Last night as the dreadfully charming Mr. Right and I were snuggled in bed reading the new Harry Potter aloud, I turned to him (between Horcruxes and Hallows), pecked him on the lips, and said, “Life is good. This is fun. I love you.”
Then I got up to pee. And as I was walking to the bathroom, it hit me: I am turning into my parents.
See, this “life is good” thing is a family trait. Sitting around a dinner table, or on a beach walk, or watching a crackling fire, my dad will invariable say (and these are his exact words), “This is PER-fect. Now isn’t this perfect? This is PER-fect.” My mom, for her part, will hold her palms up in that lotus pose and sigh, “AAAHHHhhhh…” (This means she’s happy.) Then she’ll breathe in through her nose (pphhhhhh), eyes droopy with pleasure, and say with a soothing yogi grin, “Life is goood.”
When I was a surly and cynical teenager, this drove me crazy. I developed a theory that they were saying everything was so perfect more in an effort to WILL IT TO BE SO, than because it actually was. I mean, how many perfect dinners, beach walks, or fires can one person have?
But now I see that that’s not so. For my parents, hanging out almost ANYWHERE with their (actually pretty well-behaved and pleasant, if I do say so myself) kids was the pinnacle, the zenith, or–as my grandfather once accidentally said in a speech to an auditorium full of people–the “penith” of existence.
And now that I’m older and less cynical and have got my own dreadfully charming Mr. Right and Bungle of Joy, I realize that hanging out with them, appreciating the little things, that feels to me like the penith, too.
Janna, aka Happily Even After, 35, Seattle
August 28, 2007 at 3:05 am
Sounds like a wonderful home – then and now. Thanks for sharing that, Janna. And your Bungle is totally adorable!
I’ve also been meaning to thank you for your comment about blogging being like piano scales for a writer. That image has remained with me – and it’s been helpful.
Thanks-thanks-thanks!
August 28, 2007 at 3:11 am
p.s. – I wish I could get MY Mr. Right to read out loud with me – that is so much fun! Occasionally we dip into The Sound and The Fury, but I would so love to make more of a habit of it-with lighter material. Good for you two! (and I don’t mean that in the condescending way).
August 28, 2007 at 4:08 am
I cant even get my Mr Right to watch the movie with me 😉
August 28, 2007 at 11:39 pm
and my Mr-maybe-but-no-sure-yet Right, even if he does read a book recommended by me, refuses point blank to discuss it later on. supposedly real men don’t do it:)
August 29, 2007 at 1:53 pm
This outloud tradition of ours started years ago in college when we would take long roadtrips and read Ken Kesey and Tom Robbins aloud while driving (this was before books on tape were very popular–now we do those sometimes). But once Potter came out we kind of got into that rut, a lovely rut, mind you, but Mr. R hasn’t been much interested in other books for aloud reading. Harumph.
Part of the problem is I kind of get addicted to them and am more interested in the story than, say, well, other things. 😉 Not totally true, but…
It IS quality time and I feel lucky doing it. But now that Harry Po is over, what to do??? If anyone has suggestions for other books good for reading aloud, I would much appreciate. We did Watership Down and that was great. Tried Dune, and it was a bit too complex. I’ve done Tolkein series (that was another boyfriend though), and that was great.
Please pass on your other suggestions…I loved Kasha’s description of the Russian novel about Satan–I wonder if that would work?
-Janna
August 29, 2007 at 3:22 pm
I was actually thinking Tolkein when I saw your line about another boyfriend. . . . too funny! I look forward to hearing the suggestions, too.
August 29, 2007 at 7:02 pm
Bulgakov’s “Master and Margarita” is very good but at times it is also quite complex so I think you’d probably need to see if it something to read loud.
For loud reading, if you want sth similar to Harry Potter, I’d recommend Garth Nix’s The Old Kingdom Trilogy (or anything else by him) or J. Stroud’s Bartimaeus Trilogy (I’ll send you some links in a sec.). Apart from those, what about good old G.G. Marguez or Umberto Eco?
August 30, 2007 at 5:09 am
Does it have to be fiction? My favourite book (non-fiction) is The Consolations of Philosophy by Alain de Botton
August 30, 2007 at 5:13 am
Oh if you like ‘magic’ kind of books you might like Terry Brooks series about the magic kingdom of Landover – the first one is called Magic Kingdom for Sale – sold!
Its a lot of fun.
August 30, 2007 at 5:54 am
Thanks for all the suggestions (keep ’em comin’ if you have more).
We’ve had good luck with John Irving. Kesey’s One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest was one of the best read alouds ever–funny and heart-wrenching. Also page turners a la John Grisham are easy. Bruce Hornby’s light-hearted book about suicide was a good book on tape and would be great aloud with a partner–so so funny. So there’s more for other people’s lists.
I like the idea of magic or sci-fi books. Thanks for helping me get a new list going.
-janna
August 30, 2007 at 3:18 pm
My Who-Knows-If-It’s-Right and I share lots of books…. I spattering that I would recommend for outloud reading include:
God Bless You Mr. Rosewater – Vonnegut
Travels – M. Crichton (I am not a fan of his fiction, but this was a great travel memoir)
The Dark Material Series – Pullman [WAY better than HP in my humble (and unpopular) opinion!]
~amanda~
September 1, 2007 at 9:05 pm
The Dark Material Series as Amanda suggests!!!!! That’s the one you should try- people have such a different opinions about it – I have friends who are obsessed by it, and I have another friend who was completely shocked saying those books are blasphemous. Personally I loved them.
September 2, 2007 at 6:11 am
Mmm, reading aloud to one another in bed is such an intimate sharing time. Love it!
September 16, 2007 at 5:20 pm
Janna;
I just wanted to thank you for something. I was scanning your blog when I saw an entry on your sex-change student. My family is going through this at the moment- my niece wants to become a boy.Sadly, Poland is not USA and there aren’t that many options of help or people with a healthy attitude towards sex-change issues.
I was really happy to see a recommendation of a website address for cross gender issues. I think the worst is actually us coming to terms with the change and supporting her through it. Anyway, thank you for your blog- it helped me get a bit of a perspective.