Welcome to bookchat where you can talk about anything...books, plays, essays, and audio books. You don’t have to be reading a book to come in, sit down, and chat with us. If you’re dyslexic and just tuning in, I’m sorry, there will be no fried chicken in this diary. Although I also like KFC.
cfk had a bit of an accident
Pico posted last week’s Bookflurries-Bookchat, and I’ll quote his salient words from there:
Hello everyone, just leaving a brief note here to let you all know that cfk will be back as soon as possible. She had a bit of an accident and has been hospitalized, but she’s in good spirits and will be back here to discuss books with everyone as soon as she can . . . Just got off the phone with cfk: she’s doing well and was happy to hear from everyone. The good news is that the accident doesn’t appear to have done any kind of long-term damage that will keep her from rejoining everyone here. That said, she will have to spend some time in a rehab facility, which could be a couple of weeks, and she’s not sure she’ll have computer access while she’s going through that process . . . In the meantime, she sends her love . . . It’ll cheer her to know everyone’s thinking of her.
She said she’d be happy if people took turns just leaving the door open so the usual crowd could come in and discuss books every week . . . I’ll try to pop in with updates as necessary, but the important thing is that she’s fine and cheery, and now relieved that someone will keep Bookflurries running until she gets back . . . Cheers, pico
will you please lend cfk a helping hand?
We’d like diarists to volunteer to write and post Bookflurries-Bookchats on Wed. Sept. 2nd, and also on Wed. Sept. 9th; and maybe in later weeks, depending on the speed of cfk’s recovery. If that sounds like your kind of mitzvah, please send me a kosmail, or volunteer in your comment below. I will coordinate, and contact all our lucky winners, until cfk is fully in the pink and back here again.
If you are feeling too shy or uninspired to volunteer, that’s alright. The ambience of Bookflurries-Bookchat is, everyone is always welcome, and we like you just the way you are. But you can still help! Write a comment below, with some kind words for cfk, to help lift her spirits while she hikes the uphill road to full recovery. It takes a lot of energy to be a shining star of motherhood like cfk, so show her a little succor and encouragement in her hour of need.
cfk’s first daily kos diary
14 years ago, cfk wrote her first diary. As I did for pico above, I will excerpt the pith of it, the phrases that speak to me of cfk’s mission and personality, as I’ve known her on Daily Kos.
I feel that it is the right time to pass on to you the knowledge of a book about an extraordinary man who was a youth in Paris in World War II. In so many ways he is a hero for our time as well and an inspiration for us . . . It is time, then, to read about Jacques Lusseyran and see how we can face life with continued courage . . . Jacques was in the Resistance in Paris at age fifteen even though he was blind. He speaks of strategies we have been using: 1. The importance of community, and the brother and sisterhood of equality; of people sharing insights and truth and encouraging each other to go forth to action. 2. Getting the truth out despite the danger . . . 4. The importance of groups staying together and having each others' backs . . . 5. Speaking up. Jacques became the speaker in the camp, the one who was trusted and believed. The autobiography of Jacques' first twenty years with a forward and afterward is a triumph of love and light. It is titled And There Was Light . . .
"That is what you had to do to live in the camp: be engaged, not live for yourself alone. The self-centered life has no place in the world of the deported . . . Be engaged, no matter how, but be engaged. It was certainly hard, and most men didn't achieve it. Of myself I can't say why I was never entirely bereft of joy. But it was a fact and my solid support. Joy I found even in strange byways, in the midst of fear itself . . . By the end of a year in Buchenwald I was convinced that life was not at all as I had been taught to believe it, neither life nor society."
I have been here for more than a year and I have seen the strengths in people here that we need to change the country back . . . I believe we are succeeding and that people are listening to us. When I was working to get a gifted program into the schools, I discovered that the people who sometimes started out mean and asked questions were the ones that joined us when we answered their questions. Please don't give up. Please share your stories below in comments. Please share your joys and griefs as we are your community. We are here to give you strength to go out again to work and to your families and to your neighbors with answers they will hear. Thanks to all here for your help to me when I despaired in November. Let us continue on in joy and please do read Jacques' enormously hopeful story.
cfk reading to her oldest son age 3 and her daughter age a few weeks.
cfk is a diligent diarist. Here is cfk's Profile. You can see the hundreds of kossacks who follow her work, the tens of thousands of comments she’s written in fifteen years here, and all the diaries she has published. From her Most Frequent Tags, I see that her next Readers & Book Lovers diary will be her 500th. But she’s written 715 diaries tagged Books (and I know books came up in other of her diaries, too). In the 14 years since her first diary, cfk has written 769 diaries. More than one a week! I have seen the hours of care and inspiration she has poured into making each one of her diaries beautiful and interesting. She loves books, and is dedicated to Daily Kos, and to all of us here.
I have not done a fraction as much work at Daily Kos, nor been nearly as reliable as her. But from when I first discovered cfk’s diaries, to when I started writing book diaries, till now, I have constantly admired her diligence, and been inspired by the craft I find in Bookflurries. She has a knack for finding fresh angles of insight into books, and questions that keep us thinking about books we love long after we have left her diaries. Week after week, book by book, cfk has built for us all a sunny pleasure-dome with caves of ice: And there were gardens bright with sinuous rills, Where blossomed many an incense-bearing tree; And here were forests ancient as the hills, Enfolding sunny spots of greenery.
cfk is a hearty hostess. Her warm disposition and interest in everyone she meets make cfk the best den mother. But what I most admire is how she takes care to meet everyone on their level, whatever moods or ideas they bring to Bookflurries. I see her caring in how she remembers people she met once months before, and asks about the children or ailments they mentioned, or how they found the book she recommended to them last time they spoke. She is a queen of conversation, and with the curiosity her topics inspire, and the guests they attract, Bookflurriers talk busily among ourselves, even on those night when storms keep cfk from joining us on the internet. This is hosting at a higher level. When I first joined R&BLers, I saw how cfk tries to reply to every single guest in her diary, often several dozen of them, and even to those who arrive the next day. She cares so much, for all of us. I rarely match her example, but she did show me this extra dimension to a diary which I had never seen before. Over the years, I have seen how many kossacks have a better experience on Daily Kos, because one enormously kind soul took the trouble to observe their whole humanity, and to respond tenderly, with understanding and a smile. We all need more of that, and perhaps less pie.
cfk is a fabulous friend. Get it? Because stories are also fables.
cfk is always looking for ways to help others. When she sees worthy R&BLers diaries not getting the attention they deserve, she puts links in her own diaries so that her guests will notice them. She also does this to promote good causes, when there are people suffering anywhere who need help. She offers that kindness and patience, and a listening ear, whenever she meets a friend or acquaintance having a hard day. When we finally do figure out how to clone Meteor Blades, let’s clone cfk next.
She reads more books than anyone I know, and then she buys still more, until her bookshelves are all overflowing. Then she puts a list up in Bookflurries, of all her finished books looking for a second home with a thirsty pair of eyes. She has twice mailed me packages of books I asked for, never considering recompense, delighted simply to hear that I did read and enjoy her gifts. She has probably mailed hundreds of packages to R&BLers over the years, and I’ll bet she has spoiled every last one of her grandbabies the same way — with infinite books and kindness, by listening and playing their games, serving them cocoa and all manner of bedtime stories.
cfk goes above and beyond, as only a fabulous friend could. Youffraita fell off the edge of Daily Kos 16 months ago. Between computers failing, and no connection to the internet, Youffraita was apart from all her kossack friends for 16 of the darkest and most chaotic months of our lifetimes. This is a year when we all need each other, and we especially need friends like cfk. So cfk showed up, and built a bridge. During our long separation, cfk would gather comments from all Youffraita’s friends in Bookflurries, compile them into letters, and mail them to Youffraita. Then she would come back a week or two later, and post Youffraita’s replies to us. cfk kept a candle in her window, and it never went out. As a happy ending to this tale, Youffraita returned to Daily Kos three days ago.
a game you may play, or not, just as you like
I’m no cfk, not by any measure. But her sterling example inspires me to stretch for my best. You can say whatever you want in here, and I hope you will, it’s always nice to receive a lot of comments after writing a diary. Since cfk is not here yet, I will try to rec every comment left below, as she would. I know cfk will get here eventually, and look through all the fine comments you guests leave for her, and smile through many hues of discovery, amusement and gratitude.
My guarantee — I don’t promise to reply to everyone, nor that the replies I do write will be prompt. You may have to come back tomorrow or the next day to find a reply. I do promise that, if you answer at least two of these questions in your comment, I will reply to you. Here are my questions:
1) Why do you love cfk?
2) What made you smile or laugh today?
3) Which is your favorite Shakespeare play, and why?
If you prefer not to answer any of my impertinent questions, then I am still glad you stopped by, to enjoy some of the words I wrote, and the camaraderie that cfk inspires in all R&BLers and kossacks.
We all love you, cfk, even the guests who didn’t comment. Please get completely better, at exactly the pace that feels right to you. We will keep a candle burning in the window until you return, dear.
.
Thursday, Aug 27, 2020 ·
This was the first diary I’ve written in 28 months, a labor of love and care and joy. I wore myself out writing it as well as I could, and —as I warned— have been less than prompt in coming back to reply to your comments. Here is most of the best comment in my cfk diary:
pico Here’s an update for everyone, after I spoke with cfk’s husband on Saturday. Let’s start with the best news: it looks like there was no major damage (like broken bones or anything), so it may just be a matter of strengthening her legs before they feel comfortable sending her home. Fingers crossed, all around.
They got her into a rehab facility about a half-hour from where they live (and just down the road from my in-laws, which is where my connection comes in: we visit her whenever we visit them). The place seems nice enough but it has one significant drawback: no phones in the rooms. So unfortunately she can't even chat regularly with her husband (who can't visit in person because of the virus) without having to lug herself all the way to the front desk, i.e. it won’t happen too often. One of her family members is sending her a laptop, but given that the rooms don’t even have phones, it’s unclear whether she’ll have wifi or anything like that, either. To cheer her up a bit, I sent her everyone’s comments from last week… printed out and snail-mailed, so she can read them at her leisure.
But the key thing is, she’s doing fine, she’s in good hands, and they’re putting her on a path to recovery. Thank you all again for the kind words, and I’ll make sure she gets them!
