Finished Julie & Julia

I finished the book late Friday night. I really enjoy her writing style. She uses her thesaurus effectively. Her personality is a mix of construction worker and writer. I think that I actually liked the movie better. The book contained a lot more stories about her crazy friends. The movie interjected biographical excerpts of Julia Child. I liked the excerpts more.

Here are the additional words that I had to look-up. Some of them I could figure-out from the context but I like to learn new words.

yawp - to make a raucous noise

bon mots - clever remarks

vertiginous - causing or likely to cause a feeling of dizziness especially because of great height

decolletage -  the top of a woman's dress, blouse, etc., that is cut very low so the top of the woman's breasts can be seen

marcel -  a deep soft wave made in the hair by the use of a heated curling iron

garret - a usually small and unpleasant room or space area just below the roof of a building

gustatory - relating to taste or the sense of taste

helpmeet - a person who is a companion and helper

ululate - to cry loudly

insouciant -  a relaxed and calm state; a feeling of not worrying about anything

Newspaper of Record - a term that typically refers to a major newspaper that has a large circulation and whose editorial and news-gathering functions are considered professional and typically authoritative.

ineffable - too great, powerful, beautiful, etc., to be described or expressed

on tenterhooks -  in a state of uneasiness, strain, or suspens

frisson - a sudden strong feeling or emotion

manche à gigot - leg of mutton holder

New blog description

I am changing my blog description. I had setup this blog several years ago when I was single and depressed. Since then, I have gotten married, lost 100 lbs and become a runner. A lot has changed!

For posterity, here is the old description:

Whimsical meanderings through the wide expanse of a solitary soul. Feel free to progress with me along this pilgrim trail for Vanity Fair is just around the next bend.

Reading "Julie & Julia"

I enjoyed this movie before we went to culinary school. After completing culinary school, I feel compelled to attempt this same feat. Cook all of the recipes in "Mastering the Art of French Cooking". Strangely enough, I never watched Julia Child on TV. Since I'm already in the middle of several different "all of" challenges, I'm going to let this one slide for a bit. I have realized after the first few chapters though that I need to have a reference copy of the cookbook so I can lookup what Julie is cooking.

I am working on reading all of the Hugo Best Novel aware winners. I am reading them in order from oldest to newest. Well, actually, I have reached the 80's and I have decided to skip around a bit. There are some authors who write political science fiction (a la Frank Herbert). I prefer future and space tech science fiction. My favourite is the Grand Master himself, Robert Heinlein. I have skipped the books that I have already read.

I am also working on watching all of the Academy Best Picture winners in reverse order. I am in the late 70's / early 80's now. I like to order the movies to be delivered to my local library and then watch them whilst I am donating blood platelets. I donated 25 times last year!

These are the words that I've had to look-up so far. Definitions courtesy of Merriam-Webster.

impecunious - having little or no money

avuncular - like an uncle; kind or friendly like an uncle

faille - a somewhat shiny closely woven silk, rayon, or cotton fabric characterized by slight ribs in the weft

licentious - sexually immoral or offensive

apostasy - renunciation of a religious faith 

metastasized - to spread or grow by or as if by metastasis

prions - any of several small petrels (genus Pachyptila of the family Procellariidae) of the southern hemisphere that are bluish gray above and white below  

Common Courtesy

In my opinion, there are lot of "stupid people" laws. These are laws that have made people less courteous.

During the pioneer and major immigration days, were people more courteous? Did they have to rely on the law in order to enforce courteousness?

It seems that "stupid" people ignore common courtesy and so a "stupid" law has to be created to provide a means for society to enforce courtesy.

Of course, it is a juxtaposition to call it common courtesy since, in some places, it is not that common.

Courtesy is the area between law and chaos.

the temporal may expire but the spirit lives on

The temporal may expire but the spirit lives on. I have always felt the presence of my elders even after they have passed.

munchkin king

Here is an interesting quote from an interesting guy. I captured this several years ago in the office in Cincinnati.

"In the land of Munchkins, is the tallest or the shortest Munchkin King?" - Jesse Johnson - 27 JUL 07

Reading "The Big Year"

I just finished "The Big Year". This is one of the few times that I have seen the movie before reading the book.

Several weeks ago, our neighbors invited us over to their apartment for dinner. Since we are on a medically supervised diet, we couldn't partake in a dinner but we counter-offered with a game night. Funnily enough, we didn't play any games but ended-up chatting the evening away. I had noticed that Bryan kept a telescope facing the beach in their apartment. He said that he enjoyed birding. I told him that I too enjoyed identifying the occasional bird and I asked him if he had seen the movie "The Big Year" with Owen Wilson, Jack Black and Steve Martin. He said that he hadn't seen the movie yet but he had the book. He offered to lend me his copy.

Several nights later after returning from his house under renovation, he dropped-off the book at our apartment. From the inscription on the cover, it was a birthday present in 2004.

I devoured the book. It is about 3 birders who are on separate quests to see as many different species of birds in North America as they can in a calendar year.

It was the perfect combination of excellent story-telling, adventure travel and a passion for nature even though birding is a kind of odd-duck in the naturalist world.

Of course, Anne-Marie and I love adventure travel so there is a natural appeal of this book.

I am still pondering why this author's writing style speaks to me particularly. This is the type of puzzle that keeps my brain elastic. As I said, I'm still pondering what aspects of a writers style appeal to me directly. This author, Mark Obmascik, strikes a chord in me in the same manner that Robert A. Heinlein does. I'll post more about aspects of different writing styles that I enjoy.

According to the author, The phrase "thin as a rail" is because of the rail bird that is so thin to walk between reeds in a marsh. There are other arguments but I like this explanation.

Here is a list of other books that I plan on reading after reading The Big Year:

Wild America - also a documentary film about Peterson and Fisher.

Call Collect, Ask for Birdman by Jim Vardaman who, according to other birders, "bought" his Big Year.
 

Birding's Indiana Jones by Sandy Komito who is one the 3 main characters in The Big Year.

The World of Roger Tory Peterson: An Authorized Biography about the author of one of the most used bird guides in North America.

Back!

Obviously, it has been several years since I used this blog. I decided to start posting again.

I have this habit of underlining or somehow marking words in books of which I need to look-up the official definition. I thought that it would be fun to post the words that I've learned. I thought that it would be fun to post any other philosophical or otherwise thoughts that I have whilst reading.