Category: reading

Much Affection for English Bears

 

I was tickled when I saw this on Google this morning.   Today is the 50th birthday of Paddington Bear, or more accurately the 50th anniversary of the first publication of a Paddington Bear book. “A Bear Called Paddington” and the lot were written by Michael Bond with illustration by Peggy Fortnum.  Today, 35 million copies of the Paddington Bear books have been sold.

I loved Paddington Bear as a child, but my love was immense enough to be shared with several other bears of Britain.    I never really thought about it until today, that they were all originally written and published in England, but so be it.    

This is what I remember Winnie-the-Pooh looking like when I was a kid.   I had a little set of the books illustrated by E. H. Shepard and written by A. A. Milne.   My mom is still obsessed with him.

 

And then there’s this fella, Rupert.  I don’t know that he ever caught on much here in The States, but he’s been around in England since 1920.   It was started as a serial comic in the Daily Express.  Since 1936, there has also been an annual published.   There were a few of these around the house when I was growing up, and I still have one from 1983.   My grandmother brought them back for us from England when she would go home. 

So, my childhood was just overflowing with books about bears from England, and I don’t think I can pick a favorite.

Books, Books, Books

It’s a well established fact that I am a nerd. An exceptionally booky nerd. A nerd with a massive appetite for the written word.

Right now, I’m in the middle of reading four books –

Sense and Sensibility, by Jane Austen

Everyday Zen: Love & Work by Charlotte Jojo Beck (my dad recommended and loaned this one to me)

Jaywalking with the Irish by David Monagan

and

Foods to Fight Cancer by Richard Believeau, Ph.D. and Denis Gingras, Ph.D.

Maybe I should just try to finish one.

Or maybe I should pick up some fluffy summer read and add it to the pile.

Or maybe I should stop blogging, and open one of them.

OR I could just embrace the insanity and join a book club, too.

Anyway, they’re all pretty decent so far, and I recommend them all.  I just wish I had one more bookmark.  This is why people keep giving me their business cards, though, right?

The Upside

Not being able to fall asleep until after three in the morning sucks. However, it does provide me the opportunity to read more blogs and news stories, as well as post some myself.

Last night, I found this article on New York times about a bunch of older women who were having a knit in against the war.   I think it was linked from Feministe.   Anyway, the wisdom of elders is undeniable when you read things like this quote from 93 year old grandmother Marie Runyon: “Give Iraq our Constitution, we’re not using it!”