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.

No S. And 300.

Holy shit, this is my 300th post. I'm kind of sorry I don't have something epic/splendid/affecting to write. But that wouldn't really be in keeping with the spirit of this blog, now would it? ;-)

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In my on/off quest to get/stay healthy and fitting into all my clothes, I recently came across this diet.

Now, first off, the word "diet" is an immediate turn off to me. I am simply not interested or motivated to count calories, omit entire food groups, count points or anything else like that. I know those things work for some people and kudos to you if they do, but for me? Not so much. I like food. And cooking. And we don't eat crappily...we don't eat fast food, we do lots of fresh veggies and fruits and whole grains but also BUTTER and CHEESE and PASTA and mmmm...I'm hungry.

Maybe that's why this whole "No S" thing makes sense to me. The entire thing is, well, pretty easy. And really, just common sense. From the website- the diet in a nutshell:

"There are just three rules and one exception:

• No Snacks
• No Sweets
• No Seconds

Except (sometimes) on days that start with "S""

And that's pretty much it. You can click the link and keep reading if you want. Not everything the author writes is all the politically correct or sensitive to people of all sizes, but the core idea makes sense to me. No snacks. No sweets. No seconds. Except on days that start with "S", which would be Saturdays, Sundays, and Special Occasions.

As you'll notice, if you click the link, the author has penned a book, but pretty much lays everything out on the website. Its intriguing! In fact, he deliberately makes the point that he feels spending money on fancy diet crap is silly.

Since I (all to easily) fall into the habit of medicating my 3:00 pm doldrums with snacks and I'm TERRIBLE about helping myself to seconds (sometimes thirds) because "it will never taste as good as it does right now!,"I like how the No S idea doesn't say you can NEVER snack, NEVER have seconds (or thirds, heh). It just provides some parameters for this behavior. I'm gonna try it. I'll let you know how it goes. I have a sneaking suspicion that it might be harder than it sounds...

The one where I complain but ultimately decide to change nothing

Ok. I'm utterly and completely labeling myself as a nerd here (like I haven't before...heh) But. You know in the Lord of the Rings movie where Bilbo is all "I feel like too little butter spread over too much bread?"

(And then Gandalf is all "OMG I am a huge wizard and will totally get your back, cuz! And I'll steal your ring and your nephew and save the world all while rocking a smokin' zztop beard and getting high on shire weed"...But I digress.)

Well, I feel like Bilbo. I'm over extended and starting to feel the strain. But its not so much in my "real life"- its online.

I feel spread too thin: My$pace, Faceb0ok, Twitter, Blogger, message boards, regular, old-fashioned Hotmail.. BLARGH! I think I may have just spontaneously combusted overworked brains all over my keyboard.

Am I in a class by myself? Or are others feeling the cyber drain? I know that there are people who are on double the number of sites I am, triple...how do they do it without going the Internet version of looney tunes??

The obvious solution would be to cut back- trim the fat and cut down on the sites I actively check. But the reality is that different people communicate with me on these different sites. My$pace is for my rock n' roll buddies- the group of us that connected over the husband's band and the local punk rock scene. This is the only online means I have of communicating with this crowd. Yeah, I have phone numbers for most of them but to send out a mass party invite, for instance, My$pace is the way to go.

Faceb0ok has extended family, friends, high school acquaintances (that for some reason "friend" me when we maybe spoke two words to each other in H.S., if that? Anyway.) Faceb0ok is also how my crafting buddies and I communicate- how we schedule knitting/beer drinking nights, share crafty links, etc.

Hotmail, obviously, is out of the question- I've had my email address FOREVER (well, 13 years?) and that's how I, you know, email people. Like my mom and congresspeople and stuff.

And Twitter is awesome. Period. And I don't really want to give up my blog...Among other things, blogging connects me to others in a way that the "networking" sites don't and makes me feel like a part of a bigger community. And its got me writing again which ain't no small thang.

So I guess for all my bitching, I'm not really ready to change any of this. I like my online communities. I like the people I'm connected with- both my IRL friends and my online momma/crafter/blogger buddies. I suppose I could cut back on how often I check these sites- My$pace on Tues/Thurs, Faceb0ok on Mon/Wed...but really, who wants to keep track of that shit?

Is there some magic solution I'm missing? A widget unicorn that will fantastically change my life forever? Maybe I just need to find myself a great big ol' bearded wizard and some cyber-shireweed...

Contest

So, I read about a contest on Megan's blog, which then led me to the actual contest info on Adventures in Babywearing (awesome! Note to self: Must read archives. Fabulous!) and Mason & Matisse. Drool. I LOVE bloggy-linky treasure hunts!

So know I am going commerce crazy and daydreaming about all this cute Mason & Matisse stuff:

This is right up our alley. And OMIGOSH the Babylicious stuff is too adorable. If only money were no object...

Nothing like some internet window shopping to brighten up a dreary day!