Anne Lamott and getting adopted

I am a fan of Anne Lamott. For the longest time whenever I had the opportunity to get a baby shower giftee I would get the new parent (s) a copy of LaMott's old book "Operating Instructions". It is tearfully hilarious. But then Lamott kinda got all born again and preachy..and I just didn't want to buy her books anymore. In the NYT Book Review I saw she has new one out--Grace Eventually I wonder what chameleonic phase she is in now? Maybe I'll request it from da liberry.

So Thursday I learned a new recipe at Chateau McClane. Hammentaschen which means Hammen's hat. But actually look more like pastry replicas of VA Jay-Jays. Or as Carol's beautiful friend calls them "Vashti's Yonni". These little cookies are precariously close to our beloved kifli and just as tasty. So, I learned all about Purim and Esther and again was drunkenly drawn to Judaism. But alas I just can't embrace the whole higher being thing, plus I love bacon and I am pretty sure the boys wouldn't be hip to the whole circumcision concept this late in the game. We will settle for being adopted by Clan Ullman.

I found a book that tried to convince me that if I believed in "the great story" of good winning over evil that is presented in the HP books that maybe I should renounce my pagan tree hugging ways and go back to the Lutheran Sunday school in which I was sort of haphazardly (in a go to church twice a year secular sort of way) brought up. I like John Granger and his well written book LFG in Harry Potter. He is rational and thoughtful. He is well spoken and brilliantly educated in the appropriate fields. I have cited his work in my Children's Lit class and look forward to his new publication. But like LaMott, Granger just tries too hard to convince me that there is a higher meaning; an intelligent design behind the factual science.

I am a skeptic, a cynic... I need hard proof--there was a story on NPR about robots reporting ocean temperatures and thus indicating that global warming predictions may not be as dire as previously thought. My first response was... "The robots are broken." The visual evidence I have--trees budding in January. Canadian geese not migrating. Robins coming home way early--hell just the amount of snowfall compared to 30 years ago--prove to me that our climate is changing and I blame McDonalds and their beef/methane farms in South America. I can not believe it is "God's Will" that low pressure fronts sweep off of Lake Michigan! George Carlin comes to mind; in his recent HBO special he rants about dead people "smiling down Us"--Carlin points out that if that is all there is to do is smile back at the living maybe heaven isn't such a a desirable place. Dust. from Dust to Dust.

Phillip Pullman's Dust or Butt Dust*--dust is dust. To get back to HP--In Deathly Hallows the Trio goes back to Grimmauld Place to hide; and when they first enter the front hall they are met with a horrific vision. Dumbledore's shadow--his dust shell which crumbles at the merest touch. I think JKR has this scene to illustrate DD's desire to communicate to Harry that he is in fact dead. No life force--no more help from the kindly mentor. Yer on yer own kid.



*
have you heard the But Dust joke??