Sunday, July 12, 2009

Back home

I've been at the beach all week visiting my mom and her new husband. My mom is 78 and a newlywed. Her new husband is many things my dad was not, but he is very nice, handsome and charming just the same. The beach was soothing and wiped away all of the angst from last week's kiln tragedy. There was rain the first day, which I love at the beach, so Wes and I shopped for school clothes all day at some funky shops and the new Goodwill retail thrift store. I love the Goodwill stores. I got a new black leather jacket and a great pair of black boots, never worn, new tags still on. $25 for both. What a deal! My mom is embarrassed to shop in thrift stores, but I love them. You can find really cool stuff. Wesley and her band shop in them all the time for clothes to wear on stage. The first time we came home with our treasures my mom pulled me aside and said, "be sure Wesley's friends don't find out she is getting her clothes at thrift stores." You just have to laugh, that's all that can be done. I started running again while there and my shins are killing me. I used to run/walk about 5 miles everyday but have recently grown lazy and preoccupied with clay. Time to get back at it. The sun came out later in the week and I read on the beach for the rest of the time we were there. I didn't have a good book on the shelf at home so I plundered Wesley's shelf, which is like a literary treasure trove. Wes started reading the Harry Potter books on her own in 2nd grade, she reads way beyond the level of most her age (she is now reading The Teachings of Don Juan by Carlos Castaneda for the second time) and she is the one I go to when I need a good book referral. So I pulled Running with Scissors off of her shelf. She warned me that it was explicit, well it is! But hilarious and very well written, again, emphasis on explicit! I suppose I should have read it before she did, I know there are many parents out there that would not let their kid read a book like this, but I have never been one to edit what she reads, I let her make her own choices. She has introduced me to a lot of great books that I may have not read otherwise and now we are watching old Hitchcock movies that I have never seen because of her new interest in old films. Anyway, Augusten Burroughs makes my very crazy childhood seem tame and I'm having bizarre dreams, but what a great writer he is! I checked out his website which led me to Haven Kimmel's website, Haven is a great writer, and is married to a local potter, John Svara. Small world. I have been reading blogs all morning and watching the Tour de France. Back to work tomorrow. Lazy day today, making a pot of black bean soup and cornbread for later.......

8 comments:

cookingwithgas said...

Great book- I let my kids read anything they could find just as I was let read anything I could find.
Books are so important and there are too many kids who don't read!
Let her go- she seems smart and centered.

Tracey Broome said...

I remember my mom hiding Harold Robbins books from me and I would find them and sneak them in my room to read. I vowed I would never hide books from my kid and I would let them read what they wanted. Now my child reads more than me! Wes is more centered than me that's for sure!

Linda Starr said...

I remember reading Carlos Castenada's books. My mom found out I read Gone with the Wind in the ninth grade and thought it was too risque for me. I used to take a flashlight to bed and read under the covers when I was supposed to be sleeping.

Svara has some nice pots and Kimmel's books look good thanks for the links.

Tracey Broome said...

Hi Linda:
Yep, I was an under the covers reader too. It's so funny how much many of us bloggers have in common isn't it?
I'm still catching up on everyone's blogs, lots of reading today!

Judy Shreve said...

Tracey - your beach trip sounds fabulous! I was an under the cover reader too -- Gone with the Wind was one of them!
I've never censored Luke's life either. It's the world we live in & I was comfortable he was centered -- seems Wes is too.

And I love thrift stores -- antique stores -- we shop in them all the time & have found great treasures.

Sorry about your kiln disaster last week -- new kilns seem to always take a learning curve. Your next pots will be great!

Anonymous said...

i was wondering if you meant that wes was reading "the teachings" the second time or the whole series of don juan books a second time. if she has not read the whole series, the most amazing is when you get to the third book (journey to ixtlan, i think) and realize that what you read in the first book was not as it appeared. if u already know this, sorry to ramble

Tracey Broome said...

Jim: The Don Juan books seem to come into Wesley's life randomly and she hasn't been reading them in order. I didn't know about the Ixtlan book,I will have to tell Wes. Thanks

Jerry said...

I enjoyed "Running With Scissors" when it came out. I just finished his brother's book "Look Me In the Eye" (I think that is the correct title) about growing up with Asperger's. Excellent. I am half way through Augusten's "Wolf at the Table" a memoir of his father. I wasn't really that interested in it, but someone lent it to me. It is so sad and disturbing that I have to fight through some parts. I cannot believe that he and his brother got through to adulthood as well as they did. It makes me very thankful for my family!