The Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare

There have been fewer books that I have awaited so anxiously as I did for Clare's first book in her prequel series - The Clockwork Angel.

(I think the last time this happened it was the last Harry Potter, which I actually pre-ordered. I would have preordered this one too, but alas, I am po'. But next best thing: I convinced my local librarian to buy the book. Devious aren't I?)

Clare has two series going on. The one that is already established is called The Mortal Instruments. There's three books released and there's three more to come (I think..) The three released already are: City of Bones; City of Ashes; City of Glass.

The fourth in that series is pretty much done if not done, and is works to released I think in November? City of Fallen Angels?

The Clockwork Angel is the first book in the Infernal Devices SEries - a Prequel series to the Mortal Instrument series.

On Clare's website she says to read the Infernal Devices series first. But really how is that possible when ther's only one book of them out and three or the other series? If you read the Mortal Instuments Series first it's not going to kill you. It's kind of like Star Wars (Yes I know my geekdom is REALLY showing right now). The first three Star Wars Films that were realeased back int h 70s - back when Lucas was still hungry for it, and still passionate, back before Jar Jar Binks cereal - those three films were number, 4, 5, and 6. This indicated there would be three others that took place before them. Those three disappointments didn't come out until the 90s-2000s (and they never should have.)

So while it may be slightly confusing just for a brief moment, it's not a big deal. I will though, read the entire series from 1-whatever when they're all out in chronological order to follow character arcs.
Did you hear that? I"m going to happily re-read these books, all of them, in order, because I want to see these characters again I want to watch them grow, fall, triumph, all of it. Again and again.

These books are awesome.

They do have the dreaded and often stigmatized "Young Adult Fiction" sticker on the spine. But do not let that dissuade you. These are excellently written. Fantastic characters, well thought out, beautiful, everything.

A great combination of fantasy and realism, there is nothing about these books that is juvenile. These are adult novels, except for the fact that the main characters are upper teenagers to early 20-ish.

I cannot say enoughabout these books. Except that if you like fantasy with some teeth - not the rubbish Twilight stuff - but really well written, well developed, non-angsty characters, excellent storylines, cliffhangers, all of it... go and start reading these books.

NOW.

And on a side note - the little video advertisement of this book - clockwork Angel - that you find on Amazon.com is kind of lame. Don't let it dissuade you.

Realy. Katie. Hailers.. GO READ THESE BOOKS NOW.

run fatboy run

i havent been publishing book reviews and film reviews here as often as i have been publishing them for the library. so for the msot part allthe one i'm doing end up there. (www.tunkhannock.com/library look for Rebeccas Reviews on the side bar)

but this film wasn't inthe library's colelction, but in the keystone college library collection.

Run Fatboy Run,



I don't think I have laughed this hard in a long time. We had to stop the film, pause it until we were done, or rewind to catch the parts we were laughing too hard through.

what may appear as a simple. war between two guys over a beautiful woman - great guy, avergae guy/slightly loser-ish guy... turns out to be a great story about friendship, heart, finding yourself, and all sorts of things.

and oh my gosh it's funny. not little laughs. but laughing like oh my gosh i might just pee myself.

i cannot recommend it highly enough.




in other news:

we feared the baby had a peanut allergy. turns out she doesn't. but int he process we discovered, through the ever so geenrous advice of Katie, Sunbutter. Sunbutter is a peanut butter alternative made complete from Sunflower seeds. taste delicious.

i have taken to making Mars Bar cake. think Rice Crispy treats, with a chocolate layer on top, and melted snickers, milky ways or mars bar in the rice crispy mix. Heaven. and a real sugar rush to boot. do not give this to children.

I have also taken to making our own home made won tons. we did this as kind of a date night thing, and they turned out incredible. so i'm never buying them again. the price to make them vs. the price to buy them is ridiculous. They are super simple and if you have little ones who you can trust to help, then great. if not, it's still simple to make.
the basic recipe - get some won ton wrappers (our store has them next to the tofu), two things of cream cheese, warmed, chives. and if you want to make them with imitation crab meat, get a thing of that too, and chop it up finely.
put two bowls out, and put a thing of cream cheese in each one, along with spices you want (chives, a little garlic perhaps..) then in one bowl, add the chopped crab meat. stir.
then really, all you do, lay out a won ton wrapper, take about a tsp full of filling (and really a tsp is about it can handle..) put the filling in the middle, and with a pstry brush, brush some egg or water along the edges, then fold it into a triangle. set aside and repet until you have your desired amount of wontons.
then fry them in the skillet - we use olive oil, and a cast iron skillet. about two minutes frying. the won ton wrapper will bubble and start to brown.
then take out and set on a paper towel lined plate.

there you go.
simple.


and while yo're brosing here, check out this other blog that i attend almost religiously - amanda blake soule's blog. http://www.soulemama.com/

very very cool. mama, living simply, homeschooling, just being crafty, writing, photographing, finding joy in simple things.. incredibly cool. and a little transcendental.

rosehip syrup

The past few weeks here have been a whirlwind. July blurs into August. Then comes our Anniversary, and then compressed with office meetings, and a trip to New Hampshire to visit family, we found ourselves home once again, as August slipped away from us even faster than we thought. On top of this, our daughter got sick with strep.

And in the midst of this whirlwind, the roses have bloomed, the purple clover in the fields whee I run has grown heavy and drowsy, and the nights have become blessedly cooler.

So the most recent development in the little known gem department was a book called Grow Your Own Drugs by ___ Wong. This is not a book about growing illicit drugs. It's a book about ethnobotany and how to use the plants around you for medicine and natural healing. I saw this at my friends house, borrowed it, and ordered it the next day.

My first attempt from it is Rose Hip Vitamin C syrup. Rose hips aren't alien tot he world of vitamin C. During the Great Wars, British families used to make a rose hip syrup and give it to their chidlren for the very purpose of extra Vitamin C. That was quite some time ago.
Rose hips are also edible straight once they are ripe. Couple that witht heir use in teas, it's probably a very neglected fruit that's used only for decoration.

But we have this great rose bush on the farm that always has rosehips the size of half dollars on it. So I decided to give it a try.

And it's SIMPLE.

250g (about half a pound) of fresh rosehips.
5 cloves (note just cloves, not of anything.. i used powdered cloves)
1 cinnamon stick (i used a couple tsps of powdered cinnamon)
2 c water.

gently crush the rose hips. then put the rosehips in a pan. mix in the cloves and cinnamon. then add the water. simmer for twenty minutes. Strain the liquid into a bowl through a sieve or cheesecloth (I used a rice strainer). then put the liquid back in the pan, add as much sugar as there is liquid. heat to a boil then turn down to about medium, and then let it heat for ten minutes.
pour into sterilized jars.
processed jars (like canning) will last a year unopened. opened (unprocessed) will last a week in the fridge.

you can take 2 tsp each day. you can use it as a maplke syrup replacement for pancakes. you can also use it as a crodial - pour one part of the rosehip syrup and five parts water into a glass.

there you go :)

i have to say last night making it was one of the coolest things. i have a lng standing interest in etnobotany and using the plants and flowers around us for healing and all of that. i loved making it.
i also found some yarrow out in the fields, dug it up and brought up the house and planted it up here. yarrow is a great medicinal herb. it can be used for staunching nosebleeds, calming insect stings, among many other things... and it's a perrennial. it comes back!

my goal is to get a good medicinal herb garden going here.

the other way the summer has past, is in a flurry of books and movies. the reviews for the library have been going well.
definitely check out www.tunk.com.library Rebecca's reviews for the reviews.

i have read and loved : TINKERS
Neverwhere - neil gaiman
coraline - neil gaiman
as simple as snow
Girl in Translation
Shug

just off the top of my head... loved them all.

so today i go back tot he library to find a movie and some books for week 6 offerings...

Against the Princesses...

When I became a mother, I was suddenly more aware of the threats to my child. I began carrying Purelle around with me. I asked anyone who wanted to hold her, if there was anyone in their household who was sick. I watched for runny noses, cringed when I heard coughs and sneezes. I made most of her baby food so I would know exactly what was going into her food and then into her belly. I changed my tv habits knowing that while she might not be able to say the words she was hearing, I didn’t want the vulgarities to still even have a place in her mind.

There are still the constants. I still despise Barney with my whole soul, so much that I aspire to design a Barney skin rug, complete with green spots and a tail. Next to it would be a small red one with googley eyes; perhaps on this one I would add tire marks. (Sometimes Grown Up jokes keep Mommy sane.)

But there was one threat I didn’t expect: the Princesses. When the Princesses started making it big – and by Princesses I mean the standard four: Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, Belle, and Cinderella, though Ariel and Tiana sometimes show up, like first and second alternates in a competition - I thought, rather foolishly, that I’d be able to avoid them. They’re just Disney. They won’t be THAT huge. No big deal.

I forgot who I was dealing with. This is DISNEY. The company that owns ABC, CNN, the Disney Channel, the Muppets, at least six theme parks, a cruise line, not to mention film companies. Their name itself is tied to Family Friendly, Child Safe, Wholesome material for all. It also includes World Domination. But that’s only in the fine print.

And when Disney decides to do something, be it sell a movie, or sell product, Disney goes gung ho, and whoever gets in their way, gets put into the Haunted Mansion as one of the dancing ghosts forever and ever. If you were very naughty, you get to be one of the floating heads in the jars.

Let me back up though. This is not an I hate Disney tirade. I have an incredibly soft spot in my heart for Disney World. We went every year as a family to the Magic Kingdom and EPCOT. I spent three blissfully happy days there with my family every Thanksgiving, going on every ride, getting autographs, and running around like I owned the joint. I even aspired to work there one day. It really was the Happiest Place on Earth. I look forward to when I can take my own family to Disney World and share with them what I so enjoyed as child – even though it seems like half the things I loved then are changed or gone. (RIP 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, The Living Seas pre Nemo, and the DreamFinder from the Journey into Imagination.)

So why the hate for the Princesses?

Somewhere along the lines of growing up, I became the unthinkable. I became a Feminist. Not a Femi-Nazi who burns her bras and verbally emasculates men at every chance she gets, lifts up women like the next superior race while crushing men under her stilettos. Just a friendly, equal rights Feminist. One of those crazy people who think that women are people too, should have an equal chance at things, equal pay, and shouldn’t feel condemned if she chooses to be a mom, or a CEO, or both. Crazy ideas right?

Then enter the Princesses. Those familiar faces, all smiles, all beauty and grace, all fairy tale and crowns. But what else is there?

Not much it seems, except for some very serious Victim Issues, and one case of Stockholm Syndrome.

Cinderella is an abused young woman who requires the help of her fairy godmother to get to a dance where she will meet the prince, with the hopes of falling in love with him, and the pursuant marriage proposal. But then she loses her shoe. Eventually the prince (or the prince’s representative) finds her. But until then she must to be rescued. End of story.

Sleeping Beauty isn’t much better. A beautiful child is cursed by a snubbed guest. She is hidden away, by three fairies who act as teachers and guardians while keeping her in the dark of her past. Aurora (her pre-slumber name) grows up beautiful and lovely. Until she pricks her finger on the spindle of the spinning wheel and zonks out for a hundred years, until a prince braves the fortress and recues her and kills the dragon. She does nothing but sleeps. That’s it.

Snow White is a lot like Sleeping Beauty. Too beautiful for her own good. Too innocent and beautiful, she is cast out by her step mother, a death warrant sent out on her by way of the huntsman who stays his hand. Snow White flees, finds a house, and takes refuge there (even though she’s not entirely sure who lives there. At first she thinks they’re children.) The dwarves agree to let her stay as long as she will keep the house, and not let in any strangers. (The Grimms have the dwarves as thieves, Disney made them miners) Of course Snow White doesn’t listen and eats the apple given to her by that strange old hag.. Has no one taught this girl about Stranger Danger? And voila – out like a light. The poison apple bite rolls out of her mouth, so she doesn’t die completely, she’s only “mostly dead.” The dwarves mourn her, make her a very pretty glass casket, and once again appears a wandering prince – funny how they just happen to show up - who is so struck by her beauty, that he kisses her, and wakes her from her mostly dead slumber. We could raise questions of necrophilia, but this is after all a children’s story…. Happily ever after. Again, what does Snow White do? She doesn’t listen to anyone. She is innocent, beautiful, and extremely sleepy. She too has to be rescued.

All of these three women are nothing but victims. Beautiful victims, charming victims, but victims nonetheless. All of them must rely on someone else – often with supernatural powers to do the work for them, until their prince comes along amd picks them up. One kiss, and then with a sigh, each woman smiles satisfied with her lot in life, and rides away on his horse, to go be wife to someone she has barely shared breath with.

Belle is the one I had the most hope for. She’s the daughter of an inventor, always reading, turns down the most popular man in town because he’s a jerk, and sacrifices her freedom for her father’s release. These are all noble and admirable qualities. But most of those things happen in the very beginning of the film. The rest of the film is watching her fall in love with the Beast. But wait, wasn’t the Beast her captor? Isn’t she his captive? Doesn’t that spell out Stockholm Syndrome? A really beautifully orchestrated, choreographed, very well dressed version of Stockholm Syndrome?

Why are these Princesses worthy of being role models? Because they are beautiful? Because they are princesses? Why must every single one of them require help from some sort of supernatural being or beings who end up doing most of the heavy lifting? Why does every woman here need the kiss of the prince to make her whole?

What about Mulan? The girl who doesn’t become a princess, but in the process, saves her troop, her country, and her emperor? She has to work hard, she has to think for herself. She makes decisions that aren’t popular but she sticks by them. She is abandoned by her comrades when they find out the truth but she returns to save them. She has a little bit of help, but it’s almost exclusively in the form of moral support, - like any person should have. Why aren’t we lauding Mulan, and putting her face on bouncy balls, and clothes for little girls? What about her? Is it because she isn’t blonde enough? Is it because there’s no crown? And why is she the only example I can think of that fits this bill?

What about Rapunzel? The girl with long golden hair kept locked away in a tower. She just screams Victim doesn’t she? To a point. But things got awkward, when her witch/step mother cut off her hair and lured the prince up the tower again, only to blind him and throw him out the window. The handsome prince, the one character who by most stock purposes should have been doing the saving was lost and broken. Rapunzel too was cast out, but pregnant. She delivers alone, cares for her children, and in the process comes across her beloved prince. Weeping, maybe out of joy, maybe out of frustration, maybe for joy, she cradles the prince’s head in her lap, and her tears fall on his sightless eyes. Lo and indeed behold, the prince sees again, and beholds his rescuer: his Rapunzel.

What about the other blonde haired woman who walked the jungles, with no qualifications except a driving passion, steely determination, and someone who believed in her, who did everything wrong according to the ‘experts’ and has since one of the leading experts on Chimpanzees, and force to be reckoned with in the areas of conservation, chimpanzees and animal rights? Why is there no Princess Jane Goodall action figure for my child to hang on to?

It’s not a far trip up the family tree to find even closer inspiration. My great grandmother was a suffragette, and secretary to the local chapter. Granted these women were often seen un-ladylike, and un-feminine, but what’s the saying – well behaved women rarely make history. But what good is the making history if those you are working for never know your legacy?

This is why I don’t like the Princesses. Because they are weak. Because they hold up the ideal of wait to be rescued. Someone will come along. Beauty before everything else. These are the things I don’t want to teach my daughter. I don’t want to glorify women who are only victims, who are only valued for their beauty alone. And the role models our daughters are given aren’t strong women, aren’t the suffragettes, aren’t the jungle hiking scientists, the teachers, the nurses, aren’t the mothers who struggle against everything to raise their children.

On my daughter’s first birthday, one of my best friends – an honorary Auntie – sent Molly a gift: a storybook titled “Not One Damsel in Distress,” a collection of folktales from around the world where the girl really is the hero, where she saves the day, makes the tough decisions, and still gets to live happily ever after.

I want her to be strong, to think for herself. I want her to be able to make the hard decisions, to stand by what she thinks is right, even when everyone disagrees with her.

Disney is wonderful, and makes a wonderful myriad of products. But, please Disney, make some better role models for our daughters. There are other stories out there. Don’t teach my daughter that she has to be rescued, has to be a certain type of beautiful, and can’t think for herself. Our daughters deserve better.

So what happened to you?

I disappeared there for a while. Sorry about that. But what I have I been doing?

Well the pictures above are two things I did. The bottom picture is of the baby's Big Girl Quilt. We were going to move her into a Big Girl Bed (didn't go so well) so I figured it was time for her to have a big girl quilt.

The center design is an OM in Sanskrit, which is the sound of creation, the sound that came forth in the beginning. It's also the sound and syllable for meditation and peace. I made a few of those OMs by painting them on to fabric using calligraphy ink. The baby liked it so I made sure to incorporate one.

Around the OM is a poem that my mother inked onto fabric. It's the poem Listen to the Mustn'ts by Shel Silverstein.

listen to the mustn'ts child

listen to the don'ts

listen the never haves, the impossibles the wont's

listen to all of them,

then listen close to me

anything can happen child

anything can be.

I thought what more beautiful blessing for a child to have wrapped around them. So I incorporated it. My mother had done an inked version of it for a friend of mine and I asked her to do it again because I didn't like the way it looked - aren't I terrible? so she did, and I kept the original ones, knowing I'd use it somewhere....I used it here.

So I made the baby's Big Girl Quilt. Then while I was at it, I made my best friend Melanie a quilt for her birthday. That is the top quilt. It's all old jeans. Mel;anie loves it. And she got it just in time for a cold snap.

Then the computers died. Yes plural. two computers went. My laptop frizzled out zapped out. And then the desk top died. So I was sans computer for a little while. That was another reason the blogs have been absent.

Now the projects at hand: ripping and tearing off the wall paper from the hallway. I didn't know there were 8 layers of wall paper before I could get to the wall. And the wall was painted with a hdieous sea foam green paint, that they stirred sand into. ugh.

Then along with that, my husband is building a grill outside. He built the baby a play house.

I have taken up running again, for my sanity and health.

And still writing...

so I lost track of time and days. Apologies again for disappearing.

rebecca's reviews

So the idea of doing book reviews and film reviews has moved locations...
in effort to help my local library and to have a wider audience the library and I are teaming up. I write book and film reviews from their circulation and they post them. All in effort to get more attention and increase circulations.

Here's the link..

http://www.tunkhannock.com/library/

On the side bar there will be a tab that says Rebecca's Reviews. Click there.

Now, the deal is I only post positive reviews. so if i read a book/watch a film that I don't like, I bypass it. But I may review it here... So keep your eyes peeled.

There's already four reviews up. Four more have been submitted for next week. I'm trying to keep ahead of schedule considering this coming semester.

Keep checking there, and here. Sorry I have been so absent. I am doing what I can to remedy that.

book review - A Wish for Wings that Work; movie review -Masterpiece Theatre's Wuthering Heights

… A Wish for Wings that Work by Berkely Breathed

Children’s Book Selection

http://www.amazon.com/Wish-Wings-That-Work-Christmas/dp/0316106917/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1279645323&sr=8-1-spell#_#_

Right now, it’s not winter. It’s not snowing, and there’s certainly no expected visits from Santa Claus to my chimney. On the contrary, it’s mid July, humid, hot, and nary a cloud in sight. I open the freezer door to get a hint of some cooler temperatures. I do hear jingle bells ringing, but that’s because my daughter opened her craft box and is throwing the bells around the room.

I first discovered Berkeley Breathed when I read the comic strip Bloom County (a comic strip that earned him a Pulitzer Prize in 1987), and later Opus. Bill the Cat, Opus the Penguin both became characters I looked forward to seeing each week in the funny pages. He ended work in cartooning in 2008 to work on children’s books.

A Wish for Wings that Work, published in 1991, is about Opus the Penguin’s Christmas wish – to fly. He is determined to fly. He watches the snow ducks fly each morning, he practices take offs, but is thwarted by his wings, penguin wings, wings not meant for flying through the air, but for flying through the water. In full hope and faith, he asks Santa Claus to bring him ‘wings that will go.’

This is a story about embracing who you are and embracing your dreams and how one doesn’t always cancel the other out.

This is a quality book. It’s one that I can read again, and again, (and I have!) and still enjoy it. And really, as parents, we have to like the book too! I am still touched by the beauty of both the story, and the art. Told in gentle meter, it’s easy to read and to listen to. The illustrations are what we would expect from Breathed, poignant, detailed, beautiful, and crisp. It was one of the first books that my daughter wouldn’t part with.

So celebrate some Christmas in July, scoop out some ice cream cones, and read about Opus and his Wish for Wings that Work. And maybe work on your own list for Santa.

Emily Bronte’s Wuthering Heights – as seen on Masterpiece Theatre.

http://www.amazon.com/Wuthering-Heights-Tom-Hardy/dp/B001PUTN3Y/ref=sr_1_1?s=dvd&ie=UTF8&qid=1279645398&sr=1-1

First off, let’s get one thing very clear. This is NOT your mother’s Wuthering Heights. Nor is this the Wuthering Heights you may have been forced to sit through in tenth grade English class. This is a grown up, sexy, dark, haunting Wuthering Heights. Get your paper bags and your smelling salts, because this film may cause swoons and shortness of breath.

Book purists will be satisfied with the faithful interpretation presented here in the film. There are very few changes, the chief among them, being the ages of Cathy and Heathcliff when they first meet the Lintons, and then the ensuing courtship. In the book Cathy and Heathcliff are quite young, barely teenagers, when they first come upon the Lintons. The ensuring courtship seems to take place not far from that age, which might seem a little awkward. In the film, both Cathy and Heathcliff are portrayed a slightly older, thus when the courtship and proposal happen, there’s less squirming and questions about age. Any other alterations in the film are minor, artistic, and true to the characters and storyline. (Remember few movies are EVER exactly like the book.)

While the book is an undisputed classic, it shines in this film. Yorkshire and the moors which figure so heavily in the book are given enough respect in the film to become characters in the film itself. The camera work, the location, the cinematography, everything is just beautiful. It is not beautiful like a Hollywood sound stage. This film was actually made in Yorkshire and on the moors. So what Bronte herself was talking about, what she had grown accustomed to living among, we are able to see and witness. It is a desolate beauty, a beauty that is wild, and sad, and haunting all at the same time. (On a side note, the actress who plays Cathy – Charlotte Riley – is the first Yorkshire woman to perform the role. So both what we see and hear is authentic.)

The book’s prose allows us to understand there’s some attraction and jealousy between Cathy and Heathcliff, in the film that love affair, an affair that destroys all around them if they cannot have each other, comes to life with such heat that you might just find your wall paper peeling. (Keep in mind that when one of them gets spiteful, the coldness of heart might be enough to freeze the paper in place. So don’t redecorate just yet.)

Ladies, kick the men out of the house for a spell, schedule slumber party, or take advantage of a camping/hunting/fishing/…. trip and curl up for a spell.

It runs 141 minutes. It was a Masterpiece Theatre mini-series. It’s not rated. But if it were, it would certainly not be R, nor would it be G.