The White Way of Delight

Male readers, you may want to just skip this post. Female readers, I'm so happy to know all my girls will understand perfectly!

Sigh, I just love "Anne." I just love it. I'm already up to chapter 4, and it's even better the 12th time. The descriptive language, the charming Prince Edward Island, the precocious Anne. I want Abigail to grow up to be a black-haried Anne. Not Diana, mind you, much too pragmatic, that Diana. I want her to be Anne with all her dreaminess and love of nature and big words and love of books and idealism and optimism and drama and ... God, I love "Anne."

Heck, I want to be Anne. To look like Megan Follows, to marry Gilbert, to live the romanticized 19th century life, to believe in wood nymphs and fairies, to have children like Walter and Rilla (hard to say when I cried more, when Matthew died or when Walter did). Sigh.

I'm going to be talking like a Victorian lunatic for days now. What a great book.

So who wants to plan a trip to P.E.I.? Dead serious about that, say in two years? All out girlie road trip? We could all braid our hair and run around scaring Canadians!

Beta blahs

There's a reason we got rid of Beta VCRs, right? I'm still awaiting a reason not to get rid of this Beta Blogger! I'm in the middle of a post with pictures from Abigail's birthday, but Flickr can't find my blog now that I changed to Beta. And you can't change back! Grrr.

Anyway, to tide you over, I offer yesterday's phrase from "Forgotten English": with squirrel, a euphemism for being pregnant from the good ol' hillbilly days in the Ozarks -- which means it probably still exists out there. Thought that would be of particular interest to ams. Maybe you could be with hedgehog :)

Also, I think I'm going to yet again abandon my poor French novel unstarted. All this reminiscing about books has me eyeing "Anne" again ...

Later: Oh, screw this new Blogger!!! And I can't go back!!! It's screwed up my lovely book links and I don't know how to make it link to images!! I hate when software tries to be smarter than you are and make you do something you don't want it to do! I know HTML, dammit, let me use it!!!!

Even later: Now Firefox has decided to forget that I have been using it for two years. I just had to create a profile and the damn thing at all my bookmarks! ARGH, TECHNOLOGY!

What big eyes you have

I just watched "Everything is Illuminated" and am now thoroughly in love with that film. It was visually amazing, Ukraine is gorgeous. The soundtrack was a wonderful mix of Jewish klezmer and Ukrainian hip hop or ska or something and all sorts of other great tidbits. The character Alex was highly amusing, especially his take on American hip hop culture, and there was plenty of eclectic humor throughout. And I found the ending to be pleasantly unexpected -- though I guess you "pleasant" may not be the most apropriate word. I fully recommend it if you like slightly disjointed post-modern stories.

Of course, I'm now dying to know if Jonathan Safran Foer is really that bizarre.

I always hated tag ...

... but this involves books, so you know I have to do it. And I'm not even technically related!

1. One book that changed your life?

Perhaps not very profound, I'd have to say "Anne of Green Gables" by L.M. Montgomery. While I always loved reading, that's what fully put literature on a pedestal for me and inspired the English-majorness. I could also add "Busy, Busy World" by Richard Scarry, which very well may have given me that first glimpse of a tantalizing wider world.

2. One book you have read more than once?

Most notably, the entire "Anne" series eleven times, as well as "Emily of New Moon" and the rest of that series. My large collection of Berenstain Bears was probably my first obsession, followed by "Little House on the Prairie" et al. at least five times.

Oh, and I have reread as an adult! "The Red Tent" by Anita Diamant is an amazing take on the often overlooked women of the early bible.

3. One book you would want on a desert island?

Um, um, um -- that's hard! I'd tire of the same fiction over and over, so I guess I'll be good and say the Bible.

4. One book that made you laugh?

"The Mother Tongue" by Bill Bryson is a hoot for any language fiend. Yes, I know he's not 100% correct, but it's still loaded with amazing facts and humor.

5. One book that made you cry?

I love books that make me cry, so there have been many in this category. I know I openly bawled at the end of "Anne of Green Gables," "The Red Tent," and "A Prayer for Owen Meany" by John Irving.

6. One book you wish had been written?

What a good question. Perhaps a gospel from the point of view of Mary or Mary Magdalene. Yes, there's an apocryphal version accredited to the latter, but a canonical version would be nice.

7. One book you wish had never been written?

Not that I have anything against Edith Wharton, but "Ethan Frome" was the bane of my 11th grade existance. How my self-destructing, Elmer Fudd look-alike teacher could take more than two months on a novella is beyond me.

8. One book you are currently reading?

"Change Me Into Zeus's Daughter" by Barbara Robinette Moss for a book club I'll never actually attend. So far it's mainly making me mad that the mother wouldn't leave her husband to protect her seven kids.

9. One book you have been meaning to read?

There are so many on this list. Too many to name, and some of which would be embarassing to admit are still lingering on my to-do list.

10. Now tag five people.

They'll love me for this, I'm sure, but Carrots, Smitty, Coffee, Rambling and Years.

Exorcist in training

Abigail yet again turned to her trusty crucifix last night to ward of the evil in her little world. This time it was the thunderstorm that spoiled our planned trip to a nearby lake. She stood in the doorway with daddy, held out the cross (actually a very dried up cross made from a Palm Sunday palm from years ago) and declared, "See, the storm is going away!" Boom, crash, fat raindrops start falling. Well, it was a good try. At least it shows she took the "Jesus calming the storm" children's sermon to heart.