Irish kitsch, kittens, & reading lists
Tired of several days of air conditioning, I’ve opened up our sliding glass door in the living room and one window in the bedroom. They’re opposite each other, & they create a decent cross ventilation. The air is thick and muggy, but not too hot. Our kittens love the open windows, with feeding birds just feet away. I encourage them to scare the blue jays away.
I’ve been commissioned to put together a reading list for school. My challenge is to decide/propose what texts our students should have read by the time they graduate. I turned to the Norton in my time of need, as well as a few reading lists from various classical schools. Homer to Achebe, Augustine to Chesterton. The challenge is to resolve the desires of a classical school with what the broader academic community has been learning; Norton makes a good effort at including works by women & minorities, but many of them don’t seem to be “canon” yet, particulalry in the classical schooling world, thus it is hard for some to understand why we should read works by such authors. But I sense a rather urgent need for Ellison, Equiano, Arundhati Roy, and the Bhagavad Gita in the curriculum. What do you think? If you had to pick one work to add to my school’s reading list, what would it be?
Sarah & I spent last evening with a good friend at an Irish pub. Bailey’s, Murphey’s, Irish coffee, banoffee pie. The energy of Wednesday evenings at this pub is the live music – two fiddlers, a bagpiper, a fellow who played the bodhran, a mandolin-ish instrument, and a big pipe that looked like a flute turned forward like a clarinet. Any idea what those were? The musicians sat in a circle, taking turns starting up a tune, the others joining in. They were playing for the enjoyment of it first, second for the entertainment of the customers. Irish kitsch is definitely kitsch, but it is awesome nonetheless. What is your favorite world culture, or the one you identify with best? Which do you think is least appreciated?
I am excited to meet your kittens.
The Bhagavad Gita would be an excellent addition, methinks. I don’t remember many particulars about it, because I studied it in one of my philosophy classes along with other sacred writings. But I do remember thinking it was good stuff. How would your school feel about studying a Hindu holy text?
Hi Nathan. Let’s see, my fav world culture would be just about all of them I guess because each has its own very interesting characteristics. Well, ok, to narrow it down more, I’d say the American Southerners of all colors because I like their accents. They make me laugh for some reason, to hear them speak. The English are endearing also for the same reason, and because I got to know several quite well. They make good and loyal friends. Just about anyone who has English as a second language is very interesting to me to hear them speak. I have an attachment with Cubans who fled Cuba for Florida because I met and got to know several. Then you can’t forget the Spanish and Mexicans for their great music. I enjoyed working with a Chinese and two Indian (East) fellow and even ones from Nepal and Turkey. All of these were engaging and quite jolly chaps. I conversed with a very friendly scientist from Georgia, Russia on a train ride in England. So it’s hard to nail down a favorite as they are all favorites when in their presence and my memory. Even white North Americans, including Canadians can be nice. American Indians, I feel a real attachment to and I will always favor them no matter what. American Blacks too because we “grew up together” and are easy to talk to. When I found out I was part Irish, it was a happy day because it seemed to explain a lot of my crazy traits. In conclusion, I would have to narrow it down to the Americans: Indians; Southern Blacks, backwoods Whites.