An Odd Assortment of Books

Book news:

Shakespeare dringend gesucht, by Heinar Kipphardt, 1953. A satirical play about a theater director who is looking for the next Shakespeare. The play was a huge success in socialist East Germany in the 1950s in spite of its, or because of its, palatable social criticism. It's actually quite funny.

Black Elk Speaks, as told to John G. Neihardt, 1932. Even though I already knew that the European-Americans completely wiped out the American Indians, reading this book felt like learning about that fact for the first time. It's devastating to read, but very worthwhile.

Ehen in Philippsburg, by Martin Walser, 1957. Walser's first novel is about a young man who establishes himself in the prosperous German society of the 1950s. All the relationships, including his own, are unhealthy, to put it mildly. Walser's skill in writing ironic prose is fantastic.

An Introduction to English Sentence Structure by Andrew Radford, 2009. This sounds like it's easy to read--after all, it's an introduction. Well, it was very difficult as it is actually about Chomsky's Mimimalism. I learned a lot!

Labor Day and Some News

This cell-phone picture was taken of Karen and me over the Labor Day Weekend. Karen came for a visit from Butte, and we did some touristy things in Spokane, including attending the annual "Pig Out in the Park" held in our beautiful park downtown.

It occured to me that I don't actually post very much real "family news" here, so I am going to remedy that today. I wanted to let everyone know that Greg has quit his job at the VA, and he is planning to work in New Zealand from this coming December until next September. He will be employed by a hospital in Auckland.

Greg got the idea of working temporarily in New Zealand years ago from a colleague who had done this kind of work and who had a wonderful time. And I'm sure he's intrigued by the idea of getting to know New Zealand...who has ever heard anything bad about it? Probably the fact that it is an island and there are unlimited sailing opportunities adds to the appeal.

I will return in early October to teach again at the University of Munich. We plan to get a house sitter to take care of the pets and house while we're gone. Anyone interested?

No More Hats!

Well, this crazy beanie and hat knitting project is finally coming to an end. I'm ready to move on to something else for a while--like finishing several WIPs started long ago. Below are a few pictures of my latest frenzy.

Here are all the beanies and an ear-flap hat knitted for Greg. There's one beanie in the bunch that I haven't yet described--it's the one in the middle made of a purplish varigated all wool yarn called "Rhythm." The caps are being blocked on balloons, a technique I read about on another knitter's blog. They look like little balloon people, sitting there so nicely.



This is Greg's ear-flap hat knitted from a worsted weight blend that self stripes. It's called "Classic Worsted Tapestry" and was purchased at the yarn store (Ana-Cross Stich) in Anacortes on our recent vacation to Guemes Island. The pattern was written by one of the women who works in the shop, Fran Jepperson.



I know, I look kinda scary, but the picture shows the hat well!