New TV Shows

Has anyone else noticed that at least two of the newer TV programs seem to be pandering to the religious right? Blue Bloods centers on an Irish Catholic family, who are very committed to their religion. The other show is a brand new one, Criminal Minds: Suspect Behvior.

 I have watched every episode of Blue Bloods, even though I noticed the religious overtones at about the second episode (slow learner that I am). Tom Selleck is in it, after all, so it has to be a must watch program, right? And I admit that I like the idea of a close-knit family working together to rid the NYC of crime, and still remaining a close-knit family. My question is, do they need religion to do this?

There have only been two episodes of Criminal Minds: Suspect Behavior, and I watched both of them.  I will probably not watch another episode. Forest Whittaker is too dramatic for me, and the subject matter of the program, while more than likely realistic, is too graphic for my taste. Also, this program seems to be forcing us to acknowledge that the good guys are good only because they are so religious, and that they could not get through a case without that backing. This is not necessarily a bad thing. We all have to have something or someone to rely on to help us through the bad times. But I get the feeling that whoever is producing or writing this show, has put religion in there just to pacify the conservative Tea Partyiers. It seems to have been added as an afterthought, and has nothing to do with the story being told.

Again, this is just my take on these two programs, one of which I will continue to watch and one that I won't.

The weather here today is not good—snowing, blowing, and cold.  The wind is from the northeast and we have about 8 or 10 inches of new snow on the ground.

Another Book Review

The Writing Class by Jincy Willett was a much better book than her The Winner of the National Book Award, which was written five years earlier.  The Writing Class is about an older woman who had once been a successful writer.  Having been married twice, Amy Gallup now lives by herself, except for the Bassett hound who barely tolerates her, and teaches one writing class a semester.  She teaches only because she needs the money to live; not because she enjoys it.  At least, that is what she tells herself.  Nothing of hers has been published for years.  Maybe she no longer writes, except vicariously through her students.

This writing class is different.  Oh, sure, all the same types of students are in it, the jock, the jokester, the one person who really knows how to write, etc.  But one of the "usual" students is a killer; and Amy must find out who before she herself becomes a victim.

This is a good book, easy to read, but one that will make you look twice at the people around you in your writing class.

Cross Country Skiing Again

Lake Erie from my front yard.

Today is another beautiful winter day.  The temperature is right around 20 degrees, the sun is shining, and the snow is glistening.  This morning (yes you read right -- morning) Den and I went to the south entrance of the Girdled Road Reservation of Lake Metroparks.  It was the third time we have been skiing in the park in the last week, and it was perfect again.  The woods are very quiet, just a few birds chirping and trees creaking in the breeze, unless you count the swish and crunch of the skis as they slip over the snow.  Den is encouraged to go on ahead of me, but usually says he doesn't mind staying back and skiing at my pace.  I try to make him work to keep up, but that only lasts a few minutes before my breath gives out and I have to slow down.

Someone at the park does an excellent job of grooming the trails and setting the track, and for that I thank them.  Most of the track follows fairly level ground, with only a few slight downs and ups, not enough to do much snowplowing, but just enough to keep me in practice.  But there is one fairly large hill, at least large for me.  The down part gives me plenty of snowplowing experience, and sometimes I even manage to stay upright on the skis. The track runs down the hill, turning left then right to go across a bridge over the creek.  Once down at the bottom, you have to ski up the other side.  That is the really hard part.  You also have to watch to make sure no one is coming down the hill from that side.  If they are, you somehow have to move to the side of the trail and let the downhill skier go by.  Supposedly, it's easier for the person climbing up the hill to move over than it is for the person going down.  That is the really hard part for me.  When I am climbing up a steep slope with long skinny skis on my feet, I tend to put my head down and try to keep a steady pace.  It's a good thing Den is usually up above me to warn me if someone is coming down.

Anyway, no matter how tough it sounds, or how cold, or slippery, nothing can compare with cross country skiing in the woods on a fairly level track and a beautiful, sunny winter day.  Every time we go out, I silently thank Ginny that she was persistent enough to make me go skiing, and to teach me how.


By the way, the picture accompanying this blog is the view from our front yard just at sunset last night.  If we looked to the west, there was really no sun as it was cloudy.  But right out front was this streak of pink between the gray clouds over the partially frozen Lake Erie.  Beautiful.

Book Reviews

In the last few weeks, I have read several noteworthy books.  The latest was The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo by the Swedish writer Stieg Larsson.  It was a very good story, and not hard to read.  I understand there are two more books in the series, but I am in no hurry to read them.  I want to spread them out a little. Maybe this is because Mr. Larsson died after he finished writing the three novels, or maybe because the writing was somewhat intense and I need a break before I can continue with my vicarious look into the lives of these characters who live so much more intensely than I do, or even want to.  Whichever it is, it will be a while before I read the next book in the series.

Another book I read recently was The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins.  Mr. Dawkins makes a very compelling case for there not being a god, even in the introduction to the book where he points out that there would have been no Crusades, no Spanish Inquisition, no 9/11, and a whole bunch of other wars, attacks, killings, and imprisonments if there were no belief in a god by anyone.  Science would also have seen more discoveries and been able to answer more questions if religious beliefs hadn't gotten in the way.   A very disturbing and enlightening book, but very commonsensical.

Before that, I read a novel called Still Missing by Chevy Stevens.  The main character's story of abduction was told through her sessions with her psychoanalyst, each chapter being a new session.  Even though we know at the beginning of the book that the main character was saved, there is still a surprise ending.  Very good entertainment.

The Secret Lives of Somerset Maugham by Selina Hastings shows us the richness of the author's life and his unquenchable thirst for writing, whether it be books, stories, or screenplays. In spite or, or maybe because of, his bisexuality, his zest for travel, and his friendship with world leaders (think Winston Churchill), Maugham was a prolific writer who never failed to write for three hours every day after breakfast.  This book was very well written and really good.

New Textbooks?

The October 1, 2010, edition of "The Week" magazine has an interesting and disturbing article about new textbooks.  (Now you know how far behind I am in my reading.)  It appears that conservatives (you know who you are) and liberals are disagreeing about what should go into the new textbooks.  It appears that the conservatives have won the battle in Texas.

The new textbooks, scheduled to arrive in classrooms in 2013, want the texts to establish that the U.S. is a "Christian land governed by Cristian principles."  Thomas Jefferson will be dropped from the list of main founders of the country, and will be listed as a minor figure  because he was the main proponent of the separation of church and state.  Sen. Ted Kennedy and labor leader Cesar Chavez would not be mentioned at all in the new books, but Ronald Reagon would be looked on as a national hero and leader of the "conservative resurgence in the 1980s and 1990s."  Slavery would be described as "'the Atlantic triangular trade' -- a relic of British colonialism that America struggled to cast off."

Is it any wonder liberals are outraged?  I realize that the history books especially have always left a lot to be desired -- where are the women and black heroes and innovators ? -- but now these people are messing with the very beginning of the nation.  Is this what we do in the United States?  I grew up believing we were the best country in the world, everyone who lived here had an equal chance at success, we valued truth and honesty above all.  Now our textbooks will tell our children that evolution is only a theory, and that Thomas Jefferson was not a major player in this country's history.  What will be next?  Will the math books soon say that 2+2 doesn't equal 4?  How shockingly bad is this? More to the point -- how can we as Americans put up with this dishonesty?  And it is dishonest, not just bending the facts a little.  I hope you all are as angry as I am.

The Recent Election

This election was especially disappointing since Ohio's Governor Strickland did not get reelected and since Rep. LaTourette did.  Under Strickland, Ohio had become one of the top ten states in terms of the economic recovery, but it seems this doesn't matter.  And LaTourette won by  landslide, as he always does.  I was glad to see Jerry Brown win in California, I think.  He has to be better than Whitman would have been.

I believe that a lot of the backlash to President Obama's policies stem from racial prejudice, only no one can admit this, even to themselves.  People of my generation (older than the baby boomers, younger than the war babies) have to keep fighting to not be prejudiced.  We were raised in an era that treated people differently, depending on the color of their skin.  We have to work every day to overcome this upbringing. Maybe the best we can hope for is that our children are better than we are.

Will health care reform be repealed?  I hope not.  It is a national shame that the population of the United States does not have the best health care in the world, and that our leaders are undermining any reform.  Of course, they are being influenced by the  insurance companies, who have obscene amounts of money with which to persuade the politicians.  I guess it goes to prove that you can fool all (or most) of the people some of the time.

Books

Books.  Books are keeping me from having a real life.  Or maybe books are real life.  Either way, I like to read.  I mean, I really like to read.  I never, repeat, never, go anywhere without a book.  Oh, you may see me in a friend's house without a book in my hand, but you can bet it's out in the car.  Even if we go to get an ice cream cone, I take a book.  It is my security blanket.

Sometime I think my reading so much keeps me from thinking about things -- things such as the state of education in our country, ditto for health insurance, politics, the economy, religion, just about anything that is disturbing.  In other words, reading is my panacea; it keeps me sane.

What started me on this track was one of the funniest books I have ever read -- A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole.  I just finished rereading it, and I very seldom read a book twice.  For thirty years, I have been telling anyone who asks what my favorite book is, about this one.  I decided I should read it again to see if I think it is still as good as it was way back when.  It is.  The story takes place in New Orleans sometime in the 1960s, but I couldn't help but notice how relevant some of the themes were for today.

The main character is Ignatius O'Reilly, a 30ish boy/man who still lives with his mother.  His jottings on everything are one day going to let the world see what a brilliant mind lives in his bloated body.  For now, though, he must get a job to help pay some debts, even though he is sure his mother could do something so that he would not have to lower himself to work.

That's as much as I'm going to say here about Ignatius.  He is a brilliant, ignorant, arrogant egotist, who discovers life in New Orleans.  The author, John Kennedy Toole, never wrote another book.  Soon after he finished this one, he committed suicide.