A New Start: of Books and Babies

SOOOO, Jake's last post was in December 2006. I think I might take a shot. I thought that perhaps this would be a good forum for my book journal. I try to write a few sentences about every book I read, and rate it on a ten point scale. That way I don't forget I read it, and buy it all over again. I started this quite awhile ago, and if I find I have scads of extra time (because I am avoiding the gym), maybe I'll list old books. For now, though, I look to the future...

Or, not. My current read is "The Great Mortality" by John Kelly. It is a history of the Black Plague, and though quite interesting, not nearly as good as my favorite disease history (oh, my, I AM a nerd!) "The Speckled Monster" about Smallpox. My favorite part thus far is the description of the human cesspool in medieval cities. In Paris, several street names were inspired by merde, the French word for "poo," only not so nice. There were rue Merdeux, rue Merdelet, rue Merdusson, rue des merdons, and rue Merdiere- as well as a rue de Pipi. Awesome. My kids loved this part, too. I think bathroom humor(or really chamberpot humor, since the whole problem was a lack of plumbing) is pretty funny. Freud would have a field day with me.

The Speckled Monster: 9

The Great Mortality: I'll let you know

I am leading the discussion for Sense and Sensibility in book club next month. I haven't reread it yet. I also wanted to discuss the characters in the Becoming Jane movie, in relation to her books. I think the love interest in the movie is more Mr. Willoughby than Mr. Darcy, and probably just about as fictional. Any comments?

Oh, and Jane Austen books don't need ratings; just go read them.

My baby Tommy is 15 month old, y muy peligroso. Today he learned to scale the mountain of clothes next to the washer, climb the washer, and get to everything we put on the dryer to keep safe from Tommy (keys, my purse, etc.). My sister Jen said I should just wash the mountain of clothes, but I have more important things to do like read books about the plague and write about them on Jake's blog.

Sam doesn't have preschool today, and he is ticked. This morning he asked me:
"Mom, if you need to go somewhere and do stuff, can you drop me off somewhere?"
"Like where, Sam?" I replied.
"Oh, I dunno, Mom. Anywhere is good."
"Sam, if there was anywhere I could drop you off, don't you think I would?"

Actually, though, we are having a good day. When Tom wakes up from his nap, we might tame Sammy's fro and go out on the town. We are out of milk. Tonight Jen and Melanie and I are going to see The Nanny Diaries over to the Harkins at 6:55. You are all invited. (Only, no one is reading this, since we haven't posted in 9 months).

Kelly