Emma by Jane Austen Page: 450

I’m happy to have read 230 pages today which is 13 more than my minimum requirement. I’m often asked how I manage to read so much and that inquiry has its kinder forms (I’m so impressed type) and its unkinder ones (I’m sure you’re just skimming type). I think I have unusual challenges but also unusual benefits. The challenges everyone reading here likely already knows. The baby and the toddler, a home to keep moderately clean, meals to prepare, the aftermath of Veritas to deal with, etc, etc. To offset all the insanity that ought to keep me from every reading a single page I have the gift of reading very quickly with a very high comprehension rate. “Normal” reading skill is about 200 words per minute with approximately 60% comprehension. I read at about 500 words per minute with about 95% comprehension. And that makes a big difference. I also almost never watch TeeVee and due to this project prioritize reading above almost every other activity.

My typical reading day doesn’t begin until the boys take their naps. I strategize all morning to make sure they are ready to go to sleep at the same time (not easy when they are at such disparate stages of development). Around 11:30 I lay them down and can count on an hour or two of reading time before one or the other wakes up. I don’t eat my lunch until they wake up in order to avoid wasting a single minute. Depending on the book I’m reading (some are of course slower going than others) and the length of the naps I get between 75 and 150 pages read. Then I have to wait until the boy’s bedtime to finish my daily quota. They usually get put in their cribs around 8pm and Jared takes responsibility for making sure they go to sleep while I cram in another 50 or 100 pages before I have to get my blog post up. Sometimes I have a hard time planning well, so I quit reading before my eyes shut involuntarily.

The weekends are much harder as Jared is home all the time and I’d rather be hanging out with him and he with me. I’m also more inclined to nap on the weekends. Sometimes I take a chunk of time and go hide somewhere and get my reading in but what I really need to do is get serious about taking a lot of time off to read on the weekends. I have around a 6000 page deficit to make up before December 31st! Yikes!

Just today, I think I’ve developed a new strategy for getting extra reading in. The boys really enjoy a ride in the stroller in the early mornings and so I often take them for walks. Good for them and peace and quiet for me. But I discovered last night that I can read while walking. I push the stroller with one hand and hold my book with the other. It slows my reading down quite a bit but as I wouldn’t be able to read at all if I wasn’t out walking, its pure bonus time. I read fifty pages today while walking down to my mother-in-law’s office to drop some things off. It was great, I felt so effecient. Excercise, an errand, peaceful children and Jane Austen; how much better can it get?

Emma by Jane Austen Page: 220

I always enjoy Austen. Her incisive wit, clear prose and grounded morality are so enjoyable and instructive that I can’t help it. All six of her novels are beautiful and they are each so unique. I’m sad that once I finish Emma I’ll be done with Austen for the year. If I may quote Peter Leithart:

“Precisely this “nominalism,” and minute attention to details of character and relation that accompany it, make Austen’s work a continuing source of both delight and moral instruction. Because of her limitations, she emphasizes the domestic and local context for moral decisions and action. For Austen, the sensational or extraordinary do not provide a sound basis for moral educaion and experience. Hers is not a “lifeboat ethics” focusing on the marginal extremes of ethical decisions. On the contrary, she recognizes that the greatest ethical challenges come in the midst of daily life, precisely when “nothing is happening.” (Miniatures and Morals P. 27)

And that’s why you need to read Austen, need to re-read Austen and need to force your sons and daughters to read Austen.

Mother Goose Nursery Rhymes  Page: 320 Finished

The Woman Warrior, China Men by Maxine Hong Kingston Page: 541

Maxine Hong Kingston’s prose is amazing. Haunting, powerful, fanciful. And I love the photo of her on the cover of the Everyman’s edition. You might not be able to see it well, but she looks wild and wise in it.

I feel like sharing photos today so here are the boys, getting used to colder weather one early morning last week.

And here is what the windstorm brought us this evening.

Among today’s adventures, I tried donating plasma. It’s not really “donating” because they “compensate you for your time”. I couldn’t handle it. It’s not because I’m a wimp about needles (I’m really not anymore). I couldn’t handle the social awkwardness of it. I’m not sure if I’m hypersensitive, a snob or what, but between the indifference of the employees (and who could blame them) and the hopelessness of the average donor I didn’t stay. It took me two tries just to make it in the door. The building was more than a little grim and the waiting room was FULL of people who stared as you walked up. Once inside there was more staring and some intrusive comments and questions from others there waiting. I’m a fairly private person* and I really hate it when complete strangers - especially male ones - start talking to you out of the blue. I waited two hours before I was called (not a bad thing since I read) and then had to answer all the harrowing and offensive questions that the AIDS epidemic made necessary. Finally I was taken to a room for my basic physical and I was so chilled from the cold waiting room that the thermometer didn’t even register my presence. I was told that I could wait fifteen minutes to see if I warmed up but I couldn’t go outside…so was I supposed to do jumping jacks? Anyway, I fled at that point. I felt demeaned by the whole experience. I guess I won’t be selling my eggs or anything…I wonder what the key issue is. Is it modesty? Sensibility? Mere squeamishness?

*I know, I know, I blog…but it still freaks me out a bit when someone recognizes me from my blog or from the few times my photograph has been in our local paper. And the internet depersonalizes things just enough that I don’t have to be bosom friends with everyone that drops by.

I’m going to watch a movie with my husband instead of blogging tonight.

Comment on THAT!

The Stranger by Albert Camus Page: 117 Finished

The Woman Warrior, China Men by Maxine Hong Kingston Page:113

The Stranger was a quick and easy read. The bleakness and the heartlessness of the book may have been meant as an indictment of modern life but it seemed more to be a symptom than a diagnosis. I tend to think that beauty is the best indictment of ugliness not imitation.

Speaking of beauty, Maxine Hong Kingston has it. Not only does she describe it but it seems to me that she understands both how to show it and how to find it. She describes Chinese legend and folklore, tales and culture and whe is imaginative and creative with it. she also accepts American culture and is enriched by it. I think I’m a fan.

I’m sad that the more I post about food the more comments I get. Isn’t this supposed to be a book blog? Anyway, on the menu for this week is chili. My recipe is simple and developed from my mom’s recipe (too beany) and a recipe out of the Bride and Groom Cookbook (too complicated). The proportions are derived from the packaging sizes I find at the grocery store. One pound ground beef, one pound sausage, cooked together and drained. One onion finely chopped, one bell pepper also finely chopped sauteed together in a couple tablespoons olive oil (I use super cheap olive oil for anything that it is not a major ingredient of. Extra virgin is only necessary for things like pesto or salad dressing). Two 28 oz cans of diced tomatoes and one small can of tomato paste to thicken. Two cans (16oz?)of pinto beans (or whatever other beans you like and one large can of baked beans like Bush’s Baked Beans. A tablespoon of chili powder and salt to taste. Now here is the fun part, you can shake this up any way you want. In a hurry? don’t sautee the onions and the pepper and cook it on the stovetop for about an hour on medium high (stir often). Going to be gone all day? throw it all in the crockpot on low. Want to be extra penny pinching? Buy dry beans in bulk instead of the canned ones and soak them overnight; add brown sugar, a little pepper and some ketchup to compensate for the baked beans. Feeling extra gourmet? Add a few garlic cloves to the sauteeing onions and peppers and add some freshly chopped tomatoes to the canned ones. Serve it with grated cheese on top. With corn chips to dip. With cornbread and butter and honey. Over baked potatoes with melted cheese and steamed broccolli. With fry bread. This makes a small vat of chili that is meaty and filling and everyone should enjoy.

A House for Mr Biswas by V.S. Naipaul Page: 564 Finished

The story ends kind of happy, kind of sad but better than I expected. Mr. Biswas wants a house, finally gets it five years before he dies and then almost loses it. But his daughter saves the day and his widow isn’t left homeless. Oh, and it’s really, incredibly well-written. I guess the Nobel Prize it won should have indicated something like that. I really identified with Biswas on one level. His rootlessness. I too grew up in scattered places occasionally living with relatives outside the immediate family. I too had a very strong desire for a home of my own. I wanted to buy my great-grandparents home when I was 19 but that didn’t work out. I wanted to by a house with my friend Kayla back when we were young and single. And now I have a home and I LOVE it all out of proportion to common sense and reality. I love every inch of it so much that I’d be happy if we never moved. I wouldn’t mind dying here. In this wandering age, when young families pack up and move across the country for the slightest of reasons, I’m very happy to remain rooted for the next 70 years. I would like to travel one day, but I always want to come home. Our home is small, with odd shaped doorways and doors that don’t fit. It has a sloping roof upstairs and a crowded, poorly planned bathroom. The bedrooms are small, the kitchen faucet leaky. But it is perfect because I really believe that I’ll get to stay. I don’t think I’ll have have to pack up and leave and I like it that way.

A House for Mr. Biswas Page: 360

Today was a busy and full day…as usual. I had the usual routine of taking care of the boys, trying to get reading done etc. But I also did extra housework, some writing, and hosted book club. Then, after my fellow book-clubbers went home, Jared and I set the iron footings for the pergola (awning) that is going over our patio. Because, you know, it’s completely normal to do hard labor after 9pm. Anyway, the patio should be looking pretty good next week. For all you those who were not here tonight, the book for our next meeting, in two weeks, is Code of the Wooster’s by P.G. Wodehouse. It should be a light-hearted time. If you don’t laugh while reading Wodehouse, your broken. Have someone send you back to the factory for repairs.

I was talking to my Mother in Law the other day about the myriad of amazing little things that the boys do every day and she told me that I might be surprised by how few of those things I actually remember down the road. Now on the one hand I am really unconcerned that I might not remember the exact day Alex walked or the the week Luc got his first teeth. Too often I’ve seen those details turned into a one-up-man-ship game with other moms. So I haven’t bothered to record the “milestone” moments. But there are many other things I do want to remember so I’m putting them down here in preparation for recording them elsewhere.

A few days ago I heard Luc fussing a bit in the hallway, not very loud or desperately. Alex came running up to me, grunting in his usual expressive way but very urgently, and then he grabbed me and started pointing toward the hallway. I followed him and found that Luc had pulled the safety gate over on top of himself. Alex’s concern for his brother was so sweet.

Luc likes to eat leaves. Disgusting child.

Speaking of Luc, he was chewing on one of his brother’s board books the other day and I took it away from him. He fussed and fussed. I tried giving him another toy, his pacifier, a bottle, holding him. NOTHING WORKED. I gave the book back to him and instant peace. I might have a little bibliophile on my hands. Now he has to have the pacifier in his mouth when I give him a book so he doesn’t chew on it but it seriously makes me happy to think that he likes them that much.

Alex and Luc adore each other. If Alex comes running up to Luc his little face just splits wide open with a smile. If Alex is doing something (no matter how mundane) and Luc can see him it just gives that little baby the giggles. This started when Luc was about four months old and Alex was jumping off the bed into Jared’s arms and continues now with simple things like Alex coughing. Luc’s laugh is so infectious.

Alex is so kind to Luc in the midst of typical careless toddler roughhousing. If Luc is fussing Alex will find his pacifier and very deliberately but very clumsily concentrate on getting it into Luc’s mouth. He does the same with a bottle with no regard to whether it is his or Luc’s.

Alex has a little, floppy canvas hat that is adorable on him. After a brief stage where he would take it off all the time, now he looks for it when he wants to go outside and puts it on. A skinny, sweet little boy in his diaper and hat is a funny sight at 6:30am. He also takes it off when he’s in the shade and puts it back on when he’s playing in the sun.

Alex loves his little Dr. Seuss board book Mr. Brown Can Moo. His favorite page is the “Knock Knock” page and he loves to knock on the door, wall or table when you read it.

A House for Mr. Biswas by V.S. Naipaul Page: 140

Another guilty morning post…and a guilty, mere 140 pages for yesterday. I intended (as usual) to spend and hour and a half reading last night after the boys went to bed and of course to post before bed but dinner with friends and an early bedtime took over. Jared and I went to dinner with some of our best friends, Dave and Heather, last night. They took us to Asiago’s in downtown Boise. Ostensibly it was in return for a similar dinner we had treated them to, more than two years ago. That dinner was before either of us had kids (Dave and Heather have a little boy about Luc’s age). Dinner was so very good! Conversation was sparkling and a glass and a half of wine on top of crab cakes (yum!) and my busy day meant that 9:30 looked like a good bedtime for me.

I’m finding Naipaul sad. I guess A House for Mr. Biswas is considered a classic of Carribean literature and I think that it is very well written (only a 1/4 of the way through) but another depressing novel…I’m not sure I’m emotionally up for it.

Meditations by Marcus Aurelius Page: 272

Another good day for the page count. Yay! I might actually catch up…if this trend continues that is.

Ahh…the Stoics. Good old Marcus Aurelius. He is so fascinating to read and important too but he kinda makes me want to go out and indulge in all my favorite parts of creation. Chocolate, coffee, wine, filet mignon, silk, truffles, old leather bound books. I do think that there is a lot of wisdom in this little book and although I’ve read it twice now, I still need to study it a bit more to glean the bits of gold. I’ll be saving further details until book club night since most (all?) of my book club reads my blog at least occasionally.

I can scarcely believe how many more dishes are dirtied each day just because we are home. HOLY CRAP! I have to do them twice a day. Of course I hate a messy kitchen, so while I would just let them build up before, when we were gone all the time, I really can’t stand to do that now. I would so love a dishwasher right about now…

The Mill on the Floss by George Eliot Page: 597 Finished

Russian Fairy Tales  edited by Gillian Avery Page: 183

I read lots today (some easy reading) but I’m pretty tired so I don’t feel like a long blog. I guess I’ve discovered the great secret of generating comments on your blog…post about food. Speaking of food, I made the zucchini bread today and it was especially great. Jared is a big fan and that’s the most important thing since he’s forced to eat if for breakfast every day.

On a non-food note: I enjoyed the Russian Fairy Tales but the striking similarities between them and the English ones and between them and themselves makes reading the book straight through a bit wearisome. I still love the Everyman’s editions though! The illustrations are amazing and I imagine that the boys will like them at a slower pace. And speaking of the boys…here’s our little sunshine.

What astounds me is how adorable I find him in this picture and how un-adorable I find him at 6:15 in the morning when he’s ready to start the day with a bit of screaming, a poopy diaper, and demands for food. Any ideas on how to make a kid sleep more? I’ve contemplated beer in the bottle…

And while I’m posting pictures can anyone tell me how it is possible that I’ve tried to sell these chairs twice and no one has snatched them up?

They are seriously cool and only $20 for the pair! What is the greater Boise area thinking?