A Dime a Dozen

"Fledgling" by Octavia Butler

2012-01-08T12:15:00.002-05:00

Octavia Butler has been recommended to me again and again, so I finally picked up her last book. With "Fledgling," she does not disappoint. Although Butler has reportedly said that even she didn't take "Fledgling" seriously, it follows a lot of the same themes of her more-famous sci fi works.She reminds me of Mary Doria Russell, exploring issues of race, free will, humanity and morality. Fresh, interesting re-working of the usual vampire myth. Though it has something of a "whodunit" plot, the murder-mystery elements take a back burner to the main character's development and her exploration of her identity and where she fits in with her species. Highly recommend this book for anyone who is interested in fantasy, anthropology and social critique.

I really want to read "Parable of the Sower," now.

2012-01-02T22:55:00.001-05:00

Bloodlines by Richelle Mead
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

I was so disappointed in this book. Richelle Mead's Vampire Academy series solidly good -- a straight up vamp teen romance series that was actually fairly well-written (particularly for the genre). Fun, fast read. Not so much with "Bloodlines." The plot was horribly obvious; the narrator oblivious while occasionally falling inconsistently into omniscient, which completely clashed with Sydney's character and literal personality. This novel was about 100 pages too long and told readers what was going on more often than showing them.

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2011-11-27T00:56:00.001-05:00

The Complete Maus: A Survivor's Tale by Art Spiegelman
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

A graphic novel actually won a Pulitzer, with good reason. You may be able to see/hear/read a lot of what the Spiegelmans endure in many other World War II memoirs, but "Maus" is told from the unique perspective of first-hand narration from Art's father, Vladek, and from a second-generation survivor struggling to understand what his parents went through in the war. Spiegelman effectively breaks up the headiness of the war history by switching the narration up between the war and present day conversation between father and son. This one really lived up to the hype.

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For a dreary Monday afternoon

2011-11-21T13:16:00.003-05:00

I'm a life-long reader, meaning: reading books and all that it entails is the only thing I have ever done with my life with any real consistency. Everything else falls to the wayside. I've tried soccer, I've tried roller derby, I've tried horseback riding (that one is second ... but not a close second), running, basketball, journalism.

But I am always a reader. And when I think about the time, and space and relationships that have been devoured, for the sake of that next page, that next scene, that next author, that next book I have to have ... it's really quite pathetic, really.

26 years, countless hours melting into days and weeks and months. And all that it means to? Some 450 books. I read and all that it it amounts to is some 450 books that I have actually read.

Not much, is it?

How To Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe

2011-11-19T19:53:00.001-05:00

How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe: A Novel by Charles Yu

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This book could be summed up as a coming-of-age survival story, but it is so much more than that. In its own words: "The story of a man trying to figure out what he knows, teetering on the edge of yes or no, of risk or safety, whether it is worth it or not to go on, to carry on, into the breach of each successive moment."

At times it's laugh-out-loud funny, at times it made me cry, and throughout, it's beautiful, stream-of-conscious, poetic. It gets bit redundant at times -- the same plot loops said a few different ways throughout, but that's also kind of the point. Well worth the read.

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Wicked Lovely Series: Darkest Mercy

2011-03-06T10:29:00.002-05:00

Darkest Mercy by Melissa Marr

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This series was such a guilty pleasure for me, but it was solidly good (what the Twilight series should have been, in the end). Yes, there's teen romance and love triangles, but in all the right ways. Marr does an excellent job of developing the characters throughout the series and draws from classic fey folklore. I love the play between the courts. Just another ya series I can't stop reading -- but at least this one was written coherently.

House of Mystery

2011-02-03T09:18:00.001-05:00

House of Mystery, Vol. 1: Room and Boredom by Matthew Sturges

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I looked into House of Mystery because of my love of Fables and Jack of Fables. They are as different as night and day, but both excellent. The series focuses on five characters who are trapped in a supernatural bar set in the House of Mystery (an architectural hodge-podge, creepy mansion) where people pay their tab in the only accepted currency of the realm: story telling. While much darker than Fables, the two series share Sturges and Willingham's wit and humor. I'm interested to see where they take it in the next volume.

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All About Love: New Visions

2011-01-15T22:36:00.000-05:00

A coworker of mine recommended bell hooks to me. I'm glad she did. The book's premise is an interesting one, and I agreed with a lot of what hooks' argues. Hooks contends that many in our society have forgotten how to love, what it is to love. If you love someone, you do not abuse them, physically or mentally. Hooks believes that there is a difference between affection and love, that many confuse the two.

Anyone who thinks "falling in love" is something that happens to you against your will -- that love is not a choice -- does not know love. Love is a choice, a decision you make to commit to someone; it is something you have to work for.

Hooks covers spirituality, familial love, romantic love, commitment, honesty, values, community.

I haven't read as much non-fiction as I should. I've never read any "self-help" books and I have barely scratched the surface in philosophy, sociology and feminism. This is a book of essays on various topics concerning love -- the first in a series of three by hooks. I highly recommend it for anyone interested in really examining yourself, your values and relationships.

"What is the What"

2011-01-12T18:22:00.002-05:00

I'm having difficulty putting into words what I want to say about this book. It had huge emotional impact for me and really illuminated the tragedy that has happened in Sudan over the last decades. African history in general (let alone country-specific events) is vague to so many Americans. "What is the What" is a must-read for anyone with any interest in modern-day Sudan. Beautifully written, gripping and funny. Eggers' brings home a frightening tragedy while making it compelling and accessible. Achek's story is the epitome of triumph over tragedy.

"The Art of Racing in the Rain"

2011-01-08T09:48:00.004-05:00

I bought "The Art of Racing in the Rain" by Garth Stein as a Christmas gift for someone and ended up reading it myself because I decided giving any family member a book narrated by an old dog about to die just seemed cruel.

And if you think that's a depressing beginning, it just gets worse from there. After the dog, Enzo, reveals in the first two pages that he is reflecting on his life with his owner Denny and his family as he dying -- he then informs you Denny's wife ends up dying, too. And then he proceeds to go back in time to allow you to become emotionally involved with Denny and Eve and their daughter Zoe before Eve dies.

And then it gets worse again, but I won't tell you about that part and ruin the meat of the plot for you.

I'm making the book sound terrible: it's not; it's just terribly depressing. It's actually beautifully written with wonderful characters and an interesting, if slightly melodramatic, plot. If you can get past how utterly heart-wrenching the book is (and let me tell you, the downward spiral in Denny's life kept going far longer than I expected), the book of course ends up being an ultimately uplifting story.

But, wow, I went through a full box of tissues before reaching the uplifting bit.

Discovering bell hooks

2010-12-31T23:17:00.002-05:00

A friend suggested I check out bell hooks after a really good discussion at work. I'm in the middle of reading "All About Love: New Visions" and "Feminism is for Everybody."

Neil and I started reading "New Visions" together, and the same reasons that I love it so far are the same reasons it drives Neil crazy. Go figure.

It's the first noon-fiction work I have really gotten into. It doesn't read like a text book, but I don't think hooks is exactly preachy, either. She simply tells the reader what she thinks, how she's feeling, and why, drawing heavily on personal experience and quoting a few other authors, sociologists and psychologists along the way.

Hooks contends that Americans no longer know how to love - that we confuse affection and care with love. Someone who is abusive does not love the person he or she is abusing. The short book focuses on different subjects every chapter - familial love, passionate love, greed, religion and spirituality, etc. Love should be more about respect -- you should cherish those who stand by, who you feel most comfortable around ... when it is all too easy to take them for granted and take things out on them. But doing that is not love.

This isn't to say that I agree with everything she has to say, and I don't think you have to in order to enjoy this book. It simply challenges you to question our society's views on love, how the media perceives love, and what it means to love.

More later, once I finish it.

A Northern Light

2010-12-30T08:52:00.003-05:00

Historical fiction abounds. It's not exactly hard to find a children's story about a kid who meets Abraham Lincoln or befriends Mark Twain or whatever it might be (in the adult section, too). It becomes a rarity when you stumble across a historical fiction book that works. Jennifer Donnelly's "A Northern Light" is one such work. In it, the real 20th century murder of Grace Brown is interwoven into the life of 16-year-old Mattie Gokey, as Mattie is working at the hotel in a town where a pregnant Grace is found drowned in the lake.

The story weaves between Mattie's present -- the summer of 1906 working at the hotel, getting to know Grace and then trying to understand her death -- and flashbacks to Mattie's past year working at home, going to school and trying to obtain her high school degree.

It's not hard to see why "A Northern Light" won a Carnegie Medal, Printz Award and was selected as a Borders Original Voice. The book deals with a lot of heavy issues - classism, racism, women's rights - in an accessible way, while still having an interesting plot and full characters. The Appalachian dialect of the early 1900s is done really well and really adds to the setting.

I had not heard of Jennifer Donnelly before reading this book. Her latest novel, "Revolution," came out earlier this year, and is also getting strong reviews. Looking forward to checking it out, too.

Maggie Furey

2010-11-14T22:15:00.005-05:00

I finally finished Maggie Furey's Shadowleague trilogy sometime in November. When I first started the series with "Heart of the Myrial," I thought it was a pretty stereotypical, predictable fantasy series. It ended having a few surprises, getting progressively better with the final two books -- "Spirit of the Stone" and "Echo of Eternity."

The story centers on a group called the Shadowleague who are supposed to be the only beings on the world that can penetrate the barriers between the different countries on the planet. Each country is divided by a curtain wall that keeps the different elements and geographical landscapes separate. Some are rainy and mountainous -- others, dry and arid. Specifically designed to cater to the species living in each different location, every country is perfectly suited for its inhabitant. The dragons, who need sunlight to survive, are located in the dessert. Humans who rely on cattle and farming are in a green, lush plains. But then something begins to destroy the curtain walls separating the different climates, causing all of the species to begin to deteriorate. The destruction of the curtain walls wreaks havoc in each country as normally dessert lands become rainy and mild, tropical climates turn bitterly cold. Humans, centaurs, aliens, and dragons all begin to suffer and die.

Later on in the series, the main characters discover that the world was actually built by a superior alien race -- it is a giant machine that is slowly breaking down, destroying the curtain walls in the process and mixing the weather. The Loremasters of the Shadowleague are specially selected members of each race on the world, the gate keepers of the knowledge of the planet. They alone know the secret to penetrate the curtain walls, as they alone have shared knowledge of all the different countries, so of course they alone can save the planet.

It sounds cheesy, I know. It is a straight up adventure fantasy, but a good one, with likable, well-rounded characters and an enjoyable, entertaining storyline. Simple enough, but a quick read and one that keeps the reading interested.

lesen

2010-11-12T21:25:00.003-05:00

This started out as a post about the Shadowleague trilogy (original intent, anyway), and ended up like this:

The entire living room is filled with books: only science fiction. Four bookshelves, and we still had to stick two more in the spare bedroom.

And that only covers science fiction/fantasy. The rest of the spare bedroom is children and young adult. The dining room is poetry. The bedroom is just two shelves of all the books we want to read "soon." The basement is fiction, but only the first three shelves of it. Behind the fake bamboo room in the basement, Neil has 40,000 comics and graphic novels.

And I still haven't gotten to the boxes of books we have yet to unpack -- history, philosophy, the rest of fiction. We can't use the garage, because it is filled with bookshelves we won't have room for until we finish the basement.

It's kind of disgusting, really. This is why I sit at home, alone on Friday nights, reading and writing about what I read.

The Turn of the Screw

2010-10-17T18:47:00.005-04:00

I like to think that I read a lot of books - certainly more than the average person. back in the day, I might have considered myself well-read ... but now, not so much. Being told to write for an audience with a fifth-grade reading level ... and eventually reading on basically the same level, must have had an effect eventually.

Anyway, I haven't read a "real" book a while. I used to love the classics, but now all I read are books that don't take much brain power ... teen fantasy, science fiction, graphic novels. Don't get me wrong: clearly I love the teenage brain sludge, otherwise I wouldn't read it ... but when I went back to the classics with "The Turn of the Screw" by Henry James, I think it made my head hurt a little.

James was a wee bit over my head. I have absolutely no idea if the narrator (the governess) was insane and imagining the whole thing, or it was supposed to be just a straight up ghost story. How can you tell when the narrator is reliable?

Quick summary: the novella begins with a friend recounting a tale of a dear friend he had, now deceased, who was a governess for a wealthy gentleman out in the country where she is instructed to care for two children, but never to contact their guardian for any reason. The story soon switches to this governess' perspective. And of course, she meets the two children, Flora and Miles and they seem perfect. Pale, blue-eyed, the whole package. And then the governess starts seeing dead people around the house. Oh, and they happen to be the previous governess and her lover. And she is the only one who can see them. And she is convinced the children can see them, too, and are being "influenced" by them ... and are just pretending to not see them.

But maybe it doesn't really matter. Either the governess was crazy or it's a straight up ghost story. I'm just not completely sure if the governess was supposed to be the bad guy, or the ghosts were supposed to be the bad guys.

Either way, it was a short novella and a nice ghost story of sorts to read in October.

Books I've read recently, but have been too lazy to write about

2010-09-25T12:47:00.003-04:00

So, hey, you get the condensed versions:

• Percy Jackson and the Olympian's "The Battle for the Labyrinth" by Rick Riordan. I love this series. A lot. It just keeps getting better and better - sad to be only one away from finishing. I guess I will have to check out the Red Pyramid and some of his other new stuff.

• "The Lions of Al-Rassan" by Guy Gavriel Kay. I love every Kay book, and this is one of his best (doesn't quite beat Tigana but it is definitely up there.) This has to be the most historical book of his I've read, not nearly as fantasy-like as most of his other works. There are real parallels here to Spanish history and the wars with Christians, Jews and Moors. Well worth a look if you are at all into historical fantasy.

• "The Heart of the Myrial" by Maggie Furey. Another Maggie insisted that I read this book a long, long time ago. It took me about 7 years, but I finally got around to it. While it began as a rather typical fantasy, it packed a few surprises. The writing gets better with the series.

• "Mockingjay" by Suzanne Collins - The entire Hunger Games series was excellent. As with anything that gains the slightest bit of notoriety, critics wailed about how violent and "adult" the books are. Death? Corrupt politicians? Noooo! So beyond a teenager's reach. But, seriously, the entire series is impossible to put down, and the ending didn't disappoint.

• "Girls in Trucks" by Katie Crouch. Crouch's debut, another one I picked up at a GM meeting a few years ago. I had heard nothing about it since I got it three years ago, so was surprised when people approached me saying they had heard good things about it. A national bestseller - who knew? What started out as a somewhat stereotypical YA about a high school girl took a few surprising turns. Deep, probing -- it asks all the tough love questions. Crouch just came out with her second, this spring. I will have to check it out.

A good Shannon Hale book!

2010-08-08T12:53:00.002-04:00

You might think I would have given up on Shannon Hale after starting with "Austenland," but I decided to try "Princess Academy," as I already owned it.

I should probably be a little ashamed at how much I like this book. I REALLY loved it. A lot. It had surprising depth for a YA novel. Not only was it a great fairytale princess story, but it also portrayed teenage insecurities, classism, and typical childhood rivalries exceptionally well. I guess I shouldn't have doubted a book that got a Newberry Honor nod.

Austenland

2010-08-06T22:01:00.003-04:00

I picked up an advanced copy of "Austenland" at one of the last meetings I attended before being forced to leave the book world. Like nearly every other hopelessly romantic female in the world, I gravitate toward all things Austen, but this one was too much for me. I can't imagine this book appealing to anyone who isn't an Austen fan (or at least Pride and Prejudice -- be it the book, BBC or 2004 film version).

It is such a short, quick book (basically the only thing I've been reading, this summer. surprise surprise!) that I did manage to get through the whole thing, but it was trite and predictable the entire way.

Don't get me wrong: generally, I can't get enough of horrible, predictable romantic comedies, but even I have my limits. Ugh. This is the worst post ever (and that's saying something, since all I do is ramble about my personal opinions of the books I read without any sort of critique whatsoever) but man, sorry. I'm done.

Alison Croggon

2010-07-18T21:54:00.003-04:00

Alison Croggon's Pellinor series begins with "The Naming" (released outside the U.S. as "The Gift").

There is nothing remotely original about the series, drawing heavily on LoTR and Harry Potter (right down to defeating a sea dog monster by singing it a lullaby in the second in the series). But, the writing's better than average and the characters are interesting.

I read the first one really quickly but am having a hard time getting through the second in the series, "The Riddle." I am struggling with the same issue I faced when reading "The Historian" -- I just feel like the same stuff keeps happening over and over again, without really going anywhere. Maerad and Cadvan are traveling. They're faced with a force of evil and banish it. She talks about the weather and landscape. They get to where they're going. They hear bad news, then they travel again. They're faced with a force of evil and banish it. They travel some more. They meet another bad guy. They travel some more. She talks about the weather and landscape. Then they get to where they're going. (In "The Historian" -- oh! another dead end and lost clue. Noooo!). "The Historian" dragged forever without really going anywhere -- Croggon's second is just repetitive.

This series has been recommended to be several times; a good bookseller friend of mine raves about it. So maybe I'm the only one who thinks it is a little too Lord of the Rings/Star Wars (don't go to the dark side, the light is all about "balance"/Harry Potter?

Ah well. With any luck, it will get better as the series goes on (again, like HP).

Melissa Marr's Latest: "Radiant Shadows"

2010-07-04T15:03:00.002-04:00

When I started working at Borders, Melissa Marr had just released her first young adult novel, “Wicked Lovely.” Since 2007, she’s released one a year. Her latest came out this spring, “Radiant Shadows,” and I have yet to really be disappointed by the series.

Marr keeps the storyline and fantasy world fresh by having each story focus on a different character. A character that may be present only in a chapter or two in one of the earlier books becomes the main character in the next.

Such is the case in “Radiant Shadows.” The Unchanging Queen’s brother, Devon, is also her Bloody Hand -- he does all her dirty week, serving as the eyes and ears of the high court outside of Fairie.

Ani is Gabriel’s daughter, half fey and half mortal. Both characters were introduced earlier in the series, but in “Radiant Shadows” they come together when readers learn that Ani is only alive because of Devon’s interference.

Don’t get me wrong: it is still just another young adult fantasy series. But it can be rather challenging to find one that is actually written with some skill. Most are so badly written they jar you out of the plot with the awkward transitions and poor diction (House of Night, anyone?). That is not the case with the “Wicked Lovely” series. Marr does an excellent job of keeping all of the threads of each character up in each new installment - e.g. a character doesn’t just drop off the face of the earth, never to be heard from again.

Personally, I find faeries more interesting than vampires (probably because they’re generally witty and quick, rather than just blood-sucking), and will keep watching for Marr’s take on the world of faerie. The final book of the Wicked Lovely series is slated for publication February 2011.

An Abundance of Katherines

2010-07-03T22:48:00.003-04:00

Continuing down the line of John Green works, I finished “An Abundance of Katherines” a few weeks ago. Though vastly different from Green’s debut, “Looking for Alaska,” "Katherines” is another coming of age novel centering on learning how to survive in one’s skin. The age old teen struggle of learning to like yourself and like yourself enough to show other people who you really are - not shirk away from your perceived flaws. Learn to be OK with how people see you, because it is often only a reflection of how you see yourself.

In “An Abundance of Katherines,” the narrator -- a washed up child prodigy named Colin -- has dated a lot of girls for his 17 years -- all of them named Katherine. 19 of them, in fact. And Colin has been dumped by every one of them.

After Katherine XIX dumps him -- inevitably, in Colin’s mind -- he can’t shake the stupor. His best friend (e.g. his only friend) cajoles him into taking a road trip: destination anywhere.

They are lured to Gutshot, Tennessee, the final resting place of the Archduke Franz Ferdinand and find jobs to keep them there for the duration of the summer.

OK, so I've only read the first two of Green's books, but even simply going off of the first two I would recommend him to anyone who appreciates a well-written, quick read. I cannot put them down. It is rare to find an author who can actually write good, believable characters and a good story, but Green does it. Character-driven and still an interesting plot.

Amazing.

Wings, Spells and two more

2010-06-19T11:07:00.004-04:00

My mom happens to work for a pretty impressive school district, especially when compared to today's typical state of slashed budgets where kids no longer have physical education, let alone music, art or foreign language. But at the middle school where she works, they actually still get to go above and beyond and have authors, artists and speakers visit. Amazing, eh? One of them that visited this spring was Aprilynne Pike. And being the awesome person that she is, my mom gave me copies of her books.

Pike debuted in May 2009 with "Wings," the first in a series of four (tetralogy?) centering on Laurel, a girl who discovers she's a fairy at 15. The storyline should be familiar to anyone who has read any YA fantasy book published in the last 3-4 years. However, I have to give Pike some credit because she at least *tried* to make her plot slightly different, combining a few of the traditional tales to give the typical Avalon/fantasy/fey line a bit of a face lift.

Yep, fairies in Avalon. And trolls. And plants that look like humans, and all kinds of stuff.

"Spells" is the second installment and gets a little more into the dramatic/romance oh how do I choose between two boys crap (or ... a wolf and a vampire/human boy or fairy), but you know: that's what happens when you're friends with Stephenie Meyer. But don't worry: she doesn't wallow nearly as much as Meyer, nor does she show the same sappy attachment to her characters. For me, that is what ruined the Twilight series. Meyer so fell in love with her own characters, and she refused to let them make harsh choices or have partially tragic endings. So far, Pike seems to be avoiding the trap that her well-known friend fell into.

Worth checking out, if you're looking for a quick fantasy read.

What I miss about bookstores

2010-05-13T22:37:00.001-04:00

The store had only been open for a few weeks, if that. There were people everywhere; the shelves were overflowing with books, music, movies. There were even displays of books outside the store, greeting you before you even entered (this was the first time I had ever seen that). There were stacks of books at the ends of shelves. There were books above the shelves they had so many books. There were employees at every register, a line at the information desk, a line at the music desk, a line at the cafe.

This was back when the Information Desk was still, indeed, an information desk. Employees stood behind the desk, with the computers facing them. They happily told you where to find what you needed, or took you there themselves.

This was back when James (for the purpose of this article, let’s call him James) still worked at Borders. Back before things “went corporate,” as he used to say ... though technically, it was already Borders Group, Inc. Over time, James grew to recognize me when I came into the store. He would find me kneeling in front of the Science Fiction section, to see if Gaiman had released anything new (Neverwhere!!), or replenished the third book in the Fionavar Tapestry, and he would thrust a stack of books into my hands.

“Did you know that Douglas Adams did some nonfiction? Have you seen this?” he would say excitedly. And I always loved every book he introduced me to - from Sidhartha and Last Chance to See to Good Omens and The Things They Carried.

And he would tell me about how virtually every paycheck he made at Borders went right back into the company. He told me about the amazing monthly book credits employees received, how he had crates of books instead of furniture in his apartment, and he made me fall in love with the company -- moreso, as I loved just about any bookstore that carried, well, books.

Fast forward nearly 10 years, to where bookstores are today. Where Borders no longer carries obscure music, and it’s been years since I’ve heard anything playing overhead that I have wanted to buy. Where Amazon is changing the landscape of the book industry, and e-book readers with it.

Where I go into that same store, and James is gone, and Ben, Kristen, and the rest of them.

Where Borders Cafe is now a Seattles Best, and Paperchase is more successful than the backbone of the business -- books. Where you got into a store and have to ask for a book that has been out for a four days -- only to find that it hasn’t been shelved yet, because the employees don’t have enough hours to keep up with 20,000 sq.-ft space. The shelves are in disarray, and you find roleplaying in the middle of Sci-Fi, or a romance book in Young Adult.

What happened to my bookstore?
When they sold books -- not candies, stuffed animals and bags. This was back when the average employee was anything but average. They were passionate, smart people who read just as much as the customers. They would find you browsing Phillip Pullman and ask if you had read Amelia Atwater Rhodes. They didn’t greet you at the door with a coupon and ask if you needed help finding something, rather they thought it was a short visit if you had to leave after 45 minutes of browsing and managed to limit your purchase to three books, not six or seven.

This was back when the average customer spent at least an hour in the store -- they didn’t come in asking for the latest NYT bookseller or Oprah book, but went beyond the bestseller fixture at the front of the store.

What happened to employing people who read?
Now, when I ask for a book, I get blank stares. When I asked the general manager at a store in Michigan what his favorite book was, he shrugged and said he didn’t read, but liked movies.

Shouldn’t it be a prerequisite to like books, to be able to work there? Am I being old fashioned? I don’t think so ...

In my hometown, I grew up going to Borders, Barnes & Noble, and Joseph-Beth Booksellers. I think as a kid, and even as a teenager, I would have been hard-pressed to tell you the difference between any of the brands. They were bookstores, so I loved them. Sure, maybe some of them had dark-wood shelves, and others lighter birch or something, but a bookstore of any kind is a good thing. I connected with people who read, and I found some of the people at each place.

I miss going into a bookstore on a weekly basis, and having the employees recognize me, sometimes running up to me with a book I have to read.

I miss even recognizing the employees, myself, to be honest. Nowadays, I rarely see the same employees twice at the local Borders I go too.

I love Borders, and will fight for the survival of bricks and mortar bookstores in every way that I can (mainly just from continuing to buy from them), but my heart aches for what was.

I know I am generalizing a lot, here. Of course there are still smart people at Borders, in the stores and elsewhere. And I know that people still go in there and waste an afternoon exploring and reading. But there just seems to be such an air of defeat, at the very least indifference, to the place.

And I miss my Borders.

Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.

2010-05-12T22:33:00.004-04:00

I'm way late too the bandwagon on this one.

Can't even remember why I bought this book - if I did. Maybe I picked it up in the free book room from work, maybe it was a gift ... Regardless, I'm not really one to read "diet" books, which I thought this was. It's not.

It's awesome. And I rather fanatical about this book - so much so that I can't really write anything concrete about it, except ...

I think every person on the planet should read Michael Pollan's "In Defense of Food." It is the only book about diet/nutrition/food that I have ever read that is actually readable, interesting, and makes sense. (OK, not that I've ever read many. I think it I'm up to two, with this one.)

If you want to know why America has higher rates of obesity, heart disease and diabetes than anywhere else on the planet, read this book.

It gives you fantastic advice, like ...

• Eat meals
• Don't get your fuel from the same place you car does
• Try not to eat alone
• Cook, and if you can, plant a garden
• Eat slowly

Simple stuff: it doesn't tell you that you to avoid certain food groups that make no sense (cough Atkins cough cough), but yes, it does tell you to lay off the Pringles, white bread (e.g. bleached/processed flour + sugar = bread devoid of nutrients), Cheetos any other fake/ridiculously processed foods.

Even if you can't stomach being preached at, the book covers a decent amount of history on the food industry - from the advent of margarine and a history of Kellogg's to the lipid hypothesis.

If you don't want to know the why behind the what, just pick up "Food Rules," which is basically an expansion of the past part of "In Defense of Food."

Discovering John Green

2010-04-17T23:55:00.004-04:00

Nothing makes me appreciate opportunity cost more than the realization of what amazing literature I missed while attending college. Really. It's the only possible excuse I could have for not knowing an author like John Green for the first half-decade of his career. Sadly, I didn't have much time for pleasure reading while I was in school - probably because most of my classes involved journalism, English or German.

But anyway, an MLS friend of mine finally told me to read "Looking for Alaska." Well, anything by John Green, but I like to start with the debut work first, if I can.

And John Green is Stephen Chomsky meets Salinger meets Gabriel Zevin meets John Knowles. I'm not kidding, it is that good.

I can't remember the last time a book made me cry, laugh out loud, and ponder the meaning of life before I was halfway through it. Particularly in young adult.

"An Abundance of Katherines" is next.

Tiger! Tiger! (Or, the Stars My Destination)

2010-04-01T23:04:00.003-04:00

Everyone has read, or at least heard of Huxley's "A Brave New World" and George Orwell's "1984." From there, the list of dystopian, futuristic novels goes on: Ayn Rand's "We the Living," Bradbury's "Fahrenheit 451."

So why are those considered classic literature when Alfred Bester's "The Stars My Destination" is not? The stigma of science fiction is a funny thing.

Originally published as "Tiger! Tiger!" in the U.K., the first title is much more fitting than the U.S. title "The Stars my Destination." The American title is much too soft, inviting for a novel centering on Gully Foyle, the most ruthless, single-minded criminal of the future.

Gully Foyle is so inhumane, truly a tiger, that it is impossible to sympathize with him. He is transformed so completely a mere few chapters in that you no longer recognize the man behind the mask.

With such a cruel main character, I was skeptical about getting through the book, but Bester's reputation did not disappoint. It is such a detached, clinical read that one can easily look beyond the horrors the characters endure to focus on the plot. Even the characters who are "normal" (e.g. not on a suicide mission of revenge) are easy to dismiss. The characters are not meant to mimic people, they are just vessels to get the point of the plot across - not flushed out or wholly developed personalities, but one-dimensional creations that Gully Foyle can easily and thoughtlessly destroy.

It was a much faster read than I expected, too. Highly recommend it for anyone into dystopian novels or science fiction.

Gabrielle Zevin's Debut

2010-03-20T23:22:00.005-04:00

People seem to think it matters how a couple meets, but I have always been much more interested in how one parts. In general, I think endings tend to be more informative than beginnings. And yet, people love those meeting stories, even though they are all the same. It's always "a friend introduced us" or "I was in love with him from the moment I saw him" or "we were just friends."

I think that's why people love these stories actually. People love to hear them, because the stories are all the same-the stories remind us of ourselves.

Maybe ending stories are all the same, too. "I fell in love with someone else" or "I woke up one morning and I didn't love him anymore" or "She died" or "He died" or any combination therein.
--From Margarettown: a Novel, by Gabrielle Zevin

I read the first Gabrielle Zevin that most do: Elsewhere. It won some awards and can be found in just about any bookstore. From that point on, I was hooked. I followed it up with Memoirs of a Teenage Amnesiac, her other young adult novel.

I finally dug a little deeper and came upon her adult stuff: Margarettown and The Hole We're In. I just finished Margettown, her first published novel. Vastly different from her YA stuff, a bit more raw and just as engrossing.

She is rapidly becoming one of my favorite authors of all time. Margarettown is a love story. The story begins with the narrator, "N." writing to his daughter, Jane, to tell her about her parents met and fell in love - how"N." falls in love with Margaret Towne, really.

It sounds so ordinary when I sum it up that way; I don't know how else to succinctly sum it up without giving away too much. But it is so much more than a simple love story. It certainly doesn't really read like a romance (except for maybe about the first five pages). The book is harsh in its portrayal of how love can be, how hard it is to really know a person. Everything about the book is engaging, from the beautifully drawn characters and the variety of narrators to Zevin's gut wrenchingly honest observations on how fickle, yet true, love can be.

Blog Attempt ... 3?

2010-03-11T23:36:00.002-05:00

OK, so, after some debate, I've come up with a better solution to the whole two blog-thing: combine them.

Eclecticbookwrm is winning, because all I ever do is blog about books anymore, and it is a much more appropriate URL than my newer book blog. So, I'm going to eventually getting around to deleting the more online-diary-type entries on this one, and will use this one going forward.

Voila. (Thus, Google Search problem is fixed).

It's been a while since I've updated either of these, but I'm working on that.

Until then.

Graceling by Kristen Cashmore

2010-01-30T23:17:00.000-05:00

"Graceling" was a staff pick at Bookshelf at the Boatworks, this cute little indie bookshop in Tahoe City, so I picked it up for airport reading material.

Katsa is a 17-year-old, graced with special killing abilities. In rare cases, certain people in her country can be "graced" with anything - a special, extreme affinity for music or the arts, cooking. They can be mind readers, swimmers or fighters. For Katsa, she has been able to kill with her bare hands when her grace manifested itself when she was a young girl.

Though Katsa is royalty, her uncle, the king, has turned her into his own hired killer. It is on one of her missions that Katsa meets Po, another Graceling, and she is finally able to learn that she has more control of her own destiny than she realizes.

When it comes to finding good books to take on vacation, I am a lot more superficial than usual. I only grabbed "Graceling" because it was one of the thicker books on the YA shelf, and I wanted to get something that would last through the 10 hour day of traveling.

"Graceling" turned out to be one of the best young adult books I've read in a while (up there with Collins' the Hunger Games and Catching Fire). It can be kind of a challenge to find an author or series in the YA genre where plot, narrative and characterization all come together, and I think it does in this one.

And the best part? Cashmore did do a follow-up, "Fire," but it doesn't follow the same lead characters. It only takes place in the same world.

Looking forward to checking it out, soon.

Richelle Mead's Vampire Academy Series

2010-01-24T18:39:00.000-05:00

Neil got me the first three of the Vampire Academy series for Xmas, so I took the first one with me to Tahoe, where I proceeded to read the first book in the four-hour plane ride to Vegas. (I've come to terms with the fact that I prefer young adult over most books ... particularly over what most normal adults read.).

So anyway, my standards for "quality literature" are probably considerably lower than most people's, but really: I was surprised at how completely engrossed in this series I was.

There is nothing particularly spectacular about it. I mean, it's written in coherent sentences and has a decent, easy-to-follow plot and fairly believable characters (certainly more than I can say for some vamp/fantasy series in YA ... that I still like. heh.). It was just a quick, engrossing read.

Vampire Academy is narrated by Rose Hathaway, a half human/half vamp (Dhampir) training to become her best friend, Lissa's, guardian (a royal Moroi vampire). Rose and Lissa are closer than most best friends -- they have a special bond where Rose can slip into Lissa's conscience and feel what she is feeling, see what she is seeing.

There are four in the series so far:

"Vampire Academy"
"Frostbite"
"Shadow Kiss"
"Blood Promise"
The fifth in the series, "Spirit Bound," is coming out in May

I think this is my new favorite of the cheesy YA vampire series. Mead can actually write, unlike some of the authors in YA. Vampire Academy is Mead's only young adult series - she also authors two fantasy series -- one about a freelance shaman and the other, a succubus protagonist. They're on the list to check out.

Jasper Fforde

2010-01-21T22:48:00.000-05:00

Just when I thought Jasper Fforde couldn't get any better ... I got to meet the guy.

I guess I shouldn't really be surprised, I mean he had everything going for him. He's Welsh ... he writes literary fiction and makes all kinds of references to make bookworms of every type happy (from Austen, Bronte, and Dickens to contemporary and romance) ... he's witty, hilarious and unique.

And during his tour for Shades of Grey, he stopped by Borders and I got to get my books signed.

Sigh.

So anyway, it made me start re-reading some of the Thursday Next novels. (Namely, the ones I hadn't read twice, already ... Skimmed through Well of Lost Plots again and then read Something Rotten and First Among Sequels).

I just completely love him, to the point that I can't give any coherent detail as to why I love him.

Not brain-washed, I swear.

Looking forward to checking out Shades of Grey, soon.

Incidentally, did you know that he actually wrote The Big Over Easy and the Nursery Crime Series before Eyre Affair?

Who knew?

Children's Lit to Start the New Year

2010-01-03T22:25:00.000-05:00

I started the New Year by reading some stuff of my YA/IR shelf: A Wrinkle in Time and City of Ember.

Now I HAVE to go to the library and read the rest of L'Engle's series. I don't know what happened to my copies of Wind in the Door and Swiftly Tilting Planet ...

I'm not entirely sold on City of Ember. It was a bit different than I expected, and given that you can read one in a matter of hours, I guess I should just pick up the other two and finish it, too.

A Game of Thrones

2010-01-03T22:19:00.000-05:00

This book and the entire Song of Ice and Fire series has been recommended to me more times than I can remember. I can be fairly reluctant to take on new Sci Fi series -- it's a big commitment to read seven books when each is 700+ pages (it's the same reason I still haven't started Jordan's Wheel of Time). Forgive the cliche, but really: so many books, so little time.

But I relented. And then I couldn't put it down, of course... and then suddenly found myself anticipating the rest of the series.

Martin tells a fantastic story, but leaves no character safe from his plots. He kills characters off easily, if pain and suffering and death are what the story demand, so make sure you don't get too attached to anyone. But, I am, of course, attached to some. Favorites: Arya, Jon Snow, Caitlyn, Tyrion and Dany.

I'm catching up on some Jasper Fforde and YA before I continue the series, but I have some time until Dance with Dragons is released, I think. We'll see if it actually is released this fall.

The past few months have changed a lot for me, and I find myself reading much more than I have in the past several years (since high school ... really). I spend more time reading than anything, nowadays (not a bad thing). I won't set a goal of the 50 books in 365 days -- that's much too organized and ambitious -- but I think I might actually come closer this year than I have since about 2003... but at least with this thing it will be much easier to remember what I have read.

Books Over the Channel

2009-12-18T11:56:00.000-05:00

I picked up "The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society" as a freebie at a book expo while I was still with Borders. For one who loves reading and used to live in the U.K., it was a no-brainer. I finally got around to reading it a few weeks and found it to be a quick, enjoyable read.

The novel sets its scene through a series of letters written to or from Miss Juliet Ashton, a writer made famous for witty and humorous columns intended to distract London's citizens during World War II. It's 1946 and the war is now over, leaving Juliet at a loss of what to do and write about.

She receives a letter from a member of Gurensey's Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. Through his letters and letters of other members of the society, you learn of Guernsey's fate during the war while it was occupied by German soldiers.

Written by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows, this is a great book to read while on vacation or traveling.

Random sidenote: I've never been in a typical book club. I've been in "long-distance" online book chats, where friends from school have read the same books and then discussed them in e-mail or on Facebook and the like, but I've never been in a stereotypical, monthly bookclub. I've never really been interested in most of the reading selections of the ones I've seen, but maybe I should try again ... Not only would it help my broaden my horizons a bit, but maybe I would read more than graphic novels and YA, then too!

Bill Willingham

2009-11-23T20:58:00.000-05:00

He's written Elementals, Ironwood, Fables. Pantheon, Propsition Players, Shadowpact. And now, his first Fables' novel "Peter & Max."

Of all of his comics, the only ones I've read so far are Fables, Ironwood and Jack of Fables. Because of those three, I want to read everything Willingham I can get my hands on. Fables is by far my favorite series I've read. I'll admit: I have not read nearly as many comics as most I know who get into them. I have a hard time with the straight-up superhero stuff, but I like some of the Vertigo/fantasy stuff out there. And Fables is the best of what's out there.

Willingham's latest spin-off from the popular series is the novel "Peter & Max," which tells the tell of Peter Piper and his brother, Max. Darker than most of the graphic novels the book is based on, it was as engrossing and entertaining as any other piece in the series.

Highly recommend it.

Teen Fantasy ... my Ultimate Guilty Pleasure

2009-11-08T20:59:00.000-05:00

I can't get enough of teen fantasy, no matter how bad the writing is, how cliched the vampire world is, or how predictable the characters are.

In the last week or so, I've read:

Melissa Da La Cruz's latest in the Blue Bloods series, "The Van Allen Legacy"
The entire Mortal Instruments series (thus far) from Cassandra Clare -- City of Bones, City of Ashes and City of Glass
Fragile Eternity by Melissa Marr

And I still have to catch up on the latest House of Night novel from P.C. Cast.

I know I'm not the only one, but I still have to force myself to admit that I read them, sometimes... particularly when people at work ask me what I'm reading. People in the health care profession think I am odd just for reading as much as I do, let alone the fact that more than half of what I read is young adult, and the rest mostly sci fi or fantasy.

A lot of them, I only read for the cheesy predictable plots. I like vampire romances. =P But Melissa Marr's writing actually has some depth and is more enjoyable. Her world of Fairie has some serious mythological allusions in it -- from Bananach to the rules and traditions of the four courts.

My copy of "Fragile Eternity" is a miscut first edition. The first 26 pages or so were all stuck together at the top of the pages. I had never seen it before. Kind of cool.

Nathaniel Hawthorne

2009-11-04T09:58:00.000-05:00

Not necessarily one of my favorite authors, although I actually liked having to read this short stories in various English classes throughout school.

In one of my first blog spots from years ago, I quoted "The House of Seven Gables:"

"The effervescence of youth and passion, and the fresh gloss of the intellect and imagination, endow them with a false brilliancy, which makes fools of themselves and other people. Like certain chintzes, calicoes, and ginghams, they show finely in their first newness, but cannot stand the sun and rain, and assume a very sober aspect after washing day."

I think it is worth repeating.

nicolebonomini.blogspot.com

2009-11-04T09:51:00.001-05:00

Since this is basically a journal, I made a real blog that is just about what I've been reading and listening to lately.

It's at nicolebonomini.blogspot.com.

Check it out, if I haven't bored you enough on this swollen excuse for a blog.

When Winter Comes, We'll Leave Behind Us...

2009-11-04T09:20:00.004-05:00

I'm wondering if wanting a thing too much ruins it. If somehow the yearning gives it away. Suddenly you're found out, so the situation, the thing, loses its luster. People can see you in your eyes, that you want it too badly, and it either scares them or disgusts them. Either way, it's gone.

I am torn constantly between a fear of settling for what I have ... of it not being good enough, and the worry that I am ruining a good thing because I don't know how good I have it.

I'm not much for logic. This is readily apparent to anyone who has known me for longer than five minutes. The things I value, my personal moral system, if you will, is what drives me. I know what is it important to me, even if I'm terrible at math, systematic reasoning, what have you.

I struggle to compromise on these things of importance to me. Perhaps I don't want to compromise. I don't think I am a terribly black and white person, but there are certain things you simply don't do if you really care about a person and there are certain ways to show that you really do care.

But I don't want this to be it. There should be more than this. I don't care if it's naive, or too idealistic.

I want it all, and I'll be damned if I don't at least try.

Your feelings can't be that dulled, you can't be numb to it all.

I know it won't always be the first, it can't always be the first, or all new for you. But it should be the best, the World Series kind of thing... whether you say it is or not.

I'll keep trying, I have to. Otherwise, it's really not enough.

William Gibson's Pattern Recognition

2009-10-26T14:23:00.000-04:00

Best known for the classic "Necromancer," William Gibson's works top any avid sci fi reader's list. I have no idea why it took me so long to get around to reading something of his. All I can say now is, I'm glad I finally did.

"Pattern Recognition," from 2003, tells the story of Cayce Pollard, a New Yorker who travels the world telling companies what the next "it" thing will be due to her sixth sense for trends. Cayce knows what products are going to catch on before they really break into mainstream culture. Brands and logos truly effect her -- Prada, Tommy Hilfinger, Disney ... they all make her ill. She has to cut the labels out of her own clothing so that she can actually put them on.

Engrossing, fascinating look at advertising and marketing and its affects on society.

Books at the Huffington Post: "Why a book section now?"

2009-10-07T10:10:00.000-04:00

Why books won't stay banned or ever really go away, no matter how virtual our society gets:

"So when Arianna asked me to think about a Books section for The Huffington Post, I thought, why a new books section, why Huffington Post, wjavascript:void(0)hy now?

Because there's never been a better time or place. People who think books are dying don't understand the power of ideas to inspire. And people who think books will die at the hands of the Internet, don't understand the power of what happens when an engaged reader -- of both web and print content -- discovers new ideas, new thoughts, new thinkers, or remembers the impact of a classic. Word spreads faster than ever, and the ensuing debate helps refine ideas for the future."

Read more at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/amy-hertz/books-the-watering-hole_b_308756.html

Lev Grossman's The Magicians

2009-10-04T19:17:00.000-04:00

When I first heard about Lev Grossman's new novel, "The Magicians," from NPR about two months ago, I was a bit skeptical. Grossman and the NPR correspondent Tom Vitale called the book an "adult Harry Potter," set in a modern-day Brooklyn. The book centers on Quentin Coldwater, a dissatisfied high school senior who escapes life and reality by continually re-reading a fantasy series from his childhood, which takes place in the magical land of Fillory.

Toward the end of his senior year, Quentin is interviewing with ivy league schools and listlessly preparing to carry on his lackadaisical life at Princeton. While chasing a dropped paper through a community garden in New York, he finds himself never reaching the back of the garden. Eventually, he walks far enough into it for it to become the grounds of Brakebills College, a school of Magical Pedagogy. From there, Quentin's world is altered irrevocably as he discovers both magic and his beloved Fillory are real.

"The Magicians" draws heavily both on Lewis' "Chronicles of Narnia" and on J.K. Rowling's "Harry Potter" series. Grossman admits that Fillory and its gods are more or less Narnia and Aslan. But this is no children's book. The characters and plot are far more complex and far less black and white than anything Lewis or Rowling have created. The majority of the novel takes place in our own world, where the harshness of reality plays more of a role in the characters' lives than many of the fantasy or science fiction novels I've read.

And therein lies the works' real strength.

Grossman refuses to ignore reality, regardless of what world or plane of existence its characters are in, no matter how fantastic the setting or creature. Quentin deals with real-world issues that many in college students and post-grads would face. The book is less about who is good or evil and more about what magic is for, what life is for, and Quentin struggles with the questions just as much as the rest of us. He screws up, and he actually has to pay for his mistakes. There is no Dumbledore there to make sure Quentin isn't expelled for breaking the rules. There is no "happily ever after." Grossman's fantasy worlds are just as harsh as our own world. The characters are sympathetic, believable and fallible, and well worth seeing through to the end.

This is Grossman's first step into Science Fiction/Fantasy, and I hope he doesn't stop here. Though a standalone, I almost wish it was the start of a series or a trilogy. Yes, it's really that good.

Ellen Hopkins is my Hero

2009-10-04T18:55:00.000-04:00

Last Wednesday, I went to see Ellen Hopkins at Borders in Ann Arbor. She is one of the coolest authors I've seen in a while... inspiring to her readers, a huge supporter of literary rights and Banned Book Week, and an amazing writer to boot. She is one of few authors in the Young Adult genre who writes in verse. Encouraging poetry in teens is no small feat. While it may scare off some, Hopkins told her audience Wednesday that most of her readers are teens who do not typically read. Poetry on suicide, child prostitution, drugs, sex, addiction ... typically when I start one of her books, I can't put it down.

"Torch every book.
Burn every page.
Char every word to ash.
Ideas are incombustible.
And therein lies your real fear."

If you ever get the opportunity to go to one of her readings or meet Ellen Hopkins, I encourage you to do so. She will not disappoint.

New Blog? Maaaybe.

2009-09-30T17:06:00.002-04:00

Some recent conversations of the past few weeks on Facebook, Twitter, Chat and elsewhere have given me a new idea for a blog.

I never update this thing and am in the process of building my own Web site - long overdue, but finally at least purchased the URL - and I want to have a more "hobby-based" blog to post with it. So, I think I am going to kill this one and make a new one that focuses strictly on books and music. Facebook mostly keeps track of those things for me, but I would be able to brand this one myself.

We'll see how it goes, or if I ever actually get around to doing it. Still, I am more excited about this attempt at blogging than I have been about the medium in a while.

Fall is coming up too fast

2009-09-17T10:53:00.003-04:00

Wow. Summer goes by much too quickly when you move three times, then spend two more weeks moving other people's stuff after all of your stuff is moved in.

How is it already the middle of September?

Six weeks after moving, life is slowly, slowly starting to get back to a steady routine. For the past six weeks, we have had tons of visitors and house updates: Neil's parents coming up to help paint and clean and move, friends coming up to see the new house, installing air conditioning, a new furnace, new carpet, painting three rooms upstairs, de-wallpapering rooms, etc. It has been a blur of changes and non-stop work.

But things are inevitably slowing down. And fall is here. Neil and I bought our first pumpkin over the weekend. Can't wait for baked pumpkin seeds again, easily one of my favorite things about fall.

Busy weekends have meant slower weekdays, and I have finally started to catch up on reading. And television, like BSG (which I am completely addicted to), Burn Notice and Glee, my three latest obsessions.

So now, instead of spending all of my time moving and painting and organizing and unpacking... I spend all of my time reading and watching television. Really, I think it is a shift for the best. heh.

Dar

2009-08-17T10:36:00.002-04:00

And the ones that can know you so well are the ones that can swallow you whole.

Dar Williams is amazing. One of these years, I am going to go see her at her annual trip to the Ark.

Books turned movie... it's inevitable

2009-07-19T11:18:00.002-04:00

Ok, honestly people. I think we're past the point of being surprised or indignant when a book we love is adapted for the big screen. It's going to happen eventually.

Yes, you can be upset and angsty about. It ruins the book. It changes X detail and leaves out a huge side plot. The people who portray Edward or Ginny or the Mad Hatter are NEVER going to live up your expectations. That's because they're imagined. And our imaginations are ALWAYS better than the real thing (or the real pretend thing, in this case).

As avid readers, we all should have owned up to it long ago: real life is never as good as the book. Isn't that why we turned to reading in the first place? It could just be me. Reading is always better than the reality. But that's my life philosophy and I'm sticking to it. =P

Once you accept the following:
a) Real life is not as good as it is in the stories.
b) The stories are always better than the movie.
b.2) One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest is the ONLY exception to the rule.
c) Movies will always change side plots, details and sometimes major pieces of the book. Expect it to happen.

Then, then you can learn to enjoy the film adaptations for that they are: sometimes decent movies -- if you can consider them on their own as a MOVIE. More often than not, they're not very good. (Ahem, Eragon). But sometimes, if you let it, Hollywood really can still surprise you.

I finally learned to accept this sometime between high school and now. As such, I was in for a surprise with the latest Warner Bros. offering of HP: I REALLY enjoyed Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince. I went in with very few expectations, given how Order of the Phoenix turned out, and actually loved it.

Yes, they didn't show nearly enough of the memories Dumbledore shared with Harry of Voldemort. Yes, they left the rest of the Hogwarts kids out of the final Snape/Dumbledore battle scene. Yes, Ginny isn't nearly as fiery and cool as she is in the book. We didn't get to see Mr. Weasley in the hospital and thus learn more about Neville and his parents.

BUT, the dialogue was better than ever. Ron, Harry and Hermoine actually had funny moments. Luna was still great. Slughorn was great, Snape was awesome as usual. It was a suspenseful, good, well-shot action movie.

And now, for the first time in years, I'm excited for the next HP movie. I was a bit irritated over it being split into two films (Come on, Warner Bros: If New Line can manage to keep RotK to a 3+ hour film, you can keep HP 7 as one movie. But let's be honest: they have to milk the franchise for everything it's worth, because what else have they got going for them?)... but, at least now I am hoping it will be an ending the series deserves, just like Rowling delivered (which Stephenie Meyer did not. But I'll save the Twilight rant for next time).

I like music too much?

2009-07-16T16:00:00.002-04:00

Ok, this is by far my favorite survey ever, so forgive me, but I'm totally doing it again:

My Life According to Snow Patrol

Are you a male or female?
Velocity Girl

Describe yourself:
If I’d Found the Right Words to Say

How do you feel:
Same

Describe where you currently live:
An Olive Grove Facing the Sea

If you could go anywhere, where would you go:
Finish Line

Your favorite form of transportation:
Run

Your best friend is:
Last Lone Gunman/Favourite Friend

Your favorite color is:
Black and Blue/The Golden Floor

What's the weather like:
Warmer Climate

Favorite time of day:
Firelight

If your life was a tv show, what would it be called:
Grazed Knees

What is life to you:
One Night Is Not Enough

Your relationships:
Wow

Your fear:
Making Enemies

What is the best advice you have to give:
Make Up

If you could change your name, you would change it to:
Chocolate

Thought for the Day:
It’s Beginning to Get to Me

How I would like to die:
The Last Shot Ringing in my Ears

My soul's present condition:
Perfect Little Secret

My motto:
If There’s a Rocket, Tie Me To It

I know, I know... I have too much time on my hands. Working to remedy this, promise.

Finding That Balance Again

2009-07-15T13:43:00.002-04:00

Ok, after complaining, I am making a conscious effort to be happy about life. So, good things in life at the moment:

• I am not homeless, even if I have to push the closing date on my house back because gifts and loans are stupid (at least official ones).
• A TON of awesome amazing concerts, including... Pete Yorn
• The Decemberists
• Snow Patrol
• Ingrid Michaelson
• Paper Route and/or Regina Spektor (possibly)
• Fixing up and painting said house, once it is actually bought, with Neil
• Having a job, even if I work in the basement and share an office with my boss. heh.
• I have a tomato plant, and have successfully kept it alive for four months now. So far, it has even given me TWO tomatoes. Ahhhhmazing.
• I also have a BBMF that comes to see me at work and drop off Pop Tarts. It's pretty awesome, really.

Are Mondays Falling on a 13th Supposed to be Cursed, too?

2009-07-14T10:00:00.002-04:00

No, really... 'cause everything that could possibly go wrong yesterday, pretty much did -- from insurance companies denying prescriptions that they have been filling for the first half of 2009 to catching pizza on fire in the oven to Chewy deciding he hates children.

Yeah, Chewy hates little people. Neil and I took the dogs for a walk yesterday, and there were these two little girls selling lemonade for .20 cents a glass. I am all for supporting the sale of lemonade, so we went over to them to buy a glass, and when one of the girls came over to hand me my glass, Chewy went nuts -- barking and growling and lunging at her... and coming VERY close to biting her.

I'm a bit devastated. Chewy has never been aggressive, really. Stupid, absolutely, aggressive, no. And I have no idea what to do to make sure he doesn't do it again, aside from making sure he isn't ever around kids. Thinking back, he has not really been around kids at all before -- but why would be stupidly friendly with adults and insanely aggressive and nervous around children?

If you're into graphic novels...

2009-06-23T18:38:00.003-04:00

You should check out Ultra: Seven Days. It's not exactly philosophical or uber deep or anything, but a tres enjoyable read:

Can you be maudlin and emo at the same time?

2009-06-21T20:14:00.002-04:00

If so, that about sums out how I'm feeling at the moment.

Attempting to buy a house is stressful. Especially when you have no idea what you're doing.

I want the process to be over, already... and I still have six weeks to go. Bah.

I think going it alone just makes it that much harder. Still, I know it is the right decision. Roommate or no roommate, the responsibility of the thing is entirely on me. It's kind of scary. But, regardless of what happens, I am going to try to stick it out here for at least a few years, so I might as well stop renting. Plus, painting is fun? ...

Sometimes I wish I weren't so inconsistent about oh, everything in life. It would be nice. Sometimes. I am too emotional and easily affected by the moods of others around me. It's annoying as hell.

I just had one of the best father's day experiences that I can remember... and now I am being emo. For basically no reason. I'm pretty sure this makes me a complete pain in the ass.

And so it goes.

So... I bought a house

2009-06-15T02:32:00.002-04:00

Yeah, I am actually investing in Michigan when everyone else is leaving and losing jobs. Well.

I've decided since I, once again, am having trouble updating this thing on a consistent basis, that I would try to use it to post house/decorating ideas. The four people I know of that read this thing are all much more knowledgeable about this sort of thing than I am, and can also match things. Both big pluses when giving a house a makeover.

And the house I bought is definitely in need of a makeover. It is entirely livable, but nearly every room is covered in horrible 1970's floral print wallpaper. The hardwood floors in one of the bedrooms is covered with ugly carpet. The kitchen and bathroom share a vinyl floor that probably wasn't a good choice even in the '60s. So, before I move in, I want to at least paint the bedrooms and get rid of the carpet.

So... as I come up with anything that comes remotely close to a design/idea possibility, I'm throwing it up.

Up first: I have this cherry oak sort of dresser, but it's normal and boring and I want to spruce it up a bit. Ignoring the price, do you like any of these knobs?

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=22031814&ref=sr_gallery_12&&ga_search_query=knobs&ga_search_type=vintage&ga_page=5&order=date_desc&includes[]=tags&includes[]=title

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=19163764&ref=sr_gallery_13&&ga_search_query=knobs&ga_search_type=all&ga_page=51&order=date_desc&includes[]=tags&includes[]=title

Single Women: the Happies and the Crappies

2009-05-09T11:39:00.002-04:00

I came across this article on CNN. While I agreed with most of it, I didn't get anything close to satisfaction for having others reaffirm the attitudes of some people. It just makes me sad.

I know too many people like this, both male and female -- most single but a few in some unhappy relationships.

You cannot expect a happy, functioning relationship to just fall in your lap. I'm sorry, it won't happen. To paraphrase one of my favorite shows ever: This isn't Disney; it's life. Contrary to popular belief, most things in life really are work. When you get married or enter a truly committed relationship, that isn't your happily ever after. There is no such thing as happily ever after because this is no "ever after." You can be happy, and I hope you are. But, it is never lasting. Relationships are never stagnant; they are fluid, constantly changing, practically every minute.

I fully believe that people can absolutely be happy on their own. But, in today's society with so many expectations for monogamy and a life partner, I think it is more challenging to be -- there are expectations to get married and find your soul mate, "the one," etc. But there is no such thing as the perfect relationship or the perfect person for you, and the sooner people accept that, the more open they are to others, the easier it becomes to find someone you are compatible with.

We have one chance to get everything right

2009-04-14T21:28:00.004-04:00

Through Rock Band and an introduction from a friend about a year, I have really gotten into Modest Mouse. If you don't know them, check out "Little Motel" and "One Chance." I think they are pretty awesome, and have subsequently been listening to about three songs of theirs on repeat that really fit with my life right now.

The past few weeks have been crazy. Really. Moving, buying a house, lots of projects at work... always moving.

We have one chance, one little chance, to get everything right...

A long time ago, I would have really taken that line to heart. Now, I have a little more faith in second chances.

Regardless, I'm really digging Modest Mouse.

Surveys: Music

2009-03-25T21:20:00.002-04:00

So, Neil posted this note on Facebook about 25 songs he couldn't live without. Naturally, it being Facebook and involving music, I started going through my iTunes music and picking songs to put in my top 25 songs that I could listen to over and over again... and my first pass through my collection *(only 4,000 songs, which is nothing compared to a lot of people I know), I selected 73.

And then of course I was like, wellll... the 25 I would have picked in high school would be very different than the ones I picked now, and I could pick 25 classics that I could listen to over and over again, 25 from pre 90's, another 25 from 90's on and 25 favorites for personal meaning, and 25 guilty pleasures I could listen to over and over again and.....

Favorite music is hard, for me. When I really get into something, I listen to it.... obsessively. One song from an album will stick with me, and I will listen to it on repeat for awhile before the neighboring songs are added to it and before long it is the whole album that won't come out of my car for a week or so and then I move onto the next one, and so on and so forth.

And then when I fall in love with the whole album, it is impossible to pick a favorite song that I could listen to on repeat because virtually the whole album is that way. And there are some artists where I really cannot pick between a few songs for the absolute favorite and then there are other artists where a few of the songs have such individual meaning to me I couldn't only pick one (The Beatles, Snow Patrol, John Williams, etc. etc.).

I think I would have a harder time picking top 25 songs than I would top 25 books -- too many layers to sift through in music. Books, as usual, are far less complicated and more reliable (probably because they are less often shared with others), but hey.

All right. I am sorry I don't know how to actually keep a real blog and I just ramble about stupid stuff relating too much to other people and the Internet. I will work on that. Maybe.

And I'm finally onboard with Twitter, too

2009-03-06T13:34:00.003-05:00

OK, I'll admit it: I am on way too many social media Web sites: Facebook, LinkedIn, MyRagan, MySpace (totally joined for a work project, honest...but stayed of my own volition), Blogspot, and now Twitter.

I've made Wikis and podcasts and have fought to implement them in the workplace in a couple of positions I've had.

However, I appreciate the delicacy of the issue. I get into debates about social media in personal and professional capacities (mainly at work and with my mother), and I know that I typically argue in favor of all the different ways to "socialize" online, but I know they have their downsides, too.

I absolutely think and have seen firsthand how the use of all of these tools can improve employee engagement, involvement and connectivity at the workplace. Employees who have never seen their CEO now have the option of commenting on his or her blog, or listening a podcast from a top executive, or submitting questions that they will probably answer online... People can see their coworkers in a different, more personal light by connecting with one another on Facebook and LinkedIn and realize that the woman who always sounds so crabby and whiny in her cube across the hall has children, or something personal in her life that might just give you pause before becoming completely fed up with her again.

You get my point (I hope).

And now, with Twitter: talk about real-time news. I follow the likes of Mashable, the New York Times and NPR on TweetDeck. Suddenly, the most popular, up-do-date news is only a click away. I don't have to go to a ton of different Web sites to get different perspectives; they are all streamlined and saved right on my computer, for whenever I feel like looking it. Each Tweet includes a link to whatever article its headlining at the moment, in case I want to take a closer look.

Call it convenience, laziness or vanity, but people are responding to it. Now, I check it several times a day for news, instead of looking on the NYT's Web site and BBC.

And yes, I know there are serious downsides to being able to get literally all the information, news and culture you could ever possibly want by sitting in front of a computer screen. Kids "these days" are worse communicators. My mother complains about it constantly -- having to break up fights and shouting matches over what was posted last night on Facebook and what so and so said about whatshisface on thefatone's status. She is constantly telling me that they don't know how to socialize face-to-face anymore.

It is getting easier and easier to speak out hiding behind a virtual identity or Avatar... while we have a hard time looking each other in the eye's or standing up for ourselves in person. People have entire separate lives online. Instead of staying up reading in bed, they sit with their laptops propped on their laps, chatting with someone a floor below them.

I have mentioned this story a lot, but it is one that really resonates with me. I was an RA in college and my boss was an RD for about 13 years before I started working for her. When the school shootings at Virginia Tech happened, everyone was floored. People were glued to their TV sets, or more likely, their computers. The halls were quieter than we had heard them to be all year. No one was around, with only the muffled voices of news announcers coming through the doors.

My RD was amazed at the difference in response from 9/11 to the Virginia Tech massacre. She said that when the Twin Towers were hit, the common room of her dorm was packed. People were crowded around the TV watching together, taking comfort in one another and watching the events unfold together. Only a few years later and everyone was isolated. People were watching and paying attention, but in a completely singular, independent response. People weren't talking about it. If they were communicating about it at all, they were typing about it. There was no emotional response in roommates and hallmates. Just a bunch of people individually facing their own screens.

The onslaught of technology that computers and the Internet have brought was truly unstoppable. If you didn't jump on the speeding train, you could easily get left behind.

But it will certainly be interesting (and probably a little sad) to see what the next generation brings to the workforce. What will it be like when kids start working that have had information at their fingertips since infancy?

Interesting. Or something like it.

Since I'm Super Lame and All

2009-03-02T17:46:00.003-05:00

So, I think everyone who actually reads this thing has said it before: We don't actually like all the people we're friends with on Facebook, so I decided to transfer one of those uber-dorky note things onto my blog and respond to it on here. One, I haven't posted to it in a long time and it needs to be updated. And two, I like all of you, so here goes:

Firsts

1.Who Was Your High school Prom date?
Umm. Is it bad that I am having a hard time remembering who I went to prom with over homecoming? I think I went with Kenny senior year and Mr. Caleb's nephew junior year. No, I'm not joking, sadly.

2. Do you still talk to your FIRST love?
Sort of. Sometimes. Not really.

3. What was your FIRST job?
Papa John's pizza. Oh yes.

4. What was your FIRST car?
The beautiful 1992 VW Cabriolet, aka the Death Box. Technically, my first car was a super cute 1992 white Honda Civic that had automatic locks and EVERYTHING... but it blew up before I even got my license, I think.

5. Who was the FIRST person to text you today?
Brigit, I think.

6. Who is the FIRST person you thought of this morning?
Probably Oscar, as he was sleeping on me. After that, Neil, as he was next to me. =)

7. Who was your FIRST grade teacher?
Mrs. Singleton

8. Where did you go on your FIRST ride on an airplane?
Florida

9. Who was your FIRST best friend & do you still talk?
Tarin Lewis and I haven't talked to her since I went to her wedding in 2005, sadly.

10. Where was your FIRST sleep over?
Geesh. At my house, I would imagine.

11. Who was the FIRST person you talked to today?
Neil

12. Whose wedding were you in for the FIRST time?
Umm. I think Mark and Lori's.

13. What was the FIRST thing you did this morning?
Turned on the heater in my bathroom.

14. What was the FIRST concert you ever went to?
The Beach Boys, in the fourth grade. Really.

15. FIRST tattoo
N/A

16. FIRST piercing?
Ears

17. FIRST foreign country you've been to?
Mexico

18. FIRST movie you remember seeing?
The Land Before Time... I cried at the end because I didn't want it to be over.

19. When was your FIRST detention?
My first and only detention was in 9th grade when I was late to math class because I was in a conversation with my Western Civ teacher... and the only reason I got detention was because like nine people were late and the VP happened to notice.

20. What was the FIRST state you lived in?
Ohio

21. Who was your FIRST roommate?
My freshman year roommate, Amanda.

22. If you had one wish, what would it be?
For everyone to be self aware. I think it would eliminate a LOT of life's problems.

23. What is something you would learn if you had the chance?
German, for real. I want to be bilingual so badly and just cannot stick with a language long enough to actually be able to speak it fluently.

The February Thaw

2009-02-04T14:49:00.003-05:00

February already. I have been at my job for for almost seven months now, and for the first time ever, I actually had a good day at work.

My boss was not at work, as she works from home now.

My boss is no longer my boss, but a part-time graphic designer.

I went out to lunch with co-workers and we vented about my boss who is not my boss for an hour and a half.

It was beautiful.

Then I came back to the office where I worked on a project I wanted to work on, not that someone made me do... while listening to Uh Huh Her and U2.

Uh, yeah.

Why yes Bono, it is a beautiful day (and I totally just said that even though it is 5 degrees outside and supposed to get down to -4 tonight).

I like this place and willingly could waste my time in it

2009-01-21T13:52:00.008-05:00

I am going to ramble about houses and architecture. After Kat and Laura responded to my last post about how they thought my house looked nice, I thought maybe I wasn't the only one who geeked out about 100-year-old buildings and the like.

I love old houses. Really. I totally get this from my mom, but there is something really satisfying to me in living in a place that is old and has a personality and you can fix up and make you own because it needs the work. It helps to feel like you have taken ownership of a place when you have put your sweat and muscle into it.

So, I get teased a lot by my Ann Arbor friends about living in "Ypsitucky." It is the poorer city, the city that everyone goes to who can't afford Ann Arbor. It has crappier schools and the downtown is worse and it can't keep a business the way A2 can... you get the point. But I love it. So... most people don't feel safe walking around alone at night, but Ypsi has a lot to offer. There are quite a few local businesses and good restaurants here as well, they just might not look as nice. Heh.

But, anyway, I like that Ypsi is usually pretty empty and you never have to wait to eat anywhere downtown or really hunt for a parking spot. I like that there is one house between me, the library and my favorite coffee shop in the area. And I also like that the police station is a block away and the post office is only two houses away.

I live in the historic district of Ypsi. It IS a really interesting area because there is so much difference in the quality of homes from one block to the next. There are these huge, beautiful old homes from 1845 and up, followed by these squat little houses that are falling apart. It is shady and hickish and beautiful. See, and we thought New Richmond was terrible. Not so different, really. Minus the river and nicer weather.

Here are some pictures of some of my favorite houses around my neighborhood:

Winter: Snow and Dusk

2009-01-19T19:04:00.003-05:00

Some photos of pretty things I took in an attempt to enjoy winter and the snow. It almost kind-of worked, but if nothing else, you Ohioans and others can see what my house looks like. =P Someday, I really would like to take a photography class or something so that I can actually take better photos. Or attempt to, as I have no idea what the flip I'm doing now. But anyway, here goes.

My house:

Chewy enjoying the snow:

And Lillie:

OK, come on.

2009-01-18T22:50:00.003-05:00

Maybe it is a bit stereotypical for me to have never given football the time of day, but in recent years, I really did try a bit harder to learn to appreciate the game. It's just not happening.

Dave managed to talk me into going to OU's football games, and I actually did enjoy myself. But not for the game (110, of course). It was because OU has an amazing marching band, I got talk and not get yelled at by someone who is trying so hard to concentrate on the big screen in front of him (honestly - you really don't have to listen to the damn commentary. If you miss it the first time around, they generally repeat themselves about three times so what is the big deal if you miss it once?), it was social and had a fun atmosphere. Someone explain to me exactly what is so fun about a game that huddles for a minute, actually does something with the ball for about four seconds, before play is stopped because someone got tackled or run out of bounds or whatever, then there is a timeout, they huddle again, and repeat the process? How is that remotely exciting?

And, the life expectancy of pro players with all of their concussions and injuries is rather depressing. How could it possibly be worth all of the abuse they put themselves through? It, unsurprisingly, has the highest injury and death rate of any sport in America. According to the Career Journal, an average professional's career lasts just under four years, not to mention long-term disability after they retire. It seems utterly senseless to me.

Maybe if I actually watched an entire game with someone who was willing to be patient with me and answer questions and with an absence of people screaming at the television every time someone actually moves the ball...

But probably not.

....

2009-01-16T09:04:00.002-05:00

My car had a lot of trouble starting this morning when it was -16 outside.

I am tired of winter already. All I want to do is curl up in bed, drink tea and hot chocolate and sleep... lots.

On the bright side, I am catching up on a lot of good books, like the Thursday Next series (finally) and Slammerkin and classics that normal people read in high school, but not in New Richmond. I started reading the Historian - not very far along but it comes highly recommended and I am really liking it so far. What's not to like about Vlad the Impaler?

Marriage and Children: just like going to college

2009-01-08T17:36:00.002-05:00

I was talking to a friend online today about serious relationships -- having to change for the other person, getting married, having children... so on. And she said, "I think girls are conditioned to expect to get married. I have always just thought of getting married and having kids as a life activity, just like going to college or having to get a job."

It really struck me. It would be interesting to see how many people in our society think that way; I think it would be a surprising many. Or maybe not surprising, but disturbing, nonetheless -- how many women out there really just assume they have to get married and want kids because that is what is expected of them?

When asked why they want to get married and have kids, the majority of my friends (that know they do, anyway) have a difficulty explaining why they want to. But so many are so certain that they do. It is certainly understandable in some aspects -- I think for a lot of women, it is a societal expectation that most never think to question because it surrounds them as an ideal from childhood. It is an expectation many parents place upon their children (in the same category of organized religion and completing your homework on time, for some). I'm not sure I would ever feel confident enough in the rightness of my decision to be able to have kids. There are too many whats ifs and worries that go along with it and my feelings on the subject change pretty frequently... but it has never been something I have always expected and it is definitely not something I have ever been sure of. To me, marriage and children aren't something that is essential or a must in any situation. It depends so much on who you are with -- who you want to build your life with -- that it would change depending on who I am in a relationship with (or has so far, anyway. eesh). Lifestyles change depending on the people you are surrounded by; how could something so lasting like having children be an absolute?

I guess I won't ever cease to be surprised at some of the things people accept unquestioningly. Maybe that is just me projecting my problems on the world, though, as I can't get through a conversation without questioning everything...

This has to be one of my more incoherent posts; I apologize. I hope some of this makes sense.

"Proper" English

2008-12-20T10:47:00.001-05:00

I started reading "Stories of English" by David Crystal. For my English minor, I had to take a history of English course at OU. We read "A History of the English Language" by Baugh and Cable, one of the most comprehensive texts on the subject you can get, featuring both a linguistic and cultural history of the language from the Middle Ages on up. Being the dork that I am, I was really geeked about the class until the professor totally ruined it for me by being the worst lecturer I ever had at OU and thus, sort of ruined the subject for me for a few years. She was a PhD student in her 50's and had absolutely no idea how to relate to people, much less teach.

But anyway, Neil let me borrow a copy of "Stories of English" and it got me looking into it again. Crystal approaches the subject in an entirely different manner, starting out by highlighting how most teach the history of English: Most tell "the" story of English as though there is only one - formal English. What's interesting is that even among those who strive to use formal English, what is actually "proper" English varies from discipline to discipline, style guide to manual. What is correct according to the AP Style Guide is wrong in certain instances of Chicago Manual, just as Strunk & White and the MLA approve of some things that others would not. Psychologists follow different styles than journalists, and so on. And no one typically speaks in those formalities on a daily basis - there are thousands of dialects and different forms of slang around the world. But most histories of English ignore all of the irregularities and try to make it one, seamless story. In the past decade or so, this has changed -- dictionaries and style guides are starting to tell more of the story of conversational English, but Crystal attempts to tackle it more comprehensively.

OK, so I am still a total geek. I think it's really cool. I am way too excited to be reading another history of English, but what else is new?

Mason Williams

2008-12-12T20:03:00.002-05:00

Thanks to "The Story of Us," I think Classical Gas will always be slightly depressing to me.

At least.

Compartmentalizing Your Life

2008-12-12T12:54:00.005-05:00

Every Thursday, Neil hosts board game night - yes, it's exactly as it sounds: a bunch of geeks sit around eating junk food and playing board games all night. It is pretty fabulous.

So anyway, this week a conversation that took place made me think of how often people try to get certain aspects of their lives separate from the other pieces.

When I was at Borders, one of the groups there held a lunch discussion on separating your work and private life, and I'm wondering... when they have been kept separate for so long, can you really bring them together again?

What if, you've been in a relationship so long.. that separated work from live-in partner... from friends... to gaming group -- how could you bring them together again?

I tend to believe that keeping things so segregated shows some cracks in said relationship, but... I guess I can't really relate. In my past relationships, I simply stopped doing things certian individuals didn't want to do, rather than compartmentalizing... and I doubt that is any better.

The Creative Pursuit

2008-12-08T14:30:00.000-05:00

I have now been in my “new” apartment for more than 5 months and still have a few boxes of notebooks and books to unpack. So, yesterday, I unpacked a box that contained an old composition notebook in it from a creative writing class my senior year in high school. Most of it was absurd and hysterical, but a part of me was appalled that my 17-year-old self had better diction than I do now. I don’t care if it sounds like a crutch – majoring in journalism totally destroyed my vocabulary and any creative urges I used to have. Heh. OK, so that is part of it, anyway – the other piece might have something to do with working 2-3 jobs at a time while going to school full time for four years…

So anyway, my point is that I don’t write anything anymore. I still journal about twice a week as I have since elementary school – but I haven’t done any creative writing, really, since high school (definitely not consistently). It is pretty depressing. No poetry, short stories, novel attempts… nothing.

In the spring 2007, I took a creative writing fiction course at OU that I absolutely loved. It was incredibly difficult for me in several ways, namely because I was so out of practice and because, as a writing workshop… it entailed sharing your work and having it ripped apart by a published professor and peers. I took it in my final quarter of college and I wish, now, that I had been able to take it sooner and maybe delved further into it. OK, before I start another tangent, my point: I don’t really write anymore and I really should. Not just regurgitating another's words, rearranging sentences from an interview or a research article… I mean, really write.

So, starting today, I am going to actually try again. Maybe only once a week for an hour, but something. We’ll see how it goes. There was no way I could have made Megs’ suggestion of going for NanoWriMo, but maybe I will at least do something on a quasi-regular basis from December on.

Holiday Weekends and Everyday Occurences

2008-12-01T18:32:00.004-05:00

A few random thoughts that I can't put together into a cohesive entry (except like this, with no segues):

Don't ever, ever drive back home from a family visit on the Sunday after a major holiday. If you live out of town, it will be a terrible experience, I promise.

I don't know why I still want to get married when I know from more than one experience how little it really means, particularly if it has no religious significance for you. But I do. I think I need that assurance, no matter how false it is.

I find that to be sad and upsetting.

I still think I would be happier working for a bookstore (if not necessarily for a bookstore company... =P)

I hate that I hold on at all the wrong times, and let go when I shouldn't. Apparently it is not only my gaydar that malfunctions consistently. Or is maybe just broken.

Oscar is once again living with me. That makes me very, very happy. And better yet, he and Chewy seem to be good influences on one another. Oscar keeps Chewy calm when they are home alone, and Chewy makes Oscar get a little bit of exercise (in all the right ways, I hope, or pretend, anyway). heh.

The right music can ruin my mood or make me feel better immediately. I find that to be incredibly comforting. Books do the same thing. That may explain while I can't stop listening to The Beatles, Aimee Mann or Tuesday Tunes and Jamfests right now. And also why I currently can't handle anything more in depth than Fables or YA fantasy at the moment in the literary world. And why I am consistently seeking out Edna again.

Silly holidays.

And every year, I'm reminded why this is my least favorite of the majors

2008-11-27T23:21:00.006-05:00

Someday, my family will presently surprise me and not make Thanksgiving horrible. Someday, it will become a holiday centered on food and togetherness, not politics and face time. Someday, I will actually be able to enjoy it again.

Maybe.

The year that I am actually able to get through Thanksgiving Day without a family blowout will be incredible.

Every year I try to be excited about the season and every year, it just gets harder and harder.

One can always hope. There is that.

People often say that they enjoy the holiday season because it makes people friendlier to strangers, more pleasant... things bother them less. In my experience, it is the opposite. People are tense, under pressure to have the perfect outfit by New Year's... the "right" gifts for everyone... tempers are high and people are unreasonable.

It shouldn't be so stressful. Just enjoy what you have and deal with it. Why is that so hard for everyone? I'm no exception, I know. But at least I'm aware of it and working on it. Don't focus so much on having your lot in life change, but learn to live with it. You would be amazed at how much happier it makes everyone.

Late night tangent? Maybe a little...

Ahh!

2008-11-25T21:07:00.003-05:00

I just noticed a grammatical error in my last post.

I am so, so sorry, Bill Reader.

It was corrected approximately 36 hours after publication. I understand I will receive a two letter-grade deduction for that erroneous sentence.

Crap. I'm still brainwashed.

He said it best with "bittersweet"

2008-11-23T20:52:00.005-05:00

I sat down to write this about an hour ago and ended up catching up with a fabulous old friend on chat and have absolutely no clue what I wanted to type about, now. So, I suppose I'll just type about him, instead.

It still sometimes amazes me who I have kept in touch with from high school and college. One of the girls I spent more of my time with than anyone in high school was one of the first people I lost touch with. Of course, I suppose there will always be people in life who you expect to be there forever, or a part of your life for the vast majority of it, and how often does that really happen? At least in the capacity you expect...

Five years later, it's down to about a handful, and it's something of a surprising, sporadic group, I suppose. Some people, who I weren't really particularly close to in high school, I talk to on a more regular basis now. Other relationships haven't really changed at all, and Mouse is totally one of them. It still amazes me that I haven't seen him in years (I think we've seen each other three times since 2003), yet when we do... it's like no time has passed. I mean sure, when I actually physically see him it is pretty awkward at first (especially unexpectedly -- can we say: Borders, Mr. Harris, Steven. Circa 2005. Unbelievable.). Heh. But, on person and online it's the same it has always been.

Man I've been sentimental lately. I'm sure it's a phase, too. =P I will digress before I go on too much about how much I love everyone. heh.

It really is funny, how the world turns.

I think winter has arrived. for real, this time.

2008-11-09T20:07:00.005-05:00

OK, it's starting already. There was snow on my car today. It's been too much of a sporadic rain/snow mix to actually stick to the ground, but it's slick enough and already sticking to my car.

I know everyone cares about this as much as I do.

So that I don't make this yet another entry of whining about the weather, some random good news for you:

• I finally saw Avenue Q with Neil yesterday and absolutely loved it. Good company, good show, good food afterward (all you can eat Brazilian Steakhouse - I'm pretty sure you can't go wrong). That is what it is all about. If you have not yet seen and have the opportunity, I highly recommend. I hadn't been to a show in ages and want to try to go more than once a year, again (Spamalot is coming to Detroit in February...).

• My boss is going down to part time in two months. I can last another two months. And then, I can go back to being grateful for the fact that I actually have a job in southeastern Michigan and all that.

• I'm going on a double date to see the Killers in January.

• I am 98 percent sure I will be going back to the U.K. in the Spring. About flippin' time, eh? And I'm 98 percent sure Neil is coming, too, which makes it that much better. (Yes, I'm a sap).

• I will actually be getting a holiday bonus this year (apparently, everyone at the company gets at least a few hundred dollars). This is an unbelievably nice change from getting pro-rated raises that don't cover inflation. I'm just sayin'.

OK, I'm done. Someday, I will actually figure out what I am doing with this thing and make a proper blog. Maybe. =P

Lillie, Part II

2008-11-03T18:37:00.003-05:00

So Lillie Park was the first park I went to in A2. For reasons I've already stated, it's still my favorite. Everyone just thinks it's this gazebo and pond and that's pretty much it. Well incidentally, the road to nowhere does indeed lead somewhere. Who knew? Lillie actually has a ton of trails to the southwest (maybe - I am mostly guessing with my sense of direction, shh) and two more pond-like things. I was ridiculously excited when Neil and I discovered more nearly-empty places in the midst of suburbia to wander around with our dogs. And better yet, it's actually really pretty, even if I am not anywhere close to being a photographer.

Neil took the last two (I think).

Frozen Pumpkins

2008-10-30T10:05:00.002-04:00

Neil and I carved pumpkins last night and they were frozen. No joke.

My first Michigan carving and the pumpkins were frozen; it is too fitting. See, I was not exaggerating about the weather, Thomas. =P On the bright side, while it got down to about 27 last night tomorrow is supposed to get up to 60 or so; at least it will be nice for Halloween!

Christmas comes but once a year

2008-10-20T18:06:00.005-04:00

Yesterday I took Chewbacca to Lillie Park. I was in such a weird funk and could not get out of it, so I thought maybe I could distract myself with a hike around my favorite Ann Arbor park. It's a great one because no matter the weather is like, it is almost ALWAYS empty.

Um, yeah. With the way my Sunday went, naturally the universe had to prove me wrong and have Lillie be the most crowded I've ever seen it. Heh. There was even a bride and groom there. Too ironic for words. Except. maybe. those. words. erm.

Anyway, I took some photos, Chewy ran around the pond with me and we explored previously unexplored areas. And managed to find some empty spaces away from the gazebo and docks, so it was not a total waste of an afternoon.

Secret agent drug lords in the mafia

2008-10-08T12:19:00.002-04:00

So I've decided that my neighbors must be secret agents, mafia hit men or drug lords. Seriously. Every day when I come home they're driving new cars. And they're always brand new, nice cars. That car will be here for a few days, then another one will take it's place. They'll drive that one around for a few days, another one will show up and within a day or two the one from the past week has vanished. Expensive...immaculate...devoid of personality.

They always have the same Honda Civic... but otherwise, Dodge Charger, Benz, who knows? Never more than three in the driveway, but never the same two aside from the Civic. I'm telling you, mafia!

Maybe this is what happens when you have too much time on your hands and you live alone. Oh well.

My annual weather rant

2008-10-05T11:31:00.002-04:00

It's the first week of October and already the temperature in Michigan has gotten down below freezing.

Someone is always telling me I need to be more zen about the weather (cough cough Neil), but I can't help myself... it's so depressing. We went from this gorgeous weather in the 70's and 80's right to 40's and 50's. What happened to the 60s?!?

I love Fall. I'm hoping I'll still get to experience it a bit before the tundra really settles in. Bah, silly weather.

Being social while sitting home alone

2008-09-09T21:34:00.003-04:00

I love the fact that I feel social sitting by myself in front of a computer screen.

Simultaneously talking to eight people while being able to lounge around in your PJs... relax and unwind while having a political discussion... reminiscing with an old friend from high school...

A comforting thought: to think there really might be some people who will always be in your life, as long as they're able.

Wow... so it's been awhile

2008-06-20T17:40:00.002-04:00

I feel like I should go back to the beginning.

Almost a year ago now, I moved to Michigan and started my first job after graduating after college. In my first few weeks of employment, I talked about blogging a lot with a coworker, and she made me a bit more paranoid about how much I should share online. I backed off for a bit, and then really slacked on updating this at all as I got out of the habit of posting. So, in brief, allow me to catch up:

In less than 12 months, I graduated college, moved out on my own for the first time with any real promise of permanence, started my first job, Steven and I broke up, lost my first job, and am now probably moving back home again. What a cycle for less than a year.

I have now been unemployed for about two and a half weeks and I still have absolutely no idea what I want to do with my life. I am pretty ok with it, all things considered. I will definitely feel better when I have some idea where I am going to be living as of June 30.

Heh. For the most part, I try to look at it as moving on to the next great adventure. For the most part, it works.

....

2008-04-15T22:13:00.002-04:00

I wish I was not so confused. I think it would benefit my life greatly.

That's all.

A really great unknown

2008-04-05T10:51:00.002-04:00

I found this quote in a friend's social networking profile. I haven't updated this in such a long time, I thought at this point, stealing someone else's words would be better than waiting another three months to update this...

"I wish that I could claim that all the people whom I have loved have loved me back, or that my needs and those of the people closest to me have always dovetailed perfectly. But friendship doesn't work that way, and people's needs aren't always the same, so it is only fair to say that I have often wished for more, or wished for something no one had to give and in that I know that I'm not alone.

Some people feel angry when they think of moments when they've had to stand alone, and question the value that they once put upon friends who weren't there when they needed them. But I think the thing to remember is this - you don't get from friends what you give to them, you get what they have to give, and that is the thing you must not forget. People can only give you what they have to give.

It is difficult to remember this when you know just what you need and none of your friends have it to give, and especially difficult when you have given it to them in the past. But you will save yourself a lot of grief if you keep in mind that you don't have you for a friend, however much you might wish you did. You have the person out there instead.

Perhaps you will take chicken soup to a friend who is sick, and they will forget your birthday just the same. Or maybe you will have them to your parties and they will give none to which you might be asked. But maybe they will hand you a piece of truth one day, in a sentence tossed off with a sidelong glance, and if it's something you couldn't have found inside yourself, you will have been repaid in full."

To me, this is perfect. It is something I try to follow and keep in mind.

Thanks for sharing, Jen.

A vile, chosen victim of life

2008-01-26T21:21:00.001-05:00

My favorite Orson Scott Card quote of all time is from Enchantment. "Life is vile, but at least I'm one of the chosen victims." Every time I become down about something, so down that I can't remember why I bother, I usually remember that quote. Some might say it's entirely pessimistic, but to me, it's purely realistic. Life can be vile and awful. But yes, I really do realize that it can be beautiful and wonderful too. I always try to remember that I am just lucky to be alive. It can be hard, though. It's hard when you see bliss all around you, in simple smiles that another couple may share, in a laugh between two friends. In a glance between two people that make them look like conspirators, lovers, so different from most glances my fiancé throws my way. I crave affection and someone who loves me enough to show it. I want to be happy. Is that too much to ask? Why do I always feel like everything I ask for is too much to ask? Cause really, it shouldn't be.

Some selfish, insipid ramblings

2008-01-06T02:31:00.000-05:00

You know, I used to feel like a bad person for doing these. I guess I have become such a bitter husk of a person since, well who knows when, that I am simply indifferent now.

To the point: I had two very interesting conversations after midnight on Saturday. The first was with Al, whom I have not spoken with in such a time, that I cannot remember how long it has been. He still seems like the person I drifted from so long ago, only a bit more brooding. He said something to me that really struck home: he said I am not anti-social but that I have my priorities more inline "than the rest of us, which I have always admired." I must say that I find this to be quite ironic. Yes, I am the person to be admired, but never the person to be friends with. I am insecure, filled with doubt and disbelief, overly internal and withdrawn, quiet, awkward, but I am self-possessed enough not to follow others blindly. And where has it gotten me? It has gotten me admiration, I suppose. Who ever wants admiration? I want someone I can relate to. I want a best friend. I want a real, inseparable best friend again. The one you can tell anything to; the only who will always be there for you. Not the one you could lose if you break up, or finally move away from because really he shouldn't be here, as his job market isn't here. I want so many things that are quite obtainable, only I can't have more than one or two at the same time. I'm sure it is much the same with a great many people; my problem is that I am not sure which I want the most. Will I always wander through all of this so confusedly?

And the other was with Jeffrey. Conversations with Jeffrey are always interesting. We either talk about nothing at all, or so much of everything I feel as if I might explode because I don't have the energy to say it all. Saturday, was, of course, a conversation of the latter. Mostly about, you guessed it, relationships. I said some things I probably didn't mean that came out all wrong as usual, but then I have to wonder - do I say things so easily misinterpreted because how others interpret them are closer to the true meaning, regardless of what I'm telling myself? I am not even going to bother re-reading that last sentence because I probably won't be able to make any more sense of it. As usual, I know what I'm trying to say, even if no one else can construe any meaning of it.

All of this boils down to one thing: I have no idea what I really want. In the meantime, it's fucking up everything.

To further clarify the impossible, I bring you The Killers' "All These Things That I've Done:"

When there's nowhere else to run
Is there room for one more son
One more son
If you can hold on
If you can hold on, hold on
I wanna stand up, I wanna let go
You know, you know - no you don't, you don't
I wanna shine on in the hearts of men
I wanna mean it from the back of my broken hand

Another head aches, another heart breaks
I am so much older than I can take
And my affection, well it comes and goes
I need direction to perfection, no no no no

Help me out
Yeah, you know you got to help me out
Yeah, oh don't you put me on the back burner
You know you got to help me out

And when there's nowhere else to run
Is there room for one more son
These changes ain't changing me
The gold-hearted boy I used to be

Yeah, you know you got to help me out
Yeah, oh don't you put me on the back burner
You know you got to help me out
You're gonna bring yourself down
Yeah, you're gonna bring yourself down
Yeah, you're gonna bring yourself down

I got soul, but I'm not a soldier
I got soul, but I'm not a soldier

Yeah, you know you got to help me out
Yeah, oh don't you put me on the back burner
You know you got to help me out
You're gonna bring yourself down
You're gonna bring yourself down
Yeah, oh don't you put me on the back burner
You're gonna bring yourself down
Yeah, you're gonna bring yourself down

Over and in, last call for sin
While everyone's lost, the battle is won
With all these things that I've done
All these things that I've done
If you can hold on
If you can hold on

The future may be bright, she is brighter

2007-12-13T22:03:00.001-05:00

I live with someone who is amazingly bitter for being twenty-three years old. How do we get this way? Is it from one tiny misstep that occurred so long ago you can no longer remember when it all began? The slow build up of despair and frustration, creeping up so slowly you don't realize it's happening until it's too late? I know I come off as being naive. I really can't help myself. I know, I know; I've heard it all before: life isn't supposed to be perfect. Even the most carefully laid plans can go awry. Perhaps every person really doesn't deserve his/her chance at happiness. Every time something negative happens, be it a car wreck, a mislaid bill that goes unpaid or losing a job, people shrug and say, "That's life. What are you going to do?"

I, for one, hope to never stop asking, "Why?" Maybe it does make me naive, but naive or not, to me it's better than the alternative. I won't resign myself over to this, to any of it.

And yet I can feel it wearing on my already. Does being in a bad mood and taking your unhappiness out on others make you feel better? Really? I'm really not sure how much longer I can handle any of it before I snap.

The Ongoing Web 2.0 Movement

2007-11-16T08:14:00.001-05:00

We had this discussion at work yesterday about implementing social networking and Web 2.0 technologies into our company, and I have to say it was one of the most interesting meetings we've had since I joined the company in July. I think nearly everyone contributed at least something and it was interesting for me to see the varying viewpoints across different age groups and backgrounds. In most of my previous conversations about new media, it's been will all 20-somethings and the professor. :-) But here, I was able to see many different viewpoints. It's easy to forget that there is still a large segment of the American population that does not to the web for news, friends, or research while in college. Because in our age group, that's what everyone does. It goes without saying that when we meet to work on a project, be it at the library or local coffee spot, you're bringing your laptop and DVR. To be fair, not everyone has a DVR, but at Scripps, pretty much everyone sophomore level and up does.

So. In my very jaded perspective, I think all larger companies would benefit from implementing some of these new technologies. Not all, necessarily, but that's the beauty of Internet-specific tools: there is something out there literally for everyone.

Ack, I am going to be late for work... so I will cut this short. With any luck, it will not take me a month to get back to this topic...

November already?

2007-11-05T20:51:00.000-05:00

It has been so long since I've last written, yet I feel as though I have very little to say. It seems like that's how I always start out my blog, these days. I work, I sleep, I read. I write. I don't see too many people from school, or Ohio, for that matter, much anymore.

I work. A lot. Like... at least 55 hours a week as of late, so is it surprising that I don't have much to say? Shouldn't be. The only thing I feel like I could write more than a paragraph or two about is books, so maybe I should stop attempting to do a personal blog and just write book reviews instead. It would be a heck of a lot more interesting, and I would have a heck of a lot more to say.

I'm burnt out. I am, however, excited about the fact that I get to decorate my own house for the holidays this year. And about going to Bonner's to buy said decorations.

See, who said I am all pessimistic all the time?

Maybe I will write again in another month when I am not completely exhausted and actually feel like I have some time to myself.

Heh.

Isn't it Ironic, don't you think?

2007-09-19T20:37:00.002-04:00

It's funny. Now that I am no longer a full-time student, juggling three jobs with schoolwork, extracurriculars and an attempt at a social life, I think I actually keep this thing updated even less regularly. Go figure.

Life is beginning to fall into a routine, yet I think it's less of a routine than it was before. I mean, sure, the job is basically routine, and it will be even moreso once I am finished with the college grad program in January, but everything else has become more chaotic and sporadic. In a good way. I do a lot more now, socially and otherwise.

I have finally started writing again, not just in blogs or a journal. I read so much now; I can hardly believe I have enough time to read about one novel a week (give or take, depending on the book, of course).

Since getting Chewbacca, I'm more active, too. We go to different parks in the area at least twice a week, which is of course good for both of us. :-P

At the risk of sounding like a real adult... life is pretty good.

Glycerine

2007-09-03T11:56:00.000-04:00

it must be your skin that i'm sinking in
must be for real cause now i can feel and i didn't mind
it's not my kind, it's not my time to wonder why
everything gone white and everything's grey
now you're here now you're away
i don't want this -- remember that
i'll never forget where you're at
don't let the days go by, glycerine

i'm never alone, i'm alone all the time, are you at one or do you lie?
we live in a wheel where everyone steals, but when we rise it's like strawberry fields

if i treated you bad, you bruise my face
couldn't love you more, you got a beautiful taste
don't let the days go by could have been easier on you
i couldn't change though i wanted to could have been easier by three
our old friend fear and you and me
glycerine don't let the days go by glycerine

i needed us more, when we wanted us less
i could not kiss, just regress
it might just be clear simple and plain that's just fine,
that's just one of my names
don't let the days go by could've been easier on you glycerine

-Bush

Things and places I miss in Ohio

2007-08-22T17:16:00.000-04:00

A random compilation:

• Being able to walk everywhere in Athens
• Friends, particularly seeing them and talking to them on a much more frequent basis.
• Salaam
• Joseph-Beth
• Sadie and the animals
• Having two license plates (Seriously, Michigan doesn't give you two license plates... how off is that?)
• MY Borders (Yes, it's mine, and yes, I miss it... even if I do work there now).
• The brick roads
• Alden
• Film Fest
• Graeter's
• Marching 110
• The old Front Room, where getting free tea was one of the highlight of spring '06.
• Going to the movies in Kentucky (OK, so not in Ohio -- even so).
• Cross Court and Mountain Laurel
• The Athena and the sticky floors
• GAS PRICES -- they are ridiculous here
• Knowing my way around and actually understanding the politics
• I WILL miss the weather. I already know this because the winters here already terrify me.
• Athens in general; it's so beautiful there, even if it is in the middle of nowhere. I miss the space and am sick of the suburbia that is AA already.
• The Diner
• Skyline. Desperately miss Skyline. Must remember to bring cans back with me when I go back to Cincy again. Yes.
• Newport and the Hoffbrau Haus
• Star and the barn
• The river
• The mound... going there on sunny days was one of my favorite things.

....To be continued.

Conflicted and mostly biased

2007-08-19T22:31:00.000-04:00

So, that sums up how I'm feeling right now, but I will update you on what's going on on the surface, at any rate.

I have one more week left working in the stores before heading back to the home office. I have met some awesome people and have really ended up enjoying it much more than I expected to. It has been great experience and I still love basically everything about the company, despite it's many problems. Do I sound lovesick or what? :-P

And Steven and I got a puppy. His name is Chewbacca and he is awesome. He is currently learning how to walk on a leash and is doing pretty well for a ten-week old baby.Enough said. Anyway, my computer is freezing horribly for reasons I don't understand, so I am going to cut this one short. A photo for you, of the new baby:

Until then.

Conflicted and mostly biased

2007-08-19T22:13:00.001-04:00

So I might be ADD, but what else is new?

2007-08-08T23:49:00.001-04:00

And that's OK. I... have LOTS to update on, but I would rather do so with photos than a quick post at the end of a very long day. I started doing in-store training this week, and will do so until August 26th. It is taking any energy reserves I may have had to learn all of that new stuff... Sometimes in a good way, though. Sorry my last post was so depressing. It's the truth; it's hard being in a new state without any familiars. So yeah. But I've said and so on; enough is enough. This past weekend was great and I really do need to write all about it. And then write about this week. With any luck, I will do it before next week. (*Wink*).

More later.

Until then, Always.

Ok, I give up on the song thing all the time. When I get off work I am too tired to think...

2007-07-31T21:55:00.000-04:00

Sorry. The song thing seemed like such a great idea at the time, but eh. I can just do crappy titles (see above), and if you're still reading this, then who cares, right?

There were so many depressing things in the news today, I don't know where to begin. BP was just given the OK on dumping 50 percent more mercury in Lake Michigan today. Mountain gorillas are being killed in the Congo. Dog fighting doesn't get nearly enough press, and so few people seem to care about it, etc. etc.

Anyway, I don't really have much to say, I just wanted some place to put some random thoughts... And if it sounds like bitching, tough crap.

I'm sick of feeling awkward and not knowing anyone. I may not have had many close friends at OU, but at least I usually had people to talk to. Here, it just gets old. I really, really miss having a best friend. I haven't had one in a while, I don't know when the last time was I had a real, do anything together, always there for you kind of friend. High school, maybe. Probably. And as great as Steven is (most of the time, heh), it gets really depressing after the while. I can't pretend to be care-free and chipper all the time, dammit. The peoiple I work with in AA are great; it's just that... they are all from here, or only two hours away, and they all already have their normal group of friends. You can move on and move out, but it doesn't necessarily change anything.

And so it goes.

It's My Life

2007-07-30T22:37:00.000-04:00

Life is settling into routine and patterns. I'm at Borders the majority of my time, and the rest of the time all I really want to do is read and learn how to think again. No, really. Journalism really does that to you -- it robs you of any semblance of intelligence, and makes you a drone so that you may repeat the journalism mantras "truth." "equality." "unbiased reporting." Do you see intelligent diction, research in there? No. So, if you try to use even a relatively complex word, even something like gregarious or gauche, they must be changed to talkative and awkward. No, awkward might even be too complicated for our fifth-grade reading-level audience members -- clumsy.

As I go through and re-read some of my journal entries from high school, I don't remember what some of the words mean. These are words I used on a regular basis in my high school. HIGH SCHOOL. Is this what college does to you? It forces you to speed read literature and text books, so that you memorize fractures of information for quizzes and essays, yet understand nothing. Sure, I was able to read some of the classics in college, and now I can say I read them. But I wasn't able to enjoy hardly any of them, because I was expected to read Jamaica Kincaid in two days; Herman Melville in three. Gee. This must be why children and adults alike no longer quite enjoy reading like they used to. We simply aren't given the chance. Rather than force Shakespeare and Dickens down our throats, why not give students a list of dozens of works to choose from? Let them go out and explore literature, explore the classics and any genre they might be interested in. Maybe then our literacy rates wouldn't be so appalling. Maybe then you wouldn't see I HATE READING in Facebook profiles, or vacant shrugs when asking what someone's favorite novel is.

But, that would be giving us too much freedom, wouldn't it? However would our poor governors rank our schools if not by number crunching and data? If we can't ingest 10 books a year as we choke on them and scrape by on spark notes rather than our minds, what would happen to our fantastic technological advancements? What would happen?

You tell me.

Song: Title, Billy Joel

Final Harry Potter Installment Will Make a Better Film

2007-07-22T21:22:00.000-04:00

Ok, if you don't want to know about Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows yet, don't read this. But, I finished the book about an hour ago and I have to vent about it a bit.

If any of you thought that Rowling was writing for Hollywood before, maybe you're right, but this book is worse than any of its predecessors. What is the major edge literature has always had, and will always have, over other forms of entertainment? Imagination, of course. Books are able to provide detail, imagery and beautiful language in ways that no other form of media can. Authors can go on for pages about one simple movement and scene. It may only take a few seconds or minutes to play out on screen, but in a book, when written well and played out correctly, a description can suck the reader in so completely, in a way that movies never could. Readers are able to develop personal relationships with the characters and feel as though they're sharing a special secret with the person who brought them all of this happiness and understanding: the author.

Well, Rowling obliterates all of that in her final book in the Harry Potter series. Rowling has never been a spectacularly gifted writer, in some ways. However, she has always used her greatest strengths to her advantage very well. She has a wonderful imagination, and a great part of her success has been in her ability to create such a believable world that she has held reader's entranced for nearly a decade. It doesn't matter if her sentence structure doesn't quite rival Dickens, Wilde or any of the greats of the British Isles. She created immensely sympathetic characters that millions of readers around the world have fallen in love with -- which is why she doesn't do herself, her characters or her devoted fans justice in The Deathly Hallows.

Just spending a bit more time and details on the scenes would have helped. I know she could never live up to our expectations; we all want to much from a series we all feel so strongly about. We wanted, or at least I wanted, a seamlessly tied up story with no loose ends. It didn't have to be a happily ever after, but something maybe a bit better than the last line of "all was well" would have done the trick.

The thing that is most disappointing is how episodic, yet slow, the book feels throughout its 700 plus pages. Readers are more than 500 pages into the book before Harry even finds another horcrux. When she kills off much-beloved characters, she doesn't even sufficiently explain how they have died, or even give very plausible reasons as to why they've died -- other than to add a bit more suspense for Warner Bros. perhaps. She kills off Fred right when he has been reconciled with Percy again. How does he die? Debris falling from the ceiling of Hogwarts. Do we see George after this scene at all, or even hear what has happened to him after the entire Weasley family (or what's left of it) is seen standing over his body? No. There is an epilogue for the "main" characters, albeit an unfulfilling one. I'm not asking for every little detail to be spelled out, but at least to leave out such major characters as George, who Teddy is left living with, and Luna.

Maybe once I have re-read this book, I will feel differently about it. But the whole time I was reading it, I was protesting what was happening. It doesn't sound like Rowling's voice, with characters randomly dying, suddenly, seemingly to add melodrama and suspense. Rather than relying on talent, Rowling expounds unnecessary plot twist after plot twist, leaving readers uncertain as to what exactly the main thread of the book is, other than the final duel of Harry and Voldemort. With Ron, Hermoine and Harry camping for several hundred pages of the book, it's no wonder she tries to add a bit of excitement to the book, but she does so in all the wrong places.

I hope I will feel differently about it at some point. I didn't like The Half-Blood Prince until the second time around, either, but that was mostly shock at the plot, per usual for the series. But with this one, I remain skeptical that I will ever change my mind. There's always a fool's hope...

Song: I know, I know, I didn't do it. Everyone makes exceptions for Harry Potter, though.

Desperate for Changing

2007-07-14T19:06:00.001-04:00

There is so much to say, I'm not sure where to begin. It's like Ron says in Order of the Phoenix, "If you feel all of this at once, you'd have to explode." Hermoine replies by saying "Only because you have the emotional capacity of a teaspoon!"

Or something like that.

I am officially moved (to Ann Arbor, in case anyone has forgotten =P). I have been at my new job for two weeks now and I love it. I work with the best people, from my co-workers and managers to people I have met at orientations. Even when the work is somewhat tedious, the people make it fun. And completely worth it. The company I am with now is completely different from my experiences in my New-York internship last summer. There, people either didn't care that I was brand new or didn't realize that I really didn't know the 330,000-person company after working at their headquarters for a week. In Michigan, people have taken the time to really explain things to me. I don't feel like I am stuck in a cubicle by myself, trying to figure things out on my own. And if I don't, too bad. People and help are really accessible here, it's been such a wonderful change. There were a dozens of things and anecdotes I wanted to write about, and now that I have set aside the time to blog, I naturally can't think of many. :-P I wasn't sure I would like the college grad program, but it has been a great experience so far. It's been nice to meet more people my age who have just graduated from college that also may not know too many people in the AA area.

And one of the best things about my job? It revolves around the book and entertainment industry. I get to spend parts of my day discussing Harry Potter, bestsellers and new releases. (Example: last week, I got a free HP7 tote bag. Could things be any more fabulous?). Haha. But seriously, I love it.

Now if only my house would magically unpack itself, life would be nearly perfect in all aspects. Maybe I can find my own Tonks to conjure up a trunk to put hodge-podge stuff neatly way, you know -- the kinds of things I couldn't possibly part with. =P And now, I really should go attempt to be productive. Until next time, then.

Song: "Hanging by a Moment" by Lifehouse -- I don't care how cliched it is, I will always love this song.

All the roads we have to walk along are winding

2007-06-26T13:46:00.000-04:00

We're moving in four days!! Today is my last day at work at the COE, and then I'm just home for the rest of the week, working on packing and cleaning and organizing. All three of which are much-needed -- the house is such a wreck, probably unsurprisingly. So it will be good for me to finally get everything done by Friday, with any luck... on time.

I am starting to get more nervous about starting at Borders, but the good news is that I feel more prepared to leave Athens now. I'll still miss it, of course, but I am looking forward to exploring Ann Arbor and finally being able to settle down, at least for a while. This is the third time Steven and I are moving in less than 12 months, so it will be nice to be able to definitely stay somewhere for at least a year (regardless of whether I end up loving Borders, or being miserable there, heh). I just sincerely hope that the job ends up being worth all of this effort. It has already ended up to be quite a financial burden, so I know that no matter how the job ends up working out, we have to stay there at least for a year to work out more secure finances... and loan payments are coming in less than six months. Ack. So, exactly: I hope it's all worth it. I think it will be, and hey, that may just be optimistic thinking, but so be it. At this point, I have to be. =)

In other news, my graduation party was this past Saturday. It was much better than I expected. I finally got to meet my new little cousin Jacob; he's five months old and a total butterball. He looks way older than five months too, he's quite tall for his age. =) And he is completely chill and smiley and adorable. He wasn't fussy at all, even with 30 Bonomini's, Martini's and others all over him, which is a total disaster for most people. haha. But anyway. I really enjoyed seeing some of the more distant fam I only see about twice a year. Now I've seen them twice in two months because of Lauren's wedding. So yeah, it was good, despite the disastrous food and the fact that a certain Gary was there. haha. Laura and Andrea even came, and it was great to see them before moving. And I got to see Linda last Friday, which was awesome since I hadn't seen her since March. We got to catch up, and I saw her photos from Equador. All in all, not a bad weekend in Cincinnati. That might be because I know I won't have to see any of them for a few months now since I'm moving, but you know. Like I said, I'm trying this whole positive thinking thing out. It was fun because they're such fun people!

Riiight. All right, back to my last few hours of work at McCracken... Next time I post, it will probably be from Michigan!

Song: my favorite Oasis song ever, "Wonderwall"

the things we never thought we could be

2007-06-21T15:49:00.000-04:00

It is officially official: we're moving June 30!! Our realtor... err, new land lady, called me today to tell us our application had been approved and we can move to Rice Avenue on June 30! And then I start July 2, whoaaa. And right when I starting to adjust to my job... Harry Potter 7 comes out!!! So totally cannot wait.

So, instead of working on my final two articles for the COE, I am writing about it here. =) I am actually really, really, excited about it now. It is starting to sink in a bit, me thinks. My HR person called me today, too and asked if I would like to get involved in the College Graduate Leadership Program at Borders, so I'm doing that now, too. As far as I can tell, it's a six-month program that pairs each recent grad with a mentor from another area of the company to learn, bond, all that good stuff. There are 12 people in the program, including myself, so it will be cool to get to know some more people my age -- and people outside of HR and the Communications departments. We will also be learning about different aspects of the company by working in the flagship store in Ann Arbor to really get a feel for the company. So basically, it sounds a lot like the intern stuff I did at IBM, which is cool, because that was really helpful. It was the only way I ever met anyone except for my office mate, which is great because I still keep in touch with a few of them today, thanks to Facebook. =P

On to the house. I basically described it in my last post, but I am just really happy we found a place that works so well for us. Oscar can come, it has a garage and it's getting new carpet and wall paint so it's quite livable. Now if Steven could only find a job by the end of the summer, we would be set for a while. It looks like the month of July is going to be pretty awesome: it's Steven's birthday, my grandpa's 80th birthday, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows is coming out and Order of the Phoenix is coming to theaters! I just started re-reading the series again two days ago (am on Prisoner of Azkaban now) and it has completely renewed my obsession. If Snape ends up being evil though, man... he better die. In the wise words of Stan Lee: "'Nuff said." And I still think J.K. Rowling will come back to the series and do a prequel, after her next book bombs. Because it will; how could anyone ever top debuting with Harry Potter? Exactly, she couldn't. I mean, everyone will buy it because of Harry Potter, then realize that HP was 100 times better and she will have to write another one in 25 years. Yes, we have it all planned out.

Now I will stop rambling. Moving in nine days, whoo hoo!

Song: "Here is Gone," Goo Goo Dolls

Closing Time

2007-06-17T21:35:00.000-04:00

So, I am moving to Michigan in two weeks (13 days, if you want to be technical). I can still hardly believe it; it's happened so fast. In less than three weeks time I had my job interviews and then the job offer from Borders... and they wanted me to start about two weeks from that time, haha. Obviously finding housing in a town I am completely unfamiliar with was a challenge, let alone when you want to find a place that will let you move in in less than a two-week notice. But, we basically made it happen -- I just had to push my start date back from June 25 to July 2. Not bad, I say.

Anyway, Steve and I just got back from house hunting in Michigan and it went pretty well, given all the excess baggage we have with our animals. =) We looked at two house -- both horribly expensive, but not for Ann Arbor and are currently in the process of signing the lease on one. It's in Ypsi, has a two-car detached garage, full basement, three bedrooms, one and one-half bath. It's pretty decent for a rental; I will post photos eventually, if I remember. =P Now I am just tying up things here in Athens -- packing, seeing people that are still around and finishing up my last three articles for the Athenaeum.

More detail later, for now I am too exhausted to really think about. Until then.