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night school relaxes me
January 27, 2010
HIS night school, not mine. Two of his classes are scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday evenings, and the few hours of solitude that affords me will go a long way towards mellowing me out. The constant presence of my husband, love him though I do, wears on me tremendously.
Early 20th Century attitudes towards invasive species:
"I read a story once," said Betty with seeming irrelevance. "It was about some woman who traveled through a barren country, mile after mile. And every so often her fellow-passengers saw that she threw something out of the window. They couldn't see what it was, and she never told them. But the next year, when some of these same passengers made that trip again, the train rolled through acres and acres of the most gorgeous red poppies. The woman had been scattering the seed. She said, whether she ever rode over that ground again or not, she was sure some of the seeds would sprout and make the waste places beautiful for travelers."
From "Betty Gordon in the Land of Oil, or The Farm That Was Worth a Fortune", c.1920
I got my Amazon order on Monday�watched my new copy of �To the Manor Born�Silver Anniversary� last night. It was amazing how everything felt so in tune with the original series. Marjorie and Audrey, Audrey and Richard�even Richard and Mrs. Poo (albeit a bit one-sided, since he was talking to her grave) hit the right notes, and although it�s impossible not to miss Mrs. Poo and Brabinger, they were lovingly paid tribute in the course of the show, so I was satisfied. Writing, direction, performances, and even the setting were true to the spirit of the original , and so I�d have to say that it was probably the best reunion show I�ve ever seen. Well worth the $10.50.
Also read Little Sisters to the Campfire Girls, which was full of things I�ve remembered all these years, and also full of things I�d forgotten, but which sprang back into mind as soon as I saw them on the page.
And also, also full of racial and class stereotypes that went over my head as a child, but smack me full in the face now I�ve got my growth. Faithful black �Mammies� and Italian-immigrant street urchins peddling flowers, and poor-but-nobly-proud white folks. (*shudder*) But I try to see this stuff as a window to the past, and take heart from how far we�ve come.
And it could have been worse, I guess. In the case of books like the Campfire Girls and Ruth Fielding series, there was, at least, a distinct feminist viewpoint. The females were seen to be independent and resourceful, pursuing a wide range of interests and activities not generally open to their gender at the time, befriending (some) minorities, embarking on exciting careers, and solving mysteries. Of course, the heteronormative imperative is presented in all these books, to some degree, and all I ever ask is that it doesn�t club you so hard you can�t follow the story. Yes, yes�it�s very important to remind the reader, every 4.5 chapters or so, that although Betty was independent and serious-minded and goal-oriented, �Betty was all girl when it came to pretty clothes and furs.� But any more often than that, and I�m afraid I shall have to kill you.
I know that coming up against all these outdated mores is the risk I run, with my passion for early 20th Century juvenile fiction. I�ve been aware of it on some level ever since I read my first Bobbsey Twins book back in grade school. Dinah�s dialect, as I recall, was as exaggerated as they come�all �I'se gwine t' leab. I ain't gwine stay�� and �Suah's you lib, I nebber did leab dis yeah seat".. I pretty much skipped over it as a child. I go into it with my eyes open. But sometimes, it can be so egregious that you nearly choke on it.
Reading: "Indigo Slam", another Elvis Cole novel by Robert Crais, and BG#3: "Betty Gordon in the Land of Oil, or The Farm That Was Worth a Fortune", c.1920
Surfing:
Listening: Supertramp, Buddy Guy, Coldplay, The Who
At Random: click here
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