A Room with a View

We are reading A Room With a View for book group in February.  I think it is appropriate to be reading a "romance" in February.  I love this book.  It has all the elements of a true romance--stolen kisses, conflict in getting the the hero and heroine together, and nudity--and yet it is a more intellectual read than say a Barbara Cartland romance.  I know this because I read a number of Barbara Cartland novels when I was much younger and going through a romance stage.  

But back to Room with a View.  I love the characters in this book.  Lucy has depth without knowing it, George is perfect for her with out her knowing it, and Cecil is so decidedly unfit for marriage.  Florence is a city so full of passion and beauty you can't help but want to rush to the computer and buy a plane ticket to Italy departing immediately.  The book also contains one of the funniest scenes I've read in literature, the pond bathing scene that makes me laugh out loud every time I read it.  And I've read it several times.

The Merchant & Ivory film version of this book is also wonderful.  That same pond scene is funny.  I just checked.  The movie is rated R for that scene; full frontal male nudity.  How often do you see that?  I would say, however, to absolutely anyone, see this movie, even with the scene.  I would watch it with my mother, or my grandmother.  In fact, I think I did.  

A New Beginning

For some time I have been contemplating starting a new blog.  I like to use our family blog as family history; a record of our activities and pursuits and funny things the children say and do that I will have printed into book form and use as a year book.  I am sure I will sit with the children and look at pictures and remember all the things we have done together.

I have been feeling a bit of a need to have another space, however.  A space where I can write book reviews, recipes, random thoughts, and insights gained as I work to insure my brain doesn't turn to mush.  I really do think a brain is a terrible thing to waste, and having invested a lot of time and money in mine, and knowing it is the only one I'll ever have, I want to try and do more with it.  The women in my family live long and loose their minds.  I would certainly like to live long, but I'd like my brain to remain intact right up to the end.

That being said, I may not actually find the time to include much here.  Kent already thinks I spend far too much time blogging, but this from the guy who hardly ever looks at the family blog, so how would he know?  He can't possible see the value of what I'm doing if he never actually sees it, right?

So in the vein of new beginnings, I want to report on last year's resolutions, and state a couple of resolutions for this year.  First off, I had three new year's resolutions last year, and I think I did very well with all three.  I wanted to 1. Iron less, 2. Wear jewelry more frequently, and 3. Read as many non-fiction books as fiction.  I did iron less, giving our local dry cleaners more business, and I did wear jewelry more frequently, sometimes putting on a pair of earring even if I was only going to be putzing around the house.  I almost read as many non-fiction books as fiction.  I read a total of 50 books in 2010, almost one a week.  Not too bad for a woman with two small children.  Two of those books I read out loud with Kent, and both of those were fiction.  Of the remaining 48, 26 were fiction and 22 were non-fiction.  I should have read two more non-fiction, but I feel that on balance, I did a pretty good job.  Yeah me!  I did well with my resolutions.

I think making resolutions that are specific, doable, and have nothing to do with one's weight are far more productive than vague, unrealistic goals.  In that vein, here are this year's resolutions.

1.  Make better bread.  I have tons (literally) of wheat in food storage, a whole lot of vital wheat gluten, and a need to master the making of homemade bread.  This year I want to work out the kinks and figure out how to make a light and tasty loaf of bread.  I will bake a loaf once a week.

2.  Read more "classics."  Since I finished my formal studies, I have reveled in being able to read whatever I want.  Sometimes I indulge in true fluff.  "Why not?" I say.  This year, however, I want to be a bit more studious, work on keeping the little grey cells sharp.  After all, a brain is a terrible thing to waste.  So I am going to read off two lists, Great Works from the BYU Honors program, and a list of 100 great books posted by the BBC.  There is some overlap on these two lists.  But either way, I want to focus on the classics.

3. Write a book review for each book I read this year.  I'm not sure anyone will care what I have to say about what I read, but by having to do a "book report," I am hoping I will read a bit more thoughtfully.

4. Post interesting things on this blog.

Four resolutions this year.  Two resolutions I am confident I can accomplish.  Can you guess which two?