Day Nine-- Summer Reading

Here are a couple of reviews on books I've read or am reading this summer. Besides The Alchemist and Crime and Punishment, I also read the Stieg Larsson series (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo) and The Book Thief. Very good for me as I'm a slow reader. I know, I know, English teachers are supposed to rip through them, but I just can't--maybe because I'm a writer too?

The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


Mixed feelings about it. Really liked it in some places and then other times it was too heavy-handed for my taste. I did really like some of the writing. I'll add some of my favorite quotes later.

Here's one of my favorite quotes:

"But the sheep had taught him something even more important: that there was a language in the world that everyone understood,....It was the language of enthusiasm, of things accomplished with love and purpose, and as a part of a search for something believed in and desired" (62).



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Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Read years ago in college, but I wanted to read it again.

I'm just starting the third chapter--slow because I'm trying to read too many books at once, but I remember now how brilliant Dostoyevsky is and why I love this book.

Here's the speech by the drunkard Marmeladov who has reached the depth of his despair: "...He will summon us. 'You too come forth,' He will say. 'Come forth, ye drunkards, come forth, ye weak ones, come forth, ye children of shame!' And the wise ones and those of understanding will say, 'Oh Lord, why dost Thou receive these men?' And He will say, 'This is why I receive them, oh ye wise, this is why I receive them, oh ye of understanding, that not one of them believed himself to be worthy of this.' And He will hold out His hands to us and we shall fall down before Him...and we shall weep...and we shall understand all things! Then we shall understand all!...and all will understand, Katerina Ivanovna even...she will understand..."

Oh my. That is astounding.

Here's another great quote (Part II, Chapter 5) and very apropos, I must say.

"What answer had your lecturer in Moscow to make to the question why he was forging notes? 'Everybody is getting rich one way or another, so I want to make haste to get rich too.' I don't remember the exact words, but the upshot was that he wants money for nothing, without waiting or working! We've grown used to having everything ready-made, to walking on crutches, to having our food chewed for us. Then the great hour struck, and every man showed himself in his true colours."

Quite fits, doesn't it? Uncomfortably so.



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Day Eight--I'm going to England!

Ever since I watched the old black and white version of Midsummer Night's Dream when I was just a wee lassie, I've been an anglophile. I was only about seven or eight years old, and I understood very little of what was said, but I thought the physical humor was hilarious! I still have that image of Puck, with his tiny horns, in my head all these years later.

As I was growing up, before the days of cable, yes, I know, I am old, my mother used to watch Masterpiece Theatre and later Mystery on Public TV. Through those shows I learned to love British literature. Watching I, Claudius, The Pallisers, The Barchester Chronicles, Sense and Sensibility, Pride and Prejudice and Bleak House, introducing me to four of my favorite British authors, Robert Graves, Anthony Trollope, Jane Austen and Charles Dickens. Oh, and there were so many more.

Then came Mystery! I watched faithfully and became enthralled with the police procedural/detective story set in Britain: Prime Suspect, Inspector Morse (and now Lewis), Poirot, Miss Marple, Sherlock Holmes, Lord Peter Wimsey, Adam Dagliesh (P.D. James). Oh, I just couldn't get enough.

And how can I forget the comedy: Fry and Laurie, French and Saunders, Fawlty Towers, Are You Being Served, Benny Hill, The Young Ones, and of course, my favorite, Monty Python's Flying Circus. The Spam skit still cracks me up, and Bicycle Repair Man, and Argument Clinic and the cheese shop and the Grand Inquisitor and the Lumberjack song and...and... and. Oh, how I loved to laugh, even when I didn't really get the joke. It just sounded funny.

And all those great British actors: Alan Rickman, Derek Jacobi, Anthony Andrews, Susan Hampshire, Daniel Craig, Clive Owen, Helen Mirren, Hugh Laurie, the list goes on and on.

My favorite courses in undergraduate school were Victorian Literature and 17th Century British Literature. In graduate school one of my areas of concentration was 19th Century British Literature, and at Blue Ridge Community College, where I work, I teach British Literature I and II.

But I've never been to England!

In a couple of weeks, the long drought ends. I go to England for five glorious days. Riots or no riots, I'm going. It's a theater tour arranged by a dear friend of mine. We'll see three plays--Richard III starring Kevin Spacey, Andrew Lloyd Webber's production of The Wizard of Oz, and Warhorse, winner of five Tony awards, including Best Play. We'll also visit some of the famous sights and generally drink in the London atmosphere--away from the tear gas, I hope. I'm getting excited just typing this. To see plays and some of the sights of London that I've only read about is such a special gift. I don't know how I will repay my friend for her generosity.

I suppose I can best repay her by enjoying this trip as much as I possibly can and bringing home to my students a deeper understanding of the great literature of Mother England.

Day Seven--Quick Post

Just a quick brag post. Hannah finished her film for her MTV film class at Flat Rock Playhouse, and it came out pretty good. She likes it because it's the first video she can really call her own, she says. She did all the lighting, filming, everything--with some help from her great teachers Dave Hart and Eric Leach at the Youtheatre. Take a look, but be warned--it's creeeeeeepyyyyy!!!!!!


One other note: I'm reading another Anne Perry novel--she writes great mysteries, many of them are set in Victorian England, and 19th Century British Lit. is my specialty, so I am naturally drawn to her books. I especially like how her characters often discuss ethical issues that are so relevant for us today. For example, here's a great quote I read today: "The time will come when we ourselves are disliked or misunderstood, or strangers, different from our judges in race or class or creed, and if their sense of justice depends upon their passion rather than their morality, who is to speak for us then, or defend our right to the truth?"

Good question. Wow!

FYI

A small update. By the way, I'm probably never going to have a schedule for posting to this blog; I'm just going to post when I feel like it. If that bothers you, well... sorry. I guess.

Anyway. My update. I now have my own identity! In other words, I'm not labeled as Katie Winkler when I post. Yay! More importantly, my best friend just started her own blog, Lexey and Company, which I am also contributing to. Double yay! So... um... yeah. If you're interested.

I'm Baaaack...

Hey. Guess who? ME! The Amazing Hannah Winkler! I know you're excited, but please hold your applause until the end. You might miss something important. Today, I'm going to teach you about something immensely important.

Emoticons! (AKA "smileys")

Yep, you heard me. Emoticons are important. Extremely important. Why? I have no idea. They just are. So, here it is. The Amazing Hannah Winkler's guide to emoticons. (Not the fancy little premade ones. The good old hand typed kind.)

:) - This is your basic smiley. It conveys happiness, or other similar nice feelings. Also can look like- :-)

:( - A basic frowny face. It conveys unhappy emotions, everything from mild displeasure to severe depression. Also looks like :-(

-_- - This is a little more advanced. It can serve various purposes, but it typically signifies boredom or sometimes exasperation.

:/ - This emoticon is used when one is confused and unsure. As you can imagine, I don't use this very much.

;) - A winking face. Flirtatious or mischievous.

^_^ - This is a... I'm not really sure what this is. It's cute though.

:3 - Ummm... yeah. I don't know what that is either.

B-) - Hmmm. No clue.

You know, I've just decided that maybe I'm not the most learned person concerning this subject.

Ahem.

Class dismissed.

Day Six--Divestiture

My sister Ronda died in April--ovarian cancer. I've been thinking a lot about her as I try to go about and pretend that my life is normal, that it can ever be normal now that my only sister is gone. I suppose over time I will develop that new normal everyone talks about--that I will think of her watching from beyond or being right beside me, but right now, I don't feel that way. I feel directionless and empty.

Today, Hannah rode her horse Precious, the beautiful, headstrong American Quarter horse mare that my sister gave her a few years ago. When she gave us the horse, Ronda was already suffering the ill effects of the cancer and several other disorders, including Type I diabetes, with its accompanying maladies, and Wegner's Disease. She had begun the divestiture that so many acutely ill people begin, even while there still seems to be some hope.

Hannah's had trouble with the horse lately. She'll be fine one day and then the next, she'll rear or buck or try to run Hannah into the bushes or a tree even. I want to get rid of the horse when she does that, but how do I tell my sixteen-year-old to sell a living, breathing memorial to her aunt.

But today, Precious was quiet. She did what she was directed to do, although I told Hannah, or maybe I just thought it, "Let's not ask for too much from her today. Let's have a quiet day." So we did. Hannah lunged her; she trotted and loped in big circles between the jumps in the center of the ring. Then Hannah got on her--walked and trotted--circling, stopping, backing. From time to time Hannah would reach down and pat the sweating neck.

A hot day--too hot for a fight.

When they were through, Hannah rode to the center of the ring, sighed and dropped her body down on the little dun's neck. The mare stood there, didn't move, and then slowly Hannah brought her body up, dropped the reins and barely tapped the horse's side with her heels.

Precious began to walk. Hannah didn't touch the reins. Into the middle of the ring, down the center. I laughed as she headed for the one spot of shade on the far side of the ring where she stopped and waited for Hannah to ask her to move again.

Until that moment I had been so angry at that little horse. She had tried to hurt my daughter, so I didn't want her in our lives anymore. Just one more obligation, an expensive one and sometimes a dangerous one--so strong and powerful and my daughter so small.

But Hannah wants this chance to conquer a powerful force. She needs it--at least for now.

So we will not divest ourselves of this expensive and troublesome animal, I thought as Hannah slid safely to the ground. We'll work with her and pay expensive vet bills and training bills to help make her safe, and we will wait for her to become the horse she is meant to be, the one my sister wanted her to be--for Hannah.

Day Five of Katie's Blogging and First 24 Hours of 48 Hour Film Project

A lull in the Asheville 48-Hour Film Project craziness. I'm not too involved this year because of the high stress factor. I don't need any more high stress situations It's fun stress but if you don't know about the 48-Hour film project, then you have no idea how stressful fun stress is.

The ultimate stress was the year the team I was on won. That was 2008 when the DVD was not finalized and we in the car headed to turn in had to contact the car behind us as well as the editor. Those in the car behind rushed back to the College, picked up the finalized film and rushed it to the Asheville Pizza and Brewing Company where the contest is held every year. One of our actors sprinted across the parking lot as the car was turning in, sprinted back and handed the film to our director who turned it in as everyone in the room was counting down 10...9...8.... So guess what our team is called this year. 10...9...8...Productions. And the man who drove the "Getthere" car is our director!

Fun stress!!

Fun Stress!