February: A Month of Favorites

You guys know how I like to make a list of favorite things to cheer myself up?  Let's do it all month!!  I'm a'gonna post a favorite thing as often as I can this month (every day would be ideal but...you know.)

Today:

My favorite book:  Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte.

I've read this book several times, seen numerous screen adaptations and I love it more and more.  Jane!  Mr. Rochester!  I love it that Jane has real problems i.e., dead parents, a super shitty guardian (Mrs. Reid), suffers abuse, the death of friends, etc. and comes through it intact with a strong sense of self.  She fucking rocks.

I saw the most recent film version of Jane Eyre and completely loved it.  Michael Fassbender and Mia Wasikowska were pitch perfect and I loved the emphasis on light, heat, and the consuming possibilities of both.  So good.   Oh! And Judi Dench as Mrs. Fairfax totally clenched it.

Give me an excuse.

Source:  Wikipedia

Statement:  This time of year is made for reading Victorian Gothic fiction.  Frankenstein,  Dracula, Jane Eyre, The Picture of Dorian Gray.  These books just fit the shorter, colder days, the haunting clickety clack of leaves tripping down the sidewalk, wind that howls through the crack under the door while we're warm inside eating soup, bare branches providing a start contrast against a cloudless, moonlit sky. 

At this time of year, I tend to revisit one or more of these old favorites and delight in their deliciously creepy prose and not-really-all-that-antiquated warnings of the corruption of technology and scientific innovation.  I especially love the intensity of the emotions the characters in these novels tend to have...all-consuming passions and fears, loves and hates.  My husband would scoff and call it "emo" but I love it.  I love the complete and utter despair suffered by Frankenstein when his creature is lost to him.  I love how intensely Jane feels for Mr. Rochester, how delightfully hateful Dracula truly is.  Just love it!

And not all the great stuff from this era came out of Great Britain...there are amazing short stories from Nathaniel Hawthorne that will enchant you (for realz!), specifically Rappaccini's Daughter.  (Seriously, read it.)  And of course, Washington Irving's Legend of Sleepy Hollow...CLASSIC.

What this all points to is me wanting some serious quality time with a book, my couch, and a cup of tea.  Can one call into work with a serious case of Need to Read?

Get back to me on that, will you?

Book Report

Every month, there's a balancing act between books that are in my private "to read" stack and the book that we've picked for book club.  I always have the best of intentions towards the book club pick.  They are usually intellectual!  interesting! well reviewed!  But secretly, I really want to be reading the stuff in my private stash- which usually consists of guilty pleasure type reading- (think Sookie Stackhouse novels, etc...)

This month has been hard.  For book club, we picked The Brothers K.  Looks great, right?  A sweeping narrative, etc. etc.  I should really want to read this book.  Book club is next week.  I am currently 15% into the book (in Kindle speak).  This is not good.

Instead, I've been deeply mired in the world created by George R. R. Martin who I'm fairly sure spent a good portion of time in his parents' basement reading comics and thinking of "cool stuff"* like a young, hot teenage girl breastfeeding a pair of newborn dragons.

I know!  Its ridiculous.  And I've read 3 of the books in the series.

I need help.



*Not that there's anything wrong with that.

Book Report (plus Hair)

Though Otto still loves picture books and will sit and read as many as we are willing to commit to, I recently made the decision (after reading somewhere on the internets that this was a good age) to begin reading some chapter books aloud at bedtime.  Typically, I lay in bed beside him and we whip through 3 or 4 story books before lights out/snuggle.  Starting chapter books was going to be an experiment to see if one story (with little or no pictures, no less) could hold his attention for about the same amount of time. 

And holy crow, I had NO IDEA how well this would go over.  The kid's attention span is EPIC.

So far, we've read three chapter books recommended for preschoolers that I was able to get for next to nothing used on Amazon:   Mercy Watson to the Rescue, Moongobble and Me: The Dragon of Doom, and Three Tales of My Father's Dragon.

Three Tales of My Father's Dragon is by far our favorite (even though the others are quite good).  Written in the 40's by Ruth Stiles Gannet, this little book is highly enjoyable and right at Otto's 3 year old level.  My Father's Dragon is about a little boy named Elmer Elevator (the narrator's father, natch) who hears of a baby dragon who's trapped on an island of ruthless, wild animals.  In the first story (about 13 chapters), he travels to the island and has a series of adventures while trying to rescue the dragon.  He meets all sorts of animals and comes up with all kinds of clever tricks to escape their clutches and eventually attempt a rescue of the dragon.  The writing is simple yet descriptive and its fun to imagine all of the creatures he encounters.

It does have some minimal, black and white pictures but for the most part we're getting to use our imaginations to picture the story and Otto LOVES it.  Every night its "one more chapter?  Pleeeeeeeeease??" 

Since these books have gone over so well, I can't wait to start on some others.  Anyone have more suggestions of good read-aloud chapter books for this age?  I think he's still a bit too young for The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe and The Hobbit which are two that I'm really looking forward to reading.

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 On the adult side of things, I've read several great books lately.  My favorites have been Shadow of the Wind  and the Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society.  I also (finally) read The Book Thief.  So I've had a bit of a WWII (and aftermath) sort of month. 

 Now, for bookclub, we're reading Devil in the White City which, quite honestly, is proving difficult for me to get through.  In a nutshell, this book juxtaposes two semi-related storylines:  one of the designers and developers of the 1893 World's Fair in Chicago and one of H. H. Holmes, a serial killer in the city at that time.   So far, I'm finding the stuff about the architects and developers exceedingly dull and for as much tolerance and even enjoyment I get out of some horror, I've never been able to read/watch stuff about serial killers.  I think its because while zombies, monsters, devils, etc. don't REALLY exist, serial killers are very real.  And just...ew.

But I'll give it my best effort or at least read enough of it so I can bullshit my way through bookclub in a couple weeks :)

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As an unrelated post-script of sorts, I  DID cut my hair BUT I only went for the shoulder length.  Figured I could always go shorter, but its hard to go back if you cut too much off.    Here is a shitty picture taken in my car, but you get the general idea.  I had her make the ends super choppy which helps with the bulkiness and I can either air dry (a la below) or straighten depending on the time and effort I'm willing to invest on any given morning.  Long story short (uhHAHAHA), I loves it.

OMG, Y'all- Book Review.

First.  If you have not read The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, STOP WHATEVER YOU ARE DOING AND READ THIS BOOK RIGHT NOW.  You'll thank me.  **

I actually just finished the second book in the trilogy and can't believe that the third one doesn't come out until August.  August!  I die!

This was a book club selection (I have the coolest book club!  Love!) and probably not something I would have picked up on my own....maybe, but probably not.  I hate to say it but the cover art kind of reminded me of some sort of Patriot Games adult man spy fantasy fiction.  But.  THESE ARE NOT THAT. 

They are, however, young adult books but don't let that sway you- in my opinion, some of the best literature comes out of the 'young adult' genre. 

I would like to provide a brief synopsis here but everytime I try to explain the first book to someone, I do such a terrible job, they look at me like a boob just sprouted on my forehead.  Let's just say that The Hunger Games is thought-provoking, gripping, and features an incredible young female protagonist.  

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Second.  Cecily of Uppercase Woman linked to a project involving bloggers writing letters to their 20 year old selves.  This idea intrigues me and sounds really awesome.  Truly.   But every time I sit down to think about what I would write, I get all gummed up...like there's some shit that went down back then that I've never really taken the time to process.  I try to picture my 20 year old self and I'm awash in images of confusion, heartache, recklessness, and hard-headed, almost willful self-destruction.  Is that unusual?  Or is that just what being 20 IS to most people? 

I still may try to write the letter, but right now the idea of it feels like wading through quicksand.  That can't be healthy.





**  FULL DISCLOSURE: This is not a paid review.  I just loved the book.  However, if you buy the book from Amazon through my site, I DO get a little kickback.  Just keeping shit real.

They come and go....they come and go-oh-oh-oh

A shameless plug:

My (not so little anymore) brother wrote a children's book!!  If you have time, please click the link to check it out.  You can preview the entire book online.     He is an amazing photographer and the pictures are just stunning.  I just ordered little O his very own copy.  Super proud big sis, here. 
 

P.S., I am also the one who suggested the name for his chameleon.  . Boy George 4EVR!!

Digging Myself Out

I did it.  Somehow, I made it through last week's Insane Work Craziness and came out the other side relatively unscathed.  There might be some delayed decompressing but right now I feel pretty fucking amazing.  I accomplished a lot, had many meetings, threw one enormous event (about 600 attendees) and am still almost not crazy.  You know what I mean.

Here are a few of the things that are helping me dig myself out of the stress-trench I've been trapped in the last 10 days or so.  I'm stoked that I have time to read books, play with my kid, cook, and surf the net again.  Life is...well...better.

1.  Donkeys.  OMG how I love looking at pictures of sweet little donkeys.  I've always loved them- they have such personality!  My grandma used to love to tell this story about a little Family Circus moment I had when I was young:  She and I were driving in the Kansas farm-country when we saw a sweet pasture of little gray donkeys.  "Those donkeys remind me of Jesus!" I declared.  Obviously, I was very young and smack in the middle of Catholic Ed. but even now...Donkeys kind of remind me of Jesus.  But in a good way.




2.  Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter is a fucking fantastic book.  I loved Seth Grahame-Smith's Pride Predjudice and Zombies, as well.  Just totally awesome.
I especially love how he weaves the source material with the monsters so seamlessly...I'm simultaneously really interested in story while laughing my ever loving ass off.  Leave it to me to discuss Jesus, Abraham Lincoln and Vampires in the same post.

3.  This recipe for Black Bean Burgers with Mango Salsa.  We've made it once a week for probably the last month.  And none of us are sick of it yet.  Otto absolutely loves it.  Its wonderful "we wish it was summer" food.  (And no, it is not yet summer here.  Cold, windy, high temps in the 30's and 40's.  To paraphrase Steve Zissou, "Sonofabitch I'm sick of this weather." )

But seriously, you should make this dish because it is awesome.  The only thing we do differently from the recipe is we cook the burgers on our big ol' non-stick griddle instead of baking them- we like the crustiness the griddle provides and it seemed like baking them just kind of dried them out and made them fall apart a little bit.

4.  Hangin' with my homies aka my family.  They are awesome.  Otto is super into cutting pretty much anything with his little green scissors these days so I put him to work on some coupons.  Heh.   And yes, that ad for tampons features a busty lady in a sports bra. 

 

My Favorite Things

The bad: Its fucking freezing here (of course) (still): -2 degrees this morning on our way to work/daycare. Additionally, I live with a sick, complaining Husband. And also a sick, whiny, fragile toddler. I'm also still dealing with the emotional weight of my brother and his partner's miscarriage, my rift with my other brother, friends who seem to be disappearing down the rabbit hole of booze/drugs and/or on the verge of losing partial custody of their kids because they just can't seem to parent responsibly....sigh.

Its been a while since I've done a My Favorite Things post...but I need a little pick me up and thinking about things I'm loving is one of the best ways for me to pull myself up and dust off my pants.


First up, is my new toy: the Kindle 2.

Yeah, yeah. You've all heard about it. But truly. For a prolific reader like myself, it is kind of totally fantastic.

(Disclaimer: I am in NO WAY being compensated for reviewing this. I paid full price for the bastard.)

I've gotten over the buyer's remorse-type feelings that I always get when I spend any large amount of money on myself and have really started enjoying it. I've downloaded a bunch of free classics that I can't wait to read/reread: Sherlock Holmes, Dracula, Jane Eyre...and there are lots more where those come from.

I purchased one book, just to try out the whole shop/download wirelessly thing and I've gotta say, it was pretty smooth. Also, my custom made cover arrived just a day after the Kindle did and it turned out so cute! I'm officially smitten.

And while this thing won't completely replace books for me- If I read something that I truly love and know I will want to reread/share I'll probably eventually purchase it in hard copy form. But for guilty pleasure reading (which I, ahem, do a lot of), I just don't see how this thing can be beat.


When I'm able to tear myself away from the Kindle for a moment, I'm also really loving the simple things:

Chamomile tea.

Walking home for lunch in the bright (cold) sunshine.

Long, rambling phone calls with friends.

Snuggling with my kid under the down comforter while the wind whistles outside.

Good TV: like this, this or this.

Thinking about Spring, as far away as it might be.

What things are you loving right now?

Of Cabbages and Kings

1. I've been re-reading Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. It is indeed wonderful. All the silliness and nonsense feels good to my brain right now.

2. Also reading this book. The movie was great but the book, so far, is creepily awesome. I love it.

3. It has dawned on me recently that I have the most amazing group of IRL girlfriends ever. I'm sort of weirding out about my upcoming birthday so they've decided to throw me a party. With sushi. So sweet.

4. We still don't know WTF is up with my car. Two mechanics have looked at it now and neither one can figure it out. Their advice? "Just keep driving it and see what happens." AWESOME.

5. My kid is getting big and mouthy. But he's still super cute and pretty much my very favorite person in the known universe. First s'more:

That's it for now, I guess. Just nosing the grindstone as they say.

SuperCRAPifragilisticexpialidocious

So things are perfectly craptacular at the mo'- little brother still in hospital (but on a slow road to recovery), shitty weather, my own mild case of something resembling seasonal affective disorder...all compounded by the fact that NO ONE IN OUR HOUSE IS SLEEPING. Not sure if its teething or the cold we have all been fighting, but Little O was up with fever and screaming and DID I MENTION THE SCREAMING for a long time last night. This on top of my husband's apparent (and oh so vexing) insomnia which turns him into a bear, and me, consequently into a shrew.

Oh. Just talked to daycare and I need to go get the little dude at lunch. Having a bad morning, fever is back. Now I feel bad for taking him at all. But he honestly seemed fine this morning. Poor little guy.

Anyway. Time for a list of my favorite things to help pull me out of the craptastic doldrums:

1. Decaf Green Tea. With honey, even. Yum.

2. Smartwool socks. Love them for me and for the little dude. Pricey but worth it.

3. The Southern Vampire Mysteries series. Yeah, that's right. I'm continuing my year of cheesy vampire lit. This is the one that HBO's True Blood is based on. And pretty gawl darned entertaining, y'all.

4. Our new Sunday dinner ritual. Frequenters of this blog will know that we are not religious folk. But the husband and I were both raised attending church and kind of miss the family-ness that such an activity provided. Oila! Sunday Dinner is born! Each Sunday we have been choosing a new recipe (from The Best Recipe, natch) and cooking it together. Even Little O helps by standing on a chair and beating measuring cups together. Its really quite adorable. So far, we've made pot roast, spaghetti and meatballs, and meatloaf. All delicious.

5. The returning light. I love it that there is now some light left when I get off work, trudge to my car and make my way home (with a slight detour to pick up the dude from daycare.) It will only get better from here.

Well that made me feel better...how 'bout you?

In the cold gray tomb there was a gravestone...

At the moment, Otto's very favorite thing in the whole entire world is Books. With a capital B. Board Books, story Books, dad's Books (boring WWII non-fiction anyone?**) , mama's Books (oh Twilight series how I love thee)...if he sees a book he immediately begins a frantic signing of "more" (his go-to, catch-all sign) and saying "Eh! Eh eh eh!" with a pleading look in his eye.

Really, I swear his thought pattern must be something like: Books books books books BOOBS books books books.

So, for the sake of posterity, I am recording some of his very favorite books to read. Also, the list might give you some ideas if you have an older baby/toddler to shop for!

First, his tastes have a bit of the macabre: Goodnight Goon: A Petrifying Parody by Michael Rex. This is a spooky take on the classic Goodnight Moon...and Otto loves it more than the original. Like, a lot. It has mummies, werewolves, monsters, bats...and of course, a goon. I have to admit...I love it too.

Bears in the Night by Stan and Jan Berenstain. This little story about bears who sneak out of bed to find the source of the "Whoooooo" sound out their window is really simple but suprisingly fun. Again, there is the element of spooky with the bears running around in the dark and eventually climbing up "Spook Hill." Its fun and I think I've read it to him 20 times in the last 2 days.

Peek a Who? by Nina Laden. This one is so simple, yet so enjoyable. Otto loves that he can grab the pages by the hole in the middle.

Global Babies board book. This one, by the Global Fund for Children is a library find but I'll probably renew it for a while. Little O loves looking at the pictures of different babies from around the world. I have to admit that the photos are fun to look at.

Gossie by Olivier Dunrea. Oh. My. Word how Otto loves Gossie. And now, just typing the word I have the lilting script stuck in my head: "This is Gossie/ Gossie is a gosling/ A small yellow gosling who likes to wear bright red boots/ Everyday." It is a really fun book. We have also checked out from the library another of Dunrea's books, Boo Boo. While not as big a hit as Gossie has been (yet) its still lots of fun.

I know there are others that he enjoys right now, but these are the ones we keep coming back to, over and over and over and over and over...

I have to admit though... I'm, kinda proud of my little bookworm.

**Ok, so I know that WWII non-fiction is not really boring...I'm just trying to make myself feel better about reading teen vampire fiction. Heh.

In Which I am Slowly Regaining my Sanity

This weekend was a toughie. Sunday found me sicker than a dog, trying to clean the house, parent and nurse my aching head and sinuses full of rubber cement. The husband did what he could, but you know folks, when punk rock calls who are we mere mortals to resist its siren song? In all fairness, it was his band that was playing the gig and he really didn't have the option to bow out, but just allow me this tiny bit of bitter resentment. M'kay?

Today, I am finally feeling as though I am leaving the dark, dank woods of the WORST HEAD COLD EVER behind, which is extraordinarily wonderful. I can breathe again! The clarity is intoxicating...I was able to BREATHE THROUGH MY NOSE all night last night which did wonders for both my self esteem and my sad little chapped lips.

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In other news, I am nearly done with the second book of the Twilight series and OMG I'm hooked. Great literature they are not, but there's something to be said for super fun, entertaining escapism. And vampires.

Debating whether I want to go see the movie when it comes out next week...because I have such a clear picture in my head and I don't want the film to ruin it. But at the same time, the movie could be really fun. And there would be popcorn. I know...decisions, decisions.

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And, just to get it down somewhere so I don't forget, here's the latest on what little O is up to:

-Putting things in the trash ("tash") ...he throws things away and then claps for himself and says Good Job! ("goo-JAH!)

- Asking to nurse by making the sign for "more" and pointing to my boobs. When I ask "Milk?" He nods happily and says Yes ("YAY-es")

- He had his sixth tooth poke through last night and was not pleased about it. The good thing seems to be, though, that once it breaks the skin, he is fine. So he was up at 9:30 pissed beyond belief but then slept fine the rest of the night.

- He loves dogs ("DOG!"- he says this word very clearly) and trucks ("tuck!") and I got him a baby doll last week and he loves to give his baby a bottle. Its pretty much the cutest thing ever.

Book Report.

I have to say this: One thing that nursing has provided for me has been ample time for reading. I love getting home, sitting in the rocker, boppy and baby on lap, and settling in for a good 20-30 min. stretch of breastfeeding and reading. Its a wonderful way to relax at the end of a hard day. Really!

Anyway, I just finished a great book and thought I'd share:

I'm usually sort of a fiction whore (Oh! What I won't do for some well written fantasy, sci-fi, or historical romantic fiction. Yum.) However, for a piece of non-fiction, Antonia Fraser's Marie Antoinette was suprisingly entertaining. Her descriptions of life at Versailles during the reign of Louis XVI are so richly woven that you can practically smell the wig powder and B.O.. Similarly, Fraser paints the tragically doomed queen of France as a complex, sympathetic, (if somewhat clueless) character and draws the reader into a world of excess and abundance in a time of political turmoil and unrest. In Fraser's eyes, she is first a naive girl just doing her duty to her own mother and motherland, then a sheltered, spoiled woman trying to find herself midst the rigid rules of decorum in the French palace, and finally a devoted mother and wife who bore the upmost of indignities with grace and brave resolve.

All in all, I thouroughly enjoyed this book, even though I already knew how it would end. Now that's some good non-fiction.