Poetry Friday: I'm Sorry, Atticus, I Just Can't Do It

At least not very well. Not today.

Given that we were recently in Florida, and given that Wallace Stevens has always been one of Atticus's favorite poets, and given that it is Poetry Friday, Atticus suggested that I post a Stevens poem, "O Florida, Venereal Soil" and he suggested that I do it "without groping after some epistemological objective categorizing of the deeply subjective reactions reflected in the verse."

Gee, do I do that?

He went on to say, quoting John Keats, "In other words, 'be capable of being in uncertainties, mysteries, doubts, without any irritable reaching after fact and reason....'"

But, um, I always do that irritable reaching. I thought he found it endearing. And I so often do it on Poetry Fridays.

But not always, really. Right? I am highly qualified to live in uncertainty, mystery and doubt. I'm a Catholic. It doesn't get more mysterious than that. And I sometimes post just the poem, sans any torturous reflection on my part: such as here and here and here and here and here and here. (Methinks I protest too much?)

I am capable, as William Hurt said in this clip, of just letting art flow over me. 

But, I can't post about Wallace Stevens -- I can't even think about Wallace Stevens -- without thinking. Long and hard, about a number of things. His life as both insurance executive and poet is fodder for scrutiny, and that's before we even get to his body of work. He was an interesting, perplexing human being. And I can't think about Florida, and travel, and real life vs. vacations, and how randomly we all seem to land in various geographical areas without that sparking some reflection.

And of course, all of that leads to a new stream of thought: Stevens isn't alone as poetry-writing insurance executive. The 13th U.S. Poet Laureate Ted Kooser had the same Paper-Pusher-By-Day-Deep-Thinker-By-Night existence (though they are obviously extremely different types of poets). And that brings me to the poem posted at The Writer's Almanac today -- Kooser's "So This Is Nebraska" ... and that means I've gone full circle from Nebraska to Florida and home again.

Not only that, but on today's Writer's Almanac page, there is also a mention of the birthday of Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, and that brings me to a quote from The Little Prince: "It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye."

And if I believe that, I must be capable of being in uncertainties, mysteries, doubts ... and I am capable of that. Just not, clearly, capable of posting a Wallace Stevens poem without saying something. And nothing.

And, sadly, now, I'm thinking I should've just posted some Keats.

Maybe next week.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Poetry Friday round up is at Paper Tigers.

Saddened

I loved Nora Ephron's writing. May she rest in peace.

DISNEY WORLD! (from Ramona)

So we went to Disney World, and it was awesome. I didn't go on "It's a Small World" ride.  None of us did. Betsy wanted to, though.

 Question:

Has anyone seen or heard of Pixar's newest movie, BRAVE? I have not seen it, but I want to. We met Merida, the princess in Brave. It was really fun. 

We also met some other princesses. It was REALLY FUN!!!!!

So, yeah.

Adios, amigos,


Ramona

I Forbid You to Skip the Forbidden Journey

We aren't generally the kind of people who say, "Hey, let's fly to Florida!"

Our vacations tend to run more along the lines of, "Now tell me again which side of the family we're visiting? And it takes how long to drive there?"

Not that visiting family isn't great. It is. Fantastic, wonderful stuff. But our family is not -- no offense, family -- a thrill ride.

I'm not speaking metaphorically.

It's absolutely true that not one, single extended family member is capable of waving a wand and sending us soaring through the air, skimming the turrets and towers of Hogwarts, zooming just behind Harry on his broomstick, past the Whomping Willow as we dodge dementors in the Quidditch pitch and do our Muggly best to avoid giant, spitting spiders (I'm actually quite glad that our usual vacations don't involve the last couple of things I mentioned.)

So, yeah. Our family is not, strictly speaking, a thrill ride, however ... it is thanks to the incredible generosity of my parents (and their Hey-You-Guys-Homeschooled-Through-High-School! gift) that Atticus, the girls and I did experience the thrill ride that is Harry Potter's Forbidden Journey. This video gives you a pretty good idea of the fun (the lighting isn't perfect, but it gives you a taste):



The first time we rode, I -- Karen-Who-Gets-Carsick -- closed my eyes for the entire ride. No, strike that. Correction: I opened my eyes when I needed to lean forward and yell at the seat next to me in order to reassure Ramona that she would not:

a.) fall off the ride
b.) lose her flip-flops
c.) get sick
d.) have her soul sucked out of her body by a dementor
e.) have actual spider spit on her
f.) fall off the ride

It wasn't Ramona's favorite thing that we encountered in Florida. I wasn't sure what I thought of it because, well, I had my eyes closed for the entire ride.

So, the next morning, Anne, Betsy and I went on the ride again. I kept my eyes open.

Go.

Ride the ride.

Soar, zoom, dodge.

(Ramona says, "Don't forget 'scream' and 'panic.'")

Send your nine-year-old to Ollivander's with her daddy if that's what she prefers.

Thank your parents for a very cool gift.

(Update: Here's a link with a detailed article about the opening of the ride/Wizarding World.)

We're Back From Hogwarts!

We've been to The Wizarding World of Harry Potter:

(and Disney, and Sea World, and the insane traffic of I-4 in Florida ...)

Now we've safely touched down back in the Muggle World and I'll return soon with details. It was, to say the least, a magical trip.

I really am still alive

Just having a super-busy time with some family stuff this week! The upcoming week is jam-packed, too. But, I should be back by next Poetry Friday and will catch up with you then. Have a great week!

She Has Finally, Truly, Completely, and Fully Been Graduated From Green Gables Homeschool


It was another busy weekend, with the Catholic Homeschool Association's graduation Mass and ceremony.

Whew! What a busy weekend it was, but a beautiful one. Graduation Mass, a lovely ceremony (at which Anne-with-an-e's godfather presided as Master of Ceremonies) and a beautiful reception (with decorations courtesy of Anne's godmother, who has many Martha Stewart type talents), and loads of lovely people.

And if you're wondering what that diploma says, it is something along the lines of this:

Green Gables Homeschool Proudly Presents

This Unschoolish Diploma 

in Recognition of 

Twelve Amazing Years 

~~~

You Did It! 

If I Didn't Have a Husband and Children ...

Atticus and the girls were out of town for a couple of days this week, so I was home alone. I had a little writing retreat.

When everyone is gone, I tend to eat very simply -- leftover almond chicken for dinner Wednesday night, and then the last of the leftovers for lunch on Thursday. Breakfast was strawberries and blueberries and I was so busy writing all day that I forgot to snack. (It helped that there was no truly excellent chocolate in the house.) I did not, however, for a moment forget the coffee. Always a fresh pot brewing.

It occurred to me that if I lived alone, I would be a prolific writer, and with all the money I would save on food I'd be rich, and with all the forgetfulness about snacks I'd be skinny, too.

But I'd be lonely and miserable.

So happy to see them walk through the door.

Poetry Friday: Jane Kenyon

This one is fitting for this time of year, for obvious reasons.

Philosophy in Warm Weather
by Jane Kenyon


Now all the doors and windows
are open, and we move so easily
through the rooms. Cats roll
on the sunny rugs, and a clumsy wasp
climbs the pane, pausing
to rub a leg over her head.

All around physical life reconvenes.
The molecules of our bodies must love
to exist: they whirl in circles
and seem to begrudge us nothing.

(Read the rest here, at The Writer's Almanac.)

You'll find a delicious Poetry Friday round up at Jama's Alphabet Soup, hosted by the ever-gracious and beautiful Jama Rattigan.

Beautiful tribute to Ray Bradbury found here

at Jimmy Akin's: Something Wondrous This Way Comes.

Speaking of Summer Reading ...

... I'll be doing some of mine on the Kindle Touch I won from Aquinas and More Catholic Goods.

This is going to sound like a commercial for either Kindle or Aquinas and More, but I assure you it's not. It's just a post about the fact that I clicked the "Like" button on Aquinas and More's Facebook page for their contest, thinking, "Right. I never win anything."

The next thing I knew, I'd received a Kindle Touch in the mail and fifteen free e-books. A big thank you to Aquinas and More.

So, added to my summer reading list are books such as Light of the World and The Father's Tale, and perhaps a little Chesterton.

(I may also have to add a reread of Dandelion Wine to my summer list, in honor of Ray Bradbury.)

Summer Reading for Teens

Last week I promised I'd be back to talk about summer reading for teens.

I'm back.

I'm not going to break these down into categories for younger teens/older, maturity levels, etc., simply because 1.) I'm lazy and 2.) tastes, reading ability, judgment on what is age-appropriate, and so on, vary wildly. Also, while some of these are written for young teen readers and some were written for adults, many of these books appeal to the whole spectrum.

So, as always, please look into the subject matter, language, and so on for yourself -- faithful Catholics have varying attitudes on what is appropriate for their children and why, so I'll leave that part up to you.

Here are some of my daughters' favorites, in no particular order:

The Anne of Green Gables series (obviously) and all L.M. Montgomery
The Betsy-Tacy teen years
Regina Doman's Fairy Tale Novels
The Percy Jackson series, Rick Riordan
The Kane Chronicles (Riordan)
The Hunger Games series (more on them here and here)
The Harry Potter series (more on Potter here and here)
The Mysterious Benedict Society series
The Gallagher Girls series (about teenage spies)
Most of Madeleine L'Engle
Jane Austen, of course
Louisa May Alcott, of course
Sharon Creech
A La Carte and Mare's War, by Tanita Davis
Understood Betsy by Dorothy Canfield Fisher
The Phantom Tollbooth, Norton Juster
Operation Yes and Letters from Rapunzel, by Sara Lewis Holmes
Laurie Halse Anderson: Fever 1793 and Chains and Forge
To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee
The Giver and Gossamer, Lois Lowry
Jen Bryant's Kaleidoscope Eyes and The Trial
Flipped, Wendelin Van Draanen
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury (may he rest in peace ... he just passed away yesterday)
Ender's Game, Orson Scott Card
Doomsday Book, Connie Willis


And, a few more for the 9-12 age group:

Everything Melissa Wiley has ever written (we actually love the Martha and Charlotte books even more than the original Little House books, and Ramona can't wait for The Prairie Thief)

Redwall series, Brian Jacques

Peg Kehret (especially her memoir on having polio)

You might also want to check out Treasure Chest for Tweens, a great blog that has reviewed a bunch of books and discusses them in the light of the Catholic faith.

Poetry Friday on a Saturday

I missed Poetry Friday yesterday -- too busy running people back and forth to Vacation Bible School (Betsy and Ramona helped out with music, skits, and kid-corraling) and having coffee with friends in between. I had a lost afternoon with my daughters -- baking some Snickerdoodles with Ramona and curling up on the couch for some Lost episodes with Anne and Betsy.

So Poetry Friday went on without me, but you can find it here, at Carol's Corner.