'Fess Up Friday: Falling Short

I hope my 'Fess Up Friday (see May 4 post) isn't going to be a series of lame and somewhat masochistic reports of inactivity. But Week 2 is certainly no poster child for Successful Authorship.

1. Last Sat. I met a friend at a mystery bookstore for a signing and reading of two local writers I'm very interested in. The event, however, was cancelled. I did manage to find a lovely collection of James Cain novels and an Inspector Maigret paperback. But not meeting one writer in particular, Domenic Stanberry, was very disappointing.

2. I managed to open my draft of my novel. It was like a vampire hunter opening Dracula's crypt -- the light burned my eyes. Had to back away.

Here is a writing tip for everyone else who can maybe actually benefit from it. Courtesy of BlogLily's Writing Stats, which is fabulously inspirational:

Remember, it is no sign of weakness or defeat that your manuscript ends up in need of major surgery. This is a common occurrence in all writing, and among the best writers.

Oh, and I'm adding this from Yogamum. There are some FABULOUS'Fess Up posts out there, everyone. I'm so glad...they are really going to help me, for one.

Today’s exercise is this: in five minutes, write as many beginnings as you can that have to do with food. Write one, two, eleven, whatever you can do. Again, by a “beginning” I mean anything from a sentence fragment to three full sentences, but no more than that per beginning.

6 Literary Quirks

Thanks to Snacky Wombat, I've been tagged for this meme. 6 Boring Quirks About Me.

Now, you don't REALLY want to hear BORING quirks about me, do you? If I were you, I'd want to hear JUICY SCINTILLATING quirks. However, I'm not going to give you either. I'm going to change up the rules just a touch and go with 6 Literary Quirks About Me. Just so it's all in the family.

1. I'm an education junky. If I could go to school for the rest of my life, I would. I would earn more MAs 'cos they are more fun than BAs or PhDs.

2. I can't seem to finish a Faulkner novel all the way through. Think I finished As I Lay Dying maybe in high school. But I tend to start and stop. I get all lost, as if I'm sleepwalking or something. Love his short stories, though.

3. I can't get into chick lit. I'm a chick, I like lit. But can't seem to stand the combo between book covers. I think it has something to do with the cover design: hot pink titles with excessive curlicue typefaces and cute graphic drawings of cartoon chicks running around frantically shopping or solving murders or clubbing their boyfriends into submission or whatnot. What would they have done with Jane Eyre, do you think?

4. I do most of my reading in bed, before going to sleep. I don't think it helps my insomnia. But I have gotten through two volumes of Proust that way.

5. I have trouble marking pages. Maybe it's a leftover from my Catholic schoolgirl days, but I feel as if I'm vandalizing a book if I mark in ink or highlighter or even pencil. No, no: Desecration is more like it.

6. But I love reading notes from previous readers. Margin notes, dedications, anything marked up by previous owners or readers of the book make me happy. I like feeling a literary link with someone I don't even know.

Here are the rules for this meme:

Tell about six unspectacular quirks of yours (literary, if you so choose)
Link the person who tagged you - that'd be Snacky, and by all means visit minus the spine and lurk.
Mention the rules in your blog
Tag six following bloggers by linking them
Leave a comment on each of the tagged blogger’s blogs letting them know they’ve been tagged

Uh, I am tagging the first six people who see this. You know who you are.

Decluttering

I don't know about you, but accumulation is a major problem of mine. I am not even the type of person who measures life by material goods. Who cares what kind of car you drive or how many designer purses you have? Tell me how many stories you've written or animals you've cared for or places you've traveled or people you've helped, and I'm in.

Nevertheless, I find myself gathering weight around me like a bedroom floor gathers dust bunnies. From literal weight in fleshy pounds to hundreds of books to gew-gaws and knick-knacks, I'm a human flea market.

My life has reached a tipping point of late in the clutter department. I am having trouble focusing on reading and writing because I am so distracted by junk. So, I've been working on decluttering.

All of which points to my sharing this newly found resource with you: Freecyle.

Here's a description of what Freecyle is: The Freecycle Network™ is made up of 4,355 groups with 5,062,000 members across the globe. It's a grassroots and entirely nonprofit movement of people who are giving (& getting) stuff for free in their own towns. It's all about reuse and keeping good stuff out of landfills. Each local group is moderated by a local volunteer (them's good people). Membership is free.

Isn't that cool?

Share your tips on how to declutter! The best tip will get a FREE book!!!! (Hey, I think I'm starting to get the hang of this decluttering thing!)

Green versus new

President George Bush gave a high school commencement speech in a town devastated a year ago by a tornado. He said of Greensburg, Kansas: "This community is dedicated to putting the 'green' in Greensburg."

Too bad Bush wasn't as interested in putting the 'new' back in New Orleans.

'Fess Up Friday: Beginnings

'Fess Up Fridays are intended to be a way for me and other struggling writers to post our weekly efforts toward writing, be they nonexistent, miniscule, or breathtaking breakthroughs. I'm hoping this will keep writing top of mind for me and others, and inch us closer to meeting our writing goals.

Having blathered all of that, this week's report is full of vigorous toeing of waters: Exhausting but you don't actually get immersed.

1. Reading. I started two new mysteries, The English School of Murder by Ruth Dudley Edwards and The Spellman Files by Lisa Lutz. And I bought Don't Murder Your Mystery by Chris Roerden, a how-to on writing murder mysteries. This is all to learn about the craft, get inspired, get ideas. So far, I'm learning more about what I do NOT want to do.

2. Clip file. I started a clip file for news items, author interviews,book reviews -- anything essentially that catches my interest as possible plots or characters. I found this great interview of Cara Black, which gives me some insight on how one writer, at least, approaches her material.

3. Working space. A friend of mine, in an hour, whisked about my sun room to create a working space for me (I've only lived there five years!). And I set up Airport so my computer doesn't have to remain tethered to a dark corner of my apartment, where the cable umbilical is.

So, there you have it! Next week I will write something, if if only for 10 minutes.

Hope the other 'Fessers in the club have inspiring reports.

AMUSING MUSE:
The best writing tip of all: Sit.

The Reading...and the Writing...Games

Can you believe April is just about over? Time passes so quickly; I find this concept very difficult to accept and grasp. We are only here 90 years or so, and man, we have to cram in a lot of living in between jobs, shampooing and conditioning the hair, cleaning dustbunnies from under the bed, and chopping vegetables.

Not a great segue, but this does lead me willy-nilly to my book reading. I managed to avoid Colette's Pure and Impure for my March Dangerous Read. It wasn't that it was too dangerous; the prose was more like Virgina Woolf lite, and the first dozen pages or so melted in my brain like so much English toffee. So, I put that down and took refuge in rereading a biography of Dian Fossey and an account of the Titanic sinking (nothing like other people's misfortunes to get you over feeling angry about having to wait for the cable guy on Saturday).

Picked up a silly book. The title got me: Bookmarked to Die. I knew it had to be bibliocentric, and sure enough, the protaganist is a librarian, Helma Zukas. She was a bit too priggish for my tastes, and the story was basic -- two local authors are murdered, the Police Chief (who happens to be Helma's beau) is mad at her so she must regain his trust by solving the mystery. Or something like that. It was silly fun, easy to read, and not too offensive. I figured it would be a good basic book to look at for writing mysteries.

Next up is what portends to be a more literary take on a crime novel, Lisa Lutz's The Spellman Files. I'd really like to find some more noir, too, a la James Cain. Love that hardboiled grit.

Re the writing schedule: I'm keeping it simple and doable. 3 times a week during lunch or after work, 1 hour on weekends. I have my best energy and focus mid-day, and that's when I usually exercise. Now will balance that with writing. It's got to be part of the day; otherwise, will just slip off the radar.

I joined the organization Sisters in Crime, too. A few weeks ago I went to a luncheon they hosted in San Francisco, and the people were great. (Much more laid-back than the usual egomaniacal lit-uh-awry stiffs I typically meet at writing events.) They have a good local chapter. I'm hoping that the networking and events will keep me motivated, too.

Anyone out there who wants to commiserate over or share writing experiences, feel free to email me or post here.

Earth Day

In honor of Earth Day, Andi is giving away a copy of The Down to Earth Guide to Global Warming. Please hurry to her site to enter -- the drawing will be held Friday, April 25th at 8am eastern!

Other eco-related books to check out: Hope's Edge: The Next Diet for a Small Planet and Diet for a New America.

I wonder what is going to happen in light of the current food crisis. What with this, our mortgage crisis, global warming, and mounting fuel prices, you'd think our country would get a clue that the current way of life is not sustainable.

Any other Earth Day-related books that you'd like to list?

What students are reading

UC Berkeley surveyed what students have been reading over a 20-year period, and the results are interesting. The top books are: 1987 - The Color Purple, 1997 - The Fountainhead, and 2007 - Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.

Ayn Rand's book was actually #2 in 1987 and has disappeared from 2007's top 10, a list which is rife with J.K. Rowling titles. Fortunately, some oldies-but-goodies have consistently made the grade, including Jane Austen, Fyodor Dostoevsky, and F. Scott Fitzgerald.

The article summarizes the findings this way:

What conclusions can we draw from these admittedly unscientific surveys? Student do manage to read for enjoyment, and they read widely. Best seller lists (and Oprah?) influence their reading, but clearly they have strong wills of their own. Can we explain Madame Bovary, Our Man in Havana, All Quiet on the Western Front, Great Expectations, and The Screwtape Letters as recreational reading among college students? No, but we can be thankful.

Amen to that!

It's Friday. There. I've said it.

How many of you will stop reading once I write these words: I have nothing to say?

I suppose what I should write is: I have nothing to say about books, which I am reading or otherwise.

I just haven't been able to focus on reading as of late, particularly fiction. I want a book to grab me by the throat and haul me in, and then I think, no, what I REALLY want is to WRITE a book that grabs others by the throats and hauls them in. And by extension I want to READ such a book so I can get INSPIRED to WRITE such a book.

Circular logic. It's a bitch.

Oh, and this from Litlove. Another take on the Big D.

The depressed, it seems, dream a great deal more than the contented, with the result that they wake in the morning feeling exhausted and so perpetuate a cycle of depression. The situation arises when something happens that impacts on a person’s ability to get their basic needs met. Those who have a pessimistic or introspective disposition then tend to worry about their difficulties, ‘misusing their imagination’ as the authors put it (and the imagination is understood as a powerful tool that can do a great deal of harm when put to the wrong use) and allowing emotionally arousing thoughts to go round and round their heads. The result is ‘catastrophic thinking’, the ability to see the situation only as black or white, which in turn triggers the fight or flight responses, releasing adrenaline and cortisol into the bloodstream that simply make the situation much worse. At night, the mind attempts to deal with this influx of bad feeling by dreaming, distorting the amount of REM sleep (dream sleep) that the individual has. Too much REM sleep means not enough stage 4 sleep, the point where we heal our bodies and enjoy full, blissful rest. The poor individual wakes feeling exhausted and without motivation, and then, convinced it is not normal to feel this way, start to believe they are flawed and freakish. And so it goes on. Isn’t that interesting? I found that most credible and sensible. The problem, then, can be traced back to the (non) fulfillment of those basic needs that sets the worry off in the first place. The authors suggest that the route back to health is to figure out which need is not being met and to do something about it, as far as is possible. Here, for your information, is a very neat list of the basic needs:

Physical needs include a wholesome diet, exercise, good air to breathe and clean water to drink. Emotional needs include the need for security, to feel one has some control over events, to give and receive attention, to be emotionally connected to others, to have intimate closeness to at least one other person, to have status within one’s family and peer groups, to feel autonomous and competent, and to be ‘stretched’ in what we do (because being physically and/or mentally stretched is what gives meaning and purpose to our lives – a healthy brain is a busy problem-solving brain).

I like the neat list of basic needs. Just another thing to shoot for.

And, tomorrow: I'm going to tackle My Writing Schedule. Enough is enough. Wish me luck.

William Styron on Libraries

It is National Library Week, folks, and I'm paying a visit tonight. To get into the mood, here is a quote from William Styron's new book of essays. He waxes poetic on the Duke Library, but it could be AnyLibrary USA:

“I read everything I could lay my hands on. Even today I can recall the slightly blind and bloodshot perception I had of the vaulted Gothic reading room, overheated, the smell of glue and sweat and stale documents, winter coughs, whispers, the clock ticking toward midnight as I raised my eyes over the edge of ‘Crime and Punishment.’ The library became my hangout, my private club, my sanctuary, the place of my salvation; during the many months I was at Duke, I felt that when I was reading in the library I was sheltered from the world and from the evil winds of the future; no harm could come to me there.”

Ah, yes.

For more on Styron's new book, click here.

A poem for Friday

Ignatz Oasis
by Monica Youn

When you have left me
the sky drains of color

like the skin of a tightening fist.

The sun begins
its gold prowl

swatting at tinsel streamers
on the electric fan.

Crouching I hide
in the coolness I had stolen

from the brass rods of your bed.


Ooh, I like it.

For more, visit Guerinca.

Links and more links

Just links today; still trying to play catch up with life!

Great observations on the writing life here. (via Maud Newton)

News on the Pulitzer Prizes here. Awesome that Bob Dylan and Robert Hass are both winners. Junot Diaz won for fiction. Has anyone read Diaz? Comments?

World Literature Forum -- check it out.

Book banning in schools

It seems as if one school decided to hide behind rules and regulations to suspend a teacher who taught a "banned book" to her class.

Suspended, not fired, for a year and a half. No pay. Oh, thank you merciful School Board! (I think the teacher eventually resigned with a settlement.)

The banned book in question? The Freedom Writers' Diary.

The administrators reportedly objected to use of "racial slurs and sexually explicit content." While I understand teachers have to follow some rules and need to be mindful of many social issues, doesn't the positive of the book outweigh the liabilities? The students in question are high schoolars, and are probably painfully aware of violence, racism, and other social ills the book is trying to expose and challenge.

I really think our K-12 teachers are too impeded by rules and regulations. Are we dumbing down education, failing to challenge our students, and cheating them of the benefits of a true education: learning to think for oneself?

Any thoughts? Other than, like me, you'll keep your eye peeled for a copy of this book in the bargain bins.

Books saved me this week

Hi, everyone,

Just wanted to share how two book-related incidents this week really helped me over a tough patch:

1) Bookmarks magazine. My first copy arrived, and right before bed, at the end of a trying and exhausting day, in lieu of my regular reading, I leafed through the copy. Wow! Where have I been all this time?? And I know I found this from one of the blogs I regularly read. I am not sure whose, but I suspect Iliana at Bookgirl's Nightstand. Whoever the blogger was (or bloggers were), many thanks! I'm addicted. And, for others whose interest is piqued, click here to reach the Bookmarks homepage.

2) Awhile back, when I was undergoing some stress (seems to be a recurring theme, alas), a blogger recommended the book, Full Catastrophe Living. (I believe the blogger in question is the wonderful Litlove.) At any rate, I bought it and looked at it, and somehow, it got buried in the pile by my nightstand. Well, two days ago, I had a "dark night of the soul" kind of experience -- you know, like eating broccoli: you don't like it but it's good for you. I woke up in the middle of the night and needed comfort from a book. Lo and behold, I saw the book's spine at the bottom of a huge pile, winking at me, and I pulled it out. Well, it was the right words at the right time. I heartily recommend this book for anyone who suffers from chronic pain, stress, or is undergoing any stormy period. Even if you don't read it right away, you can always pull it from your shelf when you need it.

Happy Easter and Happy Spring to all! (P.S. Check out Amazon.com -- apparently, they sold out of kindle!)

Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh

Year of Reading Dangerously Challenge

Danger: The Uppercrust Factor and the Mini-Series Mystique

Rating: 4.5 dynamite sticks out of 5

Plot in a nutshell: The novel chronicles the journeys of Charles Ryder, an Oxford student, once he is befriended by Sebastian, the younger son of an aristocratic family. Sebastian takes Charles to his family's palatial home, Brideshead Castle, where Charles eventually meets the rest of the Marchmain family.

As the story unfolds, Sebastian becomes more distant, troubled, and even derelict with his retreat into alcoholism. Charles also drifts away from the Marchmains, but also finds himself returning to Brideshead and the Marchmain family over the years. In the second book, Charles even becomes involved with one of the sisters.

According to Wikipedia, Waugh desired that the book should be about the "operation of divine grace on a group of diverse but closely connected characters." While religion (Catholicism in particular) is a motif, it did not speak to me as strongly as the idea of what binds people together or forces them apart. It can be a religion or set of ideologies (including aristocracy) and it can also be character, such as someone suffering from alcoholism, or it can be love.

What I liked: The characters were subtly drawn and very complex. The passages between Charles and his father (and cousin) were witty, cutting, and completely original -- albeit not a major part of the plot. Here's a passage where Charles' cousin dispense advice about survival at Oxford:

". . . You're reading History? A perfectly respectable school. The very worst is English Literature and the next worst is Modern Greats. You want either a first or a fourth. There is no value in anything between. Time spent on a good second is time thrown away. You should go to the best lectures - Arkwright on Demosthenes for instance - irrespective of whether they are in your school or not. . . . Clothes. Dress as you do in a country house. Never wear a tweed coat and flannel trousers - always a suit. And go to a London tailor; you get better cut and longer credit. . . . Clubs. Join the Carlton now and the Grid at the beginning of your second year. If you want to run for the Union - and it's not a bad thing to do - make your reputation outside first, at the Canning or the Chatham, and begin by speaking on the paper. . . . Keep clear of Boar's Hill . . ." The sky over the opposing gables glowed and then darkened; I put more coal on the fire and turned on the light, revealing in their respectability his London-made plus fours and his Leander tie. . . . "Don't treat dons like schoolmasters; treat them as you would the vicar at home. . . . You'll find you spend half your second year shaking off the undesirable friends you made in your first. . . . Beware of the Anglo-Catholics - they're all sodomites with unpleasant accents. In fact, steer clear of all the religious groups; they do nothing but harm. . . ."

I mean, this is a character we never see again -- yet how much richness is dispensed with this passage about Charles' family, about the milieu he is now operating in having joined Oxford, and about general snobs like the cousin. And the wit is ever-present. (Come on, you did SMILE at the reference about English Lit, didn't you?)

And I adored the prose. Waugh wastes little in terms of characterization and phrasing; he cuts through the bull in the most erudite manner and with fine and layered observation. Here's another early passage, where Charles recounts how he decorated his college rooms -- which the character equates with his own passage of youth. Note how he not only provides clues about this character in the present, but also through that, sheds more light on the character during his youth. Just as in the passage above, the details are all so carefully chosen; however, the prose flows so beautifully in tone and manner that the details never seem overly laden with portent or overdone. And, finally, the last sentence propels the reader neatly into the plot:

It is easy, retrospectively, to endow one's youth with a false precocity or a false innocence; to tamper with the dates marking one's stature on the edge of the door. I should like to think - indeed I sometimes do think - that I decorated those rooms with Morris stuffs and Arundel prints and that my shelves were filled with seventeenth-century folios and French novels of the second empire in Russia-leather and watered-silk. But this was not the truth. On my first afternoon I proudly hung a reproduction of Van Gogh's "Sunflowers" over the fire and set up a screen, painted by Roger Fry with a Provençal landscape, which I had bought inexpensively when the Omega workshops were sold up. I displayed also a poster by McKnight Kauffer and Rhyme Sheets from the Poetry Bookshop, and, most painful to recall, a porcelain figure of Polly Peachum which stood between black tapers on the chimney-piece. My books were meagre and commonplace - Roger Fry's Vision and Design; the Medici Press edition of A Shropshire Lad; Eminent Victorians; some volumes of Georgian Poetry; Sinister Street; and South Wind - and my earliest friends fitted well into this background; they were Collins, a Wykehamist, an embryo don, a man of solid reading and childlike humour, and a small circle of college intellectuals, who maintained a middle course of culture between the flamboyant "æsthetes" and the proletarian scholars who scrambled fiercely for facts in the lodging houses of the Iffley Road and Wellington Square. It was by this circle that I found myself adopted during my first term; they provided the kind of company I had enjoyed in the sixth form at school, for which the sixth form had prepared me; but even in the earliest days, when the whole business of living at Oxford, with rooms of my own and my own cheque book, was a source of excitement, I felt at heart that this was not all that Oxford had to offer.

How many authors cover this much territory in so few paragraphs, much less sustain it for an entire novel? Awesome. Never had a word been so apropos.

What I didn't like: Oh, so unfortunately, the second book simply did not hold up to the skill of the first (in my humble opinion). The plot seemed rushed, as if Waugh had to meet a deadline. He didn't spin out the fine and intricate web of character and theme; rather, he seemed to just employ plot devices, one, two, three, as if he was channeling Dickens on a bad day.

Still, I'm so very very glad I blasted through my intimidation of Waugh and tales of aristocrats, which tend to make me feel deflated and petty-bourgeois, and the fact that the book cover was adorned with photos from the miniseries (should I just watch the miniseries, my inner sloth suggests) starring Jeremy Irons (more British upper-crustedness).

Twoferone memes

I got tagged by Minus the Spine and LitLove for two memes, so, without further ado, here they are. Happy Friday!

Five Kind Things Meme

The rules:

1. List five kind things you do for yourself.

2.List five kind things you do for your closest friend, partner or child.

3.List five kind things you have done for a stranger.

4. Have fun!

5. Tag five people.

Five Kind Things I Do For Myself
1. Read. Well, duh. But reading does so many things for me: Entertains, enlightens, informs. And keeps my brain well-oiled.

2. Blog breaks. Okay, I take blog breaks at work. When I'm at my wits' end or otherwise need a breath of fresh air, I post or peruse my blogroll.

3. Hang with my kitties. When my cats sprawl on top of me as I watch TV or read, I think they soak up all angst.

4. Go to Buddhist meditations and lectures. I just started this in earnest, as what I have been going through with my parents finally pried open my completely locked spiritual door. Catholicism hasn't worked for me since second grade, and I want and need some sort of spiritual grounding. Buddhism gives me peace.

5. Call my friends. I am not a big one on reaching out (who wants to bother other people?), but my friends are always there for me. That has been a big comfort.

Five Kind Things I Do For My Good Friends

1. Listen to them. At least, I hope I do. I make every effort, and even that is not enough. Listening to someone is the best you can do, and it's the hardest oftentimes.

2. Encourage them. I am not really great at giving them my time, but I do have lots of energy and ideas for when they hit their walls.

3. Loan them money. I'm not rich, and I'm certainly not philanthropic, but I don't hesitate when my friends need to borrow. And I'm not a nag about payback (I don't keep very good track, but the kind of people who are my friends are very scrupulous about paying back.) I think this is not only because it helps my friends and I'm not a money-grubber, but also because it's a way to give and I'm not good about giving time.

4. Don't hold grudges. If you've ever been close to grudge-holders, well, you know that this is the gift that keeps on giving.

5. Make them laugh. I don't think anyone can do this enough, and I need to work harder at this, but we do have fun and laugh, my friends and I.

Five Kind Things I Have Done For Strangers
1. Give money. That's pretty easy.

2. Give directions and even help them to their destination, if I can. (I'm not great at directions myself, so this is a trick.)

3. Compliment them. Sometimes, if someone looks like they could use a boost or even when they can't, a nice word goes a long way.

4. Give them advice. Sometimes friends have asked me to help their friends, and usually it involves writing or careers.

5. Let them have the seat.



Three things I had to Learn the Hard Way
1. "You can't get crucified for what you don't say." Still learning that one.

2. "Don't sleep with a man on the first date." Still learning that one.

3. "Mud too thick doesn't stick." An old Polish saying, which I think relates to peasants and hut-building. Nevertheless, it means when people get intimate too fast, it usually falls apart or doesn't last. This relates to point #2 very well. Still learning this one.

Tag (take your pick of the meme): Dorothy W., Iliana, Verbivore, Minus Spine (for the 5 Things), and Dark Orpheus.

Wednesday odds and ends

Book news: Finished Fred Vargas' Seeking Whom He May Devour. Sigh. Not as great as I'd expected...the characters weren't terribly interesting, and the author (who is a woman) kept making very sexist type of comments, in lieu of characterization. (i.e. One of the main characters kept referring to a murder victim as "the old bag.") I'm very hard to please when it comes to mysteries. I also suspect I read the wrong Vargas book. (Check out Smithereens' views on Vargas for a more balanced account of Vargas. Check out Smithereens' views for much good reading, if you haven't visited there!) I shall move on to Jacqueline Winspear's Birds of a Feather and start scrabbling around for Agatha Christie and PD James (is there a contemporary equivalent to these writers?). I'm really trying to bone up on mystery writing, as I'd like to dash one off under a pseudonym. "She says cheerily, her positive tones belying her delusions...."

On a more positive note, LOVED Sylvia Beach's memoir Shakespeare & Co., all about her literary bookstore. It's very light, full of anecdotes that never get too revealing (about her or the people she's informing us about) versus gossip or true revelations. I get the feeling she was trying to be discreet and diplomatic versus being a tell-all. Still, if you are a modern lit lover, this is a great read. She mentions several authors I would like to look up: Valery Larbaud, Mina Loy, Djuna Barnes, Bryher, and Mary Butts, among others.

Library travails: I finally got my library card! This is what happened: I returned the books to the outside deposit, which apparently was a mistake, since they were returned to the stacks without any record. I actually hunted two of them down, to prove I did indeed return the books (the librarian was looking at me askance. I don't think he believed someone who had books checked out from 11 years prior would a) find them and b) return them.) At this point, it was more about restoring credibility than getting a library card. Happily, the librarian appreciated my efforts, charged me $11 for a back fine and for a new card (a bargain, if you ask me), and issued me my new license. Which I will use very judiciously, I assure you.

For anyone dealing with seniors: As some of you bloggers may have issues with your elderly parents, here's a link to Jitterbug, a phone service especially for seniors. I am sending one to my mom and dad. My dad is going home, but he is not well enough to care for himself, and my mom (I fear) is in early Alzheimers or dementia. Her behavior has gone beyond mere stress from my dad's situation, unfortunately. This phone may be a literal lifeline. Hope it may help some of you, if you need it.

Friday notes

Just a note to say my dad is being released home next week. This is good news, of course, although there is a long road ahead for him, my mom, and my whole family.

Breathing hopeful breaths and staying positive. Thanks again to everyone who sent their good wishes!

Thoughts for Thursday - What your books say about you ... and a link

Following up on yesterday's post...what does your big pile of books say about you? Pay attention to not only how they are ordered or displayed, but how many do you have? What are the titles? Which titles do you read and which do you buy (maybe guiltily) with the best of intentions but somehow never manage to crack open?

These are the questions that can reveal what your books have to say about you.

I took a brief look around, and this is what I discovered: My books, once arranged by broad subject (nonfiction, history, biography, writing and reference, fiction, short stories) are a bit more in disarray since I moved five years ago. I never quite recovered! I didn't really think about that until now. Five years, and I only moved from the bottom floor to the top floor, but I just haven't regained my footing - guess I need to devote a few solid vacation days to serious household organization.

Judging from the sheer number and how much space I devote to them, my books say that reading is very important to me. Not only "reading" in general, but literature in particular: My fiction titles include many classics, a wide breadth of short stories, great geographical representations from Russia and Spain to America and England, and a smattering of contemporary fiction of generally the highest caliber. Combined with my series of "how-to-write" books, I'd say this makes me a writer, dammit.

I also am a person very interested in current events and history. I may be reincarnated from Tudor England or Revolutionary Russia. I dip in and out of the spiritual realm (particulary Buddhism) and have shunted the few relationship books (even a Dr. Phil book, heaven help me) into the darkest recesses of my closets. (I don't think I like what my books have to say about me in THAT regard.)

Generally, I like what my books have to say about me. I'm endlessly curious and a perpetual student. And that's okay in my book.


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Your books and what they may say about you

Borrowing a page from Dorothy W., I read this article debating the etiquette of having unread books on your shelves.

The author cites Ezra Klein from the American Prospect as saying:

"Bookshelves are not for displaying books you’ve read. Those books go in your office, or near your bed, or on your Facebook profile. Rather, the books on your shelves are there to convey the type of person you would like to be."

Now, I think it's a bit pompous to purposely dislay books you've read in your office (uh, don't have much room in a cubicle for THAT) or bedstand (isn't that where you keep books you are reading?) -- and I don't much care for boasting via Facebook or on a blog as much as I do recording it for yourself and for the possible reading pleasure of other bookworms.

But I do like the idea that books on your shelves convey the type of person you would like to be. Take a look at your own stacks tonight -- what kind of person do you want to be? I will do the same and report tomorrow.

Oh, and here's a takeaway from that article for you, a quote from Francis Bacon, which beautifully encapsulates my feelings about owning and hording hundreds of books:

“Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed, and some few to be chewed and digested; that is, some books are to be read only in parts; others to be read, but not curiously; and some few to be read wholly, and with diligence and attention.”