January Reads

My sister came up with a great way to rate the books she's read this year... I'm going to do the same. I'll also add where it falls in my reading challenges. So here's what I've been reading in January...

1) Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton ***1/2

(New York, NY - 1001 Books to Read Before You Die)

I have a harder time reading (by which I mean listening) to book in the Old English style. The language is sometimes hard to follow and I find myself drifting. However... after a quick preview on Wikipedia I can usually get back into the swing of things. What I loved about this book was that the protagonist was male... and he was a little angsty. It was kind of a refreshing change.

2) The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid by Bill Bryson ***

(Des Moines, Iowa - Memoir)

Bill Bryson is the author of "A Short History of Nearly Everything," a book which I read a couple of years ago and simply adored (it gets 4 stars). I could have sworn the author was British, but apparently not. He grew up in the states and half way through college hopped across the pond and stayed. So in some ways he is British... he's been there a couple decades now. Anyway... I liked his memoir, but I like his style of writing. I think with all memoirs you take a risk... but for me at least, this one was good.

3) A Spell of Winter by Helen Dunmore 1/2

(England)

This was weird. I'm not even sure I'm glad I read it.... which is why it got only 1/2 a star. While there were parts that were very thought provoking, there were parts that were just strange and not too uplifting. So there you go. Don't read it.

4) The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde *****

(England - 1001 Books to Read Before You Die - Victorian)

I loved this book!!! Even though it has the difficulty of Old English, I loved the ideas behind the novel. The power of good and evil on the soul, who we take with us, and the power of mercy.

 5) Mansfield Park by Jane Austen ****

(England - 1001 Books to Read Before You Die)

Again... I run into the Old English difficulty factor. This one is also bloody long. I was inspired to read more Jane Austen books after reading the Jane Austen Book Club last December. So anyway, Mansfield Park is not my favorite of Jane Austen's but the plot is interesting in that 'games' often do not go the way we think they will... but in some ways, our first impressions are more right on than we think.

Cultural earrings

It is probably no surprise to anyone that I really want a brown baby. More than likely I will have to buy one, but I'm perfectly okay with that. They are beautiful and I want one.

As I was sitting in IEP meeting number three today, the parent had brought in her two younger children. This is not an unusual scenario as child care is extremely costly and it is not a luxury most of my parents have.

Anyway... these two beautiful little girls both had their ears pierced and were sporting some lovely gold hoops.

So as someone on the team droned on about this, that, or the other, I was struck with the 'deep' question of the day. When I finally get a brown baby for myself, will I pierce their ears as young children?

In my own cultural background, girls don't usually get their ears pierced until they are at least older children. I was 16 when I got mine pierced. But in the Latino and African-American cultures, it is not unusual to pierce the ears of very small infants.

When adopting children from a culture different than your own, how do you mix your own cultural mores with those of their birth? Do you stick with (perhaps) more obvious things like jewelry, or do you include things like language (including dialects), music, etc.

I don't have an answer to this question... nor will I be crossing the bridge for the need of an answer anytime soon, but it still makes me wonder.

Bones on Display

Today I went with some friends to the Genghis Khan exhibit at the NC Museum of Natural History. A strange location, yes... but a super cool exhibit. It tells the story of Temujin who united the nomadic tribes of Mongolia to become the largest empire in history.

Prior to visiting the exhibit, the only knowledge I had about Genghis Khan came from Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure... a film of high educational calibre. Amidst conquering most of northern Asia and into western Europe with nothing but the gentlest of persuasion*, he also found time to promote religious tolerance and decree a universal writing system to help increase the literacy of his people.

As all good museum exhibits do, the exhibit also tried to describe the life and society of the people. To help point this out they had on display the remains of the "Giant Princess"; a mummy archeaologists found several years ago. At 5'6" this woman was considered giant due to her large stature. She was also found with the clothing of the nobles, so she must have been quit wealthy. In the exhibit they had derobed this princess and put her cloaks on display. Then left her bones and boots for all to see.

I couldn't help but just wonder about her feelings about this. I mean, I don't think she died thinking, "I wonder if in 775 years someone will find me and put me on display." I hope she's not too shocked at our seemingly outrageous behavior and googly eyes. Honestly, I'm kind of excited to meet her in the life beyond...and in the meantime, I hope she knows she's famous!

*I'm kidding. You know that, right? Look at Wikipedia. Get educated.

I also went to the NC Museum of Art and spent some time at the Rembrandt exhibit. Three things to ponder about this exhibit... 1) Why do we remember Rembrandt by his first name and so many other artists by their last name? 2) All the paintings, at some point in time, were attributed to the master himself. However, art historians have now determined that a good portion of them were probably completed by his students or followers. Or maybe even collaborations with such. Anyway... I found it interesting. And 3) Why were the postcards for sale in the gift shop only prints of paintings that the exhibit clearly no longer attributed to Rembrandt? What gives?

Lil Blue Explodes

A friend's post on Facebook this week reminded me of my own little adventure with my smart car.

Learning to work a Prius was a bit like trying to learn a new software program. You know the general idea, but there are a few quirks that are part of learning the new system. One of the biggest changes for me was the location of the odometer, speedometer, and such.... they are way back and take some getting used to. There are also a lot of extra warning lights that required a giant handbook to understand.

Just a couple days after having my brand new blue Prius, I learned another one of the curses advantages of driving a computer. After work I had quickly loaded my heavy work bag into the passenger chair and started down the road. I made a quick stop and upon returning to the car, threw my purse into the passenger seat, too.

As I picked up speed and drove onto the freeway, my car started beeping. Looking around I couldn't figure out what the deal was. About 10 seconds later the beeping got faster and faster.... like it was about to detonate and explode into a million little pieces!

Finally, I realized that there was enough weight in the passenger seat to make my computer of a car think there was someone real and important sitting there. The car was not so subtly reminding me that my purse needed to put its seatbelt on.

Luckily the car didn't explode and I made it home okay... but it's always fun to have a reminder that I might actually have to work at being smarter than my car.

JanNewAry - The Year of Bold

Today in church we spent some time reflecting on recognizing the Lord's hand in our lives... people from the CH2 ward shared stories that were very touching and I was glad I ended up in their ward today. Then in Relief Society we talked about resolutions... mostly of the spiritual kind... but resolutions nonetheless. 

I have a few resolutions of my own. Let me 'splain. No there is too much. Let me sum up.

I already declared 2012 the Year of Bold... which will be resolution and a revolution in and of itself... I'll let you know how that goes. 

Current and Relevant: At work we're always determining if information we receive is "current and relevant." Spiritually, I believe the Book of Mormon is definitely not current, but it certainly is relevant. But I realized in the last few months that I don't have a great understanding of what's in the Doctrine and Covenants - a set of scripture that is both current and relevant! Therefore, I want to read and study the Doctrine and Covenants - last semester my friend Christa started teaching a family history institute class. I wanted to go... but always seemed to be working late and each week the attendance decision came down to institute or dinner - and I chose dinner... Sorry, Christa! Yet even as I ate dinner I'd be wondering what they were talking about in institute - I really did want to go. Anyway, the Lord apparently is giving me another chance because this semester Christa is teaching from the Doctrine and Covenants... convenient, eh? So with my new menu board I got for Christmas, I'll just leave salad on the menu for Wednesday nights and start eating at Institute. Hopefully no one minds. 

More Face Time (aka, things don't always look like the ad): You ever notice how the picture in the menu always looks better than the real thing. Or, on the reverse end, how the jacket of the book made it look really good and it turned out it was terrible. Well... I'm starting to feel that way about some technology. I need more "face" time with people. So not chatting on google, messaging via faceyface, or even texting. I need to make a concerted effort to actually talk to people. With my voice. I've decided phones are okay. Since I'm like my father and don't really like talking on the phone that much, that will be a challenge in and of itself. Anyway... I just think face time is something I've lost in the last several years and with my impending departure from the singles ward this summer, is something that has gained (and is still gaining) importance to me.

Gotta Have Hope: I want to do a little study on hope... not quite sure what that's going to look like yet, but I'm sure it will be good. This 'resolution' also makes me want to find a theme song for each of my resolutions... suggestions are welcome.

Just Keep Reading: I want to keep reading! (Not that I'd stop, but you know what I mean) I looked over several reading challenges on the web (they are everywhere) and decided that I would focus my reading on four areas... 1) some "Victorian" authors - nothing like going back to the classics. I'm talking anything from Bronte to Twain to Wilde. 2) Memoirs. Maybe it will inspire me to be more diligent about recording my own (that's funny right there) 3) some from the list 1001 books to read before you die. I'm not planning on dying anytime soon, but 1001 is a lot of books... I better get started. 4) Where are you Reading? - a fun way to track where the stories you read take place... with a goal to read all 50 states. Wowzers... the first obstacle: trying to figure out where to put the Seven Realms on my google map, because after Sonja gave me the first one (and I read 90% of it on the plane)... I have to finish the series!

There are, of course, a million other things that float through my head as 'resolutions.' Like, finish a scrapbook for once in your stinkin' life, cook a new recipe each week,  do a real spring cleaning, create handmade bouquets for Easter (kidding).... but I think you get the idea of all the impractical things rolling through my head. Probably should just stick with what I have for now.

How's that for a summary!! Maybe I should make that my resolution! Ha!