Sunday Salon ~ a day for fathers

It's Father's Day, and I'm thinking about the father of my children.  This photo of us with our three children, taken in the mid-1960s, is my favorite one of our family.  He died in 2011.

Here's one of my own mother and father when my little brother and I were the only children.  He and I were about the same ages then as my children in the photo above.  Our other sister and brother came along later in the 1940s.  My dad died in 1964, and my mother in 2004.

BOOKS

I've been buying mostly Kindle books lately, but here's the hardback I bought yesterday.

The Dictionary of Modern Proverbs ~ compiled by Charles Clay Doyle, Wolfgang Mieder, and Fred R. Shapiro, 2012

"You can't unring a bell."  "It takes a village to raise a child."  "Life is just a bowl of cherries."  We sometimes think of proverbs as expressions of ancient wisdom, but in fact new proverbs are constantly arising.  This unique volume is devoted exclusively to English-language proverbs that originated in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries.  The most complete and accurate such collection ever compiled, The Dictionary of Modern Proverbs presents more than 1,400 individual proverbs gathered and researched with the help of electronic full-text databases not previously used for such a project.  Entries are organized alphabetically by key words, with information about the earliest datable appearance, origin, history, and meaning of each proverb.  Mundane or sublime, serious or jocular, these memorable sayings represent virtually every aspect of the modern experience.  Readers will find the book almost impossible to put down once opened; every page offers further proof of the immense vitality of proverbs and their colorful contributions to the oral traditions of today.

Bloggers gather in the Sunday Salon — at separate computers in different time zones — to talk about our lives and our reading.

Meeting another author and an illustrator

Painting for Peace in Ferguson ~ by Carol Swartout Klein, 2015, children's, 9/10

Through poetry and art, this book tells the story of hundreds of artists and volunteers who turned boarded up windows into works of art with messages of hope, healing and unity in the aftermath of the Ferguson, Missouri riots.  Written in verse, the book focuses on the way the community came together to begin the healing process through the art of the Paint for Peace effort.  Using illustrations and photographs of the art and the artists and volunteers ― black and white, young and old ― the book is a tool for beginning the conversation with children about how we all have something to contribute to healing our communities.  As the last line in the book says, "The work is not finished, there's much more to be done.  But this art shows the spirit of a new Ferguson."

Painting for Peace: A Coloring Book for All Ages ~ by Carol Swartout Klein, illustrated by Robert O'Neil, 2016, racism, 9/10

Perfect for all ages, this coloring book is designed for adults and children to color together and lets them join the hundreds of artists who transformed the community of Ferguson, Missouri, by creating dazzling and inspiring works of art with messages of peace, love, and community.  Now parents and grandparents can color with their little ones to create their own images based on the murals that covered the boarded-up windows of the town and brought real hope to the community after months of tension.  More than a dozen of the original art pieces as well as some new designs are featured with both simple and elaborate elements making it appropriate for all ages.  A wonderful companion piece to the award-winning children’s picture book Painting for Peace in Ferguson that has been acclaimed by reviewers, teachers, parents, and kids alike.  All profits from sales of both the picture book and the coloring book will be reinvested in the Ferguson community.

Meeting the author and illustrator

Carol Swartout Klein and Robert O'Neil were at the Barnes & Noble bookstore in Ladue Crossing, half a mile from me, so three of us went to color single pages they brought for us while the author and a few participants shared stories.  Marilyn, Donna, and I all bought copies of the coloring book, which Carol is holding.  It was a great afternoon, sitting around that table (see the colored pencils?) with like-minded people.

Big Book Challenge

Zora Neale Hurston: Novels and Stories ~ ed. by Cheryl A. Wall, 1995, fiction (Florida)

When she died in obscurity in 1960, all of Zora Neale Hurston's books were out of print.  Now she is recognized as one of the most important and influential modern American writers.  This book features Their Eyes Were Watching God, the acclaimed 1937 novel about a woman's struggle for love and independence.  Jonah's Gourd Vine, Hurston's 1934 novel based on the story of her parents, details the rise and fall of a preacher torn between spirit and flesh.  Moses, Man of the Mountain is her 1939 retelling of the Exodus story in black vernacular.  Seraph on the Suwanee (1948) portrays the passionate clash between a poor southern "cracker" and her willful husband.  A selection of short stories is also included in this volume.

✓  May 25 ~ Kickoff Party and Keynote Speech by Dr. Rafia Zafar
✓  June 16 ~ Stories of the Harlem Renaissance with Bobby Norfolk
✓  June 22-24 ~ discussion of Jonah's Gourd Vine
✓  June 23 ~ Marquise Knox Blues Performance
July 27-29 ~ discussion of Moses, Man of the Mountain
August 18 ~ Film Screening of "Their Eyes Were Watching God"
August 24-26 ~ discussion of Their Eyes Were Watching God

Every summer, the University City Public Library features the Big Book Challenge for adults.  This year's "big book" is really several smaller books in a single volume.  We'll discuss three of the novels, as shown above, but I plan to read the rest of the book if time permits.  And I'll come back here to check off those events and discussions I'm able to attend.

Friday Five ~ school days

My great-grandson graduated from kindergarten last week

Today's Friday Five is brought to us by the Rev. Michelle L. Torigian:

"May marks the end of many academic years.  If we are scrolling through our newsfeed, we’ve begun to see photographs of our friends and family members in their caps and gowns. ... So, as students wrap up their years or maybe their academic careers, let’s reflect upon our school days in today’s Friday Five."

1.  Favorite class during my many years of schooling.

I think that college English class was called something like Theology and Literature.  We read ten books that semester, including The Stranger by Albert Camus and The Grand Inquisitor by Fyodor Dostoyevsky, a small book which is also a chapter in Dostoyevsky's novel The Brothers Karamazov in which Ivan questions the possibility of a personal and benevolent God.

2.  Toughest class I have taken.

A newly-graduated professor's class in classical Greek.  She was so tough that not . one . single . student in my class went on to second-year Greek.  The department head tried to talk me into staying with it, but I preferred to go back to the German I'd taken a decade earlier and start over to complete my two-year language requirement.  In seminary, however, I did take Koine Greek, which is the first-century Greek of the Christian Bible.  Throw in my two years of Latin in high school and my dab of Hebrew from a kantor at a nearby Jewish community center and I figure I really do like studying languages, but that new teacher piled on way too much homework.  I had a husband and three young children when I took her class, yet often stayed up until 3:00 a.m. trying to complete all the homework she assigned.

3.  Class I would love to retake.

My seminary class on John Wesley.  It wasn't a favorite subject, but my professor's comment still rings in my ears.  I reached my last year of seminary and realized I had never used the Pass-Fail option available for a single class.  So I applied it to the Wesley class.  I always took the exams anyway.  My professor told me I would have had an A+ grade.  That would have raised my grade point average slightly higher, and he laughed when he said, "Don't you wish you hadn't chosen Pass-Fail?"  Could have, but maybe it lowered my stress level.  All was well, since my grades were not a problem.

4.  Favorite seminary or theologically-themed class.

Preaching class, where we chose theologians from a list our professor passed around and then learned all we could about that person and his or her writings.  The popular names were chosen long before the list reached me, and I chose Jürgen Moltmann.  That was back in the mid-1980s, and I predicted he would turn more toward the idea of community in his coming books.  And he did!  I now have over thirty books by him and have kept up with his (and his wife's) theological ideas ever since seminary.  I don't see eye-to-eye with him on everything, but I greatly admire his willingness to keep growing and changing as he learns.

5.  Dream class – if I could design the ultimate undergraduate or graduate course, what would it be?

I want to teach "Seven Gospels," starting with an overview of the four in the New Testament (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John) and asking why those of James, Thomas, and Mary Magdalene were left out of the Bible.  I have notes and outlines dating back to 2004, when I taught "Six Gospels" using translations from The Complete Gospels: Annotated Scholars Version, edited by Robert J. Miller.  I've since added James, head of the Jerusalem church, who hasn't gotten as much attention as Thomas and Mary.

Jaxon's graduation today

Jaxon, who wants to be fire chief when he grows up, graduated from kindergarten today.  Here he is with his Nana and Grandpa, who just happens to be my son.

Reading with tea and cats ~ or imagination

The only time I remember my legs being this short, I was at church on a Sunday morning, bored to tears by the proceedings, which seemed to be droning on and on and on.  I entertained myself by swinging my feet — which activity, I soon discovered, was reflected in the polished wood of the pew in front of me.  I was fascinated by the fact that my legs appeared to be walking.  There I was, stuck in a boring situation with my mother sitting to my right, others to my left, and no way of escape except through my own inventiveness.  So I "walked away" from my boredom into my own mental adventure.

The woman in this illustration has a book.  And cats (notice the second tail under the chair).  She has snack crackers and a cup of tea and, best of all, she has a book to get lost in.  Maybe my need to always have a book with me traces back to that day in church when I realized I had no way of getting lost in a story without dreaming one up myself.

Fancy Nancy ~ for a birthday

Fancy Nancy: Bonjour, Butterfly ~ by Jane O'Connor, illustrated by Robin Preiss Glasser, 2008, children's

Fancy Nancy thinks butterflies are simply exquisite, and that is why she can't wait for her friend Bree's butterfly-themed birthday party.   It's going to be the fanciest birthday party ever!  But when Nancy finds out she can't go because her grandparents' fiftieth anniversary party is the same day, she is furious.  (Mad is way too plain for how she feels.)  Will Nancy be able to overcome her disappointment?  Her family's outing might just be extraordinary enough to make her feel better.

Last week may have been children's book week, but this week is birthday week.  Today I'll put this book in the mail for my oldest great-grandchild.  Raegan will be seven years old on Thursday the 12th, so I hope this book isn't too young for her.  It does have big words she can learn, however, words like "exquisite" (fancier than "beautiful") and "iridescent" (fancy word for "shiny") and "elegant" (fancier than "fancy") and "gorgeous" (another fancy way to say "beautiful") and "furious" (since "mad" was way too plain for how she felt).

I'll enclose a note with the book, asking Raegan to search for the fancy word "sublime," which is on a heart-shaped pillow.  Maybe her mother or father will help her look it up to learn what that word means.
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Added on Thursday, May 12th:

The book arrived, and Raegan is excited about it.