Sunday, March 30, 2008
Am I a Janeite?
I have been obsessed -- obsessed -- lately with period dramas. Thanks to the love that is YouTube, I've been able to fulfill by thirst pretty readily. What started with Pride & Prejudice (two versions), Sense and Sensibility(two versions), and Emma (including the baaaaaaad Kate Beckingsale version!) has expanded to Becoming Jane, Northanger Abbey, Persuasion, and Mansfield Park (two versions). Since then, I've branched out to watching the 2006 BBC version of Jane Eyre (oh, is Toby Stephens perfect for this or what!!), A Room With A View, and just last night the Tenant of Wildfell Hall.
But watching these hasn't been enough. I have reread Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte, and have Pride & Prejudice as the next to reread. I feel like there should be a ton more of this type of book, and I want to be aware of them all ... ALL!! Why did Jane die and stop writing? Just isn't fair!! Or the Bronte sisters, for that matter!! Of course, now I have friendly people sending me information on the Jane Austen Society meetings, and hearing stories of turning about the room derived from my "obsession". And I've noticed that some of my emails and writings have taken on a delicious Regency Era turn ... though I don't seem to use enough colons and semi-colons.
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1 Cents Added:
I read P&P at least twice a year. Watch the A&E version as many times and read whichever of her novels strikes my fancy at any given time. I can't even put in order next that I love more. It would be like ranking my children in whom do I love more? Her writing makes me wish we still talked eloquently. We have lost something with losing our formal English and going with the more informal version. How is it that phrases like, "It will not do" are dead? Or words like ardently have lost meaning. *sigh* Thank goodness there are others like me. =)
By 
, at 12:04 PM
Friday, September 07, 2007
Step AWAY from Amazon, Kristin
I really am a glutton, considering I have a stack of books I haven't read yet already, but I just HAD to get more today (I had an Amazon gift certificate and there was a 4-for-3 special), so I went for it. So, in a few weeks, I'll have added to my library:
- "Siblings Without Rivalry: How to Help Your Children Live Together So You Can Live Too" by Adele Faber
- "How to Talk So Kids Will Listen & Listen So Kids Will Talk" by Adele Faber
- "The Gift of Fear" by Gavin De Becker
- "The Family Virtues Guide: Simple Ways to Bring Out the Best in Our Children and Ourselves" by Linda Kavelin Popov
- "Living Simply with Children: A Voluntary Simplicity Guide for Moms, Dads, and Kids Who Want to Reclaim the Bliss of Childhood and the Joy of Parenting" by Marie Sherlock
- "The Jefferson Bible: The Life and Morals of Jesus of Nazareth" by Thomas Jefferson
- "Sharing Nature With Children (20th Anniversary Edition, Revised and Expanded)" by Joseph Bharat Cornell
- "Raising Children Compassionately: Parenting the Nonviolent Communication Way (Nonviolent Communication Guides)" by Marshall B. Rosenberg
Am I a glutton or what?!!?
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Tuesday, October 10, 2006
Is it October already??
My month of October is just crazy busy -- we have one website that is about a local art show, and it happens this weekend, so there are a ton of last minute changes, etc. (and I took this over from another mom-friend who is due the first week in November and took on grad school this fall -- and got overwhelmed), we have a new textbook to design, we just finished a 16-page brochure for a national health care campaign, and we're slated to do another brochure for the same organization to promote their educational courses across the US. We were just contacted by an apparently "very prestigious" man (according to Jeff, who decided we could take on a few projects after realizing who is was) to do some new identities for organizations he oversees/controls. We're still in the process of three rebranding campaigns, and completing materials for an international association's annual meeting. Oh, and then there are the two local political campaigns .....
I haven't had a chance to update picture albums or even denote major milestones ... like Kira starting to sleep through the night, having all but her 2-year molars, starting to count (OMG ... she amazes me DAILY!!), really getting into the independence/tantrum thing full throttle. Or like Parker finally drawing a self-portrait (yes, I cried. He just busted it out like he did it every day!! I was so proud!
), reading a CALVIN & HOBBES in the van and LAUGHING at it!!, writing all the letters of his name, and finally getting into art for the sake of art (and drawing recognizable things!!). Two of Parker's local cohorts have lost their first tooth, and I'm nowhere NEAR prepared for that! I don't know what we'll give him, or have a tooth pillow, or anything. 
Labels: artwork, homeschooling, Kira, milestones, Parker, politics, reading, Union Design Photo, writing
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Tuesday, July 11, 2006
The Lost Art of Reading
Gosh, I used to love to read! I have a hard time finding the time (and quiet) to read nowadays (though I just finished The Constant Princess by Phillipa Gregory -- pretty good, not outstanding), so I don't consider myself an avid reader by any measure.
Parker obviously loves reading, moreso now that he can actually read some on his own!! Kira is really into books as well, and has one book she can "read" (she has it memorized!!). They really love it when we sit down and read books together.
I don't really have books I'm longing for my kids to read, though I have fond memories of some (like Jungle Book, Rootabaga Stories, and much older -- Alas, Babylon). Okay -- one book I'm longing for them to read (and "get") is The Prophet, but that is MY book, you know?
Labels: homeschooling, Kira, Kristin, Parker, reading
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Thursday, June 15, 2006
Parker is a READER!!
So, a few nights ago, I was in there to read Parker his night books, and I really didn't want to. So, his first book was "Go, Dog, Go" by P.D. Eastman, and I asked him to read it to me, pointing to each word as we went. Well, he pretty much read the first 50 pages on his own!! There were a few words I had to help him with, and he made some assumptions and didn't really look at others (like "as" versus "is" and "in" versus "on"). He read so well, I assumed that Jeff had read the book to him several times before.
Well, last night, when I was talking to Jeff about it, he said he'd never -- NEVER -- read it to Parker, and I had only ever read the board book version about a year ago!!
So, tonight, I brought him the book he'd picked out at the library today and asked him to read it to me, and then I'd read it to him. He did it!! ALL!!! Only once did I have to point out he "in" versus "on", too!!
OMG -- I am SOOOO PROUD of him!! I guess letting him have a pile of books to "read" himself to sleep at night actually did make him teach himself!!
Labels: family, homeschooling, milestones, Parker, reading
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