dual personalities

Category: Books

January 31, 2019

What are you reading?

by chuckofish

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I read a lot and I am always looking for something new/old to read. Right now I am reading A Light in August by William Faulkner, which I have never read before. We’ll see how far I get.

Here are a few things to read from around the internet:

From the gee-no-kidding department.

This was interesting!

Here’s a picture of John Wayne and his daughter Aissa on the set of Hatari! (1962). He loved to have his kids with him on set/location. Sometimes they even had a little part in the film. She looks just like him.

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And this was a good thought from Conan O’Brien:

I had a great conversation with Albert Brooks once. When I met him for the first time, I was kind of stammering. I said, you make movies, they live on forever. I just do these late-night shows, they get lost, they’re never seen again and who cares? And he looked at me and he said, [Albert Brooks voice] “What are you talking about? None of it matters.” None of it matters? “No, that’s the secret. In 1940, people said Clark Gable is the face of the 20th Century. Who [expletive] thinks about Clark Gable? It doesn’t matter. You’ll be forgotten. I’ll be forgotten. We’ll all be forgotten.” It’s so funny because you’d think that would depress me. I was walking on air after that.

Stay humble.

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Enjoy your Thursday. Friday is just around the corner!

9 Comments
January 30, 2019

Polite infants or manners are important

by chuckofish

Today is the birthday of Frank Gelett Burgess (January 30, 1866 – September 18, 1951) who was an artist, art critic, poet, author and humorist.

I know Gelett Burgess mainly for Goops and How to Be Them, which was a book we loved as children. My children, in turn, loved it.

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The Goops books were originally published between 1900 and 1950. The characters debuted, conceptually, in the illustrations of Burgess’ publication The Lark, in the late 19th century. The Goops also appeared in panels in the popular monthly children’s publication St. Nicholas, as early as 1898.

We knew this poem by heart:

The Goops, they lick their fingers,

and the Goops, they lick their knives;

They spill their broth on the tablecloth,

Oh, they lead disgusting lives!

We loved to emphasize the word disgusting. In fact I recited it to the wee babes only last weekend! (Yes, even they can act like goops at the table.)

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Since the publication in 1900 of the original Goops book, Goops and How to Be Them, the series has come to be seen as the “quintessential series on teaching children the importance of manners and polite behavior.”

When you are playing with the girls,

you must not pull their pretty curls;

if you are gentle when you play,

you will be glad of it some day!

“Politically incorrect,” but correct nonetheless.

Can you spot the goop in this picture taken at Lottie’s preschool?

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Join me in toasting old Gelett Burgess tonight! But watch your manners!

TIDINESS

Little scraps of paper,

Little crumbs of food,

Make a room untidy,

Everywhere they’re, strewed.

Do you sharpen pencils,

Ever, on the floor?

What becomes of orange- peels

And your apple-core?

Can you blame your mother

If she looks severe.

When she says, “It looks to me

As if the Goops were here”?

Indeed, who can blame your mother when she looks severe?

4 Comments
January 21, 2019

“Cheerful in God, arise and shine…

by chuckofish

…while rays divine stream all around.”*

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Daughter #1 found a few pictures on her phone from Christmas that I had not seen and I had to share this one. Those little faces–especially the little guy in the bow tie on the left– are sure to make you smile, right?

How was your weekend? We had fun celebrating other people’s birthdays.

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We drank Prosecco and listened to show tunes on the record player. We are such hipsters.

We unearthed some more toys in the basement and cleaned them up.

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I put the blocks away for a later date. I’m not sure the wee laddie is quite ready for them and we do not need to provide him with more missiles than he already has.

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I read a lot in this book which I bought for a dollar at an estate sale a few weeks ago.

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It is a children’s book from 1944, which tells the history of the world between the years 1809 to 1865, cleverly intertwining the stories. It is a book about people: Simon Bolivar, Napoleon, Queen Victoria, Benito Jaurez, Daniel Boone, Li Hung Chang, Buffalo Bill…which is the way I like history taught. I have enjoyed it a lot, especially the bits about Ulysses S. Grant.

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Anyway, if you ever run across this book at an estate sale or used bookstore, pick it up! pick it up!

It snowed some more (but not on the day predicted). We thought we had dodged it, but no. Why do we ever listen to the meteorologists? Everyone still came over for dinner on Sunday night and we had tortellini.

IMG_3844.JPGWe had way too much fun.

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And today is a day off!

*Philip Doddridge, hymn #543

4 Comments
November 20, 2018

What are you reading?

by chuckofish

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“That was his favorite thing about books—they took you off to other people’s lives an’ places, but you could still set in your own chair by th’ oil heater, warm as a mouse in a churn.”

–Jan Karon, Somewhere Safe With Somebody Good

As you know, when I am stressed, I turn to Jan Karon. Well, I have been stressed, so I am re-reading Somewhere Safe With Somebody Good. It’s just the ticket.

Meanwhile, I am checking things off my list. And if all else fails, I’ll remember what my rector told me on Sunday: “As long as you have your passport and a credit card, you’ll be fine.”

“Sleep in peace, God is awake.” (Victor Hugo)

4 Comments
November 2, 2018

Festina Lente*

by chuckofish

It is November and we are three weeks away from Thanksgiving! Zut alors!

I am also three weeks away from leaving on a big trip–a pilgrimage to the Holy Land! Am I ready? Not exactly. (I did renew my passport.) Good grief, I need to get my act together and fast. Hopefully, I will make some progress this weekend. Last weekend daughter #2 brought me a large suitcase to use for the trip, so I will start filling it up.

I have been reading up on Israel lately.

IMG_3531.JPGFullSizeRender-3.jpgFullSizeRender-2.jpgFullSizeRender-1.jpgI’ll be ready…in the meantime, time marches on relentlessly and November is turning out to be a very busy month. First up, the OM and I are going to see “legendary bluegrass group Hot Rize” at the Sheldon tonight. Daughter #1 is driving in for it. Maybe the boy will join us.

Screen Shot 2018-11-01 at 10.35.38 AM.pngBy the way, we did watch Pony Express (1952) one night this week, but I have to confess I fell asleep. This has less to do with the quality of the film and more to do with my being an old lady who gets up too early every day to be able to watch TV at night. I must say I thought the cinematography (of the little I saw) was very good and the location shots in Kanab, Utah were impressive.

Screen Shot 2018-11-01 at 1.39.48 PM.pngMaybe I’ll try again some time. On Halloween night we turned off the lights and proceeded to watch House of Wax (1953) with hometowner Vincent Price on TCM.

Screen Shot 2018-11-01 at 1.48.04 PM.pngI fell asleep. Maybe I should stop pretending and just turn in at 7:30 pm.

Have a good weekend. Get some rest.

5 Comments
October 30, 2018

What are you reading?

by chuckofish

Screen Shot 2018-10-29 at 8.44.12 PM.pngOver the weekend I finished reading Clock Dance, Ann Tyler’s new book. Although the book jacket proclaims that she is “at the height of her powers,” she is not. It was very thin, and it made me sad remembering her earlier books which were favorites of mine.

That said, however, the book is not without merit, and is still a lot better than many books published these days and touted as great works of art.

Anyway, I went back to my Ann Tyler shelf and pulled out Saint Maybe from 1991. I am enjoying it a lot.

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I am also reading When You and I Were Young, Whitefish, a memoir by Dorothy M. Johnson, who you  may recall was a writer mostly known for her western fiction. She wrote the short stories that became the movies The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, The Hanging Tree and A Man Called Horse. She was quite a gal.

What are you reading?

[The painting is “Evening Reading” by Georg Pauli, 1884]

3 Comments
October 23, 2018

“Was the minding of one’s own business no longer a subject taught in schools?”

by chuckofish

Over the weekend I finished A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles.  I agree with my DP that it is a wonderful book! When I finished, I was tempted to turn back to page one and start again.

“Like the Freemasons, the Confederacy of the Humbled is a close-knit brotherhood whose members travel with no outward markings, but who know each other at a glance. For having fallen suddenly from grace, those in the Confederacy share a certain perspective. Knowing beauty, influence, fame, and privilege to be borrowed rather than bestowed, they are not easily impressed. They are not quick to envy or take offense. They certainly do not scour the papers in search of their own names. They remain committed to living among their peers, but they greet adulation with caution, ambition with sympathy, and condescension with an inward smile.”

Really, really good.

I hear they are making a mini series for television. It will be produced by Kenneth Branagh and he will star as Count Alexander Rostov. This is unfortunate. As you know, I am not a fan of Branagh. I pictured Ralph Fiennes myself, someone taller. Whatever.

I found this to be very interesting.

And, of course, isn’t it telling that The New Yorker only ‘noted’ the book in its “Briefly Noted” section?

The protagonist of this novel is a Russian count who, after the Revolution, is imprisoned by the Bolsheviks in the luxurious Hotel Metropol and remains there for the next three decades. The count’s sedate life provides an ironic counterpoint to the grim doings of Bolshevik and Stalinist Russia, most of which occur out of sight. The count, made to take a job as a waiter, uncovers various mysteries of the hotel, while friendships with foreign diplomats and a close association with a Party member keep him somewhat abreast of outside events. The novel would be more compelling if these terrors intruded more, but Towles gets good mileage from the considerable charm of its protagonist and the peculiar world he inhabits.

Good mileage. Ugh. BTW, the terrors intrude plenty; they are mentioned and inferred with subtlety. But who cares about that anymore? Amor Towles, I guess.

5 Comments
October 19, 2018

“My, my, hey hey”*

by chuckofish

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I got flowers delivered at work yesterday for my anniversary. How nice–and just the right size to be enjoyed on my desk.

Meanwhile it is finally fall here in flyover country. Screen Shot 2018-10-18 at 9.09.18 AM.pngWe are far from peak in the fall color scheme of things, but why rush it? Screen Shot 2018-10-18 at 10.37.57 AM.pngScreen Shot 2018-10-18 at 10.39.42 AM.png

Screen Shot 2018-10-18 at 11.33.12 AM.pngI am looking forward to a lovely fall weekend, how about you?

I plan to dig into this old chestnut…

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…and reading some newer books…IMG_3507.JPG

Miss Lottie got tubes in her ears yesterday. Hopefully we’ll get to see our brave girl on Sunday!

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And since Halloween is approaching, it might be time for an M. Night Shyamalan movie fest–at least a few of the good ones!

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Signs (2002)

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The Sixth Sense (1999)

Have a good weekend!

*Neil Young

5 Comments
October 1, 2018

Release one leaf at break of day*

by chuckofish

I watched 21 Jump Street over the weekend, and, as usual, I laughed.

You know that I detest vulgarity, but there is something about this particular avalanche of vulgarity that always cheers me up. I couldn’t say why exactly. It must be Channing Tatum in AP Chemistry.

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I also got to see the wee babes when I went to cheer on the boy at the Pedal the Cause bicycle race on Sunday.

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They enjoyed running around on a hot morning waiting for him to cross the finish line.

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And they were proud of him when he did! I was too!

I had a good weekend puttering around. I also read quite a bit of Alistair McCall Smith’s 18th book in the No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency series, The House of Unexpected Sisters. This suited me just fine. Precious Romotswe and I have always been on the same page.

Mma Romotswe was usually very even-tempered. She rarely allowed matters to rile her, and only very occasionally expressed a strong opinion. She could see the world as others saw it–she understood if people took a different view of things–but there were limits, and Mma Potokwane had just described one of them. “These people,” she said, with a note of irritation creeping into her voice, “what are they thinking of? They spend all their time criticizing the good things we have–the old Botswana morality, for example…but what do they say should be put in their place? They have nothing to offer, Mma. They say that life will be better if we get rid of our traditions, but what if we did that, all that would come would be selfishness, Mma. It would be every person for himself, or herself. People would forget about other people because there would be nothing to bind them together; none of the memories, songs, greetings, or customs that make people into a nation. We would have plenty of shiny cars, Mma–plenty of Mercedes-Benzes–but inside we would be as empty as an ant-hill…

And now it is October!

*Robert Frost, from “October’

5 Comments
September 27, 2018

1066 and all that

by chuckofish

The Norman conquest of England began on this day in 1066.  The invasion and occupation of England by an army of Norman, Breton, Flemish and French soldiers was led by Duke William II of Normandy, later known as William the Conqueror.

This made me think of the book 1066 and All That: A Memorable History of England, comprising all the parts you can remember, including 103 Good Things, 5 Bad Kings and 2 Genuine Dates.  

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The book is a parody of the style of history teaching in English schools at the time (1930), in particular of Our Island Story. It purports to contain “all the History you can remember,” and covers the history of England from Roman times through 1066 “and all that,” up to the end of World War I, at which time “America was thus clearly Top Nation, and history came to a .” [full-stop, like a telegram] It is full of examples of half-remembered and mixed-up facts, puns and really bad jokes.

The book is written in the manner of a bad test essay with most of the names wrong. It is also full of private jokes and you really have to know quite a lot of history to get them, so I can’t imagine anyone today being even slightly amused by it.

Truly it makes my own history-major head spin.

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Zut alors!

On the whole I prefer Nigel Molesworth: “a chiz is a swiz or swindle as any fule kno.”

All latin masters hav one joke.

Caesar adsum jam forte
or
caesar had some jam for tea.

No one knows anything now.

6 Comments