What's Been Up?

I've been enslaved by a copier, that's what has been up! We found out that for one of our accreditations we need to send all our reports (burned to CD) from all of history to the accrediting entity. Well, we had reports saved electronically from 2004-present, so I've got those CDs all wrapped up and they have already been sent where they need to go. Anything before 2004 was not saved electronically, so I have been working with our summer helper to get the paper files pulled from the hot, steamy attic and then drug downstairs where our copies are.

Once the files are downstairs, someone needs to plow through them to pull out the applicable reports (sometimes up to 4 reports per file), scan them in and then save them so they can be burnt to CD. Of course, during the entire year we worked on this accreditation it was never mentioned we would need to do this - only after we've received our accreditation does this come up, and of course, it is now URGENT that we get this done. This could not have been done over the course of the year, especially not in the winter when it would have been cooler in the attic...

And, of course this is URGENT so it falls me to me to plow through these files by myself because our summer helper is at camp this week. I will be so glad when she is back! Apparently, it was also policy here in the office back in the day to use a staple per every 2 pages. So, for each report I have to pull out about a dozen staples before I can run the thing through the copier. So, please, fellow workers, please be careful not to trip over my chain and shackles while working near the back copier... I will likely be there all week!!

So because I don't and likely won't have a lot to snark about during this all encompassing project at work, I thought I'd let you all know what I have been up to outside of work. I know you all want to know desperately!

Movies: M. and I went to see The Strangers over the weekend. I was excited about this movie because scary movies and thrillers are my favorite movie genre. Unfortunately, this is one of those movies that did not live up to the previews for me (or for M. who also wanted to see it). I did not have that 'movie high' when leaving the theater. Do you get that 'movie high?' You know, that feeling when you leave a theater that the movie was just great, or that it might have changed the way you look at something or think about things? Well, that wasn't this movie. This movie was just okay for me. M. pointed out about 5 minutes in that the camera work was very shaky, even more so than Cloverfield, which we watched about a week ago. As with many little eccentricities, I really didn't notice this until M. pointed it out, but then it was annoying. Also, as M. says, you really don't get to know the main characters, James and Kristen, so it is hard to feel anything for them when the three strangers start attacking them simply because they 'were home.' I think with some more story background and a steadier camera this might have been a good movie and not just okay.

We also tried out Evil Dead and Evil Dead 2. M. had seen something about these movies and that they had received good viewer ratings, in fact, were consider cult classics. I am always up for horror flicks, even the old ones, so I sat down with M. to watch these films. We watched all of the first one although I don't know why. It was entirely hokey. I know, you need to expect a degree of that in many of the older flicks, but this was just too much hokey for me. Zombie dead people who sit in doorways and just giggle are not my thing. I watched about 15 minutes of the second one and it was even worse, so I decided making our bed would be entirely more interesting. M. watched a bit more than me and while I was tucking in bedding I heard "Give me back my hand," come from the living room. Later M. would tell me that the main character's hand was possessed and was trying to kill him. Oh, please! Also, that damn giggly zombie was back in the second film...

The final movie I want to mention is P2. We also watched this movie over the weekend (yes, we watch a lot of movies). While also not a great movie, it was better than the others mentioned above. We definitely felt more for Angela who was imprisoned in a parking garage by a demented parking attendee who had a crush on her than for James and Kristen out in the woods tormented by three strangers. Too bad we didn't go see Iron Man instead of The Strangers in the theater...

Games: We've had a Nintendo Wii for some time now and both M. and I enjoy it. I picked up a Wii Fit last week and it only took me one evening of calling around and a dash to our local Toys R Us to get it - unlike our console which we had to stalk stores for 2 weeks to get. Actually, I picked up 2 Wii Fits last week. One was for M.'s mom who had been wanting one before I even knew what they were. Unfortunately, M.'s parents have had console problems and apparently the 2nd console Nintendo sent them does not like the Wii Fit, so they have to contact Nintendo and have a third console sent out. Until then, M.'s mom doesn't get to use her Wii Fit game or balance board.

I've used my Wii Fit almost every day since we got it. For those who don't know about the Wii Fit (I only recently got the concept), you get a balance board and compatible game for the purchase price of $89.99. With your Wii Fit you can do a body test which will measure your weight, BMI, balance, and give you an estimated age based on those measurements. It also has yoga, strength training, balance, and aerobic activities to help keep your measurements in check. What I really like about it is that you need to bank time doing these activities to unlock new activities, so you have an incentive to work out. I just unlocked rhythm boxing last night and love it! My plan was to do yoga each day and alternate aerobic and strength training. Tonight was to be strength training, but I may slip some rhythm boxing in too!

Last night M. went on an impulse buy trip to town to pick up Rock Band for our PS3 (yes, we have a lot of game systems). The game is a bit pricey and I wasn't sure about getting it, but M. seemed pretty excited, so I gave him the go ahead to get it while I worked on my aerobics with my Wii Fit. I banked 45 minutes on the Wii Fit, unloaded the dishwasher, setup the cats' drinking fountain (after it went through the dishwasher), gathered household trash from our little cans around the house, and scooped the litter box while M. was on his shopping trip. He had to go to three stores, but eventually found the game. (Why do the things we want always have to be so hard to find?)

I left M. in the living room to unpack the box (and it was a big box) while I showered off my Wii sweat. When I came out he had the guitar and microphone unpacked and was beginning to work on the drum set. If you've not heard of Rock Band, this game is kind of like the Guitar Hero games in that you can play a guitar along with popular songs, but in addition to the guitar, you can also have someone on the drums and someone singing, hence making up your rock band!

I wasn't exactly excited about this game, but I am glad M. went out and got it. We rocked the night away - M. on the drums and me on vocals. I am not a good singer, but on 'easy' level I did pretty good. We got to create characters for ourselves and name our band. We ended up being The Beavers - a throw back to M.'s past (don't ask, I don't have the finger strength to finish this post and tell you about that story). M. is the outrageous drummer Storm and I am the Gothic rocker Lil'Seed. What is especially nice about this game is it's song list. Lots of songs M. and I have heard and like (unlike some of those other singing games). You can also purchase additional songs from the music store.

M. and I rocked so much last night we were able to unlock several new venues, gained about 2,000 fans, and even got a crappy van to tour in so we can make it from venue to venue! M. was ready to get to his drums again this morning, but of course, we have to work...

Books: I finally finished Sophie's Choice. Like The Strangers, this was just okay for me. I picked up this book because I had heard vague murmurings about it, and of course, knew it was a movie. I've never seen the movie and I really didn't know what the book was about before actually reading it. The first problem I had was that the paperback copy I got at the library had very small, cramped text. My eyes are okay and I do a lot of reading, but that was hard to get through. Secondly, you don't even learn what Sophie's choice is until the last quarter of the book and by that time there has been so much other drama in Sophie's life (past and present) that it is hard to get caught up in her choice. I don't think the author gave enough text to the actual choice and how it impacted Sophie. Maybe the movie focuses more on the choice?

After Sophie's Choice I read The Virgin of Small Plains. Loved this book! I will have to pick up some more books by Nancy Pickard next time I'm at the library. This is a mystery set in 1987 and 2004 Kansas. The book does jump from the past to 'present' 2004, so if you don't like that in a book, this may not be for you, but it didn't bother me. In 1987 a girl is found naked and dead on a ranch and the mystery is who is she and why did she end up dead (and frozen to boot) on a cattle ranch.

Currently, I am reading Bastard Out Of Carolina. Not very far yet, but I'm enjoying it so far. I have seen the movie version of this book staring Jennifer Jason Leigh. I liked the movie, so am anticipating liking the book. I may have to pick up some other books by Dorothy Allison after this.

Each time I go to the library I update the 'Book Bag' section of this blog on the right side. I know you need to know what I am reading, so keep up to date over there.

This ends our first edition of 'What's Up.' I hope you have enjoyed reading about what fun and oh so exciting things I have been doing. I must now depart for my beloved copier. Tune in again some other time... Adieu.

Thought Spill... *CAUTION* It's a long one!

Oh, I have been gone so long! Things have been extra busy for me at work and I typically don't blog on the weekends, but here I am. Welcome to a new blog post! How have you all been?

Weekend Happenings: After sleeping off the beginnings of some kind of illness all Friday, I was pretty ready for the weekend. Saturday was chore day (not a routine or typical happening at our house). M. got out and mowed our lawn even though it didn't look half as bad as a neighbor. This particular neighbor is also at the very beginning of the subdivision while we're tucked away in the back, so neighbor's grass is visible to all visitors to our neighborhood. The grass is probably about 3 feet high and going to seed (Clyde and Luigi would definitely get lost in that grass jungle)! That neighbor sucks. Our lawn looks all nice now even without any landscaping...

I did stuff too! I cleaned inside while M. took care of the outside. We now have sparkly fresh bathrooms, vacuumed floors, and Clyde and Luigi are having a much nicer box experience. I also finished reading A Darker Place. I am always excited to find potentially good authors I've never read before, so when I saw this book on the shelf at the library tagged as 'mystery' and with the cover proclaiming 'A Nail-Biter Thriller,' this had to be at least decent, right? Well, it was okay as far as putting together sentences and that sort of thing, but nowhere in the almost 500 pages did I feel it was thrilling (certainly not to the point I was chomping my nails) nor was it what I would call 'mysterious.' So much for Laurie R. King as a new author on my book list... This book did get almost 5 stars on Amazon.com, so some people out there like. Not me.

I know you are all here to find out what I'm reading and how much I did or did not enjoy it, so I will tell you once I finished A Darker Place I immediately plunged into The Secret Life of Bees. What a difference! This book is not typed in the same genre as A Darker Place (supposed to be a mystery, but really isn't) - The Secret Life of Bees is more in the range of literary drama, but oh so much better - even in the first 10 pages! I've got about 100 pages left to go and look forward to finishing it up tonight.

I will have plenty of time to read tonight since M. has embarked on a new gaming experience - The Age of Conan. M. has been excited about this online game for some time now and it was just released to a limited number of players for advanced access and M. was lucky enough to register in time for the early access. I am sure he will be totally enthralled in Hyboria tonight. M. has been trying to get me to read the books the game is based on - the Conan series by Robert E. Howard. This is not the kind of book I usually read, but when I am done with my current Book Bag I may try out one, just to see. I did try out the game for a couple hours yesterday and liked it well enough. I do enjoy video games, but those online role playing games where you have to team up with other people to complete quests are totally not for me. I am as antisocial in the online gaming world as I am in real life and do not like to play with others. The Age of Conan has 20 player levels that are single-player before you have to get into all the team up and conquer stuff, so I can play it for awhile - if I can get M. away from it for a bit, that is!

Okay, so the gaming bit last night is a bit out of order. I did do some more productive stuff Sunday before creating Raksasha, the Cimmerian bear shaman. M. and I ventured out to do some errands. Our first stop was the dreaded mega store.

We do try to avoid the mega store whenever we can, but after a bad experience with a 'all we do is eye exams' place a couple years ago I decided to go back to the vision center at the mega store. I really like the eye doctor at the mega store - he explained everything he was doing very well and I now more than I ever wanted to about the shape of my eyes, why certain contacts do not work, etc. It was still nicer than him just saying, "Is 1 or 2 better? How about 3 or 4?" So my exam was well over a month ago. Of course because my eyes are shaped weird (I have an astigmatism plus my eyes apparently also lay funny in the socket or something) my contacts have to be ordered, they are not regular stock at mega store's vision center. No big deal, I had a trial pair that would last me about a month and the ordered contacts were supposed to be in within a week or so. I did get the call that my contacts were ready shortly after ordering them and went in, picked them up and it was all easy peasy. Well, then my trial contacts were done for so I pull out the contacts I picked up. Opened the bag and well, they weren't the right ones! They were not for astigmatism and were the same strength in both boxes. I've known since I was in grade school that my eyes do not require the same amount of correction - my left one is definitely a bit behind my right eye. So I call and mega store vision center doesn't know how that happened, or where the contacts they ordered for me went, so they reorder.

And that is why M. and I made the stop at the mega store yesterday - to pick up my reordered contacts. We were walking through the parking lot behind a guy waving his cigarette around in the wind and thus burning out our eyes and nostrils because it was Sunday at the mega store and the only available parking was a mile from the store. We finally make it to the doors and pop in expecting a quick in and out, but to our dread the vision center was still dark - it doesn't open until noon on Sunday and it was 11:55. Well, since we were already at the mega store, we decided to browse a little while waiting for the vision center to open (M. is on a quest to find somewhere that still sells corn nuts). So we browse, and due to the crowds, end up back at the vision center about 12:05. Still dark!

Since it was now 5 minutes past when mega store vision center was supposed to open, M. went over to the greeter and asked if the vision center would be open today. Her response was, "He should be opening soon." By now there is another person standing at the black ropes keeping people out of the still dark vision center. I want to leave, telling M. I'll just pop in tomorrow since the mega store is near where I work. M. is insistent we wait.

About 12:08 we see someone beginning to move around in the darkened vision center. It is the smoking marvel who irritated our nasal passages on the way in. He's kind of moving around in there - not too fast despite the line growing outside the black ropes. Finally, he makes his way over to the ropes and removes them (still no lights). The guy waiting in front of M. and I slowly enters the darkened area. M. and I slowly enter behind him. It's still dark, but it's now almost 10 minutes past opening time, so is the vision center open or is it not? Smoking marvel still hasn't said a word. He goes over to a table of sunglasses and begins dinking around with them. No, "I will be right with you people who have been waiting and waiting since I decided to do whatever it was I was doing in the back instead of opening on time." No, "I am so sorry I had to have that last bit of cancer-inducing death stick instead of getting my butt in here to open on time."

Now the guy who entered in front of us is giving us that hesitant, "What the hell is going on" smile and we're giving it right back to him. It was probably only a few seconds between the dinking around at the sunglasses table until smoking marvel turned on the lights in the vision center, but it felt like an awkward 5 additional minutes. Finally, he helps the guy who entered in front of us. Of course, smoking marvel hasn't unlocked anything yet, so as he sets about helping in front-of-us-guy, he is also doing what he should have in that 5 minutes before noon (or the 10+ minutes he would have had if he'd skipped the cigarette).

When in front-of-us-guy is done I explain to smoking marvel why I am there. When I tell him that I was given the wrong contacts and I am now here to pick up the correct ones he exclaims, "Really? That has never happened before." Well, goodie gumdrops smoking marvel, please just get me my contacts! Which he did, and it took all of 2 seconds. A much snarkier situation than it should have been.

So then we're out of mega store having spent about 21 minutes/1 second more than we'd anticipated being in mega store. Then it was off to pick up an allergy prescription for M., some lunch, and our final stop, a home improvement place so M. could exchange his mom's defective wind chime and I could pick up terrarium supplies which took longer than M. had patience for and cost more than I had expected. Then it was home again, home again so M. could rush off to our 3-year old niece's birthday party.

My plan for the afternoon while M. was at the party was to try out his new Conan game. It seemed like the perfect time since he would be at the party, not hovering over my shoulder griping about how I chose to plan games or anxiously waiting for his turn at it again. So I got my terrarium supplies situated on our front porch (so the cats couldn't chew the plants) and tried to log in. Alas, the game was down for "tweaks and updates." Likely downtime = approximately 2 hours.

Okay, no problem. I had terrariums to plant. So I prepared my kitchen for that project. I laid mats over our table, brought in all the supplies from the front porch, got my containers out, and set to. I got as far as washing the containers and placing the drainage layer of rocks into the bottoms. I then realized despite the exorbitant amount of time I took to gather my supplies (exorbitant at least in M.'s mind), I had forgotten to get charcoal - a necessary layer to prevent soil mold and rot. Well, after spending as much as I did on the plants and other supplies, I was not going to let it go to waste by letting my soil fall prey to mold or stinky rot.

So I had a dilemma: go back to town and get some charcoal or back everything up and try again another day. Once I get into a project I rarely like to quit right at the beginning (if it's long and drawn out I may quit later, but not at the beginning) so I decided to head back to the home improvement store. I looked all over that darn store's garden section. No horticulture charcoal. Well, I knew where I could get some charcoal for certain - the mega store. Even if they didn't have horticulture charcoal, the fish supplies section would have charcoal for the fishy filters. So for the second time in one day I was back at the dreaded mega store. But I was right, they had charcoal, so mission accomplished.

And, because the people in front of my in the '10 items or less speedy checkout' had forgotten something and I had time to look over the impulse register items, I ended up buying some of these 'As Seen on TV' Green Bags. I thought since I am doing way more cooking and because we buy a lot more fresh produce that eventually doesn't all get used because it's just the two of us, these things would be handy (as long as they work like they are supposed to).

Back at home, I was now prepared to plant some terrariums! But the approximate two hour downtime for the game had passed, and since I had my plants securely shut away in a cabinet, I decided to try out the game. After all, once M. got home he would want to play the game and then I would have free time to plant. Well, on second attempt to log into the game server I found out that they were now approximating another hour of downtime. Well, poo! Back to the plants...

Once again I got everything out. I had planned to take pictures of my in-progress work on the terrariums, but between the unexpected charcoal trip, the ever-increasing game downtime, and attempting to keep cats off counters and out of dirt and plants, the pictures were forgotten. I even forgot to take pictures of the end products, but I created four very lovely terrariums. I left two at home and have two in my office. If any of my fellow office workers would like to stop by and visit, you can also admire my horticulture skill. I'll have to try to remember some photos for the blog too.

I did end up trying out the game, but you already knew that from reading one of the paragraphs way up there in this post. M. graciously gave me some time to try it out after he got home and practiced his guitar in the meantime.

So there is a very long step-by-step theme on 'What I Did This Weekend.' Now on to:

Monday Snarkiness: (Typically, this is Monday morning snarkiness, but my weekend took up so much time that it's now afternoon...) Here are today's random snarks, brought to you from my office:

• Bossman is out of town and has sent me two emails in which he just forwards something he received and gives me no explanation of what I am supposed to do with this information...
• There's lemon cake in the break room. You ask what is snarky about lemon cake? Well, it's more to do with who brought in the lemon cake. It's just a symbolic reminder of the sappy happy this person exudes while at work. Sappy happy makes me want to vomit.
• The library bookcase is still empty and makes me snarky every time I walk in the front door.
• I was told if I got my self-evaluation completed by May 9th, my annual review would take place on time this year (a great feat for this place). Well, I turned the blasted thing in on the 8th and my review still has not been scheduled. Tomorrow is my 4 year anniversary here.
• The search feature thingy on my blog is not working right (Google is having some serious issues lately), so I've really had to hunt around to find past posts I want to link to this post.

Some Snark and Recent Reads

I'm not feeling the snark lately, but some things have happened today that set off a slight reading on my snark meter. For instance:

• It's Wednesday. Wednesdays mean meetings day at the good 'ole office. Meetings mean at least one good eye roll and several snarky moments. Today featured such memorable moments as bossman and another 'higher up' having a slightly argumentative discussion in front of the entire staff because this particular 'higher up' enjoys talking over bossman much to his irritation (and the irritation of those having to watch the spectacle). Also, I noticed my name was down on one of the meeting agendas to help out with a large task - but guess what? I had not been informed of my promised help. I love it when I am volunteered without my knowledge!
• It's Wednesday and because it's Wednesday and meeting day at the good 'ole office, that means not only do I get to spend at least an hour and a half sitting in meetings, I also get to type up all the minutes from the meetings! Yay! My question is this: why do I have to type up the darn minutes when a particular 'higher up' takes her own notes and mushes up my notes anyway?
• Why do people insist on sitting by me at lunch when the whole eatery is empty save for me and my book? Not only do they sit right near me, they talk loudly to the talk 5 feet away from them. I know I put off the super duper vibes, but please peoples - can't you see I am reading?!
• Can we please stop asking me to do things, then when I get them done, decide it should have been done a different way? So sorry I get things done on time and you didn't have time to rethink what you wanted done!

Okay, that's the snark for today thus far. I know, not terribly snarky, but it's the best I can do for now. I am quickly getting through my current book bag. I just finished up The Abstinence Teacher. Can't say I found a point to this book. It was an easy read, but when I got to the end today (despite the noisy neighbors at the local eatery), my only thought was, "And?" The main characters were 1) Tim the ex-drunk and addict, a born-again Christian, and 2) Ruth the sex ed teacher at a junior high who is being forced to teacher her students abstinence despite the fact she doesn't believe in the concept. Well, Tim is Ruth's daughter's soccer coach, so of course they have some run ins. Ruth gets particularly snarky when Tim decides to lead his soccer team in a group prayer after a game. But Tim and Ruth have a mutual attraction for one another. Throughout the course of the book Tim is doubting whether he can keep up the whole 'I live for Jesus' mentality while Ruth bemoans she has no man and the best prospect seems to be Tim who is married (albeit not happily) and who has religious beliefs she doesn't agree with. At the end of the book Tim is staying at Ruth's house on the couch because he can't decide what to do with his life and he can't go home to his wife and that's about it. It just ends.

So did Tim decide to stay on the Christian path? Did he sleep with Ruth? Did Ruth ever find any satisfaction in her employment or love life? Who knows. This was totally not my kind of book, but I picked it up because it was on some recommended reading list or had a high rating on Amazon.com, or something. I don't remember. But I would not recommend this book if you don't like at least a point to reading 350 pages... On to something I am a little more familiar with - Blaze by Richard Bachman (better known as Stephen King for those of you who didn't know).

Blog Neglect & The Monday Morning Snark

I am seriously guilty of blog neglect the past week. Things at work just seemed to move at a hectic pace this past week. I even started a blog post on Wednesday and never finished it. Perhaps I will rework it for later this week.

From this weekend: M. purchased a new weed eater because our Craftsman weed eater is a dud. We now have an electric one, which I used to think was stupid - who wants to drag a cord all over the yard? Well, with the ever-rising gas prices and considering the size of our yard, it made more sense to get the electric. That is not the snark. On the way to pick up the weed eater I inadvertently braked a little later than usual at a red light. No, I did not crash into any other cars, however it circumvented M.'s "coast as long as you can to save gas rule." I am all for saving gas and do try to do what I can to drive sensibly and save as much as possible, but I do not want to hear "You just lost $.50" every time I accelerate a bit faster or brake a bit harder than the gas-saving bible dictates. So M. got a good dose of my snarky side and I refused to go into Sears with him. We were fine again by the time we got to PetSmart to pick up the cat litter and a new poop scoop.

In other weekend news, I finished both Stardust and What the Dead Know. Stardust was okay, the movie was a bit better, in my opinion. That seems to be my opinion a lot lately when I see the book-based movie or show prior to reading the book. What the Dead Know was fantastic! I have been waiting to check it out from the library for some time because I read a review on it somewhere. The library has several books by the author, Laura Lippman, but I didn't want to try any of those until I read What the Dead Know. Now that I finally have read it and really enjoyed it I will have to pick up some more Laure Lippman books next time I'm in the library.

Monday morning: The weekend snark was probably precipitated by the fact that on our way to Sears to pick up the weed eater the evil orange check engine light once again came on in my 300M. M. and I were both pretty snarky about that considering we just had the car into the service shop twice in the past two weeks for the same problem! M. will be calling the service shop this morning to do as he says, "rip them a new asshole." I hope he doesn't tear a hole too big, I still need these people to fix my car!

I know, not as snarky as usual, but the day has just begun and with that evil orange light staring at me all the way to work this morning anything can happen... stay tuned.

In The Woods

Last night I finished reading In The Woods by Tana French. This book focuses on a detective who has to go back to the small neighborhood where he grew up to investigate the murder of a 12 year old girl. This case is especially disturbing for the detective because he was involved in a similar (perhaps related?) case when he was about the same age in which two of his friends disappeared. So, in essence, this book focuses on two cases: a present day case and a 20 year old cold case.

By the end of the book one case will be solved and the other will not. I really enjoyed this book up until the point where the detective and his partner start cracking the case that will be solved in the end. At this point, the book started to get a little too far-fetched for me and in the end, I wished that either both cases had been solved or the one that wasn't solved had been the one that was.

I was an okay read - as long as the copy you pick up doesn't smell like cigarette smoke (unless you enjoy the smell of cigarettes)!

I just got back from a trip to my library. On to other reads!

Recently Read

I recently finished the following books:

1. Duma Key by Stephen King; I really enjoyed this book. I like the mixture of spooky and artsy in this story. I love Stephen King books, but have had a hard time getting into his post-accident stuff. Both Cell and Duma Key remind me more of the early King.


2. Lights Out Tonight by Mary Jane Clark; This was given to me by a coworker to read. While the story was interesting, I felt the writing was a bit forced. It almost reminded me of a book I would have read in junior high. One reader on Amazon.com rated the book 2 stars and said that the only thing that redeemed the book was the suspense - that she didn't know who the killer was until the end. I agree with this assessment.


3. Down River by John Hart; Excellent! I read John Hart's first book The King of Lies some time ago and like it well enough, but this book was a great step beyond the first. I look forward to more Hart books.

I am currently reading In the Woods by Tana Hart. I'm only a few chapters in, so it's too early to make a determination. I am having a little trouble with the slang in the book because it's Irish and I'm not familiar with Irish slang. Also, the copy of the book I picked up at the library smells of cigarette smoke which gives me a headache, so it's difficult to read large portions at a time. We'll see if I make it through. I may need to return it and see if I can get a different copy.

The Science of Vampires

Yesterday I finished reading I Am Legend by Richard Matheson. Originally published in the mid-90's, the book was recently made into a film starring Will Smith. That is how I first heard of this tale - the movie previews. I saw the movie first which is something I do not like doing. I prefer to read the book first, but since I did not know it was a book prior to seeing the movie, I didn't have that option. I liked the movie, M. did not. The ending ruined it for him, which is what usually happens when he sees a movie - if the ending doesn't happen the way he wanted he doesn't like the movie.

Anyway, since I did like the movie, I decided to read the book. For me, the book was just okay. Some reviews have said that the Will Smith version of the film (apparently it the book had been adapted to film twice before) most closely followed the book version. Hmmm, if that was the closest interpretation, the others must have been quite a bit off, but anyway...

The one feature that was in both the book and the film that I appreciated was that Robert Neville, the main character, gets into the nitty gritty of why a vampire is a vampire and why certain methods of killing and repelling them works. As a fan of both the horror genre and research, this appealed to me quite a bit. What makes a vampire tick? I won't ruin the details for those who have not ventured out to the movie or curled up with the book - just wanted to mention that was the best part for me.

While M. didn't like the ending of the movie, I didn't like the ending of the book. Again, no spoilers here, but the book left me feeling there had to be more to Robert Neville's life, but there wasn't. In any case, neither the book nor the movie are going to rate in any of my "top whatever" lists, but both were interesting in the way of the science of vampires.

His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman

I accidentally posted this while making some edits the other day. Since the post still had the date of when I originally started working on it, it kind of got lost in my archives. I've moved it up a bit. Warning: a lot of people will not agree with my ideas in this post, but please do not take offense, these are just my thoughts and ideas, not something I impose on others.

This weekend I finished reading The Amber Spyglass, the third book in the His Dark Materials trilogy by Philip Pullman. I read the first two books (The Golden Compass and The Subtle Knife) months ago. I had never heard of this trilogy or the religious controversy surrounding it until the movie based on the first book came out late last year. That peaked my interest.

I enjoyed the entire trilogy and did not necessarily find any of the content of the books - obvious or implied - to be offensive to my beliefs. But then again, my beliefs are not conventional. I was raised as a Lutheran, however we were not strict church-goers. My siblings and I attended more Sunday school than actual church worship sessions. I enjoyed Sunday school, I attended church when my parents did, I did not have any misgivings about what I was being taught, however I did not feel any strong convictions towards believing in what I was taught either.

Then I entered college where I took courses on philosophy, mythology, etc. I found the teaching during these courses to be more on par with questions I had had about the Christian teachings I was raised with. There seemed to lie answers in these teachings that Christianity did not give me. So I revised what I believed.

I rarely talk about my religious beliefs (or lack of) because most people where I live would be outraged - how could I believe anything other than in the Christian God and Holy Trinity?! Yet, I do. I will not go into specifically what I do believe in this post, but just wanted to mention I don't have the same reaction as many do to the religious aspects of Philip Pullman's trilogy. I am sure there are many people out there that also do not have an "all that writing is anti-religion, let it be condemned" reaction, however most of the media has concentrated on this type of reaction.

I had heard of the movie based on the first book, but did not know much about it. I started looking into it more and more after hearing a little girl in the book section of a local store say to her father, "I am not going to read that book - the author wants to kill God!" She pointed to The Golden Compass. This made me interested. What did the little girl mean by that statement? How did she know the author wanted to "kill God?"

I did not do any research on the books until after I completed reading all three. I wanted to read them without media-induced preconceived notions. I had heard little bits and pieces here and there, but mostly did not pay much attention and entered Pullman's writing with an open mind. And I liked what I read. True these are books written for children (Amazom.com gives an age range of "young adult" which would probably mean preteen to teenagers?), however some of the themes in the books are quite advanced for young minds.

As I did begin to read more online about Philip Pullman and his books, I began to identify somewhat with his ideas. In an email interview with Pullman posted on FilmChat Pullman compares the Magisterium in the books as an example of how humans will use "one size fits all" answers. That struck me because in essence, that is how I view Christianity.

Pullman goes on to state he is a materialist. I have never really defined myself as an "ist" or "ism" because I my belief system is still evolving, but I find the idea of panpsychism (a word I had never heard before) interesting. Pullman also states that he doesn't refer to spiritual because spiritual or spiritualism does not make sense to him - on his views in this regard I also agree with him. However, let me qualify this with the statement that I do not begrudge anyone their beliefs. I am perfectly content that each person in this world can have their own belief system that works for their life and it is not my mission or goal to make anyone convert their beliefs to conform with my own.

Pullman also says in the interview that he did not get around to mentioning Jesus in this trilogy, but that he will in his next book and that he has a lot to say. I have a personal view of Jesus. I believe he was a real man who lived and walked on this earth. I believe he was a great speaker and inspired people. But do I believe he was the son of God and performed miracles? I do not.

The Harry Potter series comes up in the interview was well since many people have spoken out about how un-Christian those books are. Again, another series I much enjoyed, although I don't think J.K. Rowlings series evoked quite as much hoopla as "The author is trying to kill God." Or maybe I just didn't hear about it...

I like the way Pullman's books tell an interesting story, but at the same time they make me think about what I believe in and why I hold those beliefs. I was also browsing Pullman's official website and in his FAQ about himself I especially liked his answers to "What books did you like when you were young," "What inspires you," and "Who do you write for - children or adults." His answers to these questions feel very honest and I can see some of myself within them.

This turned into a long, probably unpopular post, but reading is one of the thing I love in this life and I do plan to post about what I am reading, what I liked, disliked, and how what the reading made me think about.

Call Me By Your Name by Andre Aciman

Has anyone out there read this book? I tried to read it a few weeks ago. It sounded like a really good book from the description on Amazon. I got about half way through the book and just couldn't finish. The writing style employed in the book was hard for me to follow. There was very limited (or may there wasn't any) use of quotations to show where dialog started and ended.

What I could gleam from the story I read verged on being good, but Aciman's writing style was just beyond me. I would love to hear others' thoughts on this particular book...

Lover vs. Beloved

I love to read. I've had a library card since I was very young and it gets lots of use! I am currently reading The Great Man by Kate Christensen. During lunch I was reading and came across an interesting idea on page 67: lover vs. beloved.

I am not going to give you a review on the book so far, but here is a little synopsis so I can explain what I am talking about. The book is about a deceased artist, Oscar Feldman. Oscar had a mistress for over forty years named Teddy. Teddy and Oscar have twin daughters and while a biographer is interviewing Teddy and one of the daughters, Ruby, Ruby describes Teddy as the "lover" in the relationship and Oscar as the "beloved." Ruby describes the lover as the one who "adores and pursues," the one who has the power in the relationship. The beloved does not want to be separate from the lover and does not have a life without them. Ruby says that her mother's lack of possessiveness over Oscar was an illusion - that Teddy controlled Oscar by giving him free rein.

This particular part of the book struck me as very true as I can see my own relationship with my husband (you can call him M.) in it. I would describe myself as the "lover" and M. as the "beloved." Not because I feel I hold all the power in the relationship - we have a fairly egalitarian marriage - however if one of us has even a slight bit more power over the other, I think I would come out on top of that one.

It is just an unspoken rule in our household that things are pretty much going to go the way I want them to. I ended up handling all the finances and how the money - M.'s paycheck included - is spent. M. has always felt that he needs to ask me before he makes a purchase, even a very small one. I've told him he doesn't have to do that, but he still does. The house is decorated according to my tastes. I do all our activity planning.

Despite this slight imbalance in power, I do see M. as having free rein over what he wants to do - the fact he defers to me is pretty much his choice. In this way I do have control over him as Teddy had control over Oscar. However, this has come about naturally in our relationship and with his consent to things being this way.

In my love to read one of the things I like most is when something I read makes me think about my own life and how it correlates with what the author is saying in whatever I am reading.