Monkey Busy-ness September 26, 2006
Posted by Snow Monkey in Adoption, Books, Monkeys, Television, Travel.3 comments
The semester began three weeks ago today, and it’s been a busy three weeks.
For starters, there’s the teaching, the research, and all the fun administrative stuff that comes at the beginning of the school year.
Add to that the beginning of the fall TV season. Not that I’m complaining, but I’m invested in too many TV shows. There’s The Amazing Race on Sunday night, as I’ve already mentioned (my Bluegrass roots demand that I root for Team Kentucky, though they make me a bit self-conscious). Then America’s Next Top Model on Wednesday night (I know I said that TAR was the only reality TV show that I watched, but I lied; yes, I’m ashamed). Then three in a row on Thursday night: My Name Is Earl, The Office (I liked how the premiere handled the Jim/Pam situation), and CSI. And Lost hasn’t even started back up yet. I’m lucky that the first episode of Heroes didn’t particularly captivate me.
I also had the ten-year check up on the heart valves that I had replaced. Everything looked fine, but now I’m a just little worried about whether my having had the surgery will hurt our application to adopt from China (this discussion at Rumor Queen has both reassuring and disquieting—but mostly reassuring—information on that score).
On a less serious note, I did a one-monkey media blitz: two television appearances, one radio show, and a newspaper interview (that’s all I can say, however, because I’m Clark Kenting it here).
Last, but not least, I’ve done a lot of reading for fun. Specifically, I’ve been reading books and short stories by Manly Wade Wellman, who mixes horror and occultism with Southern folklore and folk music. Manly gets bonus points with me for living in Chapel Hill, NC for more than three decades (I spent a few years there myself). I checked out five of his books from the local library; four of them hadn’t been checked out for the past year.
In other news, happy belated birthday to SBird. It’s nice that she had fun in Vegas (I recommend the New York-New York hotel and RumJungle; I would diss the Tropicana, but I hear that they finally blew it up).
While I’m at it, I’d like to give a shout-out to Monkeyhead, who is not only a fellow monkey but also someone who knows the secret sign.
Edited to add: Oh, yeah, my parents went to Paris (a change of pace from their last destination, Hawai’i). I would like to go there someday. Sure, I’ve been to the top of the Eiffel Tower, but that was when we were staying at the Paris hotel in Las Vegas.
Book It, Monkey-O August 27, 2006
Posted by Snow Monkey in Books, Memes.4 comments
Following Nicole’s lead, I’ve answered the 10-book challenge.
1. A book that changed my life: The one that I’m trying to write. No, it’s not the great American novel. It’s not a novel at all. If I find a press, it will become a dusty academic tome.
2. A book that I have read more than once: The Chronicles of Prydain, by Lloyd Alexander. I’m as devoted to the five-volume saga of Taran, Assistant Pig-Keeper, as some folks are to The Lord of the Rings or the Harry Potter books.
3. A book to take to a deserted island: The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman, by Laurence Sterne. I’ll probably never read this go-nowhere meta-novel unless I’m trapped in nowhere myself.
4. A book that made me laugh: Any book by travel writer Tim Moore—but especially The Grand Tour, in which he drives around Europe in a vintage Rolls wearing a purple velvet suit.
5. A book that made me cry: I can’t remember any book having made me cry. I remember that E. B. White’s Charlotte’s Web made me sad when I was a kid, however, so I’m going with that answer.
6. A book that I wish had been written: I’ve always wanted to read one of the great imaginary books of literature—for example, Abdul Alhazred’s Necronomicon (from H. P. Lovecraft’s stories) or Sir Lancelot Canning’s Mad Trist (from Poe’s “The Fall of the House of Usher”). I’ll go with The King in Yellow, which produces terrible consequences for anyone who reads it.
7. A book that I wish had never been written: Seduction of the Innocent, the 1954 book by psychologist Fredric Wertham that whipped up an anti-comic book frenzy across America. My mother, who was 11 at the time, resisted the ensuing comic book witch hunt.
8. A book that I’m currently reading: 100 Ghastly Little Ghost Stories, a Barnes and Noble instant-remainder anthology that includes works by writers ranging from J. Sheridan Le Fanu to O. Henry to Saki to Ramsey Campbell.
9. A book that I’m planning on reading: I have a copy of Scott Smith’s The Ruins sitting on my shelf right now. I’m a bit scared to start reading it.
10. A favorite book not already listed: We Have Always Lived in the Castle, Shirley Jackson’s misanthropic masterpiece (you may remember the author from “The Lottery”). I liked it enough to buy a first edition.
I tag any member of my microscopic readership who would like to follow suit.
