Sunday, June 28, 2015
Five year anniversary for A New Yorker in Oslo
Saturday, June 27, 2015
The poem Quantum Bloom from my poetry collection Quantum Bloom
My sister loves this poem, so I decided to share it with you. It is from my recently-published collection of poems--Quantum Bloom (http://www.amazon.com/Quantum-Bloom-Paula-Mary-Angelis/dp/1505211166). The poem was inspired by a photo I saw on Facebook of a tree stump crying (someone had drawn the tears on the stump). But it made a lasting impression on me, as well as making me sad. It got me to thinking how many trees are cut down for no reason at all, other than that a house owner wanted less shade and more sun, so the tree had to go. That happens a lot here in Oslo, unfortunately. Perhaps other places as well. The older I get, the more respect I have for the nature around us, and the more I appreciate trees, the birds that live in them, and the rest of nature. We take nature for granted, that it will always be there for us. But one day it may not be. And we will look back in regret that we did not take better care of our earth.
Quantum bloom
A lone tree stump
Pushing its way up
from the pavement
The sidewalk askew
A tree’s life ended
Because its desire
to spread its roots
Was not met with
understanding
But rather with a
need for control
Executed through
the mighty saw
A lone tree’s life
ended
In this universe
But perhaps the
same tree lives on
In another universe
A parallel one
Or even in multiple
worlds
Far less
controlling places
Where trees can
spread their roots
Where their desire
to bloom and grow
Is not met with the
inhabitants’ desires
To crimp and to control
Lone tree standing
Firm and tall
Against the
elements
Against the winds,
the storms,
Against man’s
non-understanding
Of what it takes to
grow a tree
Of what a tree
needs to call a place
Its home
Of what the birds need
in the way of home
When in search of
cover
In parallel
universes
Perhaps trees are
sovereign, supreme
Birds too
Perhaps man’s
punishment for meting out death
To trees and
likewise birds
Is to suffer the
understanding of what it means
To destroy life
While imprisoned in
a forever place of death
In multiple
universes
copyright 2014 Paula M. De Angelis
Saturday, June 20, 2015
Riding with the raptors
There’s a lot to love about the new dinosaur film Jurassic World. Mostly, it doesn’t
pretend to be anything more than what it is—a fun and fast-paced action film
about a dinosaur theme park that bites off more than it can chew when it
creates a new and better dinosaur, Indominus
rex, to attract larger audiences. The new dinosaur has four different kinds
of DNA in its genome, all of which have produced a cunning killer that appears
to be unstoppable. Part of the fun is finding out what kind of DNA the
scientists have used to create this monster. And as always in these kinds of
films, scientists come off as the bad guys who can be bought, either by the paranoid
military or by greedy companies or both. When you go to see these kinds of
films, you know that within about thirty minutes after the start, it’s all
going to go to hell, the dinosaurs are going to start eating people, and panic will
ensue. And it does. Jurassic World is
a dinosaur disaster film with a hero who gets to do the coolest thing I’ve seen
on film so far—ride his motorcycle in the midst of the velociraptors that he’s
been trying to train (with very limited success since they are cunning killers
themselves). Their help is enlisted when it becomes clear that the velociraptors
are perhaps the only creatures that can bring down Indominus Rex. But there is a neat twist here once the raptors meet
Indominus, and I won’t give it away. The
film is worth seeing, the special effects are very good, the plot is fairly
predictable, the acting a bit stiff, but overall it’s a fun 3D ride. We all
know that what is said is not nearly as important as what is done in these
kinds of films. Action is what counts; in that regard, Chris Pratt will be a
good addition to the genre for the future films. When I saw the first Jurassic Park film, and Sam Neill and
the children stood watching the dinosaurs from a distance, I remember commenting
to my husband that it would be so cool if humans could actually travel in the
midst of the different kinds of dinosaurs, at their level if you will. In Jurassic World, they can and they do, with
the help of the Gyrosphere, a computer-controlled sphere-shaped ride that has
room for two people to sit in it, and that moves along the ground so that the
park visitors can get a real feel for the dinosaurs. I’m looking forward to the
subsequent films, although I cannot for the life of me figure out what ground
the filmmakers are going to cover next. But I’m sure it will be one heck of a
ride.
Sunday, June 14, 2015
Weighing in on #distractinglysexy
This past week showed me just how well female scientists can
defend themselves against the sexism that still exists in the noble profession
of academia. It also pointed out to me yet again the power of social media, for
better or for worse, in dealing with political incorrectness. For those of you
who don’t know what transpired, here’s the story. The 2001 Nobel Prize winner Sir
Tim Hunt from Britain, 72 years old, opened a conference in South Korea with what he
deemed to be a joke about women in science. He said essentially that girls (he did not use the word women, mind you) fall in love with you and you with them,
that they distract you (men) from doing science, that they cry when criticized, and
that he was in favor of single-sex labs *. Social media exploded predictably
with appropriate and inappropriate responses. Hunt later apologized for his foolish
remarks but not for his beliefs. Because he does believe that what he said
about women is the truth. Nowadays you have to be very careful about what you
say if you are in the public eye, because social media will try you and fry you
for your transgressions, superficial opinions and comments. I’m not going to
enter a debate about the pros and cons of social media; I leave that to others.
I will say that I found the responses of a majority of female scientists to be
quite amusing. Rather than going on a strident attack, they responded to the
situation in a humorous fashion. I don’t know who started the hashtag
#distractinglysexy, but if you go onto Twitter and search for it, you will be
rewarded with a number of tweets that will leave you laughing—photos and accompanying
comments of women dressed in lab coats, protective gear, goggles, hats, etc.,
all of whom comment on how ‘distractingly sexy’ they look while carrying out
their laboratory work. They took the piss out of Hunt’s comments by doing so. That
is the intelligent and cunning response.
I have worked in laboratories all my working life. Being a
scientist has been my career. I’ve done alright through the years, and as many
of my readers know from other posts, I’ve had the support of male mentors who
have done their level best to ensure that I succeeded, or had the same opportunities
as the men around me to succeed. But there were a few men who behaved
questionably toward me up through the years. I learned to deflect their sexist
comments that came my way—about sitting
on their laps, about the view of my rear end when I bent over, about my being ‘unbalanced’
when I shed a few tears in anger and frustration about not getting a raise I
more than deserved, and about whether I planned on becoming
pregnant. I am well aware that I am no exception to these kinds of comments;
I grew up in an era when women were making inroads into the workforce and
certain types of men found that threatening, irritating, or pointless. They
needed to make women feel inferior; I remember thinking ‘their poor wives,
having to put up with them’. Certain types of men still react that way. Unfortunately,
I learned along the way that certain types of women also react that way. Not
all women help other women in the lab. Again, we can argue for and against this
fact. Should women support women unequivocally? I try to provide moral support for
the younger women I work with, simply because I know how hard it is to climb
the academic ladder. But I do the same with the younger men as well. Because
their lot is not easy these days either; there is less money and fewer
positions. It’s a dog-eat-dog world in academia, even more so than before.
This episode points out that the world NEEDS to be reminded
every now and then of all of the women in science who have done terrific science,
who have worked tirelessly to promote good science, who have won Nobel Prizes, some
of whom have done so while raising a family. Kudos to them—to Marie Curie, Barbara
McClintock, Gertrude Elion, Rosalind Franklin, Ada Lovelace, Rita
Levi-Montalcini, Rachel Carson, Dian Fossey, Jane Goodall, Lise Meitner,
Elizabeth Blackburn, and Dorothy Hodgkin, to name a few. I could also list the
many female scientists I know internationally who plod along, doing their daily
work, writing papers, publishing, and mentoring students. All of them are
equal-opportunity employers and mentors; I don’t think I’ve ever heard one of
them express a preference for female students or employees at the expense of
men. They are not sexist. Perhaps the male twits in the scientific community could learn from and be inspired by them, and then maybe we
would not have to listen to their twaddle any longer.
Apropos, I was going to call this post 'A Twit, His Twaddle, and Twitter', but opted for the current title. But I like the other one too (I'm happy with the alliteration).
Apropos, I was going to call this post 'A Twit, His Twaddle, and Twitter', but opted for the current title. But I like the other one too (I'm happy with the alliteration).
*This is what Tim Hunt was reported to have said:
“Let me tell you
about my trouble with girls........Three things happen when they are in the
lab: You fall in love with them, they fall in love with you, and when you
criticize them they cry.” After offering an apparent apology, he dug the hole
he was in even deeper when he said “I did mean the part about having trouble
with girls. It's terribly important that you can criticize people’s ideas
without criticizing them and if they burst into tears, it means that you tend
to hold back from getting at the absolute truth. Science is about nothing but
getting at the truth.”Friday, June 5, 2015
Reflections on balance and change and on the town where I grew up
It’s been a while since I’ve written a post for this blog.
That’s because I’ve been traveling. I was in New York again recently to attend a wedding and to deal with certain issues connected to my
brother’s death. I did a lot of walking on this trip, and had a lot of time to
reflect on being there and on my life in general. These are some of my recent
observations and reflections, most of them having to do with the importance of
having balance in one’s life. My life now is about achieving balance.
There is a time for sadness and a time for happiness. My
brother’s sudden and untimely death in February was followed by the happiness
of a May wedding. I don’t think I have ever enjoyed a wedding as much as I did
this one. Perhaps because I needed something happy to round out the sadness I
have been feeling since February. Or perhaps because this wedding really was something
different—a lot of fun. Or perhaps both. Thanks and best wishes go to Andrea and Mike who love each other and are happy to share their happiness with us.
An exceptionally warm spring in New York balanced out the
cold winter it experienced. I was lucky enough to experience that warmth in New
York on this trip. There is nothing like sunlight and warmth to compensate for
the darkness and cold of winter, and that is true no matter where you live.
As always, when I return to the town where I grew up, Tarrytown,
I realize how beautiful it is and how privileged I was to grow up there. I
remember train rides into Manhattan when I was a young adult, and some of the rundown
ugly areas through which the train passed. I always knew that I could return to
the loveliness of my hometown.
I always remember my parents and growing up in our house
when I am in Tarrytown. Yet for each year that passes, I experience so much that is new, and these experiences eventually
become joyful memories. I walk around there now and experience the town as an
adult, far removed from my childhood and teenage years. I will never forget my
parents or my growing up, but I have new memories now that lessen the sorrow of
the old, the reminders that my parents are gone and with them the life that was. The bittersweet memories of my early years have been balanced out by new
and happy experiences in this lovely town. I have integrated both into the
person I am now. Sadness and happiness coexist within me—side by side.
I know my way around Tarrytown, that was clear to me on this
trip—the names of the streets, where to make a right or left turn if one is
driving, where to find a parking space, and where to take a short cut when
walking or driving. I spent one day while I was there just walking around the
town, from my hotel on Route 119 down to the railroad station and then up again
to Broadway through the different residential streets. I walked further on to
Sleepy Hollow (formerly North Tarrytown) and all the way to the Sleepy Hollow Cemetery,
at which point I turned around and headed back to the hotel. I must have walked
at least eight miles that day. On my way back, I visited the Warner Library and
read a few newspapers in the reference room. I also took some photos for the
book I am writing about growing up in Tarrytown. In the lobby, I met a Maryknoll
priest who was taking photos for a book he is writing about growing up in
Tarrytown. It was nice to meet a fellow wanderer. I also stopped at the Pastry
Chef and enjoyed some biscotti and a cappuccino. The Pastry Chef is where my
parents always bought the excellent cakes (lemon sponge cake comes to mind) that
we had for the special occasions in our lives—graduations, birthdays, holidays.
I have changed, yet parts of me remain the same and will
always do so. Much like Tarrytown itself. Tarrytown has changed, and yet it remains the same as I remember it from growing up in many ways. It struck me that it truly
is a little slice of Americana, to be able to walk around this town and see
shops and buildings that existed when I was a child, and probably long before I
was born as well. And as my sister commented, the places where we hung out as
teenagers are still very much the same. She and I drove around Philipse Manor
and Sleepy Hollow Manor, the Lakes, and to Rockwood, where we walked for a
while like we did when we were teenagers. Rockwood is still a montage of
sprawling hills and flat meadows, untamed vegetation and growth, lovely old
trees, gorgeous views of the Hudson River, and a sense of wildness that never
leaves it. The nature of Rockwood exists for itself; it is not under man’s
control and I like that. Being there frees the heart and soul. The trees are
old and beautiful, and speak of a time that existed long before we were born. I
like that feeling of mystery, of the unknown.
Sunday, May 24, 2015
Growing vegetables and fruits in the city
Our co-op board recently approved the purchase of ‘grønnsakskasser’
to be placed in the inner yard of our co-op so that those residents who want to
grow vegetables/fruits, can do so. The word grønnsakskasse is translated into English
as vegetable crate, and I guess it’s as good a translation as any, except that
these crates have no bottoms, only sides, and they are much more solid that
supermarket vegetable crates. They are made of thick wooden slats that connect
at all four corners with interweaving metal pieces that have holes in them, so
that when they are lined up, a long metal pin can be inserted through them to
hold them all together. Once the crates are placed where they shall stand, you
fill them with a lot of earth and then plant what you want to plant.
There were two of us in our co-op who were interested in
getting one crate each in order to plant vegetables, so the co-op board bought
two such crates. The other woman chose a variety of vegetables (and one fruit)
to plant—cabbage, brussel sprouts, lettuce, chili peppers, and melon. I chose
to plant three cherry tomato plants (technically tomatoes are fruit, but often fall under the vegetable label) and parsley. And I may plant a few herbs as
well, but I want to see how all of the different plants grow before I invest
more money in this project. So far, the tomato plants are doing fine and we are
picking cherry tomatoes each day to have with dinner. (see photos)
It was raining lightly (more of a drizzle) the day we sat
out the crates and planted our vegetable plants. Both of us were in a very good
mood; we didn’t mind the rain or getting wet. We found
a really old metal watering can in the cellar to water the crates; it is better
than most of the new plastic ones that don’t have spouts with tiny holes. I am
hoping this project takes off, because I can envision planting other types of
vegetables next year—cucumbers, squash, broccoli. But we’ll need more crates,
and that won’t be a problem if the outcome is successful this year. So far, the
birds have left the crates alone, ditto for the cats that wander through the
neighborhood. I’m hoping the human animals that wander through the yard will
leave the crates in peace, but you never know. We’re hoping for the best.
Eventually, our co-op may also allow the addition of
balconies to some apartments, and ours will be one of those lucky enough to get
a balcony. At that point, I will be on cloud nine, because then I will be able
to plant even more vegetables and flours in pots on our balcony. I’m looking
forward to that day. In the meantime, our vegetable crates suffice. The
take-home message is that is possible to develop a ‘green thumb’ even if you
live in a city apartment building. And many cities around the world have common
urban gardens for apartment residents, who enjoy working and tilling their
little plot of land so that it yields produce. Oslo is no different, but the
waiting lists to get such a plot are long. We are on one of those lists to get
a plot in a city garden not far from where we live; we applied for one in 2009
and there were one hundred people ahead of us. The organizers contacted us last
year to ask if we were still interested in getting one, and we said yes. At
that point, we had moved up the list and were at place number 39. So perhaps by
the time we are retired, we’ll have our own little plot of land to till and
enjoy. Until then, I’m happy with my vegetable crate and eventual balcony
plantings.
Sunday, May 17, 2015
Happy 17th of May, Norway!
May 17th is Norway's Constitution Day or Independence Day. Wishing this country a wonderful celebration. The picture is from the US Embassy in Norway Facebook page and I am sharing it with you as well.
Wednesday, May 13, 2015
Another song that I really like
Another new song that I like by the British group Years and Years--King.....
Sunday, May 3, 2015
Our Oslo neighborhood in springtime bloom
Still a bit of a chill in the air, especially in the evenings. But during the day, when the sun shines, there is the promise of summer. Oslo is in bloom, everywhere you turn. Our backyard boasts two cherry trees, four plum trees, as well as gooseberry, black currant, and red currant bushes, all of which are starting to bloom. And our co-op recently voted to allow residents to plant vegetables in crates that will be placed along the walls of the buildings in some places, for those who would like to do that. They will not replace the beautiful flowers though. Our neighborhood at large is in full bloom also. Enjoy the photos!
beautiful forsythia |
forsythia and tulips outside our door |
one of the plum trees in bloom |
blooming trees along the Akerselva river |
a meadow of cheery yellow dandelions |
blooming trees |
blooming cherry trees further up the road from where we live |
a lovely evergreen tree |
blooming roses indoors--a gift from my husband for our wedding anniversay |
a blooming orchid indoors |
Friday, May 1, 2015
A recent full moon
This photo of a full moon was taken in March with my digital camera attached to my SkyWatcher telescope. I had to crop the original photo to get the moon to appear larger. Enjoy.
Wednesday, April 29, 2015
Quotes about dealing with difficult people and situations
Knowing your own darkness is the best method for dealing
with the darknesses of other people.
Carl Jung
When dealing with people, remember you are not dealing
with creatures of logic, but creatures of emotion. Dale Carnegie
Dealing with backstabbers, there was one thing I learned.
They're only powerful when you got your back turned. Eminem
A simple rule in dealing with those who are hard to get
along with is to remember that this person is striving to assert his
superiority; and you must deal with him from that point of view. Alfred Adler
One of the most important things, especially when you're
leaving school, is to realize you're going to be dealing with a lot of idiots.
And a lot of those idiots are in charge of things, so if you're in an interview
and you really want to tell the person off, don't do it. Lewis Black
I have a respect for manners as such, they are a way of
dealing with people you don't agree with or like. Margaret Mead
My recipe for dealing with anger and frustration: set the
kitchen timer for twenty minutes, cry, rant, and rave, and at the sound of the
bell, simmer down and go about business as usual. Phyllis Diller
When we label anyone 'bad', we will have more trouble
dealing with him than if we could have settled for a lesser label. William Glasser
That's what a god is. Somebody who knows more than you do
about whatever you're dealing with.
Terence McKenna
You should be able to voice your opinion and respect the
voice of the other side. You should be willing to educate yourself and know what
it is you're dealing with. Steve
Nash
Adult life is dealing with an enormous amount of
questions that don't have answers. So I let the mystery settle into my music. I
don't deny anything, I don't advocate anything, I just live with it.
Bruce Springsteen
Good leaders need a positive agenda, not just an agenda
of dealing with crisis. Michael Porter
Wednesday, April 22, 2015
In Praise of Non-Difficult People
We all know at least one truly difficult person in our lives
(or perhaps more)—the one who leaves a train wreck in his or her wake more
often than not, saunters on, leaving those around them to deal with the mayhem and/or
to clean up the mess. They are the drama kings and queens of this world. I know
we can all behave as difficult people sometimes; but I’m talking about those
people who make it their life goal to be truly difficult, no matter what the
situation. They are defiant in situations where defiance is not called for, rude
or aggressive in situations where rudeness or aggression are unnecessary, and
demanding and selfish in situations where to give in and to be unselfish might
have been the better path. Advice is wasted on them. They do what they want,
when they want. They are nearly impossible to deal with. Nothing is ever good enough for them; they are chronic complainers. They voice their opinion about everything, usually at a decibel level that drowns out other voices. They
always want more, or want what the others have. Envy seems to be a big part of
who they are, as well as a huge ego and a lot of self-confidence. They are
somehow so special that they take
offense if the world around them does not notice them and pay attention to them
all the time. They’re not good at sharing the spotlight with others, or giving
up the spotlight when it’s time for someone else (often younger) to step into
it. They need to be the centers of attention no matter what. I believe too that
they need to feel slighted in order
to exist. They live their lives in fighting
mode. The words compromise and listening are part of a foreign language to
them.
I grew up with the false notion that difficult people were somehow
more creative or gifted than non-difficult people, thus it might be worth my while to try to be more understanding of them. I don’t know where I got that idea from, perhaps
from the society around me at that time that worshipped all things
counter-cultural. Of course, when I was younger, it would have been difficult
or nearly impossible to discover that non-difficult people were creative or
gifted, because they were simply overshadowed by their difficult counterparts. So
I used a lot of energy in my younger years trying to understand difficult
people. Because of my understanding nature and ability to listen well, I
attracted my share of them. Along the way however, I also attracted my share of
non-difficult people. And it is the latter I prefer to be together with now. It
is the latter who have enriched my life and inspired me. I suppose I could add
that truly difficult people have inspired me as well—to not be like them.
I have learned a lot from non-difficult people. I have
learned the value of compromise, of calmness in communication with others, of
keeping an even tone when talking, of not flying off the handle when confronted
with truly difficult people. Non-difficult people teach you from a very young
age how to fit into society and how to be a valuable member of it. They teach
you the value of contributing to society. That’s important because the truly
difficult people are often the ones who want to dismantle the society they live
in because they just know they’d be
the better leaders or have the better solutions. But all they do is mostly complain rather than act. Most of the non-difficult people I
admire have learned how to deal with the truly difficult people they know. Not
always of course. But they have over the course of a lifetime learned to stand
up for themselves in an assertive way, without clobbering or destroying the
truly difficult person. They limit their interactions with them, they listen
but have clear boundaries as to how much they will listen to. They have learned
the art of placation, which is to say they do not hand their power over to
the truly difficult people (placation is not loss of power and can often be a
tactic that infuriates truly difficult people). They ignore them when
necessary, deflect them when necessary—all done in a kind way. Their kindness
is not weakness; it is in fact an extraordinary strength. They have a strength of
character and an inner calm that inspires me. And I’ve discovered that many of
them are very creative and gifted people, because I turn my head away now from
those people who shout the loudest, and instead focus on those who do not. I find the latter more interesting, both in workplace situations and outside of them.
Monday, April 20, 2015
My father's reading list from 1938
As promised, a list of some of the many books that my father
read in his lifetime. His book choices continue to inspire me; I know they will
do so for many years to come. In 1938, when he was twenty years old, he started
to note the specific year in which he read the books he listed. These are the
books he read during that year.
- The Wind from the Mountains Trygve Gulbranssen
- The Deserted Village and Other Poems Oliver Goldsmith
- And So—Victoria Vaughan Wilkins
- American Dream Michael Foster
- The Outward Room Miller Brand
- Anna Karenina Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy
- War and Peace Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy
- The Turning Wheels Stuart Cloete
- Invasion Maxence Van der Meersch
- Northwest Passage Kenneth Roberts
- Rogue Herries Hugh Walpole
- The Stars Look Down Albert Joseph Cronin
- The Thing: Why I Am a Catholic Gilbert Keith Chesterton
- Inheritance Phyllis Bentley
- Why Rome Selden Peabody Delany
- The Sisters Myron Brinig
- Judith Paris Hugh Walpole
- The Fortress Hugh Walpole
- Vanessa Hugh Walpole
- The Ordinary Difficulties of Everyday People John Rathbone Oliver
- D’Annunzio Tommaso Antongini
- Parnassus On Wheels Christopher Morley
- The Haunted Bookshop Christopher Morley
- The Wall Mary Roberts Rinehart
- The Citadel Albert Joseph Cronin
- Jamaica Inn Daphne du Maurier
- The Rains Came Louis Bromfield
- Opera, Front and Back H. Howard Taubman
- Wolf Solent John Cowper Powys
- Dawn In Lyonesse Mary Ellen Chase
- Appreciation William Lyon Phelps
- Tess of the D’Urbervilles Thomas Hardy
- To Have and Have Not Ernest Hemingway
- More of My Life Andrea Majocchi, MD
- For the Honor of the School Ralph Henry Barbour
- Murders in the Rue Morgue Edgar Allan Poe
- The Telltale Heart Edgar Allan Poe
- Doctor Bradley Remembers Francis Brett Young
- Green Mansions William Henry Hudson
- Wuthering Heights Emily Bronte
Sunday, April 12, 2015
Reading lists and a love of books
My father was an avid reader from the time he was a young child.
He kept a list of the books that he
had read, and they were not few. The first book on his list was Quo Vadis: A Narrative of the Time of Nero
by the Polish author Henryk Sienkiewicz; it was first published in 1895 in
Poland as a serialized novel in several Polish newspapers. In 1896, it came out
in book form and was subsequently translated into more than fifty languages
(according to Wikipedia). My father would have read it in English since he did
not speak Polish (he did however speak Italian, and studied Latin and Greek as
well). He did not annotate his book lists, so I don’t know why he started with
Quo Vadis; perhaps his father suggested this book to him. This was followed by Fortitude: Being a True and Faithful Account of the Education of an Adventurer by
Hugh Walpole, published in 1913. And so on, until the last book that he read
shortly before his death in 1985, which was Cal by Bernard MacLaverty, which came out in 1983. By the time he
died, he had read close to a thousand books. It was not clear from his book
lists when he started to keep them, but I’m guessing he started when he was
around twelve years old. Since he was sixty-seven years old when he died, that
means that in the space of fifty-five years of reading, he read about seventeen
books per year on average. Many of the books were loaned from the Warner Public
Library in Tarrytown; both my parents were frequent users of the library.
It struck me while going through my father’s book lists that
he was already interested in organizing and systematizing books as a child, in
preparation for his career as a librarian. He did not know that he was to become
a librarian when he was twelve years old, but the signs were already there when
you take a look at his lists.
Both he and my mother loved to read, and they instilled their
love of books in us children. My mother did not keep extensive lists of the
books she read like my father did, but both of them encouraged us to do so. So
I have done so, all these years. I started keeping a list when I was around
twelve years old, like my father. The first book on my list is The Hundred and One Dalmations by Dodie
Smith, which was first published in 1956.
My father read widely—fiction, non-fiction, biographies,
history, Catholic literature, and children’s literature. He shared what he read
with me especially, since I would often sit at the dinner table with him in the
evenings after dinner and discuss what he and I were reading. As I got older,
we would often read the same book, sometimes at the same time, more often right
after the other person had read it. We suggested books for each other; my
father would cut out book reviews from the newspaper to share with me, or we
would find a few books of interest in the weekly supplement The NY Times Book Review.
As I get older, it strikes me that growing up in my family was a special
experience. I learned to love books and to love discussing them. Nothing makes
me happier than when I can sit and discuss the book I’m reading or have read
with someone (I feel the same about movies). Some people would call it doing ‘post-mortems’
and don’t like to do this. In fact, most people I know don’t discuss the books
they read. I respect that. We all have our own reasons for why we read and for
reading the books we read. As long as the world continues to read, we’ll keep
evolving and growing as human beings. That’s what is most important. But I’m
glad I have my father’s reading lists, because as I peruse them, I see that we
have a lot of the same tastes in literature. And that makes me feel close to him. In a future post, I will list some of the books he read as a teenager
and young adult, and will include some of my own.
Saturday, April 4, 2015
Easter quotes
- The great gift of Easter is hope - Christian hope which makes us have that confidence in God, in his ultimate triumph, and in his goodness and love, which nothing can shake. --Basil Hume
- It is difficult to say what is impossible, for the dream of yesterday is the hope of today and the reality of tomorrow. --Robert H. Schuller
- Easter is meant to be a symbol of hope, renewal, and new life. --Janine di Giovanni
- People respond when you tell them there is a great future in front of you, you can leave your past behind. --Joel Osteen
- The symbolic language of the crucifixion is the death of the old paradigm; resurrection is a leap into a whole new way of thinking. --Deepak Chopra
- A rule I have had for years is: to treat the Lord Jesus Christ as a personal friend. His is not a creed, a mere doctrine, but it is He Himself we have. --Dwight L. Moody
- There is only one secure foundation: a genuine, deep relationship with Jesus Christ, which will carry you through any and all turmoil. No matter what storms are raging all around, you'll stand firm if you stand on His love. --Charles Stanley
- Easter is reflecting upon suffering for one thing, but it also reflects upon Jesus and his non compliance in the face of great authority where he holds to his truth - so there's two stories there. --Michael Leunig
- It is at Easter that Jesus is most human, and like all humans, he fails and is failed. His is not an all-powerful God, it is an all-vulnerable God. --Michael Leunig
- We were old sinners - but when we came to Christ we are not sinners anymore. --Joel Osteen
- I think we need to do some deep soul searching about what's important in our lives and renew our spirit and our spiritual thinking, whether it's through faith-based religion or just through loving nature or helping your fellow man. --Louis Schwartzberg
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