Category Archives: Life reflections

The Monday Book: KEEP YOUR MOUTH SHUT AND WEAR BEIGE by Kathleen Seidel

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I am a sucker for character-driven plots. This one was fun because it set up a problem not so often discussed in latte lit. And also not universal. I myself have never been the mother of the groom, but Seidel’s subtle humor and wicked insights made me feel empathy for her narrator’s plight.

This book has a cast of thousands: two families, a new girlfriend, even a snarky nasty prima donna writer. And they’re all fun. Some are omnipresent, some are thrown in as plot devices, but each makes their appearance in ways that elicit sympathy or condescension.

The basic plot is, of course, the wedding. But the wedding is complicated by one family being wealthy and the new girlfriend being a social climber. And the wealthy family has a special needs kid. And the narrator is having a hard time with her ex-husband’s social climber taking over wedding plans. The narrator (Darcy) has a streak of do-gooder to her that keeps her from being too perfect as she tangles with emotions and attitudes and tries to maintain her son’s needs, her own sanity, and the mental well-being of other children who surround the wedding and maybe get a little less attention during this time. Darcy can’t stand not being needed.

It was a fun read, the kind of relationship-driven character novel that makes you smile when you recognize a personality and laugh when your least favorite gets a comeuppance. Which they all do at one point or another. Read it at the beach or on a plane, before a big family wedding–or maybe, if you have a wicked sense of humor, just before you vacation in the Hamptons. There’s a lot of “poor little rich people” observations in the book.

Two bouquets up for Keep Your Mouth Shut and Wear Beige.

Teach your Children Well – – –

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Jack just makes it in time – –

I taught an on-line class yesterday morning and it brought back many memories.

To explain – –

I taught classes in a Scottish college for over twenty years starting with apprentice house painters and ending with management students. I had the opportunity to retire at either age 60 or 65 and might have gone on to 65 if only for the sheer pleasure of actually teaching. But the bureaucracy and paper work was so awful that I chose 60 and don’t regret it.

However, I never lost the pleasure of actually helping a group of people to navigate their learning experiences and I’ve been lucky to continue to be able do that.

Following retirement, I was contracted as a consultant and taught classes in lots of exotic places, then after moving to the US it was mostly more about Scottish culture, language and music.

Sometimes this was very informal just sitting down with friends and sometimes much more academic in lecture halls or classrooms.

In some ways performing as a singer for audiences gave me more confidence to do something similar in front of a group of students. Eventually, I think, it worked the other way too.

The two big role models in my teenage years were both teachers – George Simpson was the woodwork teacher at the high school I attended and Jim Yeats was the newly appointed young painting instructor when I moved on to the local college as part of my apprenticeship as a house painter. If I saw them walking in town and they said hello I felt like I was walking on air!

So if I managed to be a role model myself, then I’ll be well satisfied!