January 2011
34 posts
4 tags
Petropolis by Anya Ulinich
Here’s a secret. I judge books by their cover.
Now, if a book with a really engaging first page or interesting storyline has an ugly cover, that doesn’t rule it out. But when browsing the bookshelves of the library, it definitely helps to have a bright, shiny cover. Sometimes this method backfires and I return the book promptly. In other cases, it works, and I read a book like...
2 tags
If you want to read our "love" story...
it’s right here.
Sometimes I wonder how I’m going to communicate it to our future kids without accidentally encouraging them to have young, international marriages with spouses found over the internet. Yikes.
Maybe I’ll just stick with “we met in an airport.”
viaukraine asked: I just read your "love story"! I got married when I was 20 (he was 25) for almost the exact same reasons. My husband is English and I was so miserable that when he wasn't around I couldn't do anything with my life. We also wouldn't have gotten married so young if there was another option. We eloped but on our 5th anniversary we had a wedding because I really wanted...
4 tags
The Problem With Weight
Since teaching myself to cook and exploring a mostly-vegetarian lifestyle (though I hesitate to call it that anymore, perhaps I’ll explain in another post), I have been reveling one of the most body-positive experiences of my life.
I started out with an extremely antagonistic view of food, considering food the enemy, that there was something wrong with my body for not being thin like...
Weekly Gratitude
out take from visit to Arcosanti, stone steps
Grateful for…
Mark taking me out for a lovely dinner last night
My new stainless steel water bottle that will hopefully keep me away from bottled water permanently (without forcing me to go thirsty)
The huge mason jar I’ve been moving around the house to keep me hydrated (last week I drank so little water that my lips got dry and...
callielion: Shopgirl by Steve Martin →
jgh-2:
callielion:
There’s been a lot of fuss about On Beauty by Steve Martin lately, but my library doesn’t have it. They did have Shopgirl, so I picked it up instead.
This is another book I would say is definitely a beach read. It’s short (a novella) and doesn’t require much thought. It’s not that deep, or…
He was writing about himself.
Yeah, that was the impression I got, though I...
readingavidly asked: I like your new theme :)
5 tags
Shopgirl by Steve Martin
There’s been a lot of fuss about On Beauty by Steve Martin lately, but my library doesn’t have it. They did have Shopgirl, so I picked it up instead.
This is another book I would say is definitely a beach read. It’s short (a novella) and doesn’t require much thought. It’s not that deep, or engrossing, or illuminating. The characters never seem to get fleshed out,...
5 tags
Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver
I’ve read The Poisonwood Bible by Kingsolver for class before, so when I heard she had done a book about local eating, I was all over it.
I think what I liked most about this book is all of the things I would currently consider too exotic, she made sound possible. Examples include canning, making my own cheese, and freezing fresh vegetables. I think I may buy out the tomatoes of the...
Arcosanti
Friday my Mom and her friend Kelly went to Arcosanti as a celebration of Kelly’s birthday and they were nice enough to invite me along. Arcosanti is the dream of the architect Paolo Soleri, who dreams of cities built 20 stories high in a long, thin line, rather than our current city structure of urban sprawl. Arcosanti aims to be the first implementation of Soleri’s dream in order to...
1 tag
Weekly Gratitude
Thank you to my Mom and her friend Kelly for bringing me along with them on their adventure to Arcosanti
Thank you to all of the wonderful people we met there, the tour guide, the gentleman who took us on a behind-the-scenes tour. It was wonderful (pictures and story to come soon)
Grateful for the high school theatre troupe putting on dinner & a show tonight — I love supporting them...
1 tag
This is a Story About a Girl and an Orange Tree
When I was 5, we moved from downtown San Diego to a rural area of San Diego county. We moved into a rented wooden house, red, with a massive yard — 2 acres or more. This yard was home to several fruits: apples, pomegranates, grapes, lemons, and my absolute favorite, an orange tree.
The house had a large, groaning, peeling wooden deck that my brothers and I would spend hours chasing each...
3 tags
Pictures from Monday at the River
Monday was an absolutely gorgeous day — clear skies and in the 70s. It reminded me that I really am a warm-weather girl. I couldn’t bare to stay inside and so Cory and I ventured to a nearby park where the river intersects and took some pictures.
kicksandgiggles asked: I just saw your reply to my question! Thank you for taking the time to reply so thoughtfully. I love the idea of reading positive reviews. That could definitely help. And scheduling my time is something I definitely need to do. Thank you again!!
I hope you're having a nice evening!
I hope you're having a nice evening!
In Which All Things Are Not Perfect: Today I Had...
I’ve been looking for a serving position. It’s a popular job, the best paying job for my skill set, and I like it. I like meeting people, I like the comradery that happens when the restaurant gets busy, and I like learning about different foods. But it’s slow season, and finding restaurants that are ready to hire is difficult.
Last week I had an interview, and it went well....
5 tags
Juliet, Naked by Nick Hornby
Juliet, Naked is a novel about a relationship that falls apart, reconciling with time wasted, and the way that rumors become so believed that they can sometimes become truth. It follows three characters — Duncan, who is obsessed with a musician named Tucker, Annie, Duncan’s girlfriend, and Tucker, the musician. Their lives intersect in one hard-to-believe story.
This book...
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A Reason to Love Library Books
Other than their cost-effectiveness, and the discovery of books by searching the shelves, there are sometimes little treasures hidden inside.
This bookmark came all the way from British Columbia and somehow ended up in a library book in Northern Arizona. So what does that mean? Did the book come from British Columbia, bought by the library, used, and end up tucked into metal shelves? Did...
1 tag
Photos from Friday
Photos from Friday
Mark took me out for breakfast and I brought my camera along.
1 tag
Weekly Gratitude
Grateful…
for my little brother Matthew who turns 13 today. A teenager!
for my husband who didn’t hesitate to take me out to dinner when I told him I needed to get out of the house.
that my local health food store had some awesome prices on produce this week.
that school starts this coming Wednesday — I can’t wait to get my brain working again!
for all of the amazing...
4 tags
kicksandgiggles asked: I am so jealous of how much you read (or at least appear to). I used to be the ultimate bookworm. People would refer to me as "Oh, that girl who reads?" But recently I just can't seem to find the time (/energy/will) to read. I'm about 30 pages into 5 books.
The point: How do you do it-- where do you find the time to read so often? Or am I totally misjudging the...
The point: How do you do it-- where do you find the time to read so often? Or am I totally misjudging the...
3 tags
The Family Tree by Carole Cadwalladr
I just finished reading The Family Tree by Carole Cadwalladr and can I just say, I loved it?
The story is narrated by Rebecca, and it follows Rebecca’s childhood, leading up to the death of her mother, as well as her grandparent’s life and Rebecca’s present. It’s a story about women, but it doesn’t feel women-targeted — it feels raw and real. Sometimes...
5 tags
The Corrections by Jonathan Franzen
This book was good. It feels strange to say that — I enjoyed it but I didn’t love it. I don’t feel better or worse for having read it. I didn’t laugh or cry, I didn’t read parts aloud to Mark, but I did pick it up, day after day, in my freetime, and get through it. The stories of the characters within are still spinning in my head, their actions replaying like...
4 tags
Great House by Nicole Krauss
Great House by Nicole Krauss is a book about strangers, connected, each going through their own struggles with family and connecting to the world. Told in five different perspectives, the book ties these strangers together through an antique desk.
The writing style can be difficult to get used to, particularly in the beginning. For the most part, Krauss speaks in the second person, or...
2 tags
Weekly Gratitude
This is an idea started by Tatiana over at Love, Life, Lace and I’m jumping on board. Every Friday I’m going to make a post with a few things I’m feeling grateful for.
This week, I’m thankful for…
Little local coffee shops filled to the brim with interesting people, delicious food, and specialty drinks.
Discovering how to make my own tea inexpensively, as well my...
5 tags
How to Make Your Own Loose-Leaf Tea from the Bulk...
For Christmas, my Mom bought me a French press, something I’d considered purchasing for a while. I really enjoy tea but it always made me feel a little bit bad wasting all of the packaging that comes with it: the plastic wrap around the cardboard box around the sealed bag around the little tea bags with a string and another piece of cardboard.
I thought the loose-leaf route would be a...
Just found out that the University I'll be...
Even during the winter.
SO. EXCITED.
Also excited for the farmer’s market this summer. Winter is making it super difficult for me to buy/prepare veggies, especially since all I want is salty, fatty, meaty meals. So I’m just slipping vegetables in where I can (like in lasagna.)
Also I just had ice cream for lunch (later supplemented with the very last of yesterday’s stir-fry)...
I really like the idea of making a lot of food and...
Every time I cook I try to make enough food to last for weeks.
Unfortunately I have two teenage brothers and a husband that if it’s there, they will eat it.
Goals for 2011
Continue to eat healthfully. Experiment with different cuisines. Improve my impact on the environment (make small changes, including buying less, buying things with less packaging, and buying in bulk; overall, reduce waste.) Try to buy locally made or sustainable clothing/accessories. Buy experiences, not stuff. Keep reading. Write more — big goal: write a rough draft of a book. Take more...
3 tags
Photos from Yesterday
Mark, our friend Cory, and I went on a little bit of a road trip. One of the amazing things about the area we live in is we go from valley desert to mountain snow and pine forests in a matter of minutes.
How to Make a Spending Freeze Hurt Less
I haven’t had a job since mid-November and finances are getting tight, especially until I get my FAFSA check for school. I’ve basically put myself on a spending freeze since I finished Christmas shopping, aided in part by the fact that my Mom mostly covers food that I make for everybody.
Here are some tips that can make a spending freeze hurt a little bit less.
Library books. I walk...
So far in 2011
Frozen pipes
Flooded bathroom
Dear 2011. I will not let you suck no matter how hard you try.