Christmas

My Christmas festivities this year (technically last year, I suppose) started early and went late.

Beginning on the day after Thanksgiving, when S and I were in Phoenix, we helped decorate my in-laws' house and watched Love Actually, one of my must-sees.  

Back at the ranch but still before Christmas, we decorated our own house and watched a mess of additional movies -- some new, some old, some new to me, some previously seen: Four Christmases; National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation; The Shop Around the Corner (the early inspiration for You've Got Mail); Christmas as Usual; A Christmas Story; Miracle on 34th Street; and EXmas.

My father-in-law sent us a advent-calendar-style whiskey tasting box tasting box as a Christmas present, and that really gave us the spirit of the season in the run-up to the holiday proper, with a new whiskey to taste each evening.  Great idea!

My sister-in-law and I were treated to the Ambassadors of Harmony's holiday show at UMSL, which -- as it was last year -- was delightful.  I love any Christmas concert, but I especially love an a cappella Christmas concert.

For the holiday itself, we headed off to Ireland.  It was S's first trip there (besides one prior flight layover in the Dublin airport), so we did a driving tour to take in as much as we could.  More on that in a separate post, perhaps.  But specifically as it relates to Christmas, there was lots of Christmas music on the radio and compliments of streaming services as we cruised around the country.  Though every shop in town except the kebab shop was closed, we saw the Christmas lights of Galway on the day, which were lovely.  I especially liked the decorated sailboats.  All of the hotels we stayed in had some sort of holiday decorations up, and the Canal Court Hotel in Newry was dressed to the nines for the occasion.  They win the decorating prize!

I still had one of my must-see movies to watch when we returned from Ireland, so prior to taking down my decorations, I snuggled in to watch Little Women as the weather in St. Louis takes a turn towards the very cold for a while.

Now that that's done, I suppose it's time to begin the wintertime activities in earnest.  I've been saving up many, many "inside projects" since the first warm day of spring last year.  Time to get started on them!

2024 Reading Challenge

Never two people to be daunted by a lack of success (I scored a solid D+ in my 2023 Reading Challenge), K and I are again undertaking an annual reading challenge!

Here are this year's categories and the books I've selected to fill them:

January: a book with a one-word title
Andorra, by Peter Cameron

February: a book based on a real event
Isaac's Storm: A Man, a Time, and the Deadliest Storm in History, by Erik Larson

March: a book that will stretch you
Love Her Wild, by Atticus

April: a book recommended by a friend
Faster, by Neal Bascomb

May: a book your mom loves
Don't Let's Go to the Dogs Tonight, by Alexandra Fuller

June: a book about hiking/road tripping
The Ultimate Journey: Canada to Mexico Down the Continental Divide, by Eric and Tim Ryback

July: a book about books
The Library Book, by Susan Orlean

August: a book that has a cover you love
Greyfriars Bobby, by Eleanore Atkinson

September: a book set in an intriguing city
Tangerine, by Christine Mangan

October: a used book
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, by Ken Kesey

November: a book with an ugly cover
The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy, by Douglas Adams

December: a book with a number in the title
Three Day Road, by Joseph Boyden

I suppose I shall also apply my usual rules:
1. It has to be a book I already own;
2. It has to be a book I have not read yet (or at least haven't finished yet);
3. Though I can go out of order, some of the months are clearly themed (specifically, May), so I will try to read those books at least close to the month they are selected for; and
4. If I want to include a book I've already listed but didn't read, that's okay.

What I found notable about many of the books I have selected this year is that loads of them could have fit in many categories.  For example, Andorra, Faster, or Tangerine could have been my one-word-title book.  Faster, for that matter, also could have been the August selection, as it has a lovely, artistic cover.  At least nine of the books (possibly more; I can't recall where I acquired a couple of them) are used so could have been the October selection.  At least five of them could have be the February "based on a real event" selection.

2023 Reading Challenge Recap

How did I do on my 2023 Reading Challenge?  A solid 66.67%.  The summary:

January: a book with a "home" word in the title
House of Sand and Fog, by Andre Dubus III
READ

February: a book with red on the cover or spine
Our Own Devices, by Edward Tenner
STARTED AND QUIT.  JUST NOT GOOD.  But I'm counting it, because I tried.

March: a book recommended by a friend
The Yonahlossee Riding Camp for Girls, by Anton DiScalfani
READ

April: a book with at least five words in the title
A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius, by Dave Eggers
DID NOT START

May: a book you should have read in high school
Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley
READ

June: a book with an animal on the cover
Inside of a Dog: What Dogs See, Smell, and Know, by Alexandra Horowitz
READ

July: a book that starts with the first letter of your first name
Morning Poems, by Robert Bly
READ

August: a book in a series
Outlander, by Diana Gabaldon
READ

September: a translated book
If On a Winter's Night A Traveler, by Italo Calvino (translated from Italian)
DID NOT START

October: a book set in a country other than your own
Ali & Nino, by Kurban Said
DID NOT START

November: a book with a night scene on the cover
After Henry, by Joan Didion
READ

December: a book with a winter element on the cover
Solo Faces, by James Salter
DID NOT START

On to 2024, and some new reads!

Happy Birthday, Mom!

What I Read -- After Henry

I have read only one Joan Didion book prior to After Henry, and it was The Year of Magical Thinking.  I may be entirely making this up, but it feels to me that Magical Thinking constituted a rediscovery of sorts vis a vis Joan Didion.  I read it, when it was popular.  I didn't make any notes about it, but I recall thinking at the time that it was an insightful look at love and loss.  It was published in 2005.

Somewhere along the way, I picked up After Henry at a used book shop, hoping for more of the same.  It is not.  It's a collection of essays, short memoirs, but many of them I found dull and vapid to the point of skipping on to the next one without even finishing.  

There were a few gems -- I particularly enjoyed "Girl of the Golden West," "Times Square Mirror," and "Sentimental Journeys" -- but for the most part I found them to be sort of a meh who's who collection of excuses to name drop.

This one was originally published in 1992, 13 years prior to Magical Thinking.  Perhaps that explains some of the difference in style?  I also have her book Slouching Towards Bethlehem on my to-read list (published in 1968).  Now I'm not sure if I want to read it.  Any thoughts?

Happy New Year!

Merry Christmas!

 Details on my holiday festivities to follow ... hopefully!

What I Read -- Lost Treasures of St. Louis

I don't recall where I heard about Lost Treasures of St. Louis, but it sure was a fun look back at the St. Louis that once was.  Probably about 10% of the "lost treasures" were things that I actually remembered, but most of them were gone long before I made my appearance. Regardless, it was a fun journey through the history of town.

The content is divided into categories, so if for some reason you have a particular interest in shuttered department stores, bars, or movie theaters, you can tailor your review to your interests.

What I Read -- Morning Poems

My 2023 Reading Challenge is still substantially behind schedule, but I have not thrown in the towel just yet.  As a quick way to tick another book off the list, I have elected to read the shortest one remaining to be read: Morning Poems, by Robert Bly.

I am, as a rule, not much of a poetry reading.  It's challenging reading, and frankly I'm just not that into making my recreational reading difficult.

One thing I can say for Bly's poems is that at least some of them are reasonably approachable, which is nice.

The other thing I can say about them is that many of them are quite dark.  Some samples:

The Resemblance Between Your Life and a Dog
I never intended to have this life, believe me --
It just happened.
...
Sparrows in winter, if you've ever held one, all feathers,
Burst out of your hand with a fiery glee.
You see them later in hedges.  Teachers praise you,
But you can't quite get back to the winter sparrow.
Your life is a dog. He's been hungry for miles,
Doesn't particularly like you, but gives up, and comes in.

A Family Photograph, Sunday Morning, 1940
They've gathered on the farm lawn, ten people, all ages.
...
One boy smiles---it is me---and looks down.  He seems glad,
But his sweater sleeve is too short. The men's hands,
None placed in pockets, all hang down.
...
The men smile, but their eyes say hard things.
'The world pulls at me---it tore my father
Away already.  That forty-acre farm he bought
By Marietta is still black.  I have to go now.'
...
Two old women who guard the group on both sides
Take nothing on trust. "I trust my hands, and that's all."

For a Childhood Friend, Marie
She knew a lot about life on a farm: wagon
Poles that sometimes broke, and grown men
Pinned against the fencepost by a bull.
Sometimes you tie a favorite lamb
To a tree so that the old bucks will not kill him,
And he hangs himself from the rope.
...
Marie, thirty years old, still loved
The high school, the tall boys, gossip
About the teachers, the proms. She also
Loved our lives that were not going
So well.  She married the hired man---
My grandmother told her not to---and he drank.

Wanting More Applesauce at a Conference
It's something about envy. I won't say I'm envious,
But I did have certain moods when I was two.
Now of course I can't remember any of that.
I'm happy if another receives some attention
That's really mine.  ...
This is hard to bear.  ...
And I am no longer small.  Let's call it a mood
When we can't remember.  Let's call it a habit
Of opening the mouth when we, who have
Much, want more, even what belongs to the poor.

My Doubts on Going to Visit a New Friend
I have to ask myself what kind of friend I can be.
...
I am afraid there'll be a moment when
I fail you, friend; I will turn slightly
Away, our eyes will not meet, and out in the field
There will be no one.

Perhaps my favorite, because it is truly inspirational and not super dark:

Things to Think
Think in ways you've never thought before.
...
When someone knocks on the door, think that he's about
To give you something large: tell you you're forgiven,
Or that it's not necessary to work all the time, or that its
Been decided if you lie down, no one will die.

Kindred -- Take 2

I owe thanks to K for picking out Kindred as our postal book club book. I had been meaning to read it for quite some time, and I sure am glad that I finally did.

It's a difficult book to read, in the way that all books which are about slavery are difficult, especially when they are intensely personal.  But it's also incredibly well done in that the characters, though there are "good" and "bad" people, are almost all complicated.  Very few of them are entirely good or entirely bad; just when someone is approaching despicable, there is a scene that evokes just enough empathy to give you hope for a turnaround.

It also made slavery -- which seems to most of us like a nearly-ancient historical circumstance -- seem suddenly not so far away.  I give huge credit to Octavia Butler for that.  So many books which talk about difficult and embarrassing historical circumstances suffer from the collective volume of their brethren; it can quickly become tiresome to read more than a few books about slavery, Nazi Germany, persecution of any kind.  This one provides a new and interesting perspective which keeps the topic fresh.