The other night I had a friend tell me that "fiction is a luxury" he doesn't have time for. As a doctor, much of his reading is, of course, work related. For him, though, even the reading he does in his free time is all about learning so he sticks to nonfiction. I must say that I felt a bit sorry for him; he has never discovered how much there is to be learned from fiction and he doesn't allow himself to be lost in a book. What do you think - is fiction a luxury?
Here's What I'm:
Listening To: On Pandora, I've got a new station: Movie Soundtracks. I am LOVING it! I get to hear songs from Disney, songs that just scream out the movie they were in (Old Time Rock and Roll from "Risky Business," for example), songs from more recent movie musicals. Mostly, though, it's the songs that you've heard throughout the movie, including Gary Jules covering Tears for Fears' "Mad World" in "Donnie Darko." Love, love this song and this version. I'm finding lots of new songs to enjoy, too, which is half the fun.
As far as books go, I finished The Plague of Doves this week. If you remember my review of Anita Diamont's The Last Days of Dogtown, you'll have a good idea of the way I ended up feeling about this one.
Watching: This afternoon I'll be watching Defiant Requiem: Voices of Resistance on PBS. Here's the show description:
In the spring of 1944, a handpicked group of Nazi officers was treated to an unusual performance by inmates in a concentration camp. What appeared to be a soaring rendition of a choral masterpiece was intended as a subversive condemnation of the Nazis and a desperate message to the outside world. In the face of horrific living conditions, slave labor and the constant threat of deportation to Auschwitz, the Jewish inmates of Terezin concentration camp — artists, musicians, poets and writers — fought back with art and music.
Watch Preview on PBS. See more from Defiant Requiem: Voices of Resistance.
There it is again - Terezin. A place I had never heard of until I read a book a few months ago. After I read that book, I did some research of Terezin. So when the commercial for this show started, I immediately recognized the setting. It's amazing to me that this place and time in history has now shown up three times in just a few months. Did I just miss it before?
Reading: I'll be finishing up Sarah Vowell's The Wordy Shipmates tomorrow for this month's book club meeting. My head is swimming from all I've learned! I'm hoping to get caught up with The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle today. It's much less intimidating than I had anticipated, although I find myself really highlighting and taking notes in it, too, trying to make sure I'm catching things. I'll continue reading that this week and I'll also pick up Lionel Shriver's The New Republic for review next week.
Making: I'm making bread this weekend. I haven't made yeast bread in more than 20 years and then I wasn't too successful. But my friend assures me that this recipe is foolproof and I'm just the fool to test it. It's rising even as I type.
Planning: I have a project I'm working on right now but it's a secret so I can't tell you about it just yet.
Grateful for: Great friends - who made sitting in 36 degree temps at the ballpark on Friday night fun.
Loving: The sunshine I'm basking in as I type this. Nebraska typically has very sunny winters but this has been a particularly grey winter and spring, so far, as not been much better.
Thinking: Some of you are doing a lot better at this thing called life than I am. How do you keep all of those plates spinning with out any of them crashing to the floor?
What are you loving this week?
No comments:
Post a Comment