I was listening to NPR a little earlier today, and I heard a piece on a young man in Pasadena who has started a “No Cussing Club.” McKay Hatch’s parents, apparently, have written the book on raising a G-rated child. (Literally. It’s Raising a G-Rated Family in an X-Rated World by Brent and Phelecia Hatch.) Young McKay has followed in his parents’ G-rated footsteps and encourages all young people to foreswear swearing.
Maybe I’m a bad, bad mama because I’ve just gotta admit that swearing is waaaaaaaaaaaaaaay down on the list of things I worry about with my kid. (And I think that seeing the world as generally X-rated is pretty cynical and perhaps even a little paranoid.)
In fact, profanity just doesn’t bother me at all, and I’ll be the first to admit: Mama’s got a potty-mouth. Mama does do a good job of reining in her wayward tongue when DD is in earshot, but no one has ever accused me of being prim (or proper, for that matter). I don’t go out of my way to expose DD to profanity, mind you, but I don’t shield her ears when we’re in public either.
McKay suggests that we all say “pickles” and “shoot” and such euphemisms for the “dirty words” we really mean. I don’t really see the point. For one thing, there’s a real satisfaction from letting a choice word fly when you slam your fingers in the door or drop your perfectly scooped $10 ice cream cone on the not-so-pristine ice cream parlor floor. A satisfaction that just doesn’t materialize with an “oh pickles.” Admit it, illicit words are just more FUN! Even DD gets the humor and sneaky little satisfaction from saying “oh POOP” – high profanity for a two-year-old – when something moderately annoying, yet simultaneously funny happens to her And really, in a sense, what’s the difference in saying “pickles” or a four-letter-word when you mean the same thing when you say them???
So, while I hope DD doesn’t start letting the f-bomb fly anytime soon – there is, after all, a time and place for all behavior – when she inevitably does, I doubt she’ll get in trouble. (Maybe a brief conversation about not cussing in front of your great-grandmother – even your mama knows better than that!)
Because I’m pretty okay with raising a PG-rated child. Maybe even PG-13. Hell (whoops!), when she’s old enough, she can even be R-rated, if she wants. Now if we ever get to that X-rated point, THEN I’ll draw that firm line!
**P.S. For those of you who aren’t SciFi geeks like me, “frack” and “frell” are the creative, censor-evading words used by characters in, respectively, Battlestar Galatica and Farscape. :)
Monday, January 26, 2009
Saturday, January 17, 2009
Philosophic reading
Before I met my husband, I was not a reader of Science Fiction. He not-so-gently introduced me to the genre with Orson Scott Card’s Ender’s Game and William Gibson’s Neuromancer. I haven’t looked back.
While my husband has done most of the introductions of scifi writers into our reading lives, I like to take credit for bringing one great author onto our “must read” list: Neal Stephenson. I don’t recall whether a friend recommended the book or I heard a review on NPR or I just picked up the book at a bookstore, but Stephenson’s Snow Crash was a roller coaster ride of a book that grabbed me from the get-go. I wanted more and soon read Zodiac then later Cryptonomicon.
Stephenson’s work has gotten longer, deeper, and more philosophical while retaining the action. Snow Crash and Zodiac, earlier works, are heavily on the scifi action end - not exactly fluff and certainly not cheesy but driven more by the action than by the characters' thoughts. They're relatively short, fast reads. Cryptonomicon trended more thoughtful, relied less on constant action to drive the reader on, and was a more difficult read for me as a result. Stephenson's latest work, Anathem, is no exception to the trend.
At about 953 pages, the book was a smooth, engaging read (far more so than the comparably sized Moby Dick, which I finished over Christmas. Bleh). Like Stephenson’s Cryptonomicon, I initially was unable to get into the book fully, but the effort was worth it. Anathem takes place in a world similar to our own but with its own vocabulary. For about the first 100 pages, I felt I was constantly referring to the glossary Stephenson kindly included at the back, which was mildly irritating. Once I inevitably got caught up in the storyline, in the worldview of the characters, especially of the protagonist Erasmus, and in the characters’ adventures, the weird words all suddenly didn't matter. They didn't always make instant sense, but I couldn't tear myself away from the page to flip to the glossary!
The book isn’t all adventure, though. While Stephenson has honed his ability to keep readers on the edge of their seats, this book is as much about philosophy as it is about typical scifi action. As a philosophy minor in college, I found the book refreshed my recollection of ideas I hadn’t (at least consciously and actively) thought about in some time. For anyone familiar with basic concepts of Philosophy – from the classic Platonic ideals to modern theories of consciousness and knowledge – this book will ring those same bells.
It was so enjoyable that I may have to hit some more Stephenson. I’ve been putting off reading his Baroque Cycle (which dear hubby greatly enjoyed) for some time. It’s three times as long as Anathem and, apparently, just as philosophical, but I think it’s time!
100. Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll
99. The Cat Who Covered the World by Christopher S. Wren
98. The Turn of the Screw by Henry James
97. Emily the Strange by Anonymous
96. Anathem by Neal Stephenson
While my husband has done most of the introductions of scifi writers into our reading lives, I like to take credit for bringing one great author onto our “must read” list: Neal Stephenson. I don’t recall whether a friend recommended the book or I heard a review on NPR or I just picked up the book at a bookstore, but Stephenson’s Snow Crash was a roller coaster ride of a book that grabbed me from the get-go. I wanted more and soon read Zodiac then later Cryptonomicon.
Stephenson’s work has gotten longer, deeper, and more philosophical while retaining the action. Snow Crash and Zodiac, earlier works, are heavily on the scifi action end - not exactly fluff and certainly not cheesy but driven more by the action than by the characters' thoughts. They're relatively short, fast reads. Cryptonomicon trended more thoughtful, relied less on constant action to drive the reader on, and was a more difficult read for me as a result. Stephenson's latest work, Anathem, is no exception to the trend.
At about 953 pages, the book was a smooth, engaging read (far more so than the comparably sized Moby Dick, which I finished over Christmas. Bleh). Like Stephenson’s Cryptonomicon, I initially was unable to get into the book fully, but the effort was worth it. Anathem takes place in a world similar to our own but with its own vocabulary. For about the first 100 pages, I felt I was constantly referring to the glossary Stephenson kindly included at the back, which was mildly irritating. Once I inevitably got caught up in the storyline, in the worldview of the characters, especially of the protagonist Erasmus, and in the characters’ adventures, the weird words all suddenly didn't matter. They didn't always make instant sense, but I couldn't tear myself away from the page to flip to the glossary!
The book isn’t all adventure, though. While Stephenson has honed his ability to keep readers on the edge of their seats, this book is as much about philosophy as it is about typical scifi action. As a philosophy minor in college, I found the book refreshed my recollection of ideas I hadn’t (at least consciously and actively) thought about in some time. For anyone familiar with basic concepts of Philosophy – from the classic Platonic ideals to modern theories of consciousness and knowledge – this book will ring those same bells.
It was so enjoyable that I may have to hit some more Stephenson. I’ve been putting off reading his Baroque Cycle (which dear hubby greatly enjoyed) for some time. It’s three times as long as Anathem and, apparently, just as philosophical, but I think it’s time!
100. Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll
99. The Cat Who Covered the World by Christopher S. Wren
98. The Turn of the Screw by Henry James
97. Emily the Strange by Anonymous
96. Anathem by Neal Stephenson
Saturday, January 10, 2009
Books 99-97
It's been a busy few days, book-wise! On Thursday, I finished the pleasant and engaging The Cat Who Covered the World by Christopher Wren. The story of Henrietta, the cat who travelled around the world with foreign correspondent Wren and his family, it was worth picking up off the "take me" pile at my yoga studio. One little note: the frontispiece of the book quoted a passage from Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, a neat little segue from my previous read.
For book 98, I returned to a classic that I read years ago, The Turn of the Screw by Henry James. While I enjoyed it again, the book was not as scary as I recalled, and I had completely forgotten the rather abrupt ending. I found myself contemplating the mental state of the narrator far more than soaking up the eeriness of the book. Nonetheless, I'm glad I read it again.
Book 97 was pretty much a throw-away: a brief graphic novel, Emily the Strange (no author attribution). I've bought my own sister Emily a number of Emily the Strange paraphernalia over the years. Unfortunately, her snarky, spooky non sequiturs, wisecracks, and obiter dicta did not translate well into book format. Buy the cute tees, notepads, magnets, and more, but avoid the book...
So, here's the summary:
100. Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll
99. The Cat Who Covered the World by Christopher S. Wren
98. The Turn of the Screw by Henry James
97. Emily the Strange by Anonymous
For book 98, I returned to a classic that I read years ago, The Turn of the Screw by Henry James. While I enjoyed it again, the book was not as scary as I recalled, and I had completely forgotten the rather abrupt ending. I found myself contemplating the mental state of the narrator far more than soaking up the eeriness of the book. Nonetheless, I'm glad I read it again.
Book 97 was pretty much a throw-away: a brief graphic novel, Emily the Strange (no author attribution). I've bought my own sister Emily a number of Emily the Strange paraphernalia over the years. Unfortunately, her snarky, spooky non sequiturs, wisecracks, and obiter dicta did not translate well into book format. Buy the cute tees, notepads, magnets, and more, but avoid the book...
So, here's the summary:
100. Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll
99. The Cat Who Covered the World by Christopher S. Wren
98. The Turn of the Screw by Henry James
97. Emily the Strange by Anonymous
Not sure what I'll read next, but I'll be sure to report!
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
Book 100
Last night, I finished book 100 Through the Looking Glass, the "Annotated Alice" version. I read Alice in Wonderland last year. Thoroughly enjoyed both -- took me back to childhood when dreams seemed like a real place I could go. I can't wait to read these to DD when she gets a little older.
Monday, January 5, 2009
The Year of 100 Books
Happy New Year! I’ve been blog-absent for some time now, but I promise it was for a good reason – holiday celebrations!
As the new year starts, I’ve got a new project, in spite of the adverse counsel of my trepidatious hubby. This, my friends, shall be henceforth known as “The Year of 100 Books.” Yes, I’ve set a goal of reading 100 books in 2009. For those of you who are trying to tally that up in your head, that would be approximately one book every three days.
I do promise that not every book will be one with lots of pictures and little text that I’ve read to my daughter! I’ll keep you bloggishly up-to-date on my readings (as well as talk about the usual sorts of topics that cross my mind). If you have any suggestions for not-to-be-missed reads, feel free to comment!
Just to make things interesting (for me anyway), I’ve decided to count DOWN to number one. Maybe that’ll give me more incentive to finish so that all those smaller numbers aren’t staring blankly at me at the end of the year. So… I better go read!
As the new year starts, I’ve got a new project, in spite of the adverse counsel of my trepidatious hubby. This, my friends, shall be henceforth known as “The Year of 100 Books.” Yes, I’ve set a goal of reading 100 books in 2009. For those of you who are trying to tally that up in your head, that would be approximately one book every three days.
I do promise that not every book will be one with lots of pictures and little text that I’ve read to my daughter! I’ll keep you bloggishly up-to-date on my readings (as well as talk about the usual sorts of topics that cross my mind). If you have any suggestions for not-to-be-missed reads, feel free to comment!
Just to make things interesting (for me anyway), I’ve decided to count DOWN to number one. Maybe that’ll give me more incentive to finish so that all those smaller numbers aren’t staring blankly at me at the end of the year. So… I better go read!
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