#15 Read 16 works of non-fiction

For a person who studied contemporary American women's fiction, I know a lot about the Victorian period, especially the New Poor Laws--that's what the dude wrote his dissertation on, and good spouses make good editors. Or something like that. Actually, we would offer polite criticism like "these two sentences should be two paragraphs." And the critiqued would yell, "It's perfectly fine the way it is; you don't know anything." Following a generous period of sulking, the critiqued would take the editor's advice. It was like clockwork. But I digress. I just meant to say, I know a little about the historical and cultural period in which our tale is set.

This book offers a fairly interesting sketch of a subject that is near and dear to my heart, the functioning of medical colleges. I know that the orphaned dead would end up in the medical schools of Philadelphia (from Skeleton Stories); I'd really love to do more research on how the place where I work dealt with the procurement of subjects.

Ultimately, I thought this book lacked organization. Sometimes it felt like the author had no clear direction. Lots of backtracking. Lots of interruptions for whole chapters that were meant to provide context, but it wasn't woven together terribly well...or maybe non-fiction isn't meant to be read in half hour spurts on the bus.

It was fine but I never felt like I opened up the book to find out what happened next...and it was a tale of a lurid court case. I really should have wanted to find out, but the court sections were dense and had the Newgate stink about them.

Non-fiction: 2

#5 Visit Elfreth's Alley

The dude and I actually went into the city on a weekend! You'd think we lived 100 miles away instead of 9. But the traffic coming home did convince us that the surface streets--or even public transportation--was a much better way to go.

I forgot my camera, but I do have crappy camera phone evidence:

So, what's the deal with Elfreth's Alley? This National Historic Landmark is the oldest continuously inhabited street in the United States. The houses are, mostly, privately owned (one's a museum and another is a gift shop). Many of people who live there kindly open their homes twice a year, once in the summer and once around Christmas.

I thought it would be cool to see it, and I thought it would be neat to show the (English) dude that we have old stuff too. Of course, when we got to the first house, he says, "I grew up in a house older than this." Which of course could have been brought to my attention when they were still living in the house! Apparently, the kitchen cupboards were even original. I never went into the kitchen in that house. His "divorcing" parents sold it, so I will never get to really poke around in his old house.

But I did get to see some original cabinetry in these old houses. One of the most interesting things about the Alley is that it was originally inhabited by tradespeople, so it is an example of a working class neighborhood. In the late 19th/early 20th century the homes were occupied by immigrants. Now, of course, it's pretty upscale.

#2 Get a Library Card

Today was such a lovely day. If I could walk, I would have insisted on going on a hike. Instead, we went for a drive, and while we were out, we went looking for the library. And found it. We got our library cards and took out some books. In fact, I'm two pages from completing my first book, Bill Bryson's I'm a Stranger Here Myself. I've been laughing like a deranged idiot. There was one article that nearly provoked an asthma attack; as I neared the end of the book, I tried to find that earlier article and couldn't. I couldn't even remember what it was about. So I guess the joys of the book are fleeting. But there's nothing like getting a good laugh every now and then. I have The Lost Continent and In A Sunburned Country, so I look forward to more Albuterol highs in the coming days.

#14 Read 16 Works of Fiction

1. How to Be Good by Nick Hornby. I don't think this book is quite as bad as people on Amazon are making out to be. It's probably not Hornby's best, but I really liked the idea of it. I kept thinking of that Chris Rock bit where he says you haven't been in love if you haven't planned your spouse's death...if you haven't brought the rat poison...if you haven't bought the rug to roll up the dead body in. I think if you don't like that joke, you won't get this book. I think so many people have thought about their spouse changing--not in truly substantial ways, but what would happen if, say, your husband started cleaning? It sounds good but we haven't thought it through to it's logical conclusion. I do believe this book reaches the logical conclusion, even if there's not that much logic sometimes. Anyway, it made me want to read more Hornby.

2. Motor Mouth by Janet Evanovich I read this in one go to take my mind off the pain (I just had bunion surgery). It's funny, but I just had the feeling that I was missing too much because I hadn't read the first book. I think there might be more of a character sketch in that book. As a series lover, I enjoy not having to read those few paragraphs where the characters are set up so that people who don't read the series can catch on. Selfish. Evanovich is a funny one so it wasn't just the percoset that made me laugh out loud while I read this one. It was a light bit of fluff, and I do think I meant books not like this when I set out to read 16 works of fiction.

#15 Read 16 Works of Non-fiction

This past week as I traveled to Nashville and back, I read Joan Didion's Where I was From. I enjoyed it. It was an interesting mix of history, memoir, genealogy, and sociopolitical analysis. I think it went a long way in explaining California (I lived there for 15 years). Her analysis of the Spur Posse, which was one of the notorious incidents I lived on tv, was the best and most sophisticated that I have read.

What does that mean, lived on tv? It's something more immediate than seeing it on tv. I saw the planes fly into the World Trade Center on tv, but in speaking to friends in New York and Washington, I just didn't experience the event in the same way. I would say there is a sense of the local that is missing, of not quite understanding the social context. I also lived the '92 riots, the '94 earthquake, and the '95 slow speed chase. It's not that I don't think outsiders can't understand it, there's just something missing in the analysis. Anyway, Didion got it right. And it was particularly fascinating to find out what happened to some of those boys. It would be even more interesting to me to find out what happened to the girls, but they've never been the center of that story...

#1 Go to One Cultural Event Per Month for Three Months

Last night, we went to see Itzhak Perlman at the Mann Center for the Performing Arts. We had lawn tickets, which is my first experience with that--despite the fact that I always got my tickets to the Hollywood Bowl free. We ended up surrounded by two Hispanic families (kids about 8-14), an old couple, and a group of multicultural urban sophisticates. Who was the worst behaved? Yup, the urban sophisticates, one of whom thought hitting her boyfriend with a piece of cardboard while Itzhak Perlman played was a good idea. People! I tell you. They did manage to shut up proving music hath charms to soothe the savage breast beast. Here's a tip for them though. When they say it begins at 8:00, they mean it. So, if you're going to sort out your picnic and gabble, arrive before 7:55. The old people came in second, because that's just how old people are. They know that they could die at any moment so it is terrifically important to talk when they get an idea in their head. They had the sense to whisper at least. Of course, the old guy got up in the middle of the last piece to go to the bathroom and then provided minutes of entertainment as he wandered around looking for his seat in the dark. And his date helped, by squirming about, trying to think of a way to attract his attention without shouting, "hey, over here." Which was really quite kind of her.

I don't think I can do the performances justice because I am pretty lame in the music department. My parents weren't really into music, and for some reason I didn't take the easy-A music appreciation class in college. The dude, who has heard quite a bit in his day, and even plays the clarinet, did exclaim, "That bloke can fiddle!"

But he also thought the Italian tuna sandwich I brought for dinner from Carmen was the "finest tuna hoagie in Philadelphia, and thus, the world!" He was exclaiming a bit last night. But I do think he was right about the hoagie.

The fireworks were really great too.

AFI's Greatest Movies

I have said that I want to watch all the AFI's 100 Greatest Movies. Here's the list. I've struck the ones I've already seen. You can see from this list, I'm not one for war movies. I do like Westerns, though I guess I've just seen all the "wrong" ones.

They've been added to the Netflix list. Bring 'em on (at the rate of 1.5 per month).

1. Citizen Kane (1941)
2. Casablanca (1942)
3. Godfather, The (1972)
4. Gone with the Wind (1939)
5. Lawrence of Arabia (1962)
6. Wizard of Oz, The (1939)
7. Graduate, The (1967)
8. On the Waterfront (1954)
9. Schindler's List (1993)
10. Singin' in the Rain (1952)
11. It's a Wonderful Life (1946)
12. Sunset Boulevard (1950)
13. Bridge on the River Kwai, The (1957)
14. Some Like It Hot (1959)
15. Star Wars (1977)
16. All About Eve (1950)
17. African Queen, The (1951)
18. Psycho (1960)
19. Chinatown (1974)
20. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975)
21. Grapes of Wrath, The (1940)
22. 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
23. Maltese Falcon, The (1941)
24. Raging Bull (1980)
25. E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial (1982)
26. Dr. Strangelove (1964)
27. Bonnie & Clyde (1967)
28. Apocalypse Now (1979)
29. Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939)
30. Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948)
31. Annie Hall (1977)
32. Godfather Part II, The (1974)
33. High Noon (1952)
34. To Kill a Mockingbird (1962)
35. It Happened One Night (1934)
36. Midnight Cowboy (1969)
37. Best Years of Our Lives, The (1946)
38. Double Indemnity (1944)
39. Doctor Zhivago (1965)
40. North by Northwest (1959)
41. West Side Story (1961)
42. Rear Window (1954)
43. King Kong (1933)
44. Birth of a Nation, The (1915)
45. Streetcar Named Desire, A (1951)
46. Clockwork Orange, A (1971)
47. Taxi Driver (1976)
48. Jaws (1975)
49. Snow White & the Seven Dwarfs (1937)
50. Butch Cassidy & the Sundance Kid (1969)
51. Philadelphia Story, The(1940)
52. From Here to Eternity (1953)
53. Amadeus (1984)
54. All Quiet on the Western Front (1930)
55. Sound of Music, The (1965)
56. M*A*S*H(1970)
57. Third Man, The (1949)
58. Fantasia (1940)
59. Rebel without a Cause (1955)
60. Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
61. Vertigo (1958)
62. Tootsie (1982)
63. Stagecoach (1939)
64. Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977)
65. Silence of the Lambs, The (1991)
66. Network (1976)
67. Manchurian Candidate, The (1962)
68. American in Paris, An (1951)
69. Shane (1953)
70. French Connection, The (1971)
71. Forrest Gump (1994)
72. Ben-Hur (1959)
73. Wuthering Heights (1939)
74. Gold Rush, The (1925)
75. Dances with Wolves (1990)
76. City Lights (1931)
77. American Graffiti (1973)
78. Rocky (1976)
79. Deer Hunter, The (1978)
80. Wild Bunch, The (1969)
81. Modern Times (1936)
82. Giant (1956)
83. Platoon (1986)
84. Fargo (1996)
85. Duck Soup (1933)
86. Mutiny on the Bounty (1935)
87. Frankenstein (1931)
88. Easy Rider (1969)
89. Patton (1970)
90. Jazz Singer, The (1927)
91. My Fair Lady (1964)
92. Place in the Sun, A(1951)
93. Apartment, The (1960)
94. Goodfellas (1990)
95. Pulp Fiction (1994)
96. Searchers, The (1956)
97. Bringing Up Baby (1938)
98. Unforgiven (1992)
99. Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (1967)
100. Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942)