This should interest those of you who are familiar- This is our graduation ceremony at Nazareth Village. Lisa and I are getting our ESL certificates from Sandy. That's Mr. Pfann in the background.

Finally!

I have been trying for some time to get pictures to upload, and finally it works! This is a picture of a picture- one tha Megan drew and gave me for my birthday last month. It's nobody in particular, I mean, nobody we know. It might have been a magazine picture or something. Talented, isn't she?

Hmmm. Actually its not a very good photo. It is behind a glass frame, and the angle is odd. You will have to come see the original some time. :-)

Another book

Here is a recent treasure from my local library:
Wenny Has Wings by Janet Lee Carey

Warning: tearjerker, little boy crude humor
Length: maybe an hour or two? I mean, that's about how long it would take you to read it. It is a simple format and simply written.
Subject: children dealing with the death of a loved one
Story line: an 11 year old boy loses his sister in a car accident. He spends the next several months writing letters to her as he deals with her absence and his parents pain.

Well written, funny, sad, and joyful. Heaven is real and Wenny is really there, but sometimes he wishes she was still down on earth, especially when he can't find his toys (which she had hidden) or when he got in trouble for something she did.

Three Books

I love to read!! Recently I have been too overtired to read anything remotely brainy, so I have been living on a diet of Agatha Christie, Mary Stewart, D.E. Stevenson, and Tintin. But I decided to stiffen up my reading muscles a bit with some wholegrain reading. This aim was helped immensely by a couple trips to different libraries- I have absolutely stacks of books and no time to read them! But it seems to be bearing fruit- I felt a returning zest for reading.

So of course I have to talk about what I am reading! Right? Well, anyway I am going to, in hopes that it inspires, blesses, or cheers up others.

Here are the first three, two old friends and one unknown.

The House of Sixty Fathers by Meindert DeJong
North to Freedom by Ann Holm
The World is Flat by Thomas Friedman

The House of Sixty Fathers is something you find in the children's section of the library, but its a chapter book, not a picture book. DeJong was originally from the Netherlands (hence the rather odd name), but he lives in the US now, and writes in English.
This book is about a small boy living in China under the Japanese occupation...

Blast, maybe this is why I never started writing book reviews. I am horrible at it! If you call me up on the phone, or wait until you see me, I could give you earnest and heartfelt reasons why you would like it, or at least why you should read it. But I can't on paper. Especially when the length of my nails is interfering with my typing.

So anyway, its about a boy named Tien Pao and his pet pig Glory-of-the-Republic, and it is sweet and funny, and a bit happy/sad if you are tired, and it doesn't take too many brains to read, but is still good despite the simple English. So read it.

On to the next:
North to Freedom
Also a children's chapter book, translated from some Northern language. This is a step or two up from The House of Sixty Fathers. Actually its a personal favorite. I think I've read it at least three times.

It's about a boy named David who grew up in a prison camp situation and is suddenly freed from it when he is nearly twelve. The story followes his flight, and encounter with things he has only heard about (music and bright colors, babies, oranges) and people's response to his oddities. I do usually cry at the end of this book, but that isn't saying much. I cry all the time, at the drop of a hat, and for a wide variety of reasons. :-)

Lastly:
The World is Flat
Thomas Friedman just wrote this one. His other books are From Beirut to Jerusalem, The Lexus and the Olive Tree, and Longitude and Attitude. Most definitely a liberal, a journalist for the New York Times. I have only read From Beirut to Jerusalem, which book confused me, but actually made the brain cells stretch with a bit of healthy exercise. He certainly knows how to write, even if he is mixed up.

I would love anybody's input on this last book, and Thomas Friedman himself.

There, now I can get off, and go read my book.
By the way, anybody notice that the link to my comments is split up by the dateline? It happened when I made the date appear in Hebrew and I'm not sure how to fix it and still keep the Hebrew.

My editor has just checked this post over for "gross errors" and has pronounced it "a little incoherent, but good." I think that would make an excellent byline for this blog, and maybe my life as well. Maybe I'll write my autobiography and title it: A Little Incoherent, But Good, the life and times of Kathryn the Great.
Good night one and all! Don't stay up too much later, you all need your beauty sleep! (this is getting more disjointed and odd by the moment. must leave now).

No mushiness please

So I was going to post a couple pictures just because I felt like it, but my connection speed is extra slow and it doesn't want to upload them. Maybe later.

Just finished watching Star Wars Episode V with my brothers. I think their favorite part was probably when the little fighter jets harpooned the legs of those huge four-legged walking tank things, wound cable all the way around them, and made them fall down. For that matter they like any scene involving high speed, loud noise, and impressive explosives.

We have been working our way through the older episodes- a first for all three boys- and I'm not sure who is enjoying the experience more, me or them. So much fun to see their response to things I've seen several times, and vicariously see it for the first time. David especially gets all worked up about it. "Is there a monster down that tunnel? Are we going to see it?" "Did he really cut off his hand?!"

I don't think they bought into the whole emotional side of the movie at all. This is my favorite line from my brothers: Right at the beginning of the movie Hans Solo tells the commander of the rebel base that he needs to leave because Jabba the Hut will kill him if he doesn't pay him his money. He is saying goodbye to Leah like this:
HS (too close to Leah for my brothers' comfort): "So this is it."
L (in a cold manner): "Yes it is."
This irritates Hans, so he says sarcastically: "Don't get all mushy on me, Highness."
Daniel breaks in at this point with heartfelt agreement:
"That's right. That's my kind of guy!"