• A meme is kind of a lame way to post when I've been absent for so long and I have so many posts in my head (they do me oh so much good there), but since my 5 readers are all book people, I figured, "why not?"
  
  So....Stolen from  waterowl who got it from badgerbag
  I just can't resist. Now I have a new reading list!
  
  These are the top 106 books most often marked as "unread" by LibraryThing's users (as of today). As usual, bold what you have read, italicise what you started but couldn't finish, and strike through what you couldn't stand. Added by oursin: and underline those you have no intention of reading. The numbers after each one are the number of LT users who used the tag of that book (that is, last time that the algorithm was done).
  
  Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell (149)
  Anna Karenina (132)
  Crime and punishment (121)
  Catch-22 (117)
  One hundred years of solitude (115)
  Wuthering Heights (110)
  The Silmarillion (104)
  Life of Pi : a novel (94)
  The name of the rose (91)
  Don Quixote (91)
  Moby Dick (86)
  Ulysses (84)
  Madame Bovary (83)
  The Odyssey (83)
  Pride and prejudice (83)
  Jane Eyre (80)
  A tale of two cities (80)
  The brothers Karamazov (80)
  Guns, Germs, and Steel: the fates of human societies (79)
  War and peace (78) (
  Vanity fair (74)
  The time traveler's wife
  The Iliad (73)
  Emma (73)
  The Blind Assassin (73)
  The kite runner (71)
  Mrs. Dalloway (70)
  Great expectations (70)
  American gods (68)
  A heartbreaking work of staggering genius (67)
  Atlas shrugged (67)
  Reading Lolita in Tehran : a memoir in books (66)
  Memoirs of a Geisha (66)
  Middlesex (66)
  Quicksilver (66)
  Wicked : the life and times of the wicked witch of the West (65)
  The Canterbury tales (64)
  The historian : a novel (63)
  A portrait of the artist as a young man (63)
  Love in the time of cholera (62)
  Brave new world (61)
  The Fountainhead (61)
  Foucault's pendulum (61)
  Middlemarch (61) 
  Frankenstein (59)
  The Count of Monte Cristo (59) 
  Dracula (59)
  A clockwork orange (59) (Nppe. But my husband, for whom English is a third language, swears this is the book that helped him master English!)
  Anansi boys (58)
  The once and future king (57) (Nope though I remember the movie.)
  The grapes of wrath (57) (Maybe? Or am I remembering the movie?)
  The Poisonwood Bible : a novel (57)
  1984 (57)
  Angels & demons (56)
  The inferno (56)
  The satanic verses (55)
  Sense and sensibility (55)
  The picture of Dorian Gray (55)
  Mansfield Park (55)
  One flew over the cuckoo's nest (54)
  To the lighthouse (54)
  Tess of the D'Urbervilles (54)
  Oliver Twist (54)
  Gulliver's travels (53)
  Les misérables (53)
  The corrections (53)
  The amazing adventures of Kavalier and Clay (52)
  The curious incident of the dog in the night-time (52)
  Dune (51)
  The prince (51)
  The sound and the fury (51)
  Angela's ashes : a memoir (51)
  The god of small things (51)
  A people's history of the United States : 1492-present (51)
  Cryptonomicon (50)
  Neverwhere (50) (also the graphic novel)
  A confederacy of dunces (50)
  A short history of nearly everything (50)
  Dubliners (50)
  The unbearable lightness of being (49)
  Beloved (49)
  Slaughterhouse-five (49)
  The scarlet letter (48)
  Eats, Shoots & Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation (48) (Full disclosure time--I've read the picture book version. It rocks.)
  The mists of Avalon (47)
  Oryx and Crake : a novel (47)
  Collapse : how societies choose to fail or succeed (47)
  Cloud atlas (47)
  The confusion (46)
  Lolita (46)
  Persuasion (46)
  Northanger abbey (46)
  The catcher in the rye (46)
  On the road (46)
  The hunchback of Notre Dame (45)
  Freakonomics : a rogue economist explores the hidden side of everything (45)
  Zen and the art of motorcycle maintenance : an inquiry into values (45)
  The Aeneid (45)
  Watership Down (44)
  Gravity's rainbow (44)
  The Hobbit (44)
  In cold blood : a true account of a multiple murder and its consequences (44) (LOVED the movie.)
  White teeth (44)
  Treasure Island (44) How on earth could anyone not read this!
  David Copperfield (44)
  The three musketeers (44)

After more than 20 weeks of not updating this blog, I'm back. Yikes.  Is anyone still out there?

Anyway, as I do quarterly, I'm posting a link to my kidslitosphere column which is published in The Prairie Wind, the online newsletter of our Illinois chapter of SCBWI.  This time around I did virtual interviews with many of our members who blog and then posted a round robin of the interview. Sadly, some of our chapter's more "famous" bloggers (Silly Chick, Esme, etc.) were not able to participate. But, you will see answers from LJ  friends Bev, Anna, and Cynthea.

If you're inspired by their answers (and you will be, I promise), you might want to answer the meme yourself.  Why don't you peruse the questions, post to your own blog, and then link somewhere fun?  Here are the questions:

1. Are you a writer? An illustrator?  Both? Neither? I write picture books and poems in my computer.  They stay there or my writing group hears them. I love my writing group. I wish I could play with them more often.
2. How long have you been blogging?  What/who inspired you to begin blogging? My 70-something mother said, “You ought to have a blog.”  I said, “Mom, do you know what a blog is?”  She replied, “No. Not really. But you need one.”  Thus was born charlottesjourneyhome.blogspot.com. With a nod to Mr. Willems, as the Pigeon says, “True story.” Only my story is true!
3. Where do you blog?  What noise is in the background? Be honest! I’m sitting on my red couch, listening to All My Children and my cats snoring.  On my LiveJournal blog I always note my location and ambient sounds!
4. What is the primary reason you blog?  To market your books? To write about your writing process? Do you write about children’s literature in general (book reviews, reading, and the like) or maybe not about books at all? OK, I don’t blog about kids lit.  Not on my own blog anyway.  I blog about my daughter and her medical journey.  I blog to share her story with friends and family, to post pictures because I’m too scattered to print and mail them, and, hopefully, to reach and help other families with similar medical needs. And, I dig the fame and fortune!
5. What has been the unexpected delight of blogging? Finding out that my husband’s colleagues read the blog. Getting comments from parents in Florida whose daughter also a congenital heart defect.
6. What has been the hardest part of blogging? This spring it has been finding the time between my teaching gig, my daughter, and my freelance writing.
7. Describe your day, in detail, from the time you wake up until the time you go to bed. Read the blog!
8. Have you ever been a guest blogger or done a virtual book tour? Tell us about that experience.
9. Of all the blogs you read, what is your favorite?  Why? Check out my first column!
10. Which KidsLit blogger would you like to meet in person? Why?  What would you ask them? Fuse#8 and Lisa Graff.  The first because she’s so darn smart.  Ms. Graff because I loved The Thing About Georgie. I’d ask, “How do you have the time to post so consistently and write such fun, engaging posts?  Seriously.  How do you do it?” I already know Anne Boles Levy, lucky me! And, though they don’t blog about KidsLit, I can’t help plugging Halushki, mommy blogger extraordinaire, and Profgrrrrl, tenure-tracking her way through academia.

I thought I'd let all three of my LJ readers know that I'm still here.  UIC is kicking my butt in terms of time fir blogging  Charlotte's Journey Home has been reduced to 2 updates a month, much to my brother's chagrin. And I've had to cut back my kids' book reviews to nil.  I've even been replaced on Book Buds by a  far more "famous" kidslitosphere blogger as a weekly reviewer. I hope Anne will take me back one day.

One bright note, my second column for Prairie Wind, the online newsletter of our local chapter of Society of Children's Book Writers & Illustrators, is up.  Check it out: http://www.intelligentlight.com/PrairieWind/?p=148

Also, check out www.charlottesjourneyhome.blogspot.com for the reasons I'll probably be absent for a few more weeks.

Ta Ta for now

Here I am again. Computer problems resolved, all data restored. Charged up to really use LJ this year. But, realistic enough to know that with my spring schedule it will be tough to post regularly.

So, my valiant beginning is a Friday Poem, found on the bulletin board at the yoga studio last week:

You have been saying that this is the 11thhour. 
Now tell the people that this is the hour.

There is a river flowing now very fast.
Know the river has its destination.  We must 
let go of the shore, push off into the middle 
of the river, keep our eyes open, our heads above water.

Gather yourselves!
Where are you living?
What are you doing?
Your relationships--are you in right 
Relation?
Where is your water?
Know your garden.
It is time to speak your truth.

Create your community.
Be good to each other.
Do not look outside yourself for the leader.
This could be a good time.

Banish the word struggle from your 
vocabulary.

All that we do now must be done in a 
sacred manner and in celebration.

We are the ones we've been looking for.

--Hopi Eder
Oraibi, Arizona

We are the ones we've been looking for.  Indeed.  A new thought for a new year.

Riddle: If you accidentally spill a glass of water on your laptop, what happens?
Answer: Well, it works for a little while, hooked up to a desktop.  The touchpad and keyboard die. And then, nothing.
(Okay, I know this is not funny)

Yep, this tired Mommy knocked over a glass of water.  Now my dear laptop is at the computer hospital where, hopefully, they will be able to retrieve my data tomorrow.  We saw all the files before the Vaio died for good, but there's no guarantee.

if you're reading this (and I don't know how many of you there are out there) and you have occasion to know my email address, please drop me an email with all of your pertinent information (email, phone, etc.).  I've lost everything.

Oh, and a PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT:
Back up your computer.  Do it now. Seriously.

The Pillowman
by Martin McDonagh
Steppenwolf

And

King Lear

By Shakespeare

The Goodman Theatre

We recently saw the opening plays in the new Steppenwolf Theatre and Goodman Theatre seasons. We were, once again, struck by how two different plays, performed at distinct theaters, spoke to each other so eloquently.  

The Pillowman by Martin McDonagh demonstrates that Steppenwolf is not afraid to tackle tough subject matter.  This play was disturbing and thought-provoking.  It touched on themes from creativity to child abuse to politics and interrogation methods.As Artistic Director Martha Lavey explains, the layering of dualities in the play provides depth and contrast, both in the text and the staging. In the process the play caused us to pause from our daily activities to consider how we react to and reflect upon the events of the world around us. McDonagh expertly takes things we hear about in the daily newspapers and weave them into a dark, terrible, twisted tale that can even make us laugh.

To celebrate his 20^th year at the Goodman, Bob Falls tackled King Lear; as he says in his program essay, a director doesn't choose King Lear, King Lear chooses him. King Lear  also disturbs and provokes.  Like The Pillowman, King Lear winds up with one sibling suffocating another. The path it takes to get there is quite different, touching on sibling rivalry, obsessive parental love, and civil war.

I had intended to write a lovely essay on each of these plays as I found them both profoundly meaningful in today's world.  I loved the art direction of each--The Pillowman's flashbacks and stories are performed on a old-fashioned, foot-lighted proscenium stage within the interrogation room. King Lear lives in a contemporary, hip-hop world with burnt-out cars in the battlefield.  Both plays don't shy away from violence (The Pillowman) and sex (King Lear).

The acting and direction were phenomenal. And, most importantly for this toddler-mom, both plays made me think really think.

Alas, two weeks has gone by.  So, all I can say is—if you missed these plays, you missed two truly special events. And, do keep a special eye on the Goodman this season.  Falls has an amazing line up to celebrate his helmsmanship of the theater.  Under his direction Goodman has gone from a fine local repertory theater to a nationally recognized theatrical powerhouse.  Truly a reason to rejoice. For more on The Pillowman, I recommend Martha Lavey’s insightful essay.

 Confessions of a Naughty Mommy by Heidi Raykeil (Seal Press, 2006)

Confessions of a Naughty Mommy hits home.  Heidi Raykeil, sex columnist for literarymama.com, shares a frank exploration of how and why her own marriage got difficult after her daughter was born.  For Raykeil and her husband, the arguments were mainly about sex; why they didn’t have more, why she wasn’t as into it as in the early, racy days of their relationship, and why pity sex just made her husband angry.  They struggled through and finally understand the new richness of their marriage and sex. The book is laugh-aloud funny and cry-in-public painful.  Raykeil’s experiences are universal.  Much of what she writes could come straight out of the journals of many new mothers I know.

Confessions rings true not just because Raykeil talks about how having a child can tank a couple’s sex life. Sex plays a big part, but sex after baby is immeasurably complicated by the subtle shifts in a relationship when we start to focus on our newest love’s needs. Raykeil airs two unspeakable truths of parenting: First, that adding that new, perfect little person to one’s otherwise stable, happy marriage can wreak havoc with a couple’s intimacy; and second, that becoming “Mommy” can shake a woman’s understanding of identity and her role in the world and in her marriage. 

Raykeil’s descriptions of her courtship and early marriage rival a bodice-ripper romance novel. Given the nearly heroic role sex played in this relationship prior to the birth of their child, it’s not hard to understand how sex became the focus of their arguments.  Her journey brings her to the realization that, ultimately, the lack of sex is the result of emotional and physical fatigue or intimacy burnout.  After long hours caring for a baby using both their minds and bodies, many new mothers just don’t have the energy to be intimate in any fashion with their husbands.  Husbands feel left out of the incredible bond that forms between the baby and mommy.  They watch their two most precious loves and overflow with emotion.  But, their physical and verbal expressions of that emotion are frequently met by the dazed, frazzled look of a mommy at the end of her tether.

Raykeil is finally able to summarize the root cause sometime after her daughter’s 18 month mark: “I feel like a neurotic, trapped housewife, a robot wife malfunctioning. But that’s the real problem here.  That’s not the way he sees me; it’s the way I do.  I’m off-kilter, pulled too far into self-centeredness by this mother-induced state of disequilibrium. I’m self-absorbed in a hysterical, insecure way, like a teenage girl lost in the drama of a prom-ending pimple.” (168). It is not surprising that it took her 18 months to arrive at this diagnosis.  In addition to being an incredibly difficult admission, it is a tough problem to solve.  As she later notes, “It’s easy to dive into domesticity when you feel like that’s all there is, when it becomes your whole life. It’s a lot harder when you realize there’s a whole world still out there, when you realize there are other choices you can make, and that maybe you’ve left something vital behind.” (187)

So, what about the sex?  Raykeil documents the details of her sex life, sharing both the naughty pre-baby role-playing and the exhausted post-baby arguments.  There’s enough here to determine that her pre-baby sex life was extraordinary. And enough to show that her post-baby sex life is just like everyone else’s.  We’re all too tired and yet we all want to give our husbands what they want and need; we all want to demonstrate that our love for our wonderful man has not waned.  Raykeil and her husband seem, early on, to scream at one another the things that many new parents might bite back.  They let it all hang out—clearly, their passion for one another never ebbs. In the end, the passion lead them back to one another, allows them to talk rather than scream, and leads them to communicate clearly.  Raykeil also finds a passion for herself outside of her husband and baby—she reengages with her “competitive self” and starts playing soccer and competing in triathlons. Raykeil’s libido picks up and she can tell her husband when to back off, without starting a fight. Not surprisingly, sex comes back into the picture.  It’s not the same wall-shaking, off-the-hiking trail pre-baby sex; but the level of intimacy involved makes it sweeter.

Raykeil speaks for so many new mothers as she realizes: “This is the thing: I do have something to lose now.  I have a lot to lose.  Yes, domestic life is horribly boring at times.  Yes, I’m married to an on-again, off-again mental zombie. Yes, mother-love can be as disorienting as vertigo.  But these things aren’t static.  They’re like my libido: they ebb and flow, they’re here, they’re there, they’re gone, then back again, better than ever, and then in a moment, gone again. It’s true that we’re no longer who we were before, but we also won’t be who we are now forever.”(216). She brings a new light to motherhood by saying publicly the things many of us fear discussing even with our closest friends.

This is a test drive of an essay I'm working on.  I envision this as radio commentary or a LiteraryMama.com style essay. I invite commentary and critique.

There are three things you need to know about me and food: 1) I love to cook; 2) I have maintained a relatively low-fat diet for about 8 years due to high cholesterol; 3) I prefer to serve natural, fresh foods as much as possible.  My husband might add a fourth thing—I love to eat.  He calls me his “food pouch” because I’m always hungry.

Knowing this, you'll not be surprised to learn that my first thoughts about feeding my baby were: "I will make a lot of my own baby food," "I will serve my baby fresh fruits and vegetables,"  "I will avoid processed food and chemical-laden foods," and, of course, “I will breast feed.” My husband and I love to try new foods. We simply assumed we’d continue to eat this way and that our child would learn to be a culinary adventurer.  

My good friend Mary gave me a book she had used called Mommy Made and Daddy, Too and I was so excited to use it. In fact, Mark and Mary's approach to feeding their children has been an inspiration--I don't see everything that they do, but I know their kids, ages 2 and 4, eat a broad range of things, enjoy spices, and have eaten the same food as Mom & Dad for as long as I can remember.  Watching Ruth chomp on sautéed onions when she was not quite 3 years old was an inspiration.

Not to sound trite, but things don’t always work out as planned.  Charlotte has reflux.  She was not offered a bottle until she was nearly 6 weeks old due to her heart surgery.  She never did get to breastfeed.

At first she ate well, but because she was a recovering surgical patient and preemie, she didn’t have enough energy to finish a meal.  We supplemented her oral feeds using an NG tube. She grew stronger but still didn’t always complete her meals. Eventually we had to place a g-tube so that we can complement her feeds directly into her stomach.  The g-tube exacerbated what was probably silent reflux.  Now, she’s got full-blown, vomit-once-a-day, I-like-to-eat-but-it-hurts reflux.

We’re working closely with the Feeding Team Clinic at the Children’s’ Hospital of Wisconsin to get Charlotte to eat. Given her minimal intake, they stress efficiency so any solids need to be supercharged calorically.  We feed her finger foods like fried veggie sticks, Goldfish crackers, Cheerios and chicken fingers. Instead of the homemade healthy fare I had imagined, the rule of thumb is, “If Charlotte wants to eat it, she can eat it.”

So, here's a picture of the groceries we bought for Charlotte. 
[Picture to come--it seems to have disappeared off of my hard drive:(  It's a picture of Easy Mac, Carnation Instant Breakfast, Jello pudding in 3 flavors, canned gravy, hotdogs, Cheez Wiz, beef and chicken bouillon cubes, etc.]

Yes, everything is processed, boxed, frozen, overpackaged and filled with chemicals and fat.

Why? 

Essentially, whenever I prepare something for Charlotte, say macaroni and cheese, I take a portion of it and blenderize it with a liquid using my Braun stick blender. Most foods are processed to a "honey" consistency. For instance, broccoli is mixed with cheese sauce. A taco would be mixed with full fat sour cream. Pudding is mixed with Carnation instant breakfast and whole milk. Oatmeal is mixed with whole milk, syrup and brown sugar.  The ratio of additive to food is huge—broccoli with butter and bouillon tastes like butter with a hint of broccoli.  Because she eats so little (maybe a teaspoon at a time), I buy small packages to reduce waste. Thus the Easy Mac.

Throughout all of this, Charlotte has proven that she is definitely not a picky eater.  She wants to taste everything I eat—Costco and Whole Food samples, turkey and mustard sandwiches, you name it.  She thinks it fun to put all foods on top of her head or in her ear. And she occasionally eats a tablespoon of blenderized food.  Feeding her is not the joy I had hoped it would be, but her eagerness and food play show me that one day it might be.

I still try to cook low-fat, fresh meals for my husband and myself.  We also eat a lot of ice cream and cookies—our coping tool.  

Parenting is a constant compromise, with one’s spouse, one’s child, and mostly with one’s self.  My compromise consists of lists of ingredients I can’t pronounce.  At least until I figure out how to make super-charged high-calorie baby foods in tiny portions from scratch.

People, strangers, are constantly stopping us to tell us that Charlotte is adorable, pretty, gorgeous.  Seriously.  I think so, so I'm always happy to hear the compliments.  Most of the time it's a stranger in our neighborhood, that is to say, someone who looks like a grandmother or a friend.  I could go on about my thoughts on whether she really is "the cutest baby ever," as a passerby declared her last Sunday, but I've got a different story to tell.

Today, Charlotte and I stopped at a Walgreen's near a friend's home. It's on the corner of Howard and Western, the border of Evanston and Chicago.  This Walgreen's serves an interesting cross-section of neighborhoods--Orthodox Jews, elderly, African American families.  

As I wheeled her through the store, I heard a man with a slightly impaired voice tell me that my daughter was beautiful.  I glanced up to thank him, catching a glimpse as he walked by.  I thought I saw an unkempt man, longish, dirty hair, worn clothes.  My gut instinct was to grasp the stroller handle more tightly.  I watch too much television, so my fleeting thoughts were about the crazy people in the world who prey on pretty babies.

Fast forward to the checkout line:  I hear a male voice again telling me how precious the baby is and asking her age.  Holding onto the stroller, I looked up. Charlotte's unkempt, slightly impaired admirer was...an Orthodox Jewish man dressed in a white shirt and black pants. What I had thought to be ragged clothing were his tzitzit or fringes.   What I had thought to be unkempt hair, his peyes or sidelocks.  He proceeded me to tell me his life story, why he didn't have children, about his stroke (thus the impaired voice) and his diabetes.  I told him about Charlotte's heart.  He wished Charotte shlema or complete healing. He nodded thoughtfully upon hearing that we, too, are Jewish.

In today's world, we jump to the place of fear, the place of pulling back from people. I immediately thought the worst--flashing to news stories about children disappearing in the blink of an eye. I grabbed the stroller.  I struck the defensive stance.  And all this kind, broken man wanted was to make a human connection.  To tell someone that he misses his wife (who died 12 years ago of cancer) and to have someone sympathize. Yeah, I still think this man (who was probably not much older than I am) was a bit odd.  But, I also  think he was harmless.

Certainly this experience caused me to rethink my beliefs, much as Bruce Norris's play did last week.  We live in a tough, dangerous, scary time.  We have only each other to rely on for tikkun olum, for healing the world.  How do we teach our  children to be safe, but not to fear every stranger they encounter?

On Sunday we went to see The Unmentionables written by Bruce Norris and directed by Anna D. Shapiro for Steppenwolf Theatre.  The theatre company bills it with this brief description:  "The team behind last summer's controversial and acclaimed The Pain and the Itch brings you a startling new comedy about Americans in Africa."

While this statement presents a truth about the playwright and this play, it cannot adequately express what it is to see a Bruce Norris play or, specifically, this Bruce Norris play.   Norris is unflinching in his social critique.  He thus obliges his audience not only to flinch, but to re-think their own judgments and, occasionally, value systems. 

The Unmentionables opens with an African man, carrying a Sony Discman and wearing Nike RockShox, chiding the audience to go home and watch television. He tells us the play will be “all this blah-blah-blah” and will end sadly.  He asks us if we think we’re better than anyone else because we’re here, in a theater, for entertainment, rather than at home watching television.  That’s a good question. Do we feel a moral superiority because we’ve chosen live theater (today) over television? Do we believe the world will perceive us as culturally sophisticated?  Do we subscribe to the Steppenwolf (and, yes, the Goodman) so that others might form an opinion about our socio-economic position? 

I can honestly say no, we don’t. My husband and I enjoy as much television as anyone else. We watch hours upon hours of SVU and made sure we had someone taping West Wing if  we were going to miss it.  I openly admit to a soap opera addiction. We do lament the lack of originality on television today. But, we go to theater because we enjoy original writing, masterly interpretations of classic writing, and the live experience. 

We love that Norris gives us controversial topics and provokes us to think about our values through his challenging topics. Norris himself makes a much harsher judgment about television through Jane Adams in The Unmentionables, a former television actress on a hit show, who quit her lucrative job because she was tired of making shit for shitheads to watch (loose quote).  We wouldn’t condemn all t.v. audiences as “shitheads,” if only because we don’t think of ourselves that way.  And so we laugh when Etienne lists the array of channels we could choose from if we left the theater, demanded our money back and went home.  Not because we think we’re better for staying, but because we know that television will still be there when we get home.

So, the play begins as the audience giggles and ponders the big television/theater question.  We are suddenly launched into the plantation home of a wealthy American industrialist, Don, surrounded by 12 foot fences in the middle of a poor African nation.  His guests are 2 missionaries whose home and school have been attacked by arsonists.  Dave is firm in his convictions.  Jane flinches from time to time. She wants to something meaningful with her life, but is not as driven by faith as Dave.  In the end, we learn that Dave’s strong attachment to his faith may be his way of dealing with his homosexuality.  Etienne, our erstwhile narrator, is there, too, being held as a possible suspect in the arson.  A European-educated African doctor attends Jane.  Aunt Mimi, a government functionary, appears as the representative of a corrupt, heavy-handed government.  Through a series of misunderstandings, Etienne is perceived by the rest as guilty of David’s disappearance.  They (the Americans, the doctor, and Aunt Mimi) take a vote—to be democratic—and decide they must torture him to find David.  When David turns up healthy and whole, everyone has to rethink their perceptions and though processes.  The democracy breaks down.  Etienne tells the audience, “you lurn you lessen? Timah to go home.”  Back to television.

This description oversimplifies a complex piece. Norris questions colonialism, despotism, torture, truth.  He dares question the do-gooders (the Christian missionaries), too. Don yells at the doctor for questioning Dave and Jane, “(He) sits in there making cracks at the expense of a guest in my home, a woman who’s made all sorts of sacrifices just so she could come to do these poor people here in your country a little bit of good.”  The doctor responds, “Why, could you find no poor people in your country?”  Indeed. 

I believe Norris has a hard time deciding what to think of Jane.  Her “sacrifice” entails giving up a job in a medium that he trashes throughout this play, through both Etienne and Jane. Yet, he names her after the formidable Jane Adams who founded Hull House in Chicago, fought for labor reform, and ministered to the poor.

Both Norris plays we've seen, The Unmentionables  and The Pain and the Itch put "unmentionable" topics on-stage--from incest to racism to colonialism to simple miscommunications causing complex results--dissecting them and reordering, at least for a moment, how his audience views the world.  Perhaps the most taboo topic of all is that each of his themes is so tightly woven into our middle-class, white, educated world view that we're accidentally complicit.  For instance, if a play rants against colonialism and racism to a white audience (seriously, I didn't see a single person of color milling during intermission), is its message heard?  If this audience chooses to see this play, which is preachy, is Norris preaching to the choir?

Martha Lavey, Artistic Director of Steppenwolf, has written, the common theme in Norris’s plays “is the dissonance between our avowed beliefs, our “principle,” and our actions.”  Yes, yes, and yes.  We go to theater so that we can think about our beliefs, fine tune them and, hopefully, put them more strongly into action.  And then, we come home to our television.

Hi.  I'm Ilene. I'm a book addict.  I love to read books, to own books, to keep books.  I love the smell of the bookstore.  I I love finding independent booksellers, especially those with great children's departments.  I hate getting rid of books unless I know that they are going to a good home. When I see a box of books near a dumpster, I cringe.

My husband shares and indulges this addiction. In fact, he'd like me to open a bookstore.  Perhaps I should start by selling all the books I already have!  My brother indulges me by raiding my Amazon.com wishlist each December and sending me a treasure trove of books for my birthday and Hanukah. My best friends indulge by sending Charlotte wonderful books.  And, most of my friends are book lovers, too.  We always have something to talk about!

My addiction is expensive, of course; takes up lots of space; and is a great dust collector.

Recently, I've been trying to counter the negative aspects of my addiction.  Charlotte and I frequent the library.  She practices pulling books off the shelf and turning pages.  I grab a stack of children's books to read at home.  If we hit a favorite, I note it to purchase later or mabye add it to her Amazon.com wishlist if it's something she'll enjoy for a while.  I also check out books for myself.

To learn more about children's books, enhance Charlotte's collection, perhaps find some great gift items, and contribute to our local school's library, I've begun reviewing books for ChildrensLit.com, a comprehensive online database of kids' books.   I'll also start reviewing YA novels for The Edge of the Forest shortly.
I hope, mostly, that  what I learn will enhance my writing and that I'll build some credentials for writing reviews for remuneration. (ChildrensLit.com pays me in books.  Woo hoo!!!!).  Plus, reviewing uses some of my academic training.  It's quite different to review a picture book than, say, an 800 page tome on multiculturalism, but I thinks the skills collide somehow.

Additionally, I've been trying very hard to purge my book collection. As a former academic, I have oodles of film studies books that I haven't looked at in 10 years.  Then there are the beach and airplaine novels that I should probably be embarassed to have bought (Mary Higgins Clark, Anne Rice, Patricial Cornwell).  High school reading. College text books.  You name it.  I've found some neat venues for my books:
---Barnes & Noble is strongly marketing its buyback program.  I've successfully sold several textbooks and a novel I just couldn't figure (I won't name it because it's by a famous author whose work I generally love, but this book made me physically ill.)  I'm not making huge bucks here, of course. But, I know that used book denizens will have the chance to buy my disgarded volumes.  I can also opt for store credit  which will come in handy at holiday time.
---Bookmooch.com is a neat site that acts as sort of a swap meet for book lovers.  Have a book you want to get rid of? List it and earn points.  If someone requests it, you pay shipping and send it off.  Earn more points.  Then, you can search for books you want and use your points to request it.
---My local public library finally has a Friends of the Library program and the friends are hosting a booksale soon. So, I've taken 2 boxes of books there, too.
I've also picked up a list of not-for-profit organizations that accept books.  I'm hoping to give mine to the organization that will pick them up :)

One of my purging inspirations?  Chicken Spaghetti, a wonderful children's literature blogger, recently dusted off her shelves and purged 200 books, to make way for new ones, of course.  

I haven't kept count, but I think I've purged about 30-35 books since the beginning of the month.  I've also read 3 books since then, a serious accomplishment for the mom of a toddler.

waterowl recently posted an interview meme.  I couldn't resist.  At least one of her quetions has provoked serious introspection:

1. How did Charlotte come to be? I don't mean intimate details ;) but in general

Charlotte's conception wasn't necessarily intimate.  I belong to the not-so-elite group of reproductively challenged. So, as we like to joke, there were 3 men in the room when Charlotte settled in--my husband, our reproductive endocronologist and the sonographer.  Here's the scenario:  Me on an exam table (you fill in your own details of my position and state of dress), DH at my left side, near my head, holding my hand, Dr. Kaplan on the pitcher's mound, as it were.  Robert, the sonograper called the shots. Literally.  Here's the conversation: "Okay, Kap, up a bit more, to the left, no back a bit, left.  Good.  Drop it there."  It was everything we could do not to crack up on the spot.

More seriously, the decision to go as far as IVF was a bit less funny.  We had always said that we'd not go to such extremes to get pregnant, that if it didn't happen "naturally," it wasn't meant to be, that we'd have a great life together regardless. We had even decided to renew our wedding vows in the event of no kids, to work with the Rabbi to rewrite them to focus on our partnership.  But, the more we tried, the deeper we got into the possibilities. The more love we new we had to give.  And so there were were, on 9/19/2004, with Robert calling the shots.  And it worked, first time out of the bullpen.  What a gift.

Hmmm.  was that too intimate?

2. Do you consider yourself a mommy blogger? Why or why not?

In general, I hate labels.  My original blog began as an email update on my pregnancy (once the heart condition was diagnosed) and Charlotte's progress.  My mom (!) suggested that I turn it into a blog.  I said, "Mom, do you know what a blog is?"  She said, "No, not really. But you should have one." And Charlotte's Journey Home was born.  Our hope now is that Charlotte's journey can help other parents of children with CHD and/or reflux. And, that perhaps I can figure out how to turn it into a book one day.

My LJ is an attempt to blog as me, as a writer, as a person trying to determine what to be in addition to a mother.  That my username is Charlottesmom definitely shows that identifying myself beyond motherhood is a challenge for me right now. I'm hoping to add a weekly book review (kids' books mainly) and my own poetry for Friday Poetry at least once a month.

Mommy bloggers are cool--I'd love to in league with the Literary Mama group and such.  But, I also don't want to limit myself to mommy blogging.

3. What did you do before you became Charlotte's mom?
I had a not-so-fulfilling career in Marketing for a major credit card.  I left that job in May, 2004 and spent the year before Charlotte was born working on my writing and discovering that I love being a housewife.  Seriously.
Prior to my 8 or so year stint in marketing, I was in academics.  I have a doctorate in Film Studies, specializing in Latin American cinema.  I was fairly well-published and presented at several conferences a year.I taught in and around the Chicago area, but was never able to land a tenure-track job.  I left academics mainly because adjunct teaching doesn't pay the rent.

4. Where did you grow up?
Livingston, NJ

5. What's your favourite thing about Chicago?
The distance from NJ.  Just kidding.  I love that Chicago has everthing a big city can offer--great restaurants, superb theater, museums, parks--but has the soul of a village. I live in the city proper. You can walk to Wrigley Field easily from our house. But, you can barely hear the train, we have a backyard, and we know all of our neighbors.  I've made my new mommy friends just by striking up a conversation at Starbucks, the park or Gymboree. 

A friend  once deemed Chicago the "land of the urban cowboy."  I agree.

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So, dear reader(s), if you want to play the Interview Meme, here's how it works:

1. Leave me a comment saying, "Interview me."

2. I will respond by asking you five questions. I get to pick the questions.

3. You will update your journal with the answers to the questions.

4. You will include this explanation and an offer to interview someone else in the same post.

5. When others comment asking to be interviewed, you will ask them five questions.