Wednesday in Review
It’s Wednesday, our lightest day of school. Perhaps, rather, I should say “our alternate day of school” as we have a full day of piano lessons, co-op, and work, but it is just not the same as the other four days of the week.
The run of sun has ended with an overcast day, heavy with the threat of rain. I don’t mind. It makes me want to stay inside and do work instead of being outside playing. And, believe me, I certainly have a lot of work to do inside!
I found it funny that everyone congratulated Nathan on his shooting, but few people mentioned TGD and the biggest award he’s ever gotten. Nathan said that TGD should have put it on his own Xanga, and then it would have been more obvious.
We are kicking around the idea of buying a pool, but it is so much money for a nice above ground that I don’t know if it is worth the expense. We could use that money in so many other ways or even just save it. I’ve been praying for wisdom, but I think I need to have wisdom to know what God is telling me and what I’m just thinking on my own!
I thought I’d review the two books I most recently read. The first is Yoga for People Who Can’t Be Bothered to Do It by Geoff Dyer. I picked this book up on the recommendation of my Book-A-Day calendar. It’s not a book about yoga; rather, it is a collection of travel essays by a 40-something guy who is quite unlike me. If Dave Barry were a drifter who took drugs, had paranoia, and read a lot of Auden, he would probably write like this fellow. Technically, the theme of the book is that Dyer was looking for a sense of home. He travels to all sorts of interesting places, strange places, and comments on them and himself and his relations to others. Do I recommend this book? Not really.
The
second is The Man Who Loved Jane Austen by Sally Smith O’Rourke.
(Do not confuse it with the novel of the same name by Ray Smith!) This is
an interesting take on the imagined background of Pride and Prejudice.
The novel begins as our heroine, Eliza Knight, an artist, and her passionless
accountant boyfriend, Jerry, peruse a used furniture store. Eliza finds an
antique vanity table, falls in love with it, and purchases it (against the
advice of the money-practical Jerry).
The next morning, while in conversation with her cat, Wickham, Eliza notices
that the panel backing to the mirror is pulling away. When she
investigates, two letters fall out. One is addressed to Jane Austen, and the
other–an unopened one–is addressed to F. Darcy.
Shocked but wise enough not to open the unsealed letter and thereby ruin the
value of the document, Eliza decides to research on the internet to see if
Darcy was a real person. Of course, with over a million Austen cites on
the net, she is daunted. She chooses one and posts a question, “Was
Fitzwilliam Darcy real?”
Strangely enough, a man has been watching and waiting for such a question for
the last three years, and he quickly replies. The kicker is that his name
is Fitzwilliam Darcy, and he is a horse breeder at Pemberly Farms in
Virginia. Eliza dismisses him as a lunatic and goes on with life.
The novel moves along–the letters are authenticated as real, she meets the
current Mr. Darcy (who is just as Austen described him in the original book),
and they mysteries of these letters and of Darcy’s identity are revealed.
Of course, in order to believe this mystery, you also have to believe in time
travel, but anything is possible in fiction, right?
The novel was an entertaining read, by no means excellent. (Although the
scene where she cleans the vanity table had me cringing–what would the Keano
brothers of Antique Roadshow be saying! AHH!) There seemed to be some character
confusion as the woman who wants to marry Darcy is described as a tall,
beautiful blonde sometimes, and then she’s described as looking like a vampire
in her yellow dress. There isn’t any major swearing that I recall. Alcohol
is drunk, and some secondary characters do get drunk. There are no sex
scenes, but Eliza’s relationship with Jerry is clearly stated, and some other
relations are mentioned in passing.
I
liked the character of Darcy in this book, and Eliza was likeable as well. Some
of the other characters seemed more like page filler than like full-blown
characters. Even Jane Austen herself didn’t strike me as amazing.
If you expect a lighthearted romance, you won’t be disappointed. If your expect Austen’s characterizations or writing style, you will be. I don’t think I’d rush right out and spend the money on this book, but if you
want me to loan it to you, I’d be glad to do so.
Fast and Furious Five
This should be a great week! Well, at least it should be a great week of weather. The calendar slots are pretty full in April.
On this sunny day, the kids and I (and the Wilsons) played Ultimate Frisbee in the yard. TGD came home and gave me a look–Homeschool Hannah out in the back yard playing Frisbee in a nice skirt, shirt, and cardigan with athletic socks and running shoes! Oh, well. When it counts, I do know what to wear (thanks to Stacy and Clinton–ha ha).
I’m grading essays right now, but I’m giving myself a five minute break to write an entry. How much can I write in five minutes? We shall see.
I do plan to review the Jane Austen-based book eventually. But, I’ll need more than five minutes.
Interesting news! I may have a story–a real, live, I-can-write-it-I-think story. Once school stops, research begins in earnest. It combines my love of history and my love of romance. Oh, look. Five minutes is up. Boo.
PS–The book I’m reading is a travel book, not a yoga book. Go figure.
A Weekend of Winners
It’s been a nice few days. I shall start with Friday, a rainy sort of miserable day which turned into golden, warm sunshine by the end. TGD and Nathan packed up and headed to Juniata College for TGD’s MAA math conference. The remaining children and I took the day off from school (the local school district also had the day off) and ran errands. I finally got my bushy hair cut (in the same style, only less wild). We used some more coupons and went to Wal-Mart where I used no coupons and spent a lot of money (comparatively speaking!). We picked up McDonald’s for lunch and carried it to the Subway in Wal-Mart where half of the family wanted to eat. Yes, perhaps it’s not quite “the thing” to take another restaurant’s food into a restaurant, but it’s in a Wal-Mart. How picky could they be?
We returned home and went to the Wilsons where L. and I were going to have a Bible study, but instead I showed her some computer things. We then decided to eat leftovers at our respective homes and meet at the park afterward. What a gorgeous evening it turned out to be! The kids played, we sat on the bleachers and watched baseball practice, and we discussed some verses in the book of James. I really feel as if I’m growing in the Lord. He is so very good to me!
Home again, and Rachel went off with C. from next door to see Ice Age 2 (lucky bug!). The boys went back to the Wilsons for a sleepover, and Libby and I watched Bride and Prejudice (the Indian singing one) and had ice cream. But, before everyone scattered, TGD called. It seems that he was awarded the MAA Allegheny Mountain Section Distinguished Teacher of the Year award! I was thrilled for him, but I was disappointed for me. Usually, someone calls the spouse and tells him/her so that s/he can be there for the award time. At least Nathan was there! Since he won the section award, he is now in the running for the national MAA Teacher of the Year award. Wouldn’t that be something?
Speaking of TGD and Nathan, after the banquet was over, they drove to the White Rose Motel, a “quaint” spot in Hershey, to spend the night before the big air rifle tournament on Saturday. I stayed up late and read that new book about Jane Austen (which I will review sometime).
Saturday morning dawned, and I slept through it. Once the girls and I finally got around to being awake and dressed and fed, I decided we’d go to my mom’s for the day. It was her birthday today, so it seemed like a good time to go. We packed up and headed to Curwensville with a stop in Philipsburg to pick up some fun gifts–her favorite cookies, Cadbury Eggs, a $2 giraffe, and a small rubber chicken.
We arrived and ate at the Blue Kow for lunch, a great, local ice cream/hamburger place. Then, my mom and I went to Wal-Mart where I picked up some Easter basket surprises for the kids. After that, I went to my grandma’s and visited with her for a while. I didn’t leave until two garbage bags were full of stuff for me to take home–a newly-crochet afghan, a twin bed quilt, flower pots, chair covers, a radio, a coat, and a tablecloth.
The kids and I then headed to Pizza Hut where my grandma (of the trash bags) and my great-aunt joined us for dinner. It’s always fun to hang out with them as they usually bicker madly, and it’s fun to watch. Both were pretty subdued tonight, although my grandma did manage to call her sister a hog after she confessed to eating three breadsticks and three slices of pizza!
During dinner, TGD called, fit to burst his buttons. It seems that Nathan’s team came in second overall in the shooting tournament. Nathan himself took an individual first place in the tournament for shooting 99/100 in the kneeling position. That means that he had 9 bulls eyes and one which was about a fourth inch off of dead center. Also, Nathan was second on his team. The girl who was first on his team was first in the whole tournament, taking individual firsts for highest score and something else. Nathan was only behind her by two points, I was told. (They only give out individual firsts, not seconds and thirds.)
Nathan in his winning position.
Nathan with his medal and team trophy.
What does this mean? It means that Nathan’s team (and more than likely Nathan himself) is going to the International Air Rifle competition in Kentucky this July!
Yup. It’s been a fun weekend so far.
Nodding Yellow Daffodil
There are lots of things I’d rather do than sit in a dentist’s office for two and a half hours while all six of us (sans TGD) get our teeth cleaned and checked. But, there are a lot of things which come much lower on the List of Fun such as standing in the misting rain in 43 degree temperatures help with baseball practice. Thankfully, I didn’t have to do that one.
Rachel was the only one with a cavity, and hers was between two teeth. I suppose a good mom would floss her six year-old’s teeth–but really. Would you? Do you? I don’t even floss my own teeth!
I have been a Coupon Queen the last few days. Our grocery stores here doubles coupons up to $1.00. So, if I have a $1.00 coupon, it’s a $2.00 coupon. Today, I got two deodorants, a pack of cookies to bake, two packs of Dentyne gum, and a tube of Crest toothpaste for $1.62 total. Woo! I have been saving about 40% each time at the store, sometimes much more. I occasionally get coupons from The Coupon Clippers. You can buy coupons that you want, and they are shipped to you in about three days. Mostly I buy the Philadelphia Sunday paper. They usually have the highest value coupons and a lot of them.
The first daffodil of spring bloomed at our house yesterday. I just love taking pictures of flowers!
Daffodils
I wander’d lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o’er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host, of golden daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.
Continuous as the stars that shine
And twinkle on the Milky Way,
They stretch’d in never-ending line
Along the margin of a bay:
Ten thousand saw I at a glance,
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.
The waves beside them danced; but they
Out-did the sparkling waves in glee:
A poet could not but be gay,
In such a jocund company:
I gazed — and gazed — but little thought
What wealth the show to me had brought:
For oft, when on my couch I lie
In vacant or in pensive mood,
They flash upon that inward eye
Which is the bliss of solitude;
And then my heart with pleasure fills,
And dances with the daffodils.
William Wordsworth
Sunday, A Day of Rest
Yes, it was a napping Sunday for me. It helped to take the edge of my miserable personality of late, but I’m still not myself. Sigh. When will I ever be me again? (That line seems to be a perfect segue for breaking into a Broadway musical-type song.)
Tonight I finished grading a set of timed essays and went to Lifelines (small group study) which was not at our house this week. I served in the nursery for church, and I wore my new skirt and sweater from Dress Barn which I just got in my shopping spree yesterday. It was fun to go out all by myself and try on clothes. I even went to Barnes and Noble where I planned to pick up The Scarlet Pimpernel (which I did). While I was scanning the shelf for “Orczy,” I noticed the book right next to Pimpernel–The Man who Loved Jane Austen, a modern-day mystery proposing that Darcy was a real guy! That seemed right up my alley, so I bought it as well. I’ll give you a review once I’ve read it.
This week is full of events. Actually, all of April seems a bit over-the-top with things to do. Ah, it will be over before I know it, and it will be mid-May and we will be done with school. I’m just excited about the mild weather, a fine event in April. That event could happen every day and I would not be distressed.
I finished Chasing Shakespeares, and I hadn’t intended to review it due to some objectionable content, but I will since I said in that I was reading it in an earlier post.
The story begins with Joe Roper, a good ol’ boy Vermonter turned graduate student in Shakespeare, cataloging a collection of books, letters, and “stuff”–most of which are forgeries. He discovers one letter, supposedly written by Shakespeare himself, which indicates that William Shakespeare was not really the author of all of the plays, poems, and sonnets.
(As a side note, the controversy of whether or not William Shakespeare of Stratford could have had the knowledge and background to write all those plays has raged for years. The most likely candidate pushed forward as an alternate author is Edward de Vere, the Earl of Oxford. Hence, the pluralization of “Shakespeare” in the title–more than one Shakespeare author has been proposed.)
Joe soon meets up with Posy Gould, a wealthy, flashy grad student who is studying Robert Cecil (contemporary of Shakespeare, not a writer). She finds out about the letter, and the two of them fly to England to have the letter authenticated.
While there, Posy tells Joe of her theories of the authorship question, and both of them do a bunch of research on de Vere and other writers of the time. They tour around England a bit, bicker with her movie producer father, and…other things.
I won’t give away any of the exciting bits, but I will give you a general assessment. If you’ve ever been interested in the Shakespeare authorship question, this book lays out the de Vere case pretty well. It also tosses about a lot of Elizabethan names, so it’s easy to get lost with just who is whom. Also, Joe swears a great deal. For a graduate student in English, he certainly has a limited selection of interjections and adjectives.
But, if you don’t mind a lot of swearing in your books and really want to know more about the case against Shakespeare, you would find this book worth reading. It was compared to AS Byatt’s Possession, but it wasn’t nearly as good. (And I didn’t think Possession was a real page-turner.)
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