Category Archives: Uncategorized

The Music Pushed Me Over

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“The problem with you is that you are a two buttock player.
You should be a one buttock player.”

“We have a B.
And next to it is a C.
It is the job of the C to make the B sad.”

Not since Robert Greenberg of The Teaching Company (How to Listen to and Understand Great Music) have I enjoyed such a passionate appeal to the power of music.

Of course, “the choir” will gladly listen.  But.  If you have this idea that classical music is just not your thing, you are precisely the person for this video. Benjamin Zander will make you care. 

Sampler of Favorite Quotes – 2010 Edition

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“I think of all the joy reading has given me,” she said. “It is not just because it is good for you, but because it is good.”   ~ Katherine Paterson

Walking, ideally, is a state in which the mind, the body, and the world
are aligned, as though they were three characters
finally in a conversation together,
three notes suddenly making a chord.
 ~ Rebecca Solnit

Beauty is to the spirit what food is to the flesh.  ~ Frederick Buechner

But a community is something different from a commodity.
~ James Howard Kunstler

 
After the work is read, attention must be given.
This is the time for serious reflection
that goes beyond the act of good reading
to the broader acts of good living.
 ~ James W. Sire

I beg Thee, my God, the pre-eternal husbandman,
with the wind of thy loving-kindness
winnow the chaff of my works,
 and grant to my soul the wheat of forgiveness,
shut me in Thy heavenly storehouse
and save me.
~ Vespers prayer quoted by Frederica Mathewes-Green

My brother and sisters and I,
we learned something a long time ago.
We learned to love one another.
That our siblinghood was strong
and gracious and unconditional.
~  Donna at Quiet Life

Love is a great beautifier.
~ Louisa May Alcott

If you are tired of parties, you ‘re going to the wrong church.  ~ Matthew Barley (speaking of our church!)

There is a particular happiness in giving a man
whom you like very much
good food that you have cooked yourself.
~ Isak Dinesen

If I didn’t become a musician I’d starve inside.  ~ Kazakh girl quoted by Colin Thubron

Laughter is like changing a baby’s diaper.
It doesn’t change things permanently,
but it makes everything OK for a while.

Life is curly: Don’t try to straighten it out.

I have not yet witnessed
a spontaneous recovery from incompetence.

How we spend our days is how we spend our lives.  ~ Annie Dillard

Joy is the best makeup.
~ Anne Lamott

The purpose of music can be nothing else
but the glory of God
and the restoration of the heart.
~ Johann Sebastian Bach

I let my words drop into the silence
like stones.
~ P. D. James

[on watching the river from Millington Bridge]

It is easy to lean over the parapet at these points,
not nearly so easy to stop doing it;
the leisurely flow of the stream beneath
laughs at the scruples which would forbid you
to spend another five minutes in doing nothing…
another ten minutes…
another quarter of any hour,
so as to make it a round number by the clock.
~ Ronald A. Knox

What is the purpose of the Giraffe?
It is without doubt useless
to explain how and why
the nature of things was thus decided.
~ Étienne Saint-Hilaire
Life does often get in the way of one’s reading,
agreed the Major.
~ Helen Simonson

I want to cultivate attitudes and actions
that are vigorous and vital enough
to generate life and gusto in others.
To be contagious in my enthusiasm!
~ Luci Shaw

Reading Recap, 2010 Version

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Travel Memoirs

A Year in the World  Frances Mayes, 2006 // fascinating, well-written, a definite re-read in the future Review
Where Nights Are Longest  Colin Thubron, 1983 //  Thubron captivated me with his ten thousand mile car ride across Russia  Review
The Lost Heart of Asia  Colin Thubron 1994 // All I know about those nations ending in -stan (e.g. Uzbekistan) I learned from this book. Not an easy read, but rewarding. Review

Travel Essays

Locations Jan Morris, 1993 // Morris has been called the best living travel writer.  This is my first taste.  A collection of magazine articles on the familiar (Vermont, London, West Point, Texas, Chicago) and unfamiliar (to me!): Norfolk Island (now I want to visit it), Trieste, and  Oaxaca.  I want to read more Morris.
How to Travel with a Salmon Umberto Eco, 1994 // a few cogent commentaries; most of Eco’s satire fell flat. 
Places Hilaire Belloc, 1942 // I read the last essay, About Wine, and loved it.  Then I started at the beginning and trudged through this book, hoping for something else as sparkling.

Cultural Studies

The Abolition of Britain Peter Hitchens, 1999 // you could call this book Twilight of British Culture.  Cultural analysis from a conservative viewpoint. Review
Twilight of American Culture Morris Berman, 2000 // spot on analysis of American culture from a liberal viewpoint; my biggest gripe is his love of the Enlightenment. Review
The Geography of Nowhere  James Howard Kunstler, 1993 // excellent, highly recommended, a book that replays thoughts in my mind Review
Wanderlust, A History of Walking  Rebecca Solnit, 2001  // pleasant read, many great quotes, and a phrase I want to steal for a blog title: The Mind at Three Miles an Hour
The Disappearance of Childhood  Neil Postman, 1994 // Postman delivers more perceptive writing on the changes industrialization and television have brought on children. Excellent thoughts on shame. Review

Africa

Out of Africa  Isak Dinesen, 1937 // Elisabeth Elliot quotes from this book a lot; she spurred me on to read it. A classic book that has velcroed itself to my conscious thoughts. Review
Shadows on the Grass Isak Dinesen, 1960 // great stuff on human relations, not as striking as Out of Africa
Zarafa, Michael Allin, 1994 // A charming book about the gift of a giraffe from the Grand Vizier of Egypt to the king of France.  I learned history, zoology, and geography from this little book. Review
The Flame Trees of Thika  Elspeth Huxley, 1959 // worthy memoir of a childhood in Africa Review
Facing the Congo  Jeffrey Taylor, 2001 // a thrilling story with a flat ending  Review
Hand on My Scalpel  David C. Thompson, 2001 // a surgeon’s stories of practicing medicine with limited facilities
Land of a Thousand Hills Rosamond Halsey Carr, 1999 // Life on a plantation in Rwanda

Memoir

Safe Passage Ida Cook, 1950 // loved these opera-loving sisters who rescued many people from Hitler’s grasp Review
The Apprentice Jacues Pépin 2003 Ω // A delicious story of the great cook, complete with French accent.
If I Perish Esther Ahn Kim, 1977 // Christian persecution in Korea, told by a “failed martyr”. Review
My Life if France Julia Child, 2006 Ω // Perfect companion book to The Apprentice Review
Home Julie Andrews, 2008 Ω // Julie reads this book about her early years.  Her accent alone melts me.
Twenty Years A-Growing  Maurice O’Sullivan, 1933 // Musha, if it’s Ireland ye be loving, get this book! Review
The Glass Castle  Jeannette Walls, 2005 // Poignant story from a survivor of wacky/dsyfunctional parents
Facing East Frederica Mathewes-Green, 1997 // if you are interested in (big O) Orthodox Christianity, Frederica will guide you through the church calendar lived out in her family/parish. Review
Seasons of Grace  Donna Farley, 2002 // Like Facing East, not as engaging
A Fortunate Grandchild Miss Read, 1983 // I enjoy Miss Read’s fiction, but this book drug on. Boring.

Ireland/Scotland/England

Some Tame Gazelle Barbara Pym, 1950 Ω // This is Pym’s first published book.  I loved hearing the audio book and must get the print version.  I howled through parts of it, but I’m not sure its appeal is universal.  If you like to laugh at Mr. Collins in Pride and Prejudice, you will love this book.
Crampton Hodnet Barbara Pym, 1940 (publ posthumously) // spinsters, Oxford…amusing tale from the author called the modern Jane Austen Review
Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand Helen Simonson, 2010 //  poignant and perceptive, this novel that underscores how the mores of England have changed…but really? The only way a Christian-Muslim romance will work is if both parties aren’t practicing. 
The Morning Tide Neil Gunn, 1930 // authentic Scottish fiction, warms and breaks the heart Review
The Lost Art of Gratitude  Alexander McCall Smith 2009 Ω// I prefer Mma Ramotswe to Isabelle Dalhousie, but McCall Smith makes me laugh and muse at the same time
The Comforts of a Muddy Saturday  Alexander McCall Smith 2008 Ω// see above
An Irish Country Village Patrick Taylor, 2009 Ω // Not up to Herriot’s series, but fun listening
An Irish Country Christmas  Patrick Taylor, 2008 Ω // see above
An Irish Country Girl Patrick Taylor, 2010 Ω // Kinky (Mrs. Maureen Kincaid, the housekeeper) tells her story
The Fields of Bannockburn Donna Fletcher Crow, 1996// Ancient Scotland through 1980 eyes.  Too much cheese. Review

Devotional

A Godward Life Book Two John Piper, 1999 //  like a collection of blog posts; short essays on everything
The Crime of Living Cautiously Luci Shaw, 2005 // Shaw beckons us to take off our fear and dive into life’s adventures. Great thoughts on writing, friendship, art, grief.  Her poems season the prose.   
Psallite  Richard W. Patt, 1976 // Psallite is the command to sing! in Latin.  Devotions for singers in the choir.
Telling the Truth: Gospel as Tragedy, Comedy and Fairy Tale  Frederick Buechner, 1977 // didn’t meet my expectations
Whistling in the Dark  Frederick Buechner, 1988 //  some nuggets here and there

  
Non Fiction

Evening in the Palace of Reason James R. Gaines, 2005 // A dual study of Bach and Frederick the Great and the worldviews they represented.  This is my non-fiction book of the year. Review
How to Read Slowly James W. Sire, 1978 // I expect to read this book at least three more times. Excellent! Review
Fierce Conversations Susan Scott 2002 // Excellent assistance in learning how to deliver the message without the load.  If you find yourself equivocating and dodging honest talk, you need to read this book.
The Art of Romantic Living Susan Wales, 2003 // The book is twee, but I gleaned pages and pages of great quotes
Letters to An American Lady C.S. Lewis, 1967 // Never did I dream I would rate a C.S. Lewis book under The Art of Romantic Living, but it annoyed me.  There are gems from Lewis’ pen, but there are easier ways to read them. Review

Fiction

Island of the World Michael D. O’Brien 2007 //  This story of Josip, a Croatian lad, is my book of the year. Simply astounding writing and story. Review
Hannah Coulter Wendell Berry 2004 // Perhaps the fourth time I’ve read/heard Hannah’s story.
Crossing in Safety  Wallace Stegner, 1987 // Literary lusciousness; lives of two academic couples Review
Their Eyes Were Watching God Zora Neale Hurston, 1937 Ω // Gritty, compelling, heartbreaking (mature themes)  The audio performance of this book was highly excellent.
Playing for Pizza  John Grisham, 2008 // loved the cultural bit of an NFL player adjusting to the Italian way of life; not so much the references to casual sex
Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day Winifred Watson, 1938 Ω // a female counterpart to Wooster and Jeeves; wickedly funny in places, exposes the hollowness of a glamorous actress’ life, not a difficult task
Big Stone Gap Adriana Trigiani, 2001 // quick read, forgettable
The Diary Eileen Goudge, 2009 Ω //  When I tell folks about Elizabeth Goudge I always warn them not to confuse her with Eileen Goudge, who appears to write what we call bodice-rippers. Eileen is a distant relative of Elizabeth and I decided to do a comparison. The Diary is based on Goudge’s parents’ story.  It is not sanitized, but engagingly written.  The ending completely took me by surprise. While I hope to read several more of Elizabeth’s English fiction, I don’t plan on any more Eileen.
Big Cherry Holler Adriana Trigiani, 2002 // see above


Children’s Book

Rose in Bloom Louisa May Alcott, 1876 //  sequel to Eight Cousins, a classic contest between an exciting, naughty boy and a plodding, nice guy.  Who will get Rose?

Mystery

A Certain Justice P.D. James, 1997 // Review
The Private Patient P.D. James, 2009 Ω // James understands human nature.  Great writer.
The Murder Room P.D. James, 2003 Ω // another Adam Dalgliesh mystery
The Footsteps at the Lock Ronald A. Knox, 1928 // wry, dry British humor comes out in this mystery. I liked it.

Poetry

Words to God’s Music, Laurance Wieder, 2003 // He did what Isaac Watts did, but I wasn’t thrilled  Review
77 Love Sonnets Garrison Keillor, 2009 Ω // The author reads his sonnets.  So so.  Some were great, others not.

Local History

Home Below Hell’s Canyon  Grace Jordan, 1954 // modern pioneer raises a family in a remote, rugged ranch Review
Pan Bread ‘n Jerky Walter L. Scott, 1968 // rustic account of life in Eastern Oregon, a trudging book (hard to read because it is poorly written) Review
It Happened in Washington  James Crutchfield, 1995 // tasty bits of information.  Nez Perce = Pierced Noses; the Kaiser settled a border dispute between USA and Canada in 1872; Alki (state motto) means “By and by”

How this List Works:
Within categories I list them in order of liking, top to bottom.
If I especially liked this, and think you might also, I underlined it.
Ω means I listened to an audio version of this book.
Many books could fit in multiple categories: I picked one.

I love comments and recommendations.
If you see a title and your mind flies to another title,
as in, if she likes A, she should read B,
I would consider it a friendly gesture to tell me.

How is it I read almost exclusively (other than the Bible)
from the twentieth and twenty-first century?
Must fix that.

Amazon.com Widgets

A Lifetime Learner’s Plan for 2011

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I love to learn. 

Heh heh.  That is I love to learn when I’m in control of the learning and it’s going according to my plan. In short, when it is my idea.  Many lessons have to be foisted upon me, more than once, before I get the point. The acquisition of knowledge, the advent of understanding, the getting of wisdom…it’s like gathering armfuls of flowers.  

2011 will open a new vista for me.  After fifteen years of educating my boys at home, I spent two years working full-time while we pressed toward the goal of being debt-free.  My retirement day is fast approaching; my heart is beginning to gurgle with joy at the possibilities.

There is so much to learn.  And here is my short list of learning goals for 2011:

 

•  Learn musical notation software.  Finale is the version friends declare I need.  Get it. Use it. Love it.  And perhaps do a bit of composing.

•  Learn how to track investments correctly in Quicken.  I have “Placeholder Entries” which need to be fixed. This goes under the broader heading of paying attention to finances, learning more about the stock market, bonds, etc.

•  Learn profound contentment with one serving of food.  Ahem. Practice, practice, practice!

•  Learn how to take pictures with my new camera, a Nikon D3100.  I’m drooling to make bokeh.  And to be able to toss around words like aperture, depth of vision, f-stops and those lens numbers with the smallest measure of intelligence.  As my brother says, “Get out of auto focus.” This also falls under the larger goal of spending more time outside.       

•  Learn ten new Bach pieces on the piano.  If I were ambitious I’d include Chopin, because Chopin always killed me as a girl.  Not that Bach is an easy walk on the tundra. The last few years I’ve only played piano for the joy and comfort of playing. I’m actually itching for some disciplined study.

•  Learn how to listen without thinking of what I’ll be saying next. 

  

•  Learn to make time for regular letter writing.  Ink on paper letters.  Goodness, I have the cards and stationery!

•  Learn the value of daily stretching.  It’s bizarre to get up in the morning creaky.

•  Learn to look through the microscope.  We have a worthy one.  I’m a bit science-phobic, but I think I could handle this.  I don’t need to keep a journal (or perhaps I do).  I just need to look.  Sort of on a daily basis.  Are there enough things available to put under the lens?  Surely there must be.

•  Learner’s option: learn how to knit.  Or.  Learn how to quilt.  I love the idea of knitting. But I love reading more.  

So What’s the Point of Christmas?

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Once there was an older boy who was wondering to himself about Christmas: I wonder why we make such a big deal about the birth of Jesus when his birth really doesn’t save anyone?

The question was not going away, so he approached the theologian of his family, his father. Dad, since the birth of Jesus doesn’t really save anyone, why do we make such a big deal about it?

His father was very pleased with such a question, and he began to think of a helpful illustration. So he asked his son: Whenever you play a game of baseball, what do you need?

His son began listing all the components he could think of. A baseball, a bat, a glove, a playing field, four bases, 17 more players, and an umpire. He looked questioningly at his father.

You also need to know the history of the game, the rules, and baseball strategy. You need the skills to hit, throw, and field the ball. You need a scorekeeper, base coaches, a line-up, grandstands, a crowd, hot dogs, and coke. The father stopped there and looked at his son.

So, what’s your point? The boy asked. His father smiled–he loved that question most of all. If you only had a baseball, could you play the game?

Of course not, said the boy.

The father’s anticipation grew as he asked the clincher. If you had everything else, but no baseball, could you play the game?

The father stared at his son. He wanted him to figure this one out on his own. The boy was thinking hard.

Oh, I get it. If you had the whole plan of salvation without the birth of the Savior, you would not have any salvation!

Shazam! the father exclaimed.

Just like you need a baseball to play the game, the birth of Jesus is required for the salvation of the world.

So, when you look at the baseball sitting on your shelf, you automatically make connections–you hear the count, you see base hits, stolen bases, and strike outs, and you smell the snack shack.

When you see a nativity scene sitting on the coffee table, you should automatically hear Isaiah’s predictions of the Messiah, you should see Jesus living a sinless life, dying as a sacrifice for the sins of the world, rising from the dead in complete victory, and ascending to the right hand of the throne of God, ruling over the nations until all his enemies are made his footstool.

Christmas is therefore a crucial part of salvation’s story. Without Christmas there would be no salvation. Just like without a baseball there can be no game.

Cool!

No, the father said, it’s better than cool. The Incarnation is part of a perfect, no-hitter, shut-out game. It’s one inning of an absolute blowout. And we get to stand in the 7th inning stretch and sing the Doxology.

~ Curt Bakker, December 18, 2005

Don’t Mess With My Carols

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(from the archives)

 

I had a hissy fit on Christmas Eve.  In  the candlelight service.  Fortunately, my husband was the only observer and he managed to keep me under control.

We were at our folks’ church, singing from their hymnal, the New and Improved one.  I was already mildly miffed at the alterations in the lyrics when we started singing O Come All Ye Faithful.  When the second verse began “Highest of highest” instead of “God of God” I just stopped singing, now indignant. 

Someone had ruined my favorite verse!  I started jabbing at the hymnal, thumping the spot where in tiny letters were the letters alt.  My husband, who missed my meaning but understood my emotion, shrugged and in a sign of solidarity started poking his finger at the hymnal too, but not in the right places. Which made me snort but didn’t diminish my disgust. 

“Alt!” I hissed. 

“Alt.”  he echoed.  Whatever alt. meant, he was together with me on it. He didn’t ask “Alt?”.  He firmly said Alt. but the required passion was missing; there was no corresponding hiss.

“They ALTERED the text.” I further hissed. “It’s as if Athanasius never lived.”   

“Ahhh.” 

We went back to singing choirs of angels.

At the next carol, he jabbed the alt. before the organ had finished the introduction. Good Christian Men were not rejoicing; Good Christian Friends Rejoice.  In protest, I cheerfully sang “Good Christian men“, all three verses.  I have no patience with gender neutral humankind nonsense.  Please.

With each new carol it became a race between us to see who would thump the alt. first.

We heard the tune of Lo, How a Rose Eer Blooming, without noticing the title was, Lo, How a Rose is Growing. 

This was no alt.: this was a completely new translation. 

I’m sure that Gracia Grindal’s translation has much to recommend it, but you know–you know!– how hard it is to sing or recite a verse in a different translation than the one you memorized as a child, the one firmly lodged in your brain.  There was a sense of disorientation.

Away in the Manger came through unscathed: evidently the Little Lord Jesus (my nephew–decades ago–said Yittle Yord Yesus) could sleep on his bed.  We ended with lovely unaltered carols Silent Night and Joy to the World. 

Tidings of Almonds and Joy (God Rest Ye Merry Musketeers)

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God rest ye merry Musketeers Yule time is your Payday.

Remember Christ our Savior redeemed the Milky Way.

Oh Henry’s Baby Ruth rejoiced with Christmas on its way.

Singing, Tidings of Almonds and Joy, Almonds and Joy.

Singing, Tidings of Almonds and Joy.

 

From God our heavenly Father, Goodbar the angel came.

The shepherds stopped their Snickering, Kit Kats and Doves were tamed.

Big Hunks of earth and Clifs of rock shook loose in Jesus’ name.

Oh, tidings of Almonds and Joy, Almonds and Joy.

Oh, tidings of Almonds and Joy.

 

100 Grand angelic voices Thundered all around.

Nestlè, the strongest shepherd Crunched his staff upon the ground.

Hershey, his Bar-friend was be-Twixt, Butter-Fingered at the sound.

Oh, tidings of Almonds and Joy, Almonds and Joy.

Oh, tidings of Almonds and Joy.

 

The shepherds went Nutrageous, they climbed o’er hills and Mounds.

And Fast Breaked up 5Th Avenue through Bethlehem the town.

A fire Krackeled near the barn, Messiah they had found.

Oh, tidings of Almonds and Joy, Almonds and Joy.

Oh, tidings of Almonds and Joy.


(my husband entered a contest at work to make a Christmas Carol with Candy Bars.  He won People’s Choice.  He also made the wooden letters in the picture this year.  One side says Believe!; the other Rejoice!)

How to Justify a Private Library

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I could not resist posting an excerpt from this witty essay by Umberto Eco from How to Travel with a Salmon & Other Essays. (I separated some of the larger paragraphs for easier reading. The color and bold parts are also my doing. Just helping Umberto out.)  I can’t think why this one resonated with me.

…people who possess a fairly sizable library (large enough in my case that someone entering the house can’t help but notice it; actually, it takes up the whole place).

The visitor enters and says, “What a lot of books! Have you read them all?”

At first I thought that the question characterized only people who had scant familiarity with books, people accustomed to seeing a couple of shelves with five paperback mysteries and a children’s encyclopedia, bought in installments.  But experience has taught me that the same words can be uttered also by people above suspicion.

It could be said that they are still people who consider a bookshelf as a mere storage place for already-read books and do not think of the library as a working tool.  But there is more to it than that. I believe that, confronted  by a vast array of books, anyone will be seized by the anguish of learning, and will inevitably lapse into asking the question that expresses his torment and his remorse.

[Now] I have fallen back on the riposte: “No, these are the ones I have to read by the end of the month. I keep the others in my office,” a reply that on the one hand suggests a sublime ergonomic strategy, and on the other leads the visitor to hasten the moment of his departure.    ~ 1990