January 2013
1 post
2 tags
Novel to Film Adaptations: Special Focus--The...
As a worshipper of books, I almost always find movie adaptations of novels to be inferior to the novels themselves. There are, however, certain cases where I actually prefer the movie to the book.
Earlier this year, I decided to teach “The Hunger Games” by Suzanne Collins to my 9th grade Writing class, thinking that the dystopic themes would lead to interesting writing topics. Not...
July 2012
1 post
4 tags
Solitary Cinema
Note: This post began as an essay on why I love going to see movies alone, but has turned into, among other things, a review of the movie “Moonrise Kingdom”, complete with spoilers. Stop at the second spoiler alert if you don’t want details.
This afternoon I had the unusual experience of seeing “Batman: The Dark Knight Rises” with my husband. It was unusual for...
February 2012
1 post
5 Books I don't like that everyone else seems to.
So, I made a list of my top books, and making one of my least favorite books would be ridiculous, since they’re all crappy junk novels no one has heard of. But I thought maybe I’d write a little about some of the books that everyone else raves about but I don’t really care for. Most of them I can understand why OTHER people like them; they’re just not for me.
...
September 2011
1 post
10 reasons I'm glad I live here and now.
So, I’ve been reading a lot about the Tudors lately, and so much of it has made me thankful for living in Massachusetts in the 21st century. Some of the things listed are VERY new, (in the great scheme of things) some have been around for a century or so, but I think that right here and now is a pretty good place to be.
Here’s why:
10. World Wide Web—seriously, how did people...
August 2011
4 posts
5 tags
Why I'm so very glad I grew up in the county.
Again and again, I hear people complain about the stretch of I-95 between Bangor and Houlton, ME. It’s boring, they say, it seems to take forever, they’d so much rather drive in the city, et cetera.
Not me. I love that stretch of highway, especially if it is sunny outside. Spring, summer, fall, or winter, I love to drive that stretch of road. One time I decided to do an all-nighter,...
Old Friends
Last night, I had a dream about an old friend. For some reason, he lived across the street from me (which he never did). There were a bunch of guys over and they were all playing football. The ball came into my yard and I picked it up, so he came over to get it, and we spoke face to face for the first time in years.
When I woke up, I was sad because it has been far too long—not only with...
5 tags
Art
This post is inspired by my list of favorite books, as I mentioned the Abstract Expressionists in my note about Bluebeard and thought I’d like to share why I like them so very much.
Generally, I love art, especially paintings. And the paintings I tend to love most are abstract. I have to thank an old boyfriend for this—he was a huge fan of Wassily Kandinsky, and had prints of his work...
20 of my favorite books.
So, for anyone who doesn’t know this—I am an English teacher. I became one mostly because I love to read (and because my mom suggested it my sophomore year in college, noting as a selling point “you get your summers off”). Fortunately, it turned out that not only did I like teaching, but I was also good at it, so one of my biggest hobbies turned neatly into a career.
My...
July 2011
1 post
Summer with(out) kids.
I remember summer without kids. I used to read a lot. Lie out in the sun in my yard (and read). Drive up to the beach in Ogunquit for the day where I’d lie out in the sun and read, swim in the waves, and go for long walks. I’d hike up the local small mountain (Wachusset) with my equally small dog, go on slightly longer hikes with friends. I had a part time job where I sold coffee in a...
February 2011
1 post
6 tags
new to me
My favorite “new” things in my life:
when I first started reading chapter books—a whole new world opened before me
when I started at a new school in first grade—I sat down beside a boy, filled out my worksheet, turned to him and said “I finished before you” to which he responded “You got yours first!”. And this started a friendship I still cherish...
