Really needed the time in South Carolina

I cannot begin to say how important it was for me to come to South Carolina. I feel like I am digesting life a little easier right now, although some things still feel a little rough in a way. I know I still have a lot to face when I get home to Chicago, but South Carolina has cleared my mind for a bit...and not in the running away type clearing, either. I just feel like I can think a little easier.

I also came to terms, again, for the second week in a row, that I will not finish my "E" book this week. There are a few guidelines I must remember for my next week, which will be the "F" week (by the way, this project is still underhand...I would never continue blogging if I were really going to quit):

1) The next time I am sick, I will put the books down and just sleep and relax instead of trying to overwork my brain. A 500 page book is really not bad, but with a head full of sinus problems, a body with no sleep, and a schedule loaded, reading becomes a little hard. I was still a little sick at the beginning of this week.

2) I will have to make adjustments if I am traveling. Honestly, I should have known the second I got home, I was going to be tied up. I knew I would not have much time.

So, the book's projected finish is this week. This project is now unofficially 28 weeks, but I remain dedicated to finishing. I want to expand my knowledge and know things other people know. The blogging will continue and it will continue to be a way for me to express myself through reading and writing.

My challenge in reading the Eggers book is that it is thick with stories. These are not stories that are so chewy they cannot be swallowed...these are stories surrounded by multiple stories. They are tiled together like a mosaic and must be read carefully. If I were to not pay attention to each one, I might not understand how the next was to come about. The book is excellent and I would 100% promote it to anyone willing to read something a sad but informative. I have found there are many things about World and United States History I still want to learn. This book has opened so many facets of my mind.

In my reading thus far today, Valentino is still trying to survive Pinyudo successfully. Things are still not amazing, but he is healthy and thriving (considering his circumstances). Of course, as with the case of this book, it cannot go too long in the good before bearing bad, destructible news. All boys are called to an assembly one day. The SPLA has ten men lined up that are bound and tied at the front of the audience (I think you already know where this is going). The SPLA address the boys telling them these people are traitors and have left the Sudanese only to bring about their demise. Somewhat of Benedict Arnold figures. After they have explained how these men are sharing SPLA secrets and "raping" the Sudanese of everything, they open fire in front of the 10,000 boys. They never saw it coming. The boys went hysterical and of course, the SPLA hit them in the heads with the butts of their guns...scare them even more.

To make this worst, Ethiopia has decided it is time for the Sudanese to leave Pinyudo. Following is a mass exodus of Sudanese. Of course, they all have to cross a river full of crocodiles with bullets and bombs flying at them (it could not be simple). Valentino describes bodies floating down the river and the water being red.

This sadness is how far I have gotten today. Today I was in Greenwood eating lunch with old fellow music majors, Joyce, Stephanie, Brian, Brad and Doc (our vocal professor and choral director), Joyce's family: Jose, Brandon and Kati (Kati's 21st Birthday!!!), and Carolyn and other friends. The lunch was wonderful. We went to our college stomping ground, La Ha. After, we went to Steph's house and had some fun. We watched her play Mario Wii and tried to watch the Hawai'i live tsunami coverage...it was really hyped up and nothing happened...we wanted to see action (not at the expense of lives), but it is better nothing happened. As for people in Chile, I hope they are ok!

Tonight, we celebrated my old principal's (literally, she was my principal and then I ended up teaching for her at Lexington Middle School) Birthday at the Cotton Grill in the Old Mill in Lexington. It was so great to see her family and spend time with friends. The food and company were all wonderful!
After, I went to spend time with my friend Jonathan and his mom. She looked around on Facebook...it was hilarious!

I am also glad for the time I got to spend with Mama and Daddy today (yeah I call them that...they are amazing). I am excited about spending the day with them out and about and at Bark Park in the morning with our dogs, Buddy and Katie!

Tomorrow, a slew of peeps will be visited. Lander is coming to Lexington!!! It is time for me to sleep!

Is grateful.

I just want to say how grateful I am for the family I have. I love them a lot and I am so glad I have gotten to come home to South Carolina this weekend and I am glad there is still so much time left. If you have not met my mom or dad, you should. They are the most loving and caring people out there and sometimes I forget that. I get so caught up in myself and my life and busyness that I don't think about it. I often communicate with them in a lot of angst, worry or urgency and never really relax. I feel bad they don't really ever get to see some of the most loving sides of me. And here I am reading a book about someone that wants to be re-united with his family but will never see them again. I am so happy I have a mom and dad to myself, even better, that love me so much that they will help me out and come to Chicago to see me.

I am also grateful for the rest of my family I get to see even if it is not that often. I really enjoyed seeing them tonight for dinner. My aunt and uncle went out of their way to prepare a wonderful meal for me and I truly appreciate that.

Also, I am so happy for my friend Jonathan and his family. He and his mom are always so wonderful every single time I come home. Jonathan and I always have the opportunity to banter and be young again just as we had never left middle or high school. I enjoy the time I can just take all walls down and be who I really am on the inside. I really wish he could come to Illinois, but I know he has grad school.

I am so thankful for my friend Camille for hanging in there with me even though I don't get to see her often. She has been such a wonderful friend. I am also thankful for my friend Sarah and her husband Dylan. She has kept in such close touch with me since college even after a rocky time we had. They have been such wonderful supporters of me in all life endeavors.

Britney Marroni still keeps me laughing no matter what. I only wish I could see her more often. Melissa, my lovely Barnes and Noble kids lead in the South...amazing. A person to inspire reading in anyone.

I really miss my friends from college. I miss my professors and I miss everything about Lander.

I also am so grateful for my friends Stephanie and Carolyn. I am always laughing every time I am around them. They are the funniest people in the world. I really hope one day they will find themselves in Chicago longer than a week. It would be something phenomenal.

Tomorrow, I get to spend the day in Greenwood and see the people that kept life entertaining in college. Joyce, her family (her kids who I have watched grow for the past 8 years), Doc (my biggest inspiration at Lander), and other Lander music folk.

I just want to let everyone know that if you have been in my life, you have inspired me. This top portion of the blog is dedicated to everyone from the South that has shaped who I am. I have forgotten no one, even if your name is not in here...there is simply not enough time before my eyes shut and I fall asleep before I can name them.

To all of you Chicago folk: I love you, too and I am so happy you are there. I am happy such wonderful people, co-workers, friends, roommate and acquaintances have been there to acclimate me to such a beautiful city even through my most trying times up there. Wow. It is amazing to have such a wonderful Southern heart and a strong Midwestern backbone to guide me through life.

I love you all.

What is going on? South Carolina?

What is the What is gettin good. Valentino has finally been treated in the hospital. It is 1:21AM and they are finally getting him an MRI after 9 hours of waiting (sounds like the ER to me...but no ER is complete without Britney Marroni and gout, diabetes, nausea, flu, strep throat, pain in legs, broken femur, runny nose, sinus infection, constipation, cateracts and whatever else...oh yeah, the Little Mermaid Big Note Songbook). Valentino is excited because finally he will learn the reasons for his migraines and muscular aches in the back of his neck.

During my reading from today, there have been so many stories from Valentino. There are so many that I can only brush upon a few. The first most interesting was his running into an Anuyak woman. The Anuyak are the river people that had a mini civil war/battle with the Dinka in Ethiopia. The woman was so sad to see such a skinny boy and wanted to make him feel better so she started feeding him. She told him she would be his mother and he would never have to go back to the camp again. Valentino said it was the first time he had been touched in months and the prospect of a family was comforting; the only bad thing was that he did not want to forget the purpose of his journey to Ethiopia: to find his family. He told the woman he could not stay with her forever, but he continued to eat with her for weeks and bring provisions she needed that she could not obtain. I know one thing...there is nothing like being able to see your family. I have not seen mine together since June 2009 until yesterday. It is so nice to see them in person...and the dogs.

Another story: MOSES is alive. Valentino thought he was a hallucination and it really was him. Moses was his best friend in Marial Bai and he thought he had died by horseman. It ends up Moses was captured by the Arabs and enslaved and sold three times. The first was to a rich family who treated him like an animal. The man of the house encouraged his children to beat Moses and feed him garbage. Moses was placed in a school for Muslim children; he did not try to defy this because he thought learning to read the Koran and learning Muslim traditions would cause the family to like him more. No...it did not. The whipping continued relentlessly. Moses decided to run away one day and was caught by the neighbors (their dog barked). The children sat on his back and called him a donkey and stuffed garbage in his mouth. Moses was sick...he did not have to work for three days because of all of the vomiting. He got the idea to pretend he was sick all the time until eventually, he was sold. This time, Muslim Sudanese (who looked just like Moses) bought him. He was sold to white people from them who freed him. Thus, Valentino learned about white people for the first time.

In camp, white (European and American) began showing up for aid. The camp began transforming. Many people thought the whites were gods because of their angelic white skin. He was told by his Christening priest that they were directly descended because of all of the pictures of Jesus were white. Valentino began calling whites Inside-Out people. He thought it was funny how the heat turned them pink and made them sweat a lot. When the whites came, schools were built, people began eating, the Dinkas learned of the United Nations. Things got better. But, the camp became militant, as well. During the day, the people would do their thing, a little stricter though, and at night, the SPLA would train (unbeknownst to the UN). Moses, of many, went to train.

In school, a group of girls were put into Valentino's class (this is a new story btw). They were only 4 girls out of a class of 51 boys...they were called the Royal Girls. They were a group of sisters that were nieces of the teacher, Mr. Kondit; their names were Agar, Akon, Agum and Yar Akech. The boys were nuts over them, so much so that the teacher put the girls in the back of the class so the boys could concentrate. Valentino began doing really well in school because he wanted to impress them. He called roll...he did everything. The boys began making fun of him but he did not care. One day, at the end of the year, the girls invited him over to their home for lunch. At first, he said no but then realized he didn't mean it so he consented. When he got there, to make a long story short, they ALL began exploring each others' bodies. This was new for Achak, but he didn't care. This story came about because of two things 1) his girlfriend Tabitha and 2) his Christening Priest.
1) Tabitha and Valentino eventually began dating in the United States. They were separated by the distance of Atlanta to Seattle but it did not bother them. Tabitha broke it off with her abusive boyfriend and came to Atlanta to visit Valentino. Everything went well until she started getting jealous. She learned that Valentino, the saint, was good with women and automatically assumed Valentino would be, too. So, she started asking about girls and how good he was with them and did all of the typical passive aggressive jealous stuff. He said in fact, he was good with the girls and got into the story of the Royal Girls which he found out to be Tabitha's cousins!

2) His Christening Priest told him the story of Saint Valentino from Rome. He tried to convert prisoners and they did. When people began to find out about his doings, he was imprisoned himself. He healed a girl of her blindness and his head was cut off (this was the short story).

So, I have made great strides in the reading.

My flight to SC was amazing. It was the smoothest I have ever had. I sat in seat 1A which was in a row of onesies which meant there was no 1B...actually, the only thing next to me was the flight attendant's station. It was amazing. I was the only person in the front of the plane. No one to bother me. I slept, read and listened to music. It was so good to see my parents and the dogs! I will begin posting pics tonight!!!

Have a wonderful day!

:)

South Carolina

I am back in South Carolina. No blog today. I read a LOT on the plane. Not too much left of the book. I will blog Friday.

What a journey

So, in my reading today, Valentino has been taken to the hospital by Achor Achor, his roommate. There, Valentino experiences the fun of an American ER waiting room...now this is not the fun of drunkards or crazies...this is the fun of waiting hours to be treated even when no one is in there (which surprises me because it is HOTlanta...ugh hate that word). Julian, the receptionist ensures Valentino the doctor will be ready shortly, but it keeps dragging. Achak loses his patience and cannot understand why such an "amazing" medical system would call for such a wait. He calls one of his sponsors and has her speak to Julian...apparently the hospital is short-staffed.

As they are waiting, another Sudanese named Lino comes to borrow their car. The preface to Lino is his journeys through attempting to get married and bring a wife back to the United States. The process, to me, takes much too long. I don't know how they would have the patience...overall it would take a couple of years. Plus, dowries are in cows. The more cows you have, the more likely you are to marry a daughter. A story was shared about a guy named Gabriel who got a wife at 130 and she wasn't even the pick of the litter. 130 cows? Really? I guess they have not figured out currency. I wanna pay for this book in cows please...and rest assured...we will hear that. I think a trade paperback book is at least worth a gallon of milk and a steak.

As Valentino is trying to understand why he is waiting, he begins reminiscing on another story that he is telling Julian in his head. Valentino would be a mutter under your breath type person, I believe...he counters everyone with a story. This story is one of being in Pinyudo, Ethiopia. This is the designated area for the Lost Boys who have made it. Achak does not believe he is in Ethiopia because it is not as amazing as he thought it would be. Plus, everyone is dying and there are over 16,000 boys there. Achak becomes the leader of a group of eleven boys and names them the Eleven. His deputy leader is Achor Achor. This whole segment was based on how they met in Sudan.

A little tribal warfare begins within the camp between the River People and the boys. It is pretty sad because ultimately people do die...a lot of them. There is also the story of how George Bush, Sr. discovered oil under the the land of Sudan and how the split country divided even more after the discovery of oil...and of course, America began to meddle in affairs. Thus, people were uprooted because Chevron was coming in.

What a happy time.

Well, today I packed. Work was fine. Nothing really crazy. I sold a Nook.

Right now it is around 1:30AM and I have a cab ride to Addison Blue Line at 5:10AM. I have to wake at 4:50AM. My flight is at 6:45...I will be in Charlotte at 9:45 in the morning. I am really excited because this is the first time I have seen my mom since June...and the first time I have seen my South Carolinian friends since, too. Tonight we had a CRAZY whiteout in Skokie. Snow was not predicted and there was about 4 inches in a short time. Glad that is over.

The blanket of snow after work.

The two pictures below are a tribute to snow. This is the park at my apartment. Fall and Winter.

Fall :)
Winter!

And this is my tribute to dorkiness in literature. You figure it out. ;) Good ole London.

Good morning and next blog is from South Kakalacki.

What sadness

Well, my advancement in reading has picked up. The sadness of What is the What was still felt in today's reading. I did not expect for everything to recover, but I also expected for just a little break. Instead, there are still tales of more boys dying. On top of this, add vultures and carrion. As boys are dying, their bodies are becoming one with the earth again, as Achak would say. Countless victims of heat, famine and thirst finally give up and sit down under trees to rest. Unfortunately, those resting have other plans. They are going to die and realize it is time for them to go and they do. One victim of death was William K, Achak's lifelong friend; he had to bury William K himself.

The boys take refugee in a burnt out town with a group of SPLA. The soldiers are a little bittersweet to the boys but let them stay. They use the area as higher ground from the torrential rainfall. When they get there, their leader says they must leave. Dut strikes a deal and says they are fit to be there. They do indeed stay. The leader warns them that they must not stray far (many boys wanted to inquire about fishing in swamps and food) because land mines abound. The boys do not understand the concept of landmines and soon find out. Dut tries to explain, but it actually takes several boys going out and getting killed to get the idea across.

As the boys are regaining strength, another group of at least a thousand approach. It is filled with healthy SPLA, men, women, children and babies. Many have supplies and provisions with them. A water tank is brought to the area. These are Dinka people making their way toward Pinyudo. When they arrive, they say they must take the town and EVERYONE must leave. They chased them off and beat them.

As the book progresses, the boys come across another river in which they must cross. To make things a little tougher, crocodiles slink into the water as the boys move closer. Now, the good news is no one dies crossing. The bad news: plenty die. When crossing the river, the boys find out they are in Ethiopia. Achak is shocked because he did not expect it to look so similar to the land in which he was born. He does not believe Dut at first.

Now to the devastation of Atlanta. Achor Achor comes home and discovers Achak (Valentino) on the floor. They call the police and have them arrive.

This is where I got! Today was quiet day at the bookstore. We are getting a long time friend of Madeleine L'Engle to speak at the Educator Fair. So cool. Customers were pretty cool today. I did Storytime at 10 this morning for pre-schoolers. The nannies were really happy I was back...and happy I was taking the kids away for a moment. When I left, it looked as though a hurricane had hit. Good thing to know for anyone at a bookstore: Nannies do not clean up their mess. Apparently doing there jobs at home makes them exempt from doing jobs at the bookstore. They left a damn mountain of People, US Weekly, OK, Glamour, Elle, Cosmo and more sitting on the floor. UGH. At least they were nice. To top it off, they were barking with the kids in a book I did at Storytime today. The kids made dog noises with me...well lo and behold, the nannies participated!

A rather unfortunate beastly woman walked in today with her unfortunate daughter. She let the little girl trash the section. The woman was a pig...

Have a wonderful night.

What a day

As I have read through What is the What today, I have seen some triumph and some tragedy. As Valentino (referred to as Achak, his Dinka name) crosses the Nile, he reaches a village setup on the other banks. The women there feed and attend to all of the thousands of boys and other people who have joined them in their journey. The village is a safehaven for the time being and a place where everyone can relax on their journeys to Ethiopia. Everyone fills their bellies and over time, they leave to continue the pilgrimage. While Achak is in the village, he runs into his friend William K who he not seen since Marial Bai. They are thrilled to once again see each other. Achak describes it as feeling like he was actually born before all of this horror began. He realizes his life did not just begin with the journey they have been making to Ethiopia. William K is concrete evidence that he once had a family, home and life. Achak feels comfortable and as if, for the first time, is going to make it to Ethiopia.
William K is a compulsive and pathological liar, but it does not stop Achak's affection for him as a friend. Somehow, the lying brings comfort to Achak because William K has fabricated wonderful stories of hearing how both of their families are alive and are in Ethiopia waiting; Achak knows this is not true because of what he has seen, but listens to the magnificent tales.
Whilst in the village, Dut informs them of how the civil war began basically with England giving up Sudan to itself. England and Egypt split the country in the 19th Century, but in WWII, England had to give it up to take care of their own selves. So, with England's hand gone, Southern Sudan had to govern itself which did not work too well with the Northern Arabs.
During the night, the village has to flee. The rebels are coming and are about to cross the Nile. The thousands have to run on. As the night progresses, day breaks and the kids are in the desert. To make a long story shore, boys succumb to death from the heat, thirst and famine. Even William K starts to go a little crazy (even though he comes out of it). As the trek goes on, the boys find trees full of birds and start to dine...I will go into no details...I almost had to skip this part.
One night in the desert, a false alarm sends all boys fleeing. Achak runs in the woods and gets hit by barbed wire. This takes him down and he passes out. He wakes to hear a man calling out in the bushes. The man does not show himself but forces Achak to talk. He eventually comes out of the bushes and takes Achuk to his hut. There, he has cold water, food and a bicycle. Achak is in heaven. The guy tells him he must not speak of the hut or the man. The man says he is alive because he does not exist (very philosophical, actually...but Achak doesn't understand what he means). Eventually, Achak asks him about the what. The man had never heard the story so Achak tells him his father's tale. Afterward, the man seems to try to lead Achak to the what. I believe the what is actually not knowing destiny, but Achak does not figure it out. It turns out the man has a bicycle and let's him ride even though he has never ridden before. Achak is scared but is excited, too. He learns to ride a bike that day and it actually releases him in a way.
After he rides the bike, the man sends him off so he does not get too far behind from the boys. Achak eventually finds William K but never says anything about his day. Achak is beginning to believe the whole thing was dream.

So, that was my reading today. I read on the eliptical. It was funny because the guy from the divorce party ended up being right next to me again!!! He told me I better get all of my stuff together and prepare myself to read, listen to music, talk on the phone, exercise AND not hold the bars.

I am still inspired by the courage and strength of the boys in What is the What. I know I was bitchy because I had to wake up at 5:10 this morning to work shipment for Gap until 10:45AM. We folded 3,600 garments of clothing. Man, I complained about folding when I was young for my mom and dad. I would gladly fold one load of undergarments now vs. the thousands of garments we folded today. I feel like I should run around naked because I am so sick of clothing. I don't even fold my own damned clothing.

Well, a brief evening update of Barnes. Great night although I have been up since 5:10 this morning and worked for 14.5 hours today. I met a woman tonight, her name is Mary Jo Cally...she told me I could use her name. She was fascinating. She and I first started talking about Rebecca Stead's When You Reach Me (is it a sign everyone should read this book since I have mentioned it about 100 times in my blogs?). Come to find out, MaryJo was really close with Madeleine L'Engle, author of A Wrinkle in Time. She was the one who convinced Mrs. L'Engle to record for the Random House audio version of her book; Cally was the producer (it even says so on the boxed recording we have at work!). She said L'Engle was such a fascinating woman which I do not deny in any form. I can tell just by reading her wonderful books. Ms. Cally told me about all of the versions of the book that exist because of the different errors that have been corrected over the decades from grammar to word choice to editor's desires, etc. Some of these changes L'Engle knew about, others she did not. There is even a Greek quote in the book that is not correct that Ms. Cally is trying to have corrected for the next printing. Ms. Cally said she would like to talk to people in a seminar or lecture or conference about L'Engle's life; she would show pictures and talk about some of the incredible things she did. I talked to our CRM tonight and she said we need to have Cally at our Educator Night in April. I am going to e-mail her tomorrow about it!
Then, to wrap this up quickly (I go to work at 8 tomorrow morning), we talked about opera. Come to find out, Ms. Cally is part of the Chicago Symphony Chorus and was a part of it when Sir Georg Solti conducted. How FANTASTIC! I love him. He is amazing. She said, how appropriately relating to my blogs, that he had them all memorize Berlioz's Damnation of Faust; she is going to the performance on Wednesday! I was so excited. She then told me she was friends with Anne Sophie von Otter, a Swedish Mezzo Soprano (the best in the world!). Wow what an incredible woman Ms. Cally is! I want to sit with her and chat some more when I am not working! I think it will be wonderful.
I hope I did not shortchange anyone on the blog tonight! Good reading today, good day today, good working today, good people today. The what is what we make of life.
Good night! :)

What is the What is going on?

Snowman in my courtyard...yes it is snowing right now.

Well, as I stated, I am truly enjoying the book. It is so wonderful. I am now up to the point of feeling like I am reading a biography. There are so many precise dates and times and people inserted within the text. Don't get me wrong...that is a good thing. Biographies are a lot of fun to read...especially if they are colorful.

At this point, Valentino is still tied up on the floor and cannot move. His mouth is still taped and he is still enclosed within a "fort" Michael put around him. Michael begins to search the house and there is nothing Valentino can do about it but listen and hope he is not looking at pictures of sentimental value, ie, Tabitha, Valentino's Sudanese girlfriend. As Michael is snooping, Valentino tells the story of more travel, death and injury. As he finishes, a key moves around in the door. Valentino is sure it is Achor Achor his roommate. Alas, it is not...it is Tonya there with a van and ready to take the rest of his stuff. She and Michael soon depart.

Valentino decides it is time to make noise...and a lot of it. He is sure someone is going to hear him. He silently addresses his downstairs neighbors as his Christian neighbors (they have tried to proselytize many times...he does not mind though because he became a Christian in Sudan). The main story he wants to tell is of slavery and how the people were given to Arabs as slaves. He speaks of Deng's death and he talks about the host of the Sudanese Lost Boys in America, Mary Williams.

Mary Williams is the daughter of Jane Fonda. She wanted to make life better for the Sudanese Lost Boys and set up a foundation to collect money, sponsors and anything else that could be donated for the Lost Boys and Girls from Sudan. He speaks of Phil Mays, his sponsor, and of all the Tuesdays he spent telling his story in the playroom of the house.

He and Phil Mays hit it off very well. Mays contributed a lot of money to the foundation and helped Valentino with school, car, transit, jobs and anything else. He brought him into his home and his family welcomed Valentino. Valentino loved going to his mansion because it was unlike anything he had ever seen.

This all diverts into speaking of how the Sudanese Lost Boys became restless and ungrateful toward Mary Williams despite her efforts. They complained about everything. If one got one thing, they all thought they should have it. They all said they were from the same place and deserved equal treatment. They basically ran her to the ground without thanking her for everything she had done. She gave the foundation up eventually and it lost all support.

During the time, a Hollywood producer/director wanted to tell the story of the Sudanese struggle. He wanted to make a movie...but this also stirred craziness. Everyone thought their story should be shared. Who is going to benefit from this? Why can I not tell my story? Do you think it is fair? Basically, they just beat him into the ground, too. It makes me sad to read this because here we are in America trying to give them as much as we can for comfort and they are ungrateful and want more, more, more. Valentino is very embarrassed by this behaviour.

No one has still heard Valentino.

Also...as a side...here is the story of What is the What? in a nutshell. Valentino's father tells of the creation in the beginning. Of course, as Dr. Mufuka, my Zimbabwean world history professor at Lander always said, life on Africa was the beginning. God created Africa first and everyone comes from there...not gonna dispute. So...when God created Sudan first (in the version of his father), He gave the Sudanese all they could ever need: the means for survival, each other and cattle. They were able to use the cattle for food, milk and other usages. In time, God told them they could keep the cattle or take the What. Well, no one knew what the What might be. They did not want to lose the cattle to find out the What was trickery representing greed, so they decided to stick with cattle. God was happy and everyone got along fine. According to his father, the Arabs got the What and lost out from it. Well...back to Valentino now...as he is marching in all of these groups of boys, one finally says I think this is the "what." He simply means they apparently did something wrong to God and got what was coming.

Right now, I am about to read about how the Sudanese cross the Nile.

So, no blog would be complete without some Barnes and Noble.

Yesterday, we had a Special Storytime. It was based on books by Laura Numeroff. So, I read If You Give a Cat a Cupcake, If You Give a Pig a Party and If You Give a Mouse a Cookie. The purpose of the storytime was to have Mouse come and visit...and he did...Veronica in a suit. You don't tell the kids it is a costume character...they will shite themselves. You have to tell them the mouse is real and that 5 foot tall mice wearing bookbags really do exist. Because that is not as scary to know as the fact that it is just a costume character. So, when I finally started reading If You Give a Mouse A Cookie, I called Julie and said You can bring Mouse out now so everyone can see him and hug him! The kids were sooooooo excited. Oh, to be young.





So, here are three stories accumulated from yesterday and today. All deal with misfits:

1) Yesterday a 3-4 year old was at an 8X8 spinner rack; these are the racks you see that hold Spongebob books and Bernstein Bear books. It only means one of two things if a brat that age is getting near a spinner:

1. They are going to spin it as hard as they can and make all of the books fly out all over the floor.
2. They are going to pull 50 of them out and put them all over the section
3. ACTUALLY THREE THINGS: they will do both of the above.

So, to prevent the situation from happening, I walked to the spinner she was sitting next to. I stood right next to her as her mom was not looking and as she was about to turn it to look at books, I don't care about her intentions, I stuck my boot up in it so she couldn't turn it. She looked at me like WTF? Her eyes got really big and she kept looking at my shoe and then me. I just continued to look at her and smile and shake my head. She tried to turn and looked at me again. NO sympathy from me. Then she started the eh, eh, eh sounds. That made me jam it in there even more. I just looked at her and laughed. When her mom finally came to supervise her, I took my foot out and acted like I was helping her. Stupid kid.

Misfits numbers 2, 3, 4 and 5 all combined in one. This gaggle of dumbasses was a dad and three children. I knew they were there before I even saw them this morning. Elmo and other books were laying on the Trade Book floor before the entrance of the Children's Department. I can see the devastation they leave before I ever see them and just know it is them. So when I walked in, after picking that shit up, it didn't surprise me they were in there and that about 15 books were on the floor. Then, I began finding Easter books in the Picturebook Wall and board books in the Disney stuff. I was getting pissed. The dad was letting them throw books everywhere, as usual. This is not the normal nanny devastation of leaving a few Cosmos, Elles and Glamours lying around...this is a five alarm emergency. This family requires much recovery of books. I walked over to the treehouse and strewn around them were 47, I repeat 47 books laying on the floor. I watched the dad earlier just pulling tons of books off the shelves. The dad? Really? He is worse than the kids. No regard. He just pulls books off and puts them on the floor for his wobbly legged bratass 11 month old. Then she stands on them. And then his three year old throws trains everywhere and his ten year old leaves RPG manuals all over the place. He also leaves books of all kinds on every shelf and coffee cups everywhere. What a douche. Well, then I walk around the section and pick up I think 38 more books he and his brats have strewn. The last thing to happen which was the straw that broke the camel's back: He handed Princess tubby legs a Cookie Monster plush...she threw it...he didn't pick it up...he then handed her a Curious George plush...same thing happened on both accounts. I was pissed and fortunately the hand of God came to the Children's Department just in time. He was holding her and looking away from me. She was facing me and her pacifier popped out of her mouth. Revenge was swift. Using the shoe that stepped in dog shit, I kicked the pacifier across the section right in front of her. She was not old enough to tell him and there were no witnesses. He noticed it was not in her mouth and looked on the floor for it...he saw it...picked it up (which amazed me because I didn't think he could bend his lower back or extend his arms to pick anything up) and put it in her mouth. Thank you.

And last but not least...the Queen of the Damned:

Fabiola and I were setting up a Hunger Games pre-order endcap for Suzanne Collins' final installment, Mockingjay which comes out August 24 (SO EXCITED). As we were setting it up, a little girl approached us. She looked at Fabiola and then me and said I need books with dead bodies. Uh, excuse us? I need book with dead bodies in it. We told her there were no books in the section with dead bodies. She stated I don't care if they are animal or human dead bodies. I need books with dead bodies. Fabi said We don't have books for children with dead bodies. Little girl states I am not a child, I just turned 5 (and of course held up three fingers). I told her there were no books with dead bodies. Well, just then mom comes walking up. What is she asking you guys for? I told her Books with dead bodies. The mom turned to the girl and said Sweetie, today we aren't going to buy forensics books. We already have enough of them. Let's find something fun in the children's section. OK. This is demented. Why is a mom buying her child books from the True Crime/Sociology section? Oh dear.

Well, it is about time to get off of this. We are experiencing more snow. 10 inches will fall tonight. Gross. I have to be at Gap at 6AM for shipment and at Barnes at 4PM for my shift tomorrow. LONG DAY. Have a wonderful night!

:)

Break for the sick

Sick today. Ugh. I had a full day of work. Came home with a sore throat. Went to bed at 8 with no dinner and just woke up a few minutes ago. About to go back to sleep to go back to work in the morning.

I did do a fun storytime in the Children's Department today...Laura Numeroff's If You Give a Mouse a Cookie...tomorrow, I will blog about it and post a pic. :)

Break from book today. Still a great read, but I have no energy to talk about it. Bleh. So there's tomorrow, tomorrow. The sun will shine tomorrow. It's only a day away. :)

:)

Happy sleeping.

What is the deal? It's like pole dancing at the Lyric.

What a wacky group of people to come to Barnes tonight...and here I am talking about needing to be appreciative of life because of the people of Sudan in What is the What? But seriously, as Susan would say...the Friday Night Specials were out tonight.

The teens were moronic tonight. The thing that I don't understand is that they are wonderful in the classroom. Everyone always asks me how I taught middle and high school. It is simple. You respect them for who they are and they will love and respect you. They are human and need attention and love. Simple as that. Put them in public and they become monkeys...well monkeys don't need this much attention or guidance. Tonight, they acted as if they had never ridden escalators. One girl, the type of girl whose hair you want to pull out, was riding up and down them. I know her type. She is around 15 and is the one who sits in choir and talks behind the music folder thinking you don't know what she is doing. What a dummy. Then, they were just screaming in general. Wow.

Then, thank you Eileen, sends me a guy who is a Friday Night Special and is "Well duh"ing me at the end of sentences. He could not believe we did not have Bridwell's Clifford's First Valentine's Day in any other format than board. He was a piece of work that ended up buying a Little Mermaid book. Oiy.

THEN, a rather beastly woman comes up to me and says I need a math book for a third grader. Well, me being congested and clogged did not understand. She said Can anyone hear me? No one can ever hear me? You can't hear! Let me say it again. I NEED A MATH WORKBOOK FOR A THIRD GRADER. She then proceeds to sign it to me and hold up three fingers. Does she think I am a monkey? I told her I can't hear because I have an infection (I was a little rude, but I was not going to put up with some gargantuan woman signing to me). She then lightened and said I can't ever hear. That is probably why no one can hear me. I talk to people all day and no one hears me. I tried to buy a plane ticket today and they couldn't hear me. I am trying to go to California because everyone out there is loopy like me, they probably can't hear either. Then, I was laughing. She was making it a fun situation. So, we parted laughing and having a good time bantering. She will probably be back.

AND LAST. A guy came up to me. Do you have any maldkfjth books? I said Excuse me, what books? He said Maldakvth. All I could hear was M and the th in the word. Then, the letter y started coming out. MYTH books! So, I took him to Mythology/Folklore. I then found out I heard wrong. Meth books. Meth books? Can you repeat that? -Meth like Math. Thanks Midwest. I am glad I can still understand the accent. When did Meth become Math. Drugs and math are not the same. Apparently drugs are supposed to be fun.

So, onto Eggers and the whole purpose of the blog.

Valentino is still struggling to get through to Michael. He is silently telling him of stories in Marial Bai and his struggles with hundreds of boys fleeing and walking. They walk for days at a time being led by Dut, a Dinka schoolteacher. Dut leads them to villages. Some villages want to feed and help them, others turn them away thinking they are affiliated with the rebels of the SPLA. One village throws spears at them injuring several boys. These boys have to deal with a lot of crap in order to survive. Many are starving and many are tired. The walking is endless. Along the path, a few boys are eaten by lions.

Along the way, we hear the story of one boy, a Dinka, named Deng. He lost everything he knew and is on the run as the rest are. Of course, we don't get to hear the rest of the story, but it is full of a lot of dreadful turns as the rest of the book is.

It amazes me the drive these kids have. The further they walk, the more villages release their kids to the group. Soon the group goes from 30 boys to 250. Many villagers believe that if they send their children off, they have a chance of surviving. No one really knows what to expect and no one really knows where they are going. They do know that Ethiopia is the projected path. The rebels are based there, the government of Sudan has made everyone want to flee. The government was responsible for the uprising. Southern Sudan was given the ability to self-govern for a while. To keep them in check, the government sent the Arab Baggara (meaning shepherd...they refer to it as the shepherd of men basically grazing the villagers and pushing them out of villages) to do their dirty work. They formed the army, told the Arabs to take all they want when they take the villages and kill anyone in the way. The Arabs are given guns, horses and free will to destroy, rape and conquer land. The Dinka are forced into slavery and forced to take care of the land they once owned and the property and cattle that were once their dowries for the Arabs.

I simply could not imagine this happening. I don't know how it happens. And to think, this is recent history and this is going on now. Societies are destroying themselves and each other. I guess it is how we develop? Man, could you imagine if this were happening in America. I know we have had a Civil War here. What would happen if this is us? I guess we wouldn't know until we were amidst the devastation.

The kids being herded around know nothing of the world and Dut has to teach them that other places other than Sudan exist. They never knew of Ethiopia, their neighbor. What would it be like for them to see a city like Chicago for the first time? They barely ever see cars and only some buildings are made of brick. Our metal and concrete jungle would bewilder them. There are people out there who know nothing of the existence in which we live.

So, back to the story...the boys run into a group of rebels who have killed an elephant and let them all eat. A lot of them eat the elephant raw. This part was honestly disgusting. I don't get sick, but the description was intense and getting me there. Wow. But, nonetheless, the elephant is something to eat. Deng and Valentino take an interest in the rebels and their guns. They want to be a part of this Red Army. They want to use guns to get revenge. This is the point where you can feel blood heating in the book. Hatred is beginning to protrude and invade hearts.

Overnight, after eating the elephant, Deng dies. This is where I left off.

Human nature is quite amazing. We just don't know how we will survive until we have to do it. I am sure not many of us in America, Europe, Australia and well-populated areas of Asia, South America and Central America could handle these struggles this intensely. It is a lot to fathom and contemplate.

Time for bed. I have to be at work in less than 8 hours. Night.

Reflections of America

Reading What is the What? is very eye-opening. I don't think many Americans can fathom the troubles of Valentino and the Dinka people. So far, he has seen family, friends and animals killed. He has lost his mom, dad and many loved ones. He is separated from humanity by a group of soulless individuals who ignite the rebellions. Everyday, Valentino watches herds of Arabs ride into Marial Bai and destroy it pillaging and raping the village of all it has. He has become a loner and does not know what groups to trust. He has seen many fall due to ignorance. Safety is not numbers...safety is running. The smaller the group, the safer.

And now, I sit here and think about my day today.

-I bitched because I went to work at 5:45AM. At least I have a job.
-I bitched because my I don't feel well. Really, I could have made it and stayed at work until close.
-I bitched because someone walked in the road in front of me while driving. Welcome to Howard Street-get over it.
-I bitched because I couldn't find parking. At least I have transit and can also rely on public transit.
-I bitched because I didn't eat. My God. Food abounds and I think of all the shit I eat sometimes and don't even think about it.
-And, late last night, I bitched because I couldn't finish reading a book in a week. Oh wow. At least I can read and write, work, attend school and enjoy life.

I have a home. I have a family that loves me. I have friends I love, although I don't get to see them often or express it often enough. I am doing well in school and have great prospects of getting into another grad program at University of Illinois Urbana-Champagne for Library Sciences. I have money (thank you tax refund). I have a chinchilla to keep me company. I have books and music and a bed and clean water and food at my disposal and a gym and a great set of jobs and live in the greatest city in the nation. I have gotten so pessimistic lately and need to let it go. I have made wonderful friends and gotten to do some really cool stuff...but I still have the want and this need for more mindless entertainment and things that can be satiated, but over time. NOW, NOW, NOW.

America is like this. We are so greedy and so selfish, myself included. Multi-million dollar job-why can't I be making more? I have seven cars...I wish I could have eight...blah blah blah. We are mindless and fat. Valentino can't get food on the run. I can run to Subway until 11pM every night and Dominick's til 1AM and God knows Wal-Mart all NIGHT. What is the problem?

Health care, health care, health care...at least we can have access to insurance to provide us with a little. Welfare, welfare, welfare...we can milk the system. Taxes, taxes, taxes...we at least have income to have taxes taken from us AND we get refunds (well a lot of us).

I love the fact that I am from the United States. Yeah, we aren't in the greatest position or situation right now, but we are trying to move forward. A lot has happened to the world economy...but think of the people like the Dinkas in Sudan. They don't even know how the economy is effected. There is no access to information. But yet, a lot of people live happily with nothing. Money breeds greed.

Valentino is a true hero. Throughout the section I have read today, he has tried to coax Michael into talking to him. He has also recounted some of the story of he and Tabitha, his girlfriend in Sudan, that came to America and settled in Washington State. He has also suffered through the trials of the Dinka.

This should be American required reading. Maybe Ishmael Beah's book should be, as well. We can all learn something.

Sleep well.

Amending Defeat

So, yesterday was dramatic. I admit. Sorry, pain killers plus Clariten D and Flonase and not breathing, blood dripping down the back of my throat, a torn tendon in my wrist, a headache and fever equal a little out of it. So, amending this defeat is what is going to happen. I am going to continue on with this "E" book because it is great...like I said, though, I don't feel like I am being a productive reader and here's why:

1) I am tired.
2) A sudden shift in social life this week.
3) Lyric Opera
4) Barnes and Noble 40 hours
5) Working at Gap at 5:45AM this morning and then having to be at Barnes at 4PM this afternoon.
6) SICKNESS.

So, because 4 of the reasons could not be avoided, I am going to shift this week into next. I am going to be one week behind and that is ok. I am going to be very busy before I fly out to South Carolina, so it might be a good idea if I keep reading Eggers into next week. I will probably finish it on the plane. When I see the end is approaching, I will announce "F" book. I felt really inspired today and realized it is ok to have to be off...this is not life or death. I think I just set an expectation for myself and did not foresee actually getting sick, etc. So, here's to continued reading!

I was inspired today at work by our CRM who introduced me to a children's author and a publisher. I cannot believe the connections that can be made. I met Justine Larbalestier's publicist/publisher and Dr. Cuthbert Soup who wrote A Whole Nother Story (which will be read, btw and blogged about). Both were extremely nice. I felt very bad for having this infection in my head because I didn't get to talk as much as I wanted to them. I am just excited for great writers coming together in our store. I have heard wonderful things about his book and based on his personality and his likability, I know I will love it. I read the back cover to it again tonight and just about peed my pants. It was fantastic, so, I cannot wait.

So, yesterday, oh yesterday....dear yesterday. Since I work for the Chicago Lyric Opera (yes click on it to go to website), I will get tix to dress rehearsal or opening nights of productions I do not work. Well, I received dress tix for Hector Berlioz's La Damnation de Faust. Faust is a legend brought to us in a beautiful form by poet Wolfgang von Goethe. It is an extremely deepset Romantic piece seeing that it comprises of all of the components of Romantic literature...and operas/symphonies based on Faust are from the Romantic Period. Faust is the story of a man seeking to overcome the boredom of a set, monotone routine. He longs for love and a life like others. Upon seeing his longings, Mephistopheles sets forth a proposition...eternal glory and dreams for his soul. Marguerite also comes with the whole contract. Well, as you know, dealing with Satan is not going to wield the best results and it all goes to HELL (literally and figuratively). Faust is taken to Hell by Mephistopheles and Marguerite dies. The end.

Chicago Lyric Opera House (or work)

So, a few notes on the production, though. It was magnificent. It is set now. The mountains Faust sings of in the traditional 1846 libretto have now transformed to skyscrapers. His office is suspended above the stage. Faust is a businessman. To show his monotony, the office has projections of endless numbers and computer scripts on the back wall as he sings his opening soliloquy. When that is finished, his office lowers into a gigantic, open stage. The meadow scene begins and enter the townsfolk. All of them look exactly the same. 80 men and women walk on stage. They represent 20 sets of families. Within each family, there is grandmother, grandfather, father and mother. They all look the same as the next and they are all doing the same thing. It is amazing. Then, the army comes in and begin the propaganda. Germanic-like flags are waved, my friend James is stripped to his skivvies on stage and a ballet of soldiers and poodle skirted girls begins. The girls all get prego and come out pushing strollers. Exit soldiers and the next thing you see is coffins being carried on stage. They have died in war. The congregation at church is the 80 original townsfolk on stage. There is a priest in their midst as well. By the way, the lighting is UNBELIEVABLE. I cannot describe. You have to click the damnation link above to understand. Well, the priest turns out to be Mephistopheles who takes off the collar and black robe to reveal a purple shiny suede suit (perfect for this Lent season). He offers Faust the world and Faust accepts, they descend to Hell and the congregation of men become rowdy as they enter a brothel. Two women in dominatrix mouse-like suits with whips as tails pop out of the casket and POLE DANCE. This is incredible pole dancing. Probably the most complicated I have seen. Holy crap, they were incredible. Then enters Barender who looks like Riff-Raff from The Rocky Horror Picture Show who sings about rats in karaoke style. How you sing Karaoke to Berlioz, I don't know. How do you pole dance to Berlioz? I just found out. Well it gets wilder from there. In the end, Marguerite dies and does not realize she is dead. We find ourselves back in the church. She is in the center aisle amidst the 80. Forty children enter to make a set of 120. She does not know she is dead. She walks to the casket and sees he picture on it. A little child runs up to her and hands her a rose. As she is leaving the cathedral, the choir is singing a beautiful hymn. I did cry, I admit. She walks up to the area on the floor where Faust signed his name to Satan (he did this in blood...Mephistopheles took blood using a hypodermic needle from his wrist and made him sign it with that) and places the rose next to his signature. She then walks down the center aisle as the hymn is ending and the lights dim. I would have to say the Lyric did an amazing job. I have been moved by both productions of Faust this year: Gounod and Berlioz.

Dena and I had a great time at the production. She was lovin the Riff-Raff and pole dancers. I was, too. All I could thing about was the blue hairs in the audience not returning after the pole dancing stuff...they did. What an interesting production to see at noon on Ash Wednesday. I am going to go see it again before it is over. :)

Sir Andrew Davis conducted the Lyric Orchestra. It was fantastic. All components of this opera fell together well. In order to experience true art, one must keep their mind open to all new ideas.

Dena and me!

Dena and I went to Garfield Park Conservatory after the production. For any of you that do not know. GPC is my favorite place in Chicago. It was designed by Jens Jenson and sits in Garfield Park. It is around 102 years old. You will have to check out my pics on FB from times I have been there, even though I will post one or two on this blog from their Spring Flower Show. I really want to see Fleurotica which is a plant fashion show. That would be interesting.











So, book...What is the What? is still wonderful but sad. Like I said, it is the second book I have read about African refugees. I love the way it is written, though. My next blog will be today's progress. I will post it tonight before I go to bed.
So anyway, no more queening out about reading. My period is over. Back into action. :)

Below is a pic of the Aroid House at GPC. Chihuly is the glass artist! LOVE it!

About to admit defeat

I do not think I am going to finish the Eggers in all honesty. It is not moving the speed at which I want to read it. I think I got over ambitious on a book with size 2 font that is around 530 pages. So, I guess this means this blogging experience is over. I feel kind of like a loser in a way. I will continue to blog, but I am kind of embarrassed that I cannot even finish a book. I thought this would be the one steady thing in my life I could look forward to that would not fail, and it seems to be failing. I will continue to read as fast as I can, but I don't know.

I feel sick tonight and cannot really read that much. On top of that, I have to be at Gap at 5:45AM tomorrow morning. Sucks to be me.

Today was a really busy, busy day. I went to the dress rehearsal of Berlioz's Damnation of Faust. It was at the Chicago Lyric Opera at 1PM. I took Dena with me. We then went to Garfield Park Conservatory and then home. I cleaned for two hours and then attempted to read.

I will blog about Damnation tomorrow and everything we did today. It was pretty awesome, but damn this sinus/allergy infection. I feel like that is half of what is my defeat this week. This might possibly have to turn into 27 weeks. I hope that is ok for anyone that follows me.

Ugh

Today, I don't think is going to be a productive blog.

#1: My head hurts and I am congested. I went to the doctor earlier today and found out I have a severe allergy/sinus infucktion and a pulled/sprained/torn tendon in my wrist! YAY!

#2: All of that excitement has worn me out. I was not a productive reader today and I am really worried I will not make it through this book in the one week.

#3: I had class tonight. Enough reading.

Tomorrow, I have dress rehearsal of Berlioz's Damnation of Faust at the Chicago Lyric Opera. That is probably going to take a lot of the afternoon. So, I think a lot of reading will be shot, shot, shot. Cripes.

As far as the book so far, I can give a very brief explanation...then I must leave the blog for the night.

Valentino, a Sudanese man in Atlanta, a refugee and former SPLA is being robbed in his apartment. The burglars show up acting as though they need to use the phone. They force themselves into the apartment and begin to rob him. One is a woman named Tonya and the other is a man "Powder" named for the color he is wearing. These two are African-Americans presumably from Atlanta. Now, the African-American point, I will come back to it in a moment.

As Valentino is trying to defend what little he has acquired in his time in America, and his roommate's possessions, he is beaten by the man. The man keeps calling him "African" and saying "You just don't know. Welcome to America, this is what it's like...glad we could teach you a lesson." and ETC. As Valentino comes in and out of consciousness, he reflects upon his village in Southern Sudan. He reflects upon the girl he likes, his mother in her beautiful flowing yellow dress, his father the trader and his fathers acquaintances. We are introduced to Sadiq, his father's main trade partner, an Arab, and some of Valentino's friends.

At other times, Valentino reflects upon his best and worst times in Sudan. He speaks of children being eaten by lions as they are trying to flee the village and of times when war broke out. The main part of this reflection comes when he wakes from being knocked out to find a boy, a look-out, sitting in his kitchen watching his TV. Valentino presumes he is looking out for Tonya and Powder for when they come back to collect the rest of his stuff. We find out his name is Michael. Valentino, at the time of first seeing him, refers to him as TV Boy and reflects upon how he has probably never struggled as he (Valentino) has...this is where we begin to see the struggles in Sudan Valentino faced at Michael's age.

At Valentino's first approach to make contact with Michael, Michael freaks out. He is terrified. He has been told that people from Africa are animals and not real (Michael is African-American). So, Michael knocks Valentino out of consciousness with a phone book. Valentino describes this as being the first time he has never been able to react properly to a form of attack...he is bound and tied on the floor.

At this point of unconsciousness, Valentino begins describing the very beginning of war in Sudan. This is where I left off. Pretty sad to only be on like page 70 and it is Tuesday. I have got to read 180 pages tomorrow.

So, a quick note about the African-American community versus the African community. In college, I was friends with an abundance of Zimbabweans and African-Americans and many islanders, as well. I always found it interesting to see them interact with each other. Sometimes, the Africans would question the actions of the African-Americans. They were often perplexed by the culture, etc...and this is not to even say that this went the other direction, either. I find it interesting how two people, directly related to each other, cannot understand one another sometimes. The fact that the book points out the African-Americans in Atlanta telling the Africans that they are the reason slavery started because they let their own tribes be sold. Good Lord. People need to sit down and get facts straight. And I am sorry if this seems loopy. My head feels like it is going to explode. Do NOT think that I am saying anything negative toward the African or African-American population. I am just trying to understand why we live in a world, here, in 2010, and no one...Americans, Arabs, Africans, British, French, Asians, South Americans, Mexicans, Australians and by God probably Antarcticans cannot understand each other half the time. We are all made of the same stuff...so act like it.

The end.

Have lovely night.

Who wrote What is the What?

Dave Eggers wrote What is the What? That's who! With much recommendation from knowledgeable booksellers and customers, alike, I have chosen What is the What? for this week's adult reading. When I first looked at it, I did not count the number of pages. I picked it up off of the shelves, took it to the cashwrap, blogged about reading it and then opened the cover. The book is over 500 pages. I think this is going to be ambitious, especially since I have a children's book following immediately after. But, I will continue to read on. I find it fascinating when so many people recommend an author that does not publish a ton of books a year. Usually, you hear stuff like Patterson or Horowitz or Evanovich or the like; these authors write books faster than I can pee. So, after hearing so many wonderful things about Eggers, I decided it would be a good idea to read one of his books. The only downside is that I am floating in the fiction genre once again. For the next three weeks, actually, all of my books will be found in the Fiction/Literature section (of Barnes and Noble).


Tonight, I am going to have to keep this blog shorter than I would like. My computer is downloading new anti-virus and firewall software and is going crazy. So, I will not be able to report my readings from the day, but I will be able to give a brief background on Eggers.

When someone thinks of a humble person, I bet they think of Eggers. After reading about his life, I am sure he is very humble. I could imagine he is probably the type of person that might blush a little when one comments or compliments his style of writing, his books, publications and life accomplishments. Eggers lost both of his parents when he was 21. Left in his possession was his 8 year-old brother. Eggers' older brother and sister both had jobs and one attended law school. This left Dave with the responsibility of raising his younger brother. At the time of his parents' death, Eggers was enrolled in the University of Illinois Urbana-Champagne for a degree in journalism. As a result of their death and his new-found "fatherhood," Eggers was forced to drop out of school and moved to Berkeley using money left to him from the death of his parents. There his brother was able to attend public school while he tried to find jobs and worked as a temp.


Eggers was born March 12, 1970 in Boston, Massachusetts. His family moved to Lake Forest, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago. Eggers has written several books and even began a magazine titled Might. He founded McSweeney's which is an independent publishing house that comes out with a quarterly review titled Timothy McSweeney's Quarterly Concern. As a result of the death of his parents, Eggers wrote an autobiography titled A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius. The book focuses on his struggles with raising his brother and coping with the loss of his parents; it takes place in the San Francisco Bay area.
Eggers has also edited many books and publications. He has contributed to the world of music and has worked with many celebrities. Other works of fiction include You Shall Know Our Velocity which was re-released as Sacrament, How We Are Hungry and The Wild Things based on Maurice Sendak's classic Where the Wild Things Are.

Currently, Eggers lives in the San Francisco area with his wife, an author, and their two kids.

I hope you enjoy this reading journey with me this week.


What is the What? is a fictional real life story about a Sudanese refugee named Valentino Achak Deng who lives in Atlanta. The book was published in 2006. A couple of years ago, I read Ishmael Baeh's A Long Way Gone about his life as a refugee and boy of war in Sierra Leone. I think Baeh's book has prepared me for beginning this book.

Deng and Eggers

As I said, sorry this blog is so short. I hope I will be able to do more tomorrow night! Have a wonderful night and sleep well!

Happy Birthday to my follower, John! :)

Eggers, Here I COME!

Well, "E" week is about to commence! Hope everyone had a wonderful Valentine's Day!

Work was nuts! I embarrassed two teens making out in fiction/lit. I made sure everyone in the store knew what they were doing.

I also told one kid that if he did not walk down the stair properly, I was not going to clean him up off the floor.

:)

Happy reading!

DiCamillo would be PROUD

Tonight at work, I did something really nice. After I talked about how depressing Despereaux was, I recommended it to someone. This came about when an elderly woman approached me about third grade children's books. She decided she wanted to purchase and donate 30 books to a Mosque classroom in Skokie. The children are all in third grade and come from some underprivileged situations. Most of them do not have the opportunity to enjoy nightly read-a-loud session with their parents; their parents do not yet know English and have limited access to funds. This woman decided she wanted these second language learners to have the opportunity to read. Since she did not believe she had the stamina to look for thirty books, she left me with two simple instructions: 1) find thirty books 2) make sure a third grade student of average abilities can understand (like I said, English language learners...some have a lot of skills necessary to navigate more complicated books on the third grade level and some do not). So, as she went to the cafe, I set out looking for some good books.

The first book to pop into my mind was Kate DiCamillo's Tale of Despereaux. I think deep down it is good for a third grader, especially one of average abilities (and even underprivileged...shunned mouse rises to the top). The students can learn a lot about life and how to overcome problems. So Kate DiCamillo, you would be proud of me. Not only that, I added The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane to the basket, also written by DiCamillo. Her books are very practical and are well written. They appeal to children because they have animals in them. Rule #1 about children's books: There MUST be an animal or a dragon in them. HA.

Some of the other books I chose for this class were as follows: Roald Dahl's James and the Giant Peach, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and Fantastic Mr. Fox (Dahl was my fave in third grade and still remains close to my heart). Next was Stuart Little and Charlotte's Web by E.B. White (had to read them in third grade). How to Eat Fried Worms by Thomas Rockwell, Chocolate Fever by Robert Kimmel Smith, Clementine by Sara Pennypacker, The Lemonade War by Jacqueline Davies and Sable by Karen Hesse were all to address everyday issues. I chose Joyful Noise: Poems for Two Voices by Paul Fleischman and The Whipping Boy by Sid Fleischman to represent more John Newbery Medal winners. Another standout I chose was book one of the Babymouse graphic novel series by Jennifer Holm (I wanted them to have a graphic novel since it is fastly becoming the future of reading for kids). I then pulled an abridged version of Hugh Lofting's Doctor Doolittle (another Newbery) and an abridge version of The Jungle Books by Rudyard Kipling to represent the Classics. Finally within this stack of books, I placed a book of traditional European fairy tales, some beginning readers for those struggling with English and some poetry for exposure. I hope all of these books work out for the kids!

Well, it is now time for me to go to bed. I am sleepy. It was a busy day at work. It was Dena's last day and for that, I was sad.

Happy Valentine's Day.

Despereaux is done

The view from my bedroom window this morning. :)

Well, I finished Despereaux's tale. No more depression. The book ended happily...I guess. Let me quote a little of it. Here are some excerpts from the last chapter:

But the question you want answered. I know, is did they happily ever after?
Yes...and no. (what is that supposed to mean. PCKU.)
What of Roscuro? Did he live happily ever after? Well...The Princess Pea gave him free access to the upstairs of the castle. And he was allowed to go back and forth from the darkness of the dungeon to the light of the upstairs. But, alas, he never really belonged in either place, the sad fate.

What is that for an end for a poor little rat? Man, I am glad my life was not written by DiCamillo. The good part is, other things were fine. I will read her other books. I think she writes well and can tell a story, I just think this was depressing for a kids book. But, alas, we all must learn about life and this book might be a good tool to teach kids about life, death and good and evil. So, as far as the book goes overall...I am glad to have read it, once again. I think, no matter the book, I am going to be grateful for reading it because I will have learned something. Even if this book was tortuous for me, it still taught me that even kids (pre-teen) can be pretty sad.

After I finished my book, I went out to the beach to take some pictures. Apparently, South Carolina got 8.5 inches of snow last night. This made me want to take a walk outside and look at all of the snow and ice outside of my apartment. The beach is still a lunar landscape. I love the contours of the snow as the wind has blown through it. Some of the waves have been stopped in time, as well, which offers a fantastic sight. The terrain is completely different, but I love it. My favorite part of looking at what water is available to see is the "lily pad" like sheets of ice; they are independent circular chunks of ice floating around!

I also learned on the beach that I want a dog. Everyone has a dog in Rogers Park. They were everywhere playing. Too bad I have no time.

I just got off the phone with Stephanie and of course, our conversation was demented. I told her I scraped a little ice off of my heart to ask her to be my Valentine. She said yes. I was shunned by another person this week when I asked to by my Valentine. LOL. Earlier today (see how random my thoughts are!), I was having a conversation with my friend Jonathan about Valentine's Day. Please take note everyone...it is Valentine, not Valentime's. There is no "M" in Valentine, only "N." Do not tell me to have a Happy Valentime's Day.

Have a great day!!!!