Makin Usselves Smawt

Joshua and I have started reading out loud to each other. We were watching John Adams and thought it was such an inviting image, John and Abigail sitting by the fire reading aloud to each other. Sounds like a past time that makes you smarter. Not like this summer reality television that will slowly simmer your brain. Now I'm not talking about the quality Fall Reality TV - this stuff is "More to Love" and "Help, I'm a celebrity get me out of here." This is trash and if you watch this stuff I'm sorry but we can't be friends. Now if you watch Survivor or Amazing Race pull up a chair.

Anyway, back to the not being stupid. At the same time that we made the decision to entertain ourselves like an 18th century intellectual couple, Newsweek came out with their 100 Best Books list. Well darn if we don't need to make sure we've read all of those. Perfect timing! To make sure each book we read is better than the last we are starting at the end. As appealing as Churchill's history of World War II sounded, we decide to skip ahead to the first novel The Color Purple.

Currently we are just shy of the halfway mark. If you aren't familiar with the book it is written as letters to God in broken English. So, instead of sounding smarter today after the hour we read last night, I sound uneducated and have to consciously insert prepositions. Because Joshua was only listening last night he has no issues today but I am really struggling. You just wouldn't believe how quickly those little things lift right out.

Have You Been to the Library Lately?

I am currently loving the library. I think it is awesome that our country thinks reading is so important that they fit the bill to make books available to everyone. Our Edmondson branch isn't quite as exhaustive as Amazon.com but with a simple form I can request any book. I am currently in line for 8 books and I can't wait for them to show up.

I know you are thinking, have I never used a library before? I'm very aware I'm talking about it like it is a martian that just showed up in our lawn. But, you know that feeling when you leave $20 in your jeans pocket and then the next time you wear them you find it and it feels like you just made $20? It's something like that.

Anyway, I got A Man Without a Country on one of the 3 trips to the library last week (that's right three trips).  It took all of 2 hours to read and I think it was worth every minute.  It felt a bit like something that I would have been required to read in college and although I don't agree with all of his ranting I do think he made some really good points. I love the challenge of sifting through the information in a book and using my brain to decide what I agree with instead of just reading people who think just like me.  I think stretching is how we grow as people.

My favorite part of the book was excerpted here but I also enjoyed his talk about marriage.

"Why are so many people getting divorced today? Its because most of us don't have extended families anymore. It used to be that when a man and a woman got married, the bride got a lot more people to talk to about everything. The groom got a lot more pals to tell dumb jokes to...

But most of us, if we get married nowadays are just one more person for the other person. The groom gets one more pal, but it's a woman. The woman gets one more person to talk to about everything, but it's a man...

A husband, a wife and some kids is not a family. It's a terribly vulnerable survival unit."

Oh yeah and I also picked up the Pilates for Dummies DVD. Like I said stretching is really important.

Snow Flower

While I was in Texas my mom gave me a book she had read called Snow Flower and the Secret Fan. I didn't get it started until I was on my four hour flight home on Saturday but I finished it before I went to bed last night. Yesterday Joshua and I decided to spend a few hours reading so he read his book Devil in the White City and I finished mine. Joshua's isn't a finish in one sitting kind of book but we would recommend them both.

One is about Chinese footbinding and the other is about the World's Fair in Chicago, can you guess which is which?