30 Before 30: #19 DIY Night Stand

Technically, goal #19 on the original list was "Build a TV stand."

But something funny happened in May of this crazy year: we bought a house. And that changed a bunch of our priorities. In the 30 Before 30 Recap that I'm still writing, I use that excuse to explain away my failure to complete some of the higher ticket price items on my list like "Visit a new American metropolis" and "Go whitewater rafting."

But this goal just got changed a little. Instead of a TV stand for the office, a higher priority became a night stand for the bedroom.

So I built this:

 
I am, I will admit, probably a little too proud of how this project came out. The drawers are only marginally functional, since the design I was working off of didn't have any hardware on its drawers, I didn't really think of it until later, and my drawers don't fill the drawer opening vertically as closely as they would have needed to in order to be self supporting. So I wound up going back and inventing in the final stage of the project...

In retrospect I should have disassembled my drawer boxes and cut the pieces down so that there was room for metal drawer slides. Instead, I used a piece of scrap would and a C shaped plastic slider to create a center, under drawer slider.

So the drawers are small (I knew that going in) and require two hands to open. Lesson learned. The piece compliments Carol's night stand pretty nicely (I built mine wider and deeper than the plan, to match the dimensions of the one on the other side of the bed).

And while I was a little sad to paint it black, I'm was happy to bring back some of the cherry that forms the legs and top by distressing the paint job.

So now I take the things I learned in this project, and maybe I can apply them to building that TV stand in the coming year.

Doctor Zhivago

I don't really feel that I can do justice to Doctor Zhivago, other than to say that it is the best of the 4 films I've watched so far as part of my challenge to myself to watch 5 classics.

The cinematography, as with Lawrence of Arabia, leaves me unimpressed though I am conscious of the historical context. It is the love story that moves me, and Zhivago gives me the insight into the title character that Lawrence was missing. I would have liked to see Zhivago complete his walk home from his mistress to return, at last, to his pregnant wife rather than being whisked away into his two-year adventure through Mongolia. I doubt Zhivago was the sort of man who could have kept his promise to disavow his mistress; he does not seem, to me, to be a strong enough man to deny himself the joys of a second life (which is, after all, exactly the sort of life poetry allows a writer- the chance to step away from the everyday and things as they are).

The story of displacement, of military and social conscription, was fantastic and probably deserves a longer meditation than I have time for today. It's the sort of story (like The Old Man and the Sea or American Pastoral) that I could see as a touchstone.

Giving Up on Goal #2

One thing that is clear to me, is that I was a bit... let us say "overambitious" for my 30 Before 30.

2. Finish the Modern Library's Top 10 List

I've read six of the top ten in the Modern Library's Top 100. This year, I want to read the other four: Ulysses, The Sound and the Fury, Darkness at Noon, and Sons and Lovers.

In the last year, I've read The Sound and the Fury and Ulysses.

If I had really given the two books their due, they would each have been a separate item on a list of 30. It's not that I couldn't have read these four books within a year, but that I couldn't have read them and still kept up with all my other reading, the new and forthcoming books, the old favorites, the suggestions from friends. I wasn't willing to give that up.

So perhaps Darkness at Noon and Sons and Lovers will make my 31 Before 31.

30 Before 30 Reflection: Monthly To-Do Lists

New Year's Eve seems like the right time to reflect on a year, and #30 on my 30 Before 30 was to make and keep monthly to-do lists of projects around the house.

This ambition took on added significant in May when we bought a house. Funny how the "to-dos" pile up quickly.

I wasn't as diligent about keeping a written list as I might have been. Though, one result of this goal is that I now keep a pad of paper in my car, since Carol and I make most of our to-do lists while driving. It's a fun little exercise, and I suppose being away from home makes it easier to reflect on what needs to be done without racing off to do it.

The things we've done that made it onto various lists have ranged from the simple and mundane (pick up the bedroom and living room) to the ambitious (paint the shutters and front door) to the complicated (organize the linen closet led to re-organizing storage in the bedroom, the guest room and both bathrooms) to the skill building (replace all the dingy off-white switches and outlets in the house with new, white ones).

I may not have kept this goal as fastidiously as I'd have liked, but it's the one thing from my 30 Before 30 that really improved my life. And it's simple enough that I'd really encourage you to try it. It's so easy to look at a day spent cleaning or organizing or working around the house as a day lost, but it's not. Just 4 or 5 things each month really left us feeling accomplished and it helped us keep track of how much we achieved.

30 Before 30: Lawrence of Arabia

Watching Lawrence of Arabia, one of the great films I picked as part of my 30 Before 30. left me surprisingly cold.

In part, I blame the pacing. Clearly, my modern sensibility can't handle a 4+ hour movie, and that's way too long for Carol to take in a single sitting. It took us three sessions to watch the whole movie.

But the second piece, the part I find counter-intuitively disturbing, is how post-modern the film felt. Lawrence achieves super-human heights rallying the Arabs to oppose the Turks and their German allies. He also endures tremendous lows, trying and failing to forge a Western democracy among the tribes, not anticipating their cruelty to each other or their conquered foes in the prison camp, and encouraging their lowest impulses in "taking no prisoners" when faced with the retreating marauders (who had committed war crimes of their own).

What disturbed me was how little insight we have into Lawrence. We see the things he does, but that tells us almost nothing of the man and his motives. Is he a supreme egotist, a genius, a lunatic? We can guess, but we know nothing definitively. And perhaps that dates the film- that David Lean was unwilling to fictionalize further in his epic biopic. What makes it hard for me to approach is that, in fiction, this is precisely the kind of story I treasure.

The cinematography was, of course, stunning. I can see the wide pan approach echoed in everything from Lord of the Rings to Inception. But, given modern access to images from around the globe, the cinematography can't be the main draw for me. The story, the characters, have to win out. And in Lawrence of Arabia, I couldn't quite decide if I was watching the story of a hero.

Review: The Guermantes Way

Would I have made it through The Guermantes Way without the plot synopsis and page reference numbers in the appendix?

More importantly, would the third book of Proust's In Search of Lost Time have scuttled my entire project to read his masterpiece?

The Guermantes Way was a bit like reading Leviticus (which I did in a different phase of self-abuse). It was dull, obsessively detailed, and light on characters. To be sure, Proust fills his book with important people, but they are people who were (I think) more important to the world outside the book or (I can hope) will be more important in later chapters.

The most valuable characters in this volume seem to be the grandmother, who does little but die and whose death doesn't impact the Narrator in quite the way I'd have hoped, and Albertine, who returns but is much less interesting than I found her in Within a Budding Grove.

Maybe my disappointment comes from growing to dislike the Narrator's social climbing and the incumbent attention to heritage. At the conclusion of The Guermantes Way, I certainly feel ready to write a screed against the bourgeois excesses of early 20th century France. These people are society, but they seem to do nothing, contribute nothing, and know nothing more than their own petty social caste.

And maybe my disappointment comes from the Narrator's growing dominance of the story arc. My favorite chapter to date has been "Swann in Love" from Swann's Way, and closely following it, the passages from the end of Within a Budding Grove featuring Albertine, Andree and Gisele. The Narrator needs to share the stage.

30 Before 30: Visit the National Aquarium

Since visiting Baltimore and the National Aquarium and taking photos of things all occupy important (and acheivable) spots on my 30 Before 30, here's a few pictures from our recent trip to the National Aquarium!

Citizen Kane

Goal #22 on my 30 Before 30 is to watch five great movies I've never seen. Sunday night, Carol and I watched Citizen Kane.

If you want a thorough analysis of Citizen Kane, go elsewhere. Here, or here, or here are good places to start. I'm not steeped enough in the history of cinema to weigh in meaningfully.

I'm really interested in the development of the character. Kane is a blank slate in many ways; in the movie's opening scenes, his mother inherits a tremendous fortune and sends him off to have the most wonderful life that money can buy. Unburdened by the demand to be profitable, Kane is able to be successful- to develop a declaration of principles and to live by them. His convictions galvanize the people around him, or at least, they understand that in the presence of the money man, they are to act galvanized. One of the most telling scenes is the party to celebrate the success of Kane's newspaper, when Kane's friends wonder to each other how long it will be until the real world begins to corrupt their young leader.

I'm also interested in the framing tale. The reporter's search for the meaning to "Rosebud" gives the movie its forward momentum; it justifies the act of telling. The reporter's failure is a classic nod- Mighty Casey strikes out, Frodo can't bring himself to throw the Ring into the volcano after all, Oedipus is as Oedipus does.

I especially enjoyed how many shots from the opening scene were echoed in later shots, especially the long rise up to the top of the gate/ house echoed in the even longer rise up from the Opera House stage to the crew mocking the show from the rafters. It's a common device in comics, and it made the three hour movie feel connected throughout its acts.

Review: Ulysses by James Joyces

This is not so much a review of Ulysses (since I've already written about it twice in the last few weeks) as an effort to sum up my feelings as I finished it.

Because I think Ulysses is just about three people whose lives are a mess.

Stephen Dedalus, the young man with life before him but who is unsure of how to grasp it. His friends are unreliable, his finances are in shambles, and he's unable to bring any of his great ideas to fruition.

Leopold Bloom, the older man whose marriage is falling apart because he cannot communicate with his wife. He indulges his appetites (physical, sexual, imaginative) as a way to mask the lack of control he has over his life.

Molly Bloom, left cold by her husband's refusal to sleep with her in the ten years since their son's death.

When Carol and I last re-organized our bookcases, we split most of the fiction between "Lonely Men" and "Awesome Women" because, tongue in cheek, it seems like these could encapsulate all fiction. But here is a book that epitomizes the lonely men. Neither Bloom nor Dedalus can speak their feels to the important people in their lives. Dedalus would not kneel to pray at his mother's deathbed and now she is gone, and his father is too distant. Bloom still grieves for his infant son and cannot come to Molly's bed, and so their marriage dies.

These emotionally stunted men have no examples to draw on, no one to show them a better way of life. But, in Ulysses, Molly is no better off. When she's finally given the room to speak in the book (which is to say, when she is silent and dreaming because she never does really say what she is thinking out loud), she is a whirl of memories and mixed emotions. She is guilty, but she feels (I think, rightly) forced into her action by a decade of Bloom's inaction and grief.

And that's my overwhelming impression of Ulysses: it is a portrait of grief, of the greatness lost to three people who, despite all the words swirling in their heads, can't really speak to the people who care about them.

Ulysses, First Thoughts on a Second Reading

I'm determined to read Ulysses as part of my 30 Before 30. It's one of the 4 books I've never read in the Modern Library's Top 100.

Though it's disingenuous to say I never read Ulysses, because I did read more than half of it during Spring Break of my senior year of college. I read it for fun, so there are plenty of plot points I missed then, and I'm sure there are some I'm still missing, but that's not why I'm reading it.

To read Ulysses for the plot seems a little like listening to Mozart to analyze the chord progression; sure, I could do it, but isn't that missing the larger point?

One of my favorite professors once told me that the proper way to read Joyce's masterpiece is aloud while drinking Jameson or Guinness. He is a wise man.

It's the sounds I love most, the tongue twisters and the smooth sections. But I also love the graphic side of Ulysses too: the headlines that punctuate the scene in the newspaper shop and the end of the second section which becomes a play, complete with dialogue and stage directions. I feel that if James Joyce were alive today, he'd be a big fan of Christopher Ware.

I'm nearly done with the second section, which is where I recall running out of time in college and having to return my copy to the library. This weekend, I dive into uncharted territory in one of the greatest works of literature. Life is such fun.

St. Michaels Winery: 30 Before 30

I took the last week of July off. It has been a while since I had a vacation of more than a long weekend, so it was overdue.

I did some fun stuff- painted the front door, started work on an end table, and bummed around town.

And on Friday, Carol had the day off too, and we headed down the road to St. Michaels, MD.

There's a lot of stuff in St. Michaels- some cute shops, a delicious ice cream parlor, a maritime museum and a marina. But the reason we went is because there's a winery in town.

30 Before 30: #25 Take More Pictures

Happy birthday, sweets.

The Bright Side of the CSA

CSA= Community Supported Agriculture

That's locally grown beats in a sweet & sour glaze, beat greens made spicy with red pepper and olive oil, and egg fried rice with chorizo and local onion diced in. Ain't it colorful?

Yeah, you should be jealous.

One of my 30 before 30 goals is to lose 30 pounds, and my strategy is to eat a little healthier: second helpings of veggies instead of starch, a little less meat, a little less beer, plus more exercise. I'm actually pretty sure I won't make it, since I'm unwilling to go on a stricter diet. But I've lost some weight, and I'm in better shape than ever.

And I'm pretty happy with that.

Happy Friday!

St. Michaels Winery, here we come.

Review: Swann's Way by Marcel Proust

It's been nearly 3 weeks since I finished the first book of Marcel Proust's masterpiece, In Search of Lost Time. I enjoyed Swann's Way, but I did not love it. The first 100 pages or so were a slog.

When I rail against the Victorians, I often forget that the early 20th century was still chock full of Victorian values and ideals... and ideas about what makes good writing.

I suppose what separates the great works of the 19th century from those of the 21st century revolves around immediacy. The Victorian ideal was the slow build to the big reveal. Think about Scrooge standing over his own grave, the remorse of Frankenstein's monster, and the mad wife in Mr. Rochester's attic. Proust's novel might be the ultimate in Victorian fiction.

30 Before 30 Brewery: Outer Banks Brewing Station

Over the 4th of July holiday, Carol and I spent some time in the Outer Banks. And on Saturday night of that week, I crossed off item #9 on my 30 Before 30 at the Outer Banks Brewing Station.

I ordered the flight, and I was able to try all 5 of the beers they had on tap.

The photo is grainy, but the drinks were delicious.

From left to right, that's the Ölsch, the LemonGrass Wheat Ale, the Altimeter, the Drunkel Wizen and the Stormy Roses Stout. (Link to more about those beers).

The stout was really supreme, almost sweet and very rich. But it was so hot that it just wasn't a stout kind of day. So, the LemonGrass Wheat won out for just the right hint of lemon on top of a crisp and refreshing beer.

30 Before 30 Six Month Update

Done:

4. Use the pasta maker
Delicious with pictures.
9. Visit a new brewery

Outer Banks Brewing Station, 7/6

In Progress:

1. Read In Search of Lost Time (A Remembrance of Things Past)
I finished Swann's Way on our recent vacation. Review to follow.

2. Finish the Modern Library's Top 10 List

Read: The Sound and the Fury 

To read: Ulysses, Darkness at Noon, and Sons and Lovers.

11. See games in 2 new baseball stadiums

Nationals Park 6/25 and ???

12. Plan our European vacation

14. Learn to play 3 songs on the guitar

15. Submit poems to at least 6 publications

16. Lose 30 pounds

17. Create a board game

24. Listen to at least 52 hours of Top 40 radio

25. Take pictures of 12 events

26. Visit Philadelphia, Baltimore and DC 3 times each

We went three times to the World Cafe in Philly. We've been to a Super Bowl party and to Nationals Park in DC. We've been to a graduation party in Baltimore and an Orioles game.

27. Improve the blog layout

I actually think this one might be done, but depending what I learn in the Javascript course I'm taking in the fall...

28. Learn Javascript

29. Post 208 times on andalittlewine

I'm halfway through the year and only at post 69. With 139 posts to go in 26 weeks, I need to churn out better than 5 posts a week. This might be harder than I originally thought.

30. Complete monthly to-do lists of house projects

To Do:

3. Hold a fancy dinner
5. Cook something complicated

6. Host a fest
7. Visit one new US metropolis
8. Visit a new winery
10. Go whitewater rafting (minimum Class 3)
13. Tour the National Aquarium
18. Volunteer 10 hours
19. Build a tv stand
20. Learn to drive standard
21. Go to an island on a ferry
22. Watch 5 great movies
23. Learn to play Go

Retiring Writers

The tradition has always been for writers to die at their desks. Kafka, Dickens, Proust, Hemmingway- all left manuscripts and last works laying around.

In announcing her retirement, Alice Monro mentions the recent retirement of Philip Roth.

Ms. Munro said she was encouraged by the example of Philip Roth, who declared that he was done last fall, as he was getting ready to turn 80. “I put great faith in Philip Roth,” she said, adding, “He seems so happy now.”

Writing is demanding. It requires a constant dissatisfaction with past and current work, an unwillingness to ever believe that you've said it quite right. Why wouldn't you want to give that up?

I wonder, though, if in the back of their minds, these great writers who have walked away from their craft haven't remembered the example of all those dead writers who left work unfinished. It is, I think, natural to want some control over history's final analysis. Roth has retired to work more closely with his biographer; he is giving himself time to answer the questions- why this version and not that?; what do you think of this character 20, 30, 50 years later?; what scene would you like to revise?

As I am reading Proust in English, I am keenly aware of the complications death can impose on a story. Of the seven volumes, Proust was only able to oversee publication of the first four. The sixth book of In Search of Lost Time has been especially revised based on the discovery of multiple manuscripts and typesets. The books were translated into English by CK Scott Moncrief, who promptly died before finishing the translation of the seventh book. The Terence Kilmartin edition I'm reading is a re-translation of the translation of a work that was never finished.

I imagine Monro and Roth are happy to avoid that mess, too.

My First Visit to Nationals Park

My first trip to Nationals Park was fun and uneventful. Before the game my friends and I circled the stadium, checking out the various food offerings and the many pleasant vistas. DC doesn't provide much of a view in most directions, but the view into the stadium was very nice.

Even though our seats were in the last row of the 200 level on the third base side, firmly under the overhang and next to a support beam, our sight-line to home plate was unobstructed. There were a couple of pop-ups to the left side that floated out of sight, but being in the shade at first pitch was a fair trade off.

The thing that impressed me most was to see all the fans come out. I haven't been to a Nationals game since the team's inaugural season at old RFK Stadium. In the 8 seasons since then, the team has attracted a lot of fans. While riding the Metro didn't have the same vibe as a D train to Yankee Stadium, it was great to see so many Nats fans geared up and ready for the game. I suppose that $5 ticket night influenced how many kids and families I saw.

I do have one complaint: after a 5 run third, the Nats felt comfortably in control of the game. And the wave started.

I am not opposed to the wave on its aesthetic merits. In the right stadium (usually a football stadium), the wave can be gorgeous. It is the refuge of fans who are bored by the game but don't want to go home yet. In those moments, I scoreboard watch and (if I'm close enough) try to follow which way the fielders shade the hitters pitch to pitch. But I'm obsessive like that.

Last night, the home crowd in DC did the wave. That's not my complaint.

They did the wave with two runs in, two outs, runners on first and second and the tying run at home plate. C'mon people, you're better than that.

30 Before 30: Baseball!

Goal #11 on my 30 Before 30 is to visit 2 new baseball stadiums.

Tonight, we're headed to DC for the Nationals-Diamondback's game.

Joy.