"A clean house is evidence of a misspent life."
Well, it was only a matter of time before I got to my other obsession in life--books. This morning I finished The Razor's Edge by W. Somerset Maugham just in time to get to the library to discuss it with the Classics Discussion Group, of which I am the only one under the age of 60. Here's a rundown of the people in the group:
- Dottie - the leader of the group, a librarian, almost always smiles
- Margaret - looks at least 70, very sharp mind, frail looking, just recovered from breaking her collarbone due to a fall
- Cathy - has a PhD in Classic literature, has been a college professor and teacher at an all-girls prep school, recently visited Poland
- Frantz - the only man in the group, as far as I can tell never been married, almost never likes the book, always has a bottle of Coke with him, and usually brings the movie adaptation of the book
- Dauris and Donna - I don't know much about these two, I may even have there names wrong.
Anyway, you get the idea. When we watch movies from the 1940's, most of them actually saw them when they came out!
The book tells the story of Larry Darrell, a man on a quest to learn the meaning of life and why there is suffering in the world, and how his quest affects those who know him. He has come back from WWI having seen death, and the expectations of the society he has returned to have no meaning for him. Actually, the story is almost more about the people who associate with Larry, and what is going on in their lives over the years as Larry wanders around the world seeking knowledge. There's not really much of a plot. It's more of a character analysis and deals with selfishness, self-sacrifice, duty to society, the nature of evil, and covers some different religious ideas. An interesting thing about this book is that the narrator is the author and he makes himself a character, as if the events of the book really happened and he was part of it. All in all, it was a very good book. I think even Frantz liked it--at least he didn't hate it. I bought it, so if anyone wants to borrow it, just ask! Here's a passage that I liked that is not really very important to the book:
"I think your an excellent mother. You see that they're well and happy. You watch over their diet and take care that their bowels act regularly. . ." Am I that excellent of a mother? I'll have to watch my children's bowel activity more closely from now on.
If you look to the right you will notice that I figured out how to get the single videos I wanted! Yay! So I added a very small portion of my favorites. If any of them look interesting to you give them a click. I'm so passionate about them that I watch almost all of them every time I experiment with my blog. I should probably be spending my time cleaning up the house, enriching my mind with study, or making homemade marshmallows, but Molly Mormon has checked out for a while. (Or actually was never a part of my true nature.) Ever since I can remember I have been obsessed with music, so I probably always will be! If you like/dislike anything, let me know! I love opposing viewpoints--it makes life interesting!
P.S. Sometimes the videos are temperamental and don't work, you just have to try again later--I don't know what the secret is.
P.S. Sometimes the videos are temperamental and don't work, you just have to try again later--I don't know what the secret is.
I'm backtracking a bit and posting some earlier pictures from the Fourth of July and the following weekend spent with family.
Here are some photos of our afternoon at the bowling alley. We had a lot of granny shots, slow-moving balls, loud bounces, a ball coming back to us (thanks to Jeremy), and even a few strikes.
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