Theresa's comments (member since Sep 09, 2007)

Theresa's comments from the Constant Reader group.

This is a good list! I'm working away at 2666 now, and plan/hope to read some of the others. Go Down Moses and Breakable You especially. I'd try for Dom Casaumaro, but I'm not counting on being through 2666 in time. According to Amazon, May selection The Little Stranger is available in paperback on May 3, if we can it might make sense to switch it with the June selection?

Theresa, hoping to read more books in 2010 than I have managed in 2009. I have read a grand total of 4 novels so far this year, and I used to whip through more than that in a month. I have read lots of interesting work and teaching related stuff though.

Re the efficacy of withholding information from children, e.g. Sarah Palin's position that teen-agers should not be taught about birth control, see Bristol, the new face of abstinence! On the other hand, Bristol's baby-daddy apparently believes in over-sharing - both the facts of his personal life and his figure. I'm going to go out on a limb and state that the Palins probably at least gave a lot of lip service to protecting their kids' "innocence". It seems to me that they ended up with a child with normal teen-age hormones, but insufficient information to allow her to make wise choices.

Theresa

Wilhelmina, I noticed the other day that you have been scarce around here. I hope your health is improving, thanks for posting the videos.

Theresa

"This Court has never held that the Constitution forbids the execution of a convicted defendant who has had a full and fair trial but is later able to convince a habeas court that he is ‘actually’ innocent.” Justice Scalia, in his dissent to In re Davis earlier this year, in which the majority ordered review of a death sentence on an original writ (very unusual.) This quote is taken out of context, but even so, the position he is taking is that once the death sentence has been handed down after a full and fair trial (I will not bore you with discussion of what has been deemed to be adequate counsel in some such cases), then there is no constitutional problem with carrying out the sentence even if there is proof of innocence.

Here is a link to a recent New Yorker article. http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2009/... Can one read this and still believe that there is never any doubt of guilt when the death penalty is administered?

Even if we could be sure of guilt in 100% of cases, I would still be against the death penalty. I am a liberal (reeeeeally liberal on many things) but no bleeding heart, but I cannot support it. It's just not appropriate, as almost every country in the world recognizes. Here is a map showing which countries allow the death penalty and which do not. http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/co...

Beej, your original post is great, and I do understand that you wanted to discuss your emotional reaction to a particular situation. But I feel the need for a soapbox anyway, I have such strong feelings on this subject.

Theresa

Thanks for the clarification, Russ. You are suggesting that we not question this particular execution because it accords with the current state of our laws. I can't say that I agree with your conclusion, but your point makes more sense to me now.

I don't like the death penalty. Both by its nature, and because I do not believe it is or can be equitably and justly administered. Someone locked up for life still has just that - life. They still have the chance for redemption, if innocent, and they still have the chance for personal redemption, in any case. If the goal is punishment, then as some have pointed out here life imprisonment is no walk in the park. And if the goal is public safety, then life imprisonment achieves that goal.

Theresa

Russ2, your beg your own point. First you state that the democratic process got us to this point, and then you require that the democratic process stop right here - that is, that we not question where the democratic process has brought us. Questioning is part and parcel of democratic process - it's a process, not a static condition.

I believe the US banned the death penalty for a period of time back when I was a kid. The democratic process got us to that point too, and obviously someone questioned it. At what point would you propose that we call the whole thing off and stop the process?

Theresa

Hannah, I think you tip your hand by stating that you think that there are books that are not appropriate for people of any age to read. That is an impulse to censorship, pure and simple. I would be willing to bet that many of the parents making a fuss about what their children are assigned to read in school would be quite happy to deny those same books to other adults if they thought that they could get away with it. It's just that "my rights as a parent" plays better than "my right to direct other people's lives and thoughts."

On the issue of whether censorship poses any real threat, I direct you to this article regarding Sarah Palin and her town's librarian. http://www.adn.com/sarah-palin/story/515...

And finally, of course the Bible is taught in schools. As literature, not as dogma. If someone wants the Bible taught to their kids as dogma, then they should send that kid to a private Christian school. There's plenty of sex and violence in the Bible, though, gotta warn you!

Theresa

You called it right, Al, this is right up my alley.

Beet greens are the best - I prefer them to chard, sauteed with olive oil, bit of garlic, red pepper flakes. Put a poached egg on top and there's dinner. I wish one could buy beet greens on their own, there's never enough attached to the beet bunch. I never thought of eating radish greens, I shall have to try it.

Theresa

You're right - I've seen that Stella Artois ad several times. I wonder why it didn't register? Maybe because I just have a favorable opinion of Landmark in general.

Theresa

If you stick to non-cineplex theaters, you avoid some of the issues discussed below. My big complaint is advertisements before the show - I will not patronize a theater that shows ads. This means that I see most of my films at Landmark theaters, which is fine with me since they tend to show the type of films I like to see. Their theaters also tend to be in interesting and slightly (but not overly) funky old buildings, a plus imo.

http://landmarktheatres.com/market/Seatt...

Theresa

Jordan almonds.

I saw Il Grido recently, early Antonioni and considered a lesser work for him but I thought it was fantastic. Il Grido has some of the same themes and atmosphere as Antonioni's better known L'Eclisse and L'Aventurra, but is less polished and felt more emotionally authentic to me.

The plot involves a working man with a long-term involvement, and a daughter, with a woman whose husband is working out of the country. When the husband dies, our hero wants to marry but is informed that she has fallen in love with a younger man. He sets off with their daughter for a series of adventures in the countryside, meeting up with past and future loves, low lifes, and hard times. He eventually returns to his home town, and finds it in uproar over a coming US military base and appropriation of land. I did not like the last 30 seconds of the film, but it would have been perfect without those last seconds. I put it right back in my Netflix queue when I returned it.

Five stars, but stay away if you don't like black and white films with subtitles. The odd thing is that several of the actors were American, and their Italian is dubbed, although only occassionally noticeable. So one is reading subtitles of lines probably spoken in English in the first place and then dubbed into Italian.

The Magdalene Sisters is another Irish film - I think it is okay but not great.

Theresa

Sibyl, I remember pancakes for dinner in Holland. Yummm, lekker!

Here are two good and very easy autumn meals I've made recently, so easy that neither really merits being caled a recipe:

1. Roast some delicata squash, sweet potato and beets and cut up in bite size pieces. Wash and dry some spinach. Mix it all together with some balsamic vinaigrette. Top with toasted pepitas. Some goat cheese might be nice on top too, but I didn't have any.

2. I made this recipe for cauliflower with pasta, except (a) I used half pound instead of one pound of pasta, but the same amount of cauliflower (always in favor of more veggies); (b) I used whole wheat penne rather than whole wheat spaghetti; (c) I didn't have any capers, so I added some chopped marinated artichoke hearts and some chopped marinated sun dried tomatoes; (d) I didn't bother with the mashed pine nuts, I just added the one half cup toasted whole nuts, that was plenty; (e) the author of the recipe advises grinding dried chili pepers in a food processor - I just used chili flakes I get from the store; (f) I only used two cloves garlic because four seemed like a lot; and (g) I added a good squeeze of lemon at the end. Not sure it counts as the same recipe anymore, but it sure was good!

http://locallemons.com/local_lemons/2009...

Theresa

Madame Bovary is a darn good read, but I still prefer Sentimental Education. SE gave me a lot more to think about, but MB has more hooks for the imagination, so I can see why it is more commonly included in the pantheon of classics. I believe we did MB a couple of years before SE, and I very much enjoyed both discussions.

I've read SE three times, so I don't know that I'd be up for another go if it wins, but will enjoy reading the discussion in any event. I don't vote these days because lately I only manage to read a couple of selections each year. I figure there will be at least that many I want to read among those selected by the voters.

Of the books on this "voting 2" post, the only ones I've not read are Ulysses, the Hamsun books and In a Dark Wood. House for Mr. Biswas is good, but not my favorite Naipaul. Anything by Mahfouz is worth reading. I've read most of his books and have always loved this picture of him, I think the expression on his face shows the same delight in humanity and its foibles that I see in his books.



Theresa

I made lentil/chard soup last week-end. It was okay, but I ended up with slightly chalky lentils. This happens about 20% of the time when I cook lentils, and I can't figure out the cause. I know not to add salt while they are cooking. And I know to just let them simmer and not boil rapidly. Most of the time they turn out fine, but every so often I end up with chalkiness. It doesn't seem to be tied to type or brand of lentils or which pot I use to cook them.

I also made a spiced apple cake on the week-end, a mash up of two recipes and then I tried to replicate a nice spiced cider flavor combo. Turned out great!

Theresa

Well, what a great discussion. I think a classic has to go beyond a good story or well-chosen words, and have an underlying philosophy that will still resonate and be relevant for readers of the future. There are tons of great books that have a philosophy that resonates for me now, but that I don't believe will necessarily work in the future (e.g. Wind Up Bird Chronicle; Bone People).

I was not an English major, in fact I never took a single English class in college. I've read a lot of classics but I did not necessarily encounter them in the "here is a classic" context. Mainly I just stumbled upon them by unplanned and generally happy accident.

My nominations for recent works that will survive:

Song of Solomon (Toni Morrison)
2666 (Roberto Bolano)*
In the Skin of a Lion (Michael Ondaatje)
Disgrace (Coetzee)
Housekeeping (Marilyn Robinson)
Arcadia (Tom Stoppard)

*I'm only about 1/3 through, so I reserve the right to change my mind on this.

I must call Steve to account regarding Bloom. Years ago I complained vehemently here on CR about how overweeningly avuncular Bloom was in an article he wrote for the New Yorker about Columbia's core curriculum. Steve and Dick put up a spirited (and rather avuncular) defense of Bloom. Not that there's anything wrong with changing one's mind, but just saying . . .

Theresa

I had breakfast with Pres and John a few years ago, when I was in SF for a visit to my family. Had a wonderful conversation about art, and books, and food, and travels. They were a delightful couple and I am so sorry to hear about John's passing.

Theresa

Maybe dialogue is not the best word, but I think at least some demonstrations go beyond football cheering. How about the recent demos in Iran? How about the Boston Tea Party? That one went beyond what would be considered allowable free speech nowadays, yet we are taught in school to venerate the participants.

The guys in the black hoods, on the other hand, just want to have the wild ruckus begin. I've always heard that Portland is the nexus of US anarchism, which baffles me, because as much as I like Portland, it seems a bit staid. On the other hand, Seattle can also seem a bit staid, but there is a very strong undercurrent here that does not want to knuckle down to anyone, no way and no how.

Theresa

MAP, sounds like when WTO came to Seattle right after I moved here. First time in my life that I got tear gassed, and all I was doing at the time was going home from work.

WTO Seattle posed an interesting First Amendment conundrum. There were lots of big peaceful demos planned by people who had something they wanted to say. And there was a relatively small crowd of anarchists, or pseudo-anarchists, whose speech managed to drown out just about everyone else.

It's like there couldn't be any real dialogue about the pros and cons of the WTO (yes, I think mass demonstrations can be a form of dialogue), because of a few people breaking windows. The cynic in me wonders who was really behind those guys in the black hoods.

It was interesting riding the bus to work each day along with tons of protesters in various costumes, and mega-puppets, and signs, etc. It felt a bit like a festival. I've stayed away from the film they made about WTO, can't bring myself to watch it even though it's received good reviews. Can't compare to the real thing, and I hate to imagine what they had to do to turn it into a drama with a storyline.

Theresa

Someone forwarded this YouTube video of the PS 22 choir singing The Cure's Pictures of You to me. It's a good performance, but the real reason to watch is the kids, they are truly full of grace (not in the sense of agile.) They look to be about 5th or 6th grade, right on the cusp of leaving childhood behind, but they are still innocent enought to put a lot of their childhood into their performance.

The choir teacher looks like he must be the "cool teacher" (every school has at least one); and he must truly be cool to have his kids arrive at this performance.

Watch the kids!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pxZX8LpFO...

Theresa