Book Club

Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury

This is my much loved copy.  It's worn, the cover is faded, and the pages are falling out.

Two of my favorite passages come at the end of the story:

"There was a silly damn bird called a phoenix back before Christ, every few hundred years he built a pyre and burnt himself up.  He must have been first cousin to Man.  But every time he burnt himself up he sprang out of the ashes, he got himself born all over again.  And it looks like we're doing the same thing, over and over, but we've got one damn thing the phoenix never had.  We know the damn silly thing we just did.  We know all the damn silly things we've done for a thousand years and as long as we know that and always have it around where we can see it, someday we'll stop making the goddamn funeral pyres and jumping in the middle of them.  We pick up a few more people that remember every generation."

"Everyone must leave something behind when he dies, my grandfather said.  A child or a book or a painting or a house or a wall built or a pair of shoes made.  Or a garden planted.  Something your hand touched some way so your soul has somewhere to go when you die, and when people look at that tree or that flower you planted, you're there.  It doesn't matter what you do, he said, so long as you change something from the way it was before you touched it into something that's like you after you take your hands away."

And perhaps the best one-liner:  "Stuff your eyes with wonder."

Fahrenheit 451 is a bleak story of the future, but Bradbury gives you such hope in the midst of it all.  Hope that mankind is really better than war, death, and crime.  Hope that even when things seem impossible to change, we can change them.

Book Club

Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov

Ok.  So I read this book forever ago, and recently re-read it.  And oh.  My.  God.

Apparently I either completely forgot the entire thing, or was at such a different point in my life that I didn't think twice about how offensive and painful Lolita truly is.  Who allowed this to become so ingrained into our society?  How did this novel get to be so literarily predominate?  Who thinks this is important in any way?

I've come across arguments in favor of this work, saying it's a love story.  Umm.  No it's not.  Anything based on furtive sex with a minor who cries during and afterward is not love.  Especially when the narrator doesn't care.  Selfish indulgence.

Book Club

Dude, Where's My Country? by Michael Moore

Up until about a year ago, if it's even been that long, I was not a fan of Michael Moore.  I didn't have any particular reason.  I was a Republican, thought things should be a certain way, and considered Moore a 'Hollywood liberal' with a big mouth but nothing to say.  I should mention that I had never read any of his books or watched any of his movies.  The only time I ever really saw him was at the Oscars in 2003, where he spoke out against President Bush and the Iraq war.  And then was subsequently booed off stage.  

But one day Joe came home from work, where he was able to see bits and pieces of "Fahrenheit 9/11" and told me we had to watch it.

And we did.

And everything changed.

Of course it was a little heavy handed, but it was true.  It was brutally honest.  It was eye opening.  

Moore has written a couple books, this one is the first I've picked up to read.  I can't express how much I want everyone I know to read his work.  No matter what you think about Moore, or what political party you belong to, or even if you don't care about politics at all, I promise you will see things differently after reading Dude, Where's My Country?

In my photo, the little torn paper bookmark is stuck in a page that I couldn't forget, and want to share with you now:

          

          "The Bush administration did not like the protections contained in the House bill [Patriot Act] and, with the speaker of the house, worked through the night to strip it of all the civil rights protections the House Committees had voted for.  It was finally submitted at 3:45 a.m.  When Congress showed up a few hours later to vote on it, they thought they were voting on the language agreed to the previous day.  Instead, they voted on the bill whose few protections were gutted by Attorney General John Ashcroft the night before.  According to the American Civil Liberties Union, few members of Congress actually read the final version of the act.  It was perhaps the most reckless and irresponsible action our Congress has ever taken."

Unbelievable, right?  

There's so much more.  And it's all documented.  There's sources - actual newspaper articles, books, credible information.  It makes me curious to know where was all of this at the time?  Why wasn't America told?  Why did the majority of news outlets simply keep repeating governmental lies?  Lies that were proven to be lies!

Insane.

But there's hope.  There's always hope.  As Moore says:

          

          "...We love our country and we care about the world in which our country exists.  There is no reason to sink into some self-centered despair or cynicism.  There is every reason to put this book down right now, pick up the phone, walk out the door, and make a difference."

Book Club

Seriously by Lucia Nevai

I chose this one simply based on the cover.  That, and "seriously" is one of my favorite words.

But skip this book.

Seriously.

Book Club

The Daily Show with Jon Stewart Presents America (The Book): A Citizen's Guide to Democracy Inaction

Funny.  But not as funny as I thought it would be.

Hey Kids, Look Up "Sixty-nine" Too

You.  Are.  Kidding.  Me.

"Oral sex" definition prompts school district to pull dictionaries

Dictionary definition raises ruckus at Menifee school

I suppose there's a happy ending to it all though (oooh, excuse the pun):  Banned dictionary to return to Riverside County school

But only if you consider that "[t]he dictionary will go back to the classroom but the parents will be given the option to determine if they want their kids to have access to that dictionary" as a happy result.

Secretary of State-ment Pieces

Madeleine Albright was my very first political female role model.

And I'm happy to say, she still holds the top spot.

Albright has a book coming out that inventories her vast collection of pins.  She gives accounts for each one, telling the important meaning behind her picks.

It's so great to see a woman using style and fashion to help underscore her opinions and work.

Jewelry-Box Diplomacy : NPR article with photos (my favorite pin is the simple gold dove)

Interview with NEWSWEEK

Theft : You get what you pay for

I don't normally not finish a book. If I pick one up, I'm usually good to go. Even if it's poorly written (ahemTwilightcoughcough). Even if it's a gazillion pages long (Sacajawea). Even if it's beyond cheeseball (you know the ones...the novel equivalent to Cosmo magazine).

There have been only three books in my entire life I've never been able to finish: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn - kept falling asleep on it for some reason. Sorry Mr. Twain.

The Awakening by Kate Chopin - it's not even a long book; I don't know why I couldn't ever get into it.

And some coming of age self help get to know your body type book my dad gave me years and years ago. That one might be self explanatory.

And then I picked up The Art Thief by Noah Charney.

Oh. My. God.

It's awful.

As I was checking out at Borders the other day, the cashier said they were giving away free books if you make a purchase. So I browsed the selection...and lemme say, there is a reason they're having to give away those books. But I was like, FREE BOOK! Free! Who turns down free? Plus it's a book. I've rescued books from trash cans. I was determined to get a free book any which way. I picked up The Art Thief, read the inside cover and thought it'd be ok. I mean, it's a mystery story about art. Score.

Well.

I came home and gave it a shot. It was a little rocky at first, but I kept telling myself that was just the introduction. It'll get better soon.

Then this little gem on the top of page 10: A female character, on the phone arguing over the validity of a work of art on which she's an expert, says "No, it's not my time of the month, I ... but, I ... yeah, well I hope you get royally fucked in the ..."

No really. He couldn't write in "ass" after using "fucked?" And really? "It's not my time of the month?" Really?

But I kept going. I guess I should've known better. Oh well.

This is the paragraph that sealed the deal though on page 47 (47 out of 290. 47!):

This is the main character, an art expert who jets around the world helping various police agencies solve art thefts. Here he's giving a lecture about his work...

"People do not commission the theft of works of art they have never seen, or seen only once. They fall in love with specific works and wish to own them. It is a love affair. As you might pursue a beautiful woman whom you've seen on the street, art theft is the equivalent of seduction and conquest. Beautiful art, like beautiful women, provokes desire. A desire to possess and be possessed, a yearning to have created, a sense of peace and majesty, to hold this sublime proof of the existence of God, who must be great indeed to have created a thing of such beauty. In this manner, if you'll forgive the analogy, the patron is soliciting a prostitute; the beautiful whore is the work of art, and the thieves who provide her, the pimps. If you think of the art in terms of beauty bought-and-sold to the highest bidder, this analogy seems less ludicrous."

Ok. So let me get this straight. People fall in love with certain works of art, so they want to own them, and are willing to steal or pay high prices for someone else to steal them. Totally understandable. I don't think that really needs an analogy. ESPECIALLY one that totally contradicts the principle. And one that is UNBELIEVABLY SEXIST. Geez. Seriously Noah Charney? This is what you want to be known for? Horrible writing, even worse characters, and a book that I don't even want to read even though it was free?

Sigh.

I know it's just a book. I know these characters are fictitious. But still.

Etsy: Turned into Reality

Artwork Inspiration

Pocket Theater - Bear Story by Roadside

Wearable (and Carriable) Pieces

Vintage Bally Black Pumps from TheABomb

Black Coach Purse from Merelle

Courage from CuriosityLovedBooks