Crime and Punishment
Posted: August 17, 2011 Filed under: Book of Sand 1 Commentby Fyodor Dostoevsky
I’ve always been an avid reader, but classics intimidate me. My high school English classes went through quite a few – although, that means I have only a tenth-grade understanding of books like Moby Dick (is it worth trying again?) and zero understanding of The Scarlet Letter (I confess, I barely skimmed the CliffsNotes) or Far From the Madding Crowd (I had a friend summarize it for me. Thanks, Alicia). I feel like, as an adult – an intelligent and literate adult, at that – I have a responsibility to read the classics. Surely they are justly deemed to be great works of literature, right? I think my hesitance comes from my underwhelmed reaction to many of the classics I read in high school.
I started reading Crime and Punishment before I had kids. It may have even been before I was married. I absolutely loved the first few chapters – and then, the book was suddenly overdue. I tend to check out a half dozen books at a time and rack up immense library fines. (Don’t worry; I’ve since banned myself from the library.) A year or so after I started Crime and Punishment, I checked it out again, but I couldn’t find my place, so I began reading from the beginning. I got to approximately the same spot and, once again, I got distracted by other books and ended up paying a fine for my late returns. Fortunately, last year for my birthday the Romgi bought me a Kindle, and I downloaded a free copy of Crime and Punishment – no fees, regardless of how long it took me to read.
Well, it was several months. I started from the beginning and was determined to get through it, partly because I made it a goal on my list of 101 things to do in 1001 days. And I still loved it. I’d gotten used to the feel of the first few chapters and I was surprised, pleasantly, when the tone shifted a little and the plot expanded. I had no idea there would be a large cast of characters (I really am ignorant, aren’t I?) or that the plot would involve more than just the eponymous crime. (Please tell me I’ve correctly used the word eponymous here. It might be the first time I’ve actually used it and I’d hate to ruin the experience.) Obviously, punishment is part of the story as well, but the book was much different from the vague idea I had in my head. (I have no idea where or how I formed my idea of the book.)
Are you still with me? You’re so great.
Crime and Punishment did not disappoint. It was wonderfully written – the storytelling and translation were both excellent. This definitely deserves its status as a classic. It shouldn’t intimidate you. I found that reading up on Dostoevsky after finishing the book, rather than before, made me appreciate the story much more. Do you like to learn some background information about the author before you read a book?
When I feel up to it, I want to re-read The Stranger and compare it to Crime and Punishment. I suppose it’s been done before. It seems like an obvious comparison – but quite fascinating. Have you read both? What’s your opinion?
Buy Crime and Punishment on Amazon
Bizarre
Posted: August 16, 2011 Filed under: Bartleby the Scrivener 2 CommentsWhen the Romgi and I were first married, we worked together at a call center. Our work day began at 6:30am, which meant we had to go to bed and get up early. I don’t know about you, but I hate the “Early to bed, early to rise” mantra. I’d much rather stay up until 2am and sleep until 10. Combine that with my poor self-discipline (which was even worse in those days) and it meant I usually didn’t get much sleep.
One day at Costco we saw a bottle of melatonin tablets, recommended for helping you sleep better. A quick summary of the Wikipedia article: mammals secrete the hormone melatonin during darkness, and some studies have suggested a link between increased melatonin levels and better sleep. It’s currently sold as a dietary supplement.
I think after we bought the tablets we went home and read the Wikipedia article, and picked up on the idea that melatonin can cause an increase in vivid dreaming. And no kidding – a few days were enough to convince both me and the Romgi that these were Weird Dream pills. The Romgi stopped taking them because the crazy dreams made him feel less rested. I took them for a while longer until I got baby-crazy, and the tablets aren’t recommended for use by pregnant women. (When I wean jr in a month I might try melatonin again. Maybe.)
Last night I watched a movie that was weirder than any dream I ever had on melatonin (or any other drug, for that matter).
Have you heard of The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus?
I don’t even know where to begin on this. Did you see What Dreams May Come? Pretty bizarre movie, right? Imaginarium is much, much more bizarre. What confused me more than anything was that so many people were involved in the creation of the movie. I could understand if one person had a melatonin-induced crazy dream and wanted to bring it to life on the big screen. But how do you convince other people that it should be done? How do you convince Christopher Plummer and Heath Ledger, and three big actors after Heath Ledger suddenly dies, to take part in your hallucination?
Guys, this movie was weird.
Right now the Bwun is watching an episode of Dora the Explorer where Boots has turned into Sleeping Boots and Dora has to teach rocks to sing so she can become a true princess and wake Boots up, and all I can think is – this makes sense.
The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus does not.
You probably wonder why I watched the movie to begin with. One of the blogs I read, Where the Lovely Things Are, linked to the tumblr Mirrors & co. a few months ago. As I browsed the archives I found this fascinating still:
Now that I’ve seen the movie you’d think I could explain what was going on in this picture. No, not really. I might be able to recite the events that preceded the scene but it would be devoid of meaning.
Anyone else watched Imaginarium? Can you provide any insight, or should I just assume that the writers (and everyone else involved) had some heavy doses of melatonin before creating this?
Watercolor
Posted: August 15, 2011 Filed under: Bridge to Terabithia 7 CommentsLately I’ve been inspired by the blogs Scout’s Honor Co., Zentangle, and my neighbor Bridget’s daily paintings. I helped plan a baby shower for a close friend this past week and had a ton of fun putting together some striped-themed paper goods over the past month.
First I brainstormed stripes with a black pen, and when I got a pattern I liked, I filled it in with shades of green and blue:
The invitation used this pattern and looked something like this:
A few weeks later I started putting together some favors. I wanted this to be a fairly stress-free endeavor, but my “make this stress-free” skills are lacking. I have a little stamp that says “mini thanks,” and I wanted to use it with some miniature candy in little cellophane bags. So I painted freehand stripes, in shades of blue and green again, on a big piece of paper:
I cut the paper into label-sized pieces:
And I stamped each one, lovingly:
Finally each label got stapled onto a bag filled with mini M&Ms (I am so clever):
Since this was an open house-style baby shower, there weren’t any games (thank goodness) or major activities to plan. Instead, I prepared some index cards for people to write advice for the mother-to-be. They didn’t get used, but I thought they were awfully fun. I took them home for myself – is that ok?
The last thing I did was get some blank thank you cards for the mother-to-be to send out. I didn’t take a picture, but they looked pretty similar to everything else here.
I would have liked to do more of the black lines and patterns from the invitation, but I learned that my pen wasn’t waterproof and I never had a chance to buy a better pen. I’ve been experimenting a lot with different brushes and paints to try figuring out how things work. My sketchbook is filling up! I love this. It’s nice to feel a little more at peace with myself by not expecting perfection, but by simply enjoying what I’m doing.
Jarom
Mika
hilleries 