a stream

I Read In the Dream House: A Memoir

Started Reading: January 10, 2020 Finished Reading: January 11, 2020

After reading Her Body and Other Parties a year or two ago I determined that I would read pretty much anything and everything that Machado chose to write and publish, and so here we are. A memoir about domestic abuse is not something I would generally seek out to read, but after sampling just a couple of sections I wanted to quickly read the entire book. Though the topic is serious and the underlying narrative is harrowing, the artful, fractured method she uses to explore this experience through all manner of genres, forms, and tones just excites me about writing more than anything else. I feel a little guilty having enjoyed this book as much as I did, but I think for all the trauma the author went through, she didn’t mean for this to be a traumatic read.

Try it:

Standalone post link: Reading: In the Dream House

I used to be meticulous about tracking even my most minute reading updates on Goodreads¹, but I’ve fallen off in the past few months, and I’m not entirely sure why.²

In the meantime while I try to figure that out, I’ve decided to post random³ updates⁴ about my reading on Twitter and also to experiment with creating a new thread/series here on this website that will serve as a running log of my reading life.

I may end up going back to active Goodreads use because I have a lot of friends there and I like to see what they are reading, and I think at least some of them like to see what I’m reading as well. But I’m still going to try this other method for 2020. I guess it is part of making this website my home location on the internet and keeping my content for myself and out of silos.

Tweets Cited

Standalone post link: My Reading in 2020

This review may contain spoilers.

Can’t stop thinking about ghosts in the basement and cockroaches scurrying under the furniture. And how maybe children’s fears should be taken seriously. This is a metaphoric spoiler.

(First posted on letterboxd: https://letterboxd.com/jdwhiting/film/parasite-2019/)

Is it weird that I started subscribing to the weekly showtime updates for the Salt Lake Film Society / Broadway Centre Theater almost a year ago but am just now finally attending a movie there on a random Monday night? Probably.

Standalone post link: I Watched Parasite, 2019

Kids singing rhymes Dogs barking Car ignitions turning over but failing to start This bitter earth Scuffling and throwing rocks An ice cream truck on the next street over That’s America to me

(First posted on letterboxd: https://letterboxd.com/jdwhiting/film/killer-of-sheep/)

Last night I also watched another film directed by Charles Burnett: My Brother’s Wedding, 1983. I watched the director’s cut. It was included in the same scratched-up DVD set as Killer of Sheep, which I obtained from the Salt Lake County Library. I waxed slightly poetic describing the sounds of Killer of Sheep above, but I think I liked My Brother’s Wedding even more, although I admit that a lot of the acting here is just bad. I laughed at moments that I don’t think were intended as comical on account of the acting, but maybe that’s okay. Overall, I’m glad I watched both of them as a double-feature.

(I’m still working my way through the 2017 and 2018 topics of the Film School Drop Outs Challenge at my own pace. This was watched for Week 32 (2018) - Movement - L.A. Rebellion.)

Screenshot of moment of Killer of Sheep frozen by a scratch in the library DVD

Screenshot of library’s MARC Record for Killer of Sheep, just because I’m a weird cataloging nerd and this is my site so I can. And also because I couldn’t get a direct hyperlink to their catalog record to work :(

Standalone post link: I Watched Killer of Sheep, 1978

Standalone post link: igh!

The other day at work I was going through some new MARC records for a school and came across this book they had purchased, and it covers the precise topics that I’ve been meaning to learn more about since a dog came into my life.

So now I’m learning about the co-evolution of humans and dogs. I love the serendipity of good library cataloging.

Standalone post link: Dogs--Evolution. Human-Animal Relationship--History.

Thanks.

You better count your blessings for real. AMEN.

Standalone post link: Thanks

I forgot to observe Life Day several days ago, but I’ll observe it today on the Internet and on my website. I did share Life Day with my kids (just about 7 minutes worth) soon after when I had come to myself and realigned my priorities. They kind of loved it, and kind of thought it was terrible, which is just as it should be.

A day or two later I overheard my kids telling their cousins about it. My daughter gleefully informed them that Princess Leia did not have a very good singing voice. A few seconds later she literally fell onto her own face out of a swing, which I pointed out to her was likely recompense through the force for her speaking poorly and untruthfully of the princess, or perhaps even the force ghost of Carrie Fisher herself reaching out to bring balance.

I feel like the holiday special is actually one of the most important entries in the entire Star Wars canon because, other than the scenes by the lake on Naboo, it is the only time you really get a feel for the home front in these taxing times, and just how much is at stake to be lost by the regular middle-class inhabitants of the galaxy if the rebellion fails and the empire continues its crushing, authoritarian reign, not only on a galactic level but in its abuses of the personal freedoms and comforts of individuals right in their midcentury modern treehouses.

Standalone post link: Happy Life Day

I forced the kids to listen to my Sung Tongs vinyl today while they made snowflakes and swung around.

Standalone post link: Holiday Fun

I published a review of A Wolf Called Wander by Rosanne Perry on Granite Media and also posted it on Goodreads.

Enjoyed reading this one to my kids at bedtime.

Swift is not the largest or strongest pup in his pack, but he loves his home in the mountains and he wants to grow to lead, provide for, and protect the pack just like his mother and father do. When stranger wolves invade their territory, Swift finds himself alone and blocked from his mountain home forever. He wanders far, encountering dangers from men and challenges on the prairie and desert. Will he ever find a mountain home among other wolves again?

This is a dramatic, realistic, and action-packed animal adventure story inspired by the true experience of OR-7, a radio-collared wolf that mysteriously traveled over 1,000 miles across Oregon and Northern California to establish a new wolf pack. The back matter features engaging photos, maps, and other information about OR-7 as well as about wild wolves generally and their habitats in the Pacific Northwest. The frequent illustrations add to mood and experience of reading the book.

I highly recommend this book for young readers who like animals, adventure and survival stories, and even lyrical/poetic writing about nature and the wilderness. Swift’s keen observation and love of the mountains made me want to get out and explore nature myself, and after reading the book I’ve found myself even paying more attention to the animals and plants around my home and in the city.

Reviewed by Joshua Whiting, Library Media Program, Educational Technology Department Rating: ★★★★✩ (4 stars) Interest Level: Grades 3-8

A Wolf Called Wander Written by Rosanne Perry, Illustrated by Mónica Armiño Greenwillow Books, an imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers 243 pages Release Date: May 7, 2019 ISBN: 9780062895936

Tags: 2019 Children’s Fiction, Adventure Fiction, Animal Adventure Fiction, Animals Fiction, Joshua Whiting, Journeys Fiction, Mónica Armiño, Mountains Fiction, Nature Fiction, Rosanne Perry, Shelley Francom, Survival Fiction, Wolves Fiction

Standalone post link: Book Review - A Wolf Called Wander