Reading Molly Ivins

Yes, I'm late to the game. I hadn't ever read her until now.

I picked up her book, Nothin' But Good Times Ahead, at our town's excellent book shed at the dump.

It is interesting to be reading her columns from the early 90s. So much for change. Of course, like Molly, "I still believe in Hope - mostly because there's no such place as Fingers Crossed, Arkansas."

So I'm off to bed with a good book.











Peace.

I am enjoying reading this book

Stop Forgetting to Remember, by Peter Kuper.

When I was looking for some new graphic novels to read a while back, this book passed my thumb-through inspection in the shop, so I bought it. I didn't know what to expect, only having this book from Peter Kuper in my collection. It turns out, Stop Forgetting to Remember, is laugh-out-loud funny. At least for me. At least for now. [Full disclosure: I also find Kafka laugh-out-loud funny.]

I am completely identifying with the main character's trajectory into adulthood (though he did many more drugs than I did) and parenting. This morning, when I could barely drag myself out of bed to get the girls ready for school, I read a few pages describing his new father days, and laughed enough to get up to face the day.

These are the pages that gave me the strength to get out of bed laughing
(it was also a good place to stop, 'cause it's the end of a chapter).

I am enjoying the art, as well. I particularly like recognizing shops and buildings from my New York City days of youth.

I am also thinking of two friends from my community as I read, NTodd and AndyG, who recently became new fathers. I think of their partners, too, of course, ERG and E (yes, I think she has a blog, too, but I can't remember where). It's just that, since the main character in this book is male, the birthing and parenting scenes are from his perspective. Since I'm a single parent, I do both parts (smiley face here). The following two pages, in particular, made me think of the boys.







With all of the daily drawing I'm doing, and all of the graphic novels I've been reading, life has begun to look a lot like a comic book. Here is a little comic relief from my own life from yesterday. No, I don't always ask the girls to help me off with my boots, but I did yesterday, and they were happy to oblige.










Peace.

A Brad and a Bear

Brad Kessler, author

Goat Song

Tuesday night, my friend, Brad, gave a reading for his new book, Goat Song, A Seasonal Life, A Short History of Herding, and the Art of Making Cheese, at The Odyssey Bookshop in South Hadley. He made the idea of herding goats sound very appealing. Of course, I have been longing to move to Vermont since I first camped at Merck Forest twenty years ago. After turning most of my yard into garden this year, I have been imagining what I could do with a real piece of land. I look forward to reading Brad's book, where he explores the historical and literary evolution of the relationship between humans and goats.

In our town, Wednesday morning, we had a little peek at the relationship between humans and bears. As I was drawing the day's self portrait, I looked out the window of my studio and saw a small bear sauntering down the street, passed my flowers. I grabbed my camera, but by the time I got outside, the bear had crossed to the neighbor's house, then further down the street.

trying to get in the garbage shed

a bear's profile

heading across the street

Garden Bouquet

For some reason, I don't often cut flowers from the yard to bring inside. Now that my porch is a fancy mansion (translation: clean), I thought it would be nice to add some flowers.

I'm having a lazy Sunday so far. I just want to lay around reading and writing, but the garden is waiting for water and weeding, the girls are waiting for pancakes. There's a beach to conquer and groceries to procure.




Peace.

Deep Thought

Is it time to cancel my subscription to the local newspaper?