Madame Bovary

A woman enslaved to her lusts. The story follows Emma, married to a country doctor, and her entrapment to her desires, her immaturity and her flighty notions of romance. It touches on religion and the habit of false piety that many entertain. And it ends in calamity. The finale is unsatisfactory. It is tragic, but it doesn't feel thus, because it seems to follow the natural order of things. Emma and Monsieur Bovary are so caught up in their infatuations and seeking the fulfillment of their desires by others, and to me it was clear from the get go that these desires would not be fulfilled as they hoped, because they were centred on other faulty and selfish human beings.
I can't help but to read a book like this in the light of God's Word.  God's wisdom helps us to navigate the issues of marriage and have a more realistic outlook on it. I suppose its interesting to watch this self-indulgent character walk herself into trouble and difficulty. And a reminder to follow the wisdom of God rather than immediate desires. What Madame thought would make her happy led her to heartache, destitution and hopelessness.
Definitely something to think about.

Two Songs and John Cage

Just a quick note to record my audial consumption of Shania Twain's 'I Feel like a Woman' and 'We are Family' by Sister Sledge. My music collection is going to be quite eclectic by the end of this project.
John Cage's work could not be classed as music. It is more like performance art- The Firenze: 12.22 minutes of well timed jabs at the piano...interesting.

Two movies

I am now caught up on the classic 'Flashdance'.  Reasonably entertaining, not too long, but also no great drama, just a classic dance/beating the odds/romance sort of story.  I am learning to love the art of dance though. I just find it amazing the way we have the capacity to train movements into our muscle memory.  I find it with the piano and am sure its the same with dance. We take for granted our ability to learn songs and dances, plus other skills, driving, painting, cutting, writing.  Without this God-given talent our world would be a very different place.  One more reminder of the impossibility of our exitence without Almighty God.
I also watched the Hunchback on Notredame, the Disney version. A rather enjoyable representation of the book, but I'm looking forward to reading the original. I am sure it will be far more powerful.

A Tale of Two Cities

I plodded on through this book for so long, but the resolution was well worth the wait.  All the bits and pieces that I didn't understand came together in a way that I never expected. Satisfying, unpredictable, powerful, perfect.  The book also introduced me somewhat to the French revolution. I may be inspired to learn more about this because there were so many things that I just couldn't comprehend in the playing out of the story.  A history lesson would reveal a lot I'm sure.  I love that these classic books introduce me to the worlds of past others.
I am quite learning to enjoy this Charles Dickens fellow. Clever stuff. I am sure a second read would be more powerful and much clearer to me, but I must move on, to some other expectantly wonderful novels.

Herbal Tea

A Couple of Classics

I have now been introduced to Officer Krupke through 'West Side Story' (Lorelai calls Luke Officer Krupke in episode 1), and been reminded of the actions of Schindler during the holocaust. West Side Story is the origin of a whole bunch of songs I've heard throughout my life without realising where they came from. 'I Feel Pretty', 'I Once met a Girl Named Maria' - from west side story! I never knew.  The whole length of West Side Story I found myself thinking of Nicky Cruz's 'The Cross and the Switchblade' - An amazing story about God's renewing and redeeming power within the gangs of New York.  It's hard to understand the freedom God gives us to create such messes as the holocaust and gang warfare, but it's wonderful to watch God's principles and power, put to work by men of God, breathing new life and love into these situations. While I am enjoying experiencing all these wonderful classics (and some not so classic experiences) through this Gilmore Girl Project, I will always prefer the classic work of God laid out in prose.

Still Here

I can't believe it's been more than three months since my last post.  I've still been working on this, but struggling to keep up with uni. So I've eaten a few more foods and listened to some music, but no more books just yet. I checked out XTC's Apple Venus volume II.  Pretty funky stuff. I really enjoyed it, totally not mainstream, but enjoyable to listen to.  You should check it out.
Here are a few foods I've enjoyed: Coffee, fries with horseradish sauce, salad, salty chicken.

 Blueberry shortcake!

 Snickers (obviously)

 Chicken risotto 1

 Coffee

 True Pecan Pie with icecream

Cookies care of Coles

Four Foods

 Coffee









Balance Bar (Aust. equivalent)

 Whipped Cream in a Can

Tea

Trip to the US

I think I'm going to have to start a special list of things to experience once I am able to visit America. I would love to visit all the places mentioned on the show.  Maybe I'll have to start a list of locations too. But there are things like Dolly Madison baked goods that I will never be able to get here in Oz. So that's the future plan, a trip to the US to complete my mission, one day.

S01E01 Done!

I finished On the Road this morning. Good book - in the sense that it was interesting and easy to keep reading. Not in the wholesome, worthy sense. It a book full of debauchery and lacks conscience. The infamous Dean Moriarty is an awful womaniser, but there is little judgement to be found in the pages. Which I suppose is okay- an objective account - but I would caution any reader to see the pain caused by the actions - to the women and to Dean himself. How dysfunctional his relationships must have been.  He saw sex as love, but love is more than that and he seemed to miss all the 'more than that', and took only the sex.
Apparently Kerouac wrote the book in three weeks after travelling seven years. It feels that way really.  There's a conversational flow about it - extra long sentences that aren't quite grammatically correct, but make perfect sense; but intertwined in the conversation are highly descriptive and insightful passages that showed you how Kerouac saw the world and his journey. There was one passage that rang with me - 'Dean took out other pictures. I realized these were all the snapshots which our children would look at someday with wonder, thinking their parents had lived smooth, well-ordered, stabilized-within-the-photo lives and got up in the morning to walk proudly on the sidewalks of life, never dreaming the raggedy madness and riot of our actual lives, our actual night, the hell of it, the senseless nightmare road.' (p.231) On the front of the copy I read is a picture of two calm smiling men - the main characters of the book. No indication of the hecticness of their story.  And I think of my own photos, always posed, always smiling, never depicting the true emotion or reality of the time they were taken. I have one photo of me dressed for a wedding, arms folded, scowling.  I never really liked that photo, and I don't think it made it to the album, but its probably a truer photo than any I have. 

So Close

I have finally, finally finished the food list with a lovely pie, and I just have 2/3's of On the Road before I'm finished the lit list.  The only thing is, I realised the peach sauce was supposed to be made with maple syrup and seeing my version was so ordinary I'm thinking I'll try again soon.

I'm excited about moving on to the 2nd episode. I have already watched an episode of Oprah, the very last episode to be specific. I've read the Bible before, but it can't hurt to read it again. And I can't wait to get into some Dickens in the coming months. Uni's on break so I might get through a bit more the next two weeks.

The Little Match Girl

I'm very glad for having been introduced to this little story.  It's a little morbid, but a little morbidness is good for us here in the Western, sterile world.  A cute little story that reminds us of the hope of heaven.  Get your hands on a version and share it with your children.

A Few More Foods

 Not quite an American pizza, but close enough, and very enjoyable.

My triple cap, easy foam, which turned out to be a large latte. I felt a little clueless when I was very insistent on getting a triple shot cappucino, light on the foam.  The girl just explained nice and clearly that that was exactly what I was getting in my large latte :).







A cookie.

Some chocolate flavoured cereal, aka Cocopops.

Fun with Finn

So, after a month, I have finally finished the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. My first wind has petered out as the weight of uni assignments have fallen upon my shoulders heavy as lead.  I just haven't been able to face much at all while the due date onslauted has ensued.  On top of that I've had extra shifts at work while some of the girls are away for five weeks. I know my woes don't make for fantastic reading, but I appreciate the chance to vent.  On with the book review: Huck Finn is a character filled book and the story flows nicely, never a dull moment, and Mark Twain's individual and enjoyable sense of humour shows itself through the writing.  I was taken by the capers nearing the end, enjoying the childish logic and wondering if there was a touch of satire intended.  Tom Sawyer takes to helping a slave escape via a very convoluted plan, just because 'its the right way, the moral way' leaving all logic aside.  And I thought, yes, we probably all do that.  Get jobs done by some less than logical system just because it's 'the right way'. Sometimes due to the proverbial 'red tape', and sometimes just because that's the way its always been done. Whether intended or not, that's the moral I took from it. 'Look for the logical way to complete a task (and even to live), don't just follow those before you without considering potential improvements.'
I also found Huck's commentary about his conscience interesting.  His conscience is severely troubled because he helps a slave escape at the cost of the slave's owner.  I think it opened my mind a little bit to the perspective of the day.  Now we 'know' that slavery is abominable, but then they 'knew' it was right and irrebukable.  I wonder what things we now accept as right, but will soon see as abominable.  Sweat shops hopefully, child labour, paying less than a living wage to farmers, maybe capitalism.  Of course there will always be an abomination to fight in this life... looking ahead to glory!

Deliciousness or Un

 Some of the foods I've been enjoying this week and last.

 

 I have given duck pate the new name of Rich Man's Devon.  It costs about $4.00 for 100gms, but tastes very similar to devon only more like a paste.

This was my response to the fancy cake in the Gilmore house.  Didn't really measure up to their standard.

Rosemary's Baby

An interesting story and possibly satisfyingly shocking in it's day, but it just didn't do it for me. Maybe because it is so fantastical I wasn't struck with horror at the end the way I'm sure Ira Levin was intending. The movie followed the book virtually word for word. It brought the characters to life better than my imagination could, especially Minnie and Guy, but really served no other purpose having just finished the book the day before. It didn't invoke any emotions or give any added depth to the characters or script. I would recommend watching the movie or reading the book, but don't bother with both.
Now I just need to be reminded of the Gilmore Girls reference to get a true sense of what Rory was saying. It must have been Guy she was comparing Dean to, was it? I had always pictured a story with a creepy/dangerous guy watching a girl in her sleep. Not so.

Chilli Fries

I looked up a few recipes for chilli fries but decided to create my own.  I used a can of chopped tomatoes, an onion, beef mince, sweet chilli sauce, some dried chilli, paprika, cajun seasoning, and a can of mixed beans for the chili sauce.  Then just some frozen chips and grated cheese.  I'm sure this is far from traditional chilli fries, but I enjoyed it.

Back from the Deep

Moby Dick was not what I had expected.  Previously any references to the story had always conjured visions of a fantasy, about a man and his friendship with a mighty whale. The real adventure is far from this image.  This as a serious, almost non-fiction style story about whaling in the 19th century.  The images conjured of whales being caught and slaughtered are especially confronting in this age of animal rights and Green Peace.
Although the story is highly regarded in literary circles, I was not particularly impressed with it.  I suppose partly because whaling is not really within my field of interests, but mainly because it was such a long book with extensive descriptions that were hard to follow.  Descriptions seemed to describe descriptions. A sentence would begin with a clause indicating what Melville was talking about, but by the end of the sentence I had forgotten what this was.  I struggled to keep the narrated images in my mind as clause after clause or sentence after sentence would convolute the illustration.  I will admit that I possibly have not developed the habit of visualising words well and a better and more intelligent reader would have gotten more out of it. 
I have at least extended my vocabulary and I followed the story enough, but I am sure I missed really interesting segments, just because I couldn't get a true gist of what Melville was saying. I also found there were long segments of disconnected elements.  The scientific descriptions of the different types of whales seemed unnecessary and might as well have been an appendix for all the attachment they had to the rest of the storyline.
There were definitely points where I thought, wow, that was cleverly written. I can really picture that or I get that metaphor. Although the book isn't going to make a favourite list of mine, I acknowledge the art of the author and his place among the ranks of brilliant authors.

A few enjoyable steps

 I was hoping to have finished Moby Dick by today, but still have 500 pages to go. Another few days and I'm sure I'll be done.  It's a hard slog of a book.  You have to concentrate on every sentence to really get its meaning. I think the next book I plan to read will be a little smoother in the reading. I just hope the content doesn't horrify - Jack Kerouac's 'On the Road'. I get the impression he was a somewhat uncensored author.
I have managed to tick off a few foods on the list though...photos to follow. The peach sauce was rather a dismal experiment, so I may try again at a later date.  I very much enjoyed the waffles I had with it though.  I have also made a lovely lamb dish with a little fancy mashed potatoes. And I've had coke and coffee, no milk, no sugar, just like classic Luke's diner coffee.  I only regret forgetting to drink my red wine with my lamb dish.  They would have gone perfectly together. Well, I'll just have to drink it with my chilli fries. Classy!

It's getting late, so I'll see if I can get these photos up and I'll post again soon.

Conversion

Well, I have nothing much to say today except that I am loving iBooks.  I never thought I would feel comfortable reading off a screen and I still find it difficult to concentrate on a wide page as found on computers. But on my iPhone, offering small chunks at a time, I can handle it. And it offers so many benefits. It tells me how many pages I have left in the book and the chapter; I can bookmark pages and highlight passages; I can skip to particular chapters; I can download the books for free; I can hold the book in one hand and don't even need the second to turn the page as I would with a real book; I can put my phone down and come back to the same page no trouble.  I'm converted.  Not to iBooks necessarily, (this is no ad) but to the concept of an electronic book.
I know, only tenuously related to the challenge, but I figure this is about blogging the whole experience of this process, so it counts.
Halfway through Moby Dick, will hopefully have a book review in a few days. And I'll be getting into some of the food refs, tomorrow.  Looking forward to waffles and peach sauce tomorrow morning. Mm mm.

Resources

I've have very gratefully discovered that many of the books required for this undertaking are in the public domain and so I have found them free for download from iBooks. I have begun reading Herman Melville's 'Moby Dick' and though enjoying it, finding it fairly long winded.  I think this book is just a taste of how truly mammoth this task is going to be. 
I have also found a few of the recipes I need on the internet and will attempt to provide links to them at some point. 

I am disappointed this is thus far a rather dull sort of blog.  I will attempt to add some interest as I go, with a few book reviews and musings.  If nothing else this will serve as a record that I have actually completed this project if, indeed, I do complete it.

The Beginning

As yet, I have not begun the project. I am in the midst of organising how it will work.  As you can see I have listed the references from the first episode. It is now a case of sourcing the material and ingredients.  I'm hoping the local library will be able to help me out a lot, but as today is ANZAC Day and tomorrow is the Easter Sunday public holiday, they will not be helping me till at least Wednesday.
I wonder if perhaps some book titles are available for legal download.  I will see.  Catch you Wednesday for my first real installment. Ciao.