arhyalon

08:59 am: Beneath The Shadow Of His Mighty Wing
 Last we left off, my mom had married the fellow who wrote the articles that so affected her at twelve.

 

At the age of four, my mom told her mother that she would marry a man named George and have two children…and she did. Our family lived in an idyllic neighborhood in Westchester County, about an hour from New York City. My dad mainly worked from home, but once a week, he would make the commute by train to Manhattan.

 

One morning, Dad took off for the city, and Mom became overcome with a sense of dread, a premonition of harm. She gathered her books (Bible and Science and Health) together and took us children across the street to the lake.

 

06:55 pm: The Cherubim Can Read!!!

Last spring, before she departed, the wonderful Miss B told me that she expected the Cherubim to learn to read. I was overjoyed, but I don't think I really believed it. Then, during the summer, I met a girl who did not talk until she was eight. She learned to read before she talked. This, too, gave me hope, and yet...

This year, it's been obvious that the Cherubim can read The Cat In The Hat and Green Eggs And Ham. But he listened to the Living Book version for hours and hours, so it was unclear how much was reading and how much was memorization.

Then, today, I was typing, and he came to sit on my lap. (He's nearly eight, so typing with him on my lap is problematic.) As I was typing, I realized that he was saying something...he was reading some of the words I'd typed.

So, I pointed at some words: all, that, had. He got all and had without prompting. That took a little bit of help. Then, I typed some words for him. I typed:

I love you

He looked at it, and then he laughed out loud with happiness.  He proceeded to read a few other simple phrases, too. 

Can't wait to show his father!

08:30 am: Happy Walpurgisnacht a.k.a. "Hey, Merle Corey, Duck!" Day!

I'm always intrigued by the phenomena of how some things stay and others pass away. Christmas, for instance. Apparently, it is due to Dickens and maybe the fellow who wrote “Twas the Night Before Christmas” that we have the holiday we know and love today. But how is it that Christmas has remained when so many other masses, many of which were celebrated with great fanfare years ago, have passed away?

 

May Day used to be a major holiday, yet it is all but forgotten. It shows up here and there for small town festivals. Perhaps the Wicca still celebrate it with a pole and all, but mainly, it’s been forgotten. Even Cinco de Mayo is more famous.

 

At one time, the spring had May Day and the fall had All Saints Day, and both days had dark creepy eves. I wonder how it came about that Halloween has soared above nearly all its competitors,* while Walpurgisnacht (Witches Eve – April 30^th) is all but forgotten (except by Luke Reynard, of course.) 

 

08:37 am: Would You Go With Me?
A friend sent me the following note:

This video might be worth a Kleenex or two when you have a minute:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2sApH8VtWFI

 For us girls whose husbands take them on flights of fantasy...


Well, I immediately fell in love with this -- the video, the song, the artist, everything about it. Not exactly sure why. Partially because I was touched by the note above, partially because of the wonderful, bittersweet video, partially because of the words, partially because of the wonderful deep burr the guy gets in his voice, partially because I was just moderating a scene with a guy exploring holding a lantern like that (and I decided the character should look like the singer, ;-) partially because, well, sometimes we just don't know why we love something. We just do.

I've watched/listened to it fifteen kabillion times now. I've shown it to Juss a few times, too. He sits on my lap and watches it. Last night, Orville came in to see it as well, and I explained the end very briefly. Then, Juss gave his own explanation, which was: 

"Now they have to live their lives all over again."

He kind of didn't get the point...but his version was cute. We also had the following conversation:

Juss: "What's that man doing in the house?"
Mommy: "He's not there at the same time as the boy and girl."
Juss: "I mean the music player."
Mommy: "That's the singer. His name is Josh Turner."
Juss, gaping in utter astonishment: "How do you know his name?"

09:02 pm: Ravencon Again

Just got back from Ravencon, a science fiction convention in Richmond. It’s a small convention, but it has the advantage that we know many of the people who attend, so its like getting together with old friends.

 

I had six panels and managed to make them all, though I was late for the Sunday morning one (overslept due to the raining weather.)  They were great fun, as panels always are. I got to speak on Urban Fantasy, Paranormal Romance, Worldbuilding, two Anime panels, and one other that I cannot bring to mind at the moment.

 

Saturday, we had nothing to do from 12 to 6, so we crept out and went to see a movie. We saw Forbidden Kingdom, a Monkey King martial arts film with Jackie Chan and Jet Li…so much fun! Not a great movie by any standard, but I enjoyed it.

 

The most amusing part of our trip was the coupons. First we went to Starbucks, and they forgot our orders, so they gave us two free coffee coupons. Then, we went to Outback, and they were replacing their water heater, so they gave us two coupons for Bloomin’ Onions. So, we acquired four coupons during the weekend…pretty good deal!

 

My favorite part was probably the Koffee Klatches with David B. Coe and Jeri Smith-Ready. Both delightful people. Epic fantasy writer David Coe and I share the same editor, so we always have something to say to each other, and he's just an all-around nice guy!  Jeri and I were once on a panel at Capclave about two years ago. While there, she surprised me by mentioning that she had been at that very event with me the year before. When I said, “Oh, you must have been down the table a bit.” She responded wryly, “I was sitting right next to you.” Well, I haven’t forgotten her again! She is a delightful and charming person who writes both fantasy and paranormal romance.

 
All around a great weekend!

10:47 am: Twenty for Prayer -- April and May 2008

Again, only for those who are interested in joining in on the praying. ;-)

08:50 am: That Could Not Happen To A Wonderful Person Like You!
 

When we last left off the “Six Year Old” now in her twenties, had graduated from college. My mom went to England for a time and then came back to her home in Long Island, NY. She worked at a number of things during this period, but mainly she was a dancer.

 

One day, she was downstairs in her parents’ house when she heard a loud noise upstairs.  Immediately, her father said, “Go upstairs. Your mother needs you!” – this was noteworthy because her father had been dead for some years.

 

05:43 pm: Null-A Continuum

John's latest book, Null-A Continuum, arrived on our doorstep. The book is a sequel to World of Null-A and Players of Null-A by A. E. Van Vogt -- John's favorite books when he was a child. 

These books were bestsellers in the Forties and Fifties, back when "Fans were Slans" and fans lived in Slan Shacks. (Slan, which would make a great YA novel, was also written by Van Vogt.) Van Vogt is not as well remembered today as some of the writers he influenced, such as Asimov, but even as late as the Sixties, polls of SF fans still listed Van Vogt as the number one most popular SF writer.

John and I both picked the book up and examined it in amazement and awe because there had been so many times when we thought this book would never see print! Every step was fraught with difficulties. And yet...here it is -- a solid reminder that miracles can happen!

John called Lydia Van Vogt, the widow of A. E. Van Vogt, and they rejoiced together. 

 

12:55 pm: Thank God!

I cannot tell you with what joy I read that Fran Lyon fled England last fall and is now living in hiding somewhere...with her baby (Molly Linda Anna Lyons, born on a Sunday in January!)

Thank you, God!  I have been praying and praying for this young women whom the English government turned on and decided to deprive of her child merely because a doctor who had not met her decided that her mistreatment at 16 might lead her , now 22, to mistreat her own child.

Another site claims that the original decision has not been overturned...I hope Fran and Molly can go home.

May God protect her and guide both of them, wherever they may be now.

 

10:11 am: How do you saunter?

Last night, we ran a short installation of our Monster game, run by Uncle Bill. In the monster game, we all play nine year olds with invisible monsters. In this particular episode, there was some kissing by children of other children on the cheek, partially in cute nine year old crush style and partially because we were tormenting the adult military agent posing as a nine-year old. (My character described him as "an adult pretending to be a human being!" ) 

At the end of the session, Juss declared that, at lunch, his character, Nick Anonymous, sauntered up to my character, Rosemary Brown, sat down next to me, and kissed me on the cheek...only, he did it like this...

"I saunter up..." he frowned, his brow furrowed, "...how do you saunter?" -- scene interruption as several of us demonstrate sauntering to Juss -- and then he continued with his character sitting down and kissing me on the cheek.

I was soooo amused that he knew enough to know that it would be cool to saunter up, sit down, and kiss the little girl...but he didn't know what saunter was. 

(He had gotten 'saunter' from listening to Daddy's character, the "cool guy," No Way Jose.)

07:49 pm: The Cherubim Goes To Church With Daddy

Part of our deal when John joined the Catholic church was that the children would only go to my church. This is because I feel that what is taught at my church is both very valuable and a bit hard to grasp, and I don't want to confuse them until they really get a good grip on it. (Obviously, when they are older, they can make up their own mind.)

I've violated this "my church only" rule for Juss by putting him in AWANA at the local Presbyterian church, but I did this for three reasons:

1) I couldn't watch him at that time -- free babysitting

2) It's just about the Bible, how much harm could it do?

3) and most importantly, the ladies at CPC are among the kindest and most wonderful anywhere. I adore them and Juss has been friends with their children since birth. 

This Sunday, however, John called to say that when he went out to the car to go to Mass, the Cherubim* went with him and got in the car. We have no idea where the Cherubim though he was going, but mass is where he went. I did not object to this for three reasons.

1) He was the only boy who sat still on Easter (except for the whole blowing out the candles thing), so I thought he could do it.

2) He wasn' t going to understand the niceties of it either way, and more prayer certainly would not hurt.

3) and most importantly, John does not get a whole lot of time to spend with the boys...and when he does, its often the clamoring boys who get the time. While an hour sitting in a pew might not be quality time for Orville of Juss, it is quality time with the Cherubim. 

So, I have suggested that John take him every week. He'll love the outing, and they'll get some time together. If he starts not enjoying it, John can stop taking him.


*For newcomers: True cherub is the singular, but it has a whole different connotations, more flying, chubby boy and less fiery wings with eyes.

09:29 am: Unemployed in Greenland

I write this with some hesitance, because I'm often annoyed at people demanding changes in modern life and language as part of what they are "entitled" to and hesitate to participate in that kind of thinking, but...

I recently had to fill out forms for a loan: two loans, actually, one temporary, the other more long term. It bothered me, just a little, that when it asked about employment, I had to put down "Unemployed". 

I don't feel unemployed! 

You would think they would have an option for At-Home Caretaker or some such modern claptrap.

Weirdly, there is also no way to pick Royalties as your income.

06:29 pm: Letter to a Teen-Aged me

All the girls are doing it, so I thought I'd try it, too. 

Not a whole lot to say to younger me. I respect my past self. Any pitfalls I might warn her about were not matters where I would have heeded anyone else's advice. So, I'll keep it short:


Dear 17-Year Old Me,

Don't be so impatient. You get True Love. Do you think that happens every day?

Love,

Older Me

11:26 am: Overheard at the Wright's Household -- It's All About The Treasure!
Juss: "I slide into another room. What kind of monster do I see?"
Mommy: "A big blue dragon!"
Juss: "I hold up my sword and cry out 'Knights of the Seven Round-Up!' This makes lighting come out of my sword! Then I slice him with my magic sword and my belt of strenght, and I use my seven-piece wand!" (He can't remember Wand of Seven Parts.)"
Mommy: "You beat him!"
Juss, jumping up and down. "What kind of treasure do I get?"
Mommy tells him.
Juss: "Okay, I slide into the next room. What do I see?"
Mommy: "A giant spider!"
Juss: "I take out my ring of spider control! I say: Give me!"
Mommy: "That's not very polite."
Juss: "I say, 'Please give me your treasure."
Mommy: "The spider gives you his treasure."
Juss, jumping up and down, "What is it? What is it?"
Mommy, wracking her brain, "A scarf of skunk control." 
Juss: "I make the spider a web with my ring and I tell him to stay in it."

He slides into rooms, he remembers his previous treasures and uses them, and he's all about the treasure.

When it comes time for him to play D&D, he'll be a natural!

10:44 am: More on Spindrift

I've been reading a bit more about Spindrift and continue to find it amazing!  

[For those who missed the previous post: Spindrift was an organization that applied scientific method to prayer. They set up hundreds and hundreds of experiments where people prayed over plants of various kinds. Sometimes, they would set up the experiment so that what it looked like the plants needed was not what they really needed -- imagine the plant looks dehydrated, but there's really something amiss with the soil. They found out that if you prayed "God, give this plant more water," the prayers often worked...but did not help the plant. But those who prayed with a sense of Divine Love and asked "Thy will be done" -- that kind of prayer helped the plants, regardless of whether or not the person praying knew what was wrong.]

From a paper on Spindrift:

 

“Spindrift invited people from the Hindu, Christian Science, Jewish, Quaker, Zen Buddhist, New Age, Scientology, Unitarian, Catholic, and Assembly of God backgrounds, not to mention other Christian denominations, and faith healers to be tested.  I personally imagined that a whole lot of differences in the results would come out of people’s prayers from different religions.  It was quite a surprise to see that the spiritual makeup or character and possibly the personality type of the person praying had more to do with his conveying distant prayer than his religious background. (See qualities in Galatians 5:22,23.)

…

We were curious if a person’s religious affiliation mattered.  Would a Jewish prayer be different in effect than a Christian prayer?  Would a seasoned Christian get stronger results than a beginner?  What would happen with a Baptist praying followed by a Buddhist?  How would a quiet monk do over a robust evangelist?  Would an atheist with a strong intention to do good get a result akin to prayer?  Gradually we came to the position that a person’s qualitative makeup was more germane to his holiness than his denomination.  (Also some people did unintentional harm when they prayed for a test.)”

06:34 pm: Twenty for Prayer -- March 2008
As always, only of interest to those who want to join in praying.

 

01:59 pm: “A healthier, less puritanical culture”

Just read an article in the TV Guide on sex on TV. (It included the amusing line about a teen show having a sex scene “your grandmother is too young to see” ) One of the people interviewed praised the growing amount of smut on TV with the comment “The more comfortable we are talking about sex and portraying sex, the healthier we are as a society. We’ve been far too puritanical as a culture.”
 
…?…

When did the idea get started that puritanical cultures were unhealthy? Didn’t that come from Freud and his repression theory? Hasn’t Freud been discredited psychologically for some time now (among psychiatrists)?
 
What evidence do we have that more puritanical cultures were unhealthy? Are we assuming that all cultures in the past were unhealthy? What about the fact that the only cultures in the past that have been very open about sex – the word decedent comes to mind – were gigantic empires spiraling their way down into destruction – such as Babylon and Rome.
 
What constitutes a healthy culture? What does a healthy culture entail? Would it be one where children have sex, abortions are high, many marriages end in divorce, many families are being raised by single mothers, family itself is not valued, and suggesting that people should write decent books for kids – or even that there is such a thing as decency at all – gets people all hot and bothered?

07:43 pm: You Think He Would Have Asked About This Ahead Of Time!
 John asks:
First question: Where does my new name go? I am John Justin-Martyr Charles Wright? Or does it go after my middle name: John Charles Justin-Martyr Wright? Do I use the whole saint's name (Justin Martyr) or only his Christian name (Justin)?
 
Mark Shea replies:
In answer to your questions: Your birth name has been erased from all records, both written and electronic. You are now always and only Justin Martyr to us, the perfect Philosopher Spy. You will do as we bid, go where we command and think only what we allow. Your identity has been erased and all who knew of your existence have been liquidated. You report directly to the Vatican. Your password is "Lancer".
 
 
The part of particular interest to me is: all who knew of your existence have been liquidated. This is the kind of thing you wish your husband would have bothered to check on before he had the whole family annihilated. 
 
Luckily, while my church is not so fortunate as to have albino monk assassins (you got to admit that kind of thing is cool!), we do resurrect the dead.* So, thanks to their timely prayers, I and the children have survived our encounter with the Vatican Cleaners and will live to breathe another day. 
 

*I collect accounts of people in my church who have raised the dead through prayer in recent years. Currently, I am aware of at least fifteen accounts, if one counts both people and animals restored to life. This does not include the time my prayers brought John back. I don’t include that because I did not have any proof he was actually dead.
 
On the other hand, there is the following interesting fact:  at the time of our car accident, John was a vituperative atheists who thought that there was no soul, that prayer was nonsense, and that life ended with the body – and he continued to believe this for about 15 years after this event. And yet, even though I had not told him -- or anyone else -- that I thought he might have died,  John went around telling people that he’d died and I had brought him back. He even started a novel he never completed based on a related premise.
 
How he explained this conviction of his in his atheistic mindset, I never found out. 

08:31 pm: The Story of Easter According to Juss
As we were having our first post-Lent coffee after church, Juss summed up, with a slight expression of distain, what he had learned of Easter (apparently in Sunday School):

"Nothing happened. Jesus escaped." 

12:49 pm: How admirable! Oh…wait…

SF SIgnal has an entry about whether or not Young Adult books are currently too graphic. As you might imagine nearly everyone who responded cheered the current standard. This was my post:
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My first response is that I suspect that most of the people responding have no idea what the YA field is like today. Comments such as "there is no sex in YA anyway" are so far off from the reality as to suggest that the reader is only familiar with older books or with a spattering of books that do not represent what is currently out there. (If you are not up to date on YA, I recommend googling Rainbow Party by Paul Ruditis. While perhaps an extreme, it gets the point across.) [Folks reading this on my blog, save yourself the mental cringe and don't bother.]

Secondly, I note that nearly everyone I see answering questions like this always takes time to qualify how bright and precocious they were, and how bright and precocious their children are. Those of us who are not so lucky as to have children with excellent judgment applaud you, but we wish someone else were acting as the gateway to what is available for teens. Alas for civilization, not all children are like you. Not all children are like your children.

Thirdly, I read adult books when I was as young as twelve and grappled with all kinds of interesting and mature ideas. Those books were NOTHING like today’s books. They were adult in their ideas, not in their graphicness. YA books today are much more graphic than was even the most interesting and shocking of adult books generally available back then. (There were adult books more graphic back then, but not interesting ones, not ones that also had a good story that made it seem legit.)

And, finally, one cannot help wondering at the motives of those who wish to shove stark and shocking things down the throats of children and even teens. It is as if we are all rushing to compete in the graphic version of the old Death Race 2000 game – Two points for scandalizing a sixteen year old. Five for shocking a twelve year old. 50 points for traumatizing a nine-year-old who picked up the book by mistake. He who defiles the most innocents wins.

How admirable! Oh…wait…