About Me

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I am a retired English teacher and department head, the mother of three grand mother of four, and have been married to the same man for 52 years. I subscribe to Dr. PM Forni's concept of Civility. I was born in South Philadelphia and grew up in the 'burbs. I love soft pretzels and cheesesteaks, the Phillies, the Eagles, and San Diego. I love being Mom, Aunt Kathy, Nona Kathy, and Teacher. I spend a lot of time in my gardens in the spring and summer, and in the winter I plan what I'm going to plant. I also am an avid reader and photographer.

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Saturday, January 23, 2010

Ramblings In The Wee Hours

It's unusual for me to be unable to fall asleep.  Normally, I'm out before my proverbial head hits the pillow, but tonight sleep evades me.  So here I am at 12:33 on a Friday night. I finished reading John Irving's latest book:  Last Night In Twisted River a few minutes ago.  It was quite interesting.  Not as powerful as A Prayer For Owen Meany but complex and beautifully written.  I taught APFOM right before I retired; I consider it my swan song.  Nobody can foreshadow like John Irving can;  sometimes subtle and sometimes not so much, and when the pieces come together, I sit back amazed -- it's like looking at an intricate quilt or a Rube Goldberg game. You know  -- the ones that are cause and effect dominated?  The ball runs down a shoot that causes a trap door to close and a bucket tips over, and so on.... Damn, I wish I could write like that. 
Well now it's almost 1:00 AM.  I think I'll try sleep again.

11 comments:

Cheryl said...

A Prayer For Owen Meany is one of my all time favorites. It's been a while since a book has made such an impact on me. You never forget the best of them.

Hope you caught up on your sleep. Happy Day!

Purple Flowers said...

No surprise - A Prayer for Owen Meany is one of my favorites. That book brought me to tears as I turned the pages. Very thought provoking too.

Two Minute Takes said...

Sorry that you couldn't sleep but happy that it made you post an entry once again! You could not have chosen a better "swan song." Few books have made me feel the way APFOM did, both while reading it and for sometime after. The Kite Runner was another. Have a nice weekend!

Jay said...

I usually get up and get on the computer when I can't sleep too. I used to just toss and turn and try to force myself to go to sleep. But, now I don't fight it. I figure if I get on the computer my eyes will get tired and I'll be able to sleep soon enough. It usually works.

Gilly said...

Must be the time of year 0 I can't get to sleep and when I do, I keep waking up!

Eyes are too tired to read, but brain keeps dashing around.

Lena said...

Hmmm I think I will have to read APFOM, I will add it to the long list I have already.

happyone said...

Haven't read that one. I'll have to make my reading list longer!!
Hope you ended up getting a good nights sleep.

Sweet Virginia Breeze said...

Kathy, I hope you managed to get some sleep. I have Last Night in Twisted River in ebook form. Hope to get to it before long.

jane said...

it´s on my list. i think i´ll have to move it up. happy weekend and sweet dreams.

KathyA said...

親愛的項鍊,
感謝你訪問我的博客。
你對此有何評論一兩句一俳句?這是非常有趣。凱西

Ruth Hull Chatlien said...

I hope you've been sleeping well since then.