NEW BOOKS!!!

I ran to Borders yesterday during lunch to find a book... well, I couldn't find it, so I bought two others (hey - i had a coupon that expired yesterday - it needed to be used or I would have felt guilty all night).

The first one I bought was A Gate at the Stairs by Lorrie Moore. I saw it on the Politics and Prose (P&P) e-newsletter and thought that it looked good. I wasn't going to get it from Borders, but it was sitting right by the front door when you walk it - it was destiny. According to the P&P newsletter:

"introduces Tassie Keltjin a 20 year old college student at a fictional Wisconsin university, “the Athens of the Midwest.” Instead of returning to her parents’ farm at the semester break, she takes a job as would-be nanny for a restaurant owner/chef and her husband who are trying to adopt a child. Tassie’s easy-going manner, small town charm, and wry sense of humor seem to be the perfect complement to the obsessive, neurotic, demanding chef, Sarah. When Sarah does finally adopt Mary-Emma, a mixed race child, Tassie proves to be an able caretaker and learns a lot about herself and the world. I fell in love with A Gate at the Stairs in the opening pages, immediately attracted to the observant and intelligent narrator. - Mark LaFramboise"

The second, and the one that I am super excited about, is Here is Looking at Euclid by Alex Bellos. It is a unique look at the history of math. Really, can you go wrong with a book with a title like that???? I think not.

I will update you as I read both of them. I am also currently reading Eating Animals, by Jonathan Safran Foer. It is AMAZING. I love it - it is a great book not only for the topic, but for just how great of a writer he is. I will post more on this book later.

Happy Friday!! I hope you have a wonderful weekend of reading ahead :)

Happy 90th Women's Equality Day!!

90 years ago today, a state congressman in Tennessee, Harry Burn, cast the last vote needed so that women in the United States could have the right to vote. A struggle that started, in part, with these two courageous women:
ended in 1920 with the ratification of the 19th amendment.
Since it is an election year, I feel the need to encourage everyone out there to cast your vote - it is a right that was fought for and a right that women suffered and in the case of Inez Milholland, you could say died for.Some of you may know that I worked at the Sewell-Belmont House and Museum; a suffrage museum that highlights the work of the National Women's Party, a group created by Alice Paul (the top picture). Needless to say, this anniversary is near and dear to my heart. I could go on and on about them - for example, they were the first group to picket the white house, they were jailed for picketing the white house and were force feed when they refused to eat....but, I'll save all of this for another day.

HAPPY WOMEN'S EQUALITY DAY!!!!!

Mondays

I saw this picture and thought that it summed up perfectly how I was feeling today...


Image from http://ian-lidster.blogspot.com/2009/02/if-your-mondays-are-awful-and-everyones.html

Wednesday's Word of the Week

I wanted to start having a word of the week, and what better day to post it than on Wednesday!! Oh the alliteration is thrilling :)

So, I was going through and was wanting to find a word to post, and I am ending up stealing www.dictionary.com 's word of the day...

KOAN
A nonsensical or paradoxical question to a student for which an answer is demanded, the stress of meditation on the question often being illuminating.

I just love it :)

They also had a couple of examples of usage:

At that time I believed my affective controls were no longer intact, but now I present this to you as a more cogent question than it might at first appear, a kind of koan of the period.

-- Joan Didion, The white album

There you are - Koan is Wednesday's Word of the Week. Use it three times and its yours :)

Monarchs

I have been walking everyday with some friends from work and I have noticed a surge in the amount of butterflies. Unfortunately, when I moved out east, I left behind the Monarchs.

I'll randomly see one now, but in Kansas they would be all over the place. They are my favorite butterfly. I might be biased though. When I was growing up I would help catch and tag Monarchs to help track their migration paths; so I feel like I have a special love for them.

Long Time No Chat... and Birthday wishes

It has been WAY to long since I have posted. I didn't even post all of our trip to Paris! For that I would like to apologize. I have been remiss and I hope to make up for it. I am going to try my hardest to be better at posting more regularly.

As you can tell, with new blogging, comes a new look to the blog. Look forward to different pictures for the background as the months go on.

I find it only fitting that the first day I get back on a blogging schedule is Elizabeth Zimmerman's 100th birthday.
PS - for those of you that haven't seen all of the Paris pictures click here.