libri

Well, I am alive.
*insert cheering and canned laughter*


My life is changing. 


My dad is in the hospital recovering from a serious back operation. He is in excruciating pain, so please put him in your prayers. 
I have spent the last several days at home (as usual; hermits hate going to new places) watching my siblings while my mother spent the majority of the day at the hospital. We watched Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, 

The Joneses.

which was the perfect action-adventure movie: I loved it. So awesome! And we watched, on a whim, UHF, which is a little known comedy spoof with Weird Al Yankovic in it, which is why we watched it, because we're Weird Al fans. Hilarious movie, but very off kilter and weird. 

So that is life. 

I'm reading some books on education, Benjamin Franklin's autobiography, and rereading Jurassic Park.I just read The Andromeda Strain by Michael Crichton, and The Giver by Lois Lowry.

The Andromeda Strain was pretty good. I liked it.

It was written in a very dry, scientific,  and in some spots slow manner.The end was a bit of a letdown. It is about a germ that comes to Earth from space (hitching a ride on a space capsule) and kills off an entire town. Five men are sent to an underground secret location and they have to figure out how this germ (the Andromeda strain) works, and how to kill it.

The Giver....ugh, it was awful.

 Set in a dystopic futuristic society, where there are no emotions and everything is colorless, it tells about how one boy escapes. The Sameness of the society is intriguing, but not well fleshed out enough to be plausible. I suppose the author thought she was making a case how individuality and being able to make choices keep us human, but it came off as rather uninteresting and depressing. A very bleak book, written simply and sparsely (the writing is better than in The Hunger Games), this book goes on my Depressing Books I hated List, where it can share the space with Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton, which was fantastically written but completely non-relatable to a teenager and absolutely tragic.

Oh, and The Hunger Games? After reading/suffering through all three books in the trilogy I feel entitled to state my opinions.

1. THG should have been a stand-alone book.

2. Catching Fire was the worst. I was confused and annoyed while reading it. 

3. Fangirling over Peeta and Gale misses the entire point of the series.

4. They're very violent. Don't read the second and third book if you are squeamish. However the first book wasn't too bad.

5. Suzanne Collin's characterizations weren't terrific. All three of her main characters could have been fleshed out a lot more, because they came across as flat in some places.

6. This series really shows the sadness and tragedy of war to its victims. In a society that glorifies violence we need to remember this, yet also remember that evil must be stamped out, and we can start in our own souls.

7. The movie looks like it is going to be good. Maybe they can fix the problems the book had.

There's a lot more one could say about THG, but I'm just going to leave it at that. There are many good, in-depth reviews out there. This is not going to be one of them.

Also I recently re-read A Wrinkle in Time by Madeline l'Engle. I love that book! So weird and amazing.

A blog post you should check out:

Hi, I'm Socially Awkward by Jedi~Chick

Spot on.

Bye for now!

~ Diana

my idea!

It's book review time!

Feel free to link to this from your blog: simply copy the button below and and post on your blog with a book review.

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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Count of Monte Cristo

 by Alexander Dumas, pere

Edmond Dantes had everything: a beautiful fiancé, a rising career as a sailor, and loyal friends. Then in one stroke of fate he loses everything and is imprisoned in the Chateau d’If.

When Dantes finally escapes, there is only one thing he seeks: revenge…

This extremely long book is one of those classics everyone has heard of, but fewer take the time to actually read.

Its plot is simple, but elaborated upon by the addition of a whole host of characters and their stories.

Character development in Dantes was slow, but interesting. The reader sees him grow from a young and naïve sailor to a complicated, bitter and cruel enigma: the Count of Monte Cristo. The three men upon whom he vows vengeance all have interesting and different characters too.

The parts I didn’t like in the book were the casual way having mistresses outside of marriage were discussed, as well as the stupid custom of arranged marriages which probably led to the former! These customs also annoyed Abigail Adams when she visited France in the 1780s.

This leads me to say that French and Italian women, at least in this book, are/were so different from American women. They were supposed to be weak, soft creatures who didn’t seem to do much, with the exception of Eugenie Danglars, the daughter of the avaricious Danglars, who dresses up as man and runs away to start a music career.

Also, be aware that the Count smokes a lot of hashish! Please remember “hugs not drugs”, children. :)

As a Christian, I must note the interesting perception of God in The Count of Monte Cristo.  The Count thinks he is an avenging angel appointed by God to dish out justice to the men who wronged him, until he experiences the love of kind people at the end and repents of his deadly pride. This is really a long adventure story of revenge, not a really religious book, but could offer many lessons to a discerning eye.

All in all, I give this book four stars out of five. A classic tale, although it does get a bit boring in parts, and a rewarding read.

“How did I escape? With difficulty. How did I plan this moment? With pleasure. ” 


“Until the day when God shall deign to reveal the future to man, all human wisdom is summed up in these two words,-Wait and hope.” 
― Alexandre Dumas, The Count of Monte Cristo

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Next review will be Frankenstein by Mary Shelley. (I happen to like weird old sci-fi-ish books)




Happy Tuesday, everyone!  Nothing particularly exciting happening today for us; but I suppose it could be worse.....


Random photo time!!!!!

Petunia, 2009

Silkies for sale now

Silkie butt!

Pussywillow tree

Letchworth park, the Grand Canyon of the east (New York)

Sunset near our house last year

Adios! ~ D

i've got good news, bad news, and a book suggestion!

- BAD News first, to get it over with. Basically, the bad news was this. THIS. In concise wording, a flood of the general area around which my famiglia situated. We are on top of a high hill, so the only excess water affecting us was in our cellar, but the area down town, right on the Susquehanna river, was devastated. Literally. For those of you not familiar with rivers, think 14-foot high water under bridges, and entire river-facing streets were deluged under 8-feet expanses of dirt brown water. 


Hundreds of people in the area are still without electricity (thankfully we have it) and internet. We just got it this afternoon, obviously, as you are reading this.


- GOOD news. (Yes, I am in the right mind to write good news. Three days without internet or hot water have cleared my mind of the hubris and general depression my last blog post was written in)


Kayleigh May Beck******* was born on Wednesday, September 7th at approximately 7pm, to Gayle and William, my sister-in-law and brother. We are all extremely excited to welcome her!!!!



       

Anyway, as I was saying, very exciting news. Certainly smiley face worthy! I don't like to bandy them things around my blog like annoying tennis balls, but this event is worthy of a few more.  

Moving on, we come to the book suggestion. I finished Arundel by Kenneth Roberts---you should really read it. (Whoever happens to be reading this at this time, and providing you haven't read it already which I seriously doubt)
Arundel was historical fiction at its finest. Fast paced, meaty, and exciting. Solidly researched and well-written. I'd recommend it to anyone 12 and up. It would make a nice thick change from the usual revolting YA novels many teens read in their spare time. (If they have any in this age of homework)
As I don't feel like writing a synopsis, go check it out yourself.


Whew. Fine weather we're having today.


Carrots I planted in the spring:

 Silkie cockerels I'm trying to sell:

 A eagle-eyed EE pullet:

 And an eternal photographic theme, flowers!

Finis.

some great literature!

I'm reading a book. Don't you EVER interrupt me---or ELSE! (Think violent, gruesome and nasty death, accomplished without my eyes leaving the page)


Then, I'd like to review some books I've recently read. Particularly, Alice Adams, Seventeen, and The Magnificent Ambersons by Booth Tarkington, as well as Emily of New Moon by Lucy Maud Montgomery. Tarkington was a G.A.W. (Great American Writer) but sadly has been all but forgotten these post-modern times due to the occasional word in his books considered racist by the hyper-sensitive, self-proclaimed politically correct "censors" of our age. Mr. Tarkington had a style of his own, and incorporated many interestin' little-used words for the vocabulary sharks (I just coined this descriptive word!) like myself.






Alice Adams featured the saga of a manipulative, conniving and selfish 1920's era girl of plebeian position who strives to be accepted by the patrician upper-class families in a midwest town. Her attempts to do this are at times sad, at times funny, and you get a sense of her maturing throughout the book. The rest of the Adams family are all different, with different faults which lead to the demise of the family fortune. Alice eventually entangles Arthur Russel into thinking she is different than she actually is, however after his disillusionment  at the end of the book, he shuns her, and she has to move on. NOTE: this is NOT a romance, and I did a bad job reviewing it. See this for a too-wordy but more descriptive synopsis.The end of this book was sad, yet beautiful. Four stars.


The Magnificent Ambersons was a slightly dramatic epic which to quote an reviewer on Amazon.com was "an Horatio Alger story backwards." It tells of the demise of the awesomely rich Amberson family as the world changes around them.  Basically, it is about "being things" as opposed to "doing things". I won't attempt a synopsis, but let you read it for yourselves. The beginning chapters are slow, and overall it is a sad book, but very interesting historically.


Seventeen is a hilarious story. It is about...young love, which is very funny to me, despite my being a youth myself, rather than a wizened geriatric. 


And guess what??? All of the above books are FREE on Kindle or the Kindle app. 
  <---- Perhaps uncalled-for smiley face, again to appease the populace, and to make me appear extra enthusiastic.   Whee.


Emily of New Moon by L.M. Montgomery


                     ........Nice cover!


EONM contained Montgomery's usual failings: over flowery descriptions (which seems to be a failing especially of female authors, but Lucy Maud takes the cake for them. Some are quite beautiful.), unrealistic characters, "kindred spirits", fairies (and I don't mean Artemis Fowl fairies. Pu-leez!!!) and similar plot lines. But I liked Emily better than Anne (in some ways) because she was less Pollyanna-ishly happy, and Emily's aunt was MEAN to her, as was her teacher and some others. Emily seems to be sort of psychic too, but this was minimum. The plot was similar to Anne, but with much darker themes, and a neat mystery thing going on. Oh, and Emily can bake a cake. She's less dreamy than Anne, and must have been party-autobiographical for L.M. Montgomery who wanted to be a writer as did Emily. 
Three point five stars.


Somewhat randomly, I would like to mention briefly that I want this shirt. 


..Farewell, readers. And as this is Sunday, don't forget to spend time reading the greatest book, and indeed the only one we need for life, the Bible. 






 A book is like a garden carried in the pocket. ~Chinese Proverb


There is a great deal of difference between an eager man who wants to read a book and a tired man who wants a book to read.  ~G.K. Chesterton


Outside of a dog, a book is man's best friend.  Inside of a dog it's too dark to read.  ~ Attributed to Groucho Marx

our need for music

Been busy here, fellow carbon-based life forms. Will try to post one *good* post a week during the school year.
So many things I could post about: my upcoming birthday, the ban on DDT and malaria, the decay of popular culture, music, what love really is, or I could post a recipe for chocolate milk which will make you die. (In a good way, that is, not a bad way!)
Well, I think I shall have to pick......music.


                                               ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ 
(being rather a perfectionist, I HAD to make the divider another color!)


Music: It can feed your soul or kill it. It can change hearts or harden them. It can get your adrenaline pumping, or bore you half to death.*


Why does the human mind seem to need music? It isn't essential for life, and neither can we eat it. The answer may lie in the fact that men (and here I mean the entire race of man, not only the male portion of it) do not consist of merely their physical bodies. We are the (proud) possessors of immortal souls as well, created by a higher being as was the body.  And this soul needs food as much as our bodies do. No, we can't feed our brains cheeseburgers. In fact, the brain exercising and soul growing is in fact the hardest part of being human. It is much easier to change our physical bodies then to change our hearts. Thus, it would stand to reason that feeding our souls nourishing meat and drink would also require more mental work than not feeding it, and staying the way you are now for eternity.


But I digress...to return the subject at hand (and not wander off into a theological and metaphysical** quandary), my hypothesis of why we need (and, to assuage that need, create and perform) music, is that "real" music feeds our souls. And by "real" music, I mean hard music. Classical music,*** generally, or any true or beautiful music which may not appeal to you at first, depending on your level of education, peers, or family.


Forgive me for using a cliched example, but this could be compared to....food.**** You could think of classical (or difficult) music as the meat, or in a vegan's case, soy protein, of the diet. And the more vapid, less deep music, or "music" as the case may be, as dessert, candy bar, marshmallow, poison, or everything else.


Or think of it this way: If you can train your ears to enjoy deeper things: good literature (as opposed to light-n-fluffy reading, Dick and Jane, or romance novels*****), great music (hey, there has to be a reason it has survived so long!), healthier food (your body needs to eat sometimes too) or harder things in general, you can still enjoy the less fluffy stuff (sometimes).
 But if you are only trained to the fluffy (sometimes in the complimentary sense)) stuff, you will have a hard time understanding the deeper stuff. 


Which will you choose?


And as a final note, your soul's worth lies in your own hands. It is your own choice what you make of yourself; whether you feed your soul with the good stuff, the meat and drink, the soy protein****** which will enlarge you mind, or keep on stuffing the junk food into your mind, the effects of which may not be visible right away, but will eventually accumulate in something far worse than a sick body: moral and mental decay!


Finis.


FOOTNOTES:


*For instance, country or pop music.
**What a fun word to say: metaphysical! I <3 long words.
***Classical music hasn't actually been proven to make  you smarter, but it can't hurt IMHO. And it doesn't distract you from your work with silly lyrics.
****.....Always a good thing. Especially with chocolate or frosting. 


***** "Oh George, marry me, darling, or I shall throw myself off this cliff!"
******Yuck. Save soybeans, eat more cow. ;-) 


(These footnotes were fun to write!)


OKAY. Now that I have attempted to convince you of the importance of "real" music in the grand scheme of things, I feel liberated to jabber on about my personal music preferences.


Never having been much exposed to more popular and recent music as a young child, I grew up thankfully old-fashioned in my music tastes. Now that I am older, the more I see of popular music  today (2011) the less I am impressed with few exceptions. Some of it seems to be a sort of opiate of the masses, keeping them distracted from bigger issues, and some of it is just obscene, and some of it is just dumb, at least to me.

For classical composers, my two hands-down favorites are Beethoven, and Mozart. (NO, I did NOT forge their signatures. I got them off Wikipedia)





For me, Beethoven portrays the most timeless passion, strong beauty and mystery in his music. His themes are always fresh and new sounding, never dated. My particular favorite of all of his works I have listened to thus far is his Piano Concerto #4. It reminds me of the power and inscrutability of the ocean. His pieces are rendered even more amazing by the fact that he was deaf when he wrote some of them! Personally, Ludwig Beethoven was said to be a strange and turbulent character, proof that God can work through all of us! 
I'm planning on listening to every single one of his symphonies. No, stupid, not all at once.





And Mozart's music is just....beautiful. His music with its often incredibly melodies reminds me of a dancer, light and airy on her feet, skipping through high soprano pieces and darker, heavier pieces with perfect ease. His music sounds like his signature looks. And I am a fan of some of his opera music (from, at least those I have listened to!) Being a kind, thoughtful person,I will post links to Voi, Che Sapete (one of my favorite pieces to sing) and L'ho perduta, me meschina (another fun piece to sing). I can't say I've listened to a ton of Mozart; will have to sometimes.


Chopin is nice for something different.


On to singers: I can't say I have a favorite singer. I do enjoy opera, which while not for everyone, is thoroughly dramatic, tragic, romantic, melodramatic (I enjoy amateurly over-acting scenes) and beautiful. 
Favorite pieces at the moment:


Una Voce Poco Fa from the Barber of Seville (Rossini) as sung by Maria Callas.
Casta Diva from Norma can't remember who composed it?!
Nessun Dorma from Turandot 
O Mio Babbino Caro 


Anyway, I also like a select few Broadway musicals: namely, My Fair Lady and Man of La Mancha.  The former because it is hilarious, and the latter because it reminds me of these goofy goats, and I like the music!


I listen to jazz with der Vater sometimes too, which is okay, but puts me to sleep, sadly.


But my absolute overall just plain FUN music HAS to be Gilbert and Sullivan. Hilarious, extremely fun to both sing and act, and witty lyrics and also alliterative agony. 


What music makes you, dear readers, the most happy?


Auf Weidersehn!


~ Diana


"Serve the LORD with gladness: come before his presence with singing."
Psalm 100:2

punctuation lesson: apostrophe + sermon!!!

*Sometimes I wonder.....why do I even bother with this?  It seems like everyone (well, almost everyone!) doesn't care about spelling, and is vapid, silly, worried over things which don't matter,and foolish. Why bother?

Two points to make. (It helps me organize my thoughts to put them in points)

[Yeah, yeah. I know. Super-corny....a spear, point no. 1. Hey, we're into corny here!]

Point number 1. Not everyone is foolish/vapid/swept along by the demoralizing influences of our time. Notice I'm not saying every modern influence is demoralizing....we have so much wonderful technology, live healthier lives, still have freedom in this country at least, and maybe not *gasp, gurgle* of the *gasp* popular *gurgle* music is awful. Wow, that was hard for me to say. I can't stand most popular music.

Yet, in spite of all the bad influences, and evil that goes on, there are still good people. Kind, helpful people. Smart people who aren't borne away in the herd. People who stand up for what is right, good, and pure. People who through moral struggles still do the right thing no matter what the cost. Are you one of those people? I'm trying to be.

Point number 2. Even if people do do wrong, evil, and are vapid and silly, as a culture, have we really any right to abandon them because we are so much *better* than they? [Pride rears it's ugly head...dun dun dun....]

How much *better* are we, really? Even if we don't do evil on the outside, we think it inside. We're all sinners. Even if you aren't a Christian, you have to admit it's the truth. 

God didn't abandon us, even though our hearts were black with sin. Hey, this is starting to sounds like like a sermon......Anyway, I hope you can take something from my lecture. And I didn't start this blog to chat vapidly about myself....I want to discuss serious topics as well, providing they're PG rated. 

AND NOW, ONWARD GRAMMAR SOLDIERS!!!!!

Have a seat, please, ladies, and any stray gentlemen who may be lurking around. Side note: I don't want this to be a purely feminine-targeted blog, but one that any intelligent person, M or F, can read, enjoy, and will make them think. Hopefully. 

Today's lesson will be on the most fascinating subject of...Apostrophes. 

This is a apostrophe: ' . Strange how such a little mark can be the cause of so much heartbreak. Okay, maybe it is only heartbreak to me, since I hate to see the innocent little apostrophe abused. How sad.

Correct uses of apostrophes:

Example A.  "Kerry's bananas were the bane of Maud's existence."

                 "No, those aren't Artemis's arrows; they are Apollo's spears."

                 "Bill's cats are fat."

                 "The 1990s' were a great decade."

Incorrect use of apostrophes:

                "Kerry's banana's were the bane of Mauds' existence."

                "How many chocolate's do you want?"

                "Bills' cat's are fat."

                "I love the 1960's!"

Why are they incorrect? Because apostrophes are meant to show possession. Thus, Kerry's bananas. (We're assuming she owns the bananas and didn't shoplift them) Not banana's Kerry. And Maud's existence. 

So, I am assuming you are have absorbed that information.....on to a particular peeve of mine. YOUR. 

If the it is YOURS, it should be YOUR. If it is referring to someone else, i.e. "You're invited to a vandalism party!" it should be YOU'RE. Why? I don't pretend to know; refer to here for a more in-depth explanation of the finicky rules of grammar.

Lesson dismissed.  BTW, if you find a mistake, spelling error, or something similar on this 'ere blog, please let me know in a comment. 

Here is a Monet painting: click on it to make it larger, please.

I do like sailboats, and I'm also a fan of Impressionist paintings.

Auf Weidersehn, das Leser.

~ Diana

grammar lesson: commas

For once here is a nice, ladylike, flowery heading for this post. Speaking of ladylike-ness, I would like to say that my five oldest hens (Mary Lou, a Barred Rock, at left) aren't very ladylike. Oh, sure, I can hear them protesting loudly, but the way they steal food from the little ones and bother/annoy/steal from the roosters is definitely not very ladylike. My hens are more the loud, obnoxious, feminist, lazy, and bossy female type rather than the sweet, unassuming,  gentle, smart and ladylike female type.
Ah, chicken personalities. I love them! I have sweet docile little pullets, fire-brand little hens, a gentlemanly-chivalrous (yet not exactly the brightest bulb!) Silkie rooster, a gangly cockerel, a dumb yet lovable blonde Polish hen, a paranoid Leghorn hen, and a slew of other personalities in my coop.


I have been brainstorming, trying to think of a topic to post about, but have come up blank.....


I believe I will post a short lesson in punctuation, namely, the correct use of the comma, for the benefit of all.


Commas are used to separate thoughts or ideas. 
Example A:
"Because I am going away, you need not bother delivering the milk."


If the sentence can be divided into two sentences, such as this:


"I really need to blow my nose, it's dripping all over the floor!"


Chances are you shouldn't put a comma there, it would be wrong. As demonstrated by my last sentence! This is an unfortunately extremely common mistake I have noticed often in different books and periodicals. It irked me to see the much-loved little comma abused in this way.


 You can either a) place a semi-colon [;] there, or divide it into two sentences.
Example B:

"I really need to blow my nose; it's dripping all over the floor!"

Example C:

"I really need to blow my nose. It's dripping all over the floor!"

 (You can tell I made up the examples!)

Example  D: 

"Andromeda decided to buy the orange blue purple green black yellow socks."

That is wrong. It looks wrong, doesn't it? That, my friends, is why we need commas!

Corrected:

Example E:

"Andromeda decided to buy the orange, blue, purple, green, black, and yellow socks." 

Too many commas:

"Andromeda decided to buy the orange, blue, purple, green, black, and yellow, socks."

That one extra comma can make a difference!

~ Finis. Enough punctuation for now. Next lesson will be on that infamous apostrophe, plurals, and why Bill's cats were fat. 

A handy chart from the New Yorker.

"How art thou out of breath when thou hast breath
To say to me that thou art out of breath? "  ~ Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet, the only witty thing Juliet EVER says!

"O, pardon me, thou bleeding piece of earth, 

That I am meek and gentle with these butchers! 

Thou art the ruins of the noblest man

That ever lived in the tide of times." ~ Julius Caesar 

Speaking of Caesars, I have two things to say. A) I love ancient Roman history. B) You should try making this Caesar salad; it is delicious, easy to make, and delicious.

"...Parting is such sweet sorrow!" 

~ Diana

lambs & poems!

The lambs say hi!  The goat, of course, being Nubian, prefers to stick his nose in the other direction. 

After, much deliberation, fumbling, and devoted thinking on the subject, I've decided to post a poem, then my thoughts on some books. 

"DEATH, be not proud, though some have called thee Mighty and dreadful, for thou art not so: For those whom thou think'st thou dost overthrow Die not, poor Death; nor yet canst thou kill me. From Rest and Sleep, which but thy picture be, Much pleasure, then from thee much more must flow; And soonest our best men with thee do go-- Rest of their bones and souls' delivery! Thou'rt slave to fate, chance, kings, and desperate men, And dost with poison, war, and sickness dwell; And poppy or charms can make us sleep as well And better than thy stroke. Why swell'st thou then?    One short sleep past, we wake eternally,    And Death shall be no more: Death, thou shalt die!"                                                   ~ Death by John Donne I found this in my poetry book and found it rather beautiful, obviously written by man who had done some serious thinking upon the subject. This author, John Done, (15th century) was known for his love poems but also wrote some inspirational and moving religious poetry later in life. I know you are probably asking "Why so serious, Diana?" as you despairingly read comedic literature, but hey, life IS serious! "Life is real, life is earnest.." (Longfellow) Okay, I will stop now.... Finally, my $0.02 on some books I got from the library today. I read Artemis Fowl: The Arctic Incident  by Eoin Colfer (awesome sounding first name by the way!) first, and frankly, I was disappointed. From reading the previews on my Kindle I'd expected it to be a lot more interesting, or as we say here, interestinger. The book was all action, nothing else, and I couldn't keep track of what was going on three-quarters of the time! It was life one of the those movies where they keep going back and forth between characters in different places. Confusing! I did think Artemis Fowl was an interesting character but you never even got to know him in this book. I guess I will try the other books in the series, but hopefully they will make more sense. See this for a synopsis of the series (thank you, Wikipedia!). Artemis Fowl: I wish I'd thunk up that name first!  I'm waaaaayyyy cooler than am Irish twelve-year-old criminal mastermind. Yes, I am! I'm also not quite as conceited and stuck up as those last three sentences may have led you to believe. Book 2: I interlibrary loaned The Code of the Woosters by P.G. Wodehouse after reading several other Jeeves stories. What can I say......all of the Jeeves stories are hilarious. English humor at its best. I suggest you give it a try! Oh, and I'm starting Life of Fred math next week. I read part of the textbook, and it looked pretty funny. Is it even humanly possible to make algebra fun? We shall see! Fred, the brilliant 5-year-old professor at KITTENS university.

Goodnight for now!

~ 

Starry Night by Van Gogh