Why do the Misses and I look as if we were pasted into this photo? It appears to be one of those phony images that keep showing up in my news feed. Mr. M-mv was using the Canon Powershot S5 on an automatic setting. It was 4:30ish natural light.
I think the problem is that the camera thought the marquee was the most important part of the image. Heh, heh, heh. Maybe it was. Maybe it was.
The show was good, folks. The orchestra was simply splendid. The dancing was terrific. And the highlight of the show? "Gee, Officer Krupke," a perfectly executed blend of poignancy and raunchy humor.
So here's a question.
Reading life review: July
Books read this month: 10
Books read in 2011: 61
Books read in 2011: 61
■ Radioactive: Marie & Pierre Curie: A Tale of Love and Fallout (Lauren Redniss)
Biography, graphic book. What an artful combination of science and romance.
■ A Short Course in Canon PowerShot S5 IS Photography
Non-fiction. It's wrong, I know, but I felt the need to "cheat" on the Nikon for a while. I just wanted the ease of my reliable point-and-shoot.
■ Short Stories (Doyle, Henry, Poe)
Fiction. With the Misses. "The Adventure of the Abbey Grange," "The Adventure of the Priory School," "The Adventure of Wisteria Lodge," and "The Disappearance of Lady Frances Carfax" by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle; "The Gift of the Magi," "The Last Leaf," and "The Ransom of Red Chief" by O. Henry; and "The Gold Bug" by Edgar Allan Poe.
■ The Winter's Tale (William Shakespeare)
Classic; play. With the Misses, in preparation for this year's trip to the Illinois Shakespeare Festival. Related entry here. Favorite line: "A lie: you are rough and hairy." (Act IV, Scene 4)
■ Ender's Game (Orson Scott Card)
Science fiction. With the Misses. Has it really been more than eight years since I read this with my son? RDA here.
■ The Sister Knot (Terri Apter)
Psychology. Subtitled "Why We Fight, Why We're Jealous, and Why We'll Love Each Other No Matter What," this was actually a pretty fascinating read, one that reminded me of Deborah Tannen's books.
■ My Man Jeeves (P.J. Wodehouse)
Fiction; audiobook. This was our companion for the ride to and from the Festival. Technically a re-read for me, the book was delightfully interpreted by Martin Jarvis.
■ Acceptance: A Legendary Guidance Counselor Helps Seven Kids Find the Right Colleges--and Find Themselves (Dave Marcus)
Non-fiction. Read this one on the Kindle. (Related entry here.) I was thoroughly engrossed by the stories of Gwyeth Smith and his students. Recommended particularly for the deft manner in which college application and essay tips are woven into the narrative.
■ The Millionaire Next Door (Thomas Stanley)
Non-fiction; personal finance. RDA here. Read this one on the Kindle, too.
■ Fear the Worst (Linwood Barclay)
Fiction. As I mentioned in May's reading life review, I picked up some Linwood Barclay after seeing Stephen King's summer reading list. Barclay's novels are beach books: capably written, entertaining, and not too easy to piece together halfway through.
Bookmarked
Well, the following have now been carried over from June. No excuses. This is simply the fate of some books when a reader insists on reading so many at the same time.
■ A New Culture of Learning: Cultivating the Imagination for a World of Constant Change (Douglas Thomas and John Seely Brown)
Education. This title appeared on a list of summer reading suggestions. Wish I could remember who sent me the list....
■ This Girl Is Different (J.J. Johnson)
Fiction. A mostly predictable YA treatment of the "homeschooled kid decides to attend public high school -- and change the world!" story.
■ The Hypnotist (Lars Kepler)
Fiction. Poolside reading courtesy of the wave of Nordic lit enjoying such popularity here in the States.
And these are being carried over from July:
■ The Beekeeper's Apprentice (Laurie R. King)
Fiction, mystery. With Misses. Obviously related to our current Sherlock Holmes "obsession."
■ Sarah's Key (Tatiana de Rosay)
Fiction. Inspired by a brief article in Newsweek (a periodical that is all but unreadable now, isn't it?), I loaded Key onto the Kindle. One obligation or another had me set it aside just a couple dozen pages in.
■ The Strain (Guillermo Del Toro and Chuck Hogan)
Fiction. Not terribly well written vampire / virus fare.
■ Fifth Business (Robertson Davies)
Fiction. First book in the Deptford trilogy. Recommended to me by the Biblioracle. (Thank you, Girl Detective.) It was more than a little cool that he recommended a book that was already on my shelves... and had been awaiting my kind attention for fourteen years.
Summertime screen time
A word on the image: It's about five years old now. She doesn't have that hair. Neither of them would allow a "bed head" photo these days. The television has been replaced. So has the living room. But (a) the picture works with the entry, and (b)? It makes me happy.
Sherlock Holmes: The Complete Granada Television Series
Last year, the Misses and I enjoyed "'LOST' Lunch" throughout the summer months. This year, Jeremy Brett's take on the famous detective is reshaping the landscape of our imaginations during the midday meal (although we've been known to catch an episode in the evening or on the weekend, too). Related RDA here.
How to Become a Superstar Student
Nicest compliment I've received this month: "Don't get me wrong: I like it. But it's all review. We learned most of this from you." Apparently The Teaching Company has put out a second edition of this course, but the Misses are watching the first, which features Tim McGee.
Tim Gunn's Guide to Style
I think it was Margaret in WV who sent us in pursuit of this. The Misses and I have seen three episodes of Season I using the Amazon Instant Video feature. (I am not an Amazon affiliate. Please see this site's disclosure statement for more information.) Forgive the indiscriminate use of the heart character, all right, because we do, in fact, ❤ Tim Gunn.
Project Runway, Season 9
A favorite with the Misses and me. We caught the season premiere on Thursday night and look forward to another season of drama and challenges. (They have much for which to atone after crowning she who must not be named.)
Dance Moms
What a train wreck of a show! And, oh, boy, am I ever entertained by it! Toying with a spin-off idea: "Swim Moms." Heh, heh, heh.
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 1
Seen in anticipation of (maybe, just maybe) setting aside my movie theater apprehensions and prejudices and seeing Part 2. While it was certainly better than Half-Blood Prince, I must confess that none of us has been satisfied with the movies since Sorcerer's Stone.
A Midsummer Night's Dream
Related entry here.
Fran Lebowitz in Public Speaking
For me. Loved it. Related entry here.
Damages, Season 3
Also for me. Five episodes in. Brilliant as ever.
Avatar, Seasons 1, 2, and 3
For the Misses. Their brother had pressed this on them, and Season 1 was in his personal collection, so they finally gave it a go -- and loved it.
Battlestar Galactica
For Mr. M-mv and me. We left off at Season 3, Episode 6. August will likely provide opportunities to continue.
"But evidence trumps fashion—at least, it ought to."
Another article of interest, this time from the May 14 issue of The Economist. (Can you tell there was time enough at last to sort through the (somewhat neglected) basket of magazines and books beside the living room table?)
Still, Dr Deslauriers and his team are bullish about the wider implications of their work, which adds to the evidence that it may be possible to improve on the long-established chalk-and-talk method. And the students seemed to enjoy the experience, too. Attendance in the experimental group rose by 20% over the course of the week that deliberate practice was used, and three-quarters of its members said that they would have learned more had the entire course been taught in the same way. In this case, then, the educational hippies may have been right.
Two health articles
Both are from the August 2011 issue of Prevention.
1. We all know what we're supposed to do to keep our bodies healthy, limber, and long-lasting. But how do you start treating your brain better--so it works at its best today and will keep working at its best tomorrow?
2. But according to a controversial new movement, it is possible to break this cycle of failed diets and poor health, even if you never end up in a pair of skinny jeans or in the safety zone of the BMI chart. It's known as Health At Every Size (HAES), and its principles are so radically simple that they can be difficult to grasp after a lifetime of trying to follow complicated plans full of rules, stages, calories, grams of fat, points, scales, and math.
The recommended daily allowance
The Millionaire Next Door (Thomas Stanley)
What are some of "the surprising secrets of America's wealthy"? Well, they don't spend much on suits, watches, or cars, to begin with. And perhaps taking their cues from billionaire Warren Buffett (and related link here), many live in modest homes in modest neighborhoods.
As it turns out, they adhere to fundamental tenets:
■ Spend less than your earn.
■ Steer clear of "status purchases" and a "status lifestyle."
■ Teach your kids these same behaviors (i.e., do not provide "economic outpatient care").
I first read in Millionaire in 1997, but I returned to it this month when tweaking my money management "curriculum." Despite its reliance on (somewhat irritating) repetition and thinly veiled reverse snobbery, Millionaire is a timely reminder that the truly (as opposed to apparently) wealthy often live frugally and that earning to spend is akin to financial slavery.
You'll find an excerpt of this personal finance classic here and the author's website here.
How exciting!
in
Music
The song / music video I pressed on you last week has made the Top Ten. Woot! Will you please pop over and cast a vote for the talented Melissa Yamello? Many thanks.
Get in the picture!
in
42,
Photographs
Do you avoid the camera because you're not as thin or young or stylish as you once were?
I used to.
Boy, was I ever so much younger, thinner, and more stylish twenty-five years ago than I am now!
That is how I began my 2007 and 2009 "Camera-shy?" entries. I concluded:
But this is me now. If I were to wait for "me then," life would halt. And that would be a very poor plan, indeed. So I say:Sweaty. Tired. And, yes, happy.
Thank you for thinking I am worth capturing an image of.
Thank you for remembering me.
Thank you for being in my life.
*CLICK* *FLASH*
Look at me.
I'm happy.
Now.
GET IN THE DURNED PICTURE! Today!
Photographs are shorthand for memories. Give them the tools they need to remember, celebrate, and share.
Just get in the picture, okay?
Batter up!
Mr. M-mv played on a tee-ball team when he was little and a Little League team, too, for a while. And, oh, how he has always loved watching and keeping up with professional baseball! In fact, he thoroughly – though never obsessively – enjoys following a variety of sports. So while he remains remarkably good-natured about it, it pains him -- just a little -- that none of us has ever shared his enthusiasm, especially for baseball and his beloved Yankees.
Not that we don’t try to be supportive.
Years ago, when we still lived in Chicago, I surprised him with tickets to see a White Sox v. Yankees game. He took our son, who was, of course, thrilled to spend the afternoon on an adventure with Dad. Requisite trip to the men’s room and the concession stand behind them, they settled into their seats at new Comiskey Park.
“So who are the Yankees playing?” my son asked.
Do me a favor, will you?
in
Music
Give this music video a look/listen. (The piece is intended for two voices, but the songwriter is singing both.) If it moves you, vote for it. Many thanks in advance.
Simple decor: decals
I know. I know. Not usually my thing. But I've been meaning to recommend Quote the Walls and Dali Decals since late winter. We ordered the "Read. Think. Learn" wall art from the former, and the birds from the latter. Easy directions; quality products. What a simple and inexpensive way to give a room some personality.
Click images to enlarge.
Disclaimer: I am not in any way affiliated with the businesses or products recommended above.
"And what a masterpiece!"
From "First-class 'West Side Story' sounds an authentic note" (Chicago Tribune, June 20):
The 2009 revival has closed in New York. This tour — which features Laurents' direction, re-created by his longtime associate David Saint — dances on for a little while longer, including for these four summer weeks in Chicago. So I think it's fair to say that this is your last chance to take an impressionable young person to the theater and say, "Look, this is 'West Side Story' as I remember it," and as it was intended to be realized by those who were there when the masterpiece was forged.We have tickets for a performance date at about the run's midpoint. We'll let you know what we thought.
"The critics... phooey, they know nothing, but the fanatic holds the key to opera knowledge and enjoyment."
... Benzecry identifies four distinct types of the obsessed attendee: There’s the hero, who believes he is keeping the opera house open and the art itself alive and vital. There’s the addict, who is willing to sacrifice his families, friends, lovers, money, and sanity to attend multiple performances of the same opera, to listen to the records and attend lectures and travel to distant theaters. There’s the nostalgic, for whom everything was better when it was sung by Maria Callas, or Joan Sutherland, or back in 1965, or back when people took pride in knowing about opera. Then there’s the pilgrim, the devoted subject who treats the opera house as a religious temple.
Mostly what I was thinking while reading The Opera Fanatic was, “Phew. At least I haven’t fallen so far.” And yet while my passion may be new, as I continued reading, I realized that patterns were emerging. I was showing signs.
The Illinois Shakespeare Festival
Almost a year to the day later, we returned to the Illinois Shakespeare Festival, this time for The Winter's Tale (a title that becomes quite ironic when you consider that yesterday was Day 1 of the "Intense Heat Wave," and it played the part, every minute and inch).
The evening belonged to John Taylor Phillips (Leontes) and Melissa Graves (Hermione): If I still puzzle over the genesis of Leontes' mad jealousy, it is no fault of Phillips, who managed to painstakingly chart his heart's disease and recovery. And Graves' Hermione was the picture -- or sculpture -- of dignity, intelligence, and resolve.
We all agree that Jan Rogge's Paulina deserves acknowledgement, too. Although her role in the fifth act was trimmed to near unrecognizable, her early scenes were a triumph:
Behold, my lords,And, yes, we've squeezed a lot of Shakespeare into the year since our last trip (entries here and here) to the Festival :
Although the print be little, the whole matter
And copy of the father, eye, nose, lip...
❧ Twelfth Night in August and September (related entry here)
❧ Romeo and Juliet in September (somewhat related entry here)
❧ Henry V in October (related entry here)
❧ Macbeth in January (related entries here and here)
❧ The Merchant of Venice in April (related entry here)
❧ A Midsummer Night's Dream in June (related entries here and here)
❧ The Winter's Tale in July
For those interested in this sort of thing...
The Misses began what I consider formal Shakespeare studies (as opposed to the more informal ways in which they became steeped in the language and stories) in the year before the last Festival, having read, studied, and written about Julius Caesar (related entry here), Much Ado about Nothing, Romeo and Juliet, As You Like It (related entry here), and The Tempest (related entries here and here) in academic year 2009-10.
As for the upcoming academic year, our 2011-2012 subscription to the Chicago Shakespeare Theater (CST) includes A Midsummer Night's Dream, The Tempest, and Timon of Athens, so we plan to revisit the first two and read and study the third. And instead of re-reading Henry V this October, we're planning to read and study Henry IV, Parts I and II. And the rest of the year? Well, the Shakespeare Project of Chicago is doing Richard II, The Taming of the Shrew, and Troilus and Cressida. Scheduling conflicts have kept us from attending their performances for the past few years, but given how fresh their choices are, I need to see if we can work them in. I will, however, leave the remainder of our 2011-12 selections open to synchronicity / serendipity / synthesis -- and announcements concerning the CST Short Shakespeare! productions and the Illinois Shakespeare Festival 2012 season.
So this is how it all sorts out, to date:
Academic year 2009-2010
❧ Julius Caesar
❧ Much Ado about Nothing
❧ Romeo and Juliet
❧ As You Like It
❧ The Tempest
Academic year 2010-2011
❧ Twelfth Night
❧ Romeo and Juliet (review / revisit)
❧ Henry V
❧ Macbeth
❧ The Merchant of Venice
❧ A Midsummer Night's Dream
❧ The Winter's Tale
Academic year 2011-2012 (tentative plans)
❧ Henry IV, Part I
❧ Henry IV, Part II
❧ A Midsummer Night's Dream (review / revisit)
❧ The Tempest (review / revisit)
❧ Timon of Athens
"So reading is an uncertain basis for the building of character. I am less ambivalent about writing."
From "Writing is bad for you" (The Guardian's Books Blog, July 7):
You don't, of course, need to live by yourself to become isolated. When I am writing I wander in a fug all day, wake in the middle of the night – waking my wife Belinda as well – and stagger downstairs to record a thought or two. Leave the bed with my mind whirling with gorgeously formed sentences which are as evanescent as the smell of lily of the valley, and about as easy to recall. By the time I get to the keyboard their perfection (as it seems to me in my drowsy creative mode) has dissipated, and though I can catch something of what seemed a sensational formulation it is already, in that Platonic way, only an imitation of the ideal. I fiddle about, rewrite and reconsider, and go back to bed an hour later thoroughly stimulated, dissatisfied, and unable to sleep. I read for another hour. The next day I complain that I am tired, and show all the signs of it: irritability, abstraction, and a tendency to fall asleep on a sofa at any time, including when I am being spoken to.
Remember. Celebrate. Share. Be proud.
Writing for the summer issue of T★A★P★S Magazine, Lee Vincent, whose daughter, Second Lieutenant Lara Vincent, died in peacetime, explains:
A dozen times a day you may think you "lost" the 20 years of work and emotion you invested in your son or daughter. We are bombarded by regrets of someone's heedless mistake, of the apparent pointlessness or futility of an accident or homicide. We can't always keep away those thoughts of what should have, would have, could have been. Yet these thoughts don't do anything for us but increase our pain. Instead we must forever know there is no futility or shame in the death of one whose living had so much merit. We must never stain their merit with negative judgments. And we must never let our sorrow over what they could have been take away any of the glory of what they already were.Wise words.
[...]
Because every one of those we love had already risen far above the rest of our society in courage, honor, and ability. And not an atom of their achievement can ever be lost or taken back. We all know this. Someone has surely told you this truth already.
Start exercising your pride. No matter how long you have been grieving, make a point to hold up your chin in pride for part of every day. Your deceased warrior deserves it. He or she has earned it. If they had lived, they would be proud today of who they are and what they are doing. Now it's our duty to be proud of them. [Emphasis added.]
We have always been so very, very proud of you, LCpl M-mv. Always.
“Your life story would not make a good book. Don’t even try.”
Fran Lebowitz in Public Speaking
A Martin Scorcese Picture
“Public Speaking” perfectly captures the pleasure she takes in observing the world while subtly revealing the crippling dimensions of perfectionism, the outsize ego it requires to achieve a certain kind of creative failure. Nothing, Ms. Lebowitz says in the film, leaves her as fearful as writing. But the certainty with which she declaims (on gender, on connoisseurship, on Times Square and, all too reductively and even nonsensically, on race and politics) suggests that she isn’t afraid of writing because she worries she won’t be good enough. She is afraid of writing because she worries that she won’t be Alex de Tocqueville enough.Highly recommended. Related entry M-mv here and a wide-ranging interview with Lebowitz here.
In the film even her turns of self-deprecation are aggrandizing. A riff on her ineptitude around technology — forget Twitter, she doesn’t even use a computer — ultimately leads her to declare that she is such an astute witness to street life because she is the only one among us, in our bleak BlackBerry civilization, really paying attention.
A house filled with music
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Music
Five years ago, nearly to the day, Mr. M-mv and Miss M-mv(ii) enrolled in guitar lessons. Although we paid a month in advance, they had only one lesson. The instructor offered a series of increasingly implausible excuses, then broke promises for make-up lessons, and finally just stopped returning our calls. His manager refused to respond to our voice messages.
What a mess. And what a disappointment.
That fall, determined not to fail to inject formal music study into the family-centered learning project (FCLP) again, we bought a piano, and the Misses and I enrolled in lessons. After three years in that program, they moved on to the remarkable Mrs. R., who helped them take their playing to a new level of achievement.
And, arriving at the point where we began, another opportunity to learn guitar recently presented itself, this time through an established program with a reputable instructor. Mrs. R., whose second instrument is classical guitar, says the girls will "ruin their fingers," but then, by the end of the summer, they will be used to it, and everything will be fine again.
I don't know about "ruin," but Miss M-mv(i) is quite convinced she has lost feeling in the tip of the middle finger on her left hand -- although I've heard no consequent disruption in her daily piano practice. We'll see how it goes, I guess.
From my inbox
Rosalin Luetum, publicist for New York Public Radio, wrote:
As a Shakespeare blogger, I thought you and your readers might like to know about this exciting series we’ll be presenting at New York Public Radio’s The Greene Space.I have reproduced Luetum's press release here, but stay and watch "Setting the Stage: Royal Shakespeare Company in New York" first.
The series will explore the Royal Shakespeare Company’s highly anticipated residency in New York this summer. Each program will be streamed via live video webcast at www.thegreenespace.org.
I hope you’ll tune in – would love to hear what you think!
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