What have I been up to lately?

Last night my sister and I went to see the movie Miss Potter - which was excellent, the first moments of Renee Zellweger's accent was a tiny bit odd, but within moments, she fit right in with the rest of the cast and I didn't notice any accent. It was nice to go out to a movie - I haven't been to a movie in a while. One thing about attending the SF International Film Festival on an all-film pass, is that I get very burned out on going to the theater - which is unfortunate because I LOVE seeing movies in the theater.
The Beatrix Potter story is wonderful, a talented woman with a life that was on a path of circumscription - but instead because of her books was able to make her own way in life and ended up saving acres of glorious farm land in the Lake District in the UK. Big thumbs up!

This morning I had to rush through what I had been looking forward to since Wednesday when I ordered some Chocolate Cherry bread from Zingermans. Omigod. So good. So good. I LOVE this bread. Order some and slice it, toast it, spread the slice with real honest to god butter, and eat it. The chocolate is creamy and melts in your mouth like a light creamy truffle, the cherries are tart and the bread!!! Okay, I'll stop. But you must order some of your own because I won't share.

Today I went to my acupuncture appointment which was utterly satisfying. Sometimes I get so riled up by the action going on in my bloodstream I feel like twitching right off the table and taking a run. This morning was the opposite - I was having a very interesting conversation with the acupuncturist, but could barely keep my eyes open. Once the needles were in, I went into a very trance-like meditative state and the hour passed by in a flash.
After that, a visit to Article Pract on Telegraph Avenue to pick up some yarn for a class my sister and I are taking tomorrow on making socks using the "toe up" method. I hope I have enough yarn for my huge feet. I had the freeing realization that if I finish this project (I've had a bad habit of not finishing knitting projects lately) I'll probably only wear the socks around the house - so it doesn't matter if they don't go with anything I own.
The women at the counter had some raised eyes at my using a cotton (instead of flexible cozy warm wool?) for the project, but the yarn was so tempting! It is Nashua Handknits "cilantro colors" line but this particular color mix is called "mango mix" which fits. Shades of melony orange to orangey tan and yellow.
Wonderful. It's a cotton poly blend, which I usually shun, but this time I thought it would wash and wear well. Cotton can be unforgiving to knit, so it was important to make these with yarn that had some give, which the polyester should provide.
After shopping, I had my favorite Korean food: ground-soybean stew. I usually have cravings for this and today it was so comforting and cozy.
By the time I got home late in the afternoon the accupuncture aftereffects and lack of sleep last week caught up with me and I ended up sleeping deeply for about 4 hours. Now I'll be off schedule again, but I do feel incredibly well-rested right at the moment.
I've been on a HUGE Carmina Burana kick lately. A few weeks ago I heard a show on the radio about Orff who composed this work, and was caught immediately by the music (which is really popular and has been used in so many movies and commercials - where have I been?!) I've now loaded 3 different versions onto my ipod and have actual preferences! Shocks even me.

1. London Symphony Orchestra with St Clement Danes Grammar School Boys choir, Andre Previn. EMI CDC7 37411-2 (ADD)- This one seems the most dramatic and joyful on the part of the performers. It seems like the singers actually understand the intent of the words. I love the baritone Thomas Allen in this one. Only problem is scratchy bits in some places because of the transfer from analog to digital.
   
2. Boston Symphony Orchestra, Seiji Ozawa. Manda, Kolk, Milnes RCA GD 86533. This one is growing on me. It is a modern and clean recording, so the music and words are balanced and it is fun to listen to.
   
3. Philharmonic Choirs and Orchestra, Muti. HMV CDC7 47100-2/Capitol CAP 47100. This one is leaves me a little cold. There doesn't seem like there is a lot of feeling and life behind the performances. The notes I've read state that this may because of a bad transfer.
   

I don't know why some things just hit you in the gut (for me it manifests as chills going through me the minute I hear something fantastic) and you absolutely have to know everything about it and hear it again. I tend to go a little overboard. At some point the risk is that burnout may occur and you never want to see or hear it again. Now thanks to ipods and the Web and all that, research is easier, and nobody else has to know about your obsession - unless you blog about it, of course.
I've never really been attracted to Opera music (however, my musical colleague at work tells me that this is not considered Opera - it is choral and symphonic.) Ah well, whatever it is called, I'm having a ball listening to the music and realizing that I really enjoy reading the latin lyrics. Another surprise. The lyrics of Carmina Burana are enjoyable, wonderful to know they were written in the 1200's and are utterly timeless in describing obsessive love, lust, gambling, drinking, fate, and the joys of life lived fully. What fun. I especially enjoy something that does not have centuries of moralizing periods of history censoring the lyrics. Here's a bit from the most popular first stanza of O Fortuna:

O Fortuna ------- O luck,
velut Luna ------- like the moon
statu variabilis, ------- ever changeable
semper crescis ------- always waxing
aut decrescis; ------- or waning;
vita detestabilis ------- hateful life
nunc obdurat ------- is one moment hard
et tunc curat ------- and the next moment watches over
ludo menis aciem, ------- the mind's playful acumen;
egestatem, ------- poverty,
potestatem ------- power
disolvit ut glaciem. ------- it melts like ice.

I've always wondered why the 3 tenors were so popular with so many and left me cold. Well, now I know. I prefer baritones! Interesting. I think one of the reasons I love Carmina Burana is because the main male soloist is a baritone. This entire experience has made me feel that I just need to develop a more robust musical knowledge. I think I've enjoyed this experience of really delving into a work so much that I'll have to find something else to explore once this wears off. Part of it may be that I simply enjoy the sound of medieval music and this is based on medieval latin and german poetry. When I was in Paris I bought a CD of music performed in Sainte Chapelle which I recognized and loved immediately on some deep levels - it surprised and shocked me a little to have that sense of recognition. So maybe it is medieval music and not classical music that I should delve into next. I'll give it a try.
I also was very impressed last night by an article titled The Online Library Catalog: Paradise lost and Paradise Regained? I read by Karen Markey, a professor I loved and worked with at Michigan. She brilliantly consolidated various areas of research about research behavior, catalogs, searching, Web developments and the library catalog into one article. I think is going to be pretty popular and important. It really made me think about the idea I had in library school about users adding information to catalog records to enhance them and make them into living research documents. (Like research notes on the old cards from card catalogs.) At the time the technology was not there to really play with this idea, but now with wikis and other software it is absolutely doable. I would love to work on a prototype of a wiki catalog. Anyone game?
Another impactful article was actually written last summer in the law blog - Bag & Baggage, because it discussed the plight of the current associate bigfirm lifestyle and how parenting (motherhood, in particular) was incompatible with current law firm employment. Well, not to be a bleeding heart for BigLaw attorneys (god knows they make way more money than I ever will) but it hits at points about the structure of law firms, and how things are going to have to change on so many levels because the system is so broken now....
Oh, and to finish this off with a bit of foodie glory. Gourmet magazine did some ranking of milk chocolate, and here are the top 3:

1. Bernard Castelain: Creamy, good balance; smooth and delicious. Said one dark-chocolate lover: "I've had three pieces, and that's huge!"
2. Lindt Excellence: Luscious in the mouth; vanilla and caramel finish.
3. Green & Black Organic: Good mouthfeel; slightly bitter (those who don't like dark chocolate might not like this one).

To see the full list, you have to go here.
Truly, todays post has lived up to my blog monniker.
cheers!

lightening up tonight - some sweetness 4 U

I've been focusing on politics and global warming and all kinds of fairly intense issues for the past few days and things are getting a little too intense. I really, really need to lighten up. So here goes:


FUN things about today:

• Lucky Country Soft Aussie Licorice Red Gourmet OK, I really bought this the other day, but it is so very yummy and was the original item that spurred this list.
  
• Bendicks Bittermints "The ORIGINAL and MOST FAMOUS BENDICKS MINT, THE CONNOISSEUR'S FAVOURITE" ENROBED in CHOCOLATE CONTAINING: 95% COCOA SOLIDS This is actually a purchase in an attempt to cut down on my sugar intake. The theory goes like this: These are oh so very pepperminty that tiny bites make this last for a very long and satisfying time. So you only need one! So far so good. (One a night, not one an hour, mind you.)
  
• Milky (A japanese milk candy. Ingredients: millet jelly, vegetable oil, salt, soy lecithen, powdered milk.) oh yeah, and this site is in japanese - and oh so very kawaii. I've loved these since I was about 8. When I was a kid the highpoint of train travel in Japan was getting to choose candy for the trip at the train station. Milky usually made the list because these are hard caramel-like candies and last a really long time.
  
• The Glory of Gershwin featuring Larry Adler. Oleta Adams, Kate Bush, Cher, Elvis Costello, Peter Gabriel, Elton John, Jon Bon Jovi, Meat Loaf, Sinead O'Connor, Robert Palmer, Courtney Pine, Carly Simon, Lisa Stanfsfield, Sting and introducing Issy Van Randwyck. This was actually a part of my trip to the library today (see below, and even before that, a radio show, see even below-er.)
  
• PG Tips DCaf From the box:"Many people wish to include only a moderate amount of caffeine in their diet. Drinking PG Decaf tea is a great way to help you do this whilst enjoying a fantastic tasting cuppa!" There is a slightly anglophile tilt to this list, I've noticed. See, I'm cutting the caffeine too! Actually I was very excited when I saw this for sale, I have had the full-on-caffeinated version of pg tips but can only have tea really early in the day or I am up all night long. 'Dcaf' is definitely the way to go if you simply must have your 'cuppa.'
  
• Getting new (old) books from Amazon in the mail today:
  
  
  
  • Zingerman's guide to good eating.
    
  • The Tenko Club by Elizabeth Noble
    
  • A Guide to Library Research Methodology by Thomas Mann
    
  • Against All Enemies:Inside America's War on Terror by Richard A. Clarke (okay, this is not all sweetness and light, but I was still happy to get it.)
    
  
  
  
• And walking over to the Mechanic's Institute library and checking these out:
  
  
  
  • The Selected Poetry of Rainer Maria Rilke Edited and Translated by Stephen Mitchell
    
  • New Poems 1908 Rilke
    
  • New Poems 1907 Rilke
    
  • Gershwin Rediscovered II (CD)
    
  • American Landmarks (Aaron Copland Appalachian Spring, Roy Harris Symphony No. 3, Charles Ives Central Park in the Dark, Aaron Copland Clarinet Concerto) (CD)
    
  
  
  

Update 1: The Forum broadcast on KQED about George Gershwin which was really interesting & inspired some of my selections from the library today.

Yes, this is actually update number 2 if anyone is paying attention. I realized that I originally invested very little me in this post and had to put in a bit of commentary. Hope that is better. caio.

Poetry and the life force within

When I was in grad school at Michigan, I'd make the drive from Ann Arbor to Virginia a few times a year - usually with my 2 cats miserably accompanying me for the 8 hour journey. One trip I stopped at a rest stop and looked at the books on tape to try to make the trip go faster. I picked up the book on tape: And There Was Light by Jacques Lusseyran (Read by Andre Gregory.) The story was riveting, and I think that listening to that was the fastest 8 hours of driving I'll ever experience. I was upset when I got home before I got to the end. I am not sure how many hours the tape was, but it was an amazing story: a young french boy, blinded from an injury at school at the age of 7, (he hit his head on a desk) went on to create a youth resistance group in France during WWII. In 1943 he was betrayed and captured by the Nazi's and was sent to Buchenwald.
I was blown away by his writing, it was profound and inspiring. His way of describing and sensing things was enhanced by his blindness and life experiences.
Over the years I have thought of that book, and have tried to remember who it was about and what the title was, but then I would forget and move on to something else.
Recently I was talking to one of our vendors about our mutual interest in WWII history and I told him that I have always been interested in the history of the holocaust. I've wanted to understand the inconceivable: what made society disolve and turn into hell on earth? Why were some heroes, resistance fighters, rescuers, and most others collaborators and participants? I have also always been interested in spys and the underground resistance movements too. I mentioned this autobiography that I have never forgotten about a French blind resistance fighter who ended up in a concentration camp. I thought I remembered that "Light" was in the title.
After our conversation, armed with those memories, I went on google and immediately found the book. (Amazing what we can do on the Internet!) I also found a collection of Lusseyran's writings called Against the Pollution of the I: Selected Writings of Jacques Lusseyran which I also bought.
I have read the essays, and some I will have to re-read, because they are so layered and intense.
One that really affected me was the essay titled Poetry in Buchenwald. A (too simple) gist of the essay is that one of the things that energized and gave him (and others) hope and life force in the concentration camp, was reciting poetry and hearing others recite poetry. Not poetry by pessimists, he noted, but poetry by people he thought were particularly honest and human. I don't know if I know any poems well enough to ever recite them from memory, but perhaps if it was important enough to me I could dredge them up. (Emily Dickinson, maybe, I read so much of her poetry when I was younger.)
I'm not doing his essay justice, you'll just have to read it, but it has made me ashamed that I no longer take the time to read poetry, to seek it out. We live in such impatient times now, poetry takes leisure and thoughtful attention. Here is the list of poets he thought were particularly effective for sustaining the will to live:

• Victor Hugo
  
• Baudelaire
  
• Villon
  
• Ronsard
  
• Verlaine
  
• Apollinaire
  
• Aragon
  

I don't know if I'll find all of those poets, and in the end it doesn't matter, I'll find the ones that speak to me. I've always felt I need to read Rilke (here or here,) and now maybe that will give me the impetus to make it happen and include more poetry in my life.
Lusseyran ends his essay quoting himself: "Man is nourished by the invisible. Man is nourished by that which is beyond the personal. He dies from preferring their opposites."

About me, I think.

Politcal Compass Questionnaire
So I scored somewhere between Ghandi and the Dalai Lama. Hmmm. Really?
Economic Left/Right: -6.00
Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -6.62

Not too surprising, but I bet if the questions were different - and I was thinking about different issues, I'd score differently.

Today I scored INFJ on this Kiersey type test:

• distinctively expressed introvert (Well, maybe, but you wouldn't really think that of me in some situations, like public speaking and one on one with people.)
  
• moderately expressed intuitive personality (Hmm, this one should probably be much higher, but who knows.)
  
• moderately expressed feeling personality
  
• moderately expressed judging personality (yeah, maybe.)
  

If I test for the "me at work", I'm a much different "type" than I am in personal relationships at home. So a little healthy scepticism is always good. Another Ghandi connection, in this discription of "Counselor" Idealists. Well, yes, maybe that explains my habit of giving advice to anyone about anything from the time I was about 8. Funny. And this: "Counselors have strong empathic abilities and can become aware of another's emotions or intentions -- good or evil -- even before that person is conscious of them. This "mind-reading" can take the form of feeling the hidden distress or illnesses of others to an extent which is difficult for other types to comprehend."

Well, all for now. Going off to help my sister prepare lumpia.