Cluster Critiques

The Association of Small Bombs by Karan Mahajan

Reports of a terrorist attack in Paris keeps us perched on the edge of our couch, horrified, vulnerable.  Three young boys sizzling with the joys of youth go to the market in Dehli, India on a Saturday morning and two of them, brothers, are killed instantly by a small terrorist bomb, and we never hear about it on the news. Small bombs in developing countries; who cares? Happens all the time.

The brilliance of The Association of Small Bombs, other than the fact that it is written brilliantly, is that it takes the story of religious terrorism out of the context of Islamic radicalism against capitalism, giving us a less defensive perspective. It’s not about us versus them, so we can relax into the story. It’s about eight people whose lives are destroyed, redirected and sustained by the small bombs of death, loss, love, disillusionment, religion and destiny.

The author, Karan Mahajan gets us off that comfortable couch of distance and puts our hearts in the bedroom with the two boy’s grieving parents, into the impossibly derailed life of the boy who survived the bombing, and into the tragically ordained lives of a non-violent Muslim activist and a violent Muslim radical. Each character roils in conflict, dissecting the trajectory of their lives in a desperate search for meaning and justification. Read The Association of Small Bombs.

Grunt: The Curious Science of Humans at War by Mary Roach

Mary Roach, in spite of having a regrettably creepy last name, is my alter-ego because she has an insatiable curiosity about the weirder aspects of otherwise ordinary things, and she is very funny. In Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers, Mary wrote about what happens to the human anatomy after life has left it. The most fascinating parts were when she described how bodies donated to medical science are used – which led me to immediately change my medical directive. Scientists won’t be tossing my corpse out of a plane to see what happens when it hits the ground. And then there were her books about sex, Bonk, the digestive system, Gulp, Mars travel Packing for Mars, and ghost, Spook -  all of which I read practically within hours of their release.

So now in Grunt: The Curious Science of Humans at War Mary digs into military minutia to uncover the biggest challenges that come with soldiering, like diarrhea, panic, exhaustion, heat, flies and noise to name a few, and some unbelievably wonky things the war machine has spent millions concocting in its quest for world dominance. As it turns out snipers can’t have velcro pockets because they are noisy, and seaman on submarines have to eat caffeinated meat to stay awake and alert, and Hitler was nearly taken down by a stink bomb. When Roach ask a navy commander why they wore blue camouflage, he replied, “That’s so no one can see you if you fall overboard.”

Roach never fails to entertain and astound. I recommend you read all her books because you’ll laugh and you’ll learn – well maybe not super important stuff, but then I think learning why you shouldn’t donate your body to medical science without caveats is pretty important.   

Born with Teeth by Kate Mulgrew

Born With Teeth  is an autobiography by Kate Mulgrew, aka Red in the TV series Orange Is the New Black and Captain Janeway in Star Trek: Voyager. Although Mulgrew grew up in Middle America, geographically and economically, her childhood was anything but average. First, she really was born with teeth, literally. It’s a phenomenon called neonatal teeth, and they had to be removed. She also had a condition called congenital analgesia whereby she couldn’t feel pain, so she had to be restrained pretty much continuously for her own safety until she was around four, when the condition disappeared.

But the “born with teeth” double entendre is about her capacity for survival – much of which could pretty much mirror anyone’s life. We all have struggles of one sort or another. But what made Mulgrew’s book mostly readable and enjoyable for me was Kate and her mother’s extraordinarily intellectual and dispassionate take on life – that you’ve got to keep your head up and deal with what comes your way – no whining allowed. I say “mostly readable and enjoyable” because there were more than a few times in the book I felt Mulgrew was trying to impress rather than bare her soul - not in a name-dropping way, but rather in an “I’m so smart” way – and in fact she is, but sometimes it came across as scripted.

I saw a quote from her in the LA Times that I really liked in which she spoke of her very unglamorous role on Orange Is the New Black, she said, “There's a kind of liberty when you let go of your vanity and pay attention to your character. I want whatever I do for the rest of my life to be excellent or not to be done at all.”

Not the best biography I ever read, but certainly one of the better ones.

A Man on the Moon: The Voyages of the Apollo Astronauts by Andrew Chaikin

I was surprised at how much more graphic A Man on the Moon was compared to all the other books I’ve read about space travel.  The author, Andrew Chaikin, has an extraordinary capacity to place you in the moment. Your butt puckers when he details the emergency situations that accompanied nearly every single Apollo mission. You feel triumph when one of the astronauts solves a really complex problem. Each mission feels so urgent, dangerous and real, and Chaikin’s skill brings each moment to life. Unlike so many portrayals I’ve read and movies I’ve seen about the Apollo program, our astronauts weren’t just blasted into space and mostly controlled remotely, they were mechanics and problem-solvers and death-defying decision-makers. And then there were the men and women behind the space program at NASA – the lives they lived, their singular focus on launching humans into a virtually unknown abyss, and bringing them home safely.  

I’d also forgotten how many trips we made to the moon. Somehow I’d sort of mashed my memory of that time into one walk on the moon – there were nine missions to the moon. between 1968 and 1972. Twelve astronauts walked on the Moon's surface, and six drove Lunar Roving Vehicles on the Moon. Three astronauts flew to the Moon twice. If you have any interest in the details of the Apollo program this is the book to read. Very well done.

Very Smart Gals Salon

I lead the most fortuitous life - somehow stumbling into amazing situations – the most recent being the opportunity to judge a very large and highly regarded statewide pageant for girls in Dallas.  I knew nothing about judging a pageant when I went into this gig, and maybe I still don’t but I did learn three things.

1. It’s a lot harder than it looks,
2. The girls who won were the ones with the most poise, character, authenticity, grace, articulation, attitude, smile, and an ability to connect, and
3. The girls who didn’t win were working on developing those skills.

And the bonus for me other than the honor of participating and getting to meet about 350 of the smartest little gals in Texas, was that I got to bond with six very smart grownup gals – my judging compatriots, Gina Johns, Andrea Nicole Sledge, Carol Lawson Johnston, Robin Dudasko, Mara Lee Burton and Leslie Hillin (pictured l-r above).

When I accepted the invitation to participate in the judging I was all aflutter, worrying about what to wear, how to be a judge, losing 50 pounds in a couple of weeks, but the six gals above were as centered as the earth’s core. They’d all judged before, they knew what they were doing, and they were kind enough to help me know where I was supposed to be, when, and how to get there. In spite of the fact that I donned an actual evening gown for the first time in a decade (photo) and got my hair (thanks to Victoria Doss) and makeup done (thanks to Ashley Sweeney) for the occasion, there’s not a lot of glamour in roaming the bowels of a convention center looking for the “backstage”. But then there eventually came my introduction as a judge, under a very bright spotlight, to an enormous room full of moms, dads, sisters, brothers, friends and neighbors, all of whom were exceedingly proud of a courageous little girl on the stage who wanted to be her very best. And that made me feel much more important than I really was or am. And it was fleeting but exciting, and very gratifying. 

Here’s a little about the Very Smart Gals who were my partners in judging:

Gina Johns is a 27-year educator with certifications in English as a second language, Dyslexia and Special Education, and says “she has a heart for students with special needs and has spent many hours tutoring, teaching and helping those students gain the best education possible”. She has also trained and coached volleyball, softball and cheerleading. Gina has been involved in pageantry for many years, not only judging throughout Texas, but also coaching girls for competition. She is an active volunteer in her community and church and enjoys supporting her two daughters, one of which is an NJCAA National champion in college softball.

Andrea Nicole Sledge is a Tax Accountant for GameStop, Inc. in Dallas, and a plus size model featured in Venus Diva, Skorch and Curvz Magazines. She has also competed in the Texas Plus America, Miss Curve, American Beauties Plus and All World (Queen of Queens Lifetime IV) Beauties Pageants, and has directed for Miss Plus America and served as the auditor and head judge for the DFW Miss America Pageant. Andrea believes that it is our duty “to live our lives with a servant’s heart” and as such, she is involved with many local charities.

Carol Lawson Johnston lives, as we say in Texas, “just up the road a piece” in Elgin, where she is the director of Down Home Ranch, a working farm and ranch where about 40 adults and children—including 32 with Down syndrome and other disabilities—live year round. She is the mother of four and says she “has watched with wonder as her children have fulfilled their dreams”. Her daughter is a former Miss Texas USA and her son has modeled with Tommy Hilfiger and Dillard’s. Carol is certified Christian counselor and has a ministry that reaches out to parents who have wayward children that are caught up in alcohol and drugs.

Robin Dudasko recently graduated with honors from Texas A&M and married her college sweetheart. She too lives just up the road a piece in Round Rock where she is Director of Youth Ministry at St. John Vianney Catholic Church. In 2013, after 8 years of competing, Robin captured the title of National American Miss Texas. She is also a former Miss Austin and placed in the top 10 at the National All-American Teen pageant in Hollywood, California. Throughout her reign as National American Miss Texas she traveled throughout the state speaking to groups about cyber-bullying.

Mara Lee Burton, another nearby neighbor from Round Rock, is a classically trained singer who has performed on stages across the country, including New York and New Orleans, and has sung the national anthem for many sporting events. Mara participated in many pageants as a young girl, including Junior Miss and Miss Teen Texas, winning the talent competition several times throughout her pageant career. She has a BS in History from Texas State University where she coached gymnastics and had back-to-back state champion teams. She also has a Master’s Degree in Liberal Studies with a double focus in American Studies and Civil Rights and Social Justice from Southern Methodist University.

Leslie Hillin, a graduate of Lamar University with a Masters of Education, is currently a middle school counselor at Edwards Johnson Memorial Silsbee Middle School in Silsbee.  She has been working as a special education teacher for the past 26 years.  She has judged pageants at the state level and enjoys working with the Miss Amazing Texas Pageant.  She and her husband of 30 years have two children and one grandchild.  Leslie enjoys spending her summers at the lake with family and friends.

These Very Smart were just some of the most humble, nice gals you’d ever want to meet, and I so much appreciated their guidance, patience and camaraderie. 

100 Things I Want to Tell My Children And Grandchildren: #21

You always hurt the ones you love.

We’ve all been hurt by someone we love. We’ve all hurt someone we love.

I can think of at least two reasons why we hurt the ones we love:

1. People who are unhappy have a hard time being around people who are happy. So, they try to make them feel bad, and sometimes to make them feel they don’t deserve to be treated better.
2. People sometimes say really hurtful things to the ones they love because they are angry with someone else or themselves and just need to let off steam, and they’re counting on the loved one forgiving them.

When people hurt you, you need to tell them how they made you feel. It they show remorse and try to do better, you should forgive them. If they don’t show remorse, and don’t try to do better, well, that’s a very difficult situation and needs to be considered carefully.

SueAnn and Crouse Take A Vacation - FINALLY!!