Friday, January 20, 2006

The Toymaker

The Toymaker

What are you reading?
One of the nice things about winter, if you can call the pale, tepid version that we have here in Southern California, winter... is that there seems to be more time for books.

Small Dog has been enjoying "A Guide to Civilized Loafing"



I'm reluctantly finishing up H. V. Morton's "In Search of England" which is a whimsical travelogue from the twenties. It's so fun I don’t want it to end.

My wonderful friend Teddi teaches lit at UCLA and gifted me with a brand new, shiny set of Nortons (complete with illustrations) so I'm following along with the reading list for her survey class. There is a tasty translation on Beowulf. (mmm Beowulf... "Then a powerful demon, a prowler thorough the dark, nursed a hard grievance.") I just finished "Dream of the Rood" which I hadn't read before. It meshed in nicely with all the medieval manuscripts I've been obsessed with lately.



For the Boy story time we just finished "Millions". I was all weepy at the end, trying to read and not start blubbering. I very much recommend it. It was very funny and suspenseful, all told from the point of view of a little boy who finds a bag of a million pounds and thinks it is a miracle from God. The catch is that he and his brother have to figure out how to spend it before Britain converts to the Euro. We watched the DVD, which was cute too, in an Amélie sort of way.

Now we are reading through the Narnian Chronicles. We're on "The Magician's Nephew" right now. The Boy is hooked so we are set for a month or so.

How bout you? What's on your nightstand?

Marilyn.

--
Liber delictatio animae

"Books, the delight of the soul"

Wednesday, January 18, 2006

Snowbound

The Toymaker


The Toymaker

The Toymaker

'To live content with small means; to seek elegance rather than luxury, and refinement rather than fashion; to be worthy, not respectable, and wealthy, not rich; to study hard, think quietly, talk gently, act frankly; to listen to stars and birds, to babes and sages, with open heart; to bear all cheerfully, do all bravely, await occasions, hurry never. In a word, to let the spiritual, unbidden and unconscious, grow up through the common.

- William Henry Channing

Been experimenting with different papers...



Make toys! Play more!

Marilyn.