Lies My Teacher Told Me

Today I finished reading Lies My Teacher Told Me by James Loewen. I'm really glad that I read this book because it really helped me to understand some of why the education system is so lacking in this country. It is sad to think that as a nation we are so insecure that we need to tailor our history to only reflect good on the past. I think it is a shame that we make our elementary and high school history classes so watered down and misleading. The worst part is that history classes are so boring as we all remember because the people making the text books don't wish to offend anyone. I would rather be taught the truth and allow students to engage in real discussions that maybe have no answers but just lead to more questions. I wonder just what we are so afraid of in our honest past. If we can't hold a mirror up to ourselves past or present how can we hold it up to others.

time crunch

I haven't posted in the last few days. I have been trying to find time to knit and read and of course I got caught up in book shopping. I had a scare when my package of books from THE BOOK OF THE MONTH CLUB were lost in transit but they are reshipping. I love an efficient book club (I belong to 5). They are not always the cheapest way to purchase books but they do give great service and their websites are easy to use and keep track of purchases.
I went to Goodwill yesterday and was proud that I left empty handed. I over spent in the yarn store so that turned out to be a good thing. I need to purchase a new digital camera so I can post some photos. My daughter busted my old one. I am trying to repair that one also so she can have it and not borrow any new one I buy.
I am currently reading LIES MY TEACHER TOLD ME by James Loewen. It is truly interesting how history is spun to appeal to the masses. I am learning a few things I didn't know but more importantly I think the book makes you stop and rethink about things you do know.
I am also starting a new sock pattern I saw on knitty gritty. The Coriolis sock is knit from the toe up. I am not great with socks but I think I can complete it.

reading

Recently I read how more people are starting to read fiction. I wish more people would read anything at all. I always tell my children that the answers to everything are written down somewhere in a book and if you read long enough and varied enough you will gain all those answers. I share with them the fact that every movie, cartoon, tv show , and song lyric began somewhere as a written page. I don't think people appreciate just how much reading enhances their lives or how much reading you do each day. Menus, emails, tv guides, newspapers, signs, text messages.... why not books. I wish people could appreciate the feeling of sinking into a good story. The way everything else just tunes out and time slips away. I understand that tv can have a similar effect but not like reading. No noise, no commercials, just you and your limitless imagination and absorption. The imagination can still do what cgi cannot.

Happy Martin Luther King Day! We got at least a foot of snow last night and my husband is out plowing before I have to leave for work this afternoon. One great thing about a snow storm is it gives me more time to relax and read. I just finished another book last night. THE BRIEF WONDROUS LIFE OF OSCAR WAO by Junot Diaz. I don't have to worry about taking a spanish dictionary to work with me because I finished it in 2 days. I pretty much gave up on looking up the spanish words intermingled in the story. I picked up the general idea anyway. I liked the story and it was an interesting incite into the Dominican culture. I'm not very fond of how the story ended and I did find some of the chapters a bit redundant. I also found some of the character skipping around a little confusing but it was a very interesting story( if it wasn't I wouldn't have finished it so quickly). On the whole I enjoyed the book and can see why it was popular when it came out. It definitely has a different flair than many other books.
I have started reading LIES MY TEACHER TOLD ME by James W. Loewen now. I need to mix a little nonfiction in for a moment. I am two chapters in and have learned a few things already. History was never my best subject at school and I don't have a great memory for names and dates but I love an interesting story fact or fiction. At this historical time in our current history it is nice to learn a few facts about our past.
Tomorrow is inauguration day. I don't know how much I will get done tomorrow before work because I definitely want to see some of the hoopla. Mostly I want to watch the swearing in not so much the star studded performances. If work isn't to busy tomorrow night I can probably watch some of it in the waiting room.

next book

I finished Duma Key last night and it was great. Stephen King never disappoints. I really do think that he must have worked through his accident writing this. I wonder if he summers in Florida. I live in Maine so I suppose it would be easy enough to find out. I do know that he is a huge Soxs fan and probably makes the trip to spring training camp most years. So many people do. I have read his book Faithful about the red sox season. He has season tickets to all the games. It's kind of a long commute from Bangor but I suppose he takes the train and probably stays over in the city.

I started THE BRIEF WONDROUS LIFE OF OSCAR WAO by Junot Diaz. I'm not sure if I will like this although I heard it was good. The story is peppered in the beginning with Dominican phrases that I had to roughly translate with our Spanish/English dictionary. But that seems to be disappearing so maybe I won't have to much trouble. I don't mind looking up words it just makes it inconvenient to take the book out with me because I don't want to travel with the dictionary. I haven't read much today because I had to work this morning. It was 30 below when I got up this morning! I just barely got my car to start. I let it run for 15 minutes but my toes still went numb driving in to the hospital. I think if it is this cold again when I leave I will double up on the socks. My brakes didn't work to great, I guess the brake fluid was frozen but luckily there is no traffic here in Cornville. Especially at 5am.

I went to the movies Saturday afternoon to see Slumdog Millionaire. I loved it. I saw it at the Railroad Cinema. I was glad the movie won 3 Golden Globes because it really deserves the recognition. Even the slums of India are so vibrantly colored. Not only was this a great story but it really paints a picture of India. Beggars,thieves,prostitution.....still it shows that a person with nothing can still survive. Especially in this story even with nothing and no one the children seem to still find such simple joy in life.

I am moving right along in Duma Key. Another can't put down read by Mr. King. I took time out of reading Saturday afternoon to go to the Railroad Cinema and watch SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE. It was a terrific film. I love foreign made films anyway and this was no exception. It is a wonderful love story layered with an amazing view of India's underprivileged.
Another film I loved (foreign language) is Children of Heaven. It is Iranian I believe. This is a heartbreaking tale but a must see for fans of foreign films. If you haven't seen The Diving Bell and the Butterfly than you really have missed something special. It is definitely a film that will stay with me always. It seemed like it would be a more depressing film than it turned out to be.

I broke down and bought another 4 books at the Goodwill on Saturday. I wish I had also picked up the copy of Revolutionary Road they had but I will probably be better served if I just see the film. I am already trying to decide what I can begin next. I will probably finish Duma Key by Friday at the latest. I just have so many to choose from. I may start two and take one to work and leave one at home. I know that sounds confusing but I can sometimes read two or three books at the same time if they are not overly similar. Sometimes I just don't want to bring a hardcover out with me. Sometimes I need a book I can sneak into my purse. I will have to ponder more on this and see what calls out to me demanding to be next.

thoughts

The other day I started reading Duma Key by Stephen King. It has been a few years since my last King book, and I haven't read him in earnest in about 15 years but it was just calling to me from the shelf "me,I'm next" so I picked it up. I have never read a King book I didn't like and so far this is no exception. As I was reading the main character of the book struck me as to much of a parallel to his life. In the story the character Edgar is traumatically injured in an accident.The suffering, rage and mental anguish of memory loss,turning to thoughts of suicide got me to wondering if this is how he felt after his accident. I remember seeing a picture of him after he left the hospital at the time and thinking then how old and beaten he looked. That is the image in my head now as I picture the character in the story. Thankfully I have recently seen an article he wrote and he looks like his old self ( a little more gray and less heavy but pretty good). I still can't help but wonder if Edgar's feeling where what he went through in his recovery because that would truly be more of a horror than any story he could every write.

I also went to the post office yesterday and one of the books I've ordered was there. Now I still have 116 more to read not counting Duma Key. I also have 5 more still on the way. I really have to stop for awhile but I don't know how long I can hold out. I really have no room to stick these anywhere so I will have to hunt up a new location and hope my husband doesn't find them. He is beginning to complain about the amount again. He evidently looked through the cupboard the other day and remarked on how much stuff I have crammed into it. I just hope he doesn't do an actual count. Especially since he is going to the post office in the morning and could just find not the package he is waiting for but another one of mine.

I was doing an early spring cleaning yesterday and I was shocked to discover that I have an addiction.
Hello my name is Kathy and I am an addict. I am addicted to purchasing books. I currently have 116 unread books stuffed into every nook and crany I could possible hide them in. I also have an additional 6 books on the way thanks to the power of the internet. The truly scary thing for me about this is I just moved to this home in Maine a little over a year and a half ago and I didn't own at least 80 of these then. Also before I moved I purged about 200 books many of which I hadn't read. I don't think it is possible to ever catch up.
I kept track of how many books I read last year and I think it was a total of about 58-60. I don't feel like digging out the list. I started a list because I was occasionally purchasing books that I already had or had already read. This year I am going to keep track of everything I read again but I am also keeping track of everything I buy, how much I paid and where I got it.(yes I am that anal)
I hope that by doing this I will have to force myself to keep a better check. I really need to read what I have for awhile because I have no more room to stash them. I am now dreading my trip into town to check the post office.

Hi,
This is my first blog. You will probably be able to tell. I just finished reading this book called Julie & Julia and it inspired me. The book is about a woman who decides to make a the recipes in Mastering The Art of French Cooking and blogs about it. There is no way I am going to master the art of french cooking but I do love to read. This book was pretty interesting and nice to enjoy someone elses domestic hell.
A better food read is the memoir by Bill Buford called Heat. This is so entertaining and inspiring a story. Bill decides to soue chef for Mario Batalli in one of his restaurants. It really brings home the professional kitchen experience and Batalli is the one of the most interesting exuberant characters you will every read about.