A Long Walk Back

I am so excited. Have you heard me talk about The Long Walk by Slavomir Rawicz? Well, if you've mentioned the words "book" and "good" around me any time in the past three years, then yes, you have. It was recommended to me by my roommate, Angela, and I have recommended it to just about everyone I know who can read. It is sooo good. Anyway, Mike found a preview for a movie called "The Way Back" online (no TV, so we didn't know about it even though it came out on the 21st, so many of you may have heard of it already). As I was watching it I realized it is The Long Walk. It looks so good! I don't think it will be a disappointment at all! (Not to mention is has Ed Harris and Colin Ferrel. Oh yes, ladies. Ferrel.)

Enjoy.

Love's Little Adventures

It's not quite St. Valentine's yet, but close enough for this to be appropriate--of course, it's also my blog and whatever I want is appropriate.

In Your Town Monthly--a local magazine--they were having a Valentine's essay contest. I don't have the prompt in front of me any more, but basically it was to describe in 500 words or less the most romantic night you've had with your Valentine. It took a little while for me to think of something that wouldn't be too cheesy. Let's face it, we're cheesy, and cheese seems even cheesier when it's written down. I finally settled on our first "date" which was accidental, actually, and not at all romantic really--not in the traditional sense at least. But I decided it would be good practice to take a different look at romance and I really needed to submit something to this contest since it's one of my resolutions. Anyway, I didn't win, but I was a finalist. You can see it on the magazine's Facebook page here, along with the other finalists (different page for the winner). Or you can just read it below!

Mike and me in Arizona, November 2007.

Love's Little Adventures

On our first date, Mike took me to a sandbar on the Snake River for a nighttime swim. The river was beautiful, and because we were in a very small town with very few lights the stars shone brightly enough to reflect off the stillest parts of the river. We sat on a small wooden dock that just peeked over the water. I wasn’t particularly keen on jumping in; despite the warmth of the summer night, I knew the water was going to be frigid. Mike, however, dove in without delay.

“Whoo!” he shouted as he bobbed back up. “C’mon! It’s awesome!” He worked hard to convince me. “What if I threw you in?” I don’t know what it is with men and the idea that throwing a woman into a freezing body of water will attract her to him more, but it seems like a common notion.

“If you threw me into that water, I would steal your dry clothes and drive back home.” I wasn’t joking either—I would have. He agreed not to force me in; with this assurance, I jumped in on my own. As I went down under the water, the cold enveloped me until I was so numb it almost felt warm. When I came back up for air I could barely breathe from the pounding of my heart to warm me up. It was exhilarating to be out in the cold river with the stars and moon over me, and I could see why Mike had shouted. I paddled around for a few minutes before climbing back onto the dock. Mike congratulated me and laughed when I could barely respond. The cold had made all my senses clearer—his laugh filled the whole space around us, and it made me laugh, too. I wrapped up in my towel and looked on as Mike took one last dip in the water before we gathered out things and climbed the small hill back to the car.

The cold clarity helped me see something that night I would see again and again over our year of dating: Mike’s knack for creating adventure in an otherwise mundane life. That is romance. The next summer we were married in the beautiful city of Boston, and in two and a half years of marriage he has kept the romance coming. Even with our seventeen-month-old daughter he has kept up the practice of taking me on his little adventures.

For The Madie-Starved

Ya know what keeps me up at night? Writing. Sometimes it's so bad, I can't fall asleep at all until I've written something down, even if it's just a list of things. If I don't write, ideas keep coming into my head and just as soon as I get rid of one another comes. (You'd think I'd have a novel published by now, wouldn't you?!?) This is how it was last night. I have been so good about writing during the day--even if it's just a journal entry--except these past few. And I'm angry at myself because I realize now that it's the writing that has helped me sleep so well lately. So here I am, back at it. I'm just glad I have something to write about. 

Mike told me yesterday he wanted to record some specific things from right now in Madie's life so we can look back on them and (mostly) laugh. Ironically, I can't remember any of the specific things he mentioned. Anyway, this'll have to do.

Madie has been a paaaaaaaain lately. I mean, really. She screams at me when I'm not paying attention to her, she screams when I pick her up, she screams when I put her down, she screams when I read the "wrong" page of a book to her, she screams when I don't read to her at all, she screams when I read a book without looking at the pages (as I type: "The shape of you, the shape of me, the shape of everything I see..."). I mean, the girl has developed some serious attitude. So bad, in fact, that I have been looking for an answer from God to the question, "What can I do? Anything. I will do anything you tell me to."

Yesterday, the answer came.

We happened to have a full day scheduled (sort of, as far as my scheduling abilities take me). After getting the girls I nanny to school, we came home and got ready for a brunch to celebrate a friend's birthday (my friend's, not hers), then we went and there were kids galore to keep Madie distracted. Immediately after the brunch we went grocery shopping, which wiped her out so she took a nice, loooong nap. The second she was up we went to go pick up Calli, and when we got back, a friend called to see if we wanted to play at the park in our complex. Why, yes we would! We were outside straight from about 3:30 to 5 pm. So here's the answer to the problem: (1) let her socialize, and (2) whenever possible, do it outside.

Here's some outside time we enjoyed just this morning, in fact:

That rock kept her busy for a solid 15 minutes. The girl is not particularly good at entertaining herself when she's indoors. She is a social queen bee. (Gee. I wonder where she gets that from.) Of course I get worn out when I'm the only one she has to play with, but when she's with the horde of kids at the brunch or at the playground with four other kids, she is happy as can be! Same with the outdoors. She loves to be outside and to observe things; the noise of the rock hitting the cement, in this case.

Another new trend (which also wears me out) is clothes changing. I knew it would come someday though, so I guess I can't say I'm surprised. The girl is obsessed with clothes, especially pajamas, jackets, and shoes. She cries when you try to take any of those items off her without another at the immediate ready. 

Madie eats her peanut butter sandwich in a velvet and satin holiday dress. Very chic.

The day this picture was taken, she had been changed from her pajamas into day clothes, from day clothes back into pajamas, from those into this dress she saw in her closet, and from this dress (after a bath) into a onesie (no bottoms)--all at her request/approval. Oh, and by the way, she really likes to eat "like a big person" now--holding on to the main part of the food item and taking bites out of it. That's a big hit.

These are for Mum and Karen. Mum bought these matching aprons for us months ago, and one day Mike brought mine out and strapped Madie's onto her (despite me telling him it probably doesn't fit still and me already in one). It's still a little big, but she loves to "help" in the kitchen. Oven mitts are a particular favorite. Karen, I just knew you'd freak over the matchi-ness of them!

This isn't anything new, I just think the picture's cute. We all know how much Madie loves Mike over anyone else--including the woman who went through excruciating pain for twelve hours, not to mention weeks of recovery, to bring her into the world (hey, no bitterness here!). I don't know that Mike could be much happier either: he's holding his sweetie while watching a Nat'l Geo. documentary on Yellowstone. (The last of three, actually.)

Let Me Be Clear

Have you seen True Grit? I have. Both, actually, though I do admit it’s been some years since I’ve seen the original starring John Wayne. Rooster Cogburn was the only roll he ever played for which he won an Oscar. That makes this kind of a touchy subject, I think, for many people. That’s why we keep hearing things like, “The two aren’t comparable.” It’s because we would feel guilty for even thinking of leaving Johnny high and dry.

Hey, I’m in the same boat, folks! You see, despite my relative youth, I grew up on westerns—courtesy of my dad and TBS’s obsession with Clint Eastwood and “The Duke” marathons. Typical westerns portray the good guy being good and the bad guys being bad. (Big Country probably did this the best without making the character too flat; then again, Gregory Peck was the lead, and he can do no wrong.) Some though, like True Grit, show the good guy not always being good, and in fact, he might very well be a bad guy who just happens to believe what he’s doing is for the best. It’s a very complex character and plot, and John Wayne pulled it of admirably and deserved every ounce of his Oscar.

But if I’m completely honest with myself—and ignore the taboo of liking a remake more than an original—I have to say I love the new one. And the more I think about it, the more I love it. The acting is incredible. Jeff Bridges—who takes on the unenviable job of showing up die-hard Wayne fans—is every bit an unsavory but somehow lovable character his predecessor was. But with Hailee Steinfeld (who plays Mattie Ross like she was born for the roll) and Matt Damon (LaBoeuf) at his side, the acting so obviously beats the original that to think of Kim Darby as Mattie almost makes you embarrassed for her.

On top of the acting, the look and feel of the remake is classic Cohen brothers, which is a very good thing. Yet, it’s one of those things that some people feel detracts from the movie: I’ve heard it said that the biggest action scene in the movie (a head-on charge between Cogburn and Lucky Ned’s band of outlaws) is underdone in the remake and therefore more exciting in the original. I say backing off the action and shooting much of that scene from the view of LaBoeuf and Mattie up on a cliff was an excellent idea. It downplays Cogburn’s as a stereotypical hero on a white horse—which he’s not, so that’s good. This also allows his truest heroism to be the many miles he carries a delirious, snake-bitten Mattie to help.

I am often skeptical of remakes—I’m a not-broke, don’t-fix kinda girl all in all—but had I known such a remake of True Grit could be made I would have been calling for it long ago.

Man Camp: Winter in Yosemite Edition

THE CEREMONIAL PROPANE BLOW-TORCH OF MAN-CAMP! We camped at Hogdon Meadows, and really expected a lot more snow. The camp is pretty low in elevation, so I guess it was about right. We were ready for more though!

Sunrise through the grove. We are packing things up and getting ready to head over to the Nordic trail. I've been anxious to get out on the cross-country skis!

The beard does have a purpose, believe it or not!

We started on this loop, but I don't think it really looped. It kept going up the Tioga Pass, which is closed during the winter and quite a climb. We turned around after about 3.5 miles. Going down was so much fun on skis.

Kevin rocked the snow shoes, which are quite a bit more work than cross-country skis.

This was one of the vistas we saw. It probably got up to 40 - 50 degrees while on the trail. I was comfortably wearing a t-shirt the majority of the trail, which was awesome! Amazing weather. December and early January snow storms had left at least 3-5 feet of snow everywhere, but the warmer weather was melting that away quickly.

The gear. Thank you Russia.

Nearing the top of the loop.

After our hike, we headed down to Yosemite Valley for lunch and some photo opportunities. Going to Yosemite in the winter is probably the greatest time to visit. There are hardly any tourists!

A bridge crossing the Merced River.

Now standing on that bridge, staring down Yosemite Falls. Those were the falls that nearly killed us last July due to a very dehydrated hike.

This one actually turned out well. I snapped this one out the car window at 30 mph! Though, the pictures don't do El Cap' justice. You just have to see it in person to REALLY see it.

Dumped and How To Deal

Mike left me for a man named Kevin and a tent up in Yosemite. It's really hurting my self-image as a wife. So, to console myself I'm planning on breaking out a piece of cheesecake, watching Doc Martin and thinking about what to do next on the short story I'm writing. (It's due Wednesday! YIKES!)

I did want to leave you with my booklist for the year. Now, these are the books I'm determined to read this year, and if I have time I'll stick some more on the end. But I'm not a particularly fast reader, despite being an avid one. I think it's cause I stop to re-read things all the time and take notes in the margins. I used to feel really embarrassed about that, until just recently I was reading an article that said "deep reading" was going the way of the dodo bird. (For those of you who don't know, the dodo is extinct.) They mentioned things like re-reading, making connections to previous parts of the book, and taking notes when they described deep-reading. I was so relieved! I thought I was just slower than everyone else! But now I realize I'm probably just doing more than a lot of people when they read. It's great to just read for pleasure, without analyzing deeply, etc. But I just find that kind of thing a lot of fun. It's like when I watch a movie: I need to talk about it with someone so we can discuss the artistic qualities of it and the acting and the plot, etc., and if there is a moral, what it is, etc. I guess it just makes it more fun for me.

Anyway, on with the list!

Non-Fiction
The Last Empty Places by Peter Stark (Already started it. It is sooooo good so far!)
Encyclopedia of the Exquisite: An Anecdotal history of Elegant Delights by Jessica Kerwin Jenkins
Stuffed: Adventures of a Restaurant Family by Patricia Volk
Classical Tradition by Anthony Grafton
Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand
Freakonomics by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner

Fiction
Room by Emma Donoghue
Solar by Ian McEwan
The Imperfectionists by Tom Rachman
The Memory Keeper's Daughter by Kim Edwards
Lord of the Flies by William Golding
A Day No Pigs Would Die by Robert Newton Peck
Bloodroot by Amy Greene

Poetry
Newspaper Blackout by Austin Kleon (I'm really excited about this one!)
God Damsel by Reb Livingston

Plays
Ghosts by Henrik Ibsen


What are you reading?

We Made It 16 Months...

And then she went and did it.

(P.S. Sorry this post is lo late. She turns 17 months next Thursday.)

My Paradoxes Concerning The Future of English

I just finished reading Bill Bryson's The Mother Tongue: English And How It Got That Way. It was a fun read, even though I had to set it down for a while to finish some projects before the year's end. Bryson is very entertaining and the book shows a lot of research. Perhaps his most insightful chapter however is the very last: "The Future of English." He discusses the perceptions of English speakers on that topic--particularly Americans. He gives people's reasoning behind their thinking and finally ends with his own thoughts and reasoning.

I admit I have been one to voice the necessity for immigrants to learn English and how we should really just make it mandatory and how unfair it is that any other nation would not conceive of bending over backwards to accommodate an immigrant who doesn't learn the native language of that place, etc, etc. And at the same time I have often thought how cool it is we don't actually have a specified official language; how free that makes us! We bend and twist, because we can. We are able to change as necessary (theoretically).

I have also thought about how sad it makes me that English--particularly American English--seems to be taking over the world. Dialects are disappearing and British and American English are moving closer and closer toward one another. All too soon there won't be anyone who uses Mexican relish anymore; we'll all just use salsa. How piteous will be the world then! It is rare that the grandchild of immigrants from any culture to America are fluent in their ancestral language. My mother is the granddaughter of immigrants, and I have often felt a slight pang of resentfulness towards my ancestors for not speaking strictly in Lithuanian at home so I could know it now. It is a portion of my ancestry that is lost to me and not likely to be regained. I wouldn't wish that on anyone, which is exactly what regulating foreign languages in the United States would do. There are who groups of people who push for this very thing, arguing that it would decrease the differences between cultures. Bryson's counter-argument is sublime: "It is interesting to speculate also whether the member of U.S. English would be so enthusiastic about language regulations if they were transferred to Quebec and found their own language effectively outlawed." He also points out that the countries with the biggest problems between immigrants and the natives are those that strive to suppress qualities of the immigrating culture (240)--and it's easy to see that language is by far the most significant cultural quality.

See, I love English. That's what it really comes down to. I love all dialects of English, and the most correct, precise, academic forms as well. I love all types of English literature and the sound of it when it's read out loud. So to think that English might one day be disposed of frightens me just in the same way it does to think it would dispose of other languages. But after reading Bryson's book I realize that thinking English is going the way of Latin must be an irrational phobia. (In fact, I'm sure it is, and it kind of embarrasses me to think that it took reading a book for me to actually realize that fact. That's how obvious it is.) As Bryson says in his last two sentences, "If we should be worrying about anything to do with the future of English, it should be not that the various strands will drift apart but that they will grow indistinguishable. And what a sad, sad loss that would be" (245).

Declarations and Reviews

I know it's a little late, but I'm reviewing/declaring my new year's resolutions. I meant to run a review of my resolutions from last January before this year, but with going to Maine and all for Christmas, well, things just got muddled.

As for last years, let's have a look:
~I have learned some ballroom dance moves with Mike. We've looked some up online--waltz and Argentine tango (oh yes, my friends...). Mike even planned a date in November to take a beginning lesson at a local dance company where we learned a lot of basic moves. It was so fun!

~I have written some short stories, but never really finished them--lame, I know. They need some serious polishing and thinking over. I was all ready to send one in to the San Francisco Writers' Convention's  Indie Publishing Contest, but I procrastinated and realized when I got back from Maine I had let the due date pass.

~Cooking healthier...hmmmmmmm...this is kind of hard to tell. I've learned to be more creative in my cooking, and have even come up with recipes entirely on my own! (View them here.) But I don't know that I could call a pistachio cheesecake healthier per se. Let's just say, I've expanded my culinary horizon and I'm all the better for it.

I've thought a lot about my resolutions for this year. Some of them are modifications of last year's or are things I've thought a lot about doing in the past but never committed to.

~I'm kicking one of my worst habits: cracking my knuckles. (Cue applause from Karen and Grandma Clark.) FOR THE RECORD: I stand by my claims that cracking my knuckles does in fact make them feel better, not worse. It is not painful, and I don't find it horribly disgusting. However, I don't want to have Madie cracking hers by the time she's three, so I'm kicking the habit. Starting today.

~I'm going to write every day, even if it's just in this blog. No more of this letting-due-dates-slip-past thing. That really angered me, and yet it's entirely my fault. So, every day I'm writing something. I'm also looking currently for somewhere else to submit that short story and I'll be submitting at least one other piece somewhere else.

~I am going to read all the books on my 2011 To-Read List, which is open before me on my desktop. If I read more, great, but I'm at least going to read these. I was just saying on my cousin's blog that I'm tired of not getting to so many books I want to because I don't know what to read next. Not any more. (I'll post that list next time--maybe it'll be my writing for tomorrow!)

~Last, but not least (in fact, it'll probably--hopefully--be the first accomplished), I am going to get this blog background WORKING!!!!!!! UGH! This is driving me NUTS! I have looked at all sorts of html code and none of it is helping. It doesn't budge anything most of the time! **deep breathing** But I will have it looking the way I want it. I WILL!

Happy New Year!

A Work in Progress

I am trying to work out the kinks in this new template/background/css I have going. I've done very basic, basic, basic, kindergartener css before (or maybe preschool, I don't know anymore). What I'm working on now is much more involved, obviously, since my posts are way out in left field--literally. So, bear with me. I know you probably can't read half the stuff on there right now, but don't despair! I made the header entirely on my own! So it makes sense that I should be able to do the body...of course so far I've failed to budge them pixel, so perhaps you should despair. For now though, let's keep our chins up.

...and offer useful advice.

Ringing in the New Year and final days in Maine

I (Mike) wasn't technically supposed to be in Maine for the New Year. I had to be back to work by the following Monday and wanted a few days for buffer in-case something were to happen to my flight and I was postponed. Everything was looking good for my flight which left early on New Years Eve, 6:00 am to be exact. It was going to leave Bangor and arrive in LaGuardia by 7:30 or so. I was going to remain in NYC until 5:00 pm, fly to Atlanta, then get my connecting flight and arrive to San Francisco by 12:15 am (15 minutes into the New Year). I'll be honest, I wasn't really looking forward to it. Who wants to spend New Years on an airplane? Let alone, who wants to spend nine hours in LaGuardia which, according to past experience, is rampant with disease (pigeons and rats all over!). So I checked into my flight online on December 31st, and was good to go. I showed up to the airport at 5:00 am to get onto the plane and head out. I get through security, and onto the plane when I notice that someone is sitting in my seat. I asked the guy to confirm it was his correct seat, which he did. We discussed with the attendants about the situation, and they ended up yanking me off the plane. In talking with the Delta travel agent who was re-booking me for another flight, my online check-in didn't register with their system, and they evidently gave my seat away. So they buttered me up! They booked me for the next day (which meant I got to spend New Years with family!), they put me in first class for the longest leg of the flight (never been in first class before, now I don't know that I could do coach again), didn't have a 9-hour layover in LaGuardia (I didn't contract bird flu), $400 voucher for a future flight (free trip!), breakfast and lunch voucher (immediate comfort food. The one clementine I had wasn't really cutting it), and a voucher for a taxi ride back to Dover-Foxcroft. Needless to say, I was feeling pretty good about the situation.

Madie found a friend in Levi's dog Elvis. It was fun to see them follow each other around.

Levi commented "They are probably at the same intelligence level at this point".

Elvis did topple Madie over a couple times, but I think that Madie got the best of him with her slapping hands.

This was my first New Years with the Conner family, but from what I understand some sort of firework is always involved. Sparklers were the appetizer.

I think I had as much fun taking pictures as the kids whirling around the sparklers.

This one is of Ezra. I told him to let it rip and move it around for the picture, and he did just that!

After the sparklers were finished, we moved onto the main event...

$300 worth of fireworks ignited within a matter of 20 minutes.

While anticipating the New Year, some played cards.

Some watched a movie.

Happy 2011!

Shopping in Bangor. Ezra and Kait.

Jake's face pretty much says it all.

Great face.

Casey and MariLou enjoying the festivities.

Milk, sock-monkey, and Grammy.

Christmas Celebrations

Ah, the traditional Christmas Eve candel-light dinner which consisted of corn chowder (for those who can't handle shell fish), and oyster stew. We were amazingly able to fit everyone (20 people) in about a 20 sq foot kitchen, it was quite the feat.

Oh look! They have a Tupperware cabinet too!

Madie was a lot more interested in the ornaments than the presents under the tree. Probably because we bought some bell ornaments for her to play with on our tree.

The pavlova looked as good as it tasted. Another Conner tradition.

Madie was enamored with this petit rocking chair.

Another battery operated toy!

And some arm wrestling.