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Tuesday, May 25, 2021

Time for Tuesday 4

When I actually remember it is Tuesday, I try to join Annie at Tuesday 4.  She asks 4 questions which always make me think, reminisce or a combination of both. This weeks questions are all about time.





Are you currently reading a book you'd like to tell us about? Maybe a TV program you can recommend to us? 
I am currently reading a book I read in the early 80's. At the time Serpentine by Thomas Thompson was on the NYT bestseller list. I remember really enjoying the book even though I found the subject of it horrifying. A couple of weeks ago Son1 told me I should watch the Netflix show The Serpent. About midway through the series I realized it was based on the same person as the book I had read. Then serendipitously, I saw it was available through Kindle Unlimited, so I am now re-reading it.

Are you a Jane Austen fan? So many seem to be. If you are what is your favorite book and who is your favorite character.  If you aren't a fan, is there an author you especially like to read? Favorite character...etc.
I am not a Jane Austen fan. 
I am not particularly author driven though I have read multiple books by the same authors.
My personal favorite book of all time is the very quirky A Confederacy of Dunces, by John Kennedy Toole. I am completely obsessed with the main character Ignatius J. Riley and his many flaws.  I read it in 1980 when it was first published and read it again every year for about 15 years. Now I just read it every 5 or so years and fall in love with it all over again. I am so crazy about the book that I had a guy at a local bookstore hunt for 5 years to find me a LSU press edition and at one time had 4 paperback editions to loan to friends without worrying about getting my LSU press edition back. (BTW none of the four copies were ever returned)

How do you spend your time during the day?  Do you set apart time to read, watch TV, study?
It depends on the day. I do not watch TV at all during the day, though sometimes I will turn a Netflix movie or show on the laptop then run it via bluetooth through Echo and will listen while I go about my business in the house. I will do the same with Master Class if there is something  I want/need to learn.  I am a night time reader so I rarely make time for reading during the day.

Have your beliefs changed in your life time? New religion.. new politics? Or are they the same as they were growing up? Do you spend time thinking over the important things of life to take stock in your life?
This is a hard question to answer. My core beliefs are still pretty much the same. I was taught to be kind to everyone, to respect my elders, to mind my manners, to be polite, and to always use the "Magic Words". 
As for day to day living . . . change is the only constant in life. 
I still attend the same church my parents attended, but it, like everything, has evolved over the years. My views on theology have broadened considerably since I was a child, and I continue to mature in my beliefs the older I get.
I think anyone who does not admit to thinking about the important things in life, setting and resetting goals, or deciding what is truly important to them is either overrun with the responsibilities of day to day life, or just not being truthful with themselves.

22 comments:

  1. A Confederacy of Dunces is excellent isn't it? Thanks for the reminder. It is about time I read it again.
    And of course my beliefs have matured. Kindness is more and more important to me as the years go by - and 'winning' much less.

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  2. I enjoyed reading your answers to the questions. :)

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    1. I guess it is a little insight into my reading preferences

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  3. I also love the Confederacy of Dunces. I first read it when I lived in New Orleans which gave the book a whole new dimension. Like Elephant's Child, I think it's time to read it again.

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  4. I guess I need to grab myself a copy of A Confederacy of Dunces. :)

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  5. I love to reread books. Well, the good ones, that is. :-) I DO like Jane Austen. Just reread _Emma_. Such a brilliant book! I've never read _A Confederacy of Dunces_ for some reason. Everyone I know that has read it loves it. Really need to get around to it one of these days.

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    1. It is much different than reading an Austen book. I have always said if I taught high school English I would have students read COD for the character development .

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  6. ‘When a true genius appears in the world, you may know him by this sign, that the dunces are all in confederacy against him.’

    – Jonathan Swift

    Seems to also be how the author's life ended up, huh!

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  7. We were very strict that our kids always had to used the "magic words" when they were growing up and it certainly paid off! As for The Serpent, I'm currently watching it on Netflix and having a hard time as it is SO nail-biting!

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  8. Like Dickens, I enjoy the story of Jane Austen's writing, but I struggle reading the books.

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    1. I love Dickens stories but have to be in the mood to read him. I like Austen movies, but am not a fan of her writing style.

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  9. I am reading The Bird Way. I never kept the tv on in the day, just for evening news and later. Then, as I became less able to get out and about, I watched more news and a program or two, never game shows or soap operas. But, here, Tommy keeps the tv on all day.

    My views are the same, but the church in which I grew up has changed.

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    1. I read a review of The Bird Way a while back. It looks like it would be interesting.

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  10. 1. I just finished "A Man Called Ove," earlier in the week. (yeah, I was a bit late to the party on that one) and am reading Ruth Hogan's "Keeper of Lost Things." I also binge read Maggie Shipstead's "Astonish Me" yesterday. I enjoyed marking through the ballet combinations mentioned in it, but other than that, bleah. I guess "Seating Arrangements" is better. I highly recommend Gail Honeyman's "Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine" for a quick but deep read.
    2. I have never read any Jane Austen. (I typed that as quietly as possible.) At the time when my contemporaries were full on Austen, I was re-reading Steinbeck's later works. I'd be hard pressed to pick a favorite author, but the book that I go back to over and over again, since I first read it in fourth grade is "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn." I think I remember it so fondly because it made me realize from my first reading, the relationship between education and affluence. Also, there were some, for a fourth grade girl, risque' passages--I felt so rebellious taking that book to class, knowing full well it would be forbidden to some of my classmates.
    3. Generally, my day is spent taking care of the house and all that goes into running a household. I generally don't read until after dinner/before bed. If I do pick up a book during the day, that's it, I'm as good as gone as far as the family is concerned. My day yesterday was spent reading, as I was watching the neighbor's 8 year-old daughter, who only wanted to sit and read herself. I decided that was a very civilized way to spend the day, so I joined her. I have other hobbies that I indulge in during the day--quilting/stamping/gardening/baking, which leave me more accessible. I can look up from those without the flash of annoyance I get when a kid (or husband) interrupts my reading.
    4. I was raised as a liberal, free thinking, secular humanist, which made me an odd duck as a kid. In many ways I wished for the simple dogma and perceived mental ease of being a Catholic, like many in the town I grew up, and almost envied (but really pitied) the simple contentment of the Bible Banging Non-Denominationals and Synod Lutherans when I moved to the Bible Belt. But, as a kid I could never, ever, reconcile myself with the bigotry, even for the sake of fitting in. I confess to feeling confused and, yes, embarrassed to a point as a child, when, as a school girl in the early 1970's, I had no compunction about parroting my parents' support, say, for gay marriage. But, the bigotry always felt worse than being ostracized, so I didn't exactly have a lot of friends for a while...then I came to, (and still do) avoid those people like the plague. When I was about 7, my mother used to walk me to Sunday School at a UU church. I loved the discussions I could have with the kids there, and the questions the adults would put before us. Sadly, it merged with another church in the next town, so that experience was short lived. I was raised to constantly evaluate life, with "An unexamined life is not worth living" the mantra of my upbringing. I still live by that. Man is meant to grow and constantly change.

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  11. I read Ove a couple of years ago and really did like it. Next I watched the Swedish film and loved it all over again. I liked Keeper of Lost Things as well. Eleanor Oliphant was thought provoking.

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  12. Enjoyed reading your answers. I haven't watched any daytime programming in years but I will watch movies during the day. That is really wonderful that you attend the church your parents attended. Enjoy your weekend.

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