Jonathan Safran Foer Against Meat

Eleanor just shared the most wonderful article by Jonathan Safran Foer from the New York Times, Against Meat.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/11/magazine/11foer-t.html?pagewanted=1&ref=magazine

The main theme of the article is vegetarianism, but it also made me think about:

• Living according to your values
• Marriage
• Raising children (I wondered if my generation could selflessly raise children and then I wondered if anyone has ever selflessly raised a child, or is a child always an expression/project of yourself)
• Sacrifice for religion

Here’s the final section of the article. A conversation between him and his grandmother.

“The worst it got was near the end. A lot of people died right at the end, and I didn’t know if I could make it another day. A farmer, a Russian, God bless him, he saw my condition, and he went into his house and came out with a piece of meat for me.”

“He saved your life.”

“I didn’t eat it.”

“You didn’t eat it?”

“It was pork. I wouldn’t eat pork.”

“Why?”

“What do you mean why?”

“What, because it wasn’t kosher?”

“Of course.”

“But not even to save your life?”

“If nothing matters, there’s nothing to save.”

If you wrote a book what kind of book would it be?

Question: If you wrote a book what kind of book would it be?

*Note, don’t think about what book you are capable of writing, but the book you would like to write.

Flaminia’s answer:

A book about the way different people deal with problems…or something about history.

Sarah’s answer:

A novel, something like The Corrections by Jonathan Franzen.

But these answers are, of course, subject to change!

Share your own answers/thoughts on the process in the comments.

Sarah’s Bangkok Reading Challenge

I was whining on the phone to MJ last night that I’m finding it hard to entertain myself at the moment. It was essentially a repeat of our most common conversation that we’ve been having since I was little. It begins with,  “Muuu-uuum, I’m booooored”.

In between working long hours and sleeping, I’ve just hit a point where daily life seems a bit too dull. In fact, I embody the phrase “All work and no play makes Johnny a dull boy.” I’m not looking for major life upheaval – I already have that in spades, I mean I just want to do something a bit fun at the end of the day to take my mind off work.

I usually keep busy with side projects and internet stuff, but they seem like more of a chore than a hobby lately, and I’ve finished watching the West Wing and 30 Rock. So MJ and I brainstormed a bit, coming up with a few suggestions, but the best one was to read books. This is no.1 on my list of favourite hobbies, and it’s the best way I know to wind down…but I’ve been struggling to get into any of the books on my shelf lately, and have about four books on my side table with bookmarks languishing at page 20. I went to the bookstore on Wednesday (hair colour day) to buy something new that could break the reading funk, but I talked myself out of it because every new book is another book that needs to be shipped home.

But on the bus ride home last night I had a breakthrough! I realised the perfect way to get myself to sit down, push past the first 20 pages of a book and enjoy reading again! (and lighten the load of books that I’ll bring home with me – Once I’ve read my books I can pass them on to friends).

I’ve decided to set myself the challenge of reading every book on my shelf before I leave Bangkok. I have quite a few books, and one of them is the 600 page journal of Joyce Carol Oates, so it’s more of an experiment to see how far I get than a challenge I expect to win, but I’m excited nonetheless!

Last night I started Good Wives by Louisa May Alcott, which I think will get my reading muscles moving again. I thoroughly enjoyed the first few chapters and am looking forward to getting back into it tonight. See, Sarah’s Bangkok Reading Challenge is already working!

Does reading help my social life?

Nothing more fun about a blog than the opportunity to link to people I think are right. It’s a way of saying “this is what I would have said if I’d thought it about it earlier”.

And now for today’s “Person I agree with”:

Psychologist and novelist Keith Oatley.

Katie Christian writes at the UTNE Reader:

An activity as solitary as reading a work of fiction may actually help us become better at connecting with others, writes psychologist and novelist Keith Oatley in Greater Good.

Oatley says fiction is about “possible selves in possible worlds,” and can aid interpersonal skills in two ways: by helping readers develop “theory of mind”—imagining what others are thinking and feeling—as well as showing how people interact with one another.

Readers of fiction were found to have higher social ability than those who preferred non-fiction. The reason?

“Fiction is principally about the difficulties of selves navigating the social world. Non-fiction is about, well, whatever it is about: selfish genes, or how to make Mediterranean food, or whether climate changes will harm our planet. So with fiction we tend to become more expert at empathizing and socializing. By contrast, readers of non-fiction are likely to become more expert at genetics, or cookery, or environmental studies, or whatever they spend their time reading and thinking about.”

True dat Keith Oatley. I am IMMEDIATELY suspicious of anyone who says, “I prefer non-fiction”…or even worse, “I don’t read books”. Get away from me you soulless devils. AWAY!

Talking about work and other things

I just got back from visiting Nicole down the road where we drank Vietnamese coffee and ate mini muffins in her sunny and stylish apartment. It was also the first time in two weeks that I talked about work related stuff….WORK!

Almost every conversation in Aceh related to work in one way or another. Maybe someone was venting about a problem with a project, or someone had a new philosophy on “where we’re going wrong!” or maybe someone would mention the weird/delicious cake that was brought it for a snack (it was green and you drizzled this maple syrup stuff on it!). We were, after all, simply bodies attached to organisations in that place. Hi, I’m Jean, I work for Red Cross. Hi, I’m Dan, I work for Oxfam. Or if you want to get really personal: Hi, I’m Jose, I work for Save the Children and I’m from Spain. Once in a yoga class that my friend Sarah was leading, she asked each person to introduce themselves and say one thing about them that WAS NOT related to their work. There were audible shrieks of fear in the group.

Since being in Melbourne my brain (very easily) switched off from work and switched onto:

1. how to burp a baby (I am VERY good at this, if I do say so myself)
2. remembering to have change for the train or tram
3. deciding what to eat when there is more than one choice

Looking after babies obviously requires more brain power than deciding what to eat for lunch, but you wouldn’t know it by looking at the stress either activity causes me. I am absolutely certain that I do not like having choices. I don’t deal well with choices.

Back to visiting with Nicole, she is a smaaaaart cookie, in the early stages of a PhD that’s about all sorts of things that interest us both so there was a lot of talking we simply needed to do. We talked about the kind of stuff that, when we worked together (she was the BOSS), we would get stuck in her office talking for hours about. Big picture stuff about the state of development (and the world for that matter). For her it was relevant. For me, who probably should have been calling someone to chase up something, or sending off a contract to be signed, it was the most fun part of my day.

We wandered down to A1 Bakery for some tasty Middle Eastern baked goods for lunch and talked about work some more. Eventually I had to let Nicole get back to applying her thoughts in a meaningful way.

On the way back to Benjamin’s place I stopped in at the Book Grocer and bought eight books! I don’t have a bookshelf to store books on, and I certainly can’t take these eight books (along with the others I’ve already earmarked) to Bangkok with me. But they were only $5 each and I was convinced I needed each one. The Bonds of Freedom: Simone de Beauvoir’s Existentialist Ethics. Can you believe I didn’t already have a copy?!

Yes, I admit I just bought eight books which will probably be read to the 20th page and put aside for another time.

Now I am back on Benj’s couch coughing and spluttering and enjoying the warmer weather (the icy winds have finally moved on! Come forth Spring!) Maybe, now that I am committing to the couch for at least an hour or two I will read one of my new books (my favourite title of today’s bunch: Breaking Hearts: The Two Sides of Unrequited Love)

Speaking of matters of the heart, I scanned this picture and sonnet from a book in MJ’s collection called “The Poetry of Artists” or something like that (MJ has had this book since before she was MJ Fortuna–more than 40 years ago I’m estimating–so I’m having trouble locating it on Amazon).

Raphael Sonnet (click to enlarge)

The Pen Has Been in Their Hands

I just finished reading Jane Austen’s Persuasion and I will admit that it’s the first Jane Austen novel I’ve read. I guess the BBC series’ don’t count, do they?

I think Jane Austen’s feminist credentials have been discussed/debated at length in various places, so this might not be earth-shattering for some. But I read a passage in Persuasion that perfectly captures an idea that’s come up a few times this year in my work. When Sarah writes about it she get wordy and needs to qualify it, and gets caught up with using the appropriate term of the moment etc etc. When Jane writes about it…well, from now on I will just refer to Jane.

To introduce the following passage, Anne is arguing with Captain Harville about whether men or women harbour heart ache longer. Captain Harville insists that men don’t get over heartbreak easily (“and that as our bodies are strongest, so are our feelings”). Anne argues that women are more fragile and thus suffer more. Keep an eye on Anne’s response to Harville.

Harville says:

‘as I was saying, we shall never agree, I suppose, upon this point. No man and woman would, probably. But let me observe that all histories are against you–all stories, prose and verse. If I had such a memory as Benwick, I could bring you fifty quotations in a moment on my side the argument, and I do not think I ever opened a book in my life which had not something to say upon women’s inconstancy. Songs and proverbs all talk of woman’s fickleness. But, perhaps, you will say these were all written by men.’

Anne:

‘Perhaps I shall. Yes, yes, if you please, no reference to examples in books. Men have every advantage of us in telling their own story. Education has been theirs in so much higher a degree; the pen has been in their hands. I will not allow books to prove anything.’

It reminds us why it’s so important for women to tell their own stories (and to report on the world too, as journalists, historians, academics etc). In Aceh there is a huge gap. I’m working on a book at the moment that is the first collection of essays written by Acehnese women to be published. My organisation was motivated to publish this book because there is so much written about Aceh but very little of it is written by the women of Aceh, who will give unique perspectives and reflect a whole different set of issues to the men of Aceh, or people coming from outside (men or women). We often think about ‘what issues are being written about’, but sometimes overlook the important question of ‘who is writing about the issues’.

Because I always feel like I need to continue the discussion

A few points relating to things mentioned on this blog in recent days:

1. Benjamin, did you think I was joking about eating and looking at bookstores…? Seems like Batu Caves are a cool place to go if my schedule wasn’t already packed. I’ve said that about Batu Caves the last 5 times I’ve been to KL.
2. Speaking of book shops in KL, Kinokuniya runs rings around Borders and Times. That place is amazing:
   • Great selection of books (I’ve never seen a bookstore as well stocked with as much variety),
   • A section for everything including, philosophy (a whole wall devoted to it), sociology and a dedicated gender section. Greg reported that the history section was pleasingly ordered by subject rather than author,
   • “Bestsellers” walls that were actually just books they wanted to sell, but the selected books were great. Perfect if you’re looking for something new to read without a specific author in mind,
   • Great music playing over the loudspeaker (not too loud, not too soft, not too hideous…this is a warning to Borders that was playing covers of bad 80s songs by bad late-90s bands),
   • Books were where they were supposed to be,
   • Plenty of people to serve, but no one creepily following you around asking if you need help,
   • “self-help kiosks”, a name that received Greg’s scorn, but a good concept none the less. Can search for something on the computer yourself, no need to ask the sales staff.
3. Cherry Ripe anyone? I ate the one Elisa sent me. OH MY GOD, have they always been this delicious?

Unrelated note

I am looking to buy a new carry-on suitcase but was uninspired by the selection I saw in KL. I did find one I loved but it was so expensive. Fortunately as I negotiated on price Greg thought we were talking 500 ringgit ($165). If he’d known we were talking about USD500 (after 50% discount) he might have dragged me out of the shop. For the record, I can’t afford a USD500 suitcase…but it was sooooo cute…and pink! Can anyone recommend a brand they like? I want it to last until I’m 80 so I’m willing to spend a bit of money (maybe not USD500 though).

My KL agenda

I’m in KL on yet another Visa Run, but this one is different because this time I have a GREG to keep me company. We’re pretty determined to cross everything off our ‘to do’ list. Fortunately the list looks like this:

1. Eat tasty food
2. Look at bookshops

Done and done. and we’ve only been here 18 hours. So for the rest of the stay (I leave tomorrow and Greg a couple of days later), we will re-do the list. Eat more good food and look at different bookshops.

I went to the embassy this morning and had a remarkably efficient time there. The system they have coordinates a series of counters and number taking and it means that 50+ people submitting visa applications can move smoothly in a very small space and any minor obstacles (e.g. forgotten photocopies, incorrect forms filled out) can be dealt with easily. All this and you get your visa later the same day. Quite a different experience to my visit to the Consulate in Melbourne last month. In a room with a three other people waiting quietly I went to the desk with all my forms in order and was told my visa would be ready seven days later. Grrr.

I’m writing this in a creepy, dark and smelly gaming internet cafe that makes you think it’s the middle of the night even though it’s 12pm and sunny outside. So I shall leave now and go outside, but only for as long as it takes to walk to the next mega-super-giant bookstore inside a mega-super-giant shopping mall. I love KL.

Postcards from my momma getting published

Do you remember that I posted a funny email from MJ on a website called Postcards From Yo Momma a while back?

Here’s the original blog post about it: Things That Make Me Laugh

Well, turns out they liked MJ’s email a lot and plan to include it in a book they are publishing called…

“Love, Mom: Poignant, Goofy, Brilliant Maternal Messages from the Digital World” (due for release in April 2009).

Funny, huh?

I just sent an email to my brothers and sisters about it so went to the website to find the original post to show them. MJ’s email got one comment, and it was a cracker.

overreacting much? lol
sounds JUST like my mother.
all mosquitoes carry debilitating diseases in her eyes.
this is my fav email yet. lol

The funniest part about this, I think, is that when I saw that website for the first time I thought “I bet I could find a funny email from MJ for this” so I opened the most recent email from her, surely enough it was funny, and I sent it in. Apparently MJ, your everyday material can make Americans laugh. Imagine if I offered them your A-game?!

I also think it’s funny that this person with an overreacting mother thinks that MJ is like that too (for the record, MJ just keeps up the appearance of being paranoid to make me feel loved).

P.S. Here is the email they liked so much:

itches

What are you doing getting bitten by mosquitoes?!! You will get MALARIA – and i will have to start worrying about that instead of typhoid. Maybe you have got dengue fever even! Are the drugs working? Are you still alive?

What I Loved.

Happy Birthday Beck!

I just finished reading What I Loved by Siri Hustvedt. Mary Jo recommended this book to me a billion years ago. Unless I dreamed the whole thing, this was one of her book club books. I bought a copy of it to Aceh because I knew it would force me to finally read it after years looking at it on the shelf. If only MJ was a little more over top in her recommendations, then I might have understood just HOW AMAZING THIS BOOK IS!

My housemate Mike read this book before I did (I think he tore through my entire Aceh collection while I meandered through one book). About a week after I started this book, Mike said, “isn’t it great how that book is so calm at the beginning and then turns sinister?” Well, of course, after one measly week I was still in the calm beginning! So it played on my mind every time I turned the page…Is this where is gets sinister? I was enjoying the calmness so much that I was dreading the sinister part, and worried it would degenerate into a crime novel (Sarah DOES NOT like suspense and unsolved crime-style books…they make me anxious). All I will say, so as not to spoil the ending, is that the turn that this book took was so seamless and engaging that I didn’t lament for a moment the passing of the beautiful pre-sinister period.

If you have an interest in any of the following you MUST read this book:

1. Art/art history/art theory
2. Psychology/psychological disorders
3. New York (in the 70s, 80s and 90s)
4. Relationships (romantic/sexual/paternal/maternal/friendship…it’s all covered)
5. Raising children

I like all sorts of books, but this book falls well into my favourite genre that I can’t define (that maybe doesn’t exist as a genre), of books that discuss ideas and generate thought almost incidentally to the plot, but never to the expense of the plot. I once thought that the plot was secondary for me, but then it occurred to me that if I wasn’t there for the plot I’d be reading non-fiction.