Wanted: a distraction

Q: What is the most effective use of time during a practicing and grading all-nighter?

A: A blog post, of course.

I only wrote one post during 2010 and I figured it would be an easy goal to write twice as many in 2011. Here's the first step toward achieving that goal.

Because I'm playing with the Utah Symphony nearly full-time this year I often can't participate in the university orchestra. I shed no tears over this, but since playing in school orchestra is part of my assistantship I had to be assigned other duties to take its place. I ended up being assigned as a TA to a world music class. In theory this sounds like an interesting job, but it's proved to be tedious as best.

This past week I've had the joy and privilege of grading papers. They are short (3-4 pages) essays about a song or piece of music written during and/or about a time of conflict. Here are a few things I've learned from reading these literary masterpieces:

• There's no point in writing things in one's own words when one can easily copy and paste someone else's.
• Quoting Rocky Balboa can be useful when creating a supporting argument.
• Something is terribly wrong with the American education system. These people should not have been allowed to graduate from high school with such poor writing skills.
• Biphony is, apparently, a very important and useful music term that can be used to describe any number of musical characteristics.
• Using the phrase "seems to be" will absolve you of all wrong-doing if the statement in which it appears is incorrect or downright ridiculous.
• It is possible for a person to promote both pacifism and retaliation at the same time.
• Toby Keith is one of the greatest artists alive today.
  
• I really wish I didn't have to grade all these papers.

I'm up all night grading these papers and practicing for a lesson tomorrow. I should get back to work--thanks for indulging me in a quick distraction

Father's Day, a few months late

On Father's Day last year I had a nice little experience. On Sundays, KBYU-FM airs recordings of Leslie Norris reading his prose or poetry. Mr. Norris was a poet and teacher from Wales who taught at BYU from the 1980s until 2004 or so. He was also the Poet-in-Residence at BYU for several years. I'm not especially familiar with his work, but it's always a pleasure to catch a snippet of one of his readings on the radio. This particular Sunday I turned on the radio as I was driving home from church. One of Mr. Norris's readings was on and it quickly caught my attention because I recognized the work being read.

In 10th grade English class we read a short story called "Shaving." Some of you probably read it in school as well--I think it's often used in high school English books. The story really struck me at the time, though, and I never forgot it. The plot, in brief, involves a teenage boy who, after coming home victorious from a rugby match, takes a moment to shave his ailing, bedridden father. The prose was simple and beautiful, and the tender yet melancholy nature of the tale made a lasting impression on my young mind. It was only months after this experience that my own father was diagnosed with cancer, and I often reflected on this story throughout his illness and for years after his death. I could never remember who the author was, and although I probably could have found out easily enough, I never thought to look it up.

As you've probably deduced by now, the story being read on the radio was the one I remembered from high school. I was so glad to hear this story again and to finally find out the author. As I listened to the story on that Father's Day, when my mind was already turned to my dad, I felt again my gratitude for such a wonderful father, my sorrow at his death, and my joy in knowing I will see him again. It was the best kind of experience I could have wished for on that day and I've been meaning to share it ever since. With the 9th anniversary of my dad's death on January 19th, I figured it was as good a time as any. To my dad, because I'm sure you have access to this blog wherever you are, I miss you and I love you.

Download a PDF of the story here.

Beethoven 5 x5

This week I'm playing with the Utah Symphony. It's their season-opener this weekend and to draw a crowd they programmed a sure-fire hit: Beethoven's Symphony No. 5. There are few pieces of classical music that are instantly recognizable to the general public, and those that fall in that category are often written off by the musicians who play them as trite or cliche "audience pleasers" (Pachelbel's Canon comes to mind--ask any cellist how he/she feels about that piece). Some pieces don't deserve the amount of recognition they've gained over the years (again, Pachelbel comes to mind) but some are so well-known for a reason: they're really fantastic pieces of music. Beethoven 5 definitely fits in the latter category.

As best as I can remember, I'm pretty sure this is my fifth time playing this piece. It may actually be my sixth or seventh, but I'm not exactly sure and saying it's my fifth time seems more symbolic or something. I won't detail the other four times (seeing as I can't even remember if it actually is four, and also because it probably wouldn't be that interesting) but as I've been rehearsing and performing the piece this week I've been reflecting on the first time I played this symphony.

I'm pretty sure I was in fourth grade at the time and I performed it with the Uintah Basin Community Orchestra, or whatever name it was going by that year. The director, Mr. Priest, must have been pretty ambitious to decide to perform such a monumental piece with such a non-monumental orchestra. I don't remember many (or any) specifics about how our performance sounded or what it was like (I had nothing to compare it to anyway--I was only 10) and I often wonder what I would think if I heard a recording of it now, but even with our extremely amateur skill level there was no covering up the beauty and genius of the piece. We bumbled through it somehow and ever since then that symphony has had a special place in my violist heart. I remember feeling profoundly moved (as much as a 10 year-old can, anyway) at several moments in the work, and I still have odd flashbacks to the Uintah High School band room whenever I perform the piece.

I'm getting a little touchy-feely here, and you know I usually try to avoid that quality in general, but I'm on a little high right now after getting back from a performance and wanted try to pass that along as best I could. There is something transcendental about playing a Beethoven symphony. Yes, that does sound a little melodramatic and I hate to sound too grandiose about it all, but sitting in the middle of a tight orchestra and rocking some of the greatest music ever written is an experience to appreciate. There is nothing like it. My life is pretty great sometimes.

Boring lists

Things I like:

• Finding hidden treasures at thrift stores
• Weather that includes temperatures of 75 degrees or colder
• Feeling competent
• Dill pickles
• The good kind of soreness that reminds me of the existence of muscles I'd forgotten I had
• Free time
• Driving to the music of Steve Reich
  
• Quiet, usually
• Low expectations
• A good batch of hummus
• Funny British people
  
• Reciprocating kindness, or having kindness reciprocated
• Large open spaces
• Corduroys and strange polyester shirts
• Full-fat chocolate milk
  

Things I don't like:

• Drama (as in overreacting)
• Herbal tea
• Musicians who can't count (I don't dislike the musicians themselves necessarily, but the incorrect counting thing can really bother me)
  
• Dishes that somehow mix fruit and meat (lime chicken does not count--it's a marinade)
• The effects of procrastination
• i h8 lazy txt speech dont u >:-( lol
  
• Wearing jewelry
• Attempting to dress fancy
• Unkindness and/or conflict
  
• Having to maintain a high-maintenance person
• Black licorice
• Very specific shades of blue and pink that make me want to puke
  
• Finding my own grammar and/or spelling mistakes
• Trying something new and finding out I'm not very good at it
• Jazz flute music

Things I don't particularly care about:

• Politics, for the most part
• The fanciness of my daily attire
• T.V. (except my three shows)
• Romantic comedies
• That whole flirting competition thing
  
• Video games
• Power and/or fame
  
• Celebrity gossip
• Sharing spit (ie. eating food off someone's plate, drinking out of another person's glass, etc.)
• Personality quizzes
• Analyzing the deeper meaning behind everything
• Ironing
  

A beard is a wish your heart makes....

I have to prepare an hour-long presentation for a class on Monday, so of course I'm coming up with a blog post instead.

Some of you may know that I have a serious thing for men with beards. Not every man with a beard ever (apologies to ZZ Top and Lorenzo Snow) but I must say that a little facial hair can go a long way in making a guy look more attractive.

I'm not exactly sure where this came from. I've haven't known many men with beards in my life, and the ones I have known haven't exactly struck me as particularly tasty. I think I can attribute the realization of my follicle fixation to two guys I've met in college.

One was an oboe player in Michigan who grew the most fantastic beard. He would shave it off from time to time and it always surprised me how much less hot he was without it. Even when he shaved it off into a handlebar mustache he could still wear facial hair very well. Nothing happened there, of course. Like I would ever go for an oboe player anyway.

Example number two is a guy I met here at the U of U. What a beard! I first saw him when he conducted the music for sacrament meeting in my ward. Looking back, I can honestly say that I don't think I would have even given him a second look were it not for his lovely, tantalizing beard. It's truly a beauty to behold. Nothing has happened there, of course. Like I would ever go for a super hot guy anyway....

So there it is: I love beards. On men, that is. Thinking about this subject, I began considering famous men who definitely improve with some manly stubble. For example:

Exhibit A: Robert Downey Jr.

I never really thought of Mr. Downey as being all that attractive. There was something kind of baby-face-ish about him that didn't really do anything for me.



But with a beard....hottentot.





Exhibit B: George Clooney

Granted, Mr. Clooney is easy on the eyes in general.



But add a beard...much better.





Exhibit C: Harrison Ford back in the day

Good old Mr. Ford (emphasis on 'old') was fairly tasty back in his prime, beard or no beard.



But a beard, especially '70s-style, never hurts.



And last but not least,

Exhibit D: Hugh Laurie

Long before he became famous for portraying Dr. House, I knew Mr. Laurie from his British comedy shows, ie. Blackadder, Jeeves and Wooster, A Bit of Fry and Laurie etc. He's a great comedic actor and back then usually played the part of the goofy idiot. If you had asked me then if I thought he could ever be considered a sex symbol I would have given a hearty guffaw. Not that he's bad-looking, necessarily. He's pretty much just a non-descript British bloke.



But give him some stubble and a hit TV show...





So there you have it. Now that I've thoroughly presented myself as being completely superficial, I guess it's time to sign off. If you know any single, bearded, non-weird guys, send them my way.

Ode to Jimmy John's

As some of you may know, I have an unhealthy addiction to sandwiches. I attribute this almost entirely to my friend, Eileen, who introduced me to a whole new world of sandwiches when we became friends in Michigan. I'd eaten sandwiches before, of course, and liked them well enough. They can be a very handy and practical food item. Just ask my sister, Jody, who ate a ham sandwich every day (as far as I know) of her Jr. High and High School careers, and may still to this day.

In any case, I discovered another level of deliciousness when I began exploring my sandwich options around Ann Arbor. There were many to choose from: Potbelly's (hot sandwiches at their best), Roly Poly (the Texas Tuna Melt was divine), more gyro/schwarma places than I'd ever seen (a huge perk to living in an area with a large percentage of Middle Eastern folks), and last but not least, Jimmy John's (said with a sigh).



There were Jimmy John's stores everywhere in Michigan, including seven or more in the Ann Arbor area alone. There was one right by my bus stop downtown and right near the halls where both the school orchestra and the Ann Arbor Symphony held their concerts. There was another right by the freeway entrance near the School of Music which I frequented when traveling to and from gigs. I actually spent quite a bit of time traveling around Southern Michigan for gigs (thanks again to Eileen) and more often than not had to eat lunch/dinner on the road. If given the choice I would invariably choose Jimmy John's over almost anywhere else.

Not only would I almost always choose Jimmy John's, I always ordered the exact same thing. I experimented with different sandwiches when I was first getting to know the shop, but I eventually came up with the perfect sandwich and haven't ordered anything different since 2006, to my knowledge. I always get the #2, "The Big John," which is roast beef with lettuce and tomato. That sounds pretty tame, but then I have them add onions, oregano, and their special sauce (which is probably just oil and vinegar). The combination can only be described as celestial. Superhuman. Transcendental.

My reason for writing this post, which sounds like it has some heavy corporate backing, is because of a couple of recent experiences:

1.) They just opened a store a few blocks from where I live in Salt Lake. Before, the closest one was a 20-minute drive on the freeway so I couldn't go there without feeling extravagant unless there was already a reason for me to be going through that part of town. Now that there's one so close, though, I'm afraid that every day will turn into a Jimmy John's day and I'll become one of those customers that the employees will know by name and will know what I mean if I order "the usual." That actually might be kind of cool and make me feel like I'm in a movie or TV show, but that's not exactly what I'm going for in life.

2.) I left my viola in a Jimmy John's a couple of weeks ago. I stopped there on my way to Salt Lake (there's a shop conveniently located off the I-15 Highland/Alpine exit). I was feeling paranoid about leaving my viola in the car, so I took it inside while I got my sandwich. Since my case is brown it blended in perfectly with the bench and one thing led to another.... I got it back and everything was fine, but my level of distraction while inhaling a sublime sandwich could end up being a very bad thing someday.

So, do yourself a favor and look up your nearest Jimmy John's and try my favorite sandwich. You won't be disappointed and if you are, I'll know we're not supposed to be friends.

Here's a link to an advertisement that captures how I felt when I moved to Utah and discovered there were no Jimmy John's shops within a four-hour drive. It was a dark day.

My kingdom for a date

I had to watch a boring video for one of my classes, so I figured I'd take a dating quiz I saw on another friend's blog to make the time go faster. Here are my results:

Your dating personality profile: Practical - You are a down-to-earth individual who is not impressed with material excess. You care about the stuff of like that really matters. Religious - Faith matters to you. It is the foundation that you build your life upon. You trust that God has a plan for you. Big-Hearted - You are a kind and caring person. Your warmth is inviting, and your heart is a wellspring of love.

Your Top Ten Traits 1. Practical 2. Religious 3. Big-Hearted 4. Intellectual 5. Liberal 6. Athletic 7. Adventurous 8. Outgoing 9. Traditional 10. Sensual

Your date match profile: Practical - You are drawn to people who are sensible and smart. Flashy, materialistic people turn you off. You appreciate the simpler side of living. Religious - You seek someone who is grounded in faith and who possesses religious values. You believe that a religious person can enhance your life. Shy - You are put off by people who are open books. You are drawn to someone who is a bit more mysterious. You want to draw him out of his shell and get to know what he is all about.

Your Top Ten Match Traits 1. Practical 2. Religious 3. Shy 4. Athletic 5. Big-Hearted 6. Intellectual 7. Conservative 8. Traditional 9. Funny 10. Adventurous

The two strangest things to come out of this are that "sensual" is in my top ten traits, and that "funny" is almost last on my top ten match traits. I suppose it's not very realistic to expect a truly representative profile from answers to multiple choice questions. If you know any practical, religious and/or shy available men (preferably bearded) let me know.

October stuff

I'm currently in Beaver, Utah on tour with the Utah Symphony. This is a very high profile tour, with visits to such big-name cities as Ephraim and Richfield in addition to Beaver. It's kind of a funny little trip, actually. Today we drove down to Richfield, played a one-hour school concert, drove to Beaver and checked into the hotel by 3:00 and had the rest of the day free. I took a sorely-needed nap (I still haven't recovered from my trip to Michigan), ate some food, watched the most recent episode of The Office (U.S. version), and now am going to practice for a while. Tomorrow will be much the same. Last week I was out of school because of fall break and this week is mostly taken up by this tour, so it feels like I'll have been out of school for two weeks. Life is tough.

Being on this tour makes me feel how I usually do when I play with the symphony: I can't believe I'm getting paid to do this. Not in an incredulous this-is-so-lame-I-can't-believe-someone-is-paying-me-for-this kind of way, but in a sense of true amazement that I get money for playing my viola. When I lived in Michigan I had a lot of orchestra work and got exposed to the professional (or semi-professional) scene. I was always amazed at how catty people got and how much they found to complain about. I was just glad and amazed to be getting any money at all for this, and to have people paying to come to the concerts. It was my first time playing in orchestras for money and even now, three years later, I haven't gotten over the novelty of it. It's nice work if you can get it.

As previously mentioned, I went to Michigan last week during my school fall break. It was perfect timing because I got to be there for the week leading up to the big shared birthday. Adam was born on my 20th birthday, October 19th 2001, and I enjoyed being with him on our special day (which was mostly his special day, and rightly so--it's way more exciting to turn 6 or 7 then 26 or 27) when I lived in Michigan. When it came time for me to move back to Utah in 2007, Adam was sad (as was I) but when we'd talk about me moving away he'd always end the conversation with, "But you'll always be here for our birthday, right Les?" How could I refuse?

Before my trip I bought a digital camera at Costco (my first) in anticipation of taking lots of cute/memorable/funny pictures. It turns out that I've been so used to not having a camera that I never remembered to take it anywhere (or even out of my suitcase). I ended up taking a few pictures on my phone, though, which actually has a pretty good camera. Here are a few:

I took this the first day I was there. Esther was still getting used to me, which may explain her apathetic expression.



She cheered up soon afterwards, though, and loved having me take pictures of her on my phone. Here she is doing the famous "Peace out, dude!"



She is a beautiul little girl.



We had Hawaiian haystacks for dinner one night. Eli made his into a work of art.



Since I took a picture of his I had a take a picture of everyone else's too.





We took a trip to Jenny's, a cider mill near Dexter with heavenly pumpkin donuts.



It was so great to hang out with my Michigan family for a week. It makes my little apartment in SLC seem all the quieter, for better or worse.

A new leaf

Maybe I'll start posting more, maybe not, but I figured I should at least inaugurate my new URL with something. I don't have time to write anything really profound or informative, though, so I'll just go with a few free-association things.

I took a small road trip to Reno last weekend to visit my wonderful friend Eileen. My car, which I had previously named Animal but now is seeming more like a Telly to me, performed admirably, getting an average of 35 MPG and faithfully piping my iPod tunes throughout the whole trip. The only downside is that Telly doesn't have cruise control, but I'm ok with that. Here's a picture of my favorite road sign in Nevada:



My second favorite was one for a town named "Shafter" but I didn't get a picture of it. My trip to Reno was full of delicious food, healing of back pain, beautiful scenery, and nice people. Thanks Eileen!

Earlier this month I attended the Salt Lake City Greek Festival, which was held at the cool Greek Orthodox cathedral on 300 W. 300 S.



I've looked forward to this since last year when I couldn't go because of a recent surgery. I had lots of delicious food (including my first good experience with dolmathes) and hung out with good friends. And saw a poor lamb roasting on a spit:





That's about it for now. Maybe sometime I'll tell you all the exciting tale of starting my DMA program, but you'll all just have to wait. And keeping with the spirit of my previous funny/weird title posts, here's a link to an article along those same lines. Many thanks to my good friends Heather and Royce for sending it to me.

Sayonara!

Last week I took the plunge and quit my horrifyingly tedious job which was sucking the very soul out of my being. It took me all of about 12 hours to go from my first thoughts of quitting to telling my boss I was leaving. Once I actually began seriously considering it, it was obviously the right choice. So, in honor of ending my near year at Backstage Library Works, here is the final installment of silly/funny/weird stuff I stumbled across in the card catalogue.

The titles:

• The rueful mating
• Utilization of surplus prunes
• How to be happy though pregnant
• Short addresses to persons who are without hope
• A nostalgia for camels
• Sportin' ladies: confessions of the bimbos
• Squirrel talk
• Almost everything you hear about snakes is untrue
• The romance of mining
• Reindeer husbandry
• The star-spangled beaver
• The unsuspected but dangerously tuberculous cow
• Terrestrial slugs
• Sinister tennis
• Urology illustrated

Organizations I wish I belonged to:

• New England Society for the Improvement of Domestic Poultry
• American Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge

Funniest mis-reading of a card:

• East Indies hand-written, which looked like "East Undies"

Weird plot summaries:

• A little old lady decides to help her detective son and sets out to find the clown who is missing from the circus.
• A small girl wants to be something important, but can't decide whether to be a jester, a knight, or a king.
• While trying to please his mother, a boy turns himself into a variety of animals.
• The Golem, a clay man made by the Rabbi, saves a small village synagogue from some evil creatures from outer space.
• An awkward elephant stops day-dreaming when he finds that all his time and interest is devoted to a flower garden.
• With the aid of his good buffalo, a Japanese boy works to replace the copper bell he lost in the river.
• Five mushmen, related to elves and such, push themselves up from Down There to see if they can survive Up Here, set up headquarters under an oak tree, and live their pioneer existence, avoiding That Cat and keeping dry so they won't melt.

Duties of a doctor of music

Dr. Richards, I presume?

For those of you unable to read between the lines of my last two blog posts (which encompass 6 months of my life and contain very little real information), I thought I would announce that I've decided to attend the University of Utah in the fall for a Doctor of Musical Arts program. This was a long and arduous decision for me to make (as anyone who had to listen to me blab about myself and my brain during that time would know) but I'm feeling better and better about it day by day.

If you look in my blog archive to November-ish 2006 you'll see that I decided to bag music as a career and be a librarian. This is hardly news to most of you. In the year since my graduation from the U of Michigan I've been working two jobs: one as a data-entry-type robot at a library company and the other at the Springville Public Library. These two jobs have helped me figure out what I want and what I definitely DON'T want. I've really enjoyed working at the Springville Library. That is one of the few things I will be sorry to leave when I go to SLC.

I've also had a few opportunities to sub with the Utah Symphony, which I've been very grateful for. It's helped with my perception of the music world in a couple of ways: 1.) It makes me feel more like it's possible that I could be competent in that world, and 2.) It takes a little bit of the feeling of impossibility away from the thought of being able to make it as a musician. It's also fun! And it pays well!

I guess what I'm trying to say is that I want it all. I don't think I'd be satisfied just being a librarian for the rest of my life nor would I feel content with just being a musician, or at least being a musician the way I had previously gone about it. So I'm looking for ways to mix it all together, and I think they are two areas that can be very complementary. My future professor(s) at the U seem to think so as well and are very supportive of my interest in both areas, which is a major reason why I chose to go ahead with the program. My plan as of now is the do the DMA and a Master of Library science program at the same time, meaning that when I'm done with school I will have two masters degrees and one doctoral degree. Slightly pathetic. But as the judge said in the film What's Up Doc?, being a doctor in music doesn't mean anything if you can't fix a HiFi.

President Hinckley, we love you

The pits

Today I had a dream come true. No, some hot guy did not propose to me. No, I did not acquire omniscience. I was still judged by the color of my skin and not by the content of my character (well, maybe not) and I did not suddenly become independently wealthy.

But, the most realistic of my dreams came true when the Utah Symphony called me up and asked me to play for the opera in January: Tosca by Puccini, my favorite opera composer. For those of you who may not know, I absolutely love playing for operas. It's a perfect mix of music, drama and spectacle, topped off by the wonderful feeling of anonymity that comes from playing in an orchestra pit. There's something so relieving about people not being able to see me when I'm playing. It seems kind of silly, since the reason people usually go to concerts is to hear a performance not see it. But I usually like feeling invisible so pit playing is perfect for me.

So instead of having to wear a silly costume and wear pounds of makeup like this:

Or be uber dramatic like this:

I get to sit in a dark, cold pit like this:





I'd imagine that a professional orchestra opera pit would be a little less relaxed than the ones I experienced in my college days. Those usually included lots of snacks and goofing off. You never know, though. Musicians of any caliber can be kind of strange.



And here's a picture that came up when I did a Google image search for "opera diva". I don't understand it but it sure is interesting.

I have a great body

This is hardly new information for any of you, but I work a lot of hours. My bank account is happy, but my soul is suffering. I've been having a couple of especially bad weeks--weeks which include 14-16 hour days and staying up all night staring at a flickering computer screen. I HATE those kind of weeks. A lot. And every time I pull out of those weeks I'm amazed that I'm still physically functioning.

I don't have a particularly nice-looking body, but it sure does its job well. I find it hard to believe that I can have days where my major source of calories comes from Smarties (thank you, Springville Public Library), or Pepsi and crackers, or whatever else I can lay my hands on, and not come away with some kind of serious illness. Maybe someday all those artificial flavorings and dyes and preservatives and partially hydrogenated whatevers will conglomerate in some nasty mass in my liver or kidney and then I'll rue the day I was so abusive to my body, but for now it's still trudging along and I'm sure grateful for it.

More funny titles

Maybe this is getting old for all of you, but there's really not much more I can do to entertain myself at work.

Favorite titles:

• The common sense book of drinking
• Hopes and fears: scenes from the life of a spinster
• Metric units to unite the world
• The evolution of the snob
• The mule on the minaret
• Festal postlude (which isn't that funny, except that I first read it as "Fetal postlude")
• The sacred and profane love machine
• The naked bishop
• Single and human
• A short history of fingers
• Faith, love and seaweed
• St. Anne's gut
• The sacred circle of the hula hoop
• Homework and sweating

And my very favorite:

• The golden rules of gynecology

For some fiction books, the digital record gives a short plot summary. Reading some of them leads me to think that maybe it would be better to not try to summarize the plot and let the reader be surprised.

• While a school group is visiting the great temple at Nara, one young Japanese boy becomes separated from the Group, and, while finding his way back to the bus, helps a lost deer and two lost North Americans.
• A little boy of India, who loves his pet kid too well to let his father sell him, becomes a successful flute accompanist to the small goat's dancing.
• A twelve-year-old girl and two unusual friends conspire to prevent a retired sea captain from being sent to a home.
• A moose-child goes north looking for other moose-children, but on the way he finds other playmates right in his own forest.

If this post makes you jealous of my job, the company is hiring in December.

If you squint your eyes, my job can be seen as entertaining

To keep myself entertained at work, I keep a list of out-of-the-ordinary titles and authors that I see while going through the card catalogs. Here are a few of my top picks.

Interesting author names:

• Alphonso Elkin Cumberbatch
• Sir George Dancer
• Hugh Huger
• George Newt Best
• Hugh Playfair
• Alois Alzheimer
• Charles Edwin Heartstill
• Jesse W. Peebles
• D.S. Rumph
• Someone with the last name of Boobyer

Interesting/weird/funny titles of books or articles:

• Know your Oklahoma fishes
• The world of the wild turkey
• New ways with partridges
• A ruffian in feathers: the English sparrow
• The house sparrow: the avian rat
• Canary culture for amateurs
• Monthly hints to canary fanciers
• Giddiness of cloven-hoofed game
• Pheasants and their enemies
• How to live with a parakeet

Funniest publisher:

• Kinki University

Apologies

I'm very sorry for taking so long to post, which I almost spelled "poast". It's hard to feel like writing on a computer when that's all I do at my job, but that's a sorry excuse. I posted two new, very wordy entries with no pictures today (three, I guess, including this one) and have some more in mind for another day. I'll try to do better in the future.

And for those who don't know already, I got another job at the Springville Library. It's ultra part-time so it won't interfere with my other job, and will give me a source of library work with human interaction. Imagine that! I haven't started yet because I got hired right before my surgery and have obviously been out of commission, but hopefully I can start this coming week.

One book a week.....ish

When I first started my job in mid-July I was thrilled to have extra time to read. I suppose I had plenty of "extra" time to read when I was unemployed and sitting at home all day, but I was somehow more motivated by having a schedule to use my time off to broaden (aka use) my mind.

I've amassed quite a collection of books from various book sales and used book stores, always buying books with the most genuine of interest but rarely actually reading them. Mostly this was due to time constraints, but it's really easy to get out of the habit of reading--out of the habit of viewing reading as a top priority leisure activity and not one that you get around to when there's nothing good to watch on TV or your computer is out of commission.

All my books were packed in boxes (and most still are...) so I decided to unpack just one box and read something from that. The first book I read was Animal Dreams by Barbara Kingsolver, an author I had heard so much about (which was why I bought the book in the first place) but had never read anything she wrote. I usually don't read stuff by contemporary authors, but I enjoyed her writing style and the story itself. The most basic of summaries: a woman in her late 20s returns to her hometown in northern Arizona for one year to teach at her old high school and look after her ailing father. Mostly it was a phychological reconciliation of her adult perception of her childhood experiences and ideas with the truth of how things really were. Mostly. It's really hard to give the basic premise of a book in a couple of sentences. Anyway, it was good.

Next came A Room With a View by E.M. Forester, which I will not try to summarize but will say that I enjoyed it immensely, especially because I've been on an Italy kick lately. After that, or in the middle of that, came Harry Potter 7, which I read in about 12 hours. I'm sure I have nothing to say about it which has not been said already, but I was impressed with the thoroughness with which Rowling tied everything up. She really did know how she was going to end the series when she started it. I am in no way any kind of Harry Potter fanatic. I've read all the books but I have not memorized characters' lines, I have difficulties even remembering who all the characters are when they're referred to later, and I can only remember a few of the most important spells/charms, and most of the credit for that knowledge can go to my dear nephews. So I don't really feel like I'm in a place to give any kind of informed critique of the book. Like I need to.

This was all followed by The Mayor of Casterbridge by Thomas Hardy, who has a special kind of depressing bleakness all his own. I started out this book disliking it intensely, mostly due to the title character and his idiocy, which seemed contagious. I grudgingly slogged through the first half and then, wonder of wonders, I began to like it. I liked it in the way that you like someone who maybe doesn't have a lot of likable traits, but you begin to understand them and appreciate them over time.

I foolishly tried to follow that book with For Whom the Bell Tolls by Hemingway, but that didn't work. I just couldn't get into it. So now I'm happily reading The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan, a very interesting and heartbreaking read. I've never thought so much about how lucky I am to have such a wonderful family and privileged upbringing.