A happy thing is that the little bowls I made in pottery class a few years ago are getting almost constant use: they are so small I thought they’d be useless, but William in particular is using them daily as snack/ketchup/mustard bowls. A sad thing is that so far three of the bowls, plus one of Elizabeth’s (she took a pottery class, too) have been broken. It is difficult not to HOARD special things, never using them so that they won’t be broken, but that is not the strategy I want to use here. Still, it’s hard to see them disappearing one by one.
Paul was able to glue one back together so that it can be used as a trinket bowl even though it won’t work for food anymore. The others were shattered to smithereens; I don’t think I’ve ever typed that word before. I don’t know what our kitchen floor is made out of, but anything dropped on it is absolutely toast. Even PLASTIC bowls have shattered on it. Our old kitchen floor was 1950s linoleum, and dropped items would bounce lightly before coming to a gentle, unbroken rest.
I am drinking a cup of Starbucks Spring Day blend, which tastes exactly like regular Starbucks coffee to me, but it comes in a pretty bag and I appreciate the pretty bag every time I see it. And it is satisfying to use a SPRING coffee, no matter the actual weather, as a little defiance in the face of continued cold, and/or as a little spell cast to coax the daffodils.
I am reading A Prayer for Owen Meany (Target) (Amazon), which I thought I had read BUT IT TURNS OUT I HAD NOT. I was so sure I had! But then some of you were discussing it on Twitter, and posted some excerpts, and I read the excerpts and thought it went beyond my usual inability to remember a book after reading it: I didn’t recognize the excerpts AT ALL, and in fact ANTI-recognized them. So I got the book and am reading it and I can see why people like it so much. I’ve definitely never read it before. Wonder what book I was thinking of!
That is disheartening about the little bowls :( but nice that they are being used!
My mother loaned me this book because it’s one of her favorites, and I read it, and I simply Did Not Get It. I am not sure if my literary senses are just extremely rusty or what, but I just finished it and put it down and never thought of it again. She also loaned me A Widow for One Year, I believe it’s called, and I really could not get it either. I’ll be interested to hear what others say about Owen Meany since I had to quit twitter.
My mother and sister share a favorite book, A Land Remembered. I don’t like it at all. Periodically a friend will rave about it on Facebook, and I wonder what I missed. I have tried to read it repeatedly, though, so I have permanently given up. I also hated and was completely annoyed by Eat, Pray, Love when it seemed the rest of the world was completely infatuated with it. I always wonder what is going on when I feel so differently about a book than the people I know.
I’ll second the Eat, Pray, Love hate. I despised that book!
I loved a Prayer for Owen Meany. Super happy that the bowls you made got use, but SO SAD they have been getting broken. I still have some cups my mom made, and I had put them away when my son was little, but I am going to bring them out again TODAY so that I can hold something she touched while I’m waiting to be able to actually see her.
Thank you for making me think of them.
At first I wondered why there were no links to pictures of your pottery, and then I thought, Well, we don’t want Swistle weeping over the departed.
So I searched and admired them, thinking both how nice it would be to eat snacks out of charming handmade dishes and how sad it is that your kitchen floor is the destroyer of beauty.
I found the problem with pottery class is that you end up with a LOT of little items you don’t really know what to do with. Due to smashing, you can now make MORE post-COVID without feeling like you’ve got too many!
My daughter took ceramics last year in high school and she brought home a tile, a mug, a bowl, and about 15 small containers. She gifted some to her grandparents and friends and the last 4 or 5 we have at home. She uses one to clean her paintbrushes in, she gave one to me to put threads in while I cross stitch, and she has the others in her closet for “later”. I will be sad if/when mine breaks, I love it so much!
For some reason I always confuse that book with A Separate Peace, even though they are very obviously not the same.
I love A Prayer for Owen Meany. I actually just started it on audible a few days ago. I was hesitant to get the audiobook because of THE VOICE. I couldn’t decide if I would be more upset if it were accurate and thus unlistenable (yes that’s a word) or it it were inaccurate and just loud or whatever. It’s ok though turns out it didn’t matter to me
Hah, I love your use of THE VOICE. I remember reading this in book club and one of my friends did the audible version and shared it when we were together discussing it. THE VOICE haunts me.
That is one of my all-time favorite books, against all odds since it contains a LOT of detailed exposition about baseball, a sport/topic which I absolutely loathe. I’m so excited to hear what you think of it!
Also, my kitchen floor must be made of one of the world’s hardest surfaces because it, too, is a dish-killer. We are almost out of small sauce/snack bowls entirely. The upside is that now I get to shop for cute small bowls!
It is also one of my all-time favorites, although when I read it a 2nd time, I didn’t love it as much, somehow. But still. I hope you will like it. :)
A Prayer for Owen Meany was one of my favorite books in HS. I haven’t read it in years and am a little afraid to because some books I loved in my teens really haven’t held up and I’ve been depressed when I reread them as an adult. Will be interested to see how it holds up to an adult read!
I have not read Owen Meany, although I bought it a good many years ago for that purpose.
Loved “anti-recognized” and your coffee spell casting and the description of the linoleum and “I don’t think I’ve ever typed that word before.”
You could take up making mosaics….that way you can still have and admire bits of your broken bowls :)
Does your kitchen have a tile floor? That’s what we have currently, and it is a destroyer of all things. I dropped a (admittedly old) melamine cup only to have it crack, and of course any ceramic or glass has no chance. Our new house has linoleum in the kitchen and laminate elsewhere, so we will just have to try to drop things in the kitchen exclusively.
I have been re-reading, or in some cases reading for the first time classic literature. I started this project a few years ago because I (previously) thought I was well read. Then I came across a list of books required for a lit course and I realized I had not read any of them. Before this I never re-read any books but found that I didn’t always remember books I read in high school so I’ve re-read a few as well.
I try to read one every other month or so, mixed in with the contemporary literature, sci fi or trashy novels I read more frequently. One thing that is nice about this project is that many of the books are free for digital downloads because they are in the public domain.
It’s been interesting. Some of the books have really stayed with me. Others I struggled to get through- just not interesting enough to compete with Netflix I guess. I haven’t been as good at reading classics over the past year – I’ve needed escapism not thought provoking. I need to get back at it.
Prayer for Owen Meany is one of the books I read as an adult, it made me cry on a plane.
I think I am in the same boat as you, because I would have sworn I had read A Prayer for Owen Meany but after a quick glance at the synopsis it looks completely unfamiliar. I do hold The Cider House Rules as one of my absolute favorite books of all times and I thought I had read most of John Irving? I may have to give it a try!
My wood floor and stainless sink kitchen is most forgiving to dropped dishes…condolences for the broken pottery!
A Prayer for Owen Meaney was my favorite read for a very long time. I have read it more than once, and I cry at the end every time. I’m not a big crier-at-book person, especially when I know what happens! It still counts as a beloved read, “State of Wonder” by Anne Patchett has edged it out of the ‘favorite” slot for me.
I am SO pleased to hear that you are using your little bowls…they do come in handy, don’t they? I realized this just the other day, as I needed to re-heat a cheese dip but only needed the tiniest of bowls.
I try to use all my best things (it’s hard; as I want to keep them forever) so that I can enjoy them while I have them.
I’ve not heard of this book and will add it to the To Be Read list…but lately I’ve had a hard time concentrating while reading (hmmm, Pandemic-related? Possibly.).
I read A Prayer for Owen Meany when I was 17 or 18 and loved it so much that reference to it became part of a university entrance essay. I haven’t ever gone back and reread it though, as I’m afraid that it won’t be the same the second time around.
Owen Meaney is one of the few John Irving novels that I think holds up over time. I’ve read it three times, which is exceptionally rare for me as I’m not a re-reader by nature. I really only skimmed it the last time so that I could discuss it with a book club. I LOVE some of John Irving’s novel and HATE some others, so your mileage may vary, but Owen Meaney is probably my favorite Irving.
Oh, I love Owen Meany! I read it a few years ago for the first time, and I was sort of stunned when I finished it. When I read classic or very popular books, I like to see if the Overdue podcast has done an episode on it, and I find listening to be a very good follow-up. I happily shouted along to their Owen Meany episode. My other favorite episodes are about Life of Pi, The Phantom Tollbooth, and The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe.