WeatherGirl’s Station

Viewing faith through an atheist’s eyes by Hemant Mehta.

This is a very odd little book. A sort of guide to improving the church going experience from an atheist point of view. Huh? I understand that being a member of a community that shares a set of values/beliefs can be an important part in constructing a happy decent life. But if those social groups are based on a religious perspective shouldn’t a set of shared beliefs about the world be what binds you together not the experience in the pew? Shouldn’t you be examining what you believe, how it lines up with reality and whether or not it leads you to a happy decent life? At the end of the day I don’t think this book helps with that at all.

Current temperature: here 61F/16C, there 17C/63F

A Story of Violent Faith. By Jon Krakauer. This story reinforces my avoidance of organised religion. Any belief system that asks me to suspend rational thought and treats whole categories of human beings as less than or other, is not something I wish to embrace or promote. I wonder how many other, older, religions have such unsteady footings in their origins. Krakauer writes with an informed and accessible style and I highly recommend this book. (I’ve also read Into The Wild and Into Thin Air.)

Current temperature: here 75F/24C, there 16C/61F

OMG I read a book! Yes, indeedy, I did.

A Christmas present from my mum, I’d wishlisted it over at Amazon and lo it did arrive.

Alan Bennett is very much of the Stephen Fry ilk, only different, and pretty much a British national treasure. He also seems to have an affection for the women characters he writes about which is apparently a remarkable trait for a man.

I loved reading this book and it has much to recommend it. It’s a slight volume so it won’t take but a moment to consume. Possessed of a rye gentle humour the book brings surprising insight into the life of a modern day monarch.

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I’ve found that novels I’ve tried to read in recent years haven’t had the kind of themes I’m interested in and there are so many on line sources of material that the formally published book comes a poor second on my to-read list. So it seemed like a good idea to try a collection of short stories instead. Each story is not a huge commitment in time and if one is not to my particular taste well there is always the next. Much to my pleasure this collection proved a great success. I’ve only ever driven through Wyoming so I can’t comment too much on whether Annie Proulx has captured the way of life of the area with these stories but she has managed to catch something of the landscape and how I imagine people living in it might be affected.

There are a lot of very strange characters here. Mostly I found it hard to sympathise with the men because of the way they treated the women. Boy, do the women in these stories get short changed. They live hard, miserable lives and along the way are expected to have sex with any man who shows an interest. Brokeback Mountain is far and away my favourite of the stories. While entirely from a male point of view it was not difficult to sympathise with the characters’ predicament. I was surprised just how much of the story had been translated into the movie, and that made me love it all the more.

Current temperature: here 75F/24C, there 18C/64F

Challenging. A definite must read for any budding feminist this book will definitely knock your socks off. Much of the content imagines what a future feminist world might evolve into. Some of it is a little hard to take and seems to me to total ignore the fact that human beings are biological animals with all the drives and preprogramming that come with that state. However, challenging one’s own prejudices and unexamined beliefs is a good place to start when trying to recognise one’s own misogyny. Growing up in the patriarchy makes it very hard to discern sometimes when one is conforming to standards enforced by the culture rather than living one’s own life. This book is a great way to sweep some of the cobwebs away and discover who you really are.

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Written by Phyllis Chesler. While I found this book relied a little too much on personal anecdotes and could have done with a serious edit to tighten it up, it addresses a very important topic not much discussed in relation to why misogyny continues.

The situations discussed in the book were valuable examinations of relationships that are important to women, but I think it would have greatly improved the case if the author had found a way to explore multiple points of view on a given example.

Well worth a read, just skim when you’ve got the point.

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Lori and I taught a bookmaking class at the PRCA. Both of us have a lot of experience in making books but we’ve never tried to teach anyone else how to do this.

We chose to make a simple accordion book because it’s a very versatile format and a project we could work through in one three hour session. We met for a full three hour session before the class so we could practice constructing the book we were going to teach. That way we would know we could do it, we would know what to say and we would say the same thing.

On the big day we had 6 students, all at different levels of ability and experience in handling materials. By the end of the day we had 7 completed books (Lori and I made one as we demonstrated each technique) and 6 pretty tired but happy students.

It was a great experience for me and I hope for all who participated. Lori and I hope to teach more classes. There are many book types that can be taught in a single session but the more intricate and interesting book challenges need multiple sessions and consequently need more of a time investment from the students and cost more.

Current temperature 16F/-9C (windchill 1F/-17C)

The Price of Motherhood and I highly recomend it. See here for my previous comments.

The only negative comment I’d make is that a couple of the references were listed as personal communications which is fine when you’re reporting the opinions of others but when your using them as references for facts I don’t think that’s appropriate.

Read this book!

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Dared and Done. The Marriage of Elizabeth Barrett and Robert Browning by Julia Markus. I bought this book several years ago (part of a growing collection of books about successful and interesting women) and it disappeared on to a shelf somewhere in the house. I rediscovered it today and read the first chapter. A relationship that has become more myth than reality. I look forward to learning more about the reality.

Current temperature 34F/1C (windchill 20F/-6C) Positively balmy!

I’m about a third of the way through The Price of Motherhood and it is very interesting reading. It should be on the must read list of every economics professor, student and researcher. It challenges the received wisdom of the field but also speaks to the essential problem of achieving gender equality. That is, as a society, we still expect women to bear the full load of raising the next generation, to take on that job based on a perceived nature and to do it all for no renumeration, whether that be minimal financial support, access to decent health care or support in retirement.