Life intrigues me.  In other news, I've been reading a lot of books lately, which is great.  One of the perks of being a teacher is having unlimited access to the school library.  I've missed that.  Too bad there are so many creepy men at the library downtown; it's got a wonderful selection of books, but after about five close encounters, enough is enough.  There was this group of 6-8 men one time...yeah, not so cool.  I was never so genuinely scared in my life. I've never understood why some men seem to truly enjoy intimidating and threatening women.  But then there're the guys who are nice and protective; I guess it evens out.  Anyway, all that to say, it's nice to have a good library to go to again.  Incidentally, the librarian and I are now heading up the book club; go figure! 

    I made lasagna tonight; that is my all-time favorite food.  It was scrumptious. 

     So...my best friend got married this weekend.  I got to be her maid of honor, which was fun. I liked giving the toast.  They rented this totally awesome place for the wedding party to stay; it was great.  But it's kind of unsettling in a way for her to be married; funny how time changes things.  It seems only yesterday we were roommates in college.  *sigh*

     Not much else to say...life is going great.  My students this year are amazingly intelligent and well-behaved; hopefully it's not just the calm before the storm!  And my colleagues are a ton of fun, which makes it so much better.  Well, that's it for now.

     Well...today has been a thought-provoking day in many respects.  It's not really one of those profound sharing moments, but there's just enough stuff to think "hmm" about.  I just had this great conversation with my sister--it's still bizarre that she's old enough now to have semi-mature conversations with.  She had a humorous story to share about this guy I used to go to Sunday School with back when I was 2-4, so that got me started on all of these old memories I had of his family and how he and I used to have the same favorite toy in the nursery and he usually got to it first, which made me sad.  We were sure a couple of polite two-year-olds, though; it was implicitly understood that whomever got to it first could claim it for that Sunday.  I remember ending up in tears once over it, but that was it.  It's funny the stuff a person remembers sometimes (and pardon my incorrect grammar).

     Funny side note...a couple of friends and I were believed to be 14-year-old, beer-guzzling girls last weekend.  Never mind that the youngest of us was 23 and that we were drinking root beer...

     And, in other news...in light of the fact that I am 0 for 6 in regard to cousins' graduation parties, and that I have not seen my relatives for quite some time, I have decided to go to my cousin's wedding in S.D. this upcoming weekend.  Two of my siblings and I (as well as possibly my aunt and cousin) will be traveling together; it'll be fun.  That's one thing I appreciate about my dad's side of the family--no matter how long it's been since you've seen everyone, it's like you've never been apart.  And we have had some fun times staying at hotels in the past; why, I remember at Great-Grandma Martha's funeral...but it's probably wrong to have that much fun under circumstances like that.  But still, you had to love Betty Ann, the 24/7 receptionist--my, she was a chatty one--and the singing Christmas tree--and getting food for free at the convenience store b/c, to your shock, your dad's second cousin or something Carol happened to own it; you can't beat that with two sticks!  And someone, using great foresight, thought we kids might enjoy it if we had connecting rooms; we went banging through the connecting doors from room to room (I think there were three together).  Now that is the way to stay in a hotel when you're a kid! I should say "motel;" I remember with great clarity that it was a Super 8.  And, incidentally, I found out from a friend's dad that the reason it was called Super 8 was b/c it originally cost $8 (or else $8.88) to stay there and also that the chain started in Aberdeen.  Ok, I would say I'm digressing but I never actually had a point to begin with, so I think it's time to wrap it up. 

     I'm going to the rodeo this weekend!  I'm taking our 1970 pink Bethany pop-up camper--yes!  This is going to be a heck of a lot of fun. 

Okay, completely changing the topic--books have been on my mind a lot lately, so here are my random thoughts about literature:

1) To Kill a Mockingbird is one of the best books ever written.  I love that the story is told from Scout's perspective; she's initially too young to understand the events that transpire, but it's her very innocence/naivete that allows the reader to better grasp the import of the situation. And the dichotomy in her character is great.  She is innocent about the inner workings of human nature in one way, but she's also a tough cookie and doesn't take anything from anybody.  She fights, she swears, and she loves adventure.  And Boo Radley is such an intriguing character; the mysterious recluse becomes the hero, then fades once more into obscurity.  I think it's interesting that the children never see him again--does he still watch them?  I would think so. If there would be one character that I would like to see developed more, it would be Uncle Jack.  He was absolutely hilarious and definitely a rascal; I bet he had a lot of interesting stories that will remain forever untold.

2) Silas Marner is interesting; not my favorite book by a long shot, but interesting.  I thought Eliot overemphasized the fact that no one knew what had ever happened to the robber; it made the end rather anticlimatic and predictable.  Plus, realistically speaking, how would Marner ever have raised the girl?  It was touching, but not very feasible.  Although he was obviously able to take care of himself, his relational skills were horrible. He was isolated from people for so long.  Plus, I felt like he merely transferred his obsession with his money to the girl.  I know the child coming into his life was supposed to have completely changed him, but he was so dependent on her for his happiness, and really vice versa as well.  Also, would her husband really have wanted them to live with Silas after they were married?  I would think that he would almost feel like an outsider.  The redeeming factor about this book was the way Eliot portrayed the characters of the various townsmen. 

3)  In The Great Gatsby,  I wish we would have discussed more in-depth the theme of appearance vs. reality, specifically in the characters' perceptions of themselves.  Tom believed himself to be above it all, while Gatsby and Nick both perceived him as ignorant and arrogant in many ways (granted, even if Tom had been an excellent fellow, Gatsby would have hated his guts anyway).  The most interesting/debatable example of this theme to me is Nick.  He sees himself as an honorable and wise man, and he certainly was of a higher caliber than the other characters.  However, his entire relationship with Jordan was rather bizarre.  He had pride in his "honor" about rectifying the situation back in the Midwest first, but honestly, if he was as honorable and wise as he believed himself to be, he would never have gotten into a relationship with Jordan--of any kind!  That was the one aspect of the novel I didn't like.  I mean, every person has their flaws, but I think he was a lot more liberal than he thought he was. 

4) Tarzan of the Apes is one of the best adventure stories ever written, closely followed by Son of Tarzan.  Hands down, Johnny Weissmueller was the best movie Tarzan (after all, who could compare to him when giving the Tarzan yell? It sure as heck wasn't Mike Henry), but nothing is better than the book.  The way Burroughs described Tarzan's thought process was excellent; plus, for such a far-fetched story, it was so doggone believable.  Too, there was just the right amount of levity, such as the fact that he could only read English and speak French, as well as inadvertently making Jane think he was two different people.  It is just one of those indescribably good books that I read over and over.  I know that while the character of Tarzan is widely known, the book itself is probably not considered an overly literary read, but it's sure fun!

5)  My two cents on The Metamorphosis:  Any book that starts out, "Gregor Samsa awoke to find that he was a giant bug"  (that's a paraphrase) has a long way to go to redeem itself.  That is, I believe, my least favorite book of all time. 

All right, those are my thoughts, interesting or not...and here are some books that I personally love, just since I'm on my soapbox.

The Blue Castle; The Harvester; One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich; Kon-Tiki;  Mara, Daughter of the Nile; Keeper of the Bees; Freckles; Rose in Bloom; Daddy Long-Legs; Dear Enemy; Little Women; The Zucchini Warriors; This Can't Be Happening at MacDonald Hall!; The Great Brain; Gone With the Wind; A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court; The Blue Sword; The Hero and the Crown; Watership Down;  The Finches' Fabulous Furnace; Animal Farm; The Complete Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes; Exodus; Buffalo Gal; This Island Isn't Big Enough for the Four of Us!; Caddie Woodlawn; Promises in the Attic; Cheaper by the Dozen; A Voice in the Wind; An Echo in the Darkness; Till We Have Faces; That Darn Cat