Memed!

Tagged by paperwight, and it ends up being busiest few days ever, complete with forgotten lunch dates and extremely late nights. My life is completely shot.

Ah well. I'm back on line because it'll get busier for me next week.

Continuing the infamous bookmeme:

1. You’re stuck inside Fahrenheit 451, which book do you want to be? I would be a book of poetry by Rumi.

2. Have you ever had a crush on a fictional character?
Hmmm. Not that I will own up to. Okay, okay, okay. I’ll be honest. Mr. Darcy. Next question?

3. The last book you bought is?
I wish I could sound sophisticated and smart but the last book I bought was a knitting book: Pursenalities by Eva Wiechmann.

A couple of years ago, at a huge knitting fair on the Promenade, complete with fashion show, I kept going back to this one table sporting the most gorgeous felted bags. Talk about lust. Nevermind I have never knitted a stitch in my whole life, I was determined to learn how to make one of those bags because I wanted one and the damned things weren’t for sale. The ladies at the table said Eva taught classes waaaaay out in Thousand Oaks but she didn’t have book or patterns or anything at that time for her purses. So one fine day, I dragged my little one out there, bought got some advice, some yarn and a pattern, and that was the start of my knitting obsession.

Since then, I’ve made about six felted bags, one by my own design.

The whole felting thing is such a trip. You knit this huge glompy thing that hangs like elephant skin, throw it in the washing machine, and then you pull it out, transformed into a sleek and stylish bag. What a metaphor. Wish I could do that to my life.

4. What are you currently reading?
I read cookbooks for fun, for goodness’ sakes, when I’m not studying to get back into my career, whatever that was.

Well, okay. This is my life:

1. Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking by Marcella Hazan
This one’s a favorite, just for easy light reading, a little bit of inspiration especially when I’m trying to figure out what to make for dinner. It’s fat and heavy and chockfull of interesting food related nuggets of info.

2. The Chronicles of Narnia by CS Lewis. A mom told me last year in a puff of pride that her kindergartener was reading it and loved it. I thought I should read it before I send it on down to my kid but this is heavy stuff, man. Yowzer. Not for kindergarteners nor first graders. I don't want what that mom was smoking, that's for sure.

3. Parenting from the Inside Out by Daniel Siegel and Mary Hartzell. I saw Siegel talk last year. I'm hoping his ideas, which span so many disciplines will, be the beginning of a new paradigm framing how we think about ourselves, our moods, our thoughts. Psychology badly needs new blood, and this has been the most exciting one I've seen so far, and it's not even 'psychology' per se. It'll do for me.

4. D’Aulaire’s Book of Greek Myths: I bought this for my kid. Hah. Riiiiight.

5. The War Against America's Public Schools by Gerald Bracey. A must-read so you can arm yourself against all the disinformation out there from the rightwing thinktanks.

6. Finally, a grownup book: Soul Mountain by some guy who is really pissing me off. I'm halfway through and cannot cannot recommend it because I dislike the way he views women. And why am I reading it? Social reasons.

5. Five books you would take to a deserted island?

What a sad thought. Books are dear but family and friends cannot be replaced. The 'help me get through it all' list:

1. I really dig Jack Kornfield and will take with me his book A Path With Heart
2. The Power of Myth by Moyers
3. Wherever You Go, There You Are by Jon Kabat-Zinn
4. The Essential Rumi
5. Walden by Thoreau

6. Who are you going to pass this (questionnaire) to and why?

Anjali at to the teeth
Deep Blade at Deep Blade Journal
Chris at Marching Orders