Lit Bits-7/9/2014 Robert E. Howard, Saul Bellow

Joe says:

During my glaringly obvious absence from writing for y'all here, I've been spending a decent amount of time camping. And while camping, my go-to reading material has been the Del Rey collections of the original stories of Conan the Barbarian. Written by Robert E. Howard with various illustrations dispersed throughout, these collections are beautiful paperbacks full of beautiful sword-and-sorcery fantasy.

Howard was a contemporary of H.P. Lovecraft, which is how I was initially exposed to him. Together with Clark Ashton Smith, Lovecraft and Howard dominated the pulp magazines of the 1910s and 1920s: Lovecraft with his widely-known brand of cosmic horror; Howard with his fantasy (and occasional bouts of horror); Smith with his decidedly individual blend of the two. These three, with other contemporaries of the time, are now known as the Lovecraft Circle, and it's been wonderful exploring their various works to see how they influence and entwine with each other.

My knowledge of these stories before reading them ran something like this:

1.) These were fantasy stories that connected with the Mythos, somehow.

2.) The 2011 Conan the Barbarian film was kinda neat.

And that was about it. On a whim I committed to all three volumes, and am almost finished with the first. One thing that became readily apparent was that, although the genre is quite different from Lovecraft's, Howard can create an eerie atmosphere just as well, and often better, than Lovecraft himself. The story lines might seem kind of trite when generalized (Conan saves the scantily-clad woman! Conan defeats the evil wizard! Conan saves a different scantily-clad girl!) but really, aren't we all in it for the journey rather than the destination?

This particular illustration, from "The Tower of the Elephant", is one of my favorites thus far: Conan, during the part of his life where he was a scoundrel-for-hire, successfully enters the eldritch Elephant Tower and meets... well, you can very well see what he meets. Howard's writing is descriptive on the verge of being flowery, and everything on this ancient Earth is extravagant: the tower itself is carved completely from silver. Whole rooms are surfaced with precious gems. Thrones are carved from single, giant pieces of ivory. So yes, in the end this story is "Conan hears a rumor of a great treasure, Conan goes to steal great treasure, Conan kills evil wizard in the process," but the whole scene and mood combine to create a wonderfully rich atmosphere with just enough foreboding to keep this fabled history tense and brooding.

In summation: Conan stories are fun and dark and a wonderful thing to have on your lap while sitting around a campfire for five days straight.

Aleathia says:

This year has been hard on the reading front for me.  It seems after I turned 40 my attention span disappeared.  I am less satisfied to sit still reading a book than I used to be.  This pains me, honestly. I did finish the last book I was reading.  It was a great book, but I felt like I would never finish it.  

This time around I had my kid pick a letter of the alphabet and I went to our library and chose an author with the last name beginning with "B".  There was a thin, sleek book on the shelf by Saul Bellow called Seize the Day.

Years ago when I started reading all the Pulitzer Prize winning novels for Fiction, Bellow's Humboldt's Gift was one of the first ones I read.  His language is smooth and cutting at the same time and really sinks into my brain effortlessly.  This particular book is about a man in the 30's-40's after the stock market crash who was a child of privilege who never lived up to his parents expectations.  It is about his journey navigating this society pretending to have money when he doesn't.  He lives his life a disappointment to his family.  I always find it funny that I don't read Saul Bellow more.  When I get back into him I am always pleased.

“One thing should be clear to you now. Money-making is aggression. That's the whole thing. The functionalistic explanation is the only one. People come to the market to kill. They say, 'I'm going to make a killing.' It's not accidental. Only they haven't got the genuine courage to kill, and they erect a symbol of it. The money. They make a killing by fantasy.” --Saul Bellow, Seize the Day

Let's Go Somewhere-7/8/2014 High Tor

Aleathia says:

This summer I am definitely missing our trip to our getaway cabin in the woods.  A friend at work turned me on to a website called The Quiet Place.  It is a place where you can browse through 19 different cabins scattered throughout the Finger Lakes Region.  There are cozy two person cabins like the one Michael and I have been to called High Tor.

This cottage is very modernly renovated though it looks rustic on the outside.  It has an indoor fireplace, warm and inviting colors, and great views from anywhere in the house.

It is equipped with television and cable and a dvd player as well as options for music.  It comes fully furnished and the kitchen is equipped for cooking.  They also provide a gas grill if that is what you like to do. You just need to bring your own food.

We chose this cabin for one reason only....the insanely awesome bathroom.  I know we must seem like OCD clean freaks and maybe we are, but it is a dream come true experience.  Each time we stayed there we found excuses to take another shower.  This is a dual sided shower with all sorts of crazy jets, river stone tiles and it even has a bench!  Best shower ever.

The back of the house features a large deck that looks into the woods and from the hot tub you can watch the stars at night while the breeze keeps you cool.  

There is also a nice little secluded area in the yard where you can sit in front of the fire pit.  We cooked hot dogs over the fire one year and watched the fireflies and listened to the natural world around us.

We started going to this place as a getaway from bad memories.  Michael's mother passed on his birthday which is always depressing, so we started going there as something fun to try and replace those negative memories with something good.  We didn't go this year for several reasons.  We bought a house and the finances just don't allow the expenditure with everything we have had to buy to get this place going and last year my aunt died on my birthday while we were there.  We also quit drinking and lord knows we did one hell of a ton of that at High Tor.  So now we will have to find a new quiet place to make memories at.  If you get the opportunity you should really check this place out.  We have fond memories and lots of laughs. These cabins are a great way to rekindle love or to just get away from everyday stress.  Enjoy.

Music Monday-7/7/2014 Joni Mitchell

Aleathia says:

Most of my life I have listened to what the adults played on their stereos and radios.  Their soundtrack formed the times of my life.  When I was younger my mother loved Fleetwood Mac, Bad Company, Traffic, and Peter, Paul, and Mary.  My father loved jazz and blues.  There was my own music too....mostly pop garbage and later hair metal.  The people around me have always influenced me musically.  They have always opened doors to sounds foreign to me.  I know that as a child I heard Joni Mitchell without knowing that it was her, but her voice is unmistakable.

When I was living in Seattle I remember sitting with a group of friends in their living room and Joni Mitchell's Blue was put on the record player.  From start to finish I was captivated.  Their isn't a song that needs fixing, a note out of place.  I know all the words to every song and it is probably the record I turn to the most in times of happiness, sadness, grief, and wonder.  This record has been my dearest friend for a long time.  I have since, in one form or another, collected nearly all of Joni Mitchell's work.  Each album gives me something special.

My favorite song on the album is "A Case of You":

OM-7/6/2014 Jack Perkins Tribute

Aleathia says:

The last few years have been spiritually rough...as rough as anything in my life which was never a bed of roses.  I have lost my mother, my aunt, my cousin, my grandmother, several friends, and several co-workers. I work in the emergency room.  I am used to seeing people die both traumatically and because it is their time. Seeing this often does not make it easier, it makes me harder.  It desensitizes me sometimes, or maybe I have just bricked a wall around me so that it doesn't hurt so bad.  I have watched people die alone which is my utmost fear in life....not death itself, but that there would be no one there in my final moments to say goodbye.  We are not born alone, we should not die alone.

This week we lost a wonderful man at work, Jack Perkins, who was an installation at Corning Hospital.  He made people laugh and always had a smile for everyone with a devilish look in his eye. He gave me the impression of man always up to something, but in a good way.  Jack was part of many of my co-workers families.  They loved him like a brother, a father, an uncle.  My crew at work (not me personally) spent hours working to save his life.  They endured what I am told is one of the most horrific things each of them had ever seen in their lives and they held it together with professionalism and love.  In the end when it is your time, it is your time, but Jack was not alone and I am thankful for that.

Tonight I take my daughter with me to stand next to my second family and the community to say goodbye to Jack Perkins.  Our lives will be a little less bright without him and our hearts a little emptier than before.  Fly high Jack.  We'll miss you.

Quills and Frills-7/5/2014 Aleathia Drehmer, Poetry

Aleathia says:

Catastrophe

Mother cursed me the day

my tiny fingers

slide the spokes

of the umbrella

up the long metal

shaft, the click of its

mechanism holding fort—

tinny and satisfying, 

as the bright blue

water-resistant

parachute came alive.

She looked at me in horror.

What had I done?

Any number of catastrophes

would surely fall from the sky

ruining everything

she had worked for

in life.

The remaining years

of my life were riddled

with hunched shoulders,

a wet neck, and a body

full of fear.

Aleathia Drehmer 

Art Bomb-7/4/2014 Amedeo Modigliani

Aleathia says:

I have always been a lover of art, always amazed at what people could create from their minds or their interpretations of what they see.  The connection the mind has to embellish someone with these abilities is a gift.

Today we are going to look at the significant painters of Montparnasse in Paris.  In the early 1900's artists lived in the heart of the city which made up Bohemia.  Montparnasse was on the left bank of the river and Monmartre (home of Moulin Rouge) on the right bank of the river.  Prior to artists and musicians settling here it was rural farmland, peaceful and quiet.

The artist we will focus on is Amedeo Modigliani.  He arrived in Monmarte in 1906 after having studying art in several places in Italy where he was from.  His artistic encouragement started when he was a small boy. He was often ill with respiratory ailments and his mother gave him art supplies to pass the time which was often sedentary and solitary.  His dream as a young man was to go to Paris and study painting there.  It was the destination of the time.

"Girl with Blue Eyes" by Modigliani

Modigliani dove into the scene and was considered the "prince" of the artists he worked along side.  He was charming and a ladies man.  There was little money to be made in this time for artists and Modigliani was often poor.  He had developed a drinking habit that caused him to sell paintings and drawings in bars just to pay for his drinks.  He worked exclusively with faces and figures and did not care for the embellishment of costume or setting.  He did no landscapes or still life.

"Bride and Groom" by Modigliani

What we can notice about Modigliani's work is that most of the faces he painted were long with pensive expression on their faces, we can see the beginning of Cubism start to enter his work though he would not take it as far as his fellow painters.  What is most haunting is that most of his subjects eyes appear blank as if he has removed the window to their souls; as if by painting them he captured something from them they might not be willing to give.

"The Servent Girl" by Modigliani

The colors Modigliani used feel muted and somber.  There is nothing flashy about his palette, only colors of a man saddened by life.  However, there are a number of paintings in his collection where the figures to have distinct eyes and if you spend enough time looking at his work, the ones with eyes can frighten you.

"Lunia Czechowska" by Modigliani

In 1914 Modigliani met two people that changed his life and his career, Beatrice Hastings from England and Leopold Zborowski from Poland.  He was intimately involved with Beatrice and she encouraged his painting over his drinking and Zborowski was his champion for selling art.  After 3 years together the relationship with Beatrice fell short as it was noted that she was often "cold" towards Modigliani.  He later married Jeanne Hebuterne in 1917.  Modigiliani would die 3 years later at the age of 35 from tubucular meningitis.

The other artists of Montparnasse and Monmarte:

"A Finger on Her Cheek" by Kees Van Dongen

"Nude against a Red Background" by Pablo Picasso

"The Dance" by Andre Derain

"Kiki of Montparnasse" by Moise Kisling

Foodies-7/3/2014 Marinades

Aleathia says:

It is that time of the week again where we go on a food adventure.  New this week at the library is a cookbook called Marinades by Lucy Vaserfirer.  It literally is an entire book of marinades from all over the world for all different kinds of proteins.  I am sure you could use many of them on veggies as well.  The world is your oyster, as they say.

The book is sectioned off very nicely by types of marinades and then later in the book by geographic location.   The recipes are very easy to follow and many contain ingredients you would have lying around the house.  The marinades are either mixed or blended.  There are a few that require some extra steps, but most are simple.

In the recipe I will note either "mix and marinate" or "blend and marinate".  The marination time for proteins is 2 hours to overnight.  For fish and seafood it is up to 45 minutes.  Each recipe will be noted with a serving size and this would be equal to the number of servings of protein you are going to marinate.  Let's get going.

Rosemary Maple (fish, pork, chicken)  2 servings

2 T soy sauce

2 T maple syrup

1 T EVOO

1 garlic clove, minced

1 1/2 tsp minced fresh rosemary

fresh pepper

Mix and marinate

Spicy Cajun (chicken, beef, shrimp)  2 servings

1/4 cp canola oil

1 tsp fresh lemon juice

2 garlic cloves, minced

1/2 tsp dried thyme

1/2 tsp dried oregano

1 tsp onion powder

1 tsp paprika

1 tsp pepper

1/2 tsp white pepper

1/2 tsp cayenne 

salt

Mix and marinate

Fennel Citrus (chicken, pork, fish)  2-4 servings

3 T EVOO

3 T orange juice

1 T lemon juice

1/4 cp diced fennel

2 garlic cloves, sliced

1 T sugar

Salt and pepper

Blend and marinate

Tandoori (chicken, beef, lamb, shrimp)  2-4 servings

1/3 cp plain yogurt

1 T lemon juice

2 tsp fresh ginger, minced

2 garlic cloves, minced

2 tsp paprika

3/4 tsp cumin seeds, toasted and ground

1/8 tsp cardamom

salt and pepper

Mix and marinate

Mango Cilantro (chicken, pork, beef)  5-8 servings

1 T canola oil

1 T fresh lime juice

1/4 cp lightly packed cilantro

1/2 large mango, diced

1 garlic clove, sliced

salt and pepper

Blend and marinate