Soliciting Template Advice

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I’m trying to decide whether or not to go with a bolder template I found. It reminded me instantly of Madama Butterfly, my favorite opera (but it isn’t as though I have been to lots).

I have created a test page for you to look at. It has my blog and sidebar as they would appear. I realize I need to make some tweaky changes (like fixing the search button). I also ditched the calendar function, so if you use that, it might be gone if I decide to go with the template.

View the test template, then come back and tell me what you think.

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Messenger

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Messenger

by Lois Lowry

Messenger is the third book in a futuristic trilogy by Lois Lowry that includes The Giver and Gathering Blue. After having read Messenger, I have concluded that The Giver is the strongest of the trilogy — it has, I think, the most accessible and interesting message, and I didn’t feel it was quite as heavy-handed as the other two. I think Messenger was a bit stronger than Gathering Blue, but it still lacked some sort of cohesiveness. The story didn’t feel to me that it was completely told.

It was really good to see Jonas again, but I found it implausible that even given his gift of “seeing beyond” that he would lead a community at his age. I cannot recall where I read this, but at least one reader questioned why people in the society might have these supernatural powers — what had changed on Earth to enable people to, for instance, see across vast distances to others in trouble, to heal grievous wounds? This didn’t really bother me as I sort of decided these books were science fiction. They take place after an apparent nuclear holocaust. The survivors built different communities. We don’t really know what effect such radiation might have on people, but I am OK with the notion that some of them developed strange super-human powers. At any rate, lots of comic book heroes received their powers in such ways.

I found the society in The Giver to be the most believable. The people in that community created what they thought was a utopian society, but in reality turned into a dystopia. The society in Messenger was also utopian. Completely communist, the group helped each other and found shelter and food for newcomers. Then the society voted to close and strange things were happened when they went to “Trade Mart.” Exactly what were they trading away for the luxuries and better lives they desired? Even nature around the village started to poison and attack. I found the book to be somewhat of an indictment against how present-day Americans treat newcomers to our shores and a criticism of our materialism. One member of the community makes a Christ-like sacrifice, and things appear to be as they were before the group wanted to close — the utopia is restored.

I don’t feel I wasted my time in reading Gathering Blue or Messenger, but I wouldn’t read them again — I would read The Giver again — and I think the story was strongest when it was left at that. However, I sense that Lowry is not done with her futuristic society, and I sense an attachment between Kira and Jonas is in the works for a future book. If you read one book of the trilogy, make it The Giver and rest in the notion that the ending is happy for Jonas and Gabe.

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Literature Carnival!

Posted on by Dana
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Do you know what a blog carnival is? Basically, it is kind of blogging “community” focused on a particular interest. For example, I read and sometimes participate in an education blog carnival usually hosted by the Education Wonks. I really enjoy it, and it has helped me discover lots of education blogs.

I was thinking of hosting a carnival here. Casting about for ideas, I decided to host a carnival about literature/books. I think that makes sense, as this blog is mainly about what I’m reading. I have concocted this edition of the Literature Carnival myself. As the carnival grows, I will accept submissions from other bloggers. Submissions can be book reviews, writing about writing, writing about authors — as long as it’s all about books. This isn’t the same think as Bookslut’s blog, which links websites and news stories about books. This is a collection of links to blogs about books.

Carnival of Literature, First Edition

When I was recently reading Lolita, I commented to my husband that it was a really good book — the prose is beautiful in some places. Obviously Humbert Humbert is loathsome, and I don’t believe the reader is actually meant to sympathize with him. He is the classical example of the unreliable narrator. Still, my husband refuses to read it, remarking that it is nothing more than a book about a pederast. Which begs the question — should one read an “immoral” book? Bookish answers.

Speaking of Lolita, Stephen Metcalf ponders whether or not it’s still shocking (OK, maybe Slate isn’t exactly a blog).

Booklust has some gorgeous images from a book of postcards entitled For the Love of Libraries: Photographs and Anecdotes. I like the one of the lovers in the stacks. Booklust’s quote from Larry Rubin is apt: “They kiss in cubicles; for all we know they breed down there in the twelfth century.” Perhaps I reveal too much about myself…

Until now, the publishing industry has been centered around authors. Jane Friedman envisions a future when it is centered around publishing companies. “Ms. Friedman made the comment last summer that she envisions a time when authors are secondary to the brand name imprint, that future book buyers will want to buy a book because Harper Collins is the publisher.” Booksquare examines the issue.

Chekhov’s Mistress considers collecting first edition books and gives some advice on how to find and care for rare books.

Syntax of Things discusses underrated writers. Perhaps you’d like to send along a submission?

Michelle Richmond has some advice for creative writers at Sans Serif.

Ghost Word ponders giving books for gifts. What are you giving? Recommendations?

Bill Benzon, guest writer for The Valve considers whether it’s necessary to read deeper than the surface level of texts. Makes me think of the old saw that English class kills our appreciation for literature.

That’s it for the first Literature Carnival. Let’s make this a regular venture. If you are interested in sharing your posts about literature, e-mail me at dana @ huffenglish.com with the subject line “Carnival” and a link to the post in the text of your e-mail. The deadline is Friday, December 30 at 10:00 P.M. Feel free to submit logos, too.

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To Trackback or Not to Trackback

Posted on by Dana
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Perhaps not as weighty a consideration as that of the famed Prince of Denmark… at any rate, I’ve decided not to trackback. That is, I have disabled trackbacks for my system. I will still trackback others’ sites when I link them, but on this end, allowing trackbacks has proved to be rather fruitless. First of all, most people who link me don’t trackback. That’s fine; I don’t really mind. Second, for some reason, my spam filter blocks anyone who tracksback with a Blogspot blog on Blogger, even legitimate trackbacks. Perhaps this is due to the large number of splogs on Blogger. Finally, of the countless trackbacks I’ve received, maybe five — website wide, not just for this blog — have been legitimate. Considering that in some form or another, parts of this website have been live for a year and a half, that’s not a stellar record. My spam filter manages to block or moderate all of the trackback spam, but I do have to spend a few minutes each day deleting trackback spam from my junk folder. Considering how few benefits I get out of it, I decided it simply wasn’t worth it to continue accepting trackbacks. I doubt it will inconvenience anyone, but I thought I’d annouce the change anyway.

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Lazy Sunday

Posted on by Dana
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If you didn’t catch the SNL video (like me), but wondered what all the folks at the water cooler (or in my case, students at lunch) were laughing about, never fear. You too can follow Andy Samberg and Chris Parnell on their quest to see The Chronic WHAT! cles of Narnia.

Hat tip to Jonathan Coulton.

Update: I mistakenly referred to Andy Samberg as “Adam.” Sorry for any confusion.

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Gathering Blue

Posted on by Dana
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OK, what did you think happened at the end of The Giver? If you haven’t read that book and you want to, you probably shouldn’t read any further. You were warned.

I was sure that Jonas and Gabe died in the snow — that the house with the lights was a trick of Jonas’s imagination as he succumbed to hypothermia. I guess I’m a bit of a pessimist, then? However, Lois Lowry answers this question in her FAQ:

What happened at the end of THE GIVER?
I made the ending ambiguous on purpose. “Ambiguous” means that it can have different explanations. I like to leave it that way so that each reader can use his or her imagination and decide what is happening. But I do think it is a happy ending.

I fail to see how Lowry might consider Jonas and Gabe dying a “happy ending,” so that must mean the light was real and they were rescued. I did some digging online and found out that there is now a trilogy. I had heard of Gathering Blue, but not Messenger. With the teaser that Gathering Blue mentions Jonas in an oblique way and that he would be a character in Messenger, I decided to pick up these two books.

I have just finished Gathering Blue. I think overall that it is a weaker story than The Giver, which I enjoyed much more. This novel, like The Giver, is set in some future time after an apparent nuclear holocaust. In Kira’s village, people live in primitive fashion — disabled people are left to die in “the Field,” children are abused, and mysterious “beasts” lurk in the woods and will attack anyone who strays too far.

Kira has a gift for needlework and is spared death despite the fact that she has a physical disability. When her mother dies, the Council of Guardians taps her for a special job — she will restore and complete the Singer’s robe. Like the Giver in the first book, the Singer memorized the account of life up to and through the Ruin, when man was nearly destroyed.

I did not find that I sympathized as much with these characters as I did the characters in The Giver. I think I just identified more with Jonas. I could “see” the setting in The Giver. The contrast between a supposedly civlized society with barbaric practices — Release — seemed much more poignant. It was much easier to imagine Kira’s society did awful things to its citizens when they themselves treated each other so poorly on a regular basis.

Still, if you want to be reassured about Jonas, you’ll probably want to read this bridge book so you can understand Messenger — my next project.

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Public Service Announcements

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I spent a large portion of my early afternoon on Nick Jr.’s website with Maggie and Dylan. If you have small children, I wanted to make you aware that there are several videos available at the site, including full episodes of Blue’s Clues. Click the “Play Now” button the the box labeled “Nick Jr. Playtime” for access to the high quality video; the videos on the individual show pages are often lower quality and don’t include links to the whole episodes, either. The screen is small — 5X4; my kids didn’t seem to care. There are, of course, lots of other things to do and see there, including games and stories. If you’re looking for things to do with your toddler or preschooler online, that’s a pretty good website to go to.

Also, in my travels on the web today, I became aware of something you bloggers who find commenting trolls tiresome might value: You Read It Right: Complete Blog Commenting Guidelines (via The Dawn Patrol). The creators invite bloggers to link to the guidelines, which are much more comprehensive than the guidelines I already had up, so I believe I’ll be replacing my rather weak attempt at thinking of everything with theirs. The only thing I might add is that if your comments are often longer than the entries upon which you comment, then you should consider getting your own blog — you obviously have a lot to say. Then again, I guess that should not be a hard and fast rule so much as a suggestion. I think these guidelines, similar to those of Read Me: A Blogger Disclaimer can help newbies to blogging (as well as some of the “oldbies”). I realize that introducing “standards of conduct” may seem galling to some, but those who are offended or don’t like it for some reason are free not to use it on their own blogs or not to comment or read the blogs of those who use them.

So those are my two PSA’s for today, most decidedly aimed, I suppose, at mommy bloggers.

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Armchair Psychoanalysis

Posted on by Dana
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I classified this as a rant, but as rants go, it’s not really that vehement. It’s more like old Andy Rooney’s, “You know what I don’t like?” Armchair psychoanalysis. I have been given a couple of doses of it recently by people who don’t know me all that well, nor do they know much about the situation they seek to advise me about. Even more interesting, however, has been the wealth of opinion on the subject of mandatory reporting of abuse over at Steve’s site. Heck, I understand what they’re trying to say, but most of them were looking at what they thought was best instead of what was actually legal. Sometimes, indeed, those two things aren’t the same. In this case, I’m not convinced that’s true, however. I just find it a bit alarming that so many people seem to think they have the ability to psychoanalyze others to the degree that they do. I suppose a site like Steve’s invites it. I guess I don’t wax controversial too much over here, and that’s fine with me.

Truth be told, my husband is one of the worst as far as armchair psychoanalysis goes. I think he’s aware of it, and I think he actually enjoys it. I don’t think it even bothers him so much when someone else does it to him. However, I admit to becoming if not angry, then certainly peeved when some schmoe who doesn’t know his or her ass from her armpit tells me what’s wrong with me and how I can fix it. There was a famous rabbi once who said, “physican, heal thyself.” If it’s annoying coming from Steve, then you can bet it’s incredibly irritating coming from a stranger. Especially a stranger who appears to be mentally unbalanced in his or her own right. I think the best thing a friend can do when someone close to them is going through something painful is to be there and listen. On the other hand, I think if you don’t really know the person all that well, perhaps you ought to bite your tongue — there are just so many layers to people, and you probably don’t have all the facts. No matter how much you think you know or want to help, you just wind up being a nuisance — sort of this “I know what your problem is, here’s what you need to do.” If done in the wrong way, I think it can be harmful, and I shouldn’t wonder if real mental health officials don’t get extremely upset over this issue.

Update: My fault for not being clear, but I had reasons. If you think this applies to you, ask me first before you assume.

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OK, I Lied

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I do indeed think that the idea that our whole city might participate in a book club is really cool. Honest. But they chose the book that was on the bottom of my list! I really don’t want to read it. And despite what I said about participating no matter which book was chosen, I have decided I’m just going to read by myself. I saw October Sky, and I even liked it, but I really don’t want to read Rocket Boys right now. Rocket Boys? Out of the list of books, the city chose Rocket Boys? I’m still scratching my head over that one.

I have three more days until my vacations. I need a vacation. I’m so tired. Teaching the research paper stresses me out.

My car is doing that weird shift thing again. Of course it wasn’t fixed. I hoped.

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Life Studies: Stories

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by Susan Vreeland

Inside my copy of Susan Vreeland’s Life Studies there is an inscription which reads, “Dana, Warmly, Susan Vreeland.” Nearly a year ago, I drove to the library in Decatur, which usually only takes about 30 minutes, but actually took an hour in the downpour and the dark. Susan Vreeland is an engaging reader. Perhaps that comes with 30 years of teaching high school English. I found myself wishing I’d been in her class. She must have been something.

I truly enjoyed Girl in Hyacinth Blue, which can also be viewed as a collection of short stories, except each story is about the same painting. The ownership of the painting is traced back from the present to its creation. To each owner it means something else, and each owner has his or her own story.

Life Studies is also about the stories behind art, but it is different from Girl in Hyacinth Blue. Clearly, Vreeland has a penchant for nineteenth century art, especially Impressionism. I read this book in pieces, picking up a story here and there over the course of the last year. I found something to enjoy in each, and I appreciated the fact that Vreeland put the art mentioned in the book up at her website. Each story is unique and has its charms. The first half of the book is devoted more to the actual artists. We learn of their lives either through them directly or through those they have touched — lovers, servants, neighbors, and children. The second half is devoted to ordinary people and their reactions to and affections for art.

Of the stories, I think my favorite was “In the Absence of Memory,” which was about the daughter of Amadeo Modigliani. I knew nothing of Modigliani before I read this story, but his story was very interesting. Of the stories, I shouldn’t wonder if this one was the one Vreeland researched the most, as I discovered Modigliani’s daughter Jeanne did indeed write Modigliani: Man and Myth (out of print), for which Vreeland expresses “gratitude” to Jeanne Modigliani’s “forthrightness.”

Second perhaps to “In the Absence Memory,” perhaps was “Crayon, 1955.” Vreeland states that it is semiautobiographical, and it reminded me a little bit of To Kill a Mockingbird. The young protagonist gets a chance to “walk around” in her neighbor’s “skin” when she is asked to take care of her plants while the intrepid neighbor is in Guatamala on an archaeological dig. What she learns fascinates her.

As a teacher, I enjoyed “At Least Five Hundred Words.” If you’ve ever been made to write a punitive essay or do lines, you’ll appreciate the humor and poignancy of that story. However, “Their Lady Tristeza,” which documents the miraculous appearance of a nude Virgin in the form of Matisse’s Nu Bleu on a classroom whiteboard fell flat for me. Something just didn’t quite gel.

I think art-lovers in particular would enjoy this book, but there is a little something for everyone to relate to in Life Studies; all of us have experienced loss, pain, wonder, joy, and curiosity, whether through art or just the art of living.

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