Good Listening

                                                                           

I've been listening to this very excellent, Pulitzer Prize winning novel as I work my way through chores (Liquid Gold on wooden furniture, glass cleaner to remove Jenny's nose marks from the dining room windows, etc., etc.) and as I fall asleep at night.

It's the story of two cousins--one a refugee from Prague--who become noted comic book creators, affording the listener/reader a good look at the comic industry.

It's also a story of the last mid-century--Nazism, the avant-garde in NYC, the Kefauver committee and the wars against comic books (and "perverts",) the rise of suburbia, and so much more.

Chabon's beautiful prose is used to good effect in tracing the entangled destinies of the cousins and the woman they both, in their different ways, loved. These three characters absolutely grabbed me-- beautifully nuanced and painfully real. 

As I listened, I savored each sentence while, at the same time, feeling eager for what was coming next. The narrator was excellent, and I highly recommend this audio version.

Next up on audio, The Source by Michener. I've read it multiple times but decided to give it a listen--all 54+ hours of it should see me through spring cleaning.  

Still Blooming

 

Judy's House

                                                                        

I was delighted to have this picture pop up on Facebook--an old photo of Judy Shelton's cabin. I'd never seen a picture but it was much as I'd imagined--a two story log cabin. (I suspect that the sagging bit on the right was a later addition.)

 That cabin was the setting for several important scenes in my historical novel And the Crows Took Their Eyes. 

Nothing but the chimney remains of the place where the thirteen victims of the Shelton Laurel Massacre were held the night before their execution. Nothing but memories and ghosts.

Remember to Breathe

                                                                                     

                                                                                

                                                                                  
We are being drowned in outrageous actions and proposals, as well as a relentless flood of misinformation. 

Don't let it get the better of you. 

Learning Curve

                                                                                     

Between the continuing cold weather and the ongoing bad news issuing from DC, I'm spending large amounts of time working on watercolors and trying to move beyond my comfort zone (which is painting pictures of flowers--not from life but from...pictures of flowers.

While I draw or paint, I've found that listening to audio books really helps me loosen up and not worry about getting things just so. Currently listening to an excellent reading of Michael Chabon's The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay.

Here I'm working from pictures on my cell phone. The first is the early morning view from behind our house--taken when I was walking Jenny.  

Otter in her tie-dye hoodie. She makes me think of a chubby little girl in a party frock. I was delighted to feel that I'd come close to an actual likeness.

Unlike this 'portrait' of a late neighbor (based on a fuzzy old photo grabbed from the internet.) I'm still futzing with it but don't have a lot of hope. I wonder if my inability to produce a recognizable person is linked to the fact that I often have trouble recognizing people if they are in an unexpected place or, heaven help us, have changed their hairstyle, shaved a beard, or added glasses.

I've attempted Josie with terrible results and have a half-completed sketch of her dolls Margo and Dolly in which there are traces of Margo, but Dolly seems to have been inhabited by a demon.

Ah, well, back to the drawing board.

                                                                                    

 

Celestial Image?

Space debris seen from the port hole of a spaceship?

                              Alas, only potato chip debris.
                                                                                     

Meltdown

FOTUS, the toddler in the Oval Office is acting out beyond belief. Actually, it's a mix of toddler, wannabe dictator, and senile oldster. But it's going unchecked and will have lasting evil consequences for our country and the world.

Fire, defund, rename, withdraw, redraw . . .give that toddler a sharpie and watch him destroy even things that benefit those who voted for him. 

Meanwhile, the Republican in Congress support his every whim and attempt to sane-wash his every crazy pronouncement.

Oh, for some Republican congresspersons with only half the balls of  Murkowski and Collins! They could have done more on other occasions, but at least they voted against confirming the demonstrably unstable Hegseth.

 

Vicki Paints (but, unlike Josie, has no dreams of stardom)

 

A Hero for These Times

                                                                              

The brightest spot in the past few dark days has been watching the video of Bishop Mariann Budde at the National Cathedral speaking truth to power and watching power and his family and cronies squirm.

She wasn't 'gracious,' whined the target of her entreaty for mercy to immigrants and trans people.

I reckon those money lenders Jesus drove out of the temple said the same about him.

FOTUS also accused the bishop of bringing politics into the occasion. 

This from a man hawking autographed Bibles to his cult.

If I were to embrace any religion, Bishop Budde's brand would be it.

Josie Paints (but she really wants to play the guitar and sing)

We have had LOTS of snow days and Tuesday was another one. It was also a remote learning day, and I was supposed to do six pages in my workbook, but I did them already. 

Meema was painting and she gave me a new paintbox to use. There are 100 different colors and some are VERY bright.,

First I did a tiara.

It's fun to have so many colors. (Pink is still my favorite.)

Then I did a rainbow. The clouds came out really good. Grumpy and Meema both said so.

                                                        

This is my best picture. It is about what I want to do. It says WHEN I GROW UP AFTER HARD WORK I GRADUATE FROM MUSIC SCHOOL. I SING IN A BIG CONCERT. 

I AM A STAR.

 

Polar Vortex

Cold, cold, cold! I spent Monday with an afghan over my legs, a hot drink at my side-- listening to Persuasion and drawing and painting.

The power is still on; the water still running.

 

A kind of appropriate beginning to the next four years.

Circle the wagons; prepare your blanket forts. It's going to be rocky.

Mourning in America

                                                                         

Reading for the Apocalypse

In trying times, for me there's nothing quite like sinking into Jane Austen's calm, rational world where the greatest worry is whether the heroine will marry the right man (spoiler: she will.) So, to counteract the political uncertainty ahead. I've been listening as I paint--doubly soothing. 

I've read and reread Pride and Prejudice, Sense and Sensibility, and Emma multiple times. Now I'm delving into the rest of her works--read long ago and mostly forgotten. Mansefield Park was enjoyable, but Northanger Abbey is exceeding my expectations as Jane's sly humor is at its best here. It's a witty spoof of the popular Gothic novels of the time. I'm very much enjoying this audio version from Audible.

Sapiens, on the other hand, is not soothing at all. But it's an important read, and relevant to the times we find ourselves in. 

For example, in the chapter about money, its usefulness in commerce and cooperation between strangers, the author warns of its dark side.

Quoting "Human communities and families have always been based on belief in 'priceless' things, such as honour, loyalty, morality, and love. These things lie outside the domain of the market and shouldn't be bought or sold for money. . . . Parents mustn't sell their children into slavery; a devout Christian must not commit a mortal sin; a loyal knight must never betray his lord; and ancestral tribal land shall never be sold to foreigners.

"Money has always tried to break through these barriers, like water seeping through cracks in a dam. Parents have been reduced to selling some of their children into slavery in order to buy food for the others. Devout Christians have murdered, stolen, and cheated--and later used their spoils to buy forgiveness from the church. Ambitious knights auctioned their allegiance to the highest bidder, while securing the loyalty of their own followers by cash payments. Tribal lands were sold to foreigners from the other side of the world in order to purchase an entry ticket into the global economy."

And here we are. Our presidency bought by billionaires and our democracy devolving into an oligarchy. Hard times ahead, except for the 1%.

"As money brings down the dams of community, religion, and state, the world is in danger of becoming one big and rather heartless marketplace."

And then, as the Orange Felon eyes Greenland and the Panama Canal, I turn to the next chapter on the building of empires . . .

Back, I think, to Jane.

 

More Ordinary Things

 

Unpleasant News

                                                               

Neil Gaiman, author of some of my favorite novels, has been very credibly accused of a variety of non-consensual sexual encounters with a number of young women. The details are sickening.  

I'm not likely to stop reading or listening to his works, but it's deeply saddening to think that an author I've let whisper in my ear (via audiobook) as I fall asleep, is capable of such nastiness.

Perhaps he can get a job in the forthcoming administration.

Etching the Sky

 

Icy Days

Days of school cancellations or delayed starts. Our driveway is passable with 4WD--the tricky part is getting down to the icy walkway to the car.

But we have hay and fuel oil; the water is still running, and the power is still on. 

Seeing the scenes of the fires in California and being aware of the ongoing misery of so many recovering from Helene, I am reminded daily of our good fortune, as well as the fragility of our existence.