Do You READ All Them Books?

This weekend I read an entire book.  I don't know the last time I did that, just sat down and read a book and got all sucked into it and couldn't put it down.

It was Ender's Game, and I'm not going to go into the controversy about Orson Scott Card and his anti-gay stupidity because #1, the book was written almost 30 years ago and why was no one caring THEN, #2 the man is a Mormon and they're not exactly known for their gay-friendly outlook, and #3 it was a REALLY good book, and had zilch to say about marriage or sexuality at all.  It's a book about children..  Now I'm not saying that I'd look at paintings by Hitler and go, "Yeah, he killed all those Jews and started a horrible war and stuff but that's a REALLY good painting!"  Those would be hard to separate.  But this book?  This book was great.

I wondered a couple of things as I was reading.  The book starts when Ender is six years old and ends when he's around 20.  But it's definitely not a book for children, I guess more in the young adult age range.  I wonder how it would have impacted my life as a teenager.  Would it have impacted my life?  Would I have done anything differently?  Probably not.  It's always interesting to think about how books and other outside influences change you, or if they would have changed you differently if you'd experienced them at a different time in your life.

I also wondered if the book would have grabbed me in the same way had I read it on my Kindle.  Someone loaned me a copy of the paperback.  Would I have been so enthralled if it was the electronic version?  Again, there is no way to know this.  I can't re-read the book for the first time.

Ender's Game is about brilliant kids being trained to become commanders in an intergalactic army going to war against an alien race.  War games.  Strategy.  Survival.  It would be a good read for kids who feel a little different and have outsider status at school or in general.   I remember feeling like that when I was a kid- I didn't really come into my own until I was in my 20s.

I also painted my bathroom cabinets this weekend, and replaced the hardware, but that is another post for another day.  

French Kiss

Going to the library on my lunch hour is getting to be something of a habit. I LOVE it- it reminds me of when I was a kid and we'd be at the library for hours at a time when my mom was busy doing curriculum reviews with other homeschooling families or my sister was in ballet class. I would poke through shelves of books. I think I had the entire kids craft section memorized, and I'd read all of the Lois Lowry and Madeline L'Engle books (at least the ones written for kids) by the time I was 12. Going back to that library brings on a huge feeling of nostalgia.

Nashville has the best public library system I've encountered in all of the places I've lived so far (it's a pretty lengthy list). First of all, it is huge so I have yet to come across a book that they don't have somewhere in the system (although you might have to wait a while to get it). Second, it has a GORGEOUS main library, with floors of books, an entire room of Fine Art books, a genealogy room, rotating displays of interesting things, lots of computers, and free parking in the attached garage with validation. But the most important thing to me is the convenience. They will send a book to any branch I feel is convenient. They will hold that book for me for a week. I can return any book to any location- and that might be the very best part.

The other day I got a book about style that was written in the 90s, which was just funny. The book was written for the 40+ crowd, which I didn't realize when I checked it out. Some of the advice is classic- blue jeans with a white button down shirt always looks classy, keep black away from your face if you can't really wear it, make sure your bras fit right. Some of it is just outdated. I watched part of the movie French Kiss a while back, and I remember seeing that movie when it first came out- I was 16. I thought Meg Ryan looked so chic. But watching it now I just can't figure out why everyone is running around in clothes that are entirely too baggy and style that belongs on a 10 year old. But I realized that (gulp) this movie came out 13 years ago and style has really changed. Things are more fitted. There's a scene where Meg is trying to be all relaxed about seeing her ex-boyfriend and his new French (gorgeous, and stylish now because she was supposed to be the evil-boyfriend-stealer-woman, so she was probably supposed to look a little young and slutty but now it translates to really pulled together. What does that say about us today????) girlfriend on the beach and she's wearing khakis and a horizontal striped t-shirt and it just cracked me up. Back in the day I thought she looked so perfectly casual and relaxed and like she belonged in France and her boyfriend was SO GOING TO WANT HER BACK. But now? How I'm thinking those pants are 2 sizes too big for her and that shirt is atrocious. Let's take a look, shall we?

Good thing she's adorable.

And don't even get me started on Kevin Kline. Yes, men's style doesn't change nearly as quickly or dramatically as women's style does, but his suits are something else. One false move and he'll be buried in a mountain of fabric and never be heard from again.

Now that I think about it that movie just doesn't make any damn sense at all anyway. Yeesh. Spending your life savings on a thief and then staying in France to help said thief run his vineyard. Woman, grow up!

FINALLY

This morning I went down to the cafeteria at work. (Which is politely referred to by some as the "Cafe". Oh give it a rest, when I think Cafe I think little tables and cute sandwiches and coffee you can stand to drink, and maybe outdoor seating. Cafe my ass.) I got my usual: a bowl of oatmeal and a cup for tea. I always bring my own teabags because the markup on tea in that place is insanity. I can get a box of about 12,000 teabags for something like $5 at the grocery store but at work they cost 75 cents PER BAG. Are you kidding me??? So, anyway, I made my tea (which I always take with sugar substitute and skim milk, because I like it the snobby pretentious British way, minus the heavy cream and real sugar) and grabbed some extra Splenda packets because you just never know when they'll be out so you better get them and stash them at your desk. I went about my day and completely forgot about those Splenda packets until I was looking for change and couldn't figure out why my pocket was full of sand.

Nice.

The week from hell is almost over. Actually, this is the 3rd week in a row of weeks from hell. But I don't think I'm the only one suffering from Week from Hell Syndrome. I think the time change that is screwing with everyone's ability to think clearly and behave like grownups. Or talk in coherent sentences.

By the way, if you suffer from allergies, Zyrtec is AMAZING. I love this stuff! I wake up in the mornings all stuffy and congested (and one morning my ear was actually all stopped up, which I hate more than anything else), but then I take my little tiny Zyrtec and in under an hour I'm cured. And I haven't noticed a single side effect- no drowsiness or dry mouth or anything like that. I might just keep taking it through August.

This weekend I'm on a quest for the new GQ. I may not SEEM like the target market for that magazine, but have you seen the cover? I'm not the world's biggest, nerdiest, 15-year-old-girl-iest Twilight fan, but I'm not complaining. Dude. Wow. Observe:Oh Robert Pattinson, even your worried smoking face is pretty darn hot.

This weekend I'm going to pick up the latest bookclub book (and scope out the GQ situation), check out the sale at Belk (really hit or miss, but whatever it's right next to the bookstore and I have coupon), stop by Walmart for bottled water (oh my gosh that was like 2 cardinal sins in one sentence), and go grocery shopping. I'm really not sure what exactly I've been eating because my cupboards are BARE. And on Sunday I have a hike! If it isn't raining that is....

PS Okay, so I've fucked around with this post about 50 times now and I don't know why the fonts are different and I don't know why the font sizes keep changing but you know what? You can read fonts in different sizes. So I'm not screwing with it anymore.

I'm not dead!

Y'all. Seriously. Is there anybody out there? Did I hear an echo? Does anybody even read blogs written by incredibly slack bloggers?

This past week has been a blur of crazy-busy.

Some highlights:
On Saturday morning I met one of my Meet Up groups at Wild Bill's Bikes and Beignets, which was an odd little place. Incredible doughnuts Louisiana-style topped with tons of powdered sugar and served up with Community Coffee. And custom built Harleys that you can order there in the coffee shop. The combination was a little weird, but check it out. He's, like, famous. I will be back because the beignets are to die for, and who doesn't like a local coffee shop? And Wild Bill is totally nice and seems like a really cool guy.

On Sunday I ate at a vegetarian Indian buffet and it was fantastic. I don't know what the heck I ate but I loved every bite. Rice? Lentils? Veggies I can't even recognize? Bread pudding dessert type things? Mmmmmmmmm.

Last night a friend of mine watched one of the Melody Gardot videos I wrote about and decided that I like her because she and I are similar in that we have a "geeky, snotty, vampy attractiveness." I don't think he could have hit the nail on the head more with geeky and snotty, but I have not fulfilled my vamp potential. Granted, this person has never met me although we've been talking for 7 years, and he's going by pictures. But that is another story for another day. (That did sound really sort of slutty or something though didn't it?)

Did anybody watch the Oscars? I watch every year. I don't think I saw a single movie that was nominated for anything this year. But that's not the POINT. The POINT is the dresses and the "Oh my GOSH Jennifer Anniston must be standing and presenting right in front of the sanctimonius Brangelina! AWKWARD!" And predicting whether or not Mickey Rourke would be wearing something completely cracked out or just moderately cracked out. Heather (my hetero-lifemate Heather, not me in the 3rd person Heather, because that would be weird) and I pretty much voted on moderately cracked out because it all could have been so much worse. And let's talk for a minute about Ben Stiller's fantastic impression of Jaoquin Phoenix. HA! And how pretty Anne Hathaway is. And Tim Gunn doing red carpet commentary. (I kept waiting for him to say "That's a whole lot of look," but Tim Gunn is too classy to pull something that obvious at the Oscars.) And the beautiful color of Kate Winslet's dress. But most of all let's talk about how ODD it was when the former winners of an actor/actress category came up on stage to talk about the nominees in their given category. Wasn't it just a few years ago where they were practically flinging the Oscar to the winner from the center of the theater to save time? And now we're waxing poetic? REALLY? Wanna bet all of those best actresses were praying they didn't draw the short straw and have to say something mildly condescending about Meryl Streep's body of work?

And now, becaue I don't know how long it will be before I post again, here is some random entertainment:

Edit!

It occurred to me today that my last post was a little presumptive. The Duchess? What Duchess? HEATHER WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?

Georgiana was the Duchess of Devonshine (England) in the late 18th/early 19th century. She was buddies with Marie Antoinette and was a sort of scandalous character. She got out the vote for her chosen candidates for Parliament, had affairs with politicians, and did a lot of traveling between her husband's country estates and Europe. She was also a prolific letter writer. Note to self: if you want to be famous in the future, write loads of handwritten letters.

So, the book is called Georgiana: Duchess of Devonshire. The movie based on the book shortens that up considerably to The Duchess. The movie was good, but screwed around with timelines a lot so you don't have nearly the sense of how important this person was in her time. If you like biographies, this is a great read.

And now it is time to buckle down for an ice storm. Maybe. I have a feeling that if I lived further north I would be much more concerned. The local news, however, is going crazy with this. SALT THE BRIDGES! CALL OUT THE POWER COMPANY! SAVE THE WOMEN AND CHILDREN!!!

Ladies, Ladies

So today I did some exercising (I've done 23.5 miles this month, which means I'm ALMOST keeping up with my goal), and when I was done I turned the tape off and watched TV while I was stretching. Some channel was playing Ice Princess, which might be one of the worst movies EVER MADE. Joan Cusack plays the "Mean Mommy" role ("Professional athletes have a shelf life!") because clearly she just can't agree with her daughter's dreams. The most manipulative parenting I've ever seen on screen, and that's saying a lot. We all know people can't start college after the age of 18. Kim Cattrall plays the competition's mean mommy. It was really weird watching her in this role because I expected her to sleep with the judges Samantha style, all of them at once, to throw the score in her daughter's favor. I don't think she translates well to Disney fare. So I made it through about 20 minutes of that drivel, and I'm pretty sure I know the ending.

I finally finished "The Duchess" and let me tell you, that book was wayyyy better than the movie. That woman was a MESS. She gambled incessantly, and lied to her friends and banks to "borrow" money which she never intended to pay back. She was also one of the most influential women in politics ever, and it was interesting to read about those two sides of her- the political genius and the gambling wreck. Another interesting note: both she and her sister went abroad for several months to have their illegitimate children in relative privacy and no one was the wiser. It sounds like thanks to the work of the Victorian censors (who thought they were doing their ancestors a favor) it was hard to figure out just whose child was whose between Georgiana, her sister Harriet, and her "friend" Bess (who is another interesting character and probably needs her own biography). Back then it was not uncommon to go visit the continent for months (or years) and concealing a pregnancy was par for the course. Unreal. Can you imagine trying to do that now?

This weekend has been busy. Yesterday I did a two mile Walk Away the Pounds walk and then did a 20 minute dumbell routine from SparkPeople.com. (It's here if you're interested- there is also great 15 minute stablility ball workout- try it out.) I had bookclub and spent waaaayyy too long on Facebook. Today I went grocery shopping and prepped all of my snacks and veggies for the week. I even cut up chicken and froze it for quick meals later. I cleaned a lot, did laundry, walked 3 miles, and started another bookclub book. Tonight I'm making pizza for dinner and camping out on the couch to watch "Wuthering Heights" on PBS. It's going to be SO GOOD. I'm a sucker for 19th century British costume dramas.

Other things happening on Planet Heather:

• I'm thinking about getting a tattoo for my 30th birthday.
• I'm doing some excercises in the "Shyness and Social Anxiety Workbook" and I think they're helping.
• I have gained almost 10 lbs since Christmas and it's making me furious. HOW? WHY???? This is why I'm hitting the exercise DVDs/videos pretty hard.

Does anybody else tend to gain weight in winter? Or is this something that just happens to me because I'm extra special?

Impressions of The Golden Globes

Yeah, so I JUST said I probably wouldn't be posting for a while, but I lied. Last night I watched The Golden Globes on NBC, from Red Carpet Coverage to the end (except for the time around when Steven Speilberg got the Cecil B. DeMille award, I used that time to take a shower). I like to watch the Golden Globes because they're sort of laid back compared to the Oscars, and they don't have some host around who makes everyone uncomfortable.

The thing that really struck me about last night was how small the stage was. You get used to seeing HUUUUGE stages with monster sets, but this one was so small that some people, like Maggie Gyllenhaal and her dress, overwhelmed it.

Red Carpet: Quit talking about people's resumes. We don't care. Just talk about the important stuff- the dresses and the jewelry.

Does Brad Pitt EVER crack a smile? I found it funny that NBC got lots of shots of him, but I didn't know Angelina Jolie was there until the best actress award was announced. They both seem obnoxiously pretentious and unapproachable, and they've worked hard to give that impression.

I loved Eva Longoria's dress. It fit like a glove, and a lot of actresses need to re-think fit. You know, the actual designers of their dresses probably wouldn't mind lending a hand.

Johnny Depp and Kate Winslet both needed hair clips.

It was weird when Laura Linney thanked Paul Giamatti for his work in John Adams- to THUNDEROUS silence. Nobody clapped for the guy at all.

Glenn Close and I need to chat about wardrobe choices. And Drew B. and I need to have a heart to heart about hair style choices.

Christina Applegate's necklace was stunning. I want it for my birthday. I need to make very rich friends.

Sandra Bullock was hilarious- why hasn't she been in any movies lately?

This and That

Sorry for the sort of schizo posting lately. Being back at work for a full week was an adjustment, and things there have been slow so my brain gets sort of numb. It should pick up next week though. I'm figuring out ways to learn some new skills this year at work- I think it will pay off.

I have been reading this great book called "The Thirteenth Tale" that has me completely absorbed- it is sooooooo good! (Edited because I realized I can put my Goodreads.com reviews on here! Awesome!)

After I finish "The Thirteenth Tale" I need to read "The Glass Castle" (another book club book) which is supposed to be great. Then I have that biography that the movie The Duchess was based on- "Georgiana Duchess of Devonshire", but that I got after months on the library waiting list so I need to read that FAST because I can't renew it as it is on hold by someone else. I was going to take it back to the library and just re-join the holds list but I read the first page and it looks GREAT so somehow I'm going to have all of this stuff read in 10 days. Right. Dream big, I say. I did take back the John Adams biography because I was getting a little tired of it. And since so much was pulled from the letters he and Abigail wrote to each other I think I want to just get that book instead. Those two were insane correspondents. I don't think I've ever written so much in my whole life as they wrote to each other- school essays, blogging, letters, emails, and diaries included.

Last night I went out with one of my friends from work. We had dinner at PF Chang's where the waiter told us about all of the celebrities who come in (some lead singer of some band was there at the bar but I didn't really know who the band was so I didn't care). Then we went to see Gran Torino, which was a fantastic movie. I love Clint Eastwood films. They are exactly what I look for in movies. There's a good story, guilt, redemption, nice big sweeping themes tied into fairly small stories, and the pace is right. And they always feel a little old school to me. He was great in this movie. Go see it.

I've sort of tweaked my exercise New Years Resolution. I'm going to see if I can keep my number of miles walked at or above the day of the year it is. For example, today is the 11th day of the year and I've walked 11 miles. Ta Da! So far so good. I can do 2 miles every other day and then on the off days do strength training. I think strength training is the big weight-loss secret for me. I love to do it because you get results so fast (is that a bicep I see?) and you really feel like you're DOING something when you're so sore for the next 48 hours. I love that.

I know, I know, nothing major going on to write about. It could be a while before my next post. Winter is never a good time for me to keep up with this stuff. I'm more into reading and hibernating than writing or creating. So, sorry in advance....

The Duchess

I saw The Duchess on Sunday, and if you are even slightly interested in costumes, check out the page here on the costumer's guide. The movie was much MUCH better than I expected, and Keira Knightly seems to be growing into her acting- she's finally managed subtlety instead of flying around a room. The costumes and makeup and hair were excellent, as were the sets. (The costumes HAD to be good, we're talking about a fashion icon. The hats alone seem to test the limits of physics.) I might have to watch this one again on DVD.

I haven't read the book, so that might color your opinion of the movie if you've read it. From what I gather on the amazon.com reviews, the movie only scratches the surface of Lady Georgiana's life. ("Think money, sex, adultery, lesbianism, aristocracy, drug addiction, gambling, politics, scandals, betrayals, blackmail, fashion, theater, and the French Revolution....") The movie touches on all of those things but you don't get the impression that she's having wild cocaine induced orgies while she plays cards in a box at the theater. Obviously I'm going to read all about it as soon as it comes back in to the library!