Saturday, January 26, 2019

Enough As She Is

Enough As She Is

Adult nonfiction
"For too many girls today, the drive to achieve is fueled by
brutal self-criticism and anxiety that they will fail. We are raising
a generation of girls who may look exceptional on paper but are often
anxious and overwhelmed in life--who feel that no matter how hard they
try, they will never be smart enough, successful enough, pretty
enough, thin enough, well liked enough, witty enough online, or sexy
enough. No matter how many achievements they accrue, they feel that
they are not enough as they are. This book is about to help your
daughter refine success and pursue it on healthy terms, not
sacrificing her self-worth, and to be well and whole in a world that
often isn't."
Rachel Simmons' Enough As She Is is a book I wish had been
published when my daughters were in middle and high school. I am
finding it very helpful in my Higher Ed masters program. The rates of
anxiety and depression are rising far too quickly on college
campuses. All too often I see charming, capable, likeable students
drowning in despair. The questions on my mind constantly are "Why?"
and "What can I do to help?"
Simmons gives us plenty of reasons. They include:
*the College Application Industrial Complex that pushes girls to look
(on paper) extraordinary in every way, to see peers whose friendships
they need as not-to-be-trusted rivals, and to have a life passion
before having much of a chance to live;
*the demands of social media for a flawless on line persona followed
faithfully by hundreds of friends;
and *a thin-worshipping, fat phobic culture that practices body
objectification of girls.
Luckily for those of us parenting daughters or working with
female students from middle school through college, Simmons has
excellent ideas for counteracting society's toxins. I highly
recommend this book. It's a must acquire for public and college
libraries.
Simmons' personal narrative shows beautifully where her passion
for advocating for girls comes from. She won a Rhodes Scholarship two
years after her college graduation. A lot of people and her alma
mater adored her. She went to Oxford University for two years of grad
school and found herself bored and lonely. Nine months later she
dropped out and went home. In the process of winning awards and the
admiration of others, she'd lost sight of who she was and what she
valued.
Simmons discovered that she had to discover what really mattered
to her. Thinking about a bullying incident from early childhood led
her to research girls' aggression, then relatively unstudied, and
write Odd Girl Out (another must read BTW).
On a personal note, my class in assessment looks like it's going to be
the cat's pajamas!!! It won't be sit 2 1/2 hours and take notes.
We'll get to work in groups. I have very smart classmates. We have
some pretty cool homework assignments. I'll get to design a work
related survey and be in a long term group project that Bodwell Center
actually plans to use. (How cool is that?) Leah (prof) wants us to
think critically and tie class in with work and other life stuff.
That's how I operate.
A great big shout out goes out to Leah and my classmates as we embark
on a voyage of discovery!!!
jules hathaway


Sent from my iPod

Monday, January 21, 2019

Marching For Freedom

Marching For Freedom

Juvenile nonfiction
"The first time Joanne Blackmon was arrested she was just ten
years old. After breakfast one morning, she and her grandmother,
Sylvia Johnson, left their apartment in the Carver Homes in Selma,
Alabama...Mrs. Johnson intended to register to vote. She knew she
wouldn't be allowed to. It was almost impossible for blacks to
register. But she wanted to show the authorities that she, like all
Americans, deserved the right to vote."
That was the first of eleven times Joanne was jailed. Her
sister, Lynda, was jailed nine time. They were two of hundreds of
children and teens who were incarcerated for simply demanding human
rights. These days we would arrest anyone who kept animals under the
conditions many of them were held. Can you believe 23 girls in a cell
designed for 2 with no mattress?
In honor of Martin Luther King Day I read Elizabeth Partridge's
Marching For Freedom. In a volume rich with photographs, Partridge
traces the events from King's decision to lead a Selma based campaign
for black voting rights through Bloody Sunday to the March to
Montgomery and the signing of the Voting Rights Act. Within the
larger picture she follows the narratives of some of the participants
including Joanne and Lynda.
Adults, don't dismiss this book because of its readership
designation. It struck me in a visceral way a lot of adult books
don't. I was struck with how determined and courageous the people
including children and teens were. They were beaten, tear gassed, and
jailed under extremely abusive conditions. They were clubbed by men
on horses. The threat of death was ever present. When they got of
prison they'd get right back into their mission. How many of us can
be as brave and committed?
Sadly, after all these years, we are still too far away from
achieving King's dream. People are finding new sneaky ways to keep
blacks from voting. Police shoot unarmed blacks while black children
are diverted into the school-to-jail pipeline. There's the whole
white privilege system we need to dismantle. All of us are needed to
do our part in leading us into the promised land of liberty and
justice for all. I use my opinion writing and book reviewing skills
and my loud voice to remind people that, even after having a black
president, we're nowhere near a post racial society. What can you do?
On a personal note, my manager, Jodi, will be moving to another job on
campus. (Thank God, not in the real world). I'm happy for her
because she'll have more time for her children. I'll miss seeing her
in the work setting. But I'll keep her in my life for sure.
In just four months Jodi shifted my way of thinking in regard to
management. I used to think it was nothing I'd be ever interested
in. No way was I gonna be The Man. But Jodi demonstrated a style of
getting to know her workers and creating a workplace that could be
safe, welcoming, affirming, and valuing. A space where we could ask
for and get help and offer observations and ideas without stepping out
of our place in hierarchy. Management is now something I am suited
for and can take an interest in without considering myself a sell
out. I think the best way I can thank Jodi for the example she set me
is by doing my best according to the values we share and giving her
the credit she deserves when I make something of myself.
A great big shout goes out to Jodi.
jules hathaway


Sent from my iPod

Hidden Girl

Hidden Girl

YA/Adult nonfiction
"Everyone has a defining moment in his or her life. For some it
is a day they get married or have a child. For others it comes when
they reach a long sought after goal. My life, however, changed course
the day my parents sold me into slavery. I was eight years old."
Hidden Girl is the memoir of Shyima Hall. She was the seventh
of eleven children born into a poor Egyptian family. She was unable
to go to school, needed to tend to younger siblings and do chores so
her mother could work.
When Shyima was eight her life took a turn for the much worse.
An older sister, Zahra, had been a slave for a wealthy, abusive
couple. A few years into her contract Zahra had been fired for
stealing money. Shyima went with her mother to talk to the wife who
laid down a cruel ultimatum. Provide another child or they would call
the police. Shyima was left there. She felt betrayed and abandoned.
"Why did my mother not say no? Why did she not fight for me? I
was eight! Did my mother think my prospects were better living with
this woman and her family as their slave than they would be if I lived
at home? Was our family 'honor' that much more important than I was?
Had my parents been told the truth about what my position in the home
would be? Did my father even care for me? Why did he allow this?"
Basically Shyima's position was like something out of a Charles
Dickens novel. The couple she came to know as The Mom and The Dad
made her work from daybreak until well into the night even if she was
sick. Her captors were physically and psychologically abusive.
Eating only one meal a day, she was always hungry.
At some point The Dad seemed to be in trouble with the law. He
and The Mom fled to the United States, taking Shyima with them with
her parents' consent. She slept (the few hours she could sleep) in an
unheated, windowless storage room in her captors' garage. She had to
keep two houses up as well as doing child care. Often she worked well
past midnight.
However, child slavery was more noticeable in America than in
Egypt. Someone made a phone call. One day there was a pounding on
the door.
Even rescued, Shyima's struggles were far from over. At nearly
thirteen, she had to start with the absolute basics education wise.
She was also way behind in social skills. And foster placements were
far from ideal.
Still Shyima persevered and her story is truly inspirational.
It's also a call to action. According to her statistics there are
over 43,000 slaves in America, many of them children. They can be in
any community including yours. Shyima gives readers red flags to
watch for and advice on what to do if you suspect someone is being
held in captivity.
On a personal note, yesterday's storm certainly did live up to the
hype. All day we had heavy snow, mixing sometimes with sleet, and
gusting winds. Eugene plowed 21 hours, coming home at 4 in the
morning and having to shovel the porch because I was snowed in. If he
hadn't come back I would have had to climb out a window to get to my
work today. I'm working supper shift. Tomorrow classes start.
A great big shout out goes out to people who rescue slaves and fight
for their rights.
jules hathaway


Sent from my iPod

Sunday, January 20, 2019

The Useful Book

The Useful Book

Adult nonfiction
Over Christmas break I discovered a book that I believe belongs
on every family's reference shelf, right up there with dictionary,
cookbook, and human and companion animal (if there is one on the
premises) health guides. The Useful Book: 201 Life Skills They Used
to Teach in Home Ec and Shop by Sharon and David Bowers is a treasure
chest of how-tos for novice to near expert. It's a fairly recent
(2016) paperback so it should be possible to track down. Not to
mention it's a total bargain. Utilizing its instructions will save
you back the cost in no time flat. A number of suggestions can help
decrease your carbon footprint. And don't you love how the words
idiot and dummy appear nowhere in the title.
The first section involves cooking anything from hard boiled
eggs to steak. It also covers overarching topics such as how to stock
a kitchen and how to plan meals. Sidebars extend topics. How to cook
with tofu is accompanied by a list of protein sources for non meat
eaters. The food you prepare at home from scratch is more wholesome
and less expensive than boxed mixes or take out. There are also
creative ways to use up leftovers and odds and ends. You know we
waste far too much food. I'm going to try out the ice cream recipe.
Perfectly good clothes take up way too much landfill space. The
variety of mending and laundry and stain removal techniques in the
book can be very handy to extend garment life.
On the shop side of the book there's a wealth of ways to DIY
instead of calling on professionals.
*This time of year mice come in out of the cold through even the
tiniest of openings. Ever hear them run around in your walls? That
is not good. If you don't share space with an expert mouser like my
Joey cat, you will find the advice offered up very useful.
*Weather stripping can keep your house toasty right now and save on
those too high heating bills. If you live somewhere like Maine you
might need to insulate your attic or prevent or remove ice dams from
the roof.
*And how about those annoying faucet drips and drain clogs?
There is so much more! I know I'm going to get my own copy of the
book. I suggest you do too.
On a personal note, the storm has arrived and so far is living up to
the hype. I feel like I'm in a snow globe some giant is shaking
because a lot of the white stuff is being slammed by wind gusts, not
drifting down gently. I think I made a wise decision to not go to
church.
A great big shout out (and prayers for their safety) goes out to
Eugene and all the others who are out there blizzard battling to make
streets and parking lots safe for the rest of us. Also to the folks
who don't have to go anywhere and aren't getting in the way of the
plowing professionals.
jules hathaway



Sent from my iPod

Saturday, January 19, 2019

It Takes A School

It Takes A School

Adult nonfiction
"It is early summer 2011, near the end of our second year at the
Abaarso School in Somaliland, Africa...My assistant headmaster has
just ended our lengthy phone call with an alarming comment, delivered
to me so casually that one might think it was a joke. Unfortunately,
the absurdity we are dealing with is no comedy.
'Oh yeah, Jon,' Henry Lee had blurted out, 'I almost forgot to
tell you, but there was a militia at the front gate. They came to
kill you, but it's cool now.'"
Say what?
I can't imagine anyone reading the first paragraphs of Jonathan
Starr's It Takes A School and putting the book down. Founding a
school can lead to death threats? Evidently it can when you're an
American operating in Somaliland it can.
Starr's Uncle Billeh was raised in Somaliland. His father died
when he was four. His family was split up. He and a younger brother
were sent to live with an older sister in a village while the rest of
the large family pursued a nomadic life style. He earned his
elementary school tuition by selling flatbread. Going beyond third
grade involved expensive boarding school. Billeh tested into the most
respected one. His mother made the sacrifice of selling some of her
sheep to give him a future. Although he was able to attend an
American university and settle in the United States, he never stopped
caring about his impoverished native land.
His story probably figured into Starr's decisions. Since his
college days he'd dreamed of starting a school for children whose
potential would be wasted without a good education. As a successful
hedge fund manager, he finally had the means to fund his dream. But
he had as much to learn as his future students. He had a lot of
consulting to do to plan the curriculum. (He'd only had one class in
education). He was half way around the world from construction going
on in a burned out area. They would even have to truck in water.
Many people were suspicious of foreigners. And everything was done
through a complex and confusing clan system.
The obstacles Starr and his crew faced and overcame would make
for a fascinating narrative. But the stories of the first students
are the embedded gems that truly make It Takes A School shine.
Mubarik, for example, was born into a nomadic life style. At
five he was in charge of one hundred goats, grazing them and providing
predator protection. (In contrast, we in America wouldn't put a child
that age in charge of a goldfish). He thought the trucks he saw in
the distance were some kind of animal. He learned about school (and
trucks) when he landed in a refugee camp at the age of nine.
"When Mubarik went back to his family he told his parents that
he wanted to go to school. His mother was sympathetic, but his father
said no. No one in his family had ever been to school, and no one had
anything good to say about getting an education. So his father
thought he was a weak child because he didn't want to walk with the
animals."
Mubarik was anything but weak. He ran away and was able to get
permission to enroll in a public school. Although homeless and hungry
through much of his primary education, he scored high enough on a
national exam to qualify for high school.
His story and those of his classmates will astound you.
On a personal note, the big storm is on the way, due to strike
tonight. The meteorologists are calling for 12 to 22". They're as
excited as little kids the night before Christmas.
A great big shout out goes out to all the people including my Eugene
who will be called on to blizzard battling.
jules hathaway


Sent from my iPod

Friday, January 18, 2019

Piecing Me Together

Piecing Me Together

YA fiction
"For the first two songs, all I can think about is that white
woman's smiling face, her annoying voice. And even though we're all
dressed up in our new clothes, even though none of us has opened our
mouth and talked to her, she thought we were the kind of kids who
wouldn't appreciate classical music. Makes me feel like no matter how
dressed up we are, no matter how respectful we are, some people will
only see what they want to see."
Jade, protagonist of Renee Watson's Piecing Me Together, is a
talented collage artist and high school student shuttling between two
very different worlds. Home is where her domestic worker mom
struggles to put food on the table and her uncle sleeps on a fold out
couch in the living room. Most of the students in her school wouldn't
dare set foot in her neighborhood. Their families have maids. As you
may have guessed, she's black and they're white.
Jade has her heart set on a study abroad program. When she's
summoned to her guidance counselor's office, she has high hopes. Only
what she's been selected for is Woman to Woman: A Mentorship Program
for African American Girls. The guidance counselor is looking to
offset the risk she sees in Jade's "set of circumstances." Although
Jade is not crazy about participating, completing the program will
earn her a college scholarship.
"But girls like me, with coal skin and hula hoop hips, whose
mommas barely make enough money to keep food in the house, have to
take opportunities every chance we get."
Will Jade be able to show that she isn't fundamentally flawed,
that she can give as well as receive?
Read the book and see.
On a personal note, I just got my first week's dining services work
schedule. The spring (in name only weather wise) semester starts in a
matter of days. As much as I've been enjoying vaca I'm ready to get
back into my routine. I really miss my friends and my work family.
Of course that also means going back to posting one review a week.
Over break I've had the chance to be more generous. I've also read
and written more books which I will share in the weeks and months to
come.
A great big shout out goes out to you, my readers, with the hope that
2019 has started off as well for you as it has for me.
jules hathaway



Sent from my iPod

The Newcomers

The Newcomers

Adult nonfiction
"...They could be anywhere from fourteen to nineteen, and a few
would not know exactly how old they were. They come from nations
convulsed by drought or famine or war, countries that are barely
countries anymore. Many came directly from refugee camps. Every so
often he got a student who arrived in the United States alone, having
left or lost every member of his or her family..."
They are teen immigrants and refugees from some of the most
impoverished and volatile regions of the world, places where simply
leaving one's house puts one in peril of rape, murder, or recruitment
into a brutal gang or militia. Now they're experiencing a world of
new language, customs, food, and even weather. For some electricity,
indoor plumbing, and running water are novelties. He is Eddie
Williams, the teacher who shepherds this group of students through the
first part of their American education, trying to get them through the
basics and secure in their new nation. The goal for each is to
acquire a high school diploma before aging out of the public school
system. As you'll see, it can be quite the challenge for teacher and
student.
Author Helen Thorpe embedded herself in Williams' newcomer
English class in Denver's South High School for a year and a half.
The Newcomers covers the students' academic and social growth. With
the help of translators and families willing to let her spend time in
their homes, Thorpe is also able to learn and share the stories behind
the desperate search for new lives.
In the background, like the ominous music in Jaws before the
shark strikes, there is coverage of the rise of Donald Trump from
comic candidate with no chance of winning to president elect.
I think everyone who wants to see America hold true to the
promise embodied in the Statue of Liberty will find The Newcomers to
be a must read.
On a personal note, whenever I read a book like The Newcomers, I walk
through my house, trying to see my life as a refugee would see it, and
realizing how truly privileged I am. I turn on my tap and think of
the millions of people for whom this in house water access would be
nothing short of miracle. It makes me want to do whatever I can to
gain for these people all those things that too many take Americans
for granted that could make huge differences in their lives. Most of
you will never be refugees. But books can help you walk a mile in
their shoes and get to care. Please let them do so.
A great big shout out goes out to those who work with and advocate for
our very vulnerable newcomers.
jules hathaway


Sent from my iPod

One Nation After Trump

One Nation After Trump

Adult nonfiction
"We have had more or less ideological presidents and more or
less competent presidents. We have had presidents who divided the
country and presidents whose opponents saw them as a danger to
everything they believed in. But we have never had a president who
aroused such grave and widespread doubts about his commitment to the
institutions of self-government, to the norms democracy requires, to
the legitimacy of opposition in a free republic, and to the need for
basic knowledge about major policy questions and about how government
works. We have never had a president who daily raises profound
questions about his basic competence and his psychological capacity to
take on the most powerful and challenging political office in the
world..."
One Nation Under Trump is the most thorough guide to the many
dangers our current White House occupant poses for America. Authors
E. J. Dionne, Norman J. Ornstein, and Thomas A. Mann boast serious
scholarship credentials and it shows.
The authors contend that Trump is not only a threat to our
nation, but a product of its weakness. Combining historical
perspective with extensive research, they discuss topics such as:
*why an increasing number of Americans are underrepresented in
presidential elections due to factors such as the Electoral College
giving too much importance to rural areas and a small number of swing
states;
*how Trump's embrace of dictators and conspiracy theories, disrespect
for the press, and looseness with the truth imperil us;
and *how his promises that were never honored hoodwinked the voters in
his "base."
Fortunately the authors hold out hope for the future and present
prenty of ideas for how America can not only survive, but thrive after
the Trump presidency. If you want to be part of this change, One
Nation After Trump is a must read.
On a purrrsonal (Joey is sprawled out on my lap purring) note, the
meteorologists are predicting that after two more days of Arctic chill
Maine will be clobbered with the first major snow storm of the year.
They're calling for 12 to 20 inches. We'll see how much is real and
how much is hype.
A great big shout out goes out to our meteorologists who do the best
they can predicting something as fickle as New England weather.
jules hathaway


Sent from my iPod

Thursday, January 17, 2019

Deviate

Deviate

Adult nonfiction
I've known David for decades, since he and my children were
little kids. One week I found myself wondering where David was and
who the new guy in UMaine's Multicultural Center was.
You already guessed. The new guy was David--shaved and with a
very short hair cut. It took me two days to figure that out.
Beau Lotto, author of Deviate, would not have been surprised.
David had changed enough to not match the David template in my head.
When I heard him speak in a very distinct stacatto I altered my David
template to encompass the new image he was projecting.
Lotto, a neuroscience professor with over two decades of
experience, shows readers that life is more interesting and cooly
complex than most of us imagine. We don't perceive reality. We
can't. We didn't evolve to do so. We evolved to maximize our chances
of not getting chomped by predators. Those of us walking on the Earth
today descended from ancestors able to survive long enough to pass on
their genes.
So what do we perceive? We see, hear, smell, feel, and taste
our perceptions of reality. Let's face it. We are bombarded by
gazillions of stimuli that are inherently meaningless. Our brains are
tasked with creating meaning out of this chaos. If we had to
consciously take in every fragment of reality we'd be overwhelmed and
immobilized.
We have a lot to help us. We have evolutionary knowledge. We
have cultural effects. People from individualistic societies use
different eye motions to process pictures than people from more
communally oriented ones. We have past experiences which are not
limited to physical ones, but can include reading and thought.
It's not all one sided. Our perceptions and actions change our
environments.
Let me give you an example from my life. Most of my time on the
Earth I was perceived as female based on the equipment I was born
with. I was treated in a myriad of ways as first a girl and then a
woman. Then a few years ago I did my first drag show. I did the
theme song from Grease. I won a trophy. People told me what a good
job I did impersonating a guy. Only I wasn't; I was being me. I tend
to walk, dance, sit, and take up space in a typically masuline way.
All my life people have told me to sit more demurely, walk more
daintily, and take an interest in make up. Yuck!
If I wasn't female, I also wasn't transgender. I wasn't so
estranged from womaness that I'd want to transition. I'd been
radiantly pregnant. I loved being a mother.
So who was I? Fortunately I discovered that the terms gender
fluid or nonconforming fit me like a glove. I incorporated this
epiphany into my identity. This caused me to feel, think, and present
differently. But change didn't stop there. Encountering me as two
spirit (my favorite term for gender fluid) changed the way people
perceive and treat me. I'm a changed person navigating an altered
environment.
How cool is that?
If you have the chutzpah to question just about everything you
believe about how you perceive life, you'll find Deviate to be a must
read.
On a personal note, today is Eugene's birthday. He isn't much on
birthdays. He says it's just another day. I think he doesn't like
being the center of attention. I made molasses cake which you serve
up with Cool Whip for his birthday cake. I gave him a card and a gift
card from a local sporting goods store. Amber plans to throw a family
party for him and Adam early in February.
I have my cat shirts and some other favorites hanging in the studio
closet. So how many cat shirts do I have? 25. It's a good start.
A great big shout out goes out to Eugene who I hope is with us a lot
more years!!!
jules hathaway


Sent from my iPod

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Funny Girl

Funny Girl

Juvenile humor
"Grandma opened the trunk and pulled out a cardboard box. It
held the glass clown she'd bought in Montana.
She took the clown and put it
in the back seat
next to me.
It was the kind of clown that shows up in horror movies. I was
afraid that if the lightning didn't get us we'd be eaten by the
clown. And I would be unable to get away from it because my mother
wouldn't let me unbuckle my seat belt."
In "Grandma In Oil Country: A True Story" Ursula Vernon
describes a three generation family road trip. That story is only one
of the gems Betsy Bird collected for her anthology of humor offerings
by a pantheon of women authors: Funny Girl. Reading it is like
enjoying a box of fancy mixed chocolates. Some of the other treats
the reader will savor are:
*Libba Bray's A Public Service Announcement About Your Period from
Sarah Wrigley Age 12 1/2 in which the protagonist handles a still too
often taboo topic with insight and humor including this memorable
description:
"I did NOT get to watch Super Housewives. Instead Mom made me
watch a period-explaining YouTube video while my little brother ran
back and forth shouting, 'Fallopian tubes! Overies! Uterus!' which,
PS, he was still shouting when we went to the grocery store later.";
*Lenore Look's The Smart Girl's Guide to the Chinese Zodiac which puts
a very novel spin on this ancient calendar;
and *Shannon Hale's Babysitting Nightmare which may be enough to make
some youngsters decide to at least temporarily opt out of that form of
employment.
Bird's introduction will resonate with just about anyone who's
had a crush. If her name rings a bell, it's because back in 2014 we
looked at Wild Things: Acts of Mischief in Children's Literature. I
hope to see more from her in the future.
In addition to being a published author, Bird is a librarian and
reviewer. Being a library volunteer and reviewer, I have two elements
of the trifecta. As for the third...
...a two spirit can dream and solicit publishers.
The variety of formats (graphic arts, quiz, zodiac, Mad Lib
etc.) in Funny Girl makes it a great template for anything from Girl
Scout troops to informal friendship circles to create their own
volumes. Humor is a nonthreatening genre to create and an enjoyable
one to read.
On a personal note, it is a sunny but frigid day. I am so glad to not
have to go out. Yesterday was balmy--in the 30's. I took Joey to the
vet to get a shot. Then I did a just for fun Goodwill trip and found
cat shirts. Last night I realized I've worn dresses maybe twice last
semester (something about a job that requires wearing jeans) and cat
shirts just about every day. So it makes no sense for my dresses to
be hung up in the studio closet and my cat shirts piled up in a
drawer. One of my tasks today will be to swap them, arranging the cat
shirts by color. I wonder how many I have.
A great big shout out goes out to the fine folks at Veazie Vet.
jules hathaway



Sent from my iPod

Waking Up White

Waking Up White

Adult nonfiction
"For years I struggled silently to understand race and racism.
I had no way to make sense of debates in the media about whether the
white guy was 'being a racist' or the black guy was 'playing the race
card.' I wanted close friends of color, but kept ending up with white
people as my closest friends...Most confusing were unwanted racist
thoughts that made me feel like a jerk. I felt too embarassed to
admit any of this, which prevented me from going in search of answers."
Fortunately Debby Irving's paralysis wasn't permanent. She's
done a lot of research and reflection on the topics of racism and
white privilege. And she's candidly served all her findings up in her
memoir: Waking Up White.
Irving was born toward the end of the baby boom, the last of
five children. She was raised in a wealthy suburb from which her
investment lawyer father commuted to Boston. Her schools were
excellent. Popular television shows featured families like hers.
There was access to a country club and a ski club. Extended family
and family friends made up a network of connections capable of paving
her way to a privileged adult life.
Irving was not aware of the advantages she was surrounded with
or the disadvantages they required others to suffer. She was taught
as a child growing up in New England that ability and hard work were
the prerequisites for a guarantee of success. Therefore, people who
were not doing so well had to be deficient in one or the other or both.
A movie shown in a graduate class really opened Irving's eyes.
Her father had had law school paid for and a home subsidized by the GI
Bill which had given returning white WWII veterans a real boost in
life. It didn't, however, do the same for the black veterans who had
also risked life and limb. Due to black student quotas, few
qualifying veterans of color accessed free education. Federal Housing
Authority policies made the promised home ownership an impossible
dream for most of the black veterans.
Once Irving's eyes were opened there was no going back. This
epiphany led her into a laborious peeling away of the tangled layers
of racism in everyday life and the ways they perpetuate privilege for
whites and danger and destitution for blacks. Waking Up White is an
in depth description and analysis of the problem. Her narrative is
delivered in a highly intimate and readable format: her life story.
If you believe that the liberty and justice for all alluded to
in the Pledge of Allegiance should be more than empty words, you'll
want to read the book.
On a personal note, I can't say enough times how important it is for
those of us who are white to be aware of how we unfairly benefit from
skin color and work toward dismantling the system that privileges us.
It's a huge task, but achievable.
A great big shout out goes out to all who acknowledge and educate
others about this societal evil.
jules hathaway


Sent from my iPod

Tuesday, January 15, 2019

Things That Make White People Uncomfortable

Things That Make White People Uncomfortable

Adult inspirational
"...I can't hide behind the glamour and glitz of football and
fame. The reality is that I'm a Black man in America and I'm going to
be a Black man in America long after I'm out of this league. There is
too much in this country dragging down the poor, women, and kids, and
we can't he hiding behind gated communities, pretending these things
are happening somewhere else."
Michael Bennet, activist and Super Bowl champion, is one of the
well known athletes who could not in good conscience stand for the
national anthem before games in a time when white police officers kept
killing unarmed blacks and totally getting away with it. It was the
coolest thing to happen in professional sports in my life time:
athletes using their fame to bring public attention to injustice in a
way that lesser known folks, such as this reviewer, well, can't. They
got a lot of hate for that. Many people down to and including the
president of the United States wanted athletes to just shut up and
play already. There was a lot of nasty talk about really low key,
dignified gestures. Trump called the athletes sons of bitches
I'm not a watcher of football or any professional organized
sport. But I knew who Bennett is. When I saw that he'd written a
book, Things That Make White People Uncomfortable, I was over the
moon. I made haste to get my hands on it. I devoured each and every
chapter. Someday I hope to meet Bennet and thank him for this candid
and eloquent volume.
Bennett shares candidly with readers his life experiences and
the issues about which he is passionate. In the chapter titled "N--
er" he speaks of his evolving relationship to the word. In his
younger years he accepted it from fellow blacks, but not whites.
Reading Maya Angelou's thoughts on racial slurs made him realize:
"It needs to stop. A lot of people have lost their lives
because of that word, whether we're talking about lynchings or Black
people killing other Black people. It can take a conversation and
turn it into something savage at the drop of a hat. It's a word that
brings the ugliest part of our past into the present..."
Bennett starts his chapter on the Black Lives Matter movement
with a description of the death of Charleena Lyles, a poor black
pregnant mother of four who, after calling the police, fearful that
someone was trying to break into her apartment, was shot to death with
several of her children present. He segues into how the movement is
about "...resisting the 'New Jim Crow,' a social system that has
created a parallel, separate, and unequal America, defined by mass
incarceration, unemloyment, and substandard food and education..." He
lets whites know that awareness of the system should make us very
uncomfortable. Instead of numbing this discomfort or channeling it
into anger at the inconvenient truth tellers, we should join in the
fight to dismantle the injustices that allow us to benefit
undeservedly from our skin color and to realize at a gut level that
Black lives matter every bit as much as ours.
Things That Make White People Uncomfortable is a must read for
all white people. I say that as someone whose genetics would have
made the 1920's eugenics people drool. If we're comfortable with the
status quo we're asleep at the wheel and part of the problem.
On a personal note, I've been out of any kind of comfort zone most of
my life. Not only am I white, but my ancestors owned slaves and, yes,
knew them nonconsensually in the Biblical sense. I channeled my
discomfort into white hot anger to change the situation. For ages
I've refused to say the Pledge of Allegiance, even when I chaired
school committee meetings with a tv camera on me, rather than pay lip
service to America rocking liberty and justice for all. I write
opinion pieces for the local paper about white privilege and why we
need to dismantle it, sooner rather than later. And silent bystander
is never a way anyone would describe me.
I will never forget that the night Trayvon Martin was killed my son,
Adam, who was two years younger, did the exact same thing he did,
going out to a store, wearing a hoodie, to buy candy and a drink.
Adam came home with treats to share. Trayvon's mother got the worst
news possible for a parent. I remember thinking "Damnit, she did not
deserve that!" because I was thinking mother to mother, not white to
black. The red hot anger I got in touch with that night fuels a lot
of my work against racism and white privilege.
A great big shout out goes out to Bennett and the other fine writers
who take huge risks to tell the truth.
jules hathaway




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Friday, January 11, 2019

The Dangerous Case Of Donald Trump

The Dangerous Case Of Donald Trump

Adult nonfiction
"Possibly the oddest experience in my career as a psychiatrist
has been to find that the only people not allowed to speak about an
issue are those who know the most about it. Hence, the truth is
suppressed. Yet, what if that truth, furthermore, harbored dangers of
such magnitude that it could be the key to future human survival?..."
The dilemma which Bandy Lee describes in her introduction to The
Dangerous Case Of Donald Trump: 27 Psychiatrists and Mental Health
Professionals Assess A President revolves around the America
Psychiatric Association's extension of the Goldwater Rule. The 1973
Goldwater Rule says that it is "unethical for a psychiatrist to offer
a professional opinion [on a public figure] unless he or she has
conducted an examination and has been granted proper authorization for
such a statement." The extension enacted in 2017 (shortly after the
current president took office) stipulates that mental health
professionals can't mention their profession when making any kind of
statement about a public figure.
Fortunately there is also the 1976 Tarasoff Decision which
mandates psychiatrists to speak out publically to warn and protect
potential victims when they determine a particular person is dangerous.
Which rule trumps which when the person in question is the
President of the United States?
After the 2016 election Lee and Judith Lewis Herman circulated
letters of concern among colleagues. A number were fearful of
presidential retaliation. The Yale Conference concerning all that
(April 2017) was sparsely attended. In person, that is. Many more
people tuned in on line. The book resulted from it.
I urge you to read the book--just not right before you go to bed
if you want a good night's sleep. The contributers are well respected
professionals with scads of degrees between them. Their narratives
are concise, all too relevant, and reader friendly.
If your public library doesn't yet have a copy, make sure they
acquire one. Many fellow concerned citizens will be glad you did.
On a personal note, well, yesterday was a red letter day for me. I
paid my spring semester tuition and fees and still have a decent
emergency fund. Thanks, dining services! Then I finished shelf
reading the Orono Public Library juvenile wing. The librarians are
some happy about that. I decided I'd keep track of my volunteer hours
in 2019--see if I can get in 100. Where I have 14--86 to go--I think
I will.
We are starting a few day stretch of bitter cold weather. I'm lucky
to be able to stay in with Joey cat! I have a turkey thawed and oven
ready so when Eugene comes home from working out in the cold he'll be
able to sit down to a good turkey dinner. Life is good.
A great big shout out goes out to my fellow library volunteers. We do
a lot of what needs to get done to keep those fine institutions open.
jules hathaway



Sent from my iPod

Tuesday, January 8, 2019

Love, Hate, & Other Filters

Love, Hate, & Other Filters

YA fiction
"The night is beautiful, clear, and bright with silvery stars.
But of course I'm walking across a noxious parking lot with my parents
toward a wedding where a well meaning auntie [honorific for adult, not
blood kin] will certainly pinch my cheeks like I'm two years old, and
a kindly uncle [same] will corner me about my college plans with the
inevitable question: premed or prelaw? In other words, it's time to
wear a beauty pageant smile while keeping a very stiff upper lip..."
Maya, protagonist of Samira Ahmed's Love, Hate, & Other Filters,
must choose between being the good daughter her traditional Indian
parents desire her to be and following her dreams. Their plans
include a college close to home, a high status, secure career, and
marriage to a proper Indian boy from a good family. She has secretly
applied to and been accepted by New York University, the school of her
dreams, to study film making. She has to tell her parents soon and
dreads the drama. The parent approved good Indian boy she's
introduced to at the wedding doesn't make her heart race like her
school's very white football captain.
This clash between two worlds and Maya's quest for self
determination would make for a fascinating enough book. But there's
also an undercurrent of suspense. Between chapters there are terse
descriptions of a troubled young man whose actions will bring
heightened prejudice down on Maya's Islamic family.
Love, Hate, & Other Filters is the authentic coming of age
narrative of a woman with some pretty high stakes decisions to make in
a frighteningly unpredictable world.
I can't end this review without quoting the end of the author's
note;
"And for those who bear the brunt of hope because of the color
of their skin, or the sound of their name, or the scarf on their head,
or the person they love; for those who are spat upon, for those who
are told to 'go home' when they are home: You are known. You are
loved. You are enough. Let your light shine.
I wrote this book for you."
On a personal note, I am in the middle of a two day snow storm and so
glad I don't have to walk to the bus stop in the middle of it. I'm
chilling with precious Joey cat--reading, writing, and spring
cleaning. Last night we and Eugene watched Home Alone 2, one of my
favorites. I had plenty of Christmas candy. Talk about quality time!
I still have thirteen days of vaca left. I'm seriously missing work
and my work family. I've been looking through cookbooks to find new
recipes to try out on them and a blank book in which to copy down the
ones they like.
A great big shout out goes out to my work family who I miss very much.
jules hathaway



Sent from my iPod

Sunday, January 6, 2019

My Brigadista Year

My Brigadista Year

Juvenile historical fiction
"'Ai-ee' In all my thirteen years, I hadn't heard a screech like
that since the time I accidentally stepped on the cat's tail. But now
it was my own mama's voice shrieking to high heaven.
My father, usually so quiet, wasn't much better. He was shaking
his head and pacing like a caged lion. "No! No! No! Lora! Lora!
Lora! This is unheard of. What were you thinking?'"
After reading the first two paragraphs of Katherine Paterson's
My Brigadista Year, I'm sure you're wondering what Lora had done to
cause such collective parental panic. No, nothing to do with sex or
drugs. And in 1961 the Internet was not a presence in even the most
tech savvy of homes.
Rebels led by Castro have ousted the dictator Batista (who was
American backed--another instance of us intervening in matters we had
no business messing in). Castro has decided that Cuba will become
totally literate in one year. He's calling on young people with
reading and writing skills to join an army of literacy teachers. They
will live with illiterate families and help with daily work as well as
sharing skills.
Of course Lola's parents have wellbeing and safety concerns.
She's never spent a night away from home. Her potential hosts will
lack running water, indoor plumbing, and electricity. There are
people who will do whatever it takes to stop the project. Bandidos
have already killed one literacy worker.
They have other concerns also. The family is Catholic and very
traditional in their gender role expectations. From earliest
childhood Lora and her little brothers have been treated very
differently with the sons strongly favored. What kind of ideas will
she get? Her uniform will consist of trousers and shirt (men's
clothes) rather than a proper dress.
When Paterson heard of this successful campaign she wanted to
learn more. 250,000 volunteers instructed 700,000 fellow citizens.
In later years many considered the year to be the defining moment of
their lives. Read this fascinating narrative to learn about yet
another historical achievement United States schools feel free to
ignore.
Cuba is one of the nations I most want to visit. They have the
world's highest literacy rate. They could teach us a thing or two or
a hundred about urban farming. And they have universal health care,
something their wealthy neighbor to the north has yet to achieve.
In her author's note Paterson comments that "...It was an
adventure for me to see the world through the eyes of a young person
in a society quite different from my own. Through Lora's eyes, the
revolution was a new day for her family and for a country that had
long suffered under the corrupt dictatorship of Batista. She was
excited to be a part of that new day, and as I wrote about her, so was
I."
I believe that you, as a reader, will be too.
On a personal note, I have updates on two places where I've left you
hanging. The made-from-scratch bean soup was quite tasty. I have no
clue if it tasted the way it was supposed to. But Eugene served
himself to seconds which was a good sign. I put five more hours on my
shelf reading mission. I've finished picture, series, and chapter
books. Next time I'll be in the belly of the beast: juvenile
nonfiction.
A great big shout out goes to the fine librarians, fellow volunteers,
and patrons of the Orono Public Library.
jules hathaway


Sent from my iPod

Saturday, January 5, 2019

Dopesick

Dopesick

Adult nonfiction
"Drug overdose had already taken the lives of 300,000 Americans
over the past fifteen years, and experts now predicted that 300,000
more would die in only the next five. It is now the leading cause of
death for Americans under the age of fifty, killing more people than
guns or car accidents, at a rate higher than the HIV epidemic at its
peak.
The rate of casualties is so unprecedented that it's almost
impossible to look at the total number dead--and at the doctors and
mothers and teachers and foster parents who survive them--and not
wonder why the nation's response has been so slow in coming and so
impotently executed when it finally did."
If you're wondering along those lines, Beth Macy's Dopesick:
Dealers, Doctors, and The Drug Company That Addicted America is a must
read. In this thoroughy researched volume Macy traces the trajectory
of the opiod addiction epidemic from 1996 when Purdue Pharma began the
widespread distribution and promotion of OxyContin, capitilizing of
the then prevalent idea that pain was criminally undertreated, through
the spread of the drug from impoverished Appalachian hamlets to
suburbia, to the mess we're currently in, where Maine's first woman
governor addressed the problem in her inauguration speech this week.
Macy points to a number of clues.
1) Rather than the scruffy dealers and criminal syndicates we
associate with the tragedy of drug addiction, the culprit was a major
pharmaceutical company with deep pockets and a stable of lawyers. The
intermediaries were the legions of physicians Perdue seduced through a
wide range of gifts including luxury vacations. The converted doctors
prescribed liberal amounts of drugs. Most people don't question
doctors' decisions. Many folks started a journey to Hell on Earth
with a routine trip to a doctor or a dentist. Any attempts to remedy
the situation were crushed by corporate lawyers.
2) The first victims were the impoverished residents of hard
scrabble mountain towns. Until the crisis spread to suburban high
schools, the crisis wasn't visible to much of America.
3) America has a punitive, rather than rehabilitative, stance
when it comes to drugs. We invest in prisons rather than treatment.
Dopesick is highly informative and eminently readable. Many of
the victims and their families are people Macy knows intimately and
cares deeply about. The people readers get to know are a lot like us
and our kids. If you care about the current drug epidemic and realize
there are no easy solutions--we can't imprison or DARE our way out--
Dopesick is a must read.
On a personal note, when my kids were a lot younger I had a
conversation with the father of an addict that I could never forget.
His only child was out there, turning tricks to afford drugs. He
could not go to bed secure that he wouldn't get a call from a
hospital, jail, or morgue. I was so fortunate that my kids grew up
clean. In fact as an EMT my son brings people who have overdosed back
from the brink.
Actually I'm the one in the family who had the narcotics
vulnerability. I had three children by c section at a time when
morphine seemed to be given to surgical patients like trick or treat
candy. The nurses didn't like this. They urged me to get off it as
fast as possible to prevent addiction. I did each time.
My other close encounter involved oral surgery. The doctor
wanted to send me home with a bottle of strong opiates. My response
was "No way in Hell." I wasn't knowledgeable or virtuous. I was
pregnant and not about to take anything that might harm my unborn
baby. We argued until I said, "Give me the damn prescription. That
way we just waste a piece of paper." I made do with Tylenol regular
strength. Thanks, Adam!
A great big shout out goes out to all the brave and generous souls who
battle the epidemic and work valiently to save and rehabilitate its
victims.
jules hathaway



Sent from my iPod

Friday, January 4, 2019

Scholastic Dictionary of Idioms

Scholastic Dictionary of Idioms

Juvenile reference
English has a lot of quirky idioms. Many of them have really
interesting origins. When we talk of letting the cat out of the bag
we mean revealing a secret prematurely. Centuries ago in England
people would buy pigs from farmers. Only some dishonest farmers
fooled them by substituting cats. A customer wouldn't know he'd been
scammed until he went home and opened the bag.
In Scholastic Dictionary Of Idioms Marvin Terban serves up the
stories behind over 600 idioms. Readers will learn that:
*An ace up one's sleeve (hidden advantage) goes back to the days when
most garments didn't have pockets. In the 1800s hiding aces this way
became a favorite gambit of dishonest, betting for money card players.
*Bite the bullet (prepare for an unpleasant experience) is a relic
from the Civil War. On the battlefield surgeons had to do serious
procedures like amputations without anaesthetics. Biting down on an
actual bullet was supposed to help a patient cope with the pain.
*Clip your wings (take away freedom) goes back to an ancient Roman
practice of making birds unable to fly away.
*Humble pie was originally umble pie which was stuffed with animal
hearts, livers, and entrails. It was not only gross, but the food of
lowly servants.
*I've heard people question using "hit the hay" to mean go to bed.
During the Great Depression this was the literal truth for many people
travelling the country seeking any kind of work.
*The instruction "keep your shirt on" goes back to the days when
dueling was a legal way to settle differences. There were no miracle
products back then for removing blood stains from garments.
*In today's parlance the black sheep of a family was the one whose
life style shamed the clan. Back in the day a black sheep was a black
sheep. White sheep were preferred because their wool could be dyed
any color the shearer desired. Black wool remained black. In these
days when very few of us engage in sheep raising and shearing I see a
black sheep as someone whose thoughts, speech, and acts can't be
corrupted by the values of the dominant society. Needless to say, I
am a proud black sheep.
It was hard to choose just a few and skip over the rest (such as
the original hot seat being Old Sparky aka the electric chair).
Most people will find Scholastic Book Of Idioms to be a fine
reference volume. Some hard core geeks (like yours truly) might read
it cover to cover and use the knowledge contained therein to impress
friends.
On a personal note, Maine is back in winter wonderland mode. I've
been quite contented to stay in and clean, write near the tree, and
read on the sofa near the tree every time Joey cat needed to cuddle.
That cat is really enjoying my vaca extra availability. Today,
though, when Eugene said he'd be going to Bangor to pay the cell phone
bill I threw on jeans and a UMaine shirt to accompany him, sure I'd be
able to talk him into a short detour. I wicked lucked out at
Goodwill. I found a musical snow globe and three shirts: a cat shirt
(of course), an owl shirt, and a shirt that says, "In a field of
horses be a unicorn." Then we went to Old Town Trading Post and, while
he was looking at hunting and fishing stuff, I stealthily purchased
his birthday gift card. Right now I'm trying to cook him the kind of
beans you have to soak overnight and cook for hours and hoping it
won't be a total disaster like last time when I concocted something
resembling and smelling like sewer sludge.
A great big shout goes out to the gang at Old Town Trading Post, a
very community involved local store.
jules hathaway



Sent from my iPod

Wednesday, January 2, 2019

A Spark Of Light

A Spark Of Light

Adult fiction
"Hostage negotiation is not a test of your manhood. It is not a
chance to be a knight in shining armor, or a way to get your fifteen
minutes of fame. It may go your way, and it may not, no matter how
textbook your responses are. Don't take it personally.
But Hugh had known from the get-go that this was never going to
be possible, not today, not this time, because this was a different
situation altogether. There were God knew how many dead bodies in the
clinic, plus five hostages who were still alive. And one of them was
his kid."
Hugh is one of the main characters of Jodi Picault's A Spark Of
Light. A police officer trained in hostage negotiation, he has to
talk an active shooter into releasing the hostages he's holding in an
abortion clinic. One is his only child who he has raised as a single
parent. His life revolves around her. In addition to all that he's
wondering why she's be at a place where they'd terminate unwanted
pregnancies. She's only fifteen.
Actually Hugh and the shooter, George, have something in
common: devotion to a beloved child. George has learned that his Lil
has come to this place. He's sure someone there has convinced or
coerced her into committing an act that he, as a right to lifer and
fundamentalist Christian, finds unacceptable--an act that will consign
her to Hell for all eternity. Now he's desperate and dangerous,
backed up against the proverbial wall. No matter what Hugh promises,
George is sure that if he releases the hostages a SWAT team will swoop
in and kill him.
Piccoult used a bold technique that very few novelists could
pull off. She started at a pivotal moment in the drama and worked her
way backward. Her narrative, told through multiple perspectives, lets
readers get to know the thoughts and feelings of the men caught up in
a life or death drama and the other people whose lives hang in the
balance.
Piccoult's many fans, suspense story affecianados, and people
willing to ponder on the ethical and moral complexities of abortion
will find A Spark Of Light to be a must read.
On a personal note, my younger daughter, Katie, has been my book buddy
almost all her life. We started with board and picture books and
worked our way through Goosebumps and Sarah Dessen's YA offerings to
adult novels. These days we discuss what we're reading and recommend
favorites regularly in our phone conversations. She's taken the
initiative to start her own book club.
Jodi Piccoult has been one of our absolute favorite authors. We love
not only her masterfully crafted novels, but her willingness to take
on controversial issues and to share her own thoughts and feelings in
author's notes. Katie gave me A Spark Of Light for Christmas. I read
it New Years Eve. It is one of my most precious possessions.
Great big shouts go out to Piccoult for her consistantly masterful and
thought provoking offerings and Katie for being my book buddy and
amazing daughter.
jules hathaway


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Rage Becomes Her: The Power Of Women's Anger

Rage Becomes Her: The Power Of Women's Anger

Adult herstory
Anger is my friend. Some of the things it has done for me are:
*Empowered me to do something difficult as in when I testified in
court against a man who attempted to rape me, knowing that his lawyer
would try to make me out to be a seductive slut;
*Strengthened me to persevere in the face of challenge as in when I
wouldn't give up on being elected to school committee in a town where
I was considered trailor park trash;
*Gained me adequate medical treatment as the first doctor I saw after
I fractured my wrist didn't even bother to xray, claiming if I'd
really broken a bone I'd be in a lot more pain;
*Saved my life as in when I had the chutzpah to demand a nurse take my
vitals after the doctor on rounds after I'd given birth dismissed
symptoms I reported as the imagination of a first time mother;
and *Saved my sanity when society let me know that, as a woman who had
taken time out to raise three children, I deserved nothing better than
retail or fast food work. That amply fueled my search for better and
the tenacity with which I pursued that better when I discovered what
it was.
Seeing how powerful and useful anger is and how much we have to
be angry about, you'd think women and two spirits would be rocking
it. But no. We've been taught all our lives that it's a male
prerogative. It makes people uncomfortable. It's our duty to
reassure them when our anger makes them so uneasy or, better yet,
never display anger in the first place.
For these reasons I was thrilled when I read Soraya Chemaly's
Anger Becomes Her: The Power Of Women's Anger. Chemaly shows us that,
rather than impotent bitterness, anger is a powerful and hopeful
emotion, a catalyst for action toward a better world. The three
strands of her narrative are:
1) Women have a lot of things to be angry about. We (I am including
gender fluid folks like myself) live in a world that chooses to
instruct us to keep ourselves timidly safe rather than making it clear
to males that sexual predation and harassment are not acceptable. Our
symptoms are downplayed and disregarded by doctors to the point where
some of us pay the ultimate price for their ignorance. Educated and
credentialed women are seen by peers as being less credible. Job
discrimination is alive and well. And how about all those
microaggressions?
2) We are trained to suppress any signs of anger from earliest
childhood on while the anger of male peers is encouraged or at least
tolerated. Women who are angry are seen as bitter or humorless party
poopers. Amgry men are men's men. Recall during the 2016 election
Trump was all about anger while Clinton had to operate knowing that
any show of even the most legitimate anger on her part would make her
harshly criticized and seen by many as less electable?
3) The anger we suppress doesn't dissipate. It harms us both
physically and psychologically. "...By the time a woman reaches
midlife, the most significant predictors of her general health are her
level of stress and where she ranks in terms of keeping her 'anger in.'"
Fortunately there are ways to not only cultivate our anger, but
to put it to good use. Chemaly provides us with a wealth of options.
So I would recommend this most excellent book to all women, gender
nonconforming people, and the men who have potential to be allies.
After her grandmother who had no problem with expressing anger
died Chemaly wrote down everything positive she could think about
anger. I want to close this review with some of her thoughts:
"...Anger is an assertion of rights and worth. It is
communication, equality, and knowledge. It is intimacy, acceptance,
fearlessness, embodiment, revolt, and reconciliation. Anger is memory
and rage. It is rational thought and irrational pain. Anger is
freedom, independence, expansiveness, and entitlement. It is justice,
passion, clarity, and motivation...
Your anger is a gift you give to yourself and the world that is
yours. In anger, I have lived more fully, freely, intensely,
sensitively, and politically. If ever there was a time not to silence
yourself, to channel your anger into healthy places and choices, this
is it."
AMEN!!!!!!!
On a personal note, ironically very few people would use angry to
describe me. I'm usually described as a motivator, an encourager, a
ray of sunshine. I can use my anger creatively because I am familiar
and comfortable with it. I have written regular opinion pieces for
the Bangor Daily News for six years on topics that enrage me, for
example. Anger helps me express myself quite articulately and
convincingly.
A great big shout out goes out to Chemaly for reminding us that anger,
far from diminishing us, greatly becomes us.
jules hathaway


Sent from my iPod

Tuesday, January 1, 2019

This Is How We Do It

This Is How We Do It

Children's nonfiction
When you were younger did you wonder about the lives of peers
around the world? I did. Actually I still do. That's one of the
reasons I'm such a voracious reader.
Matt Lamothe's This Is How We Do It describes a typical day in
the lives of children in Iran, Italy, India, Japan, Peru, Uganda, and
Russia. You can see with their families on the last two page spread.
The book is organized around a series of questions children would ask
such as:
* What do they eat?
*What do they wear?
*How do they play?
*How do they help their families?
The format allows for compare and contrast.
The pictures beautifully extend the ideas of the text and raise
questions. There is a wide range in the school pictures--from
computers and many learning accessories (Italy) to pencils and paper
(Uganda). Why? There are no girls in the Uganda and Iran
classrooms. Where could they be? Why does the Uganda child sleep
under a mosquito net?
I love that only one child is seen watching tv in the evening
activities section. The others are happily engaged with family members.
I think that This Is How We Do It is a most excellent
acquisition for school and public libraries.
On a personal note, I had a great New Year's Eve. I made Eugene
and me a really nice supper with his favorite molasses cake (made from
scratch) for dessert. I put on my new Christmas cat one piece pajamas
which are as comfy as they are gorgeous. I read the book Katie gave
me for Christmas, A Spark Of Light by Jodi Puccoult, one of our
favorite authors, near the lovely tree with Joey cat purring on my lap
and plenty of candy. 2018 was one of the most momentous years of my
life. I got accepted into the graduate program of my dreams and
discovered that it was even more amazing than I'd dreamed it would
be. I found the job of my dreams in dining services. Not only did it
allow me to earn money for tuition, fees, and books, but it provided
me with work I love, people who are like a family to me, and the one
place I could feel competent and secure when the challenge of learning
to use a computer while I was required to use it to produce content
(sorta like learning in a second language) had me wondering if I could
succeed in my field of study. I feel like it was a transition year
and 2019 will be a building year. So my three modest resolutions are:
(1) Work dilligently in school and continue building computer skills;
(2) work dilligently on the job and continue to learn workplace
skills; and (3) work on that elusive school/work/social life balance.
A great big shout out goes out to all who helped make my 2018 so
amazing and blessed.
jules hathaway


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