How many times till we know?

How many roads must a man walk down

Before you call him a man?

How many seas must a white dove sail

Before she sleeps in the sand?

Yes, how many times must the cannon balls fly

Before they're forever banned?

The answer, my friend, is blowin' in the wind,

The answer is blowin' in the wind.

Yes, how many years can a mountain exist

Before it's washed to the sea?

Yes, how many years can some people exist

Before they're allowed to be free?

Yes, how many times can a man turn his head

Pretending he just doesn't see?

The answer, my friend, is blowin' in the wind,

The answer is blowin' in the wind.

Yes, how many times must a man look up

Before he can see the sky?

Yes, how many ears must one man have

Before he can hear people cry?

Yes, how many deaths will it take till he knows

That too many people have died?

The answer, my friend, is blowin' in the wind,

The answer is blowin' in the wind.

- Bob Dylan

Posted in honor and memory of Dana Falkenberg, Zoe Falkenberg, and their Mom and Dad, Leslie Whittington and Charlie Falkenberg. Flight 77.  Dana was 3 years old and Zoe was 8 years old. 

Photos were taken at the Sep 11th Memorial at the World Trade Center plaza in New York City, Aug 6, 2014.

Care to venture a guess?

Today a dashboard warning light came on in my husband’s car.  He asked me to meet him at Sears, where we switched cars.  He drove back into town in my car, in time to teach his class. I spent part of the afternoon waiting at Sears for them to replace the alternator.

After the repair was done, I started his car, and noticed that all the radio presets had been wiped out. 

I reset them all to the NPR station.  Tee hee.  Care to guess how long it takes him to notice?

Mr Fixit at Sears said that the battery was fine; it definitely was a problem with the alternator.  My husband said the battery is 4 ½ years old.  Care to guess how long it will be before that car is back at Sears for a new battery?

In other news, by the fifth day of school, Younger Daughter had already lost her math textbook.  She claims that it doesn’t matter because she can just use the online textbook, but I know otherwise.  Care to guess how long it takes her to find it?  (This could be a trick question, because if it is in the house, it is likely that I will be the one to find it.)

Books of Influence

I was tagged on facebook to list ten books that have affected me.  I have cheated and listed more than ten here.  I have a feeling of déjà vu, as if I have already posted about this, in which case forgive me.   But I can’t find anything in my blog archives.

You can play along too, if you want, by listing one or more influential books in the comments or on your own blog.

Here goes.  In no particular order:

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte

I first read this in high school and loved it.  I can’t really say why, which makes me a bad student.  Maybe it’s because in the end, Reader, she married him.   (Cue happy tears.) It’s been several years since I re-read it.

Genesis (first book of the Bible)

This is where it all starts.  A group of people trying to become a nation needs a back story, and here it is.  But more than that, this book dares to say, against all the odds and all the evidence, that the creation we are living in is good.  The whole first chapter is just beautiful poetry and deep truth.  Plus it’s got some rip-roaring great stories.  Not for children. 

Les Miserables by Victor Hugo

When I first read it as a teen, this book reinforced my idealism about the world. When I read it the second time, I realized how ridiculous the plot twists were. While being chased by his sworn enemy, suddenly Jean Valjean jumps the wall and finds himself in the protected sanctuary of a nunnery with a gardener who owes him a favor.  Really?!  And Hugo can go on for pages about obscure 19^th century French political and social figures.  But he created enduring characters and scenes.  And then, the musical came along.  Do you hear the people sing?!

Go, Dog. Go! By P.D. Eastman

I still quote this book regularly, mostly when stopped at a traffic light, or when wearing an unusual hat, or when it is hot here under the sun.  Note that this book is not by Dr Seuss.   “Go, Dogs.  Go!  The light is green now.”

Charlotte’s Web by E.B. White

I just loved reading this book to my kids.  It has a certain poetry to it.  I love the geese’s speech pattern.

Down with Skool! by Geoffrey Willans

My father spent many of his childhood years at a boarding school in British India.  He related directly to much of the stuff in this book, which is about Nigel Molesworth, as any fule kno.  This book is marked by its atrocious spelling, dreadful punctuation, and the narrator’s marked dislike and disregard for the skool authoriteez.  It is from this book that I gleaned such gems as this French lesson:

            Je suis – I am

            A pot of jam.

            Tu es – thou art

            A jelly tart.

Yeah.  Pretty high-brow stuff. 

The Presbyterian Hymnal

When I was a teenager I spent hours at the piano just playing through the hymnbook. 

English Dictionary

In particular, the dictionary I won by coming in second in the county spelling bee in Columbus, MS when I was in sixth grade.  I think it might have been the American Heritage Dictionary, but I am not sure.   I was SO much happier winning that dictionary than I would have if I had won the spelling bee and had had to go on to the next level of competition.  (I also won a gallon of chocolate ice cream.) I was that kid who enjoyed just reading the dictionary, especially the word origins.  I loved my prize dictionary so much that it became tattered and the front cover fell off.  At some point my husband threw it away.  I have almost forgiven him. 

Bartholomew and the Oobleck by Dr Seuss

Another childhood favorite, often quoted by me and my siblings.

The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman by Laurence Sterne

My college Russian professor mentioned this book, in relation to what, I can’t remember.  I didn’t read it until after college, though.  It’s outrageous.  The narrator plays tricks on the reader and the book is one huge joke.  If you are going to read this book, I recommend reading it in actual book format, not on an e-reader, because the layout and typography matter a great deal.

Whatever book I am reading now

Not everyone in the world can obtain books with ease.  It is truly a privilege and a blessing to have books available. What I am reading at the moment happens to be:

a)  Lawrence in Arabia, by Scott Anderson.  It’s about the machinations of four individuals during the first World War and how they shaped the Middle East situation we have today:  British Lawrence of Arabia (T.E. Lawrence), Zionist Aaron Aaronsohn, American William Yale, and German Curt Prufer.  

b) The Blue Virgin, by M.K. Graff.

c) The Grapes of Math, by Alex Bellos

d) The Bible.  I’m skipping around in it, these days, with little focus.  Recent personal events have brought me back to the Psalms.

There are so many more books I could list, but now it’s your turn.  What book has influenced you?

Here are some Also-Ran influential books that
 I just pulled off the shelves.

Recent and future reads: Books in and near my nightstand.
See why I am not allowed to acquire new books?
The shelves are overflowing.

Do I really have to say this?

Signs posted in the Common Household in the past few months

Shoe Management Dept.

Dear Children,

Please take all your shoes to your bedroom

 and keep them there until further notice.

Love,

The Management

This concerns the sight which greets people at our front door - an unsightly pile of shoes.  Even after the children claimed they had complied with this request, there still were shoes left behind which did not belong to me or my husband.

Parents Going Away Dept.

To Do Daily

While We are away

- bring in newspaper

- feed fish

- do dishes

- throw away your trash

To Do as needed

- mow lawn

- put out trash bins on Tues night.

The above was for the two older children, while the rest of us went to NYC.  It astonishes me that I have to tell them explicitly to do their dishes and throw out their own trash.  I mean, legally they are adults.  But I suppose I was the same way at their age.

To do while we are away

- feed fish

- do the dishes

- eat leftovers

- clean table and floor in kitchen and DR

- bring in newspaper and mail

- go to band camp

- do not let flies in the house

- for God's sake, weed whacking

and added by my husband:

- trim bushes

- do weed whacking

- clean gutters

- feed Sister

- return yours and Sister's library books to the library (Library Name)

The above verbiage was for our recent trip in which we left our son at home in charge of Younger Daughter while we took Older Daughter to college and then attended to an elderly relative.  Son had many duties, the main one being transporting YD to and from band camp.  The idea that our unemployed son would do yard work was just a pipe dream.  But then, I found no complaints in the comment section when we returned.  They probably never read the list.

If You Eat This, I'll Throttle You Dept

This is for Marching Band!

If you drink this, and you are

not in Marching Band, you will

incur the wrath of the Band Director

AND Mom.  Double whammy.

This was an effective message.  The Pepsi was intact on the day it was supposed to be delivered.  And then I forgot to deliver it.  In my defense, there were extenuating circumstances.  

Do you post signs around your home?  Does anybody read them?