Oh! I have to share this story that one of the women in my writing class told last night -- I can picture Kat doing something like this.
J. is a 3rd-grade teacher. In conjunction with all the NCAA basketball tournament betting pools, etc., J. asked each of her 30 students to choose 2 poems they like (somehow she added 4 so the field would be 64). She then set up brackets for....yes, you guessed it -- a POETRY DEATHMATCH!!! Although she didn't call it a deathmatch, what with the 8-year-old students.
The names of the students who selected a given poem were NOT on the paper with the poem; that way the kids couldn't make the vote a popularity contest based on the "cool kids."
She said that by the "sweet 16" round, the classroom was like a sports bar, with the kids yelling and cheering and rooting for their favorite poem.
The winner? Shel Silverstein's "Peanut-Butter Sandwich."
Hey, ita (et al.): I was just at the library and picked up a Val McDermid book, Star Struck. The description on the inside flap starts like this:
Bodyguarding had never made it to Manchester PI Kate Brannigan's wish list... [blah blah]...the fast-talking, computer-loving, white-collar-crime expert has to swallow her pride and slip into something more glam than her Thai boxing kit.
For some reason, I thought of you.
I am reading Hemingway short stories. I think teh only Hemingway I've ever read is
For Whom the Bell Tolls
and I don't really remember it.
Since my bookclub seems to be on a recent books only leaning right now, I am taking the opportunity to look at some older works I have on my TBR shelves.
I get a lot of shit for it, but I've always liked Hemingway. I should re-read what I have here and/or read other stuff.
Jesse -- skip
To Have and Have Not.
Although it's got some good prose fillips, the plot is dull and the thesis of the novel is kind of shitty and irritatingly self-righteous. I read the other day that
The Sun Also Rises
is generally considered his best novel; I read it in high school but don't remember a whole lot. Probably due a reread, but not till after I get through the 15 or so volumes on the floor beside my bed.
The Old man and the Sea. My idea of a perfect novel.
A Moveable Feast. Very close to orgasmic heartbreaking memories of Paris, for me. Makes me reach for my passport.
Oh, Jesse, I need that.
I just picked up my third Crusie. I should take notes when I read here, because I think I'm doing the same out-of-order (Welcome to Temptation/Faking It) thing as was mentioned upthread.
But just getting to the bookstore and remembering her name was a huge deal for me.
Even Hemingway-haters agree that the Nick Adams short-stories are primo stuff.
