Monday, January 15, 2007

Stuff that's happening on Martin Luther King's birthday


I haven’t been able to focus much on blog writing lately. And it may get worse before it gets better, but I hope not. I haven’t posted a set of quotes in nearly a month; got to get back into the habit of doing that again. Anyway, I picked up this quote from another blogger. I’m not sure where Twain said it (I could look it up, but probably won’t). I wish I knew the address to my tenth grade English teacher who made us read Jane Austin’s Pride and Prejudice:

I could read his prose on salary, but not Jane’s. Jane is entirely impossible. It seems a great pity that they allowed her to die a natural death…. Every time I read ‘Pride and Prejudice’ I want to dig her up and beat her over the skull with her own shin-bone.” –Mark Twain

I did a couple of miles of hiking on Saturday. The ground wasn’t even good and frozen which meant my boots got muddy. The photo is of Cedar Creek. What little snow we had last week had melted by Saturday. It was nice hiking weather, around freezing, but it was warm enough that I mostly went without gloves. It's a funny winter we're having up here.

Last night I went to sleep to the sound of sleet and freezing rain blowing against the windows. This morning, I had one heck of a job getting the doors open and the windows cleared on my truck. Although I have a two car garage, it wasn’t designed for trucks and I’d have to put in the mirrors to get it into the garage and trying to back it without side mirrors (and with only an inch to spare, means that I have to scrape and chip away at ice. It’s suppose to snow a lot this week which is good as I’m heading north Friday and Saturday to ski.

Today is Martin Luther King’s birthday. In honor of him, I’ll direct you back to my book review of Parting the Waters: America in the King Years, 1954-1963. One of my goals for this year is to read the other two books in this major trilogy by Taylor Branch on the life of King. I have a few other posts I’m working on—a few memories of the past, a review of the movie Earth, and for tomorrow, a post about starting the “down hill run.”

8 comments:

  1. Mark was just a bitter old man. My next husband will be Mr. Darby.

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  2. I read and noted the same quote this week, Sage. It's a good one.

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  3. There is a passage in Pride and Prejudice, where Elizabeth endures the marriage proposal of Mr. Collins, and it is one of the great comedic passages ever written.

    And Emma is re-done (see, e.g., the movie "Clueless") as often and in as many different ways as some Shakespeare plays . . .

    Got to disagree with Mr. Clemens on this one . . .

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  4. Ah, I need to find time to get on a hike again if only the weather and time cooperates!

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  5. Murf and Diane, you sound like those girls in that class that enjoyed Austin!

    Kenju, glad you like the quote. Twain can skewer the best

    Karen, it sounds better without the "someday", there's the power of the proclaiming "We Shall Overcome!"

    Tim, I hope we'll soon get enough snow to x-country ski some, but so far we don't have enough

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  6. I love that quote. If he said it, then great; if someone else put it in his mouth that is even better.

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  7. Great quote. And a really spectacular photo.

    I remember a couple of the quotes you posted from the Branch book and they were both insightful and evocative. I'm sure the rest of the trilogy is just as good.

    Have a wonderful time skiing. And if you can't bring back photographs, at least bring back a blog post or two. Heh. Seriously, have a great time.

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