Tossed Atomz...Plus A Question

I got rid of the Atomz search since it was not picking up on my pages correctly and it was more of a hassle than I wanted. Please join me in welcoming my favorite search engine to my page. After a little tweaking so the search box is (1) a bit smaller and (2) searches Gardenwife.com by default, it is working pretty well. Give 'er a whirl, why don'tcha? I need to figure out if there's a way to bring up search requests (that's once I figure out how to log back in at Google!).

Does anyone know how to do something similar to MoveableType's expanded entries, only with a Blogger template? I would really like to just have a teaser for each blog entry, with a way for the entry to be expanded and collapsed again. These pages are so long! E-Mail me help?

Okay, my blood sugar is down to the nether regions of middle earth now. I'm off to ingest a spoonful of peanut butter and put something in the oven for our dinner. Crawling off now for a bit....

Friday Five: A Novel One

I love the Friday Five questions this week!

1. What is your favorite type of literature to read (magazine, newspaper, novels, nonfiction, poetry, etc.)?

That's a tough one, because I just plain love to read. My favorite type would probably be novels, followed closely by nonfiction and magazines. It all depends on my mood and my activity. Literature such as magazines and catalogs lend themselves nicely to the watercloset library for their short articles. I must admit, however, that my novels find their way into the bathroom, too, if the plot's particularly compelling. I catch a few pages sporadically throughout the day, then take the book wherever I plant myself to settle down for a good read.

2. What is your favorite novel?

Oh, my. There are several I've really loved. Here's a few of them:

I Know This Much Is True, by Wally Lamb

Colony, by Anne Rivers Siddons

Insomnia, and all the Dark Tower books (especially Wizard and Glass) by Stephen King

Welcome to the World, Baby Girl, by Fannie Flagg

Jubal Sackett, by Louis L'Amour

3. Do you have a favorite poem? (Share it!)

I shared one I really liked last week, as a matter of fact: Nobody Knows It But Me. What's ironic is that it was written specifically for a commercial. It's still a wonderful, evocative poem.

I also really love Robert Frost's "Stopping By The Woods On A Snowy Evening" and "Birches". They, too, take me into the woods, nomatter where I am.

4. What is one thing you've always wanted to read, or wish you had more time to read?

There's too much out there! I want to read all of Stephen King's novels and all of Anne Rivers Siddons', too. And the classics. I have plenty of time to read (especially if you count the watercloset library and time spent waiting in line at various places).

5. What are you currently reading?

I'm reading Ursula Hegi's novel, Stones From The River. It takes place in a small town in Germany, spanning the time between WWI and WWII and a little beyond. The protagonist, Trudi, is a zwerg (dwarf) whose observations about human nature are at once both bitter and hopeful. It's a coming of age story with a different twist since she is physically handicapped as well as in the heart of what is to become Nazi Germany. It's mostly voiced in third-person omnicient, but Trudi's voice is the strongest.

I find myself drawing many parallels between our attitudes about war today and those of the Germans in Trudi's town back then. First raised by the Church to think mere doubt equal to sin (let alone actually voicing questions), then cowed by the SS and SA's brutal might, even those with consciences are fearful of speaking up when they see the horrible trend their country is taking. And those who aren't overtly fearful fool themselves into believing it will all just go away, given time. We all know what ended up happening there, and elsewhere, with Hitler's "bloodless takeover".

We don't have such political oppression here in the US, and I certainly am not comparing the US to Nazi Germany. But I can see the same wide range of attitudes in people; there are those who are in denial, those who speak out, those who support the war, etc. It's just really interesting reading, not at all lighthearted, but still very thought-provoking and engrossing.