You know who they are. Those bad boys who jilt the girl, cheat the honest friend, and play havoc with the plot. They are the cads of literature. Having finished Jane Austen’s Persuasion I have added Mr. Elliot to the list. His subterfuge was most deplorable. Then again, I do adore how she swiftly cast him aside for someone much more worthy of her devotion. My favorite heroines have done just that–put those cads in their place. Since I am on a Jane Austen revisiting read here are some cads that live in her books:
Henry Crawford (Mansfield Park)–I detected cad from the very start
Frank Churchill (Emma)–what a naughty game you played with so many hearts
Oh, Willoughby (Sense and Sensibility)–we wanted so much to like you
Elliot (Persuasion)–did you really think you could turn Anne’s head or her heart away from Wentworth?
Tsk tsk, Wickham (Pride and Prejudice)–your charm could not cover your secret faults
As to Northhanger Abbey, I haven’t decided who the cad truly is. It’s up on my list to review. As to other literary cads–any nominees? Rhett Butler comes to mind, but then was he a cad or simply a foil for Scarlett?
Happy reading!
English: Engraving of Steventon rectory, home of the Austen family during much of Jane Austen’s lifetime (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
I look forward to my Sunday afternoon nap. I wait for the sun to peep in the window just so and then shut the door, snuggle under my down comforter, read through a couple of chapters of my latest book, and drowsily drift into the sweet dreams of a lazy afternoon slumber. It’s even better in summer when my afternoon nap is accomplished in my favorite backyard hammock.
As beneficial as naps are, naps in the States seem to suffer from bad PR, as if taking a nap is synonymous with sloth and non-productivity. However, in other parts of the world it’s recognized that the afternoon is a time of siesta and rest in order to finish the day with zest and zip.
Whether taken in the afternoon or whenever the need arose , some of history’s main line notables have appreciated the nap:
Napoleon
Brahms
Churchill
Margaret Thatcher
Thomas Edison
Leonardo Da Vinci
Einstein
Ronald Reagan
Eleanor Roosevelt
Salvador Dali
John D. Rockefeller
Hmm–anyone else notice it’s mostly men who are on the list?
There is something to this nap stuff–seriously! I did some research and pulled up some heavy-duty information. The major source of information came from the Sleep Foundation, but there is a huge warning about all their information being copyrighted so I suggest you click here to find out for yourself how important napping is for your health.
The benefits of napping being commiserate to creativity are proven with the likes of Edison, Einstein, and Salvador Dali. I have learned to keep my Post-it pad next to me when napping because afterwards, or even during, while my body is resting, my brain is buzzing away with ideas. I have a whole pad of dream-induced ideas that will keep me well-supplied for writing material for years (and years).
You would think there would be more books about naps. This picture book was part of our reading repertoire. I can relate to the snoring granny these days.
If you are wondering how long you should nap to recharge your batteries, here is a helpful guide from the Natural Sleep Store:
The Values of a Your Nap
10-20 seconds: Sleep studies haven’t yet concluded whether there are benefits to these brief intervals, like when you nod off on someone’s shoulder on the train.
2-5 minutes: These have proven to be surprisingly effective at shedding sleepiness.
5-20 minutes: These mini-naps increase alertness, stamina, motor learning, and motor performance.
20 minutes: The original “Power Nap” is 20 minutes and includes the benefits of shorter naps but also additionally improve muscle memory and clear the brain of useless built-up information, which helps with long-term memory.
50-90minutes: Now we’re talking! Naps of this length includes slow-wave plus REM sleep and are good for improving perceptual processing and repairing bones and muscles when the system is flooded with human growth hormone.
I have already admitted I am not a Valentine’s Day fan, and those who know me well have accused me of being *prickly*–ouch….
Yet, when by myself, so no one can see me mush over and admit that I really am a romantic at heart, these are three of the movies, make that four movies, that guarantee I will be sniffling and clutching Kleenex by the movie’s end because time cannot keep true love apart. P.S. Happy Valentine’s Day–but you didn’t hear me say that…
Persuasion with Amanda Root and Cirian Hinds
The Lake House with Sandra Bullock and Kenau Reeves
Cover of The Lake House
The Time Traveler’s Wife with Rachel McAdams and Eric Bana
Cover of The Time Traveler’s Wife
Somewhere in Time with Christopher Reeves and Jane Seymour
Cover of Somewhere in Time (Collector’s Edition)
What about you? What is your favorite movie for that inner mush release?
Lately I was relaxing in Greece after a quick trip to Spain. This was all done without suffering passport photo application and TSA hassles. Over the last year I’ve even been to visit some of the Italian wineries after a quick wink at the French Rivera. It didn’t matter that I hadn’t packed my bathing suit or that I can’t handle two drops of wine without getting dizzy. I like to travel. And I do so by staying cozy in my living room. I am a bigtime homebody but I am interested in what other countries are like. I make great use of our library’s travel videos and our current guide is nice guy Rick Steves, who is personable, fun, and easy to travel with.
I may never get around to traveling the world (although I did get to Europe when I turned 21–*ahem* a few years ago) I have enjoyed seeing the sights and should I dust off the passport I will know where to go, what to do, and how to do so on a retired teacher’s budget.
Others who live the adventuresome life by traveling all over the world definitely get my thumbs up (see Rick) and one special traveler, adventurer, and blogger is Lesley Carter who has the incredibly popular Bucket List Productions blog. She has been all over the world and has had some amazing adventures. I admire her pluck and I enjoy her blog and so I cast my vote for her as a contestant in the Biggest Baddest Bucket List Contest. Swing over and watch her video, get inspired, and give her a vote.
A picture of Matt Harding at Yoyogi Park in Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Another person who inspires me is Matt Harding, who is a phenomena all in his own. Watch him dance all over the world and then check out his website. His story is just as amazing as his videos. I smile every time I watch one.
And no, his videos are not a hoax. Check out his hoax explanation–too funny.
For those of you, like me, who desire to travel the world from the comfort of your living room. Enjoy your travels with Rick, Lesley, and Matt. Pass the popcorn.
Bob Dylan could very well be singing the theme song for today’s library.
image: travelgoat.com
Are you old enough to remember when libraries only contained books? I can’t remember back exactly when I noticed that the library went into BB [beyond books] mode, and I am not sure if it’s a problem or not.
Long time ago when I worked in a middling sized library we held off on offering VHS movies for check out. Yes, that was a long time ago, wasn’t it? Our director deliberated for nearly six months whether or not we would incorporate them into our collection because, after all, the library is all about reading, isn’t it?
Counter arguments included: Well then, what about the cassettes we offer? Not all are audio books, many are music.
Hmm, that is a good point.
Long story short is VHS movies moved in on the shelves and *Surprise!*–people kept checking out books. People aren’t going to stop reading books. Even when given options. Yes, I do believe this
As much as I would like to be a purist and spout: Books Only! I realized today’s libraries, like any smart enterprise, has learned to diversify in order to serve the changing public needs and tastes.
Go into any library today and you will find computer labs, video games, DVD collections, and other options among the shelves. It hasn’t gone so far as this one cartoon portrays though:
I admittedly check out DVDs, audio books, music, magazines, and even video games (for others I know). Of course, I rarely leave without at least one book in my bag.
Are the times a-changing too drastically? I figure the library is a reflection of current society. Right now we are currently into media which translates into both entertainment and information. The library folk are savvy enough to know it’s best to provide in order to survive.
So, Bob D–sing through those lyrics one more time, wouldja?
Mention Jane Austen and people go “Pride and Prejudice.“Why don’t they go, “Senseand Sensibility?” It was, after all, her first novel, and it has much going for it. Okay, okay, Edward isn’t exactly Darcy, but all the other elements are there:
close sisters (Marianne and Elinor meet Elizabeth and Jane)
an annoying mother (not Mrs Dashwood–Mrs Jennings)
an insufferable matriarch (boo Mrs Ferrars)
mixed up romances (just hang in there, Marianne/Elinor/Lizzie/Jane)
a charming cad (yo whazzup, Willoughby–yah, itz good, Wickham)
wealth (30,000 a year!)
poverty (250 a year!)
sex without marriage (tsk tsk Kitty, poor Eliza)
catty women (meow Fanny)
happy endings after waiting and waiting for things to get sorted out
English: “I saw him cut it off” – Margaret tells Elinor that she saw Willoughby cut a lock of Marianne’s hair off. Austen, Jane. Sense and Sensibility. London: George Allen, 1899. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
So, why doesn’t Sense and Sensibility make the connection with JA word association? It might be because we relate to “pride” and “prejudice” more than we do “sense” and “sensibility.” What the snuffbox is “sensibility” anyhow?
According to the old Wikipedster it relates to sentimentality or the emotional response, which JA wasn’t too keen on, and hoped her novel would point out the need to have rationalism rather than emotionalism. I think we moderns can respond and relate to the emotional response idea but we don’t necessarily live there. Instead I think we counter react by not not reacting and create characters known for not having emotions, like House or siccing out zombies as a means of coping with sensory overload. Hysterics are in vogue right now it seems; on the other hand we do recognize everybody or every creature isn’t all bad. Maybe that’s why monsters these days have feelings. Unlike the original Barnabas Collins modern vampires twinkle or is that sparkle? Perhaps that explains the odd coupling of monsters with Regency mavens such as Elizabeth and Elinor. Could it be Regency meets Modernism? An odd ying yang match? Give me the old-fashioned classic sans monsters, please.
Another theory about the second novel surpassing the first is Jane’s choice of title. I’ve been trying them out:
1. Practical and Passion–still has that alliteration and ideology
2. Sedate and Sensitive–nope, sounds like a Saturday Night Live skit
3. Reason and Raison d’être–or is that the same thing?
4. Sensible and Silly–that’s being rather harsh on Marianne, I suppose
5. No-nonsense and Neurotic–maybe too modern
Pride and Prejudice is definitely a great read, after all it’s a classic; personally I believe it makes for better films than a novel. Of all the JA novels I’ve been revisiting, Sense and Sensibility is the only one I’ve snuck to school in hopes of reading on my lunch break (two pages before students found me). Maybe it’s because I “watched” while I read since I had just come off a three film S&S film fest (1981, 1995, 2008) and had each major scene indelibly imprinted in my mind as I scoured the chapters comparing and assessing the plot.
So far in my rediscovering reading of JA Sense and Sensibility leads. I’m off to reread Persuasion. I’ll let you know the score after I turn the last page.
Flying through my Yahoo news headlines I was caught off-guard by the news of the Etch-a-Sketch inventor passing away recently. I hadn’t thought that the ubiquitous toy had an actual creator–I thought it had always been there, like marbles, yo-yos, and bouncy balls. Yet, the famous graphic sketch toy did indeed have an inventor, André Cassagnes, and it went into mass production by the Ohio Art Company.
The classic red-and-white Etch A Sketch model (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
As a baby boomer I have a fondness for the Etch-a-Sketch. A kid could create anything with it and then shake to start all over again. Think of all the paper art teachers could save by handing out these fabulous little art producers.
However, is it truly art? Or are the renderings created in the category of velvet Elvis paintings making it only subjective and in the eye of the beholder?
Check out this blogger’s post about the Etch-A-Sketch. What do you think? Is it art?
A bit of a skeptic, I went searching on the Internet and I found at least one artist who convinced me the graphic erase renderings are art.
For him it began with the Taj Mahal on his nephew’s Etch-A-Sketch. Check out his creations here.
How would one frame it? I can see the scenario.
DSC_0028 (Photo credit: Ryan D Riley)
“Hey can I look at your Mona Lisa Etch-A-Sketch?”
“Uh, sure. Just don’t touch…”
“OOps…[awkward silence]
“Aw man, I asked you not to touch it.”
For those not as deeply affected by the passing of this toy icon inventor. Here are some basics W.S.I.C.s [why should I care]:
The Etch-A-Sketch came out in the ’60s and became one of the most popular toys of that era.
In 1998 it found its place into the National Toy Hall of Fame.
The Toy Industry Association named the Etch-A-Sketch to its Century of Toys List.
In case you are wondering how it works, check out this video.
In terms of the application for writing, there is the definite possibility of its benefit. There have been many a manuscripts of mine that could have benefited from a quick shake to get things started all over again.
I’m nosy. Total confession. When I am visiting I tend to check out my host’s books. Of course, I’m subtle and discreet, although I figure if it’s in open view, it’s open season on snooping. This, what could be considered a habit of questionable good manners, began in college. Ah, college days. Where all the believe-we-have-the-answers crowd congregated at one another’s flats, apartments, dorm rooms, and houses to sip upon cheap brews and crushed grapes and nibble on snacks and talk, talk, talk. Being a gregarious hermit by nature, I would chat enough to leave an impression and then slip away to surreptitiously inventory the host’s or hostesses’ bookcase. Sound like a book stalker, don’t I?
Actually, the habit developed out of the need to remain anonymously conspicuous within the crowd. Though I like conversation, I do get overwhelmed with a room full of it swirling about me. Slipping off to study books is acceptable crowd avoidance behavior, at least this is what I came to believe. Contemplating book titles allowed me remain a part of the assemblage, yet gave me space. It also gave opportunity for other hermits to find sanctuary while we scanned books together. Books make great conversation starters.
You can tell a lot about a person about the books they keep on their shelves. On the other hand, that wouldn’t be so true of my bookshelf. After years of lugging books from place to place I began to understand that books, while a treasure in my life, took up a lot of space. And I began to stop buying them, collecting them, and hoarding them. Instead I am a frequent flyer at the library. I go so often that I am on first name basis with the librarians and counter folk. True story: I grabbed the wrong key chain and did not have my self-check out scan card (my Fred Meyer card doesn’t do the trick), so I stepped up to the counter and hoped one of the friendlies would have compassion on my card-less state. I didn’t know her, but she recognized me and checked me through. She whispered, “We don’t do this for everyone,” which confirmed my regular patron status.
This is why my local library rocks. This is also why they are my bookshelf. I do, of course, have books on my home bookshelf. I review books and have my keepers. I also have my own set of reference books. I have inherited books from parents, forgotten children treasures waiting for new eager hands, and books that I know are there for yet another read. To Kill a Mockingbird is one of those books. There are also gift books I probably won’t read, but respecting the giver too much, they nestle among the other keepers.
All that to introduce this little book I picked up on the way out the library the other day.
Unpacking My Library: Writers and Their Books edited by Leah Price features the personal libraries of Alison Bechdel, Stephen Carter, Junot Díaz, Rebecca Goldstein and Steven Pinker, Lev Grossman and Sophie Gee, Jonathan Lethem, Claire Messud and James Wood, Philip Pullman, Gary Shteyngart, and Edmund White.
Some people delight in People, National Enquirer, and other celebrity peep sheets. I am curious about the to-dos of the literary crew. Unpacking My Library was a grab and go and admittedly it proved a bit disappointing since I did not recognize many of the featured writers. Maybe you will. What I did get out of the book was the delicious lookey-looks at about dozen different private libraries. Ooh, I did indeed enjoy doing so.
In this age of Kindle, Nooks, and phone app capabilities, books and bookshelves might become more of an anomaly than a requisite in homes. Although it wouldn’t take much to pack up my own home library these days, I still root for the book on the shelf. Here is a fun video about bookshelves.
Happy Pages,
CricketMuse
Oh–there is still plenty of room on the Book Boosters page if you haven’t yet exclaimed your love of books.
Pam Webb 