The pain of illiteracy...and pretty flowers!
My morning:
I woke up chilly, went to get sweat pants and something with sleeves. The very idea of wearing bulky clothing in May offends me--the weather has got to change or I am moving to Jamaica.
Anyway, in a groggy sort of way, I noticed it was windy. I looked out one of the upstairs windows and noticed it was very windy.
The back field is planted with wheat this year and the wind blowing it around makes it look like this choppy green lake behind my house. I was smiling at this, wondering if I could find a way to actually catch the effect on film when one of those unpleasant mental light bulbs went on...
"Eh, fuck. My plants."
I'd left my little green wee ones out on the steps to take advantage of the rain and forgotten we were supposed to have 30 mph winds today. I went running outside, still in socks, bracing myself to see all my thriving greenery tumbling through the neighbors' yard.
Thankfully they were all still present, if a little wind-blown. They had definitely benefited from the rain and, when I brought them inside, I ended up doused in rather chilly water from the bottoms of the pots.
All this before I got my first cup of coffee...on top of the felines yowling for food per usual while I tried to run the gauntlet of spring hairballs. I do NOT clean up vomit before I've had coffee.
Anyway, gardening geekdom.
Though I drew out a plan for one this winter, I didn't even try for a garden this year. With summer being my busy season and so many other house-related things needing to be done, I actually used good sense, for once. But, I can't resist buying plants in spring. It's Mom's fault...Every spring she went into a fever of seed/plant buying. The first warm days, I find myself drawn to greenhouses and various gardening sections. They smell like the beginning of warmer weather to me--though I'm sure I look like a freak, browsing endlessly and occasionally actually leaning over to smell the mix of potting soil and green things--a freak with her head buried in a fern.
And yes, I actually read The Old Farmer's Almanac on occasion. It's entertaining. There, I said it.
So, late last month, I planted a couple pots of basil (supposed to keep mosquitoes away), got a couple ferns, trimmed back the ivy I managed not to kill over the winter, etc. It's weird. I can grown all these things that are supposed to be finicky, but I am a serial killer of ivy, one of the hardiest plants ever.
My favorite--I planted Morning Glories. They're in a planter so they won't take over the entire house and I want to get a trellis for them so I'll have a sort of privacy curtain of flowers on the porch.
This is a compromise. I read (actually in the almanac) how to build a "sunflower house". You plant three sides of a square with sunflowers. Then plant morning glories to climb the sunflowers and eventually make a "roof". The thought of a house made of flowers made me grin. If I made one, I'd be tempted to move into it for the summer.
Maybe next year. This year, I'm content with walking out in the morning and being surrounded by jasmine and morning glories (and probably being attacked by large numbers of overzealous of bees, but whatever).
I got a variety of morning glory called "Grandpa Ott's"--which sounds like they'd be a bit crotchety and smell of Bengay, but they're lovely.
I can't wait until they bloom.
I soaked the seeds in warm water overnight before planting them and the results were sort of like Little Shop of Horrors. A couple sprouted within two days and now they're all poking through the dirt. A couple even have little curlicues wanting to climb on something.
I am most pleased.
Also, Rob saw a fox in the backyard yesterday. Foxes are awesome. I'm hoping this one might eat that damned rooster that keeps perching on my vehicle.
My cardinal is also back. Last year, almost every day, I'd watch him freak out over his reflection in the mirrors on the car. He flap about for hours, engaged in conflict with his reflection. It's hilarious to watch though the products of his over-excitement are not so great. Nothing like large amounts of bird poo all over the doors of your car--especially when I've forgotten and left the windows down.
Okay, I'm done being nature girl.
On to other news....
The queen visited Jamestown. I've made several bad jokes that even the queen herself can't get out of going there at least once--If you're from the eastern part of NC or VA, I'm sure you understand all too well. I've made WAY too many trips to both Jamestown and The Lost Colony. Both are interesting (though the Roanoke website is so cheesy it makes me grimace) but after awhile it's probably like someone from NYC being drug to see Cats repeatedly.
Interesting note, while looking for the Lost Colony link, I found information on the Civil War era freedman's colony at Roanoke. Nifty shit if you're into historical stuff: http://www.roanokefreedmenscolony.com/history.html
I really want a copy of the book about it.
Anyway, the queen! I wanted to go so bad!
I mean, one picture (thieved from the BBC) says it all...
More here: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_pictures/6624437.stm
I love the one where it looks like she's glaring at Dick Cheney.
...And she has bad-ass taste in hats. I would raid the queen's hat closet.
One last thing and I'm done with my gibbering for the day.
I was catching up on the news this morning and I saw the most infuriating article in The Daily Advance. It was about the number of college students who don't even have a glancing knowledge of classic literature. Despite the rural nature of this place, I don't think people here are significantly less well-read than in the majority of the country. That makes this doubly disturbing--I don't know how someone can get through school without knowing that Charles Dickens did NOT write Charlotte's Web or, for Christ's sake, Moby Dick.
** I just realized that I didn't use a cut tag through this whole thing--my apologies to anyone with carpal tunnel because of this post...but I don't feel bad enough to go back and add one in.
But, you do get one now.
Few students read Dickens
By DAVID MACAULAY
Staff Writer
Charles Dickens may be the king of Victorian literature, but Elizabeth City college students are more interested in reading books by the king of horror.
An informal survey of reading habits at both College of The Albemarle and Elizabeth City State University suggests students prefer reading Stephen King instead of Dickens. In fact, just six of 22 students interviewed by The Daily Advance said they had ever read a Dickens novel.
Elizabeth Schultz, 20, a business administration major at COA, wasn't sure if she had read a Dickens novel.
"The Raven?" she said, wondering if the Edgar Allan Poe poem was a Dickens book.
Schultz said her favorite authors are King and V.C. Andrews.
Illiana Thomas, 18, a math student at ECSU, believes she had read a Dickens novel, but couldn't remember the title.
"The boy's name began with a 'P,'" she said, before remembering the book was Dickens' "Great Expectations."
"It didn't spark my interest at the time, but I read it in more detail later," she said.
Thomas' friend, Jasmin Rivers, an 18-year-old psychology major at ECSU, said she hadn't read any of Dickens' works. She thought he had written Charlotte's Web, the children's book penned by E.B. White.
ECSU student Lee Astsia, 17, thought she may have read Dickens in high school.
"I read the whale book," she said, referring to Herman Melville's "Moby Dick."
Alison Boolba, 32, a mother of four and COA student, said she didn't have time to read Dickens.
"If I did have time to read, I'd read philosophical books or Stephen King," she said. "I wouldn't read Dickens unless I was forced to for a class."
Shannon Daoust, 20, who will be studying at COA next year, said Dickens also had little appeal for her. "Chick flick" novels are her preference, she said.
COA student Tre Combo said he had never read Dickens before either.
"But I definitely would," he said. "I read media material, magazines and newspapers. For novels, I would probably read something exciting such as Tom Clancy('s books). I don't like all that mushy stuff."
Vanetta Mitchell, 24, said her ideal reading material are books like "Chicken Soup for the Soul," a collection of inspirational essays.
"I'm not much of a reader," she said.
Lakenzen Lowry, 19, a COA student, said he preferred reading newspapers to novels.
Keith Wharton, a 21-year-old communications student at ECSU, said he had read Dickens for school assignments but couldn't remember the titles. He recently did read Shakespeare's play "Romeo and Juliet," he said.
About a third of the students polled said they had read several of Dickens' novels, among other classic works.
Yulia Murzaev, a 21-year-old COA student, said she had read Dickens, as well as Russian classic authors Leo Tolstoy and Fyodor Dostoevsky.
Fellow COA student Adam Rose, 22, said he, too, was an avid reader of the classics.
"I like Tolstoy, and (Anton) Chekhov," he said. "I love Shakespeare."
Rose said he had read a number of Dickens' novels, including "Great Expectations" and "A Christmas Carol."
"It's a shame they are going out of fashion," he said. "There are a lot of values in them."
Fellow COA student Brittney Burke, 20, said she, too, had read "Great Expectations," and was a fan of F. Scott Fitzgerald's masterpiece, "The Great Gatsby."
This was a small piece relating to the new Pasquotank County library and how they are choosing to not have multiple copies of classics because of low demand. I discovered we were getting a new library when I went to return very overdue books and found it closed. The books included Defoe's A Journal of the Plague Year. Kind of sad to think that I may be the last one to check out such an "obscure" book.
Gawd, I don't know what irks me more--ramptant cultural illiteracy or a "supply and demand" approach to literature.
Enough of my chatter, though I think this is my first in depth post about nothing in months. The cats are glaring at me, wanting their stinky boxes changed, and I need to finish giving the house the attention its been missing lately.
I woke up chilly, went to get sweat pants and something with sleeves. The very idea of wearing bulky clothing in May offends me--the weather has got to change or I am moving to Jamaica.
Anyway, in a groggy sort of way, I noticed it was windy. I looked out one of the upstairs windows and noticed it was very windy.
The back field is planted with wheat this year and the wind blowing it around makes it look like this choppy green lake behind my house. I was smiling at this, wondering if I could find a way to actually catch the effect on film when one of those unpleasant mental light bulbs went on...
"Eh, fuck. My plants."
I'd left my little green wee ones out on the steps to take advantage of the rain and forgotten we were supposed to have 30 mph winds today. I went running outside, still in socks, bracing myself to see all my thriving greenery tumbling through the neighbors' yard.
Thankfully they were all still present, if a little wind-blown. They had definitely benefited from the rain and, when I brought them inside, I ended up doused in rather chilly water from the bottoms of the pots.
All this before I got my first cup of coffee...on top of the felines yowling for food per usual while I tried to run the gauntlet of spring hairballs. I do NOT clean up vomit before I've had coffee.
Anyway, gardening geekdom.
Though I drew out a plan for one this winter, I didn't even try for a garden this year. With summer being my busy season and so many other house-related things needing to be done, I actually used good sense, for once. But, I can't resist buying plants in spring. It's Mom's fault...Every spring she went into a fever of seed/plant buying. The first warm days, I find myself drawn to greenhouses and various gardening sections. They smell like the beginning of warmer weather to me--though I'm sure I look like a freak, browsing endlessly and occasionally actually leaning over to smell the mix of potting soil and green things--a freak with her head buried in a fern.
And yes, I actually read The Old Farmer's Almanac on occasion. It's entertaining. There, I said it.
So, late last month, I planted a couple pots of basil (supposed to keep mosquitoes away), got a couple ferns, trimmed back the ivy I managed not to kill over the winter, etc. It's weird. I can grown all these things that are supposed to be finicky, but I am a serial killer of ivy, one of the hardiest plants ever.
My favorite--I planted Morning Glories. They're in a planter so they won't take over the entire house and I want to get a trellis for them so I'll have a sort of privacy curtain of flowers on the porch.
This is a compromise. I read (actually in the almanac) how to build a "sunflower house". You plant three sides of a square with sunflowers. Then plant morning glories to climb the sunflowers and eventually make a "roof". The thought of a house made of flowers made me grin. If I made one, I'd be tempted to move into it for the summer.
Maybe next year. This year, I'm content with walking out in the morning and being surrounded by jasmine and morning glories (and probably being attacked by large numbers of overzealous of bees, but whatever).
I got a variety of morning glory called "Grandpa Ott's"--which sounds like they'd be a bit crotchety and smell of Bengay, but they're lovely.
I can't wait until they bloom.
I soaked the seeds in warm water overnight before planting them and the results were sort of like Little Shop of Horrors. A couple sprouted within two days and now they're all poking through the dirt. A couple even have little curlicues wanting to climb on something.
I am most pleased.
Also, Rob saw a fox in the backyard yesterday. Foxes are awesome. I'm hoping this one might eat that damned rooster that keeps perching on my vehicle.
My cardinal is also back. Last year, almost every day, I'd watch him freak out over his reflection in the mirrors on the car. He flap about for hours, engaged in conflict with his reflection. It's hilarious to watch though the products of his over-excitement are not so great. Nothing like large amounts of bird poo all over the doors of your car--especially when I've forgotten and left the windows down.
Okay, I'm done being nature girl.
On to other news....
The queen visited Jamestown. I've made several bad jokes that even the queen herself can't get out of going there at least once--If you're from the eastern part of NC or VA, I'm sure you understand all too well. I've made WAY too many trips to both Jamestown and The Lost Colony. Both are interesting (though the Roanoke website is so cheesy it makes me grimace) but after awhile it's probably like someone from NYC being drug to see Cats repeatedly.
Interesting note, while looking for the Lost Colony link, I found information on the Civil War era freedman's colony at Roanoke. Nifty shit if you're into historical stuff: http://www.roanokefreedmenscolony.com/history.html
I really want a copy of the book about it.
Anyway, the queen! I wanted to go so bad!
I mean, one picture (thieved from the BBC) says it all...
More here: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_pictures/6624437.stm
I love the one where it looks like she's glaring at Dick Cheney.
...And she has bad-ass taste in hats. I would raid the queen's hat closet.
One last thing and I'm done with my gibbering for the day.
I was catching up on the news this morning and I saw the most infuriating article in The Daily Advance. It was about the number of college students who don't even have a glancing knowledge of classic literature. Despite the rural nature of this place, I don't think people here are significantly less well-read than in the majority of the country. That makes this doubly disturbing--I don't know how someone can get through school without knowing that Charles Dickens did NOT write Charlotte's Web or, for Christ's sake, Moby Dick.
** I just realized that I didn't use a cut tag through this whole thing--my apologies to anyone with carpal tunnel because of this post...but I don't feel bad enough to go back and add one in.
But, you do get one now.
Few students read Dickens
By DAVID MACAULAY
Staff Writer
Charles Dickens may be the king of Victorian literature, but Elizabeth City college students are more interested in reading books by the king of horror.
An informal survey of reading habits at both College of The Albemarle and Elizabeth City State University suggests students prefer reading Stephen King instead of Dickens. In fact, just six of 22 students interviewed by The Daily Advance said they had ever read a Dickens novel.
Elizabeth Schultz, 20, a business administration major at COA, wasn't sure if she had read a Dickens novel.
"The Raven?" she said, wondering if the Edgar Allan Poe poem was a Dickens book.
Schultz said her favorite authors are King and V.C. Andrews.
Illiana Thomas, 18, a math student at ECSU, believes she had read a Dickens novel, but couldn't remember the title.
"The boy's name began with a 'P,'" she said, before remembering the book was Dickens' "Great Expectations."
"It didn't spark my interest at the time, but I read it in more detail later," she said.
Thomas' friend, Jasmin Rivers, an 18-year-old psychology major at ECSU, said she hadn't read any of Dickens' works. She thought he had written Charlotte's Web, the children's book penned by E.B. White.
ECSU student Lee Astsia, 17, thought she may have read Dickens in high school.
"I read the whale book," she said, referring to Herman Melville's "Moby Dick."
Alison Boolba, 32, a mother of four and COA student, said she didn't have time to read Dickens.
"If I did have time to read, I'd read philosophical books or Stephen King," she said. "I wouldn't read Dickens unless I was forced to for a class."
Shannon Daoust, 20, who will be studying at COA next year, said Dickens also had little appeal for her. "Chick flick" novels are her preference, she said.
COA student Tre Combo said he had never read Dickens before either.
"But I definitely would," he said. "I read media material, magazines and newspapers. For novels, I would probably read something exciting such as Tom Clancy('s books). I don't like all that mushy stuff."
Vanetta Mitchell, 24, said her ideal reading material are books like "Chicken Soup for the Soul," a collection of inspirational essays.
"I'm not much of a reader," she said.
Lakenzen Lowry, 19, a COA student, said he preferred reading newspapers to novels.
Keith Wharton, a 21-year-old communications student at ECSU, said he had read Dickens for school assignments but couldn't remember the titles. He recently did read Shakespeare's play "Romeo and Juliet," he said.
About a third of the students polled said they had read several of Dickens' novels, among other classic works.
Yulia Murzaev, a 21-year-old COA student, said she had read Dickens, as well as Russian classic authors Leo Tolstoy and Fyodor Dostoevsky.
Fellow COA student Adam Rose, 22, said he, too, was an avid reader of the classics.
"I like Tolstoy, and (Anton) Chekhov," he said. "I love Shakespeare."
Rose said he had read a number of Dickens' novels, including "Great Expectations" and "A Christmas Carol."
"It's a shame they are going out of fashion," he said. "There are a lot of values in them."
Fellow COA student Brittney Burke, 20, said she, too, had read "Great Expectations," and was a fan of F. Scott Fitzgerald's masterpiece, "The Great Gatsby."
This was a small piece relating to the new Pasquotank County library and how they are choosing to not have multiple copies of classics because of low demand. I discovered we were getting a new library when I went to return very overdue books and found it closed. The books included Defoe's A Journal of the Plague Year. Kind of sad to think that I may be the last one to check out such an "obscure" book.
Gawd, I don't know what irks me more--ramptant cultural illiteracy or a "supply and demand" approach to literature.
Enough of my chatter, though I think this is my first in depth post about nothing in months. The cats are glaring at me, wanting their stinky boxes changed, and I need to finish giving the house the attention its been missing lately.