Category: lists

book, book, book, book

I am once again behind in my memery. YTSL tagged me for this book meme a couple of weeks ago, and it looked like fun. (Admittedly, two weeks behind is practically early for me these days.) You may see a wee bit of overlap with my earlier list of 18 favorite books, which was based on another meme YTSL tagged me for. (That one was supposed to be about a single favorite book. I had trouble following directions.) This time, the instructions mostly involve giving lists of four.

Four childhood books

  • Small Pig, Arnold Lobel. Possibly the first book I read by myself. About a pig. A small pig, even. Who likes mud.
  • The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe, C. S. Lewis. This book really captured my imagination. I think I was always hoping to stuble across some otherworldly portal in my grandmother’s house.
  • The Gammage Cup, Carol Kendall. A quirky fantasy book about individuality and evil mushrooms.
  • The Phantom Tollbooth, Norton Juster. A quirky fantasy book with lots of wordplay. Right up my alley.

Four authors I will read again and again

  • Sarah Caudwell
  • M. M. Kaye
  • Rumer Godden
  • Jane Austen

    • It’s hard to list just four here. I also considered Gregory Maguire and Connie Willis, though for each of them, there’s really only one book I tend to read over and over. (Wicked and Bellwether, in case you wondered.) Actually, I tend to reread kids’ books even more. The Chronicles of Narnia and the Dark is Rising series (Susan Cooper) get picked up often.

Four authors I will never read again

  • The Horse Whisperer dude. I can’t even be bothered to look up his name. That book irritated me beyond measure.
  • Amy Ephron. When I ran a book group, we once haplessly picked a little book called A Cup of Tea. The best thing about it was that it was short.

    • Other than that, I can’t really think of authors I hate. I don’t generally like to generalize from a single book (with the above exceptions). There have been a number of books I haven’t liked, and either I don’t remember the author’s name, or there have been other books that I’ve liked, or others that I still might be willing to give a chance.

The first four books on my to-be-read list

  • The Pirates!: An Adventure with Scientists & An Adventure with Ahab, Gideon Defoe. This the most recent book given to me as a gift.
  • Ulysses, by James Joyce. This damn book has been at the top of my to-be-read list for over a decade. It seems a shame to ever remove it…
  • Lolita, by Vladimir Nabokov. I have been commanded to read it once I listed it among my unread books.
  • The Ph0nology of T0ne and Int0nation (by Carl0s Gussenh0ven). This is actually the book I’m reading, as part of one of my degree requirements. (You may have n0ticed the zer0s here. I don’t like the idea of the author googling his name and finding…me procrastinating. That doesn’t seem quite right.)

    • Another book I’d like to read soon is actually a reread: The Golden Compass. I want to reread before I see the movie.

The four books I would take to a desert island

  • Thus was Adonis Murdered
  • Shadow of the Moon
  • The Complete Works of Shakespeare. I figure it would keep me busy. (Funny, I saw that this was also listed among the desert island picks of the person who tagged YTSL.)
  • I can’t decide.Bellwether or maybe Wicked or the Poisonwood Bible. Or maybe something new to me.

The last part of the assignment is to write the last lines of one of my favourite books. I can’t really do this just now, since I have work to do. If I could, I’d look up the last lines of Thus was Adonis Murdered. However, I gave away my copy of that, and have yet to replace it. And I shouldn’t go digging around in other books, since I have work to do. I do remember, though, that the last line of Shadow of the Moon was “And it was Alex.”

There it is. Damn, that ended up longer than I expected. Sorry about that. As for tagging, I think I have to pass, since tagging always seems to take me a lot of time. I agonize over who to choose. Please feel free to tag yourself if you are so inclined, and I’d be happy to link you up here.

11 11 bits for 11/11

It’s now 11:00. And today is 11/11. So it seems only fitting that I should bring you some 11-related content.

    1111.jpg

  1. 11:11 My favorite time to see on a digital clock. Whenever John or I notice it, we always say “eleven eleven.” (I suppose unless we are in some sort of situation where that might be inappropriate. [Insert inappropriate situation here.] )
  2. I came across this little poem when I was little. (Before I was 11, even.) Each digit should be pronounced by name. (So for any “1” say “one.”)

    11 was a racehorse
    22 was 12
    1111 race 1 day
    22112

  3. 11 is 3 in binary
  4. musical eleventh:

    In music or music theory an eleventh is the note eleven scale degrees from the root of a chord and also the interval between the root and the eleventh.

  5. Apollo 11: landed on the moon in 1969. With people in it.
  6. The movie “Ocean’s Eleven” (1960) and the (2001) remake.
  7. The Armistice ending WWI went into effect on the 11th day of the 11th month. At the 11th hour, no less.
  8. The eleventh hour: the last minute before a deadline. As in “I’m usually scrambling to get my work done up to the eleventh hour.”
  9. The eleven o-clock news: a common time, and label, for late-night TV news.
  10. Elevenses. A light, late-morning snack traditional in the UK. Now seen as a bit old-fashioned. (As if snacking could ever go out of style.)
  11. “These go up to 11.” Nigel Tufnel of Spinal Tap is proud of his amplifiers, whose volume control dials have numbers that go all the way up to 11. Not 10 like other amps. So it must be better. And this list goes up to 11, too, you know. Lists that go up to 11 are better than lists that only go up to 10.

make like a tree

I’m quite fond of trees. You might even say that I identify with them. To celebrate their arborial grandness, and to follow up on the squirreliness of last week’s list, I bring you a Themed Thing list of Trees.

  • The Lorax, by Dr. Seuss. This beloved book features Truffula trees, and is a parable (?) about the impact of excessive deforestation, industrialization and consumerism. The Lorax is a little creature who voices the warnings. “I speak for the trees.”
  • The Giving Tree, Shel Silverstein. A book about a boy, who takes serious advantage of a generous tree. The tree gives, and the boy/man takes and takes. And takes. Till all that’s left of the tree is a stump. And this is supposed to be a moving tale of generosity. An environmentalist friend of mine from college once said of it, “I think it’s misguided.”

    • the_lorax.jpgthe_giving_tree.jpg

  • A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, a coming of age novel by Betty Smith.
  • The Tree of Man, a novel by Australian Author (and winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature), Patrick White.
  • tree-hugger: A term used to refer to environmentalists, especially those who look to protect forests. Sometimes used pejoratively, but embraced by others.
  • Arbor Day A holiday for planting and caring for trees. And maybe for hugging them. In the US, it’s celebrated in April. (The next one is April 25th, 2008. Only 168 shopping days left.)
  • Christmas Tree A possibly Pagan-derived holiday tradition of decorating a tree with ornaments and lights and such. Usually a pine tree.

    • lost_pants_tree.jpg

  • syntactic trees (tree structures) Diagrams representing hierarchical structure are often described as trees. People studying syntax spend a fair amount of time drawing tree diagrams of sentences.
  • family tree The tree is used as a metaphor to describe relationships within a family, especially when drawing a diagram of relatedness.
  • Trees are prominent in mythologies and foklore from many cultures, including many variations on a mystic Tree of Life.

    • family_tree.jpg yggdrasil.jpg dryad11.jpg
    A German woodcut of a family tree, the Yggdrasil, and The Dryad by Evelyn De Morgan

  • Dryads, tree nymphs (or wood nymphs) from Greek mythology. They are among the magical creatures to be found in the Chronicals of Narnia. See also “The Dryad”, a story be Hans Christian Anderson
  • In Greek Mythology, Daphne is turned into a laurel tree while trying to escape the clutches of an amourous Apollo.
  • The Ents, from the Lord of the Rings trilogy by J. R. R. Tolkien. Big tree people.
  • “Shaking the Tree”, an album by Peter Gabriel. Also a song with Youssou N’dour. [YouTube]
  • “barking up the wrong tree” An idiom alluding to a dog chasing a cat up a tree, but mistaking the location of said cat. It means “acting based on some mistaken impression”
  • “can’t see the forest for the trees”An expression to describe when someone is too caught up in the details to understand the larger context.
  • Then there’s the playground chant:

    X & Y sitting in a tree
    K-I-S-S-I-N-G

    • The Call of the Pants

    pants.pngBecause the world needs more things with pants, and because I promised to write more posts with pants, I bring you pants. Following the success of the great moments of pants cinema, and in the tradition of the legendary Star Wars pants list, I bring to you a list of literary pants classics.

    Great Works of Classic Pants Literature.

  • All the King’s Pants, Robert Penn Warren
    A story of politics, pants, and politicians’ pants.
  • A Farewell to Pants, Ernest Hemingway
    Even pants don’t last forever.
  • The Return of the Pants, Thomas Hardy
    Laundry lost, laundry found.
  • The Pants and the Fury, William Faulkner
    A tale told by an idiot. Signifying pants.
  • A Tale of Two Pants, Charles Dickens
    They were worn, they were washed. It’s a short tale.
  • Around the World in Eighty Pants, Jules Verne
    About a man who did not know how to travel light.
  • Peter Pants, J. M. Barrie
    A whimsical, magical pants tale
  • The Canterbury Pants, Geoffrey Chaucer
    Tales of pilgrimages and pants.
  • The Pants of Monte Cristo, Alexandre Dumas
    Justice. Vengence. Pants.
  • Little Pants, Louisa May Alcott
    The heartwarming saga of sisters and pants.
  • The Wonderful Wizard of Pants, L. Frank Baum
    A young girl and her companions embark on a quest for pants.
  • The Strange Pants of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, by Robert Louis Stevenson
    Two men share a pair of pants. It’s not pretty.
  • The Man in the Iron Pants, Alexandre Dumas
    That just can’t be comfortable.
  • Journey to the Center of the Pants, Jules Verne
    Discover the mysteries that lie deep within the pants.
  • A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Pants, by Mark Twain
    This story may not be suitable for children under age 13.

    • the downward spiral

    phoebe_park_jeep.jpgPhoebe and I got to have a leisurely day together today, after a long week of not having much time together. We celebrated by going to the local playground. It was a bright beautiful day. I had fun following Phoebe around on her rounds.

    I didn’t have the camera with me this time, but I did get some pictures from the last time we went, about 2 weeks ago. This seems as good a time as any to share a couple of them. It was a bright warm day last time, and the trees were showing their fall colors. (Most of the leaves are off the trees now.)

    phoebe_park_fall.jpg

    And here’s a very short movie, showing Phoebe going down the big spiral slide. (See how much fun I have following her around?)

    ——-

    What with participating in NaBloPoMo, on top of all my other life duties, this promises to be a busy month for me. I have all sorts of things in mind to write about this month, but I expect I’ll have little time and energy to follow through. And just to help keep me from letting my posts degenerate into a series of posts about what I had for breakfast, or possibly worse, posts that are just lists of stuff I meant to write, I figured I should jot down a list of my more honorable intentions.

    Stuff I Mean to Write:

    • a bit of a wrap-up of my CSA adventure
    • at least one post on some language topic
    • at least one post of some redeeming social value.
    • at least one addition to the kick-ass women project
    • four more Themed Things Thursday Posts
    • at least one post on pants. A week.

    Is the glass half empty, or half full?

    You are probably familiar with the age-old question, usually intended to determine whether you are the type to see things in a positive or negative light. The traditional answers are “half empty” (you are are a pessimist) or “half full” (you are an optimist). However, I find these traditional interpretations a bit too simplistic for the complexity of personality types and moods that individuals exhibit. Or that I exhibit on a given day. So I offer to you…

    Alternative Answers to the Question
    “Is the Glass Half Empty or Half Full?”

    1. Probably.
    2. Who drank half my drink?
    3. The glass is half full. But what is all that crud floating around in there?
    4. The glass is half full of ice so they can rip you off when you buy a soda.
    5. I think it was half full, but I spilled it. On your couch.
    6. I’ll take mine straight from the bottle.
    7. That’s no glass, that’s a sippy cup.
    8. Are you trying to poison me?
    9. The glass is cracked.
    10. There is no glass.

    water_glass.jpg

    squirreling away

    squirrel_nutkin.jpgInspired by yesterday’s squirreliness, this week’s Themed Things Thursday is brought to you by squirrels.¹

    A Stash of Squirrely Things

  • The Tale of Squirrel Nutkin. A book by Beatrix Potter.

    This is a Tale about a tail–a tail that belonged to a little red
    squirrel, and his name was Nutkin.

  • Squirrel Nut Zippers a band. Takes its name from a candy.
  • For Squirrels. A band. Has a song entitled “Mighty K.C.”²
  • “Secret Squirrel,” a song by Marcy Playground

    Tune in next week and see
    Secret squirrel save you and me

  • The Flying Squirrel from The Tick (The animated series.) A superhero whose battlecry is “I like squirrels!”

    • rocky.jpg

  • Rocket J. Squirrel, aka Rocky, of The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show. The clever one of the “moose and squirrel” pair.
  • Bubbles, the Powerpuff Girl, can talk to squirrels [clip on YouTube]
  • “Squirrel Boy” (2006-??) A Cartoon Network cartoon about a boy and his pesky squirrel friend.
  • Azqueeral. In a 2002 Daily Show episode, a man who has invented a birdfeeding hat describes a harrowing attack by a squirrel. Or by an azqueeral, as the subtitles show. It sounded a bit like “shquiddle” to us.
  • “I kicked Thumper’s ass” A t-shirt worn by a tough squirrel in Gary Larson’s book There’s a Hair in My Dirt
  • Squirrels have also been featured in American Hovel Magazine, the magazine dedicated to lowering acceptable neatness standards in the American home. See our featured interview, and the front cover of the April 2007 edition, below.

    • —–
    ¹ With apologies to KC.

    ² KC, I kid you not. Here’s YouTube proof, even.)

    ³ This footnote doesn’t match up with anything, but I felt I should toss out there that this marks my first official NaBloPoMo post. 1 down, 29 to go!

    chocolate-coated list

    600px-chocolate1.jpg

    Halloween is just around the corner, and this means a bunch of things. Costumes. Parties. Spooky decorations. Getting the crap scared out of you at fun “family” activities. But for a lot of people it’s all about the candy. And while there are loads of types of yummy sugar-coma-inducing candies out there filling up those plastic pumpkins, chocolate is the treat most trick-or-treaters prize the most. So I give you a ThThTh list that’s chock-full of chocolate. Enjoy!

  • Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, by Roald Dahl
    A children’s novel. Also the 2005 movie starring ever-versatile Johnny Depp, as well as Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory (1971), starring Gene Wilder, both based on the Roald Dahl novel. The factory has a chocolate river.
  • Chocolat (2000)
    Again with Johnny Depp, and this time with Juliette Binoche. About a woman who opens a chocolate shop in a French village. Based on the novel Chocolat by Joanne Harris.
  • “Chocolate,” by Snow Patrol (video on YouTube)
  • Hot Chocolate, a 70’s band best known for the song “You Sexy Thing” (YouTube video)
  • Como agua para chocolate/Like Water for Chocolate. The book by Laura Esquivel, and the 1992 movie based on the same. Also an expression:
    brigadeiro.jpg

    The phrase “like water for chocolate” comes from the Spanish “como agua para chocolate”. This phrase is a common expression in Spanish speaking countries and was the inspiration for Laura Esquivel’s novel title (the name has a double-meaning).
    In some Latin American countries, such as Mexico, hot chocolate is made not with milk, but with water instead. Water is boiled and chunks of milk chocolate are dropped in to melt. The saying “like water for chocolate,” alludes to this fact and also to the common use of the expression as a metaphor for describing a state of passion or sexual arousal. In some parts of Latin America, the saying is also equivalent to being ‘boiling mad’ in anger.

  • The Chocolate Touch, by Patrick Skene Catling. A kids’ book based on the tale of King Midas, whose touch would turn things to gold. In this case, a boy’s touch turns things into chocolate.
  • “Band Candy” This Buffy episode is one of my favorites. All students at the high school must sell chocolate bars in support of the school band, but eating the chocolate makes adults behave like teenagers.
  • I Love Lucy Episode 39 – “Job Switching” (aka the “Candy Factory” episode). Lucy and Ethel get a job in a chocolate factory, and can’t keep up with the conveyor belt, leading to much laughtrack laughter. (YouTube video)
  • My momma always said, “Life was like a box of chocolates. You never know what you’re gonna get.” A quote from “Forrest Gump“. (Also from the novel by Winston Groom.)
  • “Happiness is” by the Violent Femmes

    I don’t know what one means by happy
    I’m happy spasmodically
    If I eat a chocolate turtle I’m happy
    When the box is empty I’m unhappy
    When I get another box
    I’m happy again

    • chocolate_bar-1.jpg

    Who’s with me?

    Because I am certifiable, I have signed on to NaBloPoMo. Don’t worry, it’s not a cult. (At least I don’t think so.¹) November is National Blog Posting Month. It involves commitment to posting every day for the whole month. That’s 30 days in a row.

    The NaBloPoMo website lets members² make groups. To hang out. Like in cliques, I guess. Lots of people have started regional-based groups, like New England Bloggers³, Tennessee Bloggers, or Blogs from Europe.

    Many others have created groups reflecting special interests. And perhaps some are especially interesting. Such as bikers, or brides or pregnant bloggers. Or pregant biker bride bloggers. Or knitters. Or (judging by their limited enrollment⁴ so far) even more specialized special interests, including Bichon bloggers and Kevin Spacey Bloggers.

    I found myself with an urge to join a bunch of groups. Just because. And what’s more, I had the urge to start my own group: The Ministry of Silly Blogs:

    Our chief functions are threefold: a) to identify silliness on the web, b) to create silliness on the web, c) to promote silliness on the web and 4) to encourage the promotion, creation and identification of silliness on the web.

    And while filling out the form to start the group, I noticed a box to fill in an existing website for the group. “Damn,” I thought. “The Ministry of Silly Blogs deserves a website.”

    So I made one. With some Official Ministry Bling, even.

    And 3 other people have already signed on to be part of the Minsitry of Silly Blogs. 3 people who are total strangers even. (And quite possibly, 3 people who are totally strange.)

    So, anyone else out there care to join me? Either at the Ministry, or just with NaBloPoMo in general?

    I also have in mind a number of other groups, which I may or may not decide to officially form:

    • Pants Bloggers: For bloggers who write about pants, like to say the word pants, and/or who wear pants while blogging
    • Homo Sapiens Bloggers: For bipedal primate bloggers who consider their brains more highly developed than your average baboon
    • Genji Bloggers: for bloggers who like to write about having read the 11th century novel The Tale of Genji, by Murasaki Shikibu, often known as the first novel ever written.
    • Linguistics Grad Student Bloggers with 20-month-olds Named Phoebe and Who Like to Write Lists and Make Stuff Up: For bloggers who are named alejna

    ———————————
    ¹ I followed Magpie over there. But how well do I really know her?

    ² Why is that I get uncomfortable with that word?…members…Sounds a bit like card-carrying members. Or perhaps cult followers…

    ³ Well, “Bloggahs,” which I joined in spite of my non-native tendency towards rhoticity.

    ⁴ N=1.