National Book Festival 2011

Matt and I recently attended the National Book Festival, an annual event that I am ashamed to have never heard of until this year. This year, the 11th year of the Festival, it spanned two full days at the National Mall in Washington D.C. One good thing to come out of Matt's two-years of traveling between Missouri and D.C. for work is that he is pretty good at navigating D.C., so when I found out about the Festival just a month or so before it was scheduled, he was all for going. So that's what we did.

It was amazing.

We flew in Friday evening, leaving Warrensburg right after my last class finished at 3:00 and arriving in D.C. around 10:00. We stayed at a Best Western about 3 miles from the Mall, so we took the Metro a lot to get around between our hotel, the Mall, and Georgetown, where we had dinner on Saturday and Sunday. On Saturday, we took the Metro in an hour early, of which I am glad, because I needed that hour to calm down before listening to the first speaker.

As soon as we made it to the top of the steps coming out of the Metro and I saw all the big white tents set up all along the Mall, I was ecstatic. We grabbed a program and I was off, trying to take in everything at once. There was so much free stuff It was a future teacher's dream. I got a big bag from C-SPAN2 and a copy of the official Festival poster (I actually ended up with three of these, because I had already requested one before the festival, also free, and I picked up a third on Sunday. Seriously, there were about 100 stacks with probably 500 or more posters in each one. There were a ton). In the Pavilion of the States tent I got a bunch of bookmarks and magazines, two poem posters from the Pennsylvania booth, and a poster for "The Exquisite Corpse Adventure," a progressive story game played by several of the authors I had come to the festival to see. I saw the Magic School Bus and scouted out all the pavilions and signing areas of the authors I wanted to see. Then, the Festival officially began.

We started by hearing Toni Morrison speak. It was amazing to see such a famous novelist so close and hear her speak. We tried to stand in line to get her to sign a copy of her book, but I couldn't even estimate how many people were in line. Hundreds, definitely. I decided I wanted to see Gregory Maguire speak more than I wanted her signature, so Matt and I left the line. We probably would not have made it to her in the allotted signing time even if we had stayed, I think.

Gregory Maguire was awesome. He read an excerpt from his newest book, the last in the Oz series. He was hilarious, too. Matt generously volunteered to go hold a spot for me in line for the next author, Sarah Dessen, who I wanted to have sign a book for my sister. When Gregory Maguire's lecture ended, I quickly went to get in line for his autograph in my copy of Wicked, as well as a friend's copy. I talked for a while with the couple in front of me (we waited about 45 minutes for his signing to actually start, and by the time it had started there were about 7 more lines of people stacked next to us, all in line for him as well. We were luckily pretty close to the front of Maguire's line). It was so cool to see so many other people who loved books that much. I think that was one of the best parts -- seeing so many readers all packed together on the Mall. Matt and I tried at one point to estimate how many people were there. I am no good at estimating amounts, but the Library of Congress weekly email newsletter I signed up for did the job for me: an estimated 200,000 people attended the event this year. I can't even comprehend that many people and I'm not sure how they estimate that, but let me tell you, there were a lot of people.

Matt got Dessen's signature on my sister's book and then went to hold a place in line for me in to get Katherine Paterson's signature on Bridge to Terabithia. I did not get to see Paterson speak because her lecture was at the same time as Maguire's, but, thankfully, the Library of Congress videotaped all the lectures and has just started uploading them to the Library of Congress website, so I will be able to watch all the ones I missed and share the rest of Maguire's lecture with Matt. Here is the link to the ones that are up so far:

http://www.loc.gov/today/cyberlc/results.php?mode=s&cat=58

After I got Maguire's signature, I met Matt to get Paterson's, and then we took a break after all the rushing around. We stopped at the Family Storytelling Stage where we got to see actress Julianne Moore (who has written 3 children's books based on her childhood nickname) read one of her books to the kids. That evening we ate at Clyde's in Georgetown, which was delicious, and had Ben and Jerry's for dessert.

Sunday we were lucky to have a later start and time to sleep in after a long day of walking on Saturday. 

This day the festival officially opened at 1:00, so we had decided to leave the hotel around 10:30, stop by Chipotle for lunch and walk the three miles to the Mall. We stopped near the Iwo Jima memorial to eat our lunch. It really wasn't too bad of a walk, except that I was very excited and didn't want to be late, so I wanted to go fast and it was pretty warm out. I should have brought shorts, for sure. But we got there with time to spare. We got front front row seats very close to the center to see Susan Cooper, the author I was most excited to see speak. I'm waiting for her webcast to appear online to see if we might have made it into the video!

She was great!  I can't describe it -- she was funny and it was so awesome to hear her stories and her thoughts on the inspiration for her books. Matt said he wants to read them now, which made my entire weekend, hearing him say he wanted to read a series of books I absolutely adore just because he heard the author speak about them (the series I am referring to is the Dark is Rising series). After we saw Susan Cooper, I got in line for Sherman Alexi to sign my copy of The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian and Matt held my place in Susan Cooper's line. Again, I am excited to watch Alexi's lecture online since I missed it that day. I was within the first 30 people of his line, so I quickly met up with Matt. We were close to the beginning of Susan Cooper's line, too, and she was still doing personalized messages in books when we got close to the front. I wrote Matt's name and mine on a sheet of paper for her to sign the book for us, and then we were there. I won't pretend I got to really talk to Susan Cooper or anything, which would have been the most awesome thing ever, but she did sign our book "with all good wishes." So cool!

We milled around a bit more after this, saw some PBS characters (I took a picture with Martha the Dog from Martha Speaks) and then headed out from the Book Festival. This night we ate at Founding Farmers, a really organic but sort of fancy restaurant. Matt had mac and cheese with lobster bits on top. I had the thickest and best tomato soup ever and a grilled cheese sandwich with about 5 kinds of cheese, and a raspberry cucumber cooler (that's non-alcoholic, it is basically like water flavored with raspberry and cucumber ... it was actually pretty great).

Monday, I flew home by myself (Matt had to stay the week for work) and drove to Warrensburg for class (thank you classes that don't start until noon on Monday this semester), with my one bookback of weekend trip items back to bursting with three new books (one of which being the complete Dark is Rising, which was too cool to pass up even though I already owned all the books), a ton of free bookmarks and magazines, and 5 posters all rolled up in a newspaper that I counted as my personal item. Packing extraordinaire, yes I am.

It was an awesome trip, full and fun. We WILL be making it an annual trip! Especially if there are more of my favorite authors next year ... I can't wait to watch all the lectures I missed and look through all my cool free stuff. It's been a couple weeks, but I still haven't had time to go through everything. I'm so glad I got to go with Matt. Planning everything out, navigating together, and getting to see and do all the things I wanted to was superb.

http://www.loc.gov/bookfest/

Subtlety: A Lost Art?

Today I heard a new song for the first time. It was the typical modern pop song - not exactly remarkable as it sounded like practically every other one. However, one line did stand out to me: "I got a sex drive that's push to start." What?!

I found out the song is by Dev and is called "In the Dark." Just hearing that line made me think of several other songs I've heard recently that are explicitly about sex, and it made me think, "What happened to the art of subtlety?" Or, if not subtlety, at least the use of euphemisms or something.

What happened to great songs like "Crazy on You" by Heart? Listen to the lyrics of that song. It's definitely about a romantic, sexual relationship. Yet I don't feel awkward when I listen to it. Now, however, the songs that top the charts (at least on the "pop" stations) include lyrics such as:

"Let's have some fun, this beat is sick / I wanna take a ride on your disco stick" and "I'm educated in sex, yes / And now I want it bad" (from Lady Gaga's "Love Game.")

and

"Sex in the air / I don't care / I love the smell of it" (from Rihanna's "S&M")

One of my guy friends says he used to really like Rihanna until she started singing a ton of songs (overtly) about sex. I can see what he means when I hear her song "California King Bed," which actually sounds very pretty and is slightly more "subtle" despite the obvious implications of a song about a bed ... until she gets to this line:

"With the curtains drawn / And a little last night on these sheets"

Yuck!

How could whoever wrote that song ruin it that completely? Unless you are fervently trying to imagine that Rihanna is just talking about some ice cream she spilled in bed the night before when she was having a midnight snack, that line is enough to make almost anyone feel awkward and repulsed. Every time, I'm thinking "Oh, this song is kinda pretty," and then BAM! I feel like puking.

I find it sad that so many songwriters today have lost or abandoned their talent for crafting songs about the more intimate aspects of relationships that are still beautiful and subtle enough for listeners to enjoy without feeling like they are listening to an R-rated song.

"Let me go crazy, crazy on you ... / I was a willow last night in my dream /I bent down over a clear running stream /Sang you the song that I heard up above / And you kept me alive with your sweet flowing love."

"You Can Tell a Lot About a Culture ..."

"... by its language." It is true.

I am interested in the Welsh culture and language. I know a bit about Wales, but certainly not a ton. However, if I knew nothing about Wales whatsoever, the past few days of "research" I've done regarding words and names would have told me a lot.

1). Wales is located near the water. This is obvious when one looks at the sheer amount of words and names that have to do with water. Llyr means sea, llyn means lake, the suffix wy means river, rhys supposedly (according to some sites, but not my Welsh-English dictionary) means stream, dŵr means water. Likewise, SO many Welsh names have to do with water or the ocean. Morien means "sea-born" (and most other names with "mor" have something to do with the sea; Morgan, Morwen, etc), Dylan means "of the sea/ocean," Guinevere means "white wave," Merin also has to do with the sea, Cemlyn means "bent lake," Glyndwr means "valley of water," Merlin means "sea fort," and so on. Definitely not a surprise that Wales is surrounded by water on three sides.

2) The people of Wales probably were (and are) fair skinned. The words gwyn (masculine form) and gwen (feminine form) mean white, and used in names they can mean white, fair, or blessed. Though obviously the following names are only a sampling of Welsh names, notice the reoccurring theme of "white." Branwen means "white raven," Bronwen means "white-breasted," Guinevere (or Gwenevere) means "white wave," Morwen is "white sea," Lilwen means "white lily," Lynwen is "white vale," Meinwen means "slender and fair," Olwen is "white footprint," Prydwyn means "white complexion," Rhonwyn means "white lance," Sulwen means "white sun," Tangwyn means "white peace," Tanwen means "white fire," and Gweneth "white or fair." There are also a few names to do with red-hair; Rhydderch meaning "reddish-brown," and Griffin/Griffith meaning "reddish." What I was looking for in my "research" was a name that mean "dark-haired," or "dark" (not as in skin, but as in as opposed to fair and light). I could not find any. Apparently the Welsh were pretty fair-skinned.

Anyway, I know that this probably doesn't interest anyone but me, but I found it surprising how much information the names alone of a culture/language could hint at.

Misquotations: Avoid Them

Sometimes, a misquotation (especially one done on purpose) can be pretty funny. For example, the hilarious meme below:

However, in almost all other circumstances, a misquotation is annoying and potentially embarrassing. A few weeks ago, I was looking up some romance/love quotes from favorite novels of mine so that I could use them for scrapbooking or for other creative projects. I came across one that read "When I fall in love, it will be forever." The quote was attributed to Jane Austen, from her novel Sense and Sensibility. I have read the book, but it has been a while, so instead of wondering why that quote didn't immediately sound familiar, I assumed I just didn't remember it and went on with being excited to find such a perfect quote. 

It is simple yet powerful, and it states exactly how I feel. I had planned to use it on future wedding programs (when that time comes along). I'm not sure the exact site I found the quote on, but here is a likely one where the quote can be seen about halfway down the list of quotations, attributed to S&S: 

http://www.romantic-ideas-online.com/jane-austen-quotes.html.

Just the other day, as I was searching for some more Jane Austen quotes, I can across a different site which attributes the quote to "Sense and Sensibility The Screenplay;" http://www.goodreads.com/quotes/show/72339. Uh-oh, I thought. Maybe the quote is NOT from the novel, but from a screenplay, or a movie? I was slightly miffed, so I started looking stuff up. I looked up the screenplay, which was apparently written by Emma Thompson and became a movie in 1995 (starring her). I found the screenplay transcribed online and used control-F to search for the quote. It was not to be found. Then, I had my boyfriend help me search some more. We looked up Sense and Sensibility on Gutenberg, opened the HTML file, and used the magical control-F to search for the quote there. No luck. 

In fact, I'm pretty sure that the word "forever" is not even used one time in Sense and Sensibility.

So, now I am pretty annoyed. The super-awesome quote is NOT from the novel. It definitely should not be attributed to Jane Austen at all. And, I could not even find the quote in the screenplay, so now I am thinking the quote is ... I dunno, totally made up? I'm very upset, because I almost made a fool of myself (although nobody but me would have known) by using that quote and attributing it to Jane Austen.

What I'm thinking might possibly have happened is that when the screenplay became a movie, some lines were changed or added, and that quote got inserted. I really don't know that for sure, because I have not seen the 1995 movie. **If someone has, they should comment on this post and tell me whether the quote is in there or not, so I don't go nuts.** I could imagine that someone might have seen the movie, heard the quote, and VERY mistakenly assumed that the quote came straight from the novel, and therefore they posted it somewhere as a Jane Austen quote. I could see that happening, but it still makes me pretty annoyed. I didn't want a great movie quote, I wanted a great book quote, and my hopes were raised by misquoters and then cruelly dashed when I found out the truth!

Too Funny and Coincidental

As I tried to post the previous post about the poem, this error message came up:

Bhahahaha.

Now, I assume Matt must be the guy who runs Wordpress, but it was pretty darn funny that I had just tried to post something in which I mentioned Matt, my boyfriend, who is a tech-savvy nerd (I mean that in a good way!) and so my mind immediately jumped to him. I was like "What? That's hilarious! How did they do that?" Once I realized that Wordpress's error message was referring to a different Matt, it was still funny. What a coincidence.

The Mystery Poem

I want to include my readers in the newest adventure Matt and I are embarking upon--researching a mystery poem. Here's the background:

Our church library has been giving away old books for free on a table outside our Sunday School classroom. A couple of weeks ago, I snagged an awesome hardback copy of "Alice in Wonderland" that has check out dates spanning from the 40s to the 60s. There was also this book called "Via Vitae" (the way of life?) that looked cool, and sounded familiar, but I decided against it because I wasn't exactly sure what it was about, and in comparison to Alice, an obvious classic, it ended up being overlooked. But this past Sunday, Matt and I looked over the books again as we were leaving, and Matt picked that one up. He flipped to the back for some reason, and there on the blank pages of the end was a handwritten poem in classic cursive that looked totally vintage. Having to take some time to decipher a few words, we read the poem slowly, and I think it made an even bigger impression because of that. I will therefore post a scanned picture of the poem, and hopefully you will be able to read most of it from that, which I would encourage, before reading the typed out version that I will also post:

The Mystery Poem

I know, it's big. Otherwise it would be impossible to read. I don't know if you can click on it to open in a new page, since my blog is in columns and that might make it too small to see? Anyway, here is Matt's and my translation:

With You Away

They tell me that the spring still comes

Along her olden way,

As winsomely, as silverly

As Spring of yesterday;

That still beside the lilied pools

Her misty dryads play,

And Pan among the river reeds

Still flutes his Roundelay.

They tell me that the summer comes,

With all her throbbing stir of drums;

That still they watch the little rains

Go by on silver feet,

And see the curling, hissing winds

That skip along the wheat.

But, love my love, the silver June,

The wanton gold of May,

They fall on darkened eyes for me -

With you away!

They tell me that the autumn comes

In smoky amethyst,

With clouded, jeweled sullen days

Like opals in a mist;

That still the wild geese cleave the sky

With yearning, fleeing wings,

And overstrung, the shrill wind snaps

Like tightened violin strings

And then the winter comes, they say

Ice-fanged and lean and wolfish-gray;

And cruel-cold, they tell me, too,

For those outside the door,

When ruddy-warm the firelight drips

Like wine along the floor.

And listening, ah, love, my love

I smile at what they say,

What winters have they known like mine -

With you away?

The word "roundelay" gave us a little trouble, but we finally figured it out - a roundelay (from Rondelet perhaps, a type of poetry) is a sort of song.

Isn't it a gorgeous poem? Beautiful imagery, and in remembering the past year when Matt was away, it seemed like a poem written for us and the pain of missing someone dearly. I thought the poem sounded familiar, and certainly the style is, so Matt took the book home and tried to look it up.

We cannot find it anywhere.

There are lots of phrases in poetry that come close to some of these, but then, this poem references a lot of classic poetic themes, so that's not really a surprise. I had a suspicion when I first saw it that it might be original, but ... it is just so good! It is hard to believe such a great poem, in my opinion, has lasted so long undiscovered, but you know, that even kind of adds to the romance. I like to imagine that either a man wrote this poem in the back of the book when he gave it to the woman he loved and was going to be away from for a time, or, a woman missing her love jotted it there while reading the book.

More information about the book itself and our speculations on who might have written the mystery poem:

The book was written by S. Slater Jr. in 1917, and our copy has a handwritten date inside--February 23, 1918. The name on the front page says Mary Esther Bacon, and we assume she wrote the poem (the handwriting looks similar, although I also like the idea that a guy wrote it for her in the back of the book). Also in the book was a little slip of paper. It is a paper encouraging people to give money to United War Work Campaign. It has a letter printed on the back from President Woodrow Wilson from September 3, 1918, encouraging support of troops, and it says that the Vermont quota is $471, 705. I'm not sure how our book got from Vermont to Missouri and to our church library!

I'm very excited about our mystery poem and wanted to share it with everyone. I think the poem is just awesome. Now, maybe my judgment is a little skewed because this poem offered such a nice reprieve from the depressing stuff in my American Realists and Naturalists class and Modern American Poetry (which I love but can also be depressing in large amounts), but Matt thought it was a beautiful poem too, and I hope you all like it too. I'm going to show the poem to my poetry professor tomorrow, I think. I'll get back to you if I find out anything interesting regarding the mystery of our poem!

Thanks for reading,

Elizabeth

An Interview with Aaron Lewis

The author is privileged to an exclusive interview with Aaron Lewis, formerly of the band Staind, who has recently recorded a country EP. His song "Country Boy" has been released to radio stations.

ME: So, I've heard your song, "Country Boy," a couple of times now. Now, I don't mean to be rude, but honestly, it doesn't strike me as a country song at all. What made you decide to enter this genre of music after your long-time stint as a rock/grunge artist?

AL: Well, the lyrics of the song say it all. I'm a country boy at heart, and I just wanted to get back to that and be true to myself.

ME: Uh-huh ... well, as I said, this song hardly strikes me as a country song, despite the lyrics and title.

AL: Why?

ME: Okay, well, first of all, the style of music you use in the song ... obviously you have been influenced by your time in the band Staind, but I won't lie, the first time I heard your new song I thought I was hearing an0ther Nickelback song being erroneously mistaken for a country/rock song.

AL: Well, that's just my style, you know? I mean, there are so many different styles of country music. You've got Hank Williams, uh, Willie Nelson, Keith Urban, you know, lots of different styles.

ME: [nodding] That's very true. However ... well, since you bring up Hank Williams, I noticed that in your song, you say "and Hank taught me how to stay alive ... and as a country boy I know I can survive." I gotta say, when I hear that, I just don't believe you.

AL: What?

ME: Well, I mean, it's just ... the way you sing it. I just can't believe Hank Williams had any influence on your style of music. I mean, Hank is classic country, and though he's influenced a great many country singers who obviously don't sing just like he does ... your music is just so ... well, not country at all. I mean, you can't just shout out a tribute to Hank Williams in a song and expect to automatically be the next greatest country singer.

AL: Okay, so my music doesn't fit the genre, you say. But what about the lyrics?

ME: I was hoping you wouldn't bring that up.

AL: Why?

ME: Well, they're terrible. Please tell me you wrote them yourself and did not pay a professional songwriter to write them.

AL: ...

ME: I mean, I assume you thought that as long as you had all the stereotypical "country" topics in your song it would turn out good. You have patriotism, drinking, smoking, farmland, hunting, and the idea of a country boy going to the big city to become famous and being told to change ... topics found in a lot of great country songs ... it's just that your lyrics are so badly written that your song comes out so corny. Now, don't get me wrong, a lot of pretty decent country songs are a little silly or corny. Take Brad Paisley. He's got lots of silly songs ...  but they turn out pretty good anyway because he doesn't take himself as seriously as you do in your song. You sound so melancholy and ... oh so serious.

AL: Uh ... well [laughing nervously] I think we've gotten back to the style of the song, not the lyrics.

ME: You're right. I apologize. The lyrics. Well, take this section for example:

"Now two flags fly above my land / That really sum up how I feel / One's the colors that fly high and proud / The red, the white, the blue / The other one's got a rattlesnake with a simple statement made / "Don't tread on me," that's what it says / and I'll take that to my grave."

It's like ... just a statement, but not even artfully written. And it doesn't even really rhyme. Now, of course, songs don't have to rhyme, but it surprises me that this section doesn't after you specifically pronounce the word "four" as "fo" so that it rhymes with "know" earlier in the song. And "a simple statement made ... that's what it says," that's just so ... blah. I've never really listened to much Staind, but my friends who have describe your tone as "meh, meh, meh," as if you are always complaining about something and being sullen, which is sort of what this song sounds like. But, you are singing, supposedly, about your heritage and identity -- why do you sound so sad? And let me tell y0u, you may think you are adding the quintessential country song line when you say "I rarely drink from the bottle but I smoke a little weed," but man, you're wrong. Not everyone from the country smokes or drinks.

AL: Well, you know, I was just trying to be true to my roots.

ME: Okay, I understand that, I just think either your roots are not "country," or you did a terrible job representing the country genre. Probably just the latter, if that makes you feel better.

AL: It doesn't.

ME: I figured.

AL: Mm.

ME: ... In preparation for this interview, I noticed you have a song entitled "Bonghits for Breakfast" that you wrote prior to your change to country music. Is that what I think it is about?

AL: Yes ... see, that's why I put the weed part in, cause that's me, that's some of the stuff I do---

ME: Okay, well, I'm just saying ... just because some other country singers who we'll not mention have 

written songs about smoking weed does NOT mean mentioning the topic in one line will make your song sound "country."

AL: Well, it sounded good in the other song ...

ME: Also, I dislike that the line in the beginning about your grandfather being a drinker ends with "but war is known to change a man / And whiskey's known to change a man." I don't think that's a very good explanation ... and could you not think of anything else to say but "change a man" again? Couldn't you just say "but war and whiskey can change a man," and then say something else, maybe?

AL: Sorry.

ME: Me too. Well, I just have a few more questions ... first of all ... did you get that signature singing style from your time in Staind? You know, where you hold out the final vowel sound at the end of every line for a long time and then drop down a couple of notes and hold it some more? Like, in the last line of the chorus: "And a country boy is all I'll ever be----_ _ _ _."

AL: Well, yeah.

ME: Mm. Okay. Very unoriginal. Now that we've established that your song is, at least in my opinion, unworthy of being played on country stations ... how in the world did you get George Jones and Charlie Daniels to do it with you?  I mean, did they record their parts before they heard you sing it, or something, or were they just really in need of a job?

AL: I dunno. My manager had the idea. Thought it would help "country-up" my song."

ME: Well, that obviously didn't work.

AL: Obviously.

ME: Okay. Last question. To satisfy my own curiosity, why did your previous band lack an "e" in the name? Or, if you know, why do so many rock/grunge bands spell their names incorrectly, I mean, there's Korn, Puddle of Mudd ... what's with that?

AL: I dunno about them, but I just misspelled it once accidentally and thought it looked cool.

ME: All right. Well, thanks for your honesty and uh ... hope any future songs are more ... true to the country form if that's what you are trying for.

*The author really doesn't know anything about Aaron Lewis, she just knows she doesn't like hearing him on her country radio station when he obviously doesn't sing country music and his newest song just makes her feel depressed.