Olive Kitteridge

This weekend I finished reading this wonderful Pulitzer Prize winning novel by author Elizabeth Strout. The book is actually 13 short stories all linked by the novel's namesake, Olive Kitteridge, a high school math teacher in the small town of Crosby, Maine. Each of the 13 stories offer a brief snapshot or glimpse into the lives of some of Crosby's many citizens. In "Pharmacy" we're first introduced to Henry Kitteridge, Olive's kind and steadfast husband, a pharmacist in the next town over. A gentle soul, always eager to please, even at his own happiness' expense. In "Incoming Tide" we meet Kevin Coulson, a lost and tortured ex-student of Olive's on the brink of doing the unthinkable. Throughout these and the remaining stories we get a full measure of Olive, at times strong, mean, cold, and demanding, and at others hurting, kind, lonely. Like most of us, Olive is a mixture of good and bad, and while at times she earns your enmity, at others, like when her new daughter-in-law is mocking Olive's wedding attire to her friends, you feel protective of her, indignant at their slight.

I would highly recommend this book. Each story offers a little pearl of wisdom that we can use in our own lives, and despite the fact that most of the stories are no more than 20-30 pages long, some even shorter, the stories are so well-written and the characters so well-defined that they seem almost real. You feel like a voyeur, privy to brief glimpses of these sad and troubled lives. A truly engaging read which leaves you curious -- and caring -- about what happens next.

Shakespeare on the Sound

Last Wednesday and Thursday I went to see Shakespeare on the Sound's production of "A Midsummer Night's Dream." The outing turned out to be a two day event due to the fact that the sound board went on the fritz at the last minute on Wednesday and the Artistic Director had to cancel the evening's show. Despite the evening's lack of entertainment, I thoroughly enjoyed myself as we picnicked on sandwiches and crepes, basking in warm and sunny weather while enjoying the view of the water and nearby docked boats and a little people watching.




We picked up the crepes at a little (literally, because no exaggeration, there's barely any walking space in there) local crepe place called Meli-Melo.


I feasted on a banana and nutella (chocolate and hazelnut spread) crepe which was very good but, to my taste, could've been a little sweeter, actually more chocolatey. Granted, I add three teaspoons of sugar to my tea, so I might not be the best judge on sweetness.

Thursday's production was totally worth the repeat drive. The cast did a great job during the performance, and the meandering narrow stage brought the audience and actors closer together. The lighting along the edges of the stage also added to the night's ambience. Unfortunately, photos were not allowed during the show, but here's a photo I was able to snap (without flash) at the end of the production when the actors came out for their curtain call.


The only thing I'd change about the production is really an issue of personal taste, and that is that I would've loved to see the actors in costume instead of current day street clothing. With that said, the clothing did not detract from their great job and I would recommend the experience to anyone interested in an evening of camaraderie, fun and of course, Shakespeare.

I Know How to Knit! (Sort of)

A friend of a friend at work gave me my first knitting lesson today during lunch. I learned how to cast on and how to knit both the knit and purl stitch. Not bad for the first day. I'll be practicing this for a while, and then I'll take the next step, which supposedly includes learning to read patterns, binding off, increases and decreases. I'm not sure what all that means, but hopefully I'm a quick study. Here's the first attempt on my own.

So far, I'm really enjoying myself. I do have a couple goals I hope to reach once I've fully learned how to knit. First, I'd love to be able to knit a sweater to donate towards Guideposts Knit for Kids sweater project. I've wanted to do this for the longest time, but obviously not knowing how to knit was proving a real damper on my plans. The objective of this great endeavor is to collect handmade sweaters in children sizes 2-10 which are then donated to needy children all over the world. Knit for Kids celebrated its 10th anniversary back in 2006, and today they've reached the amazing milestone of 500,000 sweaters.

Secondly, I really want to knit something for each of my two knuckleheads (nephews) so that they know it was made by me, especially for them, with love. I'm getting a little ahead of myself, especially given that today is my first day knitting, but I already have a project in mind that I'd love to knit for them. My dream is to knit them a "beard head"-like hat, since Beardhead.com doesn't make their hats in children's sizes. Unfortunately, this might be a pipe dream since I don't have a pattern and I wouldn't have the first clue where to start without one. Given that fact, another potential project is this cool dragon scarf from Morehouse Farm Merino.

Now as if the mere pleasure of knitting and learning something new wasn't enough, I also found a great BBC News article entitled "Knitting 'can delay' memory loss" that gave me yet another reason to take on this new hobby. The article reported on a US study performed at the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota which found that "those who had during middle age been busy reading, playing games or engaging in craft hobbies like patchworking or knitting were found to have a 40% reduced risk of memory impairment." I'll have to remember this article every time I want to plant myself in front of the TV for movie marathons. Knitting should help me do that.

Lasting Words of Love

NPR's Morning Edition recently marked the 400th anniversary of Shakepeare's sonnets and asked its listeners if there were any modern love poems or songs that they thought could be remembered 400 years from now. The suggestions varied from songs by Bob Dylan, Janis Joplin's "Me and Bobby McGee", and lyrics from Billy Idol and Pearl Jam. Some listeners recommended poems by Pablo Neruda (Poem #20), E.E. Cummings, and one of my personal favorites, "Funeral Blues" by W.H. Auden. The first time I heard that poem was in the movie "Four Weddings and a Funeral". To this day, when I think of that poem, the voice I hear in my head is that of John Hannah, the Scottish actor that recited it in the movie. Here it is for those of you unfamiliar with this beautiful poem:

Funeral Blues
by W.H. Auden

Stop all the clocks, cut off the telephone,
Prevent the dog from barking with a juicy bone,
Silence the pianos and with muffled drum
Bring out the coffin, let the mourners come.

Let aeroplanes circle moaning overhead
Scribbling on the sky the message He is Dead.
Put crepe bows round the white necks of the public doves,
Let the traffic policemen wear black cotton gloves.

He was my North, my South, my East and West,
My working week and my Sunday rest,
My noon, my midnight, my talk, my song;
I thought that love would last forever: I was wrong.

The stars are not wanted now; put out every one,
Pack up the moon and dismantle the sun,
Pour away the ocean and sweep up the woods;
For nothing now can ever come to any good

If you'd like to make a suggestion on a poem or song that has staying power, you still can. Add your suggestion to the comments section of "Love Words with Staying Power?" at the NPR site. My personal entry was a poem that speaks to my heart:

At Last
by Elizabeth Akers Allen

At last, when all the summer shine
That warmed life's early hours is past,
Your loving fingers seek for mine
And hold them close—at last—at last!
Not oft the robin comes to build
Its nest upon the leafless bough
By autumn robbed, by winter chilled,—
But you, dear heart, you love me now.

Though there are shadows on my brow
And furrows on my cheek, in truth,—
The marks where Time's remorseless plough
Broke up the blooming sward of Youth,—
Though fled is every girlish grace
Might win or hold a lover's vow,
Despite my sad and faded face,
And darkened heart, you love me now!

I count no more my wasted tears;
They left no echo of their fall;
I mourn no more my lonesome years;
This blessed hour atones for all.
I fear not all that Time or Fate
May bring to burden heart or brow,—
Strong in the love that came so late,
Our souls shall keep it always now!

Summer Reading

As a fitting follow-up to yesterday's post, here's proof that I'm doing my part to keep the ladies numbers up, as well as helping the economy by keeping Amazon in business. A couple of nights ago I spent a few hours on Amazon looking for a nice assortment of books to enjoy as summer reads. I hadn't gotten any word of mouth recommendations so I just looked for a lot of 5 star customer reviews, and today when I got home I was excited to see a little brown box waiting by my door.


Hopefully I've made some wise choices. Here they are:

Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout is thirteen short stories linked by one woman, Olive Kitteridge, a strong willed seventh grade teacher in Crosby, Maine. The author won a Pulitzer for this book.

The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein is narrated by Enzo, a dog, who tells his owner's story while hoping for the day when his life as a dog will be over and he can be reborn a man. I love dogs, so I couldn't resist.

When You are Engulfed in Flames by David Sedaris is a collection of 22 essays. I've never read any of his books, but there were alot of "laugh out loud" and "could not stop laughing" mentions in the customer reviews. Plus, I think his sister is hilarious, so he must be funny by association.

The Help by Kathryn Stockett is the story of a young white woman during the early years of the civil rights movement who writes about the plight of the black maids working for white families in Jackson, Mississippi. Great reviews.

The Story Sisters by Alice Hoffman is the story of three sisters whose lives are forever changed by a tragedy that tears their family apart. The reviews for this book were actually mixed, and the story sounds very grim, but I bought it strictly based on the fact that it's written by Hoffman. I read her last book, The Third Angel, and loved it. I'm hoping she doesn't disappoint.

So, that's it. I'll post some reviews as I finish them. Olive Kitteridge will be first.

Don't Judge a Book By Its Cover

Never has the saying “don’t judge a book by its cover” been more true than in the case of Kevin Skinner. The unassuming unemployed farmer, who said he used to catch chickens for a living, appeared on Tuesday’s edition of America’s Got Talent. This guy is definitely a diamond in the rough, but I agree with Piers that he could win the competition. After a little bit of snickering and giggles from the audience and judges he sang the most beautiful rendition of "If Tomorrow Never Comes" by Garth Brooks. It was the perfect song choice for his voice, but what made it outstanding was how heartfelt it came across. It was a truly moving performance, and his reaction offstage made it even more so. It always gets me to see a grown man cry. After all the fuss the judges have made lately about what seems to me as passable talent at best from other contestants, this was a breath of fresh air. Finally some talent!