The Christian's Harry Potter

Last week the local library hosted a talk on Harry Potter, sort of a celebration of the upcoming final movie.

The speaker's name was John Granger, who bills himself as the Hogswart Professor. He is also known as "the Dean of Harry Potter." His website is hogswartprofessor.com. Be advised I can only get it to come up in Firefox and not at all in Internet Explorer if you check it out.

Anyway, he's written several books about J.K. Rowling's works, including How Harry Cast His Spell: The Meaning Behind the Mania, The Deathly Hallows Lectures: The Hogwarts Professor Explains, Unlocking Harry Potter: Five Keys for the Serious Reader, and Harry Potter's Bookshelf: The Great Books behind the Hogwarts Adventures.

I confess I had never heard of the guy, or of his books, until the library invited him to talk.

John Granger as he appeared last week during a local talk.

Mr. Granger told the audience that he was a "strong" Christian and he initially read the first Harry Potter book so he could point out to his daughter why his family did not read such things. However, being a student of classical literature, he found many references to the great works of art and quite a lot of Christian imagery.

Eventually, he created a career out of his thoughts on Rowling's series.

During his lecture, he explained how Rowling's books must be looked at from the standpoint of post-modernism, and post-modern thought. He explained this type of thinking as "the big myth is wrong" with a narrative of "prejudice is evil" and another narrative of "there is no absolute" and "we can't know anything for sure." He also characterized post modern thought as the belief that "choices define you" and he quickly got around to one of the biggest and most hyped "choices" of our time - abortion. I leave you to guess what he said about that topic, but suffice it to say that I came close to walking out. I certainly did not feel the comments were appropriate for the setting.

When he wasn't preaching, I did find some of Granger's thoughts on the Harry Potter books intriguing.

He called the books "literary alchemy," a term I had not heard before and one I liked. This might be taking truths and turning them into fiction, or other such things. In Rowling's case, one might argue she has taken a great myth and turned it into modern literature, or something like that.

He argued that Harry Potter has many Christian symbols in the book. For example, these include parallels between Harry Potter and Jesus and the images of the phoenix and the unicorn, both of which are associated with Christianity. Additionally, there are many references to the number three, which of course relates to the Trinity.

I personally feel that one can read whatever one wishes into a book, particularly a work of fantasy, and some of the Christian imagery is a stretch. Sometimes a unicorn is just a unicorn, but who am I to say. I also feel it necessary to point out the some of the imagery the Christian community calls its own was there long before the religion, and like the Christmas tree, is actually pagan in its historical beginnings.

Another of his points included the idea that the books, as a series and as each individual work, are a ring, in that the beginning and end meet. Additionally, the front half of the bok mirrors the second half, and the first three books of the series echo the final three books, with book four being the pivotal point.

In other words, the Chamber of Secrets mirrors the Half Blood Prince, for example. And chapter 1 and the final chapter in any book would reflect one another.

This, I thought, had merit, as I had noticed the mirroring myself as I read. I think my disappointment in The Deathly Hallows arose from the fact that I felt some of this was lost in the last work. I thought Deathly Hallows read like it was written for the screen, a feeling I did not get from the other books.

Symbolism and references to past literatures create a large body that can and does influence any good piece of writing. Granger is arguing that Rowling's books are so well-received because they tap into that historic well and bring forth those myths and legends in a new way. I cannot argue with that.

He noted that the books fall into a number of literary genres, not just fantasy. He called them mysteries, school boy books,  and gothics, to name a few.

He called Hermione the "mind" of the book, while Ron was the "body" and Harry the "soul." He also likened Hermione to Nancy Drew and Ron and Harry to the Hardy Boys. I definitely liked that notion.

I left before the talk ended, having another commitment, so I am not sure what other areas the lecture ventured into. Granger has received a bit of criticism from many different venues, some of which is online, over his observations. The criticism comes from all fronts - Christians object to his premise, and non-Christians object to it, too.

I found the talk interesting and Granger was a good speaker. I did object to the preaching part, which simply did not belong in that discussion at that time. He should leave his prostelyzing to other arenas.  As my husband said, "I didn't come here to be preached at." I know a few others in the audience did not come for that, either, but perhaps his readers were not as surprised as we were. Fortunately, he moved quickly away from those points and unless he took to preaching again at the end, it was fleeting.

I can argue with his conclusions about Harry Potter either way, but I thought the ideas interesting enough to share here with you today. If nothing else, this is a great demonstration of how a piece of writing can mean one thing to one person and something completely different to someone else.

Haying Time

With the wet weather finally over, it's time for the alfalfa to be laid low with the mower.

Yesterday all around farm machinery whirred across uneven fields, the farmers bobbing up and down on their seats as they went round and around. All up and down the road, fields of emerald green that swayed in the wind turned into neat rows of cut grass.

Cut hay smells sweet and dusty, and its perfume in the air on this Sunday. The beautiful day is heavy with sunshine and thunderhead clouds over the mountain. A stillness in the air that has the grasshoppers searching for shade makes the Blue Ridge Mountains shimmer with haze.

The mowers yesterday buzzed like bees, but today they do not sound. It is a day of rest even for the farmers.

Some days, when the sun beats down relentlessly, I make lemonade. I fill the pitcher with ice and then carry it to the edge of the field. I stop and hold the pitcher high until I am seen. Then I watch the tractor as the driver abandons the raking or tetting or baling, and drives toward me with wild abandon.

My husband hops down from the tractor with a cocky grin on his face. He stands there and downs a full glass of lemonade as if in one gulp. He always leaves me with a sticky, dirty kiss on my face. His helpers, if there are any, offer thanks and return the glass to me.

On haying days my husband comes in the house, his whole body dripping sweat, and I make him disrobe in the garage so he doesn't track hay dust all over the house.

After the hay is up, the fields that glimmered green now glisten gold, but just for a short while. As soon as a rain falls, they green right up again.

And after a time, it'll all start over again.

Sanctuary

I never tire of taking pictures of the Hollins University campus. I was on the premises Thursday, picking up my final papers, and the grounds crew was busy readying the Quad for graduation.

Next year I plan to be among those graduates, marching once again to receive another diploma from this old and honorable institution.

Hollins was established in 1842 (20 years before the American Civil War) and initially called Valley Union Seminary. It became a women's college 10 years later and received the Hollins name at that time. It was the first women's college in Virginia.

The buildings reflect the architecture of the time. I think they are some of the loveliest structures in the area.

The backside of Botetourt Hall.

Main and the chairs out front as graduation nears.

Main again, home of the Green Drawing Room, site of many poetry readings.

Bradley Hall. When I was an undergraduate, this was the home of the English Department. Just walking into this building could fill me with inspiration.

The main administration building.

The chapel.

The front of Botetourt.

Goodbye, Farewell, and Amen

As I am sure you've heard by now, tomorrow is the day the earth ends. Or it's the rapture for Christians and those who believe (in Christ, in the rapture, or both) will rise up into the sky.

So I wanted to be sure to say goodbye to those of you who are my readers who may not be here come Sunday. I hope you have a good trip.

One report I read said Christians will rise from their graves and take a walk before heading up into the clouds. I find that a bit horrific and a little terrifying to think about, myself. They have to be pretty moldy or nothing but bones. I suppose some people find comfort in this notion, but I can't say that I do.

In any event, I do not plan to be among those who are rising upwards tomorrow, even though I have been baptised and thus might qualify.  I just happen to think it isn't going to work like that, nor do I think the end of the world is a predictable date. I hope I am not surprised.

I am not poking fun. I think that people who believe this are completely serious. It bothers me, though, that these end of the world scenarios will not go away. What I find disturbing about it is that people want to leave their life so quickly. Does it mean nothing? That, to me, is very sad. I think it is quite a verdict on society, too, that so many people find so little happiness in this lifetime that they are eager to move on to the next. That there are so many who want to do this speaks poorly of our ability to care for one another.

I also wonder what happens to people who fervently believe such things and then are let down. Do they just decide they had a wrong date? Do they begin to question the things they've been taught? What happens when you believe something like this and it turns out to be false?

According to this article by the Guardian, ideas about the end of the world began in the 17th century. Thus one might blame modernization for these end time beliefs. Is it modern science, as the article states? Or is it the result of the more individualistic society in which we live, where we have little regard for our fellow man?

Some people think Christ has already come a second time and we are living in the hell that follows. I don't know about that. Poverty has been around for forever, as have diseases, illnesses, and other bad things. Seems like there might be something there to indicate a change of some sort had something like that happened.

The world will end one day. Maybe an asteroid will collide with the planet, or the sun will blow up, or the guys in suits who have their fingers on the nuclear buttons will have too much to drink one night and boom! there we all go. But I find I cannot live my life worrying about such things.

Anyway, whatever happens tomorrow, I hope that you find peace and happiness. Be blessed, be joyful, be kind to small animals.

Have a great day.

I'll be blogging again tomorrow.

Thursday Thirteen

1. "Thog reached into the icy waters and took hold of the fabled Warclub of Goog and set forth to purge the hunting lands of the evil demon that was plaguing . . . " Park & Dulllemond, The Complete Guide to Writing Fantasy (page 13).

2. "Call today and learn how you can be 'Job Ready'" - National College ad. "We live in a world where life skills seldom count." - Me. (Ad on the back of a local publication without 13 pages).

3. "Don't know what she expected, Crystal marrying one of those highfalutin Atlanta Wentworths," was a consensus, if not the general one. - Anne River Siddons in Burnt Offerings (page 13).

4. "When the woman is a contemporary, a living but not directly present other, her claim to authority becomes even more fragile, for she cannot override by sheer force of character the typification "woman" by which she is stereotyped and diminished in male consciousness." - Lengermann & Niebrugge, The Women Founders (page 13).

5. "New shows roll in from over the mountains and the magician reappears unannounced from a fold in the curtain you never dreamed was an opening." - Anne Dillard, Pilgrim at Tinker Creek (page 13).

6. "Managing Your Risk is More Important Now Than Ever" - Morgan Stanley ad. "When was it ever not important?" - Me. (Ad on the back of a local publication without 13 pages.)


7. "At the same time, Reitz notes that members of the governor's staff have indicated to him that Brownback is considering whether to exercise his line-item veto power to strip out whatever funding the legislature approves for the commission." - "Arts Crunch in Kansas," in Poets & Writers, May/June 2011 (page 13).

8. "Consequently, it is not perfectionism that is the problem but the discrepancy between perfectionist standards and perform." - Piers Steel, Ph.D., in The Procrastination Equation (page 13).

9. "It's important to know when an author used the protagonist's name and when we was just referred to as "he."' - N. M. Kelby, The Constant Art of Being a Writer (page 13).

10. "Have you ever accidentally left your notes or diary behind on a train or plane and bemoaned the loss of what certainly had been your best work?" - Betsy Lerner, The Forest for the Trees: An Editor's Advice to Writers (page 13).

11. "She would love to see what the inside looked like. She just didn't think she had any right to." - Sarah Addison Allen, The Peach Keeper (page 13).

12. "If the situation calls for it, offer flexibility when talking with customers." "What's Being Done About Customer Service" in Valley Business Front, April 2011 (page 13).

13. "You just don't want to get tied up in somebody else's vision." - Nikki Giovanni in "A Conversation with Nikki Giovanni" by Chapman Hood Frazier in The Writer's Chronicle, March/April 2011 (page 13).

Today's Thursday Thirteen comes from the 13th page (or the last page, in two instances) of publications that are within my reach without getting up. These are mostly items that I am in the process of reading or they are in my "read this when you have time" pile.

Thursday Thirteen is played by lots of people; there is a list here. I've been playing for a while and this is my 191st time to do a list of 13 on a Thursday.

Columbine 2011

Roses 2011

Early Spring

Redbud tree

Dogwood

 

Dogwood  up close

I did get out and shoot a few pictures of spring when things were blooming and beautiful. We've about morphed into summer now, and the trees are full of leaves. Things are green and growing.

Cash or Nothing

Yesterday I had occasion to make copies at Staples, an office supply store.

To my consternation, copy machines there no longer take cash.

They take credit cards.

I am not a fan of plastic. I am a cash-and-carry kind of girl. I also have a thing about electronic fingers reaching into my accounts and having access. I just don't like it.

The helpful salesclerk told me the only way I could pay cash was to go to a machine that converts cash into a plastic card, like a gift card.

It only took dollar bills.

So I ended up with a plastic card with 87 cents left on it, which they would not refund into cash.

What a racket for the company, eh? Because they know most people are going to toss the card with less than a $1 on it. So they get my 87 cents for doing nothing but insisting that I must use plastic and not cash.

So my choice for making copies was to allow a machine unlimited access to my credit card, lose change on their plastic, or go elsewhere.

Next time, I will go elsewhere.

Did you know that in 2006, companies raked in over $8 billion in unused plastic gift cards? Using these plastic cards is like walking into a store and handing them a $100 bill just for fun.

Scrip, is what they used to call it, and it once had a bad name in our history. Companies, particularly mining and logging companies, would issue scrip instead of cash for employee wages. The scrip would be redeemable at the company store for goods. The company would mark up prices, keeping the employees poor and in a terrible economic cycle. Neighboring places that were not company owned rarely exchanged the scrip at a 1:1 ration. It is a form of economic enslavement.

This still goes on. I was in a large corporate retail store one day and an employee told me they are paid with a credit card that is only good at the corporate stores, and you can convert it to cash only if you pay a fee. How are these people supposed to pay their other bills?

The company store fell into disfavor in the early 1900s because of child labor laws and other regulations that helped workers free themselves from this type of entrapment. Companies have not abandoned the practice, though. They've just grown more creative with their euphemisms. Call it a gift card if you want; it's still scrip. And it doesn't do a darned thing for you.

Thursday Thirteen #190

1. I read this morning on a Facebook page that the Dali Lama said this: "Some people automatically associate morality and altruism with a religious vision of the world. But I believe it is a mistake to think that morality is an attribute only of religion. We can imagine two types of spirituality: one tied to religion, while the other arises spontaneously in the human heart as an expression of love for our neighbors and a desire to do them good." I don't know if he really said this, but I like the sentiment.

2. Tillie Olsen in 1972 said this: "How much it takes to become a writer . . . circumstances, time, development of craft - but beyond that: how much conviction as to the importance of what one has to say, one's right to say it. . . . Difficult for any male not born into a class that breeds such confidence. Almost impossible for a girl, a woman." She was a feminist writer.

3. In my sociology class, one or two young women argued that they are as free and equal as their male counterpoints in all areas of life. Here's a statistic: The median weekly earnings of women who were full-time wage and salary workers was $657, or 80 percent of men’s $819. When comparing the median weekly earnings of persons aged 16 to 24, young women earned 93 percent of what young men earned ($424 and $458, respectively). Still think things are equal?

4. “In one of her extraordinary essays, “The Space Crone,” Ursula Le Guin wrote that old women would make the best space explorers. Free from the daily tasks of rearing helpless children, free to see and comprehend without vanity, loving life because we know we may have to leave it soon, we would embark on our journey to the stars not for ego or planting flags but only for information to transmit back to our grandchildren for their future explorations. We know by then that we are part of the flow of life.” — An Adventurous Woman: Erica Jong reviews Somewhere Towards the End, by Diana Athill (this quote found at this link on Ursula Le Guin's website)

5. "In fact that is why the lives of most women are so vaguely unsatisfactory. They are always doing secondary and menial things (that do not require all their gifts and ability)for others and never anything for themselves. Society and husbands praise them for it (when they get too miserable or have nervous breakdowns) though always a little perplexedly and half-heartedly and just to be consoling. . . .  But inwardly women know that something is wrong. They sense that if you are always doing something for others, like a servant or nurse, and never anything for yourself, you cannot do others any good . . . you cannot affect them spiritually in any way at all. For to teach, encourage, cheer up, console, amuse, stimulate or advise a husband or children or friends, you have to be something yourself." -- Brenda Ueland (writer)

6. "All that is necessary to break the spell of inertia and frustration is this: Act as if it were impossible to fail." -- Dorothea Brande (writer)

7. "There is no female mind. The brain is not an organ of sex. Might as well speak of a female liver." - Charlotte Perkins Gilman (writer and feminist)

8. "You can safely assume you've created God in your own image when it turns out that God hates all the same people you do." -- Anne Lamott (writer)

9. "Whatever women do they must do twice as well as men to be thought half as good.  Luckily, this is not difficult." -- Charlotte Whitton (Canadian feminist)

10. "I myself have never been able to find out precisely what feminism is:  I only know that people call me a feminist whenever I express sentiments that differentiate me from a door mat or a prostitute." --Rebecca West, "Mr Chesterton in Hysterics: A Study in Prejudice," The Clarion, 14 Nov 1913, reprinted in The Young Rebecca, 1982. (Rebecca West was a writer and feminist)

11. "Women are the only oppressed group in our society that lives in intimate association with their oppressors." -- Evelyn Cunningham (civil rights journalist)

12. "Instead of getting hard ourselves and trying to compete, women should try and give their best qualities to men - bring them softness, teach them how to cry." -- Joan Baez, "Sexism Seen but not Heard," Los Angeles Times, 1974 (folksinger, songwriter and activist)

13. "Feminism is the radical notion that women are people." -- Cheris Kramarae and Paula Treichler (writers and feminists)



~ I started this Thursday Thirteen as an eclectic thing, with no theme in mind, but it turned out to be rather thematic, I think. At least these things are all connected in my mind. ~

Thursday Thirteen is played by lots of people; there is a list here. I've been playing for a while and this is my 190th time to do a list of 13 on a Thursday.

Almost Done

I have my last class for the semester tonight.

Whew.

It's tough going back to school when you're old and those brain cells don't fire quite as fast as they used to! I have spent the last several days finishing up a final project and I have one more final paper to complete and turn in by Thursday. And THEN I can say I will be done for this semester.

However, I really enjoy school. I like to learn, and I love the interaction with fellow students and the professors. I love the environment of a college campus. I really liked my sociology class this semester and I got a lot out of that.

I am thinking I really missed my calling. I should have been a college professor. I could have taught history or something. But early on I was rammed into these ideas of what I should be and who I should be, and I think I've fought against them all my life. I missed opening a few doors, too.

Classes will begin for the summer on June 20. I've already signed up and even have my books here on the desk. How's that for being an eager student, eh?

Still Here

Can you believe it?

I don't have anything to say!

Thursday Thirteen

Since it's the first Thursday in May, I will take a look back at April and recount 13 good things about the previous month. It's my positive 13!

1. My grades are really good! In fact, as far as I know, I have straight As in both classes.

2. My allergies, while not great, are not as bad as they could be, and I am thankful for that. At least this year I have not been bedridden with them.

3. I walked on the treadmill 17 days last month. That's slightly better than walking every other day. Still not what I want but getting better.

4. My flower garden received a little attention from me over the course of several days. I put down mulch, weeded, cut the roses, fed the plants. I love getting a little dirt on my gloves.

5. I read (or listened to) these books: Ruth Benedict, by Margaret Caffrey (for class), Home to Holly Spring, by Jan Karon, Sizzlin' Sixteen, by Janet Evanovich, The Five People You Meet in Heaven, by Mitch Ablom.

6. I had two massages in the month of April. I usually only have one but one was on the 1st and the other near the end of the month. To only have 30 days, April seemed especially long this year, but I think it was just the way the days fell on the calendar.

7. I had lunch with old friends and new. I am so grateful and thankful for my friends. What would I do without them? I also lunched with my aunt just this week.

8. I worked a little on my thesis. Not as much as I had hoped but some, and I get credit for that!

9. We have had absolutely beautiful weather - not too hot, not too cold - and that makes for favorite days.

10. I bought a planner this week. It is an effort to get my time back because it feels like I am not as well organized and in control as I used to be and want to be at this time in my life. We'll see how that works out.

11. I was the class clown one night in sociology class, and made an idiot of myself, but it doesn't seem to have hurt me any, and it slowly working its way into becoming a fond memory. You know, one of those "remember that time when you said "screw you" to the professor in the course of explaining what synergy in society is?" things.

12. I learned about some very interesting women in sociology and would like to make a study of some of them - in particular, Margaret Mead and Ruth Benedict. I have put that on my "to do" list.

13. I saw my niece and my two of my three nephews and talked to the third (he's in college) online. I love those kids!




Thursday Thirteen is played by lots of people; there is a list here. I've been playing for a while and this is my 189th time to do a list of 13 on a Thursday.

Life Planning

Yesterday I bought a new planner. I am not sure why, since I have very little to schedule these days, but I decided to try something different.

In the 1990s I used a planner with great effect for a while, but then I started putting my appointments in MS Outlook, along with tasks and everything else, and found that I really didn't need a pen-and-ink planner anymore.

After watching the days of my life spin around like a top set loose on linoleum for the last year, I spent last month trying to get some oomph and pizazz back into my life (otherwise known as a kick in the ass, I think), and found what I had been using just wasn't working for me at this time.

My days still spun dizzyingly around and while I was working hard on my college classes, everything else seemed to be flying off into infinity and beyond.

So I thought I'd try something different yet a bit familiar. Thus, the planner, even though I have nothing to plan but the rest of my life.

I bought a Daytimer starter kit. I looked at the Franklin Coveys and the Day Runner starter kits, but decided that for the money the Daytimer seemed to suit my needs. They also offer planners now for mixes of home and office use, but they were just too cutesy for me. I like my scheduling to look like I'm all business.

Plus the Daytimer planner cover was a really soft brown leather that felt wonderful in my hands. It smells good, too. But it is not cutesy.

I like the 5 1/2 x 8" size, too. I tried several different ones 20 years ago and that was the size I settled on then, and it is the size I settled on this time, too. Someone told me once that the small planners breed small thinking. The ones that are larger are simply too bulky for me. Like Goldilocks, I need the one that is just right.

Trying to get the planner to work for me - and for me to do the work I want to be doing but keep not doing - will be my focus beginning Monday, when I expect to have this semester under my belt. That'll give me just over a month to have things in hand when I start back to school in June.

Wish me luck, won't you?

May Flowers

Giant Columbine

First Red Roses

Violas

 

Purple Violas

Giant Columbine

Yellow Iris

Yellow Iris (up close and personal)

Purple Iris

Books: Stuck

Stuck
By Becky Mushko
199 pages
Copyright 2011
Cedar Creek Publishing

Stuck is a quick-reading coming-of-age story about young Jacie, who must grow up quickly at a tender age because of her mother's illness and subsequent passing.

As her father moves forward with his life, Jacie must adapt. She must deal with a bully, learn to ride a horse, and figure out what to do about a stepmother. However, she feels stuck (hence the book's name) even though she is really moving on. She just can't accept the changes yet.

The book has an intriguing paranormal component wherein Jacie meets a ghost and helps her to cross over.

The locale will appeal to Virginia readers who will be interested in the Smith Mountain Lake descriptions. I always enjoy reading books set in the area, and this was no exception.

Since the book deals with horses and ghosts, I believe most any young girl (ages 10-14) would enjoy this book. The focus on horses in particular should be highly appealing. I remember when I was that age, I loved to read books with horses in it, and I can't imagine this has changed much.

This book was a delight to read, with well-written characters and a fast-moving plot that kept me engaged.

Becky was a teacher and so her book offers a study guide at the end that educators and parents will find useful.  She also is a friend of mine - we are in the Roanoke Valley Branch of the National League of American Pen Women together - and she recently asked me to read this, her new middle grade novel. I am happy to recommend it to all!

Becky has a blog, called Peevish Pen. Do visit her there!

Thursday Thirteen

Today I thought I'd make a list of 13 people who are no longer with us (at least not physically) who I would like to have interviewed at one time or another, and what I might ask.

1. Jesus. Obviously, the Son of God needs to be interviewed! I would ask him about the importance of religion and why it is necessary. Also, God, could you explain once and for all why there must be evil and suffering?

2. Shakespeare. I would ask the greatest playwrite of all time how he came up with his ideas and where he found the time to write. And tell me, Sir William, what do you think the future holds for your profession?

3. Joan of Arc. She has always fascinated me and I would love to know what those voices really said. How did it feel to lead armies, Joan, when you were but a child?

4. Amelia Earhart. Lady daredevil and interesting woman. Tell me, Mrs. Earhart, exactly what did happen to you when you attempted to fly around the world, and then vanished?

5. Mother Teresa. She was a vision of purity and goodness, ministering to the sick and the impoverished. Mother Teresa, how does one obtain a truly spiritual existence?

6. Thomas Jefferson. He was a brilliant, if eccentric, man, full of many ideas and enlightened thoughts. As one of the writers and signers of the US Constitution, he has a lot to answer for. Mr. President, can you tell us exactly what was meant with the first and second amendments?

7. Mary, Queen of Scots. As ruler of Scotland in the 16th century, and enemy of the Queen of England, who ultimately beheaded her, Mary had a life of intrigue. Like Joan of Arc, she led armies into battle. What do you most regret, Madam Queen?

8. Leonardo DaVinci. As one of the most famous thinkers ever, he would certainly have something to say! He was a great inventor and painter. So tell us, Leo, just who posed for the Mona Lisa?

9. Franklin D. Roosevelt. As the president who implemented the New Deal and lead the US during World War II, he was either a pretty smart fellow or a great statesman, or both. So FDR, what do you think of the country now?

10. J.R.R. Tolkien. The creator and author of the Lord of the Rings and the Hobbit ushered in quite an era of fantasy. Mr. Tolkien, can you tell us where your ideas came from, and how do you feel about folks who continue to use worlds that look very much like Middle Earth in other works?

11. Ludwig Van Beethoven. There must be some music in my life somewhere, and what better place to start than with a master? Mr. Beethoven, how were you able to continue to compose even after you lost your hearing?

12. Jane Austen. This great author would be a delight to speak with, I am sure. Ms. Austen, what do you think of  current stories that have reworked your own work?

13. Jane Addams. Jane founded Hull House in Chicago and was a famous sociologist and social reformer. She recognized the need for shared responsibilites in society and advocated for the good of all, not just a wealthy few. Ms. Addams, what do you think of our society today?



Thursday Thirteen is played by lots of people; there is a list here. I've been playing for a while and this is my 188th time to do a list of 13 on a Thursday.

House for Rent

I have an older farmhouse type home available for rent. If you know of anyone interested, please send them to this page!

The house has over 1,700 square feet. It is private and sits on two acres of land.

Books: The Five People You Meet in Heaven

The Five People You Meet in Heaven
by Mitch Albom
Copyright 2003
Unabridged adiobook read by Erik Singer
5 hours

Meet Eddie. He is 83 years old and the head of maintenance at Ruby Park, an amusement pier along a beach somewhere in the northern U.S. On his birthday, he is killed when a car from a ride plunges to the ground and lands on him as he tries to pull a little girl from harm's way.

Eddie goes to heaven. He finds it is not the Garden of Eden but instead a place where one must revisit his life in order to understand the things that happened on earth before the soul can move on.

His life is explained to him by five different people, some close loved ones and some people he hardly knew. Each, though, contributed to major turning points in his life.

All of his life, Eddie considered himself a "done nothing" who made few contributions to society. He was raised by a loving mother and a neglectful and physicially abusive father. Aside from marrying his beloved Marguerite, he felt he had little to show for his 83 years. And she had died young, at the age of 47, so his last years he had spent alone.

If nothing else, the book indicates that all lives are worth living, and that no one is a "done nothing." As John Donne said, "No man is an island," and this book emphasizes that type of thinking - that we are all connected, we are all in this together, we are ultimately none of us alone even though loneliness can sometimes be overwhelming and it feels like the entire focus of our existence is forestalling that empty feeling.

This is not something I would have sat down to read, but I am glad I listened to it whilst driving (which is when I listen to all of my audio books).  It is a book that made me think, for sure.

Albom is the author of Tuesdays with Morrie. Folks might be a little more familiar with that book.

View of the Farm

My husband and I took a walk today out across the hill on the farm. This is a little video showing you the scenic views. Enjoy!