Lost Songs: "I Touch Myself" by the Divinyls the blame-this-one-on-kfog edition

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LOST SONGS: Finding and writing about songs I haven't heard in at least three years.

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This was on the radio a couple nights ago which normally would disqualify it from consideration, but it's been stuck on replay in my internal jukebox ever since, so I'm hoping this post might exorcise it. I hadn't heard it in at least three years before Monday.

I spent a lot of time in high school trying to convince myself this song wasn't about masturbation, but I'm not going to play that game anymore. It's unquestionably about masturbation. She's not just touching her cheek and imagining he's the one doing it. Alas.

Anyway, this lil 1991 number seems like the missing link between 80s music and 90s music (my paper is forthcoming in Nature) and it's every bit as catchy as it was when I was 15.

I'm multitasking as I write this, listening to cover versions and the more I listen to those covers, the more I believe that "I Touch Myself" did build some sort of bridge.

Now, I don't want to oversimplify this---we could make a long list of songs that helped ease the 80s into the 90s (and that's ignoring truly disruptive changes like Nevermind)---but I think this song needs to be part of the conversation.

So my question for you is: what over songs helped move us from the 80s to the 90s?

(And how many years will it take this time for "I Touch Myself" to get out of heavy rotation in my mind?)

Lost Songs: "Queen Of My Double Wide Trailer" by Sammy Kershaw

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[LOST SONGS: Songs I love that I haven't heard in at least three years.]

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I told you in the inaugural edition of this series would likely include a goodly amount of 90s country (most of which, for the record, I hate-hate-hated . . . but the songs I liked I loved). In fact, as soon as I thought of "Straight Tequila Night" I knew I had to write about this song as well.

Nowadays I know the real lyrics, but for years, I was merely close:

So I made her the queen of my double-wide trailer
with the polyester curtains and the grape snowcone

So close.

I am a bit annoyed that The Official Video has Sammy Kershaw complaining about making the video. But, on the other hand, I kinda like that as well.

See what you think.

Remember when I said I did not seem to be reading much in the way of comics this year?

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074) Level Up by Gene Luen Yang and Thien Pham, finished November 23

I see two possibilities:

1. Yang has stories best represented by other artists' work.

2. His mind is so fertile and explosive he doesn't have time to draw everything he writes.

I suspect both may be true.

This particular book is about a kid struggling between his desire to be a competitive gamer and his father's desire that he become a gastroenterologist all wrapped up in a Pac-Man metaphor. With an ending maybe too perfect but, frankly, earned all the same. Color me impressed.

May Yang remain ever too filled with ideas.

evening



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073) The Adventures of Mr. Obadiah Oldbuck by Rodolphe Töpffer, finished November 21

Original title: Histoire de M. Vieux Bois
Credited author/pirate: Timothy Crayon

Arguably the first modern comic, I'd never bothered looking for this book assuming it wouldn't have aged well, but Goethe was right! This is funny stuff! Go read it now. Dartmouth's put it up for free!

I don't know enough about the comic to say how much liberty Crayon took, but I do know the translation gets the funny right. That's gotta count for something.

evening



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072) The Eternal Smile by Gene Luen Yang and Derek Kirk Kim finished probably November 21

Much like Yang's better known American Born Chinese, the stories in The Eternal Smile provide untrue stories that lead to better understanding of the real world. Stories one and two begin in falsehood and deliver us to reality. Story three is more interesting in that it begins in the real world and the protagonist makes an intentional move into fantasy in order to have the sort of epiphany the other characters were forced into after being kicked out of the Matrix. Which isn't to say it's the most successful of the three stories, but it is the most complex.

All three stories are delightful and all three engage entirely different styles of art and have different things to say, but all deal with layers of reality and perception. Nice stuff. Worth a read.

daylight



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071) The Clouds Above by Jordon Crane, finished probably November 19

I loved this. It was like a color version of Tony Millionaire's books for kids, only without the threatening, oppressive surrealism his work often contains. Good stuff.

a very short time



Previously in 2012 . . . . :


Read the review of 70.
070) Byuck by Theric Jepson, finished November 17

Read the review of 68-69.
069) Pork Pie Hat by Peter Straub, finished November 16
068) Off Season ("The Author's Uncut, Uncensored Version!") by Jack Ketchum, finished November 14

Read the review of 67.
067) Up the Down Staircase by Bel Kaufman, finished November 6

Read the reviews of 61-66.
066) Nurse Nurse by Katie Skelly, finished November 3
065) Best American Comics 2012 edited by Françoise Mouly, finished November 3
064) Everything We Miss by Luke Pearson, finished November 1
063) Amulet: Prince of the Elves by Kazu Kibuishi, finished October 30
062) Amulet: The Last Council by Kazu Kibuishi, finished October 25
061) iPlates: Volume One by Stephen Carter and Jett Atwood, finished October 22

Read the reviews of 57-61.
061) Amulet: The Cloud Searchers by Kazu Kibuishi, finished October 14
060) Amulet: The Stonekeeper's Curse by Kazu Kibuishi, finished October 13
059) Amulet: The Stonekeeper by Kazu Kibuishi, finished October 10
058) Feedback by Robison Wells, finished October 9
057) Mormons in the Media, 1830-2012 by Jared Farmer, finished October 8

Read the review of 56.
056) The Garden of the World by Lawrence Coates, finished October 5

Read the reviews of 52-55.
055) The Skin I'm In by Sharon G. Flake, finished September 27
054) Lote That Dog by Sharon Creech, finished September 25
053) Hate That Cat by Sharon Creech, finished September 24
052) Wormwood, Gentleman Corpse: It Only Hurts When I Pee by Ben Templesmith, finished September 24

Read the reviews of 49-51.
051) The Zabîme Sisters by Aristophane, finished September 20
050) Little Death by Thomas Kriebaum, finished September 16
049) God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater by Kurt Vonnegut, finished September 11

Read the reviews of 44-48.
048) American Nerd: The Story of My People by Benjamin Nugent, finished September 7
047) Powers by Brian Michael Bendis and Michael Avon Oeming, finished September 6
046) Simply Science by a number of authors and illustrators for All Aboard Reading, finished September 5
045) Bonk: The Curious Coupling of Science and Sex by Mary Roach, finished September 3
044) The Strange Case of the Walking Corpse: A Chronicle of Medical Mysteries, Curious Remedies, and Bizarre but True Healing Folklore by Nancy Butcher, finished August 27

Read the reviews of 40-43.
043) How to Analyze the Works of Stephenie Meyer by Marcela Kostihova, finished August 13
042) The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie, finished August 10
041) Captain America: Man Out of Time by Mark Waid and Jorge Molina, finished August 1
040) If You Believe in Mermaids . . . Don't Tell by A.A. Philips, finished July 28

Read the reviews of 37-39.
039) The Smartest Man in Ireland by Mollie Hunter, finished July 27
038) Blockade Billy / Morality by Stephen King, finished July 12
037) Dispirited by Luisa M. Perkins, finished July 9

Read the reviews of 34-36.
036) Hyperion by Dan Simmons, finished July 2
035) A Short Stay in Hell by Steven L. Peck, finished June 27
034) Kampung Boy by Lat, finished June 22

Read the reviews of 29-33.
034) The Giant Joshua by Maurine Whipple, finished June 20
033) Fantastic Mr Fox by Roald Dahl, finished June 18
032) Wicked Plants by Amy Stewart, "finished" June 18
031) Make the Bread, Buy the Butter by Jennifer Reese, "finished" June 15
030) The Yiddish Policemen's Union by Michael Chabon, finished June 9
029) Mayflower: A Story of Courage, Community, and War by Nathaniel Philbrick, finished early June

Read the reviews of 25-28.
028) Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky, finished May 24
027) The Lover’s Dictionary by David Levithan, finished May 16
026) The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows, finished May 10
025) Dominant Traits by Eric Freeze, finished April 10

Read the reviews of 21-24.
024) The Elements of Style by William Strunk, Jr., and E.B. White, finished April 2
023) UNTITLED MS by Kyle Jepson, finished March 12, 2012
022) The Complete Peanuts 1981-1982 by Charles M. Schulz, finished March 4
021) The True Meaning of Smekday by Adam Rex, finished March 3

Read the reviews of 14-20.
020) Billy Hazelnuts by Tony Millionaire, finished February 25
019) Good-bye, Chunky Rice by Craig Thompson, finished February 26
018) Madman 20th Anniversary Monster HC by [everybody], finished February 25
017) Billy Hazelnuts and Crazy Bird by Tony Millionaire, finished February 25
016) Billy Hazelnuts by Tony Millionaire, finished February 25
015) Habibi by Craig Thompson, finished February 20
014) The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: 1910 by Alan Moore and Kevin O'Neill, finished February 15

Read the reviews of 12-13.
013) Assassination Vacation by Sarah Vowell, finished February 12
012) Black Hole by Charles Burns, finished February 11

Read the reviews of 6-11.
011) The Complete Peanuts: 1979-1980 by Charles M. Schulz, finished February 4
010) Blankets by Craig Thompson, finished February 4
009) Cat's Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut, finished February 2
008) The Millstone Necklace (forthcoming) by S.P. Bailey, finished January 31
007) American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang, finished January 27
006) Across a Harvested Field by Robert Goble, finished January 23

Read the reviews of 1-5.
005) Hark! a Vagrant! by Kate Beaton, finished January 21
004) The Death of a Disco Dancer by David Clark, finished January 12
003) Bucketfoot Al: The Baseball Life of Al Simmons by Clifton Blue Parker, finished January 9
002) Uncle Montague's Tales of Terror by Chris Priestly, finished January 9
001) What of the Night? by Stephen Carter, finished January 5

Comment-policy changes

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Not many changes. Just these.

1: Spammers have broken through. Word verification is going back on. I'm bummed too.

2: I'm removing these instructions because with the new manner of showing comments, it gets in the way.

It's important that you use this opportunity now, while I am still alive. If you wait until I'm dead to tell me off, you'll never forgive yourself.

A thmusing remembery: "I heard an Axe whizz — when I died —"

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originally published 2005.11.22

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I heard an Axe whizz — when I died —
And then — my Head — fell on the ground
I jumped and screamed and ran around
As turkey blood spilled on the Ground

Then I fell into a heap
They cut me up — and ate my meat
I hope you understand me well —
Hey, all you pilgrims? Go to hell!

The author reads Byuck again like a dog to his vomitonly hilarious

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Here from Mormon Renaissance? Click here.

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070) Byuck by Theric Jepson, finished November 17

Working on another rewrite of Byuck after all this time has been a strange experience. On the one hand, all those people who think the book is too crazy to sell? I understand them. All the people still praising the book's comic brilliance? They ain't wrong.

The person who wrote Byuck had a comedic genius I have since methodically stomped out in a quest for Seriousness. So much boldness here. So much daring.

So much wordplay.

I'm impressed with what I once did and one of my big goals with this rewrite was to not mess anything up.

I think I've succeeded.

But only because of the people who read it before and whose passion for the book---and specific lines---has helped me stick to the special brand of fun Available Nowhere Else.

Coming soon!

far too long

Note: I'll undoubtedly read through the novel again before it hits shelves, but I haven't decided whether or not I'll post it in my books-read list again.

Halloweeding

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Here from Mormon Renaissance? Click here.

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I appreciate horror but partake of it so rarely that I make an effort to read some every Halloween. Like last year, I got off to a late start, but here's what I read:


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069) Pork Pie Hat by Peter Straub, finished November 16

I picked this book up from the school library and it sat in my bag for a few weeks while I read my ultimately disappointing choice for Halloween Book of the Year (see below). It's by the author of last year's Halloween book, which I had also been a bit underwhelmed by. But this was a nice bite-sized novella and heck, there it was in my bag, so I gave it a shot.

Pork Pie Hat is an old jazz musician our narrator interviewed years ago as a grad student. The novella consists of a previously unpublished story about Hat and Halloween, specifically, why he never leaves his room on Halloween.

The story is pretty realistic and believable which is hard to do when you eschew supernaturalism and still need a person permanently changed, but Straub pulls it off. The questions the narrator asks at the end (and the answers he hints at) both enhance the mystery of Hat's tale without being foolish enough to provide authoritarian answers. It lets coincidences remain coincidences without denying their explanative powers.

In short, it's an excellent Halloween read. Friendly to the curse-averse (one in the entire book and that to explain why there are no others) and the gore-averse (it's mostly offstage or barely described). Plus, it's about two boys wearing ghost-sheets and experiencing horror. And isn't that what Halloween's all about?

two or three days



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068) Off Season ("The Author's Uncut, Uncensored Version!") by Jack Ketchum, finished November 14

So apparently this novel is famous in horror circles for being terrifying, grody to the max, and CENSORED.

I picked this paperback up at a dollar store the same time I bought Stephen King's terrific nonhorror novel The Colorado Kid, in large measure because of the King blurb on the cover: "IF YOU READ OFF SEASON ON THANKSGIVING, YOU PROBABLY WON'T SLEEP UNTIL CHRISTMAS." The reason three years passed between reading Colorado Kid and Off Season? I believe my Uncle Stevie.

But, yeah, I should be sleeping fine.

When I started reading the book, I wondered if this UNCUT, UNCENSORED version maybe put back in all the tedious time-waste of scene-setting and character-development and other plodding, boring, poorly written crap that made up the first half of the book. Even the characters I got to know, I never really got to like them (except the sheriff, I guess). And so it's Night of the Living Dead ending fell flat for me (although, worth remembering, NotLD also fell flat for me.) When I arrived at the afterword and learned that, in fact, the similar ending was intentional, I was pleased with myself for noticing the reference. That was probably the best part of the book.

The novel is a Sawney Bean story set on the Maine coast, and the inbred cannibals are genuinely awful, but they're so awful that I found them hard to ever really believe. So while Ketchum's inflinching staring at their abominable acts certainly got under my skin, I never cared and so I was never scared.

The 2006 reprint comes with a related short story, fwiw. I can see why the book was controversial when it was released (absurdly graphic sex! and violence! and cannibalism!), but I don't get why it's still remembered.

about three weeks



Previously in 2012 . . . . :


Read the review of 67.
067) Up the Down Staircase by Bel Kaufman, finished November 6

Read the reviews of 61-66.
066) Nurse Nurse by Katie Skelly, finished November 3
065) Best American Comics 2012 edited by Françoise Mouly, finished November 3
064) Everything We Miss by Luke Pearson, finished November 1
063) Amulet: Prince of the Elves by Kazu Kibuishi, finished October 30
062) Amulet: The Last Council by Kazu Kibuishi, finished October 25
061) iPlates: Volume One by Stephen Carter and Jett Atwood, finished October 22

Read the reviews of 57-61.
061) Amulet: The Cloud Searchers by Kazu Kibuishi, finished October 14
060) Amulet: The Stonekeeper's Curse by Kazu Kibuishi, finished October 13
059) Amulet: The Stonekeeper by Kazu Kibuishi, finished October 10
058) Feedback by Robison Wells, finished October 9
057) Mormons in the Media, 1830-2012 by Jared Farmer, finished October 8

Read the review of 56.
056) The Garden of the World by Lawrence Coates, finished October 5

Read the reviews of 52-55.
055) The Skin I'm In by Sharon G. Flake, finished September 27
054) Lote That Dog by Sharon Creech, finished September 25
053) Hate That Cat by Sharon Creech, finished September 24
052) Wormwood, Gentleman Corpse: It Only Hurts When I Pee by Ben Templesmith, finished September 24

Read the reviews of 49-51.
051) The Zabîme Sisters by Aristophane, finished September 20
050) Little Death by Thomas Kriebaum, finished September 16
049) God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater by Kurt Vonnegut, finished September 11

Read the reviews of 44-48.
048) American Nerd: The Story of My People by Benjamin Nugent, finished September 7
047) Powers by Brian Michael Bendis and Michael Avon Oeming, finished September 6
046) Simply Science by a number of authors and illustrators for All Aboard Reading, finished September 5
045) Bonk: The Curious Coupling of Science and Sex by Mary Roach, finished September 3
044) The Strange Case of the Walking Corpse: A Chronicle of Medical Mysteries, Curious Remedies, and Bizarre but True Healing Folklore by Nancy Butcher, finished August 27

Read the reviews of 40-43.
043) How to Analyze the Works of Stephenie Meyer by Marcela Kostihova, finished August 13
042) The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie, finished August 10
041) Captain America: Man Out of Time by Mark Waid and Jorge Molina, finished August 1
040) If You Believe in Mermaids . . . Don't Tell by A.A. Philips, finished July 28

Read the reviews of 37-39.
039) The Smartest Man in Ireland by Mollie Hunter, finished July 27
038) Blockade Billy / Morality by Stephen King, finished July 12
037) Dispirited by Luisa M. Perkins, finished July 9

Read the reviews of 34-36.
036) Hyperion by Dan Simmons, finished July 2
035) A Short Stay in Hell by Steven L. Peck, finished June 27
034) Kampung Boy by Lat, finished June 22

Read the reviews of 29-33.
034) The Giant Joshua by Maurine Whipple, finished June 20
033) Fantastic Mr Fox by Roald Dahl, finished June 18
032) Wicked Plants by Amy Stewart, "finished" June 18
031) Make the Bread, Buy the Butter by Jennifer Reese, "finished" June 15
030) The Yiddish Policemen's Union by Michael Chabon, finished June 9
029) Mayflower: A Story of Courage, Community, and War by Nathaniel Philbrick, finished early June

Read the reviews of 25-28.
028) Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky, finished May 24
027) The Lover’s Dictionary by David Levithan, finished May 16
026) The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows, finished May 10
025) Dominant Traits by Eric Freeze, finished April 10

Read the reviews of 21-24.
024) The Elements of Style by William Strunk, Jr., and E.B. White, finished April 2
023) UNTITLED MS by Kyle Jepson, finished March 12, 2012
022) The Complete Peanuts 1981-1982 by Charles M. Schulz, finished March 4
021) The True Meaning of Smekday by Adam Rex, finished March 3

Read the reviews of 14-20.
020) Billy Hazelnuts by Tony Millionaire, finished February 25
019) Good-bye, Chunky Rice by Craig Thompson, finished February 26
018) Madman 20th Anniversary Monster HC by [everybody], finished February 25
017) Billy Hazelnuts and Crazy Bird by Tony Millionaire, finished February 25
016) Billy Hazelnuts by Tony Millionaire, finished February 25
015) Habibi by Craig Thompson, finished February 20
014) The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: 1910 by Alan Moore and Kevin O'Neill, finished February 15

Read the reviews of 12-13.
013) Assassination Vacation by Sarah Vowell, finished February 12
012) Black Hole by Charles Burns, finished February 11

Read the reviews of 6-11.
011) The Complete Peanuts: 1979-1980 by Charles M. Schulz, finished February 4
010) Blankets by Craig Thompson, finished February 4
009) Cat's Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut, finished February 2
008) The Millstone Necklace (forthcoming) by S.P. Bailey, finished January 31
007) American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang, finished January 27
006) Across a Harvested Field by Robert Goble, finished January 23

Read the reviews of 1-5.
005) Hark! a Vagrant! by Kate Beaton, finished January 21
004) The Death of a Disco Dancer by David Clark, finished January 12
003) Bucketfoot Al: The Baseball Life of Al Simmons by Clifton Blue Parker, finished January 9
002) Uncle Montague's Tales of Terror by Chris Priestly, finished January 9
001) What of the Night? by Stephen Carter, finished January 5

Mormon Renaissance

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Hello.

If you're coming here because Bryan Mark Taylor included this blog on his list of websites, welcome!

I didn't really expect him to, as most of my Mormonartscentric work takes place elsewhere (notably A Motley Vision), but I do review many Mormon works in brief here at Thutopia and theorize about crap and whatnot.

I've done a crummy job going back in time and marking thing with my mormon arts tag that could be so marked, but maybe someday. Start there!

It's so nice to have you!

Feel free to contact me anytime. My email and twitter and etc are in the side bar.

Heber J Grant

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Lookit this great find Ardis dug up. I don't know why I'm not at Keepapitchinin every day. These delightful records should have been my constant study.

[bks, cmx]

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I'm going to fall short of average this year in books read. In part because I haven't been reading as many comics as usual. Looking over these last few books though, I wonder if I haven't been repenting.


067) Nurse Nurse by Katie Skelly, finished November 3

Here's the setup. Nurses dispatched through the solar system to deal with atmosphere poisoning. With 1960s uniforms and a B-movie vibe and an indie comix sensibility what with hallucinations and surreality and weird sex&violence asides. Nothing shocking here, but a pleasant read.

It's published Sparkplug Books which I understand is run in part by Tom Neely whose work is pretty incredible. So there's an endorsement for you.

But if you wish for a Yellow Submarine in black and white with a bit of grotesque violence and plenty swag and killer butterflies, here's a book for you.

an evening



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066) Best American Comics 2012 edited by Françoise Mouly, finished November 3

Another great-enough collection filled with usual suspects (including Gary Panter---the emperor's naked, folks!) and new faces. Some wildly surreal stuff and painfully realistic stuff. Some stuff I never want my kids to see and a cool new kids' section in the same volume.

One of my favorites was Jordan Crane's Elsewhere which is rather hard to run down. I cannot explain this.

My second most-likely-to-chase-down is probably Scott Chantler's "The Battle of Buron" which thank goodness is for sale (it's part of this book).

month or two



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065) Everything We Miss by Luke Pearson, finished November 1

This is one of the best comics I've read this year. And I have no idea how I got it. The library sent me an email saying my book had come in. Everything We Miss? By Luke Pearson? What's that? So I picked it up at the library and did not recognize the cover at all.

Huh. A comic book.

I thought it might have been excerpted in the 2012 Best American Comics that I'm reading, but no. Don't recognize this at all. As I read it. Check the BAC ToC online. Nope.

How did I get this? No idea. I have a vague memory (false?) of the main girl's face and the existence of a breakup, but no page had I read before. Very mysterious.

But I'm glad I did.

Thesis: kuraaazy stuff is happening all around us all the time, but we don't see it. Rather than scanning the pages I had planned to share, I'll just share the first couple from Pearson's website (you can read more here; nsfw):

Besides the main couple and the unseen forces and happenstance keeping them apart, the story is filled with moments unsettling and whimsical and sad. It's a moving little piece, with nice recurring symbols and a bit of hidden cheer to leaven the hidden sadnesses.

I'll be checking for more of Pearson's work.

not long at all



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064) Amulet: Prince of the Elves by Kazu Kibuishi, finished October 30
063) Amulet: The Last Council by Kazu Kibuishi, finished October 25

Much like the first three, my kids loved these. I enjoyed them too, but I don't know that my interest will last until the next book comes out. Not enough to reread them all, mefears.

I am a terrible father.

three days each



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062) iPlates: Volume One by Stephen Carter and Jett Atwood, finished October 22

See my full review here.

evening





Previously in 2012 . . . . :


Read the review of 68.
068) Up the Down Staircase by Bel Kaufman, finished November 6

Read the reviews of 57-61.
061) Amulet: The Cloud Searchers by Kazu Kibuishi, finished October 14
060) Amulet: The Stonekeeper's Curse by Kazu Kibuishi, finished October 13
059) Amulet: The Stonekeeper by Kazu Kibuishi, finished October 10
058) Feedback by Robison Wells, finished October 9
057) Mormons in the Media, 1830-2012 by Jared Farmer, finished October 8

Read the review of 56.
056) The Garden of the World by Lawrence Coates, finished October 5

Read the reviews of 52-55.
055) The Skin I'm In by Sharon G. Flake, finished September 27
054) Lote That Dog by Sharon Creech, finished September 25
053) Hate That Cat by Sharon Creech, finished September 24
052) Wormwood, Gentleman Corpse: It Only Hurts When I Pee by Ben Templesmith, finished September 24

Read the reviews of 49-51.
051) The Zabîme Sisters by Aristophane, finished September 20
050) Little Death by Thomas Kriebaum, finished September 16
049) God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater by Kurt Vonnegut, finished September 11

Read the reviews of 44-48.
048) American Nerd: The Story of My People by Benjamin Nugent, finished September 7
047) Powers by Brian Michael Bendis and Michael Avon Oeming, finished September 6
046) Simply Science by a number of authors and illustrators for All Aboard Reading, finished September 5
045) Bonk: The Curious Coupling of Science and Sex by Mary Roach, finished September 3
044) The Strange Case of the Walking Corpse: A Chronicle of Medical Mysteries, Curious Remedies, and Bizarre but True Healing Folklore by Nancy Butcher, finished August 27

Read the reviews of 40-43.
043) How to Analyze the Works of Stephenie Meyer by Marcela Kostihova, finished August 13
042) The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie, finished August 10
041) Captain America: Man Out of Time by Mark Waid and Jorge Molina, finished August 1
040) If You Believe in Mermaids . . . Don't Tell by A.A. Philips, finished July 28

Read the reviews of 37-39.
039) The Smartest Man in Ireland by Mollie Hunter, finished July 27
038) Blockade Billy / Morality by Stephen King, finished July 12
037) Dispirited by Luisa M. Perkins, finished July 9

Read the reviews of 34-36.
036) Hyperion by Dan Simmons, finished July 2
035) A Short Stay in Hell by Steven L. Peck, finished June 27
034) Kampung Boy by Lat, finished June 22

Read the reviews of 29-33.
034) The Giant Joshua by Maurine Whipple, finished June 20
033) Fantastic Mr Fox by Roald Dahl, finished June 18
032) Wicked Plants by Amy Stewart, "finished" June 18
031) Make the Bread, Buy the Butter by Jennifer Reese, "finished" June 15
030) The Yiddish Policemen's Union by Michael Chabon, finished June 9
029) Mayflower: A Story of Courage, Community, and War by Nathaniel Philbrick, finished early June

Read the reviews of 25-28.
028) Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky, finished May 24
027) The Lover’s Dictionary by David Levithan, finished May 16
026) The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows, finished May 10
025) Dominant Traits by Eric Freeze, finished April 10

Read the reviews of 21-24.
024) The Elements of Style by William Strunk, Jr., and E.B. White, finished April 2
023) UNTITLED MS by Kyle Jepson, finished March 12, 2012
022) The Complete Peanuts 1981-1982 by Charles M. Schulz, finished March 4
021) The True Meaning of Smekday by Adam Rex, finished March 3

Read the reviews of 14-20.
020) Billy Hazelnuts by Tony Millionaire, finished February 25
019) Good-bye, Chunky Rice by Craig Thompson, finished February 26
018) Madman 20th Anniversary Monster HC by [everybody], finished February 25
017) Billy Hazelnuts and Crazy Bird by Tony Millionaire, finished February 25
016) Billy Hazelnuts by Tony Millionaire, finished February 25
015) Habibi by Craig Thompson, finished February 20
014) The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: 1910 by Alan Moore and Kevin O'Neill, finished February 15

Read the reviews of 12-13.
013) Assassination Vacation by Sarah Vowell, finished February 12
012) Black Hole by Charles Burns, finished February 11

Read the reviews of 6-11.
011) The Complete Peanuts: 1979-1980 by Charles M. Schulz, finished February 4
010) Blankets by Craig Thompson, finished February 4
009) Cat's Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut, finished February 2
008) The Millstone Necklace (forthcoming) by S.P. Bailey, finished January 31
007) American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang, finished January 27
006) Across a Harvested Field by Robert Goble, finished January 23

Read the reviews of 1-5.
005) Hark! a Vagrant! by Kate Beaton, finished January 21
004) The Death of a Disco Dancer by David Clark, finished January 12
003) Bucketfoot Al: The Baseball Life of Al Simmons by Clifton Blue Parker, finished January 9
002) Uncle Montague's Tales of Terror by Chris Priestly, finished January 9
001) What of the Night? by Stephen Carter, finished January 5

Up the Down Staircase

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068) Up the Down Staircase by Bel Kaufman, finished November 6

I only know about Up the Down Staircase from a poster of the play put on by one of the schools in Clovis when I was in junior high. If memory serves, it was my school's play the year before I arrived. Anyway, I remember the purple and white poster, and I remember assuming it was about an apartment complex. I had no idea it had been one of the major phenomenons of mid-century America, a look at public schooling that reached an international audience, had been widely taught in schools, made into a well regarded film, had seriously altered the conversation in education in America. No idea.

The book was lent to me by a fellow teacher after I shared with her this email exchange:

From: Theric
Sent: Wednesday, August 22, 2012 9:34 AM
To: Helpdesk
Subject: IE9

.

I've had a couple websites present notices that they are on the verge of discontinuing support of IE7. So I tried to download IE9, but my machine won't let me install it without admin authorization. Help?

===============

From: ITSSub On Behalf Of Helpdesk
Sent: Wednesday, August 22, 2012 9:41 AM
To: Jepson, Eric
Subject: RE: IE9

Please contact helpdesk

It reminded her of Up the Down Staircase so she brought it and told me to read it, with the introduction that her father had been unable to get more than a few pages into the book as it was too painful to read. It can't really be like this, he said. It is, she said. This must be an enormously over-the-top satire, he said. Not really, she said. To me, she said, you'll understand. And I do.

Times have changed since 1965. Although Delaney cards are still in wide use (see image above), I had never heard of them. Integration is managed, if not institutional racism. Dropout rates have decreased. We use email to communicate now. Fewer teachers come to work just to coast.

But otherwise, yeah, this is what it's like to teach. Some students genuinely do not know how to sit down and shut up. Some administrators worry more about paperwork than pupils. The percentage of my time spent on nonsense (defined here as not teaching) is embarrassing. If you want to know what it feels like to be a teacher, try this book.

One thing I learned from reading this novel is that I am definitely on public ed's side. When the hero of the book has a chance to go teach as a nice private college with small classes and her beloved Chaucer, I did not want her to leave. She was doing so much good at Calvin Coolidge High!

But then, when she did return to the classroom, I could help but feel oppressed on her behalf. Trapped.

Sometimes it's hard to believe that making a difference in the lives of kids is enough.

But somehow we keep coming back for more.

Teachers are nuts.

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But that's old news. With the exception of the first and last chapters (which consist of tagless dialogue), the novel is made of found documents. Admin missives, student suggestions, letters to friends, a student notebook, turned-in essays, etc. Together they build a solid sense of what Sylvia Barrett's first year of teaching is like, both highs and lows, and what New York PSs were like in 1965. As a historical document, even though it's satiraical fiction and not real found documents, the novel is priceless. The fact it was so popular (and remained popular for so long) suggests how true audiences felt it to be.

And that it has fallen aside suggests to me that the market may be ripe for a new book hitting similar points.

I'm thinking about it.

I'll let you know.

a few weeks

what else i've been reading