Showing posts with label books. Show all posts
Showing posts with label books. Show all posts

Monday, November 22, 2010

Curing my writer's block


I'm blogging to blog today, as in to let you know what's going on in my life and my head.  
Life is good, no doubt about that, except for one paper that stands between me and Thanksgiving break.  Ahh, Thanksgiving... apparently my mom made cookie dough so we can make leaf and acorn-shaped cookies when I get home.  I have been craving those cookies all week and I look forward to making a frosting and sprinkle mess all over the counter.

Anyway, this paper is making me question things in ways I wasn't supposed to. Mainly I am thinking that if the concepts of love, suffering, grace, and redemption are so complex and mysterious, how in the world am I supposed to write a coherent essay about it in relation to this book?  Some things are just too good for anyone to write about... that's why C.S. Lewis, Dostoevsky, and Flannery O'Connor are so remarkable.  They were able to articulate the truths of life through their characters, symbols, and plots.  I, on the other hand, am limited to analysis and research about these works and can therefore not explain these ideas as thoroughly as these masters of the written word.  And yet, I must suck it up and do it.  Now.  
Any time now.  
Alas.  College.


A man can no more diminish God's glory by refusing to worship Him than a lunatic can put out the sun by scribbling the word, 'darkness' on the walls of his cell.

A young man who wishes to remain a sound atheist cannot be too careful of his reading.

Affection is responsible for nine-tenths of whatever solid and durable happiness there is in our lives.

Aim at heaven and you will get earth thrown in. Aim at earth and you get neither.

An explanation of cause is not a justification by reason.

Can a mortal ask questions which God finds unanswerable? Quite easily, I should think. All nonsense questions are unanswerable.

Christianity, if false, is of no importance, and if true, of infinite importance. The only thing it cannot be is moderately important.

Courage is not simply one of the virtues, but the form of every virtue at the testing point.

Don't use words too big for the subject. Don't say "infinitely" when you mean "very"; otherwise you'll have no word left when you want to talk about something really infinite.

Education without values, as useful as it is, seems rather to make man a more clever devil.

Even in literature and art, no man who bothers about originality will ever be original: whereas if you simply try to tell the truth (without caring twopence how often it has been told before) you will, nine times out of ten, become original without ever having noticed it.

Experience: that most brutal of teachers. But you learn, my God do you learn.

Failures are finger posts on the road to achievement.

Friendship is unnecessary, like philosophy, like art... It has no survival value; rather it is one of those things that give value to survival.

God cannot give us a happiness and peace apart from Himself, because it is not there. There is no such thing.

Sunday, November 7, 2010

"Originality is nothing by judicious plagiarism" ~Voltaire


I will make no excuses for ignoring my blog for the last two weeks.  Yes, I admit it, but I’m back and ready to blog.

So, I've just been longing to write a story.  Some sort of story that begins with "Once upon a time..."  But I just don't seem to have anything after that... so I won't even try.  I will, however present to you Wikipedia's list of traditional story beginnings and endings from around the world:

Equivalent phrases are also used in many other languages to begin a fable or tale:
  • Albanian: Na ishte një herë.. 'Once there was...'.
  • Afrikaans: Eendag, lank gelede... 'One day, a long time ago...'
  • Algerian Arabic: Hajitek ma jitek (حجيتك ما جيتك) 'I've told you what's coming'
  • Classical Arabic: kân yâ mâ kân fî qadîmi zzamân wsalifî al`aSri wal'awân...(كان يا ما كان،في قديم الزمان، وسالف العصر والأوان) 'There was, oh what there was (or there wasn't) in the oldest of days and ages and times...'
  • Assamese: Bahut dinor agot... 'Long time ago...'
  • Armenian: Կար-չկար... 'There was, there was not...'
  • Bulgarian: Имало едно време... 'There was, once upon a time...'
  • Catalan: Hi havia/això era una vegada 'There was a time...'Temps era temps... 'Time was time...'
  • Chinese: T: "很久很久以前" ("lit. A very very long time ago...")
  • Croatian: Jednom davno... 'Once, a long time ago...' 
  • Czech: Bylo nebylo,... 'There was, there was not...'
  • Ekoti (Mozambique, Bantu): Rakú z'éepo waarí-vó oswááipu nwúlw'eéne saána 'Once upon the time, there was a truly great friendship...'.
  • Danish: Der var engang... or Engang for længe siden... 'There was, once...' or 'Once a long time ago...', respectively. Common endings: Og de levede lykkeligt til deres dages ende. 'And they lived happily until the end of their days.' and Og hvis de ikke er døde, lever de endnu. 'And if they're not dead, they still live.'
  • French: Il était une fois 'There was a time... ' Common ending ... ils vécurent heureux et eurent beaucoup d'enfants '... they lived happily and had many children'.
  • German: Es war einmal... 'Once there was...' ...und sie lebten glücklich und zufrieden bis ans Ende ihrer Tage. '...and they lived happily and contentedly until the end of their days.', alternatively ...und wenn sie nicht gestorben sind, dann leben sie noch heute. '...and if they haven't died yet, they are still living today.'
  • Georgian: "Iko da ara iko ra, iko..." 'There was, and there was not, there was...'
  • Goemai (Nigeria, West Chadic): Tamtis noe lat/ dok ba muaan yi wa 'My tale has finished, (it) has returned to go (and) come home.'
  • Greek: Μια φορά κι έναν καιρό... 'Once, in another time...'
  • Gujarati: ઘણાં વર્ષો પહેલાંની વાત છે.('This is an old story.') or એક જમાનામાં..('In one era, ..') or વર્ષો પહેલાં ('A long back')
  • Hebrew: Hayo hayah pa'am... (הָיֹה הָיָה פעם) 'There once was...'
  • Hindi किसी ज़माने में ('In one era, ...') or बहुत पुरानी बात है ('It's an old story, ...')
  • Hungarian: Egyszer volt, hol nem volt, volt egyszer egy... 'Once there was, where there wasn't, there was a...'
  • Icelandic: Einu sinni var… 'Once there was…'
  • Indonesian: Dahulu kala... 'Long time ago...'
  • Iraqw (Tanzania, Kenya, Cushitic) tokaro-yâ 'once upon a time'.
    • In oral literature, phrases like "I remember something that our father told me and that is this:" are common (Iraqw: Kar aníng te-'ée' to-ká a inhláw ar aakó doo-rén ni alki'-a i tí).
  • Irish: Fadó, fadó, fadó a bhí ann (agus bhí rí i nGaillimh) 'A long, long, long time ago it was (and there was a king in Galway.)
  • Italian: C'era una volta... 'Once there was...'. Common ending: ...e vissero per sempre felici e contenti. '...and they lived forever happy and glad.'
  • Japanese: Mukashi mukashi (昔昔, 昔々, むかしむかし). 'A long time ago...'
  • Korean: Yet-nal Yet-jeok-e... (옛날 옛적에...). 'A long, long time ago...'; Yet-nal Yet-jeok-e, Ho-rang-i Dambae pidun shi-jul-e ... (옛날 옛적에, 호랑이 담배피던 시절에...). 'A long, long time ago, in the days when tigers smoked...'
  • Kannada: Ondanondu kaaladalli.... 'Once, in a long past age,...'
  • Kyrgyz: илгери-илгери... 'ilgeri-ilgeri... 'A long, long time ago...'
  • Latin: Olim... 'At that time'
  • Latvian: Reiz sen senos laikos... 'Once long ago in times long gone'
  • Lithuanian: Vieną kartą... 'Once upon the time'
  • Luxembourgish: Et wor emol... 'It was once'
  • Macedonia: Си беше еднаш... 'Once upon the time there was...'
  • Malayalam: Pandu Oridathu... 'Long ago...'
  • Malay language ( Malaysia )Pada suatu masa dahulu...' Once Upon a Time'
  • Maragoli Kenyan language related to other Luhya languages. Mmadikhu ga khaare (in olden days).
  • Maltese Mela darba... (Once...).
  • Mongolia: Эртээ урьдын цагт 'Once Upon a Time'
  • Moroccan Arabic: Hajitek ma jitek (حجيتك ما جيتك) 'I've told you what's coming'
  • Norwegian: Det var en gang... 'There was, once...'
  • Persian: "روزی روزگاری" (Rouzii, Rouzegaarii). 'One day, One time'; or: "یکی بود، یکی نبود، غیر از خدا هیچ کس نبود" (yekii boud, yekii naboud, gheyr az Khoda hich kas naboud). 'There was one, there wasn't one, there was no one beside the Lord'
  • Polish: Dawno, dawno temu... 'Long, long time ago...'
  • Portuguese: Era uma vez... 'There was, once...' Common ending: "... e viveram felizes para sempre" (... and they lived happily forever)
  • Romanian: A fost odata, ca niciodata... 'There once was (as never before)...'
  • Russian: Varies by the gender and number of the character(s) introduced at the beginning: Жил-был (zhil byl) (one male), жила-была (zhila byla) (one female), жило-было (zhilo bylo) (one neuter), жили-были (zhili byli) (plural): Correctly "had lived" (a stray survival of the disused Russian pluperfect), but nowadays liable to be understood as "lived, was". Жили-были is often preceded by «Давным-давно, в тридевятом царстве, в тридесятом государстве» (“A long long time ago, in the twenty-seventh kingdom, in the thirtieth state”, here an old numerical system is used, literally “in the kingdom three-times-ninth, in the state three-times-tenth”.)
  • Sanskrit: Pūrākāle (पुराकाले) 'In the ancient time...', Kadājit (कदाचित्) 'Once upon the time'/'At any time'
  • Scots: "In the days of auld lang syne"
  • Serbian: Common beginning: Једном давно.../Некада давно... 'Once, a long time ago...', Била једном једна...(feminine)/Био једном један...(masculine)/Било једном једно...(neuter) 'There once was one...', Common ending: ...и живеше сретно/срећно до краја живота. '...and they lived happily for the rest of their lives.', ...и живеше дуго и сретно/срећно. '...and they lived long and happily.'
  • Shona:"Paivapo"....(a long time ago,there existed)
  • Sinhala:"එකමත් එක රටක"....(In a one country...)
  • Slovak: Kde bolo - tam bolo... 'Where it was - there it was...'
  • Slovene: Pred davnimi časi ... 'A long time ago...' or Nekoč ... 'Once...' 
  • Spanish: Érase/Había una vez... 'There was, once...' Common ending: ... y vivieron felices para siempre/y comieron perdices. '...and they lived happy forever/and ate partridges.'
  • Swahili (east African): "Hapo zamani za kale..." (a long time ago).
  • Swedish: Det var en gång... or En gång för länge sedan... 'There was, once...', or 'Once, long ago...' respectively.
  • Tagalog: Noong unang panahon... 'At the first time (a long time ago)...'
  • Tamil language: முன்னொரு காலத்திலே...
  • Telugu language: అనగనగా ఒక రోజు...
  • Thai: กาลครั้งหนึ่งนานมาแล้ว 'Once upon the time (long ago)...'
  • Turkish: Bir varmış, bir yokmuş. Evvel zaman içinde, kalbur saman içinde... 'Once there was, once there wasn't. In the old times, the sieve in a stack of hay...' *[1]
  • Urdu: ایک دفعہ کا ذکر ہے۔۔۔ ('Ek dafa ka zikar hai...') 'Once upon a time...'
  • Vietnamese: Ngày xửa ngày xưa... 'A long, long time ago...'
  • Welsh: Amser maith yn ôl... 'A long time ago...'
My, how I wish I could read and pronounce all of these beautiful and funny phrases!  It sure is amazing how universal this language of story telling is.  In fact, I am thoroughly enjoying my English class, where we are learning about the hero's journey.  Perhaps you have noticed how all of your favorite fairy tale, Disney, and historical heroes have similarities.  Well, according to my English teacher and our hero-analyzing muse Joseph Campbell, author of "The Hero With A Thousand Faces," all of these heroes go through a similar path of self-discovery and triumph.  We have looked into Knights of the Round Table, the Buddha, and even Rocky to find these common motifs.  So far we have learned that all heroes must pass a threshold to begin their journey to heroism (Ashe from Pokemon becomes old enough to be a trainer), but only after recognizing a need in their lives or communities (Belle from Beauty and the Beast must save her father and fulfill her need for adventure).  All of these heroes have helpers and/or some muse-figure (Hercules has Phil to train him and Meg to distract him) and must ultimately face their greatest fears and weaknesses (Ron from Harry Potter hates spiders but is ironically dragged into the Forbidden Forest to speak with a pack of giant arachnids) and ultimately they reach an abyss (Dorothy almost gives up all hope of getting back to Kansas).  Upon returning to their communities they may be welcomed back as the heroes they are or perhaps shunned for their strange new ideas (Contrast the welcome of Prince Charming --pick one-- with the estrangement of "The Dark Knight").  You'll never be able to read a hero story or watch a Disney movie the same way again!

Sources:
image:  http://www.swoyersart.com/james_christensen/onceuponatime.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Once_upon_a_time

Monday, October 11, 2010

"Intense love does not measure, it just gives." Mother Teresa

If it were Betty Crocker saying the quote above, it might read: "Intense love does not only measure, it levels, sifts, folds, and bakes at 350 degrees for 2 hours."

There is something to be said for the ingredient of love in homemade food. I had the pleasure of enjoying a homemade sugar cookie from a SERVE Bake Sale for Pakistan today and it was tasted even better than the purple sprinkles and buttery color seemed to be saying it would. From its fresh smell to the simple, sweet aftertaste that tickled my tongue, this cookie tasted of love. Un-preserved, never shrink-wrapped, not mass-produced love. Thank goodness for generous teachers and commuter students who bring a little bit of home to my college-kid tummy.
Another shout out goes to my Dad's scrambled eggs. Never runny, always yummy, and cooked with skill. Perfect fluff and impressive pan flipping are my Dad's key egg-cooking characteristics.

One of the best gifts I ever received was the Betty Crocker Cookie Book...
I miss looking through the pictures and recipes for inspiration or just for fun. Scanning the ingredient list to see what we have and what we need is always a hopeful and exciting task. One of my specialties is Betty Crocker's sour cream cookies, to which I like to add chopped up milk chocolate bars. For some reason, the chopped bars taste even better than regular chocolate chips for this delightful treat. Mmmm...

You know, Betty Crocker wasn't a real person. She was an imaginary spokeswoman for the Washburn Crosby Company of Minneapolis which later became part of General Mills. Majorie Child Husted is attributed with creating the figure in 1921. Her role was to give advice and tips to American women through her cookbooks and products. Her picture was created in 1936 and has changed seven times since then to appease the public's vision of a perfect home-cooking, beautifully baking, on-top-of-it-all-mother type of woman. During the twenties, Betty Crocker had a radio show and in the forties she hosted a television program. Betty Crocker would eventually become America's "2nd most popular woman (after Eleanor Roosevelt) as reported by Fortune magazine in 1945) (wikipedia). Go Betty!

I like this bio (from ilovethefingerlakes.com) of the woman who was Betty Crocker 1949 until 1964:

Adelaide Fish Hawley Cumming (1905-1998)

The General Mills Company created the character of Betty Crocker in 1948 to answer baking questions American women sent to the company by letter. General Mills hired Cumming, a radio personality and actress living in New York City, because she represented the stereotypical image of the American homemaker. From 1950-1952 Cumming appeared on the half-hour Betty Crocker Show and in 1952 on the Betty Crocker Star Matinee and Bride and Groom. She also appeared in many commericals touting cake mixes and other General Mills products. In 1964 Cumming was dropped by the company at the age of 59 for someone younger.

After receiving a Ph.D. from New York University, Cumming went on to a second career as a teacher of English as a second language.

Long live Betty Crocker! Keep on cooking those cookies :)

More info on Betty Crocker

http://www.ilovethefingerlakes.com/history/famous-people-cumming.htm

Tuesday, September 21, 2010

The girl who loved books, Part I




Once upon a time there was a girl who loved books very much. One day while she was wandering through her magical castle she encountered a grand library and was overwhelmed with joy. This was no ordinary library, for it had four floors full of shelves that stretched to the tall ceiling. On the lowest level were enchanted sliding shelves that squeezed together at the command of a remote control. These shelves were packed with periodicals, journals, law books, and other documents of higher learning. The second floor was a maze of nonfiction and a vast array of religious literature. As she stared down the aisle containing books about saints of the past, the girl could barely glimpse the far away end of the row. She entered one aisle and curiously surveyed the titles. Much to her surprise, she could not read them, for they were in French, Spanish, Polish, and other unfamiliar languages of far away lands.
After finding her way out of the first floor menagerie, the girl who loved books traveled to the top of the wide spiral staircase at the center of the library, where she encountered an abundance of the most wonderful literary treats. Poetry, short stories, and novels whispered to her from the shelves. These books seemed to glow as they sat pridefully in their periodically-numbered places, just waiting to be found and opened. The girl walked through a tight aisle and marveled at the spines of the glorious specimens surrounding her. As one who knew a bit about books, the girl knew that much could be told about a book from its cover. Some old spines stood intact, the sign of a well made but rarely read book. Paper covers with glossy plastic protection showed the mark of a caring librarian, or literary physician. Frayed and tattered fabric covers indicated an old craft with valuable content. Often the inside pages of this kind were dog-eared for the ease of finding a favorite passage. Tired old paperbacks were held up between sturdy old novels with pressed leather pages. Occasionally a new book with uncracked spines protruded from a shelf, as though screaming to be opened and loved.
A strange thought occurred to the girl who loved books. This mysterious place must have been here for years... how long ago was the first book placed on this very shelf? She decided to find out. It didn't take the girl long to realize that the library was, indeed, much older than her 19-year-old self. In fact, the first book probably reached those shelves around the childhood of her great-grandmother. Several of the books had been printed many years ago, as indicated by the years printed on the first pages. The girl lifted one particularly wise looking book and gingerly opened the cover. She moved extra slowly as she did this, partially in awe and partially in fear that the brittle pages between her fingers would crumble to dust if she moved too harshly. The smell of ancient paper drifted to her nose, tainted with the acidic tinge of ink. It reminded her of her mother, who told stories of running presses and knew all there was to know about Benjamin Franklin. It was a good thing she was clutching the book in a hug-like manner, for if she had not been guarding the book well it would have fallen to the ground when she jumped in delight. 1850! The book was printed in 1850... just imagine, the era of hoop skirts and railroads...as well as slavery, corsets and plagues... Even such thoughts could not ruin the majesty of the book in the girl's hands. In an awe-struck daze, the girl who loved books tucked the treasure from 1850 into its proper place on the shelf and backed out of the aisle.
Class was calling and the girl had to go, but not before carefully selecting four treasures to take with her: Cuentos Espanoles (a tired paperback, 1960), The Boy's Froissart (she could never resist a good knight in shining armor, worn fabric cover, 1907), Beloved Prophet: The Love Letters of Kahlil Gibran and Mary Haskell and her private journal (a tended hardcover, 1972), and Lyra Celtica (a fabulous fabric cover with pressed letters and designs, 1932). Luckily this room of the castle had many entrances, so even if the room moved (as rooms were known to do in this castle), she could surely find a way in somehow or another. The girl who loved books practically floated down the spiral staircase, still in awe of her wondrous discovery. She could not wait to return soon...

Monday, September 20, 2010

Love with your guts


When the required reading list for the Freshman Honors seminar was posted I had a strange mix of feelings. The first thought to come to my mind was "Woo hoo! I get to go to Barnes and Noble!" upon which I hopped into the family car and drove to the nearest bookstore. Upon purchasing $50 worth of novels I realized just how hefty this higher learning stuff was going to be. "Oh my," I pondered, "This novel has 796 pages. How am I ever going to finish just this one?" The Brothers Karamazov, Fyodor Dostoevsky's last and greatest novel. All I had to say was... Bring it on.

At this point in time I have read about one third of the novel. I am on track with the syllabus and am enjoying the in class discussions about the story and its characters. While I know for certain that not everyone finds this novel to be an enjoyable read because of the long tirades and numerous characters, I have a great interest in "The Brothers."
While I do not recommend the novel for a leisurely weekend read, I would like to share a bit of the story with you. This excerpt is a quote from one of the Karamazov brothers to another, Ivan to the younger Alyosha. Ivan is cold and critical. He is known for his sharp intellect and deep logic, as well as his rejection of faith and his strange philosophies about life. I found it odd and inspiring that these beautiful words came from such a harsh character:

"I want to go to Europe, Alyosha, I'll go straight from here. Of course I know that I will only be going to a graveyard, but to the most, the most precious graveyard, that's the thing! The precious dead lie there, each stone over them speaks of such ardent past life, of such passionate faith in their deeds, their truth, their struggle, and their science, that I--this I know beforehand--will fall the the ground and kiss those stones and weep over them--being wholeheartedly convinced, at the same time, that it has all along been a graveyard and nothing more. And I will not weep from despair, but simply because I will be happy in my shed tears. I will be drunk with my own tenderness. Sticky spring leaves, the blue sky, I love them, that's all! Such things you love not with your mind, not with logic, but with your insides, your guts, you love your first young strength..." (230).

Perhaps the imagery is gruesome, but I just love that line: "you love them with your insides, your guts!" Here are some things I love with my guts:

Walks after breakfast
Blue skies
Happy goldfish
Perfectly brewed tea
Flowers that bloom into autumn
Calls from home
Finding the perfect position to read in
Heirloom jewelry
Understanding chemistry
Wearing hats
Smiling and holding doors for other people

...basically anything that makes me want to sing and dance is gut-loving worthy.


Dostoevsky, Fyodor. The Brothers Karamazov. Farrar, Straus and Giroux: New York, 2002.

Friday, August 6, 2010

Confessions of a bibliophile


I've found another place to add to my bucket list of foreign excursions... A London Bookshop Adventure.

No, I'm not thinking about a Notting Hill (starring Hugh Grant and Julia Roberts) style romance (as fun as that might be) or a touristy trip to Borders (as convenient and tempting as the store is). Rather, I was influenced by the April 2010 issue of Travel and Leisure magazine to delve into the vast number of bookstores which line the streets of London.
Ahh, the joy of a bookshop... walls lined from top to bottom with more books than one can read in a lifetime, colorful titles and un-thought-0f topics, fabulous photography and answers to questions, shocking prices and heart-pounding deals, the smells of fresh paper and the must of ancient script, running a finger along the shelves, stopping at a particularly stunning binding and submerging into a different world for the few sentences read. It makes me feel like Belle from Beauty and the Beast, as she was given the most gorgeous library in the Beast's castle. I have always believed, even as a 5 year old child who watched this movie religiously, that what made Belle the happiest about her library is the opportunity and freedom that reading brings. When she was feeling the most trapped and oppressed in the magical castle, this room was her place to explore, unwind, and sit back in a comfy chair with a fabulous story.

According to Verlyn Klinkenborg, the author of the article Book Lover's London, the best part about London bookshops is their intimacy.
"...what I really crave in a good bookshop-and what London routinely delivers-is a touch of irregularity, a chaos that is partly disorder and partly the inner order of the proprietor's mind. That, and the feeling that to be trapped in such a place--shuttered in by ancestral, yellow coal-fog descending from the chimneys, the ding that hasn't been seen since Prufrock days almost--that would be paradise" (Klinkenborg, Travel and Leisure, 48).
Apparently, the stores in London are often specialized to a particular interest group.
"The antitheses to these omnibus stores are the single-subject shops scattered around the metropolis where you can align yourself politically, geographically, and of course, by genre and age group. Feeling charitable? Books for Amnesty International, in Hammersmith. Feeling socialist? Bookmarks, in Bloomsbury. Merely leftist? Housmans, in King's Cross. Feeling footloose-- ready to hit the road? Daunt Books, of course, on Marylebone High Street, which tantalizes the reader by shelving boods by latitude and longitude. Well, not quite. But that's how it feels as you wander along the shelves, traveling from one corner of the globe to another" (Klinkenborg, Travel and Leisure, 56).
How does such beautiful writing not make you want to go there?

To read the rest of the article, or to develop your own dream of a London Bookstore Adventure, check out the April 2010 issue Travel and Leisure, probably available through your library :)