California Dreaming

Sunny skies. 

Peach pies.

Letterpress.

Ramen best.

A long weekend with friends, reading water, and just the right amount of time to read. 

Feynman is pretty phun-y.

DC / AC

After chastisement by a chemist, my next read had to be Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman (Adventures of a Curious Character) by Richard P. Feynman.  I've managed the first chapter and already know I'll like it.  "He fixes radios by thinking!"

Hope your week is off to a fine tuned start.

Empire State of Mind

Girl in Translation by Jean Kwok was one of the books downloaded for last month's holiday but not started until my return.  Yesterday's luxury was two cafe con leches and a morning dedicated to Kimberly Chang's journey.  A young girl and her mom who leave Hong Kong for Brooklyn in search of a better way of life.  It sounds like a line from a movie trailer but the story is much richer than your typical Hollywood survival.  Long hours in a sweatshop factory with sealed windows, a debt to family who is willing to give an opportunity to move to the US but not to provide adequate living conditions, and a girl who is more brilliant that she allows herself credit through her school years, except for one powerful scene with her headmaster.

There were a number of things I liked about this book.  Kimberly and her mom faced the challenges in a day to day manner.  At the advice of a friend during a challenging period, I adopted this approach and found that days somehow managed to string into weeks and months and you one day find you've survived something you never thought possible when thinking about it in years.  I liked the measurement of items by the number of skirts.  I liked the direct translation of an expression into English.  I liked the characters, and I admired Kimberly's choices.  I'd like to give her mom a hug but perhaps a bow might be more suitable.  Ms. Kwok did a fantastic job of capturing my attention and reminding me of daily gratitude.

I hope you had a great weekend and found a bit of time to read, relax and be grateful.  

In Plaid Sight

Because I seem to be on a rabbit hole toward darker topics this week, I've yet to find a bad review of this children's book, Duck, Death, and the Tulip by Wolf Erlbruch.  It was introduced by The Strand, hooked by The Guardian, and secured with Gecko Press.

I do love tulips.

Not Exactly Drawn Out

Anders Nilsen was a new name to me this morning.  I clicked this Guardian article, Anders Nilsen: drawing through grief, by Emma Brockes due to its title and to the fact that I identified with working through grief by doodling (though my drawings never saw light outside a 6x6 foot room with a semi-comfy green faux leather chair).  The article was powerful and something I wish I had read on the weekend so I'd have more time to mull it over before jumping into my day.  Once starting, there was no return so I now sit with a cold cup of coffee and three of his books in my Amazon cart.  It's the least I could do.

Paying the Piper

Somehow I managed to isolate myself from advertising enough to not know that:

1) the Netflix original series Orange is the New Black was set in a women's prison
2) the series is based on a book of the same name by Piper Kerman

GBC P@1ge filled me in 1) last week and NPR's most emailed stories clued in me on 2) this morning.

Sometimes books make my list in the strangest ways.

A Bunch of Hot Air

Today was the coolest day on record since 1948. I am certain that some will soon be pining for long summer nights.  Before the cool temperatures start to creep in more steadily, here's one more reminder to have a ball.

Decatur, AL
May 2013

Pet-ty Thief

I'm not quite sure how I managed 6 out of 10 on this "Pets in Literature Quiz" featured in the Guardian.  

A glass of reading water for guessing fortitude?  I'll take it.

Genre Alley

I visited the library in high school nearly every day.  Some of the time, it was a through-way to the photography lab where I could develop photos with a could-have-been-a-cousin-to-Bill Nye chemist, but most of the time, it was so I could swap out a book.  I had the stereotypical librarian:  lots of cats (LOTS!) and the sweater over skirt with the rimmed glasses look.  She was kind.  I remember the color of her lipstick and the way that she was very particular about random items in her space.  (I'm sure I'll have these same tendencies as I age though I do hope I select a different shade.)

I found this segment about "Libraries Leading Roles" on NPR to be a lot of fun.  The Keith Richard quote about churches and libraries sums my childhood brilliantly.  [Things I never expected to say.]  Incidentally, I've just added Keith Richard's Life  to my booklist.

I wonder if everyone has a favorite librarian.

That's What You Are

If you're doing any type of late night musings rather than enjoying a typical Saturday evening, perhaps you should add Marbles: Mania, Depression, Michelangelo and Me by Ellen Forney to your reading list.  This review by Matt Haig offers a glimpse into the text.  It's a graphic memoir and sure to be, in many ways, unforgettable.  

A Little Quarky

I have managed to live nearly sixty percent* of my life (statistically speaking) without knowing this book existed.  I've even dated two physicists.  How is this possible?  [Note: the rhetorical question applies to the book, though admittedly this is rather a high percentage of physicists in one lifetime.]

In swapping book lists this week with a chemist, he suggested Surely You're Joking, Mr.Feynman! (Adventures of a Curious Character) by Richard Feynman.  In mentioning, he had assumed I had already read it.  When I admitted I had not, he emphatically said that I must read this book at once.  In my defense, this book was published in 1985.  At that time, in true nerd form, I was reading through a suggested college prep reading list, alphabetically by author, as one does.

This NYT review from 1985 will give you a bit of an overview so you can decide if you'd like to add it to your reading list like I did.    I expect it to be a phun read.

*Don't calculate your "lived" span; it can be a little depressing.  If you choose to do so anyway, have at least one two glasses of reading water or a plane ticket (or both).

Falling a Bit

Girl in Translation by Jean Kwok is next in my queue.  I'm stealing away a few moments each night to learn her story.  As summer moves into August and fall routines start to creep in, my book list is getting longer.

Starry Night

I ended the weekend star-gazing.  It was a nice cool respite before the week ahead.  While this website is a little heavy on the purple text, it's a good guide to astronomy resources if you feel like things are looking up.  The Fourth edition of Peterson Field Guide to the Stars and Planets by Jay M. Pasachoff and Donald H Menzel is currently available and I'd recommend this text as a staple.

2nd & 3rd Editions
August 2013

My bookshelf holds the 1992 Third Edition and tonight's astronomer host has a well-worn second edition that was used to guide our small party through the Nebula and beyond. 

Peak a Blue

"The violets in the mountains have broken the rocks."

 - Tennessee Williams in Camino Real.  

Glacier Park
The Alps, July 2013

If you have a spare moment, I'd recommend this small piece, Remembering Tennessee Williams by Mervyn Rothstein.