Things are picking up

Yes dear readers I have returned from the ether. Having gone back to work has kept me hopping all day. However, this new job is not so cumbersome that I can't take a few minutes and catch up on my reading.

So when we last left Mikael Blomqvist and company, things were plodding along. Mr. Blomqvist has since served his sentence for libel thereby paying his debt to society. Imagine that, a country where you can actually go to jail for libel. He has since returned from his "three month uneventful holiday" to investigating the disappearance of Harriet Vanger. Simultaneously, our girl Lisbeth is still in the depth of guardianship, having fallen and taken her revenge on a real sleaze bag of a guardian.

Now things are starting to pick up. In combing through the Hedeby newspaper's photographic archives, our hero makes a startling discovery, which confirms his theory. Blomqvist believes that the key to Harriet's disappearance lay in something that was going that day. Lo and behold, he stumbled on to something. In reviewing the images for a Children's Day parade, Blomqvist discovers pictures of Harriet with a frightened look on her face. Aha, the key to our mystery. Just what that thing is has yet to be discovered. Like Christie's Poirot,Blomqvist is meticulously combing through the evidence searching for and finding hidden clues. I'll have to keep reading to find out.

Stay Tuned.

Hip Deep Into the Story

So I'm now hip into the The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo and I must say things are getting interesting. There seems to be a connection to Harriet Vanger's disappearance and one of her uncle's connections to Swedish Nazis. Yes Swedish Nazis did exist and you can google this if you want. What that connection is will hopefully be revealed in the third part. In the meantime we have a parallel development. It would seem that our

girl

Lisbeth has a new guardian to look after her affairs. After all, being so sullen and occasionally prone to bursts of violence, in the cause of defending herself, has rendered her by the state mentally incompetent. Therefore, she must have someone to look manage her life. This new guardian, it would seem, has a sadistic streak which he expressed by raping Lisbeth twice before she exacted a measure of punishment in the form of blackmail. So who's the crazy one now?

In the meantime, our hero, Mikael Blomkvist (soon to be played on the big screen by Daniel Craig making the price of a ticket worth it) has been getting comfortable in exile. He has managed to ingratiate himself among the locals of Hedeby and begin a clandestine affair with Cecila Vanger, the head mistress of the local school. All the while, under the cover of writing Henrik Vanger's biography, Blomkvist has been investigating the mysterious Harriet and slowly assembling the suspects. Like Agatha Christie's Hercule Poirot, he methodically reviews the evidence, examining each piece with exacting detail. It'll be interesting to see how this all plays out.

A bit of a side note. Stieg Larsson seemed to be a bit obsessed with consumerism because of blatant use of product placement. It would seem that every chapter or two has a reference to an electronic product (Apple), a grocery chain (Konsum), or some other product. Just a thought.

Stay Tuned,
Lenore

Some Thoughts

Some thoughts and observations inspired by The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo. Author Steig Larsson provides amusing insight into the Swedish mindset regarding certain behaviors. For example, in doctors and social workers' descriptions of Lisbeth Salander's refusals to answer any of their question, the author uses words like

shy

or

retarded

. One supposes that if one were asked rather personal questions about one's sex life or finances by strangers who seem to have made up their minds about you, one would decline to answer also. In describing members of the Vanger family's racist, fascist political leanings the phrase

politically insane

is used. I suppose from this we can begin to make assumptions about the Swedes and the way they deal with what may or may not be considered deviant behavior. In the case of Lisbeth Salander's evaluations, we can say that the social workers, doctors, and advocates have either made up their minds about or they have not tried to find a way to talk to her. As to the fascist leanings of the members of the Vanger family, it almost sounds like the Swedes put their collective heads in the sand and write some one off as insane.

Another observation is related to the prologue. In the prologue of the book, Henrik Vanger receives and exotic pressed and framed flower for his birthday. To the reader this may seem like an unrelated episode, yet later in part one of the story, it is explained that the flower has significance. Without giving too much away, let's just say it's a clue to the mysterious disappearance of Harriet Vanger.

Stay tuned

How much of this is necessary?

In The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo author Steig Larsson goes into detail about the main characters' biographical histories. We learn that Mikael Blomkvist grew up in a fairly middle class stable household in contrast to Lisbeth Salander's dysfunctional upbringing. Henrik Vanger is descended from a Dutch family that settled in Sweden in the twelfth century and has a branch in America. So I ask why is it necessary to into such depth about their backgrounds? In the case of Vanger, it might be necessary only if to produce a list of suspects in the mysterious disappearance of Vanger's niece Harriet, which Blomkvist does. However, I'm not so sure about Larsson's reasons for detailing Blomkvist's or Salander's life history. Perhaps it is to provide some sort of empathy for the character or to assist any actor taking on those roles for the film version. Perhaps in later chapters we'll find out why.

As a side note I did get the kindle edition of The Thousand Autumns of jacob de Zoet, which I'll be tackling next.

Stayed tuned

First Impressions

Well I finally completed the first part of theThe Girl With The Dragon Tattoo by the late Stieg Larson. I must say this book reminds me a bit of the work by American mystery writers Dashiel Hammet and Raymond Chandler. The resemblance is in the way Larson, a former journalist, structures his syntax; using on the minimum required words to convey thoughts, dialogs, and descriptions. This is something that can be appreciated by a reader who does not take to flowery prose and necessary for a mystery novel. A mystery novel that gets too caught up in descriptive phrasing detracts from the story at hand. In this case, a murder mystery with far reaching consequences. I won't give away too much of the plot, I'll you the reader figure it out for yourself but I will say this, in part one the reader is not only introduced to the main characters, Mikael Blomkvist and Lisbeth Salander, but also get a keen sense of their back story. It'll be fascinating to see how this story develops. Like any good mystery novel there are the usual plot twists, which not doubt make for a great ride.

The novel takes place in modern day Sweden and centers around disgraced journalist Mikael Blomkvist, who has been fined and sentenced to jail for libel. He is commissioned by industrialist Henrik Vanger to investigate the disappearance/apparent murder of his beloved niece Harriet. Meanwhile, the reader is introduced to Lisbeth Salander, a computer hacker and investigator for a security company. She is asked to investigate Blomkvist for Vanger by Vanger's attorney Frode. What ensues will be subject for the next blog.

Stay tuned.

At First Glance

The subject of Japan's sakoku ("Chained Nation") period has been an endless source of fascination for writers and historians alike. The idea of a far off island nation cut off from the rest of the world; no on is allowed to leave or enter, has provided an endless source for the imagination. So it's no wonder that The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet: A Novel by David Mitchell aroused the curiosity of reviewers the world over and has inspired your intrepid reviewer to chime in with a few thoughts on the matter.

First, a bit of historical background. Japan was not completely cut off from the world. The third Tokugawa shogun Iemitsu instituted Japan's "isolation" as a response to the growing threat of Christianity to his supremacy. Spanish and Portuguese Catholic missionaries made their first appearance in Japan in the mid-sixteenth centuries along with merchant ships. Spain and Portugal, in addition to demanding trade agreements from the shogun, brought with them Jesuit and Franciscan priests with the express purpose of converting the masses. Their influence grew so strong that they became a threat to the shogun. Both Conrad Totman, Japan Before Perry and Paul Varley Japanese Culture-available on Amazon-chronicle this history quite well. So, you ask, where does a Dutchman like the fictional Jacob de Zoet come in?The answer is simple. The Dutch and the English first landed on Japan in 1600 aboard the Erasmus. Both nations were Protestant and interested in doing business with the Japanese not converting the masses to their particular religion. For a terrific account of the English/Dutch experience in Japan, check out not only the above mentioned books but also Milton Giles' book Samurai William: The Englishman Who Opened Japan. The fact that the Dutch were not interested in proselytizing endeared them a bit more to the shogun. During the periodic Christian persecutions, the Dutch and the English were harassed but not condemned like the Spanish and Portuguese and their converts. Finally, Tokugawa Iemistsu put an end to the growing intrusion of the Catholic missionaries by ordering them out of the country or face sever penalties and closing the nation off to outsiders including other nations.

However, Japan was not completely closed off because non-Japanese people, i.e. the Dutch, English, Germans, and other Asian nations, could make contact on a fan-shaped man-made island called Deshima, where Mitchell's story takes place. Deshima was located off the coast of Kyushu, where Westerners made first contact with Japan. This was the place where Japanese and foreigners could come together. To be sure that no outside influence got in or the Westerners were not plotting a coup, translators (spies) were ordered to report to local officials. Mitchell sets the story in 1799, during a time when Japanese society, particularly at the upper strata, was under going a major change.

The samurai caste saw its power and influence dwindling during the eighteenth century as the chonin caste rose in prominence. Thechonin were the town folk who established businesses that catered to the samurai making their biannual pilgrimage to Edo (Tokyo). They grew wealthy and most of all they began to grow restless about dealing with the outside world. Mitchell introduces the reader to the character Aibagawa Orito, a Japanese midwife studying

Dutch medicine.

Dutch medicine

was a euphemism for Western medicine, in fact there was a whole school of study devoted to all things Western referred to as

Dutch Studies.

The term is derived from the fact that by the eighteenth century the shogun lifted the ban on certain Western books so it would have been possible for our midwife to have access to such knowledge. Possible but not likely since universal education was not introduced until the Meiji period (1868-1912).

Nonetheless, The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet: A Novel appears to make for a good, light read for those interested in Japan.

Modernism, A History in Brief

"Make it New!" This simple three-word slogan was introduced by the poet Ezra Pound following World War I. It succinctly summed up the aspirations of a generation of artistically minded individuals. What did Pound mean? Professor Peter Gay attempts to define this epigram in his wonderful chronicle of Modernism, Modernism: The Lure of Heresy From Baudelaire to Beckett and Beyond (2008, W.W. Norton and Company). In this text, Professor Gay looks at the history of the modern arts, painting, architecture, literature, music and dance, et cetera and how their makers pushed and went beyond the established academic boundaries to create something that was completely innovative. Right of the bat, Gay admits that modernism is far easier to exemplify than to explain. He further states that any all attempts to present a cohesive history has been muddled by commentators and scholars. Gay expresses a lack of surprise over the fact that cultural historians have been cowed by the ever evolving concept resulting in reducing the idea to the plural "modernisms." Therefore, the point of the book is to show that a substanial body of evidence has been gathered from across the scope of high culture providing unity of a single aesthetic-modernism. So what is the author's criteria for modernism?

Modernism, according to Gay, share two distinct attributes: the lure of heresy and they confront convention and a commitment to principles self-examination. The lure of heresy is no big mystery. The architect who strips away all superfluous ornament or the composer who deliberately violates rules of harmony and composition. In each case, they and their contemporaries have drawn real satisfaction in tweaking convention so hard until it screams, a recurring theme in the book

Modernism was not something exclusive to the early twentieth century. Professor Gay begins his tome with a brief look at the

professional outsider.

These were writers such as Charles Baudelaire who was active in the mid-nineteenth century. Baudelaire lived during a time of upheaval in France. Twice the monarchy was restored promising freedoms and moderate policies not seen during the previous monarchical periods and twice they failed. The failed Revolution of 1848 permanently soured Baudelaire on politics however it was his writing that saved him. His scandalous Les Fleur du mal took aim at the corruption and libertinism that permeated high society. This volume of poems so shocked Paris that the author was put on trial for blasphemy and obscenity. Gay speculates that Baudelaire's trial was more of a preemptive strike. Baudelaire was not alone in shocking

proper Parisiennes.

Eduard Manet's Olympia, an Impressionist take on Titian's Venus of Urbino, presented, not a chaste, idealized nude but a prostitute matter-of-fact staring out at the viewer. It should come as no surprise to the reader that Baudelaire and Manet were friends and that their respective works were intended as commentary on the decadence of French society.

The art and architecture of the nineteenth century could be characterized as a search for defining images. The fifteenth century was characterized by the art and architecture of Leonardo Da Vinci and Fillipo Brunelleschi. The eighteenth century was defined, first by the Rococo then the Neo-Classical. The nineteenth century was a period in search of an artistic movement. The Industrial Revolution had the most impact on the nineteenth century and created new building types: the train stations, high-rises, and factories. This left architects and planners in a quandary. Do they continue to fall back on academic styles, strongly advocated by the Ecole Des Beaux-Arts or create something new. Additionally, the invention of the Bessemer steel process made it possible to create steel framed buildings-i.e. the high rise- which could accomendate the influx of new urban dwellers and businesses.

In chapter six,

Architecture and Design,

A New Factor In Human Affairs,Professor Gay provides a concise yet detailed summary of the direction of architecture and design from the late nineteenth century through the nineteen thirties. Here, he emphasizes the work of Frank Lloyd Wright, no doubt a giant in the field. Interwoven into his summary of Wright's career, is the work of another giant, Walter Gropius and Le Corbusier. Gay touches on the work of William Morris and the Arts and Craft movement and its Viennese counterpart the Werkstatte, who are given a good amount space. Perhaps the most fascinating discussion is that of Futurists.

The Futurists were a group of Italian modernists who advocated a total rejection of the classics, unlike their German and Austrian counterparts who admired them. The leader of the Futurists, Antonio Sant'Elia saw architecture, for all of its utilitarian qualities, as art. He declared the recent technological inventions were suitable for aesthetic judgment. Interestingly it was Sant'Elia, not Swiss architect Le Corbusier, who first declared the house a machine for living. There is no doubt that, the modern movement in architecture fulfilled Gay's criteria for modernity by stripping away the superfluous ornament as Adolf Loos and Josef Hoffman and their successors did. They challenged the norms of conventional architecture and continuously created work that has withstood the test of time.

Professor Gay continues the theme of tweaking convention and self-examination throughout the book. Perhaps less effectively in the chapter dealing with dance and music. True, Igor Stravinsky's

Rites of Spring

and Arnold Schoenberg's work with atonal music were complete breaks from the norm of fluffy orchestrations but there seems to less self-examination on the part of musicians, composers, and dancers than their artistic contemporaries. Although the work of Schoenberg deserves some discussion. Schoenberg's music had impact on the paintings of Vladimir Kandinsky. In fact it was following a concert in December 1908 that they painter began work on Impression III (Concert), an ode on canvas to the atonal compositions of Schoenberg. The painting owes its black splotch to the piano and the cluster of primitive shapes to the audience. Schoenberg went on to inspire other painters such as Franz Marc who painted Tower of Blue Horses and then collaborated with the composer on a volume of essays, photographs, scores, and compositions The Blue Rider Alamanc.

As a counterpoint, we have the chapter

Eccentrics and Barbarians,

individuals who were modernists but less radical, anti-modernist modernists. The eccentrics also challenged the conventions of their professions as well as most of contemporary culture they found objectionable. By contrast, the Barbarians practiced their version of modernism with the idea of creating a better society. T.S. Elliot was one example of an anti-modernist, too radical for the conservatives and to conservative for the radicals. In lectures, Elliot often used derogatory racial and ethnic slurs as code for his fundamental truth, the United States had fallen victim to

worm-eaten liberalism.

His poetry, according to Gay, was a mix of unimpeachable modernism and intense anti-modernism. The Barbarians, according to Gay, were the National Socialists, the Communists, and Fascists, who co-opted art and design to serve the nefarious state purpose.

In Germany, the National Socialists were the most consistent in their efforts to suppress any independent thought and taste and link it to its leader. In one of its first acts, the National Socialists attempted to

purify

German society by labeling anything it found offensive as

Jewish

collapsing it into the term entarte-i.e. degenerate. This meant that the majority of the canon of modernity was considered unacceptable and the causation of cultural depravity. Soon, scholars, musicians, architects, and so forth were summarily dismissed from their positions and were forced to flee. conversely, the National Socialists did make use of modern technology to rearm itself and re-orient German industry towards war.

The final section

Coda

looks at modernity in the late twentieth century. Much space is devoted to Frank Gehry's stunning Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain. In a prior chapter

Life after Death?

Gay examines late twentieth century modernism and its emergence outside the West. The question mark in the chapter title implies the question whether or not modernity died with World War II. The answer is not at all, rather it reinvented itself not only in Europe and the United States but also in South America with architect Oscar Niemayer and author Gabriel Garcia Marquez. They and their contemporaries adapted modernism to suit their needs and locals giving new life to the movement.

In all an enlightening read that encompasses the canon of modernity that informs without being condescending. Professor Gay does an admirable job in distilling the libraries' worth of information into a volume that would be a great addition to anyone's book shelf. This book is for both the art patron and lay man who is interested in a cultural history of the twentieth century.

This is must read

This is a must read for everyone regardless of political leanings, The American Future by Simon Schama. The American Future is an excellent, well written cultural history of the United States framed within the context of the 2008 presidential election. Schama, a professor of Art History and History at Columbia University, looks at the culture of "god, guns, and country". "God" is defined as the history of religion in America, "guns" is our warrior culture, and "country" is a concise summary of the history of immigration and "America as the land of plenty". Although Schama takes a decidedly secular liberal approach, nonetheless, your intrepid reviewer would ask the intelligent reader to set that aside and read this book with an open mind.

As a latter day Alexis de Tocqueville, Schama opens his book with the Iowa Caucus, held January 3, 2008. It is at this caucus, where Schama pronounces the return to American democracy to the living. Taking his position at a the Theodore Roosevelt High School gym, he observes the comings and going to the town as they cast ballot for one of the half dozen candidates for the Democratic and Republican nominations. At the caucus, Schama introduces the reader to Jack Judge, a farmer from nearby Melrose Iowa. Judge, a life long Democrat, was first introduced to the political process when John Kennedy came through the town in 1960. Here Schama begins a recurring theme in his book, the introduction of an American, who is/wasn't well-known, but has impact on the cultural landscape. What kind of impact does a farmer from Iowa have on the cultural landscape? In the macro-sense, not much at all, but in the micro-sense, Jack Judge is the very embodiment of what Thomas Jefferson had in mind; the farmer-citizen. A person connected to the land yet active in the political sphere.

Professor Schama continues this motif in the section titled "American War" where he examines America's warrior culture. Here, we are acquainted with the Meigs family. This chapter is a discussion of the contrasting views of the necessity of a standing army as posited by Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton. Jefferson believed that the United States did not need a standing army, rather a corp of engineers dedicated to nation building. On the opposite side, Hamilton believed that the United States required a standing army. It is within these antipodes that we have the story of the Meigs family, who have had a member fight in every war since the Revolution. This family symbolized both the Jeffersonian and Hamiltonian position on the primary job of the soldier. Perhaps no one member of the Meigs family captured this than Montgomery Meigs.

Montgomery Meigs was both a soldier and engineer. It was he that re-built the Capitol Dome following its destruction in the War of 1812. Meigs also served as Union quarter master during the Civil War. His sons fought on both sides of that conflict and Meigs senior was a class mate of Confederate general Robert E. Lee at West Point. A quick digression on West Point, Jefferson believed that West Point would be the place where liberalism would trump militarism and deny America its Caesars (Jefferson suspected Hamilton of aspiring to such). On the one hand, Meigs was the type of soldier that Thomas Jefferson envisioned, an engineer dedicated to nation-building. On the other, he held fast to the West Point creed "Duty, Honor, Country." It was this steadfastness to the creed that led him to join the Union cause and view his life-long friend Lee as a traitor. This section is a fascinating read not only because of the Meigs family history but also the way the reader can take the lessons of the past and apply them to future direction of the warrior culture.

Perhaps the section most applicable to the 2008 election is "Part Two: American Fevor." Here, we have a nice summary of the history of not only religion in the United States but of the rise of the African American churches and the conditions that made it possible for Barack Obama to even consider running for President of the United States. It was from slavery, "The National Sin" according to Charles Gandison Finney, that the African American churches arose. Finney believed that slavery was a hindrance to the Christain revival of America. In his Lectures on Revivial, Finney refers to slavery as "pre-eminently the sin of the church and thus denied Communion to slave owners. It was ministers such as Finney and John Rankin who preached a brotherhood of white Americans and the persecuted slaves. Their abolitionist evangelicalism crossed the line between religion and politics and directly appealed to the Christian conscience of a nation.

The African American church movement began with itinerant preacher. Both men and women, such as Jarena Lee whose diary Schama excerpts, traveled a circut spreading the gospel in tents or the open air, in all conditions and in the face of white hostility. Following the Civil War, these churches, now in a more settled situation, preached self-determination in direct opposition to the white churches which were fonts of despair. It was from black churches that the Civil Rights movement began to take substance and form. Out of all this not only did the iconic figures of the movement such as Martin Luther King evolve but also less known figures such as Fannie Lou Hamer, a delegate to the 1964 Democratic Convention in Atlantic City, NJ evolve.

Hamer was a member of Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party. Here, Schama brings in his own recollections of being a nineteen-year old reporter for the Cambridge Opinion on assignment in America to cover the convention. Hamer had traveled from the Delta to Atlantic City to demand the right to be seated as delegate at the convention. She stood before the Credentials Committee and publicly demanded that Freedom Party be seated. Although the Freedom Party was denied a seat, their under taking would not been possible with the support of the churches. It was through the churches that African Americans raised their voices in support of Civil Rights and it was because of the churches that Barack Obama came under fire for his association with Jeremiah Wright.

Here Schama connects Wright to the resolve set down by King, Ralph Abernathy, Fred Shuttlesworth, and Joseph Lowery. This ministers refused to run or hide even in the face of threats or fire bombings. They were determined that they should be a "staunch for freedom." They saw themselves as the inheritors of the clandestine churches on the plantations. These churches were/are places where one could celebrate without shame, where religion and politics were inseparable, where the Reverand Wright refused to step away from the issue. In summarizing Obama's April 2008 speech on race and religion, Schama cites Obama's epiphany from the shouts and the clapping and the "reclamation of a 'moment we didn't need to feel shame';..." The anger was still there but often unproductive. Again quoting Obama, "To wish it away...without understanding its roots only serves to widen the chasm of misunderstanding that exists between the races." Dear reader, please understand this, the rage is there and Professor Schama's book only provides a historical summary. Please do not walk away thinking that now that Barack Obama is president all is well. There is still much work to be done and the lessons of the Civil Rights movement apply to the current issues surrounding immigration as well.

Immigration and nativism is another subject taken up by Schama. Professor Schama chronicles Ammerica's ambivalent history with immigrants from before the revolution to the present. In an attempt to define what an American is the reader is left with the impression that there is no real definition of what an American is. There is no ethnicity called American. Rather we are the sum of our ancestors and their experiences. Yet, in the nineteenth, twentieth, and twenty-first centuries there have been attempts to create an American identity through the shedding of previous customs, mannerism, dress, language, and religion and the adaptation of a fluxuating definition of American. Professor Schama goes on elaborate how an American was defined in the previous centuries but the common thread is the adaptation of the English language. As someone who grew up bilingual, your blogger can attest to the fact that language is an an important way to keep a culture alive but English is the native tongue. What is perhaps the most cringe inducing passages is the attempts by individuals to force immigrants into conforming to the accepted definition of what an American is. It is a lesson worth heading during the contemporary debate on immigration.

In short, The American Future is a book worthy of any individual who would like to enlighten him/her self about the cultural history of the United States. It is clearly and intelligently presented without being smug or condescending. For those of you of the conservative mind set, again, I urge you to keep an open mind. If there is one conclusion to be drawn it is that nothing in our history is black or white. Our history is in the shades of gray.

What should I call this post?

I'm tired right now. I've spent the entire day running around doing stuff and on top of that I made a couple of Apple-Pear Crisps. Let's see what did I do? Hum I did laundry, ironed, tidied up the living room and my room, ran a couple of errands, ran mom over to Kaiser, so now I'm pooped. If being unemployed means that you sit around doing nothing then I don't fit the profile. I do stuff every day. Tomorrow at least I get a couple hours of pampering at the hair dresser. I sometimes have down time but even then I find things things to do. Even sleeping in isn't really on the table. For some reason I can't really do the sleep in thing. Getting up at 7a is already late for me. Spending time watching television during the day-no. Today was just a preview of the next several weeks. By that I mean Passover is coming up.

As I previously mentioned I genuinely hate Passover and the running around doing errands is just part of. if it were only just shopping, cleaning, and cooking no problems-like Rosh HaShana. But not Passover. Passover is its own torturous beast because it's more than running errands and cooking, it's a total upending of everything and everyone. I won't even start right now on the seders. Daily exhaustion-fun. Right now I'm vegging out in front of the television just trying to unwind. I can see why people do this. After a busy day you need something that doesn't require much thought. I can deal.

More Later.

Getting busy

It's starting to get busy again around the old homestead. Passover falls out at the end of March this year so that means preparations start early. I mean they start early all the time but because this it seems like a real sprint rather than a middle distance race things have to get started quickly. By things I mean the cleaning and the shopping. Truth is I really hate Passover with a vengence. I hate the fuss, the upset schedules, the bland tasteless food, the late nights, every single thing. I have never had a good passover experience. Of course in between all this I send out resumes and get grad school sorted out. I mean I get the point of Passover but to me it's devolved into a forced exercise in family get together. Truth is I'd rather stay home and eat a light meal and go to bed early than stay up until 2:00a and pretend to enjoy myself. Even the thought of community seder doesn't appeal to me at all. I just hate Passover.

In the meantime there's all the cleaning and shopping to do. Yech!! Everything is so overpriced. The markets are crowded and people behave like animals. I wish there was a way to just avoid all of this. Sure i could just go away to someplace like Italy or Spain but that would mean sitting through a seder with strangers. Although the up side is that I could blow everyone off and go sight seeing on my own. I'm just dreaming because if I had a thousand dollars I could pull it off. It's been suggested I go to New York to visit family for Passover but again I would have to sit through a seder-no thank you. If there was only a way to just avoid the whole thing to begin with that would be great. Hum.

More later

Legal Holidays and Other Holidays

Today is President's Day. This is the day set aside to honor all past and present American presidents. Really it's February 15th. This day is an outgrowth of both Washington and Lincoln's birthday (born February 22 and 12 respectively). Someone decided that it would be better to set aside a day to honor all U.S. presidents and designated the third Monday in February as that day. Personally speaking I don't care one way or another, it's just another day on the calendar for me. That's pretty much the way I feel about any holiday legal, religious or otherwise. I suppose when you're single and unemployed things take on a grey tinge that make supposedly happy days seem not so great. I know this sounds pathetic but really that's the way I feel. I have some joy but it's not the same as someone else's. Other people look forward to holidays as a day of rest and relaxation. I just see it as another day.

I try to find some way to enjoy holidays. For example, this past High Holiday season, I baked and cooked up a storm and my contributions were appreciated. Sis actually asked me for the recipes. But it still felt hollow because every one was sitting around the table and who did I have? Grandmama oh boy. As much as I crab about marriage these days, it's nice to have a person to come to who isn't going to complain and whine all the time or obsess about a four year old all evening. I'd like to find someone to spend not just holidays with but every day. That person doesn't seem to be anywhere insight. I feel like the odd person out. So every day is just another day on the calendar for me.

More Later

Another quiet afternoon

I actually enjoy quiet week day afternoons because I have time to get things done like, I don't know, send out resumes or check on the status of my USC application. About that one, it would seem that San Jose State University and I had an amicable parting of ways recently. This parting was due to the fact that my intellectual and professional interests changed. Instead of focusing on Western architecture, I wanted to focus more on Japanese. Specifically, modern Japanese. Also, I want a really useful degree. Given the fact that post-secondary education has been getting the short shrift lately I decided to look and see if there was a way I could get into architecture without having to go through a M.Arch program. As it turned out USC's Master's of Historical Preservation program was just the ticket. So I wait.

Another thing about a quiet afternoon is that I can get somethings done around the house without a child running around or grandmama whining and complaining. In the quiet afternoons I've been able to clean the house, fold and iron the laundry and prepare dinner. Mostly, I'm able to peruse the job listings for something to do. That is a bit of work since I'm not actually finding something that really grabs my attention. Most of the jobs I send resumes for are jobs that I can do until I figure out what to do about grad school. it's sort of like being in limbo, you're neither here nor there, just in between. Writing this blog gives me something to do other than mindlessly wander the malls or watch television.

More Later

Slow Day

Despite the fact that I had to do a bit of running around today, it was a slow day. Actually a slow and wet day. I took grandmama to an appointment this morning then came home to find out that little nephew had to be picked up from school so I had to wolf down a perfectly good lunch and run to get him then stop at the store to pick up a few things for dinner. After that it slowed down and I actually got a couple of things done and had a chance to rest and freshen up. I then made a pretty terrific dinner. Nothing special but it was really good.

Being unemployed I've managed to pick up a skill or two like cooking. You won't be seeing me on "Iron Chef" anytime soon but I can manage in the kitchen. I actually find the process to be quite fun. It's yet another creative outlet for me and it makes people happy. I especially like to bake I think that's because I have incurable sweet tooth. Thank goodness for Weight Watchers recipes. To date I've baked two honey cakes, batches of cookies, an Apple-Pear Crisp, and a Linzer Bar cake. Cooking wise, I've prepared whole meals. One thing I really love to prepare is a Paprika-Garlic Rubbed Chicken. It's ridiculously easy to prepare and the smell when it's in the oven it sick (a good thing). The other I like to make is a Greek inspired Chicken. Chicken thighs and red potato wedges are marinated over night in lemon juice, olive oil, garlic, oregano then cooked then next day at 350. Yum.

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Sitting on your hands

One of the worst things about being unemployed is that you have allot of time on your hands. Oh sure you devote a chunk of it to the job search: emailing resumes, going to interviews when you get them, and so on but the rest is down time. It's the down time that can be a killer. Some use the that time to do housework. Others just sit mindlessly in front of the television. Still others find activities to fill the void. It's the nature of those activities that can lead to positive or negative things. I've heard of jobless folks taking up a hobby such as knitting and later turning it into a business. That's a positive thing. Going down that route has both good points and bad points. The good is it's something you enjoy and other people appreciate your handiwork. I know that feeling. I took up knitting a few years ago (I really want to get back into it) and for Chanuka I made niece and older nephew each a scarf and hat which they and their parents loved. The kids still have them and use them. I need to make something for little nephew. Another good point is going to the yarn store and touching the different yarns and checking out the patterns. You might think that running your hand over random skeins of yarn sounds a bit weird, unless you're a knitter yourself, but cashmere definitely feels different than cotton. The patterns allow you to imagine the endless possibilities. The bad, is the cost. The cost of materials can be a bit prohibitive but there ways to get around it.

For me, I try to fill my down time with different activities. First there's Avon. I've doing that for almost a year. It actually takes some work because you are you own manager, marketing department, bookkeeper, inventory control, and sales force. For those of you interested it's www.youravon.com/llowen if you want to check it out. Also, I have a pile of books that I've either read or am reading. I just finished "One Hundred Years of Solitude" by Gabriel Garcia Marquez and just started "The American Future" by Simon Schama. Also, I have an application into USC for their Master's of HIstoric Perservation Program, hope I get in. I started to take an active interest in the teaching ESL. For that I have to take at least the CBEST. I think this might be the course I follow for now. The key here is finding time to study and then after I pass it, find an ESL training course. I keep putting it off for no real reason other than I can. I really have no clue as to why. I mean it's not like I like sitting around all day and moaning about the state of affairs or lusting after things (really they're just things). All right, resolved I'll get back on the CBEST trail and insist on time to study.

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A bit of a week

This past week has been a bit of a week. It started Monday with granny and her cell phone issues. Granny's cell phone died on Sunday and so I went to the store to get a new, free one. Well the one I brought home wasn't working aesthetically: the buttons and the screen were too small. I picked this one out after granny, being her usual indecisive self, couldn't pick something. So the next I went back to the store to try to get the one she wanted. They didn't have exactly that one so I thought maybe get the same one in pink instead of black or purple. As it turned out it wasn't going to be free after all, but what is? So I got a loaner phone which I thought was rather nice. That still didn't meet her approval. It was granny's lifelong lack of decision making skills that really got me the most frustrated and angry more so than anything else. If it were me needing to replace a cell phone I know what I'd want and get it. Anyway, the end of that story was I ordered granny a new phone online and now she's pestering me about its arrival. Some people are just spoiled impatient children.

Tuesday and Wednesday went pretty smooth. As I mentioned, Tuesday was the appointment at the recruiting firm. Prior to going to that appointment, I sent my resume to the residence association in my complex as well as to a dental office looking for help. I felt a little guilty about that one because if I get it, it would be like cheating on my really nice dentist. The only annoying thing about Wednesday was that younger nephew acted up in the park. Granny took the boy to the park while I went to get the groceries for the week. When I came to pick them up, he wanted to go to the library and walk home. Normally I wouldn't mind them going to the library but they were there for over an hour and, despite the fact that granny refuses to wear a perfectly lovely watch she bought, could plan their time better. I think he was a bit tired from pre-school so I let slide the almost tantrum.

Today, younger nephew thought he was some type of animal because he got out of his car pool nipping at granny and me. Then we went into Coffee Bean for his daily fix. At the coffee place, he got a straw for his drink and started using the straw as weapon. When I tried to stop him he started hitting, kicking, and scratching. Of course in granny's universe, that kind of behavior gets rewarded. If it were up to me, I would've taken him out of the store and not let him come back until he learned to behave. After depositing them at sis's house everything went fine. Fortunately, I don't have to experience them over the weekend. Two weekends in a row is more than enough.

More later.

The Recruitment Firm

So today I drove to South Pasadena to finally meet with this recruitment firm that I was supposed to meet last week. The drive itself was rather nice and I made good time, a rarity in Los Angeles. After filling out the requisite paperwork I sat down with the person and we talked for a few minutes. Basically what I told I'm looking for something that matches my interests and in a location that I can reasonable expect to make it in on time. Those are two big criteria for me. One of the many things I've learned in the working world is show up on time and don't simply accept work because someone else cajoled you into. I think it's a monumental waste of my time and the employer's time when you train for a job that you know that you're not qualified to do but a friend or relative thought "oh what's the big deal? You can do this." I firmly believe that no one is able to do every job. Just because someone is good at one thing doesn't mean they're good at everything. Personally, I suck at working in an office typing, filing, and answering the phones. I especially suck in working in highly structured and formal environment such as banks and law firms. I more suited to creative situations. Does this make me short sighted? Maybe? but as the great bard once said "To thine own self be true." So that was that. I think the firm can do something for me because they deal with architecture firms and museums so this is a good sign. We'll see what happens.

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The Attack of the Family

Okay so it's been a few days. Well I have something to write. Once again, we were descended upon by sis and her family for a "lovely" meal. I put lovely in quotes because today it really wasn't. Niece was her usual moody pre-teen self, BIL was being a smart ass again, and the boys were rolling around which resulted in younger nephew crying again. Also as usual, grandmama went crazy over the food preparation and shopping. Despite my numerous efforts to get her to scale back on things once more there was way too much food. Of course granny complained that there wasn't enough, please! I just finished cleaning up the debris pile. I've gotten accustomed to using a large garbage bag for their visits.

The meal itself started off okay and then digressed into something else. The children's manners are still being worked and it doesn't help that granny and BIL aren't exactly paragons of etiquette. I suppose I should cut grandmama some slack because she is over seventy but still the woman is older and should really know better. The children should understand that a visit to grandmother's house means be on your best behavior. It's funny, when their other grandparents come for a visit or they go to visit them, the kids are little angels. When they step out of line, other grandparents quickly correct while grandmama let's them do whatever they want. I think, in this respect, she's still trying get them to like her more than other grandparents, Grandmama figures that if she lets them have unfettered amounts of junk food and act like wild beasts the kids will think she's the cool granny and like her more. Anyway at least the adult conversation was reasonably acceptable.

The actual highlight of the meal was a soda tasting. BIL had picked up a four-pack of Chanuka themed soda. There was potato latke, applesauce, jelly doughnut, and chocolate coin flavored sodas. The potato latke flavor tasted worse than L.A. tap water, which is to say pretty bad. BIL tried to convince that it tasted just like sake. One look at sis's reaction convinced me otherwise. Fortunately the other were better. So know I'm tired and I just want to zone out somewhere.

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Financial Aide et al

Right now I have an application into USC for their Master's of Historic Preservation program. How did I get interested in this. Well it was a combination of things. First, my thesis work at San Jose State was going precisely nowhere fast. Mainly because of the distance and the apparent lack of timely communication from my committee. That part really bothered me. I mean if you're going to work with someone, especially via long distance, good, timely communication is essential. I would submit something then not hear from anyone for weeks. I made allowances for vacations, exams, papers, and so forth but I'm not Mother Teresa, my patience does have a breaking point. It was getting ridiculous that I had to chase after my committee who would respond weeks after that fact and after I had already forgotten what I wrote not giving me any real time to revise it. Also, I don't think they really knew what to do with me. Either way I'm glad I found this program. It was a real struggle to decide whether to apply or not. After speaking with a few people I just went for it. So now I just have to sit and wait.

In the meantime I have financial aide paperwork to fill out. USC is not cheap but they are generous with financial aide. I just hate filling out the paper work for it. In fact it gave me a headache. That and also the fact that grandmama is home today and being her usual nagging self. Fortunately she hasn't been too bad. I've gotten to be such an expert at filling out financial aide forms that I pretty much do this in my sleep. Before you say anything, I know that at some point it'll all have to be paid back-yeah, yeah, yeah I've heard it all. In addition to the federal form, I'm filling out scholarship forms from Avon and UPromise. Both are on need basis and not large amounts but I'll take it just the same, I'm not greedy. In addition to requesting loans and grants, I'm also hoping to get a research fellowship that will cover half my tuition. That would be nice. Actually any sort of work would be nice. Gold digging sounds really good about now. I just keep telling myself that this is all going to pay off one of these days. The eternal optimist I'm not but it's nice to wish.

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I think some one is trying to tell me something

I think someone is trying to tell me something because this is the third job-related appointment I've had washed out because of the rain. This really sucks. What is going on here? Maybe some one is saying not here, not now. So if that's the case then when and where? I was supposed to go to a recruiting firm in South Pasadena and I was actually on the way, I mean literally in the car when it started raining. At first it was a drizzle then stop. Drizzle again, then stop. Then rain again nonstop. I had to pull over and call the firm to postpone the appointment to same time and day next week. Hopefully it will go on as planned. I mean I prepared and organized myself. I gave myself plenty of time to get over there but no-o-o-o. I was actually looking forward to meeting the recruiter instead I turned around and went home. I'll be honest though, I wasn't one-hundred percent sure that they would be able to find something for me but I'm keeping an open mind. Finally when I go home, I did something job search related, I posted my resume and profile on monster.com. Hopefully something will come out all of this. If there is some kind of divine plan for me I wish some one would clue me in on it. Please just a hint, a bread crumb, something, anything???

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My Time is Everyone's Time

When your unemployed people often find that perfectly acceptable to make free use of your time. Often it'll start out as an innocent request, "Could you______?" (insert request here). Then it morphs into other things like letting the cable guy in, picking up dry cleaning, and so on. It can get to a point where you end up as some one's unpaid personal assistant. This in turn sucks up time that could otherwise be used for more constructive purposes. For example, the niece and nephews are on a school break right now so of course, the parents can't take off and grandmama doesn't want to take them anywhere. This leaves yours truly to chauffer the youngens around. Today it was the library and Coffee Bean. Tomorrow, fortunately I'm on entertain the kids duty because of a recruiting firm interview (I'll you know how that went). Still, this is not first time I've had my time hijacked by a family member who seem to think I'm the unpaid assistant. Grandmama is famous for doing that. Often it's more like "take me here, take me there." By the time I turn around, it's late in the afternoon and I've gotten nothing accomplished. The easy solution is to say "no" but how do you say "no" to an elderly person who happens to be your mother. You see my dilemma. I could draw some boundaries like saying I'm only available between these hours and after that not. The truth is I really hate being the one who gets all the errands and transportation duties dumped on. It's not like anyone gives me gas money or compensates me for my time. I suppose that's being selfish and petty but that's how I honestly feel. The flip side of this is when I need to ask someone to do something for me, the response is allot of hemming and hawing. This results in having to take of my things on top of everything else. When it appears to grandmama I've taken more than one minute to complete a task like the grocery shopping, I start to get desperate phone calls. Apparently breathing is unacceptable. Whatever. Anyway, enough kvetching,

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La Famille

Today I had the pleasure of enjoying a pleasant lunch with my family and guests. My family consists of grandmama (mine and my sister's mom), sis, her husband the BIL, niece, older nephew, and little nephew. Grandmama is a very forthright person. She will tell you her opinion whether you want to hear it or not. Grandmama loves to spoil the grandkids as most grandparents like to do much to the consternation of their parents. The parents are sis, the family star and the BIL. Sis is a doctor, mom of three, Phi Beta Kappa. The BIL is a tax attorney and like typical lawyers he thinks he knows all and has to have the last word. There are the kids: niece is your typical pre-teen girl, older nephew who's into most things that pre-teen boys are into like sports, cars, and so on. Little nephew is a very cute little boy with a thing for Coffee Bean.

From time to to we get together for a family meal. Sometimes it's at my place and sometimes it's at their house. Today it was at their house. The company was pleasant enough, the food was passable, but it was exhausting. Being sweet and charming is not something I can do for for sustained periods of time. Nonetheless, I managed. The niece and older nephew were their usual selves, meaning, they just hung around for the food and disappeared between courses. Little nephew wanted to participate in the conversation so like most little children he kept interrupting with a question that he forgot. Anyway had there not been guests, the older kids would have been more vocal. After the meal, I went for a little walk. It was actually a nice day and surprise surprise, the sun was out.

Anyway, more later.

A Ray of Sunshine

A ray of sunshine has entered my otherwise dull unemployed world. This ray comes in the form of an interview with a recruiting agency in Pasadena, California. This is good news because I can meet with them and see if they can match with employment that suits me. The appointment is on Tuesday in the afternoon. I'm cautiously optimistic about it. This cautious optimism stems from previous experiences with temp and temp-to-hire agencies that couldn't place me if they tried. Basically these agencies tried to place me in secretarial jobs for which I'm temperamently not suited for. Also I really can't type very quickly and filing bores me to tears. Yet the optimist in me is looking forward to hearing about what they can do for me. This is a Japanese firm so I really have to be on good behavior. Not that I can't be in public but this isn't American firm where it's a little more relaxed. Barring the rain, which already washed out two appointments this week, I'll be there.

In the meantime, I need to get on track with studying for the CBEST. My number one option to working in a museum setting is teaching. Specifically, teaching either AP Art HIstory or ESL. Before I can do either I have to take the CBEST. As I previously mentioned teaching ESL would open more teaching opportunities for me. On the other hand teaching AP Art History would make use of my education. All options are on the table.

Back to my original thought, this sunshine ray is nice and hopefully it'll work out. I must not be shy about asking for what I want and at the same time, be open to other things. To make this ray become the full sun I must make a good impression on them and be confident without being cocky. This is a fine line to walk but I've got a few days to figure something out. In the meantime, I need to prepare my resume for them. Basically just a quick update. Anyway,

More Tomorrow,
Lenore

So What the Unemployed Do All Day

What do the unemployed do all day? The stereotypical jobless person sleeps in until half past noon, gets up and has coffee, thumbs through the classifieds, checks emails, maybe showers, maybe gets some exercises, watches television. You get the basic idea. Everything else but something constructive like seriously look for work. In truth it can be a real drain to constantly post your resume on every search engine, get dress and go to interviews, and really try to figure out what you want to do with your life.

Me, I'm at a crossroads. My graduate research is stalled and I need to find something more meaningful to do with my time instead of run errands and chauffer grandmama (mom) and little nephew around town. Lately I've been giving serious consideration to taking the CBEST exam and becoming certified as an ESL teacher. This to me make sense because I can get work in Adult Schools teaching English to people going for their citizenship or in public K-12 schools teaching children from non-English speaking countries. This is probably the most practical of all the suggestions. At least I can have something meaningful and the hours are a bit more flexible.

Getting back to my original thought about what do the unemployed do all day. While some do loaf around and moan about their state, I live the life of a hausfrau. For the record I'm not hausfrau material. Spending the day cleaning, running errands, and so forth feels like I'm not being challenged enough. By challenged I mean intellectually. I get up early and I go all day. I do have my Avon to tend to on a daily basis-insert shameless plug for www.youravon.com/llowen. I've made it a daily habit to post on Facebook and Twitter. I do this in the morning. The afternoons are great for getting allot done. This usually requires depositing grandmama and little nephew at home. In short, lazing around the house watching "Oprah" is not something I do. So there you have it, an insight into what one unemployed person does all day.

More tomorrow,

Lenore

And What Do You Do?

If there was ever a meaningless question it's "What Do You Do?" It's meaningless in the sense that with so many people unemployed these days it seems almost pointless to ask. But ask we do. When you are the unemployed respondent to question the first impulse is to say "I'm___" but that's not true anymore. You could always make up an answer or try the truth. The truth though gets you either pitying looks or a certain amount of attitude from the from the questioner. It's as if the questioner is saying "I'm better than you because I still have my job." Or maybe the looks and attitude are just merely covering his/her insecurities about their own employment status.

The pitying looks are even worse. It's if the questioner is thinking "You poor, poor dear how did you loose your job?" Of course these days most people loose their jobs due to cut backs. Then, if to add salt into the wound, the pitying looks are often accompanied by unsolicited job seeking advice. "Have you tried a temp agency?" or "What about looking online?" For the record, I have my resume posted on hot jobs, career builder, College Art Association, and the Society of Architectural Historians. My personal favorite bit of unsolicited advice is the old why don't you go to a career counselor or take an aptitude test? I really don't need a test or a counselor to tell me that I'm more suited to a career in a creative environment. Sometimes in the great job hunt you just have to trust your instinct.

Instinct and previous experience tells me to avoid things like secretarial work or careers in finance. Not that there's anything wrong with those professions but that's not me. In short I suck at them. Yet that hasn't stopped anyone from thinking the opposite. For example, recently I received a couple of responses to my resume from a financial services group and a well-known insurance agency. Both of whom seem to think I'd be perfect as an account executive. Did they actually read my resume or did they think that I would just be a natural fit. I think they got the impression from my Avon website-www.youravon.com/llowen-in case you want to see it for yourself-and thought great. No, cosmetics are one thing, getting people to buy life insurance or invest their money is quite another. Whatever.

What I really want to do is produce and direct-just kidding-living in Los Angeles does that to a person. No really what I want to do is work in architectural preservation. Any thoughts?

More tomorrow,

Lenore