The Crimson Petal and the White

Every time I travel I take advantage of my free time and get back into the reading habit.  Unfortunately, I also underestimate how much I can read in that time.  Which usually leaves me half way through the week without a book.  This time my best friend searched his shelves for something for me to read.  I turned down the first couple but then settled on an enormous book.

The Crimson Petal and the White, by Michel Faber is an interesting 900 page adventure which takes place in the underbelly of Victorian era England.  There are three story lines that eventually run all together.  Sugar the smart and unusual prostitute who is writing her own novel.  William Rackham, a heir to a perfume business and his mentally ill wife Agnes.  Lastly, is the story of the pious brother Henry Rackham and the widow he loves Emmeline Fox.

The book does start in an unusual way, Faber speaks directly to you and has you follow smaller characters to set the tone.  Eventually you are introduced to Sugar and William, each of who are living in different strata of England.   William is a down-trodden, broken-down man, who is just looking for someone to give him the support he needs to take over the company he never wanted and to merely survive his life with his ailing wife.  This is where Sugar the scaly skinned prostitute with mind of  a man begins to change everything.

I can't quite explain why I loved this book, but I could not put it down.  Every character changes over the course of the story.  Sugar is one of the most identifiable characters and she makes you want to root for her even though she is not the protagonist that you would expect to support.

I would tell more but then your journey would not be what Michel Faber would have wanted.  If you have the time to read the voluminous pages you will enjoy this period piece.

The Wild Unknown

A mysterious tube arrived in the mail for my mother, I am normally notified to watch for packages but not this time.  When she saw the tube she was visibly excited, and opened it up to the most beautiful silk screened print.

This artist creates amazing silk screen prints, but this one is very important.  Her sister and her fiancée's house burned to the ground.  All proceeds of this project are helping to build their life again.  You can buy the print for $50 or choose the $50 print plus a donation.

After purchasing the print my mother received a hand written thank you card for the support and donation.  Please take a look at the link and I am sure you will want to purchase the aptly named "home" print.

http://www.thewildunknown.com/print_details/home_print.html

Hooked

When I go on vacation I am a voracious reader.  I will admit I like to read fluff most of time during vacation though.  I guess it is a kind of way of unwinding.

On my latest trip I searched the house for a paperback I had not yet read.  Unfortunately to my dismay most of my books were hardcover.  I don't know why but I hate to travel with them.  I finally found the one right before the bags were finished being packed, Hooked, by Jane May.


Hooked has a bright cheerful cover, with a happy little fish.  I figured what's not fluffy about that?

Jane May took the classic story of the Fisherman's Wife and wrote it with a modern twist.  Clarence "Woody" Woods, the main character, loves his job, boats and the water in general.  What he doesn't have is someone to love.  Woody is a character I fell instantly in love with myself.  He is sweet, shy and a little bumbling at times, but a genuinely well-rounded protagonist.  

On a fateful day he meets and is instantly smitten by Madalina a waitress at the yacht club he works for.  The story unfolds showing how he wins her with the help of a talking fish.  All along the way I was hoping Woody would get what he wanted.  However, I am not sure what he wanted was what I wanted for him.

I read this book in two and a half days.  It is a super quick read, and will make you smile and think about life in a fanciful way.  

The Hotel at the Corner of Bitter & Sweet

I love to read and was convinced to join a book club last year.  Needless to say it didn't last long since the club consisted of more than 50% retired teachers and their choices tended to be the same themes.  Doom and gloom, if I read any more of that I would have put my head in an oven.

At the last meeting we pull names from a hat and buy a gift book for that person.  I was scared to see what I would be given.  When I first received the book The Hotel at the Corner of Bitter & Sweet, by Jamie Ford, I was thinking I am never going to read this.  It is a book about internment camps.  More doom, or so I thought.

The book takes place in two time periods in a Chinese American's life.  In the 1940's the main character at the age of 12 falls in love when a Japanese American girl.  It later tells of all they go through to stay together despite their age.  The other time period is 1984, shortly after the same character's wife passes away.  During this time he has become obsessed with finding a record from the 1940's that has a special meaning and where that adventure leads.

I know sounds like something you would read if you wanted to be miserable, but this book is uplifting and sweet.  I could not believe the beautiful message it conveys.  It is a quick read and definitely worth your time.

Eos Lip Sphere

I read about this lip balm in many magazines, but thought is seemed a little weird.  Why would I want my lip balm in the shape of an egg?  Believe it or not it is perfect, you can use it in an direction you want.  The fact that it is 100% natural and 95% organic is always appealing.  The lip balm stays on without being sticky and stays on for an amazing amount of time.  I have the summer fruit flavor and it makes me think of warmer times even though there is about 3 feet of snow and ice outside.

You can find these in many stores or through their website Evolution of Smooth.  

The Art of the Steal

As many of you know I am a Netflix instant play junkie.  They leads me to scroll through many different choices and many of them include documentaries.  One I recently watched and loved is The Art of the Steal, which follows the collection of Dr. Albert C. Barnes.

Barnes was an avid collector of post impressionist art.  He was able to do so after creating an antiseptic drug called Argyrol. He used his money to collect 181 Reniors, 69 Cezannes, 59 Matisses, 46 Picassos and many other amazing and valuable paintings.  During the collecting he even befriended many of the artists, leading them to believe that Barnes's intention for the art was the only way it should be seen.

You may think Barnes was the kind of man that collected Art because that is what people of the time with disposable incomes would do.  However, he used the collection to create an art school.  The collection was to be used for educational purposes only, never to be sold, loaned or removed.

Barnes believed so strongly in that belief that he attempted to write an iron clad will.  The will has been challenged numerous times since his death in 1951.  The documentary shows you how politics can practically destroy a will and a man's beliefs.

I will not reveal the result of this long and stressful battle.  I will tell you that I intend to see the Barnes collection the way it was meant to be seen before May of 2012.  If you are interested check out http://www.barnesfoundation.org/index.php

Teacher Gifts

Ok, so it is that time again and I don't want to sound like an ungrateful teacher but I might lose it if I get another mug and/or tote bag.  I know that it can be hard to come up with teacher gifts so I am going to give you a few do's and don'ts for the best teacher gifts.  Well in my humble opinion, anyway.

1. Don't give mugs or tote bags.  You may think they are cute and that we can use them.  We use the numerous mugs to hold pencils, markers, paintbrushes, etc.  There are only so many you can use.  The same with the totes, unless they are like the Envirosax in my earlier posts please think again.

2. Don't give flavored coffee, regular coffee or tea unless you know what the person drinks.  I am a tea drinker only and when I get coffee I have to re-gift it.  Even coffee can be an issue, if it is ground it might not be right for the teacher's machine at home.  Whole bean could be problematic if they don't have a grinder.  Do give a gift card to Starbucks or Dunkin Donuts, you can always find something with those.

3. Don't give perfume or heavily scented body products, unless you know the teacher's signature scent.  I have two perfumes I have never used.  Do give lightly scented hand sanitizers and hand creams.

4. Don't give bank gift cards.   Believe it or not if you do not use the entire amount the first time, you may not be able to use the rest unless you contact the company.  You always have to know exactly what is on it.  You can give cash.

5. Don't give chocolates unless you know the teacher is a chocoholic.  We get so many boxes that we would go into sugar shock if we attempted to eat them all.  Not to mention if the teacher is diabetic they can't even partake.

That sounds like a lot of don'ts but, I promise there are some good do's coming up.

1. Do give stationary.  We go through so much stationary.  Thank yous and blank cards are perfect.  If you can get the stationary personalized even better.  I love the personalized stationary I have, and use it all the time

2. Do give monogrammed post-its.  We use post-its on everything.  Post-it makes letter stationary in various different sizes.

3. Do give gifts cards.

• Target is always a winner since you can get anything.
• Barnes & Noble carries books, dvds and cds
• Teacher stores (find them locally)
• Scholastic gift cards
• Staples are always useful when we run out of classroom supplies and are purchasing out of our pockets.
• Local restaurants the teachers frequent.
• Shops you know they frequent.  Two parents were very in tune with my clothes and accessories and got me gift cards to my favorite stores.  If you are very attentive you can make a teacher's day by getting that thoughtful gift card.

4. Do give cash, it is always good.

5. Do make sure to include a thoughtful card or letter explaining your appreciation and/or the growth you have seen in your child.  Those are the things we keep and cherish.

The best and most inexpensive gift you can give a teacher is a letter to their principal or district explaining what a great job they are doing.  Those letters actually get put in a file and are considered for tenure and teacher of the year awards.  Make sure you send the teacher a copy.  These mean the world to us.

Teaching is all about giving everything to the children you are teaching, so above all make sure the teacher knows you appreciate them.