Hi!
i am jelous, for you get to meet Tamora Pierce, and i am unable to leave school. *grr!* alas...
i don't really have anything new and exciting to say (since yesterday)...
so, i think i'll post the very begining of one of my numerous stories. comments and constructive criticism are welcome. sugestions are much appreciated.
here it is:

I clutched my fiddle case and dashed out of the house.
That thoughtless, inconsiderate, uncaring, b----d of a father! How dare he! Angry thoughts exploded in my head. I didn’t want to marry some snot-nosed prince! I couldn’t care less about the family name! My marriage was to save the family. Ha!
He hadn’t even asked me! I might be subject to his decisions, but that didn’t mean I was some mindless creature built to serve the family name. I deserve a say in my future!
My thoughts carried me to the cliff overlooking the ocean. The sky was grey-blue and spotted with lavender-tinged clouds. The sea pounded against the cliffs and shore. Green-blue waves rode beneath caps of white foam. A swift breeze pushed the clouds across the sky.
The top of the cliff was mostly flat, with a few large rocks that stuck up; good for seats. moss carpeted most of the top. I sat down on a rock and took out my fiddle. I set my bow to the strings and began to play. At first a fast angry melody, then melting into a sad haunting one. The music asked what will become of me? Why? Why didn’t I have a choice?
I played and played until the sun had set below the horizon.
Music was really the only way I could say what I wanted to say, not what others thought I should say. My true voice.
I was getting dark. With regret, I packed my fiddle away and turned reluctantly toward home. I dreaded facing my father.

i know the editing out at the top is odd, and possibly unnessicary, but i'm not sure whats appropriate for this site. (and i don't want to get in trouble with my school)
see ya!
~Eleanor

Hi All,
Well the video contest went GREAT thanks in large part to the efforts of Devin, Katie, Tory, Kim, and Emily. Charlotte came later, but looked great so that was fun. I got a lot of feedback from folks who came that they really enjoyed it. Now we just need to encourage more Duxbury entries. Kudos go to Greg Wadsworth, Scott Maloney and Jonathan McKenzie for their terrific kung fu action video. They were the only Duxbury participants to attend.... Maybe next year we'll get some more folks from DHS.....
Saturday we are going up to see Tamora Pierce in Boston. She's hosting a little private party to which we are invited....! I just fininshed reading City of Ember which I thought was great. Nancy Hoffman has the sequel now, but I've got dibs on it next, People of Sparks is what it's called.
What are you all reading?

Hello!
i bring you greetings from western mass! (i'm at school. northfield mount herman for anyone who wishes to know the name)
so far things have been going well, although classes have not yet begun. i start on the first of sept. same day as you guys!
so, anything new in book group? please send philosphical discussion questions! for i must have meaningful things to ponder when i am bored ( which will probably not be very often, once i start getting homework *grr!*. but that is entirely beside the point!)
"Biting the Sun" by Tanith Lee, is...interesting. theres actually some cool ideas in it. for example, if you die, (like in a car crash), then you imediately come back in a new body. its not like being reincarnated, b/c you still remember all of you life, you just have a new body... so i wonder if these people can die. are they immortal... but i don't think that many/any of you have read the book (its rather annoying to find), so i'll stop rambling about it.
so keep me posted on when you're having trips. i might be able to meet you guys at different places... 'tis quite possible!
hope to see you this fall!
~Eleanor

Hey Everybody!
i am currently at school. grr... my classes begin in a day and a half... (sept. 1)
anyway, whats up at book club? any perticularly interesting philosphical discussion topics lately?
i haven't had much time to read lately (i've been packing and unpacking a lot lately, and traveling, and stuff...) but so far "biting the sun" is pretty good. its very weird... you can die and then come back in a new body. but its not like being reborn, cuz you remember all you past experiances, you just look completely different? then i wonder if they can die at all... since they can just be put into a new body... its a cool book, lots of strange ideas.
but now i must go,
i hope to see you all, sometime this fall...
~Eleanor

Hi everybody,
Well, I for one, felt that the LOTR exhibit exceeded my expectations. It was amazing....!
Hope everyone else had a good time.
Now I'm gearing up for next week's South Shore Video Contest. It's happening on Friday, August 27th at 7:30 p.m. in the Merry Room. You're al invited. Feel free to wear Hollywood-type clothes.
(We make fun of the whole "Oscars" thing, giving out our "Felix" awards with great fanfare....)

My daughter, Gretchen was bringing back a group of kids from a sleepover at a Mass. Audubon camp in N.H. and held an improptu "Socrates Cafe" en route. She found it REALLY interesting. The kids were VERY opinionated, which made it fun. They discussed (argued) about whether or not people are destined to lead a particular life or not and whether there really is such a thing as Free Will. Destiny vs. Free Will. what do you say?
See you on Wed.

Hey!
after three weeks of no access to a computer i am now able to takl to everyone again!!! Yay!
the LOTR trip rocked!
keep posting philosophical questions online so i can still contribute to book group! and everyone else need to get into this blogging thing! more people should create accounts. they don't know what they are missing! it is indeed a good time...
anyway, as soon as i am done with my summer reading, i'm going to read "Bite the Sun" by Tanith Lee. It sounds cool.
perhaps i'll post some of my story that i'm writing, on the blog.... later, when i'm not so tired...
see ya!
~Eleanor

Hey Bookmarks -
Based on our opeing discussion the other day of why authors frequently use fairy tales as vehicles for telling a newer story, I'd like everyone to consider all the different kinds of metaphors or devices that they have found in their reading that authors use as a lens to tell a new story: a bible story re-told, a fairy tale, a nursery rhyme, for instance - how does a modern author use such a device in a new, fresh way? What does it add? Is it successful or simply cumbersome?
Think about it or our next meeting.
Ellen

Hi fellow Bookmarks -
The deal with the LOTR is this: We can't do the late night event, so I got tickets for Thursday, August 19th at 5:30 p.m. We 'll be back by 8 p.m. so if anyone wants to organize a sleepover among friends, that's up to you. I'm kind of arguing with the Museum over the ticket price as they sent me a confirmation for a $5 prixe, but now they want to charge us $20/each, which is the regular ticket price.
I'll try to sort all that out by Wed.s meeting.
I have permission slips so anyone wanting to go needs to get one signed and turned in.
The good thing about this date is that Eleanor can some with us.....Yeay!
Ellen

Hi!
starting tommorrow, i will be unable to post anything on the blog for about a month *tear*. (i'm off to music camp)

anyway, i have recently come to the following conclusion (with the help of my sister's obsession with "Wicked"): Glinda (the "good" witch) was a backstabbing traitor, Dorothy was evil, and Elphaba (the Wicked Witch of the West), was horribly misunderstood and really cool! and everyone in Oz is very confused, very, very confused...
although this may seem extremely random, my sister recently got the "Wicked" soundtrack and has been listening to it most of the day. and i feel i must point this out: people are sympathizing with the wrong characters!
and i have a question for anyone who has read or seen "Wicked": who is the Tinman, really? (i think i know, but i'm not sure. since i have yet to read the book, which might be entirely different from the musical anyway. but at the monent that is beside the point...)
and does anyone know what the Wicked Witch of the East did to be considered wicked anyway? i am slightly confused...
and while we're on the topic, in the "Wizard of Oz" what did the wicked witch do anyway? i know she sent flying monkeys after Dorothy and her companions, but they were coming to kill her... wouldn't you send flying monkeys after someone coming to murder you in your own home...
i'm done now... for the time being...
okay, i do sound a bit obsessed at the moment... oh well...
i do belive i must read "Wicked" now...

see ya at Lord of the Rings!
~Eleanor

I think Matty is onto something here....
You guys make your plans accordingly.
Anyway, remember our discussion yesterday about why literature matters?
Here is the passage I was looking for in "Reading Lolita in Tehran" :
"Nabokov (the author) calls every great novel a fairy tale....(they) abound with frightening witches who eat children and wicked stepmothers who poison their beautiful stepdaughters and weak fathers who leave their children behind in forests. But the magic comes from the power of good, that force which tells us we need not give in to the limitations and restrictions imposed on us by McFate, as Nabokov called it. Every fairy tale offers the potential to surpass present limits, so in a sense the fairy tale offers you freedoms that reality denies..." She goes on to say how powerful it is to read life and freedom affirming literature in a society which imposes inhuman restrictions on its citizens. Reading such things is an act of treason, a defiance that can be punished by rape or murder - and still she and her friends do it. They feel compelled to do to to affirm their link (their place on the human family) with the rest of the world........Scary to think about, isn't it?

hi!
i think i might be able to come to book review tommorrow! :) i'm going to be in duxbury for some of the day, and i think i might be around at four.... it is at four, right?

see ya!
~Eleanor

Hi!
I'm going to say my thing for the deep and meaningful question ms. ellen posted. so here goes...
literature and reading is nessecary for our culture to be functioning properly. reading fiction can make you think about things that have happened and how they could have been different and how they could be changed. For example, the book, to kill a mockingbird, was about an event similar to something that actually happened. the book tells about the trial of a black man acused of rape (this took place during the 30's). however, there was a good deal of evidence saying that he didn't committ the crime. but he was convicted anyway. hearing about an event like this form the point of view of a person with opinions about it, is much different from hearing about it from an emotionless news person. when reading a book, you become emotionally involved with the characters, when you hear about a unjust or disturbing event, you think about it more than if all you are told is a brief summary.
reading books give the reader acess to many different piont of view, and this helps each person form thier own thoughts opinions and values. if that is taken away, people can become much easier to controll. if you are only showed one side of a story, then, you will believe that that is how it really happened.
i hope thats clear enough...
i'll probably think of more to say later.

see ya!
~Eleanor

OK
Here is one of the questions I want to consider next week at our meeting:
According to the latest survey (NEA,2004), people are reading less and less fiction. They are playing video games, surfing the net, reading some non-fiction, watching TV, and generally being lazy. Big surprise.
My question is this: does it matter if people are no longer reading novels? What purpose do novels and poetry play in our culture?

I just read a terrific book called, "Reading Lolita in Tehran," by this Iranian English professor who had this incredible experience teaching American and English novels in the totalitarian, fundamentalist Islamic Republic of Iran. She had to do it in secret, hoping that she would not be found out and put in jail (rape and torture could follow). She eventually moved to Virginia and now teaches there.
She feels strongly that there is wisdom and insight in literature that is not accessible in other formats. Do you agree or disagree? Do we need literature to be a civilized society, or is it just fun but not really essential?
We'll talk about this next week.....
Ellen

Yippeeee!
i'm happy! (can you tell?)
i might be able to come to the LOTR trip! Yay!
i finished the first sandman comic book, very cool, now i must go borrow the next book, from my neighbor...
i need to update my blog... hmm perhaps i should do that now... i kinda started writing something else and stopped writing my blog story. its hard to write two things at once.

some one please send me a thought provoking question that i can ponder when i am really BORED. thanx!

and now i'm going to sound really dorky, but who cares! does anyone have a copy of "Beowulf: The Monsters and the Critics", or know where i could locate a copy of it? i'm going to read Beowulf (again) and i wish to look at that book. I tried to find it in my local library system, but i failed... 'tis sad.

see ya!
~Eleanor

Stop everything.
The LOTR trip is off in its current manifestation.
We do not have permission to hold a library-hosted trip of this nature and do a sleepover at the library. I'm sorry, guys, but it really is too much to ask and plan.
Now I am devising an evening trip perhaps later in the month of August so Eleanor, among other LOTR fans, can come with us. It would make a nice final event with her. So Eleanor, give us your Duxbury August dates again so we can make an alternative plan.
By-the-way, I have some really thought-provoking questions to bring up at the next Wed. meeting regarding the value of reading literature in our lives.... Come ready to really get a good discussion going!
Ellen

hi.
i am very sad...
i can't come with you guys to the LOTR trip, and you get to go on opening day! (i'm soooooooo jealous! grrr...) :(
and i just went to the sci-fi convention to check the dates, and then i check the northfield calendar, to see if i could come, but it a closed weekend, and i'm not allowed to leave school! *whines a bit more* (i'm more jealous now....) :(
anyway, on a slightly more happy and interesting note, i started reading the Sandman comic books, by Neil Gaiman. I'm almost done with the first one. i'm enjoying it... anyone who likes dark, disturbing fantasy, would like these books.

see ya
~eleanor

p.s. does anyone know where i could find a copy of "Beowulf: the Monsters and the Critics" by J.R.R. Tolkien that i could borrow. i've been looking for a copy, but i can't seem to locate in the cape cod library system... it is very sad. (i know i sound like a dork right now, but that's ok with me!)

Gee, I guess Emma has an opinion about this movie! I did have to edit your posting, Emma, (F*** word) because we really can't condone bad language on the library web site. It's OK to have strong feelings, just express them a bit more tactfully, please!

Let's not forget that this issue (the war, the Bush administration, etc) is pretty controversial, so we need to be aware that thoughtful people may disagree about this. I don't want anyone to feel intimidated to express a differing opinion, so let's keep it straight and express ourselves honestly, but in good taste.
Thanks!
Ellen

OH MY GOD! I AM SO EXCITED!
I'm at the Ref. Desk today, so I happened to surf by the Museum of Science LOTR web page and GUESS WHAT! They are having a Grand Opening in the middle of the night on Sat-Sun. July 31 - Aug.1 so I immediately got us 16 teen tickets and 4 adult! They are only $5 each! They encourage folks to come in costume!!!!! We'll be there from 12:30 A.M. until about 3-4 a.m. then drive home and crash.
I called Emma's Mom ASAP and she's OK with driving up and I'm sure I can get my girls to drive in, so we need a couple other parents to go, too. What do you say?
Ellen

Leslie -
It is good to have you back!
As far as Fahrenheit 9-11 is concerned, the facts Michael Moore presents are pretty well documented. The film certainly is an opinion piece in that it has a strong view that it is aspousing and uses the facts that back that view up, but it is hard to dispute the record. It would be good to see the film before you comment on it. Hope you can.
See you on Wed. at 4 p.m.!
I am reading some historical fiction now, but just finished "The Gospel According to Larry," by Janet Tashjian, which was terrfic. The sequel just came out and we're getting it ASAP.
Ellen

Hey everyone,
I just want to say to anyone who has seen farenhight 911 that alot of the facts they say bush new about alqueda isn't true.
I myself haven't seen it but I've read sevral reviews and herd alot of opinions from normal people and basically the movie is like totally anti-bush. Alot of the facts arn't true or they're more detailed and clear in the movie than they were in real life. I'm just saying this because I have alot of anti-bush friends in and out of the book club and personally i don't hate bush.Many people say he shouldn't of attacked right after 9/11 but what would you of done if you were president? It was either attacking or risking being attacked again killing more innocent citizens. And he didn't make the choice alone, there was congress and everything. So for all those people who hate bush can you honestly think of anything better he could of done? I'm only saying this because alot of people hate bush but its not like he's not just trying to do the right thing by his country. Farenhight 911 is a hate bush movie and i can see exactly why its rated R.
-Leslie