So on most Tuesdays and Thursdays, I'm in charge of ferrying both Lucy and her BFF Ruth to school. This is fun, largely because the two girls carry on some deep conversations, and I get to overhear them. Here is a classic one from this week:
Lucy: I have Hello Kitty socks!
Ruth: I'm going to get Hello Kitty Socks!
Lucy: I have TWO pairs of Hello Kitty socks!
Ruth: I don't know how many pairs of Hello Kitty socks I'm going to get.
Lucy: Well, don't get more than two, so we won't brag.
....it continued on, and, just so you know, now they BOTH want to have 10 pairs of Hello Kitty socks. Each.
I have many, many more things to post about, for now, I wanted to get this one up before I forgot it.
Friday, March 30, 2012
Wednesday, March 21, 2012
Book Reviews
I've been dealing with a frustrating experience regarding book reviewing. I was asked to review a book, which I did in good faith. It turns out, I think it's a bad book. I said as much (though in much greater detail) in the book review. The editors of the journal in which the review is (was?) to appear have asked me to "tone it down." I did, a bit, but have again been asked to "temper" some of my language.
I am irritated, because, in truth, the editor agrees with my take on this book, and has explicitly said as much. There are some serious problems with the book. But the author is one that we're not allowed to critique too directly, for reasons I won't go into here. But the work is bad. I think I'd rather not publish any review at all than be asked to paint some glowing picture of something that only makes me glower.
So, to make myself feel better while I await further review of my review, I'm going to briefly review here a book that I very much like, and that I can fully endorse. So here you go:
The book is St. Lucy's Home for Girls Raised by Wolves by Karen Russell. I will be honest here and say that I have not yet finished it, but I have to return it to the library (and now go buy my own copy). But I thought I should set down my ideas while I still have it, and while I'm feeling firey about book reviews.
Given the title, you are no doubt not surprised that I would want to check it out. Really, I got it largely because of the title, though also because a visiting writer here described it as what he thought young writers who tend to (or want to) write like Stephenie Meyer (Twilight) should aspire to write like instead.
It is awesome. The title story, in particular, is fabulous. "The Star-Gazer's Log of Summer-Time Crimes" is another standout.
The stories are largely about children. Each story sets up these "normal" scenarios -- going to summer camp, being sent to a religious boarding school, performing in a school choir, etc. -- and then twists them. Often, the twists appear in the opening of the story, as in "Star Gazer's," which begins with "I didn't come out here tonight expecting to join a Comical Ironical Crime Ring." How can you not read on? The slightly askew, often funny, and often simultaneously horrifying events are oddly believable, perhaps because we can believe children and teenagers will do anything, and we are both amused and horrified by the things they do, such as, again in "Star-Gazer's" when a group of kids pin a note to a young disabled man that has befriended them that says "I would like to purchase your least expensive beer" and send him into a convenience store. Hilarious. Horrifying.
So the scenarios are normal, but then the specifics are not: the summer camp campers all have weird sleep disorders, the boarding school is for children raised by wolves, rather than, say, regular old children raised by humans, and the school choir performs in order to set off an avalanche. The kids are totally (often creepily and disturbingly) recognizable, but then something is just slightly off-kilter. Largely, the off-kilter-ness is in the adults, or lack thereof. Without the adults around, the kids seem to exist in some strange parallel universe, where the totally mundane meets the miraculous.
The kids are kids, doing things you might well expect kids to do. In "Haunting Olivia," two boys go out in search of their younger sister, who died years before. But while their motives and emotions are totally understandable, they live in a world that is utterly confusing. How exactly did anyone allow Olivia to do what she was doing when she died? How is it that these two remaining children have basically been abandoned by any useful or comforting adult interventions? These elements of the stories are almost more mystifying than the supernatural mysteries (in this case, the boys find a pair of goggles that let them see the spirits of the dead, including, in spectacular fashion, a plesiosaur swimming in the ocean).
All this is to say, these are lovely stories, and you should go read this book: St. Lucy's Home for Girls Raised by Wolves, by Karen Russell. I wouldn't write it if I didn't truly believe it.
BTW, I hope to have more book reviews soon.
I am irritated, because, in truth, the editor agrees with my take on this book, and has explicitly said as much. There are some serious problems with the book. But the author is one that we're not allowed to critique too directly, for reasons I won't go into here. But the work is bad. I think I'd rather not publish any review at all than be asked to paint some glowing picture of something that only makes me glower.
So, to make myself feel better while I await further review of my review, I'm going to briefly review here a book that I very much like, and that I can fully endorse. So here you go:
The book is St. Lucy's Home for Girls Raised by Wolves by Karen Russell. I will be honest here and say that I have not yet finished it, but I have to return it to the library (and now go buy my own copy). But I thought I should set down my ideas while I still have it, and while I'm feeling firey about book reviews.
Given the title, you are no doubt not surprised that I would want to check it out. Really, I got it largely because of the title, though also because a visiting writer here described it as what he thought young writers who tend to (or want to) write like Stephenie Meyer (Twilight) should aspire to write like instead.
It is awesome. The title story, in particular, is fabulous. "The Star-Gazer's Log of Summer-Time Crimes" is another standout.
The stories are largely about children. Each story sets up these "normal" scenarios -- going to summer camp, being sent to a religious boarding school, performing in a school choir, etc. -- and then twists them. Often, the twists appear in the opening of the story, as in "Star Gazer's," which begins with "I didn't come out here tonight expecting to join a Comical Ironical Crime Ring." How can you not read on? The slightly askew, often funny, and often simultaneously horrifying events are oddly believable, perhaps because we can believe children and teenagers will do anything, and we are both amused and horrified by the things they do, such as, again in "Star-Gazer's" when a group of kids pin a note to a young disabled man that has befriended them that says "I would like to purchase your least expensive beer" and send him into a convenience store. Hilarious. Horrifying.
So the scenarios are normal, but then the specifics are not: the summer camp campers all have weird sleep disorders, the boarding school is for children raised by wolves, rather than, say, regular old children raised by humans, and the school choir performs in order to set off an avalanche. The kids are totally (often creepily and disturbingly) recognizable, but then something is just slightly off-kilter. Largely, the off-kilter-ness is in the adults, or lack thereof. Without the adults around, the kids seem to exist in some strange parallel universe, where the totally mundane meets the miraculous.
The kids are kids, doing things you might well expect kids to do. In "Haunting Olivia," two boys go out in search of their younger sister, who died years before. But while their motives and emotions are totally understandable, they live in a world that is utterly confusing. How exactly did anyone allow Olivia to do what she was doing when she died? How is it that these two remaining children have basically been abandoned by any useful or comforting adult interventions? These elements of the stories are almost more mystifying than the supernatural mysteries (in this case, the boys find a pair of goggles that let them see the spirits of the dead, including, in spectacular fashion, a plesiosaur swimming in the ocean).
All this is to say, these are lovely stories, and you should go read this book: St. Lucy's Home for Girls Raised by Wolves, by Karen Russell. I wouldn't write it if I didn't truly believe it.
BTW, I hope to have more book reviews soon.
Monday, March 12, 2012
SPRING BREAK! (plus further meditations on mortality)
So it's Spring Break here. And, amazingly, the weather is distinctly spring-y. In fact, spring-y in a way that spring never is here. We're loving it.
This weekend we played host to some cousins from family far and near, including Cole & Bianca (representing the "near" category, as they live in Boston), and the Texas branch of the Sullivan clan (representing "far" -- TEXAS!), including: Donny, Mary-Beth, Patrick, Daniel, Eileen, and Natalie. I failed to get a photo of the full group, but this one of Lucy + the quadruplets is representative:
Lucy was SO excited to have so many people here. She was in fine form, ready to entertain, in costumes such as this:
Don't ask me where she gets her fashion sense.
Further amping up the excitement levels, she (and Jake) had purchased a little kit that enables the user to make their own balloon animals. It included a bunch of those long skinny balloons and a little pumper that (supposedly) makes it easier to inflate those (insert expletive here) balloons. It was $3.99 at the grocery store, and it was terrible. But Lucy had been about to EXPLODE with anticipation of the balloon fun she wanted to have, so we had to press on, despite the disturbing sense of feeling faint from trying to blow up tiny balloons, and all the popping of said (very cheap) balloons. We eventually resorted to the bike pump; Eileen and Patrick also somehow managed to get the pump (sort of ) working. And Lucy proved to be a demanding manager, insisting on MORE balloons and MORE animals. Good thing her cousins were so very very patient and tolerant of the tyrant.
We had a LOVELY time and we hope everyone comes back again really soon! Natalie? Eileen? Daniel? Patrick? Which one will take the bait of college life in the Northeast? We totally volunteer to be surrogate parents! We will move you into your dorm! You will have Thanksgiving at 83 Durant! Join us! You'll just have to make the occasional balloon animal.
The weather was so lovely that after out guests departed (good luck, college-hunting gang!!!!) we went off for a hike at the Lowell-Dracut State Forest. Lucy brought with her a fabulous walking stick, as modeled here:
She also used it for balancing, as seen here:
Many thanks, Aunt Florrie, for providing such an awesome accessory for our hiker-girl!
Right now we're getting things in order for the impending St. Patrick's Day Party. Are you coming? Because a lot of people are coming. Why would you not come? Don't you remember how awesome it was last year and the year before, and the year(s) before that when we had such a good time that we never even bothered to document it (there is [fingers crossed] a forthcoming post featuring photos from these events, if I can find them)?
So in order to prepare for the festivities, Jake and Lucy did some shopping out at Blood Farm (in Groton) last Friday, where we acquired 25+ pounds of brisket, which is currently being turned into corned beef. Right now. While there, Jake learned this important fact about the meats of Blood Farm:
Wow. That sure is good to know. Apparently, is IS very good that they don't use this stuff. I won't go into it here, but if you just google "pink slime" you'll read some pretty horrifying news reports about the stuff. So Blood Farm is our source for awesome meats and the most amazing bacon ever. It is certified by every bacon-eating guest we've ever had. They also have amazing ham. When Cole showed up on Sunday, and we said there was ham, he got this dreamy look in his eyes, asking about the last time we'd served him ham, and lo, he was joyful upon the news that this ham, too, would be good.
So as I'm working on this post, I was about to link to a previous post about Blood Farm. And then I realized, I don't have a previous post about Blood Farm. That seemed impossible, until I looked and saw that I had a post in "Draft" status since last fall. Ack! How did that happen? Well, WAAAAY back in October, we were on a visit to Blood Farm, and here is what happened (I am now copying the draft post from then, so the material below in purple is a totally authentic recounting of the events):
[That's all the draft there is...you can see why I didn't post it at the time, as it needed more fleshing out. Yes, I know, I'm writing about meat farm and used a "flesh" metaphor. Get over it.]
Upon meeting Larry, Lucy couldn't have been more delighted, and we were all the more endeared to Blood farm. And yes, Blood Farm IS run by Mr. Blood, the fifth generations of the Blood family running this place. They are Serious about meat.
Anyway, to return to the now (or at least the more recent past), when we told Lucy that we were making another visit to get stuff at Blood Farm, she was excited to see Larry.
Do you know where this is going?
After picking up our order, Jake asked if they might be able to go visit Larry.
The sad answer: "Larry passed away."
Lucy apparently took the news in stride. We're not really sure how much she understands this sort of thing. We're pretty sure she's developing a rather skewed understanding of such things (but who doesn't). Some readers may remember some of her past insistence on facing mortality. But really, it's the literature that's doing a number on her. Figures. We've been listening to the Harry Potter audio books, and when I walked in while she was listening to the second one (Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets), during the basilisk scene, she gleefully exclaimed "Harry's going to die!"
Oh. OK.
So when Jake and Lucy got home, I (unaware of what had happened) asked, "did you get to see Larry?"
"He passed along."
and that was it. So we've dodged that bullet for a little while longer. [Also, yes, I used that metaphor to talk about avoiding a conversation about death. Funny.]
So, all this is to say, you should come to the St. Patrick's Day party and help us eat 25+ pounds of corned beef. We'll raise a glass to Larry.
This weekend we played host to some cousins from family far and near, including Cole & Bianca (representing the "near" category, as they live in Boston), and the Texas branch of the Sullivan clan (representing "far" -- TEXAS!), including: Donny, Mary-Beth, Patrick, Daniel, Eileen, and Natalie. I failed to get a photo of the full group, but this one of Lucy + the quadruplets is representative:
Lucy was SO excited to have so many people here. She was in fine form, ready to entertain, in costumes such as this:
Further amping up the excitement levels, she (and Jake) had purchased a little kit that enables the user to make their own balloon animals. It included a bunch of those long skinny balloons and a little pumper that (supposedly) makes it easier to inflate those (insert expletive here) balloons. It was $3.99 at the grocery store, and it was terrible. But Lucy had been about to EXPLODE with anticipation of the balloon fun she wanted to have, so we had to press on, despite the disturbing sense of feeling faint from trying to blow up tiny balloons, and all the popping of said (very cheap) balloons. We eventually resorted to the bike pump; Eileen and Patrick also somehow managed to get the pump (sort of ) working. And Lucy proved to be a demanding manager, insisting on MORE balloons and MORE animals. Good thing her cousins were so very very patient and tolerant of the tyrant.
We had a LOVELY time and we hope everyone comes back again really soon! Natalie? Eileen? Daniel? Patrick? Which one will take the bait of college life in the Northeast? We totally volunteer to be surrogate parents! We will move you into your dorm! You will have Thanksgiving at 83 Durant! Join us! You'll just have to make the occasional balloon animal.
The weather was so lovely that after out guests departed (good luck, college-hunting gang!!!!) we went off for a hike at the Lowell-Dracut State Forest. Lucy brought with her a fabulous walking stick, as modeled here:
She also used it for balancing, as seen here:
Many thanks, Aunt Florrie, for providing such an awesome accessory for our hiker-girl!
Right now we're getting things in order for the impending St. Patrick's Day Party. Are you coming? Because a lot of people are coming. Why would you not come? Don't you remember how awesome it was last year and the year before, and the year(s) before that when we had such a good time that we never even bothered to document it (there is [fingers crossed] a forthcoming post featuring photos from these events, if I can find them)?
So in order to prepare for the festivities, Jake and Lucy did some shopping out at Blood Farm (in Groton) last Friday, where we acquired 25+ pounds of brisket, which is currently being turned into corned beef. Right now. While there, Jake learned this important fact about the meats of Blood Farm:
So as I'm working on this post, I was about to link to a previous post about Blood Farm. And then I realized, I don't have a previous post about Blood Farm. That seemed impossible, until I looked and saw that I had a post in "Draft" status since last fall. Ack! How did that happen? Well, WAAAAY back in October, we were on a visit to Blood Farm, and here is what happened (I am now copying the draft post from then, so the material below in purple is a totally authentic recounting of the events):
Lucy attempted to chase after a cat; when the cat (understandably) ran, I was concerned that we would not have a chance to see any critters. But then Mr. Blood came out and said "do you want to see our llama?"
Best question ever!
Of course we'd love to see your llama!
So we met Larry, the mascot of Blood Farm. He's awesome.
[That's all the draft there is...you can see why I didn't post it at the time, as it needed more fleshing out. Yes, I know, I'm writing about meat farm and used a "flesh" metaphor. Get over it.]
Upon meeting Larry, Lucy couldn't have been more delighted, and we were all the more endeared to Blood farm. And yes, Blood Farm IS run by Mr. Blood, the fifth generations of the Blood family running this place. They are Serious about meat.
Anyway, to return to the now (or at least the more recent past), when we told Lucy that we were making another visit to get stuff at Blood Farm, she was excited to see Larry.
Do you know where this is going?
After picking up our order, Jake asked if they might be able to go visit Larry.
The sad answer: "Larry passed away."
Lucy apparently took the news in stride. We're not really sure how much she understands this sort of thing. We're pretty sure she's developing a rather skewed understanding of such things (but who doesn't). Some readers may remember some of her past insistence on facing mortality. But really, it's the literature that's doing a number on her. Figures. We've been listening to the Harry Potter audio books, and when I walked in while she was listening to the second one (Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets), during the basilisk scene, she gleefully exclaimed "Harry's going to die!"
Oh. OK.
So when Jake and Lucy got home, I (unaware of what had happened) asked, "did you get to see Larry?"
"He passed along."
and that was it. So we've dodged that bullet for a little while longer. [Also, yes, I used that metaphor to talk about avoiding a conversation about death. Funny.]
So, all this is to say, you should come to the St. Patrick's Day party and help us eat 25+ pounds of corned beef. We'll raise a glass to Larry.
Sunday, March 4, 2012
Mmmmm....MAPLE!
In honor of the start of Maple Sugaring season, we had a family trip up to Parker's Maple Barn, a lovely place that makes their own maple syrup and has a fabulous restaurant where it serves foods that deliver maple goodness. Lucy was in heaven. She explained that her favorite foods are:
Everything was delicious! If you're visiting us during maple season, you should demand that we take you there. But until then, would you like to know more about maple syrup? You can find out more here.
That was yesterday (Saturday). Today featured three special guests: Uncle Paul, Aunt Kathy, and, introducing:
That's their new puppy, Keri. She's from New Zealand! She was very excited to meet her cousin Carter. Carter was also excited, but mostly because we plied him with treats to keep his cranky "puppies are annoying" attitude to a minimum. Keri is just lovely.
- Pancakes
- French Toast
- Waffles
Everything was delicious! If you're visiting us during maple season, you should demand that we take you there. But until then, would you like to know more about maple syrup? You can find out more here.
That was yesterday (Saturday). Today featured three special guests: Uncle Paul, Aunt Kathy, and, introducing:
Thursday, March 1, 2012
SNOW DAY! (Hello, March!)
We're in the midst of a fabulous snowstorm. Right now, the conditions are described as:
Awesome! This has been a considerable storm, starting yesterday around 2 in the afternoon, going through the night, and continuing until 6 (or so forecasts say) tonight. Way to go, Winter!
My school closed early yesterday, so I picked up Lucy from school right after her nap. She was delighted, and loved getting to come home and hang out. Jake came home early, too. Lovely! Today, my school remained closed, but Lucy's wasn't. So, after a late sleep and a relaxed morning, Jake took Lucy and Ruth into school so that we could both get some work done. It's been a productive day. Woo hoo!
In two of my (cancelled) classes today, I had a mid-term paper due. I can totally and fully imagine just how happy those students are. I remember those days all too well. I suppose I am also somewhat enjoying the absence of a stack of papers this weekend....although this just means even MORE papers next week (since the other class is also scheduled to turn in theirs on Thursday).
Lucy just got home from school and demanded a band-aid. You may remember that in the past, Lucy would Freak Out if you suggested that a band-aid might help. We're not quite sure when or why, but that changed sometime last fall, to the point that for Christmas, she asked for (and received) a box of Hello Kitty band-aids. She uses them for all injuries, real and imagined. Today she came home with a small (very small) scrape on her thumb.
Me: How'd you get that scrape?
Lucy: I was sucking my thumb.
Me: But you don't suck your thumb. [seriously, this child has NEVER been a thumb-sucker]
Lucy: Well, I was sucking my thumb.
Me: But why?
Lucy: Because I was pretending to be a kinkajou.
Ah-ha. Dear reader, you may remember that a few days ago, we went to an animal show that included a kinkajou. Said kinkajou was bottle-fed, and therefore, as the animal guide pointed out, he has a habit of sucking his thumb. So there.
Awesome! This has been a considerable storm, starting yesterday around 2 in the afternoon, going through the night, and continuing until 6 (or so forecasts say) tonight. Way to go, Winter!
My school closed early yesterday, so I picked up Lucy from school right after her nap. She was delighted, and loved getting to come home and hang out. Jake came home early, too. Lovely! Today, my school remained closed, but Lucy's wasn't. So, after a late sleep and a relaxed morning, Jake took Lucy and Ruth into school so that we could both get some work done. It's been a productive day. Woo hoo!
In two of my (cancelled) classes today, I had a mid-term paper due. I can totally and fully imagine just how happy those students are. I remember those days all too well. I suppose I am also somewhat enjoying the absence of a stack of papers this weekend....although this just means even MORE papers next week (since the other class is also scheduled to turn in theirs on Thursday).
Lucy just got home from school and demanded a band-aid. You may remember that in the past, Lucy would Freak Out if you suggested that a band-aid might help. We're not quite sure when or why, but that changed sometime last fall, to the point that for Christmas, she asked for (and received) a box of Hello Kitty band-aids. She uses them for all injuries, real and imagined. Today she came home with a small (very small) scrape on her thumb.
Me: How'd you get that scrape?
Lucy: I was sucking my thumb.
Me: But you don't suck your thumb. [seriously, this child has NEVER been a thumb-sucker]
Lucy: Well, I was sucking my thumb.
Me: But why?
Lucy: Because I was pretending to be a kinkajou.
Ah-ha. Dear reader, you may remember that a few days ago, we went to an animal show that included a kinkajou. Said kinkajou was bottle-fed, and therefore, as the animal guide pointed out, he has a habit of sucking his thumb. So there.
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