Reading Matters: October 2013

Reading Matters

October 2013

Books Purchased:

David and Goliath by Malcom Gladwell

Why We Get Fat and What to Do About It by Gary Taubes

Good Calories, Bad Calories by Gary Taubes

Books Read:

David and Goliath by Malcom Gladwell

Why We Get Fat and What to Do About It by Gary Taubes

            My birthday present from my husband was Malcolm Gladwell’s newest, David and Goliath. I think I read it in three days. It was so good, just like everything else Gladwell writes. The book explores the idea of the underdog versus the powers that be, and Gladwell does the usual thorough job of looking at the issue from a variety of angles. He starts by looking at how we underestimate underdogs and similarly overestimate the giants. The story of how David defeats Goliath opens the book and highlights the problem we face in deciding outcomes based on perceived strengths. I don’t want to spoil the book, but faced with David’s swiftness and artillery weapon of a slingshot, poor Goliath, weighed down by heavy armor and physical size, didn’t stand a chance.

            I really enjoyed the sections on dyslexia and its power to create both problems and advantages for people. Both my husband and younger son are dyslexic and struggle with reading and writing clearly. As someone who loves books and who can sit for hours at a time getting lost in text (in a good way, not a Jasper Fforde way), the idea of struggling to read is horrific. Yet, both of these men I life with have better aural memories than I do and can find things that I lose quite easily. Their visual acuity is sharper than mine actually. They just don’t do words very well.

            After reading the book, I realize that a little more adversity would have been good in my older son’s life. I think if he had been forced to survive through some turmoil and stand up to trouble he might be better at getting himself on track. That’s all the details I’m going to give. He’s a good guy, but he lacks some focus. I was delighted that he had a happy, relatively trouble-free childhood, but Malcolm’s insights into survivors and their strengths makes me wonder, what if . . .

            Here’s a link to a brief (12 minutes) interview Gladwell did with Stephen Fry: http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/video/2013/oct/24/stephen-fry-malcolm-gladwell-video-interview?CMP=twt_gu

            The two books by Gary Taubes were purchased in response to my latest physical and the troubling data about my body composition and blood numbers. I have been following a very healthy diet (according to American Heart Association and other supposedly reliable sources) but over the past few years I have lost a lot of muscle tone and gained quite of bit of adipose tissue (yuck). You might recall I read Body For Life last month and started weight training. Well, the doctor took one look at my body and blood work and declared that I was eating too much in the carb department and not exercising enough. The truth is that 50% of the time I eat between 100 and 120 grams of carbs, 30% of the time between 120 and 150, and only 20% of the time over 150 grams and those are usually special occasions like a birthday party or my semi-annual trip to Wingstop. (I use My Fitness Pal free online nutrition and exercise tracking, so I know what I ate during the summer.)  I did cardio three to four times a week during the summer and am averaging 2.5 times a week now that school is on. Of course, the doctor thinks I’m lying because if I have gained weight then it must be because I am overeating or not exercising or maybe both.

            Taubes’ book, Why We Get Fat and What To Do About It is refreshing. It presents the data from all of the various experiments about weight loss, and particularly fat loss, from the past 100 years. It is amazing to me the difference between what the studies actually show and what we are told as Americans. The whole “Calories In Vs Calories Out” idea that is crammed down our throats is one that the research so far has not proven to be a permanent, effective metabolic control.  

            That is startling to me because isn’t that what we have all been told? Get up off the couch, put down the remote, go walk your fat a** off. If you are overweight, it is your fault for not spending all of the calories you have consumed. The message that burning more calories will make us less fat is one based on the hope of it being true rather than any actual proof. Now, people who do exercise strenuously tend to make changes to their diets in terms of macronutrient composition because their bodies start demanding different foods. That in itself may account for the weight loss.

            Based on the evidence presented in the book, I cut out starches, sugars, and grains from my diet. I eat lots of different green veggies each day and things like nuts and avocados in addition to lean meats like chicken or ground turkey breast. In 20 days, I have noticed that I have lost weight--both fat and water I was retaining—and I feel so much better. I have loads more energy, and as long as I eat frequently enough, I feel more alert mentally. Also, I have no joint pains and am sleeping a bit better. I know this is just one person’s response to the changes , therefore anecdotal and to be taken lightly, but if you are feeling draggy and wondering why you cannot lose the weight no matter how much fat you cut from your diet, you might want to read the book and weigh the evidence for yourself (yes, pun very much intended!).

            

Reading Matters for September 2013

Reading Matters

September 2013

Books Purchased:

Crazy Busy by Eric DeYoung

The Hole in Our Holiness by Eric DeYoung

Bonhoeffer by Eric Metaxas

How to Worship a King by Zach Neese

1300 Real and Fanciful Animals from

        Seventeenth-Century Engravings by Matthaus Merian

Books Read:

Body for Life by Bill Phillips

Crazy Busy by Eric DeYoung

1300 Real and Fanciful Animals (no words, just pictures, yea!)

Bonhoeffer (started)

        I really struggled this month to get time to read. School started in earnest. My younger son is in his senior year and between physics, astronomy, pre-calc, cello, and SAT prep, I am busy with my home-school duties. He does all of his Advanced Writing and British Literature work by himself, but I sit in on the other courses, partly because of my interest in the subjects, and also to give support and instruction (and monitor his work!). I also have all of the classes I teach outside the home to prep and grade and meet weekly. Turns out, I have lost pretty much all margin for contemplative down time. I can think on the fly, did for all of graduate school after all, but I really prefer to have time to ruminate over ideas and themes before I walk students through literature or more challenging writing assignments.

        That said, I did finish two books and made a good dent in a third and spent lots of time perusing a fourth. Let me start with the least interesting: Body for Life. Phillips “wrote” the book as part of his EAS, Body-for-Life challenge program. In this fitness makeover, Phillips teaches how to lose body fat, build muscle, and increase focus in daily life. I did the Body-for-Life challenge in 1999. Back then, in my much younger years, I lost 15 net pounds. That means, I lost probably closer to 25 lbs of fat and gained 10 lbs of muscle. Now, just 14 years later, I probably need to lose 35 of those ugly fat pounds and gain that 10 of muscle back. It’s probably a function of my age and stage in life that I have lost all of the muscle tone out of my body over the past couple of years. I did join Weight Watchers and lost weight at first until it turned out that I was losing mostly muscle; then the weight came back with a few of its friends and I was bigger than when I started.

        I knew that Body-for-Life had worked before, with fatigue being the only real harmful side effect. So, I started the program in the middle of the month. At the start of October, I am on day 16. My progress is uncertain: I don’t face the horror of the scale and am not about to get out the tape measure, but my clothes are fitting better, and I can see a small rise in the area where my bicep used to be. I am following the program as well as my schedule and my advanced age will allow. I predict that the 12-week plan will be closer to 15 weeks in completion, but hey, at least I am doing something.

        The other book I finished is Crazy Busy by Eric DeYoung. The tagline on the book is A Mercifully Short Book About A (Really) Big Problem. I found book pretty interesting considering I find myself busier this year than I ever imagined I could be. What I really like about the book is that DeYoung doesn’t pretend to have conquered the issue of busyness. He takes his readers through is own journey and insights into what he sees are the key underlying beliefs that make us too busy. I know that “busyness” is kind of a trendy topic right now, with books ranging from The Four-Hour Work Week to 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. The former promises to show you how to work less and have more time for the really cool stuff in life and the latter promises to show how to cram more into each moment of each day without neglecting the really important stuff.

        DeYoung’s book looks at the causes for our busyness and the problems this causes for us as believers.  I found a couple of the chapters describing me spot on: the terror of total obligation and mission creep. When he writes about “people who easily feel a sense of responsibility, people who easily feel bad for not doing more,” I thought he was reading my mind. I constantly tell myself that I should be doing more to help, praying more, reading more, writing more, cleaning the house more. That sense of obligation can blind me to what my true obligations are and bind me to the idea of doing instead of being what I am called to be.

        In the section on Mission Creep, the idea that stands out for me is that our true beliefs about our value and purpose show up in what we do. Another way to put it is that whatever drives our decisions about how we spend our time is what we have set as our mission. I try to remember this idea when I have to decide how to spend my time.  DeYoung examines other things that engage us and create time issues in our lives. I am sure that other chapters will speak to others.

        For fun this month, I perused the Seventeenth-Century engravings of Matthaus Merian collected in 1300 Real and Fanciful Animals. The images are intriguing. Many of the mammals have anthropomorphic expressions on their faces. Well-drawn horses stand and prance next to hippogriffs and dragons. Detailed images of insects fill page after page. The artwork is astonishing. And some of the creature, like the rhinoceros for example, were clearly drawn from exaggerated descriptions that Merian read rather than actual observation. The art is all copyright free, so I’ll be photocopying pages for my younger friends to color when they come to visit.

        The other book I started was Bonhoeffer by Eric Metaxas (high quotient of Erics this month, I see). The plan is to finish the book by the third week of November for book club.

        Despite the struggle, I am enjoying forcing reading back into my schedule. I missed it sorely.

        

Reading Matters: August 2013

Books Purchased:

Time Warped by Claudia Hammond

Redemption by Bryan Clay

Inferno by Dan Brown (Kindle edition)

The Polysyllabic Spree by Nick Hornby

Sin and Syntax by Constance Hale

Books Read:

Redemption

Inferno

The Polysyllabic Spree

The Works by P.G. Wodehouse (Kindle edition)  (ongoing)

Beowulf Translated by John McNamara

        Let me be up front about it: I am stealing the format for my book posts, from here on, from Nick Hornby. His regular column “Stuff I’ve Been Reading” from The Believer Magazine (an advertising-free collection of interviews, essays, and reviews) was the fuel for his book The Polysyllabic Spree. His wit, humor, intelligence, and literacy make for great reading and have inspired me to rethink how I am handling book reviews here on my blog and elsewhere.  I particularly loved the fact that he is up front that he doesn’t read every book he buys; he “panic” shops when a new child is born to him and his partner; he is a reader of nuance and has valuable opinions about successive works by the same author; and he is doggone delightful to read.

        I don’t even remember where I came across the title for his book, but the subtitle- “A Hilarious and True Account of One Man’s Struggle with the Monthly Tide of the Books He’s Bought and the Books He’s Been Meaning to Read”- made me put the book on my Amazon wish list. Over this summer, I rededicated myself to reading more, lots more, just to spite my more-than-busy schedule this semester. As soon as my teaching money started to come in, I honored my commitment and bought a bunch of books (see above).

        Beowulf is for my British Literature Class. No matter how many times I have read it nor the detailed notes I have taken, I still have to read the book before I teach it. I wish I had a memory for plot details instead of themes and overtones, but alas, I don’t and at this late stage in the game, don’t think it will ever develop. So read, and reread, is part of my job. That said, this translation by John McNamara for The Barnes and Noble Classic Edition is great. Both lively and vivid, McNamara renders this classic of British Literature enjoyable for me as a teacher and for my students coming to it for the first time.

        Redemption is the story of Bryan Clay, 2 time Olympic medalist in the decathalon (Silver in 2008, Gold in 2010). His memoir, co-written by Joel Kilpatrick, chronicles his transformation from a rebellious party animal with good athletic skills to a world-class athlete. Along the way, Clay learns to commit to his sport and his wife, and most importantly to God. His message becomes “Do your best, and let God do the rest.” That may seem like wimping out, but I think it is just the recognition we all gain as we grow up that we are not really in control of much, so we need to relax and trust in our training and abilities.

        Another one of the things I really enjoyed about Hornby’s book—I keep coming back to him, I see. I guess that makes his work the most-influential of the month—were his frequent references to P.G. Wodehouse. I picked up The Works because I have always loved the Wooster and Jeeves stories, especially the adaptations starring Hugh Laurie and Stephen Fry that aired on PBS. I knew that Wodehouse had written about much more than the befuddled Bertie Wooster and his Man Extraordinaire, but I didn’t realize the spread of his stories. I am finding stories set in France and New York alongside those in London (and nearby suburb). There’s even a few with a dog as the protagonist. Always the humorist, Wodehouse manages to portray the humanity of his characters as they struggle with everything from being downtrodden to rising on the social ladder. Love, relationships, friendship, and family are the stuff of all the stories. And the wit and jokes! Come for the jokes and stay for the humanity. Wodehouse is perfect for dipping into when I need a little levity. Read too many in a row and they all start to sound the same.

        Now, the only other book I read that I haven’t talked about is Dan Brown’s Inferno. Let me insert my Amazon.com book review here because I have already done the work and don’t plan on losing any sleep over writing a different review here: Dan Brown's novel Inferno is infused with the beauty of Venice and Florence. I loved all the references to the art and architecture and with a little bit of research, was able to run alongside the characters and "see" the sights for myself.

Like all Dan Brown books, this one has the usual cryptic messages and clues that leave our hero and his requisite tag-along girl running from location to location, chased by various characters. Brown includes the usual plot twists and the "is he or isn't he?" a bad guy that is supposed to leave you guessing until the end for the big reveal.

My only criticism of the novel is that the characters are unnecessarily dense at times. You would think that lead character Robert Langdon would remember his past brushes with cryptology and be a bit quicker at solving the clues. I had no advanced knowledge of the subject matter or setting of the book, and even I was able to figure out some things more quickly than the characters. I don't know that Brown dumbed-down his protagonist, but let's just say I wasn't that impressed with Langdon's supposed genius at times.

If you read travel guides for fun, enjoy Italian art and architecture, and are interested in the question of population growth, you will probably like this book.

Out of the Shallows: A book review of Nicola Carr's The Shallows: What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains

            A Book Review of The Shallows, What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains by Nicolas Carr. By Donna Samudio

            No one really needs to tell us that we live in a shallow world. From television shows urging us to root for strangers in competition with each other to changing fashions in hair, clothing, and makeup that make no lasting difference to our lives, the world seems built on shallow interactions and superficial presentations. Nicolas Carr in The Shallows: What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains argues that we are being led into increasingly shallow thinking by the very nature of how we access the world through technology. While the book is secular, its message has relevance for us believers living in a technological world.

            Carr’s central argument is this: the way we get our information and interact through technology actually hinders our ability to make deep connections between ideas and to contemplate complex issues. He explores his ideas by looking at television, word processing, brain plasticity, and how we read on the internet. His tone is concerned, but I wouldn’t call him alarmist. I have experienced some of the things he talks about, like getting lost in a sea of pages by being lured by hyperlinks (the blue or underlined words in an article on the internet that take you to another page when you click on them).

            According to Carr, our experiences with data can easily become a matter of breadth rather than depth with each new page competing for space in our memories. Likewise, all the clutter of pop-up ads and animated gifs disrupt our brain’s natural process of moving things from working memory into storage memory. Have you ever had trouble remembering things you have read on the internet even when you tried to pay attention? It could be that you suffered from memory disruption.

            Google, Bing, Wikipedia, and other information gatherers would argue that access to endless information and multitasking through multiple windows is beneficial. Carr argues that in the long run our memory and neuron formation is programmed to be hyperactive by the increasing demands on our eyes and attention. Just like a diet too high in sugar will affect our body’s chemistry by reprogramming the release of insulin, a mental diet too full of these visual distractions and shallow interactions will hamper our ability to concentrate and think deeply. The internet screams at us to click anywhere and instantly get new visual information without ever stopping to ponder what we might be learning.

            I believe that the issue of contemplation versus stimulation has the most relevance for us in terms of our walk of faith. Ephesians 6:18 says, “praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication.” Kyle’s recent message (August 18) dealt with this issue of “all prayer” and “praying in the Spirit.” He said something I am trying to contemplate deeply—that prayer is spiritual because it reminds us of our humanity, that we haven’t got it all together, and that we are vulnerable. Prayer is serious business. We are constantly vulnerable to Satan’s attacks; therefore, we need to be in constant prayer. It takes mindfulness and effort to keep the shallow “hit and run” prayer from being our primary means of talking with God.

            Satan would have us shallow and distracted by whatever means he can. If Carr’s argument is correct, then we need to counter the effects of the internet by shifting our focus and practicing contemplative thinking in the Scriptures and an attitude of constant prayer. Carr’s book has made me aware of how even seemingly good things on the internet can possibly make my mind conform to the world’s shallow ways without even being aware of their influence. 

Book Review: The Year of Leaning Dangerously by Quinn Cummings

Bottom Line: I can recommend this book to anyone involved with homeschooling and to those who wonder just what's up with homeschooling.

Quinn Cummings, Oscar nominee and recurring character actress on the TV show Family, writes with honesty and wit about her trials and tribulations during her adventure with homeschooling her daughter Alice. I came to this book by way of my book club, made up of mostly home school moms. Hang on, I'm going to brag about my group for a moment. Unlike some other home school groups, notably the ones Cummings reports in her book, we are kind of a fringe group in that we don't all attend the same kind of churches or have the same kind of leisure activities. We have ex-lawyers, ex-college professors, people with masters and PhD degrees, people who never finished college, people who dance, drum, play bass in country bands, sing, and quilt. Some of us work full time and home school still. We also have women whose children are done with the school journey and who now are working on their own educations and independent entrepreneurial careers.

 I tell you all this to show that we are a group who are uniquely qualified to review the "truth" of Cummings book, and let me tell you, the recount of her experiences is dead on, especially in that no two homeschooling families will have the same things happen because no two family dynamics are just the same. When Cummings locks herself in the laundry room and breathes into a bag, I am sure several other women nodded in sympathy for feeling the same way at times. As Cummings moves through her search to find her "tribe," I know exactly what it feels like to be an outsider and want connection, but because I am already a bit unorthodox it can be a struggle to find other independent people who want to have a group interaction.

Readers who are not part of the home school world will get a glimpse into the some of the reasons why so many parents are choosing this option for their children. Cummings impressed me by her research and her argumentation skills in considering deeply all sides of the issue.  She is also very funny. I don't want to spoil any of the LOL moments in the book, but I was reading this in a doctor's waiting room and got some pretty curious looks thrown my way when I got to the section on Radical Unschooling.

I love the scene toward where the storyteller is giving the commencement address at a home school graduation. He says, "As life can be well lived if you find someone who really loves you for who you are, if you find something you love to do and you find someplace that feels like home." That's advice I think any home school parent can agree with and wish for her or his children.

Book Review: Mr. Penumbra's 24-hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan

Bottom Line: A clever, witty book that made me laugh out loud several times.

Amazon kept recommending this book to me, and I gave in and bought it for my Kindle. I  am so happy that I did. Sloan does a great job of marrying old-school table-top adventure gaming with Google, modern culture, and ancient secret societies.

The plot centers around unemployed graphic artist Clay Jannon who finds a job in a strange 24-hour bookstore that doesn't seem to sell books. Instead an interesting assortment of people come in a check out books from a three-story stack of strange tomes named for people. Clay's job is to keep a log book of each borrowing that includes details about the person's appearance and behavior. While Clay is wondering what's going on, he is simultaneously living with his roommate Mat's growing art project and his own interest in a woman named Kat Potente who works for Google.

The book is part mystery, part allegory for role playing games, part lesson in teamwork, and part examination of contemporary culture. If that sounds ponderous, don't worry. Sloan's writing is joyous to read. The book is lighthearted with lots of really funny moments in Clay's internal monologue. In one instance, Clay tries to boost sales in the shop by putting out a Google ad. When the mysterious Kat Potente appears in response to the ad, Clay almost blows the moment by hyper-responding. He thinks, "Google's astonishing advertising algorithms have delivered to me a supercute girl, and I have no idea what to do with her." Alliterative heaven right there.

Sloan's characters all come together for an adventure of their own, mirroring the world of D&D or Dragon Age. During the first half of the book I wanted to live in Clay's world and by the end, I realized that I already did. Even if these particular characters and conflicts are fictional, the lessons learned by Clay and company are the same that we all have to learn.

This is no Harry Potter with real wizards and quidditch. Instead it is a related story with many of the same themes of friendship, teamwork, bravery, and good choices. It is also a rare book that I and my 21-year-old son can both enjoy.

Book Review: Dandy Gilver and A Bothersome Number of Corpses by Catriona McPherson

Bottom Line: This, the seventh book featuring Dandy Gilver by Catriona McPherson, is one of the strongest in the series with beautiful characterization and enough complication to make it fun to read.

I ran across the first Dandy Gilver book in my local library when I was on the hunt for a work by another author. Set in post-WWI Scotland, it featured what was left of the landed gentry, dressing for dinner, and servants. Since I was in a Downton Abbey mood, I tried it and have stuck with the series because I find McPherson's writing to be interesting.

For a cozy series, and let's not kid anyone because that's what these books are, they cover lots of ground. The title character is Dandy, short for Dandelion, who is married to Hugh, a solid gentleman with enough land to be somewhat of consequence. Dandy is persuaded to start investigating mysterious happenings, at first by a close friend, and then later in response to more distance acquaintances and word-of-mouth advertisements. In this most recent book, McPherson takes the readers into Dandy's memories of a youthful idyllic summer spent with friends before bringing things back up to speed in Dandy's adult life with murders, mysterious school mistresses, and a charming Italian.

One thing McPherson does well is create diverse characters with their own voices. The schoolgirls sound different from each other, the mistress have their own energy, and the transition of one of the characters from youthful blithe spirit into something else entirely has its own reality in this fictional world. McPherson also has fun playing with Dandy's relationship to her rather stodgy husband who tolerates her detecting because of the money it brings in and her sons, one of whom is turning out to be much less talented scholastically than hoped for. Dandy's close working companion, Alec Osborne, excites all kinds of comments and rumors from people on the periphery, but unlike other crime detecting duos (Castle and Beckett come to mind) there is no steamy undercurrent of desire. They work as a duo, without much sexism, and it seems to be staying that way.

I find these books perfect for when I want some light reading featuring a strong female lead and charming Scottish folk set in rugged countryside.

Book Review: How to Succeed at Aging Without Really Dying by Lyla Blake Ward

Bottom Line: Ward is not nearly as curmudgeonly as Andy Rooney. She actually knows how to use a computer and shop online, and she writes with clarity and wit.

I picked this book up on one of those super Amazon Kindle sale. I liked the title and am dealing with aging relatives. I have been working on creating a notebook for myself that includes all sorts of useful advice to myself for when I eventually grow old. I encourage myself to get a minimum amount of exercise and to write things down, among other such stellar wisdom.  I thought I might glean a thing or two from Lyla Ward's book.

This collection of essays has its share of old-person grumbling about how things used to be simpler, and she's right. I remember when you turned on the TV without a remote and had only a few channels to turn access via the tuner dial. (I know that qualifies me as old in some people's eyes.) Now, I have to have at least two remotes or a computer to watch my shows because I stream so much of my visual entertainment. But besides the complaining, Ward includes some lovely snapshots of her life through the years.

I really enjoyed two of her essays. One was about trying to fit in with the sports/country club set. Ward is not a sportswoman, but through the judicious use of proper "outfitting," she was able to create the illusion that she either had just come from playing a sport or was about to join in a match, game, or set at any moment. Her other essay I really liked was about flower arranging. She uses satire nicely to skewer strange, artistic "individual" centerpieces for dinner parties or other occasions.

This book is easy to read and mostly fun. Ward has an intriguing mind. I enjoy essayists who present a clear voice in their work. I plan to look up more of Ward's writing.

Product Review: Paleo Bread by The Julian Bakery

I'm always on the search for good Gluten-free or Wheat-free bakery goods. When I came across Paleo Bread, I was intrigued and hopeful that I had found something that I could eat as a person allergic to wheat and that my brother, who eats no carbs, could also enjoy.

I ordered the coconut bread with 40 calories a slice. 5 grams of protein and 5 grams of fiber, combined with 6 total carbs yields a net carb value of 1. The Julian Bakery website is easy to navigate and contains two different bread varieties and some recipe ideas.

My bread was shipped  two-day air because it has no preservatives. The fiber in the bread comes from psyllium, the gritty husk of a plant, touted for its colon cleansing benefits.

Taking the bread out of the package, I noticed that it is a dense bread with kind of a spongy texture. It also smells kind of weird. I have had gluten-free things smell weird out of the package but be fine once they are cooked.

I toasted a slice of the bread. One bite and I decided maybe a little butter would help. Another bite and I opted for cinnamon and sugar to maybe help with the taste. Nothing was going to conquer the still spongy texture even after toasting.  Two more bites and even the cinnamon and sugar couldn't make me finish the piece.

I think the best way to sum up my view of Paleo Bread is to try to recreate the sound I made when I bit it, even after the cinnamon and sugar treatment:  Uhhhahhhbluuuggghhyeecchchchchchchahdjhuggjaldmg.....

* * * * * * * * * * * *

That translates to "Horrible, icky, spongy, smelly, I never want to eat this again, and it ranks up there in the top three worst gluten-free bakery goods I have ever tried."

Book Review: Call the Midwife by Jennifer Worth

Bottom Line: If you like your memoirs jampacked with graphic details of the physical act of giving birth, then this memoir is just for you.

It doesn't take the reader long to figure out that Ms. Worth is going to treat us to an immersive experience of her years as a midwife in the East End of London in the late 1950s and the 1960s. But, that's not necessarily a bad thing. She doesn't throw details around just to shock or gross us out. The anecdotes are all in purpose of demonstrating a few important key idea.

First, midwives and birthing professionals are important to women and their babies. In the case of some of these East End women, living in condemned buildings but having no other place to go, the midwives were their main and only access to pre and post natal assistance. And some of these women had a baby almost every year. Diseases were spotted and treated, abuse reported, and lives saved because of the work of these midwives. I think the opening chapter serves to show the difficulty of birthing a baby. The chapters on handling breech birth and premature babies reinforce the fact that without the midwives' assistance, both mother and baby might have died.

Second, life is hard, and bringing new life into the world is a very difficult part of it. Worth recounts the conditions under which many of these women and their young children live: poverty, abuse, decrepit and uncared for building that sometimes don't even keep out the rain. She recounts how for many of the women she visits, the only water is cold water piped into the kitchen. If there is a toilet in the apartment, it is also in the kitchen because that's where the pipes are. In America, the 50s and 60s are seen as kind of a Golden Age--think of the glamor of a TV show like Mad Men. In contrast, the East End of London was a place of brothels and bombed-out properties. Many of the large buildings were condemned and therefore not kept up with regular city services, such as garbage removal. They are written off, but at the same time, fully occupied because there was just no place else for the people to go. They couldn't afford the other parts of London.

Spoiler / warning: There is a chapter near the middle of the book where Worth recounts the story of Kate, a young Irish woman who finds herself trapped in prostitution. Worth tells in graphic sexual terms what Kate witnesses at the brothel. It is a small part of the book, but could be disturbing to younger female readers and titillating to male readers.

I liked the book and am glad to have read it, especially now that one of my friends is a Doula. I feel like I understand more about the process of prenatal care, labor, birth, and postnatal needs.

The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe: A review with a remembrance

I chose The Chronicles of Narnia, Book 2: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe as my first book of the new year. There was a practical reason for this choice as I am tutoring a student and needed to refresh my memory of the details of the book. But, even more than that, I wanted to revisit this book that I read way back in my adolescent days.

Some 40 years ago, when I read the Narnia series, I remember not especially liking it, a strange thing in itself because I did like fantasy and science fiction. I think I found the story too heavy-handed with the allegory or the characters too stupid or too unbelievable. I couldn't quite accept Peter as a young kid able to do battle against the White Witch with no training whatsoever. At the time of my youthful reading, it was already well known that the stories were Christian allegories. I had already made my way through John Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress, and strangely liked it, but LWW seemed too telegraphed, too predictable somehow.

This time as an adult reader I can appreciate C.S. Lewis's skilled writing. He captures the sensory experiences so clearly and succinctly: "But when the next morning came there was a steady rain falling, so thick that when you looked out of the window you could see neither the mountains nor the woods nor even the stream in the garden." I know what that rain looks and smells and feels like. Now I can see what a sensualist Lewis is, especially apparent in this passage: "Looking into the inside, [Lucy] saw several coats hanging up--mostly long fur coats. There was nothing Lucy liked so much as the smell and feel of fur. She immediately stepped into the wardrobe and got in among the coats and rubber her face against them." And this one from near the end of the book: "...Aslan leaped again. A mad chase began. Round and round the hilltop he led them...now diving between them, now tossing them in the air with his huge and beautifully velveted paws and catching them again...and whether it was more like playing with a thunderstorm or playing with a kitten Lucy could never make up her mind."

I also appreciate the theology more, and now the battle-ready Peter makes sense to me. In Christian theology, God equips his believers with the skills they need to battle the challenges that face them--though in the book only Peter and Edmund fight while Lucy and Susan are more of caretakers. I thought that might be sexism until I realize that Lucy and Susan had followed Aslan out of compassion the night before and were not present at the battle until it was all but over.

I liked the book, simply put. I didn't expect to and probably won't read the rest of the Narnia series, but I enjoyed Lewis' writing immensely.

Sweet Dreams are Made of This: Elegy on Lost Loves, Part 2

Gentle readers of any persuasion, I present to you the most perfect cookie in the world: Petite Ecolier by Lu!!!!

The bottom portion is a perfectly formed butter biscuit in the European tradition. Just sweet enough to count as a dessert, but not gooey or too sweet like so many American cookies. And on top of that perfectly formed butter biscuit sits a slab of chocolate, embossed with the portrait of a schoolboy from an earlier century. They make a milk chocolate version, but I prefer the dark chocolate Noir version with 45% cocoa.

My favorite way to eat them was to nibble a small bite, feeling the snap of the crisp butter biscuit, and letting the cookie and chocolate melt and blend together before a small mash (I wouldn't call it chewing really) prior to swallowing.  All of the flavor is released the moment the chocolate reaches the liquid point, so letting the cookie melt in the mouth is the only way to experience its greatness.

Le sigh!

Captain! I Don't Know How Much More the Ship Can Take!

Eleven years and twenty days ago, my mother passed away from complications associated with stage-IV ovarian cancer. For the five years preceding her death, my siblings and I faced a constant string of challenges    concerning her care and quality of life.

The seemingly endless undercurrent of stress cut through my life in a unique way, affecting my ability to do my full-time job and then my home schooling responsibilities, and my communication and relationship with my husband and children. It was the first time I found myself in the role of child and caregiver. At the time, I didn't know how I was going to make it through the maze of sorting out the constantly changing details of her care and finances, and the completely unchanging fact that she had terminal cancer unless God intervened in a miraculous way. I muddled through, doing what I could and feeling guilty for everything I didn't do, whether I could actually have performed the task at hand or not.

Now, so many years later, I find that my mother's illness and death were just the beginning of the learning curve for me. In the past four years, I have picked up two other parents, my mother-in-law and stepfather-in-law, as people to whom I am required to give some level of care and attention on a weekly, if not daily, basis. I was managing, mostly, to do an adequate job there and still keep up with my own chosen/homegrown family of husband and two boys. Though, if you ask those I live with, the stress was showing in my fatigue and "stress temper."

This past month, I have accelerated into full overload, and this time, it's not a case of how I am going to make it through, but IF.

My uncle who live 10 hours away by car, through a series of unfortunate events, years of semi-care by medical professionals, and lack of ability for us to be more present fixtures in his life, arrived in front of death's door one Tuesday in late August. We headed out to see what we could do, preparing for the worst. I wrote a rough draft obituary on the plane. The doctors didn't offer much hope and encouraged us to follow his wishes on his medical directive to remove him from life support. Yet, as this was happening, he grew in strength every day, though at a minimal level. We decided to give him a fighting chance.

After a little over three weeks in ICU, he has transferred to another section of the hospital to a lower level of care. But, he still isn't entirely out of danger. He just isn't on life support any more. Every minute of every day, no matter what else is happening, I can't pretend that I don't know his recovery hangs in the balance and that I, as one of the agents on his Medical Power of Attorney and the primary contact for the hospital because I am able to answer my phone during more hours of the day, am somehow tied to this event in an inescapable way.

The stress is having its way with me. My life is different now, much more full, than it was sixteen years ago when we went through a similar journey with my mother. I don't want to whine. No one is shooting at me. My nation isn't in the midst of a violent revolution. I can go to church or not as I please. I have enough money to go to the grocery store and buy what I want from the myriad of choices in each department. But that's all rationality talking there. Stress gets in where the mind fails. It attacks on a deep emotional, physical, and spiritual level.

The usual cures for stress aren't working. Rest: sure, if I can escape the horrific dreams. Exercise: sure, except I've been sick and slightly feverish since returning from the five-day trip to see him in the hospital and direct his care. Diet: sure, when I feel up to eating, which when the hospital calls as I'm cooking dinner seems to ruin my appetite for the evening. Talking to family and friends: sure, and this one has helped a bit, except when people need to hear enough of the story to understand my uncle's plight and then I just don't want to go into all the details again because it sets my heart racing. Finding time for myself: sure, except the older folks in my care have a crisis and there is no one else to help. I can't just let them suffer. Taking it one day at a time: sure, except that rationale only keeps from adding more stress; it doesn't alleviate the stress already bubbling under the surface.

I have hope for many things but it is hard to hold on to.

It's been just under a month, and I am already done in. I don't think I can survive five more years like this.

Sweet Dreams Are Made of This: Elegy on Lost Loves

Hot. Fluffy on the inside. Crispy on the outside, especially around the hole, Just the right amount of sweetness in the yeasty dough mixing with the warm taste of clean oil. Fresh from the fryer and rolled in granulated sugar. Melting in my mouth with goodness. The umami reaction of satisfaction merging with the sweet sugar. The smells of the doughnut shop: batter, oil, sugar, fruit fillings, cream, coffee. The knowing how wonderful that first bite is going to be even before I turn off the car and enter through the door.

I dreamed of doughnuts for the whole first month I became gluten free. I haven't dreamed of them for quite a while now, but last weekend, Mr. Saurus made a stop by Golden Donuts in Azle on the way to other errands. I took one step inside the store and came to a complete stop. I haven't been in a doughnut shop for years, and instantly I was transported back to my old life.

I have always loved donuts, even as a child. In grade school my mexi-american classmates would tease me about my name, calling me doughnut. I didn't mind so much. Doughnuts are wonderful things, and if they want to give me the name of a wonderful thing, I'd take it. My dad used to occasionally make doughnuts by dropping canned biscuits into hot oil. Despite their humble origins, I'd eat those just as readily as the shop-made kind.

My last meal, if I ever were to find myself in that situation, would be a plate of HOT doughnuts, just out of the fryer and rolled in granulated sugar, delivered approximately 4 hours before I was scheduled to depart this material world. I would get to experience one of the world's most glorious creations as my last memory, and by 4 hours, the migraine would be so bad that I would see death as a relief.

This weekend when the Mr. wanted to stop by Golden Donuts I agreed to come along for the ride, but decided not to go in. The loss is still too fresh and the longing too strong. I was sad after last week, actually sorrowful. I didn't realize until then how much I still loved and missed these simple fried breads. I have been sad all week.

I miss you, Doughnuts.

Why the Changes to Sy-Fy's Show Alphas Make it Unpalatable to Me, or Alphas, You Suck Now!

Alphas is a television series that began last year on the Sy-Fy network. I enjoyed watching it then, but the changes they have incorporated in this new season are enough to turn me off the series.

In sum, Alphas tells the story of a group of humans with superhuman skills, kind of like X-men only without the comic book background or cool costumes. The team is led by  Dr. Rosen (David Strathairn), a normal human psychologist, and comprises Nina (Laura Mennell) , a telepathic woman of the world who can push people to do her bidding, Bill (Malik Yoba), a former FBI agent capable of short bursts of superhuman speed and strength, Rachel (Azita Ghanizada) who has super senses (taste, touch, hearing, smell, sight), Cameron  (Warren Christie), a fellow with extraordinary reflexes and coordination, and Gary (Ryan Cartwright), an autistic young man who can tap into electromagnetic pulses, meaning he can listen into phone calls and tap into video feeds.

The plot centers around the team of good Alphas looking for rogue Alphas who are causing trouble and using their powers either for personal gain or to take revenge on normals. Last year the character Stanton Parish was introduced as an Alpha dating back from the civil war who has decided, a la Magneto, that the world would be better off if the Alphas were in charge, so death to all normals and other Alphas who stand in his way. Also last year the plot of the government rounding up Alphas and putting them in an institution against their will came to a head when both the leader of the team, Dr. Rosen, and Gary, the autistic, were put Farmington, the prison/asylum. Dr. Rosen was just a prisoner while Gary was forced to undergo the electronic lobotomizing the violent Alphas faced.

Okay, so far the series sound great, right? Action, suspense, intrigue, special effects, characterization--all these elements made the show enjoyable and quite watchable. This year, however, they have taken the show into edgier territory that just makes it not that fun for me anymore.

First off, I don't need to see a 1 1/2 minute simulated sex scene to know that Alphas have great sex. Fifteen seconds would have gotten the message across just fine. Second, Gary's character has become totally manic now, yelling at people, pushing other people around physically, and just being out of control. Mr. Saurus says that he can buy that characterization because Gary hasn't recovered from being in the institution. His schedule is out of whack, therefore his world is in serious disarray and he cannot help but react outrageously to even the simplest of disturbances. Maybe so, but all I see is scenery chewing, and not the fun kind like Alan Rickman in Robin Hood, Prince of Thieves.

Another element added this season is Dr. Rosen's daughter who is playing double or triple agent by working for Magneto/Stanton Parish, sleeping with Cameron the coordinated guy, and trying to get info from her father to feed back to Parish. Whether she is acting out of sympathy to Parish's cause or serving as a double agent is unclear. All it seems like is an unnecessary plot complication.

Finally, the thing that pushed me over the edge and caused me to leave the room and not watch anymore episodes, in the second episode of the season, the one with the overdone love scene, Nina's character pushes a witness to tell the truth, specifically to tell all the things she's hiding from them. Most of it is okay, as she lists minor deceptions and foibles. But then, after the interrogation seems over and everyone looks away from the witness, Dr. Rosen opens his mouth to move the conversation and exposition forward. Out of the blue, inserted into the show in a very prominent way, the witness blurts out that she pleasures herself every morning after her husband leaves for work. All the characters on the screen do a double take, mirroring my reaction exactly. The characters then move on to the next dilemma and the scene isn't referred to again.

So why am I "over"reacting to this one line of dialogue? Well, the episode starts out with the extended lovemaking scene, so I know we are into new territory, and I guess I put up my guard, wondering what else the show had in store for me. Then, Gary, the autistic young man, starts screaming and flailing around, adding to my discomfort and causing me to question the director's choices. Last, at least the last I saw of this episode, comes this line of dialogue that is introduced in such a way as to cause a great deal of attention to be paid to it. It's like the show writers and director is saying, "Yeah, we're about real life man, edgy and tough and in your face!!!!!"

I like edgy shows sometimes, and I don't mind when characters change and grow on shows, but this new season of Alphas is like the producers said, "Let's compete with HBO" or some other cable giant with raw, adult original programming. I don't like those shows, and as Alphas morphs into that kind of programming, it leaves me behind. One cannot argue with the rating success of those more adult shows, I don't expect Sy-Fy to change its plans for me. I just choose to change the channel when Alphas comes on.

Whose got my spectacles?

Okay, I didn't watch the opening ceremonies of the 2012 Olympics when they were broadcast. We had a house guest and were too busy playing Zombie Dice to turn on the television. But, I heard through Facebook other people's reactions.

So as not to be left out, I went internet searching and found lots of footage. Oh my! The Grandeur, The Spectacle, The Weirdness. The We Are Not To Be Outdone By Beijing and We Can Create Spectacle With MEANING!!!!!!

Was it just National Pride run amok? Was it some kind of insatiable craving for spectacle and symbolism that had to be acted out by a cast and crew of thousands?

To me, it is almost as if the Opening Ceremonies now have to top the experience of the almost unbelievable athletic performances of the games themselves. The actual efforts and agonies of these athletes who have trained for years to get where they are is a human spectacle of the best kind. People putting it out there at one moment for a shot at winning for themselves and their country. There's a poignancy to the rise and fall of expectations and performance that makes the Olympics unique and special.

All the balloon bad guys and bed-bouncing actors in the world cannot match the very real human drama of the runner who is forcing his body to sprint despite the pain or the tumbler who lands on her head and then has to get up and do the routine again despite the little canaries flying around her noggin.

I understand the Opening Ceremonies provide a showcase of sorts for a nation to say, "See, we really are great and have done things of lasting value." I also understand that the Opening Ceremonies offer a platform for the current important social issues to be presented symbolically. I just find it all too much, too over the top, too in your face with our greatness.

Humans like to compete for attention, affection, prestige, and honor. That's what the games are about, and I guess the opening ceremonies are no different. I just find all the hoopla outlandish and unnecessary for the enjoyment of the athletic performances to come.

Wind it up!

What a lovely phrase, "Wind it up!" I immediately think of crank-start automobiles, Victrolas with 78 rpm records, golden clocks ticking away on mantels, sandals straps winding their way up a Roman's leg (wait, I may have gone too far there.)

But it's also quite a modern phrase. Let's get the party started. Let's kick things off. Crank up the energy. And in the sexual sense, well, I'll let your imagination fill in the image.

In the context of this blog, Wind it Up serves as a my call to action. I am going to write on Books, Movies, Television, Dance, Current Events, Kittens, Teaching, Home schooling, Faith, Philosophy, and anything I can think of.  Maybe it'll just be all the stuff that winds me up in good ways and bad.

I'm gathering ideas and titles from my everyday life experiences. When they arrive, maybe the readers will gather here as well.  Until then, I'm off to have some of those experiences.

Wind it Up!