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Ulla

Ulla

My Comments (219 so far…)

Should Malia and Sasha Obama go to public school or private school?

Hi Jane and Joan … just a quick greeting … and a quick ‘wow’: I haven’t been on this site lately … just peeking in tonight and finding your lovely discussion:I am chuckling to find my little old home town in these pages … I grew up in Bielefeld (no kidding!) - and although I left to study in Berlin (for a diploma in Education, plus Film Studies as a second degree), I know not only about it but also know a lot of children, the kids of my old friends, who were/are attending the LaborSchule … it’s so great to have these virtual global connections popping up … Cheers.U.

What Kind of First Lady Will Michelle Obama Be?

Thanks for the link … and the great quote! … What a wonderful image to have this young, educated and warm family in the White House … but also: what a job ahead for them … they’ll need all the respect, support and good wishes we can send their way!

Who are your favorite contemporary literary heroes or heroines?

Thanks for the compliment, Rocky. and Rocky and Frank: re. Hesse, I always liked Narcisss and Goldmund best, but am just now re-reading Siddharta and it’s wonderful … beginning to see where the seeds were laid so many years ago for my current orientation to Buddhism …

Who are your favorite contemporary literary heroes or heroines?

Dear Joan … thank you so very much for this lovely tale … all my life I have been dreaming of Kyoto … never yet been to Japan, still dreaming … and as I am also daydreaming at least twice a year over those gorgeous catalogs from Geographic Expeditions (assuming that must be the Jim Sano…) … I’ll now imagine that I might one day see those exquisite woodblock prints you found …???!!!

Who are your favorite contemporary literary heroes or heroines?

Hi Chris and Frank . .. also just finished The Thirteenth Tale … wasn’t too wild about the writing, but loved the story and characters (and the 13th tale …) and Frank: thanks for the Gerard Manley Hopkins!!!

Who are your favorite contemporary literary heroes or heroines?

Hi Frank … will have to look up some of these as your book choices are always excellent! … re. Justine Hosnani and Clea Montis: just re-read the Alexandria Quartet a few weeks ago and was astonished at my notes of 30 years ago (still valid …)

Who are your favorite contemporary literary heroes or heroines?

P.S. … what I also meant to say was, that such a well written character as Jo March became a literary Heroine across time, culture and language …

Who are your favorite contemporary literary heroes or heroines?

Beautiful Rainbow Power … glad you jumped across the “contemporary” definition … my fingers were twitching to add in Josephine March, as I don’t think I have ever loved a fictional character quite as much as dear old Jo … which goes way back in my life when I first encountered the March sisters … the book in our post-war German library was titled “Betty and her Sisters” (which I read a gazillion times …) and it took me many years to realize that it was the beloved “Little Women” by famous Ms. Alcott … many readings later (German and English) I am always transported back immediately to my little bookworm-self as soon as I open that book … Thanks for reminding me!

Who are your favorite contemporary literary heroes or heroines?

Hi Rocky Rocky … good question, which lead me to look at my answer and finding: I chose recent fictional characters who all seem to be in love, on a quest for love or on a complex life journey, real traveling lives (hmm…) - and that was just a quick answer after looking at the books lying around … as to the authors, they are the ones whose range of works I have been reading and always seem to go back to because their characters engage me … JD Salinger, Joan Aiken, Philip Pullman, Hermann Hesse, Tchingis Aitmatow, Colette, Zora Neale Hurston, Arundhati Roy, Monica Ali, Colum McCann … and so many more … And: I think it’s a fun game trying to match up the characters mentioned in some of these posts with the authors/books …

Who are your favorite contemporary literary heroes or heroines?

Hi Phyllis … I like how you specify the question and your reasons for choosing these writers … I realized I went with fictional characters immediately (and figured ‘contemporary’ at least back into the early 20th…) … But I do like your non-fiction list of contemporary thinkers very much … especially Ian Buruma, Chris Hitchens, Henrik Hertzberg, and would add to it a.o. Susan Sontag, Siri Hustvedt, W.G. Sebald, Pico Iyer, Barbara Ehrenreich … always lots of food for thought!

Who are your favorite contemporary literary heroes or heroines?

Oh, yes Francine Prose is great ! … she also wrote one of the best books about writing/reading … and currently heads NY’s PEN org.

Who are your favorite contemporary literary heroes or heroines?

I second Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee … hi, Frannie Em ! … and more of my (relatively) contemporary literary Heroines and Heroes … Zooey Glass; Dido Twite; Lyra Belacqua; Goldmund; Dshamilja; Phil and Vinca; Janie Crawford; Ammu, Rahel and Estha; Nazneen and Hasina; Zoli; … … … (so many books , so little time …)

Lily Tomlin on Big Families: ‘We’re Going to Have to Start Polluting Mars’

Sweet comment, Mugsy … yeah to Ms. Lily clones… And yikes, I had never heard of that connection of IQ ./. population increase … (“One estimate says the Global IQ will drop a full five points from 1950 to 2050.”) … but having lived half of that time-frame, I feel quite certain for a time now that ‘the world’ seems to get ‘dumber and dumber’ … a cliche, but often even reading contemporary literature as compared to ‘classics’ seems to prove the point … maybe

Sarah Palin and the Case of the Banned Books, by Sara Nelson

Please, stop calling yourselves ‘pro-life’ … people who are pro-guns, pro-war, pro-death penalty, etc. are most certainly not pro-life

Sarah Palin and the Case of the Banned Books, by Sara Nelson

Thank you, Suzanne … I really admire your energy and willingness to debate these ladies with such eloquence and solid information … I’m just too exhausted with disbelief about these narrow-minded individuals … even using 21st century technology, they seem to be so out of it, so behind the times and any real world … and when I get real angry I just want to wish them back into their antediluvian swamps …