Seldom has any movie left me feeling as good as the book upon which it was based. When Judie Brunson told me that The Handmaid's Tale was a series on Hulu, it totally made me reject the idea of watching it or of asking the boys to watch it. Some of the books used in my master's thesis would definitely not make good movies, and that would have been the second to worst. The book "S" was bad enough without thinking about a movie that might come out of it. Looking it up online, it reminded me of what my professor said to me about being mature enough to read just about anything by Updike. My answer to him was that my stomach could not handle some of the garbage he shifted around in his stories.
S. is supposed to be ". . . Hester Prynne’s side of the triangle described by Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter; it is also a burlesque of the quest for enlightenment, and an affectionate meditation on American womanhood." Yeah, so much for the description of the book on the internet. This one was used in the thesis because it was supposed to be based on the same kind of messages that Hawthorne found in the Custom House. And The Handmaid's Tale was similarly based on the lack of personality allowed to women in that world order. All three stories gave women nothing of choices and standing in their respective worlds. Now my choices for the boys' reading will include Nineteen Eighty-four and Fahrenheit 451. Here's hoping my memory of these two books is not so off that we will not be able to get through them easily. Perhaps ONE copy of each might be better in the long run since my old brain has become so forgetful. Sometimes life is all in the details--good or bad.
The boys came today since they were unable to come yesterday. We worked on some grammar and some vocabulary. We also talked about the first two "chapters" in The Scarlet Letter. Let's face it; that first chapter was ONE page. Anyway, earlier the feed store man threw three bags of feed in the back of my truck. The boys put that in the bins for me. They are really great guys! Their parents should be commended for having such polite and thoughtful children.
Sylvia keeps walking up to me and wanting something, but my mind is just not open enough to dog thoughts tonight to figure it out. And, apparently, Thompson is too tired to care one way or the other. He reminds me of an old man. He still gets a little wild once in a while, but generally everything is copesetic as far as he is concerned. Maybe that is the best way for most of us.
Got a message on FB from a classmate wanting me to join some kind of Republic something or other. Nope. Don't like Messenger to begin with, and "joining" anything is for the birds. Most of the newer organizations are going to be out there in the far left, right, rear, or wherever the heck they are saying they are. They don't need a stubborn ol' woman to tell them where they are off or getting weirder, so will not join any organization--don't care how "patriotic" it might sound. This is one reason that not everyone is invited to read this blog. Don't want anyone to think that because someone comments on my posts, their beliefs reflect mine. Nope. Not happening.
Still not reading all the emails in my box. Have just about tired out of thinking about all the garbage that is out there right now. Sorry to see so many deaths in one country after another or one state or the other. Sorry to hear of mass shootings or political coups or any other disturbance that causes people to lose their jobs or lives. The pictures of flowers, birds, kittens, goats, and such are about the only good things on FB right now. Once in a while the scenery pictures appeal to me. But let's face it, life is pretty much what we make of it. Seems it has always been that way.
Looked up social security act on the internet today. Seems that it started in 1935 during Roosevelt's administration to help little ol' widows, the disabled, and orphaned children. The amount taken from wage earners pay was supposed to be minimal and never taxed as they earned credits toward a retirement account. Well, hello! The government did not take long to "borrow" from those funds--and then tax them. Argh! So what we really have now is something of a shell game. Borrowing from Peter to pay Paul will only work as long as there are plenty of Peters and not too many Pauls. And now that we are living longer, the Paul side of the ledger is increasing faster than the Peter side. About the only way to avoid being a Peter is to bow out of the wage game altogether. Bartering is not the easiest way to live, but eventually it may become the only way to make it if the government continues to press for higher taxes on every freaking element in our lives. Stay at home or pay for gasoline taxes, car tags (another tax), water taxes, land use taxes, or any of the plethora of ways that the government can yank our chains. Sad, just sad. And now the reason for reading Nineteen Eighty-four.
Need to remember to call my grands tomorrow and remind them that it is Mother's Day this Sunday. It used to be easy to forget that, but they need to remember their moms. Have a great group of kids, but Jennifer and Tracy have been there for their kids all the way! All we can really do after they get to be teenagers is just pray for them. They are going to make their own decisions and moms just have to pray that the kids understand why their decisions matter so much. Wish it had not been so difficult for me at that age. Or maybe it was not really that difficult and it just seemed that way. Life is definitely a challenge.
Wearing shorts this afternoon. Looked at the weather forecast for the next few days--86, 90 for the next couple of days, and then it will go to 80, 67, and 62 this next week. Nothing like a change of weather to make things interesting!
Sylvia is not happy. She wants me to go outside. Not sure why, but it is the least that her "mom" can do. She is such a sweetheart.
Here's hoping that all of you know that we have protection from our Father in heaven. May you rest well in that conviction. You are loved.
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