Category Archives: reading rainbow

Special Book Post

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23. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
Oh my GOD, this was fantastic. I picked it up Saturday morning at Media Play, using the gift cards I received for being appreciated as a teacher. 🙂 I was worried that I wouldn’t be able to get a copy, not having reserved it and not feeling up to attending a midnight party. But fortunately for me, copies were plentiful.

I liked this much better than book 5…I felt it was a much tighter story…better editing, less waste. I admire JK Rowling for her ability to keep me (and millions of others) on the edge of my seat, to finish one book and be crawling out of my skin in anticipation of the next. That is some great storytelling talent.

I’ve enjoyed watching Harry and his friends grow up…and I’m going to be awfully sad when it’s over. That’s when, I suppose, my rereading and rewatching will begin.

I don’t want to give too much away, not having the ability to hide an extended post, but I invite anyone who wants to discuss the finer details to send me an email. 🙂

50 Book Challenge (continued)

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29. The Stranger
My introduction to existentialism came in a fiction writing class in college. It was a workshop course, and a French student wrote an incredibly bleak, dark story in which his protagonist wandered around brooding and smoking a lot. I don’t remember whether or not anything else happened. What I do remember is that I hated it, and that my professor thought it was brilliant. And that was what I thought about when I read The Stranger. I also thought about this song. For years, because of the fiction writing experience, I believed that I hated existentialist writing. I now realize that isn’t true…Ron Hawkins, after all, writes incredibly existentialist lyrics and I like him just fine…maybe it’s the French part that gets to me. 😉

Um, anyway…I’m glad I read this, but it didn’t inspire any great emotional reaction in me. I read some of the reviews at Amazon, and saw that a number of people loved it *because* they hated it so much. I didn’t hate it, but like Meursault, I was emotionally indifferent to it.

28. Ishmael
A guy sits around and has conversations with a telapathic gorilla about the meaning of life, the nature of humanity and our place in the world. A lot more interesting than it sounds. 😉 What I enjoyed about the book is that it raises good questions and forces the reader to question his or her attitudes about the aforementioned topics. I picked this up at the school where I was subbing yesterday…apparently, the teacher had used it in a class, and I can see why. I’ll bet they had some fascinating conversations. 🙂

27. The Virgin Suicides
I finished this one so quickly that I never even got the chance to put it up on my sidebar! A fascinating and utterly compelling read. I haven’t seen the movie, but I think I might check it out now…I really, really enjoyed Lost in Translation, so I’m interested in seeing what Sofia Coppola did with this story.

26. Cry Me a River
Yeah, I needed a little break from Solitude. I liked it. I found it to be highly emotional and very moving at times. Although your sympathy was mainly with the protagonist, a father just released from prison, trying to save his son from death row, you could understand the anger and hurt directed at him by the other characters (his wife and sister, as well as his father-in-law). The ending may have been somewhat predictable, but still touching.

25. ‘Til the Fat Lady Sings
I thought this book was really entertaining. I’m definitely enjoying Alisa Kwitney’s style, and would like to continue reading her stuff. My one quibble with this book…was the main character, just a teeny bit taller than me and exactly my weight, really supposed to be fat? Or was it the idea of her struggle to fit into a thin world? Was the author trying to make a point about our culture’s attitudes about weight? Um, anyway…I did like this book.

24. Preacher
What a fantastic story. Rand and I have been reading this together (my first time, certainly not his…) for quite a while now and just recently finished. The most compelling thing about this, I thought, was the love story between the two main characters. Somehow, amidst all the weirdness (and it was weird, believe you me) this romance worked. Also some good stuff about friendship and grace and redemption.

Uh, still working on One Hundred Years of Solitude… 🙂

See the rest of my list here.

50 Book Challenge (continued)

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*updated!*

37. The God We Never Knew: Beyond Dogmatic Religion to a More Authentic Contemporary Faith
This is the second book I’ve read by Marcus J. Borg, and I very much appreciate his style. He’s an academic, but manages to write readable, accessible prose that doesn’t come off as condescending. One thing I found interesting was his description of a common image of God as king, judge or police officer, stating that in this monarchical model of God, God becomes the superego. I also found his commentary on social justice particularly moving.

When I said I was reading this book, Jen said “Because you want to?” Well, yeah…I’ve always said that I wished I’d taken some religious studies classes in college. There’s so much I don’t know anything about. Luckily for me, I met a man who has a master’s in theology. 😉

36. Matilda
I really liked Roald Dahl when I was a kid…Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and James and the Giant Peach were among my favorite books…but I missed this one. Luckily for me, Rand happened to have it lying around, and once I got started, I couldn’t put it down. A cute story, funny, well-told, with lots of heart. I simply adored this book. 🙂

35. Naked Pictures of Famous People
Jon Stewart before The Daily Show. A fun little read of Woody Allen-esque essays. Quite entertaining. 🙂

34. Fahrenheit 451
How could a self-respecting English teacher not have read this book before? Ummm…I don’t know, but I’m catching up now. 🙂 I finished this during my free time this afternoon, completely engrossed. This is a short little book, but I literally devoured it once I started reading. Fantastically entertaining and thought-provoking, and definitely a story that holds up over the years.

33. Cat’s Eye
I have to say it again…I adore Margaret Atwood. I wouldn’t say this was my favorite of her work (so far, that’s a toss-up between The Blind Assassin andThe Handmaid’s Tale), but I did think it was very, very good. The stories of Elaine’s childhood are gut-wrenching. I would agree with some of the reviews I read that didn’t think Atwood did such a good job of following Elaine into adulthood, of allowing the reader to feel that same emotional-connectedness, except that I think that was kind of the point.

A side note about Atwood…a few years ago, I was applying to a creative writing program (which I later decided not to pursue) and asked one of my professors to write me a recommendation. He wrote me an absolutely glowing letter, and in it, he described my writing as “delightfully Atwoodian.” At the time, I had read zero Margaret Atwood. I now take it as an amazing compliment. 🙂

32. Anthem
This would be my first, and thus far only, experience with Ayn Rand. When Jen read this, she commented on how similar in theme Lois Lowry’s The Giver was, and I would have to agree. What is clear in reading even just this short bit of Rand is her dissatisfaction with Communisim and Socialism, the theme that permeates all of her work.

I had to roll my eyes at one of the Amazon reviews. I’ll bet you can figure out which one. 😉

What I get from Anthem and all of the dystopian fiction I’ve read is this…any ideological extreme carried too far can be frightening and dangerous.

31. Pride and Prejudice
Part of my quest to read more classic literature. I enjoyed this, especially in tandem with listening to The Jane Austen Book Club. I didn’t realize how much Helen Fielding *really* had Austen in mind when she was writing Bridget Jones. Now I definitely need to sit my butt down and watch the movie. (mmm…Colin Firth…)

And wow, I just wanted to smack Lydia. Eek!

30. Catalyst
I read and absolutely loved Speak, so I had to read more Laurie Halse Anderson. I picked this up last night at Barnes & Noble and finished it during my free time today. I really appreciate the way Anderson captures the teenage voice. I didn’t enjoy this one quite as much as I enjoyed Speak…I thought that story was more compelling. Also, I felt that the protagonist’s main storyline was left somewhat unresolved.

Next book starts a new post…I’m almost at the halfway mark. 🙂

See the rest of my list here.

Back to school again

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So on my first day as a substitute teacher, I got a call. Yay!

Pluses…actually working in my field, getting back into the classroom, networking.

Minuses…a lot less computer time. 😉 Postings will probably be fewer and farther between, as I am now a busy, busy girl.

(Hilary, I haven’t forgotten about your tag…I swear. I’m working on it!)

My first day wasn’t bad. A few seniors with attitude problems, but that’s to be expected. Here’s hoping I get called tomorrow!

I finished Bird by Bird (#47 in the 50-book challenge, by Anne Lamott) last night. This was a great book about writing, and I found Lamott’s writing to be honest, funny and touching. She gives great advice, her personal insights are fantastic, and reading this made me want to check out some of her fiction. I need to go back through and find some of my favorite quotes. I kept reading things to R aloud. I definitely give this one a thumbs up.

I need to finish Moonshadow (#46), but I’ve also started:

45. The Dominant Blonde (chick lit)
44. Passionate Hearts (poetry)

I was kind of confused when R gave me The Dominant Blonde to read, but when I read the “about the author” blurb, I learned that Alisa Kwitney was “a former comic book editor for the Vertigo impirnt of DC Comics.” Ahhh…it all makes sense now. Heehee.

I’m enjoying both very much.

Also on my “to read” list:

100 Years of Solitude
Dave Barry is Not Taking This Sitting Down
The Joy Luck Club
Kiss Her Goodbye
Sense and Sensibility
Breakfast of Champions
Maus (I somehow missed this when the rest of the known universe read it in college…)
Books 1 and 2 of A Series of Unfortunate Events
The Sandman (series…how many books should that count as? 😉 )
Jimmy Corrigan: The Smartest Kid on Earth

I saw Finding Neverland Friday night with R and his friend John (I sometimes think I should abandon the “R” thing, as I’m sure that everyone reading this knows his name by now…hmmm…), and I really, really enjoyed it. I don’t know if it’s “Best Picture” material, but I did enjoy it. I got all weepy and stuff…

And get this, Lost fans, John gave me my *very own copy* of the comic featured on the show! It’s not in Spanish, but it is the very same comic. It’s an issue of Green Lantern/Flash: Faster Friends, for anyone keeping track of that sort of thing.

“I wouldn’t recommend reading it,” John said. “There’s way better comics out there.”

But still, way cool. 🙂

On Sunday, we watched Dodgeball…lots of fun. I thought the best parts of the movie were the clips…the Globo Gym commercial, the Dodgeball video, the ESPN 8 stuff. (Oh, and Gary Cole and Jason Bateman were an absolute riot as the commentators.)

I do have more to say, but I’m going to stop here for now…happy almost-February, everyone!

50 Book Challenge

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As seen at All Things Jennifer and Bookslut, I, too, am going to take the 50-book challenge.

Heck, I easily made that last year, and I only really started counting around June. 😉

Already have read:

50. If Grace is True…Why God Will Save Every Person

I found this fascinating…I’ll need to get the book out to properly blog about it, because I underlined. A lot.

49. Factoring Humanity

Fabulously well-written science fiction. I’d read another book, Calculating God, by the same author. R had it and recommended it to me. He then bought me this one for Christmas, and I finished it in an afternoon. As I told R, it’s great to read sci fi that doesn’t make you feel like you’re being lectured at. Sawyer’s books are truly about the people AND the ideas. Great dialogue, well-drawn characters, and really cool ideas. Thumbs up. 🙂

48. Brooklyn Dreams

Very interesting, well written and well drawn graphic novel.

Currently reading:

47. Bird by Bird
46. Moonshadow

2004 Media Wrap-up, part 1

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I’ve been doing a lot of reading and viewing this year, and I wanted to at least briefly reflect on what I’ve read and seen. I’ll probably forget some things, but here goes…

Reading:
(in no particular order)

The Man in the Ceiling, Jules Feiffer
Cat’s Cradle
Slaughterhouse-Five, Kurt Vonnegut
Calculating God, Robert J. Sawyer
The Toy Collector, James Gunn
Birdsong, Rumi poems translated by Coleman Barks
The Love Poems of Rumi, translated by Deepak Chopra
Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry, Mildred D. Taylor
The Outsiders, SE Hinton
Meeting Jesus Again for the First Time, Marcus J. Borg
Coraline
Neverwhere, Neil Gaiman
Blankets, Craig Thomspon
Why I Hate Saturn
You Are Here
I Die at Midnight, Kyle Baker
Ten Poems to Change Your Life, Roger Housden
The Well of Lost Plots
Something Rotten, Jasper Fforde
From a Buick 8
Song of Susannah
The Dark Tower, Stephen King
America: The Audiobook, Jon Stewart
Lies and the Lying Liars who Tell Them (audiobook), Al Franken
Me Talk Pretty One Day, David Sedaris
An Acceptable Time, Madeline L’Engle
Oryx and Crake
Alias Grace, Margaret Atwood
If the Buddha Dated, Charlotte Kasl
True Story Swear to God: Chances Are…, Tom Beland
Slightly Settled, Wendy Markham
Dearly Beloved, Wendy Corsi Staub
How to Be Good, Nick Hornby
The Poisonwood Bible
Pigs in Heaven, Barbara Kingsolver
Angels & Demons
The DaVinci Code, Dan Brown
The Lovely Bones, Alice Sebold
Speak, Laura Halse Anderson
Waltzing the Cat, Pam Houston
Back Roads, Tawni O’Dell
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, Tom Stoppard
The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds,
Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, James Joyce
Holes, Louis Sachar
Messenger, Lois Lowry
My Sister’s Keeper, Jodi Picoult
Dave Barry Slept Here, Dave Barry
Drinking Coffee Elsewhere, ZZ Packer
The Time Traveler’s Wife, Audrey Niffenegger
The Princess Bride, William Goldman
Written on the Body, Jeannette Winterson
The Phantom Tollbooth, Norton Juster

Not too shabby of a list, I think. I’ve been introduced to a lot of new stuff, wrapped up some stuff that’s been going on for a *long* time (*cough* Dark Tower *cough*), picked up a couple of classics, read some things by some favorite authors, discovered some new favorite authors and enjoyed some timeless YA lit. All in all, a good year for reading. 🙂

Here are some of the things still on my “to read” list:

The Joy Luck Club, Amy Tan
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, Maya Angelou
Sense and Sensibility
Pride and Prejudice
Persuasion, Jane Austen
The Edible Woman
Cat’s Eye, Margaret Atwood
The House on Mango Street, Sandra Cisneros
High Fidelity
About a Boy, Nick Hornby
Sammy’s Hill, Kristin Gore
Kiss Her Goodbye, Wendy Corsi Staub
The Plot Against America, Philip Roth
100 Years of Solitude, Gabriel Garcia Marquez
The Virgin Suicides, Jeffrey Euginedes

Confessions of an entertainment whore

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So here’s a bit of what I’ve been reading/watching/listening to these days.

Inspired by Jen, I read both Slaughterhouse Five and How to Be Good. I enjoyed them both. I didn’t have quite the emotional response to SH5 that Jen did, but I am definitely inspired to read some more Vonnegut. In a subsequent conversation with R, I’ve come to realize that Stephen King was very likely heavily influenced by Vonnegut. Interesting.

I also enjoyed How to Be Good. I wasn’t overjoyed with the ending, and I thought it sort of lost steam in the last bit. But I found Hornby’s writing entertaining and frequently insightful. (I didn’t so much enjoy the book’s rather bleak outlook of marriage. Depressing. Brrr.) I’m looking forward to checking out his other work.

Speaking of SK, I just started the final Dark Tower book. It’s big. Know what I hate about big books? I feel confined to one space for reading them. I’m not as likely to carry around a 1000- page hardcover as a 350-page paperback. Eh.

Finally caught up on those episodes of Lost I had taped, and watched the new ep last night. I’m loving this. JJ Abrams is an evil genius. He has such power. He creates these compelling characters and sticks them in fantastic situations, hooking viewers in and making them jump, scream at the tv, and frequently during the course of an episode, ask (out loud), “the hell?” What’s the thing in the woods? How can the bald guy (Terry O’Quinn? LOVE him) walk? What’s the deal with Jack’s father? What’s the deal with the Korean couple? Oh, so many questions, which I know will just lead to more questions.

Taped the season premiere of The West Wing last night, but haven’t watched it yet. Shhh. Don’t tell me. (Some of the recent buzz I’ve caught coming from John Wells does NOT make me optimistic about the future of this show. Someone needs to make him a big giant sign that says “ER” with one of those red circles with a line through it. Sigh.)

Been listening to America: The Audiobook. Jon Stewart and the rest of the team at The Daily Show are pure genius.

Watched a bunch of movies…finally saw Magnolia, and loved it. Was subsequently given a CD of Aimee Mann songs, which I’m looking forward to giving a good listen. Also watched Smoke Signals, one of R’s favorite movies. I can see why…it was well written, well acted, and told a compelling, hearfelt story.

(side note…noticed that R has his DVDs organized by director. heehee…classifying a film by its director is a new concept to me, but I’m learning.)

Slowly catching up on those back issues of The New Yorker. (I am SO far behind…)

What have you all been up to? 🙂

Too much to say

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Ack. It’s been a busy week. I’m still behind on things I wanted to talk about LAST week. I’ll do a quick summary.

First off, I need some tips on how to deal with the attention spans of 7-year-olds. My cheerleading class at the Y is down to four girls…three 7-year-olds and a six-year-old. They’re really not bad. Cute, eager. LOTS of energy. After about 45 minutes last Friday night, I let them run around, do cartwheels, bounce on the bouncy aerobics balls, basically just burn off some energy for about ten minutes before I brought them back together to review what we’d learned and stretch. I just couldn’t do it. I couldn’t figure out how to hold their attention any longer!

I’m not exactly sure what I’m going to do with them tonight. I thought about looking for a silly little game, a team-building type thing. Two of the little girls are best friends and completely inseparable. One of them is sort of shy, and I think needs to be brought out of her shell a bit. Any ideas?

Finished reading Neverwhere last weekend. I loved it. It was original, clever, very funny at times, very creepy at times, and I wasn’t bored for a moment. Good stuff.

Saturday night, R met a few more of my friends…we went to a little get-together at Rachel & Brian’s place. Tim and Dayna were there too. It was a lot of fun. Unfortunately, we had to eat and run so we could make it to the John & Mary show at Nietzche’s. (John and Mary were with 10,000 Maniacs. Mary sang after Natalie Merchant went solo.) I enjoyed the show.

After spending most of Saturday lounging around, getting R hooked on Sports Night (yay!), and R getting me hooked on Six Feet Under, I went to see Jackdaw at Sportsmen’s Tavern. This was a good venue for them. It’s small, but they sounded great. The only real complaint I had was the size of the stage. There’s six guys in the band, so it was a little crowded. Poor George was stuffed into the back corner with his drums. This one ridiculously drunk guy kept coming up and “dancing” and almost running into people. At one point, I was kind of dancing, and he kept looking at me as if he was going to try and dance with me. I slowly inched away. David noticed this and laughed at me. Thanks, dude.

Tuesday, R and I went to see Carbon Leaf, also at Nietzche’s. Earlier in the day, I went to New World Record to see them play an acoustic set. It was at 3 p.m., so the “crowd” was pretty small. The guys were good natured about this and made jokes. “If you need to shop, don’t let us stop you.” 😉 But by the end of their set, the random people who were in the store had stopped to listen, and a small crowd of people (including at least one employee) had made their way over from the adjoining Spot Coffee. They played all my favorite tunes from Indian Summer (except Raise the Roof) AND my favorite song from Echo Echo.

Terry, one of the guitarists, kept noticing me singing along and smiling. At the end of the set, Barry, the lead singer, urged everyone to come over and say hi. He was talking to a couple of other die-hard fans when I left, but I smiled and said I would see them at the show that night. He remembered me at Nietzche’s, so that was pretty cool…

R very much enjoyed himself. He remarked that Terry looked about “35 percent too Nickelback” to be in the band. Hee. It’s true…he doesn’t have the same “look” as the rest of the guys. Bigger body type, long hair and a mustache. But he looks so darn happy when he’s playing that you kind of forget. And he has such a *nice* voice when he sings.

I was happy that R was impressed with my boy Carter…it sort of validates my fangirl-like worship. 😉

It was a great show. The overly loud, drunk, enthusiastic college girls from Rochester were there, and I didn’t have much patience for them.

“Crazy traaaaaaaaaaain. Play Crazy traaaaaaaaaaain! We came all the way from ROCHESTER! EEEEEEEEEEEEE! We love you BARRYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!”

Do I have more to say? Probably…but I should actually, you know, work today. 😉

Looking for something to read?

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Taking a page (hehe) from Jen, I’m going to talk about Banned Book Week.

This list is full of things I’ve read, things I own, and things I want to read. I thought it would be fun to go through it and make a note of them. If you don’t think it’s fun, feel free to skip this post. 😉 I think I’ll pick at least one of the ones I’ve been meaning to read and do that next week.

Here’s the list of the most frequently challenged books, 1990-2000:

key:
*I’ve read
**I own
I want to read

Scary Stories (Series) by Alvin Schwartz
Daddy’s Roommate by Michael Willhoite
*I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
**The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier
**The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
*Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
**Harry Potter (Series) by J.K. Rowling
*Forever by Judy Blume
*Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson
Alice (Series) by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
Heather Has Two Mommies by Leslea Newman
My Brother Sam is Dead by James Lincoln Collier and Christopher Collier
**The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
**The Giver by Lois Lowry
It’s Perfectly Normal by Robie Harris
Goosebumps (Series) by R.L. Stine
A Day No Pigs Would Dieby Robert Newton Peck
**The Color Purple by Alice Walker
Sex by Madonna
*Earth’s Children (Series) by Jean M. Auel
The Great Gilly Hopkins by Katherine Paterson
**A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle (as you know, this is my favorite book, ever)
*Go Ask Alice by Anonymous
Fallen Angels by Walter Dean Myers
In the Night Kitchen by Maurice Sendak
The Stupids (Series) by Harry Allard
The Witches by Roald Dahl
The New Joy of Gay Sex by Charles Silverstein
*Anastasia Krupnik (Series) by Lois Lowry
The Goats by Brock Cole
Kaffir Boy by Mark Mathabane
*Blubber by Judy Blume
Killing Mr. Griffin by Lois Duncan
Halloween ABC by Eve Merriam
We All Fall Down by Robert Cormier
Final Exit by Derek Humphry
**The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood
*Julie of the Wolves by Jean Craighead George
*The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison
What’s Happening to my Body? Book for Girls: A Growing-Up Guide for Parents & Daughters by Lynda Madaras
**To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
*Beloved by Toni Morrison
**The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton
**The Pigman by Paul Zindel
Bumps in the Night by Harry Allard
*Deenie by Judy Blume
**Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes
Annie on my Mind by Nancy Garden
The Boy Who Lost His Face by Louis Sachar
Cross Your Fingers, Spit in Your Hat by Alvin Schwartz
*A Light in the Attic by Shel Silverstein
**Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
Sleeping Beauty Trilogy by A.N. Roquelaure (Anne Rice)
Asking About Sex and Growing Up by Joanna Cole
*Cujo by Stephen King
*James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl
The Anarchist Cookbook by William Powell
Boys and Sex by Wardell Pomeroy
*Ordinary People by Judith Guest
American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis
What’s Happening to my Body? Book for Boys: A Growing-Up Guide for Parents & Sons by Lynda Madaras
**Are You There, God? It’s Me, Margaret by Judy Blume
Crazy Lady by Jane Conly
Athletic Shorts by Chris Crutcher
Fade by Robert Cormier
Guess What? by Mem Fox
The House of Spirits by Isabel Allende
The Face on the Milk Carton by Caroline Cooney
**Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut
**Lord of the Flies by William Golding
Native Son by Richard Wright
Women on Top: How Real Life Has Changed Women’s Fantasies by Nancy Friday
Curses, Hexes and Spells by Daniel Cohen
Jack by A.M. Homes
Bless Me, Ultima by Rudolfo A. Anaya
Where Did I Come From? by Peter Mayle
**Carrie by Stephen King
*Tiger Eyes by Judy Blume
On My Honor by Marion Dane Bauer
Arizona Kid by Ron Koertge
Family Secrets by Norma Klein
Mommy Laid An Egg by Babette Cole
**The Dead Zone by Stephen King
**The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain
*Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison
Always Running by Luis Rodriguez
Private Parts by Howard Stern
Where’s Waldo? by Martin Hanford
Summer of My German Soldier by Bette Greene
Little Black Sambo by Helen Bannerman
Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett
Running Loose by Chris Crutcher
Sex Education by Jenny Davis
The Drowning of Stephen Jones by Bette Greene
Girls and Sex by Wardell Pomeroy
*How to Eat Fried Worms by Thomas Rockwell
View from the Cherry Tree by Willo Davis Roberts
*The Headless Cupid by Zilpha Keatley Snyder
The Terrorist by Caroline Cooney
Jump Ship to Freedom by James Lincoln Collier and Christopher Collier

All the ladies, louder now, help me out

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I’ve been slowly making my way through ten poems to change your life by Roger Housden, and I’m really, really enjoying it.

As I was reading last night, I did something I rarely do…I picked up a pen and underlined a passage.

The poem was “Last Gods” by Galway Kinnell, which is a beautiful, sensual poem that “elevates the instinctual play of lovemaking to an activity worthy of the gods and…shows how deeply resonant our loving is with all the currents and rhythms of nature itself.”

Housden spends a good deal of time explaining why he chose this poem for a collection purporting to be able to change your life, and he touched on something that resonates deeply with me, something that I’ve talked about here before:

Yet like erotic, the word pleasure has become divorced from its original savor. We still live in the aftermath of a religion (the Catholic variety) for whom the litmus test for a sin remains the question: Did you take pleasure in it?

Our culture, Housden continues, keeps us “in thrall to shame.”

It’s like I said when I was venting about taking the high schoolers to confession, where they were handed an “examination of conscience” flyer. This is an institution that teaches kids that not only is it sinful to have sex, it’s sinful to even *think* about it. It’s no wonder so many young people (and some not-so-young people) are so sorely misguided about sex and sexuality.

“Sex and the City” did a great job of pointing out some of the ways these deeply ingrained attitudes manifested themselves in adult dating behavior. Here are two examples I can think of off the top of my head.

In one case, Charlotte was dating a guy who seemed great except that during sex, he would scream out “You f***ing bitch. You f***ing whore!” When she asked him about it later, he had no memory of saying this, and couldn’t believe he would say any such thing. Needless to say, Charlotte found this disturbing.

The second one (and now that I think of it, I think this one was Miranda. I can’t remember…) was a man who was (of course) a not-quite-recovered Catholic who always, always HAD to get up and immediately shower afterwards. He just felt “dirty,” he explained.

Ach.

It would appear that I meandered a bit from my original point, which was to say that I loved both this poem and Mr. Housden’s analysis/explanation of it.