Thomas Likes Being Read To!

As a parent, you  try not to compare your kid to others. Everyone is different and kids develop at different rates, but it's hard not to. It is especially hard given that I've had very little experience of babies and toddlers. I've always worried because I want my kid to love books. I love books and loving books makes a lot of other things easier in life. It's kind of the gateway drug for education. Thomas, however, is a doer. He wants to investigate things and chase things, dump out boxes of things and put the things back in. He want's to throw his bowl across the table viking style and demand bananas. (Not ok. We do not throw dishes full of food. Let the battle of wills commence) He's always been interested in the objects that are books but hasn't generally been interested in sitting down and being still enough to be read to.

His cousin Sam has always, and belligerently, loved being read to. So, I worried.

Tonight, after a battle of wills over a banana (oh the screaming!), Thomas sat for me to read him at least 10 different books. Tiny board books, but still, 10 of them! I'm so happy I could do snoopy dances. Hopefully it's not a fluke.

I'll love him no matter what, of course.

I just really want him to read...

(maybe it's worth some screaming. . .)

Battle Creek

So a buddy cop show set in Michigan doesn't  necessarily sound all that interesting. Except one of the cops isn't a cop, he's an enigmatic and charismatic FBI agent sent out to a remote one man field office to help the local Battle Field, Michigan police department. Also, they aren't buddies. At best their relationship is strained. The polished swanky FBI agent just rubs the gritty disheveled son of a con artist local detective all kinds of the wrong way. (getting a little more interesting isn't it.)

Incidentally, the con artist mother is played by Candice Bergen. Which brings me to the other reason I got drawn in: there are a ton of actors in sizable roles that made huge impressions with small roles in other shows. Kal Penn who played on of the long suffering interns on "House" plays Font, one of the detectives. Peter Jacobson, another "House" intern is the brother of the mayor. Liza Lapira who I first saw as a very dislikable IA officer in "Dexter" is one of the detectives. The list just keeps on going. Nearly every episode was like a T.V. programming connect the dots and it was a lot of fun.

As is always the tragedy, the show is good, so of course there is only ever going to be one season of it. Too bad. But it's on Netflix right now; go check in out.

A Short History of Myth by Karen Armstrong

This is about 400 pages of content crammed into a 150 page book. As such, it's quite dense. Honestly, 10 years ago (and pre-officemate who slings around terms like logoi and mythos for fun in everyday conversation) I'd have had a hard time following and sorting through all the ideas. Even with the reading I've done and the conversations on religion, story, and myth I've had, I found A Short History of Myth a challenge.

Armstrong sets out to trace the phenomenon and purpose of myth creation over the entirety of human development. She divides it up by sociological shifts: neolithic to paleolithic to early civilization and so on. The idea is that myth and the creation of myth is a sort of mass psychological coping mechanism. As society shifts and changes so do the myths. What was a satisfying way of coping with the fear of the unknown in the paleolithic probably wouldn't help a city inhabitant nor a soldier in WWI. 

All this makes sense. Where it gets interesting to me is when Armstrong gets to the axial age and beyond. She takes on Christianity, Islam, and Judaism in a way that is both detached and respectful. I found her take on the historical influences on religious interpretation very interesting. Ultimately, it seems like she wants to sit down all the literalists and say, "look guys, you just aren't doing it right."

It was a good read, but I think I will have to reread it before I really get it all absorbed. 

Odd Thomas by Dean Koontz

Usually I try to read a book before I see a film adaptation of it. Sometimes though, the opposite process can yield some interesting experiences. In this case, my oversight was unintentional. I saw "Odd Thomas" because Netflix kept telling me to watch it and because I have a little crush on Anton Yelchin. I only later found out that it was adapted.

The film got extremely mixed reviews. The problem, as far as I can tell, is that it's too grim to be a comedy and yet the tone of narration is too light to be a thriller. Personally, I liked that about it. There were some admittedly hokey details like a large stainless steel heart (anatomical) necklace and a bizarre chase scene that both seemed out of place. But those things didn't bother me enough to keep me from tracking down the book.

It took me a long time (for me) to get through Odd Thomas. From the time I started in December, it took me 31 days to pick my way through it. The problem wasn't the writing. The narrative tone was the same that I found so engaging in the movies. The problem was that it was such a faithful adaptation that I was too familiar with the events of the book.

As is always true, the movie simplified and reduced the number of characters. I found myself reading for those differences. Koontz created a fascinating backdrop of characters for Odd Thomas to interact with. I loved Koontz's system for the supernatural.

Oh, and those weird hokey moments in the movie? They aren't in the book.

Corn & Black Bean Soup

I like soups. Soups are very forgiving to the cook. Because of the liquid, they are unlikely to burn. Over cooking simply means that everything is softer, and undercooking often means that the ingredients are still toothsome. It's not that it's impossible to screw up a soup. Anything can be screwed up. However, I like something that requires herculean efforts to do badly.

2 Tbs. oil
1 medium onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, sliced or chopped
2 red bell peppers, chopped
2 Tbs. chili powder
4 cups corn kernels, frozen is fine
4 cups water or stock
1 28oz can diced tomatoes
1 15 oz can black beans, drained and rinsed
salt and pepper to taste

Soften the onion, garlic, and bell pepper in the oil over medium heat. Add the chili powder and corn. Stir occasionally until the corn starts to brown.

Add water or stock and canned tomatoes. Bring to a boil. Add black beans. Turn down heat, simmer for 15 minutes. Salt and pepper to taste.

serves 10

On Being Sick...

i remember
being sick
snuggled safe
a little kid
warm in bed
miserable and
happy
all at once

How different
it is now

Dream Angus: The Celtic God of Dreams by Alexander McCall Smith

Yet another in the CanonGate Myth Series. After this I think I'm going to give them a bit of a break.

I don't really know too much about Celtic Myths. It's kind of on my list of things to look into and this book was certainly a good start on that. Smith retells the myth of Angus in a contemporary setting in an engaging manner and then treats Angus as a sort of archetype. In the more modern sections there is always an Angus character. Sometimes the character is minor, sometimes he is central, but in each case the character explores some aspect of the Angus character.

I liked it. This is the first time I've seen the archetypal approach in one of these and it seemed a natural choice. Smith's adaptation felt like a thorough examination of the character and I would recommend this to someone interesting in celtic mythology.