Haunted Maine
Adult paranormal
It's not surprising that on those summer nights when we are able
to sit around a campfire, watching the sparks fly upwards, trying to
stay out of the way of the smoke, toasting marshmellows and devouring
s'mores, scary stories feature prominently among our methods of
entertainment. Much of the year our state can be downright eerie.
How about those winter months when darkness falls not long after the
children ride home on bright yellow school buses? How about those
nor'easters when wind whips ominously abound our abodes and all it
takes to lose power is a breaking tree limb? How about the early
mornings when mists rise up from the river, cloaking trees and fields
in ghostly swirling whiteness?
How about this story? It's about a dreaded appirition revealed
from time to time to Casco Bay fishermen: an old time wooden ship so
rotten its skeleton could be seen somehow not taking on water and
going down as the laws of science would predict, somehow avoiding all
obstacles despite lack of visible crew. "What is the dead ship's
purpose, it's mission?," Charles Stansfield Jr. asks in his Haunted
Maine: Ghosts and Strange Phenomena in the Pine Tree State. "Why
does this phantom ship appear out on the water only just before a
death onshore? Is the dreaded dead ship bringing the Angel of Death
across the waters? Or is she arriving just in time to ferry the
departing spirits of the dead on their journey to another world?..."
The Dead Ship of Harpswell is one of about eighty supernatural
spooky stories Stansfield narrates so eerily well. Among other
haunting tales you will learn about:
*the cursed tombstone of judge Jonathan Buck. He sentenced an alleged
witch to death. Some versions of the story have them carrying on an
adulterous relationship. The imprint of a foot and leg (which I have
seen) can not be removed from the obelisk which rises over the judge's
mortal remains;
*a UFO encounter that was not revealed for half a century. In the
50's two teens were where they weren't supposed to be (the local
lovers' lane). They were doing what they weren't supposed to be doing
(use your imagination) when they experienced a very intimate alien
encounter. By the time they let the rest of the world on their secret
anyone who could have punished them had already passed;
*a house in North Edgecomb that is said to be the eternal stomping
grounds of Marie Antoinette. How a French queen, killed hundreds of
years ago by Revolutionaries, would end up in a place she'd never set
foot in in life is quite the story...one you'll have to read the book
to learn;
*a British sea captain, buried on his native turf who traveled 3,000
miles to haunt a house in Falmouth. He wanted a leg that had been
amputated to save his life. He wasn't going home without it. Only a
house had been built right over it;
*a desert in Maine surrounded by the forest and pasture land more
usual in the state. Rumor has it that a farmer on his deathbed
instructed his second wife to give his property to his son by his
first marriage. When she gave it to someone else his ghost played the
vengeance will be mine card
I would highly recommend Haunted Maine to anyone who needs to
build up a campfire story repetoire or who simply enjoys good ghost
stories.
My only disappoint with this elagently eerie book is that its
author seems to share the nearly universal bias of equating Maine with
coast, dwelling far to much on that prime real estate and skimming
over the rest of the state. Stories from the interior constituting
just one of five chapters seems to me a bit lopsided.
On a personal note, some of my sweetest memories involve Amber's great
fondness for scary stories. When she was really young the children
and I attended our church's retreat center whenever possible. One day
we found children's books of ghost stories in the library of that
stately mansion. My children and their friends would cuddle like
kittens around a mother cat while I read those stories out loud. Back
to home Amber and I beguiled many lovely rainy afternoons and drowsy
evenings as I read her volumes from the Goosebumps and Fright Time
series (so often the covers nearly fell off) and the novels of Maine's
own Stephen King. When we read the choose-your-own-endings books
neither of us wanted to make the decisions on which page to turn to
next. :) Those were the days! Now Amber is writing her very own
scary novel. I couldn't be more proud of her.
A great big shout out goes out to all scary story writers who transfix
us with manageable and pleasant horror.
Julia Emily Hathaway
Sent from my iPod
Monday, June 29, 2015
Our Kids
Our Kids
Adult Nonfiction
Saturday I was in Bangor to march in the annual Pride Parade.
While we were being placed in marching formation and then after the
parade while I looked at the booths of organizations I was approached
by people with clipboards asking me to sign a petition for raising the
minimum wage which is not enough to sustain life and health,
especially if children are in the picture. One woman spoke especially
poignantly. She, herself, as a teacher, earned plenty enough.
However, her choice of vocation gave her intimate knowledge of the
lives of children in families with at least one working parent who
were crushed by the burden of family poverty. We talked about this
economic brutality. I reached into my backpack. Did I have a book
for her...
...and for you, too, dear Reader. I will assume that if you
choose my blog you care about children's futures. Robert Putnam,
author of Bowling Alone, which is also a must read, gives us dire
warnings about the future in his Our Kids: The American Dream in
Crisis. Not only are the childhoods of the poor increasingly
precarious, but their futures and those of their unborn progeny are
compromised.
We have this Horatio Alger American Dream belief, epitomized by
the once popular song that stated that every little boy [sic] can grow
up to be president of the United States. At some points in our
nation's history it was a fairly feasible (although not universal)
expectation that kids from all family backgrounds could get good
educations and, if not the Oval Office, decent careers through hard
work and perseverance. At other times, including the one we live in,
this adage has been a myth used to blame those in need of help. Just
look at Maine Governer Paul LePage's obsession with eliminating
welfare cheating and keeping "able bodied" adults from getting
Medicaid rather that seeking to ameliorate the conditions under which
there is so much need for both.
Putnam, a child of the '50s, grew up in Port Clinton, Ohio.
"Though small and not very diverse racially, Port Clinton in the 1950s
was in all other respects a remarkably representitive microcosm of
America demigraphically, economically, socially, educationally, and
even politically." In his youth neighborhoods and schools were mixed
class wise, income inequity was low, civic engagement was high, and
the socioeconomic ladder was not out of reach for the relatively
disadvantaged. Not surprisingly, most of his classmates who graduated
high school in 1959 went on to prosper, many doing better than
previous generations.
Today's Port Clinton is quite the contrast. In the intervening
years the decently paying manufacturing jobs disappeared for the most
part. At the same time social solidarity was dying out and the ultra
rich were discovering the natural beauty of the region and snapping up
their little bits of lakeside paradise. Increasing residential
segregation (as in adjoining census tracts with child poverty rates of
1% and 51%) has led to seperate neighborhoods and schools. A child
from a disadvantaged family with the desire to improve his/her lot
would have much more of an uphill struggle.
In Our Kids Putnam explores the complex ways in which in
contemporary America impoverished childhoods lead to vastly diminished
opportunities. (I would do a grave disservice to his work if I tried
to cite a few). In doing so he undercuts the beliefs of up-by-the
bootstraps cherished by conservatives like the aforementioned Mr.
LePage. He combines meticulous national research with candid
narratives in a way that makes the book eminantly readable. I would
recommend it to all people who work with children and families in any
capacity and elected and appointed officials at all levels. In
particular I would challenge conservatives to try to reconcile it with
their cherished Horatio Alger beliefs.
On a personal note, the parade was awesome. The marchers and viewers
were jubilant, not surprising on the day after the Supreme Court's
landmark ruling in favor of marriage equality. In addition to floats
and people there were plenty of dogs (all agreeably sharing space) and
even a ragdoll rescue cat (I kid you not) in a rainbow tulle dress
riding regally in a pillow topped wagon (I could not make this up)
directly behind a St. Bernard who probably outweighs me clad in a
purple tutu. Even the weather, sunny with a breeze, could not have
been more perfect. It was a privilege to have been invited to march.
Great big shout outs go out to the many people who worked so hard to
attain marriage equality, those who strive to give throw away animals
like the ragdoll cat decent lives, and those who write about and fight
for the futures of children living in poverty and precariousness.
Have you ever noticed that the people who argue against raising
the minimum wage are those who don't have to try to survive on it?
Julia Emily Hathaway
Sent from my iPod
Adult Nonfiction
Saturday I was in Bangor to march in the annual Pride Parade.
While we were being placed in marching formation and then after the
parade while I looked at the booths of organizations I was approached
by people with clipboards asking me to sign a petition for raising the
minimum wage which is not enough to sustain life and health,
especially if children are in the picture. One woman spoke especially
poignantly. She, herself, as a teacher, earned plenty enough.
However, her choice of vocation gave her intimate knowledge of the
lives of children in families with at least one working parent who
were crushed by the burden of family poverty. We talked about this
economic brutality. I reached into my backpack. Did I have a book
for her...
...and for you, too, dear Reader. I will assume that if you
choose my blog you care about children's futures. Robert Putnam,
author of Bowling Alone, which is also a must read, gives us dire
warnings about the future in his Our Kids: The American Dream in
Crisis. Not only are the childhoods of the poor increasingly
precarious, but their futures and those of their unborn progeny are
compromised.
We have this Horatio Alger American Dream belief, epitomized by
the once popular song that stated that every little boy [sic] can grow
up to be president of the United States. At some points in our
nation's history it was a fairly feasible (although not universal)
expectation that kids from all family backgrounds could get good
educations and, if not the Oval Office, decent careers through hard
work and perseverance. At other times, including the one we live in,
this adage has been a myth used to blame those in need of help. Just
look at Maine Governer Paul LePage's obsession with eliminating
welfare cheating and keeping "able bodied" adults from getting
Medicaid rather that seeking to ameliorate the conditions under which
there is so much need for both.
Putnam, a child of the '50s, grew up in Port Clinton, Ohio.
"Though small and not very diverse racially, Port Clinton in the 1950s
was in all other respects a remarkably representitive microcosm of
America demigraphically, economically, socially, educationally, and
even politically." In his youth neighborhoods and schools were mixed
class wise, income inequity was low, civic engagement was high, and
the socioeconomic ladder was not out of reach for the relatively
disadvantaged. Not surprisingly, most of his classmates who graduated
high school in 1959 went on to prosper, many doing better than
previous generations.
Today's Port Clinton is quite the contrast. In the intervening
years the decently paying manufacturing jobs disappeared for the most
part. At the same time social solidarity was dying out and the ultra
rich were discovering the natural beauty of the region and snapping up
their little bits of lakeside paradise. Increasing residential
segregation (as in adjoining census tracts with child poverty rates of
1% and 51%) has led to seperate neighborhoods and schools. A child
from a disadvantaged family with the desire to improve his/her lot
would have much more of an uphill struggle.
In Our Kids Putnam explores the complex ways in which in
contemporary America impoverished childhoods lead to vastly diminished
opportunities. (I would do a grave disservice to his work if I tried
to cite a few). In doing so he undercuts the beliefs of up-by-the
bootstraps cherished by conservatives like the aforementioned Mr.
LePage. He combines meticulous national research with candid
narratives in a way that makes the book eminantly readable. I would
recommend it to all people who work with children and families in any
capacity and elected and appointed officials at all levels. In
particular I would challenge conservatives to try to reconcile it with
their cherished Horatio Alger beliefs.
On a personal note, the parade was awesome. The marchers and viewers
were jubilant, not surprising on the day after the Supreme Court's
landmark ruling in favor of marriage equality. In addition to floats
and people there were plenty of dogs (all agreeably sharing space) and
even a ragdoll rescue cat (I kid you not) in a rainbow tulle dress
riding regally in a pillow topped wagon (I could not make this up)
directly behind a St. Bernard who probably outweighs me clad in a
purple tutu. Even the weather, sunny with a breeze, could not have
been more perfect. It was a privilege to have been invited to march.
Great big shout outs go out to the many people who worked so hard to
attain marriage equality, those who strive to give throw away animals
like the ragdoll cat decent lives, and those who write about and fight
for the futures of children living in poverty and precariousness.
Have you ever noticed that the people who argue against raising
the minimum wage are those who don't have to try to survive on it?
Julia Emily Hathaway
Sent from my iPod
Friday, June 26, 2015
The Haunting of Sunshine Girl
The Haunting of Sunshine Girl
YA novel
It had been raining all day, duplicating the ambiance of the
suspense story I was unable to put down. On the pages the weather
escalated into a thunder storm. Suddenly in real life lightning
flashed across the sky while there was a crash like a bomb going off.
I will have to admit to being startled by that bit of life imitating
art.
Sunshine, 16, narrator of Paige McKenzie's The Haunting of
Sunshine Girl, has lived in Austin, Texas all her life. When her
mother, Kat, gets a job offer in Washington (the state) they move.
Sunshine finds the gloomy atmosphere decidedly creepy even before she
enters the house her mom rented off Craig's list, a house that smells
musty and moldy. Her first night she hears footsteps and the giggles
of an unseen child.
Sunshine becomes convinced that the house is haunted by the
ghost of a child. At home she is chilled to the bone. Things that
could not logically do so get wet. Her belongings are constantly
moved. In one eerie scene her taxidermied owl flies in circles
through the air.
Logical minded Kat goes through the most frightening episodes
oblivious to anything supernatural going on around her. She can't
even see photographic or video evidence. She's convinced Sunshine is
simply unhappy so far away from her lifetime home. Best friend Ashley
becomes impatient when Sunshine tries to tell her about her
predicament. Sunshine feels not only haunted but abandoned. Why
can't anyone else perceive her ghost...
...if that's all it is. Pages interspersed of unknown origin
point to a more malignant entity.
The Haunting of Sunshine Girl is a great read for suspense
loving young adults and adult adults...
...except maybe not in the middle of a lightning storm. :)
On a personal note, I am cleaning my younger daughter's room which, in
the year since she's lived there, has gained a hurricane aftermath
ambiance. I want it nice for her to stay in when she comes home to
visit. It will also be a reading/writing/crafts room for me. It's
haunted in a different way than the house in the book. So many of the
objects I touch are conduits to beautful memories. Sigh.
A great big shout goes out to Katie who is rocking her post college
dream job. You go, Girl.
Julia Emily Hathaway
Sent from my iPod
YA novel
It had been raining all day, duplicating the ambiance of the
suspense story I was unable to put down. On the pages the weather
escalated into a thunder storm. Suddenly in real life lightning
flashed across the sky while there was a crash like a bomb going off.
I will have to admit to being startled by that bit of life imitating
art.
Sunshine, 16, narrator of Paige McKenzie's The Haunting of
Sunshine Girl, has lived in Austin, Texas all her life. When her
mother, Kat, gets a job offer in Washington (the state) they move.
Sunshine finds the gloomy atmosphere decidedly creepy even before she
enters the house her mom rented off Craig's list, a house that smells
musty and moldy. Her first night she hears footsteps and the giggles
of an unseen child.
Sunshine becomes convinced that the house is haunted by the
ghost of a child. At home she is chilled to the bone. Things that
could not logically do so get wet. Her belongings are constantly
moved. In one eerie scene her taxidermied owl flies in circles
through the air.
Logical minded Kat goes through the most frightening episodes
oblivious to anything supernatural going on around her. She can't
even see photographic or video evidence. She's convinced Sunshine is
simply unhappy so far away from her lifetime home. Best friend Ashley
becomes impatient when Sunshine tries to tell her about her
predicament. Sunshine feels not only haunted but abandoned. Why
can't anyone else perceive her ghost...
...if that's all it is. Pages interspersed of unknown origin
point to a more malignant entity.
The Haunting of Sunshine Girl is a great read for suspense
loving young adults and adult adults...
...except maybe not in the middle of a lightning storm. :)
On a personal note, I am cleaning my younger daughter's room which, in
the year since she's lived there, has gained a hurricane aftermath
ambiance. I want it nice for her to stay in when she comes home to
visit. It will also be a reading/writing/crafts room for me. It's
haunted in a different way than the house in the book. So many of the
objects I touch are conduits to beautful memories. Sigh.
A great big shout goes out to Katie who is rocking her post college
dream job. You go, Girl.
Julia Emily Hathaway
Sent from my iPod
Wild Things
Wild Things
Adult Nonfiction
Children's literature is often like Rodney Dangerfield. It gets
no respect. People especially are prone to seeing picture books as
sweet nothings. Anyone who has been a parent or a child can write one
without much effort. (In an alarming trend celebrities are doing just
that and drawing attention and resources from seriously good
literature by virtue of name recognition sales potential).
In Wild Things: Acts of Mischief in Children's Literature Betsy
Bird, Julie Danielson, and Peter D. Sieruta state, "We've long
wondered what causes so many adults--sophisticated, worldly, and even
downright cynical adults--to get sloppy and sentimental at the mere
mention of books for kids. It seems that for many, the topic conjures
up a lost world of gumdrops, rainbows, and fluffy little bunnies that
love you forever and like you for always. In an illustrated lecture
he once gave at the University of Utah, Theodor Geisel (aka Dr. Seuss)
referred to those as 'bunny bunny books' or 'the fuzzy mysterious
literature of the young'."
As anyone who has spent much time studying the full array of
children's lit can attest, even picture books for the youngest readers/
listeners are far from always fuzzy bunny warrens. Topics include the
Jewish experience in world war II, death, AIDS, being black in the Jim
Crow era, and poverty. Censors go after books ranging from In The
Night Kitchen with its nude protagonist to YA novels with gay narrators.
Wild Things is a comprehensive look at the books that defy
stereotypes and the authors and illustrators who created them. It
looks at how juvenile books have covered some quite contentious issues
and how some quite subversive bits--both verbal and visual--have
gotten past the censors. There are speculations on contemporary issues:
*Is there any value in the books kids love and critics hate?
*Are books by celebrities as harmless as they seem?
*Will there ever be another Harry Potter?...
There are also quite candid looks at the private lives of
authors and illustrators? In a stereotype that goes hand in glove
with the fuzzy bunny caricature these folks are assumed to have
private lives as blandly g rated and wholesome as their literary
output is alleged to be. You will learn that this is not always the
case.
I believe this book is a must read for librarians, teachers,
children's literature affeccianados, and authors and illustrators who
feel a call to produce books for the young and young at heart...
...especially if their fuzzy bunnies have vampire fangs.
On a personal note, Wednesday night was the Orono Public Library's
outdoor book sale and concert. It was fabulous. People really had a
fine time. Kids were free to run and play in the great outdoors. The
music was superb. Friends of the Public Library made money for
programs. People including yours truly stocked up for summer
reading. Folks loved my sparkly butterfly wings. Marketing, you
know. And at the end there were free cupcakes. Who could ask for more?
A great big shout out goes out to all the folks who worked hard to
bring this fabulous event to fruition.
Julia Emily Hathaway
Sent from my iPod
Adult Nonfiction
Children's literature is often like Rodney Dangerfield. It gets
no respect. People especially are prone to seeing picture books as
sweet nothings. Anyone who has been a parent or a child can write one
without much effort. (In an alarming trend celebrities are doing just
that and drawing attention and resources from seriously good
literature by virtue of name recognition sales potential).
In Wild Things: Acts of Mischief in Children's Literature Betsy
Bird, Julie Danielson, and Peter D. Sieruta state, "We've long
wondered what causes so many adults--sophisticated, worldly, and even
downright cynical adults--to get sloppy and sentimental at the mere
mention of books for kids. It seems that for many, the topic conjures
up a lost world of gumdrops, rainbows, and fluffy little bunnies that
love you forever and like you for always. In an illustrated lecture
he once gave at the University of Utah, Theodor Geisel (aka Dr. Seuss)
referred to those as 'bunny bunny books' or 'the fuzzy mysterious
literature of the young'."
As anyone who has spent much time studying the full array of
children's lit can attest, even picture books for the youngest readers/
listeners are far from always fuzzy bunny warrens. Topics include the
Jewish experience in world war II, death, AIDS, being black in the Jim
Crow era, and poverty. Censors go after books ranging from In The
Night Kitchen with its nude protagonist to YA novels with gay narrators.
Wild Things is a comprehensive look at the books that defy
stereotypes and the authors and illustrators who created them. It
looks at how juvenile books have covered some quite contentious issues
and how some quite subversive bits--both verbal and visual--have
gotten past the censors. There are speculations on contemporary issues:
*Is there any value in the books kids love and critics hate?
*Are books by celebrities as harmless as they seem?
*Will there ever be another Harry Potter?...
There are also quite candid looks at the private lives of
authors and illustrators? In a stereotype that goes hand in glove
with the fuzzy bunny caricature these folks are assumed to have
private lives as blandly g rated and wholesome as their literary
output is alleged to be. You will learn that this is not always the
case.
I believe this book is a must read for librarians, teachers,
children's literature affeccianados, and authors and illustrators who
feel a call to produce books for the young and young at heart...
...especially if their fuzzy bunnies have vampire fangs.
On a personal note, Wednesday night was the Orono Public Library's
outdoor book sale and concert. It was fabulous. People really had a
fine time. Kids were free to run and play in the great outdoors. The
music was superb. Friends of the Public Library made money for
programs. People including yours truly stocked up for summer
reading. Folks loved my sparkly butterfly wings. Marketing, you
know. And at the end there were free cupcakes. Who could ask for more?
A great big shout out goes out to all the folks who worked hard to
bring this fabulous event to fruition.
Julia Emily Hathaway
Sent from my iPod
Thursday, June 25, 2015
Essentialism
Essentialism
Adult nonfiction
The day after their daughter was born Greg McKeown visited his
wife in the hospital. She had given birth to a baby girl, their
daughter. Instead of being totally present in the moment, however, he
was torn between them and work communication and ended up leaving to
go to a client meeting, a decision he came to regret.
"As it turned out, exactly nothing came out of the client
meeting. But even if it had, I would have made a fool's bargain. In
trying to keep everyone happy I had sacrificed what mattered most.
On reflection I discovered this important lesson:
If you don't
prioritize your
life, someone
else will."
Fortunately for readers, this epiphany led McKeown to plunge
into the study of how people make personal and professional decisions
and whether there are better ways of making those constant choices.
His research culminated in Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of
Less.
Basically essentialism consists of less but better. In today's
world where we are bombarded with too many choices, technology has
amped up our sense of social judgement, and there is pressure to have
it all, it's easy to try to take on every challenge and opportunity,
even those we don't want.
McKeown shows how that is an exercise in futility. He compares
life to a cluttered clothes closet--a closet in which additions are
not balanced by thinning out. Even when a purge is attempted, things
that might be useful someday are kept. In the same way, people's
lives become cluttered with acquaintances, activities, and commitments.
McKeown says that we can only do a finite amount of things well
and with a sense of peace and well being. The trick is being
proactive, knowing our most important values, and alligning time and
effort expenditures with them. Most activities need to be pruned,
even perfectly good ones, in order to give adequate space to the best.
"...There is tremendous freedom in learning that we can
eliminate the nonessentials, that we are no longer controlled by other
people's agendas, and that we get to choose. With that invincible
power we can discover our highest point of contribution, not just to
our lives and careers, but to the world."
Pretty heady stuff, huh? And that leads to the one weakness of
the book. This kind of self actualization is only available to folks
with a certain amount of economic security. It's beyond the reach of
many people, not only in third world countries, but here in the United
States. If you're a single parent working retail or fast food, for
example, life can be a constant marathon of must dos.
Anyway if you can afford to be an essentialist McKeown gives a
lot of concrete advice on how to make this life-changing transition.
He also provides ideas on how to assert values and choices without
feeling guilty and deal with people who aren't happy campers when
you're no longer available 24/7/365.
If you feel stretched too thin, if there never is enough time,
if you can't enjoy the people and activities you truly love, and if
you have the luxury of being able to decide how you spend your time,
you will find Essentialism a very worthwhile read.
On a personal note, coincidentally, it was childbirth that made an
essentialist out of me. The day after 16 hours of labor and an
emergency c section I was able to hold the most amazing baby in the
world. I fell heads over heels in love to a depth I'd never felt
possible. My life focus sharpened with amazing clarity. I said to my
husband, "I don't want to leave her." Fortunately for me he said, "I
don't want you to."
I set up a home typing business and later switched over to free
lance writing to add to our household income. Amber gained two
siblings. I was able to fit my work in with family. Even in the more
busy periods I was able to enjoy and be present for my children and
take them everywhere from library story hours to DC peace marches. My
house sometimes looked like a hurricane hit it and cooking was
simple. But my life and heart were where my treasure was. Life was
good. I have 25 years of journals to prove it.
A great big shout out and eternal thanks go to the husband who agreed
with me. Over the years he's had to work very hard to provide and do
without a lot of niceties that two incomes could have provided. I'm
sure it wasn't easy.
Julia Emily Hathaway
Sent from my iPod
Adult nonfiction
The day after their daughter was born Greg McKeown visited his
wife in the hospital. She had given birth to a baby girl, their
daughter. Instead of being totally present in the moment, however, he
was torn between them and work communication and ended up leaving to
go to a client meeting, a decision he came to regret.
"As it turned out, exactly nothing came out of the client
meeting. But even if it had, I would have made a fool's bargain. In
trying to keep everyone happy I had sacrificed what mattered most.
On reflection I discovered this important lesson:
If you don't
prioritize your
life, someone
else will."
Fortunately for readers, this epiphany led McKeown to plunge
into the study of how people make personal and professional decisions
and whether there are better ways of making those constant choices.
His research culminated in Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of
Less.
Basically essentialism consists of less but better. In today's
world where we are bombarded with too many choices, technology has
amped up our sense of social judgement, and there is pressure to have
it all, it's easy to try to take on every challenge and opportunity,
even those we don't want.
McKeown shows how that is an exercise in futility. He compares
life to a cluttered clothes closet--a closet in which additions are
not balanced by thinning out. Even when a purge is attempted, things
that might be useful someday are kept. In the same way, people's
lives become cluttered with acquaintances, activities, and commitments.
McKeown says that we can only do a finite amount of things well
and with a sense of peace and well being. The trick is being
proactive, knowing our most important values, and alligning time and
effort expenditures with them. Most activities need to be pruned,
even perfectly good ones, in order to give adequate space to the best.
"...There is tremendous freedom in learning that we can
eliminate the nonessentials, that we are no longer controlled by other
people's agendas, and that we get to choose. With that invincible
power we can discover our highest point of contribution, not just to
our lives and careers, but to the world."
Pretty heady stuff, huh? And that leads to the one weakness of
the book. This kind of self actualization is only available to folks
with a certain amount of economic security. It's beyond the reach of
many people, not only in third world countries, but here in the United
States. If you're a single parent working retail or fast food, for
example, life can be a constant marathon of must dos.
Anyway if you can afford to be an essentialist McKeown gives a
lot of concrete advice on how to make this life-changing transition.
He also provides ideas on how to assert values and choices without
feeling guilty and deal with people who aren't happy campers when
you're no longer available 24/7/365.
If you feel stretched too thin, if there never is enough time,
if you can't enjoy the people and activities you truly love, and if
you have the luxury of being able to decide how you spend your time,
you will find Essentialism a very worthwhile read.
On a personal note, coincidentally, it was childbirth that made an
essentialist out of me. The day after 16 hours of labor and an
emergency c section I was able to hold the most amazing baby in the
world. I fell heads over heels in love to a depth I'd never felt
possible. My life focus sharpened with amazing clarity. I said to my
husband, "I don't want to leave her." Fortunately for me he said, "I
don't want you to."
I set up a home typing business and later switched over to free
lance writing to add to our household income. Amber gained two
siblings. I was able to fit my work in with family. Even in the more
busy periods I was able to enjoy and be present for my children and
take them everywhere from library story hours to DC peace marches. My
house sometimes looked like a hurricane hit it and cooking was
simple. But my life and heart were where my treasure was. Life was
good. I have 25 years of journals to prove it.
A great big shout out and eternal thanks go to the husband who agreed
with me. Over the years he's had to work very hard to provide and do
without a lot of niceties that two incomes could have provided. I'm
sure it wasn't easy.
Julia Emily Hathaway
Sent from my iPod
Wednesday, June 24, 2015
The Art of Thinking Clearly
The Art of Thinking Clearly
I enjoy walking between Veazie and Orono. Not only does it help
me save bus fare to put toward Joey cat's medical expenses, it's like
aerobic exercise without a hefty gym fee. All good, right? Not in
the eyes of some people who love me. They think I should bus instead
so I won't get run over. Actually, though, with my family's history
of heart disease, stroke, and diabetes, a sedentary life style would
put me much more in danger of death and disability. Why can't I get
them to see that?
Rolf Dobelli, author of The Art of Thinking Clearly, has a good
explanation. Thanks to what he calls the availability bias, people
create their realities based on the examples that are easiest to
recall and don't take into account less flashy, visible results. So
we overestimate our chances of being offed in terrorist attacks,
chewed on by sharks, and run over by a semi in relation to
exponentially more relevant but more hidden dangers. In his book
Dobelli, backed by research and his beloved statistics, offers insight
into 99 often confusing aspects of human behavior including:
*why New Years resolutions so rarely work even when we make them with
the best of intentions;
*why so many people won't put down a book or walk out of a movie even
if they discover they don't like it;
*why negative ads predominate in elections even though we all (at
least say that we) hate them;
*why it's so hard to part with garments we never again will fit into
or see in style;
*why you should be very cautious with the premise: no pain, no gain;
*What horror writer Stephen King means when he urges you to murder
your darlings...
The Art of Thinking Clearly is a very versatile little book.
You can devour it cover to cover or choose the chapters that interest
you. You can read it seriously with a desire to improve yourself or
your organization or just skim it for fun. In fact it makes a really
nice light travel book for down times like layovers between planes.
I am amused by the fact that while Dobelli continually reminds
readers of our biases, he seems unaware of his. He often seems to
forget that we are not all rich, cis gendered, straight white men.
One chapter in particular sticks in my mind: the one on volunteers'
folly. He uses an example of a photographer who is paid $500 an hour
to show that those of us who aren't celebs help charities more with
money than labor. He seems to forget that the vast majority of us
aren't paid $500 an hour for anything (or at least anything we can
declare to the IRS). Many of us could not afford to give the monetary
value of our volunteered hours. Think minimum wage workers, at home
moms, seniors on fixed incomes. Then there's the very real question
my daughter brought up. If everyone just writes checks, how does any
work get done?
On a personal note, I am very proud of my son, Adam, who graduated
from Bangor High School with honors.
A great big shout goes out to Adam and his classmates! Way to go,
Class of 2015!!!
Julia Emily Hathaway
Sent from my iPod
I enjoy walking between Veazie and Orono. Not only does it help
me save bus fare to put toward Joey cat's medical expenses, it's like
aerobic exercise without a hefty gym fee. All good, right? Not in
the eyes of some people who love me. They think I should bus instead
so I won't get run over. Actually, though, with my family's history
of heart disease, stroke, and diabetes, a sedentary life style would
put me much more in danger of death and disability. Why can't I get
them to see that?
Rolf Dobelli, author of The Art of Thinking Clearly, has a good
explanation. Thanks to what he calls the availability bias, people
create their realities based on the examples that are easiest to
recall and don't take into account less flashy, visible results. So
we overestimate our chances of being offed in terrorist attacks,
chewed on by sharks, and run over by a semi in relation to
exponentially more relevant but more hidden dangers. In his book
Dobelli, backed by research and his beloved statistics, offers insight
into 99 often confusing aspects of human behavior including:
*why New Years resolutions so rarely work even when we make them with
the best of intentions;
*why so many people won't put down a book or walk out of a movie even
if they discover they don't like it;
*why negative ads predominate in elections even though we all (at
least say that we) hate them;
*why it's so hard to part with garments we never again will fit into
or see in style;
*why you should be very cautious with the premise: no pain, no gain;
*What horror writer Stephen King means when he urges you to murder
your darlings...
The Art of Thinking Clearly is a very versatile little book.
You can devour it cover to cover or choose the chapters that interest
you. You can read it seriously with a desire to improve yourself or
your organization or just skim it for fun. In fact it makes a really
nice light travel book for down times like layovers between planes.
I am amused by the fact that while Dobelli continually reminds
readers of our biases, he seems unaware of his. He often seems to
forget that we are not all rich, cis gendered, straight white men.
One chapter in particular sticks in my mind: the one on volunteers'
folly. He uses an example of a photographer who is paid $500 an hour
to show that those of us who aren't celebs help charities more with
money than labor. He seems to forget that the vast majority of us
aren't paid $500 an hour for anything (or at least anything we can
declare to the IRS). Many of us could not afford to give the monetary
value of our volunteered hours. Think minimum wage workers, at home
moms, seniors on fixed incomes. Then there's the very real question
my daughter brought up. If everyone just writes checks, how does any
work get done?
On a personal note, I am very proud of my son, Adam, who graduated
from Bangor High School with honors.
A great big shout goes out to Adam and his classmates! Way to go,
Class of 2015!!!
Julia Emily Hathaway
Sent from my iPod
Alexander and the Horrible...
Alexander and the Horrible...
Movie loosely based on book
Monday, unaware that I had fallen into the predictable slump
following an amazing weekend--have patience--you will get all the
details--I was not my usual cheerful self. Worries dominated my
thinking. I was eager and anxious to get Joey cat to the vet. Only
my school committee stipend had not arrived. I had only three weeks
to locate some very expensive library books I'd misplaced. Where
would I get the money to replace them if I couldn't? That sort of
thing. It did not help when Eugene came home in an Oscar the Grouch
persona. Late in the evening I made the unusual decision to put down
the books, grab a beer, and watch a DVD.
To put this in perspective, the most recent time I'd watched one
was back in April when I wanted to take my mind off Joey's emergency
surgery. I had discovered a copy of Disney's Alexander and the
Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day. I'd borrowed it wondering
how a slim picture book could be stretched out to a feature length
film. I also had wondered darkly what Disney had done to Judith
Viorst's delightful classic. To be perfectly honest, I am not a big
fan of anything Disney. I could write a book on the consumerism,
sexism, ageism etc perpetrated by this American empire.
The movie was good for what it was--a Disney comedy. There were
a lot of funny parts. There were even a couple of spots where
characters gained insight. The most notable was when Alexander's high
school brother chooses family over going to the prom with his shallow,
materialistic girlfriend. Heck, I enjoyed it. I would recommend it
to parents and grands wanting to take kids to a movie where they
wouldn't be blindsided by gratuitous sex and violence. However (and
you knew there was going to be a however)...
1) The movie bore very little resemblance to the book. Both had
a protagonist named Alexander who was a member of a family and had a
horrible day.
In the book Alexander is the middle child of a fairly average
family going through a routine day. He has bad luck his brothers
somehow are spared. He has a cavity and they don't. He is the only
one to get in trouble when they pick up dad at his office, the only
one to not have a prize in his box of cereal... He keeps wanting to
run away to Australia. In the end he realizes that even in Australia
people have bad days. Even adults who weren't only children can
remember days like that. In his simplicity of narration Alexander
became Everysibling.
In the book the family constellation has changed and the day is
anything but ordinairy. Big Bro is prom bound. Only Sis is about to
star in an eighth grade musical. Mom is on the verge of being
promoted to vice president of her company and Dad has netted an
interview for a plum job. Only Alexander and the pacifier addicted
toddler aren't on the verge of something big. Then Alexander sends
the rest of the family on a crash and burn route by wishing his kind
of day on them. I am guessing the linking with the book was a clever
marketing strategy to draw in people who loved it as kids or parents.
2) The book bore no resemblance to reality (and I am not
alluding to the magic spell) as experienced by the 98%. The birthday
party extravaganza should clue you in. But consider these episodes:
The older son knocks over and destroys his school's glass trophy
cases. He ends up still allowed by the school to go to the prom. If
poverty and/or darker pigmentation were in the picture stricter
penalties and police involvemebt are distinct possibilities.
The only daughter performs the role of Peter Pan obviously stoned out
of her mind. School authorities don't have our insider knowledge that
she's only overdosed on OTC cold meds. Yet none of the manditory
reporters call human services.
The mom zips out of work for a family crisis and doesn't get a pink
slip. If she was employed by fast food or big box retail, what are
the chances?
The bottom line as I see it: watch the movie, enjoy it, take
the kids. Just don't expect it to be anything more than a Disney
comedy.
On a personal note, the next day I woke up recovered. We'd get Joey
to the vet somehow. The books would most likely turn up as I
cleaned. And if that those are the biggest worries in my life, I am
pretty darn lucky.
A great big shout out goes out to the author of the original book
which I much prefer to the movie.
Julia Emily Hathaway
Sent from my iPod
Movie loosely based on book
Monday, unaware that I had fallen into the predictable slump
following an amazing weekend--have patience--you will get all the
details--I was not my usual cheerful self. Worries dominated my
thinking. I was eager and anxious to get Joey cat to the vet. Only
my school committee stipend had not arrived. I had only three weeks
to locate some very expensive library books I'd misplaced. Where
would I get the money to replace them if I couldn't? That sort of
thing. It did not help when Eugene came home in an Oscar the Grouch
persona. Late in the evening I made the unusual decision to put down
the books, grab a beer, and watch a DVD.
To put this in perspective, the most recent time I'd watched one
was back in April when I wanted to take my mind off Joey's emergency
surgery. I had discovered a copy of Disney's Alexander and the
Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day. I'd borrowed it wondering
how a slim picture book could be stretched out to a feature length
film. I also had wondered darkly what Disney had done to Judith
Viorst's delightful classic. To be perfectly honest, I am not a big
fan of anything Disney. I could write a book on the consumerism,
sexism, ageism etc perpetrated by this American empire.
The movie was good for what it was--a Disney comedy. There were
a lot of funny parts. There were even a couple of spots where
characters gained insight. The most notable was when Alexander's high
school brother chooses family over going to the prom with his shallow,
materialistic girlfriend. Heck, I enjoyed it. I would recommend it
to parents and grands wanting to take kids to a movie where they
wouldn't be blindsided by gratuitous sex and violence. However (and
you knew there was going to be a however)...
1) The movie bore very little resemblance to the book. Both had
a protagonist named Alexander who was a member of a family and had a
horrible day.
In the book Alexander is the middle child of a fairly average
family going through a routine day. He has bad luck his brothers
somehow are spared. He has a cavity and they don't. He is the only
one to get in trouble when they pick up dad at his office, the only
one to not have a prize in his box of cereal... He keeps wanting to
run away to Australia. In the end he realizes that even in Australia
people have bad days. Even adults who weren't only children can
remember days like that. In his simplicity of narration Alexander
became Everysibling.
In the book the family constellation has changed and the day is
anything but ordinairy. Big Bro is prom bound. Only Sis is about to
star in an eighth grade musical. Mom is on the verge of being
promoted to vice president of her company and Dad has netted an
interview for a plum job. Only Alexander and the pacifier addicted
toddler aren't on the verge of something big. Then Alexander sends
the rest of the family on a crash and burn route by wishing his kind
of day on them. I am guessing the linking with the book was a clever
marketing strategy to draw in people who loved it as kids or parents.
2) The book bore no resemblance to reality (and I am not
alluding to the magic spell) as experienced by the 98%. The birthday
party extravaganza should clue you in. But consider these episodes:
The older son knocks over and destroys his school's glass trophy
cases. He ends up still allowed by the school to go to the prom. If
poverty and/or darker pigmentation were in the picture stricter
penalties and police involvemebt are distinct possibilities.
The only daughter performs the role of Peter Pan obviously stoned out
of her mind. School authorities don't have our insider knowledge that
she's only overdosed on OTC cold meds. Yet none of the manditory
reporters call human services.
The mom zips out of work for a family crisis and doesn't get a pink
slip. If she was employed by fast food or big box retail, what are
the chances?
The bottom line as I see it: watch the movie, enjoy it, take
the kids. Just don't expect it to be anything more than a Disney
comedy.
On a personal note, the next day I woke up recovered. We'd get Joey
to the vet somehow. The books would most likely turn up as I
cleaned. And if that those are the biggest worries in my life, I am
pretty darn lucky.
A great big shout out goes out to the author of the original book
which I much prefer to the movie.
Julia Emily Hathaway
Sent from my iPod
Monday, June 22, 2015
Guide To The World's Supernatural Places
Guide To The World's Supernatural Places
Adult nonfiction
Two of the concepts I never expected to find united on one book
cover were the supernatural and the National Geographic Society. So
when I saw Sarah Bartlett's Guide To The World's Supernatural Places
under that venerable imprint with a promise to take the reader to over
250 spine-chilling destinations, I was hooked and ready to be quite
impressed.
What you'll notice first are probably the magnificent
illustrations that adorn each and every page. The photographs range
from breathtakingly beautiful to eerie to downright creepy. In one of
the scariest, juxtaposing childhood innocence with the macabre, doll
parts in various stages of decay are nailed to trees. Very detailed
drawings depict quite convincingly beings of legend and their
sometimes quite horrific activities.
The stories around the spine-chilling destinations, whether
handed down through generations or documented in the not-so-distant
past, really live up to the promise of the cover. This is a book you
can either devour cover to cover like I did last night or skim
selectively. The chapters are composed thematically. You can go
right to vampire haunts or UFO hot spots. Within each chapter
locations are predictable enough you can easily find geographic areas
of specific interest. You can even find hints on the best times to
visit many of these locations...
...if you dare!!!
On a personal note, I was overjoyed last night when the Veazie voters
turned down the school budget 222-93. Now we school committee folks
have another chance to put together a school budget the town council
won't canibalize. Hopefully that is possible.
A great big shout out goes out to all the Veazie voters who acted to
protect our children and school.
Julia Emily Hathaway
Sent from my iPod
Adult nonfiction
Two of the concepts I never expected to find united on one book
cover were the supernatural and the National Geographic Society. So
when I saw Sarah Bartlett's Guide To The World's Supernatural Places
under that venerable imprint with a promise to take the reader to over
250 spine-chilling destinations, I was hooked and ready to be quite
impressed.
What you'll notice first are probably the magnificent
illustrations that adorn each and every page. The photographs range
from breathtakingly beautiful to eerie to downright creepy. In one of
the scariest, juxtaposing childhood innocence with the macabre, doll
parts in various stages of decay are nailed to trees. Very detailed
drawings depict quite convincingly beings of legend and their
sometimes quite horrific activities.
The stories around the spine-chilling destinations, whether
handed down through generations or documented in the not-so-distant
past, really live up to the promise of the cover. This is a book you
can either devour cover to cover like I did last night or skim
selectively. The chapters are composed thematically. You can go
right to vampire haunts or UFO hot spots. Within each chapter
locations are predictable enough you can easily find geographic areas
of specific interest. You can even find hints on the best times to
visit many of these locations...
...if you dare!!!
On a personal note, I was overjoyed last night when the Veazie voters
turned down the school budget 222-93. Now we school committee folks
have another chance to put together a school budget the town council
won't canibalize. Hopefully that is possible.
A great big shout out goes out to all the Veazie voters who acted to
protect our children and school.
Julia Emily Hathaway
Sent from my iPod
Tuesday, June 16, 2015
Deep and Dark and Dangerous
Deep and Dark and Dangerous
Juvenile novel
Sometimes I feel like I'm haunted by a children's writer--Mary
Downing Hahn. Every time I think I've read all her work a random
volume from the past pops up. I guess that would be quite fitting
since her forte is ghost stories that combine psychological insight
with chilling suspense.
Ali, protagonist of Deep and Dark and Dangeeous, is looking at
some of her mother's childhood books when she sees a picture of her
with her sister, her Aunt Dulcie, at their long abandoned family
summer house, Gull Cottage, in Maine. A third girl has been torn out
of the picture. Her mother becomes upset and denies that there was
ever another child.
Then Dulcie, an artist, decides to summer at Gull Cottage with
her very young daughter, Emma, even going to the expense of having the
house repaired and the boat house converted into a studio for her
work. She invites Ali to spend the summer with them as live in
babysitter. Despite her mother's strong objections, Ali agrees to the
plan.
The Maine weather, for the most part, is grey and stormy.
That's not all that's ominous. Ali learns about a friend of her mom
and aunt, Teresa, who died mysteriously thirty years ago. At the same
time a mysterious girl, Sissy, begins to visit Emma. One day Dulcie's
studio is trashed with a mysterious message left by the vandal: I'm
watching you. Tell the truth or else.
Deep and Dark and Dangerous or any of Hahn's other ghost stories
would make a delightful read for a mystery loving child...only not
late at night under the covers by flashlight.
On a personal note, I am still waiting to learn the results of the
school budget vote. Aaarrrggghhh! The suspense is driving me up a
wall.
A great big shout out goes out to my fellow school committee members
and our superintendent, incoming principal, and teachers and
families. May things work out for the best!
Julia Emily Hathaway
Sent from my iPod
Juvenile novel
Sometimes I feel like I'm haunted by a children's writer--Mary
Downing Hahn. Every time I think I've read all her work a random
volume from the past pops up. I guess that would be quite fitting
since her forte is ghost stories that combine psychological insight
with chilling suspense.
Ali, protagonist of Deep and Dark and Dangeeous, is looking at
some of her mother's childhood books when she sees a picture of her
with her sister, her Aunt Dulcie, at their long abandoned family
summer house, Gull Cottage, in Maine. A third girl has been torn out
of the picture. Her mother becomes upset and denies that there was
ever another child.
Then Dulcie, an artist, decides to summer at Gull Cottage with
her very young daughter, Emma, even going to the expense of having the
house repaired and the boat house converted into a studio for her
work. She invites Ali to spend the summer with them as live in
babysitter. Despite her mother's strong objections, Ali agrees to the
plan.
The Maine weather, for the most part, is grey and stormy.
That's not all that's ominous. Ali learns about a friend of her mom
and aunt, Teresa, who died mysteriously thirty years ago. At the same
time a mysterious girl, Sissy, begins to visit Emma. One day Dulcie's
studio is trashed with a mysterious message left by the vandal: I'm
watching you. Tell the truth or else.
Deep and Dark and Dangerous or any of Hahn's other ghost stories
would make a delightful read for a mystery loving child...only not
late at night under the covers by flashlight.
On a personal note, I am still waiting to learn the results of the
school budget vote. Aaarrrggghhh! The suspense is driving me up a
wall.
A great big shout out goes out to my fellow school committee members
and our superintendent, incoming principal, and teachers and
families. May things work out for the best!
Julia Emily Hathaway
Sent from my iPod
Little Audrey
Little Audrey
Juvenile fiction
I am a big time fan of Ruth White's novels for children. Her
ability to create a vivid sense of time and place and make characters
most of us would see as merely underprivileged come to complex and
often contradictory life is nothing short of amazing. In Little
Audrey she gives us a rare and fascinating glimpse into her own
childhood, retelling her family history through the voice of older
sister Audrey who was going on twelve, "nearabout grown up", in 1948.
Audrey lived in the Appalachians, a part of America that was
left far behind while much of the country enjoyed post war
prosperity. Jewell Valley was a camp that provided housing for coal
miners and their families. Each family had at least one member in
that backbreaking and dangerous line of work. Her description of
shift change is quite poignant.
"...They don't talk. They carry their dinner pails and walk
slow 'cause they are wore out...You can't tell one from the other
'cause they are covered with coal dust from head to toe. Their black-
rimmed eyes squint in the sunlight."
Audrey idolized her teacher, a ray of sun in a rather dim
landscape. She agonized over her plainness in comparison to the
younger sisters she awould allude to as the three little pigs, her
glasses, and her thinness caused by a bout of scarlet fever. She
perceived that a close friend probably was ditching her in favor of a
girl she didn't even like. A couple of bullies did their best to make
her life miserable. Her mom was often physically present but
emotionally inaccessible, caught up in sorrow caused by the death of
her baby girl. Her father often spent his pay on alcohol rather than
food and could be a pretty ugly drunk.
That someone could go through these experiences and come out
writing with tenderness and empathy rather than trying to put it all
behind her gives a new meaning to the word resilience.
On a personal note, to use an expression Audrey would probably have
been familiar with, I am as keyed up as a long tailed cat in a room
full of rocking chairs. Veazie is doing a written vote on the school
budget. The number the town council has on the ballot is far too
little. One of two things can happen. The voters can vote it down,
giving us (School Committee) a chance to come up with something
better. Or the voters can approve a figure that would start a death
spiral for not only the school, but the town itself.
A great big shout goes out to all the people who are voting in the
school and children's best interests.
Julia Emily Hathaway
Sent from my iPod
Juvenile fiction
I am a big time fan of Ruth White's novels for children. Her
ability to create a vivid sense of time and place and make characters
most of us would see as merely underprivileged come to complex and
often contradictory life is nothing short of amazing. In Little
Audrey she gives us a rare and fascinating glimpse into her own
childhood, retelling her family history through the voice of older
sister Audrey who was going on twelve, "nearabout grown up", in 1948.
Audrey lived in the Appalachians, a part of America that was
left far behind while much of the country enjoyed post war
prosperity. Jewell Valley was a camp that provided housing for coal
miners and their families. Each family had at least one member in
that backbreaking and dangerous line of work. Her description of
shift change is quite poignant.
"...They don't talk. They carry their dinner pails and walk
slow 'cause they are wore out...You can't tell one from the other
'cause they are covered with coal dust from head to toe. Their black-
rimmed eyes squint in the sunlight."
Audrey idolized her teacher, a ray of sun in a rather dim
landscape. She agonized over her plainness in comparison to the
younger sisters she awould allude to as the three little pigs, her
glasses, and her thinness caused by a bout of scarlet fever. She
perceived that a close friend probably was ditching her in favor of a
girl she didn't even like. A couple of bullies did their best to make
her life miserable. Her mom was often physically present but
emotionally inaccessible, caught up in sorrow caused by the death of
her baby girl. Her father often spent his pay on alcohol rather than
food and could be a pretty ugly drunk.
That someone could go through these experiences and come out
writing with tenderness and empathy rather than trying to put it all
behind her gives a new meaning to the word resilience.
On a personal note, to use an expression Audrey would probably have
been familiar with, I am as keyed up as a long tailed cat in a room
full of rocking chairs. Veazie is doing a written vote on the school
budget. The number the town council has on the ballot is far too
little. One of two things can happen. The voters can vote it down,
giving us (School Committee) a chance to come up with something
better. Or the voters can approve a figure that would start a death
spiral for not only the school, but the town itself.
A great big shout goes out to all the people who are voting in the
school and children's best interests.
Julia Emily Hathaway
Sent from my iPod
My Heart and other Black Holes
My Heart and other Black Holes
YA fiction
In 2013 Jasmine Warga lost one of her closest friends. Writing
proved to be a way for her to cope with her feelings. Luckily for us,
instead of limiting her expression to a for her eyes only diary, she
created the poignant and haunting My Heart and other Black Holes.
Aysel is the teen age daughter of a man who beat her small
town's great hope for Olympic Glory, a loved by all can-do-no-wrong
golden boy, to death. Needless to say, despite her innocence, she has
become persona non grata in town and school. She also has a deep
private fear. She had no clue that her beloved father had the
capacity to act so brutally. What if it's encoded in her genes to
snap when the right stimulus presents itself?
Wouldn't everyone be better off without her?
Aysel often wonders what the actual experience of dying will be
like and what will lie beyond it. She worries about inability to go
through with "...Running away from my black hole of a future,
preventing myself from growing into the person I'm terrified of
becoming..." Her intentions are thwarted by her self-preservation
instinct to the point where she feels like her mind and body are in a
never-ending war.
Then she finds a website that helps people locate suicide
partners. "...I guess the way it works is you find some other sad
excuse for a person who lives pretty nearby and you make your final
plans with them. It's like peer pressure suicide, and from what I
gather it's pretty damn effective..."
There's a boy close to her age in the next town over who feels
her depth of hopelessness. They accept each other as partners and
start getting together to work out the details. Only a funny thing
starts to happen. Effective may not be foolproof.
On a very sad personal note, last week Orono Community Garden lost our
fine mascot dog Mika. She left her paw prints on a lot of people's
hearts and will be greatly missed.
A great big shout out and a prayer for comfort goes out to all who are
grieving the loss of beloved animal companions.
Julia Emily Hathaway
Sent from my iPod
YA fiction
In 2013 Jasmine Warga lost one of her closest friends. Writing
proved to be a way for her to cope with her feelings. Luckily for us,
instead of limiting her expression to a for her eyes only diary, she
created the poignant and haunting My Heart and other Black Holes.
Aysel is the teen age daughter of a man who beat her small
town's great hope for Olympic Glory, a loved by all can-do-no-wrong
golden boy, to death. Needless to say, despite her innocence, she has
become persona non grata in town and school. She also has a deep
private fear. She had no clue that her beloved father had the
capacity to act so brutally. What if it's encoded in her genes to
snap when the right stimulus presents itself?
Wouldn't everyone be better off without her?
Aysel often wonders what the actual experience of dying will be
like and what will lie beyond it. She worries about inability to go
through with "...Running away from my black hole of a future,
preventing myself from growing into the person I'm terrified of
becoming..." Her intentions are thwarted by her self-preservation
instinct to the point where she feels like her mind and body are in a
never-ending war.
Then she finds a website that helps people locate suicide
partners. "...I guess the way it works is you find some other sad
excuse for a person who lives pretty nearby and you make your final
plans with them. It's like peer pressure suicide, and from what I
gather it's pretty damn effective..."
There's a boy close to her age in the next town over who feels
her depth of hopelessness. They accept each other as partners and
start getting together to work out the details. Only a funny thing
starts to happen. Effective may not be foolproof.
On a very sad personal note, last week Orono Community Garden lost our
fine mascot dog Mika. She left her paw prints on a lot of people's
hearts and will be greatly missed.
A great big shout out and a prayer for comfort goes out to all who are
grieving the loss of beloved animal companions.
Julia Emily Hathaway
Sent from my iPod
The 10 Best Anxiety Busters
The 10 Best Anxiety Busters
When my son started eighth grade I had completed 20 years of a
maternity leave of indeterminate length. I believed that by high
school he would be capable of spending unsupervised time at home.
Perhaps it was time to figure out how I could get myself into the
world of work. Americorps sounded perfect. I spent a year
researching their positions and discovering none that did not require
a valid drivers license. (For that matter just about every decent job
does these days.) Adam's freshman high school year I took every free
class offered by Women, Work, And Career up to University of Maine
Augusta/Bangor to try to find a way to circumvent this. No luck. The
last few years I have tried for jobs in the very limited geographical
area I can get to reliably without being able to drive. Most days I
am upbeat but now and then I would feel myself overcome by terror of
being trapped into getting a job I'd hate at a workplace that would
violate every ethical belief I cherish. Think WalMart. I'd ask
myself where that came from. It was so out of character. So when I
discovered Margeret Wehrenberg's The Ten Best Anxiety Busters on the
new book shelves at Orono Public Library I borrowed it in search of
insight.
Wehrenberg knows that a lot of people's daily lives are
compromised by anxieties. Only, unlike the ads on television that
assure folks that one little pill will do the trick, she advocates an
insight based program that encourages people who want improved quality
of life to mindfully seek individual solutions. Being aware of what
symptoms he/she experiences, what situations trigger them, and how the
fear of symptoms can worsen the situation can help someone discern
what strategies can help when practiced conscientiously.
Let's take an example that gets a lot of press these days:
social anxiety (the fear of being rejected, not knowing what to do or
say, making a faux pas that noone else would commit...) being
experienced to the extent that it interferes in day to day life. Some
anxiety busters touted as especially relevant are improving patterns
of breathing, learning how not to catastrophize, creating goals,
replacing negative self thought, and planning and practicing what to
do in likely anxiety provoking situations. Exercises go into helpful
but flexible detail.
At least trying this book is, in my mind, a very good
alternative to going straight for a prescription with a list of bad
side effects which Big Pharma would like us all to do.
On a personal note, at first the book had me perplexed. Most of the
ideas like mindful living are things I already do. Then I hit a
question: what does the fear really represent. It was not as
straightforward as I'd thought. My husband supports the family and
has no plans to ditch me for a hottie half my age. Then I realized it
was also symbolizing my fear of how lonely and isolated the house will
feel when there are no longer resident children. I'm still continuing
my job search, working on my writing, and seeking out odd jobs in the
interim. But I'm also more actively seeking out opportunities to do
what I enjoy, especially activities of a spontaneous nature, and
people who are real pal prospects.
A great big shout out goes out to the other folks like me who have
disabilities big enough to limit life options (like not being able to
see well enough to get that almighty valid drivers license) but not
obvious enough to require accomodations.
Julia Emily Hathaway
Sent from my iPod
When my son started eighth grade I had completed 20 years of a
maternity leave of indeterminate length. I believed that by high
school he would be capable of spending unsupervised time at home.
Perhaps it was time to figure out how I could get myself into the
world of work. Americorps sounded perfect. I spent a year
researching their positions and discovering none that did not require
a valid drivers license. (For that matter just about every decent job
does these days.) Adam's freshman high school year I took every free
class offered by Women, Work, And Career up to University of Maine
Augusta/Bangor to try to find a way to circumvent this. No luck. The
last few years I have tried for jobs in the very limited geographical
area I can get to reliably without being able to drive. Most days I
am upbeat but now and then I would feel myself overcome by terror of
being trapped into getting a job I'd hate at a workplace that would
violate every ethical belief I cherish. Think WalMart. I'd ask
myself where that came from. It was so out of character. So when I
discovered Margeret Wehrenberg's The Ten Best Anxiety Busters on the
new book shelves at Orono Public Library I borrowed it in search of
insight.
Wehrenberg knows that a lot of people's daily lives are
compromised by anxieties. Only, unlike the ads on television that
assure folks that one little pill will do the trick, she advocates an
insight based program that encourages people who want improved quality
of life to mindfully seek individual solutions. Being aware of what
symptoms he/she experiences, what situations trigger them, and how the
fear of symptoms can worsen the situation can help someone discern
what strategies can help when practiced conscientiously.
Let's take an example that gets a lot of press these days:
social anxiety (the fear of being rejected, not knowing what to do or
say, making a faux pas that noone else would commit...) being
experienced to the extent that it interferes in day to day life. Some
anxiety busters touted as especially relevant are improving patterns
of breathing, learning how not to catastrophize, creating goals,
replacing negative self thought, and planning and practicing what to
do in likely anxiety provoking situations. Exercises go into helpful
but flexible detail.
At least trying this book is, in my mind, a very good
alternative to going straight for a prescription with a list of bad
side effects which Big Pharma would like us all to do.
On a personal note, at first the book had me perplexed. Most of the
ideas like mindful living are things I already do. Then I hit a
question: what does the fear really represent. It was not as
straightforward as I'd thought. My husband supports the family and
has no plans to ditch me for a hottie half my age. Then I realized it
was also symbolizing my fear of how lonely and isolated the house will
feel when there are no longer resident children. I'm still continuing
my job search, working on my writing, and seeking out odd jobs in the
interim. But I'm also more actively seeking out opportunities to do
what I enjoy, especially activities of a spontaneous nature, and
people who are real pal prospects.
A great big shout out goes out to the other folks like me who have
disabilities big enough to limit life options (like not being able to
see well enough to get that almighty valid drivers license) but not
obvious enough to require accomodations.
Julia Emily Hathaway
Sent from my iPod
Monday, June 15, 2015
Gone Crazy In Alabama
Gone Crazy In Alabama
After days of rain the sun broke through in good old Penobscot
County. This meant I could finally keep the windows open and commence
one of my least favorite yearly chores-flea proofing the house for
Joey cat's health and comfort. It was about all I could cram into one
day. Joey, of course, was in a cool bathroom with fresh food and
water. After spending hours exposed to the fumes I owed it to myself
to take a book to my swing and suck up some of that fresh outside air.
One of the big time pleasures of being an avid reader is
renewing the acquaintance of favorite characters in hot off the press
new books. Have you noticed that, unlike those in movies, book
sequels rarely have that watered down quality? In Rita Williams-
Garcia's Gone Crazy in Alabama (set in the sixties) we learn the
latest adventures of that sister trinity: Delphine, Vonetta, and Fern.
The feisty protagonists of One Crazy Summer and P.S. Be Eleven
are in for quite the experience. They're leaving their dad and his
pregnant wife in New York to visit relatives in Alabama, the heart of
the deep South. Their grandmother and her mother (helped by a
neighbor who is trying zealously to woo the younger woman through home
and yard improvements) now have indoor plumbing. No more visits to
the outhouse! But the tempo and life style are light years away from
that of their Brooklyn home.
The sisters encounter a very strange situation. Thanks to
events that happened decades ago their grandmother and her sister do
not visit or speak to each other even they reside within walking
distance. At their age if they don't mend their feud it may become
too late. What will it take to get these stubborn women to let down
their defenses?
Something very powerful and unexpected, swooping right down out
of the blue. That's all I'm going to say. You have to read the book
to learn the answer.
On a personal note, precious Joey cat turned 12 on Monday. He has
fully put his weight back on. To look at him you'd never guess how
recently he underwent major surgery. He is about as happy as a tuxedo
cat can be.
A great big shout out goes out to the folks at Joey's medical home,
Veazie Vet, who have done so much to get him to this birthday and to
their colleagues around the world who provide competent and loving
care for our treasured companions.
Julia Emily Hathaway
Sent from my iPod
After days of rain the sun broke through in good old Penobscot
County. This meant I could finally keep the windows open and commence
one of my least favorite yearly chores-flea proofing the house for
Joey cat's health and comfort. It was about all I could cram into one
day. Joey, of course, was in a cool bathroom with fresh food and
water. After spending hours exposed to the fumes I owed it to myself
to take a book to my swing and suck up some of that fresh outside air.
One of the big time pleasures of being an avid reader is
renewing the acquaintance of favorite characters in hot off the press
new books. Have you noticed that, unlike those in movies, book
sequels rarely have that watered down quality? In Rita Williams-
Garcia's Gone Crazy in Alabama (set in the sixties) we learn the
latest adventures of that sister trinity: Delphine, Vonetta, and Fern.
The feisty protagonists of One Crazy Summer and P.S. Be Eleven
are in for quite the experience. They're leaving their dad and his
pregnant wife in New York to visit relatives in Alabama, the heart of
the deep South. Their grandmother and her mother (helped by a
neighbor who is trying zealously to woo the younger woman through home
and yard improvements) now have indoor plumbing. No more visits to
the outhouse! But the tempo and life style are light years away from
that of their Brooklyn home.
The sisters encounter a very strange situation. Thanks to
events that happened decades ago their grandmother and her sister do
not visit or speak to each other even they reside within walking
distance. At their age if they don't mend their feud it may become
too late. What will it take to get these stubborn women to let down
their defenses?
Something very powerful and unexpected, swooping right down out
of the blue. That's all I'm going to say. You have to read the book
to learn the answer.
On a personal note, precious Joey cat turned 12 on Monday. He has
fully put his weight back on. To look at him you'd never guess how
recently he underwent major surgery. He is about as happy as a tuxedo
cat can be.
A great big shout out goes out to the folks at Joey's medical home,
Veazie Vet, who have done so much to get him to this birthday and to
their colleagues around the world who provide competent and loving
care for our treasured companions.
Julia Emily Hathaway
Sent from my iPod
Wednesday, June 10, 2015
Dear Diary...
Dear Diary...
YIKES! It has been awhile since I posted a review on my blog!
I have a good reason. I have been doing entirely different kind of
reading.
I have journals dating back to 1980 when I was in undergraduate
college. The majority are from my 25 year maternity leave. As part
of my spring cleaning I opted to get them in order. I decided that
would involve reading them. What a wonderful trip down memory lane!
I also came to some conclusions.
1) I am so glad I created these precious books. It wasn't
always easy to find time to journal. Some years in particular
required self discipline. I'm thinking especially of college when I
worked on campus and did odd jobs, was active in extracurriculars like
theater and student government, and spent a lot of time socializing
and early parenting years when I had three young children and a typing
business. Not to mention that my husband was constantly telling me
there was no need of such waste of time writing. From this
perspective it is the best gift I could possibly have given myself.
So many precious memories that would have otherwise been lost. I'm
also glad I included many visual additions like pictures, stickers,
cartoons etc.
2) I wondered if I would have any major regrets. Maybe this is
something many of us wonder. I guess I feel vulnerable since I am not
having luck finding any kind of job, never mind the type of
professional job my Katie would call a big person job. (That horse
has definitely left the barn). The good news is I DO NOT. I loved
the wonderful quarter of a century I spent raising children. I feel
like I did the right thing for my kids and me. Those were years well
spent.
3) I am consistantly a creative person and wholistic rather than
linear thinker. I love surprises and insights. Although I work
diligently I am much more of a wing and a prayer than a thrive on
routine type. Sharon Brady, a friend of mine who works in special
education, once compared my life to riding down a river where calm
stretches alternate with white water rapids. She got that right. I'm
also a passionate fighter for what I believe in. And, last but not
least, I'm a mindful liver, taking delight in everything from
decorating Christmas trees to weeding onions to reading with Joey cat
on my lap. This is who I am. This is who I will always be. Whatever
the next chapter of my life includes (your guess is as good as mine) I
have to do it my way.
On a personal note, I encourage you, dear reader, to begin to journal
if you don't already do so. Even if you have a very busy life try at
least three sentences a day. Your life is unique, very much worth
celebrating. And you don't need fancy expensive journals. Even a
spiral notebook and pen will do. If electronics are your preference
that also can work.
A great big shout out goes out to all the people and companion animals
who have helped me evolve to be the person I am today.
Julia Emily Hathaway
Sent from my iPod
YIKES! It has been awhile since I posted a review on my blog!
I have a good reason. I have been doing entirely different kind of
reading.
I have journals dating back to 1980 when I was in undergraduate
college. The majority are from my 25 year maternity leave. As part
of my spring cleaning I opted to get them in order. I decided that
would involve reading them. What a wonderful trip down memory lane!
I also came to some conclusions.
1) I am so glad I created these precious books. It wasn't
always easy to find time to journal. Some years in particular
required self discipline. I'm thinking especially of college when I
worked on campus and did odd jobs, was active in extracurriculars like
theater and student government, and spent a lot of time socializing
and early parenting years when I had three young children and a typing
business. Not to mention that my husband was constantly telling me
there was no need of such waste of time writing. From this
perspective it is the best gift I could possibly have given myself.
So many precious memories that would have otherwise been lost. I'm
also glad I included many visual additions like pictures, stickers,
cartoons etc.
2) I wondered if I would have any major regrets. Maybe this is
something many of us wonder. I guess I feel vulnerable since I am not
having luck finding any kind of job, never mind the type of
professional job my Katie would call a big person job. (That horse
has definitely left the barn). The good news is I DO NOT. I loved
the wonderful quarter of a century I spent raising children. I feel
like I did the right thing for my kids and me. Those were years well
spent.
3) I am consistantly a creative person and wholistic rather than
linear thinker. I love surprises and insights. Although I work
diligently I am much more of a wing and a prayer than a thrive on
routine type. Sharon Brady, a friend of mine who works in special
education, once compared my life to riding down a river where calm
stretches alternate with white water rapids. She got that right. I'm
also a passionate fighter for what I believe in. And, last but not
least, I'm a mindful liver, taking delight in everything from
decorating Christmas trees to weeding onions to reading with Joey cat
on my lap. This is who I am. This is who I will always be. Whatever
the next chapter of my life includes (your guess is as good as mine) I
have to do it my way.
On a personal note, I encourage you, dear reader, to begin to journal
if you don't already do so. Even if you have a very busy life try at
least three sentences a day. Your life is unique, very much worth
celebrating. And you don't need fancy expensive journals. Even a
spiral notebook and pen will do. If electronics are your preference
that also can work.
A great big shout out goes out to all the people and companion animals
who have helped me evolve to be the person I am today.
Julia Emily Hathaway
Sent from my iPod
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