Old Books: Hiawatha

Although she passed away before I was born, I have so many wonderful "memories" of my Grama Mary.  My mother has always told my sister and me many stories about her.  We are much like her, in fact.  We have a curiosity about ghosts and all things psychic.  We love animals and flowers.  We believe that family is very important.  In sixth grade English class I was asked to write a letter to a "famous" person I wish I could have met;  I chose to write to my Grama Mary.

When my mom was a little girl, she and her mother sometimes visited the childhood home of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow(1807 - 1882). For some reason, when my mother told me this story, I imagined the house in the woods, on a lake, sort of like Walden's small house in Concord/Lincoln, Massachusetts, which I visited several years ago with my husband. The house, is actually, on Congress Street in Portland, a busy street in a busy city. A city, in fact, that during Longfellow's life, was still part of Massachusetts, and not yet Maine.


My parents recently acquired an antique copy of Longfellow's lyric poem, Hiawatha (original publish date:  1855) to add to my newly began old book collection.   This copy, printed in 1898, is amazing.  It appears to be hand bound and has a leather cover.  The pages are ragged on the sides and all of the pages are in tact.  There are illustrations on some pages that appear to have been stamped on.   I am so excited to have this new memory of my Grama Mary attached to my new/old book.

Batman Tragedy.

Tragedy.

News corporations across the world are reporting terrible news today.  A deranged man, dressed in costume, murdered at least twelve people at a midnight showing of one of my favorite series, Batman.    I can not believe this happened.  The reports say he was a normal, quiet Ph D student and that he was "easy going."  Why, then, did he bust into a movie theatre late at night killing people?  

We will probably never really know.

Some calls for ending the use of video games and violent movies have started to become prevalent on social media and in the news.  It is unfortunate that this is the case; of course video games are too violent and I make a point to not play certain games, and I refuse to watch movies that are extraordinarily violent.  That said, Batman's whole "M.O." is that he is a hero in disguise.   When he was a child, his parents were murdered in front of him by criminals, causing him to pledge to protect those who can not help themselves.   He was a superhero who fought terrorism and fear.  His government is corrupt, his city is under siege.  Even with the temptations of his wealthy lifestyle, all he wishes to do is make his small world a better place for those around him.  He gives up love and marriage, he gives up his sleep and risks his life.   He often does not kill those evil-doers around him, out of compassion.  Does that make him weak? Or even more so a hero?

The criminals in the Batman series are hyperboles of real criminals in our lives, and are often conflicted in their deeds.  Take Poison Ivy, as an example; she is my favorite Batman villain.  As an environmentalist, she fights for plants and animals in her life; she believes in her cause so greatly, she goes to such great lengths that she becomes an eco-terrorist.   Totally conflicted.  

Let's not blame Batman for this one.

Let's blame our socially accepted purchase of guns by any individual without education about their use, or training for their use (i.e., don't shoot your friends and neighbors).  Let's blame the man who completed the murders.  Let's blame our hatred for those things that are different.  Let's blame society for not helping a man who one day wakes up and decides to kill many innocent people.

Let's blame... something other than a caped crusader who wants to make his world a better place.

My thoughts are with the murderer's family, and the families of those who were murdered or hurt.   In the words of the wonderful George Takei, "... As a community of dreamers, we mourn this terrible tragedy and this senseless taking of innocent life."  

Moment of Happiness: Good vs Evil

Each morning when I come to work, I read a Moment of Happiness email from The Happiness Project.  Some days, like today, the quotes are so perfect and wonderful I can't help but share.  Today's, about the excitement of real "good" struck me.  It's true, isn't it?  In real life when things are "good" we are so happy and can handle the day to day.  In books, movies, and even some parts of real-life, though, we become absorbed with the evil.  The plot line of good vs. evil is so embedded in everything we know.  Yesterday I went to the beach for a few hours with some friends; in my bug-bitten, sunburned state I spent much of the rest of the 4th watching movies with my huz, and two situations arose in these movies that are perfectly reminiscent of those quote:

I honestly believe we are innately good, and that we sometimes make poor choices.  Of course, there are some jerks out there who make more poor choices than the rest of us, but for some part even those who make mistakes do so with some type of good intention.  I thought of this while watching "Glory" for a few minutes with my husband yesterday afternoon.  When I was a girl my honors US History teacher shared this movie with us, and it has always stuck with me.  Descriptions of the movie tell us it is about a white man dealing with prejudices of his troops during the Civil War.  It is much more than that, though.  It is about one man's struggle with making decisions about what is right, what is "good."  In one scene he has to make a decision about whether to flog a deserter.  He makes the wrong decision, but realizes it immediately and takes action to make it right.  Does his decision, then, make him "evil"?  Probably not, but it was certainly "exciting" entertainment for a movie.  We also watched a quirky indie movie called "The Perfect Family" yesterday.  In this movie, a mom's internal struggle with accepting her family for who they are, and her desire to be a perfect Catholic woman are witnessed.  She finds conflicts with her imagined reality, and her real reality.   Her actions to become a more religious, "perfect" mom almost destroy her family.
 
I wonder sometimes if because we have so many of these exciting, imagined examples in our lives, if it causes people to make more bad decisions.  I mean, since we watch so many movies, so many TV shows, read so many books... that are so exciting due to the nature of their "evil" characters conflicting with the "good characters," do some of us attempt those evil behaviors in order to gain more excitement in our lives?  And since, in the movies, the Nintendo effect takes over and we can start over without many repercussions from those actions, is there less understanding about consequences?
 
So, I'll leave you with this for today:  Try to make today a "good" day.  Let the that excitement take over, and let today be new, marvelous and intoxicating. 
 

#96: Daughter of Blood, Anne Bishop (again)

Gasp!

I while ago, I wrote about the book "Daughter of Blood" by Anne Bishop.  I wrote about how I wanted to love it and compared it slightly to Harry Potter - A comment for which I offended a reader.

Well, reader, here is an article you might enjoy: http://www.npr.org/2012/07/02/155708777/unicorns-and-witches-and-wild-mood-swings-oh-my.  An NPR writer loves this series.  She almost had me convinced to read the second and third of the series until she reminded me of the male characters.  Spit, ugh, gross.  They are so weak and childish it still makes me angry!

PSA