Mamagotcha's journal

The concept of why people do evil things seems to have been popping up in my reading a lot lately: "Wicked" (Gregory McGuire's retelling of the Oz story, from the witch's point of view), "The Hour I First Believed" (Wally Lamb's novel about one family's fallout after Columbine), and just yesterday I finished "Till We Have Faces," C.S. Lewis' retelling of the story of Cupid and Psyche.

I'm currently working on articles about those graphic abortion trucks, and parents who smoke marijuana.

Looks like I've got a morality thing going these days, ya think?

Anyway... Lewis considered "Faces" to be one of his best books, and I agree, yet I'd never heard of it until I picked it up for free at a homeschooling swap a few months back. For some reason I thought it was going to be from the point of view of Psyche and maybe whiny victimy stuff, or else twisted into didactic Christian allegory, and so it languished in the to-read pile.

I needed something to pull me out of myself during a recent bout of nausea, and grabbed it off the shelf... a retelling of a Greek myth shouldn't be too heavy, right? Well... on the surface, no, it wasn't heavy at all. The pace was brisk and light, and the story accessible and beautifully told. But the story, told from Psyche's older sister's view, has a depth to it that is only hinted at by skimming over that pretty surface. I know I'll be reading it again, and it occurred to me to ask if anyone out there has read it (either once or several times).

Also... any other morality novels I should get my hands on?

Had a totally unexpected migraine today... hit hard this afternoon, took me out for a few hours. Haven't had one this bad in a long time, and usually I get some kind of warning. I'm not even all that stressed right now... just working on the house, getting ready for a little gathering for Linc's birthday (he's 3 on Monday!).

Clay got back yesterday, and he's been really cheerful and nice to be around (sometimes when the kids get back, there's a day or two of transition time that can be... challenging). He and his girlfriend Kylie and Julia all went to a Fray concert (the one postponed from May), and it sounds like they had a great time. He's about two inches taller than before he left! He is ecstatic about having his own room, which is an understatement.

Julia's getting ready to pack up and head out to California. I'm going out there with Linc first though, from the 10th to the 15th of August, with my sister. Too bad I won't get a whole lot of time with Jules during her last week here. She drove to Target and back last night, and did really well. I'm gonna miss her like crazy.

Linc is pointing out letters and trying to sound them out while we read stories. Wow! This just started happening in the last week... he's really getting it about those little black squiggles being symbols for words, now he's just gotta crack the code. Julia and Clay are clearing out their older books, and I'm seeing all these wonderful stories I'm going to get to read to Linc again: the Indian in the Cupboard stories, all the Brian Jacques books, Roald Dahl, the Little House series, Swallows and Amazons, Phillip Pullman, of course Harry Potter and the Lemony Snicket books, Wise Child and Juniper, Runaway Ralph and Ramona... all our old friends.

Lots of cooking and cleanup over the next few days, getting ready for the party (well, and just clearing up the mess around here... the house has really gotten away from me lately, inside and out). But I'm sort of on low energy at the moment... that post-migraine bleary space. Lordy I hope we're not starting a cluster series...

Hey, Knitter Buddies out there... be sure to sign up for your free Ravelry account! I got on last week... it's a great idea and I look forward to seeing you in there soon!