Miscellaneous

The biggest drawback of teaching is that grading papers gets in the way of my reading time. Instead of following a plot, I'm just hoping for a thesis--or a complete sentence--or something I haven't read before. Sometimes I'm pleasantly surprised; sometimes I'm just surprised.

This week I'm looking longingly at the next books: I want to read Doctorow's The March and Brooks' March. Meanwhile, I have started Twilight (yes, the first in the vampire series) so I can communicate with the high school girls I teach in Sunday school. I knew there had to be something to the books: they have so many "Pieces of Flair" on Facebook. Meanwhile, I see Richard Ford's The Lay of the Land right over my shoulder, and my friend Sandra said I had to read History of Love. So there it is: My life; sleep optional.

Although it has nothing at all to do with books, I just had to comment on the recent news item that PETA has asked Ben and Jerry's to stop hurting cows and to start making their ice cream with human breast milk. I had enough of a philosophical disagreement when they started buying lobsters at the local grocery and mailing them back to beachfront towns for release, but this is really over the top. In fact, I hear echoes of Swift's "Modest Proposal." After all, who'll suffer? The children of poor women who decide to give their own children formula so they can get top dollar for the good stuff. And while I have never exactly been a farm girl, I do know that unmilked dairy cows are more than a wee bit uncomfortable. Can't you just think of the possible names for the new Ben and Jerry flavors though? I'll leave that to your imagination.

Miscellaneous