I know, I know. I’m a slacker. A whole weekend with no posts. Somehow Friday’s slipped away and then Saturday’s and now Sunday’s is up late. Blogging daily has been a good thing for me, keeping me engaged with the books, keeping me honest about my reading but twice now I’ve gone a couple of days without inspiration, without motivation to hop on the internet and tap out my thoughts.

I finished three books in the past three days. Naguib Mahfouz’s Khufu’s Wisdom and Rhadopis of Nubia and Nabokov’s Pnin. Mahfouz’s novels of Ancient Egypt are excellent. I like their style and structure. In Khufu he develops a prophecy, which like Oedipus’s is fulfilled by the very attempts made to thwart it. Nabokov is his usual off-kilter self but, amazing stylist that he is, I’m going to let him get away with it. Pnin is intriguing, employing Nabokov’s typical unreliable narrator and disorienting play with English and internal translations. I find it incredible that English was Nabokov’s third language and yet he employed it so delicately and so smoothly. Pnin plays with this as the protaganist is a Russian emigre who speaks poor English and excellent French. At a short 150 pages it would be an easy weekend read for all but the most sluggish.

We have a tentative plan for disposing of the remainder of our books. There are so many good ones still there, so many amazing books that I hate to let them go but the gigantic POD in our driveway has to move soon (and stop costing us money!). Once I have some concrete plans I’ll update you on the final resting place of Veritas.

…Oh, and Brent? You have NO room to talk…

I didn’t finish Aesop’s Fables in time for book club. shocking I know. With the inevitability of having to finish before the year is out, you would think finishing within a two-week time frame would be simple. But you would be calculating without the dull, soulless morality of the Greeks. I simply cannot believe that a child would ever want to read this book. Dull little “fables” with boring but improbable events, extrapolated into highly complex and equally unlikely “reflections”.

I am done with Beloved. A huge relief. It is sad, improbable, sad, unappealing and, oh, sad. I’ve read it before and didn’t remember how horribly off-the-rails it goes. I listened to a “Slate” audio book club about it several years ago and was relieved to find that it has not entirely entered the canon despite Oprah’s Seal of Approval.

I’m working on developing a new literary theory. I’ll let you know how that goes.

Both Election Day and Joan Didion’s Politcal Fictions are over. Hurray! I do quite seriously recommend the Didion book though. Very clever, very insightful and quite thoughtful. However, I am very happy to be over the politics ‘though pleased at the way the election and my reading coincided.

Home hasn’t been much fun lately…kids are alternately demanding and disgusting (slime from every orifice) and the usual drudgery of cleaning has seemed especially onerous. I *know* that now is when my children need me. I *know* that all work done to the Glory of God is holy. I *know* that being cheerful about it helps. But despite *knowing* these things, some days are just hard to slog through. I’m feeling better this morning, more energetic and more rested with some inspiration to work on other more interesting things than laundry. Which always helps the laundry get done faster too. One day, if I can afford it, I will be happy to hire a housekeeper. Ah! The joys of the aristocracy…

The following is Mandi’s Election Day rant.

On Voting:

Voting is nothing more or less than civic responsibility. It is a relatively mild incident that has less impact on our society than say, volunteering at the local homeless shelter but more than remembering to sort your recycling properly. Our government is structured in such a way that any kind of change is a very slow process. Change happens but over the course of decades not the course of months. One election is not the beginning or the end of the world. So if you are stressed out over the outcome of today’s events then you are not taking a long enough view. If you are stressed out over the direction things have been going for the last 100 years then you are putting your faith in a secular government. Our country will only change as the people in it change. If you don’t like the way things are going, vote by all means, but talking, teaching and above all worshiping will do far more good, far faster.

On Abortion:

If you get this one wrong. There is not much sense in talking further. If you cannot protect the children then I won’t trust you with anything. Not with my retirement savings, not with my handicapped cousin, not with my grandmother.

On Barack Obama:

It is so nice to hear someone speak that doesn’t sound like a complete idiot that it is easy to forget that he is promising what he cannot deliver. Just like a snake oil salesman. Just like pretty much every other politician, ever.

On Socialism:

The Church has long taught that if one suffers involuntarily but accepts it with grace and rejoicing then it is as virtuous and beneficial as suffering voluntarily undertaken. So if you miss a meal because the airplane is stuck on the runway but you rejoice and use the opportunity to pray then it is just as good as having chosen to fast. Likewise, if the government takes your money away from you to “give to the poor” and you accept with rejoicing this chance to relinquish your wealth then it is as though you tithed it. Look for opportunities to apply this principle no matter the political regime. When the stock market crashes works too. I’m not advocating Socialism or any other ism for that matter. But, if you are, like many of my readers, a Christian then it is simply irrational to be afraid. Bad economy? Good opportunity to be charitable. Praise the Lord and pass the beans.

On  Campaign Rallies:

Looks just like an Evangelical worship service doesn’t it? Wonder why.

On the Whole Political Process in America:

Obama, McCain, Palin, Biden. They are all packaged. You think a $150,000 wardrobe is shocking? You ain’t seen nuthin’. Consultants. Focus groups. The works.

That is all…maybe…

So we had spent the entire day inside. Cooped up, avoiding the cold and damp. Finally we were just too restless, so I dressed the boys up nice and warm, got into jeans and shoes and headed out to the front yard to rake leaves. And the clouds just opened up. We had been outside about 30 seconds and it simply poured on us. The only rain all day. I raked anyway. The boys played in the front seat of the 4Runner while I huddled in my hoodie and scraped the sopping leaves together. They are yet unbagged but the front yard does look better.

We have a gorgeous maple tree in the front yard. It small but vibrant. Unfortunately it only takes about a two weeks for the leaves to turn and fall off. They start out a rusty brown and gradually move through stages of orange to a vibrant, brilliant red. As soon as they turn fully red they begin to fall and a few days later the tree is bare. When they fall you get to see both the gorgeous red of the top and the pearly pink of the underside of the leaves in a mottled blanket on the grass. I should have taken a picture.

I’m in the middle of Joan Didion’s Political Fictions. Quite apt for the season. Speaking of which. Cast a ballot today but do so without worshipping in the temple of the secularist gods. Salvation does not come at the polls and America’s many and deep problems won’t be fixed there. We simply have a civic responsibility to participate in our own government. Oh, for a Monarchy!

Of course Sunday was a busy day as it usually is. This week I did all my weekly baking Sunday afternoon. This meant zucchini bread, amish friendship bread and a pot of minestrone soup, not to mention dinner, all going at once. That means that Monday will be fairly laid back but because of the time change I’ll be up at six instead of seven (children don’t adjust so easily) so I guess that’s more hours to fill instead of more hours to relax. I’m already tired out.

Unusually enough Jared asked for some time to himself this weekend. I ask for time almost every day but somehow he is almost always doing fine. He is definitley not one of those guys that needs a “man cave” or any other cheesy metaphor for personal space and I deeply appreciate this. It is probably partly because he has a job that he enjoys so much and that is so fulfilling and also because it means long stretches of time when he is working by himself, but I know that it is mostly because he is so giving and so kind and so generous with his energy. I really appreciate this about him since it makes him really easy to live with and makes my life so much less draining than it could be. So, I guess what I’m saying is I’m grateful for the dynamic of our marriage.

Hallmark moment over…

I didn’t read very much yesterday. I guess knowing that I am caught up is bad for my motivation. When you run a race it is always good to have a little extra energy at the end so you can “kick” and pass anyone you find in front of you. So I’ve got to find some kick soon so I can pass Thomas Mann (I so don’t want to pick up The Magic Mountain again!) and Toni Morrison (I’m sick, sick, sick, of Beloved) and the any other dragging books still waiting for me. Thanks to Richard, I’m now really looking forward to the Rabbit books instead of being scared of it. Didion isn’t done yet but now I’m getting to my living memory. It is arranged chronologically and now she is writing about nineties politics so even though I’m not interested per se, I’m at least familiar with the subject matter.

I thought today would be a good chance to review my remaining list. I have 37 titles left for a total of 12,187 pages. This means I only have to read an average of 203 pages per day to make it! My original average was supposed to be 220 or so which means that somehow I’ve caught up. I find this vaguely unbelievable. And somewhat exhilarating. I was quite a bit behind at one point (it’s all kinda fuzzy though) and am still a bit concerned about finishing. I still have to read more than half a book every day and there are some impressively long ones left! Like all 1500-plus pages of Rabbit Angstrom or all 900 pages of The Collected Works of Kahlil Gibran. I’m happy though because I’m sure that between the holidays and the rest of life, I’ll still have to concentrate to make it, but hooray anyway!

I did read all of The Analects today and chipped away a bit more at Joan Didion. Onward!

We had a great little party. It was not very Halloween-esque but quite fun. Good friends and good conversation. One note, if you invite young men who are neither living at home nor married, I highly recommend having nutritious, filling food on hand. Shepherd’s Pie works well. They will be hungry and you earn a surprising amount of gratitude just by satisfying that.

Joan Didion continues apace. Miami in the eighties doesn’t sound like a fun place but her reportage is clear and interesting. At around eleven though, I find the information just starting to blur together. I got my copy of The Analects and think I’ll start it today too. I love taking a big stack of books with me to a coffee house and having people stare at me like I’m a freak. Nerd joy.

More Didion made for dense, slow reading! Despite a concentrated effort I only managed to get about 200 pages in. The only thing is, this book is actually a collection of seven books! Slouching Towards Bethlehem, The White Album, Salvador, Miami, After Henry, Political Fictions and Where I Was From. UnfortunatelyI didn’t know that it was seven books, I counted it as one on my list. I feel used.

No apples today. I didn’t even look at them. Yay.

Instead I decided to remodel…okay, not really. I just took the cupboard doors off of the upper cabinets in the kitchen. Today I well be repainting the face frames and not replacing the doors. I’ll post pictures if Jared brings the camera home. What do you think of pinky-purple?

I started Joan Didion’s We Tell Ourselves Stories in Order to Live and so far so good. A lot of the pieces are about sex, drugs and rock and roll but then so were the sixties… Her writing is clear and thoughtful but now I’m venturing in to some of the more introspective essays and they aren’t quite as interesting. Still, I’m impressed so far with her reportage and her analysis.

I’m appled out. I’ve decided that I need to expend the energy currently being consumed by applesauce, cider etc… on reading, writing and other projects. If you want free apples, come see me. I’ve got a couple of bushels to give away.

Speaking of reading, staying up reading until eleven has been working fairly well. I’ve been reading a bit extra almost every day and along with one or two more concentrated weekends of effort this should get me caught up before December 31st. Should. We’ll see.

I have no recent pictures of the boys (Jared has been hogging the camera for work projects) but they are getting more amazing by the day. Luc is almost walking. His current record is four steps. He and Alex now play together for extended periods of time. They are so cute! Alex pushes Luc over, Luc giggles. Luc eats dirt and Alex wipes his face. Alex runs in circles and Luc laughs. Imagine, one day they will be fathers, wise young men debating philosophy and religion. One day they will be teaching me things, showing greater understanding or skill than than I. And I’ll remember that they used to eat dirt and be reminded to be humble…right before I start losing my mind…