Ken’s Comments (group member since Jan 21, 2020)

Ken’s comments from the The Obscure Reading Group group.

Every autocrat does. Loyalty over country every step of the way.

Darrin wrote: "Speaking of historical parallels, on another social media platform that I inhabit, having to do with stamp collecting, I am putting together a thread with photos of stamps of Guatemala, but also tr..."

Interesting that the earthquakes coincide with the beginning of 1918, year of the so-called "Spanish" Influenza and our most recent marker for what's happening around us now.

The big difference between Cabrera and Agent Orange, of course, is that Cabrera did not enjoy a powerful propaganda organization like Fox "News." Add also the way messages are manipulated via the Internet, most especially Zuckerberg's all-too-compliant Facebook, not to mention other more vigilant but still vulnerable to abuse social networks.

History repeats and changes both. Agents of hate and corruption, which we used to see through the grates, are now out of the sewers and enjoying the open air, seeking to seize power for good.

Hmn. I wonder who that might be?

Nevertheless, there's a town named after him in Connecticut.

Hey, Cindy. You know what they say. Better late than never.

And, from a glass half-full perspective, you're actually EARLY for the June book. We won't even get to the picking until about a month from now.

Lord. I hope things are a bit different in the world by then, too.

Hang in there, all!

I'm still learning. Despite what you may believe, poetry is rocket science. At least if you want to publish it.

(Back to the whiteboard.)

Wow. Over an hour of sit by the fireside and listen there---like the Days of Radio, I imagine (because I have to, Days of Radio mercifully predating me).

I'll keep that bookmarked for a try someday when I'm ready to sit down and not write or read but listen only. Who knows but I might pull it off? Already I am upsetting well-entrenched tradition.

Example: The last sitcom I watched regularly was Cheers from the 80s. Since then, my TV habit has pretty much been reduced to the occasional sporting event: some tennis, some Red Sox games (though never in their entirety), some NFL games, and all UConn basketball games (the alma matters, as they say in Latin).

Anyway, my daughter is a TV buff and she recommended something called Schitt's Creek on Netflix. You know, to pass these Dark Ages that have, like the Carpenter's, "Only Just Begun."

Hey, Mikey! I liked it! My wife and I are already up to Year 3 (I guess they're in their sixth and final year).

It sure beats watching "breaking news with Lester Holt." For some reason, his news is fragile as hell. And depressing as hell. And scary as hell. But if you're watching something stupid as hell instead, you get a chuckle in spite of yourself and feel a little less like a three little pig with big bad wolves outside.

Invisible ones with big teeth.

I'm not sure if this link will work if you do not subscribe to the NY TIMES, but it's an article of so-called "comfort reads" suggested by well-known (many of whom are unknown to me) writers:

Entrance to Rabbit Hole Here

Sounds like you're in a good place, Darrin, even if you miss the structure of work. We introverts consider ourselves in a better place, anyway, given what we've all been dealt, but we have no choice but to go out once a week for groceries at the very least (crowds, lack of distance in many cases). Is that now the equivalent of running the gauntlet? I'll report back tomorrow, as I'll be there at the opening bell to see how many shelves I can see (sigh).

Another sad sign: Interlibrary Loan has stopped here in Maine. No more getting the many books my town library does not stock. Damn, meet nation.

And you do know that McCarthy book is part of a trilogy (er, or so I recall). All the Pretty Horses is one. I read them in the 80s, which seem like a very very long time ago now.

Also see "The Miller's Tale" in Chaucer's Canterbury Tales. Seems they, too, were fleeing plague, no?

I haven't been to the supermarket since last Friday, when only TP, water, hand sanitizer, rubbing alcohol, thermometers, etc. were gone. I'm hearing now that it's much, much worse, with panic buyers scooping up and stock piling fruits and vegetables, meat (esp. chicken), loaf bread, etc.

People have got to stop hoarding for the good of themselves and think about the good of all. I speak in particular of people with things like large freezers in their garage and second refrigerators filled to the brim.

If we all shop like we normally do each week by week, we can get through this.

(And now, back to our regularly-scheduled bawdy tales from the Plague Years....)

Especially one about "putting the devil away" where he won't create trouble. Forget the title, actually. As a teen, I did a lot of selective reading of Boccaccio. ;-)

Which reminds me of St. Ignatius, who defined "indifferent" in a way we're not used to---positively (as in, being "indifferent" and soldiering on despite the slings and arrows that life may deal us, Job-like).

Hi, Fergus. Here's some more positive vibe before I go out for my daily walk along the beach (everything seems normal there):


(This is an excerpt from Chapter 10 of Atomic Habits, by James Clear)


My college strength and conditioning coach, Mark Watts, taught me an important lesson about how to be thankful that applies to life outside of the gym as well as inside it…

As adults, we spend a lot of time talking about all of the things that we have to do.

You have to wake up early for work. You have to make another sales call for your business. You have to work out today. You have to write an article. You have to make dinner for your family. You have to go to your son’s game.

Now, imagine changing just one word in the sentences above.

You don’t “have” to. You “get” to.

You get to wake up early for work. You get to make another sales call for your business. You get to cook dinner for your family. By simply changing one word, you shift the way you view each event. You transition from seeing these behaviors as burdens and turn them into opportunities.

The key point is that both versions of reality are true. You have to do those things, and you also get to do them. We can find evidence for whatever mind-set we choose.

I once heard a story about a man who uses a wheelchair. When asked if it was difficult being confined, he responded, “I’m not confined to my wheelchair—I am liberated by it. If it wasn’t for my wheelchair, I would be bed-bound and never able to leave my house.” This shift in perspective completely transformed how he lived each day.

I think it’s important to remind yourself that the things you do each day are not burdens, they are opportunities. So often, the things we view as work are actually the reward.

Embrace your constraints. Fall in love with boredom. Do the work.

You don’t have to. You get to.

Good morning, Jan.

Seems the whole country is online now. Hope Ye Olde Internet holds up. If that goes down, then EVERYone will be Goodreaders (even if they don't read).

Here in Maine we have 23 confirmed and 9 presumptive positives, which probably means we have over 320---this based on the fact that there are probably 10 actuals for every one identified. This is due to the sparsity of tests and the crazy rules ("Have you traveled to China? Italy?") you need to meet to get one. Or perhaps that's beginning to change now that the whole world is turning into China.

Take that back. China is actually looking better now. Maybe we should emigrate.

As for here in the greatest country on earth (insert note of sarcasm here), it's the usual reindeer games with our leader, who belittled the virus for weeks, then yesterday claimed he knew it was a pandemic before others knew it was a pandemic. I know we're short on hospital beds, but the man-child truly needs one---in the mental ward.

Your Shanti Arts link goes to a Google Mail sign-in, which not everyone has. This is a more general link, no?

http://www.shantiarts.co/SPAQ/SPAQ_ca...

OK, then. Keep the positive spirit. Remember Shakespeare, cooped up by the Plague, took advantage of the time to write Macbeth, King Lear, and Anthony & Cleopatra in a single year.

Years later, different man but same Plague, Isaac Newton, cooped up, dreamed up his laws of motion and gravity. What else do you do with a grave situation and a lot of time?

Thanks for the link. Beautiful piece! I, too, love Bruegel paintings, especially his Hunters in the Snow (Winter). Check out this 4-minute video. Pretty interesting stuff!

https://smarthistory.org/pieter-brueg...

Kathleen: You own a van der Weyden triptych? I am duly impressed!

I assumed no one had heard of him, but then, assuming has been getting me in trouble ever since my father taught me how to spell it.

Cathleen, you make a good point. One advantage of an occasional book group like this is it will likely force some of us out of our comfort zones. We DO develop little reading habits, don't we? Genres we avoid, topics we dislike, even geographical locations and authors that don't quite do it for us (like me with authors from the American South... sorry, Mr. Faulkner).

These rules pop up when you make your first post, but some people don't bother to read them and click it all away. Therefore, they bear repeating here for any curious newbies:


1. Be kind. Be courteous. And don't act like a know-it-all by hogging the mic and schooling everyone to your way of thinking. This is a DISCUSSION, not a debate with winners and losers. If you want that, visit the political threads.

2. Stay on topic by only discussing chapters designated for each week according to the schedule. Discussing matters we haven't reached yet comes under the dreaded category of SPOILER.

3. If you are an author with a published book, we welcome you as a READER and not as an author with a published book. Meaning? If you use the group to promote your own book or to suggest it be used as a reading book selection, OR if you use a surrogate for that purpose, we will consider it spam and consider you suspect (like John Wilkes Booth, and that's not a good thing for your membership here). Thanks for your cooperation, reader!

Laysee wrote: "Wow! We now have not just a group name but also a group profile picture. Nice. Ken, care to say something about the profile pic?..."


Reading in the Medieval Period seems like an "obscure" activity to me because in the "Dark Ages" the "stars" (a.k.a. readers and writers keeping knowledge aflame) were mostly in the church.

Thus, when I searched "medieval readers," I found this portrait by Rogier Van Der Weyden, a painter I'd never heard of.

I like hearing about people I've never heard of because I like learning stuff. I also like the close-up of the window in the background. I know Renaissance painters often used windows to show off their new skills in depth and perspective, but it also works in that everyday life goes on outside while some of us take pleasure in our private (obscure?) habit of reading.

Rogier van der Weyden, from the Netherlands, traveled to Italy where he taught and learned from many Italian painters including Fra Angelico. According to this biography (see last paragraph in particular), however, van der Weyden is much overlooked nowadays despite his tremendous talent, making him decidedly OBSCURE and an appropriate symbol for our group.

Signed,
The Guy Who Never Took Art History in College (sigh)

Maybe we should give each member one nomination if they want it (don't have to if, like Darrin and Carol, you'd rather see titles from others).

In any event, there's plenty of time. I'd say a May 1st deadline and quick poll would do it, giving everyone who's interested plenty of time to track the book down.