The Shark

I've lost her. The shark died in my dining room the other day. Keith tried to revive her but she was pronounced at approximately 9:00 a.m. that morning.

From an older blog, dated August 2005:

Not My Grandmother's Iron

Before K left for work and the shops, I explained:

"I need a really, really good iron because I'm very bad at it. A proficient ironer can get away with using the cheapest iron because she knows what to do with it; I don't know what the %!& I'm doing."

He must have agreed. Leave it to him to come home with the most elaborate 'ironing system' that I've ever seen.

I've never had to read an instruction manual before using an iron until now. The little promo gadget: a recorded voice message on a black disk whose little red button (beneath the 3-D image), when pressed, boasts its 'X-tended Steam Burst' capabilities. It works vertically and horizontally. But that's not all. It features:

Intelligent electronic controls
360 degree pivot, extra long 12 ft cord
1700 watts of steam power
Electronic controls displays set and current
iron temperature
Advanced Electronic Technology Multi-Position Auto
Shut-Off, automatically turns iron off from any position
Stainless steel
soleplate for maximum glide-ability and heat retention
Anti-drip feature
cuts off water when temperature is too low
Permanent anti-calcium filter
prolongs the life of the iron
Self cleaning feature flushes the internal
soleplate with water

So, now my husband, when he leaves the home everyday, will leave in crisper clothes. He'll smile (ping!) as he dons his hat and leaves with his briefcase. I -- and my smartly-dressed child -- will follow him to the door, waving and smiling because I know the best housekeeping secret on the block: the Shark Intelligent Electronic Iron.

*first image: Household Management Illustrated (1953)
**second image

Where Is My Mind?

This area of my life has been disorganized. While I've got a handle on homemaking, childrearing and working, sort of, I haven't been able to settle into a good book.

I attempted to read Trace by Patricia Cornwell because I knew that a copy of Predator (her most recent) was on its way to me. Unfortunately, as with Blowfly, I was completely disinterested by the time the narration shifted, this time, to the perspective of the psychopathic criminal.

I've drifted among middle reader and young adult and picture books. (My library books are now overdue). I've neglected to record any that I have read.

There have been several articles (sources: New Yorker, New York, The Walrus) that I have not, despite my earlier vow, recorded herein.

Anyway, I think that once the Christmas holiday is over, once the New Year begins, I will be able to find my book. A book. Any book.

Notes On An Article

I have to admit that I'm addicted to magazines, especially to The Walrus and to The New Yorker. In fact, the purpose of this blog has always been to catalogue my reading for future reference, etc. but, if you'll look at my list, the nonfiction component got away from me because that is how much I read. At any rate, in an attempt to put greater effort into recording my nonfiction reading, I want to note my reaction to an article by John Lahr.

The November 14, 2005 issue of The New Yorker is worth buying just for one particular article: "The Thin Man: How Steve Buscemi Became An Indie Icon." It traces the artist from his humble beginnings to his cult-status acting. It also discusses his quiet directorial prowess.

John Lahr's gift seems to be that he can place you so intimately before his subject that, at the end, you feel as if you have been welcomed into a warm and comfortable friendship. Reaching the end of the article feels like saying goodbye to the friends with the knowledge that you probably won't see them again.

(to be continued...)

Goodnight Moon, Goodbye Cigarette

It seems that the cigarette has sparked controversy in matters of censorship. Goodnight Moon, the children's classic by Margaret Wise Brown, is undergoing a change.

According to the New York Times, HarperCollins Children's Books has reconsidered the use of a photograph bearing a cigarette-smoking illustrator, Clement Hurd. In fact, the cigarette was digitally removed from the photograph in a recent printing.

The publisher said it printed 20,000 hardcover and 50,000 paperback books with the altered photograph. No photo runs in the popular board-book format, for younger readers, which accounts for three-quarters of the 800,000 copies of "Goodnight Moon" HarperCollins said it sells annually.

The originating article by Edward Wyatt, is here.

Digesting Grief

They always say time changes things, but you actually have to change them yourself. - Andy Warhol

According to the Globe and Mail today, Maclean's magazine is undergoing a transformation:

...as of Nov. 14, the magazine will no longer carry that descriptor which has been on its cover by the nameplate since September, 1978, when Maclean's broke with the bi-monthly publishing schedule it had adopted in 1975.

Instead, the "new" Maclean's -- the premiere issue will be dated Nov. 21 -- will be called simply Maclean's, albeit with a stylized, swooping red maple leaf taking the place of the comma. (A preview of the maple leaf was included on the cover of the magazine's Oct. 10, 2005 "Centennial" issue. It's a return of sorts for the emblem which was a cover staple through the 1970s into the early eighties.)

This cosmetic change heralds a deep commitment by Kenneth Whyte (former National Post editor-in-chief) to create a different periodical:

[It]...will have a much more current-affairs thrust, with a determination to break stories and, instead of duplicating what has been heard on radio and TV or published in newspapers, to advance such stories with its own reportage and spin. a much more current-affairs thrust, with a determination to break stories and, instead of duplicating what has been heard on radio and TV or published in newspapers, to advance such stories with its own reportage and spin.

Frankly, I will miss Maclean's. It enabled me to catch up with the news of the week and it was also good bus reading material.

Being Mad About...

Madeline



The morning before yesterday, my long-awaited book club order arrived: Mad About Madeline: The Complete Tales (Ludwig Bemelmans with an introduction by Anna Quindlen). This morning, I unwrapped it. I'm so pleased with it. Like all of the collections that I purchase, nothing is abridged or tampered with. It is Bemelmans straightforward. It also contains a selection of original sketches of Madeline from Bemelmans's sketchbook.

Click here for information.

Coraline



After three years of procrastination, I finally got around to reading Coraline by Neil Gaiman. I'm not finished but, to this point, I am thrilled by it. I love it. My husband finished reading it just after we purchased the hardcover in 2002 and then I just kept reshuffling it back into the shelves while searching for books to surf and then read.

Eliot Letters Auctioned

In the New York Times today:

A collection of largely unpublished letters from T. S. Eliot (1888-1965) to the Faber publishing family, and inscribed first editions of Eliot's work were sold for �242,652 ($436,725) yesterday at an auction at Bonhams in London. One set of letters, some of them illustrated and including poems, from Eliot to Tom Faber, his godson, sold for about $82,000); and a second set, from Eliot to Enid Faber...

Read more here.

Secrets




Author: Jacqueline Wilson
Illustrated: Nick Sharratt
Translator: Vanessa Rubio
Publisher: Doubleday/Transworld Publishers/Gallimard Jeunesse (2003)
Format: Paperback, 252 pp
Trim Size 178 x 124 mm
ISBN: 2070537560
Reading Level: Ages 10 - 13

Weeks ago, I ordered Jacqueline Wilson's Secrets online. Unfortunately, I must have misread a blurb because I ordered a French copy and it arrived yesterday.

Our daily outdoor adventure became a trip to the local bookstore at which I purchased The Ultimate French Review and Practice. Yes, I have decided to put my French comprehension to the test and to read the French version.



Author: David M. Stillman, Ronni L. Gordon
Published: McGraw-Hill (1999)
Format: Trade Paperback, 448 pp
Trim Size: 17.78 x 25.4 x 2.64
ISBN: 0658000748

My reading of the language is far better than my spoken or listening comprehension but it will be a struggle. In the past, I have read in German, a language in which I used to be fluent and can still negotiate rather well, but I have never had such facility in French in my adulthood. An adventure, to be sure!

Coping

What do you do when grieving starts? Well, in our family, we head to a large bookstore and browse with the purpose of finding solace.

I developed this habit, this coping mechanism, as a girl of sixteen. When I married, my husband was quick to adopt the same.

Unfortunately, our beloved cat of 10 years passed away yesterday morning and we were laden with grief all day. We planned an evening trip to the bookstore (followed by swinging in the park.)

What soothes, obviously, has to be subjective. In general, I think it is finding a book that I have always wanted to read or finding one that wakens curiosity in an exciting way.

These were our finds:



Author: Gregory Maguire
Format: Trade Paperback, 466 pp
Published: Harper Collins Canada (October 1996)
Trim Size: 6.12 x 9.21 x 1.13 IN
ISBN: 0060987103



Author: Jacqueline Wilson
Format: Trade Paperback
Published: CORGI (October 2004)
Trim Size: 5 x 7.55 in
ISBN: 0440863686

My husband found:



Author: Douglas Hofstadter
Format: Trade Paperback, 800 pp
Published: Basic Books (January 1999)
Trim Size: 6.43 x 9.25 x 1.42 in
ISBN: 0465026567

Nothing replaces grief but a good book can help to distract during the process.

A Unique Mother

Katy No-Pocket
Author: Emmy Payne
Illustrated: H.A. Rey
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Company
ISBN: 0395137179
Hardcover, 32 pages
Publication Date: 12/01/1973
Age Range: 5-8 years
Grade Range: Grades K-3

I love this book. Katy No-Pocket is not your typical kangaroo mother and this doesn't sit well with her. Through conversations with animal mothers of all types, she comes to learn the impossibility of being exactly like others in style or method. She begins to appreciate that her parenting can be just as effective as that of kangaroos with pouches.

There is so much to learn from this book: general knowledge about animals, the diversity of life and lifestyles, the importance of seeking help in times of trouble and the value of self-esteem.

For my own part, not being a biological mother, I can relate to Katy No-Pocket: there may come a time when an adoptive mother feels inadequate or harbours doubts about her abilities versus those of biological mothers; this amazing picture book illustrates that biology isn't necessary in tending to the needs of one's children or in loving them.

If the illustrations seem somewhat familiar, they are the creations of none other than one half of the team responsible for Curious George. The pictures possess the same colour range and style in the detail.

My own little one is too young to appreciate it fully but I intend to introduce it to her as soon as possible.

Lola Rose

Children are resilient.

How many times have we heard this? As trite as it sounds, I know this to be true and, in this book, the author heartily assents. Fairy tales today seem to enlighten but not to frighten children; however, perhaps the sanitized versions no longer impart the kind of insight that is found in Jacqueline Wilson's Lola Rose.

The reader might well label this book an "Anti-Fairy Tale": the pre-teen narrator has many responsibilities and ugly realities with which to deal and she does so with the heartrending acceptance and grace so characteristic of abused children.

When life at home suddenly gets really frightening, Jayni, her mum and her little brother Kenny have to pack their bags and escape in the middle of the night. They also have to choose new names -- and so Jayni becomes the glamorous, grown-up Lola Rose!

As another element of instability enters Jayni's already tumultuous life, we watch a young girl as she struggles with identity, body image and the responsibilities of raising a younger sibling as well as herself. Her journey is more than that of self-discovery: it is about learning such harsh realities as injustice, dread fear and addiction in a seemingly impersonal world.

As the pressures mount at home and her mother's behaviour becomes more disappointingly predictable, Jayni cannot concentrate at school--even in her new life, everything new is old again--and she must find a way to cope that will not result in the destruction of her family unit.

For the older child, this book has so much to offer by way of illustrating certain universal conditions: the need for acceptance, peer pressures and issues of identity. Most importantly, for a child who has always worried about not having "normal" parents, this book brings comfort and reassurance.

For the child who has not had her childhood yanked away, it brings enlightenment and, probably, an appreciation of her family life as she knows it. It also aids in developing personal identity. We often define ourselves through the negative: "this" is "not me". I am confident that many readers--teenage and adult alike--will declare this throughout the book.

For the adult reader, the book is a humbling experience. In Jayni The Child we find the adult that we would like to become: insightful, strong through adversity and wise, very wise.

In the end, we want more for Jayni but she is much stronger and wiser than we: she knew all along what to expect about her circumstances; she has inhabited no fairy tale.

So, it is we who have grown. She has taught us that sometimes hope is not the strong, faithful night-light in the dark hours that we all would like; it is sometimes as brief and as fleeting as a firefly, but it can be just as stunning and powerful wherever it appears.

Don't be put off by the harsh subject matter: there is wit and humour enough to sustain even a casual reader from page to page. As trite as it sounds, trust me: you'll laugh and you'll cry and you'll want to read another Jacqueline Wilson book right away.

***

Here is The Guardian's Review