The Art of Effigy

Posted on 02/03/2008 by chick

The art of effigy is not dead. As I was driving around town today, I saw the figure of a football player strung from a tree. There was a group of men hanging out below it, admiring the handiwork. I assume it was a Giant, because a Pat would have caused less admiration and more rioting. People around here feel very strongly about their Pats!

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My Little Rhody

Posted on 02/03/2008 by chick

Have you ever noticed that Rhode Island is not an island? I had never thought about it until moving here, but soon the name became a point of irritation for me. I hate it when things aren’t what they say they are. How dare my state lie!

It turns out that there’s a simple explanation behind the seeming misnomer. While Rhode Island may not be an island state, it does include some islands. One of them, the site of Newport, is usually called Aquidneck Island. However, its official name is “Rhode Island” and the state’s official name is “State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations.” If you know those two key facts, the name becomes less an annoyance and more of an endearing quirk. Just don’t go looking for plantations in Providence! I doubt you’ll find many. The founders of the state used the word “plantation” to refer to a new colony.

The State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations is no longer new colonial territory, but from my individual perspective, it is still an unexplored land. As the weather gets warmer, I plan to spend some real time in the exploration of this new home state of mine. I’ll be looking for traditional johnnycakes and for the best family-style chicken dinners, among other things. I’ll keep you posted on my discoveries.

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Evil Twin Says

Posted on 02/02/2008 by chick

When I make a mistake, I worry and worry and worry.

Not so Evil Twin. She says, “If you have rectified the mistake to the best of your ability, then it is but sand on the wind. Don’t look at it unless you want an eyeful of grit.”

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A Reader’s Demand

Posted on 02/02/2008 by chick

One of the characters in John Fowles’s The Magus says,

I burnt every novel I possessed. . . . Why should I struggle through hundreds of pages of fabrication to reach half a dozen very little truths?

I sometimes feel that way lately. When I’m at the bookstore and I read the jackets of new novels, they all sound like stories I’ve read before. I keep reminding myself that there are only so many stories that can be told, and that the real value of a story is in how it’s told. But even the tellings all sound the same these days. And if there’s no joy to be found in the language, nothing new in “getting there,” no great truths to be gleaned, then what is the point of ingesting all those lies? One’s mind could grow fat and bloated on such a diet and yet remain malnourished.

Give me beautiful language. Give me an exciting journey the likes of which I have never experienced before. Give me brilliant lies that yield big truths.

Give me all this or give me nonfiction!

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Dream Letter

Posted on 02/02/2008 by chick

I had a powerful dream the other night, the kind that sticks in your head so strongly that you’re still involved in it when you wake up. Sometimes, in your sleep-muddled mind, it’s hard to figure out which version of your life is the real one. When you finally sort it out, it can be a great relief to return to reality, or a crushing disappointment.

This dream I was able to sort from reality, but I had such a hard time shaking off the feelings it evoked, I wondered if there was some special significance to it. That thought was still with me when I ran across this quote:

A dream is a letter to yourself.

A sign, perhaps?

Wait. Do I believe in signs?

I guess, in a way, I do. Maybe a little dream interpretation would do me good.

Now, if only I could actually remember the dream . . .

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Avian Antics

Posted on 01/30/2008 by chick

A bird got into our attic yesterday. He flew around in a tizzy, battered the hanging light, and probably pooped on the floor, but he was polite enough to know when to leave. The window was opened for him and out he went.

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Some Choice!

Posted on 01/30/2008 by chick

I looked on-line to see when and where I should line up to vote for my favorite Democratic candidate. Good thing I hadn’t already put on my shoes. Rhode Island doesn’t vote until March!

People say that February’s Super Tuesday won’t decide the nomination, but that doesn’t change the fact that the majority of candidates have already dropped out. Other people in other states got to say which candidates I would be allowed to choose from, and that’s not fair. By the time we vote, Edwards may have gone the way of the dodo, leaving us with only Barack “Sock ‘Em” Obama and Hillary “Hit Low” Clinton as options.

I’m not entirely certain that we wouldn’t have been better off with a dodo.

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Not Persuaded

Posted on 01/30/2008 by chick

Hooray! I finished the first of my 10 must-read books for 2008—Jane Austen’s Persuasion.

What took me so long to read Persuasion? I read it twice! Why would I do such a thing? The language was such a distraction from the story that I read it once for story and once for language!

Persuasion by Jane Austen

Grade: B+

Some people will try to persuade you that this is Jane Austen’s best work. Continue reading →

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Gifts from the Past

Posted on 01/27/2008 by chick

I forgot to mention that Faithful Reader and I went up to my grandparents’ old house (now my aunt’s and uncle’s) on Wednesday for a little family get-together. While we were there, my aunt talked me, Mom, and R— into looking through and taking some of my grandmother’s old stuff. Grammy did knitting, crewelwork, embroidery, and crochet. We found yarn, embroidery floss, pins and needles galore, and even a few finished items.

I brought home some of the embroidery supplies and a couple of samplers. The samplers were balled up in a bag for far too long, but I’m hoping some careful cleaning will restore them to their former glory. Cross-stitch doesn’t seem to get as much respect as certain other crafts, but I think that these pieces are a beautiful reminder of the time and effort she spent making things with her own hands.

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Family Time

Posted on 01/27/2008 by chick

My brother and his family were staying at my parents’ house for the week. I drove out yesterday to see them all.

The highlights:

  • The first things I saw when I walked into the house were the bags and bags of brand-new books. Mom took them on a book-buying spree. I guess there won’t be an immediate need for the book-store gift card that I bought them for Christmas!
  • There’s something about the last day of the visit that pushes Mom and R— to try strange dessert experiments, often of a citrus nature, that are bound to fail. One time, they produced an almost inedible concoction that will be forever known as Key-Lime Soup. This time, it was Lemony Sludge, a “pudding” so sour that every bite made my eye wink involuntarily.
  • As always, there were many learned discussions, such as whether or not all foods derived from plants may be counted as vegetables, what would constitute an appropriate display in a LEGO store, and which properties one should buy in a game of Monopoly.
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