I'm Taking A Stand!

Not really. Actually, I'm taking up The Stand, the 1138-page 1141-page* (at least in the version I'm reading) Stephen King chunkster classic that Trish and a bunch of other people are reading for this summer's group readalong, which Trish has dubbed the Standalong. I don't know if I'll hit the half-way point in a timely manner, but we have until July 27th to finish the book, and I think I can handle that. Hubby's gone for a week, so I've got plenty of time to read...read a big scary book all by myself in a house that only makes weird noises when no one else is around to help you fend off the creepy.

Anywaaay...Trish wants to know a little bit about all the folks crazy enough to sign up for this, so she has asked us a few questions. Here are my answers:

1. What makes you want to read The Stand? I've always heard this lauded as one of Stephen King's best works, so it's been on my radar for a while, but it's always been such an intimidating read! Knowing that others are slogging through it along with me (although, honestly, if it gets too sloggy, I'll probably stop slogging) is encouraging.

2. Describe your preconceived notions of The Stand. Long! Also, probably scary, but not in the blood-and-guts horror movie kind of way, more along the lines of making you realize how scary the potential for disaster is in the real world with a little bit of paranormal/supernatural/good v. evil creepiness thrown in. Also lots of walking across dry, barren landscapes. And cornfields.

3. What was the last scary(ish) book you read or movie you saw? I think the last scary book I read was The Fall, book two of The Strain Trilogy by Guillermo Del Toro and Chuck Hogan. The strain refers to the virus that turns people into vampires and, so far, I think the series has been done incredibly well. It also fits in quite nicely with a discussion of The Stand (hmm..The Stand, The Fall, killer flu virus, killer (sort of) vampire virus...I'm seeing a connection here!) This is no sparkly, romantic vampire tale. This is a tale of a virus that lands in major metropolitan areas and spreads quickly and violently. Scary stuff.

4. Which version of the book will you be reading from? I'm reading the complete & uncut edition because that's what was on my bookcase, yo! Actually, this is probably the one I would have gone with anyway. If I'm going to read the 641 pages originally published in 1978, I might as well read the additonal 500 pages that were published in 1990. I don't want to miss out on anything! Besides, after reading Part 1 of King's Two-Part Preface (Part 1: To Be Read Before Purchase) I'm convinced that this is the way to go. This is the story he wanted to tell in the first place, not a new story added on purely as a sales gimmick.

5. What are your previous experiences with Stephen King? Ahh, Stephen King...where to start? I consider myself a Stephen King fan even though I can only name one of his books as among my favorites (The Eyes of the Dragon). Most of the rest of his stuff that I've read is...all right. I've read a lot of short stories and started several novels that I never finished. So why the love? I think it stems from my childhood. I was a big fan of scary movies, and things like The Shining, Cujo, Silver Bullet, and Creepshow made their mark--these were slumber party favorites for years! (BTW, I still love Silver Bullet-Cory Haim was such a cute kid, and Gary Busey as his crazy Uncle Red is spot-on.) My mom would probably still tell you that Pet Sematary and It are the scariest things she's ever read; I've heard a lot of people say that his non-fiction book, On Writing, is fabulous; some of my husband's favorite books are The Dark Tower series; and some of my all-time favorite movies are also based on King's writing: The Shawshank Redemption, Stand by Me, The Green Mile...so I don't quite know where I stand with King as an actual novelist. I'm hoping that after I read The Stand I will finally be able to add another King book to my list of all-time favorites.

6. Anything else you'd like to add (bonus points for being extra random). My copy of The Stand is full of mildew and it makes my throat hurt and makes me cough. Or else it's covered in plague. Check in with me in a couple days to make sure I'm still here!

*7/27/12-Corrected page number counts and the (several) misspellings of the author's name. Sheesh!

What I'm Reading Now-The Hairdresser of Harare

The Hairdresser of Harare by Tendai Huchu--First, a thank you to the author and to The African Books Collective for sending me a copy of this book, and, secondly, an apology to the author for taking so long to get to this review. I actually finished reading this about three weeks ago, but then I never got around to reviewing it. I kept putting it off and putting it off because I wasn't sure what I wanted to say about it. Finally, I had read so much other stuff recently, that I couldn't really remember any of the finer points, so decided that I needed to re-read it...so I did.

I enjoyed the book both times, so that was good. Although there was plenty of foreshadowing of bad things to come, there wasn't any hard-core suspense, but I was always interested to see how everything was going to play out for the main characters. Vimbai is the star hairdresser at Mrs. Khumalo's salon, so when Dumisani, a charming, good looking young man, walks into the salon and quickly outshines her, her world is turned upside down. She has lost all her leverage as the salon's big draw, but business picks up so much because of Dumisani that everyone is benefitting from his being there. The fact that he is so likeable makes it even harder to resent him. Eventually, Dumi ends up becoming Vimbai's tenant, they become friends, and everything seems to be rolling along great. Vimbai realizes that she is attracted to Dumi but she is extremely guarded because of her past. Dumi introduces Vimbai to his family, who are crazy about her, but he has some secrets of his own.

I don't feel like I can talk a whole lot about the things that I found interesting about this book without spoiling it; although, for me, the spoiler-y stuff was no surprise at all and, in fact, I suspect it is part of the draw of the book...

OK, so non-spoiler-y stuff first: This story takes place in Harare, the capital city of Zimbabwe. It took me a while to date the story-at first I thought it might be set in the '60s or '70s--a man walks into a salon to try to do a woman's job, and people are slightly scandalized.  There is some talk about AIDS and condom use, so maybe the '80s or '90s? Eventually there were references to cell phones and even Sex and the City. So, while I'm still not sure exactly when this story is set, it's a fairly modern tale. Just goes to show how one's preconceived notions of "modernity" can get in the way!

I've never read anything set in Zimbabwe before, and if you had asked me, I couldn't have really told you anything about it until the author started talking about the currency. The characters carry around bricks of cash, and even then it can be hard to come by what they need. Bartering and trading are much more effective. Oh, yeeeaaah. I do remember hearing something about Zimbabwean currency. At one point in the story, the Minister's husband comes into the salon and talks to Dumi about setting up a spa day for his wife a couple of months down the road. Dumi is happy to do it but tells the Minister's husband, "We'll have to charge you on the day because anything you give us now will be worthless by then." Wow--I never realized that things were so bad that it wasn't even worth being paid today for a service being done tomorrow (well, a couple months from tomorrow, but still...). Apparently things are changing, but there's still a problem with currency in Zimbabwe. Anyway, getting this peek into modern-day Harare was interesting, and I'm glad to have read it.

SPOILER-Y STUFF TO FOLLOW!

OK, spoiler-y stuff: So, as you may or may not have guessed, Dumi, the charming, good-looking male hairdresser with a secret, is gay. Chalk this up to stereotypes, but to me this was pretty obviously the Big Secret of this book from the very beginning, but Vimbai is completely shocked when she finds out. To be fair, Dumi does lead her on a bit, but her reaction to this discovery was another reality check for me about how my assumptions about modern-day attitudes are based on a pretty insulated view of the world. I was shocked by the fact that Vimbai didn't even suspect that Dumi might be gay, and the results of her discovery--both her inner dialogue and her physical actions--were heartbreaking. As much as I like to think that we are making progress in this country, sometimes I watch TV and have to wonder if there aren't a lot of Americans who would still react the same way as Vimbai.

There is a part in the book where Dumi and Vimbai attend a service at Vimbai's church and the pastor talks about morality and how "You must be on the lookout for homosexuals and sexual deviants. Perverts shall burn. How can a man and another man sleep together? God mad Adam and Eve not Adam and Steve." (Really?? Ugh. Cheeseball as hell, but I guess people fall for that stuff.) It becomes clear that although Vimbai may not have spent a lot of time considering her stance on homosexuals (because how likely are you, really, to run into one of these creatures of myth and legend in the real world??), when faced with one in her presence, her innate response is that they are bad and wrong. After a cooling-off period, she does realize that perhaps her initial response was brash--after all, Dumi has been kind to her and her daughter; in fact, homosexual tendencies aside, he seems like an incredibly decent human being. Of course, this consideration comes a little too late for Dumi. The results of Vimbai's initial anger are already irreversible.  The fact that she comes to regret her choices leaves one hopeful, but sad nonetheless. Vimbai seems to be a good, considerate person as well, perhaps a little bit self-centered, but then again, aren't we all sometimes?  So her reaction to Dumi is that much more painful.

So, while this book is mostly an easy read about the romantic complications of a single-mother hairdresser in Harare, it does bring up some serious issues. It makes the reader question his or her own beliefs and examine the basis of those beliefs. At the same time, it doesn't come across preachy or judgmental. Vimbai's reactions, although harsh and ultimately harmful, are understandable from the point of view of a scorned lover, orientation aside.

Have you read The Hairdresser of Harare? If you have, I'd be happy to add a link to your review. I'd also love to hear your thoughts below!
 

What I'm Reading Now-Unnatural Selection: Choosing Boys Over Girls, and the Consequences of a World Full of Men

Unnatural Selection: Choosing Boys Over Girls, and the Consequences of a World Full of Men by Mara Hvistendahl--According to my notes, Jonathan Last's Wall Street Journal Review is what prompted me to add this book to my reading list, and, wow, has it been a journey! It took me a long time to get through this book, not because it was boring or a chore to read but because I could only read a few pages at a time before having to set the book down for a cooling-off period. This might be the most infuriating and frustrating book I've ever read. It's infuriating for the attitudes that led to and continue to support the practice of women aborting babies because they are girls; it's frustrating because there are just no easy answers. I think the epigraph at the beginning of Chapter 15 sums it up the best:

There is always a well-known solution to every human problem--neat, plausible, and wrong.

--H.L. Mencken  

Most people are at least somewhat familiar with China's one-child policy. It's pretty self-explanatory--basically, couples are allowed one child. Although, I have to admit, I wasn't sure what the consequences of having more than one child are/were. According to the book, compliance with the policy resulted in preferential health care and education benefits (p. 144). According to a 2010 article by Hvistendahl, the consequences included forced abortions and sterilizations and excessive fines. While the one-child policy was a mostly well-intentioned attempt at population control for the good of the planet and the nation, the consequences have been dire. Most couples in Asia, when faced with the reality of only one child, would prefer a boy over a girl, plain and simple. Infanticide was common, but emerging ultrasound technology made sex-selective abortions a quick and relatively easier way for couples to make sure their one child was a boy. When it became obvious that infanticide and sex-selective abortions were taking place on a large scale, the government did loosen up its policy to say that if a couple's first child was a girl, they could try again for a boy. (After all, not even the Chinese government is unfeeling enough to make parents settle for one crappy-ass, worthless girl child. Sorry. See what I mean about needing a cooling-off period?) While this has helped to protect a lot of first-born girls, it still didn't help many would-be second-born girls.

Knowing what I knew about China's one-child policy, I went into this book prepared to be all, "Way to go, China!" while flipping it the bird, but it turns out that it's much more complicated than that. First of all, the problem is much more wide-spread than just China. Second, as it turns out, the United States and other Western nations actually had a pretty heavy hand in this whole population control thing, and it's not just because we didn't anticipate the results. (The results, by the way, are that, as of 2005, approximately 163 million females were missing from Asia. That's more than the entire female population of America.) Scientists saw the potential problems created by a society full of men with no potential mates. The British microbiologist John Postgate understood that, "Women's right to work, even to travel alone freely, would probably be forgotten transiently. Polyandry might well become accepted in some societies; some might treat their women as queen ants, others as rewards for the most outstanding (or most determined) males." (p. 102-3) Well, sign me up! Sounds good, eh, ladies? Despite this bleak view, he believed that "sex selection was advisable, for 'the only really important problem facing humanity to-day is over-population,' particularly in 'under-developed unenlightened communities.'" (p. 103). Way to take the long-view, Postgate.

The trouble now, from a U.S. perspective, is that most people here would agree that sex-selective abortions are wrong; attitudes about girls need to change. The problem is, while Americans are all pretty much in agreement that it's abhorrent to abort a fetus just because it's a girl, and we're ready to tell Asia to get its act together, we're not quite ready to lead by example. (By the way, it's not always a matter of abortions being legal/illegal; it's often a matter of enforcement.) Pro-lifers are all over this, of course. Restricting abortion on any grounds is a move in the right direction as far as they're concerned. Pro-choice folks are having a harder time though. Restrictions on *some* abortions is a pretty slippery slope to restrictions on *all* abortions. It's even hard to get people on the same page about sex selection. What if the sex selection is pro-girl? That would be progress, wouldn't it? Girls are now being valued--that's good, right? What if the reason girls are being selected for is because now poor rural families can expect to receive high bride prices from rich families trying to marry off their sons?

As it turns out, Americans are, generally speaking, pro-girl. In the latest iteration of pro-creative technology, preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) allows couples seeking in vitro fertilization to choose the sex of their babies, and Americans seem to prefer girls. In fact, "[f]or the most part parents going through PGD or sperm sorting dread having a boy. Girls are the goal for 80 percent of [Huntington Reproductive Center] Fertility's patients..." (p. 256). So, as Americans, we're mostly agreed that sex selection is wrong...when it's anti-girl, and we can pretty much agree that aborting a baby just because it's a girl is wrong...but what if we just discard the boys before they are even in the womb? Like I said, no easy answers.

I posted some thoughts on Goodreads.com when I was about half-way through the book, and you can see a lot more quotes there. This book covers so much ground and provides so much food for thought. I haven't even scratched the surface in this review. I highly recommend it, just give yourself plenty of time to get through it!

 

Deflated Corpse Flower at Foster Botanical Garden

Well, I didn't get to see the Corpse Flower in all its grandeur, but, even in this slightly deflated state, it's still pretty impressive; and I can't say that I'm all that sad about the smell having faded. Really, I wanted to see it more than smell it. So, all in all, this worked out OK for me!

(Click to enlarge)

Foster Botanical Garden did a nice job of documenting the progression of the Corpse Flower's opening. Click on the link and scroll down to see more photos.

Quilts on Display in Honolulu

The Hawaii Quilt Guild is holding its annual show at Linekona Art Academy, 1111 Victoria St., Honolulu, May 11-20, 2012. All the quilts on display are impressive and clearly a labor of love, but these were some of my favorites. I apologize for the poor quality on some of these photos. I was trying not to use my flash, trying to back up far enough to get the whole quilt in the picture, trying to see as many as I could before my meter expired, and/or just not paying good enough attention to what I was actually getting in the frame! You get the general idea though, and if you are in the area, it's a nice (air-conditioned!) break from the hustle and bustle of the city. Stop by, be impressed and inspired, and vote for your favorite. 

"My Blue Hawaii" -Wendy Pulsifer

I don't know how you tie-dye a gecko pattern, but Wendy figured it out!

"Traveling Flower Garden/Grandmother's Flower Garden" -Patricia Lei Murray

There are more than 6,000 pieces in this quilt, all of which were hand pieced 100 years ago in Germany by Marie Baumgarten. Patricia is hand quilting it for Marie's great grandchildren. 

These African and Japanese prints are the front and back of the same quilt, "The Best of Two Worlds" by Linda Dayag.

"My Father's Garden" -Jeannie Salmon

I love Jeannie's story about learning to design by going out into her yard and picking flowers to trace. Her father only loved anthuriums. 

Did you know you could send a fabric postcard? Designs by Barbara Vasold, Sharon Nakasone, Mary Harmon, Ann Boring, Joan Apana, and Arlene Adams.

"Hawaiian Monsterra" -Pat Gorelangton (design by John Serrao)

I love the colors and the design on this!

Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day-May, 2012

Happy Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day! It turns out that May is a pretty happenin' month out in my yard, so let's get started!

My lobelia have come back from a near-death experience in February, so I'm happy about that!

This day-lily, which smells wonderful, seems to be blooming a little early this year, but there are a lot of buds, so maybe it will continue to bloom into its normal June time-frame. 

My Texas sage still has me mystified. I can't quite figure out exactly what combination of neglect/water/drought/sun/etc. prompts this to bloom, but it's always a nice surprise to find a few flowers.

My lavender is also making a nice comeback after the same near-death experience that my lobelia suffered.

The bougainvillea is in full swing right now.

My lime tree is starting to put on some new flowers, and some teeny, tiny little limes!

The puakenikeni has been perfuming the entire yard lately! Here we've got a newer bloom (cream) and an older one (one- or two-days old).

This is a young-ish red ginger starting to open up.

Lots of spider lilies (Crinum asiaticum) out and about today.

These little buds on my bleeding heart (Clerodendrum thomsonae) are just getting ready to go full-bloom. Pretty soon they will look like... 

...this!

Then, apprently, they start doing this...whatever this is. I've never noticed this twisty, cork-screw filament thing happening before. I don't know if this is a sign of fertilization or if it's trying to self-fertilize or what.

It's kind of cool looking though.

I have, once again, been lured into buying a delphinium...wish me luck! If the slugs haven't eaten it by the time the next GBBD rolls around, we can celebrate.  

My Blue Daze (Evolvus glomeratus) seems to be blooming in a more...multiple? fashion than before. I used to only get one flower per stem, now I've got several.

I couldn't pass up these red orchids at the flower shop the other day. I don't know what they are, but they looked really nice with the lilacs and peonies that I also got that day. Unfortunately, these are the only survivors after just a week. 

I'm sure I'm not the only one who has a plethora of blooms in her May Garden today, so head on over to May Dreams Gardens (hmmmm...it's all starting to make sense now!), say hi to our GBBD host, Carol, and see what else is blooming!

A Timely Post...For Once!

Okay, normally I put this out after Mother's Day, but this year, I thought I'd get ahead of the game and actually make a Mother's Day recommendation before Mother's Day...imagine that!

If you want to send flowers for Mother's Day, of course I would always recommend supporting your local florist, but if you're far-away and don't know the local florists where your mother lives, I would recommend Organic Bouquet. Not only do they make lovely arrangements, but they are less likely to send your mother flowers soaked in pesticides and fungicides, so...yay! Also, they will donate part of the proceeds from any of their Flowers for Good collection to charity, so...yay again!

I have used Organic Bouquet in the past and always been very happy with the results. I've sent flowers to my mom for her birthday and Mother's Day, and she always sends me pictures of the bouquets. So, although I don't have any personal experience with the products, I still feel pretty good about recommending them.

If you need to get flowers to someone in the Colorado Springs area  who would like a tropical arrangement I would also highly recommend Dawn's Creations. She pulled this together for a same-day delivery to my Grandpa for his 95th birthday in December. If she could do this last-minute in the middle of winter (well, OK, fall, but whatever) I'm thinking that advance notice in springtime would also yield some fabulous results. Back in December, I don't think Dawn had a web site, and I just assumed that she did local deliveries, but now there's a web site, and it appears that shipping is available, so...yay!...AGAIN!

And, finally, if you need flowers delivered to someone on O'ahu, Rainforest at Kilohana Square makes beautiful arrangements. I'm not sure if they ship arrangements to the mainland, but you can get a lei shipped to the mainland. Their web site is a little detail-heavy, but they are trying to make sure they give their customers all the information they might need when considering an order. If you want to actually place an order, the best way is probably to call and talk to them. You can't just click on a picture and say, "Send one of these." Each creation is unique and depends on customer need and floral availability. I've never dealt with their delivery service, but I have picked up a sympathy arrangement (cat not included) and some loose flowers for my own arrangement at home.

 

I'm not getting any kick-backs or anything for any of these endorsements. These are just companies that I have had good results with in the past. I want to get the word out so that my readers have some reliable places to turn to, and I want to do my part to support the businesses that I like.