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1
Mar

Meteorological Spring…

Meteorological Spring today…but it didn’t feel like it! Cold east wind (…damn Russians) that stings my face. The fog has lifted but still it’s 50 shades of grey.

 

My feet are still frozen from a long bike ride…b/c it was brutal in the winter fog! Temp 0 C wind was clam WNW but still….very cold. Initially I wasn’t going to bike today…but I made a commitment in Lent…daily bike rides with the exception for rain/wind, no need to catch pneumonia!
But here are the REAL die-hards….sitting on the shore with a fishing pole! I was glad I was moving on a bike to keep warm!
This is a typical Frisian Farmhouse…. it looks so gothic, so isolated …in the mistl It is a “Head-Neck-Body farmhouse”: residence (the head) and a kitchen (the neck) placed in line in front of a big shed (the body).
Earlier this week ….I rode by a typical farm raising the famous Holstein Friesians cows…best milk in the world! They are known as the world’s highest-production dairy animals. USA and Holstein Friesians: were introduced into the US from 1621 to 1664. The eastern part of New Netherland (modern day New York and Connecticut), where many Dutch farmers settled along the Hudson and Mohawk River valleys.
No farm in Friesland is without the famous “Stabyhoun” gatekeeper! Boy, this guy had me in his sights the minute I got off the bike to take a picture. #NoNonsenseDog
I promised this would be the year of dogs…so I mustered up the courage to see if the stabyhoun (…I call him Leroy) would agree to some portraits. He’s a tough negotiator! He still stays near the farm…not sure if I know the ‘secret password’ that would allow me to approach.
Just look at that face! This guy means business!
Now the tension is over….Leroy settles down in his ‘waakhond’ (watchdog) mode. He sees I’m not a threat…just an amateur photographer…biking…chasing off the blues, so Leroy let’s me live!
  1. I feel better today after putting yesterday in my memory box.
  2. Met a neighborhood cat in front of the house,
  3. stopped to pet her and got to feel her fur…so soothing.
  4. Yes….It has been a sad couple of days
  5. ….luckily I took this last beautiful picture of Mork on Valentine’s Day.
  1. RIP Mork (2010-2021)
  2. …you have left me so suddenly.
  3. I could not help you anymore.
You were such a great companion
Loyal and true
My heart will always wear
The pawprints left by you.
22
Feb

….almost Spring

After 3 months of self-imposed lock down I am now ready to greet Spring with open arms! Switching from 5,6 km walks to 2 hr bike rides….more photo opportunities a bit further from home. Temps this week unseasonably warm (10 C, 50 F) here, but winter is lurking around the corner (begin March). Time to delight is the February sun!

 

This is my favorite part of the bike ride…these trees in summer feel like a green cathedral roof. I’ll try to document them during the coming months.

 

Beautiful colors….cobalt blue water and incandescent green, duck taking a morning dip!

 

Such a joy to meet this very friendly dog, Gerber is his name... out for a walk. This is a Stabij… (Stabyhoun) one of the top 5 rarest dog breeds in the world.. It is from my province of Friesland. If you interested ….you can read about him on Wikipedia https://www.wikiwand.com/en/Stabyhoun

 

Sometimes you wonder…who is taking whom for a walk? This lovely lady was also enjoying the morning sunshine and was also taking pictures…..even one of me!

 

The farmer has his fields ready…for Spring planting. I wonder…corn? potatoes? I’ll keep you posted.

 

Sunny but very windy once you bike outside of the center of town. Just think, we were skating on this water just 10 days go!

 

Iconic landmark in Friesland.…we call it in Fries ‘de sipel’ (the onion). It is the quirkiest church tower ever! The Protestant church in Deinum, Netherlands, (see Google maps) one of the medieval churches in Friesland. It is an early 13th-century building with a tower that dates from 1550-1567.
Spring is coming….it really is!
11
Feb

#Non-fiction Kill Switch

 

  1. Why it matters: Kill Switch
  2. This book makes clear that unless the USA  immediately and drastically reforms the Senate’s rules and practices―starting with reforming the filibuster―we face the prospect of permanent minority rule in America

 

  1. The big picture:
  2. For much of its history, the filibuster was used primarily to prevent civil rights legislation from becoming law. But more recently, Republicans have refined it into a tool for imposing their will on all issues to oppose a progressive American majority.
  3. Democrats could unilaterally change the rule to require only a simple majority for legislation to advance, if all 50 Democrats plus Harris agreed to do so, a gambit sometimes called the “nuclear option.”

 

  1. Details:  Superminoirty:
  2. Senators representing as little as 11% of the population can deliver the obstructionist agenda white conservative voters desire. They block progress across most issues.

 

  1. What we are watching:  Majority Leader Schumer vs Minority Leader McConnell
  2. Schumer is resisting McConnell’s demand for a promise to protect the long-standing Senate rule requiring a supermajority of 60 votes to advance most legislation, known as the legislative filibuster.

 

  1. Between the lines:  Threat
  2. Majority Leader Schumer is sticking to his guns and keeping the threat of going “nuclear” on legislation in reserve if Republicans do not work cooperatively.
  3. The author shows that many of the greatest challenges of our era:
  • partisan polarization
  • dark money
  • a media culture built on manufactured outrage.

 

Conclusion:

  1. This is an excellent book about governmental history and
  2. …the practice of implementing the filibuster.
  3. #MustRead book for anyone who wants to improve civic engagement
  4. …understand who you are voting for and how it will affect you!
  5. The Senate is a POWERFUL institution that can change your life.
  6. The filibuster was used as a tool against  Civil rights and 
  7. …voter repression in America.

 

8
Feb

#Non-fiction How Fascism Works

 

  • Starting out slowly…..short reviews.
  • No time to waste on long analysis
  • …just giving you my ‘gut’ reaction to the book.

 

Conclusion:

  1. This was the first audio book I listened to
  2. …and wanted to listen to it again, immediately!
  3. The narrator has a soothing yet compelling voice
  4. and the narrative, well,
  5. …just lean back and let the words  sink in.
  6. Remember what the USA went through the last four years
  7. …and start to connect the dots!
  8. #EducateYourself
  9. ….before it is too late!
2
Feb

Well…I’m still here.

 

I thought the Election in November 2020 would do me in
…then came the Georgia Senate races (2 democratic candidates in a Red state!)
…then came the insurrection on The Capitol 06 January 2021 (….now we learn it was a planned attack)
…then came the decision to BAN Trump from Twitter
…then the  Deutsche Bank cut all ties with Trump and Co. Trump owes them 400 million dollars!
…you have to be really shady if DB doesn’t want you as a client.
…Deutsche Bank makes deals with the devil!
…then came the impeachment.

I am a confessed news junkie and must admit scrolling the twitter page
until  0200 AM has taken its toll.
( …the USA news kicks in….just when I should turn off the lights and go to sleep!
I just could not face another  ‘fake’  video message from Trump  before he leaves The White House and turned off the TV.

 

Good news?  all the above have kick started SPRING CLEANING…and the house is
starting to sparkle.  I must admit I’ve been very lax with household chores.

 

I was just getting back to some serious reading after the US  Presidential Election tension
…..then 06 January happened. The Insurrection  in Washington D.C. shook me to my core…and felt like the  moments in history that  will leave haunted:  JFK, MLK, Robert Kennedy assassinations and 9/11 attack.
I could not open a book.

 

So life goes on…Washington DC  looks like the Green Zone in Baghdad  Iraq
…more troops there than in Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan combined.
…Inauguration  Joe Biden happened without any more violence in DC.
…will the Senate convict Donald Trump for insurrection and citing mob violence?
…of course not.
…January was the deadliest month in USA with 90.000 covid deaths. Let that sink in!!                Sometimes I just cannot bear to turn on the news….but I must.
The nation will get through this but the scars are visible.

 

Here in The Netherlands... the pandemic continues
The FULL lockdown has been extended for another 3 weeks.
The British variant of the virus is in the country….and people are
afraid it will spread exponentially…as it has done in the UK.
Remember…we get have intense ‘lorry traffic’ between UK and NL  as a port of
entry to the EU for goods and foods.

 

The NL cabinet has placed us in  a curfew (9 pm – 0430 am) 24 Jan – 09 Feb in an effort to
further cut down on contacts between people and so reduce the spread of the virus.
This is the first time this draconian rule has been implemented since WW II  1945!                                We will hear tomorrow if the curfew will be extended beyond 10 February.                                            Our health guru Jaap van Dissel wants to limit social contacts
given that half the infections with a known source
happen within a household and 36% derive from visits.

 

So that is just  life in a nutshell. I did manage to   read 5 books in January:

  1. Girl, Woman, Other –  Bernardine Evaristo  – REVIEW
  2. Heads of Colored People – Nafissa Thompson-Spires  (12 short stories)  REVIEW
  3. A Black Women’s  History of the United States – Daina Ramey Berry  REVIEW
  4. AI  Superpowers – Kai-Fu Lee – Excellent!  5 star
  5. Society 4.0 – B. de Wit – Review

 

...but I hope to  get back to regular postings….soon.

1
Jan

#NeedCoffee

  1. It’s time for me to have a break from this ol’ book blog.
  2. … it’s doing my head in and
  3. I need more time to just read and relax.
  4. 2020 was an exhausting year!
  5. I will be updating my Challenges 2021 
  6. …list with my reading progress.
  7. If you want to  reach….I’m still on twitter @nl_burns.
  8. I’ll return in the Spring
  9. …with my books, walks and foto’s!
  10. It’s time to hibernate and #NeedCoffee
  11. Live well, be safe, wear a mask
  12. for the love of all that’s holy
  13. …it’s not too much to ask.

 

Finished: 

  1. Girl, Woman, Other –  Bernardine Evaristo  – REVIEW
  2. Heads of Colored People – Nafissa Thompson-Spires  (12 short stories)  REVIEW
  3. A Black Women’s  History of the United States – Daina Ramey Berry  REVIEW
  4. AI  Superpowers – Kai-Fu Lee – Excellent!  5 star
  5. Society 4.0 – B. de Wit – Review

1
Jan

#2020 Good Riddance!!

  1. Even by dismal standards, it has been a shocker of a year.
  2. Pandemic, lockdowns, economic slump, apocalyptic wildfires
  3. …in Australia and USA and the most divisive
  4. …bitter US election in living memory

 

But it is time to think  of 2021…

  1. You can always stay connected via:
  2. Twitter: @nl_burns
  3. Goodreads.com

 

Challenges:

  1. Brona @Bronasbooks for #AusReadingMonth21 (November)
  2. Karen @Books and Chocolate #BackToTheClassics 2021
  3. #BlackHistoryMonth (February)
  4. Cathy @746Books  #ReadingIrelandMonth21 (March)
  5. #NationalBookAward 2019 -2020 (winners and finalists) @NationalBook.org
  6. #PoetryMonth (April)
  7. #DutchLiterature (8 NF books I hope will be translated soon…)
  8. #AWW2021  @AustralianWomen WritersChallenge
  9. #TheEdithReadalong2021 @BronasBooks  (November)
  10. #NonFicNov  (non-fiction weeks) (November)
  11. #NovNov @746Books (novella) (November)

 

  1. So it is time to hit the reset button
  2. …and finally enjoy the long-awaited  2021.
  3. Here is my challenge 2021 reading list .
  4. Here is my monthly planning 2021
  5. Happy New Year 2021!

31
Dec

#Poetry Jericho Brown

 

Conclusion:

  1. This  book is said to be
  2. …one of the best collection of poems
  3. by a living poet.
  4. Jericho Brown’s poems are works of art and
  5. …they deserve some of my intense reading time.
  6. It took me 2 days to research and read 52 poems.
  7. I learned about Brown’s abusive father and  the poet’s
  8. struggle to be a black gay man.
  9. I hope the notes I provided may
  10. …help you when reading my favorite poems.
  11. #MustRead

 

Quickscan:

  1. 5 Duplex poems are a creation of Jericho Brown (JB).
  2. The structure is unique: the last word of a stanza
  3. ….in the last word on the first next line!
  4. It feels like a puzzel!

 

Quickscan:

  1. Certain poems are inspired by people, books, art.
  2. I needed to read the ‘backstory’ in wikipedia 
  3. …so I  could understand the poems. 
  4. I’ve included links to information regarding these poems.
  5. Favorite: ” After Another Country”  (novel by James Baldwin, 1962)

 

Quickscan:

  1. The title poem is “The Tradition“.
  2. After my first reading I still did not know what it was!
  3. I needed to do some research.
  4. Tradition is: 
  5. joy of gardening,  police violence, remembering victims of police violence.

 

Favorites:

Part 1:

  • Ganymede – myth about Ganymede   
  • As a Human Being  –  trying to stand up to father…..son-father relationship.
  • The Tradition – see quickscan
  • Hero – trying to impress mother….  son-mother relationship
  • After Another Country – Another Country main character Rufus Scott 
  • The Water Lilies – image  water lilies = white people
  • Foreday in the Morning – morining glories…mother never sees them, she’s up early to work.
  • The Card Tables – love the personification of simpel ‘card tables’, funny!
  • Bullet Points – Sandra Bland (wikipedia) 
  • Duplex  – abuse-father
  • The Trees – lovely nature poem..the crape myrtle trees
  • A Young Man – father watching teen-age son be a playground guardian for little sister

 

Part 2:

  • Duplex – abuse-father
  • Riddle – Emmett Till (wikipedia)  – powerful
  • Correspondence – The Jerome Project by Titus Kaphar  
  • Night Shift – painful intimacies of domestic abuse
  • Shovel – vivd poem, no  hidden meaning…just pick up the body and bury it
  • Dear Whiteness – letter to “whiteness” …who the speaker is sleeping with
  • Entertainment Industry – issues of gun control and mass shootings
  • Layover – account of an assault, a pant-like stream-of-consciousness

 

Part 3:

  • Duplex – abuse-father
  • Of My Fury – love poem
  • The Virus  – HIV
  • Deliverance – remembering childhood Sundays
  • Dark – painfully candid as JB reproaches himself
  • Duplex  – abuse-father
  • Cakewalk – optimism between to old lovers despite HIV
  • Stand – love and pain is inseparable, there is joy to be found  within black bodies
  • Duplex: Cento – abuse-father
30
Dec

#Non-fiction Dying of Whiteness

 

Conclusion:

  1. Metzl’s timely book looks at
  2. Trump’s Right-wing backlash policies:
  3. unraveling of Obama Care (the Affordable Care Act)
  4. resist available health care (anti-vax)
  5. amass gun arsenals
  6. cut funding for schools
  7. ...these politics are literally asking people
  8. to die for their “whiteness”.

 

Strong point:

  1. Read the introduction carefully before starting the book.
  2. It is filled with information that help you
  3. get a helicopter-view of the right-wing policy in USA.

 

Strong point…..but you have to see why!

  1. There are pages of statistics and
  2. methods of data gathering
  3. …that my numb you. 
  4. But graphs will show that the results of
  5. distructive policy are quantifiable!
  6. That is crucial and the core message of the book.

 

  1.  I suggest skimming and highlighting the results
  2. …you want to remember.
  3. Example: 
  4. Compare gun laws in Missouri vs Connecticut
  5. …and numbers of gun inflicted suicide.
  6. White men become the biggest threat
  7. …to themselves in Missouri.
  8. They die by their own guns 2,5 x
  9. more often than do white men in Connecticut.

 

  1. But please, keep reading if only to see how
  2. budget cuts have devastated the public schools in Kansas!

 

  1. This is just so shocking.
  2. Trump and his enablers promote issues and policies to
  3. defend and restore white privilege.
  4. Dr. Metzl has gone into the America’s heartland
  5. to have conversations with people in
  6. Tennessee, Missouri and Kansas. (2013-2018)
  7. The author reveals to what 
  8. …depths these white Americans
  9. will go to  and vote  for
  10. …American backlash conservatism.

 

  1. This book  is such an eye-oener.
  2. I was so frustrated while reading how people can be so stupid
  3. …so convinced that Trump is working in their interests.
  4. He is not.
  5. Trump is a con-man and
  6. …it is killing America’s heartland.
  7. What is most frightening?
  8. Yes, Trump is leaving the White House but
  9. …Trumpism is here to stay!
  10. #MustRead
29
Dec

#Ireland Don’t Touch My Hair

 

Introduction:

  1. Ms Dabiri’s book begins with her upbringing in Ireland,
  2. moving through to pre-colonial West Africa,
  3. to the slave trade in America.
  4. She discusses the market dominance of beauty products
  5. …how black hair is valued and misunderstood.
  6. Hair texture and style have no bearing on one’s ability to succeed.
  7. Black hair has been and continues to be judged by white standards
  8. …used as a tool to discriminate.

 

Conclusion:

  1. Black identity is told through the prism of African hair.
  2. Historically, the way you wore your hair
  3. signified your marital status, your tribe, your class
  4. …and your position in society.”
  5. Black hair is much more than just hair….!
  6. Hairstyle  is an embodied visual language.
  7. Ms Dabiri gives White people this advice about African hair:
  8. “…our hair is spiritual. Look but don’t touch!” (pg 47)

 

  1. Strong Point:  Ms Emma Dabiri KNOWS  what she is talking about!
  2. She attended the prestigious school  SOAS University of London .
  3. SOAS is one of the world’s leading institutions for the
  4. study of Asia, Africa, and the Middle East.

 

  1. Strong point:  this book made me look more closely at art….
  2. …and the hairstyles represented in it!

 

  1. Strong point:  I thought I was going to get a book just about hair
  2. but Ms Dabiri has touched on many themes relating to hairstyles.
  3. Themes of personal identity,
  4. cultural traditions, modern aspirations,
  5. and social and political issues.
  6. She deleves deeply into her own Yoruba roots
  7. …..in Benin Africa.

 

  1. Strong point:  Personal…describing life in Ireland as a black girl:
  2. “…an environment characterized by a pervasive and
  3. constant refrain of black inferiority...
  4. …I was bombarded with it.” (pg 88)
  5. But Ms Dabiri  did add some humor into her story….
  6. “being black and Irish in Ireland
  7. …was to have almost unicorn status” (pg 5)

 

  1. Weak Point: I was not very interested  pages 103-122
  2. …about A’Lelia Walker (1885 –1931)
  3. She was the only surviving child of Madam C. J. Walker,
  4. popularly credited as being the first self-made female millionaire
  5. …promoting hair products for  African-American women.
  6. I skimmed this section.
  7. Chapter 5:
  8. …honestly, not interested in Shea Moisture,
  9. Madonna or Kim Kardashian’s  cornrows.

 

  1. Strong point:  chapter 6 
  2. Ms Dabiri discusses complex geometric shapes used in braiding.
  3. Braiding was used also in ‘intellignce networks’.
  4. Hair was used a a form of mapping
  5. …a means of communication.
  6. The hairstyle was a form of  signal
  7. …so escape could happen in blocks of slaves.

 

  1. Strong point:  TITLE!!
  2. …Solange on Spotify   “Don’t’ Touch My Hair”
  3. Somehow these lyrics just give expression or emotion to
  4. …the deep feeling  of African hair.

Lyrics….

Don’t touch my hair
When it’s the feelings I wear
Don’t touch my soul
When it’s the rhythm I know
Don’t touch my crown
They say the vision I’ve found
Don’t touch what’s there
When it’s the feelings I wear

Last Thoughts:

  1. This book was more scholarly than I anticipated.
  2. Ms Dabiri has completed her PhD and her expertise is apparent.
  3. She uses a mixture of scholarly and popular sources.
  4. But Ms Dabiri has produced a very readable book about
  5. looking at indigenous cultures from a new perspective.
  6. She  emphasizes the strengths of African society in divination,
  7. architecture design, entrepreneurship and…so interesting
  8. the unchanging tradition of hair braiding!
  9. #AbsoluteDelight  to read!
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