today I brought in books from the unread/semiread piles; One of which was The Doomsday Book. Now before you shriek Nooooo! hear me out. On the bus I wanted something to read other than the Thich Nach Hahn and the Montessori so I thought I'd browse the Willis volume before saying good-bye to it. Next thing I knew I was on Chapter Two and at work. So, no, it was not sold today: but it was very close. ***CV

two out of three so far

Interview 2. As I had thought, it was one of those, "Well let's see what the person is like even though we do not have any openings right now." That's not quite true. I was told that while all the guides had already signed contracts the school didn't suppose I was interested in any of the assistant positions.

Funny. If I wasn't where I am now in my career and in a self supporting role I wouldn't have minded. I see nothing bad or negative about being an assistant.

I will be flying out for one more interview this weekend. Unless something dramatically unexpected occurs I will be moving out of state this summer.
**
I've started reading Sacred Games again. Probably not the best book choice to bring on an airplane, huh?
*CV

Signorina meet Monsiuer

I've started re-reading Montessori's books. It's amazing , though not neccessarily surprising, how much more I can relate to what she says now then when I first started teaching almost ten years ago. At this point I can see where she is actually givng directions in to what to present to what children and and the reasons why. It really is very inspiring.
**
One interview has been done, one is coming midweek and I am arranging flight schedules for a third this weekend. Interesting how different schools are in their approaches. One school will take care of everything while another one insists that there is a joint responsibility. Hmmm and yet the latter charges a high end tuition and the former relies on state monies. What to think? or should I?

One school give much responsibility as in not only supervision of lessons but of four other adults as well and one says children and an assistant are enough.
***
Last night I went to a demonstration of acro-yoga which was accompanied by live music. I have experienced acro-yoga personally before, being supported in a backbend, off the ground, by a partner who is lifting me with just their feet. Partners have to have complete trust in each other and this adds I think to the beauty of it all.
****
(As an aside my reading is now fluctuating between Montessori and Balzac. perhaps there is some meaning in that)***CV

NB

I started Sugar and Other Stories a few days ago. I had forgotten how detailed, almost minaturist like, AS Byatt can be. Currently I am reading the fourth story, called Dried Witch.
**
I'm back home. I recieved a call from another school this afternoon and may be flying out next week, I'm not sure yet. Much to think about and not all that much time to do so in.***CV

One more for the road

Primavera, Francesca Lia Block (196pp) This is a definitely dark version of the rites of Spring or the rise of Proserpina. While not graphic in the sense of being explicit, it would take a very innocent/ or oblivious person to not understand what happens to our heroine and other characters. Ms. Block is very much about the equality and rights of people to exist in a world of care and beauty, regardless of preference: doesn't the love of one being for another preclude the physical aspect of either party? I was struck most by the very feminist aspect of this tale. It is told , as Ecstasia was, with poems interspersed among the narratve chapters.
**
I will not be seeing Pink Martini tomorrow night as I am flying out to an interview instead. I have a phone interview hopefully tomorrow morning (it would have been today except my co guide's child was sick) and an in person next Wednesday.

I am so leery of getting my hopes up.

One day at a time***CV

Two today

Ectasia, Francesca Lia Block (196pp) A melding of the Peresephone mythos including Orpheus, the Furies who are the hangers on of the Doctor (death I presume), Dionysus,Calliope; gathered and set in a land called Elysia -and yes it did take me half the book to get that particular symbol, where the inhabitants feast upon candy, cake, pastries and champagne; circuses and carnivals run all day and night and when you are no longer young you head Underground. Interspersed with the narrative are poems and songs. The sequal is called Primavera.
**
The Veils are not so much a Nick Cave like band (I do wonder what age the reviewer was who made that comparison) so much as they resemble the Cult meets that Mission UK with a bit of a Bauhaus bow. Too polished for pure cult, '80s enough for UK and one nice eerie intro to qualify for a Peter comparison. But NOT Nick.***CV

And the list goes on....

Read:

Angel Sanctuary vol.19, Kaori Yuki

Castle of Crossed Destinies, Italo Calvino

Museum of Horror vol.1, Junji Ito

Creating:

A Second Treasury of Knitting Patterns, Barbara Walker

Music:

The Runaway Found, the Veils

Grinderman, Nick Cave,Warren Ellis, Martyn Casey and Jim Sclavunos

***

And I just found out that Pink Martini is doing an in shop promotion next week!***CV

Listing listing listing

Finished:

Violet and Claire, Francesca Lia Block

I Was a Teenage Fairy, Francesca Lia Block

Purchased:

Sugar and Other Stories, A.S. Byatt

Babel Tower, A.S. Byatt

Angel Sanctuary 19, Kaori Yuki

Ecstasia, Francesca Lia Block

Primavera, Francesca Lia Block

**

I apologise for not actually reviewing but I find that I am not really capable of it at the moment. Hopefully these lists will enable me to do so at a later date.****CV

Prom

Everyone's memory of prom is different. For some it is one of the most wonderful experiences they have had, for others there is the heartfelt desire to erase this particular memory from off the face of the earth. Others may think of it as "Meh, I went but it wasn't all that big of a deal". And so on.

Me? I loved the Winterball but the Prom was "Meh." Perhaps it was a case of live-band versus dueling DJs. Perhaps it was a dress of my choice versus what mom could willingly afford. Whatever, at least I'll always have the Winterball.
**
Prom II with the vegetarian vampire lovers: Let us just say that older is not only wiser but a heck of a lot more tolerant regarding fashion statements and self acceptance. Experience also means no outrageous expectations of what the night will bring, which was good. A reading, a signing, a souvenier shirt and a photo opportunity with models representing the main male love interests; really what more could a fan of fiction want? (Imagine a hunk from a Hamilton novel being at the ready to pose with you for a photo op? Got it? So did I :)

Phoenix was cool, weather wise, and so walking up and down the streets was a pleasure rather than a struggle through waves of oppressive heat (as I remember it from my last trip there). I even stopped into a local purveyor of printed matter and picked up a CD copy of Stardust read by Mr. Gaiman himself before the Prom. Yes, I too am amazed that I didn't spend the rest of my time in the hotel with Neil.

Let's say I was saving myself, 'K?

After prom I took myself out to Mill Ave., braving what I had been told would be fierce crowds of Cinco de Mayo drinkers. Oh? Really? Perhaps the topless girl next to the two legged costumed donkey standing out side of S******s had frightened them away; or perhaps they were all at the local baseball game. Wherever they were it wasn't on Mill.
***
A very strange aspect of an otherwise lovely hotel experience was the orange light attached to my room's ceiling. It looked as if it had been plucked from a police car roof and inserted, next to the sprinklers, right above the hotel bed. What was that about?

And why is it that everytime I stay at a hotel the only movies playing are Blade and the Matrix?***CV

stressstressstress

So apparently my daemon is now a Bengal Tiger. Huh.
**
Latest reads (sans reviews):

Last Call, Tim Powers

Ruby, Franesca Lia Block and Carmen Staton

Godchild 5, Kaori Yuki

The Hanged Man, Franesca lia Block

The Light-Bearer's Daughter, OR Melling

The Castle of Crossed Destinies, Italo Calvinio

***
Next:

Violet and Claire, Francesca lia Block

I was a Teenage Fairy, Francesca lia Block

The Museum of Terror, Junji Ito

****CV

Diodium

Moving on out

Now to the packing. I have three new books:

Last Call, Tim Powers
The Castle of Crossed Destinies, Italo Calvino
The Hanged Man, Francesca Lia Block

Ziplock bags for my fluids (that does sound a bit nasty doesn't it?) Do you think one can get water bottles filled on planes and that is why empty ones are okay to take on but not pre-filled ones? A list of stuff clothing wise to be packed, loose tea (I loooove in room coffeemakers :) Nick will be with me as will the Elfman and Mr. Das

Oh, and Dangerous Angels to reread.

Hey It's a weekend, by plane. I don't want to risk not having something to read.

I finished The Light-Bearer's Daughter today and will post a review when I return. I should start packing the stuff for real now***CV

As Foretold

Ironside, Holly Black (323pp) This story can be read seperately from Tithe and Valiant though it continues the story of Kaye and Roiben. Becoming King of the Unseelie or Night Court can be something of a challenge in spite of one's Melnibonean resemblance and Roiben is not having fun. Kaye on the other hand is suffering from a severe lack of self confidence while Corny still seeks love in all the wrong places. Enter the Queen of the Seelie Court who would be more than happy to help them, or would she? Ms. Black succeeds in another volume of truly dark and gritfilled urban fey. I love the coffee shop that Kaye and Corny end up in. I wonder if anyone will copywrite it? (And yes, the ogre and his girl make a brief appearance along with other characters from Valiant).
**
Wonder Tales: Six French Stories of Enchantment, ed. Marina Warner (239pp). Moving right along from the above modern to more traditional, the stories in this wonderful collection are: The White Cat, The Subtle Princss, Bearskin, The Counterfeit Marquise, Starlight and the Great Green Worm; each of which are retold but not too retold versions. What struck me most is that the heros are all women in these tales. Not overtly so, simply undeniably so. Very refreshing if one has grown up on the disneyified tales.
***
Echo, Franesca Lia Block (215pp) Ms. Block has a way of modernising myths and fairy tales that still manages to retain the poetry and simplicity of the original folk telling. While stories created in the Salons of Fance can be wonderfully ornate, there are times when simplicity is more powerful. In this set of tales, which weaves in and around one character while embracing those who are essential to her, we meet an Echo who is part Psyche in search of somone to adore and be adored by; and yet those she meets become Narcissus whom she can only reflect towards. (This is Ms. Block please do not expect a coherant review.)
****
Necklace of Kisses, Francesca Lia Block (227pp) Weetzie has just turned 40 and her Secret Agent Lover Man has changed. Weetzie has to decide whether she will stay or go and so is off to the Pink Hotel with her Emilia where Mermaids are trapped in penthouses, Bus boys are a bit Satyric, Elf children are stalked by their fathers and playing spin the bottle can be more surprising then one thinks. ***CV

a wink and a promise

So, we are back and I am feeling a wee bit tuckered. However, here is another book to add to my next review update:

Necklace of Kisses (aka the return of Weetzie Bat), Francesca Lia Block.

**

Tonight I hope to start The Light-Bearer's Daughter and I recently heard that Cold Comfort Farm is delightful.

***

Thank you Chris for the Veils ;) ****CV

Inbetween

I'm getting ready for an overnight with the class so I'm just posting the titles of my most recent reads and will fill in the details later.

Wonder tales: Six French Tales of Enchantment, ed. Marina Warner
Ironside, Holly Black
Echo, Francesca Lia Block

Synchronicity

Today after practice I entered a discussion in which the phrase "Ladder of abstraction" came up. As I understand it an abstraction is when a person generalizes from a specific experience in such a way that the specific situation no longer has to be dealt with. For example: "Today (x) yelled at me" becomes abstracted to, "Nobody likes me." A ladder is comprised of all the steps one takes from the specifc event to the generalization. The ladder idea is nice because it froms a path that one can follow back to the specific.

In a somewhat related situation I was browsing the local new age/ spiritual shop and as I was perusing the Thich Nach Hahn shelves I came across a slim volume related to Sangha building.

I found both of these situations insightful as in my particular line of work abstractions are continually being formed by the individuals in my care; beings who are not only learning how to become a community among themselves but developing the skills to create community no matter where they go.

(Not to mention the couple who asked one of the shop attendents what Ganesa represented. "Hmmm? Oh, most ommonly he is known as The Remover of Obstacles.) ***CV

A Query

What to say about a person who goes into a shop for one thing:

Wonder Tales: Six French Stories of Enchantment, Marina Warner

walks out with the above, and:

Ironside, a Modern Fairy Tale, Holly Black

Necklace of Kisses, Francesca Lia Block

Echo, Francesca Lia Block

The Light-Bearer's Daughter, O.R.Melling

after putting back:

New Moon: the Special Edition, Stephenie Meyer

Ruby, Francisca Lia Block

?

***CV

Troll Toll

Harrowing the Dragon, Patricia McKillip (308pp) A collection of short stories some of which have been printed in other anthologies. For the most part I enjoyed these shorts and had a pleasant revist with a variant on the Snow Queen. There is a short based on Romeo and Juliet told from the point of view of an investigating soldier after the suicides have been disovered; there is a Baba Yaga tale which was cute and a few stories such as The Stranger which I found forced but then there was The Witches of Junkett and a Troll and Two Roses (Troll Toll!) which made up for the weak spots. I could see Troll (with a little editing at the end) being performed as a monologue so easily.
**
Mortal Love, Elizabeth Hand (364pp) If you can imagine Algernon Swineburne as a hero, well, then you are halfway there with this book. Absinthe, crazed artists with a seriously surreal streak, more absinthe, Bloewdd, The Owl Service, lots of green, and why it might be better not to go home with someone you just met 'cause they might, you know, be an immortal primary source or an escapee from he local mad house down the moor are all present. The narrative style reminded me of Possession but more disjointed and less landscape oriented.
***
Snow-Walker, Catherine Fisher (505pp) I don't know why but I do seem to be reading an awful lot of Snow Queen stories lately. Snow-Walker which for some reason I had thought was set in Russia is in fact set in Norway. The America edition is actually the collected three volume series originally published in England and this explains why there seemed to be an inordinate amount of recapitualtion and a slight disjointedness in the narrative. However that minor hiccup aside each of the tales is a good read and reflects a different source: volume one The Snow Queen, volume two Beowolf, volume three East of the Sun and West of the Moon. They are based lightly on these tales and are definitely evolving quest stories. Snow-walker is the "youngest" feeling tale I have read so far of Ms. Fisher's work and I am curious how The Oracle Betrayed will be. I did like that Raven Wraiths. I wonder what would happen if they and the Crow Girls met?
****
One of the children learned today why rolling a skein of yarn into a ball is best done after carefully placing the skein around something before winding first. After an hour and a half he still had a tangle to sort out. At least it smelled pleasantly of oranges, as it had been dyed with Koolaid the previous week for our school auction :)
****
Oh and Angel Sanctuary, GodChild and Cain Saga (all the latest volumes are at the Powell's watrehouse! So I'm going to order them to have something to read on my way to Prom! If you're on the plane I'll be the one reading the book about angels being mean to each other and Gothic Lolitas loose in Victorian England poisoning people***CV

one out of three

After practice this morning I went to Peet's and spent about two hours reading Snow-Walker and working on my amber spider shawl. I almost treated myself to a container of their jasmine fancy tea (how could I forget their jasmine tea?!) before treating myself instead to a new book at Powell's. Mortal Love by Elizabeth Hand (pre-raphelite muse madness)

All in all it was a very pleasant birthday, the sun even came out and stayed out. One of the teachers at practice this morning improvised a candle to wish on which was very sweet.

I am now half way through both books :)***CV

a riddle

A riddle a riddle as I suppose,

what do these three share

(no, it's not clothes!):

William Shakespeare

Vladimir Nabokov

Me

***CV

Rag shop

I said I had my dress for the Prom already. And I do. However, a certain shop around the corner and down the street from me happens to have a rack of prom and bridesmaid outfits. I decided to browse through them. Just to look see.

One was a lovely sleeveless one piece, green velvet top and chiffon skirt, that looked good on from the side but not the front. Oh well. I'm just looking.

Another was a deep purple two piece halter top with long gauze ribbons that tie into a draping bow in the back, and fitted full length skirt. I'm talking almost Tyhrrian purple. A third was a dark chocolate brown, composed of a satin so fitted it gave the appearence that Marylin M. had forgotten one of her formals at the cleaners and so it had arrived at the shop. A fourth was a silver grey silk that looks pearl blue in some lights.

All of the dresses were floorlength to the point of having small trains.

I really liked the purple but it was not in my budget. *sigh* As I changed back I noticed that there was a zipper open, one I hadn't remembered using at all. "That's odd" I thought. So I looked closer. It seems the ribbon ties had hidden the side zipper feature. It was open and had no Pull to close it with.

I brought it up to the counter as the price tag had not been marked "as is", and showed it to the sales person so they could change the tag and the next person would know to check for the damage.

"I wanted to show you something I noticed," I said to her.

"Did you want this dress?", she asked as she checked to see if the tag had been marked as damaged goods.

I said I liked it but having to get it repaired didn't make sense to me. Besides there was another dress I was going to try on.

"Well I could discount it." she replied.

"Oh?", I was curious but even with a discount I didn't think it would be reasonable with my budget.

"Yes. Two dollars."

*blink* "Two dollars off of what it is now?"

"No. Two dollars total."

Funny. I now have another dress for the prom. I'm off to search for some hooks and eyes***CV

adjustments

Talked with the children today about the changes that are coming. Most of them were very together about it. Apparently yesterday (I was out on a professional day) there was a bit of agitation and a group meeting was held.

Today one child asked if I would be staying when the school moved and I said no. Why not? Because things are changing and one of those things that I will be most likely moving.

"Are you happy where you might move?" asked another child.

I said, "Yes"

"Then that's what's important."

"But I'll miss you", said the first one.

"Yes, but she's happy where she's going", the second child told her.
**
I guess even when you think what you're saying is not being heard, it is :)

handsome has been....

Frogged. It just wasn't working out. And I kept thinking, "It's going to get longer each successive row. Do I really want to invest the time....." So I spent most of the afternoon trying the Spider shawl instead.

Who knew frogs and spiders got along so well.

Bleh.
**
Today it started out warm. Poured. Cleared to brightness. Hailed. Stayed overcast. Warmed. Hailed, and then cooled.

Oh Mr. Weatherforecaster: What 'up?!
***CV

Gabe and the Sibyl

Prom Nights From Hell, Meg Cabot et al (304pp) I finished this last night before going to sleep. I kept wondering if maybe the title should have been Buffy at Prom but I guess not. It's an Ok collection of stories. By which I mean it wasn't bad enough to be offensive but my goodness could it have been fluffier? Yes, I read the Monkey's Paw when I was nine and so the terror supposed to be induced by the Corsage was not going to happen. I suppose what bothered me was that the girls were so unheroine-ish. I did kind of like the Sibyl tale but the Wonder Woman part, egads. And honestly how could Gabe's middle name not be Michael? So if you're looking for a fluff book that is okay to drop in the tub, or leave on a plane, you could do worse than this one. I'd class it with Gothic.
**
Still trying to assess the interview. The first was "Oh I guess that didn't go so good". Then I got a second call tonight and we're trying to arrange an in person. Still.... I think I'm too honest. Must work on that answering without answering technique.....
***
56/246 complete****CV

Just Silver

Dangerous Angels, Francesca Lia Block (478pp) I picked this book based on the prose style alone. Having never read On the Road this book still struck me as a tangerine bubblegum dream of what On the Road could have been, if I had bothered to read it. FLB writes in a fairy tale but modern style and this particular collection has a be-bop fey flavor all its own. I really can't say much about the plot itself without givng it away. If Valley Girl was seen through rose tinted hipster surfer boy silent era lenses, well, it might be like this.
**
Darkhenge, Catherine Fisher (240pp) This tale combined so many of my interests: celtic mythology, neuroscience, artists discovering themselves, the English-Welsh border, faith both pagan and christian, the unknowable boundaries between dream, reality, self delusion, and awareness. All wrapped up in a somber atmosphere that struck just the right tone of dark for the older reader without tipping into the overly creepy.
***
I started to read Strange Candy last night. It was all right. Not right enough to keep reading it so I returned it today and checked out Grand Avenues about the architect L'Enfant who was the original designer of Washinton, DC; and Harrowing the Dragon by Patricia McKillip.
****
50/246 rows completed so far*****CV

slinkster cool

I am currently reading Dangerous Angels by Lia Block. It is a story told in wonderfully sweet poetical prose. As a girl behind me in line today said, "That is a seriously cool book." I think I will be finished by tomorrow, or not.
**
After returning the first of what will be several large bags of library books today I checked out two books to bring back:

Snow-walker, Catherine Fisher

Strange Candy, Laurell K. Hamilton

***
I fell behind on the Handsome Triangle which meant that I needed to do 45 rows today if I was going to be caught up. I've done 17 of them so far. I think I see why Ina said for her it wasn't a challenge. But that doesn't mean it is not challenging for me. I had to cut one of my markers out because I had somehow manged to knit it into the shawl.

Still. Markers are a wonderful thing to have. They are keeping me sane.
****
After practice today the studio held a workshop on the Art of Communication *cue TZ music*****CV

contemplation

I had several interesting conversations with parents today. One of the central themes of these discussions was when does writing actually click and become a natural means of communication. Was there a certain age or are there signs of its emergence? Is there some way of teaching this skill so that unlike reading it is actually teachable rather than a realization that only the individual can come to?

I don't know when this moment occurred for me. At some point though I realized that writing is conversation without sound. Perhaps somewhere in my voracious reading this thought was presented to me by an author and I unconsciously accepted it as very sensible and the next time I was asked to write, I did. It must have happened sometime after that Presidential report I was required to do in the fourth grade though.

That was a struggle. I had never written any report until that moment and had no idea how to go about it. Maybe I had done a book report but nothing else I'm sure.

We keep journals and everyday the children record what work they are doing, the times they did it and a sentence or two about the work itself. At least that is the vision; but many, many times I hear:

"What should I write?"

To which I reply by asking:

"What did you do?"

Then they tell me what they have done, so I say:

"Then write that."

Which is followed by a confused look and the query, "Write what?"

"What you just told me."

"What I just told you?"

"Yes."

"What did I say?"

***
So maybe writing as communication comes only after you can hear yourself speak.***CV

arboreal masque

The big announcement was made today and one of the parents came in tears to the class. The next few months should be interesting.
**
If you have not read any of Catherine Fisher's work I suggest you do so now. Of the two I have read Corbenic is dark (but it is Parsifal so how could it not be) and Darkhenge is a combined retelling of Taleisin and the Battle of the Trees with some Persephone thrown into the mix.

I may have to suffer the trade edition of Snow Walker after all.
***
I have an interview scheduled for next Monday. ****CV

Ding Dong Dell

Darkhenge, Catherine Fisher
Dangerous Angels, Lia Block
Prom Nights From Hell, Meg Cabot and others

**
I think I may have found a new author to collect: Ms. Fisher. I only wish Snow Walker would come out in a better edition. It's too thick to read comfortably in paperback.

***
It would seem the intuition I tend to ignore was right again. Big changes are a'coming***CV

Tempestuous

Undine, Penni Russon (325pp) I read a review of this book in a forum I particpate in and was led to believe that this story dealt with birds and their worship. Instead it is a variant of the Tempest. This is not necessarily bad only I did keep waitng for what I thought would be there but clearly was not going to appear at all. it's a cute story if a bit too magical for my tastes. It is also very much set within the author's culture. I'll leave it at that. That bit was charming to me and will probably carry me into the sequal which is titled Breathe.
**
Thank you to my well wishers. Today was better. Yesterday was just an angry day, and I am not an angry person, so I was not at all prepared for such negative intensity. Ick.

We're doing stuff for National Poetry Month. Basic things like rhyming, creating couplets, figuring out rhyme schemes and measuring poems. Today we combined measuring and schemes through Haiku. I'm planning on some Triolet, Rondels and Villanelles as well.

And we started reading The Phantom Tollbooth today.
***
I am on row 23 of the HAndsome Triangle. My goal is three repeats a day which (if I can actaully do that) will have me finished in 21days.****CV

Dire-er and Dire-er

Troy: a Novel, Adele Geras (340pp) I purhased a copy of this book about four years ago but never got around to reading it. I think I eventually gave it away, though it may still be lurking in some as yet unlooked in spot. At the time I thought I would really like it but whenever I actually picked it up I couldn't become involved. Some books must wait for the right moment. I read Troy over the weekend and found that I enjoyed it, if enjoy is the correct word for a story about the last days of Troy when Hector is killed and dragged by his heels around the city walls, where Gods and Goddesses appear and warn people only to have those same people forget they've been warned as soon as the deity disappears. The narrative is told from multiple perspectives (servant, soldier, Greek, Trojan, Noble, including three old women who represent a chorus) and the chapters are brief which can be a bit unsettling if the reader is used to spending time in depth time with angsty characters. The author has also written another story called Ithika.
**
It's been one of those days where one is really glad to be home and say, "Well that's over!" For what ever reason I was not a happy camper and no matter what I did to try and snap out of it I couldn't.

Maybe reading some more of Undine will help.***CV

Desert Aslan

I have decided to make part of my prom outfit: the wrap portion. Last night Chris was kind enough to send me some links to look through in my quest for the perfect "oh my god it's 98 degrees at 6pm" shawl.

Did I mention the Prom is in AZ? Yeah, and me with that lovely could be whiter than snow white complexion. Plus the notorious habit of hot states overcompensating for the external temps by creating an indoor ice polar twin. A shawl is in order.

I have less than a month. I thought I should be realistic. I've decided on the Handsome Triangle from Victorian Lace Today in Helen's Lace colourway 'Aslan'.

I sense that reality and I may be drifting apart.***CV

modern times

Practice has been very challenging this week. Not so much the postures as the actual movement -I've felt off center, which in a balance is not such a happy situation. Probably pretty amusung if you're watching though ;)
**
Seutonius has been my commute reading. Goodness me. Julius was apparently quite the ladies' and gentlemen's man. Also, even though he liked power he had a bit of difficulty getting it. Everytime it seemed it was a ripe time to go in and take control he'd have to high tail it out of Rome. I have such the image of Rome at Night and this toga'd individual creeping in ala a Warner Bros. sneak and then, after peering around a corner, doing a Tex Avery bug eye and skeedaddle: over and over again.

Of course then he got to be Caesar (which is not to say he was King) so it worked out for him. So the difference between King and Caeser? Apparently dictator was more likely to win tpublic acceptance and approval where as calling oneself King was not OK: go figure.

A republican despot? A democratic dictator? Fine.*
A king ruling subjects? Face our mighty wrath!*

I'm now reading about Augustus.

Those wacky Romans and their disagreements. I bet if the air commision had been around back then there would have been far less stabbing of senators with stylus' and the odd dagger or two. Of course I really think that if you're concerned about someone recording your speech that there must be a better way to resolve the issue then having the recorder's throat slit. I really think the latter behaviour draws attention more to the issue then it avoids it.

Hey, but that's only my opinion. Put the stylus away please.
***
Being on a budget makes one so very appreciative of this institution known as the Public Library. Today I brought home from said lovely invention:

Undine, Penni Russon

I am Morgan le Fay, Nancy Springer

Troy, Adele Geras

****CV

*So this analogy of US with Rome gains more and more credence as time goes by. Does this mean Lost, American Idol and Survivor are our Circuses?

rhyme time, metric shmetric

Considering April is national Poetry month I thought I would find out what poetic form the quiz creators decided to assign me.

Oh looky! I could be one of two, this:

I am the sonnet, never quickly thrilled; Not prone to overstated gushing praise Nor yet to seething rants and anger, filled With overstretched opinions to rephrase; But on the other hand, not fond of fools, And thus, not fond of people, on the whole; And holding to the sound and useful rules, Not those that seek unjustified control. I'm balanced, measured, sensible (at least, I think I am, and usually I'm right); And when more ostentatious types have ceased, I'm still around, and doing, still, alright. In short, I'm calm and rational and stable - Or, well, I am, as much as I am able. Or, this:

I am, of course, none other than blank verse. I don't know where I'm going, yes, quite right; And when I get there (if I ever do) I might not recognise it. So? Your point? Why should I have a destination set? I'm relatively happy as I am, And wouldn't want to be forever aimed Towards some future path or special goal. It's not to do with laziness, as such. It's just that one the whole I'd rather not Be bothered - so I drift contentedly; An underrated way of life, I find.

For some reason I think of the Caterpillar vs. the Cheshire Cat****CV

Frivolity

Well I am now all set: I have both sets of tix, I have most of the outfit, I have a place to sleep.

I realise that what I am doing is in a way frivolous. But then I think how often does one get to treat oneself to something so frivolous? When I went to Ottawa, using some inherited money, that might have been considered frivolity, but, it is one of my best memories. How could it not be when I got to see much of what deLint writes about in his novels and the place where he lives?

Funny, but it appears to be authors who inspire me to these types of trips. One day I will make my deQuincey pilgrimmage to the Lake Country.

Too it gives me a story to tell. And what is life if there is no story to be told of it?****CV

Going to the Prom

I have the dress, now all I need is a plane and and a place to sleep.

I wonder if any of my commenters have read the Stephenie Meyer books yet; Twilight and/or New Moon.
**
This week I have read:

Hexwood, Diana Wynne Jones (379pp)

Pagan's Vows, Catherine Jinks (381pp)

Corbenic, C. Fisher (281pp)

***
Today I purchased:

Seutonius, The Twelve Caesars

Thucydides, History of the Peloponnisian War

I almost picked up a copy of Mordred by Vivian Van Velde but I realized that I've seen it at the library. I will be adding Corbenic to my collection. One can always make room for another Parsifal story. ***CV

As promised...

Coming this fall (according to the publisher). The artwork is by Mike D. He also worked on some of the original Sandman series.
**
I finished Hexwood but 'll save my comments for later.Today i went to the library and checked out:
Pagan's Exile, Catherine Jinks
the Stolen Child, Keith Donohugh
King of the Middlemarch, Kevin Crossley-Holland
***CV

Mellow Yellow

One of those nice mellow days. One in which there is really no where important to be so one just goes or stays. Practice of course and then I finished the first contrast colour tier of the entrelac socks. That was nice.

A brief converstion about what movie my friend was seeing with her SO in the afternoon. The 300? No. Saw that last week. Further discussion on historical accuracy/inaccurracy. A bit about a particular blogger's review of said film. Yep. She said. She was expecting the porn music to start up too.

A gentleman on the bus wondered what I was making and I said socks. He also wondered if I had seen one of those sock machines and I had. He thought it was pretty amazing for someone to invent that kind of machine. I agreed, as I continued with my 4DPNs. He was curious how long it would take me. I said I wasn't sure as they were knee socks and this was my first of the pair, maybe a month. That long? I shrugged. I'm not that attentive. Some people might do it in 2 weeks.

Sat in a cafe and read some of Diana Wynne Jones' Hexwood. Not finihsed yet (le gasp) but that is all right.

'Tis a mellow day****CV

Once Upon a Time

I joined the Once Upon a Time Challenge over at Stainless Steel Droppings

**

(OUAT) The New Policeman, Kate Thompson (431pp) Time is getting away. There is no time to do anything except wonder where it is all going. Ah well the curse of the modern world we say and keep on doing our best to cram in all those things we must do hoping somehow to make time to do the things we truly want to do. But what if it isn't the curse of modern life? What if time really is getting away? JJ, the hero of our story, determines to give his mom what she wants for her birthday: time. But how do you find it and how do you carry it? The setting is Ireland and JJ is a talented musician, dancer and a teenager who just found out his grandfather may have killed a priest who took his flute.

I read this in less then two days.
**
Cain Saga vol.4, Kaori Yuki (201pp) Cain is going to be married!? Well maybe. But why is his childhood friend acting as if he's still ten years old? Who is this mysterious clarivoyant and what is her connection to Dr. Disraeli? Will Riff leave Cain as Cain's uncle demands?

***
Hikaru no Go vol.9, Yumi Hotta (207pp) Hikaru is playing team games in Go salons all over the city. He's meeting with some interesting players (old, young) and he's learning that playing a game to tie is not as easy as it sounds. Meanwhile Akira is discovering that being a professional player means having to not play to win all the time.
****
Pagan's Crusade, Catherine Jinks (246pp) Pagan is a 16year old native of Jerusalem. He's run into a bit of a situation and so applies to be a squire at the Templars. Problem is he won't be paid for six months and he's going to be squire to a St. George look and act alike. What's a boy with a sense of humour to do? Moreso what can he do when Saladin lays siege to Jerusalem? Is being held captive in a city really that much worse than esorting pilgrims to the river Jordan and playing Name that martyred saint? Might be more fun actually. I've already found out the library has books 2 and 3. I'm looking forward to meeting St. George's family in Book 2 ;)

**

Justinian: The Digest of Roman Law, trans. C.F. Kolbert
Henry II, W. L. Warren