My sister invited me to Pinterest.
I usually store links of crafts, home ideas, vacation spots, etc. I want to remember in random draft emails or in spreadsheets and what not so this is fab for organization and ease of use.
My only complaints:
- I wish you could make your boards private. I pin things for my own benefit not necessarily so the world can see what I like. It is also weird when a bunch of strangers repin your pin in like 5 seconds. How do they even see it so fast?
- Now that I have been pinning, I fear this will lead me to buy lots of things because I won’t be able to forget what I saw or where I happened to see it.
We’ll see how long before the novelty wears off and I stop pinning but for now I am obsessed.
January 31, 2012
January 29, 2012
Birthday Recap
Yesterday I entered my mid-30s. : (
Mr. and I celebrated with just us (per usual).
We started the day with Mr. letting me drink my morning giant tea without complaining that I was taking too long and not getting the day started. While I finished this off, he ran out to do errands so I didn't have to go. Yeah!
When Mr. returned, I got to open my presents. (Early this year! I usually have to wait until after dinner.)
Mr. showered me with lots of gifts so either he wants something big like a baby or I have been an A+ wife this year. I am hoping for the second.
Mr. doesn't really go for surprise presents and I usually give enough hints so there is no need. But, this year he got me some surprises such as this marble rolling pin because he thought it was something a baker like me might like. He was right:
I was also pumped to learn that after YEARS of hinting Mr. got me this scarf from Restoration Hardware. Yes!
It's cashmere. :D
My mother-in-law (and father-in-law) who I think might be the only person to read this blog (Hi Marie!) got me these luggage tags:
LOL! Perfect!
After rolling around in my presents for awhile, we went skating (ice not roller). Here we are doing our trick moves respectively:
We are excellent skaters.
Sidenote: Why we picked the spot with the worst background for these pics I don't know. The rink is actually in a nice area. I swear.
The rink wasn't crowded so we got right on and went to town. It also helped that it was nice and sunny, not too cold. The only things of note about skating was that a couple was getting their engagement pics done so they were making a scene and we did not fall. Hooray!
Then, we went to dinner at our favorite spot and came home and had teas and cake. Mr. went all out and ordered a cake from the bakery we patronize weekly. (Next time I buy a house my must have is a bakery within walking distance.)
We don't have a "4" so Mr. put 4 individual candles to the right of the "3".
We finished off the night watching the Ides of March (review to come maybe) which reinforced why I don't like politics and which my hair lady had recommended during my cut and color this week.
Thanks to everyone for their birthday wishes!
Mr. and I celebrated with just us (per usual).
We started the day with Mr. letting me drink my morning giant tea without complaining that I was taking too long and not getting the day started. While I finished this off, he ran out to do errands so I didn't have to go. Yeah!
When Mr. returned, I got to open my presents. (Early this year! I usually have to wait until after dinner.)
Mr. showered me with lots of gifts so either he wants something big like a baby or I have been an A+ wife this year. I am hoping for the second.
Mr. doesn't really go for surprise presents and I usually give enough hints so there is no need. But, this year he got me some surprises such as this marble rolling pin because he thought it was something a baker like me might like. He was right:
I was also pumped to learn that after YEARS of hinting Mr. got me this scarf from Restoration Hardware. Yes!
It's cashmere. :D
My mother-in-law (and father-in-law) who I think might be the only person to read this blog (Hi Marie!) got me these luggage tags:
LOL! Perfect!
After rolling around in my presents for awhile, we went skating (ice not roller). Here we are doing our trick moves respectively:
We are excellent skaters.
Sidenote: Why we picked the spot with the worst background for these pics I don't know. The rink is actually in a nice area. I swear.
The rink wasn't crowded so we got right on and went to town. It also helped that it was nice and sunny, not too cold. The only things of note about skating was that a couple was getting their engagement pics done so they were making a scene and we did not fall. Hooray!
Then, we went to dinner at our favorite spot and came home and had teas and cake. Mr. went all out and ordered a cake from the bakery we patronize weekly. (Next time I buy a house my must have is a bakery within walking distance.)
We don't have a "4" so Mr. put 4 individual candles to the right of the "3".
We finished off the night watching the Ides of March (review to come maybe) which reinforced why I don't like politics and which my hair lady had recommended during my cut and color this week.
Thanks to everyone for their birthday wishes!
January 25, 2012
Side-Eye to the USPS
This morning around 8 I looked out of our living room window.
A red Pontiac Grand Prix (if I had to guess) was semi-parked outside.
The trunk was full of boxes.
A man got out on with one of them.
He was wearing what seemed to be a USPS jacket and had one of those electronic package reader things.
He left the package on our porch.
Then, he sped away.
It was for Mr. and seemed legitimate as he was expecting a package from the sender. (Could it be a birthday present pour moi??? One can only hope.)
However, this whole operation seemed questionable and definitely wins the side-eye award this week.
A red Pontiac Grand Prix (if I had to guess) was semi-parked outside.
The trunk was full of boxes.
A man got out on with one of them.
He was wearing what seemed to be a USPS jacket and had one of those electronic package reader things.
He left the package on our porch.
Then, he sped away.
It was for Mr. and seemed legitimate as he was expecting a package from the sender. (Could it be a birthday present pour moi??? One can only hope.)
However, this whole operation seemed questionable and definitely wins the side-eye award this week.
January 23, 2012
Read This!: Secrets of the Tudor Court
By D. L. Bogdan
This is another Tudor era historical fiction novel. This time, the story of Henry and his wives is told through the perspective of Mary Howard, daughter of the Duke of Norfolk.
10 observations on this story:
1. I am officially Tudor’ed out and need to take a break from these books for a bit.
2. The author I feel borrowed some ideas from the show The Tudors.
3. I thought this was actually a part of the Kate Emerson Secrets of the Tudor Court series when I bought it at the Borders G.O.O.B. sale. It is not. If I ever become a novelist, I might have to search online for other books with the same name as the one I am writing and change the name accordingly.
4. Every time I read these books, I always think momentarily: Maybe Anne Boleyn will have a healthy boy this time? I know it’s dumb but still…
5. Mary’s father is an abusive man who constantly assaults his wife and his daughter when they don’t “obey” him. Some of these scenes were a bit more than was needed in what I would call a "beach read".
6. It was an interesting perspective to hear Mary talk about the loss of so much of her family (2 cousins who were queens among them) due to Henry VIII. I never really thought about these people as being a "family". Does that make sense?
7. I felt like Mary couldn't catch a break. Even though it's based on a real person, I don't mind some fiction to make a happier ending. Like Mary Ingalls in the show Little House on the Prairie. She never married in real life but it was better story for the show.
8. MAYBE SPOILER: I didn't get the "But I have always loved you Mary" ending.
9. I side-eyed the picture of the author in the back. It also annoyed me that she used her initials. It seemed very pretentious.
10. This is a marginal at best recommendation.
This is another Tudor era historical fiction novel. This time, the story of Henry and his wives is told through the perspective of Mary Howard, daughter of the Duke of Norfolk.
10 observations on this story:
1. I am officially Tudor’ed out and need to take a break from these books for a bit.
2. The author I feel borrowed some ideas from the show The Tudors.
3. I thought this was actually a part of the Kate Emerson Secrets of the Tudor Court series when I bought it at the Borders G.O.O.B. sale. It is not. If I ever become a novelist, I might have to search online for other books with the same name as the one I am writing and change the name accordingly.
4. Every time I read these books, I always think momentarily: Maybe Anne Boleyn will have a healthy boy this time? I know it’s dumb but still…
5. Mary’s father is an abusive man who constantly assaults his wife and his daughter when they don’t “obey” him. Some of these scenes were a bit more than was needed in what I would call a "beach read".
6. It was an interesting perspective to hear Mary talk about the loss of so much of her family (2 cousins who were queens among them) due to Henry VIII. I never really thought about these people as being a "family". Does that make sense?
7. I felt like Mary couldn't catch a break. Even though it's based on a real person, I don't mind some fiction to make a happier ending. Like Mary Ingalls in the show Little House on the Prairie. She never married in real life but it was better story for the show.
8. MAYBE SPOILER: I didn't get the "But I have always loved you Mary" ending.
9. I side-eyed the picture of the author in the back. It also annoyed me that she used her initials. It seemed very pretentious.
10. This is a marginal at best recommendation.
January 21, 2012
January 20, 2012
A Visit From The Goon Squad
Next up in my backed up book reviews is Jennifer Egan’s Pulitzer Prize winning A Visit From The Goon Squad, which was one of my favorite reads of 2011.
The novel is really a collection of stories tied together by various characters, so there’s no real way to summarize the plot. The “main” characters are Bennie, a middle-aged record executive when we’re introduced to him, and Sasha, who we first meet as Bennie’s thirty-something assistant. Each chapter has a central character that is linked to Bennie and/or Sasha in some way, but each does read as an independent story. We see the characters at various points in their lives. The novel opens with Sasha as Bennie’s assistant, but Egan also shows Sasha as a rebellious teenager who runs away to Italy, later as an older college student who loses a close friend, and then finally as a married mother of two decades in the future. Bennie goes from that aging record executive with marital problems, back to a mohawked teenager playing in a punk band, and ends up at the tail end of his career hoping to put on one last big concert.
It’s a creative book, with the chapters written in different narrative modes and styles. There’s a chapter written in the form of a newspaper article from a jailed reporter (complete with footnotes), a chapter entirely in PowerPoint (yep), and a chapter set in a near future where the younger generation prefers to communicate with handheld devices (basically texting), even when they're sitting next to each other. Not all of the stories are hits (I didn’t particularly like or understand the point of the story of the P.R. woman and the third world dictator, and the last chapter seemed a bit preachy for my taste), but most are (my favorite was probably the PowerPoint put together by Sasha’s twelve year old daughter), and so I definitely recommend checking this out.
“The pause makes you think the song will end. And then the song isn’t really over, so you’re relieved. But then the song does actually end, because every song ends, obviously, and That. Time. The. End. Is. For. Real.”
That quote is from the PowerPoint chapter I mentioned above, and it’s Sasha trying to explain to her frustrated husband why their son is so obsessed with pauses in songs (you know, where the music stops briefly and then starts back up). And this leads to the main theme of the book, which is that you can’t escape time. Time is the “goon” that visits all the characters. You never know where the world will take you and often it’s completely different than what you planned. The characters in these stories experience success, loss, pain, and joy. They have their ups and their downs, but time keeps on moving. One way the theme of time is illustrated is in the first and last chapters. The book opens with a story involving Sasha on a date (and as it turns out, a one night stand) with Alex, a new- to-New York professional, and it closes with Alex working for Bennie twenty years or so in the future. After a concert, Bennie and Alex (who is now married with a kid) try to track down Sasha’s old apartment in hope of finding her. But of course we know she isn’t there, she’s in California with her family. And that’s the point. That one night stand, that assistant, those are in the past. And what they're searching for is a time that is long gone.
Next Up: Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer
The novel is really a collection of stories tied together by various characters, so there’s no real way to summarize the plot. The “main” characters are Bennie, a middle-aged record executive when we’re introduced to him, and Sasha, who we first meet as Bennie’s thirty-something assistant. Each chapter has a central character that is linked to Bennie and/or Sasha in some way, but each does read as an independent story. We see the characters at various points in their lives. The novel opens with Sasha as Bennie’s assistant, but Egan also shows Sasha as a rebellious teenager who runs away to Italy, later as an older college student who loses a close friend, and then finally as a married mother of two decades in the future. Bennie goes from that aging record executive with marital problems, back to a mohawked teenager playing in a punk band, and ends up at the tail end of his career hoping to put on one last big concert.
It’s a creative book, with the chapters written in different narrative modes and styles. There’s a chapter written in the form of a newspaper article from a jailed reporter (complete with footnotes), a chapter entirely in PowerPoint (yep), and a chapter set in a near future where the younger generation prefers to communicate with handheld devices (basically texting), even when they're sitting next to each other. Not all of the stories are hits (I didn’t particularly like or understand the point of the story of the P.R. woman and the third world dictator, and the last chapter seemed a bit preachy for my taste), but most are (my favorite was probably the PowerPoint put together by Sasha’s twelve year old daughter), and so I definitely recommend checking this out.
“The pause makes you think the song will end. And then the song isn’t really over, so you’re relieved. But then the song does actually end, because every song ends, obviously, and That. Time. The. End. Is. For. Real.”
That quote is from the PowerPoint chapter I mentioned above, and it’s Sasha trying to explain to her frustrated husband why their son is so obsessed with pauses in songs (you know, where the music stops briefly and then starts back up). And this leads to the main theme of the book, which is that you can’t escape time. Time is the “goon” that visits all the characters. You never know where the world will take you and often it’s completely different than what you planned. The characters in these stories experience success, loss, pain, and joy. They have their ups and their downs, but time keeps on moving. One way the theme of time is illustrated is in the first and last chapters. The book opens with a story involving Sasha on a date (and as it turns out, a one night stand) with Alex, a new- to-New York professional, and it closes with Alex working for Bennie twenty years or so in the future. After a concert, Bennie and Alex (who is now married with a kid) try to track down Sasha’s old apartment in hope of finding her. But of course we know she isn’t there, she’s in California with her family. And that’s the point. That one night stand, that assistant, those are in the past. And what they're searching for is a time that is long gone.
Next Up: Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer
January 18, 2012
Side-Eye to the Coffee Machine
We got a new coffee machine at work yesterday.
I haven't seen everyone so excited since years ago when they changed the vacation policy (for the better).
Today I decided to get a hot chocolate and try it out.
You don't have a cup size choice. It always puts out the same amount of drink.
I put the hot chocolate packet into the machine and this is what I got:
Um yeah. Could they have spared it?
I should have went to Starbucks.
I haven't seen everyone so excited since years ago when they changed the vacation policy (for the better).
Today I decided to get a hot chocolate and try it out.
You don't have a cup size choice. It always puts out the same amount of drink.
I put the hot chocolate packet into the machine and this is what I got:
Um yeah. Could they have spared it?
I should have went to Starbucks.
January 13, 2012
Snow!
Last night it was still a bit magical:
We have been pretty lucky this year to have escaped a major snow storm until now. (Thank you Mother Nature for throwing us a bone!)
Usually by now, I am seasonally depressed and begging Mr. to take me on a sunny vaca and we are both determined to get the ^*(#&@#*)*()@#*()@#*)(@(#) out of this city and move SOUTH.
This year though, due to the mild weather spoiling me, I have blocked “normal winter” out. Case in point:
This morning after going outside, I said to Mr.:
“I think I should have worn my puffy coat.”
5 minutes later…
“OK I should have worn my 180s.”
5 minutes later….
“Forget the 180s I should have worn my big COLD WEATHER hat with the ear flaps.”
I did however wear my warm gloves and boots so all was not lost.
I can get over the cold and snow right now because it is FRIDAY!
And this will be a THREE DAY WEEKEND!
And OUR NEIGHBORS SHOVELED OUR WALK so Mr. didn’t have to this morning!
This morning not so much:
We have been pretty lucky this year to have escaped a major snow storm until now. (Thank you Mother Nature for throwing us a bone!)
Usually by now, I am seasonally depressed and begging Mr. to take me on a sunny vaca and we are both determined to get the ^*(#&@#*)*()@#*()@#*)(@(#) out of this city and move SOUTH.
This year though, due to the mild weather spoiling me, I have blocked “normal winter” out. Case in point:
This morning after going outside, I said to Mr.:
“I think I should have worn my puffy coat.”
5 minutes later…
“OK I should have worn my 180s.”
5 minutes later….
“Forget the 180s I should have worn my big COLD WEATHER hat with the ear flaps.”
I did however wear my warm gloves and boots so all was not lost.
I can get over the cold and snow right now because it is FRIDAY!
And this will be a THREE DAY WEEKEND!
And OUR NEIGHBORS SHOVELED OUR WALK so Mr. didn’t have to this morning!
January 12, 2012
SAT Score Change?
I was perusing the winter copy of my alma mater's alumni magazine when I came across this bit of info about the class of 2014:
Mean SAT score: 2004
What?
2004?
When did the scoring limit change to 2400?
Now, grant it, I don't run the education circuit but you would have thought I might have heard about this.
According to Wikipedia, this change happened in 2005.
Also, according to Wikipedia, "SAT" is an "empty acronym" meaning it doesn't stand for anything.
Who knew?
I am glad I haven't been parading my score in front of today's high school set.
Mean SAT score: 2004
What?
2004?
When did the scoring limit change to 2400?
Now, grant it, I don't run the education circuit but you would have thought I might have heard about this.
According to Wikipedia, this change happened in 2005.
Also, according to Wikipedia, "SAT" is an "empty acronym" meaning it doesn't stand for anything.
Who knew?
I am glad I haven't been parading my score in front of today's high school set.
January 10, 2012
Read This!: The Violets of March
By Sarah Jio
First book of the New Year!
The Violets of March is a story within a story. Emily, recently divorced, goes to visit her aunt on Bainbridge Island in order to “heal”. While there, she discovers an old diary which tells the second story of Esther and her love affair with Elliot in 1943.
(I really dislike the name Esther and it annoyed me throughout this story because Esther was supposed to be so beautiful but, to me, Esther is not the name of a vivacious beauty. Her name should have been Evangeline or at the very least Karen or something.)
This book started out really interesting and it kept me engaged… until the ending… which left a bad taste in my mouth.
SEMI-SPOILER ALERT!!!!!
When I found the truth about Esther, I thought she was a selfish ho. Throughout the whole diary, I didn’t find her to be very sympathetic. Her actions were extremely immature and didn’t make sense. (Maybe because I am too dispassionate of a person???) But the end sealed it for me.
Finally, in my learned option, some of the writing was weak. Like, I got where the author was going but it seemed contrived and unnatural. It was counter intuitive that Emily was supposed to learn something from Esther’s story but she was acting the same way when the stories paralleled. I also thought Jack and Emily’s relationship with him were underdeveloped. And her dates with Greg didn’t really go anywhere so not sure why they were there at all?
I realize this review seems pretty negative but I did find the story intriguing so I would still recommend it. I just had some issues with it. As you have read.
First book of the New Year!
The Violets of March is a story within a story. Emily, recently divorced, goes to visit her aunt on Bainbridge Island in order to “heal”. While there, she discovers an old diary which tells the second story of Esther and her love affair with Elliot in 1943.
(I really dislike the name Esther and it annoyed me throughout this story because Esther was supposed to be so beautiful but, to me, Esther is not the name of a vivacious beauty. Her name should have been Evangeline or at the very least Karen or something.)
This book started out really interesting and it kept me engaged… until the ending… which left a bad taste in my mouth.
SEMI-SPOILER ALERT!!!!!
When I found the truth about Esther, I thought she was a selfish ho. Throughout the whole diary, I didn’t find her to be very sympathetic. Her actions were extremely immature and didn’t make sense. (Maybe because I am too dispassionate of a person???) But the end sealed it for me.
Finally, in my learned option, some of the writing was weak. Like, I got where the author was going but it seemed contrived and unnatural. It was counter intuitive that Emily was supposed to learn something from Esther’s story but she was acting the same way when the stories paralleled. I also thought Jack and Emily’s relationship with him were underdeveloped. And her dates with Greg didn’t really go anywhere so not sure why they were there at all?
I realize this review seems pretty negative but I did find the story intriguing so I would still recommend it. I just had some issues with it. As you have read.
January 8, 2012
The Swan Thieves
Well I’ve fallen behind on my book reviews and now have three books read and un-reviewed. And since they're all 2011 reads (although the last was completed in 2012) they don't even count towards Mrs.' book challenge. First up is Elizabeth Kostova’s The Swan Thieves. I read Kostova’s debut novel The Historian a couple of years ago, and although it was mildly disappointing overall, I guess it was entertaining enough to make me pause in a book store to read the back of her follow up The Swan Thieves. And I guess the back cover of this book was intriguing enough for me to purchase it.
After attacking a painting with a knife in the National Gallery of Art, artist Robert Oliver is admitted to a psychiatric hospital under the care of our narrator Andrew Marlow. Robert refuses to speak and spends all of his time drawing and painting pictures of the same woman. Unsure of how to deal with his patient, Marlow delves into Oliver’s life, first by going to see his ex-wife and then tracking down Mary, a former art student of Robert and the woman he was living with after leaving his wife. Both provide further evidence of Robert’s obsession over this mysterious woman and frustration over his madness. Slowly, through the information from the women in the artist’s life and through a packet of late 19th century letters that Robert possesses, Marlow begins to piece together the identity of the unknown woman that is the apparent cause of Oliver’s mania.
The main focus of this novel is obsession. From Robert’s obsession over the mystery woman to Marlow’s own obsession with discovering her identity, and from Marlow’s growing obsession over Mary to the obsession contained in those 19th century letters between a young French artist by the name of Beatrice de Clerval and her husband’s uncle Olivier, we're presented with the different ways in which the obsessions drive each character to act in ways that could threaten to damage or even ruin the lives they’ve built. And we see the lengths they'll go through to follow through with these obsessions in the hope they will lead to happiness.
While I’d go as far as saying I enjoyed The Swan Thieves a tad bit more than The Historian, I don’t think I’d go as far as to recommend it. Probably not coincidentally I had similar complaints about both novels. First, my copy is 561 pages, and as has been my recent complaint about several novels, I think the same story could have been told in 400 or so. I repeatedly found myself hoping that Kostova would just get to the point already. And the main thing that bothered me was the resolution to the mystery (if you can call it that since there didn’t end up being a big reveal that wasn’t already laid out for the reader), which left me underwhelmed to say the least. As far as I can tell (spoiler alert?) the main takeaway is that Robert was just crazy. I still never understood why he was obsessed with this woman. And once Marlow figures out the woman's identity and story and confronts Robert with the information he's found, I’m not sure how this provides any resolution for Robert. And it sure didn’t help Beatrice and Olivier, who, you know, lived a century before. Did I miss something? Did I fall asleep between pages 456 and 521? The world may never know. But what I do know is that when I invest in 561 pages of reading, I expect a little more of a reward. I most likely won't be rushing out for Kostova's next novel.
Next Up: A Visit From The Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan
After attacking a painting with a knife in the National Gallery of Art, artist Robert Oliver is admitted to a psychiatric hospital under the care of our narrator Andrew Marlow. Robert refuses to speak and spends all of his time drawing and painting pictures of the same woman. Unsure of how to deal with his patient, Marlow delves into Oliver’s life, first by going to see his ex-wife and then tracking down Mary, a former art student of Robert and the woman he was living with after leaving his wife. Both provide further evidence of Robert’s obsession over this mysterious woman and frustration over his madness. Slowly, through the information from the women in the artist’s life and through a packet of late 19th century letters that Robert possesses, Marlow begins to piece together the identity of the unknown woman that is the apparent cause of Oliver’s mania.
The main focus of this novel is obsession. From Robert’s obsession over the mystery woman to Marlow’s own obsession with discovering her identity, and from Marlow’s growing obsession over Mary to the obsession contained in those 19th century letters between a young French artist by the name of Beatrice de Clerval and her husband’s uncle Olivier, we're presented with the different ways in which the obsessions drive each character to act in ways that could threaten to damage or even ruin the lives they’ve built. And we see the lengths they'll go through to follow through with these obsessions in the hope they will lead to happiness.
While I’d go as far as saying I enjoyed The Swan Thieves a tad bit more than The Historian, I don’t think I’d go as far as to recommend it. Probably not coincidentally I had similar complaints about both novels. First, my copy is 561 pages, and as has been my recent complaint about several novels, I think the same story could have been told in 400 or so. I repeatedly found myself hoping that Kostova would just get to the point already. And the main thing that bothered me was the resolution to the mystery (if you can call it that since there didn’t end up being a big reveal that wasn’t already laid out for the reader), which left me underwhelmed to say the least. As far as I can tell (spoiler alert?) the main takeaway is that Robert was just crazy. I still never understood why he was obsessed with this woman. And once Marlow figures out the woman's identity and story and confronts Robert with the information he's found, I’m not sure how this provides any resolution for Robert. And it sure didn’t help Beatrice and Olivier, who, you know, lived a century before. Did I miss something? Did I fall asleep between pages 456 and 521? The world may never know. But what I do know is that when I invest in 561 pages of reading, I expect a little more of a reward. I most likely won't be rushing out for Kostova's next novel.
Next Up: A Visit From The Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan
January 6, 2012
2012 Book Challenge
In order to spice things up this year, I decided to create a book challenge. Matchmaker and Auntie Greeney are joining in. All are welcome. I am going to keep track of this on a new page on this blog. We’ll see how far we get.
The challenge is to find and read 20 books that have one of these characteristics.
1. In French or originally in French if you don’t speak it
2. You have been avoiding
3. Set in Africa
4. Spouse’s choice
5. Science fiction
6. Childhood favorite
7. Author with Z in their name
8. Animal in the title
9. Yellow cover
10. On this list --> http://www.bbc.co.uk/arts/bigread/top100.shtml
11. Over 700 pages
12. Written in 1972
13. Has pictures in it (Children’s books don’t count. Think Slaughterhouse Five.)
14. Epistolary style
15. Author that only published one book
16. Derived from another book (like Wide Sargasso Sea -> Jane Eyre). Bonus if you read or have read the inspiration work.
17. Set over the 4th of July (at least a major event in the book if not the whole thing)
18. Mentioned in a movie (not based on but mentioned)
19. Two or more narrative modes (first person, second person, third person)
20. A weather event is central to the story
Rules:
One book can’t count for two things. So for instance if you read Dangerous Liasions for #1, it doesn’t count for #14.
Except for #6, they all have to be books you haven’t read.
The challenge is to find and read 20 books that have one of these characteristics.
1. In French or originally in French if you don’t speak it
2. You have been avoiding
3. Set in Africa
4. Spouse’s choice
5. Science fiction
6. Childhood favorite
7. Author with Z in their name
8. Animal in the title
9. Yellow cover
10. On this list --> http://www.bbc.co.uk/arts/bigread/top100.shtml
11. Over 700 pages
12. Written in 1972
13. Has pictures in it (Children’s books don’t count. Think Slaughterhouse Five.)
14. Epistolary style
15. Author that only published one book
16. Derived from another book (like Wide Sargasso Sea -> Jane Eyre). Bonus if you read or have read the inspiration work.
17. Set over the 4th of July (at least a major event in the book if not the whole thing)
18. Mentioned in a movie (not based on but mentioned)
19. Two or more narrative modes (first person, second person, third person)
20. A weather event is central to the story
Rules:
One book can’t count for two things. So for instance if you read Dangerous Liasions for #1, it doesn’t count for #14.
Except for #6, they all have to be books you haven’t read.
January 4, 2012
Knit-mas Presents
So while I wasn’t doing any Christmas crafting this year, I did spent half of November and December knitting. What you ask? These storybook hats whose pattern was show-cased in my Knitting Patterns for Dummies book.
I made the green one first. That is for our niece/ nephew set to arrive in May. You will notice it is smaller than the other two because I made it using the "baby" size pattern. It came out OK but the ribs were a little wonky. I think because it was knit purl knit purl and I must have briefly and accidentally knit knit purled or purl purl knitted.
I have never knitted ribs, done any kind of decreasing, or used circular needles. Mostly I have just knitted rectangles and squares. Remember this? There was a bit of a learning curve here but they weren't too hard once I got started.
As I was pleased with hat number 1, I decided to make ones for our two nieces T-Bone and Buggy. I ventured into stripes here (as you can see). The ribs on the first one were OK with maybe a slight error. But, on the last hat, I decided to put counters after every 10 stitches. I knew I was supposed to hit them after I made a purl stitch so this helped keep me on track. The last hat had the best ribs.
Mr. thought the girls hats were way too big and was joking they would be ready to wear them to college. But, I followed the pattern for gauge and what-not using the "toddler" sizing and in the end, they fit them and Mr. had to admit, they were better than he originally gave me credit for.
I have regressed back to knitting rectangles though. I am currently working on a scarf for myself using some gray merino wool I bought just because I liked it. Stay tuned...
Movie Review: The Help
Mr. and I got The Help On Demand a few weeks ago. I was hesitant going in because I LOVED the book, probably the best thing I read in 2010, and the movie commercials made it seem like it was some kind of comedy which the book was not.
It was beneficial that I had read this ages ago because when I finally saw the movie, I could only spot the significant changes (like what happened to Constantine) so I wasn’t overly disappointed or annoyed. SPOILER AHEAD!!!!!! Although… I am fairly convinced in the book Skeeter breaks up with her boyfriend and in the movie he does with her. This was frustrating to me because it made her seem like a victim in the movie when by breaking up with him, she was CHOOSING her life. I have tried to verify this via Google since I have lent out my copy of the book and couldn’t look it up but no dice. Can anyone tell me if this is really the case: he didn’t break up with her in the book? (Edited: Hoops just told me that there was a lot more drama but in the end, he breaks off of their engagement. Thanks Hoops!)
In the end, I thought this was a good representation of the story. Like any book adaption to film, not everything makes it in and if you are reading the book, you get a lot more background and what not to put things into perspective.
It was beneficial that I had read this ages ago because when I finally saw the movie, I could only spot the significant changes (like what happened to Constantine) so I wasn’t overly disappointed or annoyed. SPOILER AHEAD!!!!!! Although… I am fairly convinced in the book Skeeter breaks up with her boyfriend and in the movie he does with her. This was frustrating to me because it made her seem like a victim in the movie when by breaking up with him, she was CHOOSING her life. I have tried to verify this via Google since I have lent out my copy of the book and couldn’t look it up but no dice. Can anyone tell me if this is really the case: he didn’t break up with her in the book? (Edited: Hoops just told me that there was a lot more drama but in the end, he breaks off of their engagement. Thanks Hoops!)
In the end, I thought this was a good representation of the story. Like any book adaption to film, not everything makes it in and if you are reading the book, you get a lot more background and what not to put things into perspective.
January 3, 2012
2012 Here I Come
I don't care for New Year's resolutions but in the spirit of a new year, I decided I would write down some things I am excited about for this year and some things that are on my list of 2012 to-dos. Fortunately, the world isn't going to end until December so I should be able to get most of this done.
Excitement list:
- Our new niece/ nephew due in May. We love babies so we are happy to add another one to the list of babies we can spoil.
- Mad Men Season 5. Finally!
- Downton Abbey Season 2 Will Matthew and Mary get together?
- The 2012 Presidential Election. We only get political every four years so watch out!
- Vacation. We don't know where we are going yet but most likely we will be going on one so eh, good enough pour moi.
- Anniversaries. I love a celebration and this year is my and Mr.'s 10th anniversary of dating, 7th anniversary of living together, and 5th anniversary of getting married. And yes, if you can do math, that means we lived in sin. Go ahead grasp your pearls.
To-dos:
- Last year I read 37 books, this year I would like to read at least 40. (I would have made it to 40 this year if the iPhone purchase didn't result in my precious reading hours being replaced by app'ing.) Also, last year I only read two books written by men and the majority were set in England. I am going to try to branch out this year a bit. I want to do a reading challenge but I have been unable to find one I like.
- Get new blinds for our basement. I have been complaining about our blinds since we moved in. It's time.
- Install the garbage disposal and outdoor light we have sitting in our dining room collecting dust.
- I used to take classes at the art institute and stopped soon after Mr. and I got engaged in order to save money for our wedding. (They are not cheap. Art classes or weddings... Take your pick. ) I would like to start taking classes again. This may have to wait until the fall because the spring semester should be starting soon and I am not sure I can get it together to register by then.
- Continue my shred and stick to lowish carb eating. I am eating popcorn as I type so... Hmmmm....
- Go ice-skating more than once. We are a 10 minute walk from the rink. No excuses. Do you hear that Mr.???
- Actually make it to the (local) beach this year. This has been a goal since we last went to the beach the weekend we got engaged in 2005. We have been there for countless walks in the past few years but I want to go sit in the sand and actually be at the beach, not just passing through.
- Limit Whole Foods trips to 4 trips a week or less.
- Find out who killed Rosie Larsen.
Excitement list:
- Our new niece/ nephew due in May. We love babies so we are happy to add another one to the list of babies we can spoil.
- Mad Men Season 5. Finally!
- Downton Abbey Season 2 Will Matthew and Mary get together?
- The 2012 Presidential Election. We only get political every four years so watch out!
- Vacation. We don't know where we are going yet but most likely we will be going on one so eh, good enough pour moi.
- Anniversaries. I love a celebration and this year is my and Mr.'s 10th anniversary of dating, 7th anniversary of living together, and 5th anniversary of getting married. And yes, if you can do math, that means we lived in sin. Go ahead grasp your pearls.
To-dos:
- Last year I read 37 books, this year I would like to read at least 40. (I would have made it to 40 this year if the iPhone purchase didn't result in my precious reading hours being replaced by app'ing.) Also, last year I only read two books written by men and the majority were set in England. I am going to try to branch out this year a bit. I want to do a reading challenge but I have been unable to find one I like.
- Get new blinds for our basement. I have been complaining about our blinds since we moved in. It's time.
- Install the garbage disposal and outdoor light we have sitting in our dining room collecting dust.
- I used to take classes at the art institute and stopped soon after Mr. and I got engaged in order to save money for our wedding. (They are not cheap. Art classes or weddings... Take your pick. ) I would like to start taking classes again. This may have to wait until the fall because the spring semester should be starting soon and I am not sure I can get it together to register by then.
- Continue my shred and stick to lowish carb eating. I am eating popcorn as I type so... Hmmmm....
- Go ice-skating more than once. We are a 10 minute walk from the rink. No excuses. Do you hear that Mr.???
- Actually make it to the (local) beach this year. This has been a goal since we last went to the beach the weekend we got engaged in 2005. We have been there for countless walks in the past few years but I want to go sit in the sand and actually be at the beach, not just passing through.
- Limit Whole Foods trips to 4 trips a week or less.
- Find out who killed Rosie Larsen.
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