madameblogalot

I just finished reading Tom Sawyer today. I have been having my daughter do some writing activities over the novel, which she finished reading about two weeks ago. So I thought I’d better finish it. She said she did not enjoy it that much. She went on to say that she doesn’t like any book I make her read for school. That both this book and Tuck Everlasting would probably have been more enjoyable if it was not “required” reading.

I guess I know how she feels. I did not really enjoy most of the things we were required to read in school. The only one I remember enjoying is To Kill A Mockingbird. And I think Tom Sawyer was a little different than anything she has read before. I know it is good for her to stretch herself, even if she doesn’t realize it now!

As I was driving today, I was thinking about why I like neither the Democratic nor the Repulican candidates. Of course, I think the two parties have gotten too close to being the same, and that they do nothing but play a big, mean game. So that, I don’t like. Even though I did not get to see last night’s debate, I have seen those two candidates on TV and saw part of a PBS documentary on the two a couple of nights ago. I did learn some interesting things about both of them, some things that I could actually respect about both of them. But when it comes down to it, I don’t want to vote for either one. Among other reasons (things they stand for, believe in, vote for), they are both too arrogant and cocky.

That got me to thinking about the difference in those two words. And yes, I do think there is a difference. Although they may have the same underlying meaning and we can and do use them interchangeably, I think the feeling they convey is different. I guess in my mind “arrogant” is used for someone who is acting “uppity” and “cocky” is someone who is acting like a bully. The connotation of the words may be a little different, but in the end, they turn me off just about the same. So when I see one candidate acting arrogant and one acting cocky, I don’t care to listen to either one of them.

I have been considering another conservative candidate. I like the party’s stance and I did vote for this party’s candidate four years ago. I got an email from this year’s Constitution Party candidate yesterday. In it he talked about not wasting a vote and why he believes voting third party is not a wasted vote. I agree with most of what he said. But in it, he did make a “barb” towards one or both of the major candidates. That really got my ire up. I mean, if he is supposed to be better, why is he stooping to one of the same tactics. Never mind that it was only a small one, never mind that it could be excused as a joke, it was still there. I am wondering if it takes a bit of over-self-confidence (arrogance, cockiness) to even run for President….

“See-Do”

This was the theme at the camp from which we just returned. The camp was for children who just finished 3rd-6th grades. “See Do” was all about “see the need, do the deed” and is very appropriate for anyone of any age. The kids were taught about how to see the need as well as how to do the deed. All of these lessons were based upon lessons taken from the Bible.

Today as I was reading Les Miserables, I came across a passage that seemed to be following this same theme, and I think it can apply to anyone of any religion.  It is at the moment when Marius is confronted with the destitution of his neighbors.  The passage is rather long, but worth reading.

“Marius almost reproached himself with the fact that he had been so absorbed in his reveries and passion that he had not until now cast a glance upon his neighbors. Paying their rent was a mechanical impulse; everybody would have had that impulse, but he, Marius, should have done better.  What! A mere wall separated him from these abandoned beings, who lived by groping in the night without the pale of the living; he came in contact with them, he was in some sort the last link of the human race which they touched, he heard them live or rather breathe beside him, and he took no notice of them! Every day at every moment, he heard them through the wall, walking, going, coming, talking, and he did not lend his ear! And in these words there were groans, and he did not even listen, his thoughts were elsewhere, upon dreams, upon impossible glimmerings, upon loves in the sky, upon infatuations; and all the while human beings, his brothers in Jesus Christ, his brothers in the people, were suffering death agonies beside him!  Agonizing uselessly. He even caused a portion of their suffering, and aggravated it. For had they had another neighbor, a less chimerical man, it was clear that their poverty would have been noticed, their signals of distress would have been seen,  and long ago perhaps they would have been gathered up and saved! Undoubtedly they seemed depraved, very corrupt, very vile, very hateful, even, but those are rare who fall without becoming degraded; there is a point, moreover, at which the unfortunate and the infamous are associated and confounded in a single word, a fatal word, les miserables; whose fault is it? And then, is it not when the fall is the lowest that charity ought to be greatest?”

See. Do.

What are you reading this summer?

I have just finished A Tale of Two Cities. I am reading through the Bible in chronological order (I am in Isaiah) as well as joining in our summer Bible reading club reading through the Gospels (I am just finishing Matthew.) I am in the middle of Les Miserables (still!) and have just started Salt: A World History.

I missed out on reading The Hiding Place for the BBBC last month, but hopefully will one day get to it. I am hopeful that I will be able to join in the reading of Tom Sawyer and/or Huck Finn . It would be great if I could get through them, as one of the local community colleges is performing Big River , an adventure of Huck Finn, at the end of the summer. It would be great to see this after reading one of the books.

What are you reading this summer?

As I was debating over and over again about getting a custom domain, I was also playing around with names and “format” ideas. My daughter came up with a great one that I thought would be fun and easy to maintain. So, in my excitement for bloggingalot I decided to get TWO custom domains. It was cheaper and I thought if I was going to set up one, why not set up two at once? (ok, at that time, I did not know that Sire was actually going to be doing much of the setting up!) So, again with much help from Sire, I got the second one up now too. I have had some trouble logging into it, but was finally able to get access tonight. If you get a chance, check out my other new blog . I am hoping that it will one day become my daughter’s.