Interesting Beginnings

 A plea to the worthy scholars that prepare important texts for the rest of us to read, make the introduction at least as interesting as the material you are framing. I’ve started dreading reading the introductions. If I put a list of the books made boring by their introduction you would be surprised as many times the text itself is a great pleasure to read. There are exceptions. Some scholars make it seem as though the book were written yesterday, and that it is a popular best-seller. I love those moments, but they are rare. I have to read the introductions because I want to understand my texts more deeply than a straight reading would offer, but lately I’ve wondered if it wouldn’t be better if I read the introduction after the text.

Christmas Treats

 

The Best Christmas Pageant Ever. I admit it. I cried. I cried even though the story has been around forever and I cried every time I read it before. The beauty of a Christian community being reminded about what those comfortable, old rituals mean, and the joy of children being loved is enough to stir tears in any true believers and sympathetic co-religionists. I’ve already put in enough spoilers, so I’ll just say if you love Christmas and you love children this will open your heart wide.

Let It Glow. Charming is my favorite description for very fun things for children. This book oozes charm and even sparkles as it leads on a journey reuniting twins separated at birth who are adopted into a Christian family and a Jewish family, respectively. The twins switch homes for the holidays and they (and we) learn a lot about Christmas and Hanukah. There are also good lessons in courage and gentle reminders about the importance of observance. I’ve given two away already. 

Christmas Teatime. This book has me thinking I can write a Christmas of my own. It turns out you can make a tea with just scones, three sandwiches, and three cookies. That is totally doable if I pick my recipes strategically. Part inspiration, part how-to I’m letting this book be my guide.

For the Good of All

 One of my friends when I was young had severe disabilities. His family needed help carrying him up the flight of stairs that brought you to the sanctuary of our church. They requested that an elevator be put in. It started a whole battle of opinions and the final answer was a regrettable “no”. For the first time I saw a body of sincere believers make the wrong decision. It was my introduction to the fact that Christians can make selfish, wicked decisions en masse. 

Ever since then the push to accommodate disabled persons has interested me. I recently discovered a very accessible YouTube channel on the subject, Sarah Todd Hammer. Sarah became disabled at the age of eight. She is partially paralyzed in her arms and upper torso. She has still moved forward and achieved much. On her channel is a mix of advocacy pursuing greater understanding and show and tell videos about accommodations she currently employs. I find the person on the street perspective helps me understand disabled people better and it improves my efforts to be helpful whenever possible.

Sarah is fun to watch. Her bubbly personality lightens a weighty subject. You should give her a visit.

https://youtu.be/luoKLNtA3gA?si=tP5PX8uuqdZ095ho

Reunited

I’ve been handing on my useful tricks to interested parties. One of the first books to go was Fix Freeze Feast. It went first because it is one of the best. The dishes are easy to put together and easy to cook out of the freezer. There was no question about its usefulness. 

I recently discovered that I own 2,000 books. Logging them into Library Thing I also discovered that most of them are useful. Lending books has long been a habit of mine, but that is a small way to do good. BookTube might be calling. I rebought Fix Freeze Feast because it is so useful and therefore so recommendable. I’m considering doing BookTube shows drawing solely on my book collection. I am a person of many interests so it will be hit or miss with viewers much like this blog. I hope you’ll come and see it. If it becomes real I will invite you.

Montaigne Your Distance

 

I am on page 386 of a 1336 page book. This elegantly bound bruiser is wearing me out. The length is daunting, but I have often covered books of such girth. This book’s problem is content. I happen to be female so when Montaigne allows himself a bevy of slurs and insults against women with withering frequency I feel the sting personally. I am struggling to hear all the other things he has to say. I enjoy medieval literature. I recognize that there were different mores at that time. Other men writing at the same time presumably with similar inclinations have not offended me at all. Montaigne makes his disdain very personal.

Maybe he thought that few women would read his work, after all women were illiterate mostly. Maybe he was gay and the frustration of not having access to the love of his life left him angry with women, which he did have access to. Maybe he was just socially awkward and “girl jokes” had slayed at boarding school.  I don’t know why Montaigne is so (to put it mildly) gauche, but he is. I would recommend avoiding him, but for the fact that his flies in amber show us how much progress we have and haven’t made in valuing women. He is a good litmus test of the enlightenment we believe we have secured in the present. Women especially should read him and be fortified that we must never go back.

One page at a time, the medicine goes down.

Furrowed Brow

 It was fifth grade, and my friends confirmed that I had lines on my forehead that were not normal. They were pretty sure I was thinking too hard. As an adult I’m sure they were right. I’d decided someone had to understand the problem of human evil so that it could be overcome. Yes, I knew Jesus had overcome it already, but there was this pesky thing called the Apocalypse. I thought it was a piece of future history we could do without.

So I was studying human evil and how it might be overcome. Anytime someone said something was really evil I looked it up, I asked around, I made up horrendous playground games. I gave people nightmares. I did not waste time on horror movies and such, only non-fiction evil for me. I don’t think that was healthy, and my brain is a little fragile as a result. I never figured out the answer to human evil, and for the sake of my health I quit trying.

Suzanne Collins explores the problem of human evil with the creativity and a faux innocence that could easily be credited to a child. I fell into her Hunger Games and knew I had to beat it to death or run and hide like her protagonists. I chose the deep dive, and was relieved when I could sit in the meadow with Katniss at peace. Despite the stress it was causing me I loved Suzanne’s writing. I liked living in the world deep enough to understand it. The way her character’s brains worked awakened old models in mine. 

When The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes was advertised in the window at Barnes and Noble, I was apprehensive. When the movie came out I went to see it, but with half a mind in reserve. I kept putting off buying the book using my book budget as an excuse, but I love her voice. I was going to buy it and I was glad when I finally did. Songbirds is more about human evil, but examined in a slowed down, armchair traveller way. It gives her a chance to help those of us who were too freaked out by the rush and carnage of Hunger Games a chance to see the underlying principles this time in a slower more tempered way. It is the right book for the truly committed. I should have read it right away.

Mommy Magic

 

Whenever we would go traveling with the kids I took time to collect items for our Love Bug Bag. The Love Bug Bag is black and covered with hearts and I swear sometimes Hermione put a charm on it, because it has a huge capacity. I filled it with games and puzzles, toys and books and handing it over to the kids was one of the best parts of any vacation.

Ashley Wright has turned such joy into a science. Her girls are still very little, so she has to think about diapers and potty training, sleeping in a strange place, loading up a stroller, and all the normal practical issues. She goes one further with carefully thought out activities to make the flight or a late dinner go smoothly. The Wrights mainly travel to Disney World, and if you want to see how that is done look Ashley up at Pixie Dusted Mom or if you want to add some magic to your cleaning routine try her new channel, Spoonful of Cleaning

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCnYjpNazZ0ixJCXxH7Z2B7g/videos