Wonderful, wonderful times (with no Jelinekian irony intended)
Gentle readers, I had a wonderful time dancing the evening away last night at an inaugural ball right here in Lincoln, Nebraska, with my handsome husband James. (I had forgotten what a good dancer he is! Note to self: Get out more. I never really learned to dance--as old college friends could attest, but let's not ask them--so my strategy is basically to hold onto James and try not to fall. Last night, it worked out: I think that watching the Bushes lift into the sky on the two giant screens helped keep me buoyant all night.)
Held in the old train station down in the Haymarket, and thrown by the Lancaster County Democratic Party, the ball was completely lovely. Three hundred and fifty people attended, and we ran into some friends unexpectedly, which made the evening even more fun.
I hope you had as lovely a time celebrating. As one friend wrote, "Hopey! Changey!"
Today, it's back to the grindstone, I've been rereading chapter seven of Ronald Takaki's wonderful A Different Mirror: A History of Multicultural America for my Intro to Latin@ Studies class. It's such a terrific book but such a stand-by now that I often forget to recommend it to people. It looks at the histories of several different groups, including Native Americans, the Irish, African Americans, Jewish immigrants, Latinos (Mexicans only, actually), and Asian Americans. Takaki blends sweeping social history with intimate historical anecdotes that bring the big trends home in a specific, concrete way. It's a really good primer, and if you haven't read it, you've missed out.
Speaking of wonderful primers I take for granted, I'm also rereading (for my other class, Autobiographical Writing) Vivian Gornick's excellent The Situation and the Story: The Art of Personal Narrative. If you want to write personal essays or memoir, it's a definite must-read. In terms of writing in general, there are other books I'd recommend first (Bird by Bird, anyone? Writing Down the Bones?), but within this particular genre, Gornick's is the best I've found so far.
However, I have not yet read Natalie Goldberg's Old Friend from Far Away: The Practice of Writing Memoir, and it's gotten raves. Would anyone out there who's read it like to chime in with a quick review?
Held in the old train station down in the Haymarket, and thrown by the Lancaster County Democratic Party, the ball was completely lovely. Three hundred and fifty people attended, and we ran into some friends unexpectedly, which made the evening even more fun.
I hope you had as lovely a time celebrating. As one friend wrote, "Hopey! Changey!"
Today, it's back to the grindstone, I've been rereading chapter seven of Ronald Takaki's wonderful A Different Mirror: A History of Multicultural America for my Intro to Latin@ Studies class. It's such a terrific book but such a stand-by now that I often forget to recommend it to people. It looks at the histories of several different groups, including Native Americans, the Irish, African Americans, Jewish immigrants, Latinos (Mexicans only, actually), and Asian Americans. Takaki blends sweeping social history with intimate historical anecdotes that bring the big trends home in a specific, concrete way. It's a really good primer, and if you haven't read it, you've missed out.
Speaking of wonderful primers I take for granted, I'm also rereading (for my other class, Autobiographical Writing) Vivian Gornick's excellent The Situation and the Story: The Art of Personal Narrative. If you want to write personal essays or memoir, it's a definite must-read. In terms of writing in general, there are other books I'd recommend first (Bird by Bird, anyone? Writing Down the Bones?), but within this particular genre, Gornick's is the best I've found so far.
However, I have not yet read Natalie Goldberg's Old Friend from Far Away: The Practice of Writing Memoir, and it's gotten raves. Would anyone out there who's read it like to chime in with a quick review?
Leave a Comment: