Blush and Bashful

I went tonight and I'm really glad I did. Only two other women showed up, but they were there last time and I like them. They didn't judge me for not finishing or liking the book, though they both liked it. One woman, Deb, really did, because she's a retired nurse, and she loved all the detailed medical stuff.

While I only read half the book, I really loved the characters of Hema and Ghosh, but the rest of it was too grisly, too boring, or too political. I just couldn't connect or care, so.

Anyway, the discussion was fun, and I'm glad I'd read spoilers and at least half the book so I wasn't just sitting there slack-jawed. One of the women really reminds me of my sister-in-law, Sarah, who also is part of like three book clubs, and it was in talking to her that I was really motivated to find some book clubs again! We talked about other books, games for the Kindle, and movies. They're really nice. And in a way, the small size of the group makes it kind of nicer, more personal.

We were discussing the next book, and Major Pettigrew's Last Stand was up vs. my suggestion of The Hunger Games. And while Last Stand sounds sweet, it sounds like another intensely literary slow-moving selection and I just wanted something more readable for the summer. And happily they were both really interested in reading The Hunger Games, so--that's what we're reading. Woo! I also hope that the other dormant members will be invigorated by Hunger Games, since it's so ...topical? trendy? right now.

Tomorrow: The Help.

In no particular order.

1. I'm making my mom's Aloo Gosht (beef/potato curry) recipe. It was my childhood and adult favorite meal (i.e., what I would want for my last meal). My mom would sometimes not have potatoes and would make it with turnips and I would HOWL at her, "WHY DON'T YOU LOVE ME OMG THIS IS CHILDABUSE HOW COULD YOU DO THAT! EWWWWWW TURNIPS ARE LIKE MEMBRANOUS BAGS OF GOOOOOOOOO" and she would shake her head at me, laughing, and say, "I didn't have any potatoes!!" And I would carry on for like 5 hours and refuse to eat it and whine at her to make me something else.

This glimmering insight into my childhood should surprise no one.

Anyhow, as I'm cooking, I realize I'm having conversations with her. And it was really comforting. "Should I chop the potatoes this big? A little smaller? Okay."

I hope it turns out okay. I only have some vague instructions and nowhere near her skills. I'm letting the memories of watching her make it a million times guide me.

2. I am really looking forward to a chatty-chat fest with serenity_valley today. Schedules being what they are, we've had to wait to find a good time for both of us. AND THAT TIME IS ALMOST HERE! (Though I also really enjoyed the sneak preview call we had yesterday.)

3. Sarah is coming over for a Wii Play Date and then Tanielle is going to come, too! And I'm going to make the roasted chicken with yukon gold potatoes and carrots because I'm obsessed. But also I'm going to do roasted tomatoes to go with it. Yay! AND AND individual upside-down pear cakes with ice cream.

4. So, OMG. My childhood hero was Judy Blume. I voraciously consumed her books. They were a religion to me. Those books are probably what lit the reading bug under my ass. She just turned 71. She has a blog. And I went there to wish her a happy birthday (along with a lot of 7, 8, and 9 year old children), AND SHE WROTE BACK! It was the sweetest note!!

Thanks so much for your warm note.  I'm touched by how well you remember my books.  Readers like you have made my career, and I can never thank you enough.  If you have a chance check out my blog and let me know what you think.  I'm trying to add a new post every week.
Love,
Judy



That's right, bitches! Judy Blume loves me! I can die happy now.

Also, how much of a phenomenal badass is she? Blogging at 71? Probably still working on another book? I love her. I feel an epic re-read of everything from SuperFudge to Forever coming on. Too bad I can't include those in my 50 Books in a Year thing.

Hokayso. I have to go do things. And then I will come back.

AND OH YEAH IT'S A LONG WEEKEND, BABY! *AWHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO*

(This is without caffeine or sugar. PH34R ME!!! *thumps chest*)

Could I be more post-y today? (Probably.)

Anyhow--I am really inspired by people who do the reading books challenges (*waves to margotheangel*). I used to read a fuckton of books, but over the last few years it's sort of peetered off into cyclical re-reads of Harry Potter and things on the Internet.

So, I would like to do the 50 book challenge for 2009! Whee!

To wit, these are the first three books for the year. And I'm counting the Ruth Reichl books, dammit even though they were at the tail end of last year.

( Books 1, 2, and 3 )

You know what I wish? I wish someone would redo all of Alan Moore's books--the artwork, I mean.

I keep hearing that it's canon and everyone MUST SIMPLY READ IT. (My comic book guy keeps chanting at me, "Read it. Read it. READ IT.") But I can't. I own a bunch of his stuff. A couple of TPBs of Swamp Thing. V for Vendetta. I think that's it. Oh, I borrowed Promethea from some friends once. And I bought that erotic set, the name of which I can't remember--Lost Girls? The porny stuff he did with his girlfriend.

Anyhow. I find I just can't read his stuff because I hate the artwork so intensely. I also hated the artwork in early Sandman, but I hated it sufficiently less (or I was just more tenacious in my love of Neil Gaiman) that I was able to read it all--and love it. But the messy cluttered panels, the tiny lettering. It gives me a headache and I can never get past the first pages.

Outside of his amazing story-telling, it's why I worship Brian K. Vaughn and will buy anything he does sight unseen. The art is always so gorgeous and lends so much to the story.

Anyhow. I wish I could read Watchmen. (This rant camet on because of some random clicking leading to the Watchmen movie. Which makes me wish I could read Watchmen.)

It's so gray and cold and blah outside. I'm back at work, still congested. Still too stupid to remember to try some Claritin. Jeff was struck sort of mute when I told him I keep forgetting to take it. I'm a little pathologically pill-resistant, even when I want to take something, apparently.

I feel all dried up and withered. My skin feels dry. My nose is too dry. My lips are chapped. I wish I could completely immerse myself into a lotion bath for five hours or something. No amount of moisturizing is helping more than temporarily. GO AWAY WINTER!!

And apparently no amount of sleep is enough these days, because I keep waking up in the middle of the night for no reason. Can't stop yawning. My energy level is for shit today. Jeff thinks that might be allergy-related, too.

I feel like I need a big mental tidy.

However, in less whiny news. Tonight is bookclub! I can't freaking wait! Not only is it always superfantastic to see Colleen and Kirsten, but Amy T is joining us. And maybe even Lisa (my former boss). They're all so awesome, and I'm dying to talk about the book. We read The Double Bind and I loved it. I know Amy T had massive issues with it, which I sort of love because I think it'll make for a really lively discussion tonight.

I think the book affected me on a number of levels. When I was in high school, I really wanted to be a social worker. I worked for years at a crisis hotline and it had an enormous impact on me. While I obviously ultimately didn't go into social work, I loved reading about Laurel and how she ended up working at one.

( Spoilers for The Double Bind )

And since the book uses The Great Gatsby, I've bought a copy and am finally going to read that classic. Very curious to see if or how it changes my perspective on the book!

Going to bed late is bad because then there is no wanting to wake up in the morning. I blame Night Owl Pete. Forced him and his not-having-to-wake-up-at-6Am-self out about an hour after originally intended. We're starting to watch Veronica Mars because I love it and he needs to see it. We also watched the new episode (FINALLY) of How I Met Your Mother. Good times.

So, so tired. YAAAAWWWWWWWWWWWN.

Although ability to get dressed and ready in 7 minutes flat is a bit dangerous, as motivation to get out of bed more than 10 minutes before having to leave house completely diminishes.

Oh, am reading brilliant book called The Double Bind for bookclub. Only 1/3 of way through but completely fascinated and love it. Influenced me to buy The Great Gatsby which I've somehow never read because bookclub book is all tied up with Gatsby. V. curious.

Must read book on bus and not pass out asleep because bookclub meeting is mid-next-week. Oops.

So, so sleepy!! Must hyper-caffinate!!

It's amazing when you find that what you most identify with as a 36-year old woman is found within the pages of a teen vampiric love story.

Huh.

(Almost done with New Moon. Oddly compelling. Ah, Italy.)

Hey, serenity_valley --have you read this? I love the author, and seeing the book just made me think of you!

If you've already read it --let me know what you think. Or for that matter, if any of you other erudite-types here have read it, please let me know what you think!

• One of the nice things about my trip to LA was the boxing up and shipping of my remaining books. Especially since getting the new bookshelves in, I've been champing at the bit for them.
  
• I spent tonight unpacking the 4 (out of 5) boxes that have arrived. One more box to come, hopefully tomorrow. I can't wait to have a free weekend to categorize them on the shelves properly.
  
• I love LibraryThing. And I love the joy that is ISBN.
  
• Ellen threw Judy a Tiki-themed co-ed baby shower, and did a fantastic job. TPTB were so impressed, they held back the rain until after the party was over and we were cleaning up.
  
• I can't wait for that kid to pop out. He's going to be so totally awesome.
  
• I finally saw Sarah after a terrible three-week separation. With both of us constantly in and out of town and random schedule nightmares, it's been insane. Sunday was gloriously spent LotRing.
  
• Jeff had a quick trip to Oregon and stopped at Powells and bought me this wonderful book about wandering in Paris. And also, he keeps me sane.
  
• Pete and I saw Paris Je T'aime (wonderful) and Knocked Up (cute and sweet and gross) and Ocean's 13 (franchise fluffy fun), but I'm ready for some serious Pixar awesomeness with Ratataouille.
  
• I've never used a self-cleaning oven before, and today was my maiden voyage. The fumes were terrifying, but then it was over and my oven is now absurdly clean
  
• With the nice weather and light evenings, I've started taking the bus again and it's been really wonderful. Both the mile I end up walking and the not dealing with traffic/construction.
  
• My new nephew, Zach, continues to thrive and is AMAZING. The weekly visits are just not enough. He's a smiley, happy, delightful baby and I love him
  
• Work has calmed down since last month's insanity, and it's both welcome and enjoyable. I really like the project I'm working on now.
  
• Hobbsie continues in good health and 7AM-whiny-ness

I think that covers all the bases... friends, work, kitty, family, books.

Holy crap, it's late. Must go to sleep now.

It's been a busy but really fun weekend. I did nothing I said I would do, but I can't say I much care!

Friday
I took the the day off, met Jeff for lunch/market, lounged with kitty and book (rough life). I'm finally re-reading Harry Potter 6 and enjoying it much more than the first time. The only reason is that I was so anxious to find out who fucking died (even as much as I thought I knew), that I burned through it in record time. I wish she would stop saying ANYTHING about the book. I don't fucking need a hint. Take as much time with the books as you need, because they're worth waiting for, but please stop forcing anticipation for events. It spoils the experience. Though I can imagine the pressure on her is immense to give clues, I don't understand why. I don't want to know until I read the damn book!

Saturday
Pete and I went to see The Illusionist, which we both loved. I loved everything about it really, even the ending, even if I made some correct guesses about what I thought was going on, even if the ending spelled things out in ways people found obvious. Such an enjoyable, well-told, well-filmed story. Then, went to play with Odin and nearly died from teh cute. God, kittens. Is there anything else quite so glorious on this earth?

Sunday
Had brunch/pedi with Judy, then Jeff picked me up and we ran errands (groceries and a Simply Dessert's Mexican Chocolate cake). Then we drove to his place and spent the rest of the day making masses of absurdly good food. It was a damn lot of fun because we work really well together in the kitchen (and well, everywhere). I juiced approximately 9 million lemons for his fabulous lemon curd. It was very sweet because Jeff kept thanking me, but the reality is I love parties and all the assorted chaos that goes with them. Plus, it's really nice to feel both needed and wanted. Then we went and played with Odin and again, died from teh cute some more. Jeff picked up Odin and rubbed him against his beard and the purrs would not stop. I said that that was an unfair advantage and threatened to rub Odin against future leg stubble. Chris fed us pizza and we watched Project Runway together. (Die Evil Jeffrey. DIE DIE DIE. He shouldn't be allowed to share a name with Jeff.) Jeff dropped me off at home around 9 or 10 and I started to prep the potato salad I was bringing and nearly died laughing when my first step was to juice more lemons.

I was so hyper from the day, I could not fall asleep. And when I finally did--I still woke up super early and ready to bounce out of bed.

Monday
Chris's bday! Drove to Chris and Jeff's place around 1 and helped set up for the party (in-between cooing at Brutus and Buffy). And then just had a lovely time with their extended group of friends who are really all awesome. There's something about a big group of bears that makes me feel completely comfortable. Jeff and Chris had laid out an amazing spread, the food was glorious and the party was a rousing success.

On a dark note, my fucking plumbing problem seems back. The water stain I hadn't cleaned up yet is wet again, and I'm supremely frustrated. This will more than likely mean that the drywall will have to be cut and I'm going to go ballistic if the association doesn't cover this round, since it's the exact same problem in the exact same spot, etc. It also means re-painting that wall once the drywall is repaired and I could just cry. But then I realize that it could be 10000000000x worse, and I chill out.

Tomorrow is my first day acting as condo treasurer and I need to do all kinds of crap at 8AM that I'm not thrilled about. But, I'm hoping it'll just go quickly.