Cassia's Reading: September 2008

19 ways to keep a healthy level of insanity

1. At Lunch Time, Sit In Your Parked Car With Sunglasses on and point a Hair Dryer At Passing Cars. See If They Slow Down.
2. Page Yourself Over The Intercom. Don't Disguise Your Voice.
3. Every Time Someone Asks You To Do Something, ask If They Want Fries with that.
4. Put Your Garbage Can On Your Desk And Label it 'In'.
5. Put Decaf In The Coffee Maker For 3 Weeks Once Everyone has Gotten Over Their Caffeine Addictions, Switch to Espresso.
6. In The Memo Field Of All Your Checks , Write ' For Smuggling Diamonds'.
7. Finish All Your sentences with 'In Accordance With The Prophecy'.
8. Don't use any punctuation.
9. As Often As Possible, Skip Rather Than Walk.
10. Order a Diet Water whenever you go out to eat, with a serious face.
11. Specify That Your Drive-through Order Is 'To Go'.
12. Sing Along At The Opera.
13. Go To A Poetry Recital. And Ask Why The Poems Don't Rhyme?
14. Put Mosquito Netting Around Your Work Area and Play tropical Sounds All Day.
15. Five Days In Advance, Tell Your Friends You Can't Attend Their Party Because You're Not In the Mood.
16. Have Your Co-workers Address You By Your Wrestling Name, Rock Bottom.
17. When The Money Comes Out The ATM, Scream 'I Won! I Won!'
18. When Leaving The Zoo, Start Running Towards The Parking lot, Yelling 'Run For Your Lives ! They're Loose!'
19. Tell Your Children Over Dinner, 'Due To The Economy, We Are Going To Have To Let One Of You Go.'

Annabel Lee

It was many and many a year ago,
In a kingdom by the sea,
That a maiden there lived whom you may know
By the name of Annabel Lee;
And this maiden she lived with no other thought
Than to love and be loved by me.

I was a child and she was a child,
In this kingdom by the sea:
But we loved with a love that was more than love -
I and my Annabel Lee;
With a love that the winged seraphs of heaven
Coveted her and me.

And this was the reason that, long ago,
In this kingdom by the sea,
A wind blew out of a cloud, chilling
My beautiful Annabel Lee;
So that her high-born kinsmen came
And bore her away from me,
To shut her up in a sepulchre
In this kingdom by the sea.

The angels, not half so happy in heaven,
Went envying her and me -
Yes! that was the reason (as all men know,
In this kingdom by the sea)
That the wind came out of the cloud one night,
Chilling and killing my Annabel Lee.

But our love it was stronger by far than the love
Of those who were older than we -
Of many far wiser than we -
And neither the angels in heaven above,
Nor the demons down under the sea,
Can ever dissever my soul from the soul
Of the beautiful Annabel Lee;

For the moon never beams without bringing me dreams
Of the beautiful Annabel Lee;
And the stars never rise but I feel the bright eyes
Of the beautiful Annabel Lee;
And so, all the night-tide, I lie down by the side
Of my darling -my darling -my life and my bride,
In the sepulchre there by the sea -
In her tomb by the sounding sea.

Tuesday, September 30, 2008

Jane Austen

I really am bored by my biography on Jane Austen by Carol Shields. Non fiction is fairly monotonous to me, but I can also see how reading non fiction could be fascinating to some. For me, the format of the biography makes engrossing details about her life boring. But, it is interesting to learn the facts about Austen's life, instead of speculating on what information is reliable from movies like "Becoming Jane" (awesome movie by the way.... I cry every time I watch it).

For readers, having some knowledge of Austen's work really helps you make connections between her life and her novels. For example, in a few of her books, there is usually a wealthy man who falls in love with a non-suitable girl, and is removed from her life quickly by his family. Later, the man always comes back and they have a second chance at a happy life together. This same scenario is based on her own life experience with a young lawyer, Tom Lefroy. We can only assume that the endings of those novels are snapshots of what she was still hoping for in her own life. It's connections like these that help me force my eyes to continue line by line.

One thing I liked about this biography is that instead of just telling us what happened in her life, Shields tells us exactly why these things occurred as they did (social structure, time period quirks, personal experiences, etc.).

Friday, September 19, 2008

Jane Eyre

I needed reading material. Badly. My mom handed me a paperback copy of Jane Eyre. I was very doubtful about it's abilities to draw me in, but then again, I was desperate. It was long. It had small print. ick. But there I was, turning the cover and settled in for a long read.
Jane Eyre was boring. Then it got worse. I was literally falling asleep reading it. But then, Jane left her former school and got a job as a governess. That's when I got glued to the pages. Surrounding the large manor, Thornfield, is a mystery. Footsteps and maniacal laughter echo in the throughout the night. In addition, the master is nearly burned alive in his bed. Jane becomes entangled in the family's affairs, which nearly ruin her life.
I give it 4 1/2 stars. (1/2 taken for the start of the book which is rather gray)

Cassia's Reading