Bookish (and not so Bookish) Thoughts

Without a doubt, this has been our busiest and best holiday season to date. The combination of it being a "normal" year, Sawyer being old enough and more-than-willing to do ALL the things, and having the time, has allowed us to do some really great things We spent a day at Disneyland (we've never been at Christmas and a rainy morning allowed us to go on a ton of rides right away), watched Home Alone at the Walt Disney Music Hall in LA, did a Santa Run, saw the Enchanted lights at Descanso Gardens, and several other fun things. I've always said that I'd rather spend my money on experiences, rather than things! I'm usually a bit happy to see Christmas wind down, but this year I'll be a little sad to see it go. 

I am incredibly thankful my family has stayed healthy through the holiday season. Sawyer had a nasty bug before Thanksgiving, but other than that we have been well. 

Our Christmas card was so much fun this year! We always repurpose Sawyer's Halloween costumes and this year he was Marty McFly. On the cover he is doing the iconic watch-checking pose and there's a Santa flying in the sky with "Great Scott! We'll miss Santa!" (or something like that). On the inside Scott photoshopped present Sawyer into a scene I had taken of him photographing Sawyer for his very first Christmas card when he was eight months old. 

I've been training for a half-marathon in February, and to make a long boring story short, I've finally gotten some food pain under control, so that's helping a lot. I don't think it's going to be a fabulous race or anything, but it's been good for me to have some structure in my fitness routine.

So, after managing to score Taylor Swift tickets last month, I landed another big concert victory- Lord Huron in Red Rocks in June. I LOVE this band SO much and had told Scott a week before that one day I'd see them there. When the tickets went on sale the next week I couldn't get any but managed to get some somewhat-reasonable ones through stubhub. I'm worried about it somehow falling through, but my friend who is going with me and I decided we'll just go anyway and explore Denver if anything! Between these two and another one in May, my concert budget it spent for 2023, haha.

The semester ended fairly quietly at work. I managed to pull a few extra kids into passing territory and did a good job staying on top of my grading from Thanksgiving to the end of term, so I never had to pull any essay-reading all-nighters. When return in January we're starting Sylvia Plath poetry, which is always super uplifting.

I'm a few books away from making my GoodReads goal for the year, which I know I'll pull off on the the 30th or 31st, per the usual. It's a tradition! Luckily next my second week of break is pretty chill, minus a day trip to Joshua Tree with some friends (I've never been!) and a few happy hours and dinners and whatnot. 

Another big project for next week: completing my year-in-review book. I did through June over the summer, which puts me in a good spot for completing it, if I do a month or two a day once Christmas is over. I always give myself the due date of 1/1, since the site I use has really great sales and my books are LONG. 

Speaking of Joshua Tree, I'll end the year with having gone to five National Parks this year! Yosemite, Sequoia, Grand Tetons, Yellowstone, and Joshua Tree. Definitely got my money's worth out of my NPP (and before it expires next summer I'll be using it at Yosemite again, Rocky Mountain NP, and maybe another one of two). 

My sister is due in a few months and I have been doing the same thing for her as I did my brother- Sawyer and I choose a kid's each month and send it to the little fetus to build her library (another niece! I can't want to meet her). 

After the body shop having my car for five weeks after an accident last month, I FINALLY got my car back yesterday. Now I get to deal with car rental reimbursements from the other insurance company, since the other driver was at-fault, but I'm a persistent woman. 

I'm so  proud of Sawyer's reading lately! He always has a book in the car, asks to extend his required homework independent reading time, and is already at 200% of is AR goal for the trimester, which is only half over (I have very mixed feelings on AR, but I like how his teacher uses it). Needless to say, he is getting a ton of books for Christmas! I tried to do a mix of some of the easier series he likes, some challenging ones, and some in between.

I hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas- maybe I'll actually put up a few posts when I'm off. I mean, for the three of your who read for fun and the person or two who is hate-reading ;) 

The Solace of Open Spaces

I first heard about Gretel Ehrlich’s The Solace of Open Spaces on Yellowstone, when the character Beth reads a line to her father (I’d pretend to be embarrassed, but I’m beyond in love with the show, so I’m not). I immediately looked it up and ordered it on the spot. Between Beth Dutton’s recommendation and my newfound adoration of Wyoming after a trip to the Tetons, I knew it would resonate. It did. 

I finally finished the slim book of Ehrlich’s recounting of her time in Wyoming, working on ranches, and I already find myself wanting to reread it (this rarely happens). The language she uses to talk about the land and the nature that lives on it is exquisite, providing the potential for beauty in expected images like the landscape but also in the dry dust storms of the summer. Her depiction of those who inhabit the wide open land left me partially envious of their space, physical productivity, and seemingly simpler lives. Annie Dillard’s blurb on the cover, that “Wyoming has found it’s Whitman” is spot on. 

I’m not going to pack up and leave my home in suburbia, but there wasn’t a page that went by that didn’t make me yearn to get in my car and drive east, through Nevada and into Utah, Wyoming, and Montana. 

There’s plenty of time. And hopefully space.

Bookish Banter- The Last Chairlift by John Irving

Look at us! Julie and I got through the nearly 900 page newest John Irving book, The Last Chairlift, during the start of the holiday season! There are some spoilers in here, be warned! 

Julz: This is the first time I’ve ever read Irving “hot off the presses.”  It was quirky and cute and vulgar and fun.  And of course, all the sex.  And of course there were some slightly odd anecdotes like “the kiss of questionable judgment” that Ray gave to Adam (ew) and the fact that Adam slept with his dad’s wife.  Um yeah.

Christine: I could get over the stepmom sex, since he didn’t grow up with her (Julz: Agreed), but the boundaries between Adam and Ray were a bit too poorly defined for me at times (Julz: Also, agreed). I thought the expression Em’s sexuality was interesting too, the fact that she expressed herself so loudly in the heat of the moment and was silent the rest of the time was such a deliberate commentary on the importance sex, and even intimacy as a whole,  played in the book. Also intentional was his lack of discussion about Adam’s sex with Grace. What did you think of her? 

Julz: I liked Em, especially when she started speaking.  The pantomime thing didn’t work too well in writing.  I’m glad she and Adam could support each other as spouses and writers.   

I thought it was hilarious that it was the crazy wedding weekend (yeast infections, lesbians, orgasms, electrocutions) that Adam, “… decided to adopt an uncharacteristic nonchalance.  I would henceforth appear to understand, or be indifferent to, everything.” That was a hell of a weekend…

Christine: That section was one of my favorites! Can you imagine it as a movie? Such shenanigans. So much of the story grew from that weekend- Ray and Mr. Barlow’s relationships, Nora and Em’s sexuality, ghosts, Molly’s role in their lives (loved her, by the way), etc… 

Julz: The only people in Adam’s life who appear to have died natural deaths were Nana and Molly (despite her best efforts).  Think about all of the outrageous ways people died like the diaper man previously mentioned.  Aunts, scared to death by ghost.  Uncles drive off cliff, possibly deliberately.  The elder Barlows crushed by a train in an avalanche.  Clara jumps from a chairlift.  Nora and Paul Goode are shot at two very different venues and Adam witness both.  Plus Vietnam and AIDS.  Irving is certainly creatives in how he kills his characters.

Although, honestly, I was glad to see Mr. Barlow and Ray commit suicide by six-pack and hypothermia.  I don’t think I could have witnessed Ray’s death by cancer.  Hell no.

Christine: It was very reminiscent of poor Owen Meany’s mom…

I agree, and it would have been so out of character for her to just succumb. There really was so much loss in the book, which for Adam as a writer gave him a lot of material, but to look at it spelled out like that it’s really sad, too. This isn’t a sad story, though, with a lot of grieving. What do you make of Irving’s intent there? 

Julz: I think Irving’s presentation of loss is to demonstrate that at some point in everyone’s life, it’s going to happen.  You will lose the people you love in some way or another and life goes on for the living.  Shit, look at the year I’ve had.

Why is Irving so obsessed with small men?  The way he gushes over Mr. Barlow, he would adore my husband!

Christine: Ha! Again, Owen Meany vibes! (Julz: Totally!)  I googled Irving’s height and he was 5’8”, so maybe it comes from some personal insecurities? Not that that is that short, but maybe it felt that way growing up? 

Julz: What did you think of the screenplay as narrative device?  I found it distracting at first, especially with all the ghosts in scenes.  I did get used to it after a while, and though it made for quicker reading, I was relieved when it switched back.

Christine: This was definitely something I wanted to talk about, and I felt the same way. I know Irving has written screenplays, so this wasn’t coming from somewhere completely random, but I connect with his prose so much more. I feel that way about literature as a whole, though, I much rather read a novel than a play!

Confession: I really didn’t love the ghost angle, minus his grandfather’s. I was glad that it didn’t take over the text. It wasn’t done poorly or anything, just personal preference 

Names were so important! Adam, Grace,  Rachel being shortened to Ray, Em’s name also being shortened by Nora, the plentiful descriptors for Mr. Barlow, etc.. Obviously this isn’t anything new, but I enjoyed deciphering the meanings. 

Julz: Yeah, I prefer prose any day. I could have done without the ghost angle, too, except (besides the diaper man) maybe Paul Goode’s mom at  the hotel.  And yes, I’m glad you mentioned the descriptors!  The snowshoer, the night groomer, etc.  Those were endearing.

Bookish (and not so Bookish) Thoughts

I finally finished John Irving's The Last Chairlift- Julz and I have a post coming in the near future for inquiring minds. I enjoyed it, but at nearly 900 pages it was a tad long. 

Today is my birthday and I got lots of new books from my husband. Our birthday/Christmas strategy is very simple- set limits and exchange wish lists. It works!

Part of me is getting a little concerned about my Goodreads goals for the year, and part of me knows I always pull it off and will be totally fine. Please note that no part of me whatsoever thinks this whole goal is contrived and unimportant. 

The last week has been A LOT, some in good ways and some not. Sawyer got a cold that turned into something more, which antibiotics helped with quickly, but then in turn bothered his stomach. I got in a car accident on Friday (a lady turned left in front of me when we both had just normal green lights... everyone is fine, but my car will be in the shop for a whilllllle... the whole thing has been pretty stressful). My mom was down for a few days and now my sister and her husband are with us through the holiday (these are good things). Scott came back from almost two weeks out of the country and I've been trying to catch up with work so I can go into the last few weeks in a good spot. 

Since my life isn't hectic enough, I decided to train for a half-marathon in February. It's one I've done six or so times before and I'm in good cardiovascular health, but I just forgot how much time the training schedule requires, especially since I am very slow. I needed a goal, though, a reason to push myself. So, here we are. 

Mysterious plastic babies started showing up in my classroom, the ones that are baked in to cakes for The Epiphany. Now it's become this huge running jokes and I have taken a little container of them home for my house for Thanksgiving break, since my students agree they needed constant protection. Let's just say since I started making them the stars of my Insastories I've gotten a lot of new followers (my teacher account)... apparently they'd rather see them then get book recs? As if. 

Yellowstone  is back! If they just focused on Beth and Rip 90% of each episode that would be fine.

I am not into decorating for Christmas on the outside of my house, but let's just say I've added another tree to my indoors, bringing out total to three (plus a big one in my classroom, so I guess I own four!).

The one in my classroom is for the extra credit literary ornament that my students are hopefully working on. It's one of my favorite classroom holiday traditions and I can't wait to see them! 

Bookish (and not so Bookish) Thoughts

It's pouring outside here in Southern California and in many other parts of the state (plus feet of snow in the mountains!)- we need it a million times over, but I must say I don't like it. I appreciate it, but I don't like it. I can't walk my dog, traffic is abysmal, and I walk around staring at my ceiling, since I just know it's going to start leaking (it's who I am).

It's Election Night and I'm avoiding the news. I know it's not going to be great and I rather get it all in one chunk tomorrow rather than lots of disappointing tidbits tonight. There are some local and state issues that I feel more optimistic about, at least.

My husband is away for nearly two weeks out of the country for work, so I'm holding down the fort with a loud, chatty eight-year-old. Thoughts and prayers, please.

Coincidentally, the day my husband left to fly halfway across the world, is also out anniversary (we went out over the weekend, so it's all good). Marriage is really, really hard- not the part about being monogamous, the part about two different people with two very different personalities living in one space and making a life together. It's just tough, some years are very, very tough. Luckily, this year has been the easiest of them all- out of all fourteen of them! 

Last month Sawyer and I took a weekend trip to Sequoia National Park and it was such a great weekend away. We drove to Visalia Friday afternoon, stayed the night there, hiked all of Saturday in the forest, and drove back in time for his swim lessons on Sunday (it's about four hours without traffic). The drive from the park entrance to the biggest tree (by volume), General Sherman, was incredibly windy but kind of a fun drive.

I just finished Thomas Hardy's Woodlanders for a research project I'm doing with my students and while it isn't best, there was a certain college-nostalgia I had while reading it. I took a class on Hardy at UCLA and just the idea of knowing I was going to write a paper on the book while I read it took me wayyyyy back.

I'm listening to Matthew Perry's memoir and...damn. It's really good, but really heavy.

I'm looking forward to lots of family time this month! We actually hung out with some of my husband's family, who we haven't see in years, a few weeks ago and then my mom comes in little over a week, and then when she leaves my sister and her husband are coming. Maybe I'll squeeze in a visit with my grandpa, too, and a cousin and I are trying to calendar some time to get lunch. Tis the season!