Seen on the street in San Francisco:
I hope she enjoyed her trip. Apparently, her co-workers
missed her!
What was all that about keeping life simple, reducing the
amount of stuff on hand, etc.? I seem to have taken a step or two back, and
it’s no surprise that books were involved.
I had been quite good about not buying a lot of books lately—that
is until the bookish stars aligned in a most particular way in the past month. Suddenly
I find myself inundated with a large pile of books from: 1. a library book
sale; 2. my local used book store (where I at least turned in some books for
credit); 3. Paperback Swap and 4. a sale at Abebooks.com. (I also bought a
couple books from my library’s used book store as well. It’s a sickness, I tell
you.)
I justify this sudden influx of books by noting that I’ve
only bought books that I either can’t get at my library, books I especially
want to add to my personal collection, or books that I need/want for reference
for a writing project. I also can’t help it that one of the books on my
Paperback Swap wish list became available during this same period…
And just when my to-be-read stack seemed to be shrinking.
Curious about all this book bounty? This post would be far
too long if I describe all of these, so I’ll just share a few:
Tales of the City,
Armistead Maupin. I found this at my local used book store. I was under the
impression this was a series of essays, but it turns out it’s a novel, set in San
Francisco . After visiting San
Francisco , I’ve wanted to read more about it, and more
books set there.
Very New Orleans New
Orleans , one of my favorite cities.
The Solitary Summer,
Elizabeth Von Arnim. A novel by the author who wrote Elizabeth and Her German Garden. In this book, Elizabeth
is to have a summer all to herself, with no guests, but plenty of time for her
books and her garden and general roaming of the countryside. Sounds like heaven to me. I bought this one and the next from the
Abebooks sale.
The Lady Vanishes,
Ethel Lina White. I love mysteries, and this sounds like a good one. Originally
published in the 1930s as The Wheel Spins,
Alfred Hitchcock eventually made a movie out of it.
Pears on a Willow
Cousin Kate and The Spanish Bride, Georgette Heyer. I
used to read Georgette Heyer’s historical romances when I was a teenager and
young adult. This summer, I picked up Heyer’s biography, which turned out to be
fascinating, and renewed my interest in her work. She was a very private woman,
refused to do interviews to promote her books, and was quite expert on the
Regency era in England
in which so many of her books were set.
Belle Weather, Celia
Rivenbark. A collection of funny essays focusing on southern life. I’ve read
her other books (including Bless YourHeart, Tramp, and Stop Dressing YourSix-Year-Old Like a Skank) My library bookstore had Belle Weather
for just a dollar, so I snatched it up.
I admit I go overboard with books. I really do not need to own all these books, but chances are
pretty good that I will pass at least some of them on eventually, back to the
used book store, library or Paperback Swap. In the meantime, I will revel in
the wealth of printed material I have to choose from. I just finished a novel,
so what shall I pick up next?
What do you go overboard with?
 |
| Photo courtesy Malgorzata Replinska |
I have always enjoyed poems that celebrate the small
pleasures of life. Here Max Mendelsohn, age 12, of Weston ,
Massachusetts
Ode to Marbles
I love the sound of marbles
scattered on the worn wooden floor,
like children running away in a game of
hide-and-seek.
I love the sight of white marbles,
blue marbles,
green marbles, black,
new marbles, old marbles,
iridescent marbles,
with glass-ribboned swirls,
dancing round and round.
I love the feel of marbles,
cool, smooth,
rolling freely in my palm,
like smooth-sided stars
that light up the worn world.
My husband and I have been married for 24 years, and over
that time we’ve developed a set of words and phrases that serve as a kind of
family shorthand for feelings and inside jokes. Most of them have an element of
humor (good for diffusing sticky situations) and sometimes serve as a sort of
verbal throwing-up-of-the-hands. For your amusement, I share a few of them
below:
“I’m a delicate flower.” Meaning: whatever you’ve asked me
to do is too hard, and I can’t/don’t want to do it. Sounds nicer than “You don’t
really expect me to help you move that furniture, do you?”
“Pay the love toll.” Meaning: Before I give you what you
want/you walk by me/you leave the house, I need a hug.
Hayseed/Nimrod. A hayseed is a person who has done something
stupid, but doesn’t know any better. A nimrod knows better, but does the stupid
thing anyway. With teenagers around, it’s often hard to discern between hayseed
and nimrod behavior.
“Buy yourself a trinket.” Usually said by the lender to the
lendee who is returning change after borrowing money. Sometimes we also say
this when someone outside the immediate family tries to pay one of us back for
something we paid for.
“You kids get off of my lawn.” We say this when we realize
we just said something that makes us sound like old fogies. Usually accompanied
by shaking a fist in the air.
Family vocabulary makes me happy. I feel more connected in
an intimate way to my husband and son, because no one else completely
understands the history and emotional content of our words. Sometimes saying a single word in a certain way diffuses tension, making us laugh instead of
yell or cry.
Does your family have any words or phrases that serve as
family shorthand or inside family jokes?
 |
| Did someone say HAYseed? |
Have you been watching the Olympics? I’ve been spending
hours glued to the TV because…equestrian events! Thank you NBC Sports! So far
they’ve had the sense to air good portions of the three equestrian events that
take place at the Games: eventing, dressage and show jumping. If you’ve never
watched equestrian events, here’s a quick primer for what you can see, and a
few fun facts:
Currently, equestrian events are the only ones where men and
women compete against each other as equals.
The three equestrian sports at the 2012 Olympics are
dressage, “Grand Prix” or show jumping, and eventing (also known as three-day
eventing). Each sport has a separate
team of riders and horses.
In dressage,
horses perform a series of movements known as a “test.” The first two rounds,
the movements are in compulsory order. The third round is “freestyle” and set
to music. Dressage has been called “horse ballet.” In show jumping, horse and rider must complete a course of
approximately 15 fences within a set amount of time. Penalties are assessed if
poles are knocked down, a horse refuses a jump, or if the horse and rider do
not complete the course within the time allowed. Eventing takes place over several days and includes three
components—a dressage test, a cross country course, and a round of show
jumping. (The dressage and jumping aspects are completed in the same manner as
the regular dressage and show jumping, but at a less demanding level.) Eventing
is the triathlon of horse competitions, and tests the horse’s fitness and the
rider’s all-round skill.
In each of these sports, team and individual medals will be
given out. Two hundred athletes will compete for the six gold, six silver and
six bronze medals at the 2012 Olympics.
Riders must be a minimum age of 18 to compete in eventing or
show jumping, and 16 to compete in dressage. The oldest member of the U.S.
Olympic team is Karen O’Connor, a 54-year-old eventer competing in her fifth Olympics.
The youngest is 18-year-old Reed Kessler, part of the show jumping team. And
the oldest athlete at the entire 2012 Games competes in dressage: Japanese
rider Hiroshi Hoketsu, age 71.
Equestrian events began in 682 B.C. when a four-horse
chariot race took place at Greece ’s
25th Olympiad.
Until 1952, only male cavalry officers were allowed to
compete in equestrian events.
Lisa Hartel, of Denmark, won a silver medal in dressage at
the 1952 Games, despite being paralyzed from the waist down by polio and having
to be lifted on and off her horse.
Also in 1952, Foxhunter, the horse that carried Colonel
Harry Llewellyn to Great Britain’s only gold medal of the Games (in team show
jumping), received a congratulatory telegram from Winston Churchill.
The horses that compete in the Olympics have their own
passports. The passports don’t have pictures, but line drawings indicating the
horse's identifying features. They also contain a list of the horse’s
vaccinations.
Check online or with your local TV stations if you’re
interested in taking a peek at the world of equestrian sports (or click here for the best schedule I've found). Eventing
finished earlier this week, dressage is taking place now and show jumping
starts Saturday. Here’s a quick YouTube video from the eventing competition to
whet your interest:
What’s your favorite Olympic sport?
