Friends on Netflix. I will not apologize for watching Friends. I was 25 when friends started and as their lives changed, so did mine. Sure, I was living with my mom in southwest Wisconsin and not some fancy apartment in New York and my urban family/friends were spread across three states, but as I went through my 20s and 30s, I went through many of the same thing life phases. I struggled to find a decent job. I dated some unfortunate me. I found a career and then left that career. As friends came to an end I had been out of library school for less than a year and was settling into my second career and new town.
Friends is on pretty constant syndication rotation, being able to just binge watch or pick and choose episodes is cool. And all these years later, what really stands out? Matt LeBlanc and Lisa Kudrow. Both of them are pretty amazing.
Jane the Virgin. I cannot get over how much I like this show. So very much.
Reading
Bad Feministby Roxane Gay. I have been reading this off and on for a while. It's a book of essays so it's easy to start and stop. In some cases, I am fairly sure she is in my head, especially the essay about being a first-year professor.
Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell. I've had this book on my ereader for awhile, but I finally got around to reading it. I am so sorry I wanted so long. It was sweet and wonderful and really great.
Funny Girl: A Novel by Nick Hornby. I haven't read it yet. I haven't even purchased it yet. But I will be, soon.
Listening
No Cities to Love, Sleater-Kinney. I don't buy much music anymore and don't put a lot of effort into finding new music. But when Sleater-Kinney announced their new album last fall I pretty much freaked out. I have been waiting and waiting and waiting. I was so worried I would be disappointed. Then it was released. Was I disappointed? Fuck no. And I have been listening to it almost non-stop. A month after it was released and it is still the only thing I want to listen to when I go to the gym. I cannot get enough of it. No Cities to Love, New Wave, Bury our Friends, and Hey Darling are the four songs I keep going back to. And as much as I love Carrie Brownstein and Corrin Tucker, Janet Weiss kicks some serious--and I mean some SERIOUS--ass on this album.
And I have ticket so see them in May. I CANNOT wait.
Mary and Lou and Rhoda and Ted. I watched The Mary Tyler Moore show as a kid. I like reading behind the scenes stuff about pop culturey things. This book seemed like a good bet when I read about it in Entertainment Weekly and promptly preordered it. I started it on my trip back to My Old Stomping Ground, but didn't really devote much time to it until Memorial Day Weekend--and I finished it in a couple of days. Reading about the show and how it portrayed women in a way that had never been done and how women contributed to the show was interesting. But this is the thing: As a little girl, I never saw Mary Richards as someone to look up to. Why? Because it always seemed like the only thing she was concerned about was on making other people happy. That's it. And she cried all the time. Neither of these things impressed me when I was a kid. So reading about the development of the show and how Mary was perceived by society and how she did empower many women was interesting. If I had been older and closer to Mary Richard's age and single and had people asking me when I was going to get married, have kids (which I did experience when I was that age; now people have stopped asking), etc., I'd probably see the show in a different light. As a kid without those preconceived notions of what women were supposed to do or be, Mary Richards didn't seem all that independent. Looking at it now, I see her becoming independent and successful and having a full life without all the things society said she was supposed to have. The book discusses the development of the show, but also focuses on the people behind it, including how women rose through the ranks as writers--a first. Recommended, for sure.
Let's Explore Diabetes with Owls. I started this shortly after it came out, but honestly, I'm having a hard time getting into it. I adore David Sedaris, but this book feels kind of been there, done that.
Watching
I'm watching the same worthless crap I always have.
So You Think You Can Dance. Some seasons I watch this show when it's on, some seasons I don't. This season I am.
Newlyweds: The First Year. I find this show utterly fascinating. But I have to say that John and Kathryn are an uncomfortably awkward couple to watch.
Mad Men. It's on, I'm watching it. It's more uneven than past seasons, but that doesn't mean I'm not enjoying it. And that one scene with Pete Campbell smoking pot with Janis Joplin playing the show out? Awesome.
Before Sunrise/Before Sunset/Before Midnight. I was talking to a friend about the Before movies and how they are films I assume everyone my age has seen. I saw Before Sunset on TV a few years after it came out. I remember hearing about it and thinking it sounded good, but I never saw it. When it was on TV I almost missed a company event, I was so wrapped up in the film. While living in Ye Olde College Town, some friends and I watched them both. In preparation for the major release of Before Midnight, I watched them both over Memorial Day weekend. Twice. God, they are good. I saw Before Midnight last night after avoiding any and all press about it. So good. Just so damn good. But I'm not even going to try to explain why. Just go read Linda Holmes' summary over at NPR's MonkeySee.
Speaking of NPR, watch this:
I am such an NPR geek that my favorite parts are the cameos. Ari Shapiro is a favorite since he's an NPR hottie. And Carl Kasell in the elevator because he's Carl Kasell.
Listening
Honestly, the things I am listening to other than my iPod on shuffle are Big Star's Third/Sister Love and They Might Be Giants' Flood. Big Star because of this, and TMBG because somewhere along the line their album Flood was deleted from my iTunes. I still have the CD but it's in storage and I am too lazy to dig it out. So while I was in My Old Stomping Ground, D and I went through each others iTune library to swap songs (as is the norm for us) and he gave me a copy of Flood. (Actually, I lost everything from They Might Be Giants (three or four albums, total, but Flood was missing the most.)
I have to work tomorrow, tomorrow being Memorial Day. Yes, the library is open on Memorial Day. When you're on the quarter system, spring semester goes until mid-June. So, while at most colleges and universities, graduation has come and gone, we're just heading into the last week of classes. So, not only is the library open, the reference desk is open. I've been able to avoid working a holiday so far, so it was my turn. Plus, I'm taking two days off later this week (and two days the week after that), so it's not like I won't get a short week (or two). And I took Friday off so I would still get a three-day weekend.
And, you know, taking off the Friday of a three-day weekend is pretty nice. Because I still have a three day weekend but my third day is a day when everyone else is off, too.
I went for a walk in the sun, drank coffee and finished the book I was reading, did some window shopping, and bought Jenny Lawson's book, Let's Pretend This Never Happened. I almost didn't buy it because reading the blurb on the inside cover made me think it was going to be one of those "my father was weird/crazy and now I'm damaged and that is why I am am so funny" books. But then I read the first few sentences of the first chapter:
Call me Ishmael. I won't answer to it, because it's not my name, but it's much more agreeable than most things I have been called. 'Call me that-weird-chick-who-says-"fuck"-a lot' is probably more accurate...
I knew I had to buy it. (And her dad was weird, but more in a small town, rural, west Texas kind of way.)
I laughed. I cried. (Seriously.) She writes about her childhood, her issues with anxiety, rheumatoid arthritis, and more. So much more.
So on my fake-holiday day I went for a walk in the sun, started reading a book that made me laugh, and took a nap at 4:00 in the afternoon. Win-win-win.
Where the Wild Things Are was my favorite book as a kid. Over the last few hours, many have been asking why Sendak's books resonated with kids. Simple. Sendak explained it himself: He refused to lie to children. Kids aren't stupid. They have a strangely acute bullshit director. Sendak knew that and told it like it was, but he did it in a way that kids understood.
My childhood copy.
I can still remember sitting with this book, fascinated by the illustrations.
First thing I did when I got home from work was pull my childhood copy of Where the Wild Things Are off the shelf. It's a bit yellowed. There are some scribbles on the cover and inside the book. The back cover is damaged. It is well-loved.
Mr. Sendak. You influenced a generation. May you continue to influence more.
Reading
I went to the local bookstore to buy my niece a copy of The Diary of Anne Frank for Christmas. She's ten. I was a little younger than that when I read Anne Frank for the first time. I read it multiple times after that. It fueled my love of books, reading, and history. At our library's annual children's book booksale, I bought a photobook about Anne Frank. Initially I bought it for me, but then I decided to pair it with Anne Frank (and an iTunes giftcard) for my niece.
Anyway, I remembered I had the remnants of a local bookstore giftcard a friend sent me earlier this year. It wasn't enough to pay for a new hardcover, but I decided I may as well use it. My intended purchases (in addition to buying Anne Frank): Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me?by Mindy Kaling and See a Little Light by Bob Mould. What did I buy? Kaling's book and Catherine the Great: Portrait of a Woman by Robert K. Massie.
I had heard about the Catherine the Great book from my mom, but I didn't think to buy it until I saw who the author was. I never got around to reading Nicholas and Alexandria but I read (and own) Massie's Peter the Great and The Romanovs: The Final Chapter. I tried to read Dreadnaught. I think I still own it, and I still want to read it.
My first thought when I saw the Catherine the Great book? Robert Massie is still alive? I'm pretty sure this is something only thought by former history majors who were obsessed with WWI and Russian and East European history. I grabbed it off the shelf as soon as I saw it. I read John Alexander's Catherine the Great while in college. I think I still own it. (I've been getting rid of books I've been hauling around for twenty-plus years, and I'm not sure if this one made the cut or not). I read it in the first Russian history class I took as an undergrad. This was the class that started my passion for Russian history. I wasn't obsessed with Catherine the Great, not at all, but I did dress as her for Halloween one year. Again, only something a Russian history nerd would think to do.
Anyway, I started Kaling's book eating lunch and I finished it a few hours later. I loved it. And it made me think that maybe I should write a book.
Don't worry, I won't. But a friend of mine keeps telling me I should. She tells me I have a distinct voice. And I tell good stories. I'm really not that interesting but I have known some interesting people. It's what happens when you spend most of your life in small towns, you meet interesting people because they are a whole lot more noticeable. Anyway, Kaling's book made me start thinking about it. And then I realized I could never be as funny as Mindy Kaling. And that was a little depressing.
Yeah, it's a tired way of saying I'm on vacation, but I am. I was in a use it or lose it situation with some vacation time, so I took a week off. I was going to go to Seattle or maybe one of the local state parks, but like the week I took off at Thanksgiving last year, I decided to just putz around at home. People still ask me if I am going or went somewhere. Nope. I had some things to do around here--some of them I have done, some I haven't because other than yesterday, it has been fucking gorgeous here this week. And as I mentioned a few posts ago, after months and months of clouds, drizzle, and fog, being out in the sun is amazing.
So... I'm halfway through my vacation. Things I have done so far: dentist (for a check up); cleaned, kind of; napped, a lot; wandered.
I was going to rearrange furniture and clean and scrub and all that. Instead, I did my laundry, took an hour nap, scrubbed the stove, oven, bathtub, and sink. And I vacuumed. Thing is, you can barely tell I did any of those things. I give up. I really want to declutter. I may start that process this week. Or maybe not.
Anyway, Watching, Reading, listening. Or today: Reading, Watching, Listening.
Reading
I walked down to our local indie bookstore this morning. A friend sent me a giftcard after helping her out on a project she was working on, so I thought it would be a good time to spend it. I spent well over an hour wandering, looking, texting Frenchie, asking her what she has or hasn't read. If you know Frenchie, you may find this is hilarious because she's the librarian who doesn't read. But... It made sense to me because we have similar tastes and attention spans. If a book is on her list to read, then I know I will probably like it. If she read some of it or maybe even all of it and liked it, I will probably love it. If she read it and felt "eh" about it, I will hate it. And if she read it willingly (without the pressure of a book club), finished it, and loved it... then holy shit, it must be the best book of the year.
So... In the end, this is what I came away with:
Vegan Express, Nava Atlas. I had planned on stocking up on cookbooks, but eventually changed my mind. But this one had simple and quick recipes using ingredients I already have or that I buy regularly.
Crooked Letter Crooked Letter, Tom Franklin. This is how the text exchange with Frenchie began. This was on her list and it was getting awards. It came highly recommended by the bookstore staff. And the whole crooked-letter crooked-letter hump-back hump-back thing is how I learned to spell "Mississippi" when I was a kid (except for me it was in relation to the river, not the state).
Gods in Alabama, Joshilyn Jackson. I know nothing about this book other than the title was familiar and it was a cheap used copy.
A Visit from the Goon Squad, Jennifer Egan. I grabbed this as I was about ready to leave. A quick scan of the back cover (aging wanna-be punk rocker music dude who thought he was the shit, his assistant....blah blah blah). I was hooked.
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, Rebecca Skloot. Also a recommendation via Frenchie--not from her, but from a list put together by another friend. It looked great. And my mom also recommended it.
Beyond Heaving Bosoms: The Smart Bitches Guide to Romance Novels, Sarah Wendell, Candy Tan. When I was young, much, much younger, I read romance novels. I think that's when a lot of girls read them. I don't read them much anymore, but every so often, in the middle of summer, I want to spend a weekend reading trashy novels. Well-written trashy novels. I think romance novels get a bad rap. They aren't all bodice rippers. They aren't all Harlequin Romance Novels where the woman hates the guy, calls him an ignorant boob, but then falls in love with his rugged good looks. Some are funny with well-written characters, so on and so forth. I don't regularly read the Smart Bitches, Trashy Books blog much, but I think I will have to start. This book was recommended by a friend who, like me, likes to waste a few weekends a year reading trashy novels and Linda Holmes, founder of NPR's MonkeySee blog and my new pop culture guru, recommended the Smart Bitches blog. The bookstore didn't have a copy of this, probably because, you know, it's about romance novels and indie bookstores like to pretend their customers are above romance novels... Okay, I'm generalizing, but still.... And they ordered me a copy.
The other book I wanted that they didn't have was Nick Nornby's Fever Pitch. The woman thought it was out of print (it's available on Amazon, so I doubt that) and told me she couldn't find me a copy. I'm still not sure about that. Fever Pitch and Juliet, Naked are the only two Nick Hornby books I haven't read. I have a copy of Juliet, Naked--I just haven't read it. So Fever Pitch would round-out the collection.
Watching My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding. Oh man. Man oh man oh man. This show. I don't know what to say about it. It's sensational in every sense of the word. It's fascinating. It's intriguing. It's weird. It's... it's just kind of awesome.
Sister Wives. I watched the first few episodes of the the first season but stopped because the husband creeped me out. TLC was showing the second season leading up to the episode where the family leaves Utah for Las Vegas. Kind of like My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding, I find this show fascinating. For a reality show, I find it fairly honest and eye-opening. I like the sister wives and the kids. But I still think the husband (Kody) is extremely skeevy. I have no problem with their family or how it's set up. The women are there willingly. All but one (there are four sister wives) grew up in polygamous families. As one said, she wanted a family, not just a husband. I get that: It does take a village to raise a child and multiple spouses means a large family community. I like that. They don't talk about the religious side of things and if they did, I probably wouldn't find it as interesting. And I still have issues with one husband having multiple wives. It seems to me that polyamory is more equitable than polygamy. But anyway... I find this family fairly frank and open about the various issues facing a family like this: day-to-day stuff like getting people out the door, holidays, vacations, so on and so forth. What I find refreshing is how honest the women seem to be with each other about issues like jealousy and the fluctuation of their relationships. I think that's why I find this show so interesting: the women seem so real. Too bad the husband comes across as such a scumbag.
Listening
I've kind of gotten lazy again when it comes to music. I've been setting the iPod on shuffle mainly because I haven't had the time to really focus and concentrate on music lately. Although I was in a Wilco Summerteeth mood today and a Social Distortion mood yesterday.
Reading When Pride Still Mattered: A Life of Vince Lonbardi. (David Maraniss). I finished this a while ago, but I felt like putting it down anyway. It was really good. I knew the myth of Lombardi, but I didn't know the nitty-gritty details.
Fly Away Home (Jennifer Weiner). Don't judge me. She's generally considered chick lit, but after Reading Good in Bed all those years ago, I've read everything she's done. I will usually read one of her books in less than a day, but that's what I like about them. The writing is good, the characters are well-defined, and it's something I can read without thinking about it. Some may see that as an insult, but I love reading without thinking. I read this over break while I was sick. I was already reading Fall of the House of Zeus, but I wanted something that I could put down and pick back up again without having to go back and refresh my memory.
Fall of the House of Zeus: The Rise and Fall of America's Most Powerful Trial Lawyer (Curtis Wilke). The rise and fall of Dickie Scruggs, a Mississippi lawyer super star. This had better be made into a movie. I've been reading this for a while now, I need time to really devote to this title. Holy crap, it's good. The truth really is stranger than fiction, especially since I remember the events portrayed in this book. I remember reading about the raid on Scruggs' office in the local paper, I know some of the people mentioned. I also found out a student in one of my classes was Scruggs' cousin. And I learned a lot about Mississippi politics. Even if you know nothing about the life and times of Dickie Scruggs, read this book. It is that good.
Listening Here's to Taking it Easy, Phosphorescent. I have a copy of his Willie Nelson tribute, To Willie. I love that album so much if it were vinyl, it would be worn out by now. When I found out Phosphorescent was going to be in town this month, I checked out his most recent album. I like. I wasn't sure during the first few songs of the album, but I warmed up to it, definitely.
Blood Pressures, The Kills. I've been listening to the stream and I liked it, and I still like it now that I own it. Not much else to say that I haven't already said.
Raven in the Green, The Raveonettes. I love this album. Love it. I have been listening to it non-stop. I first heard The Raveonettes back in 2003... on NPR while I was at work. I immediately went down to my local record store and bought what was their second album, The Chain Gang of Love.When I bought it, the record store clerk said he had liked their first album, but this was better. Their first album was one note played over and over. Luckily, he said, it was a good note. I liked this album and the comparisons to Jesus and the Mary Chain are well deserved. Now, eight years later, I bought their newest one, and ommygoditissofuckinggood. I can't stop listening to it. The Wall of Sound is still there but not as prominent, and the songs sound a little more complete. Go buy this. Right now.
Watching American Idol. I'm having a hard time caring. I can't even remember their names.
America's Next Top Model. I'm having a harder time giving a shit about these girls than the kids on American Idol.
The Killing (AMC). I saw the two-hour debut this past Sunday. It has been compared to Twin Peaks, mainly due to location and the fact that a teen is found dead. Just watch it... it's that good.
Community. Still the best and smartest half-hour show on television.
I've been meaning to do this type of blog for some time....
Despite being a librarian, I don't read much. Not that I don't like to, I do. But I am one of those people who will start a book and then not stop reading until it's finished. Even if that means staying up all night.
Reading
The last book I read was The Help. I loved it. I suggest you read it right now. I bought a copy of Franny and Zoey after JD Salinger died. I started it, but never got anywhere with it. I read it in college and loved it. I don't know if I will feel the same way now.
Watching, TV
Project Runway. I am digging this season of PR. The last two were shitty--the last one on Bravo you could tell they didn't give a shit. The first season on Lifetime the producers didn't seem to know what to do with it. But this season the show seems back on track. It's more about the process, the talent, and the fashion. And while I love some bullshitty drama, I liked that OR could still focus on the fashion. I'm glad they've gotten back to that.
American Idol. People complain about how bad it is this year. That squirrelly little boy needs to go. And Tim Urban makes me want to throw things a the TV. And the robotic girl who sang "Let it Be" annoys the hell out of me. And Siobhan? People rave about her, but I can't stand her. Her screeching. Her version of "The Long and Winding Road" was unbearable. Big Mike? I like Big Mike. Lee is decent, and getting stronger every week. But Crystal Bowersox? I love her and coffeehouse, dreadlocked style.
America's Next Top Model. Like "Project Runway," ANTM seems to have gone back to what made it great: tearing young women down to build them back up to be insecure models. Now that Tyra Banks has come to accept that little girls aren't dreaming of being on "America's Next Top Model" and that she isn't going to change the modeling industry or the world by choosing a "plus-sized" model, by going green, by banning smoking, or by choosing "short" models. I know ANTM is probably everything I should dislike about TV and mass media, but as someone who spent my mid-teens watching "Style with Else Clinch" on CNN and buying the fall Vogue and pouring over it like it was a bible... Well, I like ANTM for what it is. What I don't like is when it tries too hard to be something it isn't and teach me a lesson.
Shear Genius. I don't know why I watch this show. I love hair. I love the Bravo drama, but this show sucks. Yet I watch it. And I hate the woman who won. Not because I disliked her or her canary yellow hair (I liked her hair, actually). I hated the ridiculous bows she put in her hair.
Ugly Betty. I haven't been watching this on schedule. I keep screwing up my DVR so it doesn't record right. Ugly Betty lost it's way after the writer's strike and never recovered. But now that it is one episode away from ending, I want to see it to the end.
Glee. SO HAPPY IT IS COMING BACK NEXT WEEK.
Top Chef Masters. It's fine until Top Chef comes back, but I miss Top Chef.
Watching, Movies
9 to 5. I found this listed on On Demand during one particularly dreary Sunday afternoon. I loved it all over again. And I sang the theme song for several days.
The Hangover. I saw this a while ago... But I loved it, so I thought I would mention it.
Hot Tub Time Machine. This was awesome in so many ways I am already planning on buying it when it comes out on DVD. My favorite teen movie reference was John Cusack and the reporter from Spin sitting on the counter, a la Sixteen Candles. Just awesome.
The Blind Side. I will eventually see all the Oscar nominees, but I decided to start with the most feel-good of the bunch. Having some personal ties to this story made me want to see it, too. I liked it, but I understand the criticism. And they left out the fact that Michael Oher took ten-day correspondence classes in order to raise his GPA. I laughed at some things that only a few people would get (I'm looking at you, Frenchie). I thought Sandra Bullock was fine. But I don't know if the performance--or the character or film--were Oscar-worthy.
Playing
Words with Friends. It's an iPhone version of Scrabble and I am completely addicted. I tend to have several games going with several people, but I can only beat one of them. I've had several games with Cindy over at PooBou.com, and let me tell you, she is a master player. She can kick some word game ass.
I love this book, Still Life with Woodpecker. I read it while I was in college. I think the summer between my sophomore and junior year. I think that is when everyone first reads Tom Robbins. I started the book while I was at my mom's during break. I remember I couldn't sleep so I went downstairs to watch TV, and I found it tucked into the side of the chair. So I read. And read. I don't think I finished it while I was there. Surprising, too. I'm a fast reader. I don't think I did because I remember lying in The Apartment (so-called because it eventually became the social center of my group of college friends) reading this. And I remember buying a copy of it at the local used bookstore. It cost $3. It's still written on the inside cover.
I was fascinated by this book. I may have read it several times in a row. I was fascinated because part of the book focused on redheads (and I am one) and a pack of Camels (I smoked them at the time). Now, I am not a natural redhead, but as a friend once told me, "When God was handing out hair color, he just forgot yours. Because if anyone is a true redhead, it's you." Tom Robbins is a redhead. The main characters in the book are redheads. I loved it.
Looking back, I can't remember everything that is covered in the book. I do know the thing that struck me was when Robbins wrote that all smokers are closet pyromaniacs. I'm not sure why that never struck me before, but it was so true. Everyone I knew who smoked burned things--including me. Paper, clothing, whatever. I used to sit on the front porch and singe the fringe on my jean shorts with my cigarette. Or sometimes I would burn holes in my shorts. It was a way to pass the time.
But this book... I'm not sure I could say it changed my life, but I know it made me look at things differently. I loaned the book to a friend--I thought she would love it. She hated it. I loaned it to another, Kelley, and she loved it. But she also loves JD Salinger and John Irving--two of my other favorite authors. Kelley used to write her name in the covers of books she read, but she didn't do it with this one, I don't know why.
I've read some of Robbins other books, like Even Cowgirls Get the Blues and Another Roadside Attraction, but Still Life is my favorite. probably because it was the first one of his I read.
Several years ago, Robbins was in Madison. He was doing a reading and signing for his new book. I forget the title. I showed up and the place was packed. I was in the last group to get my book signed. I bought two copies of the new book--one for me and one for my mom. Before I went I tried to find my copy of Still Life, but I couldn't. I bought a new one (I found my original copy a few months later). Robbins read. I couldn't see him, I could only hear him. I waited. I sat on the floor and read. There was a tornado warning. Store management made an announcement. Some people looked up, most just ignored it. I was in that store until almost 10:30 pm, waiting to get my books signed.
I stepped up to the table. Wow. Robbins looked old. And he was wearing these thick, black-rimmed, old man glasses. Hipster glasses, really. And he would only sign his name, nothing more. He didn't talk much. I had just colored my hair so it was a vivid red. I got up there and he smiled. I mean in kind of a knowing, secret handshake kind of way. I associated it with the red hair. He isn't a particularly good looking guy, but when he shook my hand, I blushed about five shades of red. I don't think he said anything other than "Hi," but he one of those people with that charisma that makes you the only person in the room when he speaks to you.
Still Life With Woodpecker is set in the suburbs of Seattle. Robbins lives halfway between Seattle and Bellingham. I found my old copy of Still Life while I was going through some stuff in my spare room. I decided it was time to reread it. I don't know what it will be like reading it so many years after I first read it. But it should be interesting.
A friend was telling me about Chris Rose's book 1 Dead in Attic. I picked it last weekend, stated reading at Monday, and saw Rose at a reading/signing on Tuesday. I hadn't gotten very far in the book by Tuesday, but he was still entertaining.
I became aware of Chris Rose while I was in New Orleans for ALA in the summer of 2006. I read this column as we were packing up our crap to leave the city. It made me proud to be a librarian. ALA Annual can be the biggest pain the ass, but that year, Annual had a purpose.
At the reading on Tuesday there was a lot of talk about whether the city was coming back. Rose thinks it will. There was a woman with her daughter--they had left New Orleans, by choice. They decided it wasn't worth staying or trying. Other people said it wouldn't come back in their lifetime.
Honestly, I don't know if it will come back anytime soon. I hope it does. The rebuilding in both New Orleans and on the Mississippi coast continues. But Rose's book (I'm about half way through) gives a good view of what happened in that year and a half after Katrina. Refrigerator wars, depression, coping, drinking... It's all there. And it's a good book. So pick it up if you see it.
Also, he's a Wisconsin grad. While he was signing he asked everyone where they were from. He asked me--told him I'd been here for three-and-a-half years. Where were you before that, he asked. Wisconsin. That lead to: Get outta here. Where? Madison. Get outta here. I'm a UW grad, he said. No way, I said. Us UW grads, he said, we stick together. And my book is now marked with a small "Go Badgers" under his signature.
Okay, so I am late to the Harry Potter bandwagaon, but after reading the first three books, I'm hooked.
I was friends with a bookstore owner when the first book came out, so there was always this talk about Harry Potter. I wasn't really interested in them since I've never been a fan of either YA books or elves and wizards books. When I was YA age, I didn't read YA books... except for Judy Blume, but I read them in elementary school.
Anyway, I picked up the first HP book in the Austin airport. I started to read Nick Hornby's How to be Good on the way back from DC. I was going to take it with to finish on the way back from Austin, but I can't find it. I figured HP was light and easy and a good thing for the plane ride. I had more than half of it done by the time I made it back to Memphis. I finished it the next weekend.
I started the second one while sitting at the reference desk the following week. Finished it while at the desk the following Sunday. I read the third one this weekend since it was too hot to go outside... and because after getting bitten (and I mean four puncture wounds) by my cat after I thought he'd broken his leg (long story), it was kind of relaxing.
But you know, I was not encourage after the second one. I decided I was going to read them all, but I wasn't crazy about book one. It was hard to imagine it becoming the phenomenon it became. I thought the writing was poor, the characters dull. The second one was better, but still... Everyone kept telling me the third one was where Rowling really hit her stride. And they were right. The third one is it.
Yes, I am hooked.
Oh, and yes, I was concerned that Alexsi had broken his leg. He was on the coffee table when he fell off--but he got his back foot caught in my table. So, he fell off the table, but he was hanging by his foot and thrashing around and howling and screeching. I jumped up and grabbed him. Being in pain and freaked out, he lashed out at the first thing he could--my hand. I don't blame him, really. It was similar to when I was 15 and TJ (childhood cat) got her tail caught in the door and lashed out at the first thing she could--and that thing happened to be my face, mainly my eye.
Anyway, Alexsi limped a lot last night. Meowed a bit when he walked, but he got better. By this morning my hand hurt and was a bit swollen (yes, I cleaned it out after Alexsi bit me), but he was fine. I was still worried about infection, but going by mom's "infection checklist," it wasn't. It was still red and slightly swollen (but not hot--and therefore not infected). By this afternoon I realized two things--I had it bandaged too tightly and the redness was caused by the fact that when I removed the bandaids last night to look at it (something mom always told me not to do), I had ripped out a bunch of those fine hairs around my knuckles and the back of my hand. Ouch.
Sometimes it is nice to've grown up with a mom who was a nurse--I know how to take care of a minor but kind-of gross wound. I also have the "I'm not paying someone to tell me I was [insert injury/illness]" attitude my mom always had....
Why didn't someone tell me I could get margaritas in a bottle? Pre-made margaritas? Why? Probably because they know I have a weakness for margaritas on the rocks. I know, it's a girly drink. It doesn't say, "I'm a sophisticated hipster." (Although, "sophisticated" and "hipster" really don't work togther; and I'm not a hispter, dammit.) Why didn't anyone tell me? Well, because I have a weakness for margaritas. And if I had access to margaritas in a bottle I would do what I did last night: drink half (a third?) of the jug-sized bottle and then wake up the next morning with a killer headache wondering why I thought it was a good idea to drink that much. But, hey, it was a Halloween party in an empty storefront below old doctors' offices (a dentist and a gynecologist). And there was '80s music and much dancing to be done. That isn't something that happens every day.
I met John Hodgman yesterday. Okay, "met" may be a bit strong. I was one of the few audience members who introduced themselves (he asked our names). He gave me brandy (me and a bunch of other audience members). He read a piece about the Mall of America and a place in the MoA food court that made food normally served at the Minnesota State Fair: meaning it was fried and on a stick. (He referenced fried cheese curds on a stick. Cheese curds can be fried -- and they are awesome -- but they are too small to be put on a stick; if anyone could screw up cheese curds it is a bunch of Minnesotans.) He signed my book. I told him my name ("Oh, we met earlier," he said) and thanked him for the brandy. He was fuh-nee.
*edit* And since I gave ME her signed copy of The Areas of my Expertise, I can tell you that he singed her copy and wished her a Happy Arbor Day. And birthday. Love.him.
