Book review - Cat's Eye by Margaret Atwood.

Cat's Eye by Margaret Atwood
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

An absolutely brilliant novel that I wish I'd read years ago, although perhaps would not have been able to take it all in back then. Atwood's protagonist Elaine expresses so much about what it means to be a woman, and speaks words that resonate deeply with me.

The story follows Elaine from her childhood in Toronto during WW2 through her life as an artist, and her eventual move to in Vancouver. Her return to Toronto for an opening of a retrospective of her work frames the narrative as she reflects on the difficult experiences of being bullied as a pre-teen.

I can't recommend this book highly enough.

View all my reviews

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• Cat's Eye: More Than Just a Marble (zaraalexis.wordpress.com)

The best of the tube

I wanna write about my reaction to Mary Poppins the Musical which I saw last night, but first, my thoughts on the best on TV these days.

I am very lucky to have a tv setup with tons of channels and a PVR (Bell Fibe). I have also developed the ability to read a book while the dear-heart is watching something I'm not really interested in. So I restrict myself to the best of the TV world with clever juggling of the remote and whatever book I happen to be reading.

My current faves (in no particular order):

Web Therapy - Lisa Kudrow is absolutely brilliant in this half-hour comedy about a woman with a business degree who decides to set up an online therapy practice that replaces the usual 50-minute session with 3-minutes of right-to-brass-tacks talk. At this point, I'm watching it On Demand and am not sure that it's currently airing. [Just put up the link and realized that it's all available online, and there are 4 seasons already!]

Enlightened - Co-written, produced, and starring Laura Dern and Mike White. Dern plays a thirty-something (forty-something?) woman who, after a breakdown at her corporate job, goes on a yoga retreat.  The season started with her return to "real life", moving in with her cold mother (Diane Ladd), dealing with her ex-huband (Luke Wilson), and going back to work at her old company, but into a secret, basement-located job with a group of other misfits (including Mike White). It is perfect in so many ways. Including the music that is curated especially for each episode. 

The Wire - I'm late to the party on this one. (I think Season One was originally in 2002, or somthing.)  If I start to use the f-word repeatedly, this show would be why. 

Boardwalk Empire - Steve Buscemi rocks prohibition Atlantic City. Great cast, storyline getting a little freaky, but totally compelling viewing.

The Good Wife - A prime time drama in which the lead women don't have their breasts hanging out of their tops. Seriously, this is probably one of the best dramas on main-stream tv. Julia Marguiles and Archie Punjabi are both dreamy. 

Michael: Tuesdays and Thursdays - I wish this Canadian half-hour was getting more viewership. It's quirky and stars the brilliant Bob Martin (of Drowsy Chaperone fame). I have fears that it will be cancelled.... 

Modern Family - Can't get enough of this comedy. But enough's been written about it already.

Suburgatory - A new half-hour comedy about a father and teen daughter who move from NYC to the suburbs and go through culture shock. Reminds me of my time in a suburb of Atlanta. 

Living in Your Car - Read something about this in the paper and am catching it On Demand. A corporate exec gets fired (and jailed) for fraud. When he gets out, all he has is an extremely expensive car, in which he ends up living. I may start to hate it, but three eps in and it's still pretty entertaining.

Analog Kingston

Open publication - Free publishing - More art

Alex got some analog photos published in Muse, an online Kingston arts mag. 

"$5000 worth of Scotch girls...."

via peel.library.ualberta.ca

Have been researching immigration of young Scottish women as domestics around the turn of the 20th century. Found this little newspaper notice from the Crossfield Chronicle, 5 June 1909. Love the turn of phrase "Five Thousand dollars' worth of Scotch girls..."