A Welcome from Ilana [ Edited ]

[IlanaSimons]

Thanks, Melissa.
I see you're leading the discussion of Byatt's Possession in the Literature by Women board. It looks great--nice work there.
Ilana

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pedsphleb wrote:
This is very cool We should discuss your book here when it is published this year

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Message Edited by IlanaSimons on 05-29-200707:04 PM

[Melissa_W Moderator]

Thanks! You should stop by from time to time.

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IlanaSimons wrote:
Thanks, Melissa.
I see you're leading the discussion of Byatt's Possession in the Literature by Women board. It looks great--nice work there.
Ilana

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pedsphleb wrote:
This is very cool We should discuss your book here when it is published this year

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Message Edited by IlanaSimons on 05-29-200707:04 PM

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[polly]

I am a new member and Ilana I thank you for the welcome. I am hoping to be an eager learner and participant.

[IlanaSimons]

Glad to have you, Polly.
Please post any thoughts as we go.

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polly wrote:
I am a new member and Ilana I thank you for the welcome. I am hoping to be an eager learner and participant.

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[maire]

i am an old new member from last spring...got sidetracked by life for a while but kept missing the bnu experience and especially me pal,choisya...very intrigued by this forum for many reasons and when i saw choisya in here,well,the deal was sealed.

i have no idea how these boards work...have to navigate around for a bit,i guess. just wanted to commend you,ilana,for inventing such a unique way to discuss literature.

looking forward to it all...

maire.

[maire]

so i just checked out your CV and i have a question about your room...how can you get any sleep with woody allen on the wall?

personally,i prefer freud,upset.

for someone so young...in the photo you look about...what... twelve?...you have very impressive credentials, by the way.

congratulations on your forthcoming book,ilana,which i will be buying numerous copies of for my friends who all have rooms of their own...BRAVO to you.

that you are also a psychologist and a poet really ups the intrigue ante for me...although i am about 99 years older than you are, those are my areas of interest/quasi-expertise, too.

all best,

maire.

[Choisya]

Thanks maire and hello again! I hope to see you participating one one or two of the book forums too - have a gander at Literature by Women, for instance.

I have just pre-ordered Ilana's forthcoming A Life of One's Own : A Guide to Better Living through the Work and Wisdom of Virginia Woolf, which looks very intriguing as does her other work-in-progress 'Conversations with Jane - How Jane Eyre models a Life well Lived'.

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maire wrote:
i am an old new member from last spring...got sidetracked by life for a while but kept missing the bnu experience and especially me pal,choisya...very intrigued by this forum for many reasons and when i saw choisya in here,well,the deal was sealed.

i have no idea how these boards work...have to navigate around for a bit,i guess. just wanted to commend you,ilana,for inventing such a unique way to discuss literature.

looking forward to it all...

maire.

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Message Edited by Choisya on 06-02-200706:14 AM

Message Edited by Choisya on 06-02-200706:20 AM

[IlanaSimons]

Maire,
You're a sweethheart. I'm 32. Now you've seen my room and know my age. I'm more exhibitionist than private: yes. I'm glad you've come back to B&N after some time away. This is a nice club/blog for jumping into a weekly conversation, even if you haven't committed to a book of the month. Here we'll find some large life-idea (inspired by a literary scene) to discuss each week.
And Choisya's right: Literature By Women is another club that's really strong right now.

So...I hope you tell us what liked at the old B&N and what you've been up to since.

What I'm up to: I'm apartment hunting today. That room you saw was rented by someone else as of two days ago. So now I’m desperately searching for a new room of my own: hitting the open houses today.
Ilana

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maire wrote:
so i just checked out your CV and i have a question about your room...how can you get any sleep with woody allen on the wall?

personally,i prefer freud,upset.

for someone so young...in the photo you look about...what... twelve?...you have very impressive credentials, by the way.

congratulations on your forthcoming book,ilana,which i will be buying numerous copies of for my friends who all have rooms of their own...BRAVO to you.

that you are also a psychologist and a poet really ups the intrigue ante for me...although i am about 99 years older than you are, those are my areas of interest/quasi-expertise, too.

all best,

maire.

Message Edited by IlanaSimons on 06-02-200709:07 AM

[maire]

hi ilana...

it is about 35 degrees celsius here in eastern ontario today,so good luck w/ the househunting in NYC! making ice, turning on fans,opening windows and doors...that's all i'm doing today.

my first foray into bnu book groups last year began w/ JANE EYRE and i was hooked quickly,never having read anything published before 1960...great moderator who was multi-faceted and took no prisoners when it came to protecting her students from one particularly virulent fellow...the boards were often reduced to a free for all of personal attacks due to this fellow's inappropriate behaviour... nevertheless, JANE EYRE was mighty enriching and thought-provoking...i became addicted to talking about books online,reading up on the brontes and thx to choisya,actually viewing so many historically relevant sites which she graciously posted.

next came LADY CHATTERLY'S LOVER,unfortunately w/ this same fellow present again and same moderator who valiantly held her ground and then some throughout...i strongly suspect that due to these 2 groups that susan moderated,and the protestations of many of us in those 2 groups,that these new boards all contain the tags abt. reporting abuse.

there were also complaints re the threads being difficult to follow and remedial suggestions. because JE and LCL groups had the highest number of posts,outside of HARRY,of course,attention was paid by the powers that be...hence this new format,i think.

then real life intruded and the summer of my discontent began,followed by the winter...last october,after months of looking and financial finagling,i bought a falling down 1870 house in a village about 3 hrs. east of toronto,which captivated me due to its being right in the village,yet sitting back,almost hidden,on an acre of trees and lawn that sloped down to a wide creek in the back..oh,yeah,w/ a gorgeous barn i am going to turn into an artists retreat...i now actually have a proper library albeit w/ crappy lopsided bookshelves so far,and any wall space left over hung w/ art by or about women.

tons to do always and often you can find me ignoring it all and sitting on my spacious porch,miraculously sturdy,reading and watching birds...

oh,btw,in MY room there is a gigantic photo of pierre elliot trudeau on the wall... my sons think that is why i have insomnia...hmmm. he is going to be tossed one of these days or painted over...

enuf said...hard to believe you are already 32,ilana,but then i am often told it is hard to believe i will be 66 on tuesday...at least no one has yet said ONLY 66??? lol...state of mind,eh wot...the arc overbranches...my mother still dances and drives and lives alone and takes her rosary and a scotch to bed every night...she is 93.

thunder now,darkening sky,so out to the porch to watch it all and think cool thoughts for you and yr. mission today...

maire.

[IlanaSimons]

This post is my midday meal, Maire. Thanks for such a good, deep note.

I had to look up Pierre Trudeau to get your drift. Yes: He would cause insomnia. Your sons are right.
To others in the oblivious camp, check him out here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pierre_Trudeau

And: I skipped the later open houses to work on a Jane Eyre project, so I guess we're on the same wavelength today.
I'll just come live in the artist colony you've got going. Do you have pictures we can all goggle at online?

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maire wrote:
hi ilana...

it is about 35 degrees celsius here in eastern ontario today,so good luck w/ the househunting in NYC! making ice, turning on fans,opening windows and doors...that's all i'm doing today.

my first foray into bnu book groups last year began w/ JANE EYRE and i was hooked quickly,never having read anything published before 1960...great moderator who was multi-faceted and took no prisoners when it came to protecting her students from one particularly virulent fellow...the boards were often reduced to a free for all of personal attacks due to this fellow's inappropriate behaviour... nevertheless, JANE EYRE was mighty enriching and thought-provoking...i became addicted to talking about books online,reading up on the brontes and thx to choisya,actually viewing so many historically relevant sites which she graciously posted.

next came LADY CHATTERLY'S LOVER,unfortunately w/ this same fellow present again and same moderator who valiantly held her ground and then some throughout...i strongly suspect that due to these 2 groups that susan moderated,and the protestations of many of us in those 2 groups,that these new boards all contain the tags abt. reporting abuse.

there were also complaints re the threads being difficult to follow and remedial suggestions. because JE and LCL groups had the highest number of posts,outside of HARRY,of course,attention was paid by the powers that be...hence this new format,i think.

then real life intruded and the summer of my discontent began,followed by the winter...last october,after months of looking and financial finagling,i bought a falling down 1870 house in a village about 3 hrs. east of toronto,which captivated me due to its being right in the village,yet sitting back,almost hidden,on an acre of trees and lawn that sloped down to a wide creek in the back..oh,yeah,w/ a gorgeous barn i am going to turn into an artists retreat...i now actually have a proper library albeit w/ crappy lopsided bookshelves so far,and any wall space left over hung w/ art by or about women.

tons to do always and often you can find me ignoring it all and sitting on my spacious porch,miraculously sturdy,reading and watching birds...

oh,btw,in MY room there is a gigantic photo of pierre elliot trudeau on the wall... my sons think that is why i have insomnia...hmmm. he is going to be tossed one of these days or painted over...

enuf said...hard to believe you are already 32,ilana,but then i am often told it is hard to believe i will be 66 on tuesday...at least no one has yet said ONLY 66??? lol...state of mind,eh wot...the arc overbranches...my mother still dances and drives and lives alone and takes her rosary and a scotch to bed every night...she is 93.

thunder now,darkening sky,so out to the porch to watch it all and think cool thoughts for you and yr. mission today...

maire.

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Message Edited by IlanaSimons on 06-02-200704:28 PM

[KathyS]

Happy Birthday, Maire!....so, are you really only going to be 66?! Not ready to join the old folks home, yet? I'm heading in your direction, soon....by-passing, side-stepping, and jumping over.... trying to navigate around the banana peel my one foot is slipping on, with the other foot on the graves edge!

Happy navigating!
Kathy S.

[KathyS]

Thanks for the Trudeau site...I think I prefer seascapes! La mair?

[maire]

of course you can stay in the barn,er,artist colony but first i have to have the septic tank emptied...not to suggest artists are full of ****, just that i inherited a full tank from former owner... a blowsy drowsy-eyed chainsmoking double negative kinda gal whose idea of interior decorating was to plaster doe-eyed children posters to all the walls with real PLASTER! amongst other grossities too grossifying to mention...

anyhow i found out from relieved neighbours shortly after i moved in,she ran a crack house here replete w/ killer guard dogs and wild comings and goings 24/7...explains the 1000 black burn marks on the kitchen floor where they must have huddled around the woodstove...i don't know how to do crack but i think sticking your head in a woodstove to light the stuff is the 1st step...amazing rush from that,i guess...

but i digress...sorry, i am a luddite and totally amazed that 2 years ago i 1st even touched a computer...i have 3 skills: emails,ordering books, and bnu stuff...no photos available,therefore...no digital camera yet...after the honeywagon bill,and the cost of de-plastering all the walls, i will join the 21st C. and get digitalized,camerawise.

[maire]

thx for the message,kathy...

have we met on bnu before? anyhow, i have always been a late bloomer so tend to have a pretty optimistic attitude about age...as the dove commercials extoll:it's about PRO aging, not anti...lol.

[Choisya]

Have a good birthday Maire! I can just about give you a decade!

'Crack' is also an Irish word for a chat so I hope you have converted your house to a 'talking shop' now, or are you fairly solitary? I love living alone and am a very merry widow

This new BN website does not support our photographs but if and when you get a digital camera, please email some to me. I love my digi camera and take lots of photos of my garden. I bought a new garden 'flag' from the US last week - it is of a Tabby cat and is in commemoration of my lovely old cat, Cagney, who died in March. She is sadly missed by myself and her half-sister Cleo.

[KathyS]

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maire wrote:
thx for the message,kathy...

have we met on bnu before? anyhow, i have always been a late bloomer so tend to have a pretty optimistic attitude about age...as the dove commercials extoll:it's about PRO aging, not anti...lol.

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No, Maire, we've never met. But it's nice 'meeting' you. I've enjoyed reading your posts. When you mentioned a birthday coming soon, I just wanted to wish you a happy birthday, and welcome you into the conversaton. It's nice to hear you have optimism about age. I'm not a negative person, myself, but my humor does tend to lean towards the silly at times. There are no banana peelings and graves any time soon!

Kathy S.

[Choisya]

I think you 'met' Mary, the poetess from Ontario, when we were on BNU together Kathy

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KathyS wrote:

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maire wrote:
thx for the message,kathy...

have we met on bnu before? anyhow, i have always been a late bloomer so tend to have a pretty optimistic attitude about age...as the dove commercials extoll:it's about PRO aging, not anti...lol.

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No, Maire, we've never met. But it's nice 'meeting' you. I've enjoyed reading your posts. When you mentioned a birthday coming soon, I just wanted to wish you a happy birthday, and welcome you into the conversaton. It's nice to hear you have optimism about age. I'm not a negative person, myself, but my humor does tend to lean towards the silly at times. There are no banana peelings and graves any time soon!

Kathy S.

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[maire]

hey choisya...

i am enjoying my last day of being 65 by remembering the fiasco of the party my boys threw for me last year...my wholly dysfunctional family of origin attended and wreaked drunken havoc for 9 hours INDOORS due to rainstorm...my boys continued to barbecue outside throughout,btw,laughing their heads off... knowing that this will not happen this year fills me with sighs of relief...

interesting about the CRACK word also meaning CHAT...however,i am a solitary woman and so far,here,in madoc,prefer it...i chat away to myself,always have,2 way conversations...

i am sorry to hear abt. cagney...such a lovely cat from photos and descriptions...cleo must be in mourning...by the end of this summer i am going to adopt 2 tabbies,i hope tabbies,from the local shelter...have been w/o for too long...3 years now...lots of mice in the house,too,which shd. make for some rollicking/frollicking adventures...lots of ants,too,this spring...do cats hunt ants? well, maybe i have to get an anteater,too...luckily,there is a gaggle of them living in the forest nearby...

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Choisya wrote:
Have a good birthday Maire! I can just about give you a decade!

'Crack' is also an Irish word for a chat so I hope you have converted your house to a 'talking shop' now, or are you fairly solitary? I love living alone and am a very merry widow

This new BN website does not support our photographs but if and when you get a digital camera, please email some to me. I love my digi camera and take lots of photos of my garden. I bought a new garden 'flag' from the US last week - it is of a Tabby cat and is in commemoration of my lovely old cat, Cagney, who died in March. She is sadly missed by myself and her half-sister Cleo.

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[Choisya]

LOL - that party sounds so much fun that it is worth repeating! I am 75 next year and expect my 4 children (boy girl boy girl) to give me a shindig of some peculiar kind.

Cleo was very much overshadowed by the larger and very loving Cagney and is coming into her own as a fussy cat only now, so perhaps she is pleased and not mourning at all If you get cats, tabbies are a good choice because they have a very 'laid back' temperament. If you can get one crossed with a Siamese, go for it as that is a good cross and makes for affection plus a lot of talking - Siamese are very talkative. Black cats tend to be aloof and independent, which is a trait that I like in cats. It must be their former association with witches!

If there is a Chat thread on Ilana's board we had better move to it or start talking about Emotions or Virginia Woolf or....

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maire wrote:
hey choisya...

i am enjoying my last day of being 65 by remembering the fiasco of the party my boys threw for me last year...my wholly dysfunctional family of origin attended and wreaked drunken havoc for 9 hours INDOORS due to rainstorm...my boys continued to barbecue outside throughout,btw,laughing their heads off... knowing that this will not happen this year fills me with sighs of relief...

interesting about the CRACK word also meaning CHAT...however,i am a solitary woman and so far,here,in madoc,prefer it...i chat away to myself,always have,2 way conversations...

i am sorry to hear abt. cagney...such a lovely cat from photos and descriptions...cleo must be in mourning...by the end of this summer i am going to adopt 2 tabbies,i hope tabbies,from the local shelter...have been w/o for too long...3 years now...lots of mice in the house,too,which shd. make for some rollicking/frollicking adventures...lots of ants,too,this spring...do cats hunt ants? well, maybe i have to get an anteater,too...luckily,there is a gaggle of them living in the forest nearby...

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Choisya wrote:
Have a good birthday Maire! I can just about give you a decade!

'Crack' is also an Irish word for a chat so I hope you have converted your house to a 'talking shop' now, or are you fairly solitary? I love living alone and am a very merry widow

This new BN website does not support our photographs but if and when you get a digital camera, please email some to me. I love my digi camera and take lots of photos of my garden. I bought a new garden 'flag' from the US last week - it is of a Tabby cat and is in commemoration of my lovely old cat, Cagney, who died in March. She is sadly missed by myself and her half-sister Cleo.

---

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[maire]

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Choisya wrote:
LOL - that party sounds so much fun that it is worth repeating! I am 75 next year and expect my 4 children (boy girl boy girl) to give me a shindig of some peculiar kind.

Cleo was very much overshadowed by the larger and very loving Cagney and is coming into her own as a fussy cat only now, so perhaps she is pleased and not mourning at all If you get cats, tabbies are a good choice because they have a very 'laid back' temperament. If you can get one crossed with a Siamese, go for it as that is a good cross and makes for affection plus a lot of talking - Siamese are very talkative. Black cats tend to be aloof and independent, which is a trait that I like in cats. It must be their former association with witches!

If there is a Chat thread on Ilana's board we had better move to it or start talking about Emotions or Virginia Woolf or....

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maire wrote:
hey choisya...

i am enjoying my last day of being 65 by remembering the fiasco of the party my boys threw for me last year...my wholly dysfunctional family of origin attended and wreaked drunken havoc for 9 hours INDOORS due to rainstorm...my boys continued to barbecue outside throughout,btw,laughing their heads off... knowing that this will not happen this year fills me with sighs of relief...

interesting about the CRACK word also meaning CHAT...however,i am a solitary woman and so far,here,in madoc,prefer it...i chat away to myself,always have,2 way conversations...

i am sorry to hear abt. cagney...such a lovely cat from photos and descriptions...cleo must be in mourning...by the end of this summer i am going to adopt 2 tabbies,i hope tabbies,from the local shelter...have been w/o for too long...3 years now...lots of mice in the house,too,which shd. make for some rollicking/frollicking adventures...lots of ants,too,this spring...do cats hunt ants? well, maybe i have to get an anteater,too...luckily,there is a gaggle of them living in the forest nearby...

---

Choisya wrote:
Have a good birthday Maire! I can just about give you a decade!

'Crack' is also an Irish word for a chat so I hope you have converted your house to a 'talking shop' now, or are you fairly solitary? I love living alone and am a very merry widow

This new BN website does not support our photographs but if and when you get a digital camera, please email some to me. I love my digi camera and take lots of photos of my garden. I bought a new garden 'flag' from the US last week - it is of a Tabby cat and is in commemoration of my lovely old cat, Cagney, who died in March. She is sadly missed by myself and her half-sister Cleo.

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actually,you were talking abt. your cats EMOTIONAL traits and i used to have a cat named VIRGINIA WOOLF who always sat on my feminist lit shelf by the window,looking out across the lake TO THE LIGHTHOUSE...hey, i think we have the bases covered,eh wot?

final confirmation from you,ilana...where is the CRACK,er,CHAT room,anyway?