Unmitigated

A Fine Mess I've Gotten Myself Into

These are the books I am (con)currently reading:

Musicophilia by Oliver Sacks, because I love everything he writes. Think neurological poetry.

World War Z by Max Brooks. Captain Dumbass recommended it and ten pages in I was hooked.

The Wordy Shipmates by Sarah Vowell, she is to history what Sacks is to neurology. Must read.

Castle of Wizardry by David Eddings, Book 4 in his first series. Read it years ago, but a student is into it, so I am re-reading it along with him.

Pontoon by Garrison Keillor, love, love, love the Lake Wobegon stuff.

The True Meaning of Smekday by Adam Rex. The Media Center Consultant at work recommended it and she's never steered me wrong.

And here's what's waiting (none-too patiently) on the ever-growing stack at my bedside:

Shakespeare by Bill Bryson

The Audacity of Hope by Barack Obama

Rough Weather by Robert B. Parker

I'm not even allowed to open those last three until I finish four of the books on the top list. Crap. I don't think I have that much self control.

Nobody on the internet is allowed to recommend any books until at least November 12th.

A Rare Gem

Many moons ago (and when I say 'many' I mean three) there was a commenter on my blog who referred to herself as MsMeta. I followed the link back to her her blog, Adventures at Midlife, and found one of the first blogs I added to my daily reading list. I also noticed that she had a link to something called MidLifeBloggers.com where ByJane runs a lovely show that makes me feel like a normal person. Lots of people there are going through the same life experiences as me.

MidLife Bloggers is the website that made me feel like I could be a writer. I submitted a piece to Jane, and expected to wait a few weeks to hear anything back. Lo and behold, a few days later she e-mailed to say she would use my piece! Somebody liked me! How the hell did that happen?? I had a GREAT time on that site, interacting with readers. It just felt...official...when it wasn't just my own blog anymore. So I thank MsMeta for introducing me to that whole experience.

Now I am thanking her again, as it seems she has exhibited the questionable judgment of presenting me with an award:

She also made some sad plea about being allowed outside to play, and I've told her that's fine, as long as she doesn't get her school clothes dirty. How do public school kids differentiate between school clothes and play clothes? When I was a kid in Catholic school we wore uniforms and would have consented to being eaten alive by fire ants before we would have actually played in those hideous, uncomfortable things. But I may be off-topic.

I am going to present this award to:

• Ellen at A Girl's Garden of Menopause because she regularly makes me laugh and makes me cringe, and sometimes in the same post!,
• Mr. Lady at Whiskey in My Sippy Cup because she says so many things as eloquently as I always wished I could,
• my local buddy PunkRockDad, because he has the biggest heart, always firmly displayed on his tattooed arms (I think he doesn't own any sleeves), and
• Chris at Csquaredplus3 for being the best-friend-since-high-school-that-I've-never-actually-met-but-it-seems-like-we've-known-each-other-forever. And I can finally teach her how to display these things on her blog. Love, Claire.

More Like a Crystal Hovel

This is the story of the morning I turned into Robert Schuller.

Every few months I spend time at a bookstore and coffee shop with my two best buds, Mary and Laura. We call that Mary, Mary the Smaller, as she has hobbit-like proportions. Last Saturday we met for a book and coffee-fest and after our usual browsing, went to sit and enjoy some conversation and warm beverages.

I woke up at around nine Saturday morning, thinking of the day of leisure ahead, then suddenly remembered I was supposed to meet the girls at ten-thirty. Half hour drive, need to put up my post for the BFL, need to shower...ack! All at once, I was in a hurry.

But I made it there with a minute to spare, all clean and apres-post. Then I was attacked by books. There's the Bill Bryson Shakespeare book. And, ooh, a new Spenser novel, and hey, I've been wanting to read The Audacity of Hope, and oh, wow! Campaign buttons! Here's a picture of the one I chose. I'm thinking of postponing the New Year's party this year to the REAL new start.

So, back to the coffee. One of the girls was discussing her son, whom she thinks will benefit from going away to college, as opposed to a local campus. He tends, as many teenagers do, to blame failures on others and his situation, and she figured that away at college, he'd have no one to blame but himself if things went south.

"Right, sink or swim, it's up to him," I said.

Yeah, I'll let that settle in for a minute. Say it out loud it's even better.

That was when I decided to see if Robert Schuller was ready to retire. The Crystal Cathedral needs someone pithy like me.

World's Fastest Meme Turnaround

Just getting ready to write a new post, and I notice I've been tagged for a meme by Mr. Farty of Better Oot Than In, thus saving me the trouble of deciding whether I should write about Brain Gym, Robert Schuller, or finally put up that Ninja post.

So here are seven-ish random things about me (with a decidedly Mr. Farty leaning).

1. As Scottish as I am, with a family history that traces back to the Maitland clan in 17th century Scotland, I am still insanely jealous that Husband's cousin, uncle, grandfather, and great-grandfather were all named William Wallace Knight. Damn. Can't top that.

2. There's a line in one of my favorite films, Local Hero, "French, German, Dutch, Polish, Greek, Russian, Japanese. I have a facility with languages." I don't. But I do have a tremendous facility with regional accents. I can do a nice subtle Georgia as well as I can do a nice thick Yorkshire. And I can recognize pretty closely what part of England people are from by the way they speak. An odd and useless talent for an American.

3. I can read French pretty well, but can barely speak it, even though I was told by our French Girl that I had a very good accent. There's that accent thing again.

4. When I wrote that stuff on Captain Dumbass' blog about wanting to be Canadian? I was serious.

5. It sure doesn't sound like I love my hometown, but I really do. Husband and I have considered where to land in our retirement days, and are seriously considering eastern Tennessee, but I think I'll find it hard to leave Motown. Unless I make the decision some February. Then I'm freakin' out of here.

6. I didn't mind turning forty, though forty-one freaked me out a little. Because then I was "in my forties." I don't know that I can explain the distinction, but it seemed a big deal at the time. However,the thought that 19-year-old-Girl will enter her twenties next year? Is seriously getting on my ass. Already. And it's eleven months and three weeks away.

7. Part of me is bubbling with glee at the idea of tagging LiteralDan with this because the number of items (more than five, less than ten) just kills him. But I won't. Hopefully the mercy I show at this time will be visited upon me sometime later. Is there such a thing as meme Karma?

I'm gonna tag TennLady, gathering.dust, and Partly Cloudy, all of whom I am related, which is SO cheating, but I don't even care.

The Trickle-Down Economy

This is meant to be at least a semi-serious post, but all I can think of right now with the Ronald McReagan reference in the title is Ferris Bueller's Day Off. Ben Stein. Anyone? Anyone? Something-D-O-O economics. Voodoo economics.

This is not a screed outlining the problem or the cure for our economy (welcome, rest of the U.S. [world?] to where Michigan has been for the last several years), rather an observation that I want to share from my privileged seat as an educator.

You can't even believe how glad I was, the other day, to hear other teachers discussing what a very strange year this has begun as. Why glad? Because I thought it was me. I thought burnout was setting in early. The kids are not behaving in the typical ways of 10- and 11-year-old kids. Or, it might be more accurate to say that the behaviors of the children are magnified to a point where we are at our wits' end.

I am firmly of the belief that while the kids could not describe the country's issues very coherently, they are picking up quite strongly on the mood of it all. Parents are stressed, anxious, worried, and kids feel it.

Add to that the incessant negative campaigning, where kids are certainly hearing the message that "somebody dangerous is going to be running our country!"

Parents: Talk to your kids. Remind them about the really important stuff. How much you love them, and that you'll always be there for them. Also, Halloween is coming, so there's all that candy to be considered.