Author Walkie Talkie Book Club

Haiku for You!

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Cover of "The Sound of One Thigh Clapping...

Cover via Amazon

Again, in honor of poetry month, another example of words that make me smile.

 

Haiku is traditionally written in the 5-7-5 syllable formation and is meant to evoke a feeling or sensation or to describe something.  It can be a powerful meditation or be silly fun.  There is a haiku category on craigslist, mixed in among the jobs and classifieds.

 

I own a book called “The Sound of One Thigh Clapping: Haiku for a Thinner You,” (Meredith Clark, 2003) which is a book of meditations on dieting.  Mostly very silly.

 

A few examples:

 

Lose inches with lard…!
Fight fat with peanut butter…!
The alarm clock sounds.

 

Mrs. Butterworth
beckons with syrupy smiles.
The evil temptress!

 

Training wheels, training
bras, and personal trainers.
The Cycle of Life.

 

Sad realization:
Fat-free foods never taste as
good as fat-filled ones.

 

The one thing that you
can eat with abandon while
still losing weight: Prunes.

 

Smiling Buddha of the Bao Jue temple

Smiling Buddha of the Bao Jue temple (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

See smiling Buddha.
Popular, happy, and fat.
Pass the Krispy Kremes.

 

One grand Memorial Day Weekend, my cousin Emily and I sat on my deck, grilling burgers, laughing over this book, and writing page after page of haiku.  I have searched and searched, but I think it’s lost.  I’m sure it was all brilliant.  At least some of it, anyway.

 

It may seem like a simple thing to do, write five syllables, follow it with seven and then five again, but it is more complicated than that.  Japanese haiku differs from English haiku.  WikiHow has a page dedicated to it, and step 6 is PRACTICE.

 

I think I’ll practice a little and see if I can recreate some magic that I once felt I possessed! Feel free to practice in comments here! I’d love to see your haiku.

 

Off to read!

 

Poems of Love

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Last night I was browsing the internet for unique wedding gifts, especially literary wedding gifts, and I was reminded of this great poem.  The poem was made famous to me by the book and movie “In Her Shoes,” and I found a tiny dish that has the final words stamped on it: “i carry your heart.”  The dish holds a ceramic heart and will be perfect for wedding rings by the sink or special mementos on the dresser.

Needless to say, the dish has been purchased and now a book of love poems will go along with it…

Here’s the inspiration:

[i carry your heart with me(i carry it in]

BY E. E. CUMMINGS

The photographer's wedding ring and its heart-...

The photographer's wedding ring and its heart-shaped shadow in a dictionary. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

 

i carry your heart with me(i carry it in
my heart)i am never without it(anywhere
i go you go,my dear;and whatever is done
by only me is your doing,my darling)
                                                      i fear
no fate(for you are my fate,my sweet)i want
no world(for beautiful you are my world,my true)
and it’s you are whatever a moon has always meant
and whatever a sun will always sing is you

 

here is the deepest secret nobody knows
(here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud
and the sky of the sky of a tree called life;which grows
higher than soul can hope or mind can hide)
and this is the wonder that’s keeping the stars apart

 

i carry your heart(i carry it in my heart)

“[i carry your heart with me(i carry it in]” Copyright 1952, © 1980, 1991 by the Trustees for the E. E. Cummings Trust, from Complete Poems: 1904-1962 by E. E. Cummings, edited by George J. Firmage.

Another poet I was introduced to through movies was Pablo Neruda.  I love the movie “Il Postino,” even more everytime I see it.  I remember in the early days of the internet that I found a great site dedicated to his poetry and translations and I loved it. (Do you remember those early days of discovering all you could on the internet? As a reader of the encyclopedia set we had at home, this internet exploring was nirvana!) 

I didn’t have a favorite poem at that time and I will have to spend some more time with his works before I can pick one, but here is one that I found today that is great. Enjoy.

Always

I am not jealous
of what came before me.

Come with a man
on your shoulders,
come with a hundred men in your hair,
come with a thousand men between your breasts and your feet,
come like a river
full of drowned men
which flows down to the wild sea,
to the eternal surf, to Time!

Bring them all
to where I am waiting for you;
we shall always be alone,
we shall always be you and I
alone on earth,
to start our life!

Pablo Neruda
Do you have any favorite love poems? Inspirational wedding gifts?

Off to read!

 

Things that Made Me Smile…

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I don’t know what it is about April, but I love it.  Maybe it’s because April 1st is six months from my October 1st birthday, so I feel a yin and yang or something. It’s a transition month, moving from winter into full-on spring. It’s poetry month, and I once wrote a poem about April (which I’ve probably shared here before, but I’m sure I’ll share it again before I’m through tonight!). April 1st is about pranks and jokes, and I love to laugh. I know some good people who were born in April.  It’s just all good.

Last year I posted about Things that Make Me Smile, so I thought I’d do round 2.  I’ll stick to the recent past…

Smile Español: Sonrisa

Smile Español: Sonrisa (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Things That Made Me Smile Recently:

  • Hearing Rees read. Wow. So fun to have kindergartners around!  Can’t wait to be around two of them next weekend!
  • Intentionally letting my plant die. It’s not really funny, except that I’m not a plant person and I’ve had it for 3 1/2 years (today!) and I’m done taking care of it. It’s growing all wonky and needs more care than I’m willing to give it at this point. Maybe I’ll look for some potted African violets and a pretty little stand for my bedroom.
  • Reading the April Fool’s jokes on Facebook… many of them started by pregnant women!
  • Knowing I have a few days off work and then GET to work overnights three nights in a row!  The night owl in me is excited for the first time!  Talk to me next year to see how much I like three nights a month of staying up all night!
  • Feeling so mentally stimulated and exhausted by a great new job!
  • Book club last week with former colleagues and upcoming plans for get-togethers!

I know there’s more… I’ll reprise it another time.

I’ll leave you with my original poem about April, written circa 1984:

Umbrella

Umbrella (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

 

April
The April skies
are much to despise
as they’re full of many surprises.

They look awful grey
as they start out the day,
and leave us to making surmises.

Some days it may shower,
some days with more power
its buckets of wet do explode,

and once in a while,
God looks with a smile,
and shovels of snow He unloads..

This Dystopian Life

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dys·to·pi·a [dis-toh-pee-uh]

noun

a society characterized by human misery, as squalor, oppression,disease, and overcrowding.
****************************************************
Ok. There’s nothing about my life that is Dystopian, absolutely nothing. Except that I have a little misery in my knee, which I finally went to the doctor for on Tuesday and found out – guess what? – that I’ve got a little arthritis and osteopenia!  Yes, my knees, especially my right knee, is feeling old and frail.  Ugh.  So I will start a strict regimen of calcium and Vitamin D. I’ve never been a milk lover and used to force myself to drink some, but the last few years it has bothered my tummy so I stopped drinking it altogether. Even ice cream doesn’t appeal anymore, which isn’t a bad thing, although I will indulge sometimes and know I’ll pay later.  Has to be well worth it. No simple vanilla for me.   🙂
Chocolate ice cream

Chocolate ice cream (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

As I stated in my last post, I went to see The Hunger Games in the theatre on Friday night. There’s nothing like a sold out theatre on opening day or in its early days.  I tend to go to the more independent movies, so I have been the only person or with a small handful of people at a showing many times, so going and sitting shoulder to shoulder with people excited to be there is another experience altogether.  There were a lot of teens at this movie, as expected, and the boys behind us felt like talking through most of the movie, which was unfortunate.  A little loss of manners. Or maybe they didn’t have them?

Cover of "The Hunger Games"

Cover of The Hunger Games

I thought the movie was pretty good.  Dystopia isn’t my favorite genre of book or film. And there were a lot of things I didn’t understand fully, so I had my daughter and niece explain them to me. And now I’m reading the first book and its interesting.  I’ll keep you posted on my thoughts…
A map of the fictional nation of Panem from Su...

A map of the fictional nation of Panem from Suzanne Collins' "The Hunger Games." (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I finished reading “Still Alice” for book club and we discussed it for a few minutes.  I truly lost sleep one night after reading before sleep, so I didn’t do that again. It is a painful story about early onset Alzheimer’s Disease.  Sad.  I guess I’ll have to look at the author’s other books because they were recommended.
My TBR pile just doesn’t go down… and I almost ran to the library today to pick up a light easy read, but I used self-control and focused on The Hunger Games.  We’ll see how long that lasts.
Another day off tomorrow… there is just something indulgent about being off during the week. So far I haven’t minded the weekend work… we’ll see if it gets old.  I will watch a little Letterman tonight – haven’t watched him in ages – because the cast of “once” from Broadway will be on there.  Good stuff!
Well, off to read!

Pop Culture Tidbits

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Where have I been?  Working and learning and learning and sleeping!  It’s so fun and tiring and wonderful and exhausting.  Ah.

Cover of "Still Alice"

Cover of Still Alice

I honestly haven’t done much else, including reading or movies or TV watching but I’m feeling like I’m getting my brain back a little.  For example, I have almost finished my book club book for Tuesday night (“Still Alice” by Lisa Genova), I’m watching the season premiere of Mad Men we speak, I saw the Hunger Games on opening night, and I’m keeping up with my blog reading (after some culling) and trying not to wait a week between Words with Friends moves.  The important stuff, right?  I also celebrated St. Patrick’s Day with good friends, celebrated family birthdays, and watched some Derby Dames.

The Hunger Games

The Hunger Games (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I haven’t been blogging lately as it’s been hard to find time to put together coherent thoughts. And I haven’t been reading books or seeing many movies, and I don’t think people are really interested in reading about my new work environment or how much I have yet to learn.

Mad Men

Mad Men (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I do like blogging so I will find more time, especially now that my training on the floors is done and I’m on the crazy Emergency Department schedule (I love twelve hour days with days off!) I think it’ll happen.

Typical scene at a local emergency room

Typical scene at a local emergency room (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

For example, Friday was a day off and I was so excited to read on facebook about a play that was being performed that day at noon at the library!  I went down there and was amazed at the intentions of the play and will tell others about it so they can experience the same.  It should be seen by many with much discussion to follow.  Just incredible writing and acting.

christmas candles on the morning table

christmas candles on the morning table (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Marissa and I went to see “Wanderlust” during her spring break and another of my days off during the week and that was very fun. I just love Paul Rudd.

Paul Rudd at Hollywood Life Magazine’s 7th Ann...

Paul Rudd at Hollywood Life Magazine’s 7th Annual Breakthrough Awards (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

So all is well here. Hopefully I’ll make time to write – and have interesting things to say!

But now, I must be off to bed!  Worked 12 hours today and again tomorrow… then book club / supper with book club Tuesday night!  Yay!

Off to read!

What have I been doing??

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Cover of "Mildred Pierce (Keepcase)"

Cover of Mildred Pierce (Keepcase)

A Moveable Feast

I checked into Goodreads tonight and was dismayed to see that I am 9 books BEHIND in reaching my book reading goal of 75 books in 2012!  Yikes.  I know that it’s still early in the year and that reading goals can be amended, but I wonder what I have been doing lately!

I guess the big answer is: I’ve been busy!  🙂  I started working on January 30 and have now finished five weeks of training with one more to go!  The training has been great and I’m learning so much, that it’s almost all I can focus on.  My evenings have been full, as well, but I am still keeping up with the blogs I follow (although I culled a few) and mostly keeping up with twitter and facebook. I listen to podcasts in the morning and  I participated in a readalong with Wallace at Unputdownables.net.  I can’t believe that “A Moveable Feast” is the only book I read in February!

Well, I guess I also listened to an audiobook – Mildred Pierce – and I’m now watching the HBO mini-series that is based on the book.  Kate Winslet was a big winner last year for her performance in the miniseries.  It was an interesting book and the miniseries is pretty good.  Two more episodes to watch.

But things are changing. After this week of working 8-5, my crazy all-over-the-place Emergency Department schedule begins. I work next weekend and will work many 12-hour shifts, which means fewer actual days worked.  The pile of books – 10 high – is still waiting for me to delve into and I can’t wait.

Our next book club book is “Still Alice,” so I have to get my hands on that and hopefully read it before the end of March!  I know I can do it and can’t wait to read it and see my book club friends soon!

I hope that you are reading everything that you want to be reading and enjoying every minute!

Off to read – Oprah magazine!  🙂

Movie Thoughts

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I don’t think there’s ever been a year when I’ve seen all of the Best Picture nominations before the Academy Awards.  Until this year!  Chalk it up to living near the best theatre in Rochester, some time on my hands, and a love of movies!  I’ll attempt to give my thoughts about the nominees below.  As I’ve said before, I am not too critical as I love all kinds of movies and the movie-going experience.

2012 Academy Awards Nominees List

Best Picture

This was a great movie and one of my favorites from this list.  It was just beautiful.  The actors were beautiful, the music was beautiful, the silence was beautiful, the story was beautiful.  Big crush on Jean Dujardin, who is nominated for Best Actor for his role in this film.  There was a scene that was very unsettling but the resolution was perfect.  Berenice Bejo was nominated for Best Supporting Actress for her role in the film and it received many other nominations and is expected to be a big winner. Ah.  I can’t wait to own this one.

George Clooney is nominated for Best Actor in this film, which I also enjoyed immensely.  The plot was unpredictable, which I like, and although it wasn’t a happy story, it was a great story and well-done.  Beautiful scenery, great performances by the kids and the friends and family.  George has been nominated for an Oscar before and won once for “Syriana.”  I’ve never seen it!  Is it worth looking for?

I’ve written before about this book and my love for it, so I knew what to expect going in.  The movie is different than the book (and just not as good, in my mind) but the actor portraying Oskar did a great job.  It’s a fair interpretation of the book and a decent movie.  Max von Sydow is nominated for Best Supporting Actor for his role as the silent “renter” who helps Oskar in his quest.

I listened to this book on audio this summer with Gracie and Rees in the car, so I was excited to bring them to the movie this fall.  They both really liked the movie and so did I.  If I were ranking all nine of these films, it may fall #4 (or be in a tie for 3rd with a few others), but it was really good.  The love of movie-making and being transported by film is something I can relate to.  It is very true to the book (which is based on real people) and it is visually stunning to watch.  We didn’t spring for 3D for this movie and I don’t think it lessened our experience.  Martin Scorsese is nominated for Best Director and it received a bunch of other nominations as well, I think ranking up there with “The Artist.”
What a fun movie this is.  I saw this in the theatre last spring and knew that it would be one I would like to own and watch again and again.  I loved the beauty of Paris, the music of Paris, the depiction of the Golden Age in Paris, and I love Owen Wilson.  I bought it before Christmas with birthday money and have watched it a few times.  Good stuff.  It was also nominated for Best Screenplay and Woody Allen was nominated for Best Director.

We read this book for book club in 2010 and a bunch of us were able to see the movie together this summer.  Wow.  It is a great movie if you haven’t read the book but I think that reading the book really added to the depth of the movie experience.  I cried through most of the movie, simply because of how I knew the characters from the book.  Viola Davis (Aibileen) is nominated for Best Actress, and Octavia Spencer (Minny) and Jessica Chastain (Celia)  are nominated for Best Supporting Actress.  Great stuff.

I watched this on DVD in mid-January and it was a great movie!  It was so good that my mom watched it two nights in a row!  It was a long movie but never dull, which you think a movie about numbers and statistics would be.  It was just a good ol’ baseball movie.  Why are movies about baseball often so good?  🙂  Brad Pitt is nominated for Best Actor and Jonah Hill is nominated for Best Supporting Actor for their roles in this film.

This is the last nominee that I saw and I am glad that I saw it in the theatre!  I went to a late show one night with another movie-loving friend.  It’s a long movie and as we were the only people in the theatre that night, we were the last people to leave the building!  Good thing I was the Mayor of the theatre (on foursquare) at the time. 🙂  I haven’t read this book yet, but it’s on my nightstand in my TBR pile.  The movie was very well done, but I covered my eyes a bit during the war scenes.  Difficult stuff.  But the movie had an epic feel to it, with expansive shots of scenery that reminded me of Gone with the Wind or something.  It is nominated for Best Art Direction and Best Cinematography as well.  A great film!

Hmmm.  I got this one on DVD and it was so weird.  First, the DVD instructs you to turn your volume up very loud, as there is constant, subtle new age-y music playing under the dialogue throughout the movie.  The movie lost me when it got all weird so I didn’t truthfully pay much attention after that big weirdness.  I listen to a movie podcast and they had many reviewers on who chose this as their favorite movie of 2011 and I couldn’t tell you why.  I guess they thought it was beautiful and meaningful.  I like all sorts of different movies but this one did nothing for me.  Just too weird.
Other thoughts about Oscar nominees:
  • Rooney Mara is nominated for Best Actress for “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo,” which is another movie that I loved!  I didn’t want to, as I loved the Swedish adaptation of the novel but I could not believe how true to the book this movie was.  It was just great.
  • Michelle Williams is nominated for Best Actress for “My Week With Marilyn,” which was just beautiful. She did an amazing portrayal of Marilyn Monroe.  Good stuff.
  • Kenneth Branagh is nominated for Best Supporting Actor for his depiction of Sir Laurence Olivier in “My Week with Marilyn.”
  • Nick Nolte is nominated for Best Supporting Actor for his role in “Warrior,” which was a great movie that really surprised me!  When it came in my Netflix queue I wondered what I was thinking – Mixed Martial Arts aren’t my thing.  But what a great story.  I cried.  Good film.
  • Melissa McCarthy is nominated for Best Supporting Actress and Kristen Wiig and Annie Mumolo are nominated for Best Original Screenplay for “Bridesmaids.”  A movie that I now own and have watched at least five times – laughing just as hard every single time! What a delight.
  • Only two songs nominated for Best Song and I’ll root for “Man or Muppet” from “The Muppet Movie”!  Loved “The Muppet Movie,” I love Jason Segal, and I love Bret McKenzie (the writer of a lot of the songs from the movie, of Flight of the Condchords fame!).  I think there’s a petition out there to get the two songs performed at the Oscars, because they didn’t plan on that!  Would be fun to see.
  • I watched one of the Best Animated Short Film nominees on YouTube (or somewhere on the internet) a few weeks ago – “The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore.”  Quite clever.
  • “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part Two” got a few nominees for MakeUp and Visual Effects.  Seeing that movie was a big event for me this summer.  I listened to all of the audiobooks and watched all the movies over the spring and summer in preparation and went to a midnight showing on opening night.  Good stuff, Harry.

I think “that is all I have to say about that!”  (Name that movie quote?) Goodness… Hope you stuck with me to the end!  And if you have, let me know what your picks are for the Oscars next Sunday or your plans for watching the big show!  Or let me know your favorite movie of 2011 – on the list or not!

And now… off to read!

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Books: A Moveable Feast

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English: Winter, 1922 Ernest Hemingway and Had...

Image via Wikipedia

 

It’s February and I’m reading A Moveable Feast with Wallace at unputdownables.net.  We’re halfway through the book now and I am enjoying it, although I don’t think I would have enjoyed it as much if I hadn’t read The Paris Wife and heard the author tell of her experience in writing the book!  Many are not enjoying it as much – his writing style, his attitude and self-importance.  Below are the comments that I made on Wallace’s blog on this week’s reading (to chapter 17).

 

 

*****************

 

I am caught up!

 

I am enjoying the reading and find myself looking things up all the time! From words that he uses (inaccroachable:http://www.fictionaut.com/groups/matchbook/threads/307) to the phrases that he uses (clearly marked for death: http://secondandpark.com/2010/02/hemingway%E2%80%99s-delightfully-callous-disses/ ).

 

Some things that I’m keeping in mind about him as I read this come from listening to the author of The Paris Wife and my suppositions that I arrived at while reading that book. He is very young during this time and had already faced tragedy in the Great War. He was injured and fell in love with his nurse, who wrote him a Dear Ernest letter after his recovery and return to the US. I think he probably had some “demons” (read: PTSD) from the war that affected how he had relationships with people. Paula McLain also talked about how he could never be without a woman. He went from relationship to relationship, never ending one until another was started. It is noted that he hated his mother, his father committed suicide (as did Hadley’s) and he received ECT (shock treatments) at Mayo Clinic in his 50s.

 

He’s definitely not a sympathetic character, but that last paragraph (see below) does give insight into the depth of his feelings for Hadley and his acknowledgement of her hurt. I guess he contacted her late in his life – a few weeks before his suicide. It’s hard to see much of Hadley in this book (so far… I haven’t read ahead!) but I guess I keep in my mind other accounts of their relationship.

 

Hadley and I had become too confident in each other and careless in our confidence and pride. In the mechanics of how this was penetrated I have never tried to apportion the blame, except my own part, and that was clearer all my life. The bulldozing of three people’s hearts to destroy one happiness and build another and the love and the good work and all that came out of it is not part of this book. I wrote it and left it out. How it all ended, finally, has nothing to do with this either. Any blame in that was mine to take and possess and understand. The only one, Hadley, who had no possible blame, ever, came out of it finally and married a much finer man than I ever was or could hope to be and is happy and deserves it and that was one good and lasting thing that came out of that year.

 

Off to read!

 

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Dickens & other Discussions

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photo of Charles Dickens

My brain power is waning… I’m loving the new job but it’s exhausting learning so much!  It’s such a good thing!! Yay!  Earlier today I had so many thoughts about what to say in a blog… and now it’s kind of gone!  Oh well… I’m enjoying the learning so much that I don’t mind if I aren’t as creative as I want to be right now!  It’ll come again.  🙂

But I wanted to recognize the 200th anniversary of Charles Dickens’ birth with a short blog post.  I loved A Tale of Two Cities and am going to put it on my list of books to re-read in 2012.  It’s been a long time since I first read it, so it’ll be fun to read again.

In other news…

  • I have really slowed in my reading.  I’m plugging away on “A Moveable Feast” but behind in the assigned reading for last week and this.  Some aren’t enjoying reading Hemingway, but I think it’s fun to read after reading “The Paris Wife” and hearing the author speak.  I’ll keep on trucking…  It has been easy to read it on the iPad.  I tried to look up a word within the book, but it wasn’t in the dictionary.  He must have made up words!
  • The blogs I read daily really are taking up a lot of my reading time.  I must figure that out.
  • I’ve been enjoying old episodes of How I Met Your Mother on Netflix instant.  How fun to meet these characters in the beginning!  I just started watching (and loving) the show a few years ago and it has many seasons under its belt!
  • I love love love Downton Abbey!  I’m going to watch a bit of Sunday night’s episode tonight.  It’s hard to believe this season is almost done!  Love the fast pace of the British series.
  • Book club is coming up on Thursday!  We read “The Center of Everything” and I’ll have to refresh my memory, since it seems like I read it a while ago!  I look forward to seeing those peeps!
  • And SocialICE is this weekend!  The ice bar downtown.  It has been a fun event every year and I can’t wait to participate in another!  It’s fun to see the fur hats, coats, and boots that come out, but I’m afraid I won’t be sporting any of that!  Uggs and wool for me!

Off to read!

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2/1/12 (2112)

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I love words but sometimes numbers are just as fun.  A palindrome is a palindrome, right?

It is hard to believe that it’s February, that’s for sure.  I didn’t read as much in January as I “should” have (is someone keeping tabs on me? is there really a “should”?).  I have focused on non-book reading – magazines, blogs, tweets – and how to cut down on reading blogs and tweets and now am reading ‘A Moveable Feast’ by Ernest Hemingway with Wallace’s Unputdownables blog.  My TBR pile next to my bed keeps growing and growing so hopefully I’ll tackle a few of them in February.  I have so many good ones there!

A January snapshot:

Penny Man at St. Paul Winter Carnival January 2012

Not much to say, but I will post soon about the nominated movies I loved.  So far the job is just great.  Today was the first day working with social workers and they are amazing and the job seems amazing.  I have 6+ weeks of shadowing social workers in all realms of the hospital and I can’t wait to see the great things they do!  I feel so lucky to be working and to be working there.  Life is good.  🙂

Off to read!

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