Tom Swifties

As you can see from my Shelfari (which has been moved to the left-hand side of the screen), one of the many books I'm currently reading is Sleeping Freshmen Never Lie, by David Lubar. Being the nerdy word people that we are in my family, I immediately keyed in on the "Tom Swifties" from Chapter 5. Here's a little background:

One of the most popular series from long ago was Tom Swift. The key
thing about Tom, for our purposes, was that he never just said
anything. the writer was always ramping thing up. Tom would 'exclaim
surprisedly' or 'shout vigorously.'

Tom's speech habits became so well known that people started making fun of
them. it turned into a word game. (34)

Here are a few Tom Swifties from Sleeping Freshmen:

"I'd like a hot dog," Tom said frankly.
"Stop this horse," Tom said haltingly.
"They're building new apartments down the road," Tom said constructively. (34)

If nothing else, they're an exercise in adverb use. Although, I did hear once, in one of my creative writing classes, that if writers are using many adverbs, then they're not using the right verbs. Nevertheless, I found Tom Swifties to be interesting.

Some fun ones that my family came up with:

• "That's my underwear," Tom said briefly.
• "I suppose you want some ice cream," she spat coldly.
• "Nemo's my movie," she said selfishly.

Isn't that fun? Try your own.

All quotes from Lubar, D. 2005. Sleeping Freshmen Never Lie. New York: Speak.

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I was introduced to Shelfari at the New Mexico Library Association (NMLA) conference in Albuquerque.

Dread Locks

The first YA lit book I've read in a while is Dread Locks, part of Neal Shusterman's Dark Fusion series. In this particular novel, Shusterman fuses Goldilocks and the Three Bears (Baers) with the story of the gorgon Medusa.



So far, a bored teenager has befriended the kooky girl who just moved in next door, who has golden ringlets that often seem alive, and a thing for dark reflective sunglasses. No doubt, Tara, the girl, is supposed to be a gorgon, most likely the gorgeous one who offends Athena, though I'm not sure yet how much of the mythology is infused in the novel. She does have two sisters, however, but they're away shopping in Europe.



The meet-cute for the two main characters, Parker Baer (sound like 'bear' anyone?) and Tara whose last name is French and more than I can remember off the top of my head, is one that Tara describes as "memorable," and I am inclined to agree with her. Chapter two, when Parker comes hom from riding around on his motorcross bike, his father is roaring something akin to "Who's been sitting in my chair?" A chair that is designed and adjusted to support Mr. Baer's back problems and has since been moved. Then, at breakfast, Parker's younger sister Katrina cries about someone having eaten her cereal. Of course, since Parker is our main character, the climax of the scene comes when he runs out of his room, in search of his father because "someone's been sleeping in my bed." And clearly is still there.

It is Tara's sunglasses that interest me the most. In the myth, it is the gaze of Medusa that turns anyone who comes up against her into stone. There are many statues in Tara's house, but she wears these reflective sunglasses all the time. I gather that she is relatively old; she said she came from Crete, and the sunglasses are an effective way for her to be part of society, claiming (and rightfully so) to have sensitive eyes.

Stay tuned for more adventures of Tara and Baby Baer...

The Bible Supports Gay Marriage (NewsWeek)

Miller, L. (December 15, 2008). "Our Mutual Joy." Found in Newsweek.

What I love about the gay marriage and religion conflict when it comes to government legislation is that people conveniently forget that by virtue of the first amendment, people are afforded freedom of religion. By making said issue a religious issue, a Christian agenda is being forcibly imposed on a nation that is supposed to be able to believe whatever they want.

The counter argument can be made that the religious folks who speak out against gay marriage are simply exercising their first amendment right to free speech, which I cannot disagree with. However, what I can disagree with is the fact that they want these religious beliefs, a specific set of beliefs that not everyone in the nation is compelled to share, to dictate public policy. They can also argue that the country was founded on Christian values, with the Founding Fathers deliberately invoking God in their writings. Of course, some early American history professors would disagree with this argument, reminding those debaters that not only were the first immigrants fleeing persecution (much like what the LGBT community is fighting now), but the Founding Fathers were not Christians, but in fact deists who believed in a supreme being deemed God, but rejected ideas such as prophecy and miracles in favor of reason.

I think I may have gone off on a tangent there and ceased to effectively convey my train of thought even though it makes sense to me on second read. I also think the argument might be incomplete, but for the moment I have nothing else to add.

Call of the Wild

This is going to be a poor excuse for a post, but I couldn't go without mentioning that I recently finished Call of the Wild. It reminded me of an animalistic version of Lord of the Flies. This connection makes me wonder (since I read during silent reading time in the classes I teach, I didn't look for analyises on the internet) if the novel is a commentary on the regression of human nature.

Hiatus

The title of the post says it all. Grad school's demanding, and there's little time right now for recreational reading. Or recreational writing. Hopefully I'll have some time to post over the weekend, but I can't make promises. For right now, I'm going to have to say that school takes precedence and when the summer session's over, I'll be back.

The Red Candle

From The Joy Luck Club

I'm choosing to skip this one if only because there's a recent post about self-awareness, which is also the major thematic idea of this particular short story. I do want to point out the similarities between Lindo and Danny (The Chosen). One, they found themselves in silence: Danny in the silent relationship with his father and Lindo in following the orders of her new family. Additionally, they realized the importance of what their parents asked them to do but did not allow the obedience they were obliged to give to their parents, whether because of the Commandments or because of honor, overwhelm their own sense of self. That's huge. That's saying, I can do what my parents ask of me and still have space left over to be who I am and no one can take that away from me no matter what.