KINGSOLVER'S GONE MUSHY?

At a recent book-signing over in Blanco, the subject of Barbara Kingsolver came up. I had never read any of her other books, but absolutely loved Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, and felt that it had spawned a revolution here in the states, regarding how we think about our food, where it comes from and how it is raised. I consider her to be a woman on the cutting edge. So, imagine my surprise when Pamela Arnosky expressed her disgust over Kingsolver's getting so mushy and namby pamby in her old age. I admitted that I wasn't familiar with her earlier work, and asked just what she meant by that. "I have four kids myself," she replied. "It's just not warm and fuzzy all the time, the way she makes it out to be in this book. I don't know what's happened to her, but in the early days, she was something else - that girl really had an edge!"

Well, I suppose life happens. Whenever I see or read anything about the sixties and seventies, then think about politics and greed today, I find myself asking the same thing - what the hell happened? Where did all those idealistic people go? Still, compared to most, I think Kingsolver is pretty much out there on the edge, even if she does glorify motherhood. But Pamela's comments did get me curious, so I picked up a copy of The Bean Trees the other day. Though I haven't read but a few pages, I have to admit, she had me at hello. Can't wait to get my hands on The Poisonwood Bible now!

And, speaking of women on the cutting edge, you'll never guess what John gave me yesterday. My hubby loves to shop more than any man I know. He especially loves to shop for gizmos. I have learned to be very cautious about what I say, because the most casual comment I make about something in a magazine or the news, can send him running to the store to get it for me. "What a wonderful husband!" I'm sure you are thinking, and it's true, he is. The only problem is that I have piles and piles of electronic devices lying around that I am never going to use, because instruction manuals and I just don't get along, for the most part. I cry each time he makes me get a new cell phone, because I just got comfortable with the old one. This time he did good though. I happened to make a comment about how I just can't seem to catch up with the rest of the world. By the time I became proficient with emailing, it had become obsolete, and my kids won't do anything but IM or Text-message. Then, now that I'm finally feeling comfortable with this whole blogging thing, I discover that I'm hopelessly outdated, because I don't post any videos on mine. Suddenly I am the proud owner of the most precious little digital movie camera that fits in the palm of my hand. So move over Midlife Gals, you're about to have some competition when it comes to crazy blog videos. Or, you might, if I can figure out how to do it before the technology becomes obsolete.