Serial readers vs Poly-readers

At last I've found a person who reads like me - many books at the same time. I really enjoy a reading "menu" of many courses. I do like chocolate cake, for instance, but I would quickly tire of only chocolate cake for every meal. See what Julia Keller, Chicago Trib critic, says on NPR.

I feel sick....

After speed-reading Tony Blair's new biography, A Journey: My Political Life, I was all set to chalk him off as well-meaning. I remember noting his mention of war protesters camping out near sites where he was supposed to appear in his last months of office, his seemingly sincere expressions of pain and regret when thinking of the British soldiers killed and wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan, and his view that Saddam Hussein needed to be removed at all costs to prevent current and future threats to the "West" (even though no MWD were found).

Then I finally got around to watching Michael Moore's film, Fahrenheit 911, this afternoon. All about money and oil. Somehow, I had never gotten that message so clearly before. I've seen several of Moore's films, and I'm never sure about his over the top-ness. Telling the truth? Getting laughs while showing his own brand of power? Corruption and greed in government seem so pervasive. Good guys seem so powerless and ineffective. Tony Blair was duped by Bush? Tony Blair duped us? Tony Blair just wanted to be next to American?

Metal Music

In our latest venture for the Saints, the volunteer theatre usher organization in this city, we signed up for a nightclub-like venue in Rogers Park for a Sunday morning live broadcast on the classical music radio station. The artist in recital was Rachel Barton Pine, a wonderful classical violinist. You might have heard of her due to a terrible accident at the beginning of her professional career.

Her program that Sunday was a varied mix of 9 pieces all written over the years just for her, including one by Albeniz that she arranged for herself. Surprising to me was that the ones I liked best were heavy metal compositions, Thrash by Philip Pan and Theme and Variations by Edgar Gabriel. This last used all kinds of metal music for the variations: glam metal, death metal, etc. All new to me, but I'm learning!

Petrified Homemade Treats

Yesterday an old cereal box liner bag filled with what looked to be Frosted Mini-Wheats was discovered in the antique bread box up in my recently deceased mother-in-law's kitchen. It turned out that it was a secret stash of Gold Rush Brownies baked and brought by one of my Minnesota sisters - last Thanksgiving! One of us hid them up there (maybe me) to save them for future scarf sessions, then forgot about them, which is pretty incredible, knowing the family addiction to these goodies.

So my husband tried one and pronounced them "crunchy" but still good. I ate three.

Mary McGowan, 1900-2010

My mother-in-law, Mary McGowan, died on Sept. 2 at age 110. I only knew her for her last 40 years and missed some important parts of her life. When we sat down to look through her albums to show photos at her wake, we found some marvelous ones. The picture below shows Mary on her North Dakota homestead farm with her next younger sister, Anna - sometime around 1918?

This is Mary in 1921 before she bobbed her very long hair.


Mary as a flapper.

Our young North Dakota cousin, Greta, tells us that people have been taking pictures at the Bismarck State Capitol building like the one below for decades - she says she did it, too.


It was wonderful to see these pictures of a fun-loving young woman, full of life. Mary, rest in love and peace.

Cheapskates vs. Conservationists

The Cheapskate books I'm reading by Jeff Yeager (see sidebar) bring up the question, are cheapskates people who are simply misers who take no joy in life? Yeager says no, cheapskates are really people who are thoughtful users of only what they need to live a life freed of rampant consumerism. I'm trying to decide where I fit on the spectrum. Does using a teabag twice count?

His chapter on the costs of healthy living was really interesting. He says that most people who hire other people to clean their homes, mow their lawns, make repairs around the house, etc., then have to pay additional money to health clubs, personal trainers, and the like to help them keep in shape because they don't use their bodies to do any physical work. A vicious circle. I admit I've been tempted to hire a cleaning service when I think I can't handle a full-time job and keeping up with an old two-story house. So far, I'm subscribing to cheaphood, but I feel myself weakening.

TED and Spirituality

I like TED a lot. And last week someone sent me a notice that a well-known writer (and former British nun) won one of their major prizes (like $100K) in 2008.

Karen Armstrong took part of her prize money and started the Charter for Compassion, "a cooperative effort to restore not only compassionate thinking but, more importantly, compassionate action to the center of religious, moral and political life." I love her idea - and I like how she describes herself as a "freelance monotheist." If I weren't committed to healing my own religion, I would be one, too.