Column Suggestion

With facebook and gmail blocked at work, I was perusing the internet for something mindless that I could use to pass the time during a slow Friday afternoon. After catching up on the latest royal wedding news on people, I decided to check the NY Times for something a little more substantial…. but still not quite productive reading. And I found it. Some of you may already read this column, but if not- I highly recommend the “Social Q’s” column by Philip Galanes. Some of the articles are definitely better than others- but for the most part I love his witty and to-the-point advice for some daily annoyances. If you haven’t seen this column, he has archived the articles on his website:

http://www.philipgalanes.com/ny_times_sundays.php

Philip has also posted his biography on the website. He seems like the perfect man- he has a home in the Hamptons and NYC, writes for the NY Times, works on the boards of private companies, practices law and has tons of pictures of him and his dog on his website. Don’t worry- I’m not delusional- no madwoman is in his future. Sadly.

C. Earnshaw

The Room!!!

I loved this book!!! I basically got through it in one weekend.

What was most striking to me about the first half of the book (pre-escape) was how the Mom created such order so that they would not go crazy. She created a strict schedule from meal times to the time that they would wash their clothes. I imagine that creating a schedule like that helped to pass the time. It was a way to mask the fact that they had an indefinite period confined in a Room. What concerned me about the way that she set up their life was that it seemed like Jack was developing OCD. He learned to be very concerned about germs. He became so comfortable with a routine and was very uneasy if any part of that routine was altered. He also seemed to count EVERYTHING.

I found myself constantly laughing out loud and smiling as I was reading the book (post escaping the Room). You not only get to see the world through a child, but through a child who thought that everything was only on TV. The observations that he makes are so simple, yet they often reveal things that we just don’t talk about or don’t like to think about. Like when he explains to the nurse that his Mom is “here but not really” or when he says “lots of the world seems to be a repeat.”

While the mother undeniably did everything for Jack’s sake, there are several large decisions that she made for him that I am still trying to decide whether they were the best things for him. The biggest one was brought up by {I am assuming} Oprah. Should she have told Nick to bring Jack to the hospital as soon as he was born? We don’t even know if Nick would have done that. For one, he seemed to think that he was doing her a favor by allowing her to have a child- maybe he saw this as a way to keep her quiet and obedient. He also seemed like a pretty paranoid person- would he have dropped the baby off and risked having someone find out about his crime? But if he did, would she have been able to do it? Would I have been able to do it? The second big thing for me was whether she should have lied to Jack about everything being TV? My initial thought is that it saved him from wanting things that he could not have (which is why I believe she did not allow him to watch commercials). However, she then very abruptly told him one day that those things actually were real. When I was reading, it did not feel like she had planned any of this- it just sort of came out when she was feeling frustrated with everything.

I absolutely loved the Grandma’s character. She did not allow Jack to let his fears consume him, and while she did tell him this in often blunt ways you can tell that she was doing so out of love for him. A lot of people would have tip-toed around Jack, seeing him as “damaged” and needing special attention. But she gave him just what he needed- a stern figure who showed him that he could be normal.

Catherine Earnshaw

Room

February 15th, 2011 is a big day in the world of the Madwomen. It's officially time to start the conversation about our second group read, Room, by Emma Donoghue!

Going into the reading with very little knowledge about the content of the book, I was happy with how well it held my interest. These days I judge books by whether on not they are a chore to read after a long day at my internship and an evening of doing readings for school. Room was actually something that I looked forward to reading at the end of each day. At the same time, it wasn't just trash that held my interest but had little substance. I found the book actually quite thought-provoking. Mostly, I debated how realistic Ma and Jack's behaviors were for two people held in captivity for years on end. Being that I am a trauma-snob, (after all, childhood trauma is the specialty I'm working in this year at my internship!), I may have held Emma Donoghue to a higher standard than the average reader in describing the affects of kidnapping, captivity, and repeated sexual abuse on Ma. I concluded that while Ma was believable, I think the psychological impact of her trauma would have been much more intense than it appeared in the book. Yes, she did try to commit suicide, and yes, that is a clear signal of intense psychological distress. But the suicide seemed thrown in and incongruous because she completely lacked the main symptoms of trauma. I felt that psychologically she went from baseline to suicidal to baseline in a very short amount of time, and without any real explanation.

Jack, on the other hand, was a character whom I adored. The sensory overload of entering the world for the first time at the age of five was humorous and creative on the part of Ms. Donoghue, and, in my opinion, completely accurate. I also found his complete lack of social skills incredibly endearing. You can just image how confused this little boy must have been to be thrust into a world where everything is unknown. Again, the validity of his resiliency is questionable, but his lovable personality won me from the start.

- Miss Havisham

The Wheels on the Bus Go Round and Round...

I recently started working with a new client and my five minute commute has now turned into a forty-five minute one. Staying true to my New York roots, I refuse to brave the traffic on 495, and therefore have taken on a round-trip that involves three forms of transportation: a five minute ride in my car, a ten to twenty minute ride on the shuttle bus between my company's headquarters and the closest Metro station, and a ten minute ride on the Metro. The other ten to twenty minutes? Waiting for the Metro and shuttle bus.
When I commuted between Manhattan and Stamford, CT, I loved using the time to indulge in trashy novels. That commute was simple - all I had to carry was my purse and a book, and once I was on the train it was a non-stop trip. This one, however, is full of inconvenient interruptions, and I'm hampered by my purse, my laptop bag, and my lunchbox. By the time I really get sucked into a story, I have to stop, gather my belongings, transfer, and then get settled again. It was kind of hard to get focused on the story.
At first I listened to my iPod and furiously checked my smartphone, but after the first two days that got boring. And then I found the perfect solution...Shakespeare. See, my former students are performing in King Lear in the beginning of March, and I'm planning a big trip back to NY to see them and my best friend and former colleague whom I haven't seen in seven months. After getting off a marathon phone session with her two nights ago, I realized that if I was going to sit through three hours of King Lear, I darn well better re-familiarize myself with the plot. Although it used to be my second-favorite Shakespeare play, I haven't read it in about thirteen years, and the details had kind of faded...hazy memories of some nasty sisters a la Cinderella and a crazy old man in a winter storm, but that's about it. A few years ago, I sat through Love's Labor's Lost without ever having read it and it was torture, even for a Shakespeare-phile like me! Here's the thing though...who has time or inclination to actually sit down and read King Lear? Turns out, I do. It takes about ten to twenty minutes to read one scene...the exact amount of time I spend on the shuttle bus. The thin book tucks neatly into the side pocket of my laptop case. And I find that Shakespeare is easier to digest in smaller increments.
So, madwomen, that's what I've been reading lately. And considering the mind-numbingness of the eight hours I put in at my new client each day, I'm actually a little bit glad to stretch my brain each morning. Right not I'm on Act I, scene iv. When I'm done, I might try a little poetry...

I Told You Guys That Barbara Kingsolver Changed My Life

So, remember that scene in Billy Madison when Adam Sandler wakes up from his hangover and rides his golf cart out to the mailbox to collect his magazines? Well, it was "Nudie Magazine Day" at my house today...only it wasn't Playboy that arrived! It was the Baker Creek Heirloom Seed Catalog.

Shortly after I finished Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, and began my farmers' market odyssey, I began collecting newspaper clippings about local food. Back in August I clipped a NY Times article about this catalog, reputed to be packed with what Anthony Bourdain would call "food porn" for gardeners, and in November (about the same time that I joined Kitchen Gardens International - that's a whole other story) I ordered a copy. About once a week since, I whine to Mr. DeWinter and wonder aloud whether the neighbors stole my catalog. And then, this evening, miraculously, it was sitting on my dining room table when I arrived home from work! I'm not ashamed to admit that I hugged it to my chest and danced a jig around the living room.

In fact, I haven't even had time to peruse it yet, because as soon as Mr. DeWinter saw my excitement, he grabbed it out of my hands and became mesmerized by chocolate habanero peppers, purple Russian tomatoes, and Georgia rattlesnake melons. The space on our balcony is limited, so we're going to have to choose wisely what to plant this spring. I can't wait!

I recognize that my interest in local foods is growing into an obsession...and I fear that I'm destined to become one of those annoying, holier than though people who preach about locavorism to those who have no interest in listening...someone a little like Barbara Kingsolver! On the other hand, I haven't touched a drop of soda in over three weeks, and Mr. DeW hasn't been to McDonald's in at least two...for us, that's a pretty good track record. Who are these fruit and veggie eating, wanna-be gardeners? While we won't be dressing in homespun or raising chickens anytime soon, our relationship with food is definitely evolving for the better.

Cutting for Stone be damned...I'm off to read my seed catalog and dream of spring!

Snow Days to Curl Up and Read

Hi ladies-

Hope you are all doing well and staying warm!

I just finished Room, and I really enjoyed reading it. I have to admit, it was going a bit slowly at first, and I was having trouble getting into the novel. However, I ended up with a snow day, and my cable and internet went out. Without any distractions, I settled in with the book, and once I got to page 50, I couldn't put it down.

I am hesitant to start the conversation as I don't want to give anything away if you are still reading, but I wanted to encourage everyone to stick with it.

I am looking forward to discussing the novel with all of you!

-Tracy

Lazy Saturday

Even Lily is excited for some reading this afternoon :o)

- Catherine Earnshaw