The Next Dark Age
We're in it Now
I am Charlotte Simmons, by Tom Wolfe
For my summer epic, I dove into I am Charlotte Simmons
Charlotte Simmons is the valedictorian of her rural North Carolina high school and is off to the fictional DuPont College. It is meant to be Ivy League-ish, but with a national champion basketball team. Wolfe maintains that it is not modeled after any one school.
What Charlotte sees at DuPont is a host of lascivious New England private-school brats that think themselves sophisticated, but just like to look down on everyone else. She thinks of them as the “cashmere” set. She starts dating an older, particularly popular frat boy. It seems that he thought of her as a sexual challenge and she thought of him as a brilliant way to make the cashmere set jealous.
You can imagine how that turned out.
I am sorry to say I never came to have any empathy for Charlotte. Or any other character except for, of all people, the basketball star embroiled in a sub-plot involving plagiarism. I spent the entire novel trying to figure out why I liked him. Then Charlotte told me – he was guileless and without irony.
So, except for Mr. Basketball star, the rest of the jocks were rather cliche, as were the frat boys and sorority girls. The nerds reminded me of the Facebook crowd from The Social Network.
The one question that ran through my mind the entire time I was listening (Dylan Baker, the guy reading in the audio version, was great) was this:
How is it the WB hasn’t discovered this thing yet?
About the Beds
Earlier this summer, my back started bothering me. Not my back actually, more like my hips. I knew it was muscular because I was walking it off almost before leaving for work each morning. This led me to believe that it was time for a new bed. I think that the average mattress is built to last for around 10 years, and I bought mine when I moved back to the house 13 years ago.
I remembered that my mother had also been talking about a new bed, (in fact, she was saving her money for a really good one) and figured we should just go ahead and get them both sooner rather than later. I asked which she wanted.
The Tempur-Pedic Tempur-Cloud Luxe with the Advanced Ergo Adjustable Base.
- Four fancy Tempur-Pedic pillows;
- Four years, no interest;
- Free delivery, and the all important;
- Free take away
Blanket 43
I hadn’t seen this fleece pattern before, either.
I did this mostly while watching The Dog Whisperer on hulu. Red Heart Super Saver yarn in Cherry. I need to get some more of that stuff.
The Photographic Evidence
Because my mother won’t believe it happened. This was last night:
And tonight:
From the Hospital
My mother has been in the hospital for the better part of the week. My biggest complaint is that it is near impossible to get anyone’s attention.
There is a flat screen in her private room and wi fi.
Gibbs has been at doggie day care where he has learned to run with the big dogs and hump labradors three times his size.
Spooky the cat must have figured out something is goofy because he spent most of the night in my room. And Gibbs was so tired that they didn’t even start anything.
Our new beds were delivered on Wednesday – more on that later.
Oh! Also – hospitals seem to have a lack of healthy food options for visitors, which I find hilarious. And it is really hard to type on an iPad.
BTT: Reading History
When is the last time you read a history book? Historical biography? You know, something that took place in the past but was REAL.
I read history regularly, but mostly it has been American History. I was on a Civil War kick for awhile, which included fiction and non-fiction, as well as Ken Burns and Professor Blight’s course on Academic Earth.
I’ve read a bunch of history on American presidents, the most recent being Presidential Courage. It was a book highlighting decisions made by several different presidents. I blogged about it briefly here.
I also love a good memoir, regardless of the time period in which it is set.
At my last book club meeting, someone asked what percent of fiction vs. non-fiction people read. I figure that I am right at the 50/50 mark, but maybe I should tally that up sometime.
Blanket 42
New batch of fleece from Penny. This is a pattern I haven’t seen before:
Edged in Loops & Threads Impeccable yarn in Aqua, which I am pretty sure was leftover from a previous project. But I am too lazy to go back and look it up.
Doggie Do Rite
The scheduling in my house is about to get crazy, so I decided to register Gibbs at Doggie Do Rite, a dog day care center in Northbrook. We call it sending him to camp – they even have a pool. Our dogs Dallas and Shadow were occasional attendees when it first opened. However, it is an expensive luxury, particularly difficult to justify for two.
The application form is about what you’d expect for anyplace responsible for the safety of a non-zero number of other people’s pets. They also require the standard vet records. Then you make an appointment for an “assessment”. Mostly, they want to make sure that your dog isn’t a total terror.
Gibbs is not a terror. But he is a barker. And a jumper. And a leash-puller. Who hasn’t played with another dog since he left his litter.
Hm.
So we arrive for our appointment 10 minutes early. Because once you have your dog ready to go, you go already. My paperwork required one more signature, but was otherwise complete. My vet had sent the appropriate fax. And Gibbs was jumping on the director.
“We’re working on that,” I said.
“That’s good. We’ll work on it with him, too.”
Doggie Do Rite doesn’t allow people in the back, where the dogs play. The theory is that dogs are much less likely to get aggressive if their people aren’t around to impress or protect. But I watched through the window as he was taken back to meet the other dogs. He pranced away and didn’t look back.
They let three of the small dogs into the gated play area with him. While bigger than all of them, Gibbs went submissive and ran away. Tennis balls were introduced. He ran away. The other dogs started to play amongst themselves. Gibbs ran away.
The director came back to see me. “He’s nervous. Do you want to leave him for the day and see how he does?”
Totally. I gave them his lunch and ran out the door.
I picked him up after work, and it seems he did fine. And do you want to see what he looks like now?
There is football on, and he isn’t moving.
Blanket 41
Michael’s finally starting putting their house yarn on sale again, so I tried the Charisma line:
Three skeins of Black Raspberry (the variegated) and seven skeins of Fuchsia. Single crochet.
My mother thinks this is awfully heavy, and perhaps it is for a little kid. But I always liked my blankets heavy, anyway.
My Disposable Income
This is why Gibbs needs so many toys. This one was a “natural” toy – cotton star with stuffing and secured to a rope for tossing and tugging. I gave it to Gibbs before I left for the library last night. My mother sent me a picture:
Got to the stuffing. And hmmmm…seems to be pulling the star out of the rope.
For serious. And here is what’s left:
I forgot to ask how long that took him, but it could only have been a couple of hours.
The Next Dark Age 