Thursday, March 4, 2010

Awake and Arise

I have been caught in a Rip Van Winkle-ish maelstrom. I leaned too far over the edge and was sucked into its vortex and am only now flogging my way out. So...okay...probably too dramatic a description, but that's how it seems. Blink and weeks have flown by. I don't know if it's because I've just been very busy in my personal and professional life, or crazed about reading my way through that lousy 1001 books to read before you keel over list, or spend half of my leisure hours in a stupor of wonder at just how much needs to be accomplished on that house of mine.

At any rate, The Curious Reader has been neglected, and yet, ever faithful, it sits and waits. Perhaps I have just had nothing of particular interest to say. Boring oneself with one's own thoughts does not trigger any creative drive. In such an atmosphere it is better to remain silent. Not that any of my gems are all that gem-y. And, come to think of it, one simply does not HAVE to have an opinion about all things. So (blink-blink) I awaken and stretch and yawn and plop back down into the comfort of my little blog. The dripping sink will continue to drip, the bookmark will stay in its place, and I am "out of the office" for just a moment while I recount "some kinds of crazy."

First and foremost, Katharine moved away. She's off to find her fame and fortune in the big Windy City. Although she was born there, she's a totally southern chick - True Grits (Girls Raised In The South). Fully realizing she's all grown up, all I saw was a little girl with skinned knees packing up her car with her clothes and (most importantly her shoes), and some sandwiches I made for her. As I watched her car drive away, I wondered where the years had gone. "The last thing I remember," I said to myself, "I was forty and she hadn't started school yet." The intervening one and twenty are nothing but a blur. But, as Shorty said (in one of those awesome and brilliant moments when she is once again, briefly, herself), "You raised her to fly on her own. You have to open your hands and let her take flight." And then she added, "You know, like when we let Sparky go." Uh-oh. Moment gone. "Mom, we didn't let Sparky go. It was Tommy, and we didn't let him go either. He flew out of the bathroom window and although we hunted all over the neighborhood, we couldn't find him." "Really?" "Yes, and while we were looking, a neighbor said he'd just found a parakeet. But it wasn't Tommy. This parakeet was yellow. So we took her home instead and called her Peaches....remember?" "Of course I do. Don't be silly." Katharine didn't have to leave by an open bathroom window, but I still find myself scouring the neighborhood looking for her. Is she out on the patio, or crossing the lawn? Do I hear her foot on the stair, or her keys turning in the lock? Some mornings I walk down the hall to awaken her...but stop before I reach her door. Old habits die hard.

Then, there is the book list. I am really not at all concerned about reading all the books listed on that confounded list. However, reading the list made me realize that there is so much out there that I have not, and will never, experience. It has become an obsession with me lately to use all my free time to read as much as I can. In that regard, I've taken to reading books on tape rather than listening to the radio in the car, and while doing the dishes and cooking rather than having the television on, and turning off the television by 9:00 p.m. and reading until it's time to turn out the lights. There is a danger there for someone such as I. Reading is such a solitary pursuit, and not being a very socializing type to begin with, I realize I'll have to make a special effort to spend time with friends and family. Otherwise, it's totally feasible that someone could drop by one day and find a big pile of dust, and discover it is I. Of course, by then they may have missed me at work when they come to the realization that an eerie quietude has descended upon my office and no snoring emanates from within.

Jumbled in with gearing up for Katharine's move and my reading surge and home maintenance issues, is the Total Gym. I am using it, but am slowly realizing that I will never look like Christy Brinkley, no matter how much time I spend on it. (Just, please God, do not let me start looking like Chuck Norris.)

My current book life is as follows: During the last month or two I've re-read The Maltese Falcon, and finished Red Harvest by Dashiell Hammett, Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton, and The Plot Against America by Philip Roth (on tape). I'm doing something I've never liked doing, which is reading more than one book at a time. The Code of the Woosters by P.G. Wodehouse is thin and fits in my purse (one never knows when one will be stuck in a line someplace with nothing to read but one's checkbook register) and is being read in tandem with The Glass Palace by Amitov Ghosh. (my current "at home" read). I just picked up House of Mirth by Edith Wharton and The Lost City of Z: A Tale Of Deadly Obsession In The Amazon by David Grann - both on audio CD. After the Ghosh, I'll begin An Academic Question by Barbara Pym and then Uncle Silas by Sheridan Le Fanu. The latter I got with a gift card from Barnes & Noble. Like all book lovers I agonized over what to get with my precious card. These things must be handled with deep care and only after careful consideration - lest a mistake be made and the card is wasted on something that will disappoint. I am not certain, but the cover looks mighty familiar. I hope it is only because it is fairly creepy, and not that I have already read it. I am 17th in line on the library wait list for Wolf Hall. Seventeenth? Groan! Probably all followers of Doctordi, and I lay the blame for my long wait on her conscience.

Finally, I've been working on my budget and take satisfaction in saying I have been faithful to it. I had been spending like Congress of late (and not at all like a drunken sailor who spends only his own money) and got fed up enough to rein it in. There is a perverse pleasure in seeing how well one can live on how little. And there is a euphoria in paying off debt. Wouldn't it be just as lovely and peaceful to bank away posts as it is dollars? I'll have to work on that one.

Next time around, I might get to talk to you about one of the books I've finished...provide you with an erudite and insightful synopsis of character and plot...OR...perhaps we'll simply discuss how to make soup!

17 comments:

  1. Oooh, like the book addict I am, I immediately began to jot down the books you've just mentioned that I haven't read (I won't tell you what happened when I took a look at that 1001 books list!!) . . .

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  2. Oh, Graddikins, you do make me laugh! Sweetie, I'd wager (with Congress's coin?!) that you're the *only* DoctorDi reader in the whole of the South, but I am somewhat heartened to think Hilary Mantel's hard work on Wolf Hall is being rewarded with a waiting list - there's satisfaction in that, although I do wish the wait wasn't yours!

    I love Shorty's lucid moment - she sure can pick 'em, because that was so perfectly and beautifully expressed. How's Katharine liking the big smoke? I hope she has the time of her life, and that you're not too sad to have equipped her with such fine working wings. xxx

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  3. What a good, wonderful mother you are Grad. Katharine is one lucky girl.You have been doing some marvelous reading. You must post about the Ghosh. I am also certain that while you might not end up looking like Kristie Brinkley, you definitely won't look like Chuck Norris either! Just a very trim and fit and lovely Grad :)

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  4. Fabulous images in this post, from the parakeet mixup to you as Chuck Norris. And I love your eclectic book list! I'm so glad you're back in business, even if you're missing Katharine (as is only right).

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  5. Inslinger, we addicts must stick together. I get so many ideas about what to read next from all my wonderful blog friends - including you. By the way, your blog is so visually pretty as well.

    Doctordi, from all accounts, she is loving it so far. Of course, if you've ever been to Chicago you understand why. But I warned her that she's going to find a lot of things different other than the sheer size and weather. Everyone here really does say, "Yes, ma'am" and no "ma'am" They may hate your guts, but they are very polite about it! And dear Shorty. Yes, she's a gem.

    Stefanie, can you believe Chuck Norris is 69??Sixty-Nine!! Sheesh. I've really been loving everything I've been reading lately. No clunkers. And thanks for the compliment. Hopefully, the kids think I'm a pretty good Mom too. But it wasn't that tough. I got lucky and got some sterling kids.

    Tinky, the parakeets were all born "in captivity" so to speak. Mom got me Sparky as a gift when I had the chicken pox. We got him Sparkle, a mate. He was gorgeous, she was a plain Jane. But it must have been magic. They had 4 babies: Annie Oakley, Tommy, Georgie, Kitten. And I was wrong in my post. It wasn't Tommy that flew out the window, it was Georgie. They were all different colors. Tommy was white! Because they knew us since they were hatchlings they were so tame they would come to you when you called them. So when Georgie was lost, it was quite a blow. Peaches was sweet, but she just wasn't Georgie.

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  6. I missed you, and so it's very good to see you back in the saddle. But life - ah, it does provide such a distraction at times. For the past five years, I feel that I've been working on my own reading list and not socialising, but (don't tell anyone) I rather like it that way. If you are experiencing life more intently, more mindfully perhaps, because of reading, then it really doesn't matter what the precise experience is - I only worked it out a few years ago; there are no quotas in life, you just do what gives the most back.

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  7. You've been busy! I think it's a great idea to take a blog break now and then, and I may be heading into one myself, or at least I'm slowing down a little. The things I'm doing in my life are good, and if that means I blog less, so be it.

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  8. I enjoyed this post. If I didn't have my kids and husband needing my attention, I could very well disappear under a pile of books for days on end well! And even though I'm only in my early 30's, I'm feeling the same sort of urgency about the list of books I want to read before I die. I used to re-read my favorites, but I haven't been doing that anymore. Too many books I HAVEN'T read yet!

    And, ah, reining in the spending. Shopping/ownership and I have a love/hate relationship. You are definitely right that there is much satisfaction in living more simply and on less. Thanks for sharing your thoughts!

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  9. Litlove, you are a young woman with the soul of a sage. Uh - that's a compliment by the way. I think you see things very clearlyl

    Dorothy, it seems that in my case I blog so little compared to most blogs I follow, I'm always "on break."

    Janell, you have your arms full. When my children were small, my reading was largely reading books to them. Very little time for oneself in those years. You'll have plenty of time to catch up. It's more important to pack a picnic or play "bears" under the dining room table. Trust me on that.

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  10. Grad - I happen to have a spare copy of Wolf Hall. Could I perhaps post it to you?
    If you're unhappy handing your address out to an unknown Fugitive, I will completely understand. I don't know if Di will vouch for me after just the one meeting, but she will certainly give you my e-mail address if you'd like the book. I can also furnish you with references from Litlove, my mother, and my neighbours seem to trust me with their children too...

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  13. Fugitive Pieces...I am so excited about your offer I can't seem to get my e-mail address right. It's grad_106@yahoo.com. Yipes.

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  14. Fugitive Pieces, what I also said above was I fully trust you are not the roof-top strangler. And also that I promise to take care of the book and return it to you in good shape. Thank you, thank you. If you are ever in Savannah, I'll buy you a drink -- two -- I'll throw in dinner!

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  15. Grad love, there's no need to return it to me - it is genuinely a spare copy. (Also, that would give the book miles more air miles that you, which seems unfair.) I promise to claim the drink one day, maybe with a side order of grits. I've always wondered about grits. Sorry, how corny. Oh, boom, tish, corn-y...thank you, I'll be here all week.
    I was the rooftop strangler, but I grew weary of hanging upside-down from unstable guttering. I now get my jollies from sending books to kindly unsuspecting strangers from the internet.

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  16. hey there... wow... you sound a bit challenged right now... especially with that "confounded list". I think what you need is some inspiration and I've come to offer it with v4 of my spreadsheet. I just released it today and it coincides with the release of the 3rd edition of the list. Unfortunately for us both, The Plot Against America has been removed. Hmmmm...

    Anyway, if you want to get the new spreadsheet and be blown away by how different it is, check it out HERE.

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