Showing posts with label Books. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Books. Show all posts
Wednesday, December 04, 2013
Thursday, May 09, 2013
Waiting For Tradewinds
I took one photo last week-- before the vog arrived and the other is today. It's been as bad as I've seen. Especially for here on the Hamakua Coast, where we are typically untouched. Despite the poor air quality, we've both been working as much as possible, even when that means outdoor work. Gotta do what ya gotta do...
We still want to live here, no doubt about that!
Our phones work again. Have I mentioned that I loathe AT&T? Which is funny, since we are living this Hawaiian life in part due to the man's father. He was the West Coast V.P. of AT&T when he retired about ten years before his demise. Anyway, life with no phone wasn't so bad. In the way that no Facebook or satellite television is not so bad. I admit that being free of the outside world has a certain appeal. Except for the connection to my children, which is of great importance.
Which is a good segue into my latest read of last week... Robinson Crusoe. I hadn't ever read it. The storyline has always had a strong appeal to me. Speaking of being free of life's so-called necessities! I liked this quote- "Between thee and me is a great gulf fixed." I relate to that on a couple of levels.
Am currently reading my father's boyhood copy of Robin Hood. Never read that either, perhaps because I was told it was a "boy's book." As was Robinson Crusoe, and Kipling's Stories for Boys, which I will read next. I was likely urged to read books like Heidi, Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm, and Little Women. Sexism as it relates to raising children. Ugh.
We still want to live here, no doubt about that!
Our phones work again. Have I mentioned that I loathe AT&T? Which is funny, since we are living this Hawaiian life in part due to the man's father. He was the West Coast V.P. of AT&T when he retired about ten years before his demise. Anyway, life with no phone wasn't so bad. In the way that no Facebook or satellite television is not so bad. I admit that being free of the outside world has a certain appeal. Except for the connection to my children, which is of great importance.
Which is a good segue into my latest read of last week... Robinson Crusoe. I hadn't ever read it. The storyline has always had a strong appeal to me. Speaking of being free of life's so-called necessities! I liked this quote- "Between thee and me is a great gulf fixed." I relate to that on a couple of levels.
Am currently reading my father's boyhood copy of Robin Hood. Never read that either, perhaps because I was told it was a "boy's book." As was Robinson Crusoe, and Kipling's Stories for Boys, which I will read next. I was likely urged to read books like Heidi, Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm, and Little Women. Sexism as it relates to raising children. Ugh.
Monday, April 08, 2013
Now Reading
Chapter 19/Page 144:
"Living in Hawaii, with the horizon of the ocean meeting the sky, is soothing. There is a magical healing to the Big Island, and I love this life. How many places are there on earth that really are healing places?"
...That's what I'm talking 'bout!
"Living in Hawaii, with the horizon of the ocean meeting the sky, is soothing. There is a magical healing to the Big Island, and I love this life. How many places are there on earth that really are healing places?"
...That's what I'm talking 'bout!
Thursday, March 21, 2013
By George
"I'm an outsider by choice, but not truly. It's the unpleasantness of the system that keeps me out. I'd rather be in, in a good system. That's where my discontent comes from: being forced to choose to stay outside.
My advice: Just keep movin' straight ahead. Every now and then you find yourself in a different place"
Finally reading this gem. Gave it to my son as a gift when it first came out... Some of my readers may or may not recall that I saw Carlin's last gig with the man. That was in Santa Rosa, California on March 1, 2008. It was taped for HBO, and we jumped at the chance see one of our heroes. Three months later, George was gone. His wit and his wisdom live on!
My advice: Just keep movin' straight ahead. Every now and then you find yourself in a different place"
Finally reading this gem. Gave it to my son as a gift when it first came out... Some of my readers may or may not recall that I saw Carlin's last gig with the man. That was in Santa Rosa, California on March 1, 2008. It was taped for HBO, and we jumped at the chance see one of our heroes. Three months later, George was gone. His wit and his wisdom live on!
Saturday, February 23, 2013
Just Kids
I was captivated and deeply moved by this book by Patti Smith. An artist I was immediately taken with-- from the first time I heard her debut album, "Horses." This, despite the fact that her music was outside the musical boundaries of my social stratosphere at that time (1975), when it had to be "the San Francisco sound", or Southern rock, pretty much. Something about Patti's darkly poetic style pulled me in. My Lake Tahoe contemporaries didn't get it. How could I call myself a Deadhead? Ah, labels...
"Just Kids" chronicles a magical time. A time of immense creativity, combined with the unbridled freedom to express it. A time that came and went like a white-hot flash. It follows the friendship of two incredibly artistic and misunderstood kids. Robert Mapplethorpe was Patti's first friend in New York City in 1969. They clicked from the start, sensing something remarkable in one another. That love and friendship propelled them both toward eventual success and major recognition.
And the rest is history... Smith writes in the most jaw-droppingly beautiful style. Such a tribute to her friend!
Throughout, I thought of my own wonderful friend and muse, James. When we met in 1979, it was love at first sight. Never physical love, though we shared a bed many times. No, this love was different. We both felt like we had finally met that person who really "got us", after feeling odd and misunderstood for the better part of our twenty-something years.
Through life's various misadventures, our love and mutual respect remains steadfast. Through heartbreak, marriages, parenthood, loss, and more. Some friendships didn't stand the test of time. They crashed and burned or fizzled out quietly. But not us. We made it through.
There have been occasional speed bumps in our friendship over the last 34 years, but it always come back to one undeniable fact. That we need each other in a way that no other friend or partner can ever fulfill. It continues to be a necessary force in our very different lives.
Someday, I will fill a book with our own stories. Some day.
"Just Kids" chronicles a magical time. A time of immense creativity, combined with the unbridled freedom to express it. A time that came and went like a white-hot flash. It follows the friendship of two incredibly artistic and misunderstood kids. Robert Mapplethorpe was Patti's first friend in New York City in 1969. They clicked from the start, sensing something remarkable in one another. That love and friendship propelled them both toward eventual success and major recognition.
And the rest is history... Smith writes in the most jaw-droppingly beautiful style. Such a tribute to her friend!
Throughout, I thought of my own wonderful friend and muse, James. When we met in 1979, it was love at first sight. Never physical love, though we shared a bed many times. No, this love was different. We both felt like we had finally met that person who really "got us", after feeling odd and misunderstood for the better part of our twenty-something years.
Through life's various misadventures, our love and mutual respect remains steadfast. Through heartbreak, marriages, parenthood, loss, and more. Some friendships didn't stand the test of time. They crashed and burned or fizzled out quietly. But not us. We made it through.
There have been occasional speed bumps in our friendship over the last 34 years, but it always come back to one undeniable fact. That we need each other in a way that no other friend or partner can ever fulfill. It continues to be a necessary force in our very different lives.
Someday, I will fill a book with our own stories. Some day.
Monday, February 11, 2013
Monday Meanderings
OMG! The pope wants a pass... First resignation in 600 years tells me there is something funny going on in the Catholic church, and I am not referring to their silly hats. Even if Benedict's sudden departure is due to health/longevity issues, haven't countless popes before him died "in office?" This news has startled Catholics around the world. Personally, I am thankful to have joined the ranks of former Catholics many years ago. One day in 1971, my mother announced that we would no longer be going to church every Sunday. Something I had done every Sunday of my then-young life, and that mom had done all of her 40-something years. Thank goodness she came to her senses. I know that she'd have been disgusted and dismayed, but not surprised at what has been revealed about the church over the last couple of decades.
It feels good to be writing here again. I have little doubt that some of my chosen topics may irritate, infuriate, or induce boredom, but that won't stop me. I had completely forgotten about Q, a commenter at a friends blog and here. Let's just say that his viewpoints and opinions are pretty much the complete opposite of yours truly. Five and six years ago, it was tough for me to not get riled-up by our differences. These days I am okay with varying opinions. Just know, Q, that you won't be changing my views, and I have no hopes of shifting yours to mirror mine. As long as things are kept civil and peaceful here, comments are encouraged and appreciated.
I'm reading "Just Kids" by Patti Smith--about her years with Robert Mapplethorpe. I am still processing "Start Where You Are", by Pema Chodron, which presented itself to me at an optimum time. Lastly, I admit that I am now shamelessly drawn into Downton Abbey, and was wondering what my reader(s) in the U.K. might think about all the fuss? We do not watch much sappy t.v. around here, but I admit to enjoying it, even though it IS sappy, and much like a soap opera with fancier clothing. I appreciate that it provides sixty minutes of frivolity and fantasy. A welcome escape from this week's murderous rampage, wherever it may be. Aloha!
It feels good to be writing here again. I have little doubt that some of my chosen topics may irritate, infuriate, or induce boredom, but that won't stop me. I had completely forgotten about Q, a commenter at a friends blog and here. Let's just say that his viewpoints and opinions are pretty much the complete opposite of yours truly. Five and six years ago, it was tough for me to not get riled-up by our differences. These days I am okay with varying opinions. Just know, Q, that you won't be changing my views, and I have no hopes of shifting yours to mirror mine. As long as things are kept civil and peaceful here, comments are encouraged and appreciated.
I'm reading "Just Kids" by Patti Smith--about her years with Robert Mapplethorpe. I am still processing "Start Where You Are", by Pema Chodron, which presented itself to me at an optimum time. Lastly, I admit that I am now shamelessly drawn into Downton Abbey, and was wondering what my reader(s) in the U.K. might think about all the fuss? We do not watch much sappy t.v. around here, but I admit to enjoying it, even though it IS sappy, and much like a soap opera with fancier clothing. I appreciate that it provides sixty minutes of frivolity and fantasy. A welcome escape from this week's murderous rampage, wherever it may be. Aloha!
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