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This is a secret post. It was not here before, but it is now

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 If you've seen this, gold star for paying attention

Dealing with Dragons by Patricia Wrede

It's an odd feeling to be reading a book and about 50 pages in, realize that I've read it before. I remember a time in my life when the idea that I could read so many books that I would lose track was unfathomable. Just couldn't happen. These days it seems to happen all the time.

Dealing with Dragons is delightful. When I was a kid, most of the fantasy novels played off of traditional archetypes based on fairytales. Girls got kidnapped, lost in the woods, etc. and needed rescuing. It gets old. Wrede's books poke fun at all that. I love Cimorene who's a princess so desperate to get out of the fairy tale expectations that she volunteers to be a Dragon's princess. She then runs off every prince who comes to rescue her.

Like I said, fun. I can't believe I forgot the book. I'm glad there are three more to read in the series.

Braised Potatoes and Kielbasa

When people talk about german/polish cuisine there tend to be a lot of jokes about lederhosen and yodeling (I've never actually heard a German yodel...I've heard a lot of bad American impressions of German yodeling.) However, their food is good solid easy to make stuff and when you are sick and everyone in the house is sick, easy and solid is what I go for.

2 Tbs Oil
1 onion, chopped
4-5 yukon potatoes diced
1/2 - 1 whole head of cabbage, chopped
1 package kielbasa, sliced
2 Tbs Dijon/Brown mustard
1 bottle lager style beer

Saute the onion in the hot oil, add the rest of the ingredients. Simmer gently for 40 minutes. Salt to taste.

The True Meaning of Smekday by Adam Rex

I run a crochet elective at my school and after the first few weeks, the kids get the stitches down and start really focusing on their projects. It's the most eerie thing sitting in a room packed with kids that are being absolutely silent. So, we watch cartoons.

One of my students in crochet convinced me to put on "Home" last semester. It's about the Boov invasion of Earth and a a young girl named Tip. It's a cute movie. Thomas loves this movie. It is in fact the only movie he'll actually watch all the way through. I've seen the thing at least 50 times and it holds up surprisingly well.

As it turns out, "Home" is based on a book which Ryan promptly tracked down and bought for me. I finally read it a couple days ago. When I started it, I expected a quick read that followed the same general outline of the movie. I was wrong.

The book is almost nothing like the movie. The book is firmly locked into Tip's point of view and is written as a series of essays or memoirs. The movie is almost more told from the Boov's point of view. The Gorg (main adversary) are scarier in the book and there is a very deliberate nod to Orwell in the conclusion.

Beyond all that, the book is brilliant. It's smart, there's a little bit of satire going on, and the characters all make sense.

If I'd read the book first, I very well might hate the movie. Luckily, having seen it first, the movie is just different.

Appliances

I know there is a tendency to look back on one's childhood with a sense of nostalgia. Things were good back then. Colors were brighters.  Appliances didn't break.

No really. As a kid, of the major family appliances of two households (divorced parents) I can only come up with one toasted microwave. There were two ancient refrigerators, a built in coffee maker that would not die, two diehard oven/stoves, and a seriously robust dishwasher. I'm not saying they were 50 years old, but they made it through most of my childhood.

So why is it, my brand-ish new-ish (2 years) fridge blew a sensor, my similarly aged microwave has both a dinged up fan blade and the handle came off, and a flatscreen LED t.v. blew a pixel line within a month of buying it. What is wrong with us as consumers that we put up with these shenanigans. I'm not saying a single fridge should last me with out trouble for my entire life time, but I have a vague idea that a major appliance should go trouble free for at least 5 years, 10 really seems more reasonable.

This is engineered to spur commerce.  Fire up the conspiracy net!

The problem is, people keep buying stuff. So they get away with it. We are such idiots.

Reading vs. Writing

Since the beginning of the year I've read 36 books. I feel this is impressive in it's way. I know that it's difficult for many people to maintain sustained interest in books. I don't have that problem. My problem is more one of distractibility. I get distracted by t.v. or video games or even just life. 

However, when I read, it becomes all consuming and I've very lucky to have a family that understands. Books, good books at least, are vital. They become more than just words on a page. They are ideas, and ideas are hard to kill.

One phenomenon I've noticed is that when I read voluminously, I also get the impulse to write. It's almost like the influx of ideas and stimuli turn into ideas in the subconscious. Actually, that's probably exactly what is happening. The problem is that, as a teacher who is probably already spending too much time reading, it's hard to find time to write as well. I have time, easily, for one or the other, but both is a problem. However, it's time to figure it out. The influx of ideas and the pressure to produce is becoming distracting.

March Heap o Lit: Recommendations, Suggestions, and Gifts

March is a kind of catch up month in the sense that it often takes me a long time to get around to reading things that people suggest to me. So the theme for March is: Recommendations, Suggestions, and Gifts. It's really more or less what it sounds like. Any time someone has recommended something to me or any book they've given me is up this month. That being said, I tend to write things down on random bits of paper and I keep finding more and more of them floating around. So, if I've overlooked something please email me, comment this, or nudge me in some way, I really do want to read it. I just get really behind sometimes.

In light of my absent mindedness, while I usually cap my lists at the beginning of the month, this month I will add things in as people recommend them. If nothing else, it will be a record of the recommendations for the future.

AJ
     1. Perfect Peace by Daniel Black
Amanda
    1. And the Mountains Echoed by Khaled Hosseini (B)

Carra

     1. Book One: Keeping it Real by Justina Robson (B)
     2. Book Two: Selling Out by Justina Robson (B)
     3. Book Three: Going Under by Justina Robson (B)
     4. Book Four: Chasing the Dragon by Justina Robson (B)

Howard/Dad

     1. The Power and the Glory by Graham Greene

     2. The Gods of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs (B)
     3. The Warlord of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs (B)
     4. Thuvia, Maid of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs (B)
     5. The Chessmen of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs (B)

     6. War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy
     7. The Adventures of Ellery Queen
     8. Ellery Queen's And on the Eighth Day
Hugh 
     1. Red Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson
     2. Green Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson
     3. Blue Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson

Karen/Mom

     1. A Walk in the Woods: Rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trail by Bill Bryson

     2. Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follet

     3. World Without End by Ken Follet

     4. Essays in Idleness and Hojoki by Yoshido Kenko and Kamo No Chomei 

Katja

     1. The Birth of Venus by Sarah Dunant

Kevin

    1. The Martian by Andy Weir (Kevin)
Kim
     1. Message from an Unknown Chinese Mother: Stories of Loss and Love by Xinran
MG
     1. Paper Towns by John Green
Nathan
     1. The Shadow of the Torturer by Gene Wolfe
     2. The Claw of the Conciliator by Gene Wolfe
     3. The Sword of the Lictor by Gene Wolfe
     4. The Citadel of Autarch by Gene Wolfe
     5. Classroom Strategies for Interactive Learning by Doug Buehl
     6. "You Gotta Be the Book" by Jeffrey D. Wilhelm
     7. I Read it, But I Don't Get It by Cris Tovani
     8. In the Middle by Nancie Atwell
     9. Mosaic of Thought by Keene and Zimmermann
     10. Reading Diagnosis for Teachers by Barr et. al
     11. Strategies That Work by Harvey and Goudvis
     12. Building Reading Comprehension Habits in Grades 6-12 by Zwiers
     13. A Handbook for Classroom Instruction that Works by Marzano et al
Ryan
     1. Swan Song by Robert McCammon
     2. Catch 22 by Joseph Heller
     3. Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace
     4. Company by Max Berry
     5. Machine Man by Max Berry
     6. Up the Down Staircase by Bel Kaufman
     7. Casual Vacancy by J.K. Rowling
     8. An Edible History of Humanity by Tom Standage
     9. Cooked by Michael Pollan
     10. Rum Punch by Elmore Leonard
     11. Fool on the Hill by Matthew Ruff
     12. God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater by Kurt Vonnegut
     13. A Bone to Pick by Mark Bittman
     14. The True Meaning of Smekday by Adam Rex
Simon
     1. Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand
Vincent
     1. Erak's Ransom by John Flanagan (B)
     2. The Kings of Clonmel by John Flanagan (B)
     3. Halt's Peril by John Flanagan (B)
     4. The Emperor of Nihon-Ja by John Flanagan (B)
     5. The Lost Stories by John Flanagan (B)
     6.  The Royal Ranger by John Flanagan (B)
     7. Dealing with Dragons by Patricia Wrede
     8. Searching for Dragons by Patricia Wrede
     9. Calling on Dragons by Patricia Wrede
     10. Talking to Dragons by Patricia Wrede
     11. A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin
     12. King's Dragon by Kate Elliott