vw--it is a hard life, but there might also be a cultural bias toward darkness in stories and songs. A Chinese-American friend was talking to me about "Crouching Tiger" in terms of Peking Opera and she said "Chinese love to cry. They don't feel they get their money's worth from a show unless there are a lot of tears." Chinese in daily life are more cheerful and laugh a lot, but in the theater they want the sorrow, even today. Maybe there is something like that going on? My dad worked in Appalachia for 3 years in anti-poverty work and there was a lot of horror but also a lot of camaraderie and sly joking and goofing around.

Happy Birthday, Lexine!!

it is a hard life, but there might also be a cultural bias toward darkness in stories and songs.

Maybe the human drive for catharsis?

I hope the presents are fabulous!

Would you believe, I asked for roller blades. No idea if I will get them...but I put the idea out there.

Happy birthday, Lexine! Hope it's fabulous!

Happy birthday lexine- that's all I have for the day, or so far.

I'm a little hungover.

I've heard that girls typically stop growing around menarche.

I had the really rapid growth where I needed completely new clothes every six months in the two years before (i.e. 10-12), but I grew several more inches by the time I turned 14, at which point I was 5'6". I gradually grew two more inches and hit my full height at 18 or 19.

Oh, and I don't know if this is typical or not, but my feet grew before the rest of me did. There are pictures of me as a 9-year-old with these great big woman-feet holding up a skinny, petite girl-body.

Happy Birthday, lexine!

I can't quite bring myself to wish the A's a wonderful year, but I'm sure you'll understand. Intellectually I know the M's are building for 2006 and beyond, but this is the time of year when it's all about hope, y'know?

And I do hope you have a wonderful time at Spring Training. We're planning to go in a few years once Annabel is old enough to know what's going on.

vw--it is a hard life, but there might also be a cultural bias toward darkness in stories and songs. A Chinese-American friend was talking to me about "Crouching Tiger" in terms of Peking Opera and she said "Chinese love to cry. They don't feel they get their money's worth from a show unless there are a lot of tears." Chinese in daily life are more cheerful and laugh a lot, but in the theater they want the sorrow, even today. Maybe there is something like that going on? My dad worked in Appalachia for 3 years in anti-poverty work and there was a lot of horror but also a lot of camaraderie and sly joking and goofing around.

Robin, that is a very good point. Maybe we will talk about it in class today.

The author of this particular book was very anti-formal writing. She went to Vanderbuilt (sp?) University, but only studied writing after being promised she wouldn't have to write any poetry. Her writing career was mostly short stories, except for this particular novel.

Only, it's not really structured like a novel. It's structured more like a series of short stories. My professor said that she suspects that Haun's two main forms of inspiration were murder ballods and quilts. It makes for an interesting weave to the story.

And I'm sorry if I got a little graphic for everyone. I was just so shocked by what I was reading... I probably should have kept that last bit to myself, though.

I wasn't shocked, I was intrigued. So, thanks for posting.