Book store finds

Purring Piggy and I drove a long way so that I could be on a Homeschooling Teen panel, a few days ago. We arrived at our destination two hours early, and went into a Half Price Books to browse. It was about twice as large as the one in our neighborhood, but had a completely different selection. Our Half Price Books stocks about 15 Trollope titles, and this one only had two. I wonder if they plan it that way. There were a lot of books we wanted to get, but here are some of the ones we ended up with:

Hard Times by Charles Dickens - Wouldn't you know, the one Dickens title Ambleside recommends for Year 10, and we had to buy it new because no book sale that we've been to has had it.

The Smith of Wooton Major and Farmer Giles of Ham by JRR Tolkien - It's amazing that, our library getting near 5000 titles, we can find such huge gaps in its content.

Death in the Stocks by Georgette Heyer - We are slowly building our Heyer collection, and this is the second mystery we have found.

Roberts Rules of Order - I never would have thought of picking this up until I did my government class. Now I'm extremely interested.

Adams vs. Jefferson by John Ferling - I just finished this book and loved it, so was very glad to find it so soon!

Castle Rackrent and The Absentee by Maria Edgeworth - Another Georgian author to read!

The Professor by Charlotte Brontë - The last Brontë book, to fill out our collection.

Blogthings

Your Ideal Pet is a Fish

You're both laid back, quiet, and content with your own little worlds. Just don't stare at that fishbowl for too long!

What's Your Ideal Pet?

You Should Get a MD (Doctor of Medicine)

You're both compassionate and brilliant - a rare combination. You were born to be a doctor.

What Advanced Degree Should You Get?

You Should Learn French

C'est super! You appreciate the finer things in life... wine, art, cheese, love affairs. You are definitely a Parisian at heart. You just need your tongue to catch up...

What Language Should You Learn?

Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest

A comment on my review of the soundtrack reminded me that I hadn't posted my review of the actual movie, which we saw about two weeks ago!

I went into the theater expecting the second Pirates of the Caribbean movie to be the same frothy fun as the first one, only less good. I was pleasantly surprised. While the story was less compelling, POTC 2 followed the pattern of most trilogies, and spent the second act developing characters. The first one had pretty much 2D characters. Barbossa wanted to be alive, Jack wanted his ship, Will wanted Elizabeth, Norrington wanted to hang pirates, and Elizabeth wanted to...survive and marry Will. But in the second one, it is less straight-forward. There is time for the characters to do something other than just wave swords around, and they face difficult decisions, which they do not always judge correctly. Real piracy, not just swashbuckling, is here, with the betrayals and lies that come from its selfish nature. The focus is the characters——how do they react, what will they choose, where will they head——at some loss to the plot. It's fairly simple, with no twists outside character development.

But for all this darkness and simple storyline, POTC 2 is a boatload of fun. There are just as many one-liners as the first one, just as many odd and over-the-top situations, and Johnny Depp's Captain Jack Sparrow is just as quirky and scene-stealing as one would hope. This movie makes sure that you know that it knows that it is a sequel; references to the first movie are abundant and very often funny. It also is very self aware that it is an
action movie, throwing in superfluous action scenes that are over-the-top, and therefore enjoyable, if one can realize that it's not meant to be a drama but an action/adventure/comedy summer movie. I have always liked ships and treasure-hunting and swordfights, and especially when they are interposed with some real character development, and this one gave me plenty of it, including a three-way swordfight, something I'd never seen before. If you want the twisting storyline of the first movie, or an action movie that takes itself seriously, you probably will not like POTC 2. But if you want to see more of Jack, and more of the simply fun entertainment that the first one gave, POTC 2 is the perfect summer movie for you!

It's nice to know I'm perfect ;-)

You Are 32% Control Freak

You have achieved the perfect balance of control and letting go. You tend to roll with whatever life brings, but you never get complacent.

Are You A Control Freak?

Yo ho, yo ho, soundtracks are for me!

I recently purchased the Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest soundtrack and have listened to it extensively since. I was surprised to learn that the soundtrack to the first Pirates, one of my favorites, was created at the last minute. However, listening to this one made me understand what they meant. Soundtracks should mirror the movie, and this one certainly does. It's swashbuckling and heroic for the most part, but with some sidetracks that are fun but odd. Also, as the new movie is darker in tone, any theme from the first soundtrack that is used in this one is in a lower key; more cellos than violins, more french horns than trumpets. The old themes are used, but not widely, so they were a surprise when they came. Mostly the themes are new or modified. Another fault with the first one was that the music was not very easy on the ears at all times. This one, even in the action tracks, never becomes as grating.


Jack Sparrow - This is a delightful six minute piece that has all Jack's old themes, as well as working in a lovely new one. It's tongue-in-cheek and smooth, with a lovely cello part.

The Kraken - This is one of the new themes, and reminiscent of the Jaws theme. It starts off with low strings and drums, and crescendos into an eery melody on the organ.

Davy Jones - For the "bad guy's" theme, this is very beautiful, starting off with the haunting music-box tune of Davy Jones, and then playing it out again on the organ. It's a surprisingly lovely track on a soundtrack for an action movie.

I’ve Got My Eye on You - The first part of this track is hardly there, just ominous sounding music, and the second half is a rehash of The Medallion Calls from the first one.

Dinner is Served - As suggested by the title, this is the music for the cannibal scene in the movie, the first half being drums and exotic vocals. The second half, however, is the Straussian waltz for when the prisoners are swinging in the metal cages. It seems out of place, but also fitting for the movie that it's in.

Tia Dalma - This track is eery and weird,

Two Hornpipes (Tortuga) - This is personally my favorite piece, very lively and fun, and also slightly out of place in the rest of the soundtrack.

A Family Affair - This is the music for when Will is on the Flying Dutchman.

Wheel of Fortune - This music is the most swashbuckling so far, with the old action theme as well as a new one.

You Look Good Jack - More action music, not very interesting, except for the last bit where there is a rehash of Swords Crossed done with electrical instruments.

Hello Beastie - This is basically all the music from the last part of the movie, rather miscellaneous, but very good. It's very emotional, and if you've seen the movie, sure to bring up memories.

He’s a Pirate (Tiesto Remix) (Bonus) - This is the weirdest track of all. Someone took the last track from the first soundtrack, played it with electrical synthesizers, and put it in the background of a lot of drums. The result at first sounded just like noise. My question is: why?

Our Mutual Friend

Our Mutual Friend is another Dicken’s story that makes me wonder why the Brontës usually get the a hard time about being dark. Compared with Dickens, they’re sunshiney tales on level with Austen! What with the beatings and murders and drowning and nasty characters in just OMF, he could depress a Bingley. Were it not for the fact that Dickens likes happy endings (for his good characters at least; he is rather like Miss Prism in The Importance of Being Earnest), he would be swiftly forgotten.

OMF, though, is a wonderful story, in spite of its dark undertones. The point on which the whole plot hinges is the death of John Harmon, an estranged son who had just inherited a fortune and was on his way home, when he was found drowned. One aspect of his father’s will was that, to inherit the fortune, John Harmon had to marry one Bella Wilfer, a girl he had never met. John Harmon’s father’s right-hand-man inherits the fortune, and uses it wisely and kindly, taking in Bella because her hopes have been dashed. Bella is a selfish and mercenary girl who grows throughout the movie, mostly through her relationship with John Rokesmith and Lizzy Hexam. Lizzy Hexam is the daughter of the boatman who is suspected of having murdered John Harmon. The detective in the case, Mortimer Lightwood, and his friend, the lazy Eugene Wrayburn, investigate the Hexams, and Eugene falls for the pretty and good Lizzy. After her father dies, Lizzy moves to the city, where the even-more-entranced Eugene visits her often. The stories of Bella and Lizzy become increasingly more interesting and more tangled as the movie goes on, and reach a final and happy climax like all Dickens’ stories.

The acting is quite excellent, expecially on the part of the four main characters: Bella, Lizzy, Rokesmith, and Eugene; and the script is less dull than some BBC productions. The only downside is the length. Some movies can be long and worth it, but OMF suffers from an obsessive need to have every character and scene from the book, even if it makes certain parts dreadfully dull and easily skipped. The character of Mr. Venus could have been easily cut out, as well as that of the Lamleys, and just those two edits would have made it vastly more enjoyable. But if you can get past the dull parts, you will fall in love with the main characters, and find a pair of wonderful loves stories from my favorite of Dicken’s works.

Jane Austen Heroine quiz

<>I had to try the test, too. I am not too surprised at the results. Unlike Merry, I couldn't get my chart to post, though :(

You're Elinor Dashwood, the "sense" of Sense & Sensibility! You tend to hide your emotions, but you feel deeply. You also feel obligated to carry the burden of keeping everyone in your family under control.

Which Jane Austen heroine are you?

You scored as Catherine Morland. You're Catherine Morland of Northanger Abbey! Innocent and good-hearted, you love to read gothic novels, the elements of which find their way into your daydreams.

Catherine Morland 85% Elinor Dashwood 75% Emma Woodhouse 55% Anne Elliot 50% Fanny Price 45% Marianne Dashwood 30% Elizabeth Bennet 25% Which Jane Austen heroine are you? created with QuizFarm.com

Storytelling to tots

Every afternoon, when Emma Darcy goes down for a nap, Purring Piggy reads her picture books. When Purring Piggy is not around, the position of storyteller falls to me. I like reading aloud, but reading little children’s books can get a little wearisome, so, being a writer, I often prefer telling my own stories ad lib. It is a very different thing to tell a story to a two-year-old, though, than write a book for grownups, and I have learned some interesting lessons.

1. Let the child pick the topic for the story. While this may mean telling fifteen Bingley stories in a week, and wondering how on earth you can tell a story about a purple dress, it makes the child feel involved and interested in the story automatically.

2. Another way to make the child feel involved is to make them the hero of the story. This is the easiest story to tell, as well, for your supporting characters are ready-made in the form of siblings, toys, and pets.

3. When all else fails, go for the ludicrous. Toddlers don’t go well for character development; it confuses them. They like humor, and the pure ridiculous is the easiest. While you may think that a story that has Bingley being captured by pirates led by Captain Jack Sparrow, on his way to America on Horatio Hornblower’s ship to visit his friend John Adams, sounds utterly cheesy, I have evidence that at least one two-year-old loves that sort of story. When Emma Darcy was in her stage where she only wanted Bingley stories, a fair bunch of goofy ridiculousness was given her, which I am too embarrassed to name on a public blog, but which she found delightful.

4. Make facial expressions and act out your story. One of my best successes in storytelling came from a story I was telling about ED’s favorite dress. The description of the feelings of the dress while being tumbled in the dryer, combined with a little acting, produced giggles galore.

5. Never feel inadequate. However awful you may think your stories are, however embarrassing you would find it if someone was watching, if your listeners beg for more, nothing else really matters. There is nothing quite so enjoyable as seeing a child’s face light up at a story that you made up.

Five Things

The Headmistress will be happy to know that I haven't done this one yet!

5 Things in my Refrigerator:

1. Fresh salad and sweet peas from my daughters garden!
2. Mirin (we used it for the teriyaki sauce at the Samurai party)
3. 3 open bags of mozzerella cheese
4. Yellow zucchini
5. Ant poison to refill our traps


5 Things in my Closet:

1. Archery equipment
2. Birthday/Christmas gifts
3. Box of plastic squirt guns
4. Fire escape ladder
5. Candles and lighters

5 Things in my Purse:

1. Cinnamon Altoids
2. First aid kit
3. Arnica - stops bruising when folks get hurt
4. Wallet
5. Cell phone

5 Things in my Car:

1. Coupon books (Costco and Entertainment)
2. Wooden guns that my sons have made
3. Stroller (Behind the back seat)
4. A step stool for our guests so they can get in and out of our van!
5. Fire Extinguisher, but it needs to be recharged

Trollope's gifts

Anthony Trollope has two special gifts that make him worthy of remembering in the Victorian canon.

The first, which I think his most remarkable, is his ability to create believable women characters. Dickens can’t do it, Thackeray can’t do it, no male author that I can think of has accomplished it, but Trollope. It first became obvious when I was reading Doctor Thorne and realized that I liked the women better than the men, and mostly because I could completely understand them. Trollope understood the female psyche, perhaps better than some psychoanalysts, and not only did he understand them, he respected them. Most of the women in Trollope have better character than the men, even though they are never perfect. In Doctor Thorne, it is Frank, the hero, who goes astray and is chastised by Miss Dunstable, who understands men like Trollope understood women, while Mary remains constant and firm throughout. We end up liking Mary and Miss Dunstable more than Frank, feeling not that Mary was lucky to win the heart of such a noble man, but that Frank was incredibly lucky to have such excellent women around him. Many of Trollope’s books have women as the main characters, and he gives them as much time and thought as he does his men. Throughout Barchester Towers, while it is the men who seem to be in control, Trollope drolly shows how Mrs. Proudie and Mrs. Grantly have just as much control in their spheres, as the men do in theirs. Whenever Trollope delves into the thoughts of his women, I smile to see how accurately he captures the way women think, and wonder how he could do it. In many ways, he is like Mrs. Gaskell, who gives her male characters time and thought and understanding, unlike Austen and Brontë, where the male characters are mainly there to propose to the heroine. And unlike Dickens, where the women are there mainly to be loved by men, Trollope uses a master’s touch, and gives both women and men a reason to read his books.

His second special talent is his ability to make the reader feel sorry for anyone. There are no villains in Trollope, no characters who seemed to have been born with evil thoughts and desires. There are many characters who do dastardly things, but Trollope realizes that there are few people who do things, even bad things, without reason. Outwardly, Mr. Slope of Barchester Towers seems heartless and blindly ambitious, but Trollope opens his mind up to the readers, and we see the principles that he thinks he follows, and the torment he feels when he feels hopelessly attracted to a married woman. In The Way We Live Now, Sir Felix Carbury seems hopelessly lost for most of the book, until we are ready to believe him a cookie-cutter villain, when he is saved from cliché by performing the one good deed of his life: trying to protect his sister’s honor. And what is more, it doesn’t seem out of character. This is an amazing gift of Trollope’s, being able to find sympathy for every person in the world. He doesn’t expect us to like them all, certainly not, but he expects us to understand and pity them in their wrongdoing. Once again, he shares some of this gift with Mrs. Gaskell.

These two, one with a gentle droll style, and the other with a sharp eye and a firm hand, unobtrusively carve a place for themselves in the hearts of the readers who are so lucky as to discover them.

Too much fun!

I can see 1. Grab the book nearest you, turn to page 18 and find line 4. Prelude to Foundation by Isaac Asimov "like him." Cleon looked thoughtfully discontented. "Did"

2. Stretch out your left arm as far as you can. What can you touch? A songbook.

3. What is the last thing you watched on TV? Er, nothing. However, the last movie I watched was "Victoria and Albert".

4. Without looking, guess what time it is. 11:00am

5. Now look at the clock. What is the actual time? 11:11am

6. With the exception of the computer, what can you hear? The Geosafari game, Emma Darcy talking to no one in particular.

7. When did you last step outside? What were you doing? Yesterday afternoon. I went to be in my garden, mostly to pick the onions which I needed for dinner.

8. Before you started this survey, what did you look at? Dominion Family.

9. What are you wearing? A grey dress with blue flowers.

10. Did you dream last night? Yes, unfortunately about Great Expectations.

11. When did you last laugh? Yesterday, reading this excerpt.

12. What is on the walls of the room you are in? My parents' marriage certificate, vows, and wedding portrait.

13. Seen anything weird lately? The use of "blogger" in Morrison's US history book. Also in John Ferling's "Adams vs. Jefferson", same context.

14. What do you think of this quiz? More fun than most quizzes!

15. What is the last film you saw? Cars.

16. If you became a multi-millionaire overnight, what would you buy? A huge house...and then I'd want to adopt!

17. Tell me something about you that I don’t know. I tend to like disliked people, in real life and in books.

18. If you could change one thing about the world, regardless of guilt and politics, what would you do? Make the Federal Government go back to only what is specifically specified in the Constitution. Go states' rights!

19. Do you like to dance? With my siblings, yes.

20. George Bush: Tries to do well, and is much put upon by liberals, but isn't great.

21. Imagine your first child is a girl. I'd name her Gwendolyn Irene.

22. Imagine your first child is a boy. What do you call him? Timothy Stephen.

23. Would you ever consider living abroad? Yes.

24. What would you want God to say to you when you reach the pearly gate? "You fought the good fight"

25. 3 people who must also do this quiz in their blog: Whoever wants to

Alphabet of triviality

A - Accent: American
B - Breakfast Item: Bagels
C - Chore you hate: Vacuuming
D - Dad's Name: Clankeeper
E - Essential everyday item: Computer
F - Flavor ice cream: Vanilla
G - Gold or Silver?: Silver
H - Happy Place: In a soft chair (with a cup of tea, a book, both, etc.)
I - Insomnia: No.
J - Job - Love or want to leave: I guess my job is student, and I certainly love that!
K - Kids: Er, no. ;-)
L - Living arrangements: Two story house
M - Mom's birthplace: New York
N - Number of houses you've lived in: Two.
O - Overnight hospital stays: None.
P - Phobia: Jellyfish, octopi, and squid.
Q - Question: Why do I feel the need to write?
R - Religious Affiliation: Church of Christ.
S - Siblings: Four brothers, two sisters.
T - Time you wake up: 10:00am, every morning but Sunday.
U - Unnatural hair colors you've had: None.
V - Vegetable you refuse to eat: None.
W - Worst habit: Talking too much.
X - X-rays you've had: Dental and one ankle.
Y - Yummy: Anything with pasta or potatoes, fruit smoothies, English tea with milk, salad.
Z - Zealous about?: God!

Leon or Lion?

I walked out of my room this morning and up the stairs to be confronted with this situation. In our house, when we read a new book, we all pick which character we would like to be from it. There was a certain beloved series of which Iceman had only read the two books, and made his character choice from them, and having listened to the third book on audio, started to get upset.

Iceman: (near tears) But they don't even know who she is!
Me: What's going on?
Iceman: They want Emma Darcy to be Llyan, when I wanted to be Llyan!
Me: But what do you mean, they don't know who she is?
Iceman: Aragorn calls her Lion, when she's Leon! How can they pick her if
they don't even know her name!
Me: Iceman, we know who Llyan is; we've read the series many times before.
Llyan is spelled L-L-Y-A-N, which could be pronounced Leon or Lion. Just because the person who read your book-on-tape pronounced it one way does not make him right.
Iceman: (no longer emotional) Oh. Never mind.

A Civil Contract

A Civil Contract, by Georgette Heyer, is a one-of-a-kind book. It has amazing coincidences without ever seeming contrived. There is not a single character that merely serves the plot, nor one that is there only for comic relief. The story is realistic, but original. The writing is clear and descriptive, yet conveying a message as deep and as profound as those which come in more elaborate packages of prose. The dialogue feels real, and the characters’ emotions are complex.

Heyer writes of a situation that was common in the Regency timeperiod where she sets her story: a marriage of convenience. Adam Deveril is a viscount’s son who inherits a massive amount of debt. Jenny Chawley is the daughter of a millionare who now wants his daughter to gain a title to go with her fortune. Adam loves another woman, but marries Jenny for her money. Neither of them love each other, but since they have commited themselves till death do them part, they decide to make the best of it. The rest of the book is the story of their marriage, and their growing love-story, with its trials and its triumphs.

One thing that really stands out is Jenny’s character. Adam at first finds her repulsive in comparison to the woman he loves, but through simply trying to please him, and offering no reproaches, no matter how bad his behavior, she becomes an indispensible part of his life. The book can have many different messages: a contrast between selflessness and selfishness; a contrast of agape and eros; an example of the power of a good example; an example of the power of a dutiful wife; an example of patience; etcetera. But no matter which of these you pick, the story is also a joy to read. It is tender, humorous, page-turning, and happy-ending (though not in the way you might expect).

A Civil Contract may not be worthy of being called a classic—its prose is simple—but it is one of the examples that show that light literature can be entertainment and not just a waste of time.

1776

Considering that this is July 4th, it is a perfect time to post about this, one of my favorite movies. It is the story of the Continental Congress and their debates on independence, concluding with the signing of the Declaration of Independence, and it has the "obnoxious and disliked" John Adams as the main character. It's funny, it's moving, it's surprisingly historically accurate (it uses many lines from historical letters and documents in the dialogue), and it has great songs. Unfortunately, it does suffer from some bawdy remarks by Franklin (they got his character a little too correct for comfort) and a great deal of taking the Lord's name in vain. But it is an excellent movie. Here are my favorite quotes:


Abigail: I never asked for more. After all, I am Mrs. John Adams and that's quite enough for one lifetime.
John Adams: Is it, Abby?
Abigail: Well, think of it, John, to be married to the man who is always the first in line to be hanged!

John Adams:
I do believe you've laid a curse on North America
A curse that we now here rehearse in Philadelphia
A second flood, a simple famine
Plagues of locusts everywhere
Or a cataclysmic earthquake
I'd accept with some despair
But, no, you sent us Congress.
Good God, sir, was that fair?

I say it with humility in Philadelphia
We're your responsibility in Philadelphia
If you don't want to see us hanging
From some far-off British hill
If you don't want the voice of independency forever still
Then God, sir, get thee to it
For Congress never will

They may sit here for years and years in Philadelphia.
These indecisive grenadiers of Philadelphia.
They can't agree on what is right and wrong
Or what is good or bad; I'm convinced
The only purpose this Congress ever had
Was to gather here specifically
To drive John Adams mad!

Dr. Benjamin Franklin: Please Mr. Dickinson, but must you start banging? How is a man to sleep?
[laughter from Congress]
John Dickinson: Forgive me, Dr. Franklin, but must YOU start speaking? How is a man to stay awake?
[More laughter]
John Dickinson: We'll promise to be quiet - I'm sure everyone prefers that you remained asleep.
Dr. Benjamin Franklin: If I'm to hear myself called an Englishman, sir, I assure you I prefer I'd remained asleep.

John Adams: I have come to the conclusion that one useless man is called a disgrace; that two are called a law firm, and that three or more become a Congress!

John Adams: Well, Franklin, where's that idiot Lee? Is he back yet? I don't see him.
Dr. Benjamin Franklin: Softly, John, your voice is hurting my foot.

[Adams has barged into Jefferson's room, accompanied by Franklin, to read the results of Jefferson's work on the Declaration of Independence]
John Adams: You've had a whole week, man. Is it done? Can I SEE IT?
[Jefferson indicates dozens of rejected drafts strewn crumpled about his floor]
John Adams: Do you mean to say that it is NOT YET FINISHED?
Thomas Jefferson: No sir. I mean to say that it is not yet begun.
John Adams: (stands in shock) A whole week! The entire earth was created in a week!
Thomas Jefferson: Someday, you must tell me how you did it.
John Adams: [regards him for a moment] Disgusting.

Dr. Benjamin Franklin: Treason is a charge invented by winners as an excuse for hanging the losers.
John Adams: [scoffs] I have more to do than stand here and listen to you quote yourself.
Dr. Benjamin Franklin: [protests] Oh John, that was a new one!

John Adams: This is a revolution, blast it! We're going to have to offend SOMEbody!

[as they stand on the sidewalk below Jefferson's apartment]
Dr. Benjamin Franklin: Don't worry, John. The history books will clean it up.
John Adams: It doesn't matter. I won't be in the history books anyway, only you. Franklin did this and Franklin did that and Franklin did some other thing. Franklin smote the ground and out sprang George Washington, fully grown and on his horse. Franklin then electrified him with his miraculous lightning rod and the three of them- Franklin, Washington, and the horse- conducted the entire revolution by themselves.
[pause while Franklin ponders]
Dr. Benjamin Franklin: I like it.

Dickinson: Are you saying that we publish a paper saying that an illegal rebellion is in fact legal?
Dr. Benjamin Franklin: Oh, Mr. Dickinson, I’m surprised at you. You must know that a rebellion is always legal in the first person, such as "our rebellion." It is only in the third person - "their rebellion" - that it becomes illegal.

Hancock: Step right up to sign it, gentlemen. Don't miss your chance to commit treason.
(laughter from Congress)
Franklin: I’ve got this right: this paper is our passport to the gallows. Nevertheless, if we do not hang together, we most assuredly hang separately.
(laughter from Congress)
Hancock: Excuse me gentlemen if I don't join in the merriment, but if we are arrested now, MY name is still the only one ON THE THING!

John Adams: Now you'll write it, Mr. J.
Thomas Jefferson: Who will make me, Mr. A?
John Adams: I.
Thomas Jefferson: You?
John Adams: Yes!
[Jefferson steps up, towering over Adams, and looks down at him]
Thomas Jefferson: How?
John Adams: [tapping Jefferson’s chest with the pen] By physical force, if necessary.

John Adams: [speaking of Congress] Why can’t they make up their minds? With one hand they can raise an army, dispatch one of their own to lead it, and cheer the news from Bunker Hill; while with the other they wave the olive branch, begging the king for a happy and permanent rebellion. Fat George has declared us in rebellion! Why can't they?

Richard Henry Lee: You've come to the one colony that can get job done: Virginia. The land that gave us our glorious commander in chief, George Washington, will now give the congress its proposal on independence. Where Virginia goes the south is bound to follow. And where the south goes, the middle colonies go! Gentlemen, a salute to Virginia, the mother of American independence!
John Adams: Incredible. We're free and he hasn't even left yet.

Dr. Benjamin Franklin: Tell me, Mr. Wilson, when you were a judge, how in hell did you ever make a decision?
James Wilson: The decisions I made were based on legality and precedent. But there is no legality here, and certainly no precedent.
Dr. Benjamin Franklin: [losing his temper] Because, it's a new idea, you CLOT! We'll be making our own precedent!

John Adams: Mark me, Franklin... if we give in on this issue [slavery], posterity will never forgive us.
Dr. Benjamin Franklin: That's probably true, but we won't hear a thing, we'll be long gone. Besides, what would posterity think we were? Demi-gods? We're men, no more no less, trying to get a nation started against greater odds than a more generous God would have allowed. First things first, John. Independence; America. If we don't secure that, what difference will the rest make?

John Dickinson: Fortunately, the people maintain a higher regard for their mother country.
Dr. Benjamin Franklin: Higher, certainly, than she feels for them. Never was such a valuable possession so stupidly and recklessly managed, than this entire continent by the British crown. Our industry discouraged, our resources pillaged... first of all our very character stifled. We've spawned a new race here, Mr. Dickinson. Rougher, simpler; more violent, more enterprising; less refined. We're a new nationality. We require a new nation.

John Dickinson: Mr. Jefferson, Mr. Lee, Mr. Hopkins, Dr. Franklin, why have you joined this... incendiary little man, this Boston radical? This demagogue, this MADMAN?
John Adams: Are you calling me a madman, you, you... you FRIBBLE!
Dr. Benjamin Franklin: Easy John.
John Adams: You cool, considerate men. You hang to the rear on every issue so that if we should go under, you'll still remain afloat!
John Dickinson: Are you calling me a coward?
John Adams: Yes... coward!
John Dickinson: Madman!
John Adams: Landlord!
John Dickinson: LAWYER!
[a brawl breaks out]

Dr. Benjamin Franklin: Those who would give up some of their liberty in order to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.

John Adams: Franklin, where have you been?
Dr. Benjamin Franklin: Right here, John, being preserved for posterity. Do you like it?
[John walks around to look at the painting]
John Adams: It stinks.
Dr. Benjamin Franklin: As ever, the soul of tact.
John Adams: Well, the man's no Botticelli.
Dr. Benjamin Franklin: And the subject's no Venus.

Dickinson: Pennsylvania moves, as ever, that the subject of independence be postponed indefinitely.
Wilson: I second the motion.
Hancock: Judge Wilson, in your eagerness to be loved you seem to have forgotten that Pennsylvania CANNOT SECOND ITS OWN MOTION!

John Adams: [alone in the Chamber of Congress]
Is anybody there? Does anybody care?
Does anybody see what I see?
They want to me to quit; they say
“John, give up the fight”
Still to England I say
Good night, forever, good night!
For I have crossed the Rubicon
Let the bridge be burned behind me
Come what may, come what may

The croakers all say we'll rue the day
There'll be hell to pay in fiery purgatory
Through all the gloom, through all the gloom
I see the rays of ravishing light and glory!
Is anybody there? Does anybody care?
Does anybody see what I see?

I see fireworks! I see the pageant and
Pomp and parade
I hear the bells ringing out
I hear the cannons roar
I see Americans - all Americans
Free forever more
Is anybody there? Does anybody care?
Does anybody see what I see?

Books read in June

Clouds of Witness by Dorothy Sayers
I liked this one quite as much as the first.

A Room With a View by E. M. Forster

92 Stories by James Thurber

Unnatural Death by Dorothy Sayers
This one I did not like, other than the idea that once a murderer is suspected, he has already failed.

The Coverly Papers by Addison and Steele

Cranford by Elizabeth Gaskell
This is supposed to be a favorite among Gaskellites, but I had an incredibly hard time finishing even this very short book. I just did not like it at all.

Thus Was Adonis Murdered by Sarah Caudwell

The Mother Tongue by Bill Bryson
Hilarious book about the English language.

Dr. Thorne by Anthony Trollope
This is not usually a favorite among Trollopians, and the predictability is probably why, but I liked it. Miss Dunstable is a talented creation, and I loved her!

Northpointe Chalet by Debra White Smith
This was a modern Christian adaptation of Northanger Abbey. She got Catherine's character to a T, but Henry's was turned into a Edmund Bertram wannabe, so it wasn't very enjoyable.

Elements of Grammar by Margaret Shertzer

Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons
Deliciously funny, but the movie was just as good.

John Adams by David McCullough

The Life of Charlotte Brontë by Elizabeth Gaskell

Central Park by Debra White Smith
This was a modern Christian adaptation of Mansfield Park, and I was pleasantly surprised. The original was my least favorite Austen because I had a hard time sympathizing with the characters, but this adaptation made me feel for them like I never thought it would.

Lieutenant Hornblower (reread) by C. S. Forester

When God Writes Your Love Story by Eric and Leslie Ludy

Following the Equator by Mark Twain
My favorite geography book so far.

Crazy English by Richard Lederer

1066 and All That by W. C. Sellar and R. J. Yeatman
For anyone who is familiar with British history, this comedy is an absolute must-read. Written for the British, it makes fun of the least little details, so the more knowledge you have, the more enjoyment you will receive.

Why watch Hornblower when you can get this?

From this site:

The Horatio Hornblower Series
Ultra-Condensed by Samuel Stoddard

Ioan Gruffudd as Horatio Hornblower:

I have strength of character and dignified restraint. Watch me square my jaw.

Robert Lindsay as Captain Pellew:

As usual, Mr. Hornblower, you have shown yourself to be a hero by your patient longsuffering and proper British accent. Carry on.

THE END

(Also look at its companion site, very hilarious)