Pam Webb

a writer's journey as a reader

Archive for the month “June, 2019”

20 Jun 2019
1 Comment

Debatables: Sparking a Conversation About Arcs


My indomitable sparring compatriot, Mike Allegra, tossed down an interesting Debatable challenge for this month: which picture book character has arc?

Arc:

A character arc is the transformation or inner journey of a character over the course of a story. If a story has a character arc, the character begins as one sort of person and gradually transforms into a different sort of person in response to changing developments in the story. [Thanks Wikipedia]

Arc, not Orc–that’s Tolkien

Image: Molang Kim

Although maybe an Orc could have an arc? Aren’t Orcs rather focused on their prime directive of generating mayhem?

Doesn’t matter. We are focusing on picture book characters for this round.

Mike selected Ferdinand

and I suggested Harold.

(both images from Wikipedia)

This round is a straight up editorial. You aren’t expected to vote–although you most certainly can. You aren’t even expected to come with your own arcless character–although you most certainly can chime in a contribution.

Trot over to Mike’s post, read over our thoughts on our selected choices, and leave your comments.

Just sparking a arc-conversation this month. See you over at Allegra’s place. Maybe he’s serving up waffles…

Posted in bloggers, Books, Debatables, Reading, Reflections and tagged ,
11 Jun 2019
18 Comments

Desert Is Not Dessert


Out of necessity I am in Arizona this week.

Most times mentioning Arizona as a destination brings up that “Oh–” that is a followed by congratulatory commentary with a dash of envy.

That “Oh–” takes on tones of surprise, commiseration, and even pity when Arizona is mentioned as a travel stop this time of year.

The last three days have been rising to triple digits. Today is expected to be 114 degrees. I should add an exclamation point. Make that two.

People who live in Arizona must be okay with this cruelty. Why would someone purposefully punish themselves unless by choice? There are sooo many other places to live.

These are the reasons I hear from residents as they try to excuse the heat:

“Air conditioning. You go from the car to the store. It’s not bad.” That’s what they said about my root canal. “The pain and discomfort is minimal.” Pain is pain and the shock of heat blasting off the asphalt parking lot even for the two minutes of the dash from car to store is still excruciating.

“It cools down at night.” Umm, 80 degrees at 1 am is not cool. It’s not even pleasant.

“Hang out at the pool.” Great idea in theory; however, the sun has been heating up that water until it becomes lukewarm. Not remotely refreshing is the time spent floating in tepid waters.

And the weather announcer pull-it-out-every-time excuse: “But it’s a dry heat.” Dry it is. Because heat is hot and hot is not comfortable.

I’m sure Arizona is lovely other parts of the year. Flocks of snowbirds descending and settling down in the desert for winter have proven this to be statement of fact. Unfortunately I care not for the desert. It is not my idea of a dessert vacation.

114? Really?!?

Posted in humor, Reflections, stress, summer and tagged ,
04 Jun 2019
9 Comments

Reader Round Up: May


May was a month of escapism as different stresses cropped up and reading is my escape goto having learned that finding frozen yogurt in the local groceries is frustrating and futile.

An eclectic batch indeed:

David and Goliath by Malcolm Gladwell⭐️⭐️⭐️

Malcolm Gladwell has proven his ability to combine an intriguing premise with research data, anecdotal examples, and an engaging style of bringing it all together. This method worked well for Blink, The Tipping Point, and Outliers. Not so much for David and Goliath.

One problem is how the premise is not fully defined, or tends to flex and morph into something a bit different as the book progresses.

True to Form by Elizabeth Berg

⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️

True to Form continues the story of Katie Nash, a 13 year old girl who has both little and everything going on in her life. With only one friend and a summer filled with jobs arranged by her emotionally distant father, Katie is fairly sure her summer of 1961 is going to be dreary.

While Katie’s summer is far different than she anticipated, she discovers new friendships, experiences new opportunities, and finds out making choices can be very serious—and can drastically change a person’s life.

Engaging and charismatic, Katie’s voice borders on being a bit too precocious for a young teen girl, yet there is much truth to Katie’s observations. This can be read as a stand alone.

Whose Waves These Are by Amanda Dykes

⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️

A small town in Maine is the setting for a novel that interconnects various stories of coping with loss. Switching from WWII and its aftermath, to present day, the author explores how people cope with losing someone they love, exploring emotions from guilt and sorrow to regret and restored faith, Dyke weaves in humor and poignant human drama to create an engaging inspirational romance with historical insight.

Jackaroo by Cynthia Voigt

⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️

One aspect of rereading books from long ago is rediscovering and reconnecting with the story. I only vaguely remembered the incident of finding Jackaroo’s costume, all else was like reading a new novel.

And what a wonderful story! Adventure, Middle Ages setting with villages, earls, and plenty of Robin Hood trope. Voigt crafts her story with full characters and descriptive imagery that rounds out a story not easily put down once started.

There are enough twists in the plot to prevent the usual stale tale script from forming, and the ending is definitely satisfying.

It will be a happy mission hunting down the other books in the series.

The Little Prince by Antoine de Exupery

⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️

The Little Prince is of those mesmerizing books containing a deep message as it twinkles and beguiles readers with its captivating prose and quaint renderings. For children it’s the magical tale of a prince who rules a planet and journeys to other worlds. For adults it’s an allegory of despondency–how life is not always as it seems to be, for we get caught up in our world of being grown up for having peeked behind the curtain, we sadly realize the truth behind the magic.

June and summer vaycay is welcome anticipation. What titles are you looking to read? I wouldn’t mind plumping up my “want-to-read” list now that it’s under a 100.

Posted in literature blogs, Reading, Reflections, reviews, stress and tagged , , , , ,
01 Jun 2019
5 Comments

Word Nerd Confessions: June


Still sweeping out the collection of words drifting about in the corners of my word collecting bag.

Speaking of bags:

1. musette: a small leather or canvas bag with a shoulder strap, used for carrying personal belongings, food, etc.

2. saggitate: shaped like an arrowhead

3. literam: letter for letter; literally

4. gerontocracy: a government in which old people rule (I’m not making this up!)

5.  dundrearies: long full sideburns or muttonchop whiskers

6. bedizen: to dress in a showy or tasteless manner.

7. suspiration: a long deep sigh (a favorite–note the italic–but how to use it in a sentence?)

8.  quodlibet: subtle or elaborate argument or point of debate, usually on a theological  or scholastic subject.

9. instauration: renewal; restoration; renovation

10. fenestrated: having windows (this is such a cool word–I get extra nerdy upon hearing “fensteration” or “fenestrated” in a sentence).

11.  epistemic: of or relating to knowledge or the conditions for acquiring it.

12. oblivescence: the process of forgetting (more and more my life is this word)

13. crump: to make a crunching sound, as in walking over snow, or as snow when trodden on (I fully intend on finding a way to apply “crump” in a story–it’s too amazing of a word to leave sitting on the bench waiting for wordplay).

14. fiddle-footed: restlessly wandering

15. objurgate: to reproach or denounce vehemently; upbraid harshly; berate sharply (sounds close to regurgitate–throwing up angry words?)

And that’s May’s edition of Word Nerd.

May no one objurgate upon your quest towards epistemic persistence as you crump along the path of knowledge which could render a suspiration of frustration (not to be confused with fenestration, although not finding an open window when needed can be frustrating) upon finding yourself stuck in a gerontocracy in which the leaders tend towards bedizen attire evidenced by their dundrearies. Ignore the proclivity towards quodlibets with these politicians and pack up your musette and go on a fiddle-foot tour of nature to achieve instauration from worldly concerns. Celebrate oblivescence of worldly matters. Celebrate the little joys such as the finding of  sagittate treasures upon nature’s path. The literatim of life does not have to be dreary–crump on to finding contentment!

Crump twice–Word Nerd points…

Posted in humor, Reflections, Words and tagged , ,

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