"Two wrongs may not make a right but a thousand wrongs make a writer.”

Sunday, November 20, 2011

Keeping Things Pretty - Recommendations and Chaos

I have an award to accept and one to pass on, a couple of reading recommendations, and an observation from farm country on football Sunday.

Jon Paul at Where Sky Meets Ground recently gave me this blog award.


Thanks Jon Paul!

He is participating in NaNo and tearing it up. In fact his progress has been so remarkable he's inspired me to participate in this novel-writing month next year. Check him out and follow if you aren't already. I'm supposed to pass this award on to 15 other bloggers. At this time, I'm passing it on to five, because it takes a lot of thought and time to do awards. I do reserve the right to name my other ten at a later time. Some of these bloggers are new to me while I've been following others for a while, but they all have one thing in common: they've created blogs I return to again and again, which is my definition of a lovely blog.

Zev from Swords Into Plows is a man after my own heart. Check him out and you'll see why.

Jessica Bell at The Alliterative Allomorph is an amazing talent. Plus she sent me her CD all the way from Greece, which is better than a postcard. Thanks Jessica!

Anthony Duce draws and writes and does both exceptionally well. He strives to say a little, but not too much, and somehow he always says it just right. He gives life to the still life and still life to the living.

Ed Pilolla whose recent post "Clothesline" was absolutely brilliant, and I'm not given to gushing.

Pet at Pencil and Box who blogs about things like an amazing yet obscure animated movie based on a story by the late Ted Hughes and because he's well written and pops in on me from time to time. He's from Spain and I like to keep abreast of what's going on over there.

If you aren't already following these five, you're missing out on some worthwhile reading.

Now, for those recommendations: I just finished reading ORYX AND CRAKE" by Margaret Atwood. That novel will make you hate us. Would I recommend it? Well... I read it in just two days. Atwood knows how to grab you by the scruff of your neck, and she doesn’t let go until she’s finished with you. Is it farfetched in its look at the future? I sure hope so. Are there elements of truth already lurking on the horizon? Sure. Enough of them to make you shiver.

On my bed stand now is CUTTING FOR STONE, by Abraham Verghese. I was told by one of my most thorough readers that she thought it the best novel of 2010. She has her own lending library and has never steered me wrong so now I'm steering you. I knew from the first paragraph I would like it. Don't you just love it when that happens?

And, finally, an observation from where I live: It's dark now and the gunshots have receded. It's hunting season, and from dawn to dusk, shots echo through the woods and across the fields. This might strike you as harsh, but it's actually a good thing. The deer are a nuisance, causing numerous car accidents and destroying crops. So far, five have been taken out of the farm, and we're hoping for many more to be harvested. When they start cutting into your income and wrecking your vehicles, it's time for a cull. They have no natural predators as the coyote and cougar are rare and the wolf are gone. Man is their only predator, but fewer and fewer hunting licenses are issued as the younger generation has taken to video games rather than hunting and fishing and outdoor activities. Their interest is gaming indoors, not hunting game in the cold of November.

One more think before I say adieu, one more thing. It's another football Sunday and the NFL is playing patriotic. It seems to be a new theme in sports, hyping the flag and the soldier and the occupation (but not the one in NY). The God Bless Americas, the trumpets, flags, and fly-over formations, Man shed his waste on thee... but something strikes me as false because I can't forget the scene from Thursday playing across America for those who were paying attention. A woman dressed in an overcoat with long hair and a backpack was dragged down the street by police in riot gear. They lost their grip on the backpack and went for the hair. She was dragged away,kicking and screaming and nobody helped. Maybe they were all afraid, unlike the boy who stopped a tank in Tiananmen Square. Dragged through the roadblock, dragged through the cameramen, dragged out of sight. Syria? China? Greece? Some barbaric Third World country? Did you see it? Was it just my imagination?

It's dark and the shots have receded but not the memory.

12 comments:

Zev said...

Wow, thank you! :)

Anthony Duce said...

Congratulations on the award, and the blog recommendations, and including mine, and the observations about hunting here in Michigan, the other view. And of course the books..
But most of all the observations about patriotic marketing… I have had the same thoughts. And as for the pulling of hair, lets add the cruel act of pepper spraying defenseless protesters sitting in the street.
I’ll be back again.

Yvonne Osborne said...

Zev,
You're very welcome.

Tony,
Thank you. I like that...patriotic marketing, that's what it is. Perfect description.

Yes, I'd heard about the pepper spray and also the rubber bullets that injured an innocent bystander. I have family in Oakland with firsthand accounts. Thanks.

Ed Pilolla said...

i've heard about the video but haven't seen it. you are right, i am sure. but what that man did in tiananmen square was downright super-human. it wouldn't surprise me people wouldn't attempt to stop the police dragging a woman away by her hair. i know i've gone silent when another man was beaten next to me. i'm not proud, just a thing called a man. violence is allowed when this thing called a nation-state does it.

congratulations to you, and thanks so much for the mention. love your stuff.

Jessica Bell said...

Haha! Thank you so much, Yvonne! :o) Really appreciate it. xx

Theresa Milstein said...

Congratulations on the award. Nice to see Jessica there! And thank you for sharing the info about the book.

Pet said...

Congratulations on the award, and it is so sweet of you thinking about my little blog to pass it on. I'm really glad that you like it. I remember, vividly, some of the posts in your blog, like the one called "Cheated", about simple life and art and Flaubert and so. You probably didn't notice it, but I even went to mention it in my One Year "Editorial" :-)
http://pencilandbox.blogspot.com/2011/09/one-year-of-pencil-and-box.html
And I've got some others of your Posts kept in my "jewels" box too!

Tricia J. O'Brien said...

I was fascinated and riveted by Oryx and Crake, but I usually love Margaret Atwood's novels. She tells it like it is (or, rather, might be, if we don't get it together)

Yvonne Osborne said...

Ed,
Thank you! I'm afraid I would also do nothing, much in me I'm not proud of. All the more reason to applaud those who do. Thanks for reading my "stuff". You're a literary beacon and I admire your community service.

Jessica,
You're welcome, and well deserving.

Theresa,
Thank you so much.

Pet,
I do enjoy your blog. It's different, with fresh commentary and varied experiences, from which I can learn much. You have a jewels box?? Wow. Thank you! I was proud of "Cheated". I did not see that editorial, but now I'm going to read it. Thank you again.

Tricia,
Right, exactly. Atwood's writing stays with you. Thanks.

Jannie Funster said...

Blogging has actually made me interested in Football for the first time ever. G-Man has turned me into a Michigan fan!

Where I grew up it was all ice hockey.

But I'm lovin' the Blue & Maize. :)

Pulling hair sounds awful, tho. Not my cup of tea in anyway.

Have a happy day!

xoxo

Yvonne Osborne said...

Hi Jannie!
College football is a whole other animal. Actually I love football, but I think the game has been diluted because of all the TV time outs. Thanks for commenting!

Yvonne Osborne said...

Hi Jannie!
College football is a whole other animal. Actually I love football, but I think the game has been diluted because of all the TV time outs. Thanks for commenting!