Pillars of the Earth

Finished reading Ken Follett's epic novel that centers on the building of a cathedral and the people whose lives are bound up with it.  I have been plagued lately by the memory of a scene in a book but couldn't remember title or author. I wish I had kept a book log all my life instead of just the past five years. I have bits and pieces of books floating around in my memory, and matching them up with titles and authors is sometimes impossible. As I'm reading POTE, I realize that I had read it before and forgotten everything except the one scene I've been trying to remember. No chance of losing it this time. I put it in my book log.

I like to read all my books simultaneously on my Kindle. I read a chapter, then move on to the next book. Coming around to the start is like meeting old friends again. Sort of like watching a miniseries on television, it's a way of making a book last longer. This didn't work with POTE. I was so engaged from the very beginning that I had to read it straight through, and I put all my other reading aside to do it. It was worth it, but I was exhausted by the end of the marathon read.

Now I'm reading the sequel, World Without End, and I'm back to my old method - read a chapter then move on to the next book.

What was the last book that gripped you so much you couldn't put it down?

Happy birthday, Christopher Guest

You are responsible for many of the laughs I have enjoyed. From This is Spinal Tap to Best in Show, your wit and humor light up my life.

Crispin photos

I love the work of Jon Crispin so much that I asked him for permission to use the image at the head of my blog and for a print I could frame. I also loved this image:

The serene monochrome colors of the beach photo are going into my bedroom for relaxation. The image of the wound up energy and power of the swimmer, just waiting to be released, is going by my door. It will be the last thing I see as I leave to release my own energy onto the world. If you would like to see more of Jon's work, here's a link to his blog:

http://joncrispin.files.wordpress.com

The swimmer's story is in the October 2010 archive.

Thanks, Jon.

I don't do New Year's resolutions. I don't like setting myself up for failure that way. I have enough disappointments without going out looking for them. I am doing something a little different this year. I'm participating in an online challenge. This one is a snap for me. It's the Victorian Challenge. The idea is to read works by or about an individual Victorian writer for each month. Here's a link:

http://lauragerold.blogspot.com/2011/12/victorian-challenge-2012-sign-up.html

I downloaded a free copy of Agnes Grey by Anne Bronte. I've never read anything by Anne, loathe Wuthering Heights and adore Jane Eyre. I'll find out this month where Anne falls on the continuum between her two sisters.

I get double points in September because I plan to read Gaskell's bio of Charlotte Bronte.

Do you make resolutions? Why or why not.

Either way, happy reading in 2012

Chuffed

I missed the proclamation proper, but apparently word went out to the universe that the past eight days were for the purpose of being Bless Kilian Week. In the space of those eight days, I won two drawings, received an unsolicited testimonial from a client, pitched my novel to an agent who wants to see the complete manuscript, lost weight, received a beautiful beaded lanyard for my compass to wear to my next orienteering event, and received an A on editing assignment for the class I'm taking through UC Berkeley, along with some very complimentary comments from the teacher. Whew! Of course my first idea was to run out and buy lottery tickets. Oh, well, guess Bless Kilian Week is over, but it was great while it lasted.

And how was your week?

Continental Divide

The Continental Divide is the line running roughly north and south that divides the continent in two parts. Rain falling on the east side drains eventually into the Mississippi and the Gulf of Mexico or into the Atlantic, and rain falling on the west side drains into the Colorado and the Pacific Ocean. More or less. I'm not a scientist; I'm an editor.

I have crossed this divide many times because I used to live in western New Mexico and traveled back and forth to Colorado, eastern New Mexico, Arizona and California by car. If you cross the Great Divide westbound out of Denver, there is no question that you are making a huge transition. The Rocky Mountains soar into the sky. I stopped at Leadville, Colorado, once (elevation ~10,000 ft.) to gas up. I was gasping for breath just walking to the bathroom and back. The air is so thin, there is not enough pressure to force the oxygen across the membranes of the lung. I thought I was going to faint.

I have also crossed the Great Divide driving west from Albuquerque to Gallup NM. If there hadn't been a marker by the side of the road with a notation, I would never have known that I had crossed a very important line. One side looks and feels just like the other, but I had crossed the divide just the same.

There is a Great Divide in our lives, too, that we cross. For me it happened when I was about forty-five years old, and it was more along the Albuquerque-Gallup road than the route over the Rockies. I gradually realized that I had stopped worrying about what people thought of me. Other people were starting to give consideration to what I thought of them. I had a sense of a certainty about who and what I was and stood for.

I had some successes and some failures, some accomplishments and challenges by this time. I knew that I when my integrity was severely tested, I could make the right choice under pressure. I knew that when I failed miserably, I could keep going somehow and learn from the experience. I had learned to trust myself and my own judgment. For me the transition was easy and gradual. For others the transition happens in one huge crisis - a brush with death, combat, giving birth, writing a bestselling book. It can take many forms.

People say "life begins at forty," and I think it is true, because we aren't truly living until we are free of looking over our shoulders to see what someone else thinks. For some this comes earlier, for some later, for some never. We learn from the story of the Garden of Eden that we trade innocence for knowledge. We trade youth for wisdom. But all innocence is not lost. One of my favorite writers, Marilynne Robinson writes: "There is an earned innocence, I believe, which is as much to be honored as the innocence of children." We work to gain knowledge and experience, then we work to regain innocence. If we are lucky, we are able to do so. Children and seniors are innocent in their enjoyments and accomplishments. We know who we are and what we do. We don't look to others for reassurance - we know it is all good. We've crossed the divide of life.

Impulse items

I went to the grocery store today and came out with the two items on my shopping list. Those two items and nothing more. So? you say. Well, it was a major victory for me. I hate shopping. I hate shopping because I can't control the impulse buying that goes along with shopping. I'm a simple copyeditor, and ranged against me are leagues of psychologists and marketing experts perfectly aware of how to appeal to my baser impulses. I went to Trader Joe's once to buy a pound of basmati rice, and it cost me $43 and change. I have zero control over the lure of bright colors and siren images. The only way I made out alive today was that I dashed in and dashed out and didn't look at anything but what I wanted to buy. This is why I buy online. I can find the one item I want, buy it and log off. I'm sure the time will come when the PhDs and marketing experts find a way to hypnotize me into impulse shopping online, too; for now it's my refuge.