I haven’t hung out with a 2 year old in quite awhile, so this visit is a steep learning curve for me! It takes twice as long to get ready to go somewhere, and if I ever thought that I got grumpy when I was hungry, well let me tell you, I have met my match…!

After a very late start today we finally made it to the College Park MARTA station and successfully navigated the rail system and the streets of downtown Atlanta, finding our way eventually to World of Coca-Cola. With a fussy child in tow, we checked out the huge variety of artifacts – all kinds of Coke advertisements, paintings, platters, machines, cans and bottles, etc. – and then thankfully trooped into the Taste It! room to sample beverages from around the world. Avoid something called “Beverly” from Italy, but go for the “Vegitabeta” from Japan! The South African ginger ale was my adult friend’s favorite. Not sure which one the kid liked best – we were just happy that the sundry sips kept her quiet for a little while!

The crabby 2 year old was somewhat placated by a snack from the Subway at the top of Centennial Olympic Park, but my friend and I weren’t that pleased to discover that the day had gone by so quickly and it was already too late to visit the Aquarium… Facing the drag of 5:30 traffic, we opted to detour a short way down Peachtree St. and visit Max Lager’s American Grill and Brewery. A comfy seat, with the child sleeping stretched out in the booth, and a couple of decent beers (Pumpkin Wit, and Max Black) took the edge off the long afternoon.

Our somewhat odd server told me I had an “interesting face”, so FYI if you ever meet me, or for those of you who have but haven’t noticed, now you know!

The trip back to the car on the MARTA train was uneventful and the traffic had mostly cleared up on the interstate, so we were back in McDonough in no time. The kid was adorable again, and let me teach her Karate Kid moves and helped to fight off the nibbling cat and the stinky-breathed dog until it was bedtime. If my pictures will ever upload, I’ll go to bed too…

Zoo tomorrow! I’m pretty sure I haven’t been to a real zoo since we moved to Maine, over 15 years ago, so I’m unexpectedly excited. Should be good.

It’s kind of funny how much this part of Georgia looks like Maine right now. What leaves that are left on the trees are mostly yellow and brown, and there is a similar mix of deciduous and pine, although a closer look proves them to be different varieties than I am used to. I left Maine during a surprisingly warm spell, and went from my pleasant 50s to what Atlanta considers somewhat chilly 50s. It’s supposed to be closer to the 70s tomorrow though, so that will be lovely. There is more wildlife still roaming about here, while in Maine most of the birds and small animals are mostly hidden away, so that’s a nice difference. I don’t know why I expected a more exotic local, but my mental picture is adjusting and I’m enjoying all the aspects of my visit.

Today we spent a lot of time outdoors, visiting Panola Mountain State Park. There is a 12 mile multi-use trail that winds through a wide variety of different woodsy habitats as well as swamp, field, and river areas. The 2 year old was a good little hiker and we had fun helping her pick out the perfect leaves and acorns to put in her pink, leopard spotted purse. I got a kick out of seeing a lizard, three small snakes (thank goodness!), a beautiful raptor of some type, several butterflies, and a whole handful of snails!

Not too long after we got back (via the circuitous route of getting lost – my friend is a newcomer to the area!) my friend’s husband came home and we all went into downtown Atlanta to meet up with other friends for dinner. I got to see the lit up skyline, and drive through Cabbagetown. We ate at La Fonda Latina, an old favorite haunt of the Atlanta-raised husband, where I consumed an astonishing amount of delicious paella. On the way out of town we stopped at The Varsity for an F. O. (frosted orange yummyness) and listened to the folks behind the counter call “What’ll ya’ have, what’ll ya have?” as they have done since 1928.

We have all kinds of things planned for tomorrow, but all I want to do right now is curl up with my food baby and my book – my camera batteries are charging, and it’s time I did the same. Good night!

I already can’t believe that my day started out like this:

Early morning flights, once you get somewhat awake and past airport security, are quite lovely. Mine were uneventful, and my friends were there to meet me at the (gulp, huge!!) airport in Atlanta. I spent the rest of the day casually, grabbing some “real country cooking” at Johnny’s Family Buffet, playing with the smaller of my two friends (the 2 year old), getting beaten up by their Australian cattle dog, visiting the Veterans Wall of Honor in McDonough for some mild Veterans Day respect, and vegging out on TV and Pizza Hut.

We will hopefully start the more serious exploration of Atlanta tomorrow, or if it turns into a more relaxed day, at the very least I will try to drag my friends to Bell, Book & Candle, the used and rare book store right in their home town.

Once again The Savage Detectives will lull me to sleep, and not even the riveting mystery of who and what Arturo Belano and Ulises Lima are is likely to keep me awake for long…!

One of my favorite things to do is to watch my youngest sister do this:

I am visiting my family for a few hours, since they live nearer to the airport than I do and I have a very early flight… As always it is an interesting experience. I am constantly amazed by the cleverness of my younger sisters. They are writers, artists, puzzle solvers, music teachers, and hair dressers. The pianists also composes. They have active social lives, hold down jobs, and get their school work done. They’ve been known to compete with me in the reading area…and win. It’s inspiring.

I got a concert out of my little sister tonight – she played a couple of Nocturnes by Rachmaninov, and some Chopin, as well as one of her own creations. She has tiny little hands, but they move so fast and make such lovely music. She won third place in the Pine Tree Piano Competition this spring, and participated in the Portland International Piano Festival in June. Can you tell that I am proud?

This little interlude with my family is the perfect start to my trip. Now I’m off to bed, although sleep may only come via The Savage Detectives – after a morning spent researching Atlanta even more, I’m plenty excited and eager to start exploring it!

It’s a tea towel!! I know I shouldn’t have checked my Google Reader one last time before I signed off, but I did anyway and thanks to Cornflower Books I found this – Kitchen Sink Dramas! “Great stories don’t just belong in books. Make room for a little more reading in your life…“

They also have a short story by Saki tea towel that I would like, and a feature called The Reading Room that offers the chance to win their monthly drawing for a free SET of tea towels!

In an effort to continue avoiding packing for a trip to Atlanta that I’m embarking on tomorrow, I am “Christmas shopping”, a.k.a. looking at books, through such delightful channels as the design blog Book By Its Cover, the publisher (of comic books and graphic novels) Drawn and Quarterly, and the resource site The Book Cover Archive.

By such semi-direct routes I stumbled across this:

Found through a post at the Most Coveted Covers part of Readerville Journal, each slender volume pairs a classic story with a story by a contemporary author. “The Wilde is matched with a Simon Van Booy story; Cather comes paired up with Lydia Peelle; Tolstoy with Holly Goddard Jones.”

Like the author of the post, I want them ALL – and I put them all on my Amazon wishlist. They’re each around 8 dollars, so I might even buy one. After all, I still have that pesky Amazon Prime with it’s always tempting free shipping…!

Here’s a bit more about the books from The Academic Files, a blog for the publisher, Harper Collins.

And now I really must pack… I’m eager to go to Atlanta – never been before – but I always get lazy/nervous before a trip…even one that is going to be nothing but fun and exploration and relaxation…

Be prepared for this space to morph into a travel log, and become littered with photographs.

The last two times that I have blissfully visited the post office with absolutely no expectations of getting anything more exciting than a Netflix, (as opposed to the many times when I check the mail hoping with all my might that there will be something interesting in the box) there has been that lovely yellow slip that indicates a parcel too large for the box glowing goldenly among the bills and Rite Aid leaflets.

And the last two times I have found that buttery yellow slip, the postmaster has been on his lunch break. WHY do I even BOTHER to check the mail between 1 and 2 o’clock?!

Obviously, via sending my boyfriend to check the mail later in the day or by just waiting around for the postmaster, I have eventually gotten my packages. And look what they were:

I found both of these wonders through Nonsuch Book. Frances’ obsession with book design and book cover artwork is constantly feeding my own growing interest, and although I am trying to limit my book buying, some books are limited – I had to get these while I could.

We Are the Friction came to my attention in mid-October, but it took me 6 days to decide that I wanted it badly enough to take the plunge into British pounds and overseas shipping rates. The final cost wasn’t as high as I had feared, and of course a package with English postal stamps and address more than made up for it!

The second book published by Sing Statistics, a “collaborative concern of Jez Burrows and Lizzy Stewart“, We Are the Friction is a collection of short stories and illustrations by pairings of 12 international writers and artists, new and emerging.

Each pair “produced new work inspired by the work of their partner: stories from illustrations, and illustrations from stories. The result is an erratic, eclectic collection of work that takes in space travel, Japanese deities, monster husbandry, and the Marx Brothers.“

24 short stories, 24 illustrations. 1000 copies. I received number 652 – my first hand numbered, limited edition copy of anything. I am thrilled, and as I’ve made my way through the book, I am no less impressed. The stories are entertaining and quirky, and the illustrations are beautiful. Check out the full collection at Sing Statistics on Flickr, as well as other photos of the production, press, and exhibition. There are prints available, and I am very tempted to get at least one for myself…but haven’t decided which yet. Anyway, super cool idea and a lovely book. I’ll be keeping an eye on them, hoping for future projects.

As for the other book, The Next Queen of Heaven by Gregory Maguire is being published FOR FREE by Concord Free Press, “an experiment in publishing and community“. After reading about it at Nonsuch Book, it took me about 6 seconds to decide that I wanted it!

I rushed to the website and put in my request. A few weeks later, the book showed up – and it is SO pretty! The kicker is that I have to give it up – I can’t keep it! You see, the idea behind Concord Free Press is generosity based publishing. “By taking a copy, you agree to give money to a local charity, someone who needs it, or a stranger on the street.” “When you’re done, pass this novel on to someone else (for free, of course), so that they can give. It adds up.“

Gregory Maguire is one of my favorite authors, and I’ve read most of his books. The fact that he got involved in something amazing like this has only increased my admiration, and I’m really, really looking forward to reading this book. I’m not so much looking forward to giving it away, but I am embracing the idea of inspiring generosity in others, (and I’m welcoming the chance to, erm…work on my own possession issues. Guess I’ll have to buy their T-shirt to compensate for my loss!)

Of the 2,500 copies of this book mine is number 1, 218 according to the red stamp in the back. Now I just need to make my donation, read it, put my name at the top of the list in the space provided, and pass it on to someone who will be eager to donate, read, and pass it along in turn. I hope that The Next Queen of Heaven #1,218 will go on an amazing journey, and that Concord Free Press will be more than just an experiment. I hope and expect it to be a resounding success. Bring on the publishing revolution!

Thanks to Frances for the tips, and best wishes to small, independent, experimental publishers everywhere.

I have some extra time off this week, so I finally got out some of my crafting supplies and made…a pocketbook.

I found the instructions in an issue of Country Living and although it was somewhat horrifying to cut the pages out of an old hardcover, the end result is pretty fabulous. And I do intend to read the book as well – I’ll even make a new cover for it!

In other news, I received my winter edition of The Persephone Biannually and the new catalog today, much to my surprise and delight. They are SO lovely. In fact I was so pleased with them that I decided to break the ice and buy my first Persephone Book. I chose Flash by Virginia Woolf, and Cheerful Weather for the Wedding by Julia Strachey, based on recommendations I came across in the biannual. I am beyond excited!

Now that I’ve taken the plunge, I think I also want to join in the Secret Santa Persephone book swap that Book Psmith is hosting. It seems like any of the Persephone Books would be lovely to receive, so even though I might normally hesitate over the idea, I’m looking forward to picking a book for whoever I’m playing Santa to.

And now I’ll set the computer aside and get back to watching Zorro, the Gay Blade!

by Sigrid Undset

I read the first section of this book in a hurry. Overwhelmed by an overly eventful month and my hefty reading choices (all three of them…!) I chose to devote the larger part of three evenings to The Wreath and just get it over with. I didn’t take notes, my yellow highlighter didn’t mark a single page, and the story didn’t settle very far into my consciousness.

That doesn’t mean that the book didn’t make an impression on me. I just didn’t bother to think too hard about it. This is slightly unfortunate, I’m finding, now that I am sitting down to try to pull together some thoughts. In fact I’ve been trying to pull together some thoughts (well actually, I’ve been continuing to avoid doing so) for three days.

Fortunately I’m not alone – the other participants in this read-along have started posting their reviews, and reading what they have to say and joining in the discussion through comments has kicked my brain back into action.

Let’s see. I’ll use these excerpts from the Penguin Reading Guide that I found online to explain the plot more simply than I’m capable of:

In Kristin Lavransdatter (1920-1922), Sigrid Undset interweaves political, social, and religious history with the daily aspects of family life to create a colorful, richly detailed tapestry of Norway during the fourteenth-century.

In The Wreath Undset tells the story of a headstrong young woman who defies the expectations of her much-beloved father, the lessons of her priest, and conventions of society when she is captivated by a charming and dangerously impetuous man.

Please pardon the disjointed babble that follows…

I essentially liked this first chunk of the book. It started off slowly, introducing Kristin as a seven year old, building the atmosphere of the family farm, and setting the stage for medieval Norway. The first really interesting scene involved Kristin being tempted by what appears to be an elf maiden, offering her a wreath from across a stream.

Then Kristin gets older, is betrothed to a suitably nice boy, has a few mild misadventures, goes to a convent, meets a much more intriguing and handsome young man, falls madly in love, defies everyone, mopes her way through every obstacle that arises, until she finally marries this “true love” and isn’t as happy as she might have hoped. End act one.

I said I “essentially” liked the book thus far, because there were a lot of things that I didn’t like. These were fortunately balanced by things that I did. For instance, I don’t care a great deal for Kristin as a character, and her storyline annoys me. The relationship between and history of her parents is much more intriguing, and I hope that it is explored more in the second part. The most interesting, and somewhat minor, character so far is a rather open-minded wandering priest.

My reaction to Kristin at this point is one of frustration. She seems to have no backbone, no thoughts of her own right up until she meets Erland. She latches onto him, and finally gets an independent thought in her head, but unfortunately it’s just the one – “I want to be with this man and no other, at any cost”. She spent her childhood believing everything her beloved father Lavrans said, and then simply replaced him with Erland, only displaying her so called “will” by digging her heels in and refusing to listen to the council of anyone around her.

Granted, love makes you do crazy things. I can relate to that at least. But Erland is just SO not worth the drama…!!! Blah – I despise him – he’s just so…sleazy!

Anyway. The drama – sometimes extremely contrived drama – that trails Kristin is a chore. I can only hope that in the next two sections she will develop a little more personality. I also hope that she will kick her habit of constantly crying over spilt milk (in the religious sense of feeling extremely guilty about her shortcomings and outright sins) but than blatantly continuing to pour the whole gallon all over the floor…

As a piece of historical fiction, Kristin Lavransdatter is excellent. Undset really brings her setting and time period to life, and in a subtle way that never disrupts the flow of the story. There are plenty of details about the daily activities of life on the farm, in the convent, etc., and a reasonable amount of allusions to the actual political situation in Norway at that time.

The balance of religion and magic that is a daily part of life is one of the most fascinating aspects of the story. Kristin’s early encounter with the elf maiden raises no more questions than the religious mysteries her family learns about at mass on Sundays. It is so interesting to me to witness this need to use every available resource to help explain a life that is constantly difficult. In an effort to find some kind of reason, or point to the mish-mash of reality, both religion and magic will do.

Somehow, though, I don’t think the elf maiden with her wreath would have been as harsh, in Kristin’s understanding, as the all-seeing God who knows that she doesn’t deserve to wear the virgin wreath on her wedding day.

I also really enjoyed Undset’s descriptions of the landscapes of Norway, and in general the descriptive passages – between Undset and Tiina Nunnally’s lovely translation, there were some beautiful pieces of writing.

I feel a strange reluctance to pick up the book again and begin the next section, since I’m fairly certain that it is not ultimately going to go in a direction that I like. However, I will continue reading because, while I’m not thrilled with Kristin, there is enough going on around her that interests me.

I am grateful that I’m reading this book with a group, and have been really impressed by the insightful and thought-provoking blogs I’ve read so far. The shared reading experience is kind of better than the actual book, and I’m looking forward to continuing to get the variety of “takes” on the story.

Emily, our co-host along with Richard, is keeping and updating a list of everybody’s posts here. Good luck with part two, everyone!

Yesterday, instead of writing about Kristin Lavrensdatter like I needed to, since it’s time for part 1 wrap-up posts, I unpacked and put out all of our DVDs (nearly 300 titles!), music, and of course my books. Then I made my Halloween costume.

I wanted to be the character “9″ from the movie of the same name, an animated post-apocalypse story about a small group of soft robots who are fighting to survive the same terrible machine that assisted in the destruction of human civilization.

My costume, while not being exactly what I had envisioned (I had high hopes for a great deal of burlap…!) turned out well and throughout my shift at the theater (where we were playing 9, incidentally) I got a lot of good comments. The zipper, of which I am particularly proud, made it through a costume party at the Lompoc, and the nearly hurricane force winds and sudden rain that plagued the night. I’m going to hang it somewhere in my house – I discovered that giant zippers are really visually interesting!

Here’s another really visually interesting thing – click for a bigger image if you want to really peruse the shelves!

Nonsensical ramblings about Kristin Lavrensdatter coming soon, I promise… Maybe after I finish this Bloody Mary.