Monday, September 22, 2008

Huh


   I find it very odd that I am doing this. But heck, everyone else seems  to be publishing the minutiae of their lives on line so why not? . I kept a diary from ages 9 to about 35 ( stopped, oddly enough, when I had kids) and I was pretty compulsive about it so it's only natural that I have a blog. It just seems so pretentious. "Hey, read my blog!"  Huh. I am too old to have a blog, aren't I? 
   Ok, so when one has a blog what does one do with it? My life is currently fairly boring so no one is gonna want to hear about that. I read a lot. I could write about books. I watch far too much TV- could write about that-I have amazing adult children who probably have their own blogs somewhere that they probably don't want me to read ( and I can't say that I blame them), perhaps I should just dive in. Planning has never been one of my favorite activities. 
   Here goes. Yesterday a friend  gave me a really fun novel called The Dogs Of Babel. I read it in one sitting. It was delightful .  My first impression was that it was a bit cloying but it took some unexpected turns and surprised me once or twice . I also  had some reservations about the author's tendency to romanticize mental illness, but then I got to the page where she  described what it is like to get hit with Depression and I found myself saying " yup, that's it, all right". Anyhow, I could write more about Depression and my struggles with same but it's a very nice day out so I am just going to recommend this book, which is marginally about Depression, but more about dogs and mystery and love and masks . The author's name is  Carolyn Parkhurst. For all I know this is one of those books that everyone knows about because Oprah or someone similar promoted it, but I am kinda bad about keeping up with such things, so I had not heard of it until yesterday when I sat down and read it. And I am glad I did. 
     The day before yesterday I finished the astounding Richard Powers' The Goldbug Variations and now  I need to put it aside for at least a week before I pick it up and start it all over again. I love this guy. At times I felt like he must have eavesdropped on some very twisted conversations about music and science and weird stuff in general that I had with some delightfully twisted people in the past. I am not sure I understood it all ( and I am certain that I didn't understand what I was talking about in those conversations either) but I sure did love it. 
     That will do for now, right?  My dogs need walking and the kitchen needs cleaning. And tomorrow I need to go and be useful for the Obama campaign at some ungodly hour of the morning. 

5 comments:

Cristin said...

Hey there! I'm glad you decided to join us... be warned, it's highly addictive!

crone51 said...

yeah, well, what's another addiction in the cosmic scheme of things...

cheatymoon said...

I knew it was you! You just made my freaking day. Now, back to reading...

cheatymoon said...

Oh, and loved Dogs of Babel. Good stuff. Welcome to blogland.

pixiegenne said...

hi ruthie!
yay! you're blogging!!
xoxo