Stuff We Like: Books

We like books. We like that they are portable and that they contain information. We also like them because we enjoy the different ways that authors use language to tell stories. We like the imaginative landscapes they create. We like that some of them are very old and they are as true today as they were hundreds of years ago.

Click the links to browse our favorite books. The links will live in our sidebar. Enjoy!

Karine's Favorite Books

Tom's Favorite Books

Guaruma

We went to a fundraiser last night for the Guaruma Organization. It was a silent auction at an art gallery here in La Ceiba. We wore our fancy pants. Click on the pretty butterfly to learn about all the wonderful things they do.

Awesome Hair -- Awesome Brain: Kurt Vonnegut

Kurt Vonnegut deserves recognition for his peerless contributions to contemporary English literature. He wrote science-fiction books for everyone, not just book worms and math nerds. Vonnegut saw no reason why a construction worker or bus driver wouldn't want to read a book about another planet. Also, he had extremely enthusiastic hair and a quietly assertive mustache.

I learned a valuable lesson about suffering from Billy Pilgrim in Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse-Five. Pilgrim becomes unstuck in time. He bounces from moment to moment randomly: one moment he's a thirty-five year old man, the next he is a baby. This curious circumstance allows him to experience his life as an unbound accumulation of experiences, rather than a linear narrative.

In a linear narrative, like a book, the end always seems like the most important thing. But its not. That the book exists at all is the most important thing. The same is true in life. Suffering is certainly a part of our experience, but it does not define our experience. Even if it occurs at the very end. The present moment always seems like the most important, but that is only because we are stuck in time. The most important moment in life is all of them.

That's what Billy Pilgrim taught me while living in a zoo on planet Trafalmadore.

Thanks Kurt!

I'm here too!

Hi everyone- Karine here. I just wanted to write so you all know that Tom and his mustache have not completely taken over the blog. I'm still here and I'm still pregnant. And just look what Tom did to our backyard today!


I was shocked. Our neighbor gently suggested to Tom yesterday that we trim the tree that used to brush the top of his water tank. I thought Tom would trim the tree. Instead he took his machete to the whole thing and afterward informed me that it is a weed. Apparantly, we will be investing some money in "real trees" and "real dirt" for our backyard. I'd rather spend money on onesies.

Here's a little on the pregnancy and the baby (for all you baby junkies out there)
The pregnancy- still feeling good for the most part. I've got some symptoms like leg cramps in the middle of the night and a bit of acid reflux if I eat too much. My walk has turned into a waddle- especially by the afternoons. I get that Christmas carol "O Here We Come A-Wassailing" stuck in my head a lot, only I sing "O Here I Come A-Waddling". It entertains me.

According to my pregnancy websites and books, Baby Lew is around 3.75 pounds and around 17 inches head to toe. This would explain why I feel little feet kicking under my ribs, and a big butt sticking out of the side of my belly from time to time. He seems to prefer the right hemisphere of my belly. I've also recently discovered that if I scratch my abdomen, he'll move his little arms (or at least what feel like arms). I picture him scratching back from the other side! He's an active little guy, but all the movements are reassuring. I plan to visit my doctor one more time before making the trip home for Christmas. So far, things are looking great.

I don't know if I can consider this the homestretch yet, but the thought of only 7 or 8 more weekends before we're parents makes me feel like this is coming fast! I put up a couple craft blogs that I like. I have high hopes for my time in January. My maternity leave starts at Christmas break, so I should have some serious time for crafts and sewing before this little guy arrives. Cleaning has never really been my style of nesting anyway.

Oh- and the ladies of Honduras have started asking me daily what we're going to name this little guy. We've got a few ideas of our own, and will probably keep them a secret. However, for anyone who has an opinion or suggestion- we'll take it now! No final decisions have been made yet, so there's still time. Just leave a comment...

Ghost Train

I pass by this old diesel engine every morning on my way to work. The train still runs, but its not going anywhere. The line is being torn up for scrap. This is the line that moved bananas from the plantations on the North Coast of Honduras to the docks in La Ceiba for eighty years.



Here's the sign for the train station. The banana lines were nationalized in 1983. Ferrocarril National de Honduras still operates one line, from La Union to Cuero Y Salado Wildlife refuge. The trains hauls tourists going one direction and coconuts going the other. I visted last year.