Literary gadfly Stephen Hartshorne writes about books that he finds at flea markets and rummage sales.

North Sugarloaf Trail

Here’s another offering from Steve’s Clumsy Videos.

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Michelle Dockery as Lady Mary Crawley

Just watched a couple of back to back episodes of Downton Abbey, to see what all the fuss was about, and now I’m well and truly hooked.  I’m going to have to buy the whole thing.

Michelle Dockery gives a captivating performance as Lady Mary Crawley, and I get a tremendous kick out of Maggie Smith’s portrayal of Violet the Dowager Countess of Grantham.

When young William returns from France gravely wounded, he is not allowed to come to the hospital set up at Downton Abbey, because  it’s for officers only. The head of the hospital says he can’t possibly make an exception.

“It always happens,” the Dowager Countess says. “You give power to these little people and it goes to their heads like strong drink.”

She puts in a call to Lord Whosiwhatsis, and badabing! They make an exception for William.

Maggie Smith as Violet the Dowager Countess of Grantham

The series is a lot like “Upstairs, Downstairs,” which I also loved years ago.

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Xena the Warrior Princess and Mr. and Mrs. Dudgiebobo

This is a photo of Xena the Warrior Princess and Mr. and Mrs. Dudgiebobo, two knitted people given to my daughter by a wonderful woman in our writing group, the late Mary Molner, author of The Stone Bee and other stories. Sarah named them herself when she was a baby.

Xena and I went out for a while, but it didn’t work out. As everyone knows, guys my age sometimes have to get up in the night to pee. Slipping away was easy, but you take your life in your hands trying to get back in bed with a sleeping warrior princess. I’d usually just sleep on the couch and get a sore neck.

We finally broke up, and that’s when she gave me the poster. She signed it, “To Steve, my favorite wimp — Xena.”

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I’m reading The Magnificent Hoax by E. Phillips Oppenheim after just finishing Up the Golden Ladder. I love this guy because of the worlds he take me to — London clubs, resorts in Monaco, country dinner parties — all in the thirties. You definitely get the slice of life that arcane bookies like me are looking for.

From Oppenheim, I’ve learned how to behave at my club, if I ever join one.

I have to say these are interesting books, even though I seem to get sunk in them, reading a half a paragraph and falling asleep. But that’s because those few lines were enough to evoke a dream…

This guy is like Rafael Sabatini; he works hard and delivers the goods. And he wrote more than 150 books. My favorite is Nobody’s Man.

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Littlepeople and rodents

Who Moved My Cheese by Spencer Johnson (1998) is like a fly in amber. The question is not, “What is it?” but rather, “How did it get there?”

This book  is used by hundreds and hundreds of big corporations: BF Goodrich, Bristol Meyers, Citibank, Exxon, General Motors, Georgia Pacific, Greyhound, Hewlitt Packard, Lockheed Martin, Mercedes Benz, Pillsbury, Texaco, Time Warner, the US Armed Forces and the list goes on and on.

Corporations distribute this book to their employees and have deeply emotional discussion groups. The introduction is filled with testimonials by people who swear it saved their careers and made them happier, more fulfilled human beings.

I urge you to read it. It turns up at tag sales all the time. I guarantee you will marvel at what simpletons these people are — all of them! It’s like going to an expensive psychiatrist and finding him baring his soul to a sock puppet and weeping.

This book is an entree into the tiny minds of America’s corporate managers — many of whom, studies show, are psychopaths — and it’s full of toxic ideas, first and foremost the belief that workers are rodents. They squander their cheese on rent and health care, while the “littlepeople” (the managers) use it for a cozy cottage on Cheddar Lane or a big house on Camembert Hill.

The book’s message is: Follow the rodents, find their cheese, and take it from them.

There is a real sock puppet quality to this book, because it allows those reading and discussing it to fully indulge their adoration of money and the terror they feel at the idea of losing it.

Cheese is not money exactly; it’s just… what enables you to meet your needs and provide for your family and send you grandchildren to Bennington.

When the usual consignment of cheese doesn’t turn up at Cheese Station C, the mice take off and look for more, while the “littlepeople” get nervous.

“Their homes were not the nurturing places they once were, and the littlepeople had difficulty sleeping and were having nightmares ab0ut not finding any cheese.”

As I said, the question is not, “What is this piece of tripe?” but rather, “How did it remain on the bestseller list for five years?”

The answer is a little depressing: American corporate managers are simpletons who adore money and think workers are rodents. And from what I can gather, they have not read a single work of literature. Maybe that’s the answer.

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I’ve been hiking every day instead of every other day, up Mt. Sugarloaf or North Sugarloaf. One day I did both. 

The true summit of North Sugarloaf, though most people go on to the lookout on the next ridge.

There's a marsh halfway up

Sunset from the Sunderland Bridge

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This view from the summit of North Sugarloaf Mountain is brought to you by Steve’s Clumsy Videos.

Windy Mountaintop

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A trail ride at Mt. Toby Stables

Had a wonderful time on a trail ride with my friends Catherine and Star Stryker at the Mt. Toby Stables. The forecast was for snow and freezing rain, but the weather turned out fine. We also met Napoleon, a miniature horse, and Jetta, a four-month-old filly.

Napoleon

Jetta is four months old

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A memorable Spicy Cajun Meat Pie at the Ashfield Lake House

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