Matthew

The Moviegoer by Walker Percy

Reading your reviews inspired me to start reading the Chronicles of Barsetshire -- enjoying The Warden very much. Thanks for the push to read something I always meant to.

The Warden by Anthony Trollope. A very enjoyable read.

The Mary Tyler Moore Show: Season 1. Season one has some outstanding episodes, but overall, a bit dated.

It is an interesting anthology. It's great to especially hear the voices from the past preaching to the congregation! The book also contains sermons from non-Christians, so it is a good overview of the topic.

Preaching With Sacred Fire: An Anthology Of African American Sermons, 1750 To The Present.

Shows you where my head is at: I thought this was about the ex-singer of Marillion. Abe was a great actor though, RIP

Connie Mack and the Early Years of Baseball by Norman L. Macht. Volume One of a three volume, 1,800+ page biography of Connie Mack, the old owner / manager of the Philadelphia Athletics. If you're a baseball fan, it is very interesting to read about the early days of MLB, and the characters that crossed his path. Looking forward to the other two volumes.

**** Spoiled Californian Alert **** 43 here (that's 6c) and to me, it's freezing!

Kind of a different mystery is involved "who sold a person out", but I'd recommend The Untouchable by John Banville. I think it's a great novel.

Lost Horizon by James Hilton

Concerning The Spiritual In Art by Wassily Kandinsky.

robert lax poems (1962-1997). This is a great volume from the very underrated poet Robert Lax. It's forcing me to re-examine how I read poetry.

How do you like it? I've heard very good things about the book, and I'm being very tempted...

Jack Kerouac: Road Novels -- 1957-1960. Starting to reread Kerouac, which I haven't done in quite awhile. This time around, I'm not getting the craziness, but a melancholy feeling of missed chances in life.

Another hot day, 86 (30c for the rest of the world). Am I the only California sick and tired of all this "good weather?" Seriously, I'm desperate to see rain at this point.

I have "no dog in this fight" as they say, but these replays are getting out of hand -- that should have been a stolen base, but now, normal baseball plays are being overturned. I know this is "get off my lawn" talk, but replay is starting to take away from the game on the field for me.

A Boy's Will by Robert Frost. Frost's first book of poems.

I read a Lowell biography about 10 years ago, but don't recall if this was the one. Fascinating - and disturbing - life. Loved the bit where he, briefly imprisoned as a conscientious objector, rubbed shoulders with the boss of Murder Inc, leading to a conversation something like this: "What are you in for?" "Killing people. What are you in for?" "Not killing people." Love his poetry and Life Studies sits on my bookshelf. He did live an interesting life. In America, once Lowell and Allen Ginsberg died, sad to say, the "public poet" disappeared from the US scene (one could also make a case for Maya Angelou), much to our loss. With the passage of time, Lowell is becoming the 20th. Century American poet, the quality of his body of work is hard to beat, though Theodore Roethke has to be up there also.

Robert Lowell: A Biography by Ian Hamilton.

The story of the Dulles brothers, the Congo, and Patrice Lumumba is about as low as you can get...

I just learned yesterday that the last comma used in a list is called an Oxford Comma (eg. Matthew, Mark, and Thomas. The comma after Mark is the Oxford comma). Also, it's more common in the USA than in other english speaking countries. I was always taught that that last comma was essential to good writing. I'm geeky enough to find that fascinating. The Oxford Comma

The Brothers: John Foster Dulles, Allen Dulles, and Their Secret World War by Stephen Kinzer. Interesting read, and a despicable history of crimes committed in the name of freedom.

Yeah, Siemanes are good, that's what I use also, though, when I want to listen to music, I do take them out -- music doesn't "sound" right with hearing aids.

What's a Trot?