Shantaram

The ending paragraph of an extraordinary book.
"For this is what we do. Put one foot forward and then the other. Lift our eyes to the snarl and smile of the world once more. Think. Act. Feel. Add our little consequence to the tides of good and evil that flood and drain the world. Drag our shadowed crosses into the hope of another night. Push our brave hearts into the promise of a new day. With love: the passionate search for a truth other than our own. With longing: the pure, ineffable yearning to be saved. For so long as fate keeps waiting, we live on. God help us. God forgive us. We live on."

Shantaram tells the story of criminal who escapes from a prison in Australia and makes his way to Bombay. He dwells in the shadowed underworld of crime, but on his journey meets some incredible people whom he comes to love and he nearly sacrifices his life for them.
Some of the harsh reality and violence reminded me a little of James Frey's story, A Million Little Pieces, only in reverse. Shantaram is a novel, based on the true life story of the author, Gregory David Roberts, as opposed to Frey's 'true story' which really turned out to be a novel.
It's a heavy book, both literally (936 pages) and figuratively. Philosophy plays a large role in the story. "The only kingdom that makes any man a king is the kingdom of his own soul. The only power that has any real meaning is the power to better the world."
"Sometimes, we see the past so clearly, and read the legend of its parts with such acuity, that every stitch of time reveals its purpose, and a kind of message is enfolded in it. Nothing in any life, no matter how well or poorly lived, is wiser than failure or clearer than sorrow. And in the tiny, precious wisdom that they give to us, even those dread and hated enemies, suffering and failure, have their reason and their right to be.'

I'm so grateful to Mary for recommending this book to me. I know it will stay with me longer than most.

Never too young to learn the joy of chocolate!

Alleluia

Here she is - the beautiful Larkin Grace Deinhammer!

Too much fun to pass up

Here's the link:
onlinesillinessclass

Thanks, DJ for the tip!

Lucky Mimi, spending the day with her girls!

Slideshow design personalized with Smilebox

Carolina Chocolate Drops

my new favorite group - maybe i'll come home saying y'all too.

Carolina Chocolate Drops - Going Down the Road Feeling Bad

here's another

America meets the Daisies

This picture slideshow personalized with Smilebox

Julie Fei-Fan Balzer Shares Zentangle Tips

back to zentangling today - join me!

my other blog

just put a bunch of photos of recently finished projects on my other blog heartsdelight

this is the one I'm most proud of:


it took me a while to figure out how I wanted to finish it, but got great ideas from this book:


Lesley Riley was an instructor at An Artful Journey, the fabulous retreat Davi and I attended in Los Gatos.

On my daily walks I secretly plan my own 'knit and run'

West Cape May authorities and residents are on the lookout for an unknown person, dubbed The Midnight Knitter, according to The Press of Atlantic City.
When darkness falls, the mystery knitter takes to the streets of the shore town and covers tree branches and lampposts with little sweaters.
Yes, you read that right, little sweaters.
And the knitter (or knitters) are displaying their wooly work on Facebook and a Web site.
Although residents and the town’s mayor agree that the colorful patterns are captivating and better than graffiti, the handiwork is illegal.
“We don’t know who it is,” Mayor Pam Kaithern told The Press. “Technically, they shouldn’t be doing it. The police are asking about it, but it’s fun and it’s a mystery.”
The town’s main concern? That when the yarn becomes faded, the cozy creations be taken down.
Wow, if this is West Cape May’s most pressing unsolved mystery, we’re thinking it’s time to move there.

Here's the book I'll get my pattern from:

An Unusual Read

Long a fan of epistolary novels, most notably:
A Woman of Independent Means by Elizabeth Forsythe Hailey
Daddy Long Legs by Jean Webster,
Griffin and Sabine by Nick Bantok
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society by Annie Barrows
Ella Minnow Pea by Mark Dunn
I was delighted to discover Homeland.

It's a series of letters written during the Civil War between a woman living on a small island in Maine, whose husband, a Tennessean, feels compelled to join the Confederate Army to preserve his homeland, and a friend in Tennessee who is a strong anti-secessionist. There are many twists in the plot, but overall a strong testament to friendship AND the power of books to provide escape from the horrors of war (and depression I might add). "This is what they do for us, both books and friends: they remind us what it is to be human. As you wrote to me, they are the window into sunlight, even if we ourselves are shut in the dark."

Lila Rose is growing up!

Attn: all pray-ers

This sweet little one year old, Mikey, is suffering from a serious infection.
He's been receiving chemo treatments, and doing well but, as sometimes happens, he developed a serious infection at the chemo port site. If you are a prayer, please say one for Mikey and all the Vanis family.

Prayer from today's Magnificat

O God, You have loved us without our deserving it. You have forgiven us without our earning it. You have blessed us when we could not bless you. Grant us the grace to love as we have been loved, through Christ our Lord. Amen.

The Outliers

Not being a fan of nonfiction I was surprised by how much I enjoyed The Outliers, The Story of Success by Malcolm Gladwell.

I learned (and actually retained) a great deal about how people get to the top of their game. It turns out to be a combination of luck, i.e., being born in the right year or even in the right month of the year or in the right place of the right parents AND hard hard work, up to 10,000 hours of hard work. I found it fascinating.

Here's an article on Laurie's new line from Style.
Can't wait to see it for myself!
This proud mama's bustin' her buttons!

Rebuilding Equipment
February 17, 2010 3:45 pm

Once upon a time in the late seventies, Christian Restoin—the longtime partner of Carine Roitfeld—married the aesthetics of Network and disco with a line of breezy silk menswear-styled shirts for women called Equipment. Throughout the eighties and nineties, they were the linchpin day-to-night item in a smart city girl’s wardrobe. For a label to shutter because of family and business politics, as happened here, is a familiar nineties story. But it’s a promising one Equipment’s telling for the aughts: The line relaunches for Spring 2010.

Last night, Becka Diamond hosted the long-awaited unveiling at Saks, where designers Rebecca Minkoff and Victor Glemaud and stylist Keegan Singh stopped by to check out the action. Serge Azria—brother of Max, owner of Current/Elliott and Joie, and now informal “guardian” of Equipment—attended both the cocktail party and the intimate dinner that followed at Indochine. “Everyone here is too young to remember the original line,” he said, gesturing at the youthful attendees around him. “But ask your mothers—they will remember Equipment! And I guarantee you they loved it.” He reveals that Restoin, who remains connected to the newly relaunched brand, has kept every Equipment shirt ever created in his Paris archives—all 3,500 of them. Meanwhile, the 135 new Equipment styles do the brand’s “new vintage” legacy justice and integrate seamlessly into the tailored, menswear-inspired trends hitting New York’s runways this week. That’s something mothers and daughters alike can appreciate.

Equipment is currently available exclusively at Saks, and will come to Barneys later this spring.
—Colleen Nika
tags: Becka Diamond, Christian Restoin, Current/Elliott, Equipment, Joie, Keegan Singh, Rebecca Minkoff, Serge Azria, Victor Glemaud

Noah's Compass

Since all I've been doing is reading, it's hard to believe that I only have one book to recommend and I only recommend it with reservations.
Some of Anne Tyler's books have been so pertinent in my life, particularly Back When We were Grownups and Ladder of Years, so I had high hopes for Noah's Compass. I have to say it only fed my depression instead of easing it. It's the story Liam, a 'laid-off' aging teacher with no real connection to his family and no meaning in his life.
Early on he is attacked in his bed and has no memory of the incident. "This was not his true self, he wanted to say. This was not who he really was. His true self had gone away from him and had a crucial experience without him and failed to come back afterward." Those words seem to describe my own self as well.
The title comes from a discussion with his four year old grandson about Noah not needing a compass. "...Noah didn't need to figure out directions, because the whole world was underwater and so it made no difference." That little bit alone didn't justify.
Liam begins to find some joy and meaning in his life, but this too is pulled out from under him. I had a hard time feeling anything other than pity. While there are several parts in the book I could've, might've cried, I didn't, which is telling in itself.
My final thought would be, don't bother.

A great read about an amazing woman!

Although The Glass Castle, by Jeannette Walls, came highly recommended to me and it's been sitting on my nightstand forever I never had the courage to read it since I knew the subject matter would be depressing. It deals with her, dare I say, horrible childhood.

Half Broke Horses is almost a prequel because it tells the story of her grandmother in a bio/novel style. It was a very engaging read, and while Lily never had an easy life she took the cards that were dealt to her and made them work, a theme that runs through the book. It's a story of courage, joy, sadness, all the elements of a great book!

I plan to start The Glass Castle today.