Home From Vacation

I just got home from vacation. We went camping for 2 night in Traverse City. Whenever I go to T.C., which has only been 4 times ever, I realize how beautiful Michigan is. On the southeastern side of the state, it's really only about squeezing the maximum amount of subdivisions possible into as little space as possible. But on the western and northern side of the state, it's quite breathtaking.

My husband wasn't able to get the time off work, so it was just me, the kids, and my in-laws (mother, sisters, brother, nieces). I am so lucky to have in-laws that I get along with so that I feel just as comfortable with them as with my own family.

After camping we went up to Mackinaw City for 2 nights, spending a day on Mackinac Island. It may have been too hot a day for my first trip ever to the island. It was beautiful to look at but not to smell. For those who don't know (and I'm relatively certain I was the only one to not know), there are no automobiles on the island. One can only get around by bike or horse. Thus, on a hot day, the pungent odor of manure is all about.

The best part of the vacation for me was Jenna's complete fascination for Fort Michilimackinac. It's good to see her interested in history at such a young age. My interest in history didn't develop until fairly recently, so a trip to Fort Michilimackinac at Jenna's age would have been torture. Actually, it was great to see my recently acquired knowledge of Michigan history cemented in Mackinaw City and on Mackinac Island. I actually have a great deal of appreciation for Michigan right now.

As always, it's good to be home.

Catch-22. Not a book review. Yet.

When my book group started almost two weeks ago, I had just started reading Catch 22. But The Great Gatsby was up for discussion first, so I stopped reading Catch 22 to re-read TGG. Now I'm back on Catch 22 and I'm struggling. I just finished Chapter 4 and the chapters are short. I can't put my finger on why I can't get through it. I find it to be hilarious. It jumps around alot, but that's not been a problem for me in the past. You know how sometimes you have to read a paragraph multiple times because you keep dazing off? That's what is happening. Unlike normally, however, each time I re-read a paragraph, it's still brand new to me. I don't remember a single word of the previous time(s) I read it. It's frustrating. I still have 3 weeks before my group starts on it, but I hate that it is taking me so long!

By the way, I wasn't as crazy about TGG as I remember being in high school.

The Ho-lympics

I got a good enough laugh out of this that I felt obligated to share:

The Ho-lympics trailer

Book Review: Lady Chatterley's Lover

It was fascinating to read about the thought process a woman who is married and has an affair has when deciding whether to leave her husband. The problem is that it was written by a man, so its hard to determine how accurate that thought process was. It was somewhat autobiographical, so if (in reality) D.H. Lawrence and his wife split on better terms than the characters in the book its possible that she was able to give him some insight.

Spoiler:

The plot is basically about a man who was paralyzed from the waist down in war and can no longer have sex with his wife, while relying on her to become his nurse to a point. She then has an affair with their estates gamekeeper and becomes pregnant and leaves her husband. This actually happened to D.H. Lawrence.

Anyhow, the woman in the book had had sexual relationships prior to getting married, and enjoyed them, but not to the extent she had with the gamekeeper. After not having sex with her husband (and they were only married for about a month before his injury) and then having this sort of sexual awakening, she begins to hate her life. As the couple were of a high class in England (he a Lord, she a Lady), the book provides an excellent glimpse of class structure and how that would affect her if she left her husband.

The book was ruled pornographic when it was published and was banned. I can see why this would raise some eyebrows during the early 1900s. It did have some graphic depictions of sex and used language such as *gasp* penis and cunt. While the scenes were somewhat erotic at times, the fact that the gamekeeper, who was educated and spoke English well, would revert to his class broad vernacular language during the sexual encounters was quite a turnoff (not to Lady Chatterley, I assure you). But the descriptive scenes were necessary to make one understand the conflicts involved.

I enjoyed reading this book, for the most part- I am not sure if I feel like it was not a waste of time though. I hope that discussing it in one of the 3 B & N book groups Im in will provide some insight. I do tend to find books written about English class and society to be brain candy because of the language used; it puts me into another time.

This book did not make the Modern Libraries Best 100 for the boards or readers picks.

Im such a geek. Im so excited that my book groups are finally starting!!!

The Devaluation of Education

In the spirit of Duncan, blog-whore and blog-pimp extraordinaire , I'm posting a link to a blog entry I enjoyed reading about how men (not all men) tend to devalue intelligence in lieu of attaining arm candy. Somehow, arm candy is not as tasty when there is a brain attached.