Out of the Best Books

I'm a member of goodreads.com where I go to keep a list of books that I would like to read and get reviews and good reading recommendations from friends. Today on their home page they had a list of books that had been voted into the "Best Books Ever" category. There were five books listed, they were, To Kill a Mockingbird, The Book of Mormon, Pride and Predjudice, Twilight, and The Lord of the Rings trilogy. The fact that Twilight made the list might lessen the distinction for the other four, but it was based on readers' votes and the people have spoken. I'm happy to say that I've read them all and, with the possible exception of Twilight (no offense to all those fans out there--evidently there are many of you) I can highly recommend each one.

Here's a bit of trivia from the site's homepage as well:

In Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales, the character of Chanticleer is a...

a) con artist
b) rooster

c) knight

d) fox

"Don't cry because it's over, smile because it happened."

--Dr. Seuss

PS The answer is B

Happy Father's Day!

Today was Spencer's first Father's Day. We celebrated with a pint from our favorite gelato shop. He is such a great dad and it is so much fun watching him with Eliot. He calls him "Mister Machine," "Little Man," "This Boy," and a number of other little names. Today he showed me that Eliot loves it when you make a buzzing sound like a bee (fyi) and bravely takes on the poopiest of diapers. Spencer is better at this daddy business than he ever thought and just as fantastic as I always knew he'd be.

How Does Your Garden Grow?

I was reading the other day about gardening and they quoted a woman who said that gardening is "incredibly messy, ruins your hands, wears holes in the knees of your jeans, ends up costing 40 times more than you think it will, sucks up whole weekends in a single gulp, takes over your dreams, and frequently breaks your heart." With such a bleak outlook, who would even hazard an attempt at gardening? Probably those who love to eat cherry tomatoes right off the vine, still warm from the sun. Or those who love the smell of fresh mint in the evening. Perhaps those who find it hugely therapeutic to let their minds wander as they pull weeds, or who pore over gardening magazines and newspaper articles about heirloom tomatoes even when they haven't a square inch of land to cultivate (that would be me). I can sympathize with the woman who was quoted above because gardening can certainly do and be all of those things. But I love it anyway. And I guess if you want to experience those earthy, soul-stirring joys like those that come from seeing the contrasting color of a row of sprouting bean plants against moist, black earth, hearing a baby laugh, or a child say "I love you," you have to roll up your sleeves and really get in there, regardless of what may happen to your jeans.