This card came in the mail a week or so before Ari's birthday:
Thursday, April 4, 2013
Wednesday, April 3, 2013
Book reviews
I highly recommend My Father's Gardens, by Karen Levy. I picked it up originally because the author is from around here and is coming to temple to talk about it in a few weeks, but I soon forgot why I was reading it, and just gobbled up every page. It's a memoir of the author's transitory life. Her parents constantly moved back and forth from Israel to CA, often spending one year or two or three in one country, then moving back. It's a tale of belonging, of language, of deciding who to be and where. I obviously related a little bit, but would have read even had I never been to Israel; it's beautifully evocative and makes the sounds, smells, and visual aspects of both Israel and CA come alive. Plus, her family dynamics are fascinating.
The Good Dream, on the other hand, by Donna VanLiere was only okay. The writing was nice but I think it was the plot itself that I couldn't swallow. A woman in her 30s in 1950s Tennessee is considered an old maid and has to constantly defend herself against town criticism and trying to be set up. Concurrently, a small boy is being horridly abused up in the hills. Their paths cross when he steals food from her garden, and as she attempts to uncover his story and adopt him, long-held secrets in the town come to light. I admit I probably don't like it that much because I don't fully understand what it was like to be in the pre-civil rights South. But oy, one woman lets herself be abused for years and everyone knows it because she had to keep up appearances; another woman runs off with a certified rapist rather than tell her dad she got pregnant; the main character keeps defending all the idiots who try to undermine her, and with a few exceptions, the men are alcoholics and small-minded. Was the South really this way? Was any small town this way? It makes me glad to live in 2013, let me tell you that much.
Not a book review, but a review nonetheless - Cars is incredible for kids my age, but I actually found Cars 2 disappointing for my boys. Cars is a coming-of-age story, all about friendship and learning not to be selfish. I hadn't realized that the sequel was put out five years after the first, and the filmmakers were going for the same kids, just grown up. Hence the sequel is a kid James Bond movie, a spy film where there is a definite enemy and every character has to be avoid being killed by gunfire. It was a good film, don't get me wrong - but for the 11 year old set, not the 4 year old set. I was shocked that both were rated G, when one had no violence and the other was stuffed with it! Doesn't make much sense to me. But obviously I'm not the target audience.
Anyway, family, now you have something to read while I'm off to sort pictures!
The Good Dream, on the other hand, by Donna VanLiere was only okay. The writing was nice but I think it was the plot itself that I couldn't swallow. A woman in her 30s in 1950s Tennessee is considered an old maid and has to constantly defend herself against town criticism and trying to be set up. Concurrently, a small boy is being horridly abused up in the hills. Their paths cross when he steals food from her garden, and as she attempts to uncover his story and adopt him, long-held secrets in the town come to light. I admit I probably don't like it that much because I don't fully understand what it was like to be in the pre-civil rights South. But oy, one woman lets herself be abused for years and everyone knows it because she had to keep up appearances; another woman runs off with a certified rapist rather than tell her dad she got pregnant; the main character keeps defending all the idiots who try to undermine her, and with a few exceptions, the men are alcoholics and small-minded. Was the South really this way? Was any small town this way? It makes me glad to live in 2013, let me tell you that much.
Not a book review, but a review nonetheless - Cars is incredible for kids my age, but I actually found Cars 2 disappointing for my boys. Cars is a coming-of-age story, all about friendship and learning not to be selfish. I hadn't realized that the sequel was put out five years after the first, and the filmmakers were going for the same kids, just grown up. Hence the sequel is a kid James Bond movie, a spy film where there is a definite enemy and every character has to be avoid being killed by gunfire. It was a good film, don't get me wrong - but for the 11 year old set, not the 4 year old set. I was shocked that both were rated G, when one had no violence and the other was stuffed with it! Doesn't make much sense to me. But obviously I'm not the target audience.
Anyway, family, now you have something to read while I'm off to sort pictures!
Tuesday, April 2, 2013
What a week
The past week has seen:
- Mom visiting
- Ari's birthday party
- My sister's birthday
- Seder and matzah galore
- Accompanying Xander on his first field trip to an elderly folk's home
- Going to Lois and Mike's in the mountains
- The return of Simcha the cat, who has now left his outdoor cat status to lounge at home
- Me reading more books on my vacation
There are literally hundreds of pictures piled up of most of these events. I'm sorting through them, albeit slowly. Keep checking back for updates.
- Mom visiting
- Ari's birthday party
- My sister's birthday
- Seder and matzah galore
- Accompanying Xander on his first field trip to an elderly folk's home
- Going to Lois and Mike's in the mountains
- The return of Simcha the cat, who has now left his outdoor cat status to lounge at home
- Me reading more books on my vacation
There are literally hundreds of pictures piled up of most of these events. I'm sorting through them, albeit slowly. Keep checking back for updates.
Wednesday, March 27, 2013
Ari-ism, by Jan
Here's an Ari quote!
He turns two on Thursday. When I told him that I was going to go to the airport soon and that I would have to go bye-bye on the airplane, he scowled, looked me directly in the eye, and very clearly responded, "No Bubby bye-bye! No Bubby bye-bye!"
I could feel my heart melting.
He turns two on Thursday. When I told him that I was going to go to the airport soon and that I would have to go bye-bye on the airplane, he scowled, looked me directly in the eye, and very clearly responded, "No Bubby bye-bye! No Bubby bye-bye!"
I could feel my heart melting.
Tuesday, March 26, 2013
Today's Xanderism....by Jan
When Michal asked our resident four year-old if he would like it if she or Daddy or Bubby would got outside to play in the sandbox with him, he responded, "I'll take any grown up I can get."
Sunday, March 24, 2013
Thursday, March 21, 2013
A real book!
Well, it took over three weeks, but I actually finished a (gasp) real, meaty, hardcore historical biography! Catherine the Great: Portrait of a Woman by Robert K. Massie was very interesting, all 672 pages of it (hence how long it took... most days I only read 15-20 minutes a night before bed). Massie has a knack for recreating people's innermost thoughts and feelings from journal entries, letters, and writings.
I learned so much about Catherine, the history of Russia and Europe in the 18th century, the assumptions of royalty, the Enlightenment and the French Revolution, the prevalence of love affairs among the nobility, the attitude toward children... I could go on. It was quite a read, and it's inspired me to do much extra research on that time period. I'm pretty good at ancient history, but the 18th century has always been a bit of a blur, especially how all the countries related to each other. Like, did you know that Great Britain appealed to Russia asking for tens of thousands of Russian soldiers to help put down that pesky Revolution in their overseas colonies? Or that Catherine the Great was in close contact with Voltaire, and wanted to abolish serfdom in her land based on his writings? Or that she, Frederick II of Prussia, and Maria Theresa of Austria were all related by marriage? No matter that everyone was an-law to each other, alliances kept changing at the drop of a hat.
Fascinating stuff... thank you, Jonathan, for the Hanukkah present! I'm so glad I finally got around to reading it. As for anyone else, if history is your cup of tea, I highly recommend it. I'm going to search out some of Massie's other books; apparently his Peter the Great won a Pulitzer Prize.
I learned so much about Catherine, the history of Russia and Europe in the 18th century, the assumptions of royalty, the Enlightenment and the French Revolution, the prevalence of love affairs among the nobility, the attitude toward children... I could go on. It was quite a read, and it's inspired me to do much extra research on that time period. I'm pretty good at ancient history, but the 18th century has always been a bit of a blur, especially how all the countries related to each other. Like, did you know that Great Britain appealed to Russia asking for tens of thousands of Russian soldiers to help put down that pesky Revolution in their overseas colonies? Or that Catherine the Great was in close contact with Voltaire, and wanted to abolish serfdom in her land based on his writings? Or that she, Frederick II of Prussia, and Maria Theresa of Austria were all related by marriage? No matter that everyone was an-law to each other, alliances kept changing at the drop of a hat.
Fascinating stuff... thank you, Jonathan, for the Hanukkah present! I'm so glad I finally got around to reading it. As for anyone else, if history is your cup of tea, I highly recommend it. I'm going to search out some of Massie's other books; apparently his Peter the Great won a Pulitzer Prize.
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