11. No one likes it when you say something negative about their home state, but Georgians reeeeallllly don't like it.
10. Defining your dream is half the battle to achieving it.
9. Brandy snifters make excellent centerpieces.
8. A large part of me is home in Oklahoma, even though I've never lived there.
7. Nothing can prepare you for the emotional impact of moving to a natural disaster-destroyed town.
6. Nothing except travel can prepare you for travel.
5. Not all the single guys my age are fat, bald, and desperate (only about half of them are).
4. It's not so much novels that I'm addicted to, as the art of story-telling; watching entire seasons of television shows is equally rewarding on that level.
3. The phrase "location independent" is something I am going to start using regularly.
2. Living in a hotel is AWESOME.
1. Making your dreams come true is bloody hard work, mate. And in the end, it's God that makes it all happen anyway.
26 December 2011
10 December 2011
A Trip Fraught With Peril and Adventure
It's a long story, and I won't bore you with the details of the corporate politics, but I found myself needing to be hired back to Amedisys in order to start my new assignment in Georgia. My last day in Joplin was Dec. 6, and as of 4:30 that day, I still had not been able to get a hold of anyone to help me with my questions and paperwork and employment details. It was stressful, to say the least.
Fortunately for me, the CEO came to visit our office that day, along with one of the Executive Vice Presidents and one of the Senior Vice Presidents. Also, it just so happened that I was able to ride along with the CEO and the marketing person for my office, on a tour of the Joplin tornado damage. At the end of the ride, I had the assurance of Mr. CEO that my problem (of political crap hindering my employment) would be taken care of immediately; by the end of the night, I had the same assurance from the EVP and SVP.
That night, I finished packing my car and went to bed happy that I wouldn't have anything else to worry about.
The next day, I left the house of the coworker who had put me up for a few nights, and started heading to the Greyhound station to pick up my mom. I got a call from a lady in HR, who was super confused as to why I would be moving to Georgia that day and pretty much told me I was crazy for thinking I had a job to go to.
So I picked up my mom and took her to lunch and toured Joplin and figured we might as well drive to Nashville for the night, because my uncle was expecting us. The HR lady called again, and when I told her I'd spoken to the CEO and EVP and SVP, her demeanor changed, and she assured me she'd take care of the situation with all due speed.
We spent the night in Nashville, and even though my job wasn't secure yet, I started driving to Georgia because, well, what else was I gonna do? On the way, I got a call from the HR lady and the director of the agency in Georgia, and they told me I could be re-hired the next day (Friday) and start on Monday. Not only did I have a job, but also was I going to get to live in a hotel and get a food allowance. Score!
With that settled, we continued our drive to Summerville, Georgia, only to have Jasper (my '02 Intrepid) pick up the nasty habit of smoking. We pulled over in a random parking lot on the side of the highway, opened the hood, and stared with dismay at the smoke pouring out from under the hood.
Fortunately, a couple of houses down, there was a family outside putting up Christmas lights. They just happened to have a card for a mechanic not far down the road. When I called the mechanic, he gave me the number of a tow truck driver who came and picked up Jasper. The mechanic shop was named "Jasper Engines," which I thought was rather serendipitous.
Jasper was diagnosed with a faulty radiator, and the mechanic stayed over an hour past his normal closing time to perform corrective surgery. Fortunately, I'd cancelled my appointment to sign on an apartment, so I had the money to pay for it.
By this time, it was almost 8 p.m., and I still didn't have a place to stay for the night. So we drove to Summerville and checked into the first cheap motel we saw. It's a good thing we didn't pay much, because there were two bulb-less lamps, stained towels, and a bathroom door that didn't open all the way.
The next morning, I went to my new office to fill out the necessary e-forms to be re-hired to Amedisys, only to find out that my profile hadn't been loaded correctly. That took a couple of hours to fix. In the meantime, my mom took my car and headed off to find a place in the town of 4500 people that had free wi-fi so she could do some work online. There was no such place. Neither was there a coffee shop. I began to wonder what I was getting myself into.
A few hours later, I found out the name of the hotel where I'll be living for the next 4-6 weeks, in Rome, Georgia (fortunately, bigger than 4500 people - and they even have a mall). So my mom and I drove out there, only to find that the hotel didn't have the authorization they needed to charge the credit card that was going to pay for the room.
By this time, I was so done with driving around with all (well, most) of my earthly possessions in my car. But there was nothing I could do, so we left the hotel and went to dinner. Somewhere around 5 p.m., I could finally check in. So we packed a cart full of stuff from my trunk and back seat, and unloaded it in my room. But since I'm living in a hotel now, I don't need any of my linens or kitchen appliances or anything, so my truck is still full of stuff.
Around 9:30, right about the time they were "moving that bus" on Extreme Makeover; Home Edition on TV, I got a call from the front desk. They still hadn't had a visit from the lady with the credit card, so they could swipe it. Basically, I was staying in the hotel without having paid. Grrr...but what can I do?
This morning, I'm exhausted. Since Tuesday, I've met and gotten something I wanted from the CEO, driven to a new city without the certainty of a job or living situation, put a few hundred dollars into my car, and been thwarted every. single. step. of the way.
On the plus side, fixing Jasper was less expensive than leasing an apartment, I've marked three more states off my list (KY, TN, and GA) to make it an even 30, arranged to start my new assignment on Monday, and even bought plane tickets to go back to MN for Christmas. I even have a clearer direction of what my career with Amedisys could look like, especially now that the CEO is sold on my idea of being a traveling Business Office Manager.
But I still don't know if my hotel room is paid for.
Fortunately for me, the CEO came to visit our office that day, along with one of the Executive Vice Presidents and one of the Senior Vice Presidents. Also, it just so happened that I was able to ride along with the CEO and the marketing person for my office, on a tour of the Joplin tornado damage. At the end of the ride, I had the assurance of Mr. CEO that my problem (of political crap hindering my employment) would be taken care of immediately; by the end of the night, I had the same assurance from the EVP and SVP.
That night, I finished packing my car and went to bed happy that I wouldn't have anything else to worry about.
The next day, I left the house of the coworker who had put me up for a few nights, and started heading to the Greyhound station to pick up my mom. I got a call from a lady in HR, who was super confused as to why I would be moving to Georgia that day and pretty much told me I was crazy for thinking I had a job to go to.
So I picked up my mom and took her to lunch and toured Joplin and figured we might as well drive to Nashville for the night, because my uncle was expecting us. The HR lady called again, and when I told her I'd spoken to the CEO and EVP and SVP, her demeanor changed, and she assured me she'd take care of the situation with all due speed.
We spent the night in Nashville, and even though my job wasn't secure yet, I started driving to Georgia because, well, what else was I gonna do? On the way, I got a call from the HR lady and the director of the agency in Georgia, and they told me I could be re-hired the next day (Friday) and start on Monday. Not only did I have a job, but also was I going to get to live in a hotel and get a food allowance. Score!
With that settled, we continued our drive to Summerville, Georgia, only to have Jasper (my '02 Intrepid) pick up the nasty habit of smoking. We pulled over in a random parking lot on the side of the highway, opened the hood, and stared with dismay at the smoke pouring out from under the hood.
Fortunately, a couple of houses down, there was a family outside putting up Christmas lights. They just happened to have a card for a mechanic not far down the road. When I called the mechanic, he gave me the number of a tow truck driver who came and picked up Jasper. The mechanic shop was named "Jasper Engines," which I thought was rather serendipitous.
Jasper was diagnosed with a faulty radiator, and the mechanic stayed over an hour past his normal closing time to perform corrective surgery. Fortunately, I'd cancelled my appointment to sign on an apartment, so I had the money to pay for it.
By this time, it was almost 8 p.m., and I still didn't have a place to stay for the night. So we drove to Summerville and checked into the first cheap motel we saw. It's a good thing we didn't pay much, because there were two bulb-less lamps, stained towels, and a bathroom door that didn't open all the way.
The next morning, I went to my new office to fill out the necessary e-forms to be re-hired to Amedisys, only to find out that my profile hadn't been loaded correctly. That took a couple of hours to fix. In the meantime, my mom took my car and headed off to find a place in the town of 4500 people that had free wi-fi so she could do some work online. There was no such place. Neither was there a coffee shop. I began to wonder what I was getting myself into.
A few hours later, I found out the name of the hotel where I'll be living for the next 4-6 weeks, in Rome, Georgia (fortunately, bigger than 4500 people - and they even have a mall). So my mom and I drove out there, only to find that the hotel didn't have the authorization they needed to charge the credit card that was going to pay for the room.
By this time, I was so done with driving around with all (well, most) of my earthly possessions in my car. But there was nothing I could do, so we left the hotel and went to dinner. Somewhere around 5 p.m., I could finally check in. So we packed a cart full of stuff from my trunk and back seat, and unloaded it in my room. But since I'm living in a hotel now, I don't need any of my linens or kitchen appliances or anything, so my truck is still full of stuff.
Around 9:30, right about the time they were "moving that bus" on Extreme Makeover; Home Edition on TV, I got a call from the front desk. They still hadn't had a visit from the lady with the credit card, so they could swipe it. Basically, I was staying in the hotel without having paid. Grrr...but what can I do?
This morning, I'm exhausted. Since Tuesday, I've met and gotten something I wanted from the CEO, driven to a new city without the certainty of a job or living situation, put a few hundred dollars into my car, and been thwarted every. single. step. of the way.
On the plus side, fixing Jasper was less expensive than leasing an apartment, I've marked three more states off my list (KY, TN, and GA) to make it an even 30, arranged to start my new assignment on Monday, and even bought plane tickets to go back to MN for Christmas. I even have a clearer direction of what my career with Amedisys could look like, especially now that the CEO is sold on my idea of being a traveling Business Office Manager.
But I still don't know if my hotel room is paid for.
03 December 2011
November Reads
The Power of Six by Pittacus Lore
The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde
Pinocchio, Vampire Slayer by Dusty Higgins and Van Jenson
"The Power of Six" is the sequel to "I am Number Four," and it is nice, but not spectacular.
"The Picture of Dorian Gray" is just as amazing as I expected it to be. The only novel by playwright Oscar Wilde, it is full of the banter, snide remarks, and fast-moving plot that Wilde is known for. The main character's journey is fascinating, and the ending hits with a bang.
"Pinocchio, Vampire Slayer" is a random graphic novel I picked up at my friend's house over Thanksgiving. The medium of graphic novels is interesting to me, and I love the sheer nerdiness of turning Pinocchio into a vampire slayer (his nose is a stake, get it?). It was a fast read, and made me laugh a lot, despite its dark elements and sometimes confusing animation.
And that's my story! I'm pretty impressed that I managed to read three books in the same month that I put almost 2000 miles on my car, watched three seasons of "Lois & Clark," moved out of my apartment, and spent five days in Texas. Good times.
The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde
Pinocchio, Vampire Slayer by Dusty Higgins and Van Jenson
"The Power of Six" is the sequel to "I am Number Four," and it is nice, but not spectacular.
"The Picture of Dorian Gray" is just as amazing as I expected it to be. The only novel by playwright Oscar Wilde, it is full of the banter, snide remarks, and fast-moving plot that Wilde is known for. The main character's journey is fascinating, and the ending hits with a bang.
"Pinocchio, Vampire Slayer" is a random graphic novel I picked up at my friend's house over Thanksgiving. The medium of graphic novels is interesting to me, and I love the sheer nerdiness of turning Pinocchio into a vampire slayer (his nose is a stake, get it?). It was a fast read, and made me laugh a lot, despite its dark elements and sometimes confusing animation.
And that's my story! I'm pretty impressed that I managed to read three books in the same month that I put almost 2000 miles on my car, watched three seasons of "Lois & Clark," moved out of my apartment, and spent five days in Texas. Good times.
29 October 2011
October Read - final thoughts on the big Mo-D.
What? They all die in the end? Someone should have warned me!
Just kidding.
(The first few paragraphs of chapter 132 are also quite beautiful in their description of the sea and sky, but they were too long to type out here.)
The book has pros and cons, as does any literary classic. And so I present to you...
The Pros and Cons of Herman Melville's "Moby Dick," according to Charity:
Pros:
When you're done, you can say you've read it.
There's like some nice prose and stuff.
Cons:
The beginning (boring)
The middle (boring)
The end (only slightly less boring)
My main beef with the book (other than the boring bits) is the POV. We start out in Ishmael's first-person Point of View, but then we start jumping in and out of Ahab's head, and seeing what Ahab does alone in his cabin. By the end, Ishmael is an omniscient narrator, describing everything as though he was in every place, in everyone's head. YOU CAN'T HAVE AN OMNISCIENT FIRST-PERSON NARRATOR, HERMAN! Maybe he's trying to make some sort of point or something, but I see it as sloppy writing. If I had to rate it on a responsibility scale, it would rank only slightly higher than the narrative threads of Glee.
The book came out in the mid-1800's to mixed reviews. My favorite of the several that are printed in the back of my Barnes & Noble Classics edition is the one from January 1852, printed in the New York United States Magazine and Democratic Review:
Okay, I'm done. This was the only book I finished this month, and I am okay with that. :-)
Just kidding.
Pages 601-655
Look to the horizon – it’s a bird, it’s a ship, it’s…dun, dun DUN…an OMEN. An oooooooommmmmeeeeeeen! There are lots of omens of impending doom, and then finally, on page 625, we finally spot Moby Dick. Thirty pages from the end, people. It took Ishmael over 100 pages just to get on the flipping boat, and we only get thirty pages of the most epic whale-vs-human battle in literary history. Anyway, the whale picks off crew members one by one and then takes the whole ship down. Ishmael survives and is picked up by a passing ship.
Best line: Is it I, God, or who, that lifts this arm? But if the great sun move not of himself; but is an errand-boy in heaven; nor one single star can revolve, but by some invisible power; how then can this one small heart beat; this one small brain think thoughts; unless God does that beating, does that thinking, does that living, and not I. By heaven, man, we are turned round and round in this world, like yonder windlass, and Fate is the handspike. And all the time, lo! that smiling sky, and this unsounded sea! [pg 622]
(The first few paragraphs of chapter 132 are also quite beautiful in their description of the sea and sky, but they were too long to type out here.)
The book has pros and cons, as does any literary classic. And so I present to you...
The Pros and Cons of Herman Melville's "Moby Dick," according to Charity:
Pros:
When you're done, you can say you've read it.
There's like some nice prose and stuff.
Cons:
The beginning (boring)
The middle (boring)
The end (only slightly less boring)
My main beef with the book (other than the boring bits) is the POV. We start out in Ishmael's first-person Point of View, but then we start jumping in and out of Ahab's head, and seeing what Ahab does alone in his cabin. By the end, Ishmael is an omniscient narrator, describing everything as though he was in every place, in everyone's head. YOU CAN'T HAVE AN OMNISCIENT FIRST-PERSON NARRATOR, HERMAN! Maybe he's trying to make some sort of point or something, but I see it as sloppy writing. If I had to rate it on a responsibility scale, it would rank only slightly higher than the narrative threads of Glee.
The book came out in the mid-1800's to mixed reviews. My favorite of the several that are printed in the back of my Barnes & Noble Classics edition is the one from January 1852, printed in the New York United States Magazine and Democratic Review:
Mr. Melville is evidently trying to ascertain how far the public will consent to be imposed upon. He is gauging, at once, our gullibility and our patience. [...] [I]f there are any of our readers who wish to find examples of bad rhetoric, involved syntax, stilted sentiment and incoherent English, we will take the liberty of recommending to them this precious volume of Mr. Melville's.
Since then, there have been many cinematic interpretations of this classic work. Perhaps my favorite can be found in two parts on that great cinematic forum, YouTube:
Okay, I'm done. This was the only book I finished this month, and I am okay with that. :-)
26 October 2011
Thoughts on Twilight Vampires
Okay, so the "Twilight" series has its serious issues, not gonna lie. The plot, the character development, the exploitation of minor boys' abs - the list goes on, and I'm not going to debate all that.
What I don't get is why some Christians shun it on the basis that "vampires are blood-sucking demons," but they're okay with Wolverine, Superman, Spiderman, Mary Poppins, and a host of other supernatural characters. All these other superheros have special powers, weaknesses, and things they'd die or kill for.
I'm not saying everyone should read the "Twilight" series. I'm just saying that if you don't read them because you think that vampires are demons, you shouldn't read/watch any other stories where the main characters have supernatural abilities and odd weaknesses.
I also don't get why people shun it because "Edward and Bella have an unhealthy relationship." Ummm...ever read "Wuthering Heights"? "Romeo and Juliet"? "Jane Eyre"?
If you don't read "Twilight" because you don't want to read about an 18-yr-old falling in love with a brooding older man (or a selfish 17-yr-old), you'd have to rule out about half of the classic novels and plays kids read in school and college these days.
So...yeah. Feel free to commence throwing things.
This post has been brought to you by "Twilight" on cable television.
What I don't get is why some Christians shun it on the basis that "vampires are blood-sucking demons," but they're okay with Wolverine, Superman, Spiderman, Mary Poppins, and a host of other supernatural characters. All these other superheros have special powers, weaknesses, and things they'd die or kill for.
I'm not saying everyone should read the "Twilight" series. I'm just saying that if you don't read them because you think that vampires are demons, you shouldn't read/watch any other stories where the main characters have supernatural abilities and odd weaknesses.
I also don't get why people shun it because "Edward and Bella have an unhealthy relationship." Ummm...ever read "Wuthering Heights"? "Romeo and Juliet"? "Jane Eyre"?
If you don't read "Twilight" because you don't want to read about an 18-yr-old falling in love with a brooding older man (or a selfish 17-yr-old), you'd have to rule out about half of the classic novels and plays kids read in school and college these days.
So...yeah. Feel free to commence throwing things.
This post has been brought to you by "Twilight" on cable television.
23 October 2011
More on Moby
One hundred more pages down! Yayayay. This chunk seemed to go faster, because much of it was in Ahab's mind, which is perhaps the most fluid and interesting in the book. (How a first-person narrator gets into another character's mind is another question, which I may address in my closing thoughts on the book.)
Pages 501-600
Queequeg nearly dies, but decides not to. The ship meets another ship whose captain lost a limb to Moby Dick; but that captain didn’t go crazy because of it, whereas Captain Ahab gets crazier and crazier. After a particularly bad storm in which everyone nearly dies because of Ahab, the officers almost kill Ahab in his sleep but don’t because they realize they need him.
Best lines: For whatever is truly wondrous and fearful in man, never yet was put into words or books. And the drawing near of Death, which alike levels all, alike impresses all with a last revelation, which only an author from the dead could adequately tell. [pg 550]
---
The sky looks lacquered; clouds there are none; the horizon floats; and this nakedness of unrelieved radiance is as the unsufferable splendors of God’s throne. [pg 573]
(I think the thing that keeps me reading, is the hope that there will be more sentences like these. How a novel with such an exciting story and unbeatably beautiful prose can manage to be so boring is truly a tragedy.)
14 October 2011
Moby Dick Continues
During the commercials of "The Office" and "Say 'Yes' to the Dress," I managed to get through another 100 pages of Moby Dick (what can I say? There was a "Say 'Yes'" marathon).
Pages 401-500
Pages 401-500
In perhaps one of the most thrilling scenes yet, the whalers are attacked by a school of whales and barely escape with their lives. Later, the cabin boy is accidentally left in the middle of the ocean while the three smaller boats go a-whaling, and the solitude and fear literally drive him insane.
Best line: Come; let us squeeze hands all around; nay, let us squeeze ourselves into each other; let us squeeze ourselves universally into the very milk of sperm and kindness. [pg 484]
(Ummmm...yeah. Let's do that.)
11 October 2011
Moby Dick
I have decided not to give up on Moby Dick. How can I, a holder of a college degree in literature, allow a measly 697-page book to defeat me? I cannot - I repeat, canNOT.
So, I come armed with a cup of tea, a cozy blanket, and mad skimming skills to the book that almost schooled me.
However, I know that not all of my readers are readers of Melville and might enjoy a...ahem...condensed version, a la Charity. I am reading the Barnes & Noble Classic Edition, so feel free to follow along.
So, I come armed with a cup of tea, a cozy blanket, and mad skimming skills to the book that almost schooled me.
However, I know that not all of my readers are readers of Melville and might enjoy a...ahem...condensed version, a la Charity. I am reading the Barnes & Noble Classic Edition, so feel free to follow along.
Pages 1-100
The first-person narrator, Ishmael, meets Queequeg and has many thoughts which would today be considered racist, white-dominant, bigoted, and insensitive – but for the time were probably generous, kind-hearted, and inter-culturally forward-thinking. The two strike up a bromance and decide to go to sea on the same ship.
Best line: Call me Ishmael. [pg 1]
(What can I say? It’s classic.)
Pages 101-200
While in bed together, Ishmael and Queequeg decide to go whaling. They board a ship with a mysterious captain.
Best line: La! la, ma’am! – Mistress! murder! Mrs. Hussey! apoplexy! [pg 115]
Pages 201-300
We find out that the captain, Ahab, has a heretofore unrevealed agenda: kill a white sperm whale named – you’ll never guess – Moby Dick. (Yes, I know you can figure this out from the cover, but just go with it.) Ishmael processes the symbolic meanings of the color white. Ishmael, Queequeg, and the crew find some whales, but they don’t catch any.
Best line: I am madness maddened. [pg 208]
(Actually, chapter 37 – where this quote is found – switches to Ahab’s internal monologue, and the prose is delicious. I read it five times and actually got stuck here for several months because I was loathe to get back into Ishmael’s head.)
Pages 301-400
The crew captures and kills a sperm whale. Ishmael and Queequeg’s bromance continues. Ishmael treats us to 50 pages of his thoughts about the sperm whale’s severed head. No joke: 50 pages. About the head.
Best line: Out of the trunk, the branches grow; out of them, the twigs.
So, in productive subjects, grow the chapters. [pg 342]
(You’re not kidding me!)
Honorable mention: The crotch alluded to on a previous page deserves independent mention. [pg 342]
Stay tuned for the next three installments, coming as I finish the reading. I am freshly determined (mostly by lack of nightlife in Joplin) to conquer the book by the end of 2011. Also, I have decided that heavy skimming is allowed because, well, Ishmael is boring. (Sorry, Herman, ol' chap.)
03 October 2011
September Reads
Stand-alone book:
The Bride Collector by Ted Dekker
Middle or ending books in series:
Radiant Shadows by Melissa Marr
A Breath of Snow and Ashes by Diana Gabaldon
Extras by Scott Westerfeld
Not a shabby list for the same month that I moved, started a new job, and got cable television. :-)
September recommendation: The Bride Collector by Tedd Dekker. He gets better and better with each book, and his thrillers transcend the usual Christian fiction. While his "Circle Trilogy" disappoints me more and more with each book that comes out, his other works have been on my list of favorite books since I discovered "Heaven's Wager" in high school.
Moby Dick: I'm three months away from ditching it. There's still hope, but it dies a little with each passing month.
Of course I have a library card for Joplin, where I'm living now. Anything I should borrow over the next almost-eight weeks?
The Bride Collector by Ted Dekker
Middle or ending books in series:
Radiant Shadows by Melissa Marr
A Breath of Snow and Ashes by Diana Gabaldon
Extras by Scott Westerfeld
Not a shabby list for the same month that I moved, started a new job, and got cable television. :-)
September recommendation: The Bride Collector by Tedd Dekker. He gets better and better with each book, and his thrillers transcend the usual Christian fiction. While his "Circle Trilogy" disappoints me more and more with each book that comes out, his other works have been on my list of favorite books since I discovered "Heaven's Wager" in high school.
Moby Dick: I'm three months away from ditching it. There's still hope, but it dies a little with each passing month.
Of course I have a library card for Joplin, where I'm living now. Anything I should borrow over the next almost-eight weeks?
28 August 2011
August Reads
This month, my 12-year-old brother and I discovered the 39 Clues series, promptly checked all of them out from the library, and devoured them like they were...um, due back soon?
We both liked them, especially because they were written by different people - some old favorite authors, and some up-and-comers. I appreciated that the books were fun and fast; but they didn't sugar-coat the evil that people will stoop to in order to acquire unlimited power, and they didn't gloss over grief and healing.
Here they are in order:
Maze of Bones by Rick Riordan
One False Note by Gordon Korman
The Sword Thief by Peter Lerangis
Beyond the Grave by Jude Watson
The Black Circle by Patrick Carman
In Too Deep by Jude Watson
The Viper's Nest by Peter Lerangis
The Emperor's Code by Gordon Korman
Storm Warning by Linda Sue Park
Into the Gauntlet by Margaret Peterson Haddix
Vespers Rising by Rick Riordan, Peter Lerangis, Jude Watson, and Gordon Korman
I also read a new young adult book: As You Wish by Jackson Pearce. It was a cute story about a girl and a genie, made especially impressive by the fact that the kid in the story was a kid - not just a mini adult.
I've notice that I've been reading a lot of young adult books lately. Rest assured, it's probably just a phase. I still haven't given up on Moby Dick, though I think I've officially given up on Adam Bede by George Eliot.
We both liked them, especially because they were written by different people - some old favorite authors, and some up-and-comers. I appreciated that the books were fun and fast; but they didn't sugar-coat the evil that people will stoop to in order to acquire unlimited power, and they didn't gloss over grief and healing.
Here they are in order:
Maze of Bones by Rick Riordan
One False Note by Gordon Korman
The Sword Thief by Peter Lerangis
Beyond the Grave by Jude Watson
The Black Circle by Patrick Carman
In Too Deep by Jude Watson
The Viper's Nest by Peter Lerangis
The Emperor's Code by Gordon Korman
Storm Warning by Linda Sue Park
Into the Gauntlet by Margaret Peterson Haddix
Vespers Rising by Rick Riordan, Peter Lerangis, Jude Watson, and Gordon Korman
I also read a new young adult book: As You Wish by Jackson Pearce. It was a cute story about a girl and a genie, made especially impressive by the fact that the kid in the story was a kid - not just a mini adult.
I've notice that I've been reading a lot of young adult books lately. Rest assured, it's probably just a phase. I still haven't given up on Moby Dick, though I think I've officially given up on Adam Bede by George Eliot.
19 August 2011
New job!...kinda
On the last Tuesday in July, my office was notified that our branch would be closing in 30 days. As this was the third time I'd been laid off in 27 months, my initial reaction was, "Wow, I get 30 days' notice. What a luxury!" Simultaneously, I was relieved because I hadn't made any major life changes since starting the job on January 31, and I was getting kind of bored. (See previous post for list of major life changes in my adult life.)
Nevertheless, the announcement was at least a little sad. Ever since I got the job at Amedisys Home Health, I've felt like I was born to be a Business Office Manager (BOM) with this company; but what I really wanted to do was be a "traveler," a person who goes to an office for 12-13 weeks at a time and then moves on.
To date, however, the only jobs like that have been for nurses and therapists. Soooooo...when I found out my office was closing, I got in touch with the people who recruit travelers and told them what I wanted to do, and they thought it was a great idea. So they created the position. And offered me lots of money to fill it.
To date, however, the only jobs like that have been for nurses and therapists. Soooooo...when I found out my office was closing, I got in touch with the people who recruit travelers and told them what I wanted to do, and they thought it was a great idea. So they created the position. And offered me lots of money to fill it.
The same week they decided to create the position, the office in Joplin, Missouri contacted them to see if they had any ideas for getting help while their BOM is on maternity leave beginning in September. So perfect!
The last day my office will be open is August 26. Then I'm taking off a week to pack and get my wisdom teeth pulled. Then on Labor Day weekend, I'm moving down to Joplin for 12 weeks, which I think makes my last day right before Thanksgiving.
The office in Joplin was destroyed in a tornado in May, which presents its own challenges, but I'm still super excited! I get chills every time I talk to people about this opportunity. It happened with so little effort on my part that it makes me wonder why I ever worry about anything. :-P
I think the thing that makes me the most excited is that life isn't thwarting me right now. For years, I've felt like life is a game of pinball; I thought I was the player, but I'm realizing that I'm just the ball. Maybe right now, I'm just in the chute waiting for God to thwack me out again, but I'm sure as anything going to enjoy it while it lasts.
I think the thing that makes me the most excited is that life isn't thwarting me right now. For years, I've felt like life is a game of pinball; I thought I was the player, but I'm realizing that I'm just the ball. Maybe right now, I'm just in the chute waiting for God to thwack me out again, but I'm sure as anything going to enjoy it while it lasts.
18 August 2011
Looking back, looking forward
Next week will be the 10-year anniversary of my first day of school, ever. As I walked across the street from home to college in my carefully-selected (probably very uncool) outfit, I had no way of knowing that...
In 10 years, I would be:
-still single
-still living with my parents
-okay with that
But I would have been happy to know that I would...
-Visit
-20 states plus D.C.
-6 countries
-Own 4 cars
-Bridesmaid in 4 weddings
I'd have been surprised to learn that I would...
-Fly across the ocean 14 times
-Move 13 times
-Regularly attend 6 churches
-Pierce my nose
I probably could have told you that I would...
-Lead at 2 Awana clubs
-Coach 8 Bible quizzes
-Own 3 laptops
-Get 0 tattoos
And I'm still surprised that I've had...
-10 jobs
-9 addresses in 3 countries
-7 apartment-mates
-3 lay-offs
-2 bed-bunk mates
-0 boyfriends
The longest I've gone without a major life-change since that first fateful day of college is 9 months, and even in that time I got a car and made some great friends.
Coming up in a couple of weeks here, I'm getting to make some more exciting life changes! Details in a post to come.
14 August 2011
Crazy song lyrics
I've realized that when it comes to music, some people are lyrics people and some are not. Some people think the lyrics make or break the song; some say it's the beat; others, the melody.
It may not surprise you that I'm a lyrics person. If I can't understand the lyrics, it drives me crazy. If I do understand the lyrics, and the grammar is bad, that's even worse.
Anyway, I get frustrated by the fact that a large percentage of the new top-40 songs these days is about going clubbing and/or partying without regard for consequences. That in itself wouldn't prompt me to blog, but J-Lo's new-ish song "On the Floor," with its catchy rhythms and dance-able beat makes me think some people may need to pay just a leeeeeetle more attention to lyrics.
The song is about going out partying at some club or other, and about all the things that happen on the dance floor. I had assumed she was trying to make such partying attractive and trying to get more people to party like her. But then I looked up the lyrics.
Here is a list of all the things the singer encourages her audience to do to - or on - the floor:
gotta get on the floor
step on the floor
tear up the floor
Break a sweat on the floor
work on the floor
Pick your body up and drop it on the floor
Let the rhythm change your world on the floor
running [poop] tonight on the floor
Live your life, and stay young on the floor
Grab somebody drink a little more
gon’ be it on the floor
clap your hands on the floor
keep on rockin’, rock it up on the floor
kill it on the floor
Steal it quick on the floor
It's getting ill, it’s getting sick on the floor
never quit, never rest on the floor
probably die on the floor
She has it all: nonsense (be it on the floor, stay young on the floor), destructive behavior (tear up the floor), felonies (kill it on the floor, steal it quick on the floor), irresponsibility (drink a little more), pain (pick your body up and drop it on the floor), completely disgusting stuff (sick on the floor, [poop] on the floor), and death (probably die on the floor).
Well, all except anything actually attractive about clubbing/partying. My conclusion: it's a tongue-in-cheek song poking fun at people who dance wildly at parties without paying attention to anyone around them.
Although I'll say this: J-Lo's latest song makes more sense than anything Ke$ha's ever sung.
It may not surprise you that I'm a lyrics person. If I can't understand the lyrics, it drives me crazy. If I do understand the lyrics, and the grammar is bad, that's even worse.
Anyway, I get frustrated by the fact that a large percentage of the new top-40 songs these days is about going clubbing and/or partying without regard for consequences. That in itself wouldn't prompt me to blog, but J-Lo's new-ish song "On the Floor," with its catchy rhythms and dance-able beat makes me think some people may need to pay just a leeeeeetle more attention to lyrics.
The song is about going out partying at some club or other, and about all the things that happen on the dance floor. I had assumed she was trying to make such partying attractive and trying to get more people to party like her. But then I looked up the lyrics.
Here is a list of all the things the singer encourages her audience to do to - or on - the floor:
gotta get on the floor
step on the floor
tear up the floor
Break a sweat on the floor
work on the floor
Pick your body up and drop it on the floor
Let the rhythm change your world on the floor
running [poop] tonight on the floor
Live your life, and stay young on the floor
Grab somebody drink a little more
gon’ be it on the floor
clap your hands on the floor
keep on rockin’, rock it up on the floor
kill it on the floor
Steal it quick on the floor
It's getting ill, it’s getting sick on the floor
never quit, never rest on the floor
probably die on the floor
She has it all: nonsense (be it on the floor, stay young on the floor), destructive behavior (tear up the floor), felonies (kill it on the floor, steal it quick on the floor), irresponsibility (drink a little more), pain (pick your body up and drop it on the floor), completely disgusting stuff (sick on the floor, [poop] on the floor), and death (probably die on the floor).
Well, all except anything actually attractive about clubbing/partying. My conclusion: it's a tongue-in-cheek song poking fun at people who dance wildly at parties without paying attention to anyone around them.
Although I'll say this: J-Lo's latest song makes more sense than anything Ke$ha's ever sung.
30 July 2011
Tolstoy vs. Torrential Rains
I'm a typical American. I have literature by the toilet, just like everyone else. But you know me - I can't be contented to just follow a trend or custom; I have to make it my own. (Call it my over-developed sense of individuality.) So, as bathroom reading, I have a basket of all my Russian novels.
A couple of weeks ago, we had a torrential downpour. This was unlike anything we ever got in the Northwest. I wouldn't have been surprised if Auntie Em had flown by the window, if you know what I mean.
Anyway, not unexpectedly, we had minor flooding in the basement. Nothing too major. Just in my bathroom.
The only things that got wet? A bathroom rug, and...
I wish I had a "before" picture, but trust me that this is over twice its normal size.
A couple of weeks ago, we had a torrential downpour. This was unlike anything we ever got in the Northwest. I wouldn't have been surprised if Auntie Em had flown by the window, if you know what I mean.
Anyway, not unexpectedly, we had minor flooding in the basement. Nothing too major. Just in my bathroom.
The only things that got wet? A bathroom rug, and...
I wish I had a "before" picture, but trust me that this is over twice its normal size.
Best Map Ever
Jasper Fforde is one of my favorite authors, mostly because he writes fiction about fiction, and his characters jump between our world and "BookWorld," where all the book characters live. (Yes, it gets kind of meta when his characters have characters of themselves because he's writing, well, fiction.)
Anyway, in the sixth installment of the "Thursday Next" series, he publishes a map of Fiction Island, where all the fictional characters live.
If you don't like fiction, you might like this map anyway. If you like fiction, you will chuckle at this map. If you're a fiction-fiend (like I am), you will pour over it and then print up a life-sized version and tape it to your ceiling (probably next to your book-cover posters, am I right?).
Enjoy! (On an unrelated note, does anyone know a printer who does ceiling-sized posters?)
July Reads
The Penderwicks on Gardam Street by Jeanne Birdsall
The Lacuna by Barbara Kingsolver
Ella Minnow Pea by Mark Dunn
One of Our Thursdays is Missing by Jasper Fforde
Children of God by Mary Doria Russell
The Maximum Ride series by James Patterson:
Maximum Ride: The Angel Experiment
School's Out - Forever
Saving the World and Other Extreme Sports
The Final Warning
Max
Fang
Angel
I think I may have broken my own personal record by reading all seven books in the Maximum Ride series in eight days. Highly acclaimed, the books are fast-paced, well-written, and memorable. The story and characters compelled me to shun human interaction for the greater part of a week. But in the last half of the third book, the author whips out a "save the earth" agenda.
It made me so mad, I didn't want to read the rest of them. But I couldn't stay away, especially since I could get them all as eBooks from the library and read them on my phone. It's a good series; I just hate it when authors have a blatant, pre-determined agenda.
"Children of God," on the other hand, blew me away. It's the sequel to "The Sparrow," which I think everyone should read. It wasn't as good as its prequel, but it was, nonetheless, breathtaking.
"Ella Minnow Pea" (read that out loud) was also on my list of favorite books this month; it's a fun, quick read which I can unreservedly recommend to anyone, especially anyone who loves the alphabet.
Have you read any of these? What did you think? What do you think about authors' pre-determined agendas?
The Lacuna by Barbara Kingsolver
Ella Minnow Pea by Mark Dunn
One of Our Thursdays is Missing by Jasper Fforde
Children of God by Mary Doria Russell
The Maximum Ride series by James Patterson:
Maximum Ride: The Angel Experiment
School's Out - Forever
Saving the World and Other Extreme Sports
The Final Warning
Max
Fang
Angel
I think I may have broken my own personal record by reading all seven books in the Maximum Ride series in eight days. Highly acclaimed, the books are fast-paced, well-written, and memorable. The story and characters compelled me to shun human interaction for the greater part of a week. But in the last half of the third book, the author whips out a "save the earth" agenda.
It made me so mad, I didn't want to read the rest of them. But I couldn't stay away, especially since I could get them all as eBooks from the library and read them on my phone. It's a good series; I just hate it when authors have a blatant, pre-determined agenda.
"Children of God," on the other hand, blew me away. It's the sequel to "The Sparrow," which I think everyone should read. It wasn't as good as its prequel, but it was, nonetheless, breathtaking.
"Ella Minnow Pea" (read that out loud) was also on my list of favorite books this month; it's a fun, quick read which I can unreservedly recommend to anyone, especially anyone who loves the alphabet.
Have you read any of these? What did you think? What do you think about authors' pre-determined agendas?
10 July 2011
June Reads
Only finished two books in June. In my defense, I had to take an emergency road trip to Oklahoma for a funeral, and driving over 20 hours in a week kiiiiiinda eats into my reading time.
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
The Penderwicks by Jeanne Birdsall
I don't know if I should count Mockingbird since I've read it a least three or four times, but I always notice something new and interesting when I read it. This time around, I annotated my copy.
A favorite Mockingbird quote, from when Scout's 1st grade teacher is horrified that Scout already knows how to read, and tells her to slow down:
Penderwicks is a fun, young adult book about four sisters about the same distance in age as my own sisters and me. I quite liked how well the author is able to get into the heads of four very different school-age girls without making them seem like grown-ups.
Moby Dick - no progress. :-(
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
The Penderwicks by Jeanne Birdsall
I don't know if I should count Mockingbird since I've read it a least three or four times, but I always notice something new and interesting when I read it. This time around, I annotated my copy.
A favorite Mockingbird quote, from when Scout's 1st grade teacher is horrified that Scout already knows how to read, and tells her to slow down:
I mumbled that I was sorry and retired meditating upon my crime. I never deliberately learned how to read, but somehow I had been wallowing illicitly in the daily papers. In the long hours of church--was it then I learned? I could not remember not being able to read hymns. Now that I was compelled to think about it, reading was something that just came to me, as learning to fasten the seat of my union suit without looking around, or achieving two bows from the snarl of shoelaces. I could not remember when the lines above Atticus's moving finger separated into words, but I had stared at them all the evenings in my memory, listening to the news of the day, Bills to Be Enacted into Laws, the diaries of Lorenzo Dow--anything Atticus happened to be reading when I crawled into his lap every night. Until I feared I would lose it, I never loved to read. One does not love breathing.
Penderwicks is a fun, young adult book about four sisters about the same distance in age as my own sisters and me. I quite liked how well the author is able to get into the heads of four very different school-age girls without making them seem like grown-ups.
Moby Dick - no progress. :-(
03 June 2011
May Reads
'Tis by Frank McCourt (sequel to Angela's Ashes, which I read in college)
Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux
Miss New India by Bharati Mukherjee
Moby Dick - no progress. :-P I blame it on the traveling I did this month.
BUT, I have cut down on the number of unread books on my shelf. Current count: 7
Recommendation of May: Phantom of the Opera. I was reading it on my trip to California a couple of weekends ago. I was just sitting at LAX, waiting for my shuttle bus, and this junior-high girl walked by, did0 a double-take, and exclaimed loudly, "There's a book?!" Later, she was passing by the other way and stopped to find out who the author was. I chuckled to myself. It's not the most well-written book ever, but it was fun to see the inspiration for the opera I love so very much.
Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux
Miss New India by Bharati Mukherjee
Moby Dick - no progress. :-P I blame it on the traveling I did this month.
BUT, I have cut down on the number of unread books on my shelf. Current count: 7
Recommendation of May: Phantom of the Opera. I was reading it on my trip to California a couple of weekends ago. I was just sitting at LAX, waiting for my shuttle bus, and this junior-high girl walked by, did0 a double-take, and exclaimed loudly, "There's a book?!" Later, she was passing by the other way and stopped to find out who the author was. I chuckled to myself. It's not the most well-written book ever, but it was fun to see the inspiration for the opera I love so very much.
15 May 2011
Who Needs Bookshelves, When...
You can have these chairs, designed by nobodyandco in Italy?
They come in a variety of colors, with or without matching ottomans. The ultimate library furniture. I wonder if they're comfortable.
08 May 2011
Thoughts on Libraries
In theory, public libraries are awesome.
In actual real-life, they're kind of annoying. Rather, the patrons are annoying.
Countless times, I have gone to the library to read/work/study in relative quiet, only to have the latest outbreak of the cold make everyone around me chronic coughers and snifflers. Or I hook up my computer, get to work, and just get into "the zone" - and a guy comes and sits behind me and starts hollering to his girlfriend on his cell phone. Like, hello! A public library is not a quiet place for you to have an argument with your significant other.
In theory, I support public access to books, the Internet, and multi-media resources. I agree that the public has the right to educate themselves on whatever they need to be educated on.
In actual real-life, I miss the libraries at Oxford where only the elite could get in. I miss going to study with people who are super respectful of other people's study habits. I miss the good feeling I got when I'd walk in and show my library card and be admitted to the world of knowledge and scholarship, accessible to the awesome people who were lucky/cool enough to study in Oxford, of all places - at one of the most famous libraries in the world.
And no one would bang on their keyboards in the study cubicle next to me. And people with the sniffles would work from home. And the book you wanted was almost always on the shelf, because no one was allowed to check it out. Yes, I lived that dream.
This leads me to conclude that I have two options:
1) Start a library, which is half-public, and half-elitist (like, you have to pay to go to any floor but the first one - kind of like Hulu plus, only in library form).
2) Build my own secret library room, accessible through a secret bookshelf door. I'm sure my parents wouldn't mind some modifications to their basement.
Also, why don't libraries have drive-through pick-up windows for the books/materials you place on hold? Someday, I will live that dream.
In actual real-life, they're kind of annoying. Rather, the patrons are annoying.
Countless times, I have gone to the library to read/work/study in relative quiet, only to have the latest outbreak of the cold make everyone around me chronic coughers and snifflers. Or I hook up my computer, get to work, and just get into "the zone" - and a guy comes and sits behind me and starts hollering to his girlfriend on his cell phone. Like, hello! A public library is not a quiet place for you to have an argument with your significant other.
In theory, I support public access to books, the Internet, and multi-media resources. I agree that the public has the right to educate themselves on whatever they need to be educated on.
In actual real-life, I miss the libraries at Oxford where only the elite could get in. I miss going to study with people who are super respectful of other people's study habits. I miss the good feeling I got when I'd walk in and show my library card and be admitted to the world of knowledge and scholarship, accessible to the awesome people who were lucky/cool enough to study in Oxford, of all places - at one of the most famous libraries in the world.
And no one would bang on their keyboards in the study cubicle next to me. And people with the sniffles would work from home. And the book you wanted was almost always on the shelf, because no one was allowed to check it out. Yes, I lived that dream.
This leads me to conclude that I have two options:
1) Start a library, which is half-public, and half-elitist (like, you have to pay to go to any floor but the first one - kind of like Hulu plus, only in library form).
2) Build my own secret library room, accessible through a secret bookshelf door. I'm sure my parents wouldn't mind some modifications to their basement.
Also, why don't libraries have drive-through pick-up windows for the books/materials you place on hold? Someday, I will live that dream.
April Reads
I took Amanda's recommendation and checked these two books out of the library (and finished them):
100 Cupboards - N. D. Wilson
Dandelion Fire - N.D. Wilson
I found them to be quite delightful. Magic-y, but not Harry Potter-y. Young Reader-y, but not dumb. A new twist on a classic conflict.
And I read the first book in a new series by the author of Percy Jackson and the Olympians:
The Lost Hero - Rick Riordan
This book was very cool; I loved how he tied the story into Percy Jackson's, without the book being about Percy. And he didn't negate or blow off some of his original story line with his sequel series, which authors are sometimes prone to do.
Aaaaaand, I'm still reading Moby Dick. In the next 60 pages, we...
a) meet Captain Ahab
b) find out that the name of the whale is Moby Dick
I could have told you that by reading the cover.
Current page: 206
This month, I'm working on some non-fiction and "grown-up" books, instead of young adult and young reader. It's no wonder my brain hurts. ;-)
100 Cupboards - N. D. Wilson
Dandelion Fire - N.D. Wilson
I found them to be quite delightful. Magic-y, but not Harry Potter-y. Young Reader-y, but not dumb. A new twist on a classic conflict.
And I read the first book in a new series by the author of Percy Jackson and the Olympians:
The Lost Hero - Rick Riordan
This book was very cool; I loved how he tied the story into Percy Jackson's, without the book being about Percy. And he didn't negate or blow off some of his original story line with his sequel series, which authors are sometimes prone to do.
Aaaaaand, I'm still reading Moby Dick. In the next 60 pages, we...
a) meet Captain Ahab
b) find out that the name of the whale is Moby Dick
I could have told you that by reading the cover.
Current page: 206
This month, I'm working on some non-fiction and "grown-up" books, instead of young adult and young reader. It's no wonder my brain hurts. ;-)
06 May 2011
Oh Daniel
Daniel was doing a project for Spanish class, for which he needed a small photo album. I had one, which I told him he could borrow. The next morning, I found this note on my bathroom counter. (click to enlarge)
Scrapbook Transfer Directional
It has come to my attention that you have a small photo album. I want it.
Please read previous portion of contract 32 times carefully before continuing.
Thank you for participating in this STD.
Hehehehehehe. My life would be so much less interesting without Daniel. How did I ever live away from my family?
27 April 2011
12 April 2011
02 April 2011
My New Job
I said in January that I had accepted a new job, and I am pleased to say it was the right move. I'm am the Business Office Manager (BOM) at the Rochester, MN branch of Amedisys Home Health.
After one week on the job, I got to go on a real, big-girl business trip to get training from the BOM at the Amedisys office in Minneapolis. So all week, I got to stay in a Marriott and watch cable. (I tried jumping on the bed, but it was not very bouncy.)
After about four weeks on the job, I realized that I was born for it. Or it was made for me. Or something. I love it sooooooo much. I can't really explain why, except that it feels like my whole life has been leading up to this job. Even my unemployment in Portland was a factor in my getting here; if I hadn't been unemployed, I never would have worked for Amedisys as a temp in Portland. Funny how all that works.
I tried to explain to my siblings what I do at work all day, and all I can really say is, "I fax things and write emails and answer the phones and make coffee and files papers." It sounds boring, but I'm never bored.
I always thought that a job I'd love would be in an industry I love. But my life experiences have proved me mostly wrong. I worked in travel and in bridal (industries I love), and I loved neither one of those jobs. Now I'm working in home health (which I'm not even that excited about), and I love the job.
Perhaps the biggest thing that has come from this is, I've stopped trying to get somewhere with my life. This job is a place where I can just be. Ever since college, I've always been looking toward the future, analyzing how "where I am" could take me "where I want to be," wishing I were already onto the next phase of life. But here, I feel like I can invest and delete all my subscriptions to CareerBuilder and Indeed.com. After over a year of job hunting, that is a very, very nice place to be.
Don't get me wrong - I know I won't be in this job for the rest of my life. But if I died tomorrow, I wouldn't regret not being elsewhere. If that makes sense.
What about you? Where have life crazy connections taken you? Or where do you wish they would take you?
After one week on the job, I got to go on a real, big-girl business trip to get training from the BOM at the Amedisys office in Minneapolis. So all week, I got to stay in a Marriott and watch cable. (I tried jumping on the bed, but it was not very bouncy.)
After about four weeks on the job, I realized that I was born for it. Or it was made for me. Or something. I love it sooooooo much. I can't really explain why, except that it feels like my whole life has been leading up to this job. Even my unemployment in Portland was a factor in my getting here; if I hadn't been unemployed, I never would have worked for Amedisys as a temp in Portland. Funny how all that works.
I tried to explain to my siblings what I do at work all day, and all I can really say is, "I fax things and write emails and answer the phones and make coffee and files papers." It sounds boring, but I'm never bored.
I always thought that a job I'd love would be in an industry I love. But my life experiences have proved me mostly wrong. I worked in travel and in bridal (industries I love), and I loved neither one of those jobs. Now I'm working in home health (which I'm not even that excited about), and I love the job.
Perhaps the biggest thing that has come from this is, I've stopped trying to get somewhere with my life. This job is a place where I can just be. Ever since college, I've always been looking toward the future, analyzing how "where I am" could take me "where I want to be," wishing I were already onto the next phase of life. But here, I feel like I can invest and delete all my subscriptions to CareerBuilder and Indeed.com. After over a year of job hunting, that is a very, very nice place to be.
Don't get me wrong - I know I won't be in this job for the rest of my life. But if I died tomorrow, I wouldn't regret not being elsewhere. If that makes sense.
What about you? Where have life crazy connections taken you? Or where do you wish they would take you?
February and March reads
I only finished one book in February, so it was hardly worth making a post for.
February: This Much I Know by Wally Lamb
Then in March, I kind of got on a Ted Dekker kick and read:
Thunder of Heaven by Ted Dekker
Immanuel's Veins by Ted Dekker
Burn by Ted Dekker and Erin Healey
Also, I read
Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson
And, of course, I couldn't forget Moby Dick. I got really far in February and kind of slacked off in March, but here are my current stats:
Pages in book: 654
Pages read: 158
If I have to read 54.5 pages per month, I should be at 164, so I'm more on target than I was in January, for sure.
The thing that makes Moby Dick so hard to read, is the narrator is suuuuuuper introspective and detail-oriented, and he thinks that we care about his thoughts and surroundings as much as he does. Here is what has actually happened in the first 158 pages: Ishmael meets Queequeg. They get on a boat.
BUT, I have knocked another book off of my "unread books" count on my shelf. Treasure Island makes the count 9, and I'm working on three others.
February/March recommendation: Thunder of Heaven, with Treasure Island as a close second.
What about you? Anything you read in the past couple of months that you want to share?
February: This Much I Know by Wally Lamb
Then in March, I kind of got on a Ted Dekker kick and read:
Thunder of Heaven by Ted Dekker
Immanuel's Veins by Ted Dekker
Burn by Ted Dekker and Erin Healey
Also, I read
Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson
And, of course, I couldn't forget Moby Dick. I got really far in February and kind of slacked off in March, but here are my current stats:
Pages in book: 654
Pages read: 158
If I have to read 54.5 pages per month, I should be at 164, so I'm more on target than I was in January, for sure.
The thing that makes Moby Dick so hard to read, is the narrator is suuuuuuper introspective and detail-oriented, and he thinks that we care about his thoughts and surroundings as much as he does. Here is what has actually happened in the first 158 pages: Ishmael meets Queequeg. They get on a boat.
BUT, I have knocked another book off of my "unread books" count on my shelf. Treasure Island makes the count 9, and I'm working on three others.
February/March recommendation: Thunder of Heaven, with Treasure Island as a close second.
What about you? Anything you read in the past couple of months that you want to share?
31 January 2011
January Reads
The Girl Who Played with Fire - Stiegg Larsson
She's Come Undone - Wally Lamb
Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Ugly Truth - Jeff Kinney
The Hunger Games - Suzanne Collins
Catching Fire - Suzanne Collins
Mockingjay - Suzanne Collins
Geektastic: Stories from the Nerd Herd - Holly Black and Cecil Castelluci, eds.
January recommendation: The Hunger Games trilogy I lost sleep, shirked responsibility, and shunned people. I dreamed about it, worried about the characters, and basically got too emotionally invested - that doesn't happen as much these days as it used to when I was, say, 12. I recommend the series to people 15 and up, with the warning that it's kind of violent (but not nearly as violent as I was led to believe).
Unread books count:
Correction: I actually had 10 unread books at the start of January; I forgot to count my partially-read "Entire Works of Edgar Allen Poe."
And I've decided to read Moby Dick this year, even if it's just a few pages at a time. My current stats:
Pages in book (not including glossary and back matter): 654
Pages read before 2011: can't remember, I lost my place in 2009.
Pages read in January: 34
I figured that I have to read 54.5 pages a month to be done, so I have a pretty lousy start. (Especially since, in all honesty, the book starts on page 27.)
What did you read in January? Anything you recommend?
She's Come Undone - Wally Lamb
Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Ugly Truth - Jeff Kinney
The Hunger Games - Suzanne Collins
Catching Fire - Suzanne Collins
Mockingjay - Suzanne Collins
Geektastic: Stories from the Nerd Herd - Holly Black and Cecil Castelluci, eds.
January recommendation: The Hunger Games trilogy I lost sleep, shirked responsibility, and shunned people. I dreamed about it, worried about the characters, and basically got too emotionally invested - that doesn't happen as much these days as it used to when I was, say, 12. I recommend the series to people 15 and up, with the warning that it's kind of violent (but not nearly as violent as I was led to believe).
Unread books count:
Correction: I actually had 10 unread books at the start of January; I forgot to count my partially-read "Entire Works of Edgar Allen Poe."
And I've decided to read Moby Dick this year, even if it's just a few pages at a time. My current stats:
Pages in book (not including glossary and back matter): 654
Pages read before 2011: can't remember, I lost my place in 2009.
Pages read in January: 34
I figured that I have to read 54.5 pages a month to be done, so I have a pretty lousy start. (Especially since, in all honesty, the book starts on page 27.)
What did you read in January? Anything you recommend?
29 January 2011
New job!
I've been working at a bridal shop in the town where I live, and everything was fine-ish there. I love, love, love the bridal industry, and the shop where I've been working is one of the nicest bridal shops ever. But the boss was less-than-ideal, and I never really got to the place where I stopped looking for other jobs (though part of that may have been habit from the last two years of un- and partial-employment).
Two Wednesdays ago, I had this thought: maybe I should look at jobs site for Amedisys Home Health - the company I was temping for in Portland. Since I was at work, I put the thought away in my to-access-later file and went on with my day.
A couple of hours later, I took my lunch break and noticed a voicemail on my phone from one of my former coworkers at the bridal shop (who was able to quit and move on to other things before I was). The voicemail was basically something like this: "My mom is the director of Amedisys Home Health in Rochester, and she needs a Business Office Manager. Call me if you're interested." Oh yeah, I had never told her that I had worked for Amedisys in Portland.
So by the end of the work day, I had an interview scheduled for 9:00 a.m. the next day. On Thursday, I interviewed; on Friday, I accepted the job. On Monday, I put in my one-week notice at the bridal shop.
Here are the great things about the job:
* Mon-Fri, 8-5
* managerial status - it's one step up the corporate ladder from where I was in Portland
* my own office! My last office was a little lime-green room in Australia with barely enough room for my desk and a filing cabinet.
* the money. It's a salaried position, and let's just say I'll be able to save some money now instead of spending it all on attending other people's weddings and fixing my car.
* it was seriously plopped in my lap. When I think about how God brought me to this place, it rearranges my whole perspective on my bullet-pointed life plan.
The one downside is that they want a long-term commitment - probably at least a couple of years. This isn't like a retail job where I can just quit whenever I feel like moving to a different state or city. And, overall, I'm not in love with Minnesota - or the home health industry, for that matter. But I feel like two years in a managerial post will position me better for launching into the industry I DO want to be in (book publishing). And it's not exactly terrible to be a professional, salaried career woman at 30 years old.
So...yeah. I start Monday. Wish me luck!
Two Wednesdays ago, I had this thought: maybe I should look at jobs site for Amedisys Home Health - the company I was temping for in Portland. Since I was at work, I put the thought away in my to-access-later file and went on with my day.
A couple of hours later, I took my lunch break and noticed a voicemail on my phone from one of my former coworkers at the bridal shop (who was able to quit and move on to other things before I was). The voicemail was basically something like this: "My mom is the director of Amedisys Home Health in Rochester, and she needs a Business Office Manager. Call me if you're interested." Oh yeah, I had never told her that I had worked for Amedisys in Portland.
So by the end of the work day, I had an interview scheduled for 9:00 a.m. the next day. On Thursday, I interviewed; on Friday, I accepted the job. On Monday, I put in my one-week notice at the bridal shop.
Here are the great things about the job:
* Mon-Fri, 8-5
* managerial status - it's one step up the corporate ladder from where I was in Portland
* my own office! My last office was a little lime-green room in Australia with barely enough room for my desk and a filing cabinet.
* the money. It's a salaried position, and let's just say I'll be able to save some money now instead of spending it all on attending other people's weddings and fixing my car.
* it was seriously plopped in my lap. When I think about how God brought me to this place, it rearranges my whole perspective on my bullet-pointed life plan.
The one downside is that they want a long-term commitment - probably at least a couple of years. This isn't like a retail job where I can just quit whenever I feel like moving to a different state or city. And, overall, I'm not in love with Minnesota - or the home health industry, for that matter. But I feel like two years in a managerial post will position me better for launching into the industry I DO want to be in (book publishing). And it's not exactly terrible to be a professional, salaried career woman at 30 years old.
So...yeah. I start Monday. Wish me luck!
06 January 2011
Literary Aspirations, Ambitions, and Resolutions
Best 5 books read by me in 2010:
- Harry Potter series (can't believe it took me this long to read them in the first place, but now I've re-read at least half of them)
- The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society
- Anna Karenina
- Water for Elephants
- At Home
A few times in life, I've tried to keep track of what books I've read and want to read, but I always end up losing the list or forgetting to update it. So I've decided that for 2011, I'm going to keep track of the titles of the books I read and post at the end of every month the number of books I've finished (not started, since that rarely corresponds to the number of books I finish in any given month).
I already have two books finished in January, so let's see if I can keep this fun, useful, painless resolution.
Literary ambitions for 2011:
- Tristram Shandy. I've started it a couple of times, but I'm determined to read it in its entirety this year.
- all the unread books on my bookshelf. I made a promise to myself a couple of years ago that I would read every unread book on my shelf. I've been doing well; this promise has prompted me to discard some books I knew I'd never read (Moby Dick may join that pile this year), accumulate some I've always wanted to read, and use the library instead of the used bookstore far more often. As of Jan 1, 2011, I have 9 un- or partially-read books of my own; we shall see how that list fluctuates from month to month.
What are you reading now? What books do you want to read/finish this year? Let me know in the comments!
(And, for those of you who are wondering, I do have a goodreads account, but I can't ever remember to maintain it. A simple list every month may be the best way to get back into keeping track of my literary history.)
- Harry Potter series (can't believe it took me this long to read them in the first place, but now I've re-read at least half of them)
- The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society
- Anna Karenina
- Water for Elephants
- At Home
A few times in life, I've tried to keep track of what books I've read and want to read, but I always end up losing the list or forgetting to update it. So I've decided that for 2011, I'm going to keep track of the titles of the books I read and post at the end of every month the number of books I've finished (not started, since that rarely corresponds to the number of books I finish in any given month).
I already have two books finished in January, so let's see if I can keep this fun, useful, painless resolution.
Literary ambitions for 2011:
- Tristram Shandy. I've started it a couple of times, but I'm determined to read it in its entirety this year.
- all the unread books on my bookshelf. I made a promise to myself a couple of years ago that I would read every unread book on my shelf. I've been doing well; this promise has prompted me to discard some books I knew I'd never read (Moby Dick may join that pile this year), accumulate some I've always wanted to read, and use the library instead of the used bookstore far more often. As of Jan 1, 2011, I have 9 un- or partially-read books of my own; we shall see how that list fluctuates from month to month.
What are you reading now? What books do you want to read/finish this year? Let me know in the comments!
(And, for those of you who are wondering, I do have a goodreads account, but I can't ever remember to maintain it. A simple list every month may be the best way to get back into keeping track of my literary history.)
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