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.