Books for the New Year

Since I am launching into the New Year sans school, I am excited about the number of books I am going to be able to read solely for fun. So I thought I'd make a list of what is waiting on my shelf:

Fiction:

1. Tempted by P.C. Cast and Kristen Cast (the next in a series of trashy teen vampire fiction)
2. The King Must Die by Mary Renault (retelling of Theseus myths)
3. All the Pretty Horses by Cormac McCarthy (recommended by a guy in my 18th century class and my mom)
4. David Copperfield by Charles Dickens (because I should, I really should, why can't I make myself?)
5. Middlemarch by George Eliot
6. The Collected Works of Oscar Wilde (Aaron finished The Picture of Dorian Gray and really loved it, so we are going to read aloud a bit from this book)
   

Non-fiction:

1. The First Americans by Joy Hakim (I am trying this first book of her The History of US series)
2. The Lexicographer's Delimma: The Evolution of "Proper" English, from Shakespeare to South Park by Jack Lynch (my Christmas present from Aaron's parents)
3. A Truth Universally Acknowledged: 33 Writers on Why We Read Jane Austen (my birthday present from my ex-husband and fellow Jane Austen lover -- includes Eudora Welty, E.M. Forster, and C.S. Lewis)
4. Guns, Germs, and Steel by Jared Diamond (I didn't get through this the first time, not cause it wasn't interesting, but because I got sidetracked by fiction - - this is try number 2)
5. For A New Liberty by Murray Rothbard (a discussion with some anarchists friends made me want to delve further)

On Audio:

1. Phineas Gage by John Fleischman (a description of the case aimed at older children)
2. Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson
3. Moll Flanders by Daniel Defoe (extra reading I got interested in and didn't have time to read during my 18th century class)
4. Breaking Dawn by Stepanie Meyer (finishing up rereading the series from when I saw New Moon recently)

I also thought my readers might be interested in some year end stats. Strangely enough, I, who cannot usually keep a grocery list, keep a monthly account of the books I read (including audio, large groups of poems or essays, and long poems, excluding picture books and short poems).

In 2009, I read 89 books. 62 of those books were new to me. 31 of the books were read for school. Only 3 of the books for school were things I had read before. That means I only read 34 books that were new to me purely for my own enjoyment. I reread 52 books for my own enjoyment.

15 of the books were non-fiction. 13 were collections of poems or long poems. 3 were plays. 1 was a collection of short stories. 1 was a kind of proto-novel. 53 were novels.

Here is the breakdown of how many books I read by months:
Jan - 7
Feb - 6
Mar - 8
April - 10
May - 4
June - 4
July - 9
Aug - 10
Sept- 10
Oct - 12
Nov - 9
Dec - 10

It's funny that I was off of school and work in most of May and June, and yet I read the fewest books then. Maybe because I had Livy with me during the week. It will be interesting to see how this semester goes, since I will have her with me during the week again. Hopefully I'll read more that 4 books a month!

I noticed one interesting thing this year. I did not reread E.M. Forster! Nor did I reread Pride and Prejudice! I should probably move those right up the list for the New Year.

Note to readers: If some of you are inclined to add up the numbers above and see if they are right, do so at your own peril. Anyone who reads this much, and this much fiction especially, is a literary type person. I neither know nor care whether these numbers add up exactly. I don't often do rereads of my own posts to edit, and I certainly did not recheck all those numbers.

Three Good Things

1. Livy is back! She was gone for 11 days to visit family with her dad for Christmas. The break was awesome, as couple time minus work and children usually is, but I missed her so much, especially the last few days. It is such a pleasure to have her back in the house with me. Partly cause I love her company, and partly (and maybe other parents will understand the neurotic biological impulses that come with passing on your DNA) because I never feel right or complete or like she is totally safe unless she is with me (though her father is certainly able to protect her, better than me probably).

2. Peppermint bark and homemade turkey stock. Not eaten together, but on the same day. Yum.

3. Getting back to our routine. Livy and I have been doing laundry, cleaning the kitchen, cooking (thus, turkey stock), and generally getting the house back in its non-holiday order. It's a pleasure to return to the daily chores after such a long break.

My Life Long Love Affair with Jane Austen

Jane Austen was born on December 16, 1775, but since I was on my great adventure, I let her birthday pass by this year without any fanfare. She deserves more. So, in honor of her 234th birthday, I wanted to share what her novels have meant to me in different periods of my life.

I first read Pride and Prejudice when I was about 8. My dad had bought my mom a really gorgeous hard backed version for a present years earlier, and the elegance of the cover made the book seem even more special. As it turns out, you can judge a book by its cover because what I found inside it could have been decorated like the Lindisfarne gospels and it would not have been too much honor for an Austen novel. You can probably imagine how much I got out of reading it; I liked the love story, and I liked the writing. But that liking stuck with me when others faded away, and I probably read Pride and Prejudice 20 more times in my childhood.

In high school, I branched out and tried the other Jane Austen novels. I still liked Pride and Prejudice best, but I also loved Sense and Sensibility. I hated Persuasion and Northanger Abbey. Emma and Mansfield Park got on my nerves a bit. My preferences then were mostly due to ignorance and immaturity. Pride and Prejudice has the simplest, most straightforward kind of plot, and I understood it fairly well. (I would later understand it better, though.) Darcy and Elizabeth get a bad impression of each other, and they both stubbornly stick to it. When they finally learn that they were wrong, they fall in love. Typical love story, I thought then, but written amazingly well. I loved Sense and Sensibility for the same kinds of reasons. Marianne falls in love with a bad man, learns he's bad, and finds a better one. Elinor is kept away from her lover, but the stars finally align, and she gets to marry him in the end. Anyone who has read Sense and Sensibility can see that high school Kelly was much farther from capturing the essence of S&S than she was from P&P. I only like Emma and Mansfield Park a little bit because the heroines got on my nerves. Why, I would ask, was Emma so arrogant? Why was Fanny so retiring? I had little idea back then that people were so very different from each other and that I could enjoy watching different kinds of characters go about their lives. It's one of the biggest blind spots of youth, or at least was of my youth, to imagine that all people are like me. As for the novels I hated, I didn't really understand Persuasion at all. What does an 18 year old know about regret and second chances? I didn't like Northanger Abbey because I was too ignorant to know that it was a parody of a Gothic novel. I had never heard of a Gothic novel, and so I thought that Jane Austen had just written a crappy novel with dark abbeys and imagined murders. How out of character, I said. But it was only her juvenilia, I defended. Funny that I would try to defend a Jane Austen novel as juvenile, when it was me who was too juvenile to understand what she was doing with Northanger Abbey.

Since then, I have reread the novels many, many times. Really, most of you would be shocked how many times. I listen to them as audiobooks, watch the movies, spend time on The Republic of Pemberley (the very best and most learned Jane Austen fan site I know of), and keep the novels in the back of my mind during my classes. Here are the way my ideas about each book have changed:

Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth

Pride and Prejudice: I still reread it often for fun, but it is no longer my favorite of Austen's novels. I find that as I age, I still admire the love story, but I crave the depth and the complexity of some of the other novels. I do think that Elizabeth Bennet is one of the most independent, vibrant characters I have ever read, and I love that Austen was able to show that even the characters I love can grow and change for the better. If I end up as an Austen scholar, P&P will probably not be the work I choose to focus on. However, it is the Austen book I recommend most, though I have some slightly different recommendations for Objectivists.

Elinor and Marianne

Sense and Sensibility: This novel is the one that I have returned to most often lately. Marianne is the character I am most like in all of the literature I have read, and the path her life takes is very similar to mine. I find a kindred spirit in her, and I love to read about her before she got any sense and remember my youth. I rediscovered S&S and grew to love it better than Pride and Prejudice when I was a new Objectivist. Austen explores the relationship between reason and emotion in S&S, and I really connected with that theme when I was learning to be reasonable but keep my fiery personality. It is that theme that makes me recommend it to Objectivists, but there is a danger there. S&S requires some knowledge about Regency England for Willoughby (the villain) to seem really bad and for Edward (one of the good men) not to seem spineless. An understanding of the engagement process and of the financial implications of marriage are really helpful. When I read S&S out loud to Aaron, I had to stop fairly often and explain some historical background, and he said this really improved his enjoyment of the novel. Once I grew out of the intense connection to the reason/emotion theme, I shifted my focus to others of her novels. It was only this past semester, when taking a class on British literature in the late 18th century (the period directly preceding Austen's novels), that I became aware of how rich Sense and Sensibility is in its exploration of some of the big literary issues of the day: the role of the novel (a fairly new genre), especially among women, the shift between the eighteenth century's style of literature to romanticism, the literary battle between sentimental plays and humor/satirical plays, and the exploitative nature of the marriage and inheritance laws. My class wasn't on any Austen novels (and they were only mentioned when the professor thought of some connection that she thought would be interesting to me), but having the deep literary background that Jane Austen took for granted made me admire S&S even more.

Emma and Knightley

Emma: This one is simple. I like Emma more now because I don't think I am perfect. I can see much of myself in a bossy, domineering, but benevolent character like Emma. I have grown up a bit since high school, and that has allowed me to appreciate a character with flaws that she must learn to overcome. It's amazing how finding out what your flaws are and working on them with mixed success makes you more compassionate about flawed people. :)

Mary Crawford, Edmund Bertram, and Fanny Price

Mansfield Park: This novel is my least favorite because I still think the heroine is incredibly weak. She lets things happen around her without trying to influence them very much. She waits patiently for love, and in the end, she is rewarded. I can admire how ardently she sticks to her moral principles, but I cannot admire the principles themselves. So Fanny leaves me kind of cold. I know that Mary Crawford is an immoral woman, but I cannot help but prefer her, and I don't blame Edmund for preferring her for much of the book. I think that I might enjoy learning more about this book and its ties to abolitionism (there is a character who made his fortune using slaves in the East Indes).

The Spooky Northanger Abbey

Northanger Abbey: I have learned to love this book for its satire. Once I understood that there is a genre of novels, primarily read by young women like Catherine Morland, where gruesome things happened to innocent maidens in Gothic castles and abbeys, I thought Northanger Abbey was hilarious. A girl reads too many novels, visits a Gothic abbey, falls in love, and lets her overactive and unreasonable imagination nearly rob her of a happy ending. She learns that the world outside of her happy family is full of bad people, but they are the garden variety kind and rarely arrive twirling their mustaches. This novel is interesting to me, like Sense and Sensibility, because of its close ties to the literature preceding it (the Gothic novel) and its exploration of the role of the novel.

Anne and Captain Wentworth

Persuasion: I left this one until last because my opinion of it has changed the most drastically. At 18, I could not understand how anyone could be persuaded by an authority figure to do something she didn't want to do, come to regret the decision, and face a life without hope of love. At 18, I was sure that I knew absolutely what was best for me. I saw the life before me like a pirate movie; I would bravely swash-buckle through any difficulties, and it didn't matter if I made any mistakes because I could swash-buckle right through those too. I had no concept of a mistake that could not be remedied. I had no appreciation for a person who could face the permanent loss of something she had wanted, face that it was her fault she lost it, and go on living life as best she could. I admired decisive action; I did not admire perseverance and patience. That changed after Livy's birth. For the first time in my life, I had done something I couldn't take back, and because of the postpartum depression, I often wanted to. It was then, doing the best I could for Livy because I chosen it and I had to, that I learned to love and admire Anne Elliot. I'm glad that I got a second chance (the postpartum depression went away after 14 months, and I was glad to have chosen Livy) like Anne Elliot did. Perseverance is best when it is rewarded by joy.

As far as the movies go, I have loved A&E's Pride and Prejudice, Emma with Gwyneth Paltrow, the Amanda Root and Ciaran Hinds Persuasion, and the Emma Thompson Sense and Sensibility. I have seen every Jane Austen movie I could get my hands on, and there are others I liked as well. But these are the gems. I highly recommend them.

Besides reading Austen's novels, I have read quite a few books on her time period, and I read her letters. Some of the letters were destroyed, but the ones we have are delightful. Lots of daily life, lots of family news, and mentions of her characters. She saw them as living people, and she would write to her sister when she saw a dress that would have been perfect for Lizzy or a hat for Lady Catherine. I think only true lovers of Austen would like the letters, though. They are not the literary letters of people like Johnson or Keats. They are personal, by and large.

Austen's works have carried me through childhood, through my teenage years, and into my 30s, and the books have never grown stale. They have offered me something I needed from age 8 to age 30. I can't wait to read the blog post that I make in another 30 years telling you all how I have changed, how my appraisal and my love of the novels has changed, and how I knew next to nothing in my 30s. :)

Three Good Things

1. 3 days of uninterrupted Aaron-y goodness. Usually he works until well after I am asleep, so I see precious little of him. And then I went on my trip. So I was in serious Aaron deficit. But today is the third day of spending all day with him. Activities: hiking, visiting friends, watching Dollhouse, reading next to each other, and others you might be able to imagine but shouldn't if we happen to be related.

2. Seeing best friends again. The visit really did involve a bit too much wine (all the children were asleep, so we were in the clear), a lot of loud and dramatic statements (mostly from me), quite a bit of gossip, and Cake (the band, though the food would have been nice too).

3. Having time that stretches before me as yet unfilled (this is both a good things and a terrifying one). No school this semester, only teaching one class again, so what will I do? Here's the list I thought of while taking a bath (another good thing): More weekday time with Livy (including homeschool coop which I don't usually get to do), get back to my French, Spanish, and Greek, read hard books again (when I am in school, all my free reading has to be lighter, but no longer, tonight I will start Moll Flanders), exercise more (I really need to make myself lift weights), learn to make reduction sauces like Richard Nikoley, and actually keep the house clean and meals cooked (that kind of fell by the way side during the weeks before finals).

Celebrity Style Fashion Accessories at the 66th Annual Golden Globe Awards

2009 first huge red carpet event is the Golden Globe which attracts all the fashion editors, photographers, fans, etc. And jewelry is the one never out of fashion. Luxury and fancy jewelry make all the ladies look elegant and noble. You want to be movie star? It's definitely a good chance to see the trend and copy their styles. It's not that difficult to be a star.This year, many actresses chose to show their sexy collarbone, so few of them wore necklaces. However, the few necklaces that were noted were really luxurious. And earrings and bracelets were the most popular adornments.



Beyonce : A whopping 200-karat diamond Lorraine Schwartz.
Eva Mendes : Designed by Van Cleef & Arpels, four layers of turquoise stones and diamonds sets.
Kate Winslet : Kate went classic, with teardrop shaped sparklers
Hayden Panettiere : Perfect earrings went well to her face shape.
Evan Rachel Wood : She was looking old before her time, but was wearing amazing earrings that I really, really desired.

Ok it's good to have a look at all the celebrities' jewelry and Congratulations to the 2009 Golden Globe winners! Let's looking forward to the Oscar!

Trend Necklaces Celebrity Styles

Most of hollywood celebrity Styles used and set as necklaces trendsetter,fashion,handbag or hairstyles.here some of these celebrity Styles trendsetter.



Nicole Richie Inspired Pave Angel Wing Necklaces



Jessica Alba and Deimos Gold Crossbones Necklaces



Rihanna Hip Hop Love Necklaces

Wear Multi-Strand Necklaces Tips

Layered necklaces are a growing trend this year, as everyone from celebs to socialites to rock stars have been spotted on the red carpets in fabulously fierce designs that steal the scene. Multi-strand necklaces can be for dressing up or dressing down, for work or for play. With so many styles, designs and settings to choose from, there's something for everyone. Here we take a look at how to wear this fashion forward trend and share some tips for pulling off a complete look seamlessly.

If you're going to rock a multi-strand necklace to dress up an evening ensemble, pearls are a great way to go. You can throw on a necklace with several strands of classic pearls. This is a more modern take on a fashion accessory staple. Natural pearls look great when set against an LBD. To mix it up a little, try a multi-strand necklace interwoven with black strands, a pendant or rhinestones. This creates a glamorous cluster effect that really makes the outfit.



You can also wear a multi-strand necklace during the day. Look for colorful beads that go with multiple outfits from your closet. Add color to plain white tank tops and t-shirts or a summer sundress. Alternatively, you can mix and match necklaces to create a unique look that is all your own. Try it out by starting with a long pendant necklace and then adding chains of varying length. Don't be afraid to mix metals like oxidized silver or hammered gold. It's these textures and patterns that make for an interesting combination. Play around with new designs until you find ones that work for you. Multi-strand necklaces are a great way to update an old favorite and keep up with of-the-moment fashion. Best of all, many of this season's designs are both extremely chic and affordable.

Kelly and Livy's Excellent Adventure: Days Six and Seven

The last two days have not been such an excellent adventure; they've been kind of dull. That's why I didn't blog last night. We are wearing down. It's time to go home, and if we had any sense, we would have started home today. But we don't have that much sense. We were so close to St. Louis, and we want to see the Cahokia Indian Mounds really, really bad. So we pushed on.

Yesterday, we went on a second Mammoth Cave tour, but we didn't like this one as well. The tour guide was OBSESSED with the history of the local mining industry, so instead of a general history tour talking about the mining, the War of 1812, and the prehistoric people who used and were buried in the cave, we learned A LOT about the mining in the cave. Way more than I ever cared to know, and Livy was dead bored. Our guide never even mentioned the prehistoric people, and at the time, I wanted to kill him and leave him to naturally mummify, like the bodies he didn't tell us about.

After that, we drove ALL DAY. We made it to Evansville, IN and left again this morning on the trip to St. Louis. We got here, ate a midafternoon meal, and now we are settled into our hotel. We are like old ladies, and all we want to do today is just watch movies and relax.

Tomorrow, we'll go to the Indian Mounds, then we'll start making our way south.

I like being an adventurer for a while, but right now I want to be a cud-chewing cow in my very own well beloved field. I want to chat with the other cows, do the mundane chores it takes to keep the field all green, and rest in my own warm stable.

Kelly and Livy's Excellent Adventure: Day Five

Livy and I went back to the Parthanon today. It rocked, again. We had seen the outside lit up at night, but neither of us had ever been inside. It was worth putting off our exit from Nashville to go back and see it. Inside the Parthenon is a huge, to scale, recreation of the original statue of Athena. That original statue is lost, but an artist from Nashville read up on the ancient sources and made the statue based on what the original was supposed to look like. Well, it was amazing. It is as tall as the whole inside of the temple, all covered in gold. Athena is holding the goddess Nike (victory) in her right hand, and she holds a huge shield with Medusa's head in the middle in her left hand. The inside of the shield is painted with a gorgeous battle scene, and the outside has Amazons on it. Athena is wearing her armor and helmet, all gold, and it is just a stunning sight. There are lots of casts of the statues found in the pediment of the temple, and we had a great time identifying which gods and goddesses were there. Livy, who has never shown an interest in mythology, is suddenly excited about hearing stories about Athena. I think we'll get the Ariadne story when we get back, and we might even start with the beginning of the Illiad. I don't think she will care a jot for the battle parts of the tale, but the beginning with the goddesses and Paris and the golden apple might be fun for her.

After the Parthenon, we had a picnic in our car and set out for Mammoth Caves. I don't think I have ever been to Kentucky, so that's kind of neat-o. Lots of horse farms, as one might expect. We got to Mammoth Caves early in the afternoon, so we decided to do a cave tour even though we were trying to have a low key day. The caves were stunning. Our tour guide was a park ranger who knew tons of stuff, and once he discovered I was actually interested in his knowledge (which didn't seem to be the norm), he told me tons of stuff about the caves. We did a 2 hour hike through some wet, dome and pit caves (vertical caves), quite a few dry horizontal caves (some very large rooms from collapses), and some amazing rooms of formations that looked like frozen waterfalls (they are really made out of limestone). I learned there are caves made out of coral reefs too (though not here) in places where there used to be seas (Carlsbad Caverns are these kinds). I think Livy and I may have to get some books on caves, cause it was real interesting stuff.

The people on the tour with us were a whole other kind of thing. Here was the list of characters: the guy who really thought he was funny and his wife who agreed, though nobody else did, the foreign bartered bride from Eastern Europe and her older husband (she was all protective of Livy with me right there and it nearly drove me crazy - I swear to God my 6 year old can walk down a hill unassisted, and if she's cold, she'll ask for her coat without some overbearing stranger telling her to put it on), the three college aged girls, one of which was claustraphobic (why would you go in a cave?), a nice older lady who was also actually interested in the science of the cave and busted the husband of the Euro-bride trying to break off a stalactite, and three South Koreans who took a lot of pictures. So along with cave crickets, packrats, bats, and eyeless fish, the cave was well-stocked with exotic species.

Anyway, we liked the caves so much, we are headed back to do another hike through. The tour today was centered on the formations, but the one we are going to tomorrow is about the history of the caves (the Indians that used them and the white people who rediscovered the caves and made them a tourist attraction).

Tonight, we did do our relaxing. Livy watched two movies (Little Miss Magic and Batman: The Mask of the Phantasm). I kind of watched with her (which means I oohed and ahhed when she insisted I look at some magic spell or an amazing punch Batman gave the bad guy), while I read Guns, Germs, and Steel. I'm not a big non-fiction reader, and I have tried this one before, but some many people I generally trust on book recommendations told me I MUST read it, that I am trying it again. It's not that I find it boring; quite the contrary, I like it a lot. But soon, I will be tempted by a juicy novel, and my resolve to read even the most interesting non-fiction will waver. Even now, I am contemplating a new mystery novel by Charlaine Harris, Moll Flanders, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, and a journey through Johnson's Rambler essays (which are technically non-fiction, but they are literary, they read like fiction for me).

But no great literature or science for me now. I'm gonna watch I Love Lucy and fall asleep. Good night.

Kelly and Livy's Excellent Adventure: Day Four

Today was kind of lame, partly cause we are very tired, but also because some people think that if you make something technological, it is automatically better. See, we went to the Adventure Science Center in Nashville. It wasn't awful; we had fun and all. But if I had been in control of the amount of money that clearly went into this museum, I could have made a much better one. It was kind of gimmicky. For example, remember that game where prairie dogs pop up and you have to whack them with a big mallet? Well, change the prairie dogs to cylinders with pictures of food on them. You have to whack the healthy food. It might as well have been a worksheet; "circle the healthy food." I prefer the kind of science museums where you use the exhibit to figure out real scientific principles, not just regurgitate info you memorized at school. We did this moon walk thing, where you are attached to a machine that takes away 5/6 of your weight, but that was it. It didn't really teach anything. The scale that showed your weight on different planets was cooler. We played a video game where the pathogens and the red blood cells battle each other in a laser gun kind of thing. It was fun, but not because of anything sciency. We could have just been playing any shoot-em up video game. The museum was too text based as well; Livy wasn't able to figure out what to do with the hands on things without reading, and the points of the exhibits weren't clear without a lot of reading. There were a few things I couldn't figure out how to use at all, and I can read the instructions.

There were some things we really liked. We did a simulated roller coaster ride in a flight simulator. Since Livy isn't tall enough to ride roller coasters yet (and she desperately wants to), it was a real treat for her. We saw a demonstration of how to make bubbles filled with fog using liquid nitrogen (the lady said dry ice would work too), and using soft gloves, Livy got to bounce bubbles. There was a tower we climbed way up to the top of the museum, and we got to look down on Nashville. And I loved the exhibit of the planets to scale so we could see how big they were in comparison with each other.

Final evaluation: It wasn't awful, and if we lived in Nashville, we'd go occasionally. But as far as traveling, don't bother. We like the Tellus Science Museum in Cartersville (north of Atlanta) and The McWane Science Center in Birmingham WAY better. Much more real science, much more approachable for children, and no computerized worksheets masquerading as science.

After this, we went to the grocery store and took a rest and ate dinner in the motel room. We like the Opryland Hotel so much that we went back for seconds. We walked through the awesome indoor gardens again, looked at all the waterfalls and fountains, walked through the outdoor lights display again, closely examined the statues of sheep in the nativity scene trying to determine which were boys and which were girls (they were not anatomically correct, to our dismay), and had ice cream in front of the dancing fountains (they shoot up in time to music and change colors). It was awesome again, but we left early, cause we are just so tired.

I think we need a more relaxed day tomorrow. We should have relaxed tonight, but we couldn't resist the Opryland Hotel. So, we are laying around tonight watching a Discovery Channel show on killer catfish (Livy thinks cable is so cool!) Tomorrow, our only real touristy plan is to go back to the Parthenon, and after that, we'll make the drive to Mammoth Cave. We won't actually go to the caves tomorrow, though. I think we will eat supper in our room and then just watch movies together; on a trip this long, I am learning that you have to pace yourselves.

Kelly and Livy's Excellent Adventure: Day Three

Today was our best day yet!

After we checked out of our hotel, we headed up I-24 toward Nashville. Livy worked on a math workbook, and I listened to Eclipse. Yes, I am one of those Twilight people. We spent several hours in Sewanee, TN, where I went to college. It is a gorgeous small town with a gorgeous small university that dominates its culture. I know several of my college friends are reading this blog, so I am going to go into some detail that the rest of you might wish I had deleted.

When we drove onto the domain, I explained the legend of the Sewanee angels to Livy, and we tapped the roof of the car like a good Sewanee person should. (I also wouldn't let her walk on the seal, just in case she ever wants to go to Sewanee, but I did tell her it wouldn't really keep her from graduating. Not true, but still fun.) We went to All Saints Chapel, of course, which she was super interested in, partly cause it is so pretty and partly cause she hasn't been in many churches. She was fascinated by the bishop's chairs, and I am pretty sure she now thinks Sewanee has 27 kings, while the rest of us only get senators and representatives. Here are a couple of pictures from the chapel. The first one is Livy in front of the high altar. The decorations are still up from Lessons and Carols, and the whole place was just resplendent.


The next one is me holding the hymnal in my old choir stall. I sang a little and listened to the reverberations from the high ceiling, but my voice is not as good as it used to be. It could get back there, but I was practicing so much. I really miss singing compline, and I wish I could be in Sewanee during the week sometime to go an hear it.

The next picture is Livy standing in front of the doors to the chapel, and I like it mostly because the fog is so very typical.

It was so foggy that, though we went to The Cross and to Green's View, we couldn't see a thing. I think Livy would have really enjoyed the overlooks. We drove past the house David and I lived in when Livy was a baby, and I told her about all the things she did there and what we did together in town. Seeing that house on Mississippi Avenue made me revisit (for about the millionth time) what kind of a weird hold Sewanee has on me. I mean really, I graduated from college and then moved away. But then I came back. I left again for many reasons (some having to do with the place, but not most of them), but even now, the second I get onto the domain, I'm thinking of how I want to live there again. It's a weird magic spell, and it got cast the second I went there for my scholarship interview. After taking the tour and having my interview, I called a friend back home and told him that this place was otherworldly and perfect for me. I turned down a more than full scholarship just to get a half scholarship and a chance at a full one at Sewanee (luckily some girl went to Yale, and I got hers, yippee!). It's like I just can't ever get away from there; like Sewanee exerts some kind of gravitational pull on me. I still feel that, even knowing all its faults.

Anyway, we also went to the equestrian fields and petted some horses. We walked through the Shakespeare garden across the street from Warren McCready's house. We went through the cemetary, which is my second favorite cemetary in the world and was my favorite picnic lunch spot for years. I visited the grave of an old professor who I was very close to, Dr. Bonds. Melinda and Carolyn, I know this may seem crazy, since none of us are particularly mystical, but I thought of you two and how he loved us all and I just told him right out loud how well you two were doing, how happy you were with your families and your passions. This is one of the only times I ever missed Sarah Downey and that weird girl who spoke Latin and Lander Dunbar; it just seemed right that all of us should commune there, have a cigarette, and criticize the Spanish department.

After we left Sewanee, we drove on to Nashville - more math, more Eclipse. Our next stop was the Parthenon! Yes, folks, we visted the Parthanon. Well, a full size replica. Cool, huh? We only got to see the outside, so we are planning to go back on Tuesday and see the statue of Athena. Pictures so you will believe me that this cool thing exists. The last one is of Livy by a column, so that you can get a feel for the scale.

We found another cheap, but not so bad, motel, moved our stuff in, had a huge fight in which she shirked work and I yelled (not either of our most shining moment), resolved our fight and cuddled, and then went out to dinner. After dinner, we went to see the Christmas decorations at the Opryland Hotel, and I am telling you people, everyone needs to do that. And I mean even the people in New Zealand and China and California. Here's what it has: 2 million lights, an inside river (yes, seriously), conservatories, walking paths, a boat you can ride, carriage rides through the grounds, waterfalls. I'm reading back over that and it just doesn't sound as great as it was. You'll just have to take my word for it. Go. Now. Oh, and I forgot the camera, so I have no proof.

Livy fell asleep the second we got back to the motel, and I am not far behind. Nashville rocks!!! By the way, I won't be able to post any more pictures, cause I got the fake SD card stuck upside down in the laptop. (Aaron, don't freak. It will be easy to get out with plyers or tweezers, neither of which I have.)

Kelly and Livy's Excellent Adventure: Day Two

Last night I slept like crap. I kept having dreams about The Mummy by Anne Rice, not scary, but kind of sad. Plus, Livy kicks. But, I am so tired, and I have drunk enough red wine, that I know I will sleep better tonight. Right now, we are snuggled up in bed, me typing and Livy watching mindless TV and eating cashew butter. We'll probably be asleep ridiculously early for us, and get up early and head out to Nashville.

What we did today: We got up, ate a bite from our cooler, got ready, and headed out to Chattanooga. We rode the carousel at Coolidge Park down by the Tennessee River. Here are a couple of pictures of Livy on the carousel.

Then we walked around by the river and found a pier to walk out on and watch the riverboats going by. Livy climbed on the statues at one of our favorite fountains. In the summer, water shoots out of the sidewalk in all kinds of patterns, and children play there in their swimsuits. The water was off of course, but the statues are still cool. Here's Livy on an elephant. You can see the pedestrian bridge behind her.

We went to lunch at Thai Smile in downtown Chattanooga. When Livy was a baby and I lived in Sewanee, when we drove in to go to the health food store, we would always eat lunch at this restaurant. They love babies, and they love children. They are so happy every time we go there and Livy actually eats Thai food. They seem to get so much pleasure out of watching her eat Tom Ka Gai soup, chicken satay, wonton soup, and Nam Tok. The cook even came out of the kitchen because the waitress had told him that Livy loved the wonton soup, and he wanted to talk to her himself. We had a yummy lunch, sharing all that good food between us. I've noticed that Thai restaurants seem to be so child friendly, in general, and not in that American way that makes me crazy. They don't have extensive children's menus or coloring books or loud atmosphere to cover the screaming. They just treat children like people, feed them real food, talk to them, and seem to enjoy having them in the restaurant. Once when Livy was 8 months old or so, a Thai waitress in Jacksonville insisted on carrying her into the kitchen to show her husband how cute she was. I just love that attitude towards kids.

After lunch, we met up with Sam Kennedy and his son Jamie for the first time in person. It rocked. I love meeting someone new that I actually intend to see again and get to know better. I've been on a streak with this. I had lunch with Jason and Megan Stotts earlier this week, and they were fantastic too. Hooray for my three new Objectivists who don't have corn cobs up their butts (a real plus for people you want to be friends with)! Anyway, we met Sam and Jamie at the Creative Discovery Museum downtown. Of course, since Jamie is two, he loved the stairs and the wheelchair ramp and dumping bowls of water onto the floor best. Livy loved the water exhibit too; they have pieces to create damns of different shapes, water canons, and cranks that lift water and pour it down chutes. Here are a couple of pictures of her doing water stuff:

The museum also has a cool musical instrument section, a theatre with real lights and sound effects (where I got to play the role of a mooing cow who gets beamed up by a space ship), a gigantic climbing structure, a rooftop with simple machines (using pulleys to lift your chair up high, a seesaw thing to pump air and shoot a ball, etc), and a tower looking out over Chattanooga.

We came back to the hotel early, about when it got dark, and we've been relaxing every since. I am finally letting down after this semester.

More tomorrow from Nashville.

Kelly and Livy's Excellent Adventure: Day One

So we are off on our roadtrip! It is my first trip alone with Livy, except going to see family, and so far it is amazing! Other people add stress and expectations, even if the people are fun, but when it is just the two of us, we are so chill. We do as we please, eat what and when we please, and say what we please. There's just nobody in the world who you can let down with like your child. Livy only wants to have a good time and be with me, and as long as we are doing that, she couldn't care less what we do. It's very freeing to travel with someone who thinks that my conversation is the most interesting in the world and who loves me so much. She is as spontaneous and non-planny as I am, and she couldn't care less if we play everything by ear. Also, we don't get to be alone very much, and I love it. Okay, enough gooey. Here's what we did today:

We left Atlanta in the late afternoon, after packing our stuff, putting ice in our cooler, and going to the grocery store. We have cashew and almond butter, yogurt, pepperoni, ham, cream cheese with onions stirred in, bananas, apples, milk, and lemonade. That's mostly what we are going to eat all week. We're going to picnic almost all the time. We have two overflowing suitcases filled with clothes that we will probably have to wear more than once, stuffed animals, this laptop, and the most basic toiletries. We didn't have room for shampoo, so we are going to wash our hair with soap. I'm proud to be the kind of people who think that stuffed animals and a laptop to blog on are more important uses of space than shampoo. We think that most people are too clean anyway. Maybe we won't even wash our hair!! Ha! See how carefree we are!

We made the drive to Chattanooga and got here just before dark. The whole way we listened to The Spiderwick Chronicles by Toni DiTerlizzi and Holly Black. It's the story of three siblings who move into an old house and discover that it is inhabited by all kinds of fairies. So far so good. It's no Narnia, but I like it. Livy is mesmerized by it. We are staying for the next two nights at a Super 8 motel in Fort Oglethorpe, GA, right outside Chattanooga. Staying in downtown Chattanooga is super cool, but also super expensive, so we are just going to drive in both days. After we settled into our room and decided important things, like who gets to sleep on which side of the bed, we went out for the evening.

We ate supper at Zaxby's (not out of our cooler like we were supposed to, ha ha, carefree), and then we went to see The Princess and the Frog. We loved it. The music is so much more fun than other Disney movies (jazz and zydeco), and I liked the humor. There is some mysticism, of course, but we choose to blow off that stuff. Instead, we focus on how the princess is a super hard worker who has to learn that there are other values to have besides just career and how the prince is a lazy womanizer who learns that hard work and real love (not just partying with lots of women) are important values. We like those lessons. Plus, talking frogs, who doesn't love those?

Now we are snuggled up in a big king sized bed (a real luxury for us). Livy loves to sleep with me (she wishes she could all the time), and it's a treat for me too. A treat that is only fun because it isn't every single night. :) I'm gonna post this and then maybe finish my new Anne Rice novel, The Mummy or Ramses the Damned. It is a lot of fun, so far, more like the Mayfair witches and less like Interview with a Vampire and The Vampire Lestat; that's a good thing. Plus, come on, a mummy who wakes up and turns out to be all hot, brilliant, and charming? (In fact, Jenn, could you please tell Brendan that I now lust for vampires and mummies. Mummies are kind of like Frankenstein's monster, right?)

This picture is our before photo. We asked a lady to take it at the RaceTrac where we filled our cooler with ice. Even though I am terrible about remembering to take pictures (they make me feel disconnected, sometimes, like I am an observer of life instead a participant, so I never have gotten in the habit), I am going to make a real effort on this trip. I want to have a photo record of our adventures, and I want you guys to see the cool things we are doing. I have decided that it is okay to spend a bit of my time on the meta-level, watching our progress as we make it.

Formula Ad Critique

Wow, I haven't posted in a long time! I've been writing final papers and final exams, so I haven't wanted to write anything else. I wrote one exam question for my rhetoric class on Aristotle's fallacious topics applied to current TV commercials and advertisements. I thought this piece of the essay might be interesting to some of my readers. Feel free to ignore the Aristotle stuff, unless that kind of thing floats your boat.


The next advertisement I am going to analyze, a page from the website of Enfamil baby formula, uses the fallacious topic “From affirming the consequent.” This fallacious argument is made when two things are considered the same because they share one or more characteristics. It is fallacious because it ignores the presence of other characteristics which show that the things are not the same. Aristotle’s example of this kind of argument is that because beggars sing and dance in the temple precincts and because happy people sing and dance in the temple precincts, beggars must be happy people. This argument is fallacious because singing and dancing in the temple precincts is only one characteristic of happy people. There are many others that beggars do not share which the argument ignores.

The Enfamil Premium ad uses this fallacious topic by equating Enfamil Premium with breast milk by showing that they share certain characteristics. Under the green oval labeled “Growth,” the viewer finds this claim: “Healthy growth patterns similar to breastfed babies, in both length and weight.” This is the argument from affirming the consequent. Since both babies fed with Enfamil and babies fed with breast milk share similar growth patterns in length and weight, Enfamil and breast milk are almost the same. The other characteristics of breast milk (such as lower incidence of allergies and type 1 diabetes, the antibodies received from mom that are tailored to the environment the baby lives in, and many, many others that I will not bore you with), the very ones that would differentiate it from Enfamil, are ignored.

We find the same fallacious argument again on the same page in the graph of mental development at eighteen months. The graph shows that babies fed Enfamil have nearly the same mental test scores for memory, language, and problem solving as babies who are fed breast milk. This visual representation falls even more clearly into the category of arguments from affirming the consequent because the bars for breast milk and Enfamil Premium are shown at a scale that makes them appear almost exactly the same size and because they are the same color. According to this argument, since test scores for babies fed breast milk and babies fed Enfamil are almost the same, breast milk and Enfamil are almost the same. The ad ignores the other characteristics that breast milk and Enfamil do not share, focusing only on the one characteristic which they do share and making them appear to be of the same value.

Though they are not as explicit, most of the arguments in this ad might also be arguing by affirming the consequent. Because breast milk is the silent standard to which the formula is being compared, any statement claiming that the formula is promoting a health benefit is equating it to breast milk based on that characteristic. For example, when the ad claims that Enfamil is “dedicated to providing complete, balanced nutrition,” what is the standard for infant nutrition that is complete and balanced? The standard is breast milk; we know that a formula is complete and balanced when it mimics the nutritional content of breast milk. So, Enfamil is claiming that since their formula is complete and balanced and breast milk is complete and balanced, Enfamil and breast milk are the same. Even assuming that their claim about being complete and balanced is true (which it isn’t), there are other characteristics of breast milk (like the benefits of its delivery method for both mom and baby or its composition changing based on the individual baby’s needs) which differentiate it from Enfamil. Again, Enfamil has chosen to ignore any characteristics that do not support the similarity between Enfamil and breast milk.

Tropical Necklaces

Make a statement with tropical necklaces. Layer three necklaces with different sizes, shapes and colors of tropical beads. This look will work from daytime to evening. get this necklaces on portia jewelry

or on amazon.com



Sophisticated and elegant, this Pugster Tropical Blue Starfish Murano Glass Pendant is one of our favorite items in our popular Murano Colori line of Italian glass jewelry. A symbol of fashion and taste, Murano glass originated in Venice, and the pendants of the Colori line are inspired by this historic Venetian Murano glass. Adorned with silver foil and vertical blue, red and green painted stripes, this beautiful pendant measures about 60mm by 62mm. These Murano Glass pendant necklaces are accompanied by a 16 inch cloth or black silicone lanyard necklace with silver tone lobster clasps. Pugster pendant necklaces also make great gifts. Each Murano Colori item is crafted and authenticated by Pugster Inc. Murano Colori pendants are made by hand, so each will be slightly different in length, height, and width.

Sterling Silver Filigree Circle Pendant, 18"

Jewelry Information

• Brand Name : Amazon.com Collection
• Metal stamp : .925
• Metal : sterling-silver
• Material Type : sterling-silver
• Height : 37.9 millimeters
• Width : 29.8 millimeters
• Length : 18 inches
• Clasp Type : spring-ring-clasps

Avon GLIMMERSTICKS Eye Liner

Defines eyes with perfect precision. Smooth, glide-on color. Long wear. Retractable, self-sharpening.