More books and an update

Lentish fasting coming along nicely. Just might keep it up for longer than 40 days. Its thrown a wrench in some of my reading lists and I'll probably pick back up on some Medieval history soon enough and DAMN The Closing of the Western Mind is a page turner (really, it is), but its been thrust aside for some real gems:

A lady brought this into the book store I work at a few weeks ago:

This is photographer David LaChapelle's first book. In the pursuit of fairness, I let it sit behind the counter until my compadre Aaron was around to see who wanted it the most. I wanted it pretty badly, and Aaron already scored some sweet stuff a while back, so now its mine.

I really can't emphasize how much I love this book. Its tacky and gay, has Drew Barrymore's boobs surrounded with doughnuts and cherries, Tupac all soaped up and that dude from the x-files running away from a blow up sex doll with terrifyingly long fingernails. Its great.

Full of McDonald's backdrops this little slice of pervy heaven shows superstars of the 90s at their hedonistic, disposable best.  A great quote coming from DesignBoom:

"la chapelle's monstrosities are that breed of gaunt, blemishless human built
and enslaved by heavy makeup, lighting and the glorifying voodoo of photographic
attention, e.g., models, transsexuals and ... leonardo di caprio.
it is a prophecy of even scurvier spiritual illness yet to come from our
media-centric society, in the not-so-distant future."

Perk number one of working at a used bookstore is you get first dibs.

I just finished reading this:

Its by an Asheville local: Brian Lee Knopp. Pick it up at Malaprops and you can get a signed copy at no extra charge. The author's wife also works at Malaprops and passes praise for this book along.

Its one of those books that make me proud to be from Appalachia. It makes me want to stop paying my taxes, buy a bunch of coon dogs, rebuy that family mountain, stock up on a couple guns and ride this whole Americaknowsbest thing out.

What little Libertarian there is in me, its all given to me by my mountain ancestors. Wondering what-the-hell-is-that-person-doing-in-my-driveway-oh-its-just-the-mailman inclinations are purely genetic and I'm damn proud of it. My soul is split between the intellectual "can't we all just get along" and the "live free or die" type. I've never been able to choose which amendment I like better, the first or the second. I love socialism. I will shoot at beer cans from the back porch or so help me god. I just recently started messing around with the Tarot and was so nervous about having it in the house, I almost left the pack outside that first night. Amen.

While author Knopp certainly put himself in some sticky situations (eg,getting held at gunpoint by said tax avoiding, coondog, family compound mountain man) he tells the story just the way you want to hear it. I won't say if he gets out of it in one piece. You really should buy this book and support local writers and all that. Its a damn fine read.

Its one of those books that reminds us how to tell stories.


(I don't really care for the title. Mayberry is so cliche)

the end.

Lent

While there are many things I think are cool, neat, awesome and lessboringthanmostotherthings, Lent has always been way up there on my list of things that can't be anything less than awesome. As a college educated indivdual with a love for all things properly researched, I feel I should back this statement up with the facts:

• Historically, Lent is the Catholic tradition of fasting prior to Easter that some of the more "catholicy" protestants think awesome as well. "Catholicy" protestants are defined as Episcopalians, Lutherans, Methodists and Anglicans. Traditionally, one is expected to fast for the forty days leading up to Easter. One is supposed to refrain from such fleshly temptations as food, drink and sex in order to prepare for the sacrifice of Christ's crucifixion and the glory of  resurrection. (along with this practice, and the holy communion, I submit the Catholics for the most morbid religious group in history. Man! These guys just LOVE death and implied cannibalism.)

• Leading up to these difficult forty days is, of course the debaucherous, hedonistic, colorful and well known pagan celebration of Mardi Gras. Fat Tuesday, King Cake and all the other traditions are basically a way of making a mega deposit in the sin (read: fun) bank before Christ dies for you in a month. Get all the party in before you have to behave.

From time to time, I remember this holiday exists and feel compelled to participate. As a religious ex-pat , I do love me some empty religious ritual from time to time which requires just enough committment to build some character, but not enough theology to be troublesome.

Lent is perfect. In modern days, one can pick out any kind of stumbling block to give up for Lent. Some people go for the no sugar, caffeine or alcohol route. I was always partial to secular music, tv or any-book-besides-the-bible. None of these will do now. I don't really think that secular music is destroying my soul anymore.

BUT, I do have one addiction:

See, I have an unhealthy obsession with religion. Christianity. Research specifically. I talk about it constantly. My friends will probably stop talking to me soon and my family just roll their eyes at this point.  My personal library and internet book marks are all organized by criticism, translation and theological persuasions.

All of this comes from my past with Christianity, but that's neither here nor there. Its just feeding a negative attitude which is getting alittle out of hand.

So, ironically as it may seem, I believe for Lent, I shall give up religion.

Cheers to the Catholics for creating a holiday so full of contradictions. Like the crusades, centuries of rape, burning at the stake and keeping the general public dumb, Lent is imperative to the western mind.

I've missed the traditional kickoff, but I follow the spirit of the law if not the letter. And as they say, better late than never.

My list of don'ts for the next 40 days:
-no reading the bible
-no reading books related to the bible
-no reading history books related to the bible OR church history
-no talking about what I've been reading
-no talking about what I believe
-no visiting any religious sites, blogs, news articles or forums
-no more watching youtube videos of cults and religious leaders
-no responding (even in my head) to any religious statements made by other people. I shall merely smile and nod and say "wow, thats interesting thought!".
-no fiction which alludes more than a few passages to religion
-no participating in those politcal conversations that have somehow become entrenched in religion.

Unfortunately, this means I'll have to stay away from most western philosophy and history books as well.

Now, I know this is all a bit cheeky and might offend some (its not meant too of course, but saying that is being alittle naive), but here's the serious part.

My goals are as follows:

-to stop being so obnoxious
-to become a better listener
-to realize that there is no formula for truth, not even doubt, and people can be walking masses of contradiction and thats ok.
-to try and find a way to embrace those intrinsic contradictions
- to stop acting like such a danged know-it-all.

So, here's to Lent and fasting from god!

Sedum and Seedoo.

Looking over my fairly sad garden beds the other day, I was amazed by the tenacity of sedum. Quickly becoming one of my favorite ground covers, these hardy succulents tend to survive mild winters and have been holding up nicely this winter. It is comforting to think that even with the harshest winter in recent memory, my garden is incubating for the glory of spring.

Plants that I expect to survive the winter are as follows:

The Black Eyed Susans from Across the Street
The lovely purple Bee Balm I planted last year

The Autumn Joy Sedum (tall thin succulent which blossoms in the fall) ---->
The Arbitrary Sedum Rock plant
My Hen and Chicks seem to be doing 'ok'.

I am also hoping for some volunteer tomatillos, hot peppers, sun flowers from the bird feeder (which was a nice suprise last year) and crossing my fingers that my lavender will survive. It is the hardy one after all.

Cats and Dogs from Next Door continue to wreck havoc on the soil and struggling plants. However, I shall persevere. Its better than Next Door's offspring pulling flowers up by the roots which is what happened last spring.

More Snow and dreams of Spring

Every Winter, I try to come up with a list of things that are nice about it. Every Winter I can really only come up with one solid thing:

Dreaming about my flower garden.

Thats it. We have had alot more snow this year, which is nice enough. But I'm not really made for Winter. The grey skies make me sad and the biting wind just pisses me off. BUT, the one perk is that I can look through gardening books and seed catalogs and plan my garden for the next year.

The best part about gardening is that every year you learn something new. I want to take my time, learn about one plant a year; this coming year shall be the year of the Dahlia!

There are hundreds of different varieties, from tiny blossoms, to monsters like these.
< ----
I like the big ones. Last year I grew a few small ones; one was the stark white, the most beautiful blossom I'd ever seen. Then the dog from Next Door peed on it. I've never cried for a flower before, but that day the tears fell.

Also, last year, I had no idea that you could actually dig up the root and put it in the basement for next year. So I'm kicking myself, because I could actually have saved that pretty white one.

Onward! Now I know and get ready, cause I've got the fever.

Plus, what great gifts these would make. You could save the root, then divide it come planting time and give it away as gifts! Make the world more beautiful!

cheers to the Dahlia.

The American Dahlia Society

snow!

Reading a few things this weekend.

This one is good. This one is really good.

I haven't touched Rushdie since finishing my thesis in '07 and its very much like running into an old friend. His familiar narrative style, running on and on, moving in and out of reality feels like home. Themes of multiplicity, nations, food, smell, and most of all, stories are as strong and rich here as any other of his books.

Like other Rushdie novels, "the Enchantress of Florence" is full of stories. Overflowing with the voices of their stories drive the characters to complete Rushdie's. Remember Scheherazade, lying under the kings bed entertaining him with such good stories he eventually decides not to kill her? Rushdie's characters are driven by that same urge; to tell a story that will change, save or destroy lives.

Within his narrative, I've noticed that Rushdie is in a way, explaining his own compulsion towards story telling. Its not necessarily a conscious choice to write; instead it is like what Flannery O'Connor said: "To write is better than not writing".

I try to stay away from autobiographical readings of books, but that one point seems to be pretty clear. 

I haven't finished it yet, but here's a quote from the beginning. I read it ten times over before moving on:

"He could dream in seven languages: Italian, Spanish, Arabic, Persian, Russian, English, and Portuguese. He had picked up languages the way most sailors picked up diseases: languages were his gonorrhea, his syphilis, his scurvy, his ague, his plague. As soon as he fell asleep half the world started babbling in his brain, telling wondrous travelers' tales. In this half-discovered world every day brought news of fresh enchantments. The visionary, revelatory dream-poetry of the quotidian had not yet been crushed by blinkered prosy fact. Himself a teller of tales, he had been driven out of his door by stories of wonder, and by one in particular, a story which could make his fortune or else cost him his life".

Note how Rushdie makes language analogous to diseases; the gift of storytelling is hardly some fluffy happy gift which makes every one feel warm inside. It is, for this character at least, imposed upon him; he can't do anything about it. His blessing is his curse. He HAS to tell it. For better or worse.

For a lighter note, I'm on this:

This is about as much as can be expected.
I'm a sucker for conspiracy theories.

Miss Rumphius: My own hero

Since my last post, I've had a birthday, in which my mother gave me this for a b-day gift:

Consequently, this is also one of the few children's books that made it to my list. One of our favorites growing up, "Miss Rumphius" has stood the test of time and like all good books, the message remains pertinent. This is quite possibly one of my personal favorites; I get choked up to this day reading it.

Written and illustrated by Barbara Cooney, "Miss Rumphius" is a simple tale about growing up, travel, and doing something to "make the world more beautiful". And, like many simple things, it captures the sublime.
In it, we meet Alice, a young girl who likes to help her grandfather paint. She listens to his stories and plans her own adventures when she is grown. Once she is grown, she realizes that she hasn't had her adventures and begins to fix that.

Of all the reasons I love this book (and believe me, I ADORE it!), I'll just talk about these three elements


A) The Art: Barbara Cooney has really caught onto a delicate style that reminds me of those old nature drawings. The colors are rich, each picture tells a bit of Alice's story in itself (see the paintings of her grandfather's travels) and best of all, Miss Cooney managed to capture the east coast and its nature.

B) The themes of childhood vs adulthood and travel: Miss Rumphius listens to stories of far away lands and plans to travel there when she is older. Eventually she does and after a time returns home. While simple, Miss Rumphius's story is heart aching to return to as an adult in the same delicious way it was exciting as a child. My change in perspective when I read this book is enhanced by the fact that the book itself is about change. Its about dreams and the fruition of those dreams. The unknown and the celebration of home. Every child dreams of travel and adventure.

C) Actively making your world more beautiful. Grace Lee Boggs speaks of the garden teaching us a respect for the Earth. Working with the land teaches us care and responsibility over the land and ourselves. Working the earth and watching your flowers and vegetables grow is better than any anti depressant. also, gardening makes things pretty! Which makes people happy! Which is what its all about folks! Contributing to beauty, actively taking part in that cycle is a brave brave road and the rewards are many.

SO, on looking back, I am aware that this is all so cheesy. But hey, I'm a super cheese ball. And I think this is important. If you're looking for a book to read to your kids this evening, I promise this one will become a family classic.

A life in books

Hello, cyber world. Does anyone ever read this blog anymore? If you're like me, you quit ages ago. So, I launch this post into the quiet chaos of the internets and wish it the best.

SO, today I took a survey of my library. I think I have earned the right to call my book collection a library. We're into the hundreds, if not the low thousands of books folks. Thats a library.

My mission tonight was to take out the books that have impacted my life for better or worse over my life and look at the scope of it all. Completely honest in every respect. So diverse I felt obligated to make it real by posting it here.

No explanations or excuses. That provides me with fodder for further posts discussing these books and possibly a place for you to share your thoughts.

There is no order, chronological, genre or otherwise. Take them as they come.

1. The Complete Works of Shakespeare
2. "She Came to Stay" Simone De Beauvoir
3. The Bible
4. The Essential Kabbalah
5. Hafiz
6. "Setting a Trap for God" Rocco A. Errico
7. New Seeds of Contemplation ~ Thomas Merton
8. Mere Christianity ~ C.S. Lewis
9. Forty Stories ~ Donald Barthleme
10. Jitterbug Perfume ~ Tom Robbins
11. Foe ~ J.M. Coetzee
12. Devil on the Cross ~ Ngugi
13. Midnight's Children ~ Salman Rushdie
14. Oranges are not the Only Fruit ~ Jeanette Winterson
15. Absalom, Absalom ~ Faulkner
16. Facing the Wall ~ Don Potter
17. Jesus Interrupted ~Bart Ehrman
18. Foxfire numbers 2 and 7
19. Behavioural Concerns and Autistic Spectrum Disorders ~ John Clements and Ewa Zarkowska
20. Stand Still Like the Hummingbird ~ Henry Miller
21. The Diary of Anais Nin volume 1931-1934
22.The Collected Poems of Yeats
23. The Complete Short Stories ~ Flannery O'Conner
24. Poems ~ Tennyson
25. The Lord of the Rings Trilogy
26. Paradise Lost ~ Milton
27. The Lupine Lady
28. In the Penal Colony ~ Kafka

Other Honorable mentions include Kurt Vonnegut's "Breakfast of Champions", "Wuthering Heights" (yes, I am a secret fanatic for 18th c. British lit). , Anne of Green Gables. Possibly more, but I've had a whiskey drink so that is all my memory will allow for the moment.

If anyone is out there, what are your all time favorites? Any reccomendations? I'm fresh out of new reading material this week.

Cheers and Good Luck