Aldo Leopold on divine power

Posted on April 29, 2012 by pagesofjulia

The Lord giveth, and the Lord taketh away, but He is no longer the only one to do so. When some remote ancestor of ours invented the shovel, he became a giver: he could plant a tree. And when the axe was invented, he became a taker: he could chop it down. Whoever owns land has thus assumed, whether he knows it or not, the divine functions of creating and destroying plants.

Other ancestors, less remote, have since invented other tools, but each of these, upon close scrutiny, proves to be either an elaboration of, or an accessory to, the original pair of basic implements. We classify ourselves into vocations, each of which either wields some particular tool, or sells it, or repairs it, or sharpens it, or dispenses advice on how to do so; by such division of labors we avoid responsibility for the misuse of any tool save our own. But there is one vocation – philosophy – which knows that all men, by what they think about and wish for, in effect wield all tools. It knows that men thus determine, by their manner of thinking and wishing, whether it is worth while to wield any.

–from “Axe-in-Hand”, A Sand County Almanac

I like this understanding of our power. We humans have armed ourselves with such tools of creation and destruction that we wield an almost divine power; and with this power has come the responsibility to use it wisely. This may be where we are in danger of going fatally awry. I also like the definition of philosophy. And finally, isn’t this a lovely sample of his thoughtful writing? I highly recommend A Sand County Almanac.

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reporting on World Book Night

Posted on April 25, 2012 by pagesofjulia

Hey hey! How was everybody’s World Book Night? On Monday night, I headed straight from work (after changing into my blue jeans!) to my favorite local pub, Liberty Station. Husband met me there, and I guess I gave away four books in about the first two and a half minutes! Wait, I’ll back up.

As I explained repeatedly that night, World Book Night enables regular people like myself to give away books they believe in, thanks to the cooperation of authors, publishers, bookstores, libraries, and impassioned bookies of all sorts. The book that I was able to give away was the amazing The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, by Rebecca Skloot. Here is my review (from my early blogging days, as you may note). WBN gave me 20 copies of their special edition to give away, which I picked up at a local Barnes & Noble on Friday after work.

I got to the bar and unpacked my books on a table and got myself a pint, and it was that easy: people approached me while I was still unpacking. “What are you doing?” “What is this?” “Is that your book?” Ha! I got that last one a few times, which was fun. No, I’m not here pushing MY book, although that’s a fun thought. I actually had several people who were in from the get-go, ready to take my word for it, but more frequently they wanted to hear about the book. Luckily I have plenty of nice things to say in description of HeLa; it was an easy sell, especially for two bar patrons who are studying medicine but “never have time to read.” And you know I got the bartender hooked up, and the owner/manager, a friend of ours. Hi Charles!

One guy needed a harder sell: he was concerned that I was selling him a cult religion, or a self-help method, or a pyramid scheme, or that *this* book was free but in a month I’d want $50 for my kid’s school project… In other words, he needed to hear more about what WBN was all about. Luckily, the special WBN edition has that information in the front & back cover, and he was enthused once he understood.

I am kicking myself for not taking pictures! I talked with a bunch of people, almost every one of whom took a book with many thanks; one guy tried to tip me (I declined). I’m just sorry I didn’t save a copy for the guys in the Coreano’s food truck (I had a yummy burrito, thanks! that “el scorcho” sauce is no joke). I took a very casual 45 minutes or so to give away 20 books, while drinking beer (Lost Gold IPA from Real Ale, then Karbach’s Hopadillo IPA, then Karbach’s Weisse Versa – figured you might want to know) and eating my food-truck dinner. What more could a girl ask? Oh, I know, pictures. 😦

Special thanks to our friends at Karbach Brewing for the beers – y’all are doing a great job! Keep it up!

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back from Ireland

Posted on April 10, 2012 by pagesofjulia

Hello friends & readers! Thanks for sticking with me and thanks for the comments and “likes” while I was away. I’m back now but it will take me a little while to get back on track. The library at work is a mess and needs some TLC; my car has been in the shop and thank goodness should be able to provide me with transportation again soon; and I am trying to get back on the bike! I did read several books while I was gone – fewer than anticipated, which tells you how active and FUN our trip was. Reviews of The Monkey Wrench Gang by Edward Abbey, Jeeves in the Morning by P.G. Wodehouse, and Darkness All Around by Doug Magee will be up in the next few days. Not a dud amongst them, I’m happy to say.

And what of our travels, you ask? That may be the slowest answer of them all to hit this blog. I took very few pictures but Husband was on fire, taking over 500 pictures – which means there are plenty to show you but it will take time to get through them all. Be patient with me, I beg you.

In a nutshell, I will tell you that Husband and I successfully met up with buddy Barrett (no small feat) in Dublin after spending a night in Cork; we visited Athlone and the supposed oldest bar in Ireland, Sean’s; spent two nights on Inis Mor which was probably our favorite part; made an impromptu overnight stop in Westport for some traditional music; visited Coleraine and Belfast in North Ireland, and then hit Dublin for a final whirlwind weekend. Highlights included visiting castle & monastery ruins (Dunluce was my favorite), the pubs of course, hiking and cycling on Inis Mor, a political-murals tour of Belfast, and the sincere friendliness and welcome of the locals. It was a blast. I fully intend to give you a fuller version later complete with pictures, but this will have to do for now.

I couldn’t decide if I should close by giving you an Irish rainbow or a beer shot, so here’s both:

rainbow on the drive from Galway to Westport (click to enlarge, you will see it, I promise)


beer on the patio of our Inis Mor B&B

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Sunday Off

Posted on April 8, 2012 by pagesofjulia

Just a reminder that today is a post-less day here at pagesofjulia as I’m off seeing Ireland. Posting resumes tomorrow. Thanks for stopping by!

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Sunday Off

Posted on April 1, 2012 by pagesofjulia

Just a reminder that today is a post-less day here at pagesofjulia as I’m off seeing Ireland. Posting resumes tomorrow. Thanks for stopping by!

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I am leaving you. Just temporarily, though.

Posted on March 29, 2012 by pagesofjulia

Just a note to say I’ll be gone for a bit! Husband and I leave tonight for Ireland! How exciting is that? Neither of us has ever been before; I’ve seen a little bit of England. We’ll be meeting one of my best friends, Barrett, in Dublin, and he’s done this several times, so hopefully we’re in good hands. Our plan is to head west from Dublin across the country to the west coast and then north, to see Belfast (for the 100th anniversary of the Titanic leaving from there! there is a festival). Top aspirations include finding great pubs & great beer; seeing some history (old pubs, old buildings, Newgrange); beautiful natural scenery; and soaking up some culture (traditional live music, please). Really I don’t know what all we’re doing; Barrett has done pretty much all the planning that’s been done and we’ll be doing a fair amount of playing it by ear (Husband’s preferred style). I’m ready for adventure!

So what am I reading? I have had a certain amount of angst about this. At this point I’m pretty sure I’ll be taking Doug Peacock’s Walk It Off, a memoir of his relationship with Edward Abbey, and Doug Magee’s Darkness All Around, a thriller kindly sent me by the author. Will definitely take Abbey’s The Monkey Wrench Gang, which (gasp) I have not read yet. And naturally those Ireland travel guides that I haven’t cracked yet :-/ but will at least skim if not study on the plane. That would be 50 Best Pubs Crawls in England, Scotland, Wales & Ireland, lent by my parents, and Lonely Planet’s Ireland 2012, lent by my library. I’m not sure if that’s going to do it, though, and I don’t want to take Houston Public Library’s copy of Aldo Leopold’s Sand Country Almanac because I don’t want anything to happen to it, plus it’s coffee-table size, awkward for travel. Hrm. I may have to grab things off my plentiful TBR shelves on the way out the door. The iPod can come with its audiobooks too of course. But I’d prefer to keep my ears open on this trip with friends. Oh, and Husband is bringing Fire Season.

And what does this mean for the world of pagesofjulia? Never fear: I have posts scheduled to come up almost daily, like normal, while I’m gone. (I’m taking the two Sundays off to get through the break.) But just be aware that I won’t be responding to your comments for a bit; I will be catching up April 9 and 10 when I’m home. Please come visit me here and comment! But be patient with me in getting back to you. I’ll be offline.

Finally, burglars, beware! We do have a housesitter. 🙂

Have a great week-plus and now we return to our regularly scheduled programming.

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“Grandpa’s Lesson”

Posted on March 15, 2012 by pagesofjulia

Ray March, author of River in Ruin (which will be published April 1, and which I read and enjoyed; my review will be published in Shelf Awareness) has graciously given his permission for me to share this poem with you here, from his blog. Thanks, Ray.

Grandpa’s Lesson

By Ray A. March

My grandfather on my mother’s side was a quiet man.
That’s what I say from what I can remember.
He was a house painter, but mostly he was a fisherman.
My uncle said grandpa was a mediocre talker.
He was and he wasn’t. It all depended on who he
was around. Maybe that went with being a fisherman.
Not talking too much. And my uncle took from an old
wooden box a paper-thin leather wallet.
“This was your grandpa’s,” he said handing it to me.
Inside the wallet’s cloudy plastic window I could see
my grandpa’s last fishing license. There it was, January 7, 1945,
number 29554. Three dollars.
I don’t know why it took my grandpa so long
to get his fishing license that year because 1945 began on a Monday,
but grandpa waited until the following Sunday to pay his three dollars.
He probably figured there wouldn’t be anybody on the river on a Sunday,
as if that was the only day he had to fish, which it wasn’t.
“My dad,” my uncle would say, “he’d quit in the middle of
the day to go fishing.”
The last time I remember fishing with my grandpa I was eleven
and I couldn’t catch a fish no matter what I did.
So, I watched my grandpa as he played out his fly line.
I knew when he had a bite. I knew when he lost one.
All the while not saying a word.
I could see him silently playing the line out when he had a big one on.
And I would watch the tip of my pole with great concentration,
sometimes imagining it was nodding up and down ever so slightly.
I concentrated so hard, I tried not to think. Of anything.
So, as my grandpa wordlessly reeled in fish after fish
I finally gave up and took off my shoes, rolled up my pants and
prepared to go wading.
“I’m quitting, grandpa, I can’t catch anything.”
He looked over at me and smiled.
“But tell me, grandpa, how do you catch a fish?”
He smiled again and said,
“You got to talk to them.”

“Grandpa’s Lesson” first appeared in Gray’s Sporting Journal, May – June, 2007

I share this for Husband, and all the others who are best able to appreciate literature where it intersects with fishing. (Natalie, I think you have one of them, too?) Although I think the lessons learned here go well beyond fishing. What do you think?

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World Book Night: who else is in?

Posted on February 4, 2012 by pagesofjulia

I got my email today! I’m going to be a book giver on World Book Night, which is April 23, 2012. I am hoping that I will get to give away my first-choice book, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks. I feel that this is such an important, impressive book, in its subject matter (both medical and social justice), and in its highly engaging and readable narrative treatment (so friendly to nonfiction readers).

I put in my application that I wanted to give books away at Memorial Park, because it’s a space I love and sees high pedestrian traffic. But I’ve been reconsidering. It has occurred to me that the traffic there tends to be pretty affluent, and I’d rather give these books to people less likely to go buy one at the store. I may still be thinking about where to give my books away. I want to pick just the right place.

Did you sign up for World Book Night to be a giver? Did you get your email today? Which book did you choose and where will you be handing them out? Tell me!

And if you haven’t signed up yet – they’ve extended the deadline to do so! You still have until Monday, Feb. 6 (that is THIS Monday) to go here and sign up to give away 20 copies of the book of your choice (well, off their list – and don’t try for Hunger Games, it’s all full up). This is a great event, in my opinion, because it’s all about providing folks with reading material for free – with the idea that the book you put in their hands may change lives. Reading can be such an escape, an educational tool, such fun and comfort and solace, that I want others to be able to join in. Here’s a great way to help them do so.

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PSA: World Book Night

Posted on January 13, 2012 by pagesofjulia

Just a quick note, folks: it’s time to sign up to be a book giver on World Book Night! The deal is this. On April 23, 2012 (or thereabouts, I believe they’ll let you fudge the date), which is a Monday, people all over the world will be giving away books for *free* off a list of selected titles. You can sign up here to be one of the givers in a public location of your choice (if you get selected). I have requested to give away (in this order) copies of either The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, Ender’s Game, or I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. I actually submitted a number of titles back in the book-choosing phase, and only Henrietta Lacks was chosen from among my picks, but ah well. If you’re so inclined, go sign up to give away free books – how cool! And regardless, keep your eyes open on April 23; I will be interested to see where the books turn up in my hometown of Houston. And I’d love to hear about where they turn up in YOUR town!

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The Absolute #1 Best Book of 2011

Posted on January 2, 2012 by pagesofjulia

Ahem. Did I not make a point of choosing an overall favorite when I did that year-end post the other day? Shame on me. Sorry. I shall keep this brief. I just want to say that the best book I read in 2011 was…

Fire Season by Philip Connors.

If you’re interested, you can read my review; read my father’s review; or read about how Fire Season inspired my father and eventually me into some further reading.

It doesn’t hurt, of course, that this talented author whose book touched my life so much back in May, ended up contacting me and has been a pleasant correspondent ever since! But no, it’s not a popularity contest; Fire Season wins for what’s in between its pages, alone. Thanks Phil for writing, though. 🙂

Honorable mention goes to Dorothy Canfield’s The Home-Maker.

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