From the Lists: #27 The Ambassadors

Bon vivant - aka gay expat

After reading Henry James' The Golden Bowl, I was not eager to spend the next several weeks delving into the "vulgar and perverse" lives of the early 20th century English aristocracy; long tracts of thoughts, page after page of internal turmoils, everyone wondering what someone else is thinking, but too polite to ask. Even our omniscient narrator seemed confused by his character's motives.

Perhaps my long hours of reading and re-reading paragraphs chocked full of subordinate clauses, so full in fact that I would often forget which character initiated the dialog at the beginning of the paragraph. Regardless, I was better prepared for #27, The Ambassadors (1903), that, or this book was actually a lot better than The Golden Bowl.

The book opens with our rather nervous hero, Strether arriving in England on a mission to rescue Chad, the wayward son of his wealthy, New England fiancee, from the clutches of a wicked European woman of questionable morals. While Strether makes a small effort to remain true to his straitlaced Puritan heritage, he is determined to complete his task of saving Chad and returning him to Massachusettes to take over the family business. From the start, there is some urgency in completing this task as well as an indication that Strether's future (and fortune) depends on the success of his mission. 

As with all good stories there are obstacles along the way that make Strether reconsider his mission - among them are the pleasures of the Parisian Spring, the city's life, food, music, theater, as well as the delightfully cultured denizens of its art world with whom Chad is ensconced. Streather immerses himself in Chad's world and in so doing. Strether begins enjoying himself, develops a bit of a crush on Chad's "girlfriend," and begins maneuvering to extend his stay in Paris by discouraging Chad from returning to the bosom of his family.

Strether, seduced by Paris and its inhabitants, and possibly a tad bit in love, comes to the realization that his practical life has not been a life of happiness. He explains to a young acquaintance:

It's too late. And it's as if the train had fairly waited at the station for me without my having had the gumption to know it was there. Now I hear its faint receding whistle miles and miles down the line. What one loses one loses; make no mistake about that.... Still, one has the illusion of freedom; therefore don't be, like me, without the memory of that illusion. I was either, at the right time, too stupid or too intelligent to have it; I don't quite know which. Of course at present I'm a case of reaction against the mistake; and the voice of reaction should, no doubt, always be taken with an allowance. But that doesn't affect the point that the right time is now yours. The right time is any time that one is still so lucky as to have. You've plenty; that's the great thing; you're, as I say, damn you, so happily and hatefully young. Don't at any rate miss things out of stupidity.... Do what you like so long as you don't make my mistake. For it was a mistake. Live! 

Of course the remainder of the narrative rests on whether Strether will take his own advice and pursue his own happiness or return to New England. Will he do as his fiancee wishes or will he return home, empty handed, knowing he made the right decision? The book's ends before there is a resolution, so scholarly debate continues as to Strether's choice. 

Middle Age Reminiscence

As I live through my middle years, I sometimes think about missed opportunities for happiness and the choices I sometimes made with my head instead of my heart. Like Strether, I may have come late to the banquet, but I am determined to enjoy all that life offers. I just have to make sure I get to the train station on time. Live! 

An Incrementalist Makes an Incremental Effort

At times, my more socially-conscious friends have thrown up their hands in despair when we are discussing issues they most care about, such as environmentalism, animal rights, same sex marriage, tax policy, gun laws, etc. For the most part, I lean in the direction of being for all of these things. 

• I love the environment and all those creatures who depend on it being safe and clean.
• Animals raised to be our food should be treated respectfully.
• People should marry the person they love and want to share their things with.
• Taxes are good because they pay for things we like.
• There should be reasonable gun laws that allow reasonable people to own them - we all know someone we wouldn't want to handle our guns while we are in the room with them.

While I have family, friends, and acquaintances on all sides of these hot-button issues, I believe that some progress is better than being too afraid to take the first step. After all, moving forward is way better than moving backwards. Because of this attitude, one of my best friends recently labeled me an "incrementalist." I don't believe they meant it unkindly because in many ways it is true.

I only bring this up, because I recently decided to participate in the Meatless Monday movement. I can remember no specific determining factor that precipitated this decision. I think it was more a perfect storm of conversations and information including:

• A podcast featuring PETA VP Dan Matthews (informative without all the propaganda)
• A Time Magazine Article pointing out that from an evolutionary perspective, people really only need meat around 3 times a week. 
• A quote from the Dalai Lama which suddenly had new meaning: "If you can, help others; if you cannot do that, at least do not harm them."

So, I did a little research. To make this even more about me, I was particularly interested in how many animals I would personally be responsible for not eating if I chose to be vegetarian one day a week. My best friend, Google, informed me that I would save 35 pounds of animals per year - Equivalent to an average 4 year old human in the United States. 

While that is impressive, I also learned that being vegetarian one day each week would also:

• Save 84,000 gallons of water - who knew it takes 2400 gallons of water to make a pound of beef?
• Save 247 pounds of grain - did you know if takes 7 pounds of grain to produce 1 pound of beef? And nearly the same amount for pork and chicken.
• Save 15.5 gallons of gasoline.
• Reduce the world-wide supply of manure by 400 pounds. That is quite an impressive figure.
• Reduce my carbon footprint through less gasoline usage and smaller manure piles.
• Make a tiny, tiny dent in the 10 billion land animals slaughtered for food in the US each year. 
• Improve my health by eating a few more fruits and veggies.

Not bad for a one-day-a-week effort. Imagine the difference we could all make by just taking this small step together. I imagine my dear friend Clodagh's head is about to explode considering her 20-year effort to persuade me that meat is immoral. Well, these are my baby steps, my incremental effort to make the world just a little better - one day at a time.

Just down the street from my office

Full disclosure: Today, I completed my second meatless Monday. On both Tuesdays, I broke my "meat fast" with a few Snoopy's Hot Dogs. Sadly, I love to eat at the bottom of the meat quality chart. 

To read more about the above stats, go to: Go Vegetarian One Day a Week

If you can, help others; if you cannot do that, at least do not harm them.
Read more at http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/d/dalailama384423.html#8ELbP2gsax1p1BqJ.99

If you can, help others; if you cannot do that, at least do not harm them.
Read more at http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/d/dalailama384423.html#8ELbP2gsax1p1BqJ.99

From the Lists: #28 Tender Is the Night

With the recent release of Baz Luhrmann's version of The Great Gatsby, (which I really liked - purists can howl and berate me in the comments area about my pedestrian taste in movies), I was eager for another Fitzgerald novel. Like Gatsby, Tender Is the Night (1934) follows another doomed relationship between expats Dick and Nicole Diver.

Dick is a psychiatrist, Nicole was his patient, but is also an obscenely rich heiress. They live the lives of migratory socialites moving from city to city, season to season, home to home. On the surface they are a model couple with a beautiful family and a close circle of friends. As we learn more about their relationship, we see it is built on the shakiest of grounds.

Their life is determined by the cycles of Nicole's breakdowns, recoveries, seeming happiness, manic states, and breakdowns. Dick, always on alert for changes in Nicole's behavior, is also a bit of a cad. I am unsure how I feel about this character. He is charming. Women find him handsome. He has given his life to Nicole's care, yet he can be a surly drunk, enjoys his mostly innocent dalliances with women (loves to be chased, but not very happy when caught), and is sadly unsatisfied in his life's circumstances. Like Sister Carrie (#33) this novel follows the trajectory of one partner's rise as the other partner falls or dissipates into alcohol.

Zelda and F. Scott Fitzgerald

This novel is also somewhat autobiographical in that it closely mirrors the events of the Fitzgeralds'
lives during this time. Like Dick, Fitzgerald felt his career was a failure and that he was stagnating. He incorporated in the novel his feelings about his parents, who provided much of the inspiration for Dick and Nicole, details of his own marriage, Zelda's mental breakdown, her subsequent stay at a Swiss psychiatric hospital, his affair with actress Lois Moran, and Zelda's affair with the French aviator Edouard Jozan.

For me, I thought the novel's use of flashback was quite ingenious, allowing the reader to build a relationship with the characters before learning all their dirty secrets. The writing style was concise with lovely use of descriptive passages reminiscent of Gatsby. I could feel the sand, the sun, the warm breezes, the sultry evenings, the crispness of the alps, as well as Dick and Nicole's desperation to appear happy and normal to the end.

Sophomoric Moment

While reading Tender Is the Night, I could not help but giggle when "Dick hardened himself for what he knew was coming..." or the inevitable "Dick stiffened..." We never really get out of high school do we? 

Waving the White (Prayer) Flag

When I first began reading about Buddhism and Tibetan culture, I was inspired by the romance of Tibetan Prayer flags. 

Prayer flags come in sets of five different colors. The colors are arranged from left to right in a specific order: blue, white, red, green, and yellow with each color representing the five elements. Blue symbolizes the sky and space, white symbolizes the air and wind, red symbolizes fire, green symbolizes water, and yellow symbolizes earth. According to traditional Tibetan medicine, health and harmony are produced through the balance of the five elements.

Each flag is printed with prayers. As the sun shines through them and the wind passes over them and they slowly unravel, the prayers are slowly dispersed into the world. There is just something about this that makes me feel good. My flags hang on my balcony and they remind me throughout the day to be compassionate, to be grateful for all I have, and to be generous to those in need. They are the last thing I see when I begin my morning meditation and the first thing I see upon its completion.

Traditionally, prayer flags are flown until they completely disintegrate. Hence the reason you see grayish flags slowly moldering on the homes of many Buddhists. My flags, however, are not disintegrating uniformly. Rather, my white flags, are coming to pieces before my eyes while the others are largely intact.

The white flags represent wind, which is the element responsible for our thoughts and our movements. I wonder if the flags are consumed as needed by the surroundings. Or do the tattered white flags symbolize something specifically about my thoughts and movements - too much, too little, too deep, too frivolous, too self-centered, too much in the past, too focused on future tasks. Who knows? And, since the rope finally rotted through this past weekend, I guess I will never know if the other flags would have endured or soon followed the white flag's dispersal. 

From the Lists: #29 The Studs Lonigan Trilogy

Another %$#@! Trilogy! 

It seems like months since I last posted, but with all the family vacation action, work, and International Festival planning, I have been more than a little slack in keeping up with my posts. So, to get back into the swing of sharing, let's have a look at James T Farrells' Studs Lonigan Trilogy [Young Lonigan (1932), The Young Manhood of Studs Lonigan (1934), and Judgment Day (1935)].

As with every multi-volume entry on the list of 100 Best Novels of the 20th Century, I sighed with weariness when it was time to get started on this one. Luckily, I found an eBook version that included all three volumes - 757 glorious pages!  And, I am not being sarcastic.

The trilogy starts with young William (Studs) Lonigan preparing for his grammar school graduation and ends with his untimely death at the age of 31. The first and last books are somewhat chronological in that they focus on about six months of Stud's life, mostly from his point of view. The middle book, covers the the 15 years in between using short vignettes describing milestones in Studs' life. The writing style for each book is in what I like to refer to as "Screenplay" format - i.e. short chapters with lots of dialog.

Synopsis:

Studs is short in stature, not particularly handsome, and not too intelligent.. He would probably be considered average on most counts - except within his own thoughts. When he looks in the mirror, he sees a tough, handsome guy, who is bound to experience good fortune. In reality, he is short-sighted and prideful, he runs with a bad crowd, makes bad decisions, has no self-awareness, and blames the world for his endless stream of bad luck. He has neither the words nor the capability of communicating his emotions or thoughts, which for the most part are focused on comparing himself to his peers, fighting, and female conquest.

Like the character in Train Spotting, Studs is always going to give up drinking and wild nights. He is strong in his resolve - at least until there is another bottle, another slight to his ego, or another chance at sex. Unlike other literature of this time, the act of sex is neither condemned nor moralized. Instead, Studs' lack of experience and clumsiness in the act, always leaves him unhappy, unsatisfied, and depressed. Of course this feeling is quickly blamed on the woman - who is after all nothing but a slut. Only a slut would give it up so easily.

Sadly, Studs' life never lives up to the dreams of success and ideals of love to which he is constantly comparing his circumstances. He is always jealous of someone more successful than he, yet Studs is incapable of taking control of his own life. He can only take solace in knowing that some of his childhood friends are living lives much worse than his.

By the end of the trilogy, Studs is about 31 years old, still lives at home with his long suffering parents, and he has met an girl he wants to marry. Unfortunately for everyone concerned, he dies trying to do the right thing - albeit his efforts are futile.  

Thoughts on the Trilogy

After the Edwardian novels about romantic betrayal (The Golden Bowl and The Good Soldier) and offended sensibilities, I was pleasantly surprised by the directness of the writing, but rather distressed by the use of racial slurs. With so many different groups of people (Irish, Italians, Hungarians, African Americans, Jews, Germans, etc.) arriving in the USA at the turn of the century, animosities seemed to fester among those whose parents or grandparents had arrived slightly earlier. The members of the second generation immigrants were obviously good Americans. Those who arrived more recently were simply lazy / greedy / slutty / dirty / ignorant and were to blame for Chicago's decline, the destruction of the 58th street neighborhood in which Studs lives, World War I, and the Great Depression..

Coincidental Happenings

This month's classes at the Kadampa Center focus on Death and Rebirth. Coincidentally, the descriptions of Studs' death paralleled the stages of death and dissolution we have been studying (sense of falling, hallucinations, appearance of smoke, bright light, intermediate states, etc.). The reason for studying death is that we are all going to die. We must, therefore, live a good life and be prepared to calmly face our death.

While reading the final volume of this trilogy, I could not help but to relate Studs' life and his untimely death to what we are learning in this module. I found it strangely coincidental that something so random as a book on a list seemed to be guiding me along my spiritual path. Perhaps people with strong spiritual traditions experience this quite often, but it made me feel as if I am finally on the correct path.

Namaste

Family Vacation 2013: Retrospective

This was my seventh cruise in the past five years - six of which have been "adult" charter cruises. So, it may be fitting to compare and contrast my cruise line experiences. While there is no way to actually compare apples to apples, I now see what I am getting for the extra money spent on those adult cruises: nightly theme parties, top-notch entertainers, and relaxing quiet time by the pool.

For this cruise, I really enjoyed the three days at sea - particularly the last two days spent slowly sailing home. This provided a nice vacation for the body allowing time to just sit in the sun, read, chat, laugh, and spend quality time with my sister. It has been some time since I have spent an entire week with my biological family, but seeing everyone at dinner each evening allowed for relaxed conversation as we all told stories of how we spent the day. 

My date and room mate

Although there were roaming packs of teenagers everywhere, my nieces chose to keep each other company during the day. In the evenings, I had the exquisite privilege of escorting my 18 year old niece, Kristin, to late night stage shows, competitions, disco parties, and strolls through the casino. To others, I may have appeared as a creepy old man hanging out with a very young woman, but I was overjoyed to spend my evenings squiring her around the ship before she heads off for her first year of college. We were also sharing a room for the week; it was like the best slumber party ever!

Apples and Oranges

I have now cruised on 3 different cruise lines: Holland America, Star Clipper, and Royal Caribbean. Each has advantages and disadvantages:

Royal Caribbean: 

Dad and Linda

The Good: Spacious rooms with lots of storage, efficient boarding and disembarkation process, all-you-can-drink premium passes for $55/day, family oriented activities, excellent specialty restaurants, friendly event staff, international staff mainly of Hispanic and Caribbean origin, family-oriented.
The Bad: Tiny verandas due to larger rooms, inefficient tendering process, serve-yourself buffets, average food quality, limited food service times, pedestrian entertainment options, the adults-only pool is under glass and allows 16 years and up (those kids never get out of the hot tubs), ice buckets are by request only.

Star Clipper: 

Kaitlin

The Good: Romantic sailing adventures in tall masted sailing ships, dining room tables are all eight-tops requiring you to meet and greet your fellow passengers, small friendly staff, more exotic destinations since the ship does not require a deep water harbor.
The Bad: As you can imagine, the rooms are quite small, the amenities are limited, dining is during specific hours (no sleeping in), food is of average quality (lunches were outstanding), limited entertainment options, days tends to be early-to-bed and early to rise - unless there is a party! 

Holland America

The Good: Large verandas (chaise lounge size), cook to order breakfast, the buffet is not serve yourself and is open from 6:00 AM to 3:00 AM, excellent specialty restaurants, room staff is efficient and friendly, ships are designed to accommodate both the sun lover and those who prefer the shade, private poolside cabanas for rent, international staff mainly of Filipino descent, affordable bottle service in your room, ice buckets are always full, very relaxed atmosphere.
The Bad: No all-you-can-drink passes, $0.75 / minute internet service

Full Disclosure

I have been on five Holland America cruises and my opinion could be influenced by the fish bowl nature of an all adult cruise experience as compared to the kid-friendly atmosphere of Royal Caribbean. I mean, clothing optional decks are out of the question with so many free-range children and herds of impressionable teenagers roaming the ship.

Additionally, I am booked on another Star Clipper cruise in February 2014. With these trips there may not be the hotel feeling of a large cruise ship, but the romance of boarding a sailing ship with 200 potential new friends is irresistible.

Family Vacation 2013: Food

Good thing the formal night was early in the week.

Food, glorious food!
What wouldn't we give for
That extra bit more --
That's all that we live for
Why should we be fated to
Do nothing but brood
On food,
Magical food,
Wonderful food,

Glorious food!

In my limited experience, when you ask someone about their cruise vacation, they may mention the weather, but invariably there will be talk about the volumes of food consumed. Throughout the day and at every turn there are buffets, cookouts, snack bars, dining rooms, and restaurants. All but the specialty restaurants are included in your ticket price.

In many ways, a cruise is indeed an all inclusive trip. Purchase a few add-ons such as the bottomless soft drink ticket or an all-you-can-drink premium pass, and the spigot never turns off. Food, drink, fun, and merriment is sure to be the result.

For breakfast each member of our party was pretty much on their own. The breakfast buffet overflowed with slightly warm breakfast choices from around the world.  Unfortunately, I have a tiny bit of an aversion to serve-yourself buffets. While parents think it is so adorable for their four year old darling to serve themselves from the buffet line, I only see a 30 pound germ bag digging around in the food I was thinking of eating. By the end of the week, my breakfast selections ended up being a bowl of hot oatmeal, a cup of yogurt, and a banana.

For lunch, I would meet my sister and nieces for an afternoon nosh around the solarium (adults only) pool. The small deli bar had salads, hot and cold sandwiches, and juice. The chorizo quesadilla was really tasty.

Dinner, on the other hand was a more formal affair. We had 8:30 dining room reservations providing plenty of time to shower, dress, and perhaps catch an early show before sitting down to a three course meal. This was really the only time we were all together throughout the day, so there were plenty of topics for conversation as we all got caught up sharing our experiences from the day.



The ship's dining room seats 1250 people and there are two seatings a night. The menu descriptions of the food tend to over promise and under deliver. Serving that many people in 90 minutes twice a night, requires banquet style service. So everyone is being served sort of warm food all at once. The food wasn't really bad, but it wasn't really good either.

The specialty restaurants, on the other hand were outstanding. Our ship had both a family-style Italian restaurant and a steak house:

Giovanni's Kitchen: This is not your local Italian fare of pizza and lasagna. Instead, it is a full service restaurant specializing in upscale Italian fare served in the Italian style: Antipasti, soup/salad, pasta, protein, and dessert. Woof! Each diner chooses an appetizer and/or salad course, then pasta courses are served family style (i.e. in large bowls), then each diner chooses an entree. The appetizers were large enough to share and it was all I could do not to fill up on the lovely carpaccio and antipasti platters. The mushroom risotto was outstanding as were the broiled tiger prawns. All that topped off with Italian pressed coffee and a giant scoop of tiramisu prepared the way it is supposed to be. I could barely walk when dinner was over, but it was one of the best meals I have had all year.

 

Family Style, Indeed!

 

The risotto was a winner

Moo

Baa

What sound do prawns make?

Creamy and full of liquor!As it should be.

Chops Grille: It has an extra "e" so it has to be good. What can you say about a steak house? The wine was yummy, the food was delicious and cooked the way I ordered it, the service was impeccable. Either my stomach was sufficiently stretched to accommodate more food or I was getting better at choosing smaller portions since this dinner ended with me feeling comfortable and content.

The specialty restaurant experiences only served to highlight the mediocrity of the dining room's fare. But, I have to admit that the dining room staff do a good job of getting diners in and out without making them feel rushed.

Dining room meals are included in the cost of the cruise ticket. There are also options to eat at the serve-yourself buffet for both lunch and dinner. Add-on charges for the specialty restaurants are $20 per person for Giovanni's and $30 per person for Chops Grille. Alcohol is not included.       

And while I just may sound a little like an ungrateful food snob in the above descriptions, the extra pounds I picked up feasting my way to and from the Caribbean have been a great incentive for adding a few extra miles to my weekly runs. Fortunately, this year's bathing suit season is nearly behind us.