A good read

Just finished Z - A Novel of Zelda Fitzgerald.  If you've read The Paris Wife, you will enjoy the way these two novel relate.  In both cases, they are novelizations of wives of famous writers from the early 20's.

 

Years ago I went on campaign to read everything a particular author had written.  I have read a lot of Scott Fitzgerald wrote, but probably not all of it - he wrote many, many short stories for magazines like the Saturday Evening Post, and I'm pretty sure there are some I have missed.  But I have read all the novels - in fact I had a graduate class on him at the U many years ago.  It was fun to be required to re-read some old faves.

I had also read a bio of Zelda Fitzgerald that was quite good - called, fittingly enough, Zelda.  Nancy Milford started it as a master's thesis and it turned into a biography that was considered for the Pulitzer Prize!!  I also had read Beloved Infidel, the story of Fitzgerald's affair with Hollywood columnist Sheilah Graham.

What I have not read is a lot of the fiction that Zelda Fitzgerald wrote - and I hope to right that wrong!!

The story is a compelling one - not just about the expatriates in Paris in the 20's - but more about the terrible things that can happen when a marriage goes wrong.

It's a true American tragedy!

Recent read -

The Portland Airport is a cut above most others - in my opinion anyway - or maybe I've just spent more time there than other airports and have been able to explore more.  But this time I got there early and had time to browse the charming shops, have a tasty lunch, and listen to a pretty fine violist!!

I spent some time in the Powells Bookstore "extension" they have there and found a book on the bargain table.  It was by Ann Patchett - a fave author of mine - so I could not resist.  (Last year I made a resolve - which I kept btw - not to buy any physical books.  No such resolve this year - and I have only bought two books so far - so I'm doing okay - I could "afford" to get this one!)

It is about Ann's friendship with Lucy Grealy - pronounced "gray-lee" - a poet she met at the Iowa Writer's Workshop.  Lucy was one of the 5% who survive Ewing's Sarcoma, but it left her with a "disappearing" face and many struggles with a damaged face.  She endured over 38 surgeries - and it never really did fix everything - but along with many other struggles, she dealt with prescription painkillers and worse.  She died at age 39 of an accidental overdose of heroin.  

 

This book about their friendship may not be for everyone - it's pretty honest and even brutal at times - but it was a great airplane - and airport - read.  

Lucy Grealy's story is a sad one - her way of dealing with her trials might not sit well with some.  I did not find her an especially sympathetic character, but she did have lots of friends who supported her.  In the end, however, she lost the support of many of her friends who felt they were enabling her drug use - when she got into the "hard" stuff with heroin.  

And the glimpse into the lives of two women - two women who had lots in common - and little in common - is a powerful discussion on the merits and value of deep, intense "friend" relationships.

General Conference Weekend!

I always love General Conference weekend.  It really didn't start making a big difference in my life until I lived in Utah.  In California, when I was growing up, we only got the Sunday morning session - on the radio.  We'd sit in chairs in front of the radio in the living room and listen to the talks.  It was a pretty tedious stretch sometimes!!   And then we'd go to church for Sunday School only!  (Lots of people didn't come though!  I guess they thought it was a holiday or something!)

Lots of people in our ward drove up to Salt Lake for Conference - and then they'd give a report in Sacrament meeting.  It wasn't particularly meaningful to me - mostly in retrospect it is.  One man especially served as an usher, and he was always excited to report which General Authorities had come through his door!

After moving to Utah to attend BYU, we would take the bus up to Salt Lake City and see it either in the Tabernacle or the Assembly Hall.  I don't remember a whole lot about what went on - I have photos - so I know I was there!!  The first time I attended General Conference, Thomas S. Monson was sustained as an apostle!!  I did not really take note of it then.

The whole idea of General Authorities as people I could relate to didn't really occur to me until a few years later as I was able to watch conference on TV, and the men speaking - women didn't speak in Conference then - started having individual personalities to me.

After I got married and we had children, and because conference used to be on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, I took to having it be my semi-annual ironing day!  I used to iron everything - and I mean everything - so it was a good way to make sure I didn't fall asleep during the talks!  And my kids seemed to not bother me when I was ironing - but they would have interrupted frequently if I had just been sitting on the couch watching TV!

In the "old days" when we had babies who napped, we'd drive in the canyon while the kids napped and listen to conference on the radio.  In many ways, there was an entire "culture" of activities surrounding Conference.  Now if you have to miss it, it's really easy to see or listen to what you missed, so making sure you get to listen at the exact moment it's going on isn't so vital I suppose.

The conference "culture" changed when we moved to California - we had to go to the Stake Center where it was beamed by satellite.  I remember being excited when we had a radio that could bring in all the sessions - but I still preferred being able to have a visual.

A couple of times, when I was YW President, and Harry was Bishop, we took the youth to Conference - we went in our van.  It was a great experience.

We have had times when someone speaking, or someone about whom someone was speaking, turned out to have a connection in our lives.  Once Elder Haight talked about Connie McMurray and how she fainted at the podium at the 8th grade graduation.  We were watching conference at the Stake Center - a part of Conference culture that is going by the wayside I think - and my kids simultaneously turned their heads and asked it that was their own Grandma Connie??  (and it was indeed!!)

It's also been fun over the years to find the people we know in the Tabernacle Choir.

So of course we were all delighted when our own Linda Reeves spoke in the Saturday morning session this time.  She did a great job - we were proud to claim her.

I ironed this time during the Saturday morning session.  I had not touched the items in my ironing basket - it's pretty good-sized - for probably over a year!  There were some pleasant surprises there too.  It was mostly table cloths, cloth napkins, tea towels, shirts, aprons, and pillow cases - the fancy kind that need ironing!  And I got them all done!  And I found a shirt I thought I'd given away!!

I will look forward to the May issue of the Ensign with all the talks.  I know I could go on lds.org and re-read them all, but I like to just wait for the magazine and browse.

So Spring Break is over, Conference Weekend is over, school starts back up tomorrow - at least there is summer vacation to look forward too!!