Feast #185

Appetizer

What does the color dark green make you think of?

The woods, lovely dark and deep.

Soup

How many cousins do you have?

Nine. Seven on my dad’s side and two on my mother’s. I’m going to see my cousins on my mom’s side in Georgia next week! Yay!

Salad

On a scale of 1 to 10 with 10 being highest, how honest are you?

Like…a 9. Sometimes I tell random lies just to get reactions. I’m naughty that way.

Main Course

Name something that is truly free.

Salvation.

Dessert

Using the letters in the word SPRING, write a sentence.

Sarah Pranced Round In Naive Glee.

…John Adams Kept Us Out of War with France…

John Adams:

He was our first Vice-President and second President. He served as Commander in Chief from 1797-1801.

The biography I read was “John Adams” by David McCullough. Yes, the same one the HBO miniseries was based on…but I started reading it before the miniseries was out. So there.

Things I didn’t know before I read this book:

• Harvard University is older than the United States
• John Adams went to Harvard
• He was a lawyer before he was involved in politics
• He represented the British soldiers involved in the Boston Massacre, practically for free
• In their first 14 years of their marriage, he and Abigail were only living together for 7 of those years, the rest of the time he was working for the good of the country apart from her
• His son was expelled from Harvard for streaking
• He was the first ambassador to be recognized from the United States of America as a separate country (by Holland)
• He served as ambassador to France, Holland, and Britain
• He and Benjamin Franklin did not get along at all
• His best friends, other than Abigail, were Dr. Benjamin Rush and Thomas Jefferson
• He was the first President to live in the White House
• He was vehemently opposed to slavery
• He lived during the Yellow Fever Epidemic
• He was never wealthy; Abigail even hung laundry up to dry in the rooms of the White House after doing it herself
• Was one of the only US politicians to recognize how bloody the French Revolution would be
• Was the founder of the U.S. Navy
• Provided funds for the famous light house at Cape Hatteras
• Broke from his Federalist party ideals in order to make peace with France
• His daughter, Nabby, died from breast cancer
• He wrote the Massachusetts constitution
• The day the US declared itself a free country was actually July 2nd, not July 4th
• He was known as a very talkative person
• He barely won the election for the Presidency
• Signed the Sedition Act (anyone criticizing the President can be imprisoned) and later said it was one of the worst things he did while in office
• Died only hours after Thomas Jefferson on the fiftieth anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence (July 4, 1826)

<–George Washington Thomas Jefferson –>

Post title taken from “The Presidents” by Jonathan Coulter

The Power of One

Who wrote this book and when?
Bryce Courtenay published this in 1989.

Has there been a film version?
Yes, starring Stephen Dorff, Morgan Freeman, Daniel Craig, and John Gielgud. It came out in 1992 and was different from the book – the author cleaned up the story a bit so that it could be seen by children. It’s still pretty intense at some parts though.

Who are the important characters?
Peekay – an English boy growing up in South Africa and Rhodesia who is often bullied
The Judge – a brutish German boy who goes to school with Peekay and renames him “Pisskop”
Grampa Chook – Peekay’s rooster
Hoppie Groenewald – a railway man and a champion boxer
Doc – a German musician who loves cacti
Geel Piet – an inmate in the prison near where Peekay lives, knows a tremendous amount about boxing
Morrie Levy – Peekay’s best friend at Prince of Wales school, a Jew
Rasputin – a huge Russian who works the mines

What’s it about?
This is the story of a small boy who learns the power of one in Southern Africa. Peekay has a hard life right from the start: his mother has a nervous breakdown and he is sent to a boarding school where he is the only English child amongst German children…right at the start of WWII. He is brutally tortured, and his only friend is a chicken named Grampa Chook. This sets the tone for the rest of Peekay’s growing-up years. He continually is on guard and tries to stay camouflaged so as to not be picked on. After meeting a champion boxer on the way to live with his grandfather, Peekay decides his life goal will be to become the welterweight boxing champion of the world. As his life progresses, he suffers losses and learns what it means to believe in yourself and find the power of one inside of you and others around you.

Why is this book a classic/bestseller?
It’s an inspiring story out of Africa.

Do I recommend you read this book?
Yes yes yes yes yes. And then watch the movie.

How did this book make my list?
The movie version is one of my favorite movies and I didn’t know it was a book. So when I saw it at the LL, I freaked and checked it out immediately.

Has it won any awards?
I don’t think so.

Favorite quotes:
“This is what happened.” – p 1 (Great opening line…)

“Deep inside me the loneliness bird laid a large stone egg.” – p 31

“The indigo night was pricked with sharp cold stars.” – p 257

“It was also the year South Africa got white bread, an event which excited a lot more people than catching a glimpse of the future queen of England.” – p 415

Anything else?
There is a sequel to this book I am going to try my hardest to find before I head off to Georgia.

Personal thoughts:
The movie version of this book is on of my favorites, and as usual, the book does not disappoint. In fact – per the usual – it’s better. Peekay is an incredible character, his narrative placing you exactly into his tackies (shoes) and sometimes even throwing you into the boxing ring with him as he fights people twice his size. We laugh with him and share in his triumphs, but also feel his grief at the death of friends and puzzlement at the inconsistencies in justice in the world. This book is incredible. There is lesson after lesson shared while framed against the backgrounds of world wars, apartheid, struggle, and peace.

meh.

Well…hm. In the past week things have gone from okay-coasting-along-alright to “uh…wait. What’s going on?”
We’re putting in an offer on a house next week. Not sure which house, as we’re debating between two – each with their pros and cons (as most things have). House A is closer to work and Winco.  House B is closer to my parents and our friends.  House A is smaller and cheaper.  House B is more expensive but with a floor plan we love.  House A is wired for internet (which we don’t need seeing as we are 95% wireless) and has lovely hardwood flooring hidden under the (new) carpet and is freshly painted.  House B is a newer house but desperately needs new carpet and an interior paint job.  House A is in a somewhat decent but a bit iffy neighborhood.  House B is in a newer development.  They both come with the exact same appliances – while House B has newer ones, of course.  House A has a big yard (a negative for us) but yard service for a year.  House B has a miniscule yard.  House A has a very involved current owner who will want to check up on the house from time to time.  House B’s current owners used to rent it out and just want to get rid of it.  Such a conundrum.  We have until Wednesday night to decide as Thursday we need to get together with our mortgage broker to get paperwork all straightened out to make an offer before I head down South.

On the adoption front, things are looking quite grim. While Baby C’s aunt was not approved for adoption, supposedly putting us at the top of the list, her paperwork took so long that the powers that be in the California Social Services System are strongly considering placing the baby permanently with the foster family he’s currently with. Which I can understand since they were originally told they would be able to adopt him. Still, a bit on the devastating side for us. The formal request that our paperwork (interstate paperwork) be started happens tomorrow, and the court and PTB (powers-that-be) decide for or against us on April 14, conveniently the day I return from GA. So no stress there at all. Nope. None.

To further add to the mayhem, this morning I received two calls from my cardiologist’s office in Spokane as well as a call from my cardiologist himself. Apparently…they are not happy with my holter monitor results. A few weeks ago, I felt a few odd off rhythms going on in my heart-el region so I notified them and scheduled an appointment with Dr. G. After reviewing the results, they determined several things. Or at least told me several things. 1. My heart is beating too slow (which is new…usually it’s too fast…ironic). 2. I have some Rapid Heart Rate going on at times. 3. I have some random heart beats happening during my normal rhythm…which I thought everyone did but I guess not to the extent I’ve been having. Silly me. So I am seeing Dr. G on Wednesday and for the first time in my life I am a bit nervous about this appointment. Mostly because my cardiologist called me personally, which rarely happens, because he was worried. He also told me to put all the plans for pregnancy prep on hold…not that there were very many going on considering the adoption, but still…it does not bode well for our local heroine.

Things should get mostly cleared up by the end of the week in all but the adoption but still the stress of it all is kind of getting to me a bit. For someone who doesn’t really stress out…I am feeling it. All I want is a nap, or to sit in front of the television watching a Jane Austen movie and eating pears and baby carrots. But laundry still needs to get done, dinner still needs to get made, and my mother-in-law is still coming this week.

Letter From Peking

Who wrote this book and when?
Pearl S. Buck published this in 1957.

Has there been a film version?
No.

Who are the important characters?
Elizabeth – the narrator, a woman who is married to a half-Chinese man, now living on her family farm in Vermont
Rennie – Elizabeth’s only child, he is a teenager when the story starts
Gerald – Elizabeth’s husband, still living in Communist China
Baba – Elizabeth’s father-in-law, suffering from strokes
Dr. Spauldin – the local doctor
Sam Blaine – a man who takes in Baba when he is lost and penniless, befriends the whole family

What’s it about?
Elizabeth MacLeod is living on her Vermont farm with her teenage son, Rennie, while her husband still lives in Peking, China – despite the new Communist government. At the opening of the book, Elizabeth receives a letter from her husband, Gerald, that she knows will be the last she will ever get from him. And while we aren’t told the contents of the letter until near the end of the book – the letter and her son’s struggles with his interracial heritage bring Elizabeth to relate to the reader her courtship and early years of marriage with Gerald. When Gerald’s father, Baba, comes to live with the family, Elizabeth is able to learn more of her mother-in-law and more of why Gerald is the way he is.

Why is this book a classic/bestseller?
I don’t believe it’s either.

Do I recommend you read this book?
No…it’s not bad, but nothing stellar.

How did this book make my list?
I like Pearl S. Buck as an author.

Has it won any awards?
No, I don’t believe so.

Favorite quotes:
“The windows of my father’s mind were open to the world. When he died, I kept the windows open.”  p 25

“There is no better time to think and ponder than in the hours when a woman sweeps and dusts and makes beds. The physical activity sends blood coursing through her frame and the brain awakes.” – p 128

Anything else?
Communism creeps me out.

Personal thoughts:
I’m fairly certain I’ve mentioned before how Pearl S. Buck’s books strike me as one enormous poem. Not in the “really flower and I’m not sure what she’s saying sense” but in that every sentence describes exactly what she wishes it to in a beautiful way you’d never consider saying it yourself. Even though the plot of this novel didn’t pick me up and grab me and swing me around, it was delightful to read simply because of the tone and attitude of the words themselves.