Returning

Hoping to be back soon...Adjusting to link and format changes.

What a difference a year makes! My life ran on without me realizing how swiftly the days were passing. In looking back at my neglected blog, I noticed that it has been nearly a year since my previous post, despite my intention to return to writing on a regular basis. It took a book I read in recent weeks to kick start my thoughts again and the desire to share it, even though I doubt many will view this posting.

While time passed, so did my initial enthusiasm about electronic books. Not that the format cannot be convenient and enjoyable, but I've learned if I have the choice, I prefer the traditional method. Someone I read a quote from recently said that one of the advantages of printed books is that you can "smell" the books that are published on paper. Obviously you can't do that with an electronic reader--yet. But that's not the appeal of the printed page to me versus an e-reader. I haven't quite come up with the reason I prefer one over the other. Perhaps it is because as a member of the "Baby Boomer" generation (those born between 1946-64) I was familiar with the printed page, but just "young" enough to be fascinated by technological advances to be curious.

The book to which I'm referring is shown at left, The End of Your Life Book Club by Will Schwalbe. I posted some comments about my feeling regarding this book on my Facebook page, which is closed to many viewers because I limit my access there on such a far-reaching social media. Hopefully, this blog post will be linked to it so those who view my Facebook page can read this.

Schwalbe starts a two person book club with his mother, who in her seventies is given the grim diagnosis of pancreatic cancer. Hence, the title of this book comes in. But in case you think that this book is a real "downer", it's not. It's a celebration of the bond between two bibliophiles who share books and discuss them while Schwalbe's mother is going through cancer treatments. The books are diverse an if interested, you can find at least most of the books read by this duo of book lovers listed in the back of the book.

I highly recommend this book. The only flaw I found, if indeed it is a flaw, is that Schwalbe and his mother have certain economic advantages to which not all readers of this book will be able to relate. That doesn't stop the ability to enjoy books, and good ones, like this one.

Turn the Page

I never thought I would end up being a convert to the ebook form, but having purchased a Kindle Fire shortly after Christmas, I've found it a good substitute when I just don't have the time (or space) to turn pages or find another spot in a pile for a book.

I've got enough traditional form books to stock a small library for the public, and just so much shelf space. I'm also one of those who can't ever seem to part with a book unless I have duplicates or the book just really is a bad one. Another flaw: I donate books to various sources (usually the area public libraries) but when they have their book sales, guess who comes home with at least one box full of different books than the ones donated? Right. Guilty.

      

    So, after much reading about the pros and cons of electronic reading devices (the biggest "con" being that as an electronic device, you have to recharge them periodically--something you don't have to do with the traditional book form.) There are other things to research about e-books, especially if you're trying to decide between a Barnes & Noble sponsored Nook, or Amazon's Kindle Fire.

    But my years long membership with Amazon caused me to try the newest Kindle incarnation, the Kindle Fire. When I started buying from Amazon years ago (a few months after it started up, much to the understandable dismay of small bookshops) I became one of those who found it easier to get a book ordered online and delivered to my home, than to go to my local library, put my name on an often long waiting list (if the book was popular) or have to rely on Inter-Library Loans because the local library didn't have the book I was looking for at the time.I do I understand library budgets and the need to cater to the masses who don't normally go for odd subjects--or sometimes controversial ones) having worked in three different libraries, all of which provided services to different populations specific to the needs of those populations. 

  I still support my local library and libraries everywhere. But now, I'm using them to find ebooks. It's a new era. Though I don't expect the traditional book format to go away any time soon, I do find that I'll have fewer books piled up on my tables, overflowing my bookcases, and less guilt related to giving away a book I've come to love.

One last thing....I purchased a Nook Tablet from Barnes & Noble for my upcoming birthday. 

It's Spring....Watch this space...

I've been living up to the title of this blog. Things have been chaotic in recent months, and I've been either too tired or distracted by life to post here. With the arrival of Spring, and the approach of another birthday, I hope to rectify that. Hope someone is reading this. If not, I'm just talking to myself, which is OK, too. After all, a writer's inner life is a solitary one.

Raven Sightings....

I'm in contact with a mentor from my college days in the early 1970s who now resides miles away from me in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. Even before he retired, he admitted he enjoys "birding" and seeing some of his photos has been a wonderful thing for me, as he posts them from time to time (I have several friends and acquaintances who have developed great skill in nature photography, and I am envious.
 He especially seems fond of owls, and admittedly, it's been very rare for me to see an owl in the area where I live, though I do.hear them occasionally, and catch a glimpse of one in a tree looking wise (and probably for some hapless critter to wander by) but such sightings are not a common occurrence.
While at my place of employment the other day in a large city, I was sitting in the office of the psychiatrist whose office space I share when he is not in, which contains a large, upside down "U" shape window looking out onto a green area which slopes downward to a large culvert.
     Preparing for the arrival of my first client, I happened to look up after hearing a loud rapping at the window. Shades of Edgar Allen Poe! I'm guessing what initially attracted the bird, which appeared to be what I later identified as a Common Raven (see photo I found online)--it was a very large bird, and his rapping on the glass I surmised was due to the outer surface of the glass being a mirror reflective type. I say "he," but of course, not being really an expert, "he" could easily have been a "she." I never heard it make a sound, but shortly after its arrival, another similar bird appeared and they wandered along the ground outside the window, no doubt looking for some tasty bugs or other morsels.
   While looking up info later about my feathered visitors, I found that Ravens are the largest of the dark-winged birds, with crows being in the mid-range and blackbirds the smallest. The true blackbird has the best melody from the sources I read--if you're familiar with a song Sir Paul McCartney sang solo when he was with The Beatles, you have a sample of the true blackbird's song within that song.
   Given the location of my place of employment, though there are several office buildings within the same area, the building containing my office (and employer) is set further back from busy roads nearby, with shrubs surrounding the building, (often nesting places for ducks) as well as large stately oak trees, the aforementioned culvert, and a generally quiet setting. It has several types of "wildlife" who show up from time to time in addition to these two huge ravens.

Review: Malled: My Unintentional Career in Retail by Caitlin Kelly

Let's face it...in most areas of the United States, the economy has tanked. Everyone is scrambling for a job, and it's really difficult if you're "over-educated."
Kelly, a journalist for several publications, but on the staff of The New York Daily News, had relied not only on the steady employment she had at that newspaper, but also freelanced. However, as many who write know, freelancing, unless you've already got superb credentials, doesn't pay that well.
So, to help meet expenses, Kelly decided to try working at a department store which was opening in a local shopping mall. The wages were near minimum wage, and that didn't cover much when part of your earnings were required for parking. (Yes, employees had to pay to park at the shopping mall.)
      There were parts of her book to which I can relate. She mentioned working at a pharmacy as a teen, as did I. Low wages despite education, or being overly educated, check, same here. While I only paid for parking at some jobs briefly, it still was something I consider unfair.
     While I have never worked in a clothing store as Kelly has, I know how rude and demanding some customers can be, how children who aren't supervised by parents (something I've noticed is increasingly the case) can wander off, cause messes, possible injuries to customers by running wildly through stores. So those were parts of Kelly's book I could nod my head in agreement. As I could also agree with having worked with immature co-workers, and that's not just related to age.
   One thing Kelly admits about herself is that she has a great deal of confidence and ability to confront in most situations. Alas, that rarely is my modus operandi.
   My current job often requires confrontation, but it's more of a therapeutic tool in the situation, not one meant to be tied with etiquette.
   I enjoyed the book, and recommend it to those who really need to find out what it is like to walk in someone else's shoes, particularly those who are trying to work in retail without becoming indifferent or rude, a difficult task that Kelly admits in her book, especially when customers are indifferent to treating the salesperson like another human being. It's a lesson in learning how to be respectful, no matter what your educational or economic status in life is at this time. It can always change, given the uncertainties of life.

   

Book Review: History of a Suicide

Suicide is not a cheerful topic, yet it sometimes needs to be addressed. The belief among many therapists is that if you don't talk about suicidal feelings, you're more likely to follow through with the action, even if unsuccessful. Of course, that's also not saying it will prevent the suicide from being repeated or ultimately lethal.

Yesterday, there was a news story about a gentleman who had attempted suicides on numerous occasions, but something had prevented it. He was spotted by someone, put under observation, given medication, and every thing that could or should have prevented his suicide had been done, short of locking him in a non-lethal room for the rest of his life. In one suicidal attempt, his legs were damaged, but he remained alive, though needing artificial limbs.

Writers and artists tend to have a high rate of suicide, noted psychotherapist Kay Redfield Jamison in her book, Touched With Fire, which examines the lives of several writers and artists who ended their lives due to inner turmoil.

In fact the biting wit of writer Dorothy Parker expressed such ideas of suicide in several of her poems, the  most noted being Resume':

Résumé

Razors pain you;
Rivers are damp;
Acids stain you;
And drugs cause cramp.
Guns aren't lawful;
Nooses give;
Gas smells awful;
You might as well live.

But in Jill Bialosky's book about her sister, History of a Suicide: my sister's unfinished life, Bialosky tells the psychic pain (some refer to it as psychic ache) of her younger sister, Kim. Without retelling the story entirely, Kim had been in pain for some time, which was not easily pinpointed. Kim's suicide at the age of twenty-one, left a void in those she left behind who had tried to help her, most notably, her sister. Bialosky has sought for over two decades to understand why her sister chose suicide over life, and expresses the pain and guilt of those left behind after the untimely death of a loved ones in situations where there is no clear answer, while she gains insight and shares it with the reader.