term paper is due; hoping for a snow day

I feel like Annie Proulx and her The Shipping News has been a high school reading assignment. Maybe that sounds harsh but it wasn't so bad – Billy Budd and any Nathaniel Hawthorne would far exceed the punishment of The News. I quite liked it but I’ll be buggered if I can figure out what I’m to take away. (A moment of truth is required here. I saw the movie years ago and can only remember and associate two things: Kevin Spacey doesn’t fit my idea of Quoyle, and Cate Blanchett was hot as Petal – in a hot Cate way, not a hot Petal way.) The problem I have with any tome of fancy words is that I’ve got to be able to somehow relate it to a part of my life or personality; I can feel some parts of The News but it’s more like a bit of fog and mist (neat comparison, huh?). Here are my thoughts put to words: family, shame, loss, redemption, change (not the same as redemption), destruction, settling, home, life, love. That’s it – my entire review. I need to think about this much more.

I’m onto Harafish by Naguib Mahfouz. Christine saw it on the table a few days ago and told me it appears as if I AM serious about this lit-ter-a-ture thing. I actually bought this volume in Qatar a number of years ago and followed that up by buying the first volume of his legendary Cairo Trilogy at Dharma Books in Reno. They are the kind of books you have sitting on the seat of your car (or splayed across the coffee table) to impress girls. The first pitch into both books leads me to believe I’m in for a bit of GGMarquez with an Egyptian twist. We’ll see.

(Another aside: I just turned around my GGM autobiography entitled “Living to Tell the Tale” on the bookshelf. X keeps turning some of my books around because the titles are horrendous. The other two she turns around? “We Wish to Inform You That Tomorrow We Will Be Killed With Our Families”, a story of Rwanda, and; “Bury Me Standing”, a story of Gypsies. I’m on board with the Rwanda title, it’s not anything lovely, the other two confuse me.)

Vilsack is out of the 2008 run. If only I had the millions to help him run. I think we missed a great chance and I am really disturbed by how much money affects our political decisions. Maybe another entry on why money shouldn’t be the deciding factor. I'll remove him from my links section; how final is that? The Slate Gabfest refered to Hilary's campaign as the British Army with every other candidate on the Democratic ledger playing the roll of a colony or insurgency - they will need tactics that don't take her on in a straight fight if they are to suceed. I'm lost on my support for now: Edwards has earned some points for the "I was wrong on the war" approach, the Clinton machine scares me, and Obama has spun his wheels over the last few weeks. Stay tuned.

Lots of snow in Arlington today. The above picture is from about 10am this morning. I took the boys out sledding and they managed to get wet to the bone. It's nothing a long, hot bath didn't fix.

T