summer classics query

I'm trying to work some classics into my reading rotation. For example, this year I read Great Expectations over Christmas/New Year. (two thumbs up!) Last year it was Jane Eyre. (Rochester = creepy, crazy, compelling. Jane E(ponymous) = speaks her mind and is awesome.)  I think I might try to slip a classic into my summer reading pile. Which one should I read first? Is there one you'd recommend above the others? Another title that you would recommend instead?

1.  Northanger Abbey, by Jane A.  -  the only one of her major novels I've never read! I understand it's  a gothic parody, if not the first gothic parody.

2. Moby-Dick, by Herman M. -  I've read probably the first third/three-eighths, but it was a couple of years ago now. I was quite enjoying it, but it grew easier and easier to not pick it up again. I would probably start again at the beginning, but this time persevere! (I might skip the cataloging of whales.)

3. The Woman in White by Wilkie C.  - I've been wanting to read this for ages!  I'm not sure why since I'm unclear on what it's about (women? dresses? ghosts? brides? ghost brides?) except that it might be vaguely spooky? Oooh - the first paragraph of wikipedia (I dare not read more) tells me that it is among the first mystery novels and it was serialized and epistolary. Every time I hear the title, it makes me think of this act of unforgivable cheesiness that you will now be thinking about ALL DAY LONG (fair warning) because it is insidious and full of malicious hidden brain traps if you've ever watched Top Gun*; before you know it you'll be all "HIGHWAY TO THE DANGER ZONE" as the soundtrack continues to play in your head. (or maybe that's just what happened to me.) But you know, maybe that's what Wilkie C. had in mind. Maybe he visited a medium --v. popular in victorian times -- and she told him all about the lady in red and Top Cruise but he thought that might be a little vulgar for a novel cover so he changed it to the woman in white for aesthetic reasons. (Is that TWiW's secret???)

*rudimentary fact checking tells me that this song was NOT in Top Gun, but I am far too attached to my vision of Wilkie Collins looking into a crystal ball and seeing Tom Cruise in his aviator glasses to correct it. But now you can think of the improved yet similar this and send yourself to the DANGER ZONE. (or maybe your brain will slide right over to Footloose. I don't know what happens in there.)

Seriously, though! What should I read? Have you read any of these? Did you like it?

Did Wilkie Collins see this vision of the future? Did it frighten him? 

poppies, vampire shower advice

with poison in it, but attractive to the eye

poppies.... POPPIES!!!! So says the Wicked Witch of the West. She's right about the attractive to the eye part. Maybe right about the poison part, too! But I have to say there are hundreds of poppies in the garden right now and walking out there doesn't make me fall asleep until it snows. (at least it hasn't yet.)
This poppy on the top is a different (fancier) variety, but the two below are bee-yootiful garden bullies that grow everywhere and make a huge mess but WHO CARES because they are awesome.


This morning in the shower I had a whole conversation with myself (aloud). Standard stuff, right??? Then, for some reason, one half of the conversation (still all me) started talking with this weird transylvanian/chef boyardee accent. PERFECTLY NORMAL. Then this voice informed me that it was a vampire with some ADVICE and OPINIONS. [side note: this talking in the shower business all started because I read something that reminded me of regional accent differences - like how someone from New England will pronounce the words Mary, Merry, and Marry all differently, whereas someone who talks like I do when I'm not talking like Count Boyardee says them pretty close to the same. I was testing the pronunciation and it all got away from me - which is, I'm sure, what they all say.]

Anyway, I assume the vampire business is because I'm reading a book with some vampires in it (the 3rd Parasol Protectorate book) and not because there's an advice giving vampire in my mind yearning to breathe free. The important thing here, besides how this is not at all crazy, is that shower Count Boyardee started quizzing me about my creative intentions and how it's all well and good to SAY you're going to do that thing you said you'd do, but unless you actually do it, it means nothing. ARGH! Shut up, fake shower vampire! I know this, but it's pretty obvious I don't think I know it, or I wouldn't bother to tell myself with a comedy accent.

(the Advice: do it now and then you can do something else, and then something else after that! the Opinion:  stop procrastinating like I always do.)  So thanks, Count Boyardee! Maybe we'll meet again.


So stinking beautiful! The petals look like tissue.

shaped like a hat

I found this (wasp? hornet?) nest out in the garden the other day. It was built on the edge of a dried foxglove stalk.


Fortunately, nobody was home! (When I was 11 or 12 I got my whole hand stung after uttering the fateful words "hey, what's this?" while picking up/poking a (much bigger) wasp's nest.)

I just think they look so cool! What determines the shape, I wonder? Is the lip around the edge a gutter system? windbreak? individual wasp-builder flair? just because it looks cool?

In non-habitat for hornet news, I love this lip dub of What Makes You Beautiful by the cast of Anything Goes!  I love the goofing around, the fun, the backstage shenanigans, the fabulous 30s costumes, and the way it all makes me happy.

less than twenty dollars

Since I (finally) have the pictures ready let's take a look at my Friends of the Library book sale FINDS:



Case Histories by Kate Atkinson - have you read this book? If you like mysteries, you should! It's so good and twisty and interconnected. (And the first of a series.)  Atkinson's such a good writer and she  lets the readers figure things out - one of my favorite moments in this book was when I put something together that the detective (Jackson Brodie) never discovered. I think that's hard to pull off from a writing standpoint, but it's so satisfying to the reader!

BBC recently did a very good Case Histories series starring Jason Isaacs (currently the lead of the NBC series Awake, which is interesting, well done, and sadly cancelled).  Read the books first, if you can! (But I believe the books would still be a pleasure if you happened to see the show first.)

Animals of the Seashore - Look at the cover and spine illustrations! how great are those? I saw that swirly spine and reached over another lady to grab it up. (she was looking at something else, it's not like I snatched it out of her hand.)

Charlie All Night by Jennifer Crusie -  Love her!  I think this is one set in a radio station? I'm pretty sure I've read it before, but I didn't have a copy. I'm not a huge fan mass market paperbacks (they don't last, the pages fall out, etc.) but if it's an author or title I particularly like, I'll grab it up and then pass it along when I find a binding I like better.

Golden Guide to Trees of North America - I love these Golden Nature guides and pick them up when I see them.  TREEEEEES, many illustrations of trees!

A River in the Sky by Elizabeth Peters - this is one of her more recent Amelia Peabody books (featuring Victorian lady adventures in Egyptian archaeology). I haven't read most of this series and this book is no exception. However, I do love (and collect) some of her other series, so I decided to start collecting the Peabody books as well. One day I'll have a beach house, and that beach house will need books!

Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norell by Susanna Clarke - I have this in paperback and have yet to read it. This hardcover was in such great shape (and has such an attractive spine!) I decided that a duplicate at $2 was a worthy expense.

The Botany of Desire by Michael Pollan - this was one of the few books over $2 that I picked up. (It was $5.) But it's a nice tight hardcover and I did enjoy this book. I would really like to find a nice copy of Second Nature, though.

Silent in the Grave by Deanna Raybourn - First in the Lady Julia series, which I have been enjoying so much! This book is in near perfect condition and would make a nice gift if I don't keep it myself. I wish they'd published all of them in hardback, but I think the rest came out in headless victorian bosom covered trade paper.

Fingersmith by Sarah Waters - I haven't read this since it was released, but my recollection of reading is one of staying up waaaay too late because my eyes were too wide with surprise to shut and the pages compulsively turned themselves as I read my way though plot twist after plot twist down narrow Victorian streets. Here's a sentence from the goodreads description: But no one and nothing is as it seems in this Dickensian novel of thrills and reversals.  Thrills and reversals!



The covers. I think my total was something like $17, what a deal!

cape foulweather

My grandparents were in town this weekend and had a hankering to go to the coast. (Referring to anywhere along the western edge of Oregon as "the coast" is an old-style Portland thing. I almost always say "the beach" but that's because despite being born here, I grew up in Florida.) Anyway - this is an old building that used to be a lookout/observatory and is now a gift shop with lots of windows. The view when it is sunny: divine. The name of the cape (Cape Foulweather) tells the observant to enjoy the sun when they can. 

THE IRRESISTIBLE SIGN! Seriously. A fortune teller, a penny smasher AND the world's largest insect? Try to keep me away! I haven't actually seen the world's largest insect yet - I must be subconsciously saving it so the sign can remain thrilling and mysterious. I've seen the fortune teller (pirate automaton), but I haven't given him a dollar yet. What if he tells me where the insect is and leaves me with no gift shop treasures to anticipate? 

The view from the side. So lovely - doesn't that coastline look kind of piratey? 

in the spring

SPRING! It has been beautiful and busy so far. Right this very second (after midnight, but before midnight-thirty) I have a behind-the-eye headache and my feet are cold. This sounds like a bummer, but   it's the kind of headache that will go away overnight and I have plenty of socks. It could be worse. 

Maternal eyeball surgery update: my mom's eye surgery went off without a hitch and her eye is healing up nicely.  My favorite eye-surgery related event so far has been the day-after doctor's appointment. I walked into the waiting room and it was full of senior citizens in eye patches! It was surreal and sort of awesome, like it was the pirate pension office or something. (My mom and one other patient read the directions and were out of the eye patch and into mega-dark sunglasses.) 

I have a book related post coming soon, but in the meantime, here are a couple of flower pictures from today. On top, one of the first poppies to open up  - I just (literally JUST) discovered that this variety is called Papaver Orientalis 'Olympia'. There are only a few open right now, but in a couple of days - if the sun keeps shining - there will be hundreds and hundreds of them. I love the orange! 

Below is my frenemy/nemesis (frenemesis?) the dandelion. I notice now (too late) that the iris leaves in the background are in focus while the dandelion itself is a little gauzy. See?! It's just like dandelion to do that...

book sale, surgery, cat nap

I went to the Friends of the Library book sale on Saturday - as always it was wonderful, as always I left with a heavy bag, a happy heart, and blind optimism that I'll figure out where this stuff is going to go. (it will all work out.) ANYWAY. This photo is just a little sneak peek of what I found - full report soon. (how awesome is that Animals of the Seashore spine? it was less than two dollars.)

My mom is having cataract surgery tomorrow! It's an outpatient thing and I know they do them all the time now, but still it's slightly nerve-wraking. I'm driving her down and (obviously!) driving her home.  Tomorrow it's the left eye, then after a couple of weeks have passed and everything's okay, they do the other eye. She doesn't have them as bad as some, but she has lost all ability to drive at night and she can hardly see distances at all. They told her she could wait a little longer if she wanted to, but she wanted to book it ASAP as she's "got things to do." Everything's going to look bonkers to her when she's done - especially since it's springtime in Portland; the green of the trees, the pink of the blossoms, the bright of the poppies and tulips are practically psychedelic.

Last but not least, here's a picture of Busby taking his afternoon nap - his curly belly fur cracks me up. He loves to sleep on that pink rug.

the vintage man

The Vintage Man

The 

Difference

Between a good artist

And a great one 

Is:

The novice

Will often lay down his tool

Or brush

Then pick up an invisible club

On the mind's table

And helplessly smash the easels and

Jade.

Whereas the vintage man

No longer hurts himself or anyone

And keeps on

Sculpting

Light.

Hafiz, from The Gift

It's national poetry month!

sunny days

I worked all day Sunday, which was the nicest day in our mini-stretch of nice days, but I got some pictures anyway. This is stained glass in the library - I love the bright green of the tree shining through on the left!


mountains with legs.


I L-O-V-E these white bleeding heart. I may have to get some for myself. In the meantime, I look out for these in the neighborhood every year.


spring tree! [I haven't tested it 100%, but I think I fixed my camera spot problem with the vacuum cleaner. (make seal around lens, dust goes away!) It's a good thing since none of the many tiny screwdrivers I acquired worked to open the camera.] ANYWAY - I love this green/blue combo.


Yellow tulips at home. They like the sun, too.


Orangey red tulips. (and stealth dandelion. not that they're stealth in the garden, just that I can only see one in this photo.)



PANSY.

shelf 3: private library nurse

A Series of Unfortunate Events - Lemony Snicket: I've only read the first few of these, but I enjoyed the writing and the concept enough to attempt to collect the whole set. The ones I've read skew pretty young, but since they're meant for young readers I'm not complaining. I understand that they read a little older as they go on, which only makes sense. I struck it lucky at the most recent Friends of the Library sale (there's one coming up next weekend!), but I'm still missing 10, 12, & 13 and now I have two Miserable Mills.  I might roll that into collecting a new set (it's fun to have something to look for) and make a gift of it to some of my little cousins.

Kim Aldrich, Silent Partner - Jinny McDonnell: I love these book covers and that's NO LIE.  Photos at the bottom of this post.
Kim Aldrich, Miscalculated Risk - Jinny McDonnell: I wrote about this one shortly after I got it back in 2005. (2005!!!!!!!) Kim's got a lot of moxie, which is what it takes to make it in the teen detective/ insurance investigator racket.


Cherry Ames Student Nurse; Cherry Ames Senior Nurse; Cherry Ames Private Duty Nurse; Cherry Ames Cruise Nurse: According to Wikipedia, these are being reprinted! I haven't seen any, but I haven't been looking. I love these not only for the adventures of a plucky nurse who doesn't like to be tied down to one job for long, but also for the AMAZING COVERS! Dude Ranch Nurse is so great- I don't even know where to start. It's the crazy best. I love the white uniform in the middle of the dusty corral, the belt buckle action (!) and the hat flying in the distance. (Maybe she is checking his face for suspicious moles, but I don't think so.)  I don't own this title, but it was my ebay holy grail back in the day.

Peggy Finds the Theater - Virginia Hughes. Holy shit - it looks like there are eight of these! I want them!  I picked this one up at Goodwill because how often do you read about girl detectives in the theater world of 1962 New York City? Here's a bit from the intro: "Ambitious but realistic, Peggy knows her name isn't going to be in lights immediately but finally persuades her cautious parents to let her spend a year in New York to try to gain a foothold in the fabled world of the theater."  I haven't read this one, but flipping through it I see that it has chapter illustrations which are awesome. (My favorite thus far: Peggy waiting for her flight on the tarmac with her parents - her father smokes a pipe, her mother looks worried,  and the airplane is right overhead.)

Confessions of a Teen Sleuth - Chelsea Cain: An affectionate spoof of the teen detective genre.


Below are photos of the cover for Silent Partner: I love the guy doing jumping jacks in the doorway and the fact that she is apparently in the midst of her werewolf transformation - just look at her hand! You know, forget all the insurance company mascots that are going right now - they should bring back Kim  Aldrich, ginger werewolf investigator.

previously: Shelf 1; Shelf 2 

cake and cowboys

OKAY, there aren't any cowboys in the literal sense. I feel I should confess that right away.

Today I made the French-Style Yogurt Cake with Lemon from Orangette. It was delicious. Actually, I made it from Molly "Orangette" Wizenberg's book, A Homemade Life, which I read last year for my nonfiction book group. The book, like the cake, is very good.  ANYWAY. The cake was delicious and not too sweet  - I recommend trying it if French-Style Yogurt Cake (that is easy) with Lemon sounds good to you!

In the post I linked to above, Orangette mentions that she's listening to the Old 97s,  so here's a song from that record:

cross the desert to the sea

This song came up today and I'd forgotten how much I like it! Time to listen to the whole album again.

In kitten news, Otis has a new favorite toy - the humble push pin. He's found them in places I forgot they existed and makes a lot of racket pulling them out with his teeth. Of course I freak out which I know only encourages him, yet I can't stop.

the subtle curse

Knowledge can be a subtle curse.  When we learn about the world, we also learn all the reasons why the world cannot be changed. We get used to our failures and imperfections. We become numb to the possibilities of something new. In fact, the only way to remain creative over time--to not be undone by our expertise--is to experiment with ignorance, to stare at things we don't fully understand. This is the lesson of Samuel Taylor Coleridge, the nineteenth century Romantic poet. One of his favorite pastimes was attending public chemistry lectures in London, watching eminent scientists set elements on fire. When Coleridge was asked why he spent so much time watching these pyrotechnic demonstrations, he had a ready reply. "I attend the lectures," Coleridge said, "so that I can renew my stock of metaphors." He knew that we see the most when we are on the outside looking in. 

-Jonah Lehrer, Imagine: How Creativity Works  from The Outsiders chapter. There are a million other things I could quote because it's a very quotable book, but this one jumped out.

detour project

Behold - a more or less organized box full of unmounted rubber stamps.

 I didn't intend to do this project when I did. It was one of those things that cropped up in the course of doing something else -  I was looking for a stamp, realized that the envelopes I store them in were falling apart - before I knew what was happening, scissors were flying and I was surrounded by tiny pieces of paper and used glue sticks. It took a lot longer than I'd hoped (it always does), but I listened to some podcasts while I worked and had a nice time. I'm glad it's done, though.

Reading Report:  Game of Thrones, which is moving right along - I'm on about page 600 of 800. My fear is that I will only have 700 pages worth of patience with it, but I imagine momentum will be in my favor by that point and I'll get to the end with no problem. I'm also reading Imagine: How Creativity Works by Jonah Lehrer, which I have to finish by Tuesday. (it's also moving right along, but in a brain-science/no-dragons (yet!) kind of way.) I might type out some quotes from that later this week - it's so interesting! Not just interesting, but as someone who often feels like I have to trick my brain into doing things, reassuring. (Brains are sneaky - science confirms this.)

...and because my itunes just played it and I love this song, here's Sweepstakes Prize by Mirah. It's so playful and sincere. The beginning reminds me of My Girl by the Temptations, which is not a bad thing!

bee news

• My neighbors with the huge double (triple, maybe) lot just put in EIGHT (8!) beehives. I'm excited! Bees are good news for all the gardens on my street, and there are a lot of gardens on my street. Lots of people digging up lawn and putting in flowers and vegetables - I'm for it. 
• other neighbors (original bee neighbors) have turned their backyard into a clover meadow, or at least part of it. It's so pretty. I can see most of it from an upstairs window, but I got to see a little sliver of it yesterday retrieving Young Otis (the kitten), who when allowed a few minutes of outside time promptly used to run around like a maniac. 
• I put up my little mason bee box today! 
• I'm eager to see how the bee populations get along this summer. Lots of honey bees (obviously), my little mason bees (hopefully), and then the great big black and white bumbles.

I am so tired! The weather here has been AMAZING for the past two days - such a nice reprieve after a week of cold mean rain/hail. Yesterday we went to the Crystal Springs Rhododendron Garden, which was lovely even though I forgot 1) sunscreen and 2) to check camera for SD card. So I got a sunburn and no photos, but it was so wonderful I didn't even care. The rhodies aren't really blooming yet, but there are other spring blooming things like willow trees and toad lilies, plus lots of waterfowl. (will duck butts in the air ever not be funny? I can't imagine.) I'm going to go back on Tuesday or Wednesday when it is free, less crowded, and I have my camera. 

Today I spent the morning/afternoon doing some sapling removal. The birds planted a filbert and a hawthorne,  the horse chestnut tree keeps trying to replicate itself in the ground all around it, the laurel jumped the fence - all big enough that it was heavy, dirty work.  (Let us not speak of the blackberries.)  It looks so much better now, but I am way out of shape and SO TIRED. 

The photo at the top is of grape hyacinth. They're starting to bloom right now (this photo is from another year) and are beautiful. Happy Easter and Passover to those who celebrate!