Happy Monday

Hi!

I hope that everyone had a great weekend.

I feel like I ought to say more to y'all than that.  It's so boring to start every Monday the same way, but then again, I'm a boring person.  Maybe not boring.  But definitely habitual.  Sometimes I see it as a good thing.  I have good habits.  I brush my teeth and pay my bills and clean my house.  It may be a rut, but it's a comfortable, and from my point of view, healthy little rut.

I spent a lot of time reading this weekend.  Many different things in many different places. 

First, I started Daisy Miller because I've never read much Henry James and it was available as a free download for my IPad.  So far, so good.  I'll have to let you know how it goes.  A few years ago, I tried to read The Tropic of Cancer but I found it so unrelentingly filthy that I had to put it down.  I just couldn't get past the level of offensiveness that he was apparently going for.  It's always a question that makes me uneasy.  At what point is it that art or literature is so offensive as to be invaluable to me?  Every time I say to myself "this is just filth" I feel guilty, like I'm not smart or sophisticated enough to 'get' it.  But I suppose that art is supposed to provoke us to answer these questions and ultimately, there is no wrong answer.  At least I hope.

Online, I read the new issue of Lonny, which I enjoyed and in Newsweek, a piece about the rise of hate, which scared me.

As far as Lonny goes, I think it gets better and better every month.  It is really filling a void that Domino left behind when it folded.  Ruby Green is getting a lot of ink these days and one of the homes featured in Lonny had some drapes made with a yellow Ruby Green chevron.  I think I may want some for my soon to be redecorated guest bedroom.  It is at times like these that I wish I made more money.  It seems that I will never be able to afford to have all the stuff for my home that I want.  Then again, I guess if it is ever 'finished', I'll have to move to another place. 

As far as the Newsweek article goes, it touched on things that I've been thinking about a lot lately.  What is it about change that stirs so much fear and animosity out there?  Especially with regard to the health care debate I just have to wonder why the rhetoric is so heated.  Why are we so afraid that we can't even discuss it?  It really frightens me and I think it is just a function of ignorance.  I'm not sure that ignorance coupled with any sort of action ever has an outcome that is good or effective or useful.  And I hate that.  I hate fear and I hate violence and intimidation.  And I hate stupidity and I hate ignorance.  And the number of people who feel superior in their stupidity and ignorance truly makes me sad.

And finally, I picked up a copy of More Magazine, which my sweet friend, Sarah, raved about.  I am sorry to say that I avoided More because it's aimed directly between my eyes.  It's for ladies in their 40's and 50's and I didn't want to pick it up because the thought of it made me feel old.

But I bought it and I LOVED it.  Who knew?

I especially enjoyed the piece on Maria Gunnoe and her environmental activism in southern West Virginia.  It is very well done.  It goes a long way toward explaining the economic and social reasons why West Virginia has been and will continue to be left behind.  It was hard for me to read, and yet I had perfect understanding.  West Virginia has gotten a lot of notice this week because of the mining disaster, not all of it welcome.  West Virginians don't like outsiders.  They don't like change.  They don't like it when outsiders point out that most West Virginians are uneducated and poor and economically exploited.  These things are true, though.  But we're also tough and pragmatic and often full of grace.  I am very much a product of those mountains.  I wish more for West Virginia but I don't know that there will ever be more.  Coal has been a blessing and a curse.  Please continue to keep our miners and their families in your thoughts.  CNN will pack up and go home but 29 families and a small town have suffered a great loss.

And Dixie Carter died!  Damn.  I hate that. 

Well, I hate wordy blog posts and I think this one qualifies.  But you know you're on my blog, so you're all going to have to tolerate me from time to time.

So here's hoping that we have a good week.
Image:  Lavender Lilac by Juniper Road Photography.