words, words, words

So for much of the last month or so I have been reading shit. After this week, that has finally, mercifully changed. I am about 3/4 of the way through a biography called, "Unbroken," by Laura Hillenbrand, the author of "Seabiscut" (another book I loved.) and I cannot put it down. I got it from my parents library. My Dad's shelf is filled with these types of books and I was lucky enough to come across this gem. It's the story of a WWII bombardier whose plane crashed into the ocean during a mission and his subsequent tale of survival despite being lost at sea for over 40 days and then captured and taken as a POW by the Japanese military. It is an absolutely amazing story and I am lost in it. At times the writing feels disjointed and the characters not flushed out, but the story itself more than makes up for any shortcomings. I have read a lot on WWII and am endlessly fascinated by this era in time. I'm not sure how it started but I remember taking every c...

I will admit, I'm a little homesick this Christmas. I think not being able to see my friends and family so easily this year has made me especially miss them right now. This is nothing like the Christmas I spent in L.A. where I actually had to work on Christmas eve night and Christmas day and a customer told me to F off (I'm thinking karma has bit that guy in the ass several times by now). My sister Maggie tried to make things as homey and comforting as possible and I'll always be grateful to her for that but it was rough. This year is really not anything close to that but I still feel pangs of missing the traditions my family used to have around this time of year. It's funny because when I think back on my favorite Christmas memories I'm surprised to find that they are not of my childhood but of my adulthood. I guess maybe when you are a kid, everything sort of blends together and becomes a blur - a wondrous, magical blur but still a blur. When I was in high schoo...

My list for Santa is as follows...you may think it too ambitious but I think if these humble wishes came true all would be right with the world 1. For the Kardashian's to disappear never to return 2. For wives of major league baseball players to stop making comments such as, "150 million dollars is an insult to my husband." 3. for the world to acknowledge that Tim Tebow is a mortal like the rest of us and that the real god walking amongst us is named Tom Brady 4. for this generation of teenagers to grow up having real live social skills despite their only communication to other humans coming through technological devices. This one I realize might take a not so small miracle 5. For the judges on "chopped" to get theirs someday 6. For people who really need money to get it and the people who have more than they know what to do with, appreciate it 7. For the movie version of "The Hunger Games" to not suck 8. For Starbucks to finally go out of bus...

I feel like a combination of George Bailey and Holden Caulfield today. Translation: I'm suffering from I hate the world-itis. It's been a fun week for me and by fun I mean miserable. I like to toss around the word fun like its a good thing when really it means I want to take a blow torch to my face. Obviously, I'm exaggerating because I have a job, a roof over my head and people that love me so life is fine really. I'm just having one of those weeks where I'm throwing myself a pity party complete with peppermint stick ice cream and egg nog. It all started on Sunday when a vegetable peeler took off a slice of my middle finger. Standing over the kitchen sink watching blood gush into it, I knew I needed stitches. Then I heard the voice of my father who was a medic in the Korean war and my go to for all things injury related. Me: "Dad, what do you think, do I need stitches?" Dad (shaking his head and frowning): "Nah," How could I ignore such sag...

So the Christmas season is upon us and with that, endless commercials capitalizing on America's consumerist greed, cheesy, heartwarming movies galore on TV (Anne - stop watching those goofy lifetime movies..please?!) and gaudy decorations everywhere you turn.Now, don't get me wrong, I like Christmas, I really do but it frustrates me. I don't like anything that is shoved down my throat and the Christmas season does that in spades. I have long given up the gift giving tradition - choosing jobs that pay next to nothing my whole life kind of forced me into being stingy but I don't regret that. There are so many people in the world that don't have basic essentials that I find it really hard to stomach giving unnecessary gifts to the people I love. In years past, I have definitely been a scrooge - electing to ignore the season altogether. This year, I am trying to get into the spirit a bit more. Even though my three cats will make having a live tree a challenge to say the...

Ah, Thanksgiving...what a great holiday! Football, endless amounts of food, wine and family. I love Thanksgiving - no gift giving, no church, no pressure; just relaxation and gorging. What could be better? oh and of course being grateful for everything you have in your life. So I'm going to take a moment to remind myself of the things I am grateful for this year and despite it having been one of the toughest,(or perhaps because of it) there are many. Top 20 things I am thankful for this year: 1.My parents who make being married for 50+ years look easy 2. My in laws for embracing me as their own 3. A good cup of coffee first thing in the morning 4. Watching "Dexter" on Sunday nights even tho it scares the ever loving shit out of me 5. embracing the lessons of failure 6. Being able to do something I have pursued for years 7. The amazing sunsets we get every night over our building 8. my obnoxious but lovable cats 9. yoga for teaching me to be still and flexible ...

On the weekend that the latest installment of the "Twilight" series sets to come out in theaters, I thought it would be appropriate to comment on books being made into movies. First off, let me make it very, very clear that I despise the "Twilight" series for too many reasons to count but mainly because the writing is shitty, the characters are pathetic and it sets women's rights back about 100 years. But since the trailer is basically being shoved down our throats it got me thinking about how every popular book in the last I don't know how many years has been made into a movie. According to some research I did on the topic roughly 40% of movies currently out this year were based on books. That is a lot if you think about how many movies are released into theaters each year. Apparently, Hollywood has no more original ideas. I'm torn on the topic to be quite honest. I won't lie and say that I don't get really excited when I see that one of my fav...

Lately I've been thinking about the stereotypes surrounding great writers (or all creative types). Ya know, that they are all crazy in one way or another? They have been cast throughout time as rebels, loners, recluses and abusers of illegal (or legal yet dangerous) substances. Not to mention that they are all depressed, broke, bitter and lonely. Accurate depiction or exaggerated? Not really sure but what I do know is that for many, many years writers have been known as being "different" from the average person; rejected from the mainstream whether by choice or by force. Everyone knows the stories of Hemingway drinking his life away on a beach in Key West or J.D. Salinger famously hiding for years in New Hampshire or Henry David Thoreau rejecting civilized society to look to the woods for meaning. Why has this been on my mind lately? Glad you asked, well because I feel as if I can relate to feeling different and rejecting mainstream society. I attended a wedding rece...

I am off to the Dominican Republic on Monday...it may seem crazy that I am taking a vacation after only a month of work but I consider it proper payment for 2 years of unemployment hell where my full time job was trying to find a job. If you have never done this before, take my word for it that it is infinitely more exhausting than having a real job. I believe I have earned this vacation and will undoubtedly enjoy every single second of it. Now, here is the question....what books do I take with me for a week sitting by a pool and a beach sipping delicious frozen cocktails? I feel like Jane Austen is out of the question (but then again, she is always out of the question), how about Thomas Hardy or Sylvia Plath? Nah....I honestly can't see myself sitting on the beach reading anything that I have to think about. I guess that's where the phrase, "Beach reads" came from. People do not want to think when they are trying to relax. We do so much of that in our daily lives tha...

Unbelievably, I have already finished, "Siddhartha." It was a fairly easy read and if not completely gripping at least interesting enough that it held my attention. After doing a bit more research about the novel, I found that it gathered a cult like following in the 1960s with the authors that became known as the beat generation and in fact Kerouc's "On the Road" was highly influenced by "Siddhartha." This isn't surprising when you consider that the youth of the 1960s were known for rejecting conformity and materialism and looking for freedom and meaning. This book is a hymn to those ideals. I definitely related to Siddhartha's journey in this novel. It is filled with turmoil, confusion, depression, sadness, joy, wonder and peace. At any point in life we all experience these things and we all fight to resist temptation. He is in search of finding a peace within that will allow him to transcend material as well as bodily needs which he views ...

I actually started a new book! yay! Its been a while I know. The last few weeks of my life have been a whirlwind. I actually have a job now (so the description of this blog is no longer relevant but who cares that much right?) and that has monopolized a lot of the time I used to use for reading. But I am finally settling into my new routine and picked up "Siddhartha" by Herman Hesse the other night. I knew virtually nothing about his book when I ordered it but it sounded interesting an it was on all the lists I used to create this blog. Written by German born writer, Herman Hesse, "Siddhartha" tells the story of a man living in India in search of the meaning of life. It parallels the life of the real Buddha and Siddhartha was actually the name the real Buddha had before he took on the more well known one. It was published in 1922 in Germany but didn't make it to the states until the 1950s. You really can't get more universal than the theme of the search fo...

When change happens in life, I always look for things that are familiar amidst the chaos of newness. Revisiting classics is one of those things. The familiarity, the timelessness, the comforting nature of a good story has the power to make life feel grounded and real when everything around you seems to be cloudy and confusing. This can't be more true in my life at the moment or for that matter the last year of my life. I was thinking about everything that has gone on this year and once I broke it down, I was blown away by how much change I have experienced. In August of last year, I moved to a new city and a new apartment and started a new job (only to lose it 2 months later). Then in January, I got married moving my relationship to a new and deeper phase. Following that, I started 2 new jobs only to realize that neither one was right. Then I embarked upon a new career path and a new profession. So in short, in one year I had a new career, a new city, a series of new jobs and a new...

Last I left off, I was still struggling through "Tropic of Cancer" and re-reading the Harry Potter series. Well, I am currently on book 5 of Harry Potter while "Tropic of Cancer" still sits on my nightstand bookmarked to the same sad spot. I've decided its time to abandon it at least for now. I'm sick of talking about it and I'm sure you are sick of hearing how I can't get into it so goodbye for now Henry Miller. I find sometimes that if I walk away from a book and go back months or even years later, I have a whole different experience with it. So much depends on where you are in your life when you read a book. Everyone brings their own opinion, their own experiences and their own feelings to a book depending on who they are and what has happened in their life. That's why I love book clubs. And no, not the ones that Oprah made famous with suburban housewives sitting around drinking wine and complaining that they don't understand the point of ...

This week is book banning week which sounds sort of awful if you think about it. When I first heard about it I thought it was a week celebrating banning books but no, it is a celebration of all the books that were once banned in this country. Silly me! Sponsored by the ALA (American Library Association), this week tries to bring awareness to an issue that still very much exists even though it feels like ancient history. Honestly, it floors me that in 2011, books are still being "challenged." That is the word used now because as you know it is against the Constitution to ban books but one has the right to challenge anything (also according to our beloved Constitution.) According to some research I did there were over 300 documented challenges concerning books in this country last year, most of them made by parents of school aged children. As a former teacher and educator, this disgusts me. It suggests that our children should not think for themselves or even worse, that they...

I decided not to totally give up on "Tropic of Cancer." After throwing my tantrum over the weekend about how much I hated it, I picked it up again with the thought that if this is considered a classic, it must have more merit other than lewd sexual scenes and sloppy run on's. So far, I haven't found it but I don't think I'm going to throw in the towel just yet. What I have decided to do instead, is alternate reading it with something much more fun and enjoyable. So, as I threatened in my last post, I am re-reading the Harry Potter series. (if these books are not considered classics yet, they will be in the future, guaranteed.) I will admit, I am a bit of a Harry Potter nerd. Yes, I did buy the 7th book at the crack of dawn on the day it came out. No, I did not put a toilet seat cover over my head and go as Moaning Myrtle to the bookstore. I'll leave it up to you to decide where I stand on the nerd spectrum. A lot of people ask me how I can read a book mo...

I think I'm throwing in the towel on "Tropic of Cancer." I really can't take it. I realized I started dreading going to bed every night because that is the time I read. And for those of you who don't know me well, I NEVER dread going to bed.I love to sleep. Its one of my favorite things to do actually. I'm pretty notorious in my family for snapping viciously at anyone who tries to disturb my sleep or tries to hold a conversation with me within a half an hour of me waking up - even longer if my coveted first cup of coffee hasn't nestled into my bloodstream yet. So, if I am dreading going to bed - me the lover of all things nocturnal, than there is a problem with this book. It is just so damn haphazard. Its one run on sentence after another and endless descriptions of crap I could care less about. I will admit there are some beautiful passages describing the seedier side of Paris in the 30s but that's really where it all ends for me. I should just pull a...

Ok so fitting that I chose "Tropic of Cancer" to read next, because we are coming upon book banning week (September 24th-October 1st) which is a celebration of books that were once banned in this country. Well, the way I feel about this book so far is that it should have stayed banned (for the record, I don't believe in book banning, I'm just trying to make a point). This novel is seriously dirty. No wonder it was banned for so long. I get it. I'm going to need several long cold showers after I'm done reading this one. It is an autobiographical account of Miller's life and his exploits with various women. There is more to it than that, but I'll get there. Reading the forward, I was pretty excited because Henry Miller felt like a kindred spirit. The novel is set in Paris in the 1930s and anyone who knows me knows that that is right up my alley. Awesome, I thought I'm going to love this book! Miller was 36 at the time (same as me) and living with h...

I don't really have too much to say about "Animal Farm." Its a social commentary, a statement about the dangers of power on society. It was well written if a bit blah and the story just didn't interest me. Just not my kind of book. I'm glad I read it because it shows up on every list of great literature I found but it is easily forgettable. Not sure what my next read will be. I'm too interested in fall television right now. I'm a total TV junkie. I admit it freely and yes you can be a geeky bookworm and a TV nerd at the same time. I'm a hopeless reality show follower -I love all of those competition shows - top chef, amazing race, survivor, etc. Shakespeare had theater in the the round; our generation has reality TV. kind of sad. I'm thinking of "Tropic of Cancer" for my next book. I really know nothing about it except it makes an appearance in an episode of "Seinfeld." Seems fitting that I only know of this book from a TV sh...

Ok so I chose "Animal Farm" for my next book because A. I had it already and B.its very short. Before I head into one the meatier picks on my list, I want to knock out some of the more easily read books. Animal Farm - written in 1945 and published in the U.S. in 1946, is a satire about communism told from the perspective of farm animals. Weird, weird, weird. I breezed through the first 80 pages (its only 128 pages - on the borderline of even being called a book) but then hit a wall. I kind of hate this book. It's boring, the writing is elementary and I'm not interested at all in the subject matter. I only have 40 or so pages left and I'm doing everything I can to avoid going back to it. I feel like I'm back in college again where procrastination was my middle name. I was the student who did EVERYTHING last minute. I didn't start writing my 20 page senior thesis until 2 days before it was due. Somehow I always managed to get good grades despite my horribl...

For the one person who is reading this blog, don't read this review if you haven't' read the book and want to. I give away a good chunk of the plot...if you have read it or have no desire to than please read on.... I left off last time on page 30ish completely in love with the writing in this novel, wonderfully curious about the character of Humbert and excited about the journey Nabokov was about to take me on. Well, shortly after reaching page 40, everything but the love for the writing in this book changed for me.  I have finished the book and have many, many thoughts on it. So here goes: Although, I started out sympathizing with Humbert's character, as the novel progressed, I found it harder and harder to have any good feelings towards him at all. He is actually a pretty loathsome character,  motivated by only one thing throughout and that is his lust for Dorothy "Lolita" Haze. It is seemingly the ONLY thing that drives all of his actions in life and mos...

So I have finally starting reading "Lolita" and I'm hooked. My husband came into our bedroom at 1:45 am and saw me fighting sleep while trying to read. That's what happens when a book is that good. You forget where you are or what is happening around you. All sense of time fades away. Within the first paragraph I already knew why this book is considered a classic: the writing is beautiful. A lot of times in between reading really well written, thought provoking books, I will take a break with something easy - ya know the type- they are usually referred to as beach reads, the books where you don't have to concentrate at all to get through it. I like these books but I never feel as if the authors are real writers. To me they are purely employees collecting a paycheck for doing a job. The words don't sing off of the page; there is no soul alive behind the paragraphs. Reading a classic is a whole different experience. You can feel the writers emotions right there...

Unemployment is like a game. How many jobs did I apply to this week and get rejected from? answer: 3. How many job interviews have I gone on recently?answer: zero. How many hours a week have I spent filling out applications and emailing resumes? answer: 20. In some universe all of those hours should add up to a prize? My prize? More frustration and  more hours of time to fill. There isn't even any good tv to watch right now. August is like a vast wasteland in the entertainment world. All of the summer shows have wrapped up and the fall shows haven't started yet. Thats why I've started to invent challenges for myself to keep from sitting on the floor of my apartment staring at the walls all day because believe me, some days thats as exciting as it gets.  Last week my challenge was starting this blog, this week its to run in the park every morning and do yoga every night, next its going to be to cook only vegetarian meals, the week af...

I got my copy of Lolita in the mail today - thank you amazon book sellers for my used 40 cent copy! I love the experience of cracking open the spine of a new book. There is something so exciting about not knowing what you will find within the pages. I don't get these people who read books on a kindle or an ipad or some other fancy device that I will never own.  Call me old fashioned , but you will never catch me on a bus or train or plane with one of these things on my lap trying to look cool and hip reading the latest Oprah book club selection. No, not me, I would much rather take my hard earned 40 cents (or I should say my husbands hard earned 40 cents because if you forgot, I have no income) and spend it on a well worn, dog eared, ragged paperback. Books have souls and each one is unique.  Never mind that one of my favorite experiences in life is sitting at home in a big cushy chair with a glass of wine and opening the cover of a...

There are varying definitons and opinions about what defines a classic but they all have  3 things in common: 1.  It stands the test of time 2. It has universal appeal 3. It has artistic quality I have to add my own to these three and that is that it moves you to feel something - whether it be love, hate, anger, sadness or joy, a classic work of literture should have the power to move. This has led me to reflect upon my first real experience with being moved by a book. I read a lot as a child and teenager but largely to impress my mother who was a librarian. My reading experience didn't extend beyond  Stephen King and the Baby Sitter's Club books. Then my junior year in high school, my English teacher assigned, "A Separate Peace." by John Knowles,  a typical high school reading list book.  I approached it like I did every school assigment - with diligence but little to no enthusiasm. Three quarters of the book was pretty forgettable....

"I haven't any right to criticize books, and I don't do it except when I hate them. I often want to criticize Jane Austen, but her books madden me so that I can't conceal my frenzy from the reader; and therefore I have to stop every time I begin. Every time I read Pride and Prejudice I want to dig her up and beat her over the skull with her own shin-bone. -Letter to Joseph Twichell, 9/13/1898" — Mark Twain Hear, Hear Mark Twain! I have an ongoing hatrted for Jane Austen and yet, I will attempt at some point during this challenge to read something by her that I haven't already been force fed. I'm already dreading that week of my life . I would remiss if I didn't mention some of the greats that I have read and loved rather than harping on my hatred of all things Jane Austen. I can't say I have a favorite novel because there are just too many to choose from but I would count, "The Great Gatsby," "Anna Karenina," "H...

This blog is an attempt at tackling all the "classics" of literature that alluded me while I was an English major in college over ten years ago. I loved studying the classics and I absolutely LOVE to read - its one of my passions but in college, there was often better things to do than study Spencer's, "The Faerie Queen." (Hate!!). Drinking, fraterninzing with the opposite sex and working 2 jobs often took priority. Now that I am well out of college I am ready to revisit those years in the academic sense (and maybe occasionally in the social sense). Technically, that is my story but more honestly, this is an attempt to combat extrememe boredom in a period of now 2 years of unemployment.  I have spent this time of nothingness, doing all of the things they tell you to do when you become unemployed: volunteering, getting more exersize, reconnecting with yourself, blah blah blah, but reading has been my constant go to and support in this time. It just seems fitting ...