Accepto Patronum

One of the great things about being human is the ability to plan and carry it out. Christmas is the best opportunity for that kind of thing, the only drawback being my tendency to over-plan. Lists have lists until only Santa's naughty and nice list is longer. Our everyday projects crash into Christmas requiring contingency plans. I get overwhelmed, but I'm slow to ask for help. This year I got told.
"Accept help or quit" wasn't the exact message, but it felt that way.
At first I was upset and quitting looked like the better option. As time went by I began to see how good and necessary the help really was. Long term I am certain that my kids will get good at doing their chores, but Christmas won't wait for that to happen. Christmas requires order, so when the elves showed up with buckets and pails and made the impossible possible we rejoiced. When the last few sparkly bits needed to be finished while a bunch of other things required attention it was such a relief to call my sister and ask for help. She has a gift for sparkly bits.
The lesson seems to be that expecto patronum isn't rude, and that accepto patronum is imperative. It has been a very happy holiday.

Christmastide

The older the kids get the more pressure there is before Christmas. They have to be at so many different celebrations and activities and they have more sophisticated taste in presents. Gone are the days when Grandma's house was the big party and Little People sent them into ecstasy. It feels like every single moment is all ready taken up and there is no room for any spiritual spontaneity. If God has something to say, he'll have to wait for Christmas. Then Christmas comes and just like that it's all over. The presence of the tree enters the decaying orbit where it moves from beacon to clutter. There is nothing to do but take it down--unless your Catholic. I'm beginning to get the hang of the differences with the way I was raised to do things and the way I've adopted of doing things and at St. Mary's Christmas doesn't stop until Epiphany. I have all that time after Christmas to reflect on Christmas without any checklist or deadline, a fridge full of leftovers and a clean house. What a blessing!

A Tale of Four Journals

It started with Larry Crab's PAPA prayer. For me it's a good discipline for both seeing and expressing myself as I am. I filled up four or five journals before I realized that they were all puny and over-priced. On top of that, there was no continuity. Every journal was an interesting and useful design, but I disliked the way the changes intruded on my purpose. I wanted to get in a groove and stay with it. Enter the Levenger Infinity Journal. The paper is nicely ruled. It's quite fat, and there is no bleed through. The best part though is the refills. When I come to the end I remove the current journal and put a new one in the leather cover. It's seamless which is what you want when you are focusing on an important task.

One Journal leads to another. I'm reading through the Great Books and other stimulating intellectual volumes, and I wanted a place to record all the new insights and such I was gleaning. My first thought was to get another Infinity Journal in a different color, but they've stopped selling it. Casting about for alternatives, I used a gift card to Barnes and Noble to select a gorgeous red leather journal with an amazing owl on the cover. Since I'm playfully enrolled in the Owl Correspondence School, it was a perfect fit.

Harriet is set in the sixties. Anytime I see a display of materials devoted to the period I take a look to see what might work for the plot. A table at B&N was set up like a shrine to Woodstock. I'd begun to scribble down ideas on whatever was in my purse and it was a mess. The peace sign journal was too perfect. All my scraps found a home and these days I pull it out for anything that inspires me no matter which project it belongs to. I've even gone so far as to get multi-colored pens so that the inside matches the outside--lots of fun.

The last journal isn't as much fun, but it's important. I'm going on a diet. The journal lets you record tons of data so that you can focus on other aspects of your attempt to get healthy when this or that strategy has gone stale. I like that.

Write it down. As a writer I should have known what magic that strategy can hold, but I didn't.

It's On!

Today we had the first successful meeting of the Great Books Group, 3:00 o'clock at Barnes and Noble. It was decided that we'll use the guide to the Great Books written by Anthony O'Hear because it is a reasonably sized selection from the books that is also heavy on narrative--a good place for beginners to start. No one needs to buy the book. It is not too late to join. We are reading The Iliad first and would love to have you at our next meeting, the first Sunday in January at 3:00.

Thanks, Einstein!

The other day a glass landed on our tile floors and exploded, like always. For me this is generally a time of mourning and wishing I was more coordinated or something. I feel bad no matter how small the loss. Part of it is growing up with a feeling of scarcity and part of it is reading how Gandhi made his grandson crawl over the ground to find the stub of a pencil so as to honor the work of the man who made the pencil.
The particular glasses we are breaking at the moment are thick and when they break there is a sparkly pile of generally non-threatening shards, and as I started to sweep them up, I heard a voice inside saying "e=mc2." I immediately relaxed. I know it's not an exact application, but in general principle it's true. Somehow the entropy that my clumsy choice unleashed is not final. In a mysterious, grand theme of the universe kind of way, my glass isn't lost--it's just transformed. I'd never thought of it that way, and it backed up and illumined the ways I'd considered loss before.
The last year has been a shower of death and loss and it looks like there are at least two more coming. All of them were/are men that I expected to live much longer. I lost Uncle Ed who always provided a sort of quiet bass to my father's tenor. He was the sort of person who was comfortable with a kid watching him fix a stone wall for hours. I lost Uncle Tom who introduced me to the joys of rare meat. My favorite memory of him is the pride he took in getting a grant for RIF. I lost my biological Uncle Bob. He was funny and he took my side against Mother. He helped me to have faith that brainy genes really were in there somewhere. On our wedding day, he prayed over Kurt and I just as he had prayed over Mother and Dad.
"All things work together for good..." is sometimes as hard to see as the usefulness of a pile of broken glass, but that doesn't make it any less true.

S.H.E again!

Mother had this book lying around the house. I have always been a reading omnivore, so if it was there... I liked the logic of delineating each task on a card and setting them aside was almost as good as ticking things off a list without the trouble of drawing up a list every day. I didn't put it to work though until we were expecting our third and all warnings were that this was when it got tough, so I wanted to be ready. I bought my own and a bunch of 3x5 cards and Attila the Hun was born. (I name nearly everything I use frequently including my 3x5 card file.) After a while my natural need to complete all remaining tasks took over and Attila was overkill. I respectfully put her away and then the slow slide into slovenly got worse with each new baby. After a move and three more children I'm not sure I really know how to make it work anymore, so I remembered Attila and all those 3x5 cards. The number of tasks is simply overwhelming, but I've been meeting with the kids and parceling out responsibilities. Everyone but Kurt will have their own card box. I'm hoping it's a success not just for me, but for all of us.
If you are looking for a good system to help you master whatever is going on in your house, I recommend Sidetracked Home Executives. Even if you're not a slob it helps you picture what needs done and how to accomplish it.

Mariah Came Home

I just found out. Best wishes and happy thoughts.

The end (for now)

I've finally cobbled together enough time to finish my guide to purchasing the Great Books on the nook. I need to clarify that I'm working from the original collection. I will eventually work in the books and authors who were added in the revision, but for now what I have seems plenty to keep me busy. I have also elected that with only three exceptions I will skip the scientists. They seem like they would be interesting, but science is only a side interest for me. If they are important to you, well, you're on your own. Once again all these items are available for free, but I've found the little perks that come with purchasing an upgraded version are often valuable. This half could set you back 72.69, if you buy the versions that offer extras, bringing our grand total to 137.08. That is absolutely amazing when you consider that that is 56 authors and many times that number of complete texts.

Great Books on a nook/the last half

Cervantes 1.99 Barnes and Noble
Bacon 3.99 Mobile Reference
Descartes (Could not find complete set) .99 Golgotha Press
Spinoza 1.99 B&N
Milton 3.99 MR
Pascal (Could not find complete set) 2.99 eBooksLib
.95 MR
Locke 2.99 MR
Berkeley .95 B&R Samizedat Express
Hume 3.19 MR
Swift 1.99 B&N
Sterne .95 MR
Fielding 1.99 B&N
Montesquieu .95 MR
Rousseau 4.79 MR
Adam Smith 1.99 B&N
Gibbon .95 MR (Abridged)
44.46 for 3 book set
Kant 4.79 MR
Federalist Papers .95 MR
J.S. Mill 2.99 Neeland Media LLC
Boswell 1.99 B&N
Hegel (could not find complete set) 1.99 B&N
Goethe 4.79 MR
Melville 1.99 B&N
Darwin 3.99 Archiebooks
Marx 4.79 MR
Tolstoy 4.79 MR
Dostoevesky .99 Douglas Editions
William James .00
Freud .00

On the Cheap

Things are looking up for the Great Books Group. I've found a few like-minded travelers, and I can't wait to begin. I promised a guide to purchasing the Great Books on the nook but first I need to clarify that we won't all be buying the Great Books set from Brittanica, even secondhand that's worth it but pricey. I recommend writing a list of authors and works and start checking the used tags on the internet (The Brittanica set goes from 995 down to 475) and second hand book stores and library sale rooms. Even new the Great Books can still be bought for around five dollars a book because they are public domain and the only cost to the publisher is ink and paper. I've scored Herodutus and Plutarch for a quarter each.

I've gone shopping on my nook for the first 27 books in the set. Sometimes they had multiple authors in one book, or I couldn't find the titles I needed in one download. The one thing I found every time is that everything I needed for this half was available for free. So far that's my favorite excuse for purchasing a nook--"Honey, I saved us 800 dollars by purchasing the nook." Of course it didn't work for me, since we had already inherited a set--might work for you. Following is my guide to getting the Great Books on the nook. You can just buy what's free, but I found that splurging for the perks offered by publishers like Mobile Reference are sometimes worth it. The total cost for buying what I'm calling "the plus package" is 64.39 cents for 26 authors and an amazing collection of texts.

Homer 4.79 Mobile Reference
Aeschylus 2.99 MR
Sophocles 5.59 Bantam
Euripedes 6.99 Penguin
Aristophanes .99 MR
Herodutus 1.99 Barnes and Noble
Thucydides .99 B&R Samizdat Express
Plato 4.79 MR (Dialogues)
.95 MR (Republic)
Aristotle 4.79 MR (Works of...)
.95 MR (Physics)
Lucretius .00 Take your pick he doesn't come in a plus version.
Epictetus .99 B&N
Marcus Aurelius .95 MR
Virgil .95 MR (Aeniad)
.95 MR (Georgics)
Plutarch 4.79 MR
Tacitus 3.99 MR
Plotinus 3.19 Neeland Media
Augustine 2.99 MR
Aquinas .95 MR
Dante .95 MR
Chaucer 3.99 MR
Machiavelli .95 MR
Hobbes .95 MR
Rabelais 1.99 B&N
Montaigne .95 MR
Shakespeare .99 Baxter Street

See, a great self-education on the cheap. I'll do the other half later. This turned out to be a much bigger project than I expected.

Seeking Fellow Travelers

Do you like to do the difficult? Is intellectual adventure your middle name? Are you a thief looking to steal enlightenment and brave ancient darkness? Do you like to drink coffee and eat baked goods while discussing the important stuff in life? Then here's the deal, I'm looking to set up a Great Books reading group that meets once a month around 3 o'clock, on the first Sunday afternoon at the Barnes and Noble in Muskegon. We'll set up our own reading plan or borrow the original version or a friendly neighborhood list off the internet(see two versions below). Once that's decided we'll do our reading and discuss it over the aforementioned coffee.
A side note, Gandalf would have carried a nook with him I'm pretty sure. Think of all the obscure lore he could fill it with and in many cases for free. I'm working on laying out a guide to collecting the Great Books on a nook. I'll post it later. If you're interested I'm on facebook and you can send me a message there. If geography makes your participation impossible, perhaps we could set up some kind of internet meeting.


ten year reading plan
four year reading plan

It's Electric!

My friend Dan is a talented man. He first wowed me with a sci fi/fantasy piece which he found difficult to sell, so he wrote something else entirely, a historical mystery written at the time when the automobile was new and rapidly transforming American society. The characters of The Detroit Electric Scheme are fascinating and carefully drawn and nothing about this book is typical. True history and imagination are carefully blended to thicken the soup. The book was only launched a few days ago and a second edition is already on order. Get your first edition quick so you can say you were there from the beginning of this excellent series. (I've read bits and pieces of the second and I can say that it only gets better as you go along.)
It's also available as an ebook for you nook, but I can't ask Dan to sign those.

Every Day Gift

I'm a bit death
Life pulses through my ear
everyday fades

the Rustle I didn't make
Soprano Voices waking
Mechanical Humming of slaves
Collective Sigh of the well-fed
Peaceful Silence

it's hard to hear
the stop watch in my ear

Nothing Fancy

One of the reasons we chose this house was that the basement would make a perfect classroom and it was for a year or two. I decorated it to the nines and we had everything from bulletin boards to computers to used school furniture. I loved it, except I didn't. Going down to the basement was always a tad discouraging. I couldn't figure it out, but I finally brought school up to the main living level and enjoyed it's windows and squishy furniture.
It was a reasonable solution, but that whole year I walked by the basement and wondered why the school mess was upstairs. After a year of thinking, I've solved the riddle. I hadn't made any place for me. Granted, I had my rocking chair--the first piece of furniture I bought myself--but that was more about the babies than it was about me. This year I took over a corner and set up an office. If there actually is a minute when they are doing their own work, I'm ready to work on my reading, my children's stories, or my novel. All the pens and stickers and stuff that I use to motivate them and check their work are in special boxes in Mom's corner where they hopefully won't get spread around and lost.
I'm enjoying a workspace that isn't tucked in with the water heater and furnace. I feel like I've brought my special interests out of a closet and made them a home. It's nothing fancy, but it's mine.

Happy 2/5 Birthday to Harriet!

It has been a long journey. Section One is an inch or so thick. Section Two is a solid three inches, maybe more when I finish typing things up. The discoveries along the way were worth every frustrating delay to the plot. The relationship between two of the main characters has been radically intensified. Another character invented himself and is shouldering some of the darkest and brightest days in the novel. A third voted himself off of this section and onto the next. Some plot points literally caught fire. It is an awful mess, but a mess with potential. The temptation to sit down and tidy up the obvious problems is nibbling away at my inner ear, but I worry if I do there will be so many other obvious problems, I'll never move on. I've promised myself to have a complete draft that I would consider at least "good" by the time our third graduates from high-school. Eight years is probably generous, but then again my real priorities do slow down my work significantly.
Section Three feels like it will be easier to write with only four important events and fewer characters. One can always hope.

Assignment 1

The Great Books and I are getting acquainted, but I decided that rather than read only books on the list I would allow myself to mix in other books to help me past tough patches. Variety is the spice of life, and I need help growing as a writer as well as a thinker.


I've taken the first step on my Great Books journey by finishing The Iliad. It was the kind of book where I immediately wanted to run around to the beginning and read it again. I still have the Odyssey, but I'm putting it off in case Freud is a bother and I need extra incentive. I've made up my mind to handle the Great Idea of honor by combining the judgment of Paris with stuff I'm yanking out of Episodes 1 and 23. Should be fun if I can ever find the time to pull it together. In any case one book down.






My freshman year of college I read Ordering Your Private World, a book that emphasized the importance of character development over talent. Ironically, the author himself had an affair on his book tour. In any case, I've been trying to develop into a person of heroic virtue ever since with little hope of success. The Life You Save May Be Your Own reminded me that talent matters too. While heroic virtue certainly helps (see Dorothy Day) it isn't required for me to begin using my talents. Each of the four authors really spoke to me as I grow. Flannery's assertion that grace can repulse us was right where I'm living. Walker Percy as a self-taught philosopher encouraged me to keep going. Thomas Merton taught me not to reject the good things when you're unhappy about the bad. Dorothy Day helped me to stop feeling bad about being a convert. Converts do good work too.



My favorite poet is John Donne. His major themes are sex and sanctity and sometimes he gets his chocolate on his peanut butter and vice versa. It's all good and very clever. I needed to read him again. The first poem I heard is still my favorite--"Batter My Heart Three Person God." It always rings true, and impresses me all the more as I think of it as a smart inversion of Jeremiah's complaint.

Coming Attractions

nookIE needs

Kurt is my dealer when it comes to technology. Buying our first computer blew my mind and ever since I've needed more, more, more. My latest tech addiction is the nook from Barnes and Noble. No matter where I am, my reading goes with me. Making notes is simple and I don't feel like I'm defacing the book. The unit is comfortable even after hours of reading. Bold and graphic, my Jonathan Adler cover protects my investment in style. Perfection has been achieved.
Not! How is it that the more you love something the more you expect from it? The longer I use the nook, the longer my list of fantasy upgrades becomes.
So, what is more perfect than perfection?
1. Crossword puzzle mode with the opportunity to subscribe to the NY Times puzzle.
2. Nearest B&N detector--When we were on vacation I really would have appreciated a homing beacon.
3. An absolute must is a more comprehensive dictionary. My reading list is more challenging than most, but only being able to define one out of four requests is disappointing.
4. The power of technology harnessed to enhance and simplify the reading experience should be a natural fit for religious reading. A breviary is a complicated book to use. A nook version that did the work of figuring out what goes where and when automatically would be a great help to devotion. A static version produced periodically that I could subscribe to would work also.
5. More of the foundational Catholic books would be nice. Specifically, the Catechism and The Catholic Bible my RCIA instructor gave me.
6. Lastly, the almost holy grail--the Great Books with a digital Syntopicon. For the uninitiated, the syntopicon organizes all the great ideas and every reference to the great ideas in the Great Books. Digitally enhancing the Syntopicon means whatever interests you you can simply click directly to anything written about it.
All of That is to say, nook happily leaves me wanting more.

mad method

Every year my need to mimic traditional schools decreases leaving me greater freedom to experiment. Last year's great experiment was using composition books for our history and language arts. We did some science in composition books, but it came late to the party and never developed the way I hoped. This year is going to be different.
Usually I choose a branch of science such as biology and we work on learning the facts. This year we are going to learn the scientific method.
Composition books are frequently used in science labs as a way of recording data and such. My goal is that my kids will be able to draft and complete their own experiments. I plan to have a workshop at the beginning where we will work through an experiment together, then I intend to move them on by providing them with kits that they can do without help. (Check out Meijer's Kid's Science section or Toys R Us' Imaginarium.) Once they work successfully with the kits I'll restrict them to books. (Janice Van Cleave, Blood and Guts, that sort of thing.) When they are doing well with the books I'm going to ask them to design their own experiment to develop a better understanding of something they've already done. Hopefully they'll still learn a lot of facts, though my only contribution to that will be to make sure the experiment kits and books come from a variety of disciplines. I'll probably go back to my normal method next year, but I hope we will always do a lot of hands-on learning.

Surprise Vacation

I'd given up on a vacation this summer when Kurt called to tell me he'd reserved a house on the Isle of Palms. My family has been vacationing on the Isle of Palms since my dad was young enough to trip over John Glen and not know who it was. What a lovely and unexpected surprise. I didn't have time to get into my normal pre-vacation lather with endless lists and optimization. We washed. We threw it into a suitcase. We left. The love bug bag and the nook were both helpful on the drive. Everyone was in a good mood when we arrived at the perfect little rental duplex. It is in my nature to come up with a list of things to accomplish. I've found that even if the vacation has its struggles you can still point to the items you knocked off your list. This year my list felt superfluous as we all enjoyed ourselves. Nevertheless I did get a lovely sea shell ornament and a practical piece of art to enhance our home and remind us of Charleston, I read 80 pages of Freud and all of Mansfield Park, I ate at Chick Fil A and Waffle House, I had special moments with everyone in my family. We went above and beyond seeing The Last Air Bender and Despicable Me. Listening to the kids critique the two movies was priceless. All we can say about Air-Bender is "Show Me the Funny." We hit the Aquarium and the Market, but most of all we lived on the beach. It was a much needed and perfect get-away.

a little nookIE

For my birthday, wedding anniversary, and general good behavior my husband bought me a nook. For a person with 15 book cases and a serious intent to do some serious reading the idea of 1500 books on one tiny little device was irresistible. I did consider the Kindle and the Sony Reader, but a friend recommended against the Sony and the Kindle's selection was significantly smaller than the nook. Barnes and Noble also offers me a real store, that I visit once a week anyway, where I can get help if I need it. I'm going to need some help getting the pre-loaded samples I don't want out of my library. That kind of clutter drives me crazy.
I am already seeing fiscal advantages in that many of the books I want to read are available for free or as little as 3 dollars. It helps that I love old books. (Do get Fagles' translation for the Illiad, the Odyssey, and the Aeneid. He is so worth it.) John Donne comes in multiple flavors and all interesting. Jane Austen and Dostoevsky came in a special ereader version with all their work in one place easily accessed. I believe other authors are similarly available at very attractive prices. I couldn't work out how to get a similar version of the Chronicles of Narnia, so I'm just going to get the latest Redwall book to read to the kids on our way to the beach. I don't even have to worry about packing books as anything I decide I'd like to read I can shop for in the car, at the house, on the beach. I love my nook! That is to say, I love my niche.

Meet the Love Bug Bag!

I will admit to being a softie whose modus operandi is more oriented toward praise than consequences. I also find it hard to pass up neat gizmos the kids might like. I shop the bargain bins at every store looking for cool stuff at a good price. In the past I didn't manage that very well, handing things out because they were there. It led to spoiled kids who gave me a shopping list when I went out and it wasn't for carrots or broccoli.
Combining both tendencies into one program I've been doing better at connecting achievement to reward. Walmart had a cute and cheap bag covered with hearts, and I was instantly inspired. I bought it and we call it "the love bug bag." I put all my finds in the bag and kids who do well get to choose something special. We will soon be going on a trip and normally I'd be scrounging up things to keep the kids busy on the road. This time everything is already in the bag, literally--what a blessing on several levels.

Nifty Galifty

I'm having one of those precious moments when life makes sense. Things I've always wanted but was afraid to reach for or say are now de rigeur. I have the kids. I have my writing, and I have my studies. I'm going to read my way through the Great Books starting by alternating ancient and modern until they meet at medieval, hopefully Shakespeare. The medieval is my favorite period, so I wanted to save it for a reward at the end. I'm going to skip the scientists with the possible exception of Darwin. Instead I'll be working in masterworks of literature and philosophy from the East. For back up I have way too many Teaching Company Videos. I'll only need one on Eastern thinking to be confident I can meet whatever challenges I may face. Final exams will be children's stories based on one of the Great Ideas. I'm making it all up as I go along, but I needed something pseudo-official to hold it together. I consider myself enrolled in the Owl Correspondence School. I even have our little X puppet up in my room to inspire me.
Reach for the things that matter, even if you have to do it yourself.

Nothing's As Cute As a Button. :)

What might have been. Just after number four came along I got all excited about aprons. I wanted my grandmother's housecoat and I couldn't find it anywhere except on specialty websites. My longing was so strong that I contracted to pay quite a bit for an apron of my own made from scratch. I like to sew, but I'm not terribly good at it. The apron, when it arrived was a marvel, and I knew I would want more. Vintage or new, I didn't care. It stood to reason that there were more women like me. I worked up a business plan with the creator of my apron where I would sell and she would sew. It didn't work out, so I went to work developing a business of my own--Button Aprons. My inexperience got in the way and I sank my initial capital into an unsellable design. We paid off the loan and went back to our regular life and a new baby.
Yesterday, walking through Meijer I came across one the apron styles that were hot back then. The price was 13 dollars. How can anyone compete with that? I ran my fingers over the fabric and wondered what might have been.

Why I Love Oprah

I knew about Oprah before almost all of you. I grew up in Maryland and my grandmother loved her show out of Baltimore. We watched it because it was so obvious that Oprah was better than her co-host and she was just great tv. I don't think that alone would have made me a permanent fan. It was the way she was so concerned about the person in front of her. The moment I decided to back Oprah came the day a bridal store was giving away free formal wear to a couple the station had chosen. I can't remember the details. What I remember is that someone who hated Oprah put her in the ugliest ruched dress I've ever seen. If there could be a worse dress that that one especially on Oprah's body at that time, I don't know what it would be. You could see the discomfort in her face. She was doing everything she could to get off camera. When she succeeded, her co-host began to point out flaws in the wedding gown and bridesmaids dresses. He was having such an off day and the bride began to freak out. She was on the verge of tears when Oprah came charging back forgetful of that horrid dress and busy trying to rescue the bride from a total tv meltdown. That's when I became a life-long Oprah fan. She cares about the person in front of her.

Mariah, Come Home!

As a child, I was a huge Strawberry Shortcake fan. It was one of the few things my sister and I could enjoy together despite the five year age gap. To be perfectly candid I was more of a Blueberry Muffin fan. She has long blond hair and blue eyes like me, and she wore a very cool muffin paper for a hat. Marked on the calendar was a Strawberry Shortcake TV special that Karen and I couldn't wait to see. I knew Strawberry would steal the show as always, but Blueberry would get some time in. The day arrived and I don't remember if Blueberry Muffin was in it at all as a new friend was been introduced--Orange Blossom. She was smart and beautiful and Strawberry Shortcake would have been in the soup without her. She was also African-American. There were no Orange Blossoms in my life.
My daughter has had better luck. Right around the corner lives a smart and beautiful girl who's been a wonderful friend. When all the Blueberry Muffins were too busy, Mariah filled in. Recently she ran away. My daughter is wearing her hand-me-downs as we wait and hope together that Mariah will hurry home.

A New Conversation

Anyone who has known me at all is usually pretty clear on how much I hate typing. It didn't matter so much until I started writing a novel, and now I struggle to keep up. You wouldn't think so, but I had a terrific typing teacher. She was a local secretary who volunteered to teach typing at the church school I attended. It meant freshmen would be offered an elective, previously that age had a mandatory study hall. I was not the most well-behaved study hall student (remind me to tell you about the Dead Lady's Coffin), so everyone was glad that there was an alternative. I liked typing. We were working on old-fashioned typewriters and rather old ones at that, but I earned a solid "B," and I was sure I'd do better the next quarter. The next quarter my performance remained the same, but the standards went up. I earned a "C." We were all certain I'd get it next time. Next time, my performance still hadn't improved--at all--earning me an ego flattening "D." My very kind typing teacher quit rather than give me the inevitable "F" in the final quarter.
It still isn't better. I've been typing for years, but I bet if I sat down to the old exercises and tests I'd come out right where I was at 13. It's even worse in some ways because this is my creative work and I decide what goes where. The more I monitored my internal complaining, the more I wanted to start exploring other possibilities. I considered the Fly Pentop, but it didn't seem to be well-established. I hate getting into a rhythm and then discovering they aren't making or supporting the product anymore. Dragon voice-recognition software has been around and will be around, so I gave it a shot. I like it. I need to make a lot of corrections, but that's much easier for me. My speed has doubled and may get even faster as the software and I get "trained." It's a good thing.

Behind Hand

I just finished downloading 268 emails. I didn't think I'd been absent so long. Events and requests have slid by and I'm actually grateful because I was already feeling stressed. There were a few things I did wish I'd been there for and the first is my friend Vic's book launch. Naked in the Stream captivated me for a couple years at the UICA Writer's Workshop. The best part is Vic's voice, safe and adventuresome in equal parts. Please pick it up and pass it along. You will be glad you did.

useful things

For Christmas I'm a pretty practical person and I like practical gifts, so I requested a hot pot this year. We'd been using a coffee maker to heat water for tea and instant oatmeal and I was getting tired of cleaning it out. A dedicated hot pot would provide all the functionality without all the steps. Fill, heat, pour--my kind of morning routine. I didn't anticipate how much use I would get out of it. I like tea, but I'm too impatient to wait for the kettle so I didn't make it very often. Now I make it all the time. It's a nice little product. I didn't choose it, but it does everything I need and does it well. You can find it HERE.

I don't normally discuss personal products, but I bought these accidentally and I don't think I could ever go back. I'll spare you the details, but after six kids a revolution like this is a necessity. You can find them HERE.


These are not the exact bins. I found ours at Bed, Bath and Beyond for five bucks. They were in the seasonal area. Ours have two handles and are just right for children to carry around. They come in five colors so everybody but Jimmy has one. They are making a real difference in how we clean the house. Each child fills the bin from the floor then empties it by putting the findings away. We have bin wars to see who can earn the most X's by filling and emptying the most times. We've used them for other things too, and everyone likes having their own special tool.
And now for something completely different, I DVR'd One Wonderful Sunday, and it was delightful and thoughtful. If you're looking for a beautiful meditation on young love this is it. Be prepared to clap.

All the Best People Are

Kurt's home again, so I could finally go to see Alice. I will not say I have always loved Alice because I haven't, but I have read Alice a kajillion times because it was the only book I had that was as weird and inscrutable as the Bible. I thought if I could make sense of Alice, I could make sense of anything. It is the inscrutable character of Alice that seems missing in this beautiful film. For me the transitions in the book were always weak like badly applied staples. You barely knew how you got from here to there. This Alice has a series of comparatively strong bonds that march along, and not just the hares. A less predictable score would have been nice too. Visually, this movie is Alice. Auditoraly, it could be any film, which is a shame given the uniqueness of this piece of literature.
I honestly prefer the Alice from the SyFy channel. Short on mass market appeal, it does a grand job of using Alice to stir up thinking about the great ideas and experiences of life. Every moment was packed with larger idea enshrined in an engaging narrative. It is not a version of Alice in Wonderland so much as it is clay wrapped around the literary armature wire. Visually it is beautiful. I intend to purchase it for my home library.
Disney's classic animated Alice snored on the Disney Channel frequently. It was always billed as one of their major features, but it was all vanilla sweetness. Faults didn't matter though as we could only enjoy films at home either on TV or after the invention of VHS on tape. Whatever was on was watched. I wouldn't want to watch it again. The only thing I liked was the Cheshire Cat. He is nearly impossible to mess up.

Egad!

I finally put all of my novel in one folder. I'm not even halfway through and I have--drum roll please--267 pages, 94,670 words, and 3,996 paragraphs. Wow! I knew I was obsessed, but that's a lot of work. My friend, Albert Bell, says he tries to have about 90,000 words in his finished manuscripts. Looks like there's a lot of revisions in my future. Please don't throw me in that briar patch. :)

Keep Talking

A timer running rapidly was a new addition to the news broadcast last night. It certainly carried the point that's been worrying me. We're at the place where universal health care is almost certain to happen within at least a decade if not by the time the clock runs out. I don't see that universal health care has to be a bad thing by default, but right now it is likely to be a bad thing. I'm sure that the people pushing for now, now, now are thinking that once the mess is in place then they can sort out the problems. That could happen, but it isn't the ordinary person's experience. On the other hand, I wish when we thought about universal health care we were thinking about all those people who will starve to death this year. Fortunately for us most of them don't live here dragging our premiums down. We can expect to have enough food to feed each other.
I think the thing that is most absent is consensus about such important issues as what is a fair death and what is a fair life? When I have a treat to distribute or a consequence to meet out, my children are pretty satisfied if everyone agrees the division is fair. Philosophy and politics may seem miles apart, but in this case a philosophical discussion is of the utmost importance. No one will like this system for long, unless everyone agrees that it is just. We don't have anything in any segment like that. We need to set aside numbers and start talking about those core issues and not just in think tanks, but in internet chatrooms, libraries and churches. When we all agree about what is fair we'll find we know how to make the money to pay the bills. All I'm saying is, just keep talking and listening. We Americans know how to get this kind of thing right, but we're going to need everyone to make it work.

Must See QVC

I do not as a rule watch QVC. Ok, Jim Shore with his quaint knick-nacks may lure me in for a moment, or I'll use the perpetual commercial to fill in ad space during family films on non-family channels. Otherwise, no, I do not watch home shopping channels--except for St. Patrick's Day.
I was ill a few years ago when we had basic, basic cable and there was nothing on. In desperation I turned on QVC and was mesmerized. Authentic Irish business people were hawking authentic Irish wares and all with that lovely accent. I watched hours of the stuff, but I didn't buy anything after all it was just QVC. The next year I found myself looking forward to St. Pat's for the sale. I hoped they'd have the things I almost bought and other things I might like even better. Long story short, I love St. Patrick's Day on QVC. You should check it out.

1% of a kind

The day after one of our births a nurse came by to explain the importance of teaching children to donate blood when they are grown. I don't think that's standard procedure that particular baby had a very rare blood type. I used to be a regular donor, but all those pregnancies had gotten in the way. Lucky for me my church has a regular Sunday blood drive, and this week I was able to get signed up. It's a simple procedure. Answer a few questions. Get poked twice. Enjoy some carbohydrates. Almost anyone can do it, and the more that do the better it is for everyone.
So, get out there and donate. You'll be a rare one percenter--no matter what your blood type.

Typing is Medieval

I have a full inch of handwritten pages that must be typed into my manuscript. It's like a good 12 sections, and I am dreading it. I may break several personal rules and haul all the stuff up to my room and type there, but then I wouldn't be able to print things out as I finished which is my major reward for clearing out a big backlog. What I need is a tablet PC with handwriting recognition software. I will stop complaining about the handwriting course I was required to take in college if it means I will be able to write my work into my computer rather than type it.

Teaching Writing by Writing

This year I decided to take a more low key approach and not have a curriculum for each and every subject I hoped they'd make progress in. Composition books have been the work horse for this year's school with the exception of math. My favorite innovation that has come from that is our History essays. Previously we'd used the questions that come in the activity book to review and we ended up eating a lot of M&Ms that way. This year the more writing I could get them to do, the happier I would be, so I started by having them write a summary as soon as I finished reading the daily section from our history book. (We use the Story of the World series and I highly recommend it.) This resulted in spotty essays that usually only involved the last third of our reading. I changed tactics and stopped periodically in the reading and required them to write a sentence. The result was much improved comprehension, sentence structure and paragraphs. Our third has even begun to push herself to write a full page every day. I then check the work and have them make corrections. Writing skills are improving, while the exciting subjects--history and science inspire them and are more thoroughly remembered. I have even seen them consult their books in order to remember some part of history they were thinking over. They have two other composition books. One is for summarizing their daily reading. As the history ideas unfolded, they began to apply what they learned there to this book as well. Taking notes as they read has become common. Science is our other notebook and we use to record our experiments the way professional labs do. We haven't done as many experiments as I'd hoped, but I can see that getting better with time. This has been a very positive change in our writing program. I will probably go back to reviewing the rules of grammar, but for everything else, these real essays are doing a better job.

The Joys of Lent

Planning is one of my joys in life. I suspect if someone asked me to plan my death I'd get right to work not noticing the punch line. I'd lie back in the bed--"Put the lilies over there"-- then I'd graciously expire. It'd be the next thing on my list. Then again there's Jimmy's birth, maybe I wouldn't be so calm after all.
I've got to watch my planning for Lent. I'm a recent convert and I don't have the blessing of practiced discipline. The first year I gave up Starbucks hot chocolate. This sounds small, but only if you are unaware of the scope of my addiction. Last year I gave up sweets in general making a planned exception for a birthday cake. This year I'm.banking on those experiences to help me through a broader program including non-food fasting. I still intend to fast from sweets, but I also want to lessen my use of ready-made food. I may even take a stab at baking my own whole wheat bread. I'm also giving up cable tv. Masterpiece, Ugly Betty, Cake Boss, Project Runway, Eureka, Dr. Who, they will all be replaced with books or The Teaching Company videos. I might make an exception for PBS. If I can get my hands on a St. Joseph's Guide for my breviary I'll do thatfor prayer. I really enjoy it. If the guide is hard to get I might give the rosary another go. Almsgiving the kids and I have found to be a good time to get rid of the unnecessary stuff in our lives. Donating to the food pantry at church is another good thing we do.
It's going to be a great Lent. Less is more.

Precious

I have loved this mosaic since my first visit to St. Mary's. Nowadays when I think of Jesus, this is the image that comes to mind. My oldest made a video of the church and its grounds because she felt it was one of the most beautiful places in Spring Lake. I can't get it to upload, so everyone can see for themselves. One of the saddest parts of Lent is that we give up our mosaic and have to wait for Easter to enjoy it again. I'm so slow at learning all the traditions and procedures, but each one gives me joy. Churches ought to be inspiring.

Big Fat Flirt

Was that you, winking from the flannelgraph?

Yeah, that was me.

Were you the one making every word in that book live for me?

Yeah, didn't think you caught that one.

Did you really make that sunset so lovely that every feeling, every thought begged for you and you alone?

Me alone, eh. Yeah, that was me.

Then where were you when a Horror of darkness came, when the Way contracted squeezing my last breath, when the Water was over my head?
Where were you then!

Knees to my ears, pushing and screaming.

Book Reports

After 7 months of dragging the poor thing everywhere and filling it with rather hideous lime green drylighter notations, I can cross The Philosophy of History off my list. I will probably reread the introduction, but I have read the whole thing with much pleasure. I was swept away with the Grand Idea trying to manifest throughout history. I still like the general idea, but as I read through the specifics I quite disagreed and the case Hegel was making rapidly lost credence. He was too eager to back up his own pet definitions and causes. I may read The Phenomenology of the Spirit in order to consider if a more objective pair of eyes were to examine the evidence if better evidence might not be found. There is also the question of whether or not the Grand Idea is a good one. I'd like to think some more on that too. All and all I recommend it.




As if to reassure myself that I can read a book in less than 7 months I blasted through Tunnels in three days. Tunnels drags the reader into a completely unique sub-world with vivid characters and settings. The delicious grittiness is occasionally broken by flowery, floating language, and there are moments when everything feels like a non-sequitur. There is no real story arc or resolution unless you narrow your focus to Will and Chester. Will's commitment to rescue Chester is the only thing that gives the story continence. Not that it needs it. I really didn't care about flaws as I explored such a thrilling world. It was a great return to casual fiction.



Coming Attractions

The day I converted Jane, my sponsor, gave me this book as a gift. I love it too much to read it. I start it over and over, always quitting because it is too delicious. It's time to give in and read it. Hopefully it won't take 7 months.

An Arm Around My Children

This year we put our oldest in school. Schools here are highly respected having been placed in the top 2% of the country by US News and World Report. Putting one into school opened the door to putting the rest in school. Every teacher has impressed us and the resources available are unusually good for such a small school district. There are also two excellent charter schools one offering a Montessori approach and the other an emphasis on the arts. The Protestant schools are not highly regarded, but the Catholic schools have students in Ivy League and other excellent institutions. If we could do whatever we wanted I'd put them all in Catholic schools, but that's not fair to the Protestant half of the family and it's very expensive.
Homeschooling means that my house is always a bit messy. There is always a shortage of clean laundry, and I seldom have time to read something more serious than our history lesson for the day. Sometimes the messy house and lack of personal time become very discouraging. Sending everyone to school is a tempting solution to those problems. I finally just put it on my prayer list where all my most difficult challenges end up. Waiting to hear what God wanted, I kept looking around for what we as a family need.
And the thing we need most? To love and demonstrate love. We can live without clean laundry; we've been doing it for years. The kitchen floor can be a mosaic of spills; it's more interesting that way. But my children can't feel my arm around their shoulders unless I put it there, and as the Lord answered my prayers I became more comfortable with our life and the blessed imperfections it sustains. School is a great idea. I'm all for it, but it isn't the right fit for my younger ones, not yet.

Don't Plath Out

Have the A pox o' lisps narrowed your options to f or F?
Been dancing the Bee Gee Zus too long?
Tired of negotiating foe heaven?
To Ur is human.
Come Hope with me.