Hi, Kiwi!

Posted on 07/24/2023 by chick

We have two hummingbird feeders in front of our dining-room window, and they get a lot of traffic. There is one particular hummingbird–short and squat, with an incredibly bright orange throat–who not only visits the feeders, but also perches on a nearby tomato cage to preen himself. Livia dubbed him Kiwi, and the name stuck. He’s become such a familiar presence that it’s not unusual to hear someone say “Hi, Kiwi!” as they pass by the window.

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To Be Chopin

Posted on 07/23/2023 by chick

As I’ve said before, these days I don’t want to play Chopin as much as I want to be Chopin. But music composition is complicated, and I can’t figure it all out on my own. I tried the book route, but without anyone or anything to keep me trained on the task, I soon got distracted from it. Berklee, alas, is still too expensive. There’s only one other thing left to try: a music composition teacher. So I looked for one, and found one, and my first lesson will be on Tuesday. Wish me luck.

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Into the Woods

Posted on 07/22/2023 by chick

I went for a walk in the woods today, inappropriately appareled, and will no doubt bitterly regret it tonight when I can’t sleep because of the dozen mosquito bites on my arms. My goal initially had been only to check my property for blueberries. But aside from the blueberry bush next to the house, which is just ripening now, I found no berries. Disappointed, I headed deeper into the woods, knowing that I wasn’t dressed for it, but determined to find blueberries anyway.

I eventually found a lot of what were probably huckleberries, most of them not quite ripe, as well as a few low-bush blueberries, most of them small, even for wild blueberries. Oh, well. Maybe I’ll have better blueberry luck next year.

And stupidly, because I had expected to stay on my own property, I didn’t take my camera with me into the woods. So naturally there were things I wanted to take pictures of. The rattlesnake plantain was starting to bloom, and I found a whole new wildflower. I’m going to have to go back into the woods soon if I want to capture them with my camera. But if I do, I’m going to wear a long-sleeved shirt, that’s for sure!

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Reading Report: From Earlier This Year…

Posted on 07/20/2023 by chick

1. The Last Magician by Lisa Maxwell. Story: Among the millions living in New York City are those known as the Mageus, people born with powerful magical abilities, but they are trapped in the city by a magical barrier known as the “Brink.” If they cross the Brink, they lose their magic and their will to live. It was a powerful group known as the Order who made the Brink. Having no natural magic of their own, these wealthy men depend upon the power of “elemental magic” (alchemy, etc.). They despise the Mageus, and are determined to eliminate them. A Mageus named Professor Lachlan has a plan to stop the Order and destroy the Brink. His ward, Esta, can travel through time, so he sends her back to the early 20th century. There she joins the gang of Mageus who are planning to steal the “Ars Arcana,” a powerful book of magic that contains the key to bringing down the Brink. My take: I loved the premise, and the characters were interesting enough, but the book dragged. It seemed like it wanted to be a heist with a magical twist, but the plot got bogged down in a slow-to-ignite romance. Toward the end, the pacing became erratic, sometimes plodding through dialogue, sometimes rushing confusingly through action scenes. Then, during a dialogue scene heavy with exposition, a character said, “You’re standing here monologuing like some cartoon villain.” Indeed, that’s exactly what was happening. Maybe the author was trying to be funny, but to me, the line implied that she knew there was a problem and decided to hang a lantern on it instead of fixing it. The scope of the novel had suggested that it was a standalone, but I was left with the incomplete and unsatisfying ending of a series starter. Ugh. I gave the novel a B grade for being interesting but not a keeper. I will not seek out the sequel.

2. Winnie-the-Pooh by A.A. Milne. All the characters–Christopher Robin, Pooh, Piglet, Owl, Eeyore, Kanga, and Roo–are simple and silly and totally delightful. I gave the book an A+ for pure charm, and I’ve added the sequel, The House at Pooh Corner, to my mental list of books to read someday.

3. The Great Gilly Hopkins by Katherine Paterson. Gilly Hopkins is an unlikable character, mean to everyone who tries to help her, not to mention a racist. She’s in the foster care system, though, and everyone knows that kids act out when they’re in pain. I thought I’d be able to forgive her as long as she grew as a character by the end, which she did. BUT, the ending was a huge downer, so I gave the book only a B grade.

Currently reading: Taran Wanderer by Lloyd Alexander (Book 4 in the Chronicles of Prydain), A Crossword to Die For by Nero Blanc, Aimless Love by Billy Collins, and Le petit fantôme by Emma Tennant (traduit de l’anglais par Lan du Chastel)

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Midnight Poetry

Posted on 07/19/2023 by chick

I’m only just a few pages into Billy Collins’s Aimless Love: New and Selected Poems, but I’m already a huge fan. I loved one of the poems so much that I felt compelled to go downstairs in my PJs to read it to my husband. Now here, for your enjoyment, is an animated version of that poem.

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Reading Report: How Short Is Too Short?

Posted on 07/17/2023 by chick

Musical Tables by Billy Collins, no grade

I don’t grade collections of poetry, but I do occasionally comment on them. This one appealed to me because the poems were so short, most of them just a few lines long. It was, as you’d expect, a breeze to read. But some of the poems seemed, I dunno, sort of un-poem-y. I mean, how short can a poem be and still be considered a poem? Given so few words, how do you establish that it’s a poem and not merely a statement of thought?

I know what the poet himself thinks about short poems. Not only did he create this collection of them, but he also wrote in the afterword,

These days, whenever I pick up a new book of poems, I flip through the pages looking for small ones. Just as I might trust an abstract painter more if I new he or she could draw a credible chicken, I have faith in poets who can go short.

Small poems are drastic examples of poetry’s way of squeezing large content into tight spaces. Unlike haiku, the small poem has no rules except to be small. Its length, or lack of it, is its only formal requirement.

Afterword, from “Musical Tables” by Billy Collins

And I agree with him except to say that IMHO a poem has to evoke a mental image and an emotional reaction. It has to have the potential to make some quiet part of the reader’s brain suddenly jump up and say “Wait, what?” or “Oh, wow!” Here are two poems from the collection that did that for me.

A Memory

It came back to me
not in the way
a thing might be returned
to its rightful owner

but like dance music
traveling in the dark
from one end
of a lake to the other.
New Calendar

The poem of next year--
every week a line,
every month a stanza,

and a tiny sun
rising and setting
in every numbered square.

In these, I can hear distant music and imagine tiny suns rising and setting, feel nostalgia for a bygone time, and visualize a year as a poem, or a poem as a calendar. But many of the other poems in the collection struck me as plain thoughts, or even jokes. They were, I suspect, simply too short to get the images and/or emotions across.

So, I would say that the collection is hit-or-miss, but it’s worth reading not only for the hits, but also for thinking about why the hits hit and the misses miss. Perhaps there is such as thing as a “poetic bare minimum,” and if so, then Musical Tables is an exploration of it.

In any event, I enjoyed the hits enough that I have decided to read more poems by Billy Collins, and Aimless Love: New and Selected Poems is now on my reading list.

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Some Recent Things

Posted on 07/16/2023 by chick
  • I got my first shingles vaccine last month. The side-effects were limited to a sore arm (but way less sore than the first Covid shot) and mild body aches. I must remember to get a booster shot in 2-6 months (i.e., by the end of the year).
  • The landscaper came back with a really high number, so we had to scale back the project. We’ll still paying the guy a pretty penny, though, to pull out the old walkway, put in a new one, add a landing for the front door, regrade and reseed the yard, and add drainage for the downspouts. The work will be done in late August or early September. Meanwhile, it will be up to us to clear out the overgrown area along the side of the yard. We’re also researching water features, paths, patios, and plunge pools in anticipation of landscaping the backyard next year.
  • My eyes have gotten worse. My distance vision is still good (as corrected with glasses), but I’ve lost a line on the chart. The written word has gotten harder to read, particularly text on computer screens. I often feel bleary-eyed, and I’ve become so sensitive to the light of the computer screen that I sometimes have to squint to read it. I’ve started to make mistakes at work, misreading letters. Since I usually get a chance to catch my own mistakes, for now this only presents as a minor loss of speed, which no one but me is likely to notice. Eventually there could be real problems, though, and I’m doing my homework now to find out what my options are for the future.
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Reading Report: Enchanting Tale

Posted on 06/27/2023 by chick

The Grace of Wild Things by Heather Fawcett, A-

Grace is an orphan that nobody wants to adopt, so she runs away to a witch’s house and begs the witch to take her as an apprentice. The witch grudgingly makes an agreement with her: if Grace can perform 100 1/2 spells from the witch’s grimoire by the time the old cherry tree blooms again, then the witch will officially take Grace as an apprentice; if Grace fails, then the witch will take her magical powers. It’s a perilous pact, yet Grace loves living in the woods and going to the nearby school, and she soon makes friends who help her with her witchcraft. But can she master all of the spells, including the unfinished half-spell, by the deadline?

As described on the cover, “Inspired by Anne of Green Gables, this is a magical story of found family, loss, and the power of a girl’s imagination.” Every chapter begins with an excerpt from a poem about birds, which is a cute feature. The story seemed a little too twee at first, but it grew on me. Recommended.

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End of the School Year

Posted on 06/26/2023 by chick
  • Marshall’s 8th-grade graduation necessitated some frenzied shopping beforehand. Turns out the boy had holes in his shoes that he hadn’t bothered to mention. Bad enough that he went to school every day in those holey shoes, but he certainly didn’t need to parade them around in front of a gymnasium full of people. The only shoes he liked at the store were the ones just like his old ones, just one size bigger and minus the holes (the boy is very loyal to his fashion choices). So that’s what he got.
  • The graduation ceremony went well. Marshall won an award for math. His sister was, I think, genuinely and uncharacteristically impressed. But her competitive streak was also showing. She said, “When it’s my turn, I’m going to get at least three awards.” I’m going to hold her to that (not really, but it would be pretty cool if she managed to pull it off). Anyway, there were a lot of kids graduating, but not a lot of awards, so it was a big deal to win one, and I’m quite proud of Marshall. Plus, he likes math, and winning the award was just the sort of positive encouragement he needs.
  • Friday was the last day of school. Marshall wasn’t technically obligated to go, having officially graduated Thursday night, but he wanted to say good-bye to his teachers. Livia, on the other hand, ought to have gone but didn’t want to, since most of her friends weren’t going to be there. So, Marshall went to school and Livia stayed home, and everybody was happy.
  • Both kids did well on their report cards.
  • The kids didn’t miss the bus even once during the school year. Isn’t that something! We want to reward them. Not sure yet what form the reward will take. It has to be something big enough to match their commitment to getting up every day and out the door on time. Maybe a trip somewhere?
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Another Top 100 Children’s Books List

Posted on 06/26/2023 by chick

I have only 12 books left to read from the Top 100 Children’s Books list. Finishing the list will be a great accomplishment. But, in a way I’m not looking forward to it, because I will miss having a goal to work toward. My friend suggested that I choose another list to work on next, but the other lists I’ve seen haven’t been that appealing.

But then the BBC posted a new list of top 100 children’s books. It looks pretty good, and I’ve decided to go for it. I thought it would be cool for Livia (a.k.a. Luigi) to read the Top 100 Children’s Books while still a child, so I asked her to join me, and she agreed. Then my husband signed on. And Marshall (a.k.a. Mario) said he might read some of the books, too, once he finishes the series that he’s currently reading. So we’re going to try to read our way through the list together, starting from the bottom and working our way up roughly in order, skipping only the books that we’ve already read. School just ended on Friday, making this a great time to get started. No summer is complete without some good reading!

P.S. I’ve created a page for keeping track of my progress on this list.

Book TitleChickHubbyMarioLuigi
1. Where the Wild Things Are (Maurice Sendak, 1963)✔✔
2. Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland (Lewis Carroll, 1865)✔
3. Pippi Longstocking (Astrid Lindgren, 1945)✔
4. The Little Prince (Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, 1943)✔
5. The Hobbit (JRR Tolkien, 1937)✔✔
6. Northern Lights (AKA The Golden Compass) Philip Pullman, 1995)✔✔
7. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (CS Lewis, 1950)✔✔✔
8. Winnie-the-Pooh (AA Milne and EH Shepard, 1926)✔
9. Charlotte’s Web (EB White and Garth Williams, 1952)✔✔
10. Matilda (Roald Dahl and Quentin Blake, 1988)✔✔✔
11. Anne of Green Gables (LM Montgomery, 1908)✔
12. Fairy Tales (Hans Christian Andersen, 1827)
13. Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (JK Rowling, 1997)✔✔✔
14. The Very Hungry Caterpillar (Eric Carle, 1969)✔✔✔✔
15. The Dark is Rising (Susan Cooper, 1973)✔
16. The Arrival (Shaun Tan, 2006)
17. Little Women (Louisa May Alcott, 1868)✔
18. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (Roald Dahl, 1964)✔
19. Heidi (Johanna Spyri, 1880)✔
20. Goodnight Moon (Margaret Wise Brown and Clement Hurd, 1947)
21. The Adventures of Pinocchio (Carlo Collodi, 1883)
22. A Wizard of Earthsea (Ursula K Le Guin, 1968)✔
23. Moominland Midwinter (Tove Jansson, 1957)
24. I Want My Hat Back (Jon Klassen, 2011)✔✔✔✔
25. The Secret Garden (Frances Hodgson Burnett, 1911)✔
26. Duck, Death and the Tulip (Wolf Erlbruch, 2007)
27. The Brothers Lionheart (Astrid Lindgren, 1973)
28. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (JK Rowling, 1999)✔ø✔✔
29. Brown Girl Dreaming (Jacqueline Woodson, 2014)
30. The Three Robbers (Tomi Ungerer, 1961)
31. The Snowy Day (Ezra Jack Keats, 1962)
32. The Tiger Who Came to Tea (Judith Kerr, 1968)
33. Howl’s Moving Castle (Diana Wynne Jones, 1986)
34. A Wrinkle in Time (Madeleine L’Engle, 1962)✔✔
35. Watership Down (Richard Adams, 1972)✔✔
36. Tom’s Midnight Garden (Philippa Pearce, 1958)
37. Grimm’s Fairy Tales (Brothers Grimm, 1812)✔
38. The Tale of Peter Rabbit (Beatrix Potter, 1902)✔
39. The Railway Children (Edith Nesbit, 1906)
40. Noughts and Crosses (Malorie Blackman, 2001)
41. The BFG (Roald Dahl and Quentin Blake, 1982)✔✔
42. Rules of Summer (Shaun Tan, 2013)
43. Momo (Michael Ende, 1973)✔
44. The Story of Ferdinand (Munro Leaf and Robert Lawson, 1936)✔✔
45. The Lord of the Rings (JRR Tolkien, 1954)✔✔
46. The Owl Service (Alan Garner, 1967)
47. Ronia, the Robber’s Daughter (Astrid Lindgren, 1981)
48. The Neverending Story (Michael Ende, 1979)✔
49. The Panchatantra (Anonymous / folk, -200)
50. Treasure Island (Robert Louis Stevenson, 1883)✔
51. Mary Poppins (PL Travers, 1934)✔
52. Ballet Shoes (Noel Streafield, 1936)
53. So Much! (Trish Cooke and Helen Oxenbury, 1994)
54. We’re Going on a Bear Hunt (Michael Rosen and Helen Oxenbury, 1989)✔✔✔✔
55. The Adventures of Cipollino (Gianni Rodari, 1951)
56. The Giving Tree (Shel Silverstein, 1964)
57. The Gruffalo (Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler, 1999)
58. Julián Is a Mermaid (Jessica Love, 2018)
59. Comet in Moominland (Tove Jansson, 1946)✔
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6/23
60. Finn Family Moomintroll (Tove Jansson, 1948)
61. The Witches (Roald Dahl and Quentin Blake, 1983)✔✔
62. A Bear Called Paddington (Michael Bond, 1958)
63. The Wind in the Willows (Kenneth Grahame, 1908)✔
64. Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry (Mildred D Taylor, 1977)✔
65. Karlsson-on-the-Roof (Astrid Lindgren, 1955)
66. The Phantom Tollbooth (Norton Juster and Jules Feiffer, 1961)✔
67. The Cat in the Hat (Dr Seuss, 1957)✔✔✔
68. The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane (Kate DiCamillo and Bagram Ibatoulline, 2006)✔
69. Peter and Wendy (JM Barrie, 1911)
70. One Thousand and One Nights (Anonymous / folk)
71. From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs Basil E Frankweiler (EL Konigsburg, 1967)✔✔
72. When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit (Judith Kerr, 1971)
73. Shum bola (G’afur G’ul?m, 1936)
74. Ernest and Celestine (Gabrielle Vincent, 1981)
75. A Kind of Spark (Elle McNicoll, 2020)
76. Little Nicholas (René Goscinny and Jean-Jacques Sempé, 1959)
77. Black Beauty (Anna Sewell, 1877)
78. Daddy-Long-Legs (Jean Webster, 1912) ✔
79. No Kiss for Mother (Tomi Ungerer, 1973)
80. My Family and Other Animals (Gerald Durrell, 1956)
81. Jacob Have I Loved (Katherine Paterson, 1980)
82. The Lorax (Dr Seuss, 1971)
83. Fairy Tales / The Tales of Mother Goose (Charles Perrault, 1697)
84. The Moomins and the Great Flood (Tove Jansson, 1945)
85. The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (L Frank Baum, 1900)✔✔
86. Just William (Richmal Crompton, 1922)
87. The Twits (Roald Dahl and Quentin Blake, 1980)
88. The Mouse and His Child (Russell Hoban, 1967)
89. Out of My Mind (Sharon M Draper, 2010)
90. Moominvalley in November (Tove Jansson, 1970)
91. Little House in the Big Woods (Laura Ingalls Wilder, 1932)
92. Danny the Champion of the World (Roald Dahl, 1975)✔
93. The Snowman (Raymond Briggs, 1978)✔
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94. Wave (Suzy Lee, 2008)✔
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95. The Black Brothers (Lisa Tetzner, 1940)
96. The Velveteen Rabbit (Margery Williams, 1921)✔
6/23
97. The Bad Beginning (Lemony Snicket, 1999)✔
98. The Graveyard Book (Neil Gaiman, 2008)✔
99. American Born Chinese (Gene Luen Yang and Lark Pien, 2006)✔
100. Haroun and the Sea of Stories (Salman Rushdie, 1990)✔
7/23		✔
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