Al Past's Blog, page 9

Ana reminds us to be thankful for teachers

(Ana lectures to astronomy students.)
One of Ana's biggest disappointments in her new life on Earth has been the low priority many of our nations assign to education, and to teachers. She has been especially disheartened by those whose answer to hard economic times is to cut back on education budgets. This is akin to eating one's seed corn, she feels: whatever the short-term gain might be, the long-term harm is exponentially greater.


It has been mentioned elsewhere that Ana's ancestors on the p...

Ana's response to the drop in SAT verbal scores

SAT verbal scores have been dropping since the 1970s, and a recent report shows they are still dropping today. This is worrisome, because language proficiency, particularly reading ability, is a main key to a child's brain development, and a proven predictor of academic success later in life. On the larger scale, it is a matter of national security.


There's a name for this phenomenon: the "Matthew Effect," from Matthew XXIV:29: "For unto every one that hath shall be given, and he shall have ab...

Two suns beats two moons

Recently, a team of astronomers using Kepler, NASA's planet-hunting spacecraft, has found a planet that orbits TWO suns. The planet, called Kepler 16-B, is only 200 light years away, in the Cygnus constellation. About the size of Saturn, and of similar density, it is thought to be composed of rock and gas, and is not believed habitable. Most odd to us, an observer on the planet would see two sunrises and two sunsets every day, one orange and one red, and double shadows when both were in the s...

Babies grow up: fennec fox kit and serval kitty

Ana Darcy Méndez has never been comfortable around dogs, given some of the predators on Thomo, her home planet, but even so she could probably stand a cute, tiny fennec fox. As active as the little critters are, though, they might bring a little too much chaos to her peaceful household. Their daughter Clio's caracal is more reserved, being a full grown, if large, cat. Ana loves serval cats, however. We wouldn't put it past her to adopt one some day.


Thanks to Julie, of Julie's Jungle, for thes...

Bonus! Baby Fox, Baby Fennec Fox!

On Thomo, Ana's home planet, dog-like creatures were widely feared. On Earth, she still doesn't care for dogs in general. That would include foxes (but not cats, fortunately--she and cats seem to share a wavelength). Ana likes her foxes in zoos. Others must think differently.

We had no idea that a fox might make a pet, but that turns out to be the case. Julie, of JuliesJungle, has a newborn fennec fox kit that she couldn't resist taking photos of with a cell phone. The fox weighs 4.5 ounces in...

Ana's Italian appetizer inspiration: pizzete!

Readers of Distant Cousin will remember Ana's first encounter with pizza, only a few days after she came to Earth. It made quite an impression on her--she's loved pizza ever since. Here's an example of how she has adapted and extended the idea of pizza.


Ana was shopping for a small party she and Matt were going to have, and in do doing, came up with an idea for an appetizer which, like many of her cooking ideas, turned out not to be entirely original. One of her Italian guests, a professor, wa...

Ana discovers the Italians' best use of the frittata

Ana Darcy Méndez has always enjoyed talking to people from other countries. In her first years on Earth, she occasionally asked embarrassing questions, but she soon learned to use her cover story, of being an immigrant from Argentina, as an entree to a discussion. It never failed--people are invariably pleased to enlighten interested listeners about their homelands.


Now, married into a locally prominent New Mexican family, she takes pleasure in hosting international visitors and guests, many ...

Ana gives us some Luvit proverbs from the planet Thomo!

Ana Darcy's native language, Luvit, is spoken by the people of the planet Thomo. (The photo above represents Thomo and its two moons.) There are a number of Luvit words scattered throughout the various Distant Cousin books, but there is no point in providing more than a few, because Luvit is almost completely unintelligible to us. (There is, on the other hand, a fair amount of Spanish in the books, and not all of that needs to be translated. There is also a bit of French, in the first volume....

Guest Blog! Wheelchair Mommy!

We are delighted to present a guest blogger today, a vivacious young woman who writes one of my favorite blogs, WheelchairMommy. She has been so occupied with the latest addition to her wonderful family--her third boy!--that she has opted to post something from her own blog from the not too distant past, about her discovery of the Distant Cousin stories!


Two points of interest about her post below. She knows me as a former college student of a few years ago. Whether that had anything to do with it or not, she's a wonderful writer. Her blog is a lively source of information for parents and full of touching anecdotes from a warm-hearted modern family. The second point is that she, like Rebecca Pechefsky, harpsichordist, and Claudia Quintero, a talented painter, have actually met Ana Darcy (even though they may not have realized it at the time)!

Thanks again to the Wheelchair Mommy for her post, and we invite you to visit her delightful blog, Wheelchair Mommy, and perhaps even become a follower!



Alrighty. Wow. I never minded book reports in school, but when it comes to reviewing a book written by someone I KNOW and want others to read, I seem to be at a loss for words. Imagine that? Me? With nothing to say?

That's precisely the problem. I have too much to say and I don't want to give ANYTHING away. I want you to order them RIGHT now and read them so we can talk about them.

When I read the first book I had NO idea there would be second, third and fourth. I was thrilled each time another one came out though! I wonder if there will be a 5th?

Ok. So you probably want to AT LEAST know what it's about? Well, it's science fiction. A woman from another planet (Thomo) comes to Earth. There's a bit of a love story. (She meets someone.) There are HUGE lessons in learning to accept others! (She's an alien for crying out loud.) There's humor. There's action & murder. There's growth.

I can not pick a favorite out of the 4. I like them all. I would LOVE for Hollywood to pick this up. It would make an AWESOME mini series. Just incredible.

So there you have it. My ideas of how one should review a series, written by a friend; without spoiling anything. . . I will just tell my readers that they must just click below and order now.

Please.

And Thank you!

Ana learns to love the Mexican observance of El Día de los Muertos

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We may not know many specifics of the human society on the planet Thomo, but we can be sure of certain features in general. Families are important; ancestors and descendants are important. The arts--music, painting, poetry, literature, and so forth, are important. Religion is important. So is food. Security, love, manners, means of getting along, are very important.


We would expect when Ana Darcy (née Anneyn Darshiell) came to Earth she recognized the importance of those things in our society, even if she was unfamiliar with the details. (Her first impressions are recorded in Distant Cousin.) After all, where her people had one basic set of beliefs and customs, we have thousands of cultures and languages and cuisines. These were an unimaginably rich treasure for her to explore. They still are.

Given that she settled in southern New Mexico in an Anglo/Hispanic area, it stands to reason that she would be intimately exposed to the customs of both those cultures. One Mexican tradition struck her as so appropriate to her own society on Thomo that she adopted it herself, immediately. This customary observance might seem strange to the English-speaking world, enough so to deserve a note of explanation here: the custom of El Día de los Muertos, the day of the dead.

The origin of the observance lies some 400 years in the past, with the arrival of Spaniards in Mexico. The Spaniards--Catholic, of course--already observed All Souls' Day, the day following All Saints' Day. They blended this observance into the indigenous Indian celebration of their ancestors. The result is El Día de los Muertos, in effect, a Catholic celebration with Aztec overtones, among others. (This process, common in Catholicism, is called syncretism.)

There is nothing morbid about it--it is a joyous remembrance of one's ancestors. In the English-speaking world, we remember those who went before to some degree, with perhaps a few photos or paintings, a hymn or two, perhaps, and, if we're really thorough, a reading of old correspondence or sharing of family stories with younger family members. In Mexico, this process is formalized and elaborate. Cemeteries are cleaned up and decorated. Whole families spend the day there, have picnics and music, and decorate their houses with altars and flowers. Unlike Halloween, death is regarded as another phase of life, something to be commemorated and revered. Even food and drink are provided, for the spirits of those ancestors.

In Ana's Thoman society, each generation is numbered and remembered individually. There are many epic poems about deeds and persons of the past, somewhat like the ancient Greeks, which keep the past alive and help guide people into the future. Ana herself is the subject of one of these epics (in Distant Cousin: Regeneration). In any case, Ana instantly understood the importance of El Día de los Muertos, and enthusiastically adopted it. (Many Anglo families have as well. Being Catholic is not required for remembering one's ancestors!) The appropriateness of Ana's observation of El Día de los Muertos was featured in Distant Cousin: Reincarnation.

Below are two photos of observances of an El Día de los Muertos celebration (a third is above, at top). These three, from central Mexico, show a cemetery, elaborately decorated and crowded with celebrants, musicians, and the like. (You may right click these to open in another window to better see the details.)





The two below show observances in Mexican homes.







This one shows an altar in a college Spanish classroom in the United States. One of the students evidently remembered an ancestor who enjoyed weight lifting (left foreground).



And here is an altar in a non-Catholic Anglo household, with photos of ancestors, flowers, and items those ancestors enjoyed--including a bottle of liquor, center rear.



If anyone is interested in trying this custom, nothing could be simpler. Several days before November second, merely set out photos or representations of one's dear departed, add characteristic items they enjoyed, along with flowers and candles. Light the candles each night. You will find yourself thinking of those who preceded you more than you ever have before!


(Learn more about Ana's encounters with art, music, food, animals, science, education, and poetry in the column to the right.)